progress check

Alright lets see. Started a new work out today, I will admit it is definitely challenging but I enjoy a new challenge. It involves a nice progression, building on the last work out a little bit. I'm feeling pretty strong and hopefully it will pay off in the spring. So far I'm going strong on my no caffeine campaign, one solid week, and I'm feeling good. No head aches and it's getting easier to get up in the morning, although I'm getting up even earlier with my new schedule. Over all I'm feeling pretty good but my hip started to bother me after I went xc skiing. I might have hoped back into the repetitive motion activities a bit too quick. My hip feels fine when I do strength training and feels great after I stretch it so I will have to stick to that for a little bit longer. Still working on improving my nutrition, one meal at a time.
After my work out I picked up the new Decline mag, my favorite, looks like a good one. I'll fill you all in after I've had some time to run through it.
Catch ya later!

a bushwhackin' adventure

Today was Kelly's first day of coaching skiing, which means my first Sunday of having to entertain myself. So I spent part of the morning watching TV, which I became bored with quickly. So I decided to pull out winter gear and bust out the XC skis. I don't know where many of the ski trails are so I went to Salem Hills Park/Harmon Reserve. There isn't a set of actual trails to follow besides the bike trails which were slightly packed down from the people walking there dogs. I stared following the beaten trail but that got old so I started just going where ever, a little bushwhacking. I did stumble across some other ski tracks so I started following them and discovered some sweet hills just to the west of the reserve that are ripe for some sweet mountain bike trails. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure it's all private as I went through a downed fence and came across a rope tow line. Yeah that's right, some baller over there has their own tow line and personal ski/tubing hill. It looked like mostly snowboarding or tubing tracks and a lot of snowmobiles ripping up the steeps. Unfortunately I haven't quite figured out the trick to successfully ripping down big hills with XC skis. No edge at all and more then once did I have to sit down to save my ass from hitting some trees, haha. Oh well it was a great work out and a lot of fun. I was the only one out there and it was all fresh powder, no groomed trails at all. I think that makes it a lot more fun and exciting. It's like a mini adventure opposed to a work out where you just do laps on a groom trail.
Hope your weekend was great and relaxing!

shop till you drop!

Well today wasn't my ideal Saturday but it is part of the season. I went shopping with Kelly and her mom. I might have under estimated the intensity of the situation. I was figuring on a couple hours tops. It started out as only going to Fleet Farm and Gander Mountain but quickly added Target, the Dollar Store, and a Christian shop and maybe one or two more, I can't remember. Needless to say it turned into more like 4.5hrs and man I'm tired. I think I actually fell asleep on the drive home. Kelly was a little up set with me towards the end, I think, because I was getting kind of crabby but a man can only take so much of shopping. Unless it involves REI or a bike shop, haha. It wasn't too bad but I'd say my highlight was definitely Pot Belly's. I love there sandwiches. Now we are home just chillin' and I'm trying out Bike James' integrated mobility routine to add some range of motion to my hips and low back and relieve some low back pain. You should check it out! Well remember that all good things come to an end and too much of a good thing is bad!
Catch ya on the flip side!

let it snow!

First thank god it's Friday and I wish you all a great weekend. I know I'm ready to relax a bit. Not sure what the weekend will bring. The new snow is a bit enticing, Kelly begins coaching the Down Hill Ski racing team at Afton Alps. I don't think she has any free passes yet so I wont get my DH skis yet but I may consider getting out the XC skis for a little test run. It's pretty fun but I'm not one of those hard core Minnesota XC skiers. I have traditional skis and I like to just go exploring plus it's a pretty good work out. Speaking of work out after work I went to the Lifetime right by my work to try to avoid the traffic. The work out went well, I felt like I pushed myself pretty hard, it was my last day with that workout. Monday I get my new work out, pretty excited to see what Krista has in store for me! Unfortunately my plan to skip the traffic didn't work but the drive wasn't too bad, just a nice easy slow crawl home.
I did finally get some good news from work. I have been asking for better hours for almost a year now and I finally got them! Starting Monday I will be working 8-430 m-f, yes now I can get my work out in and eat at a normal time and maybe even do something else. Especially in the summer when the suns up longer and I have my new mountain bike!
Take it easy!

The Day to Day

Five days and going strong, no caffeine. I even passed on free Mountain Dew, I know I can't believe it either! Yesterday at work we had a pot luck, I forgot about it. So I was that guy. The free loader, but hell I didn't eat that much and they taunt me all day long every day they have these pot lucks. They put the food right behind my cubical and then they are like oh you have the best spot in the office, in this almost sarcastic tone. The all know that I try to eat healthy and work hard to stay with my training but they like the phrases; "oh it's only one day" or "you can afford to eat what you want" yeah of course I can but that's because I work hard and eat right! Some of them should try it. It really does work. Either way the food was good and I appreciate the nice people that brought me my lunch! haha.
Kelly and I are currently packing up our apartment to move into a town home so we can get a dog and have enough space for all our gear. So we knew that the landlord could show our apartment but there is seriously like 40 other units open but of course we got a letter on Wednesday that they are showing our place Friday afternoon and of course we procrastinated and we had to mad scramble to straighten up our place for the showing. You know what they say about procrastination, it's like masturbation it's all fun and games and then you realized you just fucked yourself. Luckily the place wasn't that big of a mess and we got it all sorted!
Take it easy all and have a great weekend!

Happy December

Yesterday work was a bit of a blur but that's nothing new, this week in general has been a bit of a blur. Just trying to get back into a good eating habit and work out regiment. It's going alright just keep on trucking and stay focused. Can't wait till it freezes up so I can play some pond hockey and get some ice climbing in. I hate this time of the year, it's too shitty out to ride my bike and I can't do my winter sports of choice. Mother nature can't make up her mind if it's time for winter or if it's still fall.
After work Kelly and I went to Lifetime for a good work out. I have a pretty good work out that I'm doing that my trainer made up for me, I have 2 more free sessions with her and then I will begin the Ultimate MTB work out after that. So probably about Feb or so.
Last night I ordered my Christmas present for my myself on behalf of my mother, 5.10 Low Impact 2s, the Sam Hill signature series. If you don't know who Sam Hill is you should check him out, he rides for Monster Specialized and is one of the elite DH racers in the world! The shoes came with a set of Wellgo WAM B25 flats. I'm so excited to get them, unfortunately I'll only be able to play with them for a bit and then I will have to wrap them up and put them under the tree until Christmas, haha. Oh well that's only a couple weeks down the road!
Some of you are probably wondering why I'm ordering new pedals and shoes in the winter, especially because I'm not riding my bike. Well I might be getting the cart before the horse but I will be buying a mountain bike in a couple of months and the bikes I've been looking at don't come with pedals and I will be doing spin class probably in the next month or so. Yes I will be the weird dude in your spin class with a pedal wrench changing the pedals and putting quality flats on the spin bike. If you don't remember I have, at least for now, packed the clipless pedals away and will be going exclusively to flats.
Keep it real!

caffeine-junkie

Well this caffeine-junkie has quit ingesting caffeine cold turkey as of Monday, or trying to anyways. It has been 3 days, the longest 3 days of my life! We will see how long it lasts. I have quit in the past but always relapsed, so I know what I'm in for, but damn it's difficult. Especially working an office job. I just get so tired sitting in that cube, but they don't have free coffee at my office, believe it or not, so that makes it easier.
The pros are that I'm not ingesting soda, empty calories. I have also read that caffeine can increase low back pain do to the restriction of blood flow to an already restricted area. That right there is a great reason for me, low back pain sucks. It's not constant but if I can make it go away for good that would be great, I'm also trying to strengthen it and do stretching to help.  Finally caffeine slows the healing of muscles, joints and tendons, also do to the restricted blood flow. Hopefully it will speed the recovery from my over use injury to my right hip. Which by the way is feeling pretty damn good if I do say so myself, It has been about 2.5 weeks since I've pedaled my bike so I'll give it a bit longer before I get back on, just to make sure.

The cons well I'm flat out tired as hell in the morning! Not like I'm not normally but I don't get that little pick me up I'm use to. I know that a lot of people complain about the head aches, but I'm not really experiencing that right now. I have some in the past. So I guess I'm lucky.
It is what its!
Later!