- It is cold here. Not Texas Cold (aka: 55 degrees) but cold, cold. Yesterday was 35 degree with a wind chill in the lower 20's and today is even worse. We do not even own the clothing to deal with these temps - think about that .... I know, right?
- Annie and I did a nice little 15mi run yesterday in the cold. It did prove to me once again that running in the cold is a gazillion times better than the oppressive heat! Once your extremities warm up your body handles the run so well. The pace was slow (9:19/mi) but my body and legs afterwards felt wonderful.
- I am in two fantasy football leagues and am in the finals of one of them this week. My team is pretty loaded except at the QB position and with this being a 12-team league the waiver wire is pretty thin. My options were to start Jon Kitna last night against Arizona or Tim Tebow today against Houston. I initially picked Tebow off the waivers a couple of weeks ago as a joke - I told everyone he was added to give unity to my team since Tebow is, after all, a leader of men! Well, the guy I am playing in the finals is a HUGE Tebow fan and I originally was going to start Kitna but a few minutes before the Dallas game last night I pulled Kitna and put Tebow into my starting spot primarily to piss off the guy I am playing. I might look like a genius in the end because Kitna got hurt after tossing two interceptions and didn't play the 2nd half. His stats were awful! Now Tebow just needs to do some scoring and Jeff wins $500!
- WTF? If any of you have been following the WikiLeaks saga over the past few weeks you'll be happy to know that the CIA has instituted the WikiLeaks Task Force to investigate possible unlawful acts. The WikiLeaks Task Force is know as the WTF. I cannot make this stuff up.
- On Friday Night the NFL Network did a show on the Top 10 Pittsburgh Steelers of All Time. Now for all you football fans out there you know this is going to be a tough list because it can be argued that the Steelers, with 6 Superbowl Rings, have one of the most storied franchise in the history of the NFL. I have not watched the program yet but here is my list: 10. Lynn Swann; 9. Jerome Bettis; 8.John Stallworth; 7. Mike Webster; 6. Mel Blount; 5. Hines Ward; 4. Jack Lambert; 3. Franco Harris; 2. Terry Bradshaw; 1. Joe Greene.
- A couple of notable exceptions: Rod Woodson (if he had a SB ring he would be in), Joey Porter, Kevin Green, Rocky Bleier (great story, average stats), Dermonti Dawson, Troy Polamalu (Will be on list in 5 years), Ben Roethisberger (Will be on list in 5 years). I am going to watch the program later today and see how close my list is to the NFL Network list.
- IM Training has been spot on this week. My running fitness is well ahead of the Base Phase of the training and I already have 25 miles logged this week with a scheduled 30 min recovery run this evening. My swimming is getting closer each time I hit the pool. I have logged 4 swims this week and close to 10,000 yards, another couple of weeks like this and my swim fitness will be back to top form. I have logged 3 trainings on the bike this week, all indoors on the trainer and am going for my 3hour long ride on the trainer once I finish this post. I am struggling with maintaining focus and intensity on the trainer right now because of boredom but HELP is ON THE WAY ....
- My diet did not take too bad of a hit over the Christmas Season. Luckily Annie and I did not host a party at our house this year. This means we did not have any leftovers to pick at! One of the parties we went to had a ton of cake (my Achilles heal) and other pastries and I did eat one large slice of an amazing cake but stopped after that. All the other parties we went to I ended up not drinking any alcohol because Annie could not say no to the vino. Someone had to be a responsible driver!
- We are going to a New Year's party at our neighbor's house so I might not have the designated driver excuse since we will walk as to why I am not drinking at this one. Might have to pull out the training excuse - hate to be the boring triathlete but Ironman is my focus.
- We are pug-sitting this week! That means we have 3 pugs running around the house. The visitor pug is named Holly and she is a very vocal little thing. My pugs hardly ever bark, Holly, on the otherhand, is quite the little chatterbox. I found this to be a touch annoying as I was sound asleep at 3am this morning. I open my eyes and Holly is standing on my chest, barking about 2 inches from my face. She had to go outside to potty. I guess this is good since she didn't go on our floor.
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
Brrr...that is cold! The weather is just freaky this year...it's going to be 57 degrees here today...in COLORADO! CRAZY!
ReplyDeleteI've heard awesome things about CompuTrainers. I'll be interested in hearing how you like it!
Yea computrainer. I love the Real course videos but sometimes you need to dumb it down to just consistently hammer your workout. An option is to pick a flat course (IMAZ, Eagleman, etc) to not worry about the inclines.
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to really delve into the power numbers, the calibration is a bit nonintuitive. I've done some testing re accuracy on the CT, PT and quarq. The are close only if properly calibrated and the CT is very fickle.
Congrats on the finals in FF and I think a wise choice on getting Kitna out of the lineup. I am in the finals as well and sitting here with my fingers in my mouth and no nails or cuticles. A win and I am the two-time defencind champ.
ReplyDeleteLove the help is on the way. That will help tremendously.
I broke my own rule and rode outside today in the sub 30 temps and froze. Literally could not feel my hands to brake. It was an awful ride and I would rather be on the trainer then be that miserable again.
35* - Now you are starting to get some REAL cold down there :) Better head out an buy some long underwear!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you had a successful week and were able avoid most of the holiday food. I can't say the same for myself.
I agree about liking the cold weather over the heat, plus dodging ice patches keeps in interesting.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your pug-mania!
I can't wait to hear about your rides on the computrainer!
ReplyDeleteThe difference between Houston and Tampa is about 15F when these "cold fronts" come in. I'll take the Florida cold waves having lived in both places.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree. This is heaven compared to summer running. Maybe we can dial up a cold front for IMTX??
Let me know if you need me and John to ship you and Annie some winter clothing... ha ha Seriously, that is crazy weather, I hope it ends for you soon.
ReplyDeleteAt least Holly let you know!
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff, huge Steeler fan here as well. A friend and I watched the game Thursday night and had a conversation about the top 10. That is a tough one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your list for the most part but I would substitute Jack Ham for Terry Bradshaw and Rod Woodson for Lynne Swann.
Yeah, I have a hard time comprehending how anyone could possibly prefer running in heat.
ReplyDeleteWikiLeaks Task Force - WTF? Wow.
I agree with you. Running in the cold is comfortable for base mileage. When you start trying to hammer it in the cold... that is when you pay the price hahaha.
ReplyDeleteI honestly did not know that Texas ever got that cold.... I am seriously shocked man.
Good work on keeping the schedule man. I am putting ours together this week.
No Xmas parties = smartest move anyone could make... Me = PIGGING OUT FOR A WEEK :)
I used to think i liked the cold weather best but that all changed last year. I found that I do better in the oppresive heat. Go figure! Can't wait to see how the interactive trainer mate works. I know there will be a fabulous comprehensive review like nobody but the carrot can do. That rhymed! You have had a great week of training. I am slightly jealous of the swim volume. Hope Santa was good to you!
ReplyDeleteYou're getting a Computrainer!? So jealous. One of these years I'll break down and spend the money, in the meantime I rely on Netflix streaming to get me through the Northeast winters!
ReplyDeleteWTF huh? That's awesome! :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear how you like the computrainer. Our high today is 20, but with 17 MPH winds... it's 6. Lovely. We're biking indoors too, but the boredom is what gets to us! Congrats on braving the cold for a 15 miler!