Training Log - 02.26.07

I ended up not feeling great on Sundayafternoon, so I never ended up going skiing OR lifting. But last night I did the lifting for Days 1 & 2 of the new week to get ahead/back on track, and to leave myself some time to get out on the new snow tonight and/or tomorrow. Let me know if you're up for a ski.

Training Log - 02.23.07 - 02.25.07

Friday: Just a push ups and sit ups day.

Saturday: Day 3 of workout week. Front squats, bench, triceps, inverted row, etc.

Sunday (today): Does shoveling count? (Proud to be the first on the block to have the walks cleared!)
I might also try to go skiing if the snow lets up. Theodore Wirth Park said they were grooming early this morning, but I don't feel like driving, or skiing, with the snow in my face today. Alternative: do Day 1 of the next workout week...

Training Log - 02.22.07

2 mile run + plyos.

Is this funny?

I don't know...

Training Log - 02.21.07

Easy day. Just push ups and sit ups last night.

Training Log - 02.20.07

2 mile run, followed by plyos.

Änna and I decided that this route would make a good timed 2 mile run after we establish a base. We ran it in 16 minutes last night (so 8 min. miles), but there is a significant hill for the last 1/4 - 1/2 mile. Maybe I'll be able to bring it within 13 minutes later in the season.

+

Day 2 of the workout week.

Back Squats, Incline Bench, Hamstrings (still trying to find a good alternative workout here)... can't remember what else. Stretching. Later, sit-ups.

=

I feel pretty good today. Not nearly as sore as I was when I started lifting, etc. The plyos aren't killing my calves the next day anymore. I'd like to find a good 3 mile running route. We have 2 and 4, which are sometimes too short and too long, respectively, for what I want to do/feel like doing. Maybe I'll try to find that tonight. My problem is that I hate backtracking. It's so morally defeating. :) Loops are so much more... pretty.

Hey Joe, BTW I still think Tivo is a huge scam.

I got in a mild argument with a friend while watching the Super Bowl a couple weeks back about the incredibly useful, but decidedly deceiving Tivo DVR system.

Joe's argument: "I love the Tiiiivvvo!"
My argument: "I cannot believe that Tivo is getting away with charging a for their devices as if they were providing a monthly service... for what is basically a glorified harddrive!"

Tivo: "You had me in your home another month, give me more money. *cough* [Shut up, Bjorn] *cough*"

What services are we charged for monthly? Telephones/Cell phones, cable/dish, Internet... And why do these services require periodic charges? Because they all stream their users information. These services, as overly-expensive as they can be, are still at least services. We pay for bandwidth, satellites, towers, maintenance, etc. every month, and sometimes nothing for the hardware.

Tivo knowingly has it backwards, somehow they've fooled everybody, and they must be making a killing. I bet Steve Jobs is wishing that he included a monthly service charge on all iPods for the, uh, service of storing TV shows, movies and music, just like the Tivo...

Here's the kicker. You can make your own DVR! Make Magazine has an article explaining how to do it here.

Unfortunately making your own DVR isn't exactly easy, or cheap. You actually have to be pretty resourceful mod an old PC to work like a Tivo. So whereas, NO, I don't think that people are stupid for just buying a Tivo over making their own; YES, I do think it sucks that Tivo has set this standard for DVR technology so that no competitor (who would easily have the resources to cheaply put together the described components in the Make article and mass market them) would ever come out with a piece of DVR hardware that required no monthly charge... In fact, I'm still shocked that this hasn't happened already, so I assume that there's some kind of bullshit licencing on DVR technology.

Anyone have an PC they want to get rid of?

Training Log January 1st - February 19 2007

I thought it might be a good idea to post my workout schedule:
1.) So my friends and teammates can see where I'm at and encourage (er, ridicule) me to work harder when I'm sluffing off and,
2.) at the times where I am on top of my game they might be inspired to work harder themselves.

I think it will be good both personally and as a teammate to be held accountable for what I'm putting into my fitness.

Training notes (roughly - these should get more specific from now on):
• Since New Years I've done push ups and situps everyday that I don't do some other kind of workout.
• Those other kinds of workouts have been xc skiing, which was great when I could do it (5-6 times, not enough!), lifting (pretty sporadically, but I now plan on adhering to Jason's program from last year - minus Olympic lifts, plus plyos). I think I'm on track on Week 2, Day 2.
• Änna and I went running yesterday and it was pretty good. We went 4+ miles, mostly along River Road. We have a pretty nice area to run around. Let me know if you're up for joining me/us.

News.

So CLX broke up.

Seiler is starting an Open team, and good for him, really, but what about the other (now former) CLXers? I ask not because I want to judge, but really because I am just curious. I feel really out of the loop on this... Are people upset? Surprised? I guess an easy answer is yes, of course some people are upset, but are there a handful of players in Iowa without a team now? I'm thinking especially about the women.... Seiler mentions that a number of the men on CLX are following him, but it might not be as cool for the ladies who will have to splice themselves on to a foreign feeling women's squad. I don't know. Maybe it's not a big deal at all. If it were MOE, I'd be thinking the same thing. (I would enjoy playing Open with the Moe men, and some women would go play for Bait... but some people would probably feel screwed.)

All that being said, I really hope the Van Buren Boys are a successful Open team. Best of luck in '07...

Another first.

Well, I had my first Water Cooler Discussion today. One of those things that you think of as "classic workplace," although [like me, previously] you've never had a WCD, witnessed a WCD, or even heard of anyone having a WCD, outside of TV and movies.

Well now you have.



We talked about work.

Dear Ultimate,

It's been awhile, and after a good, long, needed rest from all things Ultimate, I find myself drifting back into the world that has been, at many times, the most dominant aspect of my adult life. It seems like the lack of Anna's and my presence in Winter League, tournaments, and conversations has been noted, and with rumors of "who's playing/not playing next year," etc., flying around I thought I'd lay out my intentions for the next year.

1. I have been, and do plan on scaling back my Ultimate involvement this year. No more league, or random pick up. I WAS burned out a little bit last year. Maybe not even because there was too much Ultimate in my life, but comparatively.... with my first full year of full-time work, personal stuff... Ultimate took a too large a piece of the Bjorn pie. And OK, I don't plan on getting married again this summer, so I'll probably have time to spare, but that's EXACTLY what I want. But at the same time I see this scaling back as a FOCUSING. Focusing my energy and time so that Club Ultimate can be a place where I can release my pent up energy and excitement about this sport (instead of sometimes having to create it when my body and/or mind are less than willing). God bless those of you who can still play 8 days a week.

2. I do, however, also plan on adhering to a pre-season training regiment, trying out, and making MOE '07. I plan on devoting all that I can to that team for at least another season. Regardless of how early/late the season starts, how extensive the travel/tournament schedule is, and what the make up of the team is come our first tournament, I'm going to do what I can to make sure I fit with this team and that they value my commitment.

3. Lifting - Regionals time is 35 weeks away, I had this week marked on my calender as a key date to buck up training (Jason's program from last year had a 35 week schedule that I'm going to follow loosely). I am dropping some aspects of the lifting that I did last year. The squats, for one, did little for me. Mostly, I know, because I had knee issues, and then ankle issues, and then comfort issues with Olympic lifting in general. The Back and Front squats I'll probably continue, actually, and maybe some weightless Overheads because they felt like they were doing some good for my crooked back and shoulders. Other than that I'm going to implement the Air Alert II pylo. program to generate more leg power. Running - as much as I don't enjoy running, and as much as I've heard that any kind of distance running will hurt your top speeds, sprinting, etc... I think I'm going to try to get back into that this season.... I want to say that this is counter intuitive, but it's my intuition that's got me going in this direction. Counter-productive? I don't think so. I HOPE not. Let's face it, I wasn't about to break any land speed records anyway and I feel the most in shape when I'm distance running a couple times a week. It worked for me in college, and I feel like trying what's worked for me in the past this season. (I don't have to be in any better shape than I was in college, just smarter. And I guess that's a whole 'nother challenge in itself.)

I don't know if I want to get into much else in this post. I do have some thoughts about season length, try-outs, tournaments...

Shoot, I guess I'll write a little more.

I do know that I was at least happy with my playtime last year, although I've realized now that it never really mattered how many points I played as long as my captains (and teammates) made me feel like my skills were needed, and subsequently utilized. Dave and Anna did a great job of this throughout the Series especially. This makes me feel that Moe could possibly take on a few 'projects' during tryouts (increase roster = easier tryouts for team-builders + expanded potential/future of team?).*** I guess my main point is that PT need not be represented by statistical equality, and that this insight will somehow help the tryout process... Anyway, I felt good with my PT last year and could still feel good with less as long as I felt we were using our strengths at all times.
Easier said than done.

Whatever.

Next.

I'm not going to Boston, Poultry and Seattle twice... but I think that's ok. It's great even. I think that a Moe & Friends team would be great at Potlatch, Poultry... Aquatenial and Cooler for that matter... Playing those tournaments full squad vs. not playing/half of us playing them/all of us and our siblings playing them... I can't see it as a sure GOOD THING or BAD THING. Loosing shit points in shit games all weekend... all summer, even if we win the whole tourney, is [part of] what makes us freak out about not having what it takes. And on the other hand winning those same points might just fluff our ego, sending us unprepared into the next battle. That's over-analysis, of course, but I'd be happy to see a heavier, competition-wise, and lighter, # of tourney-wise, shorter moefficial schedule, if such a thing is possible.

What else? Maybe I'll try to save the rest for the meeting(s).
Thanks for reading.
#22

*** After reading a recent email from Dave I realized that cutting the team down to 25 was a good move last year and I don't think there's any good reason to go back on that. To quote myself, "we never needed any more pieces to finish the puzzle, we just needed to know how to put them together."

Clean Plate Club, Follow Up.

I love when you're thinking, writing, or talking about something and it later pops up on the news, in a book/show/movie, or in another conversation... It feels like a validation of universally worthwhile thought...

Anna was listening to MPR last Friday and during their Mid-Morning program they had on Dr. Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Dr. Wansink has been doing research on the way we Americans eat and has conducted some pretty interesting experiments (and has gotten some even more interesting results!) . I listened to the show during a bye at an indoor Ultimate tournament this weekend and thought I'd pass along the link.

Bon Appetit!

Boston Bomb Scare

Major highways, bridges and tunnels in the Boston area were shut down last week after someone reported seeing what they thought could be a bomb attached to an overpass...

I'm sure all of you heard about this, and if you haven't, Google "Boston Bomb Scare" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Turns out the "sophisticated electronic devices," as I heard one news-caster describe them, were no more than ["guerrilla"] publicity devices for the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim tv show Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

When I heard about the incident I at once felt both sorry for the cops who had no choice but to respond seriously to a potential bomb sighting, but at the same time surprised at how long this 'scare' apparently went on and how much I had to hear about it as national breaking news... especially considering the following:
*38 of these devices were placed in Boston, WEEKS before last Wednesday's 'scare'...
*The ad campaign has been installed in 11 major cities. The 'perpetrators' were said to be mostly confused about why this happened in Boston, and why now?!
*And here are pictures of the 'suspicious' devices.



Wouldn't the cops have found the first one and been like, "Oh, that's not a bomb," and played it off like any other bomb threat that turns out to be nothing? I don't know. I can see both sides of this one, but Turner seems to have been made into a big target just because they'll be able to shell out to the city [ies?] for this mishap. And the Boston city officials are really playing the victim - not even accepting the public apology from TBS. That's low. (Poor Turner Broadcasting, I know.) But what would happen if it was just me, putting up Brite-Lites that said "BJORN!" all over Minneapolis?

I don't think it's worth trying...

Kool-Earth, Man!

Give me that peace sign!

"...will only get you so far..."

This is something that was pissing off both Anna and I, and hopefully most of the ESPN audience, as we watched Serena Williams advance to Quarters the other night at the Australian Open....

There are a lot of stupid things said by sportscasters. But Mary Carillo's comments of Serena (and in the past with Venus, I hear) bordered on personal hatred. And, OK, we get it, Serena could be in better shape. You've made your point Mary.

But then you bring it up again, and again...

[I'll paraphrase]

Mary: "If she was in better fitness she could endure in this heat."
After a 30+ stroke volley, Serena wins the point.

Mary: "Maybe this will motivate her to get back in the gym."
Serena gets her 9th ace to her opponent's zero.

Mary: "Without top fitness you can only get so far."
Serena advances, yet again, in one of the top tennis tournaments in the world.

And this is where they really loose me, because where, like Mary I can only wonder what Serena's fitness potential really is, but unlike her I take a step back and look at where and who Serena is... Serena has the fitness of a professional athlete because she is a professional athlete, and not only that, she's proven herself to be one of the best in the world, just as she is now.

So get the hell out of Serena's grill! She has an impressive physique, although unconventional(?), and a will to win that cannot be matched. Repeatedly calling her fat on national TV makes you seem jealious and stupid, getting proved wrong so consistently. (Not to mention what it says to the Athlete girls/women of America who are Serena's size [not fat] and already have a hard time justifying their muscle weight.)

I hardly want to watch anymore because when Serena finally does lose out all these announcers be able to say is "Well, _x_th place... Hmmm, just think how well she would have done if she was in any kind of shape."

Sorry for the rant.

Bandwidth Meter

This is kind of fun.

Let's you know how fast you're going on the information super highway...

Did you know that our "High Speed" connections are many times slower and more expensive than in Europe, Asia? There was a great program on MPR about this that I couldn't find, but I did come across this CNN article that goes over much of the same stuff.

Clean Plate Club

How many of you were members?

How many of you still are?

After a conversation I had the other week, I realized that to this day I cannot leave food on my plate at the end of a meal. So even although I haven't received any documentation, I think I must be close to an appointment within the cabinet of this Club's president...

The Club's President.

Ok, but what are the real benefits of being in the Club, or why was this Club imposed upon us?

I do believe that our parents and their parents before them had good intentions in their promotion of this Club. Among them there were two major camps that arose from the depression and pre- depression eras, each supporting the Club's ideals. First there was the health conscious, eco-friendly group, Fortunate to Eat Vegetables Everyday, Really. (F.E.V.E.R.) Then came the more popular, moral front, There Are Starving Kids of Foriegn Origin that Really Cannot Eat. (T.A.S.K.F.O.R.C.E.) I was lucky enough to grow up in a bi-partisan household that allowed for both of these views to flourish - subsequently leaving me as I am now. Aside from never leaving food on my plate, I eat FAST, and I eat TOO MUCH! I feel like much of my generation stands in these shoes (cross trainers, with extra support). And for those out there who either have a poor metabolism, a thicker DNA helix, or an aversion to athletics, hmm... good luck finding clothes that fit if the Club was as ingrained in you as it was/is in me!

As parents across this country pat themselves on the back with one hand while they do the already-mostly-clean dishes with the other, what is more prominent in the minds of their children as they finish their dinner? Not taking so much food next time? Proper diet? Children in Africa?

Or is it, simply, eat that food!

What I'm asking is that parents reinvestigate their motives on this matter. Wasting food might still be a problem, but by blindly following our parents' stratagems - without looking at their results (this generation's gastronomy) - I think we'll end up wasting a lot more.

Davin, you should start your own blog.

But until you do, I'll [happily] keep posting about the cool things you share with me.

MIT OpenCourseWare

This is pretty damn slick. For all of you 'self-learners' out there, MIT (yes, that MIT) is publishing its coursework online for anyone to access, with out registration, payment or anything like that. Just go to the site and click through to the subject and specific course you might be interested in... Once there you'll be able to download .pdfs of the syllabus, many of the readings, assignments, etc. You can also 'Download this Course', and browse through all of the available material from your computer (faster, although still through a web browser). I tried this for both Logic 101 and Introduction to Astronomy. Because the astronomy course required an additional, physical textbook there wasn't as much information to gain immediately (although looking at the completed tests was a good review for me), whereas for the logic course most, if not all of the readings were available in .pdfs and I could feasibly go through the class, assignment by assignment, test by test, gaining everything but the college credit from the course. Wow.

The amount of credible information is stunning. Many of the courses provide external sources for info, and all of the .pdfs that I saw were chock full of bibliographic information. With resources like this people will be able to better trust the information they find on the web.

Dear Mexico,

Thanks for the white sandy beaches, the sunshine, the swimming, the snorkeling amongst the coral, fish, sting rays, sea turtles & barracuda (even though I didn't see them), the sea kayaking, and exploring the ruins, the spelunking with bats, seeing the animals, cats, snakes, dogs, monkeys, pigs, parrots, swimming in cenotes & brackish water, feeling the breeze, eating ceviche, tacos, enchiladas, chiles relleno, chips & salsa, guacamole, peppery Cheetos®, Oreos®, apple soda, fruit, slushies, pastries, reading 4 books in one week, dining at Mexican/Italian/Chinese restaurants, wathcing the sunrises, sunsets, walking, playing games, the evening rains, and the starry starry nights.