I Heart Tri

I love this Tri Heart Design by WHOOHA Gear:

Perfect for Valentine’s Day!

(via 623 Tries)

The Saddest Day of the Year

British studies have shown that TODAY is the saddest day of the year. The idea is that by this time (the third Monday in January to be exact), the high from the Holidays have worn off (presents have been opened and exchanged if needed, New Year sales are dwindling down, relatives and friends have gone from visiting or you’ve returned from travels, etc), resolutions have been made and broken, the daily grind at work has started up again… I found it a little surprising when I heard this since the third Monday in January is usually off (for schools and federal offices) in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr,’s Birthday… but seeing as how this was a British study.. you get the picture. Perhaps this will explain why I’m feeling abnormally depressed and out-of sorts today (especially since I don’t get today off).

Anyway.. Working out has been better since I got the gym membership. I’ve been trying to hit the gym for swim and/or weights and Stairmaster about 3 to 4 times per week. Haven’t been back to running since my legs are still hurting (I’ve self diagnosed my shin-splints to be caused be overuse and jumping back into running to fast too soon on the treadmill). I’ve decided to give it time to heal up before I aggravate the injury further. FINALLY got back on my mountain bike this weekend since BEFORE the holidays…

It took a lot of energy to hold up the bike against the wind..

Minh and I took an “easy” ride up Maple Springs to Four Corners. I was DYING… so we decided to turn around there. It was actually a beautiful day for a ride, and I’m very happy that we went, but was a little disheartened that I wasn’t able to go further or faster. Looks like I have a lot of building I need to do to be ready for Traverse in May.

I tried to smile.. but was very tired..

The rest of the weekend was spent recovering and getting errands run. Tested out the BOB trailer on the back of my road bike (since the skewer was not long enough for the mountain bike)…

Testing out the BOB trailer

Pretty cool, huh?

And.. I’ve paired down the race schedule a bit because I’m not nearly as ready as I wanted to be at this point, and feel like removing some races will make me better at the ones I really want to do well in. So.. Mostly, I’ve elminated most of the Kenda Cup West races, with the exception of Bonelli because it’s close. Since the real focus this year is Xterra and Traverse, I want to make sure that I’m ready and in tip-top shape for those.

Hopefully my sad state-of-mind will end when the saddest day of the year is over.. till then.. HAPPY MONDAY!

DC Rainmaker GIVEAWAY: Garmin Forerunner 210

Nice giveaway going on over at DC Rainmaker‘s blog. Expect his usual in depth review soon, but in the mean time, head over there and enter his giveaway for the new Garmin Forerunner 210.

Garmin Forerunner 210 Running GPS

Maximize your chance of winning with THREE entires:

1. (1) post a comment on the giveaway post HERE
2. (2) retweet or post on Facebook this message:
   I’ve just entered the Forerunner 210 #giveaway from @DCRainmakerBlog – http://bit.ly/cXA5cu
3. (3) post about the giveaway on your blog (like I did).

Make sure your comment includes every entry you’ve done.

GOOD LUCK!!

Have you been DUPED by a “balance” bracelet?

Minh and I have beed duped! Actually.. correction.. Minh has been duped and I was just a victim of his duping. It goes all the way back to my very first triathlon.. …

Minh and I headed up to LA back in October 2009 for the LA Triathlon. At the pre-race expo/athlete check-in, we were introduced to one of the new discoveries to enhance athlete performance… tiny discs (like mini CDs) which have special frequencies embedded in them which mirror your body’s natural frequencies to promote good health, increase stability and balance, and enhance performance. I’m not going to name any companies or brands since Minh was joking around about how I’ll get sued for libel.. but you know what I’m talking about. It’s those plastic/rubber bracelets with those things on them.

The representative at the Expo did the whole demonstration with us.. TWICE.. once with Minh and once with me. I thought it was pretty cool, but the price was pretty steep for something that seemed too good to be true. We told the guy we’d think about it and continued our way around the Expo. Minh couldn’t stop talking about it, saying how it doesn’t hurt to try it and if it works then it’s a BONUS.. and if it doesn’t.. well.. oh well. So… with Minh’s convincing argument, we went back and bought two (they were having a deal – 2 for $50). I have to note that it also helped that there seemed to be lots of professional athletes endorsing this product (or this type of product) by wearing them during competitions/games and interviews.

I used mine a handful of times during training and mountain bike rides, but didn’t really think it was helping. It was yet another thing I had to wear on my wrist to give me a tanline and seemed unnecessary (unlike the Garmin and the Road ID), so I stopped wearing it. Minh wore his for most of the year, but eventually stopped wearing his, too. It didn’t seem like it was “enhancing” our performance, but it wasn’t hurting us either. It was just a bracelet.

Fast forward a year, and Minh stumbled upon this video….

After watching this video.. I realized that we (i.e. Minh) were total suckers and fell for the “fake science”. What I don’t really understand is how this type of product made it’s way from the “healing holistic paranormal” realm of conventions and expos to the sports arena. I’m hoping we don’t get duped again, but who knows what new-fangled “discoveries” will be available at the next race expo? In the meantime, I’ve got a pretty useless plastic/rubber bracelet for sale.. and takers?

Have you been duped too?

Go Fit: Weebles Wobble.. but they DON’T…

To help with my impending “off season” training (and with training in general), Minh got me one VERY COOL thing and one marginally cool thing.

Thing #1: The VERY COOL Thing – Core Wobble and Balance Board

Apparently (and it’s not really a surprise to me), I have very poor balance. I’ve been looking at getting a balance board for a while, but most times when I make mental notes like that, I just forget about it. I tried it out for about 15 minutes when I first opened it, and could already see some improvement in that short amount of time (actually being able to balance for a few seconds). The plan is to use this daily to help work on balance and core stability. Then, hopefully, it will help with my balance and stability on the bike and help with ankle stability during running. Plus.. I’m hoping it will help get me some nice toned abs.

Thing #2: Pro-Gym in a Bag

This is supposed to be super helpful for traveling around with (either actual traveling or just going back and forth from Minh’s house). It doesn’t take up TONS of space like a home gym does, and I can do equivalent workouts to using machines at the gym.. so no need for a gym membership. Watched some of the videos and did some trial exercises. It’s a much different feeling from free weights since the resistance changes the tighter the cord is pulled. Also.. it brought to light how TOTALLY WEAK my arms are.

More cool workout products from Go Fit are available online.

Giveaway: Timex Global Trainer Giveaway by DC Rainmaker

This is not a contest sponsored by me. Someday, I may have the goods to raffle off, but for now, I can only shamelessly promote other people’s giveaways in the hopes that I’m the one that actually wins.

Timex Global Trainer (taken from DC Rainmaker Blog)

A great giveaway for a Timex Global Trainer is going on over at DC Rainmaker’s Blog. Read the in depth review here and sign up for the contest here. The contest will run until Thursday October 14th, 2010 at 11:59PM Eastern Time.