Right outside your door

I have more time on my hands lately and it has been nice.  To sit and think, to enjoy small things, to get back in balance. 

So Btown doesn't offer much in the way of cultural diversity, wild nightlife, culinary treats, or sunny beaches, but one thing it does have is wilderness.  The crazy thing is, not many people take advantage of it.

This winter has been quite strange in that we had massive snow in October but now the ground is bare and the bulbs are actually starting to break through the ground.  With no snow, it is still possible to hike.

One thing I have always loved is being totally alone in the woods.  Only surrounded by natural sounds and smells.  There is something magical about it that can either make you totally at peace or can scare the wits out of you.

From my stroll around the Quabbin, I now consider this a favorite place.

So early last Sunday morning I found myself on a stroll through the woods.  Frosty ground crunching under my feet, icy water lapping at the shore, deer flagging their tails away from me.  On this day, the woods put me totally at peace.

As far as the eye can see

It seems like my world changes on a daily, weekly, monthly basis....

As I write this, I am mid-trip.  2 weeks... New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, New York.

I decided that Hong Kong would be a good place to spend the weekend.  So I'm sitting at a roof top bar... working... blogging... surfing... eating... watching... sipping free champagne.

It is Saturday but, I already did the bulk of my work for the day because I was up at 5 AM like usual.  Then at noon I started my workout.  Today was a 2 hour Zone 2 brick workout.  1 hour on a bike 1 hour running.  It is about 70 F outside so it is great for running.  Victoria Park is next door to the Excelsior Hotel where I am staying for these 2 days.  Today was a flower show which used half the park, I ran laps around the remainder amidst locals practicing Tai Chi, jogging, sleeping, relaxing, or just spending family time together. 

I needed some lunch and had more work to do so I decided to head upstairs.  The food was a buffet.  I had some sushi, a scallop, a small amount of fillet mignon, a bit of rice, and a dumpling.  Amazingly the dumpling sucked.  Usually they are perfect here, but not so in this case.  The rest was very good.  The bartender "Sonny" says the champagne is complimentary.  Who am I to argue?

The thing that gets me is how diverse all the cultures are that I experience, yet they all have so much in common.  Sure, we all have our differences.  I fail to understand how slavery can still exist today, how gender equality doesn't exist, how the environment can be blatantly destroyed.  But, people are people, and we all have our reality.

All these experiences change my view of the world and my reflection on humanity.

With that said...  I long to be home, with familiar sounds, smells, and people.  When I am gone I miss my people.  That means Family and Friends.   I miss the look in their eye and the sound of their voice. 

My life can be surreal....

How to make the perfect cheeseburger

I love cheeseburgers.  The people around me know this because I eat them.... often.
I don't think there is anything wrong with eating them as long as it isn't 100% of your diet.
For the Paleo people in my audience, feel free to eliminate the cheese... and the bun.... and just create the ulimate burger. 
I'm a firm believer that your body needs high quality protien to function properly.  If you want to grow, get faster, or kick ass the importance grows exponentially.

Ok so here it is... the magical recipe for the perfect cheeseburger.

It all starts with the meat.
We could get into the whole dry aged vs. grass fed vs. the stuff in the supermarket that is actually dyed red.

If we are gonna talk ultimate, we are gonna go with grass fed.  That means that Mr. Cow was able to roam around and experience a little American countryside before meeting his demise.  Kobe beef???? Don't give me that crap.  There is no such thing.  It is all BS when it comes to burger.  They don't grind any of that stuff up.  By the way, if you have the chance to have a Kobe beef steak, just realize it is pretty much a pile of fat.  I'll take a quality Ribeye or Delmonico any day of the week.

Sorry, let's get back on track.
You want to use a combination of round, chuck, and sirloin in equal proportions.  Look, nobody said it was going to be easy to make perfection.  Make sure it comes from a reliable source because some of the best burgers are served Rare, meaning they have a cool red center.  The meat should end up around 85% lean.

Next, let the meat reach room temperature.  This is important, so think ahead.

Hand form a patty that is about 3/4" thick by 5" across.  When I say hand form I really mean to massage the meat into a beautiful form like a talented artist. 

Next you will need a grill, and it can't be some wimpy grill either.  Charcoal or gas doesn't really matter.  What is important is temperature.  You have to get over 500 degrees, preferably 700.  For those without a temperature gauge this means that you can't hold your hand 4" above the grill for any length of time.  Don't worry about it being too hot.  Just turn it to high and let it get really hot.

Next, put the patty on the grill and don't screw with it, just let it sit there and sear.  Maybe 2 minutes depending on the temperature.  Then flip it and again don't screw with it.  When done it will still be soft like the pad on the palm of your hand. 

There are two important points during the cooking of the patty.
1. the outside needs some black marks
2. the inside needs to be red

The bun can be whatever you like.  Some people like sesame seeds, others like Ciabata, others like onion buns, others like potato rolls.  It doesn't matter to me.  But it must be toasted.  That means coating the bun with salted butter and giving it some grill marks and brown toasty goodness.

The cheese can change based on your taste.  If you want to make me happy it should be a nice aged cheddar cheese slice thick.

Toppings.... the best is just salt and pepper.  But, carmelized onions are good, or crispy smoked bacon, or sauted mushrooms.  Keep it simple to not overpower the flavor of the burger.  Mayo is tasty too.  Ketchup and BBQ sauce should be used only when your beef is sub par and needs to be covered up.

You put all these things together and you will have a beautiful creation.  Trust me, I know.

The Bangladesh Experience

There are some things in life that no matter what, can not be fully appreciated unless you experience it yourself. 

Childbirth 

There is no way I could say I have any level of appreciation for what it is like to go through childbirth.  I imagine it is something that must be experienced. 

War

No one can say they understand and appreciate war unless they have been on a battlefield.  Myself included.

Bangladesh

Ok so a trip to Dhaka is not equal to going to war or childbirth, but let me tell you it isn't far off.

It is something that you truly need to experience in order to appreciate.  It is like no other place I have ever been. 

If I were to say it was dangerous, you would say to prove it with some statistics.  Well, that is impossible because if there were some data it would be wrong.  There isn't some department keeping track of crimes and deaths and robberies.   They happen and people go on with their day.

If I were to say it's polluted, you would want to show how the wildlife has declined.  Well, no data for that either.  But is is pretty easy to appreciate when normal visibility is under 4 km and the water is tinted whatever color they are dying textiles that day.

If I were to say the people were poor, you would want to know what the average wage is.  Put it this way, the IRS isn't auditing the average person because they claimed a "home office" on their taxes.  Who knows how much money people make there.  But, I can say that right now, at this minute my pocket contains more than the annual wages of most people in Bangladesh and my pocket doesn't contain much.

It isn't the worst place in the world, but, it is the worst place I have ever been. 

Before this trip, I had no appreciation for the circumstances and situation in that country.  Now, I am still no expert but I have a much better appreciation.  My appreciation for how fortunate I am has grown by a tremendous amount.  I just can't believe that a place like that exists on our planet. 

New England - a cold slap in the face!

"Across New England, where relatively balmy temperatures prevailed during the winter of 2009–2010, the upcoming winter will be the equivalent of a cold slap in the face, as we forecast much colder-than-normal temperatures."  This is from the 2011 Farmers Almanac website.  It was from August 2010.

I think they got it pretty close.

(it won't be long before polar bears move to new england)

Not to mention that we have been buried under piles of snow.  Roof leaks from endless ice dams have destroyed walls and ceilings.  You roll the dice every time you try to pull out from a side street or driveway because it is impossible to see.  Children are going uneducated because school is cancelled.  Summer break has been eliminated for all schools due to all the days they will need to make up.

If I was going to pick a winter to be outside the country and in a location only feet from the equator, this would be the one.  Fortunately the coldest place I have been has been South Korea and that was only for about 5 hours where I lounged in a massaging chair, sipped cappuccino, and crunched on Milano cookies.

This week I head to Bangladesh for the first time.  I've heard quite a bit about how bad this is going to be in regard to the sheer madness of trying to move about the country.  I think this trip I will bring the video camera to capture the excitement.  Hopefully I have something fun to share when I return.

But, while I am traveling, my heart is always in New England.  I love the fact that there are four strong seasons to enjoy.  As a matter of fact, I think the people of New England will truly appreciate Spring this year.  The complaints of 100 degree days will be a little less this summer as we remember the winter of 2010-2011. 

Now, if you will excuse me I need to go pack my shorts.

Philadelphia Steak and Cheese Challenge - Geno's vs Pat's

Today I find myself in Philadelphia for just long enough to conduct a very important comparison.  Geno's vs Pats.

So this all starts with your standard 48 minutes of flight time from Hartford to Philadelphia on US Airways. My final destination is Greensboro, NC for the rest of the week for meetings. 

Once I was off the plane it was a dash to "ground transport" to get a taxi.  I somehow get screwed up and arrive at the check in desk for US Airways.  So I figure why not check my bag so I don't have to drag it around with me.  So I do.

Then 37 seconds later I realize my coat and hat are inside the bag I just checked.  That was a pretty stupid move I must say.  So I ask "is there any place I can buy a sweatshirt"?  Yes, on the other side of security.

No Thanks, I can take the cold.

So off I go to find a taxi and I find a minivan driven by Steve Wall who is a 300 pound black man originally from Philly.  He doesn't prefer Geno's or Pat's, he thinks Jim's is the best.  On the way I ask him if I will be able to find another taxi when I get done eating.  Steve responds "you'd have to be blind not to find a taxi over there".  Ok, I'll take that as a yes.

So about 200 yards from the destination I look to my left and see a very Vegas like set of flashing neon lights, "GENOS" was lighting up the night sky.

So I say, "boy that is hard to miss" "where is Pat's"?  Steve lets me know it is the small building with the little sign on it.  Then he says "Pat says he don't need no F#(KING lights to sell his sandwiches"  This made me laugh.

This is my first taste of the Philly attitude. 

So I go to Geno's first, I step up and pretend I know what I'm doing "whiz wit" I say with some make believe confidence.  There was a group of asians in front of me who found one of the signs interesting.  It said "this is America, order in English".  About 34 seconds later I had a sandwich in my hand and I was stuffing it into my face with extreme joy.  Keep in mind that due to my new found diet I was "saving up" for this meal by not eating hardly anything all day.

So at this point I'm basically freezing my A$$ off, shoveling cheesesteak into my face and loving every second of it.

So next I stroll over to Pat's and get in line.  There is more of a line at Pat's and they took the ordering much more serously.  So once again I step up "whiz wit" I say as I'm getting the hang of this.  I think it helps to pretend like you are slightly irritated by everyone around you.  This one is even faster, I'd say 15 seconds max.  I was freezing at this point and focused the task at hand.  I have to say, this was a tasty sandwich too but there were distinct differences and I had found my favorite.

Geno's distributed the cheeze much better and layered the meat in a way that made it much more eatable.  Pat's just dumped the cheeze on top and it was a bit of a challenge to get that perfect bite.  The steak, although chopped up, tended to have more stringy bits in it that took away from the eating pleasure slightly.

Overall, Geno's is the winner for me.

I flagged another cab driven by Abolade Desalu from Nigeria.  He quickly told me that Geno's was his favorite too.  Then he drove like a mad man toward the airport.  I don't think he was in a hurry I think he just liked to drive fast.

20/20 Memory - Your Mind's Eye

Do you have memories from times in your life where you can remember everything from that moment in time?  Maybe it was a significant moment in your life, or maybe just an experience that you treasure.

Some people always bring a camera with them during vacations and they snap photos of everything they think is interesting.  Other people carry the camera but never take it out.  Maybe there is nothing wrong with just allowing yourself to take it all in.  Take a picture with your "mind's eye" and store it away forever.

I have so many of these moments and I can play them in my mind anytime I want.  It is almost like I can go back in time and live it over again. 

Give it a try, close your eyes and go back to one of YOUR moments.  See it, smell it, feel it.

I have some favorite moments to remember... 

Walking into your grandparents home, the different smell, all the treasured old items from their life.  The stories that you have heard before but would give anything to hear again.

Sitting in your first car and realizing you can go anywhere you want.  It doesn't matter how old or beat up the car, I swear I can still feel the seat beneath me now.

Going brook fishing with my father, picking our way through the woods to secret fishing holes.  The moss covered forest floor was so soft, and the branches would catch the line of the fishing pole so I would stop to un-tangle it.  That vibration of the first bite from a fish and the excited yell "I got one!"

Climbing mountains and enjoying that moment when I reach the peak and stop to take in everything around me.  The cold of the sweat on my back when I removed my pack and sat down onto the uneven granite.

I would never trade these memories for a photograph.

Placenta Extract - No Thanks, I'll Pass...

There I was staring at a wall in a Hong Kong mall, looking at an advertisement for something I just didn't understand.  I'm still not sure I understand it now... even Google is struggling to help me on this one.

So basically from what I can find, people use Placenta Extract to gain these benefits:

-Regenerates cells, tissues and organs

-Increases flexibility in joints and discs

-Improves immune system against diseases

-Improves alertness and mental awareness

-Lightens facial pigmentation

-Refines facial pores and a glow to your skin

-Enhances skin texture

-Improves sleep patterns

-Improve in blood circulation, stamina and energy level

-Eliminates Constipation

-Decreases risk of heart diseases

-Relieves symptoms related to any chronic disease

-Stabilizes weight to normal level

-Enhances your body figure and skin elasticity

This is pretty impressive, it eliminates constipation and improves joint flexibility.  How many items can you think of that can do all these things?  It's like MAGIC!

How can I get some???  How much does it cost???

Like anything, you can buy it on the internet, but hang on to your hat.  It's $171 / gram!  Just to put that in perspective for you that is about 3X the cost of PLATINUM.

Maybe you wonder how they make this stuff.... who is the donor....

Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to. 

Now wait a minute.... lets look at the list again.  How many of these things can be improved by exercise?

-Regenerates cells, tissues and organs -Yes, but maybe not all organs

-Increases flexibility in joints and discs - Yes

-Improves immune system against diseases - Yes

-Improves alertness and mental awareness - Yes

-Lightens facial pigmentation - No, but who cares

-Refines facial pores and a glow to your skin - Yes

-Enhances skin texture - No, and as a matter of fact your feet will look like hell

-Improves sleep patterns - Yes

-Improve in blood circulation, stamina and energy level - Yes

-Eliminates Constipation - Yes, just ask the Dunkin Donuts that is .75 miles into my run route.

-Decreases risk of heart diseases - Yes

-Relieves symptoms related to any chronic disease - Yes, but depends on the disease

-Stabilizes weight to normal level - Yes

-Enhances your body figure and skin elasticity - Yes

So save your money, get off your a$$ and get busy with EXERCISE! 

Triathlons and Muscle Cramps

Interesting... for as much time as I spend training and thinking about Triathlons I don't spend much time writing about them.  Of course that could be because it is January, Btown just got 23 inches of snow and I am in Hong Kong. 

So if I were to write a chronicle of my tri experiences you would see a general theme.  During practically EVERY race I have had muscle cramps.  This has been the bane of my racing experience.  As a result, I have become an expert on the subject of muscle cramps and their potential causes.

 

So far, I have not been able to find the magic combination that eliminates my cramping.  If you don't think I have tried it all... so far I have explored the following causes and many more:

1.) Hydration - basically this is the most common suspected cause of cramping.  I'll admit that I have a hard time staying hydrated because I sweat at about 65 ounces per hour but can only hydrate at around 35 ounces per hour.  So I am bound to get dehydrated in hot conditions or when working hard during a race.  Probably the best thing I could do is lose some weight since that would help keep me a little cooler and make me work a little less.

2.) Electrolytes - this is the second most common suspected cause.  I have tried all levels of electrolyte replenishment using multiple sources.  My favorite is Endurolytes made by Hammer Nutrition, specifically in powder form so I can mix it with my drink.

3.) Nutrition - I have looked at my diet and found that I don't get enough essential minerals so I take a suppliment to make up the difference.  Basically I take Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc to keep my muscles firing properly.  In the very beginning this made a great improvement in my cramping but that didn't last long.

4.) Fitness - The theory is that the cramps protect you from doing something beyond your capabilities so you need to train to force your body to adapt and be prepared.  I don't train as much as some triathletes, but I routinely get in 6 - 10 hours a week which is still quite a bit.  This winter we incorporated some strength training into the mix which made me strong as hell but didn't help the cramping.  In brick workouts I sometimes cramp and sometimes don't, it's a bit of a crap shoot.  Lately all my bricks have resulted in cramping.

5.) Caffeine - First it can cause dehydration, second it can cause muscle spasms which in my mind are related to cramping.  Either way I eliminated caffeine and it didn't make a bit of difference.

6.) pH balance - This is one that is hard for me to figure out because it is pretty dynamic.  There are many things that can throw your pH balance out of whack.  When it happens they think it can cause cramping. 

7.) I could go on and on forever because there are over 250 suspected causes for muscle cramps.  I'm hoping some day they will want to turn me into a science experiment at some medical school and they can do all the tests necessary to figure out my cause.  Until they call, I'll keep training hard and trying to stay hydrated, eat healthy, and lose some more weight.  Maybe some day they will call...

Pakistani point of view

I consider myself to be pretty outgoing, this typically results in conversations with all sorts of people as I travel through life.  Today was no different.

This is Mehas Wakas, he is from Pakistan and works at the hotel gift shop where I am staying in Malaysia.  Since I am flying to Hong Kong tomorrow I figured I would buy some small snacks for the trip.  As usual I was very friendly when I entered the shop. I made a point to smile and say hello.   I selected my items and went to the small desk where he sat. 

The conversation started with him asking where I was from.  I have learned that the easiest answer is "New York" so that is what I said.  Then I asked him where he was from, Mehas quickly responded Pakistan with a big smile.  Some how we ended up in a conversation mostly let by him.  The first topic was the relations between Pakistan and America.

Mehas told me that Pakistanis think that all Americans are angry at them and that Americans are nervous that the Pakistanis are going to shoot them.  I agreed on the American point of view.

Next Mehas went into a rant about how Malaysia was MORE dangerous than Pakistan.  This caught my interest for sure.  He quickly showed me a large scar on his hand and told me how he was robbed when he had only been here for 7 days.  He said if I was in Kuala Lumpur City Center (the place I went the other day) and I saw dark skinned men that I should "go the other way very quickly".   This from a man that clearly knows danger when he sees it.

Then he said that Pakistan was no more dangerous than Mexico.  I agreed, but added that I didn't consider Mexico very safe since they regularly have RPG attacks in the streets.  I suppose it is all relative to a man like Mehas.

Then he insisted that Pakistan was one of the most beautiful places in the world with much "natural beauty".  I couldn't comment since I have never been there.  We ended up chatting for 15 minutes or so before I asked if I could take his photo.  He gave me a puzzled look so I explained that I write about my experiences and that I would like to write about him.  He agreed to let me photograph him and he seemed to have a great amount of pride as I shot the photo.

I have to say it was really interesting to hear the point of view from someone who has seen some of the most dangerous places in the world.  Put it this way... Mehas has been to Afghanistan on vacation.   Let me say that again, VACATION in Afghanistan. 

Kuala Lumpur - not the home of the Koala Bear

This week I find myself in Malaysia, the home of the twin towers but not the home of the Koala Bear.  For someone as foolish as me it is easy to get confused Kuala does not equal Koala.

(I must say, I surprised myself with how good this photo came out)

Often when I arrive in a new location it is late at night and I have no idea what I will find in the morning.  That was the case with this trip too.  I arrived around 10:30 PM and cleared Customs around 11, walked out and my driver was nowhere to be found.  This really pisses me off if I've spent 30+ hours traveling and the last leg of the journey is delayed.  So I called the phone number for the service and had a painful conversation that ended up with me describing my clothing to the dispatcher and me wandering around the arrival terminal swearing and waving my arm.  Five minutes later a small asian woman ran over with my name on a sign.  She would attempt to unite me with my driver and car, so we stepped outside to wait another 10 minutes for him to pull around.  After 35 minutes of highway driving we arrive at the hotel, the rest is a blur because I was completely exhausted.

Work started at 8 AM the next morning and went until 10 PM that night... not exactly a short first day.

We did however make a trip to downtown Kuala Lumpur to have dinner and to view the Twin Towers.  We had dinner at a place that served traditional Malaysian food.  As is the usual case, one of our native associates ordered all the food.  You can see below that there was no shortage of food, but some of it was pretty hard to eat.  My boneless chicken and rice special request was, in a word, asian.  That means it had bones and was spicy as hell with some contents that could not be identified.  I tried about 10 different Malaysian foods, but can't say I really loved any of them.

We had about 25 people at dinner and it was full of interesting conversations.  I think we were from about 15 different countries.  We purpose fully mixed up the seating arrangement so we could get to know new people from different areas of the company and world.

We spent some of the time exploring the shopping mall that is in the base of the towers.  It is amazingly large and has any shop you might imagine.  The prices were equal to what we would see in the USA so no real incentive to buy anything.  I did get to try out one of the new SONY 3D TVs which was pretty cool. 

Overall, Malaysia has been a cool place to visit.  The people are nice, a high percentage speak english, the weather is warm, and the air quality isn't too bad.  A 5 star hotel is $90 / night and the airfare was only $1800 round trip from New York flying on Emirates through Dubai.  I just wish I had the time to explore the country a little more.

Five Guys - best burger in America???

This week I found myself in Greensboro, North Carolina.  As usual I enjoyed a variety of foods, including everything from Sushi to BBQ.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE cheeseburgers. 
About a millisecond after I heard about Five Guys I had already decided I was going to go there.

Five Guys is rated as the best burger in America by multiple authorities and also the best French Fries by many others.  This is pretty strong endorsement for lowbrow food considering that their burgers are around $5 each. 

So after about 10 hours at work, I made my way to the hotel, got all my workout gear and headed to the YMCA.  I did a swim / run workout that went until about 9 PM, needless to say I was pretty wasted by the time I rolled into the parking lot at Five Guys.

I walked in to find bags of potatoes, containers of fryer oil, and boxes of peanuts stacked all around the red and white tiled room like decorations.  The walls were covered with the various awards that the chain has received.  There were 4 groups of people in the restaurant basically all small families. 

When I stepped up to the counter I asked what I should get.  I wanted whatever they recommended as the best or most signature burger and side.  I ended up with a Bacon Double Cheeseburger "all the way" with fries and a Cherry Coke.  All The Way basically means it gets all the standard toppings (Mayo, Relish, Onions, Lettuce, Pickles, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Ketchup, Mustard).  The fries were hand cut potatoes with the skin left on.  The Cherry Coke was there to wash it all down.

Was it the best burger I ever had?

Good question.

My answer:  It was damn good but I think my burgers are better.  The fries however are the best in the Universe.  They even beat Old Orchard "Pier Fries"  which have always set the standard.

The next time I am in Greensboro, I'll be back for sure.  No doubt.

Winter Wonderland - a visit from our friendly owl

Winter seems to be one of those LOVE IT or HATE IT things.  Love it for the beauty of fresh snow and the great outdoor activities or Hate it for the bitter cold, dangerous driving, and endless shoveling.  Today I love it; let me tell you why...

I just flew back home again yesterday and I was laying on the couch just looking out the window.  I saw a flash of movement and a huge bird landed on a limb right in front of me.  I recognized it as the Barred Owl that has been visiting our yard all winter.  This time he was in one of the closer trees just scanning the fresh snow on the forest floor for any potential lunch opportunities.

He spent about 30 minutes moving from branch to branch and tree to tree with his head on a swivel.  At one point I got brave enough to open the sliding glass door and shoot a photo of him.  As you can see he was keeping an eye on me too.

I was amazed at what an amazing presence this bird had.  He was so well camoflaged, but it seemed every animal had such respect that they stayed well hidden.  Probably a good idea, he looks hungry.

Gym Rules

It's official, I've been working out for half of my life.  That makes me an expert on gym behavior and allows me to make the rules.  Don't believe me... check out a couple of my baby photos.

Pay attention because this is important.

Gym Rules

#1 - This is not social hour, it's ok to say hi to someone but beyond that I don't want to hear you talk.
#2 - Cell phones, (see rule #1)
#3 - If I am 3 feet from the mirror, doing an exercise, and looking at my form, don't walk between me and the mirror it makes me want to punch you.
#4 - If you sweat on a machine, good for you, you are working hard.  Now clean the machine.
#5 - If you are grunting and dropping weights I better be impressed by how hard you are lifting, otherwise you are just being obnoxious.
#6 - If you can do your workout and read a book at the same time, you aren't trying hard enough.
#7 - If you pick up a weight, put it back where it goes. 
#8 - It's not a fashion show and nobody cares how your hair looks.
#9 - Do not have body odor, that means ANY, perfume or stink.  I don't want to smell you.
#10 - Don't bring food in the gym, it's not a bistro.

Locker Room Rules
#1 - Don't let your balls touch anything you don't own, use a towel.
#2 - If you need to pick something up off the floor, don't bend at the waist, use your knees.
#3 - Don't stare at my genitals, it's just wierd if you do.
#4 - I know your kid is an electrical contractor, I don't need another one of his business cards.
#5 - Don't leave your half used soap in the shower tray.
#6 - There are only two acceptable body positions in the steam or sauna room. Sitting and walking in or out. Don't stand in front of me while I'm sitting.
#7 - Shaving, brushing your teeth, combing hair, etc can be done with a towel around your waist. 
#8 - There is a time limit on cleaning your private parts in the shower, it doesn't take 5 minutes, everyone knows what you are doing.
#9 - If you don't use a lock on your locker, you waive your right to complain about stolen items.
#10 - Seriously, stop looking at my genitals.

Couple more miles under my belt

I have never really been any good at arts and crafts.  It's not hard to tell I don't have any skill.  Here is my attempt at an updated map showing my travel.  Since the last update, I've been to Hong Kong twice (once was just an overnight layover), Mainland China, Jakarta Indonesia, through Tokyo Japan, and through Toronto twice. 

In the next month I will be in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, via Dubai, and will have two quick trips to the Carolinas. 

I get asked quite a bit "do you mind doing all this traveling?"  My reply is usually "It all depends on how you look at it".  I choose to look at it as a great opportunity to see many different things I would otherwise never get the chance to see.  Everytime I experience something new it changes my view of the world.

So how do you view the things in your life?  Do you see the bright side of things?  There are good and bad things about almost every situation in life.

 I hope we can all take a minute to see the bright side and appreciate the good things.

The Aero Helmet

Nothing in this world personifies a Triathlete like the Aero Helmet. 

There is a moment in every Triathletes journey when they realize that they are ready for this masterpiece of refinement and evolution.  It is a commitment to speed that outweighs the potential for embarrasment that wearing a pointy piece of foam and plastic on your head can create.

Just to compete in a race you must be ready to cross certain barriers of humility.  You start your day by donning a suit made 100% from spandex.  To make matters worse, you will wear this into public and place yourself into the spotlight.  You will immerse yourself in cold water and then run for everyone to watch.  This is just the beginning. 

Once you have become comfortable with the spandex, the nasty sweaty wetness, the snot rocketteering, and other other unspeakable incidents, you will soon be ready for the pointy helmet.

I turned this corner myself just this past race season.  I woke up one morning and I just knew I was ready.  I announced it to the world (ok maybe just family, friends, and coach).   I went to my favorite bike shop and I announced it as if it were important news that must be heard.  "I am ready for the pointy helmet!"  Matt , the owner, just stared at me for a minute then gave a slow nod like he was witnessing some significant evolutionary moment in my life. 

Soon it had arrived and I was not the only one excited!  Matt had already taken it out of the box and had it waiting for me right on the counter.  I placed it on my head and I think I heard angels sing.  I felt faster than ever before.  So I rushed home and got suited up as quickly as possible.  Not in the normal bike training outfit.... No Way.... this was a day for the race clothing.  I found myself faster than ever that day, I pedaled with the focus of a fully committed athlete. 

I checked the calendar for the next bike club Time Trial event.  I had 3 days to wait.

The day of the event, I once again wore my race outfit, crowned myself with my pointy helmet and arrived ready to compete.  I could feel the eyes of the others staring in envy,  I could hear their wispers about my new found speedy gear.  I gave that day my 100% effort and it felt great. 

I hope some day you too can feel the dedication and commitment that is the Aero Helmet. 

The Injured Triathlete

The injured triathlete is a difficult thing to be around.  I can say this without fear of hurting the feelings of anyone I know who trains and competes for these races.  We know that we can be a real pain in the butt during normal circumstances.  This is bound to happen when someone trains intensely at three different sports and goes through the rollercoaster of competition.

If a healthy triathlete is a 6 on the difficult-to-put-up-with scale, then a triathlete with an injury is easily an 8.5 on a good day and a 9.5 on a bad one.  At some point, a portion of our happiness relies on training and competing. 

I've been pretty fortunate in that I haven't suffered too badly from all the training, but recently my running has been sidelined by some kind of a muscle strain in my right calf.  The crap thing is, I don't even understand really how I hurt it.  I was just running on the treadmill at a liesurely 9 min/mi pace and all the sudden sharp pain in my calf.  I tried to walk it off, but nope, it was there to stay.

I gave it a day with no running and it felt fine again so I went for an easy run, BINGO, 3 miles in it starts hurting again.  So I stop and shift my training to other things like swimming and biking and weights.  I give it another couple days then test it out, 2 miles this time before I'm limping badly.

So at this point, me and my bike are becoming good friends down in the basement.  The folks at the pool are seeing me more often than ususal.  I'm still grumpy because I want to continue to improve my running, but I guess I'm going to have to give it some serious downtime.

I guess this is the beauty of triathlons, there is alway something else you can do to keep up the training.

Planet Fitness, you suck and I want my money back!

My gym membership at Anytime Fitness ran out last week.  At the same time, I was struck by a feeling that I am spending too much money on gym memberships, gear, etc.  So I decided to give the local Planet Fitness a try.  $10 a month doesn't sound too bad on the wallet and I spend most of my gym time on the treadmill when it is too nasty to run outside.

First lets just say that Planet Fitness has done some unique branding moves.  For instance they market themselves as a "no judgement zone".  Let me clarify this for you...

That means that when at the gym I am supposed to not grunt or make noises while I work out.  I am not supposed to lift heavy weights that would make other people uncomfortable.  As a matter of fact they don't even have any heavy weights, their dumbbells only go to 50 pounds.  Normal gyms have dumbbells that go up to 130 to 150 pounds. 

Now this particular location is also located in the basement of a building and is not very large at all.  As you can see in the picture above they have crammed about as much crap into this room as possible.  Also please take note of the slouchy caveman dragging his feet, this is exactly who I'm not supposed to judge.

In another twist of marketing genious, Planet Fitness offers the Black Card which they say is to give you "status".  Wait a minute, but if we aren't judging each other then why do I need "status" and is that something you can buy at Planet Fitness.  I thought status in the gym was determined by hard work and sweat and having  a road map of veins on your forearms.

But hang on! The Black Card provides you with unlimited TANNING!  You have got to be $hi++ing me!  We aren't judging each other but now the color of my skin is important? 

So now we get beyond the marketing retardation (can I say that?) and we get into my personal experience.

Day #1 - signing up for a membership

Approach the counter, be greeted by teenage bubblegum chewing ditz #1 and #2 who offer me a tour.  Ok sounds good.  The tour takes 1.5 seconds because the place is the size of my closet.  It includes a briefing on not judging people.  Sign me up!  I promise I won't judge! (fingers crossed)

Day #2 - first workout

Enter the gym to find the windows fogged with humidity and the temperature at 80 degrees.  When I approach the neanderthal at the desk, he tells me it's hot outside and the gym is busy so it got hot and humid inside.  I scratch my head and make a counter argument that it is 35 degrees outside and the gym is supposed to be busy.  35 is warm for December, what is going to happen in July?  This was countered by a stupid look on his face and a odd guppy type jaw motion.

Day#3 - second workout

Enter the gym, it's only 74 degrees inside today.  Same dip$hit at the counter "hey buddy why's it so hot today?  It's 15 degrees outside and the place is empty.  This is greeted by some drool from his mouth and an excuse that the air conditioner is not working properly but someone will fix it.  Great no problem.  How about you give me the # of the owner or manager so I can find out when it will be fixed.   "Ummmmmm I cant give you that info".  Ok, when will they be in?  "8 AM weekdays"

Day #4 - 8AM monday morning

Enter the gym and dip$hit is at the counter again.  He greets me with an Oh Crap What Do I Do Now face.  He tells me the manager already left.  I reply with about 47 second of silence.  Then tell him to give me her phone number, which he can't do.  So I give him mine and tell him to call her and have her call me.  Complicated instructions, but I'm sure he can get it done. 

Phone call from Kim the "Regional Manager" - without going into too much detail, they can't give me a refund and there is nothing wrong with the heat.....  Excellent, I guess I have a couple weeks left to enjoy the gym.  (update: Kim called me back later in the day to say that she had reconsidered the situation and decided to give me a full refund.)

Day #5 - hasn't happened yet but when it does! (day 5 cancelled, thank goodness)

Enter the gym singing "We Will Rock You" by Queen.  Proceed to the front desk to check in with the inept staff member of the day.  Reveal my home made "Planet Fitness Sucks" t-shirt.  Begin to lift and slam every weight in the gym while grunting and posing in the mirrors.  Proceed to do an interval workout on the treatmill while sweating all over everything around me.  I will congratulate myself after every interval because I am a beast!  Then I will do my stretching in the middle of the floor because there is no other place to do it.  When people have to step over me I'll tell them to get the hell out of my way!  Finally I'll do some poses in the mirror while grunting and growling at myself.

Welcome to Backwards Town

In case you have been wondering where I have been and why you haven't seen any updated posts... once again I have been censored by the Chinese Government.  Because this blog is run by Google I can't access it while in China.  I can't even check my Google mail account unless I am signing in at one of our corporate servers. 
So now that I am home from my trip and well rested.  I'm ready to unleash some serious blogging activity!

So for today, lets piss off the Belchertown Police again!  No wait, lets piss off the entire local government!

As I have said before, I live in a small town, not very sophisticated.  Now they have decided that the best solution to heavy traffic outside a small local bank is to post a police officer there EVERY DAY.  His sole job is to get out of his car everytime someone wants to pull in or out of the bank, he steps in the road and stops traffic.

I know it's a novel idea...... but...... maybe we could install a traffic light! 

Am I missing something here people???

So, may I make a formal request.  Public Works, Town Council, Someone, Anyone, please pull your head out of your ass and install a traffic light!  Then our officers can get back to doing what they do best, racial profiling, donuts, and practicing intimidating looks in the mirror.

Jakarta, Indonesia

So I hinted earlier that I had just come back from Jakarta which was actually a pretty interesting place to visit.  Indonesia is surprisingly large and Jakarta is very heavily populated.  There is something like 9.5 million people living in the city.

To get there I went from Hartford to Chicago to Hong Kong to Jakarta, this can be bad enough on it's own but with a tight connection in Hong Kong and mechanical issues in Chicago it is worse.  We missed the connection and did an overnight in HK.  The Hotel is actually connected right to the airport terminal which is very handy.  To put it simply, this place is huge! 

 This is the hotel airport lobby at 3 AM and later in the day.  I had wicked jet lag so I went to the gym which you can see below.  The gym was empty except one other American who was in the same situation.

As you can see it is rated the best airport hotel in the world...  it was pretty handy.... and pretty cool.



So after I got in a serious fight with the airlines the next morning as they tried to delay my flight again, I finally made it to Indonesia.  The airport was pretty crazy and uncoordinated.  It was more of a mob than lines trying to get through security and Customs.

It takes 3.5 seconds to get a Visa in Indonesia, just pay them $25 and they hand you a Visa.  Pretty handy.

We were greeted by a company car because the plan was to head directly to the factory.  A new Toyota van was brought around and I was surprised that it literally didn't have a heater.  It also only has a cassette deck, no CD. 

I guess I just thought all cars had heaters, but, I guess not here.  Maybe because it is always sweltering hot.

This is basically what the skyline looks like.  Overall, it is pretty dirty and nasty and mostly a free-for-all on the roads.

The streets are all lined by these food carts that have anything from soda to fruit and other local foods.   TONS of people on motorcycles.  Now keep in mind, it's like 90+ degrees outside and some of them are wearing winter type coats.  WTF?

Also note that the cars are only inches apart.  That black jeep nearly took off our mirror as he drove past.

Below you can see one of the other modes of transport, the 3-wheeler.  Indonesia has this awesome "lifted" version which I think is pretty awesome.

 Now for my usual shots of the workout facilities.  This is the gym and pool at the hotel.  Overall, not too bad and they agreed to open it early for me.  All workouts as usual resulted in people standing and staring at me.  I'm totally used too this now and try to give them something to do, like get me a towel or water or something.  I'm not very muscular now that I stopped lifting, but anywhere over seas, I'm a giant compared to them.  Good for my ego, bad for privacy. 

So in the end, I won't be going to Jakarta on vacation anytime soon.  But I hear Bali is nice...