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Archive for October, 2007

Gambling away my tri-budget

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Like my cool new hat? (It was part of my Justin Timberlake costume for my Halloween work party yesterday.) I had a whole silver suit and black tie. It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself…

Anyway, I’m heading to Atlantic City this weekend to gamble away some money that I don’t quite have in hopes of expanding my triathlon budget next season. I mean honestly, is there anything else to even spend money on? Bills don’t really need to be paid on time, right?

Sparked by this thread on TriScoop, I was trying to have a little fun and imagine all of the wonderful things I could do if I actually hit it big in AC and came home with a good chunk of cash. (Casinos are designed to just give out cash, right?)

A lot of people seemed to focus a lot on getting new bike gear or a coach to make themselves a whole lot faster. While my $500 bike certainly isn’t the fastest thing out there, it at least gets the job done and keeps me from looking entirely too ridiculous on the race course or on team training rides.

Besides some minor gear upgrades (and possibly putting my tired ‘ol Fuji to rest), I think I’d rather just spend my (crossing my fingers) winnings on planning some cool tri-centric vacations. I’d love to take a week or two off to go race some place tropical and really be able to relax post-race. But alas, my bank account just won’t allow for such pleasures just yet… unless I do really well in Atlantic City this weekend!

What would you spend your money on if you stumbled on a nice chunk of cash? Any creative ideas?

Wish me luck guys! Maybe if I do really well I’ll bring a few of you along on vacation with me.

UPDATE: As it turns out, I’m not that great of a gambler. I managed to leave AC down $50, which I guess isn’t that bad. But I am a pretty good drinker! We managed to find a sushi bar serving $1 beers for happy hour until 11! Who knew such a deal existed in Atlantic City?

Lets just say that I drank so much that Kim would be proud.

Tags: atlantic city, gambling, Triathlon | Posted in Triathlon | 4 Comments »

Gotta love the LSD

Friday, October 26th, 2007

Last weekend I decided that 1) my running sucks and 2) it isn’t going to get any better unless I do something about it. Now that I’m guaranteed to get at least one or two solid cycling workouts a week since I started teaching spinning classes, I really want to keep myself from getting into a slump this winter and loosing whatever endurance I was able to build up over the last season.

I used to be a really strong runner back in high school and college, but those days are long gone. Not only that, but I really miss them too. I figure the only real way to be able to really enjoy running and be able to pull off some respectable (or at least comparable to my biking/swimming) performances in triathlons next year, is to really commit to running again and get my act together.

To keep my lazy butt off of the couch this winter, I’ve decided to do the Hyannis Half Marathon in February and (crossing my fingers) the Boston Marathon in April. (I’m trying to get one of the last spots available on a charity team to get a spot in Boston since I have zero chance of qualifying this decade).

These pics are from my first step (or workout) in that direction. I took a nice long LSD run last weekend down along the charles river and scoped out the annual regatta, The Head of the Charles. I brought my camera with me to grab some pics along the way, and give me an excuse to take some breaks in between (and ultimately stay out running much longer than I would get otherwise and prevent getting bored and turning around).

The run was perfect. About 2 and a half hours, about 13 miles, all below 154 bpm. There were tons of boats on the water from all across the country and plenty of spectators and vendors out enjoying the competition and the gorgeous late October day. It is days like this that really make me appreciate being an endurance athlete and just casually roaming across half of Boston and checking out some pretty cool sights.

Hopefully that feeling doesn’t fade once this nice weather fades…

Tags: boston, charles river, crew, endurance athlete, head of the charles, regatta, Running | Posted in Running, Training Log | 2 Comments »

Spinning Instructor Certification

Friday, October 19th, 2007

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.

A quick video of me just me giving me reactions to taking my spinning instructor certification and finally being able to feel completely comfortable and confident in front of my spinning classes. I learned a lot about things I already knew, but got much deeper into them and can actually talk much better about HR zones, workout planning, bike fit, etc…

Now I’ve just got to focus on getting people to show up to my classes!

Tags: indoor cycling, instructor certification, Spinning | Posted in Spinning, Videos | No Comments »

Spinning, people actually showed up!

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

I just got back from spinning class and after a few weeks of less than stellar attendance (no one came the last two weeks) I wasn’t even really prepared to teach a class.

I mean I had all my random junk with me (mix CD, sweat towel, water bottle, heart rate monitor…) but it kinda caught me off guard when people actually walked in and saddled up and got ready for class. It is still a little weird having people look to me for bike fit adjustment and other random questions, but hopefully I’m good enough at faking the parts I don’t really know to where no one really notices… haha. I am taking the official spinning instructor class this weekend so hopefully I’ll be all squared away after than and a little more confident. At least I’ve gotten pretty good at making up workouts on the fly. I at least keep it entertaining enough for me not to get bored, hopefully they thought the same.

Now that tri season has officially ended for just about everyone, the leaves are turning colors and starting to fall here in Boston, ~~fall~~ fat season has officially descended on the Bull household. All of those apples I picked made me a whole lot of apple crisp and apple pie, which obviously only reaches its deliciousness potential when covered in ice cream and chocolate sauce. Last night I cooked up a nice pumpkin pie, which also was a pretty damn awesome post-spinning snack when covered in ice cream. Next thing I know, I’ll be stuffing myself with halloween candy and thanksgiving turkey then christmas candy…

Man, I love this time of year.. haha. Plus I love pumpkin beer. That is just plain delicious.

Now that my job guarantees me at least one solid workout per week, my self restraint is SO going right out the window. I did sign up for a 5k in December, and am contemplating a half marathon in February. Hopefully that’ll keep the gut in check.

Ramble over…

| Posted in Spinning | No Comments »