This is my first race of the year with TeamRev3. I did Rev3 Knoxville in 2011 and had probably the single best race of my tri career, met some great people, and had a blast. So it’s wasn’t much of a stretch for me to want to come back. Add being part of the Team this year and it would be a shame to not.

After a long trip down (flight delays) I managed to get here, eat, rest, and then head over to the team tent. Met with many teammates I knew from the summit and several new ones I’d only heard from online. STILL a bunch of the coolest darn people I’ve had the chance to meet. Just amazing and I continue to be honored to be considered a part of the team.

Met some Chicago locals from Suburban Multisport and then joined up with the team for a group dinner, getting our race kits (! SO excited !), and helping out at that Glow Run.

The glow run was AMAZING. There were SO many people. Local news said about 1,500 people came and I believe it. Even after the start time, there were just crowds and crowds of people walking to the start!

There were people of all shapes and sizes out there getting active, walking/running the 1 mile or 5k event. A few serious competitors too MAN they were fast!

We helped out guiding people to the finish and for a while I got to carry the BlinkyCone and provide a soft barrier should they decide to run into the light post I was in front of. Thankfully… nobody took me up on it.

The proceeds were to benefit Michael and Nicole Gross who were injured in the Boston Bombings. Both are UT swimmers – so we saw easily 50 UT swimmers come out and show their support to their injured Alumni.

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2013/apr/22/race-proceeds-to-benefit-former-ut-swimmers-and/?partner=RSS

After the Glow Run was time for me to head back to the Hotel, even though they had the Movie Night going – Wreck It Ralph easily had an audience of 150-200 near the finish line. Me, time for bed! A long day of travel makes for a tired Ron and I need to rest up for Sunday!

Thank you all for gathering here today to remember those who lost so much at yesterday’s Boston Marathon tragedy.

Let’s take a moment to remember why we run and why we’re here:

We run today for those who celebrated their dreams yesterday.

We run today for the friends and family who came to support those dreams.

We run today for those volunteers and staff who support those dreams.

We run today for those wounded, who may never run again.

We run today for the three who died, who will never run again.

We run for health.

We run for hope.

We run for love.

We run to banish the darkness in men’s souls which led them to such unspeakable acts of cowardice.

Please observe a moment of silence to remember those who are suffering today. Remember those who came to their aid, showing the goodness of mankind, and reminding us to strive for the same.

Thank you for coming.

Let’s Run!

If you have a goal, a dream, a desire… are you ALL IN?

Do you think about it every day, many times a day, and ponder how you can further that goal?

Do you make your day to day decisions based on that goal?

If not, why not?

I’ve found there are many things I “want”. I think that’s pretty normal for everyone. I tend to be pretty goal oriented and yes, I admit I have framework of my athletics over the next 10 years in my head. I have some big objectives even while my body is going to start showing it’s age.

However, I was talking to someone this week about this and they were talking about all these crazy goals they have. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m ALL FOR crazy goals. For me, that’s what often feeds my heart and drives me to action.  But why do I think they were crazy? Because they were doing nothing of substance to move towards that goal. Just talk about it but not actually prepare for it – not learn about it – not seek out and LISTEN to people who’ve been there, done that.  They were not ALL IN.

I watched another friend who attempted one of their crazy goals and didn’t achieve them (they did something amazing regardless, however, I think it will come with a very high price tag in both health and mental confidence). They were not ready, said they knew they were not ready, but yet went for it any way. They were not ALL IN.

So the question I ponder…

how do we get ALL IN on our goals? I’ve written about goals before.  All I can think of is they hadn’t fully worked through selecting their goals. but maybe I’m wrong? What do you guys think? Comment below!

This is something that has been on my mind lately… so I thought I would share.

Why won’t you do those things that you know you need to do in order to succeed? What is holding you back?

If you don’t HAVE a goal, that’s one thing. If that’s the case then get one HERE and come back later ;-p

BUT sometimes… we just don’t move forward. Apparently it’s pretty common. No so much for me (or if I did I wasn’t aware of it, I can lie to myself pretty well). But discussing with friends this week this seems to happen all the time to people in all ranks of life and success.

SO WHY?

We can only control so much (see last week’s post). But then there are those moments we can control. You’re sitting there wasting time on Facebook or Twitter or surfing funny cat videos or babies head banging or whatnot (guilty) or reading this blog (BUSTED!).  Is what we’re doing actually moving us toward our goal? If not, why not stop doing it… and do something that will?

Assuming your GOAL is solid and FROM THE HEART then… I wonder if the reason is people are afraid of success?

WHY?

My thoughts so far are:

1. People fear change.
2. People feel insecure.

I’m curious your thoughts… so post in the comments below… are you afraid of success?

Tri season training is on in full swing. I had two solid weeks in a row where I hit every workout. I was tired but I was feeling good. Work stress was melting away. I was “good sore” in many places all over my body. But it’s a comfortable kind of tired and sore – one you know is self inflicted. One that makes you stronger. Faster. Better.   The next week was a recovery week and that went well too. I was locked and loaded and ready for another 2-3 solid block of workouts!

Rev3 Knoxville here we come!

Then work strikes… We’ve been blessed with being very busy with client work this year (which means many more proposals and designs) so I’m not complaining. But there have been plenty of “other” things that us small business owners must deal with. A 32% health insurance increase. Needing to hire 2 positions. Staff turnover. Corporate taxes. Personal taxes.

Then personal… one boy possibly broke his wrist. The other had some stellar accomplishments worth celebrating. And so on. And… it all happens at the same time of course.

I missed several workouts this week. One I was REALLY looking forward to. A key part of getting faster is actually… going faster. Pushing your limits. It got nixed. Boooo.

After another 14 hour work day with a 2.5 hour commute yesterday I had time to think. I started getting worked up because I was getting home at 8:30, I had not eaten since noon, and this meant I wasn’t going to be able to get my 70min bike in. I was exhausted. Wrung out. Done.  I KNEW in my brain the right decision was to bag another workout. And it made me mad.

Since I still had a long drive, it got me thinking.  Was there anything I could have done differently this week and still met my family and work obligations? Could I have been smarter about my work obligations?

No. There wasn’t. Really? Nope. Seriously? NO. 90% of the stuff this week I just had no control over.

And that was liberating.

There are many things you can control. You can control how much time you sit in front of the TV or tasks you “take on” at work that really aren’t yours to take on. But there are some things that just go with the territory of having a family, a job, and a life.

Focus your energies on controlling the controllable.

The rest you have to let go.

You’ll get there.

Sometimes I amuse myself. Actually, quite often. But that’s another story… Entertain to Sustain came to mind today. And it amused me. Why?

Today I finished another iteration of updating the Pain Cave (ala the Man Cave. It’s my workout central in the house which I can use regardless of the 6-12in of Snowpocalypse, lightning or -25 we sometimes get here in Chicago. There isn’t much else that will keep me inside, because really, I prefer being outside. But when you’re highly LIKELY to be run over by a snow plow, struck by lightning, or when it’s so cold your iPod stops working and your sports drink freezes… you need a place.

That place is the Pain Cave.  I did some updates just recently, adding a barbell stand and replacing one of the bike trainers which we killed. The idea has been to make it good for me, but also my sons (hence 3 bikes).

But in doing this it really got me thinking…

first-Holy CARP Rev3 Knoxville is only 2 months away! May 5 is my first real race of the season. Wow. I got some work to do! I’m doing the Aquabike which I could fake my way through I guess but I’d really love to do WELL since they have an Age Group series in Knoxville 2014… Aquabike qualifies. Now is the time to really use the Pain Cave and get ready.

second – DAYUM I have a lot of stuff. You don’t even see the 4 shelves full of drawers of stuff – warm weather clothes, race clothes, cold weather gear, spare parts, shoes, food, first aid, PT, bike parts, and so on.  I think I need to move. I need more room (and yes Powerbar is like 5 bins, Biotta Beet Juice isn’t out there yet, I need to make some room, I have a box for SBR Sports products, etc – all the stuff I get to give away from my wonderfully awesome sponsors)

third - Entertain to Sustain.

There’s a method to my madness. In order to survive the cold winters and stupid hot summers we need diversity.  Diversity keeps things from being boring. I may spend 6 weeks with the Barbell then I might ignore it for 6 months. I may use the elliptical for a few weeks before I trade that for something else. By not doing the SAME thing we keep entertained because it’s “new” and “new” is good. Not only do you burn more calories “changing it up” but you balance out the body. win win.

However, notice all the OTHER stuff… the big TV I got on sale one Xmas about 5 years ago… Oh yeah… How about the big monitor for my computrainer? Yeah baby that’s a 55in computer monitor… circa 2000 (paid $50!) but still works perfect. And it’s huge. Huge is awesome. I can chase many silver-man riders all winter and they’re almost life size.  Very entertaining.

What you don’t see is the Roku – I stream Pandora (free) for just about any music I want over my Ebay find of the year speakers – 500Watts of power with 6 speakers, refurbished of course! Or the blue ray player (the VHS/DVD just died last year)

This stuff doesn’t have to be expensive. But it has to ENTERTAIN. Today’s fun was listening to Pandora. Last month I was showing it to my Grandmother (88) and so we added channels for her. Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, and so on. Well.. that sure is strange when you set it to SHUFFLE and Frank started crooning at you after listening to Metallica just a moment ago.

It’s all good. Made me smile in the middle of 150 squats with 35lbs on my back. And otherwise dull set!

What entertains you? What DRAWS you to your Pain Cave… watching movies? music? Quiet? Warm? Cold?

Entertain to Sustain folks… Start small, build it over time. Just like your body. It’s all about consistency. Whether you want to lose 5 lbs or 100. Survive a 5k or quality for Boston. The concept is universal – you can only “tough something out” for so long. So you have to

Make your place.

What do you have that draws you to your Pain Cave? What helps KEEP you there?  Please comment below!

So I’m a huge fan of buying local. As a small business owner of 27 years (www.pcsintl.com), I appreciate the chance to serve my community and hope that my customers feel the same.

Today I went to Play It Again Sports a used/new sports equipment store to trade in gear I hadn’t used in 2 years or more (and a failed experiment for the kids). Staff was super helpful and tried to help me figure out options for the missing items. Even carried weights out to my car. Nice!  I went in for 3 items, they only had one, but I was able to use some of my trade ins to offset some of the cost. Who needs a brand new barbel/weight set anyway? Not me. Saved $25, bought local, felt good about the entire transaction.

So went off in search of the remaining 2. I hate shopping. Even for my stuff. But I was determined to “do good” and find someone locally.

Store #2 was Chicago Fitness. We bought our treadmill there about 10 years ago and that treadmill is still kicking.  Although they didn’t have anything we needed the salesman was SUPER helpful in providing solution ideas to me about other options. As a lifter, he knew exactly what I needed – he just didn’t have it. And he reminded us of item #4 we needed, so that was great. THIS is a community store that just kicks A$$. I will continue to recommend them to everyone I know. Talked to us for like 30 minutes, didn’t make a dime, today. But he will. No doubt we’ll buy out next treadmill there.

Store #3 was Sports Authority. Arg, I’m not a fan of big box stores. The staff usually isn’t well-trained or motivated. Well, the salesman was nice and tried to help, they had item #4 but the other 2 items, still no luck.

Ok, I give up. I’m going online and will order it.

The Challenge… a negative spiral

If I can’t see/touch/feel stuff, how I can make an informed decision about a product? Does it fit? Does it look the way I want it? Looking online just can’t compare. Buying and returning items is a huge eco-waste, plus any cost savings is gone.

So I need a store right?

To afford a store front, I need enough sales volume.

Volume is usually made up of a mix of commodity (low margin, high volume) and specialty items (high margin, low volume) If that store can’t make money on the commodity items they can’t pay quality staff.

If they can’t pay quality staff, you are going to end up buying the wrong product more often. Which means returns. Restocking. Wasted time. Eco-Waste.

Solution? Buy the right stuff, at the same time, from the same place – done. One transaction.

Rant

It drives me nuts when I hear that someone when to X store to try something on, then they went online and bought it. To me, I consider that a form of theft. And it’s rampant today.

If you REALLY care about saving $5 on a $70 pair of shoes, or $0.12 on a powergel… be honest with your retailer. Offer to pledge to buy from them exclusively if they will cut you a special price. Or a Team price. It works. Trust me, just try it. Talk to the owner though, not a floor monkey.

Lastly, consider this. Especially at Bike Shops. If you get a RELATIONSHIP going with one, which means you buy exclusively from them, you will get much more in return. At my local bike shop I often don’t pay for minor tweaks and adjustments. Never pay for installation of something I bought from them. And I never jerk them around on price, actually I rarely ask. It works well for both parties.  I also can also hop in “front of the line” sometimes when I need something really badly (like right before a race). You’ll never get that from a Big Box retailer and you sure can’t get it online

My point? Support your local retailer. If you don’t support them they won’t be in  business to support you. I try to buy local whenever I can but I’m only one. How about you?

Please comment below – how do you feel about buying online vs local?

It’s like Christmas all over again around here. Today I got 2 more boxes from the wonderfully generous sponsors of TeamRev3. The boys were DYING to open them but they were forced to wait until I got home

So let’s see, the first box was a couple of weeks ago from SBRSports who makes this cool shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion which does lots of things – but for a Manly Man like myself, it makes me not smell like a walking pool – which everyone at work appreciates!

HOLY COW! 200 Shampoos, 200 Conditioners, 200 Body Wash, 200 Lotions… I’ll be clean FOREVER! Hehe.. oh wait, not we’ll get to the “Art of Giving” soon.

Also in there were (2) bottles of Trislide. This stuff is Da Bomb when it comes to getting in and out of your wetsuit.  I reviewed this already so go here or check out the CLOSET section of my site (hint: look UP) and check out the reviews.

Last but not least was the 100 Foggles. Enough Foggles to De Fog me for years. However, it’s not going to last. I already gave 25 away to Suburban Multisport Tri Team and 25 more are headed to the Prairie Dogs Multisport Club and 25 more to the Midwest Misfits and whatever is left goes to the Palatine Tigersharks (my son’s swim team). POOF! Gone!

Next box was from Powerbar. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this stuff, because I’m running low on the Powerbar PERFORM Drink mix.

And this is less than HALF of what I’ll be getting this season. AWE-SOME!

And finally today… it came… the much discussed Biotta Naturals Beet Juice! With a cool hat too!

Beet Juice?!? Really Ron is going to drink that? Heck yeah I am. I had some at the Team Summit and it’s pretty good ! It’s very similar to grape juice actually very sweet. Best served cold I bet this will make a nice post-run drink. Lots of good benefits, I’ll post a review in the coming weeks. I plan to try the other flavors they sent me. Apparently, I’m going to be getting a month supply for rest of the year! I expect this first batch will be done quickly though because everyone (ok, except one child who shall remain nameless) here is anxious to taste test them all. So I think tomorrow night we’ll be doing a Biotta Naturals Juice taste testing at Casa Ronbo.

Anyway, that’s it SO Far… anxiously waiting my other goodies… who shall remain nameless until all the paperwork and top-secret negotiations are complete and not a minute sooner!

The Art of Giving

So the super cool thing about being part of TeamRev3 and having all these sponsors be so generous with us is simple. I get to give this stuff (most of it) away. I’m going to use it myself (which I’d do anyway), help give feedback to the vendors (which I’d do anyway), talk about the stuff to anyone who wants to hear about it (which I’d do anyway), and GIVE IT AWAY (ok, I wouldn’t normally do that).

I feel like I’ve won the Kharma lottery and I get to just push all that Kharma back out there. I feel so utterly blessed and I’m totally jazzed about the season.

Ok, enough typing, time to go get on my bike!

Taking the family on a Cruise provided a unique chance to view the world from a disconnected state. Once considered the norm, in today’s universe many people find themselves “connected” 24×7, myself included.

No Facebook or Twitter and suddenly 800 voices are quiet. I have nobody to amuse me with funny cat pictures and political statements for/against some cause or even to know that a bunch of my friends got snow while I was gone. What value does all this add to my life? Amazingly, very little and very much all at the same time.

The real time and constant amusement is…. Well…. Amusing. Never do I need to worry about being completely and totally bored while I complete a phone call, wait in line, sit in a taxi, or so on. Yes, I’ve become high maintenance that way. The next generation has as well, the kids look at me aghast when I suggest they just be quiet and look out the window during our horrifically long 3 mile commute to wherever.

The connection to “friends” is something different all together.

In my 9 years of endurance sport I have accumulated hundreds of friends across the country. Many of these friends I’ve never met in person or even spoken to on the phone. Some maybe once as I came through on business. Most, however, are just through typing. I have to say many of them I have stronger bonds with than I do many of the casual local friends.

So it begs the argument, are these any less “real” of friends just because we’ve never shaken hands or shared a hug? I think the actions and words (even typed) make the relationship and this form of relationship is indeed a valid one, just harder for the rest of the world to comprehend. By being disconnected I am now not able to see my friends or hear about whether or not they have power or if their new baby loves or hates the snow – just like I cannot seem my “real world” friends. So this, I agree, is a bit of a loss.

The connection to work is one many could set aside easily. However, being self employed (or creatively unemployed, whatever you want to call it) running on 27 years now I am constantly monitoring work. Even though I’ve got 10 great people working for me it’s a hard habit to break. Always when I leave on vacation we get busy. This trip no exception. Although they are all perfectly capable, I still worry. Will we take great care of this new client? Will the proposal have everything we need in it? or…. Well, you name it.

In a world full of connected people even clients expect (or at least hope) I will be able to respond… 24×7. Perhaps I’ve trained them that way as I usually do answer, at least 5am-10pm 7 days a week. Maybe I need to stop that…Anyhow….

It’s a drag I cannot check the weather 20x day. I might actually have to walk to the balcony and open the door. Darn, the inconvenience!

I cannot check the news obsessively either. This, I think, is a Very good thing. The fact is, the news reports almost all negative and almost all things out of my control. With that understanding WHY do I read it at all? Except the tech news, I do enjoy reading about the newest widget I cannot afford to buy and won’t be able to play with for months or more. That’s fun… right?

Information lookup – now, this I feel a loss.

A wise man is not one who knows all, but knows where all is

– Socrates.

I am a wise man by this defition, but it’s only because of my multitude of connected widgets that connect me to the internet. I was faced with a buying decision on the cruise – some overpriced cream that was supposed to solve all my problems. My immediate reaction was to google it, find reviews and compare prices. Their immediate response was to play on my fears and concerns about the problems I may or may not have made up on my form (hehe) before I had my massage. After all, my skin isn’t as purty as it could be right?

Although I rarely play games on my iPhone/iPad etc, the kids do. I caught them both playing games during some down time. Really? Come on guys we’re on a Disney-Freakin-Cruise there is no greater holyland of fun – if you’re tired sleep. If you’re not, go to one of the bazillion activities on board. But it made me think – this is what they do at home and this is “habit”. Very low tolerance for boredom. I think a little boredom is good. The law of Neutrality requires that to have great times you must also know what bad times are – for only then can you tell the difference.  So no games guys – hand over the devices. I get it though, so we saved the floggings for another day.

So it took 24 hours for me to stop grabbing for my iPhone every few minutes… I’m still carrying It around (as a camera when out with the kids and a stop watch in the gym) but as we hit the 48 hour mark I’m letting go….

We’ll see.

I made it 62 hours until we got to a port of call with wireless signal and then the emails came streaming in and my willpower broke. After a furious morning of email responses I more or less stayed off it (translation, I was on it) during the day (but not night) and again the next day.

A huge pressure was releived that I could see what happened on X, Y, Z and answer questions to help my guys do their thing.

After that I was back offline another 60 hours. The second 60 was easier than the first.

I could get used to this…

I think I may need to schedule some more offline time…. my true friends will still be there when I’m back.

Welcome back… friends!

SWIM MEET LAST WEEKEND

So the swim meet was a success… I managed an OK (but no podium) showing in the 500 Free, 100 IM, and 50 back and a 3rd in the 100back. They cancelled the 200 IM which, honestly, I was not too dissapointed. After the 100IM my triceps HURT. Some self massage helped, but I was concerned about the 200 IM to begin with and going into it sore made me concerned I would take it too far and sideline my swimming for a few weeks…. but alas, they cancelled it due to time so it became a moot point. It took a couple days and a massage but they recovered just fine.

SPONSOR LOVE

Right before I left, had some sponsor love arrive. I will post pictures when I’m back, but I’m FLOORED by the generousity of SBRSport. I requested a few freebies for some upcoming Tri Club meetings. What I got? OMG – like 400 packets of shampoo/bodywash and 100 packets of Foggles anti-fog wipes. WOW. Awesome. They’re going to love them!

Also got a very nice hat from Biotta Juices  - more on them once I get some samples which are on the way I understand. A monthly supply, SWEET!

I understand the Powerbar stuff will be online soon for me to order, can’t WAIT!

OFFLINE? ARE YOU NUTS?

This week has been a whirlwind of activity preparing to go Offline. Crazy week at work (14-18hr days) and then slipping away from Chicago at the last moment as the storms tried to keep us home. We broke free in an epic 11 hour travel to Florida with the kids (first time we’ve gotten in around 3am with the kids… they did great!). We would not be denied… Great Grandma Mary and a Disney Cruise awaits!

Yes, indeed, I’m going Offline. Will I make it a day? 2? the whole week? It’s to be determined.   Although lately I’m more connected than ever… so I think a break from the tech is probably healthy. A Mental Cleanse so to speak. It’s time to spend a week with the family, resting, and charging up to attack 2013 with vigor.  Could possibly be too much eating and drinking as well, we’ll just have to see…  Training starts hard core when I’m back.

But one thing I promise to you all is I will be working out still every day. Not because I have to. Because I want to. I don’t use a vacation as an excuse not to stay active. Actually, when I’m relaxed and having fun it’s just a natural part of “what I do”. I bring this up because several friends (not endurance athletes, NORMAL people!! LOL) have asked about this.  If excercise is a CHORE then you’ve not got the equation right. It needs to be a DESIRE – then it’s a permanent change.

Anyway, more importantly my ankle has finally calmed down. Two nights in a row I’ve had NO issues with NO stretching. I’ve skipped so many workouts due to work that I’m really going nuts – so maybe it was a blessing as it forced me to slow down.

The Disney Cruise has treadmills on the bow of the ship – so when you’re on them, it looks like you have nothing but sea ahead. They have quality spin bikes. Pilates/Yoga classes (free) and a full weight room… not to mention some pamper time with sauna and spa and all that. So i’m really looking forward to a nice workout followed by lounging around afterwards… not rushing to work.  And in the mean time, the kids will be having a blast in the kid areas.

p.s. Disney I’m totally cool with a Sponsorship ;-p

Anyway, enjoy the silence and I’ll see you on the other side!