Fantastically Complicated Tuesdays

Lately I've feeling pretty unmotivated, a whole lot of grouchy with a bit of tiredness. It's been almost a month since I've done any long rides. The thought of waking up early, driving to the park and going for a 30 mile ride just seems stupid. Running, well I've been getting in some miles in. Takes me a long time to get moving out the door and when I start running, I just want to turn around and go back home. Swimming is swimming. Our masters group is getting bigger with weaker, just learning how to swim, got bit by the olympic bug, triathlon one and done bucketlisters. If you're reading this and you fall into that category.  A few guys were complaining about how they did in a recent OWS event, complaining about this and that. Seriously bros, if I knew you guys were bringing the whine, I would have brought some cheese.

Anyway, enough with the rambling. He's a good video from Bill Nye. I'm sure you all remember him as "Bill Nye, The Science Guy". According to Bill, he mentions " if grownups want to "deny evolution and live in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them.". As a biology major, I agree with Bill. We can't have the future generations not knowing how things work. All of our accomplishments would be for nothing. Seriously, what would we be doing without the internet and iphones?

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O Hard Work

Sometimes it's hard to get motivated to workout. Laying on the couch or bed seems much more appealing than going for a run or jumping into a cold pool. Here's on of my favorite songs to get me motivated on those hard days. You can download it here.

Dear Hard Work,
I used to hate you,
When you called my name,
I heard it but ran away from you,
When I knew you were coming,
I used to hide from you,
When you influenced others to talk to me,
I quickly made excuses to get away from you.
Afraid of the pain because I didn’t want to get hurt
Afraid to fail, so I didn’t even try
Afraid of the shame that you might put me through and
Afraid of your name because of what you have done to others
Who do you think you are?
Making me so afraid of who you are?
Reflection in the mirror,
Shadow behind me,
I take one step and still,
Your ahead of me,
Sweat on my face, tears in my eyes,
I keep on going,
I heard you tell no lies,
You turn the poor to rich,
F to A’s
Is there anything that you can’t do?
Now look at me,
You made me who I am today,
and because of you,
I have this never losing, never giving up attitude
Quitting?
That is not in my vocabulary
When they quit, I keep going,
When they sleep, I work harder,
When they say that I can’t and count me out, I show them that I can
When I tell them about my dreams,
And they laugh, I make sure I laugh last.
I’m a dream chaser, that means I chase my dreams, and not no one else’s
Only I can defeat me,
It’s me against this work you put on me,
There Is no losing – I will not lose,
I came this far and I’m not stopping now
O Hard work,
My dad was right about you, you do pay off, and because of that I love you.
How can I not?
I’m no longer hiding from you, I’m waiting for you.
Matter of fact, where are you?
I need you, because in hard work- I trust!

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Non-Triathlon Tuesdays

Sorry with the lack of consistency with my posts lately, things have been actually getting busy at work lately. Our new facility should be opened in a few months, so things might start to pick up.

So with no upcoming races, I haven't done much biking or running. Swimming on the other hand, well, put it this way, if I ran as much as I swam, I'd probably be a fast runner. Anyways, since I have some free time now, hiking is now the name of the game on the weekend. Here's some pics of a trail I did with a friend. The best part about this trail? It's about 5min away from my house. 

Part of the trail. It's that vertical. 

Friend making his way up the ridge

Little narrow section 

Here's a link to a panoramic of the valley Manoa Valley 

Looking out the other side. It's the other half of my long bike ride route. Waimanalo, Olomana, Kailua. 

 

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2012 Tinman Triathlon

Going to make this short and sweet. Still a little tried from work last night and dealing with a splitting headache this morning.

A few weeks ago me and some friends planned to do a co-ed relay for the Tinman. Well, that was the plan until our swimmer mistakenly requested the wrong day off. After scrambling around trying to find a female swimmer and coming up empty, I wondered if I could find a male swimmer. That wasn't much of a problem. Hit up Doug of Dirtbag Fitness and he agreed to swim for us.

This year, the weather was pretty bad. It rained, got sunny, and poured again. It was nice since it kept it cool but I hate racing in the rain. Oh well. 3/3 for getting rained on during a triathlon this year.

The results 

Counterfit Pajama Insurgents

  DOUG - Swim 750m - 12:16 - 4th/11  

 Matt - Bike 23 miles - 1:14:51.4 - 2/11

 Lee  - Run 6 mile - 41:21 - 3/11

Overall - 2:11:01.9 - 2/11 

After waiting what felt like forever, we finally got the award. 

 I'm thinking it's a pen holder. 

Not sure how this happened. Didn't see the rider either. 

Busted carbon fiber Zipp. I'd cry if those were my Zipps. 

 

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Basil Lime Sorbet

After getting tired of the internet and Battlefield 3, I was in the mood to make some sorbet with all the warm weather we've been having lately. Living way back in the valley, any sort of plant grows like crazy. This is a good/bad thing since weeds grow x2 as fast. Anyways, my basil plant was getting outta control  si figured why not use it for something besides pesto or on salads. 

Basil Lime Sorbet 

2c water 

2c sugar

1/2c basil leaves, packed in measuring cup

1c lime juice (fresh preferred) 

Combine water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, whisk till sugar is dissolved. Once boiling, lower heat till medium-low and simmer for 5min. 

Add basil leaves to syrup and cool till room temp. Once cooled, transfer to a large bowl and place in refrigerator for two hours or overnight. 

Strain syrup through a sieve to remove basil. Squeeze basil out to get any remaining syrup out. Discard basil. Add in lime juice and stir till mixed. 

Add mixture to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufactures instructions. 

Enjoy.

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Road ID

Many months ago I was browsing the web and found out that Road ID had a new band out. I wasn't a big fan of the Sport, since it rocked the cloth band, and the Elite since it was a little out of my price range. Their new band, the Wrist ID Slim, looks like those Livestrong bracelets. It can be worn when training or not training while not screaming out "Hey, look at me, I'm a triathlete!".

One of the main reasons why I bought a Road ID is that the bulk of my training is done alone, with the exception of the swim. Having no family here on the island and no roommates, technically, no one would notice if I went missing for a few days. I'd hate to end up like those people on the news that can't be  identified because they have no ID on them.

The metal band is interchangeable and contains contact #'s. 

Rear view of metal band. It can be removed for cleaning. 

 Road ID on my wrist. Not too tight but not too lose.

The Road ID bands come in different colors and sizes. I suggest getting a few as extra in case the band breaks or gets cut. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. It doesn't get itchy on my wrist, band color can be changed if needed and most of all, it puts my mind at ease when I'm out training alone.

Also, don't forget, to make a time prediction for the visor giveaway. 

Here's some funny vids from Road ID. 

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Tinman Time Prediction Giveaway

So on the 29th, I'll be doing the Tinman as a relay instead of individually. I did a relay last year with some friends and it was a lot of fun. So with that said, I'm giving away visors to whoever has the closest time prediction. Last year our finishing time was 2:09:52.2.  The winner will have a pick of color, and the 2nd place winner will get the other color. I'll also throw some other things in with it.

Visors won't aid in performance, but at least you'll look pretty fast. It's all about intimidation. 

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