You can poke them with a stick!

Yes, this was the first time that I  have met up with tweeps. I kinda tried last year at THE marathon, when Red was in town with Spike, but i saw a squirrel i was kinda doing my own thing (surprise) and didn't get to meet up. Maybe this year......
But this evening, I met Kris from http://www.krisgetshealthy.com/ (@krisgetshealthy) and James from http://www.priorfatguy.com/ (@jpnagan. It was very cool. Here's how it evolved:
I learned of an opportunity to go to Minneapolis (Bloomington), MN for work related training. So i hit them up on twitter, wondering if they knew where i was going to be, and if it was anywhere near them. Kris was like, ummm..YEA! of COURSE i know where that is, and JP was all....oh yea, i know that area! (turns out that the venue (hotel) is 1 mile away from the Mall of America. Cool.
Then i was denied my application to go.
So then we called the meet-up off.
Then i lobbied my boss to let me go.
And the meet-up was back on.
Thennn we had to pick a date and time, which we did. then they asked me where i wanted to go and i said, "anywhere that servers pitchers of Quervo Gold Margaritas" "i'll eat just about anything, so you pick." we decided on the economical and convenient Chevy's that is behind the MOA. JP brought his wee one with him, as his wife was finalizing a hostile takeover of some huge corporation. Seriously.
Oh. wait. so i'm here at the conference, and people are being nosy asking about each other's plans, and i told them that i was meeting with people who i only knew from twitter and they said that it sounded dangerous but i had no fear since they seemed really nice and genuine and such.....
and i was right!
Kris picked me up a the hotel and we headed over to Chevy's. On the way we talked about her plans and progress along her C25K journey; that girl has it figured out! She's getting a bit...well, head to her blog to hear her story, but lemme just say that she is, IMHO, on the right path, and also has the right attitude for success.
JP and wee one showed up, and we went inside. Food was good, conversation was great, wee one lost a small piece of lego. Seeing James and wee one interact reminded me A LOT of Bryce and I; it was heartwarming to see. JP had an impromptu photo shoot while at the gym today. Head over to his blog to check it out. This man is driven, determined, and actively working toward his fitness goals, all while keeping his priorities at home in line (IMHO).
Wee one was getting a bit antsy, but still holding it together pretty well. we decided to head out while he was still good, and i was even able to get him to take this picture of us, rather than poke them with a stick....maybe next time.....
Thank you, Kris and James for taking the time to get together! Very cool.....

#fitblog answers

I didn't attend #fitblog chat on Twitter last night. Instead, i cuddled with my sweety and watched some tv. it was a chilly evening, and it was time very well spent!
Here, though, are my answers to the questions that were posed. Nothing earthshattering here, but I wanted to post it and try to get some feedback. The topic was "Food is Fuel - How do you Fill Up?"

TOPIC QUESTIONS
Q1) Does when you exercise or how much you exercise impact what you eat? How?
On days that I plan to exercise, I try to plan my meals/snacks around the time i have set aside. I find that this helps with digestion, comfort, and energy levels. As for amounts of food, increasing the amount typically depends on how far i plan to run.
Q2) What do you eat before you work out?
 I typically eat some yogurt with granola about a half an hour before i work out. I used to eat a bagel with PB, but that just sat too heavily in my stomach, and it made me 'tired' of running too soon. For longer runs, or when i have eaten not so well, i'll pop a loperimide (Immodium) just for added 'insurance'. And i drink drink drink. Lately I have been triallling Generation UCAN's products, and will review them by the end of the week.
Q3) What do you eat after a work out?
After a workout I try to eat a buncha protein. Sometimes this is in the form of picking at meat leftovers in the fridge, or if i can't get home right away I will eat a Clif Builder's bar (20g of protein). If it was a short run, i might just eat half.
Q4) Do you eat more indulgently if you have exercised or plan to? What's your treat meal?
I don't usually eat indulgently. That said, last weekend I ate an entire large pizza by myself. It was a free one that we got because the pizza place goofed. YAY!..... My treat meal is usually something that involves seafood, but only while dining out. noone else in my family likes it, so i won't cook it at home. we only go out to places that offer real seafood once every other month or so, and that's when i'll eat those kinds of foods.

I am looking forward to tonight's #SFCFIT chat, where @mizfitonline will talk about Vision Boards. Interesting topic, to be sure. If you are on Twitter, follow the hashtag #SFCFIT at 730 CST this evening!

Be well,
Gene

Sharing the wealth

Ever 'meet' people online and wonder if they are really what/who they say they are? Nah, me either. I pretty much go at the web like a kid at Chuck-E-Cheese: no limits, every thing is good, there are no liars.
Ha.
Like you, I have had my fair share of phoney people online, businesses who want to sell me more crap (did you know that there is one for men AND women???) Seriously. Stair climber? I get it. It simulates stairs. Treadmill? Though I am still learning to love you, I get you. You simulates running outside. But the Shake Weight? It simulates, well.....something that already simulates something else. What gives?
But I digress. And now I need a cold shower. Wait. What? Nevermind. (Sorry, Mom!)
I really wanted to talk about some people who I have found to be genuine. The list here is not all conclusive, and please don't hate me if you think that you .....nevermind. no disclaimers. This is MY blog. if i want it to be all inclusive, or not, that's my, my, myyyy perogative.
Without (much) further ado, here is a short list of other bloggers/tweeps who have made a lasting, positive impact on my 2010. (In no particular order). (honestly).

• Adam (@theboringrunner) theboringrunner.com. This guy cracks me up, allthewhile amazing me with his running. His wife just had a baby boy early in December. Check him out if you aren't already a fan!
• Miz (@mizfitonline) mizfitonline.com. She spoke up when i was looking for a guide to run with in Las Vegas. She let me do a guest post on her web site, and we chat about our kids and other things quite a bit. Very, VERY inspirational lady. (if you don't know her already, chances are it is because you live under a rock). Or over seas....
• Which brings me to jogblog (@jogblog, @janathon_). Cathy is a witty lady with a unique writing style. Her running stories can be enjoyed at http://www.jog-blog.co.uk/, and her veggie recipes can be...also enjoyed...at Planet Veggie. I've tried a soup from her, and it was even a hit with our 13 year old! (WIN!)
• Sean (@audiofuel) from audiofuel.co.uk is great, too. He co-founded a company that produces music to run by, at certain beats per minute, to help you keep your pace. They have some interval workouts that really get my heart pumping and my legs churning! Cheers, Sean!




this is Jamoosh, NOT Tricia. duh.


• Jamoosh. Where would 2010 be without his Last Mile Lounge? I really appreciate how he makes the rounds and comments on my blog from time to time. Jamoosh also got us off the couch for a while and onto the floor with his hard CORE club. Loved it!
• I was introduced to Tricia (@triciarunning) from http://www.enduranceisntonlyphysical.com/ when I (foolishly) signed up for Mel's 1000+ club. Tricia contacted me as my 'coach'. At the time, she was wearing a protective boot because she hurt her foot trying to keep up with Dash or some such. Later this year she ran a MARATHON in TX. Oh, and come to find out, when she lived in FL, she lived right down the road from my parents. (I've never been there, they tell me it's nice! -j. walsh-)
• Ok, just a few more, i promise.
• Ryan (@nomorebacon, http://www.nomorebacon.com/) and Josie (@yumyucky, http://www.yumyucky.com/) have helped to keep me laughing this fall, and even offered some tech tips that I have acutally used. Nice. They collectively have a site called FitBloggersGuide. Check it out, YO!
• Katy (@kwidrick, http://www.katywidrick.com/) has great ideas about social media. She is the executive producer of a show called "Growing Bolder". Find it on your TV listings and set your DVR!
• Rachel (@rachelgettingit, http://www.rachelwilkerson.com/). She has tossed out some topics this year that were fun to be a part of. One of them was Sorry I'm Not Sorry, and another was about "owning it". whoops. same link. surprise Two-Fer~!)

Ok. before this gets to sounding too much like just a name dropping post, I want to add that all of these people helped to keep me "accountable" this year, which is the whole point of my blog. There are more who I will thank, but I think I'll save those for an early post in 2011. (@neilzee, @runthruphoenix, SUAR, @MMNorthDallas, etc., etc., ad infinitum)

HOWEVER, the person who deserves the MOST CREDIT FOR ALL OF IT is my Lovely Wife, Tracey. I'd add her twitter thingy and her blog, but she doesn't have one yet. YET. Stay tuned, 2011, straaaange things are going to happen!

Thank you, all of you. ((hugs)) anahahahahahahhaa........

Surprise Central!

almost ever since I have been blogging/tweeting, my wife (remember her from here, here, and here?) has asked me several times....."why do you do it?" while there have been other times when she has used stronger language to express her opinion of the time i spend online ("what? $994.99 on the Visa bill? what is dubyadubyadubya dot getitupandrun dot com?!!!), she has become pretty tolerant of it.
to add to this, lately i have been getting lucky  had lots of luck winning contests online, too. It all started last spring with a prize from NCRunnerDude that was sponsored by AudioFuel. From that prize I have added some international pals online. We've exchanged interesting chats about grammar, beer, take-out (which the folks in England call "take-away"), and such. I joined Juneathon last year, and am very excited about next month's Janathon. Check it out. you should be excited, too!
More recently, however, I have won a CASE of Chobani yogurt and a set of AirDrive earphones. Both on my birthday weekend. Or at least close enough for me to count them as such. Hey, it is my blog. Get your own if you don't like my parameters.....what? oh, sorry.

Then, as if the running gag (not as in running, but as in running) Gods were smiling at me, THIS arrived in the mail 2 days ago:

Ummm...yea. I don't recall entering a contest where this was the prize, but HEY! as @jogblog said, "Free food is good!" I came in the door doing a little dance I like to call:

"HEY, LOOK AT ME! I GOT MORE STUFF FOR FREEEEEEEEE!"

It is very similar to the Snoopy dance, but with a bit of White Guy with an Overbite added in for good measure. Got the visual? Good.

I started laughing when Tracey asked what it was this time. Our 17 year old (who just got early acceptance to UVM (WOOT!)) was in the room, too, and wondered what was going on. I kept dancing as she ran down the list of goodies. Some of the day care kids joined me in the dance, and it began to look like a scene from a NatGeo special where all of the natives are dancing around pre-sacrifice. Except that we were clothed. whew. Mike told me that I should run down to the store and buy a lottery ticket. But i didn't. Darn.

I did, though, sneak away to our bedroom and open the box. what could it be, what could it be? well, it was:

Strange, isn't it. ONE bar. yep. and I shook the package, too, just to make sure that I wasn't tossing out a hidden coupon for a case of free bars or something. Nope. Nada. WISIWIG. Odd. I brought it to work today to test out. Here it what it looks like up close....

Not at all what i expected. They kinda look like nature valley granola bars, or other similar bars. I guess i was expecting something that looked more like the original Clif bar. Dunno why. The TASTE, though, is FANTASTIC as compared to that other brand.

HOLY.GOODNESS!! They are lightweight, feel light on my tongue, but BIG on flavor! I can't really taste HONEY in them, but I taste more of a caramel or...no, wait! BUTTERSCOTCH!!!! even better than caramel, if you ask me.

See a whole bunch of interesting things about Clif Crunch Granola Bars here. Perhaps of note to some of you is this tid-bit from the FAQ page:

Is CLIF CRUNCH® vegan-friendly?

CLIF CRUNCH® White Chocolate Macadamia Nut is vegan-friendly. The Chocolate Chip, Honey Oat and Peanut Butter CLIF Crunch flavors all contain honey, so they are not considered vegan-friendly. You should note, however, that the non-dairy chips we use are made at our bakery, which processes dairy, so even White Chocolate Macadamia Nut may contain traces of dairy.

So there you have it. If i get some extra $$ in my stocking or what not, I will be buying a box of these to keep in my stash. Not my Stache, just my stash. Go grab some for the runner/active person on your holiday list. Who know's maybe you'll both get lucky! They'll Love you for it!

[FCC: the goodies suddenly showed up in my mailbox. while the bar was supplied for free, the opinion here is my own.]

Gene's Test Kitchen

As i am certain that most of you know, I have been spending quite a bit of time on Twitter these days. Not at night, just during the day. And not on weekends, just during the week. What does that mean? Yes, I tweet while working. While this might not be the BEST use of my time, I can assure you there are some work things involved. How can that be? Simple.....I am one of the most active (pun intended) people on our Wellness Committee, and have taken on a project (ok, not just taken on. I came up with the flippin' idea) of putting together a cookbook of healthy foods. Well.....a quick walk through the halls should have clued me in that I wouldn't be getting very many healthy ideas, if you know what I mean. So we opened it up to just be a cookbook, 'sponsored' by the Wellness Committee.
Being the nice guy that i am, i tweeted that i was looking for some good recipes for the cookbook. why not share some tweetie, blogger love, right? Cathy from Planet Veggie and Jog-Blog sent me a recipe for some great peanut-butter bars which i reviewed here. Those will be included for sure. She also sent me a recipe for some great soup, which I made but didn't review. Suffice to say, it was GREAT. Even our 13 year old liked it. WIN~
Then one day I got caught up in a conversation between @MMNorthDallas and (i think...) @hotlegsrunner about a Pita Pizza. (note to people who don't tweet: start tweeting. ok, more serious note: the "@" is how twitter identifies it's users. you could type ClifBar in a sentence to talk about a bar, but if you type @ClifBar, you are talking about the company, or the user. clear as mud? moving on now...) Since i am interested in pizza, and different kinds of pizza, i jumped in and asked for the recipe. Jason was gracious enough to send it to me, and I was very excited to try it out. TWO WEEKS LATER, i did.
Jason has a tab on his web sited called "Athlete's Plate". Head over there for the recipe (if you have trouble, either tweet me (@boutdrz) or email me and I will get it to you) and give it a try. Very basic, very tasty. I altered it a bit, but it was pretty much the same. I have no way of grilling chicken (HORROR!), so that wasn't on it. I don't like the smell of broccoli in the oven, so that was off. Instead of using a bunch of the single ingredients, I opted for some fresh Taboule (my new BFF). Next time, though, I'll need to squeeze some of the water out so that the pizza is crispier.
Are you dying to see it yet???? ok. here are the before and after shots that you have been salivating over:

BEFORE it went in the oven.

the 15 minutes that it takes to make this were excruciatingly loooong. i was hungry. i had already made chicken wings for Z, nuggets for B, and nachos for T. T had made brownies in the middle of all of that, and now it was my turn. whew. we had been shopping, and for almost 2 hours after our return, T and I never left the kitchen.seriously. good times, and no one got hurt (although we did put the hurts to some FOOD!)

ok. without further ado, here is the after. it says it all, i think. give this a try. YOU WILL LOVE IT!

about 10 minutes AFTER it came out of the oven.

So if you have some good ideas, feel free to send them along!

Tweet up Meet up, Lance Style

If you don't know what I'm talking about, please see the post below. All caught up? Ok. Read on....
I got home in time to get T and M off to the Dr.'s appointment. Mimi showed up in time. Kids were up, dressed warmly, and outside. TIME TO ROLL, BABY!
We weren't even 5 miles from the house when I realized that I left my cycling shoes on the mat by the door. Yep. Had our helmets, though, so we were good to go. no time to turn back anyway.
Bryce promptly fell asleep, so I was solo. Great. Alone with my thoughts.
"would i actually get to SEE him?"
"will he sign my wife's LiveSTRONG shirt AND my kid's bike helmet?"
"will we actually MAKE IT THERE IN TIME? DRIVE DADDY, DRIIIIIIIIIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!"
so I did. just as we were getting off the interstate, i got another tweet:


Landed in Burlington. #twitterride, I'm a little late. Sorry! Be there asap.about 5 hours ago via ÜberTwitter

Ok. good. we're 5 minutes from the park, HE's at least 25 minutes drive time. Whew. As we rolled into town (a very small, typical VT town), cyclists were already weaving in and out of traffic. Great. We are SO out of our league. Why did I do all of this? Oh, right. For a chance to be in the company of greatness.

We parked rather easily (local knowledge is KEY!), hooked up the trailer, and headed over to meet with the masses. Here's what we saw, from the back left, where we hung out:

No, it isn't broken. My bike is just laying on the ground. 

A big mob of what seemed to be about 300 strong. Ha. Strong. Get it? Sorry. Moving on. 

A quick scan of the peeps showed a good mix. There were very expensive bikes and kits, and then some people who looked like they dusted off a Huffy from the 70's and brought it along. Good. 

So then we looked some more, and saw this:

See that? Right there. She's wearing a brown shirt. Yep. KIDS. People brought kids, ON BIKES. Very, very enccouraging!! Gotta love it.

THEN IT HAPPENED. I SPOTTED HIM. IT HAD TO BE HIM. Who else would be sitting atop a black and yellow high end looking bike. I had to admit, though, it looked as though he let himself go since Leadville:

Even pony-tail hippie dude thought he looked funny. Seriously, dude. The WHOLE KIT? I hope he won it.

After about half an hour of nervously waiting (good thing I was wearing my anti-stink shirt), I got this tweet:

5 mins out! Everyone ready? #twitterride

suddenly it seemed like we were being overrun by the toy aisle at Wal-Mart. I've never been around that many people who were getting simultaneous tweets. Pretty cool. So heads started to turn up toward the direction that we expected him to come from. But we had no idea HOW he would come. I half expected him to arrive in a van, jump out, say a few things, and then take off.

I saw him ride in on a bike, not looking flashy, no entourage. Only his riding style tipped me off. Couldn't get the camera up quick enough before he was engulfed. I can't imagine this kind of lifestyle. He was very professional  and calm. I woulda been swinging my heart-rate strap over my head, screaming like a banshee.

Bryce and I had a plan for me to hoist him onto my shoulders when he arrived, so we did. We headed to the center of the frenzy, trying not to block out too many others, but hell, I wanted to see him too! AND I wanted Bryce to be able to see him and experience the event.

Only by holding the camera way over my head was I able to get these shots.

the dude on the left edge is a reporter for our CBS affiliate

 

The crowd started to surge down the road, so Bryce and I booked it back to the trailer and i buckled him in, closed the cover, and turned around to get on my bike. By the time we did this, just about everyone was GONE. I mean GONE GONE.

I said, "hang on, B!" and we took off down the road. Well, that term is all relative, since I was lugging a trailer with 40 pounds in it. Yea.

SO....we lasted about 500 yards. The peleton was already nearly out of site, headed up a road that is a LONG, steeeeep climb. Even without the trailer I don't think i could make it.

Carefully, we turned around and headed back to the truck to begin the journey home. All in all, it was a great time. I am so very thankful to Tracey, Mimi, M, and Z for being so flexible!

On the way home, I got the final tweet of the event:

Thanks to the 100's of Vermonters (that's correct, right??) who came out for the #twitterride. What a beautiful part of the world!

For a link to the local news story (maybe they'll get around to posting video) click here.

Thanks for tuning in, I hope you enjoyed the show. Oh, and here's a parting shot, in the general direction of Lance during the interviews.

incredible, innit?

ok. i lied. one more:

even superstars need to reapply their lip balm

Twitter is my enemy

ok, not really. I just need to lear to NOT have it on in the background while I am at work. Don't get me wrong, I love to chat it up with folks in England, CA, TX, AZ, OR, UT, and such while I work. I don't take smoke breaks, am efficient in my job, and dog-gone it, people like me! So why not Tweet.
Well.....
Today, out of the blue that is Twitterverse, I recieved this tweet:

Hey Vermont - let's ride!! 4pm in Waterbury. Corner of Main St & Warren Ct at what looks like a park to me (on Google Earth). #twitterride!

Benign enough, unless you know who it is from. That's right, it was from THIS GUY:

No? Need a better clue? Ok, how about this:

That's right. Lance. Love him or hate him, he is an icon of our era. Being in the healthcare arena, seeing almost daily how Cancer can ravage the human body, mind, and spirit, I have beaucoup respect for this young man and his crusade.

Our oldest has a Dr.'s appointment today at 2, so I am leaving work at 130 to watch the daycare while my wife goes to the appointment. Being a fool, as soon as I got the tweet I called her. "Hey, what time will M's appt. be over?"

"I dunno, 3 maybe. Why, what's up?"

"Wellllll, ya seeeee.....yourbuddyLanceisgoingtobeinWaterburyat4forabikeride. Yes, I got a tweet. I know that I can't make it, but I think it is pretty cool, and wanted to share it with you."

"Wait a minute, perhaps I CAN make this work", my accomodating wife said. "Let me call my Mom and see what we can do, ok? You can't miss this chance!"

me: "no, no, no, it's not going to work, and that's O-K. i just thought it was neat and wanted to share."

"Shhhh. We'll work it out. I will call you back."

tick tock tick tock (not 3 minutes passed)

"Hi!"

"Hi. I talked to mimi, and she'll be at the house at 230. You should take B with you, too. It will be great!"

So as HUMBLY as I could, I said thank you, and then we worked out some of the kiddo logistics.

As of right now, I am bringing B, his bike trailer, and my 1999 Rockhopper with skinny tires to Waterbury, VT to go for a ride with Lance. I hope to be able to hang for at least 2 miles, then who knows.

We'll try to get photos, and perhaps get Lance to sign B's bike helmet, and try not to be obtrusive at the same time. just like all 3500 other people who might be there. wish us luck!!!