Biking with Blue

Saturday I went for a nice, relaxing spin down at the beach with my prize on our road bikes. Later that night we joined some friends downtown for the boat parade and fireworks on the river. Today it has rained all day so we took it easy in the house relaxing and watching football and a movie. Weekends never seem to be long enough...

Turkey Day

Thursday started bright and early with us running in the Outback Distance Classic 6K. Char was going to run the half marathon but since we both have been sick the past few weeks, she opted to run the 6K with Avery, Halia and myself. We met up with Brett & Raina at the race so Halia could run with us while they ran the half (Brett pushed his 2 sons in a double stroller...rugged). Anyhow, the run turned out to be a huge success for the girls, with Avery running steady the entire time and finished in a hair over 43 minutes. Her running is seriously improving. Halia also did exceptionally well for not running much lately by running the first 3 miles non-stop and then finishing in just over 44 minutes. We were all very proud of them, especially when we saw how many older people they beat in the 19 and under class! Way to kick a$$ girlz!!

From there we headed home to get started on some cookin. Our friends Josh & Bobbi were coming over for the day, armed with all kinds of good food. Avery spent the day with her mom but would come back later to show off her mad drumming skills. Anyhow, we had a stellar time- eating, drinking, laughing, watching football and then breaking out Rock Band! We gotta hit Santa up for a Wii and Rock Band this Xmas. That game is a blast!!

BIG Ol' Blue

Ok, so I was in the gym tonight with Avery and I was thinking about lifting and muscle tone and where I used to be and where I am now. Weightlifting used to be my cycling. I was hell bent on being an amateur all-natural bodybuilder, kind of like how I had recently set my sights on being a semi-pro cross country racer. It took me years of pure hard work in the Navy to put on the mass and then years of trial and error to learn my body, different stimulus and how to gain and how to cut. Eventually I almost got there. I was about 6 months out from a Jacksonville competition and was a cool 215 pounds and 5% body fat at 5 foot 9. My weight had topped out at about 220 and I was cutting down to about 205-210. I was reaching new heights in strength, such as a 365 lb max bench press and a 505 lb squat. Life was good. Then one day on the bench my shoulder popped and I went though pain and hell until surgery became the only option besides walking away from heavy lifting. I couldn't bear another shot in my shoulder and I couldn't afford all the time off from the surgery. Luckily the decision was easy as I found the trails at Hanna Park and riding mtn bikes became my lifting. I found a new discipline that required the same effort, the same trial and error in gains and the same concept of structured training to take a passion to a high level. I was getting there- getting fast on the bike and building big endurance. Then one day on the bike I passed out and I proceeded to go through test after test on my heart. So here I am again in a position where surgery is an only option to go on safely. But this time it is different- the surgery is needed to go on, period. Not just to continue sports, but to provide an insurance policy if my heart decides to stop.


Did it take endurance sports to find what bodybuilding possibly had done to my heart? Or is this disease truly hereditary? Why did I not have any issues in all of the sports I've played my whole life? I guess what I had planned to get into was wondering how in depth I'll ever get to participate in athetic stuff again. I was also thinking about the parallel stories of my days as a bodybuilder and my days as a cyclist. So when I was in the gym today resting between sets, I was looking in the mirror at a guy who loved being a solid 220, then loved being a super-lean 170 and who now isn't so thrilled with his current situation. It feels good to lift, to jog, to ride the bike. But I know I will not stay satisfied with that- not considering the levels that I have been to. I feel the urge to go heavy, I feel like running faster and I feel like getting out of the saddle and hammering. But I just need to stay patient, get the defib in and see where I can go from there. But being fit is my DNA so I gotta keep moving, even if it is a little slower for a while. One thing that I have learned for sure is that when you slow down you start to notice a lot of things that you had missed out on... Enjoy life. Enjoy balance. Pursue fitness.


Anyhow, I have this picture of when I was hulk-huge, which I'll have to scan and post later, but here is the difference between 210...


...and 170...

Long Lost Blue

Ok, I plan to get back in here and do some postin' some day. I guess I got a little hung up in being under the weather and Facebook. Facebook can really consume a lot of your time. Anyhow, I've also been busy with work, going to the gym, light jogging and riding, housework stuff... blah, blah, blah...life stuff. I've also managed to try a few new brews, like North Coast Brewing Company's Pale Ale and Avery Brewing Company's White Rascal. Both turned out to be pretty good, especially the Pale Ale. I've also tried a few others recently but those 2 stood out...maybe because I had them today...

I'll get back in here this weekend a catch up on some other stuff, like the status of my defibrillator surgery and Thanksgiving festivities. Until then, bottoms up!

the blue weekend

Working out feels so good. I decided to get off my hump this week and start going to the YMCA for some lifting and jogging. I hit the Y 2 days up here in Charlotte after I went Monday in J-Ville. I plan to make this my routine when I get back- 3 days a week in the gym. The other days I will fill with riding- either on the trails, on the road or on the trainer. I won't be pushing it much- just spinning, burning calories and trying to keep some form so that I never totally lose it in case I can ever really get back. I'll also do a little running with Avery, as well as some tennis and mtn biking with her. This weekend I am going to Hanna Park to ride the trails on Saturday and Sunday I plan to get in a little road spin. Sitting around and feeling sorry for myself for 2 months was long enough- I'm ready to do what I do. Oh, we are planning to get a ping-pong table and dart board for the garage so we will have some indoor activities (drinking games!) for the winter. I'm also on the lookout for some golf clubs so I can start a new hobby. This whole heart deal has forced me to add some variety rather than riding every day, which seems to be a good thing...

There are some solid football games on Saturday, like #2 Alabama at #16 LSU, #9 Oklahoma St at #2 Texas Tech, #3 Penn St/Iowa, #21 Cal/#7 USC, #13 Georgia/Kentucky, #5 Florida/Vanderbilt and Louisville/Pittsburgh. I'm hoping that UK will be healthy enough to surprise Georgia. Hey, it could happen. I'd like to see Bama go into LSU and get the win so that the SEC remains strong and has a shot at putting a team in the title game, even though Saban gets on my nerves. I really don't care who wins the OK St/TT game but I do know it will be a good one. Hell, it would be cool to see TT run the table. I'd also like to see Penn St lose at Iowa to spare us all another Big 10 team getting thumped in the National Championship.


My man Roy Jones Jr is fighting Joe Calzaghe Saturday night. RJJ has always been one of my favorite fighters and I became a Calzaghe fan after he beat big mouth Bernard Hopkins. Both dudes are similar in a lot of ways: JC is 36, RJJ is 39, both are badasses and both have been criticized for picking & choosing their fights and terms over the years. The Welshman is 45-0, which is pretty amazing while Jone Jr is 52-4 after getting on track after 3 losses in a row a few years ago. Its hard to say who will win this fight or who I will be pulling for, but my gut is to go with Roy Jones since I've liked him since he was ripped off in the '88 Olympics. Should be an awesome fight either way...

Ok, Sunday the Jags travel to Detroit to take on the 0-8 Lions. We plan to go watch this one at Brett & Raina's and may possibly stick around for the Colts-Steelers game afterwards. Anyhow, if the Jags lose Sunday I'm going to have to throw in the towel this season. There's no way I can stomach losing back-to-back to 0-8 teams, especially by a team that came into the season talking Super Bowl. But hell, its just the half way point of the season and there's still a good chance for them to turn the season around and make the playoffs. And its not like they haven't been in every game- they've lost their 5 games by a combined 24 points. But still, they should have soundly beaten most of those teams. Either way, I would love to see them firing on all cylinders this weekend. GO JAGS!

Wild Blue

This past weekend I watched a ton of football. I normally watch a lot of football, but rarely do I watch multiple games in the same day- nor do I normally watch ALL of a game. Saturday we rolled down to Brett & Raina's for some kickass food and the Florida-Georgia game. I won't go into it, but Florida smoked Georgia. I mean, they really dusted them off. We stuck around to watch the Texas-Texas Tech game and boy was it a treat! Texas Tech ended up knocking off the Longhorns in what will be one of the best games of the year. Right now the BCS is a total mess (as usual) and who knows how it will workout. As long as Bama beats LSU this weekend, I think it may be Florida - Penn St in the big game. Of course, I could be way off...

Sunday we kicked it around the house and watched the Jags game against 0-8 Cincinnati. Nevermind, I'm skipping Sunday. The Jags lost and I'm annoyed.

This week I'm back in Charlotte for more job training. After playing some tennis Sunday night with Char and Avery, I decided this week I am starting some kind of workout. It has been 8 weeks since I stopped training and Monday morning when I got on the scale, I saw a number I hadn't seen since the decline of my bodybuilding days. I need to get my ass back in shape after this 2 month love affair with good beer and good food. So Monday we went to the Y and damn, that place is packed! Anyhow, I got in some light lifting and a light jog with Char. It felt good but it is nerve-racking because I am so in-tune with my heart- I notice every little skipped beat and whatnot. I guess you just never know when one of those crazy beats can turn into something worse. But to hell with it, I just have to be smart and understand the limitations and risks. With that being said, I hit the Y here in Charlotte tonight for some more lifting and jogging. Man, it feels good to be in the gym like the old days. Granted it is quite a bit different now that I weigh about 50 pounds less and can only lift a small percentage of what I used to do. But it sure does feel good. Plus, when I went to Moes afterwards, I didn't feel guilty about eating food that tastes good!

Tonight I hit the beer barn behind my hotel and decided to try something new- Wild Blue. As most of you know, I am partial to anything with the word 'blue' in it. I have never had any blueberry lager, but this stuff is pretty good. And at 8%, it gets you warmed up pretty quick.