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Death By Fast Food?
As we get older, and finally realize that we no longer have the metabolism of a teenager, we make changes. Some of us start by going to the gym. What others of us neglect in our quest for a slimmer waistline is a healthier diet. I found, in this regard, fast food to be enemy number one. My favorite is pizza. Bad news for me as I can do some serious damage to a pizza buffet.

Deciding not to hasten my end this way, I stopped eating fast food. My biggest challenge? How to give up pizza! Solution? I started making my own on the weekends. Result? While this is going to sound distinctly Un-American, I haven’t eaten fast food in over a year. (Unless of course you count those Veggie Burritos from Chipotle.) Here’s what you need and how (besides a little will power).
1. 1/2 cup whole wheat flower
2. 1/4 cup water
3. 1/8 cup corn meal
4. 1 cup sauce
Mix the flour (one key to this is whole wheat) and water (another key is no oil). For ease, skip the yeast step and go right to rolling the dough. Take a wood chopping board, rolling pin, lay down the corn meal, and get to rolling. This is going to be a thin crust so if you get holes the first time, ball your dough back up and try again.

Next comes the sauce. Like spicy? Add Sriracha (Rooster Sauce). Like savory? Add a dash of soy sauce. I even sometimes mix my pasta sauce with the healthy kind of refried beans.

Next are toppings. I use soy cheese (the third key). My other favorites are black olives, mushrooms, and onions. However, I have been known to top with tuna, avocado, tofu, tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos, wheat germ, shrimp and pineapples.

Last are seasonings. Without all the fat they become very important to taste. Put them right on top. I use sea salt, rosemary, pepper, basil, oregano, cumin seed and garlic powder to name a few.

Cook at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and enjoy!
November 16, 2009
Triathlon Redux – 35 Versus 34

In a way, winter is our “summer”. The way it gets too cold to go outside during the winter on the East Coast is, in many ways, the same as the way it gets too hot to go outside during our summer. Better still, winter means we’re back to the races!

Last year I did my first sprint distance triathlon. I’ve done a few since but I was really looking forward to doing my first for the second time. None of the guys I did the race with last year came back for another go, so it was just me, and I couldn’t wait to see how 35 year old self would stack up against my 34 year old self. I’d been looking forward to this for a whole year. For me this is the baseline for how much I’ve progressed in my training in the last twelve months. Maybe that’s no completely fair to hinge it all on one race but it’s a baseline.

Race days start early. Revile was 5:30 AM to hydrate, shower, eat a banana, cliff bar, and drink coffee. The race was in Casa Grande, Arizona, about half way between Phoenix and Tucson. Arrived at 6:45 AM, got a good spot in the transition area to setup for my transitions. My grocery list of items included my bike, helmet, socks, bike and running shoes, sunglasses, gloves, shirt, cap, heart rate monitor, and water. Once setup was taken care of I checked in to get my race number and timing chip. Then onto line up for the swim with the other hundreds of folks racing.

The race starts with a swim, transitions to a bike ride, and is topped off with a run. A pool start can be the trickiest. Four or five folks get in the pool at a time. The first swimmer goes and someone else gets in the starting area of the pool. We take off ten seconds apart. It’s a “four, three, two, one, go” countdown. Yes, there are nerves. Finally, it’s my turn to go. I push off the edge of the pool and my goggles immediately filled up with water. I ended up doing the entire quarter mile unable to see very well. Makes it interesting at least.

Swim down, goggles off and drained, it’s a mad dash to the bike. Transitions are fun. Try putting all of your gear on soaking wet from the pool. Also, it’s a little chilly since it’s just 8:00 AM and here I go down the road at 20 mph. Fun!

No flats! The bike finished with, it’s time take off the helmet and swap the bike shoes for running shoes. Take one pair off, put another pair on, tie them up, and get to running those three miles. No goggles to fill up with water at least.

So, in the end, I finished and wound up beating my 34 year old self in each discipline. We’ll see how another year of work helps my 36 year old self do next year. My times were as follows for each. Swim (400 meters) / Bike (10.2 miles) / Run (3 miles). 2008: 9:49 / 43:31 / 27:25 (Total 1:20:45). 2009: 8:20 / 37:54 / 26:36 (Total 1:12:50). I have a few more of these scheduled for this year but you never forget your first. I can’t wait for next year!

November 2, 2009
Fat for Fuel

I learned a lot about making my workouts more efficient last weekend. This new wisdom came courtesy of a Metabolic test done at Lifetime Fitness in Tempe, Arizona. What is a Metabolic test? It’s measures how your body (uniquely) responds to exercise. Evidently, your metabolism is uniquely yours. Want to burn more fat during your workouts? The key is finding your metabolic base.

My test began with facilitator Amy hooking me up with a heart rate monitor, strapping a VO2 mask on my face, and putting me on a treadmill. With heart rate monitor and VO2 mask hooked up to a laptop running software created by New Leaf, the test began.I started with a walking warm-up. The speed increased to a good jogging pace. At that point the software began to crunch the numbers; the input being presented via the VO2 mask and the heart rate monitor.

Then the fun began. Once my comfortable speed was reached, the incline was increased by 2%. This repeated again and again until my incline reached 10%. At the end of the test I was running for my life up a steep hill and sucking wind. Turns out that’s the point. Simple as that. The data captured showed me my personal metabolic zones and the distribution of fat to carbs I burn in each zone.

I will use this information during my workouts, monitoring my heart rate to keep my body operating in the zone at which it burns the most calories while still using fat for fuel.

In conclusion, I was happy with my results. Turns out my baseline is 163 BPM. That’s a bit higher than I usually work out at so I have some room to make my workouts more intense. Also, and I’ll admit up front that I’m bragging a little, I learned my estimated maximum heart beats per minute is 200. The average is 180. Bottom line, I can’t wait to see the results during the next twelve weeks armed with this intel.

November 1, 2009
Winter Chicken House

It’s cold today. That means winter. I have to admit that winter in Maricopa, Arizona is nothing like winter in Nolensville, Tennessee where I grew up. Be that as it may, the windows have been open here at home for the last few days and the cool crisp air reminds me of home. I have many happy memories of home. Two specifically of which this picture reminds me.

This is the shed that stood behind our house growing up. Neither the house nor the shed is still there, but that’s what memories are for, after all.

The first memory goes with the left side of the shed. Cutting, hauling, and stacking firewood with my dad. Most of the time in late fall before the ice and snow. Then fetching the firewood every morning before school and every afternoon after getting home from school. I joke that I was eleven before I knew my name wasn’t “Go Get Wood”.

The second goes with the right side of the shed. That’s where I raised my blue ribbon 4-H chickens. I won first prize at the contest. Following that, I had a successful business, at least for a kid, selling eggs. I bought my first personal computer with that egg money.

So, as winter comes on, reminding us that a new year approaches, take a moment and remember something nice. Thanks for sharing my memory with me.

October 28, 2009
It’s Vonage but Wireless

One of my 2008 New Year’s Resolutions was to become an early adopter of new technology. If that sounds like an excuse to buy stuff, you would be right. My wife saw right thru that one too but I do get my way from time to time. I’ve shared a few of the gadgets here, though I still do not frequently qualify as an early adopter. I am pretty certain that I still lag well behind the curve.

One technology for which I certainly don’t qualify for early adopter status is VoIP. This super geeky term refers to Voice Over Internet Protocol and is telephone and related voice services carried over the Internet as opposed to the old phone system. While not an early adopter, I may, however, qualify as super creative in the category of setup. I’ll let you be the judge.

VoIP is unique in that, instead of connecting your telephone to a wall jack and getting service from the local telecommunications company. In my case we connect the telephone to a vendor provided little black box which acts as the middle man, connecting your phone to the internet.

After taking the device out of the box I soon realized that I was in trouble. You see, the device is designed to be connected directly to your home internet router.

The problem with that is my wife also has a home office and the device the router (which brings the internet into our house) is located in her office. I would be needing a really long cord to connect the VoIP device to the router in her office.

Thinking like the creative problem solver I like to think of myself as, I asked myself how I would accomplish connecting the device to our home internet wirelessly. It occurred to me that a wireless gaming router might work; similar to how we have our XBOX-360 setup with a wireless adapter. Think of the grey device like you would an antenna.

From there it was simple.

After a trip to Best Buy all that was left to do was to (1) the Cisco wireless gaming router connects to the Internet, (2) the Vonage device connects to the Cisco wireless gaming router, and (3) the telephone connects to the Vonage device. Presto! Vonage Wireless!

October 1, 2009