Shaving Like A Man

Last night I started shaving like a man.

Starting this week, I was on my last cartidge of the Schick shaving stuff I've been using for years, and just got tired of each 'blade' only lasting a couple shaves, then having to fork over tons of cash to buy more cheap blades that just don't give a close enough shave. I had been thinking about switching to a safety razor for quite a while now, and decided I wasn't going to keep throwing money away on the cheap stuff any longer. So yesterday I stopped by The Art of Shaving store to pick out a new razor and gain a little education on the matter.

There was a young barber in the back who had just finished up some shaving services on someone else and he came out and took the time to explain and recommend some stuff to me. I got set up with a Merkur safety razor [which has some real weight to it, which I love], and then also picked up one of their starter kits that includes the pre-shave oil, shaving cream, badger hair brush, and after shave lotion. He showed me the proper technique for shaving using a safety razor, and said to take my time, but mentioned that I'd probably cut myself at least once till I got the hang of it.

After a hot shower last night I lathered up and proceeded to give myself about the damn near closest shave I've ever had. I did nick myself twice, but barely. Even so, I really enjoyed how much better my skin felt afterwards, and still feels this morning. That starter kit that cost $25 also comes with a $25 off coupon for one of their full size kits once you decide what you like, so it is essentially free if you get one of the larger kits at a later time, which I thought was a nice way to get the right tools without having to spend a fortune up front.

For any guys out there who've given some thought to ditiching their current shaving setup, I highly recommend making the investment in a safety razor [or straight razor if you're that hardcore], but safety razor pretty much anyone can do. Plus, it just looks cooler!

Merkur safety razor.

This little guy is wayyyy sharper than any cartidge blade!

The starter kit that I picked up with the razor.

This blog post sponsored by Ron Swanson.

American Odyssey Relay

Ever ran from Gettysburg to Washington DC? No? Well, I'm about to.

...Let me clarify, I'm about to run on a relay team that will cover the entire distance, there's no way I could do that much mileage by myself! I got recruited by a friend to join a relay team that will run from Gettysburg all the way down to D.C. It's called the American Odyssey Relay and it's taking place from April 27th to the 28th. The race will span roughly 200 miles, and our team will be responsible for covering all of them. Fortunately, someone else is the team captain, so they'll be in charge of the logistics, of who will run when, how many legs someone will do, etc. The race in non-stop though, so we'll be running right through the night as well [you can see parts of that in the video below.]

I've never done anything like this before so I'm very excited to give it a whirl and see how things go. I'm also curious how many miles I'll end up doing total, even if they're only in 5-6 mile stints at a time. My guess is that I'll cover another marathon distance, if not more. Fortunately I'll have a couple hours of rest in between each run....at least I hope I will!

Anyways, I will be sure to take as many pictures as possible and report back in another month with how the race goes! In the meantime, check out this great video below from last year's event. Enjoy!

[American Odyssey Relay, 2011]

New Wheels

Just over a year ago I bought my first road bike from a friend on mine. The deal was just too good to pass up, and I rode that bike a lot last year, in fact the picture at the top of this blog is one I took of my bike on a nice long evening ride heading out west at some point last summer. [May have to take an updated shot in the coming months to reflect the recent upgrades to the bike!]

Anyways, I'd been thinking about picking up a new aero wheel set for my bike that is both lighter and far more aerodynamic that my previous wheels. I wanted a set that I could still use on an everyday basis and also be able to swap over to a tri specific bike for triathlon races if I wanted. What I decided on [with the recommendation of a friend of mine] was the new Bontrager Aeolus 5 D3 Carbon Clinchers. These wheels are 100% carbon fiber and have a dish of 50mm. Basically they're much lighter, stiffer, and will cut through the wind much easier than my previous set. They came in last week but I didn't have a chance to swap them out until last night. Too bad the weather isn't looking so good for this weekend, cause I'm anxious to take them out for a nice long ride, esp now that I can hop back on the bike since my marathon is done! Here's a simple picture I took of the bike last night....and yes, I know my bar tape is dirty and I need to re-wrap the bars with some fresh tape! But those wheels....oh lawwwd those wheels!

It just looks fast!

Here's a stock image of the wheels so you can see

what they look like a little more up close.



My First Marathon

Oh look, I have a blog....that I totally ignored for the last 2 months. My bad :) Actually quite a lot has happened since I last wrote, but there's really one one story that deservs an update. Back in October I wrote a blog post about signing up for my frist marathon. Well my friends, that marathon happened. and here's what I've got to say about it.....

Sometime when I was a kid, I decided to add completing a full iron-man race to my list of life goals. I think it was just watching the pure emotion pour out of people as they crossed the finish line that got me, and I just knew from that point on it was something I had to do before I die.

I’m a swimmer, I swam competitively my whole life, I bike a lot too, but running (distance running), well running is by far my weakest of the three sports. I’m not the kind of person to do something just to finish it either, I get competitive with myself and make goals to go after, it’s not enough for me just to finish, I have to race the clock. I knew that if I had any hopes of not only completing an iron man, but in a respectable time, I’d have to really focus on my running. So last fall I signed up for my first running race of any kind, a marathon.

For lack of any better option or knowledge at the time, I decided to follow one of Hal Higdon’s free online marathon training plans. It was 18 weeks long, and would take me farther that I’ve ever ran before. I was nervous about the weekend distance runs, but had no other option other than to tackle them head on and learn from my experience.

You’ll be amazed at how fast your mind switches on you as to what is considered a distance run vs. a short, easy one. When I first got going I remember thinking to myself “okay, 9 miles, you can do this, you can do this!” – then about a month later after I had gone into the 15-16 mile range, I thought to myself, “only 9 (or 11) miles today? That’s easy!”

I battled a couple injuries, did research on them, talked other runners with more experience than myself, and got myself through it. About 3.5 weeks ago, I peaked with a 20.6 mile run, which was tough as hell. The last 4 miles of that run were incredibly painful (though I had no idea at the time what pain would actually feel like on race day) and it made me a little nervous about not being able to even come close to my goal of a 3:45.xx marathon. I kept with the plan though, and eventually tapered down and rested my legs accordingly.

Race day came and I was surprisingly calm. I kept expecting butterflies to fill my stomach in the days leading up to the race but they never came, which I was really thankful for. Also, the weather ended up being perfect last week and on race day, which helped a lot. Before I knew it, I was in my corral and the gun went off. The first few miles were a little tricky to find my pace because of all the people around, but I just focused on controlling my excitement and trying not to go out too too fast. The one thing I didn’t really enjoy was running alongside ½ marathoners at the same time. They were speeding up, slowing down, speeding up, stopping, etc. and then a lot blew by me at mile 12 as they were heading to their finish. I never really got used to it, but after I made my turn to start my second half of the race, it was a totally different race. There was very little crowd support for the full marathoners, and it became totally mental. I’m glad I trained without any music because not having headphones in let me settle into a rhythm amidst the (mostly) empty course.

Once I hit mile 21, I was encouraged, because I ran 21 miles much faster than I had ran my 20 mile training run, and I was still feeling alright. Mile 23 was a different story. I really started to struggle to keep my pace at this point, and while I never hit or found “the wall” I did begin to feel the pain. Miles 24-26 were probably the most pain I can remember feeling in a long, long time. I would keep closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see the road stretching out in front of me, and I’m pretty sure I went to some pretty dark places in my mind. But I didn’t stop. I knew I had to keep moving forward if I had any hopes of nearing my goal.

I kept hoping there would be a mental burst of energy that would kick in towards the end, but unfortunately that never happened. The last .75 miles were tough, but I was able to pick my pace back up closer to my race average. Eventually I turned the last corner and could physically see the finish line about 100 yards straight in front of me, and dug as deep as I could to try and finish strong. I’m pretty sure my form was way off and I looked like a total goober, but I finished. I came in at 3:46.17…..18 seconds off my goal. But you know what? I’ll take it! I came far closer than I thought I would, and despite 2 slow miles towards the end, I ran a pretty good and consistent race that went almost 100% according to plan.

Of course now I have my sights set on higher goals (will be shooting for roughly 3:35.xx next time around), which I think is absolutely obtainable with my new knowledge and experience of what it will feel like in those closing miles. I also now know that I need to focus a little more on running hills during my training. All in all the entire process was a fantastic experience and one I can’t wait to repeat, over and over again.

Iron man, here I come.

(Official timing chip)

(Click 'view details' for the mile by mile stats)

Snow & Ice Filled Outdoor Weekend

Ha Ha Haaaaa, I laugh in the face of inclement weather!

On Friday night this past weekend, the DC area got hit with a small snow and ice storm. This kind of weather isn't really new to us, and really we got a lot more ice than snow. That didn't deter or stop me from being outside all weekend training though!

On Saturday I got up and decided to get my long training run in despite the conditions, and braved the icy, snow covered paths for a 17 mile run. Also, I decided to use my trail shoes for the run to provide a bit more grip and traction than either of my road running shoes could provide. That turned out to be a very good choice, because running on the ice and snow in those shoes worked a lot better than I anticipated, and I only had one close call! I did however manage to land my right foot into a big icy puddle that was hidden by snow with 4 miles left in the run...that was not so fantastic.

On Sunday I got talked into going on a long ride with a friend of mine out in the Leesburg area. The ride covered 43 miles, and the terrain was 90% snow/ice and 10% muddy gravel, all on rolling country roads. Due to the surface conditions the pace was far slower than any other ride I've done, and by far the sketchiest ride I've ever done as well. It's pretty hard to steer and stay upright when your tires have little traction and you're sliding all over the place! I fell twice, but they were both pretty low speed. In fact almost everyone on the ride fell at least once, and it was more comical than anything else because we were going so slow, and then all of a sudden, someones rear tire would go sliding out from under them and down they went. We did get in some decent climbing though, and were also able to really test out our cold weather gear to see how it held up in the elements for 4-5 hours.

I'm pleased to say my gear and brand new jacket held up great, and I was perfectly fine the entire ride. Everyone else on the ride was shocked at how clean my bright red jacket was compared to how dirty everyone else's clothing got. I guess it does pretty well at shedding mud in addition to its waterproofing characteristics. My feet and legs got really muddy though, and my bike looked like a frozen brown popsicle when we were done. All in all though, I had a great time, met a lot of new people, and got to ride my bike for 4 hours! We followed the ride up with some pizza and beer at Fireworks Pizza in Leesburg, perfect end to quite an adventure! Here's a ton of pictures from yesterday's snow/ice ride, don't let inclement weather keep you indoors, enjoy! [Click the pictures to see the bigger versions]

Some of the group [and part of my glove] about 10 miles in.

Me, before I got all muddy.

The group cautiously heading down an icy hill.

[I'm in the red jacket]

Nice rolling snow covered terrain.

The snow-plow driver probably thought we were nuts!

Climbing a muddy section.

More climbing.

My dirty shoe covers afterwards.

But my jacket was clean! [Except for the zipper, I can't explain that]

My muddy, ice covered bike afterwards!

Again, muddy ice had formed all over the place!

And here's the ride summary [click 'view details' to view more]

Ironman, I'm Registered

Yep, you heard me! Today I registered and am officially signed up for my first ironman triathlon event. It's part of the Ironman race series and is being held at the National Harbor in nearby Maryland. This will be a half ironman race consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run, totaling 70.3 miles. [If you ever see a 70.3 bumper sticker, that's what that means.] I'm very excited about this event since I'm already in very good shape for those distances, and will only get stronger as the spring and summer approach. 

I've only ever done one triathlon before, but that was a very short sprint tri, so this will be my first one of any significant distance. Additionally, I wasn't in any sort of biking or running shape when I did that sprint tri and still fared pretty well, so I expect to really be able to put down a very solid effort for this upcoming one. I say upcoming, but it's still almost 8 months away. Nevertheless, I'm very excited to get this under my belt and help me get one step closer to my end goal of finishing a full ironman one day.....which WILL happen! For more event details click THIS LINK. Here's some great pictures of people reaching the finish line at various triathlon's, you know, in case you need the motivation. Enjoy!

Road ID

Watch this....

[Road ID News Story]

Between commuting over 100 miles a week by bike, and running close to 30 miles a week while training for my first marathon, I've no doubt dramatically increased my chances of being struck by a moving vehicle or having some sort of other injury happen to me while out on the trails and roads. So, I invested in a little piece of mind.

What I got is a bracelet called a Road ID that I now wear whenever I head out riding or running. Truthfully it's something I should've gotten a long time ago, but I kept forgetting to order. Fortunately I've escaped any incidents thus far, and haven't been in a situation where emergency medical and contact information may be needed. However, you never know what can happen out there, and at least I'm now more prepared to get the right info to any emergency medical responders if something were to happen. Hopefully my Road ID won't ever have to be used, but just in case, I now have one and would certainly recommend anyone else who runs/walks/bikes/rollerblades/somersaults/etc on the trails and roads to get one as well.

You can choose from a number of different colors, and get up to 6 engraved lines to convey the info you need someone else to know. When ordering, the website helps make recommendations about what info you should put on each line. The blurred out area has where I live, my date of birth, and then two different contacts' phone numbers. My blood type is then listed, along with the fact that I don't have any known allergies, or drug allergies. The last line is a lyric from a Coheed And Cambria song that I used to sing to myself while swimming in college to get me through the really hard workouts. The full line is "Pain is only a pulse, if you just stop feeling it", but I didn't have room for the second half of the line. When my legs are on fire from climbing a hill, or pounding the pavement and I dont have any energy left, all I have to do is look down to get that simple reminder that pain, is indeed only a pulse if you just stop feeling it, and then I press onwards.

Road ID

You're welcome friends and loves ones!

Christmas Classics: Mariah Carey

We all know this song, but how many times have you seen it performed live....WHILE AT DISNEY WORLD?! This year, this classic Christmas song [sung beautifully] by Mariah Carey, quickly became one of my favorites, and then I saw this video, and it got that much better. This video is actually a number of years old, from 2004 I believe, but it's fantastic. It wouldn't surprise me if someday Disney found the cure for cancer, just look at how happy they can make all those people! Less than a week till Christmas, hope you enjoy this song/video!

[All I Want For Christmas Is You]

Splash On Em!

It was cold this morning, 26 degrees when I left my house in fact, and I rode into work today. Not gonna lie, it was a bit chilly out there.....my water bottle was even starting to freeze up! No bueno. So to combat the cold, here's a lovely swimming music video featuring none other than Northern VA's own, Ed Moses...and a few other fast swimmers. Obviously this is a 'for fun' music video with many amusing aspects....my favorite is probably the dodgeball part and the facial expressions. Anyways, enjoy the sights of warmer climates and nice swimming pools!

[Splash On Em]

Put This On: 6

Here's the 6th video from the Put This On video and fashion series. I'm a little late getting this one up, but better late than never! Episode 6 deals with wearing the proper fitting clothing for your personal body type. In the first interview they do with a custom shirt maker, he points out that almost every single dress shirt on a man has an arm hole that is far too low, thus giving your sleeve a much baggier look than it should be. This is true, because I just checked mine on the 'slim fit' shirt that I'm currently wearing, and yea, the arm hole is way too low. Interesting. Anyway, another great video from Put This On, and one that every guy needs to watch. Enjoy!

[Put This On, Episode 6]

Picture of said 'low arm hole' and resulting baggy sleeve.