I killed the TV!

I guess this blog title should be more appropriately named "My 4-months since I killed the TV". In late September 2009 my wife and I decided that the TV's in our house were history and the cable bill was no more (except for the internet access). My main reasoning was I felt there was too much trash on TV and I did not want my kids influenced by it. I must confess I'm a huge sports fan, more specifically a huge "Buckeye Fan". So to have no access to a TV at the start of Big Ten Football season was surely going to be rough or at least that's what I thought.

I quickly realized I was slightly addicted to the TV. I was really missing it at night and I was used to having Fox News in my office on all day. At first I was a little annoyed that my night time routine had changed but that was soon gone upon realizing the many benefits of not having a TV.

The biggest benefit to date is with my kids. I think the TV can take the creativity out of kids if they spend too much time in front of the TV. My oldest would come home from school and really did not want to talk much until he got a snack and spent some quality time with the TV. Similarly, his morning routine was to zone out in front of cartoons before heading out to catch the bus. Now he wakes up, enjoys a better breakfast and actually has 20-30 minutes of lively conversation with mom and dad. Wow - imagine that, a kid talking with his parents and enjoying it! In addition, our two youngest kids now play with each other in much more creative ways. It seemed like when they got bored before they would just say "let's go watch TV", and now with that not being an option, they are forced to do something more active or they sit down and read a book.

For me, I'm sleeping better than ever, enjoying more time with my children and having great evening discussions with my wife. I'm finishing up my second book and I'm getting my sports fix by checking scores on ESPN.com and not wasting hours watching games that really don't mean much to me anyway. I already get up at 4:15am each morning now but since I'm getting such good sleep I'm considering a move to a 3:45am wake up call so I can get in another 30 minutes of training while everyone else is sleeping.

In closing, this was only going to be an experiment in the beginning but this has radically changed our family for the good. I would recommend it to everyone and look forward to a continued life without the TV.

Bring it!

HFP Man

It's the little things that matter most.

Just like it's important to take the garbage out without being told or remembering to buy flowers for your wife's birthday or looking away from the TV to actually listen to your 3-year old tell a story about his batman car - it's the little things in life that matter the most, especially to the ones we love. In training this week I found out the hard way that this applies to multisport training as well. During my build-up to the MiamiMan in November last year I decided to quit my Wednesday weight and core workout in lieu of another longer endurance workout. I've done this short 60 minute workout consistently for more than 10+ years and I would refer to it as my "Fountain of Youth" workout as it keeps me strong (mentally and physically) and feeling young. I rationalized that it was much more important to get in the miles (and maybe it was) but when I finally got back to my old standby workout this last Wednesday, after almost 3 months off, what a shock to the body I received. First off just a little background on this workout - this is not your typical weight and core workout, this workout is by far the hardest workout of the week (normally) for me. It consists of a 10 mile all out time trial on the Computrainer and then immediately followed by 4 sets of circuit weight training and core routine that features cleans, box squats, leg press, calf raises, leg curls, and finishes with reverse bench medicine ball sit ups. The circuit is run continuously with no break other than to move to the next machine. After 4 sets I then jump back on my Computrainer and try to negative split the 10 mile time trial (not usually possible). This workout has a pretty nasty reputation with my training buddies of which many have visited the bathroom to give back their breakfast when joining me for this workout. I love it - the music is cranked up loud, the weights are clanking against each other and there is a large amount of sweat and pain. It's perfect but super hard. As I mentioned Wednesday was quite a different story. Once I got off the bike and started with my first set of cleans (with girly man weight I might add) I could not believe how hard everything was. My hands immediately started to get blisters, my back was on fire and I was seeing black spots in the air. By the time I got to the last set of medicine ball sit ups it required a 3-5 second break in between each one and my abs were in spasm, my neck was cramping and my shoulder were on fire. By the end of the day I could barely turn my head and my abs looks swollen and bloated. Since that November race I'd been running nearly 60 miles a week and feeling really fit but this workout made me feel old and out of shape.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone out there (especially those of us over 40) don't forget the little things in your training and most importantly in life. Go out and enjoy today's snow storm with a long slow run BUT first remember to take out the garbage before you leave.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Back to the routine

Today marked the return of the S.H.O.P workout for the first time in 2010. SHOP is an acronym "Shannon's House Of Pain" given to the house where myself and my training buddies do our indoor workouts. The house is owned by my Church and I was fortunate enough to be able to retrofit the basement into a weight room and CompuTrainer workout facility. Currently we meet their 3-4 days a week to punish our bodies into submission. This morning the workout started at 5:30am and I was fully expecting to be by myself but just before 6:00am my swim coach Chris showed up and I looked at him and stated "The off-season is officially over!"

The pain actually is increased on our famous Saturday workout that is now so popular we do it in two shifts (6am & 10am). This workout usually is a combo workout featuring running and cycling adding up to a 3+ hour workout.

It's good to be back to the routine.

Bring it!

HFP Man

Epic Christmas Run

What a great Christmas morning. The typical craziness with three children opening way too many presents then getting totally bored with their gifts and wanting to play with the other siblings toys. I think everyone cried at least once before 9:00am but eventually everyone calmed down and started to enjoy a very nice Christmas morning at the Kurek household. Later in the morning we went on our traditional Christmas walk with the family (and dogs) at the local reserve. Because of all the rain and warm weather we stayed off the trails and did a loop around the Disc Golf Course but while I walked I could not help to imagine how fun running through the swollen creeks and muddy trails would be. So...upon returning home I grabbed a huge handful of MnM's and a cup of coffee to get my motor going and off to the reserve I went - this time solo. It's about a 10 minute easy run to the entrance where about 15 miles of trails await. I prepared myself to get really muddy and probably really wet and within 3 minutes on the trail I came across my first creek crossing. The recent rain and snow melt had the creek very swollen and fast. The sound of the water moving by was very intimidating and I almost turned around. I grabbed a large tree branch about 5 feet in length to be my depth checker and slowly waded in. The current was very strong and I struggled to move more than about 6-8 inches at a time. I got about half way and my depth finder indicated I was heading for mid-chest water so I bailed and returned to the bank. Though the air temperature was nearing 40 the water had to be in the low 30's and I was really hurting by the time I made it back to the bank. However, now that I was freezing I really wanted to make the crossing. I tried another spot and got across the 10 meter crossing in about 3 minutes in waist deep water. Now I had NO feeling in my legs BUT boy was that exhilarating. I pushed the pace for about 10 minutes to get warmed back up and enjoyed about 5 smaller creek crossings and nearly 90 minutes on the trails. With less than a mile of trail left I had another major creek crossing of the same creek from earlier - just at a deeper and faster section of the creek. This time the water was above my waist and I needed a large stick to use as a lever to keep from getting knocked down by the current. A good 5 minutes to get across and as I exited I gave off a huge scream - wow was this an awesome run. Just when I thought I was home free I came upon a lower section of the trail that was totally flooded from a nearby marsh but was ice covered to make it even more fun. The ice looked to be about 2 inches thick and as I shuffled across the 100 meter section of flooded marsh I prayed the ice would hold. 50 meters across and so far so good...then crash, through the ice and into mid-thigh deep water. This caught me by surprise and as I broke through the ice I fell forward on my knees as my hands went through the ice. Real cold, I mean real COLD. I'm still 50 meters from crossing and with every step I bust through the ice and smack my shins on the edge of the broken ice. Eventually with 10 meters to go the ice starts to hold and I shuffle off the ice and kick it in to high gear to get some body heat back. Now on to the road for my 10 minute trek home and 1:42 on my watch I can't help to feel like this was one of best runs ever. Totally epic - cold, wet, muddy, hilly, & awesome. Back in the house at 1:53 to recount the story to Mom and the kids. They were not as impressed as I was. However, I was reminded several times that I was holding up the scheduled viewing of "Radio Flyer". Merry Christmas everyone.