Photo Shoot at the Steelcase Duathlon

Today is a gloomy rainy day, not a good day to compete in a duathlon, ha! Today was the Steelcase Dutahlon in Grand Rapids at Steelcase headquarters between 52nd and 60th off East Paris- The event is Run 5k, Bike 30k, Run 5k. I kept this date open just in case I wanted to do this if it was nice. But did not.

Instead, thought I would park my car on the bike route and practice taking some action shots with my Canon Rebel and Sigma telephoto lens. Conditions were gloomy, light sprinkles here and there. I started shooting with iso 100 on shutter mode at about shutter speed of 120, but noticed my pictures were still dark when shooting, so went down to 60 and had a good pics in the viewfinder (or so I thought). I then changed the mode to P (program mode) and started experimenting with more speeds and f stop. I also increased my iso to 200 and think my pictures came out better being the lighting was so low outside. Well, I probably took about 300 pictures using burst mode. I also started iusing manual focus, but can't zoom out as bikers come towards me and focus at the same time, so switched to auto focus. My pictures didn't come out tack sharp, but with practice I think I will get better. I am happy with some of the pictures I got, but need a lot more shooting practice. Actually the best picture that came out is this one above, and what do you know, I think this is Dave Horne, one of our tri coaches for Team Sync, he is wearing hot pink.

Below are more pics that I was satisfied with. Eventually I would like help volunteer to take photos at race events, I think I am on to a good start.

A Cold 6.6 mile run in Bay City

This past weekend I went to visit my parents in Bay City. Sandi was having her annual garage sale and I sold a bunch of my junk and made $84. The whole sale did really well considering April 17 was a COLD day with even some snowflakes falling! I was actually sore from standing all day in the cold.

I knew I had to get a long run in, a 7 mile, the longest distance that my 10k training plan calls for. Saturday was just too cold and heard that the weather was going to be a bit warmer on Sunday, so saved the run until Sunday.

I decided to run from my parents house to Sandi's house, about 5.4 miles, but I thought I would run more once I got to her house around her neighborhood to get the 7 miles in. Well, I didn't have to do that because I got a little confused on my route, so ended up running more by the time I got to Sandi's house, all in all it was 6.6 miles, I thought I went 7, but until I mapped it out later, it was 6.6, oh well.

My route:



My time was 73 minutes, but that included stops at the Riverwalk area (map here) to take some pics from my camera phone.



I run with a race belt that includes a small pint of water, phone and iPod in the belt. Here are some pics I took of the Riverwalk area in Bay City. My camera phone sucks, (well, my camera is from the 2006, so I need an upgrade). I felt good during and after the run, I will be so excited when I don't have to wear 2 pairs or pants, 2 long sleeve shirts and a fleece, the extra clothes bogs me down and makes me feel heavy. But 60s this week, so hopefully shorts on my runs this week!

I have also inlcuded a picture of a bar, the Rathskellar, that my mom and dad first met in 1974. She was on the pole, ha, just kidding.

I joined a Triathlon Team!

Today was the first meeting of the season for me for Team Sync, a triathlon training group/team that I just joined. I am really excited to train with this great group of people. They are people of all levels, from beginner to seasoned Iron Man competitors. I still consider myself a beginner with doing my first 2 tris last year.



Today we did a swim for 20 minutes or so and then biked about 8 miles. The rest went out for a run, but since I ran 6 miles yesterday and started something crazy this week, my legs are a bit sore. The craziness that I started was Insanity workout. Yes, the DVDs are insane, and I am probably more insane for integrating these workouts into my tri training plans. Yes - I have increased my caloric intake. Anyway, more on Insanity later.

So basically our team meets every Sunday for a couple hours of training, Thursday evenings and maybe a floater (announcement on our facebook group). I have also been swimming in a Masters class twice a week in the morning. I like that its called "Masters," but Keith tells me that means old people...lol. He's probably right, I am no master at swimming.


I hope to do about 3-4 tris this year. So far my plan:

5/8 5/3 Riverbank Run 10k (Keith is running the 5k)

5/30 Seahorse Challenge - sprint tri

7/17 Tri Del Sol

8/7 Millennium Park Triathlon

9/11 Reed’s Lake Triathlon 2010

Spring is here!!

We had gorgeous weather this past weekend, Friday actually hit 80 here, with record highs! I am currently training for the Fifth Third River Bank Run 10k that takes place on May 8 here in Grand Rapids. Speaking of that, need to register soon. Keith is going the 5k. He hast lost about 23 pounds since Feb, and me, well I have just stayed the same. I have lost the same 2-5 pounds over and over again!!! Anyway, I ran about 5.5 miles yesterday around the Reeds Lake Area, my favorite place to run. Today I am going to go out for another 5 miles, not sure where yet. I am just waiting a couple hours to it reached mid 60s so I can run in shorts and a t-shirt.

I just updated my running playlist, because that keeps my running fresh and not boring, sometimes I find myself constantly pushing next on my iPod. I have over 5500 songs on my iPod, and you think I could just find 20-30 that I love to run to, its hard!!!

Some songs I chose for my April Run playlist:
Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty
Hot N Cold - Kate Perry
Empire State of Mind - Jay Z and Alicia Keys
Alive - Black Eyed Peas
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Two Step - Dave Matthews Band
Ray of Light - Madonna
Forever - Chris Brown
Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
Just Dance - Lady Gaga
Better Life - Keith Urban
Happy - Natashia Bedingfield
Speed of Sound - Coldplay
Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Bad Influence - Pink
You Spin me Round - Dead or Alive
If it Makes you Happy - Sheryl Crow
Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners

I am hoping to get on my bike this week too, pumped up the tires on both the road bike and mountain bike. I also installed my digital Trek Incite 8i computer on the bike, although its not working properly so will have to take it to the bike shop to make sure I have the wheel magnet and sensor lined up. This computer will track miles, speed, time, history etc...More on the later as I play.

Well, gonna eat something lite before the run. Oh- Happy Easter! I didn't go home for Easter because the parents had to work on Saturday and I have decided to come up in a couple weeks for a garage sale to sell my junk to strangers. Oh - and I am bummed that Michigan State lost to Butler in the Final Four game. Go Duke!

Higgins Lake Highlight video

I finally got some more time to get back to the editing of Higgins Lake vacation that we took in August 2009. Still working on more material for the vacation DVD, but here is a short montage of our week. The trip was a great time, despite me getting Swimmer's Itch. The group that went was me, Keith, Amanda, Jason, Dusten, Dana and Matt.

It's been a while

Its been awhile since my last post. So what have I been up to lately? I have been training for a 10k run for May 8th at the 5/3 River Bank Run, as well as starting to train for summer of triathlons, first one being 5/30. I bought a pool pass a couple weeks ago and been getting a swim workouts in each week for now. I am concentrating more on the run, as that is my weakest, I did however run 5.5 miles a couple Saturdays without stopping, so that was great! My treadmill actually turned itself off before I could turn it off, it hit 60:00 minutes, and it said you must COOL DOWN! I was like, ok, don't have to twist my arm, I will walk, lol.

I also just finished a Nicholas Sparks book called The Last Song. I really liked it, its also going to be a movie, opening on 3/31 so interested to see that (however, it does star Miley Cirrus, so not sure how I can take that). I am now listening to the autobiography of Andre Agassi, really good so far, did you know he has always hates tennis? He had a dad that just pushed him into the sport, taping small paddles to his hand as a baby and made him hit things!

Keith and I are on a mission to lose weight, well I am always on that mission, but he is doing so well. Why do guys lose weight so fast! He has lost 16 pounds so far. We have a goal for 3/1...will we make it? Stay tuned!

I am going down to Tennessee to visit Ryan with mom and dad in March. This will be the first time I will see his house, we're doing a long weekend, Thursday through Monday, we'll probably hit Nashville too.

Oh - I have given up for Lent - fast food (except Subway)and alcohol. I don't have either of them too often, maybe once a week, but it just screws up my whole day if I do, so we'll see.

I think that's all for now!

My new found love...the library system

So, recently I found a new love, our library system. I have used the library before, for checking out books, but now you can set up online accounts and download mp3 or wma files right from your computer and load them on to your iPod (some not iPod compatible). The Kent District Library is huge and also part of Lakeland Library Cooperative so you can place holds from your online account, request it for pickups at your favorite nearby library, they will simply email you when its ready. The number of books from libraries that I have access to is here.

So, I recently finished an audio book called The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I really liked this book and the author narrated the audio book and had a great voice. I started looking into her more, and she wrote a memoir called Lucky. I searched to see what was available and audio book format came up. I was not able to find it on a digital download, but figured I could just load the cds and add to the iPod manually. I picked it up yesterday (took about a week because they transferred it from Clarksville library).

I was excited to get home and transfer it to my iPod, BUT, I opened the case up and for some reason I had this worry in my head that these were cassettes because the way the box was shaped, not cd like....uh oh, I opened it, and it was this little gadget where you plug headphones into. Weird? I have never seen this...and I was bummed I would not be able to load this on the my iPod, no possible way to get the content out and into my cool iPods, oh well, I now have to carry another gadget around when listening to this book. I need a belt for my gadgets!



I am ok with this for now, but will now keep an eye out if there are details on specific formats when they list "audio book." I still like reading normal books too, as some books I put on my wish list about real estate and investing. Right now my normal books I am reading are Cramer's Getting Back to Even and The Dew Breaker (borrowed from Dana). I switch depending what I am in the mood for. So that's what I am up to on the reading front...and am trying not to buy books, only library, hell, I pay for it already!