Just in case anyone is interested, today is my birthday and I am not doing anything except working ( I guess I still have to do that) and eating cake. I've been receiving phone calls all day from family and friends so I'm feeling pretty special. It's nice to hear from everyone and I've even received gifts. My wife, kids and mother-in-law gave me the Ipod Nano. So now I too am one of the cool kids:-) I'm pretty exited about it since I'm running out of room in the CD cases (yes plural) I keep in the car. Hopefully I don't run out of room in the Nano, I guess it can hold about 2000 songs.

It's been a busy week. The training continues to be there, but this week it has been a lot about parties.

Tuesday 12/16 - It started with a TNT alumni social at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek. I'm mentioning the social because that's what I ended up attending. Actually Tuesday night are when we do a spin workout, also at Sports basement. In order for me to get to Tuesday night workouts I have to leave work a little early. Typically this is not an issue, but sometimes things come up and I can't leave. Tuesday was one of those nights. Still though I had plans on going. When I went to get my gym bag however, I realized I had also forgotten my shoes. Well you can see where this is going. I blew off the workout and went to the party instead. I rightfully caught some flack from the team for that. I didn't feel completely lame though, I had done a swim workout in the morning before I went to work.

Wednesday 12/17 - I ended up running errands and doing fundraising stuff. No workout, LAME. In the evening I went to our first Ironteam dinner at Pasta Pomodora in San Francisco.

Thursday 12/18 - 42 mile bike ride. Something is bugging me on the bike. I have some tightness on the inside of my thigh that I think is contributing to some knee pain. I had some work done on it and I've been good about home treatment, but it's being a persistent little bastard. I'll take it easy by skipping the cycling for a week to see if it gets better. Thursday night was the end of season party for the marathon team (Team Oz, with a cause). We have had a great group this season and it was good to see everyone.

Friday 12/19 - 5:30 AM in the pool as usual. I'm sure I've said this before, but getting out the door for these workouts is the hardiest thing. I do these swims on my own so no one is out there waiting for me to show and that makes it more difficult. I am really enjoying the swims in the morning however. Once i get over there and in the pool moving it feels great.
After the store closed on Friday, I had a fundraiser for the Leukemia Society at the store. We hosted the Boxcar Theatre group for a live performance of an Edward Albee play "The American Dream" in our showroom. It was a great success and we had 70+ guests for the performance.

Saturday 12/20 - The team was in San Francisco this morning for "Bonk" day. I'm still not entirely sure of the entire workout, but I know what "bonk" means (no, get your mind out of the gutter). Bonking is a term used to describe the feeling you get when your body runs out of fuel. I guess the coaches are trying to prove a point or something. Obviously you get very weak and often shake from the exertion and get nauseous. Not a lot of fun and I'm sorry I missed it, NOT. Since Saturdays are hard for me, working and all, my plan is to do these workouts the following Wednesday or Thursday, so stay tuned. Although with the holidays this week and still feeling a little injured, I'm not sure I'll get to it this week.
Saturday night I had another party. This time it was our company Christmas party. Nobody scanned their butts on the copier as far as I know.

Sunday 12/21 - No more parties, please. This morning a few of us did a simulated open water swim at the pool at Heather Farm. For a couple of hours in the morning, they removed all the lane line and drooped in a couple of buoys for us to swim around. We worked on continuous swimming and also a few drills where we swim in close trying to distract each other. Each leg of a triathlon has it's challenges and there are several challenges during the swim. Your in water surrounded by hundreds of other swimmers flailing about. The water is dark and often cold. There are no walls to hold onto every 25 meters and you can't stand on the bottom. You have to get comfortable with being bumped into, kicked and hit all while your trying to keep a rhythm going and, oh yeah, breath.

Okay, I think I've written enough. I have to get better at doing this in smaller doses but more often. I'll try to be better about pictures too.

This is me a couple of buddies at the last x-mas party. Thats me in the bottom left.

Remember to turn off the playlist at the bottom.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

In case someone out there missed it. Somehow we managed to pass a law in California amending our state constitution to allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. In particular with relation to marriage. Doesn't seem right to me and the final chapter on this has yet to be written. Anyway, I thought this was pretty good. Sorry if I step on any ones toes. You'll have to pause my playlist at the bottom of the page before you play it, I think.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Saturday 11/29 - A rather lengthy workout scheduled for today and I am going to miss most of it, darn... Actually I am a little bummed, I do enjoy working out hard and pushing the limits. The following is the schedule as it was laid out by the team.

8:45am: Arrive and get into gear depending on group assignment

9:00am: 90' swim

10:45ish: 45' dynamic run drill, 45' strength

12:15-12:45ish: Prep for brick, light snack, fluids, and get in appropriate clothing, weigh in for sweat test pre and post brick.

1:00pm:Brick (2-3 repeats)30' spin, 20' run. Spin focus is on drills and for fit review as team rides

4:00ish: Brick complete, get folks to weigh in after they complete the last run.

C. What Gear to Bring: EVERYTHING
D. Nutrition/Light Snack:

Everyone finds a different blend of drinks, gels, bars, real food so they need to start experimenting right away. An electrolyte drink of some sort is key for everyone however. Coach Nancy takes about 200-300 calories per hour, someone larger will need more. Example: Test starting at 200 calories per hour, and 24 ounces of fluid per hour. Break it down so you are taking food and liquid in every 15 minutes. Bring more than you think you will need because you can always choose not to eat it. DON’T FORGET a recovery drink/food to eat within 30 minutes of finishing the workout.

Some suggestions:
Light snacks would include about 300-500 calories from the following sources:

Recovery Drink, Sports Drink, Cliff bars/Builder bars/Power Bars, Bananas, Apples, Small sandwiches (and I mean small, not a Lunardi's "two hander"), Salty snacks like pretzels or, potato chips, Trail mix, Fig Newtons, Mixed nuts, Yogurt, Hard Cheese, Sardines, Hard boiled eggs

That all sounds great right... I did the swim portion (wimp), but I did do the three bricks on Friday.

Sunday 11/30 - This morning my neighbor and I committed to some much needed yard work. We have an open drainage ditch that runs between our properties that has been in need of serious repair. The ditch has basically collapsed so when it rains hard (doesn't happen too often her in California), the water flows through my neighbors yard and into his pool. Good thing he's a nice guy. Neither one of us was in the mood for hard physical labor, so we hired three guys to help us dig and remove debris. We both though this was going to be a nightmare chore that would take a good portion of the day, but these three guys knocked it out in about two hours. The plan now is to lay an 8" drainage pipe down the entire length that should solve our problems for some time to come. We should be able to get to that tomorrow or Thursday. It'll be nice to get this problem taken care of, it's been weighing on us for a while.

Monday 12/1 - Rest

With Mette gone and the kids out of school, I took the day off work in order to take care of dad duties. Steffen and I even braved a trip to Best Buy while Andreas was off doing his "rotten teenager" stuff (I'm teasing, he's actually a really great kid). Luckily they didn't have what I was looking for and I was able to get out of there quickly. Instead we went to the grocery store to stock up on supplies for the next few days. I thought today might be a bust, workout wise, but I was able to hook up with May, Steffens aid from school. She took Steffen for a few hours so I could get a workout in. I ended up doing the brick portion of tomorrows workout since I have to work. A brick is a drill consisting of two disciplines, usually a bike and a run. Today I did 3 bricks each consisting of a 30 min. bike ride followed by a 20 min. run.

Black Friday... I have never been one to get caught up in this insane shopping day and today will not be any different. Mette and my mother-in-law (Inger) left for Norway on Wednesday so it is just me and the boys for the next 10 days. Not to worry, in case you are, I have lots of help lined up. 

These last three days it's been just us boys and getting a workout in has not been easy. All I have been able to do is run. With Steffen in a stroller I ran 6 miles on Wednesday and another 6 on Thursday. I can't remember the last time I a ran with a stroller. It's different, I find it hard to relax my shoulders so at the end of the whole thing my back and neck are very tight. None the less it basically worked quite well.

I'll try not to bore you with too many details of the last week, but let me recap:

Wenesday 11/19 - We had our first coached swim workout at the Pleasant Hill adult education center. The pool was salt water which was very nice actually. Most of this workout consisted of balance drills. I also got some good instruction on tightening up my kick. It should be like swimming through a tube

Thursday 11/20 - 45 min. trainer workout. It was supposed to be a little longer, but it was just to boring. I even set up in the living room with a movie going. I should give myself a little credit, I did get most of the workout in. Later in the evening I met some of the runners on the marathon team for a run.

Friday 11/21 - AM swim. The swims are focused a lot on drills and developing good and efficient skills. The first part of the workout was balance drills and the second par was a 15 minute continuous relaxed swim. For future reference I got in 950yds. I'm sure we'll be coming back to that to see if there is improvement.

Saturday 11/22 - This was a big day for many of my marathoners. Those going to Honolulu did their big 20 mile run. This is the longest we take them prior to their event. As a coach, I spent all of my time on my bike. Between marking the course and riding back and forth to check on the runners, I got about 30 miles in. Not a great workout though, it was a lot of stop and go.

Sunday 11/23 - Went for a good bike ride. Our cycling coach suggested a route that included rolling hills. The ride was supposed to be 45 miles, but I only had about 2 hours so I had to cut it short. I think I did pretty good. I got in 38 miles in 2:15.

Monday 11/24 - Rest

Tuesday 11/25 - AM swim. More efficiency drills and a couple of markers:

5 x 100m shooting for consistent times (mine = 1:35/hundred).

3 x 200m (mine = 3:29/ two hundred).

I was very consistent, always with 2 -3 seconds.

So now you are all caught up. I really have to try and do this every night.

I took Sunday and Monday off and I think that was a good thing.

Yesterday morning got a little messed up again. Mette had a meeting in the morning so I had to make sure I got back from my swim in plenty of time to deal with the kids. The hardest thing about a morning workout is getting out of bed, but I was up and ready on time and got out the door by 5:15 in order to make it over to the pool by 5:30. When I got to the pool I realized I did not bring a towel and the front desk did not have any extra. I guess I could have drip dried after, but it was a little chilly that morning. Instead I decided I could rush home and still get back in time for a shortened workout. Not. By the time I got home things were humming along and if I did my workout I would likely get home late and that would not be a good thing.

Every other Tuesday evening we meet at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek with our trainers for a spin workout.  Last nights drill was an hour of speed intervals. It was a great workout, I was sweating like a pig and good and tired at the end.

I had hopes of writing this last night, but I am just not motivated to do much more by the time I get home. I had just enough time to eat and check my e-mail before I crashed at 10. You can get me up any time in the morning, but at night I am a worthless slug.

Today is Wednesday and I have the day off. My plan is to have lunch with my wife and the rest of the time I am dedicating to getting up to speed on my fundraising efforts. Thats right, in case you didn't already know I am fundraising for the Leukemia Society and donations are highly encouraged and appreciated. You can donate on line at my fundraising page.

Friday 11/14 - Started the day at the swim center in Walnut Creek at 5:30AM. I enjoy swimming, but I can really tell I am not in the best of swimming shape. A lot of it is technique and finding that balance in the water. I think I have a good grasp on what I am supposed to do , now all I have do do is practice it...a lot. 

Friday is my Monday at work, so it's back to the grind. I help run a furniture store (Viking Trader) in Berkeley that my father and step mother started 20 years ago. I've been involved with the business pretty much the whole time, except for the very first couple of years when I was still in the Navy. My dad past away in 2000 so now it is my step mother (Kirsten) and I that run the place. Business is scary slow right now and it's a challenge to stay motivated when everything you try has less than stellar results. We've been advertising a weekend clearance sale quite heavily for the last few days, so I have high hopes about bringing in some cash in order to get through this mess. 

After work I went to a yoga class. It was Bikram yoga and it just about killed me. It was all I could do just to stay in the room for 90 min. I'm new to yoga and I want to like it, but I'm not sure about doing it in this extreme heat. I think I'm going to try a different form. I feel it is a terrific workout that incorporates core strength and flexibility and since I hate going to the gym I'll keep trying. Part of problem today could have something to do with being a little tired. The last two days have been pretty long with a couple of workouts per day and not enough sleep. I may need to take an extra rest day soon.

Saturday 11/15 - Started at 6AM with a relatively short 16 mile bike ride to mark the course for our marathoners. About a dozen of us started to run at 8AM. I thought I would join those running 16 miles today. My training schedule had me doing a 50 min. run, but in true bravado form I decide I can go big... not. I baled at 9 miles. My legs got very tight and I didn't want to risk injury. I've been on the mend off and on for the last couple of month and I'm tired of being sidelined so I'll go it a little slower.

After work Mette, the kids and I were invited to dinner at friends house. We had yummy lasagna ++.  Susie you have a way of making it so nice, thanks for a great dinner.

Sunday 11/16 -  I had planned on meeting some peolpe from the team this morning for a bike ride but instead I am going to take a little extra rest. I've been feeling a little less than spry the last couple of days. I have been taught, and continue to preach myself, that you have to listen to your body. There are usually signs that you are pushing things and the best way to avoid injury and setbacks is to listen closely to those signs. Physical fitness gains are accomplished via a pretty straight forward equation: 

(physical exertion/activity) x (eating/fueling correctly) x (rest/recovery)= fitness gain

You can't get fit sitting around on your butt, however eating right and resting are imortant ellements of the equation too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So Wednesday night I did get in a short run at the Reservoir. That place is gorgeous right now with the leaves turning all different colors. I like running there, my only complaint is that it can get a little crowded at times. That was not a big problem on Wednesday though.

After my run I headed over to the Back Forty restaurant for the send off party for our runners going to San Antonio, Texas, to run the Rock'n'Roll marathon. It was a great evening with good food topped off with a couple of 25 oz brews filled to the rim so they became 26.2 oz brews. I thought that was fitting and all with us there to get pumped up for the marathon. For those reading this that don't know what I'm taking about, a marathon is 26.2miles, get it:-). I thought the beers was causing problems with my eyes on the way home, I swore I saw gas for $2.30/gal. turns out I wasn't seeing things and today gas is down even further. You guys back home in Norway stop laughing.

Thursday was another day of running around. I went to the LLS office to pick up my bike trainer and had every intention of getting a trainer workout in. Well between stopping by wor, taking Steffen (my youngest son) to his neurology appointment and picking up Andreas (my oldest son) from tennis there wasn't time to get the bike workout in. I fear this is starting to become a theme. I did however, meet up with a couple of runners from the marathon team in the evening and got in a good hours run. Nothing like ending the night on a good note.

We had kickoff last Saturday and I got the first three month of the training schedule. I'm already scrambling to figure out all the logistics. Once I get into a routine it will work out I'm sure. If it was easy everyone would do it, right? Well at least those with the same mental deficiencies as me anyway. Kickoff is usually a relaxed, get to know you event. For IronTeam however, it was literally a full day of motivational stuff, introductions to the coaching staff, gear clinics and, for good measure, topped off with a strength and conditioning workout.

Welcome to the team!

They're not messing around here, we are hitting this thing with a good head of steam on. Sunday, my newly aquired training calendar had me scheduled for a 2 hour hill repeat drill on my bike. No problem except I had already planned a 10 mile run with a buddy that morning. So I'll just do both, I told myself... I'm think I have to start a little earlier next time. I got my run in no problem, but I had to cut the bike ride down a little in order to make it to work on time. All in all not bad for a first day, I think. 

Monday was a scheduled rest day.

Tuesday I was back on the hills, this time with the marathon team. It was a good workout, short but intense (total of 4 miles on the hills). I felt pretty good.

Today is Wednesday, normally my day off from work. I had plans for a yoga session and a bike workout, neither of which are going to happen. I had to go in to work for a couple of hours and that kind of threw me off track. I have to stay fluid, things are going to happen like this more than once I'm sure.

My buddy Jon just called and I'm meeting him for a quick lap or two around the Lafayette reservoir. See ya.

This is my first attempt at blogging, so I hope you all will have some patience with me as I figure this out. While I promise to keep this current, I'm not sure I'll be able to write updates every day. We'll see...

I have joined up with Team in Training (TNT) for another season of fundraising and fitness. This far from my first stint with TNT, in fact this will be my 11th season since the spring of 2005. You might say it has become a passion of mine. Mette, that's my wife, call it an obsession. Actually her description of what I do is a little more colorful than that. Don't get me wrong, Mette is behind me all the way and quite frankly I could not do this without her support.

All but one of the last 10 seasons has been with the marathon team, but last spring I completed a triathlon and loved it. This season I though I would kick it up a notch by setting out to complete a full ironman. Of course I'll be doing this as a participant of Team in Trainings "IronTeam" to raise money for the fight against blood related cancers.

While this is not my first endurance event, it will certainly be the most challenging. The event I am targeting is the full Vineman triathlon in Sonoma, California on August 1st, 2009. Just so everyone knows what I am getting into, an ironman distance triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile open water swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride followed by a 26.2 mile run. Al three disciplines must be completed within the course allotted time (in this case 16 hours). As you might imagine this accomplishing this will require  a lot of training. The trick will be to balance training with work and family a, oh yeah, I'll need to eat and sleep too. In anyone has any good ideas, let me know.