Marathon day is here again and my wife is running in her fourth competition. She has been training for the past year and always gets a little anxiously, and therefore makes me anxious, right before the big day. To complicate matters this year, Ski was nursing a shin injury that was affecting her ability to run. Now since my wife isn’t a complainer, I knew that the injury must have been very painful if she was even talking about it. You have to understand that those darn vikings tend to be a hardy lot and whining is like a cardinal sin. I knew was gonna run the race with the injury regardless of what I said, so I said nothing and hoped for the best.
Cold rockin’ some Skips
I did something today that I have never done in my nearly 44 years on the planet. I bought some “skips”. And not just any “skips”. I bought “Costco skips”. For those Continue reading “Cold rockin’ some Skips”
Home Alone
It is really weird how dependent you can become on the sounds and routines that we fall into over time. I bring this up because the fam has taken off for the summer and left me home alone. As a result, the house is way too quiet. While it is great that I have the bathroom, TV, and living room all to myself, there is something wrong with a quiet home. I honestly can’t wait until they come back.
Taking a break really sucks
The summer is finally here and I am stuck in NYC for the entire break taking technical training classes. As a result it is gonna be a few weeks until I will be able to get in a martial arts workout. At least within a formal class setting. Luckily my gym has a decent sized exercise area and heavy bags so I can work my hands and legs. I must admit that I will miss the formal classes, and mostly, the sparring. Hitting a bag is not like hitting a live person. To paraphase the illustrious Bruce Lee, “Bags don’t hit back”.
Rain, rain, go away!
When the alarm went off this morning at 6:30am I almost cried. Sunday is usually the one day of the week that I am able to sleep in late. The kids were spending the weekend at Grandma’s house so it was the perfect type of Sunday to just lay in bed and watch TV. However, as we did almost every year, Ski and I had signed up to ride in the annual Five Boro Bike Tour a few months back, and today was the event.
I always enjoy this event but this year the weather was predicted to be cold and rainy for the entire day. Plus my body was still sore from the previous day when I accidentally caught an elbow to my eyebrow while grappling in Krav Maga class. So considering those factors, the last thing that I really wanted to do was ride 50 miles in the rain and cold. But with the kids and our busy schedules, it is rare that Ski and I get a whole day just to do something together on our own. So I manned up and dragged my behind out of bed to spend time with my wife.
Despite the rain and cold, I have to admit that the ride was fun. The course took us all over the city. We started in lower Manhattan and dipped all to briefly into the Bronx (i swear the Bronx gets shown no love in these events). From there we headed over a bridge back into Manhattan and down the East River Drive (even in the rain the ride down the East River Drive is always an experience). The we headed over the 59th Street Bridge into Queens then on to the BQE into Brooklyn. The final leg of the tour carried us over the Verrazzano Bridge and into Staten Island.
At the end we were wet and tired and cold. But I had a great time with my girl.
Krav Maga Belt Promotion
Over the past few months I have been training pretty hard in preparation for promotions in the various martial arts styles that I am studying. Last month, I successfully tested for my 1st degree Black Belt in IPS Shotokan, and today I successfully tested for my Orange Belt in Krav Maga. I have been studying Continue reading “Krav Maga Belt Promotion”
Late Night Workout for Insomniacs
My recent bouts of insomnia have made my workouts a true late night exercise. I am really starting to think that this must be how vampires live. It seems that the last few weeks have been a focal point for nearly every stressful event that I could imagine and it is starting to take a toll on my sleep patterns. I have always been more than a bit Continue reading “Late Night Workout for Insomniacs”
Runnin’ for Chowda: Year Two
I just got off of the phone with Ski and was shocked to hear her sound so energetic. She slid up to Beantown this weekend to run in her second Boston Marathon and had just finished when I got her on the cell. I really wanted to see her run but someone had to look after the kids since they were back in school after a week off for Spring Break. It probably was for the best since the weather in Boston was cold and rainy and neither of us want the kids to catch any colds. Still, it would have been Continue reading “Runnin’ for Chowda: Year Two”
Go Trek Yourself
This is either one of the funniest, or the creepiest, things I have seen on the web in awhile. You got a black vulcan spitting the lyrics of Rakim in an offbeat monotone fashion. Yes I realize that I am a major nerd but the use of flash in this application is pretty original. You can upload a picture of yourself, type in some text and boom. You have just Trek’ed yourself. Continue reading “Go Trek Yourself”
Black Belt Ceremony
I am so proud of my baby. She finally earned her Black belt in Karate. She had been practicimg very hard over the last few months in order to get ready for the testing. It was obvious that all the hard work had paid off. Her katas were pretty sharp for someone her age. And her fighting was really good too. I just remember that Continue reading “Black Belt Ceremony”