Friday, February 29, 2008

Here we go again...

Moving again, the fourth time in four years...from Chester, NJ to Philly to Hoboken and now onto Westfield, NJ...only this time is different. No longer will I be a renter...Kira and I are the proud owners of our first home. We closed yesterday, and it really was a great time (which doesn't always seem to be the case with closings). Our whole crew really was amazing...starting with our realtor Jim Euwer at Weichert, Jackie at WaMu, who somehow managed to score us the greatest mortgage of the past decade, I think, and our lawyer in westfield, Jack Edgewood (aka Jim Miner). We're super psyched to be heading out to Westfield...I realize our lives have somehow become a bit of a cliche...Hoboken to Westfield...if I start driving a BMW SUV kill me, please...but we think Westfield is a really good place to be...who knows how long we'll be there...maybe just a year, maybe 5, maybe forever. Right now, it's a good fit. Sure, there's a big part of me that would rather be far away from the city, off the grid a bit...climbing, running, riding, getting after it every day. But I'm not ready to bail yet...we've got a decent thing going on where we're at, and we're not ready to turn our backs on it. Talk to me in 6 months, or a year...so much can change...maybe we'll decide we've had enough...maybe our jobs will change (I'm still plugging along on the NYMEX, they haven't locked the doors yet), maybe we'll be ready for kids, maybe we just shouldn't worry about the maybes and enjoy our time...I think that's the best idea

Monday, February 11, 2008

testing, testing (redux)...

Some more tests of the strength variety. I've actually been on the bike quite a bit the past month, testing, figuring out FTP, working on building endurance. I'm way ahead of the curve compared to last year...actually, compared to just about any year since I've been training and racing. I'm really looking forward to this year...some fun, big, long races planned...we're moving (again!) in a few weeks, and work is super stressful (I'm convinced I'll be out of a job any day now...though I've felt that way for about the past year or so...welcome to the wonderful world of trading energy futures on the NYMEX)...but I'm really motivated, really happy about a lot of things...our marriage, our new home, our families, our dogs...lots to be happy about, lots of reasons to keep rollin'...
Max Pullups: 19
Max Squat: 235
Max Deadlift: 295
Max Hangclean and Press: 125