martygaalblog

8th anniversary

2012-05-22T15:49:00.002-04:00

The family headed to the Maggie Valley area of NC for our 8th anniversary. We stayed at the same cabin we've stayed at several times for anniversary and other weekend getaway trips. There is a soothing creek adjacent to the property. It is as peaceful as peaceful gets. I had visions of a relaxing time as we all caught up on sleep and enjoyed our time together. This was true with the exception of the sleep part. Little man had other ideas and decided to wake up more than once each night. We also started the day at 415AM on Friday. Part of this was our fault as he had outgrown his last batch of diapers and was getting wet/full fairly quickly. Nonetheless, we had a nice time, had lunch with some friends on Thursday, and visited a few shops and pubs in Asheville. Bri had time to get in a run around Lake Junaluska, and I snuck in a swim at the Waynesville Recreation center. Do you like my new block format of typing? No more paragraph breaks. I may eventually do away with punctuation and proper spelling as well which would be neat it would just be a long sentence that rambles on with some disconnected seguays and maybe some umms and ahhs to give you the sense of me actually speaking rather than reading what I am saying dont you agree that would be funny ha ha funny not oh weirdo dude funny anyway here are pictures:

5280 Swim

2012-05-11T09:01:00.005-04:00

The 4th annual 5280 Swim at Falls Lake is tomorrow morning, come on out and enjoy a beautiful day. 9AM start time.

In other news, I am way behind on sleep the past few weeks. Good thing we are taking a short vacation next week to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary.

Amendment one in NC

2012-05-09T10:25:00.003-04:00

Core CPI, chained CPI, and my CPI

2012-05-03T11:06:00.003-04:00

I have decided to cut out all the middlemen and con artists in the government and start a quarterly tracking of consumer price inflation in my local neighborhood. We won't use any substitutions or increased utility bullsh*t in it either. If you're unfamiliar with these concepts, the idea is this:

Utility: A concrete example is that a gallon of orange juice costs $4. But due to some crop harvesting improvements they yield more oranges and you are able to get a gallon for $3.50 next month. Your utility/use (value to you) of orange juice has increased while the price has decreased.

A specious example: Time Warner cable had 50 basic channels and was $30/month. Now it has 100 channels and is $40 a month. Because it doubled its content delivery, its utility or use (value to you) increased. But, the price went up $10. 50/30 (5/3) or 100/40 (5/2) if we consider the 100 channels all valuable. This would track as a decreasing cost (you were paying $30 for 50 channels, but now it's $20 for 50 channels) with the measurement utility. Like I said, bullsh*t, because you don't watch CNN 5 or the O channel.

Substitutions via "geometric ratings". This one is awful. If a pound of premium ground sirloin, which was $6 increases to $9, the current use CPI would say, well, the average family can still buy a pound of top quality chicken (or fish, or whatever) for $6, so somewhat gradually over time we include more chicken and fish measurements than we include premium ground sirloin, thus smoothing the stated inflation rate in total.

Which, as you can see in my previous sentence, is bullsh*t. Because you ain't got no beef no more. If you follow this one to the end conclusion, we could have all premium meats increasing in cost to the point where the "average" user is out trading -something- for a pound of squirrel or rat meat at about $6 / lb. But meat is meat, right,?.

The chained CPI is worse, it's a quickly rebalanced average of cheaper substitutions over time. The sole purpose of this CPI is to quickly rob you of all your savings via taxation and eroding purchasing power and leave you for dead.

Anyway, I plan to include 10-20 items in my personal no-BS CPI. I'll allocate them somewhat equally

1 gallon gas premium local Shell
1 gallon gas standard local Exxon
1 gallon skim milk local Harris Teeter
1 half-gallon local non-steroid cow milk local Whole Foods
1 6-pack of Lone Rider Shotgun Betty from local Shell
The same 6-pack at local Harris Teeter
1 year in-state tuition and books from NC State ( divided by 100)
1 year in-state tuition and books from UNC (/100)
1 night standard rack rate in hospital (adult) (/10)
1 pound of locally grass fed beef
1 12 ounce bag of Starbucks Verona roast at local store (any)
1 pint of Big Boss rotating tap at local restaurant
1 pound of 96/4 lean beef (non-local)
1 standard chicken sandwich + side from Tribeca Tavern
1 standard quarter pounder meal (regular) from local McDonalds
1 month insurance premium for us (/10)
1 pool entry to local pool

Might add a few more. I read that awful article on chained CPI (linked above) a few days ago and wanted to start shouting at someone. It is a total money grab.

Time One and Time Two

2012-04-26T14:24:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday mornings I have the option to "sleep in" until 630AM, if I skip swimming with the Masters group and wait to swim after I coach a squad from 700-800AM.

I make about 70% of these early Wed swims, which means waking up at 530 and getting out of the house by 545 at the latest.

This is a story about yesterday morning, written in the present tense.

Sleep interrupted by the cries of my baby boy. Logan wakes, it is early, what time? 330, My watch says. Bri gets to him before I can put on my shoes to hobble to his room (to help keep my injured foot balanced), so I wander into the bathroom and then flop back in to bed. Here is proof.

Where I sleep when getting up early so Bri can get more sleep

What seems like a few minutes later, my alarm shrieks its dire warning for the 530 Masters swim. I waffle a bit, groaning in pain and fatigue. Here is proof.

Thus, I wake.

Ignore the sunlight in the background. This is the actual alarm.

I cannot bring myself to launch out of bed and face a hard workout and the rest of the day, so reset the alarm to 630 and fall back into a deep cyborg like slumber. There are no dreams. There is darkness.

The alarm goes off. It reads 630. I have no choice but to rise and get going. People depend on me to torture them with swim intervals. I wander downstairs. I feel awful. I am exhausted. My eyes bleed.

I must continue.

Something is amiss. As I prepare the coffee, I notice that the times on the microwave and oven are wrong. They read 335. Was there a power outage?

Pretend these read 335 instead of 1140, I am not resetting the times for you

I. Am. Confused.

That is not sunlight in the background.

My mind spins. Was there a nuclear blast? Are aliens messing with me, yet again? Has all time melted away to meaningless bits and bytes? What is happening to me?

I turn on the phone. I cannot post a picture of the phone for it is the lens through which I share these views. I could take a picture in a mirror, but that is a poor reflection of the phone's reality. Believe me when I say, the phone lit up, and then also spake, It is 335.

I am released. It is not 630. No. It is 330. For there are two times upon my watch. There is Time One, and there is Time Two. Time One is real time. It is you and I time. It is get up at 515 for coaching every morning time.

Time Two is Other. It is three hours ahead. It tells the future. We always need to know when it is four-twenty in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland. This is crucial to the future of mankind, for some reason my watch has not yet shared with me.

The watch. I return it to T1 alarming.

I am relieved. The good Inuit people of Greenland are safe. I can sleep two more hours, and wake up feeling refreshed for the swim. Everything is in its right place. I shall go back to sleep. A deep, restful sleep filled with happy dreams.

Yes?

Answering your silly emails at 345AM

Fini.

Training updates

2012-04-23T19:33:00.002-04:00

Training has been going well, with the exception of injuring my foot 9 days ago. I was experiencing some slight discomfort after racing the local duathlon in my lightweight training shoes (not even flats, just lightweight trainers) but nothing any runner hasn't dealt with. I did a couple runs during the week with nothing noteworthy.

Then I raced in a 5k and it went from mild discomfort to extreme pain in the course of 1.2 miles. I had to stop and limp back to my car, couldn't jog or walk normally. That is the first race I've bagged out of since 1993 when I stopped at mile 12 in a 15 mile swim (I was overheating, had fallen out of contention for a national team spot, and sort of bored with it at that point). The foot was feeling better through the week, but then I mowed our front lawn, which is on a steep slope, and that aggravated it. So while biking and swimming are not an issue (staying away from hard hills and hard riding), running is out for the time being. I have seen too many athletes try to get back to running quickly and then stay hurt indefinitely.

Long story short - the first Aquathon is out (I was going to race it), as well as White Lake Sprint. Hopefully I can be back to running by mid May, which would give the foot a solid 5-6 weeks.

I have been maintaining my svelt figure with mostly good food choices and portion control. When you go from 12-14 hour type training (mid to late season last year) to 6-8 hours of training, the calories have to adjust downwards or the weight and svelt-lessness will adjust upwards.

In other news, Bri is feeling better about running and is racing in the Riverwood Triathlon this Saturday. Logan and I will be in cheering mode. On Sunday we're joining a bunch of swimmers for USMS short course nationals in Greensboro, which is about 1.5 hours away. I'm swimming the 50 fly and 100 free.

Here is what I think I look like when swimming butterfly:

Here is reality:

Adieu.

Casino night at TAC!

2012-04-20T14:41:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow night 4.21.12 is Casino night at Triangle Aquatic Center, where our Masters swim team trains. This is their big annual fundraiser and we are sponsoring a table.

Check it out!

random thoughts 4.17.12

2012-04-17T16:58:00.006-04:00

Why you might as well give up on 'investing' and focus on 'saving lots.'

Unless you diversified into 'barbaric relics.'

Hopefully not black gold, though.

Although now might be the time to sell one and buy the other.

I hurt my foot over the weekend, but other than the aggravation of not being able to run for a couple weeks or whatever it might be, am not worried about races since this year is the Year of the Bri. I am hopeful it is a soft tissue issue. Poetry in injury.

Today Bri and I got out for our first ride together in over a year, it was nice, birds were singing, the clouds parted before us, etcetera.

Please sign up for the Old School Aquathon if you intend to race the first event on May 2nd. It is approaching quickly!

Boy is doing good:

Junior and I playing "sit without slouching"

Mom and laddie at Masters swim team party

Boy coaching Saturday Masters - he prefers sprints

Three Generations of Fine Young Men

Cary duathlon 2012

2012-04-08T19:36:00.000-04:00

We had a big contingent of OSB athletes at the Cary duathlon this Saturday. Bri graciously allowed me to jump in this one as it is 15 minutes from our house. The race went better than I expected - I felt pretty good on everything and raced about as well as possible. I have not been cycling much (<50/week the past few) so the 17 mile ride was on the far side for me.

Anyway, first 2.5 mile run into about 9th place at 6:37 pace.
Bike course moved up 1 spot to 8th place at about 21.7mph (hilly course with some headwinds)
On the final run I was amazed to pass 4 runners to move up to 4th place at 6:45 pace.

A lot of the really fast/fit athletes raced the long course distance (5 mile - 31 mile - 5 mile) but that would have destroyed me.

OSB athletes had great races, with lots of impressive performances as well as new hardware for the trophy walls.

We had a good time hanging out after. Here are some pictures.

Kari M works the first run on long course (she took 2nd overall)

The Royal We heads out for the first run (short course)

Michele and Jaime having too much fun (LC)

Working hard on run 2

Look at me finish, grr I am a lion roarrr

Hanging with Erin, she just finished (2nd OA) and is smiles all the way

Baby patrol with random babies

Long course ladies with their hardware

Post-race lunch at Cafe Caturra, beautiful day w great people, que bella!

very important conversations

2012-04-06T15:09:00.001-04:00

best viewed sideways

Keeping busy

2012-04-03T10:33:00.000-04:00

We have been keeping busy around here. In recent news:

Baby boy is feeling good after a nasty cold called RSV
I have finished our friggin taxes
Running is going well, swimming is OK, and cycling is down to 1x a week right now. I won't be setting fire to the bike courses this season! That is all right though, I enjoy running, it is easy to do, and swimming after I coach a practice works out fine from a time-effectiveness standpoint. Getting on the bike and out the door is more of a production.
Work is keeping me busy, athletes are doing well
I will be racing the Cary short course duathlon on Saturday morning, it is right down the street from my house. The start time is 9AM which is awesome.
Bri got to go see the Hunger Games, which she was super jazzed about.
My dad visited over the weekend and got to spend some time with his Grandson.

Everybody must get sick!

2012-03-19T22:05:00.000-04:00

We dropped our boy off at Daycare for the first time last Monday. By Thursday night, Mom and Dad were puking and pooping like their was no tomorrow, while our little angel gurgled and cooed. By Saturday, he, too, processed a different or same bug, and was stuffy and all out of sorts. He is doing fine, it is just a cold, but for first time parents it is a stressful time. Anyway, things We missed over the weekend:

Hosting a cookout at our house on Friday (at a cookout you cook burgers + chicken + other stuff, whereas at a North Carolina BBQ you would slaughter a pig, drink the blood, and then roast the carcass on a spit)
Coaching swim practice on Friday morning
A swim on Saturday morning
Any sort of St Patrick's Day celebration, which as a guy married to a 25% Irish chick, and a 100% Amer-Ican, we celebrate like it's Our holiday
The Tobacco Road Half-Marathon

We are feeling back to normal but tired and weak. This does not mean you can take advantage of Us, for We are still mentally strong.

Now back to your usual programming.

2012 winter triathlon training camp

2012-03-07T14:11:00.003-05:00

We have held a training camp each winter since 2004 with the exception of 2006, when Bri and I traveled the world in search of the perfect hamburger. This year was another fun one. The beach house we've rented the last 2 years was not interested in altering their typical Saturday to Saturday rental period, so after searching high and low I found a nice hotel on St Pete Beach that was reasonably priced and central to our activity calendar.

The hotel was on the water and just across the street from the beach, which works for me. We will go back to looking for a beach house next year first but this is a solid place.

On Wednesday we rode between 50-70 miles, then swam 2,000-3,500 at Northshore pool, depending on speed, desire, and training plans.

On Thursday we did a longish (hot and humid) run, easy ride. and cool off dip at Fort Desoto.

On Friday we returned to the bike for another long ride and another long swim at Northshore.

Then we caught a sunset on the beach.

Saturday morning we headed into Tampa to run the Gasparilla 15k. It was mild by Florida standards but coming down from NC and other northern states, most of us found it to be really hot and humid. No PRs whatsoever were set.

Later that morning it started to get really windy, so a couple of athletes returned to Northshore, while several of us decided to swim in the Bayou behind the hotel.

A few more opted for dryland yoga and strength.

Saturday night we opted for a Sunset Sail cruise, which was a great way to wrap up the camp.

Sunday morning the wind was still howling, so we skipped the planned easy ride and did a very leisurely jog through the Pass-A-Grille area of St Pete Beach.

After that we kicked everyone out of the hotel and told them to come back next year.

On the way to the airport I took the last campers standing to Northshore for one final outdoor splash before we all head back to indoor pools and chlorine headaches.

Fini.

Weekend update

2012-02-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

Sending in tax forms to the gubmint.

Tassie ran hill repeats with the gang and I on Thursday morning.

Today we did a 4 hour brick.

Logan is doing well and sleeping more.

I am working lots and preparing for the winter camp next week.

Managed to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy this week while conducting evening-daddy -watches-the-baby-time.

Have a nice day. :)

extreme fatigue signs

2012-02-16T14:13:00.000-05:00

blurred vision
confusion
difficulty focusing on tasks
slurred speesh
headache
irritability
mood swings
making short pointless blog posts

Actually, I had no coaching or lessons on Wednesday morning, and Bri let me sleep in - I slept 10 hours mostly unbroken, which I haven't done since 2005.

Last night it was back to 6ish. 6ish is good if you have a baby in the house, you just pray for naps.

Key Workouts - January 2012 newsletter article

2012-02-13T16:16:00.000-05:00

You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.

Understanding Key Workouts

Marty Gaal, CSCS

A key workout, sometimes called a breakthrough workout, is a training session in which you are pushing the boundaries of your current ability (raw speed, endurance, lactate threshold (LT), functional threshold power (FTP), race specific pacing). Pushing and testing your limits is a critically important component of improving your total athletic ability. Other components include but are not limited to: Overall endurance and durability, skills development, mental toughness, core/specific strength, body composition, and 'discomfort' tolerance, some of which may be taken on in a key workout session.

A key workout does not have to be a super-hard interval session designed to boost your current lactate threshold, however. For a long distance triathlete, a key workout could be an over-distance ride in the buildup to a long distance triathlon. If an athlete has never ridden over 90 miles, riding 120 miles is pushing past that current distance threshold.

Once you are out of the early developmental or base building phase of training - the phase where you are just putting some time in to get your body prepared for more specific training - each week of training should include at least one key workout. Younger athletes can generally handle a higher total workload per week, meaning younger athletes can handle more key workouts. Each athlete is different, so plan accordingly.

To repeat, the purpose of a key workout is to challenge some current limit on your ability.

Some examples:

If you have never run a 5k at 6:00 pace (18:38), a key workout could be 3 x 1 miles at 5:55-6:00 pace with 1 minute or less rest between. This trains your body to hold the goal pace with minimal rest between intervals. You may see this penned as a race specific preparation session.

In the swimming world we call this a 'broken' swim. An example would be doing 4 x 50 at your goal 200 pace with just 5-10 seconds rest. So if you wanted to swim a 2:20 200, you would hold :35 or faster per 50 with just a few seconds rest.

If your current cycling lactate threshold heart rate is 160 or FTP 250, you could do 15-25 minutes total of intervals at an effort level higher than this. (Less experienced athletes should do less total interval times when starting out.) An example is 6 x 3 minutes at over-threshold with 2-3 minute easy spinning between. While one session is not going to boost the number immediately, consistent and persistent returns to that level will. Once you have nearly maximized this level then you are working on maintaining it, which is just as important from a performance standpoint.

A long distance athlete will need to consistently attack their endurance ability limiters. We all deal with bio-mechanical fatigue at some point (where your body just no longer responds as well). If you grow tired after 2 hours riding at a steady aerobic pace, and your race includes 5-6 hours of riding, you need to improve that ability. So your key sessions are going to include a lot of long rides - 2.5 hours, then 3 hours, and so on.

Typically, you will want an easy or an off day after a key workout. This depends on your total training volume, your ability to recover, and other factors, but if in doubt, take it easy. Your body needs to rebuild and refuel in a deeper fashion after key training sessions like we're discussing.

You can read more in-depth thoughts on training processes on the article page of our website.

Krispy Kreme run 2012

2012-02-08T15:52:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I participated in the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh. This is an event started a few years ago by NC State students. You run 2 (now 2.5) miles to Krispy Kreme, eat 12 doughnuts, then run back to the NC State Belltower.

This year the event had 7,700 runners/eaters.

I had several friends who ate all 12 doughnuts, but that is jut not my bag. So I participated in the "casual" division, meaning I could eat 0-12 but not be scored. So I ate one doughnut as part of my all-day fueling strategy. ;)

It was a lot of fun, we started a few miles away from the start to turn it into a long run day. Here are pictures.

My time was a respectable 36:21, or about 7 minute / mile accounting for the doughnut stop. This put me into 10th place in the casual division. Yay for me! My season is complete!

The winner, who ate all the doughnuts, finished in 28 minutes. Which is just sick on many levels.

TV time with baby

2012-02-01T19:03:00.000-05:00

When you are bouncing, feeding, and singing to a baby, you are not able to do much else. So here is a list of movies that I have watched or mostly watched in the past few weeks while hanging with Logan. There are plenty more as well as a bunch of History Channel and Discovery Channel shows that don't qualify.

The list is noteworthy because in the course of a normal week I might watch 6-8 hours of television total including Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and 30 Rock. I catch up with Showtime / HBO shows when possible. I am pulling the evening shift with baby from about 730 to 1130 (sometimes earlier, sometimes later).

2012
Real Steel
I, Robot
Dirty Dozen
Kill Bill, Volume I and II (same night, this was a doozy, he didn't want to sleep)
Warrior
Moneyball
The Sopranos, Season I (movie-like)
Donnie Darko
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King
The Italian Job
The Eagle
Gladiator
The Sum of all Fears
Killer Elite
Amytville Horror (new)

In case you forgot, this blog is all about me me me.

Here is a new picture of me laddie and me lady.

My triathlon list for the year as we have finalized my schedule a bit:

White Lake Sprint May 5
Aquathons/Swims/Local Race only as possible in June July
Lake Logan Sprint August 5
Mayo Lake Sprint August 11
Wilmington YMCA Sprint September 22

That is it.

tax time

2012-01-19T17:02:00.000-05:00

It is tax time again here at OSB world headquarters. The quarterly taxes are easy, the fun stuff is working through the various paperwork for annual corporate filing. North Carolina requires a balance sheet to be submitted while the federal return does not. If you are not always on top of processing transactions via Quickbooks or another accounting program, or heavens forbid you have your tax-lines mapped incorrectly, or if Quickbooks made some updates that have funked up your previous lines for some reason, what should/could be a mostly seamless process between Quickbooks and Turbotax instead takes a full day or two to work out. Good times.

This also is the time of year I sit down and realize how many costs are associated with operating a corporation vs a sole proprietorship. If business stuff bores you, stop reading now. A corporation provides some level of protection between the individuals that operate the business and the business itself, while a sole proprietorship does not. A corporation can also have multiple investors, while a sole proprietorship by definition, can not. A corp can grow into different operations; SP is somewhat limited to what the individual can do.

However, for a small business there are a number of basic costs that you have to factor in right off the top: articles of incorporation (1-time), annual filing fee (yearly), city/county filing (yearly), some sort of advanced accounting service (ongoing), payroll service (ongoing), and employer tax contributions to FUTA & State unemployment insurance (ongoing). There is also the labor cost of all the paperwork.

This is all essentially unrelated to the operation of the business - the coaching, training, clinics, and so on. I keep telling myself, accounting is fun.

But then I get to post stuff like this. ;)

Sponsored by:

Internet censorship

2012-01-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

Borrowed without permission from The Daily Reckoning (there is some irony here).

You can also read Google's opinion on this.

updates

2012-01-16T10:57:00.001-05:00

Had a good weekend of group training workouts with One Step Beyond athletes. It was frigid here in the Triangle but we persevered and got it done.

On Saturday we did a 10.5 mile out and back run on the American Tobacco Trail. This is a hard packed dirt trail that runs from Apex in the south up through Durham in the north on the outskirts of civilization. It is great for running or easy bike rides on a mountain bike.

On Sunday, we met near Cafe Caturra (a nice wine bar/restaurant) for a 40+ bike ride with several tough hill repeats in the middle. There is a road named Lystra in this part of the world that has a 280 foot climb in the space of about 1/2 mile, for an average grade somewhere over 12%.

After that we tempo'd for another 8 miles then spun in easy the rest of the way home.

We were able to meet up with friends both nights of the weekend, since my Mom is in town for baby-watching duties, and had a lot of fun. Mom leaves tomorrow so it is back to the new, new normal.

Make 2012 your best year yet

2012-01-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

In case you don't receive the Next Level Newsletter:

There are plenty of choices you can make every day of the year that will help you be a better athlete. None of us are perfect and some days will be better than others. However, if you consistently make more good choices than poor choices, you will consistently perform better than worse. This advice holds true no matter what walk of life we're talking about. From an endurance athlete standpoint, here are ten points (no particular order) to consider as you start the new year. May 2012 be your best yet!

Go to sleep early and sleep eight hours or close to it each night. Turn off the TV, the random internet surfing, the mindless dithering - just pack it in and hit the sack. You need sleep to perform well, stay sharp, and feel good.

Train with partners and friends. Nothing motivates us like avoiding the disapproving phone call we might receive after missing a session with a buddy. Friends are also more fun to talk to than the voices in your head.

Choose better meals. Some of you have a great breadth of knowledge when it comes to nutrition; others don't have a clue about micronutrients and good vs bad fats. A little education goes a long way here, but in general if you are eating out, choose lean meat (chicken, fish) over fatty meats (burgers), healthier sides (steamed veggies or sweet potato fries) over less healthy sides (french fries, buttery mashed potatoes).

Train on a set schedule. A ten day periodized plan is fine for a professional athlete, but most of us need to adhere to a realistic seven day program. The easiest way to stay on track is to create a mostly set plan that repeats each week (the intensity and duration can change). Re: Monday swim, Tuesday run, Wednesday ride, and so on.

Choose your races to suit your strengths. If you hate hills, don't make a hilly race your big event for the season. That is setting yourself up for failure. Conversely, you could train in hills until you are so good at them you like them.

Pick at least one key workout each week where you will really put some hard work in. For you younger than ~35 YO pick two or three. (If you are starting from zero, do at least a month or two of easy-moderate training before starting higher intensity.)

Keep up with your strength training and core conditioning. This will help you avoid injury, and in your later years will help maintain power (pedal stroke, swim pull, and run pushoff).

Keep up with your physical therapy exercises and stretching in general. If you have been diagnosed by a PT or Ortho-doc with some imbalances or other localized weakness, it means you need to do these exercises forever to eliminate the weakness.

Hire a good coach for a consult or ongoing coaching. A good coach is both a taskmaster and an educator.

Prioritize your races within your life. If racing is just a way for you to stay fit and have fun, don't spend too much time worrying about race results. If you want to be competitive, you need to move the training and racing up a notch in your order of importance.

Marty Gaal, CSCS, and his wife Brianne, are the co-founders and lead coaches of One Step Beyond (OSB), based in Cary, North Carolina. OSB provides personal coaching & training, group workouts, training camps, and swim clinics throughout the year. They are also the co-founders / co-race directors of both the Triangle Open Water Mile Swim Series and the Old School Aquathon Series. You can visit them on the web at www.osbmultisport.com.

The beginning of the end of liberty?

2012-01-02T16:23:00.002-05:00

2011 in review - top ten list

2011-12-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

10 Owning & working for my own business
9 Beach 2 Battleship weekend
8 Winning the Battle at Buckhorn Triathlon
7 Summer vacation in New England
6 Florida Winter Training camp on the beach!
5 Boone camp!
4 Visiting various family and our nieces
3 Being there when Bri discovered she was pregnant
2 Being there when Bri conceived :)
1 The birth of our son, with both Mom and Baby being healthy!

How is it going and Happy New Year

2011-12-28T20:09:00.000-05:00

Hope you had a good holiday, whatever you celebrate.

You might be wondering how we are adjusting to life with the little guy. We are doing well. His sleep habits are all over the place, which means ours are as well. Bri is doing most of the heavy lifting at the moment since we are breastfeeding and you need to give that a few weeks before offering the bottle or there is something called nipple confusion. I have had that for many years but didn't realize there was a name for it. So in another week or two my sleep habits, which have not been great for several years, will get slightly worse, at least in the short term, as I take over some of the midnight feedings.

Little Man is not a very happy guy from about 7PM until 2AM unless he is suckling at Momma's bosom. This would be fine except that she needs some sleep, so from about 9PM to about 12 I babysit. Which means I try to keep him from screaming bloody murder by bouncing, walking, driving, soothing, sushing, singing (very poorly and out of tune mind you, also I butcher all song lyrics or just insert my own), and other quiet-the-baby things. In between when he nods off I can do a bit of reading or zone out to the television. But there is a limit to how much TV I want to watch. Anyway, many of you have already been there and some of you are one day to follow. It is great but don't expect your baby to be the bestest baby ever gosh golly gurgle giggle. They are all little poopy crying whiny monsters a lot of the time.

I am managing to keep up with a reasonable amount of fitness training (I hesitate to call it triathlon training right now) so should not be too much slower at the occasional race I make it to this season. Local road races (within jogging distance) are my top pick. Amazingly there are about eight that fit that bill. Recently We did the Jingle Bell Run at Wake Med Soccer Park, and the following weekend the Jolly Elf Run at Bond Park. What a great place to live. We love it here.

2012 looks to be another busy year between coaching personal clients, swim clinics, and everything else. I wouldn't have it any other way. Hope you have a great one and see you around sometime!