Weather

Crazy weather we are having here in NorCal - and from what I understand, across the country. It must have been 70 degrees with blue skies. Absolutely perfect and just what I signed up for when we move to California. We ended up spending the entire day outside, which is pretty par for the course for us on weekends.

Highlight of the day was the Little Boy's little league tryout. Baseball is just around the corner! Hope springs eternal.

Committed

Well, after three months I bit the bullet and invested in a pair of CrossFit specific shoes. Key kind of stoke me, too. I guess there's no going back for me now - I'm fully committed.

I'll try my best not to make every other post here CrossFit related - I can see your collective eyes glazing over and I don't want to come across as a total homer, ala my triathlon days. But I have to say that I haven't been this stoked about a new endevour since probably my Kung Fu days back in Chicago and triathlon before that.

Of course I don't count running/trail running. Once a runner, always a runner. That will always be my passion. But this CrossFit business is addictive as hell, there's no doubt about it. I can see why it's growing like a weed.

If It Came Down To One Device....

Someone asked me the other day if I had to winnow all my devices - and lord knows, I own many - down to one, which one would it be? My answer took a nanosecond; no question about it, my iPhone. It does absolutely everything I need and it's fundamentally a computer in a pocket. It's not even close, but if phones didn't count, it would be a very close contest between my iPad and McBook Air and I might actually go with the iPad. It's a pretty practical device too, in the spirit of the iPhone, but now that I have a Kindle Fire in the house, I really wish the iPad came in the same size. I suspect we might actually see that in the coming weeks.

In the same spirit, if I had to winnow all of my websites down to one, it would be twitter. Twitter is invaluable to me and is my conduit to the news of the day and more. Facebook would probably be my second choice though I am quickly growing tired of it. It seems like my entire newsfeed is nothing more than a large group of moms bitching about hard they have it. I recognize that that statement probably won't garner me any friends but alas, it's true. And respect to those moms - I know they don't have it easy - but sheesh.

If I could create my dream product, it would probably be a nuclear-fuled super battery of some sort; I am tired of having to charge my devices - most particularly my iPhone - every hour.

Back to the device - curious as to your pick, iPhone notwithstanding.

Diet

So, as I posted earlier, I'm really thinking about revamping my diet this year. I feel like it's the missing ingredient in my life right now. It's not that I eat poorly - I don't. In fact, I think compared to the mass, I eat fairly well. But I take for granted that I don't have weight management issues and therefore don't eat as healthy as I should - and I'm afraid that will have down the road ramifications. I also think that eating better will have a more positive impact on my running/swimming/CrossFit performance - so I'm willing to make the commitment to see where it all leads.

Right now I'm thinking of the paleo diet, though at the same time I am trying to be mindful of not drinking the CrossFit kool aid. So, for starters I am thinking about baby steps (relatively speaking): eliminating sugars, processed foods and most dairy and seeing where that might lead.

I'm curious if anyone out there has done something similar and if so, what kind of results it might have yielded for you personally.

Sugar Bowl Champions

It wasn't pretty. In fact, at times it was downright ugly. And it took more than a little measure of luck, which isn't exactly something us Michigan faithful are used to. But damn if we didn't pull off a miraculous win tonight.

I'm not sure how we did it and I'm not sure I will have the energy to recap that one - even as a rerun it will be emotionally and physically draining. But regardless of how it happened it was a win - an immensely big and important win for our program. It's the kind of win you can build off of for years.

I can't articulate how thankful I am for Coach Hoke and his staff. He set the tone for the year and made these kids believe in themselves. Man oh man - if you told me one year ago that we would go 11-2 with a win over Ohio State and a BCS game victory I'd literally laugh in our face.

So, thank you Coach Hoke. Very well done - you saved our program.

Climbing

Fun today at Planet Granite. Both kids are really terrific climbers but especially the Girl. She's light and strong - a great combination for climbing.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year all. I wish you and your respective families health, happiness and prosperity in the new year.

We had a terrific New Years eve. We had dinner with friends downtown and desert at their house. Afterwards the Little Boy and I ran a midnight (11 pm, actually) 5k. It was fun as hell though a struggle less than two hours after lamb chops, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake and a beer. The Boy ran like the wind - he held 7:08 pace - and I was holding on for dear life. We came in 18th place overall and he had the time of his life. It's only a matter of time now before I can't race with him. It took everything I had to keep pace and I think he can run much faster.

Anyway, we got home in time to see the fireworks in San Francisco from our deck. All in all, a great time.