Mental training refresher

This morning I met a few buddies out at Bristol Mountain for some "ski walking" intervals. Essentially, we start at the bottom of the steepest slope they have and hike to the top with ski poles. Today, we did four intervals, which pretty much thrashed my legs (which was the point). Additionally, it was about 38F at the bottom, so probably 32 or so and windy at the top. Towards the end of our workout, snow flurries started to fly, my hands were legitimately cold, and I couldn't wait to take a long hot shower when we got home, and I loved it. All excellent signs!

This might not apply to everyone, but the wind, cold and snow flying on top of Bristol was a great mental pick-up considering I've spent the better part of the last two weeks investigating different ways to utilize to incline function on treadmills from the Soviet era in order to simulate ski training as closely as possible. I'll take the wind and cold over the mind-numbing training methods I've managed to get myself through recently. There is something to be said for the mental toughness that can be gained from forcing yourself through treadmill training, but skiing is about being outside and going up real hills, not the ones that can be simulated by cranking up the incline on a treadmill. Great workout - beneficial from the waist down and possibly more beneficial from the shoulders up.

Back in Rochester

As I type this, it's 6am and I've been awake for the last two hours, thanks jet lag.

I made it back to Rochester late Thursday night. It was a good trip to Kharkov, Ukraine, but it's good to be home. It took four flights (which I think is the first time I've had that many flights in one day) and 26 hours to make it home, but everything went relatively smooth all things considered.

I didn't get many pictures from the Ukraine, but here's one of myself, Denis and Voldemar. Denis is originally from the Ukraine, so it was nice to have someone with us with a little local knowledge. This was taken at a restaurant where I ate wild boar, which was very good.

We also had an absurd amount of perogies.

After a couple weeks overseas, where the only English TV channels are usually BBC and CNN worldnews, I'm usually looking forward to watching ESPN when I get home. However, one benefit from the lack of anglo-speaking TV channels is that I do read books when I'm on the road (shocking, I know). I finished an entire book on this trip, which is also a first for me. I read Where Men Win Glory, by John Krakauer. This was the 4th book I've read by Mr. Krakauer and it was an exceptional book about the life of Pat Tillman. Tillman made headlines earlier this decade by choosing to leave the NFL to join the military following the events of 9/11. In 2004, he was tragically killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. The book traces Tillman's life, which was substantially more complicated than it would seem at first glance, then goes into the decision to leave a life of luxury and happiness, the events that led to his death and a well-researched account of the events following his death where the government attempted to turn his tragic death into positive PR (which is all the more disturbing considering that Tillman refused to give a single interview following his decision to leave the NFL, and by all accounts wanted no attention or special treatment). His journal entries during his time in the military were very interesting and revealing about Tillman's unique outlook on life. It was a very good read, that almost anyone would take something away from.

Anyways, the book report is over. Now it's time to get back into some type of normal routine. It's 38 degrees out right now and I can't wait for the sun to come up so I can go roller skiing. Winter seems to be right around the corner.

It turns out there's more to this city than traffic jams

I've spent the past week in Bucharest, Romania. I've been here a few times now, but each previous trip had been very much in and out, with no down time. In past trips, my biggest takeaway from the city is that the traffic is AWFUL. There are way too many cars in this city. It literally can take you an hour to drive five miles. However, the last few days have given me a greater appreciation for the city's history and people. Since I'm going to the Ukraine next week, I was here over a weekend, which enabled me to actually experience a little bit of Bucharest's sights. Some of our local partners were gracious enough to show me around the city.

A few days ago we visited the House of Parliament, which is the second largest building in the world (volume-wise) following the Pentagon. It was originally built to be the home of the last communist dictator here. Obviously, he wasn't that popular of a leader considering he built this massive, extravagant building when there were many Romanians struggling to find enough food to survive. Due to this, many Romanians have mixed emotions towards the building. Following the revolution and overthrow in 1989, the government determined it would be cheaper to finish the building than demolish it, so they turned it into the House of Parliament.

Today, I also visited the Museum of Villages in Bucharest. The cultural center replicated authentic houses, art and music from different areas throughout Romania and put them all in one place in central Bucharest. It was very interesting and highlighted Romania's diverse cultures.

Below are some pictures.

This is one of the meeting rooms in the House of Parliament.

This is Bob (a co-worker) and I on one of the many massive hand-made carpets.

This is Alexandra, who works for our local partner, but also played tour guide for Bob and I on this occasion.

The second oldest church in Bucharest.
This picture is from the Museum of Villages. I think they're playing some Transylvanian bluegrass (it sounded like it anyways).

This contraption is what some regions in Romania use to make Palinca (the local moonshine made from plums or apples).

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Here's a close-up shot of the Tomb. They do a ceremonial changing of the guard as well.

Here's the oldest church in Bucharest.
This is Gelu and his family. He also works for our local partner and was my tour guide for the Museum of Villages. Gelu will be visiting Rochester with some customers in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to re-paying some of his hospitality.

Gelu insisted that I take a picture with this woman at the Museum of Villages. She's from Transylvania region. Notice that my hands are placed firmly on all my valuables. I've heard that these folks can be "light fingered".

This is the Revolution Memorial. It's in the middle of Revolution Square and is across the street from where the aforementioned dictator left Romania for the last time via helicopter which signaled the end of the communist times in Romania.

Tomorrow morning I'm flying to Kharkov, Ukraine for a few days, then home later this week. I've never been to Kharkov, so I'm sure it will be a new experience.

John's blog

My younger brother Johnny just started a blog - http://johnmaynard.blogspot.com/

Quick intro, he's lives in Philly, also travels a lot, loves craft beers, and is getting married next fall. He has some very unique opinions on music, politics and sports. Check it out.

He's much smarter and more insightful than I am, so I have the utmost confidence that he will be dropping a lot of great things on the blogosphere world...

Natalie and Shaun's wedding

Last weekend Nance and I went down to Norwalk, CT for Natalie (the maid of honor in our wedding) and Shaun's wedding. The wedding was absolutely perfect in almost every way. Great weather, great people, great food, etc.

With Nancy being in the wedding, I did have a decent amount of down time. I was able to go for two long roller skis and managed to hop a train into NYC for an afternoon of beer sampling with my buddy Jeff and his girlfriend Erin (both sales reps for Sam Adams). Shaun played football at Bowdin, and Nat played Field Hockey with Nancy at Colgate, so there were no shortage of former NCAA athletes there.

Here are some pictures:

There's the beautiful bride and her Dad. He's a huge Flyers fan. Other than that, he's a really great guy.

I was sitting on the aisle, so I had the perfect camera angle for the first kiss.

Nancy being escorted out by one of Shaun's teammates from Bowdin.

Natalie and I.
Two best friends.
Nancy and I.

I'm headed to Romania tomorrow and most likely Ukraine the following week. I have done some incredible workouts in the past couple weeks, so I hope to make a post about those at some point soon. Until the next time though, Nastrovia.

Bike season over...wedding season almost over

I cleaned my bike yesterday and put it in the attic for what is likely to be the entire winter. Looking back on my bike season, it was a good one, even though I didn't have too many results to write home about. As really my first season racing with a team and attempting to focus a little more on biking over the summer, it certainly wasn't without frustration, however, it was a very good learning experience. I feel like I focussed enough on biking this year to realize that I'm not focussed enough in general on anything. In the past year, my training hours have been split almost exactly equal between running, biking and skiing (counting roller skiing hours). While the overall volume has left me relatively fit, the lack of focus might be holding me back, especially when it comes to bike racing. Another takeaway from my bike season is that I need to improve my explosiveness. While I may never be a great sprinter, I shouldn't be as much of a train-wreck sprinting either, and given that many of the races around here are going to come down to a sprint at some level, I need to improve this aspect of racing in order to really ever come up with good results. I think that improving my fast-twitch explosiveness would be beneficial to my skiing as well, so I'm putting a little more emphasis on strength training, especially between now and ski season.

Left to Right - Rick, my, Jason, Chad, Dylan, Phil and Michel (who came up with the sprint win on this particular night).

Being on a team was great, and it was awesome to see my teammates do so well over the course of the season. We managed to win the GVCC team prize for total wins throughout the season. We also had a few very notable performances in some big weekend races. It certainly adds an entirely new dimension to the sport compared to previous years.

So, while I am looking forward to ski season and the snow flying, I am also planning on ways to train a little differently to build on the bike season we just completed and look forward to a lot more racing next year with my Solo Break Racing teammates.

This weekend coming up is Natalie's (Nancy's maid of honor) wedding in Fairfield, CT. This will be the last wedding of 2010 for Nancy and I, and while it has been a fun summer, I'm looking forward to a little less chaotic October and November. I guess only time will tell if it will truly be less chaotic.