Winter = Trainer Time

Winter in Calgary means arctic cold temps, snow then slush and ice and really, really short days (OK not quite as short as the Alaskan Lovejoy's days), and it also means a lot of time on the stationary trainer. I travel most weeks Monday morning and come back Thursday evening. While I'm in Calgary, I typically work long hours and end up eating a quick dinner and then getting on the trainer.

I thought I would post up a quick sneak peak at the luxurious lifestyle of a traveling consultant and do a little quick review on some of the products I've been using for the last year.

First up...the bike and trainer (excuse the crappy iPhone pics please)


I shipped Ruby (my Specialized Roubaix) up to Calgary about a year ago to pound out miles on the trainer. She has done remarkably well, although I know she longs to get outside just like I do.

Next up is the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine stationary trainer



This trainer has been amazing. Its so smooth and delivers about of a real riding experience as I've found indoors. I compared it to some other trainers (Cycleops Fluid2 notably) and really like its sturdy frame and ease of setup compared to the others. It absolutely blows away my crappy trainer I used for years, I tried to ride it a couple weeks ago back home and realized just how much nicer this one is. I put about 2000 miles on it in the past year and it feels just like it did the day I bought it.

Another thing that I found that is essential to creating a more pleasant experience on the indoor trainer is the Continental Trainer Tire. This is a harder rubber compound (the hideous color is just a bonus feature) that feels better on the trainer, doesn't wear out nearly as quickly and is much, much quieter than a normal tire. This tire has over 2k miles on it and is still going strong. Highly recommended if you spend time on a trainer.

This is my apartment living room.


Not big, but enough space for me M - Th. The important thing is a TV that I can watch while I am pounding out monotonous mile after monotonous mile on the trainer. Most I know have a real discord for the trainer, but for some reason I can pound out long miles on it.

And the last review, which admittedly is more of a snap judgment than a review, is around TrainingPeaks.com's new version of their WKO+ software, version 3.0. I have been using Version 2 for a couple of years now, for tracking workouts with power there is simply nothing better that I've found. It provides an amazing amount of analysis (Oh Charts and Graphs!) of a workout, allowing you to slice and dice every aspect of a single workout, series of workouts or a season's worth of workouts.

I had high hopes for the new version and I immediately upgraded. While there are a couple cool new features, namely Quadrant Analysis and the Scatter Graph, the software still feels a bit beta. I have constant screen display issues with the screen flickering and not redrawing properly, and the new features feel more worthy of a 2.5 version designation instead of a major release designation like 3.0. The great news is that all the old functionality still exists and that is a data nut's dream. Its still leaps and bounds better than the standard Cycleops PowerAgent software.

Winter has finally let up

From Coal Creek Hike

Its been a cold and snowy winter so far, but we are finally starting to get into a more normal weather pattern. While there is a lot of snow left from the storms and frigid temps, today had blue skies, lots of sun and warmer temps that made it feel wonderful to be out today.

Given the snow pack, we opted to stay close to home and meet up at the Coal Creek trail that runs between Lafayette and Boulder. Its normally a crushed gravel path that is wide enough for 4 people, but today it was snow packed with two distinct lanes of travel, one in each direction. We met up with Sarah and Reese and hike around snapping a few pics along the way.


Reese is decked out and ready to go

From Coal Creek Hike

Cooper says to "Go West!"

From Coal Creek Hike

Snow packed trail, but warmer temps

From Coal Creek Hike

Super Cooper running about under the blue sky

From Coal Creek Hike

We now interrupt this hike for a pacifier break

From Coal Creek Hike

Coop likes to deviate from the beaten path

From Coal Creek Hike

I run sweep to make sure he stays corralled between us

From Coal Creek Hike

And sometimes he takes a tumble in the snow, perhaps on purpose

From Coal Creek Hike

Cooper's 18 month checkup

Its been a long week back on the road, but it always makes the time back home that much sweeter. Jill, Cooper and I have all been battling colds this week, but we all seem to be getting better and this cold snap that has drug on appears to be slowly dissipating. Things will be getting back to normal shortly, or so it would appear.

Jill and Cooper both had tough weeks. Its hard for Jill to keep up with Cooper solo when I'm gone and she is fully healthy, but when she is sick and he is more demanding than usual its especially bad. So this week, Cooper watched a little bit of TV and Jill rested while she could. She snapped these cute pics of Cooper definitely feeling under the weather and hanging out with his favorite pals.

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

Its been quite cold, and we've had snow on the ground for at least the last three weeks so Cooper and Jill have been confined to the house mostly. Here are a couple other pics she snapped of him and his antics before the cold hit.

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

And then today, we all three went to Cooper's 18 month checkup. I was worried he might not score as highly since the doctor cheated him out of a couple weeks (he is just barely 17 months), but true to form he was pretty much right on track with where he has been all along, tall and skinny with a big head.

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

From Cooper's 17/18 month checkup

He measured out a little over 32" and 24lbs, which put him at 70% for height and just about 30% for weight. His head was in the 80ish range, which is down so maybe he is finally growing into his big melon. Overall he is doing really well and seemingly learning new tricks every day. Our favorite new thing is to make him say "banana". We'll try to get that on video soon.

Championship

I've played in the same fantasy football league since 1998, and this weekend I captured my second fantasy football championship. While this league is not a big money league, its always been hotly contested for the cherished bragging rights. This year I took a slightly different approach, drafting a lot of players I felt would be consistent good scorers but weren't flashy big names that would cost me a bundle in our auction format.

After a 0 - 2 start, I went on a roll winning 7 games and positioning myself into the top four for the playoffs. I had a lot of luck en route to winning, with the final bit being a late TD in the last game of the regular season to clinch my victory.

In years past I've been eaten up with score watching and rooting against players. This year I hardly watched any games other than the Broncos, and never checked scores until at least the Sunday night game if at all. I had a lot of fun and didn't take it very seriously this year, as its really about an excuse to talk with long lost pals scattered across the globe.

Yeah its a silly game, hence the name "fantasy football" but its been a fun year capped off with a championship.

Case of the Mondays

After being at home for over two weeks, I knew today would be rough on myself, Jill and probably Cooper too. Such is the life of a traveling consultant, I guess but today was definitely one of those days.

Even though Cooper tends to wake up at or before 7am every day, but the 7am alarm today seemed harsh. Cooper and I hung out in the back seat as Jill drove us to the airport to send me on my way. Didn't take long to figure out it definitely was a Monday. The flight was delayed 3 or 4 times before we ever boarded, then again once we were all boarded. Instead of getting into Calgary at noon, I got in at 2:30. By the time I cleared customs, which was an absolute zoo today, and picked up my rental car (a styling Dodge Caravan minivan) it was nearly 3. I made the decision to just get some lunch and work from the apartment since the Calgary staff seems to work the 9 - 4 schedule anyway.

So the good that came out of all the delays and United, well being United, is that I only have to make it through 3 days in the office and then its back home to Colorado for three more days. In the meantime, time in Calgary is to be used wisely, which means the diet is in full effect and I'm going to be on the trainer as much as my rear can stand. So I'm now hoping to build on what fitness I had last year and shed some holiday pounds as I have a bit of a weakness for peppermint bark.

Tonight I mustered out an hour of trainer time while watching Boise St. and TCU play. Charts and graphs make a comeback.

More bath time fun

From Cooper bath time 1-3-2010

Coop picked up some sort of cold in the last couple days, so he was a cranky kid much of today. But his mood changed entirely when he got his nightly bath. He was about 30 minutes ahead of schedule dragging me over to the baby gate and declaring "BAAAAH!" over and over again.

So we decided to let him have a longer bath and play for a bit tonight. I grabbed the camera and a remote flash and took pics while he frolicked around. I end up with a ton of bath photos as its one of the few times in a day that I can keep him contained enough to get pictures.

From Cooper bath time 1-3-2010

From Cooper bath time 1-3-2010

From Cooper bath time 1-3-2010

From Cooper bath time 1-3-2010

He kept seeing his reflection in the tub overflow cover and laughing out loud at it.

From Cooper bath time 1-3-2010

Delayed Christmas

The big storm that crippled Oklahoma caused our Christmas to be delayed, but this last weekend we were able to get together with my side of the family for a delayed Christmas. The bonus was that Teressa and Reily were able to come join in, and while she and Cooper had their sharing problems, was neat to get them together again.

I snapped pics randomly throughout the day, some with better results than others.


They started happy

From Delayed Christmas

Reily practicing the pout that will surely plague boys for years to come

From Delayed Christmas

Reese was much happier after getting some meds for her ear infection

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

Cooper deflated after watching the Pokes in the Cotton Bowl

From Delayed Christmas

Reese pondering things

From Delayed Christmas

Reily knows she is really cute

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

Cooper and Reily liked the baby bouncer more than Reese did

From Delayed Christmas

Cooper answering a phone call from Nebraska

From Delayed Christmas

Reily with the tree

From Delayed Christmas

Cooper and Reily beginning to come to terms

From Delayed Christmas

There is a baby in there somewhere

From Delayed Christmas

Cooper digging into his train set from Frumpy & Grumpy

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

Reese liked her sweet baby Ugg boots

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

After her fall on the ice at the airport and subsequent trip to the ER, we jokingly gave MJ a "airport safety" kit

From Delayed Christmas

And wouldn't you know it, about the time to part ways they started playing together really well

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

From Delayed Christmas

Now we wait another month or so for our even further delayed Christmas with the Lovejoy clan, including Dr. LK and Justin who will emerge from the frozen north. As for us, its back to the grind for me this week. After being off about 1/2 of the last two months I'm headed back to Calgary this week already dreading the new travel regulations that will make the weekly commute that much more painful. Will be extra tough to be away from Coop and Jill too after getting to spend so much time with them in the last two months.

So let's look forward to a great 2010 and beyond, maybe we've learned something from this past decade (but probably not)....