What is bman up to...who knows.

Rant on Smokers

2009-12-29T20:54:00.000-08:00

Hey there and long time no chat. This is more of just a rant about what I saw on my stroll to my car today after leaving work than about sharing some statistics about how many people die from smoking everyday or how many teens are smoking, etc.

We all know it's a nasty habit and hell, even smokers don't like the taste it leaves in there mouth. But people smoke anyways.

The one thing that I think irritates me most is that a lot of smokers just toss their butts right on the ground when they are done. Don't they know cigarette butts are not good for the environment? Ok, so I'm not Mr. Green, but it is littering.

So anyways, I'm walking by Qwest Field set of doors, the ones under the breezeway by the entrance to the Pro Shop and there is a dude, an employee of some sort out having a smoke. Not that he was smoking right up on the door but the fact that he got done and threw his cigarette down right there next to the other three, hawked a big ass loogie in front of the door and pulled out his pass and keys, unlocked the door and went back inside.

Just nasty dirty in my opinion. Probably went and took a leak and didn't wash his hands. No high fives from that dude.

Ok, time for some ice cream. Later.

Ready for the Ragnar Relay

2009-07-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning we kick off at 10am. Ultra Team, meaning a team of 6 crazies. As I write this, I cannot recall what our team name is, but hey, I really can't tell you about the course either which is why I include the link to the site. I was asked if I wanted to play and said, sure, I'm in.

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/northwestpassage/index.php

I like the history behind Ragnar and have included it below.

Have a great weekend everyone and if you are curious, we should be done around 3pm on Saturday:-) BR

Ragnar was a 9th century Norse King. He was a pirate, a raider, a conqueror, an explorer, and a wild man. The tough, fearless, rugged attributes of this Norse King are shared by all who participate in a Ragnar Relay. In much the same way, a Ragnar Relay provides runners the freedom to roam, to explore - a free-spirited curiosity to get out there and experience outdoor adventure. And maybe even to conquer. And though tough or rugged may not perfectly describe you, these attributes become a goal - something to strive for.

In a Ragnar Relay the wild nature of this Norse King is embraced by many participants. Participants who aren't afraid to paint their van plaid, to bring along their own hair band, to join together in yelling as they cross the finish line. You may think that you are not one of them, but you are. Everyone has a wild side and nothing brings it out of you like a Ragnar Relay.

Long live the Ragnar in us all!

Googling with Bing!

2009-07-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Good evening folks. If this has not been shared with you, check it out.

http://searchengineland.com/funny-googling-with-bing-21666

Event day at Honu 70.3

2009-06-01T10:48:00.001-07:00

Congrats to Ann, Colleen and Linnea on a successful event!!! You ladies did a great job and should be proud of your day.

Saturday morning started off early for everyone as event day always does. After everyone was fueled up and ready to go, JJ and I chauffeured the girls to Hapuna Beach. What a beautiful morning that offered incredibly calm and flat waters..ideal conditions.

The girls did last minute bike checks and then off to get numbered. Then down to the beach, quick dip in the water and a little conversation before getting ready for the canon to go off. It's almost 7 am and man, I'm already feeling it is warm and thinking it is only going to get warmer as they come out of the water.

JJ and I got some great photos of the swim from up high and attached is a link but the photos are bit at a distance because they are from the iPhone. We have some other shots from the camera and will get those up when I can.

With clients in the water we headed down the road to the bike turnaround and waited for our first photo opp of the girls. Ann, Linnea and then Colleen all came through, looked good and offered smiles.

Now that the girls are on the bike, we have nothing but time, well at least a couple hours before we need to head out to T2/Finish area. First stop, Island Market for some breakfast (loco moco) and then of course, Starbucks. After TriCaddy was fueled up, we were off.

While the day did continued to get warm, the bike was good with minimal winds from what we heard from most folks. We got to T2 early enough to see the leaders come through. I saw my grocery/coffee mate, Belinda Granger, lead the Pro women out. Not far behind her was Sam M and Rae Shaw-local Seattle tri girl who has been crushing it lately at all local bike events.

Also got to see some of the top age group males come through and big shout out to Ben B, VO2, who is local out of Seattle. Nice work dude.

TriCaddy (JJ and I) wandered the golf course a little which was the run course and cheered folks on. We positioned ourselves nicely and got to see Linnea, Col, and Ann all come running by. The ladies looked great and we got a couple of good shots as they ventured out on their run.

The winning male was Aussie, Craig Alexander who is also the Hawaii Ironman World Championship winner for 2008. Chris Lieto who had a SMOKING bike came in second. And by the looks and comments of these two you knew the run course was tough.

Guy Haugi, weather man on the island of Oahu, interviewed Craig after he crossed the finish line. "How was the new run course Craig?" "Pure carnage," he replied. And when Chris came across the line and Guy approached him with the mic, Chris said, and don't quote me on this one, I need some water before I talk to anyone. I was impressed as both those dudes left it on the course. Congrats fellas.

Anyways, back to our girls. at 5 hours 10 minutes, Linnea came through the finish. Then Col at 5 hours 43 minutes and Ann at 6 hours 17 minutes. All the girls look great and really looked like they left it on the course. Nobody seemed beat down, but you could tell they had all pushed themselves on challenging bike course and a brutal run course.

Linnea ended up finishing 5th in her age group and later in the awards ceremony scored big when she got called for a roll down slot to the Ironman World Championship in Kona in October.

On behalf of JJ and myself, who make up TriCaddy, I'd like to congratulate the girls on a GREAT event. You ladies rock!!!!!

Good luck and have fun at your upcoming Ironman events in June:-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/bryrei/KonaTrip09#

Kona on day of arrival

2009-06-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Aloha from sunny, and this week, humid, Kona. This week a handful of us traveled to Kona for 1) Honu 70.3, 2) Pacific NW Region USAT Council meeting, and 3) disconnect! All three agenda items fulfilled.

We all checked into the house in Waikaloa Village Thursday and Ann had booked a great place to stay. Colleen and I checked in first, then picked up Ann a bit later from the airoport and Linnea showed up later that night.

Col, Ann and I put bikes together on Thursday, took a super short spin and lounged.

Friday morning consisted of an hour run for me, and an easy 10 minute run for the ladies. Yes, I said 10 minutes. I played TriCaddy and the three new clients were participating in Honu so nothing hard before game day for them.

Off to participant check in/packet pick up. Like most events, reconnect with fellow tri comrades we may have not seen since last event, a little bike envy viewing and a little shopping of the vendors that were there.

That afternoon, Ann and I rode to T1 to check bikes in and TriCaddy partner JJ, drove Col, LA and their bikes to T1. Once done there, all 4 were off to mandatory race participant team meeting at 3pm. While they were boring themselves with no drafting or blocking procedures, I took off from Hapuna Beach, home of the swim start, and rode the course.

Had some good headwind all the way to the turnaround. I forgot how hilly/rolly it is to Hawi. On my way back in there was actually a quick trickle of rain and I started to think about getting caught in a horrid downpour....didn't happen:-)

Of course I had not really planned on riding the course so the 2 water bottles I had and lack of nutrition caught up with me quick. Thankful for me the couple of gu's and clif shots were enough nutrition and I was able to stop off at the ranch security booth and refill water bottles. Thanks bruddahs!!!!

Made it back to the house in about 3 hours and was pretty much spent. Immediately headed into Kona for last minute pickups and grub. Good little hole in the wall mexican. Yummie tamales, beans and rice.

Back home for last minute preparation and a good night of sleep.

SuMass goes to Boston

2009-05-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

So this one should have come before my San Diego trip, but whatever. I took a quick, I mean a quick work trip to Boston last month. Wed-travel day, work Thursday late afternoon to late evening, Fri-travel home.

Left minimal time to play, but the girls, SuMass and I manage a stroll around town. Check it out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bryrei/BeanTownWorkTrip09?feat=directlink

All Pics from SD road trip

2009-05-15T14:47:00.001-07:00

Aloha Friday. All pics in one place for your viewing my friends:-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/bryrei/SanDiegoRoadTrip09#

Poca, the wanted child

2009-05-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

Good evening. Being the news freak that I am, I have been following the case of Poca, a young special needs child who has only known one foster family, and really is one of the family is finally back home.

I have included the link so you can read the story, and I share it b/c this is ANOTHER one of those times when I think a gov't agency makes themselves a PR nightmare and deserves the reputation they have.

Good to see you back with YOUR family Poca.

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_051309WAB-poca-rally-KS.20fbd1bb.html

San Diego Road Trip 09 Day 2

2009-05-09T18:53:00.001-07:00

Day 2, Friday, had us on the road at 8ish after fueling up at Starbucks with a triple grande extra hot no whip mocha and a ham and cheese breakfast sammich. Tasty.

I5 South, here we come! I have to tell you that there is some serious country out there. And I mean country, like wheat fields, for miles. Do I sound shocked? I was a little. Not sure why, but I was.

Pretty eventless I must say. I did not even take that many car-photos . Man I was bored. We stopped a couple times for gas and grub, again, uneventful.

As we make our way closer to LA we hit Magic Mtn and then the valley area and then BAM, traffic. WTF people?!?!!? Seriously, I think I'd take 520 between 4-7pm any day over this crap. From the valley area outside of LA, it took us almost 3 more hours to get to his parents place in Laguna Miguel, SoCal. Good lord.

But Bill and Sumi had ordered Chinese grub so all was good. Plus they had the Laker/Rockets game on so all was good. We stayed long enough for a quarter and a couple plate fulls of grub and then on our way to SD.

I think it was about 9 or a little after when we left. Made it to SD just after 10. Checked out the new apartment they will call home for awhile and then Japper, "Pete" (the g'friend) I went for a walk by the beach and the boardwalk. Then walked down Garnet (familiar to me from my previous visits) and it was hopping. Bars were packed and lots of good people watching.

Finally crashed knowing that we had a few hours of unpacking coming our way today (Saturday).

And as I write this, it's 7pm and it actually only took us about 3 hours to unpack the uhaul! I also went for a 4 mile run along the beach, hung out by the pool for a bit and chilled. This evening will be another chilled evening and hopefully the sun will be a bit brighter Sunday so I can get me some rays.

Later.

San Diego Road Trip 09 Day 1

2009-05-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

Long time no chat. I'll try and keep some of this short, but we know how that usually turns our.

So my boy Futa (aka Da Mad Japper aka Japass) was laid off from his job after about 8 years and made the decision to move to SD w/his girl. After getting the rest of the Uhaul loaded Thursday morning we left Bellevue around 1130am.

Thursday, day led us out of Bellevue with Japper in the Uhaul (it was all his crap loaded in there) and me in his Acura (man I was comfy and had lots of tunes). We made it out of town and through Portland hitting no traffic.

We stopped in a litte town called Coburg, Ore for a late lunch (3ish) and gas. We got our feast on at one of the only joints there, Country Pride. See the pic of lunch with SuMass on FB or the link attached. This qualified as greasy spoon joint and gets a thumbs up for serving breakfast special #1 for lunch. Rock on Flo.

Back on the road, we hit a little traffic in Ashland or Medford or somewhere south Oregon but really it was pretty eventless. Driving by by Shasta was way cool. I mean WAY cool. It was a clear evening as the sun set and the moon rose right above the mountain. See pics on link attached.

We blasted through the first part of the mountains and ended up making it to Weed Californa. We stopped in as we thought we'd top off the tanks and find a place to crash. Then we had this wild idea that it was only another 60 miles or so to Redding and the moon was shining full and bright so we should just do it.

Brillant! Not so much as it was the most sketch-ass part of the trip. Would have been fine during the day, but let's just say that is one of the most windy (not breezy like) turny roads I think I have ever been on. While I could motor through it in the Acura, I held back and drove in front of Futa so he could see what the heck was going on. If you have driven a Uhaul, you know they are not the most sporty rides around.

To say the least, we made it to Redding, checked in to our high end Motel 6 and had some nutritous Mickey D's. I think my stomach still hurts. Can I get some mayo with my chicken sammich please?!

So with minimal stops for eats and gas and 10.5 hours we made it from Bellevue to Redding. Not bad.

Woke up about 7ish, hit Starbucks and got on the road. Day 2, here we go.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bryrei/SanDiegoRoadTrip09#

Foot in mouth

2009-04-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

Aloha Friday kids. I will keep this short and sweet b/c the article really says it all. First of all, she is Republican, second, she is from Texas. Nuf said! Check it out. It will make you laugh and horrified at the same time.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/brown-asian-names/

Job Seeker Network Meeting

2009-03-31T22:45:00.000-07:00

Good Evening. So while this event took place last night, I share b/c there is another one coming April 13th. For those of you in the HR and Recruiting profession, if you are not part of WARecruit (can be found via Yahoo Groups), you should join. It's a great local Seattle/Puget Sound org to be a part of for networking.

I had a chance to follow up with my new associate and friend Lesa, who is big part of why this event took place and is happening again. It was a success and lots of new connections were made. I will keep this post short this time, but definitely wanted to get it out there in front of everyone.

I will be getting the flyer for the next one soon and will get it on here as a reminder. But for now, make note of the date, April 13th.

I will be making time in my schedule so I can attend. Hope I see you there. BR

JOB SEEKER NETWORK

All Recruiters and Job Seekers are WELCOME!

MONDAY MARCH 9^TH

6:00 PM to ~8:30 PM

Newport Way Public Library - Bellevue

No fees or charges – Space is limited – MUST RSVP

If you want help, and desire to help others in their job search, this is a great place to be!

We’ll exchange ideas and encourage each other during our job search. We’ll also have time to focus on what we can control.

A private room at the Newport Way Public Library has been reserved for our next meeting.

5:45 to 6:15 PM – Room Set Up & Social time

6:15 – Introductions & Discussion

6:45 – Program – It will be something special since we have a private room! Bring an open mind!

Need to RSVP - room for 36 people only and they do check.

Please prepare to notify me if you cancel so I might contact someone on the waitlist.

Please let me know if you would like to be removed from this distribution list.

Lesa Keller, SPHR

15335 SE 179th Street

Renton, WA 98058

425 235-8192 H

206 715-0234 C

lesa_keller@earthlink.net

A bike ride in the sunshine

2009-03-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

Good evening folks. So I didn't race this weekend b/c the race I wanted to do yesterday was way out south, like just a little south of Olympia. And well, when I woke up it was pouring rain and snowing in areas out south and east to the mtns. So I stayed in bed for a little while longer and then opted for a 5 mile run in the mud around Greenlake. Just like being 9 agian...only I think I might be faster now. Funny eh.

Woke up this morning and it was sunny, and a little crisp. Like high 30's crisp. But sunny and dry. Col and Steph had a 5 hour training ride and I figured I would tag along. It was a chilly start but we were soon climbing hills on our towards Snohomish and eventually made it all the way up to Arlington within about 2.5 hours before turning around.

I had a little workout planned and hit a couple 10 minute TT efforts, a couple of 5 minute TT efforts, several 1 minute hard efforts and hammered most of the hills. Oh, I also had plenty of pull time as well, and even picked up an unsociable wheel sucker here and there. Either take your turn, be sociable and get the hell of my wheel jackass.

The usual excitement of the day, when your in that neck of the wood is how many red necks in trucks will honk, scream or swerve at you. Well we had two. One not so bad, just Mr. Black, the color of his truck barreling towards us in the wrong lane as he is trying to pass everyone in sight b/c they are not doing 90 on the country road.

The, I'm a Red Neck Jackass Award goes to.....Mr. Country F*ck in My Big Red Truck. Moron cut us off at the 4 way stop and then got pissy. I think Stephy gave him more middle finger pumps than I did. So I raise this evenings beer to Mr. Country F*ck in your BigRed Truck. May a flat tire find it's way to you this week.

Ok, I'm done for the night. Chat w/you folks later.

Tour De Dung #2 and my rookie mistake

2009-03-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Hey there. I'm a little behind on this but it's worth noting. This was my second bike race this year and I raced the same course as my first on on 3/8. Great day to be out there racing. A little crisp, but dry. They also broke up the fields so Cat 4 and Cat 5 raced separately.

In short, I had a blast overall. I had one main goal going into it. I wanted to stay front to mid pack the entire race. I accomplished that for the most part. I found myself in the back a couple times, but it did not take much effort to get back up towards the front. I even attacked a couple times; once a flat and once on a climb. Just not the right climb. Reeled back in after that short effort.

My rookie mistake? DQ for jumping the centerline before the 200m mark. For those of you not racing, we race on a two lane road and basically stay in the right lane the entire time and do not cross over the center line into on coming traffic.

Only at the last 200m, where there is a sign, it opens up and the entire road is game. As we were getting close to the sign, I found the pack riding sort of slow and bunching up and I had not positioned myself very well. I got antsy, jumped early and outside and the official pegged me.

Was I bummed, eh, a little. But the legs felt good during the race. Only after the race and in the car did the hammies start screaming. Man, I have done a lot of tri's of all distances and never have my legs screamed like they did after that race. We covered almost 49 miles in 2:08 or so.

While my bike racing career is still super young, I am having a good time.

Rubber side down my friends. BR

Appeal Denied

2009-03-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Aloha Friday folks. While overall it was a crappy day, the sun peaked out for a bit and I got my "Q" (bbq) on. Marinated flank steak, yummie.

A big shout out goes to Bernie Madoff, panzi scheme master who won't get to hang in his 70million dollar pad in Manhattan while awaiting sentencing. He'll hang in his bad ass red jump suit in his celly cell with his homeboys. WORD!

Enjoy the new digs Madoff. Your new pen pal, bman.

AIG bonuses..WTF

2009-03-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

So just a little rant since I watch and listen to way to much news! What a bunch of morons. And I'm not sure who all that includes, but it sure includes a lot of people.

Then we move on to contracts that were signed. Isn't there also something that goes with getting your bonus; something like, uh, you got to perform; meet certain goals and milestones, etc. Did someone really just write a contract agreement saying "here's some dough, and if you don't leave us high and dry, here is some more dough." Hell, sign me up.

Morons. If you wonder which article I ranting about, just Google AIG and bonuses and pick any article. No matter how you slice, there some bullsh*t there for sure.

What? 165 million is a drop in the bucket you say? if you think it's all about the money, you're a moron. Go away.

Tour De Dung, my first bike race

2009-03-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

So last year a buddy of mine talked me about bike racing, and after going to a few Crits and track races I was sold and joined Recycled Cycles Racing Team (RCR).

After a couple track races I was soon sucked back into the Tri World and bike racing was put on the back burner. After a long 2008 Tri season that consisted of all ½ Ironman events, I decided I was just going to bike race.

After looking over the wsba race calendar, I have highlighted several of interest from now until September. While March has been a crazy month for weather, I chose one that racing friends said would be a good first race, Tour De Dung in Sequim, WA.

That week the weather was complete crap, snow, hail, and COLD. While we talked about playing it by ear, we were determined to make it out there….and we did. A total of 7 -8 from RCR. I think 3-4 guys from Cat # and 4 of us from Cat 4/5.

Race was delayed 2 hours b/c of snow/hail and a certain section of the road being a little sketch. 4/5’s kicked off close to noon and had a field of about 60. 3 lap course instead of 4, which for me would be a much better choice I found out later.

So I’m coming off a marathon from the previous Sunday and not much recovery. Maybe not my smartest move but I was amped up about getting the racing season started and get one under my belt to determine if it’s going to be something I like or not. I like.

I have nothing to compare it to so conversation afterwards was good. From some buddies, they said the first lap was fast, and it seemed like it was. We had a handful of dudes that took off away from the pack early, but eventually we caught them.

The weather turned out to be sunny and the roads were not to bad. While there were a couple of squirly dudes, I felt like the pack rode well. I rode upper front to mid pack most of the time and even jumped out front a couple times.

About mile 20, just over an hour or so into, my legs were pretty much done. I fell off the back on a small hill, fought to catch up, then continued to hang off the back until the attacking, chasing, etc really started and I was just riding to finish. A dude from 4 Corners and I played 2 man pull the rest of the way in and chit chatted which made for a good finish.

I learned a bit that race and look forward to getting stronger as the season goes on. The one thing really look forward to is riding with the team in races and putting things into play. Attacking, chasing, pulling and really working as a team to get us to the front, our sprinter(s) in the right spot, or creating a huge break.

BR

5 minute life flash

2009-03-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hey there. I'm not sure I have shared this link before, but if you have not seen it, take a look. Some of the stats you may know, some you don't, but it is pretty amazing of what is going on.

Enjoy. BR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

Why Seattle?

2009-03-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1869, the ‘Emerald City' is a youthful metropolis in every respect, experiencing its first boom in the late 1890s, as the last US departure point for those chasing the Klondike Gold Rush.

Now, Seattle is the primary international and domestic gateway to Washington State and the lush Pacific Northwest, as well as Canada and Alaska. In the last few decades, the city has also become decidedly fashionable, with the unmistakable 1960s tower, the Space Needle, popping up in Hollywood films.

Seattle has also been at the forefront of a number of international trends, including the influences of Microsoft and the e-commerce boom, Starbucks coffee, amazon.com, the grunge music scene and the Frank Gehry-designed Experience Music Project Museum.

Seattle continues to be voted one of America's most livable cities and thus unsurprisingly is home to three of the world's 10 richest men. Its attractions are due in a large part to its beautiful natural setting, surrounded by the waters of Lake Washington and Puget Sound. It is also safe, with one of the lowest violent-crime rates among the top US cities.

The climate is moderate, with bright summer days outlining the mountains against blue skies; even the mist and rain of winter give an ethereal touch to the city's atmosphere.

Numerous ports, waterways and small islands off the coast also lend Nordic comparisons, while spectacular views of the Cascades and the Olympic Mountains, including Washington's highest peak, Mt Rainier, delight visitors, who come for the scenery and outdoor activities that suit city residents so well.

The mountains afford both spectacular views and skiing, while the city's waterways make boating and relaxing at waterside cafes a draw. Of the 236 sq km (91 sq miles) of the city limits, 80% is surrounded by water, connected by 112 bridges. Seattle has more pleasure boats per capita than anywhere else in the USA.

After Honolulu, Seattle is the second fittest city in the nation, with 35% of the population walking for recreation in its numerous parks and trails. In addition to the city's fresh and fit atmosphere, Seattle has a palpable cultural pulse, fostered by quality arts and live music venues, dozens of independent and quality bookshops, multicultural neighborhoods and markets, as well as the renown of its seafood, Asian and contemporary Northwestern cuisine.

This is just a quick blurb on why Seattle is a great place to live. So if you are pondering a new job adventure, feel free to contact me.

Thanks, BR

bryanre@microsoft.com

bryan@itsyoursearch.com

Napa Valley Marathon update

2009-03-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Hello there. Back in town and legs are still burning. Overall good day and I hit my PR of running a sub 4. Official time is 3:54!!!!!!! I'm super stoked.

So Saturday was beautiful. Drove the course along Silverado Trail, through the vineyards and hills. The profile of the course is great. First half really fast, second half fairly flat with a couple small rollers.

I had a plan and it was basically to Pace the Race. No, I did not come up with that saying, I give that one to ELF. But that was my plan. Originally, I was going to run 9 min pace for first half and then pick it up for the second half for a negative split. After driving the course, I sort of changed my mind a little.

Woke up Sunday morning to pouring rain...from start to finish. Got up early, had yogurt, bagel and some water. Got to the start and hung out in the rain for a few and then the gun went off. Small venue of probably a couple thousand participants.

So I started off at about an 8:40 pace b/c the course was/is so fast in the beginning. I would have to go back and check my miles, but I had a pretty good race up until about mile 23 and my legs were done. The last 3 miles I was spent. Really the last two.

But by then I was well ahead of my sub 4 goal. Came across the finish line with probably one of the biggest grins I have had in a long time. Coach Col was pleased as well and I send her a big thanks for all of her efforts and guidance.

Thanks to everyone for your support. Oh, and nice work Stephy and congrats on your PR and beating your Vancouver time!

Tech role in Microsoft Waltham, MA office

2009-02-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon folks. Wanted to take a brief moment to share a great opportunity for those of you interested in Boston.

I’m working on a specific position, Software Developer in Test for our Waltham, Mass location only. It’s with a company we acquired in 2008, www.navic .tv which is in the digital tv advertising space.

I have attached the job description for review as well as a short article about Navic. The job description reads pretty well in regards to role and responsibilities. We have a great Development in Test Manager who leads the group and after conversations with him about the role and needs, we are looking for someone with strengths in 3 particular areas; 1) Dev skills 2) SQL (DB/SQL/DW) and 3) Testing skills. The role will be made up of 50% dev and 50% test responsibilities.

It's a small team and has somewhat of a start up vibe with good organization and structure.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or share with those you think might interested.

Thanks, BR

Software Development Engineer in Test

http://members.microsoft.com/careers/search/details.aspx?JobID=267E5DE9-FE92-465A-8F9B-04CF37885A4D&start=1&interval=10&SortCol=DatePosted&SortOrder=Desc

www.navic.tv

Article on Navic acquisition
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2008174370_microsoftads12.html

Microsoft's stimulus plan

2009-02-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

Good Morning. Found an interesting article I thought I'd share. BR

Hoping to position Microsoft as a national job driver for the future, the company's corporate vice president of global corporate affairs Pamela Passman announced Microsoft Elevate America, a program to train two million Americans in Windows-based skills for the office.

How much the company plans to spend hasn't been disclosed, but a colorful subway-map chart shows the destinations Elevate America plans to take trainees, from a basic "Digitally Aware Individual" to an advanced "Enterprise Administrator" or "Web/Windows Developer."

Microsoft will give away one million vouchers for the company's eLearning software courses, and some Microsoft certification exams, through state and local government workforce development programs. "We've been working away on this issue for a number of years," Passman told the Seattle PI's Microsoft Blog. "This is now front and center, but there is a whole (existing) infrastructure that is focused on workforce development."

Link to article: http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/02/23/microsoft-stimulus-plan-aims-train-2-million-it-workers

Lance is back...w/a stiff arm!

2009-02-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

Hey there. By now, both cyclists and non cyclists know that Lance is back. And those of you that watched the Tour of California, you know that Lance is back, and riding pretty strong.

So strong he took 7th overall, and helped the Astana Team get Levi his 3rd victory in a row. Plus he gave some crazy a stiff arm to the snowbank. Sub-titles not included.

http://magliarosa.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/diabo-moderno/

LinkedIn and Twitter connections

2009-02-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

Aloha Friday from sunny Seattle. Are we conneccted on LinkedIn? If not, let's connect. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/129/b65

Following me on Twitter? No? Come on. http://twitter.com/bryrei

In the Market for a new role?

2009-02-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Do you have experience in the Mobile, online Advertising, Targeting Display space?

Here is a look at the business and home of your next career adventure, http://advertising.microsoft.com/advertising-online. Great services and tools created by incredible people with the technology and advertising know how.

Come be a part of it. Check out www.microsoft.com/careers and contact me at bryanre@microsoft.com.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

Good Superbowl Sunday morning! We have several hours yet to go, but I'm ready to watch a good game and hopefully some entertaining commercials.....we'll see.

So I went to the movie theater for the first time in 09 and watched slumdog millionaire. I thought it was a great flick. It had a storyline that was easy to follow and really grabbed your attention with its bouncing back and forth from good to bad and then back to good.

It was a movie about good times, bad times and sacrifices. At times it was extremely heart wrenching when Latika was "lost" several times and a brother turned on the other and then made you cheer watched them as young boys escape one paril for a fun adventure and then see Latika be "found."

As I have read and watched a variety of views on this movie, I give it a thumbs up and say it is a must watch. BR

Microsoft is beginning to hire again

2009-01-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Aloha Friday folks. Interesting article that shows a positive side to things and I wanted to share since I'm not sure who reads the paper that much anymore, even online. Have a good weekend.

A week ago, Microsoft announced its first companywide layoff, letting go 1,400 people as part of a plan to cut up to 5,000 jobs in the next 18 months. But the company made clear it would continue hiring, perhaps 2,000 to 3,000 people, in strategically important areas. And judging by its U.S. online jobs site, it intends to. A search of the site for positions in Washington state brought back 72 openings posted since Jan. 22, the day the layoffs were announced.

"The company's strategic direction remains unchanged, so you can expect to see Microsoft continue to hire in most of the areas it has been investing in, areas such as online services, search and cloud computing, to name a few," a Microsoft spokeswoman said via e-mail.

Indeed, of the 72 Washington jobs posted since the layoff announcement, at least 11 were related to search. Reading through the listings and job descriptions revealed a few insights into Microsoft's current hiring priorities.

The spokeswoman said "the number of open positions will continue to vary based on business need, as it always does. ... [the open jobs] are a combination of new positions open and natural attrition." Microsoft has said its normal attrition rate is about 8 percent, meaning even if the company holds hiring flat or even reduces its total staff of about 96,000 worldwide in the next 18 months, there will continue to be a significant number of openings.

One posting for a program manager in the Windows Live Search Relevance team said the company was looking for "the cream of the crop inside and outside of Microsoft ... to go head to head with some of the best competition this company has ever seen."

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer singled out Internet search last week as one of the areas the company would continue to add staff.

Other openings posted in the past week have Microsoft's top competitors squarely in their sights. "[H]elp Microsoft beat Google," reads a posting for a product manager on the Media Auctions Product Marketing Team, which works with the company's adCenter online ads platform.

Windows Live and MSN are also hiring locally, with at least a dozen openings out of the 72 posted in the past week. One posting described a "newly formed" MSN/Virtual Earth Core Platform team that will "define how developers, media producers, and businesses create, deploy, manage, and monetize one of the largest online networks on the planet."

(The job posting also had some interesting usage stats about MSN and Virtual Earth: "over 600 internally developed sites serving 284M unique users/month and 15.5B pageviews/month. Those sites consume hundreds of applications/services, run over 400,000 feed ingestion jobs each day, and are served globally to 44 markets via 6 datacenters. Virtual Earth powers over 3000 enterprise customers and the Live Maps, Local Search, and 3D products.")

Another want ad for a software development engineer outlined "a brand new MSN website focusing on local people, activities, and businesses. ... By combining the best of local content destinations (like City Guides and Weather) with the power of local search, we are embarking on a cutting-edge project to revolutionize the way people consume local content."

The company's Live Labs is also hiring, including the Seadragon team that helped bring Photosynth to market.

The Entertainment and Devices Division -- which was rumored to have been hit hard by the layoffs -- has posted at least 11 openings in Washington since last Thursday. Microsoft Game Studios is looking for a lead designer to "help develop a new experience in the Halo universe." The division has also posted at least four openings for user experience or interaction designers, including one to work in the company's Pioneer Studios in downtown Seattle's Pioneer Square.

Advertising is also a major acquirer of new talent, judging by the listings I reviewed, with a mobile advertising group in particular looking for marketers. One of these postings lays out the opportunity for the company in the mobile advertising space: "Due to the infancy of the mobile advertising market, Microsoft has to provide advertisers with end to end marketing solutions, including landing pages, creative approach, new ideas and recommendations."

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/2009/01/29/62_microsoft_job_openings_listed_since_layoffs_ann.html

Microsoft Layoffs

2009-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

Good Monday Morning everyone. With companies around the nation, and globally as well, forced to do layoffs, Microsoft found themselves in the same position as others and laid off about 1400 last week on January 22nd.

It's a somber day at any office when this type of thing is going on. What makes it hard on people and morale is hearing about people's meetings they have that day, knowing that you don't have one; watching people get called into offices and conferences rooms and then seeing them walk out and back to their desk saddened, only to leave for the day; back on Friday in some cases to pack up and move on.It affects those being laid off the most, but also affects those of that still have our jobs.

It makes for a long and sad day when you watch those you have hired and worked with walked into the conference empty handed and then walked out with a folder of information; those who were managers that you worked with and helped grow their organizations; and those you made friends with and made sure that meetings included a mocha whenever possible.

No matter how you spin it, layoffs hit us all in one way or another. And then the next week, it's back to business for us. Time to regain focus and once again start moving forward.

To everyone that has been affected by any recent layoff, I/we wish you the best of luck in your search. If I/we can assist in any way possible, please feel free to reach out.

BR

Monday's workout

2009-01-12T22:08:00.001-08:00

just a workout post, so nothing special here.

Did not ride to work as I drop Piper dog off at doggie daycare on Mondays:-) And she played hard today as usual.

Anyways, circuit workout this evening with machines and stomach. 20 minutes on the EFX.

I paid attention to pacing

2009-01-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Good evening. So it took me awhile to actually really utilize and even pay attention to my heart rate monitor. I'm still working on it, but I am more aware of them in my training and wear heart rate on a regular basis.

Now, for the time in 4 years, I really really paid attention to pacing. And have to tell you, it makes a difference. Instead of running however I felt like running yesterday and getting my 14 in 2 hours and hurting, I paced myself.

First 5 at one pace, second 5 a bit faster and my last 4 pushing myself and keeping at a pace that was not easy, but taxing. It was great. So great, I may start doing it on a regular basis.

Thanks Col. BR

No casualties in bike crash Thursday night

2009-01-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

Aloha Friday. Grab your attention with the title? For those of you that don't know me well, I ride the streets of downtown Seattle on a regular basis on my commute to work. And while the crazy weather has caused some very sketchy rides to and from work, I have not crashed, nor been run into by any cars.

So who crashed? Where? Was it bad?

Tuesday and Thursday nights I am part of a kick ass spin class taught by a Cat 1/2 Rider/Racer. It's a small intimate class of about 10-12. This is our second year doing this class, and last night was the first "sort of" crash.

Ok, it's more funny than scary. I just figured I would drama it up a bit to entertain myself.

We all used Fluid Bike Trainers. Secure the back wheel in the trainer, sit the bike back on the roller and you are riding inside. This isn't your rooty poot PE bike training course, we ride hard and the workouts are leg burning.

We are like 55-60 minutes into our session and we are in our 5th 4 minute Zone 4 interval and I'm heads down hammering. I'm spinning next to our leader, Iz, and I'm hammering. Next thing I know, I come out of my trainer and I'm falling to the left into Iz. I reach out and put my hand on her top tube and catch myself. And I actually think Iz just kept on spinning. Would want to stop her groove.

I did not come out of the pedals, my bike literally popped out of the trainer. Pretty funny actually. I checked things out, dialed my bike back into the trainer, and jumped back into the workout.

No casualties. It was a good night at spin.

Have a great weekend. BR

Are you an Optimist?

2009-01-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

Good Evening folks. I think the saying is very fitting and a positive note to start the week.

"Optimists have twice as many good days as pessimists; so be an optimist."

Have a good one, BR

Did the doppler predict this?

2009-01-04T18:40:00.001-08:00

I guess I didn't watch enough tv today. 2 football games but now news. Oh, also got in an hour and a half chill bike ride to Edmonds. Yes, that means DOWN into Edmonds and UP to get home. Also means I kept warm on the way home. Nice ride.

Left the house about 345 to go to the grocery and it started snowing. Out about an hour and ready to head home and swear we have about an inch sticking. And it's good snow too, great snowball fighting snow. Packs super nice.

Maybe it home, slowly and it's still coming down. Mid to upper 40's this week for a high and high 30's to low 40's for a low. So it should not stay on the ground long, I think. Whatever. But I'm ready for the snow to stay in the mtns and quit falling in the lowlands. I only need it on the slopes.

So if we have a couple inches in the morning, looks like I could be working from home b/c I'm sure the bus schedule will be a cluster. Even on snow schedule it sucks. Not on time, packed b/c only a few buses are running, blah, blah, blah. I'll get more done working at home than freezing my ass off with everyone else at the bus stop trying to get downtown.

Ok, I'm done. Just thought I'd share. And to those of you I have not chatted with yet, Happy New Year. Hope the holidays were good to you and your family.

BR

Communication is key...have I said that?

2009-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

Good evening kids. So I have I told you lately that communication is key? Both in work and in personal life it is important. Sometimes we are good at it, sometimes it's a work in progress. But no matter what, you have to communicate.

In both work and personal, you should not hold onto things. You know what that causes, build up. Yup, build up. Then it bursts and that is not always a good thing. It is not good to hold onto things. If you think it is something that needs to be addressed now, then address it. Like anything else, try not to be an ass, but present or engage in conversation the best way possible and take it from there.

Also, don't not say anything. If who you are talking to doesn't know how you feel about something, how can they address it, change, explain to why, etc. Hopefully they will listen, engage, then you listen and conversation happens. Not an arguement, a conversation.

Alright, that is Mr. Bryan's words of wisdom on a chilly Saturday night. Enjoy your weekend.

BR

Spin class rocks

2008-12-30T21:54:00.000-08:00

So I rode into work Monday and was excited about it. Even in the rain and cold. Rode in again today and it was great. Dry and cold. Then off to spin class.

Zone 3 workout after lots of single leg and faster-fastest-way fast spins ups.

Off to the shower. BR

A good day at Crystal Mtn

2008-12-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hello. So the ski/board season has started a little slow on the West Coast, or at least in my 5 hour driving range. We bailed on Friday b/c conditions didn't sound that good as it warmed up and the word on from the double super doppler was more snow Friday and Saturday night in the mountains. Doppler delivered.

Stevens got a good dumping and the backside, which is where you want to be, opens Monday. We opted for Crystal and were not disappointed. The drive from home to the base was smooth and quick, the drive the rest of the way up was slow and at times sketchy. We counted at least 5 vehicles off the road in the ditch on their side. All fresh too. No major collisions, just probably stupidity of driving to fast for conditions.

So instead of hitting the mountain at 9am, we were on it by 10. All 6 of us arrived about the same time and headed up together. The snow was great, especially close and inside the trees. Way powdery and deep. We got some smoking runs in for sure.

Had lunch at the cafe up at the top of the mountain. Not your old school cafeteria, this was a nice swank little on the hill spot with a varied menu. While I could have had the duck salad with lobster bisque, I opted for the late breakfast special; a big plate of cinnamon swirl french toast with marionberry syrup and a side of bacon. The french toast was tasty!

Back to the mountain feeling a little lazy, we all pulled it together and hit it for a couple more hours. While the main faces were a little chewed up, the trees were still the spot to be. By the time we decided last run, quads and cavs were burning, but it was all worth it.

For half the crew, it was our first board adventure of the season. And what a way to start the season off. Hopefully there will be more days to come.

C-ya

Ideas are oxygen

2008-12-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

Good evening people. First of all, I just like the saying, Ideas are Oxygen. Second, I like my college sports; basketball, baseball and football. But there are so many teams out there and only so many get televised that you cannot keep up with everyone.

Well in the Sports Illustrated Dec 15th issue, I learned about the Northern State basketball team in Aberdeen, S.D. More importantly I learned about their Coach, Don Meyer. Not only is he only a handful of wins away from passing the great Bobby Knight for college victories, known in his field as one of the best bball clinicians ever, but at 63 years old, he is still learning.

Coach Meyer was in a recent car accident that took one of his legs from the knee down. Know what he learned from that, that he had cancer in his body. The car accident actually may have saved his life. And it seems they have caught the cancer in time. Go Coach!

He is back on the bball court and it sounds like he is back to being Coach. While a wheelchair may limit his mobility, to a certain extent, and a crushed rib cage limits the raising of the voice, he commands practice and game time like he usually does.

I write this article today not just to tell you about Coach Meyer, but what he says in the SI interview really caught me. He talks about wanting to learn and is always looking for that opportunity to pick up something new for his tool belt. And we should be the same way.

One of his coaching peers said this about Coach Meyer; "Every single day he wants to learn something new. In the world of Don Meyer, ideas are oxygen."

Don himself says this, "When you're not learning about your profession or how to deal with people or life, then it's over. All windows are shut. Whether you're 15, 50 or going down the homestretch, you've gotta keep learning."

So no matter who you are, where you are, what your profession or your age, go forth and learn.

BR

I'm Plexico and I'm a Moron

2008-12-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Good Morning kids. See if I can bring you up to speed. Even if you are not an NFL fan, this is just one of those stories you have to read b/c it will make you go, man, what a TOOL.

If you don't care to read further, here is the link: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8986866/Reports:-Cops-find-guns,-ammo,-cash-at-Burress

Plexico makes millions having fun and doing what every kid would love to do as an adult, play football. Oh, and make millions. He plays for the NY Giants and has a super bowl ring. On top of that, he is a really good athlete.

On to what makes Plexico a moron. Oh, did I tell you his attorneys name is Barfman. Sweet huh. It's really Brafman, but you know what happened to him in elementary school at recess. I digress.

To bring you up to speed, a few weeks back, Plexico and his boys, other players from the team, were at the Latin Quarter just kicking it. Did I mention that Plexico makes millions yet he went to the club in sweats? Class act. Anyways, he has his sweats on with his unregistered gat (street for gun b/c Plexico is so hard) tucked in the waistband.

Well as most of us tax paying Americans that wear sweats know they are loose and comfortable fitting, only he doesn't know that. Well his gun slips from his waistband and as he is trying to grab it, he shoots himself in the thigh. Sweet.

I won't bore you with all the details, but he checked himself in the hospital, checked himself out, tried to cover it up, blah, blah, blah, and he gets suspended for the rest of the season. Can you say no playoffs for you spaz!

The above link talks about how they just served a search warrant on his crib (street for house b/c Plexico is hard) and found a few more weapons. I'm sure those are all registered (wink wink).

Anyways, I had to scribble down my thoughts on this b/c I could stop laughing my a** off about the whole thing.

Written by yours truly, middle class working dude:-)

Life by bike

2008-12-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hello there and welcome to snow storm continuation Dec 2008. For those of us Seattleites that have been here for say, the last 5-10 years, getting a dusting of snow in the low lands is not abnormal. For us to get anywhere from 4-10 inches from downtown (DT) Seattle to anywhere within a 10 -15 mile radius of DT is CRAZY.

And it continues to stay. I have been here about 11 years and have never seen a winter like this and have always lived close to the city (Ballard and Fremont areas). My current dwelling is a 9 mile commute (by bike) door to door to work and I try to ride most of the year. During the winter months I sometimes drive or take the bus. But note, not a big fan of the bus.

Since last Thursday, I have worked from home. The job allows it and I/we (Recruiting) can doing our job from almost anywhere we have a phone and an internet connection. Enough about work though as I'm writing this to talk about life by bike.

Besides work, things in life need to happen; grocery shopping, errands, the gym, the mall, etc. So during this last week of snow storm 08, I have hung up the single speed urban bomber and been trekking around via mountain bike. What a blast. While I have only been putting in about 5-10 miles a day, I am getting everything done.

I have been to the gym daily (3.2 miles RT). Went and picked up $70 worth of groceries from QFC (3 miles RT), N. Gate mall (3 miles RT), Lowes (1.6 miles RT), and so on. You get the drift.

Anyways, I wish I could live my life on my bike all the time. Even though I can't, I make sure I can whenever possible.

Now go forth and Pedal, Pedal, Pedal!

Yep, twice in one week.

2008-12-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

Hello there. So It has been a few days and I have no excuse for not writing being that I have been home since Wednesday night. Why you ask? For those of you outside of Seattle, the snow started falling that evening and we woke up to a couple inches...in the city

Now normally I would not say a couple inches is anything to worry about, but around here, people cannot drive...when it rains. And yes, we are known as the rainy state, rainy city, whatever. It rains a lot. So you add a couple inches of snow and watch out.

Then off and on it has continued to snow with the second storm coming in late Saturday afternoon. And it hit hard. I only live about 8 miles from downtown Seattle and by midnight Saturday night, we had between 4-6 inches of super dry snow. It was awesome. Took Piper for a walk and she loved it. Diving in and out of the snow and making fresh tracks in lawns and driveways.

Woke up this morning and we must have gotten a little freezing rain which made the deep snow fairly crunchy. Regardless, it is great waking up to a winter wonderland.

May actually venture out today, by snow boots and stroll to the mall. It's not that far away actually. I'll go old school and tell kids about walking 2 miles one way just to get to the mall to spend money!

Alright, back to the football game.

Bikers vs Morons (editor James Vesely mainly)

2008-12-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, for those of you who don't normally pick up the stranger, you should check out 12/11 issue. Page 6, No, You Shut Up section, article You Bikers Get off My Roads.

The article was written by Eric Barnett who you can follow or read up on at www.thestranger.com/slog. This is a great article not matter what type of biking you do but especially, IMO, for those who commute. And being an almost year round pedal power commuter, I enjoyed it.

I rewrite the article, but wanted to make sure people got a chance to read it. I would also suggest reading the comments below. While I think Seattle is a fairly bike friendly city, we could still work on various things to not make it such a We (bikers) vs Them (drivers) type of thing.

I especially like the comments by Smith. Doesn't really take a side but points out good and improvement areas on finding a middle ground.

Enjoy the read.

www.thestranger.com/seattle/you-bikers-get-off-my-roads

Area of Growth

2008-12-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you would think as big an extrovert as I am, loud, not to obnoxious and fairly funny, that I would be comfortable speaking in public. I know that we are all hard on ourselves, but I still feel like I could have done a much better job today, even though it was such a short presentation.

Things to work on; Be sure to make some notes and FOLLOW them to keep on track. If you get off track, note where you left off or try to table the sidetrack for another conversation. Deep breath, take your time, etc.

Overall it was ok, but an area of growth I will work on.

The birth of Bryan Daniel

2008-12-08T22:44:00.001-08:00

Today in history, Bryan Daniel Reichert was born. What a day. I'm sure that is what my mom was saying:-)

So I spent my day on MS main campus and it turned out to be a good day. I ended bumping into a variety of folks I knew and then met a couple of really cool new folks. My one story for the night is this:

I bumped in to my friend Sarah A and she had a girl in her office, one of her co-worker friends named Jackie Cole. Jackie introduced herself and then I introduced myself. She get's this big shitting eating grin on her face and says, my maiden name is Reichert. Holy crap. I won't bore you with details, but we chatted for a few. At the moment, still not sure if we share the family tree, but she's good peeps.

It's December 1. Wow.

2008-12-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Great turkey day weekend in Tri-Cities with the fam. Had a house full too. My bro and his wife showed up, both nephews, one niece and her husband and two chic terrors, mom, grams col and me. Lot's of grub, good desserts and football....of course.

Had beers with cuzn Dave and Kelly after turkey day and just chatted about uncle Larry. His service was Friday. Nice and real low key. RIP uncle Larry.

Came home Friday night and went to the Apple store and bought my Macbook. White and simple, kind of like me. I like. Lots of little things to learn about it, but I so look forward to it. After being on a Dell since 2000, it's nice having a new toy.

I bought Parallels and I'm picking up Office for Mac from the company store this week so I can do my day job, being that I do work for Microsoft and all. Good times for sure.

On Sunday, for my first time ever, I went to a tree farm. Not any old tree farm, an xmas tree farm. Col and I actually agreed on a tree, even though I still favor the smaller one. But it's a cool ass noble. Cool branches. Thus far, the tree is in the standing, leaning tower of tree-sa of course with no ormanents (yeah I spelled it wrong on purpose). I'm usually fairly bahumbug, but feeling a little holiday spirit this year. You people better ride it while you can.

Ok, I'm outa here, one more post to write about my work out. BR

Florida part 2...the road trip

2008-11-20T22:16:00.000-08:00

So to me, this is when the real vacation began. We woke up Sunday, of course grabbed coffee, and then hit the road on our trek to the Keys. Before we even left Seattle for Florida, we had things mapped out a little bit, booked one or two hotels, and had a good idea of where we were going to be stopping and staying the night.

Sunday we left the beautiful beach of Clearwater and headed south. To break up the drive, we stopped along the way and laid out for a power hour at some random city beach. Good break from driving.

We made it into Naples in the early evening and Col found a coupon for the Holiday Inn and we stayed for like 55 bucks. What a bargain. The dude working the front desk was super nice and chatty and gave some great recommendations locally as well as for our drive to the Keys.

We strolled the cool 5th street they have, checking out all the shops and stopped in at sort of an island spot and had some good eats. Then strolled for a bit longer before stopping in at sbux for an evening mocha. We cruised around Naples for a bit and then called it a night.

Woke up Tuesday morning and headed off on our road trip. Next stop, Everglade city for an airboat ride. We had cool local dude that was our captain and he was a good cat. We cruised through the 'glades, both wet lands and dry lands, saw lots of birds and a handful of gators. Up close too. The airboat ride was sweet.

Not much else to see, so we got on the road. We did stop before we really got going at Clyde Butchers gallery. Very cool stuff. He is a local guy that has shot all over the 'glades which is what he is most known for, but also has some great stuff from around the nation.

There is this long canal that runs along the freeway (2lane) and nothing but gators everywhere. We walked over there, saw three gators hanging at the water surface level, and one close to the road. They are some scary looking creatures for sure.

There is quite a bit of history along the way and the 7 mile bridge was one of the large things we got to see along with the well taken care of grounds about the 2 mile mark.

We made it into Key Largo, checked into the hotel and made it out back to get a drink on the beach and hit the dock for the sunset along with everyone else. A bit of a windy evening and a little chily. Dinner at the restaurant was pretty tasty and we chilled. There is not much to do in Key Largo in the evening. It's a beach town, like most of the spots along the freeway.

Woke and headed south on our trek to the Keys. Coffee? Holy crap. No Starbucks anywhere along the way. Hell, almost no real quality independents. Then just a few miles outside of Key West, there is a popular spot called Babys Coffee (www.babyscoffee.com). Was not real sure of what we were going to get, but the girl whipped up a good mocha. I was now in one of my happy places.

Rolled into to Key West and checked into the fairly high end Ocean Sea and Spa Resort. The best pool in town. You can lay by the pool or even in the pool and enjoy the sunset. And we did. The routine down there; sunset was about 5:50 daily and everyone starts getting out there on the dock and seated at the bar around 5. Once the sun finally disappears in the distance, there is a round of applause and another drink. Then you hang out for another hour or so as the sky is way cool as it turns pink, orange, purple, etc.

Then you go for a lazy walk and determine what's for dinner. Lots of tough decisions that really stress you out. Not really. We had some good mexican food one night, and the some pretty good grub at the Hard Rock the next. The waiter recommend a great little dessert spot off the beaten path, Better Than Sex. No really, that is the name. And the menu's desserts all have sexual names (Jungle Fever, Pimpin Pumpkin Pie, etc). GREAT little spot and would definitely recommend it.

We stayed in the Keys for a few days and did some touristy things, but really, mostly just disconnected and chilled. On Thursday, we started our road trip at 10am back to Tampa where we were flying out of. In short, we drove all day into the evening. Couple of stops along the way to lay out, grab some eats, and then made it town by almost 8pm.

Dinner at Mac-a-roni grill, then a cheap stay at the high end hotel, LaQuinta. Right across from Busch Gardens where we spent out Friday before flying out. Some pretty sweet ass rides. Only complaint, way to expensive. Be sure to print off tickets so you can get the discount vs buying at the door.

I'm sure I am missing some funnies, but i just needed to get my thoughts down before it became January.

I would recommend a visit to the beaches of Clearwater and that stretch, as well the Keys.

Florida part 1...event week

2008-11-18T22:04:00.001-08:00

Hello there. So I'm a little behind, but hey, I did not take my laptop on vacation:-) Crazy for me.

Anyways, got into town Thursday late morning and Crampy and MC came to pick us up. Liz also showed up around the same time so we all synced up and made our way to the condo. Nice spot. Good pick MC.

Did the athlete check in, put our bikes together and just chilled.

On Friday, went for a swim in our wetsuits as the water was a little crisp. Hung out with Liz and met one of her clients Rob and his buddy Erich. Both good cats from Oregon, skinny and fast:P Oh, and waaaaaayyyyyyyy funny. Rob is a total spaz and hilarious and Erich can bake. Yes, these are important things to know.

So actually got a decent night of sleep on Friday and up at 5am on Saturday, game day. Bikes and gear were checked in on Friday, so we just had to drag a couple things down like nutrition and what not and do a final check of things.

Pros kicked off as usual at 645 and Andy Potts, Olympic Tri Guy, came out of the water first in about 22 minutes. I got to see it as I was still on the beach. Not b/c I'm slow, but b/c my wave did not kick off until 730.

I had a great start. Just wandered in behind the craziness, picked a line to the left and harldy ever bumped into anyone. Oh, and no panic attacks! Thats a good day. Swim was pretty standard at about 37 minutes. Overall satisfied with it.

Had a crappy T1 as I grabbed the wrong bag. Started to get into it, realized it wasn't mine and had to run back out and grab mine. Once changed, I was out the tent and grabbing my bike.

The bike was like no course I have have ever ridden. Super flat and fast. As fast as you could push yourself. To date, my fastest bike was like 2 hours 39 minutes. I did something like a 2:25. I don't feel like looking up my times, but I think that is close. What was even crazier was there was no coasting. I mean you pedaled all the way. It totally took it out of me.

On to the run. Not really pretty at all. The temp started to rise as well as the humidity. My first few miles were not bad, but then I sort of caved. I got hot and literally had no pep in my step. AT about mile 4 or 5 I was like, man, just shuffle as best as possible. Ended up walking through almost every aid station drenching myself in water and sponges. Not my best run at all, but I survived.

Only complaint I have, WAY TO MUCH drafting with crap ass officiating. I could have shaved time off my bike and saved my legs had I been able to hang on to any pack of 15-25 riders rolling 30 mph.

Overall a fun experience and I'm glad I got to be a part of it. More of Florida to come. BR

It's game time

2008-11-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

Bike in T1-check. Bags on rack-check. Nutrition done and in the fridge-check. Morning gear laid out-check. Heart beating fast thinking about the cannon going off-CHECK.

Looking forward to having fun tomorrow and pushing hard. Weather should be great for racing and the body feels good.

Crampy and I go at 730, Col at 735 and MC at like 755. So once again we'll be waiting on her:P She always gets good support crew action!

I think everyone is excited to go out, hammer and have fun. Good luck to everyone and I'll get an update on here later. BR

Touch down in Florida

2008-11-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

After catching the red eye out of Seattle, we touched down in Florida today. Crampy and MC came and picked us up and I finally met Liz. Good peeps.

The place MS found online is super nice and pretty spacious. Close the the expo, etc and the beach. MC, Crampy, Col, Me, Crampy's pops, Linda and Jerry and Liz. And it should be good for all of us and our gear. Liz has the closet, which is funny, but it will pitch dark for her to crash:-)

We got signed in today, got our packets, drove a good portion of the bike course with Liz, one of her clients Rob from Eugene, Ore and his buddy Eric. Cool and super funny.

The bike and run are pretty flat with just a couple of bumps that we have to do twice on the bike and run, if I remember correctly. The bike seems suuuupppppeeeerrrrrr fast though and everyone keeps saying that this is for sure a PR course. So I'm stoked to hear that as the goal is to beat my Vineman time of 5:21. Would love to be as close to 5 as possible and if I got sub 5, I'm so treating myself to something. Not sure what, but something good and probably bike related:-)

So far, our first destination, Clearwater, is good. I could not spend my entire vacation here, but it does have some good beaches and would be a good place to relax and disconnect. And real estate, as you know, is cheap right now. Beach front condo's (studios and 1bds) going for 200k plus. It's crazy.

Crampy and I played with Liz, Col and my bike and got them all put together and a little tune. We'll take them for a little spin tomorrow and ensure all is in check. The Hottie looks good with Zipp race wheels on her. We'll see if I can push those bad boys on Saturday.

Lots of stuff to do tomorrow as far as putting bags together an checking everything in. But low stress and positive energy.

Wanted to try and get something down tonight so I can get motivated about blogging about the trip and the event. This week, the focus remains on the event, generating positive energy and visualizing myself with a solid swim, a great bike and a great run. I will be in my Zen place soon.

Night night. BR

Wow, it's October

2008-10-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hello there and long time no chat. Can't believe my last post was in July. WTF!?

Oh well, I knew this would be a challenge, but man, I thought I would be good for at least once a week.

My goal is at least once a week. Ready, set, go. Ok, see you next week. BR

Vineman 2008

2008-07-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Oh where to begin before I run out of writing steam. So we rolled mini coopers on our trip down and leap frogged each other leading the way.

We left around 8am on Thursday morning, of course after sbux and a snack. The day was good as we rolled out of town and the weather treated us well the entire trip.

We did a little car camping Thursday night at a little spot we located off of I5 and about 2 hours outside of our final destination. Set up the tents, took a little sink shower and hit the hay. Woke up bright and early the next day, took a quality 50 cent shower and hit the road.

On the way to the hotel we hit a couple of wineries; Kunde and St. Francis. Both very cool in their own offerings, looks and vibe. Purchasd a few bottles of wine and a bottle of yummie fudge.

After the winery, we ate lunch at a yummie little italian joint recommended by our lady at St. Francis. Then off to finally check in to the hotel.

Friday ended up being pretty chilled, checking out the swim area and driving part of the bike course. I think we may have eaten at the Brew Pub, but I cannot recall.

Saturday was spent checking in/packet pickup in the morning, checking out the expo, then finish driving the bike course. The evening of course was spenty putting bags together and getting ready for an early Sunday morning.

Sunday morning came early as I kicked off the party at 6:54am. Col 30 mins later, Kyle 30 mins after Col and MC just a handful of minutes after Kyle.

The swim was actually pretty cool. It was in the Russian River which is not that wide and only 3-8 feet deep. My age group, 35-39 was the biggest age group so we started in several waves. The water was about 6 feet deep where we started as I was bobbing up and down waiting for us to start.

We swam up stream and at the turn around buoy I looked up to site where I was at and saw about 8-10 people walking. Yes, walking through the water. Just wrong I tell ya. I even scraped the ground with a couple lazy strokes at one point and I wasn't even close to the shore.

I had my best swim to date about just over 37 mins. I thought my T1 time was long, but was only about 3 1/2 minutes before jumping on my bike. What a great bike course. While the roads were crappy, the bike course was great, good scenic ride through the wineries and really technical. I had a great time and had my best bike time of 2:41. Nutrition was 1 and 1/2 bottles of Perpetuum (sp), a bar and a bottle of gatorade.

Run transition was decent and I felt good going out. My goal was to run the first half as fast as I could, which is my usual M.O. and then shuffle my way back at a 9 minute pace. Did not totally work, which is really nothing new, but I know my run needs continued work. All that being said, I had my best run on a hilly course at 1:56. Sub 2 is what I was shooting for and got it again.

So I had my best 1/2 Ironman to date at 5:21:23. Beat my Boise time of 5:33.

Official Result:
Swim 00:37:34.7 T1 00:03:25.4 Bike 02:41:40.0 T2 00:02:14.6 Run 01:56:28.8 Finish 05:21:23.5

And right when you think it can't get better than that, we went to the awards ceremony and Kyle, MC and I all ended up with slots to the 70.3 championchips in Clearwater Florida. It's sort of a long story but we ended up getting extra roll down slots b/c we stayed and had better times than other folks that were there. So we all three join Col who earned her slot at Boise.

So while I really thought Vineman was last tri of the year, turns out it's not. So we are Florida bound in November:-)

Landscaping happening at the LVB

2008-06-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

So over this last week we have ben looking at plants and trees that "the girls" have been sending us names of for the design for the stream and the front yard. Over the weekend I spent almost 400 dollars on a tree and some plants. WTF. Mofo needs to eat to stay alive and I'm out spending hundreds of dollars on plants.

But Damn it looks great. I can't wait until they take root and grow. Definitely going to be my zen spot for sure.

Today the girls came in, ripped out some old grass I killed, tilled and got their plant on. They did a great job and we have some cool plants. But everything comes at a cost so now I have to eat top ramen for one month. Bummer, I hate top ramen.

Get your swim on

2008-06-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so first of all, worked from home. Put $50 in the trooper tank b/c I could not stomach filling her up. I know, silly.

Had a good 45 minute swim in GL. Water was pretty darn good. Not sure my swim is getting stronger, but it is staying pretty status quo which is fine.

That is is for workouts today.

Welcome to Monday

2008-06-23T22:13:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'm baaaaccckkk. Wow, it's only been a couple months or so. Since then I have continued to train, accomplished a new PR at Boise 1/2 IM and a PR at Cascades Edge Olympic Tri out in Enumclaw.

I have been biking to work ALOT as well. I had a great month of May with a little over 500 commuting miles to work.

I biked to work today and logged in 18 miles. Made it to the pool to swim only to show up and the pool closed. Closed due to some issues; ie - chemicals are jacked up and they can't get it figured out. Hopefully open tomorrow.

Ok, I'm outta here.

Boston, the best sports town thus far

2008-04-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, let's don't lie; Seattle sports fans are pretty finicky. Sometimes we like them, lots of times we don't, or those of us don't care for them really at all and root for them or against them all depending who they are playing.

I have traveled to a few cities and have been to games and stadiums and to date, Red Sox fans rock. Not only do they get behind their team, but man that is a fun stadium to be in and the fans are great. Oh, and what a clean stadium.

So I scored some right center outfield bleacher seats which actually were not to bad. And the fans in our area, to the right (couple sections away from the Green Monster), and to the left were awesome. They can drink beer too.

I also think they have got to buy more in merchandise than most other clubs out there. I swear 1 out of every 2 people had some sort of sox garb on. It was awesome. They talk about the red sox nation over the speakers as if it is the cult of all cults. And it is.

When they play songs during long innings, pitching changes, etc., the crowd sings along, often even continuing to sing when the song ends and they are not. It was great. When Sweet Caroline came on, it was crazy. Certain parts they added in words, hit the BA BA BA hard and loud even when the inning began, the crowd kept going until they felt like finishing.

Game started at 7ish, and when we left the game it was about 11pm, I, of course grabbed a sausage dog for a late night snack. A tasty treat, but not sure it was an $8 dog. Oh well, what a great experience.

So great, I may have to jump on the red sox nation band wagon b/c Boston is a true sports town. Go Sox. Oh yeah, what a great fricking game. Sox won 7-6.

BR

Baaastin and Marathon Monday

2008-04-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

So today is Patriots Day in Boston. I have no idea what that is, nor am I looking it up and including a link.

How many marathons take place on Monday? Not many eh. I did not "Live Search" that one either, but I have done more than a handful and they have always been on Sunday.

It was a great day for a run. The early morning started off crisp and a little overcast before the sun came out. It was a great day for runners and spectators. I actually think my journey was a little longer with the wait I had for the subway coming back in from mile 17.

I went out to mile 17 early and pulled a seat on the curb with Col's parental units. We got to see lead wheelchair guy as well as the other wc competitors, the lead males and they were moving. Then the lead females, and they too were moving. The two that battled it out in the end, Kenya and Russia (I think), were also together at mile 17.

Lance came through, in yellow of course, as well as Team Hoyt, which was really cool and inspiring to see. Those two have done so much and it was really cool to have finally meet in person.

Missed Col, not sure how, but none of us seen her come by. And we were there b/c I got the 30k alert on the phone. Also missed Brian P too, and I was looking for him as well.

The trip back was painful, not totally, but there was waiting pain. Finally got back downtown and Col was leaning up against Hermes of Paris building on the corner outside of the subway stop looking like Homeless Bob laying in the sun.

Well she did well and finished in 3:54. Nice work Col.

Womens Marathon qualifier for Beijing

2008-04-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

So Sunday was the marathon qualifier for the Beijing Olympics. WOW! Those girls are fast. What a great race to watch. It was great day in Boston for women's running!

Joan Benoit Samuelson who ran her last marathon, did so in spectacular fashion. The pioneer of women's marathoning won the first Olympic Marathon Trials, the first Women's Olympic Marathon, and today in her last appearance, at the age of 50, set a new American marathon record for her age. The MC, as Joan came down the home stretch to cross the finish, mentioned that she passed about 15 people in the last mile. Man that lady still has it.

On the womens side, it was a great race. Top 3 women were Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Blake Russell who will now represent us in Beijing. Magdalena led from the start and held it until the last lap when Deena took over the lead and never let go. She ran a great race and never looked worried even when Magdalena was out in front by over a minute thirty. Looks like we'll have great represenatation.

On the tri side of the house, Desiree Flicker looked great throughout the first half and then did not look so happy coming in to the finish at about 3:48. She looked really strong but may have gone out to fast for her and did not have her day. But it was great to see her out there as she is one of our tri favs.

Lots of stuff to do

2008-04-21T05:09:00.000-07:00

There is a lot to do in Boston and it's pretty cool city too. And who said East coast people were unfriendly? We ate at the Kinsale Pub on Tremont and not only did they have some great grub, the our main waitress in one of her co-workers were very cool.

We were talking about being from Seattle and that we were here for the marathon. They asked what we had done thus far and then proceeded to sit down and put together a list of things for us to check out, which we have almost hit most of.

Sociable and approachable is how everyone has been. The concierges have been awesome at the Nine Zero Hotel where we are staying. Cool swank little spot very well located near the Boston Commons and everything else.

Take note: I think Dunkin Donuts has more stores than Starbucks here. I really think this is the first city I have been to in a long time where I have seen more of another coffee shop than sbux (as seen on NASDAQ). No I did not cave as there are still plenty of sbux located in walking distance of the hotel and really everywhere we have been:-)

The Freedom Trail was cool to check out, wandering Beacon Hill was good and just checking out the old schoolness of the city is really nice. Now the prices of living here would definitely require someone to give me a raise!

Sunday was pretty a pretty chill day. Wandered some, hit the market in the north end, a short along the waterfront and a low key pre race meail at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen).

Ok, need to go get an sbux and breakfast sammich and then jump on the subway and make my way out to mile 16 or so and cheer on Col and the runners. If you did not know, today is the boston marathon. Great weather this morning for a run.

Hopefully log on later and do a quick update about the marathon. If not, catch you tomorrow.

BR

Baaastin

2008-04-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

So it has not been quite 2 weeks and I'm blogging again. Damn, I'm on a roll. Anyways, we are on Boston. Got here Thursday morning and the weather this last couple days has been great.

We actually did a little running around yesterday. Got our Charlie Cards (subway) and headed out to Harvard yard, toured the school area a little bit and then back. Found the finish area of the marathon and wandered quite a bit on foot.

Today we jumped on the trolley tour and got a good historic guide through out the area. Jumped off at the Expo and wandered there for a bit. That is how an expo should be. Huge and well organized. They really do it up for the athletes. Cool little photo opps, the gear is great and lots of food vendors:-)

One of the coolest things today was meeting Dick Hoyt and talking with him in person. Seems like a super nice guy. No more Ironman events for them anymore, just some marathons and half ironman events. We talked about which ones and all are on the east coast. Mainly b/c it is so costly to ship all the gear they need to participate. You see those guys in videos and what not but talk with him, casual as it was, was pretty cool. (http://www.teamhoyt.com/index.html)

Jumped back on the trolly, to the marina where we did a little harbor boat ride. Jumped off and toured the USS Constitution aka old ironsides (http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/). Cool old ship.

Went out for a little 4 mile run through Boston Commons and along the waterfront and back. I had on my finisher shirt from MI and Col had on Seattle Marathon finisher shirt. A girl from Seattle said, hey, I did both of those and convesation took place.

She was super nice and sociable and is here for her second time. Sherri lives on lower QA and wants to start tri'ing so we talked about that and hooking up with the group. Her friend she was with lives in Cali and works for, guess who, MS. So he and I exchanged info as he is playing support crew as well.

Kick ass dinner at Dolce Vita (http://www.dolcevitaristorante.com/). Everything was delicious. Then over to one of the most popular backerys in the North End, Mikes (http://www.mikespastry.com/) for what else, a cannoli and coffee. Place was a zoo on a Friday night.

Ok, that is about it but wanted to get this down before I forgot. Later

Remember me?

2008-04-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here watching the rain outside come down and turn the front yard into a mud pit. I sit here and ponder, will grass be put in by end of month? Hmmmm.

Anyways, over the last few months, workouts have been good. Spin class was awesome and kept a good base through the winter. Have been doing circuit workouts 1-2 days a week and running a couple days a week.

We have started riding outside, mostly on the singles which is great training and almost more fun than being on the road bike. Do not dare tell the Hottie that though.

I drove to work today b/c Piper dog has doggie daycare every Monday. But I have been commuting on bike a fair amount this last month.

Had a swim workout and swam my furthest thus far, 2500. Damn I'm tired. Later.

Week in review

2008-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

So here we go, twice in one week. It's a great start:-)

Had a few good workouts. Light circuit workout one day with 20 mins of EFX. Went to spin class for first time in awhile and spun light. Felt good to be on the bike, back was a little stiff the next day. Topped off the week today with a 3.7 mile run followed by a short spin on the single to play support crew while Col finished up a solid 10 mile run.

Time to start hitting more consistent. Checked out LA Fitness just up the street on 130th and I think it will do the trick. Nice new gym with a 3 lane pool, lap swim only:-)

See you this week, BR

Happy New Year and welcome to 2008

2008-01-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, let's try this again. Goal is to get on here, let's say, at least a couple days a week. Would like to get on here more but let's be honest. We know my track record from 06.

Holidays were good, low key, just how I like them. New Years was chill. Went for a 3 mile run on new years day once USC started whipping Illinois' ass. But you knew that was coming.

So I think 2007 was a pretty successful year. 2 half ironman's (hono70.3 and lake stevens 70.3) 1 full ironman, Ironman Canada. Great showing here as I smashed my 2005 tune by over an hour.

Bought a house, couple of boat projects, blah, blah, blah. I think that is it for now.

Overall a great year and looking forward to another adventure filled 08. Keep you posted. BR

Monday

2007-12-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

Man is this weather crappy. So we ran a wet 5 mile loop at Greenlake. Wet and cold, two things I do not like. But it got done. Garmin was pissing me off as it was not reading heart rate right. There is no way in hell I can be running a 9 minute mile and at mile 3.5 have a heart rate of 92. Are you shitting me. Whatever. Mileaage was right though:-)

Monday. The crappy weather continues. Work from home and watch the news all day about all the landslides, flooding, etc.

Circuit workout and some abs. Weighed in today and was at an even 2oolbs.

Watching dvr of IM Kona right now and man, its just good stuff. Makes me motivated to want to do another. But not in 08:P

Ride to work

2007-11-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

Man it sure is chilly in the morning. Man it sure is chilly in the evening, and dark too. Damn, I hate riding in the rain, in the dark and in the cold. But I sure do love being on my bike.

No circuit workout tonight but hopefully hit it tomorrow or Friday. Want to make sure I'm hitting the weights 2 days a week. Also need to get in a run as well since I have not run since last Friday.

Good ride in to work today except for the flat. But I was quick on the change and back on the road in no time. I have some skills.

Ok, time to dork off online and check out some blogs. Later skater

Spin Class rox

2007-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

So I started off the week with a weights circuit workout Monday morning. Good little workout. Plus I weighed myself first thing in the morning. Still qualify for the Clydesdale division at 202lbs.

Spin continues to rock. Continues to push my legs and tonight was no different. Quads, calves and even shins were all screaming. We did some single leg spins - 4 each leg for one minute apiece. Then amped it up to Zone 3 and slowed the spin down to 60-70 RPM/cadence. I hit a high of 173 each set.

Good stuff. We'll see if I ride in the morning:-)

Home for Turkey Day

2007-11-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

So I went home early Thursday morning to hang with the fam for tday. Good stuff and real low key. 5 mile run on Friday in the chilly 33 degree weather. Felt good w/about an 8:25 pace.

Came back on Saturday fairly early and got back in time to go the Seattle Marathon expo. Col was working as real rehab had a booth and I got to do my VO2 test for the run. Man, the run was much harder than the bike. Got through and it was just as cool to do as it was the bike. And I now have heart rate zones for my run as well:-)

Ok, thats it for now. later.

Some week updates

2007-11-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

So did the VO2 test the other for the bike and it was pretty cool. Basically put on my mask, hook it up to the machine, and pedal. The resistance got up to about 350 watts and it got challenging as the time went on. Was a good short work out and I kept it at about a 90 cadence for the entire time.

In a nutshell, BR now has accurate heart rate ranges to use:-) Guess now that means I need to start wearing my heart rate monitor. Damn.

Pretty cool to see the stages too at which you hit aerobic an anaerobic as well as how much fat you are burning. Not that I'm super concerned about that, but I think will help me to improve overall as I pay attention to these things. Will someone please remind me I need to do that. Thanks.

Spin class continues to rock and we had a touch ride on Tuesday. I swear my quads are going to jump out of my skin sometimes.

Nothing but eating on Thursday and then did a 5 mile run today, 42 minutes. And it's cold as all get out here in Tri-Cities.

Ok, enuf for now. Later. B

Twas the night before VO2

2007-11-19T23:19:00.001-08:00

Catchy eh. So no workout today b/c I am doing my VO2 test tomorrow on the bike. Really curious to see results and really find out where things are at. Good time to be taking it since I am currently in spin class 2 days a week and will hopefully be able to get my heart rate zones dialed in and start paying attention to them:-)

Not sure when results will be ready, but I'm sure I'll be sharing once I have.

Time to crash. BR

Week of 11/5

2007-11-08T23:22:00.000-08:00

Monday: Run 4.5 miles before rolling my ankle. First time I can recall doing that to where it hurt that bad.

Tuesday: Spin class starts. Small class of about 6 plus the instructor. Good little group of people and it was a great workout. Izette is founder/co owner of real rehab and is the one that put the class together. We did some pretty cool drills like one legged spins varying the time, some cadence drills going up and down, and stayed in zones 1 and 2 for the most part. Not that I really know what my zone 1 and 2 are, but who cares. Great workout. And ankle only hurt a little bit.

Wednesday: bike to work. Crisp morning but good ride to work and home. Did a circuit workout as well which felt good.

Thursday: bike to work. Actually not as cold as it was the last few times I rode in. Still a bit foggy and dark when I leave. Spin class tonight was another good one. Inividual leg focus, idle ride to max spin, fast to faster to sprint, all times being varied.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday bike

2007-10-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

So even in the crappiest of weather this week, mainly yesterday, I rode. Even though I almost got taken out twice by some dumb ass drivers, I made it home soaking wet.

Tue and today were good. Crisp mornings for sure and even the afternoons were a little chilly, but sunny.

No riding tomorrow as we have an all hands APS org meeting. I think that is our initials. Advertising and Publishing Services or something like that. I'll memorize it someday.

May try and get on the road bike this weekend if the weather holds, but we'll see. Need to run too.

Got a circuit workout in tonight and felt good. Also weighed in and back in the Clydesdale division. May have to change my eating habits. Whatever.

Last week catch up.....

2007-10-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

So where did I leave off. Who knows, I sure don't. Let's just start with last week.

So I got a little gym membership at Always Running with anytime access. That'll work. Time to get back to some circuit workouts.

Left for San Fran on Thursday and had awesome weather the entire time. Col and I strolled around town, hung out at the waterfront and of course, did some shopping.

Had a great steak dinner at Mortons Steakhouse where we saw a few of the KC Chiefs. Not sure which ones, but who cares, it's the Chiefs. They were playing at Oakland and it was an ugly game so I'm glad I did not score tickets.

Mac flew in on early Saturday morning and we all just hung out. Had a nice pasta take out dinner from the hotel restaruant. Villa Florence Hotel is good stuff. Great location and nice little hotel with a decent price point.

The Nike Womens Marathon was Sunday and Col and Mac did not have to leave early since the start line was about a half a block stroll right outside the hotel.

They left and I finally got moving and went out and snapped a few photos of the start. 20,000 plus strong spread through a handful of blocks. It was crazy. Took several minutes for everyone to get rolling.

The shuttle system was a cluster f*ck so I caught the Muni-their transit bus and got down close to Golden Gate Park and then went on the run looking for the girls. Let's just say I ran about 7 miles that day looking for them.

Finally got on the course and could not catch up with them. Figured they were going to be between 430 and 5 hour time frame. I caught up and got in front of the 445 pacer but was not sure where they might be..either in front or behind so I ran some more and ended up just decided to head out to the Great Highway and head out from the finish toward mile 24 or so.

Col came by and was looking pretty darn good. Handful of minutes in front of the 430 pacer and ended up finishing like 426. Then I saw MC. She was looking pretty good herself cruising along and I ended up running in with her towards the finish.

What a great day to be running. We hung out at the beach for a little bit and then headed back to the room.

Overall good trip to San Fran. Sure I could have shared more, but I have exceeded my blogging focus time. I'm only good for so long. And I have hit "long."

Later

Oh yeah, first day back in the office and road to work. RT of about 18 miles and what an awesome day to ride. I heard the rain was coming though.

Portland Marathon

2007-10-16T20:00:00.001-07:00

Hello there. I really think I have only been gone a couple a couple weeks, but who knows. Yeah I could look back, but why. I know I did not say much:-)

Ok moving on. So last Sunday 10/7 I ran Portland. Felt it was a good time to run a marathon since my run was feeling pretty strong all the way through Ironman Canada. Coach Col and other said it might be to soon but hey, I'm feeling pretty good. Wrong answer light fighter.

4:28. Not a bad time, but 29 minutes slower than what I wanted to do. Short recap.

Didn't take off to fast and kept an eye on my avg pace and mile time. Go Garmin! Saw Futa at about mile 11 and was feeling pretty good. Nice and steady. 1/2 way at 1:53 and still feeling pretty good. Mile 17 seems like a fairly long hill. So since I was on time, I walked it. Got moving again at the bridge.

Until about mile 19 I was between the 345 and 350 pacers. 350 pacer passed me and I was slowing down significantly. Man my legs are heavy.

Mile 20, oh, there goes the 4 hour pacer. Not gonna make that sub 4 time. Oh well. Overall run was good overall and I realized that I needed more rest.

So nothing else on the calendar at the moment as far as events go. B

9/26 to now

2007-10-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so lots going on with the purchase of the house and all. Short story is found a a house, made the offer and closed quickly. Over the last week, or so I/we have painted, put in a new hot water tank, new washer/dryer and some other stuff that is not immediately coming to mind.

In between all this, I have been working, yup I have a job. Bills gotta get paid:-) And trying to get in a few runs as the taper continues.

Going to do a short run today, 4-5 miles or so easy.

So I wanted to get a quick entry in and catch up. Be back later, BR

Lake Youngs 10 mile run

2007-09-22T23:50:00.000-07:00

Alright, ready to crash but wanted to get this on here. Ran lake youngs today which is about 10 miles but b/c its a fairly challenging course, it's more like 11.5 to 12 miles. Rolly for sure.

Goal today was to keep a 830-845 pace. 833 was overall pace for the run and I was super stoked about it. Have to admit I ran it fairly hard, but think I still had a bit left in the tank to go a bit further.

Portland is a pretty flat course for the most part so I'm hoping I can keep it between 830-850 which will get me that sub 4.

Couple weeks away and feeling pretty good. B

4 mile run and biking to work

2007-09-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who don't know, I WFH aka telecommute aka work from home 2 days a week. The other 3 I am in the office. This week I pedaled in all 3 days. I get about 17 miles roundtrip each day.

I also ran 4 miles today after I got home. Something like 33 and some change. Good little run and I felt pretty good.

Time to crash.

3 weeks and counting

2007-09-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

Till I pound the pavement at Portland. Ran 6 this evening and felt pretty good. Have a good pace going till about mile 4 when my garmin died b/c it lacked charge in the battery. Oh well.

Run felt good overall. B

14 mile training run not bad

2007-09-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to run Portland after running 14 miles on Saturday in 1:58. Felt pretty good so I have signed up. Goal is to run a sub 4 hour. Best marathon time thus far is 4:14 at Cal International.

Have about 3 weeks until Portland so the taper is on:-) BR

The week in hotLanta Sept 10-14

2007-09-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

At the first Sourcing Conference put on by some of the big dogs in the industry. Driven by Leslie O'Connor, Search Wizards. All star sourcing monsters and gurus like Shally, Rob M, Jim Stroud, Glenn G, Dave Copps and many others.

What an incredible couple of days. Tips, tricks, and stuff that I can put in play when I get back in next week.

Got a couple workouts while I was away, but nothing to really write about.

Pick this up later. B

Sounders vs FC Dallas

2007-09-05T08:50:00.001-07:00

So no workout today b/c it did not happen in the a.m. And it was not happening in the p.m. b/c a group of us went to the soccer game. Playoffs for the Sounders who have been kicking butt this year. I don't really have a clue what I'm talking about, I'm just writing what I learned last night.

Never been to a professional soccer game. It was a blast. Not a lot of scoring, but Sounders out played them and had several shots on goal, but could not close any deals. It went into OT and they got lazy at the start and got scored on. Over.

Anyways, for Wednesday, I rode in today so round trip will be about 18 miles. Good to be back on the bike. I have missed the single speed. If I do anything else, I'll be back. But don't bet on it. B

A Monday Run

2007-09-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

After being lazy all week and doing no workouts since Ironman, I ran today. 4 miles. Wow, my legs are still a little heavy but overall a good run at about an 8:30 pace. Good for a back to reality run.

Not sure what will be on the events calendar for the rest of this year, but the running will continue. My run really improved this year and I'd like to continue with it. Maybe even get that sub 4 hour marathon I fell short of at Cal in Dec 06.

B

Something new

2007-09-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

So I finally tried yoga on Sunday. Not just regular yoga, hot yoga. Like I need the added heat to help me sweat my ass off. I think I like though. I look forward to trying a few sessions of regular yoga as I want to mix up my workouts and what I'm doing.

I do see myself trying it for awhile, maybe 1-2 times a week, but we'll see. I think the stretching is great, but I think I need something a little more fast pace and maybe even geared towards some strength stuff next time.

B

Aloha Friday

2007-08-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been awhile. A long while. I'm going to do a quick entry to ensure I do a thorough follow up later.

The next entry will be all about Ironman Sunday on 8/26. Team Tri-Style, made up of 5 members on the Canada IM adventure, all finished and had a great time. Be sure to come back later this weekend for a write and pics.

For now, I need to catch up some sleep still. C-ya, BR

Last half week in review

2007-06-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I continue to try to be consistent with writing in my blog, and it looks like every few days equals consistency for me.

Thursday, I did nothing. Bike to work, 17 miles round trip.

Friday, 30 minute swim in GL and then a 3 mile run. Felt good, fast run.

Saturday, 57 mile ride with Col, MC, Crampy, Stephy, and me. Good ride overall even though we got lost. Lots of rednecks in Snoho area and we got plenyt of unfriendly honks. If you are a redneck and don't like bikers, kiss my buttox!

Sunday, 9 mile run with Col. Felt strong, about 1:12.

Ok, time to go bbq. Later

First half of the week in review

2007-06-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm actually feeling pretty good that it has not been a month since my last entry. Just Sunday, only a few days. So lets review the last few days.

Monday, bike to work. Round trip I logged in 22 miles. No other Workout.

Tuesday, bike bright and early with Mr. Crampy. Met up at Lake Forest Park and headed out from there. Logged in a nice 35 miles. Up and over Juanita Hill is a tough way to start the morning for sure.

Then Col, MC, Crampy, and I swam in Greenlake. Logged in just about 30 minutes. Water was actually pretty nice and comfortable. Will definitely be trying to get back in with some consistency in preparation for that upcoming 2.4 mile swim:-)

And today, just bike to work. Logged in 17 miles total. I love riding to work. It so keeps the edgy attitude level down. That and I just love being on my bike, road or single speed.

Ok, all for now. BR

Good Morning

2007-06-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Woke up feeling fairly energetic and now needed to decide, run or bike. I ran, 6 miles. Felt pretty good overall, minor stomach cramping on the other side of the lake, but just ran through it. About 48 minutes.

Then of course back to the house for a nice cold healthy beverage and snack; coke and chex mix. I sure love working out.

BR

On vacation 5/31-6/7 on Big Island

2007-06-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

Aloha. I hate having to come back to the real world and be grown up. But it's ok as vacation was GREAT.

So for those of you who don't know, and who reads this anyways, primary reason for the trip to Kona was Hono70.3. And for those of you who came to this site while looking for blogspot.bman (this is another dude), 70.3 is a Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run). BTW, the other bman has a cool little blog, very sporty.

Anyways, the event went well. I set a new PR at 6:17 and managed not to die of heat stroke or obtain a sun burn that would make me look like Fire Marshall Bill.

The water was great, the bike was somewhat speedy, and the run was just plain painful-super hot. But overall a great race and very well run event. I would do it again. Especially if I can follow it up with about 6 days of vacation.

Did some workouts, shorties, throughout the week while we were there and spent everyday napping at the beach. We swam with the fishes, napped, and enjoyed cold beverages at our little piece of paradise.

That about sums it up. Chat at ya later, BR

Monday is good day to have off

2007-05-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

I think we should always have a 4 day work week. Woke up, ran 6 miles in about 47:29. Felt pretty good and was still amped up when I got home.

We then went on a 30 mile bike ride. Sunny day and a good day for a ride. Moderate ride to MI and bike. LOTS of people out on their bikes. Most of them morons. I'm stoked that people get on their bikes, but learn the rules of the road, pay attention and don't act like a tool. Enough said cuz I could go on for hours.

Came bike, did some bike maintenance on the good bike and now just chilling.

Hate to have to wake up and work in the morning. Mostly b/c it is supposed to be 80.

Have a good night, B

Memorial Weekend

2007-05-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I took a few days off from the blog as I spent most of the day trying to get some work things done and prepare the boat for the weekend.

Bought a few things for the boat, grocery shop, load the boat, etc. Friday was a nice day and I worked from the boat and even managed a short bike and a short run.

Saturday morning we took off on the boat and headed to Andrews Bay passing by some of the fat pads along the water then making our way inside the bay to find a good spot. Paul anchored, and I pulled up next to him(pretty good), we tied up and prepared to chill.

The weather was so awesome on Saturday that I got burnt. I also had my first open water swim of 2007. It was not far, but Piper dog and I went for a swim, from the boat to shore. Took a walk and people were looking at me like I was crazy. Then we got back in the water and swam back out to the boat.

The night got ugly. Rainy, windy and just plain ugly. Lots of drinking then crashing.

Sunday morning was not as ugly but still rainy and wet. Breakfast on the boat, chill then take off around lunch. Docked outside of Ivars on Lake Union, grabbed lunch and ate on the boat.

Then we took her in and docked. Not bad. I still get a little nervous, but we docked her pretty easy just the two of us. Getting pretty good at it.

Came back Sunday late afternoon and off to the Johnsons for a little house party for Aimee's bday. Good little party.

Another entry for my workouts in just a bit. B

Sunny and toasty morning

2007-05-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

So what did I do for Wednesday? Hmmmm. Biked to work, thought again about swimming but chose to give the boat a little scrubbing and get the dinghy pumped up. That was about it.

This morning, awesome. Woke up about 6ish and in some zombie like state, put on my sneaks and went for a run. Ran around the lake (union) which is about 6 miles and felt pretty good.

Now it's time to get on the bike, head to work and figure out how I can escape by 4pm. It's supposed to be 70 you know! And I can work from the boat.

You may hear from me later, but I sort of doubt. We'll see. B

Gloomy to Sunny

2007-05-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

The morning started out interesting. Pretty gloomy, and I was thinking rain, but it did not. And by lunch time, it was nice. And by the afternoon, it was really nice.

Started off the morning by having coffee with one of my most fav hiring managers from Expedia. She has had the luxury of taking the last few months off and is now ready to start looking for a new adventure. So we talked a little shop and also caught up on things.

Tried to swim but that didn't work out. Why you ask? Because I knew the sun was out. So I went and worked outside.

Col got off in a timely manner so we rode for a good hour out and back on the trail before it got dark. No heart rate monitor and no watch. But that's pretty standard for me. Good little ride though.

Will make another attempt at swimming this week:-)

After so many months...I'm back in action

2007-05-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hello there. So I sort of took some time off from my blog. My life has just been way to busy with work and training and lot of other excuses that are not coming to mind right now. But I'm back.

While it is Monday, the big news was last Friday.
http://www.forbes.com/prnewswire/feeds/prnewswire/2007/05/18/prnewswire200705180755PR_NEWS_B_WES_AQ_AQF037.html

I work for Atlas, a division of aQuantive (www.aquantive.com). Pretty good company and a dominant player in our market space. Overall, I think everyone is pretty excited and it seems like a good move for us as a company.

Friday was also the big bike to work day. And as some of you know, May is bike to work month. I have been riding almost everyday this month. Friday was fun b/c we had great weather and there were loads of bikers out on the streets. And of course free swag.

Sunday took the boat out for a "sunday drive" on Lake Union and Lake WA. Then stopped and put some gas in. So I have two 98 gallon tanks. I only put in 92 gallons at a cool $400. Thought I was going to fall over. Welcome to marine world:-)

What else can I say today? Ah, only a week and some change before Hono 70.3 on Big Island. OY YEAH. Training is going pretty well overall and I'm looking forward to my first open water swim w/o a wetsuit. Should be interesting.

Ok, I think this is all I have in me today. BTW, IM for today: acquisitions make the world go round.

Later

New Years week work outs

2007-01-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, nada.
Wednesday, circuit workout, spin for 15 mins.
Thursday, short run.
Friday, circuit workout.
Saturday, no workout.
Sunday, 5 mile run, 9:30 pace.

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2007

2007-01-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

Woke at an early 10am on this first day of the new year after a night of raging partying. Ok, not really, but did have some good grub and cocktails to ring in the new year.

Ran an easy 4 miles around a Greenlake trail and managed to not get rained on.

No corny new years resolutions. Just a year of better focus, training, fun, success, new adventures, and did I mention fun.

Get ready to enjoy the board, bike (add swim and run to that although not as enjoyable as the bike itself), the boat, and whatever else comes our way. BR

Week of 2/25

2006-12-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Monday, nada.
Tuesday, circuit workout, spin for 20mins.
Wednesday, walk to work (3.5 miles).
Thursday. leave for the cabin.
Friday, snowboard Mission Ridge (no need to ever go back, way small).
Saturday, snowshoe. good and deep up in Entiat.
Sunday. head back to Seattle. no workout.

Week of 12/18

2006-12-20T20:19:00.001-08:00

Monday 12/18 circuit workout.
Tuesday 3 mile run.
Wednesday, sick, no workout.
Thursday, sick, circuit workout.
Friday, xmas shopping.
Saturday, 5 mile run.
Sunday (xmas eve), snowboard stevens (good day)

2 weeks missed

2006-12-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

So lots has gone on since last post. Stuff, stuff and some other stuff. The newest is there is a PR for BR at the Cali Int'l Marathon. Best previous time was 4:35 in DC in 2005 and I got a 4:14 on Dec 3rd in Cali.

Started off really fast with Col who got a new PR of 3:44 and qaulified for Boston in April. Nice job Col. For the first 5-8 miles we were doing some sub 8's and the hanging around the 8 time frame. I held fairly strong until about the half way mark and then went down hill frome there.

I felt good starting off fast and holding it for awhile, pretty much knowing that that was a stupid thing to do, but whatever. Gives me some motivation to know that I can run faster than I think I can. So a sub 4 marathon is just around the corner. Then I quit running.

Beat my previous time which was my goal so I'm stoked.

What's gone on since 12/4. Well my legs really hurt and it was about Wednesday (12/6)when I finally went to the gym, spun for 20, efx for 20. I'm sure I did some other stuff last week, but can't recall. Lots of both stuff.

I'll try and get back on track....again. BR

MNF Seahawks vs Packers

2006-11-27T22:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a game. And what a night of weather. We bailed from work early b/c the dark clouds were sending a message that the weather was going to get crazy and it did. As we left work around 4pm, the masses were beginning to gather and stroll about in anticipation of the big game.

I drove to work today b/c it was too dang cold and icy to be riding the bike and WAY to chilly to be standing at the bus stop. Strong potential I could be driving tomorrow.

So on my drive home, I stopped at the gym on westlake and got a circut workout in. And as I left the gym, the snow/rain was coming down. I thought it would be cool to go check out the boat while it was snowing so I did. It was cool. I walked out on the dock and just kind of stood around for a few minutes. Did I mention it was cool.

Anyways, the good news is I will be taking possesion of the boat on Monday Dec 4th. WAHOO!

Support Crew for Seattle Marathon

2006-11-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

Rainy, wet and cold. It was a 2 Starbucks kind of day. The day started off early, like 6am when Mr. Crampy and MC-Beth showed up and Cols. MC and Col ran the Seattle half today and Mr. Crampy and I played support crew. But not before bman hooked up some hashbrowns, eggs, and toast.

Then off to Leschi to root folks on. I saw Kelly R, one of the girls from TriDivas and she finished strong, 1:33 and I think 4th in her age group. Then saw Tony from always running pacing a client, then Leslie pacing a client.

And then appeared Col and MC, on time and looking good. They dropped of some stuff and took off. Mr. Crampy and I chilled for a few, then when we found an opening in the crowd, got out of dodge and headed towards the finish.

Caught w/Futa DT and watched the girls finish. They looked good and MC finished 2:01 something. Pretty much on her goal time and a great job for her first ever half marathon. She trained well so we went to breakfast at Greenlake bar and grill where all she did was look at her food while the rest of us grubbed:-) Plus had Starbucks.

Congrats MC on the run and congrats to your coach for pulling out so many one liners to keep you motivated:-)

BTW, it snowed the rest of the day, yes in the city. Maybe "school" will get cancelled.

It's cold out

2006-11-25T21:57:00.000-08:00

It's cold in Tri-Cities and I mean cold. Left today and drove over the pass back to Seattle. Pass was bare and wet and only Summit West is open and had a good # of people up there today.

Got back to the house and then went for an 11 mile run. Took about 1:40 and it was chilly out. And is supposed to get colder. Could be some cold bike commutes coming my way.

Heading to bed shortly to go play support crew bright and early at the Seattle Marathon. Col and McBeth are doing the half, 7:30am start time.

Update you on performance tomorrow. B

Tri-Cities

2006-11-24T23:09:00.000-08:00

Had a good turkey day and ate way to much as usual. Good stuff. Cold, windy and rainy here in P-town. We ran about 3.5 miles down by the river. COLD!

Ventured out to the mall, spent some dough and ate all day off and on.

Watched the news and the weather is getting crazier. Lots of snow in the mountains. Heading back to seat-town by lunch on Saturday.

Workouts

2006-11-23T16:00:00.001-08:00

Monday night did EFX for about 40 minutes. Tuesday, swam for about 33 minutes. You heard me right, I was in the pool. Amazing. Thought I was going to drown after about 15 minutes.

Wednesday, nothing. Dork off at work, go out to lunch, 2 happy hours and then pack to go home for turkey day.

What am I doing today? Just got done feeding my face and watching football.

Gobble gobble.