Christmas' Plural

We are in Christmas number 2 right now with Carrie's parents in town and the kids are loving the 2nd round of gift opening. Last week, I had time off and we went up to Beech Mountain for a few days with the kids. We were hoping to have some fun in the snow, but at 5000ft elevation, all we got was a little rain and 60 degree days. One of the days, it was so warm when I went for a long run, that I was tempted to take off my shirt because I was sweating so profusely... nonetheless... We had a great time in the cabin, aptly named "Peace of Heaven" and we did some nice hiking at Grandfather Mountain. Once I load the photos, I'll link them through my Picasa Albums and Google+ account.

On the way back from the mountains, we stopped in Winston and I got to see my dear friend Andrea for the second time in a few weeks and got to see an already growing Ezra James.. what a joy! Kenny and I enjoyed several good grafts of Craggie's Antebellum Ale and stayed for a nice dinner. Wish they lived a little closer and hopeful that they just might end up in Durham...

Zimm and I were joined by Charlie for the traditional and epic Beowulf workout that we nailed down on Christmas Eve. Charlie's first attempt was a respectable sub 40 min effort as Zimm and I watched him lead out on The Grid. I hung on dear life bringing up the rear and was just happy to survive another day. Charlie was surprised at how tired I was at the end as I lay slumped in the rowing machine. Zimm broke my record of last year, but then I had to break his "new" record and went 32 mins. Exhausted and tired I barely made it back home for Eve service at All Saints.

We woke up in our own house for Christmas morning. We have been able to do this for the past 3 Christmas' but usually are headed out on the road or flying that day to see family so it was nice to just relax for a change. Braden and Eli loved opening their gifts and were so excited to share Face Time on Carrie's iPhone with their grandparents. Braden's favorite gift was his Spider-Man action figure and Eli's was the food. They both loved their new books and matching 993 New Balance shoes (which are AWESOME of course! haha).

I had to return to work this past Tuesday and Carrie's parents have started to help put together the complicated fort and swingset. With all the grandparents coming over and around the next several days we may just have the set up and done by the time the last one leaves.

As for training, it has sort of taking a back seat for now. I haven't swam in over 2 weeks and biked sporadically. I have managed a couple sessions of weights but have stayed on top of the running and am looking forward to trying to better my Tobacco Road half marathon time. My training is not quite the intensity that I'd like, but I have a lot on my plate and am preparing for a giant step forward for ActivEdge in 2012. I have the long tempo run tomorrow and will hopefully be joined by my old friend, Ted Reedy - lunch to follow... maybe Nana's Tacos? Friday looks to get me back on the bike on the trainer (assuming that the garage has been cleared from all the playset set-up). If not, weights with David Hey over lunch looks to be extremely intense (everything is with him haha). Liking the no direction randomness for now. Blood tests tomorrow to start off the Engine 2 Diet which starts on Monday, January 2nd.

Thanks for hanging with me over the Holidays and look for some great workouts to be posted starting January 2nd!

Tours Collide

Looking forward to seeing my good bud Michael Zimmerman this week as his short break for Thanksgiving nears. He was home shortly for Tyler's unprecedented repeat championship for Cardinal Gibbons this past weekend (congrats Tyler!), but our schedules didn't line up as I was in Winston-Salem visiting Andrea and her new baby Ezra James (Kenny was out of town...). Our Thanksgiving plans keep expanding as we take on more and more families and people that do not have their own immediate family to celebrate with - we are up to 22 people now at the Diaz estate! I'm excited to see them all and my brother and his wife, Lindsay, it's been too long... We also have the Duke Women's soccer game on Friday night that should be a victory sending the team to the Final Four!! So much happening and plenty to be thankful for... so neat.


As far as fitness, this week already has had a rough start with a challenging run early yesterday morning (1 mile up, 12x400m repeats btwn 1:19-1:27 with 90 secs of RBI, then 1 mile down). The weights for this week back to week 1 with a few changes:

WEEK 4


Mon (WOD): 3 sets unless noted


Incline BB press at 45 - 4 sets of 5
Jump rope/leg press SS - 50x on the rope and then together x 10 on the leg press (finished at 4 plates each side)
NG alternating pull-ups from side to side - added 35lbs x 8
Walking lunges - 10yds and back w 25lb DB's
SA DB row on the bench - 80lbs x 10 each
Abs on the decline - 10 tosses to the side, side and middle with 5kg
Arnold press at 90 deg - 50lb x 6


Wed (WOD) - HIIT Tabata Style 6x through with 2 mins rest after 3x


1. L push ups left
2. Plank
3. L push up right
4. Seal-ups
5. Jumping slam balls
6. DB step ups left
7. Dips off step
8. DB step ups right
9. KB swings
10. Leg raises in slings


Fri (WOD): 3 sets unless noted


DB bench press - x10, x8, x6, x4
Balance squats with BB on the BOSU x 10
SA alternating cable pulldowns - x 5-6 each arm
Glute/ham raises off bench on ball x 15
Tricep rope OH - x 10
TRX lunge hop x 10 each
BB SLDL - x 10
Rope climb abs on decline - x 30

Ezra James

Loving the Autumn time and the cool mornings to run in... makes this so much more enjoyable. Did 2 laps around the Wu Duke trail, 1 with Maddy and 1 without. It took all my strength to leave the watch inside the car and just run it at a casual pace during the reintroduction to running week. After Maddy had to skip out to go to work, I put the iPod on and Old Pine by Ben Howard was the 2nd song on. I really think that is the absolute perfect autumn song and I loved every minute of it. Starts slow, builds, and then finishes fast - perfect for running! I'm kinda on a Ben Howard kick right now too so that was great that he came on - I currently have 171 songs on the shuffle now and it's fun to see what might pop up next. 6 miles total for the run and a great afternoon Tabata session with Charlie. Tomorrow will be the first day in the pool since Sportsplex over 3 weeks ago... ugh. On the way home, my good friend David (Kenny) sent me a text with the picture of their newest addition - Ezra James Olson. My college best friend, and his wife, Andrea was a trooper throughout as she pushed a 9lb baby into this world at 2:15pm. So happy for them both... another life, another miracle from Our Creator. Blessed.