i've had several people that follow this blog ask about couch to 5k programs.
i used the "aggressive" couch to 5k program at beginnertriathlete.com that gets you there in 4 months. they also have a "conservative" program that takes 7 months.
my wife is using a program at coolrunning.com that she likes because there is a podcast associated with it that tells you when to start running and when to stop.
there are also plenty of other couch to 5k programs out there. if the ones my wife and i used don't work for you for whatever reason, just find one that will :)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
tri libre!
so a week from saturday i'm going to "compete" in my first ever sprint triathlon. around sept. of last year my brother challenged me to do a sprint triathlon and i accepted the challenge. today i've decided to record a few things i've learned along the way:
1. the trip of 1000 miles (or, more specifically, 16 miles) begins with one step.
2. when talking about triathlons, the term "sprint" sounds more impressive than it is. all it really means is you are doing half an olympic length triathlon. (0.5 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run).
3. when learning to swim, make sure to kick your legs hard.
4. when starting from ground 0, triathlons aren't cheap even when you try to go cheap:
- $40 for running shoes (you NEED good running shoes)
- $170 for a new bike
- $10 for bike helmet
- $10 for bike gloves (may not be needed. my hands kept going numb so i thought i'd try some.)
- $24/month for a gym membership (only needed for access to a pool with swim lanes)
- $75 registration fee for the actual triathlon (but hey, you get a t-shirt!)
- $100 for a trisuit
- ~$25 for sports nutrition
- $40 doctor fee to be told your foot pain is plantar fasciitis (but hey, the dr. DID print out the wikipedia article for me!)
Total: ~$700
5. if you decide to not use a trisuit, consider what you are going to do between the swim and bike portion of the race. you are standing there in your swimsuit ready to get on your bike. there are no changing rooms. your choices are to a) get naked in public and put on your shorts or b) buy an expensive trisuit that will dry quickly and can be used for both swimming and biking.
i decided not to get naked and to buy the trisuit. it looks great if i'm going for a mexican wrestler motif.
6. triathlons have old, fat guy divisions (more p.c. termed "senior clydesdale" division). anyone over 39 is "senior" and any man over 200 lbs is "clydesdale".
7. the big women division is called "athena" since describing a woman in terms of large farm animals is apparently pejorative.
8. women are more supportive than men. most common response i hear from women when they hear about my triathlon training are a variation of "you are an inspiration". most common response i hear from men: "can i watch? i've never seen a heart attack before".
i'm sure there are more things i've learned but that's all i can think of for now. wish me luck!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
April Fools!
After getting fooled twice yesterday before noon even hit, I decided it was time for me to play my own April Fool's joke on my friends. It wasn't an original prank, in fact I'm pretty sure I've played this joke multiple times in years past. But this was the first time I've done it on facebook - and let me tell you, the response was hilarious.
I put my FB status as: "Liz Kenney Kirkby w00ty! baby #6 on the way! coming in November :) wish us luck!!!" Of course I got several "grats" and other well wishes. But there were a few doubters as well, citing April 1 as a day to be skeptical. I let it play out all day to see how far it would go.
The best reaction was definitely from our oldest daughter Brianne. In the end she was rather embarrassed for falling so hard for a joke, so I hope I dont make it worse by posting here. But I thought it was so sweet for her to be so excited for another baby in our family - it really touched me. She truly is a wonderful daughter - we couldnt have asked for a better firstborn.
After seeing my FB status she made the "announcement" on her own page: "Brianne Kirkby is getting a new baby brother/sister! YAY!!!" Several friends gave her grats too and she commented on how excited she was.
Finally Brian intervened:
Brian Kirkby at 4:07pm April 1
brianne, what day is today?
Brianne Kirkby at 4:10pm April 1
April Fools day, but i really think mom wouldnt lie about that. If she did then i am going to be mad at her.
So of course I had to make my own comment:
Liz Kenney Kirkby at 4:12pm April 1
yes, and by the way...i'll be moving the baby's nursery in to your room down stairs to make room for my office upstairs. i hope you don't mind taking care of the baby in the night. You're such a good big sister!
to which her only reply was:
Brianne Kirkby at 4:14pm April 1
wait. grrrrrrrrr! Where will maegann sleep?
the conversation continues:
Liz Kenney Kirkby at 4:25pm April 1
with you still. and since hannah has been wanting to go back to the downstairs room again we'll do that too. but then jackson will be by himself, so we'll just have to move the bunkbeds down and they can both be down there. so ya....party time! now, where should i put savannah? oh i know...IN YOUR ROOM!!!1!!
Brianne Kirkby at 4:27pm April 1
WAIT! SO I HAVE TO SHARE MY ROOM WITH ALL 3 OF MY SISTERS!?!?!?! that is the OPISITE of what i wanted!!!!!
Liz Kenney Kirkby at 4:29pm April 1
no no no.... jackson too. and dont forget the new baby as well :)
Brianne Kirkby at 4:30pm April 1
ugh whatever
she then changes her own FB status to "Brianne Kirkby ugh. JUST KIDDING! I DONT KNOW IF I AM GETTING A NEW SIBLING! MY MOM IS A LIAR! i am mad now."
She was actually very good natured about it. I am proud of her for not loosing it and being truly mad at me.
About an hour later I got a call from my father-in-law. "So, is it a prank or not?" I told him the truth and he was very disappointed. He said he had sent out emails to all his friends proclaiming the news of a new grandchild on the way. I told him he had better send out a retraction.
Thanks everyone for being so supportive of the possibility of us being new parents again. Hopefully someday soon we will have a REAL announcement. But don't hold your breath :)
I put my FB status as: "Liz Kenney Kirkby w00ty! baby #6 on the way! coming in November :) wish us luck!!!" Of course I got several "grats" and other well wishes. But there were a few doubters as well, citing April 1 as a day to be skeptical. I let it play out all day to see how far it would go.
The best reaction was definitely from our oldest daughter Brianne. In the end she was rather embarrassed for falling so hard for a joke, so I hope I dont make it worse by posting here. But I thought it was so sweet for her to be so excited for another baby in our family - it really touched me. She truly is a wonderful daughter - we couldnt have asked for a better firstborn.
After seeing my FB status she made the "announcement" on her own page: "Brianne Kirkby is getting a new baby brother/sister! YAY!!!" Several friends gave her grats too and she commented on how excited she was.
Finally Brian intervened:
Brian Kirkby at 4:07pm April 1
brianne, what day is today?
Brianne Kirkby at 4:10pm April 1
April Fools day, but i really think mom wouldnt lie about that. If she did then i am going to be mad at her.
So of course I had to make my own comment:
Liz Kenney Kirkby at 4:12pm April 1
yes, and by the way...i'll be moving the baby's nursery in to your room down stairs to make room for my office upstairs. i hope you don't mind taking care of the baby in the night. You're such a good big sister!
to which her only reply was:
Brianne Kirkby at 4:14pm April 1
wait. grrrrrrrrr! Where will maegann sleep?
the conversation continues:
Liz Kenney Kirkby at 4:25pm April 1
with you still. and since hannah has been wanting to go back to the downstairs room again we'll do that too. but then jackson will be by himself, so we'll just have to move the bunkbeds down and they can both be down there. so ya....party time! now, where should i put savannah? oh i know...IN YOUR ROOM!!!1!!
Brianne Kirkby at 4:27pm April 1
WAIT! SO I HAVE TO SHARE MY ROOM WITH ALL 3 OF MY SISTERS!?!?!?! that is the OPISITE of what i wanted!!!!!
Liz Kenney Kirkby at 4:29pm April 1
no no no.... jackson too. and dont forget the new baby as well :)
Brianne Kirkby at 4:30pm April 1
ugh whatever
she then changes her own FB status to "Brianne Kirkby ugh. JUST KIDDING! I DONT KNOW IF I AM GETTING A NEW SIBLING! MY MOM IS A LIAR! i am mad now."
She was actually very good natured about it. I am proud of her for not loosing it and being truly mad at me.
About an hour later I got a call from my father-in-law. "So, is it a prank or not?" I told him the truth and he was very disappointed. He said he had sent out emails to all his friends proclaiming the news of a new grandchild on the way. I told him he had better send out a retraction.
Thanks everyone for being so supportive of the possibility of us being new parents again. Hopefully someday soon we will have a REAL announcement. But don't hold your breath :)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
drive-by media... UPDATED
this news piece irritates me.
first, the headline blares "Protesters angry about Obama's plan to help economy" which gives the impression that the people at this rally were a bunch of angry malcontents.
then the last line of the hit piece states:
"Most people at the capitol said they were at a loss about exactly what to do about the current crisis. Many said they simply were frustrated and afraid."
which furthers the idea that these were people just scared about the current economic situation and didn't really know where to direct their angst.
noone likes a malcontent who has no suggestions for how to make things better, and the "reporting" in this piece seems to play off that general feeling.
you are left with an impression that these people are a fringe group who just want to complain because they don't like president obama.
the problem is, i was there at that demonstration and i got a completely different feel than what is presented in that hit piece.
i was there for over an hour and i engaged in conversation with many of the people at the rally. i heard plenty of great ideas from the crowd about what should be done about our current economic crisis. the applause lines from the speakers all centered around having people, businesses and governments take personal responsibility for the mistakes they made and buckling down to pay the piper instead of begging for handouts. much like what we all have to do in our personal lives to show fiscal responsibility.
what most people seemed to be upset with was the fact that the administration is using the current fear of the economic crisis to allow the congress to fund all of the pet projects that the people have been rejecting for the past 50 years. you actually hear people justify the outlandish spending by saying "all spending is stimulous" which is like saying if your kids are hungry you should go buy them a nintendo. it's ridiculous on it's face, but the people are going for it because they are scared about potentially insolvent banks and are therefore willing to go into deep debt to assuage that fear.
and the obama administration and congress are all too happy to take advantage.
of course the ksl reporter wouldn't know about these viewpoints or the applause lines of the speakers because he left 5 minutes after the first speaker started speaking and didn't even stay to hear the 4 state representatives who offered remarks afterward.
he showed up for a few minutes, asked a few questions of a few people and then skedaddled out of there like he was late for his afternoon latte.
i was witness to an incident of what rush limbaugh refers to as "drive-by media". this reporter clearly had his own narrative about this demonstration and went there to get the video and sound bytes he could craft to fit that narrative and then left.
one thing that really struck me about the demonstrators was how diverse they seemed to be. a range of socio-economic classes, races and political ideology were represented. the organizer even commented at the end about how he understood that many of the demonstrators had various political views, but that we were united on this one issue. that was certainly the impression that i had from talking to people as well.
another thing that struck me about the demonstration was how deeply grassroots it was. these "tea-party" demonstrations started last week within several cities across the nation with attendance anywhere from 100 to 1000 people depending on the city.
i read several leftists trying to dismiss these demonstrations as being heavily funded by corporate interests in an effort to downplay the grassroots nature of them.
i can tell you if this demonstration had been "heavily funded" by anyone, we would have had a much larger turnout. as it happens, i heard about the demonstration last sunday by good ole fashioned word-of-mouth when a distant relative of my brother's wife told me about it in my brother's kitchen.
i went around the demonstration asking people where they had heard about it and everyone said they had heard about it from someone else. i asked if there was an email list i could get on to receive further notices and the response was that there was no email list, just people talking to people.
you can't get more grassroots than that.
in any case, the turnout was much larger than i expected (i half expected there to be 5, maybe 10 people show up) but i wanted to go anyway in hopes that this could be the start of a snowball that would get bigger and bigger. it has to start somewhere and i was glad to help start it.
next friday there is a "we surround them" demonstration organized by listeners to glenn beck's radio show. i don't listen to glenn beck, but i understand, from talking with people who do, that it will basically be about the same thing the tea party was about. i'm sure that event will be greater attended if anyone is interested (i'll be there).
UPDATE: here is an example of a real reporter getting the story. notice he has quotes from all the state reps that were there (i.e. he stayed for the whole thing instead of just driving by).
UPDATE2: after watching the video (instead of just reading the story) i notice the print report is slightly different than the video report. in particular in that last line where they claim the demonstrators were "afraid". the reporter didn't characterize that in the video report at all. instead he said "angry and frustrated".
knowing that editors usually write the headlines, it wouldn't surprise me if the anti-demonstration bias was slipped into the report, not by the reporter, but by an activist editor, so i might be being too harsh on the reporter.
but it remains true that he showed up briefly and bailed out well before the whole story could be aquired.
first, the headline blares "Protesters angry about Obama's plan to help economy" which gives the impression that the people at this rally were a bunch of angry malcontents.
then the last line of the hit piece states:
"Most people at the capitol said they were at a loss about exactly what to do about the current crisis. Many said they simply were frustrated and afraid."
which furthers the idea that these were people just scared about the current economic situation and didn't really know where to direct their angst.
noone likes a malcontent who has no suggestions for how to make things better, and the "reporting" in this piece seems to play off that general feeling.
you are left with an impression that these people are a fringe group who just want to complain because they don't like president obama.
the problem is, i was there at that demonstration and i got a completely different feel than what is presented in that hit piece.
i was there for over an hour and i engaged in conversation with many of the people at the rally. i heard plenty of great ideas from the crowd about what should be done about our current economic crisis. the applause lines from the speakers all centered around having people, businesses and governments take personal responsibility for the mistakes they made and buckling down to pay the piper instead of begging for handouts. much like what we all have to do in our personal lives to show fiscal responsibility.
what most people seemed to be upset with was the fact that the administration is using the current fear of the economic crisis to allow the congress to fund all of the pet projects that the people have been rejecting for the past 50 years. you actually hear people justify the outlandish spending by saying "all spending is stimulous" which is like saying if your kids are hungry you should go buy them a nintendo. it's ridiculous on it's face, but the people are going for it because they are scared about potentially insolvent banks and are therefore willing to go into deep debt to assuage that fear.
and the obama administration and congress are all too happy to take advantage.
of course the ksl reporter wouldn't know about these viewpoints or the applause lines of the speakers because he left 5 minutes after the first speaker started speaking and didn't even stay to hear the 4 state representatives who offered remarks afterward.
he showed up for a few minutes, asked a few questions of a few people and then skedaddled out of there like he was late for his afternoon latte.
i was witness to an incident of what rush limbaugh refers to as "drive-by media". this reporter clearly had his own narrative about this demonstration and went there to get the video and sound bytes he could craft to fit that narrative and then left.
one thing that really struck me about the demonstrators was how diverse they seemed to be. a range of socio-economic classes, races and political ideology were represented. the organizer even commented at the end about how he understood that many of the demonstrators had various political views, but that we were united on this one issue. that was certainly the impression that i had from talking to people as well.
another thing that struck me about the demonstration was how deeply grassroots it was. these "tea-party" demonstrations started last week within several cities across the nation with attendance anywhere from 100 to 1000 people depending on the city.
i read several leftists trying to dismiss these demonstrations as being heavily funded by corporate interests in an effort to downplay the grassroots nature of them.
i can tell you if this demonstration had been "heavily funded" by anyone, we would have had a much larger turnout. as it happens, i heard about the demonstration last sunday by good ole fashioned word-of-mouth when a distant relative of my brother's wife told me about it in my brother's kitchen.
i went around the demonstration asking people where they had heard about it and everyone said they had heard about it from someone else. i asked if there was an email list i could get on to receive further notices and the response was that there was no email list, just people talking to people.
you can't get more grassroots than that.
in any case, the turnout was much larger than i expected (i half expected there to be 5, maybe 10 people show up) but i wanted to go anyway in hopes that this could be the start of a snowball that would get bigger and bigger. it has to start somewhere and i was glad to help start it.
next friday there is a "we surround them" demonstration organized by listeners to glenn beck's radio show. i don't listen to glenn beck, but i understand, from talking with people who do, that it will basically be about the same thing the tea party was about. i'm sure that event will be greater attended if anyone is interested (i'll be there).
UPDATE: here is an example of a real reporter getting the story. notice he has quotes from all the state reps that were there (i.e. he stayed for the whole thing instead of just driving by).
UPDATE2: after watching the video (instead of just reading the story) i notice the print report is slightly different than the video report. in particular in that last line where they claim the demonstrators were "afraid". the reporter didn't characterize that in the video report at all. instead he said "angry and frustrated".
knowing that editors usually write the headlines, it wouldn't surprise me if the anti-demonstration bias was slipped into the report, not by the reporter, but by an activist editor, so i might be being too harsh on the reporter.
but it remains true that he showed up briefly and bailed out well before the whole story could be aquired.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
looking for a bike
brian here. i am looking for a decent bike for a project i am working on (to be fully announced later). i am also working on a limited budget (esp. since the taxman is not gonna be nice to us for this past year). i prefer a road bike, but i'd be willing to go with a mountain bike if that's what's available. if anyone who reads this knows of any bikes that are up for sale cheap. please let me know in comments or at bkirkby@kirkby.org.
thanks!
thanks!
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