Chris Hammondhttp://www.chrishammond.comRSS Feed for Chris Hammond120Mile 1 downhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1013/Mile-1-downSo 2008, the Year of the Hobby, is also the year of the fitness! Goal: Run 1 mile, consecutively, by the end of January. 2 miles in February, building up to 12 by the end of the year..... Tonight I went to the YMCA for the first time (to our local one rather than Chesterfield to play racquetball). I ran around the track. I ran 1/3rd a mile, walked 1/6th, ran 1/6th, walked 1/6th, ran 1/6th. Walked 1/9th, ran 1/18th. Total running 13/18ths of a mile. Tomorrow, repeat the...Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:42:00 GMTf72204d0-58b8-4266-8645-2eb69f582fb5Fitness update for 1-15-2008https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1015/Fitness-update-for-1152008Well, after the previous two days of running (I didn't blog about running around the block on Sunday) my body was sore today! Mainly my legs, but a little bit everywhere. Tonight after work I headed up to the YMCA and made my way around the track. As best I can remember I ran the following (all in 1/18ths of a mile Run 7 Walk 2 Run 3 Walk 2 Run 4 Walk 4 Run 3 Walk 3 Run 3 Walk 3 Run 2 Walk 4 40 laps 2.22 miles total 1.22 miles running 1.0 miles walking I'll go again tomorrow after class. I think tomorrow I will take a swim suit and hit the hot tub after my...Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:39:00 GMTf267d10d-17d9-44f7-aac3-777640181addFitness update 1-16-2008https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1018/Fitness-update-1162008After class tonight I went to the YMCA again to run. Natalie came up as well and worked on a treadmill while I was on the track. I went 46 laps around the 18th mile track, so that ends up being 2.55 miles. 7 Run 3 Walk 3 Run 3 Walk 3 Run 6 Walk 3 Run 3 Walk 3 Run 6 Walk 3 Run 3 Walk Another 1.22 miles running 1.33 miles walking I weighed in after my run at...Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:42:00 GMT46d2d86f-623d-445f-abf9-28b478bb48b6No Fitness on Thursday!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1021/No-Fitness-on-ThursdayI had intentions of going to the Y after I got home from work, I really did! I wanted to try out the new Forerunner. No luck though. I got home and slept for 3 hours. That is why it is 2am and I'm still up.... Though I am getting some good work done on my DotNetNuke to CommunityServer...Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:02:00 GMT1127ff28-33ac-4e2f-b7d8-08912e344f3dFitness Fridayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1022/Fitness-FridayWell, since I fell asleep Thursday night and didn't go run I felt I must punish myself on Friday and run, EARLY. I woke up just after 6am and went to the YMCA for 30 minutes of running. I'm still trying to figure out all the software for my new Garmin Forerunner 305. It was easy to use and tracked a lot of data, with some cool graphs, but I need to figure out how I can use that data on a DotNetNuke module for my new website which I hope to finish up today! Anyways, I went 40 laps Friday morning so that is another 2.22 miles, with at least 1.0 mile of running. I'm not sure if I'm going to run today or not. I'll be working on my website and hopefully starting to work on the Insteon hardware I got this week to automate the...Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:43:00 GMT156803f4-5a08-4452-91e7-bf1fc13496b1Saturday afternoon Trackhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1024/Saturday-afternoon-Track47 Laps at the YMCA today (2.61 miles). I also remembered to use my heart rate monitor for the Garmin Forerunner 305 today, I just need to figure out what it means. I'd post my max heart rate but it would probably freak my mother out! SCCA Banquet tonight and then a road trip with Nick to Chicago tomorrow to pickup a...Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:36:00 GMTa2f1f897-2bd8-4f0e-b645-33573d956629The Victory Mile https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1026/The-Victory-MileGoal #1 down, 1 complete mile run! And I did it with over a week left in the month! I successfully ran a complete mile tonight, for the first time in almost 13 years. It feels great! I set a goal of running 1 complete mile this month, 2 miles in February, 3 in March, etc. After the St. Louis DotNetNuke User's Group meeting tonight I came home. I needed to run after breaking down with three pieces of pizza at the meeting. I'll run again tomorrow, not yet sure if I'll do another complete mile or if I'll break it up more. I guess now that I've done 1 mile I should keep doing...Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:09:00 GMTfa390c90-f2cd-4ca7-9916-d2a96e455a87Tuesday is a good dayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1028/Tuesday-is-a-good-dayI went to the YMCA again this evening and did some running. I ran another complete mile again this evening! Lots of work to do tonight so I'll keep this short. It looks like I won't have the conversion done tonight as I don't have time to work on a new skin for the DNN site...Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:57:00 GMT56114a87-aa7f-4d54-98e3-fb698098cdcaWednesday of Fitness Update, shorter faster burstshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1035/Wednesday-of-Fitness-Update-shorter-faster-burstsIt looks like I forgot to post about my running for Wednesday, now that it is Thursday morning I'm officially a day late for posting the data! Lucky for me my Garmin Forerunner 305 keeps track of all of that for me so I don't have to worry about forgetting how much I ran! Tonight, according to the Garmin I ran/walked 2.5 miles. Unlike the past two days I did not run a complete mile in on spurt, tonight I ran harder for shorter amounts of time, still running 19 laps (18 laps to a mile at the YMCA). The funny thing about the results from running tonight, the 2.5 measuremant from the Garmin was for 45 laps, which based on 18 laps/mile was also 2.5 miles, I'll have to go back and look at the data and see if the Garmin has become more accurate over the past few days! Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:27:03 GMT2f919e7b-defc-4c9d-872f-95886fa2019fLazy Thursdayshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1036/Lazy-ThursdaysWell apparently for exercise my lazy day is Thursday! I came home this evening with no motivation to go and run at the YMCA. I crashed on the couch with Natalie for a few hours and finally got up to move around a little. I need to eat dinner and do some computer things tonight. One thing I would like to do is provide a full write up of the process used to convert from CommunityServer to DotNetNuke. I'll see if I can't do that! I'm also going to upgrade my Samsung Blackjack to Windows Mobile 6 tonight. Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:24:35 GMT4e4a0804-52ff-4415-b5a1-8d2f69e88bb4Friday Fitnesshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1038/Friday-FitnessNatalie dragged me to the YMCA this evening. I ran a complete mile, plus 1 lap (1/18th mile laps), then walked for a while. In between walking I believe I ran another 1/2 mile, so tonight was the longest distance I've run since I started. I also went for 40 minutes this evening, up from my usual 30 minutes. Tomorrow I'll shoot for another 40 minutes and hopefully start doing some other workout things at the Y besides just running. I didn't get a chance to do anything with my "software posts" today, but I will do that this weekend, discussing the conversion steps from CommunityServer to DotNetNuke, and explaining all the software that I'm using on the site now! Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:37:09 GMTf0dc5889-67da-4830-a0dc-77085b45b9bdSunday, Rundayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1043/Sunday-RundayAn afternoon trip to the YMCA with my beautiful wife and her sister resulted in the longest distance I've ran/walked since I started this fitness miracle two weeks ago (from today to be exact). In 40 minutes at the Y I ran/walked 3.4 miles, running roughly 1.83 of those miles, I ended up doing 64 laps in 40 minutes and 15 or so seconds. After I put a bit more time into my Flickr module I think I'm going to take some time and write a module that will import the XML from my Garmin Forerunner 305 and keep track of my running vs walking time/distance here on the website. Like my post yesterday said, one project always leads to at least another, if not more. Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:09:14 GMT3e84716f-079e-46e0-942e-934c7bb52ff3Monday's Exercisehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1046/Mondays-ExerciseNatalie and I went to the YMCA again last night. I must say, my legs burned like they haven't burned before, I don't think it was because of running last night too much, but probably a result from the longer distance I did on Sunday. Monday night I ran/walked 2.4...Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:23:54 GMT893f9e53-a9be-4bca-98f3-fa28efd90d05No running on Tuesdayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1047/No-running-on-TuesdaySo Tuesday was the three year anniversary of our first date. We went to the same restaurant we did three years ago (Applebees in Ballwin). So there was no running on Tuesday. We had a good evening, ran to the mall afterwords and looked for some North Face deals at Macys, but found out the Chesterfield Mall Macys doesn't carry North Face! After dinner and watching American Idol Natalie went to bed and I got to working. I put together the new skin for the fraternity website. It's not finished yet, but looks better than it has in a while. www.alphadeltazeta.org It's Wednesday now, and that means the office is going running at Lunch. Currently it's 17 degrees out, so I'm really not looking forward to going on a run in the cold, but if I do I get free lunch! Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:22:43 GMTd72cf4ad-b79d-4af2-bd74-e712d35a4247Lunchtime funhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1048/Lunchtime-funSo, even though it was below freezing at lunch today we went up to Kirkwood Middle School and ran around the track! This was the first real exposure the Garmin Forerunner 305 has had to a real GPS run. If it is accurate the track at KMS is 1/5th of a mile. ran one mile and walked 1.2 miles, though not all at the same time! We then headed to Tropical Smoothie Cafe (my FAVORITE restaurant) it was excellent as usual. I eat there 4-5 times a week, sometimes more.... Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:58:38 GMT5f582759-4dae-403f-b019-e2fc1def4a5fSuperbowl Sundayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1054/Superbowl-SundayWell it's 12:38AM on Superbowl Sunday. In less than 10 hours I'm supposed to be running a makeshift 5k. Why am I not in bed? I can't sleep! I went to bed around 9pm, I think I slept for 30 minutes, and have been up since then!Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:34:03 GMTbfa629dc-769f-4b77-ab1d-b95e7d02b886Superbowl 5khttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1055/Superbowl-5kThe first annual www.runwithlynn.com Superbowl 5k was held this morning. Of course I used my Garmin Forerunner 305, and it returned some great results! I've uploaded the results to Motionbased.com, and you can check out all the information here: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4902982 I'm really not sure how it knows the Windspeed! I'll have to figure that out. Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:51:34 GMT20764543-2c4b-42ae-821e-23e0efd27459Fitness Mondayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1057/Fitness-MondayWell, after last week's poor performance running (only ran 3 days) Natalie and I went to the YMCA tonight. I ran/walked 2.6 miles this evening, my heart rate peaking at 182 when I was sprinting around the track trying to catch up to Natalie. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:21:15 GMT6c447c59-6e36-48c1-9253-021ee99ac9eeFitness Tuesdayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1060/Fitness-TuesdayTuesday run/walk, 1.9miles. I had some cramping issues, probably related to drinking a soda after I got home from work. My mistake!Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:56:14 GMT40dba4e3-326f-4050-b47f-dab1ebe82261High Blood Pressurehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1061/High-Blood-PressureWho's got High Blood Pressure? Not me! I went to the doctor this morning for a checkup and has my blood pressure taken, 3 times. 112/80, 112/80, 108/80 No high blood pressure here! After that Natalie and I went out to breakfast and then I went and picked up the Z06. The window tint looks great, and the Hoosier tires that showed up today are HUGE! :) Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:55:40 GMT2c0a9844-995c-4261-b885-086c52e2419eFitness Wednesday for February 6thhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1062/Fitness-Wednesday-for-February-6thTonight at the YMCA I ran/walked 3.3 miles. I did run 2 miles, which means I walked 1.3, though it was spaced apart. Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:31:33 GMT98913710-36a8-4eb3-bd9d-0383ff836c84Fitness Fridayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1066/Fitness-FridayWent to the YMCA tonight, ran further than I have previously, also ran my fastest mile, probably ever in my life, in roughly 9:10. Total for the evening I went 3.4 miles. When I got home I weighed myself and weighed in at my 2008 low of 254lbs. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:52:06 GMTc86f9d34-4d29-468c-a3ab-7707ae46837dFitness Saturday forget thathttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1069/Fitness-Saturday-forget-thatI went down to the park today to rollerblade some. I went 1/2 mile then turned around! It was DAMN cold out. 55 degrees apparently, but I swear that 20mph wind made it feel like it was below freezing, and considering I was in a long sleeve t-shirt and shorts it was too darn cold for...Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:21:56 GMT2f956f05-6250-4991-95f4-567dd7ac2b28Running Wednesdayshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1075/Running-WednesdaysSo for lunch today we headed to KMS to run some laps around the track. I ran for 33:14 with a distance of 2.65 miles. You can see some of the data in Motionbased.Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:56:06 GMTab70f33d-c3ae-475c-b172-d5d0cb4dc52cA week off?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1084/A-week-offSomehow not running Thursday and Friday of last week has turned into not running for a full week? Hopefully I'll be able to motivate myself to go to the gym tomorrow night after loading the car on the trailer. Doubtful though, so I'll be sure to make myself take my shoes and Forerunner to Georgia with me so I can run while I'm in a warm climate!Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:25:58 GMT137c6555-da6f-475c-93d0-6844a37b277aRunning Pedometers and Foot Pods, Alternatives to Nike+https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1016/Running-Pedometers-and-Foot-Pods-Alternatives-toSo, typing in my running numbers earlier today I really started thinking I need to get some sort of tracking device for my new found activity. I've found quite a few options. 1. Nike+ I'm not going there, I will NOT buy an IPod 2. Garmin Forerunner 50, this might actually work! Best Buy carries it, but I need to figure out if one of the GPS watches might work with a foot pod as well. I would like the GPS functionality in a watch for when the weather does start to get better. 3. Garmin has a few other products, mainly the Garmin Forerunner 305 and the Foot Pod for the 305, I think option 3 is the one I will go with. With my Amazon Prime account i can get it all shipped here overnight for less than most of the retails stores carry just the watch...Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:58:00 GMTc44c27d0-cbe3-4b45-b160-cdec19777e84Back on the wagonhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1099/Back-on-the-wagonSo I finally got my lazy ass back out and exercising again! I also got up to 20.8mph! Unfortunately that wasn't running, I was on my inline skates (K2 Radical 100s). I've had some problems with my Radical 100s which has caused me to not skate on them but I tried to come up with a fix for the issue today. The issue is the way the right boot strap presses against my ankle bone, it's one of the most excruciating pains ever, but other than that I love the skates! Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:58:11 GMTd86513fc-b7fd-49d2-9dd3-66352dcffd4cSnow in St. Louishttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1103/Snow-in-St-LouisSo when I got up this morning I was disappointed to find that it hadn't snowed much over night. Lucky for me I stayed home though, by 4pm this afternoon we had 10+ inches on the ground! I spent about 45 minutes outside shoveling the driveway. I didn't do it all, but enough that I think I can get both cars in and out, and made room if the neighbors need to park at the end of the driveway.Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:56:57 GMT340481d5-cc83-4210-b189-f2f475b83c03On the road againhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1104/On-the-road-again3 weeks since I last ran and Natalie and I finally made it back to the YMCA tonight. I went a distance of 2.6 miles, I believe roughly 50/50 walk/run. According to the Garmin Forerunner 305 that makes for 442 calories. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:21:19 GMT8dd89c1a-95b9-4395-a74c-3dba91e81f79Exercise on Friday, blog on Saturdayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1107/Exercise-on-Friday-blog-on-SaturdaySo I forgot to blog after I went to the gym last night. It was a lazy night, but I went. Total: 2.05 miles, only 12 labs running (18 laps/mile). I walked a lot last night. Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:48:23 GMTba1b1d29-6564-4c9a-ba1d-8534ea945294Fitness on a Mondayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1111/Fitness-on-a-MondaySo I came home this evening after class and motivated myself to go to the Y. I ended up spending 31 minutes on the track, 2.55 Miles at a pace of 12:09. I peaked my heart rate at 186 and my fastest pace was 7:14, though I'm doubt that pace was held for very long :) Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:09:05 GMT6ae4a898-4c4f-4bc2-a092-2c27889de75aI'm not sure why we run?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1116/Im-not-sure-why-we-runI just haven't been able to motivate myself to run lately. Luckily Natalie forced me to go to the Y tonight and exercise for a bit. It will probably be the last time for the week as I don't figure we'll do much running in Rolla this weekend. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:09:40 GMT11edb583-4206-4e35-b523-f0997f3497c2Fitness Results from Wednesdayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1117/Fitness-Results-from-WednesdayJust pulling the data off my Forerunner 305 from the trip to the YMCA yesterday. Total distance 2.38 miles, pace 12:52, calories 396. Interesting as that is the same number of calories from Monday night with a shorter distance, slower pace and less time.... Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:49:42 GMTf4425dc9-cced-4276-8be5-2b9e33a5fab4Dropping weighthttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1157/Dropping-weightSo I've slowly been dropping weight the past month or so. This morning I hit 250lbs, for the first time in over a year, and really the first legit time in probably 3-4 years. Last year I hit 249 but that was after being sick for 3-4 days. I doubt I'll be under 250 tomorrow morning, I feel like I ate too much today, but hopefully by this time next week I'm a few pounds under 250. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:26:57 GMT2d635566-359f-4a1d-998a-bb6a01dc5a5dSoftball win, and I broke 250lbs.https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1158/Softball-win-and-I-broke-250lbsTonight we had our first softball game for work. We won! We played in a men's league in 2006 and got slaughtered, lost every game. This year we're in a co-ed league and we pulled out our first win as Engage Software, great times! After the game I came home and showered, I haven't eaten dinner yet, but I went ahead and weighed myself. 249.5 lbs! First time I'm below 250lbs in I don't know how long. I did hit 249 last year, but like I said, that doesn't count because I wasn't keeping any food down that week because I was sick. Now I just need to keep it up. If I hit 235 this summer I'm jumping out of an airplane. Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:51:36 GMTb0113c0a-8f7e-4b0b-8965-1e2ea7691f1bK2 Radical Pro Men 2008https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1164/K2-Radical-Pro-Men-2008So it is getting to be that time, the weather is beautiful (well, minus the rain today) and I need to get outside and start exercising more. Last year I bought a pair of K2 Radical 100s, but after a while they started rubbing the bone on my ankle something fierce, to the point I couldn't skate a half mile without pain. Well it's 2008, and I'm considering selling my Radical 100s and upgrading to the 2008 K2 Radical Pro. IMHO the Pro has a better looking boot, and also has a different wheel setup than the 100s. The two rear wheels are 110mm and the fronts 100mm, for a hi-lo setup. I'll probably put my 2007 Radical 100s on Craigslist this week to see if there is any local interest, and if not I'll put them up on Ebay this coming weekend. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:46:59 GMT67a3a6f5-1d00-45aa-bcd0-af095adc6230Bone spur?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1165/Bone-spurI'm starting to think that perhaps it's not my skates that are the problem, but possibly my bones? I think I might have a bone spur. I went to Creve Couer Park tonight to skate after work, it was painful yet again, no matter what I did with my skates it hurt. I went 5 miles, 1 loop around the outer loop and back and forth from the lakehouse to the loop. Hopefully I can go again tomorrow, though I think I'm going to look into getting a dr's appointment setup to see about my foot. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:00:53 GMT4c584de0-a065-4031-81ba-30e313178359Skating at Creve Couer Lakehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1166/Skating-at-Creve-Couer-LakeSo most of my friends seem to think that running is healthier than inline skating, but I'm not sure the numbers, at least for me, add up to that. I went to Creve Couer Lake tonight and did another workout from the Lakehouse, around the outer loop back to the lake house. I skated for 25:31, with a brief stop to adjust my skate to try and avoid my ankle pain. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:41:41 GMTe0143feb-7bc8-4254-b0de-c8c13c7ae32aAnother evening in the parkhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1227/Another-evening-in-the-park<p>Funny thing about the park, the weather was much nicer today and guess what, there were more people! I had to dodge a few folks walking on the wrong side of the trail as well. I did the same distance tonight in a minute less than I did yesterday, according to the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CSWCQA/002-9152281-0519255?ie=UTF8&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000CSWCQA">Garmin Forerunner 305</a> I burned an additional 10 calories as well.</p>Wed, 28 May 2008 22:15:01 GMT25a4d35a-a3d0-4b69-92be-950ea55f9d8cSkating in the parkhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1201/Skating-in-the-park<p>Tonight after work I headed home to grab my skates and go to Creve Couer Park. I skated my normal loop, though not in as fast a time as I have done in the past. It was quite windy, and a bit chilly, which I wasn't expecting, there were also some parts of the trail that were still wet so I had to take it easy on those sections to keep from falling. I wish they made some "wet" inline wheels, perhaps they do? I stopped and adjusted my skate once, and I think I've managed to figure out how to pad my ankle enough to keep my skate from rubbing.</p> <p>I hope to go again tomorrow, but we'll see how that goes, it will depend on the weather.</p>Tue, 27 May 2008 23:02:20 GMTbd0427b6-4ce9-4aa4-9885-4a4b0229c82bJust another day in the parkhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1279/Just-another-day-in-the-park<p>Headed off to Creve Couer park again tonight after work. I did my first mile in 4:37 or something close to that, second mine I had done by 9:00. Third mile i hit a brick wall. My shins started to get tired out, which rarely happens when I skate anymore. I think the third mile took me over 6:30 to do, the wind sure didn't help, I might have been better off doing my normal look backwards today.</p> <p>I ended up doing the 4.79 mile loop in less time than I did on Wednesday, though I don't know the exact number off the top of my head, I think I was only 9-10 seconds faster due to the wind and pain! I'll plug my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CSWCQA/002-9152281-0519255?ie=UTF8&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000CSWCQA">forerunner</a> in later and see what the exact numbers were.</p>Fri, 30 May 2008 21:09:40 GMT3cf44616-7c45-4049-b80e-1e45cd297c50Sunday skatehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1282/Sunday-skateAfter the niece's birthday party today Natalie and I headed off to the park to skate. I took off on my own thinking that Natalie wouldn't be able to keep up. By the time I got the circle where trails merge around she was probably 2 tenths of a mile back. 24 minutes later I'm getting near the finish and someone is coming up on me so I slow down to let them pass. Well lo and behold it's my wife! She managed to keep up with me, or at least catch me, after skating for almost 5 miles. She had to push the whole time but was able to use the times when I was resting/coasting to catch up to me. I was impressed to say the least, considering she hasn't really skated much. I need to get more endurance, and if we keep her skating we'll have to look at getting some fitness skates like I have. Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:35:42 GMTca4132a2-60bf-4399-a6aa-018ad4a9f3e6Skating yet againhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1284/Skating-yet-againI went to the park again tonight. Ouch! I did my first two miles in pretty good time, I think around 9 minutes, but once again I hit a wall of wind on the last 2.8 miles of my skate. I think I'll try skating the opposite way tomorrow if it is windy again. I was quite a bit slower today as well with the wind. Before I skate again I'm going to adjust my frames a bit on my skates. I rotated wheels on Sunday before Natalie and I skated, I'm not sure I like how I adjusted the frame, it makes me a bit more unsteady.Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:02:08 GMTf4f6440c-3e6b-4d6e-a4d0-28a47890dfedYet another losshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1286/Yet-another-lossI think we are getting worse at softball, rather than better. Today we didn't even make it three full innings before we lost to the mercy rule, they score 19 in the second inning alone! Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:45:27 GMT98cb84d1-a1be-48ac-9c23-d48a87025f5aA Hundred Pushupshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1338/A-Hundred-Pushups<p>Earlier today while browsing Twitter (the <a href="http://www.ineta.org/">INETA</a> folks got me started on it a few weeks ago) I saw a message from <a href="http://blog.theaccidentalgeek.com/">Joe Brinkman</a> about <a href="http://www.hundredpushups.com">www.hundredpushups.com</a>. Being that I was at work, I decided to read about the site (putting off work of course) (hi <a href="http://www.richcampbell.net/">Rich</a>, how's Florida? for the uninformed Rich is my boss). After reading about the site I though, wow, I should do that!</p> <p>So here's the basic premise. First step, you "test" yourself, see how many pushups you can do from the get go, then, for the next 6 weeks there is a program you follow to build up your numbers, over those weeks you end up testing yourself again and adjusting the program as you go along, with the ultimate goal of being able to do 100 pushups in a row.</p> <p>So I've started, today is day Zero, I did my "test" and will attempt to do Day 1 tomorrow. For my test I did 20 pushups, I should have pushed myself further, I figure I may have been able to do 2 to 3 more tops. Based on the numbers in my test I am supposed to do the following for <a href="http://www.hundredpushups.com/week1.html">Week1</a> 10-10-8-6-7+ tomorrow, 12-12-10-10-10+ on day 2 and day 3 15-13-10-10-15+.</p> <p> </p>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:41:32 GMT9a1e4280-0ccf-47c3-83e4-f9651f858dfeDay One of HundredPushups.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1348/Day-One-of-HundredPushupscom<p>So <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/DesktopModules/EngagePublish/itemlink.aspx?itemId=1338">last week I blogged</a> about starting up a program that I read about on <a href="http://www.hundredpushups.com">www.hundredpushups.com</a>, tonight was "Day 1" for the program, based on the test I did last week I was supposed to start up with the following sets of pushups.</p> <p>10-10-8-6-7+, the 7+ meaning as many as I could do, but at least 7. The first 4 sets weren't too bad, but I tell you, that last set was difficult! I managed to do 11 on the last take. Day 2 will come on Wednesday, meaning 12-12-10-10-10+</p> <p>I'm starting to get some normal feelings back in my arms a few hours later, I'm sure about this time tomorrow night I will be very sore!</p>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:29:55 GMT37107351-955a-41d4-aebc-4f8e1c7b2b1bSore after day 1https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1350/Sore-after-day-1Today was not a fun day at work. It started out fine, but boy did my chest start to hurt from Day 1 of the HundredPushups.com workout! I'm not in near as much pain now, thankfully. We'll see how Day 2 goes tomorrow! Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:36:26 GMTbdd77284-3080-42ea-aa65-932832f7abd4HundredPushups.com Week 1 Day 2https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1351/HundredPushupscom-Week-1-Day-2Today was day number two of week number one for my hundredpushups.com challenge. Tonight's task was 12-12-10-10-10+, I managed 13 on my 10+ set. I'm curious to see if tomorrow hurts as much as the past two days have. I'm hoping the pain starts to go away! Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:15:25 GMT55ca9e56-f578-49d2-835e-34e61e61bbc4Week 1 Day 3https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1355/Week-1-Day-3With poker night last night I pushed off day 3 of week 1 for HundredPushups.com to today. Week three called for 15-13-10-10-15+, I managed 17 on my 15+ My chest/back/arms aren't hurting anymore, so hopefully that will stay for a while. Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:16:39 GMTacb7ed11-cf42-4d64-9439-91d674e13accWeek 2 Day 1 HundredPushups.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1361/Week-2-Day-1-HundredPushupscom<p>Today I started Week 2 of the <a href="http://www.HundredPushups.com">www.HundredPushups.com</a> challenge, a day late, but better late then never!</p> <p>Today's challenge, 12-12-9-7-10+</p> <p>I must say, I can feel a difference. I felt great through all my sets, and ended up with 12-12-9-7-20 for a great start to Week 2. I will probably do Day 2 tomorrow and Day 3 on Friday in Milwaukee (heading up there for a race this weekend).</p>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:49:58 GMT95cbe128-eccb-4467-9a99-9f0210232aa7HundredPushups.com Week 2 Day 2https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1366/HundredPushupscom-Week-2-Day-2<p><a href="http://www.hundredpushups.com/week2.html">Week 2 Day 2</a> went alright,  16-13-11-11-15+</p> <p>I managed the match the requirements, I couldn't do any more than 15 at the end, it's fairly late and I played softball tonight, maybe I'm just worn out?</p>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:07:41 GMT5cbefd31-e891-435e-bdab-bdb430608067Fitness Thoughts for Thursdayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1020/Fitness-Thoughts-for-ThursdayAccording to this site I need to get down to 199 pounds to be of normal weight for my height. I haven't weighed 199lbs since senior year after hell week in football! That will be my goal.... if I don't kill myself getting there! My Garmin Forerunner 305 and Footpod came in today. Charing now so I can use it tonight and see how well it tracks my...Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:29:00 GMT676a577a-979f-4ffa-b9d8-ff6af17adbbaStarting on HundredPushups.com Againhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1572/Starting-on-HundredPushupscom-Again<p>Last summer I started the HundredPushups.com challenge, I made it two weeks I think before I quit following the program. Tonight I started back up. I am starting from scratch, it is a 6 week program, so my goal is to attempt my 100 pushups the week of Christmas. Though, if for some reason I get delayed or have to redo a week for not meeting goals I will attempt to complete the challenge before the end of the year. That still doesn’t leave me much time!</p>Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:47:07 GMTa08195b9-3ecc-432b-9b96-887ff130b0beFitness Statshttps://www.chrishammond.com/About/itemId/1067/Fitness-StatsFitness Stats Updated infrequently.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:54:39 GMTb78e89d4-f255-437b-a25d-c86d99385f51MotionBased and Garmin Connect, worth the wait?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1644/MotionBased-and-Garmin-Connect-worth-the-wait<p>So I’ve been a Forerunner 305 owner for almost a year now. I used it heavily in the beginning of the year, and kind of slacked off lately as I haven’t exercised much. I have however been waiting for <a href="http://connect.garmin.com" target="_blank">Garmin Connect</a> to open up to 305 users. If I recall correctly, it was supposed to be done in February of last year, then pushed out a few months, then to September, then December 08, and now they are pushing it out to February 2009.</p> <p>WTF Garmin. I mean really? I understand software delays, but seriously, do you have a single developer working on this? If so, fire that guy and hire someone else.</p>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:49:33 GMT36683ae1-bfce-41bc-854c-88017ad3a0cdThe Fit In February Developer Challenge beginshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1687/The-Fit-In-February-Developer-Challenge-begins<p>Starting Date: 2/1/2009 <br />Current Date: 2/1/2009 <br />Starting Weight: 263.9lbs <br />Current Weight: 263.9lbs</p> <p>So February First marks the start of the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42735764475" target="_blank">Fit In February Developer Challenge</a>, and I am starting up my fitness goals again, so why not try for the challenge! </p>Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:28:09 GMT93b72c26-f532-43aa-866f-aa2b9465c2a4Starting up HundredPushups.com againhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1689/Starting-up-HundredPushupscom-again<blockquote> <p>So with my striving to win the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42735764475">Fit In February Developer Challenge</a> I started back up with <a href="http://www.hundredpushups.com">www.hundredpushups.com</a> again. Day 1, week 1. Here’s my count for pushups today.</p> <p>10/12/7/7/9/25</p> <p>Day 1 Week 1 calls for Pushups totalling 10, 12, 7, 7 then maxing out with a Minimum of 9. Day 2 will come Tuesday!</p></blockquote>Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:31:26 GMTad578581-8333-46ee-a199-358845726e63FitFeb Contest Update Day 2https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1691/FitFeb-Contest-Update-Day-2<p>So this morning I was down 4lbs from my starting weight, down to ~259.9lbs. I figure getting down to 250lbs will be fairly easy, controlling my diet alone will probably get me there by the middle of the month if not earlier. I was 250lbs most of the summer, I think the trip to Vegas did that in last November. To win the contest though I need to do more than that, my personal goal for the end of the month is 240lbs, with 225lbs the goal for June 6th when the book is due to be published. </p> <p>So today after class I went to the YMCA again and walked another 3 miles today at a pace of under 15 minutes/mile, faster than yesterday’s three miles.</p> <p>I’ll be hitting the YMCA again tomorrow, perhaps before work this time? We sorta turned the alarms off and slept in this morning ;) </p>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:06:52 GMT30fbf978-9e85-44b8-a064-cfea38bf57ceGarmin Forerunner 305 Support on Garmin Connecthttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1753/Garmin-Forerunner-305-Support-on-Garmin-Connect<p>Well, it’s been almost a year and a half now since I purchased my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dnb%255Fss%255Fgw%26field-keywords%3DForerunner%2520305%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Garmin Forerunner 305</a><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-top-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" />, it has performed flawlessly the whole time, I’ve had no trouble whatsoever with the hardware. </p> <p>The word from Garmin the company however has been extremely lacking. Garmin has a site that you can upload content to called Garmin Connect, and while it appears to do everything I want with an online provider, it doesn’t work for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dnb%255Fss%255Fgw%26field-keywords%3DForerunner%2520305%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Forerunner 305</a><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-top-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" />. Initially it was supposed to only work for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dnb%255Fss%255Fgw%26field-keywords%3DForerunner%2520405%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Forerunner 405</a><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-top-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" /> and 50, which it does, but they were gradually supposed to add support for other devices from Garmin. Well Garmin, when will the 305 support come? I’m not buying a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dnb%255Fss%255Fgw%26field-keywords%3DForerunner%2520405%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Forerunner 405</a><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-top-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" /> until the 305 is supported, once that occurs then I can get the 405 and 305, so Natalie and I both have a GPS device to use. But why waste any money on the 405 if they won’t add support for their existing devices.</p> <p>Garmin, are you listening? Don’t even get me started on the “Motionbased” conversion that I doubt will ever happen.</p>Sun, 17 May 2009 23:36:23 GMTd48cc169-7815-413a-acf8-20e4eb99d4b1Back on the fitness trailhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1755/Back-on-the-fitness-trail<p>So Sunday Natalie and I headed up to Creve Coeur park. She walked the dogs and I skated for the first time this year. Boy did I hurt by the end of it, I think most of the pain was caused by a loose frame on my skate, which I didn’t notice until before I went to go skate today.</p> <p>Sunday I went ~5miles in just over 30 minutes, with an average heart rate of 178, burning in excess of 1000 calories in that time period, at least according to the software.</p> <p>Today I went ~4.8 miles in just over 28 minutes, a better pace than I did on Sunday, with an average HR of 179, though I did have a break during today’s session as I ran into an old friend on the trailer and stopped to talk for 5 minutes.</p> <p>You can check out the results from Sunday and Today online at <a title="http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/user/chrishammond" href="http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/user/chrishammond">http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/user/chrishammond</a> it even has a map. </p> <p>So I’m back in the fitness game, hoping to skate 4-5 times a week, I’ll try to get back out tomorrow, and might even try to get some in during the trip to Colorado this weekend, we’ll see how that goes.</p> <p>I need to get on the Wii fit so I can track any weight changes, and do some other workouts, perhaps I’ll do that in the morning.</p>Wed, 20 May 2009 01:58:32 GMT03f92895-fd88-4e8e-b2cd-d8c6484b4fedSay it ain&rsquo;t so Garmin?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1763/Say-it-ainrsquot-so-Garmin<p>What’s that? The motion based content has finally moved over to Garmin connect? And GC now accepts the Forerunner 305???</p> <p><a title="http://blog.motionbased.com/2009/05/garmin-connect-opening-to-all-garmin-fitness-devices.html" href="http://blog.motionbased.com/2009/05/garmin-connect-opening-to-all-garmin-fitness-devices.html">http://blog.motionbased.com/2009/05/garmin-connect-opening-to-all-garmin-fitness-devices.html</a></p> <p>Whoooooohoooooooo now I need a dry day to go skate!</p>Fri, 29 May 2009 16:50:39 GMTe5a27f2a-4aa3-40e4-928c-6502f7cba01750 miles in 30 dayshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1776/50-miles-in-30-days<p>So I need a goal in my skating, here it is 50 miles in 30 days. I started yesterday, 6/15, so I’ve got until 7/15 to reach the goal. Why 50 miles? Well in the past year (after yesterday’s skate) I had done just around 50 miles on my K2’s. 50 miles in thirty days shouldn’t be too hard to do, but the key will be to actually continue to keep skating. As of right now I’m at about 12.6 miles, skating 6.3 yesterday and today both. <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7196495" target="_blank">Yesterday’s account is posted on Connect.garmin.com</a>, but today’s isn’t, apparently my Forerunner didn’t charge last night, so it didn’t last at all today. </p> <p>I skated the same route as yesterday, Grant’s Trailer, today hurt though. I had to stop and rest for a while, whereas yesterday I felt fine the whole way. I don’t know if it was the heat, 90+, the fact that I slept 4.5 hours last night (was up late reskinning <a href="http://www.dnnvoice.com">www.<a href="http://www.dnnvoice.com/" target="_blank">dnnvoice</a>.com</a>) or that I had two granola bars and a smoothie to eat all day. </p> <p>Lesson learned, sleep more, eat better, and move somewhere cooler! </p> <p>I likely won’t skate again until Sunday, at least not outside. I’m hoping to play inline hockey tomorrow night with the old gang. We’ll see how I adjust back to hockey skates, it’s been a year or so since I last played.</p>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:23:43 GMT00838b6a-e076-4e50-81b5-31e2483bb4f5Should I skate a marathon?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1924/Should-I-skate-a-marathon<p>So I found out that there’s an inline skating marathon in Napa valley coming up on June 6th (my dad’s bday). </p> <p>I haven’t skated, or done much of anything cardio wise in the past 6 months (cept some running on the treadmill back in January). Wonder if I could get myself together enough to skate 26 miles in the next 3 weeks? I obviously wouldn’t be trying to do the marathon for time, just to do it.</p> <p>I think I might give it a go, though if I am going to I need to get out on my skates this weekend! I’m gonna have to dust them off and charge up my Forerunner 305. Anyone else in the Bay Area up for some skating? I might be a big guy, but I tell you I love to skate, I’ve got four pairs of inline skates :) These are the ones I use for fitness now <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015HPRLO?ie=UTF8&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0015HPRLO">K2 Radical Pro In-Line Skates</a><img style="border-bottom-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; margin: 0px; border-top-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0015HPRLO" width="1" height="1" />.</p> <p>I will need to get myself a helmet and likely some pads and such before the marathon as I don’t think my hockey pads/helmet will do for that event :)</p>Thu, 13 May 2010 21:58:09 GMT40363c84-dec9-4c16-bdf2-06087832c1e9K2 Radical 100 Reviewhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/830/K2-Radical-100-ReviewSo far I've been on my new K2 Radical 100s for probably 10-12 miles. I went out Friday after work for a lap around Creve Couer lake. By the time I was done I was completely exhausted. The Radicals definitely have far less ankle support than I am used to, and after my first day on the skates that made a huge difference. Today I went out again with Eric and we skated our usual two laps. These skates are fast, exceptionally fast. The fit is great though I'm going to Heat Mold them later this week, probably before I skate again. If you're in the market for a pair of long distance fitness skates definitely look into the Radical 100s. The biggest change for me so far, besides the ankle support, is the turning radius. I am far less nimble on these than my older skates with much smaller wheels. But these skates weren't made for agility, so if I want to do some hockey stops I'll throw on my other pair of K2s or my hockey...Chris HammondMon, 04 Jun 2007 23:43:00 GMTe28aa5cb-beb3-48bf-8a90-daade91fd753Skating again, new skates, 30 miles since June 15https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1793/Skating-again-new-skates-30-miles-since-June-15<p><a target="_blank" href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7650783">So a few weeks ago (6/26) I skated 10 miles,</a> I would have gone 11 miles but my skates broke! I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this, but at the same time I wasn’t all that distraught. My skates had been hurting my feet, pretty bad actually, but I didn’t want to spend the money on new ones. My skates were K2 Radical 100s that I had purchased in May of 2007. I’ve had experience dealing with K2’s customer service in the past (circa 1995) so I shot them an email to see if they could do anything about them.</p> <p>K2 took a few days to get back to me, confirming that the skates were indeed outside of the year warranty (I knew this) but suggesting that I send them in through my dealer so that they could look at them and see if they might be able to do something, even outside of warranty. So I called my dealer, an online shoe retailer, who I will fail to mention as I really don’t want to get anyone there in trouble. They couldn’t figure out why I wanted to return my skates as they were outside of the 365 day return policy, but they said they would call me back nonetheless. Well 24 hour later I got an email asking me to call in. I called, and to my surprise the dealer told me they were going to give me my money back on the skates.</p> <p>Twenty-five months after purchase I had the full purchase price refunded to my credit card! Holy crap, that was cool. So this was last week some time. I knew which skates I wanted, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002W6MXO6?ie=UTF8&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002W6MXO6">2009 K2 Radical Pros</a><img alt="" height="1" width="1" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-width: 0px;border-style: none !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001R6DP76" />, but the cheapest price I could find for them was $399, and that price wasn't from Amazon. So I decided I would just wait. Well, fast forward to this past Saturday night (after midnight), I was surfing Amazon's website and came across the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002W6MXO6?ie=UTF8&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002W6MXO6">2008 K2 Radical Pro skates</a><img alt="" height="1" width="1" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-width: 0px;border-style: none !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001GAPRSS" />, not what I was hoping for, but I figured they would be way better than having a broken pair of skates. I also noticed that Size 13 was going for $269, just days earlier they were $399, so I jumped on them, even with overnight shipping (due to Amazon Prime) they were only $273.</p> <p>The next day when I checked the website the skates were back up to $399, so I wondered, what if the skates were simply showing the picture for 2008, but really they would be 2009 skates, perhaps after my order someone realized that and corrected the price. Come Tuesday when I got the box at work I was rather excited, I tore into them, and sure enough, brand new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002W6MXO6?ie=UTF8&tag=chrishammondc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002W6MXO6">2009 K2 Radical Pros</a><img alt="" height="1" width="1" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-width: 0px;border-style: none !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=chrishammondc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001R6DP76" />!!!! Here’s a photo</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chammond/3720404779/"><img height="180" alt="My new wheels, K2 Radical Pro by chrishammond" width="240" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3521/3720404779_e683a557c1_m.jpg" /></a></p> <p>I didn’t get a chance to use them yesterday because I had made plans with Natalie to scrub down the horse trailer out a the barn. Well tonight after work I took them for a spin on Grant’s Trail, <a target="_blank" href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/8878231">6.38 miles in just under 40 minutes</a>. I think I could have done it in around 35-37 minutes had I not gotten stopped by stop lights, stop signs, and a minor spill. I haven’t fallen on a pair of skates (inline hockey doesn’t count) in YEARS, probably 6 or more. Oh well, a few minor scrapes on the knees are all I have to show for the spill, fortunately I was at a stop when I ended up falling down, though it was right in front of a Suburban, thankfully she was also stopped.</p> <p>I didn’t reach my goal of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1776/50-miles-in-30-days.aspx">50 miles in 30 days</a>, as I was without skates for most of three weeks, though I did do roughly 30 miles in that time frame (3 sessions on Grant’s trail and the one session on the bike path down by the arch)</p> <p>Once we get settled into Colorado I’ll attempt the 50 miles in 30 days goal again, though maybe if I’m lucky I’ll get it done in the next 30 days, even with the move.</p>Chris HammondThu, 16 Jul 2009 01:04:33 GMT7fe470df-694b-4327-9f24-9a707b0e3b00Skating again, or at least, I washttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2067/Skating-again-or-at-least-I-wasSo I was hoping to get going on my fitness goals for the year this weekend. To recap from my 1/1/11 blog post, I would like to bike 500 miles, and inline skate at least 100 miles. As of right now getting the bike anywhere to ride will be difficult because I don’t want to put it in the CX-7 and we don’t have a bike rack yet (hopefully soon). So I decided to skate, the first time in quite a while. I went out yesterday to Redwood Shores and skated on the path there near Oracle’s headquarters. I skated 5 miles, just under 29 minutes total, not bad considering I haven’t done anything in quite a while, but not great for my past times. But I wanted to get out and do it, get the pain over and done with so I can skate on a more regular basis. Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:22:07 GMTd134c3b1-49df-450b-bac6-6bb4cf62e680Getting ready for a movehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2192/Getting-ready-for-a-move<p>So here we go again, we’re less than two weeks out from our scheduled move. Time to start throwing things away!</p> <p>This weekend will be spent going through the closets, and mainly through the garage. I am hoping to get a collection of things together to take to the Goodwill store this weekend.</p> <p>We’re also hoping to get out to the bay shore trail. Natalie got a new bicycle for Mother’s day, so we are hoping to make our way out to the trail so she can ride as I push the baby along in the running stroller. I’m hoping I can skate with her, we’ll see how that goes.</p>Sat, 14 May 2011 00:51:17 GMTa3681186-5ec9-4130-a3a9-30e28625482050 Miles for the weekhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2230/50-Miles-for-the-weekThat’s my goal for this week, to ride 50 miles. In all honesty, it isn’t that much, but I can with about 99% confidence say that I have never ridden a bike 50 miles in one week. Yesterday afternoon I went for a ride up Highway 1 to Moss Beach, and then over towards the ocean. My first time really climbing on a bike. It wasn’t much of a climb, but according to my Garmin I did gain 1,118ft in elevation, far more than any other ride as of late.Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:07:45 GMT30319dec-9e02-46ba-b882-2107ceb30934Meeting the fitness goal, 50 miles downhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2235/Meeting-the-fitness-goal-50-miles-downSo I did it, (with the help of Natalie). I made it to 50 miles on the bike this week. Actually 52.36 miles according to Garmin Connect. I rode 4 out of the last 7 days, I hope to try to keep that up, at least 3 out of 7 days at minimum. My average speed for the 52 miles was 10mph, (including stops for photos) with an average heart rate of 159bpm. Read more ....Sun, 26 Jun 2011 02:01:18 GMT051ea6ea-f1fb-4dec-9d56-4a3bf61f699c191 days in, Fitness Goals Updatehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2252/191-days-in-Fitness-Goals-Update<p>So, here we are, July 10th, 2011, day 191 of the year. So where are we at in terms of the fitness goals? <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/blog/itemid/2048/2010-year-in-review-and-whatrsquos-coming-in-201.aspx" target="_blank">On January 1st I posted that I wanted to ride a bike for at least 500 miles this year, and I wanted to skate at least 100 miles</a>.</p> <p>To be honest, things got off to a slow start, especially for biking as I didn’t ride a bike until May. In January I got a couple of skates in, though not as many as I would have liked. I then didn’t skate until today, far too long.</p>Sun, 10 Jul 2011 23:35:30 GMT31a89144-4888-4069-99df-b7ad57aba54cCannondale Quick CX 1 with mountain bike tireshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2318/Cannondale-Quick-CX-1-with-mountain-bike-tires<p>Last year I purchased a 2011 Cannondale Quick CX 1 to start riding on my quest to hit 500 miles for the year. I was able to do that fairly easily on the bike, it is a great machine.</p> <p>As I am getting more into riding though I wanted to do longer distance road riding, and continue to use the Quick CX 1, but on a different basis than I did in 2011. I intended to take that bike, with the OEM wheels, and put a set of mountain bike tires on it and use it as a semi mountain bike trail bike.</p> <p>My awesome brother sent me a set of 29x2.1” mountain bike tires, and I picked up some tubes at REI a few weeks ago. This evening I tried to put the tires on the rim, the first thing I ran into was thinking that there was no way the tire would mount to the rim, it looked huge with the likely hood of it fitting being very small.</p> <p><a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/Portals/0/PublishThumbnails/Windows-Live-Writer/ee36829815c8_14607/image_2.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" align="right" src="http://www.chrishammond.com/Portals/0/PublishThumbnails/Windows-Live-Writer/ee36829815c8_14607/image_thumb.png" width="244" height="155" /></a>Well I was wrong about that, the tire and tube went together well and everything fit on the rim nicely. That is when it went downhill though. I put the wheel on the bike and immediately noticed it wouldn’t rotate, I figured I had the quick release off and the disc brake was rubbing. Upon further inspection though, after resetting the quick release I noticed that the tire was actually rubbing on the top of the fork. Here’s a picture of the original tire and fork, taken after removing the MTB tire and tube.</p> <p>So I guess the answer to the question, if the question is “Will a 29x2.1” tire fit on a 2011 Cannondale Quick CX 1?” is <strong>NO</strong>. Unfortunately it will not.</p> <p>I’m still going to try to find something that will work on the bike though, I would like to use it off road more, though I don’t think I’m ready to invest in a full on mountain bike anytime soon as I still see putting in a lot more road miles this year.</p>Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:16:27 GMT4a2ddd66-d382-4a4a-ba4b-2494404c0ec4Setting goals for 2012https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2311/Setting-goals-for-2012<img src="http://www.bicycletips.com/portals/18/content/1-5-12-Goals.jpg" alt="Dark Morning" style="float: right;max-width:340px" /> For 2011 I personally set 3 goals, you can read about them fully on <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/blog/itemid/2048/2010-year-in-review-and-whatrsquos-coming-in-201.aspx">my post from 1/1/2011</a>. Basically they were to lose 30 lbs (goal weight of 255, I’m a big guy), inline skate 100 miles (I do like me some skating, I’m a freak I know this) and ride a bike 500 miles. At the beginning of 2011 the bike I had was a 2004 Diamondback XTS Moto, not exactly something you could see yourself riding 500 miles on (at least not me). So in June I picked up a Cannondale Quick CX 1 and began my journey.BicycleTips.comFri, 06 Jan 2012 02:30:01 GMT1b5cc58c-8b8f-4814-a01a-9f8073d851d0Riding in the LIVESTRONG Challenge Davis 2012https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2322/Riding-in-the-LIVESTRONG-Challenge-Davis-2012<p>This year I said one of my goals is to ride in a century, a 100 mile bike ride. I’ve chosen the LIVESTRONG Challenge in Davis California on June 24, 2012.</p> <p>As part of the ride I have set a goal to raise $1,000. You can donate to my campaign at <a href="http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/chrishammond">http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/chrishammond</a> </p> <p><strong>All I am asking is that you donate $5 (more if you like) to the cause. Just $5 to help people around the world effected by Cancer.</strong> Below is more info on why I am riding in the LIVESTRONG Challenge this year.</p> <h5>My Story</h5> <p>I am riding the 105 mile distance at the 2012 Team LIVESTRONG Challenge Davis for four special people in my life, all affected by cancer. As part of the event I have set a goal of raising $1,000, I would appreciate any amount that you can donate to my cause, you can use the link on the left side of this page to <a href="http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/chrishammond">DONATE NOW</a>.</p> <h5>Who am I riding for?</h5> <p>I am riding the #LSCDavis for four people, all affected by cancer. </p> <p><strong><img style="display: inline; float: right" alt="My father and daughter" align="right" src="http://www.chrishammond.com/portals/0/Philanthropy/LSCDavis12/Dad-October2011.jpg" />My father Bill </strong>was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in August 2011, he had treatment for the cancer in November 2011 and we are hopeful that it was caught early enough to be eradicated by the treatment. (Photo right with my daughter Jacqueline on her first birthday 10/9/2011)</p> <p><strong>My uncle John, </strong>married to my father's sister, has been battling cancer for a number of years now.</p> <p><strong>My auntie Carol</strong> was diagnosed with breast cancer and successfully beat the disease.</p> <p><strong>One of my best friend's mother Janice</strong> was very recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is going through the treatment process now.</p> <p>These close friends and family are my motivation for doing the LIVESTRONG Challenge in Davis this year. As of January of 2012 the longest bike ride I've ever done was 30.3 miles, that was in August 2011. If all goes as planned, I will surpass that total multiple times this year. Please stay tuned to my training and ride results by checking out the <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/tags/tags/livestrong.aspx">LIVESTRONG blog posts</a> here no my site.</p>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:58:15 GMT3f83b19a-f33d-4184-967b-5235a7c72be6$1 per mile until Sunday 5/27 at 11:59pm PDThttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/2543/1-per-mile-until-Sunday-527-at-1159pm-PDT<p>My bro <a href="http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Resources/Blogs/tabid/825/BlogID/239/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Will Strohl</a> has challenged me to a little fundraising for the Team LIVESTRONG Challenge in Davis coming up next month.</p> <p>He has stepped up, in addition to his previous donations to my ride, to <strong>donate $1 for every mile I ride a bicycle between today (May 22nd, 2012), and Sunday May 27th at 11:59PM</strong>. Why is he doing this? He knows I haven’t been on a bike in over a week, so he figures it is probably a safe bet, and perhaps it is.</p> <p>Are you willing to do the same? </p> <h2>Will you donate $1 to my #LSCDavis ride, for every mile I ride by bike between now and 11:59pm PDT this Sunday? </h2> <p>If so, add your comment below to join the cause, I’ll be sure to follow up with you via email to let you know how I do! I’ll also update this blog post with details</p> <p><strong>Starting Mileage:</strong> 0 miles <br /> <strong>Current Mileage:</strong> 106.1 miles <br /> <strong>Total Raised: $106</strong></p> <p><strong>Donations from: </strong><br /> Will Strohl $1/mile</p>Chris HammondTue, 22 May 2012 17:19:39 GMT68f5e565-3c3d-4cc9-a297-6ba15f1d43c1Fitness Tuesday and a visit to Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Des Pereshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Cars/Corvette/itemId/1073/Fitness-Tuesday-and-a-visit-to-Tropical-Smoothie-CTuesday is always a good day. I was born on a Tuesday. I went to the YMCA this evening after work, I ran/walked for 40 minutes, and covered 3.3 miles in about 40 minutes. I think I'm going to have to start extending my exercise a bit more, I started doing 30 minutes, and am up to 40 minutes, perhaps I'll go for 45 minutes tomorrow night. I also weighed myself while I was at the Y and weighed in at 252.5 lbs! Another pound and a half in the next two days and I'll be down 10lbs for the month (1/14-2/14). So we'll see how that goes. For lunch today I went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Des Peres. I always go there, I easily eat there 3-4 times a week, sometimes more. It's a fairly new place, only been open a few months now, but we love it at the office. I eat a King Ceaser wrap without tomatoes everytime I go, along with a selection of smoothies that I will also have. If you're looking for a smoothie in Des Peres Missouri be sure to check it out! It's right by Trader Joes. I eat there enough I've though of asking Terry, the owner, if he'd like to sponsor a race car. Terry, if you read this, I'm looking for a sponsor! www.corvettez06.org Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:07:41 GMT616a5751-2205-4593-8a4c-f6707b6a496b