The granite girls have a special guest today, Mrs. Ellen Vail.  A dear family friend! Enjoy

It was an incredibly beautiful day here in Naples.  I decided to try something new for me…and joined in a Water Aerobics class. I had expected a mild workout, but was quite surprised and delighted as it was about 60 minutes and a pretty intense workout. There were about 20 women in the pool, heated to 82 degrees.  Looking up at the blue skies, palm trees, and puffy white clouds while cross country skiing under water was pretty awesome!  I believe my heart rate hovered around 135 to 140 for a good 30 minutes or so. It felt great! Many of the women wore weighted gloves to increase the resistance on their arms..I will try to get a pair before the next time. I am so fortunate to be here for the winter. I count my blessings. Working out with the military families in mind increases my awareness of my good fortune.

And also, today was the first day the Granite Girls worked out together! Despite DK not feeling 100% we still went out and were able to enjoy the 80 degree weather while walking around our neighborhood and catching up!. We walked 2 miles. 

xoxo

Granite Girls

Earlier this evening I returned to Los Angeles from a long week of snowboarding in Vail, Colorado with the rest of the Eby flock.  I’m feeling a bit brain dead from lack of sleep, lots of activity, and the labors of travel so I’ll keep this week’s post short and sweet.

While we didn’t see any fresh powder out on the slopes, the conditions were still excellent.  It’d been a few years since I’d strapped on a snowboard so I was a bit worried about how rusty my skills had become.  Thankfully, all my hesitation vanished after a few runs.  I felt incredibly confident in my abilities and cruised nicely.

It being as late in the season as it was, the crowds were at a minimum, so we pretty much had the run of the mountain.  My old man and I made it a point to be on the first chair lift ride up every morning and finish just as strong at the end of the day, so we got in a lot of good riding.  My current tiredness was well earned- it was a great trip.

Walking around downtown Vail, you can’t help but acknowledge the impact a small army group, the 10^th Mountain Division, had in shaping the small ski-town.  The 10^th Mountain Division is the only division in the United States Army to specialize in combat under harsh terrain and intense weather conditions.  While they’re most renowned for their work fighting for the Allies in Italy in World War II, this unique mountain warfare unit is still active in the Middle East, dealing with the most critical of situations.

Just before entering downtown Vail, an oversized statue of a 10th Mountain Division soldier dressed in full uniform, with skis and riffle, is prominently displayed in memory of the soldiers who trained at Camp Hale, a small town just outside of Vail.  Ski historians contend the enormous impact that the returning veterans of the 10^th Mountain Division had on the post-WWII development of recreational skiing.   Veterans founded ski resorts, designed runs, perfected equipment, and became coaches, instructors, lift operators, patrollers, and racers.  Vail itself was founded by a wounded 10th Mountain Division veteran, returning from World War II to the area of the Rockies that he loved the most.  I know I’m personally indebted to the soldiers of the 10^th Mountain Division, not only for protecting our nation, but also for helping usher in the rise of the sport I love so much.

All right everybody it’s past my bedtime.  See you all next week!  Sooner or later I promise to get some pictures up.

-Derek

Today was a beautiful day in Baltimore. A perfect day for a Sunday workout. We went out for a nice long run in downtown Baltimore taking in the different scenes the city has to offer, including Ft McHenry and the Inner Harbor.

This weekend a few members from Team Baltimore took advantage of the beautiful weather and played some volleyball at Rash Field. In the picture is Perry Menzies, Graham Becker, Dan Foltin and missing from the picture is the fantastic photographer Mike Kirby.

Once again Chris Diller is out there right now repping his WAO365 shirt in his Hockey League. His team is in the second round of the playoffs and banking on Chris to have another stellar game to help them advance further into the playoffs.

It’s been a great and active weekend, only two weekends left before the Baltimore Chapter Kickoff Event on Saturday March 31st, so sign up now! – http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2868605075?ref=ebtnebtckt

Have a great week!

-Bmore

Happy St. Paddys Day to all the 365ers out there for Day 127 of the 365 day challenge. Before the days festivities got on their way, I went down to Newport Beach to celebrate the day and Matt Edgars’ last weekend in the Los Angeles area.

It was pouring rain but not too chilly out so we ran to the coast, made our descent down the cliffs and continued for 3 miles along the beach. Only my third run since December so nothing too crazy but like Derek mentioned in his post on Monday, I’m definitely getting that runners high feeling back.

I did 3 sets of 30 pushups while watching my bold bracket picks get x-ed out. Lehigh? Really?! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed some green beer along with great company and fun.

AR. NF. NR.

Nick

Hello weekend,

Team Friday had to outsource it’s workouts today, so Max’s roommate Kevin, better know as K.E. guyed up and shared his workout.

K.E. Just finished his first season in basketball at PSU and already gearing up for next season.

Kevin played 2 hours of house league basketball this afternoon with a group of college friends, a natural PG Kevin controlled the game per usual. Kevin hopes to get bigger and better for next season. Today he also did a weight workout focusing on his biceps and chest. Gotta get that beach-bod as he says.

Team Friday will be back to normal next week, hope you all have a fun and safe St. Patricks Day!

-Team Friday

I am on a Lacrosse spring training trip in Tampa Florida as a coach.  We have been down here for the past five days and it has been great week.

Every morning we take the team down to the beach at 6:45 for a “Polar Bear Club” dip.  Each class starts off the day with a morning dip into the ocean.  After the kids are done, the coaches do it as well.  It was been a great active way to start the day.

The most recent workout was a run on the treadmill and a quick lift.  After long hours in the sun coaching, it was exhausting. But, it was nice to have time to myself to run and lift.

Until next Thursday,

Tim

Before I get started, a quick thank you to Nick for taking care of my post last week. I appreciate the pictures…

Moving on, today was a little different from our team’s typical practice schedule because we were 2k testing. Similar to other endurance sports’ “time trials”, the 2k is a benchmark number that is used to determine how quickly you can row 2000 meters. Every race we do on the water is 2000 meters in length so this gives the coaches something to consider when deciding what people to put in what boat.

I would try and explain more in depth what a 2k is, but the basic idea is to erg as hard/fast as you can and finish the piece. Its always a fun time and I recommend trying one if you never have.  In the video below, I am the goofy looking kid with the bright green tank-top and headband. Shout out to my partner, Eric, who went in the second wave and pulled a personal best. Another huge shout out to Ryan (the kid in the red tank-top behind me in the video) who coxed me through almost the entire piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm9hBP9drYM

ar.nf.nr.

-Alex

 My workout today involved a combination of several things.  I warmed up on the treadmill for 10 min at a brisk walk with a steep incline and then moved into a much more invigorating workout.  Although the Karwoski Men are very well versed at this next exercise, I still have some work to do!

Rowing!! In my opinion, one of the most challenging exercies there is.  You work so hard for a relatively short period (2:00min) and after still feel as though you are going to die!!   I did a combination of rowing for 500 meters, then 20 kettle ball swings with a 20lb weight and finishing off the series with 10 box jumps on the smallest box. I did four rounds of this, my second round being the best.  My fastest 500m erg time was 1 minute and 58 seconds.  If I was part of the Cornell rowing team, I wouldn’t stand a chance but for me, it was a great sweat and I will be sore tomorrow!! I finished it off with some ab exercises! 

 Xoxo

Granite Girls

I got it back.

That feeling.  That desire.  That need to go running.  The sense that my whole day is hinged upon having a good run.  It’s a feeling that’s escaped me for a long time but has happily returned.

I had a buddy in town last week and we went jogging every day.  Most days I didn’t really want to go I just felt like I had to go.  As I mentioned in last week’s post, he and I have a tendency to test each other’s limits.  There’s a constant competition between the two of us that festers beneath everything we do.   He’s a far better runner than I am and a far tougher hombre, so I constantly found myself pushing to the edge to keep up with him.  We did several long beach runs in Santa Monica, a couple of swims, a two-day backpacking hike in Joshua Tree, and a lot more.  And it all paid off!  I woke up this morning, the day after he split town, itching to get out and be active.  Not that feeling of burden where I know I should but I really don’t want to.  I really wanted to.  And I felt great!  I went hard and long and when I was done I felt like I could retrace those four miles and do it all over again.  I’ve been out running everyday for the past ten days, and each day I feel better and better.  I feel like I’m finally a real runner again.  I’m on my way back to marathon shape.

I’m Colorado bound Wednesday for a little snowboarding trip, so next week’s post will be from higher elevations.  Here’s to hoping for some fresh powder and some good skiing!

Have a great week 365-ers!

It’s been an exciting week in the Charm City. The Baltimore Kick-Off Event is set for March 31 with a 5k in the morning around the inner harbor and an open bar social at Mother’s that night.  As we like to say around here, “too easy.”  A few of the Baltimore team members chose to celebrate in true We Are One fashion, by getting a great Sunday workout in.

Chris Diller ran in the St. Patrick’s Day 5k this afternoon.  Tonight, Chris and Mark Wheeler played in the opening round of their hockey league’s playoffs.  No word yet on the results, but I imagine it ended with the ice covered in hats shortly after Mark scored the game winner with minutes left in the third period. MARCH 12 UPDATE: Chris scored 2 goals in regulation, 1 of which sent the game into a shootout.  Mark scored on his only penalty shot and helped secure the victory over the Baltimore City Fire Dept. squad.  Congrats to both teams, but Harbor City/We Are One Hockey is moving on to the next round!!!

Baltimore wasn’t finished with the efforts of Mark and Chris.  Erich Raschid and Marty Ensor hit the highway this morning and went to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  They hiked 9 miles on Old Rag Mountain.  The hike was challenging, but the views more than made up for it.  It might be wise to take these two eagle scouts a little more seriously next time they ask if I want to get up at the crack of dawn to go hiking.

Baltimore is the greatest city in the world.  But this sure is a nice view.

Enjoy the week coming up and get ready for Baltimore’s launch event in 3 short weeks.  The Baltimore team and our growing list of sponsors are putting forth their best effort to ensure the day is something the city will be proud of.

Cheers.

-Team Baltimore