Live from Bucky's

it's 10:00 pm and I'm hanging out at Bucky's restaurant in Rome, NY, the night before the Boilermaker 15K Road Race in Utica. The best part if this story is that I'm with a guy named Bucky and three runners from the Kansas delegation for the Boilermaker. We picked "Bucky's" for the pre-race party for obvious reasons (it's the closest bar to the Econolodge in Rome).

We have over 100 "beef runners" from around the country. We are Team ZIP (Zinc/Iron/Protein). Utica and the Boilermaker will never be the same. Neither will we.

More tomorrow...

Daren

Now Appearing at a Sports Authority Near You

Ever shop at Sports Authority? Well, the next time you visit one of the over 400 Sports Authority stores in 45 states, don't be surprised if you find me waiting in the lobby to greet you! No, I haven't given up my day job. And don't expect me to literally welcome you to the store like a Wal-Mart greeter. But you may just see me staring back at you from a poster on an easel beckoning you to join the Sports Authority team...

So, you ask, how did DDubs become the model Sports Authority employee? Well, I wasn't "discovered" in a mall. And apparently very few people caught my brief national TV debut on CNN two weeks ago. No, the real story is that my neighbor, Natalie, works in the HR department at Denver-based Sports Authority and needed a "40-something, semi-athletic male" for a new recruitment campaign. Of course, being the good neighbor that I am, I offered to play the part :)

So I showed up at the photography studio in downtown Denver one evening not knowing what to expect (hey, it was my first modeling gig!). I showed up in my "corporate" attire black pants, blue golf shirt) so that was the shot we did first...after "makeup." Standing in front of a blank, white screen, the photographer asked me to strike various poses and "laugh" on command.

Then it was time for the "action" shots. After changing into my running gear in the "dressing room" (a very small bathroom) they put me on a treadmill that had the front section removed and told me to start running. After finding a comfortable speed (6.0 mph), I jogged along as the photographer yelled out instructions like "stop smiling" and "look more serious." So I did.

It was a little strange running on a treadmill without the display and "handle bars" along the sides. And I couldn't look down at my feet the whole time. Then the photographer asked me to "exaggerate" my movements. I was sure I was going to fall flat on my face and end up in a crumpled heap behind the machine. But I never fell and the photographer was able to get at least one good shot of me running with my head up, looking serious.

Finally, I changed into khakis and a black "Sports Authority" golf shirt for the final shot, which I call my "store manager" look (at left). I look a lot happier in my "corporate" shot (at top), but seem pretty content as a store manager. As I understand it, the point of the campaign is to attract people who are passionate about sports -- whether its running, cycling, skiing, golf, or whatever -- to a career at Sports Authority.

If I wasn't so passionate about beef...

Daren

P.S. My "store manager" pose also appears on the "careers" section of the Sports Authority website. Click here to check it out!

Ride the Rockies by the Numbers

I've shared my stories and pictures from Ride the Rockies 2008. I hope you enjoyed them. But its hard to relate the enormity of the entire experience with mere words and pictures. So here is the "tale of the tape" as recorded on my Garmin Edge 705 GPS-enabled cycling computer (at left):

421.8 total miles (RTR is advertised as 435 miles, but a footnote on the website explains that this includes a calculated number of miscellaneous miles around town, which I don't record)

30:01:43 hrs/mins/secs (total time "in the saddle" -- an average of just over five hours per day of riding)

31,054 ft. of total elevation gain (an average of 5,175 ft. -- or nearly a mile -- of climbing per day!)

14.05 average mph (this includes many hours of climbing up steep passes at 6-8 mph averaged with a few minutes of screaming down the other side at 50+ mph!)

125 bpm average heart rate (NOT pushing it...I'm a wimp)

80.0 rpm average (NOT high enough...would like to be 88-92!)

55.26 max speed (a new personal record)

21,668 calories burned* (3,611/day average)

* I didn't count how many calories I consumed, but I gained one pound on the ride, so I must have consumed more than 21,668!

So for all you fellow geeks out there, that's Ride the Rockies by the numbers.

Ride on!

Daren