Happenings...

So I know I owe you all a race report from Cast-a-Shadow which happened last weekend and I've got a few fun pictures in store for that report, but I wanted to drop a short post here because the past few days have been pretty solid in my little multisport world. 

I've been waiting since last year sometime over the summer to finally get a Garmin Forerunner 310xt.  I grabbed a powertap SL+ hub from my buddy Matt who upgraded his gear recently and had it installed in a Velocity deep V rim last fall by the wonderful folks over at Mendon Cyclesmith (great shop by the way).  All it's really been is a fairly expensive hub that's done nothing for me over the past few months.  Since I got a Tacx trainer a while back, I've been using that to measure my power on my rides and I've been jonsing to get a head unit for the PowerTap.

In comes the Forerunner 310xt.  As most of you remember, I travelled to Chicago last fall to run a silly race and stopped by the Garmin showroom there on the main strip. (also a classic waste of store space...that place was HUGE and their products can fit into your hand) I picked up a quick release kit and have installed the mount on my bike in heavy anticipation as of last fall as soon as I got back.  Tonight, I will be finally attaching and pairing up a headunit that measures power.  This weekend I will also take it on my long run and use it to track mileage/pace/speed/and HR! Needless to say I'm trying to hold back my excitement, this thing is AWESOME...and I've never had anything like it.  As a numbers kind of guy, I've always estimated my distance on my training routes and this will give me MUCH more exact data.

So as it charges at work, I'm sitting here in anticipation of getting to play with it once I get home and set up the quick release kit! Oh and the best part is, I bought it with my HSA and it was all pre-tax deductions from my work account.  So, the thing was pretty much "free" as I didn’t see the cash, so it was like “fake money”. I know it was money deducted from my paycheck, but it seems like it was never mine to begin with. Which makes it that much easier of a pill to swallow.

But alas, that’s not the ONLY good news in the past few days. The Muddy Sneaker lottery was held last night at the Otter Lodge and I won't keep you in suspense, it was a great night overall, only made better by the fact that #32 that was called was yours truly.  So for the scond year in a row, I get to haul butt thru the woods and HUGE hills down at Hi Tor WMA during April.  Some good fast folks are signed up, so this will be a good race this year! Getting in super early in the night allowed me to relax and enjoy myself rather than sweat it out and keep my fingers crossed hoping that I was going to get in.  It was good times, good beer and good food with good friends last night.  Great seeing everyone out and about and a PERFECT night to spend on a solid rest week. 

And that's it, just a short little update.  I'm super stoked to see how the Garmin power #'s compare to the tacx and play around with it all this weekend! So I hope you all are staying warm and enjoying your winter.  see you on the roads and trails friends. Cheers!