Gear Review: Camelbak Podium Bottle

A subtitle to this review might be "The Water Bottle Epiphany," because one day, after a ride, it all clicked for me.

I had gone for a ride and noticed that my bottle was dribbling down my lip. That's when it clicked. This is because it was a "traditional" water bottle that has the nipple that pops out to open it, then you push it back in to close it. Near the base of the nipple (not through the threads in the cap as I had previously supposed) the water leaked through because there are two parts. The one that pops out to allow the water to flow and the base structure of the cap.

This problem is solved by the single-piece cap with a "jet valve" that the CamelBak Podium Bottle has. Of course that feature isn't exclusive to the Podium bottle, it's also on other water bottles - I've had a Nike water bottle with a jet valve for a few years now.

I should also note that this cap isn't great if you're a squirter. If you like to squirt water into your mouth without your lips touching the bottle, you probably aren't having a problem with water oozing out of the wrong part of the nipple and onto your chin. Likewise, it takes some work to actually squirt water out of the jet valve, so you may prefer the traditional water bottle structure.

What seperates the Camelbak Podium Bottle other cycling water bottles with jet valves is the ability to turn off the flow with a little dial on top. My Nike water bottle is missing this feature, meaning that when I transport it in a cooler or in the passenger seat of my Element, it tends to leak when it gets jarred. It doesn't spill out a lot, but it does make a bit of a mess, which is annoying.

But by turning the dial on the cap of my Camelbak Podium Bottle I can shut off that water flow and prevent the mess. However, it should be noted that you'll want to open the valve on your bottle(s) before you get on your bike, because it's hard to fumble with that shut-off dial while pedaling.

So to put it all together, if you travel with full water bottles, you'll want the Camelbak Podium. And if you're a "squirter" you won't want the Camelbak Podium. But if you're not a squirter and you don't travel, you still might like the Camelbak Podium. Just keep the jet valve open. Unless you're traveling.

P.S. I also want to credit Mike on His Bike, and his review of the podium bottle that got me thinking about water bottle technology. Or at least what determines our preferences.

HARRC Winter Series #1 5K Race Report

I knew that I wanted to race this week, but I couldn't decide between the Embarq Turkey Trot in Carlisle on Thanksgiving Day or the first race in the Harrisburg Area Road Runners' Club (HARRC) Winter Series. Ultimately I decided that I would be needed more at home on Thursday than on Saturday when Beth's parents would be here to help with Adele, so I saved myself about $17 and ran the Winter Series race.

I woke up Saturday morning with some head congestion and a bit of a sore throat. Fortunately, simply the act of getting out of bed helped with that some and some Tylenol Cold helped with the rest. Unfortunately, Adele woke up with many of the same symptoms.

I decided to tough it out, had a Clif Bar and some Naked Juice for breakfast and headed to Harrisburg for the race. The entire race course was in Riverfront Park along the banks of the mighty Susquehanna. Which is great because it's almost entirely flat, but not so great when there's 25 mile-per-hour winds and you're totally exposed.

The race started in a leeward direction, so with the wind at my back I had a pretty fast start, but I don't know for sure since they didn't have anyone yelling out splits at the mile markers and I usually don't wear a watch when I run 5Ks. After maybe a bit over half a mile we headed down to the riverfront to run windward for a little more than two miles.

When I reached the first mile marker I thought to myself "I've only gone one mile?!" The wind slowed you down so much, it was tough finding the right pace so that you'd have enough left in the tank for that last mile with a tailwind.

As I reached the end of that windward section I powered up the ramp, passing one runner who passed me back after the turnaround. He was obviously saving up for that last mile with the wind at his back, because he was off like a rocket once we hit that turnaround. After that point, I saw only one runner in front of me who I never did catch, and no one behind me caught up to me, although I did have someone on my heels in the final stretch, but when I turned on the final kick he couldn't keep up (makes me wonder if I should be a sprinter).

I finished the race in 25:03, my second slowest 5K race ever (behind one that I don't think was measured correctly). However, I figure the wind added about 90 seconds, so really it was probably my second fastest. This idea was bolstered when I saw the final results, with the winner running it in over 18 minutes (although now that I look again, I see that I was beaten by an 11-year old, a 13-year old and three 14-year olds).

The really great thing about this race is that it was just $8, yet it gives you everything you'd expect from a good race - except a t-shirt, and do you really need a t-shirt for every 5K you run? It was an accurately measured course with professional timing (or at least very good amateur timing) and great snacks and coffee afterwards! And on Saturday morning there is plenty of free parking in Harrisburg.

I Never Learn

Last night Beth was lamenting that she still had a couple things to pick up from the store for Thanksgiving. She could go back out in the evening or maybe just swing by Weis after she dropped Adele off at daycare.

Being the swell guy that I am, I offered to go during my lunch break. She happily accepted my offer.

You may remember a post on this very day last year about this very thing. I never learn.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Man Versus Machine

Since Adele was born, I've become very conscious of my time and how I use it. So I want to make the most of every lunch hour.

You may remember that in Sunday's post I mentioned that parking at the trailhead meant that I'd have to wash my car this week. So I got to thinking. There's a car wash practically across the street from Sheetz. I could get a nutritious salad at Sheetz, then go to the car wash and eat while the touchless automatic washer did it's work. It was a test for future multi-tasking quests. Not just a test, but a contest. Man versus machine.

Could I eat a salad faster than a car wash could wash my car? I guess if it were a fair contest, I'd see if I could wash my car faster the car wash, but I know I'd lose. Instead, I'd just eat lunch.

So yesterday that's what I did. (I've noticed that I begin a lot of sentences with "so" - I'm working on that.) On my lunch break I went to Sheetz and ordered a steak salad (hey, it's nutritious...mostly). After waiting roughly six years to pay for it and seventeen for them to serve it (it was 12:00, I should have known better), I hopped in the Element and drove to the car wash.

Along the way I snapped a couple pictures.

Element: Before

Salad: Before

I didn't even put the dressing on before the car was in position in the car wash. When the door closed behind me, I poured the blue cheese on, shook it up and started eating.

Things went swimmingly. The first part of the salad goes the fastest because it doesn't take any work to get stuff on your fork. You just stab and stuff. But as you go on, things start sliding in emptying bowl and every bite takes a little more time.

The next thing I knew, the car wash was blowing hot air on the exterior, and I still had several bites to go. But in the end, the dry cycle was longer than I expected and I finished the salad off with time to spare, as evidenced by the pictures below:

Salad: After

Element: After

When I pulled out of the car wash, I realized I had lots of time to spare. So I went to Giant to pick up some healthy snacks for work. And maybe a Milky Way (I've been hankering for one for the last month or so).

So I went to Giant, picked up some Cliff Bars and Kashi granola bars. And a Milky Way. Actually, Milky Way were on sale, two for a dollar. So I bought two. I'd have one to eat that afternoon, and then have the other some other time.

It turns out that when candy is involved "some other time" comes to about 30 minutes later. I have "before and after" pictures for that too:

Milky Way: Before

Milky Way: After

Dirt

Today, I finally got back on the trails. I figure it has been more than a six-month hiatus, and my trail shoes , while dirty, obviously haven't been worn in a long time.

As one would expect, when I pulled up to the trail head on Trindle Road, the "lot" was full. that is, the six spots where one could easily park a vehicle were taken and there was another car pulled to the side of the road (blocking the entrance) letting some people out.

Even though I was only headed out for five miles, I felt the need to unlace and re-lace my shoes before headed taking off. They had spent the last six months in the garage, and it looks like something heavy may have been sitting on the back my right shoe for much of that time, because it seemed somewhat warped.

Once my New Balance 840s were comfortably tight, I headed out on the trail.

It took a little while to get used to running on the rocky Appalachian Trail again, which surprised me, since I always thought that I came to trails rather naturally, shaking off turned ankles easily and nimbly descending rocky trails.

But I was immensely aware of the rocks. So I ran cautiously, not wanting to lose my footing on a loose or slippery rock and taking a spill. After the first half mile or so, I got out of the worst of the rocky terrain and found a nice groove. I was able to maintain about an 11:00 minutes/mile pace until faced with the rocky uphill in that last half mile on the return stretch of this out and back.

Ultimately, I covered 5 miles. About 45 miles short of what I ran this weekend last fall, but that's fine. My foot feels great and I'm in great shape to work on some half-marathon training through the winter. I'm coming back slow, but for now that's fine. I'm sure 2010 will be my fourth year in a row with a marathon finish (not so sure about fitting an ultra into that schedule, though.)

Also that run made my decision of what to do with my lunch break tomorrow a little more clear:



I definitely need to get to a car wash before my in-laws see the Element!

Stadium for Sale

Today I heard the craziest thing. (Well, maybe not so crazy considering the real estate market in Michigan.) The Pontiac Silverdome (former home of the Detroit Lions) was sold for the paltry sum of $583,000.

When the stadium was built in 1975 it cost $55.7 million. Now you don't even need to be a millionaire to own it (not to mention all the real estate that the parking lot is sitting on).

I wish I could have gotten in on that. Think of what you could do if you owned your own personal stadium.

1. Wake up every morning in a luxury box.

2. Too cold outside to ride your bike? Hate your rollers or trainer? No problem, just do laps around the main concourse!

3. Play John Madden football on the Jumbo-tron.

4. Get your friends together for some touch football on the Astroturf.

5. Make hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy at the fully functional concession stands.

6. Tear up the parking lot and build a sweet cyclocross course.

7. Have the best Super Bowl party EVER. (In a building where a Super Bowl has been played!)

8. Need a workout? Your very own set of stadium steps!

9. Two words: bouncy ball.



Of course there would be downsides to owning the Silverdome, too. Like living in Detroit. Of course, if you live in a domed stadium, why would you ever need to go outside?

"OOO-EEE-OOO, I Look Just Like Buddy Holly"

I always think that music from when I was about 18 is only enjoyed by people who were about that age.

Like when the kids at youth group say "who is DC Talk?" Or "DC Talk? Never heard of them."

They were only like the two biggest Christian bands in the world 12 years ago. It reminds me of a story I heard told on the radio once. A guy was in a record store in the mid-70's and he heard a girl say "Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?"

Anyhow, I've been contemplating picking up Weezer's Blue Album
for quite some time. Like 10 years, I guess. But really, more seriously over the past several months. Which is good because it's a lot cheaper now that it was 10 years ago. Last night I had some errands to run after bowling, so I figured I swing by Best Buy while I was at it and see if it was there.

It was, and I decided that $9.99 was a reasonable price for perhaps the best, or at least the catchiest, album of the 1990's.

I know Weezer has had some hits recently (Beverly Hills was released in 2005) and they're still producing quality work, but it still kind of blew my mind when I went to the register at Best Buy last night and the pimply-faced kid working the register said, "Oh man, that's a good choice there."

I wanted to say "Really? because you were like three years old when it came out." But I didn't say anything, because I was stunned. Meanwhile, the kid who was standing there doing nothing next to him picked up the album, studying it (for what, I don't know - it just had the band picture on the front and a list of songs on the back) and start talking about how much he likes Weezer.

Thinking back to 1999, I don't think there was an album that was released in 1984 that I would have liked like these kids liked Weezer. Personally, I credit Guitar Hero
.

Sometimes You NEED to Ride

This has been a pretty good week. Training-wise.

I mean, it's been a descent week overall, although it wasn't the easiest thing see Adele go to daycare, and Beth back to work. But really, this post is just about training.

I got a total of 12 miles running in, with a four mile "long run" on Saturday. Yes, I'm building back up slowly. I may even be going slower than I need to, but if I have to start out at 12 miles per week and follow the 10% rule to get back to running marathons and ultras, so be it.

For me, there are some days I have to exercise, and other days I need to exercise.

And today, I NEEDED to exercise. More specifically, I needed to take advantage of what will be probably be the last day to ride my bike in short sleeves and without knee warmers.

I saw it coming early this week. (I follow weather forecasts very closely.) "Sunday: 63 degrees." Then it was "Sunday 65 degrees." "Sunday 66 degrees." And finally, this morning: "High today 68 degrees."

I felt it inside me. I needed to get a ride in. A weekend with nice weather always requires a ride, but a weekend in November with really nice weather DEMANDS it. Unfortunately, my schedule made it tough.

I'd be home from church around one. Need to eat lunch. Need to digest lunch. Need to ride and be back in time to shower and change for a meeting at church at 4:00. Need time with my baby girl.

To help with the lunch situation I ate an extra cinnamon roll at breakfast. I figured, if I just had a gel before I rode, I'd be fine. And I was. I only got 16 miles in, but it was so worth it. Perfect fall weather.

I've never regretted taking a bike ride. I've regretted what I've worn on a bike ride, how far I've gone, what I ate before a bike ride, what I ate during a bike ride and how much water I took with me, but I've never regretted taking a bike ride.

First Day

Yesterday was Adele's first day of daycare.

We made a last minute switch in facilities, (due to several factors that I'm not going to get into on this blog), so I got to be there for the first drop off, so that I could also see the facility and meet the staff, which Beth had done previously.

I think dropping Adele off that morning was probably the toughest thing Beth has done all year (except maybe giving birth). But Beth's a pretty tough chick, and after a few tears, she handled it well.

Beth of course checked up on her during the day and was shocked to learn that Adele had actually slept in her crib! Usually she only sleeps in her crib (bassinet,actually for the time being) at night. And even then, when I wake up in the morning she's usually lying between Beth and I in our bed. (Beth put her there. She didn't get up and crawl in by herself, in case that's what you're thinking.)

We thought it would be a tough transition for her, from spending all day with Mom to spending the day at a daycare with new people who wouldn't be able to hold her all day. But as it turns out, it was a little tougher for Beth to make the adjustment.


I mean, who can focus on work when this baby girl is waiting to be picked up at 5:00?

Sports Experiences

I've been to four NFL games, four Major League Baseball games, a Division I college football game (Miami at Syracuse), many Division III soccer games and countless Minor League baseball games.

But this year I got to experience two new sports experiences.

The first was in spring, when my father-in-law took me to Williams Grove Speedway for the sprint car races. I have to say, it was impressive, watching those cars fly by on the dirt track.

More impressive was my trip to the bathroom where many who were unwilling to temporarily part with their beer set them on top of the urinal while they did their business. Seriously? You couldn't finish it off first or have your buddy hold it for you?

The second was last Friday night when I watched our church's Senior Pastor's son Jeff fight in the Pennsyvania Fighting Championships, the first mixed martial arts event in the history of the city of Harrisburg.

There were a total of 14 fights on the card (minus one cancellation) six amateur and eight professional. The amateur fights were so-so, except the last which was in the 135 lb. division and lasted the full three rounds.

The pro fights were more compelling, but there were also a couple duds. Jeff is a pro fighter, so his fight was later in the night - he choked out his opponent in the first round.

I was surprised how many bouts never made it to the second round - in fact I think all but three or four had knockouts or submissions in the first round, which meant my night was not nearly as late as I had expected.

Beth warned me beforehand not to get any ideas...so I'm not going to be taking up MMA any time soon (or ever), besides my body takes enough of a beating out running marathons.

New Age Group

Yesterday (Saturday, that is) I ran my first race since the Pittsburgh Marathon.

On Wednesday I had seen Dr. Marks about my foot. He said it was tendinitis and recommended some insoles to help take the pressure off that part of the foot. So I bought insoles for both my pairs of road shoes (still have to go get a pair for my trail shoes), and decided I'd be fine to race the Hollywood Two Miler.

I swung by the Inside Track (our local running store) to get another pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 11's and officially retire my Nike Air Pegasus shoes. The Air Pegasus just does not have the cushioning I need. The store manager also praised the insoles recommended by Dr. Marks, he stopped short of saying they solved all his problems, but they helped him a lot.

I came in 20th place overall (men and women) at the two miler, finishing in slightly disappointing 14:11. But I thought that maybe I had a good chance on snagging an age-group award. I checked the results sheet and noticed that about 12-15 of the 19 people ahead of me were in the 30-39 age group.

The sad thing is, if the race was a few weeks ago I would have likely won an age group award in the 20-29 age group. Now I'm in the most popular age group in almost any race (although I think ultras tend to skew older) and I suppose I should be happy that that's my only complaint about my last birthday.

As far as the foot goes, I'm going to stick to my training plan, following the 10% rule until I'm up to 20 miles per week unless I have a setback.

Return of the Stench

Last weekend Beth noticed the smell coming back in our closet. You know, THE smell.

This surprised me, because we've had six mousetraps in our attic for weeks and have yet to crush the head of any of cute, fuzzy unwanted guests.

Since we obviously had a new infestation, I went upstairs to check the traps one more time, and sure enough we had one dead mouse, one trap still baited and FOUR that looked like this:


Still set, but no peanut butter. FOUR traps out of six (minus the one that they never made it to because they fell in our wall in and died again). They're like super mice that can lick a trap clean and not set it off. (I would be more inclined to believe this statement if it weren't for the fact that they keep getting stuck in our wall and dying.)

Then yesterday I checked the wall for our stench-creating mouse. I pulled off the panel that the pest control guy put over the hole he cut in our wall and...nothing. Just some insulation that fell in from the attic. No mice.

So now the guy is coming tomorrow to cut another hole in our wall and get out this new dead mouse (or mice as the case may be).

The Weekend that Wasn't

Have you ever had one of those weekends when Sunday night rolls around and you think, what happened to my weekend? It might not be that everything you did was laborious or something you didn't want to do, but it just didn't feel weekend-ish.

I had one of those weekends. Saturday morning my alarm went off at 8:00 so I'd have time to do some strength training before leaving for a workshop at church. I didn't really even get a chance to enjoy any coffee, although I had some at the delicious lunch served at the workshop.

After the workshop it was time to work on the washing machine. Fortunately I've been blessed with a father-in-law who is a (recently) retired appliance repairman. Unfortunately, he lives more than four hours away. But we got him on the phone and he talked me through the repair. And he was very patient when I got my parts mixed up and tried to remove some hose clamps when he told me to remove the clips holding the pump in place.

I got more bad news when I walked in to Sears at 4:30 only to find out that their parts department is in the Harrisburg store. And closes at 4:00. So I order the part online and we're out a washer for the next few days.

After all that I just pretty much crashed. Beth and I ordered pizza and spent the evening glued to the TV watching the World Series.

Sunday we had church in the morning and I managed to get a 20-mile bike ride in that afternoon - the only real weekendish thing I got to do. Then I had to attend to the giant pile of laundry that had built up since we discovered our little washing machine problem.

I loaded up two baskets full of laundry, which translated to about four loads when I reached the laundromat. It was a strange feeling of regression, in that I haven't paid to do laundry since I was in college. And the price has gone way up since then! $2.50 for a load in the washer and 25 cents for six minutes in the dryer! In all I spent about $20 and two and half hours getting the laundry done.

I got home at around 8:30. Exhausted, yet I found myself up until midnight watching baseball (again).

And then my weekend was gone.

Three Months Old

Remember this picture of Adele when she was just a few days old? She hated her car seat.




Well, I guess you could say things have changed:



Actually, she still isn't the biggest fan of her carseat, but she's getting used to it, and we even got this picture when she was in an especially good mood. It's really cool seeing how much she's changing these first few months.