Saturday, December 11, 2010

New Blog - I'M MOVING

I am moving my blog over to Wordpress.com

Here is the new link -> The Chronicles of Turbeau Curbeau...thats the title until I can think of something else..if their is anything else. Any suggestions for a new blog title are very welcome. Leave the names in the comments section. I will give you credit if I choose your suggestion!

NEW BLOG --> http://turbeaucurbeau.wordpress.com/

Thursday, December 9, 2010

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Happiness is a choice, and today I choose to be happy no matter what happens. One cannot control the external factors in life so today I say that everyone should just be happy no matter what the situation. I think everyone needs to be reminded of this now and then, I know I do.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

A Saturday Morning Quickie

Tight on time at the moment. Trying to get a ride in this morning before I pack up and head to Syracuse to catch the basketball game tonight!

In the mean time here is the final picture of me and my Mustache. Taken on Wednesday of this week. Thank you to my family members who donated money and helped give me the motivation to keep that beautiful thing on my face all month. And thank you to the many admiring comments I received all month long. I was very close to keeping it forever.....well not really

Enjoy!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Turbeau Goes to Portland



Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. As I sit here flying 20,000 or however many feet we are up I am beginning to feel reality set in once again. I have been lucky enough to come out to Portland and visit a part of my family who I rarely get to see. The trip kind of popped up out of nowhere. I always knew I wanted to come spend time with my brother and his family but its always so hard to actually put the trip together...figuring out schedules, taking time off, managing training, etc etc. Anyways, back in early October I made up my mind that I wanted to come out and Thanksgiving was going to be the ideal time as it afforded me time off from work without using my vacation hours and it was during the offseason from triathlon training, although I did get some pretty serious runs in out here, but more on that later. So anyways, with the help of my mom we pieced together a flight out here and that was that. It's a fair amount of travel to get to Portland but it's worth every second. So with that introduction let me get started on describing what it is I've been doing out here this weekend.

Well as I wrote about in my last blog; for the Thanksgiving holiday I came out west to Portland, Oregon to be with my brother Jon, sister in law Meredith ("Mere"), nephew Winslow ("wins" or the "deeder" or something along those lines, niece Elle (aka "mudgy snigler" or the "mudge", and the wonder-dog Sugarfoot. On Friday as I wrote about in my last post I got to go running with Mere, ate donuts at the Voodoo donut shop (definitely the creepiest, dirtiest donut shop in the country...and they are making money like gangbusters!!..and they are cash only, someone from the IRS should stop by, I'm just sayin..),





...then after that my brothers friend Erin took me to the Nike Employee store where everything was 50% off! Two pairs of shoes were quickly purchased, pretty much solely because they were so freaking cheap, and the were the latest versions, it wasn't like they were the defective outlet store ones...they even had the latest Air Jordan XIII release for just $85, if your a sneaker head like me you now that deals like that just don't happen...ever! So that was basically like taking a kid into a candy store or an alcoholic to the Budweiser brewing facility. My head was spinning..awesome stuff!!

After we got back from the Nike store we gathered back at my bros house and had dinner with Erin and Chris who are my brothers friends who live just up the street. They have a couple little guys just about the same age as Wins and Mudgy so it works out real well for them in terms of babysitting and all that. And I believe if I am correct, my brother used to Nanny for Wins and there son Leo for a brief time when they were little guys before he started Med school.

So they came over, Wins and Leo had some epic Clone Wars reenactment battles and I was able to pick the brain of Chris (Erin's husband) who has THE DREAM JOB, as he is a Product Designer in the running footwear department for Nike (he helped design the Nike Free's that are currently on my feet as I type), he's also the President of the Bowerman Athletic Club too (check the website out!)..and oh by the way he is a former 4:08 mile who ran at Oxford university...you know that really old historic place over in Engalnd..yep that one! So he is a legit Oxford Blue. It was great to talk everything running with him, we even you tubed some classic running races and he gave me the scoop on all of them. Since I had just finished Sir Roger Bannisters book on the flight out here I was able to talk about the 4 minute mile and actually know more than it was really fast and an amazing accomplishment. All in all it was super cool to chat with someone who shares the same passion for running and athletics in general...and I mean he has the sweetest job ever getting to deal with elite athletes on a personal level by developing sneakers for them and ensuring that they can do what they do at the highest level possible. maybe he will be able to pull some strings for me over at Nike...can you imagine!!! Portland, Oregon with my brother and fam, with Nike, among the beautiful pacific northwest...ahh it would be a dream come true.

So that was Friday in a nut shell. A fantastically amazing day that had to come to an end.


Saturday began with a pleasant walk down into the little village where my brother lives. They have a starbucks, some shops, and some restaurants..a very cute and cozy downtown all in all. Instead of going to the giant coffee store that is Starbucks we opted to pay a visit to the Grand Central cafe where we got caffeinated and chatted for a while as we ate out muffins and pastries, a very pleasant time was had for all.



After the morning walk and coffee I got ready to go for a run with Erin..and let me tell you Erin is legit. She might play it off that she's just a casual runner blah blah but the woman can hammer. I was going into the run with no agenda, my official 2011 training season starts tomorrow so this still just for pure pleasure with no data watching. Well let me tell you, Erin had me gasping for air. We went out to big beautiful park called "Forest Park" where it looked like I was in some remote rain forest...the first thought that came to my mind was FERN GULLY. It was BEAUTIFUL! Gorgeous trail paths with wooden hand rails, lots of happy hikers, jobbers, families walking together and some serious elevation! Going up the muddy trails, along switchbacks, climbing and climbing had my legs absolutely shelled by the time we made it to the top of the hill...all while Erin was happily bounding up ahead of me. But it was totally worth it, such a cool place that had an awesome view of Portland at the top. I could really get used to running these trails and running with Erin and her husband who could whip me into shape. Its always good to train with people who can absolutely take you to the pain cave post haste. After our epic trail adventure Erin was kind enough to take me over to the Nike Campus for a little self guided tour. What a place! Soccer field, tracks, volleyball courts, tennis courts, basketball, courts, indoor pools, etc etc..it is basically the epitome of what I crave, love, desire, want, live, breathe, etc..the list could go on and on. All the building there are named after Nike athletes, there is the mia hamm building, Tiger Woods building, Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Bo Jackson, and many more like the Lance Armstrong building which as one that I got to go inside and see. What an amazing facility! A full gym, spin room, locker room, huge pool...and I've got to tell you about the pool because it is truly unique, even my swim snob buddy Mary Eggers would drool over this thing. It's an ozone pool that uses absolute no chlorine, there are no chemicals in this thing. Its pure and I hear it is absolutely amazing, maybe next time I am here I will get a swim workout in it. So after the LA building tour we strolled around rest of the campus, taking in the sights like the man made lake thing they have going on, among other things. Then on the way out I saw what was probably the coolest thing on the complex...a full size track that is located smack dab in a wooded forest area. The infield is all trees so your basically running on a world class surface in and out of the forest...it just looks so awesome, I've got to imagine running mile repeats on that thing wouldn't be so bad at all.

PS: Erin, my legs are still sore :)

After the Nike visit Erin dropped me off back at my bros house. Once there I was able to see my brothers friend Skippy and his family who were down spending the weekend. You see Skippy and I go way back, to a time when he and my brother made a cross country trip to Penn Yan in a van that had a Hawk painted on the side of it...don't ask...if you want more details on it I can give you Mere's email and she can tell you all about it! So anyways they came back east one summer a long long time ago...maybe 12 years ago and the most memorable part of the whole trip was that Skippy ended up buying an old Mazda truck that belonged to my brother in laws mom. So we have some history.

Plug for Skippy...go to his facebook page and "Like" it!! and visit his website Aaron Barna Photography

I know none of my friends and people that read this live on the West Coast..but hey, you never know!


Later in the afternoon we made our way to the neighborhood community center for some fun in the pool with the kiddos. What a neat neat place! Tons of water toys and fountains and geysers for the little dudes and me, and a huge water slide that is fun fun fun. Wins and I went down...uber fast, it was cool. Which at the center I even had the chance to get some laps in...all was right in the world. After the pool we went back to the house for a big feast of steak and all kinds of vegetables. It was delicious. Then we hung out for the rest of the night. Another great day of vacation. Couldn't have asked for a better one.



And so here I am. Flying high in the sky trying to get in grips with the fact that I am returning back to Rochester, back to work...I've got a lot of stuff to do over the next few weeks in terms of work. Nothing major like tax busy season deadlines but just a lot of random projects that I don't really know to much about. I feel very overwhelmed by them so I am trying not to think about them as their is nothing i can do about it until 8:30 tomorrow morning. There is no reason to let it disrupt my personal time...my vacation time...my family time. So there it is folks. I had an awesome awesome time out here. Although I was here for but a few short hours I totally dug the vibe I got. Being able to be a part of my brothers family who I do not get to see often is special for me. They have two absolutely amazing children and I treasure the time I get to spend with them. Seriously, just look at the pictures of these two coconuts. They are adorable. Mudgy could literally get away with anything just by saying "I sorry...Me no mean to"..how can you get mad at that! Along with the little peanuts being able to spend time with my older brother and his wife is priceless. Growing up across the country from them and being 12 years younger has not allowed me to really interact with them much. Before this trip the last time I had spent time with them was 2006 when I went out to the Snake River and helped my brother finishing building a house...yes I helped actually build something of substance, to this day it amazes me. Well anyway i feel like I really got to know my sister in law Mere this trip, i had a blast hanging out and getting to know more about her. I'm really blessed to have such a cool family that is spread out all over the world...it just stokes the fire in my belly. The fire to do big things.

So thank you Jon, Mere, Wins, Mudge, and Sugarfoot...along with Everyone else I met out here in Portland. I had a blast hanging out with you all, and I hope to see you all again sometime soon. Hopefully it won't be another 4 years until i come back out west!!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Turbeau's in the Wild West

Greeting All!

I hope you've awoken from your coma induced slumber by now, and if you were out bargain hunting this morning on Black Friday I hope your coupon induced craze paid off.

Today was a stellar day out here in Portland. No, the sun was not shining and it was not 80 degrees outside. BUT it was Portland and Portland is where my big bro and his family live. So all was well in Turbeau's world today. I got in yesterday evening around 5:30 ish and was greeted by my brother and nephew Winslows who came and got me at the airport. We quickly got back to his house and met up with his wife Meredith and some friends of theirs who were over for dinner...and dinner was just what I needed after a long day of flying with minimal legit meals. Just a couple apples and a granola bar with some nuts were about the only things I had...so taking down some turkey, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, creamed onions (better than they sound), pumpkin pie made with agave (no sugar), etc..it was good stuff and there were leftovers so the meals we had today were equally delicious. After dinner we mellowed out and all hit they hay pretty quickly, especially me. This morning my sister-in-law Meredith and I went to one of her favorite places to run which is an old fire road called the leif erikson trail. Its a really nice trail that climbs up the side of hill. It doesn't go straight up the hill or anything...instead it meanders back and forth in a long switchback format. It made for a really nice run. I was a bit outside my zones because of the elevation but I wasn't to concerned...it just felt good to be outside moving around. And for the first time since Nov 6th I started to feel like an athlete again.

When the running was done we headed back to the homestead, had some lunch, and chilled for a little while before we headed for the main adventure of the day which was a visit to the world famous Voodoo Donut shop. This place is for the lack of better words NUTS. Get this, the donuts come in a "box" which is "pink" and has the words "all the best things come in a pink box" get it??? get it?? your sick! hahaha

Anyways, this Voodoo donuts place is a freaking gold mine. They only except cash which means you know they are making out like gangbusters. I asked the lady working the counter how many donuts she thought she sold per day and she was thinking around 2K or so..thats a lot of donuts!! I mean the line was out the doors at 3:00 pm and my bro said it was like this pretty much every time they had ever been there. I ended up having one of their signature Bacon Maple Donuts..yep BACON! DELICIOUS BACON right on top of some maple glaze. It was pretty tasty I must say. They also had all other kinds of donuts, Marshall Matters (named after Rapper Eminem) which had M&M's on it, a Captain Crunch donut, a bubble gum donuts with an actual piece of bubble gum in it, and some other really really awesome concoctions. I will post up some pictures tomorrow when I pull them off my computer. You will all be impressed.

To cap off the day my brothers nice friends were kind enough to take me up to the Nike Employee store. My brothers friend Chris who has a couple kids the same ages as my brothers works at Nike as a product developer for Footwear and he is the President of the Bowerman Athletic Club...he's kind of a big deal! Anywho because he is who he is I was able to go inside the Nike store with a guest pass and get the chance to pick up some nike goods for 50% off! And this store had it all..all the newest releases, everything a normal Niketown would have..so basically I had my pick of the cream of the crop at half off. Naturally I picked up a couple pairs of shoes (Nikes Frees - Livestrong Edition and some Lunar Elite's)..sidenote: My brothers friend help create the Nike Free so if your wearing them right now..thank him!

Well its getting to be bed time and I have another full day of playing around here in Portland!

Talk to you all later.

-Turbeau

Monday, November 22, 2010

yikes...

You know your are a baller when you:

1. Finish an Ironman
2. Finish an Ironman in first place in AG
3. Finish an Ironman in first place of your gender...as a pro
4. Finish an Ironman only 30 minutes behind the overall male finisher...when you are a girl

Chrissie Wellington is fast...scary fast.


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Last day of the Offseason, my last hurrah with pretzel m&m's

Good morning all. Today is the last official day of my offseason. The 2011 will begin tomorrow. It will begin very slowly, but at least it will be beginning. What does this mean? Well first off it means that its about 7am right now, I am eating pretzel m&m's and drinking coffee, and about to go paddle around on Keuka Lake in a kayak. The lake is like glass and the sun is just coming up. It looks to be a glorious morning. Maybe I will even be back in time to catch a walk with my mom. These types of days are few and far between so I need to take advantage of them while I can. Another thing about today is that its 7am. I've been up since about 5:30, for some reason my normal sleeping habits kick back into effect as soon as I have caught up on my lost sleep. Meaning that once I've made up for whatever sleep deficit that comes about from racing and traveling I return to my normal sleep pattern which is waking up between 4:30 - 5:00 each morning. It's not such a bad things because I really cherish the morning horus. They are my hours, most other people are still asleep so between 4:30-8:30 every morning I can do whatever I want without worrying about not being available. That sense of freedom is nice ecspecially when in the winter months work can become demanding and the hours last long into the evening. I at least always have a few sacred hours in the morning to myself..to my sport!

That's all I have for the moment. Its now 7:15 and I am going to head out onto the lake for a little while. I might be back on here later if an inspiring thought so chooses to cross my mind today.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Holiday Season is upon us all


Happy Movember 20th everyone!

The mustache is alive and well..and Starbucks is now in full-fledged holiday mode, which is very comforting to me. If the weather must turn cold and the snow must fly then at least for 1.5 months out of the year I can drift into a warm and cozy holiday time of the year where people are cheery (most of the time) stores are decorated nicely, and where friends and family are a frequent sight. This year in particular I have a lot to be thankful for. Lately I have found myself a bit down and out about certain things, I succumbed to thinking that "I have it bad". Well, the fact of the matter is that I don't have it bad at all. Instead of wishing I had something else I need to be grateful for what I have right now. We are all on some kind of path and you just need to stay the course. Nothing ever worth having or attaining came easy, nor should it. I know that but I haven't been living it lately. So what can I do about this? Well I can reflect on all the awesomeness that is around me.

Top 10 Things that Turbeau is Thankful For:

10. The new Starbucks Holiday Mug. This is now the 4th of my collection. I can officially say that I have been addicted to coffee for over 4 years now. I owe it all to my time in London where I discovered the wonders that a hot coffee, iPod, and the London tube had to offered. I spent many a time walking to the station with my coffee, sitting on the train with my coffee, and even sitting in the many Starbucks that London has to offer. Then back here in the homeland coffee took a new meaning when I began to study each morning here at my favorite Starbucks in the world, the 12 Corners. I could honestly write a whole blog about how awesome this store is. Its funny to think about how many barista's I have been through here. All very nice people who seem to always remember me when I come in the store. They have all moved on to bigger and better things and for that I am very happy.




9. My new Asics trainers. (Gel Noosa Tri 6) Check out these fly babies.


Yeah, they are pretty loud. But what else would Turbeau wear? I haven't actually run in these yet since I've been on a bit of a break from exercise lately...but I have been wearing them around to the coffee shop, to the diner, etc...and I have had numerous compliments from strangers and family who are all raving about how cool they are. Then they see the actual designs on the shoe and absolutely love the kangaroo's riding bikes. You see, this Noosa tri sneaker is not a new one. It is in its 6th edition now, but previously to this one it was only sold in Australia and some other European markets, the USofA has missed out on the colorfol joy that the Gel Noosa trainer brings. Noosa in particular refers to a spot in Australia where a triathlon which has over 8,000 participants takes place each year. YES 8,000! Can you imagine that swim start if it was a mass start??

8. Coffee in general. I just wanted to express my thanks to the lovely coffee bean which produces the wonderful drink which greats me most every morning. Coffee, you do many things for me and for that I am grateful.

7. My mustache. A one month a year oddity, it warms both the soul and the upper lip at the same time. You might miss it on my face if your more than 10 feet away but rest assure that its there and its taking on a life of its own. Never be bashful about a mustache. Remember, cowboys in the old west sported them so it MUST BE COOL!

6. The Harry Potter Books. They are each equally wonderful masterpieces of literature which take me to a happy place each time I read them. I must not tell lies that they are probably my favorite books of all time, and thats just that. And part 1 of the 7th movie was very good. I pretty much like every movie I see, I mean they are all entertaining..even the bad ones. However, a great movie in my opinion is one where in the middle or towards the end of it in the theater I think to myself....geez I wonder how long I've been in here, I really hope the movie isn't almost over. Those are the movies, the ones that end to soon..the ones you want to keep going. Last nights movie for me was one of those. I wanted to go grab another bag of popcorn and watch Part 2..IMMEDIATELY! But alas, I must wait many months in order for Warner Brothers to milk us greedy consumers. And I must not leave out that Ms. Alexa Harding accompanied me to the movie last night. I must say that as much as a fan of HP as I am...I a pail in comparison to her. Just ask to see her wrist some time. Line, Circle, Triangle..I will leave it at that.

1-5 to come later.

Friday, November 19, 2010

It Finally Happened

I've caught a cold and the first snow has stuck to the cars outside. I could feel the familiar scratch in my throat yesterday morning, the scratch that tells me that its going to be hard to swallow for a little while, you know the one where your head becomes heavy, your neck hurts and all you want to do its sleep all day. Anyway, I fought long and hard yesterday to keep the sickness at bay, yet all the water, oranges, airborne, and purell couldn't repair the damage that had done. Luckily my mom and dad came up last night and were able to get me some medicine to combat whatever I have..be it a nasty cold, or strep throat. None the less I took a huge swig of nyquil last night and I woke up just a few minutes ago..I got a great full nights sleep because of the quil..good stuff! So I am a little happy today that I don't feel as awful as I thought I was going to be feel and that I am not contagious which means I don't have to sit in bed all day, even though a nice long nap all day does sound appealing. Tonight is a night where I actually want to be able to go out and do something. It's my last weekend of my true offseason and its the night of the Harry Potter opening. Officially the movie released this morning at 12am, I would usually have been there for the midnight showing but alas I did not grace the Pittsford cinema with my appearance this morning. So now as I struggle to wake up I am left to think about the day ahead. I've got to get through the next ~11 hours and life will then be good. I will get to start the weekend off by reading some Harry Potter, then going to the movie, then going to bed and sleeping until whenever I feel like it. I will sleep long and hard with the aid of nyquil. This weekend is going to be all about sleeping. I have a big week next week and I want to get back to full strength! What's my big week entail of you ask? Well, I would be more than happy to let you all know.
1. The 2011 season will officially kick off. Some easy efforts will begin and the weight room might even make an appearance.
2. Only 3 days of work
3. I am going to Portland, Oregon on Thurday morning to spend the weekend with my brothers family!!