Weekend Update: Norway!

I hope everyone had a great Super Bowl weekend stateside. Mine was a little different than years past as I was running around Norway with some friends of mine from London.

Dan and I flew into Oslo Friday night. Chris and Ana had beaten us there by a few hours. Nothing exciting Friday night as Saturday was going to be a long day. On Saturday morning, we hopped on the metro rail to Voksenkollen. This is what is amazing about Oslo. We were on a commuter train for 20 minutes and were walking distance to a ski resort. Many of the locals we talked to said they go there multiple times each week. Pretty cool lifestyle. A map is worth a thousand words:


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I'll post some pictures later, but the views were amazing. I had only cross-country skied once before, but this was on an entirely different level. When I had tried XC in Utah, it was on a snow covered golf course; not alot of elevation to gain. Skiing here involved going up some fairly extended pitches for 1km at times and then kind of steep downhill segments. On those little classic XC skis, hilarity ensued. Chris and I had each been on these types of skis once before, whereas Ana and Dan were entirely new to the concept. Dan had actually never been on skis before at all. Pretty impressive really.

Our best guess is that we covered about 12-15km the first day with almost none of those being flat. There were moments where we felt entirely alone in the woods and then moments where we were reminded that we were 20 minutes from a major city. Lots of people out skiing with their kids, dogs, spouses, etc. Just a great environment: beautiful scenery and really friendly, fit people everywhere.

We also stopped by to check out the somewhat famous ski jump in Holmenkollen. I had never really gotten a sense for how massive/steep these structures are when you watch on TV, but it is somewhat awe-inspiring. Very slim chance I would go anywhere near that thing on skis.

On Saturday night, we went to the waterfront area of the harbor in downtown Oslo and had some of the local fare. I had 'Roast Beef of Whale' and 'Fersk Torsk' with a local pilsner. The whale was fantastic. The cod? Not so much. We also tried a local variety of chowder that was good. The whale was like a really tender beef and was not as fatty as you might imagine. I'd highly recommend it.

Sunday was more of the same: wandering around a wilderness area with a vague notion of what we were doing. By the end of the day, we were all fairly proficient at cross-country skiing as well as pretending we knew which way we were going.

We negotiated our way into a lukewarm soap-less, towel-less shower at a hostel and then headed to the airport to catch our 9pm flights, but not before grabbing some nachos and pizza to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday on the way. Flight landed a little after 10pm in London and I was asleep well before midnight. Stew stayed up and watched the game (which was apparently great), but an 11pm kickoff is a bit much for me.

In summary, it was a fairly cheap, impromptu trip to a beautiful city. I spent almost every hour of daylight outside and my soul is much better off for the effort. I'll post some pictures later in the week. If they are half as good as I think, there should be some memorable ones worthy of a desktop wallpaper.

skål!  ("skoal")

Weekend Update: Turkey Feast

Unfortunately, the limeys don't celebrate our pillaging of North America like we do back in the states, so that left me in the office for all of last week. On the bright side, I get the bragging rights of having been a producer on Thankgiving (I'm clearly searching for the silver lining, cut me a break). 

On Friday, however, I was invited to a friend's house where he and his wife cooked up a Thanksgiving feast worthy of anything back in the states. Three heaping plates of tryptophan-goodness later and I was happy. One guest mentioned he had never seen one person eat so much in his entire life. Full of good food, bourbon  AND the center of attention? Brad = happy. Definitely missed the family and friends at home, but this was certainly a great substitute.

Friday night (after the feeding frenzy) we went to a friend's housewarming party, met some cool folks and stayed out late. My food coma would not be denied forever and I eventually made it home to collapse. Saturday and Sunday were fairly typical: gym, college football, borough market and church.

LSU-Arkansas was a highly entertaining football game AND Wake beat the venerated Commodore-mats of Vanderbilt. Not exactly bowl-bound, but I'll take the W.  Nothing made me happier than Nevada beating Boise State though. I sent at least 4 people text messages that read only: NEVADA!!!!! Anyone else getting excited for Auburn-Oregon? 

Actual Post about Thanksgiving: Turkey Slaughter!

Two things I love: food and quantitative analysis... together! (Big Picture)

Links

EAT REAL FOOD - 10 things Snack Food Companies Won't Say (SmartMoney- H/T Crossfit Football)

Killer Whales surf too (Adventure Journal)

Inside a Glacier (Adventure Journal)

Driver Kills Cyclist, Sues Family (Outside)

Addicted to Parenting (Freakonomics)

Powerful Story about Paleo

I make no secret about my enthusiasm for the paleo diet, but I try to minimize the amount of salesmanship as I know that can be annoying (diet might as well be included with politics and religion). I would recommend that everyone check out Robb Wolf's new book and try it for 30 days. As Robb says, at worst you gave up the food you like for 30 days, at best, you change your life. As a trader, I see that as a pretty good risk/reward.

Today on his blog, Robb has a really interesting anecdote from Fat Girl. I'm not usually a huge fan of anecdotal evidence. I like statistics and studies, but some people prefer personal stories. If you want science, read Robb's book or website or check out Dr. Loren Cordain's original book (or his work for endurance athletes) or Mark Sisson's book or blog.

If you want an inspirational story about someone who couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, tried EVERYTHING she could (including other diets and prescription medicines), consulted with dozens of doctors and then finally tried palo, then CLICK HERE.

I'm serious. My knees feel better, my energy is more stable, my endurance is better, I no longer get sugar crashes or afternoon sleepiness and my shakes are gone. As much as I love Crossfit, the paleo diet has made a bigger difference overall in my life. I'll be happy to discuss anything further with anyone interested.

Weekend Update: Italia!

I ducked out of the office a little early on Friday to catch a flight to Bologna. Got in Friday night and took a bus to central Bologna from the airport.

I stayed the first night at the Albergo delle Drapperie, which is a 7 or 8 room hotel off a tiny, quintessentially-Italian street with foot traffic only. Fish and fruit mongers next to cafes and trattorias, etc. My hotel room was not much larger than what you might find on a cruise boat, but it sufficed perfectly for my needs and still had beautiful furnishings, marble floors and all the trimmings. As cool as my area was, this trip was about food and wine and it was time to get to business.

Read more after the jump