Last weekend I underwent an epic 36 hours of working out at The SHOP in Dallas. As you might recall from my previous post about my first SHOP experience, it is not for the faint of heart. The SHOP is run by Drew Skaggs (S.H.O.P. stands for the Skaggs House Of Pain), a member of Rice's 2003 national championship baseball team. After graduating with degrees in Chemical Engineering and pursuing a career in commercial real estate, Drew finally stopped pursuing a "double life" (working to pay the bills and pursuing his interests in his offtime) and devoted his efforts fulltime to his passions: fitness, nutrition, strength, conditioning. He was already an incredible resource of information about the most cutting edge research in these areas but now that he is living and breathing it fulltime, The SHOP has become a mecca for elite athletes. Drew is more than academic, though; he practices what he preaches and leads by example.
To set the context, I'm in better shape than I was during my first SHOP visit in January. With Drew's help I've added three pounds of muscle, shed four pounds of fat, taken a minute off of my 5k PR, and taken 80 seconds off of my 10k PR. I was only going to be in Dallas for about 36 hours but Drew promised that we could do plenty of damage in that amount of time. To add to the excitement, we were joined by a mutual acquaintance, a former professional athlete, who is quite a fitness enthusiast himself. He happened to be in Houston so it was easy for him just to drive up to Dallas with me.
We arrived around 8:30 PM Thursday evening, changed clothes and immediately hit The SHOP. As had happened last time, Drew took me way out of my comfort zone with many exercises and movements I had never done - or even heard of - before. We started with Turkish Get-Ups using a dumbbell or kettlebell. I have no idea why the Turks would ever want to get up that way but it was a really intense way to begin a workout! We followed this with heavy dumbbell Farmer's Walks superset with ab wheel rolls. At this point it was clear to me already how out of shape my forearms were because they were completely exhausted already!
We finished off the workout with anaerobic conditioning. Drew set up three stations: battle ropes, mountain climbers, and the airdyne bike. Each us was at one station performing 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise. Then we rotated stations and rested for 40 seconds. We completed a full circuit three times and I never thought 9 minutes could last so long! My heart rate peaked in the 190s and finally we were done. Drew made his famous SHOP recovery shakes and then we were off to bed for recuperation.
No rest for the weary, though, as we were up at 5 AM for pre-workout nutrition: omelets with plenty of fresh veggies. Some other SHOP regulars joined us at 6:30 for workout #2. We began with heavy deadlifts. I used a trap bar instead of a straight bar just because I'm less accustomed to it. Next up: single arm dumbbell bench press superset with kettlebell swings. Then we wrapped up with overhead press superset with single leg glute bridges. For post workout nutrition we had second breakfast at Company Cafe, where I had a deep bowl of sweet potatoes, eggs, and grass fed buffalo - Mmmmm!
My business meetings took me most of the day Friday, but I made it back to The SHOP in time for workout #3: Wrestlemania! Drew has been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so we rolled out the mats and he taught us a few moves. Then we had six two-minute rounds of one-on-one grappling, with one person sitting out to rest each round. The goal was to get the other person to submit without any intentional punching, kicking, or other strikes, just grappling. Just as I remembered from my days wrestling back in school, such an experience is absolutely exhausting. Maybe people with great technique are less exhausted by it but, for me, I basically end up with all muscles flexed all the time.
Because I didn't really know what I was doing, my approach can best be described as a "turtle" strategy. Each round I found myself pretty quickly with my face in the mat so most of my effort was focused on countering my opponent's attempts to manipulate me into a submission hold. While I was mostly "successful" with that - in that I managed to fend off such attempts until the end of the very last round, when I found myself in a choke hold - I wasn't "winning;" I was "not losing." Next time I'll need to take more risks to get more offensive practice. Still, it was a lot of fun and a heck of a workout.
Friday evening we grilled up steaks and salmon that Drew had caught in Alaska. Add some spinach with lots of garlic, tomatoes and avocado, Napa cab, and raw milk white russians (in honor of all the Big Lebowski references we had been making) and it was a heck of a meal. Then back to sleep before the final round.
Saturday morning we woke up early again for sprouted grain english muffins with peanut butter then began workout #4. As most of our muscles were pretty decimated by this point, more crazy lifting would have just led to overtraining. Accordingly we focused on mobility first with lots of PNF stretching. We then superset forearm captains of crush with reverse situps on the incline bench. My torso was already so sore from all of the stability work that I wasn't able to do much on the situps.
We then changed location to a hill near The SHOP. I don't know exactly how long the hill path was (estimate: 200 meters) or how steep (estimate: 10% grade) but we sprinted up it three times and then recovered with SHOP shakes. As we returned to The SHOP it had been almost exactly 36 hours since we had arrived and we had completed four killer workouts.
Looking back, two insights stand out to me:
1. We really didn't do that much. The volume of our work was pretty significant for a 36-hour stretch, but nothing exceptional for four separate workouts. However, the quality of what we did was through the roof: difficult exercises conducted with 100% focus and maximum intensity. This corresponds with my desire to work out smarter, not longer, and it's an aspect of The SHOP that I love: a commitment to results, not simply to tiring you out.
2. Most of what we did was new/different (to me, at least). No matter how optimally you train, there is always benefit to mixing it up and shocking your body out of its adaptation. This is another aspect I love about The SHOP: because Drew is so committed to staying abreast of - and even innovating beyond - the cutting edge of fitness research, I can always count on it for a shock.
I'm back in Houston now and I still hurt. My neck especially (the muscles, not the spine) is reeling from the wrestling. There was a time when I had a 19" neck that would have been ready for it. While my narrower current neck is certainly more practical for finding bow ties that fit, I could have used the extra bulk during Wrestlemania! I am thoroughly convinced that it is no coincidence that "SHOP" has the same number of letters as "EPIC" because that's the only way to describe the 36 hours and 4 workouts we undertook. Now I'm pumped and ready for more - but maybe after a little R&R . . .
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query the shop. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query the shop. Sort by date Show all posts
2011-06-22
2011-01-27
Intense Workout at The SHOP
This morning I had one of my most intense workouts in recent memory, courtesy of The SHOP. The SHOP is an awesome gym in Dallas. It is a no-frills, high-intensity gym with lots of heavy equipment - it's basically what Rocky's gym would be like. It is owned and run by a good friend of mine, Drew, who also blogs about fitness / nutrition.
Although I have referenced The SHOP several times in my blog, this was my first time actually visiting. I was in Dallas to pitch Smart Office Energy Solutions to the newly formed Dallas Angel Network last evening so I stayed the night and scheduled a workout before driving back to Houston.
This morning began early with a 4:55 AM alarm. After a brief pre-training breakfast (just a grapefruit for me; a yogurty / oatmealy / fruity concoction for Drew), we were in The SHOP warming up. Warming up was necessary because The SHOP is in a non-temperature-controlled garage environment (coherent with the raw, hardcore workout philosophy) and the temperature this morning was in the low 30s Fahrenheit.
We were joined about 5:30 by one of The SHOP's regulars, a professional athlete who also happens to be a Rice alum. Drew played on Rice's national championship-winning baseball team that sent many players to the pros and it is partially through that network that he winds up coaching so many professional athletes. I suspect that they like the same things in his methodology that I do: a highly analytical approach (What else would you expect from someone who double majored in Chemical and Environmental Engineering?) and a commitment to research / results, not fads.
I made my requisite excuses about taking it easy because it was my first time (and I had a long drive ahead of me that wouldn't be too comfortable with a traumatic muscle strain / pull / tear); then at 5:45 we had "wheels up" and began the workout in earnest. We started with box jumps and sledge hammers. I was barely able to jump up onto the first level of boxes; when they added three more levels I had to swallow my pride (and resolve to improve!) and stick to the first. I had never used a sledge hammer before, but there was something immensely satisfying about slamming it into a huge tractor tire with all my force. It took me awhile to get the technique down (and I still have room to improve) but it was fun.
Next up were dead lifts. It has been a long time since I have dead lifted and this time I chose to use a trap bar instead of straight bar just because I had never done it before. I kept the weight pretty low but it felt good and I'm sure my glutes are going to be sore tomorrow.
This was followed by push press and glute ham raises. Push press (standing military press with a little help from the hips) felt good but my form had me catching the weight too much with my back. I did half my sets and then switched to incline dumbbell press for the other half. Glute ham raises were a joy - by which I mean basically the opposite of joy, but the severe pain they caused brought about joy that they were accomplishing their objective.
The next round featured ring pushups and single leg hip thrusts. Ring pushups are done with hands grasping gymnastics rings (for additional stability work) and feet elevated. Because that's not hard enough we also wore weight vests - 20 lbs for my first two sets and then 90 lbs for the last one. The last set took me to total failure and I only managed to squeeze out that last rep with an epic grunt.
The grand finale comprised two circuits of heavy rope drills. Each circuit had 3 20-second variations: short alternating arms, long alternating arms, and two-arm power slams. I had never done heavy rope drills before and I was really impressed with just how much of a workout 20 seconds of super anaerobic activity could provide. When we arrived at the last variation (the power slams) of the first set, I challenged everyone to go shirt-off (which was humbling since these guys were way more ripped than I . . . for now!) - it was freezing cold but our internal furnaces were going full bore.
I mistakenly thought we were only doing one circuit so I really sold out on the power slams, completing a couple extra reps after my 20 seconds were over - I didn't want to leave anything out there. Much to my chagrin, Drew informed us that we were only halfway there. After the first two variations of the second circuit, I was totally spent. Again I had to swallow my pride as I wussed out of the final variation. My heart rate was through the roof and I was feeling faint / nauseous. I was bumping up against my limit and the last set would surely have pushed me over - not something I needed right before hopping on the road for four hours.
Afterward we refueled with pumpkin-berry-banana-yogurt-oatmeal-flax seed-protein shakes which, after a few minutes of deep breathing / recovery, I was able to handle. Wow, what an intense experience - lots of new (for me) movements and nothing left by the end. This inspired me in a few ways:
1. I had forgotten how much I loved morning workouts. Despite the exhaustion level I achieved, I remained pumped and energized all day. It also feels great not to have the "I need to find some time to squeeze in a workout" monkey on my back all day.
2. The caveat here is that I clearly need to do a better job of fueling up before morning workouts so as to avoid the depletion at the end. In the last year I've reached that about-to-faint level four times and actually thrown up on one of those occasions. Each time it was a morning workout after not consuming much nutrition.
2. Anaerobic activity is awesome. In recent years I've tended to think of aerobic activity as my main weapon in my fight against body fat but this morning's workout showed how effective anaerobic activity can be as well. By the time I left Dallas at 10 AM, I had already burned more than 1900 calories - the most I've burned before 10 AM as long as I've been measuring! Without doing much else all day (spending a great deal of the time stationary in the car) I finished the day having burned 3800 calories - 550 more than my daily goal.
I was very excited about my first ever The SHOP experience and it didn't let me down. Now I need some rest as the soreness is already starting to set in.
Official The SHOP post including limited video of this workout: here.
2010-03-08
5k Training
About a month ago I posted the following way-too-long blog entry on my 5k training at THE SHOP, an awesome nutrition & fitness blog run by one of the most avid enthusiasts around. I am now reposting it here as I will soon follow it up with a new blog on 10k training in preparation for this weekend's 10k HEB Bayou City Classic.
***
In response to the sissy half marathon posting of sissy Steve Herce, I felt it necessary to post a blog entry about my own new experience with competitive racing. In contrast to Mr. Herce, I entered high school in the fall of 1993 at 5'7" and 190 lbs. While my mother, like his, was reluctant to expose me to the dangers of football, she could not stand in the way of destiny. By the end of high school I had reached 5'8" and had gone from taller than most of my peers to shorter, which pretty much ruled out my middle linebacker career at the next level. However, I had bulked up to 210, could sprint well, and hit even better; my compact frame turned out to be great for a power fullback, using my low center of gravity and explosive power to knock over just about anyone in my way. At the peak of my playing days in Division I-A football I was 235 lbs, bench pressed ~400 lbs and worked out with 495 on squats (never maxed out). Suffice to say, one would be hard pressed to find two body types more different than mine and Mr. Herce's.
When I stopped playing football I looked for new sources of sport and exercise. For sport I fell in love with beach volleyball and for aerobic activity I turned to running. Never mind that my body was hardly suited to either! Running was totally new to me. Rarely before had I run any distance greater than 100 yards and I really had no idea what I was doing. The first time I tried "distance" running, I set out on the 2.9-mile (I realize that most runners would hardly consider this "distance," but it certainly was for me!) Rice Outer Loop and had a really hard time pulling myself back and pacing myself. My instinct was to lean forward and run low, ready to hit someone. However, that was hardly sustainable technique for the half hour or so it took me to complete the Loop. That very first time I managed to make it all the way around but my back killed me the next day, aching from the struggle of pulling my torso upright and slowing myself down.
Since then I've never embraced running very seriously but I have always included it as a component of my cardiovascular fitness regime. I have never trained for anything in particular, but I have always set out to do a little better than I had the previous time. Originally this meant running fixed distances and working to increase speed. Once a week or so I would run the Rice Outer Loop, or the equidistant Memorial Park loop, both of which provide a nice, soft running surface (Important for my thundering, heavy-footed running mechanics!), and I would track my completion times in a spreadsheet.
Looking back through my archives, I see that in 2002 I was running these 2.9-mile, mostly flat courses in 27:xx times, a 9:xx pace. 2003 saw me move into 26:xx times, 2004 25:xx, and 2005 24:xx, an 8:xx pace. So over three years I reduced my mile pace by a minute just by running several Outer Loops a year.
Then several things happened at once to motivate me to take running a little more seriously. My strongly competitive nature and fierce data orientation motivated me to purchase a Garmin Forerunner heart rate monitor/GPS. This allowed me to analyze--both during my runs and after--my pace and exertion level at any given point on the course. I had the opportunity to train with legendary NFL strength & conditioning coach Dan Riley, who helped me understand more about training the body's different energy systems.
By 2006 I had begun varying my running workouts to focus on different objectives. For aerobic health I no longer ran fixed distances as quickly as I could (which frequently bumped me into anaerobic mode). Instead I ran for 30 minutes while keeping my heart rate below my maximum aerobic threshold and each time tried to increase the total distance I ran within those parameters. When this started I was only able to eek out 2.5 miles or so. For anaerobic conditioning, I ran different interval programs and sometimes ran a timed 5k.
In 2007 it first dawned on me that I could compete against other runners while running these distances. As mentioned before, I heart competition, so I signed up for the first annual Rice Flying Owls 5k. I didn't train for it per se other than running a couple of 5k distances, coming in around 27:xx.
When I showed up at Rice the morning of April 14, 2007, I weighed 210 pounds and really had no idea what to expect. I set a stretch goal for myself of 26:00 and drank plenty of water. The latter kind of backfired on me as moments before the race began I seriously had to pee! Fortunately my knowledge of the Rice campus helped me out and I was in and out of the nearest bathroom before the starting gun went off. On the starting line next to me was a 15yo kid built like the cross country runner I imagine Mr. Herce was at that age: tall and lanky and wearing goofy running tank top/shorts. He was also a big dork, making the Herce comparison even more apt. When I told him I was shooting for a 12:00 finish time he seemed to take me seriously and was very impressed.
The race was hard. I probably came off of the starting line too fast as I was fighting against fatigue as soon as my adrenaline wore off. I pushed and I pushed, though, and passed other runners one-by-one. I had pre-planned an MP3 playlist that would have "Gonna Fly Now" (the Rocky training theme song) come on at 25:00, motivating me to sprint hard through the last 60 seconds. However, by the time I rounded the corner for the final 100 meters, it hadn't come on. I cursed myself for mistiming the playlist and used that instead as motivation to sprint through the finish. Then I saw my time: 24:26! The Rocky theme song hadn't come on because I had finished the race before it was due to start! My mile pace of 7:48 was hardly anything to brag about but, given my expectations, I was euphoric--and THEN the Rocky theme song came on, which was awesome. Never underestimate the power of competition to bring out the best performance in a competitor.
I finished up that day #35 of 87 total runners, #24 of 36 men, and #7 of 9 males in the 25-29 age group--60th, 33rd, and 22nd percentiles respectively. Clearly I would have a lot of work to do if I ever hoped to beat Mr. Herce's 91st, 84th, and 82nd percentiles!
And a lot of work is exactly what I did--although it would seem pretty meager relative to that of serious runners. Throughout 2008 and 2009 I lived in Switzerland and gradually increased my aerobic load to 45 and then 60 minute runs. Although I neglected anaerobic runs in 2008, I added them back to my program in 2009--albeit only on the treadmill.
Upon my return to Houston at the end of 2009, I decided that it was time once again to test my running on the field of competition and I made a New Year's resolution to run at least three races in 2010--at least one 5k under 22:00 and at least one 10k under 55:00. I also resolved to run barefoot. There are enough reasons to run barefoot that the subject warrants its own blog post. You can see some of them here and here but my reasons are less scientific: I saw people doing it, read a little about the barefoot running movement, and thought, "Yeah, I can get behind that."
So I began running in December in Vibram Five Fingers barefoot running "shoes" (more like foot gloves). They provide enough sole to protect your foot from glass or sharp pebbles, but not so much as to alter your gait from that of a natural, barefoot runner. At first I developed blisters and could not run my full 60 minutes. Within weeks, though, my feet had adapted and running felt GREAT. Springing off the balls of my feet rendered even my heavy footfalls light. I resolved that I would not just train barefoot; I would race that way as well. I signed up for the January 30th Texas Med Center 5k and prepared to make my barefoot racing debut.
Here again I didn't train for the 5k per se. The week before it, though, I did run a timed 5k at Memorial. When I came in at a PR 22:35 I thought that maybe I hadn't set my new year's goal aggressively enough. The competition would be on asphalt, though, and I didn't know how well my bare feet would hold up on it. To make matters worse, I woke up on the day of the race to find the weather cold (30 F) and drizzly. Part of me said that there would be no shame in running in shoes given the conditions. The stronger part of me, however, reminded me that I had committed to something and that I would be no better than Mr. Herce if I didn't see it through.
When I arrived at the race site, Houston's medical center, I got out of my car and warmed up a bit. At a trimmer 195 pounds, I had less insulation than I used to. Thank goodness I had spent two years running in Switzerland so I had plenty of Under Armour Cold Gear to keep me warm before the race. As we lined up I was surprised and inspired by some other men who were running shirtless. Props to them; that will be me next time. This time, though, I set out with three major goals: 1) don't come out of the start too quickly, 2) run my last mile more quickly than my first, and 3) run the whole 5k under 22:00 (which meant targeting a 7:04 pace),
When the starting gun was fired, I was reasonably close to the front. Data at the end of the race showed that I passed the starting line 6 seconds after the gun. Although I felt like I was clipping along at a good pace, I was being passed by people on all sides. My heart rate was higher than it should have been already and I used wisdom from The Big Lebowski to keep me on pace: "They're just a bunch of f'in amateurs," I told myself.
The first leg of the race was on the streets of the medical center, where many tall hospital buildings confused my GPS somewhat. As such, I couldn't confirm my pace for some time. However, my heart rate stabilized at the right level and I felt good. I had decided to run this race with no music so that I could savor the experience and be more mindful of feedback from my body. That proved to be a good decision when I was running 'blind" with an inconsistent GPS signal.
As we emerged from the hospital complex, my GPS stabilized and showed that I was about to finish the first mile--and sure enough, there was the first mile marker. I had run the first mile in 7:10 and my heart rate was 180--about 96% of my theoretical maximum and exactly where I wanted to be for this anaerobic run. My bare feet (protected by Vibram Five Fingers) felt great.
The second mile was good. I passed most of those who had peaked early out of the starting line and I was feeling good. A few times I caught myself increasing the pace a bit and I intentionally backed off, purposefully keeping some gas in the tank for the final leg. I hit the second mile marker at 14:12, meaning I had run the second mile in 7:02 and was averaging 7:06. At this pace I would approach the finish line close to 22:00 and would have a good chance of beating that time with a final sprint. My heart rate was 185, 99% of my theoretical max. I felt good; no need for drastic changes.
The third mile was good and my heart rate remained at 185. Runners around me were now pretty sparse but I still passed a few with slow overtakings. I removed my hat and let my head sweat profusely into the 30-degree air; that felt great. At 2.8 miles I began to stride it out a bit, increasing my heart rate to 190, my theoretical maximum. I hit the three-mile marker at 21:00, meaning I had run the third mile in 6:48 and was averaging 7:00. I rounded the corner and could see the finish line 0.11 miles (176 m) away!
I downshifted and urged my legs to move faster. Reluctantly they picked up the pace and my heart rate climbed to 193--so much for theoretical maxima! I passed one or two other runners during the final stretch but I was also passed by someone who blew by me and clearly had kept more in reserve than I had. I crossed the finish line at 21:43, meaning I ran the final 0.11 miles at a 6:31 pace and my final mile at a 6:52 pace. I stopped my watch, cleared the finish line, dry heaved a little, and then returned to the final stretch to cheer on Katie, who finished two minutes under her goal time.
So awesome, all three goals accomplished. How did I do relative to the competitive field?
I finished #46 of 1,068 total runners (Overall race results), #37 of 419 men, and #9 of 109 males in the 30-39 age group (Age group results)--96th, 91st, and 96th percentiles respectively. I hit my goals and set a good base line on which to improve for the rest of the year. Most importantly, this heavy-footed, lumbering fullback crushed Mr. Herce's sissy 91st, 84th, and 82nd percentiles--the best he could do after 15 years of running training! The gauntlet is cast and I hereby publicly challenge Mr. Herce to stop whining about his hip and do better. I furthermore challenge him to post a video training montage to let the world know that he is actually doing something and not just sitting around feeling sorry for himself.
Still, if there's one thing on which Mr. Herce and I *can* agree, it's that the shop's co-owner is ridiculously more accomplished than either of us at running and we both have a *lot* of work to do to take it to that level.
2009-06-18
Bella Firenze
Lausanne . . . Heidelberg . . . this weekend it was time for me to visit another old European town of a few hundred thousand population: Florence! My favorite Wingman was going to be in Tuscany anyway for a wedding (Not his!) so he came in a few days early, giving us a chance to do things up right.
Cox arrived early Sunday morning and brought perfect weather--the natural precursor to the Perfect Storm--with him. I had originally thought that we would leave immediately for Florence, but flight schedules changed such that we had some time for him to get to know Lausanne. We walked around the old part of the city, nourished ourselves, and listened to Jimmy Buffett throughout the morning.
Then we headed down to Vidy for some beach volley. Cox and I have a long history of playing beach volley together. We've done very well at several tournaments in Houston and Galveston and we've played together in five different countries. What's more important is that we're always Team Having More Fun Than The Other Guys and Sunday was no exception. We played for a full three hours, going 5-1, losing 21-15 to two very strong open players--not bad for two guys who haven't played together since Marseille last July. After a refreshing dip in the lake and hurried showers, we were off to the airport for a quick flight to Florence.
Arriving in Florence around sunset we went to pick up our rental car. When the woman at Avis advised us that she had no reservation for us, Cox pulled out his mobile phone and triumphantly showed here his email confirmation. She had the last laugh, though, when she informed him that she found his rental car reservation in the system . . . for Florence, ALABAMA!!! Thank goodness this was the only task I had given Cox for trip preparation--sheesh, consultants . . .
Fortunately Avis had plenty of cars so we picked up a Fiat 500 and made our way into town to find our hotel. This was easier said than done as Florence's narrow alleyways blocked our GPS satellites and Italy's soccer match meant that many people were partying in the streets, blocking our passage. However, between the GPS, Google Maps on my phone, Cox's great driving, and some blind luck, we circled in on our hotel, the Bernini Palace, which I had booked on hotels.com.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we were thrilled to find that it was located only a block away from the Piazza della Signoria. Furthermore, the hotel itself was really nice. In Italy I've found that hotel ratings rarely correspond with reality but this place was very deserving of its four stelle. Add to that the fact that it's bar/restaurant was named Brunello and we were off to a good start!
After checking in with the office (Just because it's a Sunday night and I'm on vacation is no reason not to be working, of course!) Cox and I headed out to destination number one: Salamanca. Salamanca was one of my favorite bars when I lived in Florence and it has the distinction of being the place where I first tried sangria. If only I had known back then what a profound impact that would have on the subsequent several years of my life!
Salamanca was still great. Cox and I shared some tapas and a pitcher of sangria while I regaled him with stories from my time there. A man at the bar was falling asleep--presumably due to sangria consumption--so the bartender shot him with the water gun. The bartender was either a bad shot or was interested in us because the stream of water went right over the sleeping man and hit Cox. Given the heat, though, and lack of A/C in the bar, Cox didn't seem to mind the cold water. With an early rise the next day and an aggressive wine tasting agenda, we called it a night and were asleep before 2.
Monday we woke up and struck out for Montalcino. After two hours of driving through the beautiful Tuscan countryside, we arrived at our first stop: Valdicava. Valdicava was the quintessential Brunello di Montalcino producer: small, natural, and 100% committed to their wine. The philosophy there is to make do with what nature gives them. No pesticides are used and the soil is not tilled because they believe the herbs and wild plants imbue their flavors to the grapes. Then vinification is very simple. There are two fermentations (separated by a pressing) over seven months but, after that, they basically leave the wine alone in large wooden casks. It seems very Italian to me: simple, natural, and accepting that good things take time--four years of aging for their standard Brunello, five for the riserva. We tasted two vintages of each straight from the barrel. They were still very raw but their potential was clear. Just as clear was the difference a year of aging made between each. Valdicava: I'm a fan.
After a lovely lunch in a villa overlooking the vineyards, we moved on to Casanova di Neri. We received a nice tour of a facility that clearly had a different philosophy. As opposed to Valdicava's 17,000 bottles/year from a small plot of land, Neri produced 200,000 bottles from several vineyards around Montalcino. They also used much more sophisticated technology for vinification. The result: good wines in a modern Brunello style but I preferred Valdicava.
After a long drive to the opposite end of the commune of Montalcino, Castelgiocondo was a huge disappointment. Their PR director had screwed up our reservation so she was able to provide a quick tour but no tasting. She claimed that their grapes were picked by hand but we called her out on the mechanized grape-harvesting equipment we had seen during our drive through the estate. At 1,000,000 bottles per year of production and as part of a large Italian label (Marchesi di Fresobaldi) they were an order of magnitude larger than most Brunello estates. I can't speak to the quality of their wine but, given what we experienced, I'm not a fan of the organization.
The bright side of a short appointment at Castelgiocondo is that it gave us enough time to swing by nearby Castello Banfi, the iconic producer that is responsible for something like 20% of all Brunello production by volume. Banfi is as close to a Napa estate as you will find in Montalcino; it is set up for a high volume of tourists to its beautiful castle estate. They have a large cantina with tasting flights and wines by the glass; we skipped the tour and made our way immediately there.
First off, the 2007 Rosso di Montalcino (sangiovese table wine) was excellent. This could make for an excellent Hassin house wine. Next we tasted the 2004 Brunello di Montalcino against the 2004 single vineyard Brunello di Montalcino Poggio alle Mure. Both were way too young, of course, but they tasted like quintessential Brunello to me. We ended by tasting the 1999 Brunello di Montalcino against the 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Poggio all'Oro Riserva. The basic 1999 Brunello was excellent and was drinking well. I had had this once before at Gargoyles in Boston and I remain a huge fan. The riserva, though, was positively sublime: rich, complex, and with a texture that made me want to carry it around in my mouth for the rest of the day. This was my favorite wine of the trip.
It's amazing that Banfi keeps the quality so high given the millions of bottles they produce each year. Clearly quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive. Although I prefer the philosophy and style of the old boutique vineyards, it is great to know that modern, smart vineyards can produce a great product as well.
Back in Florence we found a restaurant with local fare that set us right for the evening. We then found another old haunt of mine: Art Bar down by the Arno. We bar hopped a little, eventually settling in a pub with very personable bartenders. As is our tradition, much Guinness was consumed. As is our tradition, many shots were taken. When the bartender asked what we wanted for our first shot, I told her "qualcosa interesante," something interesting. She seemed to take that as a challenge and prepared for each of us a "scaldino."
It was a base layer of cointreau with a top layer of sambuca. The sambuca was lit on fire then the drinker was to cover the glass with his hand, snuffing out the flame and creating a crazy suction effect on his palm. Then the shot was taken and the glass was immediately recovered by the drinker's hand. Finally, with a straw poking through his fingers, the drinker breathed in the air trapped in the glass. I still don't quite understand it all but hey, it was weird and cool. After watching the US go ahead of Italy 1-0 in soccer and then lose 3-1, we closed down the bar and called it a night.
Tuesday was nice; we just walked around Florence all day. We began with breakfast at Vivoli, the world famous gelateria. Cox had raspberry; I had dark chocolate and hazelnut. We visted the leather school at Santa Croce, the Duomo, and then walked all the way up to Villa La Pietra, where I used to live. Unfortunately after the hour-long hike uphill we were disappointed to learn that the grounds are now closed without appointment. After 9/11, apparently they tightened security significantly. Oh well, next time! At least the little sandwich shop across the street as still open (and air conditioned!) so we had a nice respite before our trek back down into the city.
We walked through the market and refreshed ourselves with sparkling white wine (that came out of a tap!!!) before heading into the Accademia di Belle Arti to stand before the awe-inspiring David by Michelangelo Buonarotti. He completed it before he was 30--what the heck have I done with my life?? After that we cafe-hopped a bit and just people watched while sipping on local wines before departing for our respective desinations--Cox to the wedding and I back to Lausanne.
It was only a short trip but it was great to spend some time with my good friend in such a wonderful location. Mi manchi, firenze!
Pics are in my facebook album.
2015-02-09
First Trip to Oregon
This weekend I took a quick, but very active, trip to Oregon - my first time to visit that state. I arrived Thursday and was met with exactly what I expected from the Pacific Northwest: gray and rainy weather. One thing I didn't expect, though, was that the drivers would not be very good at dealing with the rain. Throughout the trip my driving travel times were increased due to accidents but I would have thought that, in a place where it rains frequently, people would have figured out how to adapt. Not so, apparently.
My trip began in Portland and my first stop was the Nike campus (technically in nearby Beaverton). The Nike campus is really cool; it simply oozes sports. Every building is named for a prominent athlete, sports fields and running trails litter the grounds, and everywhere you look are banners, statues, and busts of even more athletes from every sport imaginable. Although I am not a huge fan of the Nike brand, I had to tip my hat to them when I noticed a bronze bust of Art Monk, one of my favorite football players of all time, as I was walking by. Well played, Nike; well played.
At Nike I had lunch with two friends who work at Nike, one was a football teammate of mine at Rice and the other was an MBA classmate of mine (and Tug of War teammate!) at IMD. As one might imagine, the cafeteria (in the Mia Hamm building) at a place that is so focused on sports is pretty fantastic. I had steelhead trout, brussels sprouts, greek yogurt, and toasted coconut chips - not a bad way to break my fast!
After stopping to see another Rice friend at Nike, I headed to downtown Portland, where I had a reunion with one of my favorite ex-IMD professors. He is still doing cutting-edge research on entrepreneurship so it was very interesting to hear about his most recent findings. However, it was even more interesting to let him take me on a walking tour of Portland's Pearl District, which finished at Blue Star Donuts. Anyone who has read my treatise on nutrition will know that donuts are definitely not part of my nutritional plan. However, my companion assured me that this was one of the places to try in Portland, so when in Rome . . .
He and I shared a peanut butter donut with blackberry compote (delicious) but there were so many other intriguing flavors that I decided to pick up a box of five more (Valrhona dark chocolate, dark chocolate crunch, blueberry crunch, Mexican chocolate, and maple & bacon) to bring as a gift for my hosts later that night. Some of those flavors turned out to be more exciting than others but I was glad at least to try them. After waiting out the traffic (and more accidents), I finally hit the road and made it down to my friends' house in Eugene.
Friday morning my host, who is not only a great runner but also an avid lover of all things running, took me on a running tour of Eugene, which is known as Track Town, USA. We started in Hendricks Park, which overlooks the city, for some scenic trail running. I hadn't had a chance to see "real" Oregon Thursday because I spent the day in urban areas and it was already dark by the time I hit the road. As soon as we started running on Friday, though, I was impressed by just how green Oregon is. Lush grasses, towering fir trees, and moss, moss everywhere. It just really gives the impression that organic life thrives there.
We stopped by Pre's Rock, the location where Steve Prefontaine died, and then made our way down to the heart of the city. During our pilgrimage to historic Hayward Field, we took a lap around the track and ran the [sizeable] stadium stairs. Then we ran across the University of Oregon campus to run along Pre's bark trail - around the football stadium and then along the Willamette River. Running was a fantastic way to see a city that is so prominent in the US's running culture and I'm extremely grateful to my host for organizing such a unique tour.
After a good run, what do you need? Recovery nutrition, of course! So we went wine tasting at King Estate Winery. I'm not usually very big on pinot noir but they had a couple that really won me over. Afterward we stopped by a local fish market and made a nice dinner of fresh seafood.
Saturday we woke up early for a pre-dawn trail run along the Ridgeline Trail. Gradually the big moon made way for sunrise and we were once again treated to wonderful views of the city whenever we emerged from clusters of forest - truly magical!
At this point I left Eugene and drove up to Corvallis, where I would stay for the rest of my trip. Again I was impressed by just how green everything was on both sides of the road and extending as far as the eye can see.
My second Oregon host has been the subject of previous blog posts. He is the proprietor of The SHOP, which recently relocated to Corvallis, Oregon. Still a bit winded from our trail run, I was excited to see the new SHOP location so I made my way directly there. It's a really fantastic facility: high ceilings, open spaces, top-end equipment, and the best bathrooms I have ever seen at any gym! As expected, Drew treated me to an epic workout (normal for him, epic for me). Then we recovered with local craft brew and local-ish (in nearby Albany) fine dining, both of which were excellent.
Sunday Drew took me through another tough workout and then my Eugene host came up to join me for another running workout. Even with all the strenuous activity, I never felt too beat because Drew kept me plied with huge amounts of high quality - and delicious - nutrition.
Monday morning I snuck in one more awesome SHOP workout and headed back up to Portland to catch my flight. This trip really turned out to be a destination fitness fest and I wouldn't have had it any other way. During and between the workouts I spent time with great friends and I got to know - albeit very briefly - the very green state of Oregon. I hope to be back soon!
My trip began in Portland and my first stop was the Nike campus (technically in nearby Beaverton). The Nike campus is really cool; it simply oozes sports. Every building is named for a prominent athlete, sports fields and running trails litter the grounds, and everywhere you look are banners, statues, and busts of even more athletes from every sport imaginable. Although I am not a huge fan of the Nike brand, I had to tip my hat to them when I noticed a bronze bust of Art Monk, one of my favorite football players of all time, as I was walking by. Well played, Nike; well played.
At Nike I had lunch with two friends who work at Nike, one was a football teammate of mine at Rice and the other was an MBA classmate of mine (and Tug of War teammate!) at IMD. As one might imagine, the cafeteria (in the Mia Hamm building) at a place that is so focused on sports is pretty fantastic. I had steelhead trout, brussels sprouts, greek yogurt, and toasted coconut chips - not a bad way to break my fast!
After stopping to see another Rice friend at Nike, I headed to downtown Portland, where I had a reunion with one of my favorite ex-IMD professors. He is still doing cutting-edge research on entrepreneurship so it was very interesting to hear about his most recent findings. However, it was even more interesting to let him take me on a walking tour of Portland's Pearl District, which finished at Blue Star Donuts. Anyone who has read my treatise on nutrition will know that donuts are definitely not part of my nutritional plan. However, my companion assured me that this was one of the places to try in Portland, so when in Rome . . .
He and I shared a peanut butter donut with blackberry compote (delicious) but there were so many other intriguing flavors that I decided to pick up a box of five more (Valrhona dark chocolate, dark chocolate crunch, blueberry crunch, Mexican chocolate, and maple & bacon) to bring as a gift for my hosts later that night. Some of those flavors turned out to be more exciting than others but I was glad at least to try them. After waiting out the traffic (and more accidents), I finally hit the road and made it down to my friends' house in Eugene.
Friday morning my host, who is not only a great runner but also an avid lover of all things running, took me on a running tour of Eugene, which is known as Track Town, USA. We started in Hendricks Park, which overlooks the city, for some scenic trail running. I hadn't had a chance to see "real" Oregon Thursday because I spent the day in urban areas and it was already dark by the time I hit the road. As soon as we started running on Friday, though, I was impressed by just how green Oregon is. Lush grasses, towering fir trees, and moss, moss everywhere. It just really gives the impression that organic life thrives there.
We stopped by Pre's Rock, the location where Steve Prefontaine died, and then made our way down to the heart of the city. During our pilgrimage to historic Hayward Field, we took a lap around the track and ran the [sizeable] stadium stairs. Then we ran across the University of Oregon campus to run along Pre's bark trail - around the football stadium and then along the Willamette River. Running was a fantastic way to see a city that is so prominent in the US's running culture and I'm extremely grateful to my host for organizing such a unique tour.
After a good run, what do you need? Recovery nutrition, of course! So we went wine tasting at King Estate Winery. I'm not usually very big on pinot noir but they had a couple that really won me over. Afterward we stopped by a local fish market and made a nice dinner of fresh seafood.
Saturday we woke up early for a pre-dawn trail run along the Ridgeline Trail. Gradually the big moon made way for sunrise and we were once again treated to wonderful views of the city whenever we emerged from clusters of forest - truly magical!
At this point I left Eugene and drove up to Corvallis, where I would stay for the rest of my trip. Again I was impressed by just how green everything was on both sides of the road and extending as far as the eye can see.
My second Oregon host has been the subject of previous blog posts. He is the proprietor of The SHOP, which recently relocated to Corvallis, Oregon. Still a bit winded from our trail run, I was excited to see the new SHOP location so I made my way directly there. It's a really fantastic facility: high ceilings, open spaces, top-end equipment, and the best bathrooms I have ever seen at any gym! As expected, Drew treated me to an epic workout (normal for him, epic for me). Then we recovered with local craft brew and local-ish (in nearby Albany) fine dining, both of which were excellent.
Sunday Drew took me through another tough workout and then my Eugene host came up to join me for another running workout. Even with all the strenuous activity, I never felt too beat because Drew kept me plied with huge amounts of high quality - and delicious - nutrition.
Monday morning I snuck in one more awesome SHOP workout and headed back up to Portland to catch my flight. This trip really turned out to be a destination fitness fest and I wouldn't have had it any other way. During and between the workouts I spent time with great friends and I got to know - albeit very briefly - the very green state of Oregon. I hope to be back soon!
2012-06-15
Rice Centennial Celebration in Istanbul, Turkey
Katie and I spent last weekend in Istanbul, Turkey as part of the Rice Centennial Celebration there. When Edgar Odell Lovett, Rice's first president, traveled the world collecting ideas for the institution he was about to launch, Istanbul was an important stop on his journey. Therefore, as one of many celebrations Rice has organized this year in honor of its hundredth birthday, a weekend of festivities, fellowship, and learning was organized in Istanbul.
Katie and I arrived Friday just in time for the opening dinner, which was held at the Ritz-Carlton. This featured several speakers, including Rice's current president, David Leebron, and several local dignataries and . . . a delicious buffet! Everything in the buffet was labeled as "Turkish" this or "Turkish" that. I have my doubts as to how authentic the "Turkish chocolate mousse" was but it was all delicious.
This dinner was a fun opportunity to catch up with many people I knew from Houston in a very different local setting - something I have always enjoyed. Moreover, it was a great chance to meet several Turkish alumni. I reconnected with one of my classmates (who is Turkish) whom I haven't seen since graduation - what fun! The trip was off to a good start.
Saturday morning began with an amazing breakfast at our own hotel. The buffet was set up on the top floor with 270 degrees of view overlooking the beautiful Bosphorus strait. The Bosphorus surprised me with how much traffic it supported; even early in the morning there were ferries, cargo ships, and huge barges crisscrossing all over the place.
We made our way back over to the Ritz where we were treated to a morning of lectures and panel discussion, including Ambassador Edward Djerejian (also a founder of Rice's Baker Institute of Public Policy) on repercussions of the Arab Spring and David Leebron discussing the future of the university with the president of the American University in Cairo.
As a group we then took a bus to the Old Town where we had lunch and toured two mosques. The first, the Blue Mosque, was really impressive with its very elaborate tile work (the rich colors of which give the mosque its name) and the second, Hagia Sophia, was equally impressive with its huge dome and frescoes and mosaics.
After a sunset cruise along the Bosphorus and Golden Horn, we were received by Ali Koç, a Rice alum whose family is very prominent in Turkey's private sector. He hosted an al fresco gala dinner at his family's industrial museum, which was a wonderful setting aided by continued wonderful weather.
Sunday we took an organized tour with several other weekend participants. We started at Topkapi Palace, home of the Sultan for centuries. It was a fascinating compound with an amazing view. Of particular interest was a collection of incredibly ornate jewelry and arms as well as a collection of relics including a bronzed footprint of the prophet Mohammed and the staff of Moses.
On our way back to the bus we stopped by an artist's shop to see Ebru artwork in action. It was really cool and the artist produced a work specifically in celebration of Rice's 100 years. Given that we had spent the previous 24 hours immersed in locations dating back multiple millenia, Rice's centennial seemed a bit small by comparison! Still, the gesture was very well received and much appreciated.
Lunch was at a restaurant that specialized in traditional Ottoman cuisine. For the first time I felt like we might be dining on something pretty authentic. There was a great deal of cinnamon even on our savory courses, which is something I could REALLY get used to! My favorite dessert of the weekend, pistachio ice cream floating in sesame pudding, was here.
After lunch we visited the Chora Church, which has rich, beautiful frescoes on every wall and ceiling. We then wrapped up the day with my favorite destination by far: the Basilica Cistern. Many hundreds of years ago this huge underground cavern was used to store water (transported by aquaducts for up to 19 km) in the event of water supplies being cut during a siege of the city. There was a network of hundreds of these cisterns but this was the grand daddy of them all. Propped up by row after row of columns that had been repurposed from Greek and Roman temples, this "bat cave" was a truly impressive sight. I want one. As my wine cellar!
For dinner several of us headed to a restaurant with a 360-degree view. We watched the sun set as we drank local wine and dined on local fish. It was an excellent ending to a short, but really wonderful, trip.
When Mom and I traveled to Egypt 17 years ago, some of my biggest take-aways came not from the Pyramids and ancient temples but rather from immersion for the first time in Muslim culture. This trip to Istanbul was my first time really back in a Muslim setting since then and was the first time I ever set foot inside a mosque.
After spending time in several mosques and learning a bit about the teachings of the Quran, I couldn't help but be impressed by just how similar Islam and Christianity - or at least Catholicism - are. Between the big, domed houses of worship, the prayer beads, the artwork on the walls and in stained glass, the relics of significant people, I was just left with such a sense of, "Are we so different, you and I?"
This point was particularly driven home in the church-mosques we visited - former churches that were now in use as mosques. In each mosque there is a mihrab that shows the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. In Istanbul, this points South-East. It turns out that the churches had been set up to face South-East already to capture the sun's rise and much of its daily journey. So the mihrab in these church-mosques was barely off center from where the original alter had been! Converting a church to a mosque had required very little change at all!
Surely someone much more learned than I might point out all the differences but to me this served as a poignant reminder that ISLAM is not our enemy. EXTREMISTS are the ones who have attacked and terrorized us (and others) and EXTREMISTS exist in Christianity and Judaism (and probably most other faiths - or non-faiths) as well. I've known that distinction rationally, of course, but you really FEEL it when you're on the ground, soaking up the culture.
The trip was too short and we will have to return to spend more time. In the meantime we are in the suspended reality of summertime Switzerland (or "Paradise" as I like to call it) where I have some IMD-related meetings over the next couple of weeks. More on that soon!
2008-05-05
Integrative Exercise v2.0 is OVER!
Today was a great day. It marked the end of our final integrative exercise. So as not to ruin any surprises for next year's class, my following description will be deliberately vague.
Friday evening after class we received our first assignment, a case study of a company evaluating acquisition candidates. We were told that the exercise would last all weekend and that, at the end of the exercise on Monday, the two most successful teams would have an opportunity to present to the CFO of the company that was the subject of the case. Our first deliverable was due Saturday morning: a presentation on which target to acquire and why. My study group met immediately and set out our goals. We agreed on two: 1. to be selected to present to the CFO and 2. to achieve goal #1 without killing ourselves.
We got down to work, analyzed our options, made our choice, and built our story. Most of us headed home by midnight but a few troopers stayed behind to beautify the slides. Even they were happy and done by 1 AM, a major success considering most of us had pulled multiple 5AM nights (with 8 AM returns) during the last integrative exercise. There were many groups still working when we left, so we felt like we were on track to meet at least goal #2.
Four other groups were chosen to present their picks and, judging by their presentations, we felt pretty good about what we had submitted. We were then given much more detailed information about one of the companies (which happened to be our pick) and told to come back at the end of the day with a valuation for it. We worked hard all day but never seemed to get it together. By the time our deadline came around we were still feverishly plugging numbers into the spreadsheet.
Naturally this time we were chosen to present. My hat is off to my groupmate, Daniel, who presented for us, never having seen the slides before. It reminded me of my ad hoc presentation back in Februrary but he was a trooper and did as well as could have been expected--better even! Still, we clearly had a lot of room for improvement.
We were then given more information about the acquisition target and issued our final assignment: to present an investment recommendation to the protagonist company's Board of Directors. Several groups took Saturday night off in order to recharge for a full day of work on Sunday. In line with goal #2 and our poor performance during the second phase, we went to work Saturday night to get a head start. When we returned on Sunday we were far enough along that we were one of the first groups to leave (~11 PM) even having taken a two-hour break to lunch, shop, or--in my case--lift.
As we neared completion I became more and more hopeful that I would be the one to present on behalf of my group. Fourth quarter with the game on the line has always been when I have been at my best and this was probably one of the best ways I could contribute to my group's efforts. "Give me the ball, Coach; I won't let you down!"
My group gave me the ball and I didn't let them down. I felt very comfortable with the presentation but I stayed behind to run through it a few times just to make sure I would nail it when it counted. Come Monday morning we were ready for our presentation before faculty judges. Everyone in the group had contributed a great deal to the research, analysis, and format of the presentation. Furthermore, due to our accomplishment of goal #2, we were all well rested and in good spirits.
It would be presumptuous for me to declare that I nailed the presentation but, suffice to say, it went very well. My group performed excellently during the Q&A portion as well; as we left the lecture hall we all gave each other hugs for a team effort with which we were very satisfied. Now all that remained was accomplishment of goal #1, presentation to the CFO!
We heard rumors that we had been selected before lunch but it wasn't until after lunch that we received the official news. The messenger was none other than Matt, another American classmate, who would be presenting to the CFO on behalf of his group as well. Matt and I interviewed for IMD together so I was thrilled that we would have the opportunity to present back-to-back again.
The presentations (which were in front of the rest of the class in addition to the CFO) went well. Matt's group had produced results very similar to ours but they had come to the opposite conclusion, which made for interesting discussion. The piece de resistance of my group's presentation was my flashing my Texas-sized belt buckle to prove credibility since the acquisition target was based in Houston. The CFO (and one of his colleagues) was a great addition, probing us about our analysis, assumptions, and conclusions. He then stuck around to share cocktails with us as we shook off the weariness of the exercise and embraced the glorious weather.
It was a great exercise and most of us agreed that we had learned a lot and really (in hindsight!) enjoyed the process. Amazingly many of us were almost sad that this was our last integrative exercise. Credit goes to Stewart Hamilton and Alicia Micklethwait (and the subject company's Finance staff) for creating the case and organizing the exercise.
For our group it was more than just a great exercise; it was a great triumph in which we achieved our goals as a team. Each groupmate owned his/her role and made very valuable contributions. I am thankful to be in such a solid team and proud to have helped out.
Of course, before the wine bottles were even empty it was back to business as usual. It was time to plan out our assignments for the rest of the week. Still, I am high on the exercise and most of us will be in Paris in 72 hours for the MBAT so good luck dampening my spirits!
Friday evening after class we received our first assignment, a case study of a company evaluating acquisition candidates. We were told that the exercise would last all weekend and that, at the end of the exercise on Monday, the two most successful teams would have an opportunity to present to the CFO of the company that was the subject of the case. Our first deliverable was due Saturday morning: a presentation on which target to acquire and why. My study group met immediately and set out our goals. We agreed on two: 1. to be selected to present to the CFO and 2. to achieve goal #1 without killing ourselves.
We got down to work, analyzed our options, made our choice, and built our story. Most of us headed home by midnight but a few troopers stayed behind to beautify the slides. Even they were happy and done by 1 AM, a major success considering most of us had pulled multiple 5AM nights (with 8 AM returns) during the last integrative exercise. There were many groups still working when we left, so we felt like we were on track to meet at least goal #2.
Four other groups were chosen to present their picks and, judging by their presentations, we felt pretty good about what we had submitted. We were then given much more detailed information about one of the companies (which happened to be our pick) and told to come back at the end of the day with a valuation for it. We worked hard all day but never seemed to get it together. By the time our deadline came around we were still feverishly plugging numbers into the spreadsheet.
Naturally this time we were chosen to present. My hat is off to my groupmate, Daniel, who presented for us, never having seen the slides before. It reminded me of my ad hoc presentation back in Februrary but he was a trooper and did as well as could have been expected--better even! Still, we clearly had a lot of room for improvement.
We were then given more information about the acquisition target and issued our final assignment: to present an investment recommendation to the protagonist company's Board of Directors. Several groups took Saturday night off in order to recharge for a full day of work on Sunday. In line with goal #2 and our poor performance during the second phase, we went to work Saturday night to get a head start. When we returned on Sunday we were far enough along that we were one of the first groups to leave (~11 PM) even having taken a two-hour break to lunch, shop, or--in my case--lift.
As we neared completion I became more and more hopeful that I would be the one to present on behalf of my group. Fourth quarter with the game on the line has always been when I have been at my best and this was probably one of the best ways I could contribute to my group's efforts. "Give me the ball, Coach; I won't let you down!"
My group gave me the ball and I didn't let them down. I felt very comfortable with the presentation but I stayed behind to run through it a few times just to make sure I would nail it when it counted. Come Monday morning we were ready for our presentation before faculty judges. Everyone in the group had contributed a great deal to the research, analysis, and format of the presentation. Furthermore, due to our accomplishment of goal #2, we were all well rested and in good spirits.
It would be presumptuous for me to declare that I nailed the presentation but, suffice to say, it went very well. My group performed excellently during the Q&A portion as well; as we left the lecture hall we all gave each other hugs for a team effort with which we were very satisfied. Now all that remained was accomplishment of goal #1, presentation to the CFO!
We heard rumors that we had been selected before lunch but it wasn't until after lunch that we received the official news. The messenger was none other than Matt, another American classmate, who would be presenting to the CFO on behalf of his group as well. Matt and I interviewed for IMD together so I was thrilled that we would have the opportunity to present back-to-back again.
The presentations (which were in front of the rest of the class in addition to the CFO) went well. Matt's group had produced results very similar to ours but they had come to the opposite conclusion, which made for interesting discussion. The piece de resistance of my group's presentation was my flashing my Texas-sized belt buckle to prove credibility since the acquisition target was based in Houston. The CFO (and one of his colleagues) was a great addition, probing us about our analysis, assumptions, and conclusions. He then stuck around to share cocktails with us as we shook off the weariness of the exercise and embraced the glorious weather.
It was a great exercise and most of us agreed that we had learned a lot and really (in hindsight!) enjoyed the process. Amazingly many of us were almost sad that this was our last integrative exercise. Credit goes to Stewart Hamilton and Alicia Micklethwait (and the subject company's Finance staff) for creating the case and organizing the exercise.
For our group it was more than just a great exercise; it was a great triumph in which we achieved our goals as a team. Each groupmate owned his/her role and made very valuable contributions. I am thankful to be in such a solid team and proud to have helped out.
Of course, before the wine bottles were even empty it was back to business as usual. It was time to plan out our assignments for the rest of the week. Still, I am high on the exercise and most of us will be in Paris in 72 hours for the MBAT so good luck dampening my spirits!
2011-12-03
Sonoma Day 2
After sleeping off our wine of the day before, we woke up to a rainy Sonoma morning. Instead of running we did a weights-free workout inspired by the routine that The SHOP put together for me back when I was house-sitting in Switzerland. This included lots of push-ups, plyometrics, and and other "grass-roots" exercises. During a break in the rain we went outside and I did walks up the hill while carrying Katie across my back. During one set of these a police officer actually rolled up to make sure that everything was OK!
After workout and recovery nutrition we once again set out to taste some wine! Instead of driving ourselves around for small tastings at several wineries, we took a different tack this day. We hired Magnum Wine Tours to drive us around to just two very small wineries where we spent a lot of time doing in-depth tastings with the owners.
Our first stop was Forth Vineyards, a tiny little Dry Creek Valley estate just outside of Healdsburg. The property is absolutely charming with a great deal of variety even for that tiny lot. Rolling hills ensure that some parcels have much greater sun exposure while others get more wind coming through the valley. Near the house and winery is the most amazing olive tree I've ever seen. It was probably 12m high and spread out so far as to create an imposing presence on the deck. I'm used to short, bushy olive trees but this was the godfather of them all.
We sat down in the wine cellar, where Jann Forth walked us through their five wines: an '09 sauvignon blanc, a '10 rose', an '09 ALL BOYS cabernet sauvignon (with grapes from each of their vineyards named after their boys), an '09 Rebecca cabernet sauvignon (with grapes from the one vineyard named after their girl), and an '09 syrah. The Rebecca cab was very nice but the real winner was the rose'. As we sat around the cellar's tasting table, munching on homemade spicy cheese bread between wines, we learned a lot about the winemakers, their philosophy, and the unique characteristics of their offerings.
What really set this winery apart, though, was their canine "staff!" A golden retriever accompanied us everywhere and there were two huge great pyranees (170 lbs and 130 lbs) in the vineyards protecting the sheep that keep the grass low and organically fertilize. After playing with the dogs a bit we hopped back in our car for the next destination.
Garden Creek Winery in Alexander Valley was up next. As we crossed the eponymous creek to enter the estate, I was surprised by how this looked more like a farm than a winery: a big barn a the entrance, chickens off to the left, an old well in the center. And sure enough, that's how this land began when the current proprietors' father bought it back in the 60s.Today, though, the barn is a winery and almost all the land is planted with vines. While most of their grapes are sold to other wineries, they hold enough back to produce a few hundred cases of their own chardonnay and Bordeaux blend.
We were met at the estate by Justin Miller, who owns and runs the operation alongside his wife. We stayed outside to taste their 2009 chardonnay, which was minerally and crisp - really nice and not at all what I'd expect from a California chard. Then we went into the barn for a candlelight vertical tasting of the red (called "Tesserae"). The 2005 of this cab sauv/merlot/cab franc blend was nice, but the 2003 was really coming into its own - great balance between the fruit and oak-derivative properties. Interestingly, they are the only winery I have known in the US to use carbonic maceration.
After plowing through several bottles at Garden Creek, we really needed some food! So our last stop of the tour was at nearby Diavola Pizzeria. I'm not sure if this helped or hurt our sobriety because we had plenty more wine there while feasting on hand made brick oven pizzas!
Opting for a day of wine tour instead of just driving ourselves around was a great idea. Not only did we have a designated driver, we found some wonderful tiny wineries that we never would have heard of otherwise. In both cases, we could have tasted these wines anonymously but the real pleasure was spending a couple of hours with the owners and really getting a feel for what makes them - and their wines - tick.
Day 2: another success!
2011-02-15
Texas Med Center 5k 2011 Race Report 1/3: Preparation
This post is the first of three that detail my running of a 5k last weekend.
The second entry is Texas Med Center 5k 2011 Race Report 2/3: The Race
The third entry is Texas Med Center 5k 2011 Race Report 3/3: What Now
Saturday I ran my first competitive race of the year, the Texas Med Center 5k. Last year I PRed in this race with a time of 21:43, thus meeting my 2010 goal of running a 5k race under 22:00. This year my training runs had been coming in around 22:00 so I didn't think this would be the race at which I would meet my 2011 goal of running a 5k race under 21:00. However, I did think I could PR again so I set the following goals for this race:
1. PR
2. Chip time < 21:40
3. Run final km faster than any other kms
4. Run final 250m < 0:55
To accomplish these goals I planned to run my first four kms at a 4:22 pace. The fifth km would be at a 4:22 pace until the final 250m, at which point I would kick it. This kick should result in a 54-56 second final quarter km rather than the 66 second quarter km that would result from staying on the 4:22 pace.
As I didn't think I could push the pace much lower than 4:22 for the rest of the race and keep it up, this last kick was going to be especially crucial - the 10-12 seconds it would shave off my time would be the difference between setting a new Personal Record and failing to do so. I knew from my training that I had the capability to execute such a kick so I turned to nutrition to ensure that my body would have all the resources it needed on race day.
I consulted with the experts at The SHOP about my race week nutrition program. They refreshed my memory about the different energy systems involved in such a race (aerobic, using oxygen and fat for most of the race, then anaerobic lactic acid using glycogen for the final kick). In a race as short as a 5k there clearly wasn't a need to engage in carbo loading (the efficacy of which has been questioned anyway) but I would still want to ensure that my body came into the race with as much glycogen stored as possible to fuel me for that last kick. We also modified my daily breakfast a bit for more balance of carbs, protein, and fat, resulting in me feeling fuller and more energetic throughout the rest of my days.
The day before the race I rested, hydrated, and drove along the race course with my GPS on so I could visualize the km markers and get a feel for the changes in elevation (which were almost non-existent). We attended a Symphony performance that night (a whole evening of Ravel!), which kept me out a bit later than optimal but also ensured that I was relaxed when I went to bed.
When I woke up at 5 I really had to go to the bathroom, so I knew that I was well hydrated - but not so much so that it had woken me up in the night - resulting in good, uninterrupted rest. I usually get up at 6 but I like to start race day breakfast early just to ensure that digestion has plenty of time to complete - I never want to be blindsided by indigestion in the middle of a race and far away from the nearest bathroom!
Race start time was 8:30 and I arrived a little later than intended, about 8:10. It then took awhile to park, which stressed me out a bit. Note for next year: arrive by 8! The outside temperature was about 36 degrees F but rising quickly due to the clear, sunny skies. At this temperature (and based on memories of last year's race, which was COOOOOOOOOLD and windy / wet), I arrived really bundled up: Under Armour Cold Gear leggings + long sleeve mock, shorts, gloves, wool cap, and - of course - my Vibram Five Fingers Bikila running "shoes." As I got out of my parked car (T - 10 min until start, ahhh!), I could feel that, regardless of what the thermometer said, it was way too warm for all that insulation! I ditched the cap and gloves and jogged to the start line.
While waiting for the starting gun, I could tell that there were many walkers / slow runners far forward (In larger races they are staged to start later than the competitive runners.) so I made sure to line up pretty close to the starting line. After the gun went off, it was only two seconds or so until I crossed the starting line and my timing chip registered that I was "in play." I hit the "start" button on my Garmin ForeRunner 405 CX (GPS / heart rate monitor watch) and I was off!
2011-11-27
CleanTech Open Finals
Last week I traveled to San Jose, CA for the finals of the CleanTech Open, for which Smart Office Energy Solutions had been selected as a finalist from the South Central region. I and 20 other finalists from the seven regions arrived in San Jose on Monday to begin two exhausting days of competition.
Each finalist was a startup company that has raised less than $1M and that is working on problems that make the world more sustainable. There were five categories of competitors: energy efficiency, smart power, green building, air/waste/water, and renewable energy. Smart OES could have competed in any of the first three categories but ultimately energy efficiency seemed to be most appropriate for us.
Each category had four or five competitors. Over the course of two days, each competitor presented a 15-minute business plan presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A from 20+ judges representing the category, the venture capital community, the science/development community, and the government/policy community. Competitors were scored based on their portenital for impact, likelihood of success, sustainability, and presentation quality. After all competitors presented, the winner of each category would then present again and a global winnner would be announced.
I came into the finals with several goals: 1. Win the global competition 2. Win the energy efficiency category 3. Tell a convincing story about product differentiation and competitive barriers (the perceived lack of which had always been our greatest criticism). Of course, those were the goals on which my competitive side focused. Much more meaningful for us, though, was using the competition as a means to connect with influential people, partners, and investors in the cleantech ecosystem - so that was our primary objective.
Tuesday morning featured an investor speed dating event that connected us with five VCs for seven-minute one-on-one discussions. This event by itself was worth the price of admission and I applaud the CleanTech Open for their success in putting it together.
Our scored presentation wasn't until Wednesday morning, so I spent much of Tuesday manning our booth. Interested potential investors, employees, and journalists stopped by all day to hear about what we were up to and to see our prototype products in action. It was really energizing to see how many people were keen to know what was going on on the frontiers of cleantech. I also left the booth unmanned a few times to go support some of the other entrepreneurs as they were presenting in other categories.
Tuesday afternoon I was called up to the main stage for a 3-minute product demo, which received some "oohs and ahhs" as I unveiled some of the behavior-influencing features of our product. My product demo especially caught the attention of one audience member, Jon, a friend of mine from college! He came up to me afterward and it was such a joy to see him there. As I've blogged about before, I'm an extrovert and I love having people "on my team." Having Jon there supporting me lifted my spirits and really gave me a boost going into Wednesday.
Wednesday morning I was joined by another team member, an investor of ours (also named Jon) who lives in the Bay area. Having two Jons cheering me on from the audience, I knew I couldn't be beaten. Add to that my SHOP undershirt and cuff links from my wife as additional talismans and I was ready to go - armored up and ready for battle!
I gave my full presentation and it went very well. I nailed the presentation portion and I believe I had good, previously anticipated answers to the Q&A portion. I received many compliments on the presentation, including one piece of feedback that it was as good as a presentation could get. Additionally, I didn't receive a single question from the judges about product differentiation or competitive barriers. Goal #3: check!
Unfortunately I didn't not achieve Goal #2, which meant that Goal #1 was out of the question. A company called Indow Windows won the energy efficiency category with a cool drop-in product to turn single pane windows into double pane windows. Clearly I was disappointed in the result and I will hope to get some good feedback from the judges. I'm told it was very close and I am still honored to have been chosen among the top energy efficiency startups in the country.
The Jons and I stayed to watch the final five presentations, attend the award ceremony, and then the gala dinner afterward. Throughout the evening it became abundantly clear that we were achieving our primary goal; I was able to line up meeting after meeting after meeting with potential investors for Thursday and Friday, while I would still be in town! This certainly softened the blow of the competition loss!
Looking back on the CleanTech Open experience, I'm really glad we participated. It took a very non-trivial amount of time and money, but it really helped us connect throughout the cleantech ecosystem - which is not very present in Houston. We received some great exposure, met some great people, and - of course - had a great time! I would recommend it for other early-stage cleantech startups and I'll hope to give back a little next year as a mentor.
Each finalist was a startup company that has raised less than $1M and that is working on problems that make the world more sustainable. There were five categories of competitors: energy efficiency, smart power, green building, air/waste/water, and renewable energy. Smart OES could have competed in any of the first three categories but ultimately energy efficiency seemed to be most appropriate for us.
Each category had four or five competitors. Over the course of two days, each competitor presented a 15-minute business plan presentation followed by 15 minutes of Q&A from 20+ judges representing the category, the venture capital community, the science/development community, and the government/policy community. Competitors were scored based on their portenital for impact, likelihood of success, sustainability, and presentation quality. After all competitors presented, the winner of each category would then present again and a global winnner would be announced.
I came into the finals with several goals: 1. Win the global competition 2. Win the energy efficiency category 3. Tell a convincing story about product differentiation and competitive barriers (the perceived lack of which had always been our greatest criticism). Of course, those were the goals on which my competitive side focused. Much more meaningful for us, though, was using the competition as a means to connect with influential people, partners, and investors in the cleantech ecosystem - so that was our primary objective.
Tuesday morning featured an investor speed dating event that connected us with five VCs for seven-minute one-on-one discussions. This event by itself was worth the price of admission and I applaud the CleanTech Open for their success in putting it together.
Our scored presentation wasn't until Wednesday morning, so I spent much of Tuesday manning our booth. Interested potential investors, employees, and journalists stopped by all day to hear about what we were up to and to see our prototype products in action. It was really energizing to see how many people were keen to know what was going on on the frontiers of cleantech. I also left the booth unmanned a few times to go support some of the other entrepreneurs as they were presenting in other categories.
Tuesday afternoon I was called up to the main stage for a 3-minute product demo, which received some "oohs and ahhs" as I unveiled some of the behavior-influencing features of our product. My product demo especially caught the attention of one audience member, Jon, a friend of mine from college! He came up to me afterward and it was such a joy to see him there. As I've blogged about before, I'm an extrovert and I love having people "on my team." Having Jon there supporting me lifted my spirits and really gave me a boost going into Wednesday.
Wednesday morning I was joined by another team member, an investor of ours (also named Jon) who lives in the Bay area. Having two Jons cheering me on from the audience, I knew I couldn't be beaten. Add to that my SHOP undershirt and cuff links from my wife as additional talismans and I was ready to go - armored up and ready for battle!
I gave my full presentation and it went very well. I nailed the presentation portion and I believe I had good, previously anticipated answers to the Q&A portion. I received many compliments on the presentation, including one piece of feedback that it was as good as a presentation could get. Additionally, I didn't receive a single question from the judges about product differentiation or competitive barriers. Goal #3: check!
Unfortunately I didn't not achieve Goal #2, which meant that Goal #1 was out of the question. A company called Indow Windows won the energy efficiency category with a cool drop-in product to turn single pane windows into double pane windows. Clearly I was disappointed in the result and I will hope to get some good feedback from the judges. I'm told it was very close and I am still honored to have been chosen among the top energy efficiency startups in the country.
The Jons and I stayed to watch the final five presentations, attend the award ceremony, and then the gala dinner afterward. Throughout the evening it became abundantly clear that we were achieving our primary goal; I was able to line up meeting after meeting after meeting with potential investors for Thursday and Friday, while I would still be in town! This certainly softened the blow of the competition loss!
Looking back on the CleanTech Open experience, I'm really glad we participated. It took a very non-trivial amount of time and money, but it really helped us connect throughout the cleantech ecosystem - which is not very present in Houston. We received some great exposure, met some great people, and - of course - had a great time! I would recommend it for other early-stage cleantech startups and I'll hope to give back a little next year as a mentor.
2017-10-09
Enchanted by Ireland 1
Katie and I had a lovely trip to Ireland with her family! After a week and a half, we are positively enchanted by the Emerald Isle and will hope to return soon.
Our trip actually began in Paris for the annual Jimmy Buffett concert. Because we would only be in Paris for 24 hours, we chose to walk around and enjoy the great city rather than queue up for a prime spot at the Saturday show. This was just fine, though, as there isn't a bad seat in the house for these small concerts and we still had ample opportunity to catch up with our Parrothead friends after the show.
Sunday we took a flight to Dublin, where we were greeted at the airport by ads for Guinness - a refreshing change from the luxury watch ads that usually greet us at European airports! Katie's parents, sister, and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport (They had already been in Dublin for a couple of days.) and we were off to Galway. I hadn't realized how small Ireland is geographically but it only took two hours to drive from Dublin (East coast) to Galway (West coast).
Upon arrival in Galway we headed immediately for the Galway Oyster Festival! It was a big tent with, wait for it, oysters! And beer! Specifically Guinness! My first Guinness in Ireland was really lovely. People claim that Irish Guinness tastes better and it may well do but I would need a side-by-side blind tasting to test that claim. Taking it on faith, though, I just drank every Guinness I could get my hands on throughout the trip! I love Guinness on its own but it goes very well with seafood as well, including the Kelly(!) Oysters (from just a few km away), the mussels and clams, and the fish n' chips there at the festival.
That evening we went to The Quays, a local pub/bar/music venue/restaurant for dinner. The food (fish n' chips and beef and Guinness stew - which we ordered every chance we could on this trip) wasn't great but they let you add four oysters alongside any Guinness for a small additional fee so we liked that deal. The music was pretty nice too so it was a good start to the evening.
After dinner we attended Trad on the Prom, a show of traditional Irish music and dance. It featured unique Irish singing, instruments, and Riverdance-style dancing. It was sort of hilarious in that, every time the emcee would introduce a performer, he would remark that that performer had won X number of world championships. I'm not sure exactly how many competitors there are in the "world" championships of traditional Irish dancing but it would seem that the majority of them were there performing that night! This became a running joke of ours for the rest of the trip; with every performance we saw we wanted to know how many world championships had been won by the performers!
Our Monday began with a run along Galway's Prom[enade]. It was cool, foggy, and oh so green - exactly as I imagined Ireland would be! We followed this up with recovery nutrition at Dungeons & Donuts, a hybrid donut shop and tabletop RPG parlor. The donuts weren't amazing but the flavors were creative and the atmosphere was unique!
After a visit to Katie's Chocolate Shop (Both Barrett sisters' names were well represented by Galway food service companies!), we drove around Galway Bay to our next destination. En route we stopped for tours of Hazel Mountain Chocolate, a local artisanal chocolatier, and Dunguaire Castle, a 16th-century tower house located on a huge bog that feeds into the bay.
First impressions of Ireland were enormously positive. The people were - as they would say - lovely, the landscape was green upon green upon green, castles and ruins were ubiquitous, and the Guinness flowed like water!
Our trip actually began in Paris for the annual Jimmy Buffett concert. Because we would only be in Paris for 24 hours, we chose to walk around and enjoy the great city rather than queue up for a prime spot at the Saturday show. This was just fine, though, as there isn't a bad seat in the house for these small concerts and we still had ample opportunity to catch up with our Parrothead friends after the show.
Sunday we took a flight to Dublin, where we were greeted at the airport by ads for Guinness - a refreshing change from the luxury watch ads that usually greet us at European airports! Katie's parents, sister, and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport (They had already been in Dublin for a couple of days.) and we were off to Galway. I hadn't realized how small Ireland is geographically but it only took two hours to drive from Dublin (East coast) to Galway (West coast).
Upon arrival in Galway we headed immediately for the Galway Oyster Festival! It was a big tent with, wait for it, oysters! And beer! Specifically Guinness! My first Guinness in Ireland was really lovely. People claim that Irish Guinness tastes better and it may well do but I would need a side-by-side blind tasting to test that claim. Taking it on faith, though, I just drank every Guinness I could get my hands on throughout the trip! I love Guinness on its own but it goes very well with seafood as well, including the Kelly(!) Oysters (from just a few km away), the mussels and clams, and the fish n' chips there at the festival.
That evening we went to The Quays, a local pub/bar/music venue/restaurant for dinner. The food (fish n' chips and beef and Guinness stew - which we ordered every chance we could on this trip) wasn't great but they let you add four oysters alongside any Guinness for a small additional fee so we liked that deal. The music was pretty nice too so it was a good start to the evening.
After dinner we attended Trad on the Prom, a show of traditional Irish music and dance. It featured unique Irish singing, instruments, and Riverdance-style dancing. It was sort of hilarious in that, every time the emcee would introduce a performer, he would remark that that performer had won X number of world championships. I'm not sure exactly how many competitors there are in the "world" championships of traditional Irish dancing but it would seem that the majority of them were there performing that night! This became a running joke of ours for the rest of the trip; with every performance we saw we wanted to know how many world championships had been won by the performers!
Our Monday began with a run along Galway's Prom[enade]. It was cool, foggy, and oh so green - exactly as I imagined Ireland would be! We followed this up with recovery nutrition at Dungeons & Donuts, a hybrid donut shop and tabletop RPG parlor. The donuts weren't amazing but the flavors were creative and the atmosphere was unique!
After a visit to Katie's Chocolate Shop (Both Barrett sisters' names were well represented by Galway food service companies!), we drove around Galway Bay to our next destination. En route we stopped for tours of Hazel Mountain Chocolate, a local artisanal chocolatier, and Dunguaire Castle, a 16th-century tower house located on a huge bog that feeds into the bay.
First impressions of Ireland were enormously positive. The people were - as they would say - lovely, the landscape was green upon green upon green, castles and ruins were ubiquitous, and the Guinness flowed like water!
2018-04-16
Austin BBQ Tour
Katie had a conference in Austin and I had customers, vendors, and investors to visit there so we coordinated our trip together. Of course I also took the opportunity to indulge in a little Texas BBQ while I was in town.
North Carolina has excellent BBQ but it is pretty limited to whole hog pulled pork - and the ribs are pretty good too. However, when you see brisket on an NC BBQ menu, run the other way. It is often grayish and tough like pot roast and invariably lacks the spicy bark, smoke ring, and fall-apart-on-your-fork/melt-in-your-mouth-ness that I associate with the best beef BBQ in TX.
Texas BBQ itself is experiencing something of a renaissance. 10 years ago, if you wanted the best of the best, you had to make a pilgrimage out to small country towns. Then Franklin BBQ set up shop in Austin and the bar for craft BBQ inside the city limits of major metro areas was forever raised. Many others followed suit - not just in Austin but in other big TX cities as well. It's a great time to be alive if you love beef BBQ!
I hit five BBQ joints in 48 hours and I had immense help from Packy Saunders in prioritizing/planning my tour. If you like food, you should be following Packy on Instagram.
1. Micklethwait Craft Meats
We went straight from the airport to Micklethwait, arriving ~noon. Micklethwait is a food truck with a pretty solid expanded setup, including a separate smoker trailer and shaded seating. I dragged a few of Katie's colleagues with me such that we could try almost the entire menu:
From front to back:
!
North Carolina has excellent BBQ but it is pretty limited to whole hog pulled pork - and the ribs are pretty good too. However, when you see brisket on an NC BBQ menu, run the other way. It is often grayish and tough like pot roast and invariably lacks the spicy bark, smoke ring, and fall-apart-on-your-fork/melt-in-your-mouth-ness that I associate with the best beef BBQ in TX.
Texas BBQ itself is experiencing something of a renaissance. 10 years ago, if you wanted the best of the best, you had to make a pilgrimage out to small country towns. Then Franklin BBQ set up shop in Austin and the bar for craft BBQ inside the city limits of major metro areas was forever raised. Many others followed suit - not just in Austin but in other big TX cities as well. It's a great time to be alive if you love beef BBQ!
I hit five BBQ joints in 48 hours and I had immense help from Packy Saunders in prioritizing/planning my tour. If you like food, you should be following Packy on Instagram.
1. Micklethwait Craft Meats
We went straight from the airport to Micklethwait, arriving ~noon. Micklethwait is a food truck with a pretty solid expanded setup, including a separate smoker trailer and shaded seating. I dragged a few of Katie's colleagues with me such that we could try almost the entire menu:
- beef rib (good flavor but some tough parts)
- pulled pork (good)
- pulled lamb (excellent)
- brisket (very good)
- lemon poppy cole slaw (good)
- potato salad (good)
- carrot cake whoopie pie (very good) - I think this was provided by I Knead That.
- brisket frito pie (excellent)
- TexCzech sausage (good)
- pork spare ribs (good)
- barbacoa (meh, kind of dry/tough)
- jalapeno cheese grits (good)
- beans (good)
Everything was a little saltier than it needed to be but the flavor was good. The hands down winner was the brisket frito pie, although the pulled lamb was a close second. By the time we left (~13:00), they were running out of the non-staples - so I'm glad we got the lamb when we did!
After a short run along the lake to try to combat all the meat carnage, I headed to Terry Black's by myself.
From front to back:
- peach cobbler (good)
- lean brisket (meh, pretty dry)
- moist brisket (good)
- mac n' cheese (ok)
- banana pudding (excellent)
Combining the brisket with the mac n' cheese was a winner but the banana pudding was definitely the standout. There was nothing exceptional about Terry Black's BBQ, but A. I was there near closing and B. I only tried the brisket so I will reserve judgment until I've had a chance to try more.
The weather was unseasonably cool so I began the next day with a long run around the lake - just what I needed to make room for more BBQ! Valentina's is pretty far south (~20 minute drive) and is another food truck with shaded seating. ~10AM there was no line. They had both BBQ and Tex Mex on the menu but my pro tip from Packy was to stick to the breakfast tacos.
Left to right:
- Smoked brisket taco with salsa and guacamole (very good)
- The Real Deal Holyfield with brisket, bacon, fried egg, refried beans, potatoes, and salsa (AMAZEBALLS)
Valentina's did not let me down; the Real Deal alone was worth the price of admission. I can't judge how good their BBQ is on its own but the flavor combination in that Real Deal was a knockout
After a day of business meetings, I took another 20-minute drive south to this food truck. I arrived right at 5 PM (when their dinner menu opens up) and there was no line. With a pint of Yellow Rose from the next door bar, it was a hell of a way to unwind after a packed day.
- Mac n' cheese stuffed quail with kimchi and mustard greens (good - neither the mac nor the quail is that exceptional by itself but using a smoked bird as a utensil for conveying mac n' cheese to my mouth is a big winner, plus points for the accouterments)
- Brisket cookie (very good - they use brisket drippings to give it a little smoke and salt and I wouldn't have minded a little more)
- L&L burger (not pictured, excellent - brisket burger with cheese, pickles, onions, and sauce)
The menu here was less traditional but everything I had was very good. I love, love, LOVE that they make their BBQ sauce with beets. I don't blame the other BBQ joints for mass producing their sauces with bad ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup but I do strongly prefer this approach.
5. Franklin BBQ
After hearing about Franklin for years I finally decided to take the plunge. I woke up early, went for a preemptive strike run, and then arrived at Franklin around 8 AM. They offer chairs to the first 30 or so people in line, which made the wait much easier. They also very considerately came out and asked each of us for our intended orders so they could warn people farther back if they might run out of some meats. They opened their doors at 10:59 but, even at #15 in line, I didn't reach the counter to order until ~11:30.
Front to back:
- ribs (excellent, truly the surprise meat)
- brisket (very good)
- turkey (very good for turkey - still not as good as anything else there)
- sausage (good)
- pulled pork (very good)
- Tipsy Texan (AMAZEBALLS - chopped brisket, sliced sausage, coleslaw, pickles, and onions)
- banana bourbon tart (not pictured, good - very boozy!)
I didn't find any of Franklin's meats to be markedly better than those of the other top places in Austin. What makes Franklin special is really the experience. Sitting around with others "of your tribe" who are excited enough for good BBQ to devote an entire morning to it is something akin to tailgating. I made some fast friends in that line and the wait was over before I knew it. Franklin has the operation down to a science and they are very accommodating, opening up their bathrooms and selling beer long before their 11:00 open time.
After much reflection, these are the top things I had during my whirlwind Austin BBQ tour:
- Real Deal Holyfield at Valentina's
- Tipsy Texan at Franklin
- L & L Burger at LeRoy and Lewis
- Brisket Frito Pie at Micklethwait
Noticing a pattern here? None of these are individual cuts of meat; they're all combos in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I think the best Houston BBQ joints are on par with the best of Austin when it comes to individual cuts of meat (e.g. the beef rib at Killen's). Austin BBQ is distinguishing itself at the moment through inventive flavor combinations and, as much as I love brisket, ribs, and sausage by themselves, these innovative combos are really refreshing.
What do you think? Have I got the right of it or missed the point entirely? Regardless, after all this coverage of smokey, salty meat, let me leave you with a very boozey Guinness ice cream cookie sandwich from Amy's to cleanse your palate:
2015-03-01
Fittest Entrepreneur Again
Last Saturday I won my second consecutive Houston Fittest Entrepreneur Challenge! That turns out not to be very impressive as there weren't many entrepreneurs competing this year but I still took second among all male competitors and improved on my performance from last year so I feel very good about the results.
This year's event was much like last year's: it took place at the Houston Dynamo Sports Complex, the events were almost identical to last year's, and I had the same awesome team of my former Rice students cheering me on, plying me with water, etc. There were two main differences, though: 1. there were ~3x as many people competing this year and 2. there were many more corporate teams competing as opposed to individuals. This second factor probably accounts for the dearth of entrepreneur entrants and the glut of executive, professional, doctor, lawyer, and consultant competitors, most of whom were part of company teams.
After warmup, mobilization, and review of my race strategy with my "pit crew," I got after it:
Course 1
Event 1: 30 bodyweight inverted rows on a suspension trainer. I finished in 23 seconds, #5 overall. Last year my 28 seconds was good enough for #4 so already you can see that the competition was stiffer this year.
Event 2: 40 plyo box step-ups while carrying a 25-lb sandbell. Last year I finished in 1:14 (#9) and this year I swear my judge said 1:14 as well. However, in the final results I'm listed at 1:24 (#54, my worst place). I can't think of any reason that I would have dropped 10 seconds in this event since last year. Still, a 1:14 only would have bumped me up to #34, so this still would have been my worst event.
Event 3: 40 had-release push-ups (You have to rest fully on your chest and take your hands off the ground between reps.). Last year I finished the normal push-ups in 29 seconds (#4) but I found the hand-release push-ups much harder. I had to break up 40 into five sets of eight with a 4-5 second rest between sets otherwise my shoulders would get totally smoked. This strategy took me 56 seconds (#31). Given that I was near the top for push-ups last year and so far off this year (The top performers in this event were in the low 30s.) I think there was something I didn't understand about the optimal way to blast through this movement.
Event 4: 40 35-lb kettlebell swings. I finished in 48 seconds (#6) vs. 52 seconds (also #6) last year.
Event 5: 40 arms-behind-your-head to fingers-past-your-toes sit-ups. Last year this was my worst event, finishing in 1:18 (#12). This year I paced myself better and improved my time to 1:11 (but placed worse at #18).
Event 6: 20 burpees. I finished in 44 seconds (#5), pausing for two breaths at the halfway point, vs 45 seconds (#4) last year.
Event 7: two-minute plank hold. This was my undoing last year as I didn't even make it a full minute, tapping out at 52 seconds. This year I worked hard on my plank in an already exhausted state and it paid off: I completed the full two minutes to tie for #1. It's a good thing, too - last year 52 seconds was enough for #8 in the event; this year it would have only earned me #61!
Clearly the field was much more competitive this year: I had improved my performance in almost all of the events yet, instead of placing #8 overall for the first course as I had last year, I was down at #13! Even if my second event time was indeed incorrect, the correct time would only have boosted me to #10.
Course 2
After a rest and some coconut water, I hopped into Course 2. This was completed in pairs and I was fortunate to be paired with someone else who was very competitive. We both pushed each other through each of the four events, which I believe improved both of our scores.
Event 1: agility drills. Up and back through these speed ladders and hurdles took 29 seconds (#3) vs 1:23 (#4) on a longer version of the course last year.
Event 2: 10 15-lb sandbell tosses over a high barrier followed by suicide sprints. 50 seconds (#8) vs 60 seconds, (#9) last year. Already I could feel that I was doing better on this course than I had done last year - and my partner was helping to motivate me as he kept beating me by just a hair.
Event 3: 20 15-lb sandbell slams followed by a 100-yard out-and-back bear crawl. 43 seconds (#2!) vs 1:16 (#12) last year - a huge improvement. My partner was ahead of me heading out of the slams but I caught him at the turnaround of the bear crawl and never looked back.
Event 4: 100 yard out-and-back sprint while carrying a 10-ft, 40-lb sandrope followed by a 100 yard out-and-back sprint while carrying a 50-lb sandbell. 39 seconds (#3). Last year's event was just the second half of this one and I finished in 17 seconds (#4).
I improved my performance in every single event of this course and it showed as I completed this course #2 overall vs. #8 last year. My calf started cramping a bit in the final event so I rested and coconut watered up a bit before the 5k.
Course 3
Last year the course was a bit short, just 4.8k My km splits were:
4:39 (166 BPM heart rate)
4:42 (167)
4:39 (168)
4:36 (171)
3:18 (only 800m)
for a 21:54 (#3) finish.
Two weeks before this event I ran a 5k time trial in Oregon after an intense SHOP workout. My km splits were:
4:36 (163)
4:31 (165)
4:25 (170)
4:23 (172)
3:55 (184)
for a 21:55 finish. That was substantially faster than last year's competition since it was the same time for a full 5k vs just 4.8k. Given that performance in a training run, I was optimistic that I would do even better in a race situation.
This year the race course was a full 5k. Amped up on competition adrenaline I went out a little faster than intended and then had to rein it in a bit as the heat, humidity (very different weather than we had during my Oregon training run!), and exhaustion from the previous courses conspired to make my right calf threaten to cramp. I managed to stave off the cramp, though, and still beat last year's short course time on this longer course. My splits were:
4:27 (166)
4:25 (171)
4:27 (173)
4:27 (175)
4:04 (183)
for a 21:50 finish (#6) overall - much slower than my fresh 5k PR but a new "exhausted" 5k PR!
Overall
In the end I finished #13 on Course 1, #2 on Course 2, and #6 on Course 3 for a total score of 21, which was good enough for the top Entrepreneur spot and #2 among all male competitors. The #1 finisher earned #2, #4, and #4 on the respective courses for a total score of 10 so he was way ahead of me and even a correction to my plyobox step-ups event wouldn't have helped me make up much ground on him. Clearly I'll need to improve my performance in Course #1 substantially next year if I want to make a run at the overall title!
Once again this was a really fun event for which to train and in which to compete. I have to offer up huge shout outs to everyone who helped me out along the way:
The SHOP - my go-to source for all matters strength, conditioning, and nutrition
Paleo Runner - my running coach who is helping me improve my running with a less-is-more, smarter-not-harder approach
Unbound Body - my fascial stretching therapist who is helping me work through my mobility limitations
Chapel Hill Obstacle Run Conditioning Group - working out in this group has definitely improved my performance in things like the bear crawl.
Sid - my friend in Oregon who paced me during the 5k time trial
Matt - my Virginia friend who helped me train for courses 1 and 2 in Abingdon
Katie - my devoted wife who timed me on many training run-throughs and was so supportive of my efforts
Vivas and Veronica - my on-site pit crew was so incredibly helpful as I was nearing exhaustion in each event!
Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way! It was a blast and next year I'm thinking of putting together a team!
This year's event was much like last year's: it took place at the Houston Dynamo Sports Complex, the events were almost identical to last year's, and I had the same awesome team of my former Rice students cheering me on, plying me with water, etc. There were two main differences, though: 1. there were ~3x as many people competing this year and 2. there were many more corporate teams competing as opposed to individuals. This second factor probably accounts for the dearth of entrepreneur entrants and the glut of executive, professional, doctor, lawyer, and consultant competitors, most of whom were part of company teams.
After warmup, mobilization, and review of my race strategy with my "pit crew," I got after it:
Course 1
Event 1: 30 bodyweight inverted rows on a suspension trainer. I finished in 23 seconds, #5 overall. Last year my 28 seconds was good enough for #4 so already you can see that the competition was stiffer this year.
Event 2: 40 plyo box step-ups while carrying a 25-lb sandbell. Last year I finished in 1:14 (#9) and this year I swear my judge said 1:14 as well. However, in the final results I'm listed at 1:24 (#54, my worst place). I can't think of any reason that I would have dropped 10 seconds in this event since last year. Still, a 1:14 only would have bumped me up to #34, so this still would have been my worst event.
Event 3: 40 had-release push-ups (You have to rest fully on your chest and take your hands off the ground between reps.). Last year I finished the normal push-ups in 29 seconds (#4) but I found the hand-release push-ups much harder. I had to break up 40 into five sets of eight with a 4-5 second rest between sets otherwise my shoulders would get totally smoked. This strategy took me 56 seconds (#31). Given that I was near the top for push-ups last year and so far off this year (The top performers in this event were in the low 30s.) I think there was something I didn't understand about the optimal way to blast through this movement.
Event 4: 40 35-lb kettlebell swings. I finished in 48 seconds (#6) vs. 52 seconds (also #6) last year.
Event 5: 40 arms-behind-your-head to fingers-past-your-toes sit-ups. Last year this was my worst event, finishing in 1:18 (#12). This year I paced myself better and improved my time to 1:11 (but placed worse at #18).
Event 6: 20 burpees. I finished in 44 seconds (#5), pausing for two breaths at the halfway point, vs 45 seconds (#4) last year.
Event 7: two-minute plank hold. This was my undoing last year as I didn't even make it a full minute, tapping out at 52 seconds. This year I worked hard on my plank in an already exhausted state and it paid off: I completed the full two minutes to tie for #1. It's a good thing, too - last year 52 seconds was enough for #8 in the event; this year it would have only earned me #61!
Clearly the field was much more competitive this year: I had improved my performance in almost all of the events yet, instead of placing #8 overall for the first course as I had last year, I was down at #13! Even if my second event time was indeed incorrect, the correct time would only have boosted me to #10.
Course 2
After a rest and some coconut water, I hopped into Course 2. This was completed in pairs and I was fortunate to be paired with someone else who was very competitive. We both pushed each other through each of the four events, which I believe improved both of our scores.
Event 1: agility drills. Up and back through these speed ladders and hurdles took 29 seconds (#3) vs 1:23 (#4) on a longer version of the course last year.
Event 2: 10 15-lb sandbell tosses over a high barrier followed by suicide sprints. 50 seconds (#8) vs 60 seconds, (#9) last year. Already I could feel that I was doing better on this course than I had done last year - and my partner was helping to motivate me as he kept beating me by just a hair.
Event 3: 20 15-lb sandbell slams followed by a 100-yard out-and-back bear crawl. 43 seconds (#2!) vs 1:16 (#12) last year - a huge improvement. My partner was ahead of me heading out of the slams but I caught him at the turnaround of the bear crawl and never looked back.
Event 4: 100 yard out-and-back sprint while carrying a 10-ft, 40-lb sandrope followed by a 100 yard out-and-back sprint while carrying a 50-lb sandbell. 39 seconds (#3). Last year's event was just the second half of this one and I finished in 17 seconds (#4).
I improved my performance in every single event of this course and it showed as I completed this course #2 overall vs. #8 last year. My calf started cramping a bit in the final event so I rested and coconut watered up a bit before the 5k.
Course 3
Last year the course was a bit short, just 4.8k My km splits were:
4:39 (166 BPM heart rate)
4:42 (167)
4:39 (168)
4:36 (171)
3:18 (only 800m)
for a 21:54 (#3) finish.
Two weeks before this event I ran a 5k time trial in Oregon after an intense SHOP workout. My km splits were:
4:36 (163)
4:31 (165)
4:25 (170)
4:23 (172)
3:55 (184)
for a 21:55 finish. That was substantially faster than last year's competition since it was the same time for a full 5k vs just 4.8k. Given that performance in a training run, I was optimistic that I would do even better in a race situation.
This year the race course was a full 5k. Amped up on competition adrenaline I went out a little faster than intended and then had to rein it in a bit as the heat, humidity (very different weather than we had during my Oregon training run!), and exhaustion from the previous courses conspired to make my right calf threaten to cramp. I managed to stave off the cramp, though, and still beat last year's short course time on this longer course. My splits were:
4:27 (166)
4:25 (171)
4:27 (173)
4:27 (175)
4:04 (183)
for a 21:50 finish (#6) overall - much slower than my fresh 5k PR but a new "exhausted" 5k PR!
Overall
In the end I finished #13 on Course 1, #2 on Course 2, and #6 on Course 3 for a total score of 21, which was good enough for the top Entrepreneur spot and #2 among all male competitors. The #1 finisher earned #2, #4, and #4 on the respective courses for a total score of 10 so he was way ahead of me and even a correction to my plyobox step-ups event wouldn't have helped me make up much ground on him. Clearly I'll need to improve my performance in Course #1 substantially next year if I want to make a run at the overall title!
Once again this was a really fun event for which to train and in which to compete. I have to offer up huge shout outs to everyone who helped me out along the way:
The SHOP - my go-to source for all matters strength, conditioning, and nutrition
Paleo Runner - my running coach who is helping me improve my running with a less-is-more, smarter-not-harder approach
Unbound Body - my fascial stretching therapist who is helping me work through my mobility limitations
Chapel Hill Obstacle Run Conditioning Group - working out in this group has definitely improved my performance in things like the bear crawl.
Sid - my friend in Oregon who paced me during the 5k time trial
Matt - my Virginia friend who helped me train for courses 1 and 2 in Abingdon
Katie - my devoted wife who timed me on many training run-throughs and was so supportive of my efforts
Vivas and Veronica - my on-site pit crew was so incredibly helpful as I was nearing exhaustion in each event!
Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way! It was a blast and next year I'm thinking of putting together a team!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
