1. Made it my social media hub by loading the Hootsuite app
2. Made it my news hub using the Pulse app as well as the CNN app
3. Loaded the ABC app for sitcoms and shows (wish NBC had an app for their shows)
4. Added the Kindle app so that I can access our family library of Kindle books
5. Added a selection of music from my iTunes library so I can listen to music while using the iPad
6. Rented and watched a movie with my wife (No Strings Attached with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman)
7. Using the WordPress app I’m writing this blog post entirely on the iPad

I have limited experience with Apple products (my wife has an iPod and so i’ve used it along with iTunes), but have had no problem figuring out how the iPad works. Additionally, typing is easier than I thought it would be. For longer emails or posts that require images, charts or video a laptop or desktop would likely be easier, but for basic correspondence typing on the iPad works great.

Recent research shows the number one use for the iPad is simply browsing the web. I understand why after using mine. It becomes such a rich experience, especially when you tie it in with social media apps like Flipboard. You end up browsing articles and video from your friends posts/tweets since more of the content is shown than just the link (check out the Flipboard example here to see what I mean).

When the first iPad came out there was a lot of talk about the inability to multitask. I was in agreement as it seemed that capability would be necessary in today’s fast-paced world. No longer do I feel this way. If you want to multitask on the iPad you are missing one of it’s most simplistic and beneficial features: rich content one app at a time. I would argue that the iPad is the digital equivalent of stopping to smell the flowers on a hike. You can enjoy amazing content and go deeper using apps that do a great job of sifting massive amounts of online information.

Because of this, the iPad is the minimalists dream. It is the one device that will keep you connected, informed, and entertained. After less than three hours of messing around with mine I can assure you it does all three with ease.

I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what this thing can do. The sign of a good product is one that can pleasantly surprise even after the user has had it for awhile – I fully anticipate more fun surprises as I continue to use my iPad. As my exploration continues on this new device, I will keep you posted on what I find. If you have had an iPad for awhile, what have been some of your favorite uses (apps, entertainment, productivity, etc.)?

OK, so the trail is crazy easy to find, however, make sure you go the right direction on the loop.  As we were heading down, a fellow biker riding up politely informed us we were going the wrong direction.  Duly noted – next time go counter-clockwise on the trail, not clockwise.  Thankfully we were the first ones there at around 8:00am, so we didn’t run into anyone barreling down as we were riding up. If you are thinking about doing this ride, after parking your car, ride your bike up the main dirt road and it will funnel you right into the single track (and you’ll be on your way to a successful counterclockwise loop).

For those of you that want to really hammer it, two loops can make for a great workout. That is probably the only thing lacking about Freund Canyon, it leaves you wanting more!

Enjoy the brief video below. This is a view of the trail that few get to see (well, unless you ride it backwards like Jerry and I)…

Jerry after hammering it to the top.

Me after trying to keep up w/ Jerry.

But before I digress too much, a little background information might help. If you haven’t heard of Crossfit, or functional fitness style workouts, you soon will.  In a nutshell, functional fitness gyms focus on variety and intensity without the use of any machine weights. Instead, you end up doing pull-ups, working with medicine balls, hitting a sledge hammer against a massive truck tire, flipping truck tires, pulling sleds with weight on them, lunges, squats, and a variety of other movements that are “functional” in style.

Over the last five years these types of gyms have exploded in popularity, with more than 2,000 popping up across the county.  Initially targeting professionals whose jobs require stamina and endurance (i.e. firefighters, SWAT teams, military, etc.), these gyms have also attracted everyday athletes who, like me, have become bored with the standard gym experience (sounds like another intersection of business and life – hence the popularity).

The Inner Circle Gym opened in Wenatchee in April 2009, and was the first functional fitness gym in the valley.  I have to be honest – it’s awesome. My workouts are shorter, more intense and most importantly, more fun! Yes, I said it. Fun. : )

For instance, here was yesterday’s workout that made me so sore today.  Adam Vognild, one of The Inner Circle Gym owners put this workout together. We did each of the items listed below for 3 minutes, with a one minute break in between. So in twenty minutes, we maxed out our reps at each “station.”

• Sit-ups
• Pull-ups
• Sandbag get-ups (take a 35lb sand bag on your shoulder, lay down, and get up, back down, up etc.)
• Air squats
• Burpee’s

That’s it. Nothing fancy, but boy am I sore. The cool part is, tomorrow I’ll go in and mix it up with a completely different workout. Efficient, effective and fun. You gotta love that.

If you are interested to learn more, check out these links:

The Inner Circle Gym Website – www.theinnercirclegym.com

Wenatchee World Article – At this gym, they don’t have no ellipticals, pal

WSJ Article – Fitness as a Full-Time Pursuit

I have no regrets. Life is too short. That’s why my only message and reason for this post is to look at your life, and make sure you are making memories and making a difference. Don’t waste time on distractions – focus on what is most important.  The question, “In ten years, will you regret X decision” is so true.

And how does the title of this post tie in? Because this title describes a memory maker for me that I want to share with you. Our son’s favorite word is ”buh.” Additionally, he has a whole series of favorite things that stem from “buh:” balloon, bee, ball, blue (for blueberry).  I love it.  I’ll never forget the joyful ”buh’s” he says daily right now as he points them around the house.  We all could use a little more “buh” in our life – they’re a good thing!

Over two years ago Brianne and I decided to end our cable subscription and sell our TV. And so it was that my sweet 19″ TV/VCR combo that I bought in college moved on to a better, more loving home.

I have to admit, I was a bit more skeptical than Brianne about how we’d fair without our 19” boob tube.  Thoughts like “what about major sporting events, what about staying current with news, or what about just staying current with trends in general?” all ran through my brain. 

Despite the hesitancy, the desire to create more time doing things won out over keeping our TV. We only had so much time in a day, and we realized it was way too easy to turn on the television set and let the evening go by.  Amazingly, the withdrawals didn’t last long once the TV was gone.  When you actually unplug your TV and it’s not an option, it’s easier than you might think to fill your time.

For more than a year we had no TV in the house. We instantly created more free time which allowed us to stay ahead on chores, get outside more, and in general communicate more. And when we got an itch to watch a show, we jumped online and watched it without commercials.  The beauty of this is we could watch it when the time was best for us (rather than us fitting our schedule around the show).

About a year ago we ended up buying another TV (a 42” flat screen), but its only purpose was for movies; we still have no cable. Even with this addition, our time in front of the TV is significantly less than what it used to be because we dictate what we watch and when we watch it.

If you are finding it hard to get everything done in your life – try disconnecting your cable. You’ll save some money and instantly create free time you can use for whatever else is most important to you.

And to bring this full circle and add a marketing perspective, this is one of those areas of life that is a true intersection for businesses. Digital online media is reshaping how we consume information. I have no doubt that in the future cable TV as we know it today will converge with broadband and the majority of consumers will view most if not all of their cable content online. It’s already beginning as TV’s are now being sold that can connect direct with Netflix, YouTube etc.

At the end of the day each of us will still be responsible for how much TV we consume, but for those of us who want to be specific about when and where we watch it, we’ll have even greater flexibility.

I’ve taken an excerpt from “Chappy” who posted this on Vimeo -  credit must go to him for some great commentary and analysis on the events that transpired. Please read his thoughts below before you watch the video as it clearly outlines all of the things that went wrong and that went right.

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

“The guy in the video was the first one to drop from their group and while not a guide, he had a lot of Utah and AK backcountry experience. He had a Black Diamond Avalung on, but as you can tell from the video while he’s talking as he’s dropping in, it wasn’t in his mouth to start. He tried to shove it in the instant of starting to get sucked down, but it didn’t stay in fully during his ragdoll descent. It was just off to the corner of his mouth he said, and he definitely got some snow / ice in his mouth still.

So as he drops in you can also see the sluff to the skier’s right immediately start building….and that’s actually the chute that was the intended route down. For whatever reason – well pure, unadulterated powder will do it to you – he didn’t go make some strong “skier cuts” into the upper pack to do one final snow check as instructed by the main guide who was doing the “tail gunner” work.

Instead he just sent it. And it didn’t take more than a few turns out on this big shoulder above this cliff band to break loose.

This was a decent sized avalanche. 1,500 feet the dude fell in a little over 20 seconds. The crown was about 1 – 1.5m. The chute that he got sucked through to the skier’s right was flanked on either side by cliff bands that were about 30m tall. He luckily didn’t break any bones and obviously didn’t hit anything on the run out.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. I cannot stress these next sentences enough; that in and of itself to be unburied in ONLY 4:28 is miraculous if you have any understanding of being caught in an avalanche and what it takes to be found. It could literally be some kind of “world record” just on how good the guide and supporting cast of other skiers was in getting to him. It also shows why you should ALWAYS be going with people trained in avalanche rescue / first aid….as well as why you’d want to be going with a guided heli operation. Sure this was terrifying for him, but he would’ve probably been dead if not for going with a guide.

He also got very lucky to be honest. In the time that he’s buried, you can hear his breathing already accelerate. The ruffling noise back and forth is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air since the avalung wasn’t fully in his mouth and instead just to the corner of his mouth. Still sends chills up the back of my neck. Oh…the luck? They located him so fast because his right glove came off just before he came completley to rest and there was an excellent visual of course.

And then the digging out is utterly amazing. I don’t think that you could’ve paid a Hollywood crew to stage something better. The fact that he could’ve been facing any 360 direction and yet he’s looking right up into the sun-filled blue sky with that first full scoop away of the shovel is borderline spiritual.

This is simply a very sobering and unbelievable video. However, you should take away from this video all the positive things that you can learn from it. Yes there are risks to the backcountry – but with proper gear, training, and guide(s) with avalanche and EMT training – you can greatly lower your chances of getting caught in an avalanche in the first place…..and coming back alive if you ever were to get caught in a slide.

Respect Mother Nature for sure. Learn from this. But just like a Craig Kelly in the snowboard world or a Shane McConkey in the ski world who died out in the backcountry (Craig via avalanche and Shane via ski B.A.S.E. jumping), they left this earth while doing the things that they were truly passionate about. And while they would stress the need for the proper gear and training….neither one would want backcountry enthusiasts to curtail their adventures because of their accidents….or this video.

Please check with your local resort for classes on backcountry training, or try starting with a place like AIARE – the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Training. Their website is avtraining.org.”

If you are an Outside Magazine fan like I am, you’ll recognize the title of this post is also the tagline for their mag.  For the past few years they’ve had a series called the “Fittest Real Men in America” where they find real guys, with real jobs, who find the time to stay at the top of their game.  These guys really are amazing – most of the ones they highlight have some great stats like finishing in the top 40 in the Hawaii Ironman or being a regular ultra-marathoner who can hang with the professionals.

While most of us won’t be top finishers of any ironman – their stories are motivating because these guys have  found a balance between working and truly living an active life.  The ones I respect the most have families and have figured out how to incorporate an active lifestyle for themselves without sacrificing their home life.  So how do they do it?  Well, if you read a few of them, you see some consistent trends that include:

1. Having workout clothes / gear in the car, ready to roll at any moment
2. Scheduling and committing to workouts, but being flexible (i.e. see point 1 above)
3. Making every workout count
4. Setting goals and going after them (sign up for a race, pick a date to climb a mountain, etc.)

The above tips have worked well for me personally. I can’t say I’m as diligent as some of the “Fittest Guys in America,” but I’m able to get my workouts in consistently enough that I can still get outside for a hike or mountain bike and not get worked over. 

What I’ve really enjoyed recently though is the attempt to be flexible and look for opportunities to get a workout in (again, with a sixth month old you have to be creative).  For instance a few weeks ago I had to drive to Canada for a business trip.  I had two options, take the shortest route and get to my destination sooner, or take the scenic route and get a trail run in on the way.

I chose the latter.  The drive took me over the North Cascades Hwy Loop (Hwy 20 – heading West from Winthrop).  On this trip, I decided my destination would be to run on a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.  I started at Rainy Pass (elevation 4,875 ft) and from there did a gorgeous trail run up to Cutthroat Pass (elevation 6,800 ft).  As the pictures below show, it was worth every step. The run to the top took 1.25 hours, and about 1 hour to come back down.  This likely wasn’t fast enough to put me in contention for Outside’s  “Fittest Real Men” issue next season, but that’s ok.  The only rewards I was seeking was fresh air, scenery and a heart rate above 170.

Southwesterly view on the PCT

Looking up at the goal: Cutthroat Pass

At the top: Cutthroat Pass Looking East

At the top: Cutthroat Pass Looking South

At the top: Cutthroat Pass Looking North

The hints worked, and after some researching Brianne found Surfer Bear Hawaii Surf Lessons. As Brianne puts it, Surfer Bear (yes, they actually do call him that, his real name is Barry), was as authentic as they come, and his whole focus was on the experience of being in the ocean and enjoying the waves, not just standing up on a board. 

When we met Surfer Bear we immediately knew this was going to be a treat. He’s living the dream, surfing and sharing his passion for the ocean with others. Since my father-in-law Charl was joining me, Surfer Bear had brought his pal Jeff along as well – apparently he tries to have a 1 to 1 teacher student ratio whenever he can…”it’s more real when you can work one on one,” according to Surfer Bear.  I wasn’t complaining.

Their expert advice had both Charl and I up on our first try.  We still had our fair share of falls throughout the morning, but they were patient and kept tweaking our technique. But more than just getting up on the boards, Surfer Bear talked about the lifestyle, the etiquette, and the pure fun of simply being out on the ocean.  I ate it up – I can relate to his passion for what he does with my passion for the outdoors (skiing, hiking, etc.).  Getting outside in any form (even just for a walk) puts life and energy into your blood. It’s invigorating.

So enough writing. Check out the sweet video below, but keep in mind the following things:

1. Both Charl and I got sunburned four days prior to this surfing lesson (i.e. enough time for them to turn into actual tans) – yet we still look like beacons of white light next to Surfer Bear and Jeff.
2. You’ll hear Brianne’s commentating.  She’ll mention that I caught “1/2 of my first wave” – she didn’t watch me the whole  time – I promise I caught the whole wave, not 1/2 of it.
3. From our perspective the waves were coming in big, hard and fast - as is common knowledge, video makes waves look smaller and slows their actual speed down significantly.
4. I ended the day tired, but not exhausted, and no rash on my stomach.  Good deal : )