We've Moved!

We’ve moved!! Come check us out at our new location, www.grouchosports.com/blog. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!

Thanks,

~Groucho Sports

First Look Friday: GrouchoSports.com

Look alive, Groucho peeps. It's finally happened. We've been talking about it for months, and the time has finally come. It's like Bio-Digital Jazz, Man, but cooler (possibly because this actually exists) -

Our new website is LIVE.

While there will be more updates and enhancements made throughout the year, the new site will now be our main platform for Groucho Sports. If you've been so kind to have bookmarked us in the past, feel free to update your reader to http://www.grouchosports.com/blog/. As of today, we will be abandoning the blogspot.com gig and posting all blog posts and other news on the new site.

The other big news along with the new site is that our Street Origin T's and Groucho water bottles are now posted for sale! Git 'em while you can...since premiering the shirts at our Holiday Happy Hour they've been going like hotcakes, and we've only got a limited number of sizes left.

Our spring line is also posted for preview. While most of these radical designs won't be available for purchase until 03.01, more deets will be rolling out soon concerning our Artist Designed Jersey. We've also got more plans in the works for new designs, so keep an eye pasted to the blog for a few more stellar First Look Fridays.

So go on over and take a look around - there's a heap of cool stuff to explore - and as always, we're pumped to hear your thoughts.

New year, new site. 2011 is already looking pretty freaking sweet.

Jim: Lessons From a Jedi

A lot of stuff went down in 2010. It sure seemed like one of the best years so far. The first few memories that come to mind involve my older son. It was a big year for him. In May we removed his training wheels and he joined the cycling ranks. We kept pedaling and one day we discovered an abandoned tree fort down by the river, a huge discovery. And most recently he received Jedi training at Disneyland's Jedi Training Academy.

My other little guy started walking, and he can wrestle on the living room floor with the best of the < 2 year old division.

Sometime early in the year I joined Twitter and started following a bunch of business-minded tweeps. Then I realized you can learn more interesting stuff from cyclists and runners. So I dumped the biz gurus and focused on what mattered most. And what an amazing group of tweeps I have met this year.

I've learned more on Twitter from #bikeschool friends than all my graduate classes combined. Thank you #bikeschool pals for the awesomeness, especially co-conspirators @egggman and @lovingthebike.

And then there was the streaking. In May, I thought it would be fun to run at least one mile every day of the month. I did it. My second run streak was stopped short due to the flu. I didn't do it.

Officially, my current streak is called the (un)streak or the funstreak, but NOT a run streak. It's just sort of happening and I'm loving every run. It started October 30.

So what's new for 2011? My first ultra-marathon and a single speed century ride! Like my son says, using his best Master Yoda voice, "Do or do not...there is no try."

Erin: A New Year

Aaaaaaand… a new year is upon us. How did that happen?! Where did 2010 go? Heck, where did the ‘00s go?!

Twenty-ten was an incredible year – 2,000 miles on my Madone, fun and fabulousness with my family and friends, this fantastic opportunity with Groucho, among so much other awesomeness – but 2011 is sure to be even better.

A new year symbolizes a new beginning, a fresh start, and like practically everyone else on the planet, resolutions are required (well, I prefer to call them goals because after a few weeks of solid dedication, resolutions often fall by the wayside, forgotten by February 1; goals, on the other hand, are something to work toward with an actual by-when date).

My hopes and goals are high for 2011. There’s so much I want to do, so many places I want to see. And I want to share it all with you. And though it’s a bit scary to put my goals out there, if I don’t, how will I be held accountable?

So here goes. Have a read. Tell me what you think. And ask me about them occasionally to make sure I’m on track to reach them.

*******

I have more balance in my life. More time for family and friends, less time fretting about if I’ll get a workout in every.single.day. More fun, less seriousness. More time living in the moment, less time worrying about what I have to do in an hour, tomorrow or next week.

I sleep more. Seven hours a night would be nice. Really nice. The current five to six average just isn’t cutting it.

I deepen my yoga practice. Forearm headstand will happen.

I bike a century. I was thisclose last season, but life got busy and finding time for six solid hours in saddle was difficult. Perhaps the Minnesota Ironman on May 1 should be on my calendar.

Speaking of Ironmans… I am a half Iron(wo)man by September 1. Lofty, yes, especially considering the only multi-sport event I’ve done is the Minneapolis Duathlon (and while injured), but I’ve never been one to take baby steps.

Buh-bye debt. ‘Nuff said.

And helloooooooo, master’s degree in strategic communication! (Disclaimer: This debt isn’t included in the previous goal.)

I volunteer at Bolder Options. Health and fitness are two of my passions; this is the perfect way to share what I’ve been blessed with by instilling a love of running, cycling and a healthy lifestyle with teenagers.

I visit my family in Hallock three times. Sadly, I only made it home-home twice in 2010, and the first time wasn’t until November. The visits with my grandparents over Scrabble and tea are priceless and need to happen more often.

I vacation. Somewhere. Anywhere. Vancouver, Croatia and Costa Rica all sound spectacular, especially given the only travel I’ve done in the past 18 months was to western North Dakota. As long as it’s out of Minnesota I’ll be a happy girl.

There you have it. Keep me accountable and working toward my goals. And if you tell me yours, I’ll do the same.

Happy 2011! Make it your best year yet.

Carly: Teach 'em how to Bucky

Just so we're clear, I was born and raised in Madison, WI and just happened to end up at the University of Minnesota. There are several reasons for this:
1. Madison didn't have my major.
2. Being 4.5 hours away from my parents seemed really appealing at the time.
and....
3. Let's be real...I didn't have a 4.0 GPA.

Anyway, despite spending my years since high school in Gopher country, I am a Badger fan. I own more Badger shirts than I do Gopher paraphernalia, and I have been to far more sporting events where we "jumped around" than not. Even though Ron Dayne isn't in the NFL anymore, I was just as awestruck when I met him, and I still get way too excited when I can get my picture taken with Bucky Badger (even though I know he's just a sweaty college kid inside the head). As a rule, I just think that the general population looks so much more attractive in red and white than they do in maroon and gold. I'm not trying to start anything by saying this, I just think that goldenrod isn't a pretty color on any pasty-white midwesterners. After reading my previous disclosure, you can imagine that I was so incredibly stoked that the Badgers made it to the Rose Bowl this year, and even more excited that I was at the Northwestern game that sealed the deal.

I might have been a little bitter that my parents actually made the trek to Pasadena this year with my two little brothers to smell the roses, but given the outcome of the game, I am okay that I stayed in the deep freeze of MN.

So what do you do when the colors you bleed (lucky for me, I actually DO bleed red), whatever they may be fail you? Minnesota fans are no strangers to heartbreak. The Vikings, the Twins, the Gophers, the Wild, and the Timberwolves have all let us down a time or two. Do we love them all that much more for it because they're sort of lovable-albeit-overpaid professional screw ups? Or do we hate them because they had the potential and blew it? cough*Favre*cough...oh, excuse me.

You may not agree with me, but I'm all for the optimistic approach. After I nurse my pride for a day or two (christmas cookies help immensely), I move on to the next season/sport/game and cheer like hell so that all of my Badger-hating peers stop saying "better dead than red" to me. (Jerks!)

Luke: Lost 1 Groove - Please call Stella if found.

One of my biggest concerns with coming on board with Groucho as a blogger was that I didn’t want to be the lame one. Which is reeeeeeally easy when you’re surrounded by this much awesome. I mean, have you seen these people and what they’re up to? Cripes. Walking down the hallways of Groucho HQ (uh, metaphorically) is like walking into the Hall of Justice during a Super Friends meeting. “Oh hey Superman. Did you get my text?” “Wonder Woman, you know when you’re making out with Aquaman in the backseat of your invisible plane, we can see you, right?”

And I’m like Jan and Jace’s little blue pet monkey, Gleek. With my only super power being to walk over to get the damn key to unlock the cage. Again.

So there’s some pressure - even if it’s only pressure I’m putting on myself - to bring it, and when you do bring it, to kill it.

Erin and Carly were talking on Twitter (are you following them on Twitter yet? And Groucho? And Bikerly? Do it! Do it now!) a month or so ago about how they still love their paper day planners despite having their phones grafted to their hands. Which reminded me that I needed to pick up a 2011 planner. And in previous years, as soon as I’ve gotten my planner I’ve started shaping my year: The day I’m leaving for New Zealand...marathon day and the 16 weeks prior...Scarlett Johansson’s birthday...you know, the important stuff.

So I flipped open my 2011 planner (mmm...it’s still got that new year smell) and…uh…um…

There’s nothing.

Sure, there’s some events that I’d like to do - finally slay my Grendle-like demon and run a marathon that I’m satisfied with; a century ride or two; celebrate Scarlett Johannson’s birthday – but for the first time in a long time there’s not an overarching “I’m doing _____” looming over the horizon. Don’t get me wrong: It’s going to be a great year. After a tough couple of years, I’m back to me again, and it’s shaping up to be the happiest that I’ve been in a very long time (Carl Spackler voice) “So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”

But I’m lacking the epic - in the mostly-overused-sense of the word - that gives me something to write about in the family Christmas letter (it’s done as a newspaper and last year’s “article” told of my first marathon via the lyrics of Scotland’s most famous twin brothers who are also in a pop band - “And I would run 500 miles/ And I would run 500 more/ Just to be the man who ran a marathon in under 4:00/ Da da dahhhh.” How we keep getting overlooked for the Pulitzer, I’ll never understand...I’ll also never understand how the Proclaimer’s have a “Greatest Hits” album but that’s another story).

And I need that underlying challenge, because otherwise it’s too easy to give myself an out. Somewhere over the past decade I lost the ability to push for the sake of pushing, which is why the pile of bikes and the much larger pile of running shoes have gone unused for close to a month (A month!). So it’s amazing seeing Erin check-in at yoga every day. Bikerly’s daily running haiku. The other twitterati up before dawn or late at night putting in their miles in the dark or the cold or the heat (lucky jerks…) as I chose an extra hour of sleep, the comfort of a heated car, a few more slices from the Hillshire Farms “Yard o’Beef.” Y’all are amazing.

Like Randy Moss, I play when I wanna play. And lately…I just haven’t. (And if I’m being honest, I’m also a little scared to get back out there and see how far I’ve fallen, shuffling through that first run back).

It’ll come back of course. Once I pick an event and a goal and make a plan for getting there, Stella will get her groove back (so to speak) and a color coded spreadsheet will again get my life back to what I consider normal. 5 a.m. alarms. 3 showers a day. Stink lines wafting off of Mt. Dirtylaundry with that special frozen sweat smell.

Now to pick an event…

Groucho Gnome Series: Even dogs love us.

Thanks to @anaphase for the photo!

We LOVE this.

Probably one of the most inspiring videos we've seen all year.

Jim: My 2011 Diet Plan

Erin: Freedom & Bliss On Wheels

Flashback to Christmas 1991. I was apparently a really good girl that year because Santa brought me what I considered to be quite possibly the best gift ever.

Black with hot pink wheels and laces, Rollerblades were the only thing on my list. It didn’t matter that two feet of snow usually blankets northwest Minnesota until April and that there isn’t an indoor roller skating rink within 70 miles of Hallock. It made no difference that I couldn’t actually Rollerblade for months because I wanted those sassy wheels so badly I could barely stand it.

So what did I do? Well, before the reams of wrapping paper were even cleaned up on Christmas morning, I laced those babies up and skated circles in our one-car garage until I was dizzy. That and an occasional blade on the hardwood floors in our house (mom was never pleased when that happened… “Eeeeeeeriiiiiiiiin! You’re leaving marks all over the kitchen floor!”) tied me over until spring… barely.

When I wasn’t wearing them, the blades were sitting in my bedroom, taunting me, reminding me that it was 27 below outside and that I was exiled inside for what seemed like an eternity. Spring. Could. Not. Arrive. Fast. Enough!

And as soon as the streets were mostly clear and dry (this was probably in late March, right before another snow storm hit), I couldn’t wait any longer. Those streets – still covered with sand and gravel put down for traction during the winter – were mine. Not a day went by that I didn’t wear them. I glided up and down Douglas, forward and backward down Birch. I lived in those slick black and hot pink Rollerblades all summer long.

Fast forward to 2010. While not a Christmas gift (but, whoa, would this be an amazing gift), I am having similar (if not more antsy) feelings about my Trek Madone (hint-hint for next year, mom and dad: A tri bike would probably be the best gift ever, even better than Rollerblades).

It’s currently sitting in the hallway near my kitchen, simultaneously collecting dust and calling my name. It is begging to be pedaled. And I am dying to go for a spin.

So, unless I buy a trainer (but really, it would pale in comparison to riding outside), I will continue to count down the days until that inaugural 2011 ride.

Freedom and bliss on wheels…