Karl's Weekly Update

Monday Core Workout
Tuesday 45 minute run
Wednesday Houston trip
Thursday Houston trip
Friday Off
Saturday 1:20 hour run
Sunday 1 hour bike on trainer

For the first time in three years, my family and I were not awake before dawn in order to be at the CapTex Triathlon. Over that time, CapTex has traditionally been my first race of the year. I wish all those participating today a wonderful race experience, especially all those first timers. CapTex was my first Olympic distance triathlon and thus will always hold a special place in my triathlon memories.

I wish all of you a wonderful Memorial Day. The kids and I put our U.S. flags around the driveway last night. It was my opportunity to remind them why it is we celebrate this day. It's also a nice visible reminder for all of us.
























We leave for our first family vacation of the year on Wednesday. We look forward to many days on the beach and to exploring the areas around us.

Please remember the reason for today, recognize it, and celebrate it.

Have a super week! Until next time,

Kia Kaha!

Our No-Vacation Nation - CBS Sunday Morning - CBS News

via cbsnews.com

Of the 33 richest nations on Earth, the U.S. is the only one with no required paid vacation for employees. 25% of U.S. employees have no paid vacation. Only 10% of U.S. workers take two weeks off per year.

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

We are born Socialists...and then we change. #meritocracy #education

Meritocracy Concept Starts at Grade School, Says Study : http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1992369,00.html

Administration found that children start out as strict egalitarians, preferring to divide resources equally among peers. But as they grow older, by late adolescence, they come to prefer a more meritocratic method of resource distribution -- based on individual contributions or performance.

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

Reinventing Memorial Day: Social Media Moment of Silence #memorialday

What if we all shut down our social media after Taps in observance of Memorial Day?

http://m.fastcompany.com/design/5691/

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

If Charities Can’t Capture Attention, What Should You Do? #fundraising #highereddev

Only 35% of donors spend time researching the charities they support.
How do we make it easier for donors to learn more about our cause?

http://m.fastcompany.com/leadership/5669/

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

Reinventing Memorial Day: Creating Inconvenience and Relevance

Convenience Is the Enemy of Meaning

via fastcompany.com

Convenience Is the Enemy of Meaning. What are your thoughts about that statement. Where else do we see this? Thinking about this in the context of your professional and personal lives, what examples can you give where convenience causes a less meaningful experience?

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

TIME Mobile: Skinbook: #Facebook for 21st Century Nudists

Skinbook: Facebook for 21st Century Nudists : http://bit.ly/auBXTr

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

TIME Mobile: Silly Bandz Bracelet Craze: School Ban Over Distraction #education

Silly Bandz Bracelet Craze: School Ban Over Distraction : http://bit.ly/92wehU

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

Schmidt Weekly

Sunday May 16-22.

Glad to see the TTT boys are blogging again. I needed to get refocused and it helps to see the email notifications. Training has been going well, spring doctoral course work is finished up for a little while, and Lindsey completed graduation last week. So life is just a bit more relaxed. Racing update below.

Sunday: Crossfit. Run:3 miles
Monday: Swim. Bike- TM:1:27:56, DST:24.75, AVG:16.9
Tuesday: Crossfit.
Wednesday: Bike- TM:2:12:44, DST:32.98, AVG:14.9
Thursday: Run:3.1 miles
Friday: Bike- TM:1:35:36, DST:24.88, AVG:15.6
Saturday: Bike- TM:35:21

Race Report:
I attempted my first double with a criterium race on Saturday, followed by a road race on Sunday. The criterium was a flat, four corner high speed nascar like course that was only 1/2 mile in length and would be run for 3o minutes. I only made it 3/4 of a lap and sliced the side wall of my rear tire in the fourth corner on a brick paved section of the course. Yes, my frustration was very high. I packed up the truck and headed to my dad's hose and did a 30+ minute effort to simulate the race I should have done.

Next morning I was in Shelby, KY for the road race. 30 miles (3 laps) in the category 4/5 event. It was a tough fast race, there were 63 men in the filed, and I stayed with the lead group of riders for a shot time after the first lap. The pace was intense and I had to back off and found the second chase group to work with. There were six of us and we worked pretty well together, two guys in the group did very little work but they had a teammate in the break so I could understand. On the third lap there were some small attacks out of our group and we shed 3 guys. With a mile to go I was gassed and there was a really good sprinter with us. The cat and mouse games started with about 6/10 of a mile to go and the two guys lined up behind me getting ready for the sprint finish. I knew I had a chance in the sprint against one of the guys but not both. So I put in a huge attack with 4/10 of a mile to go and just sprinted as if the finish line was just 100 yards up the road. I caught both guys off guard and each popped under the attack. It was nice to create that separation and see both of them concede.

Time: 1:27:10, Distance: 30.8, Average: 20.9. 36 out of 63(unofficial) for CAT 4/5. I will be interested to see how I finished in my CAT 5 category. I was very stoked with my effort, race preparation and strategy. I simply need to start racing more often. I'm another year away from that but it is still fun once in a while. Drove home and made it to Cole's game, he played great despite the loss. Somehow I let my buddies talk me in to doing a group ride and ended up doing another 40 miles that afternoon (70.8) miles on the day including racing.

Final note: Becca may have blown her knee out. We get the MRI results back today, so please keep her in your thoughts.

L3 - Live, Learn, and Lead
Schmidty

Bacon Weekly

Mon- 4 miles @ 9:46
Tues- 1950 Meter Swim- Various Drills
Wed- 4 miles @8:50
Thurs- off
Fri- 3 miles @ 9:32
Sat- 4 miles @ 8:28
Sun- 1600 Meter Swim- Various Drills

Great week that included another traveling week that I was able to run around. I had 2 killer swim workouts this week as our class coach has me more focused on drills and getting faster than the endurance. I've built my endurance to a consistent level now and feel more confident than ever in the water from a distance perspective. That's great considering I have 2 sprint tri back to back in a few weeks. Searching for a tri-bike right now and I've been blowing up Miller and Schmidt looking at bikes on Ebay trying to get the right deal. Big news for Samantha too...She ran her fastest 2 miles to date at 18:51 or 9:25 miles. I am very proud of her!

Karl's Weekly Update

Monday Off
Tuesday 45 minute run (negative split by almost three minutes)
Wednesday Off
Thursday 45 minute run
Friday Off
Saturday Off
Sunday 1:15 run. Raced a couple of passing runners from a local training group during the middle of the run. Made the final 15 minutes a real chore.

After a couple of weeks not posting, it's nice to be back on TTT. I'm still concentrating on running but I did get my CycleOps bike trainer repaired, so I plan to get some biking in moving forward. (On a related note, my trainer has a lifetime warranty. I received a brand new CycleOps in trade for the leaky one I sent in. Very nice!)

The kids start their final week of classes tomorrow and we are scheduled to leave for vacation next Tuesday. I'll be doing my training on the beach next week.









No races scheduled so far and I'm not sure I'll be signing up for any. I may take this year off competition and just concentrate on strengthening my bike and run for 2011. My life is more balanced right now than it's been in well over a year and I'm enjoying reconnecting with my family and life in general. I'm sleeping better and I feel healthier than I did while training so hard last year.

Hope to hear from everyone this week. We've not been regularly contributing to the blog this year and I miss hearing from many of you. Hope all is going well.

Until next week,

Kia Kaha!

Maxine on texting and driving

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

Using Social Media to Connect with Wired Wealthy Donors | Social Media For Nonprofits #fundraising #highereddev

Got this one from my friend @the_optimist.
Who says there is no place for Social Media in major gift fundraising?

http://www.rositacortez.com/fundraising/using-social-media-to-connect-with-wi...

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

How Businesses Can Improve the #Education System

http://m.fastcompany.com/leadership/5334/

Do you agree? Why or why not? What's missing?

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

J-PAL Is Research in Action. You should be aware of them if you aren't. #poverty

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a network of 44 affiliated professors around the world who are united by their use of Randomized Evaluations (REs) to answer questions critical to poverty alleviation. J-PAL's mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence

http://www.povertyactionlab.org/about-j-pal

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

Are You Watching or Listening to The Young Turks?

http://www.theyoungturks.com/

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

Relaxing Poolside

The first day this year of what we hope will be many days at the neighborhood pool for the kids and me.

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

Longhorn Cyclist #cycling #triathlon #ut #hookem

Anyone know this mystery Longhorn cyclist? I wonder if those are carbon horns.

Hook ‘em!

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

How Not to Do Diversity #fundraising #philanthropy

via philanthropy.com

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

Elizabeth Gilbert explaining the utter maddening capriciousness of the creative process.

via ted.com

What if humans can not "be" a genius but rather can only "have" a genius?

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity #education

via ted.com

Intelligence is dynamic, diverse, and distinct. - Sir Ken Robinson
If you aren't prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything creative. - Sir Ken Robinson
Questions: How do we and our schools define intelligence? Do we nurture creativity in our children or do we suck the creativity out of them?

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

Bacon Weekly

The Bacon Weekly is back after a few weeks away from the blog. In fact, I've submitted no reports on the blog since my back to back marathon race; then Century ride with the boys in Texas. Just wanted to take a break for the formal nature in my training. That said, I have contnued to train, just not report, no watch, heart rates, etc. After another week off after the Texas bike, I refocused to the coming months and that brings two sprint triathlons back to back in a few weeks. I have pushed quickly to get back in swim form and endurance. Joining a tri lunch class and running to round out my training. Have focused some time to get a proper tribike fit at Schellers in Clarksville, IN and with my measurements am on the hunt for my first tri bike. Good thing I got the fit too.....I am currently riding a 1996 58cm Trek and measured a 54 cm Trek by the latest geometric fit. As it was explained, bike geomotry changes every so often, so be sure to get the bioke fit every so often. A 58cm bike would have swallowed me if I had just used the same measurement. This week consisted of runs and swims of variety...3 swims, many drills and a 3/4 mile constant swim and 3 maintence runs. Also of note, Samantha and I had a chance to run together yesterday as the kids were with the grandparents and I really enjoyed it but I ran her up some monster hills in Hopkins County, so I hope she wants to come again!

Are You Making the Time for What's Truly Important?

My apologies for not having posted in so many days and weeks. Yes, life has been busy but isn't it always? I try not to be one who blames not doing someting on not having the time. I realize that it's all about priorities. We do those things we make time to do. I just have not made time for my blog and I lament that. I went into this with great goals and expectations. Perhaps it's not too late. I have my theories as to why I have not been able to focus on my blog and even why I have yet to find a "sweet spot" in my endurance athletics training, but I digress...

The photo I've attached is of my brother Mark and my friends Claude (@claudebacon), Dave (@bikecoachdave), Dean (@padeaner1), and Chris (@bigschmidtdog) after completing the 100 mile Shiner GHASP ride on Saturday, May 1. This was Dean's first century ride and we are all so proud of being there to be a part of it with him.

I'm so grateful for my brother and my friends. My brother drove from Flower Mound (nearly 4 hours away), Claude flew in from Kentucky, and the rest of the guys made a road trip out of it, driving 19 hours one-way from Columbia, Kentucky. A bunch of Kentucky boys gave up Derby Day (the first Saturday in May) to spend the day biking 100 miles through Central Texas.

I may lament the fact that I have not made the time for the blog, but I am proud that my friends and I made time to get together for this incredible experience. It would have been very easy for each of us to find a myriad of excuses for not participating. It's too far, it's too long a ride, it's a Saturday, it's too hot, it's Derby Day, it's too expensive, and on, and on. We made the time because we wanted to get together and we wanted to ride 100 miles through Central Texas...together.

There is always a chance you will regret doing something. But I believe you will regret not doing it even more. (I'm assuiming legal and moral boundaries apply). 

I may not be doing all the things I want to do, or planned to do, or wish I could do, but I believe I am doing all the things I should be doing. And more importantly, I am doing them with and for the people who matter most in my life.

Posted via web from Karl Miller Lugo

Why I don't say NO to donors and volunteers. #fundraising

 

  

 

We work so hard to get our donors to say “YES” to us and yet, are we saying “YES” to them?

We should try our best not to say "NO" to donors, prospects, and volunteers. The more we say "NO", the easier it is for them to say "NO" to us.
We should also strive to find a way to say "YES." Perhaps we cannot do exactly what they ask, but we should be creative in finding a solution. If we are not willing to go out of our way for them, why should we expect them to go out of their way for us?

I recently had a lead volunteer of our university tell me that one of the reasons she so liked a particular gift officer colleague was because he so rarely said “NO” to her ideas. She said the previous gift officer she worked with was always finding a reason why he could NOT put her ideas into play.
Try not to say "NO" and find a way to say "YES." Use this strategy and when you one day go to them with your big "ASK," it will be much more difficult for them to say "NO" to you.

 

Karl

Posted via email from Karl Miller Lugo

SHINER GHASP

This is another week that will have very little to do with writing about my training log. Instead I want to talk about the incredible adventure I had with my friends, Mark Miller, Dean Adams, Claude Bacon, Karl Miller, and David Grigsby. The six of us met in Austin Texas for the century ride to Shiner Brewery. The event was for the American Cancer Society and from what I understand it raised a considerable amount of money. That alone was worth the trip.

The adventure began on Thursday as Dean, David and I loaded up the big Dodge and headed out for our 15 hour drive. When you travel with good friends the time goes by quickly. Claude had us all set up at one of his Round Rock properties so the trip could not have been smoother. Friday morning we were up early, and had a quick visit with Mark and Karl. Karl showed us his new crib.....wow, I'm not worthy. Then we loaded up for San Antonio to make a short visit with Dean's daughter Devon, his son in law Jimmy and his grandson AJ. AJ had us laughing all afternoon. Back to Austin that afternoon to meet up with the crew and dinner at a great little restaurant that Claude recommended (what was the name of that place?). He had moved us over to his Spring Hill property, another wow!! Great hook up Claude, you da man!!

Up at 4:45am Saturday and on the road by 5:30, we all checked in, did some last minute bike prep and off we went sharply at 7:00am with about 1,500 of our closest friends. Fortunately we had cloud cover for nearly 50 miles of the trip. The rest stops were spread out just right and we had the best time meeting people and just laughing at everything. The spirit within the group stayed high throughout the trip. There was an even exchange of riding partners as each of us road with one another at different times. Pa-Deaner was the man and rolled in just minutes behind us at each sag stop. He was the only member of the group to never have completed a century. Steady as a rock he knocked out mile after mile. Not bad for a 53 year old. With 11 miles to go after the last sag stop everyone was ready to arrive in Shiner and taste the nectar of the Gods. One by one we crossed the line to the cheers of the crowd, with a tremendous band playing in the background. Minute by minute passed and there was still no sign of Pa-Deaner. Then we could see him in the distance, he looked exhausted but he just kept coming, our group started hooping and shouting and as he approached within feet of the finishing banner this big smile came across his face. Deans smile summed up the collective feelings of the entire group.

Simply put, it was a great weekend of friends, fellowship and fitness. Can't wait for the next adventure. Let's make it soon. The attached picture says it all about how great a weekend this was.

L3-Live, Learn and Lead
Schmidty