Official Chris Abraham Blog
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Second Run of the Season but Same Day
Red as a beet but basically jog walk run shuffle stumble on the way back home on the second part of my first run of the bloody season. 1.43 miles in. Huzzah!

When a bot writes a Hallmark Christmas movie based on a 1,000 hours of Hallmark Christmas movies
Keaton Patti tweeted this at 10:34 AM on 12 Dec 2018: "I forced a bot to watch over 1,000 hours of Hallmark Christmas movies and then asked it to write a Hallmark Christmas movie of its own. Here is the first page." This is honestly the funniest thing I have ever read in my entire life.

Walking really is the absolutely perfect adaptive exercise for us heavy people!
Everyone wants to think that running or jogging or even a spin bike or the elliptical is the way to get back in shape after waking up one day and realizing you're 350 pounds—or more.

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
One of the most wonderful short stories ever written. Charming and powerful in any year but becoming more and more prescient as we move boldly into the future. While I am more than aware that the left and right is a pendulum, forever swinging hither and thither, the upswell of both populism and its reactionary response, political correctness, has made this short story by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., more proof that the author might very well have been a time traveler from the future.

Satan Says by Sharon Olds
Being exposed to the profane done artfully and in a way that shows the humanness innate in blasphemy and heresy. This poem, by poet Sharon Olds, from her book Satan Says, was one of those experiences. That and The Pope's Penis, another of her poems.

Primitive by Sharon Olds
The only thing that separates us Americans in 2019 from men 50,000 years ago is the hubris of modernity. We are all primitive and Sharon Old gets it. And it's beautiful and meaningful, both.

Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds
Maybe I have been hobbled by growing up Catholic or putting women on pedestals because of all-boys school. But I have never swiped left or right on Tinder. I am no choir boy. I have had more than my fair share. But going through lovers has never been the way I have ever passed my time. It's neither sport nor a source of story or content. I feel like Sharon Olds gets my feelings perfectly right.

The Unborn by Sharon Olds
I don't know if I will ever have children. If I will ever be a parent. Sometimes a feel a longing. Sometimes I feel a lack. I probab;ly won't. It's not looking good.

Topography by Sharon Olds
I've had a couple amazing long distance relationships in my life and they were always so passionate. Sharon Olds is the best when it comes to passionate. She gets me.

Almost a Week of Riding Every Day
Well, I have had so much fun going to indoor cycling class every day since Monday—even in all of this freezing Polar Vortex weather. I have taken a variety of classes, I have made friends, I have hopefully gotten stronger, but I can also feel a certain level of diminishing return from riding every day.

Oatmeal by Galway Kinnell
I believe that Oatmeal is my first poem by Galway Kinnell and I think of it and him every time I cook up my Bob's Red Mill stone ground oats with milk and maple syrup.

St. Francis And The Sow by Galway Kinnell
This may very well be my favorite favorite poem by poet Galway Kinnell. It encompasses the heart of what I feel the poet was. His poetry elevates the base as divine, something with which I both agree and appreciate.

After Making Love We Hear Footsteps by Galway Kinnell
I don't have much of an instinct for marrying or having children. The only time I really felt a deep desire to become a husband and a father is after reading this beautiful poem by Galway Kinnell

Blackberry Eating by Galway Kinnell
I blame Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Sharon Olds, and Galway Kinnell for my love of poetry. Here's one of Kinnell's most famous and most lovely poems.
Everything about SEO in one infographic skyscraper tower
Hristina Nikolovska, Head of Marketing at SEO Tribunal, sent me this extremely comprehensive infographic about search engine optimization.

Why big, tall, chubby, fluffy, heavyset, and fat athletes should wear cycling bib shorts during their spin workouts
Don't be afraid of the very pervy-looking cycling bib. While it looks a lot like fetishwear, cycling bib shorts make these spin class godsends in 2XL.

What I think the wall that Trump built is for
To me, this wall has nothing to do with the illegal border crossings that are happening now, it's in preparation for a flood of immigrants that will result if (when) we start military actions in Latin America.

It's the Intensity, Stupid
Any exercise, either with or without equipment or machine, can give you the workout of your life. It all comes down to intensity.

Failed but won't fall
The pledge I made in my last post lasted only a couple hours until I both drank and ate chicken! Oy vey!

End of week report: overeating, missing spin, returning to 19:5 diet
The biggest news this week is that I am going to rededicate myself to restricting my diet by both tracking calories on MyFitnessPal and by following a strict 19:5 IF diet—intermittent fasting!

Spin Instructors are Cycling Coxswains
I know we call them spin instructors, indoor cycling instructors, or even CYCLESTARS, like we do at CYCLEBAR, to me, they'll be forever known as my Cycling Coxswains.

Pre-Order Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America’s First Cyberspy by Eric ONeill
Eric ONeill wrote an autobiography about how he caught Russian spy Robert Hanssen for the FBI

Libertadores del Sur South American Wars of Independence Wargame by Keith Hafner and Matt Shirley
Discussion with the designers of the new board wargame Libertadores Del Sur (1810-1824) by Legion Wargames on the inspiration and challenges behind the project

The results of three days of inactive recovery and some motivational words from my best friend
I canceled my Friday ride last week and took the weekend off. No spinning or CYCLEBAR for me until last night. And, despite what everyone said, I didn't do any amount of active recovery (though I do consider that to be a mistake I don't regret but will try to learn from).

Overtraining is real and requires sufficient recovery
I rode every weekday last week and through Thursday of this week. My friends have been so motivational that I almost kept my 6:30 pm ride this evening—but I just can't!

My messy CBreeze hack on my Model C Concept2 rowing ergometer to make it work best for me
I was having a terrible time keeping my CBreeze on the fan so I glued sloppy please rails on either side of my Concept2 Model C's fan. Really messy. Used a silicon glue. The paracord rails aren't going anywhere. No more struggling with the placement of the elastic cords.

Spin is a spoon full of sugar to help the high intensity workout go down
Most indoor cycling spin classes like my home studio CYCLEBAR on Columbia Pike are a spoon full of sugar. They help the medicine go down. If you don't get the workout you need, you aren't pushing herself hard enough.

The 7 things I don't do at indoor cycling class at my spin studio
I am a very non-compliant rider. I really take the spinning ethos of "ride your own ride" very seriously.

My new Garmin HRM-Dual heart rate monitor chest strap review
I just received my new Garmin HRM-Dual heart rate monitor chest strap from Amazon today and took it directly to spin class at CYCLEBAR Columbia Pike. I love it! It's exactly what I needed.

The 12 things I've learned indoor cycling at a spin studio
I have personally learned quite a lot of things over the course of the months I have committed to riding at Biker Barre and, now, at CYCLEBAR, Columbia Pike, though I am still a neophyte and am neither an expert nor am I remotely fit and trim.
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