Day 7

breakfast:
chocolate smoothy
coffee

lunch:
salmon, romaine, and dried cranberry salad

snack:
chocolate chip cookie
jasmine tea

dinner:
tilapia
brussel sprouts
israeli couscous, olive, and mint salad

Day 6

I am feeling like I am making a bit of progress. That thought is based on the feeling I get from my pants starting to loosen and I generally feel good. So far, I had 2 bad nights sleep since starting this experiment and last night was one of them, which is actually better than normal. I walked a couple of miles today after work.

Breakfast:
chocolate smoothy
coffee

Lunch:
romaine, tomato, and feta salad
Jasmine Tea

snack:
Orange

Dinner:
lentil soup with yogurt
romaine, carrot and tomato salad
chocolate
berry sorbet

Day 5

Going strong, not so sure the heart healthy part is the primary focus but we are adapting. I walked a couple of miles today while the cold front blew into town.

Breakfast:
chocolate smoothy
coffee

Lunch:
romaine, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and almond salad
green tea

snack:
Clementine orange
green tea

dinner:
broccoli
spinach and cheese tortellini with spicy marinara
chocolate bit

Day 4

Breakfast:
poached egg with salsa
coffee

Lunch:
cheese enchiladas, refried beans, rice, chips and salsa
Jasmine Tea

Dinner:
grapefruit
sourdough toast and cheese.
chocolate

Day3

After last nights calorie overload, we took it very light today. Breakfast was incredibly filling even though didn't have it until 10:30. I skimmed a book on some wacky tea diet today. The basic premise is moderation and varity and you should drink tea whenever you had a craving of any kind. So, I gave it a try in the evening. We also finished up the afternoon with a nice 3 mile walk. So far so good.

Breakfast:
1 bean and cheese taco
1 vegetarian chorizo
oj and coffee

Dinner:
lentil soup with a dollop yogurt
corn chips and fresh homemade tomato salsa
1oz dark chocolate
Lots of green tea

Day 2

Today we where very disorganized with our meals and even had a night out with friends. We have managed to be faithful to our restrictions with little or no plan. Hopefully, tomorrow we can put together a new menu and actually branch out a bit. The great news of the day was I weighed in at 205lbs. That was considerably below where I was expecting to be. More than likely last weeks stomach issues had a lot to do with it.

Breakfast:
grapefruit
handful of almonds
coffee

Lunch:
yogurt
dried strawberries

Snack:
apple
almonds

Dinner:
asparagus salad
California roll
fried calamari
panko lemon grass halibut
bok choy
white cheddar mashed potatoes

Dessert:
chocolate truffles
Italian chocolate cake
raspberry chocolate cake

Day1: Today I am a vegetarian

For the next 29 days, my wife and I will attempt to be vegetarian with our primary focus being on exploring heart healthy options. We are going to allow eggs and fish, so a neophyte vegetarian at best. The idea behind this adventure is to force us to try new foods and new food combinations. We hope to discover new proteins to augment and enhance our current regimen. Wish us luck!

I am going to weigh myself on Saturdays to see if this diet has any effect, look out J 195 here I come. At the completion of this month, I am going to get a full blood work and hopefully my cholesterol numbers will go down. when I checked in November the LDL's where 118(shooting for <100) and the HDL's as 39(shooting for >45)


Today's foods..

Breakfast:
egg and spinach quiche
coffee

Lunch:
Mediterranean wrap(red bell peppers, whole grain tortilla, pine nuts, hummus, spinach and zucchini)
water

Dinner:
1 Large Grapefruit
1 handful raw almonds
1 large chi tea(milk and tea/spices)

I am just coming off an upset stomach so the true test will come when my appetite returns.

I am inspired to blog this adventure after reading Meredith's fabulous journal on her adventures in the raw foods realm. Check it out for yourself at blogspot .

Trip to the Museum

Kate snaps her first pictures, Great eye Kate!

New Years Action List

First of all, On January 1, I weighed 211 lbs.

1. Read 2 Pulitzer Prize winning books
2. Take a vacation with Darla
3. Get my weight down to 195
4. Program my ardunio to sample some physical data like temprature or maybe g-forces
5. Perform a science experiment with Kate(possibly link to #4)
6. Cook something with Emma
7. Take a photography class

Little Angles

DSC_0050.JPG
Originally uploaded by ToddGruben

A christmas extravaganza

High Cotton '07

2nd Grade Fun

SuperHero from Todd Gruben on .

Halloween 2007

Summer Recital

Painted Rocking Horse from Todd Gruben on Vimeo





C is for cookie from Todd Gruben on Vimeo




Nobody Knows the Trouble I'm in! from Todd Gruben on Vimeo.

2007 here we go again

Well in my view of last year's resolutions, I accomplished some(century ride), failed at some(blogging more). Life is difficult but exciting if you chose it so. Depression is a slick monster that can slip in and consume your focus. So this year I have descided to take on these goals.

1. Century Ride #2
2. Enjoy my work. View it as a challenge and not a competition
3. Teach my kids
4. Love my wife

And if i need a little motivation just look at this..

This is a quick document to record my adventure with the Hotter than Hell(HTH)2006.

10:45
Departed for Wichita Falls from my home in cedar park
1:00
had a foot long turkey breast club at subway in Stephenville texas at 1pm
3:30 106F
arrived at wichita falls. Drove in right beside Ernie
4:00
signed up for our lodging a the YMCA(add link for location). A luxurious corner of racquetball court number 5. The a/c was set at 70 so it was very nice
5:15
went for packet pickup. waited in line for about 20 minutes. packets where organized by the number. 11900 numbers for the ride
6:00
ate 2 big plates of thick spaghetti. sauce was a little too sweet. Large room lots of people. Bought water bottle, air pump, biking shorts and socks
8:00 101F
find out my youngest is sick and start to worry about logistics of my departure from witchita
8:30am
lights out!
11:38am
floor started to get hard I was wishing I had a camping pad
1:30am
noticed the a/c was off. only shortly. but the heat was building
2:38am
anxious about the ride
4:15am
first guy in our room gets up for the day
5:00am
ernie and I get up eat a bagel. I have small cliff bar and 3 "male power" pills, 2 advil, and 1 B complex vitamin
6:00am
we are in line and ready to go. we are about 20 row's from the front. we sit and wait
6:30am
talk to my honey on the phone and get a nice pep talk. youngest is ok so the wife is gonna make the trek

7:12 81F
flyover and cannon fires. The ride begins. Kinda scooteed the bike for a little bit before finallly getting off. Bikers for as far as the eye could see. Started heading down scott street and our first slowdown began at the bridge over the railroad tracks outside of time. I settled into a nice easy 18Mph pace.

(*Need to update the exact times from the GPS)

Passed rest stop 1 and was feeling good. my heart rate was an easy 145bpm. Iowa park was a small little town. Nice place. Lots of locals out watching the riders. The roads where "owned" by the cyclists.

ride came to a hault just prior to rest stop 2. I think there was a collision. meandered through rest stop and kept on pounding. I'm feeling pretty good at this point so i bump my speed up a bit. I am cruising between 25 and 30 mph all the way to electra. Had a tail wind. I was worried about the "hill" that was supposed to be on that road. I never noticed it. i was relieved when I got to electra. heart rate got up to 159. Probably a little high.

8:59 am mile 31
rest stop 3. I stopped and watered up. ate a cookie. filled up with red gatorade and water. had power gel #1. Got on the bike and it felt like a new ride. My legs felt great and I was off. 30 miles down.

got passed by the first (david the dell dude i think)CFC rider. He yelled to join up. Their train was moving. I thought about trying to keep up but kept telling myself. This is my ride. Listen to the body.

lance from cfc road with me for a while. had a nice chat then he went on ahead.

I passed up stop 4. The road was new on the backside and a little rough.

10:15am mile 53
Stopped at stop 5. drank a blue gatorade and just watered up. eat power gel #2. Set in the shade for a couple of minutes. washed off with a cold rag and hit the road.

the wind was noticeable at the i44 turn prior to hells gate. I was wanting to draft behind the vignette group. They where about the right speed, but i never did catch up

passed up rest stop 6.

10:45am mile 60 Hells Gate
yeah made hells gate by 10:30am found out later that they closed it early at 11:10 because of "record' heat". I new at that point that i was going to finish this ride. The wife called had phone difficulty. Another CFC rider(the guy that lives at riverplace) passed me an checked up on me.


there where a couple of small hills that where getting pretty tough after hells gate. Starting to feel a little fatigued at this point.

11:22am mile 68
Stopped at stop 7 lady held my bike up to prevent "stickers". I ate some oranages and got some more ice water. Started to become aware of the heat

road with the wind for a while.

11:42am mile 72
Stopped to to call darla. left voice mail. CFC called out and asked if i was ok.

11:59am mile 77
Stopped at stop 8 rested in the shade. had power gel #3. Sat on rocks in shaded oak tree area. Got sprayed down and head out. 25 miles to go. I am feeling ok. This is gonna be alright

Make the turn ouch wind. ugh please find someone to draft. No luck. I've ridden in worse, I can do this.

Bam. mile 80 oh my god, my right leg starts cramping. I wonder if i am going to be able to finish. I unclip in wiggle but keep on going. I am traveling at about 8mph and starting to get really hot.

12:41pm mile 84
I skip stop 9, i stop and chat with cfc rider(bob i think) but i am scared to get off the bike thinking my legs will cramp and i won't be able to start again.

Just keeps getting hotter and my legs get weaker. I start to climb a hill and i see a camper ahead. I think, thank you i need this stop. I finally make it to the top and find out it is just a medical stop.

1:09pm mile 88
I lay on the ground for about 5 minutes in the sun. I notice a chair in the shade so i go over and sit in that chair. They say this site doesn't have any water. The medic goes to the next stop and gets us some water. That is a life saver. I talk to darla on the phone. I talk to ernie on the phone. I tell them i am going to make it. I sit for a little longer. I was probably at that site for 45 minutes. We are four miles from rest stop 10. I have a nice visit with other exhausted riders. I love how real people are when they meet the point of utter exhaustion. It is a good chance to see their true colors. I finally build up the mo and go for it. I had a cloud cover for most of that trip to the next rest stop. No cramping and it seemed pretty quick.

1:51pm mile 91
rest stop 10. I take 2 ice towels. and drink some pickle juice and get a little more ice water

get sprayed by water a bit from rest stop 11
feels great.

2:18pm mile 97
stop at rest stop 11. shouldn't have stopped. the spray would've lasted longer if i had kept goint. get more water and ice towels. Man is it hot. 4 more miles

pass the beer stop and head into town. i can feel every press of the pedal. the heat is really starting to get to me. I pass 100 on my odometer.

2:33pm mile 98
101 i have to stop got a towel wrapped in my rear derailleur. I can see downtown. I am almost crying. I am so greatful darla is going to be there. Then i see the overpass. Oh my how can i make that climb. I gear down all the way and just spin. pound pound pound. I am amazed I am not cramping. I reach the summit and start to coast down. Ahhh, I am going to make it. I thinking at this point I'll be able to coast all the way in. Wrong!. I have to turn down a couple of streets. Oh where is that finish line. Please let this end. I start to look for the finish line. I see it. I am almost crying again. I don't cry. Such a bizarre emotional time right now. I first see my friend travis. Then i see darla and ernie. I smile for the camera and finish up strong. The announcer(kid craddock) askes how i am doing and i shake my head. I pull over and sit in the first shade that i find. i very nice black lady fans me. She is so pleasant. I thanked her over and over. I thank you again if you read this.

Total Time (h:m:s)	8:04:44	4:45 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	6:28:31	3:48 pace
Distance (mi)	101.88
Moving Speed(mph)	15.7 avg	31.0 max
Elevation Gain	+2,148 / -2,085
Temperature(F)	93.6 F Avg	111 F Max(on the bank)
Wind Speed(mph)	S 12.3 avg	S 13.8 max

So I did it! It was the most physically grueling thing i have ever done. I don't know if it is grasping at my departing youth. I just had to finish, I could not quit. i am still emotional about the completion. Thank you darla and ernie for giving me the time to train for this accomplishment. I didn't save the world. I didn't make national news. But i did ride 100 miles in one day. I have a good life,a good family, and some good friends.

Hello World! Welcome to the world of Google World Processing.

2006 Reading like a madman

So far in 2006, my house has just been a den of sickness in my life all I have done is read. I have liked all the books I have read so far this year. Below is the list as of today. Looks like I have reverted back to being a 10 year old boy.

Harry Potter: Half blood prince

Enternity Code

The Opal Deception

The Deception Point

Freakonomics

New Years Resolutions:

1. Ride 100 miles in 1 day on the bike
2. Talk more to the wife
3. Relax and enjoy life
4. Build something intersting
5. End up the year under 200lbs( only 5 lbs to go)
6. Remove hydrogenated oils and high frutose corn syrup from my diet
7. Improve my photography skills
8. Blog more
9. Grow some good tomatoes
10. Make lobster bisque

Introduction to Quantum mechanics

Why do i look at these things, I guess for some reason it makes me feel like i could become intelligent, its a cheap way to go back to school and remember what I am missing. I'll blog my progress through the class and we'll see how i do. Its better than watching tv and who knows maybe I can apply it someday. This instructor is quite good and I thought i would jot down a few notes to see If I could still grasp the concept

A concise version of the equation
`hat(H)\Psi = E\Psi`

an example operator function
`hat(H)=-(h^2)/(2m) d^2/dx2`

basically its an eigen type equation
operator function = constant*function

My calculus is abit weak but is comming back to me

Here is a link to the lecture

Day 2

after a slight vacation. I ran again. My legs seamed really heavy, but for some reason I finished about 4 minutes earlier. It was in the mid 90's in the afternoon. The details are below.

Calories: 451
Time: 31.04
Max HR: 165
Avg HR: 145
Distance: 2.0 miles