I am having a bad week.

I have over-slept 3 days in a row
I have not strarted a tax project I have
I have done nothing at work
I have played very poor poker

The worst part about this is that I know what I am doing wrong. I am not planninging or trying. I certainly cannot expect to get what I want out of life if I just shuffle through. I am going to go the gym and when I get make I am going to get something done.

I had a good night at Wheeling. I won $235 which was a good night for me. I played small-ball and stayed out of pots with much resistence. I did make two errors. The first one, I had the nut straight and there were two players other than me. I figured one to have the nut straight as well as I did, but the player in between us I figured to be behind. I should have bet the end hoping for a call from the middle player and a raise from the player behind. Instead, I checked and it was checked down. The other mistake I made was playing a weak top-pair too strong. I had KT and flopped top pair I got one caller and figured him to be on a draw. He did not have much behind so I pushed on the turn and he called. He had a KQ and took the pot. Overall, I am happy with my results and will keep playing small ball.

On the poker front, I have been practicing for a trip to Wheeling on Friday. My intent is to play small ball when I play NLHE. I had some success last night. I also have been reviewing pot odds needed for the most likely situations that I will face. I think I am ready to make some money. I also have been watching videos on Dueces Cracked. The 8-step program is starting to seem like rubish, but the moving on up is pretty good. The thing I am learning from it is the importance of knowing opponents and folding early in marginal situations. Taking what I have learned and replaying the hand over the weekend where I had top pair, I should never have called the turn. I should either folded or raised. This weekend I am ready, I will play small ball, and I will win.

There is a 50 tournament on Friday, and I might play in it.

Poker mistakes

I am prepping for going back to the casino on Friday. I am working on my strategy, but I have made a few mistakes.

My strategy is to play big cards (ak-aj, KQ) and pairs from early position if I can get in first or cheap. In later position I will add connectors and suited one-gappers. Hand selection has been good, but the second step is where I have been messing up. If I miss the flop, I should c-b 1/2 the time (c-bet if second hand is between 12 and 6, check if on up side of minute) if I hit flop, bet 3/4 of time. If flop is suited or connected, bet 2/3 pot. If it is not connected, bet 1/2 of pot. Check turn to keep pot small. Remember, do not go broke with one pair.

In summary, try to play small-ball with one-pair hands.

For Friday, I will practice small-ball and review odds so I only draw in good situations.

I went to Mountaineer yesterday and lost $115. My play overall wasn't bad. The only questionable plays I had were:

Twice I had unsited connectors late and I folded them even though the table had limped around. I would have won two big pots with these. I should have played them because I had position and the price was cheap. I must remember that NLHE is a game of seeing flops cheaply with speculative hands.

The last questionable hand is a situation that I have faced and possibly mis-played before. I had QJ in middle position and limped in. I flopped to pair, the flop was Q96 and checked. Villian bet 10 and it folded to me. Villian was weak so I called. Turn bricked and I checked again villian be 20. At this point I though I might be ahead and I entertained the idea of raising figuring that I was going to call on the river anyway and this might either win me the pot of get me a free show-down. Instead, I called. The river was an Ace I checked and villian bet 25 and I folded. At this point on river, I was getting 3.4:1. I didn't really know where I was I probably should have called. My real mistake was not being more aggressive on the flop or turn. A check-raise would have been a better move as I played it too weak.


In summary, I was too weak/tight. I need to open up a bit in position and play more aggressivly when I hit hands. I plan to go back on Friday and hopefully, I can get some money back.

I went to the gym today and did a traditional strength workout. It was odd after crossfitting for 2 years. I am interested to see how I progess through it. It was more difficult than I thought and seemed to take a very long time.

I did front squats yesterday and my back really hurt after. I did Taekwondo at lunch and that loosened up my back so it felt better, but the issue has to be my squat form. I am going to take a six weeks and work on my form, strength and running. I can get back into crossfitting beginning November 1. This will fit nicely in my Foundation Phase of bicycle training.

Until November 1 I will hit the gym five days per week. Every day I will do the normal CF warm up. MWF I will concentrate on Strength with shoulder presses, deadlifts and squat work concentrating on form and supporting it with leg presses to build strength. T and R I will concentrate on building aerobic fitness with cadence training on the spin bike followed by running. I will move my static stretching to later in the day to accomodate getting through my workout and home in time for Jane to get to work.


My Strength workout will look like this:(setXrep)
Squat-light 3X8
Leg Press 2x5
Dead Lift 5X5
Shoulder Press 3X5/Dbell Bench Press alternate
Cable Row 3X8/Bent over row alternate

Great weekend. We went to the Pittsburgh Irish Festival on Friday night with some friends. On Saturday I went for a short ride in the morning and then we took Abby and our niece and nephew to the Irish Festival. On Sunday I made coffee can ice cream for the kids and took Abby for a ride on the South Side Trail. It was Abby's first bike trip. It was cool to watch her go. She was a trooper. She rode over the Hot Metal Bridge, and she navigated the sidewalks of the South Side. We stopped at Fat Heads and the Hofbrau Haas. I am excited to have her be able to ride. I think we can get several rides before the weather turns bad.

Well it is payday and I am broke again. After paying my bills, I am left pretty tight. I really need to watch my pennies over the next two weeks so I can make it to my next check. We are going to the Irish Festival this weekend, so I will have to watch my spending. We have nothing major planned for the next weekend, so I can just stay in. My goal of getting out of debt in 2 years seems pretty doubtfull at this rate.

This weekend I will concentrate on refining my goals and try to get a way out of this hole.

24-hour race recap

We rode the 24 hour race as a team. Much to my surprise I was the slowest member of the team. Part of this was due to the fact that I had terrible first two laps. My third lap was my only compfortable lap. In the first lap, I had terrible foot pains and calf cramps. Originally, I thougt this was a result of my shoes, but I am beginning to think that it was a result of running in flip-flops at the start. The second lap, a night lap, I vomited because I ate too much pre-ride and I had quad cramps. The third lap was slower than the other two, but I fiddled around at the start and I ran off the course at the mid-point to ditch my lights and Camelback so I think that made up for it. At least I felt good. Another factor was that my mind just wounldn't push the pace. I don't understand that, but then I am not overly competivie so that may explain it.

I want to do better next year, so I am designing my training around the Carmichael Training System from his book. I have plotted the different phases of my training. Now I just need to design the specifics of the training.

I met yesterday with an accounting firm to discuss the possibility of me joining their firm. There were two partners with whom I met. One was a bit of a dork, and the other was a decent guy. Basically, I would run their govt. audit function. I am not sure that the money is there and I am not sure I would be a good fit, but it is good to talk I guess. Think I would call another firm that is their competitor and let them know that I am thinking of moving to see if I could get a competition going. I think I would fit better with that firm. Of course I could chart my own course at either firm.

On the bike race front, we lost a team member yesterday, but we picked up a replacement. I will really miss Al on our team. He would have been really fun to ride with, but we will have to make the best of it.

My energy is low

I think because of trying to cut weight, my energy is low. I will start eating more tomorrow. I have made it down to my goal weight, so that is good. It should help me climbing in the race.

I have a few errands to run tonight and we are taking Abby to dinner. Hopefully afterwards I can get in a night ride. I am sure I will be able to.