So, I fed a Polar Bear last weekend.

I had the coolest Birthday surprise a few weeks ago for my golden birthday...

"Congratilations to our Lake Superior Zoo's chapter of the AAZK for hosting it's first behind-the-scenes tour a a fundraiser.

The tour was a birthday surprise for Olympic cross country skier Caitlin Compton's husband Brian and his twin brother Chad. Several family members also attended the tour and are now big fans of Berlin. Caitlin and Brian want to revisit the zoo in winter and help AAZK plan a children's cross country skiing event to benefit Polar Bears International"

The behind the scenes tour with Berlin, the bear, begins before the zoo opens to the public. This alone is awesome because most all of the animals are most active in the early morning. The Polar Bear is my favorite animal and we were able to get up close and watch her get fed and work with her trainer Marcie. Additionally we were able to go inside her habitat and set up her daily enrichment. We decorated a big plastic ice berg as a birthday cake with peanut butter, sunflower seeds, mackerel, hamburger and your standard polar chow.

Thank you Caitlin for setting up this once in a lifetime experience. It has been a hot week here in the Midwest. Berlin is not the only one thinking of snow and colder days to come.

Staying Cool at the Boys and Girls Club.

The slip and slide was taken to a whole new level this year.

Having Fun and Getting Strong

Over the past few years we have added some new exercises to our strength training routines. Some of these exercises are pretty cool and pretty fun. I decided to share some of the exercises with the kids at the LCO Boys and Girls Club

The old LCO Boys and Girls Club has been converted in to a mix martial arts training center. Nothing fancy, but everything is there that you might need to work out hard. These giant ropes are great simulations to double pole.

Monster Tire Lift... same motion as a dead lift

Wheel-barrow racing. It is important to make exercise fun, especially at a younger age.

How many of you can do a handstand push up?

The kids thought it was even cooler to do a handstand push up without hands. Luckily Santi was there to help hold the kids up.

5km PR!

It has been a whirlwind last two months. Moving, buying a fixer upper house, and getting married has proven to be a bit of a distraction on my otherwise consistant and solid training. The wedding celebration is now complete and we now have a fully functioning house.

The shower was our last major repair. It is hard to realize the importance of a shower, until you don't have one. Thanks to Kevin, Evan and Matt I was able to use their knowledge to get everything leak free and looking good.

Saturday marked my annual June running assesment at the Musky Fest 5k. My performances in this race have come a long ways. From a 17:05 in my first one to last years 16:04. I was pretty nervous about the race because I haven't done nearly as much running or running intervals. Plus all the distractions in my life have certainly impacted my training. Thankfully I have a very smart wife and coaches. They have helped me coordinate my training so that I am training smart, albeit slightly less than normal.

When I have been traiing it has been very good. This must have all paid off, because I set a Personal Best by running 2 seconds faster than last year. I am super excited about this. I think this married life is good for me. I am now undefeated in every race I have done with a ring on my left hand.

Watch for the next blog post, Chad and I are off to go see the polar bears for our golden birthday.

First Canoe of the Season

Our New House

Brian and Caitlin Gregg Wedding Slideshow

A perfect event thanks to the help of an entire community, friends and family.


Party on the Mountain on PhotoPeach

A new town and new faces

In the next month I will be moving to Minneapolis, MN. I will still get to see everyone at the 'LCO Club' while I am in town for training camps, but I am also meeting a whole new group at the Boys and Girls Club in North Minneapolis.

Devontre after setting a record in the obstacle course

at the park in front of the Boys and Girls Club

Yes, that is one huge dog. Getting ready to start a chess and mankala tournament

after Power Hour and Homework time.

The Gerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club is just a mile up the street from Caitlin and my new house. It is fun to talk to the kids about the neighborhood and realized that they live practically right next door. I am still learning names and faces while I build my street 'cred' at the new 'Club.' I am already thinking about how we can get the city kids up to Hayward to visit the LCO Club and the north woods. Similarly it would be fun to give the LCO kids a chance to experience life in the city.

I will still be up north in Hayward quite a bit for training camps.