Hey, SXSW! – Here’s what I’m doing this year…

Note: Robert Jolly wrote this post for us. Robert is Happy Cog’s Client Relations Director based out of their Philadelphia office. He will be riding in the SXSW Mobile Social this year, and may very well be found singing off-key at OK! Happy Cog’aoke after the event and party at Mellow Johnny’s.

For those of us who’ve been to South By Southwest before, we all know the atmosphere of the conference by day, parties by night. It’s been termed “Geek Spring Break,” and that won’t change for the most folks, even though the economic climate is a veritable shitstorm. This year, I’ll be attending panels and conference programming to get my fill of inspiration and collaborative thinking on the professional side, but my personal focus will be to improve my fitness and social well-being through training with like-minded SXSW attendees and athletes. It’s both strategic and tactical that I move ahead of where I am now–on many different levels.

A week of triathlon training

I’m a bit of a nut for triathlons, road cycling, and running. I’m not fast by any means, but, somehow have learned to endure in events with a physical and mental challenge. However, what I’ve found is that on business trips like SXSW, I tend to take the path of least resistance and/or most relaxation. This time last year, I was training for a half-iron triathlon. I didn’t rent a bike nor swim any laps, and I only ran once. I had many a drink and unhealthy but tasty meals. Yes, I had a blast, although it set my fitness back in a big way.

This year, there’s a small group forming with a nice training schedule including what promises to be some great rides around the Austin area. I don’t have a cue sheet or map yet, but I’ll post it when it’s available. The added benefit of having a group to connect with makes the late nights less appealing–incentive to show up with a smile and not let my bruthas and sistas down.

The schedule

“Derek Featherstone”:http://ironfeathers.ca/ and his coach provided the swim/bike/run portions for the schedule below. It’s still a little loose, but that’s just how I’m rolling right now. I barely had time to gather up and pack the necessary amount of spandex for this effort. Are any of you like me–amazed at how much bike-related gear and apparel one person can own?

  • Friday ** Early AM: *** Swim 2000m/45min *** HEY AUSTIN PEEPS: We’re looking for lap swimming location suggestions. Any advice and kindness will return to you tenfold! ** Mid-morning: *** Pick up rental bike from “Bicycle Sport Shop”:http://bicyclesportshop.com/ ** Daytime: *** Conference panels and SXSW activities ** Afternoon: *** Bike 45km/1hr30min ** Evening: *** undecided
  • Saturday ** Early AM: *** Bike 65km/2hr *** Transition Run 5.5km/30min ** Afternoon: *** 2-4PM: “Mobile Social Urban Ride”:http://mobile-social.bikehugger.com/ *** 4-6PM: “Mobile Social BBQ and Party”:http://mobile-social.bikehugger.com/ ** Evening: *** 8PM-???: After party at “Mellow Johnny’s”:http://www.mellowjohnnys.com/ *** 10PM-1AM: OK! “Happy Cog’aoke”:http://www.cogaoke.com/
  • Sunday ** Early AM: *** Run 10km/1hr, before ride *** Bike 30km/1hr, easy ride *** Stretch/Core Work/45min ** Rest of day: *** SXSW activities – panels, etc.
  • Monday ** undetermined at this point, but you get the pattern, right?

I’m also keen on organizing a short ride to eat breakfast or lunch at “Juan in a Million”:http://www.juaninamillion.com/ for a little Austin flavor with a twist of bike. Anyone interested?

Reach out, and join us

So far, there are a handful of people in for various parts of this schedule, and anyone else who finds it appealing is welcome to join us. We have representation from top studios like “Happy Cog”:http://happycog.com/, “Blue Flavor”:http://blueflavor.com/, “Further Ahead”:http://furtherahead.com, “nclud”:http://nclud.com/, and a large information corporation at this point. Give me a shout out on “Twitter @iamjolly”:http://twitter.com/iamjolly or comment on this post if you’d like to connect and ride/run with us or just chat about bikes, triathlons, SXSW, web design, etc.

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