Filtering with Soma Water

I was fortunate enough a couple of months ago to help kickstart a beautiful idea dubbed Soma. Not only did they re-engineer and rethink the idea of home water filter, the team at Soma pulled through and brought to life an amazing product. I received my Soma glass carafe and filter on Tuesday and love it.  I've used it to cook rice and make great tasting coffee.  I find myself drinking more water just to watch it filter quickly through the "100% compostable water filter." Here are a few pictures from my Soma and I hope you enjoy my unboxing.  As of this writing, their website shows Soma making a public debut in four days. Sign up and check it out!

Straight from the website:

THE WORLD'S MOST INNOVATIVE WATER FILTER

100% compostable filter - Made from all-natural Malaysian coconut shells, vegan silk, and food-based PLA plastic. "There's nothing else like it in the world." Designed by David Beeman - One of the top water filtration experts, with over 30 years of experience creating water formulas for Starbucks, Peet's, and other global brands. Superior taste - Soma's proprietary formula produces the best tasting water. You'll notice a crisp, pure taste you won't find anywhere else.

FINALLY, A GLASS CARAFE

Sleek, minimal design - We eliminated all unnecessary features, resulting in a form that is beautiful because of its elegant simplicity. You'll want to show it off - Soma will be the centerpiece of your next dinner party. Say good bye to hiding your filtered water in the fridge. Drip-free pouring - The beveled edge of the glass carafe results in a perfect pour, every time.

Watch the video here:

My First Hotel Brick

Now was the time to start an awesome overnight workout regiment. Staying at the Hilton in Downtown Toronto which has an awesome gym and accommodating facilities, I was determined to finish what would become my first hotel brick. The pool was pretty much full around 11:00am with the ensuing Caribana 2010 Festival going on and people checking in, but the indoor cycling machine and treadmill was available for full utilization! Sleep last night was almost a lost cause as I went to bed at 2:00am and woke up at 5:00am. Three hours of sleep wasn't that much, but at I was rested well enough to conduct one flight from Atlanta to Toronto. I knew that I needed some nutrients so I grabbed a quick airport breakfast of Corned Hash, Potatoes, Scrambled Eggs & a Biscuit somewhere on the Atlanta A Concourse then headed to the plane. I ate enroute, we landed smoothly, took the local shuttle downtown to the airport (25 minutes) where I took a light nap, checked-in, got to my room and quickly put on workout clothes.

I did so because I knew that if I laid down for just 1 minute, I would fall asleep. I got on the indoor cycling machine and started hammering. I set the timer at 1 hour knowing that I could at least get my 20K/12.2 miles in and around 30 minutes, I started really hurting. I could feel that my lack of sleep wasn't contributing to the ideal body feeling but I kept on going. I finished w/ approximately 16.73 miles in 65 minutes (5 minute cooldown) but I have to say that the riding position is far from the real thing. Not sure if that's going to affect my actual rides but the workout did do a number on my thigh burn.

I had to refill my water bottle during the transition but in order to do so, I had to swap out the water jugs on the cooler. I took a little bit of a breather and started a light jog at 6.0. My legs were definitely a little mushy but I increased the pace to 6.5 and felt great! At mile 2.0, I hit a wall but I kept on going. I increased to 7.0, then to 8.0 at the last quarter and did a long cool down stretching at the same time. 3.63 miles total!

There was a point in the transition that I was going to skip the run altogether, but I was proud of myself that I kept on going. I even walked another 4-5 miles with the crew around Downtown! I have to head to bed early for a 4:50am van ride back to the airport so, goodnight for now. I might wake up early and do some upper body or maybe some early morning yoga streches in the room. Good times in training.