udpate from Jim Reavis;

I am sure many of you are wondering if the new version 3 of the guidance means we will have a new version of the CCSK test and what that means to existing CCSKs or those currently studying to be CCSKs. The CSA certification board that created the initial test will be providing definitive information about the plan soon, but I wanted to let you know about some things we know for sure, so you can plan appropriately.

- We do not have an exact time frame for the new test, but likely will be the middle of next year.
– Existing CCSKs will be able to take the V3 test when available at no charge.
– Existing CCSK tokens will be valid for the V3 test.
– It is possible that we may consider having a special V3 test for existing CCSKs that cover the difference.
– You should still be studying V2.1 of the guidance to prepare for the existing test.

If you have read both V2.1 and V3, you should be aware that key principles have not changed in the new guidance, but we have greater depth. From that perspective, we want to provide interested professionals assurance that you will not be penalized in any way for obtaining your CCSK now, and the effort will help you in gaining certification on an updated test. If you have questions or input, please respond to this post so we can make sure we update the website FAQ.

I’ve started working on a product and service development program at eSecure. My interests and ambitions have found some nice synergies with eSecure’s business development goals.

All through my career i’ve dabbled in IT Security. However i’ve never really considered myself a “security guy”. But after landing in a security role almost accidently, i’ve come to realise that it’s really my true calling.

It comes down to the fundamental security triad; Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. In the past in my telco jobs, it was predominantly about Availability, Integrity a close 2nd and not far behind, Confidentiality. Now i’m dealing with all three in roughly even amounts.

That’s the introduction on the CSA website. Says it better than if I tried to paraphrase it.  I think I first heard about the CSA via posts on Chris Hoff’s blog which I follow.

The first thing the CSA came out with was their “Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing” whitepaper. It takes a whole raft of well established IT security methodology and applies it to the emerging world of Cloud Computing. It’s very good reading, and excellent reference material.

The next big release was the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge exam. It was announced at the end of July, and the exam made available on the 1st of September.  With timezones in Australia ahead of those in the USA, it was late afternoon Sydney when the exam went live. I had a free evening and thought, why not give the test a go. You get two tries for your exam fee.

Well, I passed, which was nice. But the surprise came later when i got an email from the CSA Executive Director, Jim Reavis. It turned out that I was the first in the world to pass and also the fastest to complete the exam during its first day. That gave the ol’ ego a boost. But the voice of reason in the back of my head started to speak up, and bring me back to reality. There are a lot of good people out there. Better than me. There’s lots I still need to learn.

But I think i’ll enjoy this for a bit

The other development is around the problems I’ve had with running for quite a long time now.  If I run more than a couple of kms i start to get pains in my right knee and hip.  I thought it was due to neglect, insufficient stretching and massage. After switching to training with STG, and being very disciplined with stretching, i started to wonder if something else might be the problem.  I went to see a sports chiropractor in the city near work. Thank god I did. As it turns out, years of neglect before i started exercising in 2008, have resulted in my spine being in pretty poor shape. All the pain associated with running is due to my hips being rotated and tilted (left forward and down, right back and up). So i fork out the dosh, get my back sorted out, and lay off the running for a while.

Tip: strengthen your legs with lunges

After that, to end, a ~1km cool down then proper stretching. I rugged up before i got cold. Once I got home, hot shower, then a good go with the physio-roller.  pressing out the knots in my leg muscles, particularly my quads, ITB and TFL.

My heart rate wasn’t that high during the session, ~170bpm or so. It was actually the condition of my legs that limited me.  I’ve done not nearly enough to look after them.  Proper maintenance of your muscles is SO important I’m discovering. It gets more and more important as you aim for more and more endurance. This is the stand out biggest change since starting with STG.

Now that I’m starting to get into Triathlon training more seriously, I thought the ups and downs of my journey might be of interest. What does a normal person go through in the attempt to train to be able to do an endurance triathlon? Yea, that could be of interest to people. So, i’ll see if i can maintain regular updates.

So, to my update. I received my training plan from the coach at STG last night.

• Monday: Swim training in the pool. ~1 hr
• Tuesday: Morning ride training. ~1 hr
• Wednesday: Run training at the track. ~1 hr
• Thursday: Morning ride training. ~1 hr. Evening swim training. ~1 hr
• Friday: “recovery” longer run. 45mins-1hr.
• Saturday: “brick” training, cycling then running. ~2 hrs

WHOA!

I did a swimming technique session last night(mon). Swam and rode the day before(Sun). Swimming technique session the day before that(Sat). I tried to get up and do the ride training session this morning, but I’ve hit my limits already. Sore upper body muscles and really tired. That and it was raining.  So, my first “failure” of sorts.

I’ve started eating more as the coach recommended. That’s helped with recovery, but as I’ve not done much swimming at all for a very long time, it’s really exhausted me. The upside is that the coach is telling me my swim technique is improving.  Amazingly my kick is perfect, which is just a fluke. My arms however need a lot of work.  The stroke correction over two lessons has reduced my 100m time by ten seconds. amazing.

So today i make sure i drink lots of water and eat right.  tonight, lots of stretching and using the physio-roller. Then hopefully i’ll be good for tomorrow night’s track running session.

The other big change is in my fitness and sport training. I’ve been with Vision Personal Training for a bit over a year now. Huge progress has been made, but in recent months it’s tapered off. I finally figured out the problem, I’ve outgrown them (plus they’ve changed to be more weight-loss oriented). I did a lot of research and spoke to friends that are triathletes. I settled on STG. I’ve got a qualified tri-coach now, and have started on a program with him. STG also provides a squad to train with, which is really good for motivation. Obsession with counting carbs, protein and fat is out. the “go hard or go home” mentality too. In with more logical and customized coaching. No more “don’t be lazy! just do it!”. Now it’s “ok, why are you tired/sore? what did you do/eat/etc?”

I’ve got some big events coming up this year and next. Kinda exciting and scary at the same time. a month ago i wouldn’t have thought i could reach those goals. now, with the new training and coaching program, i reckon i’ll do it!

note: not going to jinx myself by saying what I’m aiming for. I was planning to do the half marathon in May, the old personal trainer was pushing me hard. I was trying to keep to a training plan, but kept hitting injury obstacles. I wasn’t confident. The new coach; “forget that, you wont be ready”. Dude is hardcore, but fair, and logical, and experienced….

I’m stoked. Life is good.

I’m back into training, slowly ramping it up. Trying to do triathlons, even short sprint ones was a bit too ambitious. I completed one, but it smashed me. So I’m concentrating on cycling for now, which is my favorite of the 3 sports.

I’ve started riding to work, its 11km one way, lots of hills. Work has decent showers and change rooms, which makes it easy.  So, I’ve caught the cycling bug big time. I’m buying upgrades for the cannondale bad boy and visiting bike shops.  I was gawking at TT/Tri bikes and pondering what bike to get next. I was thinking to get a TT/Tri bike as I’m still wanting to do triathlons.  I do pretty much all my riding alone, so I didn’t think there would be any downsides.  I saw Cervelos, Felts, Cannondales, Quintana Roos, Kuotas and Argon 18s. I’d narrowed them all down to the Felt B2.  Then i started hearing some good advice; going from flat bar road bike to TT/Tri bike is nuts, it’s a huge difference in posture.  The final straw was a Cervelo S2 SRAM Red on sale at Cheeky Monkey, with the offer to take it for a test ride.  What a sweet sweet ride! It blew me away. I’m just good enough to appreciate the bike. I could see that going straight to a TT/Tri bike really was crazy. This was more than enough speed.  So i bought it. 2009 model, big discount.

Then it rained and rained, which pissed me off no end. I finally got to Centennial Park on the weekend and did some laps.  Can’t wait to ride again this Saturday.

Note: this isn’t my bike, but it’s the same except for the wheels.

Update 13th of Mar: More laps of Centennial park. 8 laps this time. next time, 10.