Sunday, November 30, 2014

Saturday and Sunday Nov 30

Saturday I was up stupid early. I mean stupid. Early.

So I got my 5k run done before 6am. Yeah, I was woken by thoughts of work and I just couldn't get back to sleep until after a run. I did a Tim Horton's run for my wife after the run and then had a nice nap. My son also participated in the np by jumping on my knee and hyper-extending it. Yeah, that didn't feel good.

With all the running, it has become more than necessary to roll and stretch every day. Do you think I could find my lacrosse ball today? No, my son took it and hid it somewhere. Yeah, that didn't feel good either.

I got so stressed that my wife took my kids out for something fun to do with her. That was nice, but she took all the car keys with her, either from design or misfortune. Meh, I got another nice 2k walk in the afternoon. It was warm for this time of year, and I wore shorts and a hoodie while exploring new routes for runs.

Sunday morning I was hurting. I had to get up and get my eldest to swim practice for 7am. I normally would just go for a run there, but not today. I got there and it was still dark and I needed to roll my legs. I got home, got the rolling done and kitted up for a run.

Thing is, I put too much clothing on - I should have worn shorts and a sweater, instead I had a lot more on and overheated while on the 4k run. Meh, I got it done. Later on I did another walk for 2k, and liked looking at all the Christmas lights going up.


Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Nov 28

This was stressful. Not because of money, not because of anything under my control, not really.

People around me are trying their best to  ... I don't know how to word it exactly. Perhaps we'll just go with "be themselves" and let that be what they ask about if they read this blog.

Wednesday I started the day with my rolling and stretching in the early morning. I got home from work and knew that I had a limited window so I got a 5k run in. With that one run, I got a couple of trophies on Nike+, too.

Thursday also started with a quick rolling and stretching session in the morning. In the afternoon, I got a 3k run in 20 minutes while at GoodLife and then a quick session doing this for four rounds:

10 kb snatches (16 kilo bell used)
10 kb cleans
20 BW squats

I got home and just needed a few minutes to squeeze a nice walk by myself around my neighbourhood. I used a weightlifting show to do the walk, which really wasn't a good idea.

Friday started well with stretching and rolling, but after that was a nightmare. I got home from work and was angry at the world. I got a 5k run in. I really shouldn't have done the entire 5k, but I needed that extra few minutes to myself. I made a few decisions while running. I'm finding that I make better decisions that way than any other way these days.

After the run, I had to host my parents for a birthday party. Woo.



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Nov 25

Well ... I'm starting to look back over this year. There were some major disappointments in it, and some good things that have happened so far.

I'll have to do a year end wrap up in about a month, just to get a grip on the year, even if I tend to run September to June in my thinking.

In any case, I'm still rolling and running.

Sunday I got up early and didn't feel at all well. Must have been something I ate. In any case, I got my eldest to swimming and came home and napped as opposed to running in the early am. I did get some rolling and stretching done in the afternoon and then later on I got a 5k run in.

Monday was a "normal" Monday, in that I got up early and got stretching and rolling in the early morning. I did a short walk later on in the day, just to clear my head and take a break. It was such a high wind that night, I didn't really want to run, to be honest. It was kind of scary just walking as far as I did, I had to cuddle with my middle child as she was not liking the wind outside. In helping her fall asleep, I myself fell asleep at about 9pm.

Of course, with that early bed time, on Tuesday I woke up stupid early and got a 4k run completed before 6am. That is happening a lot more than I care to admit, to be honest. At least I got it done and I got my day going. That was nice. After the run I got some rolling done but had to get my kids moving to school and me to work.

After work, I felt so tense I had to get another rolling session done and then ... I got another 5k run in. Yeah, I am grateful for the angry people around me, as they are the ones driving me to run at the moment.


Saturday, November 22, 2014

Saturday Nov 22

I knew today was going to continue the "Zoo" theme that the rest of the week had going for it. Since I had gone to bed so early, I go up ... well ..also early.

I had a 5k run in the bag by 6am ... again.

I got home to my wife on the couch, asking about  ... mortgage and extra sources of income and costs to the day. By 7am ... yeah.

I finished the day. It got done.

Wednesday Thursday and Friday Nov 21

Wednesday was an horrible day. Terrible day. One of the worst in at least four or five years. It was snowy and I texted my wife to "Please drive carefully". The weather was so bad and her car so light, so, of course, had a single vehicle accident and made her car undriveable for the moment.
Read it and weep

She was fine, no injuries just a little woozy. Thank goodness.

So, the weather was so bad, I kept home. As did my middle child - she took her shoes with wheels (aka "Wheelies") and went into the garage. She's never really let me know how she fell, but she hurt her arm rather badly and off to the local hospital we went. Fractured radius. She's now in a cast.

When I got home very close to midnight, I recalled that I hadn't run that day. I needed a walk, regardless of the weather, and so I went for a kilometer walk.

Thursday was a zoo. I got my kilometer walk in again. I got to bed a heck of a lot earlier ... like 8pm.

Because I went to bed so early, I got up really early on Friday. I knew Friday was going to be a zoo again, and so I got my run started at 5:30am. Yeah, that wasn't a typo. I was going to go for another run later on, but just wanted the day to end. I went to bed early again.


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tuesday Nov 18

Man ... I'm truly grateful that I have some evil people around me at work these days. They do nothing but make me want to go for a run.

And I got to day 18 in a row today. It was a crappy minus 18 with the wind chill outside and ... I ran nearly 5k in that freezing cold and snow.

You can't buy that in any store, any eBay site or anywhere on the internet. You just have to get it done yourself.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Sunday and Monday Nov 17

Yeah, this is EXACTLY how I looked on Sunday
Well, Sunday I got up and did my rolling and stretching.The rest of the family got out of bed and we got on with our day.

I had to wait until the troops were in bed until I could get my run in. I did get a complete 4k run in with my iPhone still working this time around. It was sllllllooooooowwwww though, as I spent the day being a dad and chasing small children.


Monday. Who likes Monday?

Meh, my legs do apparently as I squeezed in a 4k run so that my wife could leave on time for her swimming. Yeah, it was as fast as I recall myself running, except slower ....

The rolling in the am and the running in the pm are great ... but I need to add some longer distances and some wrestling into the mix.


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Friday and Saturday Nov 15

Friday is always a weird one at work. I was up stuuuupid early and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went and got a run finished by 6am.

Yeah, that wasn't a typo. I got off my rear end and got a run finished by 6am. Now, my iPhone, on the other hand couldn't finish the run and died about half way done.

I got done with the day, though.

Saturday was a "cluster mug" as the Deputy Mayor in "Under the Dome" liked to put it. Man, just a lack of coordination within my family. A real drag. I had a meeting to attend and there was a swim meet on at the same time.

Before I got going, I did get this done for five rounds:
10 push ups
20 stepups
20 kb cleans
20 kb snatches

Not a hard core workout, but good enough to get a sweat going in a rather chilly gym. I rolled after I was done, too. Legs reaaaaaalllly like that these days.

At least everyone is home now and angry at me and my participation in rugby at the moment. I got elected to the Niagara Rugby Union executive Committee again and life will go on.

I got home and went for a walk to clear my head and get a walk in ... and my phone died ...Again!

Piss me off, man.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Wednesday and Thursday Nov 13



So ... Wednesday. Yeah. It sucked. People kept trying to try me. I was the rock this time, not giving in and weathering the storm.

I got two runs in on Wednesday - the first one was a walk and the second one was an actual run. I think for the entire day was like 6.5kms.

Thursday was a rugby night ... but I did get a 3km run in the afternoon. It's all good.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Mon and Tues Nov 11

Lest we forget.
Not quite Richard III

Monday was a decent enough day. I wanted to try and get a particular shape on my Nike+ track, I think I failed again, but at least I got close .... It was run 501 for me... it's like I've been doing this for a while or something. In any case, it was like 6 kms.

Tuesday I was up to go to Goodlife in the afternoon, and got a 23 minute run in. I got 2.8k done in that time, which although isn't great was pretty cool.

After that I got this done for two rounds before I had to go be an adult:

20 KB swings - 16 kilo bell used throughout
20 bw squats
10 kb snatches each side
20 seated knee tucks

The people that were with me had no clue what they were doing. Kinda sad, really.

After I got home and fed my kids and got them to bed, I got another 4k run in.

I'm a machine.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Sat and Sunday Nov 9

Saturday ... was not a rugby day .. well, at least not in the usual sense. I did a nice easy run mid morning, nothing too fancy... just to keep going forward. I think it was just under 3k, so I didn't use a lot of calories.

Saturday night was the annual Centaurs Banquet. It went off without anyone getting arrested, which is always a great indicator. The meal was pretty good and I got in a nice photobomb:

I timed that one rather well, I have to admit.

In any case, I did my usual "leave as soon as the speeches are over" disappearing act this year again. I just don't have time for that silly stuff, man. I did get a nice medal for helping to win the NRU this year. I'm so looking forward to the 2015 season.

Sunday, I got up at 6:30am and took my kids swimming ... and I went for a nice easy run down by the lake.

I got a few pictures, too. Had a nice little run. Kept my streak alive, too.

After dinner, I went for another 2.5 k walk, just to get the dinner down and well digested. As it turned out, that was my 500th run with the Nike+ system. Meh, I wanted to make Richard appear. Maybe for the next run.



Friday, November 7, 2014

Thurs and Fri Nov 7 ... and a wish list update

So let's get this wish list update out of the way first.

I went to my rugby club Thursday night and was asked about how I got my gym together. I knew I had this post to send my clubmate and literally just finished sending him that link. And, reading that post got me thinking about my big Wish List post, so I searched for it and found this post.

Of course, that was 2010 and this is almost 2015. So, let's see how much work I got done towards this list in almost five years, give ourselves a grade and then do some thinking about what's next.

1) Mats - these happened about two years ago when a martial arts club sold 75 puzzle piece mats on Craigslist for 100 or 150 bucks. The puzzle pieces are so mush easier to handle, clean and move than one big piece of mat.

2) Bench. Floor space is always at a premium. I recently put my bench press back into storage as I knew the next few months are going to be focused on recovery not benching.

3) barbells and weights ... well I have enough. I think. Fifty pound metal "Real McCoy" ones are usually available used at Play it Again Sports, but I'm pretty sure I'm good for weights. Right now my max dead lift is 200 lbs at home as that is the most weight I can get on a bar.
We've come a long way, baby.

4)Bigger tires - I have access to bigger tires at my rugby club. They are huge and I don't have to store them. I've not used my tire for anything other than climbing on for my youngest in a while.

5)White Board - do not have a white board up, but I have paper copies of workouts and plans pinned up. I'm planning on painting this summer, and might go with some blackboard paint at that time.

6)Posters - always on the look out. I got one for the National Wheelchair Rugby tournament held in London, Ontario in May 2014. I still have the wrestling ones, and just today I got my wrestling medals back up on the wall.

7)Heater stand. I kept the kettlebells just inside the door last winter and I'm doing the same this year. Happiness is a warm kettlebell.

8) Fixing the punching bag - yeah, this was handled a while ago. I also got a stand up Wave Master off of Kijiji, too. I think I paid 50 bucks.

9)Boxing gloves - I got for 10 bucks from Play it Again Sports in Milton last year. Nice big heavy bag gloves with a wide velcro strip to take them off during boxing workouts. I'm very happy.

10) Judo gi - has not happened. I've stopped looking, as any local judo club is just too much money at the moment. I may try again after March of 2015.

11) Insulation on the door - I moved form the old house and into a new house. I have my own side of a double garage to use as a gym and last year used snow on the outside as an insulator. I don't think I'd like to do that this winter, but as I am thinking about this now, may use BTB's put inside hockey socks to do the same job. In the spring I can use them for training or as weights to help an outside deck umbrella keep standing. These are cheap and resuable/retaskable items, which I can handle.

12) Ropes I did use battling ropes last year and I did like them. I don't see myself using them a lot this winter, to be frank. They are a useful tool, but not worth the expense in stressful economic times. Besides, they are bulky and need space to be stored.
A long way indeed

13) Slam balls - I also used this last year at a small gym. They are so loud, I can't use these at my house. Not even going to bother. I did buy some medicine balls and use them regularly in the summer when training outside in parks and after rugby training sessions.

14) I've maxed out on kettlebells. To be frank I'd sell a few if I thought the older beaten up ones would actually sell. The last ones I bought are totally sweet and totally what I wanted to begin with. I'm good.

15) LAX balls and a roller. I got an awesome medicine ball and LAX ball combo going on in my morning sessions at the moment. I just have to keep my youngest from throwing them around and losing them.

16) bench - I got nice one, but in the summer it was rarely used except as a slide. Floor space is too precious for it at the moment, and it's back in storage.

17) a rower - got a cheap one which I have used and will being to use in the morning sessions in the next month. The workouts I have done with the current rower are decent. I may want to go big in the future, when budget is less of a concern.

18) Resources ... I've pretty much got enough audio books and podcasts that talk about training and mindset as I'm going to need for a while. I just need time to read and digest the contents. I do enjoy the drives to work while reading books, though. See the list of books recently read on the right hand side of the blog.

19) Jumbo valve box - yeah, this was inexpensive and is durable. It is also what I think my son bonked his head off of this week to get a nice cut between his eyes. Meh, I still like this item and it does add a certain soreness to my training sessions.

20) Scale. Yeah, I still have the one I got from Airmiles. Still works, although I haven't checked my weight in a while. I know I need to do exactly that in order to scare myself into better diet. At least it is there in my bathroom waiting for me.

So ... that was the original list from 2010. As it worked out, it was a great thought experiment to plan what I would need for my own place while money was decent. Having a plan is what I know works best for me and my family.

I'd like to think as a grade I'd give myself a sold B or B+. I'd miss out only because I just stopped looking for a few of the items. Meh, no one is perfekt.

So ... what's next?

1) Better civil planning. I'm pretty packed in there as it is. I'd like to think that I could do with a few more feet of space. I'd also like to think that with some more careful layout, this could be achieved.

2) Thoughts about training with people. I've had people ask to train with me and I've also made offers to people to come train, too. It's odd, nothing has happened. It's as though people want to train, but want me to nag them into coming. Yeah, that's not happening. I've already got kids. I don't want to bother with training partners who really don't want to train.

3) Thoughts about a certification. Yeah, I don't have the extra coin at this moment in time. I'd like something to point to to say that I know what I am doing, but I think before that gets done, I need to be a lot fitter than I am now. I should be my best advertising.

4) My own personal coach. I did some this summer, but ran into money issues. I did learn a lot and worked hard and it is obvious to me that I would like to work with someone with more knowledge and experience with training.

I'm trying to get the money together for Parabellum this winter, but am just pounding my head into stones, so to speak.

5) A treadmill. Yeah, this one has me wondering. I do keep checking Kijiji and may just pick one up for cheap, even if I lack space and money for it. I think that I would do more running in the winter if it was inside my gym, but also might get some spill over with my family running (or just walking) on it too. But this is a physically large and generally expensive item which requires a lot of thought before investing in one.

Still, with all the lack of snow clearing I saw last winter in my neighbourhood, it might just be cheaper for me to drive and run somewhere else. Mind just blown.

6) Paint. I'd like to have a good paint job on the floor and the walls this summer. The paint on the floor is to help keep it clean, the walls to help make it look good. If I have to choose, I'd pick paint for the walls this time, as last time I painted the floor.

7) Something to help with scrums and other technical parts of rugby and wrestling. There are throwing dummys out there for wrestling/bjj. There are things out there to help with scrums and line out throws for hookers. I'd like to see them and see what I could do to get better at those skills for the proper season.

I think that is about it ... at least that's what I've been thinking about while writing this.

In any case, I now will write up my training sessions for the last two days.

Thursday was weird. I got my rolling session in early then had to go to Niagara Falls for the day. I got back stupid late, ate dinner and got the kids to bed. I got a late run in and then had to go buy my banquet ticket at the rugby club.

Friday was weirder. I got my rolling and stretching in early. Later, I had to take my youngest to the doctor for some sort of papal blessing and concussion checking. Not sure exactly what the doctor was thinking about making a three year old boy do that, but whatever. I got the run in extra late.

I did try to make this run look like something, can you see it? In any case,

Richard III is a great play.


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Wednesday Nov 5

I would really like days to be normal. Or at least resemble normal every once in a while.

Yeah ... that isn't quite the case here.

Ah well, roll with the punches... and the spin kicks ... and the uppercuts ...

I got up early and .... ahem ... kept my son off of me, thank you very much ... and we stretched and rolled together this morning at 6am. After the rainy game of rugby last night, I was a little tight in the legs. I focused on them and my back. They were uncontested scrums, so my neck was saved from that, thanks. There was curried chicken after the game ... I'm just going to leave that there for the time being. IfyouknowwhatImean...

I got through the day. That is all I'm going to say.

Then the meetings started. And the emails. And the planning for tomorrow... and the phone conference and the chatting online about my rugby club. At the end of the day, I spent some time connecting with my beloved wife. We chatted about life, about finances and about stuff at work. Basically, what every manual about marriage tells you to talk to your spouse about.

After that, I knew I had to get the stress out of me. For me it's always been about running, I guess. Some private time that I take to spend on me. I spent it thinking about tomorrow and what I'm going to do.

I did 4k of thinking about tomorrow. I got it.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Nov 4

Sunday was a rather excellent day.
Pretty

My kids are swimmers and I had to take them to a swimming session Sunday morning starting a 7am. For the first hour, I just sort of sat and chatted with the other child who started at 8am. After that, I drove about 5 minutes away and went for a run on the shores of Lake Ontario.

This time I messed up and only got a 3k run in. I already have this in the bag for next time, and I'll do like almost a 5k run. It's all good.

Pretty, too.

After that I picked up my kids and went home and stretched.

Monday was a typical Monday ... rolling and stretching in the morning, running in the evening. Had to squeeze my run in before my wife's training session.

Tuesday ... I was rolling and stretching in the morning, and my son decided to jump off of my back while I was in child's pose. Well, he cut his forehead and I spent the next two hours at Emerg waiting for the Doctor to show up.

At least I got my run in the afternoon using my Nike+ watch and a foot monitor. It was kind of slick the way they integrated with my account on Nike+. Slick. In any case, I had to stretch after that, then went home and then ... played rugby in the rain at night for the NOBS.

That was cool, man.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nov 1

Thursday I was still at it, rolling and stretching in the morning with a run in the evening.

Friday was Halloween, and so I got the morning session in, but it was a nice walk with my family in the evening, meeting my neighbours and taking their candy.

After that I watched some of the rugby league online. Kiwi's stole one from Samoa.

Saturday ... I was back at it. Morning rolling session, afternoon 5k run. I watched the All Blacks crumple the US in Chicago. I watched the haka and then went for the run. Got to my goal of 2000 kms for the Nike+ thingy...