Tues Nov 30

I am now the father of a newborn boy, born today. I feel awesome, he's so beautiful.

I'd like to say something hardcore and brutal. That I swallow steel and spit out rivets. That I can take stuff the life tried to pound me with today and can wipe the blood from the side of my mouth with a shirt sleeve, and ask life to keep coming.

I know I can't do that. But I have to.

I ate as well as I could today, without a workout in the traditional sense. Let's just say that today was one non-stop gut check, which should continue tomorrow. I was tested today, like Job ... and I think I passed.

Everyone is ok - both at home and at the hospital. It's me I'm wondering about.

Monday, Nov 29

This was a chilly one this morning - just below freezing outside, just above freezing inside.



Four rounds of:

1A) Push Ups (mix hand positions each set) 4 x 8-15 reps (last two sets with 50 lb SB on my back. That was pretty .. um ... hard)
1B) tire flips 4 x 12
2A) Double KB Military Press Variation 4 x 5-8 reps (30 and 40 lb KB)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (50 lb DBs)

Then three rounds of this:
4A) wrist rollers (5lbs) x 2 (up and down is 1)
4B) 10 ab roll outs on the green ball
4C) 10 tricep dips
4D) 10 gi grips and lifts with the blue heavy bag - have to think of a way to make this one harder/more efficient. Still, it felt good to get my hands on a gi again.
4E) 5 two handed then 5 SH Indian club halos.
4F) chin ups (sub max) getting better at these...

After going grocery shopping I went for a 5k run - it just seems a good distance, and I am in a "Fastest 5k in November" race on the Nike+ website. After tonight, I'm in 40th place. Not bad, considering the top 15 are all under 20 minutes. 24:32 is my time. Boo ... ya! Oh, and I got a foam roller tonight for 10 bucks, so I am off to make my muscles happy...

I think the focus this week should include work on my KB windmills and TGU's. If I ever want to get good at them, I need to train with them ... and they're just good things for what I want to get out of this training.

I'm sort of glad I've made most of this gear; it's cloth, wood or PVC so that I can warm up without touching cold metal. When I get in the gym, I turn on the heater, place at least one KB in the way, then start with something else - the cloth sandbags, for instance. It's cold in the gym, but that shouldn't stop the workouts.

This was a tough morning - I went for a run last night and totally forgot to go for groceries until well after 11pm. I had to get to bed, I was so beat. Getting up required a bit of force. I had some stuff for my kids' lunch in the fridge and freezer, but I'm sure I'm going to hear about the lunches today. Meh, it came down to a choice for them: the Christmas tree up or shopping for groceries. For them, the tree won. I'll make sure I point that out to them, too. I'm going to the Organic Garage in a bit for my won lunches for the week - at least my diet while at work will not suffer for the Christmas season.

After a short trip to get my food, there are few things I've noticed: one) eating well can be inexpensive; less than 20 bucks for a week of the lunches I've eaten as of late. Except no almonds, so ... I'll get them tonight, somewhere. Two: there are an awful lot of people out there who eat poorly and sleep through life.

I went to get most of the groceries from the OG; it's down the street and around the corner. I got everything there except the tuna and almonds. I got the tuna (on sale!) at the local discount grocery store on the way back. In both places there were people acting as if they were asleep - walking around, shopping and just asleep, man. Kind of a shame, really. One nice thing was this gentleman who let me ahead of him as he had a full cart and I had four tins of tuna. Him, he's the one that will save the planet, I'm sure.

I'm so glad that November is almost over; this one was less tough, thanks to an increase in intensity of these training efforts I am making. I'd rather it be summer time, but as a Canadian, I know that winter has to come at some point. It's the price we pay for living here.

Right, this is what I ate today: (diet was not as good as it should be, yet)

Breakfast: Tim's Belt. and coffee

Lunch: Salad with tuna, carrots and hummus.

Dinner: two slices of pizza with hummus as dip. Almonds for dessert.

Lots of water to drink during the day ... tomorrow I'm going to have to tighten up on the nutrition. I'm glad to say that the groceries are in the building and ready for Tuesday.

Sunday Nov 28

I think this is post 90. Whoa. Cool.

In any case, I had beer last night, so I have to make up for it today.

I did this workout for 25 minutes, and got 6 rounds completed.

1) Tire DL + 80 lbs x 5 reps (I’ll see if the internets has the weight of the tire somewhere)
2) Bodyweight Pulling x 10 (on the TRX)
3) Bodyweight Pushing x 10 (one leg up, other on the tire)
4) 53 lb KB Swing x 10
5) OH 20 lb weights walking lunges x 50'
6) Sledge Hammer x 10
7) jump onto height (sb on top of the milk crate)
8) bicep curls (band with handles)

I felt good after this, but as usual, had to get my butt in gear and get kids to swimming and get groceries done ... then off to my parents place for dinner and helping them get their Macbook Pro up and running.

After I got back from helping my parents and getting my kids into bed, I went for a 5k run. 25 minutes long - which I used to think wasn't very good for conditioning, but now know better. I need to stretch.

I like the new set up of the garage - I got motivated yesterday and did some moving of stuff around. Then last night, I was kinda grumpy, so I did a workout with the car in there. Kinda interesting, to say the least. I got it done, but was pressed for space.

This is the diet for the day:

breakfast: poached eggs and chicken breast

Lunch: tuna wrap - onion, celery tuna and a little mayo on a wrap. Lots of almonds to eat and water to drink.

Dinner chicken and rice, nice salad with a beer to drink. Lots of water, too.

Sat Nov 27

OK, there were like five KB events in Toronto today - and I went to the one that was the coolest, the Toronto KB clubs' event at the FACT. It was cool. I was there, at least I can say I was there, I didn't compete, as I had to make it to piano for my youngest, but I was there, man. I saw history happen.

Seriously, like five KB events: the one at FACT, the one with Shawn Mozen, the one the Ajamu Bernard (in the 'Sauga) and the one at my house .... well, there's four ... ther was one more, it just escapes me at the moment.

Anyway, I had to leave to get to the event by 8:30, so there was no morning workout for me. I got to the event, saw the first set of women lifters, shook some hands and then had to go. Meh, at least I got to piano on time, then rearranged my garage gym, then put up Christmas lights outside, then had lunch, then got the tree up from the basement .... ugh, man ... then I got a chance to work out. With the car in the garage, as I wanted to see whether or not I could do it.

It was done.

Anyway, here is what I did:

warm up; jumping, body movement, static and dynamic stretches

four rounds of:

double hand KB swings
10 KB snatches
10 TRX body rows
10 TRX push ups (2 rounds of push ups, too)
20 BW squats (touched a milk crate with my butt)

three rounds of:
10 count of front and side planks
30 count of step ups onto a milk crate
10 count hand stands with wall assist (yeah, you read that right)

That was pretty cool, then I stretched. A lot.

What I ate:

Breakfast: I was on the go (lame excuse) so I had a Timmy Ho's Belt and coffee.

Lunch was later, had meatballs and veggies with hummus

Snack was almonds and water

Dinner was chicken pasta with almonds and a beer to drink.

I've been hungry since dinner, so I've been eating almonds, almonds and almonds. Trying not to have the kids' Haloween' candy, nor my pregnant wife's ice cream... so ..I'm hangin in my garage in order to stay away. When I come in, I get to feel the tummy and witness the belly rolling and rolling over and over. Seriously.

Fri Nov 26 ..... and a pause for a wish list

This is a nice and relaxed day at work. I had to get in earlier than usual, but I'm here and I don't have a lot to do, so .... I'm trying to make the most of it, soak in a few moments of peace before the mad rush of Christmas. In a chat last night, I mentioned having a wish list for my garage/gym. Almost at the same time we both pointed out that I needed more mats.

That got me to thinking ... about a wish list for my workout space. And so, without further ado ... here it is:

1) more mats - either a single thicker piece for the entire area or just more of the 1/4 inch clip together ones I already have, I have not yet decided. I've been on the look out for them, there are some deals out there, just my current situation says no.

2) move the cupboard and van chair out of the space, to free up space for training while the car is in the garage. 2B) get rid of the other extra stuff in the room, too. Meh, makes sense, right?

3)barbell and some plates. I keep looking for these on Craigslist and eBay. I want to be able to go and pick them up and make sure I'm not being ripped off; I'm still looking. Not sure I need a squat rack for them, but it would be cool to do bicep curls in the rack, just like idiots in my old gym did ....

4)bigger / heavier tire? I dunno, there are ways of taking the big tire I have and making it heavier ... and if I get a bigger tire, where to store it? Move stuff to make room just to store more stuff just doesn't make sense.

5)white board/cork board to post workouts more easily - save me from filling in holes in the wall before I move out. As it is, there's going to be quite the hole filling party in the garage before I move ... I'm thinking this to not make it worse.

6)cooler posters ... 'cuz ya gotta look at sweaty, muscular dudes while you're sweaty and trying to get muscular.

7)wooden stand/table for the heater. I'm getting to the point where the KB's need be warmed in order to not hurt my hands during a workout. Ever held a cold kettlebell? It hurts after a while. Trust me. Why wood? There's going to be snow in the garage at some point in time, and melted snow and an electrical heater shouldn't be together. I need to warm the KB's and keep myself from being electrocuted.

8)heavy bag S clips clipped off and replaced with carabiners. That way I can punch it or wrestle with it, without getting a mouth full of chain. Which might be bad.

9)boxing and/or grappling gloves. To punch without hurting my knuckles and wrist ... again. Might also get the wraps, too.

10) a judo ghee/gi for training ... since the heavy bag has been sweating in it, it's kinda gross .... ;)

11) a thing to go across the bottom of the big door of the garage to get a better seal between the floor and the door - to try and keep cute, small animals and drifting snow out and big scary animals in.

12) battling ropes - well, better ropes than I have right now.




13) a slam ball - or maybe just fix the one I duct taped together.

14) more kettlebells. 'cuz they're cool. And I guess some more hex weights.

15) a lacrosse ball and a foam roller. Man, I'm feeling last night's run. Ugh.

16) a bench. A towel needs to sit somewhere ... ha, ha, ha. No, seriously. A bench. ... need to do DB flies somewhere other than the floor.

17) a rower ... which I'd have to store on it's end, pointing up into the ceiling. But this would have to be a gift, or really, really cheap. I ain't paying good money for some cardio equipment.

18) instruction/resources - kettlebells, boxing/martial arts, running, nutrition, training, etc. Knowledge is power.

19) a jumbo valve box from Home Depot. Nothing says pain like ten minutes of 20 inch steps...

20) a scale .. I am trying to get to a weight class. It'd help to know how close I am.

Whoa, that's quite a list. I'm thinking I'd need another garage just to store all that crap. Anyway, it's a wish list, not a "get this or you'll die" list. All in all, it's a good mental exercise, at least for me. Now I know what I'm looking for when I set money aside for training purposes.



Anyway, that list being done, here is the regular post for the day:

What I ate:

Breakfast: smoothie with a coffee on the way in to work.



Snack: two bowls of cut of fruit: it was awesome! And FREE! I heart meetings!

Lunch: Roast chicken with a garden salad. It's always good.

Break ... I had to get out and see some sunshine, I went for a coffee. W/e.

Snack: left over fruit, see above.

Dinner: Salmon, veggies, salad and 2 beers to drink.



Training:

I had to get into work early today. One of those "hurry up and wait" things. I got to work and worked on this post and my regular stuff at the same time. Relaxed, time enriched moments, with people stressing over money for lunch. I'll go for a run tonight and finish it off with some very quiet KB work in the garage. Saturday I'm off to watch some of the Toronto KB Club's event. Should be good.


Also, saw this:


and I listened to an interview with Matt Wichlinski, and read a rather politically incorrect interrogation by ZEE done with Jim Wendler. Pretty informative, to be honest and pretty damn funny, too.

Thurs Nov 25

Whoa, one month 'till Christmas. Not really in the Christmas mood, yet. Although I'd have to say that it has been a few years since I've been in the C-Mas mood. In any case, it is getting really cold in the mornings in the garage/gym, this morning was no exception.

I did this:

1) SB Bear (clean + squat + press) x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
2A) chin ups 4 x mixed grip x submax reps (usually 5)
2B) SB push ups 4 x 10
3) battling ropes 3 x 1 minutes (no timer, so I counted "Mississippi's")
4A) 25 sec Front and side Planks,
4B) 10 Swiss ball roll outs,
4C) overhead weight trunk side flexes,
5A) grip roller (now with 5lbs on the end of the rope)

5B) judo gi grips and throws on the heavy bag (that was fun grip work)

I did go for another 5k run tonight - I was going to go earlier, but discovered the FILA youtube channel and was watching some Greco. For whatever reason it won't let me embed it here, so you'll have to click on the link. Meh.

Breakfast: smoothie with frozen berries, OJ and green goo. Different OJ this morning, added a lot more Vitmin C than usual. Also had a multivitamin.

After workout meal: beef and eggs. With my wife ... and the belly.

Lunch was skipped for some reason. I guess I just forgot.

Dinner was Blue Label meatballs with some veggies. Really, really tasty and good. I read the nutrition label and the ingredients. I could pronounce all of the contents. Not a single "ose" or "oguawa" in the entire thing.

I'm tired, though. I keep getting that nap in the mid-evening. Tonight I had both kids on my lap as we were watching some trailers from the new Disney film and I nodded off. Kinda cool - my kids let me nap and let the trailers run. A nice way to wake up, too; cuddling with two of the best kids on the planet.

Oh yeah, today is Thursday - I should have gone down to the rugby club. Ah, well. Too late to go there and drink beer. Shame, really. NOT!!

Wed Nov 24

Wow, November is going by in a rush, thank God. Normally, this is the crappiest part of the year, but it is half over, and I feel pretty damn awesome. I took some before pics at the start of September and I looked at them last night.

I'm not ever putting them up, unless this endeavour turns out incredibly well.

I have noticed that when I don't stick to the diet, even semi-strictly, I don't make a lot of progress. Like I needed that idea pounded into my head. Again.

I did this workout this morning:

Day 2: UPPER BODY
1A) Push Ups 4 x 15 (two sets I had a 40 lb SB on my back)
1B) chin ups sub max x 4
2A) Double KB Military Press 4 x 5-8 reps (started with 2 30lb KB, then 40lbs)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (2 50 lb DBs)
4A) TRX Body rows 3 x 10
4B) abs 3 x (10 each of: Ab roll outs, mountain climbers, tricep dip)
4C) grip 4 roller x 2 (need to increase this weight and get a second exercise)

My wrists are still sore.

Later on in the day, did a 5k run. The damn Nike+ sensor is messed up. I'm thinking on Friday I go to the YMCA in Oakville and recalibrate it on their track. Unless some baby arrives to mess that plan up. ;)

I ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie; frozen berries, OJ, GJ, green goo and almond butter.

Breakfast egg and beef wraps with tomato and hot peppers with some ketchup.

Lunch: the usual. Tuna on salad, almonds and prunes. Water to drink.

Dinner: small plate of pasta and veggies. Water to drink.

While at work, I took some time and watched this:



Seems I have a few new ideas about training with that heavy bag at my house. I'm thinking I put the Judo gi on it, with a belt and throw the shit out of it.

I also saw this one, and now ... I'm pretty much thinking I need to put together a heavy heavy lifting bag and see where that takes me.

Tues Nov 23

Oh, was I sore this morning. Even though I did my best Brock Lesnar imitation last night and got on top of guys and stayed there, resting my weight on them, I'm still sore. At least more sore than usual. Meh, I still had a good time.

Like the saying goes; "You know you had a good time if you are still bleeding."

I did this this morning:


three rounds of:
10 KB floor press (double 30lb)
20 BW squats
Indian club work
stretches
butt walking
Leg circles, ab work

Why? Why not go hard core and "kill it"? 'Cuz I have a brain in my head and an evening free. Stretch now, run later. Trust me, it'll work.

Later on in the day, I did a rather slow 4km run. It was rather chilly out. Kinda of a drag that that is what I will be training in until the spring. Meh.

Anyway, I've eaten this today:

Breakfast :Smoothie; GJ, green goo and frozen fruit. Multivitamin

Meal after workout: Roast beef wraps: beef, veggies, ketchup, chimichurri sauce.

Lunch: Tuna salad with almonds. Carrots and hummus. Water to drink.

Dinner: a bowl of the chilli I made yesterday: lean ground beef, tomatoes, beans and some onion.

I also discovered that I need only 99 kms to get to the next level on my Nike+ account. Right now, I'm kinda stuck at green, and blue is the next level. What does that mean, really? It's a pride thing. Honestly. I'm thinking I do something stupid, like ... 20 5 km runs in the next 20 days ... but then again... that would be retarded. We'll see what gets done.

Anyway, saw this video by Ajamu Bernard and Funk Roberts.

KBell Fighter MMA Workout #3 - Funk Roberts - The most popular videos are a click away

I've met Ajamu in person a couple of times ... his next KB cert is in Toronto this weekend (Nov 27th). Just in time for me to miss it, thanks to the child in my wife's belly. Meh, whatever. I'm also not going to go to the first KB meet the same day, nor the other KB cert with Shawn Mosen this weekend, also in Toronto. If I do get to do one thing, it's go to St Catherines to see some of the Ontario Senior Wrestling Championships. Although, I might make the time to do Shawn's martial arts workshop on Friday night. We'll have to see how the belly is doing.

Mon Nov 22

I was cold in my garage gym this morning, my friends... Full Body Conditioning Circuit
AMRAP in 20 Minutes (as many rounds as possible).

1) dead lift tractor tire + 90 lbs x 5 reps
2) TRX Rows x 10
3) feet up push ups x 10
4) KB Swing x 10 (used the 53lb KB)
5) OH SB walking lunges x 50'
6) Sledge Hammer x 10

I did 25 minutes of this. I literally almost puked. Perfect for a Monday morning. I honestly didn't want to do this hard of a workout, as I felt a little back stiffness from yesterday's wrestling and lifting. However, by the time I realized what I was doing, I was sweating like an idiot in my chilly garage and just went with it. This doesn't look like a tough workout, but it was.

I ate this:

Breakfast: fruit and juice in a blender.

After workout meal: roast beef and poached eggs.

Lunch; tuna fish sandwich, with veggies. Lots of water to drink.

Dinner: Chilli: ground beef, red pepper soup, beans, tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Water to drink.

After grappling recovery: water and Grapefruit juice.

I'm making a conscious effort to stay away from caffeine this week, as I want to get my heart from hurting. Last Christmas I thought I was having a heart attack - and I went to the emergency department of the local hospital, they hooked up the twelve leads to my heart ... and it misfires every once in a while. When it misfires, it friggin hurts. They booked me in for the following day with a heart specialist, and ...same thing. His line to me was about staying away from caffeine. At that time, I took his advice and the pains in my heart stopped. Fast forward 11 months, I'm back to having two coffees a day ... and my heart hurts. So ... I ask you ... what would YOU do? Yeah, so, I'm off of coffee for the week, see if that does anything. Even more water for me.

And a multivitamin, too.

And I've registered in a 5K race in Burlington on Dec 31st. Why? Because I need something to test me.

After dinner and getting the kids to bed, went to a local Martial Arts place for some grappling. Did pretty well for the first time on the mats in a while. It was cool, and a good workout. Wouldn't mind making a weekly appearance there, but it'll depend on budget. Speaking of budget, my copy of Enter the Kettlebell arrived today. Excellent.

Sunday Mov 21

OK, today was planned better than yesterday, but I ran into a bunch of stuff that tried to get in my way, but in the end, I got stuff done.

I got interrupted twice during this workout:

1A) 1 Arm DB Snatch 4 x 6
1B) 12 tire flips
2A) SB GR Wrestling Squat 4 x 6
2B) Lunge Jumps 4 x 6/6
3A) 50 lb SB Curls 4 x 5 - 8
3B) 30 lb KB floor press 4 x 12-15
4) 400m Sprints 4 x
5) ab circuit 4 x in a row (man makers, front plank, left/right planks)

I followed this workout with 3 rounds of:


trap tire dead lift x 5
Heavy bag Greco Roman restarts x 5

After that, my kids wanted to come into the garage and workout. I had them dragging stuff around and working on somersaults. We all had fun, man.

When I went to get groceries tonight, did a 4.5 k walk. Had the tunes pumping and did some planning for the week. I'm thinking about training and nutrition. Caffeine is starting to mess with my heart, again. I'm thinking I have to give up the daily Timmy's coffee run and get my life back with decaf green tea. No such thing as a healthy heart with bad timing.

I ate this today:

brunch: coffee and ground beef, veggies in a wrap. (about 11am)

Snack: grapefruit juice and almonds

Dinner slow cooked roast beef with raw veggies on a plate... horseradish to make your nose run. Almonds. Beer to drink. Awesome. (about 5pm)

Later, after the walk, had OJ and some almonds.

I really wasn't that hungry today. Lots of almonds, veggies and water, water, water all day kinda kept me going.

In any case, this week is about getting onto the mat, probably near my house. My buddy wants me to roll at Joslin's - which will probably happen this week, depending on his schedule. But I gotta roll this week, at least once.

Had to take my wife to the hospital to get some nurses to help her out. I took my kids back home and got back to my workout. She called again, and we all went to pick my wife up, then finished the workout. Wrestling with that heavy bag was pretty cool, man. I missed lifting practice dummies. At least this one has some heft to it, not like the rugby tackling dummies. I tucked the two 30 lb KB's back inside the tire to make the tire dead lift a little tougher, too

Saturday Nov 20

So, yeah ... yesterday's post seems a little bitter. Meh, whatever.

I got up ... and my hands really hurt from punch the heavy bag and kb snatching last night. Seriously. They're dry and sore.

I live through the day; didn't eat much, didn't do much but play with my kids and get to the library. Going to watch UFC 123 somewhere...

ate this today:

breakfast" coffee

lunch chicken with three sausage hors d'overs (leftovers from ysterday). I felt a little hungry later on and made a tuna wrap with lots of veggies.

dinner: the left over tuna wrap mix, more veggies. lots of water, two beers.

I did a recovery workout today: stretching, some foam rolling, some indian club work, Later on, there was some messing around in the gym/garage with my kids, the tires, the TRX, the punching bag ... there wasn't much my kids didn't play with in there. Fun.

I dunno, would rather be in July right now. Somewhere warm and cozy. Instead, I got a viral cough making it's way through my family. I'm glad rugby is over but have not yet started wrestling yet. I need to get on a mat, like, now.

Friday Nov 19

Why put Jabba the Hutt's laugh here? 'Cuz I can. And I'm kinda laughing at life at the moment. But, I've already been paid back ... thanks karma!

Today, I woke up at 6:30am - got everything going, after a rather long night of restlessness. I dunno, is insomnia a normal thing when you're working out this much?

I had the coffee/ smoothie mix before the workout and after I was really hungry, as you'll read in a minute. This morning's workout was not 25 minutes, it was closer to 40. I learned something today, too: I can put KB's and DB's inside the tire to make it heavier. Good to know, no?

Did this routine six times in almost 40 minutes:

1) Tire dead lift x 5 reps (tire, then with stuff inside - I'll take pics later.)
2) TRX rows x 10
3) Sand Bag push ups with feet elevated x 10
4) KB Swing x 10 (used the 53 lb KB)
5) OH SB walking lunges x 50' (used 15 the 40 lb SB)
6) Sledge Hammer x 10

I kept waiting for the timer to go off; I just kept working at it. I was nearly falling over from fatigue during the SB OH lunges, but I kept going. Finally I checked the timer ... to find out I had not started it. This workout is set up to be done "AMRAP" in 25 minutes ... meh, I did an extra few rounds. But, later on in the day, I'm sorta hurting a little bit. Could be interesting tonight, but right now, I feel good.

I ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie (OJ, grapefruit Juice, frozen berries) and coffee

Lunch: it was an early lunch: two cans of spicy tuna on a salad, hummus and pepppers, almonds and prunes. Water to drink. Coffee just after this was done.

Snack: two donuts, water, samosas.

Dinner: roast beef, salad, veggies: beer. It was the Centaurs' rugby night.

The speeches were done by 9:15 and I was home by 9:30. Seriously, some of the people I play rugby with are retarded; I left before anyone got naked and my impression of them got worse.

I got home and was, not surprisingly, kinda bored. I got into the garage and did KB snatches and heavy bag punches. Kettlebells and drinking mix a lot better than running and drinking: but still you shoudn't do that. Anyway, I'll state the facts: yup, got a heavy bag. It's awesome. Now I have something to legally punch and noose up :) - I'll make sure some pics get put up.

I'm not going to relate the winners - it's basically a "who does the coach love the most" contest at my club. There were a lot of teacher's pet's rewarded. Just like in high school. And University. I was surprised with awarding the Junior award. I knew who won, but had no idea I'd be doing the speech. In the end, I left because, well... they're idiots I'd rather not lose my job for being nearly naked.

Thursday Nov 18

I woke up late, at 6:30 ... yup, that was late ... at least my kids were able to get themselves together and work with me today, and we got them to school on time.

As I got them in, I made sure to get a smoothie in and got a half a coffee as well.

I did this workout:

Day 3: FULL BODY WORK CAPACITY
1) SB Bear (clean + squat + press) x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 (50 lb SB)
2A) Chin ups 4 x mixed grip x submax reps (4 or 5 reps)
2B) med ball x over plyo push ups 4 x 10
3A) battling ropes 3 x 1 minutes
3B) sprints 3 x 150'
4) grip + abs
Did this routine for grip and abs three rounds:
Green ball roll outs x 10
side ab sit ups on green ball, both sides x 8
plyo jumps onto tires x 8

Sprints were kind of cold with two sweaty t-shirts on only. I was also shocked with how cold it was before I turned the heater on. Man, I hate cold. I got to work, needed a bit of a distraction, and so watched this film. It's also for work, as I might be showing this to people later on; I had to preview it. Twenty four minutes of why physical culture is good for you. Get on it.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: Smoothie: Grapefruit juice, OJ, frozen berries, flax. Blended. Simply good.

After workout: coffee on the way in to work.

Lunch: Salad, tuna ... hell, just look at yesterday's lunch. It'll be almost the same. Better salad, though today. Fresher and more gooder. ;)

Dinner was two pieces of pizza and a beer. This was my fault - I need to get something into the slow cooker next Wednesday so that I can avoid this meal (second or third week in a row on Thursdays for this to happen, which it shouldn't)

I fell asleep after dinner, which came as no surprise to me. I got up, went down to the rugby club and had two pints, then got home. I took a couple of meetings there, and got some "bidness" done. I kinda doubt I'll be going there many more times.

Saw this and know that Saturday, I'mma do this for myself. Tomorrow is a "stay at home/close to home and make sure that my wife is ok" day.

Wed Nov 17

Last night, I went to be early .. which means I was up and at them at about 5:45 am. I checked my email, unsubscribed to a few "Healthy Living" e-newsletters that were really just looking to take my money, and I also read a few really good articles about lifting.

I did not consume a smoothie as I drove my kids in to school today - which left me rather uninspired to do my workout. My stomach actually growled through a round of planks this morning.

I did this workout:

Day 2: UPPER BODY
1A) 40 lb SB Push Ups (mix hand positions each set) 4 x 10 reps (last set drop sets)
1B) tire flips (12 flips per round x 4)
2A) Double KB Military Press Variation 4 x 5-8 reps (30 lb KBs)
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps (50 lb DB)
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop (two 50 lb DB used)
4A) TRX face pulls 3 x 15
4B) abs: 3 x roll outs on green ball, 10 "mountain climbers" then 10 sec front planks.

My grip was spent after this workout. I was cranky and hungry.

I ate this:
Breakfast (After workout) roast beef with poached eggs. OJ and coffee to drink.

Snack: water to drink

Lunch: the usual tuna (tomato and basil) on lettuce greens. Almonds, prunes. Carrots and spinach dip today. (Not sure about the spinach dip, but it's gone, so w/e)

Dinner:turkey and veggies. Raw carrots and hummus. OJ to drink. Smoothie for dessert.


On my drive in, thought about why I didn't workout like this in HS and University. In the time I have been doing this, I have made some real progress on my shoulders and my overall fitness. Why didn't I do this when I was 20? I projected for a bit, blamed my coaches, my buddies.... but I know why I didn't do this training: I didn't know about it. The first time I was training like this was the Iranians at the Cabbagetown WC back in 1995. I saw them dancing on the mat before most wrestling sessions, and thought it was stupid. Then they handed my ass to me, repeatedly. All it was was bodyweight training. I found out this month, they were doing a "House of Strength" training, the Zoorkaneh type of stuff that has been working for eons in the Middle East.

I just didn't know.

I did a lot of running, but very little weight training. I think, as I look back, I used to do a lot of push ups at Mac and a lot more while at UNB after every training session, but that was it. I recall doing a lot more training as a part of sessions at UNB, but only running outside of that. Never training with weights.

Why not as much at Mac? Because I was a lot more interested in my social life than anything else. I was more interested in my friends (who also happened to be wrestlers, thank goodness) than just about anything else. Training was something we did at Wrestling practice, not really anywhere else. Such a lot of time, wasted. A shame, really.

Shrug my shoulders. Move on, man. Let's not turn this post into a pity party.

I feel awesome, today. I feel as if I am in good health, strong and able-bodied. Very few injuries plague me at the moment, and things are just going my way. My wife, my kids are healthy and happy, doing what they can to stay healthy and safe. Life is good. Taxes and bills are being paid on time, too. What else do you want?

What got me thinking about this was an interview between Craig Ballentyne and a nutritional doctor, of all things. A lot of talk about motivation and how trainers just shouldn't harass people into doing work they know they need to do. I'm like that. I knew I had to work out - at least I did rugby - through my 30's. I kinda am pissed that I let myself go as heavy as I did. I was struggling with a lot, though. The two hours I spent in the car every day on the commute was a big thing. But I'm pretty sure I'm doing with being unfit. Looking forward, I put together a to do list for the next month or so; lots of reading, lots of listening to interviews on my iPod, lots of "me centred" learning. What will the final outcome be? Dunno.

Oh, and a former flame has launched her blog to lose 100 pounds by the time she reaches 40. This will be her second time losing a significant amount of weight like that. Like me, she stopped workouts and went back to old habits after losing it all. Meh, I'm pretty sure that I'll keep this going for as long as I last; like 40 years, right?

During my time to research, watched this video on doing a roll out on an ball:



A few things learned here and there - which makes this an even better day.

I watched this one, too, but kinda not liking the "crunch" aspect of this one, althogh I can see the benefit of 'working da core, yo!"

Tuesday Nov 16

I needed to be punished today - I was an idiot last night. How can I hit another personal best in the mile, hit a personal best in the 5k run ... and then suck back a six pack of beer? I dunno - seems rather "split personality" time to my rational self.

To quote the book I'm reading .. I gotta get my elephant and my driver on the same page.

So ... it should have been a relaxing stretching day ... and I turned it into a punishment day. Had to happen.

In any case, this is what I did to make it up to myself:

Five rounds of:
10 SH snatches (both sides) 53 lb KB
SB OH walks 80 feet (50 lb SB)
15 push ups
20 BW squats
10 green ball roll outs



By the end of the fifth round, I was sweating like an idiot. But I deserved it.

I had this to eat:

Breakfast: Smoothie. No flax this morning; just frozen fruit and grapefruit juice with some green goo.

After workout meal: poached eggs and some roast beef. Seriously.

Lunch:The usual salad and tuna with green peppers and hummus. Oh, and a rather spicy veggie samosa.

Dinner: small bowl of veggies and pasta.

After I scarfed down dinner, I had to meet up with my parents and help them buy a Macbook Pro at the nearest Apple Store. That was kinda cool - but what wasn't cool was having to set it up at home, with promises to teach them how to use their iTunes. I am SOOOOO going to look into some sort of remote login, so that I can fix problems on their computer from my house. It should be good.

But no second workout for the day, although there should have been. Meh, whatever, it was really crappy out. Tomorrow evening will be clear and better for a run.

I'm also having to show up to put some flicks and tunes on their Macbook on Friday, too. Might have to make it to a small gym I know of, to drop off a piece of timber.

Monday Nov 15

I got up late this morning at 6:30am and have been kinda off since then. Got my kids to school and got home to do this workout:

1) SB Bear (clean + squat + press) x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
2A) chin ups 4 x submax reps 2B) plyo push ups 4 x 10
3) battling ropes 3 x 1 minutes
4) 6 tire flips and 10, 53 lb kb two handed swings x 3
5) three rounds of: grip roller x 2, 5 Indian club OH wrist rolls and wall pushes

At the end of this, I was pretty spent - and I had to get on my horse to get to work on time. I made the time for a decent breakfast, though.

I also did a 5k run in a record, at least a personal record for me. 24 minutes and 38 seconds. Seriously, I think I could beat that, but I'd need a few days to try. That, and snow free roads. We'll try later on this week.

I put a bet down that my newest child would not arrive until Dec 15th today. I'm hoping that's the date - things just work out best for everyone involved if my new boy waits that long. My wife was hoping for sometime next week, but .... no one is in charge here but the baby. I'm so stoked.

On that note, I watched all of the Krav Maga videos on Moni's site today ... I realize that what I do is sorely lacking in what I see on the street, what I see in my school. I'd really like to make sure that no one gets hurt because they cannot defend themselves. I would be cool if I could learn how to teach people how to defend themselves. Oh wait .... I get money this year for ProDev ... hmmm eatch this space for more info.

This is today's diet:

Breakfast: smoothie (fruit, green goo, Grapefruit juice, almond butter) poached egg wrap with tomatoes.

Snack: coffee

Lunch: salad with spicy tuna, veggies and hummus, water to drink. Some almonds.

Dinner: roast beef with some horseradish, salad with light dressing, smoothie (as above, except for the Almond butter) to drink.

After run recovery ... I'm afraid to say it ... beer.

I dunno. I need to get to bed.

Sunday Nov 14

Again, I love my weekends off - they give me a chance to reconnect with my family, instead of traveling all over Ontario for rugby, I'm at home, relaxing and taking some time to get things ready for baby, for my job and for myself.

This morning, I didn't eat until after church, which was about 11am.

Breakfast coffee. Coffee and water.

Lunch two steak wraps, around 2pm

Dinner: grape fruit juice.

Snack: veggies and hummus. Beer - which I should not have had, but gave into weakness.

I did four rounds of this session:

1A) 1 Arm DB Snatch 4 x 6 (first round 40lb, two rounds with 53, last with 72 lb KB)
1B) 6-8 chin ups
2A) KB Goblet Squat 4 x 6 2B) Lunge Jumps 4 x 6/6
3A) BB Cheat Curls 3 x 5 - 8 3B) feet up push ups, 3 x 15
4A) 12 tire flips x 4 4B) OH sand bag walk x 4 (50 feet)

After that, I did three rounds of:
duck under the rope x 50 feet (I'll get a shot of this next time. Pretty slick, man)
wall wrestle with the green ball x 2 minute goes.

I was pretty sweaty by the end of this, but then got the call that we were going swimming, like, now. No chance for an after workout shake, let alone meal. I ate when we got back from the pool.

Sat Nov 13

I was needed at home. I was taking care of, well, just family stuff. I did get a chance to work in a stretching session while taking care of my kids.

The liked jumping on the tire, then filling it up with the various things I own. I had to make sure the leaky Indian clubs didn't get in there, though. I was using one of them for rolling on my itb band and other leg parts. Man, rolling the indian clubs felt good on my calves. And my hamstrings. And my quads.

About forty minutes, before dinner. Overall, not a great stretch, as I had to keep interrupting it to stop my children from hurting themselves ... seriously ... but a needed recovery day nevertheless.

Before this, I took my kids out of hte house so that my wife could rest - went to Kors MA place... I'll be checking it out on Tuesday.

Tomorrow I will be working hard. Then I have to sweep the garage out. Lots of dust, dirt and just stuff on the floor in there.

This is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Breakfast Belt.

Lunch: Steak wraps - tomato, hot pepper, steak on a wrap.

Water to drink

Dinner was a sirloin burger with a salad. Beer to drink.

I watched some of the UFC 122 - something my wife will never understand. She is grateful I'm showing no interest in doing that for a living. Humph, there goes Plan B...

I'm kidding, of course. Sort of. ;)

Friday, Nov 12,

Today’s blog was started overlooking the Starbucks in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I just finished with a couple of presentations for people with exceptionalities. The highlight was a young lady who represents Canada at the Special Olympics in Rhythmic Gymnastics. I was within a foot of her performance area after she gave a ten minute speech. It was just really cool. She sat right beside me after her performance.

The some ministry wonk got on the mic and bored the tears out of me with the keynote speech. (yawn) As he finished, I turned to the young lady and said “I liked your presentation WAAAAAAY better.” Both she and her mom had a good chuckle.

I forgot what presentations I signed myself up for, so I went to the ones with the titles I thought were the coolest. “The elephant on the trampoline” was the one that has just finished. I’m thinking I need to tell more jokes to my kids, which was the way that the presenter said that most students learn better.

In the afternoon session, it was “Accessibility in the e-World” ... helping people with better websites for people with disabilities. Should help with blogging for the various classes I teach.

Oh, I did this before I left for this conference this morning:

As many rounds as possible in 25 minutes, got through 9 rounds of:
6 Tire flips
2) Bodyweight Pulling x 10 (TRX lat pulls)
3) Bodyweight Pushing x 10 (push ups on the tire)
4) KB Swing x 10 (Used the 40lb KB ... next time, it’s the 53)
5) OH SB walking x 50' (used 40 lb SB)
Sledge Hammer on the tire x 10 (Which didn’t go over very well at my house at 7am in the morning. Alas, they love me, and didn’t scream at me ... too loudly...;) nah, there was no screaming, I just got a few raised eyebrows when I was done.)

Ate this:

Breakfast : grapefruit juice, OJ, too. Had to get moving after the workout.
Snack: coffee, coffee and some water.
Lunch:Tuna wraps with grilled peppers and leafy greens. Water to drink. Coffee on top, too.
Lots of water to drink
Dinner was a lightly seasoned chicken, over rice, asparagus and red peppers. One beer to drink.

Tomorrow is SOOOO going to be a recovery day. Stretching, working on muscles and the like. My butt is aching right now. Seriously, needs a really good working on.

Thursday Nov 11

Lest we forget.

Today was 'normal" in that I didn't have too many surprises, man. Lots of things expected and I saw them coming, for the most part.

I did this, after dropping my kids off at school:

Four rounds of
1A) 1 Arm DB Snatch x 6
1B) 6-8 chin ups
2A) KB Goblet Squat x 6
2B) Lunge Jumps x 6/6
3A) Band Curls 3 x 5 - 8
3B) DB Press 3 x 12-15
4) ab circuit 4 x in a row

By the end, my left shoulder was hurting. One of those "You know, if I keep doing this, it's going to be a long time off training" kind of feelings. I finished the abs, though. Felt a lot better after finishing.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: smoothie

After training was coffee

On hte way in was coffee

Lunch was salad with tuna, carrots and green pepper with hummus.

Snack was almonds and steak. Yeah, that was pretty good.

Dinner was two small slices of pizza.

Went to the rugby clubhouse, which is normally an excuse to have six or seven beers, but this time, picked up my ticket, had a beer and then left. I was kinda proud of myself. I got home and even my wife took notice that I was "there and back very quickly".

I feel pretty good these days. Tomorrow will be complicated, as I have to get to Niagara Falls for business for 9am - which means leaving when I should normally work out. I think tomorrow I will do something quick and then go. Being late to a conference is not a big deal, I think.

I hope.

Finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie for the ... fiftieth time ... today. I'm now going to go and wiggle my toes, just to make sure I did that today.

Wed Nov 10

This was a weird day. Went to bed at 8:30pm last night and so ... was up at 4:30am today. Yup, my body was ready to go. SO I got up and did laundry and checked my email. Made my kids' lunches. Read some blogs. Quiet, life affirming stuff. After getting the munchkins to school, did this:

Warm up with skipping:

Four rounds of
1A) Push Ups (mix hand positions each set) 4 x 15 reps
2A) Double KB Military Press Variation 4 x 5-8 reps
2B) 1 Arm DB row 4 x 8-12 reps
3) KB Farmer Walk x 200 meters non stop
4) 12 Tire flips

Might do a run in a while... dunno, it's kinda chilly out there tonight. Might just have to suck it up and get it done. Oh ..it got done:





Ate this:

Breakfast: Frozen fruit, OJ and green goo with flax.

After workout meal: 2 poached eggs with two small fillets of salmon. Oh my, that was good. Grapefruit juice to drink.

Coffee on the way in

Lunch was tuna on salad. Carrots with spicy hummus. Water to drink. Coffee when I got into class.

Dinner was ... chicken with chicken and chicken. With hummus and carrots. I had nothing much left in the fridge I wanted to eat. Water to drink.

Here's a pic of both the new hex dumbells and the "battling ropes".



Although, I did see this on ebay ... looks tempting, but I have a Christmas wish list that is ever growing. Meh, maybe if Santa doesn't bring me anything, I might have to order it.

Tues Nov 9

When I woke up this morning, my shoulders and hamstrings were in a bit of pain. I knew that today was going to be an easy day for training. Why go hard today and risk injury?

So, I did about 40 minutes of stretching, rolling work and a bit of Indian clubs with some light kettlebell work. Rather interestingly, I think the noodle I was using has a good deal of affection for me. At least that was the impression I got while stretching.

Anyway here's the write up:

skipping for warm up

three or four poses of yoga - hitting shoulders, hamstrings, calves ankles etc
Indian club slow swings
TRX rows
KB bench press (30 lb KB)
noodle work on legs, spine and legs

at the end of this session, I felt a good deal better. As I type this up, my right shoulder, the one that was hurting this morning, seems to be back to bugging me tonight. I'm pretty sure I'd like to take the night right off, but need to go for a run, at least. I'm pretty tired, too.

I love Craigslist - got a two, fifty pound hex weights for 80 bucks. I'm pretty sure that is damn cheap. I'll see if I can get them out tomorrow; pics is I can.

This is what I ate:

Breakfast Smootie

Lunch end of the roast beef with tomatoes, onion, lettuce, chimichurri sauce and ketchup. I had two to carry me through the day. Water to drink.

Snack was almonds and water

dinner was pasta, almonds with veggies and hummus.

As I was saying, I'm feeling a little sleepy - but I need to get a light run in.

(please note the Canadian flag ... and the kettlebell being warmed up, too. ;)

Monday Nov 8

"FULL BODY WORK CAPACITY"
1) SB Bear (clean + squat + press) x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
2A) 20 lb pull ups 4 x mixed grip x submax reps 2B) SB pushups 4x 10
3) battling ropes 3 x 1 minutes
4A) 10 TRX Rows 4B) 6-8 Plyometric jumps
5) grip + abs
three rounds of planks, ab work on the ball, new wrist curls

I also did a run today - 6.6 kms in 35 minutes. That's getting to the "not bad" stage. I'm thinking another 5k run sometime in December or January just to see any improvement.

The garage workout was a pretty good workout, especially the wrist/grip stuff at the end. The "Bears" at the start I thought would be a cake walk ... um...no. ...that was hard. I'm going to have to try and include a focus on more gymnastics movements this month, too. At least that is what ZEE is asking people that follow his workouts to do. I'll need a few more of the connecting mats (which are cheap) to cover a bit more of the floor. It was unreasonably cold on the concrete this morning; it would have to be covered to help with gymnastic tumbling.





What I stuffed into my gaping maw:

Breakfast smoothie (see pics of yesterday)

snack: roast beef and veggies; grape fruit juice to drink

Lunch: water; I just didn't feel hungry. Had a Samosa later on. Some people in my job get apples, I get a samosa. It's a good trade off.

Dinner was roast beef with veggies and rice. And some roast chicken, too. OJ to drink. Not a bad meal for less than ten minutes prep time.


I read ZEE's email/blog post today about being able to defend your family. Kinda struck home, and then did some clicking on the Krav Maga links he had - a real focus on escape and evade type of attacks. I'll watch some of their vids later on. And took a look at Kor Martial Arts - they're near my house and they are offering more classes in the evening, including a Judo class on Tuesdays. Going to call and drop by tonight, see what's what. I also downloaded the schedule for Joslin's in Hamilton. Rugby is finally done, so now I can get on with more specific training for what I need. It just has to be close and cheap. One maybe two sessions on the mat a week would be what I'm thinking I can reasonably get into my schedule. Beyond that would be a bonus, but risking time away from my family. Oh, and the money thing, too. That's kinda important.

Sunday Nov 7

I love my weekends - especially when I get an extra hour to do something that helps me get better. I got a chance to sleep in - until 7am. Yup, sorry to say, that is sleeping in. I got my kids breakfast and myself a coffee and then went into my office to do some stuff and planning of my day.

About 9:30am, I got to do a recovery type workout:

warm up - light movement type stuff.

four rounds of
a KB exercise; depended on the round. started with the 30, finished with the 70lb KB
10 Indian club halos - stretching out the shoulders
2 body weight ground exercises - usually push ups and shoulder/back stretches
1 ball ab exercise - spelling the alphabet with my elbows on the ball was a good one
10 lb hex dumb bell ball press
10 sledgehammers into the tire

three rounds of
10 tricep dips
15 body weight squats

At the end, started to get a bit more intense (which is not what I wanted) so I stopped. Before I did groceries, did a forty minute walk. Had the new tunes I downloaded from youtube cranked, including the theme sone to TUF.

I ate this today:

breakfast BELT from Tim Hortons. Meh, it was good - quality is off though. Getting kind of sick of them.

Snack: Smoothie - see pics.

Dinner; small Halloween bag of chips 9yeah, I know, I caved in a moment of weakness) Steak and veggie wraps. 2 pints of beer to drink.

Late snack: glass of grapefruit juice.

Got more than a few items off of my to do list today; replaced the laces on my running shoes; built a wrist roller out of a piece of 2x2, some rope and some new 2.5 lb weights. I'll get pics up of it some time this week. I also got a few new nutrition and Methods books. I'll get some ideas and pics of them up some time this week, too.

I liked the walk, kinda nice time to be me and listen to some decent tunes without being interrupted. At least I know that the bag of chips I ate got worked off. Or at least some of it did...

I also spent a few minutes at the grocery store reading the nutrition labels of the lunch meat I usually serve to my daughter. There's a lot of things in there that used to not be there. And something else I read kinda sounded gross too - "Mechanically separated chicken" (Or pork, or beef) I'm thinking I'd like to do some more reading on that idea. Like, what does THAT mean, really?

Oh, and someone asked about my chin up bar, so here it is:

Sat Nov 6

Oh, this was a sweet day. I got up early, got my family set up for the day (took my wife's car to fill it with gas, got them all breakfast and then went to play rugby.

I showed up and played with a bunch of Brampton RFC alumni, as they took on another club. It was cool to play with a few old buddies of mine. We lost, but who cares... we had fun. I played the entire game and things went well. I showered after the game and got myself ready for the "big game". I was a sub, but I got in for about a half - which is more than I thought would happen.

Easily 90 minutes of rugby for a training session today. Seriously, I just ran and hit things for the entire day

In any case, this is what I ate:

Breakfast: BELT and coffee from Timmy Ho's on the wa to rugby

Lunch: two organic apples

Dinner: chicken pasta, with veggies.

Snack: beer

Yeah, that last item, wasn't so good - but I felt entitled. Still do.

I was a real winner this year - I got home before 4:20pm, which was a real triumph for me for a Cup Day. In years previous, I have nearly been divorced for my idiocy on Cup Day. Today, I got home in time to take my family to church. How about that, man?

In any case, I stood and had a few beers in my garage/gym tonight making fun of a wing on my team who was tracked down by a large prop. I'm hoping he keeps making an idiot out of himself and responding .. being an internet troll like that is awesome.

Friday Nov 5

Today started off as one of "those days", but I got it turned around eventually.

I woke up sluggish and really didn't want to go to work. I ate too much before going to bed last night, and my body spent the time digesting and not recovering. I don't know if that is actually true, but man, I felt really slow this morning.

When at work, I got the November workouts printed off. It looks like I'm going to be doing some more DIY type stuff. I'll need a trip to the Reuse Centre in the near future. Last time I was there, I saw a heavy bag for 60 bucks. I hemmed and hawed, but didn't pick it up; I regretted doing that since. Hopefully it'll still be there for me Sunday.

I did this workout:

40 minutes of stretching and foam rolling on my legs and back.

This was my first experience with this; I needed it, my legs in particular, after Thursdays' rugby training session. Lots of sprints, stops and re-directions in that workout left my legs rather exhausted.

I ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie; back to using flax with OJ, GJ and some of the green goo with frozen berries.

Lunch: at work, at about 10:30am. Tuna sandwich, small salad, carrots and green peppers with hummus.

Dinner: scrambled egg with veggie wrap. Lots of green peppers in this one. Pretty good.

Water to drink throughout the day.

I got my kids to bed, and fell asleep from about 7pm until about 9. I've given myself an hour to get this post and other things I need done for tomorrow done, then I'm back in bed. I need at least 7 hours of sleep to get myself right for tomorrow.

I am reading the comments on this blog, just not very faithfully. I do respond to them when I see them.Oh, and I watched this:



and at the other end of things, here is this video: she is Irish, I think, and really works her core in this video. Honestly, this is one of my greatest weaknesses, and so ... something I should be working on:

Thursday Nov 4

I've signed up to play in two rugby games this Saturday. Should be interesting with selections tonight. I'm a betting man - I'll get picked to start, then pulled after half in the Burlington game.

Today was taking care of my wife day. Three medical appointments, groceries, kids to gymnastics and making sure the house got cleaned. The only one I missed was the last one.

I got this workout done:

Warm up skipping and light Kettlbells.

Four rounds of:

15 Push ups one leg up
6-8 chin ups

Farmers walks 120 feet
50 tire flips

15 Elevated push ups
10 sandbag squats
30 feet OH sandbag walk
10 hamstring extensions

this was a pretty good workout - afterward I had to lie down and stretch for a while.

Diet was this:

Breakfast: coffee

Lunch was simply incredible: half a sirloin steak, a 4inx2in piece of salmon, both fresh off of the BBQ. I cannot explain how this tasted with words. A salad was there, too. Simply incredible. Smoothie for dessert. Frozen berries, green goo, canned peaches.

Dinner was a peameal bacon sandwich. I don't think I needed much more than this after that lunch.

After the workout, I had .. I will confess it .. four pints of beer.
Dang, they were tasty.

When I got home, I had three steak wraps; steak tomato with chimichurri and salad on top. The forth wrap was all veggies. They were delicious.

I have no beer at my house, which is probably why I can post this tonight, instead of tomorrow. It was caveman food, but just too much. On a far more positive note, I did have a two of my fellow rugby players ask where I had hidden my ass.

Ya know, it was nice of them to ask ... even if they are just not what I need in my life at the moment.

Wed Nov 3

ok, today was off to a slow start - really feeling Tuesday night's run right now. Dragging my ass around is a drag.

Got the kids to school, got this workout done:

Warm up with skipping and indian club stretching.

three rounds of this
20 KB Swings or 20 KB clean and press (40 lb kb)
15 push ups
20 BW Squats
10 Indian club rotations (Both directions)
ab work
hamstring extension stretch on the mats

lots of stretching after. Felt a lot better after this. Man, did I feel a lot better after this. I was cold in the garage, so I had the heater on the whole time; finished in about a half hour, not including the stretch at the end.

Breakfast was a smoothie. Just like yesterday, still delicious.

After workout meal: steak and tomato wrap with lettuce and hot horseradish.

Lunch was the usual, except a bit rushed for time. Water to drink

Dinner was a bit of a blow out: jalapino burger on sliced brown bread, 2 pieces of peameal bacon, carrots and a few tostitos with hummus, water to drink.

Sat in the living room with my wife with my iPod in my hand and fell asleep on the chair. It was weird; checking my email one minute, then then next, my wife is waking me up to pick up my other kid from the pool. Weird.

It's late and I am going to bed.

Tues Nov 2

ok, this morning was a bit of a mess, and I felt a little more of last night's run that I think I should have. In any case, I did a light workout and a lot of stretching. I brought a small heater into the garage today - the KB's were room temperature, which was just above freezing today. At least my hands were nice and toasty.

warmed up with skipping, jumping jacks ... light calisthenics.
I did four rounds of this:


10 push ups (various hand positions)
20 KB swings (two handed)
25 BW squats (last set with a 40 lb sandbag backpack)
Indian club swings (5 one handed each side, then 10 two handed, both directions)



that's it. Nice and light for the day. After wards, felt as if I was dragging half the planet behind me.


I ate this:

breakfast: smoothie; Grapefruit juice, green goo and frozen berries. I seriously like this - I need some pics to show you just how good this looks.

Snack: was a lesson in delicious: steak, green pepper, hot pepper and a bit of ketchup. Frankly, delicious.

Lunch was the usual. Salad, tuna, carrots, green pepper and hummus. Water to drink.

Dinner was a roast beef and tomato wrap. Lentil soup. Good, honest food.

I'm going to try to go for a run later. I did feel Monday's run this morning, I will admit. I'm also noticing that when I sit back down at the computer after dinner, I just fall asleep; tonight was about a 15 minute power nap. Kind of weird, but there it is. Today, got a chance to listen to ZEE being interviewed about training specifically for wrestling. Seems I need to find a place to roll.

And fast.

But the thing that ZEE doesn't know is that I am expecting a third child, literally any day now. Personally, I'm going to focus on that, training everyday and eating right.

Monday Nov 1

I've started to write the Nanowrimo novel for this year. A novel about a rugby player, as promised. I'm pretty sure I'm not as ready to write this novel as I was for Flint, the other novel I've written, but I'm pretty sure this will be good enough to win.

I got home from dropping off the kids and did a good workout this morning:

Warm up was Indian Clubs and skipping

four rounds of:

10 feet up push ups,
10 KB swings and snatches (30 then 40 pd KB)
overhead press and walk with the 40 lb sand bag
10 sandbag front squats
6-8 chin ups
10 TRX BW rows
some more Indian clubs (just trying to use them in different ways)

nice stretch and warm down.

Got a pretty good sweat going on during this workout, despite the cold room. I'm pretty sure I'll need to heat the garage at some point, if only to warm up the kettlebells. They hurt to grab after a while - perhaps that is the point. oughen me up a little. Whatever.

The stretching at the end was pretty cool. On the floor mats I took from the basement. Pretty awesome to lie on them and stretch in the garage/gym.

Had a pretty decent day at work.

Ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie; frozen berries, Grapefruit juice, green goo.

Snack: roast beef wraps with hot peppers (that was tasty)

Lunch: salad with tuna. Almonds and prunes. Water to drink.

Dinner: roast beef with veggies and a large salad. Water to drink. One of my kids' small Coffee Crisp chocolate bars for dessert. (It was not to my liking, and will be easy to resist next time)

I just got back from a 6k run. It was a pretty good run, I felt awesome during, but my right knee is bugging me now that I am typing this up. Need to ice and rest it. All in all, this was a pretty good day.