Mon Jan 31

This was a Monday - rather long and harrowing, but with a small light at the end of the tunnel. By the end of the week, I start working afternoons, which frees up a lot more time for training in the morning. That works to my advantage on so many levels, the least of which is that my wife and smallest child are asleep at 7:30 am, so am freed up for my own stuff.

I can hardly wait.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: smoothie and coffee

Snack: almonds and black coffee

Lunch: left over small caesar salad (which was kinda gross, so I tossed it after about half) then had my usual of prunes and almonds after veggies, hummus, tuna on salad greens. Water to drink.

Snack: water

Dinner: chicken breast, rice and veggies. Water and OJ to drink.

Snack after my run: multivitamin and two Advil. Let's hope they relax the muscles tonight.

After I got home from work, the intention was to do a lifting workout in the garage. Something quick. Instead I got a ten pound baby placed in my hands and then my wife left to get out of the house. We had a nap together instead. I love the little guy - he turned two months old last week- but he's a handful when he wants to be. After his 7pm feeding, he was cranky. I mean "Cranky" ... wouldn't go to sleep. I tried, my wife tried ... finally, finally ... he fell asleep with the tv on to some random WWII thing on the History Channel.

I went for a run starting at 9:45(ish)... I'm still running a race this weekend. Planned out my pre-race, thought about an iPad, and am going to hold off on using my Airmiles to get a new iPod Nano. I figure the one I have now is doing an awesome job, so why replace it? The iPad would be for work, and so that my kids could use it, too. Besides, it would be basically subsidized by my employer .. so, why not?

Anyway, tomorrow... is another day. Let's hope we get little snow.

Sat Jan 29 and Sun Jan 30

This weekend was non-stop go, go go....

Saturday, went for a run before the cold got really bad. Then settled in to a freaking long day. A birthday party, church, dinner out with my family then to a buddy's place to soak in his hot tub for a few hours.

Sunday was a little better, but I was out of the house for a good chunk of the day.

Saturday ate this:

Breakfast Coffee and OJ

Lunch (eaten about 11) two poached eggs with a bowl of turkey chili. Water to drink.

Dinner: burger with salad at Boston Pizza, two beers to drink

At my buddy's house, had two beers and a rather interesting grapefruit vodka cooler. I felt really good after the several hour hot tub experience. I might have even gotten him to sign up with me for the Spartan Race.

Sunday, I woke up early, felt awesome. Got stuff going at my house: laundry, dishes .. cleaning up after my kids.

Breakfast was the last bowl of the chili, coffee and OJ to drink.

Dinner was two burgers with a lot of veggies on top (no buns), salad on the side. Water to drink.

Lunch was a coffee and a bottle of water while on the way to the KB Sport clinic at Strength Box. What a cool little place to work out. A lot of natural sunlight, clean well organized areas which were well equipped. I got a few ideas for my own space at home - most especially a decent rowing machine and "better" kettlebells. I'd like to have some better rope, too.

I did more than a few two minute and minute sets of KB swings, presses and snatches. I can do them with a decent technique, but evidently only a few of them would be counted in a competition. But my body and back were worked over. I also tried some KB juggling, something which I haven't been able to do since October and did ok. I only dropped the KB once. Right in front of the entire clinic.

I'd never used Pro Grade Kettlebells for a complete workout before. They are the same size, just different weights. I used a 16 kg bell for the day, a bright yellow one that woke me up, it was so bright. In any case, it just felt better in my hand than any of the ones I have at home. I do have one pro grade KB by the way ... a 32 kg. Which I can honestly say I don't use as much as I should. I think I know what I'm going to use my year end pay cheque towards. But until then, I'll "suffer"... ;)

Fri Jan 28

There are several ways to measure today, and in most of those methods today was not a great day. I didn't get a workout in ... I did try to work out, but my body just went "no". I'm friggin sore.

My diet was also not that awesome today - it's the end of the month and at my work we do a potluck. I have to say that it was better than average and I felt a lot better than I have after other lunches like that. I had a pretty big lunch, met up with my wife and generally felt emotionally satisfied with my day.

My body is still not recovering very well, nor fighting a cough/cold very well either. I guess not getting an awful lot of sleep will do that to any body.

Here's my diet for the day:

Breakfast: a smoothie and a coffee on the way in

Snack: black coffee

Lunch: meatballs, big salad, lemon square, wrap sections of questionable nutritional value, one samosa, water to drink. Slice of pizza from my boss. The last one was because I wanted to say something nice and be thankful. It was good pizza, man.

Dinner: again, I wanted to cook something, but my body just collapsed when I got in the door. My wife picked up my two oldest from school and then ordered pizza for us when she got home. The whole time, I had a nap with my son. We were exhausted. I got up and the pizza was there, so I ate.

As I mentioned earlier, I got myself set up for a workout, had 30 minutes of time set aside after everyone was in bed, got into my garage/gym and started. But a few movements in, I knew my body was asking me to not do the workout. My ass was just a ball of knots and was not going to cooperate. I'm going to stretch and then have a bath later on. Epsom salts might be called in to help, too.

I guess all those days in a row working out without much in terms of a warm down or a rest between the days wasn't such a good idea. I know that for the next little while, while my body heals, I need to focus on my diet.

On a related topic, I found the website for the tv show X-Weighted. It was a blog and some video posts and you can even watch xome clips. I've watched one or two, they seem pleasant enough. I also found the host, Paul Plakas' website, too. The nice thing is that he's Canadian, something I've not seen a lot of on Facebook or on the interwebs.

Thurs Jan 27

Man, I'm not sure what day it is anymore. I'm at work, taking a few minutes to get this blog post started, ran into this post of mine from another blog I keep for work.

"Great moments in Kettlebell Theatre" Awesome.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: smoothie, and coffee

snack: black coffee. Sorry to day it's the only thing that is dragging my butt through work these days.

Lunch: tuna on salad. Veggies and water to drink.

Dinner: lean ground turkey chili - corn, tomatoes, kidney beans, other beans, onion, mushrooms ... was pretty good inside a wrap with lots of fresh veggies and hot peppers added in. Water to drink.

Post run: water, water and a multivitamin.

My boy just wouldn't go down for me tonight. After the run, my wife came and held him and he just fell asleep. Made me feel like an idiot, but the same thing happened last week to my wife, so ... w/e. As long as he's asleep.

I turned the humidifier up on the furnace tonight, so I'm hoping that will help with night coughs and breathing. I think I'm breathing better at the moment. I'll just have to watch for mold around the house.

My run tonight was 7kms, a nice respectable distance at a pretty good pace. I'm still sore and stiff, but things are recovering.

wed jan 26

this was not a good day - woke up after getting six hours of sleep. Coffee has been dehydrating me, and not helping me keep awake. I've been eating as best as I can, but not good enough.



Anyway, that was the day for me ... it's tough, man. Tough. Anyone telling you that being a parent is fun all the time is trying to sell you something. On occasion, it's a blast, but sometimes, it's just hard work.

My body is starting to wither under the assault of the coffee, poor sleeping and sometimes questionable eating habits along with the constant working out. Add to that stress of work and family, and you got yourself "self feeding storm" - htat is a storm that keeps getting bigger without you doing much...

My body is hurting.

So, I'm stretching tonight, hopefully getting back at it tomorrow. I'm at home tonight with the three kids, none of whom is sleepy, all of whom have turned into these whiny needy ... people ... who won't listen to me. Ugh. Deep breath, deep breath... they're only kids... ommm

I ate this today:

Breakfast: smoothie, coffee at work.

Snack: black coffee

Lunch tuna on a salad with veggies and hummus. Water to drink.

Dinner: roast beef wrap with veggies and water to drink. Smoothie with flax seed for dessert.

Like I said, not a great diet day - but not bad. I think I am still making progress, as I am not drinking alcohol very much these days... I als ran into a childhood friend of mine on facebook. Seems he's lost 90 lbs in 2010 and kept a blog about it, sort of. Keep these blogs is a good idea, as at least you can see the progress and monitor your food intake. I'm not sure about the idea of taking pictures of all your meals, but ya know ... might make an interesting project in April/ May for me.

Right, now... to get three kids asleep.

Tues Jan 25

Today was a drag is so many ways. Firstly, I just did not sleep well. I got to bed before the 2am feeding .. I mean I was sleeping beside my son, waiting for him to wake up and want food. When I finally woke up, I had to get my wife to do the feeding, I was so bonked. I woke up at 5:30 to get the day going.

At least I did a Timmy Ho's run for my wife and just got coffee for me.

Got to work, after a second run to Timmy's, then settled in to my work routine. People can be so needy at times, I'll just put that out there. Brutal.

Anyway, got home in the door and wanted to get my lifting done, except my wife shook my hand at the door and left to get out of the house and pick up my kids from school. Sort of in that order, but were not sure. She brought home dinner, even after I had planned something already. Meh.

In the end, it was toughest when I tried to coordinate a run with all the sleeping and other schedules; quite frankly, I was looking for some support with a "yeah, go for a run" kind of affirmation. Instead I get a "Bleep. Go for your bleeping run. And be bleeping quick. I need to go to bleeping sleep."

Yeah, not a great deal of support, man. Needed to vent that. Put it out there, so to speak.

Got a run in, anyway, a 5.5k run. The weather, at least, has turned warm. The rest of the life here is turned rather chilly.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee, Belt and another coffee. Yeah, I felt compelled to caffinate myself.

lunch: tuna, veggies, water and hummus

snack: black coffee

Dinner: one slice of pizza (what my wife brought home), a roast beef and veggie wrap, water to drink

after run snack: almonds, water and amultivitamin and extra Vit C. to fight this head cold/sore throat I'm working on.

Couple of other comments / random comments I'll make and then leave it at that:

One of my FB friends/SC coaches posted an unreal message he got from a psycho friend who didn't like the fact that one of his posts was deleted. He cut my friend off, blocked him, but not before leaving a foul mouthed post. Me, being me, googled him and read some of the weird guy's postings on other people's walls. Turns out he's a pretender to the US Olympic speed skating team, placing in the mid 20th spot at the Trials. Ya know... this is why I like rugby and wrestling a whole lot better - the people are just that much more willing to be told to go bleep themselves.

Looks like extra work starts mid February and lasts until mid June. I've got no idea what that will mean to my rugby season, or to some of the other training/events I wanted to do. I guess I will have to work around that. Good thing I already have a decent workout spot in my house.

It is pretty cool that I got to wear some skinny clothes to work today. I wore a pair of pants I've not been able to fit into for three years - since the last time I cut to 96 kilos and fought at Nationals.

Watching the tv show X-Weighted is pretty darn cool. I'm impressed with how far I've come by merely reducing the amount of alcohol I drink. But I won't stop working out - I'm finally feeling good about some of the stuff I'm seeing in the mirror. And my wife, despite what she said today, has also noticed.

Mon Jan 24

Today was just silly. I had to leave work in order to care for my child, which is never a good thing for my boss. He wasn't a fan, but I had to go anyway.

I got home, got my kid set up for the day and we got on with it. When my wife got home, we switched, I got my van taken care of, my workout in and a meal readied for my family. I'm cool, my mom says so.

I did this work out:

1) Double KB Press 5 x 3 - 5 reps (30 lbs)
2A) Flat DB Bench 4 x 6-8 (100 lbs)
2B) Dbl. KB Rows 4 x 6 - 8 (30 lbs)
3A) 8-10 Dips 3 x submax reps
3B) DB Shrugs 3 x 10-20 (50 lbs)
4) Bis + Tris 2 x heavy
4b) chin ups 6-8 reps
5) abs roll outs
5b) planks (counts of ten)
5c) ab roll ups on chin up bar.

Ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie

Lunch: roast beef wrap, water to drink

Dinner: chicken with veggies. Water to drink, almonds for dessert.

Sun Jan 23

Today was pretty full and my van freaked me out - a blinking light and a message to turn off my AC was kinda bizarre, keeping in mind that the air temp here is -21 Celcius. Which, for my American friends translates into pretty freaking cold.

I got up as early as I could - I had the baby in my ear most of the night, grunting away. I don't know how someone could have that amount of gas in their body if they are only drinking milk. Seriously.

I took my family for a drive, stuck a DVD in to get my two older children out of my hair and got a chance to talk to my wife over a coffee.

We chatted about money, and it seems that there is a need for me to get extra hours (and therefore extra money) from February until June. I have to do this, at least according to our MasterCard statement which came Friday. So, I have come to the fork in the road, so to speak: I started this blog with the statement that "If we were desperate, I wouldn't be doing this. I'd get another job." Well, that moment hasn't quote been reached, but I see the bridge coming up ahead, and I'm headed straight for it... so, I'm talking to my boss about getting more hours this week. Sorry to say I can apply online.

I will come up with another event to train my guts out in which to participate - I know that rugby is coming this summer, and I have a lot on my plate already. I want to keep training, keep moving forward.

I ate this today:

Breakfast/brunch - pancakes with maple syrop. That was tasty.

Lunch - roast beef wrap, veggies, too.

Snack: coffee

Dinner - egg, roast beef and asparagus. Water to drink. Almonds for dessert.

Snack pre-groceries decaf tea.

After dinner, I waited about an hour, then did this five rounds of this workout, at a fairly high intensity until my two older children came into in the garage with the car in it "To see what Daddy was doing." I slowed down, as it was so squishy in there with three bodies, and showed them what was up.

10 160 lb deadlifts.
10 bench flies 30 lbs
20 BW squats
20 kb swings 40 lb bell
5 snatches each side
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while hanging onto the chin up bar.
10 bicep curls
10 tricep extensions

Took about 25-30 minutes, then came in for a bath with my son. Then did groceries ... there was a deal on tonight .. 2 for 1 on blueberries .... which I have seen before... then I got to the roast beef isle ... there was a 2 for 1 deal on roasts, too. That, my friends was a weird heaven.

Sat Jan 22

I got a run in this morning - but my iPod shut down about half way through. Drag. I did check it on the way out the door, but it let me down, no question.

I also ran an informal gymnastics session with my two older children later on in the day - lots of tumbling and doing some of the basics. Lots of fooling around, too. Did get to put together a second level of the mats, then put them away.

Ate this:

Breakfast: salad and roast beef wraps. Coffee and OJ to drink. Multivitamin

Lunch: roast beef wrap.

Snack: handful of almonds, water.

Dinner: went out after church, so this was a definite "cheat" meal. Burger and salad at Boston Pizza. Beer to drink.

I'm late with this posting - I got to bed pretty early... well, I got to sleep on the couch pretty early. Baby woke me up about midnight, then we all fell asleep at about 2am. Lots of fussing, no blogging.

Fri Jan 21

Oh, this was not a BAD day, at least not so far. I got the workout done last night - the one I needed to get done. I was going to do a second one, but was overruled by my son. I wanted him to be sleeping, but I couldn't.

I ate the following today:

Breakfast: smoothie, coffee x 2. I needed coffee.

Snack: coffee

Lunch: roast beef wraps, veggies and water to drink. Coffee when I got back to work.

Dinner: Shrimp, veggies, roast beef and a little chicken breast. Water to drink.

I got this done, after the kids ate dinner, as I was taking care of my child, I ate a lot later - after 9:30pm. Got this done, and I'm glad of it. Did 25 min AMRAP:

10 DL 160 lb
10 TRX body rows
10 inclined push ups
15 KB swings, 40 lb KB
25 lunges, 20 lbs overhead
10 bicep curls
10 tricep extensions

I had a full set of mats down - it only takes 24 mats to cover the entire garage, so I may put down two levels just to make sure the mats are being used. They are about a half inch in thickness, so they make working out on them warmer than the concrete, that's for sure...

Overdosed on the coffee today? Oh, yeah. I did. I know I did. Will I have trouble falling asleep tonight? No, not really. I do not anticipate any difficulties falling asleep tonight. Not a one.

Thursday Jan 19

You know, I'm wondering what the heck I'm doing in a part of the world that is just so snowy and cold at the moment. One of my recent FB status messages ran something along the lines of "Christmas is over, next year, somewhere warm." I sooooo need some warmth right about now. And melting/melted snow.

I read a few articles today from the Hamilton Spec/Toronto Star. One of which snapped my head about Fitness in the Home. The other one was about a woman who is training for an across the lake swim.

Now, me personally, I run. I'm not a swimmer, that's my wife, man. I'm someone who loves, LOVES keeping my feet on the ground. Not like I'm afraid of heights or anything, but I like running, wrestling, being in a sauna, lifting weights .... things on which ground is needed. Swimming, floating, flying ... not afraid of them, just prefer something else. Interestingly, I want to try sailing this summer. Which, I guess, is an interesting combination of walking and swimming, IMHO.

Ate this today:

Breakfast - timmy ho's usual. BELT and extra large coffee.

Break - hummus and veggies, coffee, almonds.

Lunch: Tuna and veggies, hummus and almonds, water, prunes.

Dinner: Pizza, water to drink. Meh, nothing's perfect.

Before my workout, set up and put away the mats as best I could. Did four rounds of this:

8-10 DL 120 lbs
5 chin ups
10 incined push ups
10 BW lunges

I was happy to get the mats squared away and get sweaty. I wanted to go for a run, but my son shot that one down. He's a stressful little guy.




This is what the mats are looking like at the moment - can hardly wait until tomorrow when I can get them down for the first time. Man, I can hardly wait until this cup of suffering has passed. I'm just freaking brainless at the moment. And while at work was listening to this:

Wed Jan 19

Whoa. Last night I really did have "internet problems" at my house. Every time I hear that at work, I kind of shrug it off as "I'm lazy and I don't care about the work. I didn't do it." But seriously, I couldn't get on to post this last night.

I got to work early to post this, though.

I'm listening to my body today- not a lot of sleep, not very restful sleep, either. Lots of sore spots and stuff. Still, I think I'm grumpier at not working out for two days than anything else. Today, Thursday, as soon as I am in the door, I am going to do ... something. The plan will come by 3pm.

As for Wednesday, I ate this:

Breakfast: smoothie, coffee.

Snack: tuna and salad. Almonds, hummus, veggies. Coffee.

Lunch: Hummus, veggies, almonds, prunes. Water

Dinner: pizza at a meeting for professional development (which I forgot about until 3pm) I arrived early and got some foreplanning done for next month. Water to drink. A lot of water to drink.

Got home about 6pm, was handed a squaking child and told to mind him. It's tough to love a crying child, always will be. Try doing it with a sour stomach, poor sleep and feeling cranky to boot, after a long day at work. It was tough, but I did it.

Of course, my boy wouldn't let me do anything except hold him, so no workout. I'll hit it Thursday.

Tues Jan 18

Today was a pretty cool day.

I ate ok - nothing awesome, but it was good:

Breakfast ;belt from Timmys and a coffee. I needed to get my butt in gear, and get to work on time. More coffee at work.

Lunch: tuna with veggies and hummus, prunes, almonds and water to drink. Coffee, too. It was freshly brewed and nice and black.

Dinner Pasta and meatballs, salad, too. Water to drink.

I got to have a brief nap with my boy after dinner before I went out. I drive to a place and picked up 75 10x10 mats for my gym, at a decent price, too. The nice thing: I get to keep them forever. Nice thickness, durable and easily put away. Another of my "Wish List" things scratched off.

I'll admit, I was tempted to stop and have a few veers on the way home. But, I'm also quite proud to state that I drove home without making such a stop. I just knew that I would have to work them off later, so why bother? In years previous to this, I would have made the stop, now... I have a reasonable "excuse" to my older, fatter self to not make such a break. Finally, while I was on a break from the sessions today, caught a glimpse of the "before" pictures, from the start of September. I shared this with my wife tonight, after taking a glance at myself in the mirror. I didn't see any difference, but she did. I guess I've slimmed down, perhaps I just don't see it yet.

Finally, I guess at some point, I'll have to do a follow up on my Wish List in order to see how far I have come. I'm pretty sure this is the last thing I had to buy to have a kick ass gym. After this, I think, it's just instruction for me and my family.

I'm at home, it's after 9, and I'm wondering if I can get something done in the garage. I'll get something done.

Monday Jan 17

This is going to be brief and to the point:

I ate well today, but am reading that I shouldn't be eating tuna from a can ... "that the mercury levels are too high for children and women"... ok, except I'm not breastfeeding, nor plan to. Anyway, I like it, although the idea has a point; I should be expanding what I eat at work.

Breakfast was a smoothie: I'll say it again: yummy. Coffee from the Tassimo at work. Vitamin C and multi at home.

Snack was carrot and hummus with water to drink

Lunch was tuna on salad, prunes, carrots hummus and almonds. Water to drink.

Dinner was a "mixed pot night"; anything in the fridge is up for grabs. I had two types of meat, narrowly missing out on three. Chicken and roast beef had to be finished, so I had some of them. The salmon is tomorrow. Salad and veggies finished off my plate tonight. Water to drink. Vanilla pudding for dessert.

My boy is finally going down for the night at the moment; he's been fussing since I got home at 3pm, and it's now 10pm. Very frustrating to want to work out and have a gym ten feet away and still not be able to get to it. If he falls asleep soon, I'll do something quickly.

Got four rounds of this done:

20 BW squats
20 two handed KB swings
5 OH KB snatches
5 OH KB presses
10 lunges
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while holding onto the chin up bar.... (what are those called?)


I wished I could do more of a workout - there is the stuff there, it's the timing; need to get this done earlier with more space. As it is, I'm doing more than most, but less than I want to do. Tomorrow a storm is coming in, so no guilt about not running. I'll be in the garage, though, toughing something out.

Sun Jan 16

Today was a pretty good day for me - lots of chances to recover and read.

I was up early with the 7am feeding, then promptly went back to bed. Seriously, it was not very hard to fall asleep. Got up for church, then back to bed. Except that my eldest started barfing everywhere. Awesome.

The run started off slowly, was pretty cold and I thought I didn't wear enough until I got about minute 8. After that I was ok. I did 5k in 23 minutes. Was pretty pleased. I think next time I go for a run the day after a rest day, I warm up in the gym first. I might have set a new PR in the 5k had I done that.

Anyway, I read through the stats of this blog - seems I'm getting readers from all over the place, which is cool. I also read a rugby buddy's blog about his recovery from knee surgery. I like my blog better, as I can embed video and put fancy pictures up, too. ;)

Ate this today:

Breakfast: leftover chicken in a wrap; thinking I'm going to try eating this without the wrap next week. Meh, why not? Veggies in the wrap, too. Water to drink.

Lunch: I took my family for lunch to a local mall to try out a crepe place - fruit and chocolate on a thin pancake for those non-chefs in the crowd. I didn't order one for me, as I just wanted a coffee. I returned with it, was about to set off for a nice walk in the mall with my boy when my eldest daughter's stomach erupted onto her lunch and all over the counter. Yeah, I wasn't hungry after that, either. At least I didn't have to clean it up this time. "Win!"

Snack: some chicken soup about 3pm. Like less than half a bowl. I went for my run after this.

Dinner: extra lean ground beef and pasta; sort of like a really expensive Kraft Dinner. I needed the carbs; my body felt a lot better after.

Post dinner snack: two beers at the local Shoeless Joes to watch some football in peace. Damn those Patriots.

Sat Jan 15

Today was friggin awesome. My boy slept most of the night; like four hour intervals between feedings. That might not strike you as awesome, but it sure beats waking up every hour to feed and change him, right? I thought you'd agree.

Anyway, I got a chance to sleep in until 7am, do a coffee run for my family and then read the paper and go back to bed. My oldest child was barfing last night and so wasn't moving all that well today - so we had a nap after breakfast. We ate lunch, I got a haircut ... I had a nap with my son, I had a nap by myself. My wife brought home dinner, I had another nap ... oh, it was awesome.

I ate this:

Breakfast: roast beef wraps with veggies. Coffee to drink.

Lunch: Sweet potato fries, beer to drink, just after a haircut.

Dinner: chicken and veggies. Water to drink.

I did this workout, AMRAP for 25 minutes.

8-10 140 lb deadlift
20 40 lb KB exercise (varied by round ... DH clean and jerk, DH swings etc)
10 OH 40 lb KB snatches
20 BW squats
10 inclined push ups
5 chin ups

I think I missed abs this week, I mean I don't think I worked them at all. Meh, next week. Tomorrow I'm hoping to do two workouts - a lifting workout and a run, depending on the roads.

I also did some soul searching about being able to go to Edmonton. It'll be about a thousand bucks to get there, compete and stay for a weekend. That's coin I do not have at the moment. Might have to redefine the purpose of this endeavour. But I know I want to be in good enough shape to play with my boy in ten years time. I don't want to be one of those fat parents I keep meeting at the sidelines at soccer, unable to move due to their obesity. I want to be able to play, lift, wrestle and otherwise goof around with my boy when he's ten and I'm fifty. If that means I keep training like this and start something part time to augment my income, then so be it. What I need to focus on right now is my family, training and getting my work done, such that my boss is happy.

All else is ephemera.

Fri Jan 14

Today started off fairly well and got better.

Breakfast was asmoothie - I finally had enough time to make one this week!

Lunch was at a work event. I ate pita and veggies and hummus. A couple of samosas, too. Coffee and water to drink.

My boy came to work with my wife for a visit. Made a good day even better. Got to feed him lunch.

Dinner was lasagna and a salad. Water to drink.

10k run in 46 minutes after a nap and feeding my boy. And changing diaper after diaper. I'm not sure it's healthy for me to see that much poop. I'm glad he's pooping, I'm just not sure I should be seeing that much.

Off for a shower and taking care of my boy.

Thursday Jan 13

I was rushed again today - life was made a little more simple by virtue of the fact I had to only make one lunch, as only one of my kids was going to school today. I was off to work, the rest were at home, sick or otherwise caring for the sick or a newborn. I made the noon doctor's appointment for the newborn, too, leaving my dad in charge of the sick one. It's almost too much. I long for a boring week next week.

The sun is out, however, melting some of the snow. That looks awesome for a run right after work. I need to get to the rugby club - there's things afoot. Lots of nagging issues that I'd like to hear about. That, and I'd like to pay a dude for mounting my tv on the wall. It's awesome, man.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: Belt and coffee and Timmy Ho's. You know, regardless of just how crappy the food is there, I seem to be making progress. I'm starting to wonder if I hadn't lost my mind and gained a few minutes in the morning to make a proper breakfast, just how much further along I might be now.

Lunch: Had to get to the appointment, so this was early. Tuna sandwich with veggies. Water to drink.

Dinner: was right after work, without my kids... which makes me not like Thursday at all. Kids were busy at gymnastics or in bed, lying still. After dinner I got a snuggle and a nap in with two of my kids. Which was a great dessert.

Then I did a 6.5 k run. Stretching after was cut short.

After run snack: roast beef wrap and beer to drink. It felt good.

Wed Jan 12

I worked out barefoot in my garage/gym tonight. I thought I was all tough and stuff, then I saw this:


Meh, anyways, I did this:

8-10 dead lifts 120 lbs
20 TH KB swings 40 lb KB
5 Chin ups
20 BW squats
10 inclined push ups
8-10 tricep presses
8-10 bicep curls

Did AMRAP in 25 minutes. Got 6 or 7 rounds in.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: Belt and a coffee on the way in. I seriously have to take the time to get myself a better breakfast at home. This is getting stupid

Lunch: tuna on salad. Water to drink.

Snack: roast beef on a plate, water to drink.

Dinner: pasta with more water, almonds for dessert. I was more worried about my kids at this time than anything else. Two barfing and I needed something in my stomach.

My boy is about to wake up for his 9pm feeding. Gotta go.

Tues Jan 11

Ugh. This is one of "those days". I felt like living death, called in sick and worked out anyways. Why? Because I had to. I went for a run ... nice a slow. My little boy is under the weather as is my wife.

So the three of us got on each others nerves all day. Such is life.

As I felt like crap, I ate like crap:

Breakfast - nothing. A sip of coffee

Lunch: Roast beef sandwich, water to drink after the run.

Dinner: Lentil Soup and a salad. Later I had freshly made roast beeg in a sandwich. Oh, that was good. Little horseradish, too. Mmmmm.

Boy is feeling better, as I am, too. Lots of rest today, too.

I'm hoping for a snow filled day tomorrow - it's already coming down quite nicely - so that no one shows up. Except for me, of course.

Mon Jan 11

I just know that this week is going to be hard.

I got home today, ready to get in my workout, and as soon as I was in the door,a baby was promptly handed to me and I was sat on the couch and told to feed him. So, I did. The we fell asleep. Which was cool.

Then, I fed him again, then I put some fish on the BBQ. Now, say what you will about men cooking on open flame .. but Salmon off of the BBQ is simply friggin awesome.

I ate this on the day:

Breakfast: coffee and a Tim Horton's belt.

Snack: Coffee

Lunch: roast beef sandwich and water to drink

Dinner Salmon and asparagus (which is probably the healthiest thing I have eaten in the last four months. Seriously) with water and a glass of red win to drink.

After dinner, the boy somehow landed in my lap again ... and so I fed him again. Then I changed him. Then I burped him, then got him to sleep. Then I did something crazy:

warm up, 30 lb KB swings, presses. Skipping for a few minutes.

Ladder with the 70 lb KB: 2 handed swings, then 45 lb sandbag squats
10,8,6,4,2,2,4,6,8,10.

between each set of swings I did ten push ups, too. So the first rounds looked like this:

10 two handed swings, (one single handed snatch, each side, too) 10 SB squats, 10 push ups. Then 8 two handed swings, snatch, 8 SB squats, 10 push ups. 6,1,6,10 push ups etc.

Then, after I finished that ladder, I went for a 6k run.

That was a good workout. I'm hurting. But it's a good hurt.

Sun Jan 9

Man, this was a long day. I was up until 4am, getting my kid to bed. I'm up tonight, too. Which means that tomorrow is going to be rough.

I went for a run this morning - decent pace for 28 minutes. I should be doing more this week, but I get the sense that I'll be at home more often... which means more gym workouts than running.

Ate this:

Breakfast none, was asleep until after the run. Water after the run.

Lunch: roast beef wraps with veggies. Water and OJ to drink.

Dinner: chicken with veggies. three smilie fries. Milk to drink.

I got some work done around the house, looked after my children and generally took it easy after a rather frantic few weeks, man. Seriously, I friggin' tired.

As an after thought, I'm thinking that in order to get some training done this week coming up, I'm going to have to do it later in the evening, while my kid is asleep, before the midnight feeding. It's more or less the only time I get to myself- no children needing me for anything other than a roof. Whew! That's going to make stuff tough. I also know that this week the kids have stuff starting up again; swimming and gymnastics. I'm going to be taking them there, which affords me small windows for training. Hmmm.

And I need groceries... ;)

Sat Jan 8

This is a quick a dirty update for today. It's late and I'm tired.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: roast beef and hummus on a small bun, coffee and water to drink

Lunch: Roast beef on a bun. Water to drink. Multivitamin.

Dinner was home made pizza. Onion, chicken and tomato on mine. Red wine to drink.

I had the newborn in my arms most of the day, except when I did two rounds of shoveling the driveway. All in all, about 30 minutes of lifting and getting crappy snow out of the way. He's growing, I just need him to sleep a bit more.

Fri Jan 7

I wanted to rate this week a B. I need to coordinate a bit better with my Significant Other for time to work out and caring for the family, and I need this snow to (bleep) off to allow me to run, too. I'm hoping I can get a quick run in tonight and then do a longer one on Saturday.

Why? "cuz I got races coming up and I need to kick some ass.

That and I just like running. Legs were tender this morning, and my lower back was stiff, but all's good, man. The money situation is a little depressing at the moment, though. If there is one obstacle that might derail this whole "going to Edmonton experience" this March, that's the one. However, with a slight adjustment, I can make this dedicated to going to Nationals in 2012 ... which will be in St Catherines. A heck of a lot cheaper than Edmonton. Although uglier, man. IMHO.

Breakfast: Smoothie (green goo was past the "Best Before" date, I chucked it.) and coffee on the ride in. Seriously, Tim Horton's has performed miracles for me this week.

Snack: I was hungry at break, so I ate a tuna sandwich with hummus and veggies. Coffee to drink, as I'm just rolling that way these days.

Lunch Salad with carrots and prunes. Almonds and water to top it off. Today is just dragging on and on.

Dinner After spending a long while getting my baby's x-ray, got home and was too flat to cook - ordered pizza and waited for it to digest so I can go for a run.

I used to hate running in the cold. This year, for some strange reason, it just seems easier. I'm going a lot faster and longer. The runs just seem easier, is all. I'm glad of it.

I saw this today: I'm doing this, except that I am bending my knees to my chest. That, and she looks a heck of a lot better than I do. At least for now. Wait until spring. I'll be this hot. ;)



I've been wondering how to protect my hands from the freezing cold bar - using sponges, as she does in this video, looks cheap and a decent solution. I'll be therefore "sponge worthy" ... har, har, har...

Speaking of har, har, har ...

Thurs Jan 6

I truly hate fat pictures of me ... this is from this past summer; as you can tell, I took August off of training.

Last night was depressing on so many fronts. That melting of the hockey team in the last period of the game was just awful. Such a shame, really.

At least the US didn't win, man. And, more importantly, Canada beat them to get into the finals. It's really a shame, really. All that work, all that effort and they let themselves down like that. Not much else to say. In the past, might have had a few pints to drown my sorrow and made today that much harder to get through. As it is, it's hard enough. Being hungover might have made today impossible.

Anyway, life is going on. I'm trying to get back to a schedule. I think today will be the next step back into a regular timetable. With a schedule, I can plan what I can do to get up that mountain. I'm a bit rushed these days, and I'm getting pressured to change my good habits, but I am doing the best I can with what I have

I ate this today:
Couldn't get my smoothie again today, as I had to keep quiet as the baby was sleeping in the living room/ kitchen.Coffee and a BELT on the way in. Water when I got to work, too.

Snack: almonds and coffee.

Lunch: Salad, tuna, almonds, prunes, carrots and hummus. Water to drink.

Dinner: roast beef and veggie wraps. Asparagus, too.

I have a meeting in the afternoon, which is ok. Usually there is no worries about me cheating and having a snack, as there is usually no food at these meetings. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. ;)

I did five rounds of this before being interrupted by a need to feed a newborn:

20 swings 53 lbs - last round 70 lb KB
6-8 OH presses 53 lbs
20 BW Squats
10 tricep extension
10 bicep curl
6-8 deadlist
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while holding on to the chin up bar.

I had to get something done today - no running as the snow was starting to pile up outside.

Speaking about melting snow:

Wed Jan 5

This was another day of frantic catch up and try not to do anything stupid. Man, going back to work after Christmas is hard. I got up late, which meant I had to rush for the rest of the morning to catch up. I got caught up just before lunch, then I had to leave work to care for my newborn son.

When I can't control what my day looks like, I have to keep tight control of my diet. So I do what I have to do.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: Breakfast belt and coffee. Water at work.

Lunch: Egg and chicken veggie wraps. Water to drink.

Dinner: Chicken and potato on a plate. Water to drink. Multivitamin.

As I am looking at this, not a lot of food. Good, decent sized portions, but not a lot of food. I'm thinking this time last year there would have been a lot more of it.

Tues Jan 4

I'm liking Tuesdays better than Mondays. But that isn't saying much. I was up late (or early, depending on your definition) feeding baby this morning. Up late, up early. As my father says "Someday they'll all be 35." Not that I'm wishing my wife away, I'd just like to sleep through the night again. Once.

I got up early, went downstairs to use my blender and saw my sleeping wife and boy on the couch. So, no smoothie this morning. I gt to work and was really hungry before my break, but since I didn't have any salad greens, I settled for a sandwich with hummus and veggies. Man, compromises compromises compromises... it's what makes the world work, man. Do the best with what you have.

Breakfast: Banana, OJ and a multivitamin. Coffee on the way in.

Lunch: Tuna sandwich, hummus and veggies. Water to drink. Almonds, too. Damn deelish.

Snack: Water

Dinner: another round of soup and a sandwich - some sort of Campbell's meat soup (best way to describe it, sorry) and a roast beef wrap.

I got home and was handed my boy to look after so my wife could go out and clear her cabin fever and pick up my other children from school. We took a nap together.

Later, when he was sleeping, I got a chance to do AMRAP of this in 25 minutes:

20 KB swings 40 lb KB
20 Prisoner squats
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while I dangled from the chin up bar
6-8 deadlifts 160 lbs

I'm looking better, feeling awesome - except for the sleep deprivation, of course. For tomorrow, I get up a smidgen earlier and get to the local 24 hour Metro for some better lunches...

Monday Jan 3

Is there anyone out there that likes Mondays? Ugh. I got the job done, at least I can say that. I got the job done. Back at work, diet and schedule is back to normal ... or at least what passes for normal around here.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: smoothie; Grapefruit and orange juice blended with frozen berries. Simple and awesome

Snack: I was hungry, so I had tuna on salad. Was pretty solid man. Stopped my stomach from growling.

Lunch: The same again - this time with a bit longer of a break between bites. Almonds and hummus with carrots, too. Prunes to finish. Water to drink.

Dinner: Chicken, rice and some veggies. Smoothie for dessert. Not bad.

Did this workout:

1A) KB Snatch 5 x 5 40 then the 53 lb KB
1B) KB farmer walk 5 x 100' same weights
2) Incline DB bench 4 x 6 - 8 reps 30 lbs
3) Overhead Plate Walking Lunges 3 x 75' 20 lbs this time, more next time
4A) Band face pulls 3 x 15
4B) TRX rowing pull aparts 3 x 10
5) three rounds of:
10 Ab crunches off the end of the bench
10 Ab rollouts on green ball
2 wrist roller up and downs
8-10 chin up bar hangs knee to chest

Right knee kind of giving me a bit of trouble. Behind the knee and to the lateral side. I'm thinking some sort of ligament, but you never know. Short run and ice tonight. That, and a nap - getting back to normal from the messed up scene I've lived with the past two weeks is tough, man. Ugh.

May have a short run with a short workout before hand. Trying to get the best of both worlds. had a decent run tonight, too.

While at work, read this blog post. 500 bucks for a home gym? Hmmm.. not sure what I've paid so far, but it's about than that, I think. Perhaps a little more - not sure. Certainly less than 700 bucks, and I get to keep everything.

Sun Jan 2 2011

I liked today, for all the wrong reasons. I was up with my boy from about 4:30 for about an hour, feeding him. At 6, I decided to go for a run. So .. I went for a 10 k run. Yup, I felt I had to, as I wanted to know something a bit more about myself - namely ... can I run 10k?

I did it in 50 minutes, 8 seconds. I beat my PR by 8 minutes, man. Which was awesome. My iPod told me I used 1200 calories, too.

I got home for 9am. Yup, it took me that long to run it, which was weird for me, since I usually run half that length and have no worries about time. In any case, I needed a mental boost (as well as a vent for some calories) and got this run done. Was pretty cool, man. I then had a two hour nap with my feet up on pillows, which did a lot for my legs, not so much for my neck.

I got home, showered and went straight back out for a Timmy Hos run. I got coffee.

Here's what I ate for the day:

Breakfast: a post run coffee.

Lunch: roast beef and veggie wrap.

Snack: coffee with almonds

Dinner: bowl of pasta, red wine to drink.

I also did five rounds of this in the afternoon:

20 inverted push ups
20 KB swings
10 heavy bag lifts
10 BW TRX rows
10 tricep extensions

I went to the rugby tournament yesterday, talked to people, gotten emails about him, posted links about the accident, have posted pics of Roddy on facebook, been generally negative about the whole situation. I talked to my wife about it while we drove to Toronto yesterday. I feel like the Matt Damon character at the end of Saving Private Ryan .. asking my wife if I'm a good man. I dunno the answer to that, but I do know that they all love me, regardless of my faults as a human being. I'm thinking I've earned it, but need more adventures in my life to make sure that I have done everything that I thought I could do here.

Do that make me a moody person? Dunno about that. I do know that I am looking forward to the Spartan Race .. and a few others. I looked really carefully at the Running Rooms' online course for a marathon. Although I do admit that something like that, I'd want someone to help me in person.

Sat Jan 1

I'm so far away from being hungover, it's almost comical. I still feel like crap today. But, consistency is the key to becoming what it is you want. Training is easy when you feel awesome - it's when the world takes a giant crap on your head that training becomes hard.

I'm going to move the car and get myself worked out; far less because three of my family members are sick (my wife went with the middle child to a walk in clinic already this morning), not because I missed playing rugby today, not because of all of the stuff I wanted to do this Break, but because all of this crap is just adding up. I can quit and do nothing or I can do the exact opposite.

Saw this before I had to take over looking after my son and will try it tomorrow:



After getting up and getting my family going, I had to drive into Toronto twice to get stuff done, then to get to my brother's house for a family dinner. I was exhausted when I got home, but did a workout just the same. Had to. I've been eating like crap lately, but because I've been eating so little, i think "progress" is still being made. Dunno.

Ate "Breakfast" at 11am: steak and veggie wraps. OJ to drink.

Lunch was two beers at the rugby club between trips to Toronto.

Dinner: lasagna and salad at my brother's house. A beer to drink.

Need to get going again. You cannot out train a bad diet, although I'm trying to.