Thurs March 31

It's like that, ys'll and you don't stop!

Yeah, as I left my rugby club tonight, I said to a pair of over 35 white men: "Peace out to my g-fly homies". They stopped me and asked me what I had said. So, I translated it for them into "Hey, guys, have a good week. I will see you later."

I think I got that right. Lemme know if I didn't.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: steak and eggs. Again. What a drag. I hate it....NOT!

Snack: coffee on the way in. Water to drink

Lunch: tuna, salad, carrots, hummus, almonds .... yadda, yadda, yadda... water to drink. I kept having to pee all day.

Dinner: left over steak, salad, veggies in a wrap. Small piece of lasagna for dessert. Water to drink.

After rugby workout: beer. Salad wraps with Chimichurri sauce. Smelled some awesome beef pies and later some chicken wings, but did not eat any.

I did a lot of sprinting, hitting and falling down/getting up at rugby. Still feeling the step ups from yesterday. Meh. Would rather be in June.

Wed March 30

The endurance race entered it second day. The race, otherwise known as April, is a long crappy crap of a month. It hasn't started yet, and it's crappy.

I did ate rather well today, though:

Breakfast: steak and eggs. Read that baby again, man... Steak and eggs. OJ to drink

Snack: coffee on the way in to work. Water at work.

Lunch: Tuna on salad, almonds, hummus with carrots, water to drink.

Snack: almonds and water.

Dinner: de-lish veggie lasagna, salad with red wine to drink.

I did get a workout in, after the kids went to bed. All three kids were asleep by 8pm, while my wife went to her class. Simply put: I'm friggin' awesome. How many dad's on the silly television commercials can get an eight year old, a six year old and a three month old child to fall asleep by 8pm? G'head, google that. I'll wait. It's not happening. I'm the bomb.

Workout was cramped, as my wife put her car in the garage before she left. Meh, I got SIX rounds of this done:

20 BW squats
20 Kb swings (20 kilo KB used)
5 OH Kb snatches (each side)
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while hanging from the chin up bar
20 step ups to 20 inch platfom
15 pike push ups, feet elevated

I had a quick shower and now am waiting for the youngest to wake up so I can feed him.

Tuesday March 29

It was a gong show at work - but I was expecting that. In the end, the day ended, the sun went below the horizon as it always does. S'ok - it'll be back tomorrow. I mentioned that there are people out there making a lot of money by blogging; I'm still not being believed. I keep putting the book "Crush it" in front of them, still not a single taker. Seems people around me want to work for someone else the rest of their lives.

Shame, really.

There was a Mexican standoff in my house today that I had to wade into to restore some semblance of order. Seems my wife wanted a child to eat, the child didn't want to. My job was to sit with the child until it ate, or until bedtime. I sat at the table for two hours. I wish I made that up. After the kids were in bed, my focus shifted to my gym. I spent the next hour on the road to pick up 200 pounds of weights for fifty dollars Cdn.

Yup, that isn't a typo. 200lbs for 50 bucks. I love Kijiji. Pics up tomorrow.

That was my workout time, and I didn't take it. That being said, I know I have to be up early to get tomorrow's workout done. Ugh. That ain't going to be pretty.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: roast beef, veggies and hot goo in a wrap. OJ and coffee to drink.

Snack: hummus and carrots. Water to drink.

Lunch: the usual; carrots, hummus to eat. tuna on salad. Almonds for dessert.

Dinner: steak with chimmichurri sauce, veggies. Salad and fresh strawberries for dessert.

Then I had to sit for two hours. The I picked up weights form some dude's house. That was kinda creepy. He had dolls behind glass, wall to wall shag carpeting, and dingy wall panels. It felt like a television set for an awe murderers house.

Tomorrow will be better. I know it will.

Monday March 28

This is the last day of kinda relaxed times around here. Tomorrow, I basically double my time at work, for no increase of pay. Kinda sucks, but that is the collective agreement I got myself here.

I was up stupid early to see the results of the Nationals, specifically, the results of 96 Kilo Greco:



Hmm.. Not sure, but I'm pretty sure I'da been in for a forth there. The other three dudes are current National Champs, Pan American Champs or both. Meh, I still would have preferred to be there. Alas, time and tide. 365 days until St Catherines.

As I said, I was up stupid early this morning, and so I am at work also stupid early. At least I got an awesome parking spot. If that is the best thing I can say about today, that's just not right.

I got through it, got in the door of my house, got changed and got through two rounds of this really cool KB workout then got asked to look after children while my wife went and run a few errands.

S'all good. Topsy turvy, right?

At least I got two rounds in, a sweat going, and a 4.5k run in later. I mapped it using Nike's own Map function, and my iPod is off by 1.5 kms. Yeah, I need to calibrate that sucker. It was a nice run, though. The whole time, I thought about my personal safety, as a co-worked almost gleefully told me about people she knew being beaten up while on runs. Meh, I made it home safe.

I ate this today:

breakfast: roast beef, veggies on a wrap. Coffee on the way in.

Snack: two cups of black coffee at a meeting .. it was free!

Lunch .. sigh, the usual ... tuna on salad, carrots and hummus, almonds. Water to drink.

Dinner: roast beef and veggies, salad. Water to drink.

I got two rounds of this done before I was stopped:


warm up
20 KB two handed swings
10 KB snatches each side
10 BW puch ups
10 BW squats

meh, it was looking good, man. I need to make time for my self over the next few weeks, or else I will start the rugby season feeling rather unimpressed. Flip to my entry on June 1 to see what was up.

Oh yeah, that's right... I should be getting ready for the Spartan Race that month ... that should be a trip.

Sun March 27

I'm trying out Rockmelt, a new browser. Seems interesting, although it has already crashed once on me. Today I was under my newborn son a lot of the time, but managed to get a decent workout in, after spending some time with my family.

I did this five times before being interrupted by an exodus:

8-10 dead lifts, 160 lbs.
10 two handed swings, 20 kilo bell used
5 OH snatches both sides
10 tri cep dips
20 step ups, later rounds with a 50 lb back pack
15-20 push ups, various foot heights, various weights on my back
8-10 TRX bw rows
10 ab rolls outs

I stopped when it was time for my wife to leave with one kid for swimming. I fed my boy, then finished my workout while he slept. We went out for a drive and a coffee, which was awesome. So sunny and bright out - cold, though. No walking with him, yet. Maybe next weekend.

I'll post a pic of the results from the Senior Nationals here when they are posted elsewhere. I want to kick myself in the head for missing them. Alas, I made sure I spent today with my boy, my family, so that I wouldn't look back on today with regret.

I ate this today

Breakfast: coffee

Breakfast: eggs and toast, mushrooms and onions, coffee to drink. Lots of fruit for dessert.

Lunch/DInner: steak, veggies and salad. Water to drink. This was awesome off of the BBQ, man. Lot of breakfasts and quick dinners this week, too.

And finally, as a continuing tradition, I give this week a B. Would be higher if I could stay on top of my nutrition a bit better and either get running or get on a mat. Some facebook friends are asking about the Spartan Race in June. It might be nice having some company for that.

Sat March 26

Yeah, I'm still thinking I should be in Edmonton. Humph. Well, this is just making me want to be at the Nationals next year that much more badly.

I know what I have to do; it is a matter of getting the time for training, man. I am doing the GPP, just not the actual wrestling part of it. This winter was not one of my best in terms of time on the mat - but it was pretty good for time spent actually doing work.

Everything was sore today, and it didn't help that my youngest needed me to be a bed. Seriously, the kid didn't sleep unless I was under or right beside him. So, I waited until they're all in bed and got my half hour walk in. Nice night for it, my knee is a little banged up, though.

Ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee and a timmy ho belt.

Lunch: roast beef wrap; OJ to drink

Dinner was the end of the chili; ground beef, veggies and tomato soup. Water to drink.

Lots of water to drink today. Not much else in the house.

Friday March 25

This is going to be brief, as it is late.

I didn't do a workout today, as I headed into work stupid early. Too much to get done.

I ate this:

Breakfast roast beef wraps; roast beef, veggies, hot goo.

Lunch: more of the same, coffee to drink.

Dinner: steak, asparagus, a few spices of BBqed potato, water to drink.

Thursday March 24

Yup, I'm sad ... but not really sad ... just kinda pissed at myself. I should be at the Nationals, in Edmonton. I really should be.

And I'm not.

I'm at work, writing a blog post on a Macbook that isn't cooperating. I'm watched my three month old child try and sit up this morning. I'm getting ready for the next few days and especially next week. Ugh. I'd rather be wrestling.

I did keep to my training schedule, though. I did this for 5 rounds today:

10 double KB military presses (30 lb kb)
10 feet up push ups
8-10 double Kb rows
20 BW box squats
10 bicep curls
10 tricep extensions
10 DB side raises - used 10 lb here
10 ab roll outs
8-10 Kb bench press/odd object press




Which made me feel good after doing it, but I need to get on a mat. Seriously. I know I haven't mentioned it in a while, but I need to get on a mat. There is an open house at Joslin's Martial Arts place this weekend. I got invited by a rugby buddy. But I'm pretty sure I need something a little closer to home.

I ate this today:

breakfast: coffee

after workout meal: salmon and poached eggs with some hot goo. OJ and GJ to drink.

Coffee on the way in to work.

Lunch: yawn.. the usual, tuna, salad, carrots... water

Dinner: pizza and hot goo, beer after rugby training. Yeah, it was my cheat for the week.

Last thing to mention in this post. My wife's car stays in the garage at night, and I have to move it out of the way for my morning workouts. It also has a thermometer, which said "3 degrees" today. I also left a mat down from my yesterday's workout, and so so parked her car on it.



Poor defenseless mat, being sat on all night...

Wed March 23

Crappy day for running, not so bad for indoor body weight and kettlebell training. Seriously, there was a foot of snow and a half inch of ice underneath on my street this morning.

So, today was an indoor training day. I did this for almost thirty minutes, basically non stop, didn't keep track of the rounds.

20 kB two handed swings (20 kilo bell used)
5 kB cleans, each side
20 squats. Some goblet, some BW, some with broom stick...
20 push ups, various hand widths
10 ab roll outs
20 bw lunges

Not a "hard core" workout, but something that got a sweat going and let me feel alive.

Ate this:

Breakfast: coffee

after workout meal: poached eggs, roast beef (awesome) with chimichurri sauce, OJ and water to drink

Coffee on the way into work

Lunch: tuna on salad, walnuts and carrots. No hummus today. Water to drink.

Dinner: ground beef and veggie Chili, salad and white wine to drink. Didn't like the choice of wine, so I switched to OJ and GJ. Almonds for dessert.

Tuesday March 22

I should be getting ready for the Nationals. This is, after all, the title of the blog. I feel like crap that I had to put it off until next year. Money and time, time and money are always going to be things that get in the way. How many times is my son going to be this young? How many times will I regret the last fifteen years of not wrestling?

A lot, I think.

It's ideas like that that have me thinking a lot of existential thoughts like "In the big scheme of things, I really don't matter." and thoughts about famous movie stars who complain that they wanted the fancy water for their drink because of who they are. "Well, you know, you are really the end product of an incredibly long line of happy accidents. Basically, you are an accident, get over yourself." Truly, on a really big time scale - think the age of the Earth- I really am quite small. Insignificant.

And then, right in the middle of those, quite frankly depressing, ideas, I get to hug my infant son and stop him from crying. I make breakfast for my wife, I get my kids laughing after crying for a while ... to them, I am the universe. if I was gone, their lives would be markedly less rich and harder in comparison.

My meaning is this: my life, my recognition from the universe, comes through the most intimate relationships I have with the people around me. I exist because of who I choose to love, to feel affection for and with whom I share my life. The rest of the "stuff" is merely how I get to do that. That's a little deep for this early on a Tuesday, but what are you going to do?

I also have a hard time taking almost anything with any degree of seriousness, laughing my way back to dust.

I spent this morning rolling, stretching and recovering. I tried a few broom handle squats, like the ones I was shown over the weekend, and found that my lower back needed some stretching. I was a pine board before I started today's workout, and after I was still somewhat stiff, but still better than I had been.

I ate this

Before workout: coffee

Breakfast : roast beef wraps with veggies and hot goo. Water to drink.

Lunch: The usual, tuna on salad, walnuts, carrots green pepper and hummus. Water to drink. Coffee to drink after.

Dinner: small piece of lasagna, large salad, red wine and OJ to drink. Almonds for dessert.

I feel as though I did not workout this morning, even though my body almost demanded that I do some recovery work. If I do something light a bit later, I'll post it here...

Monday March 21

Yeah, that sums up the day rather nicely ... this happened:



which is the second time since Christmas that it happened. Drag.

In any case, I did an incredible workout. I did six rounds of this:

8-10 deadlifts 160 lbs
20 squats, first rounds were body weight, later rounds were with sandbag, hitting my butt off of the punching bag, then up. aka "Box squats"
20 step ups, again first rounds were BW, later with 40, then 55 lb sandbag
15-20 push ups, feet up with the sand bag - some rounds were hand stand push ups!
8-10 rows, 30 lb KB used, still with the sandbag on
20 two handed swings, still with that damn sandbag on...
10 ab roll outs (took the bag off for this one)

Six rounds of that got me pretty sweaty. I liked it, made me feel alive, man.

I ate this today:

Before workout: coffee

Breakfast: roast beef with veggie wraps, chimichurri and ketchup. Awesome. OJ to drink.

Lunch: tuna on salad, walnuts and hummus with green peppers and carrots. Water to drink. Coffee, too

Dinner: rice and meat (salmon, chicken) with veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots other) casserole. I got home and it was made. Salad, too. Red wine and OJ to drink.
Kids are mostly fussing tonight - I'm spent, too. Some stretching and rolling tonight.

Sunday March 20

OK, today was a good day - so far. I'm posting this a little earlier than usual, 'cuz, well, really 'cuz I can.

I woke up late, about 8am. Got the coffee run in, read the paper and then did some upgrading/repairing to my garage gym and stuff therein. The old speakers are now up in my child's room (I'm wondering if this is a good idea or not) and I now have a kick ass ghetto blaster in there. It's going to rock, man. I have yet to really crank that sucker, but I will ...someday.

I went to a kettlebell clinic today at the Strength Box, in East York. I've discovered that I truly suck at doing the long cycle in KB Sport. I know why, too: I'm so used to doing kB presses when working out (I do cleans, I do snatches... never clean and jerk for some reason). I press a lot of weight overhead, rarely do I jerk it. And so, I spent the afternoon hearing "No count .... no count .... no count." as I tried to get the weights up. Not a bad workout, just a little embarrassing. Meh, I kicked ass in the snatch. But I'm kinda sore at the moment, after two hours of lifting and stretching.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee

Brunch: chicken wraps with salad and hot goo.

Snacks: coffee to drink

Dinner: Lasagna with lots of salad, veggies and hummus, red wine to drink. That was good, man.

Finally, to continue the tradition of marking this week, I'm going to give myself a B minus. Had enough workouts, made the Kettlebell clinic, just too much alcohol on a week off to give myself a break. Tomorrow I'll check weight to see how that is doing. I feel good, generally have the idea that things are going in the right direction, but this is a quest for a certain weight class, so I must check my weight at least once in a while.

Sat March19

It's late. I'm tired.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee, no barf today.

Lunch: beef wraps, veggies, water to drink.

Dinner: salmon, asparagus and veggies. White wine to drink

Post dinner: beer

I tried to get something done today, I got this done after dinner:

First two rounds with out a sandbag backpack. Third and fourth rounds with 20kilo bag on my back, then added 15 lb bag...

20 bw squats
20 kb two handed swings (20 kb used)
15 push ups, feet up
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while hanging off the chin up bar
20 lunges

I'm frigging tired. Night.

Friday March 18

Man, today was just messed up. I was up late (or early, depending on your definition) with the youngest boy. As a result, I was asleep at 8am when my youngest was brought into me after his morning feed. He barfed all over me, my clothes, my pillow and my bed.

How's that for a good morning?

Got my kids off with my parents to their cottage for a few days, came home and went for an hour walk with my wife. Felt miserable all day, achy and just not right. Wanted to go to lunch with a buddy of mine, but canceled and had a three hour nap. Got up, went for a few errands, including getting a new Nike+ sensor. Went out to dinner with my wife at a nice place.

All in all, a pretty laid back day - needed, as I felt like crap most of the day. Nice walk, though.

Ate this:

Breakfast: coffee; well, half a cup. Wasn't feeling it.

Lunch: Bagel with some egg. Had some Chimmichurri sauce with it.

Dinner: seafood pasta. Beer to drink. (I know, I can hardly wait to go back to work so that I can get back to eating properly)

Snack: salad fixings in a wrap with some chimmichurri.

Thursday March 17

Let's start this one by saying that too many of my family have chosen to pass away on this day to make today a happy one. I'm laying low today, reading, drinking coffee and keeping my mind otherwise occupied.

I did do some surfing around and came across a blog post of a first hand account of a Tough Mudder race. Makes me upset that they pushed the Toronto Tough Mudder off to 2012. I think it'd be a blast, man. At least I know I'm in for the Spartan Race on June 19th.

I guess I want to look forward to tomorrow. I don't like today, even if I am Irish and I'm supposed to celebrate St Patrick's duties by getting falling down sick drunk. Meh, it IS a rugby night...

I ate this today:

Breakfast: steak and eggs. Which was awesome. Coffee to drink.

Lunch: steak and chimichurri sauce. Which in terms of awesome, literally nothing can touch. It was freaking awesome from a bottle.

Dinner: chicken and veggies, white wine to drink.

Post rugby workout meal: mashed potatoes with a beef pie. It was yummy, but of questionable nutritional value. Beer to drink.

Did five rounds of this today:

8-10 deadlifts 160 lbs
10 step ups 20 inch step, last three rounds with 40 lbs backpack
15 push ups
10 bicep curls
10 trcept curls
20 two handed kB swings,
5 chin ups
10 ab roll outs

later on, it was a sprintfest at rugby training. I thought I did OK, but my hands have gone to crap, even if my position on the field requires me to hit things, not handle the ball... I have to be ready for it. Politics in the bar after. I hate that. Should have gone home right after the session... but I had a good time with guys with whom I play rugby. Some of them are looking a lot worse for wear after a winter of doing nothing... but I'm not one. My ass is "looking good" according to one. Meh, he might be gay, but my wife tends to agree, so I'm not going to argue.

Wed March 16

This was a busy day, one which did not allow me to feel like crap. I felt like crap anyhow. Something, a cough, a full nose ... something is bugging my breathing.

I woke up late, as I had part of the night shift with my little boy. He's wonderful, but sure likes to keep weird hours. He's got the same cough as I do, only a few weeks longer. Got up about 8am. Yup, that's sleeping late these days. Did a coffee run, got home and then I was kept occupied for the rest of the day.

I stayed home to hold my son to let "the girls" do up a local museum. I held onto the two younger ones in the afternoon so that my eldest and my wife could go get their nails done. Was I a typical housewife? Ah, not really. I got to a few projects that were nagging and now almost complete.

I added an external hard drive to the router in the basement, letting me do overnight Time Machine backups instead of less routinely. Back up your hard drive right now, seriously. Then I got out my buddy's tapes from the early 90's. He died in a car crash fifteen years ago; listening to him play was always cool, man. A real shame he died. I have the basic set up mastered, it's just the gremlins getting in the way that prevented me completing this one. Feeding the baby, a cord being pulled out of the wall, wrong hole for the plug. I tried four times and finally gave up for the day. I'll get back at it tomorrow.

I did get a chance to get a few cheap and free camera apps for the iPhone today, while two kids slept on me. I also did some reading of the Ah-nold book I got last week, too.

I didn't work out until 9pm. I got four rounds of this done:

20 TH KB swings
10 KB snatches (each side)
20 Body weight swuats
15 feet up push ups
5 chin ups
10 knees to chest while hanging off the chin up bar.

No one was woken up during this workout. I finished and I heard three children snoring. What a wonderful sound. Makes my heart warm. Tomorrow, they train with me.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee

Snack: (I'll call it that, it was about that time) chicken breast wraps with lettuce, shredded veggies and hot goo. hmmm hot goo...

Lunch: almonds, water. Prunes.

Dinner: burger with veggies, salad. Red wine to drink. Two pieces of last year's Easter chocolate. It went well with the wine, man.

Tuesday March 15

Humph. Woke up early this morning after going to bed on time last night. I'm off for a run then a really good stretch this morning. Legs are felling better after some light movement type stuff before bed. Still, I'm stiff.

I had the weirdest thoughts this morning; I went back to horrible times in my life, thinking about when people were being purposefully toxic. I had had it with my brain, and thought "Why waste another second on them, on that guy? Every single second you ponder the "what if's" of that scene.... is wasted. And ... they win."

Let go of the banana in the vase, man. It's the only path to serenity.

I ate this today:

Breakfast; coffee

Lunch: burger, salad. Beer

Dinner: lobster, shrimp, salad. Beer.

Monday March 14

So, I'm off for the week, well, not really as the three kids are keeping me on my feet most of the days. I just got back from a Timmy Ho's run and I'm going to be taking the kids out again later. Go and see the dogs at the local pet store.

I did play a little with Skype today - I'm sure I'll need some help figuring out that one, if only because I saw this:



An excellent idea ... especially for someone like me, someone interested in connecting with other lifters, while at home but cannot get out of the house. Hits so many of the ideas from "Third wave", it's kinda scary.

I ate this today:

breakfast: coffee

Lunch: chicken breast wrap with some veggies. Coffee to drink

Dinner: beef and veggie stew with some hot goo. Red wine to drink.


Not a lot of food, but I'm feeling a little rough around the edges - I'm still sore from the 5k run (no warmup, no cool down) on Saturday. I actually hurt going down steps today. The fact that I had to sleep sitting up both this morning (~3am) and this afternoon (~3pm) is also a factor. Man, my neck hurts from flopping over.

Sun March 13

OK, I thought today would be fairly laid back, but it wasn't. I woke up stupid early - like 3am. Wide awake. Unreal. I went and did some research, found a few books to place holds on at the local library. I did some reading online about eating Paleo:

Seems there are quite a few recommends for this book, the New Evolution Diet and this book, the Paleo Solution. I set up and downloaded podcasts by Rob Wolff and saw an interview he did on another blog. Then I looked at pictures on facebook of a guy who runs Strength Box - seems he takes food porn pictures. Man, that made me hungry and sleepy.

I went back to bed and got up after eating my pillow .... just kidding.

I did get a respectable workout in, although not the one I had intended. I wanted to do the kettlebell workout from a few days ago, but my middle child wanted to workout too. She's one of those oblivious types, and I knew that. The first set of swings I did, she nearly walked right into the kettlebell. I put it away and we did a MovNat workout, while I added some body weight stuff to get a decent workout.

We jumped, walked on boards and tree trunks, on "Roger" the punching bag and then onto the tire. Later on we added a rope across the room so that to get from one side of the tire to the other you had to keep your balance while swooping underneath. A good warm up for five rounds of this (for me)

20 BW squats
20 feet up push ups
10 ab roll outs
20 sec hold of hand stands
20 KB swings (as long as my kids weren't within five feet... I only got two rounds of this done)

While I did my hand stands (wall assisted), my kids used me as another obstacle to climb under, kinda like a bridge. I'd love to say I got pics of that, but I didn't. Next time.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee, not much else

Lunch: almonds, ham sandwich, more coffee

Dinner: salad, turkey breast, mashed potatoes, corn with birthday cake for dessert. A family function, so it was something that I didn't over do, even though my mother in law was pushing food at me all afternoon. I got home, got my kids in bed and now have to do some thinking and planning for the week. Epic. This is going to be epic.

After I got home, I got myself into a steamy hot bath with some epsom salts. Oh, man was that awesome. If you have a brand you like, lemme know. I'm up for anything. Stiff back and legs after the last few weeks and today's stuff has proven to me the need to roll my muscles and to treat them with care.

Right, I guess the last two weeks I've gotten into the habit of giving the week of training a mark. Well, let's see. No missed workouts, except for Friday. But I did race on Saturday, so I'll give myself a pass on that one. I dunno, kinda unsatisfied with my diet, at least a little, so I'll go with a B. Had I made the class today at the Strength Box instead of having the family thing, I'd almost automatically have given it an A. Meh, there is another Strength Box event next Sunday which I'm pretty sure I can do.

He he... I said "doo"... he he he he ehe he he eh he he

Yes, I named the punching bag "Roger", after the character in the novel Lord of the Flies.

Sat Mar 12

Man, that iPad is rather useful when it comes to getting simple messages across... there was no workout today, as I was running the 5k race in Hamilton. I did not eat well before or after this race, nor did I think it went particularly well, regardless of the fact that I cut a few minutes off of last year's time and I weighed in today at 226.

Yup. 16 more to go to goal weight.

I ate this:

Breakfast: coffee and roast beef and a banana. I honestly thought I'd get another meal in before the race. I was wrong.

Lunch: bowl of chili and a Guiness beer after the race. My stomach actually growled at me during the race, I was so hungry.

Snack: tuna on salad. Water to drink.

Dinner: pizza and beer. It was an awesome recovery meal. I'm going to do a good workout tomorrow and see about making up for this meal.

I'll just go out on a limb and say, yeah.... nutrition was an important thing this week, but survival was the main point. Next week, being a week of holidays, will be better.

I'm just going to point out that although I am not working this week, I plan on working out every day.

Friday March 11

This is the last day before a week of holiday. I feel so grateful for a gift of a week, and the job that allows me the gift of a week with my family. I get to be a dad, a husband and all that and a purple shirt. Awesome.

I woke up early today and did a coffee run nice and early. I got coffee, the family got muffins. I felt like living hell, so no workouts this morning. I do have the Slainte's run planned for tomorrow. That should be good.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: coffee

Snack: Timmy Ho's Belt and a coffee

Lunch: Tuna on Salad, tuna sandwich with veggies, veggies and hummus, almonds, prunes and water to drink. What can I say? I was hungry, man.

Dinner BBQ steak, yams and asparagus. Salad. Water to drink. Man, that was a big meal.

Today, we are doing taxes, man. I want to eat something meaty and tasty.

Thurs March 10

Ugh. I thought yesterday was frantic. In the last two hours, I've had a lot of stuff done, and it just seems to keep getting busier and busier. I still haven't found my cord for the laptop, my iPhone 3G keeps crashing, my van needed a boost .... and it's garbage day. Telus emailed me and are going to stomp on my guts. And that's merely some of the stuff going on.

By the end of the day, I had found my cord (it was at work, as I thought), the van and the iPhone got figured out,

I didn't get a workout in this morning, but it's ok as there is rugby tonight. My iPhone just crashed again. Dammit.

I ate this today:

Breakfast: egg and tomato wrap with spicy goo. That was good. Coffee to drink.

Lunch: tuna on salad, hummus with carrots and green peppers, water to drink. Almonds and prunes. It was good, as per normal. My stomach was actually growling before I ate this. It was rather an odd feeling, which I haven't had in a long while.

Dinner: Asparagus, chicken and rice with water to drink.

After training snack: hummus, carrots, beer.

Late snack can of tuna, 'cuz there was nothing else decent to eat and it was that or order pizza. It was good.

Wed March 9

Today was another weird one, which isn't a surprise. Which, might make it less weird. Whatever. I got my workout done under duress - that is, I had a lot of stress around getting the work done, but I got it done.

I'm trying to alter my schedule so that I can workout in peace and keep the family together. In weeks previous, that was easy. With some slight changes here and there. I got to work, did some reading about my issues with my iPhone, and then bit the bullet and upgraded from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 3GS... which is something for me. The 3GS is the oldest phone which will use the new iOS 4.3 coming out this week, which is what I'm going for. It'll be cool getting that before the Break with my kids.

I also watched a bit of the Space Shuttle Discovery landing on earth for the last time today, too ...

I did five rounds of this workout today, before having to go to work:

8-10 deadlifts, finishing at 160 lbs
20, 20 inch step ups
10-15 push ups, various weights, various hand positions
20 squats, finishing with 40 lbs of sand on my back
10 bicep curls
10 triceps extension
10 TRX body rows
8-10 ab roll outs
20 two handed Kb swings 20 kilo Kb used.

I liked it, but was interrupted a few times by crying babies and the like. I got this finished, cleaned the kitchen, then had to get my butt in gear. Ate on the way to school, which was a mistake. Meh, live and learn ... the same lesson, again, and again ...

making progress, I guess. I'd like to make my goal weight a smidgen quicker, but, ya know ... this is a marathon, not a sprint. Speaking of marathon, I was listening to the Marathon Training Academy's podcast today while on my way in to work. Made me think about the Scotia Bank Toronto Marathon in October, again. Hmmmmm....

Ate this today:

Breakfast: Coffee and a BELT from Tim Hortons. Need to stop this.

Snack: water

Lunch tuna on salad, carrots and green pepper with hummus, almonds, prunes with water to drink.

Dinner pasta and veggie wraps with the hot goo, salad and veggies, too. Water to drink.

I'm posting this one a little early, as I guess I forgot my power cord for my laptop at work and wanted to make sure that this posted.

PS, I got this quote directly from my child, in a email she sent me:

"i look like a monkey and i act like one too. I eat lots of bananas and throw the peel on the ground. People trip on them and then they fall down"

Tues March 8

Whoa, nice morning, man.

Decent workout, although a bit short. Good breakfast and I won a coffee. I also got my iPhone working on the wireless at home and at work. It's slow, but it's working at least.

Did this workout (from the iPad version of the Agatsu Magazine app)

warm up

20 swings with right hand (RH)
20 swings (Lh)
20 two arm swings
20 man makers
20 snatches rh


15 figure 8s around the legs
20 two arm swings
20 snatches lh
15 figure 8s around the legs
20 two arm swings

This was pretty good - I certainly felt it after. The funny thing is I did two rounds of this workout, and I should have done four rounds. I did get interrupted by my son, but I know the third and fourth rounds would have been awesome. I will try this one again on Thursday.

I ate this:

Breakfast: two poached eggs and a bit of roast beef.

Lunch: 2 pancakes and fresh fruit (Is IS pancake Tuesday, man...) coffee to drink. Dessert was some sort of thingy of questionable nutritional value. Can't say I liked it, can't say it was good for me. But, when your boss buys food, you try at least one, right? I smiled and smiled and smiled... (Hamlet, Act II, scene ii.)

Dinner 1 pancake, more strawberries and blueberries, OJ to drink.

Monday Mar 7

Frantic is the word of the day - running on a treadmill, getting nowhere fast. I had a lousy sleep last night, up with crying children, up early with a sick one. I did get a chance to get a nap in, then take my eldest to the walk in clinic.

No workout in the morning, but I needed sleep.

Got to work on time, sort of, then sat promptly down and ate my breakfast, although it was more of a lunch, really. Got a chance to get reading on using an iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch in my line of work. Got a few useful apps for them, and will be continuing work on that on another blog. Lemme know if you want to follow that one, too.

At least I am eating well this morning:

"breakfast" tuna on salad, almonds, prunes and carrot/hummus. Water to drink.

snack was almonds, hummus and carrots with water to drink.

Dinner was not a good time. I like having dinner with my entire family, but my middle child was hungry and so we couldn't wait for my wife and the oldest. I ate with one child, holding the young boy on my lap. I actually at two roast beef wraps with a salad with a side of veggie casserole. Quite good, just not a together meal.

As I got home, I made myself feel like such a tool. I'm putting together my own research project for work, something along the lines of Mov Nat and eating like a cave man. I got home, and I randomly open the 2010 Men's Health Fitness Guide to a random page ... and there's the guy, "Le Carre", doing martial arts on the beach on page 147. I'd had this article in my possession for about a year ... and I open it to the exact page I might want to read a year later. Is that foolish? Or something like Synchronicity? Meh, Made me feel like an idiot.

I hadn't done anything all day, and so I did a very simple workout about 9pm:

Did five rounds of this:

20 body weight squats
25 push ups

10 ab roll outs
15 KB swings

Not a hardcore workout, by any means, but I did not want to "Break the chain", so to speak.

Sun March 6

Sadly, I'm stuck at home instead of at the Toronto Kettlebell Club's Snatch event. The snow has me stuck here.

Did I mention I hate snow?

Instead, I'm looking at stuff on Facebook. Now, before you start telling me I'm not using my time wisely, I'm looking and discovering things that interest me, planning my next workout (which will be in about a half hour) and enjoying time with my family. Even if I'd rather be somewhere else. They didn't bring the snow, so I can't blame them.

Well, maybe I'll just blame the three month old, but I know that would be a joke.

So, you ask, what earth shattering stuff did I see on facebook? Well, a place called Fifth-Ape, a follow up with Greg Carver and some of the stuff he does and, the topper of the bunch, a blog post entitled "WWMD: What would MacGyver Do?"

I really wanted to go to the event today, but if I have to stay home with my kids, I'm glad I made the time digesting so fun that I feel like working out like a cave man.

Did six rounds of this workout:

8-10 deadlifts, ending with 160 lbs
10 step ups each side to a 20 inch step, body weight then ending with 90 lbs of sand bags strapped to me.
10-15 push ups, various weights, various hand positions, various feet heights
20 body weight squats, later with up to 90 lbs of sand bags
3 rounds of wall assisted hand stands
8-10 tricep dips
10 two handed 20kg Kb swings
3 rounds of 10 OH snatch with the 20 kilo Kb
10 each side Russian seated KB twists with 30 lb KB
10 v-sits

whoa, that was a workout. Didn't really think too much of it, as I was so pissed that my trip into the Toronto KB thing was kiboshed. I was pretty pissed until after this workout. Then I was pissed off, but tired.

Anyway, ate this:

Breakfast coffee and steak on a bun. OJ to drink, too

Lunch: tuna on a salad, almonds and OJ to drink.

Snack: almonds

Dinner: was at my parents place - the bleeping snow plow guy made it back to clear the street. Steak and sweet potato, Crunchy salad, water and beer to drink. Fruit truffle for dessert with coffee.

After I got home and the children in bed, did the week's groceries. Got a lot of Airmiles, man. If there is just one thing I can point to today and declare victory, I'm guess that's it.

Oh, I'm thinking I have to give this week a mark. Well, until today's disappointment, I was doing fairly well. I saw 228 on the scale one morning, didn't miss a planned workout that I can recall (I'll check later) and did a light rugby training session. Oh, got Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men for 3.99, too. I also got a thumb drive to put a digital package together for a fitness buddy that lives in Orange County. I should be able to get that to him this week, if he's reading.

Hmmm... I give this week a B-, if only because I didn't get into the Kb Snatch thing.

Sat March 5

Today was a pretty cool day, all in all. It started with a pleasant enough Timmy Ho's run in the morning, checked my facebook to discover that the Queensland Red RFC won their game Friday night and then had a run in to Toronto to pick up a 20 kilo KB. All of this fun just ended with my kids going to bed almost on time.

Almost.

I any case, I had a pretty cool workout with two of my children today - it started off as a fun stretching workout, but we gradually got out a bunch of the stuff and ended with a sort of "Mov Nat" workout set up. Seriously, it was an hour of stretching, jumping, walking on a balance beam and generally just moving. An hour.

Then went to pick up my new purple kettlebell in Toronto. Stainless steel, Pro grade ... i got it home and did a few KB snatches just to break it in. It's awesome. It's going to help a lot with some of the competitions I plan on attending in the next few months. Should be cool.





I did a workout, but it would be kinda useless to itemize it here. Suffice it to say, I was sweaty and tired at the end of the workout. I did do an awful lot of laughing and general moving for at least an hour.

I ate this:

Breakfast: coffee and almonds.

Brunch: sirloin steak with asparagus, OJ to drink.

Dinner: burger with salad. Beer to drink.

Still, not a bad day, despite the weather.

Fri March 4

I think I got a few new readers to my blog ... it's amazing what a few well placed email and responses will do to the stats of a blog. I'm going to keep going forward, just like they tell you in the rugby textbooks.

I had a rather odd morning, man. My kids stayed with me until 9am, even though we were all up at our regular 6am wake up time. I sat and played with my kids, reading and listening to music with them. At about 8am, I got my workout in for the day. I didn't move the car out of the garage, so I had a very small space to get work done. but I got it done. Almost done, my middle child came in, nearly crying. She wanted to workout with me ... and I had to promise that I would work out with her after school today. My eldest child,right behind her, saw me doing a set of body weight squats and complimented me on my form.

I love my family.

Did this cramped set five times before work today:

10 30 lb Kb cleans each side
20 body weight squats
10 bicep curls
10 tri cept extensions
5 chin ups

Nothing too much, as I am planning to participate in a kettlebell competition on the weekend. I just wanted to get something done before the day. I will probably have a second workout today, but not sure what that one will look like. Most likely lots of stretches and gymnastic movements.

I ate this today:

breakfast: poached egg and chicken breast. OJ and coffee to drink. (I had a discussion as to how I make a poached egg last night. Here is a final product for breakfast:


Snack: coffee

Lunch canned tuna on salad, hummus and carrots, water to drink

Dinner: roast beef and veggies wraps ... then I had another "just veggie" wrap. Man that spciy goo just makes everything taste good.

I went and got family pictures done, then came home and needed a glass of wine to forget the stress. currently waiting for my boy to wake up to feed him. Life is frigging awesome.

Thurs Mar 3

This morning, I was friggin' sore, and dawdled over my email and reading this morning and so didn't get a work out in this morning. I also did some grocery shopping for my dinner and for the lunches in the next few weeks. "One Moment of Zen" this morning, was on the drive to work this morning... I was listening to On the Edge Radio and he left the microphone on after the show was over. Kinda funny listening to Greg Edgelow's home life in my car.

I'm just glad he didn't do anything to earn an X rating...

I did think about what they were saying .. making sacrifices to make it to the top of the podium at the various levels. I'm looking around while I am writing this, at a job I love living at a house I can afford because of the job I have... with kids and all that. Do I regret giving up "athletic greatness" for this life of quiet desperation? Would there be a thousand people who'd change lives with me, or more, do you think...

Do I regret anything in my life? Not even for a second, man.

I'd be nice if there was a university close by that would let me train and still have a home life, but there isn't. At least not one without a lot of stuff I just can't work through at the moment. Meh, I'm happy with my choices, and this summer looks to be one without an awful lot of rugby, so I'm intending to fill it with wrestling, grappling and other athletic events. I'm just angry at myself that it has taken me a decade to get back to where I was back in 1999. I mean there are people at my rugby club who have never seen me under 200 pounds .. how sad is THAT? At least that is over, as I'm never going back to being a fat pig.

Breakfast: roast beef and poached eggs

Lunch: tuna on salad, hummus and veggies

Snack coffee and water

dinner pizza with hot goo on it.

after training: beer




In any case, saw this one .. thought I could use the "rings" pull ups on the TRX ... it bugs me that I haven't been able to get anything done today ... it's like I'm paralyzed or something.....

Wed March 2

So, I worked out this morning, got a meal in (a good one), got to work and fired up AOL Lifestream ... it's a workaround for the blocking of social networking sites I get at work. I can't really interact with whats going on, but I can watch, read and click.

Whoa, this was something I ended up at from the Sandbag training guy all over facebook:
Watch the reactions of the men as the women collide in this tackle football drill.



In any case, I did four rounds of this workout:

8-10 deadlifts about 130 lbs.
10 high step ups per leg onto a 20 inch step
15 legs up push ups
10 TRX BW rows
20 BW squats
10 53 lb Kb swings
8-10 ab wheel roll outs

Not a bad workout - certainly I'm feeling it at the moment and I'm kinda hoping that I can get a run in later, depending on the wind and weather outside. Actually, as I think about ti, my wife has her weekly thing tonight, so this is going to be it.

Ate this today:

Coffee

Breakfast: Roast beef and poached eggs, GJ to drink.

Lunch: tuna and veggies.

Dinner roast beef on a piece of bread ... a half sandwich. With hot stuff, veggies and hummus on the side. Almonds and prunes for dessert. Red wine to drink.


Finally, saw this on the USC page today, and wanted to post it here, as I want to be able to watch it later:




I think tomorrow, I'm going to try this one:

I'm going to put up a new thing tonight ... take down the CrossFit widget, too. I want to start to share "Books I'm reading or recently finished". No, I won't include the ones I read with my kids, unless you're interested. Lemme know

Finally, I was listening to Greg Edgelow's Wrestling Edge Radio as a podcast today ... he had my UNB Wrestling coach and a good number of the guys who came second in the team results at the 2011 Canadian University Wrestling Championships. Man, I miss those guys.

Tuesday Mar 1

What a start to the day - crying children and a sore back. I got them to school and got a rather interesting workout done:

warm up with 30 lb Kb, jumping jacks, basic movements for 5 minutes.

3:00 minutes of 40 lb KB snatching ... which was a pretty intense few minutes of work. this is for each side ... I didn't like it very much.

20 zelcher squats with the log - I went down as far as I could, but didn't want to hurt my back, so stayed higher than I normally would.

3:00 of 30 lb Kb snatching ... which went marginally better.

20 zelcher squats

then one more round of KB snatches and Zelcher squats. I was friggin toast. Then stretching and I was done. I was so sweaty and done in by this point in time ... I got the kitchen cleaned up and had to go to work with a breakfast on the way.

Breakfast coffee and a roast beef wrap

Lunch: ham and cheese on a bun with chili and a coffee from Tim Hortons. I have no idea why I ate that. Seriously.

Dinner: Small bowl of pasta with a salad and a handful of almonds for dessert.

After dinner, hung out with my family, got them to bed eventually, then went on a 7k run. Used 800 calories on the run, or so the iPod software told me. Got the baby washed, fed and ready for bed. Currently is almost asleep on the couch. He's so cute when he's semi-conscious and can't roll over.

Got a chance to play with the iPad's apps today:







I think I can use these in my work - to add to presentations and to handouts I have to use. Seriously, the iPad's software makes these types of things pretty darn easy to do. Now, if there was only an app to make losing fat and gaining muscle as easy... ;)