Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday April 29

I really should start padding my post numbers. I've been combining days for a few years and this year seems to be the worst. Meh, I'd rather have a few things to write about in a post about a few days than just be stupid.

My stats are going through the roof this month, though. Finals numbers won't be in until May 1, but April 2015 is already the highest number of clicks on this blog. I'm humbled.

In any case, I have to recap my fitness for the last few days.

Monday ... was Monday. I never did like that day, but these days at work is rather stressful and so, I got a mental health break kind of a walk done with my wife. I did try to work on the redesign of my gym but it didn't happen. I had a meeting until after 9pm and got home and then we walked.

Tuesday, same stuff, different day. I didn't bring my workout gear to work, and so missed out on a training run there. At least I got my paperwork done for my boss and I started a new blog for my learning about gardening. After that I went o my physiotherapy appointment, at which I was confronted about my lack of daily stretching and rolling. I was reminded and tortured to return to formerly good habits in my daily routine to stretch and roll. Every. Day.

Light green stuff is a future meal

Why a blog about gardening? because I like free food and I like to eat well. As an added bonus, I get to show how things grow to my four year old boy. He's learning patience. Well, I'm trying to teach him patience.

At the end of the day, I got the minimum done. almost a 3k walk in.

Wednesday I got a chance to redo my gym, and so had a nice workout, lifting and moving stuff around to make my garage gym usable again. I also got my indoor garden working, placing plants in front of a window facing south so that it should work. I'm already seeing some results.

I got up early and got my rolling done. At least next Tuesday will not be so horrible with the Physio. I hope.

I also got a 2.5 k walk in, so I was good there, too.

I have to share that I'm also doing a lot of courses at Udemy.com. Random topics, but all free thanks to a Facebook group dedicated to Free Udemy courses.

Sunday April 26

Today was a family day - I was really needed at home to make sure no one was going to freak out in my family.

I should have played rugby, but ... it just didn't happen.

What did happen was the redesign of the home gym and more than a few ideas about what will be coming in the next few months for training and rugby. I also got a good idea of what I should be doing inside my own gym for training and for a new shot at gardening for my own nutrition.

I've not been doing what I need to do due to weather and injury. Well, at least one of those things is not a problem anymore... so  need to get back to training hard for rugby.

At least I found this BBC article about ice baths being widespread. I do understand that the research is still out, but I have to go with my own anecdotal evidence that ice baths work.

Friday and Saturday April 25

Friday wasn't bad in terms of my body, after the ice bath. Seriously, a lot of things feel better after that experience, regardless if the science is still out on how it might work or even if it works.

I chatted with the now assistant coach/trainer I've worked with for a few years after training Thursday. He's in favour of anything that I think that works. So am I.

Friday, I got stuck being a dad and then a silly person; first taking my kids to swimming and home, then going out to entertain a bunch of touring rugby players. That was pretty silly, but officially no workout was done. Meh.

Saturday was a rugby day. I played the team that I made sure went out and had a good time with on the night previous. They were wrecked last night, and ... well, they weren't feeling to good by kick off. By the end of the first half, we were ahead by a lot. So ... I got traded, along with the four other starting tight five players. The game got tighter after that, and a bit more fun.

Much later in the day, I got a nice 2k walk in with my wife.

I also got a chance to put together a fitness workout after training, starting this week, as we are now outside. I got it from Turbulence Training a while ago, and I've done the basic workout before. I'm looking forward to doing that and then the ice baths in July.

Wed and Thursday April 23

Wednesday was a pleasant day. Not really. It was a sucky day. A sucky day. Sucky. Sucky. Sucky.

My favourite part was the 2k walk I did with my wife. Good for my heart, good for my mind.

I really liked it. I really liked it.

Thursday was a rugby night. I attended the video section of the training session. Watching the Chiefs and Crusaders play was pretty cool. With the comments of the coach and fellow players, I understand the game that much more. Awesome.

The on the field stuff was an excellent combo of fitness and technical sections of the game. Lifting, throwing and other ball handling efforts.

After, cool tub experience. Friday mornings feel so much better that way.

Tuesday April 22

I'm off this week, so I may rant in these posts, to be frank.

I got to take a group to GoodLife and I got a run in. I did the first kilometre as a nice easy run, then proceeded to do sprints for the next kilometer. I did get the 2kms run in less than 20 minutes.

It was a nice run/walk. But I can do and I should be doing better. I know that.

After that, I got this done for three rounds before having to take the group home. And when we got home, they had a fight break out. That was not a lot of fun. Meh, it happens.

20 kb swings
20 Kb snatches
20 kb presses

I got home, made dinner and got the youngest settled in for the night. After that I got a chance to walk with my wife. The walks with here are really good in that we get a chance to share and vent as well as help our kids develop some independence. It's a win win, I think. In any case, I had a bit to share about the death of my University team mate on this particular walk. I just can't quite wrap my head around what happened. Perhaps it's just as well that I can't.

Yeah, I'm closing my eyes so I don't scream my insides through the ceiling at the moment.

In any case, I go the second 2k session in. Felt good, I guess.

Still have things to do for rugby, for my own physical fitness and for the people around me.

http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-an-Angry-Face

Sunday and Monday April 20

I'll be quite frank .. Sunday I just couldn't move. I didn't move, even though I was supposed to play another game of rugby.

Grass > turf

Yeah, I knew Saturday night I wasn't going to be able to go. I did get some recovery work done  - stretching and mobility work. Sunday afternoon, I went to a remembrance for a NOB during the afternoon, sharing some time with my fellow rugby players while recalling some nice memories of a good guy. I, for one, fondly recall being witness to him playing rugby on his 80th birthday. There is nothing that can beat that.

I did also see that a McMaster Wrestling team mate had killed himself on Friday. He had the world by the short and curly hairs, but I guess let that slip away from him. Such a shame, man.

Monday I was still sore, so I did get some recovery work done. I did get a walk in with my wife after a long day at work. The two of us are worried about labour unrest here. I'm pretty sure that we're both going to see a cut in pay among other things.

Friday and Saturday April 18th

Friday was a recovery day ... I'm going to be saying that a lot in the next few months, I'm sure. I did wake up without a lot of pain, thanks to the ice bath I had on Thursday night.

I did get a 2.5k walk in as I wanted to get something done, just to keep my feet and legs moving. I did not sleep well afterwards.

Weather was awesome, turf ... meh

Saturday was a rugby day. I was really excited for this for a few reasons, as this was to be the first contact games since October. We did win both levels of our own tournament ... which was cool. What that looked like was winning three shortened games, spread over an afternoon. I kicked off at 11am, at 12:30pm and then again at 3:20pm. For that last game, I was really really sore. I tried to get my body just to move, but it really didn't like me. Warming up was easy, as the weather was bright sunshine and as warm as it has been in a long while. Even with that warmth, it was tough to get going for the last game.

Quite frankly a beautiful day of spring time outdoor activity.

I thought I played as well as I could, but was scrummaging against men that were a lot bigger than I am. In addition, for at least one game, my opponent plays at a lot higher level than I do, week to week. I was grateful for the chance to lose, though. I did get a glimpse into what it takes to play prop at the next level.

Quite frankly I should have gone for another ice bath experience after these games. I did have an epsom salt bath after a shower, and later I did a 2k walk to try and recover. But I was really really sore when I went to bed. I should have gone to a big party, but I was just too sore, man.

Winning that 12:40 game was sweet

Wednesday and Thursday April 16

Wednesday ... was a recovery day. I felt pretty sore most of the day and just got in a walk with my wife as a part of rolling and other recovery work.

Chilly Bin

Thursday is a rugby night and I was glad of it. My legs were pretty sore after an hour of sprinting and ball handling and some contact work. We also did some work on the set pieces, too. Fun stuff.

In an case, the important part was the after training piece with a new large recycling bin as a cold tub for after training.

This was a bit of a dry run, so to speak. Making sure I could get in and out, whether it leaked or ... whatever. I have a few things to tweak for next time, but it worked fairly well. My legs and back were totally submerged and got nice a chilly in the chilly bin.

Monday and Tuesday April 14

Monday was, of course, my forty-fifth birthday. That's right, I'm on the down side of forty. Basically, I'm waiting for my spot in some retirement home.

Yeah, no, I'm lying there. I'm biting at the days now. Working on more than a few things, including getting my SmartServe, working up the money for the Kettlebell Agastsu course in July and a few online courses on coding, blogging and running a business.

I'm working on myself the way I should have been working on myself for a while.

I did this ... whatever you call it.

In any case, Monday was a sore day, a recovery day. I got a bath in before work which took the edge off of the day. After work got some rolling in and a massage to try and help with the sore muscles. It helped.

Tuesday was a good day for me.

I got a chance to do two runs, adding up to about 5k, and I got this done for four rounds at GoodLife:

20 kb clean and presses (16 kilo bell used throughout)
20 kb snatches
20 door hinge shoulder mobility reps done

took about 20 minutes to get that done and it was all good.

I'm really liking the walks in the evening with my wife. Really reconnecting with her and rather enjoying the mild weather. I got Monday's walk done in sandals, and tonight's done wearing a t-shirt... well, and shorts, too.... ;)

Saturday and Sunday April 12

Saturday was a clean up day and take the kids out and have a bit of fun day.

I got a fifty dollar gift card from my FIL last week and I thought the best use of it was to buy books for my kids. I got a set of nice pens, but my kids got 50 bucks work of books.

I considered it a great investment, to be frank. The line I kept telling them was that "My happiness depends on your happiness." I think they got the idea, that they understood that I wasn't going to be really happy unless they were happy too.

I did get a 2k walk in with my wife by the end of the day. I am still trying to shake something off, but at least I get a chance ot talk and to be with my wife on those walks.

Sunday was a rugby day.

I got to play Rugby League for another club in Halton. There was one guy actually from the union club actually playing for that club today, the rest being made up of people from five or six other rugby union teams. The coach and two players were from Burlington. Just sayin.

Of course there were at least eight other Burlington players that might have showed up, it's just that ... they didn't.

In any case, we lost. It sucked losing, but it felt awesome to get back onto the pitch again. Of course, I said the same thing last year ....

photo by Rachel Trabucco

Wedneday, Thursday and Friday April 10

I just finished this blog post, then deleted it. Brutal.

Wednesday was a hard day all around - I just had to remember that I was a grown up all day long. I had to finish the day with a 1k walk. I did get a nice bath in before work, which was nice, but I'm not getting the rolling and stretching in that I know I need to do.

Thursday was a rugby night. I got the training done, but I just didn't want to do contact, but I did it anyway. I did a fair amount of stretching and mobility after the session, too.

Friday has been a long day all around. I did find this cool blog about indoor gardening and this blog about how to get it done, too. I like free food, so I think I'm going to try these ones.

Tuesday April 7

There is only one reason to hate long weekends and it's that I forget it's a long weekend and think it's Monday when we return.

The entire day I had to keep reminding myself that it was Tuesday. I nearly just typed it was Monday. I had my workout stuff in the van, so when asked by my boss to go to GoodLife, I was ready. But I usually store my kit bag in my van, so that was not a tip off to my brain.

Speaking of GoodLife. I like the place. I really do. Of course, I have to go as a working teacher and all the rules that apply to me in a classroom apply to me there. I got my 1k run in to keep Nike+ happy and then went to get a longer kettlebell workout done.

I got this done for one round before I had the world take a dump on my head:

20 kb cleans
20 kb snatches
20 kb bicep curls


Later on in the day, I did get another 2.7 k walk in with my wife. She was exhausted after that, and more or less went to bed right after. I'm proud of her starting back on a fitness journey.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday April 6

This was an Easter weekend ... so I had a lot of stuff planned for me, which I had to bail on as I felt like living hell. I slept for most of Friday. Seriously. I woke up and then wanted a nap. I did this on and off for the day and into the evening. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but my legs and back were sore from rugby and my stomach and everything else was sore from ... something.

I did get a 2k walk in with my wife, which just exhausted me and I went back to bed.

Saturday ... proved to me that I shouldn't have left the house. I collapsed and really didn't leave my bed.

Sunday I got moving somewhat but really not much better. I did get a 2k walk in my wife.

Monday ... still mot a significant movement day on my side, but I did manage another 2k walk.

Clearly, I am fighting something inside my body. I did eat well these days, lots of fluids and the like. I would have preferred a more normal sleeping routine, as Tuesday's return to work will be that much harder.

Wednesday and Thursday April 2

Wednesday and Thursday were interesting days.

Wednesday I took as a resting day, only getting in a walk with my wife. My legs needed a break, considering what I've done so far this week and rugby training to come. I got a chance to reflect on my stupid joke on Facebook, too.

This also may have been taken at training ...

Lame, perhaps ... but I had a laugh, man. Really ... that's what I'm looking for.

Thursday was a rugby night. We sprinted, we passed the ball around. Then we sprinted. Just like this session a year ago .... hmmmm ... sprinting ... it's good for the legs.

I felt early as I was needed at home, but when I got home the danger had been averted and I went on a short "clearing the legs" walk of about 2k

Tuesday April 1 .... April Fools prank goes right!

Well, it's fess up time ... I was not born on April 1.

I have to admit, I played this one close to the vest, so to speak, and didn't really tell anyone ahead of time. I changed my birthday on my Facebook profile about six weeks ago and forgot about it. I told maybe one guy ... and he wished me a happy birthday today, too ... so I guess he forgot.

In any case, I thank you and all of my Facebook friends that took the time to wish me a happy birthday today. I'm honoured.

But I'll also tell you something that I learned about Facebook and my friends, in sharing this joke. In explaining what I'd done to the almost 80 people I've gotten to contact me today, I've sent messages all over the world today.

Some people I'll see tomorrow, some I've not actually seen in years, some whom I more than likely will never meet in person ... and I'm still able to joke around with them, make them laugh and remind them of just how much fun technology and social media can be.

That part I like and I'm also grateful for that social interaction and reminder of just how amazing this time in history actually is.

Again, thank you and I can't wait for July 1, my real birthday ..... maybe.

To my regular readers ... I will post today's workout tomorrow .... stay tuned!