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.