Our second child was born last weekend and we've been home since Monday. He is settling into a nighttime routine. My wife has been graciously letting me sleep the night since he has been both pretty easy going and I have been looking after our 2.5 yr old son (lots of energy needed for that).
So, all to say today I was not too tired and had recovered from the first few sleepless nights. I got out for a run and ran into Darren Clark. I ran along with him and a friend of his who is an Ultra-Marathoner. His friend (I forgot the name, doh) is currently training for a 50 miler.
Man, to think of that distance. It is huge!! It's only about 80 km or 5 km-ish short of a double marathon!!
It's great to realize that there are other people out there, with 3 kids, holding down a job in high tech, and training/running their races. If you make room in your life for sports/running then you can do it. The only excuse to not exercising is that it is not your priority to exercise.
I learned this some years back when I decided to cut down on the "entertainment" factor and increase the "exercise" factor in my life. It is now a part of my life and I fit in exercise however I can. Running being one of the easiest (and I enjoy it). That said, you can feel a bit like a freak when you are training all the time and have nothing to talk about except splits, your schedule this week, what you are training for now; while others are talking about the latest movies, reality TV shows, or what some Movie Star did recently.
I'd much rather be out there pounding the pavement than grooving out the couch.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Kicking It
The good: swimming is coming along well. Overall time is decreasing for distance covered.
The bad: after extra rest my left knee is still bothering me during my runs.
It gets a little disconcerting to have so many different injuries; one after another. At least I love swimming and biking, meaning I can continue to use those to keep up the fitness while I go easy on the knee.
On a different train of thought, our second child is still waiting to join us. Due date was a week ago. So, every day is a day which the chance of seeing my new son is higher than the last ;-)
The bad: after extra rest my left knee is still bothering me during my runs.
It gets a little disconcerting to have so many different injuries; one after another. At least I love swimming and biking, meaning I can continue to use those to keep up the fitness while I go easy on the knee.
On a different train of thought, our second child is still waiting to join us. Due date was a week ago. So, every day is a day which the chance of seeing my new son is higher than the last ;-)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Swimming We Will Go....
I bought a 3 month pass for swimming and am on track to get my money's worth. Paying by each session is $4.10/adult. For three months, unlimited indoor or outdoor swimming (minus special swims like the wave pool), it is $75. At that rate I only need to go 19 times to break even. That is easy since I've gone 5 times since I got my pass.
Ok, now for totally awesome toys. I used to be the gadget man, with lots of new toys but this one I think I am not leading the pack with, by any means. I bought a waterproof case and headphones for my Nano and tried it out today. It is totally awesome to be doing lane swim and getting to listen to tunes. I bought the H2O Audio system and it works awesome. Check them out at h2oaudio.com
If you swim a lot and love to listen to music then you need to check their products out. Man, I need a sponsorship ;-)
The funniest thing while trying them today was that I was listening to Techno music from Beatport.com and one of the songs had a pinging in it like from a submarine. I found that ironic.
Ok, now for totally awesome toys. I used to be the gadget man, with lots of new toys but this one I think I am not leading the pack with, by any means. I bought a waterproof case and headphones for my Nano and tried it out today. It is totally awesome to be doing lane swim and getting to listen to tunes. I bought the H2O Audio system and it works awesome. Check them out at h2oaudio.com
If you swim a lot and love to listen to music then you need to check their products out. Man, I need a sponsorship ;-)
The funniest thing while trying them today was that I was listening to Techno music from Beatport.com and one of the songs had a pinging in it like from a submarine. I found that ironic.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Training Again
Well, I am back into training and it feels good. Right calf is fully recovered but I am still experiencing an ache in my left knee. Hey, if it is not one thing it is another. I will continue to monitor, do some strengthening exercises and see how it goes.
This past week was a good one, I got in 2 swims and 3 runs. About the same plan this week. Swim Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Run Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. With a possible bike ride thrown in.
My buddy Ken is biking across Canada this summer. He has been gone for 2 weeks now and has lost 10 lbs. It took 2 weeks to cross British Columbia and he is now in Alberta. This week he moves through Saskatchewan. I am getting regular updates from him and he is having lots of fun and making me very envious ;-)
This past week was a good one, I got in 2 swims and 3 runs. About the same plan this week. Swim Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Run Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. With a possible bike ride thrown in.
My buddy Ken is biking across Canada this summer. He has been gone for 2 weeks now and has lost 10 lbs. It took 2 weeks to cross British Columbia and he is now in Alberta. This week he moves through Saskatchewan. I am getting regular updates from him and he is having lots of fun and making me very envious ;-)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Cross Training or Tri-Training for Upcoming Races
Started swimming at the outdoor pool near work today. I got in 30 minutes, which was about 20 laps with short rests between some laps. Maybe 70% front crawl and the rest breast stroke.
It was a good workout and felt great. I was breathing hard and my muscles were tired all over.
I find swimming keeps me loose by loosening up tight muscles.
The pool is only 5-10 mins walk from my office so I can walk there, get in a swim, and get back during lunch.
Combining that with biking to work and my running I am considering another triathlon this year. I want to move up a level and try an Olympic distance, which involves:
The only event I can find between now and enough reasonable training time is the Montreal Triathlon which fits my criteria or within driving distance and not so late I need a wet suit. Though it is on September 13 so it could be cool.
Anyways, just another thing I am thinking about. As well, I plan to run the Nike Human Race 10K on August 31, 2008. There is a 10K race in mid-August I may run which I would plan to run fast, where-as the Nike 10K I just plan to run as a training run, so no plan to go all out.
All this and a possible Half Marathon on September 21 for the Canadian Army Run.
As you can see, lots of plans that could all fit into my schedule depending on how demanding a new baby will be. So we will see how many of these I tick off in the next few months. They can all wait until next year ;-)
That said, the 1000km can't wait. Only 373 km left to go.
It was a good workout and felt great. I was breathing hard and my muscles were tired all over.
I find swimming keeps me loose by loosening up tight muscles.
The pool is only 5-10 mins walk from my office so I can walk there, get in a swim, and get back during lunch.
Combining that with biking to work and my running I am considering another triathlon this year. I want to move up a level and try an Olympic distance, which involves:
- Swim: 1.5 km (Yes, 1500 metres, since that sounds further to some)
- Bike: 40 km
- Run: 10 km
The only event I can find between now and enough reasonable training time is the Montreal Triathlon which fits my criteria or within driving distance and not so late I need a wet suit. Though it is on September 13 so it could be cool.
Anyways, just another thing I am thinking about. As well, I plan to run the Nike Human Race 10K on August 31, 2008. There is a 10K race in mid-August I may run which I would plan to run fast, where-as the Nike 10K I just plan to run as a training run, so no plan to go all out.
All this and a possible Half Marathon on September 21 for the Canadian Army Run.
As you can see, lots of plans that could all fit into my schedule depending on how demanding a new baby will be. So we will see how many of these I tick off in the next few months. They can all wait until next year ;-)
That said, the 1000km can't wait. Only 373 km left to go.
Nike+ Profile
I've added my Nike+ Profile in the right content bar. It shows my total logged distance, average pace overall, etc. If you want to add one and are a Nike+ user you can grab the code from the "Edit" user settings and then choose "Share My Profile."
First Run
Ahh...to be running again. I got my first run in in over two weeks this past Sunday. I went out for 30 minutes, covering 5km.
I took my son who had fun as well, though he is bit of a hard coach. He got upset when I stopped to have some water at the turn around point. He wanted to go faster he told me. Just like his Dad ;-)
During the run, the right calf felt fine. It feels fully recovered. The left knee which has been giving me some trouble for 2 months now was still weak. So, I plan to work on that to try and strengthen the knee and my legs overall.
I took my son who had fun as well, though he is bit of a hard coach. He got upset when I stopped to have some water at the turn around point. He wanted to go faster he told me. Just like his Dad ;-)
During the run, the right calf felt fine. It feels fully recovered. The left knee which has been giving me some trouble for 2 months now was still weak. So, I plan to work on that to try and strengthen the knee and my legs overall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)