Do What You Love

Riding Bauline, Newfoundland, 1999

I love a lot of things. My wife, my kids, my music, and my many passions. One of those has been with me as long as I can remember.

That is biking. I still remember one of my first bikes. It was a yellow bike that was branded the Mark II. Pretty sweet and I am sure my parents felt they hit the jackpot when they came across that bike. Boy I loved that hard plastic wheeled bike. Not even inflated tires. It was a tank and had traction about as good as you'd think for hard plasticly (very hard rubber) tires.

Of the many forms of biking, Mountain biking holds a big place in my heart, for things I love.

It's something that sits unloved sometimes. Gathering dust in the garage, tires deflating, oil drying out, forgetting the thrill of the trail.

Then a call or text comes, "Want to go biking?" Hell yes I do!

I get out the gear, I prep the bike, and I go.

The other night I went for a ride.

It was great to get on the trail and hurtle downhill at speeds my Mom would disapprove of and my kids would watch in disbelieve.

Nothing quite beats the sensation of throwing that bike around underneath you as your legs and arms pump it over roots, rocks, around ruts, and then throw the bike (and you) into a turn.

As we speed down a section of trail with beautifully hard packed corners, I saw a rise coming in the middle of the S as the turn I was dipped into, leaning over to the right, was going to transition into a fast left hand turn before switching back to the right. Stupidity came over me and I said, I bet I can jump that rise right into that left turn and swoop through this set of curves.

I write this like I had time to think this out. There was no time, my brain thought it, and I pulled up. The bike and I flew into the air.

Was this a good idea I started to think. But before I could finish the thought, the bike and my body knew what to do. Lean back to the left like I was entering that turn on the ground instead of in the air like I was.

Thump! The tires hit. My legs and arms bent. And my ass and rear wheel threw my bike and I into the turn and we both flew through it beautifully.

We had done something stupid again and both made it through.

Mountain biking is freeing. It frees the mind and the spirit.

Mountain biking is exhilarating. Am I going to fast? Will I make this turn? Phew! Did it.

Mountain biking is pounding. It makes the blood flow and the muscles ache as you drive to go faster and climb the hill back up.

Mountain biking rejuvenates my youth as I slip back into my gear and get to pretend to be a Scout Trooper on his speeder bike, whizzing through the forests of Endor.

What do you love?

Go do it.

Remember why you love it.

April Fitness Month Recap

Finishing a run with an aching thumb,
infected by a metal filing from the ex-lawn
mower.

Well, I declared April to be Fitness month to try to kick my ass into gear with training.

I started the month with a bit of a low as I did not get into the Beat The Blerch race just before April which I had been thinking of as the impetus for My April Fitness month. Then at the end of the month (as I will post tomorrow) I got into the new day that opened on Saturday. So now I really need to keep training.

The month started with a big lull as my parents visited and I took time off to hang with family and do projects. Then I felt I had some making up to do to salvage the month.

It felt good to get out regularly running again. I saw improvements in my times and could feel improvements in my cardio. I was able to climb a couple little hills easier and I broke a 10km run for the first time in forever.

In the pool, I decided to go for my 35 minute goal and then decided well I have time, let's just go for 1 mile and see how I do. When I started swimming, I worked myself up to 1 km in 30 minutes. I felt that was decent and I have done that whenever I go to the pool.

Now, having cracked 1 km in about 25 minutes and 1 mile in 40 minutes I have decided I like the mile better and it is an exhausting workout. It feels awesome and like truly being alive to feel your muscles pull you through the water faster. And not much is better than being able to go from stopping each lap a couple months ago to now swimming 60 laps with few rests in between.

So, overall, though I did not hit my number of days of exercise that I had set-out to complete. I felt the month went well. I hit some new or needed milestones in my training and I am ready to keep the training going and figure out my plan for the September 1/2 Marathon I will run.

Here are my totals for the month:

Image: Endomondo.com

Mid-Month Exercise Check In

Speedier Mark at the
Paris Marathon

‎The first half of this month has been tough to fit in my exercise. For a guy who is off that is strange to hear I know.


‎My parents were here last week and we did lots of touring, some renos at the guest house, and a lot of hanging out. So I set family as a priority there. No regrets on that one.


The week leading up to their visit I was prepping the guest house, cleaning up, etc. I also spent a day chaperoning my son's kindergarten class which took up a whole day. I could have squeezed more in there, but c'est le vie.


So, even when I am off I sometimes find it hard to get those workouts in. I have a bunch of house projects that we just kicked off yesterday which I need to work on this week but my goal is to workout in the morning and then work on house projects after my workout. Then I can't wimp out since I am "tired" ‎and did a lot of house projects so that must count right?


This worked for me yesterday when I rebuilt half of our entrance deck which was rotted. The corner that used to be attached to the house was rotted away and so that side of the deck would sag down when you stepped on it. Before I started work on the step I got my run in first so that the rest of the day was ahead of me.


Good thing I did that workout first. I was totally wiped out when I finished the step.

Running From The Blerch

Image: http://www.beattheblerch.com/

The Blerch is a construct from Matthew Inman, the Seattle based cartoonist behind The Oatmeal. Now The Oatmeal is not really kid friendly (and sometimes not adult friendly depending on your sense of humour). I do enjoy a fair deal of his work and especially The Blerch.

Matthew runs long distance for a reason I know all too well. The Blerch is all the negative stuff we do to ourselves. Consider it the devil over one shoulder who occasionally whispers into our ear, "don't exercise, play video games instead," or "hey, you didn't really do much today but have that cake, you deserve it after that 1/2 lb burger and fries covered in cheese".

Some people run to stay in shape, to look good, or to reach nirvana. I, as Matthew succinctly put it, run from The Blerch.

Monday, March 24th, I plan to register to Beat The Blerch. The race is on September 24th, 2014 in Carnation, Washington, about 20 mins from my house.

If you want to run with me and need a place to stay that weekend then let me know. I'd be happy to have you along. As well, I hope to get into the 1/2 marathon if there is space.