Switching Back to my old Blog’s home

I decided I prefer the blogspot interface for quickly making blog entries so with that said I’ll be posting any future fitness type blog posts back at:

Not a Sloth … Not That There is Anything Wrong with Sloths

Hope to see you there

D

I’m In Like Flin

Just got the confirmation email that I’m in the Half Ironman next summer and am suddenly feeling guilty about skipping swimming yesterday.

Half Ironman Goal Renewed

I don’t like not finishing goals but sadly I leave more than a few orphaned and alone as I move on to chase the next shiny idea that got my attention. However, wussing out of the Half Ironman this year is one of those failures that haunts subconscious so last week I mailed in my application for the Great White North Half Ironman. I don’t see my name on the 2010 athlete list yet but it’s far from full so my fingers are crossed that I get in and I’ve started the training.

I’ve really enjoy the pool of late so the 2km swim doesn’t seem as daunting as it did in the spring. I have a long long way to go but I am pretty confident I can swim the Half Ironman distance next summer. My swim training consists of doing Beginners Master Swimming Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch with an extra swim on my on at the University pool on Sundays. That Sunday swim is the key: I rarely get half way through the workout on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I think there’s no way I can swim 2km. However when I just swim with no drills I can swim a long time and my confidence is improving dramatically.

My other focus has been getting my run back.  I am slowly building my base where I run with my buddy 5 to 6km twice a week and do a slow longer run on the weekends. Figure I’ll add 10 minutes to that longer run every week till I’m going for 2 hours again then I’ll work on speed.

I’ve been ignoring the bike because bike training is so damn time consuming. Instead I’ve been doing Yoga. I am almost embarrassed to say it but I kinda like Yoga. Traditionally, I’ve categorized guys who do Yoga as uber trendy yuppy sheep or simply swarmy dudes looking to pick up chicks in lulu pants. However, now that I take in the odd Yoga class  I’ll admit I find yoga to be a good workout and I feel great after doing it.

I do realize that there is a need to get more (some) bike training in and some strength training is critical.  However, I’m pretty spent just running, swimming and doing yoga at the moment so I’ll add in the bike and Crossfit more often as my fitness improves and my body and mind can take it without burning out. I do not want a repeat of February where my physical and mental systems completely burnt out and shut down for 4 months.

For now i’m feeling good, some pounds are dropping, and my energy levels higher than they have been in months.

Enough of the Comeback Post Titles

Still struggling with getting in a good pattern but making progress. Weighed in last week to see another 2 pounds gone so that makes me 7 pounds lighter than I was on the Holy Shit Day: day I stepped on a scale for the first time in months.

Went away this weekend so the workouts and diet suffered a bit but that’s life right. What’s important is that these lapses become the oddity, not the norm. Need to get my ass into Crossfit more often as my home brewed workouts tend to involve mostly cardio and I’m feeling wimpy not doing any strength training.

Comeback Post 3: The Swim

Okay I lost some of my motivation last week, had a few bad eating days, and missed a couple workouts but I’m back at it now and feeling a little guilty.

Sundays workout was Fix the Toilet. Not a lot of motion in this workout but it still involved a lot of swearing and cursing and maybe a small temper tantrum. I was suppose to go for a ride on the bike with a buddy but on the way to our start point we heard a pop and a swosh. Apparently my buddies bike didn’t want to go for a bike ride that day.

Yesterday I went for a run and have to say I really can feel the extra weight.

Today I got my google calendar reminder to register for next years half iron man (the one I wussed out of this year). Thinking I’m the sort that needs that kind a goal to maintain my focus I was inspired to registered for Beginning Masters Swimming again. OMG that sucked we didn’t even do any circuits and I still almost last my breakfast: seriously has me 2nd guessing that half iron man goal but I’ll go ahead and use my rollover registration ability and see what the swim  feels like come spring. I do think I’m going to have to spend 3 workouts in the pool per week if I have any hope of not drowning.

Comeback Post 2

Why do I have the Welcome Back Kotter lyrics going through my head now

Things are progressing nicely I am now only 15 pounds heavier from what I would like to consider my ideal weight. Although, I’m probably 12 pounds from what I consider my real normal weight. Not bad progress for a week and a half but getting a 5ish pound drop the first week is normal and I’ll be looking at 1 or 2 pounds a week going forward and even then will eventually hit the hated weight loss plateau. At which point I’ll make a more drastic change in my diet and eat super clean or maybe suck it up and try Paleo.

Monday I rolled out of bed at 5:15am to go to a Power Cycle (Spin Class) at 6am only to find it was cancelled so I did a Kettlebell Workout instead.

• 10 minute Cardio warm-up
• 5 (each side) – Turkish Get-ups 35lb
• Kettlebell Clean and Press Ladder 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 with 35lb on each arm
• 50 Kettlebell Swings with 35lb where I made a point of switching between one handed and two handed grips just cause it seemed like a good idea at the time

Tuesday I did a 60 minute Pilate’s/Yoga hybrid class called Centergy. My god this class definitely works the core.

On Wednesday my run was rained out so I used that as an excuse to do nothing.

Thursday I hit Crossfit Regina for the daily WOD.

• 2km Run
• Push-ups by the minute (2 on minute one, 4 on minute 2, and so on until failure)

I’m actually only comfortably stiff today not crippled stiff. My run was 10:45 then after a 5minute rest I managed the pushup progression up to 7 minutes and then only got 15 push-ups in minute 8.

Have to say it was nice to see some familiar faces at Crossfit and it feels good to get my body moving again.

Comeback Post 1

Okay I was pretty down on myself last post. The realization of just how far I’ve let my physical fitness slip was a hard knock to take. However, I’m pretty determined to regain my former awesomeness and am happy to report I’ve dropped 2 pounds all ready.

I bought the PC version of FitDay and upgraded to a premium account so I can synchronize PC and Website entries. I’m recording everything I eat and keeping my intake between 1900-2400 calories.

I’ve also been working out fairly regular and have learnt that Yoga/Pilate’s classes are a lot harder then they look and going to the gym at 6am has a lot of benefits that mean nothing to you when you alarm goes of at 5:15am. Thursday I plan to go to Crossfit unless it’s a max lift workout. I’m trying to drop weight fast so am all about metacon workouts not so much pure strength.

I’m feeling better all ready

Maybe a Scale isn’t Totally Evil

If someone has followed my blog entries they’d note that back in January I vowed not to weigh myself this year. Well I officially broke that vow last night.

I didn’t take the breaking of this vow lightly but by the infrequency of my posts you might have guessed that I fell off the fitness wagon. The little voice in my head kept telling me it was getting ugly but I ignored him successfully until I had to buy a bigger bathing suite this week because the one I had looked like I duct taped it on. That woke me up like a bucket of ice water. Therefore I stood on the scale last night to take a reading of the damage.

In 7 months I’ve gained almost 20 pounds and it ain’t muscle. I can’t help but wonder if I had been weighing myself if I would have corrected mylife style earlier. I still think people get stupid about what the scale tells them but it may have a use as a monitoring tool.

I Love Crossfit but …

… damn it’s hard to get back on that wagon. There’s no question the insanely high intensity of Crossfit workouts yield wondrous results but omg it can also yield some of the worse post workout muscle pain I’ve experienced.

Last year I spent the better part of the winter adapting my body to the toils of doing Crossfit regularly so when summer came I could hit the workout of the day (wod) and still be able to train for my half marathon on my off days. This winter however my workout regiem was far more lax and I am having a hell of time doing more than one or two wods a week. Last week I did a workout called “Thanks in Advance” which consisted of:

5 rounds:

- 21 Thrusters 75lb

- 21 Double Unders

I was literially crippled for 4 days afterward. Tack on a cold and I wasn’t ready for a WOD again until today. However, I looked at the website and had to back out. I’m just walking normally again and last time I did “Karen”, 150 wallballs, I was out of commission for 4 days. I know some of my more hardcore crossfit betheren will say I’m being a wussy but the thought of not being able to go up a flight of stairs for 2 days forced my hand.

Despite the fact that I can still do most of the WODs as required my body is  not conditioned to recover from those WODs. Consequently, I’m going to have to pick and choose my WODs for a few weeks. I know myself well enough to know what WODs make me moderately stiff and sore and which ones cripple me. So sorry “Karen” I’m avoiding you today but maybe we’ll meet again in a few months.

Running Should Come More Naturally

Last year I got caught up in the pose running movement.  I decided to drop over $150 bucks on Newton Runners which turned out to be the ugliest shoes I ever owned.

At first caught up in the glory of marketing I convinced myself that I loved these shoes. Despite things like tripping on every road bump and foot cramps due to the lugs on the bottom of the shoe, I proclaimed they were great. However, I never could run more than 5k with them and defaulted to my old runners for longer runs.

So what’s my point? Am I slamming Newtons or Pose Running? Well not really as I suspect the science behind both is pretty sound. What I am saying is they took away any enjoyment I got out of running. Running was an escape for me. I would normally be able to settle into the running zone and clear my mind while getting some exercise and fresh air. Constantly, focusing and battling with my running technique turned running into work and made any time longer than 20 minutes painful.

This year I went and bought a pair of standard Saucony runners and don’t intend to think about where my foot is striking. I’m just going to do what comes naturally and try and find the enjoyment I use to get while running.