Author: Iron Rogue

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Multi-sport Mind: Rowga

I come from rowing stock, you could say.  My mother rowed, my father rowed – in fact, it’s how they met.  It was a long time before I would get a chance to try it; my high school didn’t have a team, and my high school life put me off trying out for sports enough that combined with the busy schedule of an undergraduate engineering student, I didn’t look into it at the University of Waterloo either.


It took until Grad School in 1999-2000 for me to get in touch with this part of my athletic heritage; I mean, where better than England to get into that scene?  It was unusual for Grad students to take part in athletic clubs, and stranger still to be the eldest on the Novice Men’s Team (I was 26 amongst 19 and 20 year-olds).  The Leeds teams didn’t do well that year, but we still had lots of fun and I learned a lot.  Sadly, digital cameras weren’t that common (at least I didn’t have one), so I’m having trouble tracking down any photographic evidence of these adventures.


We have a rowing shell at our cottage that I hardly use.  The problem with rowing solo (or ‘sculling’) is that it takes an even higher level of skill to keep the boat level and moving in a straight line.  If both oars don’t enter and leave the water at the same time and aren’t inserted to the same depth, the boat reels and curves to the left or right, making it somewhat frustrating.  I can’t follow the shoreline easily, nor can I simply head out to the middle of the lake, because it tends to be wavier and more choppy out there.

Rowing as part of a crew is different.  All rowers are trying to move in sync, taking their cues from the ‘Stroke’ – the rower at the stern of the boat.  Yes, there is a cox (a typically smaller person at the stern who faces forward) who can call out real-time tactics and the rhythm, but your natural responses are a little better simply watching the rower in front of you; provided there isn’t too much delay from one rower to the next, everybody should be in lockstep with the Stroke, who’s in the best position to do what the Cox says.





So rowing has a teamwork aspect and a very technical aspect.  An oar can get caught awkwardly in the water (either on the way in, or more often in my experience, on the way out) and it’s called ‘catching a crab’.  So your technique is something that can always be refined, in addition to simply having plenty of strength and endurance to pull that oar hard, over and over.  The element I like the best, though, is the simple rhythmic exchange between the pull and glide (where you recover for the next stroke).  It reminds me a lot of cross-country skiing, or maybe even inline skating.


I think I wrote all that out of nostalgia, since rowing doesn’t play a very big role in my current fitness regime with one exception: when I attend a Yoga class (as I have been once a week for the past 3-4 weeks), I don’t like to do it without having warm muscles.  So I often hit the ergometer/rowing machine for 5-10 minutes before a class.  It works out the whole body, but especially the back muscles, which are not only often neglected by other forms of functional exercise, but they get a nice stretch through so many Yoga poses and sequences.  Using the machine (side note: a friend of mine who got himself in good enough shape to pass police entrance exams credits most of his transformation to a rowing machine!) lets me train my muscle memory so I don’t completely forget the gross motor parts of a rowing stroke, puts me in touch with my past a little, and the rhythm of the stroke can be meditative (though I usually have to concentrate to tune out the gym’s distractions like music, TV and other people).  


In other words, it can be a great mental and physical complement to a Yoga class, thus: Row-ga.  Of course, there’s also this guy, who heads out in a boat in the ocean to have deep, meditative thoughts.  That’s also good (though he seems to have retired that blog, most of the links seem to be dead). Plus these guys think like me.

Have you used an ergometer/rowing machine?  How about the real deal?  

Live Long and Rock On!

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The Week in Links: SCIENCE!

Here are some of the best links I came across this week…




The Top Ten Sport Science Stories of 2012

#1 is the Lance Armstrong Fall.  I’ve been wanting to write about this, and maybe the upcoming interview with Oprah will freshen the topic somewhat.  Sport Science is fascinating since there are so many claims when it comes to fitness and what does and doesn’t work, that it takes rigorous analysis sometimes to debunk some of the myths.  Plus, it’s an intersection of my nerdier interests and my jock-ier interests.

The jaw-dropping benefits of cross-country skiing

A great article by Alex Hutchinson (who’s a great source for clearing up the claims of various studies) about why Cross-Country Skiing is such a superior form of exercise. 







13 Fitness Trends to Watch for in 2013

It’s always nice to see what the new frontiers of fitness are going to be.  I’m especially excited about Primal and Parkour based exercise programs (which could stand to become more mainstream and accessible), Brain-Based Exercise (which overlaps with the former) and Cross Disciplining.  You know what combines those? Burbathlon!  Also the rise of online fitness and video will help with these.  Who knows, maybe Iron Rogue will be providing video this year…

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Review: Crossfit/Crossfit Kids at SquareOne Crossfit

Way back in 2012, I started researching where I might be able to try Crossfit.  Crossfit has exploded in popularity especially in the past year, so I feel a little silly introducing and explaining it, but here goes…


Crossfit started as a way to ‘Open-Source’ fitness.  Open Source software is free to use, and the computer programming code is free and public; not kept secret.  In fitness, the concept would be a workout that is publicly available as opposed to something you had to pay an instructor or trainer for.  Every day a ‘Workout of the Day’ or WOD would be published that could be done with fairly basic equipment you could put into your home.  Exercises were drawn from Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics to promote functional strength as well as endurance, balance, flexibility, agility and co-ordination; true multi-dimensional fitness.  Where it grew as a business was again similar to Open Source software: though anyone could do it and the accessibility was appealing, this stuff was sophisticated enough that it made sense to engage an expert.  Crossfit gyms, or ‘boxes‘ (called this, because they seem plain and spartan compared to the modern gym – no frills, just the weights and equipment you need) started springing up, and certifications were created by the originators of the movement.  Nowadays, there are competitions, and they are sponsored by Reebok which has dubbed Crossfit “The Sport of Fitness”.
The SquareOne Box


There are a few boxes locally, and they all had their apparent pros and cons (from what I could tell by web research), but besides proximity, one big advantage that SquareOne Crossfit had was a Kids program.

They run their Crossfit Kids program on Sunday mornings, and for parents who want to do the WOD, they’re able to do that in parallel.  That clinched it, since we’re always looking for ways to keep Shark Boy entertained and active.  I wanted to make arrangements for a free trial in December, but with the holidays, it took until now to get us ‘in the box’.

Shark Boy and I got there for 8:30AM when the classes for kids 3-5 take place.  We met with the Kids’ instructor Arianne, and I did the initial paperwork.  Unfortunately things weren’t yet in full swing post holidays, so Shark Boy was the only kid in class and I think he was a little intimidated.  I hadn’t built it up for him too much, since I didn’t know what to really expect, but he was game for trying things as long as I accompanied him initially (and did some of the exercises too).

It starts, of course, with a warm-up.  Arianne put an agility ladder on the floor and had him (us) do two-footed jumps over each rung of the ladder back and forth.  We then moved on to jumping in and out (to the side of the ladder) and jumping on one foot.  Though he’s very athletic, I was a little surprised to see he had no real idea of how to jump on one foot – the learning begins!

After the warm-up a class (adult or kids!) moves on to the skill lesson.  We did squats, with hands overhead.

The ‘work-out’/WOD portion of a kids class seems to be game oriented, which was great.  Shark Boy was in his element playing  Lumberjacks and Farmers (knockdown pylons or put them back upright), Tail-Tag and Simon Says were all part of the deal, and it got more fun as some of the kids from the 6+ class started to trickle in.  He was obviously having fun and getting more comfortable and needed less hand-holding from his father.

I got to meet some of the other Crossfitters and people walked up and introduced themselves; from what I read, this friendliness is part of the general culture, and I was glad to see it wasn’t just hype.  It also meant I didn’t have to figure out the warm-up on my own:

Some of these were very familiar, but I’d never heard of Dislocates (sounds painful!).  Essentially it was holding a bar with wide grip and rotating it around to your back without bending your elbows.  Good mornings are bending over (from the hips) with a straight back.

I knew I’d need help on pull-ups; I can’t do them.  I did like their method of assisting the pull-up: a resistance band looped through the foot – you end up mimicking the real movement very, very closely.  I was a little embarrassed to be using the strongest band (giving me the biggest possible assistance) and I was reconsidering using that particular one as I got through my ten reps, but by the last one, I noticed I couldn’t quite get my chin up to the bar, so it was probably the right one after all.

The workout of the day was called ‘Linda’ and it meant doing sets of three exercises in descending number of reps: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 ,1.
“LINDA”
The first exercise was the Deadlift.  Here’s where I got my skill lesson prior to the WOD.   Chris, the man in charge, showed me how to do these correctly.  The second exercise was the Bench Press; I had done these on Thursday and had a good idea of how much weight I could handle.  I shared a bench with another man who wanted to lift the same amount as me, since benches were limited and the turnout that morning was good.  Rather than do a Power Clean (which is somewhat technical and would need a little more teaching/practice), Chris had me do a Sumo Deadlift/High Pull which was a Deadlift in a wider stance (with an narrower grip) combined with an upright row at the end.

The weight to be used was based on your own Body Weight (BW)… that wasn’t going to happen.  I tried to pick weights that would be sensible for me to get the form right and not injure myself, and of course… sweat.

On deadlifts, I need a lot of work.  I’m shrugging my shoulders and/or pulling my arms to get the bar moving up, I don’t bend my knees enough for the bottom, but I kept my back straight and didn’t hurt myself.  Bench presses went very well, and I was generally struggling to get that last rep on every set.  The Sumo Deadlift/High Pulls were a little weird – maybe I should have tried a bigger weight.  Apparently the key is to really pop your hips forward and get the weight accelerating upward, but it always felt like cheating to me.  Still it gave me an idea of the kind of motion that is involved in the Power Clean.

I finished in 20 and a half minutes, making me the third one done.  I can’t be too proud of that since I know they were taking it easy on me since it was my first time. Otherwise, how could I have taken the boys tobogganning that afternoon?  I gathered up Shark Boy and asked him if he enjoyed himself… was it something he’d like to do again?  He said yes, and so help me, I felt the same way.

I spoke to Chris about options for my son and I and everything was very low pressure.  I should say, no pressure.  I was overall very pleased to note that this box focusses on form over intensity; I’d had fears that the kind of ‘all or nothing’/’pain is weakness leaving the body’ wouldn’t fit well with my history of injury.  Chris’ outlook was refreshing in its simplicity: they’re there to get people fit.  If they can’t walk the next day, how can they come back to work out the next day?

Both Shark Boy and I have packs of drop in classes bought, so I guess the cult of Crossfit can count us in.

Have you heard of Crossfit? Tried it? Loved it?  What about Crossfit Kids?
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Motivation Monday: My Sons Are My Heroes.

Over at my Lightning Kid Blog, I recently announced that he had taken his first steps.  He is a little short of his 15 month birthday, and we’re over the moon about his development.  It’s not only terribly early by the developmental milestones for children with Down Syndrome, it’s within the range of typical development.  I was watching him try standing the other day.  He’d crawl on hands and knees, get his feet under his hips, straighten up into standing, then flop onto his butt… but he was doing this over and over again with an intensity and persistence that could only be described as furious.  Tenacity is going to serve him well because I know he’ll face adversity as he gets older.  Likewise persistence, as my father used to quote Calvin Coolidge:


Now Shark Boy’s persistence isn’t any lesser, but a little more annoying, since he will argue on everything with me, sometimes I feel like he’d dispute the colour of the sky.  What’s remarkable about him, is his response to being tired: he simply goes faster.  Think about it: if you had to pull an all-nighter, and you started feeling drowsy, you’d probably put on a pot of coffee.  What if you did a sprint around the block?  That would wake you up!  Shark Boy had discovered this little fact from the time he could crawl, I figure.


If you ask just about any toddler or preschooler whether they’re tired, they’ll automatically say no even if all signs (fussiness, irritability, eye rubs, yawning) point to yes.  Shark Boy (and again the Lightning Kid to a large extent) don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk.  As their parent, I find them exhausting obviously, but in moments when I can reflect on the day, I still admire that even as the energy in those little bodies starts to wane, their spirits want to keep going.  If I may quote my eldest son:

Words to live by…

On a bit of a post-script, I found other inspiration this week from an unlikely source… a brewing company.  I read a bit about Rogue Ales; obviously the name alone appealed to me.  They’ve got a lot of different flavours (like Chipotle Ale) that I want to try, but it looks like it’s a little hard to come by in Canada, especially in the Greater Toronto Area (BC looks like it’s better off).

By the power of Greyskull I will track down and drink this beer: @rogueales Chipotle Ale:rogue.com/beers/chipotle… #beerchat
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) January 4, 2013

I started poking around the website and found their ‘Declaration of Interdependence‘ down the page was the following image and text:

Source: rogue.com via Axel on Pinterest


  • Rogues take risks.
  • Rogues are willing to shun titles and personal financial success in the
    pursuit of the greater good.
  • Rogues pursue the long shot.
  • Rogues have respect for diversity.
  • Rogues are never satisfied to rest on past laurels.
  • Rogues work hard.
  • Rogues are driven to succeed in their chosen field.
  • Rogues ignore the accepted patterns and blaze their own trails.
  • Rogues have raw talent and focus on that talent.
  • Rogues are honest with themselves and others.
  • Rogues are rebels.
  • Rogues have one foot in reality to let them get the job done, but they are, nonetheless, led by their dreams.
Some of those really spoke to me (maybe not so much the one about raw talent…).  I’d like to think they apply to my life and my pursuits…

Have you ever found inspiration from an unlikely source?
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Half-Marathon Training Week 1: Winter Wonderland

When I finalized my training plan for the Chilly Half-Marathon, I knew it meant starting right away… the Christmas holidays weren’t over yet, and order had not yet been re-established.  Whatever, no fear, no excuses.

Shark Boy had done a great job of mastering downhill skis from the safety of our backyard (with his wonderful mother’s excellent tutelage and supervision) and we had wanted to take him to Centennial Park for some more advanced training… possibly even get him on the magic carpet.  The training plan said do 11.2km on Sunday, but since I knew Sunday would be a write-off with driving to Collingwood, Saturday would have to be the day.  Plan A was to run with the Lightning Kid in the Chariot during Shark Boy’s ski lesson but when we arrived at the ski area, we were surprised to find that they weren’t open and we would not be permitted to try skiing nearby even without using the lifts…

I was frustrated; it was only day 1, and my plans to run (which already took a great deal of effort and organization) were already in the trash.  I wanted my wife to be able to take a nap after a rough night of kid wake-ups, and I didn’t see how it could all work… and we were still looking for a way to give the kids some fresh air and activity.  Taking Shark Boy tobogganing was a good option for him, and pulling him up the hill was good exercise, but not the same as racking up the miles I needed.

He wanted to pull it up himself… twice out of what felt like 100 times.


By the time we’d gotten home and had lunch, we got Shark Boy down for a nap, and I decided to take Lightning Kid out on the sidewalks (which were only partly cleared of snow) and do my best.  Out the door we went.  He fell asleep fairly quickly; but I found the going difficult.  Not only was pushing the extra weight an extra effort, but I had little traction, and the wheels of the Chariot would get stuck in deeper snow – getting unstuck from a snowbank or three gave Lightning Kid a rude awakening.

In the end, it took me an hour and 20 minutes to get 9.2 km done… 2k short of my goal, but given the extra challenges, I put it in the win column.  That’s going to be a theme this week, if not the entire winter season.

Long Run: Finished!


Sunday was spent driving north to Collingwood in search of even more snow; we made good time and tried to find the tubing hill at Blue Mountain for some family fun – this hill apparently no longer exists though Shark Boy and his mother got to do a few runs on a borrowed snow saucer-type deal.  We thought we were experts on the area, as we came up a lot when we were dating and early in our marriage, but either 1.) there have been changes, or 2.) having kids screws with your brain, especially the memory parts.  By the end of the weekend, I felt better oriented in case we try it again, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  We stayed with some friends who have a chalet there, and also a baby, so no-one was too shell-shocked by diapers or crying and whatnot.


On New Year’s Eve Day, Shark Boy got a real skiing lesson on the hill complete with magic carpet lift.  The Lightning Kid slept in the car, and just as he woke up, and I started putting the Chariot back together for a little run, I got a text message that Shark Boy and his mother were heading back so that he could have lunch and a nap… best to stay ahead of the fatigue when downhill skiing, I always say.

Once everyone was back inside, I got the chance to do a run. Our hosts told me about a trail I could access; they figured there had been enough people tramping it down to make it feasible for running. Again, I tried to take it easy and manage expectations. The trail was beautiful, but it did get difficult where it was actually marshy beneath the snow – I had to use my dance-y feet to keep from busting through ice into deep puddles.


Getting to the trail meant running on slushy roads, which wasn’t any easier. Still, the air was brisk, and I was accomplishing what I set out to do.


New Year’s Eve was quiet to say the least. While we stayed up to midnight, I started getting a little infatuated with the idea of falling asleep in one year and waking up in the next…

For New Year’s Day we opted to get our cross-country ski on, just before making the return trip home. I’ve skied with the trailer behind me lots of times, but I was finding it much harder so I did a little math. I used to count 20 pounds for Shark Boy with another 22-25 pounds for the Chariot totalling around 45 pounds or so. Now, I’ve got an 18 lb Lightning Kid to add to the load with Shark Boy coming in closer to 35 lbs these days. I was really digging in my edges and using all my strength to get up the bigger and steeper hills. Before I got this week started, my wife asked if cross-country skiing could/would count toward weekly mileage for running and I said no… only running is running, and while cross-training is beneficial, counting it instead of the runs I’m supposed to be doing will lead to me not doing much running at all. Still, I can’t help but think there’s more than a little cross-over between the two sports, and I’m struggling to get every prescribed kilometer…

Wednesday I was back in the office, and I brought plenty of warm gear (including a Specialized cycling jacket my wife gave me… kept me feeling good!) and managed to get my 7 km. Keeping my footing on the trail was challenging, and I found my upper body making a lot of lateral movement to compensate. It was also slow, of course.


That evening I noticed my legs felt a little thrashed, and the next morning there was a lot of stiffness in my lower back and hips. I wasn’t sure if I was going to take a rest day as my ‘X’, or find a lighter way to cross-train. By lunch, I opted to do some weights for strength, but instead of the usual where functional movement recruits a lot of lower body and core, I did simple old fashioned weight lifting to focus on my chest, back and arms.

Friday was tempo run day, and given the havoc the snow had been wreaking on my pace and technique, I opted for the dreadmill/treadmill.

Pros:

  • I had the water I needed without needing to ‘carry’ it
  • I hit the paces I wanted on both Warm-up/Cool Down (7:27/km) and the main set (5:30/km)
  • I got to use my iPod Classic.  It has a hard-drive so it’s usually no good for running, but it has WAY more of my music on it than any other device.  Putting it on the console shelf worked fine, and I got to listen to this: Conscience Killer – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Cons:

  • Boredom.  It kicked in before I had finished my first mile.
  • Danger! The boredom resulted in me looking at the TV Screens above.  Well, there was a good chance I was going to do that anyway.  While staring, I drifted laterally and nearly flew off the thing!  While breaking my neck falling off a treadmill doesn’t seem like the MOST humiliating way to die, I really don’t want it to be because I was checking out highlights of sports I don’t follow or even worse… Kimye.


Let’s look at the week’s summary compared to the plan:

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Total
date 12/30/2012 12/31/2012 1/1/2013 1/2/2013 1/3/2013 1/4/2013 1/5/2013 km
actual km 9.25 4.5 X 7 X 4.66 OFF* 25.41
planned km 11.2 5.6 X 7.2 X 4.8 OFF 28.6
comment actually saturday xc ski 6.5km weights *See below 29.9 with skiing


I came up a little short on kilometers, but overall, I’m pleased not to have missed any workouts, and do be doing what I set out to do.  Saturday is supposed to be a rest day with next week’s long run occurring on Sunday, but given my plans for Sunday (stay tuned! I’ll give you a hint, it’ll put the Cross in Cross-Training) I may move my long (12.8km) run to Saturday and take Monday off.  Wish me luck!

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Building the Half-Marathon Training Plan

Back when I signed up for the Chilly Half Marathon, the only goal I gave myself was to make sure my running mileage was on the rise.  Let’s see how I did…


Not great, but I seem to be OK with 15km a week, which has been the starting point for a lot of half-marathon plans I can remember seeing in the past.  Though I couldn’t think of any specifically, and I wanted lots of room for strength training or other triathlon cross-training, I started with one I came across from Mary-Liz Johnson of Oh To Have The World On A String seen below:





Her Wednesdays have a mile of Warm-Up and Cool Down (WU & CD) along with a tempo run.  Also, 2 days a week of strength training.  Nice, but it’s in miles!  Metric system please!

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Total
1.5KM WU & CD
4.8 6.4 X 6.4 X OFF 6.4 24
4.8 6.4 X 6.4 X OFF 8 25.6
5.6 6.4 X 8 X OFF 9.6 29.6
5.6 7.2 X 1.6 X OFF 11.2 28.6
5.6 7.2 X 2.4 X OFF 12.8 31
6.4 7.2 X 3.2 X OFF 14.4 34.2
6.4 7.2 X 4 X OFF 16 36.6
6.4 7.2 X 4.8 X OFF 12.8 34.2
5.6 8 X 4.8 X OFF 16 37.4
5.6 8 X 6.4 X OFF 19.2 42.2
5.6 8 X 3.2 X OFF 8 27.8
4.8 2.4 X REST 30MIN 20MIN Rest 7.2


Ah, that’s better.  I’ve replaced “Strength” with ‘X’ for cross-training.  Here, X can be:

  • Swimming
  • Yoga
  • Rowga
  • Strength Circuit (especially the Matrix!)
  • Bootcamps/Exercise Classes


You’ll notice that Tuesdays are primed to be Trifecta Tuesdays with cross-training.  The plan is starting to take shape.  When I attended the TRX class with Ignition Fitness, Tommy Ferris advised me that the best thing I could do to improve running (with a view towards increasing mileage to the half-marathon level) given a family man’s limited schedule would be to have easy runs every, single, day.  Which was pretty much the opposite of what I wanted, but still, the idea stuck in my head.  What I would like to try to do is add 10-20 minutes on the treadmill after every cross-training/strength session I do at the gym.  This will mean having to be efficient in my strength sessions (which I’m all about anyway) and this kind of ‘brick’ structure to the workout comes naturally for a triathlete anyway.

Still, the program isn’t right yet.  Taking Fridays off doesn’t make a lot of sense, and weekends with the kids sometimes interferes with long runs.  Then I read Fitness Cheerleader’s training plan and she points out there’s only 10 weeks left, not 12!  After shuffling and croppiing out the first weeks:

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Total
1.5KM WU & CD
12/30/2012 11.2 5.6 X 7.2 X 1.6 OFF 28.6
1/6/2013 12.8 5.6 X 7.2 X 2.4 OFF 31
1/13/2013 14.4 6.4 X 7.2 X 3.2 OFF 34.2
1/20/2013 16 6.4 X 7.2 X 4 OFF 36.6
1/27/2013 12.8 6.4 X 7.2 X 4.8 OFF 34.2
2/3/2013 16 5.6 X 8 X 4.8 OFF 37.4
2/10/2013 19.2 5.6 X 8 X 6.4 OFF 42.2
2/17/2013 8 5.6 X 8 X 3.2 OFF 27.8
2/24/2013 REST 4.8 X 2.4 X REST OFF 7.2
3/3/2013 RACE




Uh-oh.  I should be getting in almost double the mileage I currently am (I wish ‘kilometrage’ was a word) doing weekly  While these workouts don’t have much in the way of designated structure (speed work, hills) that’s OK  because those objectives can be tough to achieve in snow and ice anyway.  Knowing me I’ll incorporate small amounts to keep myself entertained whether it’s Fartlek (speed play) during the weekday runs or taking on an extra hill here or there.

Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point advocates a flexible training plan.  I’ll need elements of this, because the demands of the kids and work (never mind my own health being under threat of cold and flu season) will cancel some workouts.  Shifting them around from one day to the other will help, and any extra distance I rack up on the treadmill on ‘X’ days needs to count.

I want to finish in two hours (2:00:00) so according to this handy pace calculator, these should be my paces:

Your easy run training pace is: 6:35/km
Your tempo run training pace is: 5:30/km
Your VO2-max training pace is: 4:58/km
Your speed form training pace is: 4:36/km
Your long run training pace is: 6:35/km – 7:25/km
Your Yasso 800s training pace is: 4:06 / 800m


The easy and long run paces are the only ones of real interest.  Wednesdays I can either use the ‘Tempo’ run pace or my actual planned race pace which would be more like 5:42/km; it’ll have to depend how I feel.  If we get any cross-country skiing done on weekends, I’ll have to count that as an ‘X’, get some kilometers in on a Tuesday or Thursday instead (see? Flexibility) and then hope for the best come race day.

Whew! Figuring that all out before the new year felt like more work than actually running the plan!  Maybe not…

Do you like using a plan that someone else has figured out for you, or customizing? Or are plans for chumps?

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Achievement Unlocked: Ski-Commute

The Greater Toronto Area was hit with a snowstorm the night of December 26th.  Now, I’ve biked to work, and I’ve run to work, and I’ve even in-line skated to work.  The white whale of active living commutes for me though, has been the idea of cross-country skiing to work.  It would take a lot of special circumstances, most importantly a fresh snowfall.  I figured it was still holiday time and the office would be less than bustling so those circumstances were going to line up perfectly today…

Well, not quite perfectly.  I had brought my laptop home for the holidays.  Luckily, I brought it in a backpack rather than the typical shoulder bag laptops come in, so I could carry it, if I was willing to haul the extra 10lbs or so.  I also had to shovel the driveway before leaving (I got some help from Shark Boy).  Life (especially as a family man) has taught me that things are never perfect, and unless there’s a serious, serious obstacle –

if you want to do something, the time is now.



Going to cross at item off my #BucketList today… Can you guess? #fitfluential lockerz.com/s/272363894
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

I couldn’t resist the tease…

So, though I got a late start after my wife took Shark Boy to daycare (with the Lightning Kid along for the ride), I got suited up to go.  I couldn’t find my Garmin heart rate monitor, so I just used Endomondo to track the trip.  I also decided to live tweet the whole thing.

OK… Ladies & Gentlemen, boys & girls of all ages, coming to you live via Twitter… The #SkiCommute!
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

Backpack (with laptop) #SkiCommute lockerz.com/s/272384514
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

#SkiCommute Facemask lockerz.com/s/272385146
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

Hoorag on display

#SkiCommute skis lockerz.com/s/272385671
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

And off I went.  I actually skied on my own street to avoid the side-walks that my more industrious neighbours had already cleared.  I also skied across a few lawns, just to be able to spare my skis from cement, salt, or whatever.  Still I had to take them off and walk for a bit (though it gave me a chance to joke with an elderly lady shovelling her driveway.  Once I hit the park, I was good for a long ride on my skis.

Of course, I hadn’t thought the whole route through…

#SkiCommute have to take ’em off for this part lockerz.com/s/272388704
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

This would be the first of two bridges I had to go under…

I became aware of just how little snow I was skiing on by the fact that instead of the usual satisfying ‘crunch’ the poles make as they crush snow beneath their tips, there was a startling ‘knock’ as they hit the gravel or pavement just under the snow.  I got used to it after a while, but it rattled my nerves a little.

#SkiCommute kept the skis on for this part; didn’t think it would work.
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

 This part was real ‘bush-whacking’… I enjoy it when I’m running, but even I’m less agile with planks stuck to my feet.  Still, I managed not to fall (especially not into the neighbouring river), and I was really enjoying myself.  I was just about done…

Last effort…uphill #SkiCommute lockerz.com/s/272395782
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

After I took that picture, I think I put my Blackberry back in my pocket.  I took my skis off at the top of the hill, because it was all side-walk from there on in.  I wanted to terminate the Endomondo session and tweet victory, but I noticed the Blackberry was not in my pocket, and the pocket was unzipped.

I figured it fell out as I bent over to take off the skis, but I couldn’t find it at the top of the hill.  I retraced my steps to where I took the picture and couldn’t see a sign of it.  I dug through the snow, I looked at every suspicious hole in the snow.  I eventually ran inside, asked to look at Endomondo on someone’s computer.

You can see almost exactly where it must have been.  I ran back outside, and searched a 25 square foot area for a good 20 minutes, digging with my hands, kicking snow with my boots… nothing.  The mishap put a  damper on my mood… I can’t say it ruined the day since I’d accomplished something I’d been fantasizing about since we moved into our house.

And so the great #SkiCommute comes to an ignoble end… with a lost cell-phone.#Fitfluential. goo.gl/8j2OR
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) December 27, 2012

I got out of my ski clothes in the change rooms, and treated myself to a hot shower.  I think everyone is still in holiday half-sleep, since the sight of me walking around the office carrying skis didn’t raise any questions at all.

PROOF

The Blackberry was gone, and I had to report it as such, but the good news is I had my new Samsung Galaxy S3 waiting in the wings (as described here).   This gave me the excuse to embrace change and get it activated; I’m still getting used to it, but Endomondo was the first app I installed so that I could make the trip back home.

On the way home, I didn’t live tweet, I didn’t take pictures.  I figure all that goofing around was what led to me losing track of the old phone.  I just concentrated on skiing.  Due to that focus, and the fact that the snow had been tramped down by hikers, toboggans, bikes, and I don’t know what else, it was much faster going; almost like skiing on a track-set trail.  The stats from Endomondo seem to back that up:


I got home and squared away most of the gear, then started preparing dinner – Chili! What every good ski commuter eats for hisher reward meal when he/she gets in from the cold.  I guess I should invest in snow-shoes so I can do another wacky commute… after all, a snow-storm is no excuse to miss work!

Can you turn a ‘bad’ weather day into an opportunity?  Let me know!

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Looking Back on 2012: New Weight Categories

Earlier this year, the esteemable Swim Bike Mom helped draw my attention to the new rules for the weight categories (as dictated by the USA Triathlon).  As of 2013, Men weighing over 220 lbs could compete under a separate category ‘Clydesdales’ while women over 165 lbs could choose to compete as ‘Athenas’.  The old weight limits for these categories were 200 and 150 lbs respectively.

The purpose of these weight categories was to acknowledge that regardless of individual fitness, some people just don’t have the build to finish with times comparable to elites (even within age groups), and they should be recognized for their achievements relative to others with similar builds.  Which I found to be a noble sentiment.

Jan Frodeno in front; Simon Whitfield behind.  2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing

I’m just  “a few donuts away” from the old Clydesdale limit (in fact, thanks to the holidays, if they held a triathlon today, I could jump right in).  Yet, I never felt that tempted to enrol as one.  Regardless of how much I’m carrying around the middle, my build skeleton isn’t the one of a typical runner/triathlete; I’m broader in the shoulders for one thing.  Still, look at the difference between a Jan Frodeno and Simon Whitfield.  Frodeno’s a bigger guy too.


That’s probably a reasonable comparison to my build (minus plenty of body fat, of course), and Frodeno didn’t need a different weight class; he won the Gold!  The Clydesdale weight class should be more for men built like linebackers, and I think the 220 lb limit is more in line with that.  It could even be increased from my point of view.

Competing in these weight classes enables people to get a little closer to the top ten (albeit an arbitrary one) or even a podium spot.  That’s not really why I participate in triathlon though, and I doubt I’m alone in this sentiment.  I’ll be leaving the Clydesdale category alone; the donuts will have to wait.  Well, maybe just one…

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Gear Corner: Bye-bye Blackberry, Hello Samsung Galaxy S3 (Android LTE)


It’s just about time to retire my Blackberry Bold 9900; my boss has upgraded most of our team to the Samsung Galaxy SIII.  I haven’t found the time to get it setup and activated yet, but the day is coming.  The new phone is LTE which means faster data, but that’s not the only thing I’m looking forward to in the upgrade:

  • Better accessories I hope.  It always boggled my mind how Blackberry supposedly wanted to conquer the consumer market, but somehow always seemed locked into use scenarios that could only really to a business executive.  I never found a running armband that would let me use the Blackberry while running; even if I tried to stuff it into a larger armband (like one intended for an iPhone), it might fit, but push all kinds of buttons on the way in or out, and inadvertently pause the music or something.  I’d end up using the belt holster with a water bottle belt… that was about the only solution I could live with.  The S3 is a touchscreen format, so hopefully it’ll work better for this sort of thing.  I’m looking at this Otterbox case, though I’m also intrigued by SPIBelt/SPIband.  Maybe I’ll get a working heart rate sensor even…
  • Better Apps.  The selection of apps on Blackberry was always meager.  The major social networks were there, but things like Instagram (even if that’s a dirty word now) were either absent, or only supported through the browser (Google+).  I still love Endomondo as my exercise tracker, but there’s tons more fitness apps (like Zombies Run!) that I could use to round out my training.  Music streaming, chat/video/VOIP (Skype), Blogging tools, I’m getting intimidated just thinking about the selection I’m about to experience.
  • Better Bluetooth.  Pairing the Blackberry with the handsfree in my car was always a crap shoot, maybe the Samsung will work better.  We’ll see.


That said, there are a few things I’ll miss about the old Blackberry.

  • QWERTY Keyboard Buttons – I don’t think I’d ever be able to type as well with a touchscreen.  Some of my blog posts were written (about 90%) on my Blackberry while I was killing time.  I’d email them as a draft, polish them and insert links then publish.  Typing out reams of text for a blog (or writing lots of emails) seems like it would be tedious on a touch screen (based on my experience with my iPad), though there are apps that supposedly make touchscreen typing more efficient.
  • Blackberry Messenger.  BBM is very cool; I seeing that the message has been a) delivered and b) read, plus group chats, sending pictures and files is no problem.  I didn’t use it so much for status updates and the kinds of automation on said status, though.  There’s plenty of chat apps, but at least everybody I knew who had a Blackberry, I could contact through BBM.
  • Supporting a Canadian Company.  I’ve got several friends and ex-colleagues who work for RIM, the company that makes Blackberry.  The last Canadian Tech Giant is fallen on hard times, and now I’m part of the problem.  Who knows?  Maybe they’ll bounce back and they can be my next  phone.


How important is your smartphone to your fitness?