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Friday Five: Tips For Active Family Living

If you’ve spent any time on this blog at all, you’ll have notice that our family life is an active one.  We run races (with a Chariot stroller) as a family.  We take ski vacations, as a family (yes, toddlers on skis).  Triathlons and duathlons are not just for adults.  Bike rides, cross-country skiing with both kids in tow.  One of my earliest posts (and one of my favourites) is about combining training time with family time – that might be one of the central themes of the Iron Rogue Blog in its entire 7 year history.  I say all this in the preface, so you’ll take me at my word when I say might know a thing or two about keeping whole family moving.


I was inspired to write this post after a crazy weekend in Collingwood full of skiing (downhill and cross-country),  and swimming too.  It took some time for me to crystalize the most important things I’ve learned into a list of 5 lessons, but here goes.



  1. Leave it to the last minute.

This one sounds counter-intuitive, as planning and organization are the keys to stress-free living, right?  And when it comes to races (and booking travel, etc.) earlier means cheaper.  Still, nothing is more expensive than paying for an event you can’t attend at all.  I once DNS’ed (did not start) the Bracebridge Triathlon because the Lightning Kid got sick.  This year, we wanted to go to Collingwood for a weekend, and I wanted to do the Tubbs Romp 2 Stomp snowshoe race, but with it being a brutal winter (that might make the drive difficult, or be too cold for outdoor fun), with a brutal cold/flu season to go with it, we knew it might not happen, so we waited till a couple of days before where it seemed like it was going to be OK to leave home, then we booked the hotel and I registered at the race site (online registration was already closed) and hoped for the best (see #4).

  1. Be Flexible (WYCWYC*)

Why are you out there?  Fresh air, fun, and exercise.  Those are the reasons, those are the goals, and the actual activity/sport you are trying to do are just the means to an end.  When we put the Lightning Kid on skis, we only hope he’ll try to move his feet a little, or if we’re at the hill, one single run (him riding between my legs) is a victory. (WYCWYC=What You Can, When You Can)


My wife and I used to volunteer with the Ontario Track 3 Ski program for children with special needs (everything from cognitive/developmental delays like autism to physical impairments like cerebral palsy), and the motto was always “first safety, then fun, then learning.”  While we ostensibly there to teach the kids to ski, sometimes you couldn’t really get that far with them, and if rolling down a snowbank was what they wanted to do, then that’s what would take place that day.  You would be connecting with them, and they with physical activity in the outdoors, and sometimes that would lead to better chances at learning the actual sport later on.  It’s not really different for any children, especially when they’re very young.  You have to take what you can get today, and hope it pays off tomorrow, which brings me to point #3…

  1. Consider the Long Game

I’ve taken the Lightning Kid out in the Kayak, and traversed a total distance of about 200m.  It was still worth it, because he got exposed to boating, and I got a little, tiny bit of exercise.


When we went cross-country skiing last year, we had some outings where the time spent on skis was all of 30 minutes, and that’s with about 90 minutes of driving each way; I don’t even want to get into the time spent packing the car, unpacking at the trail-head, re-packing at the trail-head, and unpacking at home.  This year, though, we’re lasting longer (especially Shark Boy who’s gotten faster and stronger, completing some 2 km trails himself).


At very young ages, it’s hard to know how much they remember, but somehow the routine of getting out of the regular routine pays dividends and sticks into their character makeup later on.  


It goes for more than just the kids, it goes for you too.  It takes a second to lose your patience; how long does it take to find your patience.  Fairly long, I’ll bet.  Being patient has never been a strong suit of mine, and when I found out one of my children was going to have special needs, it became a real fear that my lack of patience would keep me from being a good father to him.  I honestly think I’m getting better at waiting for the kids to learn what I’m trying to teach (manners, reading, physical education).  You just have to believe that it will pay off; you have to…


  1. Use Your Optimism Muscle

This past weekend, I had to take care of both boys myself.  Well, like any red-blooded adult who is in control of their life, I ran to my mother for help.  We went to her place on Saturday afternoon and spent the night as well as all day Sunday there.  There are two ways I can relate the events of the weekend.

      • Both boys were sick with nasty colds, and I had one too, feeling feverish and being nearly unable to swallow on Friday night, meaning…
      • I barely slept between taking care of their various discomforts and my own
      • We didn’t get outside much
      • The kids demonstrated that they still don’t listen no matter how many times they’re told, to the point that their doting grandmother even noticed that their behaviour was lousy

OR

      • I got the Lightning Kid to his soccer program and Shark Boy to his dance lesson on time.
      • The kids and their grandmother got to spend time together/I got to see my mother.
      • The kids and Shark Boy’s Godfather got to spend time together
      • We got to enjoy my mother’s wonderful cooking
      • I got to do a favour for my wife, who totally deserved the weekend away from the kids
      • I got more bonding time with the kids, especially cuddling up with the Lightning Kid during his nap (while I read a few chapters on my e-reader)
      • It honestly gave me a sense of achievement to have gotten through it all (parenting is the ultimate endurance sport)


While the weekend doesn’t typify one of our family outdoor adventures (we only got outside long enough to shovel her driveway), it’s a good demonstration of how your attitude re-frames the experience.

  1. Sacrifice

There have been many times we’ve come back from an outing, tuckered out, and the day waning, and I’ve thought: “I guess I’m not going to clean the garage again”, or whatever random task I’ve equated with being a real adult who is in control of their life.  On balance, though, those tasks are unlikely to cause me any deathbed regrets.  Taking care of yourself, getting outside and spending time with your family are the things you’ll regret not doing.  And again, this is a two way street – your kids might not make it to that classmate’s birthday party that they were invited to, because they were out with you.  It might not have been their first choice to go out biking/skiing/spelunking with you, but as parents, we make healthier choices for their diets, activities (both mental and physical), and everything else; what are they going to remember more fondly on their deathbed (sorry to be morbid… let’s just say they live to be 999), fun times in the great outdoors, moving their young, healthy bodies with loved ones, or a bunch of cake and wrapping paper to spoil a classmate whose name they won’t remember anyway.


Between increases in youth obesity, and wanting to limit ‘screen time’, many families are looking to make fitness a family affair, as Victoria Freile writes.  As I discussed the topic of this post with my wife, she pointed out how much more we have to learn; smart cookie.  Forging an active family life is an on-going, iterative process.  Some, like Katie Arnold of Outside Magazine’s column Raising Rippers are at the more extreme end of the spectrum, while some families would probably be happy to take regular family walks.  When you start early with your children, they absorb it easily and fitness becomes part of their lifestyle; inactive adults need to learn this like a new skill.  While how well my pants fit has fluctuated, I’m lucky in that I never had to figure out how to get active.  I was raised in such a way that exercise was as natural a habit as washing.  It’s a gift I hope to pass on to my kids, and hopefully the generations that come after I’m long gone.


Hopefully, some of you reading this will be able to use it to make your family life more active, and then I’ll have passed on the gift even further.


How does your family get active together today?  Are you looking to do better?

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Friday Five: February Goals


I was inspired by Krysten over at Darwinian Fail to write up a series of fitness goals for February (and also, though not as recently, Robyn Baldwin’s Winter Bucket List).  I guess I’m really feeling the flow fitness wise.  Let’s see if I can round this out to the standard Five for Friday, though I expect some inter-dependence in these, if not out-right recursion (that’s a reference for any programming geeks out there).



  • Start implementing the structure of my Half-Iron training plan.  Though I haven’t thoroughly outlined it in this space yet, you might have caught a glimpse of the training plan last weekend.  In the early stages, I’m allowed 30-60 minute spin classes for bike rides (even when more in specified) and some workouts are marked with an asterisk which means I can cross-train in other activities instead of biking or running.  The important thing for me before the official plan kicks off in March, is getting used to the logistics of over an hour of strength training on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as making Tuesdays and Thursdays both Swim and Run days.


  • Snowshoe.  Not only is this a valid form of cross-training mentioned above, but having bought a pair of snowshoes last year, it’s a return on investment.  I’m hoping to do the Tubbs Romp To Stomp this weekend.  I wanted to continue my commute series by snowshoeing to work after the last snowstorm, but it was too cold.  Still, with some initiative, I should be able to fit some snowshoeing in.  (Update: I did 20 minutes worth on Thursday morning… it’s exhausting, especially if you’re doing it on unbroken fresh snow).


  • Combine Weight-lifting and Yoga for Strength.  One of the things I’ve noticed about the training plan is that there’s no room for yoga, and the other is that strength workouts are timed for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I rarely lift weights for more than an hour – in my defence, I tend to structure whole body workouts and execute them in circuits.  Maybe I could learn to space out the sets, do more sets, and make bigger gains, but the truth is I also get bored.  I figure if I stay close to my basic structure which includes split squats, deadlifts, lat pull-downs and bench presses (or my dumbbell doubles time-saver) and vary things by throwing in some extra exercises that I see here and there, especially functional ones like pistol squat modifications, negative phase pull-ups, and handstands, I’ll get good variability and gains.  And of course, I’ll cap the workout off with some yoga flows that will include strength/balance work (crow pose is one I’d like to master).


  • Continue with the Doctor’s Diet I still haven’t written up a comprehensive review of this yet.  Since I’d like to continue the weight loss, I’ll be alternating between the STAT and RESTORE plans which are similar, but the RESTORE is more permissive in its list of fruits and has more (complex, not simple) carbs.  The longer we stick with this the more natural it becomes to adapt our lifestyle to it.  We still lean heavily on the meal plans, but we’ve had (and will continue to have) on the fly substitutions when we’re out and about.  

  • Enjoy the outdoors as a family  I think I can give us an ‘A’ grade on this for the winter season so far, we’ve gone cross-country skiing, I’ve taken Shark Boy skating, and the boys have even fooled around in the snow while I shovel the driveway (they even help shovel for a few minutes before a better offer comes along in the form of the neighbours’ snowbanks).   Not only do I want to keep it up though,  I also want to do even better than we have done.  So far there have been 2 factors that keep us from enjoying the winter outdoors on some days: 1.) No snow.  Snow is what makes winter fun especially for kids; we need it for cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, tobogganing, snowmen, and general fooling around.  There’s not a lot we can do about the actual weather, which brings me to factor number 2.) The cold.  While we do have to think safety first, and some of the days have simply been too cold to avoid frostbite or hypothermia, there have been days where the kids are seemingly fine, but the adults give up the ghost first? Why? Simple, we just put on coats, hats and gloves, whereas the kids have long underwear and more importantly snow-pants on.  Obviously, the answer is for us to put on snow-pants and get down to their level; we’ll probably be warmer playing along than standing there supervising anyway.  We can use our ski-pants, but I’m curious if they have snow-pants for adults…
Do you have any goals for February? Are you getting the most out of winter so far?
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Weekend Update


I picked this title because the post will go live on the weekend, and rather than the detailed work (research, references, links, consolidating data)-intensive posts I’d like to do, I’m going to bring us up to speed on some of our latest developments instead.  Try to picture me behind a news desk in a suit, and I’ll try to bring some Saturday Night Live style snark (no special guests though).




In Sickness…


The whole family seems to have gotten sick with a nasty chest cold.  Anything respiratory is always a problem for the Lightning Kid and we’ve had to visit the hospital, the pediatrician and a kids clinic in the last 2 weeks or so.  It’s taken me out of commission too, as the accepted wisdom is you can exercise with a cold that stays above the neck… and this cough was definitely in my chest.  Besides the conventional wisdom, I also was absolutely wrecked by the early afternoon every day.  Having no exercise for a week was nearly enough to make me think any goal I might have for the year might be a pipe-dream.  I guess I can be a little melodramatic that way.  




Marriage Going Downhill (in the best way!)


As a family, sometimes it feels like we just can’t make it through the winter. We want to be healthy, not sick, we want to play in the snow, not stay inside. There have been few periods of snow coverage and yet, it’s still really, really cold so doing things outside with the kids feels impossible. Still, there are bright spots in the overall winter grey: my wife and I took advantage of a University of Waterloo Alumni Ski Day to go to Osler Bluff in Collingwood. Skiing at a private resort is awesome because there are basically no line-ups, and the other skiers you share the hill with are competently skiing in control. The forecast seemed like it would be perfect, and though it was a little colder than expected we had an awesome day (thanks to the kids’ grandparents who watched them – due to the aforementioned illness and a P.A. day, they weren’t in school/daycare), and I captured much of it on Instagram. You follow me on IG, right?

A photo posted by Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) on


A photo posted by Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) on

Downhill skiing is one of the things we always did as a couple, even before marriage and kids; it’s a great (and fun) way to reconnect.


Less of me to love…

In some good news, the Doctor’s Diet has gone really well, and I’ve won my first DietBet (I won’t know what the winnings are till it’s all tallied up).  I’m down 13 lbs since the holidays! Reviewing and recapping the Doctor’s Diet (STAT and RESTORE phases) is one of the more work-intensive posts I’m meaning to do, but I want to go down another 7 lbs and maintain from there, so I guess I’ll still have the opportunity to discuss this with you guys.  (For my prior experience with DietBet, see here).



Over a Barrel(man)


I’ve figured out that the Barrelman Half-iron race is for me this year.  I’m even using it as a basis for one of my passwords so that I’ll be reminded of my goal every time I type it in.  Remember when I said I was trying to get more into positive thinking and vision boards and that sort of thing? Well, I grabbed my copy of Gale Bernhardt’s book Training Plans for Multisport Athletes and I’m going to follow the 27 week plan to a Half-Iron.  While formally reviewing the plan is a post for another day, I like it because it includes very regular strength training which I think will not only improve performance and keep me less prone to injury, but also help me keep weight off (which can play into the first two factors, too).  I think I need a long, long plan to take my time getting into Half-Iron shape; I’m 41 years old and will be 42 at the time of the race, so I need to be gentle with myself, and a longer plan with a slow transition leaves a greater margin for error for when things in my life go off the rails.

Getting excited about this sort of thing is nice; I started punching the plan details into a spreadsheet, then I started dressing the spreadsheet up for better visualization and comprehensibility, which is weird for me, because I never bother to format anything to make it more pleasant to look at.  Still, it’s looking good.
In fact, this kind of excitement can lead me to make some rash decisions; I joined a gym! There’s a new L.A. Fitness close to me and they have a very nice pool, daycare, tons of treadmills, a gorgeous spin studio, etc, and they were able to meet me at the monthly budget I wanted to spend (money was the reason I left GoodLife).  A full review will come up… you guessed it, in a future post.  While the on-site gym will still be my go-to for most workouts, it’ll be nice to have access to a pool without being hemmed in by lane-swim times at public pools (to say nothing of the overcrowding).  We’ll see if I rue the day I joined…



Let it Snow(shoe)

And of course, I have to close off by mentioning Albion Hills Conservation Area. We love it for cross-country skiing, and it looks like they’ll be open this weekend for skiing. The last time we were there, I wanted to try getting a quick snowshoe in, and I left them there. Luckily one of the staff located them and put them aside for me to pick up…. I haven’t made it back there yet since we didn’t have snow last weekend. We’ll go up on Sunday; which is the day of the Personal Best Bare Bones Snowshoe Race which I’d been hoping to train for by practising with my snowshoes. The race starts at 9:30, so I don’t know if I’ll participate of if we’ll stick to just skiing… packing up the entire family and ski gear does not enhance my punctuality!

That’s my news (and I am…. OUTTA HERE!) Who’s your favourite Weekend Update host/anchor? I think Seth Meyers/Amy Poehler was the best combo.
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Friday Five – Coming Soon

In an effort to keep some momentum in my writing and posting (I’m a little stalled on a Lightning Kid post), I’m going to do a Friday Five post with 5 things that could be their own posts – and probably will be in the future.  Rather than beat myself up about my inability to get a good, quality piece written and published this week, I’m going to give you this, the bastard love-child of a clip show and sneak preview/trailer.


  1. Cross-country skiing.  Finally there’s enough snow for us to do one of our favourite family activities in the winter.  I think the Chariot is coming to the end of its service life; it’s in fine shape – it’s just the boys are getting a little big for it.  I stated in my submission to Pavement Runner’s Best Photos of 2014 that we probably wouldn’t be able to do running races as a family going forward.  It’s a bittersweet thought.


For cross-country skiing, which is more tiring than walking or running, we might have a bit of a reprieve.  Shark Boy can ski, he’s just slower than my wife or I which only makes sense. 

Last weekend he finished a 2 km trail on his own, and we were incredibly proud.  He never lets falling down (which happens when you’re learning or rusty, never mind both) get him down and kept the smile on his face.  He needed some coaching, coaxing, cajoling and cheer-leading to keep moving until the very end, but he did it!  We tried the Lightning Kid in a simple pair of toddler skis (that don’t require special boots) – and he was keen in theory, but hated it once he had to manage them and a pair of poles.  Once we had lunch, Shark Boy was still too worn out to go on his own, and we got a 3.7 km trail done with me pulling – fortunately, the boys kept the peace in the Chariot despite being packed in like sardines.  I had done an extra loop alone (besides pulling the Lightning Kid in the Chariot) while my wife and Shark Boy finished their 2 km, but pulling both boys along was super tiring.  I had to take breaks to let the lactic acid clear from my hamstrings, sometimes even in the middle of an uphill climb (which I dislike doing, as it always feels a little precarious).


The boys’ different stages of development (on skis) puts us at an interesting juncture in our ski days.  We’re going to have to learn to break the days up and split up – divide and conquer as far as teaching them and keeping them entertained, happy and content.  This will be an interesting season.


  1. 5 Peaks Trail Run Series Ambassadorship – I ain’t got one.  I was, however offered one, and though I didn’t like doing it, I had to turn it down as the time commitment was a bit much for me.  I am still happy *to talk up this race series as much as possible*; it’s accessible/beginner-friendly, has great venues, and the little kids’ races make it family friendly on a level that is unmatched by any other race or athletic event I’ve seen.  I’m adding Terra Cotta to my Race Calendar this year, and probably others too.
  2. DietBet – After the holidays, some of my clothes didn’t fit too well.  For pants to be too tight at the waist is one thing, but I had some favourite shirts that were feeling tight.  Something I’ve gathered (besides pounds on my midsection) is that losing excess weight (especially fat) is probably the best/first thing I can do to get faster in my runs and the bike (probably in the water too), never mind the health benefits.  Weight loss was recommended during my *sleep study* too.  My wife and I got a book called The Doctor’s Diet (by Dr. Travis Stork) as a Christmas gift (shout-out to my cousin-in-law Stefan, and a great triathlon series in the Pacific Northwest USA – TriFREAKS).  I know ‘diet’ is a four letter word, and that they don’t work, but we needed a real change, since we weren’t effectively implementing what we know are better nutritional principles.  We’re hoping to use this book’s principles (most of them, anyway) permanently, but for now we’re on a 2 week STAT plan, which is working quite well for me.  I’m taking part in not one, but two DietBets (again)…. and I’m going to win too.  I’ll be reviewing the plan and my experience with it in a future post.
  3. Hot Yoga –  One of my resolutions goals aspirations for the New Year was to try Hot Yoga.  I found a place nearby that has an introductory package of a week’s worth of classes for $25.  I’ll have a complete review of the experience in a future post, but it’s going well overall; here’s the website if you’re looking for Hot Yoga in Mississauga.
  4. Word of the Year – Remember how I mentioned I was doing 2 DietBets? One is being run by Diatta of Femme Fitale Club.  She recently did a post called *Ultimate Tps to Resolve Your Resolutions in 2015… it was the first time I’d seen the word ‘Resolve’ in conjunction with ‘Resolution’.  First point: I am extremely late to the game in terms of setting real goals for 2015.  I have wishes that are starting to turn into ideas, but they have no commitment or plan yet, but mentally I’m starting to gain confidence in myself and my ability to make them happen.  Second point: I don’t generally go in for a lot of the ‘touchy-feely’ stuff a lot of bloggers do, but I am open to trying new things, so I may find myself working on Law of Attraction type journal writing, vision boards, who knows what?  I like the word ‘Resolve’ because it refers to two meanings: 1) the idea of finding a solution to a problem; I’m an engineer by trade and a problem-solver by nature 2.) the concept of determination, endurance or grit, which is the stuff a triathlete is made of.  So, I’m making ‘Resolve’ my word of the year.

Can I get a high-five?
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Tried It Tuesday: Review of GoMacro Bars

Disclaimer: Through Raynforest, I received free product in return for writing a review.  All opinions are my own.

I’m participating in a link-up hosted by Sara of Lakeshore Runner, called Tried It Tuesday. Every Tuesday, people post about something new they tried, and for me this week, it’s going to be the nutrition bars by GoMacro.

I don’t discuss food or nutrition that often on the blog, mostly because I’m not doing the cooking in our house, and I don’t find it that interesting a subject to write about. That doesn’t mean I’m immune to nutritional considerations – and if you remember this Friday Five post, I’ve not only put more thought, time and effort into strength training, but also considering my macro-nutrients especially protein (mostly to control my appetite between meals).

GoMacro is a company based on five principles:

  1. Macrobiotic – a macrobiotic diet is the key to a long, healthy life.
  2. Vegan – Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.
  3. Wholesome – If nature did not make it, they don’t use it.
  4. Gives Back – Pay it forward. Give Back. Change the World.
  5. Sourced Sustainably
Unlike these bars, I’m neither Gluten-free, nor Vegan, nor Macrobiotic, I just have some awareness of what is good and bad to put in our bodies, and going over the list of ingredients in the GoMacro bars is a relief compared to most times I do that. It actually takes longer, because the word “organic” precedes each and every ingredient. Compared to the granola bars and Greek yogurt snacks I pack (sometimes), they’re a little heavier on calories (somewhere upwards of 200 calories, varying from flavour to flavour), but I was really pleasantly surprised by how they tasted.
Starting from Top Left: protein pleasure, protein purity, morning harvest, sunny uplift, balanced goodness, prolonged power, protein replenishment, sweet revival, protein paradise, sweet rejuvenation, wholehearted heaven 
Several of the bars are marked high-protein, and I’ve indicated those in my individual notes. Here’s how they struck me:

  • Protein Purity – sunflower butter+chocolate (HIGH PROTEIN); sunflower butter is the stronger flavour, chocolate is subtle.  Nothing offensive, but not really that pleasing either.

  • Prolonged Power – banana+almond butter (HIGH PROTEIN); tastes just like it sounds. was hungry as my breakfast had no extra protein.  Banana taste is subtle, almond butter is smooth.  Didn’t completely satisfy instantly as I wanted more, but it kept me going until my lunch-time workout slot.
  • Protein Pleasure – peanut butter chocolate chip (HIGH PROTEIN); a little bland considering the ingredients.
  • Sunny Uplift – cherries + berries; I was feeling low, and I’m not that into fruit, but this was a nice pick-me-up.

  • Balanced Goodness – granola + coconut; close to a typical granola bar, tasted OK.  Also included dates and raisins.
  • Protein Paradise – cashew caramel (HIGH PROTEIN); probably my favourite,not too sweet, but still a treat. Apparently the caramel substitute is mesquite-based!


  • wholehearted heaven – almond butter + carob; when people talk about health food in a negative way, this is probably the kind of taste they’re referring to.
  • morning harvest – apples + walnuts; this is a great combination, sweet in a breakfast-y kind of way.
  • sweet rejuvenation – sesame butter + dates; I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I don’t really like dates, but they must have been ground up pretty fine so the taste didn’t bother me and the sesame seed flavour isn’t overpowering either.
  • sweet rejuvenation – cashew butter; Can you tell by the picture that I was keen to eat this one? The cashew chunks give it a bit of a crunchiness, and it’s a little sweeter than straight peanut butter.
There they are! I think I’ll be stocking up on Protein Paradise and Sunny Uplift, though when I need to fuel for longer bike rides, having Prolonged Power might be a good idea. The website has a Store Locator, and US residents can order online.

Have you had GoMacro Bars before? What would be your favourite flavour? What are you looking to get out of a MacroBar? Energy? Recovery? Macronutrients?
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I Mustache You A Question




I was tagged by Robyn Baldwin to do this Mustache Questionnaire… who am I to refuse?

  • This mustache and this both are… bananas!

    Four names that people call me, other than my real name:

  1. Alex.  BIGGEST PET PEEVE.  There’s nothing wrong with the name Alex, except it’s not MY NAME.  I used to joke to people that called me that that there’s a dyslexia epidemic, until I came across someone who actually had dyslexia.  Has anyone seen my foot? Oh here it is, in my mouth.  It got bad enough that I actually (in a moment of low self-esteem, probably in my teens) considered changing my name to save everyone the trouble.  Nowadays, I correct people right away so they can’t get into the bad habit – I have to confront the embarrassment head-on.
  2. Papa – only two people call me that, but they do say it A LOT.
  3. Ax – due to #1 and what must have been a record-setting number of disparaging nicknames as a kid, I generally refuse to answer to anything but my actual name.  This one nickname gets grandfathered in since my oldest friends still use it.
  4. Axe-man – see #3

  • Four jobs I have had – My career as an engineer has been quite checkered, but if you’re not in the industry, it probably doesn’t seem that varied.  I think this list is more for crazy/joe jobs, so I’ll list those.
  1. Cleaning after pets at the Ontario Humane Society
  2. Tutoring (French, Math, Physics)
  3. Translating Academic Papers from German to English (or at least, proof-reading the translations)
  4. Wireless Network Engineer

  • Four movies I have watched more than once:
  1. Star Wars (all of them) – I think it was generally accepted practice in my generation (for boys at least) that social ranking was determined by who had seen the movies the most.
  2. Pulp Fiction – This is one of the movies I decided I must own on DVD once I first got a DVD player.  Highly quotable, in fact, it just gave me the idea to put “Bad Motherf***er” on some of my tri stuff (helmet, bike, etc.) just so I can paraphrase the diner scene.
  3. Swingers – From the same list as Pulp Fiction, maybe not quite as timeless.
  4. The Good The Bad and the Ugly – I love this movie, but I mostly put it on this list so anyone who’s seen it will now have the theme stuck in their head.

  • Two Books I recommend:
  1. A Prayer For Owen Meany – If this book isn’t the only book to make me laugh out loud AND cry, then it’s definitely the record holder for number of times it’s done both.
  2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – This book might not be for everyone, but if you like it, we can be friends, and if you’ve read it, you’ll better understand my sense of humour or even my worldview.  I try to emulate Douglas Adams a fair bit in my own writing.

  • Four places I have lived:
  1. Toronto: Grew up in Scarborough, first place of my own in North York, currently in Mississauga.
  2. Waterloo, ON: University
  3. Braunschweig, Germany: 1 year exchange
  4. Leeds, UK: Grad School

  • Four Places I have been:
  1. Thailand
  2. Costa Rica
  3. Germany
  4. Switzerland

Honourable Mentions: France, Mexico, Turks & Caicos


  • Four places I would rather be right now:
  1. Costa Rica – any place warm/tropical would do right now, but I dreamt of this place the other morning.
  2. Seville – This place made a great impression on me culturally (architecture, food, music); it’s also warmer than here, and very relaxed.
  3. New Orleans – Ditto
  4. Bed – Warmth, comfort… you know.

  • Four things I don’t eat:
  1. BRAAAAINS – this is part joke about how I’m not a zombie (yet), but some people do eat brain.  I consider myself an adventurous eater, but here’s where I draw the line.
  2. Leek – I really don’t like the taste of this one.
  3. Brussel Sprouts – Does anyone like these?
  4. Avocado – this one’s weird, I think it’s the texture, because I have no problem with guacamole.

  • Four of my favourite foods:
  1. Spaghetti and Meat Sauce – this was number one when I was a kid, and I’m not gonna change…
  2. Burgers
  3. Steak
  4. Muffins – I had to admit these were my weakness when I found that I could avoid sweets entirely, except I’d crack and get one of these mid-mornings.  I can say no to ice cream, chocolate, cookies, cake, donuts no problem, but muffins slip the net far too often.

Honourable Mentions: Butter Chicken, Peanut Curry, Pancakes, Jambalaya…


  • Four TV Shows I watch:
  1. New Girl
  2. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
  3. Brooklyn 99
  4. Saturday Night Live

Honourable Mentions: I’m working through Orange Is The New Black on Netflix, Game of Thrones (season 2 so far) on DVD, and when House of Cards comes back… hooo boy.


  • Four things I am looking forward to next year:
  1. The Lightning Kid going to school – I’m also terrified at how well he’ll cope and if he’s ready for it all, but it’s a major milestone to be in an actual school instead of a daycare.
  2. Triathlon Season – Half-Iron, Off-Road and Winter Triathlon are all possibilities in 2015.  I haven’t nailed down goals or a schedule, but there’s sure to be something exciting.
  3. Visit to Germany – We go every year, and the travel gets a little less stressful every year as the kids mature… I think.
  4. Camping – Not a certainty but we’ve wanted to go camping as a family since before we were a family, and we’ve basically waited till the Lightning Kid is out of diapers completely… maybe that’s what I’m actually looking forward to the most.

  • Four things I am always saying:
  1. No hitting, no screaming, no breaking things – the 3 biggest rules in the house, and repeating them has barely helped with complying…
  2. No Retreat, No Surrender – this started as my mantra for toilet training, but I’ve applied it parenting and advocating for the Lightning Kid’s education and inclusion.  It works for athletic goals too.  It’s a Springsteen song and a Jean Claude Van Damme movie.

  1. Alley-Oop! – Every time I pick one of the boys up.
  2. Ugh. – I guess I’m not always a happy camper…

  • Tag 4 people
  2. Hayley Goleniowska of Downs Side Up
  3. Morgan of Wildly Fit
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Friday Five: The Five Things I Would Have Posted About If I Could Have

The blog went on a bit of a hiatus for the last month and a half, but I finally got a chance to wrap up my review of the Samsung Gear Fit Smartwatch earlier this week.  There were tons of topics I wanted to post on during that hiatus, and the truth is, I’m still really swamped with work while the holiday madness is on the horizon, so I guess it could happen again.  Still, I want to move forward, so rather than try to write all those posts that were timely weeks ago, I’m going to use a Friday Five to get caught up on the big ticket items and move forward from there, OK? These are the posts I woulda-coulda-shoulda posted:

  1. Featured Blogger at Fitfluential – Running Apps: Did you guys see my guest post on the Fitfluential Blog? In October, I covered Running Apps, what’s available, what’s important, etc..  Here’s the link to the article.
  2. Levac Attack – This year’s Levac Attack came and went, and I wish I’d been able to do more to promote it.  We were in a new location (Port Credit) and it was a fun course, with a 15 km option this year in addition to the usual 5 km, 10 km and half-marathon courses.  While we enjoyed it, I think it marks the close of our stroller running career as Shark Boy rode his bike for a lap then chose to hang out near the finish line and gorge himself of Timbits.  The Lightning Kid started to cry after a lap, so my wife and I had to split up our running and did the last 5 km of our 10 km runs separately – each taking turns to watch the Lightning Kid.  It was another big success raising money for Mount Sinai hospital, and I’ll keep hoping to get some more of my local bloggers involved next year!
  3. Angus Glen 10k/Half-Marathon – This is my wife’s favourite race as it has an awesome post race meal inside the Angus Glen country club.  Due to an organizational/scheduling snafu, we scrapped our childcare plans for the day, which was just as well as I had a splitting headache and didn’t feel like running, so I watched the kids while she ran it.  We also met my friend John and his wife there – she scolded me for not recruiting her to watch the boys, but once she saw how they tore it up running around the inside of the country club, she might have had second thoughts!  My wife was really happy with her time, as it wasn’t a personal best overall, it was certainly faster than she’s run all year, and that’s especially impressive considering how hilly the Angus Glen course is.  John PR’ed his half-marathon, which I thought would be impossible considering how hilly it was, but he had done the Scotiabank Marathon weeks earlier; being in marathon shape makes a half-marathon no big deal, I guess.
  4. New Phone – In spite of a protective cover, I cracked the screen of my Samsung Galaxy S3. One crack wasn’t so bad, but then this happened:

    And here’s how:

    Anyway, we were due for an upgrade at work soon enough anyway, so all I had to do was stick it out for a couple of weeks, and ta-daaa! Samsung Galaxy S5.  So far, I really like it, and though the S5 comes in an Active version that is waterproof and shock-proof, which I didn’t get.  I still like this model, especially now that I have a Lifeproof case on it to make it waterproof.

    5. A photo posted by Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) on


I’m still getting used to the phone, having to make little changes to make the user experience more like what I’m used to, and I have yet to use all the new bells and whistles it offers (HR sensor like on the Gear Fit Smartwatch, ANT connectivity – hopefully to connect to my Garmin accessories).  I can post a review of the phone and the case in the near future hopefully.
  1. Weight lifting – The general, haphazard approach I’ve taken with my off-season is to lose weight, or more accurately, get leaner.  I’m using the principles from Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat – Feed The Muscle; but not only am I not adhering to his prescription very closely, I haven’t even finished the book cover to cover.  Still, it’s gotten me re-engaged with strength training and considering macro-nutrients a little closer. I’ve known that protein is supposed to make you feel full, but I usually felt just as hungry for a mid-morning snack when I ate egg whites as when I ate cereal, and unfortunately, healthy snacks like veggies or nuts never seemed to satisfy.  I’ve been playing around with making a smoothie with hemp protein (from Manitoba Harvest) alongside my breakfast (which is starting to include more protein sources too).  While I’m wary of simply adding too many calories to my day, it’s better to have them earlier than later, and feeling full right through till lunch has kept me away from the Tim Horton’s more and more often.  On the exercise front, the idea has been to schedule in strength workouts as first priority, with the idea that cardio is easier to come by – I could run or even bike outside my lunchtime workout slots more easily.  While work and family chaos, high-priority items and emergencies have kept me from being on point and regular with workouts and nutrition too often during the last month and a half, when I have been good, I’ve seen results.  Pounds come off the scale and go on the barbell.  Some of the strength gains might be actual muscular strength and some might be more me getting more confident with the lifting technique and willing to push it more.  If I keep up some endurance work, I shouldn’t really bulk up, and generally when I’ve gotten too swamped to fit in the endurance work, I’ve been too swamped to weight lift too, so it kind of works out.  I’ll be posting a time-space efficiency hack of my workout routine in the near future so stay tuned for that.

Is your off-season regime radically different from your on-season? Is there a phone upgrade you’re craving?  Do you know of a hidden gem race like Levac Attack or Angus Glen?


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Friday Five: Top 5 Fall Races

I’ve got 3-4 other topics I know I want to talk about, and write posts for, so what am I going to do? Write a completely different post instead.  Must be a blogger thing.  If you’re new here, I’ll tell you I’m going to review the Samsung Gear Fit smartwatch, and go really in-depth on how sleep is important for health, so be sure to subscribe for these posts as they come in.


Fridays mean Top Five Countdowns (when I feel like doing them of course), and this time I’m highlighting my Top 5 Fall (or Autumn if you prefer) Races.  For whatever crazy reason, our family’s race calendar seems to be craziest in September; but we had fun last year, so we’ll do it again!


  1. 5 Peaks Kortright Centre.  We’ll be there tomorrow!  If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of the 5 Peaks Series.  The whole family has fun, and while I haven’t run this venue, I’m somewhat familiar with the Kortright Outdoor Education Centre from Maple Syrup Festivals every spring.


  1. Lakeside Sprint Triathlon.  The only thing standing between me and a triathlon-less 2014.  I hope I’ll have a respectable time that is comparable with past performances, but with the differences between courses, there might be no sense in comparing.  I’ve never been to this venue… I’m just looking forward to getting my swim/bike/run on again.
  1. Terry Fox Run – This is a threepeat for us (Triathletes love 3s).  Here’s the family donation page if you want to help fight cancer with us.  I’ll be recovering from the Lakeside Tri the day before, but this is really leisurely family fun.  Let’s hope for good weather.

  1. Kids of Steel Duathlon – Shark Boy is going to threepeat this one this year too.  Between this and the Kortright Centre, I’m hoping to light a bit of a fire under him as it dawns on him that races can be more than just a light bit of sightseeing; if he wants to be “the fastest” (his words), that might mean starting at the front and going as hard as he can.  On the other hand, I don’t want over-competitiveness and pressure rearing their ugly heads.  I want to coach him, yet let him take the lead as to what he wants to get out of these events… does that make any sense?

  1. Levac Attack – Registration is now open! The event has been moved to Mississauga and takes place on Saturday October 4th (event details here [Facebook].  A very small race with great post-race food, that is accessible for strollers and whatnot.  We are in our 5th year of raising money for Mount Sinai Hospital’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit.


Over the past year, I’ve noticed my blog has undergone a bit of a theme shift from my individual endurance endeavours to active family living.  Both were always supposed to be big factors in what I’m inspired to write about, but there’s no doubt the balance has shifted from more of the former to more of the latter.  Active,healthy families are a big deal to me, but not every family can be as lucky as ours (even with a child with special needs, we are all able to participate in a lot of physical activities, as you can see from some of the links I’ve used).  Mount Sinai is there to help families with high-risk pregnancies get to a point where they can hopefully enjoy lifestyles as fun and wonderful as the one my family does.  It’s an honour and a privilege to be associated with this cause; if you’d like to register to join us (we have 5, 10, 15 and 20 km events) the registration link is here.  If you can’t make it out, you can sponsor me here.

I know I basically asked you for money twice in this letter, Dear Reader.  You can’t really blame me for assuming someone so attractive, well-dressed and discerning as yourself might also be rich though, right?

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Friday Five Favourites

It’s Friday, and I’m going to list some favourite things I’ve discovered over the summer.  It’s a series from You Signed Up For What?


  1. My Mizuno Wave Rider 17s – I actually bought these before the trip to Germany, and it was there that I wore them running for the first time.  My Salomon trail shoes were showing their age, and I figured it was time for new shoes.  So many running bloggers I know love Mizuno, and these came recommended for runners who like/need cushioning, without being heavy.  Since buying them, I’ve found out Mizuno makes trail shoes, but I still really like these, as they’ve lived up to their weight vs. cushioning ratio promise.

  2. Cheddar & Caramel Smartfood – A while back, my wife managed to grab something called Chicago Mix, which was a mixture of Cheddar cheese popcorn and caramel corn.  I’m all about the savoury/sweet mixtures (e.g. salted caramel) these days.  Sadly, Chicago mix was hard to get our hands on, but this version of Smartfood is the next best thing, and I keep stumbling across it in every grocery store.

  3. Kobo Glo e-Reader – This thing has kept me reading a little better than I might have otherwise.  I forgot it at the cottage this weekend, but I’m currently reading through A Feast of Crows (Book 4 of A Song of Fire and Ice a.k.a. the Game Of Thrones books).  It also came in handy when I wanted to read the short fiction work of fellow triathlon blogger Dan T. Head, and as long as it’s connected to WiFi, it syncs my progress so I can continue reading on my phone (or iPad) app.
  4. Mill Street Brewery Seasonal Sampler – Every time I drink a Mill Street beer, I feel good about supporting a home team brewery, but the beers themselves aren’t always my absolute favourite (I really want to love the Organic Lager, but I don’t).  The seasonal sampler is a six-pack of six different flavours, 4-5 of which I would love to have in their own 6 (or 12, or 24…) packs.  100th Meridian Organic Amber Lager (distinct from the aforementioned Organic Lager), Palomar (Chipotle Lime) Ale, and the Belgian Cherry IPA are all new, and the Belgian Wit was new(-ish) to me. 
  5. Spi-Belt – I heard about Spi-Belt a while ago, and I kept hoping some blogger would post a giveaway or discount, but I ended up cracking and buying one.  The concept is simple: provide a belt for runners with a generic pocket that can store ID, keys, smart-phone/other device.  So many products are dimensioned exactly for a particular thing, making them useless if you’re not using, say, an iPhone.  The Spi-Belt’s pocket expands to fit a variety of items.  It’s a bit of a pain to get my smartphone in and out when I want to do things on the run (skip songs, pause the workout recording, take a photo), but for the better part of a year I was without a solution for storing things unless I wore my hydration pack or a water bottle belt.  I’ve since found out there are models that have even bigger pockets; the Endurance model and the Messenger Bag.
Happy Friday!
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Race Recap – 5 Peaks Trail Run – Heart Lake

Whenever a blogger hasn’t posted in a while, they always lead with something like “Don’t worry, I’m not dead!” and I always have a reaction along the lines of “I wasn’t thinking that at all.”  I’ve been swamped (still am, in fact), and there are quite a few topics I want to write about to get caught up on, but last things first….  I raced the 5 Peaks Trail Run Series – Heart Lake Sport course this weekend.

 I ran this race last year in September, and doing it in the summer had an entirely different feel. Just like last year, there was a Kids’ Challenge Fun Run of just under 1 km that both Shark Boy and the Lightning Kid participated in.  It’s fun to see them actually improve year over year: I’m pretty sure Shark Boy can pace himself better so that he keeps up a more consistent tempo, and the Lightning Kid finished much faster too.  They make me so proud.

Game Faces.

Shark Boy raises the flag (or ribbon) of victory (or participation).

The Lightning Kid approaches the finish line with Mama in tow

The Kids’ Challenge course had many of the same features as the sport course, only shorter, naturally.  We took off from the starting line and dropped down into a little valley where we circled a field, while going up and down a few hills that surrounded it.  It was all led by a volunteer and there was a tiger mascot to motivate them right to the end.  The really great part about this venue for kids is there was a splash pad right next to the race site where the boys got to spend the time while I was off on my race.

 This year, I decided to seed myself in the 4th wave rather than the 3rd.  I think I got passed a little too much in the early first kilometre last year, and I wasn’t exactly at my fastest going in.  In spite of the guidelines they give you as to wave vs. benchmark time (the pre-race bulletin called it “…the 5K time you could run immediately after eating a plate of nachos, with a beer or two to wash them down, followed by an ice cream sandwich for dessert.”).  By the time I had finished getting my good luck kisses, I had a little trouble getting to the front of the 4th wave, but I still think it worked well.  


 The single-track didn’t start till 500-700m into the race, so there was plenty of time to get things sorted out in terms of runners’ paces and who should be where in the pack.

 I started my Garmin a little late (and my MapMyFitness app even later – I hope no-one was listening to the robot lady in my phone calling out false kilometre marks), and I quickly noticed a little problem.  I recently added a new heart rate sensor and I think that reset my HR Zones and values; according to what it displayed, I did nearly the entire race above 90% my maximum heart-rate (I later found out that the programmed max was 187 bpm, and my max of the day was 197, so now at least I have a new, up-to-date maximum heart rate).



The course spent a lot of time in the shade of the forest, which I really appreciate; I had a hat and sunscreen, but I don’t like to rely on those more than I need to.  Even the little bit toward the end (I think well after 4km on a 7km course) that was more sun exposed was well thought out – there was only a single aid station on the course, but I thought it came at the perfect place the first time I passed it, and you got to pass it again another time.

 I took a couple of walk breaks during the race, but they were more in anticipation of hills and wanting to be properly energized for the climb than necessary to recover from fatigue.  My favourite hill was a near vertical climb that slowed people down to a crawl.  I used my trick from last year to make the crawl literal and used my hands to get extra traction to make the climb.

 I made the final climb to the finish line with a smile on my face, and finished in 45:46 which is more than a minute slower than last year, but with my training schedule (or lack thereof) I wasn’t too surprised and quite pleased.


 After a slight cool down in the shade and getting a few snacks into me (including mint-chocolate Clif Bar Builder Blocks!) I met my wife and kids coming back from the splash pad.  We had the briefest of moments to meet with Jessica of Laces and Lattes (which is not only a good blog, but an excellent running resource) – if not for her, I think I would have forgotten that the race was that weekend.  I also got to meet Robyn Baldwin, and she fell victim to the charms of the Lightning Kid:

So much fun meeting @apkussma‘s fam jam. I may have wanted to kidnap your son just so we could eat cookies together
— RobynBaldwin (@RobynBaldwin) June 21, 2014

He didn’t give her nearly the attention I wanted him to, because he was so busy stuffing cookies in his mouth, but maybe he knows more about playing it cool than I do.  Rounding out the group of tweeps I met is Mark Sawh, who was better known to me as Spider-Man (from the Yonge St. 10k).  Based on the conversation I had with him, trail running has another convert…

I wish we’d been able to hang around more for draw prizes and other fun, but we had to get to Burlington for the race kit pickup of the TriKids Burlington triathlon Shark Boy would be doing the next day.  Guess what my next post is going to be about?