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Liebster Award!

The Liebster Award is a way for bloggers to throw a little recognition around, especially to blogs with smaller followings; a way to shed a little light into the dustier corners of the blog-o-sphere, so to speak.  I used to see posts where people got nominated and think “Why not me?”… and this weekend, Miranda of Cupcake Triathlete made my wish come true!


My mission, and I did choose to accept it is to answer Miranda’s 10 Questions, and nominate 10 other Bloggers to answer 10 of my own questions… she did mention that there are no “Liebster police” if you don’t get it all done, but here goes…



Miranda’s Liebster Questions:

1.  What’s your favourite workout and why?
This one’s pretty easy.  Burbathlon; I get to work on my running, which was pretty much my gateway into endurance and fitness overall, have fun, be outside and know I’m getting some strength and agility benefits too.

2.  What motivates you?
Shark Boy is very big on asking “Why?” for everything, and my favourite is when I can answer: “For Fun.”  I have noticed that exercise helps me manage stress, and I certainly need a counter-balance for when I indulge diet-wise, but I got hooked on triathlon because it was fun.  If I want to do triathlon races (which are the most fun, because it takes out the worst logistics of trying to fit in 3 sports in one shot), I have to train.

3.  Looking back over your last year of training, what would you change and why?
There’s so much I wish that could have been better, but if I don’t want to get depressed, I have to stick to what I can control… going forward, I want to supplement my nutrition for a better immune system.  If I could get back some of those sick days, that would have been something.

4.  Favourite thing to do as a training reward
A big meal, to be honest, though Epsom Salt baths are the better option.

5.  How do you get yourself going again after a training “funk”?
My blog helps with that, since I need material to write about.  A new frontier activity can be good (like mountain biking most recently).

6.  Hobbies outside of the athletic?
Uhh… blogging? I try to read a fair amount (and that includes, but is not limited to, comic books), though it’s more like a chapter a night before sleeping.  I could have a whole bunch more if you give me a big bag of money…

7.  Biggest challenge in training?
Anything that takes me too far from the family and/or for too long a period of time doesn’t work and doesn’t happen.  Long bike rides are the preeminent example.

8.  Moment you are most proud of (could be athletic or not).
I don’t know about a “Moment”.  I’m very proud to be a father, so the birth of each of my sons is right up there, so is getting married.  Finishing a marathon was big (back in 2006).  I turned 40 Last Year, and between that and a Bad Monday that made me check my accomplishments and how I stand up to adversity and sum it all up.  I guess that’s how I express my pride… more holistically, I guess.

9.  Embarrassing workout story (be brave…..)
Plyometrics are good for runners/triathletes.  Box jumps look like fun.  Using a step (with 4-5 risers) seemed like a good way to do them at the gym.  I set them up near a window, and after a few reps, toppled the step and splattered myself into the blinds of a window.  They are still bent to this day.



10.  What’s your “Mt. Everest” goal?  What’s keeping you from going after it?
Probably an Iron Man.  See number 7 for the reason why I haven’t gone after it.  I think the older (and hopefully somewhat more independent/better behaved) my kids get and with a more stable sleeping schedule it’ll happen.  I’d make it my own 42nd Birthday Present, but I believe it taking things one step at a time, so a half-Iron distance would have to come first.


My Liebster Nominees:

I joked with Miranda that writing this post would be a lot of work, but nothing would be as tough as coming up with 10 nominees (who hadn’t already been nominated by her); I have a lot of favourites, but I don’t know how many are all that ‘small’ anymore.  Luckily, I’ve been collecting a lot of new blogs lately, especially triathlon ones (though not limited to that), so the list filled out quicker than I thought it would.  


  1. Dan T Head – I’m a sucker for triathletes with families and this guy writes (and writes about) sci-fi, comics and other nerditry that makes me wonder if we’re related.
  2. Lauren Lives Healthy – A fairly new (yet shockingly competent) blogger who’s on her first tri journey.
  3. ElleSeeFit – A Toronto area blogger I had the pleasure of meeting once.  She makes Wellness a fun adventure.
  4. You Signed Up For What – Even if she wasn’t a triathlon blogger (and mom), she would have had me at the Name of her Blog!
  5. The Business of Losing Weight – Hank has lost over 100 lbs and is rocking his local Clydesdale division in tri, in addition to being a contributor to the Huffington Post.  He writes race recaps that will make you want to stand up and cheer.
  6. Cody Beals – I’ve only dipped my toe into the waters of his blog, but it looks like it’s more comprehensive and informative than most pro-triathlete blogs.  How can you go wrong with a hashtag like #AskTriNerd?
  7. Barefoot Angie Bee – Runner, Yogi, Sci-Fi Nerd, Special Needs Mom.  If you haven’t figured it out, the key to my blogger heart is multi-disciplinarian-ism (and nerdiness helps too).
  8. Family Sport Life – I’m not sure if this blog is small enough to be nominated, it looks so professional and sleek.  Still, this family is made of pure awesomeness.  Besides triathlon, there are some good life hacks for productivity and such.
  9. Wildly Fit – A tag team.  Katie and Morgan tackle health and fitness from many angles, but what I like best is how they prioritize nature and the outdoors.
  10. Mom Swim Bike Run – She’s a mom, but she Swims, Bikes and Runs! I would watch that movie.

My Liebster Questions For My Nominees (And You!)


  1. There are two kinds of people in the world: _______ and ________.  Fill in the blanks.
  2. If you could add an event onto a race (i.e. something besides swim, bike run for triathlon, something besides running for running) to make it More Multi-sport, what would that be?
  3. What’s your best quality/strong suit when it comes to getting the most out of your workouts? i.e. What’s your super-power?
  4. Why do you blog?
  5. What invention are you waiting for to make your life complete (or at least easier)?
  6. What’s your number 1 workout/running song? If not music, what do you use to pump yourself up?
  7. Besides health and fitness, what has your sport brought to your life?
  8. If you could debunk one (fitness) myth to the whole world, what would that be?
  9. For your favourite blogs/bloggers, do you have a “type”?
  10. BONUS RANDOM QUESTION TO TELL US WHATEVER YOU WANT!

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Toronto Yonge Street 10K Race Recap

With the summer being dominated by my triathlon season, in the past it’s been nice for us as a couple for me to support my wife in running races in the spring.  Two years ago, she ran the Yonge St 10K and the Sporting Life 10K which used to be the same event.  After mixing the two up last year, she found she preferred the Yonge St 10K and wanted to do it again this year.

April 2012 – Human Totem Pole waiting for Mama… the Lightning Kid is around 6 months old in this pic

When she found out that there was a stroller division this year, she asked me if we should do it as a family.  While Shark Boy hasn’t been too keen on sitting in the Chariot during runs anymore, we thought we could make it work, and got excited at the prospect of running a 10K as a family.  I started doing more runs on my lunch hour (perfect timing since the run club just started at work) and we got one ‘dry run’ as a family 2 weeks before race day – 8 km, with the Chariot and everything.  What we learned is that managing the boys would be as big a challenge as pushing the stroller, or dragging our butts across the finish line.

 I also put out a few feelers prior to race day to see who was doing the Yonge Street 10k.  There were people I met through my outing with Tribe Fitness, as well as some of my favourite local fitness bloggers (who I’d met last year at the May Tweet-Up) like The Athletarian, Eat Spin Run Repeat, Work It Wear It Eat It, Robyn Baldwin, ElleSeeFit and Darwinian Fail… so many awesome people in one place.  Krysten (a.k.a Darwinian Fail) let me know that she was meeting people at a Starbucks at 8:30.


The problem?  Our corral (the stroller division) wouldn’t be starting till 9:20 and I knew trying to keep the boys still in a crowded area for a long time was a recipe for disaster.  We ended up at the starting area sometime after 9:00 and I’m sure everyone who wasn’t right at the back was in their corral chomping at the bit.  So…  a missed social opportunity, but at least there was no Amber Alert situation right?

Before the Start

My wife preferred the Yonge Street 10k to the Sporting Life 10k due to better organization, and boy does it show.  The stroller division/purple corral started at 9:20 on the dot.  And I mean, on the dot – (a nerd alert shouldn’t be necessary here,  but maybe it’s your first time on this blog, so… NERD ALERT!) My watch syncs nightly to an atomic clock with the exact official time, and it had just ticked over to 9:20:00 when they said go.  That’s how on the dot, I mean.

We really enjoyed the run.  We got a lot of positive attention for having two handsome little boys along for the ride and people got a real kick out of Shark Boy’s singing as we rolled along.  We also got a few laughs for having to do parenting/management mid run e.g. “No Fighting you two!”  The smart thing we had done was pack a ton of snacks, because it’s hard to whine or complain with a mouthful of goldfish crackers.
I skipped the port-a-potties at 4 km, but by 5 km, I was regretting that decision a little.  I told my wife I was going to use them at the 7 km water station and when it got within sight, I let her push the stroller and ran ahead so she wouldn’t have to wait as long.  Here’s where things went off the rails – I thought she’d wait by the port-a-potties or maybe the water station, she thought she’d give me a chance to run at my normal pace by going ahead and letting me catch up.

 When I got out, I couldn’t see them anywhere; I back tracked till I could see Dundas St, where I’d left them – no sign of them.  I ran back (or more accurately, forward) to the water/aid station and couldn’t see them there either.  I hesitated, then ran forwards for a while, at a near sprint.  When the route turned West on Richmond, I described them to a volunteer who said they’d seen them, so I kept sprinting.  I sprinted for nearly a kilometre and I still hadn’t seen them anywhere.  My cell phone was in the back of the stroller, but a medical volunteer (from the Ski Patrol) offered me his.  They’d gotten just past the 9 km mark, but we still had a chance to finish the race together!  I’d been running around with the ‘Baby Stroller’ bib on my back, but no baby stroller, so I was relieved to ‘take the wheel’ again, so to speak.

 We finished the race in a pitiful 1:31:22, and the MapMyFitness tracker shows the 10k route (with a bunch of waiting around near the end):
Yet with all the back tracking I did, as far as I can tell, I did about 14km.


We were still all smiles to be together as a family, and Shark Boy got his wish to run across the finish line (in fact he did the last 500 m or so); holding his mother’s hand.

Done!


We chowed down on all kinds of snacks and drink samples, and I think one of the highlights was meeting a group (including Mark Sawh and Steve Layton) who decided to run the race as superheroes while raising money for the Hospital For Sick Children.  Shark Boy was thrilled to meet his heroes, and the heroes seemed just as thrilled!

They were taking down the festivities as we left to catch the very last shuttle back to the starting area.  Once we were back on Yonge, we opened patio season (sort of – we were near an open window at least) with a pub lunch.  Fulfilling our promise of ice cream was surprisingly trickier, but that was also a treat.

When I got home, I found my toes felt bruised.  It took me a while to figure out, but with the race’s net downhill, I had spent a good deal of the course putting on the brakes trying to keep the stroller from running away on us, thus jamming my toes into the front of the shoe repeatedly!

 All in all, a great day, and the Canada Running Series should be congratulated for running a great event.  It left us thirsty for more family 10k runs!

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Gear Corner: Apps That Motivate (Earndit, Pact)

We live in awesome times.  Information and mobile technologies enable us to get the most out of exercise, track the activities and help us stay motivated.  Today I’m going to look at two apps that do the latter: Earndit and Pact.


Earndit is not precisely an app, more like a website that connects to various other apps.  The premise is to reward you for working out, and of course that means some tracking.  It awards points that can be accumulated for rewards; more of that in a bit.


There are two main ways that Earndit awards workout points: exercise that is tracked, and checking into exercise facilities like gyms, parks, community centres, ski resorts, and probably more that I haven’t discovered yet.  The latter is accomplished through Foursquare.


For exercise tracking, I personally use Endomondo, though I also linked my Garmin account.  Other possibilities include Nike+, RunKeeper, FitBit, MapMyFitness, EveryTrail, BodyMedia, Omron, Moves and Jawbone.  Points vary depending on activity, and you can’t rack up more than 60 points in a day.


The rewards tend to be discounts or gift cards (with spending minimums) to online retailers in the health/fitness/exercise space, though I’ve also been introduced to Cory Vines (Active Wear), Blank Label (Custom Shirts) and Hugh & Crye (Men’s Wear) through these rewards. (Full Disclosure: those links contain referral codes that award me extra credits for referral if you make purchases). 

Cory Vines Top



The rewards available to Canadians are a little more limited, and though there’s a nice check box to limit rewards to those available in Canada, it’s best to double-check the fine print to see if they’ll ship there.  Most rewards are one-time only, so the selection drops once you’ve used up a few.  Except my favourite kind of rewards which are Charity Rewards.  So far, through Earndit, I have:



These rewards seem to come and go randomly, but it’s always nice to be able to give.


Earndit links with Twitter, Facebook and Google+.  You can ‘friend’ people within the system too, but I found it hard to find people I knew in general (exception: The Purple Giraffe!)


The other app I started using is Pact (formerly known as Gym-Pact).  Using this app, you commit to working out a certain number of times per week, and any workouts you miss you pay a penalty for.  The penalties for a given Pact go into a pot, which gets divided up and paid out amongst those that achieved their commitments.  You get paid to workout.  As in cash-money (it goes to PayPal or a credit card, but other than that, it’s money, not gift cards, or discounts or whatever).

I only just started using Pact.  I signed up for my first one mid-week, and the default Pact was 3 times per week at $10.00 a workout.  In hindsight, that seems a little steep (I think Fitness Cheerleader uses a $5.00 Pact, which seems more sensible). Still, I doubted I would have trouble making it to 3 workouts a week, all things considered…

Not so fast! Not all things can be considered! Home workouts can’t be tracked; that just makes sense as money is at stake and people could fake it too easily. Still, when it comes to checking into a ‘gym’ the method they use seems a little…crude I guess. The geo-location function of your smartphone is activated and they take a satellite image of it, which gets verified by some person on their end before they will give you credit for it. My gym is at work which is a large corporate campus, so I wasn’t sure if I would get credit for it until it was verified; because I signed up mid-week, I had 10 days to accrue 3 workouts for the week’s pact. Not knowing whether or not I was going to be able to count that gym in was stressful, since the only way to play with these features is to commit to a pact. Partnering with another app like Foursquare or Yelp seems like a much more sensible way to go than inspecting satellite images to me. While those apps could theoretically be cheated too, any given location could be verified by seeing if other people are checking in to workout. A lot of gyms (like Crossfit boxes) are in industrial/warehouse areas and might not ‘look’ like a gym from a satellite image.


Of course, outdoor activities can be tracked too. Unfortunately, the only apps Pact syncs with are Runkeeper and MapMyFitness so no Endomondo for me (side bar: I’m shocked to not see Daily Mile on these lists as I thought that was an incredibly popular app). Activity tracker wristbands that sync with Pact are the Jawbone Up and Fitbit. The latter are good for tracking the over 10,000 steps you need to qualify as having worked out that day. For tracking runs (or bike rides or whatever) you need to rack up at least 30 minutes while moving an average of 2 Miles an Hour. That doesn’t seem too strict, but I was still disappointed to find that our weekend outing to go cross-country skiing didn’t count toward my pact, as we spent too much time waiting for Shark Boy (he’s doing great, but he’s only 4 years old!).

When Sunday midnight rolled around, I had my 3 workouts approved, and I waited till Tuesday for the payout. Well, I should have been paid on Tuesday, but it took till Wednesday to rack up…. $1.11. A buck for 3 workouts that could have cost me up to $30 for missing them. I think that means that few people miss out on making their committed pack, which is a good thing, I suppose.

We were going on our family vacation in the Mayan Riviera the next week so I put Pact on break (I was planning on getting exercise there, but wasn’t going to be messing around with the app) till I got back (review of the trip soon to come!)

While there’s nothing preventing me from using both (and I probably will, hopefully the weekly winnings will rack up to something I can treat myself with) I really prefer Earndit’s ease of use, accessibility and no downside.

Do you use Pact? Earndit? Some other motivational app?




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The Axel Project

This post is about something wonderful, that comes from something terrible.  So it’s hard to know where to start.  Every once in a while, I’ll get a notification that I have a new follower, and it’ll be someone who seems really cool.  This happened a couple of weeks ago.  Jen Charrette is a mom into cycling, adventure, and travel.  Her twitter profilet also mentioned The Axel Project; with a name like that, how could I not be intrigued.



Before I get into what’s great about it (besides the name), I did have the sinking feeling that it was one of those causes born from a terrible loss.  Axel Charrette was a 2 year-old who had “love of life and adventure….He left a mark on almost everyone he came in contact with. His energy, kind soul, and joy of life was contagious.”  I remembered reading about his death in the news earlier last year, and I think I had repressed the memory; suffice it to say, I wish I had never read it, and if you’ll take my advice, we’ll leave it at the tragic loss of a child.


Having said that, I simply have to tell you about the Axel Project because it’s just that fantastic. From the website:


Axel Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the fundamental principle that a productive, happy life begins with bikes. Our mission is to introduce and nurture a lifelong passion for cycling to children and their families. While our goal is broad, our first project is aimed at providing balance bicycles and instruction to children in need, ages 18 months to 5-years of age, to teach the basic skills necessary to get them riding on two wheels—with their friends, their family and forever.


As I mentioned in the Designed To Move post, it’s imperative to develop these habits and values before age 10.  This is where the Axel Project is being smart – they are promoting the use of glider bikes.  The more traditional path of getting kids on pedal bikes with training wheels only delays their progress; the complicated act of turning the pedals is what they work on before learning balance, and so they get to go so fast, that they’re scared to take off the training wheels.

We’ve had great success with a glider for Shark Boy.  Thanks to using a glider, he was able to participate in a Duathlon before he turned 3. Though people always marvelled to see him cruising our neighbourhood at such a young age, I was surprised to find how resistant people could be to adopting a similar strategy – the worst had to be when I found myself arguing with an 8 year-old neighbour over the necessity of training wheels; +10 points for intention, -100 for common sense (an 8 year-old!).


The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Less than a year later he was riding a real bike (in a foreign country, no less)… that’s a bike with pedals, no training wheels, being ridden by a 3 year-old.


We’ve been struggling a little with the Lightning Kid in this regard, but the honest reason is his legs aren’t so long and don’t reach the ground from even the plastic toddler glider we got, though I have a good feeling about this spring, after seeing what kind of physical stunts he’s been capable of pulling around the house.


Thanks to the Chariot, we’ve already taken short family bike rides on weekends, and I look forward to more. Bicycles are really the best short-cut to getting the whole family involved in an active adventure, and the Axel Project is making that happen for as many families as they can. Donations can be made by Paypal or mailing a cheque.

I really hope that somewhere, Axel Charrette, is having fun, and smiling at the kinds of adventures families like mine and his might be having.

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Iron Rogue Finds a Cure For Winter Running at Tribe Fitness #JoinTheTribe

After having complained about winter running, I was feeling a little painted into a corner… was I really going to give it up? No, but without a change in perspective, I would be locked into dwelling on the negatives and wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself.  Enter an unusual set of circumstances (and a little initiative on my part).

It was shortly before Valentines and my wife and I had our plans already locked down – we were going to see a production of Alice In Wonderland that benefitted Mary Centre.  That was Thursday, so when an opportunity to be kid-free for Wednesday came up, she wanted a girls night out.  While a guys night out would have suited me fine too, they tend to end in the wee hours of the morning, and I wanted to pick my kids up and have them home and in bed before 9:00 at the latest, so I looked for other opportunities.  

One of the things I find have to miss out on are group exercise classes and lessons, since they tend to be held sometime in the period that is usually dinner and/or the kids’ bedtime.  Not this Wednesday!  I ended up picking Tribe Fitness, I believe having originally heard about it on Robyn Baldwin’s blog.  They have been doing training runs on Wednesday night, and some of the group are using this to get ready for Around the Bay or other bigger races.

All I was expecting was a fun, social 5 km run, but I got so much more! After struggling to find a parking space (which ended up being illegal, I didn’t discover the parking ticket till the next day!), I caught up with the tail end of the group and was warmly greeted by Heather Gardner who runs the group.  The warm greeting I got in person was to be expected after the one I got on Twitter when I mused about maybe turning up that night.

OK, tweeps… I have free time early Wednesday evening. Who thinks I should go to the @Tribe_Fitness 5k run?
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) February 10, 2014


 We ran a little around the area surrounding Canoe Landing Park

First up was Biathlon.  Instead of skiing and shooting a rifle, we ran a sprint lap and took up to 3 throws to hit Hulk-hand targets with a snowball (I made a successful hit on my second lap, but otherwise came up empty).  Taking the throws counted as recovery between sprint laps of the park.


Next up was Luge (though it reminded me more of Bobsled).  I was on a team of 3, and as the biggest member, I didn’t ride, but only pushed my teammates on a crazy-carpet.  I think I made my biggest contribution for the uphill segment, when we switched riders for the way back, I had trouble keeping up and ended up letting go, rather than contribute to bad steering and crashing.  Luckily there was none of that, though there was plenty of laughter.


The last event was a “speed-skating” relay, or more simply, a relay around the park.  All 3 events were great ways to introduce a little of the dreaded speed work (which burn more of those hibernation calories) into the evening, and what’s more, they made them fun.


The group headed indoors for warm drinks, but I had to take my leave and pick up my boys, but I’d heavily recommend to any level of runner in the Toronto area to try and make it out to one of these events, or any other that Tribe Fitness puts on.

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The First Monday of 2014

Hi 2014.  We haven’t been properly introduced, but you decided to open up your first  Monday and real workday by waking me at 5 AM (no problem, I was ready for that), dumping a heavy mix of snow and freezing rain on the area so I’d have to shovel snow (well, it goes with the territory, being Canadian I suppose) and finally having my bedroom door fall on me (NOT COOL – WAY OFFSIDE!).  Maybe you thought you could get my attention that way, and I could say Mission Accomplished, but I don’t want to give you the satisfaction.


Do you know what I told 2013 when it was getting started?


And 2013 was the year I turned 40.  You don’t have the advantage of a significant birthday of mine, so I wouldn’t get cocky if you’re hoping to grind me down or anything silly like that.  Maybe you don’t know who you’re dealing with… my mistake, as I said, we haven’t been properly introduced.


I not only graduated from one of Canada’s best Engineering programs, but I studied Electromagnetic Fields and other subjects in German.  By choice.
I’ve hiked the West Coast Trail.
From http://www.westcoasttrailbc.com/




Do you know 2003? It tried to get me by having me get dumped and laid off on the same day, then gave me melanoma a month later.  Low blows, and I certainly remember the year, but it’s been more than a decade and I can write the enormity of the entire experience in a nostalgic sentence like any other joke or anecdote.


I’ve struck, thrown and locked other human bodies and had them do the same to me until my neck couldn’t take it any more.

I’ve run far, and when running got too boring, I swam and biked too.  I married my running buddy, so as not to have to chase after her the rest of my life – I’m smart like that.


When I procreate, I make Sharks and Lightning.  The Lightning Kid was born with what they call a ‘disability’ – he’s walking, talking, going to a regular day care without assistance, and showing strong signs of being potty ready and he’s only two.

Do what you can 2014.  In another decade, I’ll still be raising my boys with an active, adventurous lifestyle, with a woman who could be described as some kind of cross between a Queen and an Angel by my side… and I’ll need to do math (but not Vector Calculus in German) to figure out which one of the twenty-teens you were.

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Where’s Your Head At?

I have been struggling, struggling, struggling with being able to focus lately –  in most areas of my life, but fitness and training especially.  I have had too much trouble deciding where and what I want to spend time on, so not only is my training all over the place, but I’m not in headspace to set goals, and as for blogging about it… well…

I’ll try to give you an illustration of the fitness/training part of my brain lately:

This probably plays fast and loose with the laws of the Venn diagram, but it’s the best I can do to sort through the jumble.  Let’s break this down some more:

  • Triathlon, comprised of Swim, Bike and Run.  This is still my biggest love, still a priority.  The temptation to let things slide due to the “off-season” is there, but there are also arguments that there shouldn’t be an off-season (Tridot calls it “Out-Season”) especially if you haven’t had a heavy “On-Season”.  On the other hand, maybe it’s the time of year to work on strength, like say through…

  • Crossfit.  Confessions first: with only a few months left in the year, I realized I’m in danger of the sessions I bought back in January expiring.  I’ve been even worse than sporadic up until that point, but I did manage to step it up in the last month or so, still falling short of the twice a week I wanted. What I like most is that I’m often addressing muscles in the posterior chain; easy to neglect, but very important muscles. 

    Big workouts have given me Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which for me always sets in 2 days after the workout, which really throws off the idea of getting back in there for a WOD (workout of the day) 2 days later.
Besides that, the other problem I have is that it’s time consuming, which is a weird thing to say given that I’ve seen WODs that are 10 minutes long.  Still, I have to drive there (it’s short, but that’s still more than using the in-house corporate gym or my basement or running.  There’s the warm-up and skills portion (which I’m grateful for), yet they start when everybody is ready and there, not just when I want to get things moving along.  There’s no shower at the box, so after I drive back, I still have to shower and change.  The truth is, where there’s a will there’s a way, so these kinds of excuses shouldn’t be an obstacle if I really love doing it, but I guess I don’t.  I’d love to improve in some of the skills (pull-ups, dead-lifts, pistol squats and handstand push-ups come to mind), but I don’t get to pick what comes up in the WOD.  I recently tried (again) snatches, but I didn’t do so great with them; it just feels like flirting with injury.  Forty-somethings need to play it safe sometimes, which brings us to…









  • Parkour*.  The asterisk is for the fact that I’m forty (did I mention that already) and I don’t have the tolerance for risk that doing head-over-heels flips would entail, but I do like working on jumps, balancing and climbing during Burbathlon. What I’d really like to achieve is the Kong Vault (or at least the Monkey Vault). I just think it might come in handy, especially if I ever try an Obstacle Course race again. What I’ve been working on is getting my legs through with my hands on the ground (or any surface really). It’s an exercise in flexibility and discipline, really.



  • Nordic Skiing. This one is marked as being outside the benefit zone of triathlon, but according to what I’ve written before, maybe it shouldn’t be. At any rate, Nordic skiing is one of my favourite forms of exercise, and as they say on Game of Thrones, Winter is Coming. I got lucky finding a pair of roller-skis at a ski swap, and knowing that the snow hasn’t been reliable in recent years, I snagged them. When I get a chance to practice with them for more than 10 minutes, I’ll write up a little review, but based on my current experience, I won’t feel safe using them to commute to work any time soon.





  • Martial Arts. For reasons I can’t quite understand that myself looking through local places that offer Kung Fu like Wing Chun, and/or San Shou. I also have nostalgia for Jiu-Jitsu. The problem is I’m still in position where I can’t leave the house in the evenings. Most things that I have seen after work are right during the time when I’m helping the kids to bed, and they’re still not really putting themselves to sleep so that stuff it’s probably going to have to wait.
If I take a look at my accomplishments in October (for example) the calendar looks like this:
The Little Standing man is for Circuit Training = Crossfit WOD or Tabata Bootcamp

That could be worse. Some swims, some bikes… too few runs. At the very least, I joined a Govember Bike Challenge hosted by Jamie at From Couch to Ironwoman, and it’s gotten me on the trainer.

Are you madly off in all directions like this? Do you have “Fitness ADD” too?
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Burbathlon and Matrix Workout Remixed

Remix (Broader Context): A remix may also refer to a non-linear re-interpretation of a given work or media other than audio. Such as a hybridizing process combining fragments of various works (from Wikipedia).

Whenever I go out to do a Burbathlon, I have to admit I usually improvise.  I have a few bags of tricks that I use with park benches, picnic tables and playground equipment, and the exercises number more than the slots I find to do them in, so no two Burbathlons are alike.  Still, variety is the spice of life, and Instagram has been great for finding new exercises to ‘Remix’ my workouts.  To wit,

 The horizontal pull-up from Shauna Harrison.



Dips…

Handstands like Running Rachel:





Box Jumps like Electra-Fi:



Matrix Workouts

I’ve also been remixing these (You do remember Matrix Workouts don’t you? Try those links if not).  The one sentence refresh: a workout comprised of exercises organized by muscle/movement groups (push, legs, pull) in the columns, and priorities (core/balance, power, endurance) in the rows.  I’d always noticed the overlap between exercises that help build core strength and balance while hitting a particular muscle group and those that build endurance in the same group, but I’ve decided to stop worrying about the dividing lines between the two. 

Here’s how I structured the latest incarnation:



Push (shoulder/chest)
Legs
Pull (Back/Biceps)
Core/Balance
Handstand hold (max time) – against a wall
Rolling Pistol Squats
Plank Rows – 1 minute
Power
Incline Chest Press (dumbbells)
Deadlifts
Seated Cable Row
Endurance
Push-ups – 1 minute
Jump lunges/split squats
Negative Phase Pull-ups


  • Handstands are making an appearance here too.  My biggest weakness is always anything with overhead work, so by sticking to bodyweight stuff like this, I hope to become stronger without compounding any problems.  Against a wall I find I can hold it less than a minute so far.
  • Pistol Squats are the ultimate one-legged squat and great for building a runner’s strength – I just can’t do a full range of motion on them though.  There’s lots of ways to scale them: holding on to something, reducing the range a little with a box under your butt, using a Swiss ball to do them against a wall).


I had the idea to use the latter half of a technique that practioners of Shorinji-Kan Jiu-Jitsu called a ‘Judo Roll’ (N.B. not an roll that would be used by someone who does Judo).  It’s a shoulder roll where one heel gets planted and you rise up into a fighting stance, and that rise has some similarity to a pistol squat – I apologize for not being able to find a video.  The momentum for the roll makes getting up from the bottom a little easier – in theory.  I started on my back and rolled backwards up to my shoulder and tried to complete the latter half, but I was only able to rise all the way up using a bar and occasionally touching a wall for balance; and even then I could only get 5 reps per leg.  I still believe that this exercise can pay dividends to strength and balance – especially for runners, so I want to keep working on it.

  • Plank rows – I’ve used these before… a.k,.a Renegade Rows.
  • Incline Chest Press with dumbbells – I struggle with any kind of overhead press due to shoulder stability issues.  This lets me approach that functionality in a controlled fashion.  When I think about it, what does a classic bench press simulate? Not too many situations where I have to lift things while lying flat on my back… this is more like it.
  • Deadlifts – You could argue that these don’t belong strictly under the leg category, but the first time I started incorporating them in workouts, I felt it in my hamstrings most the next day.

  • Seated Cable Row – this breaks my ‘No Machines’ rule and isn’t very functional, but in the Power row/category, I do want a little more targeting of my latissimus dorsi_and trapezius  muscles for now.
  • Push-ups – doing them for 1 minute straight.
  • Jump Lunges – still struggling to get 1 minute’s worth straight through.
  • Negative Phase Pull-ups – I can only do about 1.5 pull-ups, so making a workout out of that seems pointless, but by jumping/climbing to the top of the movement and lowering myself as slowly as possible, I can get more reps out and help my muscular endurance.  This is functional and makes up for the seated cable row.
After I get through a circuit or two of the 3×3 matrix, I’ve been adding a little capper or two that I find and haven’t been able to fit in otherwise like Shauna Harrison’s (her again?) one-legged jumping squat …



or Trainer Davey’s Pike-Jack Push-up

I need to wrap up this post… I haven’t had a workout in 2-3 days, and I’m going out for another Burbathlon… I might mix in Mom’s Little Running Buddy’s Focus for 5 while I’m out there.

When it comes to exercise, who do you beg, borrow and steal from lately?

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Fountain of Youth

Warning: This is going to be one of those navel-gazing posts that I always claim to dislike writing (and reading for that matter). Still, you guys are gluttons for punishment and I’ll bet you’re still reading.


In less than 3 weeks, I’m going to turn 40. Even though I don’t entirely want it to be, it’s a bit of a big deal, and turning into an even bigger deal the closer we get to it. I remember being 23 or 24 and I was at my first job out of university. I had a co-worker who I looked up to a little as a mentor who turned 30, and I asked him whether it worried or bothered him. He answered that he had a job he loved, a beautiful wife and baby girl, so everything was the way he wanted it in life, while he had friends who were living in their parents’ basements. I thought it was a very healthy attitude to have and resolved to try and confront my 30th with a similar one.

Flash-forward: six weeks before my 30th birthday, I got dumped, laid-off and I found out I had a stage 1 malignant melanoma in my leg. Having a good attitude about employment or relationships was tough, and I had my health – my very life, really, to think about. Still, I got through all that, and now, I have all that, especially the beautiful wife and family.

I guess I’m trying to take stock of where I’m at in a few other ways. A few years ago, there was a beer ad campaign where they welcomed twenty-somethings into the transition from undergraduate hi-jinks to the next phase (with more expensive beer): The Carlsberg Years. Well, even those are probably behind me, but I do find myself looking for little indulgences in the everyday, including better beer of course.

Somehow I’ve accumulated just enough vanity to start using some high-end skin care when I shave, and that in turn, has started getting me to expand skin-care in to almost a whole regimen. Besides their shaving gel, I have a cleanser, a moisturizer, exfoliant, eye-cream, and age/rejuvenating cream under my sink. I don’t have a real regimen for regular use, but I try to take care of my skin beyond protecting it from the sun and cursing pimples (yes, acne at 40 – pimples as stubborn as the man they belong to).

While my favourite thing to wear (and I often do) is still a hoodie and jeans, I have realized that one of the things that can make a person look old is an outdated and/or worn out wardrobe, so I try keep from clinging on to old favourites and bring in new clothes that are youthful in spirit without making me look too much like an arrested adolescent who doesn’t know what’s age-appropriate (there’s a What Not To Wear fan in my house). What’s more is that I have no patience for shopping. Even the one time in the morning I have to pull clothes almost feels like more than I’d like, so repeatedly trying on clothes is practically a punishment for me and when you tie in crowded stores and parking forget it! I’ve had some success with Frank & Oak and Hugh & Crye especially in shirts.



The Frank & Oak stuff fits well, but the Hugh & Crye deserves special mention since they do fits according to body type which is determined through multiple measurements. A fit is some combination of Short/Average/Tall versus Skinny/Slim/Athletic/Broad.   I even got one shirt done custom from Blank Label.



It’s not just the outside I find myself paying more attention to; I’ve been taking multi-vitamins (almost) regularly for a while now. I like to make sure I get not only all kinds of vitamins, but Omega-3s, chromium and zinc. After my experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack, I recently ordered their Daily Essentials and I’m working my way through that container.

Still, the best way to try and live forever that I’ve found so far is triathlon. Every time I race, one or more of the following scenarios occurs:

  • I’ll start catching up on an athlete and start to feel good that I might over-take a peer or rival, when the body marked age on their calf reveals them to be in their sixties or seventies.
  • I’ll see a body in better shape than mine with firmer skin and tauter muscle, and when I want to chalk it up to the benefits of youth, I’ll see that number on the calf again, and find I’m actually dealing with someone my age or older.

Triathletes as a whole in my experience always look younger than they are. I said I was going to delve into more strength training and other more intense fitness activities in the post-season. That is not what I have done. Whether it’s post-race blues, work stress, dealing with a virus while simultaneously worrying about a procedure for the Lightning Kid, my motivation has be been close to nil. On the bright side, I’ve discovered that I can still run, even when I don’t think I really want to exert myself. It was so liberating. On my second of such runs this week, I discovered that I really like the band Japandroids, who I can remember reading about with a review that said something along the lines of “they remember what it’s like to be seventeen.” I swear their songs made me want to scream out loud (in a good way, of course).

 I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I fervently hope I’m still doing triathlons (or at least running) until the day I die. May Forty Be Sporty! 

Still time to Donate to the Levac Attack for 2013!  Click Here!