My #BestRun of Late

Amanda a.k.a. MissZippy is hosting a link-up party, where everybody talks about the Best Run they had recently.  I haven’t been running very much since the Chilly Half-Marathon, so I thought I’d have nothing to talk about.


Then Saturday happened.

I had a block of time in the afternoon, but not much ambition.  The Lightning Kid had been running a fever, as we discovered that mid-day.  My wife wanted to take Shark Boy shoe shopping (he ended up with a pair of Saucony’s!).  Taking the Lightning Kid out for some fresh air in the Chariot seemed like the ideal solution: he’d get some rest and some fresh air.  After I strapped him in, and started up, I realized how long it had been since we were out together.

He fell asleep pretty quickly, and with nothing but time on my hands, I figured I would try and turn this into a long, slow, distance workout.  I took my time, and since the Virrata’s are still new to me, I kept my pace easy and my stride as soft as possible.  The weight of the Chariot made it easier to not over-stride and heel strike for the most part.



As I made my way into Centennial Park, I decided to extend the distance a little by trying to complete a circuit around the Ski Hill.  There was still some artificial snow to cross, which was a  little tricky with wheels and light shoes, but no harm done.  Once I had completed the lap around the hill, I climbed up the service road for one of the best views of the city; if I had known I’d be writing this up days later, I’d have taken some pictures.

On the way back down the hill, the Lightning Kid woke up.  I was worried he’d get cranky due to feeling under the weather, but his spirits stayed high, and he babbled a little as if to confirm:”Hey, we haven’t done this in a while!”.

I started taking a different route home with the idea of extending the run some more, but I noticed I had missed a call on my cell phone; I picked up the voice mail from my wife saying she wanted to go grocery shopping and whether I’d want to swap kids with her.  I was just next to the grocery store when I got the message, and when I returned her call, she was already at the store.  So I cut the run short, and joined the rest of my family at the grocery store… I even got some input into a few extras we should buy.  They say you shouldn’t shop on an empty stomach… that goes double for a post-run stomach!

The Week in Links: SCIENCE!

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




The Top Ten Sport Science Stories of 2012

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

The jaw-dropping benefits of cross-country skiing

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







13 Fitness Trends to Watch for in 2013

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

When It Rains It Pours

I haven’t posted anything since I became a Fitfluential Ambassador.  My goal is to generally post once a week, and if I’ve got a lot of ideas in the hopper, I try to get the posts drafted so that I can publish them at a steady rate.  Life itself can be feast-or-famine after all.

Right now I’ve got a ton of ideas, and they should be coming through for the next few days.  Most of them have taken some time to gather information and/or experience, so I haven’t been able to simply go ahead with them.  Though I should probably write them and save them for a rainy day, I’ve got so many new ideas and things I want to try that I don’t think I should wait and space them out… I feel like there’s a certain amount of time sensitivity to this stuff.  It’ll probably be another flurry then radio silence again as life gets to busy for me again…

So, thanks for bearing with me and reading this far.  I’ll leave you with a link: Alison from Racing Tales was recently tapped by the magazine The Washingtonian to write an article about off-season training methods and priorities for triathletes.  The article is great with tips from some real experts… and also… me!

The Week’s Great Links

Here’s a collection of triathlon related links I found this week, in case you didn’t see them when I tweeted them.

There are visually impaired triathletes who race with the help of a guide.  Guiding another person through a three stage race is challenging, and to my knowledge these people get training with their partners on how to get it done.  Chad Nikazy, while a competent triathlete, seems to have decided to become a guide for a paratriathlete pretty much up and out of the blue.  Read his awesome story in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Did you know the Olympics are on soon?  Of course, the coverage is non-stop, and there’s a lot of focus on London, the city.  I thought this was a cute travel article for triathletes – a way to see a bit of the city via a swim, bike, run: Explore London With Your Own DIY Triathlon

Canada’s Flag Bearer at London 2012 is Simon Whitfield.  He’s getting a lot of attention, but I like the fact that only days before the games, he goes to the inaugural Toronto Triathlon Festival to promote the sport and even competes in the Sprint event.  Here’s a little video of him talking about the sport – what a nice, down-to-earth guy.

@Triboomer lists some exotic triathlon from around the world here.

Don’t forget the Levac Attack!  Spread the word, sign-up, or sponsor me!

Last Week’s Links

Just checking in to share some of the better links I came across last week.

  • A Brick workout without a bike, courtesy of Trifreaks: http://trifreaks.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/brick-workout-to-consider-without-biking/
  • Healthy Tipping Point takes a good look at Obstacle Races (please don’t call them Adventure Races, that’s something else).  Very thoughtful analysis, as usual.  
  • Better with Veggies put up a great post about breaking into triathlon from starting as a runner.  It’s how I got involved; I was already using swim and bike as cross-training, I loved pushing the envelope endurance-wise, but it was just too much running all the time, until I found a way to make it all work for me.
  • Speaking of breaking into triathlon, I was thumbing through my wife’s Chatelaine magazine when I saw this article.  Yay for triathlon in the mainstream!




Have a great day!


EDIT: Fixed the link to Healthy Tipping Point.