Iron Rogue has joined the Fitfluential Family! Whereas I was a member before, I am now officially a Fitfluential Ambassador (see the badge on the right?). Fitfluential is a blogging network, so this is exciting news, especially in light of my recent looking to new horizons…
What kind of changes does this mean? Not many, in terms of the general tone and content of the blog. While a lot of Ambassadors do regular/weekly posts like ‘What I Ate Wednesday’ or ‘Motivation Monday’ I don’t think that really suits my personal voice. I am, however, looking forward to a better relationship with brands, and hopefully that means more gear reviews and the like. I still want to take baby steps to take the blog to the next level, and this ambassadorship is the best way to get started.
If you have a blog, you might consider signing up for membership, and applying for ambassadorship the next time applications open!
This weekend I went North to an annual ‘Boys Weekend’. A bunch if guys (too old to refer to themselves as boys) get up to whatever guys do at a cottage when freed from family and work obligations. Now, the cardinal rule of this tradition is “what happens on boys weekend stays on boy’s weekend”, so details will be sparse and obscured, but I wanted to discuss the only fitness/outdoor activity of the weekend: paintball!
Faces have been obscured to protect the identity of the… well, I can’t say innocent…
I’ve played paintball a few times before, but most of the time the day goes as follows:
Show up at the facility, rent used equipment.
Then, get your group of novices mixed in with weekend warriors who are there weekly, know the terrain and have superior skill and equipment.
Get overshadowed or simply slaughtered by these same warriors
On this weekend, I was looking forward to playing on a more level playing field. Some guys had used the experience of previous years (I’ve missed a couple of years due to the births of my kids) to get motivated to buy better equipment and get educated about the mechanics of the guns (which are officially known as ‘markers’ and that’s how I’ll be referring to them from here on in). So maybe the playing field wasn’t perfectly level… For my part, I bought a simple starter kit at Canadian Tire, but ended up shelling out a little more for extra ammunition and a light camouflage jacket.
I’m not a big risk-taker, so in prior games, my desire to put myself in a situation where I could get a drop on an opponent leads to a lot of hesitation; being over-cautious means missing out on the action. This time, I vowed to be more aggressive, and I think I can report mild success on that front, though I don’t think it netted any kills.
We played a few rounds, switching up teams and objectives. It’s notable that each round, someone would have to eliminate themselves due to equipment malfunction and we would burn a lot of time between rounds cleaning the internals of the markers or checking the carbon dioxide tanks that act as the propellant. It’s hard to maintain momentum and/or a calorie burn.
A funny thing happened during a game of ‘Capture the Can of Beer’: my marker malfunctioned, and the usual ‘pull the pin back and forth’ didn’t clear anything up, so I was left with nothing to lose. I simply decided to make a run for the can (heh… can) and see what would happen. I made it! Turns out, the marker can be a hindrance to my enjoyment of the game. You catch a first person view of that round below; I mounted my camera to the marker – yes, I am a geek. Warning: I do use a bit of bad language right as I decide that the marker is not fixable during the game and decide to go for it.
In fact, I am such a geek that I also wore a heart rate monitor while playing. I knew I would wind up huffing and puffing and wanted to know how much of that was due to the emotional excitement or the actual exertion. A snippet of the data (representing the round shown in the video) is below.
Occasionally pushing 90% of max HR
So, looking at the rest of the data, you could conceivably burn 600-615 calories an hour doing paintball, though that’s probably being generous. Maybe not the greatest for a fitness activity, but it’s better than most male bonding activities (like golf or poker), and it’s what I’d rather do. Have you ever played?
As part of Fitness Cheerleader’s August blog Challenge I’m using her suggested blog topic: Where Do You Want To Be In 10 Years?
Exactly where I am now. The End. Seriously, I’m happily married, with two beautiful boys, a rewarding job I’m reasonably good at (and even enjoy occasionally!). I get around travelling and spend time outdoors exercising and playing (then I blog about it). I eat and drink well (by my own definition, which means variety above all else). Why would I want to be anywhere else? Even less metaphorically, I love my house and hometown.
I guess there could be tweaks.
-I’d like to expand my horizons in multisport to include things like off-road tris and adventure races. -In that vein, within 10 years there should be opportunities to knock a few off the Race Bucket List -Which brings up travel. We do fairly well for a family with small children, but I read blogs like Raising Rippers and I know we can do more on the camping and adventure front. The kids’ swimming ability and toilet training will allow us to go on canoe trips and a lot of other adventures.
These few minor tweaks doesn’t seem too daunting over a ten year span does it? The elephant I probably need to address is the Lightning Kid‘s Down Syndrome. Will there be delays that impose limits on his lifestyle, and by extension our family’s? Right or wrong we don’t think about that anymore than we plan on slowing down to accommodate for aging bodies and new aches and pains. You’ve got to shoot for the moon; now, and in 10 years too!
First topic is my top 5 workout songs; this will probably be a little running centric.
1.) Wild Hearted Son by The Cult. Having rebellion and freedom in your heart – how can you help but run faster? Bonus points for old school blues references.
2.) Name of the Game by The Crystal Method. Great beats, inspires confidence
3.) Eulogy by The Flatliners. It’s punk, but if you’re inspired to go faster and/or further by someone who has passed on, this one will be your tear-stained second wind.
4.) Thunderstruck by AC/DC. THUNDER! RAAA-AAA-AAAA! Nuff said.
5.) When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin. Slower, driving beat, good for when you’re on the “death march” portion of your run.
The Muskoka 5150 won’t be my first Olympic Distance Tri, but it will be my first event run by the World Triathlon Corporation, owners of the Ironman brand – exciting! My last tri was last season, and as I mentioned at the time, it felt like my first. Based on my performance in training, I’m expecting a similar time to that race; i.e. over 3 hours. I’ve got to make my peace with the consequences of lower training volumes.
Looking forward, I’ve got a list of pros and cons going into this race. Cons first:
Cycling is still my weakest discipline. This is where I’ve lacked training the most and is the biggest difference maker in terms of time. My ride could take as much as 90 minutes…
The terrain is hilly. I know this, and I’ve tried to prepare for it, but it simply means you won’t finish in the kind of time you would if the course were flat.
It starts at 7:00 in the morning. That’s a very early morning if you factor in parking, transition setup and race kit pickup. Having small kids means that restful nights are always hard to come by.
I haven’t had heart rate data in months since I think my chest strap is done for. I’ll have to pace myself more by perceived effort than anything else.
Now Pros:
The swim course looks very similar to the older Subaru Muskoka Chase course. With my new wetsuit I think I can go pretty fast, and though this course introduces a little current toward the end, I can compare previous race times and this year’s open water training to estimate I’ll finish in 35-36 minutes.
Running. I think the work I’ve done in our run group has given me a better pace, or at least the ability to get a better leg turnover. Coming off a 40k bike ride I’ve been as slow as 6:29/km, but I think I should manage something closer to 5:30km. At any rate I’m hoping for a sub-hour run, say, 55 minutes.
Transition. I don’t have much to show off about here, but between venue familiarity, being somewhat experienced and knowing my strengths and weaknesses, this is where I can make or break the 3:05 time limit I am shooting for. I haven’t decided whether or not to use my Zoot Racers to save time or stick to more cushioned shoes for safety/injury prevention’s sake. With T1/T2 transition times of 2 minutes and 1 minute respectively (which are theoretically possible based on previous times at Muskoka) I’d be looking at a 3:03 race time.
As some kind of retail therapy, I ordered myself a Louis Garneau Tri-suit and a new heart rate monitor. The latter I’ll get to try out maybe once before the race, but my cautious side says don’t try new apparel on race day; what if the tri-suit doesn’t play nice with my wetsuit or something? Still, I was looking forward to a new outfit for race pictures.
At any rate: Wish me luck! Do you do as much pre-race analysis as this? More? What do you think of early, early start times?
At the start of April, I started running with a group. We’ve got a program to follow that is geared to take a 5k runner to 10k, or improve 5k time/performance.
I’m glad to be following a structured program. I’ve come out against training in groups before, mainly because I feel hampered in my ability to make ‘appointments’ to train, and I wouldn’t want to keep anyone waiting, but in this case, the group heads out at lunchtime on Mondays and Wednesdays so that fits into my regular schedule just fine.
There are a lot of benefits to running woth others (either a partner or two, or a group):
Making a date. When they’re expecting you, you’re less likely to make excuses and skip a training session.
Socializing. Birds of a feather flock together, after all. Meeting with other runners gives us a chance to trade tips, share goals, commiserate about our aches and pains, and achieve human connections that may be hard to come by in today’s world. That’s something your iPod can’t do (on the other hand there’s probably an app for that…). Speaking of iPods, it’s a good idea to practice running without music if you’re doing an event that doesn’t allow headphones like a triathlon or some trail runs. You don’t want to be dependent on the music…
Staying on target. That 8k you’re supposed to run today? With a group, you’ll not only show up to do it, but run the amount you’re supposed to. No more, no less. Not slacking off, not overdoing it just because today, you think you can.
Safety. If you get hurt or something else happens that interferes in your ability to complete your run, your buddies have your back.
And yet, for all this, I’m noticing a few drawbacks…
Pacing. If the pace you want to hit doesn’t match at least one other person, you’re pretty much running by yourself again, and wishing you had your iPod on you after all…
Whiners. I guess some people just like to complain, but listen: we’re all doing the same run in the same weather and voluntarily. No one’s got a gun to your head… Though the way some people carry on I’m not as sure. I actually like to think I could be held at gunpoint with greater stoicism than some people show when going out for a jog.
Lack of flexibility. Every group run is customized to the needs of an imaginary person: the aggregate/average of every member of the group. And that’s the best case scenario. You might not be getting the workout you need on this particular day, for your particular needs/goals/level. This is the flip-side to ‘Staying On Target’, I suppose.
Still with group sessions twice a week, I still have opportunities to run solo and therefore get the best of both worlds. What about you? Do you prefer running solo, or with company?
With a new addition to the Iron Rogue clan, (another Scoundrel of Steel, as I like to think of my brood), posting will be erratic at best. Due to a cold (and last minute baby preparation work) I haven’t been doing much training to post about anyway. I have a new post almost ready to go, but the subject is on a ‘Digital Cleanse’ and offline, so I wanted to wait till I could notify her of the blog post.
Anyway, the blog will be maintained (and not go underwater for 3 years again) soon enough, so please stay tuned!
