That awkward in between phase

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Mike B

The 2nd race is over (see previous post for details) and the next 3 are a fair way off. I now have to decide on a strategy for training and start thinking about goals. Goals like finish time, pace and the like. Do I push like hell to meet a specific time and risk injury during the training? Do I train to complete in a good time with gas in the tank at the end for a big finish sprint? Do I train for the marathon and hope that is enough for the triathlon on the way? Do I focus on the triathlon and hope that there is enough time after to gain the KM’s needed for the marathon (I think I have discounted this on BTW)?

There are so many variables and decisions that need to be made in the next few days. I am dedicating Tuesdays to pool work and Wednesdays are hockey for cross training and endurance. I don’t know if I can dedicate anything to the bike yet without compromising the run schedule (which hasn’t started yet). I will need to plug between 40-70K per week to be ready for the marathon. If I run 3-4 days a week, that means my long weekend run has to be upwards of 26-32K in order to meet my weekly totals (30K Sunday, 10K Monday, 15K Thursday and 15K Friday).

These are manageable if I go to bed at 9:00PM and wake up at 5:15AM to run and then do my other workouts in the evening. I just don’t see that happening. One of the main reasons for getting in shape and being healthy and fit is to enjoy life. If I change to the above schedule, I will be a gym rat and not see anyone or have time to do anything with my family or friends.

I need to give this a lot of thought and really set my goals and expectations. Do I want to train all the time? And if the answer becomes yes, do I then want to put my self in a position that I am trying to compete for some of the top age grouper spots? I mean, if I am going to train that much, why not right? Or, do I scale back a bit and say, hey, I just need to complete these events in a reasonable time and be happy with it?

Then there is the nutrition aspect of all of this. If I am going to train hard and really try to compete, am I prepared for the new dietary requirements and restrictions? I think this might have answered my base question. I don’t think I am prepared for the restrictions needed to compete. Well that settled that didn’t it. See, venting and talking it out helps. Now, I do need to get to race weight by September and I need to buckle down and really get focused on my base nutrition and caloric intake. I need to shed a pound a week. 3600 calorie deficit every week at a minimum. No more “beverages” daily. No more daily ice cream deserts and I really need to stop the hollow calories that sneak in when you stop being vigilant (a chocolate here, candy there… do you want fries with that?).

Arg.

I do think I will stick with my swim coach for a little while. She is helping me so much with my technique that I can already swim twice as far without slowing or stopping. I also think that I am going to hire a run coach (Marathon Dynamics). If I can get half the benefit in my running that I got from my swimming, I will be very pleased. I might need to speak with a nutritional expert and get my diet evaluated and check where the savings can be while still being not only satisfied from a substance perspective but from a psychological one as well. I need something that lets me have ice cream every once and a while. I need to be able to eat while out and not feel left out when others are enjoying food. I need something I can maintain. I thought I had that before but the weight has started to creep up again and I need to re-focus my efforts.

Double arg.

Well, I appreciate you letting me rant and vent and all that jazz. It feels good to get it out. I will post when I have a better idea of what is happening and what my choices are. There might be a few more of these posts though so be aware :)

Later,

Mike


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Mississauga Half Is Complete

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Mike B

I ran the Mississauga Half yesterday. I would like to say that it went as planned and I would like to say that I did great but that would be a false statement. I did complete it, and I did finish strong with enough spite and fight to sprint to the end and pass a few people. I didn’t meet my goal though, not even close. In fact, I ran it slower than my previous attempt which is a horrible feeling.

But I finished. I ran a 2:14 half marathon. Everyone I know who ran got a personal best or very close and I regressed. My previous run for a half was 2:11. It is disappointing to miss your goals by such a large margin and not even improve on your last run.

The race started strong. The weather was fantastic and the crowd was pretty good. They actually had a cannon go off to start it, very cool. We ran from Square One on the east side, down the bottom and out along Burnhamthorpe headed west. We turned down Mississauga road and the pace bunny was in sight. Everything was firing on all cylinders and I was doing OK, not great but OK. Maybe that was a sign I was not going to finish well.

As we ran down Mississauga road, things started to fall apart. As we came up to the university I was starting to lose the pace bunny and all of the people I was running with. I was fatiguing and could stop that sinking feeling. By the time we got to the College Way, where my wife and kids were cheering me on, I was in trouble. This is at only 8.5K.

I handed my gloves to my wife and got rid of the second watch (don’t know what possessed me to try a new pacing method on race day). The first hill was in front of us and I couldn’t do it. My calves were cramping and I had to walk. As soon as I started to walk, all of that failure and dread kicked in full force. I turned my iPod up and pushed down the emotions. Soldering on, one step at a time.

I won’t bore you with more details. The rest of the race is just like that, run, walk, disappointment, repeat.

So the analysis begins. Here are my theories:

  • Under training. I think I got complacent in my training. I told myself I had already run a half and this would be the same. No need to train harder, no need to put in the miles. Big mistake and I paid for it.
  • Not enough sleep. Race started at 7:30am and my dumb a$$ went to sleep at 12:30.
  • Improper nutrition. This is a hard one to pinpoint but I am sure I could have done more to prepare. I should have tried to lose some weight as well.

These are not excuses, just the facts. I messed up. Fortunately with the help of my wife, I was able to talk about the race, the prep work and the outcome. This helped me walk through where the failures were and where some of the minor successes were (she helped to put all of it in perspective as well which I can’t do solo).

Armed with this knowledge, I am going to seek a coach for the marathon in October with renewed vigor and a fresh perspective. There are no goal times for my first marathon, just get through it. It will be tough, painful and full of mental and physical tests. I just need to get to the end. I have a hard time not comparing myself to others but I will try to run my race, with my goals and damn the rest. Time will tell but I will keep you all informed of my progress.

Mike


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Race prep for Sunday

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Mike B

Sunday is almost here and so is my second half marathon. With a previous personal best (and only) time of 2:11, I am aiming for a sub 2 hour finish. My 10K times are now consistently under 1 hour so I hope to be able to pull the whole thing together.

I am a little nervous about this one. I ran a 10K in under an hour on Monday after work and felt great. Last night I tried a 5K at slightly faster than race pace and bonked. Nothing was working for me. My legs were like lead weights and it felt like I was breathing with a 200 pound gorilla on my chest. I am going to chalk it up to a bad day and try to put it behind me.

I don’t have much else to say really. I started to use the Nike+ on my iPod nano and I like the program. You can friend me on Nike+ if you are using it as well. I am ZenMage.

I won’t take up any more of your time and I will post as soon as I can on Sunday after the race.


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Toronto Run Down Yonge

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Mike B

My first run of the season is officially over. The Toronto run down Yonge was amazing this year. Last year, this run was my first race and my longest distance ever and I ran it in a 1:02:25. This year my goal was to beat my time (if you follow my blog you will know my goal is to always do better than my previous run).

Well I am happy to report that I ran it in 54:38! I averaged a 5:28 per km. I am so excited and jazzed up for this season. This was my first milestone and a great start to the running season.

Here is a little breakdown of the race and my experiences:
4 degrees C at the start line. I was in the blue coral, 2 back from the elites (not sure why I was placed here but I managed to stay with most of the group). The energy level from the crowd was less than last year. I know there was a split between the Sporting Life group and Canada Running Series that left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths. I think last year was over 15,000 people and we have less than 7,000 this year so that had a lot to do with it. Politically I am undecided which race to enter next year, this one was run extremely well and the money still goes to a charity but I don’t know how I feel about the way the split happened. We will see.

We left the start at 9:03, just behind the elites, red and yellow (they all leave together). While waiting in the coral, I over heard a few conversations about pacing a goal times and decided to try to stick with people who were aiming for similar times to what I had in mind. I found that to be a great motivational tool on the long runs. It lets me focus less on self motivating and more on just running with the group. There were 2 groups in particular I would like to thank for helping me reach my goal. There were 2 women talking beside me and a third turned around to chat about times and placement in the blue coral and being unsure that you should be here (I know the feeling). One of you had said you were looking for about a 54 minute time so I tried to stick near you as a gage for pace. The next were 2 women just in front of me. One of you had royal blue tights on with rainbow checkered shorts over them. You were pacing just faster that I was so I used you as motivation to try to keep up. The blue tights and shorts made it easy to see you as no one else that I saw had that colour combination. I was in the orange resolution run jacket with an orange 20 Minute Challenge hat.

The gun (horns) went off and crowd leaped forward and we were off. Our journey was down hill for 95% of the race with only 2 uphill segments. We were going at a pretty good clip. All of my other races, I was in the second last or last coral, not the second. I was use to the pace back there, not the pace up here. I was nervous. I started to jog and slowly built up to the pace of the pack. I was feeling good and thought I could handle this. I looked at my Garmin at the 1K mark and realized I was running at a pace of 4:08/km… way to fast to maintain. The last time I went that fast for any prolonged stretch I hurt my knee. So I slowed a bit and started running where I thought I was at about a 5:30 pace. The next 500m go by in a flash, check the watch and I was still at 4:30.

This was a tough decision for me, push on and see how far I can go or stick to the plan and run my 5:30 race. I picked the latter and slowed down. I am glad I did. I managed to get back into the 4:30′s a few times during the steeper downhill sections but over all I stuck to about 5:20. A water station at the 7K mark was where I took my first break. I could only get a sip or two in during the first station so I wanted to get more in so I slowed to a brisk walk for about 30 seconds and gulped down the glass.

After that, I was back in the race. I thought I had started to slow down around the 8K mark and looked at my watch for confirmation. Slowing down was a bit of an understatement. I was pacing at 11:10! I walk faster than that! I dug down and tried to speed up but it took almost 500m to get my speed back. At this point I was unsure if I was happy I started so fast (making up for this slow down) or pissed off with my self that the early speed messed up this portion of my run.

No time to dwell on it, must soldier on. I found my pacing buddies in the crowd. Turns out the over all pace was right on track. Time check, looking good and on pace to meet close to my goal. Then I hit a wall again. What happened? Everything was fine and then the legs stopped running and started jogging. I didn’t tell them they could do that! My goal was in site, I couldn’t let a little discomfort in my legs mess up a great run.

Just as I was struggling with my demons, a group of sideline cheerers popped up. They had signs like “Way to go Random Stranger, your doing great” and “You have great stamina, call me!”. That put a huge smile on my face and I picked up steam. I struggle with that last part of all my races but this time, when I saw my family cheering me on, then I saw the race clock, I was pumped! Everything I imagined was happening. I surged ahead, gave my daughter high fives and sprinted to the finish.

You already know the result but that last little push is what got me below the 55 minute mark. I can’t describe the feeling. I was happy to finish my races last year but I didn’t feel like I achieved anything of note, other than “completing a race”, which is a big deal for the first one. This time, having set an aggressive goal and finishing ahead of it, I can’t describe it other than, awesome.

Great race, great experience and I think the Yonge Street 10K (which ever one I enter) will remain a part of my yearly race schedule. You can see all of the results here Toronto 10K Results.

Talk to you soon,

Mike


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Lets try the swim

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Mike B

Two nights ago I jumped in the pool and thought, I should be able to get through the swim, it might take a little while but I can do it. Well, that might still be a true statement but I won’t know it to be true because I ran out of time.

My daughter takes swimming lessons at the gym and instead of dropping her off, running up stairs and hopping on the bike for 25 minutes, I wanted to join her and use that time to swim. I can swim, I have a little bit of form and I can hang out in the water and get where I need to be, eventually. But I was humbled when I tried to go the 750 meters that the triathlon covers.

The adult lap pool is 25 meters, so I need to swim it 30 times to get my distance in. In one lap, I was tired… not a good start. After every lap I needed a rest. I did manage to get 20 laps in (500 meters) in 26 minutes. Not terrible but that puts me way behind the pack if I am trying to be competitive, not win it, just compete. You may remember from a previous post that this is my personal mantra from this point forward. Just finishing is no longer a goal, competing is where I need to be.

I don’t have aspirations of winning, but top percentage in my age group would be great. Being top 25% of the pack would be even better but let us stick to reality for the time being :)

I need to improve. I knew that going into this. I knew the swim and bike for me were weak and the run was my strength. I knew lots of things about myself and my abilities. What I didn’t know was how bad things were. I don’t want to exaggerate too much here, I can swim and I did make it across the pool and I did swim 500 meters. But if I am trying to do a Triathlon, I need to improve quite a bit.

That said, my wife suggested I get lessons. Great idea! I signed up and will be taking a month of lessons starting next Tuesday. I will let you know how it goes. In the mean time, I have put a stop to all of my cross training activities until my half marathon is complete on the 6th. I need to stay injury free and with 2 runs in that time frame, I don’t want to add too much into the mix.

Fairly boring update this round. I will be pretty quiet until Monday (maybe Sunday night) after my 10K.


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Taper time and goal setting

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Mike B

I am less than a week away from my first race of the year, the Toronto Run Down Yonge. It is a 10K race, all down hill except for a little bump in the middle. I ran this race last year as my first run. My time was 1:02 for the 10K and I am looking to crush it this year. I have started my taper for the race (even though I am running a half marathon in a weeks later, I want to stick to the program).

My times for running the 10K on my own have improved to about 0:58 and I hope that with my new workouts, better pacing for the half and a better understanding of my body that I can push to a 0:55 finish.

This is a big milestone for me. Breaking the 1 hour mark for a 10K and breaking the 2 hour mark for the half put me in the “trying to compete” half of the runners instead of the “trying to complete” half. Not that there is anything wrong with completing a race, that is a fantastic goal and those were my goals all year last year. But that was last year. This year I wanted improvement and the only way I can see getting that is to set aggressive personal best times and shoot for the stars (relatively speaking).

So now that it is out here for the world to see I am stating that I would like to be competitive in my age category. For my 10K, I would like to be in the top 40% of the runners and within the top 30% for my age category. I would ultimately like to win my age category in a race but lets start here :)

As for the gym, this has taken up most of my extra time but I am enjoying the benefits so far. I am more fit over all than I was with just running. I don’t need as many “miles on the ground” as I did before because I am getting the endurance and cardio from other means. When I go out for the long Sunday runs, I recover faster and don’t need to push as hard through the last half to finish on target and I feel like I have a little left in the tank for an end of race sprint to finish.

Other notes and tidbits:

  • I completed my Cardio Assessment and it turns out my VO2 max is pretty good (Max HR is 208 with a VO2 of 43 in zone 4)
  • I met with my personal trainer for the first session and it went well. Very good overall body workout
  • I have set a goal to get swimming lessons this summer
  • I met a running trainer and will start adjusting my pace, cadence and workouts to target a strong marathon in the fall
  • The total body conditioning class still kicks my butt, but I will complete a full class without stopping to catch my breath
  • I think I should take a yoga class but how do I fit it in and not miss any Cardio or strength workouts
  • I learned that if I eat a little about 15 minutes before I run, I have a better feeling at the end

Personal Goals for this season:

  • Complete a 10K in under 58 minutes
  • Complete a half marathon in under 2 hours
  • Shed 25 pounds before the marathon (October)
  • I will get my core in much better shape
  • Complete a marathon (hopefully in under 4:10, if I break the 4 hour mark, you will hear me scream from where ever you happen to be so keep an ear out in October)
  • Complete a Sprint Triathlon (750m Swim | 20km Bike | 5km Run) and be competitive
  • Complete the Goofy Challenge in Disney (under 2:15 for Saturday and under 4:30 for Sunday)

I am getting a few comments about the blog from friends in person (thanks!) and I love the feed back but no one has commented online so far. If you would like to comment, I would love to see it online and get some discussions started. I would like to know your goals and training methods. I would also like some advise from those who have completed these events and speak from experience.

So this turned out to be a lot more than I intended to write. I am off for a 10K tonight and then I will relax with the kids and play a little guitar (need to get more time in on that hobby).


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18K and running with a group

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Mike B

What a fantastic morning yesterday. I was up and out the door for 8 AM and the temperature as a cool 5 degrees C. Perfect for running. Sun was shining, birds were singing and the kids were sleeping.

I started out a little slow but quickly got to a reasonable 5:55/Km pace. For my LSD’s on the weekend I am trying to keep my pacing anywhere from a 5:49-6:33 so 5:55 was right in my training zone. I always follow the same path on the long Sunday runs because it lets me zone out a bit and not have to worry about where I am or how far I have gone. On this path, I pass fairly close to a Running Room store. If you don’t run, the Running Room is the best store for getting equipment and advise. They organize morning runs every Sunday but I have been unable to attend due to the schedule they keep.

This Sunday though, I passed the store just as the running group was coming out. I have passed them a few times but always in the other direction. As I came to the lights, I caught up with a few of them and decided to keep pace. At the next set of lights I said hi and asked how far they were running and we started a conversation. We kept that conversation going for about 4K and before I knew it, it was time to turn around (I run out and back for simplicity). As we said our farewells, I looked at my time and we paced at a whopping 5:35/Km! For 4K mid way through my run!

I was blown away. I couldn’t believe what a difference a little conversation and camaraderie would make on my run. I have been running solo for so long that the idea of running with people was very unappealing. I mean that’s why you run right? To get away from it all, the solitude, peace and quiet, being alone with your thoughts. It turns out it’s the last one that was keeping me from reaching my potential.

Here is a little background, not excuses, complaining or any of that crap, just facts for perspective. I am not getting “touchy-feely” on you here.

I have been struggling with my weight for what feels like all of my life. I didn’t do any team or solo sports and hated the idea of exercise so I don’t have the foundation of fitness to draw from. There are demons that pop up for every one and the most in-opportune times. Mine poke their heads out when I am confronted with physical challenges that require a little or a lot of skill/endurance.

In a team environment, I feel like I am going to let people down if I make a mistake or don’t perform at their level. In the individual sports, like running, I often get the following demons egging me on:

  • Just quit, it’s easier
  • You ran pretty far already, just walk the last bit
  • You ran a great first half, just take it easy for the last half and your time will even out
  • Your legs are sore
  • Your lungs hurt
  • Just give up, your too slow to really have a good time anyway

There are a couple of other ones but you get the idea. When I was alone and running for any length of time over an hour, these guys are loud. Under the hour mark and I can push them back pretty easily. But without the background of competition or team activities, I don’t know how to deal with them. So far spite and willpower have been all I need to get through but that is starting to wear off. And now that I am trying to push myself farther and faster, my previous techniques are failing me.

Back to the group running. This took my mind off of all of those demons. I mean, they weren’t even there for most of it (they came back pretty strong about 10 minutes after I started running solo again). So I need to capture that distraction and find a way to run in that space. I think that will let me move to the next level in my running,

If anyone out here has some tips on getting your brain to play nice, please let me know. I could really use the help. And before you say, “Just run with the group every week”, I have thought of that. I think I will try to every once in a while but it doesn’t fit well into the schedule. This week was an anomaly.

I am curious to hear your experiences with your demons so please comment (unless your demon keeps you from sharing publicly, which I completely understand).

Bye for now and wish me luck tonight. If you have been following the blog, you will know that tonight is Total Body Conditioning class!


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Help the kids, help the world

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Mike B

This one is going to get me in hot water with a lot of people but I hope there are enough people out there that either agree with me or at least see some good in what I am attempting to say here. This post is way off topic for me so if you read for running, skiing or motorcycle (even SharePoint for that matter), you might way to skip this post.

Here we go, last chance to stop reading….

A couple of things about kids and the gym and kids in life. This is a post I wrote on the forum site at my gym. I thought I should share it with everyone. I hope you don’t take offence to the post, but instead think about the intent of the post and hopefully we can become a less “Politically Correct” and “Protect everyone’s feels” kind of world and start teaching our kids a little reality.

In response to a parent who thinks the parents can’t watch the kids all the time,

“There shouldn’t be any kids in the change room unsupervised. There are clear signs stating what you are allowed to do and not do. It is up to the parents to not only watch their kids but teach them as well. I bring my son to the change room (he is 4 BTW) all the time and he never ventures to the steam room, showers or hot tub (because I taught him what was acceptable and what was not). If you see kids doing the wrong thing, tell them the rules and if you get flak, tell the parent or staff.

I would also like to point out that when we “baby proof” everything, we are doing a disservice to our kids and society in general. When we all grew up we played with lawn darts, we rode bikes without helmets and we all survived. When we teach our kids instead of defaulting to protecting them we all grow and reap the rewards.

My last rant will be about teaching others kids. If the parents aren’t doing their job and teaching the kids right from wrong, we should all pitch in and help out. If you see kids running around the change rooms, stop them. Just because the parents are doing a poor job doesn’t mean we should all turn a blind eye.”

Thanks


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Cross training… is this going to be a love-hate relationship?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Mike B

Maybe I spoke too soon. My lovely wife asked me if I would do a class with her, Total Conditioning (the title should have given it away but I never claimed to be that bright). So, being a good husband, I said “Sure!”. Big mistake, I think.

The class started out in high gear and went higher. The premise of the class is to train with resistance in an aerobic and anaerobic state for 60 minutes. If you are familiar with heart rate zones and conditioning, we start in zone 3 and switch between 3 and 4 for the duration of the class. Zone 3 is you cool down and zone 4 is where you push.

If you work out, you probably don’t use zone 3 as cool down, I know I don’t. I feel that my cardio (for running) is quite good, I mean, I can run a half marathon without killing myself and my 5K and 10K times are getting quite competitive for my experience level and age. This class kicked my a$$.

I think I was in zone 4 for most of the class and my worked muscles I didn’t know I had. I was mad at my wife for about an hour for making me do something that stupid.

I like to workout solo and I can push myself pretty hard on my own. I train my runs with set times and pace goals and I exceed those goals regularly and I set new goals every week to ensure I am moving forward. With my new weight training program, I can push myself to failure and feel like I have put in a good workout.

In a class setting, my brain shuts down and I forget I haven’t done this before. My sub-conscious dictates the intensity based on the instructor and others around me, pushing my to work as hard as those I am with. In a class like this, that is not a good thing. I was out of steam within 20 minutes of the class but still trying to push myself to stay at the same intensity level.

She had us jumping, doing lunges, burpees (not fun), squats and planks all while holding weights or resistance bands. Squat and do bicep curls, repeat, a lot. It got to the point where the world was closing in on me and I thought I was going to puke.

I am happy to report that I did not but I did have to step out of the class to get some air and regain my composure. I am happy to report that I was not the only one who had to do that either. There were some fairly fit people also resting to get some much-needed recovery in.

All in all, I think I liked the class. I need learn to take a step back and not push to the limit so soon in the class and pace myself a lot better. I need to learn to make the workout mine and stop wondering if others are looking. I need to keep those demons at bay and focus on proper form and staying healthy while getting my workout in. These are things I can do very well on my own, so I need to find a way to block out the others in the class until I can get comfortable with my new workout. Then I can look at how incorporate the energy and dynamic of a class setting to push me further when I am at a plateau.

All in all I will say it was a good workout and as much as I was upset with my better half for bringing me there, I think it will become a staple in the weekly workout routine.

I am sore today and I am not looking forward to how tomorrow morning is going to feel.


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Cross training, I think I love you….

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Mike B

Cross training. I was a huge skeptic. How could using an elliptical machine help me run? How did the bench press make my legs faster? Why the hell would I want to stay indoors and stare at a wall (or worse, a mirror) while I ran or climbed or what ever the hell the motion is that the elliptical does, when I could be out side, breathing the wonderful air and enjoying the sights and sounds of the world?

Well I will tell you what happened to help convert me. I do want to state that this does NOT replace my long runs out side with only my thoughts and sometimes music and rhythmic sound of shoes on pavement.

My wife loves the gym. And she has a great deal of success there. She also likes the social aspect of doing classes at the gym. I can appreciate that. I don’t like it my self, I prefer to be alone when I work out but to each their own. A new gym opened up not too far from our place that make the description of huge seem out-of-place. This is a 3 story monstrosity with a 60 foot rock climbing wall and 3 pools. There is something here for almost everyone.

She wanted to take a look so, we brought the kids to take a look. It took almost 30 minutes to get the tour started but once it did start, we were blown away. They thought of almost everything and really made this place more of a spa than a gym. I think they said there were 300+ cardio machines and the strength training section was larger than my old gym in its entirety. There is even a kids gym and play area on the 3rd floor that is bigger than most gyms.

They did the whole “Why you should join” speech but didn’t end with “Limited time” or “You must sign up now or lose the option for ever”. They stated the cost, that was not different from what the people yesterday or tomorrow will pay and there were no contracts. Everything was month to month with a 30 day cancellation policy. Not bad.

My wife and I drove home with the kids asking if they could come back and play… pretty compelling reason to join. There is 2 hours of child minding in the gym for free with your membership. Steam room, personal showers, family change room, cardio, squash, rock climbing, spin classes, boot camp, physical assessments, spa, cafe, yoga (hot and cold) and 3 pools (there is more but I need to move on). Getting harder to say no. So we joined.

We are extremely happy we did. My wife was there the next day doing a class and we went as a family the following day to try it out and the kids didn’t want to leave.

This is where the cross training comes in (I know it took a while to get here but it’s worth it). I tried to run on the treadmill. No good. I got 5K in and couldn’t stand it any more. I decided, since I needed to get the equivalent of 14K in, that I would use the elliptical and that lasted for 20 minutes (same issue). Off to the stair climber, boring too but not as bad.

I had 30 minutes left before I needed to meet my wife and the bench press machine was free. I did my 2×10 at a given weight and then 1 set to failure at 2 plates higher. Felt pretty good but again, how would that help my running?

I did this one more time that week then did an outside run later in the week. It was one of the fastest and easiest runs I have ever done. My legs were stronger and it felt like my upper body was helping me out instead of hindering. Hmmm…. might be something to this.

I continued and graduated myself to a full body circuit training session and focused my cardio on the tread mill (still hate it) and the stair machine (I think I love it). My long run day came and I did my 16K with strong legs, a faster time and feeling better at the end than I can ever remember.

I have now signed up with a personal trainer for 2 sessions to get a full body workout that will support my goals (half marathon in 4 weeks, sprint triathlon at the end of summer, marathon on October and the Goofy Challenge in January) with a side benefit of losing more weight and getting stronger and faster in my hockey. I also signed up for a VO2 Max and heart rate assessment so I can train more effectively and burn off the last 25 lbs I need to lose.

As a family, I can’t say more positive things about Lifetime Athletics (the name of the club). As a family, we are at the gym 4-5 times a week, creating a positive attitude towards health and fitness in the minds of our 4 and 6 year olds. We are spending time together and getting healthier. The kids ask to go every day.

Sounds too good to be true… We are on week 3 and I will let you know our progress and things evolve.

Bye.


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