family – Page 5 – The Indefatigable Iron Rogue

January 29, 2014November 27, 2016

A Family That Is Designed To Move

I came across DesignedToMove.org from a tweet by Dai Manuel. I have no affiliation with them, but I feel it’s an important issue that I could speak to.

It wouldn’t be news to you if I told you that physical activity levels are down among today’s youth. But you’re probably thinking about the world right outside your door; what you might not realize is how global a crisis this is.

The problem exists in the USA, UK, Brazil, China and Russia, and though they don’t present the data here, I’ll bet Canada too. It’s not just about “Western” diet, or carbs or video games, or whatever. It’s not even merely a health and wellness issue; it’s on the verge of being an economic and even cultural disaster. The fix? Get ‘em while they’re young – after all, the children are the future, right?

DesignedToMove.org is targeting kids under 10 as a way to turn things around. Younger children have an innocent natural enthusiasm to try new things (I’m sure there are stubborn holdouts, but the younger, the fewer preconceptions) and generally speaking, energy to burn. Why not harness that energy for their own future benefit? The approach is a simple two-pronged approach, or a pair of “Asks”. Here’s how we implement them in our family.

Ask #1: Create Early Positive Experiences For Children

Example 1 – Swimming

Both of my boys have been in swimming lessons on and off since they were six months old. I’m proud to say that Shark Boy is now capable of swimming a few strokes independently (without flotation aids etc.) thanks to diligent work by his Grandfather. Still, when he was younger, did I expect him to learn to swim? Do I expect it of the Lightning Kid now? No, but it was about creating a positive association with the water. I knew we’d be close to the water often and either it was going to be a threat to their lives, or something they could enjoy for fun. If I had suddenly dropped them into the water at the appropriate age for actually learning to swim, who’s to say what their attitude to it would have been? Before they even knew how to say “no” the swimming pool was a place to have fun with mom and dad.

Example 2 – Winter Sports

Even without a “Polar Vortex”, Canada is a place where you’ve really got to embrace the winter if you don’t want to be miserable. Shark Boy started downhill skiing last year, and his mother taught him. Getting him on cross-country skis took another year (getting kids equipment is a little harder), but he took to skinny skis like a natural.

And when we heard that he had peers that were learning to ice-skate, we signed him up to start lessons in January… along with his father, who seriously overestimated his own ability on skates. Turns out, he’s really good at that too – I noticed how much less he falls down than any other kid in the class.

I know some has to be natural talent, but I really think there’s been synergy from learning how to stand on skis that pays dividends into his skating technique. Which is a big takeaway – if you have ideas of the kinds of activities your kids will like and/or be good at, consider other activities too. They’ll gain from the diversity. To wit…

Example 3 – Razz a Matazz

I confess I have the smallest possible streak of conservatism in me that tells me in the back of my head “Dancing is for girls”. Nevertheless, we enrolled Shark Boy in a Razza Ma Tazz class that teaches movement basics, especially those related to jazz and ballet dancing. Back when I first took him to Crossfit Kids, I thought he’d be a natural at it, until he was asked to jump on one foot… and had no idea how to do it. Even though he was great at running, jumping and climbing, he’d never had this little blind spot addressed. It’s my hope that a class like this shores up any weaknesses in his physical skills development in ways that say, soccer, can’t. And honestly, if he decides he wants to pursue ballet, I’ll support him 100%, though I’m hoping to hear a little less Nutcracker suite in the house.

Ask #2: Integrate Physical Activity Into Everyday Life

Example 1 – Dancing

One of my fatherly duties is keeping the kids out of their mother’s hair while she’s cooking and preparing dinner. Going outside to the park is always good, but if the weather is somewhat Arctic-like or the time frame is less than 15 minutes or so, a simpler solution is needed. We turn on the stereo and get our groove thang on. Sometimes I get to pick the music, but it’s usually Shark Boy’s choice of the same old Kids music CDs. The flavour of the month has been the Nutcracker Suite, which he developed a taste for in the lead-up to actually attending a performance with his Grandfather and wife, where his mother told him the story and described the action. Seeing the performance did nothing to abate his enthusiasm, and the music has been in heavy rotation in our house ever since. The name of the piece is apt, since it’s driving me Nuts and Cracked.

Example 2 – Burpees

A two year-old is a dangerous beast toward the end of the day. If dinner hasn’t been served yet, they can be hungry in addition to tired, so you need to be quick with the distractions. I honestly don’t know how I came up with the idea, but there was enough stuff on the floor to ensure a soft landing for the Lightning Kid and I guess I wanted a little exercise myself. When you worry about developmental delays for your child, a lot can be traced back to gross motor skills – you start with those and work your way up. The Lightning Kid is typical in terms of his gross motor skill development, and it’s doing stuff like this that has helped along the way.

Example 3 – Everything Else

If you look through the older posts in this blog (especially posts labeled family) you’ll see us swimming, biking, running, skiing, hiking and playing together as a family. It’s not always easy to keep up, as we either get told by others that we take on too much, or get asked by Shark Boy: “What are we doing today?” with the expectation of adventure. It can be exhausting but I have to be grateful when the boys are eager to get out and take on the world because I know how seductive more sedentary pursuits can be; the TV has been on more than usual during the daytime thanks to the extreme cold and the illnesses that seem to go with it.

Are you willing to answer the asks above?

January 7, 2014November 27, 2016

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.

December 12, 2013November 27, 2016

December 12th: In Loving Memory

This is a tough time of year for me. An introvert gets tired of the constant parties and gatherings that take place at the holidays, the lack of sunlight makes getting outside challenging and can bring on Seasonal Affective Disorder. But more than anything else it’s when the emotional wound of losing my father to cancer (malignant melanoma specifically) is the most raw.

It was today 13 years ago that he passed, and in the time immediately following that day, I went through the obvious shock and grief and pain you might expect. What I didn’t expect was that years later, I would have to fight back tears for no good reason in the weeks leading up to this date, even if I wasn’t consciously thinking about him. The symptoms of depression would sneak up on me in late November/early December, and one of the best ways to cope was to acknowledge that I still felt pain, loss and grief – it’s easier to fight an enemy you can see coming.

Sometimes I wish I could know what he’d make of how my life turned out. Scratch that, I always wish that. When he passed I had just finished grad school and had taken my career in an exciting new direction. In the next few years I’d fall in love then get dumped on the same day as being laid off from that job, and I got my own malignant melanoma for dessert a scant month later. That last part I guess I’m glad he didn’t have to live through, nobody wants their kid to have cancer even if they’re 30 years old and hardly a kid.

Thanks to early detection and an aggressive excision, I’d beat cancer, and ultimately fall in love again (while being gainfully employed), get married and have two rambunctious boys who love to get outside and be active like their grandfather. He’d have loved Shark Boy and the Lightning Kid for sure, and of course the other part of my life he didn’t get to see was my foray into endurance sport and triathlon.

When I did the Scotiabank Marathon in 2006, I thought of him throughout the course, but especially during the last quarter, as everything in my lower body started to hurt, and I found myself slowing to a walk more and more often. He often preached for the ‘Endspurt’ – a German expression for the burst of speed and enthusiasm you get when you know you’re almost done. I try to carry on the tradition by maintaining negative splits on runs, and finishing every race with a fast pace, even if the overall pace hasn’t been that fast.

I think he would have made a good triathlete, as he was strong in all three disciplines and would have had fun switching from sport to sport. I have my doubts that he would be interested in following a highly structured, periodized training plan and would have done a lot of improvising – I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Every December 12th, my mother, my brother and I try to observe some of our values. We spend time with family; sometimes each other, sometimes apart with our own new respective families. We try to get outside and move our bodies. Today’s weather (and my work schedule) made that a little daunting, but this was important. I hit the Etobicoke Creek Trail for 5km worth of memorial running.

In trying to find some comfort with friends on Facebook who’s fathers had passed (on the same date in different years) I wrote: Fatherhood might be the greatest gift a man can give and the greatest prize a man can claim.

Please make a little more time to cherish your families during this season, and as a favour to me, your Fathers especially.

September 23, 2013November 27, 2016

A September of Family Races Part 3: Shark Boy’s Second Duathlon

We closed off our September of Family Races with the Family Fun Fit Beaches Best KOS Duathlon for Shark Boy (with me acting as coach and chaperone). We had a lot of fun doing this event last year, and for days afterwards, he was asking when he could do a ‘triaflon’ again (still working on swimming, and apparently the distinction between ‘tri-’ and ‘du-’). The big step up this year was that he was riding a real bike rather than a glider; in fact, someone saw him riding his bike with skill that they referred to as ‘Amazing’ which happens to be the adjective used to describe Spider-Man, who adorns both his bike and helmet.

The race was to start at 8:30 AM. Two bits of bad news this year were that 1.) it was pouring rain on Saturday and 2.) the Gardiner Expressway was closed. The former meant getting wet, and the latter meant spending a lot of time in traffic, even that early in the morning. We arrived with enough time to spare for race kit pickup, pinning the bib onto the jacket, and setting up the bike in the transition area as well as strap on the timing chip. The event is sanctioned by Triathlon Canada, and though it’s a fun/kids event, it’s nice to see that they want the rules of transition (i.e. no riding your bike in transition area, helmets on before taking the bike) enforced, pay attention to safety (more in a bit), and start on time.

The 3-5 age group was split into two heats/waves to avoid crowding on the trail and the first heat started at 8:30 sharp. Spectators were ushered off the racecourse and immediate vicinity well before the start, but athletes and their guardians were able to hang out near the starting line; Shark Boy and I took turns holding an umbrella, so I got a little more wet than I strictly needed to. They didn’t start the second wave until the bike course was completely clear – while this meant waiting in the rain (and who likes that?) I have to appreciate them making safety the highest priority.

Quick side note: before we got to race I saw the first athlete to cross the finish line and it was a little girl (in fact the overall fastest in kids aged 3-5). I don’t know when the sexist notions about getting ‘chicked’ start, but it’s clearly more of an adult-invented concept. For the kids, fastest is fastest, and parents with daughters should take note – get your girls to shoot for the moon in sports.

We got into position in the starting line, a little behind the very first row. While I did want Shark Boy to run fast, I know I have a little trouble coaxing him to really let loose when the distractions of other kids racing are around, plus I didn’t want him to get winded too soon like during the 5 Peaks race. I ran ahead of him and coaxed him to follow me, and I think he did a great job of pacing himself and staying pretty focused. The first run leg was 50 meters, and we completed the loop, rounded the corner into transition and found the bike. Before the race I tried to show him where we had parked it, looking from the angle of the transition area entrance. He almost got on the bike right away, but not only did I catch him as he was throwing his leg over the bike, but so did a volunteer! We jogged the bike toward the mount line, but he still got on a few feet too early. Oh well.

Once he started pedalling, I was very glad I wore running shoes and track pants, because I needed to run full-tilt to keep up with him. He blazed by every kid we saw for the first half of the course which felt good in two ways: one, I was proud of him, two, it was nice seeing the other side of the coin on the bike course – normally I’m the one getting passed.

At the top of the biggest downhill on the course (not much of a hill, but enough for kids to pick up a lot of speed) I could see a little girl had fallen near the bottom which also was a turn to the left. Shark Boy judiciously applied the brake and handled the bike beautifully to avoid any further accident. Unfortunately, this put him neck-and-neck with another girl and for a few seconds there, I feared a Ben-Hur chariot race type scenario, with the two kids potentially side-swiping each other. I coaxed a little more ‘oomph’ from him on the pedals, and we pulled ahead. There was an uphill climb just before transition and I’m proud to say he went up it without getting off the bike… he just pushed those pedals and up he went!

He dismounted and jogged his bike back to its spot. I asked him if he wanted to keep the helmet on.
“UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…” The clock was still ticking so I took it off and we started the run. He’d been looking forward to hearing cheers (especially ‘WOOO’) all morning, so I’m betting this was his favourite part. The final leg was a loop of 100 m. I kept him motivated not only by cheering but reminding him that snacks awaited. I tried to run far enough ahead to snap a picture of him crossing the finish line, but I wasn’t fast enough. Luckily my wife was able to grab the shots you see with her phone – as for the blurriness, Blame It On the Rain.

Normally I wouldn’t let my kids drink Gatorade, but I was so proud I had to make an exception. We all snacked on cookies and crackers (some from the race, some that we had packed) and decided to head home – the rain wasn’t making us any more comfortable. We were pretty sure that Shark Boy wouldn’t get an award (make the top 3 podium), so we were happy getting the finisher’s medal, certificate and most importantly to him, lollipop (in the race kit). When we looked up the results online, we found he got 8th in kids 3-5 (5th place Boys).

I’m super proud of my eldest son, and for next year, I’m hoping we can get him in a full Triathlon (with swimming) while the Lightning Kid tackles this event or one like it if he can manage a glider bike by then.

September 16, 2013November 27, 2016

A September of Family Races Part Twofer: 5 Peaks Trail Run & Terry Fox Run

The folks at 5 Peaks were nice enough to let me transfer my race entry for the cancelled Yeti Snowshoe race in February to a race much later in the season. I picked the Heart Lake event (at the Heart Lake Conservation Area); this was the first year they had used this venue.

What turned out to be a beautiful day was a little tough to dress for, as the day started near single digit temperatures (in Celsius), but the sun ended up beating down to a degree that mid-way through the race I was wishing I had worn shorts. More on my race later; first, we got both Shark Boy and the Lightning Kid to run the “Children’s Challenge” which was a 1 km fun run for the little ones which took place after a timed kids event (probably for slightly older children).

The boys are both #1!

The announcer explained the course and the parents held the kids back until it was time to ready, set, go! I ran alongside Shark Boy to keep him motivated and running the best pace he could manage, and my wife ran with the Lightning Kid to keep him out of trouble. The course went out under the start/finish arch, across a field for a bit, then down a big hill to a clearing they called ‘the bowl’, where we did a small loop and headed back the same way.

Shark Boy descends the hill into the bowl.

We’ve got a little more work to do about teaching Shark Boy how to pace himself for distance, and he’s a chip off the old block for not threatening the front runners for their podium positions, but he gave it a great effort and finished strong and out of breath and I couldn’t be prouder.

Shark Boy just before the finish line.

The Lightning Kid just before the finish line.

What can I say about the Lightning Kid? He got some help from his mom on the big hill, but I don’t think anyone had ever seen anyone that young and little finish a race like that, never mind with his gusto and enthusiasm. We have Special Olympics aspirations for this one, but we’d also like him to attend as many sporting events for ‘typical’ kids as possible.

The brothers with their finishers’ medals.

There was about a half hour break between the end of the Children’s Challenge and the main race which was a Sport course (7.5 km) and an Enduro (15 km); the latter being two laps of the former. Racers were asked to self seed themselves in waves, with the first wave being people who had a sincere chance of making top 3 overall. From the numbers it was clear that some overestimated their abilities (or underestimated the competition), but the race announcers’ hinting and chiding had little effect on cutting down the size of that first wave. In fact, with all the joking around I somehow got it into my head that there would only be two waves, and I would be fine in the back. After the race was over, I chatted with a guy who was keeping a similar pace than me (and identified himself as more of a ‘hobby’ runner – like me – than a ‘serious’ runner – like most of the racers). Luckily I stood at the back of the second wave so I wasn’t as big an impedance as I would have been in the front.

After the first 50 m, the trail narrowed significantly for big downhill drop and the race turned into standing in line at the movies. We had been forewarned of this and everyone was good-natured about it – it was too soon to have any real effect on anyone’s race. Once the trail opened up a little bit, I started getting passed and as I checked my heart rate on my Garmin, I could see I needed to slow down the pace a bit. The thing about trail races is they don’t give your heart rate much of a break unless you’re willing to slow down to a walk.

There were some fun ‘obstacles’ like logs to jump over including one you had to climb or vault (a hop would not suffice) especially early on – I loved it, but I think they still kept it within sane ranges unlike these obstacle course races that are practically masochistic in nature. I kept getting passed though, and I began to wonder if I was in dead last when I stopped seeing people behind me for a bit. It happens to me a little on the bike in triathlon so I don’t stress out about it too much. In fact, I had passed one or two people too. I took a little video of the trail, if you’d like to get a feel for what the race was like.

I had noticed that the kilometre markers came earlier than my Garmin was claiming, so when 6 km was done, I decided I could try and risk it a little more and really started pushing the pace; driving my heart rate well north of 90% of max. I passed 3 people who had a similar pace than me, but were making it look easier. I had a feeling they could and would catch me again before the finish line… and that was when I encountered a bit of funny luck.

The trail veered left and suddenly we were basically facing a wall of dirt. Imagine the steepest hill you could theoretically climb on foot. I think the others just stopped and laughed and resigned themselves to walking up carefully. I, on the other hand, have daily conversations with Shark Boy about Spider-Man, so I hustled up using hands and feet like the wall-crawler himself, and you know what? I wasn’t passed again before the end of the race, even though there was another gut-busting climb out of that same bowl we used in the Children’s Challenge. I crossed the finish line with lungs burning in just under 45 minutes. I had projected an hour to my wife – I think both the course was a little easier than the last time I did a trail race, and maybe I’m in a little better shape.

5 Peaks always has great post-race snacks including bagels, bananas, apples, orange wedges, chunks of power bar (I think), cookies and kettle corn. The Vega tent also gave out free samples of plant-based recovery drink – I’m glad turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties, but it’s not something I’d normally put in a drink… They also have Kicking Horse coffee, but I’m never ready to drink coffee immediately after a race, and by the time I get ready, it’s all gone. One of the costs of being a back of the pack (14/18 in Men 30-39 which I qualify as for another 3 days) athlete I guess.

And that was our Saturday… on to Sunday!
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We got the kids packed up to do the Terry Fox Run at West Deane Park after a pancake breakfast. I knew I was going to treat the day as ‘active recovery’ – nothing too strenuous, just jogging. Unfortunately, I found I had tweaked a weird muscle the day before. I don’t know which muscle it is, but let’s just say I’m not willing to put ice there. It was going to be a little more challenging than I thought!

The Terry Fox run is such a great event for families; there’s a bouncy castle, live music, a hot air balloon (that takes you only a little bit up and down, but still), fire engines for the kids to look at, a barbecue, and a great playground. We were joined by my father-in-law and his wife.

They ended up taking the kids for the most part, while my wife and I did the run according to the planned route. We did not break any speed records but proceeded north at a friendly pace while stopping to read Terry Fox quotes that were written in chalk on the path.

(I know that one’s not in chalk, I should have taken pics of the other ones as we encountered them). The northern turn around point was only about 2 km out from the start, so I knew we’d end up with less than 5 km if we stopped at the start/finish line. It turns out the kids and Opa and his wife had taken the southern arm of the route, so we went to meet them, but I confess we did a lot of walking as there was fatigue build up for both of us.

By the time we met them, I had gotten a bit of a second wind, and I wanted to burn off a little extra energy, so I went ahead with Shark Boy to finish the route at a run (with him on his bike). He had wanted to get off the bike and run, but I convinced him to stay on it since it was a little far for him. Keeping up with him on a bike is speed work (as I learned in Germany), and we had fun racing each other. Before next week I have to teach him that filling his bike with pretend gas isn’t a great idea during a race, though. With only a few hundred metres left, I could hear the band, and I said I’d carry the bike and helmet so he could cross the finish line on foot. He doesn’t know it, but he did a brick workout! Bring on next week’s duathlon.

We all met again later and the kids had some good playground time and snacks. I’m really happy to make this an annual tradition and we even raised a little money for cancer research.

Because we are crazy and insatiable, the kids had swimming lessons that afternoon too. Our family is what my friend the Pavement Runner calls “That Kind of Crazy“.

Did you grow up in a crazy active family? If not, do you wish you had?

September 11, 2013November 27, 2016

A September of Family Races Part 1: Levac Attack 2013

It was the day we had long been waiting for; now an annual tradition for the whole family – the 2013 Levac Attack! We saw both the weather forecast and the sky itself, and managed to throw a bit of rain gear in along with our Chariot, a bike and helmet for Shark Boy, camera & tripod as well as a boom-box that would play the special “Levac Attack Playlist” I had put together the night before. What we didn’t pack were dry clothes…

On the way to Brampton it was pretty clear that this would be a rainy day; no hope of sun peeking out or clearer skies anywhere in our future. I pulled up to John and Lorna’s house to drop everybody off; luckily they have some big trees in their front yard in addition to the tent set up on the driveway so they could stay dry while I went and parked. Of course, that meant I’d be putting the Chariot together in the rain, along with gathering together the rest of our gear.

Final registrations were done, and we got our fabulous Race t-shirts and bibs on. It seemed like everybody was eager to get going (or at least get it over with!) and the door prizes were quickly drawn. The horn sounded and they were off! Between setting up the stroller and herding 3 generations, we always start last, but I suppose that keeps us from having to get passed by everyone (though getting lapped is common on this course anyway).

I had tried to impress upon Shark Boy the importance of finishing the race you set out to do, and that I wanted to see him finish 2 complete laps (for 5.6 km) on his bike. There is an even more important lesson for him though, and that’s to stick by your family and respect your elders. Since his Omi was walking the course and it was pouring so hard, I don’t think they got the complete ‘Soft Taco’ course done, but I’m glad they stuck together.

Speaking of sticking together, in spite of her protests that she was in no shape to complete the 11.2 km ‘Hard Taco’ course (due to missed training runs), and also in spite of the miserable weather, my wife kept up the run for the entire four laps, and I couldn’t be more proud to cross the finish line with her at my side (and the Lightning Kid was in the Chariot too, of course!)

You can see some video of our race below. Sorry about the raindrops on the lens, but, you know, the weather is out of my control.

I was surprised and pleased to see what the finisher’s “medal’ was…. something snazzy and useful, though I waited till I was home to take my modelling pic…

Sweet Visor…

The usual awesome post-race food included fajitas, hot dogs, but I was especially impressed by some of the desserts… one was very tasty, but I don’t know how to describe it… the other was a red velvet cookie with white chocolate chips. Yum!

As an event, we raised close to $30,000 for Mount Sinai’s Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex for Women and Infants’ Health. You can find out more about the cause and event at LevacAttack.com.

June 30, 2013November 27, 2016

The Germany Journals (Ger-nals?) Part 1

Telling the whole wide world you’re going out of the country is not really wise – so though I wanted to blog about this trip to Germany as it happened, I needed to save up the posts until we got back.

This afforded me a unique opportunity to treat it more like an old fashioned journal. I’d write up the days experiences for later reading in a notebook – old school paper and pen!

The first thing on my packing list is running shoes. I’m hoping it’s going to be that sort of vacation. I’ve had similar ideas in the past and though these trips aren’t exactly sedentary, I usually only get sporadic runs in. The kids kill the plans, to be frank – they don’t sleep, they get sick, they get us sick and I’m too exhausted to train and it’s not fair to make my wife take them both when she’s just as tire, if not more so. It’s her vacation too.

DAY 1:

There was a a good deal of me that was afraid of this trip – the exhaustion and disappointment have detracted from the journey the last two times. Still I looked forward to visiting my brother and his family near Frankfurt and my Father-in-Law and his wife in Berlin and being on vacation beats digging ditches. The one thing that scared me more than anything was THE FLIGHT: 8 hours overseas with a 3 year-old and an 18 month-old. When Shark Boy was 18 months old we made the same trip and 3 adults weren’t enough to control him on the plane and now it was the Lightning Kid’s turn and there would be two of us, still with Shark Boy to contend with.

It’s been my experience that airlines don’t do that much to help the parents of small children. I don’t want special treatment per se, but I figure you can’t expect toddlers and babies to be reasonable so making them comfortable ends up helping make everybody more comfortable. We had two things in our favour this time compared to previous trips:

A direct flight
Lufthansa as an airline

We’ve had problems booking seats together on other airlines (KLM and British Airways to name and shame) and/or getting the bassinet row (up against the bulkhead – the airline gave them to tall passengers instead) but Lufthansa did both by default before I was able to do our online check-in. That was nice, but common sense is still not that common; the period when a man is rocking a baby to sleep might not be the time to ask him about menu choices in a loud voice, Ms. Flight Attendant! We basically pulled an all-nighter and the kids didn’t sleep enough but they kept their misbehaving (especially loud screaming/crying) to a minimum.

Between being up all night and jet lag, the first Saturday was basically a write-off for accommodating fatigue and allowing recovery. The only activity I can claim is lugging suitcases and chasing children… but our rewards were a filled-zucchini, wheat-beer, and plenty of chocolate.

The Zucchini was for lunch, traditionally the warm meal, whereas dinner is lighter.

DAY 2:

Between a nasty cough and jet lag the Lightning Kid gave us a rough night but thankfully Shark Boy adapted to the environment of his cousins’ bedroom with ease. Seeing the cousins (ours 3½ and 1½, theirs 4 and 2) get along and play together is one of the biggest appeals of this trip – better than the beer and chocolate even!

After taking the kids to a playground and lunch, my brother and I were able to go for a run. I remember grabbing my heart rate monitor strap while packing, but I couldn’t find it in my suitcase (flashforward: it was found in a box of diapers when we got home) – luckily I still had the Garmin watch unit to track and quantify the run. My brother led the way – luckily he let me know it would be a lot of climbing early on, so that three-quarters of the time would be spent on half the distance – otherwise I’d have thrown in the towel early. We got 10km done in just under an hour – pretty good considering the hills.

In the afternoon we made an outing to downtown Bad Homburg for ice cream – running and spaghetti ice cream were the two things I wanted to have regularly on vacation – things were off to a decent start!

I didn’t do any food photography or else I’d offer you a better view of Spaghetti Ice Cream. Note the Lightning Kid’s smeared face and trademark electrified hair.

DAY 3:

On Monday the weather was terrible and fatigue levels were high so we didn’t get up to much besides visiting my brother’s sister and brother-in-law (does that make them my in-laws squared?). It gave the kids a change of scenery and a chance to play with other kids (though I suspect the novelty of different toys is the real draw for them) and the adults got to partake in the German tradition of coffee and cake (though maybe I should have tried harder to emphasize more of the former and less of the latter.

DAY 4:

With the long weeknd over we had a prime opportunity to take the kids to a local pool. We took Shark Boy and his younger cousin and kept the Lightning Kid at home due to his lingering cough and a possible ear infection.

Community pools in Germany are like shopping malls with different size pools instead of stores – warm pools for kids, lap-swimming pools, outdoor pools, water slides, wading pools, whirlpools (do I sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump yet?)… enough to rival some full-on water parks in North America. It’s frustrating to think how often pools back home struggle to survive city budget cuts when they would have a fraction of the operating costs they do in Germany. It seems like the culture embraces physical activity and being in the water more somehow – which doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation back home.

The good news is that Shark Boy had a blast – his favourite was the smallest slide, though he was willing to do the biggest one with me – a long, dark twisting tunnel with lights that flashed on and off – he politely declined a second go round. Non-swimmer kids were required to wear water wings – these gave him some extra confidence to be at arms length from me; in fact, by the time I gave him a flutter board, he was using his flutter kick to swim clear away from me and I had to chase after him. Though it was heavily assisted – it was the first time he moved himself through the water independently and I considered it a milestone to be proud of.

TO BE CONTINUED! STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!

June 25, 2013November 27, 2016

The Germany Journals (Ger-nals?) Part 4

When we last left off, my brother and his family had just joined us in Heiligensee, near Berlin. Read The Germany Journals (Ger-nals?) Parts One, Two and Three if you haven’t already.

DAY 13:

Once the kids are all up, we got the fun of seeing them play together and then a quick bike ride to the park – with a combination of bikes with kid seats, a trailer, and little bikes for Shark Boy and his cousin. We got to the playground, played on the playground train (made of stumps) then the slide and a game of hide and seek. The Lightning Kid sat this little excursion out in favour of a morning nap – but when we got back for lunch and naps for the rest of them – it was his turn to ride in the bike seat.

I generally prefer the trailer for safety reasons, but it’s great to see him enjoy the ride (and more importantly, tolerate a helmet).

We’d seen posters around town for a Kids’ Fair near the big shopping mall. Things to do for kids seem to be always available in Germany – if you know where to find them. In this case our search led us through the mall which resulted in extra stops for espresso, ice cream (my third spaghetti ice cream of the trip) and books (as well as a tantrum or two).

We had some trouble finding the place (it’s a semi-industrial/commercial park) and when we did – there was barely anyone there. The carny/operator guy seemed to think the threatening weather had kept the crowds back but I couldn’t help but think the hidden location added to that. The good news was we could walk onto any attraction like a bouncy castle as a family or even have rides stopped and started at our leisure. There may have been some bent rues about adults on rides too… We called it an evening before the rain hit and got the kids home for dinner and bedtime.

DAY 14:

In the morning we took all the kids on another riverboat cruise except the Lightning Kid. Its pretty uneventful, in spite of the kids’ efforts to run around, split up, and generally get close to railings and other threats.

In the afternoon my brother’s family and mine split up to visit different friends – in our case, an old friend of my wife’s who lives in Teltow. It’s a second chance for Shark boy to play with his little friend who he’d previously abandoned in favour of a boat ride.

To me, driving in Germany is a little more stressful than back home – there’s different rules for right of way (cars entering the street from the right have right of way unless otherwise marked – very counter-intuitive), you can’t turn right on red, the speed limits (or lack thereof) on the Autobahn and generally dealing with the fact that you don’t know where you’re going. Like I said, it’s a little more stressful.. but factor in dark and rainy weather, rush hour traffic and noisy kids in the back seat and you have a white-knuckle experience. Our GPS unit seemed determined to route us to every major road and highway via some byzantine combination of side streets and alleyways. There might have been smoke coming out of my ears by the time we got there but it’s nothing a beer and pasta dinner (plus cake and cookies) couldn’t fix.

DAY 15:

We took the kids to Jack’s Fun World again; it was interesting to see how the presence of his cousins affected Shark Boy’s behaviour – he was a lot more game to get onto structures and trampolines and less into riding solo on video game motorcycles and other stationary, coin-operated machines. He even tackles some slides that he left alone the last time we were here. A big highlight for me is seeing the Lighting Kid flash his big smile at me when we ride the little train together.

Knowing we’ve got the journey back to Frankfurt the next day, we opted for a slower afternoon rather than take the kids swimming – they’d had enough big time action for the day. It was nice to keep things simple at home and we got a shot of the kids together on the couch in what is becoming an annual tradition.

DAY 16:

Heading back to Bad Homburg, the families were splitting up in a race – the train (ICE & S-trains) versus car. Would the delays of train stations and transfers be less or more than those of Autobahn traffic jams? (Note: my hand-written journal runs out here. A month later and my memory of our last day is a little hazier). We rode the ICE a little more knowledgeably this time, and managed to keep the boys reasonably entertained (resulting in reasonably good behaviour) for that portion of the ride back. Moving around the cars and getting food proved challenging, as the train was full of drunken, loud Bayern-Muenchen fans on their way back from a Champions League Final victory.

We made it to Frankfurt station and felt like ice cream… but we were being ice cream snobs and the Hagen Daaz and Movenpick kiosks were not going to cut it, so we got a couple of pastries instead and boarded the S-Bahn/S Train. S-Bahns are a little like street cars on steroids, and tend to help bind outlying communities and suburbs to the downtown core of cities like Frankfurt. Ours was very crowded and our stroller had to fight for space with bikes… while a separate section of seats were vacant. They were ‘First Class’ seats; I found the idea of a First Class section in a commuter train service very odd, but there you have it.

Riding the rails (again).

We spent a lovely evening as two families; the kids playing in the backyard and take-out pizza for dinner. One last night and the next morning we would be winging our way home.

The flight home was not overnight like the way to Germany, so we were a little worried. Fortunately, the boys kept their chaos on the lighter side, and we also had another empty seat beside us. We shuffled around quite a bit to keep everybody satisfied.

This picture is not representative of the overall flight

The young lady you can see in the background of the picture actually managed to catch Shark Boy and keep him from falling off the seats while he was sleeping. I thanked her profusely, but the best part was that she had forgotten a bouquet of flowers, and we were able to find her at baggage claim and return them to her; Shark Boy did the honours of hand delivering them. And with that, we were home, safe and sound.

Obviously there are a lot of great memories in a trip like this, but I won’t lie: it was exhausting, and overall made me wonder if it’s worth all the effort. More than what I got out of the trip, or what the kids got out of the trip though, is its symbolic value (for lack of a better term). We are a family with widely varied interests and priorities, we might have some special needs, we have personalities that could be classified as forces of nature, but we will travel. We will seek adventure, we will cherish our extended family, whether it’s now when it’s hard because the children are so young, when it’s a little easier because they’re somewhat more manageable, or even when they’re teenagers and don’t want to hang with their parents quite so much. Values like these are instilled through tradition, and tradition means repetition, and sticking to it even when it’s hard.

June 17, 2013November 27, 2016

The Germany Journals (Ger-nals?) Part 3

See Parts 1 and 2 if you haven’t read them yet.

DAY 9:

Still more rain and cold that morning – it was starting to really get to me. It was either pouring or drizzling all. the. time. We managed to while away the morning knowing we had a game plan for after the midday nap – Jack’s Fun World – an indoor playground built in an industrial warehouse space – it was HUGE. I started calling it “Captain Jack’s” after a song Shark Boy had learned at daycare – especially because it reminded me of another Captain Jack Song.

The place was filled with ball pits, climbing structures, trampolines, slides and such which were included in the admission as well as things that costed a surcharge – bumper boats, video games, mini-golf, and those stationary rides you find in shopping malls like cars, trains and helicopters that shake when you put coins in. To my utter disappointment Shark Boy wanted nothing to do with the former attractions and insisted on the latter (I refused to spend an extra cent). It’s not that I found that kind of preference shocking in general – I probably would have done the same thing at his age – but it seemed so out of character for HIM.

After a meltdown about me not springing for mini-golf clubs (how does he even know what that is?) my low-blood sugar detector went off, and we got both kids some ice cream. That seemed to do the trick – he was into the ball pit and climbing structures in is usual way – seemingly teleporting from one end to another – and generally taking years off my life as I’d lose sight of him every few minutes.

He’d give us another example of his over-abundant energy levels before the night was out. Our hosts, my father-in-law and his wife had the idea to have dinner at the local resto-pub – it’s a short walk away from the house. Shark Boy got a chance to show off his new bike and his ability to ride it, while my father-in-law opted to spare himself from the rain and make the short drive. We crossed the street, put him on the bike, pointed him in the direction of the restaurant and off he went. I was carrying the Lightning Kid and I lost sight of him quickly. It took me a good minute to realize that our two ladies who were walking ahead of me had no idea how far ahead he’d gotten and when they started trying to catch him they’d be far too slow. I dropped the Lightning Kid off with his grandfather at the restaurant then took off at my top speed. I was in jeans and running shoes and I went full out for 600 m before I even saw him. His grandfather’s wife had asked a jogger (with a better head start than me) to stop him. He was already at a major intersection when normally his habit was to stop at every crossing.

I was too winded and angry to muster a good scolding or punishment so I put him back on the bike back toward the restaurant with instructions to stop when he reached his mother. He ignored that and blew right by her. Another sprint for me and bike privileges revoked – my idea to throw the bike into the river was not taken seriously by anyone. I guess I should have been grateful to do some speed work – but safety first, especially for the kids.

DAY 10:

I guess the night cooled off any bike-related anger. My father-in-law, a.k.a Opa wanted to take Shark Boy on a longer bike ride. We planned to meet in town; my wife, the Lightning Kid and I would go in by car – while Opa and his wife would take Shark Boy through the forest on the bikes. I had my reservations but if they wanted to take on the challenges of a preschooler, more power to them. I told him not only to listen to when they told him to stop, but to ask them to stop if he was getting tired.

They ended up taking a wrong turn in the forest looking for a pen where wild boars are kept (not so wild, I guess) and long story short – they rode 10 km. He’s three and a half. He’d been riding a bike for less than a week at this point. He even had too much spare energy to sit still in a chair at the restaurant were we all ate lunch together (“Weil” – aptly name since service took a “while”). Fortunately we were seated outdoors (the weather was finally warming up – in fact the intense sunlight took some getting used to) in the pedestrian area of town so he could run around.

We ate Flammkuchen and afterwards we went to an Italian Ice Cafe that had a Spaghetti Ice Cream so good it made the last one I had in Bad Homburg seem like hot garbage.

We got home and put the boys down for an afternoon nap and I took that as a cue to get a run in. Shark Boy’s achievements of the day inspired me to go long – I skipped my *Burbathlon* antics to taake a route along the river Havel. I needed my hydration pack along since lunch had made me thirsty, but that also let me take my camera long to get some pictures from the riverbank. 12.5 km – my longest run since the *Chilly Half-Marathon*. I had a respectable pace that I liked, though I think I missed the negative split.

DAY 11:

German Hay Fever seemed to have been worse than the home brew and the Lightning Kid was still experiencing lots of wake-ups and still consistently getting up at 5 AM. These two factors had me too tired to do much on my morning walk with the Lightning Kid beyond a few toe-touching type light exercises and some triceps dips.

Get two of every animal…

The weather turned so nasty that hail pellets are overflowing the gutter. The day’s Saving Grace (or saving throw, for you geekier types) is a date night at a nice Italian restaurant.

DAY 12:

We take a riverboat cruise from Tegel back to Heiligensee – keeping a 1&1/2 year-old safe, yet happy on a boat is a lot of work but a mid-day snack of Berlin Currywurst knocks an item off the ‘must-eat’ list…

My allergies were starting to kick into high-gear… the congestion from hay fever relegated me to the couch for snoring but it works out since I’m better able to greet my brother and his family when they arrive late that night: Let the Games begin!

June 11, 2013November 27, 2016

What’s A Taper?

WRONG.

This always happens. I get about 2 weeks out from a race, and if I mention it to anyone who’s familiar with structured training, they’ll say something along the lines of “Oh, you must be in Taper”. Tapering means decreasing the training volume prior to a race to allow your body to be its best for race day but that means you have a high volume of training to come down from…

While I can say I stayed active on vacation, I can’t claim to have kept up a triathlete’s regimen either. Too little swim and bike, and even the running I did was kind of lacking. I took an honest evaluation of where I’m at, and having done 10 km and 12.5 km recently, I’m pretty happy with my run shape. I haven’t swum recently, but there were no real problems there on 2.4 and 2.6 km training sessions, so I think a 1.5 km sanity check swim where I swim the entire distance straight through, preferably in open water will do.

That left the bike. I said I was going to increase bike performance by increasing bike training volume and intensity. While I think I increased the proportion of bike training in my overall schedule, I didn’t exactly set the world of fire with the bike this pre-season. Luckily, I was able to get out for a ride this Saturday.

The first half felt really good. I kept looking down and seeing cadence over 90 RPM, and I felt like my moving average speed was 30 km/h or more (if you account for stopping at stop signs or traffic lights, average speed goes way down). I was using 360 degrees of my pedal stroke to generate power (at least it felt that way – spinning as opposed to mashing down on the pedals).

Split	Time	Moving Time	Dist	Elev Gain	Elev Loss	Avg Speed	Avg Moving Speed	Max Speed	Avg HR	Max HR	Avg Bike Cadence	Max Bike Cadence	Calories
1	10:39.3	9:29:00	3.97	27	7	22.4	25.1	36.7	149	209	77	109	120
2	10:13.9	9:32:00	4.61	10	8	27	29	38.5	154	168	82	101	135
3	10:31.0	10:05:00	4.76	13	12	27.2	28.3	38.4	157	170	83	110	142
4	10:55.7	10:21:00	4.77	10	10	26.2	27.7	43.4	154	173	81	108	134
5	11:32.6	10:16:00	4.74	12	12	24.7	27.7	43.2	152	168	83	109	128
6	16:03.1	16:03:00	8.05	16	18	30.1	30.1	41.8	157	170	86	106	205
7	15:56.2	15:54:00	8.05	20	18	30.3	30.4	41.6	162	172	87	112	210
8	7:29.5	7:30:00	3.74	0	28	30	29.9	43.5	152	168	80	106	64
Summary	1:33:21	1:29:10	42.69	108	113	27.4	28.7	43.5	155	209	83	112	1138

I did notice that all that tended to go away as my resolve and concentration waned in the latter half of the ride. From the stats it looks like I was able to correct the backslide in intensity. I wanted to fuel this training ride at the last minute but didn’t want to use up my gels, so I gave a Clif Shot Blok (courtesy of Darwinian Fail from the FitfluentialTO tweet-up) a try. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take one or more, usually it’s a gel every 45 minutes or so. After checking the website FAQ, it looks like I’d have been better off taking the whole pack of 3 blocks. Whoops.

Anyway the goal was to hit 40km or 90 minutes of riding whatever came first, and I’m happy that distance was achieved first (though not by much). I still need a sanity check brick workout to test out my legs coming off the bike. This sort of sanity check “untaper” training isn’t recommended if you’re at a new distance; I’m getting away with it (so far) because I’m sticking pretty close to my general conditioning and even I’m not stupid enough to try and build up in the last two weeks…

Sunday’s ride was in sharp contrast to Saturday’s… we went for our first bike trip as a family. Only the Lightning Kid wasn’t propelling himself. Shark Boy and my wife both tried out new bikes. I was expecting to go slow, but I still wasn’t prepared for how slow, I honestly couldn’t go slow enough and balance the bike at the same time, and with the Lightning Kid in the Chariot getting impatient and squawking at the frequent stops (when he should have been napping), it was more of a mental exercise in patience than a workout of any kind. That’s OK though, we do these things almost as a proof of concept, to keep up good active habits as a family and the speed will only increase from here.

Do you observe the taper?