At least I got to do some of that winter outdoor Yoga all the cool kids are doing… |
Tri-ed It Tuesday – Race Recap: Romp 2 Stomp Snowshoe Race
I typed the first part of this post on a Saturday night in a hotel business centre in Collingwood, Ontario. I was intending to finish writing about the entirety of the Saturday, but the slow net connection and my own exhaustion made it impossible. As I type this now with borderline frostbitten fingertips, I know I have to break the tale of our crazy Collingwood weekend up into more than one post. For now, you’ll have to settle for my contribution to the Lakeshore Runner Tri-ed It Tuesday linkup: a recap of our first snowshoe race.
I’ve wanted to take part in a snowshoe race for some time now. I’ve owned my own snowshoes for over a year, but I haven’t gotten many chances to get proficient with them. This year I missed two chances to take part in snowshoeing events run by Personal Best at Albion Hills. Not only was the venue close, but vendors were allowing you to try on snowshoes for demonstration purposes, and they had children’s sizes, so I ended up getting Shark Boy all psyched up to, only for us to miss our shot by a few minutes each time. As a family, we made cross-country skiing the top priority weekend outdoor activity, and snowshoeing kept getting punted.
Starting Line |
Shark Boy is in the green jacket back there… |
Look at the snow fly! |
The bridge is 25m above a stream below… |
…and 300m above Georgian Bay. |
Review: Saucony Triumph ISO shoes
Disclosure: I was given a free pair of Saucony Triumph ISO for review purposes through Fitfluential LLC. All opinions are my own.
Saucony wanted to produce a shoe that would stun its users; making a WhoaFace, as they’ve dubbed it. I really liked the colours of the pair they sent me; too often shoes seem to be going for garish, loud colours (like the ones in some of their promotional shots which I’ll share below). These shoes, on the other hand let me put together outfits that make me feel like a superhero.
Even better than the look was how they felt. It reminded me of the shoes I’d buy in high school, when it seemed like running shoe brands first started caring about technology and the feeling and experience of running in their shoes.
They felt incredibly light to run in, considering what a soft ride I was getting. The topside (ISOFIT) must be very breathable, and will come in handy in hotter weather; unfortunately, the cold made me notice this feature very quickly. I should probably play around with the lacing, as I think I could have used a little more motion control, which is weird, because that’s not what my gait usually demands.
What I want the most out of a shoe is cushioning, and the Triumph delivers with its PWRGRID+ platform. Impacts simply feel soft, without feeling like you’ve got a pillow wedged under your heel. It was most noticeable running downhill; I could really let myself loose on any downward slope.
The Triumphs held up well on sidewalk and gravel, I think they’d be optimal for road running in warmer weather.
Tried It Tuesday: Review of GoMacro Bars
I’m participating in a link-up hosted by Sara of Lakeshore Runner, called Tried It Tuesday. Every Tuesday, people post about something new they tried, and for me this week, it’s going to be the nutrition bars by GoMacro.
I don’t discuss food or nutrition that often on the blog, mostly because I’m not doing the cooking in our house, and I don’t find it that interesting a subject to write about. That doesn’t mean I’m immune to nutritional considerations – and if you remember this Friday Five post, I’ve not only put more thought, time and effort into strength training, but also considering my macro-nutrients especially protein (mostly to control my appetite between meals).
GoMacro is a company based on five principles:
- Macrobiotic – a macrobiotic diet is the key to a long, healthy life.
- Vegan – Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.
- Wholesome – If nature did not make it, they don’t use it.
- Gives Back – Pay it forward. Give Back. Change the World.
- Sourced Sustainably
- Protein Purity – sunflower butter+chocolate (HIGH PROTEIN); sunflower butter is the stronger flavour, chocolate is subtle. Nothing offensive, but not really that pleasing either.
- Prolonged Power – banana+almond butter (HIGH PROTEIN); tastes just like it sounds. was hungry as my breakfast had no extra protein. Banana taste is subtle, almond butter is smooth. Didn’t completely satisfy instantly as I wanted more, but it kept me going until my lunch-time workout slot.
- Protein Pleasure – peanut butter chocolate chip (HIGH PROTEIN); a little bland considering the ingredients.
- Balanced Goodness – granola + coconut; close to a typical granola bar, tasted OK. Also included dates and raisins.
- wholehearted heaven – almond butter + carob; when people talk about health food in a negative way, this is probably the kind of taste they’re referring to.
- morning harvest – apples + walnuts; this is a great combination, sweet in a breakfast-y kind of way.
- sweet rejuvenation – sesame butter + dates; I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I don’t really like dates, but they must have been ground up pretty fine so the taste didn’t bother me and the sesame seed flavour isn’t overpowering either.
- sweet rejuvenation – cashew butter; Can you tell by the picture that I was keen to eat this one? The cashew chunks give it a bit of a crunchiness, and it’s a little sweeter than straight peanut butter.
Gear Corner: Review of the Samsung Gear Fit #Smartwatch
Bluetooth pairing went seamlessly; there was hardly anything to do – the connection can be initiated from the phone’s app side or the watch. I think people who struggle with Bluetooth pairing won’t have any trouble.
As I started using the watch, there were things I liked right away. I loved getting notifications through the watch – I usually keep my phone on vibrate because I don’t like it making obtrusive noises, but sometimes I still miss notifications or calls. When your wrist buzzes, it’s hard to ignore. You can configure what kinds of notifications get sent to the watch: text messages are probably important, notifications from Google+ communities (for example), maybe not so much. The notifications don’t get sent to the watch when you’re using the phone, which is a very intelligent feature.
The watch has a pretty good range from the phone (I think I got as far as 50 feet from it), so it can be handy to leave the phone somewhere nearby yet safe and secure. Of course, that range gets decreased by walls or obstructions.
Beyond the convenience of having an interface to the phone on my wrist, the biggest benefit of the Gear Fit is as a fitness device. There’s an accelerometer inside which tracks arm movements and is used to drive the step counter, much like the Fitbit Flex. Unlike the Fitbit, however, you can look at your progress on the Gear Fit’s own screen. Making 10,000 steps a day is a great way to keep burning calories throughout the day, and better yet, you have proof of how tiring chasing kids around really is.
The Gear Fit has a Heart Rate sensor, which I was really excited about. It’s worth noting though, that you have to hold still to use it, so you can’t track your heart rate continuously while working out. It’s better for spot checks like seeing what your resting heart rate is; I tried taking measurements during a run, and even though I stood still it wouldn’t get a reading because I was too sweaty or something. The heart rate readings don’t interface into third party apps like Endomondo (see below).
Heart rate aside, the Gear Fit has its own interface to apps like Endomondo and Strava, so that you can start and stop tracking your mileage through the watch. This is probably my favourite feature, since this kind of thing (starting/stopping, pausing) is always awkward. Now, I put the phone in a Spi-belt (or armband) and don’t fiddle with it once I’m out the door.
The Gear Fit has an interface to the media player, so that you can start, stop the music (or even video) you may be listening to (or watching) or skip tracks. That’s a lot easier than mucking about with the phone that was nicely tucked away in a pocket. I did notice one time that when I used Endomondo to pick my music, there was a serious lag between when I’d hit a control on the smart watch and when the action (e.g. skipping tracks) took place.
The accelerometer in the Gear Fit doesn’t just track your steps while walking, but you can put the smart watch into sleep mode to track the quality of your sleep, like the Fitbit. The screen makes it easier than the Fitbit to start tracking, but I didn’t like how the assessments were presented. It simply gives you a total amount of time, and a percentage that you were motionless. At least Fitbit tried to differentiate (and illustrate the occurrence of) restless sleep vs. waking, even if it got it wrong some of the time.
The Gear Fit can be used for alarms, but it doesn’t store the alarms locally; the phone must be on and connected (via Bluetooth) to the watch for alarms to work. In my opinion, that makes the alarm feature next to useless.
Staying connected to the Gear Fit drains the phone’s battery quite aggressively, and the Galaxy S3 didn’t have great battery life to begin with. Turning off Bluetooth occasionally (when you didn’t need them to be connected) was a good way to save a little battery life. The watch’s battery typically lasted about 2.5 days between charging. It charges with the regular charging cable that works for Samsung and Blackberry, but needs an adapter cradle. This cradle is roughly 1 square centimeter and black, so of course, I eventually lost it. I’ve ordered a new one from Amazon, and I’ve written this post from notes I’ve taken during my ownership of the Gear Fit. I’d probably have more details in this review if I was still using the watch (and rest assured, I will again), but I’d really like to get this review finished and move on to other posts.
Overall, with smartphones getting bigger and bigger screens, the smartwatch form factor has a lot going for it, and a fitness oriented, waterproof model like the Gear Fit is close to perfect for the tech-savvy, connected fitness enthusiast.
What do you think of smartwatches? Cool, or dorky?
Gear Corner: Reviewing the Fitbit Flex
There are an increasing amount of activity trackers on the market these days, including models from Jawbone, Polar and Samsung but I chose to get a Fitbit Flex. My reasons are that Fitbit syncs with Earndit and Pact, as well as I could get one for Air Miles (which I had racked up enough of).
The Fitbit Flex came with two wristbands (one large and one small) as well as a USB cable for charging. Inserting the unit into the wristband of choice is easy enough – in fact, it seems to be fitted so that you can’t put in in wrong and have the lights/LEDs not display. Fastening the wristband is straightforward, but not easy to do one-handed, especially if you don’t want the band to be too loose on your wrist. With a little practice, this becomes a non-issue. In addition to the cable, there is a wireless adapter that you plug into your USB port so the Flex can sync its recorded data automatically when it’s within range. I honestly don’t use this feature, since I always sync to my Smartphone or iPad with the Fitbit app.
I find I have to recharge the Flex every 3 days or so, possibly because I’m a little obsessed with seeing my data update and sync often during the day. If I’m not careful, the Flex won’t make contact in the little socket for the charging cable, and it won’t charge.
Though the app gives you all kinds of things you can track (manually entering activities, food log, weight, body fat%), my main motivation for using this thing is steps taken and tracking sleep.
Tracking Activity (Steps)
Saturday |
This is the Saturday before the Yonge St 10K. I took it easy, no workout, but I still had to take the kids outside, pick them up, a few light chores around the house. So I still burned well over my recommended 2100 calories. This is one of the things I like best about having the Fitbit Flex. I wanted to write a post about ‘The Calories I Can’t Count” for all those little things that tire, without being part of a workout or training plan. Now I have a rough measurement.
Sunday |
Sunday was the race, so you can see how I racked up the steps, calories and ‘very active minutes’.
Monday |
The day after the race, was one of those days where I would usually have to miss my slotted workout (which I usually do at lunch). I was on a training course all day, which usually makes for a very sedentary workday. Here’s where Fitbit (and GymPact) help; I parked far away from the office, took stairs and extra walks on every break I got, and managed to exceed 10,000 steps on a day where I was booked too heavily to make it to the gym.
That training course lasted till Wednesday, and on Thursday I made it to an intense bootcamp class.
Before |
After |
The class had things like mountain climbers, lunges, and burpees, and I question how well the Fitbit Flex can track those movements since it’s only giving me credit for about 200 calories for the 40 minute class, and I’m pretty sure it’s worth than that (to say nothing of how the ‘active minutes’ didn’t increase much either).
All in all, the Fitbit Flex let’s me feel good about days when I seem to be tired without having done a ‘workout’ and is helping me stay active during non-workout periods and burning more calories during the day. I’d say it helped me with my most recent DietBet.
Tracking Sleep
My biggest problem is I think it underestimates my wake-ups. That night, the 3:00 wake-up (visible in red), was due to… um, a call of nature. But the Lightning Kid woke up at 4:30 and I had to rock him and put him back down. This involved some squirming on his part that often wakes him back up again, so I had to restrict his flailing – the point is that I was on my feet for 10-15 minutes and the Flex marked that as ‘Restless’ sleep. So I don’t put the most faith in this feature, but it’s better than nothing.
Overall, I’m really happy with my Fitbit Flex and continue to use it daily.
How do you feel about the activity tracker trend? If you have one, do you use it/like it?
Active Family Vacation: Skiing in Mont Sainte Anne
I’m really behind on blog post topics. As the subject matter becomes less current (or even irrelevant), I’m left with either abandoning the topic, or going ahead with a ‘better late than never’ attitude. This one falls into the latter camp; I know you don’t want to hear about winter, but we had a good time, and maybe the information will be useful for next season.
He got frightened during a plane take-off but this didn’t bother him a bit. |
I did have a little scare in the kids’ playroom. One morning, the Lightning Kid woke up around 5, and wouldn’t go back down. I had to dress quickly and hustle him out of the room before he could wake up his brother. I took him down to the playroom and let him go. I ended up finding a very large bug, which (to my surprise, since I was feeling sluggish as you can imagine) I was able to capture and bring to the front desk. Any parent wants their kids to be able to play in a fairly clean environment so my paranoia was going full tilt. When I followed up later, a member of the staff explained that they deemed it a grasshopper (rather than something more scary), and that these sorts of things could come in from all over the world in visitors suitcases. They take a lot of measure to prevent infestations like the kind my imagination was running wild with, and I had to admit, it didn’t really look like a cockroach or anything like that, so I was basically satisfied.
There are a good variety of restaurants within the resort grounds, so we tried a new place every night. We also ended up packing up our food before we could complete a proper meal, because the kids wouldn’t behave properly (I think they were a little overstimulated by the new environment and/or activities). Quebecers are really laid-back and don’t bat an eyelid at kids’ behaviour; unfortunately, I’m not a Quebecer, I’m an uptight Ontarian and meal-times ended up stressing me out.
The last gasp before bedtime was a swim in the pool (also in the basement of the pool). I was able to get Shark Boy to show me some of the skills he’s been learning in his swim lessons, and we’ve long since discovered that swimming is an excellent way to tucker them out so they’ll sleep.
Once they were out one of us had to stay in the room with them, so we weren’t able to enjoy our evenings as a couple. We’d do a little solo (drinks, the aforementioned arcade) but conk out early from exhaustion. There were many wake-ups to deal with, so it was good to get all the rest we could.
The next day, I felt so much stronger and more confident on my skis. We still stuck mostly to Blue hills, but it really felt like the best I’ve ever skied in terms of technique. We made sure this time to put in a stop at the Maple Syrup hut on the East side of the mountain. Here, they pour maple syrup into a trough of snow where it congeals, then you pick that up on a stick by rolling it all up (see below). Delicious!
In the trough |
I got all the syrup… LIKE A BOSS! |
The other thing we made time for is making sure we caught some of Shark Boy’s ski lesson. Then we took him for another run with his parents on “The Big Magic Carpet” as requested.
On our third day, I actually opted to head back to the room and sleep rather than ski. Normally there’s a voice inside that makes me seize the day, and says:”You can only ski like this so often, but you can sleep anytime!” but that isn’t actually true anymore. A chance to sleep without being woken up by the kids (or a phone call or whatever) is about as rare as good powder, which I missed out on that morning by all reports. I did manage a couple of Black Diamond runs in the afternoon, though the snow had gotten granular.
The vacation wound to an end… but they left me wanting more. There is an extensive network of cross-country skiing trails that we haven’t explored yet, and other winter activities like dog-sledding beckon too. My one gripe is that access to other services isn’t so great; two years ago I had to hail a taxi to get to a drug store for infant pain-killers because Shark Boy got an ear infection. There is also no shuttle to/from the Quebec City Airport making cab rides necessary.
Even as the kids get older and the daycare requirements get lighter, easier and more flexible I could see us returning to Mont Ste Anne. For another view on this trip, please visit the Lightning Kid blog.
Gear Corner: Apps That Motivate (Earndit, Pact)
Cory Vines Top |
The rewards available to Canadians are a little more limited, and though there’s a nice check box to limit rewards to those available in Canada, it’s best to double-check the fine print to see if they’ll ship there. Most rewards are one-time only, so the selection drops once you’ve used up a few. Except my favourite kind of rewards which are Charity Rewards. So far, through Earndit, I have:
I only just started using Pact. I signed up for my first one mid-week, and the default Pact was 3 times per week at $10.00 a workout. In hindsight, that seems a little steep (I think Fitness Cheerleader uses a $5.00 Pact, which seems more sensible). Still, I doubted I would have trouble making it to 3 workouts a week, all things considered…
Not so fast! Not all things can be considered! Home workouts can’t be tracked; that just makes sense as money is at stake and people could fake it too easily. Still, when it comes to checking into a ‘gym’ the method they use seems a little…crude I guess. The geo-location function of your smartphone is activated and they take a satellite image of it, which gets verified by some person on their end before they will give you credit for it. My gym is at work which is a large corporate campus, so I wasn’t sure if I would get credit for it until it was verified; because I signed up mid-week, I had 10 days to accrue 3 workouts for the week’s pact. Not knowing whether or not I was going to be able to count that gym in was stressful, since the only way to play with these features is to commit to a pact. Partnering with another app like Foursquare or Yelp seems like a much more sensible way to go than inspecting satellite images to me. While those apps could theoretically be cheated too, any given location could be verified by seeing if other people are checking in to workout. A lot of gyms (like Crossfit boxes) are in industrial/warehouse areas and might not ‘look’ like a gym from a satellite image.
Of course, outdoor activities can be tracked too. Unfortunately, the only apps Pact syncs with are Runkeeper and MapMyFitness so no Endomondo for me (side bar: I’m shocked to not see Daily Mile on these lists as I thought that was an incredibly popular app). Activity tracker wristbands that sync with Pact are the Jawbone Up and Fitbit. The latter are good for tracking the over 10,000 steps you need to qualify as having worked out that day. For tracking runs (or bike rides or whatever) you need to rack up at least 30 minutes while moving an average of 2 Miles an Hour. That doesn’t seem too strict, but I was still disappointed to find that our weekend outing to go cross-country skiing didn’t count toward my pact, as we spent too much time waiting for Shark Boy (he’s doing great, but he’s only 4 years old!).
When Sunday midnight rolled around, I had my 3 workouts approved, and I waited till Tuesday for the payout. Well, I should have been paid on Tuesday, but it took till Wednesday to rack up…. $1.11. A buck for 3 workouts that could have cost me up to $30 for missing them. I think that means that few people miss out on making their committed pack, which is a good thing, I suppose.
We were going on our family vacation in the Mayan Riviera the next week so I put Pact on break (I was planning on getting exercise there, but wasn’t going to be messing around with the app) till I got back (review of the trip soon to come!)
While there’s nothing preventing me from using both (and I probably will, hopefully the weekly winnings will rack up to something I can treat myself with) I really prefer Earndit’s ease of use, accessibility and no downside.
Do you use Pact? Earndit? Some other motivational app?
Race Recap: Bracebridge Olympic Triathlon
After last year’s no-show, I was eager to sink my teeth into this course. I had an English muffin with Nutella for breakfast, and I decided to go with something a little extra: there was Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the kitchen counter and I had a bowl of that too.
Swim
Transition 1
Bike
I had someone call my name on the bike, it was the guy from TriMuskoka (whose name I can’t recall – sorry buddy!). He told me he liked the blog posts – then passed me. Still, I get passed by lots of people without an attaboy for my writing, so I appreciated that.
Here’s a sample of what I was looking for:
Time: 1:26:06
Transition 2
Run
Overall
Sponsored Post: Koge Vitamins
The following post was sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Koge Vitamins. I received the product reviewed at no cost to myself in exchange for writing a post about it, as well as some social media content. I was not asked to give a positive review, and all opinions and experiences are my own.
Introduction
I’m one of those people who knows that they need certain nutrients to stay healthy, but also knows that he’s not getting them from food alone. I take a multivitamin, but I’m always struggling to find the right one that fits my profile (active adult male) and doesn’t give me heartburn. Add to the fact that I train for triathlons (i.e. juggling 3 endurance sports plus cross-training) and chase a toddler and preschooler around during my time off work, and both kids don’t ever sleep through the night and you’ve got someone who could use a little extra energy to get through the day.
Koge Vitamins (a Canadian company) started with a two-fold purpose: find a better way to manufacture and distribute vitamins, as well as a better way to get nutrition to malnourished children. Last things first: a percentage of every Koge vitamin sale is donated to provide African children under the age of 5 with vitamins to help them fight malnutrition. I had a chance to try their Energy Pack.
The Energy Pack was developed to support increased mental and physical exertion across all activities. Each does is a little package with four pills in it:
- Korean Ginseng
- Guarana
- Ayur Indian Ginseng
- Coenzyme Q-10 with L-Taurine
That last one gave me pause, as I was a little wary of Taurine. Koge says:
“Taurine is known for lowering cholesterol and repairing the body against natural external damage. It also assists with heart health and infertility.”
Still, I know Taurine is in energy drinks that have been getting a lot of bad press lately. Here’s a quote from an article named: “The Dangers of Taurine in Sports Drinks“.
“Taurine is a free form amino acid contained in foods and manufactured in the body from the amino acid cysteine. It was first discovered in the bile of bulls, and now produced synthetically by the truckload. Since taurine is created naturally in the human body, a good diet supplies all you need.
Studies have implicated synthetic taurine in illnesses ranging from high blood pressure to strokes and seizures to heart disease. For these reasons it’s been banned in some Scandinavian countries after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. Because taurine is utilized by the body during exercise and in times of stress, it’s become a popular ingredient in energy drinks. But taurine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system that’s very unnatural.“
I figured I could simply throw the Taurine pill in the garbage if I could identify it; the website even has little pictures to show you each pill. If I could find this pill:
in this pack:
I’d be fine. It seemed hard at the time, but when I look at the photo I took, it seems to almost definitely be the one on the left side.At the time though, I struggled with figuring it out. In the end, knowing (according to the same article) the recommended daily dose was between 100-500 mg, and what’s in the Koge tablets represents 300 mg a day, I felt a little safer, in addition to the fact that the Taurine was more likely (given Koge’s reputation and methods) natural rather than synthetic. Still, I would be getting Taurine from some of the foods I ate, without knowing how much, so at times I was hesitant to take both daily doses.
Summary of Experience
The tub has a clean elegant design, and the recommended dose is to take two 4-tablet packets daily. The packets have all the tablets in them for a half-dose; my only complaint is that I couldn’t get them open without scissors.
I took the Koge Vitamin Energy Pack after an Overseas Family Trip to Germany, and I kept a daily journal of the experience. I was using the tablets to get over jet-lag, get back into triathlon training, get caught up at work after my absence, and just generally keep up with my kids.
If you want the short version of my experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack, I can say that I definitely experienced heightened levels of energy and alertness, without it feeling unnatural or like a ‘high’ nor making me as edgy and irritable as caffeine does, and I say that with a deep abiding love for caffeine. Point in fact, I found myself drinking less coffee and seeking caffeine less altogether. I did not take the full dose every day, and more commonly a half day. I found physical tasks like workouts easier if I performed them within a few hours of taking the pills. When I forgot to take them, I did feel sluggish, even if I had a decent night’s sleep (my sleep is interrupted by my kids, there was no effect on my sleeping patterns from the pills that I could notice).
Here is the blow-by-blow of my daily experience with the Koge Vitamins Energy Pack:
Daily Diary
DAY 18: I woke up at 5:30 to get ready and go to the Muskoka 5150 Triathlon. I didn’t take any pills with them to the cottage, so I’m without them when I might need them the most. In addition to an exhausting race, I had an afternoon of playing with the kids on the beach, on the deck, in the cottage to wear me out. I found a spare dose in my toiletries bag that I could have taken the next day.