Category: running

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Race Recap – 5 Peaks Trail Run – Heart Lake

Whenever a blogger hasn’t posted in a while, they always lead with something like “Don’t worry, I’m not dead!” and I always have a reaction along the lines of “I wasn’t thinking that at all.”  I’ve been swamped (still am, in fact), and there are quite a few topics I want to write about to get caught up on, but last things first….  I raced the 5 Peaks Trail Run Series – Heart Lake Sport course this weekend.

 I ran this race last year in September, and doing it in the summer had an entirely different feel. Just like last year, there was a Kids’ Challenge Fun Run of just under 1 km that both Shark Boy and the Lightning Kid participated in.  It’s fun to see them actually improve year over year: I’m pretty sure Shark Boy can pace himself better so that he keeps up a more consistent tempo, and the Lightning Kid finished much faster too.  They make me so proud.

Game Faces.

Shark Boy raises the flag (or ribbon) of victory (or participation).

The Lightning Kid approaches the finish line with Mama in tow

The Kids’ Challenge course had many of the same features as the sport course, only shorter, naturally.  We took off from the starting line and dropped down into a little valley where we circled a field, while going up and down a few hills that surrounded it.  It was all led by a volunteer and there was a tiger mascot to motivate them right to the end.  The really great part about this venue for kids is there was a splash pad right next to the race site where the boys got to spend the time while I was off on my race.

 This year, I decided to seed myself in the 4th wave rather than the 3rd.  I think I got passed a little too much in the early first kilometre last year, and I wasn’t exactly at my fastest going in.  In spite of the guidelines they give you as to wave vs. benchmark time (the pre-race bulletin called it “…the 5K time you could run immediately after eating a plate of nachos, with a beer or two to wash them down, followed by an ice cream sandwich for dessert.”).  By the time I had finished getting my good luck kisses, I had a little trouble getting to the front of the 4th wave, but I still think it worked well.  


 The single-track didn’t start till 500-700m into the race, so there was plenty of time to get things sorted out in terms of runners’ paces and who should be where in the pack.

 I started my Garmin a little late (and my MapMyFitness app even later – I hope no-one was listening to the robot lady in my phone calling out false kilometre marks), and I quickly noticed a little problem.  I recently added a new heart rate sensor and I think that reset my HR Zones and values; according to what it displayed, I did nearly the entire race above 90% my maximum heart-rate (I later found out that the programmed max was 187 bpm, and my max of the day was 197, so now at least I have a new, up-to-date maximum heart rate).



The course spent a lot of time in the shade of the forest, which I really appreciate; I had a hat and sunscreen, but I don’t like to rely on those more than I need to.  Even the little bit toward the end (I think well after 4km on a 7km course) that was more sun exposed was well thought out – there was only a single aid station on the course, but I thought it came at the perfect place the first time I passed it, and you got to pass it again another time.

 I took a couple of walk breaks during the race, but they were more in anticipation of hills and wanting to be properly energized for the climb than necessary to recover from fatigue.  My favourite hill was a near vertical climb that slowed people down to a crawl.  I used my trick from last year to make the crawl literal and used my hands to get extra traction to make the climb.

 I made the final climb to the finish line with a smile on my face, and finished in 45:46 which is more than a minute slower than last year, but with my training schedule (or lack thereof) I wasn’t too surprised and quite pleased.


 After a slight cool down in the shade and getting a few snacks into me (including mint-chocolate Clif Bar Builder Blocks!) I met my wife and kids coming back from the splash pad.  We had the briefest of moments to meet with Jessica of Laces and Lattes (which is not only a good blog, but an excellent running resource) – if not for her, I think I would have forgotten that the race was that weekend.  I also got to meet Robyn Baldwin, and she fell victim to the charms of the Lightning Kid:

So much fun meeting @apkussma‘s fam jam. I may have wanted to kidnap your son just so we could eat cookies together
— RobynBaldwin (@RobynBaldwin) June 21, 2014

He didn’t give her nearly the attention I wanted him to, because he was so busy stuffing cookies in his mouth, but maybe he knows more about playing it cool than I do.  Rounding out the group of tweeps I met is Mark Sawh, who was better known to me as Spider-Man (from the Yonge St. 10k).  Based on the conversation I had with him, trail running has another convert…

I wish we’d been able to hang around more for draw prizes and other fun, but we had to get to Burlington for the race kit pickup of the TriKids Burlington triathlon Shark Boy would be doing the next day.  Guess what my next post is going to be about?

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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


This feature is a little less interesting to me, since I know that my sleep is of poor quality; the Lightning Kid wakes us up a few times a night.  Still I’m curious, and like the activity tracking, the Fitbit could do a job of ‘keeping me honest’ so that I know a little better how much/little sleep I got; if I feel tired, I might exaggerate – what feels like 4 hours might actually be closer to 6 for example.

 

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?


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Race Recap: 9th Annual Spring Into Action for Diabetes (10k)

Jacqueline over at Skinny Chick Blog has mentioned often how she actually prefers smaller events for running races.  I’m beginning to think I know what she means.  This weekend was the Toronto Goodlife Marathon, and I’m sure lots of people I know (at least on the internet) were there, but the Iron Rogue clan ran something much smaller on Saturday.


 We picked up a flyer for the Spring Into Action for Diabetes race while crossing the finish line at the Yonge Street 10k.  We had fun running as an entire family then, so when they said strollers would be allowed, we put ourselves down for a family entry as soon as we could.




 The race start was at the Wilket Creek entrance to Sunnybrook Park.  There were a little over 200 participants spread over a 2 km Walk, 5 km, and 10 km run.  It was a cloudy, overcast day with cooler temperatures, which is good for running, but the threat of rain put a bit of a damper on our spirits.  There was walk-up registration, which might have actually been a time saver compared to the long line up the pre-registered participants needed to stand in to get their bibs and race kits.  Fortunately, this was a very, very family friendly event with a few fitness obstacles set up as a way to keep kids who don’t like standing in line (e.g. mine) occupied.


Once we got to the front of the line we got our bibs and race swag.  There were bibs and timing chips for everybody, which made Shark Boy feel like part of the team.

Timing Chips for Everyone!

They had run out of safety pins for the bibs, so he missed out on feeling super official during the race, but the cotton t-shirt did a great job as an extra layer for someone who was dressed a little too light, i.e. me.

 Once they had done a few speeches to welcome everyone (including some rather frightening statistics about incidence rates of diabetes – some don’t realize they have it) by the race director, and a speech by Toronto mayoral candidate Karen Stintz (who seems super nice).  They started the warm-up exercise routine (led by InsideOut Fitness staff) including some Yoga and a little dynamic movement.  

Couldn’t quite get Eagle Arms right on Shark Boy

That was fun to watch the kids try and follow along.  Shark Boy is passingly familiar with Yoga (not sure how, maybe daycare?), and the Lightning Kid lives to entertain others (especially the ladies).  Before we knew it, it was time to line up at the start.  It was a little scary having the 10 km runners be first – with the Chariot, I would have preferred being in the back, but there was never a problem with people going around.

 Shark Boy wanted to start the race running for himself, and he kept up a good pace for nearly a kilometre.  I’m pretty proud of him because when I’ve gotten him to run distances of any kind in the past, he’s more like the hare than the tortoise – fast out of the gate, then needing long, time-wasting rests.  He called for entry to the Chariot shortly before the 1 km mark and then we started rolling with both kids inside.

Just past the 2.5 km mark, which served as the turn-around point for the 5 km runners and the last water station for us 10 km runners, there seemed to be some confusion, with several faster runners turning back saying they’d hit a dead-end.  My wife went back with some of them to see if we could clear up the course, and they said they’d send someone ahead to clear things up.  Before they could get there we decided to strike out on our own.  Later that weekend we saw a quote somewhere on Facebook that it’s “Better to Walk Alone, than to be in a Crowd Going the Wrong Way.”  That is sound advice, because we would have wasted less time (and mileage) if we hadn’t gotten infected with the self-doubt of others and ploughed ahead.  Sticking to the park trails (going under a bridge to cross Don Mills) was easy enough, and though other racers got fewer to encounter, we confirmed the 5 km turn-around point was on the course we were following.



Breaking up squabbles between the boys and keeping them occupied with snacks was the biggest hindrance to performance and enjoyment, but we still ticked off the kilometres with smiles on our faces (and were greeted with many more in return).  The cool weather kept us from overheating climbing up some of the hills (which were mostly ramps for bridges under the overpasses).   

Toward the end, there seemed to be a little bit of drizzle that came and went.  Shark Boy got out with a little less than a kilometre do finish, and ran it holding his bib in his hand, as did his mother, while I held my bib and the Lightning Kid’s in mine pushing the Chariot across the finish line.   After the run, we ate hamburgers (courtesy of the race) for lunch and stretched before going home with our medals.



It was a small potatoes event with small potatoes hiccups, but great fun for a great cause.
Here’s a clip from the local news, including a little sound bite from the Lightning Kid and I.


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Toronto Yonge Street 10K Race Recap

With the summer being dominated by my triathlon season, in the past it’s been nice for us as a couple for me to support my wife in running races in the spring.  Two years ago, she ran the Yonge St 10K and the Sporting Life 10K which used to be the same event.  After mixing the two up last year, she found she preferred the Yonge St 10K and wanted to do it again this year.

April 2012 – Human Totem Pole waiting for Mama… the Lightning Kid is around 6 months old in this pic

When she found out that there was a stroller division this year, she asked me if we should do it as a family.  While Shark Boy hasn’t been too keen on sitting in the Chariot during runs anymore, we thought we could make it work, and got excited at the prospect of running a 10K as a family.  I started doing more runs on my lunch hour (perfect timing since the run club just started at work) and we got one ‘dry run’ as a family 2 weeks before race day – 8 km, with the Chariot and everything.  What we learned is that managing the boys would be as big a challenge as pushing the stroller, or dragging our butts across the finish line.

 I also put out a few feelers prior to race day to see who was doing the Yonge Street 10k.  There were people I met through my outing with Tribe Fitness, as well as some of my favourite local fitness bloggers (who I’d met last year at the May Tweet-Up) like The Athletarian, Eat Spin Run Repeat, Work It Wear It Eat It, Robyn Baldwin, ElleSeeFit and Darwinian Fail… so many awesome people in one place.  Krysten (a.k.a Darwinian Fail) let me know that she was meeting people at a Starbucks at 8:30.


The problem?  Our corral (the stroller division) wouldn’t be starting till 9:20 and I knew trying to keep the boys still in a crowded area for a long time was a recipe for disaster.  We ended up at the starting area sometime after 9:00 and I’m sure everyone who wasn’t right at the back was in their corral chomping at the bit.  So…  a missed social opportunity, but at least there was no Amber Alert situation right?

Before the Start

My wife preferred the Yonge Street 10k to the Sporting Life 10k due to better organization, and boy does it show.  The stroller division/purple corral started at 9:20 on the dot.  And I mean, on the dot – (a nerd alert shouldn’t be necessary here,  but maybe it’s your first time on this blog, so… NERD ALERT!) My watch syncs nightly to an atomic clock with the exact official time, and it had just ticked over to 9:20:00 when they said go.  That’s how on the dot, I mean.

We really enjoyed the run.  We got a lot of positive attention for having two handsome little boys along for the ride and people got a real kick out of Shark Boy’s singing as we rolled along.  We also got a few laughs for having to do parenting/management mid run e.g. “No Fighting you two!”  The smart thing we had done was pack a ton of snacks, because it’s hard to whine or complain with a mouthful of goldfish crackers.
I skipped the port-a-potties at 4 km, but by 5 km, I was regretting that decision a little.  I told my wife I was going to use them at the 7 km water station and when it got within sight, I let her push the stroller and ran ahead so she wouldn’t have to wait as long.  Here’s where things went off the rails – I thought she’d wait by the port-a-potties or maybe the water station, she thought she’d give me a chance to run at my normal pace by going ahead and letting me catch up.

 When I got out, I couldn’t see them anywhere; I back tracked till I could see Dundas St, where I’d left them – no sign of them.  I ran back (or more accurately, forward) to the water/aid station and couldn’t see them there either.  I hesitated, then ran forwards for a while, at a near sprint.  When the route turned West on Richmond, I described them to a volunteer who said they’d seen them, so I kept sprinting.  I sprinted for nearly a kilometre and I still hadn’t seen them anywhere.  My cell phone was in the back of the stroller, but a medical volunteer (from the Ski Patrol) offered me his.  They’d gotten just past the 9 km mark, but we still had a chance to finish the race together!  I’d been running around with the ‘Baby Stroller’ bib on my back, but no baby stroller, so I was relieved to ‘take the wheel’ again, so to speak.

 We finished the race in a pitiful 1:31:22, and the MapMyFitness tracker shows the 10k route (with a bunch of waiting around near the end):
Yet with all the back tracking I did, as far as I can tell, I did about 14km.


We were still all smiles to be together as a family, and Shark Boy got his wish to run across the finish line (in fact he did the last 500 m or so); holding his mother’s hand.

Done!


We chowed down on all kinds of snacks and drink samples, and I think one of the highlights was meeting a group (including Mark Sawh and Steve Layton) who decided to run the race as superheroes while raising money for the Hospital For Sick Children.  Shark Boy was thrilled to meet his heroes, and the heroes seemed just as thrilled!

They were taking down the festivities as we left to catch the very last shuttle back to the starting area.  Once we were back on Yonge, we opened patio season (sort of – we were near an open window at least) with a pub lunch.  Fulfilling our promise of ice cream was surprisingly trickier, but that was also a treat.

When I got home, I found my toes felt bruised.  It took me a while to figure out, but with the race’s net downhill, I had spent a good deal of the course putting on the brakes trying to keep the stroller from running away on us, thus jamming my toes into the front of the shoe repeatedly!

 All in all, a great day, and the Canada Running Series should be congratulated for running a great event.  It left us thirsty for more family 10k runs!

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My Random Yet Awesome Playlist

On the last day of March, the sun came out, and it was time for an outdoor run.  I was so happy to get some sunlight on my face, and simply the ability to get out without a scarf or mask meant the run I was going to embark on could do no wrong.



I was using my phone for music, and the truth is, I’ve never quite mastered managing playlists or loading music on it, so what’s on there doesn’t represent anywhere near my whole music collection, but I put it on random and figured I could take it as it comes… here’s what came out of my earphones that day:


Artist
Track
Notes
“Don’t Call it a comeback!” though it felt like one, running outside in pleasant weather. Great start to the run
A U2 Fave – awesome tempo.
I have tons of STP on my phone.  At least one of their songs was bound to come up.
80s! An urgent beat to keep me going.
A cover from their Renegades album.  More like old fashioned punk than most RATM (it’s originally by MC5)
One of their best tracks.  It’s baffling that this wasn’t one of their big radio singles.  Bonus: the quieter parts seemed to line up with when I had to negotiate ice/puddles and the chorus would come in just as I could go fast again.  Perfect.
Well, I don’t want to finish last… Bonus: The guitar solo came in right at the bottom of the biggest final hill, causing me to charge up at 100% effort.  I love it when that happens!
“Fight off the lethargy…” the hill is done, and the run is nearly over.  A good rhythm for plodding to the end.
Heh.  Well, I was heading straight back to the office a.k.a. ‘The Man’. Less on the tempo, good for cooling down.



Maybe it was just the positive attitude I had that day, but it really felt like serendipity to get such perfect tracks at random.  I made a point to keep track of what I’d heard (thanks to the last.fm scrobbling – tracking what tunes are played) so I could share it with you guys.

Would you ever trust the shuffle gods to do your running playlist?
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Iron Rogue Finds a Cure For Winter Running at Tribe Fitness #JoinTheTribe

After having complained about winter running, I was feeling a little painted into a corner… was I really going to give it up? No, but without a change in perspective, I would be locked into dwelling on the negatives and wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself.  Enter an unusual set of circumstances (and a little initiative on my part).

It was shortly before Valentines and my wife and I had our plans already locked down – we were going to see a production of Alice In Wonderland that benefitted Mary Centre.  That was Thursday, so when an opportunity to be kid-free for Wednesday came up, she wanted a girls night out.  While a guys night out would have suited me fine too, they tend to end in the wee hours of the morning, and I wanted to pick my kids up and have them home and in bed before 9:00 at the latest, so I looked for other opportunities.  

One of the things I find have to miss out on are group exercise classes and lessons, since they tend to be held sometime in the period that is usually dinner and/or the kids’ bedtime.  Not this Wednesday!  I ended up picking Tribe Fitness, I believe having originally heard about it on Robyn Baldwin’s blog.  They have been doing training runs on Wednesday night, and some of the group are using this to get ready for Around the Bay or other bigger races.

All I was expecting was a fun, social 5 km run, but I got so much more! After struggling to find a parking space (which ended up being illegal, I didn’t discover the parking ticket till the next day!), I caught up with the tail end of the group and was warmly greeted by Heather Gardner who runs the group.  The warm greeting I got in person was to be expected after the one I got on Twitter when I mused about maybe turning up that night.

OK, tweeps… I have free time early Wednesday evening. Who thinks I should go to the @Tribe_Fitness 5k run?
— Axel Kussmann (@apkussma) February 10, 2014


 We ran a little around the area surrounding Canoe Landing Park

First up was Biathlon.  Instead of skiing and shooting a rifle, we ran a sprint lap and took up to 3 throws to hit Hulk-hand targets with a snowball (I made a successful hit on my second lap, but otherwise came up empty).  Taking the throws counted as recovery between sprint laps of the park.


Next up was Luge (though it reminded me more of Bobsled).  I was on a team of 3, and as the biggest member, I didn’t ride, but only pushed my teammates on a crazy-carpet.  I think I made my biggest contribution for the uphill segment, when we switched riders for the way back, I had trouble keeping up and ended up letting go, rather than contribute to bad steering and crashing.  Luckily there was none of that, though there was plenty of laughter.


The last event was a “speed-skating” relay, or more simply, a relay around the park.  All 3 events were great ways to introduce a little of the dreaded speed work (which burn more of those hibernation calories) into the evening, and what’s more, they made them fun.


The group headed indoors for warm drinks, but I had to take my leave and pick up my boys, but I’d heavily recommend to any level of runner in the Toronto area to try and make it out to one of these events, or any other that Tribe Fitness puts on.

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The Problem With Winter Running

This season has been a little different.  The weather has been unexpectedly cold, but you knew that.  It’s gotten so that there are now complaints about all the complaints about how cold it is. And I’m about to throw another complaint in, but maybe it should go into a different pile.

I live in Canada, and I like living in Canada… frankly (going back far enough) I had other choices.  This is my home and I embrace its strengths and weaknesses.  It is my belief, or I should say my family’s belief, that if you want to survive this country year-round, you have to embrace what winter has to offer.  Tobogganing, skating, skiing (both nordic and downhill), building snowmen, snow-shoeing… it’s all good.   And by that rationale, I try to include my running training in my love of fresh air in the outdoors, and like any good blogger, hope that my example will inspire others…. it’s not that bad out there!

Still, I’m starting to hate winter running… but it’s not the cold or the snow.  Really.  The cold air doesn’t seem to bother my lungs as much as everyone expects, and the rest of me gets protected by layers.  I like the lower impact of running on snow, and the muscular challenge of trudging through it.  So where’s the hate?

The logistics of it all.  Getting dressed in the appropriate layers probably takes 15 minutes, though frankly, I’m afraid to time it – it might break my heart.  I really, really have to remember to put on my heart rate monitor strap first, because it’s too hard to slip it on after I’ve put on 3 layers.  Remembering all the winter gear has created some situations I wouldn’t have expected.
While effectively preparing all the winter clothes I need for running such as:

  • hat
  • gloves
  • facemask
I have forgotten the following things at one point or another:
  • one running shoe (yes really)
  • earphones
  • water for my water bottle (twice)
  • pants
And of all the equipment you’re bringing and wearing, heaven forbid if any of it is not up to snuff…

  • Brought light cycling gloves = nearly got frostbite
  • My original facemask used to hamper my field of vision (not good because I’m having to run in areas with cars and traffic more than I usually do) so I bought a replacement
  • …which didn’t allow enough airflow for me to exhale properly.  I spent my run feeling like I was gagged by kidnappers or something, and for the air to get out, the sides expanded like the gills on a fish which was just plain weird.
Not my happy face
I haven’t quite closed the door on winter running.  Due to a funny set of circumstances, I will have a little bit of free evening time, so I’m hooking up with Tribe Fitness for a group 5k run in Toronto on Wednesday night… misery loves company, right?

I’m putting this into the #BestFoot Linkup over at Darwinian Fail… join us there, OK?
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#JustRunning Chronicle: Week 2

The idea was to have running be my only form of exercise for the first 14 days of January, with a minimum of 7 runs (to average running every other day).


 You are looking at the only run of week 2 (after getting 4 runs in for Week 1).  I don’t want to be negative, and I know that the path to success is paved with failures, but I really don’t feel like launching into the next (and more complicated) phase of the 2014 fitness journey without having succeeded at the first phase.  Nor do I feel like repeating it.

 The good news is that I did develop a thirst for other forms of exercise and more intensity as I went for my runs, so from that point of view, mission accomplished.  The trick will be to not think I can go madly off in all directions again.

 While I had ideas for the next step, the fact that I couldn’t get 2 weeks of ‘Just Running’ done (thanks to illness, icy conditions on the roads), makes me hesitant to undertake them.  With things the way they are (I’m writing this instead of going to bed because I’m waiting for an update from the hospital as to whether the Lightning Kid‘s oxygen levels are going to go back up…) I need a moderate approach.  Like Ringo said, I get by with a little help from my friends.  Do you remember Carla of MizFitOnline? Her motto is #wycwyc (“What You Can, When You Can”) and our friend Katie of Mom’s Little Running Buddy demonstrated a great way to fit in exercise during domestic chores, see?


 That’s probably what it will be like for the next week or two for me.

I’m nominated for the Health Activist Awards at Wegohealth.  Please consider endorsing me! Just follow the link above.

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#JustRunning Chronicle: Week 1

Rather than any year-long resolution or big, complicated goal, I set out to regain my focus and confidence by Just Running for 2 weeks; the goal was to get at least 7 runs in 14 days.  Here’s the first 7 days…

#JustRunning Day 1: Why not start the new program on the first day of the year? I headed out while the kids were napping on New Year’s Day.  I had on layers including long underwear; it was -12 degrees C and the wind was 20km/h from the North.  I found I was dressed warm enough, except my gloves – they were a pair of  thin cycling gloves better suited for mere wind protection.   Cold hands were less of an issue once I got properly warmed up from running.  For music, I put on the Oakenfold station on Slacker; I don’t listen to that much dance music, but this was good for a fresh start to the new year, something different from my rut routine.

Keeping my HR in the low ranges… fairly steady.


#JustRunning Day 2:  I knew it was cold, and I drew some looks of concern as I headed out, but I assured everyone who bothered to look that I was well prepared.  Well, almost.  The gloves were really not enough for that day; my records show -18 and 22 km/h winds from the North, but my wife’s message of support (saying how she loves me for [or in spite of] my craziness) mentioned -20.  My hands were really hurting and I kept them in my armpits and tried various tricks, but the threat of frostbite loomed (there were warnings on the radio that I head later).  I managed to run out for 10 minutes then headed back with my hands killing me and my fear of frostbite getting all too real.



#JustRunning Day 3: Much more reasonable.  I called this the “non-death-wish” version.  I don’t know if it was the time of day, but it felt slow for the same kind of HR I’d been trying to maintain every time (around 75-77% of max).


#JustRunning Day 4: Plan A had been to run on Monday, but after a crazy morning I didn’t have run gear packed for lunch, and Plan B to run outside was being defeated by howling winds that woke us all up at various points of the night.  I could have gone to the gym and used a treadmill that evening, but things were running a little too late and I feared New Years crowds.  I rolled the dice the next morning and got a little late into work (and worked through lunch), but the reward was being on track for my Just Running program 7 days in.



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Just Running

I haven’t had much blog content over the holidays.  While I try to focus on the positive, Lisa at RunWiki has inspired me to open up a little about some of the negatives I’m experiencing.  It’s important for me to say that by no means did I have a bad Christmas or holiday season in general; I got to spend great times with my family, whom I cherish more than anything, and we created some great memories to cap off 2013.  This blog, however is about triathlon, fitness, and getting outside and December has not been kind.

One of the things I don’t talk about much is how poorly we sleep.  The Lightning Kid typically has 3 wake-ups a night, and what it takes to get him back to sleep can vary, as what can what time he decides to wake up for the day can swing between 5 and nearly 7 am.  Please note, I am not asking for any advice; we have two children who both have/had trouble sleeping and know everything there is to know about good sleep habits, we research on many Down syndrome forums and are always pursuing new and increasingly exotic methods to try and turn this around.  This simply isn’t a forum where I wish to discuss sleep issues, I just want to provide background information.   Add the extra stimulation of the holidays as well as cold and flu season (with undersized nasal passages more prone to congestion) and things get even worse.

Speaking of cold and flu season, I got knocked down by the flu in mid-December.  Weak feeling, achy bones, chills, you know the drill.  When all the symptoms subsided, I was left with a nasty cough that seemed to give me a crushing feeling in my chest every time I had a coughing fit.  I mean, it felt like a Sumo wrestler sat on me.  I went to the doctor and he gave my heart and lungs the all-clear.  His theory? That I pulled a chest muscle during a sudden onset of coughing.  Nice to know you can get an athletic injury without being athletic (while I had my doubts about the theory at the time, that pain eventually subsided and was replace by one in my right rib which felt a lot more like a pulled muscle).

Which brings this post from general complaining to the more central topic: I have not been active.  Every article I’ve ever read about training vs. illness says it’s OK until it’s in your chest (one such article for example).  At the end of the season I hadn’t figured out what I wanted to do next.  There didn’t seem to be any goal looming that presented something new, while being attainable based on past performance and I found my attentions scattered in all directions.

I had tried to jump start my exercise habits a little toward the end of the year.  I tried to play catch-up and use my soon-to-expire Crossfit sessions at least weekly, sometimes twice a week.  DOMS and my work schedule kept it from being more, I guess.  I signed up for not one, but two Yoga challenges on Instagram.  I bailed on all of them, and though the illness is part of it, I have to admit I wasn’t really enjoying any of that.  Every Crossfit WOD, every yoga pose had to be modified for my limited strength and/or flexibility.  While the leaders were great at providing these, I found being the “can’t” in a sea of “cans” to be a motivational black hole.

So, once the holidays started, I had a routine that involved eating, going to holiday events (Santa visits, family get-togethers, etc) and working.  Just about any free time I got, I tried to nap (though sometimes I watched House of Cards on Netflix).  The holidays are almost over, and I’m still tired, and still coughing.  I’m not sure I can wait for the cough go away before I get active again, and I really think I need to rebuild.  I also need to keep it simple, so that I don’t get distracted, or discouraged.  What I think I’m going to do is take it only a couple of weeks at a time; first step: Running, Just Running.

Why running? I think running was probably the first exercise I ever did for myself.  In a way, it’s the first exercise any of us ever do as young children – run after something.  Being slower is not as big a demotivator – there’s always someone faster anyway and every time out on my feet feels like a gain.  Running helps me mentally and emotionally; it clears my head.  I want to run 7 times in the first 2 weeks of 2014.  I’ll use this to prove my body is ready for a little more and take it from there (don’t worry, the hopper is full of ideas, and if it weren’t, there’s always people like Katie and Morgan at WildlyFit making exciting quick-start fitness programs for the new year).

Is it possible to have goal-overload? Is a back-to-basics approach the solution? Happy New Year!