Friend Making Monday - 2013

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here and at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

2013

1. Share one thing that you plan to do for yourself in 2013. 

I plan to do at least 50,000 pushups!

2. Share a good habit that you will continue doing into the new year.

Exercise and running, they are easy to fit in and great for me!

3. Do you make new year’s make resolutions? If so, do you typically stick to them?

No, I typically do not make new years resolutions, but I have taken to setting goals at the start of the year.

4. Do you have any health goals for the new year?

I want to be able to bench press my old weight (225ish) and I plan to run a half marathon

5. Share one thing that you plan to do in January.

See the Hobbit with a friend from grade before I moved to Buckhorn! So like 25 years ago!

6. Do you have any travel plans for the coming year? If so, where are you most excited to go?

We are booked to go on a cruise on March break.  Down in the Caribbean again, I’m very excited to go back there!

7. What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?

Nothing really, just relax at home.

8. What are your resolutions for 2013?

Don’t have any really…  continued fitness I suppose.

9. What are you looking forward to most over the next 12 months?

Looking forward to most?  Um, The trip I suppose.  Should be pretty awesome!

10. Share something unique that you hope to do in 2013.

I hope to run/bike over 2000 kilometres!

 

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions!  Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments, and say hi to someone new!  Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Friend Making Monday–A Little Late

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here and over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Fill in the Blanks

1. I want to...Score more goals this year at hockey than I did last year, and actually learn to snowboard instead of just tooling around like last year.

2.  I’ve never…wanted to get a Sony Playstation.

3. I believe…That this year I will bench press more than what I used to weigh when I was big.

4. My mind often wonders…what it would be like to win the lottery and just be able to do and buy what I want.

5. Last night I dreamed that… I forget, it was weird though because I had nighttime cough syrup and that always makes me dream odd things.

6. This morning for breakfast I ate… nothing…  YET!

7. My love life is… great, my wife is awesome!

8. I enjoy… Mario games! Just completed Everything in New Super Mario Bros U, and now starting Paper Mario: Sticker Star!

9. When I was a child I used to… be a smaller version of me now.  Seriously, my Christmas lists and general desires are pretty much the same.

10. When I’m in the kitchen I… am practically an Iron Chef!

11. My favourite exercise is... as much as it sort of shocks me, the fist thing that came to mind was running!  I hated running at the start, I dislike it from time to time now, but it’s the thing I like the most now too, for cardio.  At the gym my favourite would be bench press, I like that I am visibly getting stronger.

12. When I travel I… I hate waiting in the airport!!

13. My friends would tell you that I am… funny, I hope.

14.  If I had to eat at a fast food restaurant today I would choose… Subway!

15. My favourite… cats! So great. Meow!

16. My home is… Nice, and filled with Christmas mess right now!

17. I read… graphic novels!  Comics get a lot of hate from some people, but they are great stories and amazing art, don’t look down your nose at them!

18. The last movie I saw was… The Hobbit!  So great, I could watch that and Lord of the Rings forever!

19. Music makes me feel… happy.  i listen to a lot of music with strong beats and it always pumps me up!

20. All I want for Christmas is… A nice relaxing break, and so far, I’ve gotten that!

Now it’s your turn!!

Christmas Morning

Here we are, Christmas morning and 4am!  We meet pretty much every year, this time however I’m convinced it’s because I am sick and not (totally) because of excitement.  I’ve been up like the each of the last few mornings.  It’s a bit annoying.

Santa has come by our house already though and piled some presents under the tree, I’m hoping he was nice to me, I know he was nice to Amber!  I’ll let you know how it all turns out later today.

Talia likes it under the tree

She likes to sleep on presents too

I’ve given myself a bit of a fitness gift already by going to the gym Sunday and benching 200 pounds!  Nice!  I’ll be at my goal of ‘my old weight’ in about six weeks or so I think.  I went for a run yesterday morning as well, just 3km, which brings the December total only up to 15. Ugh. 40km is not going to happen unless I get better like right now.  This being sick really sucks.

Last night Amber and I constructed our gingerbread house, but this year instead of buying a kit from the grocery store I made all the gingerbread myself here at home!  It’s pretty awesome.  Except for my decorating skills.  My part of the house looks like the cat was trying to do the work.

My Side

Amber’s Side

Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?  Did you already open your gifts?  Was it awesome?  Did you get a Wii U?  Seriously if you got a Wii U let me know, we’ll be gaming pals!

These are the desserts I was busy making all afternoon on Sunday.  Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie and the non-house gingerbread cookies.  Yes, Snow men and a tree to go with the house, Mario and Batman.  And Christmas Dinosaurs.  We don’t have any cookie cutters, but we do have a dinosaur sammich cutter, so I used that.

Friend Making Monday - So, How Was 2012

Now…If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

You'll have to excuse the formatting since I am doing this on the work computer from blogger and not my laptop with Live Writer.

Twelve in 2012



1. What was your greatest personal accomplishment in 2012?
I think my greatest accomplishment this year was coming second in that zombie race back in September.

2. What’s the best thing your did for your health?
Just keeping on the same track as I have been I think.  I do a lot of things for my health and fitness and they all add up, there were no big game changers this year.

3. Share one thing that caused a significant change in your life this year.
We moved out to Bridgenorth.  A much bigger and nicer home, with a bachelor apartment down in the basement for some extra income.  All that was a pretty big change.

4. List a few things that you experienced for the first time at some point over the last twelve months.

A huge 12 course meal at a super fancy restaurant in October for our anniversary
Being in a race with thousands of other people (even if it was only a few hundred at a time) at the Warrior Dash and Run For Your Lives
Biked more than 50k all at once


5. What was the coolest place you visited?
I didn't really go that far this year.  Going to Ottawa was cool, and we did some neat things but nothing outrageous.

6. If you could change one thing about the last year what would it be?
I would change the back and forth process of selling our house.  We ended up settling anyways so I would have been nice to move in just that little bit earlier.

7. What is the best meal you ate this year?
Amber and I had two really nice meals this year.  One at Barbarians and one at Altlier.   Barbarians was an amazing steak and potatoe and veggies type meal and as I already mentioned Altlier was a great 12 course dinner.  Hard to say which was better since there were such different experiences.  But if I had the chance I would go to  Barbarians again.  Like once a week.

8. Tell us about a new friend you made.
Um. Technically I guess I really made friends with Carly this year.  We knew each other in school and when I put in my two cents worth before her interview here all I knew was that she did good at school.  But now I think it's pretty safe to say we are pals.

9. What did you hope to accomplish this year that you did not?
Well running 40k in December doesn't look promising, but I think in general I did most (all) the things I set out to do this year.  I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I didn't make happen at least anyways.

10. Share something you learned in 2012.
I learned what TIL means, just yesterday.  I learned that I cannot put it upon Amber to get to the gym or whatever even when she says she likes encouragement and whatnot.

11. Share an odd and unexpected thing that you experienced this year.
I was interviewed three times at the tail end of the summer.  For fitness twice and once for coming in 2nd at the zombie race.  It was all really unexpected and pretty humbling to be having people think I'm great and all that.

12. How do you think 2013 will differ from 2012?
For starters we are going on a cruise in March and that will be awesome!  I'm going to run in my own Race at Your Own Place and do a 1/2 marathon distance.  I don't really think much else will be different really,  but I'd say a trip and running double the distance I am used to is good enough for starters.



Now it’s your turn! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!

Back In Action

And overdoing it.

So I have been sick for like two weeks almost.  As I wrote earlier I was wiped out by the flu and am still not 100%.  But when have I let that stop me before? Never! 

Wednesday I went to the gym and set all new highs for my 6 rep max set on leg day.  Thursday evening and Friday morning I played goalie and then yesterday I went to the gym and set all my highs for my six rep max on arm day (benched 195 six times), then karate, then a game where I played goalie and a game where I played forward.

This morning I am up at this ridiculous time and I have no idea why, and I am all stuffy and sore throaty again. Boo.

It was nice to pretend I was fine for a few days I guess, but not really in my best interest.  It very much looks like my goal of running 40k in December is not going to happen, but we’ll see, a late month surge could fix that.

Forced Rest

Nothing quite makes you stop doing everything you like doing as well as the flu does!

What started as a little tickle in my throat during the day last Wednesday turned into a fever by the time I got home and then BAM I was out of it for a solid 5 days.  I missed karate and hockey each twice, I missed going to the gym and running too.  I have not done ANYTHING for over a week now.

Even now the actual flu part is over it seems, but I still feel pretty crappy.  It seems now that I am fit when I get sick, I get really sick.  It doesn’t seem to happen as often though.  Maybe now my body is better at fighting things off but when something gets through the defences there is not as much reserve fuel to fight it off as before.  I’m not sure.

I am on the road to recovery now though and hope to be at karate on Wednesday, and the gym as well and hockey on Thursday.  Hopefully I can get back on track here.

Running In The Winter

So far running in the ‘winter’ has not been so bad.  It’s only snowed a couple of times here so far and none of it has stayed on the ground for longer than a day or two.  In fact running in the cold while it is snowing is actually nicer than just running in the cold.  For some reason it seems warmer when it’s snowing.

What I really don’t like about running at this time of year is that it’s dark by the time I head out at about 4:30 if I am running after work.  It’s nice that it is not blistering hot like in the summer, and if I am a bit stuffed up when I start about five minutes in that is no longer a problem.  There are good things about it.  If this is going to the the routine all the way through January and February thought I think I need to get another pair of track pants or something though.

I have also learned to accept that I just am not as fast in the winter as I am in the summer.  More clothes and weight, slipperier slide walks and such add on to the time, but I’m dealing with it.

November Goals Assessment and Other Blog Challenges

26 Think of a time when you felt like you were failing. What did you learn from this experience that helped you become a stronger person?

There have been many times in my life where I have felt like I was failing.  Not all of them include fitness.  Many of them include relationships and jobs and direction.  What I learned it that leading a good life depends mostly on oneself but it cannot be achieved without the support of others.  Make no mistake you personally will always have to do what seems like the heavy lifting, there are times you can do that alone, but there are many more times when you cannot.  Having good people around you makes the whole difference as to whether you succeed or fail.

27 Describe your most memorable meal.

It would have to be the 12 course dinner from Amber and my second anniversary.  It was really good food but very high end cuisine and weird.

28 Which 3 exercises would you recommend to a novice to improve their fitness level?

Cardio – jog, use the elliptical, vigorous and extended time doing jumping jacks or something.  Do something that gets your heart rate pumpin’ for at least 25 minutes every day.

Push ups – done well they build core and arm strength

Cycling – Go for a bike ride where there are hills and go at a pace where you are slightly uncomfortable

Basically all these are or can be free (most folks already own a bike as far as I know) and they will take you quite a ways into getting fit if you put enough heart into them.

29 How did you do on your November goals?

Here they are:

Find out what my max weight is for bench press

I did find this out for a six rep max is, 170lbs, more than my body weight, I’m actually quite happy with that, my new, open ended goal is my old usual weight 220lbs.

Run at least 40km (this is only a goal really because I’m thinking that a lot of it will be on the treadmill due to weather

I ended up running 45km, not a long long way, but more than the minimum of my goal.  I did miss running during the middle of one week while I was a bit under the weather so I am glad I made it.

Fit into my calorie goals on myfitnesspal (chrispy47) minimum 90% of the days.

Done!  I have been within my calorie goal every single day this month, but probably not today with a work Christmas party (early I know).  so 29/30 96.7% Success.

30 What are your goals for December?

1. Run 40k
2. Run three times during the Christmas break
3. Bench Press 180 or more
4. Maybe some more later.

The Physical Changes The Mental

We were talking at karate last night about the road to earning a black belt at our club and how along the way one ends up changing.  For each individual the change is different but they way it happens is basically the same.  Through hard physical work comes a mental change.  When the body is worn down it allows the mind to accept that changes must occur.

I think this relates very well to fitness and diets and whatnot.  Think about this.  Do you know someone who has lost weight simply by dieting?  Could be yourself, could be someone you know.  I did it a couple of times.  Did the change last?  Mine didn’t. Clearly for some people it does, and I would argue that in those cases the trials and willpower of the dieting alone is their physical challenge, but for the most part, from accounts I hear or have read, or have experienced myself when someone only diets the weight change last for as long as the diet lasts.  When the diet is over, or a goal is reached one rewards themselves with food, or goes back to old habits only to return to the previous weight.

When a physical commitment is made it seems to be a different story.  Also from what I have heard, read and experienced that physical must be to an extent where one is pushing themselves to the limit more often than not. The body wants to give up, but the mind pushes you through.  Once the mind realized really what you are capable of it becomes the desire to keep going.

I’ve lost weight before by eating less, it like mentioned above lasted for as long as the diet lasted.  I’ve lost weight with casual, convenient exercise riding my bike in the mornings when I had a job where I worked at 10am.  But when that was no longer convenient I stopped and my weight went back up.  It was not until I spent so many hours on the elliptical almost three years ago now that I broke myself and realization came.

Here’s a parallel example for you in case I am not explaining this physical changes the mental concept well enough.  The army.  In the army you get a whole bunch of new 18 year old recruits.  Each of them individuals.  The officers work them like dogs, shout and scream at them, ensure they can make a bed so tight you can bounce quarters off them and do push ups for blinking at the wrong time.  What does making your bed have to do with the real tasks at hand of being in the army?  Discipline!  How can you follow the orders on the battlefield if you can’t follow one to make your bed.  Then when they have worn these folks down, made them march and push up and run and assemble a gun is eleven seconds, they are changed mentally, they are a unit and will do exactly what you ask them to do.  The physical trials change the behaviour. (Yes this is a gross generalization of army bootcamp life)

My point here is, because I have experienced it myself, that if you want your fitness levels to change, if you are starting a path to get yourself in shape and you want it to stick, you have to really, Really put your nose to the grindstone and wear yourself out again and again.  Let your mind show your body what it can really do.

Dear Santa

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here and over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Dear Santa

List at least ten things that you may or may not need that you’d love to find under your tree this year!

This list might actually be mostly stuff I get, Amber asks for a list for my birthday and Christmas each year and she picks and chooses from that so here it goes.

1. The Avengers on DVD – I’ve purposely not bought this in order to leave the gift option open.
2. Paper Mario: Sticker Star – Games in the Paper Mario series are always great and this one looks to be no exception!  Would make a nice game to play on the way to London (Ontario) to visit her mom right after Christmas.
3. Comics – DC is putting out volumes of their new 52 series.  I only get two books monthly, Batman and Nightwing, so get The Flash volume 1 or Superman volume 1 or a few others would be great.
4. Under Armour shirts – like the on in the picture to the left there.  I have ripped a couple of mine on barbed wire doing the Run For Your Lives and the Warrior Dash.
5. Scribblenauts Unlimited – For Wii U, I did buy a few games already at lunch of the Wii U but this is one that has escaped my budget and it looks very neat. (It’s also for 3DS)
6. Superman New 52 figure – yeah it’s a toy, but I got the Batman one in October and one should have the World’s Finest!
7. Under Armour Hoodie – I got one a while back and it’s an awesome sweater! Very comfy!
8. Mittens – working at daycare I am outside for at least a couple of hours each day, gloves just are not warm enough
9. Funny toque – Amber has her own collection and last year I got a Ninja Turtle toque, so it would be neat to get something else.
10. Massage gift card – I can always use a massage and really it’s in our budget every other month, but I’d take that as a gift anyways!

Now it’s your turn!  Put your wish list on your blog and then link it here, or just put it right in the comments!

A Whole Bunch Of Challenge Topics

17 Which music style/band/song motivates you the most?

I think just really upbeat, music helps.  I have some songs by Infrared Riding Hood that are great, Good Time from owl City and Carly Rae, Gungham Style music like that.

18 How do you reward yourself when you achieve a fitness goal?

Usually with gear of some sort.  A new under armour shirt or something.  Once in a while with food, it’s nice to just eat something ridiculous on a day where I have burned 1000 calories.

19 There’s an app for that…What’s your favorite fitness technology?

I use my fitness pal a lot (chrispy47)! Amber put me on to it and now it’s just become part of my day.  Other than that just my Ipod, I always have that with me when working out or running.

20 Your most awkward fitness etiquette moment?

Thankfully I don’t think I have one!

21 Pilgrims left their home to find something better in the New World. Where did your fitness journey start and where are you headed?

My fitness journey started on the floor of the dojo at karate where I was gasping for breath.  It lead me to the elliptical machine for about 3 months and has taken me to many fantastic places.  A most improved player award for hockey that very next winter was the first stop.  Running in races was the next place. I’ve even come second in a race of over 3500 people!  Now my fitness journey is aiming me toward the possibility of a triathlon and a 1/2 marathon.

22 Today is Thanksgiving. Write a thank you letter (or a few!) to those you helped you on your fitness journey this year.

Dear Amber and Jodi, Thanks! Amber gives me a lot of support in my endeavours to be all fitnessy, and Jodi gives me the exercises and crazy ideas to do things that push my limits.

23 Dear Fitness Santa…What do you want for Christmas (or other holiday you celebrate)?

I would like… a few workout gear things, I’d mention goals and whatnot, but Santa doesn’t bring those to you.

24 Share your favorite turkey left overs recipe.

Bread, turkey and lots of gravy all heated up, simple and awesome!

25 How do you handle exercise and clean eating during the holiday season?

For our Thanksgiving here I just made sure that I ran or worked out on the day of a big meal, keep my metabolism running hot when I’m going to stuff my face!  As for clean eating, I’ve already discovered that I totally don’t do that, I eat too many things like hot chocolate and whipped peanut butter.  I just avoid the really junky greasy food and it’s all good.

I’m Still Here

I feel like I kind of feel of the earth for a few days there.  A combination of being a bit sick, sleeping a lot and a new game system will kind of do that to you I suppose.

I don’t have much time as I should really be in bed already but I still need to shower.  So Let’s get up to speed and then I’ll get you the details later.

I had my birthday!  I’m 33 now, I think I mentioned that last week.  It was a great time at Boston Pizza and I got to hand out with lots of good friends and Matt visited from Toronto and it was a wicked time!  Thanks to his sister’s new place I discovered a great diner that does their homefries on the flat top, so good!

I got a Wii U – I mentioned that twice on the weekend, my impressions are upcoming, I think Sunday that gives me a week with the system! (Hint – It’s GREAT)

I’m totally on track for my November goals!  I have fallen off the blog challenge wagon a bit here but, I will be sure to catch them all up, maybe tomorrow.

Talk soon folks!

Unpacking Wii U

So I have my Wii U!  I got four street passes on my 3DS while in the store which was awesome.

This is everything I bought.  I got the pro controller at Wal-mart since EB was not open yet and there was no line up.  Wal-mart was all sold out of their units.  EB on Chemong only got seven extra units and by the look of the line they got snapped up pretty quick.

This is the inside of the box. Nothing too amazing there.

I unhooked my Wii and took it to the bedroom to use for Netflix there. as you can see the pad is pretty big.  The system itself is a big bigger but not too much.

In the process of setting up.  Finally now the update is done, it took almost an hour.  I guess that is what happens when you have a few hundred thousand people all downloading something at the same time.

Wii U Launches Today

In about five hours I will have my hands on my Wii U.  I’m pretty excited for it.  I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while and it will be the third system I have bought on launch day.

Six years ago tomorrow (November 19 2006) I got my Wii.  I couldn’t get a preorder in so at about 10:30pm on the Saturday before I drove by Wal-mart to see if there was a line.  One was forming and so I left my (now ex) wife there and went to get lawn chairs and blankets and junk to prepare to spend the night on the door step of the store.

Night never seems as long as when you are outside, in a very light snow, very cold and anticipating something great.  It was pretty awesome.  It was actually kind of fun too, we met people, I drove over to Tim Hortons a few times to get hot chocolate and bagels and stuff, we played DS with people, it was cool.

The other system I got on launch day was the 3DS.  I knew that living in Peterborough it would not be nearly as difficult to get a hold of a handheld system on launch day.  I didn’t preorder one, I simply went to Zellers and got it.  My friend code is 0903-2736-8751 by the way post yours in the comments and I’ll add you.

For Wii U I managed to get a pre-order. That is why I am typing this on the comfort of my own couch with my laptop instead of with freezing fingers outside of EB Games on my phone! I’m also picking up New Super Mario Bros. U and ZombiU, the deluxe system comes with Nintendo Land as well.  I’ll be sure to post some photos and reviews later in the day, along with my Nintendo Network ID.

For now, some links.

Nintendo Land Site

New Super Mario Bros U

ZombiU

Wii U

It’s Hard To Soar With Eagles, When You are Surrounded By Turkeys

So I went and played goalie last night in Milbrook and suffice to say it was a bit of a gong show.  I’m there, I’m ready to make saves and stop pucks and all that. I’m doing pretty well, getting in the way of many of the first shots and steering pucks out of danger. Until my “team” decides to give up on the entire concept of defence.

Two one ones, three on ones, three on NONES! Even when I did make that first save, the other team had enough time and space to get another couple shot before my defence even cruised back into position!  I Can’t stop everything!  I’ve been known to make the odd incredible save now and then but it was ridiculous!  I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times there were odd man rushes like that. And when that gets coupled by the fact we got out shot three to one, it is so demoralizing.

I was frustrated!  I still am I think.  Totally not my idea of fun to be hung out to dry for more than half the game (if you can even call it that).

It goes to show that sometimes no matter how badly you might want to compete, how hard you are ready to try, you need the support of others to really show through as amazing.

Blog Challenge Topics

13 Give your favourite Fall Harvest recipe – think apples/pumpkins/sweet potatoes.

I don’t really have one honestly, not one that I know the recipe off hand at least.  Candied Yams is something my Grandma used to make at Thanksgiving and Christmas and I LOVED it!  My mom has tried to duplicate it in recent years when it became her job to cook at those events but she could never quite get it.

14 How do you maintain self discipline?

I think I do this by always having a goal to work towards.  In general if you don’t have a goal you don’t follow the steps to success.  I also think though that good eating and exercise are just such a part of what I do now that it is not that hard.  I didn’t change my habits just to get in shape and thin just to go back to before.  I changed my lifestyle and it’s awesome.

15 Today is the Great American Smoke Out. What are some bad habits you got rid of or are working towards fixing?

Eating junk food and lots of it!  I don’t smoke or drink so those were not hurdles in my path to a healthier life.  Just the amount of food I ate and what I chose to consume.

16 What are some unexpected benefits of a healthy lifestyle you discovered?

I’m not really sure I have discovered any benefits that were unexpected to be honest.  I knew that if I got in shape I would be able to be better at hockey and karate and the other physical things I do.  I knew I’d have more energy for the day to day things, I knew I’d be able to eat more once I got into shape (sometimes I think I eat more now then I even used to before! Just better food!)

Apparently this happens too.  Amber notices though.

Yay, It's My Birthday

I don't know why some people dislike their birthday.  I love having my birthday!  Seriously what's not to like? Cake, presents, well wishes from lots of people!  It's all fantastic!  It's only noon-thirty and I've already had more facebook messages and tweets than I can even think about!

So far I have spent the day at work, and it's been a pretty good day, except the guys working on our plumbing setting off the fire alarm right before lunch.  Kids HATE when the fire alarm goes off.  Later tonight there will be tacos at my house and then Amber is coming to watch me play goalie tonight in Millbrook.  Should be a good evening.  The folks here at work have already said their happy birthdays and we've got cake in the kitchen, awesome!

Now maybe you are now wondering what you can do for an old man on his birthday.  I'd love it you either took part in or pimped my idea of The WCP International Race Weekend That would be super awesome.  Once I do the separate page for it on Saturday I'll totally give your blog a permanent link on said page if you do!

Anyways, go down to the store, get a piece of cake and have a great day! :)

Thanks Everyone!

The WCP International Race Weekend

I was on a Sunday morning run and I got to thinking about half marathons.  I don’t know which one of you it was that planted this idea in my head, but I was sure that I was not a fan of the idea at all in the summer.  I’ve had far too many people ask me if I plan on doing a half marathon for the idea to go away though.  It seems that just because I’m not to shabby at running a 5k race people think I should be able to do about five times that amount no problem.

All this lead me to thinking about what I like about races and what I don’t like about them.  Here is the short list.

What I Like About Races:

• Actual competition
• Cool SWAG (Race bib, t-shirt, etc…)
• Pride in completing
• Meeting new people (thought this only really happened at Run For Your Lives)
• Training for the race
• Looking forward to the upcoming date

What I Don’t Like About Races:

• Porta potties
• Waiting
• Driving to the venue
• They decide my start time
• Some people can’t do races because they are only on the weekend, or in the morning or whatever

So what does all this have to do with the title, well I was reading The Fitness Cheerleader’s blog when I read this:

I love training for races. I love having that goal. I love the bragging rights of “I’m training for XYZ race”.

And I guess my other musings were still stewing around in my head and I thought, yeah I like training for races and having a goal, but who is really in charge of races?  Why do I have to go somewhere and pay to run to have a motivation? Why couldn’t I host my own race?  Hosting a race costs money though, to have people there and be sure they have water and food available and parking and a well marked course and timers and staff.

But I run all the time at home with just me and a stop watch, and I know a bunch of my readers do to.  Why can’t we all just race ‘together’ at home?

Winter is coming here in Canada, and I’m doing this idea specifically to aim to run a half marathon, so while I just got up and ran 5k one day last summer, I know I cannot do that with a half! And so I propose to you:

The WCP International Race Weekend

April 26-28 2013

Choose a distance that challenges you 5k, 10k, half marathon, Sign up on the Facebook event page OR on a new and separate page of my blog that will be up in the next couple of days. Train for the race, and when you do your race run anytime on that weekend, send me (more likely post to facebook) a picture of your stopwatch for an official time (clearly we are working on the honour system) if you are the competitive type, if you don’t want to post a time, but just that you completed a certain distance, then just get a picture of you all sweaty and state how far you went!  This is a maximum participation kind of thing.

What’s in it for you?

• You get to be in a race with other people, without paying any fees or traveling
• A custom race bib provided by me (you’ll have to print it though)
• Friendly Competition
• Satisfaction of completing a challenging distance

So who’s with me?  I’ll even sign up first, the Facebook event has been created!

If You are a blogger and are going to take part, I’d love if you promote this whole idea, I think it could turn out to be something that is pretty cool!

Friend Making Monday - What’s In Your Fridge?

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here  and over at at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

1. List a few common items that can always be found in your fridge.

Milk, ketchup, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, veggies, fruit

 

2. What kind of milk do you drink?

Skim milk.  I used to drink 2% but Amber weaned me down to skim in about a year of living together.

3. Do you prefer fresh or frozen vegetables? 

Depends what I’m making.  Corn and Peas frozen is just easier, anything else, like carrots, potatoes, parsnip, broccoli fresh is best!

4. What do you currently have to drink in the fridge?

Milk, Coke Zero.  We have a water cooler though for water.

5. How often do you clean out your refrigerator?

Amber usually does this, if I do it it is because the junk in there is too overwhelming to find the actual food.

6. What’s the healthiest thing in it right now?

Yellow beans, I just bought them yesterday!

7. What’s the most unhealthy thing in it right now?

Um, I guess the VH Sweet and sour sauce, it’s tasty by not great for you.

8. What do you wish you had in it that you don’t have now?

Nothing really, I’m an adult and don’t need to wish for things to be in there, I just go buy them.

9. How often do you shop for groceries?

We tend to do ‘a grocery shop’ twice a week and then I pick up things now and then, but we only spend about $100 a week.

10. What’s the weirdest thing in your fridge right now?

There is a really old pomegranate, that’s a bit weird

Bonus:  If you could choose one thing to put in the fridge and make it calorie-free what would it be? 

Pie, strawberry – rhubarb to be exact!
 

Now it’s your turn! Don’t forget to answer the questions and come back to post a link in the comments section! Happy Monday!

What songs do you listen to when you workout?

My playlist is actually quite the variety of music!  Instead of me trying to remember them all and list them, here is a picture of my play list:

Most of it is very upbeat music of course with a few funny songs mixed in.  Some 8-bit, some made by friends and not a lot of it too mainstream.  Some of the ones I like best are Wildcat by Ratatat, Let Me Out by Dover, Levels by Avicii and Electro Bot by Infrared Riding Hood.

Sometimes I just listen to my whole ipod library or to my playlist for when I am riding my bike or whatever, but it’s the same type of variety so it works out to being about the same.

What do you listen to?

Some More Drawing

I’ve spent about a year now getting paid to draw every few days, just one of the benefits of working at day care.  And so I’ve decided in the last bit to do a few of them up with sharpie and then colour them on the computer.  And so, here they are.

Today is Veteran’s Day. (Thanks troops!!) Do you have a solider story to tell?

I don’t really, I’m not a soldier.  My brother in law is though, he’s pretty kick ass too.  Thanks Greg! And thanks to everyone else who has given up their lives or their time and safety to work towards a better world for the rest of us!

Do I Have A Fitness Mentor Or Hero?

I think the closest thing I have when it comes to that is Jodi. I’ve put the shaping of my fitness in her hands and trust her judgement. I knew I did not want the crabby old guy at the gym as my trainer for sure and I’m very happy that in Jodi I’ve found a good friend and someone unafraid to assign me ridiculous things to do at the gym. Without her guidance I wouldn’t be nearly as fit as I am today.

Favourite Football Story

I don’t think I actually have a single favourite football story.  This might come as a surprise but Canadians generally aren’t as bonkers for football as Americans are.  My high school didn’t even have a football team let alone have the whole town show up for games!  I think if my school did have a football team I would have tried out, we only had a rugby team and I thought it was insane to play ‘football without equipment’! 

During high school though I watch a lot of CFL football because a few of my friends did.  Being interested in a sport is much easier when you have people around that are also interested and you can talk with them about what is going on.  We also played touch football during our lunch break in the spring and fall and tackle in the winter (more cushioning and not as muddy when you hit the ground).

One year a group of friends and I took a trip to the Eastern Conference Final game in Toronto all piled into one car.  We purposely sat in the wrong seats because these seats that were open were better, the usher made us move and during that move the Toronto kick returner ran the entire length of the field for a touchdown!  That same year Everyone was over at my house to watch the Grey Cup game (oldest trophy in pro sports I believe).  The Grey Cup game usually happens right around my birthday, and so it was a dual thing, we all made our own pizzas, and watched the game, fantastic.

Thinking about all that I really don’t understand why so many people have bad feeling toward high school.  I was not the most popular, I didn’t have a girlfriend until the final year, but those years were some of the best ever for me.  Great friends and good experiences!

Pet Peeves and Workout Preferences

My fitness pet peeves are actually very few I think.  One of them is waiting for a specific machine.  Usually my programs are varied enough that I can move to something else and come back to that exercise a bit later in order to get it all done, but it annoys me.  That type of thing especially annoys me when the gym is filled with college kids that really aren’t doing anything except posing and trying to look good for the girls there or something.  I think the chicks would be more impressed if they actually saw the guys doing something rather than sitting on the bench press bench looking around.

That brings be to working out in a group or alone.  The fewer people in the gym the better!  I can get to my things easier and get my workout done faster if there are fewer people there.  As for classes I tend not to do them simply because of how I choose to spend my time at the gym.  When I have done classes I tend to get a bit bored and distracted.  Working out on my own definitely works better for me.

Six Rep Max Day 2–Legs

All weekend I thought I was going to PD last night.  When Carley arrived at work I said ‘Her, ready for COP tonight?’  She looked at me like I was stupid and said ‘That’s on Wednesdays.’ Oh right!  So now I had an evening where I knew Amber had PD to do, I had nothing, and Wednesday was now a bust for working out.  I decided that I would head off to the gym and do my Leg day for the six rep max.

Here is the program:

I start was not so bad the pull downs and the step over push-ups were not too bad though I started doing the pull downs at 57.5 pounds and had to go to 50 so I could complete it.  If I was doing it like regular lat pull downs I would have been at like 120, but doing this with only the shoulder power of having your arms extended all the way is hard.

I was a bit shocked at the weight I used for the leg press!  I did this one on the seated thingy at the gym.  You still put on the weights like for a barbell, but it’s got rails and everything, I’m not sure how much the thing weighs without weights, but since an Olympic bar comes in at about 40 pounds, I would guess that this is about the same.  Eventually I had four plates on either side – 360 pounds – and that was my max!  So probably close to 400, but since I don’t know for sure, 360+bar is what goes in the book.

The worst thing by far is the split squats.  If anyone tells you that doing split squats is a fun way to spend ten minutes or so at the gym, punch them right in the face.  You can tell them that I said that was ok.  To be fair Jodi told me it would suck, and she was not lying.  It wasn’t so bad until I decided that I had to do the amount I thought I could and here’s why.  I had already done 50 and 90 pounds (plus the bar – this was on the smith machine) and was half way through putting on some more weights to have 140 pounds on there when Jodi came by gathering stuff for a class she was about to run.  I quickly got her attention and asked a couple questions and then got back under the bar and did six reps in each lunging stance – knee coming to the floor. ‘Ah yes I thought, 140 plus the bar, not too shabby!’ Then started to take the weights off and noticed that I had only done 115.  Well! Nuts to that, and I put the weights back on plus the 25 extra to be at 140 and did it again.  I nearly died, it was so hard.  But I did it.  As soon as I put the machine on the stoppers though I thought my head was going to come off.  The pain in my neck was INTENSE!!  It hurt sooooo bad.  I don’t know if I was contracting muscles there to do the thing, or the bar was resting on the wrong spot on my shoulders or what but, I was nearly in tears and working my neck with one hand as I leaned on the machine with the other for a good two minutes or so. 

I finished with the circuit Jodi had laid out  but used a 15 pound dumbbell instead of a medicine ball because the class she was doing was using every medicine ball in the whole gym!  I have to get better at skipping! Especially when I and run down, because I know I looked like a tool for each of those three, two minute parts of the circuit!

OOOOHHH Oops, just writing down these titles here I realized I did one whole exercise wrong.  I Did calf curls, when I was supposed to do calf raises!  Oops!

Six Rep Max for Legs:

Leg Press: 360 + bar

Split Squats: 140 + bar

Calf Curls: 105 – I’ll have to get the number for Calf raise next time I’m at the gym!

How Do you Overcome Setbacks?

Thankfully I have not had that many setbacks during the time I have been all fitness-like.  Right now I have my arm hurting quite a bit, and I have had some back pain along the way, and I hurt my leg during the Mudnewton this year, but none of these have stopped me.

Mostly I think I handle setbacks simply by doing something different for my workout when the time comes and maybe a bit of rest.  For instance with my arm hurting I have just done cardio things instead of weights, not a big deal there.  When my leg was hurting I did have to take a break from running for a few days, well I was supposed to miss a whole week, but I did a short 2k run mid way through.  When my back has been hurting a bit I have tried to figure out why and done exercises to help it feel better.  So when it comes to physical setbacks, I either change what I am doing to avoid the problem area, or seek a way to help out that area and maybe grit my teeth a little and bare the pain.

When I was on my mission to lose weight I’d have at least one day a week where my weight would go up.  in the beginning of the whole journey these weekly (or sometimes twice a week or sometimes every other week) spikes in weight would be a bit demoralizing.  I’d be thinking ‘I did all that work yesterday!  Why did I go up today?!’  It made me work harder, I had a goal to reach and I was going to get there.  Eventually I accepted it as part of the cycle, and took it in stride.  I knew that on the days where I went up half a pound, if I stuck to the plan and did my thing the next day I’d be down that weight plus a little more.

We all deal with setbacks differently of course, but I think what it important is to keep the goal in mind and continue the work towards it.

3 tips to improve your workout

I’m not sure whether or not the things I am thinking of would actually ‘improve’ the quality of your workout, but, they are things that make my workouts much more enjoyable.

1. Good music and good headphones.  Very important, especially when doing monotonous things at the gym like the elliptical or the treadmill.  You’ve got to have good tunes to keep you pumped up.  Or songs that remind you of certain things or something to keep you going.  A few of my personal favourites (that you are unlikely to find on your own) are:

• Sugar Lumps – Flight of the Conchords – It’s funny, sort of the same theme of Sexy and I Know It, but Flight of the Conchords!
• Quantesc - Jolt vs Into The Sun – This is a song where the Into The Sun part is done by my friend Matt, good beat to it great for running!
• Avicii – Levels – Flo Rida thought it was good enough to rip off, I think it’s good enough to work out with.
• Cute Invasion – firestARTer – More 8-bit music – the beat is awesome for cardio though.

2. Do something you enjoy.  If you are working out doing things you hate you won’t do them, simple as that.  I hate doing box step-ups, and every time Jodi puts them on my program they only last about half the time I do that program.  They take too long and I don’t like them.  I run because I have come to like it, I like all the crazy workouts Jodi gives me too.  It seems a lot less like work if you enjoy doing it.

3. Change it up.  Even a program you love can get boring after a while, so change up the things you do in your workout.  It helps to keep it interesting, it helps keep you body from getting to used to a certain routine and it’ll keep you going to do exercise things.

What are your tips?

Friend Making Monday: Ten Things To Be Thankful For

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here  and over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Ten Reasons To Be Thankful

1. I have a fantastic wife
2. I have a job I love
3. I work with amazing people
4. I have family that is supportive
5. My friends are awesome!
6. My body is healthy, strong and capable
7. I was fortunate enough to be born in a great country
8. I’ve been able to travel not only within my country but the world
9. I’ve had teachers willing to put me in situations where I have had to learn hard lessons…
10. I’ve been able to learn those lessons and do something about it!

Your turn!  Make your list and post a link in the comments below!

Injury and Day 4 of the Blog Challenge

So my arm got hurt.  Not only did I bash my hand yesterday on the box at the gym, but when I played hockey last night I took a shot in warm up that missed all the padding I had on.

See our first game of the night the other team didn’t bother to show up, which really sucks because we were playing in Peterborough on a bigger ice surface for a change and I could have really had my wheels turning!  But since I had my goalie stuff there, I played net for our divided team.  It was not that pretty, but it was a pretty one sided game as well.

Time for the second game where I was supposed to play goalie anyways and I went out for the warm up and on like the third shot a guy got me right above the blocker, but on the side of my forearm where there, as it turns out, is no padding at all.  My arm went dead, and I dropped my stick.  I skated a few little turns waiting for my hand to be useful again.

I played the game, it was hard to hold onto my stick and rotation of my forearm killed!  In the first half of the game I got completely lit up.  Even if I made one save, or two the third shot went in, or guys were wide open in the slot.  It was bad.  So as a mercy the Ref (without asking me) switched the goalies.  In the second half, I had a shutout (I only had to make about 10 saves though) and the other guy had holes shot through him.  I’m glad it wasn’t just me being exceptionally terrible!

Just a bit of a lump there

Now I am faced with the decision of going to the gym.  I’ll look at the exercises Jodi gave me for day two and decide.  Most of it is leg strength so I might be ok to go.

Please share your favourite clean eating breakfast recipe.

I actually am not exactly sure what ‘clean eating’ is.  Give me a second to use Google.

After looking up what clean eating is, and looking at the foods I eat for breakfast.  I don’t have a clean eating favourite recipe.  Bread or english muffins kills the whole idea right there.  Though that would be the closest I come really.  Eggs, toast, home fries (on the flat top not in the fryer!!) and ham.  My usual breakfast is PB&J on english muffin and oatmeal (like Quaker instant oatmeal) and I think the only thing that would qualify there is the homemade jam (pectin, lemon juice, sugar and strawberries).

Six Rep Max

Today I hmmmed and hhhaawwwed over going to the gym.  You see, I went to karate for a couple hours to start my day.  I think running on Saturday mornings is over, it’s dark and freezing and not really how I want to start my weekend to be honest.  So Karate from 9-11 and tonight I play hockey early at 7:15, and so I had a bit of a debate as to whether I wanted to go to the gym after karate or just go home.

Eventually after about two minutes of internal debate I decided that I would go.  I wanted to get started on my new program!  When Jodi and I ran through it the other day I was pumped to get going. So here it is in full:

First thing, Box jumps, the second biggest box was taken, and so it was either step down and use a smaller box or Batman-up and just use the bigger one.  Bigger one it was.  One the very first jump, I swung my arms to get some momentum and smashed my hand on the corner of the box.  Right on the meaty part of the thumb ‘thankfully’.  So now I had to complete my day with the equivalent of a charliehorse in my hand, great.

From there it was on to find out what my six rep max was for a few different arm exercises.  The idea was to start out with a lower weight and then add on in increments until I could only do six reps with good form. Here are the numbers, not bad and couple were surprising.

Bench Press (weight includes the bar): 160

Dumb Bell Single Arm Row: 70

Incline DB curl: 27.5

Seated Tricep Extension: 60

Seated Shoulder Press: 45

I forgot to write in my circuit time until just now, 10:10.50, I was aiming to have that under ten minutes, now I have a new goal to go for.

I’m pretty happy with the bench press, I’dlike to get that up to at least 180 though.

Next time at the gym it’s be max reps for leg things yay!

 

Challenge Day 3

What would you tell a friend who wanted to quit?

Quit what?  Smoking I’d say good idea!

Eating? Not thought through well enough.

Drinking?  Maybe keep drinking water, but they could drop other things if they thought it best.

Working out? If they had been at the gym for an hour or so already, then yes, if they wanted to give it up completely? Probably not a great plan.

Yesterday Was Another Assessment Day

After the incident with the Wal-Mart bought scale and my increasing weight I thought it best to get another fitness assessment done.  Basically because I want to know what my status is at.  I was actually a bit surprised when we were doing the measurements and REALLY surprised when I got back home and put the numbers onto the spread sheet.

The best part of the whole thing is this.  We did my last assessment July 17th right before the Warrior Dash and my body fat percentage was 7.7%, today, it was the same.  Score, I’m very happy about that.  I was also a little bit surprise that my weight was about the same 75.5Kg three and a half months ago and 75.6Kg today.  which is a bit funny because my weight lately has been bouncing higher and higher it seems on Wii Fit in the morning, but really, it has not changed that much at all over time.

 

Next up of course was the skin fold and I am super impressed with these, especially the iliac crest! Down by 10mm.

You might be wondering why I am happy about a number that is not my lowest.  The reason is simple, my very lowest number I was a waif of a man, not much muscle really, not much of anything.  Now I’m a much more filled out person.

Muscles didn’t change much and in fact went down a tiny bit in a couple measurements.  Not ideal, but I have been doing a LOT of running and so leaning out is not completely unexpected.

Also we set up two new days for the gym.  Gone are push day and pull day and I’ve got programs that work on explosive power and endurance and getting to max weight for other groups of exercises.  It’s like Jodi was reading my mind, or maybe my blog,

Woo! Exciting!

Also:

Give 5 strategies you are using to keep the holiday pounds off

1 Eat in controlled portions

2 Exercise days when I have bigger meals planned

3 Don’t keep sweets and stuff in the house

4 Lots of cardio

5 With the extra time I have booked off work play more hockey!

 

Challenge day 2 complete!

Fitness Goals For November

So as much as I sort of rebelled at the end of my last month long blogger challenge I’m about to pick up another one.  I think, however, that for the most part I’m going to condense some of the daily posts into kind of a 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 type of thing.  Mostly because sometimes my answers to the topics are really short, or because I have a better topic on hand.

The first one here I will do as a stand alone, but I think that after meeting with Jodi later today these goals might change a bit because I feel like I need a challenge at the gym and who better to help me out with that than the trainer I have had for over two years?

At the moment though my goals would be as follows:

Find out what my max weight is for bench press

Run at least 40km (this is only a goal really because I’m thinking that a lot of it will be on the treadmill due to weather

Fit into my calorie goals on myfitnesspal (chrispy47) minimum 90% of the days.

Maybe there will be an update to this before the end of the night, we shall see.

Last Years Halloween Costume

I think I like this one better than the Superman one!

This Is How It Is

Bouncing from blog to blog the last few days I have, of course, come across many posts about Halloween and eating candy and much lamenting about what can and cannot be eaten by different folks for different reasons.  Now I realize that this time of year can be quite difficult, not only because of the types of food that are all around but because of the weather (this week especially) and it gets dark early and just about everything else.

It was hard to go to the gym last night.  Hard to go.  Not hard to be there.  Yeah even I feel like just collapsing on the couch once in a while in the evening and after the day we had at work, yesterday was one of those days.  I threw my stuff in the car and drove to the gym.  I did a bit of a mash up of exercises just to change it up, and because all the freakin' college kids are there breathing my oxygen.  So I did some weights and then went head to head with the treadmill for an 8k run.  The treadmill is pretty boring to run on, I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it, but I do wish I could have a great big fan in front of me while I do it.  I was overheating in a big way, I banged it out in 38 minutes though, so not too shabby (for running after work at least).

Now, what's that got to do with Halloween candy?  Will.  But let me step back a bit.  At karate in order to go for Black Belt we look for a lot of things, one of them is personal growth and change.  I found mine at the gym.  Hours and hours spent on the elliptical machine taught me something more than exercise = weight loss.  It taught me about who and what is in control of my own body.  The lesson was simple.  The body is weak, the mind is strong.  My body wanted to stop after about 5k last night, I used my mind to trick my dumb legs into keeping on going - I had to trick them again after 7k, ha stupid legs!  It's my tongue that wants to taste candy, my brain can keep my arm from feeding my face.

Yeah candy is there, treats are yummy, but really treats are ALWAYS available.  If you are reading this you are likely an adult with some amount of disposable income, nothing really is ever standing in your way of going and buying a chocolate bar, a full size one - a king size one!  It just happens to be a bit more convenient to blame a holiday for having candy in the house.  Who's in control?  You or a candy bar?  You or a treadmill?

Object Permanence

You might not be completely aware of this but sometime around the age of 1 or 2 you realized that objects out of your view still do actually exist.  Like if you are sitting at a table and I put a glass of water on the table you know it’s there because you can see it.  When I put a box over it, you know it’s still there, in the box, you just can’t see it anymore.

Apparently I no longer have this ability.  Each of the last two days I have been shielded from items that do still exist simply by pieces of paper.

For instance, I was looking for on of my graphic novels last night (and the day before).  I looked on the book case, on the ‘this is your stuff’ shelf, in the bed room on the shelf under the coffee table (that I have yet to drink coffee at).  I asked Amber if she had seen the book and she deftly lifted one (1) piece of paper near the printer and found it.

For instance, I was in the car and thinking about how I had gift certificates to Smitty’s (a local restaurant) on the front seat.  I thought it was quite odd that they were no longer there.  I reached over the far side of the passenger seat and discovered that the slips of paper were not there, along with the CD I won from the radio station – I did find my long lost magnet on sunglasses though!  I thought some more about where these items could have gone, did I take them out of the car?  Did I put them in the back seat?  There is a book here, it’s small though.  I wonder if these items are on the floor of the car amidst all the G2 bottles?  Pondering.

Maybe if I was to life this book?  Bingo, just because a book is there now does not mean the other things are not.

Maybe it’s because I am old.  A friend of mine has said that I am senile!  Or maybe it’s because our preschool room is filling up with newly graduated toddlers and their hilarious ridiculousness is rubbing off on me?

My Halloween Costume Explained

Friday night at work and Saturday evening at karate were Halloween parties for me, probably the only ones I will go to.  Both of these events required a costume and since they were one day after the other there was no way I was putting together different costumes for them.

The costume I chose got me asked quite a few questions and even a couple remarks about how lazy it was, but it’s totally not, and I’m going to explain that here.

So my costume was this:

It’s not the most elaborate costume, but it doesn’t have to be, because here is the cover of action comics #1 from the reboot of DC comics.

Even Superman just wears a t-shirt with the cape tucked in and jeans.

My costume is pretty much a perfect match as far as clothes goes, and it wasn’t lazy because it took me a couple years to be as muscley as I am now.  Evidence?  Here is me as Superman when I was just thin as opposed to fit.

These were in 2010, and it could be argued that it is a more traditional Superman costume, but I don’t fill it out very well.  It could be worse for sure, but I like the ‘Superman’ from this year’s Halloween better.

Now on to the questions.  Really the only question besides “How come you just have a t-shirt on?” was “How come you are not Batman?”  The answer to that actually is very simple, I don’t have a good cowl.  And most store bought cowls look like crap or they are just masks.

If I had a good cowl I would definitely put in the effort to completing the costume.  I also had the plan on making a face mask for robin with liquid latex.  For months I have had a video on youtube bookmarked on how to do it but I jut never actually got around to it, mainly because I need a cast of my face first. (If anyone wants to give/make me an awesome Batman cowl get in touch we’ll work something out!)

The reason I gave Friday and yesterday though was that if I had been in a Batman costume, then I wouldn’t really have been in costume at all.  Because I am Batman, or at least a few of the kids at day care think so at least.

I did think about going as myself from a few years ago, but at daycare only Carley would have got the joke, and there would have only been a few folks at the karate party as well, and then I really would have heard it about effort as that would have just been a old sweater and a pillow.

What are you being for Halloween?  Or even better yet, if you actually had the means to make any costume possible what would you be?

Achievement Unlocked–The Extra Mile

(Add at least an extra 300k to the original distance goal set for the year)

Today was a B-E-A-U-tiful day! And so I came home from work and got on my bike.  Thankfully Amber was on her way home from town and called me and I got her to pick up some of the things I needed from in town for work’s open house which allowed me this time during such a nice afternoon.

I headed out, up the trail and through the edge of town On Cumberland drive I actually averaged about 37 Km/h (23 mph) over that 2K span.  It was a 19k ride overall and with that amount I have ridden my bike over 890k and ran over 615k.

Originally I had set out this year to run and/or bike 1200k.  I met that goal on the labour day weekend at the start of September.  Over the last two months I have added 300k to reach the new year long goal of 1500k (932 miles).

That distance would have got me from home, to the East coast (Sacksville, NB)

Or from here to Dentsville SC

It felt really good to get this wrapped up before the end of October and with a bike ride since I had not been on my bike in almost an entire month.  Next year I think I’ll try for 2000k but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.