Gym Membership

I was at the gym in Campbellford just now and it was awesome!  I haven't had a gym membership in nearly a year but these last four months since the girls came to our house have been awful for exercise.  I was out walking a lot but it's not the same.

All I did tonight at the gym was run, but it was great!  I was able to run without having to push a stroller and without freezing my face off.   The best part is that it's a 24 hour gym and only five minutes from our new house!

The last four months have seen me gain about 7 pounds and get a bit soft around the middle,  it's amazing how fast the body backslides when you can't get out regularly. 
My plan,  be back to my August shape by the end of the month!

One Seventy One and a Half

So I got on the Wii Fit U scale yesterday (it’s the same as the Wii Fit scale, just new software) and I was up over 170lbs.  I have not been over 170, in over four years!

There was no real BIG shock, but there was some dismay.  over the course of two tiny little months I have gone from fit and pretty trim, to a bit soft in the middle as evidenced by not fitting well in a sitting position in my dress shirt on anniversary dinner night.

I walk all the time, probably an average of 4 km a day while pushing a stroller.  I run once in a while, usually twice a week, and have fit in a work out maybe once a week on average since the children have arrived in our home.

Clearly it’s not enough, at least not enough for what I am eating, which is not all that much different from pre children in the house days, except for a bit more banana bread.

And so. It’s on.  how does getting fat start? it starts with being over some weight you have not been over in four year and then just letting it slip by unaddressed. I worked too many hours to let this fitness go away.

Yesterday I ran 9 km, today 5, and I walked 2 more, and worked out during rest time.  My actual hope is that this time the loose skin goes away with the fat, but we’ll see about that as it happens.

Babies and Fitness

Leading up to being off with my two new girls I heard quite a few people speculate that my days of having time for fitness were over!  As with much of what I have learned over the last four years, making time for anything is a choice,  simple as that.

A quick look at my tracking and in the weeks since the girls have arrived my fitness patterns have certainly changed. Not in duration but in what form they take.

I'm sad to say that I have not done much weightlifting in the last few weeks. That is certainly hard to make time for as someone has to be inside and the weights are out in the garage.

Cardio is not a problem!  We walk all over the place, usually between 4 and 6 kilometres a morning.  It's not high intensity but walking with a double stroller is a pretty good workout.  And now I've got my croozer stroller figured out we can run or bike and I can have both girls with me no problem.   Today for instance I ran 10k! It takes a little longer than it would without the stroller,  56 minutes today,  but it's really doable and it lets me take the girls and give Amber some time to do things with a little peace and quiet.

In the month that we've had the girls here my weight is actually slightly down over all, I was 165 yesterday morning (down from about 167 or so at the start of August).

It is that way though even though I eat a few more snacks (yogurt and homemade banana bread are frequently available). But I make a conscious effort to get that workout in even if it is just an hour of walking or a quick hard run on a weekend morning when Amber is home.

The time for fitness is there,  you just have to find where it's hiding.

Hey, I’m Walkin’ Here!

As I have mentioned I have a couple of kids now and I am the primary caregiver through much of the day.  With that in mind it has become unbelievably difficult to make my usual fitness routine a part of my day.  This has not been helped by the fact that Amber has been sick or overwhelmed by school interviews, new job positions and moving her things to new classrooms.  I have not been out running or biking since Wednesday of last week.

I have, however, been walking.  I think I have walked every street between my house and the Tim Horton’s end of town in the last few days.  Each morning after breakfast, which is at about nine or so, we pile into the stroller and head out.  It’s kind of nice actually, the baby likes the stroller and the older one likes to look around and wave at people and cars and such.  I like it because while it’s not the high intensity workout I am used to it is still a workout since it’s walking while pushing a huge double stroller.

I’m hoping that once my mom has had her checkout by CAS I can at least get out the couple of days she is here during the week and on the weekend when Amber is home all day, wanting an hour or so to myself is not such a bad thing I don’t think.

I am going to have to make an adjustment to my distance goals though and add ‘walking with the stroller’ a category of my distance travelled.  I of course was not counting any walking before, like if we walked to the store or whatever, but if I even have a hope of keeping my goals in sight these morning and sometimes afternoon walks will have to count toward the total.

Well, I’m A Parent Now

I’m officially off on Parental leave from work starting Monday, though I have been off since Thursday as our newest little addition has come to stay at our house for good (unless some crazy unforeseen events occur).  Sadly dear readers I cannot post pictures as we are still technically Fostering at the moment, but she is a blonde haired, blue eyed beauty. 

Some who are reading may recall that this is actually my second crack at this as I did have a step daughter for almost four years from my first marriage.  I know I was not as good at the time as I could have been and I hope to do a much better job as a parent this time around.  There are over ten years more life experience and a College Diploma in Early Childhood Education, and three years working at day care between my previous experience and this new endeavour.

I’m pretty jazzed about the whole thing as you can imagine.  It’s changed my schedule quite a bit but I have managed to fit in my running this past week, but to be fair Amber is still off from teaching until the start of September.  Once she goes back to that I’m sure my schedule will change even more.

What is even more exciting is that we’ll be getting a second child in less than a week actually.  See they are sisters and the most previous foster parents of these two children couldn’t take on two children, so we got tapped! On Friday of this week I’ll be (foster) dad (for a short time until we adopt) to not one, but two girls! Awesome! I’ll keep you as up to date as I can and post pictures once I am allowed!

Now That’s What I Call A Week Off

I mentioned that I had last week off work and that I wanted to go at least 140 kilometres during that time.  I’m happy to say that it was a huge success and in between some visits with our first foster-to-adopt child I was running and biking around the countryside like crazy.

I actually did a little more biking than I expected and a little less running than I wanted but all in all the goal was achieved.  Twice during the week I rode my bike from here to Peterborough up to Lakefield and back.

It’s a good ride and is about 34.5K which is a good amount of time to spend too, about an hour and a half.  My dad can ride for hours on his bike and but the time I’m out for about 80-90 minutes I’m done.  Not because my legs are sore or anything, just because my bum is sore and I’m a bit bored with what is going on.  Maybe if I had bike shorts that would be better.

On Friday I was out riding and came across two people on their road bikes, (I have my mountain bike this year) and I thought ‘Hey, I’m passing these folks!’ and so most of my ride I was up over 28-30Km/h (17-18 mph).  I caught up and passed them and stayed ahead! The next day I did the same route but only managed about 22-24 Km/h (13-14 mph) it just goes to show how a little competition can drive you.

I only ran three times this week, but I ran 10k twice and 6k once and due to weather, the first 10 and 6 were on the same day, just one at about 6am and the other at about 6pm!  They were good enjoyable runs really, but they were not record setters for speed that’s for sure.  My legs were a bit tired by mid week!

Come Saturday morning I had gone 143.84km all told, completing my goal with a day to spare.  I would have gone out again Sunday, but our little on woke up at 4:30!  Amber got up with her, but when I got out of bed she was still awake so I didn’t think it would have been fair of me to head out running or biking or whatever, plus I figured I had earned a day off!

So all that, some drawing and a lot of playing on the floor was how I spent my week off work.  Now I have three days to go until I’m off for 35 weeks!

Git On Yer Bike

As stated earlier, I wanted to go at least 140 kilometres this week.  It looks like I’m well on track for that since it’s only Thursday morning and I have travelled 102 and change.

Most of that distance has been on my bike as I have made a point to get out and do some sort of riding every day except Tuesday so far, and on Tuesday I ran twice.  I skipped Tuesday on the bike because it was a bit drizzley when I went out in the late afternoon.  For some reason I’d rather get wet running than I would riding.  I think because it helps keep me a bit cooler when I run, and so it makes it a bit more enjoyable as compared to being really hot.

Twice now this week I have ridden from my house, in to Peterborough and then out to Lakefield and then back home, 35k in all.  it’s a pretty nice ride too except when the wind is coming up the river and pushing me back.  I hate riding into the wind, it just seems like you have to work so much harder, especially on a mountain bike where you are sitting more upright.

What are your favourite conditions for a bike or a run or a jog or whatever it is you do outside?  Let me know in the comments!

Going The Distance

All too soon the weather will turn ugly here in Canada and so over the last few weeks I have been working hard to go as far as I can each week in order to be able to meet the distance goals I set for the year.

Last week was great for that! The first two days I was able to switch around my lunch to the end of the day and leave a few hours early because I was cooking and we had low numbers at day care.  Tuesday i rode my bike 53k even.  From my house in Bridgenorth, down through Ennismore, through Gannon’s Narrows, to Buckhorn and then back past the road to Curve Lake, through Selwyn and back home.  It was a 2.5 hour trip and it was great!

It’s been nice and cool this past week too so I was able to run in the afternoons and this week I actually ran just a smidge over 30k.  Five of those were actually my fastest run through town in the last two years as well.  Sprinting like mad I covered the distance in 21:50.  Not my fastest 5k time ever to be sure, but doing that the morning after walking around the zoo with kids for 9 hours, not too bad.

So why all the importance on distance?  Simple, the spring this year in Ontario was atrocious and there were a few weeks were I only travelled 10 or 15 kilometres! That really set me on my heals as far as distance goals goes.  I figured since the start of July I wanted to average at least 80K a week, which is about double the average I would want to meet my over all distance goal of 2500K for the year.  How has that been going? Well in the five weeks of July (which includes up until yesterday) I went over 500k!  Take a look!

The red is running, the blue is biking, the orange at the end it the weeks totals

I have this week off work and my hope is to average about 20k a day, so about 140k for the week, we’ll see how that works out.

Friend Making Monday

If you’ve taken part in Friend Makin’ Mondays before then you are familiar with 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 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 read and comment on a couple of other posts.

This week’s topic is ‘Feeling Fruity’

1. What is your favourite fruit?

I would say that my favourite fruit is Golden Delicious Apples

2. Is there a fruit that you really really don’t like?

Asian pears!  Ugh gross!

3. If you could only drink one fruit juice for the rest of your life, what flavour would it be?

Apple juice I guess.  I don’t really drink juice at all unless you count Poweraide Zero

4. Tomatoes – fruit or vegetable?

Tomatoes are a fruit because the seeds are on the inside.

5. How many portions of fruit do you eat a day?

Usually I have fruit at least once a day since it is dessert at daycare for lunch, and then we usually have it as part of snack too

6. if you were making a smoothie what fruits would you add?

Strawberries and bananas, why mess with perfection?

7. Are you allergic to any fruits?

Nope!

8. Do you have a favourite fruit recipe? Feel free to share the recipe with us.

Of my own? Banana bread I guess.

9. Do you have any fruits that are local to your area?

Ontario grows Apples and pears and peaches and such I believe, but I don’t know of any local orchards.

10. What is your favourite fruit pie?

I would say Strawberry / Rhubarb pie, but technically strawberries are not a fruit, they are a berry, so Apple.

Now it’s your turn to answer the questions. Don’t forget to come back here and leave a link to your post in the comments, so we can check out everyone’s answers.

Have a great day

When No One Is Watching…

Yesterday I got home from work and went for a bike ride.  It was a bit windy, but I had just run the previous morning and so I wanted to change it up.  I always find it helpful to get out and do something after a stressful day at work.  It helps to clear my head, and to be able to go in to work the next day with a better outlook.  With that in mind, now that I work with children all day I go ride my bike or run or workout or whatever alone, where no one is asking me questions and I don’t have to teach anything.

Amber wasn’t home for the evening last night either so after an hour of bike riding I quickly made dinner and then went into town to pick up a book and as I was driving I felt like if I was quick I could do some more at home even.  Without Amber there I could basically do whatever I want, and not feel like I was losing time with her.  This is pretty much my fitness plan for when we have the kids here.  Get up early still, and while Amber is just moseying around getting ready and they are hopefully still asleep, I will go run/bike/workout that way I still get my time to be all fitnessy and I don’t have to do it at the expense of family time.  I might be way off with this plan, especially if the baby still has colic when she comes, but it is the plan heading into the whole adventure.

So I got home from town and thought, there is nothing on TV I want to watch right now, I have nothing on the PVR that I’m dying to watch, it’s beautiful outside.  I’m going to go run 9K.

So I did, I put on shorts and a shirt and out I went again to do about another 46 minutes of working out simply because I could.

When no one is watching – I do fitness.

Batman’s 75th Give Away

Like I said, giveaway, but not here, over on The Mighty Chrispy blog!  Check it out here!

The Mighty Chrispy’s Batman 75th giveaway!

Enter for a chance to win:

A copy of Batman: Gotham Knight on DVD

Trailer here:

And this Original Art that I have:

Two pretty cool things that can be yours very easily.

Happy 75th Birthday Batman

it’s been long known around here that I am a Batman fan.  He’s been mentioned at least a dozen times on this blog.  And so for his 75th birthday I thought I would just suggest to you that you might want to go check out a few of what I consider to be the best Batman stories that I have.  I know you are busy, I’ll keep the list just to five.

 

5. The Long Halloween

The Long Halloween is heavily influenced by film noir and films such as The Godfather. The series continues the story of Carmine Falcone introduced in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Set early in Batman's career a few months after the events of Year One, the story revolves around the gradual transition of Batman's rogues' gallery from simple mob goons to full-fledged supervillains. It is also the origin of Two-Face. As the story unfolds, Carmine Falcone hires "freaks" (Poison Ivy, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter) in an attempt to stop the Batman and restore power back to the family, only to discover that the freaks are more powerful than he expected.

4. Batman: Year One

Bruce Wayne returns home to Gotham City from training abroad in martial arts, man hunting, and science for the past 12 years, and James Gordon moves to Gotham with his pregnant wife, Barbara, after a transfer from Chicago. Both are swiftly acquainted with the corruption and violence of Gotham City.

The animated adaption of this is one of the few animated Batman movies I have ever gotten Amber to watch! But it’s also kind of slow paced with not gigantic action sequence, more of a character story witch is what she likes.

According to IGN it is one of the most important graphic novels ever written.

3. Batman: Hush

Hush is a 2002-2003 comic book story arc that ran through the Batman monthly series. It was written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams and colored by Alex Sinclair. The story depicts a mysterious stalker called Hush, who seems intent on sabotaging Batman from afar, and it includes a large number of guest appearances by Batman villains. It also emphasizes the romantic feelings between Batman and Catwoman.

I finally bought this book mid 2011 I think and reading it was what really got me back in to comics.  It’s a fantastic story with really great Jim Lee art.  After reading this and hearing that DC was doing all new #1 books, I signed up for a subscription! and have been collecting since!

2. The Dark Knight Returns

The Dark Knight Returns is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, and published by DC Comics. When the series was collected into a single volume later that year, the story title for the first issue was applied to the entire series. The Dark Knight Returns tells the story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from retirement to fight crime and faces opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government.

So many people list this as their favourite Batman book of all time.  I don’t simply because the art is not all that great, the story is however, amazing!  There is an animated adaption of this book as well, also amazingly good.

1. Death of the Family

"Death of the Family" is a 23-issue comic book story arc first published by DC Comics in 2012 featuring the fictional superhero Batman and his family of supporting characters. The arc spans several titles featuring characters of the Batman family including: Batman, Batgirl, Batman and Robin, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Suicide Squad, and Teen Titans. The story involves the return of Batman's arch-enemy, the Joker, and his plan to destroy all of the people Batman has come to rely on over the years: the multiple Robins, Batgirl, Catwoman, Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner James Gordon. The title is a reference to the classic Batman story arc "A Death in the Family" (1988), in which the Joker murders Jason Todd.

The most current one on the list and an amazing story as well, if not a little bit twisted.  Snyder writes and Capullo draws a fascinating Joker.  A really great read!

Stay turned later today for a giveaway!!

Also check out The Mighty Chrispy for a Batman comic that I am writing and drawing!

Morning Run

Over the last few weeks I have switched shifts a few times here at work.  I regularly have the early 7-4 shift and while that is awesome for pretty much everything else, it’s not so great for fitness type stuff.  Especially in the summer time.

Each of the mornings that I have switched shifts I have made a point of making use of the time and heading out for a run.  The air is much cooler and the sun is only peeking through the trees and so I makes for a very enjoyable bit of time to be out and getting some work in. 

A lot of days it’s an amazing benefit to be able to have that switch, like today.  By the time I go home today it’s going to be about 30ºC (about 86ºF) and it would be blazing hot in the sunshine.  So today it was awesome to get the run in early!

This is something I am going to attempt to be able to do for the rest of August and part of September.

When do you like to run?  In the coolness of a morning, or the blistering heat of the afternoon?

The Comic Book Store

You’d think as a 34 year old man I’d scoff at the idea of going to the comic book store.  That as a guy that plays hockey and teaches karate and ‘does fitness’ I’d be more in the group of folks that mock those that traffic the comic book store.

Quite the opposite.

I think now that I am who I am, I am even more confident about being in there.  But I also wonder if that idea that like fat, lazy, lonely guys are the only ones that read comics is gone thanks to fact that movies about comics have pretty much taken over the theater and are generally seen as awesome.

The Store I go to on the regular is Dixon’s Books.  It’s an older couple that owns and runs the store and they are nice and welcoming.  Jeff’s cards and comics one street over on the other hand seems completely unwelcoming and in fact a bit condescending.  Dixon’s has my business, Mrs. Dixon (I assume) seems to be about 80 and she chats me up like my grandma would, is eager to give me things that are on the counter and generally makes my experience enjoyable.

To be fair I haven’t been actually going to the comic store for all that long.  I mean I have been into Silver Snail in Toronto a few times a year since I was in University (so about 15 years now).  most of the comics I have now are volumes of the New 52 from DC that I bought from Chapters online because it’s a 34% discount!  It’s kind of a pain to be about 6-8 months behind the monthly printed version, but far cheaper.  I do get Batman and Nightwing (now Grayson) in the mail each month though.

I didn’t make a point of going to the store until the guys that made me love The Flash, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, started working on Detective Comics. With how good their run and the Flash was (and still is for me since I’m months behind as mentioned above) I couldn’t wait that long to get me hands on their work on the Batman.

I really don’t get why comics get a bad rap, that people scoff at them as ‘just for kids’ or at least that has been the case in the past I guess.  they have such amazing and varied art styles!

And they have really great, fun and intelligent stories.  Pick up any book by Scott Snyder, or Geoff Johns and you’ll see what I mean.

There is such a variety of comics as well.  If you are not into superheroes there are still westerns, romance, mystery and comic versions of best seller books and movies as well. 

They are a fantastic tool for learning to read, or learning a second language, in fact it’s how Jim Lee, artist and now Co-publisher of DC learned how to read English (he’s from Korea)!

Comics are great! And you should go to the Comic store, and if you are in Peterborough, you should go to Dixion’s Books!

The Brighter They Are, The Faster They Go

I bought new runners on the weekend and when I showed them to Amber she commented that they were very colourful.  I said, ‘I Know, that’s how you know they are fast!’

Yeah that’s right the colour makes you faster.  She was sceptical.  I knew it was a fact.

Today it was really cool in the morning and somehow I convinced myself that it was actually really cool even by the time I got home from work and so I put on my new shoes and ran up the trail and back, 7.3K.  My previous best time this year for this was 37:35, my time tonight was 36:11!  was it because I had the new super colourful shoes on or was it because I was trying to run really fast to make my statement true?  Who knows.  What I can say for sure is that the new shoes felt like I had almost nothing on my feet, so much lighter!

I’ve heard so many times that the shoes don’t make you better, and as long as you have suitable footwear for what you are doing I kind of agree with that.  However, today, this change made the difference!

So It’s Been A While Huh?

It has been months since I have been typing here and ‘Why is that?’ you ask.  Well mainly because my time has been filled with way too many things to be able to sit back and type.  The main part of that is that the spring was such a slow time, with cold crappy weather.  I’ve been making up for lost time in a big way.

Biking like mad!  This year so far I’ve just got my mountain bike instead of my dad’s road bike, so I go a bit slower on average, but I’m working harder for my distances and times.  Considering all the time I lost with the weather and having two weeks so far being sick this year I’ve pretty much caught right back up with my distances from last year. 

I’ve ridden over 800km and run over 350km since the start of the year.  In fact today I just rode 38k, and it feels great!

There is of course other things besides the biking and running that have gotten in the way of writing.  We, that being Amber and I, have been going along the process of adopting a child (or two) and in the last month we’ve been tapped by the Children’s Aid Society to actually foster-to-adopt two little girls!  A one year old and a baby that will only be about 4 months maybe by the time we get her!   It’s going to be an amazing time here for sure!  I’ve already got the running stroller that switches to be a bike trailer as well so that I can take these little ladies out on bike trips.

This year I’ve also finally be watching the CFL, I’m pretty sure I put that idea forward last year but never followed through, this year I’ve watched quite a few games, hopefully I can get to a game or two before the season is over.

I’m hoping to have a bit more time to write again, and so, you’ll be hearing from me again soon!

Riding My Bike

It was finally warm enough to go out riding my bike this past long weekend, before plunging back down to single digits again this week.  I was so happy to get out and ride around.  I was able to cover so many kilometers, but more than that I was able to go further and see some new things this spring compared to the same ol’ stretch of road.  The township has yet to sweep the sidewalk here in Bridgenorth and running on it would be like running on the beach at the moment.

I have learned that I was a bit spoiled last year riding my dad’s touring bike.  Switching back to a mountain bike is a bit hard since there is more drag and the gears aren’t as high.  But I figure that once the weather is nice for good this year dad will lend it to me again and the time spent on the mountain bike will have me flying right from the start if/when I get to ride that bike again.

I have only been out on two rides and so far have only covered about 29 kms on my bike but I’m hoping that I can catch up a bit more on that over the next few weeks.

Things You Should Be Listening To

I’ve recently got into listening to podcasts in a big way and two shows that I think a lot of people would enjoy – if you can stomach excessive amounts of cursing are Hollywood Babble-on and Edumacation.  Both can be found on the iTunes store or on smodcast.com

Hollywood Babble-on is sort of the Hollywood news as read by Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman, it’s very funny and they make lots of jokes.

Edumacation is hosted by Kevin Smith and Andy McCalfrish (spelling?) and it’s kind of a science news and whatnot type of show, really fun.  I’d suggest them for riding and not running as you’d be laughing too hard to run most of the time.

13km/h

Yesterday I ran a 5.5k route out and away from my house.  I guess that last bit goes without saying, I can run toward my house when I start running.  The truth of the matter is that I have been feeling a bit slow this spring.  I think a lot of it has to do with the weather and just how much it has interfered with my running.

At this time last year I had already completed on race and won my age category!  This year I really have no drive to do that simply because the weather is so terrible and unpredictable.  For instance Sunday it was about 20°C outside, I ran, it was amazing.  Tuesday we had snow on the ground again and the high for the day was below 0°C!  Insanity!  So this week I have only run 5.5 k because I refuse to run on the treadmill again, but at the same time I don’t want to run when it’s miserable outside.

All that aside I had my fastest pace so far this year yesterday.  It was a sunny 8°C and I felt like I could really move for a change. Shorts and a long sleeve cold gear shirt and I was off.  One thing I have really noticed this year since I haven’t been able to run through the main part of town is that I have to have music with a high beats per second in order to keep my feet going quickly.

II think it has to do with a few different things.  Through town if seems like I am going quick, there are buildings and posts and signs all close to the road that if you are running quickly you pass by them fast, I get a real sense of movement.  Out on the back road I pass fields and forests. They are pretty to look at, but I don’t get a sense of movement from them so it’s easier to have a slower pace.  However music with a high beats per second helps to keep the feet moving!  I want to go in time with the beat subconsciously and so the faster the music the easier it is to make my feet go that fast.

I was aware of that yesterday and skipped over songs that I knew were a bit slower.  I finally broke 13 km/h as a result of the nice weather and good music and not feeling drained after work.  It feels good to be faster again!

Shorts and a T-shirt

Finally yesterday I ran in my usual running clothes.  Actually I ran twice!  I set out first in the early morning – well early for most folks on a Sunday – at about 8. I decided I was going to go a bit further and so when I ran down to Holden Rd. instead of turning back around I just turned up Holden and then continued to make my loop around.  6.85k on the early run in sweats and a hoodie.

After going to see Captain America with Pete and his lads it was still amazingly beautiful outside and so I decided that I should run again.  it was about 15°C in the sun and so I just got on my shorts and a underarmour shirt.  It was a little chilly on the hands as the start but it was awesome overall.

So great to run in just like my summer get up you know?  It felt great too, I actually felt fast.  I haven’t felt like I was going too fast the last while running outside.  I think part of that is the routes I have taken and the other part is that I am wearing big baggier clothes and yet another part is that I am just running on the back road, not really passing things that are close to the road.  If I run on the main street i pass houses and driveways and have to go by cars waiting to turn and all, but just trees back from the road a bit on this route.

I’m quite pleased that I’ve been outside running five days in the past two weeks (and once on the treadmill) let’s hope this actual spring weather continues!

Friend Making Monday–Random Questions

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 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!

This week’s random questions come to you from Tyra who blogs over at Random Acts of Snark. Thanks Tyra for the awesome questions.

1. Have you ever had a reoccurring dream? What was it?

No, I might dream something a couple times over a week or something but nothing I would refer to as recurring.

2. What was the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?

Some people think sushi is weird…  I has some weird food creations on an anniversary dinner a couple years ago because they were all super high end hoity toity food things.

3. Can you comfortably eat in a restaurant by yourself? Go to movie?

Yes to both, what is so weird about going to a movie or eating by yourself?

4. What would you leave in your will for the person you care about the most?

If I died right now? Amber would get it all I guess.  Pete could have my comic books though.

5. Would you rather…Go without television or fast food for the rest of your life?

Fast food easily.  I haven’t eaten McDonalds or the like in years already anyways.

6. What was the best thing that happened to you this past week?

I got to see the Canadiens thump the Senators for only about 8 rows back from the benches at centre ice! 

7. List the food items you take at a salad bar.

Um, I don’t normally go to restaurants that have salad bars.  I’d take like, salad though.

8. If you were in the “Miss America” talent competition, what would your talent be? (Note: both guys & gals have to answer this question)

Karate, impress the judges and take out a few of the competition!

9. What do you keep in the trunk of your car?

I have like a roadside emergency kit, jumper cables, a blanket and all that, and a tire pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

10. How many rings before you answer the phone?

At least two at work or at home.  At home it’s usually because I can’t find the phone.

Running Man

So I know you are wondering, where is the real content?  Well to be fair the weather here has sucked.  I think I have said that a few times.  But yesterday!

I woke up and checked the temperature, Zero Degrees.  it was a bit dreary out, but it was above freezing and so out I went.  I’m just running on the back road for now.  The side walks here are still covered in ice and sand.  So running out from my place to Holden Rd. and back is about 5.5K.  This has been my spring time route.

I have run it maybe 4 times now, but the first few I didn’t time myself.  Last Sunday when it was –10 I ran it in 26:42.  Not great, not awful.  Yesterday morning I was 26:03!  Nice right?

Later in the day yesterday two things happened.  I got a massive headache for one.  Like the kind that comes up from your neck and makes you wish you could snap your noggin right off. But also it got beautiful out!  Sunny, no clouds 10 degrees!  The kind of day Superman dreams about when he’s low on energy.

I decided that I would be a huge hypocrite if I didn’t get outside again.  I knew that some exercise would cure my headache anyways.  This time I was in shorts and a long sleeve shirt instead of pj bottoms and a t-shirt and hoodie, with earmuffs and socks on my hands. (yeah I’m totally fashionable when I run in the cold)!

But feeling run of the year so far.  The warmth of the sun finally coming down and all that.  25:39 for time too.  It was fantastic.  It makes me want to RACE!

Friend Making Monday–Hobbies and Games

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 http://losingweightandhavingfun.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!

Hobbies and Games

1. Do you have a favourite board game?

We play loads of games in our house and I think my favourite one would be Carcassonne.  It’s a game where you place tiles that have either field, road or city one them (or some combination) to build those things and score points. Very Cool.

2. Do you have a favourite card game?

Yeah, the DC Comics Deck Building Game.  It`s a cumbersome name, but it`s a fun game!

3. Do you play games on your phone?

Yes, I play mostly Words, Matching and Gems with Friends

4. Do you prefer the X-box, PlayStation or Wii U?

I only have a Wii U and 3DS at the moment and I like what Nintendo has had to offer for the last 25 years!  I did have and X-Box 360 for a long time, and liked it though too.  It`s all about the games really not the system.  I`d be happy to just stick with Wii U except that Batman: Arkham Knight that comes out in the fall is not on Wii U so, I`ll be getting a PlayStation 4.

5. Do you have a favorite outdoor hobby?

Running and Biking.  I actually went out running twice yesterday because Spring finally came to Ontario!

6. Have you ever been geocaching?

Yes, it was pretty fun, we need to go when it`s not so buggy out though.

7. What’s your favourite hobby?

I draw.  A lot.

See –> http://themightychrispy.blogspot.ca/

8. Is there a hobby you would love to try but are too scared too?

I don’t know if I am too scared to try anything really, too poor maybe.

9. Do you enjoy doing puzzles?

No, well… I don’t seek out to do puzzles at least.

  

10. Have you taken any classes in anything?

I have taken a few guitar lessons, and a single art class.  I do take and teach karate though.  I got my black belt a few years ago now.

Friend Making Monday–Would You Rather

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 http://losingweightandhavingfun.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!

Would you rather…

1. Chocolate or vanilla ice cream?

I prefer vanilla for sure, unless there is an option for a twisty cone!where it’s chocolate and vanilla soft serve twisted together!

2. Coke or pepsi?

Coke for sure, well either Diet Coke or Coke Zero actually.  Not because of weight loss stuff, but because of my teeth.  a long time ago not the dentist told me ‘no more coke!’

 

3. Cats or dogs?

Cats!  they are so much more self sufficient than dogs and you don’t have to take them out for walks and junk.  We have two cats right now, Talia and Grayson.

 

4. Summer or Winter?

Summer.  When I was a kid I would have chosen winter for sure, but now that I am older winter just annoys me, and I can do all my running and biking and stuff outside in the summer even if it gets hot.

5. Early bird or night owl?

I am a bit of both I guess, though I am forced to be early for my job where I have to be at work by 7.  On the weekends I am usually up late though 12 or 1am!

6. Baseball or football?

Hockey!  I’m Canadian!

7. Glasses or contact lenses?

Glasses.  I wore contact lenses for a little bit though just for hockey.  I found them really awful, I could feel them on my eyes and getting them in was a huge pain!

8. Coffee or tea?

I like both now actually, just plain orange pekoe tea though.  Depends on the time of day which one I will choose though.  Morning I am definitely a coffee person (thank a lot Carley!)

 

9. Mac or PC?

PC all the way.  I really don’t get what it is with Mac’s that people seem to like so much.  I think it’s mostly that Apple created this idea that their products are cool, and so people want to be perceived as liking what is cool, and so they get Macs instead of looking at what is a better value and more functional for everyday use.

10. Roller coasters or not?

Yes!  I love roller coasters, it’s the closest I will get to just being able to fly like a test pilot or something, they are fun and exciting.  My wife hated them though and they make her feel sick, boo!

Hope you enjoyed this weeks questions, look forward to checking out your answers and seeing you back here next week.

I’m Running No Matter What

It is March 23rd.  There is still snow everywhere, it was snowing yesterday in fact.  It is –10C outside. At 7:45am the sun is just coming over the treetops.

I am running.

I have been sick and a bit lazy this week.  I do not enjoy being sick and when coupled with this everlasting winter I am not in a very fitnessy state of mind.  Especially when it comes to running.  Yes I have a treadmill in my basement and I have used it quite a few times.  But it’s not the same.  Sometimes you just want to get out and be let off the chain a little bit.

Yesterday Amber and I went and saw Divergent, a pretty cool movie.  At the theater I always want popcorn.  I’m not sure why, I always feel icky after I eat it.  So I had popcorn and a pop, and then we had a rather modest dinner I would say.  But I came home feeling fat.  Like bloated, like I had eaten too much for too many days this week.  Looking back I am not sure that was actually the case, but I felt like it.

So as I laid down to bed last night I told myself that no matter what, I’m running outside tomorrow.

That is how I found myself in sweats and a hoodie (and t-shirt under, and sunnies and earmuffs, with socks on my hands because my mitts are at work) running up the road this morning just after 7:45.  Last time I ran was a couple weeks ago and it was +10C and it was great, though I was a bit over enthusiastic and pulled muscles in my legs.

This time the air burned my lungs and mouth for being so cold.  My nose and face where numb.  My tummy was freezing on the way back with the bit of breeze blowing at me.  But it was GREAT.  I felt good. 

I want winter to be over so badly, because I want to RUN again and be able to enjoy all of it!  This week, I’m running outside, no matter what!

Toronto Comic- Con 2014

Read all about my trip to Comic Con on my art related blog here!

http://themightychrispy.blogspot.ca/2014/03/toronto-comic-con-2014day-1.html

Fitness stuff coming later this week!  Especially since next week I have every day off work! Yeah! Hopefully I can be out running every day!

Friend Making Monday–Movies

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 http://losingweightandhavingfun.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!

Movies

1. What is your all time favourite movie?

It’s very hard to pick just one movie for this, I think that The Dark Knight might be it though just on the portrayal of The Joker.

I watch a lot of animated movies as well and I would go with Under The Red Hood for an animated one.

 

2. Who is your favourite actor and actress?

I don’t really know if I have a favourite actor or actress really.  I would say that the only actor that I have said ‘Oh it’s a ____ movie! I have to see that!’ Would be Jackie Chan. He’s amazing!

As for favourite actress, the same type of thing applies, except I’ve never gone, ‘Oh I have to see her movie’.  Scarlett Johansson is pretty awesome though. (I’m hoping I’ll be saying that about Gal Gadot soon though when she is Wonder Woman.)

3. What is the first movie you ever saw at the cinema?

The first movie I recall seeing in the theater is Batman, The Tim Burton version, and it was awesome!

4. Did you watch The Oscars last night?

Nope!

5. How many of the Best Picture nominations did you watch and which did you enjoy the most?

None!

6. What did you think of Ellen hosting The Oscars?

I bet she was great!  She’s pretty funny.

 

7. If you had the chance to play a part in any movie, what would it be?

I’d love to play Batman or The Flash.  I am sure I can have a better Batman voice than Bale had in the last two movies!  And playing Flash would be fun, because I’d get to be all quick witted and quippy.

8. Is there a movie you have watched that was so bad that you have either walked out of the cinema or turned it off?

Yeah a couple, when I was a kid I could not get trough Blade Runner, it seemed very boring.  And I know Amber and I have shut off a couple different movies, but I don’t know the names.

9. What do you think of 3D and IMAX movies? Are they worth the extra money?

Big action movies are always better on a grander scale I think.  Personally I usually only try to see action movies in the theater anyways.  3D is only worth it if the director thinks that way when he makes the movie though.

10. What was the last movie you saw at the cinema?

The last movie I saw in the theater was The LEGO Movie, it was pretty good!

Hope you have enjoyed this weeks questions, I am excited to read all your answers and hope you will continue to come back and participate each week.

Last Day At The Gym

Yesterday was the last day of my four month gym membership.  I’m a bit sad about it since there is still thigh deep snow and slippery sidewalks out here in Bridgenorth.  I was hoping that by this time I’d be able to run outside a bit more comfortably.

With the acquisition of the treadmill here for at home this last week I focused on things that I wouldn’t be able to do once my membership was over.  This meant that most of my time was spent on the spin bike since I do not like riding my bike out in the freezing cold and I don’t have a stationary bike yet.

While I’m kind of glad that my gym days now do not require a twenty minute drive each way, I will certainly miss the whole atmosphere.  Coming to the gym is an experience that just can’t be re-made at home.  I found last summer that it was a bit more difficult to really push during a strength training session at home as compared to the gym.

This year I do have a good plan as far as weight training goes and running is running, once the weather warms up at least.  So I’m pretty pumped about it, especially nixing the drive to and from the gym.  Here’s to working out at home!

Money Well Spent And Even More Money Well Spent!

I ran on my new treadmill for the first time last night. For a home gym it was certainly money well spent.  I did discover that there is a difference between a home treadmill and a gym treadmill though.  You have to re-learn how to run on a treadmill because I guess the gym versions have more horsepower or torque or a better surface underneath the tread.

If I ran like usual on my new treadmill every couple of step it would catch, or drag or something, I’m not quite sure how to describe it.  But I would have to catch my step as the tread would slow down for just a second. So I had to learn to run with ‘soft knees’ the whole time and short steps. Doing these two things made it a bit harder to run, but it was easier than running out in the freezing coldness that outside was and it saved me 40 minutes of driving by not going to the gym. Totally worth the investment.

So not that this whole home gym thing is getting ramped up for the tail end of this winter and really in earnest for next winter my wife, Amber, went on the buy and sell board for the teachers and found a recumbent exercise bike for the low, low price of $30!   A recumbent bike would not be my ideal replacement for a gym spin bike or a real bike, but for home gym purposes, and for $30 I’ll take it and it’ll be great for next winter!  Literally I have everything I need now to not sign up for a gym membership next November!  And my basement just became a bit more like the Batcave.  It’s got computers and monitors (TV) trophies of past conquests (all my medals and karate belts) and not a built in training facility!  All I need now is a butler and a kid side-kick.

1000 Burpees & Riding The Bike

As I mentioned a little earlier this month I saw a twitter post of FitFluential a challenge to do 1000 burpees between about mid January and the end of February.  I of course love a challenge like that and decided to take it on.  Problem was it was at about the same time as I had sprained my rib muscles. So I had to wait to begin this challenge.

I started doing the burpees during the second week of February and last night rattled off 175 during commercial breaks in Arrow to complete the set. This was a challenge that I was not about to fail as it was a relatively simple one, especially if I had been able to use the whole time frame to get it done.

This week so far I have ridden the spin bike at the gym for 40 Kms!  I decided to do a bit more bike riding this week simply because my gym membership is over on Friday and while I have bought a treadmill which means I can run at home even when the weather is nasty I can’t ride a bike anymore.

Riding a spin bike is painfully boring but I have found that podcasts instead of music make the time go by a little faster.  Fatman on Batman or Hollywood Babble-on make the stationary Kilometres go by a bit faster, but I bet a get a few odd looks when I am laughing at what is being said.  Oh well.

This weekend will be spend with the usual of playing hockey and doing karate but also with setting up the home gym again, possibly for a few weeks in the basement since winter doesn’t seem to want to let go yet!

Have you been given a fitness challenge that you just had to get done?  What was it and how did you do?

Friend Making Monday–Getting to Know You

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 Losing Weight and Having Fun 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!

Random Getting To Know You Questions

1. Introduce yourself in under 10 words.

Canadian, ECE, Artist, Black Belt, Student, Runner, Funny, Fit, Persevering

2. How did you find Friend Makin Mondays?

I forget how I actually found it, I think I was just trying to find other fitness blogs and Kenlie’s came up.

3. Have you ever met any of your blog readers?

I have met a bunch of them but only because they were my friends first.  I have added a couple people to Facebook though.

4. How many states have you visited?

I’ve actually visited things in only three states, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.  And two provinces Ontario and Quebec

5. What did you have for lunch yesterday?

Lunch yesterday was at a restaurant in Buckhorn, I had an open face hot turkey sammich, with veggies and salad.

6. How many different places have you lived in?

I’ve lived in a few places all within about two hours worth or driving. Collingwood, then Orillia then Coldwater then Buckhorn then a few months in Toronto, then Peterborough and now Bridgenorth all in Ontario.  I did live in Glenside PA for a few month too.

7. What’s your favorite color?

I`d say that Orange is my favourite colour.

8. Do you have any pets?

Yep, two cats.  Dr. Talia Applesauce, goes by Talia and Richard Nightwing Grayson, goes by Grayson.

9. What would your ideal job be?

I work as an ECE and so I work at my ideal job already, I get to play with children, create art, do experiments, bake, and rediscover the world everyday.

10. Do you have any tattoos?

Just one, The Triforce on my left shoulder

I Bought A Treadmill

I have finally become one of those people that actually has more than just weights at home.  You and I both know I like to run, and that running in a rural community in the winter in Canada is difficult.  The opportunity came upon me to get a treadmill for the low low price of about $200!

I leapt on that chance even though I probably won’t use the machine until next November.  Spring is coming here and I have a week left at the Wellness Centre so I’m hoping that I won’t have to use my new treadmill just yet, running outside is soooooooo much better than running on a machine.

I’ve also been neck deep in @FitFluential ‘s 1000 burpee challenge.  The idea was to do those 1000 burpees before the end of February.  I heard about the challenge in mid January but with that pesky rib injury was unable to get started on the whole thing until we were into the 2nd week of this month (or so) now, 175 burpees to go.

I only have one week left at the gym, I’ve got to make the most of it.  I can do almost all of the gym exercises here at home and I totally got my $200 worth out of the gym this winter.  My hope is to be there at least twice between now and Friday, maybe three times.  I really want to go out with a bang and be able to carry over the momentum to resuming my home gym workouts!

My Time Is Running Out

It’s February 11th and I only have a few weeks left on my four month, let’s not run outside, gym membership!  I feel like besides being sick a couple of times I have made great use of these four months.  Even the last couple of week with the muscle sprain in my ribs I was at the gym just to ride the spin bike and do a few more isolated exercises.

My only concern is that as of right now there is about 2.5 feet of snow everywhere! And when March comes I doubt it will be warm enough or melted enough that I desire to run outside or workout in the garage!

I might try to extend my membership for another month, it seems like the practical thing to do really, but I don’t know if they even allow that.

In the meantime my goal is to get back up to running at least 12k a week.  With the rib injury I took almost two weeks off running and my body was not a fan of that when I hopped on the treadmill again last week.

1000 Burpees and Friend Making Monday

Fit Fluential has challenged it’s followers to do 1000 burpees by the end of February.  I of course have accepted that challenge.  I had to wait a whole week to start due to my ribs though and so now, three days in I have only done 25.  Once I am able to get the ball rolling on this I actually think it won’t be a problem, I have done 100 at one time before.  If you want in on the action, there is a huge Under Armour prize attached to the whole thing, just accept the challenge by putting #FFBURPEE on a tweet!

 

FFM Random Questions

Random Questions

1. Did you watch the Super Bowl?

Nope!

2. What is the weather like where you live? 

Cold and snowy, really snowy!

3. When is your birthday? 

November 15th

4. Do you prefer sparkling water or flat water? 

I prefer my water flat, and wet.  Sparkling water just seems weird.

5. How many hours did you sleep last night? 

Last night I only slept for about 5 and a half hours.

6. What is your favourite day of the week? 

I think it’s Friday, we usually have lower numbers at work, so I get to see al my work friends and then occationally people will come over and play games and such.  If now Friday then Saturday for sure, workouts and Karate and hockey always make for a good day!

7. If you had to choose between riding a bike or swimming, which would you choose? 

Riding a bike for sure, I can ride a lot further than I can swim!

8. How often do you eat red meat? 

Probably once a week, but if there are steaks to be had I will eat them!

9. What time did you wake up this morning?  I got up at 6:10, always too early on a Monday!

10. Do you have any goals for the week?

My goals for the week include:

Doing maybe 300-500 burpees, hoping my ribs get better and learning something new tonight at PD.

Sidelined

I hate injuries.

Here I am on the shelf again, this time from something where I can’t even pinpoint when or how I hurt myself. 

See last week my side started to hurt.  I know for sure I was hurting Wednesday night and Thursday night, I was in enough pain on Friday to attempt to not to go to work and I made a chiropractor appointment for after work.  The problem was that I couldn’t twist, and had very painfully mobility with my right side.

Dr. Jenn looked me over and poked at me a bit, she got out a tuning fork and touched that to my ribs.  Not a fracture, which was nice to hear, I think.  Her opinion was that I sprained the muscles the connect up the ribs.  My guess is that I did that lifting and twisting with the kids at work.  I’m only guessing that because I don’t have any lift/twist exercises at the gym. And the only thing I did at the gym on Wednesday was run and bike.

So the Dr. she tells me to ice and heat alternately, I did that a bit on Friday night and I have to admit I didn’t do it much over the weekend, but I did take anti-inflammatories and (along with taking the cats to the vet) skipped Karate because of it, and didn’t go to hockey either!  I couldn’t even help shovel on Sunday.

Being injured sucks, especially when it’s sort of nebulous like this, I have no idea of the healing time and I have to move and such.  The worst part is that it hurts all the time.  At least with my Achilles last spring it only hurt to run!

Don't Just Execute, Elevate

I've heard Kevin Smith talk about this a bit on his podcast when referring to writers and artists and their work on comics going beyond simply doing their jobs but putting the love and attention to detail into their work that really sets it apart.

I got thinking about this idea yesterday at the gym while doing a training session with John.  I had made a new Tabada workout for him and he was working really hard at it the whole way through.  We got to a point when most people would have called a halt to the whole thing.  He was gassed, I could tell! But he pushed through it.  After, I was saying that it’s those types of moments that make success.  When your body wants to quit but you push anyways. 

Anybody can get a workout sheet and head on to the gym floor.  They can go and do all the workouts and get some results.  They can execute the plan.  Or you can elevate, put everything you’ve got into every part of the workout, right to the point where you have to drag yourself off the floor.  When a person applies themselves like that you get great results.

Next time you head out for a run, or to the gym to work out, don’t just execute, elevate!

Missed The Gym

I hate it when I miss going to the gym.  I had it all planned out today to go to the gym after work.  Well, I sort of had it all planned, I had to come home on my lunch to get my gear together so that I could go right to the gym and then be home at a reasonable time for dinner.

The thing is that I got wrapped up in a very interesting and very constructive conversation right at the end of my work day.  This would actually make it one of the few times that I didn’t really mind being after work late.  There was purpose behind it and I came away from it feeling better in all sorts of areas.

If it had been anytime between say, March and October, it wouldn’t have phased me at all, I would have just switched from gym day to running or biking day and got my workout in.  Since it’s still January I ended up just heading home and skipping the whole gym thing today.

I aim to hit the gym tomorrow and now I’ll simply just tag on an extra 20 minutes on the bike or something at the end of running and strength training.  I’ll still be there three times this week, even with being busy Friday night and on Sunday as well.

Sometimes I just wish I could win the lottery and not even have to worry about it.  I could just wake up, and go to the gym.  Except for that in the months of January and February it would be, wake up, go to the gym, and then try to remember which island excursion I’m about to head out on as I do a two month cruise of the Caribbean!

Friend Making Monday–Taboo Topics

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!

Taboo Topics

1. Are you a registered voter? 

Um, yeah.  Voting is very important!

2. Do you believe in GOD? 

Yep

3. How has your readership changed since you first began blogging? 

I don’t think it has, I write about whatever I feel like I want to write about. 

4.  If you could choose between a serious relationship or $100,000, which would you choose? 

$100,000 is not enough money for me to choose it over a person.  Especially if it meant giving up what I have.

5. Have you ever changed political parties? 

I’ve voted the same way in every provincial and federal election I’ve been a part of, I have sure thought about it though that is for sure.

6.  If you were put in a position in which you had to be in a room with someone that you can’t stand, how would you handle the situation?

I’d just ignore them, or focus on my own thing.  I have to do this every three weeks at hockey, playing against people I can’t stand.

7.  Do you ever eat in secret because you don’t want anyone to see what you consume? 

Nope!  I don’t now and didn’t before.  I am who I am and I’ll eat what I eat.

8.  Do you use curse words in your daily conversations? 

I think it depends on who I’m talking to.  Generally no, once in a while yes.

9.  How much do you tip when you’ve had decent service at a restaurant? 

15% typically, if the service is about what you’d expect to get.

10.  How do you respond when someone confronts you? 

Depends on the confrontation, usually sarcastically.  I can take say a work type confrontation in stride and respond accordingly, taking the constructive criticism and applying it’s benefits.  A physical confrontation, say at hockey, I tend to push back in kind.

Now it’s your turn, Happy Monday Folks!

Workout Of The Day

Shovelling!

I arrived home from work and a visit to the chiropractor to then spend about an hour shovelling out my driveway.  Ah Canada! The worst part as those of you in snowy climates know is the end of the driveway where the plow has pushed a nice wall of snow to block you out (or in).

Today what had happened though was the the temperature was warm(ish) in the morning making everything a bit slushy and then it dropped through the day turning that wall of slushy snow into a barrier of ice!

I had to dig it out with an actual spade! A plastic snow shovel had no power there!

It’s been such a different winter around here than the last few, I know my friends in Port Hope and Ajax are feeling the same way since some of them were without power for almost a week!

I’m ready for winter to be over.  I used to love winter as a kid, playing in the snow and digging big forts into the snowbanks and such, now it’s just annoying to be cold and shovelling all the time! I’m not quite ready to welcome summer back, but I’d be ok with a spring that last six months!

Friend Makin’ Monday–Just Some Stuff

 

1.  What has been your happiest moment in 2014 so far? 

Just being able to spend time with Amber since we were both home from work for the break.

2. Share the last compliment you received. 

I don’t even now.

3.  What is one thing that you plan to accomplish in the next week?

Be at the gym at least 3 times.

4.  What is your favourite TV show currently on air?

The Big Bang Theory.  I watch almost no current TV, Netflix is my pal and the best $7.99 a month I’ve ever spent

5.  If you could go anywhere in the world free for the next two weeks, where you go? 

New Zealand, or just on a two week cruise.  I’d love to tour around and see all the shooting locations for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, but failing that just do nothing on a cruise ship for another two weeks would be great!

6.  Describe a significant event in your life that caused you to change your values system. 

The day I was dying of exhaustion on the mat at karate and I decided to get in shape.

7.  What made you decide to live where you currently live? 

I’ve always sort of wanted to stick around the same area as I grew up, and being out in a small town is great.  I never wanted to live ‘in the city’ because that’s not how I grew up.  So living in Bridgenorth is fantastic!

8.  What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about GOD?

Church, and while when I went regularly to church up until I moved out of home at 18 and we did have some good speakers there I still did overall find it boring.

9.  If you could have a long conversation with someone famous (and alive now) who would you choose? 

Jim Lee, I’d love to pick his brain on art and such.

10.  List three things that you’re thankful for today.

I’m thankful for my friends and family.
For my health and ability to be active.
For having a job that I love.

A Week Of Workouts

I’ve had a week, actually two weeks, off work thanks to some saved up holidays and the new year.  I’ve used these two weeks to work out like crazy and it has been amazing! 

Mostly it has been the last week and a bit since we were out in London Ontario for a few days at the end of my first week off.  The workouts have been, in the last 9 days, two games of hockey, 6 workouts and 2 training sessions with John. 

The workouts too were like an hour and a half long too, I’m totally loving it and I’m actually quite sad that it’s going to end when I go back to work tomorrow.  The basis for these workouts has been the superman workouts that Henry Cavill was doing to beef up for The Man Of Steel movie.

I’m about a month into that set of workouts and they are yet to get boring, and they are always crushing.  For instance, today, I was doing push press and burpee pull ups for a total of 64 reps each! Then wall ball and medicine ball slams 150 times each, and then a circuit that had rowing, pull ups, more burpees and situps with a medicine ball toss.  I was so gassed at the end of the session and of course I had to do a 5k run ahead of that whole workout.

The beauty of all this hard work is that in just one short month there is an actual visual difference and I think that by the end of February it will be really noticeable!

The other thing that I am really enjoying is being a trainer!  I wrote a post quite a while ago about were I thought that I would never be a trainer. I’m really diggin’ it actually, so much so that I have enquired about what it takes to actually become a certified trainer.  I am kind of holding off on that notion for now.  What I would really like would be to be able to use money from training people to fund the project of becoming certified.  So hopefully that will happen at some time this year.

I know that a lot of my readers have made new years resolutions, how are they going?

Goals For 2014

I did alright with my goals for 2013 but now it’s time to set some new goals for the new year!  This year while of course I want to have goals that push me I want to be able to meet all of this years goals.

The first goal is an easy one to set distance.

I’m setting out to run 1000km and bike 1700km this year.  2700km in total, 500 more than I went this year.  I think that is quite doable if I can stay injury free.

Push ups and crunchies (or abdominal exercises), last year I set out to do 50,000 push ups, it didn’t get done and I think that the lack of variety is what killed it for me.  I got bored of the challenge and it dropped way off.  This year my aim is a bit more variety and therefor I hope more attainable.  15,000 push ups and another 15,000 of various forms of crunchies.

Complete a duathlon I know there are some that run around here and now that I have a bike that can be competitive it could be really fun to do something like this.

I’m not really sure what other goals to set at the moment, maybe doing 1 arm bench presses with 65-70 pounds or something (currently doing 45)

I want to be in a bunch of races again, but I don’t really think that’s a goal to set, I don’t want to be in races just to be in them, I know I don’t want to travel as far this year to race unless it’s going to be an all day event.

What are your goals for 2014?