The Fitness Ninja

Oh boy… still roasting here in Southern Ontario.  Geez, when is this heat gonna let up? It’s been steady days of mid-30s (but with the humidity it feels like it’s clocking in the low 40s).  I won’t lie to you.  The heat makes it tough to work out at times despite being in an air conditioned environment.  I find I just sweat more readily and profusely even if I’m in my cool basement pumping along to Chalene and friends.

And boy do I pump.  I pump real good. Hehe.

Yes, *ahem*, I did Burn Intervals yesterday before going to work for my afternoon / evening shift.  Still felt like I had something in the tank afterwards so in the evening when my workplace closed I decided to run the 8k home.  I was debating whether or not to do it as even though it was 8PM, the temperature was still in the low thirties (I think… I didn’t check the thermometer at work before heading off).  Needless to say, the humidity made it a tough run home.  I drank several cups of water before leaving as I don’t carry a water bottle with me when I run (too cumbersome).  By the time I got home (36 minutes later), I was drenched in sweat.  I quickly guzzled 2 large glasses of water then jumped into the shower.  I doused my legs in freezing cold water for about 2 minutes (man, that felt AWESOME) then proceeded to take a shower in fairly cold water.  I just wanted to get my body temperature down as I felt like I was just radiating heat everywhere (like I could feel this weird pulsating internal warmth as well… does that make any sense?).

And then again today, I was back out again in the heat as I had to walk several blocks to meet my wife at her friend’s place after my morning / afternoon shift.  I tried running for a little bit but stopped dead in my tracks because the heat just would not let me do it (and there was no way as I was going to push myself at 2 in the afternoon to run).  By the time, I got to our friends place I was again drenched in sweat and drinking profusely.

Seriously, I feel for all the brick layers, roofers, road construction guys and whomever else works outside on days like today.

Once I got home, I tackled Burn Circuit 3 followed by Ab Burner.  Whew! Like I said the heat takes its toll on your fortitude and I *almost* skipped today’s workout because I felt so burned down by the earlier walk in the sun.  Thankfully, I was able to pull through and all I have left this week is the easier Burn it Off & Recharge routine tomorrow.

Calories for today: 1677

So close.  Really, I think because of my energy level I feel like I’m done with this hybrid.  Just one more day…. today could have been my last day actually but I had to take a rest day on Wednesday as my legs felt pretty damn beat up from the run on Tuesday night.  It’s strange as I feel great from the run and immediately afterwards too but it’s always the day after when I feel the soreness… not neccesarily in my legs but in my feet.  The skin down there always feels tingly.  Maybe I just need to toughen it up?

Yesterday, though, I “came back with a vengeance” as Tony would say.  I knocked down Yoga X then ran to my mom’s house after work as both my wife and sister are working on the food for Eli’s baptism on Sunday.  It’s only 4.5km to her home so it was pretty easy overall and I didn’t feel any soreness.  Today, I gathered up the resolve to finally finish that one Modified Angie I missed about two weeks ago.  Seemed to take forever but it got done…. so all that’s left between me and victory (and a well deserved rest) is one last Core Cardio and Balance.  I am so looking forward to it.

Alright! Peace out!

BTW… my sister is an AWESOME baker.  The following are some of the cakes she’s made and sold.  I don’t even want to think about the calories in them as they are rich with her patented cream filling (so light and fluffy and fruity).

Just a few more days… then what? I dunno.  One thing about starting my Beachbody journey last October with P90x then following it up immediately with Insanity then a hybrid of the two… I feel like there’s nothing left for me from Beachbody.  I’ve read the reviews of Chalean Extreme and other Beachbody dvds… and the one consensus that seems to carry through is that P90x and Insanity are the most difficult videos the company has released.  Meaning, it really only goes downhill from there for them.

There’s always One-on-One with Tony Horton… but that series seems so broken up and piecemeal that I’ll have to concoct my own schedule from his different dvds (or at least the ones I can get my hands on from my friend).  What I loved about P90x and Insanity is that everything is pretty much already done for you.  All you have to do is hit play and watch what you eat (a lot easier to say than do, of course).

There must be a way to do Crossfit on  a limited budget and equipment.  If only I had a barbell with plates…

In other news, I haven’t slacked off yet this week on workouts.  Yesterday I destroyed Max Recovery and today I did the same thing to Cardio X.  Got a decent sweat on especially with Cardio X.  I’ve said it several times before but that workout is deceptively hard because it starts off so damn slow but by the end with the Plyo / Core Syn sequence… Tony really works you.

To top it all off, I ran my 8km home from work tonight so I got a double dose of cardio. Felt good except near the end where my feet were starting to hurt and I thought I might have been blistering up.  Not good.  Also, I hit a bunch of stop lights so it was kinda broken up.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing as it helped keep me fresh during the run… even near the end my breathing was very good and not fatigued.

I hit 5km at 26:50 and 7.5km at 39:51.

Got home and ate a wonderful grilled portabella mushroom sandwich and a PB granola bar for dessert.  All told, today’s calorie count (not counting what I burned from the run and Cardio X) was 1950.  So about a 100 over my allotted 1850… not bad but could’ve been better.  Gonna weigh myself at the end of this week just prior to Eli’s baptism just to see if I’ve been able to return to my fighting weight of 130-something.

Alright peace out!

PS Enjoy this awesome song.

Alright, I haven’t posted in a while as I’ve been super busy with work and the family.  To be honest, it’s enough sometimes just to get the workout done let alone sitting down and writing about it (I’ve been lacking the motivation to blog recently just because of fatigue).  The good news is despite having screwed up last week’s schedule, this week has been much better.  I was able to nail every single workout since Saturday and feel like I’m able to give it my “all” again as the cough and cold have finally left me.

In addition, on top of today’s Max Recovery, I also ran home from work as the weather was just beautiful.  Rather than focus on the completion time (27:39 at the 5km mark, 39:36 at the 7.5km mark…BLEH… but I had to stop for 3 red lights), I’m working my way through the training tips found in Danny Dreyer’s ChiRunning.  Maybe it’s a placebo effect… I dunno… but after trying to incorporate some of his key tips (ex. keeping your core engaged, body erect, leaning into the run), I already feel like I’m running smoother and with less effort.  My legs definitely don’t feel as beat up or sore today as they usually do.  Definitely a good sign!

Also, I’ve been able to stay true to the goal of 1650-1850 calories per day set out for me by the SparkPeople program. Awesome, awesome, awesome!  I hope to still meet my goal of getting back into the 130s come June 20th when Eli has his baptism.

Alrighty… just a few more days and I’ll be into my last weight training week for this 3 month hybrid program.  Amazing how fast time flies…

Alright… the good news: I’ve been able to keep up with all my workouts thus far this second recovery week.  Cardio Recovery was a cake walk on Saturday, Core Syn was done late last night and almost caused me to throw up (more on that in a bit) and I just finished Max Recovery today.

Now the bad news: I gorged myself yesterday on tons of delicious food… AARGH!!  See, we had 3 families come over yesterday to have a Mother’s Day celebration at our place.  My wife made a butt load of ribs from Costco, my mother brought over lasagna and garlic bread, and the in-laws brought a table full of desserts (there were something like 2 cakes, 2 pies, 2 loads of cookies and 3 bags of chips / nachos / salsa).  The beginning of the day wasn’t bad as I prepared my own meager meals (toast with peanut butter, granola with yogurt).  But after lunch when everyone had gotten here, all my willpower basically left the building.  I had like 4 ribs and 2 squares of lasagna and sampled like 3 of the desserts.  I was so full by the end of the evening I thought I was going to burst.  Not good!  I should have paid better attention to my satiety levels.  Thing is when it’s a party that kind of rationale thinking for me sometimes goes out the window.

By the time everyone had left at 9 (it started at like 2 PM), I was pretty icky feeling.  BUT… I knew I would feel worse if I didn’t do Core Syn.  So I dragged my butt into the basement and cranked it out.  I felt pretty damn nauseous through it but the bucket of sweat that came from my pores was also, strangely, felt kind of cleansing.  I actually contemplated trying to force myself to hurl as that might have made my bloated self feel better.  But alas I did not!

Today was a little bit better but I faltered again after going to see Iron Man 2.  Shared a bag of popcorn (no topping) with the wife along with some Twizzlers (nibs actually).  I love comics so I’m biased towards a film like this.  It was pretty awesome as far as summer blockbusters go.  The story’s decent and the effects were pretty tight.  Stay until the very end of the credits if you go see it as there is an “Easter Egg” to be seen.

To be expected I think after all the rich food eaten this weekend, I was a little nauseous even after seeing the film.  Had a very simple dinner of toast with a little peanut butter and water.  Waited a bit then did Max Recovery upon getting home.  Maybe it was just me but again I found Shaun T. kinda unbearable during this routine for some reason.  There’s something about the constant repetition of his commands that can drive you nuts after a while.

In other news, I’m getting scared regarding the situation at work.  I know now that my hours will be cut but to what extent is still up in the air.  More than likely I’ll be reduced to 2 shifts.  There’s no way we can function on me earning that little but the job searching is a bit bleak at the moment.  During quiet moments of the day, when I look at my son and wife, it really brings home all the responsibility I have towards them.  Thankfully, the money I’ve been saving for my computer can be a small little nest egg.  If I save some more I can cover about an extra month’s worth of mortgage payments.  Not a lot in the long term but at least it’s something.  Trying not to think about it too much.

Oh one last thing: I have set a running goal for myself!  After reading a few websites, and armed with the knowledge of Danny Dreyer’s ChiRunning book (haven’t finished it yet), what I hope to do is work towards running a 5k in under 20 minutes.  That means shaving 5 whole minutes off of my current time! It will be tough, but if I work on it 1-2 times a week, I hope by November to be able to do it.  Every time I run I will try and incorporate a new lesson or adage from the book and over time my form and pace should improve (that’s the hope anyways!).

Alrighty! Peace out!

Alright… so I have officially skipped my first hybrid workout.  I was not able to do my Plyometric Cardio Circuit today.  I did, however, squeeze in Cardio Abs AND, more importantly I ran the 8km home last night which I can consider my sub-in for the missed Insanity workout.  I figure that should be good enough. Interestingly, I think I should start timing my runs a little more precisely and measure my times versus specific checkpoints on my route home.

For instance, last night I hit the 5km mark at 25 minutes (give or take several seconds).  I don’t know if that’s any good but I know that I did have to stop twice at 2 red lights so I may have been able to shave a minute off of that.  I got to the 7.2 km mark at 39 minutes I think.  Again, I have to get more precise and I should probably chart this so I know if I am improving or not.  Of course, there are a lot of factors that could affect my pace which are totally out of my control.  For instance, during much of yesterday’s run I was running into a pretty fierce headwind so I’m sure that also affected my time.

The reason I’m gonna focus on running a bit more intensely is due to the fact I have started reading Danny Dreyer’s ChiRunning book.  It’s opening my eyes to all these new running techniques which, according to the book, should not only improve my pace but also make running easier and safer from injury.  I could use that as after the run home last night, my calves and inner shins are a bit sore.  However, I do foresee me learning from the book to be a slow process as it’s taken me forever to stop the simple act of heel striking and even now the mid-foot stride is something I have to consciously focus on for the first little bit of a run in order to get “the hang of it”.

In nutrition news, I kinda caved today and for the first time in a while I had more than one granola bar (3 actually) as I was so hungry late into my afternoon shift.  Also had a handful of regular Triscuits (which is slowly becoming my favourite salty snack… who’d have thought 100% whole wheat fiber crackers could taste so good!).

Alrighty… have a good Friday night!  Can’t believe Phase 2 is already done!  Recovery week 2 here I come!!

Edit:  Felt so guilty about not doing Plyometric  Circuit… I did it at 9:15 PM… really killed it. Got a very good sweat on…  finished at 10! Woot!!!

Hmmm… last night the weather was terrific.  About 15 celsius I think with a very light wind.  As such, I decided to run the 8 km home from work.  Felt great, moved at a brisk pace throughout, got lucky and caught the red lights when I felt I needed a break.  Upon getting home, legs were tired but not overly sore.  More importantly, NO BLISTERS! THANK GOD!  I made sure to lay down some bandages on the foot that gave me trouble last week before hand though for some extra protection.

I honestly think I should read up on proper running form.  Not that I think mine is terrible, mind you, but it could probably use improvement.  It’s been over a year since I started running  (this post talks about how everything started with the treadmill) and I’ve learned a lot from people who do run just talking to me about what good form is about.  Paramount amongst the tips I received is to not heel strike so as to lessen the impact on my body and to lean forward a little when running.  Landing the mid / front portion of my foot is still something I have to consciously keep in mind when running, same with the leaning.  I do think that my decision to do all of Insanity and this new hybrid bare foot has done wonders to strengthen the muscles in my feet (which are so often cocooned in protective layers of  rubber and plastic).  Hmmm… come to think of it, I should probably pick this book up….

… as my one friend kept raving about how revolutionary it was with regards to running form.

The running was great but the sleeping through the night was yet another battle.  Eli woke up for a feeding at 3 and I never was able to get my body back to sleep.  Felt restless and just tossed and turned.  Work probably also has something to do with it as I feel as I am just not getting any breaks where I work.  We have tonnes of stuff to do and look after especially in light of the impending lay offs at the end of this week.  In order to compensate for all the budgetary cuts, it feels like more work is being loaded onto less people… I shouldn’t complain but man… it can drive one absolutely nuts.

Dear God, I hope I don’t lose my job.  Twice in the space of less than 3 years would really, really suck.  The event has everyone stressed out at my building and rightfully so.

Once I got home from work today, I had a snack of frozen yogurt and granola.  Sooo good! Then I surfed a bit and just had to take a nap.  It refreshed me but also left my head super groggy. Around 8PM I hauled my butt downstairs to get Core Cardio & Balance out of the way.  It was a decent workout but because I still felt like I was half awake, moving through some ephemeral soup, I feel like I didn’t give it my all.  Probably around 80%.  C’est la vie.  Tomorrow is modified Yoga X and I hope I can bring the proverbial ‘IT’ as Tony Horton would say.

Last but not least, Eli went for his second audiology test today.  Poor kid.  He’s not allowed to eat or sleep prior to the test as he needs to sleep DURING the test so you could imagine how cranky he gets leading up to it.  They have to stick a bunch of electrodes and weird gel on his head to read brainwaves or some such.  Well, he wasn’t having any of it and despite being super tired and hungry, he refused to go to sleep at the clinic.  My wife says he was just “over-tired” and thus was wired instead.  *SIGH* She’ll have to go back next week to try again.  This test is to assess exactly the level of hearing loss he has in his left ear.  I pray to God he has some partial hearing.  That would be immense!

I love that little boy so much.

So round.

That’s what it feels like when you get into a good running rythm.  Feels like you’re flying.  Or high.  Or both.  Tonight was perfect for running home as the weather was cool but not cold and there was no headwind so I just clipped along with minimal effort it seemed.   This morning I also did Core Cardio and Balance.  I love that this workout is only 37 minutes long and yet it still feels like it’s giving you a half decent sweat on.  I would rank it up there with Cardio X in terms of intensity; tiring but not balls out exhausting.   I just hope all this exercise doesn’t cause my legs to seize up halfway through the night like it does sometimes after a run (this happens despite a cool down period and dousing the legs in cold water to cut down on inflamation) or that I get so sore I have serious troubles tackling the squats and lunges in the modified Angie tomorrow.

Other than that, there’s nothing else much to really report today.  I was hoping to help a friend with her foray into Wordpress (she’s trying to make a switch from Blogger) but work got in the way.  Check it out here.  I don’t understand how she can photograph all her meals then blog it.  I tried it once and it was just WAAAY too much work.  But it seems to work for her in terms of keeping tabs on her nutrition (she is a nutrition nut!).

Wow… it’s been like forever since I’ve run home from work (in actuality it’s been like 4 months as the last time I did it was mid-November).  The weather was great, hovering around 13 celsius or so.  I was running into a headwind so it was exhilirating and tiring at the same time (it didn’t help that I weighed myself down with a big snack of Shreddies, raisins and almonds about an hour prior to running).

As usual, I loved every minute of it. Felt like I was going faster than I remember.  However, it still took the usual 40 min. or so to get home.  I know I’ll get faster with a bit more pratice throughout the spring, summer and fall.

God, I feel so wiped Ican’t even think straight.  Hmmm… oh yeah I bought a pair of these a couple of months ago and finally used them tonight:

It’s just a reflective band to put around your arms and legs so that you’re more visible at night. A bit of precaution as there are so many crazy drivers on the road.  Gotta make sure they can see you (not that may change anything considering how stupid / unobservant drivers can be even with stuff like this on).

I gotta get something off my chest.  It has nothing to do with health or fitness.  I work with kids all the time and sometimes I deal with special needs families.  I took a family out tonight to a local coffee shop where there were a bunch of ‘rough’ looking teenagers having dinner or something (they looked to range between 16-18 as they had a car).  As the teens finished and were walking out, they started to heckle the special needs mother and son I was with.  I don’t know if the family I was with noticed as they were having a conversation with each other but *I* noticed.  The teens took off after a minute and we were left alone in the coffee shop. The mother and son continued like nothing had happened, eating and talking, generally having a good time with each other.  I felt bad for them.

Then I thought of my son.  It’s inevitable, I know. A part of childhood and growing up, I know.  But I don’t want him to be subjected to bullying or taunts.  More importantly, I want him to know the difference between right and wrong and what it means to be compassionate and empathetic.

I don’t want him to grow up to be an asshole.  I also don’t want him to be weak.  But, God knows, I don’t want him to have my temper.

I have to figure out how to help him get there.

Have a good night.