Back into the swing.....

Sorry folks, but does anyone else after a race take a bit of a break? My 15 km was last wednesday and I took until after the weekend off. I know, I know maybe a bit too long but is it ok for a bit. Was back at it on Monday and Tuesday with a couple of short runs, about 3 miles and took around 26 mins, than on Wednesday I had a modified stairs class at work. They incorporate stairs with lunges, and kind of a boot camp feel to it. It was pretty good as today I can barely move, quads and legs are really tired plus upper body from some pushups. Tonight was my first night with both the kids alone as my wife and mom went to the Kenny Chesney concert in town tonight. I had a bit of a scare with Emerson (almost 5 months) but got her calmed down enough and back to sleep in time for Blake's (2 yrs) bath and bedtime. Gotta admit I think my wonderful wife has them on a pretty good routine. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask and I can relay them. They are two of the happiest kids I know, I know I am a little biased too!! Hope to squeeze in a run tomorrow during the day, on Saturday we have a wedding and Sunday wanted to take it easy but I will definately try to get one in as well. Back at it again on Monday or Tuesday with a long run as well. Let me know what everybody's been up to?

Happy Canada Day!

Well it's Canada Day and what does that mean......that's right my 15 km race this morning. I got up bright and early as I couldn't sleep (does this happen to anyone else before races???). Left my house and took the train to the Legislature grounds where it was being held and got there about 40 minutes before the start, which was good because I didn't know where I was going. Turns out that the 5k and the 15k were starting at the same time and I was near the beginning of the line, where the 5 K'ers were mostly. But I didn't realize this until I started out at a faster pace than I had planned on. I figured I would stay with them for a bit and see how I felt and surprisingly felt really really good all the way through the race (well almost). At the start of the race we went down a big hill to get to the mostly flat course, and subsequently we had to go back up that hill to finish off the race. I passed a couple of people going up and was really pushing it and for a brief second thought I was going to have to stop and either walk or collapse, but I could see the finish and pushed through it. It felt great! My wife and 2 kids (Blake and Emerson) were waiting for me and it felt pretty good to see them, my son (2) had a maple leaf flag tattoo on his face and was pretty excited. I thought that anything under 1:30 was ok, but really wanted to be around 1:23-1:25, I surprised myself with my final time.

Total Distance: 9.28 miles
Total Time 1:17:06
Lap times (1 mile laps):8:07, 8:25, 8:11, 8:21, 8:33, 8:18, 8:10, 8:14, 8:17, 8:58 (final 0.28 mile)

About 1 min/mile faster than I was training, but like I said I felt really good right from the start. I kind of settled with a couple of guys who were at this pace and it stuck with them. I'm a little disappointed in myself as I slacked off on the training but am still pretty ecstatic about my time, next training I will try some speed work (thanks for the advice)!!

A Quick one....

Just a quick note today......
Went for a quick run today, 2.8 miles in 25:07. Not too bad, I was running a little late with work and what not - anybody have plans for the weekend? Running wise? I plan on going for a long run as a bit of a tune up for next Wednesday (July 1) run of 15 km. I was thinking of going about 8-9 miles, and than on Monday only a couple of miles, Tuesday off and hope to be primed for the early (7:20 am) start. Take care.

I'm Back!

Just a little hiatus over the last couple of days - we went camping on the weekend and unless you count some drinks around the campfire as physical activity that is all that we were doing. The kids had a great time as did we but it is also good to get home as well. Not very much fun as we started painting our fence last night, by the time the two little ones go to bed and we get set up we only have a couple of hours daylight to work (8-10:30 or so) but it is started and we will do some every night provided no rain, and it feels good to get back into running as well.

I went to a spinning class yesterday at lunch and boy do my quads feel it today. I am hoping that my supplementing some classes like these it will help with both my running and shedding a couple of pounds. Today was a pretty good run, I told myself I wanted to do 6 miles and ended up with 6.24 miles with pretty good times. There is a mile marker at one point on the trail so I sprinted for 1/4 of it and eased up for 1/4 followed by sprint for a 1/4 again. Wasn't really trying to to speed work but it worked pretty good.

Total distance: 6.24 miles
Total time: 54:08 minutes
Avg. min/mile: 8:41 min/mile
Laps: 8:32, 8:25, 8:16, 8:44, 8:14, 8:59, 2:54 (last 0.24)

Fairly inconsistent but I was trying a couple of things out, the little bit of 'speed' work I did I could really feel it. Anybody with any tips for increasing speed?

Garmin back on line (sort of)

As I mentioned before I am borrowing my sister-in-laws Garmin and I never knew how much I missed it before. The company that was fixing mine just sent me an email saying that mine has been shipped so it should be here very soon. Anyways today's stats......just a note the Garmin never found a satellite until about 2:30 into my run but none the less it doesn't matter as I'm just training and it's more important that I got out there and ran right?

Total distance: 4.27 miles
Avg: 9:32 min/mile
Laps (1 mile) - 10:32, 8:35, 8:46, 8:56, 3:54

Keeping in mind the first mile was actually around 8:30 as the Garmin didn't register and the last bit was also on the stairs at the end and I was at 14:14 pace.

Changing it up a bit....

I have to! Doing both running and the burn at nights it was wearing me out way too much. I will do at least one intense activity most days and see how it goes. Thursday morning I don't know what happenned with my alarm but I ended up sleeping in and missing the hills. but that night I did do level 2 and felt great. Friday at noon (still Garmin less, I'll get to that in a moment) I did about 6-6.5 miles and took about an hour, no watch either but that is my rough estimate. Took saturday off, we had friends of ours daughters 1st birhtday party and Blake had an absloute blast, played all afternoon with some other kids - fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept in until 08:30 and today he napped for about 3 hours so I knew he was tired. I got up this morning with him, had breakfast and than went for a run about 9:30. My sister-in-law is letting me borrow her 305 model (currently she's on the IR from running) and found out that I missed it more than I thought. I love the Garmin!

Running stats -
Total distance - 7.28 miles
Total time - 1:07:10
Lap times (1.0 mile) - 9:13, 8:55, 9:19, 9:05, 9:13, 9:16, 9:22, 2:44 (end lap)
Avg. - 9:13/mile

Just 1 Day Off!

Well it will be my second day off in the last 4 of the shred - just couldn't do it tonight. With my yard needing some work it had to be done. Did the shred last night, along with a run at noon - followed by the last half of the spin class that was going on. One of the instructors (Gina) waved me over when I was coming back from my run and it felt pretty good. Missing the Garmin like crazy, but some good news - my sister-in-law's ankle has been bugging her and she is down from Ft. McMurray this weekend and she is lending it to me! THANKS AWESOME! And to boot it's a 305 so an upgrade for me! Have the hills in the morining - better get some zzzz's.

Worn out!

I must admit all this training is wearing me down a bit. Went for a run on Monday at noon, not sure how far but it took me 42 minutes (oh Garmin please come back!!). It felt pretty good, did level 2 last night and will continue with it tonight (in about 10 mins). Did the stairs this morning, 3 times - I'm sure my calves will feel it tomorrow.

Went to Costco to pick up some things after work and we ended up eating there. Still trying to work on the eating thing, I still have some really bad habits. Tomorrow consists of a run at noon and the video at night.

Just finished watching a pretty good game 6 which Pittsburgh won. I will tell you that I am rooting for the Wings - hopefully they can pull it out in game 7 on Friday night - I LOVE game 7's.

Another new week

The weekend flew by (as it usually does) with my final classes on Sat and Sun. It's nice to be done and get my weekends back with the family. A pretty good final session focusing on the Human Resources side of companies/business. Hopefully the certificate is in the mail!

I did the burn on Saturday night but absoulutely had to take yesterday off. I am back to running today at lunch, plan to go for 45 mins and than continue with the burn tonight. I finally broke down and had to send the Garmin in to get fixed. It will cost me aroun $100 but needs to be done, they say I will be without it for 2-3 weeks. I hope I can get through it.

I got home around 4 pm on Sunday- played for a bit and than we all went out for supper. It was a bit of a celebration for a couple of things: 1) My wife and I started going 'out' 13 years ago - although I told her you can't have 2 anniversaries but none the less and 2) my completion of this year long course. We went to Red Robin (one of our favorites) and it was great. We didn't care about what we ate and it was tasty. Em slept for some of it and Blake was pretty excited as there were 3 planes on the wall. He is really getting into counting now.

End of the week (or is it)?

Well I would like to say TGIF but unfortunately (or fortunately, not sure) I have school both Saturday and Sunday. I have been taking a course at NAIT to get my Project Management Certificate, which consists of approx. 1 weekend/month for about a year. We cover different topics like team building, facilitating meetings, procurement, costing etc. And here is the 'fortunate' part.........It is my LAST one!! It's the 12th module and after it there are a couple of voluntary ones but I will have my certificate. It's a pretty good course as all the instructors have 'real world' experience and are pretty straight shooters, not too much BS. It's allright as my company has been paying for it and a co-worker of mine (and current running buddy) has been going through it with me. So that's my weekend in a nutshell and it's a full work week next week so not really any time off until the following Saturday.

Still continuing the burn, went down to level 1 last night. I find the strength a touch harder than level 2 but nowhere near the cardio. It was a good change of pace though. Was going to go for a run this am but just couldn't do it. I will get one in at lunch today hopefully before the rain and than back to level 2 tonight. I am getting pretty tired later in the week, but it's all good. No run tomorrow, but will do the shred. I am planning on both running and the shred on Sunday - not sure how it will work. I have a little free time after about 8 pm so maybe a 45 min run and than the shred? We'll see how it goes. Still Garmin issues, I think it may have finally be done it. Have to see how long it will be gone for, I may look at a new one..........

Meetings (zzzzzzzz)!!

Finished day 3 of the 'burn' last night - seems to be getting tougher. I have done level 2 exclusively but think I may do level 1 tonight. Not that I can't handle 2 but I think I'll do 1 for the variety and it is still a very solid workout. Yesterday first thing a co-worker and I went for a run, approx. 3.5 miles but no idea how long it took - still Garmin issues and neither of us took a watch. It just felt good to get out there and not worry too much about pace and times.

Today I have 2 meetings, one in the morning and one this afternoon. I try and sleep with my eyes open for the most part, I don't have too much to offer. The first one is our regular 'team' meeting, it's not too bad as our leader likes to keep it short. This afternoon is a utility meeting with one of the jobs I am involved with, it's not even really my job but I am covering for a co-worker this week. Anyway, that's my ultra-exciting work life.

Finished hills up this morning, was tough to get out of bed but felt great once we started, errrr I mean finished. Calves are feeling it today from the stairs on Tuesday. Tonight my son has swimming lessons which are alot of fun for him. I hope to watch some of the game (DET vs. PIT) than do a quick workout.......oh yeah and try and squeeze in mowing the grass as well (BOO)!

It's only Day 2?

Meaning, my 30 day burn. For those not farmiliar with the Jillian Michaels 30 day burn, it is approx. a 20 min. workout that hits the major muscles, cardio and abs. It follows 3 min strength, followed by 2 min cardio, than 1 min abs. Repeat the for 3 circuits. I have done some of it in the past, I find Level 1 sort of easy (don't tell Jillian) and have made it to level 2 which I find pretty tough right now. I have done Level 2 the last couple of nights, I plan on switching up from Level 1 and Level 2 to get a variety of exercises. Hopefully I will hit Level 3 as I progress. Right now I am pretty exhausted as we did stairs first thing today. Than I work all day (sort of), come home and hang out with the family, it is sort of a whirlwind until we calm down a bit at bedtime for both Blake (2) and Em (almost 4 months). Try and do some work, either work work or yard stuff (lawn, in the process of painting the fence), or other 'chores'. Better run, me and a co-worker are going for a run first thing. I'm still looking for a tape measure to take my measurements, once I find it I will try and post.

I spoke to soon.........

I went to do my run today and the Garmin wouldn't turn on. AAAAHHHHH!!! Will try and charge it up again, and they are telling me to do a Master reboot. If it ever powers on I will try it.

Approx. 3.5 miles
Time: 30:17
Approx. 9:15/mile

Hopefully the Garmin is online soon!!

Major scare averted....Garmin is recovered!

The title says it all...........

On Friday morning the Garmin (Forerunner 301) crapped out on me. Frustrated I got a hold of garmin and they said you could send it in to repair for $80 (US I think). I wasn't sure how long it would be gone for....they are closed on the weekends. We have been looking at upgrading and thought that my friend from work could use my old one and only have to get it fixed or I fix it and he pays me. I was way more concerned with not having it......I NEED it for RUNNING!!

I read some troubleshooting tips and alot of them say to leave it plugged in and charging - came home from work on Friday and immediately plugged it it. I was trying it a couple of times on Saturday and Sunday to no avail. I was resigned to the thought of calling Garmin back and getting them to fix it. We were actually looking at upgrading to the 305 model which I can pick up for about $225 but wasn't quite sure I wanted to do that just yet.

Anyways later on Sunday at about 7 pm I picked it up and pressed the power button and heard the farmiliar noise.....IT TURNED ON! It was still in the funky lock mode but after I reset it, it found the satellites outside no problem. I went on some walks just in front of the house and all appears to be well. Now I have no excuses so tomorrow (my day off) I am definately heading out for a run - probably around 1 pm when our son takes his nap (2 yrs old, and if I haven't mentioned it yet he, my daughter Em and my wife Tracy are my Life!!!).

Oh and I start the 30 day shred tomorrow night as well - will keep you posted.

Slept in

Well didn't get my run in so far today, but the day is still young so I may squeeze it in later. Just had to take advantage of a rare opportunity to sleep in. A little work around the house today before the grind of another work week comes. Tonight I will be taking my measurements, I think that will help me seeing the progress.

Broken Garmin - arrgghh!

Was all ready to go form a nice run this morning when my Garmin Forerunner 301 was in this funky/locked up mode and I couldn't do anything. I got it to turn off but now can't get it to turn back on. I will try and chagre it when I get home and see what happens. If not I will have to contact them to see if there's anything I can do. Hopefully it's not down too long - I can't run without it. For me I need it as much as my shoes.

I was going to do a 6 mile run today but after the Garmin incident I just decided to do a route I know well. It's about 3-3.5 miles, no idea how long it took - didn't bring my back up watch either. Oh well, I still plan on going for a long run on Sunday - even without my Garmin I want to still try and go for about 60-75 mins. I am just lost about pace without it and I really like to know how far.

On another note, I am going to try the 30 day Shred program by Jillian Michaels. We have the DVD so why not give it a shot. I will keep track of it and start on June 1.

Hills Today

Got up bright and early to leave with the guys to do hill this morning. They leave the gym at 6:30 am, so I have to leave my house by about 5:45. By the time I drive downtown, walk up the hill and get changed it's time to go. Today we had 4 of us slugging it out. Not sure how far the hill is away, probably took us about 8-10 mins to get there (forgot to turn the watch on, oops). We did 4 hill repeats (up and down) and could feel it pretty good. Hopefully this becomes a regular morning thing (stairs on tuesdays and hills on thursdays). It can only help my training.

I plan on going tomorrow morning, trying and get about 6 miles in. Taking saturday off, we have a wedding and I need a bit of a rest day. Also have to help a friend haul some garbage away to an eco station, some trees he cut down - oh the joys of having a truck. I plan on doing my long run on sunday morning. I'll leave around 8 am for about 8-10 miles and than have the rest of the day off for my awesome family. I will post my run times, it keeps me honest.

My First Running Post (and bedtime)

Well since I just started this blog and I am currently in training I thought I would post an entry to talk about my running. Today I went at lunch time and it was pretty warm out there, about 25 above (celsius).

Distance = 4.72 miles, 7.6 km
Pace = 9:37 min/mile, 6:00/km

I just went out for a run to keep up with it. I'm still trying to decide what my training will look like. Currently I am scheduled for a 15km race on the 1st of July, not that I am worried about the distance but I would still like to go for a decent time. I want to do a half later this fall and will make up a training regimen for that, right now just looking to get back into the swing of it. I have been off and on for the last couple of months and want to really get back into it.

Current weight = 189.5 lbs. (Monday May25/09)
Goal weight (for now) = 180 lbs. by July 1/09)

I have been between about 187 lbs and 200 lbs for the last couple of years. Just like a yo-yo! I think my ideal weight is somewhere between 170 lbs - 175 lbs., but that is a little ways down the road. Once I get back into my running more often and some other cardio and weight training I think both are achieavable. I just seem to lack some self-control when it comes to portion sizes. Maybe I like food too much. We seem to have a love/hate relationship. Anyways, I have hills first thing in the morning with some guys from work so I should go catch some zzz's.

It was my first night putting both the kids down by myself as my wife (Tracy) had a meeting to attend. She was a little late as we were trying to get Em(erson), 3 months, to bed before she had to go. However that didn't work out so well, so she came and hung out with Blake (2 yrs) and I until his bedtime. Blake has been awesome at going to bed since I can remember, (my wife does an AMAZING job) and tonight was no different. I left Em in her swing and took Blake up, one reading of "Goodnight Moon" and he was ready to crash. I came down and got Em, she was a little cranky so I rocked her a bit and tried to calm her down. She was still pretty fidgety when I put her down (about 15 mins later) and turned on her mobile. Once she found her thumb it was goodnight. Just finished watching the hockey game while posting (DET won btw). Take care everyone.

My First Post

Well I have always talked about it and now I am finally doing it. My wife has had a blog about our family since before our son Blake was born in 2007 and since then I thought about starting my own. You can check out my family blog www.ourbabycameron.blogspot.com

Hmmmmm, where to start. I am 30 years old living and have been living in Edmonton, AB for the last 11 years. My wife, Tracy, and I got married in 2004 and have 2 children. Our son, Blake, was born in May 2007 and our daughter Emerson joined him in February of this year. Yep life is pretty busy but I love it. I have been working at the same company for 11 years now, slowly progressing up the "corporate ladder" I guess. I'm pretty comfortable in my current position, they give me quite a bit of freedom and responsibility so it is a nice balance.

I started this blog to talk about my family, my life, my goals and my current adventures in running and fitness. I started to get back into running about 2 years ago and it is the first I have done it since high school. I mainly started again to get into shape and lose a couple of pounds but now have found that I actually really enjoy it alot and have since completed a 10Km, and 2 half marathons (21.1 km).

Currently I am in the middle of (or should I say beginning of) training for a 15km race in Edmonton on July 1 - The Canada Day Road Race. Now I have never done this distance before so not sure what to expect but I will set my goal at 1:30:00. Maybe too long? Should I go lower? In the past I was just happy to finish the half marathons but now I feel like I should set some goals. Ultimate goal is a) to complete a full marathon and b) to qualify for the Boston marathon (which i think is about 3:15:00) for myself. Now I realize that these are a little down the road but I think that talking and "blogging" about them will help out alot. Right now my training consists of running at lunch times at work, running on the weekends at home and trying to do some weights as well. Any tips from anybody is greatly appreciated. I recently started doing stairs and hills on different mornings with a group at work I hooked up with. It's a group of 5-7 who all need a little motivation from each other from time to time so it's a good mix.

This is just my first post so bear with me. I am going to try and post my stats (weight), my goals and such in the next one. I am fairly new to this but I do enjoy reading some of the other blogs as well. Talk to you all soon.