Yeah yeah...been a long time...just a quick update to say that things are going well...currently running, spinning, and weights 3x/week each. The weight is fluctuating around 170 lbs which is intersting since my last Ironman race (Florida) was 2001 and I was 169 the morning of the race. Now that the snow is here I will be adding 2-3 XC-ski workouts to the schedule. My plan is to not swim until XC-ski season is finished somewhere near the end of March. However, I will try and get on the VASA trainer 2-3x/week also.

I'll try to be a little more diligent about updating...just in case anyone actually reads this.

WW

Well all is well in my tri-world for now. I actually won the Masters division (due to fewer than normal numbers they combined the 40-44 and 45-49 for award purposes) at the "Give-it-a-Tri" event in Cobourg on the weekend...even losing 3 minutes with a thrown and tangled chain on the only uphill on the bike course. I know it helped me that the swim MUST have been long, but generally I felt ok, even though I have not done any intensity whatsoever. I suspect the next one on the list will be the same distance in Wasaga Beach 4 weeks from now...still enjoying the training!

I oftern wonder what kind of training is possible in my "now life" as a father, husband, and working guy vs. what was possible in chiropractic college. At that time I would get up at 4:45 am to be on the Computrainer at 5 am so I could eat and get to school by 7:30 am. I would then be in class until about 11, swim and eat lunch intil 1, then run after class. I would then "go long" on the weekends along with studying.



Perhaps if I was as time-efficient now as I was then, interesting levels of fitness become possible? I'll explore this further soon...



They just announced IronMan Muskoka 70.3 for September 2008...sign-up begins tomorrow morning...hmmmm...it whets the appetite but dunno if I'm ready for that in a year's time...I already made the mistake of trying to squeeze in a full IM (Florida) on only 7 months training.

Well...here goes nothing...signed up for a mini-triathlon this weekend...400mS/10kmB/2.5kmR. My wife's race will be twice that distance and my daughter's event will be half my distance. But I hammered my back on Saturday saving my 2 year-old son from a fall so hopefully I'll be "on-line" by then...as on-line as I can be going into this thing.

...wish me luck...gonna need it!

Well...so far so good...I'm the lightest I've been since IMF in 2001...but still feel like I slog in all three sports. At least I'm out there in all three though! There is a small chance the coming out party will be at the Cobourg Try a Tri in a couple of weeks...just getting the feet wet again...I doubt I'll fit into my old T1 wetsuit by then, but hope to by early September when I plan to do the Wasaga Beach triathlon. My wife (the REAL competitor) is scraping the rust off of her fitness also after 2 kids...warning: do not get in her way in a race...at least not a few years ago...we'll see how she reacts if she also does the Wasaga race.

I found a sweet bike for my daughter to race her KoS races in...she was on a 12" wheel bike but now she is on an Argon D18 24" wheel bike and she can really move on that one...she says she is now looking forward to the next race...we'll see...

A few things have happened that remind me of what it's like to actually be fit again..not quite there but approaching it. A carful of girls yelled something at me as I was running and they kept looking as the car went by...a good sign I suppose.

What is more interesting is that, the other day, it occured to me that I was ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO TOMORROW'S RUN! This is somewhat of a revelation and has NOT occured in many years.

The spin classes are pretty good but they are only 2x/week...still enjoying the gym...no swimming yet.

Another 60 minute spin class this am at the Y...I'm in the class that rushes off to work early so you can guess the demographic that the 'music' is aimed at...

With all apologies to Yvonne Elliman, I DON'T love the night life...and I DON'T want to boogie!

I'm thinking about taking the Y fitness leadership course just so I can program my own class, actually aimed at riders who want to improve their pure cycling power output...rather than a glorified version of the '20 minute workout' , remember that one?

Of course, I would feature such disco favourites as "Anger" by Skinny Puppy, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, and perhaps some cuts from the movie "Hackers."

I can't believe I'm actually getting requests to keep this blog up to date! Well, here goes. I've been doing my general fitness training now for a bit over a week, and I'm amazed at the feedback I've been getting...not only from my own body but from other people who see me periodically...pretty much all positive...so will keep it going...

I have a few people I know who are in the same boat as me re: returning to the sport after a long hiatus and they have been coming along nicely also. I still would like to get in a short triathlon this summer before getting serious about XC-skiing this fall. I hope to co-ordinate the 'race' with my wife and daughter in an appropriate race the same weekend.

This week I'll run 3x, get in 2 spin classes, 3 weight workouts and perhaps one short swim. I'm waiting for the local outdoor 25y pool to open before I get 'serious' about swimming.

Thanks for listening...

Well, today is the last day of the cleanse/fast, I can report that I weighed in 7 pounds less this morning than 8 days ago. I'll be doing the measurements at lunchtime and will report back then, All in all, I cheated twice in 8 days which I think is not bad considering how restricted my intake was at times. I thought i would be "eliminating" a lot more stuff but perhaps I didn't have that much to eliminate.

What is interesting is how well I thought I functioned with such a low intake of food/calories. It makes you wonder. I would say that is the best thing to come out of this exercise. I now know that limited caloric intake will not whack me as much as I thought.

...more a bit later...

Well here we are at day 3 of the cleanse and today has been BRUTAL! Nothing but liquids and 2 of these rabbit-food-like pellets at each meal.

I cheated...I had a slice of pizza at dinner with the family...I just couldn't resist it...it just looked soooooooooo good, but interestingly only tasted so-so.

They say that sleeping is a priority at this point in the cleanse...kinda wondering if that is because when you sleep you're not eating...but could also be because of the stress on your body from either the lack of food or just the toxin release into the system...more tomorrow...

Cleanse Day 2:

Today was not too bad at all in terms of hunger...but the headache I've had building all day has almost been too much to bear. I got some pics and measurements taken today also so it will be interesting to see where those compare to 7-8 days from now.

Tomorrow the hard part starts...2 days of fasting featuring only water and some liquid supplements from Isagenix. A cetain amount of cheating is "allowed" within reason as long as the cheating is decent quality, healthy food such as organic apples or hard-boiled eggs...that sort of thing...

We'll see...ciao for now...

Well here we are...day 1...was on auto-pilot this morning and had a single cup of coffee before I remembered that this is day 1 and coffee (and beer, wine, and some other niceties) are disallowed for 9 days. So far today I've had 1 shake which was pretty good tasting actually along with 1 "Accelerator" tablet...will see what happens with that one.

...lots of water...

Lunch was just a bowl of vegetable soup and a bit of Rigatoni with the kids. Dinner will be a la breakfast and at 10pm I'll have something called Isaflush tabs which are part of the cleansing program. Right now I'm on a 2-day "pre-cleanse" before the official 7-day program starts.

...not doing too bad so far but I am clearly hungrier than normal and I had to fight the wheel driving past Starbuck's on the way to the office. I'm also planning to read a lot more when the hunger hits...should be an interesting 9 days!

Bill

Hi again. I'm going to be starting a 9-11 day "cleanse" early next week as a precursor to actually beginning more focussed training for a short triathlon in late-June or early-July. I'll be on a program recommended by a friend of mine. The protocol (and supporting nutrition) is by a company called Isagenix. Yes...it's MLM...but I cannot fault the results I have seen with my own eyes with my (already lean/fit) friend.

I cannot say I will be training a lot while under the regime as it involves a restricted diet and a few days of fasting thrown in, but I will commit to working my abs every day using the Abs of Steel for Men video. I may just get to the Y for some basic/light training just to keep up what little momentum I've built since the ski race. I am kinda scared since I don't think I've EVER gone a whole day without food in my life...let alone 2 whole days...

NO COFFEE...'nuff said there...

I have been back to the Y for general weights and bike/elliptical, but nothing I would call focussed training yet...but it's coming. The ski race got me pumped a bit and I would like to ensure I get in 2-3 triathlons this summer...and about 10 books.

I'll be blogging daily about my experiences...beginning with a weigh-in and getting measured up on Sunday. The program is basically designed to de-tox my body and also to switch on the body's fat-burning system.

Wish me luck...my feeling is that this is gonna be tough!

Sigh...I'm back.

Well, it's been a truly brutal year so far...flu rampaged through the family in February and my son would basically not sleep all of January...but things are looking up finally!

I managed to finish the Hardwood Hills Fischer XC-ski loppet (20km on a broken boot) this past Saturday in a dismally slow time. But hey, considering I've done about 6 "workouts" so far this year...not bad at all to finish a race in a sport that clearly is the most aerobically demanding of all.

In fact, I'm totally stoked to train for XC-skiing...all other aerobic sports seem easy by comparison...definitely the best engine builder out there...but how do you train in the other 8 months of the year? I've got to hit the web/books/usenet/forums to find out the answer.

I'm still pretty sore from the race but I plan to get back to the Y by Friday and start the ball rolling again...back to basics for now...but will look into getting some roller skiis...perhaps another 2-3 weeks left on the snow.

Stand by!!