my 8 week challenge

Today wasn’t an Day 9: My first challenge as I had alluded to yesterday. Day 10 was still physical though thanks to the office street hockey league.

Lately the smoke from the BC forest fires has been preventing the sun from shining through in Calgary. It’s proof of just how small a world we actually do live in. Today was no exception and thus it was a little cooler out then it was last week. We had an amazing roster show up to play today and I think we all managed to sweat. It was intense, as any hockey game should be.

Not only is the physical aspect of the game enjoying, but winning is too. Beyond that our “commissioner” email recaps are priceless.

Aug 20

Balls of Glory (0-3) vs W-Cheap Shots (1-2)
8-11

Game Comments:

- Another solid outing as the Cheap Shots triumph over borrowed Balls. This catapults the Shots into 6th overall, certainly an impressive achievement.

- The win was the first time we saw a mythical Cyclops come off the sidelines and score. Oh wait that was actually Cam (I think we’ll leave you with the new name, it works)

- A nod to the Borrowed Balls from Kind of Rough that played hard and almost pulled it off. I have know idea how much it cost Tony but I assume it was more then the Veep’s payed for their hired guns (merely assigned them).

If you’re wondering, we’re the Cheap Shots. I’m not sure how we came up with the name but I’m sure that you can figure it out. Like I’ve mentioned before, I was voluntold I was playing, but it sure is fun.

As a quick side note, please don’t forget to be honest with me, like I am with you. It will take five minutes — at the most.

Today was Day 9 and honestly the first time I’ve really faced a challenge in completing my goal of being active and sweating every day. I’m happy to say I didn’t give up.

I didn’t take work out gear to the office today intentionally. It was my intention to go for an evening bike ride with my daughter in tow. Sadly that almost didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t anything wrong with either of us but the forecast definitely turned a little for the worse. I heard rumours of thunderstorm warnings again in Calgary and intense wind. Add to that after a nice steak dinner tonight I really didn’t want to go anywhere. In fact I started contemplating what other activities I could consider physical activity. I think that’s really why I mowed the back lawn, just in case I needed an excuse.

As luck would have it the weather actually held up nicely. We didn’t eat dinner too late today providing us with some daylight hours for a ride. Ava was super excited to go for a bike ride and Monica got to see her new bike trailer for the first time; I think she actually enjoyed it.

We hit the streets and paths for an hour long bike ride covering roughly 8 miles. My heart rate was up and I even managed to sweat a little in the cool breeze. Biking along we noticed the sun trying to peak out from behind a cloud. More appropriately Ava said “peak a boo” to it, so I figured I had to stop for a quick photo. We saw lots of dogs and a few bunny rabbits too and genuinely had a fun time cruising the paths in northeast Calgary only once getting a strange look. Oh well. Their loss as I was the one gaining the benefit.

Tomorrow is street hockey day (hoping to move from 0-2) plus I intentionally left my car at the office. Looks like it’s an “insane Friday” coming up. Bike to work, probably 7 miles since I’ll take the long way. Street hockey at lunch — it’s like intervals or weird fartlek sessions. Then a bike ride home…or toss it in the back of the car. That one’s up for grabs still. Either way, I know I’ll be moving tomorrow and as much as my body may not be looking forward to it, I know I am. What are you looking forward to tomorrow?

While I was running today for my Day 8 activity, I was trying to think about what I might blog about tonight — and then it came to me. I was running without music and have for a long time. I’ve run a complete full marathon without music. Just complete a half marathon without music and typically just don’t run with music.

My first DJ gig looks a little blurry. I'm the guy on the right.

Don’t get me wrong, I love music. It’s in my blood. Back in the day (wow I sound old all of a sudden) I was a DJ and loved it. Now though the music I get is in the car, the house or playing through my iPhone while sitting in front of the computer attempting to get work done.

Some people can’t exercise or run without music. Thankfully I’m not like that. I get into my own state of mind, almost like a form of meditation. I often solve various code problems while running but lately I’ve been listening to my own tunes that play in my head. This week I’ve had ”I come from a land down under…” by Men at Work on repeat in my head. It’s particularly disturbing that I continuously repeat the part about a Vegemite sandwich. When biking to the Calgary Zoo the other day I had a Justin Bieber tune going through my head…yikes!!

No matter how I look at it, I just enjoy running without headphones in my ears. I also allows me to hear the screeches from hawks dive bombing me or circling overhead. When you run or exercise, do you prefer tunes or just the ramblings of your own mind?

Today was the day that Terri drew on me, pinched me, pushed me and even shot me. It was Day 7 of my eight week challenge and the day that I finally had my first fitness assessment.

Terri, my mobile personal trainer, was great. She explained all the various different things that were going to be done in advance in a way that I understood. Of course she also mentioned the basics of breathing. Inhale on the rest through the nose, then exhale through the mouth on the effort portion of the movement. Then there was also the discussion around engaging my core. She explained there were two ways to this; the body builder on stage way using the outer abdominal muscles and then the way to do it during exercise which tightens the inner muscles. Essentially, stick your finger in your belly button and pull your belly button in towards your spine. That’s truly activating the core and I have to remember to do that with every exercise. This stuff is work.

This assessment was the first that I’ve ever had like this — at least as best as I can recall. We did the Harvard Test, which really made me sweat. Essentially it’s a bunch of step ups on a bench that’s 20″ off the ground at a fixed pace…which was actually a challenge to keep up with.

Then came the flexibility test. I had a good laugh when she mentioned that was a part of the assessment. Being a self-proclaimed runner I should stretch regularly; that doesn’t really happen so much. I knew that things were tight and that was pretty much the overall conclusion I think she came to. Especially once we did the Thomas Test — now those muscles were tight.

I’m very excited to see what she compiles for me and to really see what the survey says other than there’s room for improvement. Next week when we meet again I get my first program to do. Expect to see me in the gym a minimum of three times a week. Toss all the other activity on that like street hockey, bike rides and running and I should be in great shape in eight weeks.

It just struck me that this marks one week already. Only seven more to go. My legs hurt, my arms are shaking and I’m looking forward to more!

Yesterday Ava and I bought a bike trailer so that we could go on bike rides together. It was on our ride that we started to talk about biking to the Calgary Zoo today. I’m happy to say that on Day 5 we actually biked to and from the zoo — 11 miles each direction with a good variation of climbs and descents.

I was a little nervous this morning before we left on our adventure. Not because of the unknown route, the speed limitations of the bike trailer and speed limits on the pathways, but I was nervous because I had no clue if there were bike racks available at the zoo. I tried searching Google for mention of bike racks at the Calgary Zoo and came up empty. Naturally I also checked the zoo’s website. Again, nothing to be found. I then turned to the Twitterverse for an answer and resorted to calling the zoo switchboard to find out; they weren’t answering.

I figured that we would embark on our adventure regardless of bike racks at the zoo or not. Worst case, I knew there would be something the bike could be locked to. We packed up the trailer and took off on the adventure — destination zoo.

When we finally arrived, I found bike racks conveniently located at the north gate of the Calgary Zoo. We locked up the bike and quickly converted the bike trailer to stroller mode and wheeled on in to the zoo. We checked out a hippo, giraffes and the Canadian Wild. My advice, and no doubt Monica will laugh at this, avoid the Canadian Wild section at the zoo. Her line is something like “I can see it or hit it on a drive in the mountains,” which may be true, but it honestly was lacklustre. We made a quick exit and headed to watch the elephants for our lunch time and had a blast.

We didn’t check out tigers, or lions or even the play structures. It was a weird zoo trip but Ava said she had fun. We hopped back on the bike for the 11 mile uphill climb back home. I never realized before just how much more downhill the zoo is from where we live. I guess it makes sense since downtown is really in the river valley and the zoo is quite close. Ava passed out on the ride back home which has me thinking that she really can sleep anywhere. It also has me thinking of doing more rides with her in the coming weeks. Any suggestions on must ride areas in Calgary?

Today is Day 4 and I’m happy to say that I definitely got some physical activity today. This weekend I’m playing Mr. Mom while ‘mom’ is off in Vegas playing. That sounds wrong but I know you get the idea. I’m the sole person responsible for Ava’s life this weekend and while it’s not anything new, it’s definitely new while trying to really get active.

Initially my thought was to simply take her to the Calgary Zoo and walk around for a while. We have a membership there that has paid for itself time and time again. Today Ava requested her stroller. “Great,” I thought to myself. This meant I could walk a little faster while she cruised in her stroller to elevate my heart rate. It worked for a while until she wanted to run around and push the stroller herself. Not being one to restrict physical activity, I granted the princess her wish.

I could have stopped there and highly considered that being my physical activity for the day. I definitely broke a sweat when the sun came out as I still had my hoody on. To me though, it felt cheap — like an imitation Gucci hand bag from Thailand or Singapore. I needed something more. I was heading to Canadian Tire to get a street hockey stick for that street hockey league I’m in and decided I’d stop to have a look at bike trailers.

I had been contemplating a bike trailer for quite some time but never really investigated one. Luckily for me they were on sale today. I asked Ava which one she wanted. “The red one or blue one” and she pointed and asked for the blue one. Naturally in fine daughter fashion, she selected the more expensive one. I was happy to pay the difference knowing that Schwin is a quality name and it was what she wanted.

On the way home Ava passed out in her car seat. I mean it had been a long day at the zoo and shopping. I took her and put her down for a nap so I could work. Putting the Schwin Bike Trailer together was very easy. The manual was easy to understand as well. I had it all together and fastened to the bike in under thirty minutes; and that includes reading the manual first.

Once Ava woke from her nap she was excited to see the surprise that I had gotten her. I could barely keep her out of it so decided to load it up with snacks and drinks to head out for a bike ride before dinner. The only drawback to the bike trailer is the maximum speed rating on it of 10 miles per hour. It was very hard to keep the bike that slow. In fact I peaked at roughly 17 mph…my bad. She lived to tell the tale and thoroughly enjoyed the speed. Seeing as it was a slower pace than I had wanted, it was harder to sweat. I decided duration was what was needed. We ended up cycling 10.5 miles in 1:22 mainly on paths and side walks in the area around our home. We’ve decided that tomorrow we’re going back to the Calgary Zoo to see the hippos, only this time we’re biking. Based on plotting out my route on mapmyride.com in parallel with the City of Calgary Bike Route Map, it looks like it will be 10 or 10.5 miles each way. Of course this depends on which route we take. Honestly I’m leaning more towards the longer one only because it’s 95% path compared to the other which is probably 80%. The difference is road riding that has been designated a bike route.

No matter how I look at it, I’m getting more excited every day and tomorrow will be a fun adventure. What’s not to love about getting out and enjoying the fresh air and amazing path system that Calgary has to offer?

Today is almost over and Day 3 coming to an end. It was a busy day at the office today but I still managed to sneak away for a quick ride on the stationary bike. And by quick, it was definitely quick; maybe brief is a better word to describe it. I rode 3.5 miles, the equivalent of riding to or from work, only today I did it in 8:30. Yes only eight minutes and thirty seconds. It was brief. EAVB_LZONTHVJFA

No matter how brief the activity is, I’m still convinced that there’s benefit — positive benefit. Going forward I’m going to set a minimum 15 minute threshold on all activity though with a larger goal of 30 minutes when running since one of my goals is to run another full marathon this year.

Though I am curious to know if you’ve got any other ideas on quick activities to get the heart racing that can be accomplished during the day — other than the stressful meetings?

Day 2 is in in the books and it has been a long one. I went out last night with some business partners to discuss our plan for a unique workshop website and ended up at the Amsterdam Rhino in downtown Calgary. It was a beautiful night and the hidden patio was the perfect setting for a few pints of beer and sharing some buckets of bacon. Yes, I said buckets of bacon. And who can forget the genuine maple syrup shooter that I did as well.

It was somewhere between leaving the Rhino and waking up that I determined I might want to also find a nutritionist. Clearly lots of beer and bacon won’t help me with weight loss and feeling healthier. It was also somewhere along the way I also decided I was going to bike to work.

After finally getting to bed at about 12:20 this morning I rolled out of bed on the first ring of the alarm at 6:20, packed my clothes for the day and hopped on the bike to get to work. I remembered everything I needed except for one crucial item. It’s always a quick ride in the morning (based on the 2 previous times I attempted it) and the 3 miles flew by. A quick shower and I was at my desk shortly after 7:00 am.

Home time came around 4:15 and the reverse was undertaken. Change into the riding clothes and hop on the bike, only this time it was pouring rain, cold and a little windy. The route home is slightly different and stretches to 3.6 miles but still provided for a great ride home and of course the mandatory sweat. Upon arriving home I was drenched. My shoes were soaked to the core, though interestingly enough the right foot more than the left. This has lead me to my plea for knowledge on how to clean running shoes.

Overall today I feel amazing and look forward to sweating tomorrow. I’m tired, but that can be easily remedied by an early night.

By the way, if you have any tips on cleaning shoes, please leave a comment — I will be forever grateful.

It’s officially Day 1 of my eight week challenge. It excites me that eight weeks from today I’ll be leaving on a jet plane for sunny beaches. Ideally it will be right when Calgary gets slammed with a freak snow storm — that just makes vacation that much more enjoyable.

Today is hump day and while I won’t be including that kind of sweat and physical activity in my details, it did start off my challenge in a memorable way in the form of a game of street hockey. At work I was volun-told that I was playing street hockey with other members of my department. It originally started out as a casual game of pickup between a few guys about four months ago. Before long it caught on and turned into a league complete with divisions, playoffs, a trophy and even a commissioner that oversees the league. I figured that it was a unique way to break up the day, add some sweat and extra physical activity in my day.

When game time came I quickly realized I hadn’t picked up a hockey stick in probably 20 years. Growing up I never played hockey other than with the neighbours out front of my parents house; usually in the cold of a Winnipeg winter on the street. Occasionally there were some warmer season games, but I just didn’t get out there much.

We lost the game and it was evident that I need some more work on my hockey skills. Red Green always used to say “keep your stick on the ice” at the end of his show and so my stick was on the road. What he also needed to say was “keep your head up” — yeah, that would be some good advice. Thankfully it’s not a highly competitive physical game.

Tomorrow will be the official eight-week start of my challenge and eight weeks until my vacation. Even though I don’t have the website setup completely yet and haven’t met with my mobile personal trainer or done any physical assessment, I figure why not start doing something today?

I love to run. On my personal site I have a page dedicated to my runs. I’ll admit, it hasn’t been updated in a long time. Last year I set a goal to run my first full marathon. A full 26.2 miles. I completed the 2009 Honolulu Marathon in 4:44. It was slower than I’d hoped for initially, but I use the crazy Calgary weather as my excuse for my lack of training in the month of December.

This past June 20 I ran a half marathon in the Manitoba Marathon in Winnipeg — a race that I first ran in 1991. In fact I first ran in the Super Run, a quick 2.6 miles, back in 1987. As you can see, I’ve been running for a while. I’ve also not run for a long period of time during the last 23 years since that first race.

One of my goals is to do something physical everyday. Honestly, to sweat every day. Yes I know that’s part of the lululemon manifesto, but I think it works, so I plan to do it. Today I pulled on the running shoes for the first time in almost two-weeks — which was over a month since my half marathon run. The weather wasn’t so great so I hit the dreaded treadmill. I say dreaded as I’d rather run outdoors even in snow and cold — I just wasn’t prepared properly.

It was a quick run; literally. I ran for fifteen minutes cover 1.5 miles — roughly a 10:00/mi pace. That’s slow for me and a very short distance. I figure doing this during the middle of the work day though is still a good fifteen minutes that most people don’t take and even the little bit will help me out.

My day zero is in the books and I definitely did sweat. Like the title of this post says, why not start today? What have you put off, even if only for a day, that you could start right now — or at least today?