Life Changes, for everyone

And now there are 2

2012-02-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

Last night marked the 1st night that Youngest Son tried speed skating (sorry, no photos yet). He did exceptionally well for his first time and showed some decent speed at first. Other than being a little tired (with sore legs), he said he liked it and wants to go back (at least for the 3 remaining try-it sessions).

He will now be referred to as Speed Skating Son. :)

One proud... moment

2012-02-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

Today was our speed skating club's yearly ability meet, that speed skating daughter was registered for. The way that she has been skating since learning how to do her crossovers, my wife and I figured she would skate some PB's. That meant, the whole family HAD to come out to watch her skate. It turned out that both my parents, and my in-laws made the 1 hr trip to watch. Right from the first race where she took the lead at the start and didn't give it up until the race was over, we knew she would do well. In the finals of that distance (222m), she finished 2nd overall. That meant she would receive a 2nd place ribbon, which made her smile from ear-to-ear. At that point, I mentioned to her that if she did well in the next distance (111m), she might have enough overall points to win a medal (top 3 in each group). That motivated her and again she finished 1st in her preliminary heat. In the finals she started strong and only lost in the last 3 m of the race. Another 2nd place ribbon for the distance and a 2nd place medal overall.

The interesting thing about this is that we went to watch this meet last year and speed skating daughter said then that she really wanted to try speed skating. That is some great progress to go from never doing it to finishing 2nd overall (in her age category) in 1 year.

Today was a very proud day for speed skating daughter (and mommy & daddy). Can't wait to see what other meets have in store for her.

Here's a few other pics from the day.

All it takes is time... and practice

2012-01-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

I’m not sure if I already mentioned it, but before the snow fell, I built a small rink for my kids in my backyard. By small I mean, 19’ x 40’. With the cold weather now upon us, they have been out on it several times, and all 3 keep asking to go out, even in -25o C weather.

Because of the rink, speed skating daughter learnt to do crossovers using hockey skates, only son has gone from barely walking on the ice, to full on strides and glides and oldest daughter states that she can now do crossovers using her figure skates even though I figured she could already do them (she argues no). So all 3 have become better in a short amount of time. That, in my opinion, makes building a backyard rink a HUGE SUCCESS!

Last night, at speed skating daughter’s first practice since before Christmas, she was able to do crossovers using her speed skates and now realized that she can maintain a good pace on the turns. With over 1 month before the club’s official meet, she has plenty of time to become better at doing crossovers and improve her 333m, 222m, and 111m times. Time will tell.

If only son continues at this pace of improvement, I will sign him up for the try-it-before-registering speed skating sessions, as he mentions he wants to do speed skating like his older sister. That means, I could have 2 kids, and possibly my Dad and myself, registered at the club next season. I hope they give family discounts. :)

BTW, that is me, speed skating daughter (bottom), only son (on knees) and speed skating daughter’s friend on the ice, with family dog just off the ice. Oldest daughter was away on a sleep over that night.

Rare opportunity

2011-12-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, my daughter's speed skating coach asked me if I'd be interested in attending a day long seminar with a National Team Coach. The catch was that it was on a Friday, just before Christmas. After looking at how much leave I still had left, I quickly said yes to this limited opportunity.

It turns out that my daughter's coach happens to be the sister of Jonathon Cavar and he is planning on being home for the holidays. This allowed the club, along with our coach, the opportunity to secure some ice time and have him put on a full day of on and off ice training, for both our club's coaches, our competitive skaters, and coaches and skaters from neighboring clubs.

It should be lots of fun and informative and should really help me when working with the kids from my daughters club. I'm really looking forward to it.

A star is born

2011-12-21T07:41:00.001-05:00

Last night was my children's school Christmas Nutcracker play. My oldest daughter had the lead, while my other 2 children had minor roles. One being a fairy, while the other was a mouse. Even though the 2 youngest had no lines, just actions to perform, they were all excited to be part of the play.

This play marked the first time that the school has done anything for Christmas in many years, and to my surprise, people came out in full force to see the presentation. So many people showed up that they had to pull out extra chairs for them to sit on. That is always a good thing.

The play started right on time, and everything went extremely well. Between each set, while they changed the background, various students sang Christmas songs. Overall, the play, and singing, lasted nearly 1 hour, making it an enjoyable evening for all.

My daughter, who had the most lines in the play, performed exceptionally well, with no mistakes. My other 2 were all smiles when their parts came up. The joy I felt seeing all of them on stage was wonderful, and my oldest daughter seemed to bask in the fact that she was the star of the show.

Maybe this is the beginning of a new path for her.

Well that changes everything

2011-12-16T10:24:00.002-05:00

(crying)Mommy, my tummy hurts.
wife: Did you go to the bathroom?
Yes, and it still hurts.
me: Go try again, you might have more.
I’m bleeding.
wife: That happens.
Not there...

That was roughly my wife and I’s conversation with our 9½ year old daughter at roughly 3am this morning. At that point we were both up.

She had woken us up about an hour before with complaints of pain and we thought we “fixed” the issue by suggesting the bathroom. The second time, just before she said the bleeding part, I started to think that THAT could be the issue. My wife went with her in the bathroom and did the best she can to explain the situation, half asleep, at 3am in the morning.

We both knew that our little girl was growing up faster than we wanted, but before 10 seems young. I know for girls, there is no exact time as to when their bodies start changing, and I’ve heard stories of some starting as young as 8, but deep down you hope your daughter’s body can hold off until she’s a little older, say 25. :)

For my daughter, questions are now going to be asked, and hopefully my wife can answer them (I know I sure can't). I wish her well on this journey into womanhood and I will do my best to help her get through it (as much as a father can). There will be painful days, and there will be wonderful days. But starting today, I/we have to stop treating her like a little girl, but a blossoming young woman.

I’m not sure I’m ready for that.

Dominated the Dojo

2011-12-12T19:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday marked the last day for the Fall Karate session. This meant that it was Test day for everybody who was ready to move up belt levels.

Since this is our first attempt at doing Karate, all 3 of my kids, and myself, are White belts. Understandable. For the past 6 weeks, the whole club has been working on getting ready to do this test. With the fact that the first few Kata’s are straight-forward and I’m athletically inclined, I’ve had a solid understanding of what to do for several weeks now. So much that, I’ve been helping the other White belts practice. This is not your typical scenario where a White belt is teaching other White belts the Kata’s to become a Yellow belt, but I had no issues with it and the other White belts didn’t seem to mind (probably because I was older that most, and the only man doing them). This left me feeling very confident that I would successfully pass my Yellow belt test. Having to do them in-front of the whole group left me a little nervous, but I completed the required 2 Kata's with only 1 minor mistake.

Leading up to the test, Soki and the other Sensei’s started commenting on how many push-ups, sit-ups and squats we would need to complete to pass the test. Originally I had heard that 50 sit-ups were required to pass your yellow belt, but now we were hearing that it was 100. Nice to know 1 week before the test, especially since I had never really gone past 50 in any class. I originally thought it was Soki and the Sensei’s fooling with us, since they did conflict themselves on several occasions (no it’s 150... no it’s 75... no it’s 100...). Oh well, suck it up and move on. As for push-ups, the number 50 was correct, but this time you had to do them with a partner, where your partner would make a fist and hold it under your chest (on the ground) and you would have to lower yourself and touch it, to make it count. Again, none of this was relayed to us through the sessions, so this was a little harder than expected, but I managed to do it. After those were done, and my partner finished his, I did another 5 more on my knuckles for practice. Only Blue belts and higher are required to do their push-ups on their knuckles, but practicing now will only make them easier in the long run.

After all sit-ups and push-ups were completed, we moved on to techniques. Techniques are a series of moves (kinda like Kata's) where a fight situation is acted out and you actually throw your opponent around on a mat. The other difference between techniques and Kata's is that only those over 18 years of age learn them. In order to progress to your Yellow belt, 3 techniques must be demonstrated, which I did with ease. This was then followed up with several different kicks and finished off with 60 seconds of continuous punching (a mat held by your partner).

Our last test was to complete 100 squats. I heard on several occasions that we would have to do this as the last part of the test, but I never practiced them, nor did we do them during class. I figured I could muscle through them. Well, not so easily. I finished them, but my legs were done afterwards, so much, that it was difficult kneeling down as everybody was receiving their new belts.

Today, my chest and legs are sore, and I’m guessing that tomorrow will be more of the same (the 2nd day is always worse for some odd reason). In the end, my oldest daughter and I successfully completed our Yellow belt test, while speed skating daughter and son completed their ‘Peewee’ Yellow belt. The difference between a full Yellow and a Peewee Yellow belt is part age and only needing to learn 1 Kata. Speed skating daughter was not happy that she only had the opportunity to test for the ‘Peewee’ Yellow belt, as she learned the other Kata through me (at home) and was doing it fairly well. Unfortunately, Soki was not aware that she knew it and he felt she was not old enough to progress to the full belt, so in the end she will remain a half belt behind her big sister. Motivation for future belts I’m sure.

At this point, we have decided to take a 3-month break (length of the next session), but fully plan on returning in the spring. Having a few less activities during the months were getting out is not always the easiest and/or quickest thing to do, is a good thing.

More to follow in the spring.

In the meantime, enjoy the true meaning of “Dominating the Dojo” as brought to you by Kramer.

Kramer Karate Sessions

She might be getting it

2011-12-12T06:53:00.000-05:00

With my work schedule and the fact that we live 1 hr from the speed skating club, we don’t always make it on time to do some off-ice training before the practice session begins. This past week was one of those weeks, I knew that beforehand, so I asked my daughter, last Monday, if she wanted to go do some off-ice training to make up for it. She was eager to do so, and her brother and sister wanted to join us. I tried convincing my wife to walk while we did our thing, but she made other plans. Maybe next time.

The location we went to is frequently used by people for indoor walking, so I expected some people to already be there. I informed my kids that they need to pay attention to the others around, and to stay on the outer edge of the walkway when running, and on the inside edge when walking. The walkway is marked accordingly, but it doesn’t hurt to re-iterate the fact to the kids. Show respect, get respect.

We started off with 1 lap walking and the followed it up with 1 lap light jog. During the jog, speed skating daughter stayed in front with a faster than I wanted pace. Her older sister had problems keeping up, and I had to keep calling out to her to slow down. My son would start off in a full run and then stop after about 20 seconds, so I would walk with him until he was ready to start up again. We did that until the lap was complete.

We followed that up with crossover runs, 1 full lap. I made them face one way for half the lap and then face the other way for the second half, so to work both legs evenly. For those that don’t know, a crossover run is when you face 90 degrees from the direction you are going and you start running sideways. Instead of side stepping, your back leg crosses over in front of your front leg and then behind your front leg. Essentially your hips are doing a twist while you run. It really teaches balance while improving your push-off strength. The point of this one is to start off slow and increase your speed as you become comfortable. Speed skating daughter is getting pretty good at this one, while the other 2 kept getting confused on their stepping.

After that, we did a 3 step kick drill. I encouraged my kids to start off walking and once they got the motion, to try it while jogging. Speed skating daughter took this as more of a jog with the occasional kick, and since she was too far ahead (due to me sticking with my son), I could not correct her. Oldest daughter was getting it while walking, but had some difficulty doing it while jogging. With time they will all get it.

Next up was stairs. The good thing about where we were doing our exercise is that in each corner of the “track” there are 2 flights of stairs. My suggestion was to walk to the corner, do a flight of stairs and then continue walking, repeating at each corner. By the time my son and I reached the first set of stairs, speed skating daughter was done (she kinda ran to the stairs), so I told her to do a 2nd set, which she did happily. On the following corner set of stairs, I suggested she try to do them using crossovers. I also asked that she hold on to the railing so to no fall. Again, she did them two times and only commented that it was hard, but she was still happy. For the 3rd corner set, I ask that she hop up each stair with both feet at the same time. Again, two times with a smile. The last set were done normally and again she wanted to do them two times. It’s hard to say no when she asks if she could do them again.

By this time everybody was getting tired, but I didn’t think we were done, so I asked if they could do 1 more thing. Other than speed skating daughter, a few groans came out. This time I suggested a slow jog around the track with each step over extended to the side. This drill really works on your push off as you focus more on going side to side instead of directly forward. I have to say, this was much harder than expected.

At the end of that lap, speed skating daughter wanted to do a fast lap, while the other two were getting tired. I said OK and told her to keep going until the lap was done, but I would stay with the other 2. Oldest daughter tried to keep up with speed skating daughter, but you could tell that that wasn’t going to happen. Speed skating daughter was becoming faster and had more endurance than her older sister. When I commented on that a little later on, at home, speed skating daughter was all smiles (yes she is very competitive with her sister and brother).

We finished off the training with a cool-down walking lap, and all 3 mentioned that their hearts were beating fast, but all still felt good. My heart rate was definitely up as well.

If anyone is interested in some off-ice training exercises, the Midland Speed Skating Club offers some good ideas, with training videos. Check them out.

Since our off-ice training session, I’ve been encouraging speed skating daughter to work on doing crossovers. She said to me that she wants to wait until next year before trying, but last practice found her giving them a try on several occasions.

I think she is getting it.

Another meet

2011-12-08T18:33:00.000-05:00

Spent Saturday past at another speed skating meet with my daughter. Here’s a recap of what happened.

This meet was organized differently than our previous meet. Instead of ladder format, the kids would skate 2 separate distances (222m and 111m), bracketed by age, and randomly put into skating groups. The winner of each skating group, followed by a few other skaters (based on best time posted) would skate in the age bracket’s ‘A’ final, with the remaining skaters skating in the the ‘B’ and ‘C’ finals. Each skater would receive points based on where they finished, and both race point totals added together to finalize a ranking for the day. This meant, depending on how she would finish, she had an opportunity to winner some awards. A little motivation for her.

The day started off early as her group was the first to be on the ice. Her first race was the 222m (or 2 laps) and as soon as the gun went off, she fell. She managed to get up quickly and still posted a decent time, finishing 7th overall for her age bracket. This meant she would not skate in the ‘A’ finals. In the ‘B’ final they had 6 skaters (normally there is only 4) and right at the first corner, several of the skaters became tangled and my daughter fell (along with 2 other skaters). It took her a few extra seconds to get back up and she ended up finishing next to last in the group, 10th overall. At the time we were not aware that ribbons were given out to the top 8 finishers. We only found out later when her skating friend from our club (coach’s daughter) ended up finishing 8th overall and she received a ribbon. You could see a little disappointment on my daughters face, so I mentioned if she skated well (and didn’t fall) in her next race, she would have a chance to receive a ribbon.

After lunch, the kids went out for the 111m (1 lap) race. This time she had a good result, finishing 2nd in her group, 7th overall. That left her in the ‘B’ final, but this time, the ‘B’ final only had 4 skaters (with 4 in the ‘A’ final), guaranteeing her a top 8 finish and a ribbon (so I figured). Her friend was also in the same ‘B’ final. She was happy with the thought that she might win a ribbon, but she also commented on how she wanted to beat her friend, since her friend now held the advantage 3 to 2. One thing that really stood out for me between the first 111m race and the finals was that both girls were really interested in watching the older kids skate. During the morning break, both girls wanted to colour and play, but not in the afternoon. To me, that is a sign of someone who wants to learn and become better. I then mentioned to both girls, that they should watch how the older kids do their crossovers, and how it makes them faster. Need to keep planting the seed.

The ‘B’ finals went smoothly for all skaters and my daughter ended up finishing 7th, with a time slightly slower than her previous race. Her friend finished 8th, making their little competition tied again. Overall, she was happy with her results, other than falling, and she came home (early than our other meet) with a ribbon that listed her name, finishing position, and time. Winning something is always a huge encouragement to do better, especially when her friend won 2 ribbons to her 1.

On a side note, my daughter ended up finishing 9th overall (out of 11) for the day, based on the points she received from her 222m race and her 111m race, while her friend finished 8th. Everybody starts off somewhere, now to see if she can improve.

Thoughts on my 1st speed skating meet

2011-11-25T19:23:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, my speed skating daughter attended her first meet (competition). Here is the story about that momentous event. Hey, who knows, my daughter could one day skate for Team Canada and having a record of her first time is good. Besides, I’m a proud parent, so why not tell her story to the world.

My original plan for her this year was to wait until the club had their meet (February 2012) before she would compete. IMO, this would allow her 5 months to become a better skater before dealing with the competitive side of the sport. After 2 months of seeing her greatly improve, hearing from other skaters and parents on how this particular meet was an excellent choice for a skater’s first competition, and asking her if should would like to try it out, she/we decided to register for it. Things never go as planned. As it turned out, 35 other skaters from our club would also be attending, so there would be plenty of familiar faces there, making it easier for her (and us).

A quick note about the meet. The fact that many people considered this meet to be an excellent first meet is that it is a ladder meet. This means that no matter your age, you are seeded based on your best time submitted. After each race, skaters are re-seeded accordingly. This allows skaters to feel like with each race, they have a chance to finish first, since the other kids in the race finished their last race with a similar time as their own.

Although she wanted to go to the meet, it was scheduled for the same weekend as her birthday, and she really wanted a birthday party. This meant that we had to work things around so that she could go and still have the party. It also meant that the party would not turn into a sleep-over like she had hoped, which was disappointing for her while making me happier (I’m sorry, as a father, having your house invaded by 7 little girls for a whole night is not high up on my enjoyment list). After all birthday plans were finalized, all that was left was to plan for the meet.

With the meet location almost 2 hrs away from where we live (remember our club is 1hr from our home), we decided to go up the night before and stay in a hotel, so to not have an over-tired little girl at her first meet. Before deciding to stay over night, I had talked to several parents about what they have done in the past. Several commented that the meets their kids didn’t perform well at were the ones they had to wake up early and drive a long time to get there. Not that I think my daughter is a top caliber speed skater and having her a little tired might make the difference between finishing 1st overall or not, it was just easier than dealing with a grumpy little girl at 5 am and later on in the day. Those of us with kids know that there is a line that they all pass at some point in the day that turns adorable well-behaved children into grumpy-crying-rude-we-should-have-stopped-having-kids-before-you creatures. I love my kids, but there are days that I don’t really LIKE them. So a hotel was booked.

On the day of the race we arrived at the rink at 7:30am. To our surprise, we were not the first from our club, not even close. Once the coach came into the change room, she announced the warm-up schedule. Being that my daughter is a) young, b) not fast and c) all races went by fastest to slowest, she was put in the last warm-up group. That gave us over 1 hour before she would go on the ice. For those of you who don’t already know, most rink’s change rooms are not too big. Add to the fact that there were 36 skaters from our club in one room, ranging from the youngest skaters to the masters group, throw in the fact that there were parents there helping their kids out, the room was over full. This meant that we had to plan our getting dressed accordingly, and once the racing started, things would clear up a bit.

Nearly 3 hours into the meet (includes arriving and practice time), my daughter was stepping on the ice for her first race. Leading up to the start I kept reminding her to have fun and try her best. I also told her that if she fell, get up and keep racing until the whistle went. I think I was more nervous than she was. One good thing about this race was that her coach’s daughter was in her group and competing with her. This gave her someone to stand and sit beside (read: talk to) on the bench when getting in-place for the race. My daughter’s first race went off nicely. She didn’t fall and she managed to finished 2nd (out of 4). She also had a Personal Best time. Yes, I know this was her first official race, meaning no matter what time she had, it would be considered a PB, but her time was nearly 3 seconds faster than when the club tested her (which was the time we submitted for this meet). She came off the ice all smiles, and I was there to greet her, all smiles. Success!

With nearly 160 skaters participating in the meet, we found out that it would be a while before she would race again. If anyone has ever been to the Cataraqui Community Center, you know how cold it is. It seems that when the center was being built, nobody took into consideration that people may want to sit in the stands and watch, and those people would like to feel a little warmth. Because of this lack of thinking, the heaters were installed too close to the ice, and they couldn't be turned on or the ice near the boards would melt. That meant those sticking around and watching the races would have to endure being cold (very cold). The change rooms were very warm, but you couldn’t see the races from there. We decided to hang out in our vehicle between races, let her relax away from the others while playing with some toys she brought, have some “healthy” snacks, and stay warm.

Nearly 2 hours later and she was getting back on the ice for her 2nd race. Again, the coach’s daughter was in her group, and these 2 little girls we starting to become BFF’s. Even though they practice together twice a week, there isn’t much time to chit-chat on the ice, so friendships really aren’t built. Spend a whole day together in the change room and on the ice, friendships begin to blossom. For her 2nd race, they added a 5th skater to the group and this time though, she didn’t have as good of a race with her falling several times and finishing last. Albeit she seemed disappointed with her finish, she still came off the ice smiling and commenting on how she fell. I mentioned that I liked how after she fell she got right back up and kept going. Focus on the positive.

Her 3rd race was better than her second, as she didn’t fall, but her time was not as fast as her first. You could tell that the day was starting to wear on her, but her spirits were still up (thankfully). She raced against her BFF again and finished behind her for the 2nd time, with her friend having a PB on that race. Now, competitiveness is a healthy part of life and although the 2 girls weren’t saying much, their eyes lit up when I mentioned that my daughter was down 2-1 over the 3 races to her friend. Now I’m wasn’t there to cause problems or to say that I think my daughter is better than her friend, but giving them both a little incentive to skate a little faster is good.

Knowing that there would only be 1 more race and that my daughter had celebrated her birthday the day before the meet, my wife and I had brought in a cake to share with all the club. It also turned out that there were 4 other club members who were celebrating their birthday in November, so this became a club celebration.

Either it was knowing that it the last race for the day, or the sugar rush she got from the cake, or the fact that she was racing her friend again and wanted to beat her, my daughter came out strong. She was leading the group as she started her 3rd and final lap. Unfortunately, right around the start line, she had a little fall allowing 2 skaters to pass her and ended up finishing 3rd, still ahead of her friend. She came off the ice saying how she was leading and was close to winning the race, but wasn’t upset that she fell. Although the times weren’t posted immediately, I later found out that with the fall, her time was a little slower than her PB set earlier, so we will never know if she could have beaten it. I did tell her that she had a chance to beat it and to skate like that at her next event and she would get a new PB. Give her something to strive for.

As the day ended, she wanted to go to the awards ceremony, not because she thought she would win, but to see what it was like. With this type of meet, awards are given out based on how much a skater has improved since the previous year’s results. They then brake the skaters into groups based on birth month. It make sense and really favours the younger kids, as they are the ones who make great improvements (with their times) from year to year. As expected, my daughter did not win her month, since she hadn’t competed the year before, but 4 other club members did win their respective months, making this a successful meet for out club. All in all, 25 skaters from our club finished the day with new PB’s, with 4 skaters officially braking the 60 seconds barrier in the 333 m races, and 1 skater going under 60 seconds in the 500 m races. Well done to all.

After doing a little shopping (my daughter had birthday money to spend) and having some supper, we finally embarked on the 2 hr drive home, arriving later than my daughter’s typical bed time. She did fall asleep as we were getting close. Expected after the eventful day she just had. For the record, mom and dad were also very tired and didn’t stay up much later.

Sometimes Parents can give good advice

2011-11-23T20:11:00.001-05:00

Last week, my oldest daughter came home talking about the Nutcracker play their school will be hosting before Christmas. She mentioned how she wanted to be in it, so we signed the approval form and off she went.

Upon arriving home after her first rehearsal, she said she wanted to try out for either the role of Clara or the Sugar Plum Fairy. Both roles are fairly important to the play, so I expected several students to try out. Keep in mind, this play is open to all the students from Grade 3 to Grade 8, with my daughter currently in Grade 4.

That evening after supper and homework, I mentioned to my oldest daughter that she should start practicing her lines, if she wanted to get the part. She thought it was a good idea and proceeded to read all her lines several times over. During this time, her younger siblings were watching some TV and she asked if she could also go watch. I said sure, but if she wanted the main role, she should practice more. After thinking about it for a few minutes, she returned to her bedroom and kept reading.

As the kids were settling for bed, I spoke to both my daughters at the same. I said to them that people who are really good at things, like singing, acting, skating, etc, try really hard at becoming really good at things. I told them that if they practiced hard enough they could become really good at something. They seem to understand what I was telling them, but with a 9 and 7 year old, you never know.

The next day, my oldest daughter had her audition and came home all excited as she was given the role of Clara (her 1st choice). She said that she was the only one who tried to memorize her lines out of the 5 girls that tried out. I think it really sunk in that because she worked at learning her lines, she got the part.

On a side note, I think my speed skating daughter is also getting the significance of trying hard to become better. Over the past few speed skating lessons, on the times that I had to stay a bit longer to either speak with someone, or sharpen our skates, my daughter has taken it upon herself to run up and down the stairs. She has seen the bigger kids do it, while she is on the ice, and has put the two together in hopes that it will help her out.

Inspired to blog again

2011-11-20T19:45:00.000-05:00

After recently reading speedskatingmom.com, I have been inspired to start blogging again. This time, instead of blogging about me, I am going to blog about my kids activities. At the moment, my oldest daughter is involved in dancing (ballet and tap), my other daughter (middle child) is involved in speed skating, while my son (youngest of the 3) is involved in hip-hop dancing. All three take swimming lessons and all three, including myself, are involved in Karate. My son talks about how he wants to play football when he’s old enough, but that is not for another 4 years, so we will cross that bridge when we get to it. During the summer months, all three are involved in soccer. For this post, I will focus on the middle child and speed skating, because that is not your typical kid sport

A brief history on how my daughter, and eventually I, became involved in speed skating. First off, my daughter just celebrated her 7th birthday, so the fact that she wants to do speed skating blows all our minds.

Back during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, speed skating was on TV a fair bit. I, being the athletic type, was very interested in all of the Olympics, but speed skating really caught my attention. Because of this, I made a point to watch as many of the races as possible, and having only 1 TV in the house, my kids also sat through many events. At some point during one of the events the idea of her (and her brother and sister) doing that came up. I’m not sure if she said she wanted to try it or if I suggested it to them. Either way, she seemed interested, even though she had barely been on skates to that point in her life (she was 5 at the time).

The fact that she was interested stayed with me after the Olympics were done and I began researching speed skating in general and what option we had in our area. It turned out that within 1.5 hrs there were 3 clubs that offered speed skating for all ages. With the end of skating season almost over, I let that information go until after the summer months (really, who wants to think about skating when it’s sunny and warm outside). The following fall, my wife and I registered all 3 of our kids into the local CanSkate program (geared towards basic skating technique all the way to figure skating techniques) so that they could all learn to skate properly. It wasn’t speed skating, but it was skating none-the-less.

On the first day of the CanSkate program, my daughter (the one who said she wanted to speed skate) refused to go on the ice. My wife (I was already on the ice with our youngest son in his program) spent about 15 minutes (out of a 30 minute class) dealing with her crying and refusing to go. Through much of my wife’s frustration and finally physically putting her on the ice, she finally began skating with her group and by then end of the session was grinning from ear to ear (which we figured she would do). Keep in mind, this wasn’t my daughter’s first time on the ice as I had taken them several times during the winter months before to public skating events, so nothing should have upset her. Then again, she is a little girl, and girls have a tendency to be over-emotional (just my opinion). From that point on, there never was an issue getting her on the ice, and with each passing week, she became a better skater. By the time the mid-season progress reports came out, my daughter had already achieved her Level 1 AND Level 2 badge, while her older sister and younger brother had not yet reached Level 1. She was starting to show some skating talents and a month later, she received her Level 3 badge, while her older sister finally received her Level 1 badge. Progress was being achieved all around.

During each skating lesson, I was on the ice with my son who was in the Parent and Tot program. This program was taught by the club’s head coach, so I had plenty of opportunity to talk to her and at various times, she would approach me and comment on how my youngest daughter had great form, always wants to go fast, and how I should look at getting her into speed skating. Now, as parents we all think our kids are the next best thing at what ever they do, but in reality, that is not always the case, so we don’t always act upon it. When an impartial person suggest something other than their program (or something that benefits them), it is something to consider.

With this new enthusiasm about speed skating and talking with my wife and daughter about it, I restarted my search for a club for her to try it out. As it turned out, all the clubs in our area offered some type of try it out session (for a minimal fee) and the club we were interested in was having a upcoming race meet (competition), so we (the whole family) decided to go and check it out to see what it was all about. At the time, our Saturdays were already busy with all 3 kids involved in some sort of dance class, so although we wanted to go, we knew we would be limited for time. On the day of the event, we all woke up early and made the 1 hr drive to the club/arena to watch the race. We arrive shortly after it started and only had time to stay for 1 hr before heading home and getting the kids to dance lessons. During that time, my daughter could not keep her eyes off the ice and my wife and I decided right then that we would look into signing her up as soon as possible. After talking to the club secretary, we were able to register our daughter for 4 try-it-before-joining classes, that included skate rentals. All we needed to purchase/pick-up were cut-resistant gloves, glasses, helmet (we were told her other skating helmet would do fine), knee and shin pads.

After trying on some skates, she got dressed and made her way to the rink. On the way there, she commented on how the skates hurt her ankles, but she would still try it out. For the next 45 minutes (out of a possible 60), she slowly moved across the ice smiling from ear-to-ear. There was also two very proud parents in the stands smiling from ear-to-ear. As the class progressed, although still smiling, you could tell she wasn’t happy. As it turned out, the skates were causing a blister on one of her ankles. So here you had a girl crying due to pain and smiling due to the sheer enjoyment of being the only person her whole family knew on speed skates. She almost made it to the end before finally giving in to the pain and getting off the ice. Although her first experience wasn’t the best, she wanted to come back the next week, so I spoke to the equipment manager and we picked up another pair of skates. The next 3 sessions were awesome and without pain compelling us to sign her up for another 4 more sessions, taking her to the end of the season, while still working with the CanSkate program. Her ice time went from 30 minutes a week to 90 minutes a week. During this time she managed to achieve her Level 4 CanSkate badge and was selected as “CanSkate Skater of the Year” for being the youngest to work through 4 Levels during one season. At the same time, she managed to complete the first 2 levels of the Speed Skating program. That is quite an accomplishment for someone who was 6 years old and only learnt how to skate within the past year. Now don’t get me wrong, she may never become the next Marianne St-Gelais, Kristina Groves or Christine Nesbitt, but this girl loves to skate and everybody comments on how she is always smiling when she is on the ice. As a parent, when your kids find something they are passionate about, you let them follow it and see where it takes them.

Fast forward to September past and we are back on the ice. This time she is registered for the full year, has a new proper helmet, gloves that fit, and better shin and knee pads, to make everything look and feel right. The only thing she doesn’t have is a skin suit, and one has been order (albeit too big because she is small, but it will hopefully last her 2-3 years). Right from the first class you could tell that this year would be different. Gone was the slow moving girl and found was a girl who was showing skills at this sport. What wasn’t lost was that huge grin. It is amazing on how just a few months of natural growth can make a difference in a person’s ability. Add to that the fact that I convinced both my girls that training for and running a 5k race will help them with their other activities (the oldest does ballet and tap dancing, while this one chose skating over dancing). For a 6 and 9 year old, running (and partly walking) 5k with 11 thousand people is an accomplishment, and when you do it in 43 minutes, it is a big accomplishment (I did get a little chocked up when we crossed the finish line together)! Her potential to do well this year looks promising and that makes me happy that she decided to commit to it.

A few weeks into the season and the coach sends out a request for a parent to help out on the ice with my daughters group. Now even before my daughter became interested in speed skating, I wanted to try it out. Having spent many years of my youth playing competitive hockey as a goalie, I figured I could pick it up quickly, despite all the comments I have heard about how different a skating motion it is. In reality, goalie skates are not much shorter than speed skates and they both use a crosscut pattern to sharpen. This opportunity was exactly what I was looking, so I contacted her and have been skating with the club for over a month and a half now. For the record, the motion is different but I have yet to fall, and I can maintain a decent pace while doing crossovers, so all is good. Maybe in a few years, I may actually become a club member and compete, but for now, helping out the coach on the ice is fun for me, especially when I’m already at the rink.

So that is how my daughter, and I, have become involved with speed skating. In the posts to follow I will talk about her first meet and any other interesting things that come up.

Here’s a video I made of her speed skating. The first few clips are from her 1st session (before the crying started), while the remaining are from a month and half ago. Ignore the iMovie comments, as this was originally made to share with family members. Notice the improvements she made over the summer. I would say she is even faster now.

ARHM2 - Run # 8

2011-06-07T14:29:00.000-04:00

Made it out today, but I forgot I had an afternoon meeting so I cut my run short.

Here are my numbers.

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	6:1s	better
Distance	4 Km	3.1 Km	31.56 / 43 km
Pace	6:15	6:47	better
Average HR	161-168	148	low
Max HR	180	162	low
Calories Burned		406	total:3969

My pace was better and it really felt like I was pushing, despite not having really high HR numbers.

ARHM2 - Run # 7

2011-06-06T12:38:00.000-04:00

Like promised, I made it out today.

Here are my numbers.

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	6:1s	better
Distance	3 Km	3.91 Km	28.46 / 39 km
Pace	6:15	7:09	slow
Average HR	161-168	148	low
Max HR	180	162	low
Calories Burned		521	total:3563

Today I did 6:1s for the first time and it felt good. I actually thought I'd have a better time, but my pace and HR numbers tell me I wasn't pushing as hard as I could have. I will try to go faster on my next run.

ARHM2 - No Run #2 & #3

2011-06-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

With the beautiful weather this weekend, my wife and I decided to spend all our time working on our yard, leaving me no time (or energy) to run, so I missed both runs.

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	various
Distance	3 & 7 Km	Km	24.55 / 36 km
Pace	various
Average HR
Max HR	180
Calories Burned			total:3042

I'm planning on moving tomorrow's run to today to get back into it.

ARHM2 - No Run # 1

2011-06-02T14:54:00.000-04:00

It was bound to happen. Between work issues and an afternoon meeting, I didn't make it out for my run today.

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo
Distance	3 Km	Km	24.55 / 26 km
Pace	6:15
Average HR	161-167
Max HR	180
Calories Burned			total:3042

Oh well, the little break will do me fine

ARHM2 - Run # 6

2011-06-01T12:39:00.000-04:00

2nd run in a row in this lovely heat.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	5:1	ok
Distance	3 Km	3.38 Km	24.55 / 23 km
Pace	6:15	7:06	ok w/ walking
Average HR	161-167	145	low
Max HR	180	163	low
Calories Burned		440	total:3042

My legs felt tired so I didn't push, but I got through it anyway.

ARHM2 - Run # 5

2011-05-31T12:44:00.000-04:00

Even with a humidex of over 30, I still made it out for the first "hot" run of the year.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	5:1	ok
Distance	4 Km	4 Km	21.17 / 20 km
Pace	6:15	7:03	ok w/ walking
Average HR	161-167	153	low
Max HR	180	170	ok
Calories Burned		539	total:2602

By the time I was into my 5th 5:1, it was getting a little difficult. Other than that, and the heat, I managed to get it in and feel good about it.

ARHM2 - Run # 4

2011-05-29T15:04:00.000-04:00

Made it out today for my 1st LSD run in a long time and although it started off fine, it didn't end well.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	various	not ok
Distance	7 Km	6.94 Km	17.17 / 16 km
Pace	7:00-8:00	7:50	ok w/ walking
Average HR	140-152	141	ok
Max HR	160	155	ok
Calories Burned		816	total:2063

After my 6th 5:1s I was done and began walking more. I eventually started doing 1:1s for most of the way back, getting almost all the run in, just not exactly how I had it planned.

ARHM2 - Run # 3

2011-05-28T11:39:00.000-04:00

Made it out again today.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	5:1	ok
Distance	3 Km	3.40 Km	10.23 / 9 km
Pace	6:45	7:04	ok w/ walking
Average HR	152-161	162	high
Max HR	170	176	high
Calories Burned		412	total:1247

I really wasn't trying to push and I was really feeling it today. Tomorrow will be my first LSD run in a long time, it should be interesting...

ARHM2 - Run #2

2011-05-26T12:34:00.000-04:00

Despite the slight drizzle and the fact that I haven't had back-to-back runs in months, I still made it out today.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	5:1	ok
Distance	3 Km	3.39 Km	6.83 / 6 km
Pace	6:15	7:04	ok w/ walking
Average HR	161-167	153	low
Max HR	180	168	OK
Calories Burned		423	total: 835

I didn't push as hard as yesterday, so my numbers are a little lower. Other than that, I'm glad I made it out.

ARHM2 - Run # 1

2011-05-25T13:11:00.001-04:00

Made it out for a run today and it felt better than last week's runs.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	5:1	ok
Distance	3 Km	3.44 Km	total: 3.44 km
Pace	6:15	6:58	ok w/ walking
Average HR	161-167	158	low
Max HR	180	173	OK
Calories Burned		412	total:412

Being that this is only my 3rd run in over 3 months, it is going to take some time before I can do the types of runs I need. As long as I'm running, then that is good enough for now.

Army Run Half Marathon Part 2

2011-05-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

Since I have not run for some time, I figured it would be a good thing to give myself a goal so that I can get back into it.

The challenge this year will be to do the Army Run Half Marathon again this year, that is scheduled to take place on Sept 18, 2011 in Ottawa. I believe some of my friends and co-workers will also be doing the run this year, so that will be nice to see people I know when I finish (near the back, lol).

With this event, the training starts today!

Back for more

2011-05-25T12:52:00.000-04:00

Wow, it sure has been a while since my last post. Many things have changed, while some have stayed the same.

Since my last post, all three of my kids have celebrated a birthday, as has my beautiful wife. I've also traveled to the Baltimore-Washington area, San Diego and the Galapagos Islands. The latter was an amazing experience. If you ever have the opportunity to go, GO! Due to my extensive traveling, my running was non-existent for 3 months, but in the past week I've started up again (and that hurt, but worth it). Another thing to note is that since my last post, I've managed to gain all the weight (and more) that I tried so hard to lose, so I'm working on removing it again (no one to blame but myself).

As for work, I've changed jobs, but am still working in the same area. I'm very happy about my change, as it was much needed, and I feel in this position, I'm able to contribute more to the company's goals.

Well, that is about it, but I will post soon as I have another Run Challenge to start.

Back at it

2010-11-09T12:42:00.002-05:00

Made it out for a 5k run today and finished it in just over 31mins. Not bad, and I didn't cramp up this time. Now to keep it up and find a new challenge.

Heather Run

2010-11-06T11:48:00.000-04:00

Made it out for the annual Heather Run and this year I did the 10k in 1:03:07, which is over 1min faster than last year, and a PB at this distance. Unfortunately, I had to walk for 1min at 5k due to some chest cramps, but my split time was 30:27 which is close to a PB. Overall, it was a decent run, I just wish I could have done it without walking.

Easy run

2010-11-04T12:55:00.000-04:00

Made it out today, first time this week, for a 5k easy run. I managed to do it in just over 33mins and my HR seem to be within reason. Saturday's the Heather Run and I don't think I'll be up for doing a PB, but you never know.

Long run

2010-10-31T14:53:00.002-04:00

I was hoping to run 12k today, but with so much going on, I cut it short to 10k. I did manage to get it done in a little over 1:05, which is a decent time for me.

Less than 1 week to the Heather Run.

A couple of runs this week

2010-10-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

I've managed to get a couple of runs in this week, but neither of them were that good. I forgot my watch on wednesday, so I don't know how far or how long I ran for, but due to having aches in my feet, I figure I did about 3k in around 20mins. Today I had my watch, but this time it died after about 5 mins, so again I don't know how far or for how long I ran, but I figure I did close to 5k in under 35mins. I'm planning on running 12k this weekend, hopefully without stopping.

Long run day

2010-10-23T15:08:00.002-04:00

Made it out for an 11k LSD run and I did it in under 1:17 without walking. It was a very nice day for a run.,

Much better

2010-10-22T12:42:00.002-04:00

Made it out today and this time I did 4k in under 24mins. I wasn't trying to push, nor did I feel like I was pushing, as I never checked my pace throughout the whole run, only going by feel.

Not a great run

2010-10-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

But I made it out non-the-less. My pace was 20s/km slower than a couple of days ago and my HR #'s were higher, but in my defense, the path I took today had plenty of hills to go up and down, so things can be justified. I did feel some minor aches and pains in my legs throughout this run, but not enough to affect it.

1 week

2010-10-18T12:56:00.000-04:00

That is how long it has been since my last run. I have to admit, other than 1 day last week where I was lazy, I've been feeling under the weather and that is why I haven't run.

Today's run was great as I did 5k in under 31:30 without walking. Along with a great time and speed, my average HR was down lower than my previous fast runs, which is also a good thing. The plan for the rest of this week is to get 2 more short runs and an 11k run on the weekend.

Another good run

2010-10-11T12:10:00.000-04:00

Went out this morning with my buddy and my dog and we did a 6k run in just under 37:30, which is a good pace for me. My runs are going well and my times are slowly coming down, which make me feel like I will be able to get really close to my goal of a 1 hr 10k.

Long run

2010-10-09T12:24:00.002-04:00

Made it out today for a longer than run than what I've been doing lately. Today I did 10k at a nice easy slow pace and finished, non-stop, in just over 1:11. At least now I know I can do 10k without stopping. Now I need to improve that time.

Another good run

2010-10-05T12:54:00.003-04:00

Went out for a 5k run today and this time I finished it in under 30mins. I'm not 100% certain, but that time is very close to a PB for that distance.

Master Cleanse # 2 - Day 6 & 7

2010-10-04T06:43:00.000-04:00

I struggled with the cleanse this weekend. Mentally, I have not been strong throughout this past week and it all came crashing down yesterday (day 7). Unfortunately, I cheated and had to end my Master Cleanse a few days short. I'm not happy about failing, but this was tougher the 2nd time around, and I wasn't up fully for the challenge, so I have nobody but myself to blame. I did weigh myself at the beginning of day 7 and had dropped 18 lbs, as did my BP numbers, so some success did come from it, but now I need to work on keeping them down.

I may try again in February/March of 2011, but can't guarantee it.

Some exercise and another goal

2010-10-01T12:53:00.000-04:00

Made it out for a 5k run at lunch today and did it in under 32 mins, which for me is decent.

On November 6th, there will be a Memorial Run for a girl who was killed a few years ago by a drunk driver. I participated in it last year, and set a 10k Personal Best. So my goal is to better last year's time, or at the least, do 10k without stopping. That leaves me with 5 weeks of training. Time to get back at it.

Master Cleanse # 2 - Day 5

2010-10-01T08:52:00.002-04:00

Well I've made it to the half way point of this Cleanse. I have to admit, it has been tougher this time. Mentally I want to eat, although I'm really not feeling hungry. I've been mostly thinking of small things to eat, like fruits and nuts, so it's not bad stuff, but my mind keeps wandering and I really have to focus to get it back and not eat. Other than that, I haven't had the cleanses I had the last time, although I was woken up this morning with a sudden urge to go to the BR.

I think once I get through this weekend, all will be good.

Master Cleanse # 2 - Day 4

2010-09-30T07:14:00.000-04:00

Made it through yesterday, even though I had a headache all day. The day turned out to be uneventful, as I did not have many cleanses, as expected. Maybe that will happen today?

Master Cleanse # 2 - Day 3

2010-09-29T09:37:00.000-04:00

Went to bed last night with a little headache and woke up with it. It has since gone away, so probably just a detox symptom. Yesterday was better as my head cold started to go away. Today is suppose to be a big "cleanse" day, so we will see how it goes.

Master Cleanse # 2 - Day 2

2010-09-28T21:26:00.002-04:00

Other than dealing with my head cold, day 1 was pretty good. I was starting to get a headache later in the evening, but that passed.

Master Cleanse # 2 - Day 1

2010-09-27T08:10:00.001-04:00

Woke up this morning with head congestion and a runny nose. Great. I've taken my measurements and I think because of this cold, my BP are a little high. I'm also very surprised at my weight as it has increased 10lbs in a little over 2 weeks, but none of my clothes are feeling any tighter (which they should with that much of an increase), so I may be holding in some water. It could also be from the wedding I was at on the weekend, and the gift party yesterday, where I had several drinks at both and a little more food than normal. Hopefully it drops quickly.

Weight: 262 lbs
Waist: 42.5 inches
Blood Pressure: 150/85

Master Cleanse - Round 2

2010-09-26T19:10:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I begin my 2nd Master Cleanse. This time I'm planning on going for 10 days only, as that will put me into Thanksgiving and I would like to be able to enjoy some family meals.

In the morning, I will take all my measurements and post them before I start.

Another run

2010-09-24T14:58:00.002-04:00

Made it out today for an easy 5k run with my dog. I managed to do this run in a little over 33 mins, which is a little faster pace than the other day.

Back at it

2010-09-22T19:47:00.002-04:00

I've been feeling pretty good since the half, so I decided to go out for a little run this evening. Overall, I did 4.25k in just under 29mins with my dog. I'm going to try to also get out Friday before I start a new challenge next week.

ARHM Challenge - Race Day

2010-09-19T16:05:00.003-04:00

Another PB. Ran it with my buddy and had an amazing run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	10:1s	14:1s	great
Distance	21.1 km	21.1 km	total: 383.6 km
Pace	6:36	6:43	Great
Average HR	149-167	158	OK
Max HR	180	172	little high
Calories Burned		2653	total: 47734

Everything felt great right from the start as we started with the 2:30 pace bunny and worked our way to the 2:20 pace bunny by kilometer 8. From there we slowly increased our pace, hoping to see the 2:15 pace bunny, but never quite made it. Anyway I look at it, it is another Personal Best and I'm very happy with my results.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 59

2010-09-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

Made it out today, with a friend from work, who's normally much faster than the pace we ran at.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	great
Distance	3 km	6.5 km	total: 362.5 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	6:25	fast
Average HR	149-167	157	OK
Max HR	180	167	little high
Calories Burned		839	total: 45081

Pace was much faster due to who I was running with, but it felt good non-the-less. Looking forward to Sunday's run.

ARHM Challenge - No Run # 10

2010-09-15T12:25:00.002-04:00

Due to some work issues, I was not able to run today during my lunch break. I may try to get out tonight after supper, but no guarantees.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 58

2010-09-14T12:36:00.000-04:00

Made it out today knowing I didn't have enough time to get my full run in.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	great
Distance	10 km	8.5 km	total: 356 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	6:44	good
Average HR	149-167	145	good
Max HR	180	161	good
Calories Burned		1083	total: 44242

Other than not having enough time to make my distance, which I would have done, it was a great run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 57

2010-09-12T12:53:00.000-04:00

Today was suppose to be a short LSD run, but since I've missed several of these runs of late, I decide to go farther than required.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	19:1s	great
Distance	6 km	14 km	total: 347.5 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	6:53	good
Average HR	149-167	144	good
Max HR	180	157	good
Calories Burned		1769	total: 43159

All in all, very good run. I like the fact that I was doing 19:1s without any issues and my pace and HR were very good. I feel good about next week's half.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 56

2010-09-11T10:24:00.000-04:00

4th good run in a row. I'm really starting to feel better about my half.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	6 km	6.25 km	total: 333.5 km
Pace	6:48	6:39	great
Average HR	under 153	152	little high
Max HR	180	167	high
Calories Burned		785	total: 41390

My HR was good up to 3k, but had to go up a little hill and I couldn't get it back down without stopping (which wasn't the plan). I'm very happy overall with this run as my pace was much faster.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 55

2010-09-09T13:07:00.000-04:00

Despite the bad weather, I still made it out today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	8 km	6.25 km	total: 327.25 km
Pace	6:48	6:47	OK
Average HR	under 153	145	OK
Max HR	180	156	good
Calories Burned		789	total: 40605

I had planned on making it the full 8 k, but at 3.5 k I had some issues that gave me concern, so I cut my run short. So far this week I've done 20k in 2:15, which is decent, considering I did it without walking and all the runs felt good. Things are definitely looking up for the half. I don't expect a PB, but finishing in under 2:25 should be a good possibility.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 54

2010-09-08T13:02:00.000-04:00

Made it out again today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Speed	steady	good
Distance	7 km	7.25 km	total: 321.5 km
Pace	6:04	6:49	OK
Average HR	161-169	143	OK
Max HR	180	156	good
Calories Burned		924	total: 39816

Had another good run today. My mind is starting to get focused. Let's hope I can keep it up.

Health Numbers Update

2010-09-07T13:14:00.000-04:00

I know I haven't posted any numbers about my body stats in a while, so on the weekend I decided to take them. Since the last time I took them in June, I've lost 3 lbs and my BP numbers have stayed the same. The only thing that was really different since then was my resting HR, that on Saturday was much higher than usual. I'm hoping it was an off day for that, as my run that day also had a very high HR.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 53

2010-09-07T13:12:00.000-04:00

Made it out today and had the best run I've had in several weeks.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	steady	good
Distance	6 km	6.5 km	total: 314.25 km
Pace	6:04	6:40	OK
Average HR	161-169	148	OK
Max HR	180	167	high
Calories Burned		824	total: 38892

My Max HR got up a little high near the end as the last 2 km is a slow up hill path. Other than that, it was a great run, especially since I didn't have to stop at any point.

ARHM Challenge - No Run # 9 and Run # 52

2010-09-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

Because my family has several functions on tomorrow, I decided to do my LSD run today with my buddy and skip today's scheduled Steady Run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	various walking	not good
Distance	20 km	7 km	total: 307.75 km
Pace	6:48-7:58	7:53	too slow
Average HR	147-161	151	felt high
Max HR	180	165	high
Calories Burned		826	total: 38068

I don't know what it was but I could not get my HR down. Within a few minutes it would hit 160 and I didn't feel like I was pushing. This really threw me off, so I walked more than I wanted to. I don't think the half will be a good run in 2 weeks.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 51

2010-09-02T13:28:00.000-04:00

Made it out and it started off better, but energy levels weren't there, so it didn't finish as well.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	10:1s	OK
Distance	8 km	5 km	total: 299 km
Pace	6:48	7:06	slow
Average HR	under 153	145	OK
Max HR	180	163	high
Calories Burned		621	total: 37090

I then proceeded to walk:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	walk	not good
Distance	8 km	1.75 km	total: 300.75 km
Pace	6:48	11:07	walking
Average HR	under 153	124	walking
Max HR	180	152	high
Calories Burned		152	total: 37242

At least I ran. Need to work on my distance a little more over the next 2 weeks.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 50

2010-09-01T19:21:00.000-04:00

And it wasn't a good one. It was too hot at lunch, so I decided to go for a run after supper. Well it's still hot and I don't do well with after supper runs.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	walked last k	not great
Distance	6 km	3 km	total: 294 km
Pace	6:48	8:15	not good
Average HR	under 153	133	not good
Max HR	180	152	not good
Calories Burned		333	total: 36469

The way things are going, I'm not feeling confident in my ability to complete the half marathon. Not sure how to get out of this feeling in time for the run.

ARHM Challenge - No Run # 7 & # 8

2010-09-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

After having a rough night Saturday (open bar wedding), I was in no shape to make it out for my LSD run. I was hoping to get a shorter run in on Monday, but woke up with some intestinal issues that kept me close to home all day. Yesterday I was feeling a bit better but still not 100% so I ended up missing that run as well.

Today I feel better and I'm looking forward to getting out at lunch (albeit very hot outside) for some sort of run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 49

2010-08-28T12:09:00.001-04:00

Made it out today, and this time I took my son in the stroller and my daughters lead on their bikes.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	walked 2 mins	not great
Distance	6 km	6 km	total: 291 km
Pace	6:48	6:59	close
Average HR	under 153	144	OK
Max HR	180	161	high
Calories Burned		749	total: 36136

Right from the start, I was feeling the run. I ended up walking 1min at 20 mins and 31 mins. It was also very hot and with the dead air coming back, the sweat was pouring off of me.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 48

2010-08-27T12:37:00.000-04:00

With my wife out of town yesterday, I didn't get to run. I did make it out today with my son in our running stroller.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	OK
Distance	8 km	8 km	total: 285 km
Pace	6:48	6:53	close
Average HR	under 153	148	OK
Max HR	180	163	high
Calories Burned		1015	total: 35387

Other than the fact that it is an extra workout pushing my son in the running stroller, the run was a good one.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 47

2010-08-25T13:03:00.000-04:00

Today was suppose to be speed training, but with my recent issues on my tempo runs, I decided to just do a steady run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Speed	steady	OK
Distance	3 x 1km	5 km	total: 277 km
Pace	6:04	6:45	OK
Average HR	161-169	148	OK
Max HR	180	163	high
Calories Burned		631	total: 34372

It wasn't the best pace, as I was feeling tired, but I got through it.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 46

2010-08-24T12:47:00.000-04:00

Another Tuesday bad run. I think that makes 5 in a row. Not sure what it is, other than trying to push too much???

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	walked a lot	not good
Distance	6 km	4 km	total: 272 km
Pace	6:04	7:05	not good
Average HR	161-169	135	too low
Max HR	180	156	too low
Calories Burned		483	total: 33741

I managed to get to 2k in 12:30 with some walking, but from there it went downhill fast.

ARHM Challenge - No Run # 6 & Run # 45

2010-08-22T20:29:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend camping with the family, so I missed yesterday's Steady run.

Tonight, after supper, I made it out for a LSD run in the rain.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1s	good
Distance	18 km	10 km	total: 268 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	6:30	fast
Average HR	149-167	147	great
Max HR	180	159	OK
Calories Burned		1237	total: 33258

I know I didn't make the distance for today's LSD run, but I did what I could in a very fast pace, so I'm very happy about my run. I did have to stop at 5.5k for a bathroom break, which probably helped me, but I still did some running.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 44

2010-08-19T20:44:00.000-04:00

I had a previous engagement at lunch today, so I made it out for my run after supper. This time I took my dog with me and she is getting much better with not pulling so much at the beginning. I think she knows we are going for a long enough time and she needs to conserve her energy to make it to the end.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	8 km	7 km	total: 258 km
Pace	6:48	6:51	close
Average HR	under 153	148	good
Max HR	180	160	OK
Calories Burned		889	total: 32021

I was suppose to do 8 km, but it was getting late so I decided to cut it short. I was feeling good and I know I could have done the extra km.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 43

2010-08-18T13:25:00.000-04:00

Made it out today for hills and this time I had a good run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Hills	steady	good
Distance	9 hills	7 hills	total: 251 km
Pace	6:20	6:40	OK
Average HR	161-169	148	OK
Max HR	180	161	OK
Calories Burned		794	total: 31132

I never had the intention of making it to 9 hills as I did not have enough time. I do have to say that even after 7 hills, I was still feeling good enough to do 2 more. My pace for the 7 hills was a bit slower than previous (5:07/hill), but I got it done and I feel good about the run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 42

2010-08-17T13:02:00.000-04:00

Another day... another bad run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	walked too much	not good
Distance	5 km	3.25 km	total: 244.75 km
Pace	6:04	???	not good
Average HR	161-169	???	not good
Max HR	180	???	not good
Calories Burned		349	total: 30338

Started off OK, but my legs/ankles quickly became sore. I made it to 10min before walking, but after that I struggled to get to 2k, then walked the rest of the way back. Not sure what is going on, but I've lost my focus, drive and mental toughness and this training is not heading in the right direction. I need to figure a way out of this slump.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 41

2010-08-16T12:05:00.000-04:00

I was very tired yesterday (from a bachelor party the day/night before) so I never made it out for my run. I decided to go out today and that wasn't a better choice.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1	OK
Distance	16 km	8 km	total: 237.8 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	7:12	OK
Average HR	149-167	140	low
Max HR	180	156	OK
Calories Burned		979	total: 29597

Then I felt really tired so I ...

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	walked	not good
Distance	16 km	1 km	total: 238.8 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	10:46	slow
Average HR	149-167	122	low
Max HR	180	142	low
Calories Burned		85	total: 29682

Then I tried doing 10:1s again

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	walked more	not good
Distance	16 km	2.7 km	total: 241.5 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	8:13	slow
Average HR	149-167	137	low
Max HR	180	149	low
Calories Burned		307	total: 29989

Overall I did almost 12k in 1:30:35 which is a 7:44/km pace and that is not good. With next week I'm scheduled to miss my LSD run as I'm camping with my family, which leaves me only 2 more long LSD runs to build up my confidence for the half. Hopefully I can get through this little stretch.

To my beautiful Wife

2010-08-16T08:37:00.000-04:00

I would like to take this moment to wish my beautiful wife a happy 7th anniversary. Thank you for being beside me for all these years and I look forward to spending many more with you.

I love you with all my heart.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 40

2010-08-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

I have a bachelor party to attend this afternoon, so I decided to do my run early today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	6 km	6 km	total: 229.8 km
Pace	6:48	6:53	close
Average HR	under 153	149	OK
Max HR	180	160	little high
Calories Burned		763	total: 28618

Even though I don't really like running early, and it was fairly warm out, I still managed to get it in. The last 1.5k was a slow up hill run that I tried to control my HR for, therefor slowing my speed down a bit. Either way, I got the run in.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 39

2010-08-12T19:46:00.000-04:00

Made it out again tonight after supper. This time I took my dog.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	7 km	7 km	total: 223.8 km
Pace	6:48	6:50	close
Average HR	under 153	151	OK
Max HR	180	161	little high
Calories Burned		890	total: 27855

I went out tonight and tried to run only by feel. I knew the route I was going to take, so I just tried to keep a steady pace throughout the whole run. My dog was getting slow after 3k, so I followed. My only regret is that I let my HR get a little too high for these types of runs, but overall, it was the best run I've had this week.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 38

2010-08-11T20:00:00.001-04:00

Made it out after supper and had another not-so-good run. This time it was while doing hills. Also, my buddy joined me on the hill, and he struggled as well.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Hills	various walking	not good
Distance	8 x hills	4x hills	total: 216.8 km
Pace	6:20	???	not good
Average HR	161-169	???	not good
Max HR	180	???	not good
Calories Burned		620	total: 26965

Right from the start I was getting cramps. I tried running through them, but it didn't work. Running after supper is definitely NOT for me. Back to running at lunch next week.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 37

2010-08-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

Made it out after supper tonight to do my Tempo run, and it did not go well.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	various walking	not good
Distance	5 km	4 km	total: 211.6 km
Pace	6:04	6:34	not good
Average HR	161-169	???	not good
Max HR	180	???	not good
Calories Burned		482	total: 26345

I made it to 9 mins at a sub 6:00 pace and then I was getting chest pains so I walked. I had to keep walking past 1 min as it took me a couple more before getting my HR down enough that I wasn't feeling pain. I then ran for a while longer, finally walking after 10 mins. Overall, it wasn't a good run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 36

2010-08-08T13:14:00.000-04:00

Made it out for my LSD run today. Last night, my wife and I attended a family member's stag, so it turned to be a much later night than anticipated, and a few "pops" were consumed. That all meant, that this morning, I was a little more tired than I was planning. The good thing is that my daughters and my buddy joined me on this run, which we cut short by 4k that we will make up next week.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1s	ok
Distance	16 km	12 km	total: 207.6 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	7:04	good
Average HR	149-167	141	OK
Max HR	180	154	OK
Calories Burned		1478	total: 25863

Overall, the run was good and my pace and HR were better than expected. I'm glad I made it out.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 35

2010-08-07T20:27:00.000-04:00

For the 2nd run in a row, I've run in the evening. This time I took my dog.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	ok
Distance	5 km	5 km	total: 195.6 km
Pace	6:48	6:39	good
Average HR	under 153	146	OK
Max HR	180	156	OK
Calories Burned		632	total: 24385

Other than my dog making me stop twice (bathroom breaks), it was a much better run than the other night.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 34

2010-08-05T21:13:00.000-04:00

Decided to run after supper, with my buddy.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	10:1s	ok
Distance	7 km	7 km	total: 190.6 km
Pace	6:48	7:20	slow
Average HR	under 153	146	OK
Max HR	180	162	little high
Calories Burned		869	total: 23753

My buddy was having some issues regulating his HR, so we decided to do 10:1s instead of going steady. Either way, running after supper is tougher and it took me a while to get into it, but eventually it turned into a good run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 33

2010-08-04T12:34:00.000-04:00

Decided, since I was feeling tired, that I would try to do 5k steady today instead of hills or a tempo run. Either way, it didn't go well.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	walked plenty	not good
Distance	5 km	2.6 km	total: 183.6 km
Pace	6:04	9:09	not good
Average HR	161-169	112	too low
Max HR	180	140	too low
Calories Burned		280	total: 22884

Right from the start, I had no legs. I tried but barely made it to 1k before walking, then a did a little further, only to walk the other half back. I'm going to skip hills this week and move on to a steady run tomorrow, giving my legs a little break.

ARHM Challenge - No Run # 5

2010-08-04T08:16:00.000-04:00

I ended up missing my Tempo run yesterday as we only came back from out family road trip late last night. Depending on how I feel today, I may do my Tempo run instead of Hills today as it is a little shorter run.

I'm hoping to have a little write up about our family trip soon (with pictures).

ARHM Challenge - Run # 32

2010-07-31T12:20:00.000-04:00

Made it out for day 5 in a row and this time I did my LSD run.My buddy joined me, and his girlfriend tagged along for 5 k but wasn't feeling well, so she bailed.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1s	good
Distance	16 km	16 km	total: 181 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	7:12	good
Average HR	149-167	141	low
Max HR	180	155	great
Calories Burned		1998	total: 22604

We started off a little slow, but my buddy and I picked it up on the way back and trimmed 1:30 off our time. Great run, now to take a few days off of running to go on a family vacation.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 31

2010-07-30T12:23:00.001-04:00

Made it out for my 4th run in a row. This time, I took my dog with me and she is starting to get better at not pulling while I run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	5 km	5 km	total: 165 km
Pace	6:48	6:42	good
Average HR	under 153	145	low
Max HR	180	155	great
Calories Burned		624	total: 20606

Nice day for a run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 30

2010-07-29T13:02:00.001-04:00

Made it out today, and the weather was perfect.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	6 km	6.25 km	total: 160 km
Pace	6:48	6:36	great
Average HR	under 153	143	low
Max HR	180	155	great
Calories Burned		791	total: 19982

Never felt like I pushed and my pace was better than planned. Runs like these feel amazing.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 29

2010-07-28T12:27:00.000-04:00

Made it out for hills today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Hills	steady	good
Distance	6 x hills	6 x hills	total: 153.75 km
Pace	6:20	6:28	OK
Average HR	161-169	148	low
Max HR	180	167	OK
Calories Burned		728	total: 19191

Energy levels were down when I started so I decided to focus on a steady pace up and down the hills (instead of pushing up and relaxing down). My pace for the hills section was 5:00/up-down, which was only 5 seconds slower than last week. That leaves me feeling good about my workout.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 28

2010-07-27T12:29:00.000-04:00

Made it out for my Tempo run today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	steady	good
Distance	4 km	4 km	total: 148 km
Pace	6:04	5:50	great
Average HR	161-169	154	low
Max HR	180	165	OK
Calories Burned		489	total: 18463

My going out time was inline with last week's PB time, but coming back, the heat got to me and I ended up 1 min slower. Overall, I was under my goal of 6:00/km.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 27

2010-07-25T13:22:00.000-04:00

Made it out today in perfect weather conditions. Slightly overcast with a breeze from the NE that always kept me cool.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1	good
Distance	14 km	14 km	total: 144 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	6:52	great
Average HR	149-167	141	low
Max HR	180	159	OK
Calories Burned		1740	total: 17974

Even though my Average HR was lower than expected, my pace was very good. That means I should be able to go faster and still keep my Average HR at the bottom end of the range.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 26

2010-07-24T12:58:00.000-04:00

Didn't make it out for my LSD run today as I was having some internal issues. Instead, I went out for my Steady run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	4 km	4 km	total: 134 km
Pace	6:48	6:54	slow
Average HR	under 153	139	low
Max HR	180	156	OK
Calories Burned		504	total: 16234

It was very warm and my dog, who joined me on the run, was dragging behind, so I kept my pace a little slower that I wanted. Throw in the 3 stops (2 for traffic and 1 for my dog doing her business) and my average HR was lower than usual. I'm still planning on getting my LSD run in early tomorrow.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 25

2010-07-22T13:16:00.000-04:00

Made it out today, but my left ankle really bothered me, so I didn't get a full run in.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	6 km	5km	total: 130 km
Pace	6:48	6:43	good
Average HR	under 153	148	good
Max HR	180	160	little high
Calories Burned		623	total: 15734

Probably had something to do with my last 2 runs being more intense than usual. I'm not sure if I will run tomorrow (Saturday's run) or take it off as I'm doing my LSD run on Saturday instead of Sunday this week.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 24

2010-07-21T12:59:00.000-04:00

Made it out for hills today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Hills	steady	good
Distance	5 x hills	5 x hills	total: 125 km
Pace	6:20	6:27	better
Average HR	161-167	151	low
Max HR	180	166	OK
Calories Burned		600	total: 15111

My pace was a little faster this week as I did 5 times in 24:32 (4:55/hill). I also did a little more after for my cool down (compared to last week).

ARHM - Challenge - Run # 23

2010-07-20T12:51:00.000-04:00

Made it out today

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	steady	good
Distance	4 km	4 km	total: 120.25 km
Pace	6:04	5:43	great
Average HR	161-169	156	good
Max HR	180	167	OK
Calories Burned		490	total: 14511

PB! Anytime I run 4k in under 24min, I feel that it's a personal best, but getting under 23mins, I KNOW it's a PERSONAL BEST! I set my VP on my watch to 4k in 24 min and easily beat it. The only downside of this run was that my Average HR was lower than where it should be, but I will not complain since I was faster than last week when I was within range.

Nice little workout

2010-07-19T16:14:00.000-04:00

Decided, with my son and wife having a nap, to take my girls out on their bike while I roller bladed. It was the first time this year that I have been on my blades this season.

We ended up going for a little over 10km and we did it in about 53 mins plus a few breaks. Overall it felt good, and now that my youngest daughter is on 2 wheels (no more training wheels), she can really go fast. That left my oldest a little tired as her younger sister kept pushing her to go faster. Fun times.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 22

2010-07-18T12:55:00.000-04:00

Made it out for my LSD run today with a couple of friends who will also be doing the Army Run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	LSD	10:1s	good
Distance	12 km	12 km	total: 116.25 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	7:28	close
Average HR	149-167	145	low
Max HR	180	166	OK
Calories Burned		1467	total: 14021

Today's pace was a little slower due to this being the first time one of my friends did 10:1s for their LSD. I did decide to push hard (5:30/km) the last 500 m so that I could come in under 1:30 for total time.

ARHM Challenge - No Run # 4

2010-07-18T12:51:00.002-04:00

I missed yesterday's run to do doing some cleanup in our shed. Not the greatest excuse, but after spending all day in the sun cleaning and sorting, I wasn't up for going for a run knowing I was doing a long run today.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 21

2010-07-16T11:36:00.000-04:00

Went out this morning to do yesterday's run and took my dog with me.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	steady	good
Distance	5 km	5 km	total: 104.25 km
Pace	6:48	6:53	close
Average HR	under 153	144	good
Max HR	180	159	OK
Calories Burned		634	total: 12554

Other than being a little humid (31) and my dog being slow (yes, she drags behind after 3k), it was a good run. The only reason my HR went up was due to a hill.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 20

2010-07-15T12:45:00.001-04:00

Hills in 36 degree sun (humidex)! I ran into some work issues yesterday, so I did hills today. Today's run is scheduled for tomorrow.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Hills	steady	good
Distance	4 x hills	4 x hills	total: 99.25 km
Pace	6:20	6:31	little slow
Average HR	161-167	154	close
Max HR	180	171	OK
Calories Burned		482	total: 11960

Made it up and down 4 times today and walked then end back. It was hot out there.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 19

2010-07-13T12:31:00.000-04:00

Finally the heat has broken, but today it was raining.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	non-stop	good
Distance	4 km	4 km	total: 95 km
Pace	6:04	5:51	great
Average HR	161-169	160	close
Max HR	180	169	OK
Calories Burned		482	total: 11478

I definitely pushed today. Did the turn in 11:12 which is very fast for me and lost a min coming back, but managed to keep my HR up (like I had a choice!). Overall, great run after those horrible runs last week.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 18

2010-07-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

Made it out today to do my LSD run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	10:1	1 extra min walk	not good
Distance	10 km	9 km	total: 90 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	6:59	OK
Average HR	149-167	150	OK
Max HR	180	165	OK
Calories Burned		386	total: 10911

then I walked:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	10:1	walking	not good
Distance	10 km	1 km	total: 91 km
Pace	6:48-7:48	???	not godod
Average HR	149-167	124	too low
Max HR	180	141	too low
Calories Burned		85	total: 10996

As you can see, I didn't make it through as the heat was getting to me the last km. Got through most of it and was feeling pretty good. Just need to get use to this heat.

ARHM Challenge - No Run #3

2010-07-11T13:16:00.002-04:00

Was suppose to make it out yesterday for an easy Steady run, but after hosting a yard sale all morning we were all pretty wiped when we got home. Most of us had a nap, so time ran short on the run.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 17

2010-07-08T12:57:00.000-04:00

Today it was 44 with the humidex!!!

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	various walking	not good
Distance	5 km	3.2 km	total: 79.2 km
Pace	6:48	7:13	little slow
Average HR	under 153	145	OK
Max HR	180	160	little high
Calories Burned		386	total: 9592

then I walked:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Steady	walking	not good
Distance	5 km	1.8 km	total: 81 km
Pace	6:48	???	little slow
Average HR	under 153	123	too low
Max HR	180	143	too low
Calories Burned		154	total: 9746

I think after my 3rd run in this heat, my body said enough.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 16

2010-07-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

Hills, hills, hills. And I did them with a humidex of 42 again today.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Hills	steady	good
Distance	3 x hills	3 x hills	total: 76 km
Pace	6:20	6:32	little slow
Average HR	161-167	150	little low
Max HR	180	167	OK
Calories Burned		387	total: 9206

At least I had the wind in my face going up the hill. The distance of the hill was 385m each way and I did 3 trips in 15:03. It's hard to calculate my Average HR as the number shown include my warm-up and cool down.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 15

2010-07-06T12:58:00.000-04:00

Despite a humidex of 42 (ouch), I made it out and had it not been for rocks in my shoes (from my LSD on the gravel track), I would have made it through my whole run.

Here are my numbers:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	steady	OK
Distance	4 Km	2.58 Km	total: 71.48 km
Pace	6:05	6:30	too hot
Average HR	161-167	145	low
Max HR	180	154	low
Calories Burned		322	total: 8692

Then I walked:

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	walk	not good
Distance	4 Km	1.42 Km	total: 72.9 km
Pace	6:05	???	too hot
Average HR	161-167	???	low
Max HR	180	???	low
Calories Burned		127	total: 8819

Nothing more to say.