And now there are 2

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. :)

All it takes is time... and practice

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.

ARHM Challenge - Run # 50

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 - Run # 49

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

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.

NCHM Challenge - Run # 49

Made it out for a run today and this time I took my son in our running stroller.

Here are my numbers

		My results	Comments
Type of Run	Tempo	did Steady	OK
Distance	5 Km	5 Km	total: 265.5 km
Pace	6:36	7:06	slow
Average HR	148-159	142	low
Max HR	180	156	low
Calories Burned		615	total: 32898

I'm not exactly sure why, could be due to being tired today, but this run felt much harder than my numbers suggest. Pushing the stroller wasn't easy as it kept wanting to go left and my son kept talking to me, making it a little more difficult to breath. Other than that, it was fine.

I also walked back from the end of the run (a park that I stopped to let my son play for a bit) for a distance of 1.32k where I burned 108 calories.

Happy Birthday Little Man

Today is my son's 3rd birthday and I would like to wish him a very Happy Birthday. Mommy and Daddy love you very much.

Kids can be so much fun sometimes

Yesterday, shortly after arriving home from work, I was walking into our living room while reading some letters we had received in the mail. My son, happy to see, decided to come up to me and punch me in the lower region. You know the one, if hit it will bring a man to tears. Well it hurt as he hit me solid and I went down to one knee instantly. My wife, now holding in her laughter, was then trying to explain to my son and daughters why daddy was on the floor in so much pain. Fun times I say.

Now later on, I take my son with me to get our haircut. Before making it to the place, I dropped by the bank so that I may deposit some cheques I had. In order to keep my son happy/distracted while I tallied the amounts and endorsed the cheques, I let him hold my bank card. Well, he thought he would help daddy by inserting the card into the machine. The only problem with that is that he inserted the card into the deposit slot and not the card slot. Crap, card is now gone, and won't return until someone can open the machine. Great, so much for making a deposit. Luckily there was a phone beside the machine that connected me to a help line, who then canceled my card and have issued me a new one, which I will get in a week. In the meantime, I can't deposit my cheques, and I am now walking around with them until my new card comes in. So if you happen to see me on the street, please don't roll me!

Overall, yesterday was a fun day for me and my son, well at least it was fun for him.

Calmer?

So last night my 2 year old decided that he really wanted to sleep in our bed. Actually he decided that about 5 months ago and now the wife and I are getting tired of being kicked and hit while we sleep, so we are trying to break him of his habit. So shortly after 2am he stumbles into our room and tries to get into bed (we have managed to get him to fall asleep in his toddler bed, but at some point in the night he makes it over to our bed). My wife wants nothing to do with this so, through kicking and screaming, she puts him back into his room/bed. She then decides to sit there to make sure he gets back to sleep. Hey, whatever works. After 30mins of this she's had enough and comes back to bed. Well he follows along about 1 min after her and now it is my turn. He doesn't want anything to do with me, as he only wants his mommy. For the next 2 hours I am engaged in a battle to keep my son in his bed so he can spend the last few hours sleeping there. This is just great for me as once he does manage to fall asleep it's time for me to get up for work. Now if you are following along, I get up at 4:30am to go to work as I have a 1hr+ commute to my office every day. No big deal, I'm part of a carpool and we have fun on our way to work. Now getting back to this post. During the 2 hours I spent trying to get my son to stop crying/screaming I had a calm disposition going on. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an angry person, but after several hours of being tired and screamed at, people do tend to lose their patience, and I am no exception to that rule. This made me wonder if it's because of my recent change in diet, specifically juicing. I have read that getting the proper nutrients daily does tend to make you feel much better about things because of less toxins in your body. I'm not saying that juicing is why I'm calmer, but I do feel that it could very likely have that effect on me. I guess we will know more the next time (probably tonight) my son decides that his bed is not where he wants to be to sleep.