"Beer" and "No Hair" is performance enhancing...

I woke up at 5:00 am to catch a plane to go to Ottawa for the day.

When I arrived back in Toronto I was fairly tired and it was starting to snow, again.

I had two workouts scheduled and quite frankly I wasn't looking forward to either of them. But I was determined to "forge" a head.

Dwelling or having negative thoughts doesn't do anyone any good. My philosophy is just to "keep putting one foot in front of the other", don't think, just do.

The moment I got home from the airport, I quickly changed and was out the door for my 45 minute tempo run. I ran an 8:28 per mile pace.

There was wet snow on the streets and the worst part of the run was that my feet got wet early in the run and they became very cold. When I finished, my "big" toe was semi-frozen.

After I stretched and cooled down, the entire family went to "Canyon Creek" for dinner. It was a nice with good conversation, it is not often that we have all four of us together for dinner.

At dinner, I had 3 pints of beer, a nice big steak and some bread pudding for dessert. I felt completely satisfied.

I still had a swim to do and I knew the beers would be a pick me up, but I didn't realize how much they would pick me up until I got to the pool.

This evenings swim workout was 3000 meters of speed work. It was a make up session for yesterday.

I jumped in the pool, feeling no pain and decided to "giver". I felt awesome.

It seemed like I was going through the water faster, that the shaved legs were really making a difference in speed and improved my feel for the water.

I really noticed the speed increase when I did 400 meters kicking with the board, each 100 got faster than the previous 100.

Swimming with shaved legs was a whole new sensation, one of slickness and speed. While I was swimming, I figured that hair must slow you down because you never see a hairy fish.

My lap times were the fastest ever in a 25 meter pool. I was going as fast as 1:45 per 100 meters.

It's amazing how I went from dreading the swim workout before dinner and drinks, to becoming motivated and giving a maximum effort in a matter of an hour.

Forget "Red Bull", hello Coors Light!

"Fouled" again...

I woke up at 5:45 am for my 3000 meter swim.

When I got to the pool, I was told it was closed because it was "fouled" the night before, it was being "shocked", and would not be open until at least noon.

So... I improvised and did my scheduled evening weight training session in the morning. It was a good thing I just happened to put my running shoes in my swim bag.

It took me 75 minutes and I really "blasted" my legs hard!

At home, I don't have a leg press, so I'm forced to do squats with lighter weights. When I do weights at the YMCA, I take advantage of the equipment and make sure I put on a lot of weight when I do squats and leg press.

I tried to find a pool that was open tonight, but couldn't find one, so I moved today's swim workout to tomorrow.

It's just as well, I was so tired when I got home, mostly due to a major customer presentation and having to "crunch" numbers for the last few days.

I know when I'm tired or stressed, I crave "sugar" and "sweets".

When I got home, Alyssa (my baking daughter) made little cup cakes, about the size of a loonie, and I ate about 10 of them. Afterwards, I went into a "sugar" induced sleep, basically a "coma", on the couch.

In the end, it turned out okay, I woke up much fresher and ended up going to Reid's hockey game.

The toughest part was standing and watching along the side lines.

My legs are so "drained" from this mornings weight training session!

Winter wonderland...

It snowed last night, so I had to clear the driveway before work.

Today's workout was pretty easy, 75 minutes on the bike at tempo speed. I did it after my dinner nap.

The ride went well, good effort and the time went by quickly while watching American Idol.

With the extra time this evening, I decided to take advantage of it and "shave" my legs like a "real" triathete, it's been over 12 years since my legs were smooth.

It was a "lot" harder and took longer than I remember. I don't know how women do it.

I'm hoping this will be a good omen and will improve my swim and bike times.

Now I'm committed, or should be!

I'm CURED....

I went to the doctor today and got some great news, I no longer have Sleep Apnea.

About 2 years ago I was tested and diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. Ever since I've had to sleep using a CPAP machine.

Sleeping with a gas mask over your face is not fun!

In the past year and a half, I've lost over 50 lbs and had my tonsils removed, so I decided to get re-tested, I had a feeling I did not have it anymore.

Low and behold, I was right, I was so happy when the doctor told me I no longer had Sleep Apnea.

On the training side, I was up at 5:45 am, let the truck warm up and drove to the YMCA to do my 4000 meter long swim.

After the swim and later in the day my shoulders were a little sore from last nights weight training and today's morning swim.

From the early morning workout, I was really hungry at lunch time, and decided to treat myself to a Chinese food buffet. I did eat fairly healthy, I stayed away from the deep fried foods and ate lots of vegetables. It hit the spot.

I was also very tired when I got home from work.

My plan was to eat, nap and then go for my 55 minute run. My plan's changed when the TV weatherman said a big rain and snow storm is going to hit our area at any time.

I figured it would be best for me to go right away, which I did. As it turned out, 5 minutes after I got home, down came "freezing" rain and snow.

Perfect timing, I love it when a plan comes together!

The run was good, I did a 9:01 pace and did not exceed 134 bpm, it was a moderate run and was an improvement over previous weeks moderate runs.

It is 7:48 pm and I'm done for the day, I can't believe it.

It has been some time since I've been able to kick back so early in the evening and just relax.

Hello "American Idol"!

Started at 6 and finished at 10...

I didn't have to drive Reid to Hockey practice this morning, so I got a well needed 9 hours of sleep last night.

I started my training early tonight, at 6:02 pm, I had a lot of training time to put in.

I rode the bike for 2 hours and 15 minutes, stretched and had a 1 hour and 20 minute weight training session.

By the time I finished it was 9:58 pm.

I've come to realize that doing weight training can be very draining, especially if you giver. I found that after today's weight training session, I was exhausted.

Afterwards, I was also craving oatmeal with blueberries and brown sugar.

Since I "bonked" on the weekend, I'm trying to stay away from simple sugars, like having my "ice cream" fix.

The BONK is no fun.

The oatmeal hit the spot and I felt better afterwards!!!

"Crashing" the Chilly Half Marathon...

Today I was scheduled to do a 2 hour long run.

It turned out that the "Chilly Half Marathon" was being held in downtown Burlington this morning and I decided to use this race as part of my long run.

I tried to register and it was "sold out", the City officials only allowed them to accept 2000 runners.

So I did something I've never done before... I decided to "crash it"!

I showed up just after the gun went off and by the time I got to the start line, I was the officially the "last" runner to start the race.

My training plan was to keep the heart rate at 139 bpm or less. For the most part, I was able to do that for most of the race.

At the end, it got up to 141 - 144 bpm and I tried to slow down to keep it below 139, but it is hard when you are in a race with people all around you. The competitive "juices" are extremely hard to turn off, even on a training run.

From the start to the finish, I probably passed over a 1000 people. In the beginning it was tough because most of the people at the back were "very" slow and some were even walking.

Although, I shouldn't complain as it was not like I paid for the race.

It was the first race that I ran with an iPod and a camera. It was fun listening to music and taking pictures from the runners perspective.

I found it very enjoyable to do a long run with a lot of people, as opposed to doing it on my own. The time goes by so much quicker.

The only issue I had was around the 8 km point, I had a slight soreness, for a brief period, in the front of my quads, similar to yesterday. I think it is because of not refueling with food sufficiently.

The last 1/2 of the run was along Lakeshore Blvd, which is very beautiful with the old trees and beautiful homes.

I ended up running the 1/2 marathon in 1:54, an 8:41 pace, then continued to run for another 6 minutes to get in my full 2 hours.

After the run, on the drive home, I felt great. I love the energy of all the Runners and volunteers.

I'm glad I "crashed" the race!

I couldn't believe I "bonked"....

I was at the rink at 7:00 am to watch Reid's playoff game.

His team won 3 - 2.

Before the game, I had a couple pieces of toast and jam, and an extra large Tim Horton's coffee.

For the past couple of days I'd been eating a lot of carbohydrates in anticipation of today's 5 plus hours of training.

I changed the seat on my bike before I started, and was riding by 9 am. Today's workout was a 3 1/2 hour bike ride, followed by a 30 minute brick run.

Then a 3000 meter swim later in the day to top it all off.

The bike ride was okay, I didn't feel to bad. But 3 1/2 hours is a long time to ride, especially indoors, where all I could do is watch TV and read the paper.

I was looking forward to it ending. It was the first long ride on my Trek this year.

After the ride, it took me 5:05 to change into my running wear and get out the door for my 30 minute brick run.

The run was okay, near the end, which is unusual, I found the front of my quads getting a little sore.

When I finished and stretched, I started to "BONK"!!!

It has been such a long time since I bonked, I couldn't believe I was bonking after a training session.

I didn't have an IV, so the first thing I did was try to get some carbs in my body fast. I had a protein shake, a large blueberry pancake, a waffle, syrup and toast with Jam.

I had a quick shower, which was tough, as I was "fading".

Afterwards, I decided to lie down and sleep on the couch for a couple of hours. I knew this would help me recover, I just didn't know how long it would take to start feeling normal.

When I woke up, I had a bowl of cereal with cut up banana's, then went back to my "slumber" on the couch.

I woke up after a couple of hours and was feeling much better, which was good, as I had a 3000 meter swim to do at 6:00 pm.

The swim went well, the "bonking" was over, and I actually felt back to normal after the swim.

When I got home, Alice and I went out for dinner and I had a couple of "Coors Light" which tasted real good!