Toughest Workout Of The Year

Ok so we're only into one month of the new year but yesterday I had the toughest workout of the new year. Sundays are my rest day but I do the P90X Yoga workout.  I didn't start working out until 7:00 am and got about 35 minutes into it when I was interrupted.  After the interruption, I took all three kids for the entire day.  We left the house around 7:50 am and had a lovely breakfast at McDonalds and they played in the play area.  They lasted about one hour and then I took them to the Ontario Science Centre.  The last time I was there was a couple of years ago with Rebecca and my brother Paul right after Vanessa was born.  The two of us struggled to keep up with Rebecca.  It is a totally awesome place where you can easily spend the entire day looking and trying different things.  I went there tons of times when I was a kid and its still a cool place to hang out.

Now I've taken all three kids for several hours and I've taken a couple of the kids for all day, but not all three for all day.  In hindsight, I should have brought some GU gels.  We started in the Kids Place and as soon as we got in, all three kids ran in three different directions.  Now being the "experienced" dad, I simply stood by the one entrance and let them go wild.  That worked for that place but in other exhibits, there were multiple entries and exits.  I wasn't worried so much for Rebecca and Vanessa but Jake is another story.  If you turn your back on him, he's gone in an instant and for a three year old, he's fast.  A couple of times I almost panicked when I couldn't find one or two or all three of the kids.  It wasn't that busy but the place is so massive and so many different floors it would be extremely difficult to find a kid once they are lost.  It was mentally exhausting just trying to watch all three kids run around in different directions while I was standing in one spot.

Lunch was a joy as once again the "experience" kicked in and I made sure we were in the cafeteria before noon as I know the kids' patience is almost as short as mine and there is nothing worse than being in a long line up with screaming hungry kids.  As usual, no one ate anything except the fries and they wanted candy so why not?  Load them up on sugar and let them run around.  As they day rolled on, Jake began to tire and get whinny but one of the last exhibits we saw is the one they had the most fun.  It was a massive tube about 30 feet tall with air blasting from the bottom to the top.  The kids would put pieces of papers in the bottom and watch it blow out the top.  I think I sat on the steps for at least 45 minutes watching them running around picking up the papers and stuffing it in the tube.  After that, it was around 4 pm and it was time to go home.  We arrived around 10:30 am and I was bagged.  This was a pretty good workout.  Too bad I didn't wear my heart rate monitor.  I would have been interested to see how many calories I burned.

When I got home, I had to run a couple of quick errands and then cracked a beer, and another and another.  Tammy asked why I was drinking on a Sunday.  Because I deserved it.

This week is a recovery week and I ran for 60 minutes this morning.  It wasn't bad as the temperature was only -25 (C) with the windchill.

My weight has drifted back down to 173 again.  Yea man!  I told coach I would drop five pounds before the end of January and I was right.  Now if I can drop another five pounds before the end of February.

Suck It Up

Yesterday afternoon I felt really run down and in fact I could have taken a nap at my desk.  I felt better after taking some Advil but I can tell my body is trying to fight off a cold plus the interval workouts (swimming, biking and running) had drained me.  But by the time I got home, I felt better so I had a couple of beers.  I felt  fine in the morning other than a little dehydrated.  My run was for 90 minutes but I had to be back home by 7:00 am because Tammy wanted to go to the gym.  Overall the run was ok but I was a little tired and didn't go as hard as I should, staying in the lower part of Zone 3.

After the run, I changed clothes and did some glute workout that Kevin had given me.  I try to do it at least once a week.  I did about 30 minutes worth but began to feel a little crappy.  I started to get a chill and a headache.  It couldn't haven been from the beers I drank last night.  I only had three and I'd be downright embarrassed if three beers gave me a hangover.  I popped some Advil and felt a little better but had to take Jake to his swimming lessons.  I really didn't feel like getting in the water with him but it as it turned out, I only had to set on the side of the pool while he happily played.  His lessons are pretty basic as he's only three years old and most of the time, they end up playing for half the lessons.

On the weight front, I was quite happy the other day when I got down to 173 pounds but not so happy this morning when I came in at 176.  I know why I gained but wasn't expecting a three pound gain overnight and I didn't eat anything salty.

At the place where I work, a new manager has taken over and while I don't report to him directly, he can have a very direct impact on my success (or lack of) so I opted to take some initiative and host a customer appreciation day.  On the way to work yesterday morning, I stopped off at Dad's Cookies outlet where they sell their cookies dirt cheap.  I picked up several bags of cookies and set them on a up the table where customers could help themselves.  The trouble was every time I filled the plates, I helped myself to one or two chocolate chip cookies.  My three weakness are french fries, chocolate chip cookies and beer.  Every two cookies of Chunks Ahoy equal 170 calories.  Its pretty safe to say I ate more than two cookies.

Major Doh!!




This afternoon, the chills returned so I took a hot bath but I was so tired I fell asleep in the tub.  Is it a bad thing to have a nap while taking a bath?

Another Ride.....Another Crap Ride

Ok this morning I knew it was going to be a crap ride but I didn't think it would be that bad.  I barely managed to ride for the hour and my workout was suppose to be 2 x 15 minute rides at 145 bps followed by 4 x 1 minute all out sprints.  Not a chance.  I died about 25 minutes into it and my heart got no where 145 bps.  

I think last night's run really took a lot out.  Because there are hardly any hills that are worth doing hill repeats, I ran about 5 km before I hit some nice hills.  The hill took about three minutes to run up with a nice grade and I did four repeats but tried to go as hard as I could.  Then heading back home, I did 4 x 1 minute all out sprints which was not "all out."  I was bagged as earlier in the morning at swimming, we did lots of leg workouts and 4 x 25 metres of all out flutter kicking.  I really suck at kicking.

Right now, I feel like crap as I really could fall asleep at work.  It almost feels as if my body is trying to fight off the flu.  My body aches and I'm all congested although swimming sure helped that problem yesterday! 

Tomorrow's run is not looking so great.  Other than that, not much is going on other than closing my door and having a nap.......

A Crap Ride

I'm not sure what happened this morning but I pretty much mailed it in on this morning's trainer ride.  I was to ride for one hour with 4 x 2 minute one legged pedalling, 4 x 2 minutes riding out of the saddle and then 4 x 1 minute all out sprints.  I made it through the half of the one legged drill when I begin to run out of energy.  I dropped down to a easier gear and struggled.  In between sets I remembered there was a pack of GU gel somewhere in the basement.  I hopped off the bike and found it.  The GU did make some difference as I finished the one legged drills and moved on to the all out sprints but during the second set, I totally was dead after 45 seconds and the other two sets were pathetic.  I started a slow easy recovery ride when I realized I forgot to do the out of the saddle drills.  I did a couple but was barely hanging on for the last one.  The only good news was that I burned 715 calories.

I'm not sure why I was so low on energy but it might have to do with the winter blahs.  I have been using a light box when I ride for the last couple of months but I'm not sure if it really does anything.  Its probably more of the placebo effect - you think its working so you automatically feel better.

It also might have to do with playing hockey (pick up) last night for the first time in three weeks.  We got absolutely smoked and it was quite a pathetic skate.  I was gassed and had no timing.  The only saving grace was I scored in the last couple of minutes.  I chipped at the puck and it went up in the air, hit the goalie in the head and rolled down his back and in.....my work was complete.

Another small victory is my weight has been dropping since I started counting my calories last week.  On January 2nd my weight topped out at 180 pounds (race weight is 168) and today it was at 174.2 pounds.  It was really bouncing around so I decided to start counting again and was shocked on how much I was eating.  The biggest problem was the snacking after dinner.

A Little Chilly Run

This morning's run was a little chilly as the temperature hit a balmy -20 (C).  I had to do a 60 minute tempo run with 2 x 12 minutes at 140 bps followed by 3 x 1 minute full out sprints.  I wore my new(ish) riding jacket that I got several months ago, one heavy running shirt (no layering), the new windproof pants that Tammy got for me and the lobster riding gloves my brother got from Mountain Coop. I also wore a balaclava but after 15 minutes I couldn't breathe.  I was a little cold but once I got going after 20 minutes I was ok.  It was a little surreal running at 5:30 am and it being that cold.  There was nobody outside this morning, only people heading off to working thinking "is that idiot really running in this weather?" Last night's news kept saying it was the coldest day of the year but I didn't find it that bad.

By the time I got to the 3 x 1 minutes sprints, I was more than warmed up and let it rip but I quickly ran out of gas, although I wasn't quite sure how long I ran for as its impossible to read my watch in the dark even with the light one while running at top speed.  The main thing I was worried about was a) slipping on the ice so I ran in the middle of the road or b) some idiot pulling out and clipping me.  Nothing happened but I almost did get clipped earlier in the run as some asshole decided that its really not necessary for him to stop at a stop sign or at least look for people crossing the street just because its 6 am.

The one thing I did like about this run was that it gave me an excellent indicator of what to wear when the weather gets down to -30 (C) and/or I have longer runs than 60 minutes.  I have no problems running until it gets down to around -35 (C) or the winds get up to more than 30 km/hr.  It seems "some" people can't handle our "cold" weather ahem, not to mention any names, *cough* John "Whhaaaa I can't run if its too cold" Proc *cough*  SUCK IT UP BABY!!

Victory!!!

This morning at Masters, we were doing two sets of 5 x 100 metres of front crawl with a pull buoy and then 2 x 50 metres sprint.  I raced Brian on the set but he bailed on the second set of sprints so Serge had me race one of the kids from the Mallards.  I had a lousy start and basically forgot to dolphin kick after the dive start but I pulled ahead and smoked the kid.  Boy it felt great as some of you might remember last year, I raced against Serge's daughter.  The results were down right ugly but today was all about redemption!!

Oh the kid I was racing was 13 years old and was swimming breast stroke but I still crushed him!!!

The Importance Of Obedience

Counting Calories

As today is the "most depressing day of the year," I decided to add to some more misery.  I started to count my calories using http://caloriecount.about.com/.  I forgot what a pain it is to count and measure everything.  So far for Day One, I'm over at 1,800 calories but including the 60 minute bike ride this morning, I should have burned about 2,550 calories for a deficit of 750 calories for the day.

Nice except I'm fucking starving.  No wonder I've been gaining weight.

The Bleakest Day Of The Year

Toronto Star

Widely known as Blue Monday, this year it falls on Jan. 17. The origins of Blue Monday can be traced back to Cliff Arnall, loosely affiliated with Cardiff University.

Arnall, it seems at the behest of Sky Travel, signed his name to a marketing formula that blamed the combination of weather, holiday debt, and the inevitable failure of our New Year’s resolutions for a widespread, crushing case of the blues.

You get the idea. Cute, overly crafted formula from marketing agency + information on cheap airline tickets to sunny destinations = sales.

Arnall also used a similar formula (we use the term loosely) to sell ice cream.

Even if we disregard Arnall’s so-called science, we can all admit weight gain, holiday debt and lack of sun can have a serious impact on how we feel.

To demonstrate our devotion to you (melded with our love of research journals), we have created a list of tips you can employ to improve your mood.

Do Yoga: According to Dr. Chris Streeter from the Boston University School of Medicine, yoga can actually have a greater positive impact on your mood than other types of exercise. Streeter and his team found that after yoga, people had higher than usual levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, “a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity” according to anarticle in Science Daily discussing the findings.

“GABA activity is reduced in people with mood and anxiety disorders, and drugs that increase GABA activity are commonly prescribed to improve mood and decrease anxiety,” it reads.

Talk to your boss: If there are challenges in a certain area or just too much work, take time to really think about it and break it down to find solutions,” says Julie Holden, vice president of employer services with Banyan Work Health Solutions Inc. “You might want to talk to your manager.” Don’t just focus on the problems, she says. “Try to present solutions so you can work through them together.”

Create a healthy work culture: Holden suggests setting up group exercise like a walking or running group or an ice skating club at work and bringing healthy snacks to eat at your desk. She pointed to a recent study produced by pension and benefits consulting firm Towers Watson that proved healthy employees means higher productivity and profits.

“Companies that are doing more to help employees lead a healthy lifestyle are seeing benefits in terms of financial performance in terms of the company and increased stability in their human capital,” she said.

Chow down on chocolate: Chocolate has long been perceived as a mood elevator, but not exactly for the reasons you think.

In an article published in Science Daily Professor Peter Rogers, from the University of Bristol, UK notes that raw chocolate does contain chemicals associated with elevated mood including serotonin, tryptophan, phenylethylamine, tyramine and cannabinoids.

But “many of these compounds exist in higher concentrations in other foods with less appeal than chocolate,” particularly when one measures the levels in mass produced, high fat, high sugar versions we get on most store shelves.

Thus, your Snickers bar is more likely to give you a rush from sugar and guilt than mind-altering chemicals. But who are we to deny you any pleasure.

However, totally non-scientific testing has proven that multiple trips to Soma chocolatemaker in the Distillery District are guaranteed to improve your mood.

Get some sun: Bright, summerlike light is a good way to fight the blues, or at least stave off the dreaded disease of winter known as Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Prof. Noga Kronfeld-Schor of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Zoology with Prof. Haim Einat of the University of Minnesota used two groups of Fat Sand Rats to prove it. The professors put the rats into two groups, exposing one to light similar to that in summer months. The second got the equivalent of winter light. That group “behaved in ways similar to depressed humans, exhibiting despair, reduced social interactions and increased anxiety.” The anxious rats were also the subject of a Science Daily article.

Think like a kid: This is less of a scientific study and more of a distraction. The GrimsbyTelegraph filmed a bunch of school kids telling silly jokes to combat Blue Monday. Laughter really does boost your mood so seek out a funny friend, or head to a local comedy show.

Think like a teenager: Nothing says Blue Monday like making a mixed CD, or playlist. Good suggestions to start: “Blue Monday” by New Order and “Blue Monday” by Fats Domino. Alternate suggestions include “Manic Monday” by the Bangles or “Come Monday” by Jimmy Buffett.

Think like an adult (or teenager): Sex provides exercise, human contact, orgasm and it’s typically free. No further explanation necessary, one hopes. But if you do need more details,Forbes magazine gives specific information backing up those points in an article entitled “Is Sex Necessary” on Forbes.com.

Seek out positive people: If you are feeling blue perhaps acknowledging you have a problem will help. In celebration of the bleakest day of the year multiple people have started websites with suggestions on how to make the day a more joyous event. The nice people at www.bluemonday.org in the UK have selected Jan. 24 as the day they try to improve the moods of people around them.

On another note, I hurt my hammy doing yoga yesterday.......no running today.  Seeing that I drifted back up to 178, I'll ride instead.   

Red Bull Crashed Ice

I have a friend trying out for this....talk about mid-life crisis

What's Up?

Things are humming along.  My weight has dropped back down to the 175 pound range where I'm ok with but will continue to push it to 170 pounds (race weight is 168).  The only thing is the old scale said I weighed 174.4 and the new scale said I weighed 175.6 so which is right?

This week is a recovery week so not a lot to report.   

My shoulder/arm has been bugging me in fact last week my arm was aching just typing on the computer.  I saw Kevin (chiropractor) last Friday and he said that it was caused by swimming with poor technique.  I was either crossing over or my elbow was dropping putting more stress on my shoulder which the tendon running down my arm had become inflamed.  So this week, I asked Serge to watch my stroke and basically he confirmed what Kevin had figured out.  I tried swimming on Thursday correcting the problem but swimming is like golf.  There are so many things that can screw you up and swimming is all about the technique, which I have none.

Oh the other thing is, I'm so fucking hungry today.  I can't believe how much I've eaten (most of it good).  As of 1 pm, I've eaten......

Pre workout
14 crackers with PBJ
Breakfast
1 power smoothie
Snacks
2 tangerines & 1 apple consumed while driving into work
2 All Bran Bars
Lunch
Head of broccoli
Half a cup of rice
Five ozs of fish
4.5 litres of water

and I'm starving..........

The Du

I changed my workout schedule a little on Thursday and Friday.  On Thursday night I was supposed to run but when I got home I could tell it was in my "best interest" not to ask if I could go out for an hour run. Besides, it was snowing and blowing pretty good so I decided to run Friday morning, ride Friday night and run again Saturday morning.  I generally don't like running back to back days as my body needs a day rest in between runs.

Friday's run were hill repeats but the problem where I live is, its flat as a pancake with some hills but nothing really challenging.  The coach wants me to get access to a treadmill but I said no way.  After that workout, he maybe right.  The hill I ran up wasn't that steep but the second part of the workout was three one minute all out sprints.  Given it snowed the day before, the sidewalks and roads weren't all clear and sprinting could easily lead to a serious injury.  I mentioned the possibility of joining a gym to Tammy but she definitely did not like that idea.  "But I would go at lunch time during the week while I'm at work" I argued.  Nope, end of conversation.  Start looking around for a treadmill to buy.

After dinner Friday night, I rode for an hour.  This workout was twelve 30 seconds burst with 30 seconds rest in between twice and then three one minute all out sprints.  Its amazing how fast the hour went by.  The problem with working out at night is that a) I was too wired to go to bed and b) holy crap, I woke up soooo many times to pee.  Talk about interrupted sleep pattern.  This was one of the reasons I stopped playing Friday night hockey.

Saturday's workout was a long run for 80 minutes.  I went running with another triathlete that Tammy had introduced to me last week.  Rommell lives fairly close by and she's run into him several times including at Muskoka.  I agreed to meet at his place and we headed out.  By that time, it was snowing pretty hard and at times we had to walk some of the ways as the snow was too deep to run and very easy to twist an ankle.  We ran at a slower pace than I would have liked but we went way longer than I had expected.  I was still tired from last night ride and fortunately had a GU in my water belt.  My body was very sore from basically doing a "Du" - run Friday morning, ride Friday night and run Saturday morning.  The bottom of my feet were sore from running on the uneven snow.

My brother had ripped me a copy of P90X yoga disc.  I've done a couple of yoga classes and really should be doing more, so Tammy and I did about 45 minutes on Sunday morning.  The basement was freezing but within 10 minutes I was warm and by 20 minutes I was sweating like crazy.  The yoga disc is 90 minutes long and while its repetitive, I simply don't have the strength to last that long.  We did the first 40 minutes and then skipped some parts and did the last part of stretching and balancing.  It was ugly as I was shaking like a tree and falling over but it definitely helped the soreness.

The Real Way To Get To Kona!

Start them early

Some People Don't Deserve To Live

Good Mo(u)rning Canada

Serge the Masters swim coach was late for swim practise this morning.  We figure he was hung over from all the celebrating as his home country, Team Russia beat Team Canada in the World Junior Hockey tournament last night in Buffalo. 

On another note, my shoulder and arm is killing me.  Is it a bad sign for my arm to be aching by just sitting at my desk?  Time to see Kevin....again. 

Ride Forrest Ride

The results of the lactate test we're not that impressive.  I was first tested in May 2009 and while there has been some improvement, its nothing to write home about.  Similar to the BMI measurement, its not the end all be all.

Peter Takeda Test Results

May 9-2009                 January 3-2011

MHR - 179                    MHR - 175
RHR - 44                        RHR - 43
LBP - 160                     LBP - 160
89.4% of MHR           91.4% of MHR

Improvement of 2 %

I guess a more accurate time to measure would be in the spring of 2011 as I've had a 10 pound weight gain and lower level of activity in December.  Coach pointed out the most important take away is the 91.4% of MHR as an elite athletic would be at 95% but I think somehow going from 91% to 95% would probably be like a golfer going from a score of 85 to a 75....very difficult.
 
As we roll into January, the training begins to get serious and although this morning's ride was only for one hour, I actually did the drills that I had been skipping in December.  

Wed jan 5th
Warm-Up: 10 mins +/-
a)  Single Leg Drill: 6 sets 1 minutes with 1 minutes rest in between.
Cadence: 70-80 - HR: Zone 3/4
b)  Out of Saddle: 6 sets 1 minutes with 1 minutes rest in between.
Cadence: 70-80 - HR: Zone 3/4
c)  Interval - 3 set X 1 min - all out burst with 1 minute rest in between.
d)  Continous Ride for balance of time in Zone 3.
Cadence: 85-95
Cool Down: 10 mins +/-

The one legged drills hurt but the interval was painful by the third set. I actually didn't even turn on the DVD player on but I did have the TV on to a music station just for some background noise and watched the sports highlights during the warm up and cool down.

Tomorrow is swimming with the Masters again.  I decided to rejoin them as I was getting bored swimming on my own and also my shoulder was beginning to ache.  I think I've been pounding out too many laps of front crawl and need to mix up some of the strokes.  Several people missing from last year.


   

Ohhh That's What The Problem Was...

We bought a new scale yesterday.  This morning I weighted 0.8 pounds less on the new one than the old scale.

I have a lactate test this morning at 10 am.  This should be fun.  Basically I run full blast for about 50 minutes on a treadmill and my coach pricks my finger at certain intervals. Here is a good article on lactate testing.

2010 Year In Review And Looking Ahead To 2011

Well the second year of triathlon racing has coming and gone.  It didn't start out that great as in December 2009 ended with lots of injuries.  My orthotics were fried and as a result, I ended up with several foot and knee injuries.  Also my shoulder was bugging me (still is today) and so in January I joined the Mallards Swim Club in Markham.  I think it made a difference as my swim times got better.

Due to my  knee injuries I missed several races at the beginning of 2010.  I had planned to run Around The Bay 30 km race but had to bail in March and the Mississauga Half Marathon in May and the Milton sprint in June however we figured out what the problem Hammy-problem-solved.  For the Guelph Olympic I had already preregistered and so I changed it to Aqua Bike instead of the full triathlon as I couldn't run 10 feet let alone 10 km. Guelph Race Report.  Guelph was a C race

Next up was the Muskoka Long Course which would be an excellent test for Muskoka 70.3.  I did better than I hoped and overall was happy with the results. Muskoka Long Course Race Report.  Muskoka was a B race.

Orilla Sprint was in August and it poured cats and dogs but I was ok with the results of this C race.  Orilla Race Report.

The big finale was Muskoka 70.3.  This was the first attempt at a half ironman distance race and a big step up from 2009's final race of Wasaga Olympic.  I rated my performance a 7/10 and but disappointed with the fact that I got a flat tire which cost me a least 10 minutes and I walked the hills on the run.  It was a tough and gruelling course with relentless hills, in fact everything ended on running up a hill including the swim.   Overall I was happy but really wanted to break six hours.  I think that's quite a realistic goal for this year.  Muskoka 70.3 race report.

The last race of the year was the Hamilton Half marathon where I paced Tammy to her first half marathon.  Hamilton Half Marathon Race Report.  A great way to finish the 2010 race season.

2011 And Beyond

My race schedule has been set for my A and B races (on the right side of this blog).  The running races in the first part is pretty much what was supposed to be for 2010 but injuries put an end to that schedule.  Hopefully we won't run into that problem again.  Interesting I've never done a full marathon before and I don't think it will be a problem as racing for six hours in Muskoka will have helped.  As for the triathlon races, only the A and B races are listed as I'm sure the coach will fill in with C races.  You might wonder why I have Calgary 70.3 listed.  The reason is that my brother in law just had a baby girl and my wife wants see them.  So, if we're going to fly all that way, I might as well take my bike and wetsuit and get a race in.

I received my January schedule and while the training times don't change that much, what changes is the intensity.  No more tooling along at a Mickey Mouse pace but lots of tempo runs/rides with flat out balls to the walls sprints.  Looks like we're moving up the training ladder.  I'm beginning to figure out that its not the time you spend training but the intensity.  I think 2011 should set me up for Ironman in 2012.

This should be an interesting season if I only remember to do my strength training..........

Painful Resolution Run

Happy New Year and all that shit!   As usual I missed another New Year countdown crashing at 11:35 pm.  I could have made it but really didn't care.  I think New Year's Eve is the biggest over hyped night of the year.  Of all the nights, it is the worst excuse to go out, get drunk and act like a fool.  Lord knows I've done it enough times myself.   We did have our neighbours drop over for a couple of drinks but left just after 11:00 pm as the kids (ours and theirs) were really begin to get whinny.

The last couple of days, the temperature has been absolutely balmy.  In fact, right now on January 1st at 3:53 pm, the temperature is a ridiculously +12 degrees Celsius.  I ran this morning but debated what to wear.  Because of my "late" night, I didn't leave until 7:30 am which the temperature was 7 degrees.  I thought about wearing shorts but it was a little to cold but I did opt to wear a t-shirt with a sleeveless vest and pants.  As punishment for my two pound weight gain and the seven beers I consumed (yes I'm a light weight compared to Payne) I actually ran at the prescribed pace which was to keep the heart rate around 150 bps.  This resulted in running at about 5:00 minutes per km and ended up going about 15.5 km in 80 minutes.  At times, I wanted to barf but kept on going.  I was pretty thirsty as well and in fact I drank 1.6 litres of water before I left and drained my water bottle on the run.  Overall I was pretty happy to finish the run but more importantly, I burned 1,043 calories.  Whoo hoo!!!  I guess that covers some of the beer I drank but I still gained two pounds overnight

In fact, here is my bizarre weight over the last couple of days.  Up down, up down, up down.........

Date	Weight	Trend
	2011-01-01	179.80	178.84
	2010-12-31	177.80	178.66
	2010-12-30	179.80	178.66
	2010-12-29	177.40	178.46
	2010-12-28	179.40	178.58
	2010-12-27	178.80	178.48
	2010-12-26	177.40	178.24

I did another outdoor ride on Thursday but made the mistake of leaving in the late afternoon around 3:45 pm. The light was ok until I reached the half way point when I noticed it was getting quite dark.  I boogied home as fast as I could and headed along eastbound Elgin Mills Road as I normally do but this time I was in rush hour traffic and it was quite busy for a two lane road.  That was not fun.

Yesterday I talked to the coach (first time in six weeks).  We discussed January's schedule and while the total training time doesn't really increase, the intensity ramps up considerably as I prepare for Around The Bay in late March.  Lots of tempo runs, hill repeats and flat out sprints for both riding and running.  Any extra weight gain I've put on during the off season will begin to disappear by the end of January assuming I follow the schedule.  I think today was a good start...running until you feel like puking.

I'm still working on 2010 season review