Traveling, Training & Sustenance

(Yeah, you try finding a word that means food or eating that starts with a "T" - it would have been such a better title though...)

So I'm traveling for my job at the moment, and will be heading down to Florida at the end of the month for a bit of vacation time. At the same time I'm trying to keep up with all my regular training. I'm in Montréal at the moment, and while the hotel I'm in doesn't have it's own gym, they're right next door to a Gold's Gym that they have a deal with. You buy your day pass, and then you're in for any of their classes and using the gym. They have a full spinning studio, yoga room, cardio/step room, a cardio theatre (room full of eliptical and treadmills, dim lights and a huge screen they project movies onto), more cardio machines than I've probably ever seen before, and a full weights area also. They have a "Women's gym" also which made me laugh - it's a tiny cramped area with a couple treadmills, and a very limited amount of light weights... I suppose it's somewhere to start! It's seriously the sort of place that you could get lost in it's so huge. After a bit of cardio on Sunday, I had a weights session scheduled for Monday, but thought I'd throw in a spinning class before that as a warm-up - especially seeing as it was all in the price of the day pass! It may have been the most surreal spinning class I've ever experienced. To start with there must have been about 50 spin bikes in the room - and it was full. The instructor caught me on the way in to make sure this wasn't my first class ever, and then we were off. I knew I was in for trouble when the music started up - apparently this was the "latest" from Miami... the only way I could best describe it was as jungle beat house music, and it was loud! Instructor dude then yells something unintelligible in French (I presume!), and a number of other class members whoop and yell back at him... huh... The instructor had more energy than anyone I've ever seen on a spin bike - seriously, he was pushing so hard he was constantly pushing himself out of the saddle! Lots of really long hard sets, with more unintelligible French - I managed to catch a few countdowns which I can confirm were in french in there we got the first "break" half way through the class. Apparently instructor dude wasn't impressed with the "latest from Miami" and wanted to go back to his music... I'm not sure I entirely noticed the difference.... a bit more yelling from instructor and we're off again - he waves to a girl in the corner by the light switch, she kills the lights in the room, and in the wall behind him is another switch for his multicoloured disco lights... so to recap, 50 people spinning like mad in a darkened room, disco lighting, crazy jungle club beat and over-energized instructor shouting random instructions in French.... yeah, that was some class... After that the weights session was completely uneventful!

So I'll be making use of the classes and the gym here over the next week I'm here in Montréal, back home for a bit, then off for a bit of sun. Only a couple of the places we're staying on our roadtrip down to and around Florida have gyms in them, so it'll be improvisation outside - which I'm actually rather looking forward to - honestly how can running on the beach in the sun be bad! Yeah, you can envy me now ;-)

One of the hardest things I find with traveling is dealing with my diet. I try to find places to stay that have kitchenettes, but no such luck on this trip, so it's a week of educated choices! Even without a fridge I still manage to stock up on bits and pieces for in the room, and snacks while I'm working - things like fruit, raw unsalted nuts, and bottled water. Dinner is always the meal that causes me most issues though, I've done ok so far in discovering the "Delicious Alternatives" menu from Boston Pizza, and a create-your-own meal off a pick and mix menu in an Asian kitchen. It's more the temptation of the not so smart choices staring me in the face on each of these menus that threaten me - will power is winning so far though - that and the fear of wearing a swimsuit on the beach in less than a month!

Huh, swim different....

So, first swim last night since August. I slacked off with the whole City of Toronto strike, and then started focusing more on my running for all the road races I was doing. Given that my first triathlon of the season kicks off in 5 months I figured it was time to get in the water again! The pool at the Swansea community centre (which is attached to the Swansea public school if that gives you any insight on size and quality here) was actually reasonably empty. The fast lane had 4-5 people in it, which was completely acceptable for me, we were all about the same sort of pace also which helped. The slow lane emptied out early and apparently I was the only one who noticed, so got an entire lane to myself for the last 15 minutes of the swim. It would appear that anyone who made a New Year's resolution to swim wasn't there last night, or has given up on their resolution already - the lifeguards looked very bored - one of them took to singing while watching us all swim back and forth... What I did notice on this swim though was that with the changes in my body composition swimming is different. The obvious change is a lack of buoyancy - my legs were falling... what's this, I have to kick?! You're kidding right!? I'm noticing my strength in my pull as well though, so I suppose it all evens out in the end! Either way it was still a good swim, but I still don't find swimming to be a high cardio exercise for me - even on the 50m sprints I threw in at the end of the swim my heart rate was only getting up to about 70% of it's peak. It's good to know though, as it should mean I'm potentially a bit fresher getting out of the water for the bike on a race... theoretically... we'll see!

I had my personal training session this morning also - lots of work on dead lifts... so every muscle in my body has given up working for the rest of the day now! I do have a brag though - our gym runs a challenge of the week and posts the results for everyone. I did this week's challenge right at the end of my session - yes, after all those dead lifts, and a whole routine of boxing drills. The challenge was a standing jump for height (then calculated out based on your height and body weight), then followed by a 500m row for time. My jump was ok - we all know I don't do up in any way shape or form, but here's the brag - I smacked the 500m row! My session is right at the end of the week, so pretty much everyone else has gone before me - the best time so far this week was 1:58 - I did 1:53. Pretty damn pleased with that - I don't think I've ever won a weekly challenge... too bad there's no prize!

Busy Busy!

So, first, update on the fitness test from last Friday - body composition is good, strength is less than good... The 12 minute run improved marginally, but I know last time I did it I was dying at the end, and this time felt a bit better - so I'm calling that an accomplishment, oh, and I ran further of course! My training program is focusing a lot more on strength now so I'm not so worried about the strength numbers being a bit sucky this go round, however, on the body composition yet more body fat lost - so much so that I'm now at 25% body fat. Yes, 25% - something about me is finally in the "normal" range! Considering it started this time last year at "obese", we meandered through "overweight", and finally here we are "normal". Stunning!

I've pretty much given up on finding a masters club to swim with - I'm going to have to set a calendar reminder to do this search all over again in August when apparently all clubs start up, and then they stay full for the entire year! So, back I go to the tiny pool around the corner... tonight in fact... their lane swim is thankfully quite late at night, which works well for me after dinner.

Last weekend we spent our time up at Touchstone Resort on Muskoka lake. If you're looking for somewhere quite luxurious to get away for a weekend I'd highly recommend it. Nice staff, has a spa, good gym onsite, good upscale restaurant onsite, some gorgeous views, and the actual accommodations are phenomenal. Full kitchens in each suite, including espresso makers, and half of their units are dog friendly.

Tomorrow is Fitness Test Day!

This time last year I was just starting at the gym, and one of the first thing we did was a fitness test... 12 minute run, push-ups, plank, weight limits etc.... Also included is weight, measurements and body fat composition though. Always a fun event! Of course they happen quarterly, but this is the one that'll show what I've managed to accomplish in a year. Results tomorrow!


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So much for that...

Apparently it's too hard to put on a website that your Masters swim club only accepts new members in August, oh, and your club is currently full, oh and there's already a waiting list... great... thanks for that... next...

Least the running intervals were good today!

Oooh, that's a full summer...

I've just done all my registrations for my summer races... after a hit to the credit card, this is what's on the list.

April 3 - Harry's Spring Run Off - 8K

May 2 - Sporting Life - 10K

June 26 - Welland Triathlon - 750m, 30K, 7.5K

July 31 - Ottawa Sprint Triathlon - 500m, 20K, 5K

August 14 - Toronto Island Try-a-Tri - 450m, 10K, 2.5K

September 11 - Wasaga Olympic Triathlon - 1500m, 40K, 10K

September 26 - Scotiabank Waterfront 1/2 Marathon

I know I'm definitely pushing myself here, but that's what it's all about isn't it - no point in taking the easy route! Although, 4 tri's in a summer - really ought to think a bit more about this whole new bike thing... oh, poor old credit card... No one warned me being fit could be so expensive!

I may have finally found a masters swim club close by that swims at decent times of the day - with any luck I should be in the pool this evening - I'm prepared for it to be painful, it's been a good 15 years or so since I had a coach pushing me with a swim... Oh, and it's interval running day today... short but painful!

Resolution Run & Resolutions

I've updated the Sugoi Brand Champion blog today with my Resolution Run 5K results, and my resolution/goals for the upcoming year. You can read it here - All that was, and all that will be

Happy New Year to all of you, and good luck with attaining your resolutions and goals for the year!