February 5th, 2010 Workout – Swimming
One of the things I want to do this year is finish a Triathlon. A friend convinced me to try out a Try-A-Tri first which is a 375m swim, a 10km bike ride and a 2.5 km run. I’m confident in the biking and running portions but I wasn’t too sure about the swimming part. I’ve never tried swimming any kind of distance before and today was really eye opening.
The swimming portion is 375 metres, so today I set out to swim that far. I made it about 75 metres before I had to stop and catch my breath and then I did 50 metres at a time until I got to 375. By the end of it I was totally gassed and felt like puking. I found it really tough on my shoulders which I know is one of my weak points, so it seems like this will be a good way to get them up to par.
I’ve got 4 and a half months until the Triathlon which should be enough time to get my swimming skills improved. I’m going to start doing some reading into training programs and checking out some videos on swimming technique – every little bit helps.
February 4th, 2010 Workout – Arms
I missed Muay Thai yesterday because I didn’t make it home from work in time, so instead I did some cycling on my recumbent bike. Today I worked on my arms as I feel they are lagging behind my legs at the moment. I wasn’t really counting because I was doing sets in between working, but I did a bunch of sets of pull ups, chin ups and push ups.
Gotta work on chins and pulls, so doorway policy goes into effect which means every time I go in or out of my room (where my bar is mounted) I do as many chin ups or pull ups as I can. I’m sure this will suck, but it should add up quick at least.
February 3rd, 2010 – Weigh-In
Going in the right direction! This month is going to be tough due to multiple boarding trips and being on the road, but I am planning ahead and determined, so no excuses. My cheeks / jawline are getting more defined and I can see my collarbones and sternum again, woop!
Taken on February 3rd, 2010
Weight: 242.2 (-47.8 lbs)
Bodyfat %: 29.6 % (-6.3%)
Hydration %:48.4 % (+4.4%)
100 Things I will do in 2010 – January Update
January is over, so as promised, here is my updated list. Finished a few, and underway / planning a bunch more! I’m finding that keeping this list is really motivating for me and I’m really looking forward to finishing them all off. I’m starting to get in touch with people to setup dates for some of these and they feel more and more like reality and less like wishful thinking.
Finished in January:
- 29 – Spend a weekend snowboarding with my little brothers – off on another 3 day @ Blue next week too!
- 43 – Get a raise
- 74 – Re-pierce my labret – it didn’t close up as much as I thought
February – new mini goals
- Finish up my new set of goals
- Finish my current major freelance project
- Go snowboarding at least 10 times!
- Get comfortable doing 180s on mild slopes
- Practice hopping into the boardslide position on a piece of wood / fake rail
- Get under 235
- Finish 3 books
2010 List – as of February 1st, 2010
- Create a new set of 1 year and 5 year goals
- Get a new tattoo - my planned reward for when I get down to 200 pounds
- Get my advanced-green ranking in Muay Thai – went back to class yesterday and plan on being back in advanced class by the end of March
- Go skydiving – going this summer
- Explore an abandoned building – making plans to do this in Detroit – thanks Myla!
- Climb the CN Tower in under 30 minutes – will do this at the WWF climb on April 17, 2010
- Snowboard at Whistler – will be there February 19 with Ian, Sacha and Chris
- Stomp a FS 180 off a kicker – will get it done this season!
- Do a proper FS/BS boardslide – will get it done this season!
- Spend a weekend camping with my dog
- Beat last years record of 30 snow days – at 14 days now and will be riding almost every other day this month, shouldn’t be a problem
- Get down under 200 pounds – aiming for a 5 pounds a month pace which is somewhat conservative
- Take my Mom to the Art Gallery
- Get rid of clutter from my room
- Ride 50 km on my bike in one go - June 6, 2010 – signed up for the 2010 Ride for Heart 50km ride
- Build 5 Halloween props – got all my materials gathered
- Build a fake disemboweled torso out of latex/foam
- Take my Dad to a football game
- Learn to rollerblade
- Make 95% of the food I eat from scratch – good so far
- Get 5 new freelance clients - 1 down
- Do a 48 hour weekend fast
- Learn 5 magic tricks
- Go to the Science Centre
- Go to the ROM
- Deadlift 315 pounds
- Squat 225 pounds
- Read 25 books – 1 down
- DONE – Spend a weekend snowboarding with my little brothers – off on another 3 day @ Blue next week too!
- Grow a herb garden
- Climb a tree
- Ride the entire single-track trail at Albion Hills
- Ride the entire single-track trail at Glen Eden
- Walk in the rain
- Become proficient at AJAX
- Do a 22 km run – Sunday October 17, 2010 – Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon
- Launch the zombiepedia website
- Go to the carnival
- Bake a cake
- Volunteer my time for a good cause
- Try being vegetarian again for 21 days
- Try being vegan for 21 days
- DONE – Get a raise
- Revise and stick to a new budget – budget done, now to stick to it
- Have a 100% TV-free month
- Build a Facebook application
- Take a night class
- Paint a giant painting
- Go to the shooting range – making plans to do this in Detroit – thanks Myla!
- Learn 5 new effects in After Effects
- Teach the dog to not be scared of the nail clipper – making progress
- Make a new snowboarding video - have been taking a lot of footage lately
- Create 10 website layouts - 1 down, working on 2
- Build my portfolio website
- Try indoor rock-climbing
- Learn to Salsa
- Donate blood
- Make a gift for someone by hand
- Visit a Renaissance fair
- Snowboard in the summer - http://www.snowparkniagara.com/ – aww yeah!
- Be part of a zombie movie - shooting in the spring!
- Start a new business venture
- Start a conversation with 50 strangers… stranger danger! – not really counting this accurately I guess, but at 5+… easy to do on ski lifts..
- Learn to make a Paella
- Decorate a Munny!
- Go on a random and pointless roadtrip
- Write a children’s book
- Become a triathlete – Sunday August 15, 2010 – Toronto Island Triathalon – 750m swim/30km bike / 7.5km run
- Try wakeboarding
- Train with a champion
- Zombie around with my ghouly friends!
- Sculpt something out of clay
- Give a speech
- DONE – Re-pierce my labret – it didn’t close up as much as I thought
- Eat chicken wings in Buffalo
- Spend an entire day at the beach
- Go on a brewery tour
- Ride through the glades - hopefully at Whistler
- Surprise someone
- Work at a haunt – making plans! :D
- Do 10 pull ups
- Do 100 push ups
- Go to a big music festival
- Learn Yoga
- Watch the clouds drift by
- Watch a sunrise
- Go kayaking
- Watch a sunset
- Hike part of the Bruce trail
- Do a handstand pushup
- Eat a tasting menu
- Eat 5 things I’ve never tried before
- Ride on a powder day - praying that I can do this at Whistler this Month
- Build a haunted gingerbread house – found a sweet blueprint
- Explore a cave
- Make a Turducken!
- Finish 3 major projects at work
- Reformat my laptop - in process
- Backup all my important files - in process
- Eat at a White Castle – making plans to do this in Detroit – thanks Myla!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
February 1st, 2010 Workout – Muay Thai
Today I went to Muay Thai for the first time in a few months. I thought it would kill me, but apparently boarding is better conditioning for my legs and core than I realized because I don’t feel like absolute death right now like the last time I came back after a break.
In general my legs and core are feeling pretty strong but the endurance in my arms definitely needs some more work. I’ve been doing random sets of push ups / pull ups daily but nothing too focused or strenuous. I need to get back to that and I need to get some more endurance into my front shoulder muscles – they definitely felt like the weak spot when it came to keeping my hands / pads held up during the drills.
Going to go back Wednesday. I won’t be able to get in too many classes this month due to my trips, but once March rolls around I’m gonna go full tilt again.
January 30th, 2010 Workout – Snowboarding
Went boarding at Blue Mountain again and the conditions were pretty good. Did a bit of jumping around. I can’t wait to get this extra weight off… it’s sure as hell a lot less taxing to huck yourself in the air when you’re not dragging along a bunch of extra pounds. My fault for letting them add up again, but that time is past and it’s time for them to go. The weight is coming off easily enough – just a matter of being consistent and patient.