Thursday, December 14, 2017

Monday Dec 11 to Wed Dec 13

Again, all days in this post, got onto the stretching mats and took fifteen minutes to help out shoulders, back and legs feel better.

Spoke to my significant other about going back to walking or running as a part of my training as my legs and back feel so much better.

Monday got this done four rounds

20 kb swings
20 cleans
20 cleans and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
15 bw squats
15 push ups

after that did double kb cleans and presses for three rounds; 13, 14, 13.

Made it to about 35 minutes

Tuesday was a walk after a long day being a dad

Wednesday was a walk in the pool after a long day being dad


Sunday, December 10, 2017

Tuesday Nov 28 to Sunday Dec 10

I'm hitting every morning session. Every. Morning. Session.

Man, it's ... it's awesome. Like ten to fifteen minutes of nothing but a focus on legs, shoulders, neck and back. Some yoga stuff I recall from three years ago, some "Surf-fit" stuff from like eight years ago and some Wrestling.

Oh, and rugby stretching too.

Yesterday and today went for 2k walks. Saturday was on the beach, tonight was late and around my neighbourhood. Meh, I prefer the beach, to be frank.

The evenings are packed, I can't even make the sessions with my rugby club at the moment. Just me and my garage gym. I did pick up some hilarious flashing speakers to play inside the garage gym. I'll see if I can't film them and put them out tomorrow.

Feeling better - my legs didn't hurt once on the walk I just finished. Didn't do much thinking except what I was listening to and my legs. Felt awesome.

I will stay walking for a week or so, gradually upping my distance and then see if I can start running again.



via GIPHY

Monday, November 27, 2017

Wed 22 to Monday Nov 27

Things of beauty

I keep hitting the mornings. Morning stretching and meditation/getting my head ready for the daily activities in the garage gym is at 100%. Five by five.

Seriously, I am starting to treasure those minutes like they are steaks to a starving man.

Some coffee, some very relaxing tunes and some rolling and stretching. All are good. The sun sometimes even pays a visit.

The breakfast has been ok, coffee has been a Godsend.

Lunch has been regular - I'd rather be by myself, but my situation in that regard has not changed. I'm still eating in the staff room, which is not my first choice.

Dinner is still my problem. I'm trying to lead from the front, but there's a family dynamic going on that makes it difficult to eat properly for weight loss.

Meh, also the evenings are just stupid busy.

Ah well, I'm catching up at work at home and I got this done tonight:

four rounds of this

20 kb H2H switches
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 arm curls
20 step ups
15 BW Squats
15 push ups

After the fourth round, did 4 rounds of double cleans and presses - 12, 12, 12, 13 .... that was .. sweaty.


Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Thursday Nov 16 to Tues Nov 21


All of these days - and for the first time on the weekends, too - I've made the time to get to my gym to stretch and roll. Usually in the early morning.

I've watched five or six sunrises from inside my garage gym in a row. Not a bad thing to be doing. Not a bad habit to get in to. I've been thinking a lot about habits these days. The fact of the matter is I have a few habits that support a long happy life and a few that do not support a long happy life.

I'm trying Ringo, I'm trying real hard to be a shepherd.


Ah well, I got this done for four rounds tonight, too.

20 H2H kb swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb cleans and presses
20 kb squats
20 step ups
15 bw squats
15 push ups

After that, did three rounds of double kb cleans and press. One minute on and one-minute rest.

That was kind of interesting.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Tuesday and Wednesday Nov 15

Another slice of weirdness in my life these days. Did get the morning routines done both of these days; stretching and rolling. 

Even a little "meditation" ... if that is what you want to call sitting and staring out the garage window at the changing shades of grey/pink in the sky for about five minutes.

Tuesday night had to be a dad and could not make the team training session. Did do some evening gentle relaxation and stretching on my own. Still felling Monday's session.

Wednesday night I got into the pool at Cedar Springs for about 45 minutes. A lot of that was in the hot tub, to be honest. Helped make my shoulders and arms obtain a Jell-O like feeling.

Was very helpful.

me after the hot tub

Monday, November 13, 2017

Nov 10 to Monday Nov 13



Things are slowly looking up, but there are major changes on the horizon. Things that may majorly change my horizon.

I've been able to leave earlier for work these days, but every single day - Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was able to get some sort of morning rolling and stretching done. Mobility work, whatever you want to call it.

I am really happy to see the progress in my hips and knees these days. Pain-free; there is no pain after four rounds of this, plus four rounds of 10 two-handed deadlifts with the 40-kilo bell.

20 H2H Kb swings
10 kb cleans
10 kb cleans and presses
10 kb snatches
20 step ups
10 curls
15 bw squats
15 push ups

The deadlifts were different for me at this time. Haven't done them since before my surgery. It was nice to not blow anything in my stomach...


Thursday, November 9, 2017

Oct 27 to Nov 9





Still on the level around here. Starting to dip down and then scramble enough to keep heads above water.

At least I started lifting with a few of the rugby team at EPC twice a week. Tonight was the fourth session I've made it to in November. A pretty good session while we listened to the Wu.

Bulgarian split squats, over head plate lunges and the like. A pretty good session all around. The part I like is that I got home and my wife appreciated the fact that it was just over an hour. I was also back in time to help with bath and bedtime for the youngest.

I'll also mention that the morning sessions with coffee, stretching and rolling have been going quite well. I have also added working on flexibility in my shoulders and rolling with lats and rhomboids, too. Lots of adhesions to work on and flexibility to gain.

I also paid for a float and a massage that I just haven't been able to book and show up for  ...

I also picked up an 88 pound (40 kilogram) kettlebell Oct 30th. Ain't no one going to be shoplifting that baby anytime soon.






Thursday, October 26, 2017

Oct 7 to Oct 26

Things are finally calming down.

I can't say that I think everything is perfect at the moment. No, I would be lying if I said that.

But things are pointing in the right direction. Not quite moving on all cylinders in the right direction, but at least one or two cylinders are firing the correct way. At this point, I'll take that as a victory.

I mean at least I have a care provider for my son. I'm getting close to 6 hours of sleep a night with a nap in the afternoon. Work is as smooth as silk. The rest is ... as smooth as burlap sack on gravel.

I've hit a good set of habits, though. Mornings are down to a set pattern. I get up, I put together lunches and stretch and roll before getting kids up and ready for school. I get to work on time, I do my thing and eat a vegetarian lunch.

The rolling and stretching have sometimes be augmented with night time kettlebell training and rugby.

Oh yeah, rugby. I played lots of rugby until the season ended on a high note on Oct 14th.

We are getting promoted to the league above for 2018.

It sounds like I don't care, but with the crappy parts being as crappy as they are, it's hard to realize that a thing like that has been done.

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Oct 3 - Fri oct 6




I've been working steadily this week - did a night of rugby on Thursday and two training sessions in the morning before work. I even got a physio appointment in for mobility and my knee.

A good week, I'm trying to keep it up.

Again this week, I had breakfast and lunch nutrition on lock. It's when I get home from work and get into the evening that my schedule and pattern/habits go out the window and I eat like I'm 8 years of age.

Monday, October 2, 2017

Oct 2

Yeah, it's been a long time since I made a daily entry here.

But at least this is news that beings a smidgen of sunshine. I got up 0 stupid early thirty and did this before work.


After, I did get some stretching and rolling done, too. I was pretty stoked throughout the day being able to know that no matter what happened, I'd already done something to help my situation.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Sept 30 and Oct 1

Saturday was a rugby day, but I was only a spectator yesterday.

I really hated having to be a spectator, but my knee injury was only the tip of the iceberg of excuses for me. Such a disappointing season for me personally; the club is in a much better situation than I am.

Seriously, we didn't default a single senior men's game this season ... and we ran three teams. That's a lot of rugby for one club to do. Simply astounding numbers of members.

We won four trophies / tournaments so far this year, too. A win on Oct 14th will mean a fifth Cup for the club for 2017. It's a level of success that we've only dreamt of in the last decade with four or five different coaches. It's a real shame that I've been only a small part of it.

Sitting there watching rugby yesterday was a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it I did. It was a nice bright day in Toronto - a perfect day to play. My knee and everything else was just not cooperating.

Meh, I got home on time and I helped out about the house. Got coffee this morning, even helped one of the guys get back to the clubhouse to get his car. I was feeling physically good, but just not good enough to play rugby.

So, instead of whining like an idiot, I took advantage of the day and got this nice little workout done. Like a preview of what I can start to do in the mornings. A 20-minute session that I can tailor to the day if only to get something done for my fitness.

Set the timer and just kept going on the elliptical trainer. Two minutes on the trainer, two minutes of kettlebell exercises. Mostly just swings, but later switched it up to clean and presses, if only because of boredom.

At least I got something done today - and thought about how to carve out time in the average mornings how to get this done on the daily.

Repeat as often as needed

Friday, September 29, 2017

Sept 22-29

Yeah, this week was a week of ups and downs.

On the one hand was getting a pic with my favourite trophy that I helped to win, the NRU Cup. I was pretty stoked ... but we won on a forfeit, so I didn't get to play. A real up.

I did get to training on Tuesday and Thursday. I found my old Wrestling knee pad and had that on both nights at training. Worked like a charm, keeping myself pain-free for the most part. Thursday the selection for the first promotion game went out and I wasn't on it.

I wasn't selected.

I'm injured at the moment - my knee just won't heal. I also am twice the age of most of the players on the pitch. I'm not doing the extras that kept me on the selection list in previous years. Frankly, I'm not in the best condition, either. I'm still trying to deal with issues in my family life, too.

So, a real down, too.

Honestly, I have to go to the game in Vaughn this weekend and be present while my clubmates pick me up. Not sure exactly what I can do except bear witness and cheer. But I'll do that as that is what the knee and family life have beaten me into at the moment.

At least I'm still getting my morning stretching and rolling routine done. My hips and hamstrings feel pretty good, as does my neck. Each day of the last seven, have hit the usual 15 minutes of stretching and rolling. I'm thinking that in this next week, I'll be resolved to extend that time a little and start getting a morning training session done instead.

Nutrition continues to be ok - breakfast and lunch are really helping. I'm focused during those parts of the day. When I get home my nuturition goes out the window.


Thursday, September 21, 2017

Sept 12 to 21

I'm getting to training these days, but I'm doing only most of the things.

I'm also getting to the pool to walk at least once a week. Helping the knee that is. Making mobility sessions at least once a week too.

Also ... playing lots of rugby. Played in Saturday's game, and have hit morning sessions every day.

Stress is killing me and the hits just keep on coming.

At least I'm getting tons of reading and writing done. Not a lot of training, but stretching and rolling is being done.


Monday, September 11, 2017

Sept 1 to 11

I remember exactly where I was 16 years ago. It affected my life to a great degree. I will not forget.

The last ten days have been a vast improvement, although stressful. It is the start up of school and this one was smooth. Nothing major in terms of set backs. A great deal of stress was averted when we found child care for my youngest, basically almost at the 8th hour. Not quite the 11th hour, but pretty close. She has worked out wonderfully for my family. At least I know he's being taken care of and will get to school without issue.

I too have been getting to school without issue, and getting back on a good routine for nutrition is extremely helpful. I've also been doing daily stretching and rolling in the mornings, which are helpful for the legs. No breakfast runs to Tim Hortons also help.

Saturday saw me play a half of first team rugby, the first time this season. I will admit, I was a lot slower than I should have been - but at least I saw it with my own eyes and I lived it.

Both teams were under strength, but the good guys won.

Breakfasts have been coffee, stretching and a fruit with protein powder smoothie.

Lunches have been carrots, celery, tuna, and almonds. I'm still getting used to how much water I can drink without exploding at work.... ;)

Dinner and training have been my downfall so far. I do have a plan, but I need to keep discipline for myself. Moving forward, I'm going to be planning out the reliance on carb filled food for myself. I'm finally able to do the Sunday night grocery run and have it mean something.

On to better times!




Thursday, August 31, 2017

Aug 22 to Aug 30

Not much to report. Well, a little.

Had a few good workouts, a few walks in the pool and a lot of physiotherapy on my knee.

It's sucky, but stress levels are up there. I'm glad that things are going to get back to normal, at least at some point. Maybe soon, I'm not sure.


Monday, August 21, 2017

Aug 17 to 21

I'm most interested in finishing off this season on a positive note, but ending it would be in the best interests of my knees and hip. There were two nights I got to the pool to walk and hot tub.

It's not like I have some ligament snapped or devastating injury. They just ache and wake me up at night. I'd rather just heal and then get back to regular training and get ready for next year.

In any case, lots of stretching and rolling and light lifting in the mornings these days. No contact rugby, thanks to a puffy knee. Just rugby on Saturday, Aug 19th. Played in two games, too.

I'm pretty sure I hit all my throws and won all my scrums. Stole and got close to stealing at least two in both games.

I was tired at the end of the day, man. I was bone tired and covered in ice. It was the annual luau at my club and I just kinda sat and enjoyed watching the CRC on the huge screen in my clubhouse for a while.

Sunday and Monday were both recovery days - ice on my knee and lots of Advil. Monday also saw me do this:


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Monday July 10 - Aug 16

I've been negligent.

I've been out of my elements for the last four or so weeks, and a lot has been sliding around me, including this blog.

Fact are that I've been doing the bare minimum and getting the same as results. I have been wondering about what to do next, how best to help myself, my family and the community around me.

Those first two have been sorely neglected in the last two years.

I am searching and wondering why that focus changed. I have not yet decided on a conclusion or solution.

I am still writing about it, I am still discussing it with my support people. I am wondering about my knees and if they are the thing that would cause me to give up on fitness.

What a shame that might turn out to be.

I have started back to daily morning rolling and stretching and feel much better after. I can't say I'm back to being 100%, but I'll take being able to get up and down stairs without holding on to the rail for starts.

I'll get back to it; I have to.


Monday, July 10, 2017

Friday, Saturday and Sunday Jul 9

Friday was the usual, a morning walk with a morning stretching session. It was also a date night - after a long drive to and from work got the youngest down in time and went for a pool walk with my wife.

Ugh, the mobility work was very much needed.

Saturday was a rugby day, of course. I'm playing for my club's third XV at the moment and it's very frustrating. I hate showing up to a nearby away game to find out most of the guys who were committed to coming just didn't come. I'm not used to that level of non-commitment, and it's just sad.

Ah well, I did the line outs, helped someone else get better at line outs, too. I also scrummed hard and tried to help the team as much as possible. I didn't stay for the meal after, as I just thought it more important to stay married than argue the finer points of rugby.

I got home and did some recovery work.

Sunday was a recovery day, too. I ended up taking my wife and youngest for a long session in the pool. Ah, it was nice and sunny but a little chilly, if you can believe that. We stayed in the hot tub and went for a slide or two in the inside pool. My legs and hips got stretched out, too.

Nutrition improved with a home cooked meal, for a change, too. Time heals all wounds, including those made of stress.



Wed July 5 and Thursday July 6

Wednesday was kind of cool.

I'm working in Barrie this summer, so I decided to try out a Kettlebell gym there. Had a great mobility session and asked what sort of arrangement could be made for me to work out there for the rest of my summer. It didn't work out, I'm somewhat sad to report.

Meh, I'd rather get back to civilisation anyway.

So a great mobs session after a morning walk and stretching session.

Thursday was a morning walk, with an evening rugby training session. After that, I got home to a child who was still up and annoying their parents.


Friday, July 7, 2017

Saturday July 1 to Tuesday July 4

Lots of things going on, some real switches to the good and real switches to the bad.

Some real self-analysis needs to be done in the short term - focus on nutrition needs to be done for July, as June was horrible for that.

Training switched on, now that daily day care concerns are taken care of for July.

I got to a Wrestling session on Monday morning, which I thought was a nice start. I got to Rugby, too.





I did start the new contract on Tuesday, too. Had to use a Dell product for a few hours, but I recovered.

Monday to Friday June 30

This week was another one in which I held on with fingernails and not much else.

I got through it with some morning stretching and some evening walks in the pool. I do have a contract for the next five weeks, so at least money won't be an issue. I even got to rugby training on Tuesday and Thursday for the first time this season.

What a shame, really.

Some extra fitness for myself those two days, but my knees and hips are hurting.

Meh, June is done.

Sunday June 25

Today was the annual Fire Drill workout.

I post this as an example of what it looked like:




Yeah, it was pretty cool. At least it was until the rain started to fall. Meh, all good.

Wednesday June 21 to Saturday June 24

These were all days of stretching in the morning and praying that my son would last the day at school. The prayers were rarely answered. I'm not sure what it is about this time of year, but even though nothing huge is happening for a six-year-old, he's just really amped up.

Thursday was supposed to have been a rugby night, but was not, as I was needed at home to help my son.

At least all of these mornings, I was able to stretch and roll and get myself ready for the day.


Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Tuesday June 20

Today was a rugby day.

I got a morning stretch in, sort of. It was a little rushed, but at least I got some stretching in.

Later on, I thought I had my son heading to bed on a calming note. He was a bit upset, but looking as though he was calming and going to rest.

I left for training and got a fair workout done - lots of sprints and ball handling. Not a lot of tackles, but we are about to start a two-week break, and who needs that? In any case, it rained and I did some throws at the end of training.

I got a chance to think, but I shouldn't have taken that time.

I got back to the change room to four or five messages. "Come home." they all said.

I got changed and out of there. I called on the way home.

The youngest was not in bed. He had amped himself up. He was not being the child I needed him to be.

I got him to bed and asleep shortly after I got home, probably more to with the sun actually setting than anything I might have done. It has left me with a feeling of helplessness and wishing the next few years away. Can his behaviour end with time?

Only time will tell.

But it also seems that my on-field rugby career is coming to an abrupt end. I'm not sure when I might be able to train or paly in the foreseeable future. I mean, my wife is my wife. She needs me more than my rugby club does.

I do have to find the time / make the time to train on my own, though. I just have to do that.


Monday, June 19, 2017

Saturday and Sunday and Monday June 19

Saturday was not a rugby day. At least it was a stretch and walk day. We did have an episode at the park during which I had to just hug my son while my wife went to get the car.

People were people and they stared at us. I was sad for my son. I want him to be happy and healthy. Failing that, I want him to be safe. I kept him safe and worked on the happy with him.

Sunday was more of the same. With stretching and a bit of a walk for myself later in the day.

Got a good stretch done in the morning and a walk with my wife in the pool later on in the day. We got a chance to talk - which is something that we've not be able to do much of in May or April ... or so far much in June.

We are both frazzled and feeling the season. I'm grateful that she will be relaxing as much as she can in the summer and I'll be working.

And rugby.


Friday, June 16, 2017

Tuesday to Friday June 16

I keep confusing my blogs. This should have been posted somewhere else.

Meh, I'm working the walking outside and working the stretching in the morning.

I won't be playing rugby this weekend. It's sad.

It is also Friday and so I thought I would share this picture of a dog I saw on Twitter earlier today:


Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Sunday and Monday June 12


Sunday I got a walk in down at "the beach" in Burlington. I put that in quotes because the water in Lake Ontario is so high at the moment, there is no beach.

My son did have an episode and we left. Meh, at least we got a walk in.

Monday was a crazy day - prepping for summer school and getting things ready for a major switch in the house.

I keep thinking that something major is wrong and so we need a major change to solve the issue.

I did get a stretch in the morning and a walk at the pool later on in the day.





Friday and Saturday June 10

Friday was another crazy day. I did get a stretching session in and slept in the basement to avoid sweating all night long.

Saturday was a rugby game day at home. So ... I got half a game in so as to help my fellow players who can't make it to away games can get some time on the pitch.

Meh, we tied. Whatever.

I won my lineouts and my scrums. I tackled and made a few runs. I did take a chewing out when I stepped in front of the 9 at the back of a ruck and passed the ball to the 10. Yeah, I'll be hearing about that for a while. Deservedly so.

Meh, I felt ok afterwards and was asked to be a sub for the second team. I get to watch some pretty rugby being played - always a good time.

Not from this game, but a reenactment.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Monday to Thursday June 8

This was a weird, busy week.

I heard that I will be teaching summer school - an eLearning spot for me this summer. I'm stoked.

I heard that my kids are almost done their Tuesday night things so that I should be going back to twice a week rugby training. I'm hoping to master the lineout calls at some point.

I did get a light kettlebell training session in on Tuesday as well. Three rounds of:
20 Hand to hand swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb cleans and presses
20 kb snatches

I did stretch and roll every morning this week and got walks on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was a wash, thanks to a non-sleeping child.

Thursday, of course, was rugby. I'm trying to avoid too much overhead lifting at this time. I'm doing some lifting during training of lineouts. I have gotten into the habit of throwing and then lifting. I did also stay on the pitch long enough to do some work on the throw-ins and then got this done for three rounds:

3 x 40 m sprints
15 BW squats
15 push ups
15 seated knee tucks

I know, that's not much of a workout. It is more than I did last week, and I want to build gradually. I do also need to increase the non-rugby night training sessions, too.


Monday, June 5, 2017

Sunday June 4

It was a long Sunday. A long Sunday.

A looooooong Suuuuundaaaaaay.

I had to get up early - and I got coffee and then cleaned up the house. Got this done and that done. All of it done. I even got this done four rounds:

20 Hand to hand KB swings
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
15 body weight squats
15 push ups

Not a savage workout, but I'm getting back up on the horse, so to speak. I've written that Saturday was a long game getting beaten badly. I was sore, especially my calves and my hip.

I got to stretch them out later during a decent walk for fitness, too.


Sunday, June 4, 2017

Wednesday to Saturday June 3

Wednesday I was able to get up early and get some stretching done before a stupidly long day. I did end up getting a decently long walk in just at the end of the day

Thursday was a rugby training night. I did spend a lot of time learning a new system of offence and trying to learn a new set of calls for line outs. Also, did some scrums.

Still did not get the workout in that I'm needing. Did some throws after the session and then went on to do some fitness and mobility after that. Felt really sore and ... forgot my footwear to wear home. Not a great session and then having to drive home barefoot was a bit of a drag.

Friday I got a morning stretch and roll in, but no session later on.

Saturday ... was a rugby day. I had to stay close to home and selected to play for Burlington's third team. We got squished. At least I got my line out throws done properly - won all of our line-outs that I threw in. Can't say they were awesome pieces pf precision, but we won them. The game was hopeless as we were a bunch of old men playing younger fitter kids. Also, understaffed.

In any case, I know what I need to do, and it all revolves around getting back into daily training and using my time at rugby to my best advantage.


Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Tuesday May 30

I couldn't get to rugby training tonight, as I'm still getting one of my kids through their season.

Meh, I finally got to do some light kettlebell training.

Three rounds of

20 hand to hand
20 kb cleans
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
20 bw squats
20 push ups

Not a huge workout, but it was a start.


May 17 to May 29

This will be a catch-up post, rather than listing specific things I've done in the last few weeks.

Rugby training started again. I've not been able to make it twice a week yet. I'm a dad and one of my kids needs to finish off their swimming season. Meh, I know I'm not going to be selected for the first team in May this year. I also know that it's the team we put on the pitch in October that wins the whole she-bang.

I'm catching up on all fronts, man.

Lots of stretching in the morning, some walking in the evenings. Walks in the pool, walks in the neighbourhood.

Some rugby training, with the extra fitness afterwards. I even got some abdominal work done, too.

I did get in for a half on the 27th of May. Did some good work in the lineouts, but as we were ahead of the opposition I wasn't a jerk in the scrums. I should have, but I did not act like a complete jerk. We won and I got off the pitch and did a nice long stretching session. But I was an idiot after that.


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

May 15 and 16

Got back to some regular workouts on this fine Monday.

I know I can start back to lifting, as anything that might have gone wrong did not go wrong on Saturday and I'm still feeling fine. I also cleaned up my gym and swept the mats, too. Such a nice thing to stretch on clean mats.

Monday was stretching in the mornings, walking in the pool in the evenings.

Tuesday I had to deal with the
fall-out from Saturday with a meeting at the club. I did stretch in the morning but had to share my opinion in the evenings. Very upset.

Deep breath, man.

I just like to throw. 

May 12 and May 13 and May 14

May 12 was a "recovery day" - I put that in air quotes as I was doing a lot of watching at training. Also did a fair amount of lifting, too. Did some throwing, which wasn't bad, to begin with thanks to the work I've been doing with the high school team I'm helping.

May 13th wasn't bad. I got a half in, which was cool. No issues with anything. There were so many bodies ... so many bodies from my club. I was happy to get that long of time on the pitch. I hung out and was cool. I did a lot of stretching later on in the day.

Really regretted not wearing sunscreen, too.

Meh, all good. Was happy with my efforts.

Sunday was recovery.


April 26 to May 11

These days were kind of a drag. Lots of walking, still recovering from surgery. No lifting, some stretching and some walking in the water at my club.

Rugby training started on May 12, too.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Monday and Tuesday April 25

It's been a couple of days of not being too active.

A stretch in the morning and walk on my own on Monday. Tuesday was an early morning stretching session, a rugby training session and a water walking session later on in the day.

I also took advantage of my employer's opportunity of getting a health nurse in at my work today. Everything checked out pretty cool. I'd had a couple of coffees during the day, and so was not surprised to see 131/66 as my blood pressure. I was pretty happy to see the other numbers - cholesterol was in the idea range and blood glucose was also in the low end of the target range.

So ... I've been doing work, I just need to do more. Suck it up and get back to actual training, you lazy Weiner bird.

Here it is. I just got one



April 17 to April 23

The drought continues.

No blogging, but some training. Walking both in and out of the pool as recovery from surgery.

I did watch a bit of my club play another local club this Saturday, too. I was responsible for my son
so I could not play, but of what I saw of the game, I was impressed. 2017 will be a good season, as most are when you are on the proper side of the grass.

I'm doing some skills work with a high school team I'm working with at the moment, but since I'm mainly coaching and working on my technical skills as a referee, I can't really blog too much about them as fitness sessions.

Meh, I'm guessing that's the point. I'm moving around, getting healthier by the minute.



Picture of me in the pool on Wed April 19th

Monday, April 17, 2017

March 28 to April 16

I've been walking in the water, stretching and generally trying to take care of myself.

I finally finished an online course and have gotten through the applications for a couple of extra jobs. Man ... life gets so complicated sometimes.

Walking and eating semi properly and getting lots of stuff written down.

Yup, that's about it.

Woo. Go me.


Monday, March 27, 2017

March 22 to 27

I'm not dying literally, but I'm dying literally.

I saw the National Championships over the weekend in St Catherines, Ontario ... it's about an hour's drive from where I live, and I had a bunch of guys I really wanted to just catch up with and make sure they were ok and the like ... and I just couldn't go.

It was the same thing all the time, man. I usually take a few hours to mark, didn't happen. I tried to write every day. Nope. I tried to get up early and get my son out of the house. Nope. Kettlebell workouts or walks at a reasonable time, nope. eLearning, not really.

Just no after no after no after no. Things just kept getting clouded.

I did get more than a few walks in the pool with my wife; it was the only thing that I got to do was walk.

Shame, really.

Need to make sure my stuff gets done in addition to all the other stuff I need to get done.

tl:dr

Walks.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

March 15 to 21

I'm being overwhelmed y a number of different factors at this moment in time.

seems I just can't keep my head above it all, to be frank.

At least I'm getting some training in, but nothing that would hurt my recovery.

I did get two kettlebell workouts done in addition to a 20-minute session on the elliptical during this time period.

I've also hit every weekday with a walk outside or in the pool at my fitness club.

I have to leave this post at this, as I'm late for a meeting.

Man, I hope this does go better for me than this blogging at the moment...

I'll just write "something inspirational" here

Thursday, March 16, 2017

March 1 to March 14

Nothing too exciting.

Actually, nothing exciting happened. Seriously.

Nothing.

I went back to work, perhaps a little early, but I was getting antsy staying at home. I went back to work and didn't do anything nearly resembling lifting anything heavier than 5 pounds.

I did start back into the water, walking once or twice a week. Ok, maybe three times a week. Lots of walking, though.

I did meet with the surgeon on March 13th and she gave me the go-ahead to start training again, as long as I kept my brains about me. I was pretty happy about that.

So ... woo!

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Monday and Tuesday Feb 28

Man, I made it through my first two days back to work without too many hitches ... at work.

My home life, well, not so much.

I did get back to walking in the water at my local gym, though. Monday was a bit of a shocker in that I found a guy naked in the change room hot tub, chatting on his phone. Taken separately, I wouldn't care. Talk all you want on your phone. Be naked in the change room. Don't do both together.

Talk about scary, especially with all the idiots out there, taking pictures of naked people in changerooms.

In any case, I went and spoke to the staff on duty, went home and took notes for myself. I'll check up with the manager sometime this week.

Tuesday was the same. People messing with me at my house, but work was awesomely boring. I love boring. Boring works for me. Uneventful. Fluid. Graceful, but not overly meteoric. Just plain well done and good. I did do some stretching in the pool - some floating cross knee to elbow, nice and slow, just to see if anything didn't like doing that. Nothing did.

Water walking and soaking in the hot tub was also just nice and boring. Yes, I showered for about 15 seconds, and then ran away to the parking lot and home. Just did not need that level of stress around me.

At least everything in my stomach is healing nicely as well. I think I'm ready for training to recommence in about a week. I do have a follow-up appointment set up for next week. I'm hoping that meeting is equally as boring.


Fri, Sat and Sunday Feb 26

Friday was the last day off of work. I spent in standing and walking. I almost got caught up on work, on assignments and on cleaning my house. Well, maybe not cleaning my house.

I did get a walk in, though. And I was pretty happy about that.

Saturday I got up and did a bit of stretching and got my walk in early, as I knew it was going to be lousy out later on in the day. Glad to have that out of the way.

Sunday, same thing. Got walking early and planned out my week, almost.


Friday, February 24, 2017

Wednesday and Thursday Feb 23

I had a nice bath on Wednesday and soaked the "thingys" off of the scar on my belly. We were free balling, so to speak. It was weird, man. But another step on the road to healing.

Swelling went down both days, and I did both a 1.something k walk in the afternoon and a 2k walk later on in the evening.

Saw my best training partner, Orion in the sky Thursday night, too.


Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Sunday and Monday and Tuesday Feb 21

Still with the walking, still with the healing after surgery.

Had to turn down requests to go play rugby in March on Tuesday. It's just too soon to be signing up for preseason full contact games of rugby.

Still did the 2km walks each of these days.

Tuesday got a 1.5 k walk done in the afternoon, then a 2km walk done in the evening. Between walks, I'm listening to podcasts and watching webinars. And reading. Lots of all three. Oh, and movies, too. Stuff to educate, entertain and "edutain".

Still, would prefer to walk in the water.

Also ordered a cheap Chinese knock off of a smart watch in order to track the water walking distance and possible heart rate. We'll find out when it arrives, sometime in June ;)


Thursday and Friday and Saturday Feb 18

Lots of standing and walking and resting these days.

I had to go to a birthday party on Saturday - ate lots of chicken, as that was basically the only thing that wasn't sugary or calorically questionable.

But did a 2km walk on Thursday and on Friday.

Walking was nice. I just want to get back to walking in the water when the incision heals.

But it was still nice to get outside.


Friday, February 17, 2017

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday Feb 16

This really should be two posts. It's because I'm being lazy at the moment but I also have to start getting my stuff together and move forward.

Monday and Tuesday I wasn't moving hardly at all. I got up at 6 am to "help" with getting kids off to school in the morning. I talked to my kids one by one as they left and helped supervise the construction of their lunches. I did not do much more than just stand around and wince every once in a while. I showered, I changed my clothes, I did some reading and emailing each day. At night, I took Tylenol and slept like a baby.

Monday was ok, Tuesday was better. I also watched the Atkins Diet DVD I bought a while ago. I went through that and the diet plan I got from the Shouldice Clinic in August. Yeah, I saw why I was stopped at 250-245 ish for the last while. Too many carbs, to be frank.

Carrots at lunch, ketchup with dinner and yam fries in the evenings were probably enough to stop any ketosis from starting. I also read the handwritten notes again from the Shouldice Clinic very nice nutritionist and started to check out recipes on Reddit. I'll put the links in on the right just so that I can reference them when I'm putting together my grocery list.

Wednesday and Thursday were better still. Wednesday I got up and did a morning routine, did some emailing and reading and writing. Thursday I picked up my youngest from school and did a kilometre walk with my wife in the evening. It was about a twenty-minute walk outside. Lots of snow, but nothing on the sidewalk to threaten a slip and fall. It was nice to be outside, finally. I'm getting stronger and healthier. At bedtime, I didn't take anything as a pain medication either day. In short, I'm "progressing nicely".

My mantra is "Take the time to heal, then we kick some butt".

I've also been taking a long look at my life, too. What is it that I want to do with it, how do I want to spend the next fifteen years of my life before I get a chance to enjoy life? Is what I'm doing with my life right now the best thing for me and for my family?

I also wonder about that first idea, too. Why do I have to wait fifteen years to enjoy life?




I'm in that Elizabeth Warren Two Income Trap, nice and firmly. I'd like to seek another solution. Which is what I'm shifting my research to include. In the last few days, managed to read some fairly interesting books - Blogging for Writers, The Desire Map, This is how you get your next job, and I did a couple of webinars so far about the same sort of topics. I'm also more than a little behind in a course I'm taking on being an eLearning instructor.

But lifting things? Nope? thinking about things? Yup. Not sure the heavy ideas going through my mind would tear the patch in my stomach. Well, not as much as going and deadlifting 300 lbs would.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Sunday Feb 12 ... and a pause for a horror story

So, it's kind of interesting how life will sometimes ask you to pause and you choose to not to pause.

"Hey",  says life, "you should look over here."

You say nothing, ignoring it.

Then life goes on until it pokes you and makes you look.

Well, today life poked me, right in the hernia. What. A. Poke. Indeed.

So I woke up and felt around my hernia which I kept rested for the week and felt something wrong. It was longer but it was also a little pebble that had not been there before. I had a shower and then lay down on my bed to try and see if I could push it back in. Sounds gross, but that was what the doctor told me to do. I pushed it back in.

So, at that moment, my wife asks if we can go out to breakfast. To me hat sounds awesome, so out of the bed I go and put on socks. It was then that something went "Squish" and I felt something little painful in my stomach. Five minutes later in the van, I'm in pain. I can feel pain in my stomach.

I order food at the restaurant and go to the bathroom to try and stop sweating. I look at myself, and I realise I'm turning a green-grey and my stomach won't stop hurting. I feel inside my shirt and the pebble is back, with some back up. That's just wrong. I need to lie down. I go back to the van and put the driver's side seat back and lay down for the time it takes the rest of them to eat a meal.

I was really hurting by the time they came out. My wife drove the kids home and the eldest would be in charge until my wife came back. I also had a neighbour come over and help with the youngest. I got to the hospital about 20 minutes later and was in a lot of pain. There was a golf ball sticking out of my stomach and it hurt to the touch. This was going to be a lot of pain, regardless of what was decided.

I got to the emergency and they took blood pressure and did blood work. I did give a urine sample too. At least I think I did. It's at this point that memory becomes fuzzy. I did puke my guts out in the bathroom for the waiting room. It's amazing how doing that gets medical people to move you up the line very quickly. I was lying down on a bed with an IV in my arm shortly thereafter. They started with just fluid, but then took a peek at my stomach and added morphine pretty darn quickly. I started to text my employer, letting them know what was happening. I also emailed my rugby coach, just to let him know I wasn't going to be at the noon training session today.

It was my very first experience with morphine. Can't say I liked it very much at all. Yes, it did make the pain in my stomach manageable, but just weirded me out. Sheep people walking around the room and stuff. Geiger-like dark teeth snapping at me. I felt very uneasy. After a couple of attempts to push the golf ball and then the baseball sized bulge back in, the surgeon was called and arrived. She took one peek and said that it needed surgery. I agreed right away.

Within two hours, I was being pushed upstairs to a suite and everyone was being nice to me. I remember the nurses arguing about who was going to call the surgeon to come, I remember being asked the same few questions about smoking and overall health a few times. I also remember having one then a second mask being put on my face. The first one was oxygen, they said. The second one they also said was oxygen, but that is the last thing I remember before waking up a few hours later in another room.

It was getting dark in the room and I had a nurse in there while I was waking up. She told me where I was and that I was ok. My stomach felt in pain, but not the sharp pokey kind of pain, just a rather large dull pain. It hurt but was down from a 9 to a 5 on the pain scale. I fell back asleep after texting my wife that I was ok. My boss also said that things were ok, too. My rugby coach told me to get better.

The nurse said that she was sorry but that she would be waking me up every hour to take my vital signs. I really didn't care, as I knew as soon as she did that I'd be back asleep. I woke up again while it was still dark out, must have been like 4 am. I got some water in me. The nurse asked me if I felt as if I could get up and walk. To my happy surprise, I stood up and things were not as painful as I thought they would be. I asked for pain meds and got them without any fuss.

Getting back down was another story, mind you. But being up was ok. I went back to sleep and was woken up by my wife on her way to work, after having dropped off the kids. She left me a bag with stuff in it. I'd look later.

I kissed her and went back to sleep.

I woke up and the sun was way up in the sky. Phone said it was 8 am. So, a day to lie around in bed, trying to get healthy. Well, I also had a lot of stuff to send to the person doing my job for the next two weeks and couldn't as I was on my phone and not on my laptop. I figured the world would survive.

I texted people, I charged my phone, I watched a bunch of rugby highlights on Youtube. I even got to watch the second half of Germany beating Romania. What a pair of comeback wins. All the time, I was feeling less and less pain. I stood, went to the bathroom, walked around my room and generally tried to not mess things up for myself. I ate, I slept, I sent emails to work and to people who needed to know. I watched rugby. That was my day.

At about 4 pm my wife and two of my kids came to see me. What a wonderful sight they were. We chatted and they went to get the youngest one something to eat. In the meantime, the surgeon came by to see how I was doing and she talked about what she did. Seems it was only fat that was coming out of the 4 cm hole. As she was there, it slipped back in, but she did put some mesh in. Seems the layers goes like this: Bowel, fat, 8 cm section of mesh, fat then skin. She described that as "perfect" as the fat will let the bowel not stick to the skin, and other adhesions are less likely. I sure hope she wasn't lying, because my Spidey sense was going off, but I have to take her word for it. I was slightly not there when she was putting my stomach back together, but I was there if you get my meaning. If she was pretty happy with her work, I was pretty happy with her work. After all, I was standing up kind of pain-free as I was talking to her. My last pain meds were at 4 am, and this was 4 pm.

In any case, they released me. I got to go home with my family. I was pretty worried that I was being released a little early, but I also wanted to get out of the hospital as quickly as I could. Just too many things could go wrong there. I wanted my own bed, too. Final blood pressure check was 116/65.

So I'm home and I get my laptop and I send things and email people. I'm standing as I do this as it's just easier. I try my best to help the people at work fill the hole that I usually take. I get them to help with HR and I'm good. Funny how people back off when they hear about the surgery.

I'm off with pay for two weeks. I think that should be fine. I'm going to take this time to heal and to think about what's next. I was already in contact with a few professional people about helping me with the rehabilitation of the wound. They, of course, were happy to hear that I was safe and ready to go. They also told me to be ready after two weeks from surgery at least. Heal first, they said, then rehab.

I got to hang out with my kids and my wife, and that is the best thing ever.

So, yeah. When I first heard that I would eventually need surgery, I kinda just knew that something stupid would rush things along. I wasn't going to be scoring a game-winning try or saving a kid from physical harm ... you know something heroic. As it was, putting on the socks has done nothing for my attitude of going barefoot as often as possible in all seasons.

At least it's done, and I can go forward. I have to hit my weight goals and keep the weight off this time. If that golf ball sized pain in my stomach did anything, it provided me with a lifetime of motivation to pass by the beer and potato chips on the way to 200 lbs.


Saturday Feb 11

Yeah, I took today off. Nothing feels good and I'm getting worried about stuff around the house.

I got to spend the day cleaning and clearing stuff. But to no avail. With three kids, life just gets busy all the time. So, I clean and it's dirty and cluttered 30 minutes later.

It is the way of things.


Thursday and Friday Feb 10

Yeah, this week is insane.

Two more meetings and appointments these two days. I'm out of the house by 5 pm and not back until much later. At least the walking in the pool continues.

Thursday was at leat 30 minutes in length. And the hot tub is the thing that is keeping me together at the moment. Man, it's amazing the healing powers of hot water.

Friday was a bit of a letdown, as we had to skip the water walking. I'm just not feeling all that good.


Monday, Tuesday and Wed Feb 8

It was getting sore, and am taking it easy this week.

A de-load week, I think they are called.

That and this month is just basically insane. Medical appointments and stuff I have to do for work and the start of rugby season are all starting now.

All of it is just really a lot of things to do.

In any case, I did keep up the walking in the pool Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

35-minutes walk in the pool and we've been listening to my playlist while we walk.


Sunday, February 5, 2017

Sunday Feb 5

Had a rather relaxing session in the garage gym today. Nothing like yesterday. Nice and easy, but at least I got something done.

A nice 27-minute session just to keep the things moving. I also got interrupted by a crisis, but nothing worth mentioning other than it was a bit of spilt milk. But I had to go, as I'm a dad.


In any case, got this done for 27 minutes:

20 H2H Kb swings
20 KB cleans
20 Kb cleans and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
10 db bicep curls
15 bw squats
15 push ups

I did try to change up the db curls before this workout. I grabbed my training bar, to make them BB curls, but my stomach just didn't think it was a good idea. It's all good.

After I got interrupted, I had to go and be a dad and it didn't stop until it was after 10:30pm. I did watch the SuperBowl, and so I did do some cool stuff, too.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Friday and Saturday Feb 4th

Friday was the last weird day I'm hoping to have for a while. I know it's not, but I can hope. My schedule was off and had lots of stuff to do. Tons of stuff. Acres of stuff.

I knew it was going to be iffy later on, and they let me come in later to work than normal, so I got a 25-minute session on the elliptical trainer done in the morning. Not too bad. Later on in the day, had to give up the water walking. It was a sad moment.

Saturday ... was my dad's 80th birthday. I know there are so many people who don't get to write that sentence. I was pretty happy for my dad, not so happy with the behaviour of my kids, though. Sullen and snarky. Except for the youngest. He climbed on my dad's back. Yeah, I was terrified.


I knew that I was going to have to squeeze in a workout, so I waited until the house was basically empty and got into my gym for this session:

10 rounds of:
2 minutes of striding on the elliptical
2 minutes of kettlebell lifts - usually 10 clean and press each side, then H2H swings.

I also experimented with the "American" and "Russian" two-handed swings. Basically, the difference is at what level you stop the kettlebell. In the "American" swing, your hands and the kettlebell are over your head. The Russian swing stops at basically eye level height. I found from my limited experience was the American swing got the HR up a little quicker, and that I felt silly while doing it. Normally, I don't care about feeling silly, as I am training by myself in my garage gym. Still, I felt silly.

In any case, it was a 40-minute session, and I am happy to report that my HR dropped from about 158 to 105 in less than two minutes. Makes me happy, anyways.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Wednesday and Thursday Feb 2

Wednesday was not a good day.

Just felt like death the entire day, until after dinner and got the kids to bed. Eventually, I got a 35 pool walk done later on in the night. So I at least got that done.

Thursday was a much better day.

I got this done for 11 rounds. That was not a typo

1:55 on the elliptical
1:55 kettlebell lifts, usually swings and 10 clean and presses per round

At the end, did about 5-7 minutes on the elliptical as a warm down and to extend the sweating a little. This was a 52-minute session.

That was also not a typo.

442 kcals, too. Eesh.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Monday and Tuesday Jan 31

Monday was rushed. I had to get things done at work, and then when I got home, I had to rush to get things done there. I had to rush to get a workout done in a half hour.

I got a 25-minute session on the elliptical trainer done, then did four rounds of double kettlebell cleans and presses.

It came in at just under a half hour, then I had to rush off to be a dad. At least the day ended with a 35-minute walk in the pool with a nice long hot tub experience.

Tuesday was a killer workout. I had to make up for idiotic food choices I've made in the last few days. Did six rounds of this workout:

20 H2H kb swings - most rounds with 16-kilo bell.
20 kb cleans
20 kb cleans and presses
20 kb snatches
Imagine this guy in a hot tub. That's me!
20 step ups
20 bicep curls with 30 lb db
15 body weight squats
15 press ups

I finished about 37 minutes, so I did two rounds of 45 seconds of double kettlebell cleans and presses, for a change.

Then, again, had to rush off to be a dad. Finally, though, I did also get a nice long walk in the pool/hot tub to help with mobility and recovery. I am finding that doing cossack stretches in the hot tub is pretty cool these days. Just gotta go sloooooow.


Friday, Saturday and Sunday Jan 29

I have to play a little catch-up. All good.

Friday was a nice easy day for me for fitness. I did the early morning stretch routine to start the day. Later on, I did a nice 40-minute session in the gym. 35 minutes on the trainer and four rounds of double kettlebell clean and presses.

Saturday I just couldn't make myself face another long boring cardio session, so I mixed it up. I started with a 15-minute session of cardio, got off the machine, grabbed the two blue kettlebells and did rounds of one-minute double kettlebell clean and presses. Went 16- 16- 16- 15- 16 and 16. After that, I got back on the elliptical and did another 10 minutes or so. The entire session was just under 40 minutes.

Sunday was a rest day. I did wake up sore from those kettlebell sessions. In addition to that, I was a lazy idiot. I kept saying "yeah, later' and "yeah, later", but later never came. A good lesson.


Thursday, January 26, 2017

Thursday Jan 26

Whoa, this is getting rather odd. I'm actually posting on the day that I worked out.

I mean, I just worked out and I don't think I'm going to be doing anything else except working for a few hours until I go to bed, so I'm posting to my blog now.
Six rounds ... count 'em!

Whoa. It's been a while since I've done this, so .. I'm going to take a moment.

A moment was taken.

OK then, back to what I was going to say. I had a great 40-minute CrossFit session in my own garage gym tonight. I did this for six rounds:

20 H2H kb swings 16-kilo bell used for most rounds
20 kb cleans
20 kb clean and presses
20 kb snatches
20 step ups
20 bicep curls
15 BW squats
20 push ups

Not a bad workout. Not great, but not bad. I'm trying to cover as many bases as possible without bugging my stomach too much. after this session, it was merely ok.

Still not quite at the calorie count I want, but getting closer. I just don't want to risk my knees running on pavement or a treadmill when I'm still over 220lbs. I'm still way over that, to be frank. But at least this workout gets me closer.