Hot and Humid.

Mostly a rest day. I learned and practiced my Body Combat tracks seated at the computer.

Docks Run in the evening with Jen. 5km run at a moderate pace. The previous days practice of the slow kick Body Combat track had made the back of my legs quite stiff and sore. It took a while to warm up.

WHAT I ATE TODAY:
2 Bananas, Green Goodness Smoothie, Bagel and Peanut Butter, Gazpatcho Soup with Olives, Quizno's Large Chicken Tzadziki sub, 1/2 package of grape tomatoes, freezies, alcoholic beverages, Oasis Juice, CocaCola, Snapple Strawberry/Kiwi, Oreo Cake, watermelon, cantelope.

Sunny Sunny Day!

It's really crazy hot outside today. I guess it's both a blessing and a curse that I won't be able to go to Inline Practice today since I'm so busy.

Went to Yvonne's YOGA class this morning. I only showed up ten minutes late this time and had a relaxing class. I noticed that I was much stiffer and less flexible than yesterday, probably due to the Pump class that I had done the previous day after Yoga, despite the extra Body Flow class the night before.

After that I practiced some of my BODY COMBAT in anticipation of the release next week. It was really warm in the studio and a bit more difficult to do the moves with my shuffle and earplugs (I had forgotten my CD music and Shuffle cord that inputs into the stereo). I'd say I did about half an hour of moderate workout. I have to nail it down tomorrow.

A little stressed out over a bunch of different things.

WHAT I ATE TODAY:
2 cinamon Eggo Waffles with Becel Margarine and Maple Syrup, banana, Booster Juice, bowl of Gazpatcho Soup with olives, Gatorade, Curry Beef Bun, 2 Apples, Flax and Honey Bagel with Light Garden Cream Cheese, snowpeas, pickles, sour licorice, Green Goodness Smoothie.

Good Morning!

I got up this morning and made it to YOGA about half way through the class. Did my usual sneaking in and luckily it wasn't crowded, so I found a spot in the far side of the room. Yvonne is back after being away for a few weeks. She's the regular teacher, an older Indian woman with a british accent. What's wonderful about her class is that she'll often sing to you during relaxation.

This class focuses on what I like to refer to as "Old Lady Yoga", which gives you an idea of most of the other participants. It's pretty gentle and has an emphasis on stretching, with all of the excercises done sitting or on your back for the most part. Given the fact that I'm becoming increasingly less flexible in my muscles and joints as I increase my training regimen (not to mention the aging process), this is a great class for me.

After that was Tanya's BODY PUMP Class. Tanya is a fiery Redhead and I find that I respond well to her style as an instructor. She has even mentored me into becoming a BODY COMBAT Instructor last year.

Doing weights really never has had much appeal for me, but it's a necessary part of cross-training. I've found that the best way for me to do it is in a group excercise format with music. The emphasis is on higher reps and lower weights, which suits the functional body type that I need for my various athletic activities.

Since I had not been doing weights for almost three weeks, it was harder to get back into it. I scaled down some of my weights slightly from what I normally do. They launch the new BP program next week, which is also tough, and will be even more so this time.

The amount of weight for each track is as follows:

• Warmup: 10 kg
  
• Squat: 30 kg
  
• Chest: 10 kg
  
• Clean and Press: 12 kg
  
• Triceps: 10 kg
  
• Biceps: 7 kg
  
• Lunges: 15 kg
  

I generally felt pretty good afterwards.

It has been pouring rain by the buckets all day, so I didn't get to go to Inline practice this evening.

I went out to Oakville to hang out with Jen instead and we did a BODY FLOW class for extra stretching and breathing.

I will be practicing BODY COMBAT for my release class on Monday.

WHAT I ATE TODAY:
2 Bananas, 1 Booster Juice, Chicken Quesadilia in a cheese flavoured wrap, 1 package of Strawberry Tomotoes, 1 small bowl of Gazpatcho Soup with olives,Flax and Honey Bagel with light cream cheese, Gatorade, Asparagus, Lick's Gobbler Burger with all the fixings, Breyer's Sara Lee Cheesecake Ice Cream, Sour Licorice, Orange Juice.

Need to get Motivated!

Woke up feeling a tiny bit stiff and lazy. I should have gone to the gym to get back into my weights regimen at noon hour. I had taken the past two weeks off from BODY PUMP class as a taper for my two most recent Inline Marathons. I'm thinking that I should have perhaps at least gone to the gym yesterday for a YOGA or BODY FLOW class to stretch out my muscles.

Inline practice with CAMALEON, my Skate Club was cancelled due to rain and thunderstorms yesterday even though things looked like they cleared up in this area by 6:00 (Jen called and said it was really coming down in Oakville last night). I took it as a blessing and a sign that I should have a REST DAY.

Given the fact that the forecast for tomorrow called for rain, I decided to head over to the 400-meter track at Lansdowne and College where we practice. No one from CAMALEON was there despite the fact that it was a perfect day out and the track was pretty busy with a Marathon Dynamics training group and kids on bicycles.

I did the following workout:

• 8 laps of warmup
  
• 8 minutes of stretching
  
• Approx. 8 Interval cycles of 2 laps cruising, 3/4 laps sprinting
  
• 8 laps of warmdown in reverse direction to practice my right hand crossovers
  

I'm glad I was fairly motivated despite being on my own. I really need to start bringing my Garmin GPS/Trainer with me whenever I skate, to help me log the distance, as well as keep track of speed and consistency when I'm doing drills. We're attempting to accomplish a certain amount of distance volume overall each season as a long term plan. I'm starting to wonder if I should also include travel-distances when I use my skates as transportation within the city, normally using my 80mm wheel rec-skates as opposed to my 100mm speed skates. For example, today I skated to practice and back home at a moderate pace, should I start keeping track of this as part of the distance logged?

WHAT I ATE TODAY:
Gazpatcho Soup (with Olives and hot sauce), 1/2 sleeve of Crackers with light Cream Cheese, Ice Tea, 3 pickles, 1 slice of veggie cheese, 1/2 sleeve of Crackers and Peanut Butter, Gatorade, Turkey Pita with feta cheese and all the fixings, Strawberry Kiwi Frozen Fruit Smoothie with Tapioca Bubbles.

TOMORROW'S GAME-PLAN:
Wake up early, go to YOGA and then do a BODY PUMP Class. Weather permitting, go to Inline Practice in the evening. Bring the Garmin (which is currently charging).

REST DAY!

I decided to make this an official REST DAY to let my body recover from the Marathons of the past 2 weekends.

WHAT I ATE TODAY:
2 Bananas, Peach, Gazpatcho Soup (with Olives), 3 Pickles, a 3 Muskateers Chocolate Bar, 1/2 a sleeve of Crackers with light Cream Cheese, 1/2 bag of baby carrots, 1 can of Chef Boyardee Mini Raviolis, Ice Tea.

I Love Inline Skating

I'm starting this Blog primarily as a TRAINING TOOL.

I'm not very methodical when it comes to my current fitness regimen. It generally has to be fun for me to engage in the activity. Hopefully this will help me to push my bounderies and set some goals.

The Summer months of July and August will primarily be training months for me leading up to a series of Fall 2006 Inline Events.

Tentatively, these events are as follows...

Sept 3rd: THE OTTAWA INLINE FESTIVAL 42km (+21k)
Sept 16th: NORTHSHORE INLINE MARATHON 42km
Oct 1st: ATHENS TO ATLANTA ROAD SKATE 140km (87 Miles)


I have also stated that I would do more fun skates this season.