The Olimpics, a love hate thing

Workout today included a variety of different activities. Started on the trainer then a quick transition to running. I guess I should check the weather before I go out next time because it's cold all of the sudden! What the flip. At least there's a solid layer of snow now. Got on the skies and hit the park down the street. I think people are getting used to seeing me do circles there now. Even had a few neighbor's say hi which is I nice change. We're a pretty anti social neighborhood. It would be better if people would stop moving all the time. I have no idea who any of my neighbors are anymore. Anyways, after a good ski I went for a pole run in the local reservoir. There was enough snow there that just walking kept the hr up pretty good. After my feet got cold and wet I went home and got back on the trainer for a bit. Which takes us to the point I made in the title. The past week I have been watching the Olympics while on the bike and it seems like every time I do I'll be watching something sweet like speed skating or skiing and then they'll switch to Curling. They might as well include bowling in the summer games if Curling is allowed in. I'm not saying that it's not fun to play. I like bowling (kind of) but it IS NOT A SPORT! There it is I said it.

In other news our hockey team is back. I'm not going to lie I wanted to see a much closer game but that game was pretty awesome. I've never been a hockey watching guy but when the Games are on I find that I can watch any sport. Except curling.

I have been informed that no one in my family will eat the squid I got. Close minded. Except for my mom who is allergic to sea food. Guess I'll be consuming a large amount of protein at some point this week.

That's all I for now. Oh wait one more thing. It seems I have been added to Mr. Watsons blogs of interest and have surpassed Sam Rykhoff's blog. Ha take that Sam! Still love you Sam.

Lonely days

Good morning. Just sitting here after having breakfast and decided to post something instead of watching Olympic morning again. I swear it's going to take me weeks to get the songs from the commercials out of my head. I keep catching myself singing them in public. I want to know what happened to the Bell beavers.

So the past few days have been pretty good. I've been trying to make do with the lame amount of snow we have here but my ski loop is now down to grass. Pole running has been the main cross training activity. Yesterday I got out for a long one at King City trail. Still lots of snow in there. It was fun running around in the forest but some days training alone can kinda suck. Especially with no music. (Keenan if you read this I need my mp3 back)

When I got home and had some dinner and showered my Sister and her boy friend came home all excited about seeing a meteorite. Then they started talking about this big red star that they saw after. That didn't sound normal so they dragged me out to the plaza to see it and at first glance I was like holy crap it's a big red star! But after about 5min of staring at it we walked closer and i noticed that there was a big pole... ya. So they dragged me out to see a light bulb on a pole. Thanks Eisha. Ok I'll admit it fooled me at first to. So that was the story of my night. Pretty exciting I know.

Well it's about time to get ready for today's workout. I have a good endurance day. Not sure a want to do any more pole running but it might be my only option at the moment.

New food of the week, Squid... this should be interesting.

Can't think of a good title...

The last few days have consisted of training eating and watching the Olympics. And since we don't have TV the while family has been huddled together on the couch in front of my computer to watch it. So this is one of the first chances I've had to use my computer for anything besides that.

I got some great riding in on the weekend. Saturday I hit the old MTB and got out for a good 3hr ride on the road and a variety of different trails. I'm surprised at how well that bike is still holding up through all the times I've neglected it. If you don't know which bike I'm referring to it's an old 1998 Stumpjumper. Sunday was a trip to Joyride 150. It was also my first ride on the new Gioda MTB and I've got to say it's sweet! The bike just wants to attack. Very snappy and surprisingly smooth. I haven't ridden a hard tail for a few years and so far I'm loving it. So besides the excitement of riding a new bike other notable events were hitting the foam pit for my first time. Didn't really try anything into it but next time I'm going for a tuck no hander. If a can get that dialed maybe I'll throw one down at the hardwood Canada Cup this year. Also met the Massiccote's and watched Kevin try a back flip into the pit on his xc bike with the saddle up. So close. Monday was chill. Got up and made a good breakfast for the fam, did some good stretching and foam rolling. Then me and my brother headed the temple of wasted time also known as Microplay Video Games. Spent a good 45min there trying to decide if we were going to buy something. We finally decided on a game and went home to watch the men's xc skiing. I think I've got some work to do on my skiing. Finished the day of with a family movie night. Probably ate to much chocolate but I can't help myself. Definitely my weakness.

Can't think of anything else to report on right now.

Still looking for some good music if someone has any good suggestions.

Not So Good Feeling

The last few days I've been doing some small volume workouts. Yesterday i did a little cross training on the skis. It was hard to keep the effort easy because there was only about 3cm of snow in the park. That's right I ski laps in the park. I've actually never been on a groomed ski trail before so if someone wants to hook me up with a ride to one let me know! Anyway, so when I was done I was more tired then I intended. I could really feel the weaker muscles in my legs that I don't use when I am riding. I woke up this morning know that I had a TT effort to do. got out of bed and the soreness from yesterday had intensified. uh oh... I did some foam rolling which still really hurts every time I do it. My legs still felt like junk after. Oh well I'll still give it my best shot. got on the trainer and started warming up. I could tell right away that my body did not want to do this but I ignored it. I managed to push through it and got some decent results but it defiantly hurt.

After another foam roller session I feel a little better so hopefully I'll be good for the rest of the week. I want to be fresh for Joyride on Sunday because it will be my first time on the new ride. Going to meet up with Jeff Moote and buy some breaks of him and then hit the park for a few hours. Can't wait! I love that place sooo much.

One more thing before I'm done here. I need new workout music. I am getting pretty sick of mine so if anyone has any suggestion on some songs/artists let me know. I'm not to picky as long as it's got good bass are a great beat.

Good Feeling

I just finished my first real ride since worlds and I've got to say it felt awsome. During my week of I kept active enough that my legs don't feel like jello. I feel well rested and really excided about geting back into training.

Today's ride was 1hr 15min of coordination. this included 30min warm up, then 5 sets of 1 leg spinning followed by 15 min of alternating 5 push-ups and 5 sit-ups which sounds easy but starts to get pretty tough towards the end. After that I got back on the bike and spun it out for 15 min. A good workout to get the muscles loosened up.

After that I took out a baked potato I made last night and ate it along with my new favorite snack (might be better than celery with peanut butter) banana with peanut butter. this may sound strange but try it. Just spread some peanut butter on one side of a banana and eat it. Flippin delicious!

Mission for the rest of the day. Clean dishes (booo), try and scope out some parts for the new mtb which I will post a picture of when it's built, and try and make a paleo dinner that the whole family will enjoy. Maybe I'll ask Peter for some advice on that one.

Celery and Penut Butter

Possibly the most delicious snack there is. That being said I don't have a whole lot to post today so I've decided to dedicate this post to food! After worlds was over I didn't exactly eat the ideal foods so now I'm trying to get back to a proper diet.

Yesterday I took a trip to the grocery store with my mom. This is one of my favorite things to do. I love finding new foods and dreaming up meals with them. Some of the new things I've got for this week are leeks, baby bok choi, Belgian Endive and spaghetti squash witch I've had before but never made myself. I'm going to try for 2 weeks the paleo diet which Peter Glassford told me about. Basically this diet consists of eating only food that we would have had access to thousands of years ago. So no processed or man made foods. Just fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts and seeds and grains. Now I will cheat a bit when training begins again on Tuesday because quick carbs are important for workouts. If I feel really good after the 2 weeks I might have to make it a permanent thing. I've done this with other diets before and so far my favorite one is the raw food diet. The only problem with that one is when you have a week with lots of hours on the bike it's really hard to get enough calories to fuel properly. The paleo seems to be more appropriate for an athlete.

If anyone has some interesting ideas on diet than I'd love to hear about them.

I also have some pics from the trip so here they are.

Home sick

And by home sick I don't mean wanting to come home. I mean coming home and getting really sick. After spending a night in the amazing city of Praha we went to the airport and I got on a plain to Toronto. I had all 3 seats to myself again so that was good. Anyways about 10hrs and 4 movies later I arrived at the Toronto airport being greeted by by the father who had been waiting there for a few hrs. Nice to be missed. After dragging my large amount of luggage to the car we drove home. But not before a stop at my favorite shopping store Longos. We hit up the salad bar for dinner and went home. When I arrived we unloaded the bike and built it up. Sigh of relief, no damage. Also took out my new Gioda Espresso MTB frame that Marcello hooked me up with. Let me just take a moment to explain how sweet this frame it. Full carbon, red, white and black, integrated seat post... Can't wait to build this thing. BTW if anyone has some parts that they want to sell let me know. Looking for breaks, front and rear derailleur. And if you have a sweet white or red saddle I'm interested.

So after the unpacking was done (sort of done) we watched the DVD of my race that Tristan Smit made for me. Thank you Tristan. After that I all of the sudden got super tired and a little dizzy. Went strait to bed. Had one of the craziest dreams ever. Woke up and I was freezing. I could hardly hold my self up, felt like my head was going to explode and I couldn't eat. Called mom at work. She came home with lots of Gatorade. I didn't believe that this stuff helped when your sick until now. Thank you mom. Spent the rest of the day passed out on the couch. by 6:00pm I was able to walk around without falling over and I got a little bit of dinner into me. Went to bed and crashed instantly. Woke up this morning at 6:00 and I feel great. I feel well rested and have my strength back. Had some breakfast and started writing this post.

Today's plan is to get all stuff organized and see about getting my new courses set up. I might also get on the trainer for a bit. I don't have any training this weak so I'm going to have to find new things to fill these next few days. Alright lets get this day going.