Monkey Bar Obstacle Training Exercises

I am most afraid of failing the monkey bars (and I probably will)... and found this video which shows some exercises to do on a chin up bar to prepare for them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZeVRdAW5nw

An interesting video I found regarding Tough Mudder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7HE2O4Japw&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Group Workout

It seems the good weather is upon us so I think its time we all got together for a group workout, (those of us that are geographically close anyways). This might take a bit to put together so lets start talking about it now. I think the Nelvana/Toonbox area is our best bet. A lot of you are there already or at least close. Zurbrigg is pretty far but I reckon the jog from London to Toronto would be a good little warmup. I'm suggesting we do the Tough Mudder routine twice through, (if we can). You'll all need to bring your weights. If you don't have some, I have extra I can bring. Alicia, I can pick up yours because carrying those 80lb dumb bells to work is bothersome. I'm open for suggestions as far as location. You guys know the location better than me.

What would work best for folks? Lunch hour, after work, weekends, never? Let me know so we can plan. I would suggest a wednesday noon hour to get things started. Maybe the 28th or the 4th?

On a side note I ran a 10km the other day and had my best time ever, (45:05). Here is the Run Keeper link: http://runkeeper.com/user/ElChan/activity/76806412

I was super happy and surprised at my time. Even though, as my lovely wife stated, I am older. Maybe not quite as old as she mentioned but it goes to show that you can always improve. That being said, the next day my legs ached and I complained like and old man.

Cross-Training Like It's 1994

It's been a couple of years, but I dusted off my Rollerblades last week and have since taken them for a couple of skates around the city. Okay, maybe it isn't the "cool" thing to do anymore, but it's low impact (unless you fall) and still a heck of a lot of fun! As an added bonus it's a great core workout. It forces you to work a lot of those muscle you forgot existed and I'm told it great for developing a sculpted backside.

My lower legs have been in a world of hurt from running too far last weekend (stupid soleus), and I needed a low impact alternative. Blading was the ticket. I can still get a high intensity cardio workout without destroying my legs. For anyone experiencing shin splits or knee pain from too much running I highly recommend it. For the rest of the summer I will be alternating between running and blading.

Rollerblade 22.5km (1:06:11)

Rollerblade 28.25km (1:22:46)

Someone wants to join our team but we have 20 people. Hmmm

Sheldon, one of the lighters at March, asked me about Tough Mudder and seemed interested in joining our team. He was talking to Alicia about it and he got all excited! (thanks Alicia) BUT we have 20 registered members now. Just checked.

So do we hold fast and true to our 20 person limit?
Should we consider splintering our group into two come Aug 19th as we all have varying levels of speed?(although then everyone can't get Shawn C to pull them up at the half pipe...)

Btw, I totally ran 20k last week total. 10, 4 and 6.

Well, I just finished my last long run before Around the Bay next Sunday.  10km 61min.  I'll do a 5 km durring the week and maybe yoga X (from the P90-X dvds.  Love it!)  On The 25th Kelly and I will be splitting the 30km race. She will do the first 15, I will do the last.  Are you ready Kelly?  I think I am.    On another note, today is Shawns BIRTHDAY!   Wish him a happy 75th!  ;)

Tough Mudder on!

Crystal

Chin up bar at Winners for $16.99

Just bought one and it works great. Cheap too! Found it at the Winners on front street just west of the St. Lawrence Market.

Same as this one - http://www.amazon.com/CAP-Barbell-Pull-Up-Bar/dp/B001VNPIYS

You peeps are AWESOME!!!

I'm just gonna lay it out there. All of you guys are truly awesome and really inspiring. It's amazing what we really have going on here. Good job and keep it up!!!!

P.S. I beat my record this weekend and did 16 floors x 3 in 00:09:33 (walking down). Then I decided to add 10 floors double step just for fun. Gotta start running!

Time To Get Serious

Well, December was a write-off and so was January. And yes, most of February was lacking in the physical activity department. But I've since made it my goal to tear myself away from the computer at least once-a-day for 60 minutes of 'real' exercise. Not always an easy thing to do, especially when I'm on a bug hunt, but necessary, and I feel much better for it (after I'm done the workout that is).

Equally important, I've been focusing on my diet. Let's face it, a diet of coffee and beer just isn't going to cut it for Tough Mudder. I know I don't eat enough calories during the day, even during my more sedentary phases. Yes, I eat healthier foods just not enough of them. Now, I'm really trying hard to take lots of "snack" breaks instead of just "coffee" breaks and although it can be really disruptive to my coding train of thought, it seems to be helping.

Below are my runs for the week. These are in addition to Colbeck-style workouts for all-around conditioning.

5 km - 00:24:00

http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisZ/activity/73853237

10 km - 00:49:13 (I really though I had Shawn's time beat on this one - so disappointed)

http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisZ/activity/73985161

5.2 km - 00:24:30

http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisZ/activity/74349068

21 km - 01:53:47 (My legs shutdown at this point and I struggled to walk the rest of the way home)

http://runkeeper.com/user/ChrisZ/activity/74830449

And since this blog has gotten far to wordy here's my inspirational video for the day. Yes, this song is on my running playlist and it is an awesome last mile song!

Our team just made it up Mount Everest

Mount Everest, Nepal – 58,070 steps, 3,871 flights

Team stair climb to as of last Wednesday - 3976

Team is : Tyler, Yaleh , Agustin, Alicia/Natasha (our ringers that do more than Agustin muahhaha) and our friend here at Nelvana Kelly Brennan.

Great job guys! Glad to see there's so much activity on the blog too!

Steph is running! (But not as fast as you guys)

I haven't managed to finish a 20 km challenge in a week, but I've been averaging about 10 km per week. Here is what I've done this week so far:

Monday - 3.2 km - 24 mins (treadmill, incline of 3.0)
Tuesday - 3.2 km - 22 mins (treadmill, incline of 3.0)
Wednesday - 5 km - 35 mins (http://runkeeper.com/user/354193968/activity/74148060) P.S., I hit stop on runkeeper while I was checking my distance, I kept running for another couple of minutes to make up the 0.1 km. And I had to stop a couple of times.

After I run I usually do a fitness class or just do weights on my own. On Monday I did a 45 minute abs and legs class, Tuesday I did an hour long step aerobics/weights class, and today I'm planning on doing an hour long weights class and a 30 minute tabata class.

That's basically what my workouts consist of. I try to do this at least 4 times a week. Once it gets warmer out (like today) I'll also be running outside instead of on the treadmill. Today is beautiful out, I actually had to take off my jacket while running and I was still warm with just shorts and a tank top on. Yay warm weather!

Done 30km in last 7 days

UPDATE: did 30 KM in 7 days...

Felt bad about failing the 20km challenge. So I first did 6 on Thursday, 8 on Friday, and did a 10 today on Tuesday... 24km so far. Maybe I can sneak in another 6 on Thursday! Btw, the fastest I've done a 5km is 27 minutes. So Shawn and his 21 minutes is going to be way ahead of me during Tough Mudder...

Just completed a 6.17 km run with RunKeeper
Duration 0:35:01

Just completed a 10.02 km run with RunKeeper
Duration 0:56:29

Just completed a 8.08 km run with RunKeeper
Duration 0:49:19

Just completed a 6.27 km run with RunKeeper
Duration 0:35:11

Stair Sprints

I started doing stair sprints this week in my building. I managed to do 16 floors x3 within 10 minutes (From 2nd to 19th, since there is no 4th, 13th, and 14th floor......crazy asians). I got one word to describe the experience..........BRUTAL!!!! I then followed up with a crossfit style work out consisting of three 6 minute circuits. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 6 minutes alternating between two different exercises. Each circuit contains 2 different exercises and one of them is always legs. Finished off with a 10 minute jog or run, depending on how your legs feel.