100dayrunchallenge – #SixKidChaos

100 Runs In A Row, What I’ve Learned

It takes a special kind of crazy to want to run 100 straight days. It takes a special kind of crazy to willingly take 10,000 volts to the chest, but I’ve done that too. Thanks Tough Mudder!

Yesterday I did not run, it was the first time in 2018 and while I thought I might miss it, I really didn’t at all! I enjoyed kicking back with my feet up and for the most part relaxing all day. After the 16km run to finish things off the legs were quite sore to say the least, my foam roller has been my best friend and things, while still sore, are feeling much better today.

So Ed, what did you learn over the last 100 days? Excellent question good sir…

This wouldn’t have been possible without a support system. This for me came from several different sources, my children first and foremost were my biggest supporters and have now seen, first hand what Daddy is capable of doing. I owe Megan all the thanks in the world as I was ready to pack this challenge in in the mid to late 70’s and she called me out and told me to get out there and finish. We have talked several times since about just what she did for me. I posted my accomplishments in Instagram and Facebook, with numerous times getting words of encouragement and support, at times from complete strangers. I am part of a Tuesday evening call group and weekly would report on how things were going, especially motivating as I got closer to the end.
Proper rest is essential for maintaining your body, muscles, mood and energy level. In all honesty I’ve been battling a sore left hamstring since last November, I don’t recall how I first hurt but I woke up one day and it was just sore. I re-aggravated it in December when I was racing to the front door of a restaurant on a cold night without warming up and really hurt it more. To this day it never has fully healed, and at times prevented me from really opening things up on the road while running. The last few weeks I have been wrapping it with a tensor bandage when running which really helped, as did the foam roller. Now that this challenge is done, I will allow the leg to fully heal until I now longer feel any sensation in my left leg.
I have the ability to run in all kind of weather and conditions. There were a few runs in January when it was minus 26 degrees plus windchill and man oh man it was cold, cold cold. My wireless headphones conked out on more than one occasion from just how cold it was. And it seems that here in Central Ontario that Spring will never ever come (snow forecasted for today) and I cannot wait to run in the beautiful sunshine.
As with a lot of adversity in life, it’s often mind over matter. This challenge has helped sharpen the mental toughness needed in life to overcome almost any challenge out there. I have completed an Ironman triathlon in the past which dramatically increased my self confidence and mental toughness, this running challenge has done the exact same thing.
My run ability has gone through the roof, in terms of the cardio base I’ve built, my running form, breathing, stride length… all improved. All wins.

So what’s next? While I will maintain my strength training program for the rest of the week, there will be no cardio until my leg is 100% healed up and then we will start a specific run training program that will include hills, interval training and long distance runs. On Monday I will embark upon a 100 day cycling challenge which while physically a bit less taxing but equally challenging and rewarding in it’s own unique way.

When it’s all said and done I will have created a cardio base that will propel me towards the finish line of Ironman Muskoka 70.3 this coming July!!

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Today Is # 100

In a few hours I will be heading out for run number 100 in a row, in a challenge I started on back on January 1st. Talk about the ultimate New Years Resolution!!

There are going to be a lot of emotions and feelings floating through my head while I am out there and I am actually very interested to see where my thoughts take me. I remember vividly during the final few kilometers of my first Ironman 70.3 race, I started to reflect on my journey that led to this race. I had tears rolling down my face during the final two kilometers with each step filling my heart and soul a little bit more with a sense of accomplishment.

This challenge was not easy for me, and almost didn’t see it’s conclusion. I had (and needed) help along the way to see it through, and while I may have been the one doing all the running it was a group effort to get me across the finish line. Being a single Dad of four kids it takes a lot of planning, juggling and lots of help to manage and organize your time to get these runs in. Body maintenance, proper rest, nutrition and the right frame of mind are also big factors involved as well.

With that in mind I would like to thank so many people for their help with this journey. I honestly could not, and would not have done it without your help!

It still amazes me a bit as to one can accomplish with the right frame of mind, and this journey has certainly helped build a mental toughness that is going to come in very handy during my Ironman 70.3 race this summer. Very handy indeed.

Up next for this guy is going to be a 100 day bike challenge, that will be equally challenging to me, although not quite as taxing on the quads, and other leg muscles. It will help build an excellent cycling base to go on top of the excellent run base I have established.

There will be lot’s of running in the days ahead, and I am looking forward to switching things up to a more diverse training plan with regards to running. Hill work, interval training, recovery/base runs and long run Sundays are going to be part of the plan moving forward. Goals? I have a few… I really want to break a 4 minute kilometer, and hit a 21 minute 5km as well. With proper rest, the correct warmup and the desire to just bring it, I believe all of these things can happen and more.

Amazing, just amazing…

Countdown Continues… 8…

Today was run number 93 in a row and once again surprised me.

My little one caught the flu over Easter weekend and we both were up a lot last night change blankets, and her barf bowl. She is feeling better today but we both were very tired today with lot’s of just laying around, especially on her part. The two day exercise hangover was in full effect with my legs as I could really feel the 12 km I did on Sunday.

Lack of sleep affects both my mood and my energy level and when I do not get enough I always feel off the next day. Even tried to take a nap this afternoon but that did nothing to improve either…

I had a conversation with a friend of mine about putting together a triathlon based training plan for me over the next three months as I feel I have plateaued in the gym and want to continue to push myself further, and be held accountable to get these workouts in. It was a great conversation and one that left me filled with a bit more energy so out I went for today’s run.

And what should have been a nice easy 1 km recovery run turned into 3 (just like yesterday) and while I went out at a nice warm up pace, something inside of me decided to go for it at the 1 km mark and I sure did. I elongated my stride, increased my tempo and tested out the hamstring to see if it would hold up with a sprint run stride and it sure did.

By the 2 km mark I had set a personal best for a kilometer ay 4 minutes and 17 seconds and I couldn’t be happier, it was a great accomplishment and I know that there is still more time to shave off that mark. I backed right off the pace for the last part, allowing my heart and breathing to return to normal as I headed on home.

It will be very interesting to see how everything feels when I get up in the morning as it will be run 94 on deck!

And Then There Were 9…

To say I’ve been on a roll the last few days might be an understatement, as I finally feel I’ve cleared my head (literally) from a few of the issues that I have had going on in my life over the past month or so. I am SO ready to drop the hammer down and get life moving back in the direction that I want.

My energy level has been great, I’ve had some great runs over the past few days, my mood, my outlook on life, my relationship with my kids and just overall how I feel from the time I get up in the morning until I lay my head down at the end of the night has been great. This is the life that I want to live, each and every day., to enjoy all the wonderful things that I have in my life, to be grateful for these gifts.

I think realizing just what I have been gifted in life is truly humbling.

Yes I still have some things I would like to work on, I am looking forward to getting back into the workforce on a full time basis, and each day I take another small step towards that goal. I have had meaningful conversations with so many wonderful and amazing men over the past few days, I am humbled to have surrounded myself with such quality.

Thank you.

Today was supposed to be a 1 km recovery run, as I did run quite a long distance yesterday, about 12 km to be exact. However when I got outside on this beautiful day I called an audible and went for 3.35 km instead at a nice easy pace that just felt amazing. With only 8 runs remaining to reach 100 I can see the finish line in the distance and I hear it calling my name. Loudly…

Very, very loudly…

And Then There Was 10…

We have officially entered the home stretch as today marked 10 more runs to go, to finally reach the goal of 100 runs in a row, over the course of 100 days. And what started way back on January 1st has now run (pun intended) its way into April.

To say I’ve learned a lot about myself, about drive and determination to see something through would be an understatement. I also learned that this is something that I would never have been able to do on my own, as I had a lot of help along the way. At times from some unexpected sources. It has been quite the journey to say the least.

So today was run 91 of 100, and I knew that during this final stretch I needed to have some epic runs of either distance, or locale or milestones… One of the many things that I learned is that I need to remain smart about things, and my body. And as much as I would love to run long distances every single day, I need to remain smart and see the big picture. The whole point of this challenge was to make me a better runner, to go longer and faster and to get ready for my Ironman 70.3 race this coming July.

I feel I have accomplished this goal with some of my results that I’ve seen sprinkled through out some of these runs. I’ve set personal bests this year over 1 km, 5 km, and 10 km. I’ve logged close to 500 km so far this year and I am pretty sure by the end of the year I will have set a few other milestones or three…

Back to today, I finished up my shift at work and zipped on home. The original plan was to get a run in on the treadmill, however I don’t think I shall be running on one of those again any time soon. And while it was close to freezing with a whisper of snow flowing through the air the great outdoors was calling me and it turned out to be the longest run of the year. I live on the edge of a sub division with some country roads out behind my house, so while I normally turn left at the end of my street today it was a right turn and out into the country for a nice long loop with some great visuals.

I did encounter quite the heavy headwind, and had some decent elevation changes this run was everything I was hoping for and more. The run ended up being 12 km at a pretty decent pace overall with the best part everything felt absolutely terrific during and more importantly afterwards. No pain in my left hamstring anymore, and I might finally have healed that damn thing properly. I have taken to wrapping it in a tensor bandage for these longer runs which I believe helps, and I’ve made liberal use of my foam roller recently to keep my legs and feet feeling fresh.

It’s a little hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that here we are in April. There are nine more “official” runs on deck before I hit the magical 100, I haven’t quite figured out how I am going to finish this off on run 100. Ideas? Thoughts? It’s been a wild ride and i look forward to seeing how this all plays out.

The Incurable Left Hamstring…

At some point last November I woke up with a sore left hamstring, and to be truthful it still hasn’t healed fully. It is not what I will call painful but I am always aware that it is sore, somedays much more than others. Today being one of those days…

Yesterday was day 51 of the 100 day running challenge, and well because I am slightly stupid I decided to go all out on my run around the block instead of the nice and easy 4km that I had planned for the start of recovery week. I had a done a nice 12km run the day before for run 50 but it was on ice covered trails and I could only manage half stride as I was worried about the icy trails, slipping, falling, rolling an ankle, injury! So the run itself was not very taxing on my legs, it was a great ankle and support muscle run however.

So yesterday I guess I wanted to spread my wings and fly, or in runners speak expand my stride length and see what I was capable of. For run 49 a few days before, I went as fast as I could over a 5km run setting some personal best times along the way. Yesterday, I just destroyed those times by 22 per kilometer over my best km, the difference between the two runs would have been the temperature outside (it was much warmer yesterday), and the run itself just felt more natural. For run 49 I was fighting myself the whole time, and it was a struggle, for run 51 I was fighting my breathing and trying not to have my heart explode in my chest (figure of speech) as it was a maximum effort.

What I didn’t do and certainly should have was warm up properly, as I have a tendency to step out the front door and RUN! I also now have the ability to have a close understanding of my pace when I run, I don’t need my audio cues in my ear to tell me how fast I am going. I pass the same mailbox each run at exactly the 1 km mark, and I can usually predict my time to within 5 seconds… Yesterday I didn’t look at my watch or the pace until I was finished the 3 km sprint, and was truly marvelled at how fast I had gone. I had mentioned to Megan that 14 and half minutes would be an excellent time, but 13:41s was just outstanding! With km’s of 4:32, 4:24, and 4:28 and the real awesome thing is that I can even go faster still.

I started with a pace average of around 5:45 per km when I started and I’ve seen that drop over the last 50 days, and am very excited where it will be in 50 days from now… for the rest of this week it is very small, easy pace recovery runs as I attempt to rest up the forever sore left hamstring. Nothing longer than 5km, nothing faster than 6 minutes per km with some stretching, massage rollers and easy bike rides thrown into the mix. This coming Sunday I will attempt another maximum effort 4km run this time with a proper warmup and we shall compare the results.

Hustle, Hustle, and more Hustle

Time flies when you are busy running, baking and playing with kids. That could best describe the month of January as I cannot believe is already over, I have noticed that life has both sped up and slowed down all at the same time. Again, allow me to explain…

In an effort to be more productive I needed to go back and follow a schedule for the week with each day laid out, with tasks that I wanted to accomplish. I found that during January I spent far too much time thinking about what I wanted to get done instead of actually doing things. The biggest distraction? Old movies that I have seen far too many times already, and quite frankly I didn’t need to see yet again. There is something comfortable about an old favorite movie, it just makes you feel good. We all like to be comfortable, but to live an extraordinary life you need to push beyond what is comfortable and really challenge yourself.

I’ve done my best to place that mindset into my head for the month of February, as I have set for myself some Wildly Important Goals! I created my own online baking company, as advertised below with a focus only on Valentine’s Day options, to be honest sales have been pretty much non existent to this point while I remain optimistic that as inch closer to February 14th sales will increase. The website only featured options for the Holiday directly ahead, I have over 170 different Cookie Cutters (Thanks Amazon!) and wanted to offer options for the entire year. I believe the biggest opportunity for sales growth will come from word of mouth, and one event will lead to three more, etc…

The biggest season in my old world, the restaurant business was Communion, Baptism season at the Keg (next to Christmas) all that is quickly approaching. So I want to have pages dedicated to these cookies with wonderfully decorated cookies already laid out for potential customers to view, to plant the seed for future purchases. I spent much of yesterday, and most of today dedicated to that task! I have an old colleague that is having a baby shower this weekend and I am going to surprise her with some Baby Shower themed cookies, both for the website (pictures) and word of mouth advertising.

The other half of the hustle, hustle, hustle equation is my triathlon training plan alongside the 100 Day running challenge. So the month of January is in the rearview mirror and I successfully ran all 31 days, putting my total at over 200 kilometers for the month that comes with a great sense of accomplishment. I have learned so much about myself, about how to be a more effective runner, how mental discipline plays into all this, and what drive and determination can accomplish.

The month of February comes with another 28 runs in which the run total will push past 50i n a row, it’s more base building where I am basically just running and increasing my cardiovascular base for the upcoming Ironman 70.3 race that I will be completing in this coming July. In March we will start to transition into some specialty training as we get closer to race date and the weather warms up here in Canada.

I have also successfully incorporated strength training into my training plan and so far have really enjoyed the workouts and maybe a bit more so the results. I can see the changes when I look into the mirror and I like what I see. I was worried that this additional training would tire me out more so than the cardio workouts themselves, however so far that has not been the case. My triathlon buddy is a big believer that strength training will help the overall swim, bike and run times out of the course this summer. I cannot wait…

Well this post has been a bit of a ramble, kind of like where my head has been at recently. Lot’s going on… and I didn’t even mention that I am going back to work part time starting this Saturday. Hustle, hustle, and more hustle!

100 Day Run Challenge Update – Day 25

So I am a quarter of the way through my 100 day running challenge, and yes it’s a little nuts to even think of going for a run for 100 straight days. However, barring some kind of injury this is going to happen as it’s a matter of will power, drive and determination moving forward to get it done. There have been days when I didn’t feel like running at all, when I was extremely tired, days when my legs were incredibly sore from a long run the day before BUT every single time I have dragged my butt to the YMCA I have felt tremendous afterwards. It may take a KM or two to loosen things up, or perhaps it’s the right tune at the right time to get me moving but so far I have really enjoyed the experience.

I am loosely following a triathlon (which I am training for) training plan which starts with a base week (week #1) and you add a bit more on week #2, a bit more again on week #3 and then an active recovery week, which I am currently in where you take things relatively easy. So with 11 weeks still to go, I will be ramping it up to another level three more times. I have learned and listened to my body a lot during the last 25 days, and will be altering the run schedule accordingly. For example I will NOT be doing any more long runs back to back during the next cycle… in week #2 I did four 10 km over five days, and during week #3 I added distance everyday of the week culminating with an 11.5 km run right before the start of the recovery week.

The plan this cycle is to increase the number of recovery days in between more difficult runs, especially ones of double digit distance. Most likely there will two recovery runs in between, as I will be creating a plan and training schedule for the remaining 75 days and strategically plan things out. Training for a TRIATHLON is not just about running, there is a lengthy swim and bike element as well, two kilometers of swimming, and 94 kilometers of hard biking around the Lake of Bays with lots of elevation changes. It will be very tough indeed but after 100 runs in a row, I should have the leg strength to crush the course.

I have also been doing weight training four times a week, focusing on arms, chest, back/shoulders, and legs on an alternating cycle. This is new for me this time around during my training plan, as when I did three and half years of triathlons back in 2007 through 2010 there was no strength training to be found. It was a whole lot of swimming, biking and running and not much else. The only element that I would really like to incorporate is some abdominal days, some stretch days and even some yoga days. If I can manage to add these last three elements over the next five months I believe I would be unstoppable on the course.

I Am NOT A Morning Person

In a quick follow up to yesterday’s post, Austin’s birthday turned out to be pretty good. Yes there was a lot of running around, and I thoroughly enjoyed taking him toy shopping and then coming home and making a Spider-Man cake that he has requested.

It was awesome!

So this morning I had set my alarm for 4:45 am with the intentions of getting a run and swim in before Danielle would bring the kids back in the morning. I like the idea of getting my workouts in while the kids are not here, or sleeping soundly in their beds. This allows me to have more fun time around the house when Austin is here as opposed to dragging him along to the YMCA and dumping him the playroom for a couple of hours. Yes I am sure he enjoys playing with other kids his age, and I am sure it is good for his social skills however his time at home before school starts is quickly running out and I want to cherish every second of it.

I was up early on Wednesday morning for the run and swim combo, and purposely planned my run on Thursday for late in the evening to allow a good 36 hours of recovery time between cardio sessions. I am concerned that my legs are not going to make it 100 days in a row unless I am smart and make sure I have good maintenance on those leg muscles, and avoiding injury. The plan was solid as the legs (in the morning) were quite sore, but throughout the day they felt better, I use a massage roller on the quad and calf muscles and it really seems to help with recovery.

This morning’s turn around was much much shorter, about 9 hours of recovery time between last night’s run and back at it this morning. So when the alarm went off at 4:45 am this morning, my first instinct was to turn it off and roll over. Luckily for me I generally don’t listen to that instinct anymore so up I got, and headed downstairs to make my mandatory morning coffee. Honestly I was so tired this morning and I didn’t want to wait for the drip cycle to finish so I heated up what was left from yesterday’s coffee in the microwave, put together my gym bag and headed out the door before I could change my mind.

I think there were four or five other guys in the gym this morning, and when I got onto the treadmill for what was planned to be a 9km run it felt difficult to get the legs moving. I generally warm up at 6 mph but today it was 5.5 to start, almost like a light jog and what started out as a tough run turned into something much different. After the 1st kilometer I started to warm up, I think it was a smart decision to wear track pants today as it helped keep my leg muscles warm and loose, and I was quickly able to up the pace and started to feel really good while running.

I let my mind wander to several different subjects while running, this takes the focus off perhaps how sore the legs are, what pain I may be experiencing and in all honesty helps the time go by quicker. Running outside is fantastic, the fresh air, the fact that your view is alway changing, I love it! While running on a treadmill is rather static and very boring, the only view is the pool below or your own reflection in the window in front of you especially when you on there for close to an hour or so.

This morning the kilometers ticked off quickly, and the 80’s workout playlist was spot on as I easily hit the 9km goal and decided to stick around for another 1.5 km’s. By this time the pool below me had filled up so I decided to come back for my swim later in the morning. Funny thing from the time I changed and was headed out to my car the pool had emptied, literally no one was there. So I turned right around and headed back into the change room and jumped into an empty pool for an awesome 1.5km swim all to myself.

The only thing you can really do while swimming is thinking about things, much like running it can really help pass the time. During this swim I thought a lot about the upcoming triathlon season and what I truly wanted to accomplish this summer. I started to envision some of the courses that I would be racing on, how I was going to push myself and thought a lot about my bucket list goal of actually winning one of these races outright. Not just my age group, but first place overall. I honestly believe with my current mindset, my training plan and with the help of the support system that I put around me will help me accomplish everything I’ve set out to do.

The next four months are going to be a lot of hard work, a lot of sore muscles, there will be a lot of early mornings but at the end of this summer I am going to look back and be absolutely marveled at how much I’ve grown and what I have been able to accomplish. And I am not just talking about the sport of triathlon, this is going to bleed into all other areas of my life. As a father, as a partner and as a man. I’ve got this. I love it.

Did I mention I am not a morning person?

100 Day Run Challenge Update…

So for the first time in maybe forever, although I know I did some crazy things while Ironman training a few years ago, today I did my second 10 km run in as many days. I had every intention of doing a nice and easy 30 minutes job on the treadmill at the YMCA while the kids ran around the gym downstairs with there hair on fire (not literally).

Perhaps it was the fact that I actually only ran 9.96 km yesterday and not the full ten that kind of bugged me today. I have OCD and I felt I needed to fix that, or perhaps it was the fact that I was wearing a t-shirt advertising my start up baking company for the first time…

North West Bakery

And I figured that the longer I ran the more advertising I would be getting. Is it wrong for me to have parked myself in front of a few out of shape folks sweating away and working hard? And here comes some in shape triathlete running for an hour advertising a bakery company right in front of them.

I ordered a bunch of items from Vista Print including a banner for the outside of my house, business cards, car magnets for my doors and the aforementioned t-shirts… I have high hopes that this business venture allows me to remain at home longer with my younger kids to continue to enjoy he magic of their childhood.

Tomorrow will definitely be no longer than 30 minutes or 5km, which ever comes first!

Does anyone have any tips for muscle and leg recovery that I might use? After all I still have 89 more runs to go!

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