training – #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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Three Runs To Go!!!!

Unbelievably I only have 3 more runs left to complete in my 100 day running challenge, and the question now shifts from IF I will finish, to HOW I will finish and I’ve thought of a few different scenarios over the past two weeks… it’s a great shame that mother nature just isn’t co-operating with me at this point. We have had snow all week, and even this morning I’ve woken up to another foot that had fallen overnight.

I don’t mind running in the snow, or the cold but hey, I’ve been running outside for three plus months now, sometimes in extreme and crazy conditions. Heck, I ran in January when it was minus 26 degrees. That my friends is dedication! I guess I just really wanted to end on a nice warm spring day, where I could just have shorts and a t-shirt on and just enjoy the beauty as I finish with a nice long run down to the lake and back. I still may do this run, it’s just that it will be cold and rainy on Tuesday.

I have a group call every Tuesday night with an amazing group of men that know of this challenge, and I am going to start that call while out running so they can all have a good laugh but I will already have completed the 100th earlier in the day, I guess that will be run 101. Seriously, I’ve had so much enjoyment with this challenge and I never thought that I would see it through. I figured injury, or my own head would get in the way of me finishing and it almost did.

i was at a pretty low point in March, in fact the whole month was a real struggle for me. I found myself withdrawing inside my own head, slid back (rather easily) into some bad habits and almost gave up this challenge completely. My body was tired and sore, my energy level started to decrease on a daily basis, some days I just didn’t even want to get out of bed. I hadn’t felt that low since last September when I had to walk away from my job at Keg because I was a grumpy, miserable fuck.

That all changed a few weeks ago with a phone call.

A mentor and friend of mine, Jason talked me through what was going on and the why of it all. He told me something that I have not heard enough of in my life…

YOU ARE WORTH IT. I BELIEVE IN YOU.

Very powerful words when one does not believe in themselves. I have these limiting beliefs, check that, I HAD these limiting beliefs that have held me in place my entire life. The journey that I have been on the last six months has been to smash through those beliefs and do some crazy and amazing things with my life, and my family. I have made some progress but always seemed to take a few steps forward then a few steps back.

NO MORE I SAY!! NO MORE!!

Having someone believe in me, having someone blow wind into my sails is all I have even wanted out of life, and in a relationship. I had just that for awhile and when it was taken away from me I collapsed like a house of cards. That’s life, right?

The foundation that I have worked to build the last six months remained strong, Jason helped shuffle those cards back up and I took them back and started to rebuild. I have had a few comments from various sources about being on fire recently, and boy I sure am. The introvert Ed Dillon, he gone just like a baseball player whiffing at strike three. Gone.

In it’s place stands a strong, confident compassionate man on a journey of personal growth and increased wisdom. I love that statement, it gives me goosebumps. But it’s true, it’s damn true.

This past week I have had meaningful and intense conversations with men from all over the planet, we truly like in a global age. Thursday past I spoke to guys from Australia, Missouri, Minnesota, Toronto and Texas all with intent and meaning. A year ago you couldn’t put me into a room with strangers, I would shy away and be a wall flower and feel totally uncomfortable. Today, I welcome these challenges, it pushes me out of my comfort zone and forces me to grow, and grow and grow.

I am very grateful for being on this path. My relationships with everyone has improved, my children most of all. Emily… i don’t even need to put it into words. Tears to my eyes… life is going to get very interesting, heck it already is.

Have a fantastic Sunday everyone, this guy is smiling ear to ear!

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.

100 Day Run Challenge Update

Good afternoon everyone!

Today will mark my 89th run in a row, and it almost didn’t happen. About two weeks ago I started to doubt my ability to finish this challenge. I was not in a good mental space and was struggling with just getting by with the day to day grind of life. It took considerable effort just to get out the door and run during runs 76 through the early 80’s as some of those runs were actually run/walks. I literally didn’t have the stamina to finish a 3km easy pace loop around my neighbourhood. My legs felt dead, the hamstring in the left leg had been sore the entire challenge and has flared up in recent days, and I was considering quitting.

I actually had my computer open and had started writing a blog post about my stopping this challenge when my daughter Megan came down and asked what I was doing. When I mentioned I was writing a post about not running anymore, she immediately responded with a loud NO, you can’t quit now your so close to finishing. She suggested I go for a very short run to keep my streak going, and that I would be very disappointed if I didn’t finish.

I knew she was right, and immediately closed the lid on my computer and went for that easy slow 1km run around the block. In fact I did that very run for the next six days in a row and I was amazed that over the course of a week th hamstring started to feel much better, and the dead feeling in my legs started to go away. Once I figured out how to properly maintain my legs by alternating a short 1km run between longer runs has made all the difference.

So now as I sit here I have my daughter Megan to sincerely thank for helping keep this streak and dream alive. Shows that you can always learn something when your open to receiving a lesson, and from an unlikely source. So I’m about to head out on long run Friday, run # 89 in a row and we shall take it nice and easy and enjoy this Good Friday!

Welcome to the Next Evolution

Life is an ever evolving journey that will keep me on my toes right up until the day that I die, which I hope to be many years from now but in all reality who really knows?

I have been doing a lot of soul searching, reflection and subconscious thinking about my future over the past several weeks. At times in my life I have been caught in the cycle of the nothing, but this period of time was completely different… when I am in the grip of the nothing, nothing happens, I don’t do much (usually zero exercise) and I feel sorry for myself, a little depressed, just generally not a good mental place.

Again this was different, I know BIG changes are coming and my mind has been planning things out getting ready for today. Today is the first day of the next evolution of my life as things seem to be falling into place, perhaps not the way I originally planned or intended but that is life isn’t it?

It’s kind of funny to me when I sit here and think about things, rolling with things, being a bit of a free spirit has never been my strong suit and something I have really struggled with in the past. I would fight against what I had planned, and what life was presenting to me, it was a struggle and it would usually end up sucking the joy and excitement of whatever it was I may be doing. A very small change in my own mental perception of things has helped tremendously when approaching life.

Using my oldest daughter as a perfect example, as I have struggled with her or more correctly my own mental perception of what I thought her teenage years should be, and as time went by and I struggled with my vision of my daughter’s life, the way I thought it should be, and what ultimately it turned out to be were two completely different things. The more I would fight against what was reality, and what my vision of that reality the further apart we seemed to grow. Having accepted the situation for what it is, for accepting the way my life has turned out now I can build from here.

The next four months are going to see a lot of HUGE changes coming in this guys life, and I am very excited to see where I can end up come the end of this summer. It’s going to be awesome!!

Monkey See, Monkey Doo

I didn’t quite understand just how much my actions would influence my children’s behaviour until very recently when I had a numerous of life hard truths that I had to first face, and then overcome. The last few months I have had the absolute pleasure of seeing the results of a positive, action lifestyle. A few weeks ago during one of my MasterMind group calls, the topic of doing things in front of your children. One in our group is learning to play the guitar, and it was suggested to practice while the kids were around so they could see Dad practice… Interesting concept.

This has now translated into working out with Austin each day as opposed to lifting weights at the gym, I have the ability to do this at home. Each day he gets very excited to join Daddy in building muscle downstairs in my home gym. Today will be no different as Austin and I will soon be crushing chest day.

The opposite effect of something like even writing this blog post is that Austin is lying here beside me watching his Ipad, or his cartoons on the TV. If I am not actively engaging him he can get lost in the electronic world, and I’d much rather have him based in the real world. With most of the snow now melted up here, Austin has also started asking to go the park, as this is when my “training” will get to be really a lot of fun. As beneficial as lifting weights has been to my overall strength it does get rather repetitive and boring for me. Perhaps lacking a true workout partner to push me harder and further… who knows… but what I really enjoy is jumping on my bike with the boy in tow, and then stopping at parks for him to play and me to get some working out in on the playground equipment.

It’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of weight based movements with lot’s of pushing and pulling involved, I challenge you to try to the kids monkey bars the next time you find yourself passing a playground. It’s tough.

Star Wars Life Lessons

While Star Wars A New Hope, which was released when I was five years old has been my favorite movie of all time, it is only recently that I discovered many of the truly important lessons in life can be drawn directly from the films over the last 40 years. And while I am sure there are many more lessons you can draw from these wonderful films, here are some of my favorite…

“Do or do not… there is no try.” ~ Master Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Perhaps my favorite life lesson, and a long time source of inspiration for me as there is a framed plaque of this quote right on my recreation room wall. In life you can either do something or not doing, there is no middle ground. It is a mentality I try to take into everything that I do, I am not going half ass anything. I am going to run 100 days in a row, I am certainly not going to just try to do…

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” ~ Darth Vader, A New Hope

You need to surround yourself with people that believe in you, and will blow wind into your sails. Life is far too short to listen to the haters, the doubters, the people that just want to drag you down to their level. Surround yourself with amazing people that inspire you to be the best version of yourself.

C-3PO “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is 3,720 to 1.”

“Never tell me the odds.” ~ Han Solo, The Empire Strikes Back

If you had told me ten years ago that I would have completed an Ironman triathlon, I would never have believed you. At the time I was 234 pounds and completely out of shape, but with the proper training plan, and the motivation from deep within myself I crossed the finish line on Aug. 29th, 2009 and will forever be an Ironman finisher. I have the medal to prove it!! From this experience I learned that there is nothing that you cannot do in life when you put our mind to it. It’s a belief in yourself, a belief that you can accomplish anything. Believe and your will find a way.

“Strike me down and I will be become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” ~ Obi Wan Kenobi, A New Hope

Success in life can often be attributed to failure, or several failures in life. It’s about getting back up after you have been knocked down, it’s about getting back on that horse after you’ve been bucked off. Life is hard and at times cruel, it will test you, it will push you to your limits, it will knock you down. From each failure you can learn from you will evolve into a much more powerful version of yourself.

“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda, The Phantom Menace

Even the worst movie of the Star Wars franchise can teach us something, Don’t let fear guide your life, don’t let fear control your decisions. Fear of the unknown, fear of the future can cripply you into inaction and nothing. You know what happens when your afraid and do nothing? Nothing happens. I sometimes call this the Negative cycle and it has had it’s powerful grip on me for too long at some points in my life. I now longer fear the unknown, I embrace it. I wake up and look forward to each and everyday and what it may bring. With this changed mindset, I’ve seen my own anger slowly fade away…

“One thing for sure, we’re all going to be a lot thinner!” ~ Han Solo, A New Hope

Humor in life can go a long way, and can make a stressful situation for tolerable. This would be one lesson that I would want to incorporate more of into my own life, and not get stressed out at things beyond my control. Laugh about, make jokes and make the best of whatever situation you may find yourself in.

“All his life he looked away. To the future. To the horizon. Never his mind on where he was, what he was doing.” ~ Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Being mindful, being present in the moment can go such a long way. Imagine you are spending quality time with that special person and you continually picked up your phone to check your social media feed, only giving that other person some of your attention. Now imagine that same interaction with your phone turned off, and the other getting 100% of your attention, your body language, and where your mind is at. Being mindful, being present can go such a long way in a relationship and can make that special person truly feel special.

“Let go of your hate.” ~ Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi

There is a time and place to put the past in the past and let go of ill feelings that you may have been holding onto and taking away from other areas of your life. By embracing the hate, it prevents you from growing in the other direction. It forces you to focus on the negative as opposed to embracing the positive aspects of life. Letting go of the hate and anger doesn’t mean forgetting, it means focusing on the bright future ahead that (if you let it) can be filled with love and happiness.

I personally believe in the power of the force, and while I may not be able to levitate boulders with my mind, despite how hard I tried when I was a child I certainly believe that there is an energy that as described by Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope, “…an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.” This energy you can tap into, you can use to power yourself to great and amazing things, there is also a dark side energy that can, when you start down it’s path will forever dominate your destiny.

The light side, the positive energy in life is such a powerful thing. It is powering me to run 100 days in a row, it is powering me to change my life in such a positive way. I have such a strong personal connection to Darth Vader, as my life was filled with anger and hate until one day I was able to come back to the light side of the force and embrace all that is good in life.

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.

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