Triathlon for Military members everywhere

I met Syd at the #2XUcamp in Toronto, Ontario in November.  We instantly clicked because we were runners or at least I was 1/3 of a runner. I definitely have a lot to learn from her and her blog www.gosydgo.com, check it out or IG feed; it is always full of wonderful action shots and proof that she is not afraid to put the miles in.  Thanks so much for this thoughtful blog. Let me know if you like it and comment on mine or Syd's blog if you feel like it. We really appreciate it.  Training for a race can be time consuming. I can certainly say this was the case for me when I trained for my fall marathon over the summer. I needed to plan out to eat the night before training, what and when to eat breakfast, and what to fuel with during training. Then you have the actual training, doing whatever activity it is that you are going to compete in, but let’s not forget about cross-training, stretching and recovery. There are a lot of aspects to consider when training for an event. They

Why hello there,  It has been a while hasn't it.  Well I blog for a couple of reasons.  One of them is too keep myself motivated.  I have had an un-motivating fall.  I really needed something to pick up my spirits.  That call was from Sportchek and 2XU(pronounced Two times you).  I love to enter into contests and rather than say "I never win or I am so unlucky", it is more rewarding to put the positive vibes out there that tell the Universe "I will win".  I saw this advertisement to win an incredible athletic/olympian experience in Toronto, Ontario through joint sponsorships with 2XU, Sportchek and the Canadian Sports Institute of Canada. You had to tag yourself on instagram with the hashtag #2xucamp. I only put in one entry and was chosen to represent the military and the sport of triathlon at the camp.  I was introduced to 2XU from a friend when complaining of DOMS and muscle soreness after races and circuit training.  He suggested I buy a pair of 2XU recove

This will be hard.  I know I have not blogged in a little while.  Actually the last post was drafted quite a few weeks ago but had a busy, sad month. Recently my family and friends lost someone very young in a cycling collision.  His name was Kevin Hurley, and he was the best kind of guy I know.  The last few weeks we have celebrated his work, education, sport and life accomplishments.  There is actually too many to describe on this post. He was a social rockstar and was very caring when he conversed with you.  He always tried to live each day as though it was his last; he was notorious for squeezing so much stuff into one day that he could nap on demand to recharge when the opportunity presented itself. He was always the first one to pass out at a party then wake up to be the life again 30 minutes later. Actually Kevin introduced my brother, Matt to cycling which years later my brother convinced me to start.  We actually have the same bike.  Kevin was getting in a quick 50 km ride b

Improvement in physical fitness will usually increase success with time.  The rate of that success depends on numerous factors and not being physically injured is the secret to getting there. Success is the tell-tale test of how an athlete is progressing. Whether you shave 10 seconds off swimming 100m or setting PBs on a 5k run or longest bike ride ever . When we have a weakness, we work to get better at it and set goals to work towards an improvement. Now physical effort requires a tank of energy and throughout the swimming, biking and running, we work off that energy. Then refuel and repeat. It is a quick cycle and as long as we can stay injury free, and follow prescribed training plans, we will always see success in some form or another. The basics of improving physical fitness is readily available on the interweb and remarkable improvements can be made very quickly and of course it is quite rewarding when you get there. You just have to put in the effort.  A physical injury can qu

Recently spent two weeks away from my bikes, home pool and comfortable running routes.  I know what you are thinking, stop your whining.  It was definitely a first for me as an amateur triathlete.  First off, I wasn't cooking for myself so eating healthy at military dining facilities was difficult.  I really miss my wife's cooking as she really goes all out mixing delicious and healthy meals for our family.  At first, I ate extremely healthy but then I found that I was truly missing out. I started eating less healthy and figured I would make it up in work outs like most triathletes do.  See my previous post about being a fat triathlete. The other hard hard part was I was on a course with other engineers who I have not seen in a while and let's say that some drinks were had.  I definitely need to write a post about triathletes that still have a good time with alcohol because everything I read says it is terrible for triathletes. I cannot seem to find any triathletes who &#

Booking the ‘dam’ race There is a lot of factors that may lead you to booking your first race.  For me, it is step one as it ensures that I will train because I am out money for something that will occur in the future.  I am a results oriented guy so I require ultimatum’s.   Booking a race turned my easy 30 min lane swims at lunch to 1-1.5 hr Navy Trident practices with a real coach Stevie Beave ( this was my nickname in University). Again I forgot to ask him if he minded if I blog about him. I would bet he wouldn’t care but for now we will keep him anonymous.   He is a great volunteer swim coach and we only pay him when he works past free o’clock so thanks Stevie. Anyways he always told me to book the race and join the triathlon club Facebook group and the rest was history.   Now obviously this requires money but think of it as an investment. Usually races go up in price over time, so booking races early actually saves you money.  Therefore it costs you money to procra

So you walk into a recruiting centre and you get asked, Do you like camping. You instantly think back to that terrible time in high school and snap back with, "I prefer fishing". Next thing you know, you are being sworn in under her majesty's Royal Canadian Navy.  This job is not your usual 9-5 in the city.  If you actively work in an operational environment, it means you need to be surrounded by water.  It is too late, you have a job to do so you better put your head down and get to it.  Wait there is more. When on active duty you are either on shift work, or  5 on, 5 off, 7 on, 7 off.  You get to eat/sleep when you are off. It could be day 3 or 30, depending on where you work on a ship, you might not see the sunshine.  It is extremely difficult to motivate yourself when on ship that when you get some down time, to train.  Now convince yourself that you should hop on a treadmill, while holding onto both handles because you are swaying back and fourth at saes. How wel

I read lots of cool, helpful blogs and articles on being a newbie to triathlon.  The combination of 10 things not to do around cyclists/triathletes and funny stories about the writers’ embarrassing stories have inspired me to write this blog. I really appreciated all of the great advice and funny articles. I too had my clip-in incident where I rode all 10kms unclipping perfectly at stop lights until I arrived at my office and fell like tree onto the sidewalk. The point of this post is to 'treat yo’self’. If you want to be a triathlete and are willing to burn the hours training, my advice is to go out an buy an entry level triathlon bike. I believe most of us spend money on some pretty silly things that depreciate fairly quickly. Bikes seem to hold their value and they look cool.  At least think about cost/gram of bike because I believe someone will see your bike, and judge it by how light it is. Also buy a used a trainer and you have doubled your awesome bike as a stationary bi

Hi, my name is Adam, (loud echo Hi Adam), I am a fat triathlete.  I am athletic and my weight has fluctuated depending on where life takes me but when I can eat healthy and control calories in and out via working out, I can maintain a healthy weight.  I am 5'11" bulky and weigh 225 lbs(currently 210).  I played hockey my whole life so I have very large legs and BMI would state that I am obese. But I am a fit, fat guy. I am one of the fittest people in my Unit.  Came 4th in a 8km running race on Friday and I am Gold exempt in the new fitness test with not much to get to platinum.  However, because I wanted to change my body type and minimize some of my lingering crossfit injuries, triathlon seemed like the best option. I saw the athletes on tv and said hmm this should slim me down to where I want to be. I will be always be honest on in my blog but I have something to tell you. I was that guy on Facebook talking about how fast I did Fran or my new PR on my One Rep Max. I was c

I know right, another blogger. I promise that this blog will be different.  <what makes you think you are different than other bloggers out there?> Well for instance, the little voice inside my head is way different than other bloggers.  Trust me.  So a little about me.  "I started from the bottom and now I'm here" - Drake said it best.  We all were there once or you are there right now. Yes you the one reading this because my blog connected to you either as a Dad/Mom, new to triathlon or a current serving Military Member who wants another medal which documents your hard work into something plausible.  I have a very supported wife/spouse who has been the main reason that I am even at this juncture. Thanks babe.  So get one of those. Someone who will support you through your triumphs and your failures and someone who will grow with you as you improve on your shortfalls. We have a young family and that meant the motorcycle had to go.  When it went, we bought a camper