Give the Gift of Fitness this Christmas

Its that time of year again, the holidays.  If you're stuck wondering what present you'd like to give your friends or family this year may I suggest you offer the gift of fitness.  This year I've made available gift certificates for BOOTCAMPS, one-on-one PERSONAL TRAINING, & NUTRITIONAL CONSULTATION sessions. Its the perfect gift for that person who's difficult to shop for, needs that extra nudge to get fit or has trouble keeping that recurring new years resolution. The gift certificates come in denominations of $20, $50 and $100.  Email or call me for details.

I hope everybody has a happy and healthy holiday season!!
Cheers, Kelly the Trainer

Heart Healthy Halloween

When asked to think of Halloween we often conjure up images of cold weather, scary costumes and bags full of teeth rotting, calorie dense candies.  All things unconducive to our fitness routine.  But I think its about time we revamp Halloween tradition.  I took part in two rather unconventional, but really fun events this Halloween that can help turn this snacking holiday into a more fit festival. 

The first was the Zombie Walk & Halloween Parade held in downtown Toronto, Sat, Oct 26, [ http://torontozombiewalk.ca/ ]. While walking might not seem too difficult, its one of the simplest things we can do to contribute to our good health.  Walking the streets along the parade route, dressed up in your costume is a fun and easy way to burn off some of those extra Halloween treats.  This year I even saw teams of zombies from the Heart and Stroke Foundation riding a group bicycle through the city core.  Then after the 5km parade route everybody gathered in the town square to “boo”-gey down to the band. Good times were had by all.    

The second event was the 5km Run for your Lives, held in Riverdale Park East, Sunday, Oct 27, [ http://therunningdead.ca/ ]. This event was much more intense.  It was a 5km all terrain course, riddled with 20 zombie filled obstacles that you had to run, dash, zig-zag, use team work and emergency problem solving skills to pass through. Completing hill sprints while being chased by zombies is a definite intense cardio workout, not for the faint of heart.  But this event was unique not just for the zombies, but also for its collaboration with the Heart & Stroke Foundation.  There were obstacles that taught the basics of CPR and emergency procedure that could actually save a live (or as they say in zombie terms: make you undead ;)  The exercise and education provided in the 5km Run for your Life made it a heart healthy Halloween event in my opinion. Truly fun for children of all ages.    

So next year make some new Halloween traditions for yourself and your family, renewing your commitment to a healthy lifestyle. 

Core Essentials - The Plank

When working on your core, one of the best and simplist moves I can think of is the plank.  It requires no equipment at all,  just a floor mat for comfort if desired.  It alone can be an excellent core exercise, and once perfect form is achieved, with a few adjustments the difficulty level can be increased for a more thorough core workout.  I've attached an illustation of this move that everybody should be practicing.  Remember - the most common error in form I see people making is lifting their glutes up in the air.  Keep them tight, low and level.

MSC Lakeside - Final Triathlon for 2013

Well its almost autumn now, and it sure felt like it at the last triathlon of the season - MSC Lakeside on Sat, Sep 14.  The overnight low went down to 5C and the air temp was a chilly 10C at start time. It was definitely a wetsuit recommended swim. Despite the cold start, I finished strong. I had my second best tri time of the season at 1:31:55. 

Here’s the race breakdown: 750m swim 17:22 (T1 3:26), 20km bike 44:00 (T2 0:57), 5km run 26:12. 

I’ve been feeling really good with my performance over the last year, and I’m thinking of moving up to the olympic distance from the sprint distance category next season. So there will be no slacking off over the winter for me! You’ll find me in the gym as usual. 

I had an interesting experience during the run portion of the course that I’d like to share with you. Its an experience that highlights the largely mental component of the run.  I was about 4.5 km into the run and the end was just a little further down the road.  I was tired but still holding a strong pace coming into the finish, when I heard one of the spectators yelling at me from the sidelines. I didn’t know who he was, he must have noticed my name on my racers bib, and started cheering me on and told me that I could run just a little bit harder these last 200m.  He told me I could pass those girls in front of me on the homestretch. I don’t know why he told me this, and I don’t know why I listened to him, but his voice stirred something inseide of me and fueled me on.  I pushed it hard for those last 200m and I managed to pass 2 more women in my age category on my way to the finish line. Because of his encouragement I moved up from 16/24 to 14/24 in my age category. It felt awesome. I wish I could have found that guy after the race, as I would’ve liked to buy him a beer to thank him, but I lost him in the crowd.  

The reason I’m sharing this story is to highlight the mental component of the run.  You can always dig a little deeper and push a little harder than you realize, sometimes it takes a push from your trainer or teammate to get you going, but you can do it. Its all in your head, you just need to channel those thoughts down to your legs and get going!  

Anyway, here’s to even better run times in 2014!    

Ontario Women's Triathlon 2013

My second triathlon of the season was the Ontario Women's Triathlon, held at Kelso Lake, in Milton, Ontario on Sept 1.

It seems like my race time keeps improving, and I'm really happy with my performance as I finally broke 1:30:00.  I had a personal best of 1:29:38 and placed 6th overall in my age group.  Here's the race breakdown:
750m Swim 17:20, T1 + 20km Bike + T2 46:00, 5km Run 26:19

In my continued racing improvment efforts, I finally upgraded my road bike for a proper specialized racing bike and the results are obvious.  Not only did it help my cycling portion, but the lightweight frame meant my legs were less tired during the run and I shaved another 1.5min off my run.

Swim, Bike, Run!!! I love this sport!

Toronto Island Triathlon 2013 Results

As part of the MultiSport Canada Triathlon series (http://www.multisportcanada.com/) the Toronto Island Triathlon was held this past Sunday.  The weather was a perfect sunny 17C in the morning and 27C later in the afternoon, and light winds made for excellent racing conditions. 

I’m happy to say that I had a great race time of 1:35:30.  A big improvement over last year. Here’s my race breakdown: 

750m Swim 19:08, (T1 3:21) 20km Bike 44:23, (T2 0:57) 5km Run 27:44.   

All the time spent cycling really paid off, as I shaved 8 min off my bike time, which I’m most pleased with.  And it seems those elastic laces really did speed up my T1 time after all, so kudos to them.  I’m excited about my upcoming race at Kelso Lake next weekend. Maybe if I push it just a little harder I can finally break that 1:35:00 mark.  Here’s hoping! 

And here are some action shots for fun:

Triathlon Season 2013

Its Triathlon season again!  And this year I’ve registered for two races: the Toronto Island Triathlon on Aug 25, and the Ontario Women’s Triathlon, at Kelso Lake, on Sept 1. Hopefully, none of the swims will be cancelled due to poor water conditions and none of the races will be modified to duathlons, like what happened to me twice last year.  So keep your fingers crossed!

With less than a week to go my mind is very focussed on the task at hand.  I’ve been trying to get down to Cherry Beach for some open water swims to compliment my pool training. And with the addition of a wetsuit to my gear bag this season I’m optimistic for posting my best swim time yet.  

The other gear change I’ve made this season is elastic laces.  I’ve swapped my old fashioned tie up laces for these speedy laces that I see some racers use to help reduce their transition time. That might save me 30 seconds, I suppose at most. But it all helps, as T1 is the worst time guzzler. 

Other than those 2 additions I’m using the gear I had last year from cycling and running and I’ve just been trying to get as much time training for both as I could squeeze in.  Basically I’ve been doing some form of cardio for at least an hour, 6 days each week all summer.  Let’s hope this is enough for a decent time. I’m hoping for 1h:35min - 1h:40min for the Sprint Triathlon course (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run).

So wish me luck, and wish for good weather too, and I’ll be sure to post this years race time for all to see.