Epic Journey Month 4.5

Ah, I feel like I have been slacking off lately in terms of both exercise and in this blog. But the time has come to change all of that, so this will be my second blog post in two days. Don't expect that all the time.

As for the gym, exercising, trying to get into shape and all of that fun jazz, I'm back to the gym and into the third week now. This may not seem like much, but I was not there for about 2.5 months due to a knee injury I sustained at hockey. My knee has been getting better so I have been slowly (twice a week) visiting the gym to get back into a routine and I think this is harder than what it was in the beginning to start. Next week I plan on starting to do three days a week. On top of the Epic visiting, I have been doing daily walks now that it is nice out with the dog.

Although getting back into going to the gym in the mornings (5:30 am) has been hard, the benefits from it have been enormous. I have been feeling much more alert and awake during the day, easier to sleep at night and still wake up feeling refreshed the next day. I think the below comic pretty much sums up how I feel after completing a workout.

So I guess that is the update for now, I hope to have another post up in the next few weeks, since I have been falling behind on this. But the next post hopefully will include a good progress report on the increase in Epic Fitness visits, the beginning of the running season (for me), before and after numbers, and possibility some before and after pictures (this could be scary).

Epic Fitness and my road to a better health (Epic Journey #1)

So I joined a gym, but before you laugh and think this is a new years resolution you'll be wrong. You see just because I am posting this in the first couple of weeks of 2013 don't mean I just started the gym as a new years resolution what it does mean is I am still lazy in posting blogs.

I joined a new smaller, privately owned gym near work called Epic Fitness near the middle of November. My main reason to joining was to get into a better shape other than round and to also continue my fight to lower my cholesterol. You see last spring prior to beginning running I was told I had high cholesterol and being the off-spring of two families where heart disease runs rapid, having high cholesterol is not a good thing. So I began running and started watching what I was eating much more to lower my cholesterol and it worked.

So now you ask where Epic Fitness has come from? During the summer I had a goal, to run in the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers in October, that is now over and I have reached my goal. I was now noticing myself doing nothing again because I had no goal and fall/winter months in Ottawa are quite cold to be running in.

So I decided to visit Epic Fitness and get an overview and have some questions answered for myself:

1. How large is the gym?
2. Are the trainers there to help you or just take your money?
3. How clean is the gym?
4. How much does it cost?

1: The gym square footage wise it not as large as some of the major gym brands out there, but they also have a limited membership so they are not trying to pack the place full just to get more money. They also do not have a lot of machines that do the workout for you, what you will see is a lot of weights to help you do any exercise you may want to do.

2: This is a difficult question to answer since all trainers and gyms will want your money, its how they make their living. But what I will say is that the gym owner has called me personally before when I missed a couple of weeks to see where I was. I take this as going the extra little bit to help motivate someone to get there ass back in the door. 

3: The gym is spotless is the best and easiest answer I can give for this. It is well maintained, well lit, free of obstacles, and the members seem to keep the place clean.

4: Epic Fitness has two different options for monthly memberships depending on what time of day you would need access. For full hours access it costs $45 a month and I think a time limited access is somewhere around $30. When/if you do first sign up you need to also purchase three training sessions with a trainer to get an understanding of the gym and equipment. This actually works out to four sessions and costs somewhere around $240 for the four sessions and the first month membership fees. Visit Epic Fitness for further information.

So after you have now read this I guess its safe to assume that yes I did sign up and was lucky enough to have the owner of the gym as my trainer, Neil Frotten who was also on the Red Bull Crashed Ice. I have done all of my training sessions with him so far and I have learned a lot. At the time I could not afford to keep Neil as a personal trainer but I hope to change this in the near future. In the meantime I have been using an Android app called JE-Fit to help keep track of my progress and stats. 

In case you are wondering, below are my stats that were recorded in November. I am already down to 193lbs so I have some progress. Once I receive my initial pictures from Neil, I will also post them.

Waist @ bellybutton: 40.5"

Hips: 45"
Right Quad: 25.5"

Chest: 43.75"

Right Arm no flex: 14"

Weight: 199.6lbs

Body Fat: 25.9%

I will be posting progress reports here monthly on how my progress is going at Epic Fitness with Neil.

One week complete

Just over one week complete in my change of habits and lifestyle on the path to run in the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers. It has been a tough week and I have been making progress each and every day to get my stamina back. Each time I go for a run now it seem I am able to go further or faster to achieve another goal. I have been trying to get out at least three or four times each week to do some kind of activity, be it running, biking or hockey. It has only been just over a week and I am now noticing a difference when I play hockey on how much better I feel.

I did learn a few lessons in this first week though:

FuelBand water belt

• Don't run just after eating. I done this on my first run and nearly got sick multiple times while running;
• Bring water. This is a must, I didn't do this the first time and it made it a hard go, so I went out and got a FuelBand as seen to the right;
• I need a new pair of sneakers;
• Make sure the GPS is turned on. I lost half of one because of this;
• Stretch before and after the run. I got leg cramps half way into a run and had to walk back because of this;

Next will be go out and get a new pair of sneakers to be using solely for running. As I write this post I just got another email for a donation to my run of $200. Thanks so far to anyone who has donated and anyone who plans on doing so, you have been a great support and your donation is going to a great cause.

After playing hockey tonight I have noticed in just over a week on how much easier hockey is and how much I am not out of breath in pain after a shift of after the game.

Remember I am doing this to raise money for kids cancer research and you can always donate. The more donations the better to keep me motivated. Read more about the run and visit the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers page to sponsor me! You can also view my training status at any time by viewing the training stats on the right side of this page.

First training run complete

Tonight I went out for a run. The start of many over the next few months to gain the stamina and strength to compete in the Sears Great Canadian Run to End Kids Cancers on October 13, 2012.

What I looked like not long into my first run

Since knowing my area where I live, I had a good idea of the route that I would take and a semi-rough estimate of the distance. I thought this would be a good start to see how I can do. I have done this same type of route many times before but only walking with the dog. The route works out to be 2.65KM's, I know this does not sound like much, but for someone who has never done this before, it feels like death.

After this first run though, I have quickly learned a few different things:

1. Do not go for a run shortly after eating dinner. It causes food bouncing around your stomach and causing you to nearly barf multiple times;
2. Bring water. I did not and I really could have used some shortly into the run. It felt like I was breathing fire;
3. I will need to get a new good pair of running sneakers sometime soon, my older daily use ones are not the greatest.

I am using an Android app called Endomondo to track my training to give me route stats, time among other things. It seems to work fine and I love how it talks to you during your run to give you updates. On the right side of this page you can see my past runs and how I have been doing in my training. Click on any of the runs to see a map and more details of the run.

Remember I am doing this to raise money for kids cancer research and you can always donate. The more donations the better to keep me motivated. Read more about the run and visit the Sears page to sponsor me!

My new motto

Sears Great Canadian Run

So I have decided to run in the Great Canadian Run this year. It is a 100KM run from Ottawa to Montebello, QC in support to end kids cancer on October 13, 2012. This is something that I have never thought of doing before, since I find it hard enough to gather energy each day to take the dog for a walk. So not only is it a great cause, hopefully it will get me off of my ass to get back in shape and not a round shape. As a participant, my goal is to raise $500.00 for local pediatric oncology research initiatives at CHEO and hopefully break that small goal.

Andy

Team Smile's for Andy is running again on behalf of a brave little boy named Andy. Andy is my neighbor and has been battling T-call ALL (leukemia) for over a year now.  He has 2.5 years left in his treatment. Every single night Andy takes chemotherapy drugs, every 3 weeks Andy takes mood altering steroids, every 3 months Andy has chemotherapy injected into his spinal cord, and every single day Andy smiles.  He is beating this disease but it is not easy.  There are many physical and psychological side effects from chemotherapy/radiation treatment that will be with Andy for the rest of his life because just having cancer is not bad enough. And yet he is a fortunate boy because many pediatric cancer patients don't continue smiling and many others don't continue living. Help us end this ugly disease. Sponsor team Smiles for Andy as we run 100km in support of all the little hero's fighting cancer

This Run will not only benefit thousands of kids that are diagnosed with cancer every year, but kids cancer research also helps adult cancers. Your dollars, your support, and all our efforts are making a world of difference for so many. Please help me change the lives of children who are fighting for theirs everyday. Your generous contribution will help me raise money for an incredibly important cause. Every dollar counts. You can donate right to my personal page here: Sponsor Me.

I have also made the pledge that that from now until the start of the race on October 13, anyone who opens a ING Direct bank account with my Orange Key (14477247S1), I will donate the $25 bonus that I receive to this cause. I have sent ING Direct an email to see if I can find out who signs up than I will donate the $25 in their name. Read more about ING Direct from my review.


You can follow along on this blog all summer long to track my progress, read more about Andy: http://www.smilesforandy.com and please remember to sponsor me. :-)