General Blog Overview

A number of years ago, I noticed that I would be out of breath with very little exertion. I was surprised by this, as I was generally a reasonably active young fellow, a little overweight. Well more than a little overweight, more likely clinically obese.

I have never been athletic, but inspired by some friends I thought I would give the K-Town Triathlon short course a try. So I started swimming regularly, then biking regularly and finally running regularly. In 2002 I completed my first K-Town Triathlon. Since then, training and completing the K-Town Triathlon each year has been the focus of my fitness program. So far success.

Needless to say, while I still find myself out of breath on occasion, it requires a significantly more exertion. I feel healthy and pursue an active lifestyle where I am able to do the things they I want to do. Not only that, I have active friends decades older than me that are still able to do the same.

Why wouldn't anybody want that? A healthy active long life?

There is no such thing as a sure thing, but you can load the odds in your favour by getting exercise on a regular basis.

Getting started!

If you have any health concerns about starting an exercise program, you need to consult your doctor.

Swimming

I started building my base with swimming. The Loyalist township pool in Amherstview is our closest pool, and a very good value. Swimming a a great sport, low impact, really stretches out your body. if you are not a good swimmer, it will take some time to get the technique right, but if you are patient it will really pay off. More info on this pool at; http://www.loyalisttownship.ca/pool

If this is your first time lap swimming you might want to read up a bit on pool etiquette. Not unlike driving, there are rules to follow. Have a look at; http://www.cartegic.com/pooletiquette.htm.

Running

Every journey begins with a step, and sometimes I will tell myself that when my energy is low before starting a run. Try to trick myself into thinking I am about to start some exciting trip rather than a run around the block.

I believe as hunters, we humans evolved to run. However modern humans are woefully adept at avoiding physical exertion, and there is no doubt that you can exert yourself running. Most of us who have been active doing cardio for a while find that running is the method most likely used to achieve injury. This being the case it is strongly suggested that if you are beginning to run that you start out slowly, and increase volume slowly. There are many run/walk programs available to get you started. Simply google couch to 5km plan and you will find many starting to run programs, such as; http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml or; http://www.couchto-5k.com/

Biking

I find nothing let's you do volume and burn calories like road biking. You can ride for hours and hours quite comfortably. Modern road bikes are marvels of engineering maximizing efficiency and comfort. While on the road you can burn 1200-1500 calories per hour.

We are fortunate in our region in that L&A county is actively promoting cycling tourism. The country trail initiative has a number of cycling routes you can consider in our area. See; http://www.lennox-addington.on.ca/things-to-do/county-trails.html

The paved shoulder from Yarker to Camden East and then South on County Road 4 to Highway 2 is a treat. One can only hope that eventually County Road 6 will get the same treatment.

In training for K-Town 2010 I logged in over 1600 kilometers, mostly riding back and forth form Yarker to Kingston for work a couple of days a week. This fifty plus hours of riding stripped off twelve to fifteen pounds. Riding pace varied sometime hard , sometimes easy but it all helped me have a good solid ride during the K-Town.