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Showing posts from June, 2012

Running, Orthotics and Minimalist Shoes

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Last season I started sprinting using minimalist track spikes and playing ball hockey in quasi-minimalist indoor soccer shoes. Both worked well with the addition of my old orthotics. Running in a traditional stability shoe, even with the orthotic, was a completely different story. It was not comfortable and caused me a fair amount of discomfort. Recently I purchased a new orthotic that was built from a computerized gait scan(as opposed to the foam box impression) that, supposedly, will result in a much improved product that better represents my overpronation in my left foot. Sounds like an experiment to me! Today under sunny and humid conditions I tested the orthotic in my traditional stability running shoe. I chose a 3 kilometre course that included sidewalk concrete, pavement and both hard and soft pack dirt trail. I mixed in at the midway point five 50 yard sprints,one 100 yard sprint and two sets(6 reps) of rock jumps. Talk about sweating bullets but it felt pretty darn go

What's Up With Geo?

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Been awhile since I have updated the blog so here is a catchup post. Been a crazy busy couple weeks that included a weeks vacation and my son's graduation from highschool. Highlights include getting my new orthotics. I'm quite excited to put them through the paces to see if they will facilitate me getting back to my running/sprinting regimen. With ball hockey winding down it is perfect timing for getting back on on the trails. Snagged myself a great deal on Kijiji picking up an older set of Heaton 33 inch senior goalie pads in very good condition. I'm loving the new pads and after a couple games am already adjusting to the difference in height and weight. Josh has graduated high school and attended both his prom and ceremony. This comes on the heels of finally getting a job and, based upon getting extra shifts, is doing quite well. I already see an improvement in his maturity and responsibility. It was quite a surprise to discover at the graduation cere

Happy Father's Day

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After a legburner Saturday club ride on the new pavement of Waverley Road with a squad of solid BPCC riders and singlehandedly consuming almost an entire 1.5 litres of red wine yesterday my Father's Day Sunday began with this.......... Gotta love the java at 7AM! The coffee wiped clean the cerebral cobwebs and got me too thinking. To quote Pinky....."what are we gonna do today Brain?" On past Father's Days I have been racing at the Riverport road race held on the scenic Lahave river outside of Lunenburg but have opted out of competition this year. The weather looks prime so it's looks like they will have optimal conditions. Good luck to any BPCCers who are testing their mettle on the 28km loop. In lieu of bike racing I headed to the woods and my archery range. Been itching to test out my latest batch of bamboo arrows I purchased from Asia via Ebay. They look similar to my previous ones but with one difference - the field point actually has a small me

The Return To Form

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I will admit that the decision to not race this season has had a negative effect upon my training. Without the pursuit for better cycling personal bests(at both the club and race levels) I have been quite lax in terms of training. I should clarify that last point by saying quite lax in terms of bicycle training. Since ball hockey has become my primary focus this year I have concentrated more upon strength training, core work and, recently, a return to sprinting and sprint intervals. I have become more of a cycle commuter as opposed to competitor and my time on the road bike has focused more upon the fun social aspect of club cycling. The bike has become more utilitarian in nature but my daily commute offers me some fasted training opportunities. That combined with my continued Primal way of eating and intermittant fasting regimen has leaned me out but also added back some of the bulk I lost the last couple seasons trying to become a skinny arsed road racer. I managed to get down

Ball Hockey - The Pre Game Warmup Rant.

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Shot some pregame video at my ECBHL game. As both a player and goalie I have a dual perspective on the purpose of the warmup prompted by having an errant slapshot just miss my head by scan inches while collecting balls from the corner tonight. It`s A Warmup Not A Skill's Competition! A warmup is a warmup so blasting slapshots from the point into the top corner or missing the net completely does the (cold) goalie absolutely no good.Zinging the ball around the goalie's ears is useless and nailing the goalie in the mask with a rising shot is a good way to really piss him/her off. What us goalies like are shots into our pads, gloves and chest to get a feel for the ball. Since most of our work in a game comes from the key ease up on the blistering "Chara" slapshots and come in close with wrist and snap shots to the above fore mentioned areas.The purpose of the warmup to get the goaltender READY for the game not test your velocity and accuracy! Save that for the ope

A Day In The Life - June 2 2012

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 In pictures.... AA and I chilling in the sweep group on the BPCC Saturday morning club ride......my BFF. Playing in the woods with my longbow......... A glass of shiraz on the deck watching the world pass by.......the Noble Grape! Followed shortly thereafter by BBQ steak, baked potato and unpasturized saurkraut. If we could get folks to consume unpasturized fermented foods on a daily basis we would solve the health crisis. A healthy belly is a healthy body. It;s as simple as that! I'm a decent cyclist, an ok ball hockey player and an improving archer but I am a gold medalist in the kitchen. Chief cook and bottle washer....I rock the dishwashing world! Trimming the bush..... tidy bushes are the best!(wink) My overgrown garden - before pic. Lemon Balm is lovely and smells wonderful but takes over in short order. After pic..got some Hostas, Lady's Mantle, Lemon Balm, Lilies, Chives, Purple Coneflower, several unknowns (but pretty), Raspb