Yay! I’m currently in Le Grand Bornand on my first snowy trip of 2009 as part of the Anarski Camp. Having cancelled my month in Laax following my foot injury and change of job it’s good to be away and having fun in the snow once more. We cheated a bit getting here by cashing in some of the hotel reward points I gained while working in Southampton and stopping in Dijon Friday night to break up the journey, driving the final 300km on Saturday morning. The TomTom/Jools’s navigation skills and my kick ass driving got us here at lunchtime and we hit the slopes for the afternoon.
Checking out the park we found a good range of kickers from green to black and good mix of boxes too. It looks like it’s going to be a brilliant week, well as long as the snow stays away anyway. We had to give up and come down the mountain at lunchtime today because the visibility got so bad that you literally couldn’t see 5 foot in front of you, and on an unfamiliar slope it’s not much fun so we called it a day and later in the afternoon we set about building a kicker and quarter pipe out the back of the Anarski Chalet.
I’ve been playing about with Nokia Sports Tracker, and will be posting up some of our sessions on their site, so click here to see where I've been riding. I’ll also be uploading some pictures as and when I can on Flickr. As yet I haven’t found any free wifi so uploads may be few and far between so I don’t run up a huge bill....but even if I don’t update the blog until I’m home you should be able to get a bit of a picture of what we’re up to from those sites.
Hopefully tomorrow will be bright so we can hit the park again, but if not there’s a plan for some tree runs and of course the back yard jib session!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Battle of the duvet
5:20am and my alarm goes off, it's dark, I'm warm and toasty and it's cold outside. Add to this the fact that I'm working from home and it all adds up to me not wanting to get up to go to the gym. Seemingly the other half feels the same way, saying he'll get up in an hour and walk in to work rather than driving so I can stay asleep for a while longer. Excellent, I burrow back into my feathered nest and start to drift off, 5 minutes of bliss are soon over when the realisation that we're both lazy quitters hits him and we're up dressed and in the gym by 6:05. Ah well it was nice while it lasted and if I'm honest once I was up and dressed it wasn't too bad. It's just that first battle with the outside world that causes the problem.....I love my duvet, I actually think I love my duvet more than I love my snowboard, today however, I won the battle, it may have scored the first goal but I rallied and won in overtime!
Today's workout was an easy one, because I was working from home and didn't have to rush for the train I put in an hour rather than my usual 30 minutes. A mix of cross-trainer, treadclimber and bike it was part fat burn and part low level cardio. I'm trying to keep my workouts balanced and a session like this is great to still work my legs without over doing the knee impact. So that's 2 hours exercise already this week and we're only on Wednesday. Tomorrow's another couch to 5k session so hopefully I won't be too tired after work otherwise I may be tempted to grab a post-commute nap rather than wrapping up and heading out into the cold.
Today's workout was an easy one, because I was working from home and didn't have to rush for the train I put in an hour rather than my usual 30 minutes. A mix of cross-trainer, treadclimber and bike it was part fat burn and part low level cardio. I'm trying to keep my workouts balanced and a session like this is great to still work my legs without over doing the knee impact. So that's 2 hours exercise already this week and we're only on Wednesday. Tomorrow's another couch to 5k session so hopefully I won't be too tired after work otherwise I may be tempted to grab a post-commute nap rather than wrapping up and heading out into the cold.
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Tuesday, January 06, 2009
It's a wee bit chilly!
Well let's start today's post off with an indication of just how cold it is today.....
Yes that's the peanut oil in my kitchen and it's solidifying! So it's a bit chilly as you can tell.
Despite this, and the fact that I was pretty much numb from waiting 20 minutes for the bus and then walking home from the bus stop I did make it out for the first run of week 2 in my couch to 5km training. It did help that Jools came with me to brave the cold, although I suspect it was more to make sure I didn't quit half way round....he even made me take the tough route with the longer hill in it...git! Still we made it and did 3.78km in just under 30 minutes, because we'd taken a slightly different route we weren't as far away from the house as normal so I didn't bother with the full 5 min walk for the warm down. Considering it was -5oC out there I don't think that's bad going at all. Today I'd stepped it up a bit and after the warm up we did 6 reps of 90 seconds running followed by 2 minutes of fast walking. I must be getting a bit fitter because the hill didn't seem to hurt quite as much as when I had a false start of exercising 2 weeks ago.
Today was also weigh-in day, my BMI has decreased slightly but I haven't lost a full pound in the last week. I'm not too worried about that though the main thing about all of this exercise is increasing my fitness and toning up as opposed to losing weight. I haven't been dieting, just making sure I'm eating healthily so I won't be crying in my pillow tonight.
I'm hoping that this cold weather will mean that when I hit the slopes my lungs will have adjusted slightly and I won't be as wheezy as usual, we shall see I suppose.
So there we have it week 2 of actual outside running is 1/3 over, now I just need to keep the momentum and finish it off!
Yes that's the peanut oil in my kitchen and it's solidifying! So it's a bit chilly as you can tell.
Despite this, and the fact that I was pretty much numb from waiting 20 minutes for the bus and then walking home from the bus stop I did make it out for the first run of week 2 in my couch to 5km training. It did help that Jools came with me to brave the cold, although I suspect it was more to make sure I didn't quit half way round....he even made me take the tough route with the longer hill in it...git! Still we made it and did 3.78km in just under 30 minutes, because we'd taken a slightly different route we weren't as far away from the house as normal so I didn't bother with the full 5 min walk for the warm down. Considering it was -5oC out there I don't think that's bad going at all. Today I'd stepped it up a bit and after the warm up we did 6 reps of 90 seconds running followed by 2 minutes of fast walking. I must be getting a bit fitter because the hill didn't seem to hurt quite as much as when I had a false start of exercising 2 weeks ago.
Today was also weigh-in day, my BMI has decreased slightly but I haven't lost a full pound in the last week. I'm not too worried about that though the main thing about all of this exercise is increasing my fitness and toning up as opposed to losing weight. I haven't been dieting, just making sure I'm eating healthily so I won't be crying in my pillow tonight.
I'm hoping that this cold weather will mean that when I hit the slopes my lungs will have adjusted slightly and I won't be as wheezy as usual, we shall see I suppose.
So there we have it week 2 of actual outside running is 1/3 over, now I just need to keep the momentum and finish it off!
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Monday, January 05, 2009
Snow!
It snowed last night, Jools woke up at 5:15 this morning to put the heating on before we headed to the gym and informed me it'd snowed over night. It has to be said though that it was rubbish snow, about 1cm and not worth taking the day off for, so I didn't bother taking any photos of it and instead of heading to the skate park with our boards we went to the gym and work instead! It has to be said that the snow was so rubbish that my train to work ran on time!
On the positive side I started my second week of fitness with a 30 minute treadmill session using a new Nike+ workout: Master the Treadmill with OK Go! This is a mix of speed intervals but no inclines so it was relatively easy on my legs although it did give me a good session. I'm enjoying having these treadmill workouts on my iPod, it breaks the monotony and also keeps me going. If I was running for 30 minutes straight I'd give up but these do seem to work a bit like the carrot and the stick method. So at the end of Monday, I am 3.8km on the way to this week's total. I'm not sure whether I'll do my planned couch to 5km tomorrow as it all depends on the weather, I'm OK with running in the cold but if it's too icy then I won;t risk it and I'll do a gym session instead. I'm not going to let the weather knock me off track in my quest for fitness but I'm not going to risk slipping on an icy patch before I get to go away either.
And with that, I give you today's proof! (plus a bonus shot of my tasty lunch from Wasabi)
On the positive side I started my second week of fitness with a 30 minute treadmill session using a new Nike+ workout: Master the Treadmill with OK Go! This is a mix of speed intervals but no inclines so it was relatively easy on my legs although it did give me a good session. I'm enjoying having these treadmill workouts on my iPod, it breaks the monotony and also keeps me going. If I was running for 30 minutes straight I'd give up but these do seem to work a bit like the carrot and the stick method. So at the end of Monday, I am 3.8km on the way to this week's total. I'm not sure whether I'll do my planned couch to 5km tomorrow as it all depends on the weather, I'm OK with running in the cold but if it's too icy then I won;t risk it and I'll do a gym session instead. I'm not going to let the weather knock me off track in my quest for fitness but I'm not going to risk slipping on an icy patch before I get to go away either.
And with that, I give you today's proof! (plus a bonus shot of my tasty lunch from Wasabi)
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Couch to 5km - Week 1 Completed
Well I did it! I have successfully completed week 1 of the Couch to 5km workout. It was hard, mostly because it's so cold outside, especially today.....
so cold in fact that the duck pond was frozen and the resident goose was looking mightily displeased at being surrounded by mini-icebergs, and also because I'm lazy and given the choice of staying at home wrapped in my duvet watching DVDs and running round the village then I'm more likely to choose to stay in. I battled the feeling though and toughed it out for today's final run of the week.
I ran further again today, I'm really pleased because I didn't have quite as bad a stitch as my last run and although I again felt like quitting as I passed the house I kept going for the last 10 minutes, so yay me!
It seems that the Nokia Sports Tracker was a bit off earlier in the week. Today's reading came out at 4.4km so 400m less than last time out but I know I ran further, so I re-checked the route on the gmap pedometer site and it seems it was right today and wrong earlier in the week. Not to worry, I've amended my log so that my summary for this week's running is now correct at 15.85km. Not too shabby for my first week I don't think.
Next week I have 3 gym sessions planned before work, which will be a mix of treadmill runs and low impact fat burning along with the next week of couch to 5km. So hopefully I'll get even more distance under my belt and start to feel the benefit even more. If nothing else it's helping me get used to the cold, which should be helpful for this month's week in France!
So here are today's screen shots and a summary shot of the week's workouts:
so cold in fact that the duck pond was frozen and the resident goose was looking mightily displeased at being surrounded by mini-icebergs, and also because I'm lazy and given the choice of staying at home wrapped in my duvet watching DVDs and running round the village then I'm more likely to choose to stay in. I battled the feeling though and toughed it out for today's final run of the week.
I ran further again today, I'm really pleased because I didn't have quite as bad a stitch as my last run and although I again felt like quitting as I passed the house I kept going for the last 10 minutes, so yay me!
It seems that the Nokia Sports Tracker was a bit off earlier in the week. Today's reading came out at 4.4km so 400m less than last time out but I know I ran further, so I re-checked the route on the gmap pedometer site and it seems it was right today and wrong earlier in the week. Not to worry, I've amended my log so that my summary for this week's running is now correct at 15.85km. Not too shabby for my first week I don't think.
Next week I have 3 gym sessions planned before work, which will be a mix of treadmill runs and low impact fat burning along with the next week of couch to 5km. So hopefully I'll get even more distance under my belt and start to feel the benefit even more. If nothing else it's helping me get used to the cold, which should be helpful for this month's week in France!
So here are today's screen shots and a summary shot of the week's workouts:
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Why can't I have this on my doorstep?
Right at this very moment I am sad and annoyed, and disappointed and frustrated...why? Well I've just read this article (Air time: The brand new ski camp where 'progression is inevitable') which just dropped into my email inbox as part of my addiction to Google Alerts on "Snowflex". In essence there's a a Summer Camp in Copper Mountain, USA that has a barn in which they've put 2 Snowflex slopes, 1 for sessioning rails and one which is for kicker (jump) practice, complete with foam pit! They're even planning a diving board style launch for practicing cliff drops off.
Having trained as a gymnast in my younger days, I used foam pits for training and know they are beneficial, I also know the benefits of Snowflex, as especially this year it has really helped me progress in kicker riding, so much so that this October I went off my biggest jump ever, the Snowflex kicker in Noeux Les Mines, France. What I don't understand is why the UK, the place where Snowflex was born, designed and developed in Yorkshire can't understand that we need sites like this over here. I know the Snowflex guys go a grand job of promoting their product but they seem to be faced with so many negative thoughts that although we have some really great Snowflex slopes in the UK there aren't any near where I live (technically my closest Snowflex slope is in France) and no one will invest in something like this. I know that there are plenty of freestyle skiers and snowboarders that would love to have something like this on their doorstep, or even within travelling distance but the investors and people running the slopes are so hung up on indoor snow that they can't see that this would bring them in a whole new client base.
To me the ideal location for this would be the old Wycombe Dry Slope (owned by the people who own/run Tamworth Snowdome), this burnt down a few years ago and apparently they'll be turning into snow shortly (a 100m ish indoor slope), although they will be keeping the 300m outdoor dendix slope to keep the skiers happy. The way I see it though is that the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead is due to open in April 2009 and it's less than 30 miles away. I don't think that there are enough people, with enough cash to keep 2 indoor snow locations that close together open.
So why not turn a tiny bit of Wycombe slope into a Snowflex freestyle zone. People would come more regularly as inevitably it'd be cheaper and it would give the perfect training ground for the youngsters of the South to prove that they too can snowboard as well as the Northern guys that have a wealth of Snowflex slopes on their doorsteps. For those of us that can't get away for seasons because we're too old and have proper jobs or are too young and are stuck in school this could be what turns us into a real prospect in snowboarding. Add to this the fact that as yet the Snow Centre haven't mentioned freestyle skiing or snowboarding on any of their newsletters and you could be filling a very big gap in the market.
So please, someone out there must have the cash and the foresight to give this a go!
Having trained as a gymnast in my younger days, I used foam pits for training and know they are beneficial, I also know the benefits of Snowflex, as especially this year it has really helped me progress in kicker riding, so much so that this October I went off my biggest jump ever, the Snowflex kicker in Noeux Les Mines, France. What I don't understand is why the UK, the place where Snowflex was born, designed and developed in Yorkshire can't understand that we need sites like this over here. I know the Snowflex guys go a grand job of promoting their product but they seem to be faced with so many negative thoughts that although we have some really great Snowflex slopes in the UK there aren't any near where I live (technically my closest Snowflex slope is in France) and no one will invest in something like this. I know that there are plenty of freestyle skiers and snowboarders that would love to have something like this on their doorstep, or even within travelling distance but the investors and people running the slopes are so hung up on indoor snow that they can't see that this would bring them in a whole new client base.
To me the ideal location for this would be the old Wycombe Dry Slope (owned by the people who own/run Tamworth Snowdome), this burnt down a few years ago and apparently they'll be turning into snow shortly (a 100m ish indoor slope), although they will be keeping the 300m outdoor dendix slope to keep the skiers happy. The way I see it though is that the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead is due to open in April 2009 and it's less than 30 miles away. I don't think that there are enough people, with enough cash to keep 2 indoor snow locations that close together open.
So why not turn a tiny bit of Wycombe slope into a Snowflex freestyle zone. People would come more regularly as inevitably it'd be cheaper and it would give the perfect training ground for the youngsters of the South to prove that they too can snowboard as well as the Northern guys that have a wealth of Snowflex slopes on their doorsteps. For those of us that can't get away for seasons because we're too old and have proper jobs or are too young and are stuck in school this could be what turns us into a real prospect in snowboarding. Add to this the fact that as yet the Snow Centre haven't mentioned freestyle skiing or snowboarding on any of their newsletters and you could be filling a very big gap in the market.
So please, someone out there must have the cash and the foresight to give this a go!
Friday, January 02, 2009
Early start, low intensity
We started today with a 6am session at the gym, even though we're not back in the office until next week we thought it would be good to get into the habit of getting up and heading to the gym at the same time as a work day just so that it's not a huge system shock on Monday morning. Admittedly we did head back to bed for another hours kip when we got home, but surely that's what holidays are for!
Today I focused on a low intensity work out, not wanting to cripple my knees just yet I thought it would be a good idea to take things a bit easier today and do a bit of fat burning rather than an aerobic work out. First up was a 25 minute session on the cross trainer. The aim was to keep my heart rate in Zone 1 (fat burning), with a max heart rate of 131 bpm, but as this means only doing about 33 revs per minute on the cross trainer it has a fit and keeps pausing, so I actually had to keep it at about 135. I followed this with 20 minutes on the Treadclimber, this is a weird, split treadmill which you walk on rather than run on, with each leg on a separate treadle which moves up and down as you put pressure on it. It takes a bit of getting used to but it means you get a work out similar to hiking, putting extra pressure on your leg muscles and it will hopefully help me if I end up hiking the park when I go away.
So I worked out for just under an hour and hopefully burnt off a bit of fat. I haven't quite decided if tomorrow's session will be the 3rd of my Couch to 5km runs or a gym session, it all depends on how I'm feeling. Either way I'll have to get my 3rd run in tomorrow or Sunday to complete my first full week of training.
Today's workout proof:
Today I focused on a low intensity work out, not wanting to cripple my knees just yet I thought it would be a good idea to take things a bit easier today and do a bit of fat burning rather than an aerobic work out. First up was a 25 minute session on the cross trainer. The aim was to keep my heart rate in Zone 1 (fat burning), with a max heart rate of 131 bpm, but as this means only doing about 33 revs per minute on the cross trainer it has a fit and keeps pausing, so I actually had to keep it at about 135. I followed this with 20 minutes on the Treadclimber, this is a weird, split treadmill which you walk on rather than run on, with each leg on a separate treadle which moves up and down as you put pressure on it. It takes a bit of getting used to but it means you get a work out similar to hiking, putting extra pressure on your leg muscles and it will hopefully help me if I end up hiking the park when I go away.
So I worked out for just under an hour and hopefully burnt off a bit of fat. I haven't quite decided if tomorrow's session will be the 3rd of my Couch to 5km runs or a gym session, it all depends on how I'm feeling. Either way I'll have to get my 3rd run in tomorrow or Sunday to complete my first full week of training.
Today's workout proof:
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Couch to 5km - Week 1 Run 2
I'm not one for going out and celebrating New Year's Eve, we don't really go out drinking anyway, so it seems silly to go out and pay even more than usual for the privilege. Instead I stayed at home, played Spore on the brilliant iPod Touch that Jools got me for Christmas and drank a couple of cans of Guinness in the comfort of our own home. I then went to bed about 23:30, so much for staying up to see in the New Year.
On the positive side though it did mean that I woke up at a reasonable time this morning, with out a hangover and managed to convince myself that I did want to get out of my warm bed and go for run 2 of the Couch to 5km programme I'm following.
This is a repeat of the run I did 2 days ago, and I'll do it again on Saturday. I still found myself getting stitch at the end of the 6th rep of 60 second running but ignored the proximity of the house to my location and battled on! The result, I covered an extra 300m than last time. The Nike+ sensor is still lagging behind, but as I can use the Nokia Sports Tracker for accurate distance on the road I'll leave the Nike+ calibrated for the tread mill for any runs I do at the gym.
On the positive side though it did mean that I woke up at a reasonable time this morning, with out a hangover and managed to convince myself that I did want to get out of my warm bed and go for run 2 of the Couch to 5km programme I'm following.
This is a repeat of the run I did 2 days ago, and I'll do it again on Saturday. I still found myself getting stitch at the end of the 6th rep of 60 second running but ignored the proximity of the house to my location and battled on! The result, I covered an extra 300m than last time. The Nike+ sensor is still lagging behind, but as I can use the Nokia Sports Tracker for accurate distance on the road I'll leave the Nike+ calibrated for the tread mill for any runs I do at the gym.
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