Winter Training

Here we are at the beginning of February, wow last month went by fast. I'm well on my way to being a certified personal trainer with Can-Fit-Pro, finishing up the course and passing the theory exam. Now it's time to find a job and get some practice in before I attempt my practical exam. I also took a weekend and completed the in class portion of the Nutrition and Weight loss program though Can-Fit-Pro which I thought was pretty interesting and it exposed me to a little different way of thinking about nutrition. Also that I need to spend some time and learn a little more about what types of nutrients are in different foods.

I just finished up my first full week of base training and I was pretty happy with that. I pulled out the rollers and remembered how much I love to ride outside. It took a little while to get myself to let go of the wall again (it's been almost 3 years since I have been on them) but once I did it went fairly well. Before this year the most I could ever force myself to stay on them was about 45 min but this year with some big goals in mind I was able to stay on for one ride of an hour and another of 1:30 which I am very impressed with. This Friday is the next big step in the training, I am going in for some VO2 testing which is going to hurt, it's been a while since I have done some testing. But at least this time I won't have a pencil sized needle punched into my leg for a muscle biopsy. Back in University I participated in a few studies where muscle biopsy's were taken, that was about 10 years ago and I still have the marks on my legs.

I have learned a few things about biking around town both in the early morning and in the cold. First; there is a lot of coyotes in town, I have seen no less then 3 of the little guys right in the middle of the city, up by Nosehill park and just a few blocks from my own house. I tried to get a picture of one out on a longer ride just out of town but as soon as I took my phone out he took off. Second; I have gotten pretty good at laying for different temps and I have learned that it is way less then I originally started layering up. Some Merino wool base layers, if it's really cold a thin insulation layer and an outer layer. The hardest part for me is still my feet even using my 510 DH shoes and neoprene shoe covers after a few hours they still get a little chilly. The other thing that helped me learn this was skate skiing out in Canmore I have been loving it, I use to get pretty bagged after about 40 min and now I'm working towards 2 hours.

Canmore Ski Trails

One last thing for this post; I finally joined a cycling club Cyclemeisters, it's the first time I have ever been on a club so it will be interesting to see how it works and it will be great to be wearing a team kit for the summer.