Win or Die

I'm enjoying the current season of The Ultimate Fighter, in no small part because GSP is coaching one of the teams and totally kicking butt. That aside, the video below contains what has got to be the quickest choke out I've ever seen. Heck, the guy didn't even get to tap out - he went from conscious to out cold in 1 second flat. Wow!

Sorry, can't embed the video, but you can check it out here: Win or Die. The real fun begins at the 20 min mark.

Pumkin Workout

Just don't drop the pumpkin!...

TrgCoop CX Racer sightings ...

Just happened to spot these pics of Graham racing in full Training Coop colors at last week's Altona Southern Cross (I couldn't make it out but it sure looked like fun!) ...
Woodcock pics here:





Cool pics ... good to see you back racing ... what's the story Graham?

This looks tough...

Cool little TRX exercise I just stumbled across. I'll have to try it tomorrow.

Fitness at "The Top of the World"

Stuck on the pager (again) for a weekend while CX racing is in full swing, so here's something about Fitness at "The Top of the World". A few weeks ago I spent 3 weeks flying C-130 resupply missions way up north from Thule Air Base in Greenland to Canadian Air Station Alert on the very northern tip of Ellesmere Island. This was during "Operation Box Top", which we Hercules aircrew/ground crew/movers carry out twice a year to move supplies and fuel into Alert - 'on mass' in addition to bi-weekly single trips. We are based out of Thule for the operation and are able to use the excellent fitness facilities located on base.

The most unusual fitness tool there is the "Endless Swimming Pool", which had recently been overhauled.
Check out my little video about "Finding an Endless Swimming Pool - Way Up North" (Now in HD!):



Our flying schedule was busy at times, but there was plenty of time for fitness and I took advantage of it ...


I used mostly the treadmill and spin bikes ...


Strength training on machines and free weights (left hand is just up to it now) ...


Really enjoyed the Endless Swimming Pool (you're in a private room - video monitored, with a full sound system blasting - very nice!).
Hey Scott, I know you want one - check it out ...


So ... I went north to work on my tan and relax in a massage chair?! Rough tour ...
We Canadians threatened to "borrow" one of the chairs and throw it into the back of the Herc on our way home - the local Danes warned that would be the start of a war!! ... so we left them there (we have enough northern land disputes already)!

The Downside to Dieting

Proof that every silver lining has a dark cloud: You count your calories, work out religiously, drop that weight and feel great — and your skin doesn’t fit anymore.

Thanksgiving - A reposting from EveStudios.ca

I was checking to make sure a link on our site to our photographer's, EveStudios.ca, worked and noticed the latest posting on their blog from Rodney Braun, our photographer and friend. It made me stop for a second to think about all this stuff we have, that we almost completely take for granted. Our home gym may be a part of our business, but it's also a pretty sweet personal workout space that many could not afford. I have a lot more to be thankful for, like a nearly perfect wife, a really hairy dog, a great family, and so much more, but as corny as it sounds maybe I should give thanks today for our dumbbell hex set. And my wife.

From EveStudios.ca: Art, Beauty and Other Mysteries: Happy??: "I was listening to the radio the other day and the question was asked are you truly happy? Can Money buy happiness? These questions really..."

Tiger and Cheech v2 - all Cheech

Apparently I'm not the only guy to notice the Cigar Guy in the picture of Tiger Woods' errant shot yesterday - above is a pretty good photoshopped image of that picture with the Cigar Guy featured a little more prominently - it's circulating cyberspace as I type this.

Tiger and Cheech

Okay, so the link from this shot to TheTrainingCoop is tenuous considering I've only played a handful of golf games in my life and I'm not really a golf follower either, but it's still worth a posting, and hey, golf requires fitness training, right? Let's go with that.

The pic is making its rounds on the web because the photographer, Mark Pain of the Daily Mail, inadvertently got a shot of an errant ball coming directly at his lens, but what I like most about the pic is the dude with a goofy mustache and cigar to the right in the crowd. Is he for real or was that photoshopped in just for kicks? The guy makes me laugh.

Good paddling shot from Deanna

Deanna is world-renowned for her poor picture taking abilities (mainly due to her inability to hold the camera steady) but we discovered on the weekend that she can take good pics with her Blackberry because she's not clicking 'down' on the camera when she snaps those shots. Above is a great pic she took as Graham and I left for our paddle from Morris to Winnipeg.

And they're off!

Well, if you're following Scott's twitter updates you know of course that Scott and Graham are well on their way paddling from Morris to Winnipeg, but I thought I'd post this pic of them taking off at about 9am this morning, on a fog-filled river. The drive to Morris was pretty hairy at times with really thick fog patches, but by the time I was headed back home it had all burnt off. Moka was excited to see them off until she realized we were staying behind - I had to restrain her from jumping in and swimming after them.