The Red Zone

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ATC, cycling, diet, exercise, fitness, myzone, training, working out

When I revived this blog last year my intention was to share more about my personal journey to fitness and less about the minor sports/family stuff that fed most of the first eight years of this space.

To use the vernacular of the craft, I’m still trying to find my voice. Writing about coaching and minor sports came easily given nearly two decades of standing behind benches and raising two boys into young men who enjoyed varying successes and failures as athletes but have emerged (in my humble opinion) as solid citizens.

It also lent itself to more humour and flights of rhetorical fancy which people enjoyed.

When I talk about learning to get fit or embracing the personal challenges it brings, I’m wary of sounding like an expert, because I’m not. This is not a space for advice beyond advising you to talk to experts in the field.

And I’m wary of sounding like a braggart – whatever successes I may have toward becoming fitter are rooted in those who support, pointed/led the way, or push. I just show up and try to do the work. Not to demean that effort by me or anyone else, but it’s really as simple as that.

Patrick’s mountains

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ATC, christmas, dalhousie tigers, diet, exercise, family, fitness, hockey, training, working out

I was driving home from the gym a couple days ago. The sky was a funny colour of grey and white and black. The clouds didn’t so much blend into one another as they sharply contrasted and layered upon one another.

It gave the impression of looking at an old Tom Thomson painting and it reminded me of a morning long ago when Pad and I were driving to a hockey practice as dawn broke.

Clouds hung over the far side of Lake Ontario and reached down to the horizon. Pad was in the back seat and said, “Hey dad. I’ve never noticed those mountains before.”

I looked again and he was right. The clouds looked every bit like a distant mountain range — dark and ominous and inviting all at the same time. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take that moment to inflict a geographic lesson on him — it was just too pure a moment of wonder. By the time we emerged from the rink the mountains were gone. But I never forgot the sky that day or my kid’s take on it. Patrick’s mountains return every now and then, usually in the morning. I always smile at the memory.

He got it right, even if there are no mountains outside Rochester or Syracuse or Utica. I’ll always know they’re there. My kid showed them to me and every now and then I’m lucky enough to see them again, if only for a few moments.

Nine months

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ATC, diet, exercise, fitness, training, working out

I’m going to go a bit rah-rah on you today and more to the point, I am going to talk about what I’ve learned in the last few months. It’s going to sound like a lecture. Stop reading now if you don’t want to hear it.

I’ve learned that while I should have listened to my friend coach Dave a long time ago, and my wife years ago, I did have it within me to change my life. Better late than never I regret not starting sooner. I’m not talking just about exercise, but that’s a huge part of it for me.

I’ve changed the way I approach every day. I’ve changed the way I live. I’ve always been a good parent and friend, but I’ve changed the way I see my kids and people important to me. And I’ve changed where I put “me” in the pecking order.

I made a decision in March to lose weight and started walking. It worked and I lost weight. In late June I finally followed Dave — whom I owe an enormous debt for getting through the door — to the Athlete Training Centre and I started towards getting fit.

So, lesson one. I learned that losing weight and getting fit are two different things.

Where I sweat: The ATC

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ATC, Athlete Training Centre, AUS Hockey, AUS sports, competing, cycling, teamwork, training, working out

With an assist from my wife and one of my best friends, the Athlete Training Centre probably changed my life. For sure it changed the way I live my life, so. Close enough. This is a true story and if you’ve been thinking about fitness you might want to read it.

This is a long read. Get a coffee. I’ll wait.

I mentioned a few days ago ATC — where I work out — is having an open house later this month (Nov 28, 1p to 5p and more info here). If you live in the west GTA, it might make sense for you to check it out.

The Athlete Training Centre is a gym, not a health club. High-end athletes from numerous sports train here with the goal of maximizing their fitness. Created to service elite pro, national-level amateur and college athletes, ATC now also offers a program for ordinary adults who aren’t elite but want to be fitter.

Sometimes the worlds collide and I’ll find myself sweating on the turf doing sprinter situps next to a member of the Canadian world champion field lacrosse team across from a working mom of three. He thinks nothing of it. And neither do I.

Welcome to ATC.