Being all fancy…
Well the moment of truth has finally arrived for my Bench Press. I’ve been working with @Eastbound_Power over the last 14 weeks to try and increase my Bench Press from 255lbs (PR during my first day of training) to my bodyweight (currently at 290lbs). This has been on my goal board for a couple of years now and I am doing this as a tandem goal with Ms Carmen Poole (a former Canuck now residing in Cali). Hit a bodyweight Bench Press and wipe it off the goal board… Carm, how’s it going out there??
I’ve been finishing up a four week peaking cycle and it was time to max out. Coach Rob has been pushing me well past what I thought was my upper limit while making sure that I don’t drop a barbell on my melon. There’s been some new toys (the SlingShot) and lots and lots of Heavy Metal. We ramped up the weights pretty quickly and within four lifts I had a new PR, but not the one I was looking for. I hit a very shaky 275lbs and still felt that I had more in me. Much to the chagrin of the onlookers, I added 5lbs more and went again. Oh Baby! Went up way easier then the last one… Boom 280lbs. Ok, lets go again. Nope. Hard fail at 285lbs. Still, I’m within 10lbs of a Body Weight Bench Press.
@Eastbound_Power guiding me through 280lbs
Now while all of this has been going on, the April Challenge has been on the radar and I’ve been slowly chipping away at the 1,250. Now, Push-ups are not everyone’s forte and believe me I understand. Still it’s outside of your comfort zone where magic happens. The challenges won’t be easy, but I promise that as long as you work hard (even if you don’t fully complete it), you will see results.
What shall we do for May? Well since I’m running a marathon, I figure everyone should give it a try. May’s BigBrnz Challenge is to run 26.2 miles (42.2 kms) in the month. You don’t have to do it all at once, heck you don’t even have to run. Just get outside and log the mileage, who knows, you may end up enjoying yourself.
Canada 150…
Now Canada is turning 150 years young this year and the folks in Ottawa came up with a way to celebrate. They gave away free passes to all of Canada’s National Parks and Historic sites and yours truly picked one up. OK Google, what’s around? Hey what’s Fort George? Oh look it’s in Niagara on the Lake. Hey, they have wine there…
I smell a plan coming together…
Can Jam Grand Champions!
We grabbed some folks and headed out for some wine and fun. Still there was work to do. I’ve been having a virtual compettion with @hoodieruns and even though she was ahead, we decided to go for a run to try and offset all the wine and cheese we were going to take in. To make it a bit more interesting, we even headed out around the Fort as part of our route. Let me tell you NOL is a very lovely little town and there are lots of great streets for running and riding (the riding will be next time). We covered 10.85KMs in 1h24m59s at a pace of 7m50s/KM (we drank lots the night before so we were keeping a slower pace). It was pretty sweet.
@hoodieruns and I near Fort George
We made it back for breakfast (thanks @savannahjessie for getting it ready while I was out checking out the scenery) and then off to visit five wineries including Inniskillin, Lailey and Jackson-Triggs. Oh, and just because they were awesome, Oast and the Exchange Brewery (Micro Breweries, not Wineries). There was lots to taste and just so you don’t think we spent all our time boozing, we even managed to squeeze in some Can Jam.
@Ed_Markwards joint us for a bit too!
Thanks to my folks that came up, we had a blast!
Beez
