Boni and I did a 20k bike ride today down to Appleby Line and Lakeshore. We stopped for a break at the Paletto Estate, a beautiful early 20th century estate on the shore of Lake Ontario.

It was a fabulous day here today. Mid 20's and no humidity. We've had a very abnormal summer this year in that although each day has started out clear, eventually most days end up cloudy with some thunderstorms. It's very much like Florida's summer here this season.

Today was an exception however, as the lovely air was dry and clear and a bit of a breeze.

We actually had a headwind against us as we traveled south, and we also had it against us as we came back north. How the hell does that happen?

Today was our first time on our bikes this year, and the butt was really feeling it at the end of the ride.

Following the ride we had a bit of a mini celebration with a few Pina Colada. Mmmm. I have to ride more, if it means I get one of those at the end.

A bit later I did my 1000 pushup challenge, W2 D3. 50 PU in total. All went well.

W3 D3 yesterday.

I made a few strategic errors yesterday. I went for my W3D3 run with a near empty asthma inhaler. I took a puff of the stuff as I went out the door, a bit later than I normally do. I didn't realize it was the last puff in the container! I also didn't take my heart rate watch.

You can see where this is going, can't you?

Anyway, the run proceeded OK to start with, 5 minute walk, 90 second run, walk again, 3 minute run.,walk, 90 second walk, 90 second run, walk, then the 3 minute run again. That's where the problems surfaced.

It was at this point that a touch of asthma kicked in. About 15 seconds into the final run. I reached for my trusty spray... and no luck, ...empty.
I tried to keep running and the breathing passages just got tighter and tighter, constricting by the second. Initially I tried to slow down my run, and it didn't seem to help one bit. Just a bit more to go, it thought. Finally, Ullrey said just one more minute. However, my lunges and brain said "no more minutes". I felt extremely faint and dizzy and decided to stop running before I fell over. I just wasn't getting enough oxygen, and I think my heart was racing extremely fast. Aghh.... I hated doing this as it's the first time in the program that I had to walk early. Oh, the shame.

Anyway, I continued along my route and eventually got home.

I normally walk about 9 minutes longer than the Ullrey podcast in order to do a particular route along Lake Ontario that I enjoy.

When I finally stopped and synced my Nike +I found that I was 1 minute per mile faster than my previous 2 week 3 runs.

So, overall, I did a few things wrong here that I'll have to be more careful about in the future.
1) I took my pre-run puff of asthma inhaler too close to the actual run. It's always recommended to do this about 10 - 15 minutes before the exercise in order to avoid exercise induced asthma.
2) I may have not really taken any of the medicine at all. I believe the last few puffs of spray in an inhaler cartridge are propellant and not medicine. I'm not 100% certain of this, but the stuff seems to taste different.
3) I went out with an empty container.
4) I ran too fast.
5) I didn't have my heart rate watch to see how that was going.
6) Given all of the above, I probably should have stopped running sooner.

Probably you could get away with doing any one of these, but the combination of all did me in to the point of a bit of danger, and also sabotaged the run.
I've had asthma for about 48 of my 54 years and am at the point that it's generally controlled much better than ever. That said, I still am an asthmatic, and asthma can be dangerous. I don't want to sound overly dramatic, however in retrospect I really must be careful of this. I can't recall feeling this close to collapse even in my 10 years of ice hockey! I will be more careful!

All that said, I completed the day a few minutes quicker than any other day despite the problems. Therefore, with proper control of the medication I'm confidant that I'll continue to progress going forward.

For those with asthma, I must note that in the past when I was more fit, I found I needed medication les and less as I progressed. I really believe aerobic exercise is a bit of a cure for asthma as opposed to asthma being a reason not to do aerobic exercise. A sound, gradual program, along with proper preventative actions, such as taking an early preventative puff of the medication, and not starting out to quickly, mean you can run with no problem. I just happened to not do the right things on this given day, and vow to be more careful in the future.

Completed 100PU W2 D2 today with 48 pushups total and 14 in last set.

My W3 D2 run went great yesterday. Each day is a progressive challenge but as fitness improves a bit with each day as well, it never seems to be insurmountable.

My runs typically run down to Bronte Harbour and back. Bronte is an area on the east side of Oakville, about 20 miles west of Toronto. Originally a fishing village and way back a British Navy post was located in the harbour.

Naturally the Navy is long gone, and the fishing is purely sport fishing for lake trout, bass, and salmon.

I'm not much of a fisherman, but as I'm seeing the lake and harbour each day I'm starting to get the itch.

There also is a very active yacht club both in Bronte and Oakville.

We only moved down to this area a year ago and I'm truly enjoying being by the lake.

On a side note, I've scheduled my PMP exam for Wednesday September 3. That gives me plenty of review time. The Project Management Professional exam is a difficult 4 hour exam, but I'm feeling reasonably confidant now, and no doubt if I stick to my plan, I'll be ready by September.

Reviewed 1/4 of PMI material today. Went very well. 39/40 in the to chapter tests.

Did W2 D1 of 100pu. No problem. Topped out at 13 PU fo total of 40.

Thing's continuing well on all fronts. Completed Day 2 of the pushup challenge yesterday, and W3 D1 of the C25K today. That's the longest running stretch so far and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Well things are moving along nicely on all fronts.

PMI
On Friday, I received confirmation that my audit with PMI has been approved and I am now eligible to take the PMP exam. I can schedule it immediately but I'll wait a few days so that I can better gauge the amount of study time I need to be ready. I'm already probably about 75% ready, but I'll schedule it this coming Tuesday or Wednesday, and probably take the final exam around the end of August.

Fitness Plan
On the exercise front I'm progressing nicely on both the C25K and the 100 pushups.


I completed Week 2 Day 3 of the C25K with no drama. I have to slow down a bit going forward because I'm reaching 90% of maximum heart rate by the end of the last running segment. In order to keep going 70% - 80% would be better. W1 D2 of the pushup challenge also went well. I'm doing this on the off days from the running. I did about 42 this time with no major problems

The nice thing about the combination of these two plans is that on alternate days I'm taxing different muscle groups thereby allowing recovery time for each group.

The other great point of the combination is I'm betting both upper body and lower body workouts with the pair, as well as aerobic and strength training.

That combined with sensible eating have allowed me to drop 9 lbs. in the last 3 weeks. I have a lot to go but I'm pretty psyched up about it.

Toronto FC

Finally, to top off a great day yesterday, my sport's passion, Toronto FC hade a very unlikely road victory in Colorado yesterday afternoon. The team started the match with only about 5 of their regular starters. The rest were either away on international callups, injured, or suspended.

This team has generally been sucessful at home and lbeak on the road. 3 road victories in 1.5 years up until yesterday. We've also gone through a dry spell at home lately.

So, certainly a win was unlikely in Colorado with so many reserve players playing.

The game is held at altitude and yesterday it was 95 degress at the start of the match. Toronto had 2 additional starter injured throughout the game with Ricketts going down with leg craps and defender Tyron Marchall with what looked like a leg or hip injury.

Regardless of the hardship, the youngsters that came in played a marvelous game, and new comer Chad Barrett scored an absolute world class free kick to the top corner from about 30 yards out. Congrats to TFC for a marvelous victory.