As much as I hate the word moist, that is the state i have been in perpetually this last week. Well summer finally landed in NS in August and we have had a number of days hit the 30+ mark and with the humidity well closer to 40. Now i know there may be some of youse out there from warmer climes but for us lil Irish/Scottish descendent folk on the East Coast, thats sum hot wha?!
I did manage to get my work outs in, but there was no way on jebus' green earth that I was doing any of it out side. As a BigBoyRunning I have more bounce to the ounce, but who needs the heat exhaustion that would go along with exercising out doors this past week.
The week went like dis:
Monday: off
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: 1500m swim
Thursday: 2500m swim
Friday: 2000m swim
Saturday: 5.5km run + 10mile bike + light weights
Sunday: 8km run + light weights
So a lighter week to be sure, but I have also been battling a lack of sleep so it has really hit the old motivation pretty hard.
Up until yesterday i was averaging maybe, MAYBE 3 hours a night. But it was completely broken, flip flopping unhappy sleep. 
I am not a pill guy, so I usually dont hit the sleep aids, they work for some people but even things like melatonin give me jittery legs and it is really annoying to try and sleep with feet that dont want to stop moving.
Not sure if it is impending work stress as we come to the end of the summer and school year begins, the heat, or any number of regular worries or a combo platter of all of that, but it has not been a happy time for the sleeping.
Usually i dont sleep Sunday nights, and i am used to that, but over a week is a little ridiculous, and not the Harry Potter kind.
Last year I did try one all natural sleep aid and it did work from time to time so I may have to give that a go again. Red wine, seemed to do the trick during the winter when i was experiencing some sleeping issues so I may need to call up Dr. Shiraz and get a few doses lined up.
I really dont like doing anything like that but a fella gotta sleep.
I enjoy wine, especially reds, but i dont want to have to lean on anything too long or get a splash of alcoholism to go along with it...'Honeshtly offficofer isss so i can sleeps betterer, nice booties, Brrrrraaaaaaaaaaft'. 
On an up note we have had some takers on the shirts, so those are being mailed out this week, still a few left so if you wants one, message me here or on facebook and i can send you out one, just have to commit to a walk or run or triathlon any distance within a year. 
Thanks to those that stepped up and are taking the challenge on! Looking forward to seeing how youse do!
Over the next month I am going to start moving my run distance up, I would like to start getting closer to a 10km distance - maybe with the long term goal of doing a olympic distance tri next summer, unfortunately that also includes uping the biking distance ( BLAH), but we will see how that goes.
Also looking to get a few more ocean swims in, just have to rope someone to go with me, I know it is completely unrealistic, especially for our area, but my brain is a jerk and I get about 10-15minutes into an ocean swim, and my brain starts with the Jaws music. Its Crazy! I Know! But having someone else around makes me feel like, well at least there is someone else to help in a bad situation, and if i can find someone a little slower then me, the shark can eat them first. hahaha 
Thats all for meow
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

Okay I am a baaaad, bad blogger. I am over two weeks without a post, but what can I say the summer finally landed in Nova Scotia, and theboy had major 4H stuff on the go, and we are now in crunch time at work, so unfortunately the kid needs to prioritize. 
A couple weeks ago things were going along to good. Monday of that week i had a pretty big flare up of gout. I was a little peeved because i have been taking my meds that are supposed to prevent these things from happening but alas my foot she felt like someone hit the middle of it with a sledgehammer. So needless to say not much in the way of workouts in the early part of the week. Last couple of weeks went like dis:
Monday: Gout Foot
Tuesday: Gout Foot 
Wednesday: Gout Foot but light swim
Thursday: 1000m swim
Friday: 1250m swim + 20mile stationary bike ride + light weights
Saturday: 6km run + 16mile stationary bike ride + light weights
Sunday: 5km run + 9mile stationary bike ride + light weights
The following week:
Monday: 1000m swim
Tuesday: 2500m swim
Wednesday: off
Thursday: 10mile bike + 3km run
Friday: 2000m swim + 7km run + light weights
Saturday: 16mile bike + light weights
Sunday: 1500m open ocean swim 
So a great bounce back week after the gout and within that time also had some of my swag come in for Big Boy Running.
So the first shirts up top were done through an online site by moi just to see what things would look like. I only got 2 of them and there are some things i like and some things i dont. 
The other shirts pictured above were through a friend and local supplier. These shirts have been in the works since May, so back then i really didnt know what i wanted. I really like the purple dude instead of the larger red/pink dude and you can really see the logo better. I didnt have the idea of the hash tags or to add 'club' until it was too late in the process. These shirts are also much nicer quality then the first ones.
So how do you get one of these swagtastic shirts you are wondering? Well I have a few of the purple dude ones to give away. They range in sizes from XXXL to Large, sorry Medium and Small T-shirt wearers, it just felt all kinds of wrong to get 'BigBoyRunning' shirts in those sizes. I will send you one but here is the catch - you have one year upon receiving the shirt to register for a walk/run 5km event or higher. I will also accept Try a Tri or Sprint Distance Triathlon or higher as well. Second is that after you do this event you need to shoot me a pic of you in your swag with the trophy, or medal, or event swag so I can post it on the blog and give you some serious props. If you can live with those requirements then a free shirt is yours. Get at me through the site or Facebook if you wants the swag. No pressure - you have a year! 
Next round of swag might have to have a price tag on it, so get the free stuff while you can, while supplies last.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

I feel like i should have been wearing this on a tshirt after my experiment with bean burgers this week. I dont know why I was that suprised, A, I am a naturally toottastic person, and B, beans, beans they make you toot. So putting those two scientific facts together, there was going to be some trouble in the air. 
Before I get into that, I have decided to keep blogging for a bit, not really for any other reason but it keeps me honest and on track with my workouts. I feel like if I dont have to report it, even if no one is reading it, then i will start to slack off. So onward with the blogs. 
So this week went something like this:
Monday + Tuesday: off ( was pretty stiff from the Triathlon)
Wednesday: 1x1500m swim
Thursday: 1x1500m swim
Friday: 1x1500m swim + 5km run
Saturday: 5.5mile run ( felt good so kept going)
Sunday: 13mile bike ride + about 500-600m open ocean swimming
Now I have been reluctant in the past to get in on this hippy wave of foodness that has developed over the last number of years, but have tried a few things and have to admit that i have been pleasantly suprised. Quinoa is still a challenge to not imagine chewing fish tank gravel while eating it, but so goes the battle.
I threw out a request on facebook over the last week to give some suggestions on a black bean burger recipe for the ages. I was very suprised at the many posts, links sent in with various versions on the black bean burger.
It was hard to pick which one to try, most called for various spices that I knew would not fly with my family, so I kind of did my own thing following the basic pattern that was emerging with all the recipes. So I went with:
1 can of black beans ( rinsed)
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup of grated onion
and a splash of chilli powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
So the first mistake I made was not mashing the beans before i added the breadcrumbs. Oopsie.
This made for an annoying time of trying to mash the beans and breadcumbs at the same time. After going at them with a fork for about 5 minutes, I got fed up and just started mashing by hand. One significantly smooshed, i added all the other ingredients and continued smooshing.
Once i had everything mixed i started to form the patties.
So second mistake, instead of making 8 patties as the recipe said I should have, I made 4. I think I was thinking about how much beef burgers shrink when you grill them and didnt want the bean burgers to end up a shadow, whispy patty, so i made them thick. 
I heated up a pan with some olive oil and butter. Once heated, into the pan they went.
Cooking was fairly quick, i did cover them so that they would heat through faster. Flip to the other side for about 7 min on either side, then a slab of cheddar and cover for a few more minutes so the cheese got melty.
Now one recipe called for a mayo/ketchup mix and lettuce. So we kept the condiments simple, and for fun used english muffins for the bun. Gosh do we know how to party or what!
Mistake number three - I am sure with regular size 1/8th patties that would have been a good suggestion, but with these monsters you needed some condiments, the english muffins, while toasty, soaked up the mayo/ketchup mix like a sponge and so the burger was pretty dry. 
It did have a good flavor, I would give them a 5 out of 10.
Changes I am going to make for the next time:
Thiner patties; more condiments and toppings, regular burger bun, cooked rice or couscous for added moisture and texture.
Lastly i will make them on an evening that I dont plan to do anything and we can have windows open for ventilation. 
As previously discussed, I am a gassy dude, thus why I will never do a yoga class, but I was on a different level after having one of these bean burger fellas. Again, not sure why I was so suprised, but wow. 
The upside, I did get my comfy chair and free reign of the tv for the night as family members and pets avoided me and my bean burger cloud of death. 
Might have to keep a few of these around as a threat if the kids are misbehaving. #silentbutdeadly #olfactorypunishments 
Anyway, to those that are going to try these burgers, if you are the gassy sort, they have about a two hour shelf life until the demon breezes want to escape. You have been warned. May baby jebus have mercy on your soul.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan