Hey its summertime, so this blog is going to be even worse ( how is that possible) in regards to updates. After being trapped in a house all winter, okay with loved ones, but TRAPPED it is time to go shirts off, sit in the sun and have a cigar and a drank or 8. 
In regards to working out, no, sweet jesus in the garden I have not stopped, but we are in a low in regards to enthusiasm, there are moments, but having basically missed all the races I wanted to do this summer because of conferences, injuries, and family functions, it has been a real struggle to get my sorry ass out of bed and into shoes for an outside run or treadmill run.
I know, I know, for someone that complained about being trapped in the house all winter shouldnt you be pumped to run outside?
Yes and no.
Yes I should, no, not really haha. When I do get outside, admittedly it is awesome. I love smelling the lilac in the air alongside the country roads around the Nish. The scenery is def better, then other sweaty unhappy people at the gym.
I am basically working back up in distance, I have let go of pace for now, trying to keep things slow and steady so my knees stay with me. I have been still getting in 4 runs a week, mostly around the 5-6km mark and BabyGirl has been coming out once a week to work on some interval running. So that's like 4.5 runs haha.
I have dropped the swimming somewhat for the month of July, but plan to pick it back up again in August, to be honest I am really enjoying my time hanging out with the family so trying to add an additional 2-3 swims a week is just not in the cards for now.
I do have to acknowledge pet peeve #478
Farting in the Gym.
Okay.
So last week I am on the treadmill, and there is a gentleman on the eliptical in front of me. He is going like a middle aged bat out of hell, and I start my walk warm up. About two minutes in I catch a smell that almost knocks me off my feet.
It is one of the most heinous farts to every be farted in the history of farting, and it floated its nastiness right to me.
I was like, okay, I get it, this is a gym, there are smells that are not always pleasant. You are there to work that body. Things will release from time to time. I get it.
But god dang, when I tell you that this shit cloud could have melted plastic it was so strong. I tucked my mouth and nose into my hoodie and walked on. After a couple minutes more I surfaced to check the air quality. 
The shit cloud had passed, so I walked on.
But then just and I started to breath free again, another more ferocious stank ghost floated in to attack me and this time my mouth was open. JEEZUS.
I actually gagged. I thought I was going to throw up.
It was like walking on the spot over an open sewer pipe that just shit more sewage onto itself.
I had to move. How was I going to put in an hour session getting bombed with this toxic gas over and over again.
So I shuffled down about 6 treadmills away. Fresh air. Ahhhhh
As I proceeded to start the session over I saw a younger gym goer get in the line of fire on the treadmill i vacated.
I thought, should I say something, should I tell this young person about the perils of selecting that tread mill? 
But before I could make up my mine, i caught and angry swish of a pony tail and her an audible GAH as she clearly got a nose full of Mr.RootyToot McEliptical and leaped off the treadmill like it was a sea of acid. 
I giggled to myself and ran on.
The moral of this story, well I dont know if there is one, but hey eveyone farts, some loudly, some quietly, some with enthusiasm, and some because they have satan living inside them. If you are particularly gassy, and in a public area, maybe just go have a poop. You will feel better, and those of us behind you, just trying to live, laugh and play will appreciate your efforts.
This has been a pet peeve public service message from BigBoyRunning
Peace

So I have not blogged much lately for work outs, one because work was pretty intense for the last little while, with training, hiring, conferences, and family obligations.
Really up and down feelings lately. I struggle with what most people do I think when they are bigger. 
I feel like I am doing really well with the physical activity side of things but hard fail with the food. I am not sure what is going to get me out of my mindset when it comes to food, but I absolutely have to figure something out. Having just got back from one conference and getting ready to head to another, knowing what my lack of eating standards were like on the last one, i am trying to be hopeful for this upcoming one. 
For a long time have been under two false impressions.
1. If I work out and have a good day, I can basically eat what I want after that point for that day and maybe the next. This is such a sucker way of thinking I cant believe I let myself fall in this trap for so long. Using myfitnesspal constantly reminds me of this, but more then that all i need to do is look down and i can see the negative effects of this thinking. 
2. That i have no control around food. I need to change this thinking. It is so easy to fall into this when things are not going well, when your brain is screaming at you at 2am saying hey, there is a bag of chips or leftovers in the fridge that would make you feel better about life for about 20min if you go and eat them. I have had this behaviour for a long time and I need to start to do something about it. I am not sure what that is yet, but I think it has to something with being a bit more present before i just put something in my mouth. I think a key to that is starting to check my sugars again on a consistent and daily basis.
That is really the key, I know what they will be like after I have carbed out or eaten some thing I should not so I avoid checking because I know what it will say. But i have gotten so far away from it I think I am landing in that unhealthy bad place again that someone with diabetes should actively avoid.
So starting this week I am going to update my meter and get back to checking my sugars multiple times a day.
In terms of the workouts, the last three weeks were not awful.
I have been hitting 3 swims of 1km -2km consistently and 5-8km rums three times a week.
So while the food side is in pretty dire straights the exercise side is okay.
As I am now technically mid-forties, i need to get back to my late 30's self in terms of ruthless determination for both food management and health.  Those 2 years were my best, because I was able to balance the weight, activity and food pieces of my life. Time to rewind and really get back on track.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

So here we are half way through May and things are ticking along quite well!
Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to work on pace with the treadmill. I wanted to get outside but the weather has been absolutely awful. It is supposed to turn this week, so hopefully I will be able to get out in the sunshine.
So the first week I gave myself 45 minutes, 3 of which was walking time off the top because I never start a race running, I always walk for 3 or four minutes to let those gung ho race bunnies get out in front. Then I ran the remainder of the time trying to move from 4.1 - 5.5 speed on the treadmill.  I was pretty happy at the end of the first week being able to start to focus the majority of the time from 4.5-5.3 with some level of comfortability.
The second week I added an additional 5 minutes running and 5 minutes walking - moving the total time to 50 minutes of running, but also the 5 minutes of walking additionally for cool down.
This was really cool, because even though it was only 5 more minutes, I was able to really start to focus on narrowing down my sweet spot for pace which is around 4.7 - 5.1 on the treadmill. 
During these two weeks I also added swimming back into the mix. So each week I also swam twice.
I can really tell I took the winter off for swimming. So it was time to get wet again! 
The first week I did a .75km swim and a 1.25km swim; the second week 1km and 1.5km. 
I am in week three right now and it is getting better, but I also figured out I wont be able to participate in the Epic Canadian 5km run or swim this year as we have a family obligation the night before so my chances of being able to go are pretty much zero.
While that takes the pressure off a little, I am not going to drop the swimming anytime soon. I have really missed it.
Well not the lane sharing, getting hit in the nut sack by the crazy arm people or the random old dudes that like to Captain Morgan in the nude where I get changed, but I feel like a million bucks after a morning swim. Completely takes the aches out of the old bones after a run.
It has taken me so long to get this post out, but I am experiencing a heck of a good week this week also, will give some more details in a future post, but looking forward to continuing this positivity over the next couple weeks as we get into the dreaded.......conference season. So tough to keep to a meal plan and exercise plan during these things, but also super pumped to be going to these conferences so fingers crossed I dont let bad Sean take the controls too much haha.
If anyone reading this is signing up for Johnny Miles in June, let me know - be great to see you there and get a selfie!!!!!
​Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

Well well well, after a couple months of cough due to colds, pulled hamstring, gout toe, and so much work a fella could barely keep his head up, we ( the royal we) are back to training. The last two months have been absolute ups and shit tank filled downs in terms of training.
But with the rolling over of the work calendar from head spinning busy, to slightly less head spinning busy, especially with the ending of exam season and unleashing a thousand or so new grads onto the world,  we ( the royal we) come to what i hope will be a more fixed schedule to get ready for the running and swimming season.
I am still on the fence as to which races I will be participating in as we have some family obligations that may not allow for some events, but hopefully all that will be sorted out in the next week or so. 
I am hoping to get a 10km race, half marathon and either a long distance swim or sprint triathlon completed over the summer and fall. Fingers crossed.
This week so far is aces!
I am working on pace, as I have been sidelined for a couple of weeks with knee, hamstring, gout, cold probs.
I am working with a 50 minute time frame on the treadmill and have logged three runs this week 3.77mi; 3.90mi; and 4.05mi so far. I am trying to get between 4.7-4.8mi for this time frame - i know its slow as fuck for some people, but if i was faster i couldnt be bigboyrunning now could I?!
Also this week I have gotten back to the pool. I took the winter months off, mostly because of lack of time, but also, last year I felt that swimming three times a week over the winter didnt really leave me with much enthusiasm to swim hard and resulted in a lack lustre 5km swim for EPIC Canada. 
So this week I have put in a 1km swim and a 1.5km swim, and dang I am a sore human. Not so much from the swimming but from the handsy swim lane partners that I have encountered the last couple days. What a shit show of swimming has been on display during the lane swim time. Its like the pool actively rounded up the most un spatially aware people in the town, put opaque googles on them and threw them in the pool.
All i kept thinking was the line from the movie 'Dodgeball'  - Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, Dodge. Jebus!!
Although I have noticed a decline in these handsy folk as the time hits about 1230, so I might hold up on going at the top of the hour and wait for the lanes to clear out a little. Will try this out next session and report back.
I have two more runs planned for this week. My phlegmtastic lungs are starting to clear a little so I am hoping one of these yogs can be outdoors, but the wind has been so freaking cold, I dont want to hack and cough my way around town. Might look like I am running away from some government agency that has let loose a virus and in my escape from their clutches I end up infecting the town, the province - THE WORLD. Okay too much Netflixs before bed maybe.
Thankfully the amount of elderly naked gentlemen that typically want to talk to me in the change room while doing their best impression of Captain Morgan has hit an all time low. I have not come face to face with old man bag for a few weeks.
So things are good for now, enjoying the swimming again and slowly working on pace and distance, really looking forward to getting outside more, so Nova Scotia weather, lets skip spring and jump into summer!!
Have also started to get a bit more serious about the Eats, was on a very bad path over the winter, alot of stress eating, but trying to curtail that with a more structured meal plan, like actually planning out meals and not just free for all-ing it each day.
I am still smoking cigars with the occasional drink, but I wont be doing much in the way of reviewing that anymore. There are way more interesting people with tons of knowledge that have sites, and blogs and instagram - my #cigarSunday page will now be hot or not, if the pairing was hot i will deem it so, it it was not, i will deem it not. Simple but effective. So that should bring all 2 of you reading this up to date, if you are hiting the race route around NS over the summer, let me know!
Slainte
Sean

So yeah, um been a while. I cant believe we are almost through February and knocking on the door of March  - CRAZY!! I guess a little recap, January 'Biggest Winner' challenge was great for me, not sure how many others got anything out of it, but if they did, awesome! For me I ran the most kms in a month that i have ever ran, i hit the 180km mark - but it def took a toll on my knees, pushing that hard. So after the month was over I took a week off of everything, diet, exercise, and added cigars - under the false thinking that I deserved it, or that I was giving my knees a break. This was a huge mistake.
It always amazes me how stupid I can be, especially when i repeat behaviours that always never work out for me. The impact of taking just a week off has been pretty big. It took me the last two weeks to get back on point in terms of distance and pace per mile. I am happy to say that I am close to what it was before I took my week off, but not quite there yet, hopefully this week.
Also slipping back into familiar bad eating habits added to a bit of a slip into depression for the last couple of weeks, out of it now, but was pretty low a couple of times. I think a lot of that is also due to the time of year, I hate February, Worst fucking month.
I am sure you have heard of February but if you havent, It is in the middle of winter, with no sign of winter ending anytime soon, accented this year by the battering of storms we had, i think 5 over a two week period. Then there is the biggest sham of a 'holiday' going which either can add to additional stress whether you have a significant other or not. So Valentines Day, fuck you!
This is a time of the year that is tough for me as it is also the month my dad passed away. I think about him alot in February, even leading up to the month I cant get out of my head very much. Guilt, anger and sadness can really fuck with your head when you are tying to keep moving forward. Honestly, right or wrong, the one thing that pulls me through is the occasional cigar outside in the 'fresh air' with an accompanying beverage.
But where I was smoking maybe one a week at this time last year, I am up to about 3 or 4 a week. This cannot continue, a, I cant afford it long term, and 2, but also at some point it will become a hinderance to what I am trying to accomplish running wise. Going to try to just have one this week, but they are like Lays, I cant just stop at one haha.
So time for some goal setting for the next month, I am going to ignore that stupid February is still on and pretend we are in March already.
My goal for March will be to get up to half marathon distance by the 31st. I am knocking on the door now, but it will be tough to get to that mark. Looking forward on trying though. I am going to try a mixed approach to running over the next month, and alternate between a five run week and a four run week, to give my legs the chance to recover here and there. Cant afford a knee blowout or another injury.  
The other goal for march as is for life, is to try and get my eating on track. February has been a junk food pallooooza. Gotta knock that shit off, but grease and salt and fat are soooo good. If I could somehow remove cheese, bread and chips from my brain or get hypnotized to think of these things on the same level as foods I hate Id probably be 30 pounds lighter.
But I am going to need to figure something out as I dont want to be that fat guy that take a heart attack on the treadmill and gets flung back into the wall and needs 90 people to move them down to the ambulance. Clanging my head off of each metal staircase rail as they trudge me down the stairs. SIGH. Yes my brain functions like an 80s sitcom.
So that about does it for a recap, hope you are still sticking with me even though I am not the most regular blogger. Good luck with your own goals!
Cheers
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

So the Movember Run 100km in 30 days was such a fun thing to do, and I really missed it during December, I thought I would try to start a new challenge for January!
Basically instead of weigh ins, and all food management stuff, we will be doing goal setting each week. So for example, I have set myself a goal of burning 6000 calories through active exercise. So what I mean by active exercise, I am not going to include the walking that I would do in the run of a day, but only when I am actively engaged in the exercise like running, biking, swimming etc. But anyone that participates can count whatever they like. You can set the weekly goal as high or as low as you like, keep it the same each week or raise it or lower it. You keep yourself honest by posting daily or weekly the pictures of your burned calorie counters from various devices, phones or equipment. 
This seemed like the easiest way to do it, and you cant go very far these days without being able to track everything you do in a day as it relates to steps, stairs, sleeping etc.
In regards to the holiday break, I am pretty proud of myself for keeping to a regular workout routine. I have been doing 5 runs one week and 4 the next, but in the last two weeks I have run 46km and 43km so I am starting to get my distances up there which is nice to see. I am struggling with some very annoying shin splints so I find i have to jump off the treadmill occasionally during my runs, to shake out my legs, it defintatly gets worse the higher i get in the the 5's in regards to speed, but I really want to be able to run in the 5's comfortably by the end of the month. If  I had an ultimate goal it would be to pushing 6mi/hr by the time May rolled around and be on the cusp of half marathon distance by then. I am knocking out 2-3 10km+ runs a week the last 3 weeks so that is definately very positive for me, and not only that, but I have the drive back for running. Really lost it for a year or two and found it really tiresome to be putting in the time. I havent lost my goal for doing a olympic distance triathalon, but not sure if that will be achievable this year.
I plan on starting to move some biking and swimming back into my workouts around late February or March so that I can start to get ready for the 5km swim in June, but until then I am going to try and focus on my running. 
Biggest issue as always is food. I was awful over the break, if I wasnt buring a few thousand calories from running each week I would probably be about 20 pounds heavier then I was before the break started. Gah. Chips you are the devil!!!!
My cigar consumption was definately up, I am going to have to rethink this cigar for every 10km run, I am around 40km each week now, I dont want to get into the habit of having 4 a week, so I may have to go back to setting a personal kilometer goal and then rewarding that. More on that in a future post though.
It was great to have the break, although, the first day back is always a tough one for sure. But also happy to be back in the office tomorrow as the second semester is always faster then the first and there is a lot on the go for this year.
It was nice to reconnect with family and friends over the break, and I hope you all have a great 2017!
Slainte
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

Not quite the end of the week yet, but as we get hammered again by a winter storm I figured I would actually be a good lil blogger and get my posts in for the week early as the weekend will be a baking, tree decorating, last minute shopping ball of chaos as we creep ever closer to the most wonderful time of the year. 
I cant quite put my finger on it, but I am def in the christmas blahs mood, trying to keep up when I am around others and the kids, cause i dont want to be that guy, and its not bah humbug, like i dont wish an ill christmas to others, just not sure what piece is missing for me right now. On the up side, I am really positive about the running. Not really any chance to get outdoors with the constant battering of winter storms, but on the treadmill, so far this week, things have been awesome. Looking to get in one more run this weekend. Sitting at about 28km so far, would really like to get up past 35km for the week.
Have really been working on intervals this week and to try and get myself to a higher pace per mile for short amounts of time and then once comfortable increase the time. For example, starting out for the first 15 min doing 5 min sets of 4.5; 4.6; and then 4.7, walk for a minute then do another set of 15min at 5 min sets of 4.6; 4.7; 4.8 walk and keep doing that for 60 minutes, so 4 rounds. Then the next run alternate 15min of 5min sets, with 15min of 3min sets so I dip into higher speeds throughout the run. 
On the last run I was getting up into 5.3 and 5.4 for 3 min. For me that is huge. Nicely Huge! Looking to keep this up for the next couple weeks then try a run at whatever the top speed I was able to comfortablly run and take it as far in regards to distance as I can. 
I have pretty much let go of the swimming and biking for now in regards to triathlon training. I can pick up the swimming anytime, and to be honest not to excited to be wet and leaving the pool into the -30C weather we have going on right now. Biking in the gym on a stationary bike is also not exciting me right now. I figure I need to get on the bike and back in the pool by March to be ready for June/July, so lots of time. Really digging the running for the time being and I am getting back to where I was a few years ago, just need to keep staying healthy.
On the additional up side work is almost finished for the calender year. It has been an extremely busy 8 months so I are really looking forward to slowing down a little over the next couple of weeks. One of the things on my son's christmas list was to have more family time so I am happy to try and give him that. This might be it before Christmas, so the best of holiday seasons to you and yours, I hope you all get to have a small break in your busy schedules to take a breath for yourselves. 
Happy Holidays
​Sean 'BigBoyRunning' Ryan

Well Movember is over officailly this week. This was truely one of the best campaigns I have seen theU and StFX run in quite some time specific to Movember. Our team accomplished many of our goals around fundraising and programming for the month, and attendance and spirits were very high throughout. All 4 Movember captains of our team raised over $1000 each for the month which I dont think has happened before. 
Our MOVE Project was absolutely the best one we have done, having over 80 registered participants and 30+ activie particants each week. The goal of course was to run 100km in the 30 days of November. Many succeeded, but more important collectively we ran over 2900kms in 30 days. I am still blown away by that. 
For me it has really re-ignighted my love of running as I have seen my treadmill pace per mile increase and my distance increase both our and in doors. I have been keeping up with it too I am happy to say, and am really starting to think about what it would take to get back to half marathon distance races again. 
Full discloser I am mssing our little FB running community. There was something so satisfying and uplifting when making a post on the days you got out there. The support from everyone liking and making a quick, way to go, post was great. I feel like I want to do something like this again, and sooner then later.
I finally went to the doctor about a couple of issues that have come up in the last couple of weeks and hopefully on the path to better health.
Also full discloser I am not full vegetarian mode anymore, but I will say my diet is predominately vegetarian, like if there is 21 meals a week, I am probably at 18 meals vegetarian. So still keeping a very meat-reduction focus, and happy to report very little to no gout issues while doing that. 
The toughest part of the year is nearly upon us though. Christmas season is so full of food goodness and "cheer" i dont know about you all, but for a fat guy, this is weight management hell haha.
Discipline is so key, I am trying to get myself ready for it, and I use my diabetes alot as an excuse not to indulge, and sugary treats I am pretty good to avoid, but the dips and bread, cheese platers, chips, and lil apps are the killers for me. I think its the mental game more then anything, if I start to make mental justifications then I am sunk. Like well you ran today, and you should run tomorrow so its okay to eat......everything haha. I feel like sometimes it would just be best if I was outfitted with a shock colar like some 80's sitcom, and everytime i reach for a nacho or spinach dip I have someone across the room send me a high frequency zap so I put the chip/bread/cracker loaded with more dip then it can physically hold back down and walk away slowly.
One trick I have used alot over the years and learned at a diabetes living session, was whenever you start to get that salivation going in your mouth for something, eat a mint or go brush your teeth. The mint flavor deadens the receptors in your mouth for the various flavors you may be craving. This works most of the time, except if you crave alot you may brush all the enamale off your teeth haha. 
Happily I still have some enamale left, see how I do over the next month though, may just have nubs by January haha.
​Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

So, hey, look another post and only a week from the last one, almost on track with life. We are heading into the 3rd week of the MOVE Challenge: Run 100km in 30 days I am sitting with 77km in the bank and over 1000$ in donations for Movember, so I couldnt be happier about those things. We still have a couple of events this week for Movember, one being a ted talks style event on topics of mens health aptly named XTalks, and the 4th annual Splash for the Stache. It seems like only yesterday it was me, Greenhorn and 2 drunk ass other guys frolicking around in the Atlantic ocean on a cold Movember afternoon. Then of course there was the drive home, and pit stop at my house where a couple of people thought it would be a good idea to get changed in my driveway, to which we got a text from our neighbour that "I think a couple of the polar bears got loose". Its a good thing our neighbours are awesome and a sense of humour, or else a couple of indecent exposure charges could have been coming our way.
But over the years our small group of four has branched out to as many as 30-40 people.
Im not sure why we do this each year, does it help with fundraising, maybe marginally, but its more about the experience, there is just something not altogether stable about deciding to hurl yourself into the Atlantic ocean at the end of November. To stand on the cold sand, some years, surrounded by snow, to set up your towels, jackets and clothes so that you have quick and easy access to get changed as your hands and feet struggle to keep working. It is about the story you get to tell to your friends and family when they ask you what you did on the weekend and the enjoyment of horror on their faces when hear about your mini adventure. So I guess in a way it is the essence of Movember. It is the reminder that you are alive, that sometimes you have to try something silly, to push yourself out of your comfort zone, because you only get one kick at the can, and for some that can, can seem very far away, or there are alot of obstacles in the way, and that the realization that they may never get to kick it themselves. 
For me it is a reminder to try and live each day out loud, that making healthier decisions will keep me around longer ( hypocritical I know with the cigar smoking) that if I try a little, or more that I can bring awareness and support to keep others around a little longer too.
Happy Movember everyone!
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

Okay, I know, I know, it has been many weeks since a post. Short answer, I suck. Long answer, bigboy got some stuff going on. Movember launched, and with it Project MOVE: Run 100km in 30 days, while a labour of love, does take up some time. We also have a full day of annoying people into donating my playing mmmBOP for 8 hours straight tomorrow and a Polar Bear Dip in 2 weeks. BOOM MOVEMBER has landed. Plus I just added doing a presentation on why I MO, and what Movember means to me, which I am pretty excited about.
In regards to the working out, I honestly couldnt be happier. I didnt know how this 100km in 30 days thing was going to go, but it has really lit the spark under me arse to get running again and running outside.
To date I have ran 55km with second week check in tomorrow I am above my 25km per week goal. I do plan on running tomorrow so I can head into week three with a good lead in kms.
I am trying hard to give myself rest days and watch what I eat some i am not just burning empty carbs each day. I am hoping to try a 10km before the end of week 3, that would really be an accomplishment as I have not ran that distance outside in a very long time.
Today was a very hilly day, so I had to walk a couple of times, but other then that felt really good. 
Still really overwhelmed by the support through this challenge and the amount of km's everyone is hauling down. In the first week, collectively, we ran/walked/elipticalled 922km. That I think is huge ( Donald Trump voice).
Seeing the way in which people are posting each day is so cool, and the comments of support to each other also has been fantastic.
Hoping to end as strong as I started, but having the right amount of rest days are key for sure. Its hard to keep the competative side on lock down so i dont try to push to hard and end up hurting myself. 
As i said tomorrow is week 2 check in day, so I will be excited to see what posts come in for week two and add up all the km's from everyones week. Be pretty cool if we can get to 5000km by the end of November.
I have had to really give up the bike and swimming for this month to really focus on the running, but looking forward to getting back to that in December. I really miss the swimming, the biking mheh, not so much haha. Sorry biking.
Sean "bigboyrunning" Ryan