luckycanuck

I managed 3,615 pushups in three hours.
( Click for details and pics )

It was a good physical challenge to take on, and I raised some money for a cause and an organisation that is important to me, but on top of that, I was moved by the level of support that friends and even strangers offered me throughout the challenge. A lot of people had no idea that I had been facing depression all year and many of them sent me messages of support or came to visit me on the day.

It was a great challenge and a great cause!

No, I'm not feeling like the proverbial black dog is stalking me.  I'm actually feeling pretty good.

But I am working on a new plan.  My plan is to do 3,000 pushups during the three hours of a Channel 7 Sunrise broadcast in Martin Place right in front of the studio.

I've found a charity that would suit this purpose.  It's called the Black Dog Institute and they do more than raise awareness of depression. They provide clinical support and conduct research too.  They also recently staged Exercise Your Mood week promoting exercise as a way of fighting depression.

I think they would also be better at getting a foot in the door with the network people better than I would as they are a respected organisation rather than some random weirdo who does pushups in public.

Tomorrow I will make some calls and see what I can arrange.  I'll be up in Sydney next week and it could be a great opportunity.  Pushups and exercise in general have always been a lifeline of sorts for me, and I think there could be a lot of interest in this.  I could do some good and have a sense of purpose again.

I'll keep you posted.

Today my interval timer arrived and I put it to use immediately with a tabata workout at the gym.

TW: Tabata sandbag squats (163), tabata rowing (65 calories), tabata sandbag around the worlds (75), tabata SDHP 32kg (84), tabata pullups (93), tabata hr pushups (114).

Also, there will me more change in Chez Canuck.  Esky is leaving.  She couldn't bear to go without winter, and will be moving to Europe in December as soon as she finishes work.  Also, her boyfriend is there.

No I didn't just doze off and collapse on the keyboard in writing the title of this post.

These words are the emotive climax of the Welsh National Anthem.

I will be supporting Wales against France this weekend because I liked the way Wales played against Ireland, and also because I have some Welsh ancestors.  But I don't want to just claim Welshness for the day based on that.  I would rather actually show some appreciation for it, and learning to sing in an obscure and difficult language will do just that.  So I am going to apply my skills at learning little bits of language to learning to sing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

Just FYI, here are the lyrics in Cymraeg.

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd,
Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.

Gwlad! Gwlad! Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.
Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.

And here they are translated into English.

The land of my fathers is dear unto me,
Old land where the minstrels are honoured and free:
Its warring defenders, so gallant and brave,
For freedom their life's blood they gave

Home! Home! True I am to my home!
While seas secure, this land so pure,
O may our old language endure.

It is rousing stuff, especially when belted out by tens of thousands of rugby fans.  Of course, this is not to downplay the French National Anthem, which is pretty stirring too.

Allons enfants de la Patrie
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé
L'étendard sanglant est levé
Entendez-vous dans nos campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras.
Egorger vos fils, vos compagnes!
Aux armes citoyens
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons

Or in English

Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
The bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts
To arms citizens
Form your battalions
March, march
Let impure blood
Water the furrows of our fields

It's about the most violent national anthem I can think of.  On Saturday I will sing both.

I've always liked national anthems.

I had dinner last night with a friend who works for the US State Department on the Australia desk and who is visiting Canberra right now.  She though Pushups Across America was a great idea.

YW: 100 24kg kettlebell swings, 100 pullups, max hand release pushups for remainder of 30 minutes.  Total, 376 HRPU.  Finisher, 25-20-15-10-5 row calories, bicep curls.

It has been an active few days.

Plenty of workouts, including one where I surprised myself by cleaning more than my bodyweight.  I failed at my first attempt but made the second and felt very proud of myself.  I've also had lots of fun with the tire at Deakin (which belongs to a trainer who has no objections to me using it if he's not around.)
( Pics )

So I've had plenty of physical fun.  I took Coffee Snob through a workout I devised for her, and she said to me "you make me work harder than I want to, but I have to work out harder than I want to."  Praise indeed.

I also went to a harp concert featuring Ginger Harpist.

( Pics )

Because I'm all cultured like that.  She learned me a few things about the harp the next day.

I had a job interview that went very well.  It would be doing media work in the Department of Health and it would be one step removed from the Minister's office.  There was a little bit of concern about my partisan past, but I'm professional enough to be able to put my personal feelings about the Minister aside (I don't like her at all) and do the job.  It would be a three month job, possibly longer, and it sounds quite interesting.  Oh yes, and the first question they asked was about wife carrying, which I mention on my resume.

I've also traded a bit.  Generally I keep an eye on the market for the first half hour and the last ten minutes or so in addition to checking in periodically during the day, rather than watching like a hawk all the time. I can still pay attention without letting it get in the way of everything else.

I'm up in Sydney now, but I forgot to bring appropriate clothes for looking for work so I may have to pick something up before heading into the city today talk to a couple of agencies.  I've also got a funeral to go to.  The team doctor for the Convicts and partner of one of our players died and it would be good to go.

Last night I had a beer with an ex-girlfriend.  With Jem, things were often tumultuous.  I really loved her and I still do (though I didn't say it this time.)  I hadn't seen her in quite a while but we had a good chat.  I told her about me being depressed, and her reaction was "isn't is great?"  I may have been told at some point, but somehow it never struck me that she had been struggling with depression since before we met.  That might explain some of the difficulty we had, especially when you add in the stresses and aspieness that I brought to the table.  What we had was wonderful at times, but it was also exhausting at times.  Part of me that still remembers the good things between up still wishes we could have it back, but we can't.

Tonight I'm having a beer with another ex-girlfriend.  It's lucky for me that I get along with exes.  The only one about which I have any negative memories is Ma Cherie Zoologiste (and I'm not sure she was actually a girlfriend.)

So the last few days have been pretty good actually, given that I've kept myself busy.

"It used to be cool" night went very well.

I decided on Saturday morning that I would go as Officer John McClane from the Die Hard series.  There are very few characters that I could come as that have very short hair, but this one worked.  One theory that Die Hard was still cool and therefore my outfit was inappropriate was advanced, but I decided that it was still a valid idea because Die Hard was such a huge series that was so full of iconic action movie cliches that it can be mocked for its excesses even as it enjoys a mantle of retro coolness.  Plenty of things fall into similar categories.

I managed to get a workout in on Saturday afternoon.

YW: AMRAP 12 minutes - 5 80kg deadlifts, 15 hand release pushups (12 rounds +5 +3).  Finisher - 2 minutes for max situps (75), 2 minutes max 30kg tricep extentions (81), 2 minutes mac 30kg bicep curls (73).

I was really sore especially from all the pushups, but later on during the party I was called upon by MadAlex to do pushups as her way of explaining my inclination to spontaneously do pushups.  I did 50 in one set as they counted off, and later did some pushups on the sofa over the people who were sitting on it.  I don't know whose idea that was, but I was always going to take up that challenge.
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People didn't stay as late as our last party, there weren't as many people (last time Roxy invited almost her whole program and this time she only invited about half of them.  By about 2:30am I was in bed.  I made it up the next morning with no hangover at all (Alleluia spent a lot of time over the toilet regretting the amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before.  I was absolutely exhausted though, and have not set foot off of the property all day.  I've also taken a couple of my prescription muscle relaxants and have been quite drowsy.  My neckstill has a stubborn crick and I've got a lot of soreness in the chest and core.

So today was spent mopping floors and loaning my car to Roxy as I was not going to be driving anywhere.  Chez Canuck is clean again.

Last year when I was out with my fellow Australians to observe the American elections, we went out on the Saturday before Halloween and in the process I met MCat who was dressed up as Lady Gaga.  We spoke for a little while and became Facebook friends.

For the past few days, I stayed with MCat and her cats (who reluctantly got used to me.)

I suppose in theory it's an odd thing to do for both of us.  She opened her home to a guy from overseas (and had to reassure skeptical friends that she would be ok) and it was a long way for me to go, though given that I was in America anyway, Orlando isn't all that hard to get to.

We had gotten to know each other pretty well though, in fact better than most people I interact with on a daily basis.  She knew about my frailties and quirks and accepted them all.  For both of us it just felt right.

So when my bags were delayed (again) coming in from Washington, I didn't mind much even though it meant waiting around the airport a bit because my bags came in on the next flight right at the same time as MCat finished her class and came by to pick me up.

On Thursday little aside from resting was done.  I've been fighting a cold since last week (probably punishment for lack of sleep in New York) and medicated myself to a point where I felt much more human.  (Though I think I passed some of my symptoms on to MCat.)

On Friday she hauled me across the state to her native Tampa (which is, I was assured, much better than Orlando) and we went to Sand Key so that I could swim in another body of water, this time the extraordinarily warm Gulf of Mexico and do pushups on the shore.  An onlooker asked if we were visiting on our honeymoon, and we said no, but for some reason I was inspired to spin a bit of a tale.  I told the guy I was a rugby player when he asked what I did.  Now technically that's true.  I am a rugby player.  I never said I played rugby for a living, I just let him conclude that.  He said he was going to look out for me when he watched ESPN.  I told him I played for the Sydney Convicts, and I'm pretty sure he forgot the name of the team by the time he left.

People in the south are really very friendly.

On Saturday we went to the other coast and visited Kennedy Space Centre, which was expensive, but worth it.  A space shuttle was on the platform in preparation for launch and we got a pretty good view.  We also met with an active space shuttle astronaut and, of course, I did pushups with her.  I'm not a full on science nerd, but I do have some tendencies in that area and the opportunity to get that close to space was too good to pass up.  The whole production was quite impressive and was aimed at promoting the idea of space travel amongst people who might lobby their Senators and Congressmen to increase NASA's funding.  I know there are a lot of demands on taxpayer funds and the US Government is going deeper and deeper in debt everyda, and I couldn't actually explain in simple terms what NASA is doing with all those expensive missions, but it was hard to come away from the place without wanting to send a man to Mars.

This morning MCat took me to the airport and saw me off.  (I made it through security in time to catch most of Easter Sunday Mass.)  Now is an odd part of the holiday.  I am currently in LAX on an 11 hour stopover (luckily I have a guest pass to the Qantas Club which was accepted which is good because as much as I like adventure, I think I've had enough of it for now and I would rather have some quiet time.)

The problem with quiet time is that sometimes it gives me time to stew, and stewing at the moment would likely be on the subject of feeling alone now that I am leaving all my American friends behind.

But you know, this has been a pretty good trip and I have had some very good friends to share it with.  From starting my holiday visiting JAQ in San Francisco to visiting my family, to getting in touch with some old friends in Ottawa and Washington, to getting in touch with newer friends in New York, to meeting blog friends in Baltimore, to ending my trip with MCat, I have been fairly well surrounded by people who know me and care what happens to me.

There were a few lonely and teary moments on the flight in to LA, but they are behind me now.

I am, indeed, a Luckycanuck.

The trip to Boston was pretty uneventful aside from a group of brotards who wanted to get on in Burlington, Vermont.  They had been drinking and their 2:00am attempts to join us on the bus south were denied.

We arrived on schedule and I got more rest than I expected (and did pushups in two states along the way.)  Before long I was out on the street to take on Boston.

My first stop was the Samuel Adams Brewery.  It's tough for me to pass up a brewery tour and this was quite good, though the visit to the tasting room meant I wound up drunk by noon.

Then it was back into town where pushups were done at the exterior location where Cheers was filmed.  Then Boston Common, then Paul Revere's House where I also had a wonderful (and huge) cannoli in what is now Boston's Italian neighbourhood.

A highlight of the day was my trip to the USS Constitution.  For one thing, I did marine pushups on the oldest active commissioned warship in the world, and the tour of the ship was given by a Navy Petty Officer who presented the whole thing very well with plenty of gusto and theatrics.




I wound up walking further, all the way to Harvard.  They say "yah kahnt pahk yah kah in Harvahd yahd" and they are right, though you can do pushups.  Alas, they didn't set me up to do a PhD on a pushup scholarship.

Finally I made it across to Fenway Park where the Red Sox were playing.  I briefly considered buying tickets from a scalper but felt uneasy with the idea.  At any rater, I was knackered from getting limited sleep the night before and walking what I now estimate to be about 11 miles across Boston fuelled by New England Clam Chowdah and a couple of local beers.

I slept well last night.

The soundtrack to this post is "Boots or Hearts" by The Tragically Hip, a song I hadn't heard in years until I heard it on the radio during my drive to the mountains yesterday.


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That's how many steps I reckon I took in my 12 hour race, provided that I averaged 1 metre per step.

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The donations to beyondblue have picked up a lot recently.  So far they total $860 with more still pledged to come in.  I even managed to collect a few donations on the night from passers by or people on my support crew.

Now I just have to hope I recover from this in time to make a showing at the Warrior Dash on Saturday.  Why oh why do they have to be so close together?

See if you can guess which of these stories is which.

1) I have had to change rooms in our office.

2) The stock market as it relates to me.

3) My nice watch (a confirmation gift from an ex-girlfriend) has moved a total of 25 minutes since Monday.

4) An old rugby teammate will probably be joining me in the 12 hour race.

Go ahead and lock in your answers.  I'll read this while I wait.

Done?  Good.

1) I have had to change rooms in our office... relatively indifferent news.  It sounds like the kind of change that would disturb things in my life, but it's fine.  I no longer have a window, but I do have a room entirely to myself when Parliament isn't sitting.  I've also gotten rid of a number of things that were just taking up space.

2) The stock market as it relates to me... good news.  Overall the market is down so far in 2011, but everyday seems to bring good news for me as ARX, VMG, Cash Converters, and especially AUT have jumped considerably.  Even PVE has shown signs of life after being in the doldrums for a long time.  Still no hurry to sell though.

3) The watch... bad news.  I reckon I'll probably need to get a new battery.  I really like this watch and it has personal significance as it was bought by someone who knew I wouldn't have bought such a watch for myself.  Tonight I will probably have it looked at on the way home.  (I do wish shops in Australia were open later like they are in North America.)

4) Company on the 12 hour race... bad news that's not really so bad.  At first it bothered me because I felt as though it made my own determination to endure such a hardship less significant.  I know it shouldn't bother me and that it's petty, but I was all set to go with this and be all cool and unique, only for someone to come in and undermine my cool uniquitude.  Today I was walking/running to work and he passed by on his bike and we chatted a bit, and it doesn't bother me so much.  In the end it might be nice to have someone I know out there with me on the night.

My back feels a bit better, but time will tell how it holds up.  In the meantime I am still limited in what I can do (nothing that involves pressing while seated or lying down and pushups are tough.)  Here's hoping that things clear up and I can get back to my full suite of exercises soon.  The foam roller things that my physio recommended to me will be a regular fixture of workouts over the next couple of weeks.  I was at the gym last night later than normal which meant I avoided the resolutionaries who seem to come in and take over the place right after work.  Lucky for me that at all times of the day, nobody else seems to want to play with kettlebells.  Mmmmmmmmm.  Kettlebells.

Tomorrow I'm off for a long walk very early in the morning which will take me to isolated places where I can sing nice and loud without disturbing anyone.