Sorry folks (the two of you who actually read this thing)

Been busy with life, work, etc... So I've been post-slacking. My Bad.

Anyway - http://www.formspring.me/Robotrogue <-- formspring is rad. You can ask me questions, all anonymous style... and I can answer them.

So you know... click it.

Link: http://www.mec.ca

So WetCoastLife and I did a 4 hour hike thru Lynn Canyon (Two-Canyon Loop) on Good Friday.

The weather was horrid, strong winds with light-to-heavy rain, lots of staircases, switchbacks, and questionable trail conditions. It was still an amazing hike, and quite comfortable, purely because we were properly geared for the hike.

I stopped off at Mountain Equipment Co-Op the day before and grabbed a few pieces of gear I knew I'd likely need before the hike. And man am I ever glad I did.

I picked up:

- MEC Seamless Long-Sleeved Crew base-layer shirt

- MEC Zip-Leg Pants

- Wigwam Ultimate Liner Socks

- Super Wool Hiker Socks

I was also wearing:

- MEC Hydrofoil 3 Jacket

- MEC Pedigree Jacket

- MEC Elan Shorts

- T.A.D. Gear Praetorian Merino Wool Sweater

I can honestly say, that was the most comfortable I have ever been in my life. Each piece of gear had an almost symbiotic relationship with one another. I did not overheat. I was warm, dry, and comfortable for the entire hike. It was great. I can attest to those that say layering when hiking is critical. It really is. The rain jacket stayed off for most of the hike, until it got really bad, then after a quick pit-stop for some camping-stove tea, I tossed it on, and we continued on our merry way.

The Seamless Longsleeve made a perfect moisture-wicking base-layer, which pawned off my sweat into the T.A.D. Gear merino sweater, which then passed the buck to the Pedigree jacket. The Elan shorts kept my thighs from chafing together (which, if you hike, you know how painful this is), and the MEC Zip-leg pants kept me warm and dry. My only complaint with those pants however, is the lack of being able to tighten the cuffs at the bottom. The pant-leg is too long (MEC only sells them in 32 and 34 inch inseam for some reason) so I was walking on the pants until I did the 'tuck them into the shoe' trick. If I was wearing gaiters it wouldnt have been an issue.

As for the liner/outer socks, my god. My feet were bone dry. Comfortable. And free from blisters. (I also dipped a foot into the river by accident, and my foot didnt feel soggy at all)

All in all, I'm very impressed with MEC and T.A.D. Gear for my outdoor wear. Seeing as how we live in a virtual rainforest here in BC, having a decent selection of modular gear is key. Will I keep buying from MEC? Yep. Will I try on the stuff before I buy? Yeah, woulda been smart.

And now for some pictures.

So the weight loss thing...

I've officially (as of Sunday) lost 20 pounds. While to most this sounds like a simple task, to someone like me, it was a major challenge/achievement.

I essentially did a complete 180 degree turn on my life. I went from slamming back sodas, drowning myself in junkfoods, and sitting around playing videogames - into eating clean/healthy meals, learning how to cook for myself, working out 3-4 times a week, weight loss monster.

I had a few reasons for doing all this... one was I had a very poor self image. I hated the way my body looked. I didn't feel like I had anything to offer the opposite sex as a result. Secondly, my doctor used shock tactics such as "if you don't get down to 175 minimum, you'll have serious heart issues"... thirdly, I am sick and tired of having to take blood pressure medication. If I drop down to 175 (Or lower) I likely won't need to take it anymore. Fourthly, I like being active. I sincerely miss it. I used to go mountainbiking for 8 hours straight with friends, go snowboarding, skateboarding, hiking... and I don't anymore.

I started out at 235 a couple months ago, and was losing a little weight here and there with mild diet/exercise. But that wasn't enough for me. I wanted more progressive weightloss, in shorter time. I'm 215 now, and it feels absolutely phenominal. I don't have a hard time walking, sitting up, and it feels like someone put fresh batteries in me.

So I talked to a friend of mine who's a fit-geek (he's also an amazing guy, and a good friend) and he got me into 'clean eating', and a more robust exercise program. After reading up on things, I tweaked my program to suit me the best, and maximize my calorie burn. (I still only burn 2000 cals a week, but its a start).

I'm hoping by July I will be under 200 pounds.

All this fitness stuff will hopefully enable me to do one of the hardest hikes around come next year. Right now I'm purchasing gear in preparation, and doing a fair amount of research on the logistics of the hike, as well as this weight loss/strength building will definitely help me achieve this goal.

I'm also a complete dork and take pictures of myself wearing my backpacking gear...

And with that, "The Great Beard Project" has come to a close.

I learned a few things along the way, namely: Getting your camera set in the exact same place everytime is near impossible. Getting the exposure set the same everytime is also impossible. Growing a big bushy beard is a lot more work than shaving. Faces are cold without beards. I miss my beard.

That being said, I plan to regrow "a" beard, nothing large or epic, just something simple to keep my face covered.

I also stitched together the pictures from the project into a nifty youtube video.

Whats next? Well, I'm on a weightloss/fitness kick, and a hiking/camping kick, so I might just update my progress on the fitness, and also do some gear reviews and some trail reviews as well.

On with the video...

Link: http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/grouse-grind/

Originally I had planned to do the West Coast Trail this year. After a bit of research I decided it was best to postpone it until next year however.

So, to train for the West Coast Trail, I'm going to do the Grouse Grind weekly. BUT, I have to train for that one too.

See, the Grind is basically 2-ish kilometers of 'going up stairs'. Its probably one of the more grueling trails out there.

Because I have only really been getting active for the last couple months, I figured it would be best for me to train my body to get used to this type of abuse.

Here's my plan:

1) Couch to 5k - www.c25k.com is a great site to take someone like me, who isn't very active/fit, and turning you into someone who will be able to run (or jog) a 5km stretch. I've completed a week and a half of the program (you're supposed to run 3 days a week, I run 2, so I modified it a bit). So far the progress is pretty good, and I've been getting more jazzed about running.

2) Vancouver Trail Hiking - www.vancouvertrails.com is a killer resource for finding places locally to hike. So far I've planned to hike the UBC Endowment Lands, Two-Canyon Loop, Goat Mountain, Norvan Falls, among others. I did a 12km hike last Saturday at the UBC endowment lands, and let me tell you, it wasnt as easy as I thought it was going to be. 2 days later and I'm still sore.

3) Diet and Weight Training - I've been following the South Beach Diet (Phase 1) pretty strictly, with great results (15 pounds lost and counting). 3 days a week I do weightlifting/weight training as well, again with good results. I went from being able to barely do 5 pushups in a row to being able to do 25+ without stopping, I've increased my lift weight from 20 pounds up to 60...

I figure once I've gotten to late April/Early May, I should be somewhat ready to hike the Grouse Grind on the weekends. A friend of mine (who got me on this fitness thing) wants to kill his previous record times there, and I'd love to be able to do it in under an hour.

All in all, I've been having great results with this getting healthy bit, and its been phenominal being able to get out into the beautiful areas of Vancouver, BC.

I'll post more later.

So I managed to strain some muscles from pushing my workout too hard.

No amount of stretching beforehand could have prevented it, to be honest.

I strained my Brachio-radialis and my biceps. Let me tell you, that is possibly one of the more painful places to strain yourself. Made sleeping, and regular day-to-day activities a mega pain.

So as a result, I've been taking it pretty easy the last few days to try and recover. So far, I think I'll be ok for my Wednesday workout. *fingers crossed*

Also, the shin-splints have had ample time to heal (well, *I* think so at least). I added some calf and 'lower leg' exercises to my workout specifically to prevent further damage/straining of my shins. Let's hope it works. (I'm no expert, I'm going by what my body tells me and by what I've read on the matter)

Oh, and I've lost 11 pounds so far. I'm stunned. I wouldn't have imagined that I would have been able to lose *any* weight. This 'diet and exercise' thing is a tough gig to keep up with, but I guess over time it will become routine...

On the photography front:

I've been keeping up with The Great Beard Project, and I've got 3 more days left until its done and over. I've been puttering with the DSLR as well, I have a feeling now that the weather is starting to 'nice up' a bit, I might hopefully find some time to get out there and shoot some more. We'll see.

Below is one of my recent shots that I kind of enjoy:

*Finally* the weight loss is starting to pick up some momentum.

Granted, I have started my real diet, do weight training/cardio 3 days  a week, and running 2 days a week. So I figure that might have something to do with it.

Sadly my muscles are starting to get 'bored' of my usual weight training, so I'm struggling with ideas on how to vary weight training with very limited equipment. (I'm not going to the Gym, personal choice) So I have to come up with an alternative workout with the following equipment: Dumbbells and a pullup bar. (Specifically "The Perfect Pullup")

I figure I'll hit up Steve from nerdfitness.com once he gets back from his work-cruise. He's been helpful so far, but I figure I'll only bug him when I really need it. I can do most research myself.

The Couch to 5k program has been really nice so far. I'll be doing Day 3 on Thursday. Only problem I've encountered so far is some pretty painful shin splints. I'm not sure if its my stride, my shoes, or the fact that I'm still 227 pounds... (formerly 236). I've researched a few treatements and stretches that I'm gonna try, because if I plan to keep running, I'd prefer it to be pain-free.

Oh, and there's a C25K program for my iPhone that I installed. It's BADASS. I just choose which day of the program I'm on, and it lets me create a playlist, and then I will hear audible cues for when I have to walk, run, warmup, cooldown, halfway point, etc. It makes this running business a lot simpler if you ask me....

I've been cracking the whip on some sewing projects that I wanted to complete. I sewed up a ripstop nylon hammock, and a Polartec Fleece neckwarmer/balaclava type dealie. (I'll try to post pictures)

On the photography front, so far I've been a bit lazy. I've got 11 days left in The Beard Project, and after that I can shift my focus to other types of photography... landscape, bokeh, light painting, light-box-macro, etc.

That's all for now. Peas out.

In the 6 weeks I've been exercising, I learned a lot. Here's a quick blurb:

1. Sticking with an exercise program, being a typical couch potato - is not easy.
2. Running is a lot harder than it looks. 2k sounds simple, until you actually try to run it.
3. 6 weeks of exercising 3 times a week, isn't as spectacular for weight loss as I thought.
4. Diet is so very important. And you can tell when you're not being strict about it.
5. Having someone motivate you is important. You will have moments where you want to quit.

I've only lost about a pound a week. Thats basically from straight exercise. If I was stricter on my diet I would see more significant losses. In order for me to see more significant losses in weight, I'll need to try a Ketogenic Diet. (Ketosis)

Either way, I'm still doing my workouts, I'm going to use the 'Couch to 5k' running program to get into running the proper way... and I just snagged 'the perfect pullup' bar the other day, so once I get that installed I can add more variety to my exercises.

On another note: I've been totally lazy about my photography lately. I'm still doing my Beard Project, but I need to get back into the Light Painting that I've been playing with lately. I'll get back into that groove once the Beard Project is over, right now my focus is in so many other places, I need to re-shift my attention back to my pictures. Soon enough.

The Olympics have been here a few days now, and so far I haven't seen any impact on my commute, let alone getting into East Vancouver, so I'm not as bitter about them as I originally was. I might try to get a day off next week to go zip-line-ing in Downtown Vancouver. Could be fun. I just hope I end up doing it on a day without rain, then I can bring my camera with me.

Thanks for reading folks, leave me a comment if you feel like it.

Link: http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com

The current state that the world is in (in regards to civil/political unrest/war) is really becoming quite concerning...

Sri Lanka, Yemen, Northern Africa, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, China, Russia... the list continues... all of these places have been 'behaving a little badly' when it comes to being a threat to the world and the percieved peace that we live in. It's scary as hell.

I've been checking a feed lately that just scares the bolloks off me: http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com

Theres usually 10+ updates per day, giving a brief view into whats going on in what country around the world, who's pissed off at who, who's building a large weapon supply, who 'done got blowed up' and so on.

If one of these countries decided to spazz out a little bit, and decided to launch some sort of attack, that could easily cause a cascade of badness to come.

I like living in Canada, its pretty peaceful, but hearing about all this unrest around the world doesn't leave a good feeling in my stomach.

Link: http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2010/02/military-and-intelligence-news-briefs_02.html

Well then.

It seems like in time, war is going to be waged without (theoretically) human casualty. How? What?

UAV Drones are becoming an essential tool of the US military. (They're basically unmanned mini-planes with weapons) For example, recently a Pakistani Taliban leader was killed in an attack using nothing but drones. They are glorified model planes. They are controlled by an operator. They can fly in relatively undetected, unleash an assault, and haul ass back to a safe zone. (Worst case they can just Kamikaze the damn thing, but would you want to explain why you destroyed a very expensive piece of equipment to your senior officers?)

(More on that here)

And just when you think that was crazy enough, the Russians have stepped up and are developing 'combat robots'. (I'll post a video below). Now, this isn't anything new. Robots and unmanned vehicles have been used in warfare before. But lately it seems as though that might be the direction things are going. It's interesting to say the least...

(If you can't see the video, click here for the direct link)