One for the Road

Vancouver: Day 6, Sore Knees

2006-02-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

Today: 14.55km, 1500m swim

When I sprinted the last 100m to so to my house this morning, I couldn't believe that I had actually finished the run that I had planned for myself last night. I looked at the elevation profile of the 14.55km route (AFTER I got back), and more than 3/4 of the whole thing was uphill--damn hills. I know they're good for me, but dammit, why do they have to hurt so much? My knees aren't just scolding, they're screaming bloody murder right now. Still trying to decide whether I'll go to yoga class considering how tired I am right now. Anyways, one day left here, and then it's back to Kingston. Thankfully, I only had to suffer through one day of rain; I don't know how people around here put up with months and months of nonstop drizzle.

Going to visit the grampasaurus in a few mins...a bit scary to think that this is probably the last time I'll talk to him. The finality of the whole situation will likely not sink in until I'm back in Kingston in my empty house.

Vancouver: Day 5, St. Michael's Hospital

2006-02-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

Today: 45min spin, 4.5km run, 2100m swim

Went to see gramps again today. It's funny how radical the difference is between his good and bad days. I brought my camera with me thinking it'd be good to take some pictures, but after the first few, it just felt really tacky. It was interesting to see how we situated ourselves in the room in a triangle as if we were somehow supporting him as he coughed and weakly pawed at the cups of water on his side-table. Again, it's like when my mother's father died--I wasn't really close to him either, so when all that happened, it was more trying to understand what was happening to my mother than truly mourning my grandfather. It's weird whenever he says goodbye, because I think we all collectively wince on the inside, and wonder whether there's a double meaning to that.

Vancouver: Day 4, Canada Games Pool

2006-02-20T14:26:00.000-05:00

Today: 8.16km, 2250m swim, 90mins yoga

That photo was taken outside my house early yesterday morning before going to spin at Bonsor, the ghetto community centre near my house, with a pool that more closely resembles a sewage tank than anything else...I think I'd rather swim in Lake Ontario since the raw sewage is at least offset with the feeling of being outside. I'm actually really glad I didn't swim yesterday and gave it a rest; as a result of a brief, one-day haiatus, I had a really kick-ass swim today, with 3x500m, then 2x200m hard, 150m recovery and 2x100m with flipturns. Sweet! I'm in love: the Canada Games Pool is quite possibly the most self-contained body of water I've ever swum in. Not only was it not too cold, not too hot, nicely lit and clean, I had a whole lane to myself for the entire hour. Never mind the random pingpong balls floating around, I was just so happy to be swimming well, surrounded by other people IN THEIR OWN LANES that also enjoy swimming. I might actually be starting to like this part of triathlon--we'll see.

Vancouver: Day 3, Shooze

2006-02-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

Today: 70min spin
Skipped a day of swimming for the first time in 3 weeks...I feel a little guilty, but it was just far too complicated to try to squeeze it in between shopping with progenitors and visiting family. Anyways, got a beautiful new pair of running shoes, Nike Shox 2:45. In August, I settled for the Max Moto 2, but it still wasn't even close to the shoes I had been using before--those things were the stuff of legend. Taking them out for a spin tomorrow morning, so I suppose I'll have to wait to make the final verdict.

I went to a camera store in Aberdeen Centre and asked for black and white film: the girl at the counter told me to go to London Drugs.

A Cry Against Injustice

2006-02-18T20:09:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed how small the women's section is compared to the men's in sporting goods stores? I went shopping for new running shoes today with mumsies and daddy-oh, and reached a whole new level of frustration by what would seem to be a very obvious example of systemic sexism. Although I have no doubt that there are more female athletes now than ever before, I'm still appalled by how deeply gender roles are entrenched in our culture--and in this case, within the context of fashion and sporting equipment. I've never been a huge fan of "women only" anythings, but dammit, you'd think that people would at least recognize the fact that women participate in athletic pursuits as well. In every store except for the Nike Store, the men's shoe section was at least twice as large as the women's, and often, weren't even labelled "Men's." At Athlete's World and Foot Locker, the shoe categories were Basketball, Leisure, Running, Cross Training, Women's and Kid's. Ridiculous. Not to mention, the only shoes they carried in their minimal "Women's" section were pink, white and baby blue Nike Shox and walking shoes masquerading as athletic footwear. Anyways, that's my rant. I was really looking forward to trying on some of the sick shoes that had been reviewed in this month's issue of Runner's World, but I suppose that will have to wait for either a) me to get to West Broadway or b) store merchandisers to eschew their notions of the athletic goods market composition.

Vancouver: Day 2, Stanley Park Seawall

2006-02-18T11:06:00.000-05:00

Today: 13.65km around Stanley Park and Vancouver West End, 1800m swim (3x500m, 3x100m with flipturns)

Just about to go running, thought I'd post the route for the sake of posting the route--and also because it looks cool on the map since it's surrounded by water.

Vancouver: Day 1, swimming & yoga

2006-02-17T17:16:00.000-05:00

Today: 1500m swim + flipturns, 90mins yoga

So who would've thought that it'd be sunny when I got here? The sunlight is so warm and definitely a welcome change from the gloomy snow, ice and clouds of Kingston. I was waiting for the bus this morning after doing some groceries at the mall, and just leaned against the wall with my eyes closed and enjoying the feeling of being warm. I wish I had a camera or something. This more than makes up for the grossness of the Bonsor pool (it's WARM, disgustingly warm actually--makes me wonder if I'm going to get some sort of bizarre bacterial infection).

Just killing some time before catching the bus to do a drop-in yoga class on Commercial Drive (or maybe Metrotown); I haven't been able to go for two weeks due to conflicts, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Hopefully the weather holds up, I'd like to try a long run out at Stanley Park, around the seawall...it'll probably be really windy, but it's not like the wind ever stops blowing in K-town anyways. In any case, enough bitching about people going to Cuba, the Dominican or Florida--I'm getting plenty of sun, and it's perfect weather for running outside too. :)

Happyhappyhappyhappy! Look what the sun does!

Killing time, without remorse

2006-02-16T20:23:00.001-05:00

Today: 13.97km, 1500m swim

It's just a little past 8 and I'm killing some time while I wait for a 1:00am bus to take me to Pearson International where I'll catch a flight at 7am to Vancouver.

One of the things that gets me through my run is a nice, substantial and well-worked wad of chewing gum. It's something that started during the summer completely by accident, but it definitely helps to absorb some of the tension in my jaw when I clench my teeth or whatnot. Anyways, I used to be an avid chewer of Dentyne Ice (Shiver), but found Excel (Peppermint) to be a good balance between crunchy outer shell and soft inner chewing material. Imagine my surprise when, earlier this month, I noticed something new on the shelves at the Tuck Shoppe (in the JDUC): Excel Voltage. Intrigued, I bought a pack, and although I was turned off by the relatively strong flavour at first, I've found that it lasts a bit longer than other Excel gum, and also stays softer while I'm pounding the pavement on a cold morning. On Tuesday I tried one of the other flavours, Fuse, which turns out to be a weird cherry flavour reminiscent of Halls or Robitussen DM. Tonight I'll be trying out the Charge and Shock flavours. Shock has an orange foil package--wonder if that means what I think it means.

This morning after my run, I was absolutely famished, probably due to the fact that having run out of reasons to eat real food, I've been eating lots and lots of banana chips. Anyways, heated up half a banana (sliced) with a tablespoon of cottage cheese and some rice krispies. Yummy and kept me awake during a particularly engaging Art History class.

I'm looking forward to going to hot yoga tomorrow; apparently there's a studio about a 15-minute walk from my house. Right now I'm trying to convince my sister over MSN to come along.

Tonight Kingston is covered in a solid sheet of ice: so glad I'm not running in this tomorrow morning!

Ottawa Half-Marathon

2006-02-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

Today: 1300m swim plus flipturns
Took it easy today; after passing out cold last night at around 10:30, I figured it'd be a good idea to give it a rest. All registered for the Ottawa Half on May 28...I'll be staying in a hostel that is 1.3km away from the start line according to Google Maps.

Heading home tomorrow night/Friday morning. Not sure how I feel about it yet; all I know for sure right now is that I'm going to get in as much training outdoors as I can while I'm in Vancouver since the weather's so mild. That said, it was a beautiful day today, and I'm regretting not going for a run or something. The snow is gone, gone, GONE! Woohoo!

Happy Valentine's Day and Bonkapotamus

2006-02-14T17:26:00.000-05:00

Today: 8.71km, 1300m swim with flipturns

So it's crapentine's day and goshdarnit, I feel pretty crappy. I think I'm starting to bonk...such a weird sensation, the gradual bonk, instead of the brick wall I've hit before, it's just this gradual decline in my energy level and gradual increase in my irritability-ness. Everything seemed like it existed for the sole purpose of pissing me off; I think what tipped me off that it was something wrong with me and not with the universe in general was when I was drinking coffee with Cam and the guys next to me were bothering me because they were sitting with their elbows on newspapers. So tired I wasn't hungry and started crying for no reason. Think I need a nap, real bad. Oh yeah, note to self: don't run IN snow, that is, don't run in a anything more than a few centimeters of snow, it's just not worth the misery.

Running in snow

2006-02-13T18:10:00.000-05:00

Today: 13.97km; 2000m swim + flipturns

Fantastic run, even better swim...I'm going to sleep really really well tonight. It was interesting running in snow for the first time ever. It slowed me down to a 6:00/km pace, but I suppose that's not too bad considering the degree of slippage I had to put up with on the hill on King Street. Kind of neat how quickly everything changes in the morning: I left my house when it was still dark out and not snowing; it started snowing, got bright, stopped snowing and turned sunny all while I was running.

I think I've figured out the secret to the first part of a flipturn: it's not the forceful kind of bend that I had been doing before...after watching people for the past few weeks, it almost looks like they just kind of fall forward. Just need to get the timing right though.

Recovery blahblahblah

2006-02-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

Today: 1500m swim

So, day after first race in a while and I don't feel too shabby. It's so tempting to lapse back into slug-mode, but I really want to keep up this training while I'm still in a groove. Run tomorrow, so going to bed early tonight.

Top of the middle!

2006-02-11T19:24:00.000-05:00

Today: Race day!

Don't really feel like blogging about it, but I might as well put something. Finished 12 overall, rookies and vets together.

Swim: 30 lengths
Bike: 5.41 miles
Run: 24.5 laps

4th place rookie from Queen's, 2nd fastest rookie run time! Woohoooooooooo!!!!!

I really really need a drink or something.

1 Day - Tapering

2006-02-10T18:11:00.000-05:00

Today: 500m swim, 10min bike, 10 min run

Got up for 6:45am this morning and got ready to practice transitioning from swim-bike-run. The whole thing went pretty smoothly: ran out of the changeroom and into the pool, swam 500m. Climbed out and threw on my new triathlon top, shorts, shoes and ran to the cardio room. Pedaling the grannybike's a little weird after riding my own bike/spin bikes for over a year now, but other than that, the bike/run parts were pretty unremarkable. I'm pretty pooped right now, but I'll have the rest of the day and tomorrow morning to rest.

Getting a little nervous, but Cam, Calvin and Alvin have been so incredibly encouraging, and that along with improving my swimming over the past month makes me feel quite a bit better. Well, we'll see. All packed, and munching on nanerchips before we take off for the T-dot. I suppose I should aim to get to bed by 11:30, maybe do some stretching beforehand. Haha, it's kinda funny how much I'm looking forward to having a bagel for breakfast tomorrow.

Chickpea Balls

2006-02-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

Yep, I cut 'em right off the chickpeas, no anaesthetic.

Chickpea Balls

1 19oz can of chickpeas, almost completely drained
1/4 cup of crumbled herb tofu
1/4 white onion, diced
handful of cilantro, finely shredded
1 Tbsp Tahini
1 large eggwhite, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup breadcrumbs plus extra
olive oil

Tziki (sp?)
Slices of tomato

Empty chickpeas into a bowl and mash with a fork, spoon or potato masher until pasty, add in tofu, onion and cilantro and salt and mash, mash, mash.
Stir in tahini--make sure you stir it in the jar, and get all the gunk at the bottom of the jar.
Stir in the eggwhite and mash everything around again.
Add in the breadcrumbs gradually until the mixture starts to feel stiff, kinda like hamburger meat when it's ready to get shaped into patties.

Heat up a pan (medium-high heat) and splash some oil in the bottom, swirl around. Taking a tablespoon or a tablespoon and a half at a time, form rough balls (no point in rolling them between your palms, you'll just get dirty hands) and drop them in the hot pan. Swirl the oil around so that they sizzle and roll the balls around so they brown evenly on all sides. Makes about 20 balls...good leftovers!

I served this with tziki and slices of tomato and a small spinach salad...apparently it's a Renee-sized meal and needs a bit more to be really substantial (aside from eating a ridiculous number of chickpea balls). Mmmmm, the cilantro really does it!

2 days -- Golden Cockroach Day

2006-02-09T18:18:00.000-05:00

Today: 7km run, 1500m swim

Got up at 6:30 and waited for the sun to rise a bit before going running...did the ol'
J-loop; haven't run that route since October! Anyways, now I'm suffering from minor frostbite that probably wasn't helped by wearing thin black dresspants all day.

The Golden Cockroach press conference went off with a only a few minor complications, such as the double-booked lower ceilidh...but in the end, the JDUC was packed and it seemd like Rabs and Keecher enjoyed their 15 respective minutes of fame. Don't know what I'd do without the Sheevs-meister and his big GMC Jimmy.

Managed to get downtown to buy a pair of tight spandexy shorts and a waterbottle before hitting the pool for an easy 1500m (2x600m and 3x100m), no flipturns. Can't wait to get home and make some chickpea burgers...I'm thinking of modifying the recipe somewhat, so we'll see how they turn out.

3 days and I've definitely hit work-out depression

2006-02-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

Today: 1800m swim, 1.5 hours spinning

Incredible, incredible swim today! I think it really makes a difference if it's the first thing I do that day...was more than a little worried that I wouldn't be able to make it swimming today, considering how late I needed to sleep in. Anyways, it was an effortless 3x500m and 3x100m with 10 mins of flipturns afterwards.

Had my first spin class with Kelvin/Calvin, the legendary hardcore spin instructor/cyclist. Not suprisingly, I can see why people like his class...pretty ridiculous, but very motivational, haha. "Get off your bike! You wrecked! Get off!" Yeah, that was fun...but not exactly what I'd like to do before going back to work to hang up posters the day before the Golden Cockroach press conference.

Had a short chat with Lesley Liu in the hallway outside the office...it's the last day of voting and the scrutineers are upstairs counting ballots. In a few hours, we'll have a new AMS exec! My fingers are crossed for the underdogs. Anyways, I'm definitely hitting workout depression. I can't wait for Friday when I can just relax and not think about squishing in two workouts during the course of the day...tomorrow's going to be a bit tricky since I have an 8:30, and then afterwards I have to make sure the GC shiz goes down without a hitch.

Time for beddybyes.

4 days, and my knees hurt

2006-02-07T20:06:00.000-05:00

Today: 40min spin, 1500m swim

So I managed to do it: got up at 6:30 and started spinning at 6:55 outside on my porch...it's a bit slanty, so after a few minutes I moved the setup on to the walkway, but still off the sidewalk. It was nice watching the sun rise and having the garbage collection guy ask me if I was getting anywhere. A chick on the tri team walked by and she probably thinks that I'm either a) nuts or b) pretentious as hell. Whatever, I didn't want to wake up the rest of the house pandering to my selfish athletic endeavours.

Swimming was pretty unremarkable, working on flipturns, but I don't think I'm doing 'em right...somehow, I don't think they should be as violent or splashy as I'm making them.

Stuff's starting to get rather hectic with the Golden Cockroach shizz...so far it seems to be going on track, but we'll see...not looking forward to the last-minute complications that are bound to happen. Also not too enthused about postering--blah.

Time to play some Super Mario World (badly).

5 days to Hart House

2006-02-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

Today: 8.7K, 1500m swim

OK, so just need to stick with it for a few more days. Quite happy with my swim, finally have the limp-noodle thing down. On the other hand, I'm getting the sense that there are quite a few people getting fed up with me leaving in the middle of the day to swim/work-out...so not only am I hating what I'm going, people hate me for doing something I'd rather not be doing in the first place. Bah!

Let's see if I'll actually do what I'm planning to do tomorrow morning.

The early bird gets...sore knees

2006-02-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

Today: 13.92km (about 0:05:00/km) and 1500m swimming

So I woke up this morning at about 5:45am and drank a cup of hot chocolate hoping it would put me to sleep--to no avail. According to my handydandy Mac Dashboard weather widget, it was about 4 degrees, so I decided to go for a run.

I don't think I've ever fully expressed the true depth of my love for Sue and Paul's Gmap Pedometer. Paul is training for a marathon and uses something akin to a Google Map to plot out routes. Double-click on a point on the map to record a point and each turn you make, plot another point. It measures the distance in metric or imperial measures and also plots an elevation profile (although I have yet to determine how accurate it is).

Anyways, at 6am, I plotted out a tentative 11km route, but once I got out to Portsmouth Village, I decided to scrap the whole plan and just see how far I could (reasonably) go without hurting myself and also given the incredibly windy conditions. So I found myself running up past Saint Lawrence College and out to Bath Road instead of turning right at Portsmouth Ave. and then right again at Johnson. Here's the actual route map. For the last Johnson-King-Barrie loop, I had a fellow runner on my tail--for some reason I was feeling particularly competitive and sprinted past him/her farther up on Johnson, but had to keep a pretty painful pace to stay ahead. Oh well, it's like practice for next week I suppose.

Note about the routes: at the end of both, there is one more short 2k loop that goes down Johnson to King, right at King to Barrie, right at Barrie to Earl. I think that shallow hill on Barrie is the most painful part of the whole thing. :)

On Again, Off Again

2006-02-04T23:47:00.000-05:00

Today: 1.5 hours spinning, 1400m swim (4x200m, 6x100m; about 1:50/100m)

Like a fairweather friend--or maybe just a bad one--I find myself returning to The Blog a week before my next race. Swimming for at least a half hour every day (with about 5 days off in total) since January 9, I'm feeling a bit better about my stroke and also going significantly faster than I had been. I always say this, but I'll say it again: it never ceases to amaze me how much my performance hinges on visualization and mental focus. Timing my strokes in the water to take advantage of momentum instead of fighting against it has made it painfully obvious how much I depend on visualizing myself swimming quickly--nuts eh?

Hart House triathlon coming up on February 11: 15 min swim/15 min bike/15 min run...shouldn't be too challenging, except maybe the bike part and making sure I squeeze in at least 750m during the swim. I'll be working on sprint sets this week in the hopes that I may be able to push it during the last few minutes of the swim.

As for running, a new PB: 14km in 1:10 (or thereabouts). That night, my legs were sore down into the bone...it's a good feeling.

Otherwise, things are going great. Mailed my grad applications to York and Concordia, checking the status of my application several times a day. Job's wrapping up and with AMS elections underway, I'm starting to get that familiar winding-down feeling. The finality of everything I'm experiencing right now hits me in waves mostly; it's not that I ever forget that this is the last time I'll get to see things like AMS elections or QMP or Charity Ball, it just takes a while for it to sink in.

I suppose in some ways, things are going too well, and I've gotten too comfortable......which inevitably leads to an emotional low due to the several pounds I usually pack on while I'm happy, which in turn leads to an emotional high due to the intense period of working out that ensues to work off the aforementioned pudge...and so the cycle begins again. Anyways, I think I'm starting to find some balance--I just need to keep this working out twice a day thing. Twice, minimum. To keep me sane.

Pancakes for dinner tonight, but not just any ol' pancakes, 'Naner Oatmeal pancakes with real maple syrup.

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
cinnamon
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 milk
2 eggs
0.5 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
2-3 overripe bananananananas, smushed

Whisk dry stuff together, whisk wet stuff together, then whisk until just mixed. Fold in butter and bananas until just mixed, then slap 'em on a pan with a little bit of oil! Yum. Real dense, I just needed one.

I'm going to walk home in the rain, wearing my duct-taped shoes and cursing my ball-and-socket joints. 1.5 hour spin and 1400m swimming in one day--not too shabby I don't think. Time for some art history reading, and maybe Java while I wait for Drunky to stumble back to my place, haha.

Rewind, Review

2005-11-22T21:41:00.000-05:00

It seems like most of this blog is comprised of mega-posts, summarizing and reviewing the events of the x number of weeks that passed since the last post. A major obstacle to a truly cogent and insightful blog is just pure laziness on my part; I'll think of something I'd like to write about, but instead of just sitting down and hammering it out on my lovely Apple keyboard, I file it away for later, telling myself that I need to refine it before sending it out to the void.

Raced again, the Trent duathlon...I was really bummed for the past week because according to the results, I placed 24 out of 33...but then I looked at the results again and realized that they mixed up the names and numbers so I actually placed 8th. Not too shabby at all, considering I crashed and had a pretty rough night right before the race.

Been spending a lot of time thinking about my "style" in terms of artwork; definitely still have a good sense of space and composition, but I'm definitely feeling like there's something missing, an undeniable lack of substance. Feeling greatly uninspired, which is very odd--but perhaps it's simply the sheer amount of constrast and opposites I've been experiencing lately. I need to get back to Stable, Regular, Level, Ordinary...as if it's some sort of exotic destination that I go to for a short idyllic vacation or something.

Something else to think about: semiotics. Signifier and signified. How the community agrees on signs, their meaning, their context, their signficance...why do I get a twinge when I see an image of a skeleton wearing a pair of slippers? Or a woman's body with the head of a bird? Or a bird with a tentacle in place of a wing? Discomfort and irregularity are the only way you'll ever get anyone's attention, and the only way you'll ever make your audience feel something. And really, if you're not out to elicit some sort of emotion or response, what's the point?

I want to make people feel something. Start shit, y'know?

Anyways, off to the gym. More later tonight after homework and Farscape.

Not too shabby

2005-11-01T14:32:00.000-05:00

Just finished looking at the results for the race this past Saturday; I thought I had placed 10th, but actually tied for 9th. Fairly happy with my run times, considering how crazy hard it was, avoiding rocks and piles of horse excrement. Woohoo, this is the part where I pat myself on the back.

So here I am, sitting happily in the dead middle of the pack! Well, 9/24 anyways.

Finally some photos

2005-11-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken just outside Trenton on July 30. If I remember correctly, this was about a half-hour before I blew a tire and lost the lead on my goal time. However, the 90 minutes I spent in this small town has made me really appreciate the kindness of strangers and the importance of carrying bike tools/spare tube.

Click on the photo and you'll end up at my flickr.com page, and then go to "19 Hours, 51 Minutes" on the left hand side for easier (and chronological) navigation!

Back on the training train

2005-10-30T23:52:00.000-05:00

So I'm a douchebag and have been slacking like it's my job or something. Funny thing is, it IS my job that's getting in the way.

Two posts ago, I went on a short rant about not sacrificing my personal wellbeing for my job, and that includes my training as well. So tomorrow's a new day, the start of a new week and hopefully the return of much-lacking resolve in terms of getting my butt out on the pavement, treadmill, pooldeck, bike, whatever.

I'll decide between a brick and a 14km run outside before I fall asleep. On another note, feeling a little ill all day, and I think I've had my fair share of alcohol for the next little while. When I'm drunk, I want to be sober; during my short and non-commital relationship with sobriety, I would've killed for a drink. Go figure.

Here Comes the Sun, Doo-doo-doo-du(athlon)

2005-10-28T23:04:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow's the Hammer Dash, 2km-5km-2km. Apparently it's more of an obstacle course than a run, and navigating a swampy mire than a bike ride...should be fun (I hope). I've been slacking with training lately, being a wuss and running inside because it's so freakin cold out (not that it's going to be any wamer tomorrow).

So, happy endings. I think there's consensus across the board that it's more than a little unrealistic to go into expecting things to turn out sunshines and rainbows at the end of the day. But when it does, it does and it's good...so what's the lesson learned here? Don't go into anything with any expectation, positive or otherwise. It's like going to watch a movie--if you have no idea what it's about, and are not expecting anything in particular, you won't be disappointed, because disappointment implies a disparity between expectations and reality. That said, there's no reason to be pessimistic as is often the case; instead of a clear, black and white dichotomy, optimism and pessimism are two extreme endpoints on a spectrum, of which at the centre lies complete indifference/apathy. Lean in one direction or the other, but to situate yourself at one end, firmly anchored by your expectations is asking for either a) disappointment or b) depression. So perhaps I should take my own advice?

That said, I wonder if the only reason why we tend to remain hopeful that things will work out for the better is because we've been convinced that it truly is within the realm of possibility. Forget religion, Meg Ryan movies are the opiate for the masses. We've been so enamoured by Sleeping Beauty's airyfairy ending that we start to believe, even if it's only at a subconcious level, that we're entitled to the same fairytale-type resolution to all our problems. So perhaps in the end, we're only setting ourselves up for disappointment.

We've got our sights on a point completely outside our budget set.

Time for bed.

Jaw Muscle-itis

2005-10-27T07:11:00.000-04:00

I chewed abut 4 packs of gum yesterday.

Econ 425 midterm in 2 hours and 48 mins: I am blogging.

Realized two days ago, after an evening of doing groceries, getting a prescription refilled, buying new mascara and eating dinner while sitting down with my housemates (both being very signficiant), I have no responsibility to sacrifice my own well-being for an organization that does nothing but ask for more without even pretending to appreciate it. Do you actually think this shit-assed pay cheque is worth my sanity? You've got to be kidding me.

I read for fun the other day. It was great. The whole universe felt a little off-kilter though, because something was definitely wrong with that--well, maybe not wrong, just really really...ODD.

Race on Saturday; talked to someone who did it last year: "It's longer than it looks." Apparently it's like a freakin obstacle course...I wonder if this is what cyclocross is like? I bet that'd be pretty freakin cool...something else to ask Google about. Oh man, I love the interwebs.

Voyeurism

2005-10-26T01:30:00.000-04:00

Reading others' blogs is a little like consensual voyeurism, which, I suppose, is somewhat of an oxymoron. Nevertheless, it's pretty much reading someone else's diary. I've always wondered what drives people to be nosy, and why that kind of curiosity is so common; without exception, if you go digging around in someone else's personal life, you're apt to find something you don't like. It's like rummaging through someone's underwear drawer and finding fur-lined leather briefs or something. Sorta.

In any case, I suppose a good question to go along with that is why people allow themselves to be picked apart, and their personal lives examined like that. Perhaps some modern iteration of vanity? We grow up in a culture where celebrities are idolized, and where more kids know who Ronald McDonald is than Mother Teresa. Celebrities enjoy an existence that is so far removed from the every day lifestyle of the average person and somehow we grow up thinking that being rich and famous is the epitomizes the ideal. So maybe by making your blog publicly available, you're setting up the framework for your own kind of celebrity, the celebrity that comes with being scruitinzed and looked at.

That said, I'm writing in my blog right now. But if the point of a blog/diary is to write as if no one is reading, but you write it knowing that you're going to publish it, doesn't that mean that everything you're writing is insincere and contrived anyways? If honestly I didn't care about who read this, I wouldn't even take the few seconds I do now to look over it for really stupid spelling mistakes or egregious grammatical errors. Stupid. I'm going to bed, I had the opportunity to go to bed early and instead I'm blogging.

Comment Spam

2005-10-23T03:56:00.000-04:00

Check out the comment on the previous post, it's freakin spam on blogger, how ridiculous is that?

My favourite junk e-mail so far: "Does your cum ever dribble out and you wish it had spurted?"

"Every piece of spam I recieve is questioning my virility." --Danny Saposnik

Blogging Redux

2005-10-23T03:03:00.000-04:00

It's been so long since I posted anything--amazing how I could go so quickly from posting once or twice a day to not at all for the past two months. However, given my past history of commitment (or lack thereof) to blogging, I shouldn't even pretend to surprised.

So, a brief update on what has happened so far (insert dissolve, flashback):

After a harrowing first two weeks of September, the Guide to Queen's made it to the printer, and I made it to Montreal. A close call the day before when Frank showed up very late, to pick up a very very stressed-out and on-the-verge-of-tears Renee. Stupidly, I had forgotten to print out maps or directions or instructions of any sort on how to get to the race site to pick up the race kit on Friday night. After about an hour of driving around in circles, getting lost in Montreal and deciphering road signs with my broken French, we finally made it to Parc Jean Drapeau. It was the most horrible feeling, hugging Frank, hearing him say good luck, and then watching him drive off in the rain. Well, horrible and at the same time, more than a little exhilarating--stuck in the middle of Montreal with my bike, the clothes I was wearing and everything I was going to use the next day..yeah, I've learned to pack light, esp if I have no idea where I'm going. Laziness? A sense of adventure? I'd say more the former than the latter. Wandered around old Montreal for about an hour and a half after being directed by a fellow racer (he was 55 and doing the Olympic distance, I felt like such a wuss for doing the sprint) to the right metro station. Made it to the hostel, and after checking in and dropping off my stuff, walked around looking for a place to eat. How random: I ended up at a sushi bar, and had a piece of grilled chicken and green tea. I went to bed at around 10:30, and set my alarm for 7:00 so that I would have enough time to shower, panic, calm down, panic some more and get breakfast. I'm actually kind of glad getting to the hostel was such an ordeal, or else I probably wouldn't have been able to sleep as soundly as I did.

Next day: wake up and grab breakfast at a cafe up the street--petit pain aux abricots, and a bowl of granola with fruit (I saved the bread which was good because I ate bits of it while waiting for the race to start). I got to the race site at around 10:00, so I had about 3 hours to kill...wandered back and forth between the transition area and main building, pissing off the volunteers and being cold. It was pretty chilly, so I tried to keep moving. Oh yeah, it was pretty cool getting my timing chip and body markings--it's too bad I was such a tool that I forgot to get a disposable camera. 923--I still have my race number on my bulletin board! Anyways, warmed up twice, and before the second time, ran into J Pickar's housemate, Dave, the crazy triathlete.

At around 12:50, I took off my jacket and shoes and jumped in the water--which was, amazingly enough, wamer than the pool...maybe it was the adrenaline, but I really didn't think it was that cold. Somehow, waiting those 5, 10 mins was excruciating, just thinking OH MY GOD LET'S JUST FUCKING GO ALREADY...everyone else was wearing a wetsuit and there I was, in the ugliest shorts in the world (Tom Lardner: "yeah, no joke renee, they make you look like you have saddlebags") and my sports bra. Haha, oh well, I'm the triathlete on a tight budget. The swim was rather miserable, got kicked twice and did quite a bit of kicking myself...by the time I got halfway to the buoy, I was pretty much freaking out because it looked so far, but the second half wasn't as bad. The only thing was trying to keep moving while getting progressively colder and colder and colder--so the water probably wasn't all that warm.

The switch from swim to bike wasn't nearly as painful as I had expected it to be; this probably killed my time, but I spent most of the first part of the bike ride slowing down my breathing because my head was definitely spinning when I ran out of the water...the spectators were ridiculously encouraging, even though I knew they weren't cheering for me, but it was such a switch from biking at 6:30am when the roads are deserted and no one's around. By the time I got to the last bit, my ass was definitely hating me, and my straps must have been a little too tight because my left foot was numb (not the best feeling in the world when you know that you have to start running pretty freakin soon).

I thought I had practiced the transition from bike to run often enough that it wouldn't be a shock, but maybe the added stress of swimming beforehand just made it that much more difficult. Legs were this weird cross between lead pipes and jello that's been made with too much water. I really don't remember much of the run, except that I kept watching for other people with white numbers; it sounds horrible, but it was such a rush passing people on the run. I remember thinking on the way back (the second half of the loop around the pool) that it was still so far, the finish line...I'm rpetty sure the thought running through my head (haha, get it? running?) was "fuck, fuck, where the fuck is the finish line? gahhhhhhh" Pushed it really hard at the end, which doesn't say much because I think the marginal product of any more effort was pretty much nothing, but one thing I remember very clearly was being very worried that my ass muscles were going to rip right off the bone. You know, like running your ass off.

After the race, I called my dad, and pretty much started bawling. I still don't know how I finished it, but I was so relieved that it was over (and sad at the same time) that I couldn't help it...quite honestly, I didn't think I'd finish.

I had forgotten how exhilarating competition is, and what it feels like to have really killed myself to do something really well. When was the last time, provincial debates in high school? Sometimes it seems so trivial, but all this physical activity and working out and training actually makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile...maybe because for the first time in my life, I'm being completely selfish and doing something for me. No one else is going to benefit from this, just me.

Since then, a few big things:
1) Joined the triathlon team
2) Danny quit and now I'm the Comm Officer
3) Finished the Annual Report in record time
4) Discovered Bittorrent and am now wasting copious amounts of time watching TV and movies
5) Fallen in love with film and thinking about boxes
6) Michelle got a boyfriend and wastes copious amounts of time sucking face

It's crazy how much can happen in a few months; back in June, I never would've imagined that my life would be like this...even though I'm more stressed out than I ever have been before, it's still ridiculously fun. A lot of that comes with being at my base level of happiness I think...working out twice a day ate up all the time I had to spend feeling bummed, and for the first time in about two years, I think I'm ok with myself. Mostly. There are still those days where I feel utterly pointless, that I've spent 21 years fucking around and that there's no point in trying for anything more because I'm just going to keep fucking around, but at least for now, I have a few things to focus on:

1) Passing my courses and getting my honours
2) Doing a fucking good job of being Comm
3) Becoming a film genius and art critic guru
4) Being able to do an Olympic distance triathlon by next summer.

I'm still listening to Zen; maybe not as often as I used to, but I still enjoy it and revisit it, especially the episode about making banana shakes. I'm listening to a lot of Dashboard, but not because I'm angsty, but because I'm not. Along with being ok with myself, I think I'm also beginning to feel ok about silence...I enjoy sitting on my windowsill and listening to nothing late at night...I haven't seen my housemates in a while, simply because I leave before they get up and get home after they're in bed, but when I do see them, I'm so grateful to be living with such a fantastic bunch.

I learned to count in binary the other night, and today I made a widget. Next week is Hammerdash, so this week will be full of bricks I think; gotta stop wussing out and start working out outside again! All right, time for bed, so that I can lay seige to Econ 425 assignment tomorrow..and art history paper...and SAP poster...and CIA poster...and Guide to Queen's campaign...and last touches to the Annual Report.

Quick post

2005-08-27T10:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, ran the 7km J-loop; 36 mins. Tom and Elaine are back for a few days, and it's great! This morning, 28km bike ride (rode 4 laps of the J-loop), this afternoon, 1500m sprints.

Note to self to remember to post on: cyclist rights, dealing with cars, big-box stores and cyclists!

It's been a long, long time

2005-08-26T02:04:00.000-04:00

This has been, without a doubt, the most stressful and taxing week of the summer. The Guide to Queen's officially took over my life on Monday, and only now has it loosened what seemed to be an unrelenting grip on my sanity. Although Monday was a rest day, I tried out Malloy's 7K Johnson Street loop, which proved to be a welcome break from the office. Unfortunately, pulling a near all-nighter made Tuesday pretty much a work-out write-off. I feel more than a little bad for wasting Jon's time at Goodlife--I quit half-way through a weights session simply because I was far too tired to do anything (heart beat was waaaaaay higher than it should've been).

On Wednesday, I was still pressed for time, so instead of my prescribed 60km on the bike, I did a bike/run brick early in the morning (46:50 for 20km, and then 27mins or so for the 5K right afterwards). That afternoon, I went climbing--or bouldering rather--which turned out to be amazingly fun, and really good for my back strength. I definitely paid for it this morning while I was trying to do squats and chin-ups, but I felt like my stroke was much more controlled when I went for a swim today. I've been focusing on my technique, and it's starting to come a bit more naturally than it had previously. So today's swim was 2000m in a little over 50 mins.

It's pretty late now, so I don't think I'll be getting up early to work out, but I can always run in the afternoon. According to my new countdown widget, there's 22 days, 11 hours and 50 mins until the race!

Crunch time!

2005-08-21T23:55:00.000-04:00

Today was comprised of several big chunks, all of which were exhausting, none of which felt particularly productive or successful.

Got up, a little later than usual (7:30) and went for a run at Tindall. I'm not sure if it was the sun, the humidity, my legs/ass/body being sore from 45km on the bike yesterday, but my run was 3mins longer (1:16) than my last 13km. On a more positive note, a man walking around the track came up to me while I was stretching, and asked me how far I usually run. I told him a bit about my training, and he replied that I made it look remarkably effortless, even when I was speeding up at the end. Little does he know that I'd probably get left behind if I were to run with a group of serious runners.

After that, got me some life-changing granola at the Goat (it's starting to turn into a hard-training-day addiciton), then headed over to The Running Room to get some shoes. Mission accomplished: Nike Air Max Moto 3...sick sick SICK shoes!!! I love 'em...I know tomorrow's my rest day, but I really want to take them for a run. Just me and the twins and my cellphone stopwatch.

Grabbed my bike, and went over to the RMC pool, only to find out that the pool was closed until 6:30...so crawled my way back home in the heat, and tried to do some work on the Guide to Queen's. All day, I was trying to somehow justify not going for today's swim, but every single excuse was flimsier than a piece of 1-ply toilet paper the day after taco night at Sol Latino.

Actually, the swim went better than I had thought, and I think my technique is improving. Thanks to Meghan Malloy, I have something to think about on the longer sets in the pyramid aside from the burning in my arms or my cramping legs. Elbow-out-first-breathe-elbow-out-first-breathe...as flaky as it sounds, and as skeptical as i was before, visualizing really helps!

Last night, I e=mailed the Queen's Tri Club...haven't heard anything yet, but hopefully this will give me a chance to train with other psycho people during the year.

Ok, I'm out. Tomorrow: Rest...and taking the new shoes on a run!

Maybe it's the weather

2005-08-20T10:12:00.000-04:00

Lately, for whatever reason, I've been stuck in something of an emotional slump. Last week I was on this incredible high, working out every day and feeling great and busy. Now, it just feels like I'm just living some kind of pointless, empty routine, with deadlines flying towards me from every direction. I think it's a combination of having missed a few workouts, or not performing as well at some this week, along with stressing over the Guide to Queen's.

To be perfectly frank, sometimes it just sucks to bust my ass at the track, or nearly get run over by a car while on my bike...and then come home to a quiet, empty house. I miss home and want to be around my family, and to be surrounded by people, no matter how badly we get along or how idiotic/insane they are.

Powerbook G4, looks like it's just you and me babe.

Today's bike ride went pretty well, aside from a ridiculous headwind. Despite spending a good hour feeling like I was getting pushed sideways and backwards, I still managed to shave 11 minutes off my last time for a ride to Odessa and back. I got back to the house after 1:44, but that was taking it REALLY easy after exactly 40k (about 52rpm, super slow). I hit 40k at 1:39, which was pretty sweet. The hills on the way back aren't nearly as daunting as they were a few weeks ago, and I had a comfortable cruising speed of about 27kph. So maybe I'll be racing faster than that, what with adrenaline and more rest?

Guide to Queen's. Ugh. Then swimming--should be fun (except my shoulder's a bit sore from biking today).

Exposed!

2005-08-20T00:55:00.000-04:00

Today was an interesting workout, if nothing else. I left work determined to do a bike/run brick, and it actually ended up going pretty well. Did a really good 25km, taking 47 mins to do the first 20km--so that's an average of about 25.5km/hr, with a REALLY strong headwind. Goddamn Kingston wind. So after that, pulled into the house, ran in, ripped off the jersey, threw on a t-shirt and real running shoes and biked over to Tindall field. Then on the last kilometre of my 5km, an individual of indeterminate gender decided to take off their shirt and poke at their pectoral area. I didn't think much of it (honestly, I was a little creeped out, but in that situation, what can you do?) until the individual in question STOOD UP AND STARTED STARING AT ME. At that point, I turned around and started running in the other direction. However, I was timing my run and more than a little reluctant to stop in order to call campus security. In any case, finished the 5km, THEN called them...turns out weirdo was just someone that wanted to jogging shirtless.

Tindall field masturbator? Probably not.

Tomorrow: 45km bike, then swimming sprint sets.

Pretty good afternoon; finished some of the Guide to Queen's and made a few lame iTunes mixes. Blah, my life is so empty.

Lesson learned

2005-08-18T23:24:00.000-04:00

Today was exactly the reason why I won't be drinking again until after the race. Although I got out of bed a reasonable time, I spent most of the day being exhuasted and feeling gross. Amazingly enough, I found the energy to make it through a weights session, although I feel as if I would've benefitted a lot more from it if I hadn't been hungover.

So, having skipped the bike today, I'm going to do that tomorrow, and pair it with an easy run in the afternoon. I'm tired, I'm going to bed.

Doubling up (in another context)

2005-08-17T00:37:00.000-04:00

Rest days: what a freakin ridiculous concept...or so I thought when I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning. After a few weeks of getting up at an ungodly hour of the morning, I don't think my body expected a break, so I took a mini-break instead of a total blah break. Got up for a jog, and used that crazy foam noodle at Goodlife to give myself an obscenely good massage. I generally have a good idea of what bits of me are sore and which are stiff, but this kicked all the knots in my legs to hell and back. Painful at first, but once you roll everything in and out, it feels sooooo goooooooood.

Meg Malloy was kind enough to give me a swimming lesson that afternoon at the RMC pool; even after changing a few things about the way I was executing my stroke, I could FEEL everything going faster, but with less movement. CRAZY!!!! That girl is amazing, and so encouraging, which always helps when you suck as much as I do. :)

Anyways, today was a hard run day, 13km, same as Sunday. Went really well, and I didn't even need it to rain today. The times are stored on my phone and I'll post/calculate the speeds tomorrow, but what I really didn't expect was how much I enjoyed having other people on the track. I think the running room was warming up there, and there was this crazy guy wearing tight tight shorts, and the guy had the skinniest legs ever, but an amazing stride!

Blah, more tomorrow. After a hard weights and run session in one day, I'm beat. Tomorrow: 45km on the bike. The distance isn't daunting, it's trying to come up with a continuous route for myself.

Oh yeah, did my interview with Brett on the Art of Triathlon show...Gizmo cut out in the middle of it, but it was fun regardless! And I'm listening to the latest installment, and he gave me a shout out! This is nuts!

What a day.

I'm the biggest tool ever

2005-08-14T20:05:00.000-04:00

This morning at 9:47am, I was quite possibly the happiest person on the planet. I had been dreading this day, my "hard run" day, but it quite literally breezed by. Woke up at 7:30, got out the door at around 8 and started on my long run in what was, in any other context, really crappy weather. It was windy, cold, and most importantly, raining--I couldn't have asked for a better day for my first substantial run outside.

So, for 6km around Tindall Field (that's 15x400m laps) I forcing myself to slow down, knowing that for the next 7km, I'd have to beat my 1km pace by 10 seconds each 1000m. The first 6km, I ran at a pretty consistent speed, anywhere between 5:45 and 6:10 kilometre. It got a little more difficult after that, since I have such a hard time telling how fast (even relatively) that I'm running. Speeding up is easy enough, considering how slow I was running beforehand, but I was more than a little inconsistent for the rest of the run. Big finish though, running the last 1000m in 4:45.

Ok, so 13km done, and it's not even 9:30! Total running time: 1:13 or so.

The swim went fairly well, aside from getting kicked in the quads by a few kids and having another wack me in the face... I think I've got fairly large lungs, so when I'm blowing bubbles, they pretty much eliminate any peripheral vision I might have in the water; that said, flailing limbs are the last thing I'd expect to come shooting towards my face while I'm doing laps. If nothing else, it's a small taste of what I can expect at the actual race! Today was an endurance day, pyramid 8 laps, which turned out to be delightfully painful! I think I'm starting to get a hang of swimming in a smoother kind of motion, and making sure that I'm still moving while breathing. Upper-body strength is improving, even if just a little; I hope the push in my stroke isn't just wishful thinking! 2000m, total swim time 55mins.

Anyways, as I'm sitting here at the Goat feeling incredibly pleased with myself, I take a look at my training schedule...AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO 15KM. Whatever, I can make it up some other time, and I'm pretty sure I could've kept going, no joke.

I'm such a tool. :) But a happy, exhausted tool who is just about to head home to go to bed.

Btw, funny story about a woman in a green towel and rope (that's it, nothing else).

It's a bird, it's plane,

2005-08-14T01:33:00.000-04:00

...it's a crazy kid on a bike wearing a one piece bathing suit!

So after the most amazing swim (1500m in 40 mins) I drag my sorry ass out of the pool, throw my goggles in my locker and book it out to the bike racks. I get a pretty weird look from the kids at the front counter as I run by asking "So can I go out and come back?" Unlock the bike, do two quick laps around the parking lot, across the LaSalle Causeway and back, just so that I can get a feel of what it's like to bike after a hard swim. And let me tell you, my quads were not happy with me at all. But it was just so ridiculous, it made what was already a good workout even better. Ok, so I'm an obsessive triathlete (aspring to be one anyways)--so sue me. Or laugh. Whatever.

Great Big Sea concert was amazing...the whole 28km roadtrip too! I can't think of a better way to spend a good two hours than locked in a tiny buick with three guys drinking dutch beer and listening to enrique, spice girls and bryan adams.

Big run tomorrow...kinda nervous.

BikebikebikebikebikebikeRUN! RUN YOUR ASS OFF!

2005-08-13T10:21:00.000-04:00

Went to bed early after mopping the bathroom (and the kitchen--sorta) before Elaine gets back. Woke up at at 6:51, and tried to decide whether I felt good or not--and say "Well, regardless of how you think you feel, you gotta get your sorry ass on the bike!" ...and somehow, had one of the best workouts ever.

Ok, so more numbers:

30.02km, finished in 1:07 - 26.9km/hr average speed. Afterwards, jumped off the bike, locked the sucker up, rip off the helmet and then book it down to the JDUC and back. Oh baby, I was definitely hurting when I got back to the porch, but at least now I have an idea of what the first 600m or so are going to feel like during the race. Maybe. Last time I checked, I didn't swim 750m before taking off on the bike.

Today's going to be a big day: made it down to the Goat by 9:30, going to do some work before a hard swim (according to the schedule). AND THEN IT'S OFF TO GANANOQUE FOR GREAT BIG SEA! I'm not the biggest fan, but their music's some good ol' fun, so I have no doubt it's going to be a good show.

On another note, today is Cyclist Appreciation Day! It's a day of celebration--celebrating yellow, helmets, steel-cable quads and butts that are sore from riding on crappy Kingston roads. Damn the gutters!

I Heart Podcasting!

2005-08-12T21:23:00.000-04:00

WOW! Just checked my e-mail while here at the Goat, and Brett Blankner, Zen triathlete himself, replied to my email! If I'm not too chicken-shit, I just might install GizmoProject and get interviewed to be on the next podcast.

Haha, this is crazy!

1500m splits

2005-08-12T20:01:00.000-04:00

Ok, today was Day 1 of a new program. Ran 5km as fast as I could, really givin'er at the end, with a final time of 24:56--not bad! That's an average speed of 12.034km/hr, and 4:59/km pace.

Here are my times for each 1500m:
1. 6:50:84
2. 14:06:32
3. 21:25.27
4. 24:52:68*

*This was at the end of the 5km, so the distance between times 3 and 4 is only 500m.

So let's do the math:

Speed over each interval
1. 13.14km/hr
2. 12.39km/hr
3. 12.24km/hr
4. 8.65km/hr

So maybe not pushing as hard as I had thought...definitely felt like it though. Looking at the speeds, I think my next goal should be to get some negative splits in there--going faster at the end, so figuring out what percentage of my maximum effort I should be putting in over the course of the 5km so that I have enough left in me to really push it.

Listening to a lot of Zen & The Art of Triathlon lately. I really enjoy this guy's take on the whole thing. The way he approaches it makes me WANT to adopt this as a lifestyle, as opposed to a short-term athletic goal. Moreover, I am starting to understand that the mindset you get into while training can be applied to so many other aspects of life; from what I've read, listened to and seen so far, I get the impression that this is about balance, and juggling a whole lotta balls at once, while walking on a tightrope and reciting the complete works of William Shakespeare backwards. With a full time job, school and a new sport, I'm definitely going to be doing some juggling this year. Nevertheless, I'm having so much fun right now--always being busy, having to plan out my day each night before I go to bed...I feel great. Superfantastic. Except for a few minutes this morning as I shook off the remainder of a really good night at the QP. But yeah...so far, this is amazing.

Bonk!

2005-08-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

Technically, not really a bonk, just a bad, BAD morning.

Yesterday afternoon, I made a hard push on my run--what with the heat and the humidity, the rainstorm didn't make as much of a difference as I had hoped. In any case, I was quite proud of my 5600m, especially after a fairly intense bike ride early in the morning. It's funny how other people being on the track make a difference in my performance; there's a sprinter that seems to train there in the early evenings, and whenever I pass by him and his coach, my arms are a little less floppy, and my posture a little bit better. Jeebus woman, who are you trying to impress? There was also an older man jogging around the track, in the same direction as me, and I'd always speed up whenever I came up behind him; I hope that's not a breach of track-running etiquette or anything.

In any case, I went to Holub's for a potluck and sex workshop, and almost passed out halfway through. Excused myself and headed home to have a proper dinner (Haha). As I was talking on msn, I would "rest my eyes" between messages and passed out at around 11 or so.

So you'd think that some substantial sleep like that would leave me refreshed and ready to go the next day--not so, not so. Woke up this morning with a splitting headache, feeling incredibly weak. In short, like a pile of shit, steaming and tightly coiled. Recently, I've come to realize that training is NOT losing weight, and NOT getting into shape--it's training, and that the focus should be on quality, not quantity. That said, I convinced myself to skip the swim workout, and instead rest during the day for a good weights session in the evening.

The meeting with Jon went fairly well I think; with the Oshawa trip and body composition testing out of the way, I'm trying to move beyond my previous short-term goals regarding fat, endurance and other things. I have a good base established, and now I'll be embarking on a program with more structure and objectives beyond simply logging the miles (or metres). Fun! So incredibly pumped and looking forward to tomorrow, Day 1.

Anyways, no weights for me today, I'm going to save it for a good all-out 5km sprint tomorrow to establish my goal pace.

It's Zen

2005-08-10T17:37:00.000-04:00

So went for another early morning bike ride; I wasn't going for distance today, instead I tried doing some drills I found in that book. A so-called "tempo" workout with intervals riding at 70% of race pace. I'm starting to get a good sense of where my maximum is, and what a relaxed pace is; that said, it looks like my all-out race pace is just over 31 or 32kph right now. Hopefully it'll improve over the next few weeks.

In any case, I sat down at work today, and didn't really feel like doing anything right away, so I decided to explore some sports pdcasts. And what do I happen upon? Zen and the Art of Triathlon. It's a wildly funny radio show, which consists mainly of a man with a baby who does triathlon recreationally. So here's this guy, talking about Ironman triathlons and marathons and sports drinks, while feeding his baby who tends to spit up everywhere. Wonderful--made today fantastic.

Anyways, 10 mins before biking out to West Campus for a run...hopefully with the rain and thunder and wind, it won't be that hellish episode I went through on Monday.

Not really a Tri...more like a Quadrillion

2005-08-10T01:54:00.000-04:00

It's rather ironic really, that although I find the idea of endurance sports daunting but not beyond the realm of possibility, the biggest hurdle that faces me now is just breaking a habit of bad eating patterns. I think a lot of people take a varied diet for granted, but after years of eating the same thing with only periodic breaks, knowing exactly what I'm going to eat from day to day is more than a little comforting. It's safe--y'know? And god knows, it makes grocery shopping dead easy.

It sounds simple enough, hit all four food groups, and after that, work on increasing calorie count...right now I'm eating about half of what I should be to sustain this level of activity. Nevertheless, I've been trying to figure out how to do this, but am finding it amazingly difficult. At the same time, I know that unless I do something about this sorry excuse for a diet, I'm never going to build the strength that I'm aiming for, nor am I doing to get a ripped bod and sick abs and a deadly set of guns. Watch out, they'll get ya.

Anyways, off to bed, it's nearly 11. Tomorrow morning: bike, Tomorrow afternoon: running.

Note about this morning's bike ride: I almost ran over a snake!!!!!

Change in plans

2005-08-09T15:42:00.000-04:00

Having just read Triathlon Training by Michael Finch cover to cover, I'm starting to get the sense that I'm definitely setting myself up for overtraining...looks like I'm going to have to revise it. Honestly though, what was I thinking with a goal of cycling 70km in the morning and then swimming 1000m in the evening?

Bike ride before breakfast, managed to drag my ass out of bed at 5:30 amazingly enough...

I'm a registered competitor!

2005-08-09T01:36:00.000-04:00

Playing at doubles

2005-08-09T01:32:00.000-04:00

So this weekend proved to be incredibly productive, and suprisingly encouraging despite spending most of it exhausted beyond belief.

I'll admit, I was more than a little bummed on Friday afternoon when plans for both whitewater rafting and the Wolfe Island Music Festival fell through. Nevertheless, slugged through a crappy circuit on Friday afternoon, and somehow, had an amazing bike ride on Saturday morning. I'll have to start taking a disposable camera with me when I go on those early morning rides, just because the fields out on King St. are so beatuiful! Granted, the smell of cow manure warming in the sun, along with the moisture in the air given the ridiculous humidity is a little overpowering...but when you're flying along at 25kph, it's not that bad.

Later that day, bought my first swim cap (ever) and a pair of goggles (first since....grade 7). Although I anticipated swimming to be the hardest part of training, I feel as if I'm improving rather quickly. Being aware of things like timing and posture have helped a lot since I first started; reeking of chlorine is a small price to pay for the wonderful feeling of EMPTINESS that takes over every single muscle right afterwards. I like the idea of working out so hard that I can't walk out of the building.

Today was the real test for me though; although I've done a run/swim day before, this was a completely different experience simply because I did the swimming first. At 3:00, I took off from work, biked about 2km down to the pool. Swam a good 675m of freestyle with rest laps inbetween; afterwards, booked it back to the JDUC and took an hour break. Biked over to West Campus and tried running on the track. 5km in the heat and sun and after swimming has left me completely wiped. And to think, my goal distance for today was 12km.

Ok, so anyways, the point: how am I supposed to do this triathlong thing if I can barely pull through a workout like today? Haha, I'm probably not in as good shape as I had previously thought. Anyways, bought a triathlon book...good reading so far, and a nice break from Marya Hornbacher's take on bulimia and anorexia.

At the Goat, once again, and completely wiped. But feeling good. Bed time.

Too early

2005-08-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

I depend too heavily on MSN as a medium for meaningful communication.

Off to ride 30km, it's not even 6:30 yet.

One Week

2005-08-06T01:32:00.000-04:00

So it's been one week since the big day, and once again, I find myself at the Sleepless Goat.

On Sunday, I tried making it an "easy" day, but somehow, my legs just wouldn't let my jog any farther than the end of the block. Instead, I ended up at the Sleepless Goat, upgrading the OS from Panther to Tiger. Downed several cups of Guatamalanforherewithroomplease, and bought a new book, "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" in which I have yet to make a significant dent.

Monday was a little more eventful, starting off with an early morning (5:30am) bike ride to Gananoque. The best part about those long stretches of boring and monotonous landscape are all the random thoughts that seem to come to mind. The first being the consideration of possibly getting certified as a spinning instructor, which, combined with a crazy notion of future Ironman Triathlons (thanks to Deej), morphed into a new obessession: a sprint triathlon in Montreal on September 17.

So, I've just started swimming. To be more precise, I've started spending about 45 mins splashing around in a manner that somewhat resembles swimming; I'm sure Laura must find the idea highly amusing.

I have to admit, I'm rather pleased with myself; in the past week, I've managed to maintain a reasonable level of activity, in spite of what was a rather exhausting weekend. Nevertheless, given how exhausted I am right now, and how UNmotivated I was this afternoon, I am beginning to seriously wonder whether I'll be able to train as hard as I'd like to...for six weeks no less.

.......

There are very few things as beautiful as the Sleepless Goat's Red Cabbage Salad with Toasted Pecans. Right now, I'm slowly turning over a large piece of cabbage, a stiff cream and scarlet ribbon woven in between the tines of my fork. Chunks of pecans and clusters of shredded carrot glistening amid a nest of crimson shreds of crunchy cabbage and bright green flakes of parsely.

OK, reality check. I'm blogging on a Friday night at the Sleepless Goat.

Testing, Testing

2005-07-31T21:28:00.000-04:00

#1 Post!