So, it seems i'm pretty lazy at the mo. i wanted to get up and do a run to be back and showered before 9am in case the UPS man came with my parcel, but instead i just lay in bed.
i then couldn't go anywhere, even though it was a really nice day, until the parcel arrived. Its my new polar watch that i need to take with me when i go away so i can't miss it as they won't redeliver on a Saturday. All they could tell me was "between 9am and 7pm" urgh. seriously.
i tried to make the most of the time and plan stuff, catch up on housework, pack for my trip, etc. but i did have an appointment to volunteer at the university as a participant in some research again, which i ended up having to email and postpone for another day. After that, i was going to meet Ian downtown for some lunch and a catch-up, but i had to cancel that too. time kept gradually disappearing and still no sign of UPS. i was getting stuff done, but boring stuff. finally, he showed up at just after 3pm! hooray!
i unpacked my crazily overpackaged watch and had a bit of a play, then wandered over to the shop to get some milk.
It was a strange day, as Gonca was stressing about trying to buy a campervan, and Michael was spending forever preparing for a weekend camping, but it was Emily's birthday so i knew there would be a bit more excitement in the evening at least.
Emily suggested a few of us go over to her place before going out, and as i was really bored at home, i got myself ready and caught the bus. There was the cutest baby girl on the bus! I found out about the festival Emily had been to recently and then we caught another bus downtown.
In the end, there were about six or eight of us and Emily wanted to go to places playing dance music. Not really my kinda thing, but it is her birthday. We talked our way around the cover charge and i do enjoy dancing even if i don't like the music much.
There was an afterhours club Emily had heard of, and i found a ticket for $5 off entry so we decided to go and check it out at 2am. We bumped into Aimee on the walk over there! hopefully i'll be able to hang out with her soon. There was also a convenient pizza place right nextdoor so we got a slice of pizza each before going in. The cover charge was $18 after our discount!! The place can't sell alcohol, so it sells very expensive red bull and bottled water instead. Again the music wasn't really my kinda thing at all, but i still danced, despite feeling way too sober to cope. There were only the two of us by this point so i felt like i had to stay out as late as Emily wanted to, but then i also have to work in the morning! I haven't been out dancing in ages so it was great to be out and fantastic to be with someone willing to stay out til forever-late.
We danced and danced and danced, and then finally at 5am we left to catch the train. i had been really flagging for the last hour and checking my watch constantly, waiting for the time the trains would start running again. It was so bright and sunny outside, and so many people were still partying away. The club opens til 8am!
I got home about 6am, after admiring the lovely view over the river valley with the low sun, on my walk and set my alarm for 2 hours later. oh dear.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
Friday, 27 June 2014
Day 298: noodles, art, new friends and old
Today, Vanessa (who i had met at the Brazilian BBQ) had invited me to a seminar at the university followed by talking about possible work in her lab. The seminar also included free coffee and cakes!
Its been a while since i sat through any kind of university talk, and i tried to pay attention and make sense of it all, but it made me really sleepy. I also missed a call on my phone, which suggests i missed my parcel being delivered.
after the seminar, we went to sit in Tim Horton's and i had another coffee to counteract the sleepiness. We chatted a lot and Vanessa suggested ways i could make my CV look good to get a job in her lab. I am amazed at how generous and helpful she is being when i have only met her once before. I'm not holding out any hope of getting a job there, but i'm going along with it to see what happens.
Eventually, i had to leave and walk over the high level bridge to meet Cecily for lunch in Oodle Noodle. Turns out she had taken the rest of the day off work so there was no rush and we could hang out for a bit. Seems i had a lot to catch up on, all sorts of things have been happening in her life - good and bad - and hugs were necessary.
We wandered over to Churchill Square together to see some of the festival there. We went into a tent to see some art. it was all about the residential school system that had destroyed the lives of so many people in Canada, and the government issued apology. After i said goodbye to Cecily, i went to get another henna tattoo.
My next stop was a brief visit to the bank to ask questions about closing my account when it's time for me to leave (the lady at the bank had no idea what the henna was supposed to be - she thought it was a unicorn! - you can tell, right?), before wandering home over the low level bridge. This also meant a walk through the lovely green park, but despite the shade, i was still quite hot and detoured to the shop to buy icecream.
I had a few options for the evening, my first choice was to meet up with Aimee back downtown again for a catchup, but she has hurt herself again and cancelled. I was feeling a bit lazy anyway and ended up not even bothering to go to the CS meetup.
Instead, i had been eyeing up the rhubarb plant in Michael's garden for a while and decided to make a crumble. It was beautiful, and it's been ages since i've had a chance to bake, but it could have done with a bit more sugar.
Its been a while since i sat through any kind of university talk, and i tried to pay attention and make sense of it all, but it made me really sleepy. I also missed a call on my phone, which suggests i missed my parcel being delivered.
after the seminar, we went to sit in Tim Horton's and i had another coffee to counteract the sleepiness. We chatted a lot and Vanessa suggested ways i could make my CV look good to get a job in her lab. I am amazed at how generous and helpful she is being when i have only met her once before. I'm not holding out any hope of getting a job there, but i'm going along with it to see what happens.
Eventually, i had to leave and walk over the high level bridge to meet Cecily for lunch in Oodle Noodle. Turns out she had taken the rest of the day off work so there was no rush and we could hang out for a bit. Seems i had a lot to catch up on, all sorts of things have been happening in her life - good and bad - and hugs were necessary.
We wandered over to Churchill Square together to see some of the festival there. We went into a tent to see some art. it was all about the residential school system that had destroyed the lives of so many people in Canada, and the government issued apology. After i said goodbye to Cecily, i went to get another henna tattoo.
My next stop was a brief visit to the bank to ask questions about closing my account when it's time for me to leave (the lady at the bank had no idea what the henna was supposed to be - she thought it was a unicorn! - you can tell, right?), before wandering home over the low level bridge. This also meant a walk through the lovely green park, but despite the shade, i was still quite hot and detoured to the shop to buy icecream.
I had a few options for the evening, my first choice was to meet up with Aimee back downtown again for a catchup, but she has hurt herself again and cancelled. I was feeling a bit lazy anyway and ended up not even bothering to go to the CS meetup.
Instead, i had been eyeing up the rhubarb plant in Michael's garden for a while and decided to make a crumble. It was beautiful, and it's been ages since i've had a chance to bake, but it could have done with a bit more sugar.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Day 297: maybe i should've run
First i was woken up by the sound of rain, then by the kettle boiling. This forced me to get up and turn the stove off, which was annoying as i was still far too sleepy to be up.
i made myself a lovely egg and bacon sandwich with spinach once i was ready to start moving, then made sandwiches for work, then started more planning etc. on my computer. when the weather isn't as good, its easy to just stay in. eventually i washed my hair, then thought "maybe i should've gone for a run", i can't join in with run club as i've agreed to work, and today was probably the only day i would have had time.
i made a nice salad for lunch, with salmon, feta, tomatoes and olives over more spinach, then Gonca arrived back from the camp! This time she hadn't had a very good week, and still needed to try and buy a cheap car, so she was a little bit stressed.
Finally it was time to go out to work. When i arrived, it seemed like it had been a pretty quiet day but very soon it picked up and i ended up helping with shoes kinda permanently, usually with three customers at once. i ended up having my break at 8pm and barely got to speak to any of my run club friends. Simon turned up and found a friend to run with so that was good and i think he will keep coming along now. i had wanted to speak to Steve about Death Race after my weekend's fun but i was too busy.
After my break things slowed right down again, although there was one last customer with Ed who stayed until well past 9pm. we still managed to finish up by 9:30 so that was OK.
it has been a fairly uneventful day, but the next few days may be a bit busier so i guess it was good to have the time today, although i probably should have tried running up and down a hill.
i made myself a lovely egg and bacon sandwich with spinach once i was ready to start moving, then made sandwiches for work, then started more planning etc. on my computer. when the weather isn't as good, its easy to just stay in. eventually i washed my hair, then thought "maybe i should've gone for a run", i can't join in with run club as i've agreed to work, and today was probably the only day i would have had time.
i made a nice salad for lunch, with salmon, feta, tomatoes and olives over more spinach, then Gonca arrived back from the camp! This time she hadn't had a very good week, and still needed to try and buy a cheap car, so she was a little bit stressed.
Finally it was time to go out to work. When i arrived, it seemed like it had been a pretty quiet day but very soon it picked up and i ended up helping with shoes kinda permanently, usually with three customers at once. i ended up having my break at 8pm and barely got to speak to any of my run club friends. Simon turned up and found a friend to run with so that was good and i think he will keep coming along now. i had wanted to speak to Steve about Death Race after my weekend's fun but i was too busy.
After my break things slowed right down again, although there was one last customer with Ed who stayed until well past 9pm. we still managed to finish up by 9:30 so that was OK.
it has been a fairly uneventful day, but the next few days may be a bit busier so i guess it was good to have the time today, although i probably should have tried running up and down a hill.
Day 296: lonely tuesday, with henna!
Today i managed to get quite a lot of planning done, and some housework, and i even popped to the shops for basics and stocked up on granola bars for upcoming races. I decided to make the most of the nice weather and walk downtown and go to the cinema by myself. I very rarely go to see films alone, but most people work during the day, and the films in the evening were mostly 3D and more expensive. The problem with not working and having more free time, is there is more time to spend money - which i have less of.
I was going to go to the perogie supper on whyte ave afterwards, but realised i would get there too late, even if i caught the LRT, as the film finished later than i expected. instead i went to Churchill Square where there is an arts festival going on. I got some henna done and she sprayed glitter on it for free, which makes it look really pretty while the henna is drying.
after that, i got some dinner from one of the food trucks - a nice plate of curry, but i had seen another truck opposite while i was eating and decided to add on a beef empanada (memories of my swim relay team last summer). Then there was a lady sat opposite me eating a battered oreo cookie, which intrigued me again so i had to have one of those too.
Finally, i was completely stuffed and walked the long way home over the high level bridge. This gave me a chance to spy on the long set of stairs people run up and down, and sure enough i could see a trail next to it which Brenda had mentioned as a good place to do trail hill reps. maybe i will try and get there later in the week.
Michael arrived home shortly after me and was going to his community garden, so i got a ride over with him to see what it was like. It seems a similar system to allotments in England, but a much smaller plot.
I was going to go to the perogie supper on whyte ave afterwards, but realised i would get there too late, even if i caught the LRT, as the film finished later than i expected. instead i went to Churchill Square where there is an arts festival going on. I got some henna done and she sprayed glitter on it for free, which makes it look really pretty while the henna is drying.
after that, i got some dinner from one of the food trucks - a nice plate of curry, but i had seen another truck opposite while i was eating and decided to add on a beef empanada (memories of my swim relay team last summer). Then there was a lady sat opposite me eating a battered oreo cookie, which intrigued me again so i had to have one of those too.
Finally, i was completely stuffed and walked the long way home over the high level bridge. This gave me a chance to spy on the long set of stairs people run up and down, and sure enough i could see a trail next to it which Brenda had mentioned as a good place to do trail hill reps. maybe i will try and get there later in the week.
Michael arrived home shortly after me and was going to his community garden, so i got a ride over with him to see what it was like. It seems a similar system to allotments in England, but a much smaller plot.
 |
| the glitter doesn't show up well, but it was very sparkly |
 |
| it really confused the cat and she was very attention seeking this evening |
 |
| after i picked off the last of the henna so i could go to bed |
Day 295: recovery day - no medal??
well, i obviously wasn't going to make my last boot camp in the morning. i slept in til pretty late and my legs were quite achey.
i tried to get stuff done, but ended up running out of time and suddenly realising i was still in my PJs, hadn't eaten my lunch yet, and needed to go to work soon.
i ended up arriving a little bit late but straight away i was given a big task to do, finding lots of shoes to box up and ship out to an event for selling. this meant that time flew by, although all moving with my achey muscles was a challenge.
it felt strange doing something so epic this weekend and not having a medal to bring to work on monday.
Michael wanted to get rid of his wednesday night shift as he has a project deadline at uni, so i gladly offered to do it for him. it means missing run club, but i need the cash!
i tried to get stuff done, but ended up running out of time and suddenly realising i was still in my PJs, hadn't eaten my lunch yet, and needed to go to work soon.
i ended up arriving a little bit late but straight away i was given a big task to do, finding lots of shoes to box up and ship out to an event for selling. this meant that time flew by, although all moving with my achey muscles was a challenge.
it felt strange doing something so epic this weekend and not having a medal to bring to work on monday.
Michael wanted to get rid of his wednesday night shift as he has a project deadline at uni, so i gladly offered to do it for him. it means missing run club, but i need the cash!
Tuesday, 24 June 2014
Day 294: more photos!
Because it was such an epic weekend, here are more photos poached off other people:
 |
| Shanna's awesome leap during leg one |
 |
| leg one selfie near the end |
 |
| just setting out on leg two (L-R Me, Shanna, Nick, Layne) |
 |
| Flood mountain selfie |
 |
| after my first pee in the woods - now i'm a REAL ultrarunner |
 |
| "bum slide" |
 |
| shortly before ordering a pizza near the bottom of the powerline descent from grande |
 |
| Day Two "before" photo |
 |
| At the top of Hamel with the mountain sized beer |
 |
| the cold water was very soothing |
 |
| i love this photo! we look so casual |
 |
| Pizza!! |
Day 294: Summer Solstice
Today we had agreed to meet at 8am and drive to the start of leg four. yesterday evening i found out that we could get a free breakfast at the hotel, so i went for that, saving my own food for another time.
i wanted to wear a sleeveless t-shirt to see if Nathan (my trusty hydration pack) would end up rubbing or not and i am happy to say that we got along fine for the whole day.
We set off up into a lovely wooded trail and Nick decided to sprint off by himself to see how fast he could do it. For most of the trail up we were all on our own, which was quite good for me as it was a reminder that i get paranoid about whether or not i've gone the wrong way. Its not possible to go the wrong way, but i still get thoughts like "i'm not moving until i see a flag". i kept stopping to admire the scenery, again with the excuse of wanting to get sightseeing out of the way. Eventually, the woods opened out into a pool at the start of the mine road, where Brenda was waiting.
Shanna was only a few minutes behind but she had hurt her ankle on a rock and would be only ok to walk and not run. And so we set off again, with a little bit of a downhill first which was fun and i ran down with my arms out like an airplane, but it quickly turned into a very steep climb, surrounded by tall spruce trees.
Then we came out above the tree line, following a small stream, and there were even patches of snow.
A series of switchbacks took us up the final bit of the ascent. We met Nick on the switchbacks, he had been to the top, had a coffee and would head back down to keep Shanna company. Speedy!
At the top, sure enough, was Laurie the fire warden and her puppy Grace. She made us both a peppermint tea while we waited for the other two.
As you can see, Brenda had also carried up the high tech electrolyte drink for us to enjoy at the summit. It was a "mountain sized" can, which i thought was very fitting.
We all agreed that the three of us would carry on to try and fit in the beginning of leg five as well, but Shanna would take her time and walk down to the car (armed with bear spray just in case) and finish her day there.
Today's descent was much easier than yesterdays. Leg four is touted as the hardest because it is a higher summit and longest leg - plus probably half in darkness. however, i think leg two definitely seemed harder as it was far more technical. I really enjoyed running down the wooded trail, dodging puddles and i know it will be harder in the dark after 12 hours of running and hiking but still. it was probably really good training to do two before four to make four seem easy! At one point, Brenda told me to look back through a gap in the trees - you could see the hut on the summit where we had just been and it looked so far away already!
The trail opened out into a more scrubby area and then we arrived at the spot where Jacques had agreed to meet us.
There were quite a few other people out on the trails today, including a very friendly Argentinian guy we had met at the summit. he had left before us, but went the wrong way and didn't realise for ages so we saw him again at the car.
We skipped a small out and back loop and headed straight off down Beaver Dam Road - down being the right word as it was a wide track and gently downhill for something like 7-10km. This meant we got to enjoy ourselves, with some more pracersizing and just not being out of breath. Then Nick picked up the pace, and we followed, practically sprinting down the last bit of the track at a blistering speed. As i was at the back, the others didn't see that i spent a lot of that run with my arms out, flying round the corners and grinning like a maniac.
At the bottom of the hill, we re-grouped, high fived, and set off mostly walking along a trail at the edge of the highway. Brenda had another brilliant idea, which was that we would wade the river instead of going over the bridge. The first half was easy and the water felt lovely on achey feet, but then i realised that the second half was much deeper and faster and i started thinking it wasn't such a good idea. Standing in the water dithering was starting to get really cold and the other two helped me across in the end. I definitely feel like the baby of the group. There have been quite a few times where someone has checked whether i've been eating or if I've been to the toilet.
After the river, we reached the 4/5 transition area and headed up into the woods.
The trail in the woods was very narrow, but in the race so many people will have run through it before me it should be nice and wide. I got to see the little reflectors that mark the trail as most people will be running this leg in the dark. There were a lot of fallen trees crossing the path that we had to climb over with achey legs and it was a fairly uppy-downy trail so i can see it being quite hard work for the race (understatement). there were even a couple of steep drops into and out of creeks, using tree roots to climb. again, going through the water was lovely. It was a really pretty wood though, Brenda kept insisting it was a unicorn wood.
As Nick is only training to do one leg at CDR, and as he sprinted up Hamel in an hour and a half, he was really starting to suffer going through leg five. As soon as Brenda suggested he could drop down onto the road if he wanted, he hardened up and picked up the pace. we were aiming to get to the rock with the "crack of doom" and he was determined to get there... and then it appeared in front of us!
From there it wasn't too far at all to where the car was, with high fives and cheering and a small amount of prancersize on the final slope. Someone suffering more than you always makes you feel better on a run!
There was also left over pizza at the car!
Shanna had been able to go and shower at the rec center in town, but it was getting late so there wouldn't be time for us to as well, we headed straight off, although we did stop at A&W, and then another A&W a bit later on. I didn't want to spend any more money, so i just got a milkshake and then just water but the girls had burgers and lots of chicken. i just continued battling through the leftover pizza.
It had been an epic weekend, totaling over 80km of the 125km route. Although it has made me more convinced that i may not make it round Sinister 7. For that i have to run twice as far as this weekend, but all in one go over 30 hours. Making the cut offs may be impossible, but it will still be heaps of fun either way.
i wanted to wear a sleeveless t-shirt to see if Nathan (my trusty hydration pack) would end up rubbing or not and i am happy to say that we got along fine for the whole day.
We set off up into a lovely wooded trail and Nick decided to sprint off by himself to see how fast he could do it. For most of the trail up we were all on our own, which was quite good for me as it was a reminder that i get paranoid about whether or not i've gone the wrong way. Its not possible to go the wrong way, but i still get thoughts like "i'm not moving until i see a flag". i kept stopping to admire the scenery, again with the excuse of wanting to get sightseeing out of the way. Eventually, the woods opened out into a pool at the start of the mine road, where Brenda was waiting.
Shanna was only a few minutes behind but she had hurt her ankle on a rock and would be only ok to walk and not run. And so we set off again, with a little bit of a downhill first which was fun and i ran down with my arms out like an airplane, but it quickly turned into a very steep climb, surrounded by tall spruce trees.
Then we came out above the tree line, following a small stream, and there were even patches of snow.
A series of switchbacks took us up the final bit of the ascent. We met Nick on the switchbacks, he had been to the top, had a coffee and would head back down to keep Shanna company. Speedy!
At the top, sure enough, was Laurie the fire warden and her puppy Grace. She made us both a peppermint tea while we waited for the other two.
As you can see, Brenda had also carried up the high tech electrolyte drink for us to enjoy at the summit. It was a "mountain sized" can, which i thought was very fitting.
We all agreed that the three of us would carry on to try and fit in the beginning of leg five as well, but Shanna would take her time and walk down to the car (armed with bear spray just in case) and finish her day there.
Today's descent was much easier than yesterdays. Leg four is touted as the hardest because it is a higher summit and longest leg - plus probably half in darkness. however, i think leg two definitely seemed harder as it was far more technical. I really enjoyed running down the wooded trail, dodging puddles and i know it will be harder in the dark after 12 hours of running and hiking but still. it was probably really good training to do two before four to make four seem easy! At one point, Brenda told me to look back through a gap in the trees - you could see the hut on the summit where we had just been and it looked so far away already!
The trail opened out into a more scrubby area and then we arrived at the spot where Jacques had agreed to meet us.
There were quite a few other people out on the trails today, including a very friendly Argentinian guy we had met at the summit. he had left before us, but went the wrong way and didn't realise for ages so we saw him again at the car.
We skipped a small out and back loop and headed straight off down Beaver Dam Road - down being the right word as it was a wide track and gently downhill for something like 7-10km. This meant we got to enjoy ourselves, with some more pracersizing and just not being out of breath. Then Nick picked up the pace, and we followed, practically sprinting down the last bit of the track at a blistering speed. As i was at the back, the others didn't see that i spent a lot of that run with my arms out, flying round the corners and grinning like a maniac.
At the bottom of the hill, we re-grouped, high fived, and set off mostly walking along a trail at the edge of the highway. Brenda had another brilliant idea, which was that we would wade the river instead of going over the bridge. The first half was easy and the water felt lovely on achey feet, but then i realised that the second half was much deeper and faster and i started thinking it wasn't such a good idea. Standing in the water dithering was starting to get really cold and the other two helped me across in the end. I definitely feel like the baby of the group. There have been quite a few times where someone has checked whether i've been eating or if I've been to the toilet.
After the river, we reached the 4/5 transition area and headed up into the woods.
The trail in the woods was very narrow, but in the race so many people will have run through it before me it should be nice and wide. I got to see the little reflectors that mark the trail as most people will be running this leg in the dark. There were a lot of fallen trees crossing the path that we had to climb over with achey legs and it was a fairly uppy-downy trail so i can see it being quite hard work for the race (understatement). there were even a couple of steep drops into and out of creeks, using tree roots to climb. again, going through the water was lovely. It was a really pretty wood though, Brenda kept insisting it was a unicorn wood.
As Nick is only training to do one leg at CDR, and as he sprinted up Hamel in an hour and a half, he was really starting to suffer going through leg five. As soon as Brenda suggested he could drop down onto the road if he wanted, he hardened up and picked up the pace. we were aiming to get to the rock with the "crack of doom" and he was determined to get there... and then it appeared in front of us!
From there it wasn't too far at all to where the car was, with high fives and cheering and a small amount of prancersize on the final slope. Someone suffering more than you always makes you feel better on a run!
There was also left over pizza at the car!
Shanna had been able to go and shower at the rec center in town, but it was getting late so there wouldn't be time for us to as well, we headed straight off, although we did stop at A&W, and then another A&W a bit later on. I didn't want to spend any more money, so i just got a milkshake and then just water but the girls had burgers and lots of chicken. i just continued battling through the leftover pizza.
It had been an epic weekend, totaling over 80km of the 125km route. Although it has made me more convinced that i may not make it round Sinister 7. For that i have to run twice as far as this weekend, but all in one go over 30 hours. Making the cut offs may be impossible, but it will still be heaps of fun either way.
Day 293: The Brenda Shaughnessy Death Race training camp
We had opted for a later start time today but woke up fairly early anyway and took our time sorting out all our gear.
We walked across the road to meet everybody in the car park and gave Layne our "drop bags" that he would drive to the end of leg one for us. Jacques was poorly so wouldn't be running but his brother Nick was joining us and we set off on the trail next to the highway before disappearing into the woods.
One of my aims this weekend is to enjoy myself as much as possible and do as much sightseeing as i can so that i can ignore the scenery on race day, keep my head down and keep going and not feel like i'm missing out. Leg one went really well, lots of chatting and silliness, including Shanna deciding to take a run up and leap over a muddy puddle that we had all clambered around the edge of. It was a fantastic jump. We did miss out a small out-and-back section at the beginning but still finished in a little over two hours, which seems pretty good going.
We then found Layne and his truck, refuelled, re-sunscreened and took Layne with us along the railway line to continue to leg two. We mostly walked and chatted for the beginning of leg two. i was amazed at one point where there was a gap in the trees and i could see a lake in the distance... that i realised was the lake we had run along earlier today.
We had a bit of a rest near the summit of Flood mountain, before scrambling up a tiny goat trail, taking in the view and adding our names to the notebook in the mailbox.
This was just our first mountain of the day, the next one would be even higher. We rested again at the same point and my new friends encouraged me to go pee in the bushes rather than wait as it would be a really long wait. I've never peed in the woods before though. Shanna needed to go as well, so she went first and then i followed. It was the most scenic pee ever, with a lovely view of the mountains, although i was nervous that another hiker might appear along the path. i really needed that though, and felt much better, i even got a round of applause when i returned! "firsts" are exciting and it was hilarious. A proud moment for me...
We then set off down a really steep trail, which was dusty and gravelly and made me quite nervous. Some bits i went down on hands and feet or grabbing at branches and roots. One part of the trail was called the "bum slide". It turned into a trail full of tree roots, bog and mud with up- and down-hills which i felt much more comfortable with and quite enjoyed. This is "slugfest". I am clearly a wuss with downhills and need to get better.
Eventually, we climbed up to the summit of Grande mountain, where we could see tomorrow's even higher mountain (Hamel) and the climbs we had been through already. Layne had powered ahead in the second half of leg two and was first to the top. Another break for more food and taking in the views and we were on our way back down again towards the town of Grande Cache we could see below us.
This time the descent was even more treacherous, very steep and very rocky, but i tried to pick up some tips and get some speed going. Judging from our times today, i may struggle with cut-off times in the race so will need to make up time wherever possible. Down would be an easy way to improve.
As we were focusing on the downward struggle, i noticed that the trail had a sudden dramatic rise again, but with the relentless "down", up was actually quite a nice relief. At the start of this upward slope, we caught up with another couple of "death racers" out investigating the route. Chatting to them was a good excuse for a break.
Then the trail continued down the power line, but this time more wooded and nicely shady with more compact dirt than gravel so much easier by comparison. Still endlessly down. I had learnt about "Prancersize" this weekend, and that is a way to make the downhills much more fun. I also suggested using the powerlines as a zipline to get down faster but i don't think anyone thought that was a good idea.
Finally i caught up with Brenda, who was laying in wait with her camera. Once we had all gathered together again, we realised how late it was and how hungry we were and Brenda called a pizza company in town, giving us a deadline of half an hour to finish getting down the mountain and into town. This was a very good idea!
Me, Brenda and Layne made it down first, so Brenda swung by the hotel so i could grab some money, then she dropped me at the pizza place and drove Layne back to his car. The pizza place is actually a bar that happens to do takeaway pizza too, so that really threw me off when i walked in the door in my sweaty running gear. However, they had a jug of ice water on the bar that was just amazing. The water from the hotel that i had been drinking all day tastes awful. i didn't even stop drinking to type in my PIN, just kept guzzling.
Next stop, the liquor store nextdoor, then stumbled back across the road to the hotel, where i realised i had forgotten to pick up the hotel key (due to DIMR - Distance Induced Mental Retardation). No biggie, i had pizza so happily took my shoes off and stood there eating pizza, knocking every couple of minutes. Brenda came back about a minute before Shanna came out of the shower and let us all in.
The plan had been to shower and take the pizzas and beers over to where the two brothers were staying (Layne lives locally and had family stuff to do), but while i was in the shower, Brenda decided to order two more pizzas as they had eaten so much of it already.
Finally, we got round to their hotel, which was amazing, nicer than most places i have lived, with a full kitchen, living room and dining room, including fire place.
They had one of the transformers movies on the tv, which was nice to zone out to and watch explosions and fighting robots. We laughed about prancersizing and made our plans for tomorrow (inlcuding taking a beer with us to drink at the summit). The boys had a foam roller and massage balls and we also compared silly tan lines we had acquired.
Eventually, we drove back and ended up going to bed just as late as yesterday, but feeling very happy for such an awesome day.
We walked across the road to meet everybody in the car park and gave Layne our "drop bags" that he would drive to the end of leg one for us. Jacques was poorly so wouldn't be running but his brother Nick was joining us and we set off on the trail next to the highway before disappearing into the woods.
One of my aims this weekend is to enjoy myself as much as possible and do as much sightseeing as i can so that i can ignore the scenery on race day, keep my head down and keep going and not feel like i'm missing out. Leg one went really well, lots of chatting and silliness, including Shanna deciding to take a run up and leap over a muddy puddle that we had all clambered around the edge of. It was a fantastic jump. We did miss out a small out-and-back section at the beginning but still finished in a little over two hours, which seems pretty good going.
We then found Layne and his truck, refuelled, re-sunscreened and took Layne with us along the railway line to continue to leg two. We mostly walked and chatted for the beginning of leg two. i was amazed at one point where there was a gap in the trees and i could see a lake in the distance... that i realised was the lake we had run along earlier today.
We had a bit of a rest near the summit of Flood mountain, before scrambling up a tiny goat trail, taking in the view and adding our names to the notebook in the mailbox.
This was just our first mountain of the day, the next one would be even higher. We rested again at the same point and my new friends encouraged me to go pee in the bushes rather than wait as it would be a really long wait. I've never peed in the woods before though. Shanna needed to go as well, so she went first and then i followed. It was the most scenic pee ever, with a lovely view of the mountains, although i was nervous that another hiker might appear along the path. i really needed that though, and felt much better, i even got a round of applause when i returned! "firsts" are exciting and it was hilarious. A proud moment for me...
We then set off down a really steep trail, which was dusty and gravelly and made me quite nervous. Some bits i went down on hands and feet or grabbing at branches and roots. One part of the trail was called the "bum slide". It turned into a trail full of tree roots, bog and mud with up- and down-hills which i felt much more comfortable with and quite enjoyed. This is "slugfest". I am clearly a wuss with downhills and need to get better.
Eventually, we climbed up to the summit of Grande mountain, where we could see tomorrow's even higher mountain (Hamel) and the climbs we had been through already. Layne had powered ahead in the second half of leg two and was first to the top. Another break for more food and taking in the views and we were on our way back down again towards the town of Grande Cache we could see below us.
This time the descent was even more treacherous, very steep and very rocky, but i tried to pick up some tips and get some speed going. Judging from our times today, i may struggle with cut-off times in the race so will need to make up time wherever possible. Down would be an easy way to improve.
As we were focusing on the downward struggle, i noticed that the trail had a sudden dramatic rise again, but with the relentless "down", up was actually quite a nice relief. At the start of this upward slope, we caught up with another couple of "death racers" out investigating the route. Chatting to them was a good excuse for a break.
Then the trail continued down the power line, but this time more wooded and nicely shady with more compact dirt than gravel so much easier by comparison. Still endlessly down. I had learnt about "Prancersize" this weekend, and that is a way to make the downhills much more fun. I also suggested using the powerlines as a zipline to get down faster but i don't think anyone thought that was a good idea.
Finally i caught up with Brenda, who was laying in wait with her camera. Once we had all gathered together again, we realised how late it was and how hungry we were and Brenda called a pizza company in town, giving us a deadline of half an hour to finish getting down the mountain and into town. This was a very good idea!
Me, Brenda and Layne made it down first, so Brenda swung by the hotel so i could grab some money, then she dropped me at the pizza place and drove Layne back to his car. The pizza place is actually a bar that happens to do takeaway pizza too, so that really threw me off when i walked in the door in my sweaty running gear. However, they had a jug of ice water on the bar that was just amazing. The water from the hotel that i had been drinking all day tastes awful. i didn't even stop drinking to type in my PIN, just kept guzzling.
Next stop, the liquor store nextdoor, then stumbled back across the road to the hotel, where i realised i had forgotten to pick up the hotel key (due to DIMR - Distance Induced Mental Retardation). No biggie, i had pizza so happily took my shoes off and stood there eating pizza, knocking every couple of minutes. Brenda came back about a minute before Shanna came out of the shower and let us all in.
The plan had been to shower and take the pizzas and beers over to where the two brothers were staying (Layne lives locally and had family stuff to do), but while i was in the shower, Brenda decided to order two more pizzas as they had eaten so much of it already.
Finally, we got round to their hotel, which was amazing, nicer than most places i have lived, with a full kitchen, living room and dining room, including fire place.
They had one of the transformers movies on the tv, which was nice to zone out to and watch explosions and fighting robots. We laughed about prancersizing and made our plans for tomorrow (inlcuding taking a beer with us to drink at the summit). The boys had a foam roller and massage balls and we also compared silly tan lines we had acquired.
Eventually, we drove back and ended up going to bed just as late as yesterday, but feeling very happy for such an awesome day.
Day 292: Tutus, wildlife and sunset
I was working at the Running Room again today and intended to go the long way there and take out some cash for the weekend. Two minutes after leaving with my suitcase (the small carry-on one i got second hand) i realised i had forgotten my sandwiches and would have to go back for them. No time to get cash any more.
This meant i got to work early after walking with a bag with one wheel not working, in the heat, and i found that the doors were already open as the Graffiti Run people had already arrived to set up. There would be thousands of runners turning up to the store to pick up their race kit today and they even had a second table set up selling merchandise.
There was plenty to do in the store today, especially as one person called in sick, and it was kinda fun dodging around the maze that the stands had been arranged into. I ended up getting to wear one of the graffiti run tutus, which really made me happy.
With maybe 15 minutes of my shift left, someone came in and asked if i was Amy. So this is Shanna, who had agreed to pick me up from the store and drive us both to Brenda's house so she could drive us all to Grande Cache. Hooray! This saved quite a bit of time from me getting the bus to Shanna's house for a ride to Brenda's, but would still mean we would arrive quite late. I counted down the minutes until 5:30, then grabbed all my stuff, reluctantly returned the tutu, and left into the sunshine.
Brenda's house is amazing! It's in the middle of nowhere, with a wooded driveway and it's huge. I met her dogs who i have seen in pictures on facebook and they were very "friendly" and boisterous. They usually go with her on runs so she was very sad to be leaving them this time.
We chatted lots on the drive up, especially about trail running and CDR, and stopped in one town to get some cash and a few more bits of food. The last hour or so of driving after that was amazing.
We saw so much wildlife! Brenda slowed the car right down and rolled the windows down when we spotted a moose at the edge of the road. It was huge! I was a very bouncy excited tourist seeing him!
Soon, the sun started setting and turned into the most beautiful sunset i have ever seen. The whole sky was bright orange and pink as the huge sun sank into the mountains. The silhouettes of the trees just made it more spectacular and we just kept staring out. What an amazing start to the weekend.
Finally we arrived at our motel and i was pretty impressed as there was almost a kitchen in our room. We set our alarms and hoped we weren't too excited to sleep.
This meant i got to work early after walking with a bag with one wheel not working, in the heat, and i found that the doors were already open as the Graffiti Run people had already arrived to set up. There would be thousands of runners turning up to the store to pick up their race kit today and they even had a second table set up selling merchandise.
There was plenty to do in the store today, especially as one person called in sick, and it was kinda fun dodging around the maze that the stands had been arranged into. I ended up getting to wear one of the graffiti run tutus, which really made me happy.
With maybe 15 minutes of my shift left, someone came in and asked if i was Amy. So this is Shanna, who had agreed to pick me up from the store and drive us both to Brenda's house so she could drive us all to Grande Cache. Hooray! This saved quite a bit of time from me getting the bus to Shanna's house for a ride to Brenda's, but would still mean we would arrive quite late. I counted down the minutes until 5:30, then grabbed all my stuff, reluctantly returned the tutu, and left into the sunshine.
Brenda's house is amazing! It's in the middle of nowhere, with a wooded driveway and it's huge. I met her dogs who i have seen in pictures on facebook and they were very "friendly" and boisterous. They usually go with her on runs so she was very sad to be leaving them this time.
We chatted lots on the drive up, especially about trail running and CDR, and stopped in one town to get some cash and a few more bits of food. The last hour or so of driving after that was amazing.
We saw so much wildlife! Brenda slowed the car right down and rolled the windows down when we spotted a moose at the edge of the road. It was huge! I was a very bouncy excited tourist seeing him!
Soon, the sun started setting and turned into the most beautiful sunset i have ever seen. The whole sky was bright orange and pink as the huge sun sank into the mountains. The silhouettes of the trees just made it more spectacular and we just kept staring out. What an amazing start to the weekend.
Finally we arrived at our motel and i was pretty impressed as there was almost a kitchen in our room. We set our alarms and hoped we weren't too excited to sleep.
Day 291: Deportation
I'm writing this quite a while later so i can't remember everything i did on Thursday. It was a day of chores, my main job was to get packed for a weekend away but i ended up finding so many other things to do that this didn't get done til late in the day.
i spent a lot of time researching cheap flights back to the UK and eventually made the trek over to the Flight Centre to make a booking. They seem to know me fairly well now as I've been in quite a few times. I have very mixed emotions about booking a flight home, it makes it more real rather than just saying "sometime in August" if asked when i'm leaving. I don't want to go into a whole list of pros and cons but basically i felt very weird about it. Suddenly my departure seems imminent and i don't know where the time has gone.
On my walk home, i went into a few shops and even tried on a few dresses.
I finally managed to get my packing done and wash my hair, then joined Michael and Simon for a few drinks and some moral support. Michael is also away this weekend but he has Friday off work so will sleep in and leave when he feels like it.
i spent a lot of time researching cheap flights back to the UK and eventually made the trek over to the Flight Centre to make a booking. They seem to know me fairly well now as I've been in quite a few times. I have very mixed emotions about booking a flight home, it makes it more real rather than just saying "sometime in August" if asked when i'm leaving. I don't want to go into a whole list of pros and cons but basically i felt very weird about it. Suddenly my departure seems imminent and i don't know where the time has gone.
On my walk home, i went into a few shops and even tried on a few dresses.
I finally managed to get my packing done and wash my hair, then joined Michael and Simon for a few drinks and some moral support. Michael is also away this weekend but he has Friday off work so will sleep in and leave when he feels like it.
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Day 290: bug bites and cat cuddles
Another 5am start as i was going to boot camp today as well to make up for some of the sessions i missed. I actually woke up at 4:45 as it was already getting light out, but snoozed for a bit and then checked facebook before finally getting up.
My legs felt a bit slow and heavy after yesterday's run, but still no knee pain or anything so i think i'm fixed! Bootcamp was good, but i could feel myself getting gradually slower and slower throughout the class, plus I'd forgotten to put bug spray on again and mozzies were swooping in at any opportunity, I definitely have a couple of extra bites now but I have also been taking hayfever-type tablets since yesterday to try and stop the itchiness. i had a couple of bites in particular that were just enormous and i kept scratching them and making it worse, hopefully the antihistamine pills will help.
the next thing on the agenda was lunch with Cecily. I decided to walk downtown as it would probably take less time than public transport anyway, but it was much warmer than i was expecting. it was a lovely walk, but i went over the low level bridge and then had to climb the huge flight of stairs up to the hotel/castle on the other side of the river valley. i was kinda sweaty and exhausted by the time i got to the top!
Me and Cecily went on a search for food trucks and found a vegan one. She had a caesar salad with fake chicken (tasted similar to mcnuggets and probably similar amounts of chicken involved) and i had a beet burger with avocado and it was pretty good. we sat on the grass by the ledge (short for Alberta Legislature building grounds) and had a bit of a catch up, then i walked back over the high level bridge so i wouldn't have to go down and up again. I did stop for a coconut lassi on my way back as i was hot. its not as good as the mango lassi.
i spent most of the rest of my time planning my weekend, reading about races and generally killing time, enjoying not working and not having to rush - may as well make the best of things.
Things in the Sinister 7 race pack that made me laugh:
"we may dress up in bear suits to "motivate" runners; please do not pepper spray bears if they are wearing Sinister 7 t-shirts and running shoes"
" the water in the area is generally clean, and besides, illnesses like Beaver Fever take about two weeks to manifest symptoms so you should be fine for the duration of the race"
Michael came home early from work so i chatted to him for a bit too until he went out to play baseball but soon it was time to get ready for run club. I wore the "lucky shoes" again, and apart from tired legs, no issues. It was pretty humid and hot and this week we were doing six hills. I was going to introduce Simon from Couchsurfing to Run club, but he didn't show up. There were a lot of people on the hill again this week and it was great getting and giving lots of encouragement. I was speaking to one guy on the run back who's whole family seem to be into crazy ultra-distances and endurance stuff. His dad did 70 marathons (including a few ultras and the 70th marathon he was pushed round in a wheelchair) and an uncle and aunt in Australia did a marathon a day for a whole year! wow.
once i got home, i put some falafel in the oven and made myself a sandwich with hummus and salad, then Simon turned up! He had arrived too late and missed me so just went for a run on his own. I fed him another falafel sandwich and we did some stretches and had a chat, then he went home and i had a shower.
one advantage of not working and being home a lot is more cat cuddles, which is nice. I tried to take a picture earlier in the day:
failed.
Cat cuddles after my shower just made me sleepy and not want to move again to get ready for bed. it also stopped me from scratching my bug bites!
My legs felt a bit slow and heavy after yesterday's run, but still no knee pain or anything so i think i'm fixed! Bootcamp was good, but i could feel myself getting gradually slower and slower throughout the class, plus I'd forgotten to put bug spray on again and mozzies were swooping in at any opportunity, I definitely have a couple of extra bites now but I have also been taking hayfever-type tablets since yesterday to try and stop the itchiness. i had a couple of bites in particular that were just enormous and i kept scratching them and making it worse, hopefully the antihistamine pills will help.
the next thing on the agenda was lunch with Cecily. I decided to walk downtown as it would probably take less time than public transport anyway, but it was much warmer than i was expecting. it was a lovely walk, but i went over the low level bridge and then had to climb the huge flight of stairs up to the hotel/castle on the other side of the river valley. i was kinda sweaty and exhausted by the time i got to the top!
Me and Cecily went on a search for food trucks and found a vegan one. She had a caesar salad with fake chicken (tasted similar to mcnuggets and probably similar amounts of chicken involved) and i had a beet burger with avocado and it was pretty good. we sat on the grass by the ledge (short for Alberta Legislature building grounds) and had a bit of a catch up, then i walked back over the high level bridge so i wouldn't have to go down and up again. I did stop for a coconut lassi on my way back as i was hot. its not as good as the mango lassi.
i spent most of the rest of my time planning my weekend, reading about races and generally killing time, enjoying not working and not having to rush - may as well make the best of things.
Things in the Sinister 7 race pack that made me laugh:
"we may dress up in bear suits to "motivate" runners; please do not pepper spray bears if they are wearing Sinister 7 t-shirts and running shoes"
" the water in the area is generally clean, and besides, illnesses like Beaver Fever take about two weeks to manifest symptoms so you should be fine for the duration of the race"
Michael came home early from work so i chatted to him for a bit too until he went out to play baseball but soon it was time to get ready for run club. I wore the "lucky shoes" again, and apart from tired legs, no issues. It was pretty humid and hot and this week we were doing six hills. I was going to introduce Simon from Couchsurfing to Run club, but he didn't show up. There were a lot of people on the hill again this week and it was great getting and giving lots of encouragement. I was speaking to one guy on the run back who's whole family seem to be into crazy ultra-distances and endurance stuff. His dad did 70 marathons (including a few ultras and the 70th marathon he was pushed round in a wheelchair) and an uncle and aunt in Australia did a marathon a day for a whole year! wow.
once i got home, i put some falafel in the oven and made myself a sandwich with hummus and salad, then Simon turned up! He had arrived too late and missed me so just went for a run on his own. I fed him another falafel sandwich and we did some stretches and had a chat, then he went home and i had a shower.
one advantage of not working and being home a lot is more cat cuddles, which is nice. I tried to take a picture earlier in the day:
failed.
Cat cuddles after my shower just made me sleepy and not want to move again to get ready for bed. it also stopped me from scratching my bug bites!
Day 289: Happy Running Gods
Today i decided to sleep in a little bit, make myself a cooked breakfast, have a nice bath, and generally take my time.
it was around midday before i finally left the house. Goncha also needed to go to the bank so we left together to wander over. after i paid my cheque in, we had a chat while she had a coffee and a smoke, then i went to the shops to get some snacks for the weekend as i'm off to explore the Death Race course. There is always so much food going to waste in this house that i don't really buy much food anymore, i just hoover up leftovers. i stopped in the chocolate shop on my walk back to see what the "truffle of the day" was - it was one i didn't like so i bought a hot chocolate instead. She put blue cream on top, very strange, but yummy!
i had some leftover pizza for lunch with a chocolate cheesecake i had bought and applied for a few jobs and was just thinking of popping to the library when Simon appeared. He wanted to talk to me about running and stretching and stuff as he is doing a Spartan Race soon so i invited him to run club tomorrow. yay!
in the library i printed off the race information for Sinister 7 so i can read everything and start to worry. i haven't done enough training and its kinda taper time now. after Sinister i will need time to recover, then it will be time to taper for Death Race! i'll basically be winging it.
i had agreed to meet Daniel at 7:30pm but wanted to make it into a bit of a longer run, so i was planning on leaving at 6:30. I headed to Mill Creek Ravine and then North but running up every set of stairs i came across along the way. i thought this wouldn't take too long and i could do some speedwork as well, but there are a lot of stairs and i decided to go all the way to the end of the park and then some. I looped round at the end and up some steps to a view point, then back down the steps and up a long hill before finally turning round and heading back the way i came. There were a few nice short steep slopes that i ran up as well on the way back, then when i got past where I'd started i continued to go up any stairs i found as they looked interesting and i wanted to see where they went. The best bit about this whole run was that, although i was mostly on paved trail, my knee didn't hurt at all! hooray! it could be a miracle recovery or it could be the shoes i chose to wear today (Brooks Pure Cadence) but clearly the running Gods are favouring me today.
I met Daniel near his entrance to the ravine, with just Jimmy today, no Bear. We explored some of the trails around the south end of the ravine, including some sports fields and really pretty old wooden train bridges that are now just for pedestrians. When Daniel stopped to head back home, i couldn't hang about long to plan our next run or anything as the mosquitoes are absolutely loving me right now so i was completely attacked by them as soon as i stopped moving. i still felt pretty good so i kept to the gravel trails and headed back to the far north end of the park again, or at least roughly in that direction, i was really enjoying it so after looping back onto the paved trail i just kept going, crossed the road and continued through the next park over, which i'm starting to get slightly more familiar with now. The dirt bike trails are nice and cool and shaded and keep you alert with sudden changes of direction or bumpy bits or tree roots. when i got near the stairs back near my house, i almost wanted to carry on and do more but i had been out nearly two hours and it was getting late so i just ran up the stairs twice then headed home.
This is the best run i have done for ages, which i gleefully told Goncha when she got back.
I had just finished eating some hummus and pepper but she had a leftover burrito from Julio's Barrio which i wolfed down as well. She has decided to take a one week job at another camp and would be leaving tonight. I wished her well and said goodbye, then Michael drove her to the greyhound station and i went to bed, sleepy but very relieved to have managed such a good run. I'll wear the same shoes tomorrow, just in case (or superstitious), but hopefully i'm all fixed now.
it was around midday before i finally left the house. Goncha also needed to go to the bank so we left together to wander over. after i paid my cheque in, we had a chat while she had a coffee and a smoke, then i went to the shops to get some snacks for the weekend as i'm off to explore the Death Race course. There is always so much food going to waste in this house that i don't really buy much food anymore, i just hoover up leftovers. i stopped in the chocolate shop on my walk back to see what the "truffle of the day" was - it was one i didn't like so i bought a hot chocolate instead. She put blue cream on top, very strange, but yummy!
i had some leftover pizza for lunch with a chocolate cheesecake i had bought and applied for a few jobs and was just thinking of popping to the library when Simon appeared. He wanted to talk to me about running and stretching and stuff as he is doing a Spartan Race soon so i invited him to run club tomorrow. yay!
in the library i printed off the race information for Sinister 7 so i can read everything and start to worry. i haven't done enough training and its kinda taper time now. after Sinister i will need time to recover, then it will be time to taper for Death Race! i'll basically be winging it.
i had agreed to meet Daniel at 7:30pm but wanted to make it into a bit of a longer run, so i was planning on leaving at 6:30. I headed to Mill Creek Ravine and then North but running up every set of stairs i came across along the way. i thought this wouldn't take too long and i could do some speedwork as well, but there are a lot of stairs and i decided to go all the way to the end of the park and then some. I looped round at the end and up some steps to a view point, then back down the steps and up a long hill before finally turning round and heading back the way i came. There were a few nice short steep slopes that i ran up as well on the way back, then when i got past where I'd started i continued to go up any stairs i found as they looked interesting and i wanted to see where they went. The best bit about this whole run was that, although i was mostly on paved trail, my knee didn't hurt at all! hooray! it could be a miracle recovery or it could be the shoes i chose to wear today (Brooks Pure Cadence) but clearly the running Gods are favouring me today.
I met Daniel near his entrance to the ravine, with just Jimmy today, no Bear. We explored some of the trails around the south end of the ravine, including some sports fields and really pretty old wooden train bridges that are now just for pedestrians. When Daniel stopped to head back home, i couldn't hang about long to plan our next run or anything as the mosquitoes are absolutely loving me right now so i was completely attacked by them as soon as i stopped moving. i still felt pretty good so i kept to the gravel trails and headed back to the far north end of the park again, or at least roughly in that direction, i was really enjoying it so after looping back onto the paved trail i just kept going, crossed the road and continued through the next park over, which i'm starting to get slightly more familiar with now. The dirt bike trails are nice and cool and shaded and keep you alert with sudden changes of direction or bumpy bits or tree roots. when i got near the stairs back near my house, i almost wanted to carry on and do more but i had been out nearly two hours and it was getting late so i just ran up the stairs twice then headed home.
This is the best run i have done for ages, which i gleefully told Goncha when she got back.
I had just finished eating some hummus and pepper but she had a leftover burrito from Julio's Barrio which i wolfed down as well. She has decided to take a one week job at another camp and would be leaving tonight. I wished her well and said goodbye, then Michael drove her to the greyhound station and i went to bed, sleepy but very relieved to have managed such a good run. I'll wear the same shoes tomorrow, just in case (or superstitious), but hopefully i'm all fixed now.
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Day 288: busy busy
Again, my Monday started with a 5am alarm and a 5k run over to my boot camp. i tried to run on the grass wherever possible to stop my knee twinge but i felt better than i did last week, although the heel on one shoe was rubbing - i may have to give up on that pair of shoes now.
it's the first time i arrived on time and i was definitely less broken and better at the exercises. I would have considered running home as well this week, if my heel hadn't been rubbing.
As i was bumbling about getting my breakfast, Michael appeared suddenly. He should have gone to work ages ago but forgot to set his alarm.
i had laundry to do and a whole list of other things, which meant i could mostly avoid looking for jobs. i actually ran out of time and ended up not being able to go to the bank to pay in my tax refund and just rushing straight to my second exercise class.
It's the last week of the class, which is a shame as i've either missed or been suffering post-race for so many of them and the instructor seems like a lovely lady. i did pick up the brochure to see if there is another class i could sign up for, but it's difficult when my schedule keeps changing all the time and right now i have no money anyway.
next, i went straight into work at the Running Room, munching on left-over pizza on the walk. i usually get there early but for some reason today i was a minute or two late. As usual though, it seemed pretty quiet in the store. Andie tasked me with a thorough clean of the walls, doors, skirting board, etc. in the bathroom, which i was happy to do as it would keep me occupied, but when i was halfway through i was needed at the front of the store as people finished their shifts. There was still plenty of stock to put out on the shelves and other random tasks so time still flew by.
After my break and for the rest of the shift, the store was surprisingly busy. No idea why as it's usually dead on a Monday, but i do miss the busy Saturday shifts so it was kinda nice. There were just three of us and a lot of customers wanting shoes and being fairly high maintenance about it, although i think they could appreciate how busy it was and were all very grateful.
We even still had customers in the store until 9:15 and were struggling to get all the cleaning done so no leaving early this week, but it was good fun.
Steve from run club left from the store at about 6pm for a long run and finished sometime after 9pm. chatting to him before he left made me feel a bit guilty about my lack of training. He was the third person this week to tell me i look thinner/more toned now so that helped. I still weigh the same so still a lot of weight to drag around the mountains with me but with three separate people saying it (Helen on Sunday run and Goncha) I'll take the compliment! Unless i was just hugely fat in the winter before i started training properly...
When i got home i did a bit of foam rolling while Michael watched some TV and i realised i was really tired. The sort of tired where you don't have the energy to get ready for bed so it was actually quite late before i finally switched my light off.
it's the first time i arrived on time and i was definitely less broken and better at the exercises. I would have considered running home as well this week, if my heel hadn't been rubbing.
As i was bumbling about getting my breakfast, Michael appeared suddenly. He should have gone to work ages ago but forgot to set his alarm.
i had laundry to do and a whole list of other things, which meant i could mostly avoid looking for jobs. i actually ran out of time and ended up not being able to go to the bank to pay in my tax refund and just rushing straight to my second exercise class.
It's the last week of the class, which is a shame as i've either missed or been suffering post-race for so many of them and the instructor seems like a lovely lady. i did pick up the brochure to see if there is another class i could sign up for, but it's difficult when my schedule keeps changing all the time and right now i have no money anyway.
next, i went straight into work at the Running Room, munching on left-over pizza on the walk. i usually get there early but for some reason today i was a minute or two late. As usual though, it seemed pretty quiet in the store. Andie tasked me with a thorough clean of the walls, doors, skirting board, etc. in the bathroom, which i was happy to do as it would keep me occupied, but when i was halfway through i was needed at the front of the store as people finished their shifts. There was still plenty of stock to put out on the shelves and other random tasks so time still flew by.
After my break and for the rest of the shift, the store was surprisingly busy. No idea why as it's usually dead on a Monday, but i do miss the busy Saturday shifts so it was kinda nice. There were just three of us and a lot of customers wanting shoes and being fairly high maintenance about it, although i think they could appreciate how busy it was and were all very grateful.
We even still had customers in the store until 9:15 and were struggling to get all the cleaning done so no leaving early this week, but it was good fun.
Steve from run club left from the store at about 6pm for a long run and finished sometime after 9pm. chatting to him before he left made me feel a bit guilty about my lack of training. He was the third person this week to tell me i look thinner/more toned now so that helped. I still weigh the same so still a lot of weight to drag around the mountains with me but with three separate people saying it (Helen on Sunday run and Goncha) I'll take the compliment! Unless i was just hugely fat in the winter before i started training properly...
When i got home i did a bit of foam rolling while Michael watched some TV and i realised i was really tired. The sort of tired where you don't have the energy to get ready for bed so it was actually quite late before i finally switched my light off.
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Day 287: running with Nathan
so, last night was a bit annoying in the end. i was in my PJs and getting ready to go to bed when at 10:30 people started arriving at the house and cooking and stuff. i got a text from a friend saying "i just got invited to a party at your house tonight". whaaaat!? it would have been nice to at least tell me about something like this, if nothing else whether i need to move downstairs to sleep. it didn't seem too crazy or anything, just cooking and chatting so i carried on with going to bed upstairs and i think i was tired enough to sleep through most things, i only woke up a few times anyway.
i had decided to skip breakfast before run club so i didn't have to get up too early and all my stuff was ready to go. today i was testing out my new hydration pack, called "Nathan", and i was very pleased with him! it was a bit sweaty but didn't move about and was easy to drink from. i accidentally set off on the run with a faster group, but managed to drop back to a more sensible group after a couple of miles and settled in. my knee was a little bit twingey but bearable, pavement is definitely not good for me. a lot of the group were doing a shorter distance and headed back at the top of Victoria hill, but four of us kept going to do 26.5k (plus my run from home) and it felt pretty good. i know i've said it before but i absolutely love Edmonton for running, it's an amazing city with so much green now its summer.
after showering and eating a slice of leftover pizza from yesterday (it was really good!) i headed towards Hawrelak park where there is a food festival this weekend. I had a phone call from Fabio, who is back in town so he said he would meet me there too. It took quite a while to walk there (much faster running!) and when i got there, Fabio and Carol had already looked around and they had been invited to a BBQ at a friend's house. they said most of the food was just for a competition so you could only look at it. The food you could buy was expensive and small portions. I left with them for the BBQ instead, but we stopped by my old house to pick up my post, which included a cheque from the tax man! yay! unfortunately, i rang the doorbell, which meant Oscar hid under Tim's bed so i didn't get to see him. awww. i miss my kitten. although new cat at Michael's house can be quite snuggly.
we also stopped at Safeways to get some sausages for the BBQ, and the liquor store where me and Carol agreed to share some alcopops.
finally we are having really nice weather. not too hot and gloriously sunny. There were just a few people at the BBQ, but i've missed the Brazilian BBQs, really yummy food! and one of the girls there said she might be able to get me a job! Plus, the kids form the Brazilian Christmas party were there and very cute.
When my plan was to go to Hawrelak park i was going to meet Daniel for a run, but by the time i got a ride back he had eaten a big dinner and couldn't go, so i went on my own instead, finding more exciting trails to run along. i had a general approach of looking for dirt trails whenever possible and avoiding paved trails whenever possible. i was mostly on bike trails, occasionally having to step to one side for bikes to go past. At one point i was right on the edge, fairly high above the river, with lovely views. i even waved at some people higher up on a sensible path at a view point, but mostly the paths i took looked a bit like this:
There were also wider gravel tracks but i occasionally ended up on the paved trails as well. quite often these tracks were fairly close to the sensible (but knee hurty) paved trails but you wouldn't tell. shortly after i took this photo, someone ran past on the paved trail, so i knew it was close because i could hear them. I ran past where the paddle steamer goes from and under a couple of bridges, but that was the only way i could tell where i was at any point. i loved it.
the remains of the evening was taken up with housework, more leftover pizza and some other snacking. i was happy to note my estimated mileage total of 49.5 miles this week! that's a bit more like it. although obviously i have to do twice that in one go in a month. erp.
i was pretty tired after all this, in a nice sleepy kinda way, so i decided to get everything together for the morning and have a nice beer and just relax with some music. more job applying can wait. oh yeah, before i headed to the park, i called Starbucks back. she asked one question: are you looking for a summer job or wanting to carry on into the fall? i answered summer only, to which she replied that Starbucks do not hire seasonal staff as there is a lot of training involved so they would not carry my application forward to interview. gah! i even mentioned that i was mostly trained already from my campus job (who had hired me just for three months) but no good. The sunshine, lovely food, good company and beautiful runs have put me in a really good mood and i will continue the desperate search for employment tomorrow.
i have been trying to get into the habit of spending a few minutes foam rolling each day too, which is not the kinda thing you can multitask at. it would probably work well with TV catch ups but there is nothing i watch right now.
i had decided to skip breakfast before run club so i didn't have to get up too early and all my stuff was ready to go. today i was testing out my new hydration pack, called "Nathan", and i was very pleased with him! it was a bit sweaty but didn't move about and was easy to drink from. i accidentally set off on the run with a faster group, but managed to drop back to a more sensible group after a couple of miles and settled in. my knee was a little bit twingey but bearable, pavement is definitely not good for me. a lot of the group were doing a shorter distance and headed back at the top of Victoria hill, but four of us kept going to do 26.5k (plus my run from home) and it felt pretty good. i know i've said it before but i absolutely love Edmonton for running, it's an amazing city with so much green now its summer.
after showering and eating a slice of leftover pizza from yesterday (it was really good!) i headed towards Hawrelak park where there is a food festival this weekend. I had a phone call from Fabio, who is back in town so he said he would meet me there too. It took quite a while to walk there (much faster running!) and when i got there, Fabio and Carol had already looked around and they had been invited to a BBQ at a friend's house. they said most of the food was just for a competition so you could only look at it. The food you could buy was expensive and small portions. I left with them for the BBQ instead, but we stopped by my old house to pick up my post, which included a cheque from the tax man! yay! unfortunately, i rang the doorbell, which meant Oscar hid under Tim's bed so i didn't get to see him. awww. i miss my kitten. although new cat at Michael's house can be quite snuggly.
we also stopped at Safeways to get some sausages for the BBQ, and the liquor store where me and Carol agreed to share some alcopops.
finally we are having really nice weather. not too hot and gloriously sunny. There were just a few people at the BBQ, but i've missed the Brazilian BBQs, really yummy food! and one of the girls there said she might be able to get me a job! Plus, the kids form the Brazilian Christmas party were there and very cute.
 |
| Pipoca (popcorn) the dog |
 |
| me and Carol |
There were also wider gravel tracks but i occasionally ended up on the paved trails as well. quite often these tracks were fairly close to the sensible (but knee hurty) paved trails but you wouldn't tell. shortly after i took this photo, someone ran past on the paved trail, so i knew it was close because i could hear them. I ran past where the paddle steamer goes from and under a couple of bridges, but that was the only way i could tell where i was at any point. i loved it.
the remains of the evening was taken up with housework, more leftover pizza and some other snacking. i was happy to note my estimated mileage total of 49.5 miles this week! that's a bit more like it. although obviously i have to do twice that in one go in a month. erp.
i was pretty tired after all this, in a nice sleepy kinda way, so i decided to get everything together for the morning and have a nice beer and just relax with some music. more job applying can wait. oh yeah, before i headed to the park, i called Starbucks back. she asked one question: are you looking for a summer job or wanting to carry on into the fall? i answered summer only, to which she replied that Starbucks do not hire seasonal staff as there is a lot of training involved so they would not carry my application forward to interview. gah! i even mentioned that i was mostly trained already from my campus job (who had hired me just for three months) but no good. The sunshine, lovely food, good company and beautiful runs have put me in a really good mood and i will continue the desperate search for employment tomorrow.
i have been trying to get into the habit of spending a few minutes foam rolling each day too, which is not the kinda thing you can multitask at. it would probably work well with TV catch ups but there is nothing i watch right now.
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Day 286: lots of bags
my alarm went off at 5:40 but it took me a while to actually move. i ended up getting to the garden centre at about 7:15 but i spent the whole shift in just t-shirt and shorts (long shorts, but still!) i managed to pass the time making things look pretty and then started heading home at 11:15.
i had a mental list of things i needed to do on my way home, but then realised i didn't have my purse with me. i had some cake and cookies from Goncha's selection but no money of any kind. luckily, what i did have was my application for a store card at save-on-foods and some receipts to be added. they gave me the savings i should have got in cash form, so suddenly i had ten dollars and could buy a few things i needed.
when i got home, Michael and Goncha had not been up long. the three of us headed out to the farmer's market, wandered around for a bit and got some food. i am used to working at the Running Room all day saturday, so because i worked there yesterday and am free most of the day today, it feels like a sunday. it seems i have been eaten alive on my recent runs (that's what i get for picking little muddy trails!) and am covered in huge itchy insect bites. apart from that though, the summer has been good so far, not too hot yet, just perfect.
i have been needing a new handbag in a while as mine is broken and i saw one pretty cheap in the market. yay! Here is my new bag and the chocolate coated frozen cheesecake i bought too:
Next i wandered up to safeway as i had agreed to meet someone there to buy some second hand luggage from them. They were stuck in traffic so i got some groceries quickly. I then got a text saying they could give me a ride somewhere if i needed, which i thought was a bit weird, especially as i didn't even know if they were male or female. Turns out it was a girl and she looked like a normal person, so i got in her jeep and got a ride slightly closer to home where she got out the luggage and i gave her my money. She seemed pretty lovely so it was nice to meet her.
i had wanted a big bag, but she gave me a small carry-on size bag too, inside the bigger one, and i added my shopping bag as well.
Once i got home, i got ready to go for a run and Daniel came to pick me up as he wanted to explore another new park again. i haven't been running with Daniel for a while so i've missed out on the epic exploration. he also gave me an ice cream! we scrabbled up and down a few hills and over a few creeks, then found another runner on a main track. I recognised him from other races i have done and he was wearing a race number. He was about 80k through a 100k, which i had forgotten was today. i had considered entering but decided i had enough races and it would be too much.
we ended up crossing over the river (so that's another bridge to tick off) and we were in Rundle park. There were lots of people there, so both dogs tried to make new friends, or steal BBQ food, or chase screaming children... it was a really pretty park with lots of little ponds. Daniel decided to have a quick swim to cool off, but then someone came over and said he couldn't swim there. not sure why. there are many seemingly pointless rules in Canada.
eventually we navigated back to the car and headed home.
Next i had agreed to run up and down the stairs with Gonca. i think i'd been running on concrete a bit too much and my knee was starting to be unhappy, but we managed five sets of stairs (100 each time) and some chatting and stretching.
as i'd eaten so much cake and ice cream i didn't feel like eating much so i just had a yoghurt and some fruit. i decided it was already too late to do anything else today as i have run club tomorrow so i will try and be sociable with other people tomorrow instead hopefully.
apparently England lost their first game today. maybe i should be more patriotic about this or something. meh.
i had a mental list of things i needed to do on my way home, but then realised i didn't have my purse with me. i had some cake and cookies from Goncha's selection but no money of any kind. luckily, what i did have was my application for a store card at save-on-foods and some receipts to be added. they gave me the savings i should have got in cash form, so suddenly i had ten dollars and could buy a few things i needed.
when i got home, Michael and Goncha had not been up long. the three of us headed out to the farmer's market, wandered around for a bit and got some food. i am used to working at the Running Room all day saturday, so because i worked there yesterday and am free most of the day today, it feels like a sunday. it seems i have been eaten alive on my recent runs (that's what i get for picking little muddy trails!) and am covered in huge itchy insect bites. apart from that though, the summer has been good so far, not too hot yet, just perfect.
i have been needing a new handbag in a while as mine is broken and i saw one pretty cheap in the market. yay! Here is my new bag and the chocolate coated frozen cheesecake i bought too:
Next i wandered up to safeway as i had agreed to meet someone there to buy some second hand luggage from them. They were stuck in traffic so i got some groceries quickly. I then got a text saying they could give me a ride somewhere if i needed, which i thought was a bit weird, especially as i didn't even know if they were male or female. Turns out it was a girl and she looked like a normal person, so i got in her jeep and got a ride slightly closer to home where she got out the luggage and i gave her my money. She seemed pretty lovely so it was nice to meet her.
i had wanted a big bag, but she gave me a small carry-on size bag too, inside the bigger one, and i added my shopping bag as well.
Once i got home, i got ready to go for a run and Daniel came to pick me up as he wanted to explore another new park again. i haven't been running with Daniel for a while so i've missed out on the epic exploration. he also gave me an ice cream! we scrabbled up and down a few hills and over a few creeks, then found another runner on a main track. I recognised him from other races i have done and he was wearing a race number. He was about 80k through a 100k, which i had forgotten was today. i had considered entering but decided i had enough races and it would be too much.
we ended up crossing over the river (so that's another bridge to tick off) and we were in Rundle park. There were lots of people there, so both dogs tried to make new friends, or steal BBQ food, or chase screaming children... it was a really pretty park with lots of little ponds. Daniel decided to have a quick swim to cool off, but then someone came over and said he couldn't swim there. not sure why. there are many seemingly pointless rules in Canada.
eventually we navigated back to the car and headed home.
Next i had agreed to run up and down the stairs with Gonca. i think i'd been running on concrete a bit too much and my knee was starting to be unhappy, but we managed five sets of stairs (100 each time) and some chatting and stretching.
as i'd eaten so much cake and ice cream i didn't feel like eating much so i just had a yoghurt and some fruit. i decided it was already too late to do anything else today as i have run club tomorrow so i will try and be sociable with other people tomorrow instead hopefully.
apparently England lost their first game today. maybe i should be more patriotic about this or something. meh.
Day 285: happy Friday!
There are no curtains
in Ian's flat so I woke up at sunrise with the birds singing. This
meant it was fairly easy to catch a train home in plenty of time to
get to work on time. I was tired because we had stayed up late
talking, but I think I slept pretty well, and I certainly felt more
cheerful.
It was a fairly slow
day at work, but there were things to keep me busy – mostly socks -
and Justin had lots and lots of free coffee, so I put one bucket of
it in my locker to take home, and he brewed up a pot which I had a
cup of (with hot chocolate powder mixed in) and that perked me up
too.
There was one lady who
just couldn't decide between shoes so she ended up buying five pairs
so that she could try all of them on for longer at home and then
return four pairs tomorrow. It sounds crazy but in just a few
minutes she couldn't tell whether the shoes would rub her bunion or
not. I also had a nice chat with a Scottish lady, with a whole
family very keen on travel.
Finally, my shift ended
and I headed home. I had a text from Rainbow asking if i wanted to work tomorrow, which is good news, at least i will have some income. She said it would probably be my last shift but i think that is also good news as they are really starting to annoy me. i also had a voicemail from a job i had applied to, that was really good to hear! Things aren't completely hopeless.
I was going to take michael out for a run, but he
was really tired from staying up really late yesterday and didn't
want to go. There was a bowl full of cakes and cookies in the
kitchen but when I asked where they had come from, he said he thought
they were from me. There isn't anyone else staying here at the
moment, so its a bit of a mystery. Cake fairies must have been.
I dithered a lot and
eventually decided to go for a run by myself.
This time, I went down
the stairs and headed west-ish, leaving the paved trails and running
along dirt tracks whenever possible. Again, I found quite a network
of trails and mostly had no idea where I was or where I would end up
– until one of the bridges appeared or a road or some other
landmark. It was great. And my legs felt good. After half an hour
or so, I started looking out for a trail heading back in the other
direction, spotted one and started picking out a different route
home. I was forced to loop back round in the wrong direction due to
construction work and ended up running round the "pitch and putt" looking for a way out. I had run quite a long way back in the wrong
direction when I finally spotted a tiny trail where I could see a set
of stairs going up to a road. I had to crawl through a gap in a
fence to get to the stairs and they came up onto the high level
bridge. Now I knew where I was I went a slightly more direct route
back home, but I did nip back down one set of steps and up the next
just for good measure.
When I got back home, I
was greeted by Goncha. She had arrived at about 4pm but gone
straight to sleep and the cakes were from her. She had taken them
from the camp where she works. Mystery solved. Straight away I ate
two oatmeal raisin cookies. Michael was nowhere to be seen so I
assumed he had gone to play baseball, but then he emerged as he had
just been napping.
I decided to have a nice bath, then ate some cheesecake that Gonca had given us, then headed to bed as i would have an early start in the morning. i relocated downstairs so that it would be quieter as they were planning on having a noisy Friday night in.
Day 284: cheering up
I woke up and, sure
enough, no work again today. I got in a bit of a text argument with
Shelley from Rainbow about her terrible scheduling, which made me
feel a bit grumpy, then I got up, put my running kit on and headed
out to see how my legs would cope.
I was intending to run
up and down some nearby stairs so that I wasn't too far from home,
but there were workmen closing it off, so I tried the other direction
and found a small set of steps that I ran up and down a few times
before deciding I felt ok and should try exploring the trails. I
headed east-ish and found a whole network of dirt trails I could run
around. I ended up crossing into mill creek ravine and running home
from there so I was only out for 40 minutes or so but that seemed
like enough.
I made myself a nice
cooked breakfast of french toast and fried tomatoes, then called my
sports massage place and managed to get an appointment for 1pm today!
That's handy.
I spent the rest of the
morning looking up job applications before heading out to the clinic.
It was a lovely day so I could go in shorts and t shirt and not
bother to take a jacket. Hooray!
The massage wasn't too
painful, there were bits that hurt but it was encouraging to think I
wasn't too broken. She did notice that my left leg was more tense
than my right so maybe that is a result of my foam rolling right leg
only experiment. I think i'm sold on foam rolling now.
I bought an ice cream
on my walk home to slightly delay the inevitable hours of boredom
applying for jobs. I was feeling pretty desperate to get out of the
house, but had agreed to meet up with my friend Ian later on, so I
could look forward to that. Except that he ended up getting away
from work a bit late, and then when I finally went out to meet him,
he got stuck in traffic and couldn't park so I was sat starving in a
restaurant for half an hour.
The good news though,
was that he had a groupon voucher, so the food was all on him and it
was pretty good value anyway so I will definitely try and go back.
The place was called naan-o-licious and most things on the menu had
some sort of pun, but everything we ate was delicious.
After this, we drove
back to Ian's place to have a catch up (i.e. so I could whine about
work etc.), and he did a good job of cheering me up through the
medium of cat videos and tv comedy shows. I was enjoying myself so I
decided to just miss the last train home, crash there and go home in
the morning instead.
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Day 283: holidays and hills
today, i woke up, texted my boss at Rainbow, and again got told there is no work today.
this really sucks for my income. why do i keep getting jobs that can't give me reliable hours? i gave them more hours because of the higher rate of pay, but i've ended up getting paid less.
however, the weather is nice so today will be a day for getting outdoor things done.
I headed out towards the travel agent, stopping in a couple of places to hand in a resume. i needed to book flights to meet up with my parents in Vancouver (and go straight from there to Calgary for my next race) and i also wanted to make enquiries about flights home. I like the folks in the travel shop, (although i did mention the mix up with my last flights) they are funny and like talking about travel.
next i popped to the shops and then home to make some lunch before heading to Bulk Barn for dried fruit and the liquor store. i also decided to see if i could get a hair cut, and there was no wait so now all the horrible natty ends of my hair are gone!
next, i wanted to try making maple candy flavoured vodka, but unfortunately the sweeties did not fit in the bottle so i had to mix them in a jug instead. that's now waiting to dissolve on the windowsill.
mostly i spent my time trawling through job ads but i also procrastinated somewhat by planning bits of trips i have coming up. i think i found somewhere to stay in Vancouver for example.
i also kept myself in constant supply of hot drinks to help my throat and had an early dinner before run club.
i decided to wear my new run skirt today. exciting! it was actually pretty comfy and i really liked it. i wanted to wear my team shirt from the relay but would have preferred something sleeveless as it was quite warm. apart from feeling quite sluggish and achey, my legs seemed to cope with running so hopefully i can carry on with training without injuring myself.
the hill was crowded today. there were a whole bunch of people who looked really fit and were sprinting really fast, although they were only going half way. the walking group were also on the hill so there was a whole range, but it was good to see all the folks from the relay. i tried cheering people going up the hill but still a bit too croaky.
as i could jog straight home instead of collecting my things, i got home fairly early which gave me time for more job applying, including volunteering at a couple of the festivals (which gets you free entry) while snacking and listening to music (to make it feel like less of a chore).
i suspect it will be the same story tomorrow with no work but i will still plan around working just in case.
this really sucks for my income. why do i keep getting jobs that can't give me reliable hours? i gave them more hours because of the higher rate of pay, but i've ended up getting paid less.
however, the weather is nice so today will be a day for getting outdoor things done.
I headed out towards the travel agent, stopping in a couple of places to hand in a resume. i needed to book flights to meet up with my parents in Vancouver (and go straight from there to Calgary for my next race) and i also wanted to make enquiries about flights home. I like the folks in the travel shop, (although i did mention the mix up with my last flights) they are funny and like talking about travel.
next i popped to the shops and then home to make some lunch before heading to Bulk Barn for dried fruit and the liquor store. i also decided to see if i could get a hair cut, and there was no wait so now all the horrible natty ends of my hair are gone!
next, i wanted to try making maple candy flavoured vodka, but unfortunately the sweeties did not fit in the bottle so i had to mix them in a jug instead. that's now waiting to dissolve on the windowsill.
mostly i spent my time trawling through job ads but i also procrastinated somewhat by planning bits of trips i have coming up. i think i found somewhere to stay in Vancouver for example.
i also kept myself in constant supply of hot drinks to help my throat and had an early dinner before run club.
i decided to wear my new run skirt today. exciting! it was actually pretty comfy and i really liked it. i wanted to wear my team shirt from the relay but would have preferred something sleeveless as it was quite warm. apart from feeling quite sluggish and achey, my legs seemed to cope with running so hopefully i can carry on with training without injuring myself.
the hill was crowded today. there were a whole bunch of people who looked really fit and were sprinting really fast, although they were only going half way. the walking group were also on the hill so there was a whole range, but it was good to see all the folks from the relay. i tried cheering people going up the hill but still a bit too croaky.
as i could jog straight home instead of collecting my things, i got home fairly early which gave me time for more job applying, including volunteering at a couple of the festivals (which gets you free entry) while snacking and listening to music (to make it feel like less of a chore).
i suspect it will be the same story tomorrow with no work but i will still plan around working just in case.
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Day 282: Tuesday blues
i woke up feeling quite achey and stiff. Then saw a text from Shelley at Rainbow saying due to the weather they didn't need me to come in today and maybe not all week. This is really annoying as i offered them all of my availability. it's no good getting paid more per hour if i end up not working. bah.
i got up and tried to decide what to do with my day instead. there are plenty of things i need to do, but i also felt a bit rubbish and croaky, plus it was rainy so i didn't feel like going out.
i spent a nice long time in the bath, put a few adverts on the internet to sell some of my wintery things and started looking up new jobs online, as well as looking up exciting things to do over the summer. i made several cups of herbal tea to help my throat too.
i think it was nice to have a day just wallowing indoors, it certainly would have been a bit miserable at the garden centre!
eventually, i remembered an invite to the cinema that i had turned down because i was working and got in touch. Got dressed and got picked up for the cinema, but when we got there, there were no films at sensible times so we decided to just get some food instead. we ended up in a Japanese place and i had a bowl of beef teryaki as i didn't want to spend heaps of money on something fancier. i think i would have preferred to just watch a film as i couldn't talk much but it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.
once i got home i did a little bit of foam rolling and made myself some peppermint tea.
if i'm not working tomorrow i'll do all the "outside" stuff i need to do...
i got up and tried to decide what to do with my day instead. there are plenty of things i need to do, but i also felt a bit rubbish and croaky, plus it was rainy so i didn't feel like going out.
i spent a nice long time in the bath, put a few adverts on the internet to sell some of my wintery things and started looking up new jobs online, as well as looking up exciting things to do over the summer. i made several cups of herbal tea to help my throat too.
i think it was nice to have a day just wallowing indoors, it certainly would have been a bit miserable at the garden centre!
eventually, i remembered an invite to the cinema that i had turned down because i was working and got in touch. Got dressed and got picked up for the cinema, but when we got there, there were no films at sensible times so we decided to just get some food instead. we ended up in a Japanese place and i had a bowl of beef teryaki as i didn't want to spend heaps of money on something fancier. i think i would have preferred to just watch a film as i couldn't talk much but it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.
once i got home i did a little bit of foam rolling and made myself some peppermint tea.
if i'm not working tomorrow i'll do all the "outside" stuff i need to do...
Day 281: exercise!
when my alarm went off it was raining and i really felt like not getting up, but i've paid for this class and missed so many so i managed to drag myself up. i wore my banff-jasper t-shirt too!
the run there was difficult so i knew that i would want to get the bus home but most of the exercise was OK, just a bit achey and the rain held off the whole time.
when i got off the bus i bumped into Alejandro from Starbucks. He was on his way to his new job, this time actually in his field so he seemed pretty happy. i was very croaky so couldn't really talk to him.
i now had a few hours to eat, shower, do laundry, make sandwiches and generally faff about before my second exercise class. again, i could manage everything but squats and lunges were achey. i still feel like my knee is not too happy and i don't want it to get worse, but non running exercise is probably a really good thing. on the way to work i got caught in the rain. boo.
as i was still pretty croaky i suggested i avoid answering the phone this evening. i spent most of the first half of my shift helping Jen receive some boxes in the back of the store. i started re-arranging shoe boxes to make room for all the new stuff, but then Ed said he needed me in the front of the store so i had to abandon it all. a bit later on there was a brand new clinic starting, which is always fun, but as usual it was quiet enough to get everything done really quickly and leave work a bit early.
as i was walking home, feeling croaky and tired, someone yelled out of a truck at me. i wondered who it could be, then i noticed the piano on the back of the truck! clearly Michael is now the proud owner of a piano! this made me smile!
as i got home and unpacked, they were trying to figure out how to get it in the house. Simon was helping and apparently he used to work as a piano mover, i joined in with some of the moving but not sure how much help i was.
i microwaved a mug of wine as medicine and it definitely made me feel better, followed by some herbal tea too.
eventually the piano was in place and it turns out Simon can also play a few tunes. The light in the dining room is broken so he was playing by candlelight, which looked pretty awesome and reminded me of the Nosferatu showing we went to at Halloween.
all this meant i went to bed a little bit late, but feeling OK about that.
i forgot to mention that, as i had returned Lee's book yesterday, i had started reading one of Michael's instead. it's written by a guy called Lionel Tiger - what a name! The main review on the cover was from Robin Fox too.
the run there was difficult so i knew that i would want to get the bus home but most of the exercise was OK, just a bit achey and the rain held off the whole time.
when i got off the bus i bumped into Alejandro from Starbucks. He was on his way to his new job, this time actually in his field so he seemed pretty happy. i was very croaky so couldn't really talk to him.
i now had a few hours to eat, shower, do laundry, make sandwiches and generally faff about before my second exercise class. again, i could manage everything but squats and lunges were achey. i still feel like my knee is not too happy and i don't want it to get worse, but non running exercise is probably a really good thing. on the way to work i got caught in the rain. boo.
as i was still pretty croaky i suggested i avoid answering the phone this evening. i spent most of the first half of my shift helping Jen receive some boxes in the back of the store. i started re-arranging shoe boxes to make room for all the new stuff, but then Ed said he needed me in the front of the store so i had to abandon it all. a bit later on there was a brand new clinic starting, which is always fun, but as usual it was quiet enough to get everything done really quickly and leave work a bit early.
as i was walking home, feeling croaky and tired, someone yelled out of a truck at me. i wondered who it could be, then i noticed the piano on the back of the truck! clearly Michael is now the proud owner of a piano! this made me smile!
as i got home and unpacked, they were trying to figure out how to get it in the house. Simon was helping and apparently he used to work as a piano mover, i joined in with some of the moving but not sure how much help i was.
i microwaved a mug of wine as medicine and it definitely made me feel better, followed by some herbal tea too.
eventually the piano was in place and it turns out Simon can also play a few tunes. The light in the dining room is broken so he was playing by candlelight, which looked pretty awesome and reminded me of the Nosferatu showing we went to at Halloween.
all this meant i went to bed a little bit late, but feeling OK about that.
i forgot to mention that, as i had returned Lee's book yesterday, i had started reading one of Michael's instead. it's written by a guy called Lionel Tiger - what a name! The main review on the cover was from Robin Fox too.
Day 280: end to an epic weekend
I had been sharing a room with Lisa and we caught up on yesterday's fun while we got packed and ready in the morning. it seems she had been on the dance floor most of the night, whereas i had been talking nonsense in the bar instead.
We wandered down to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast (nobody wanted to walk any further than absolutely necessary) and i was quite surprised to see Murray was there already - he had been drinking lots of beers at the dinner but turns out he then slowed right down later in the evening - as i was getting a ride back with him again i thought i'd have loads of time until he got up.
breakfast was yummy and i also decided to drink two and a half cups of coffee, which is not usually sensible for me but i thought it would be fun.
there was an equally crazy amount of faffing with check-out as there had been with check-in but eventually we were on our way. There was more tour-guiding from Murray and we saw a mountain goat and even an elk with big fuzzy antlers, right at the side of the road! The Rockies are awesome!
it was a lovely day and i was in a really cheerful mood but my legs were stiff and achey from sitting in a car so i decided i wanted to go for a wander and hunt down some dinner instead of just eating something at home. it turns out that Michael spent his whole weekend in pain from his tooth once the anaesthetic wore off, so he was pretty grumpy when i came home, which made going out seem an even better idea!
i set out and ended up spotting a hot dog stand, which seemed like a fairly cheap option for a nice junky dinner to end an incredible weekend. i had a chilli dog, then wandered to the bank to get some money to pay rent, then bought an ice cream as well.
i unpacked, but then went out again to meet up with Lee as i'd borrowed a book off him ages ago and needed to return it. it was nice to sit outside and enjoy the good weather...until i got bitten by midges!
after a bit more of a catch-up with Michael, who may be buying a piano, i headed to bed early, tired, happy and with an alarm set for 5:15am!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)