Too much sitting

Tuesday morning I woke up to my phone ringing at 4:50 am, with work telling me I needed to fly to Moncton, NB in order to work a flight the next day.  I had to get all dressed up in my uniform just to sit in a seat allllll the way to Moncton.  When I got there, I was definitely in need of some activity!  I changed went down to the hotel gym right away.  Luckily, there were a few TVs in there, so I biked and ran my way through the women's boarder cross and watched Canada get the first ever gold medal in that sport!  I had so much fun and actually cheered in the packed gym when we won!  Other people were watching too, so it wasn't too out of place.  I watched some more Olympics that night, and then fell asleep with the TV on!

Yesterday I had the entire day in Toronto, so I spent it at Matt's parents house.  I had such a nice time seeing them (since it had been August since the last time I saw them) and his brothers.  I had almost every minute scheduled and didn't get to watch the hockey game, but I got some updates via text message and we caught a few minutes of it on TV when we were picking up his brother from hockey practice.  I also went to an AMAZING gluten free restaurant with his mum and grandma.  The food was out of this world delicious.  The bread was light and fluffy (not usually something that goes hand in hand with gluten free), and they had a great variety of food.  I wish we had a restaurant like that here!  I got to fill them in on all things wedding and we chatted about the shower coming up in April.  good times.  When I finally got back to my hotel I caught the last 5 minutes of the hockey, and our two medals in bobsleigh!  What a great day for Canada.  I'm just so proud of our athletes.

I've got a run scheduled for today, but my head is currently pounding, so I'll pop some advil and see what happens.  Running and headaches don't really mix too well, so I'll have to wait and see if it goes away.

I wish the time would go by slower; I'm not ready for the Olympics to be over!!

Lead Legs

Yesterday I set out for another 14km run.  This time, instead of it just being a long, slow distance run, it was a "progression run", which meant I had to hammer out the last 2km at speed 2 instead of speed 1.  My training program focuses on three speeds: long distance speed, or speed 1, middle distance speed, speed 2, and then sprinting speed, speed 3.  So even though I was flipping tired, I had to push the last 2 km and run FASTER.  It's as much a mental exercise as a physical one, since after 12 km I wasn't really in the mood to push it, especially since I had a bad run (but more on that later).  I decided that my strategy would be "the faster you run now, the sooner you get to stop", instead of the whole "train to get stronger and this will help me later" idea.  I just wanted to stop running.  I'm not really sure HOW much faster I really ran those last 2 km, but it felt horrible and agonizing, so I figure I pushed it enough.

As soon as I set out for my run, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be my best.  My legs have been feeling like bricks lately, I think having something to do with the whole cycling thing, and I just felt fatigued before I even started.  I didn't run very quickly, and I didn't feel "in the zone" like I often do on my long runs.  Normally my shorter speed runs are the worst for me, and my long runs being a little easier and energizing.  Yesterday, my only saving grace was a great podcast called "Running to Disney", which always makes me laugh because of Gordon's accent and sayings.  He was doing a little q & a episode and he kept saying "dawggone" and wishing he was watching American Idol.  Anyway, I pushed through my agony and finished strong.  A memory of my first half marathon came back during yesterday's run, a memory of me chanting "keep going keep going" and I'm pretty sure "I'm never running again" was thrown in there a few times as well.  Funny enough, I'm training for that very same race, so we'll see how my mental exercises help me!  My speed was SLOW yesterday, which brought me down a lot.  It's funny to think that after a 14km run I felt like I had accomplished nothing, and felt lazy because I hadn't run fast enough.  Crazy, I know, but true.  I really need to work on my attitude!

This morning I set out to the pool, but had a lackluster swim.  I got through my workout, but didn't feel in any zone at all.  I was struggling with my breathing which made me fade quite quickly.  I'll just have to try to relax and improve next time.  On a positive note, I finally remembered my ear plugs and they worked SO well.  No water in my ears for the rest of the day, thankfully!  I can't think of anything as annoying as water in the ear, except maybe chaffed thighs. 

After my swim, I took back my recycling, which has piled up way past what it should have.  I REALLY miss curbside recycling.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics.  There are just way too many things to mention, but I'm loving AND hating them right now!

The best time of the year(s)

The Olympics are here, and I am SO excited.  I love every single aspect of them, and I am glued to the TV.  I actually don't want to leave the house in case I miss something. 

I was extremely lucky on Friday as I was passing through Vancouver.  I went out into the airport terminal looking for some coffee, and I got to hold the Olympic torch!!!  I saw it, and I immediately ran over, asked if I could have my picture with it, and they agreed to let me use my own camera (so I didn't have to pay).  I was SO happy.  The only downfall is that I was in uniform, so I can't really plaster the picture all over the internet.  I'll just keep it and look at it every once in a while.  It was so thrilling.

Since then, I've been so happy and excited as I watch each event.  I tend to get pretty emotional when I watch them, and this year has been no different.  I shed a few tears during the women's moguls event when our sweet little canadians won a silver medal and placed fifth.  I was so proud of them both.  I also really enjoyed the men's short track speed skating, where even though our medal hopeful didn't qualify for the final, another Canadian made it through and placed 4th!  Right now I'm watching Cindy Klassen compete in the 3000m long track speed skating and the crowd is on their feet cheering her on.  I just can't imagine how it feels to be a Canadian Olympian in Vancouver, and I'm really disappointed that I won't be there during the games.  I do have one overnight, but it's pretty quick, so I'm not sure I'll be able to make it downtown.

My training is going alright... though I'm struggling a little with the cycling.  I just don't want to stay on the bike as long as I need to.  Today I had a nice 14km run on Valentine's day, and came home to some delicious coffee and crepes.  There's nothing like food to motivate me!

I hope everyone is enjoying the games!

Pool logistics

I normally swim at a city of Calgary pool; Killarney pool more specifically.  It's not REALLY that close to my house, but it's close enough, it's cheap, there is a gym if I feel like a change of scenery, and that's just where I go.  It's not the nicest pool around, but it will do.  One of my issues is the schedule, since there are very few hours for lane swim after 9:00 am, and even though I set my alarm almost every day so that I can get up and swim, it's rare that I actually get there.  Also, I don't LOVE the other people who swim there.  Now, I have no problems whatsoever with people going to the pool who aren't great swimmers.  That was me one year ago.  It's just that I never know where I fit in with these people.  On Monday nights during swim conditioning class, I am a definite SLOW laner.  Everyone is faster than I am.  During lane swim, however, the slow lane is full of people who are just walking back and forth in the pool, so I go to the medium lane.  This is where it gets tricky.  I'm not fast.  Not at all.  But I swim with my face in the water and I do a real stroke.  Sometimes, there are the "I'm just going to hop in the pool for a change but I don't want to get my hair wet" people in the medium lane.  They're faster than the walkers, but they aren't medium.  Over in the fast lane, people are one second away from qualifying for the olympics, so where do I go?  I usually suck it up, go in the medium lane and just pass people (which isn't terrible for the ego for a second). 

Last night I went to the Talisman Centre for a change.  These issues don't really exist there.  There are WAY more lanes, the people are generally a lot more "serious", and I can get away with slow, maybe medium, with no issues at all.  Also, if you go in the last 90 minutes, it's only a 5$ drop in fee, which is the same as the city of Calgary pools.  Last night, I psyched myself up for a great swim, and when I got there, I realized that their main pools were under renovation.  SO, in the last remaining pool I found two water polo teams, three lanes of swimming, and a lot of people with dry hair.  I felt foiled!  I didn't give up, but I spent my time passing people and getting hit in the face by crazy sporadic arms.  Hey, on the bright side, it simulated the tri race experience!

A little bone to pick

As much as I LOVE my new phone, I feel a little mislead.

I do not get service in the entire province of Saskatchewan, and some parts on Ontario. 

What?!?!  Seriously??  No service on the iPhone. 

When I called Bell and asked them "WTF?!?!?" they just said "we haven't expanded our network there yet, but we will, sometime.  And yes, you still have to pay for continuous coverage even though you won't receive continuous coverage.  And even though you said you traveled for a living, it isn't standard to let our customers know that there isn't service in all of Canada when purchasing the iPhone." 

Well crap.