dreaming over the ocean

So, today i had a 5km. and, to tell you the truth, i am "meh" about it... and (not going to lie), i was quite hesitant about writing this post. because i know that in the scheme of things, it is no big deal (like the 1st ever grey hair i found yesterday...). and, because i know that a race is a race. and, i love racing. and, i am grateful for racing. and, so when there is one that doesn't go well... well, you should just move on. but, i also know that people are going to ask/wonder. so, here we go. hopefully this soothes your curiousities. besides. it is pretty much the only interesting thing going on in my life right now. except for a few nice dinners on friday (made some chicken/tomato/spianch stuffed portobellos with annie on Friday, and then saturday, went to celebrate Vesna's birthday at a restaurant here in town called Khyber Pass on saturday night)... but, what i eat is not really interesting either. So, back to the race. I got up early (6am, race w...

So, yesterday, i found out that the class i normally have on Friday's was not happening. Know what that means? It means that this morning, I was able to wake up to the sunshine coming through my windows, rather than waking up to my alarm. I don't have to be anywhere until 3:30 this afternoon. I will spend the day doing school work in my PJ's, then go buy an aeropress ... (The boy i like is saving me from drinking crappy, instant coffee in the morning. That's a reason why i like him. he values the coffee snob in me.) Then, I will head down to the rowing bassin (on my bike... it will be my 1hr recovery ride, there and back) to coach the boys of Selwyn House School . I kinda (and, in kinda, i mean, really) like coaching these kids. It just brings the fun back into rowing. And, it also means that I get to take full control over the program, because the other "coach" knows pretty much nothing at all about rowing. Then, back to mile end for some Yoga and...

first off, it is a recovery week . It means: more time for school work. More time to see friends. More time to sleep. More time to focus on good nutrition. All things i like. secondly, the forecast is amazing. that means lots of outside commuting, and sunshine to wake me up in the morning, and crisp nights. it means extra free energy. its not warm. but it is sunny and dry. thirdly, lots of things for school are wrapping up. i just had my last family nursing meeting. Tomorrow, I will do a final OSCE for my physical assessment class. I will have my last clinical rotation feedback class. all of this means papers are soon to be due, and presentations are to be had, but, in general, there is an end to this story of the semester. fourth, i ROCKED master's swimming last night. We had a 1000m warm up, then a pyramid, that included 50/100/200/400/200/100/50 sprint/fast bits, with recovery distances in between. Normally, my "go to" T-Time for 100m is 1:30, fairly co...

So, this is a bit of a topic that i have wanted to write about for a bit of a time, but, i got to thinking about it a bit more this weekend, which kinda prompts a new post.... but, before we start that. this week is a sweet sweet recovery week. Today, in fact i have NO workout scheduled. Shocking. First day in a LONG time that i have not exercised. and, i am SO ready for the recovery week. My long workouts this weekend were hard. and, i felt my body having a challenging time with them. But, alas. i know that come the summer, I am going to appreciate the work that has been put in now. My coach, Mary , at train-this, knows what she is doing. and i like to believe that what she is doing is going to make me faster. so, this past weeks numbers: Swim: 2hrs 4800m Bike: 6hrs 15 min run: 4hr 32 min strength+yoga: 1hr30 total: 14hr 17 min SO, let's start off with why i was thinking about this particular subject. I did not have a all together "productive" weekend, in te...

by the boy i like, from his weekend in montreal. I am sure that they will continue to be updated. You can see his flickr page HERE brunch at Le Vieux Velo Drooling over Aragon 18s at Cycles Gervais Montreal Skyline at Night

This morning, I handed in my methods section of my research proposal. with that handed in, i only have 9 things left between me and the end of the semester (HA!). sighhhhh but, i love getting things done, and handing them in . After this post, back to work, since all weekend long i will be in a "pre departure workshop" with all the other students going to overseas locations in the fall. during my off times, i will be doing my long ride, and long run. and since, i am pretty much posting on a weekly basis, here are some MANY not-so-random thoughts... today, reading the paper about Japan, I almost started crying. The earth is shifting, and moving, and reminding us of it's power, and how we are but small things in a HUGE picture. but, i do wish that when the earth reminds us of this (like the volcano in iceland, or earthquake in new zealand, or the volcano currently in indonesia, or haiti, or floods in pakistan) it wouldn't have to be with such devestation. so, i...

I am super duper tired. no matter what, it seems as if i can't get enough sleep each night. but, thus is life. so, just sayin that this post is prolly going to be short... training is crazy these days... i am in the last week of my second strength/tempo block of the winter. And, one of the things about these weeks, is that running is loaded to the front end of the week. on sunday, i have a long run. on monday, an hour endurance. on tuesday, a 45 min tempo effort, doing mile repeats. and, i don't know about you, but, many times, i thin that running is the necessary evil attached to the end of two beautiful activities. i am not a runner. but, something has clicked in the last few weeks. all of a sudden, i have learnt to run in my zones. this has been a LONG time coming. I remember many many post-workout comments of "are you sure that you want me running in HR zones that low? i can bike in them... but, running, my HR can't stay below 150..." now, i feel ...

yep. it is mardi gras . And, I *did* eat pancakes. not for dinner, but, for breakfast. Though, they were pancakes made with a banana, two eggs, almond flour and flax seed. So, not real pancakes. but no, i did not drink myself into a stupor, or flash my breasts at anyone for beads. Though... i DO believe that at least one point in my life i need to make it down to NOLA to do that. or celebrate Carnival... so, cue religiosity (even though, i definitely like to say that i am "spiritual", rather than religious. but, here it is. deal with it. i believe in God. and, I also have to admit. i do have some religious tendencies as well. for instance. i am a sucker for traditions) but, yes. Mardi Gras means that tomorrow starts lent . and, if you don't know what lent is, technically, it is the 40 days before Easter (minus the sundays). it is 40 days, because that is supposedly how long Christ spent in the desert at the beginning of his ministry. but, 40 days is als...

so, yesterday was NOT as it was expected to be. I guess, the weekend was not as it expected to be. yesterday, after I posted my post, i ran out the door (Late, as always on a sunday morn) to head to church. Walked around the corner, saw a man peeing in a corner. fan-fricken-tastic. is *this* how the day is going to go? it got better. got to church, and had a good start to the service. We have recently had a influx of people who are closer to my age, which is great. Considering, at my church , we have all of about 15 people who regularly attend. and, there is about 2 who are my age. anyway, i disgress. i often go to churches which are not your "run of the mill" church. so, this one fits well in my life. i find it also very "new testament." but, we also are a church which is kinda "on the fringe." on the fringe, meaning, well, we often have crazy people come into the service. and, when I say crazy, i mean crazy... like, often being treated...

This weather is LAME! yesterday, it downpoured all day long, and was melting snow. Today, it has changed to snow, and it accumulating like crazy. and, you want my bet... that walking outside will be hazardous, because there is probably a large sheet of ice underneath this nice blanket of snow. deadly. and, i have no desire to do a long (1.5hrs) run on the treadmills at the Y. Esp. since you are only supposed to run on them for 30 minutes at a time. spring, please come soon. so, I have been a bit moody this week. I think that it started off with my concept map presentation early this week, in which I felt I did awful. I sent a follow up email about it, which did make me feel better about it. just because i felt like I was able to voice some of my thoughts. so, hopefully i won't fail. But, my guess, is that I will get about 60%. Which, in my program is a fail. and, i hate that. On thursday night, I also had a 3hr long conversation with the boy that i like. and, to tell ...

So, thanks for the comments on my holiday. It was indeed fun. It was indeed a priviledge to have the time to spend away, in the sun. However, much of my holiday was also spent (a few hours each day) doing school work. I left Montreal on Thursday the 17th (the day after my big exam), to Edmonton, to surprize the boy I like for the weekend. That next monday, I had a literature review due for my Malawi research project. Today, a day after I got back from the sun, I had a concept map on aboriginal health which was due. You can see it below. a concept map is pretty much, a visual representation of a research topic. it is a paper, but, with concepts, rather than paragraphs. We do three of them, and this is my second. Visually, it is better than the first. But, the presentation this morning was not great. Honestly, it felt so scattered (Despite having 9pages, single spaced of information), and like i knew nothing about the topics... The topic/senario was addressing suicide in an ...