long day of paper writing!
yup, finals. they are just around the corner! Only 2 more weeks of classes, and that is shocking to me!
this past week has been exceptionally busy, but filled with everywhere from the awful to the wonderful happenings. and, so, I present you with the highlights (holy moley this is a long post!):
late night wanderings:
last thursday night, we had a wonderful rowing dinner. Filled with videos, fancy people (have i mentioned that i love the fact that word for "fancy" in quebecois is "chic." for example: comment chic vas-tu se soir?" translates into: how fancy are you going tonight?" love it.), nice food, and lots of laughs. I was quite chic, with a red/maroon dress, and a pair of black heels that i borrowed from a friend to make me far taller than 6 feet (as if i need to be taller. but, i figure: if you have legs, show them off! but that was a mistake: re
member that ankle!?)
at any rate, i had a rotation at the hospital the next day, so i knew I had to leave early: it starts at 7. so, from where I was, it generally takes 20/30 mins max to get home. What happened next was something that people just have bad dreams about. i hopped on a bus, that just happened to be there when i stepped out of the restaurant, presuming that it was going to go to a local metro station.
It was about 12 o'clock, so, would be okay to catch the metro before it closed. but, before I knew it, we had passed all the local stations, and we were heading *north* and I was too far to get off, and go the opposite direction. Finally, we make it to a metro station, in la la land. (oh, and, have I mentioned that i forgot both my watch, and my phone at home!?!?). so, i walk down into onto the platform and wait. and wait. and wait. 20 minutes later, a worker comes down, and tells the 5 of us on the platform... there are no more trains! oh crap. so, i walk outside, no idea where i am, but with a general idea how to get home. and, it is starting to rain. I hop a few more night busses (this also included the times standing in the rain at remote bus stops, and seeing a cops lights flashing...) and arrive at a different metro station, only slightly closer to home. and, it was at this time, where i think "damn. sigh. i have no desire to wait for another bus that might not get me home again." find a taxi (i thought about this earlier, but there was no taxi to be found)...
and, alas. one drove by. such a relief. I hope in, with just short of 14$ in my pocket. we get home, and it is about 17$ and change. so, no problem. use my card. but... did they have a card machine?! NOPE. ARGH! really!? so, we drive away to go to a atm. but, thankfully, the cabbie was amazing, and then said "you know what, don't worry about it." and turned around and dropped me home. I went to bed at 2:15, and work up at 5:30 for a day at the hospital.
awful. awful. awful. and, you know what... it was one of the scariest moments that i have had in a long time. I can hold my own. I am 6ft tall, and not a small girl. But, there i was, in a place i didn't know, in the middle of the night, with no phone, and wearing a dress with high heels. if i was dressed in jeans, it probably would have felt different. but, i wasn't wearing jeans. and, it was scary. and, i was so relieved when i got home.
but, onto better news...
holidays: my mum surprized me earlier this week with random phone calls back and forth about our time share that happens every two years
for a week, in southern BC. She said "if i booked it, will you come!?" i said "if you pay for my plane ticket, of course." she said "well, would you like to go to somewhere hot?!" I said... "of course!!!!" she said "okay, let's try to plan. where would you like?" that ended up being a bit of a condundrum, with most places already being booked full. but, after a day of back and forth calls with the time share exchange company... we are going to the bahamas! WOOOT! so, from Feb 20th-Feb 27th, I will be staying here, i will be scuba-ing (they have reef sharks there! awesome! running on an island, and open water swimming (well... they have reef sharks there. yipes!) and, of course, spending time with my mama. you know, never in my life have we *Ever* had a hot holiday.
job possibilities:
this only happened yesterday, but, I had a meeting with a prof who teaches Exercise Pathophysiology at McGill. I had applied to TA her class, and she loved my CV: that i have a background in exphys and rehab, and that i am in nursing now. she loves that i looked at muscle histology ('cause some of her students are doing that!!!), and she commended me on my athletic accomplishments. and, i knew I was in a good place when I saw that she had an Ironman lanyard for her keys!? so... i asked... and no, not her, but one of her best friends. cool. she is at least a tri spectathlete! so, very very good possibilities to be have a job in an area that I love (i would be responsible for the exercise testing component, and also teaching 2 or 3 classes.... such a great experience!)
love:
as mentioned previously. my best friend Christina is married. To Dave. Here is her facebook profile pic. they "eloped" to Key West. but don't worry, it wasn't a secret that they were eloping.
prayer:
this past weekend, i spent friday evening, and most of satruday at a "meditative and contemplative prayer retreat." and, despite being a bit hesitant about it, it was wonderful. Most of the time was spent in solitude (like, long times!) on saturday, 3 times we would be quiet, and just sit, pray, meditate, and contemplate for anywhere from 1.5-2 1/4 hours. it was amazing. and, what i needed. and, i like that. to sit, and to escape. the retreat was held in this beautiful "villa maria" architecture catholic church in the eastern part of the city. so, a perfect place to "contemplate." and, you know, there were definitely tears at some points. we got to contemplate... ourself: then god: then our mission. there was definitely times of self examination, and times of talking sternly with God, and times of worship.
and, that is not always easy. but, always necessary.
training:
yesterday, I had a *hard* day of training. Hopped on the bike, and HR soared. and, was exceptionally unmotivated to go swimming. Found my legs cramping up a bit, and all of that. it was so strange, and I had no idea why it was happening. I wondered if it was an overflow of getting 3 hours sleep on thursday night. or if it was cause i ate lunch in too close of a proximity of my ride. or what.
the weather has been really nice here recently, and that allowed me to go and ride my bike outside on saturday. And, you know... i suppose that a benefit of riding inside all the time is that you really appreciate those days when you are outside. I don't think that there is anything that compares to feeling the wind, and the glide of a bike under you.
some of my girls with rowing have been on a "We want to be lightweights" kick. which, is not bad. they are not far off, and they have the ability to lean up. But, it is funny, because they ask me a lot about nutrition. Something that is constantly on my mind, and something that I am constantly learning about. but, it also got me thinking about something else, something that I read about recently in rowersworld:
when athletes are sedentary.
you might ask, what do you mean?!?!
what i mean, is this: the athlete, who, during the time that they are training work fairly hard. but, as soon as they go home, they eat a *huge* meal, or allow themselves to think "mmm, since I am an athlete, and working out ..... hrs a day, I can eat whatever I want." and
"mmmm, since I am an athlete, and working out ..... hrs a day, I can sit around and be lazy for the rest of the day. I can lounge while watching tv or on the computer, and i can take the elevator, and sit around all day and drive to the gym."
I think this is absolutely true. i think that as athletes, we definitely to use time between workouts to recover, and not overtrain. but, any time that we sit for long periods of time, and don't move, our bodies hate it. There are so many studies out there which show things about increased bed rest leading to increased muscle atrophy, or how movement decreases muscle soreness, and the such. And, maybe it is a key as to why some people can be more successful with weight loss than other people... but, that might just be mho.
what do you think!?
yikes! did i mention that i have papers to write!?!?!?
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