dreaming over the ocean

so, the other day, I had the first conversation where training got in the way of "life."  I mean, there have been other times, but, this time was the first time I had a conversation where I realized that not everyone thinks that my way of prioritizing is "normal." the conversation went something like this, at about 10 pm: "well, I have a 2-hr bike ride for sometime tomorrow and swim practice in the morning.  And a dentist appointment.  and work.  Do you want to join me for the bike ride?" "hmmm, sure, that sounds good.  What time?" "Well, I was thinking after I get back from work." "when are you working until?" "7pm" "ummmm.  you want to ride at 7:30, for 2 hours?  when are you doing to eat dinner?" "well, after?" "errrr... isn't eating just as important as training?" "well, yes.  but, i will  eat.  just after riding." .... quizzical  stare. "i mean, it...

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...

very quick post!! if anyone sees a pair of red Vancouver 2010 Mittens lying around, somewhere between the YMCA on Parc Ave , and St Denis @ beaubien, they are mine. please return. I love them. and, i lost them today. So, tomorrow I will head west for the Canadian University Rowing Championships. Should be pretty good. I am not rowing, I am coaching two of the guys who will rowing lightweight singles. But, beyond that... It has been 10 years since I have rowed at Elk Lake, in Victoria. (um. wow?) I feel, like in a sense, it will be kinda like a home coming. great venue. great location. great sport. it should be a great weekend. Esp. if Sylvain and Ariel do well!!! so, row hard boys. on another note. Coach Mary , and Turbo Curbeau are at IM florida this weekend. Let's Go Train-this! swim bike run like it is your business. (oh wait. it is.) yesterday, I did something (I am not telling you what, because it is really embarrassing/shameful) that I was not proud of, ...

yes, it's true. Once upon a time, I rowed. For essentially 7-8 years. That is a big chunk of my 27 year life. ANd, now, I have spent close to two years coaching. I love. Love. LOVE. rowing. When i was a wee one, I swam. For a lot of years. and, I loved it. But, it wasn't that sport that I really chose. I just did it. I liked it. And, i did fairly well at it. not like rowing. I quit swimming to go to a school that would give me a chance to row, because people told me "you have the perfect rower's body." I have story an experience from rowing from everything. from having teammates tell me that I am not pulling hard, to getting silver at San Diego Crew Classic, and the Head of the Charles. Everything from swearing at my coxie while getting off an erg, to learning how to master that wreatced machine. From barely making petite finals ("I am not a petite girl! I shouldn't be rowing in petite finals") and gotten silver at the canadian hig...

This past weekend was Thanksgiving. Yes, we don't celebrate the pilgrims up here, but rather, the harvest. Now, i LOVE thanksgiving. I love the meal, i love the occasion to gather family, and I love that you just get to think about all the things you are thankful for. friends. food. family. laughter. athletics. school. opportunity. faith. skype. just to name a few. i have, in the past, had many a thanksgiving memory. Like this one, that occured during my senior year at WVU. Some of the people in that picture are university friends who have turned into life long friends. at least 3 of them. There is a zach . there is a k-shon . there is a KJ. When i lived in the states, I celebrated twice a year. I used to have the Varsity 8+ to my apartment for canadian thanksgiving. Then, (for many years) I celebrated American Thanksgiving, in Georgia. One year, I went back to edmonton, to get confirmed. But, with all that, I have good memories. This year was no exception. And, I...

So, getting pretty excited for this weekend. I had a super duper swim today. One where I just counted my laps, for 30 mins straight in a 30 minute steady swim. 1700m later, i was pretty happy (these are some photos... taken from a video... during the summer, when swimming in a glorious outdoor pool in edmonton) I am a little cautious about approaching my swim this weekend. I know that during my last race, I was not happy. I am a fairly quick swimmer, but, sometimes I over estimate myself (i think). I need to make sure that this swim is steady. That I keep my head in the game, and not worry about where other people are... just swim. And, that is what I have appreciated about my last 4 swims. They have all been 30 minutes continuous. And, that is good for my head space... 30 minutes continuous forces me to get into a head space where i am just finding consistancy: with my stroke, with my thoughts, with me. And, as I am getting ready for the race, the inspirational videos come...

This would've been at Dad Vail regatta, 2005. I am 3 from the left. I would've been the last day that i was a competitive rower. What beautiful people those ladies are. What a beautiful and sad day that was.

So, i don't really know if i quite call myself a rower anymore. but, every once and a while these days, I jump in a boat. So, this was at head of the fish regatta last weekend. Lots of fun, in a mixed boat of the four coaches from my team, and 4 of the rowers. 7 seat, how i love sitting in you. donna, how i miss having you sit in front of me... Club d'aviron Montreal | Mixed Collegiate Eight

so, I woke up at 4:45, with the intention of going to le bassin d'aviron, to coach this morning. this, to me, is normal. remember how I have said that something strange happens to me every day in Montreal. Well, it is 7:30, and I am sitting in a cafe, not at practice. My girls are probably just coming off the water now. first off, I missed my bus, by about 15 seconds* At that point, I though: "hmmmm, so this is how the day is going to go..." so, i speed walk 15 minutes down the hill, to get to the metro. get into the metro on time, and wait for it to start (if I ride it to practice in the morning, I have to get the first one.) We hear the electricity start up, and promptly in about 1 minute, there is an announcement: Le service de metro est introrumpter pour une temps indeterminer. The metro service is down for an undetermined amount of time. oh crap. so, I wait. and wait. and wait. 45 minutes- an hour later, i determine that there is no point in going to the ...

for a regatta this weekend, coaching. and it is raining. a lot. it sucks. had to deal with an almost hypothermic girl this morning. bad weather is not what i miss about rowing, and i am sooooo glad that I do not have to be on the water right now. .... Despite the fact that is was sooooooooo wet today, (pretty much i stopped caring if i were walking in shin deep puddles with DC shoes on) we had a great day~ one of my girls one a medal in a single, and there were a couple of other strong performances and top 3 finishes! wooo! at the end of the day, I was able to take off for a little 30 minute run. And, it was amazing. so beautiful! Saratoga Springs is so beautiful! the fall colours on the road that I ran down were incredible, and breath taking. And, it stopped raining. And, i could *smell* and *see* and *feel* and *hear* the fall. and, i remembered why i think the fall is my favourite season. good day today... good day.

so, right off the bat, I want to make an announcement. I am not rowing. I am not rowing. I am coaching. my butt does not sit in that boat, and my hands do not pull on that oar. I bike along the side of the olympic bassin, yelling at others in broken french. or english. or "franglais..." which is a french-english combination spoken here in montreal... :) Last week, I joined the Mcgill Outdoor Club . And, the first weekend came along, and it was entitled "new members weekend." I'm new, and, i am a member. so, i paied the 35$ (45 if you take the bus, but I vouched to ride my bike), and got prepped to go. It didn't take me long to realize the most new members are about 20 or 21, and surprizingly, many new members are also foreign exchange students. so, it ended up being an interesting weekend. The ride up to "the house" is about 75km eachway, along a bike path up to the laurentians, to shawbridge. side note, apparently, quebec has one of the longest ...

so, things are picking up... about a week ago, i was feeling a little worried. for instance, feeling really lost with such things like "how to make friends" and "where to drink coffee" and "where the crap does this bike lane go" and "where can i go to get some yummy organic groceries?" and "why can't i bring my bike on the bus" and "am I going to get along with my classmates?" and "where do I go to get a job?" let's just say that virtually every day, I have had a situation that I have not expected. an occurance, of sorts, that keeps me on my toes. and, they just keep on going, and going, but, i think i am starting to get glimpses as to why people love this city. there is great coffee. there are cute little walk-up apartments. the view from the top of the mountain is amazing. there are farmer's markets which run 24hrs a day, 365 days a year. there are people who speak french better than they speak...