"Dah-bee-dah"

We had a crazy weekend, both of us going to different directions trying to get everything done and a few extra commitments that all happened to fall in the same two day span. Darcy really doesn't seem to mind though. Saturday afternoon Sue was out and I asked D if she wanted to go for a walk, "Y E A H ! ! !" We walked just short of 1.5 km in about 40 minutes, that's a good time for a 19 month girl ;) She slept for almost 13 hours Saturday night, we had to wake her up a 9am on Sunday. That I could get used to!

Yesterday Darcy didn't take her nap and was a little cranky in the afternoon, but then after she ate supper was hysterical; telling us stories, reading her books out loud. When Sue and I finally sat down to eat something, she came right over to the table and wanted to get back in her hi-chair to sit with us. We asked if she wanted to sit in a big chair, "Y E A H ! ! !", so she coloured at the big table with us. As if she wasn't being good enough for us she sat on the floor by her toy box and put all her toys IN it before going to bed. The cherry on top of it all was that after her bath she started singing a song at the top of her lungs and laughing like a maniac. It goes something like this, "Dah-bee-dah bee-dah-bee-dah. Dah-bee dah-bee dah-bee dah-bee dah." We were trying to get her settle down, so that she would sleep, but when you told her to be quiet, she'd sing the song in a whisper "Dah-bee-dah bee-dah-bee-dah. Dah-bee dah-bee dah." We wondered if she'd remember her song this morning and while she was waking up she started singing again. By the time we left it was all that was coming out of her mouth. And it's totally a song, she says something in her normal voice and then switches to this little singing voice and goes crazy with her song. What a crazy little nut.

Cape Town on Fire

A huge fire has been chewing up much of Table Mountain. At least one person has died so far. Having been up there in both good and bad weather, I can honestly say this has got to be one of the worst places you could get stuck. Here's another news story about it.

Back in the Saddle Again

I've gone running a couple of time since I sprained my left ankle. Saturday (3 miles) was the first time and then tonight, I ran home from work (4 miles). The ankle is 100% better for running. I need to rebuild some lateral strength in it, but that will come with time. I know that from experience. Not sure if it's related, but at the end of Saturday's run my right ITB was on fire and tonight there was mild pain again.

Since I first felt it, I've done LOADS of reading on the subject and found some fellow tri-bloggers who are currently suffering from the dreaded ITBS, or as it's sometimes known, IT BS. What I know is that running isn't truly the best option for me. However, my own shcedule forces me to rest for 3-4 days in between some runs, so I know I'm not going to overdo it. It's during those days off that I can really help myself by doing some of these stretches. If I'm patient with the recovery and I take care of the ITB, I'll be back to normal in about 3-4 weeks. No big deal, it's winter, what else am I going to do? After all, I'm better off treating this now and not risk greater injury later on down the road, when the training is more serious.

Ps: Happy 45th Birthday to The Great One.

Going Techno

I'm not very good with code and all the fancy computer languages. So I am fairly impressed when I can make changes to this template. If you care, scroll A L L the way down to the bottom of my page, you'll notice that I have added a site metre. Lucky visitor number 1 million will have my heart felt congratulations.

(Collective ohhhs and ahhhs here)

Thank you, that is all.

Where Did My Baby Go?

Darcy got her first haircut today. She wouldn't keep her ponytail in her hair anymore and her hair was constantly in her face. Her babysitters son in a hairstylist and Darcy likes him, so Sue had him trim her bangs. Now she looks like a big girl and, frankly, I'm pretty sad about losing my baby girl.

Busting Vegas

I don't read a lot of books. I've never been much of a reader. I don't really know why, I'm a slow reader and I just find it hard to get in to fiction. When I do read it's certainly non-fiction and tends to be more of the 'true crime' or 'amazing human feats' type book. A real life story like that of Sir Edmund Hillary conquering Everest, Frank Abagnale Jr. in "Catch Me if You Can" or the Uruguayan rugby team stranded in the Andes in "Alive" is what I can really get involved with. I think it's because I find real life to be more dramatic than fiction. Sure, it takes talent to write good fiction and to make up a story that's believable. But, to me, that just can't compare with what real people go through and survive.

Last week I read "Busting Vegas", in one and a half days. I just ate it up. This is the story of Semyon Dukach, an MIT student, who, under the guidance of a professor and as part of a team of freaky smart geniuses, discover that there is a science behind blackjack. And then they go to Vegas and other casinos world wide make the most of their systems. While the author takes some liberties with reality, to spice up the story, the truth behind the systems remains. It would be hard to make a story as fascinating as this one. Not that I think gambling is how I'm going to earn my fortune (although Semyon does make a compelling argument about the fact that it's not really gambling if you know what the result is going to be...), but it's hard to deny how exciting this story is.

This goes on my "Read it now!" list.

Outsmarted - Updated

What does it mean when your 19 month old daughter shows you who's boss?

Round 1:

Darcy was done her bath, but she likes to splash around before we take her out, so she was splishing and splashing away. We told her that it was time to get out, but she told us, "No," and kept splashing. So I pulled the plug to see if the empty tub would convince her that it was actually time go get out. She didn't seem to notice at first. Then, with about a quarter of the water left, she just reached up and took the plug and put it back in the drain. She didn't even hesitate, it was like she'd done that a million times before. Sue burst out laughing. I was slightly less impressed. That girl is one little monkey.

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Round 2:

As Sue commented, Darcy outsmarted me once again last night. This time, thinking I was smarter than a 19 month old child, I hid the plug and she took her toy froggie and jammed it into the drain, stopping the water to a slight trickle. Darcy 2, Daddy 0.

It's funny because it's true.

This sign is posted along a main street here in Windsor. It's perfect. If you have trouble reading it, it says, "Politicians and diapers both need to be changed and for the same reason."

Awesome.

Ouch

Some people say that a sprain is worse than a broken bone. I wouldn't know, because I've never broken a bone. But twelve years ago I sprained my left ankle. It was brutal, it was during a phys. ed class, I was jumping and landed on someone else's foot. I can still remember my ankle bone touching the floor, from about six inches up. The exact sound was C R A C K ! Within minutes it was yellow and as big as a grapefruit. I went through physiotherapy, twice a week, for at least six weeks. Even after that I had trouble for a long time. Still to this day it stiffens up and cracks a dozen times a day.

Tonight, while almost half way into my 6.5 km run home, I stepped on a rock and turned my left ankle. It cracked, I screamed. Then I hobbled to a fence and screamed again; mostly because I immediately knew how serious this could be. This is the big disadvantage about running home, there's no short route if I don't think I can make it. But the pain wasn't fierce at all, so I gingerly kept going. I did run the whole way, but I definitely sprained my ankle again. It's not nearly as severe as it was, but I'll have to take at least a week off. That's the most frustrating part. I've got myself up over 20 km a week and now I'm going to have to rebuild. Argh.

Once upon a time...

in a land far away,

A girl named Sue met a guy named Nick. They talked and talked. There were lots of laughs. And then, nine years ago today, under a star lit sky, the peek of a mountain, overlooking the city below, they feel in love on a tiny little curb.

One down

I've completed my first goal for the year.

I did a 10 km run on the way home from work. My regular route is 6.5 km and ends almost right at my door. So I was just going to add a small loop at the end et voila, 10 km! A simple plan. However, most of the afternoon it 'slushed' out, so I wasn't very thrilled at the prospect of running for 50 minutes through slush. Fortunately, there wasn't anything coming down when I started, for a few minutes I did have ice pellets and then some light rain, nothing too serious.

Things went really well. The hardest section was probably from 4-6. I can't really put my finger on why. Towards the end of my regular route, I do get thirsty. So to combat dehydration, I left a bottle out on the porch and picked it up on the way by. It was perfect. Getting something cold into my mouth really hit the spot.

At 7 km, I checked my time and then again at about 7.6 km. I was running a very steady pace of 4:55/km. At 8 km I went to check my time again, but my watch was gone. The metal strap broke a very long time ago and I've never found a good replacement. So I've always either carried it, put it in my pocket or worn Sue's watch. Today it was in my pocket. The best I can figure is that after I checked my time at 7.6 km, I tried to put it in my pocket and missed. So I altered my planned loop and did an 'out and back' section instead, hoping that I'd find it on the way back. No such luck, it's gone.

However, I miscalculated slightly on the 'out and back' and went further than I needed to. My run ended up being 10.36 km, according to gmaps pedometre. Based on the steady pace I was doing, that puts my 10 km time at 49:06 and my finish time at 50:53. Sweet.

Time to shop eBay for a good watch with a velcro strap.

New Shoes

This is a post about running shoes.

Last year I heard about a small local running shop (Tortoise & The Hare (Dougall & Cabana), for anyone who is local) that has a 50% off sale, but by the time I heard about it, it was too late, they were out of my sizes. I went there this year and got two great deals.

I have a fairly neutral gait. I have been running in the Asics 1090, a good shoe for neutral-slight overpronators. My only complaint was the blister I got during the summer. That was probably because the size was about a half size to small. So I was hoping to get the same model, in a larger size, but there were none left. I really love the way Asics shoes fit my foot. They grab my foot nice and snugly in all the right places. So I tried the Asics Cumulus VII. Asics themselves describes this shoe as like being on a cloud. They are right, these are keepers.


There was very little in the store that compared with it. Believe me, I must have tried about six or seven other pairs of different brands. Nothing else came close to the cushioning of the Cumulus. But I plan on getting about twice as much mileage this year, so I figured it would be a good idea to get two pairs now, rather than pay a lot more later on down the road. There are a lot of serious runners who rotate a few pairs of shoes, so that none of them get worn down too quickly. Plus, if I like one pair more than the other, I can use one for long runs and the other for short runs.

I very nearly got two pairs of the Cumulus, but I also really liked a couple of Saucony models. Both were very similar to the Asics 1090 in cushioning and stability. In the end the Grid Phoenix won out because it felt the closest to what I currently have.



I'll retire my 1090's at the end of this week.