Stoopid Leg

So I had been running every second day. Starting slowly, not in a rush, running easy, building gradually. Following all the rules for not getting injured (again in my case). Then Friday I started out and got a whole 48 seconds before an all to familiar feeling came in to my lower left leg. Pain.

So I stopped and walked home. Freaked Sue out coming home so quickly, but I won't risk going through another stress fracture. That being said, if running lightly brings back the pain, what kind of running won't? My answer is none. I'm not running anymore for a long time. I may take it with my doc, but that was a big waste last time. I'll continue to wait until the leg feels 100% again. In the meantime, I'm breaking out the old rowing machine for my cardio.

Twenty-five solid minutes of rowing gets me nicely into my fat burning zone and gives me some decent resistance training as well. I've also thrown in an intense ab work out for after the cardio. Hopefully this will burn off the ten pounds that creeped back on during the summer.

Wobbly

Warning this is a little more risque than usual.

So I'm putting Darcy down for her nap today and she comes out with this bit of advice for me.

D: I don't have a wobbly thing on my bum. My boy friends at Betty-Ann's do, Justin and Branden. And Wes has a wobbly thing. I don't have a wobbly thing. They have wobbly things, to tickle them. But I don't.
N: That's right, boys are different than girls.

I didn't laugh once while I was in the room. But I haven't stopped since.

Family of Four

Well today was the first day we spent as a family of four. No guests, no visitors, no extra help. It will be yet another adjustment for us to make, but I'm sure eventually we'll get our own laundry done again.

My sister, Stef, had been here for the last two weeks. Where did those days go? She was an enormous help and I'm not sure who's saddest to see her go, me & Sue or Darcy. She is definitely my best sister. But Marc might be a close second, if you ask her.

THANKS STEF!!!

Flickr Pro

Thank you Stef for getting us hooked up with a Flickr Pro account. Now we can (and will) upload all our Darcy and Wesley pictures to Flickr for easy viewing.

You can find our picture here.

Or click the link I've added on the sidebar.

Running again

I ran today! Only 88 days off. My sister is here for two weeks and wanted to see how running would go for her. So since I wanted to get back into it, starting back up with someone who doesn't run much is a good way to keep myself in check.

We did four 5 minute run, 1 minute walk sets. The distance ended up being 3.9km, not as important as actually getting out there and doing it again. Not going to lie, my legs felt beat a couple of hours later. But I'm back and on the way to going long again.

More of "Wes-man"

Darcy has taken to calling Wesley, "Wes-man" or Happy dude. More pics:

Can't keep up

I am overwhelmed at how many people have sent their best wishes these last six weeks. It is impossible to thank everyone, I've tried and I can't keep up. Most of it is thanks to facebook, but my hits on this blog have been through the roof since Sue went into hospital. What some people won't do for ratings, I know.

Sue and Wesley are home. He's sleeping on my lap as I type. Sue is sleeping in her own bed and Darcy is supposed to be taking a nap, but is too excited about having her brother home. She is really being a good sister and sings to him when he's crying. So far it's worked to calm him down a couple of times.

Now what you've all been waiting for, more pictures.

Much ado about nothing

Well after 5 weeks and six days in the hospital, we have our baby boy! He and Mom are fine. No problems, no worries, eating well already, alert and looking around for the first two hours. He doesn't have to go to the NICU, he is perfectly healthy.

It a little while to get things going, but once things kicked in, it was pretty quick. They didn't get the induction started until almost 11am and it was about 6pm before things were moving.

He was born at 8:21pm, weighing in at 5lb, 14 oz (only 4 oz less than Darcy). I don't know his length.

Please let me introduce my son, Wesley Albert Titcombe. Oh and his mom is in some the pictures too.

Last day

Today is the last day Darcy will be an only child. We hope. Sue's induction will be starting at 7 am tomorrow morning, I'm hopeful that everything is said and done before noon. I'm sure she's hoping for that as well...

You'll understand if there aren't a lot of updates in the next few days. I can only imagine how busy we'll be. I will list the birth details and hopefully a picture, but probably not much more than that.

More pics

Here's some more pictures. I can't be bothered to write anything and I'm sure you all find these far more intesting than my stories.

This is how I found her, 11:00pm.

Swimming anyone?

New tool belt. Hang out with Dad for 5 weeks

and these are the toys she ends up asking for.

"If I had a hammer..."

Cool spider web outside kitchen window.

Note: 5 meals ready to go.

Totally Useless Dr. Appointment

Yesterday I wasted the entire afternoon at the hospital, supposedly to see a specialist about my stress fracture. How to manage it, how to get it back to strength, blah, blah, blah. So I went, got x-rayed (you feel pretty stupid walking into the x-ray room for your broken leg) and then waited for the specialist.

His questions to me were, "Who sent you here and why are you here?"

Turns out my doc didn't forward any of the previous two x-ray's or the bone scan. So the specialist didn't have any info to go on. He also said that I should have been referred to his office, not the clinic. Then he told me everything I already knew about stress fractures and suggested that rest is the best way to get it better. Duh.

So I've decided that as long as there is no pain, I will start running again before labor day. I will start from scratch, using the run/walk method and I won't be in a hurry to get back to where I was. No races this fall, just rehab. Hopefully I can get strong through the winter and go injury free next summer.

Time apart

Sue joked the other day that it seems like we've spent more time apart in the last year then together. So I did a little math and she is right. We've spent more nights apart then we have in the same house. How?

Going from Aug 21/06 to Aug 21/07:
79 nights Nick was away at training.
57 midnight shifts.
42 nights Sue will be in the hospital.
8 nights Nick was away on trips.
186 nights apart.

That leaves 179 nights together through the last year. That will change in the next little while because once baby#2 arrives I'll be off work for 14 weeks!

Some Pics

Here's a few pictures from the last few days of being an only child. The induction date has been set for next Tuesday. For some reason, I still think it'll be put off a few days. Either way, only a week left. Good, I'm beat. Nothing like a new baby to help me get some good rest.

Oh wait.

Crap.

New dress from Grandmaman.

Orange Smile.

P O P S C I C L E .

A week already

Somehow my first week alone has already gone by. Needless to say, it was a little busy.

I got Darcy moved into her "big sister room" on Friday and she's been sleeping in there ever since and loving it. As with every other transition she's been through, this was a piece of cake. The room has been painted, new blind, new ceiling fan, new carpet and her bed with new bedding was moved in. She was asking to move in sooner, but it wasn't going to happen.

This week I've got a few people watching her when I work and so far it's been perfect. She's had her naps and eaten well. Another perfect transition. Hopefully when little brother comes home it goes as smoothly.

Sue had another ultra sound with measurements today. The weight was up, 4lb 15oz. Not quite enough to make Sue happy, but the doctor and nurses are impressed. The fluid, which had been up to almost normal levels, was down again. I don't know why this happens, but I'm pretty sure the fluctuation will mean that she's not coming home until #2 is born.

The doctor is hoping to induce sometime after 38 weeks (another two weeks). So it's possible for the baby to still gain some weight.

It's another hot day in Windsor. Even with the rain it's 28C, add the humidity and it's 41C! I wish I could get out and enjoy it, but I'm stuck being a parent.

Single Parent

So while I was away training for my job, Sue got the privilege of being a single parent for 3 months. Now she's returning the favor to me, but only for about 3 weeks. Sue's mom leaves tonight and from now until about the 18th, it's just me and Darcy at home. Because once Sue & baby #2 come home I'll be able to get lots of rest...

I'll admit, I'm burnt out. Spent. Done. Darcy is doing ok, but we're both a little on edge, so when either one of us get frustrated things boil over quicker than usual. Part of the burn out has come from flying between work, home and hospital on any given day. Fortunately, I have more days off then days on coming up. So I should be less stressed out. Should.

Another part of being stressed out is that I have done NO exercise in the past 20 days. And for someone who is used to missing one day a week, to go this long without any is tough. So I think D & I will bike over to visit Sue in the mornings, it won't make a huge difference physically for me, but I think it will help mentally.

I can only hope.

It's a...

We didn't find out whether Darcy was a boy or girl until the second she was born. It was a good surprise and we were going to do the same with baby #2. But then things got complicated and with Sue in the hospital, it was just another surprise that we didn't want to deal with.

So we waffled back and forth about a dozen times and then we finally caved on Tuesday (this is the first chance I've had to write about it.)

So you want to know whether it's a boy or girl?

Really?

Well, the ultrasound tech had us guess. Sue picked one and I picked the other, so that one of us would be right. And for the record, I was right.
























It's a boy.

It's broken

So even though I was barely able to walk six weeks ago and still have moderate pain in my leg, today I learned that I officially have a stress fracture. But since it's been so long that I've been managing it, there's not much for me to do with it.

I am being referred to a orthopedist, for continued care and ideas for managing it back to normal. I'd say it's about 70%, but it's been that way for a month and isn't getting much better. So I need to figure out how to get it back to 100%.

Ironman USA

For those of you who care, Ironman USA was held Sunday. If you don't know, it's a 2.4 mile (4.8km) swim, 112 mile (180km) bike and then a full marathon. That's another 26.2 miles (42.2km) by foot, for a grand total of 140.6 miles in less than 17 hours. Frightening.

Two of the bloggers that I frequent were among the finishers.
Shelley completed her seventh Ironman. Seriously, who can do seven of these things?
Cliff completed his first. And this three weeks after tearing a muscle in his shoulder in a bike wreck.

Outstanding. One day I hope to join the club.

"Routine"

So having your spouse in the hospital, working full-time, decorating the 'big sister room' and trying not to ignore your three year old really changes things. Thankfully we've had help so far with Sue's mom and then my mom. The guard will change again Wednesday morning back to Sue's mom. But how do you keep things 'normal' for Darcy? That's been my biggest struggle. She still needs to be a three year old and there's not always time for me to do that with her.

One definite for her is that we've visited the hospital every night after supper. She enjoys that and runs around the 'zagebo' (gazebo), chasing squirrels and sea gulls. Of course, that will change now that I'm going to afternoons for a few shifts. Ugh, this poor kid.

The 'big sister room' is shaping up. I got the priming and the two end walls (different colours) done today. The two long walls will be done tomorrow. Darcy really likes the colours and her excitement for getting the room to herself seems to be growing. She did ask a pretty smart question today. "Daddy, where's the bed?" Once I explained that her big girl bed would be switching rooms, she was alright with that.

I go for my bone scan follow up tomorrow morning. I haven't touched my bike since Sue went into the hospital. Strangely I feel like I've been working harder since then, maybe it's all the trying to be in three places at once that's wearing me out.

Only four weeks to go!

Family health updates

The waiting continues.

Sue had an ultrasound yesterday and the fluid was lower than before. We don't know what the cut off point is where the doc will say, "Alright, the baby is coming out." So hopefully it doesn't get much lower. She's got another ultra-sound tomorrow and should be able to see her doctor to answer some questions.

Darcy is doing fine. She's happy to have Grandmaman here and has enjoyed her visits to see mom. There's a little park on the grounds where she can run around, chase birds and squirrels and just be herself. I also took her for a follow up about her echo test and the doctor said that everything is fine. She has a "benign murmur". I supposed that's the best kind of murmur to get?

I should be following up with my doc about the bone scan some time this week. But I actually have to work all week. Crazy, I know. Then I've got to get "the big sister room" painted and set up before Titcombe #2 arrives. I'm off a few days next week, so I'll make sure to see my doc in between coats of paint.

Also in the good news column, one of Sue's roommates is moving out tomorrow for good. She's having her scheduled section. The 'hick' factor in the room should fall dramatically now.

Long day ahead. Bye.

Aug 5-18: Help needed.

So, day 4 already.

We're in good shape for the next little while. Sue is taking it all one day at a time. Having to face a possibility of six weeks is too overwhelming for anyone.

Her parents have been here since Thursday afternoon and her mom is staying until Tuesday evening. At about which time my mom should be arriving. She'll stay for a week (25th), so I can go back to work. Then it looks like Sue's mom should be able to come back for a few days, until the 31st. I've got a bunch of days off lined up, so we're covered until Aug 5th. I'm hoping work can move my schedule around so that I get arrange some day-care for D for a couple of weeks. Then Uncle Brian comes the week of the 18th and then Auntie Stef comes from the 26th-Sept something. All I know is that we'd better freaking have another baby by that point.

So if anyone wants to spend some time here, it looks like we need help Aug 5-18. We'll see what work can do for me, but regardless, we'll need another body around.

You know how to reach me.

No real news

There's been no real change in the situation. Sue is resting and there's been minor improvement in some areas, but no where enough to warrant her going home. The possibility of her being in the hospital for six weeks or longer is very real.

That thought makes it pretty agonizing for everyone. She is going to lose her mind in that room, Darcy doesn't understand why Mom can't come home and I'm stretched pretty thin between being at home with Darcy, visiting Sue and having to go back to work. It reminds a lot of the time that I was away for job training for 13 weeks. Pretty brutal.

Sue's been in a ward room, with two other girls. And I mean girls. One girl is not playing with a full deck and the other, against the wish of her husband, parents, in-laws and doctor, checked herself out and went home to rest. But that benefited Sue because she was able to take over the empty spot and know has a window view, instead of a hallway view. The girl who's missing a few marbles has been in the hospital over a month and has a section scheduled for next week, so she won't be around for much longer. And, I guess because she's been there so long, so gets 'day passes' every now and again. She's out on one now, so Sue has the room to herself for a day or so.

As for me, I had a bone scan on my leg this past Monday. I should see my doctor to talk about the results in a week. I could see something on the scan, so I know there's definitely something wrong. Coupled with the current situation, any momentum I had built on the bike, waiting for my leg to heal is dead. My 'season' is over having completed one measly 5km race. Probably a pretty good time to have a stress fracture!

Sue - update

Here's the latest.

She's been seen by two docs today. They both think that the lack of fluid is a sign that the placenta is not doing it's job properly. Which means the baby is probably not being nourished properly. Which means that the baby will probably be better off on the outside than the inside. The baby has developed fine, but is small.

They have not given any dates or time frames. Just that it looks like it'll most likely be a long hospital stay. Possibly until the baby is born.

Sue is fine, other than SERIOUS boredom. She's only allowed out of bed to use the washroom, so the days are going to be long ones.

That's all for now.

Things Change

I was at work today and got a phone call from Sue, it went a little like this.

"Hi, they're admitting me for a week."
"What? When?"
"Right now."
"I'm on my way."

So after a good report from her OB yesterday, she went for her scheduled checkup at the hospital today. Her fluid was too low and they called her doctor, the doctor spoke to Sue and had her admitted.

Right now, I don't know anything more than that. Stay tuned.

We've got help on the way, so we'll be covered for the next few days. I was going to take parental leave anyway, I may just have to take it early.

Back Home

I'm back home from my trip. No sunburn this time. Too much time spent sitting listening to lectures that don't apply to my job. But it beat working for a living, so I won't complain.

So far I have two takers on the run portion of the Windsor Tri, but no swimmers. Do I feel 'rock, paper, scissors' coming on to make the decision?

The race is Sunday, August 12th. It starts about 9 am, I think. The swim portion is the easiest 800m you'll ever have to swim. It's so shallow you could walk the entire way, in fact many people do. It's such an easy swim that somehow I was first in my age group last year. Seriously, if I can do that, then it can't be that hard. Consider it more of a water run.

Internet Cafe: Ottawa

I've got 16 minutes left of my $2/30 minutes.

I'm Ottawa until Thursday on a mandatory training course that I don't exactly see the point of. Well, it's not just me, I can't think of many people who enjoyed sitting through an entire day of lectures and group building exercises. But this counts as my work for the week and I don't go back until July 3rd, so it's not all bad (Yes Jake, more time off).

Quick update on my leg. Now three full weeks since I last ran and it's about 70% better. But still not good enough to run on. I had my second x-ray last week and have an appointment for a bone scan on July 9th, still to rule out stress fracture. Sometimes it's still really painful, sometimes it feels like the muscle is seizing, sometimes it feels like the muscle might be pulled or torn. The doctors has suggested that I keep the biking up, because it's not an impact related sport. So I won't lose all my fitness, but it is frustrating.

My motivation has been a little low and I've come to the realization that I will probably have to skip the triathlon this year. Unless I can put a relay team together. I'll take care of the bike, anyone want to swim 800m or run 6km? If we register before July 1st it's a bit cheaper, so let me know if you're serious.

9 minutes left.

update

So I'm back from vacation, had a great time, blah, blah, blah.

But I'm injured. Before Bermuda I had a twinge in my left shin. Before going to Montreal it was getting worse. In Montreal I "ran" 5 km in barely 28 minutes. This is lethargically slow for me and I could not have gone any faster. The rest of the day and most of the week I limped around. From what I read on the internet, I have a really good shin splint. But to be prudent, I got it x-rayed when I got back home, to rule out a stress fracture. The doc said at least two weeks off and that I need to get it another x-ray in a week's time. Possibly a bone-scan.

So my running legs are on the shelf. That pretty much rules out two races for me. But allows me to crank up some bike miles.

Higher miles

I ran 8 miles tonight, 13km. Jake and I had been looking for a time to run together for a while and this was the first chance we had. It is so nice to have someone to run with. It takes your mind off the fact that you're running for over an hour. At the end we both had a bit of the jell-o legs, but felt good.

I feel 100% better then I did two weeks ago when I struggled through 6 miles.

A few shorter runs this week, plus I need to get my cross-training going again. Next weeks long run is 10 miles.

---------

UPDATE (05/30/07 21:10)

Not that you care, but I realized today that I misread my schedule and this weeks long run was only supposed to be 6 miles, not the 8 miler that I did. But that's ok, because this will give me the option now of building my long runs to be longer than the half-marathon race distance.

Oh, and I'm going for a nice long bike ride tomorrow morning.

Suffering for Jesus

The reason for the trip to Bermuda was a trip for the Youth Band that I help organize for our division of the Salvation Army. It's always fun to travel and if we're going to play for people it might as well be tropical! Yeah, some real suffering was done over THAT decision.

We flew out of Buffalo at 9:50am on Thursday, but with checking in, travelling in a group of 30 with over sized instruments, it meant being at the airport by 7:30am. Now is a good time to mention that Buffalo is a solid 4+ hour drive from where I live. Do the math and you can see that it was an early morning.

So the Windsor crew (9 of us) went to London the night before to sleep (although I didn't sleep a wink) and then we all took a coach bus from there to Buff. Other than the insane departure time from London (4am), things went great. Flying into Newark for our connection was cool, because I didn't realize how close it is to NYC, which I had never seen before, and we got a good view of the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty from our side of the plane. Side-note: Newark airport has stuff well priced. I bought a bagel w/cream cheese for $1.49, in an airport!

The next flight to Bermuda was great, although coming in for a landing and not seeing ANY land is a little freaky. By the time we got to our billets, had something to eat, drove around a few of the sights, I had been up for almost thirty hours. When I hit the pillow that night I didn't even move until my alarm went off 9 hours later.

Friday was a busy day, we played in a few schools, did an hour or so on street corners and then had some free time. I convinced the rest of the leaders to take a ferry with me across the island. We didn't have much time to do it, but it ended up timing itself perfectly. Plus, this gave us 40 minutes to sit on a boat in the Bermudian sun. The sacrifices of leadership, I know...

We had a sound check for our concert Saturday morning, then spent the early part of the afternoon at the beach, Horseshoe Bay. At first the water was cool, but it didn't matter it was the ocean and it warmed up nicely. A few hours in the sun and water and most of us looked fairly pink. It was pretty evident when someone had missed a spot on their backs with sunblock. I got burned a bit, but only in the spots I missed. It's a little itchy, but it was worth it.

Saturday night we shared a concert with their Divisional Bands and then we did the church service Sunday morning. A quick, and wonderful, lunch was provided to us after church and we bolted for the airport. It was over too quickly.

But us Windsor folk still had about 14 hours of travelling to do. We had a four hour layover in Newark, then our flight was delayed an hour because of weather, after we had boarded. We got back to London around 3:15am Monday and I was home by 5:20. Fortunately shift work has taught me how to handle being up all night and I just treated it like a midnight shift. Once Sue and Darcy were on their way in the morning, I went to bed.

I feels like a dream. A very vivid and detailed dream. I'll have to go back to make sure it was real...

Back Burned

"There's a double meaning in that" - Benedict, Much Ado About Nothing

I'm back from Bermuda. A full update will follow. Just a quick note to say how great it was. It was so beautiful and went so quickly that it felt like a dream. Even though we were there for a band trip, I did managed to find time to get a little sunburn.

Other than that and getting burned with horrible flight times, no complaints.

10k a ok

So I did another long run today and was much stronger mentally than last week. I even ran it a minute faster.

I thought that the fact that it was the hottest day might have had something to do with last weeks struggles, but today was plenty hot and I was fine.

I just need to suck it up and run.

The sacrifices we have to make

When I started my new job in November I figured that being at the bottom of to totem-pole, I would get stuck with working all the crappy shifts, holidays and have trouble getting time off when I needed it. Boy, was I wrong.

Somehow my schedule gave me almost all of the stat. holidays off. I had to work this Monday, but that wasn't so bad because it was preceded with four days off anyway! Plus, I go into work tonight and then I'm done until June 9th. Tomorrow I leave for five days on a trip to Bermuda with the Salvation Army Youth Band that I help organize, then I come back for three days of rest before leaving again for a week in Montreal for a family vacation.

When I finally have to go back to work, I only have 10 days in June where I'm actually AT work because I'm being sent to Ottawa for some training for four days. Score. I also had the shifts I was working changed recently, from 8 hours to 10.5 hours. The extended hours means I get more time off. Previously I was working 40 of 56 days (the length of our schedule). Now I work 30 of 56 days. This is going to be great once Sue is done work at the end of June.

The mind game

It's been said that running is 20% physical and 90% mental. Lately I've been finding that to be true.

Working shifts makes biking to and from work harder than in previous years, so my cycling numbers are way down. But I'm getting out there for more runs then usual, so while my fitness isn't great, it's still good. The thing is, every time I go out for a long run I have to battle my mind to make it through.

Today was no exception. I did a 10 k, my goal was to do it nice and easy, keeping my heart rate low'ish' and just getting to the end of it. I did two 3 mile loops, picking up a bottle of Gatorade at the half way point, so physically I was fine. I've been building my distance again slowly, so I have no concerns there. But mentally it was a slugfest. I don't understand why I beat myself up so badly. "The next mile is with the wind, there'll be no breeze." "There's not enough shade." "Am I dehydrating?" "The bottle is getting heavy." "Don't drink too much." and my favorite "My feet are too hot."

I've run that distance countless times. I've run longer than 10 k many times and have even run twice that far. So why the mental weakness? WHY? Over the next 10 weeks or so I plan on increasing my long run by about 2 miles a week, so in 4 weeks a 6 mile run will seem like a day off. Why the battle?

10,000

For no important reason I have a site metre at the bottom of this blog. I guess the real reason is so that I can know how many people are reading this and where they come from. Also, it's boosts my ego.

At 2:34 pm, May 13, 2007, I received my 10,000 th visitor. And it's not like I was visiting the site myself to inflate the numbers, this was a legitimate visitor all the way from Harare, Zimbabwe! I imagine it was one of two people that I know in Harare.

Thanks for visiting John or Rochelle!

Facebook

This is not an authorized plug for Facebook.com, but it is still a plug.

If you don't know what it is, basically you can look up people from your past, that you've lost touch with and reconnect (if they use facebook too, but right now it seems almost everyone does). There are other services like this (classmates, gradfinder), but facebook it miles better then those two combined. And it's free. My wife started using it about a week ago and commented how addicting it is. I used her account to look around for a day or two before getting my own account.

I refuse to use the word 'addicted', but I certainly am committed. I cannot believe how easy it to find people. People from every part of your own personal history. Grade school, high school, college, family, extended family, lost friends, long lost friends, co-workers, former co-workers, even ex's. Not that I have many of those...

For example: The day I signed up, I found my childhood best friend. A guy who I spent everyday with from kindergarten until the end of high school when we went to different colleges. I haven't seen or heard from him in at least 13 years and we've chatted for the last couple of days. If you played a lot of Tim Horton's Roll-up-the-rim and doubt that anyone ever wins big, well some people do. He won a Toyota Hybrid, but he doesn't drive so he sold it!

I give two thumbs up to facebook.

24 C - nice. Take two

So the last time I wrote about how nice the weather was, it turned cold again and snowed for about two weeks. Well, I'm going to risk saying that the weather is warm for good now. At least it better be. The three of us went down to the river this afternoon and then played on the sidewalk with Darcy's chalk. She loves being outside.

I'm getting my bike back from the shop tomorrow, so I can hardly wait to get out there again. I've been doing my best to run every second day, it's tough with shift work, but it gives me something to aim for.

Wow

My buddy Jake has been running marathons for the last three years. He started off with a respectable time of just under 4 hours and has lowered his personal best each time he's raced. He's done it the old fashioned way, hard work and a lot of miles.

Last Sunday he ran the Martian Half Marathon, with a goal of 1:30, 5 minutes better than his previous best. He ran a 1:30:39, finishing 50-something out of 1000-odd people, or in the top 5% of all finishers. You can read his account here.

Catching up

If you follow the little mileage counter I have in the right hand column, you'll see how far I've swam, biked and ran each year. I have an on-line that totals everything up for me, so it's not hard to keep track of.

So far this year I've run a little over 136 km. Nothing special, I know.

However, in January and February combined I ran 69 km. So far in March I've run 67.25 km. I plan on going out on Saturday to increase that total.

My bike is in the shop right now, getting the wheels trued and some spokes replaced, as well as fixing a clunk that I had in the steering column (probably a dead bearing). I should have it back soon and then I'll be cranking out those miles too.

24 C - nice.

I was sitting here at the computer and I noticed that the temperature was 23 C outside. By the time I got this post opened up, it jumped up to 24 C. And today is an off day for me! What was I thinking. Oh well, I have to work this afternoon, so there's no time to squeeze in a short run. Tomorrow is only supposed to be 18 C, I'll have to survive.

Warm weather means I can put the tights away! I think Sue is happier about that than anyone else.

Did you see the Amazing Race last night? It was, well, amazing. The teams are really spread out now, like over 24 hours between first and last. That never happens. The only unfortunate part is that the most annoying team is in first place.

First Race

Today was the first running race of the season, held by our local Running Factory. For grown-ups it is a 5 km race, for kids the offer a 1 km event and for little ones they have the Kids Dash, about 100 metres or so. Darcy came to see me run a few times last year and ever since then, she's been talking about doing a race. When I told her we could race together, she could hardly contain her excitement!

The big day was this morning, although the event is called the Spring Thaw at -5C it didn't really feel all that much like Spring. But the cold didn't dampen Darcy's spirit. She was ready to run the whole race, and she did! I don't think she's ever been this excited, she laughed the whole way down the street. Being one of the littlest little ones, she brought up the rear of the event, but that seemed to get the crowd going in her favor. I saw several people taking her pictures and heard lots more calling out to her. I heard someone say, "Look at how determined she is."

Once we crossed the finish line, she got her medal and several high-fives from the volunteers. Then she started asking for her racers treats, so I made my way over to the athletes snack table and grabbed something for her. Before her nap this afternoon she asked Mommy, "When's my next race with Daddy?" Hopefully she remembers this for a long time.

Oh, I ran the 5 km. Overall I finished in 52 place, 6 of 19 in my age group. I ran a 21:18, an improvement from last year, but I've still been unable to break the 20 minutes mark in a race. Jake ran too, blew away his PR and finished with a 19:05! That's sick. Fortunately, he got another year older and is now out of my age group, so I move up a place. Full results are here.

Close call

I've done a lot of driving in my day, 7 years doing some delivering and about 3 years working in car rentals. I haven't had an accident yet (knock on wood). That streak almost came to a brutal end last night.

We were on our way to Cambridge through some rainy weather and the closer we got, the worse the roads got. Near London the gusts of wind were moving us around pretty good and then we hit a big patch of ice that sent us into a wicked spin. Sue thinks we went around 2 1/2 times, I thought it might have only been 1 1/2. Who cares really. The point is that we were spinning out of control with traffic behind us closing in, including a tractor-trailer. Somehow we stayed in the lanes, off both shoulder, off the wall and out of the ditch. I have no doubt that my hands weren't the only ones trying to steer the car.

After the last spin we straightened out and I thought I had it fully corrected, but gave a little too much gas and we did another half spin. This sent us across the road and towards the ditch, but we were going slowly at this point and I was able to stop before going into the ditch.

It all happened so quickly that I really don't remember it all very clearly, but the one thing that I remember is that while were spinning, the tires barely squealed at all. Which tells me that we were on a pretty solid sheet of ice. I have to think that if we had been going sideways and hit a dry patch, this story would be completely different.

When we stopped, Darcy said, "Wow, what was that?!" We told her it was a big spin, she said, "I didn't like that. It scared me." Yeah, kiddo, it scared me too.

So we stopped at a hotel for the night and finished the last 30 minutes this morning. It was the right thing to do, as we saw several cars being pulled out of the ditch this morning.

Corner Gas

Do you watch Corner Gas? If you like good sarcastic Canadian humour, you should. Last night's episode was a brilliant parody of the Canada-Russia 1972 Summit Series. It was a table hockey match up between Karen, the rookie cop who passes crisply and trains fiercely against Brent, a beer swilling out of shape talent. I've been known to be a bit of a hockey history buff and this had all the details. Right down to Brent doing a spoof of Eposito's famous rant after game 4, Alan Eagleson (Wanda) getting carried away from the ice shooting the bird to the Russian officials, even having Espo fall on the ice before game eight, to great embarrassment.

Since art reflected life, I'm not spoiling the ending by telling you that Brent won.

I've been watching the first couple of seaons on DVD and a great question was raised by Hank: Where do people who live in igloos go to the bathroom? I've often wondering that about astonauts, but thanks to the internet, I can sleep well knowning that the space toilet only cost $23.4 million US.

The Great One

He turns 46 today.

Name Game

When we were expecting Darcy, choosing a name was not an easy task. Eventually we narrowed things down to a few shorts lists for either sex and after much negotiating we agreed on Darcy.

This time I think we're going to have a bit more fun. Like getting Darcy to approve suggestions. I had a good friend write with an idea, which I think is brilliant, but Sue is less than convinced. Sue asked Darcy about a different name and we let her decide which one she liked better. It went pretty much like this:

S: Darcy what name do you like better for the baby; Lucy or Omegatron?
D: Omegatron!

I think that settles it. Omegatron Titcombe, has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

And then there were two

I took a little heat at home for only being willing to throw out one pair of running shoes. So I took a leap of faith and threw out two pairs. Both pairs of Asics (#1 & #2 pictured) are now gone. A bit of a sad day...

Another thing that there'll soon be two of is children for Sue and I. You can read about that here.

And another thing that there'll be two of is Sue's cousin Glenn running two races in two days, also known as the Goofy Challenge. First a 1/2 marathon (21 km) and then the very next day a full marathon (42km). You can read about that craziness here.

Running Shoe Anonymous

Hi, my name is Nick and as this picture displays, I may have a problem. When it comes to shoes, everyday shoes, I own four pairs; one pair of winter boots, one pair of casual/dress shoes, one pair of every day runners (I don't actually run in these) and one pair of work boots. The work boots are issued to me and are only ever worn to and from work, so those don't really count.

I do, however, own a lot of running shoes. Some people would say that I have too many pairs. I probably have two many pairs (yes, very clever, I know...). But I can defend almost all of their existences. As you can see I have six, count 'em S I X pairs of running shoes and most of them are used frequently and only for running. Most of them...

What is perhaps the most disturbing part of my problem is that I know when I got them, how many races they've been used in, what the longest distance is that I ran in each pair and how many total miles/kms are on each pair. Oh, and I can tell you any of that off the top of my head.

Here's a partial index for you:

Pair #1: Asics Gel 1090: Apr 05 - 500km total (retired - now used only to cut the grass)

Pair #2: Asics Cumulus: Jan 06 - 465km total (retired - about to be disposed of)

Pair #3: Saucony Grid Pheonix: Jan 06 - 376km total (racing shoe for 06 - still active)

Pair #4: Adidas Tundra: Apr 06 - Used only for walking (still active)

Pair #5: Saucony Azura LC: Jan 07 - 3.2km (racing shoe for 07)

Pair #6: Adidas adiStar: Jan 07 - 5km (trainer for 07)

I know I'm not the only runner who is a little too obsessive about their shoes, I expect to hear some support from of you!

Good to know

Darcy was telling us about her day tonight during supper.

D: Bradan picked his nose and ate it.
N: That's gross.
D: Yea, that's yucky. I did it to my ear.
N: Did you eat it?
D: No, I put it on the blanket.

New Shoes

If you notice my sidebar, you'll see that I've started my distance counters over again. It's a new year, time for new counters. I'm not going to predict how far I'll go this year, but I do hope it's farther than last year.

One thing that remains the same is that I got two great deals on running shoes. I was really happy with the Asics Cumulus that I had last year, but they're dead now, after nearly 500km, and causing me some heel pain after 3 miles. I also used Saucony Grid Pheonix for shorter distances (less than 10km) and that pair is still going strong at about 380km. But since they're too firm for long distances I needed a pair of good cushioning shoes. Unfortunately, there were no Cumulus in my size, so I went with the Adidas adiStar Cushioning.

Since I know that the Pheonix won't last me the year, I got a pair of Saucony Azura LC. They are racing flats. A light weight shoe that is designed to have the absolute minimum cushioning and stability necessary to get you through a shorter race (10km or less). A big plus is that the bare bones nature of the shoe will increase my foot strength and my feet will be stronger longer. That's the theory anyway. Some people are able to adapt to using this sort of she during marathons and say that their feet feel less tired than when they use regular trainers. We'll have to see...

She's gifted

We're home from our little trip to visit family for Christmas. It was nice. A quick couple of days, but nice to see everyone and catch up. I hadn't seen some people since before going away for three months, so there was a fair bit of catching up to do.

It doesn't really need to be said, but Darcy is extraordinarily gifted, at least from my point of view. This trip she proved that she has an undeniable for having to go to the "baff-yoom" right as we're passing the last rest stop on the voyage. She did it Sunday afternoon and laughed about it all the way to her grandparents house, "Woo hoo, I have a stinky bum!"

She had a blast playing with her cousins, eating garbage and staying up way too late. Last night we managed to get her to bed at a relatively normal time and she slept for nearly 12 hours. When I went in to get her this morning I was immediately engulfed in two distinct smells; poop & vomit. She claimed that she hadn't pooped, but said she had a scratchy throat (while whipping her face off on my shoulder). My theory was that the smell of toxic poop her diaper had forced her to choke on her own filth. She was fine for the rest of the day. Eat well, played hard and had a solid nap.

On the drive home tonight, right as we were passing the final rest stop, she declared that she had "pee and poop". What a gift. And then she pooped. I find out later that even if we had stopped, it would have been too late. She wasn't upset by the dirty diaper and we were within 20 minutes of being home, so we pressed on. As we got about 5 minutes from home, the smell of toxic poop again forced her to choke on her own filth and she spewed all over herself, her blanket, her car seat and her brand new Dora doll. But she was remarkable calm and patiently waited for us to get home. As I was getting her out of the car she said, "Oh no, what a mess I made. Oh no, look at my Dora." But we got her cleaned up and put her right in bed and she never even shed a tear.

Sue can't sleep because she's worried D's going to be sick again tonight and I'm on midnights. So I should be sleeping now to prepare myself, but I can't sleep either. I'll pay for this around 4am...

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UPDATE (12/27)

Well, I was wrong about two things. One, I was paying for not sleeping closer to 2am. Two, Darcy must actually be sick because she was up from 4:30-6:00am with Sue throwing up again. This kid is so needy, geez!

The tally last night was something like:
Sets of sheets: 2
Pillows: 3
Pyjamas: 3
Hours Sue slept: 3.5

Happy Birthday to me

I turn 32 today. It was a good day, I worked the midnight shift and came home to hear Darcy say, "Happy Boofday Daddy" she was pretty excited for me. Then she said, "My boofday is June 6!"

Somehow I fluked my way into having the 25 & 26th off, not bad for the rookie. So were headed out of town to see some family.

And I quote!

My dear wife and I were recently discussing books to read. She said that she could recommend a couple that she knew I was going to like. On Dec. 13, 2006 at 1337, referring to one book, her exact words were, "It's not like Pride & Prejudice, it's good stuff."

She tried to take the words back. But at last I was able to uncover the truth; Sue is not the P&P fan that she claims to be. Now we're going to have to change Darcy's name.

Never a dull moment

*** Warning, this post is about a 2 1/2 year old pooping.***

Today Darcy was on the toilet, pushing her brains out. As usual, she needed to have a book read to her to accomplish the task at hand. So I was reading about Baby Pluto following his nose, but she kept getting distracted and was forgetting the task at hand. I asked what I thought was a simple question and the following conversation ensued.

N: Darcy, did you do your poops? Where did your poops go?
D: I dunno. Did you take them?
N: No.
D: Did Mommy take them?
N: No. Are they still in your bum?
D: Yes, I will pull them out (tries to put her hand under her bum).
N: No honey, push them out. No hands.

Sorry kiddo!

Tonight's Daddy-Daughter night, while Sue is at work. We were playing some silly games, like where she throws the mini-nerf football off my head and laughs like a maniac or when she says, "Don't laugh Daddy." And then I laugh and she laughs. Good times.

She also asked for a horsie ride and climbed on to my back. We took a bit of a ride and then she decided to get off. But before I could let her, she did a back dive and landed on her toy telephone, head first. The bruise came up within a minute. She's going to look like football player tomorrow.

She's the birthday girl

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife, Sue.

I can't believe you're really that old.

Love,
Nick

PASS

I'll save you the suspense; I passed.

However, it's a total hollow victory. Four of my classmate did not and I feel like I've lost family members. This morning was the worst few hours I've ever been through, seeing people disappear was unreal.

Thanks for your support during these last three months. Big thanks go especially to those who helped Sue while she was alone. I'm just glad that it's all been worth it.

I just wish it felt better than this.

The Waiting Game

So it's all over but the waiting. I find out my results Wednesday morning, hopefully by 10am. If all goes well, I graduate Thursday and start work back home on Monday.

I'm not going to lie. Yesterday was the most stressful day of my life. Although I'm reasonably sure that Wednesday morning will surpass it, up until this point, I've never been as nervous as I was yesterday. I know that a lot of my classmates feel the same way, so at least I know we're all feeling the same way.

It's time to let it all go now. Sue and Darcy arrive this afternoon and Sue and I are going to see Elton John tonight. That will be a great time and, for the record, it is her birthday present, so that has to earn me some big points in the husband of the year category.

ps: I switched to the new version of blogger (I'm sure you could tell). Now chalk full of beta-goodness.

Ironman Florida

Yesterday was Ironman Florida. Several people from Windsor made the trek and competed. I found a few of their results and as if completing an Ironman isn't sick enough, they did it some disgustingly fast times.

Matt Gervais: 9:45:49
Mark Kloppenburg: 9:58:40
Shelley McKee: 13:52:20

World class guys! That is amazing.

No time to blog

I'm into the home stretch and I've barely had any time to read email, let alone think about blogging in the last week or so. The next week doesn't look any better. I write my final exams next Thursday and Friday.

Congrats go out to the recent marathoners, Glenn (4:21) and Krista (4:43) in Toronto and Jake (3:34!) in Detroit. Great job. Well deserved.

Since the stress level of the final exams is building in my life, I've taken to running on the treadmill (gasp!) to blow off steam. Tonight was an exceptional steam blowing session. Another new personal best: 5km in 19:44 (3:57/km or 6:21/mile). It felt good.

Hopefully after the exams of next week I'll have time to blog.

Meeting Goals

One of my New Year's resolutions was to run 700km. It was a bit of an arbitrary number, based on what I had run last year and was hoping to increase this year. I met that goal last week. I've swam almost twice as much as last year, but being away from home has killed my cycling and I'll fall about 600km short of my goal. I think if I really push it, I might be able to get to 1000km, but the early morning darkness is really killing my long runs.

Yesterday, I went for a 10km run and set out at what felt like a fast, but comfortable pace. In the end it turned out to be a 43:02 run (6:55/mile), crushing my old PR by 44 seconds. I never felt like I was working all that hard and my heart rate didn't even get as high as when I've raced. Woo hoo!

Hard Week

This has been a hard week. Darcy had a few break downs after her Papa left and Sue has to deal with it all herself. I just can't consider my being here to be fair to her, even in the smallest degree. I just really feel that I should be at home now. And on Tuesday I very nearly decided that it was time to pack things up and leave. Being away for 9 weeks has gotten to me and I want it to be over.

Fortunately, I have the most amazing classmates and several of them could tell that I was not myself before I even had the chance to tell them. We just know each other well enough to know when something is wrong. In the end I had a break down myself and again they were there to pick me up and to talk me away from the cliff. Some of the best advice someone gave me was, "If you quit now, you go home with nothing and this has all been a waste. If you stick it out, you go home with something. You've got to go home with something."

I'm feeling better about life, but still wish this was over. I had the first round of final exams today and feel that I totally rocked them. Two more weeks of learning, a week of exams, a week of orientation.

It had to happen

Groups start their training sessions roughly every two weeks. The group that is two weeks behind me got their exam results today. I remember how stressful it was sitting, waiting for your turn to get the results. But, obviously, I passed and was very relieved.

Things didn't go as well for a couple of people and they were escorted off the premises. I saw some of their classmates and every one of them looked like they had seen a ghost. They were relieved to have passed, but blown away by the reality that their friends weren't coming back.

On the bright side, I have now finished 8 weeks. I have 3 weeks of learning left, 1 week of exams and then a final week of orientation before heading back home!

Marathoners

A quick shout out to Glenn & Krista (Sue's cousins), who are running the Toronto Marathon this Sunday. Go get 'em! You've trained hard, now race harder. A few short, mind you possibly painful, hours is all that remains between you and a lifetime of bragging rights.

Also to my former co-worker Jake, who makes his run at a Boston qualifying time in Detroit on October 29. Have fun Jake, but don't forget to change your clock that night! It would sort of suck if you were an hour early (or would it be late? I never get it right). I seriously hope you make it. That would be amesome.

Half way

Today marks the academic halfway point for me! Woo Hoo! This has been a stressful week with exams and waiting for the results, but I passed, so I keep on going with the process.

Today also marks one more week until I get to go home for Thanksgiving. That will be awesome, I can hardly wait. Poor Darcy is so out of sorts and poor Sue is having to deal with everything. It's a pretty crappy situation, but we're halfway there.

Thanks to all those who have emailed support, it meant a lot especially this week.

ps: Happy 60th Birthday to my Father-in-law! Way to go H, you've honed that body into one that doesn't look much older than 70!

Have you heard of this?

There is a club called the "Marathon Maniacs", their goal is usually just to complete a marathon in all 50 states at some point in their lives. Some are little more hardcore and try to do 50 marathons in 50 states, in one year.

But this is crazy. Dean Karnazes is the ultimate of ultra-marathon runners. He has been featured in Runner's World several times and was one of the first people ever to run over 300 miles at one time! Although, he did admit to occasionally falling asleep while he was running.

His lastest endevour has been to run 50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 days. Don't worry Sue, this is something that I will never have interest in trying. It's for the clearly unstable.

Stress time

We are rapidly approaching our first set of "pass/fail" exams. We do them early next week. Even though I feel well prepared, I've done very well on all the review material and have improved the little areas that needed improving, the stress level is rising quickly.

I'm enjoying the program and have wonderful classmates. These are some of the most dedicated and supportive people that I've ever had the pleasure to work with. But that is also how we got here...

So, I've got a few days of practice and studying left, then it's crunch time.

Feeling guilty

Darcy had a great week last week with Stef, but this week has noticed the difference with Stef gone. I can't help but feel guilty for putting Darcy through this stressful time. She's so young and she doesn't understand that I'm not there right now. She's at the point where she doesn't really want to talk to me on the phone. I think that's because she doesn't want to talk to me, she wants to see me, to play with me, she wants me to be there.

I know that if all goes well, this will really pay off in the end. But right now I feel like a pretty terrible father for forcing such trauma on her young little life.

One Quarter Done

Three weeks in. It's amazing to think that I'm already 1/4 finished. In some ways it feel like I'm been here for ever, but in other ways it feels like time has just flown by. I have an amazing group to work with, we can totally count on each other for help and support. That has made life away from my family easier.

I'm still keeping in shape. I'm not biking nearly as much as I'd like to, I get out maybe twice a week, but my running is still going nicely; I get in about 20 miles a week. I'm also able to swim more consistently and the weight are always available too. Although, I have yet to actually touch them...

Combined, I've managed to put in over 150km in since I've been here.

Home

I'm home in Windsor for the long weekend. On Thursday I told Darcy that I would see her Friday. We barely made it, but I was in her room watching her sleep at 11:55 pm. When she woke up this morning, I walked in and she started to say "Hello, Mommy." But she caught herslef and spent the next five minutes saying, "Daddydaddydaddydaddydaddydaddy!" In between that she would say, "You were in the telephone." It's good to be missed.

Oh yeah, Sue missed me too.

Tonight on CNN - program change

There was supposed to be a documentary feature about the eight years that Sue and I have been married, but it's being replaced with ongoing Katrina coverage.

What some people will do for ratings!

Love you Sue, even if we don't have our own tv special ;)

Distance

I'm in Montreal for the weekend. Stef and I went for a long ride this morning, nothing hard, just keeping an easy pace over mostly paved trails. We got as close as we could to the F1 Track, where the Champ Car Series is having a race this weekend. We were within a kilometre of the track and could see the tents, I could also hear the cars all the way from here, about 12.5 km away. We did do dome gravel trails and a few sections of trails that are still being completed. Some good hills and some good descents (with some nice skidding). It was a great ride, we were gone for 2 1/2 hours and covered 47.5 km, according to Gmap Pedometer.

It was an intense first week. I'm really enjoying the learning, but it's really hard to be away from Sue and Darcy. If you've read Sue's blog, you'll know that Darcy's having a tough time adjusting to my being away. It's having an effect on all of us. Fortunately, next weekend is a long weekend and I'll headed home to see my favorite girls! Yee Haw.

I love Air Canada

Have you seen Windsor Airport? If not, it's small. I think there is one gate. Yet, the last two times I've flown from Windsor to Toronto, my bags have been lost. What is up with that? How hard is it? There was only one plane in Windsor, how come my bags didn't get on it?

I won't even get into some of the other diasters that AC & I have shared. I could write a book about it.

My dear wife, who I totally ADORE for her wisdom, suggested last week that I take a uniform as carry-on, just in case. Being the obedient husband that I am, I followed her advice and packed everything I'd need for one day in my carry-on. Except toileteries. Now, my first day is done and I STILL DON'T HAVE ANY LUGGAGE!!! I'm told that they will be delivered today, but I'll believe it when I see it. Big points to Sue for coming up with her idea. Wow, I'd be so totally up the creek without that suggestion.

So here I am, with the clothes that I wore yesterday and the one uniform I carried on. Hopefully my bags come soon.

Like right now would be nice.

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UPDATE: 9:00pm

Apparently I'm quite a powerful writer. It turns out that as I was writing my little rant, my bags were being delivered that very minute. Hah. Oh wait, they were only 22 hours late, so it's really not THAT funny.

Some things

There are some tri pics up on my Flickr page. Jake took them(thanks eh!). I tried to post some here, but blogger can be stupid about those sort of things.

If you notice the one with the floating sludge, maybe that'll explain why I had a mini-barf or 'vurp' while I was swimming. I had forgotten about it until Monday afternoon. About 3/4 of the way through I had swallowed too much water and the GU energy gel I took before the swim was starting to fight back. Mix the two things together and a burp with a tiny little bit of flavor is what I got. Thankfully, nothing more than that.

Jake noticed that I came out of the water way sooner than he expected. There were about 15 pros who start 3 minutes ahead of everyone and then the men under 40 were the next wave to go. He figures I was in the top ten of my wave out of the water. I was first in my age group, but didn't know that at the time. It's funny though, here I am disappointed with my time, but top in my age group and well ahead of everyone else. When I got out on the bike about I started getting passed by a number of people who were flying. At the time I thought to myself, "Why are these guys so far back?" Never realizing that it was me who was so far in front.

Last night I went for a 5 km run. I had decided earlier in the day that I was going to break my PR of 21:11 and then Jake challenged me to break his record of 20:35. I got to the halfway point at 10:13 and was pretty sure I could match Jake's time. It was very hard work, but I cranked it out in 20:19! That works out to 4:04/km or 6:32/mile. Shattering my own PR by 52 seconds. I was gasping for air like I never have before; an awesome run. This way I leave my job with the fastest 5 km time at the shop, if only for a day.

That's right, I'm done at the print shop. It was hard to say good-bye. I had been there for seven years, three months and fifteen days, give or take. With both of our family's being out of town, we've taken to adopting people as our family. My co-workers were family and it's hard to see them go. I leave Sunday for my training period. It's 13 weeks long, but fortunately I'll be home again in two weeks for Labour Day. Sue will be on her own for a week and then she's taking in a boarder for a month or two. She's a girl who's getting pushed out by her current landlord and is getting married in December, so doesn't need a lease. The timing is perfect and Sue is excited about having adult company. Also, after Labour Day my sister has agreed to stay for a week to take care of Darcy. It sounds like Stef has a whole curriculum planned, hopefully she can keep up with Darcy's pace.

I'll have internet access while I'm away but I doubt I'll have much to blog about. My goal is to study hard and pass everything. They have great facilities so I'll also be able to keep my swimming, biking and running at a good level. No fall races for me this year. Next year I'll do an Olympic tri for sure.

Titcombe out.

Race Details

It was a perfect day. A little chilly when I left the house, but beautiful by the time the race started. We couldn't have had better conditions.

The Swim (800 metres):
Same course as last year, straight out & back along the shore. Because of this it's really shallow the entire way. My strategy this year was to be more aggressive and get towards the front of the pack. I was near the front, but really didn't settle into a good rhythm until the second half. Even though the lake was very smooth, I kept swallowing water and, for some strange reason, my goggles decided that today would be the first time they leaked. So I had to keep emptying them. I felt good the whole way, a decent effort, tired but not too tired. Here's where things get weird. I got to the timing mat and hit the split on my watch, 14:30. What? Two full minutes slower than last year. Very strange.

I did some looking at the results and compared times of big name people with their times of last year. Almost everyone, including the pros, was about 2 minutes slower. So, it seems a little fishy that everyone would slow down by nearly the same margin. I can see myself slowing down that much, but not the pros. There were some world class racers there and it just seems impossible that I would slow down by the same amount as they would. My conclusion is that either this years swim course was too long or that last years swim course was too short.

Anyway, I was now two minutes behind schedule and had ground to make up. After the swim, here is my placing:
14:30 - 40/161 overall & 1/19 age group

T1 (swim-bike):
As I'm running up the beach the swim cap and goggles come off. Last year they had kiddie pools to wash your feet of in (I slipped and almost fell), but there were no pools this year. Fortunately, I had planned to wash my own feet off anyway. I got to my bike, sprayed one down, put one sock on and slipped on one shoe (thanks to my YANKZ laces, highly recommended), then repeated the process on the other foot. Voila, I've got my shoes on all I have left to do is get my shirt on. Somehow I managed to put my shirt on half inside out and got stuck. So I wasted about 30 seconds wriggling out of my shirt, getting it the right way and finally getting it on.
Time: 1:54 (1:13 faster than last year).

Bike 30 km:
There's not much to report about the bike. I worked hard and kept the pace as high as I could. We were blessed with a tiny headwind for the first half, but I knew that the would be a tailwind for the second half. I was drinking gatorade every ten minutes and took a GU energy gel after 30 minutes. I think that I ended up over doing it on the bike and had too much stuff in my stomach for the run. Oh well, lesson learned.

My time on the bike was:
55:45 (32.3 km/hr) - 71/161 & 12/19 (18 seconds slower than last year).

T2 (bike-run):
Put the bike back on the rack, take off the helmet, start running.
Time: 43 seconds (15 seconds faster than last year).

Run (6 km):
I knew I was a much stronger running this year. It showed right away as I really didn't feel too bad off the bike and ran with a good stride immediately. A few people passed me in the first couple of km, but after the halfway point, I did not get passed once and must have passed a dozen or more people. I was running stronger as they were fading. In the last 2 km, an older gentleman and I were running together and started picking off people ahead of us. We hit the 5 km marker and I picked up the pace again, he was a few seconds behind me at the line. Turns out he was Richard Kniaziew, a local man who once did the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. His daughters have both been very successful triathletes. One of them, Blaire, place eight in her age group at Hawaii last year. Clearly I was in good company.

I was very happy with my splits:
4.41
4.35
4.28 - 13:44
4.26
4.29
4.18 - 13:13
Total run time:
26:57 - 51/161 & 7/19 (1:08 faster than last year).

The official standings have me at:
1:40:03 - 58/161 & 9/19 (3 seconds slower...)

They say that the clock doesn't lie and I won't argue what the clock says, but I know something is not right. Initially, I was disappointed about the swim putting me so far behind, but I figured that with the amount that I actually swim, the result was fairly predictable. But now I know that something was different from last year, either way I know I improved. I'll just have to go out and crank it up another notch next year.

Time = Huh?

The official results aren't posted yet but, according to my watch, my time was 1:40:00. Or, exactly the same as last year! Huh? How is that even possible? I knew I wasn't going to set a world record, but I was hoping for some improvement. Like not even a second or two? Weird.

Once the official results are posted I'll write a report and all that.

Release the hounds!

Sunday is race day for me. I'll be competing in the annual Windsor Triathlon. It's an 800m swim, 30 km bike & 6 km run. Last year I finished in 1:40:00 and I'm very confident that I will improve upon that this time around.

As usual, I give myself three goals:
I know I can do less than 1:40:00.
I'd really like to do less than 1:35:00.
I'd love to do around 1:31:00 or better.

One last easy swim-bike combo tomorrow morning and then rest until Sunday morning. Then it's time to hammer.

Pirates - Movie Review

Warning, if I haven't seen it I will ruin the plot, not that there was much of one.

Okay Disney, what's the deal? I can't figure out who you're marketing this movie to. It's way too long for anyone, way to gory for kids under 10 and way to predictable for anyone older. What's up with that stupid love triangle? And I'd also like to question your lack of imagination and recommend that you try to invent new monsters.

So, it's too long. It runs around 2:20 and could easily be 40 minutes shorter. As most people that I've talked to have said, "It's long and nothing happens." Ohhhh, there's Capt. Jack Sparrow using himself as a human pole vault! Ohhhh, there's Turner being overbearing and super-clever. Ohhh, there's Capt. Jack again speaking circles around everyone. Ohhhh, there's Turner escaping from a rolling prison ball, and then from a rolling water wheel. Ohhh, a three man sword fight. And my favorite, ohhhh, a scary octopus like monster that can will swallow you whole and then keep you undead for a hundred years on the ocean floor.

This monster has already been in some small films that have had limited success. I believe you'll find it in "Return of the Jedi", he eats Bobba Fett. And it makes a cameo (in it's flashy new water form) in "Fellowship of the Ring" as the fellowship is entering the mines of Moria. Seriously, this is the best Disney can come up with? Pretty uncreative.

What bugged me the most was how Keira Knightley's character turns herself into a no good pirate floozy. She challenges Jack to do what is right and not to force her into a situation where her honor would be compromised. For a moment we think he's abandonned everyone and his beloved ship, The Black Pearl. In the end he returns to what he wants most, his ship and goes down with it, proving that he is a man of (moderate) honor, after all he is still a pirate. Knightley's character, one the other hand, abandons her honor to lure Capt. Jack into being trapped on the Pearl while it is under attack. Is that really the character type that Disney is looking to sell to young girls?

Writing: poor, trying to be way to clever way too often.
Acting: Depp is very funny, I like him. Knightley is nice to watch, but a terrible character. Bloom tries to do too much with very little.
Action: Cool, but repetitive and the sequences are too long.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Word verification

I've been getting some 'comments' lately that haven't been contributing to the blog. So I've turned on the word verification thingy.

Sorry for any inconvenience. Spammers stink.

Oh boy.

I was at the pool this morning and I've started to recognize some of the regulars. Two that really stick out are a pair of older men and that are seriously overweight. I'll call them Mr. Big #1 and Mr. Big #2. They know each other and are forever talking about different business ideas in the locker room. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Big #1 is the owner of a couple of local restaurants. Sometimes Mr. Big #2 makes it into the pool for a swim. I think Mr. Big #1 just uses the hot tub.

Today they and I were the first three people in the locker room. The combined weight would have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of 860 lbs., and I tip the scales at 160 lbs. Since the triathlon is next weekend, I was using this as a chance to practice getting dressed while wet and getting used to biking after swimming, so I was getting my locker set up and putting my stuff in order when I heard a clapping sound.

I turned around to see that Mr. Big #1 had sat down on the bench between lockers, but he was naked. His enormous 350 lbs. butt was firmly planted on a slotted bench in a communal locker room. I shuddered and nearly gagged. As I promise to myself, I will never touch that bench or any other bench in that locker room ever again.

After thoughts

It's Thursday and my legs finally feel normal again. I can walk downstairs again without any trouble and I had some decent power on my bike rides today. Which is good, because I'm going to do my first post-race run today. Just an easy 2 miles to remind my legs what it feels like to run. Hopefully they cooperate.

I was looking over my splits. Each 5 km got slower, not surprisingly.
5: 23.35
10: 24.37
15: 25.05
20: 25.35

This race offered free massages to anyone who signed up. I thought that was going to be a treat. The problem was that the tent was full of people who ran the 5 km race and were getting full-body massages, so the people who ran the 10 km had to wait for them and the people who ran the half-marathon (21.1 km) had to be last to get a massage. Jake told me that the same thing happened to him after running the Forest City Marathon (London) in May. He eventually saw an open table and just lay down. Someone got mad that he cut in front of her kids, who ran all of 2.5 km, but he didn't really care. After all he had just run a marathon, that's 42.2 km, if you care.

Maybe I'm coming across like a jerk (it's my blog, I can do that here), but does anyone who ran 5 km really need a 45 minute full-body massage? I ran 21.1 and I only wanted my legs. There's got to be a better method of giving free massages. Surely there could be cut-off time frames for the other races and then when the half-marathoners come in, they get priority? But again, unless you set the world record, does anyone who ran 5 km really need a massage? So after signing up, I waited around for almost 15 minutes and still had at least 20 minutes to wait when I decided to leave. That could be part of the reason that it took four days for my legs to feel like legs again.