So bummed

I thought I was feeling better, just a little! I think my energy is coming back. Today was my first 'official' run since getting sick a couple of weeks ago - 12k. I was psyched! I was feeling it! I was headed for trouble :(

As soon as I started my run I knew something was up. My legs didn't belong to me. My heart rate was high - 165. I was hoping it was because I wasn't yet sweaty enough and the HRM wasn't reading correctly. But I was trying to convince myself I guess. At 10 minutes I was averaging 175. The next repeat of 10 the numbers were the same. Saw 185 a few times :(. So I turned around at 16. I had to stop a few times on the way back to get my HR down again below 160. I walked for another KM once I got back to the car, to try to get my HR below 110 so I could drive. The best I could do was 115. I had a few surges while driving home, peaking at 125. Horrible feeling when you're sitting down!

When I got home I puttered around the garden for an hour, feeling lousy. Then came in and rested to try to get the HR in the normal ranges. I took my BP and it was 107/95 with a pulse (HR) of 110. Nasty. I took it again in an hour, and it was worse 90/85, HR 100. I really felt like crap, so we sat outside for a couple of hours reading, which I didn't have the focus to do. When your heart is beating like your walking around, and you're laid out on a lounger, you can't read.

My HR must had finally dropped because I wanted to sleep, and you can't sleep with elevated heart rates, and when the episodes happen it's exhausting. So nap it was, it took a long time to fall asleep, but woke up 50 mins later feeling normal. I took my BP and I was 110/70 with a HR of 65. FINALLY.

Wenckebach sucks sometimes. But I'm so grateful it only attacks to this degree a couple of times a year (touch wood!), and no need for hospitalization for 2 years now :) It's a relief to know my 'numbers', a HR over 150 for more than 30 mins and it's off to the hosp. I hope I don't have to do that ever again. I asked my doctor once if you're supposed to feel your heart beating, and he said 'only when you have palpitations'. Hmm... there's never a time I DON'T feel it beating. And sometimes it feels downright icky. But if this is the most serious health issue I have, I'm very blessed.

Enough about that. I'm on VACATION! So tomorrow, I'm going to try this run again :). I expect my HR will still be high, it tends to be for a few days after an episode. But I will try it again. I'll report tomorrow on how it goes.

Road back

I've been sick. No idea what the illness is mind you. It started 10 days ago, something I ate really upset my tummy. I had 3 days of tummy and fatigue, and now only fatigue. It's BAD. Walking is too tiring.

KT and I were going to go biking on Sunday. I was thinking to myself "the way to feel energetic, is to do something energetic". By the time I got my bike shorts on I was seeing spots. Not good. I bailed on her :(. Yesterday I wanted to run, but ended up taking the car to the garage over lunch, which was just as well, as I felt like keeling over the whole time.

So today was the day. I had to run. I decided the treadmill was the best way to go due to time constraints and the sleepies. I ran a whopping 3km and really had to push it to do that much. I was hoping for 4. After walking 10 minutes I decided to pick up the pace again. Bah, no good. I had to hang in to the supports to not fall over, I was all over the place. Enough. I slowed the speed and walked the remaining time. Got 45 mins in. I could sleep. :(

Tomorrow I have a brick scheduled, but not feeling too positive. I hope I get my legs/head back soon.

Maybe I have what Lu has. He has been curled up in a corner all day, only coming down to drink or eat once in a while. Poor critter :(

Rockin' Girl Bloggers

Thanks Dawn for honouring me with this award!

I now get to nominate 5 rockin' girl bloggers! This is tough, because I know some already have... Dawn (of course), Karen, *jeanne*.

So I nominate:
Renee - Because we're sisters from other misters.
Lisa - For her honesty.
Tory - For the inspiration.
TxTriSkatemom - Love love love your dedication... and time management!
bunnygirl - For her neverending support, and adorable bunny photos.

Thank you ladies :)

Hearing aid is on order...

Oh my god! Went to Bluesfest after work yesterday. I was looking for KT at the Rogers stage and in looking around at the kids there thought "this looks like a mosh pit". Called KT and she was on the other side. Good call... it did become a mosh pit.

Gogol Bordello were are riot. Gypsy punk. Soooo much fun, so much energy. We were right at the front, and next to the speakers! Good call! Did I move? No! Because last night I was a teenager again. Loved the show. I will definitely see them again when they come to town next! A picture and a clip:




From here KT and I went to the opposite stage to watch The Cat Empire. Outstanding! Another clip, this one's a short one:



I stayed at this stage when they were done, but caught Edie Brickell and New Bohemians on the opposite stage. Could hear perfectly and see the big screens. At 9:30 INXS started. We were really close to the stage:


and a couple of vids:





JD Fortune was good, but no Michael Hutchence. But it was great! I'm just a big MH fan :). I felt like I was 18 again.

Went to bed too late. Didn't drink enough. Ears still rining. Body is sore from all these late nights standing and dancing. Not going to run today... I have two more days to party, and I'm too fatigued. No guilt there either!

Off to clean the house.

I really need to get to work but first

I need to get this down for the training log. Tuesday was an off day so I walked, Wed was supposed to do my brick, but I had to do an emergency communication over lunch and the sky turned black. Good thing I didn't try to squeeze it in because 7 people were hit by lightening. Hmm. So I hopped on the treadmill and ran Thursday's scheduled 4k. These little runs are fun. Half training starts in 2 weeks! After the run I grabbed a meeting in my wet running clothes then back to the treadmill to walk another 30 mins.

I completed Wednesday's brick yesterday. It was really windy. On the return I couldn't coast at all, because I'd slow to a near stop. So I kept at it, granny gearing the little hills. My quads were very tight by the time I dismounted. Gave Steve the bike, put on my running shoes and took off. I need to get tri shorts, I feel like I'm wearing a diaper in my bike shorts. They're tight enough though that I forget about it soon enough. It only took me 500m to get my legs this time, and again, ran at a blistering modern era pace of 6:20/km. I just couldn't slow down! My heart rate was really good to. I'm loving this. So nice to be back. Absolutely no regrets starting over!

Bluesfest:
Wasn't able to make it on Tuesday (so bummed!) because class went late. Wednesday saw a little of Chris Duarte, then left to go to the main stage to see the Steve Miller Band. Seriously, 20 minute rendition of Fly Like an Eagle to kick off the show? A lot of people were bored by that point. It was 'ok' and didn't start getting better until near the end. No pictures or vids, just nothing worth it, then it got too dark and too crowded.

Last night I made it after class just in time to see Xavier Rudd (finally!). It was really packed. I really enjoyed it. I was in the middle of the crowd it looked like, and I was far back. Short vid, can't see anything but the audio is good.



I left shortly before the end to make sure I caught the train (and I was getting a headache from the variety of smoke out there.... yes, getting old!), and heard a little of Blue Rodeo on the way out. Great as always.

Class:
I'm done! I aced the first 9 exam questions, and blew the last one. I just couldn't remember the formula. I put what I could, I know I'll get partial marks for being on the right track.

Better get to work! Tonight Gogol Bordello (if you saw Madonna at Live Earth, 2 of the band played with her on La Isla Bonita... gypsy punk), Cat Empire, then INXS. If they suck I'm off to Ten Years After... I'd prefer to see them, but promised a girlfriend I'd go with her to INXS!

This is going to be a long week!

Monday I woke up feeling a little lousy, so I drank tons of water. I ran at lunch time, felt no better, felt no worse, felt very sweaty. It had hit 37C/99F. No idea what's going on with this summer here! It was all humidity. Blah.

So I had soup for lunch, because when it's insanely hot, I crave soup. CRAVE soup. Mmmm soup. Ok, I could eat soup everyday, but when it's really hot, I have to have it. So I did.

Steve and I went to the Bluesfest on the O-Train again. This time it was hot and muggy. I had a little panic attack just before we pulled out. I was still feeling queasy and I guess the claustrophobia of not getting off if I need to barf got to me. So I decided if I needed to barf, I was going to barf in my knapsack... just like WrayJean did once on her way to a trail marathon. Luckily it didn't come to that. We got to the end of the line, and ran for the bus that was arriving. I'm trying to get my bus tickets in (because the pay machine at the train was broken we rode 'free') and they were stuck to my sweaty hands. The driver is saying 'no no no'. Then I realized it was my neighbour :) I take public transportation what 6 times in 3 years and it's my neighbour who drives me. Just a nice man.

We got to the site and met up with my brother. We listened to Johnny Lang for a bit, then Steve and Pat hunkered down at the River stage to see Buddy Guy. Having seen Buddy Guy a few times already, I left for the Blacksheep stage to see Final Fantasy. I love Final Fantasy. One thing I didn't know was that Final Fantasy was in effect, one guy! I expected a string ensemble. Nope... just this young guy. Adorable really "you're all so sweet" he'd say between songs. Just wanted to put him in my still-clean knapsack and take him home. Anyway, he comes out and plays a few bars, all the while recording them on the repeater (or whatever it's called) so it keeps playing it and he plays something else, repeats that, and before you know it you have full sound.

I captured some with my camera... I was pretty far because I wanted to be where KT could find me when she got there after class.



In the background you can see 'Steph' making her 'little movies' to complement the music. She used an overhead projector overlaying and taking away hand drawn pictures and cut outs. It was pretty neat actually. When I told Steve he called it 'beatnik' LOL. Sadly, he didn't play Arctic Circle, my favorite. But the show was great nevertheless. So many people swaying with their eyes closed. So nice.

When his set was over we were met with the shock of Hedley. I'm not a fan of Hedley, but love the lead singer, who was I think top 3 in Canadian Idol a few years ago. He was in the band when he was on CI, so it's not a prefab group, though I'm sure his stint on the show gave them a huge push!

Today is a training off day, and I missed my walk because of work. My last class before my final is tonight, and was busy finishing an assignment due Thursday, so I was too late to make it to Bluesfest tonight. Too bad, I really wanted to see Los Lobos or George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars! I'll have to wait to hear all about it from the family tomorrow.

I intend to head down straight after work tomorrow - there are a lot of bands I want to see, the night ending with the Steve Miller Band. Ya I know, not blues, but it's the big acts that keep the festival afloat!

Another full day!

We had a great time at Bluesfest last night. Caught the lovely Sarah Harmer, then Michael Franti and Spearhead... so excited, I've missed his/their show 3 times now! We then caught some Manu Chao... really good. The music the whole night was great. Steve, KT and I went together, and met up with my brother and my nephew. The rain held... only a few drops!

A clip from the show... we were all singing and dancing, but KT seemed to have more energy than most. As she normally does:



And a photo of my brother and I during the show... I need to work on my expressions... I always look a little crazy in photos... too many teeth:


After the show, we took the train back to the parking area. KT was a little less energetic at this point:


I love her so much. She's so much fun.

Steve worked today, so KT and I decided we'd bike together. We were somewhat concerned by the heavy rain! It cleared up a little by 11, so we were off. Never in a million years did I expect it the rain to stop completely!

KT really wanted to take the Ottawa River Parkway, because she's hoping to bike to work. Our internet was out this morning so I had to be back by 2PM to meet the technician. We settled on 30k (round trip to work for her would be +40k. The farthest I've biked this year was 22k, and KT 12k. I'm on a road bike, she's on a hybrid. Way easier for me. She was AMAZING! I'm really proud of her. We were both hungry at the end, and her legs were tired, but she was grabbing her Gatorade bottle from her bottle cage and putting it back without missing a beat. I was really impressed! I dropped KT off at her summer place (apt downtown) and hightailed it home.

Believe it or not the appt with the ISP technician was for between 2-5. Wouldn't you know it, I missed his call at 1:52. His message was to reschedule, but when I called my ISP they said that it wasn't cancelled. He pulled in my laneway while we were talking. Wow, technicians on time! Love it! Internet is working again (obviously), so now doing laundry and thinking about maybe staying in tonight. I've got a teeny bit of Wenckebach going on, and it would probably be wiser to stay in and study for my final on Thursday! But we'll see....

Ok, just spoke with KT. She's already crammed up against the stage for The White Stripes tonight. I really wanted to see Joel Plaskett but they've been moved to a different stage. I think I'll snooze instead. Too much effort to get down there. Ah to be 20 again...

So far

so good! My shin was really bugging me yesterday, so while undergoing my first half performance review with my Manager, I iced my shin, then my foot, then my knee. Working from home has it's plusses... though I must confess, I used to ice whatever needed it at the office too... those freezie-type ice packs and a tensor bandage to hold it in place work wonders in a cube farm!

Anyway, last night's Bluesfest was fun. I finally rode the O-Train! It's only been three years or so since it hit the tracks! Yes, wee Ottawa only has one line, lasts 13 minutes from end to end. Can't get there any faster! So we parked at the park and ride nearby, hopped on the train, took the bus one stop, and walked a block. We could never have driven there that fast. Love it. Not loving $3 bus fare though (so off to buy some bus tickets today which will reduce the cost to $1.90. Ya it's a scam).

So at Bluesfest we checked out the site, it's back at Lebreton Flats after 10 years. Much bigger space, and much better stage layout. What's not as great is there's nothing else around except the War Museum, which you have to walk through to get to the Blacksheep Stage. Which is in an awesome location... actually, both it and the River stage are on the Ottawa River. Very nice. Always breezy too! The main stages are on the main grounds, can't see the river, but that's ok.

We caught a few minutes of a couple of bands, then a local DJ at another stage, then made it to the main stage to watch Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Outstanding as always. Saw them open for Dave Matthews once. Just great. When they finished up you basically turn around and you can catch the other main stage act, who's just getting started. Last night was George Thorogood and the Destroyers. I've seen them before, and didn't really care to watch them again. It's what we call 'Biker Night' at Bluesfest. Way too much smoke in the audience for my lungs! So when he got started, we left. We were planning on catching up with KT anyway, who was working Fifa Under 20. There is not an event in this city that this child is not working or attending. Way too much energy! ..... well maybe not so much. I just looked over and she's sound asleep in the Lazyboy. :) Considering she works full time, has a part time job, night school twice a week, and Bluesfest... I expect she will have two speeds... go go go, and asleep.

Some photos from last night:

Steve and I at the Blacksheep stage with the river behind us. We'll be biking that path tomorrow.


This was taken about 10 minutes later... sunset over the river:




Now today... woke up dehydrated a little, so drank a couple of glasses of ice water with my waffle. Got caught up in Live Earth for a bit, then finally headed to the Canal at 10:15. My 10k was good. Absolutely no complaints. Shin is hurting less and less. It was windy, but I'm getting used to that. There were spots that are sheltered by trees so then I complained it was suddenly too hot without the wind. Whine whine whine.

I ran 10/1, and finished 1 minute slower than my race time last week, but a few seconds faster than my previous fastest time. My heart rate was the real winner though, steadily dropping. Today's AHR was 143.

One question though... what the heck do red winged blackbirds have against crows? This is the second time I've seen them attack a crow in mid flight! Crazy.

One more question.... Joe, if you're reading this... were you running on the Canal too? You have an Ottawa twin!

So going to hang out here for a bit, then head back to Bluesfest for Sarah Harmer and Michael Franti and Spearhead. So excited to finally see Franti. Kept missing him every other time he came.

Still on schedule

I ran my scheduled 3k yesterday, and I was still feeling Wednesday evening's brick. My pace was 15 s/km slower. It's all good though, I needed a break.

My right shin has been sore the last couple of weeks, no doubt from the increased training. Nothing debilitating yet, so must keep icing. or start icing.

Today called for a 45 min walk, but I'm swamped at the office, so any/all walking will be to and from Bluesfest tonight.

Tomorrow calls for 10k. Hoping my legs are feeling better after a no-run day!

The return of the brick

Oh my. I'd forgotten what a brick felt like.

We headed out in pouring rain to drop some stuff of to Katie, then parked at the canal. The rain was getting worse, so we decided to call it. We drove a whopping 8k away and the rain had stopped. We parked the car at Hogsback Falls, and lept on our bikes. I didn't want to push it hard because the paths were really puddly and I still stink on the bike. 20k down. Gave the bike to Steve, drank some Gatorade and put on my shoes. Oh my. I thought I was going to fall. I couldn't run downhill, I couldn't lift my feet, my shoes each weighed a ton. Finally after 1km of near tumble I started to fell less Frankenstein.

Then this guy runs by me and gives me a big smile, thumbs up and "great job". I said "hi" and stewed that I didn't need the fat chick peptalk. I know he was enjoying his run and trying to be encouraging, but I only had 3k to run in my soaking wet bike diaper shorts. I caught him again on my return and wished him a good night.

I would love to know what my heart rate was. I wore my HRM, but without the elastic strap it reads all over the place. I can say without a doubt that not once did my MHR reach 234 on the bike! Nor did I hit 200 bpm on the run. I may very well have hit 170 though! I don't know what to do about the elastic strap. Garmin no longer has them, I can't find any here, and so far none have appeared on eBay. Sigh.

Glad to report my running pace was 6:36/km though. If I can score that pace over 5k I'll have matched my fastest 5k time from 2006. That day is coming!

Well, off to bed! Wee 3k run on the sched for tomorrow, and a power walk to bring the cardio to 45 mins.

Calling it a day

I went to bed last night with what was feeling like a groin pull. Darn it! After Sunday's 10k run and 8k of walking around, and yesterday's 4 hour garage cleaning, I felt fine. Then my Birkenstock flew off my foot and in an effort to ram my foot back in I wrenched that muscle. Grrr.

On the upside, I hardly felt it when I woke up. I have been feeling my calves though. Moo.

Anyway, KT slept in, so I drove her to the train. As I was pumping gas I had the sinking feeling I was missing a meeting. Then got caught in traffic. Yup, 17 minutes late for a strategy meeting with my boss and new team. Way to go me.

Oh well, motored on with my day, ran the wee 3k on the sched, walked 25 minutes afterwards, hoofed it to class, and got results of test 2 - 46/50. Ya man. My overall average is 94%. Final next week. Bring on the A+. I must be channelling my Mom, who decided to go back to school for her Anthropology degree in her late 50's, graduating in her 60's. She was an inspiration.

Tomorrow is calling for rain all day. I'm really hoping we can luck out like we have for the past 3 weeks and have a clear patch for an hour... I have my first brick to do!

Off to bed.

Canada Day!

So after the race we went back to the Byward Market to find a place for me to change. The Bay was open, and the day was much colder than we thought, so we bought matching hoodies to wear over our Canada t-shirts. I changed out of my race clothes in the washroom (I may have lost the elastic part of my heart rate monitor there :( ).

We then headed to McDonalds for a quickie 'egg mcmuffin no meat' and chocolate milk. Perfect post race food! From here we made our way to Parliament Hill. Wow, we should have skipped breakfast and shopping. It was packed. We wanted to see the changing of the guard and the RCMP musical ride, but it was impossible, the Hill was overflowing onto the street. We found out later that 50,000 people were already there by 10:00.


Plan B was to go back to Major's Hill Park behind the Chateau Laurier and check out what was going on. We caught the Lumberjack Show (in the background is the National Art Gallery.


We then went to the Snowbirds exhibit, to look in the cockpit of the demo plane. I need new pants. That's not pretty.


Steve then uttered the funniest statement of the day: "I see people with cheese curds... let's go find the cheese guy". So off we went. Except he found us. What a great country that gives away St. Albert cheese curds!! Unfortunately in the photo is blurry, but above the cow's head in read it reads "squeak"! Because everyone knows that the best cheese curds squeak in your teeth when you eat them! What everyone doesn't know, is that the French term for 'squeak' appears to be 'couick'! (in blue) Hahahaha :)

Everywhere we turned, the Dairy Farmers of Canada were giving us cheese. We were happy. So happy, the picture is again, blurry. Shaky Steve.

Steve took a few more shots.

Parliament Hill from the east in Major's Hill park.


Below Parliament Hill.... part of the race route!
The Parliament Library unveiled after several years of renos under a tea cozy! The copper roof is still coppery!


Back to Wellington Street, where we saw the Governor General arrive in carriage surrounded by the Mounties (RCMP). The War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is in the background... the arch.




The Snowbirds flyby


One of the buskers. I would be so sick.


And we went home, so that I could shower, we could have some lunch, and watch the concert for Diana. Those Princes need to get their hands away from their mouths. So not hygenic!

Anyway, we went back downtown around 8PM. Because we knew that parking would be impossible to find, we parked 1.5km away, where we normally park for our Canal runs. I had dinner (chip wagon Poutine! yum!) and we staked our place in Major's Hill Park, for the Fireworks. Like clockwork at 10PM we were treated to a 20 minute display. Wow, it always takes my breath away. We didn't bring the camera. We will next year!

It took us almost half an hour to get out of the park, and unfortunately, several trees and rose bushes got trampled. The lighting is really poor in the park, and we couldn't see the exit. So all of a sudden you're in the bushes! My shin is bruised and cut from a run in with a recently cut down rose stump. The walk back to the car by the canal was lovely. And we were home by 11:30.

PC sponsored the fireworks, and there were photographers everywhere all day. They found us and took the following shot: Steve and I in our matching sweatshirts and CBC hats, on Wellington Street, with the Chateau Laurier in the background. Steve wants to make it our Christmas card!

Canada Day 10K

I woke before the alarm, which was set for 6AM, because Steve couldn't sleep because he napped most of Saturday afternoon. So he tossed and turned for a bit, and then rubbed my back. Seriously, I really wanted to sleep, because I didn't nap, nor did I get to sleep before 1AM. Oh well.

Steve toasted an Eggo waffle for me, and slathered it with Cheez Whiz. Seriously. Don't knock it till you try it. This is my pre-run food! And post run snack. I could eat it anytime really. I also like CW on pancakes. But I digress.

We found parking in the Byward Market, and proceeded to walk the 1.5km to the race start, at Jacques Cartier Parc, in Gatineau (across the river to Quebec). Because your race number is your race shirt, all race etiquette goes out the window and you wear what everyone else does. Though it does feel wierd!

Yes, that's me on my way to the rear. And that's, um, my rear. Some other pics Steve took before the race... I'm there somewhere!


On the right is the Museum of Civilization - cool building, looks like a sand dune. You can also see in the distance the Peace Tower at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, just 1km away.


The start.




It took a little over two minutes to cross the mat. The race takes us across the Alexandra Bridge, right on Mackenzie Street along Major's Hill Park and then right on Wellington Street, in front of the Chateau Laurier. The last time I ran this race we stayed on Wellington and passed in front of Parliament Hill, but this time it took us behind Parliament hill, along the running path along the Ottawa river. Not complaining, it's so pretty. What I am complaining about is the first 1.5 km were uphill. Not nice to start a race on a bridge! However, what goes up must come down right? Yup! My pace really improved for the next 1.5km!

And then it was uphill again. Great merciful crap it was tough! Did I mention my plan was 10/1? Ya, really needed it! I so badly wanted to walk but refused to. And passed people on the hill thank you very much.

We ran on the Western Parkway to 6k, then turned back, and by the War Museum. Incidentally, this was the first place I saw a port-a-potty. Not that I needed one, I just thought that was interesting. Anyway, the wind really picked up, and I was getting tired of this race, and wanted it to end! As we crossed the Portage Bridge it was walk time, thank goodness. I walked less than 20 seconds before a sweet young lady with a stroller, running with her hubby, said "you know, we've been pacing off you this whole time, let's run it in". So we did. We had 2k to go, and she was running much faster than I was at that point. I looked at my watch at 9km and we were running at 6:28/km. This is blistering for me. See? Look at that face...


Ya that's me on the left. Steve was really excited to see me 2 minutes earlier than projected. Hence the shaky photo.

I finished in a chip time of 1:11:01. And I am thrilled. I've run 10k twice in 2007, both in the week leading up to the race. My times were 1:12:51 and 1:12:36. And both time the course had tiny hills and headwind. Not big mofo hills with headwind.

I got my medal from a wheelchair athlete, which was very cool as well. Grabbed an apple, and 2 bottles of Gatorade (Steve was thirsty!). I didn't feel bad, there weren't many people behind me and there was tons of food left.

We walked back across the bridge and remembered we needed a medal shot!



and one with the back of Parliament Hill in the background. Oh ya, at the base of the trees along the water, that's where we ran from about 3km! Again, what goes down...


Finally a shot of the medal in close up. Weighs a freaken' ton.


Next up... the rest of the day!