I'm taking today off. I'm really tired, physically and emotionally. These 60 hour weeks aren't my thing anymore. And not so great news on the work front. Need to make some plans for the future now.

Been running, and improving every time. I can now run a solid 5-6km without stopping. Because of work and fatigue I missed two of my runs this week. TWO!! But the two runs I had were quality runs. Wednesday I went out after work to the canal and wanted to do 5km straight. That's it. And I did 6 something (I haven't uploaded my Garmin yet, so not sure!). I was tired and sweaty afterwards, had a little Wenckebach, but that went away within 20 mins.

Thursday my workday started at 6:30 and after all the OT, I felt no qualms about calling it a day at 3PM. Steve was off, so we headed to the Gats for another trail run. We opted for the trail we used to do - trail 1 > trail 3. There was no one around the parking area we were at, which has never happened before, but it was only the first official day of mountain biking. There were many cyclists on the road area though, climbing, climbing. So the run, my ankles are still pretty weak. I died on the first hill, because it's a killer. Actually, I died on all the hills on the way out! It was a lot wetter than I remember (a lot of marshes and a lake), we saw a beaver. I took my mini camera and took this shot of the beaver swimming, which you can't see. Trust me, he's there!


Yeah, seriously overexposed! It was really sunny out :)

There's a little area in the middle of nowhere where someone built a bench! how cute is that?!? I didn't sit, though I was tempted! We turned around at the 3.8km mark. The run back was so much easier, I was much more warmed up. Though I was getting hungry and should have had more to drink. I took this picture at 'Teenaged Snakeland', where they like to sun in the summer. This would also be where I scream like Flanders every summer. I'm scared of snakes. Very scared.


Anyway, it was a wonderful wonderful run, and really helped clear my head. It's a long weekend in Canada (Victoria Day), and Monday we've decided to take the mountain bikes to this trail :) It's not terribly technical, and will really test my skills (or lack thereof) and intestinal fortitude (again, or lack thereof).

Yesterday's training plan was a ride after work. From the first KM my bike felt strange. It just would not shift properly. At 4km I hopped off and took a look. It seemed to be working ok. I hopped back on, and I'm up-shifting, and suddenly I'm spinning, thinking that my chain fell off. I pull over again. Still can't see what the problem is. Steve comes back and has a look, he can't see a problem either, so he hops on and tests it. No problem he says. I've already made up my mind that I'm going home because something is definitely not right. Steve comes with me (even though I keep telling him to go on and get his ride in, we're only 5k from home) and after 2 or 3 minutes it happens again. I pull over and we see the problem. The rear cogs (I think it's called?) where the chain moves up and down have split from each other and are spinning on their own. It looks like it's the bottom 2 so we pick the middle gear, and decide I'll stay there until we get home. We don't get 1 minute done and it goes to. They are all pulling away from each other. So I hop off, and start walking. Steve rides home to get the car, because walking 5k in bike shoes isn't that comfy! We took the bike to the shop today, and it seems a spacer has fallen out. I think they are replacing the whole thing, since they are replacing my chain too. I'm going to get a proper tune-up while it's in there, since they need to fine tune it anyway. I can't wait to get it back and try it out!

Tomorrow I'll be running 10/1 for 60 or 70 minutes. I was supposed to run today, but after popping dandilions in the lawn for an hour, my hamstrings were screaming. And I really didn't feel like it to tell the truth. Work is weighing a little too heavy right now.