I’m back!

Maybe.

A few days into January, I noticed many people doing a photo challenge. I thought it was cool, but kind of missed the boat.

But they just released February’s list, so I thought I’d not only join in on the photo challenge (have I mentioned that I wanted to do a photowalk minimum once/week in 2012, and so far I’ve done none? But let’s put a little blame on the sickness(es) that kept me down for 23 days in January) but also use it to revive my blog a little.

Here’s the February photo-a-day challenge

I’m also going to choose 4 and use those as themes for my photo walks in February. To be determined.

I’ll have more to write about re: triathlon training & other topics soon. Obviously, exercise/training was delayed due to being ill, so I’m reconsidering triathlon goals (but still planning on running at least one, hopefully 2!)

Here we go

I started training in January, pretty much from square one. I couldn’t swim very far without getting out of breath and couldn’t run at all.  I (very) loosely followed an 11 week training program that I found online – I didn’t much pay attention to the swimming part and once the bikes got over 15 miles I didn’t follow that as closely, but I used it as a guideline for where I should be at each point.

At about 1 week out from the tri, I got a pit in my stomach that lasted until about Friday evening. I’m sure it was just nerves. Unfortunately, I let it get to me and I didn’t do anything in terms of training for the last week before my tri (I’m still trying to justify it as tapering). I think packing my “transition box” (items I’d need during my transitions) on Friday helped me mentally prepare for the race, though, and I felt better through to the race.

Let me just say the weather was perfect.  The past two years there’s been snow on the ground & it was a lot colder – we got really lucky this year despite the big dumps of snow in the weeks prior.

It’s a lot of “hurry up and wait” when it comes to a triathlon, especially for me as I was seeded 13 out of 14 heats (more about this later). My swim went well – as expected. The bike was a little tougher but not too bad, but the run was much more difficult than I’d anticipated. I did some “brick” workouts (a bike and then a run afterwards to get used to the sensation) but, thanks to Calgary’s weather, I wasn’t able to get in any outdoor biking before the race.

What didn’t work so well

1. My swim heat - this is probably the biggest factor in how my race unfolded. When they collect your race information, they say that the swim time doesn’t matter that much as long as you stay within a 2 minute range up or down, but that’s a bold-faced lie. A 2 minute difference in stated swim time can mean 3-5 heats earlier or later. When  you factor in 12 people per heat, that’s 36-60 people before or after you. They start the slower people first, and put the fastest people last. I put down a swim time of 10 minutes, being honest (and optimistic) and I was seeded 2nd last out of 14. But my swim closer to 12 minutes, at best – I am NOT a fast swimmer. The swim itself doesn’t matter so much… ok, so I’m with the fastest swimmers and they’ll leave the pool 3 or so minutes faster than me… BUT, they are also faster bikers than me. They are also faster runners than me. Yes, I was literally the last (read: not slowest (by a long shot), but definitely last) person to finish the race, by a long shot. It turns out that most people fudge swim times so that they get to swim earlier. What I thought was a conservative time turned out to be a “fast” time – and there were a lot of far better swimmers in the first few heats. The biggest impact? Mentally… I was all by myself so I didn’t have the exciting race experience, especially for my run. The volunteers were waiting on ME, I was the only one on the course for the last half of my run, and almost everyone with the race has already “checked out” by the time I got to their station. It’s disappointing and I wish they’d put more emphasis on swim times when collecting them, or taken peoples’ projected bike and run times into consideration as well. Very difficult lesson learned.
2. The bike part – I wish Calgary’s weather had cooperated so that I had March to get outdoors and do some real biking. It’s immensely different from biking indoors on a stationary bike and I don’t think I was prepared enough for the transition from bike to run. I did brick training indoors, but it felt far different. I also think my tires could have been a little more inflated – should have checked with Ridley’s Cycle before the race.
3. Eating (which leads to 3.1, weight) – I didn’t change my eating at all while training for the triathlon. I continued to eat and do whatever I wanted. I’m not talking about strict diet, but I should have done a better job of eating whole, healthy foods to feed my body what it needed. This resulted in me not losing a pound, despite training like crazy for most of the year so far – I’m one of those people who could workout all day and still maintain my weight (or gain) if I don’t modify my eating habits. And I didn’t do well enough Sunday morning… my st0mach was growling when I was waiting to start the swim. I should have eaten my banana. I got stomach cramps during my run… my fault.

What went well

1. The transitions – I was pretty worried about the transition, especially from swim to bike, as I’d heard that it can really throw you off if you’re not prepared. I packed everything I thought I’d need, and then some, the two days prior. The day of, I unpacked it all onto a towel (suggested by my friend). I kept it simple… I did not use bike shorts (I have a cushy seat cover & figured 17.5k wasn’t killer) nor bike shoes so I only had to pull on one pair of each. In my mind, I had budgeted far more time for my transitions than I needed. Thanks to my friends, we also had awesome bike spots fairly close to where the bike and run started, which eased the stress just that much more.
2. My training overall – considering I started training from square one in January, I think I did fairly well… with the time I had, I pretty much got myself up to speed for all of the sports. I did a good job at cross training and trying to improve all three of running, swimming and biking. Again, being able to bike outdoors would have been nice but you roll with the punches. I was sick a couple of times this year and my training program fell apart in the last few weeks, but I’m pretty proud of how hard I worked towards this.

3. 

   Miki waiting for me to finish my swim

   My support sytem - this is a huge one. I can pretty much say without question that if I didn’t have the friends and family in attendance that I did, I may not have finished the race, or it would have been a much more painful process. Not only did I have two coworkers/friends who did the race along with me (3 swim heats ahead of me, however) but my sister was also a cheerleader (along with Miki, of course, pictured right waiting for me to finish my swim). There was supposed to be a bigger group but they dropped like flies for various reasons, so sign up with many so that there’s at least two of you guaranteed at the end! I got a lot of advice and help with my questions in advance, having a veteran like Katie was infinitely helpful, and without their persistance at the end of my run, I may have thrown in the towel and walked the whole thing since I was the only one anyway (not to mention the race organizers would have forgotten about me and packed up shop.) All the congratulations from my friends and family afterward also makes the entire race that much more worth it.

All in all, it’s the toughest thing I’ve physically done but I’m glad I did it. I’ll be honest and say that this experience wasn’t the greatest, mainly due to my late heat & being the last one on the course; solely based on this race I probably wouldn’t try another triathlon… but thanks so much to my friends and family (and my stubbornness to pull off a triathlon that I’m personally proud of), I will jump in again. I’m 95% leaning towards Canmore in July, but there’s also a few people trying to convince me to run WASA near Cranbrook, BC in June.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be back in training, with healthy eating also on the agenda (feel free to keep me on the up and up). I’ve got a plan and I’ll be sure to tap into my support system as needed.

But, I’d like to point out the comment on my entry for Shelf Monkey – by the author himself! Pretty cool.

It’s funny, because between these two I was more excited about A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews. I’d heard of it, read good reviews… but I did not enjoy it. At all. In short, the main character chronicles her current life with her silent father and also looks back into the past regarding why her sister and mother left their small community. I kept reading, hoping the novel would get to the point… and it never did. I never cared about the main characters. I saw struggle, but not enough to be rooting for the characters to overcome it. And, even if I had, it’s not as if it would have mattered. Basically, I saw, I read, I shrugged. In my opinion, the book is forgettable. Sorry!

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Borden, on the other hand… I very much enjoyed. It’s told from the perspective of two characters who are connected but also living very different lives. The uncle discusses fighting on two fronts: his vices and his enemy, and how he tries taking control of his life. The niece, on the other hand, takes time out of her very solitary life to head to Toronto, Montreal and New York to find her sister. It sounds lame, but it was actually a very well thought-out and written novel. It does jump back and forth between present and past but, even for those who generally get confused, the pattern is very evident and easy to follow. I really enjoyed reading about a way of life that I don’t know much about, of those living in very northern areas without easy access to major metropolitan areas.

So, all in all, I enjoyed the book I’d never heard of, and did not enjoy the book I was looking forward to. Go figure.

It really is weird – it’s written as a bunch of emails with short newspaper clippings interspersed that fill in the gaps left by the main character (writing the emails). The structure actually reminded me quite a lot of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I read just before Shelf Monkey (even though it wasn’t on the Top 40 list). Timeline-wise, the novel starts towards the end of the story and leaves you wondering right from the get-go. “What in the world is he referring to?” rattles around in your brain for the first few “chapters,” until you start getting into the meat of the story. In short, our main character starts off simply needing a job and ends up mixed up in a criminal act that has him running from everyone in, what feels like, the world. But the author leaves you hanging until the. very. end.

I loved the Canadiana references & mentions of Canadian authors and novels in this book. I got a thrill when I could identify who or what was being named, and felt a bit ashamed if a name didn’t jog anything in my memory. This was definitely a novel that bibliophiles can relate to – especially the bits about “good” and “bad” literature. Surprising, entertaining, odd.

This is my favourite read from the list so far and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys kicking back with a book.

This may have also been part of my reluctance to jump right back into another class. I had to re-establish my relationship with Miki and get her attention – something had to change before we went back. And, it has! Miki did awesome yesterday – she listened, she did the equipment properly, she was very engaged in what I was doing and not distracted at all by the other dogs or people. I was thrilled (and gave her a proportionate amount of both treats and praise).

Anyhow, this time I’m determined to really make some progress with Miki. Now, the dog – she’s a superstar. She can do all the equipment, she’s fearless and very willing to do whatever I ask her to. Me, on the other hand, I need some work. I’ve described agility as trying to learn dance moves all the while giving instructions to a dog on how to move. It’s hard enough that I’m not an especially coordinated human being, but adding Miki’s exuberance to that equation just bungles it all up.

Now, I’m not all THAT terrible and sometimes we do a perfect run on the first try… but I’m not consistent. And I think it’ll benefit both Miki and I for us to practice at least once, preferrably twice, per week, IN ADDITION TO our weekly class.

So… I started taking pictures of all the routines we did, and the plan is to set these up and practice at the arena at least once a week. The great thing about the arena is that they open it for practice whenever there isn’t another group in there for anyone who’s taking classes – the bad news is that it’s very popular (there are only a few places around Calgary that have facilities like this) and it’s hard to find free times. Naturally, I forgot to check the schedule on Monday but I’m planning on heading out Saturday anyhow. We’ll see.

I had thought about posting the routines on my blog but I’m not sure whether the trainer would have issues with that (giving away tips/training for free, etc, etc.) so I’ll ask next Monday and just leave you with a picture of Miki instead (can you tell the lighting is awesome for photography with an iPhone?) and the three things I want to work on this week.

• Make sure I am indicating direction with the arm closest to Miki – if using that arm doesn’t make sense, chances are I screwed up a turn somewhere
• Ensure Miki has committed to the side of me that I want her on – sometimes I assume she understands and then she’s bouncing all over the place because she’s confused
• Not to get ahead of myself – at times I’m thinking ahead to the next piece of equipment and I’ll start turning in a direction before Miki’s committed to a jump, thereby confusing her

Until next week!

Basically, the Year of the Flood happens in parallel with Oryx & Crake, but from the perspective of two women in the Pleeblands, as opposed to those living in the compounds. You learn more about what life was like outside the safe haven, what people had to do to survive and what the advent of the “waterless flood” was like on the outside. The view you had was a little different, as the women were in a group that lived a little better (and different) than your average “Pleeb” but it was still very different from what you heard from Snowman.

I’ll admit that I raced through this book looking for the intersection with Snowman. I probably didn’t read it as in-depth as I should have, and didn’t spend as much time pondering the information presented as I normally would. I guess while the story was generally good, I was more interested in what happens with Snowman & his band of perfect people. The story may have dragged on a little, in my opinion. I did like where the two novels “clicked” and a character referenced in the first one appeared in the second (whether by a single mention or having a more important role in the sequel).

I think, overall, it was a fairly good novel but I enjoyed Oryx & Crake more because it was all new and a surprise – I had no idea what was coming whereas there wasn’t as much mystery in the Year of the Flood. I think what I’d really like to see is a continuation of the story, as to what happens to those still surviving after the fact… how do they rebuild, how do they interact with the band of Crakers… that would be a great follow-up. You there, Margaret? It’s me, Danelle.

Why?

The first big snowfall after I purchased my car, likely in November or December 2007, wasn’t particularly awful – sure, people drove slower than normal, but it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. However, it’s the worst driving experience I can recall in my 11 years since getting my license.

I woke up, left myself lots of time to get into work – on a typical day, it was about a 15 minute drive from my parents’ place ouside of the city, and then another 15-20 downtown by bus once I parked. On this day I figured out quickly, though, that the time I’d left myself wasn’t going to be enough time.

Driving out of my parents’ neighbourhood was pretty slippery; so much so that I almost slid into the ditch once while going around a corner (which gave me cause to stop and take a couple of deep breaths before continuing), and repeatedly slid every which way as I tried to get traction on the road. Going fast? Nope… maybe 20, 30. Since it’s a less-used road and hadn’t been plowed, I figured that it had to get better once I hit the highway where more traffic had packed down the snow.

Not. So. Much.

Let’s just say that I white-knuckled it the entire drive into the city, pondering turning around to go back home at one point. On Sarcee Tr, I got stuck once and had to crawl up the curving hill for the rest of the distance, where I prayed that I would not have to stop for traffic at the Yield sign on the uphill corner from Sarcee to Richmond Rd – there was no doubt in my mind that if I stopped, I would not get my car going again on the ice. My usual 15 minute drive took me 40, and by the time I parked I realized I’d been holding my breath the entire time.

I braved the drive back home later that evening, again taking twice as long as usual to spin and slide like there was no tomorrow. Then I made an appointment with my dad’s mechanic to put on winter tires and used a different vehicle in the meantime – it was that bad.

Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE driving. I have high-performance tires on my car during the spring/summer/fall and there’s nothing I love more than cruising up and down the Deerfoot to clear my mind and de-stress. I’ve done the drive between Winnipeg and Calgary all by myself, in one day. I drove 2/3 of the way between Calgary and Vegas. I know to turn into a skid, how to drive defensively, how to look for icy spots on the road. And my driving record is spotless – no tickets, no accidents (knock on wood).

And it wasn’t the tires – the car had 9km on it when I bought it brand new in April 2007. Those babies were new.

Some cars just weren’t meant for heavy winter driving. My Mazda3 is light and the back tends to drift in the ice and snow. However… with winter tires, it’s perfectly safe to drive. I rarely spin my tires. I’ve never experienced a situation in the almost-3 years since getting the winter tires that I did that one time. I have no fear about driving on snowy residential streets or in hilly neighbourhoods. I’ve been known to say “If I can get out of my [seldom used] back alley, I can drive anywhere.”

Does this make me invincible? Of course not. Winter is no time to be careless about driving. Go with the flow of traffic at a safe speed, know your vehicle’s abilities, watch what others are doing because they may not have winterized vehicles, keep lots of space between you and the car in front of you, and leave lots of time to get where you’re going. Think your actions out in advance so you’re not trying to cross 4 lanes of traffic in one shot. Keep an eye out on the streets for icy patches or piles of snow.

Plus, switching out your tires just means that both sets last twice as long as they ordinarily would if you used either set all year round. So, why the ire against winter tires?

A marketing gimmick to get people to spend more money? Nope – I’ve experienced the difference. I’d bet my life on it.

I read Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood first. Why? For the most part, I like Atwood; she’s one of my favourite authors. And because my sister had it in her collection so it was easier than picking one up at the library. I figured there was no better place to start than with an author I already respect.

So, how was it? Very different than I expected. It’s one of those books that you pick up, start reading and say “Huh?”. It starts off with a character named Snowman who lives in a very messed up world – extreme heat, no food, rabid animals at every turn… Not only that, but, besides him, the only living intelligent beings appear to be a tribe of “perfect” humanoids that revere the Snowman character. The book flips between the present and the past, neither of which truly mirrors the world of today. You get the idea very quickly that the novel takes place in our somewhat (but not so) distant future.

It’s a very gripping novel. I’ll admit that sometimes Margaret Atwood’s novels don’t suck me in, and it takes some effort to get through them. Oryx & Crake, however, makes you want to continue reading so you can put all the pieces together. Right from the get-go, you want to understand what happened to this character (not to mention, I wanted to know who the heck Oryx and Crake were, two characters who figure into the novel immediately but aren’t explained for some time). Switching between the past and the present only intensified my interest, as all the facts started colliding and the puzzle began to form a picture.

So, all in all, even though it’s a little science-fictiony, which is hit or miss with me, I’d still recommend this novel, especially to people who’ve read Atwood’s work before and enjoyed it. In fact, I’m looking forward to reading After the Flood, another Atwood novel, in which the “perfect” beings apparently play a central role. This will be the next novel from the Top 40 list that I tackle.

So, I’m working my way down the list – 35 to go. I also borrowed the rest of the “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series from my sister, so I’m reading the 2nd novel right now. I was hoping to alternate the Top 40 novels with other assorted books but my guess is that in 2011 I will start reading only Top 40 to plough through the rest of the list. We’ll see!

Anyhow, Vegas aside, in each state we passed through, I learned something new. So I thought I’d share a few things that occured to me during the drive.

1. Montana – home of my future cottage: Cascade

I never realized how gorgeous Montana is. I mean, it’s not that far from Calgary, and the mountains do run through it, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. But one area really captured my heart as we drove through, just south of Cascade, MT. We were trying to cover as much ground as possible but I am now kicking myself for not stopping to take a picture. I have this image in my mind of what it looked like and I cannot find it anywhere on the ‘net. I’ve spent the better part of an hour looking and the picture to the right is the closest (pulled from Google Maps). Just imagine mid-day sun lighting up autumn foliage – it took my breath away. Anyhow, I’ve vowed that in 5 years I will own a cottage down there. But, first, I want to spend some time there, probably next spring. Look for it.

2. Idaho – where all wildlife is game

We were amazed to discover that instead of “Wildlife Crossing” or just a picture of a deer, in Idaho the signs are designated by “Game Crossing.” I wonder why the discrepancy – surely not all wildlife that crosses the road could be hunted legally. We did not come across this in any other state we passed through (a quick search shows that it does show up in Wyoming as well – perhaps regional terminology that is concentrated in only a few select states). Anyhow, whenever I think about those signs, I cannot help but imagine a redneck sitting in the back of his truck on the side of the road, parked next to the sign, gun cocked, just waiting for his game to cross the road. Sorry.

3. Utah – I do not belong (but they do move at my speed)

I was shocked and amused to see the pro-religion/anti-evolutionism signs posted in Utah, specifically in the Salt Lake City area. I’m not naive or ignorant – I know of the laws being passed in some states that declare that evolution cannot be taught in schools; Kansas was one of (if not the) first to pass this law. But such blatant displays on billboards along the highway were a little crass. I respect evolutionary theory, and think that youth should be taught all angles and given the choice to make their own decisions about what is and is not true. I did find the sign heading out of Salt Lake City quite amusing, however. I couldn’t read the whole thing as we went whizzing by, but it asked the question: Are you going to Heaven or Hell? Judging by my response to the previous sign, I think we all know that answer.

Also of interest in Utah – the only state with 80mph signs (intermittently, for short stretches of road). Unfortunately, we were in a decade-old, well-used minivan and 80 was the maximum speed I could get out of it, so I didn’t get to toy with pushing a vehicle 140+ km/hr. I’ll tell you, I was missing my Mazda3 right about then… zoom zoom.

4. Arizona – Breaking stereotypes

I loved this tiny strip of Arizona. It lasted for less than 20 miles, I believe; we traversed across the northwest corner of the state on our way to Nevada. You would never know that you’re in Arizona, though, if you’re thinking “desert”: flat spaces, sand and cactii. No, instead you wind through huge hills (I have trouble calling them mountains considering I live so close to the Rockies), uphill, downhill, flora galore. It’s fabulous. I’ve spent lots of time in the Phoenix area, which has mostly sand and flat spaces with hills off in the distance. This stretch of Arizona could completely change a person’s view of the state.

5. Nevada – Casinos aren’t the only money-maker

There were a tonne of cops pulling people over in Nevada – you definitely did not want to be playing with the speed limit there. I was irked when we passed a little red sports car in our big, white minivan, remarking that he should be taking advantage of the car that probably cost a pretty penny. Once I started to see people pulled over left and right, however, my tune changed. My motto is to make sure there’s at least one vehicle on the road moving faster than me and, thus far, I’ve been spared a speeding ticket for the entire 11 years I’ve been driving (knock on wood) but I did slow to close to the speed limit while in Nevada. And once you enter Vegas, traffic is heavy anyhow, so going faster than the posted limit isn’t an issue.

So, there’s the rundown of my trip. My thoughts?

• Even though it’s about 20 hours, 5 longer than Calgary-Winnipeg, the scenery is much more spectacular and varied and it felt ten times shorter
• I had no idea that the terrain within each state was so varied, but I loved watching how the landscape slowly changed throughout the trip. I learned so much about states that I’d never stepped foot in
• Next time, I’d take an entire week to do it, and stop for lots of pictures. Lots and lots of pictures – my one regret is that we didn’t stop for any

Anyhow, the book delves a little into the world of Human Trafficking, while still maintaining status as a lighter fiction read. It features a protagonist named Sherry Moore, a visually impaired clairvoyant of sorts who can “see” what a recently deceased person’s thoughts were just before death. I typically have issues with supernatural/ethereal/fantasy concepts such as this in novels, but I tried to suspend my disbelief and forged along with the book.

There are a few different storylines that end up weaving together in this novel, but in short a young girl on a cruise vacation goes missing after being abducted at a port they are stopped at. She is found dead months later, in Jamaica, coincidentally by a member of the local police who recently attended a symposium on human trafficking. American officials from the symposium are brought into the story and, voila, answers come together. Your typical piece of suspense fiction.

However, my beef comes in with the ending: specifically around the character Aleksandra. She is a victim being held by the evil traffickers when the young American woman is abducted. Aleksandra attempts to keep the girl calm and together, seizes an opportunity to escape, and is subjected to inhumane punishment when the escape attempt is discovered. Aleksandra is not a major character by any means, but is threaded throughout the novel and comes into contact with most of the major players. She also figures prominently into the falling action of the novel.

My problem? We never find out what happens to Aleksandra. After the action is over, we go back to America, hear about what has happened to the major characters, but Aleksandra is not mentioned again. Here is a woman who has seen and withstood untold horrors – what happens to her? Does she go back to her life in Eastern Europe, resume her job as a cop and everything goes on as normal? Does she have a nervous breakdown and end up in an asylum? What about the surgeries and enhancements she’ll need in order to look “normal” again? One would think that a novel on human trafficking would at least touch upon what happens to the one trafficking victim who is humanized (and lives) in this novel. This struck me as a large gap.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad read. It’s certainly encouraged me to read up more on human trafficking (non-fiction this time, though) while I’m not knee-deep in my reading challenge. I won’t run out to read the rest of the series, though – especially with this glaring omission in the first novel I’ve read by this author.

And… that’s my 2 cents.