Uneventful

Well, another week has gone by and I don't have much to share. I finished my University course this week, which was a relief. The next one starts the week of Spetember 21st. Brittany had a tough start to her academic career. She struggled with some of the first assignments but seems to be settling in a little bit better now. Jackie and I went for a visit on Thursday night and took her and Courtney out to dinner. I think that may have settled her down a little bit.

My training has been going well. I continue to struggle with my long runs. I get to about mile #7 and then get some knee pain. I was hoping a new pair of shoes would help with that but unfortunately it just provided blisters. I guess the 1/2 marathon will be all about pain management for me. I know my cardio is good enough to get me to the finish line, it is my muscles that will hold me back. Only about three weeks to go, yikes!

Stay safe everyone!

The fall is here!!!

Well the fall has arrived and the weather has begun to turn a bit colder. It is a depressing time of the year for me as I really enjoy the nice weather that summer brings. The good news is that many of the good tv shows begin again next week, and of course football season! I am hopeful that my team will have an excellent year this year, time will tell.

My training has been going well this week. I had a bit of a pain in one of my calves mid week but is went away by the next morning. There was some tense moments there for a bit. I don't want a nagging injury this close to my race. I had a good swim yesterday as well as I had not swam in about a week. We will be closing our pool soon so I will be back at the Y after that for my swim training.

Brittany has been at school for about a week now and she is loving it! Of course, it is just frosh week so there are no classes, just fun and games. At least she is having a good time. We will find out in a few days how she handles the workload of classes, I think she will do great!!

It has been busy at work as well, but that is typical. The fall is always really busy for me at work.

Have a great week everyone!

University dropoff

Well the day has finally come when our first child is off to University. We spend the better part of the summer preparing for this day in one way or another and it finally arrived this morning. We woke up really early hoping to beat the rush to Queen's University. We had to wait in a line of cars when we arrived but it really wasn't too bad. We secured a parking spot behind her res and began to carry all of the dorm room items up to the 6th floor.

The first trip we were lucky enough to get an elevator which was good as we have a fridge and a number of other larger items. The subsequent trips we were relegated to the stairs due to the crowds in line at the elevators. Things went relatively smoothly, a few glitches with the computer setup and Internet access but nothing that a quick phone call couldn't resolve.

We all went to one on the dining halls for lunch. It was impressive. There was plenty of selection and the food was very tasty. I wonder if that was due to all the parents being there today or if it is the norm. We will have to wait and hear what it is like mid semester.

So Brittany's classes don't start for another week so it is all fun and games for the first week. Her schedule is booked solid with social events all week, mostly aimed at building school spirit. I figure she will love the first week and I have my fingers crossed about the second week when she will actually have to learn something!

Switching gears, my training continues to go well for the 1/2. I ran a 5k at race pace yesterday that got me across the line in 26:56, a reasonable time. Today I ran 5 miles as per the plan. Tomorrow is an off day. I still can't imagine making it through a 1/2 marathon distance in a little over a month.

Stay Safe!

Concert News

This week was the rehearsal and performance for Brandon's concert. He was in a showcase with a number of other students and they choose him to be the headliner of the show. I know I am his father, but he is an awesome musician. He plays both guitar and piano at a very high level. The final show was last night at he was a real hit. In fact, he was the star of the show!!! He should really pursue music as a career but as a parent that is scary as you immediately think about the "starving musician" image.

My marathon training has been going well. Later today is my long run (I do those on Sundays) but a little storm called Irene might change my plans. I don't want to do my long run on a treadmill but I may be forced to do just that. I still have not registered for the actual race yet, I guess I am hedging my bets a bit.

I have no idea how my weight is, well I do know, it will be bad. My eating has been poor. We will see tomorrow morning when I jump on the scale for my weekly check.

Stay safe everyone!

Busy Bee

It has been a busy week. I have tons of stuff going on at work, there has been very little time to sit back and relax. I need a vacation, but I don't see one coming anytime soon. I found a half marathon plan online and began to follow it last week. It has me running on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. The long runs are on Sundays! So far it has worked out well. It will end the same week as a local marathon in my area. I have not committed to signing up for that particular race yet, but at this point it is the target race on my calendar.

There are only two weeks remaining until Brittany heads off to Queen's University. It should be an interesting time in her life. She will need to become much more independent, which will be a good life lesson. The house will certainly be quieter without her around! Hopefully she doesn't come home every weekend with her dirty laundry!

I have also been very busy with my University course. There are only 4 weeks left in this one, looking forward to it being completed.

Stay Safe!

Completed Triathlon

Well I did it, I finished the race! I was really nervous about the swim portion, and rightfully so. There were so many people and the swim segement was so short that is was very congested. I don't think I took a full stroke for the entire swim. I was kicked, swum over, bumped, etc. On the second half of the swim I had a bit of a panic attack. I was GLAD to get out of the water. My transition from swim to bike was slow, I needed to get my composure back. The bike and the run both went ok. I was a little slower on the run than I would have liked, but overall things went ok. I did not get on the podium this time, but that was ok, there was some tough competition.

So now I have no events scheduled right now! I am looking at a 1/2 marathon in October. I still feel a little whipped from yesterday's Tri so my energy level to sign up for a 1/2 is not high right now!!!

One Week to Go

So I am in my final week of preparations for my next triathlon. This will be my first "open water" swim so it is a new experience for me. At one point I was a little nervous about the swim but I have since lost that nervousness. I have been training in the river and I am enjoying it now. The only unknown factor will be the other competitors in the race. I am not accustomed to having large numbers of people swimming along side me. I hope that does not freak me out too much.

I will have a large group of supporters cheering me on as there will be many family and friends alongside the road. I have not set any time goals for this event, I just want to complete it standing upright! Ha ha, that will not be a big problem as long as the injury bug doesn't bite me.

I have no idea what is going wrong with my eating though, I just can't stop! Hopefully I get that straightened away soon enough or I will have to hit "Lose It" hard once again.

Stay safe everyone.