Sooo, I have a crazy story... Buuuut you will have to wait a day or two because it's going to take my awhile to write about it.
Sooorrrrryyyy
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Much Appreciated.
I would just like to say a quick thank-you to everyone who has sent me congratulations over the last couple days. It is very much appreciated and I never take any of the support you all give me for granted.
I have to send thanks again to Matt Norminton and The Running Room. Wynn Gmitroski for taking me on this year. And most of all to my parents for their endless support and giving me the opprotunity to spend the last 5 months in Arizona training full time.
I am currently back in Phoenix spending a few days with Amy before embarking on the long drive back to Calgary. All you C-dot peeps can expect me home sometime around 30th or so. Looking forward to seeing you all!
Thanks again everyone!
I have to send thanks again to Matt Norminton and The Running Room. Wynn Gmitroski for taking me on this year. And most of all to my parents for their endless support and giving me the opprotunity to spend the last 5 months in Arizona training full time.
I am currently back in Phoenix spending a few days with Amy before embarking on the long drive back to Calgary. All you C-dot peeps can expect me home sometime around 30th or so. Looking forward to seeing you all!
Thanks again everyone!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
LIVE at OXY!
Hey guys,
Here is a link to watch the OXY High Performance races tonight LIVE. Coverage starts at 6:45pm PST (9:45pm for all you easterners). My race is at 8:35pm PST, but be sure to tune it from the start. These races are completely stacked, just take a look at the heat sheets for yourself, here.
It's going to be a good one, don't miss out!
Here is a link to watch the OXY High Performance races tonight LIVE. Coverage starts at 6:45pm PST (9:45pm for all you easterners). My race is at 8:35pm PST, but be sure to tune it from the start. These races are completely stacked, just take a look at the heat sheets for yourself, here.
It's going to be a good one, don't miss out!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Additons.
Couple additions that I left out of my last post. Flotrack will have coverage of the Oxy meet here.
I also forgot to talk about my culinary adventures this week. On Thursday myself and a few of the guys went to Collin's Pub here in Flagstaff to watch the hockey game. I had already eaten a full dinner before arriving, but decided to take a look at the menu anyhow. The first thing I saw on the menu were the chicken wings, which looked really good. Under the description it said they had a suicide wing challenge. Now, if I had taken some time to think about it, I would have realised that it probably wasn't the best timing to be take on a hot wing challenge. Amy was coming the next day to visit for the weekend, we had out final workout on Saturday, it just wasn't ideal. Needless to say, I didn't take time to think. Before I knew it I was signing a waver saying I wouldn't sue the pub if I hurt myself or died. I then had to anxiously wait about 20 minutes while they prepared my wings. My heart skipped a beat every time the kitchen door opened. Finally they were sitting in front of me and immediately my eyes started watering from the smell. I had 8 minutes to finish 12 hot wings. 7 sweaty, painful, tear and cheer filled minutes and 30 seconds later I devoured the 12th wing. I WAS THE CHAMPION! I was feeling pretty good about myself, I had beaten the challenge and gotten a nice new, way to big, t-shirt. Then the bill came and I found out I still had to pay for them even though I won! I got pretty pissed, but I still had the pride of beating the challenge.
On Sunday Amy and I decided to check out the fine dining of Flagstaff. I went on Yelp.com and searched "Fine Dining" to see what suggestions they had. The first place that came up had a 5-star rating and great reviews. I kept looking and the 4th restaurant on the list was Jack in the Box. We decided to stick with the 5-star rated restaurant called "The Cottage". It was a really nice little place. If you weren't looking for it, you would definitely just pass it without realising it existed. It's just a little house on a residential street with a small sign on the front. We had a really nice evening. When we first got to the restaurant there weren't many people there yet as it was only 5:30. It was actually mildly awkward for the first half of our dinner. We were the youngest in there by probably about 20 or 30 years. Everyone was pretty serious and Amy and I were laughing, having fun and sticking out like a sore thumb. Sitting beside us must have been a world famous food critic or something like that. He had something to say about every item that touched his table. We had a good time silently mocking him. Soon after we sat down it started to fill up and we didn't feel as bad about our topics of discussion or being a little rowdier than most. If you're ever in Flagstaff and want a really nice meal, I suggest The Cottage. The food was out of this world, the setting is really cute, and the service is great.
I also forgot to talk about my culinary adventures this week. On Thursday myself and a few of the guys went to Collin's Pub here in Flagstaff to watch the hockey game. I had already eaten a full dinner before arriving, but decided to take a look at the menu anyhow. The first thing I saw on the menu were the chicken wings, which looked really good. Under the description it said they had a suicide wing challenge. Now, if I had taken some time to think about it, I would have realised that it probably wasn't the best timing to be take on a hot wing challenge. Amy was coming the next day to visit for the weekend, we had out final workout on Saturday, it just wasn't ideal. Needless to say, I didn't take time to think. Before I knew it I was signing a waver saying I wouldn't sue the pub if I hurt myself or died. I then had to anxiously wait about 20 minutes while they prepared my wings. My heart skipped a beat every time the kitchen door opened. Finally they were sitting in front of me and immediately my eyes started watering from the smell. I had 8 minutes to finish 12 hot wings. 7 sweaty, painful, tear and cheer filled minutes and 30 seconds later I devoured the 12th wing. I WAS THE CHAMPION! I was feeling pretty good about myself, I had beaten the challenge and gotten a nice new, way to big, t-shirt. Then the bill came and I found out I still had to pay for them even though I won! I got pretty pissed, but I still had the pride of beating the challenge.
On Sunday Amy and I decided to check out the fine dining of Flagstaff. I went on Yelp.com and searched "Fine Dining" to see what suggestions they had. The first place that came up had a 5-star rating and great reviews. I kept looking and the 4th restaurant on the list was Jack in the Box. We decided to stick with the 5-star rated restaurant called "The Cottage". It was a really nice little place. If you weren't looking for it, you would definitely just pass it without realising it existed. It's just a little house on a residential street with a small sign on the front. We had a really nice evening. When we first got to the restaurant there weren't many people there yet as it was only 5:30. It was actually mildly awkward for the first half of our dinner. We were the youngest in there by probably about 20 or 30 years. Everyone was pretty serious and Amy and I were laughing, having fun and sticking out like a sore thumb. Sitting beside us must have been a world famous food critic or something like that. He had something to say about every item that touched his table. We had a good time silently mocking him. Soon after we sat down it started to fill up and we didn't feel as bad about our topics of discussion or being a little rowdier than most. If you're ever in Flagstaff and want a really nice meal, I suggest The Cottage. The food was out of this world, the setting is really cute, and the service is great.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Responsibilities, what?
Hard to believe only about a week left until I'm submerged back into the real world and have a job (kind of) and other such responsibilities that normal people have. I'm guessing I'll be back home sometime around May 28th or so. I am only here in flagstaff for another couple days. I'm heading back down to Phoenix on the 19th to fly out to Burbank, California for the Oxy High Performance meet. The startlist just came out today and it looks ridiculous. I could try to explain it for you, but I think you should just take a look for yourself. You can view the startlists here. You can view the heat sheets here. In my race alone there is 11 olympians +/-. Needless to say, it's going to be a good one, and I feel a little out of my league!
Along with being overwhelmed with the upcoming meet, I am quite overwhelmed with booking travel plans at the moment. I have put together a tentative race schedule for the summer, which you can check out here. I haven't really had to book all my own flights and hotels. In the past my club has taken care of all that stuff, so it is quite foreign to me.
On a positive note, the bear stayed away this week! I put together a few solid workouts and feel good leading into this weekend.
Along with being overwhelmed with the upcoming meet, I am quite overwhelmed with booking travel plans at the moment. I have put together a tentative race schedule for the summer, which you can check out here. I haven't really had to book all my own flights and hotels. In the past my club has taken care of all that stuff, so it is quite foreign to me.
On a positive note, the bear stayed away this week! I put together a few solid workouts and feel good leading into this weekend.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Da Bear.
First week in Flagstaff is complete. I think it's safe to say I have done more in this week than I have in all my previous time in Flagstaff combined. Kyla Coates, happened to be in Flagstaff for the first few days I was here. Her and I went out and got some Thai on either Sunday or Monday, neither of us can remember. Either way, it was really nice to spend some time with her and catch up.
I have found the wonders of Macy's Coffee Shop. It's a pretty famous and really popular spot here in Flagstaff. You can drop in at anytime of day and there is always a crowd. I am currently there writing this post, I have been about 4 or 5 times since I got here.
I always forget how hard altitude is, but it is never shy about reminding me when I get up here. No matter how fit, altitude makes you feel like you have never ran a step. Our first workout was 2 sets of 5x300. Usually for our track work we go to Sedona, but we can only go on the weekends this year due to some new rules at the school where the track is, so we had to do it in Flag. The extra 3000ft of altitude really makes workouts a lot harder! All things considered it went alright. On Saturday we drove down to Sedona for arguably the hardest workout of the year, and possibly ever. We did 200,1000,300 then 500,800,200. This is what I'll say about that workout; I ran damn near a PB in the 1000 and then the proverbial bear jumped on my back. Don't get me wrong though, I'm happy with the workout. I've recently just been trying to tag on to the front and hang on for as long. I figure eventually I'll just be able to stay there the entire workout.
This next paragraph was suppose to be about how nice Flagstaff has turned out to be. The first couple days were a bit rough as stated in my last post, then the weather turned for the better. Plus, our balcony over looks a forest and faces west so we get beautiful evening sun. We are also treated to a first class view of the sunset every evening. I have made it a bit of a routine to eat dinner around that time. It's quite a treat to be able to sit on out there and watch the sun go down every evening while enjoying a nice meal. However, I took a break from writing this post to go to weights and during that session it proceeded to snow as well as be pretty darn chilly, windy and just plain miserable. So for that, Flagstaff is back in the bad books.
On a brighter note I was informed this week I will be heading out to Occidental College after our training camp here to race a 1500m. They are putting on a high performance middle distance meet with just 800, 1500, and steeples. I really didn't think I was going to get in because the entry standard was set quite high. But alas, somehow I am in and have a great opportunity to run a great time! Hoping for a PB if nothing else.
I have found the wonders of Macy's Coffee Shop. It's a pretty famous and really popular spot here in Flagstaff. You can drop in at anytime of day and there is always a crowd. I am currently there writing this post, I have been about 4 or 5 times since I got here.
I always forget how hard altitude is, but it is never shy about reminding me when I get up here. No matter how fit, altitude makes you feel like you have never ran a step. Our first workout was 2 sets of 5x300. Usually for our track work we go to Sedona, but we can only go on the weekends this year due to some new rules at the school where the track is, so we had to do it in Flag. The extra 3000ft of altitude really makes workouts a lot harder! All things considered it went alright. On Saturday we drove down to Sedona for arguably the hardest workout of the year, and possibly ever. We did 200,1000,300 then 500,800,200. This is what I'll say about that workout; I ran damn near a PB in the 1000 and then the proverbial bear jumped on my back. Don't get me wrong though, I'm happy with the workout. I've recently just been trying to tag on to the front and hang on for as long. I figure eventually I'll just be able to stay there the entire workout.
This next paragraph was suppose to be about how nice Flagstaff has turned out to be. The first couple days were a bit rough as stated in my last post, then the weather turned for the better. Plus, our balcony over looks a forest and faces west so we get beautiful evening sun. We are also treated to a first class view of the sunset every evening. I have made it a bit of a routine to eat dinner around that time. It's quite a treat to be able to sit on out there and watch the sun go down every evening while enjoying a nice meal. However, I took a break from writing this post to go to weights and during that session it proceeded to snow as well as be pretty darn chilly, windy and just plain miserable. So for that, Flagstaff is back in the bad books.
On a brighter note I was informed this week I will be heading out to Occidental College after our training camp here to race a 1500m. They are putting on a high performance middle distance meet with just 800, 1500, and steeples. I really didn't think I was going to get in because the entry standard was set quite high. But alas, somehow I am in and have a great opportunity to run a great time! Hoping for a PB if nothing else.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Bitter Sweet End
Well folks, I truly can't believe it but my time in Scottsdale has come to an end. It really is bitter sweet. I am excited to be here in Flagstaff for some awesome training and to go home and see all my long lost friends and start racing. But I have really grown to like Scottsdale. As I said in my last post, I have just met a really cool group of people, and maybe one person in particular, that I am sad to be leaving behind. Right now it seems like forever until I'll be back down in Scottsdale, but the more I think about it, the more I realise it's not all that long. For the first month I am up here in Flag. It does sometimes feel like time comes to a halt and your time here drags on, I have a feeling this year is just going to fly by though. So many people will be here, plus I have a car that grants me some freedom. Then the following 2 months will be filled with travel and racing so that always makes time cruise by. Then I only have really a month or two before I come back down. Not all that bad really.
Not going to lie though, Flagstaff is making it hard for me to be excited to be here like I previously said. Last night it dropped for 1C(33f), this morning on my run with the windchill was like -5C(28f). It's just been cold and windy. Hopefully it remembers soon that it's May and it should be summer time!
Unfortunately I don't have too much to report. I had some solid faster paced workouts last week. My racing so far this year has shown that I am really strong, I just don't quite have the extra gears I normally do. I was happy to get out on the track and cork off some shorter, quicker intervals. I'll be continuing that trend here in Flagstaff. Next time I step on the track for a race I'll be a tuned up racing machine!
Hopefully some good stuff happens this week so my next post can be a little more entertaining.
Not going to lie though, Flagstaff is making it hard for me to be excited to be here like I previously said. Last night it dropped for 1C(33f), this morning on my run with the windchill was like -5C(28f). It's just been cold and windy. Hopefully it remembers soon that it's May and it should be summer time!
Unfortunately I don't have too much to report. I had some solid faster paced workouts last week. My racing so far this year has shown that I am really strong, I just don't quite have the extra gears I normally do. I was happy to get out on the track and cork off some shorter, quicker intervals. I'll be continuing that trend here in Flagstaff. Next time I step on the track for a race I'll be a tuned up racing machine!
Hopefully some good stuff happens this week so my next post can be a little more entertaining.
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