August.....it was a hell of a month but I survived. Here's the Reader's Digest version:
Aug. 1-10
This week or so at the beginning of the month was pretty much entirely dedicated to the move and all the details of buying our house. Every day was filled with an endless to-do list of paperwork and phone calls, but I worked my butt to make sure everything was in order before leaving for my course.
Aug. 11-25
My two-week indoctrination course in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. It was, at the same time, the shortest and longest two weeks of my life. The days were long (5am-11pm) and exhausting but not terribly difficult. We were on the 12th floor and we went up and down those stairs about 3-5 times a day, usually carrying a bunch of stuff. We did our PT tests at the beginning of the course and I got my exemption level. We spent a lot of time in class, with endless boring powerpoints. I got to be the fire picket, platoon 2IC as well as section senior (twice). The people in my platoon were fantastic, and the girls in my pod were especially awesome. One thing I can take away from this course is a true appreciation for the army motto of "hurry up and wait."
The day we left, guess what time we got up at! 1:30am! Yes, that's right. We woke up at 1:30am. March out inspection was at 2, we moved all our stuff downstairs at 3, waited for bus which came at 4, and arrived at the Montreal airport at 5am. The first flights (for those going to Toronto) left at 7am, but for those of us whose flight didn't leave until 2pm, it was a long boring day at the airport.
Half my platoon ended up sick at some point over the course and I was pretty lucky that I made it to the last day before catching something. I'm glad I wasn't sick on course but I've been hacking my lungs out ever since.
Aug. 25-present
Dealing with the house. All our stuff was waiting for me in boxes at the new house when I got home from my course. Chris had already left for his operation and is currently recovering at his parents' in Barrie, so unpacking and organizing the house was all on me. The movers did an absolutely atrocious job packing so there were a lot of broken and damaged items. At the moment, almost all the boxes are empty but there's still stuff everywhere - I don't know where to put half this crap! I also redid the dryer outlet in the basement and had a plumber in today to clear the roots out of our sewer line, so it's been a busy week.
Thursday is my first day of classes, so last week I went down to the university to buy my books and get my student card. I love new books and school supplies!
Next on the agenda: safety inspection for the car tomorrow morning!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Whirlwind!
Oh man, it's been a crazy couple weeks! Sorry for the lack of updates but the only internet I have is off my phone, so I have to use it sparingly.
Where to begin? I've been working on the base here in Winnipeg during on-the-job training in the transport section. Normally you do some sort of basic training before they send you to work on an actual base, but no such luck here - I've been completely winging it! Thankfully, between what I already knew and the help I've gotten along the way, I've been managing alright. All the simple things like how to wear your uniform, whom to salute and when, etc. I've picked up along the way. Hopefully that'll give me a leg up when I leave for my orientation course next weekend.
In running news, I've been averaging about 18-20 miles per week. Believe it or not, but most of those miles have been before 7:30am - this is huge since, as you know, I am not at all a morning person. We've also been doing a lot of circuit training as part of unit PT. On top of that, walking around all day in steel-toed boots is exhausting! I had no idea what a leg workout it would be. As well, I'm sad to report that the RandomAbs streak is no more. One day I was just too tired and sore and that was that. I'm going to try and pick it back up when I get back from my course.
Last week, Chris came out to Winnipeg for our house-hunting trip. The hotel he booked gave us a free upgrade, so we ended up with a jacuzzi in our room. Score! The whole week he was here, we were run off our feet scouting neighbourhoods, looking at houses and stressing about the general insanity that is the Winnipeg housing market. But it was worth it! We put an offer in on a house we really liked and it was accepted! As a bonus, it wasn't in competition so we got it for less than the listing price. Major score! All that stands between us and home ownership now is a mountain of paperwork.
Another major advantage to the house we bought is that it offered immediate possession. That means that Chris will be moving out here in the next couple weeks, to take possession on the 21st. Unfortunately, since I'm stuck here in Winnipeg before going on my course, Chris is left to take care of the move entirely on his own. I'm doing as much as I can to get things done from my end, but the majority of work is on his shoulders. I feel really bad putting him in that position, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it. At least he has the puppies with him...
Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading!
Where to begin? I've been working on the base here in Winnipeg during on-the-job training in the transport section. Normally you do some sort of basic training before they send you to work on an actual base, but no such luck here - I've been completely winging it! Thankfully, between what I already knew and the help I've gotten along the way, I've been managing alright. All the simple things like how to wear your uniform, whom to salute and when, etc. I've picked up along the way. Hopefully that'll give me a leg up when I leave for my orientation course next weekend.
In running news, I've been averaging about 18-20 miles per week. Believe it or not, but most of those miles have been before 7:30am - this is huge since, as you know, I am not at all a morning person. We've also been doing a lot of circuit training as part of unit PT. On top of that, walking around all day in steel-toed boots is exhausting! I had no idea what a leg workout it would be. As well, I'm sad to report that the RandomAbs streak is no more. One day I was just too tired and sore and that was that. I'm going to try and pick it back up when I get back from my course.
Last week, Chris came out to Winnipeg for our house-hunting trip. The hotel he booked gave us a free upgrade, so we ended up with a jacuzzi in our room. Score! The whole week he was here, we were run off our feet scouting neighbourhoods, looking at houses and stressing about the general insanity that is the Winnipeg housing market. But it was worth it! We put an offer in on a house we really liked and it was accepted! As a bonus, it wasn't in competition so we got it for less than the listing price. Major score! All that stands between us and home ownership now is a mountain of paperwork.
Another major advantage to the house we bought is that it offered immediate possession. That means that Chris will be moving out here in the next couple weeks, to take possession on the 21st. Unfortunately, since I'm stuck here in Winnipeg before going on my course, Chris is left to take care of the move entirely on his own. I'm doing as much as I can to get things done from my end, but the majority of work is on his shoulders. I feel really bad putting him in that position, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it. At least he has the puppies with him...
Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
I made it!
Just a quick update - I made it to Winnipeg in one piece. It was an early morning on Thursday, with my flight leaving Bagotville at 5:40am EST. I was supposed to have a one hour layover in Montreal before departing to Winnipeg; however, because of mechanical issues, they had to change our plane and that delayed the flight about 4 hours. I finally arrived in Winnipeg around 3:00pm CST and got settled into my room on base. I went for dinner with a friend of mine but by the end of the day, I was exhausted.
Yesterday was spent doing all my in-clearance. This meant going around from building to building filling out paperwork and getting things signed and stamped. I probably walked at least 10km all over the base - CFB Winnipeg is much bigger than Bagotville. I also got my uniform and I'll get to wear it to work on Monday. In the evening, I checked out the gym here and did a quick upper body workout.
Today was my first run in Winnipeg. I mostly stayed on and around the base, as I'm still learning my way around, but I'm definitely going to have lots of running routes to choose from.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Only a few more days!
I made it through the yoga challenge! 4 days in a row of yoga at 5:45am! I am not a morning person so I'm quite pleased that I repeatedly managed to drag my butt out of bed that early in the morning.
I took a couple days off from running after Wednesday's 5k race. Good thing too because it's been brutally hot here the last couple days. Yesterday evening I waited as late as I could to do an easy 3 miles, but I still came home drenched in sweat.
Today we hit the weights at the gym and enjoyed the air conditioning there. That's about all we enjoyed because Chris and I both had a rough strength session. I managed to get through everything (just barely) but Chris had to abandon some of his exercises. I think the week of not eating properly after his wisdom teeth surgery affected him more than he realized. To make up for it, we played some 1-on-1 basketball in the gym. He beat me 22-18 though I think if we had kept going, I might have won. We finished up our workout with RandomAbs to keep the streak alive.
Workouts aside, the weekend was pretty busy. Our friend's babysitter bailed Friday night so we babysat her two kids. Other than that, most of my time has been spent cleaning the house before I leave and packing. I found out that my flight leaves at 5:40am on Thursday, so it's a good thing I spent last week practising getting up early.
I took a couple days off from running after Wednesday's 5k race. Good thing too because it's been brutally hot here the last couple days. Yesterday evening I waited as late as I could to do an easy 3 miles, but I still came home drenched in sweat.
Today we hit the weights at the gym and enjoyed the air conditioning there. That's about all we enjoyed because Chris and I both had a rough strength session. I managed to get through everything (just barely) but Chris had to abandon some of his exercises. I think the week of not eating properly after his wisdom teeth surgery affected him more than he realized. To make up for it, we played some 1-on-1 basketball in the gym. He beat me 22-18 though I think if we had kept going, I might have won. We finished up our workout with RandomAbs to keep the streak alive.
Workouts aside, the weekend was pretty busy. Our friend's babysitter bailed Friday night so we babysat her two kids. Other than that, most of my time has been spent cleaning the house before I leave and packing. I found out that my flight leaves at 5:40am on Thursday, so it's a good thing I spent last week practising getting up early.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Le Vincent 5km - Race Report
Last night, I ran my second ever 5k. If you look at a calendar, you'll see that yesterday was a Wednesday, which I've heard is an unusual day to have a race. It was race #12 out of a 20-race circuit that takes place around the region over the course of the summer. I'm not sure why, but about half these races are held on either a Tuesday or Wednesday night.
There's one thing I've noticed about racing in the Saguenay and I don't like it. Whether it's running, cycling, triathlon, etc, no one here is an "amateur." They have this mindset that either you need to be super hardcore and take everything really seriously, or you shouldn't even bother. As a result, there's no room for casual athletes. Even the kids "fun" races are way too serious, in my opinion. It's really quite discouraging.
The start of the race was delayed 15 minutes, which meant I ended up sitting around a lot longer than I would have liked. About 25 minutes before the start, I did a mile warm-up with some pick-ups. It was pretty hot out so it didn't take much to break a sweat. By the time I got to the starting area, there were already a lot of people waiting so I didn't get as close to the front as I would have liked. I'm not a pushy person, so I navigated as far forward as I could before elbowing became necessary.
Just before the gun, the announcer gave instructions regarding the course. This was important because they didn't publish the course beforehand and I don't like going into a race blind. However, I didn't get to hear a single word he said between the crowd noise and amplification distortion; add to that that he was speaking in French and I couldn't pick up anything. Grr.
It took about 10 seconds for me to cross the starting mat after the gun went and the first 0.1mile was a downhill. I remember thinking, "Great, I have to run back up this to get to the finish line." The course, as it turns out, was very similar to the one used last year in the duathlon I did. And man is it hilly! The Garmin data doesn't do it justice - it's up and down the whole course.
The rest of the race was just about survival. I ran hard and it hurt. I think the first mile is the fastest mile I've ever recorded. Unfortunately, the hills kicked my butt and I wasn't able to run negative splits, though my effort definitely increased throughout the race. My limiting factor in this race was not my legs but my lungs, so I need to work on that. The last mile was brutal and I curse the idiot who decided to have an uphill finish.
In the end, I finished in 26:22, a 56 second PR. That was good enough for 63/88 overall, 21/41 among the women, and 9/12 in my age group (F20-29). Here's a pic from the finish line (showing the gun time):
There's one thing I've noticed about racing in the Saguenay and I don't like it. Whether it's running, cycling, triathlon, etc, no one here is an "amateur." They have this mindset that either you need to be super hardcore and take everything really seriously, or you shouldn't even bother. As a result, there's no room for casual athletes. Even the kids "fun" races are way too serious, in my opinion. It's really quite discouraging.
The start of the race was delayed 15 minutes, which meant I ended up sitting around a lot longer than I would have liked. About 25 minutes before the start, I did a mile warm-up with some pick-ups. It was pretty hot out so it didn't take much to break a sweat. By the time I got to the starting area, there were already a lot of people waiting so I didn't get as close to the front as I would have liked. I'm not a pushy person, so I navigated as far forward as I could before elbowing became necessary.
Just before the gun, the announcer gave instructions regarding the course. This was important because they didn't publish the course beforehand and I don't like going into a race blind. However, I didn't get to hear a single word he said between the crowd noise and amplification distortion; add to that that he was speaking in French and I couldn't pick up anything. Grr.
It took about 10 seconds for me to cross the starting mat after the gun went and the first 0.1mile was a downhill. I remember thinking, "Great, I have to run back up this to get to the finish line." The course, as it turns out, was very similar to the one used last year in the duathlon I did. And man is it hilly! The Garmin data doesn't do it justice - it's up and down the whole course.
The rest of the race was just about survival. I ran hard and it hurt. I think the first mile is the fastest mile I've ever recorded. Unfortunately, the hills kicked my butt and I wasn't able to run negative splits, though my effort definitely increased throughout the race. My limiting factor in this race was not my legs but my lungs, so I need to work on that. The last mile was brutal and I curse the idiot who decided to have an uphill finish.
In the end, I finished in 26:22, a 56 second PR. That was good enough for 63/88 overall, 21/41 among the women, and 9/12 in my age group (F20-29). Here's a pic from the finish line (showing the gun time):
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| Garmin time: 26:22 |
Monday, July 9, 2012
Checking in...
Since my marathon, I haven't had anything very exciting to report. Here are a few tid-bits from the last week or so:
- 23 miles of running so far in July.
- I have 5km race coming up on Wednesday. I hope to beat my previous time (27:18).
- My RandomAbs streak still lives (since June 8).
- I'm starting a 4-day morning yoga challenge tomorrow. The classes start at 5:45am and it's really going to be a challenge for me since I am 100% not a morning person.
- Everything is still on track for my enrollment next week and my departure on the 19th. A lot of my time lately has been spent researching, making lists and planning for my move.
- I had a wonderful lunch with a friend of mine this afternoon. I'm trying to catch up with as many people as I can before I leave. While I won't exactly miss Bagotville when I'm gone, there are a lot of people I'll be sad to say good-bye to.
- Chris had his wisdom teeth taken out last Wednesday and his squirrel face is almost gone. Sadly, he won't let me post any pictures.
- A friend of mine got married on the weekend and the pictures I've seen so far are absolutely beautiful. Best wishes to the happy couple!
That's it, folks!
- 23 miles of running so far in July.
- I have 5km race coming up on Wednesday. I hope to beat my previous time (27:18).
- My RandomAbs streak still lives (since June 8).
- I'm starting a 4-day morning yoga challenge tomorrow. The classes start at 5:45am and it's really going to be a challenge for me since I am 100% not a morning person.
- Everything is still on track for my enrollment next week and my departure on the 19th. A lot of my time lately has been spent researching, making lists and planning for my move.
- I had a wonderful lunch with a friend of mine this afternoon. I'm trying to catch up with as many people as I can before I leave. While I won't exactly miss Bagotville when I'm gone, there are a lot of people I'll be sad to say good-bye to.
- Chris had his wisdom teeth taken out last Wednesday and his squirrel face is almost gone. Sadly, he won't let me post any pictures.
- A friend of mine got married on the weekend and the pictures I've seen so far are absolutely beautiful. Best wishes to the happy couple!
That's it, folks!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Back from vacation
After spending a week on the beach in Maine, we're back in Canada. We had a pretty good time - the weather was decent for most of the trip, though we had a few more rainy days than I would have liked. And......I didn't get a sunburn! This is quite an accomplishment, considering my pasty complexion. I managed to squeeze in a few good runs while I was there, plus RandomAbs every night. Even though it's nice to get out of the region every once in a while, I was happy to come home to my puppies. (By the way, Mika's ear is healing up nicely.) Here are a couple pictures of the beach:
Now I've got just under 3 weeks left in Bagotville before I leave and I'm trying to figure out how best to spend them. There's a lot of stuff to get ready for the move, but I want to make sure I get everything in before I leave. I don't really have much planned, except a 5k race on July 11th and a good-bye party for a friend who's also leaving this summer.
Random side note - I did something today that might almost be considered "tech-savvy." First, I connected my Hotmail account to my Outlook program on my computer. This then allowed me to connect my Outlook calendar to iCloud so that it syncs seamlessly with my iPhone. What that means is that I can add an appointment on my computer and it will show up on my phone and on the iCloud website automatically. It's like magic!
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| Goose Rocks Beach |
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| The other side of the beach |
Now I've got just under 3 weeks left in Bagotville before I leave and I'm trying to figure out how best to spend them. There's a lot of stuff to get ready for the move, but I want to make sure I get everything in before I leave. I don't really have much planned, except a 5k race on July 11th and a good-bye party for a friend who's also leaving this summer.
Random side note - I did something today that might almost be considered "tech-savvy." First, I connected my Hotmail account to my Outlook program on my computer. This then allowed me to connect my Outlook calendar to iCloud so that it syncs seamlessly with my iPhone. What that means is that I can add an appointment on my computer and it will show up on my phone and on the iCloud website automatically. It's like magic!
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