april 18

So far this month I've been working double the hours than I normally do and my training has taken a dip because of it but with two weeks until the Vancouver half I'll be focused and locked in on training and diet. With the weather warming up it makes for some great early morning runs and this morning I ran down Royal Oak hill around Deer lake then back up Royal Oak hill and then back home. Now going down that hill was fine,I had a great view of the north shore mountains and on my right was the lake surrounded by all the green trees and fields, no cars just birds chirping and a crazy woodpecker sitting on top of a metal street light post and pecking the shit out of that thing! I laughed out loud then just breathed in all the fresh morning air as I glided down this massive hill. I was about half way down when I thought to myself..I going to have to run back up this fucker! Now the run around the lake was great as always just incredibly peaceful with a loon floating across the middle of it leaving a v wave pattern behind it, and I thought about stopping and taking all of this serenity in but once I start running i don't like to stop. Anyway here comes the "Hill" now there are some cars that have trouble getting up this thing so running up it feels more like a mountain climb! and that's what I eventually pictured in my mind once the leg burn set in, so with each arm movement I imagined pulling a rope..baby steps pull,baby steps pull! c'mon Jamie get up this hill..c'mon!!! Once I'm at the top I'm just gassed but I'm still 25 minutes from home so I take in some gatorade and run the rolling hills home. Now Izumi and I can enjoy our Sunday drive maybe some shopping but me and the legs will wait in the car thanks.

Easter

Easter Sunday started with a 8.5 mile bike ride then immediately followed by a 4 mile run in 32.24. My run was at about a 8 minute mile pace which felt really comfortable if I was to average that in a marathon I'd end up with a 3 1/2 hour finishing time. I've trained hard three out of the four days this month which leads nicely into Easter dinner with some very important people and as I look out from my patio and the first thing I see is the brilliant colours of the neon signs that read "Liquor Store Open" reminds me to go buy some wine to enjoy with family.

Good Friday

Up at 7:00am to run and it was a wet and windy one once again. After the first few miles i ended up at local track and decided to do some laps and once I got on the track it was calm and peaceful and I start thinking about where I'm going to take Izumi for dinner tonight, and then as I round the end just behind the net all of a sudden it's a head wind from hell with rain smacking my face and I'm feel it trying to push me back and then once I round the opposite end it's back to calm and I think to myself how about that Greek place in North Burnaby? So I did eight laps then went back to the streets but all those laps were the same,calm one way and nasty the other. So continuing on I must have ran past a bakery because the smell of freshly baked bread filled my senses which lead me to one question of course, How come my only choices of bread in Japan was the white thick sliced 5 piece bag or the bonus 6 piece thicker sliced family bonus pack? Then came a hill and of course running up the hill,head wind was coming down the hill and my thoughts went straight to c'mon c'mon get up the hill!! Then I was home. Now as as I sit here typing this my windows are rattling from the wind so it probably wasn't the best day for a run so with the half marathon exactly a month away I hope a lot of people decided not to run today!

just begun!

Having March come to end tomorrow has made me reflect a bit on the first three months so far, and one thing that stands out is that this will become a lifestyle! At the moment I'm a stronger and faster runner with a couple personal best's recorded, and swimming is progressing nicely and I'm about ten pounds lighter than Dec 31 2009! These three months include the three weeks in Japan with no training at all, except arm wrestling Kirin's. I realize there will be days where the merlot is flowing in place of the gatorade or the plate of strawberry cheesecake is there istead of just strawberries alone but when i see the calendar filled with 20 plus days of training and times scribbled on it each month, it makes me feel like on the right path and this path has just begun!

Whitecaps FC

I picked up my seasons tickets for the Vancouver Whitecaps last night at their 1 year countdown event before they enter the MLS. This will be the last year that games will be held at the 5000 seat Swangard stadium because they'll be moving to BC Place once the roof is taken off and that seats 60,000,so I'm looking forward to soaking up the final year of a small outdoor park atomsphere in Burnaby before it becomes massive again in downtown Vancouver. The first game is April 11th at 4:00 so that means the first tailgate is April 11th around 2:00! Training is still going good and I'm still getting 6 good days in a week with swimming now inserted nicely into the schedule, I've been able to get in a good hour and a half of laps in the pool this week. I'm also waiting patiently for the snow to melt on the local mountains as the Grouse Grind awaits and I'm looking forward to adding that to the weekly plan and also the first long weekend of the year is near and a few us are planning on hiking Mt.Brunswick.

rain

Of course the hardest downpour we had today was the hour and a half while I was running this morning!

First day of spring

Started with a casual 4 mile run this morning and I'm feeling the core workout from yesterday,tomorrow will be the long run of the week and it might be done in the rain but I haven't decided where it's going to be yet,looking out my patio gives me a few ideas but the weather will help me decide in the morning. I was able to get a few things done today which included sending in an application for a volunteer position at the Vancouver Triathlon on July 4th which will help me get a feel of the whole atomsphere that is triathlon, also signed up with a swim coach that will help me find my proper form for open water swimming and lastly, officially registered for the Vancouver Half Marathon on May 2nd, Good weekend so far!