Solid Weekend

This was just a big week, I have been really busy because I had a committee meeting at school last Friday. What's a committee meeting? Its pretty much an evaluation of my worth as a grad student at which point I get feedback and hopefully some help with my direction. My meeting went really well, almost too well actually, my prof and the collaborators are excited about my results and have now set somewhat over ambitious goals for my completion. Oh well, better this than them being upset that I've gotten no where (closer to reality).

Once that was done with, I pretty much went on cruise control and relaxed for the weekend (I've had deadlines pretty much every week since mid January). Went to the gym Friday night, did some core work then followed this up by going out with some friends. For the second week in a row made it to the Saturday morning ride. Making it to the ride is no great feat, getting myself out of bed slightly hung over is HUGE for me because I am definitely not a morning person. 

Last week (my first ride outside of 09) I guessed the conditions perfectly and was dressed well for the temperature. Unfortunately this week it was a little warmer so I decided to shed a few layers, this was a big mistake. We had a few new riders out with the club and as a result I was puttering at 22kph for much of the ride, never getting my heart rate up and never really warming up. It was so bad that I actually ended up calling it quits early and headed home to warm up. The nice day wasn't lost though. A friend from school rides and a few hours after getting back from my morning ride, he asked if I wanted to go out for a loop of Stanley Park, so for the second time in one day I dressed up and headed out around the park. The second time I was much better dressed and it was a much more comfortable ride. 

Between the two rides I did something very dangerous. I went in to Speed Theory on 4th, and check out bikes. Now I've done that a few times already this year, however, this was the first time I actually got onto one. I sat on the Argon 18 E114, and although it was already set up for someone else, it felt good. I can only imagine what it would feel like if it was sized for me.

 

The other bike I looked at but haven't tried out is the Orbea Ordu. I am actually going by tomorrow morning to test that baby outside for a quick ride. 

The danger in this little visit is that up until now I was just window shopping, now I've tested them out. Its only a matter of time before I spend a huge heap of money on a bike. But I'm going to be very slow in all this and see what I can find. I don't want to rush into this. There are still a few other shops and bike brands to take a look at. If anyone has any suggestions for good bike shops in Vancouver with TT bikes, let me know.

The rest of Saturday was pretty relaxing, nothing overly exciting, just ended up going over to a friends and watching a movie and having an easy night.

Sunday Morning I woke up to the most glorious day we have had in Vancouver so far this year. And what was better is that I had swim practice outside. Getting there I remember standing on deck and thinking how nice and warm the sun was on my skin, bare chested in February, a stark contrast to the swim a few weeks ago. After the swim I was going to go to the gym and do another core workout, however, two of my teammates came up with the idea of going out to coffee and walk on the beach instead. This sounded like a fantastic idea and so I did. The beach was a little chilly with the wind but I was in a great mood all day simply because the weather. My friend Claire who was also at swimming said that she even had a tanline from the swim. I couldn't tell if I had gotten one since I have a speedo tan year round. Thomas was pleased with the weather as well, he had just gotten back from a month in Ottawa where the average temperature was -15*C.

I was in such a good mood that I actually gave money to a bum in passing, something I never do.

I follow this walk by a quick stint in lab and then topped the weekend off by heading to a friends in North Van for dinner. A fantastic pasta meal that I just inhaled plate after plate of. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I looked back at how much I had. 

The one downside to this weekend is I never actually got a run in, the weather was so good but things just kept coming up. I got one on Monday and will do another at tomorrows practice, but I would have preferred a long run on the weekend. 

Finally just on a side note, todays swim practice was AWESOME! I felt so strong. The pool was empty being reading week and all, and so I had a whole lane to myself. This is sometimes pretty hard because you have no one to push you, but today that wasn't so much of an issue. The main set was 5X200 with 20 seconds rest, then we take 100 easy, and try and do 5X200 with 30 seconds rest, however, we want the 200's do be 10 seconds faster. 

I wasn't actually able to go 10 seconds faster, however, I managed to do 8/10 of the 200's under 3 minutes, and the two that weren't were more mental slips rather than physical. All in all a great practice. Tonight I got home and was just beat, hard days in lab yesterday and today, mixed with a solid practice amounted to exhaustion, something I haven't had in a while, guess that shows I'm working hard.

On that note, I'm heading off to do some stretches and head to bed. 

Night!