Active Weekend

No great weekend is accomplished without a little stupidity to make it fantastic! That describes my weekend pretty well.

Friday night was uneventful so lets skip straight to Saturday morning. Vancouver is a pleasant 26*C by 8AM and the apartment is easily 30+. Glad I'm sleeping with a down comforter! Mel was racing the Kits open water 3k swim race at 8:45 so after a quick breakfast we head down to the beach. I normally would have done this race, however, I wasn't sure if I would be around when the registration process was taking place and in the end it slipped by. Considering how much swimming I have done this month I am not overly upset by not competing. Mel raced well, the conditions were great, however from looking at the results I would say the course was a little long.

Mel about to start the swim

After socializing a little more after the race we headed back to Mel's because she had some chores to take care of (Med applications) so I made good use of this time and took nap #1 for the weekend. I've learned that when trying to nap, don't do it in a 35*C apartment in front of a window. When I woke up I was a little parched to say the least. Conveniently though Mel and I only had a long run on tap for the afternoon. After much persuasion (I don't like running in new places) I was convinced to run around Stanley Park instead of through the endowment lands at UBC. This turned out to be a great idea. Although there was very little shade and it was blistering hot outside, the seawall does offer water and bathrooms every mile.

We got back to Mel's around 6:30, got cleaned up quick and were out the door to meet friends for dinner. My friend Becky from McGill was visiting and flying out the next morning so we did what all smart endurance athletes do and drank heavily! Keeping in mind that I have barely been drinking all summer, Matt hasn't drank at all and Mel even less. We were a pretty lightweight group. After a good night and a new marathon goal set, we all stumbled home for what was sure to be a painful Sunday.

Although I'm a grown man with a lot to say, you would think I could hold my own against 100 pounds of persuasion, but apparently Mel has mind powers. About a week ago she mentioned the urge to ride a century ride (100miles/160.1km) at some point this summer. Since we have the scuba course next weekend (more on that later) and she leaves right after, this was our last weekend available before school starts up again.

Waking up joyfully hungover on a day with a humidex reaching 32*C I decided to ride my TT bike since I was too lazy to switch over the pedals. Immediately yesterdays run was felt in the legs. Not pain, just sluggish. We met up with a group totalling 8 at UBC and took off. Matt was sporting his brand new Argon 18 E112 and Winston had out the new P2. I wasn't the only one on a TT bike.

Bike Route

We ticked off the miles slowly and after only a few detours along the way managed to inch our way closer to 100 miles. Sure the legs go significantly more tired as we went, but on the plus side the hangover subsided with every pedal stroke! By 80 miles I could barely even remember I felt like vomit.

Just as we reached 80 miles we arrived in Steveston where we enjoyed some fantastic fish and chips at Pajo's! I had salmon, have never had a battered salmon before. It may have been the 6 hours of riding prior but it tasted FANTASTIC!

PAJO'S!

After a refreshing hour break we had the final hour back to home.

Upon arriving home I managed to take a quick nap on the couch on route to my bedroom to get changed. Roughly 45 minutes later (nap #2), I got up and made it to my room. Got changed and succumbed to my second nap of the night (nap 3#). This time being an hour long! Finally at 9 I got up for real, had a shower and proceeded to go directly back to bed.

Weekend total, 24k run, 162k bike 9 hours of training!

Considering how tired I was and I've done all this distance before, I can't imagine how tired Mel must have been since she also had a 3k ocean swim this weekend, missed a nap on Saturday and completed her longest bike ride! Hung over...

I'm impressed

BONUS JOKE!

Why did the cyclist ride to Steveston?

Just for the Halibut!

HA HA HA!