Indonesia Travels

So this may be a surprise to many of you, but I am actually no longer in Canada. I am traveling for the summer in South East Asia and left last week. Internet is slow and not accessible everywhere, however, whenever I have it I'll post something quick about where I am on the blog.

Unfortunately there will be no photos since I don't have a way of getting them off my computer and onto these cheap ones.

Day 4
Steph and I have made it to Bali following Singapore. We were going to travel up towards Malaysia prior to meeting Erich in Kuala Lumpur however following reading the Indonesia section of the Lonely planet book, Steph really wanted to visit Lombok (next to Bali).

So our plan at this point is to stay in Bali today and maybe part of tomorrow then spend the week in Lombok. There are apparently some of the greatest beaches in SE Asia in Senggigi and then we are going to do a volcano mountain summit (3726m) (http://www.lombok-rinjanitrek.com/rinjanipackages.htm) over a 4 day span before heading up to Sumatra and then meeting up with my friends in Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore was really pretty however I honestly feel that 2 days was more than enough even with the second day just running around and getting to the airport.

The airport was chaotic. We arrived hoping to book flights to Bali and were sent to all 4 terminals before being directed to the proper kiosk. Each person telling us a different place to go. This included 2 bus rides and 3 express trains between terminals. We managed to get onto a flight at 4PM (it was 3:20 at this point) and fly through security etc. Then into Jakarta which was a stark contrast from Singapore. After 45 minutes of waiting in line for a visa we had to run for our connecting flight to Bali, We got the visa at 6:20 (bording time for flight was 6:15 and in another airport terminal) We go out after frantically running around and find a shuttle filled with people and we need to shout at the drive what terminal (1-3) we want to go to and prove that our priority is higher than those going to other terminals. Finally we got on the flight at 7 after cutting a few lines and skipping security by waving frantic arms. Getting last on the plane and running through the terminal was fun.

We arrived in Bali haggled a taxi from 5$ to 4$ for a 15 minute drive then settled into a really nice room for a drastic 25$. Tonight we hope to be much more reasonable with a 12-15$ room. None of this life of luxury.


Day 8
Hey Team, we are leaving Gili Trawangan around lunch time today. Before then I will try and get a little surfing in for the first time over here. The waves don't look very big but they are uniform. Hopefully it goes well.

Steph and I went scuba diving yesterday and the day before. The diving was really good however I dare say it was trumped by the snorking. While snorking we saw all the same fish at a fraction the price. Turtles, Moray Eels, Manta Ray, lots of clownfish, angelfish, lionfish, scorpionfish, sweetlips, butterfly fish, surgeonfish, trumpet fish, and a bunch of rocks.

We also went for a run yesterday, 6km in 55 minutes, it was a pretty blistering pace. But in our defense it was 35*C and sunny.

We leave today for the island of Lombok where we will be climbing Mount Rinjani. Roughly 1/2 the height of Everest (I am reading "into thin air" so everything is gauged to Everest these days. As a result I don't know if I will have internet until the 13th. We may have it tonight but that would be it.

Hope everyone is good. Skype isn't working on my computer right now unfortunately. We may try and go to a different internet station and see if it does any better.

SCIENCE!

Science has taken over my life and I've been reminded that there should be more to it. So far at this point I have finished writing my thesis and have a date set for my defence. March 18th at 1:15PM! I booked it for later in the afternoon to insure that I can get over my hangover from St Patricks Day.

In all seriousness, I've finished my thesis, all 100 pages of glory, have already made my powerpoint for the defence presentation. And now all I have left to do is write a manuscript for my project and get it published before leaving UBC Masters program behind me.

In other news of life. Triathlon is going well. I have my first race this coming weekend. The UBC Triathlon promises to be a nice cold endeavour. I will be doing the double. Working for powerbar at the event as well as racing. My heat is at 12:40 though which is nice because I can be up early and setting up for powerbar and once things get settled down get ready for my race.

In recent news. The UBC Triathlon Club spring race series is underway, and knock on wood, for the first semester, I don't have an excuse (marathon, sprained ankle, concussion). So lets hope I can keep this up and it could be a good one! We have already raced the 5k and I achieved a new PB, 17:41!

And finally, I tried a new sport last week. Maybe this will be my true calling in sport. Does it meet the criteria?

1. Spandex - √
2. Endurance - √
3. Has in some part the word Athlon in it - √
4. ...

Thats about it. I tried the sport of Biathlon and had a blast. My friend Ceilidh coaches the cadets and offered to bring me up to give it a try. As a result I may do my first race at the end of the month!

Kelly Said I look fat... I thought black was slimming? Does anyone have any vertical stripes?

4/5 Not too bad!

Growing Up

I saw this photo today, and must say I agree. Question now, with graduation coming soon and a wide open future, now what? Guess I've got something to think about over Christmas

New Danny Macaskill Video

There is a new Danny Macaskill video out!

Haven't had a chance to watch more than the first minute, but it looks good!

5K Run TT

Just a really quick update, the tri club had our final event last night in the Fall Classic Race Series. The 5k Run TT. The event was a huge success, with weather holding out for us we had a semi dry course to run on. We had our largest showing with 35 people out and most made it out to the social afterwards as well.

I've felt pretty terrible running lately, however, on Monday I ran a mile which Matt helped pace me and I managed to pull out a 5:15. Nothing exceptional but at least I know that I haven't completely lost my fitness post marathon which is how it feels.

Starting the 5k, we took it out way too fast running a 3:10 first km so I slowed it down to around around 3:35-40 for the remaining 4k.

In the end managed to hold it together for a finish time of 17:55! My first sub 18 minute 5k since starting triathlon and a new PB that has lasted since 2006. Considering how I've felt lately, there is no doubt that once I get my running legs back that this time will drop even more. I guess the hunt is for 17 now, lets hope it doesn't take another 4 years.

And I wasn't the only one. I think about 2/3 of the runners who had previous 5k times managed to PB. I guess I'm doing something right as coach...

Not much else to report. Hopefully I'll have something more exciting in the weeks to come!

MOUSTACHE Updates

Two important updates.

First, it is the month of Movember. A month where sporting a moustache is not only a thing of pride, but also trendy to do since it shows your support for prostate cancer!

I didn't really feel like starting up my own Movember page, and feel the pressure to compete with my friends, so instead you can donate to my friends page Tyler Porteous and mention in your comment that you think my moustache is better.

Secondly! In honour of Movember, my roommates and I are doing a push up challenge! I encourage all of you to take part as well. I have created a google spreadsheet here where you can update your numbers.

The rules, you need to do a minimum of 10 pushups in a row. Additionally they need to be quality pushups. We have a statistician on the team who is going to identify who was most consistent over the month as well!

To sign up you will need to ask permission for access to the spreadsheet. I will gladly grant that!

There are 3 great prizes for the winners! First prize is an autographed photo of me potentially with a personalized message at the end of Movember with all my moustache glory.

Second prize is the same, but a photo of Matt Reeve! And third, although her moustache is quite unimpressive, will be a signed photo of Kaley, our third roommate. But I don't think she's disappointed with the fact that she can't grow a moustache...

So there you have it. Keep yourself fit by doing pushups and adding them to the spreadsheet each night! Contest ends Nov 30th at midnight!

Day 6!

Reality Check

I've had a pretty miserable week, with my thesis looming over my head, my inability to run thanks to my foot still hurting since the marathon, and some other issues I won't go into, it has been pretty easy for me to complain a lot lately.

Then this afternoon I got a reality check. This past weekend was Halloween, a weekend of fun, or at least what should have been. In Gastown (area of Vancouver) early Sunday morning there was a shooting where a crowd of people were shot at for no reason. 4 completely innocent individuals who were just enjoying their night out. One of these individuals is a friend of mine. Before I get to dramatic, I want to state that thankfully she was alright. I don't know the extent of the injury but it wasn't life threatening, but that doesn't diminish the fact that she was hit with a bullet and hospitalized.

This is someone who on Friday when being in lab was too stressful for me and I needed a break took two hours out of her afternoon to talk and then came over and enjoyed dinner with my roommates and I. Not 24 hours later, the shooting occurred.

I called her today asking if she wanted to come out with friends from school Tuesday night when she explained what had happened and that she wouldn't be able to make it. And then she asked how I was doing. I couldn't believe it. After everything that had happened in the previous 24 hours, she was still concerned for me and I realized that despite everything going on in my life right now, I'm really a very lucky person, for my family, my friends and for my health.

When she asked how I was, all considering, I had to admit things were going very well.

I finished today by doing my first run since the marathon. It hurt from being out of shape not running for three weeks, but my foot was better. And I couldn't say I've ever felt luckier to be running.