I dropped Amy and Liam off at the airport on Thursday morning and they aren’t returning until this coming Saturday which means I had this past weekend all to myself. Seeing as I don’t normally have that kind of free time, I decided that I had better take advantage of it while I could. The fact that I didn’t do any (substantial) drinking and in fact was in bed by 1030 every night this past weekend is a testament to how much my life has changed since Liam came along. It was an enjoyable, but very tiring weekend.
It started after work on Friday. We had gone out to lunch with a guy I used to work with, Paul Smeulders, and Paul and I had made plans to go cycling in Gatineau after work – despite the threat of severe thunderstorms. I left work around 4 or so (luckily I had gotten into work early on Friday so leaving at 4 wasn’t an issue) and went home to feed the animals and pick up my bike. I got down to Paul’s place shortly after 1700 and we were on the road by 1730 or so I think. We did one loop through the park and nearly avoided the downpour that came along with the thunderstorm that DID end up rolling through. Sadly, we got soaked. Despite the rain, I had a good time and was glad I got a chance to go for a ride with Paul. Total distance – 60 kms.
I had planned to cycle to Merrickville and back with Steve on Saturday so I hit the sack shortly after getting home and grabbing something to eat. I got up relatively early on Saturday so that I could eat some breakfast and see to the cats and dog before heading down to Steve’s place. The plan was to leave his place at around 0900 or so. We were a little late getting going, but it didn’t really matter since we weren’t really on a schedule or anything. The ride down was nice – I think we averaged around 32 kph and it took us just over 2 hours to get there. We arrived in Merrickville just in time to see the bridge over the canal swinging to the side to allow a couple of boats to pass through the locks – that was pretty cool since I had never seen that before. We met up with Jody and her parents and had some lunch before jumping back on the bikes for the return trip. One the way down, particularily the last 20 kms or so, the wind was in our faces – so we figured the ride back would be pretty sweet – what with a tail wind and all. Sadly that was not the case – the wind had shifted and picked up which resulted in a significant head wind the whole way back. Big thanks to Steve for essentially dragging me back to Ottawa – I sucked his wheel for the vast majority of the return trip. Oh well, better training for him right. :) It took us more like 2.5 hours to get back, thanks to the frickin’ headwind! Total distance – around 130 kms.
I was pretty wiped out after the ride, but felt that I should take Ellie for a run in the park since she had been home alone all day. I loaded her into the truck and after heading out to the Kean’s place to check on their cats, we went to the dog park. After letting her run around for a while, I went back home, got something to eat and then went to bed somewhat early since I had planned to meet up with Steve and Freddy for a 7 am run on Sunday.
As I suspected, 0615 came way too quickly but I dragged myself out of bed anyways so I could get something to eat before the run. The plan was to do 15 kms at a 5 min/km pace. Besides for a short 8 km run I had done earlier in the week, I hadn’t run that pace (for an extended distance) since the hypothermic half in January so I wasn’t sure how I’d do. Steve showed up right on time and we made our way down to the TC Trail to meet up with Freddy. I had my foot pod (that came with my RS200sd) on but had planned to use Steve’s Garmin to track distance – that way I could calibrate the foot pod at the end of the run. By about halfway through the run (btw – Steve had decided we’d run 16 kms instead of 15) I knew I was going to be hard pressed to keep up the pace for the remainder of the run. I think the ride from the day before (and maybe even Friday’s ride) were taking their toll on me. Anyways, I held on until 15.25 kms and then told them to keep going and I’d see them at the end. I ended up taking a short walking break and then finished the run off at a jog. I was ok with that.
After another short break, it was soon time to jump in the truck and head for Jacque Cartier Park to meet up with Rob, Matt and Dave for some disc golf. I hadn’t played in about a year so I was really looking forward to it. Of course the first stop was the depanneur for a large (950 ml) beer so that we’d have some refreshments to enjoy on the course. By about midway through the round, the boys headed back to the dep for another beer – but I passed on it because I had to drive – definitely a wise decision. My first round of the year went ok – I ended up with a plus 2, but I can think of at least 2 (if not more) holes where I missed stupid easy putts. I was even up until the last two holes so it wasn’t a great finish. Oh well. After the round, we loaded the bikes into the back of my truck and headed downtown where the boys each picked up a new disc. From there it was off to Robbie’s place to enjoy another beer. After that, I dropped Dave off and headed home. It must have been a combination of the sun and the beer – but I ended up with a wicked headache, so the rest of my evening was spent laying on the couch watching TV. I decided to watch the TPB movie and thought it was pretty good. I had been pumping water into me since I got home so by the time I went to bed, I was feeling much better (headache was gone) but was still wiped out from the weekend.
As expected, when I got up this morning, I was exhausted. I dragged myself out of bed and headed into work. Feeling better now – but still tired. Hopefully Amy and Liam don’t go on too many trips without me…I don’t think I can handle all this freedom. :)
P.S. I’m hoping Steve will be posting a map of our route to Merrickville on his Flickr account and when he does, I’ll likely add it to this post.