2 months ago I wrote about being out of commission due to a stomach virus of some sort. Since there, there has been lots going on that I just haven’t bothered to blog about. I’ll attempt to do a quick write up of what I’ve been up to since then.
Amy and the kids went back east to visit with her parents and some of my family in early May. She was gone for 2 weeks, leaving on a Sunday afternoon and returning two weeks later, late on a Sunday night. While she was gone, I was tasked with “finishing the deck.” This is kind of funny when you consider I hadn’t even started the deck. Bad weather and a bunch of other excuses prevented me from finishing the deck, but I did get a good start on it. Grant helped me tear down the old deck, and Steve, Dave, Darcy and JK all helped me get the substructure done while Amy and the kids were away. Thanks guys! Since then, I’ve managed to install the deck boards and am in the process of getting the old stairs put back on and installing the railings. JK was a huge help with the decking – thanks dude! You can check out the set on Flickr if you’re interested.
Race weekend has come and gone since I last wrote as well. I had hoped to finish the 1/2 marathon in and hour and forty minutes, but sadly that was not to be. In the end, I finished in 1:48:54 and I guess I can’t complain too much. I think the problem was a real lack of a training schedule and general laziness on my part. I was also not feeling great on the days leading up to and including race day, but I’m not sure that actually played a part in what happened. My strategy of not taking anything in during the race was a poor one – next time I’ll consume *something*, if only just water. :)
A couple weeks after race weekend, it was time for the Rideau Lakes Cycling Tour, which is a weekend event where 1800+ riders cycle down to Kingston and back. This was my first year participating in the event and I really enjoyed it. I had done a lot of my training rides with Grant and Bonnie, so I was used to riding with them. They took the tandem down, and I pretty much followed them the whole way there and back. There were some brief periods where I was either out in front of them or alone, but generally speaking I stuck to their back wheel a lot of the time. Steve and Jody also participated in the ride, but due to an unfortunate accident, Jody wasn’t really feeling up to making the return ride on Sunday. I was super impressed that she soldiered on after the accident on Saturday and made it all the way to Kingston. The accident happened before the half way point on Saturday, so she rode for a good 90+ kms with her scrapes and bruises! You’re a machine Jody!
I was very happy with how the whole weekend went, especially with how I felt after getting to Kingston on Saturday. Up to that point, I was not being very responsible in terms of refueling my body during training rides. I would basically take a gel or two with me and by the time I got back home, I was pretty much completely spent and useless for the rest of the day. This was not the case for this tour – Grant filled me in on what I should be eating and when and when I followed his advice, I felt great! I felt really good on Sunday too, but of course was a bit sore on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week.
Weather-wise, it was a decent weekend. Saturday was sunny and fairly warm for the whole day, and Sunday was pretty much cloudy the whole time. We got rained on for a very short time (maybe an hour total) but it wasn’t too cold or anything. Nothing like what I experienced during a training ride the weekend before when I swear I was the coldest I have ever been!
That’s about it in terms of the big events for me. Trying to get back into the active living after taking the past week off. I think I’m going to start cycling into work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – at least until Amy goes back to work.
EDIT: Forgot that Darcy was here one day helping with the deck. Sorry Darce! Thanks for coming. :)
