Vancouver cont.

Here are more observations (from the complimentary wifi at the airport!):

-smoking and swearing seems to be much more common
-i saw what looked to be a 13 year old boy smoking a cigar...odd
-it is a casual city. lots of people were walking about in athletic clothes...that is my kind of city!
-an international conference brings a lot of styles. i.e. some people find "booty pants" appropriate for a conference. don't forget the solid coral suit.
-there was another conference in another area and i saw a real Tibetan monk. i wanted to go to that conference!
-it is a very walkable city....as you might know, i LOVE that!
-the mountains and the ocean meet. beautiful!
-everyone seems to be drinking coffee all the time.
-HIGH cost of living
-quite a few homeless

i have 2 stories about the homeless. i really wanted to take a picture of one homeless person. have you heard of the show on TLC called Hoarders? I haven't ever seen it, but if there was a homeless version of that show, this man would qualify. 2 massively loaded down carts followed him everywhere....very interesting.

the second story is about the homeless person that i saw everywhere! the first interaction, i was right outside a Tim Horton's so i offered to buy him something to eat instead of giving him money. (that is my preferred route of helping people). he hesitated (not a good sign) and then agreed. the Tim Horton's people obviously knew him and he obviously has been a big problem. long story short, i decide to cancel my order because i feel like i'm causing more problems (and he is now getting donations from everyone in line). i saw him a couple times that day. yesterday i was eating outside in another part of town and there he is...came up to me again. this morning...who do i see? it was pretty odd!

by the way, Niger was actually brought up in the conference. they were talking about the rate of cancer diagnosis in developing countries sky-rocketing over the next few years. the speaker said, "and i'm not even taking into account Niger and other countries that have no form of health care system and severe poverty".

crazy. sobering.

Vancouver

i'm in vancouver for a supportive care conference. pictures will be coming...

some thoughts about the city:

1. i thought houston was multicultural, but so far vancouver has it beat!

2. have a great hotel...let me know if you are going there anytime soon and i'll pass along the name.

3. i have an inexplicable craving for sushi. i think i'll satisfy it while i'm here...yum, shrimp tempura.

4. i attacked the grouse grind today. i'll write more on this later, but it was a lot of fun if you love to sweat and LOVE an amped up stairmaster workout. it was a great into to the city though.

5. tim hortons makes me think of saline...

triathlon #3

triathlon #3



some things i learned:


1. dairy the night before is not a good thing!


2. nails are brutal on the swim...i ended up with blood running down my leg after exiting the swim.


3. you should fuel well the night before....a pizza lean pocket won't do it.


4. i really, really want to run sub-8 minute miles by the end of the season....we'll see!

All in all, i still did well. my bike was over 20 mph and the run was around 8:25 min/miles. It was a longer race so I should be happy with that. I got 2nd in my age group...and I think 12th overall in the women.

Triathlon #2 recap

okay, this is way overdue, but i thought i should give a quick update on my 2nd triathlon of the season. (#3 is this Sunday!)

things are officially HOT in Houston and that was definitely evident 2 weekends ago. regularly, it is 80+ degrees at 5 AM when i head to the gym. triathlons here start at 7:00 and i wish they would start even earlier!

anyhow, i did the Combat triathlon two saturdays ago. the winner of the entire race gets a battle helmet. fun! this was a sprint race and it has been good to ease myself into the world of triathlon again.

swim!

the swim was a pool swim. i tend to avoid these because there is mass-chaos (not unlike the openwater swim), but people have to submit a swim time. there are always a good number of people that think they are faster than they are...and then i have to pass them! anyhow, the water was horribly warm (maybe 86 degrees), but the swim went well.

Time: 4:37.3 for a 300 meter swim

transition 1

this is something you might not know....the time from the swim to the bike counts toward your overall time....so, you want to be fast if you are competing. they put out some carpet which was appreciated and i was off in 1:04.7. there is room for improvement, but not bad.

bike!

i'm not a great biker...i'm not bad, but i'm not good. when i first started triathlon, i would do pretty well in the swim and then get decimated on the bike. now, my goal is usually to not get passed by any girls on the bike. i succeeded in this race! it was incredibly NOT scenic, but the ride felt pretty good. this leg makes the biggest difference in the race...i need to keep improving!

Time: 44:51.8 for a 15 mile bike (avg 20.1 mph)

transition 2

again, the transition from bike to run is counted in your time. i think this is the first race where i have not used any socks. i think i like it. putting on socks on wet feet isn't the easiest. it is also the first race that i've gotten a blister....there might be a correlation! Time: 1:00.9 this needs to improve!

run!!

honestly, the run felt bad. i didn't enjoy much of it...i felt like i was moving like molasses. i was sweating profusely and i have difficulty drinking while running. i usually just start pouring water over my head to cool myself down. all in all, i was very happy with my run. not as fast as triathlon #1.....my goal is to get sub 8 min miles. i just barely missed this with triathlon #1, but i want it to get this goal consistently!

Time: 24:47.4 for 3.1 miles (8:16 min/mile pace)

overall, i was able to hold on to 3rd place in my age group. 17th among the women.

i have to get that picture moving down the screen....this is how i'm going to do it....by just filling up space.

i am sorry i have not been a diligent writer. i'll will try to post something this weekend.