NON RUNNING CHRONICLE....

Ok, so only 20 days until I can run again. Every time I see my Dad leaving for a run, my heart ache... ;-) But I am so proud of him that I forget about my own pain =) I totally slacked off on the bike and the swim so tomorrow I am going back to the pool!

Foot is going relatively well... no more throbbing pain and I can walk barefoot again without agonising pain... seems like things are going well but it doesn't feel 'normal' like the other foot. So, I am cautiously optimistic as I don't want to be disappointed all over again, like las time.

Saturday was my birthday and I'm starting to freak out about being almost 30 (28 to be exact). I know this is silliness and totally irrational!! But I feel like an old fart! My Dad was my age when he had me... and I am the baby of the family. I am far away from having a family of my own (if ever) guess I gotta find myself a MAN first LOL In the meantime Rocky is my Baby!! LOL

I found him a super cute costume for Halloween, he's totally hating every minute of it but it makes me laugh. And I'm sure the kids will like it when we give candies out on Friday.

It was great to be back in Windsor, it is only when you have left that you realise how much you miss the people there. My ex-boss is just the best, we worked really well on our last article when I was there. So it will be submitted to a very good journal soon! =)

Now, this is the part I was dreading writing about because I am still very disappointed about the outcome of this. In my last post, I wrote about a job possibility at Environment Canada in Burlington and having a professor I know trying to put a good word for me. Well, he did but he was told that the interviews had already been conducted.... so yeah I wasn't short listed. I am more than disappointed, I just don't know when this will happen for me. =( And I thought knowing the person would have gotten me an interview at least... ='( The professor told me I was sooooooooooo close to getting the interview.... so yeah it sucks ass. Still trying to digest this rejection. I know that in the order of things, it wasn't meant to be but I am still totally bummed out about it.

BACK IN THE HOOD!!

I am back in Windsor for a week and it feels like I have never left. Everything is still the same, my old 'Boss', the people at the Institute where I worked, the waterfront and the city in general. I really missed my old Boss! I was so happy to see him and work on this last thing with him. He's one of my favorite people in the world =)

One good news, is that there is another professor at my Institute that likes me a lot. I was looking at one of his old scientific articles and told him I'd like to read it. I said: "you co-wrote this article with Mister So-and-so, do you know him well?". Well, it turns out this is the guy I've been in contact with for the job at Environment Canada in Burlington that I REALLY WANT. He told me that Mister So-and-so is his old Ph.D. advisor! He talks to him OFTEN and will give him a call to tell him how awesome-greatest-researcher I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOO! How freakin great is this!!??!! I was so happy, my career goal is to be a big researcher in the government and this is my chance! I really hope it gets me an interview at least =) What a great trip so far!!

My best friend, Flashy, is running her first half-marathon tomorrow. I am so disappointed I can't run it with her =( I really wanted to be there for her but I am being reasonable with my foot now and going to let it rest for a full month. I didn't even bring my running gear so I wouldn't be temted to do it! I am pretty excited about cheering her and brought my cowbell, I'll be making some noise!

We went to pick-up our race kits for the Detroit half tomorrow. Altough I am not running, I did actually pay for race registration and I got my shirt. Not sure I will actually end up wearing it since I will not have run the race...

I got a great shirt for myself and something for my 2 year old niece. How cute is that?

Have a good week-end everybody!

INJURY UPDATE & GROSSEST PICTURE

I had my 2nd cortisone injection yesterday. The radiologist ended up teaching me that heel spur and platar fasciitis are the same issue. I thought they were different. So, he could only inject the cortisone at the same place where they had done it last time.... The pain I have is near the edge of the heel so I was kinda depressed when he told me he couldn't inject there...

He basically told me, there was 2 injection spots on the foot and he could only reproduce what happened last time. And he was not very confident it was going to solve my problem and I should do a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) instead... I ended up :'( very frustrated by the doctor who told me I ONLY had PF and not heel spur... It's hard to know who to believe... And I was not sure if I should proceed with the injection or just wait for another test...

After a brief talk to my Dad, I decided to go for it and hope for the best but still asked to be referred in NMR... 1 month with NO running... ouch and then BASE BUILDING just like BeachRunner for awhile... That also means no stupid stunt (Detroit half and Miami marathon are way too close).

Ok, so last week was Marcy's first marathon and I sent her this e-card. I was really hoping she wouldn't go there. ;-)

Looks like someone else did!!! LMAO This is so GROSS!! So, would you have ended the race or hide in the bushes?????

I'M FEELING THE LOVE (aka I'VE BEEN TAGGED)

Two wonderful chickas: Leana and Michelle have given me an "I Heart Your Blog" award! Thanks Girls!

This honor also comes with another responsibility: to post another six random facts about myself and "tag" another six bloggers with some blogging love. I've done this a couple times now.... not sure what new I can share but I'll try.

1- I'm a couch potato wannabe athlete. As soon as I am injured or when one big race has passed by, I am totally happy to be just watching tv and not training at all. It takes a lot to get out of this 'inertia' mode LOL

2- I am totally obssessed with Runninmania.com, it's a running forum I joined on February 15th 2007 just after I broken up with the last boyfriend and it has been my daily drug since then!

3- I L-O-V-E to dress my dog... any circumstances, all sorts of outfits... here's a few. People think I am totally insane but he is like my Baby... and he TOTALLY hates it!! LMAO

4- I am a francophone and I am really sensitive to mistake I made in English. I am fluent in English (obviously I did my Ph.D. thesis in English!) but I never pronunce the 'h' in words that start with h (house, home, hyper etc.) But if you correct my English you go to my black list and I'm going to kick your ass LOL

5- My brother has been my best friend since I was 12 and he was 16 year old.

6- I'm a serious scientific but I love to kid around in the lab once in awhile... here's the 'smoking walleye' and the 'drunk at the beamline' pics...

Here's some people who I think haven't been tagged yet and might want to play along:

Brian

Cindy

Lumpfish

Ann

Jonathan

Ken

ETA: I forgot to tell you guys that I am getting a 2nd cortisone injection tomorrow at the RIGHT place this time... sigh it is going to be painful...

That's it for me! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL THE CANADIANS!! =)

STUPID TECHNO...

I knew I would struggle to update my blog layout. I should have kept the old boring one!!!

I cannot find where blogger said it 'copied' my old template....

So I can't access all the modification I had made previously on the right side.... and that would means typing all my race results and finding the e-mail addresses etc. The same for the people I follow... GRR this sucks

ETA: Figured it out.... Only took me 15-20 mins LOL

TECHNO?

Me not so much.... It took me awhile to switch to the new blogger version and now there are these "Follower" thing.... what the heck is that?

If you follow me and I follow you, who are we following? Who will be our Guru?!

Anyway, I've been pretty busy in the last few days on a low intensity training schedule anyway... nothing very exciting except my Dad's fastest mile ever today 11:55 min/mile during fartlek =)

Wed: 20K bike @ 51 mins
Thur: 1K swim @ 25 mins
Fri: 5K with Dad @ 41 mins
Sat: 25K bike @ 67 mins
Sun: REST
Mon: 3.5K Fartlek with Dad & Rocky (Dad's first time!)

I've also turned into Rachel Rae... or the equivalent of a cooking machine!
I made a few delicious recipes:
Pasta with lobster, wild mushrooms and cream
Butternut squash soup and with roasted red pepper puree
Spicy dill pickes

And some of the weirdest taste ever too... can't always win!!
Carribean pumpkin and black bean soup
Spiced Pumpkin soup

So yeah that's about what's going im my non exciting life!

RUM RUNNERS RELAY REPORT

Nova Scotia has to be the best place on earth!! I love it there and the relays they organise are just the most awesome way to spend a Saturday =)

Hurricane Kyle was kind enough to wait until Sunday with his strong wind and rain so we had an almost rain free day on Saturday. My leg was at 8:55 AM and about 11.4K long.

My foot had been bothering me lately so the goal was nice and slow but the pressure of coming in last really motivated me! I started running and soon found 'my shadow' this woman was following me so close that I could feel her breathe in my neck!! In this first picture you can not even see her behind me!!

I thought she was going to pass me at the beginning since she was so close but she didn't. As the racewent by, I started to distance myself from her. My main goal was to not let her pass me at anytime!!

Then at the half point, I gave her a little wave and said goodbye for good! At that point I was about 200-300 m in front of her and would keep this lead until the end.

A big thanks to my favorite Haligonian, Lisa, for running part of the last half of the leg with me. She kept talking to me to keep my mind off the pain of all the rolling hills and a blister that had started on my right foot. In the end, she mut have run close to 3K with me and I really needed it, she got me through a big hill right and we just kept on trucking. My foot was killing me at that point.

My leg ended with a slow incline to the finish line and I kept repeating to myself: "Are you f'ing kidding me?! I was pissed LOL But I finished and didn't let that woman pass me =)

This was a very hilly race for me! I never run hills as it is totally flat around Montreal. The green line is elevation and the scale goes from 100-500 ft! I usually have profile with a 30-50 ft. scale LOL

Finished the 11.4 K in 1:16:39 (10:49 min/mile) according to my garmin but the official time is actually 4 mins faster than my finish time (1:12:47) since I didn't make the mat and got a 5 mins penalty on the last person who made the mat's time...

Overall, I'm very happy with this race and I had a great time cheering my team 'Runningmania.com' during the day. Here's a group pic with 2/3 of the team!

Other NRR good news, I got a post-doc offer while I was in Halifax at Université de Montréal. I also applied to a research position at Environment Canada and I actually know the person who is hiring and he told me I had great chance to get an intervieew! YAY! So things are starting to move for me. Send some positive vibes please!

Ok... google reader tell me there are 67 new posts? You guys wrote a whole lot while I was gone! Will try to catch up tonight and tomorrow! =)

BUSY MONDAY

Giving a week rest to my foot seems to have done some good. I was able to run 1h with my Dad this morning. It was his first time going farther than 5K!! I told him we could just do one 10 mins interval more than he usual does and we ended up with 1h!! He was pretty happy I pushed him to go further and we ended up doing 7.12K.

My hair had barely time to dry from the morning shower when I met my friend, Marika, and we went to the Olympic pool to swim. We did 2K!!! She's the one who helped me with my technique a few weeks ago. Going with her really pushed me to go faster and I finished the 2K in 50 mins! She did pass me 4 times... but with her background as a swimmer I'm just happy she didn't pass me more often lol

I'm limping a little right now but not as bad as last Monday after my double racing week-end!

Have a good running week everybody

PAY BACK IS A BIT*CH

I went shopping with my Dad today, found him a pair of fall running pants and a long sleeve tech shirt =) We walked for a few hours and now I'm getting some sharp pain in my foot every 20-30 secs. It is intense and driving me totally crazy. I tried heat.. didn'T work. Tried ice didn't work either... sigh... I will run Rum Runners but I SWEAR ON MY BLOG that is my last 'stupid stunt'... for awhile which means no Detroit half unfortunately =(

WAKE-UP CALL

About how bad is the medical system in Quebec (I don't want to generalize by saying Canada but I think so too)

I went to the clinic this morning to get my foot checked. It is still constantly hurting, and I had to start taking ibuprofene everyday now. I knew the double header this week-end was not my most fantastic idea but it was what I wanted to do. And with lots of ibuprofene I enjoyed both races.

Right now, I AM SO ANGRY. They screwed up my case at the clinic and *forgot* to follow up some results from my radiography in April!!!

THEY KNOW SINCE APRIL THAT I HAVE A HEEL SPUR.

WTF YOU PEOPLE!!

DO YOUR JOB!

I AM SO FREAKIN MAD.

All summer, I did the best I could to deal with this "unknown" pain in my foot and they knew since way back what I had.... The podiatrist thought it was neuromas so I researched neuromas... seemed to make sense went on board with it. But I knew he wasn't a doctor and wanted to get this checkd before I have a 2nd cortisone injection (apointment made for October 14th).

Having a hard time dealing with this right now.

I AM MAD MAD MAD MAD MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

5K OASIS RACE REPORT


From my Dad:
Thank you everybody for all your kind supporting words, Sonia showed me the post she wrote about my first race. It was a wonderful experience, the rain did not bother me at all, actually, it helped keep the humidity down as it was very humid today.

The finish line in the Olympic stadium was an extraordinary experience. It gave me an adrenaline shot and I was able to finish the race with a sprint! My next race is in Miami on January 24th and it will allow me to continue training throughout the fall. In the end, I want to say a big thanks to my personal trainer who supported me during my training.

From Me: It was a great experience to pace my Dad for his first race. I was so PROUD of my protégé and how well he did. According to my garmin we came in at 38:27 and he was really happy to be done in less than 40 mins which was his goal. But there was not mat at the starting line so we only have a gun time (no chip time!) and we were near the back of the pack =(

So, his official time is 40:11... I was a little disappointed but the most important thing is that he's done it, feels great about it and he's really happy with his medal!! LOL

(Oh and one woman was hyperventilating near 1.5K and I asked her if she was ok and wanted help. She looked at me really rudely and gave me the finger!!! I couldn't freakin believe it, neither did the people around me.... seriously?!)

Here's some pictures from the race:

Before the race, I surprised him with the signs!!

My Dad smiling at the starting line. He didn't keep that rain coat very long, way too hot!

Us ready to race in the rain!

At the finish line with our medals =)

TRIATHLON DE MONTRÉAL -RACE REPORT

I had a lot of fun today... Isn't what matters in the end? I think so too! =)

Swim 750m
It was my first open water swim ever and we were doing it in the Olympic bassin the site of the Olympic rowing events during the 1976 Olympic Games. It was very cold and pretty much everybody was wearing a wetsuit... I have yet to purchase one since it is so expensive and was wearing my speedo! It was very cold at first and I was panicking a little bit with everyone swimming on me. It took me a while to feel comfortable in the water. I swam about 3 mins slower than at my last tri.

Swim time = 18:07, pace = 2:25/100m


Bike 20K
We were doing 4 loops of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve the site of Montreal's Formula 1 Grand Prix. I was very very careful with my laps count and was dedicated to NOT mess it up this time.

So, I did my first lap and saw my Dad at the end of the lap. I yelled at him but he never looked at me... I looked at the time 10 mins! I'm like WOW! I'm fast, this is good =)

At the end of the 2nd lap, I see my Dad again and decided to wave like crazy on the bike.... everybody else around him saw me except him.... good god he's a bad supporter lol

At the end of the 3rd lap, I was doing all I could so that he could see me which involved yelling and waving and he FINALLY SAW ME!! YAY! Even captured this following picture (I'm in orange):

At the end of 4 laps I was around 39 mins, I was smoking fast and very happy about it!!

Bike time = 44:24, pace = 27.0 Km/h

Run 5K
The run was great, I was not feeling as exhausted as I felt in my last tri. It was hot but I was determined to not slow down. I also finished 3 mins faster than a month ago! =) I am pretty happy about this segment because I was finally feeling strong on a run in a triathlon, mini victory for me here.

Run = 33:18, pace = 6:40 min/Km

Total time was 1:35:47

Which is only 3 mins slower than my last sprint tri where I messed up one of the loops on the bike!

Thanks to my Dad for coming with me and being there to cheer... when he could see me LOL

AS READY AS ONE CAN BE!!

Monday, one of my friend who was a swim coach for many years gave me a private class! She had great little tips to improve my form and my breathing. I already feel like my style is a lot smoother. She that said for someone who never took swim classes and pretty much imitated other's people swim my technique was awesome which made me very happy.

Crotchy is back to normal. Alleluia!! So I was able to do 10K on the bike in about 30 mins today (taking things slowly to get back at it lol). Thanks for your support and for laughing at me... no biggies I love to entertain you guys!!

Tomorrow morning will be the last run with my Dad before the Big week-end races. I was thinking of getting my Dad some sort of special present for the race but I don't know exactly what to get him...

Today, while he was away shopping, I prepared signs for the Big Race. My Mom and my Aunt are coming to cheer us so I wanted us to be able to see them from far away. I'm definitely as excited as he is for his racing debut =)

Here are the signs (I do hope my Dad will not look at my blog before the race as this is a surprise right now!!). Obviously they are all in French since we are French lol

This one says: Roger 'Don't fucking stop'

Roger 'don't let Sonia win!'

Hurry up Roger, the beer will be warm!
P.S. Do not look up foot injuries or foot surgeries on google image as you get some pretty nasty stuff you might not ever want to see.... I spared you guys on this.... believe me!!!!

CROTCHY PAIN...

After reading about all of Marcy's crotchy related problem, I never thought I would be the next target... YES, the bike is evil for me. After Monday's 50K ride, things were sensitive but nothing too too bad.... Then Tuesday was a 2 mile run, Wednesday was a brick workout 30/20 total 12K ride and 2 mile run. But it's really Thursday that killed me.... Our community pool has been close since the end of August and I've found no replacement close by. And with 1 week to go before my final tri of the season I felt like I needed a pool workout.

I thought: "hey I have to be downtown tomorrow for an event, so I'll just take Granny out of the garbage bin, stopped at the pool and made it to the exhibit, plus bike back home". Total 35K ride. Not bad, or so I thought.

Right.... Freakin. Bad. Idea. The streets in Montreal are like Beyrouth. I swear to god, it was THAT bad. So, my brilliant training idea became a nightmare. I made it to the pool in one piece but crotchy already started to hurt. The saddle on Granny is killing my private parts...

So, got to the pool, swam 1500 m. Practiced bi-lateral breathing. Felt pretty happy about myself and almost forgot I had to go back on Granny. Sigh. The ride home was the most painful thing ever. I HATE GRANNY!!

2 days later and I'm still suffering the repercussions of this bike ride. Plus, I'm sick with a stomach bug. Great. Hopefully crotch pain will be gone for my double header next week....

So.... Marcy do you put a cream down there or smth?! LOL

JOIN ME ON MY BIKE RIDE!!

So, I've been a real couch potato these last few days... and I was feeling very fat and blah... so this morning I decided to stop this madness, I've thrown all the chips in the garbage (for real this is my addiction...) and off I went on Bijou.

I passed a bridge, Pont Charles de Gaulle, at the beginning of my route. Separating Montreal from the suburbs!

I decided to go as far as I felt like as long as the ride was at a minimum of 1h30. I stopped at a red light and asked a guy where the cycling path called "La Route Verte" was going and he was like: "as far as you want!". So, I just kept going on it and finally saw the sign below after 14K so I knew I going to target L'Assomption as my final destination (I still had to come back!!).

It started getting really nice to ride after 20K where we stopped being in residential area where you can't ride that fast and there are a lot of turns (they scare me... so I slow down a lot!). After that I saw mostly corn fields and nice waterfront houses.

Finally got to L'Assomption and my watch read 25.02K at that sign!

And look below at the sign I found in Le Gardeur! Apparently dogs cannot poop in the suburbs!!! LOL

Total ride distance = 50.24K

Total ride time = 2h18

Speed = 21.8 Km/h

Pretty happy I finally found the motivation to get out there. I feel great right now!! =)

NOT SURE WHAT THE HECK I AM DOING...

This getting out the door to exercice is hard... Since Quebec City half-marathon I am in a coma like state.... I felt really crappy Thursday and Friday, some sort of start of cold and now that it has seem to pass. I just can't motivate myself to go out the door. For the last 3 days I got dressed for a bike ride just to sit on the couch all day... sigh. We'll see what happens today.... but I am not hopeful. Not even the thought of sucking at my next sprint tri is kicking me in the butt.

I don't think I speak of my personal life very often on this blog, as I like to be this always happy person that I know I can be. But for the last week I can't shake this unhapiness. I have now been looking for a job since January and finished my Ph.D. since April and haven't found anything. Niet. Nil. Nothing. The worse is that I have only been called on 1 interview and just receive a negative reply on Wednesday. It is starting to affect the way I see myself, and all the sacrifices I made to finish this damn Ph.D. and then realise I have nothing in front of me??? This is not fair. I just can't understand why this is so hard....

Plus my foot/ankle is totally wack!

SMART... ME? YEAH NOT SO MUCH....

So, I went to Quebec City conviced I would ran the 10K with Lisa but we finally went for the half-marathon.... decision made after having too many beers! Maybe not my smartest decision but time will tell... the good news: I survived. I ran with a good friend and thank god she was there or I would have given up as I was in a lot of pain starting at mile 10. Let's just say those easy 5Ks with my Dad are NOT the best training for a half... and I knew that. We just decided to be silly and do it for fun and fun we had as you can see in our 'costumes'....


We got lots of cheering because of what we were wearing and the fact that Quebec City is celebrating is 400th year. It was a great boost of energy. It was a PWed for both of us but it was HOT (ask Leana....) and we were there to have fun. =) Couldn't have asked for a better racing partner! So glad I did it and my foot is not so bad today.

I spent an afternoon with Leana and her Mom and it was very nice to meet her, she's a lot taller than I expected ;-) Sorry, you didn't have the race you were hoping for but the weather is so unpredictable... Monday would have been a GREAT day for a race!!!

MY DAD'S FIRST RACE!!!!

All of you know that since I moved back home, I started a 5K program for my Dad and Aunt. Early in the training my Aunt started to have leg problems and had to quit but my Dad was committed and he was/is doing SO WELL.

We run together about 2 times a week and he goes once by himself and can now do 5K consistently. He averages 42-43 mins and is improving his time almost everytime he goes out. =) I'm definitely very proud of him for keeping at it. So to celebrate his achievement we're going to run the Oasis 5K at the Montreal Marathon on Sunday September 14.

He's pretty excited and already decided we have to wear the same colours shirt to match. My Mom and Aunt are going to come and cheer him on too! And what he wanted the most what to get a medal!

I just wanted to tell everyone how proud I am of my DAD =)

P-S I'm off to Quebec city tomorrow, finally decided to be reasonable and run the 10K... Well, my foot hurts a lot these days so the decision was rather easy. I will be racing this with a good friend of mine coming down from Halifax and we will be wearing 'costumes'.... I'll post pics when I come back!

WHAT DOES YOUR MEDALS MEAN TO YOU?

A while ago She who makes Waves ask us about the meaning of medals. And I promised I would do a post about it so here it goes!

Since I moved out of my apartment and back in my parent's house my medals have had more glorious days....

They spend their time in a little box at the bottom of my closet without getting any exposure. While I was in Windsor they had a prime spot right in the living room. And anybody who visited my house could see all the nice medals along with a poster from a race that said: "I'll keep on running"...

I started my racing career on May 13th 2006 with the 5K Path to a better heart, finished in 33:53 and got hooked on racing!! I continued racing 5Ks and 10Ks throughout the summer and fall with races from the Running Factory (a local running shop there) and they never gave medals, which always disappointed me. I remember finishing my first half and not getting a medal bummed me out...

So when I finished my first marathon and they put the medal around my neck this was the culmination of a lot of efforts and it stays my favorite medal so far and the only one I got engraved with my name and time. My 2nd marathon finishers medal look really small compared to that!

Except my first half, Get to the Point, I have received medals for the 5 others and I cherish them all: the good races (Detroit, Miami, and Run for Retina) the hard but rewarding (Chilly PB!) and the bad (Trot to the beach) ones.

I have other medals from races I thoroughly enjoyed running, Around The Bay is the best road race EVER!! The Nissan 10 miler where I met Jelly, Kenny and Francis last year. And my 10K PB, still, at the Run for Canada 2007 race.

FOR MARCY!!!!

That totally reminded me of you and your pregnant pic!!! LOL


What an amazing performance by Tomescu-Dita in the women's marathon! And the sprint for the silver by Ndereba! WOW! Simply amazing =) Kudos to Radcliffe who had been hurting for a while for finishing. When she stopped to stretch and seem to want to cry, I knew exactly how she was feeling! Well except I've never run a 2h30 marathon lol