Conference Travel

This past weekend I went on my first trip since returning to Canada last summer. After six months in storage, I dusted off my trusty suitcase and felt totally out of practice with the whole packing routine! I haven’t spent six months in one place without traveling for at least eight years!! Wow. It wasn’t a major holiday or anything of the sort, just a quick weekend away in Montreal, only 2 hours by train. My sister and I headed off together to check out the sights and sounds of the CanFitPro fitness conference as volunteers at the registration desk.

I’ve never attended a conference as a delegate before. Come to think of it, I wasn’t a delegate at this one either, but it’s a little bit closer than my past experiences. There are many similarities to attending whether your working or not. In my past life all of my expenses would be paid for by the company and I felt it my duty to attend as many sessions and learn as much as I could, as well as take my trade show duties seriously. I always felt it was so exhausting. Early morning lectures (6:30 AM at some), several hours at the trade show, sitting in on various sessions throughout the day, then evening symposia. I never found the time or energy to head down to the hotel gym. I found I ate terribly – I eat very consciously and diligently choose the healthiest possible foods. I always felt that traveling for work made staying healthy very difficult.

Well, it seems that while it’s a little bit easier to make healthy choices when you attend a conference on your own accord, it’s not all that different than working one. This past weekend I had very, very early morning starts: 6:00 and 7:30 AM respectively. Only two 3-hour shifts at the registration desk, but then I felt that since I’d paid to get myself there and for accommodation I wanted to attend and learn as much as I could. Cramming sessions into each time slot. Trying to find healthy places to eat (there wasn’t a single thing open for breakfast at 6 AM on Saturday – luckily I brought some Larabars). Find time for the hotel gym – forget about it! I was just lucky it was a fitness conference so the sessions were mostly workshops where you were actually working out. If we hadn’t had such an early morning ahead of us for Sunday I’m sure we would have gone out Saturday night, but we were totally wasted from the long day and after dinner we found our way back to our room and crashed hard.

My saving graces for the weekend were the facts that I’ve traveled enough to know to bring my own snacks. I had unsweetened soy milk for my morning breakfasts (and found a place to buy cereal, but I think next time I should bring my own), healthy snack bars that aren’t loaded down with the types of sugars and fats that I prefer not to ingest, nuts, rice chips, and some fruit. I wished I brought more fruit, but I was able to pick some up.

So my big lesson from the weekend is that traveling makes healthy living a challenge no matter what the situation. I’ve gotten really good at knowing what to bring along with me and how to communicate special dietary needs with hotel staff and the like, but it never ceases to amaze me at how much easier it would be the other way. It is getting a bit better, but overall our society is not set up to facilitate a healthy lifestyle. It’s quite sad really. I suppose the more of us who make different choices, the more those choices will be available because we will change demand.

On a lighter, and more positive note I learned heaps at the conference and my obliques and hamstrings seem to have taken the brunt of the punishment from the weekend workouts. I had fun and hope to save up in order to go next time as a registered delegate so as to fully enjoy all the sessions and perhaps find a little more down time in between.

On the Bike Down Under

Traveling, exploring the world, and the experience it brings are quite obviously three big reasons for me being down here in NZ for an extended period of time. The ability to spend a bit more time on the bike, however, was a big determining factor for me taking time away from life in Canada. For the cyclists in my life who read here, you'll probably enjoy this post. For those who aren't, it's nap time.

I've met enough cyclists at this point to know that, while I am an avid cyclist, I'm not a crazy one (yes, believe it or not). I recently read one of my favourite blogs, written by a competitive cyclist, and she said that it takes both passion and crazy to be successful in cycling - and do I ever believe that! I can be quite passionate about this sport, but I love it for the camaraderie, the health and fitness, being outside, and seeing the world using two wheels and my own physical power. I'm not sure I will ever have the mind of a competitive cyclist, and I don't really care if I do or don't. However, I do get a lot of external pressure (mostly from the boys at the shop). And this, if I let it, sometimes negatively affects my perspective on cycling, because when I feel pressure to do more, ride more, ride harder, or whatever the flavour of the day is for them, the less I enjoy my rides.

Is cycling a major component of my life? You bet. Do I really love the sport? Definitely. Would I like to have more time for it? Yep - even today in NZ I could honestly use a little more time on the bike and less with other commitments (do I ever wish I were independently wealthy!!). Am I willing to forsake everything else to do it? No.

So then, what has cycling been like so far in NZ?

I sometimes get nervous being solo on the bike in the middle of nowhere in a country that is still fairly foreign to me. Yesterday I decided to ride a route that I have ridden in company before, but not alone. It was a great thing to do. It's a very nice route. And in the end, quite safe for one to take on their own. Sometimes I just need a little extra coaxing, or maybe a good push to dive into the deep end and test the water.


I took this route yesterday because it goes inland, away from the water, into some hills, and into what I'd hoped would be a more sheltered area. Wrong. The wind here is just simply mad. I can't express this to you enough. They really have aptly named this city. Yesterday it was up to 60 kph, and I was unable to escape it, roaring down the valley between the hills I had climbed up through to get down there. So I had to use some new skills that I've learned here to cope with it - pushing a bigger gear, feeling a bit more in control of the bike when the wind gusted up on me and knocked me around the road a bit. I actually had thought it would be nice to have a heavier bike in those conditions!! How telling! It was a real scorcher yesterday. As they would say here: it was hot as! So the one positive thought I could think was, 'thank goodness for that wind - who knows how much I'd be baking right now without it!'

The roads here are all 'sealed' roads. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but back home we are SPOILED!! Smooth asphalt roads are a luxury here. From what I've seen they lay down some sort of sticky tar-like stuff, flatten a lot of rocks/gravel on top of it, then lay down some more sealant kind of stuff to hold it all together. Sealed roads are not smooth. They are very rough and there is a lot of road vibration. It kind of takes the life out of you when you ride. We sell a lot of 'tyres' at the shop, as the roads wear them down quickly. I have to say, when I get home and I'm riding in pretty much zero wind, on smooth asphalt roads, and hills that are less than 10% grade I won't know what to do with myself!! Ha-ha! I hope I can keep up the hill-climbing fitness that I'm very thankfully getting by riding the hills here.

Speaking of hills... in Wello they are mostly short and steep. My longest climb on the routes I like to ride is about 5 km, and it's the least steep with a pitch averaging around 5% I'd say. The rest of the hills I tend to climb are short, but are most frequently >8% and quite often >10%. Now that I'm getting fitter on the hills I'm starting to wonder if I need to start climbing longer ones. Yesterday as I pondered some of the thoughts I expressed at the beginning of this post, I started to think about setting some goals. I believe that no matter what activity you like to do, it's good to have fitness goals. They keep you motivated to push yourself a bit more and get more out of your sport. Maybe I'm on to something here... should I start looking for a longer climb? Oh boy. Am I starting to sound like someone who actually enjoys climbing hills? That's verging on the side of crazy, now isn't it?

New Year, New Experiences

I've been lax on updating the blog the past couple of weeks so I do apologize. How bad of me - particularly when most of you are back at work and in need of a distraction from life in the cube farm. ;) I've been busy. Life is full. Things are good. So where to start?

Well, the Christmas holidays mark the start of summer down under and I'm feeling the vibe of the season a lot these days. Every time we have a nice day there are heaps of folks out at the beaches. I've been wearing singlets (kiwi word for tank-top) and jandals (kiwi word for flip-flops) a lot more. I even bought a pair of shorts over the holidays. I've been riding my bike a lot. I'm feeling really good on the bike these days. This was one of the goals associated with taking this time off and away from home. I had hoped that I could start to build some real strength and power on the bike on top of the base I have from the past 5 years of cycling. I think it's starting to come. The hills here are just killer. As Andrew experience when he visited, you really cannot imagine the hills (and the wind of Wello) until you are here. I don't think he truly believed what I'd told him about riding here. There are all varieties: short and steep, long with steep parts, long and gradual - you name it, you've got it. It's the best kind of cycling training I could hope for. And then you just throw in some good 40 kph headwinds every other day for good measure, and you find yourself thinking that relatively windless days and 6% grades are easy. Choosing this particular location to live has been fortuitous in many ways, but this one may be one of the more significant for me. I cannot wimp out and do a flat ride. It's just not possible. Even recovery rides include some form of climbing. So - I have become a little more confident in my abilities on the bike and hopefully this will continue to grow. One of the mechanics at the shop is an ex-Euro-pro and I finally got out and rode with him last week. Now he's keen to ride with me at least once, if not twice a week (as he says I need to do 2 really hard rides per week and he intends on pushing me hard). I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. Protege of an ex-pro? haha! Who knows.

Another great thing about Wello is that so many of my friends have been coming through to visit. I even just hosted a friend of a friend of a new friend. Haha! Yes. An American girl (and bike mechanic) on her way through to the south island on a solo bike trip - all of her gear on her bike. I picked her up at the airport on my bike and we rode into town around the bays together. She loved the intro to the city. At the same time I had another friend in town visiting (one of the first people I met when I arrived in NZ three months ago) and the three of us hung out the rest of the day and just had a blast. We even got video-taped sitting out at a cafe downtown for the city council's website advertisement for tourism here. Too funny. I'll let you know if we get our 30 seconds of fame or not. I have at least two more friends coming to town in the next few weeks. And I shouldn't forget to mention that I've been having a blast with my new kiwi friends and my flatmate. They've been introducing me to kiwiana every chance they get and they are simply very kind to me. We have decided to have a kiwiana-themed party at our flat later this month. Should be fun!

I'm happy to report that so much of what I have wanted from this experience is coming together. I'm taking a break from life as I knew it and finding the time to breathe. I'm learning more about the bike - in every sense (I even know the difference between a hard-tail and a full suspension MTB - haha!! Who woulda thunk it?). I'm immersed in a different culture than my own and having a ton of fun with it. I'm connecting with others and making heaps of new friends from many different countries. I'm carving out new opportunities for the future. And I continue to learn about myself and grow. What else can one hope to achieve?

Swimming in the details

As you might imagine there are a lot of things to do when you decide to uproot your life, particularly when you've already kind of established one where you are right now. So I've been a bit overwhelmed by the idea of packing. Ugh. And I've been trying my best to purge myself of stuff I've accumulated over the years. Tonight I got some help sorting through what is in my basement. I'm so fortunate to have some great people in my life who offer up a helping hand when I really do need it! And I'm also fortunate to have learned to accept that help when it's offered.

I also have a few more vacation days to take and I plan to spend three of them this week packing and riding my bike. If there is time I'll try to set it aside and enjoy the days I have left here - and do things like sitting in the backyard in my hammock. This place, while not perfect, has been a really great place for me to grow up over the past four years. And I literally have grown up a lot over the time I've spent here. So while it's time to move on, it's always sad to go when you leave such a special place behind.

Riding the bike has definitely been a priority this summer (not so unusual, really), however upon looking at my Garmin data yesterday I confirmed a thought I'd had: I've barely done any really long rides. Typically over the past few years I've taken to doing weekly group rides on the weekend that are always 100 km, give or take. Aside from doing the epic 167 km ride in June, I've only done a couple of 100 km rides and a handful of rides over 80 km. This is quite unusual for me. That said, I've been riding approximately 5 days per week, but all shorter rides. The past couple of weeks though, my energy has been waning and with the weather being what it is, so has my motivation. I've also started coughing a bit lately and that concerns me. The asthma has been creeping back and yesterday I realized that I've been pretty much eating whatever I want over the past couple of months and that includes the things that, while my mouth enjoys, my lungs do not. That would include bread and dairy. So, as of today I'm back to a very strict diet of no wine, no beer (although I hadn't been consuming those anyway), no dairy, no bread (i.e. yeast). It was three years ago that I discovered that this was the cause of my asthma and it only took 2 weeks at that time to stop wheezing and coughing after cutting the culprits out. I hope I have the same success this time. I guess when I ate those things and felt ok I forgot that it's ok to 'cheat' once in a while, but regular consumption ends in bad results. I think this may also be the cause of my recent lack of energy, and sore muscles. It's too bad, really. Bread and dairy are damn good! OK, the tired chick has to hit the hay. Two day work week coming up for me!!! Woo-hoo!

Conference Stuff

Conferences are funny, in that there can be lots of neat things going on in the exhibit hall. I'm not a big fan of the exhibit hall, actually. In March when I was in Chicago I mostly avoided it, but sometimes I get drawn in. Last fall at the CCS congress at one booth they had hired some guys who were trying to sell a medical device that measured your arterial resistance and with that information they were estimating your "arterial age" - i.e. how stiff are your arteries, further i.e. how healthy are you? I was 26 years old. :) I'm not chronologically 26, so of course I was happy. I told the guy I'd see him next year, when I'd be 25. Ha-ha!! Today I decided, after attending a lecture given by the president of the ADA, to go to one of the many booths that were measuring HbA1c. Unless you are diabetic, or suspected to be at risk for it, this is not a routine test, so I've never had it done before. Also, I should say that at the booth they are obviously not drawing blood and doing a typical test - this was a prick of my finger and a 5 minute analysis in a machine so it won't be quite as accurate, but it's fun nonetheless. Mine was 5.0% - bang on healthy-normal (just to give you an idea - the physicians I know have a hard time getting their diabetic patients' A1c down to 7%). I love the analytical tests at these things. I'm such a Science nerd sometimes.

Anyway... I've had a chance to see a bit more of SF. The weather here so far has been fantastic, although I think we're riding on that heat wave most of the rest of the continent is enjoying (or not?). I miss my bike though. I'm looking forward to later in the week when the congress is over and I can go out on a rental. :) More later...

Friends who inspire

Well, as you can see I have gotten back in the saddle. I realize that I need to take it slowly though - I'm still recovering. Guess it will take a while. Seems when you crack your helmet you've kind of hit your head pretty damn hard and well - I think I didn't really realize most of last week just how injured I was. I'm good now though. :)

The main reason for the post though, is to celebrate my friend Sandra's first marathon! It was National Capital Race weekend and I went out to cheer her on. They started this new cool thing for the first time where if the registrant gave them cell phone numbers, the system would send an automated text message to those numbers when your chip is read at certain markers: 10K, 20K, 30K, and the finish. So I received my first text at 8 AM-ish when she reached the 10K mark and it told me her start time, her time at the 10K mark, her pace, and the split. That was so totally cool. I live off the route so I got to go out twice: around the 25K mark, and then at the 40.5-41K mark. She looked great at the end and even said my name as I yelled at her. It was fun and I got some good shots of her. I'll just post one where there are many other people in it though. :) Way to go Sandra!!!! I know I could never run 1K, let alone 42! I personally think that riding 100 km is easier than running a marathon, so my hat is off to her!

Wired

Today my calf muscles are quite sore. Sore enough, in fact, that I decided it would be better not to ski. So I did an hour recovery ride on the trainer - even though it was sunny outside. Kinda sucked not being able to exercise outdoors when it was sunny today, but I did go walking around in the market area with my sister later, and that made up for it. The reason why I'm sore is that I've done quite the training the past few days... interval ride Tuesday, skate skiing Wednesday, strength with Jess on Thursday (where I could feel all of the leg work from skiing kicking in as she kicked my butt with a hard leg workout), and a 90 minute trainer ride on Friday. Then the kicker - Saturday morning I got up and did this class at the gym called skip circuit. I was really excited to do it because it's a circuit training class where you do 1.5 mins of skipping, then head to a station for 1.5 mins to do things like: squats, push-ups, crunches, tricep dips, etc. Then back to 1.5 mins of skipping, over and over for an hour. I used to do this workout every week about 2 years ago when I was still just on the cusp of getting seriously into cycling. I wasn't training on the bike the way I do today, and I used to vary my workouts a lot more. While my body wasn't maybe as fit as it is today, it was used to doing a wider range of activities. This time, 2 years later, with a body that is quite well-adapted to its sport of choice, that skip circuit class kicked my butt, and kicked it hard! I LOVED IT! Yes, slightly masochistic I guess - but I'm learning that taking pleasure in such pain is part of sport. This is something that I need to learn when I'm actually on the road in the summer if I want to be faster and stronger. And it's particularly true when climbing hills because that's usually when you really feel pain. I guess that's why the vast majority of road races are won in the mountains - not only do you have to push through the pain physically, but I think mentally pushing through it is the hardest part. I have a long way to go when it comes to developing my 'mental fitness' on the bike, so that I don't give in when I feel that way. I went to see an Imax movie last night called Wired to Win, which addressed just that topic. The crew followed a team during a recent Tour de France and they showed how your brain learns new skills, overcomes pain, and how (or rather where) to find the motivation to keep going. This was doubly cool for me as I love cycling so much, and I just recently finished studying the brain and the nervous system for an exam so it was all fresh in my mind.

Mmmm Pasta

Whenever I think of pasta - just think of it - I think of MizB. When the girls go out for dinner we most frequently go for pasta because it's her fave. I've been craving it for the last 3 days. On my way home from training with Jess tonight I decided to stop at the grocery store near my house and pick up the fixins. When I picked up a jar of organic 'garlic and herbs' pasta sauce and read the nutritional facts (something that's second nature to me at this point) I was completely horrified at the amount of salt in a serving: 530 mg!!!! WTF?? I checked some of the other 'varieties' (plainer ones) - same thing. I checked the non-organic ones... again, same, same. Hmm. I just got back from working out. The last thing I want to do is bloat up with salt. And I've been trying to watch how much salt is in my food these days, because it just seems to sneak right in there. Pasta also isn't the ideal post-workout meal anyway, so I couldn't compromise on making it as healthy as possible. So I went over to the canned veggie aisle and checked the nutritional facts on the cans of tomatoes. They have this 'blue menu' line and I found diced tomatoes with only 5 mg of salt in a large can. Score. OK. So, this means I'm making my own pasta sauce. I don't think I've ever done that before. Not that I can't, I'm just lazy. I make all kinds of things from scratch without looking at a recipe, and with throwing things together just because. This will work. But with lower salt I need more herbs and onions and garlic and stuff. So I picked up all of that, including fresh basil (unfortunately not organic, but I think the fresh stuff was important for this venture). So I made it, and ate far later than I should as a result. It was fantastic! And now I have tons of it to freeze too. Score. And a total of 10 mg of salt. Double score. So of course, I ate two helpings. Doh!

Skin Care & Water Bottles

A while ago I added the Labour Environmental Alliance to my list of sites on the right there. I read a copy of their Cancer Smart Guide a couple of years ago and subsequently bought several copies and gave them out to my family. Actually, I put them in their stockings. I think they thought I was on crack that Christmas. All joking aside, it's very useful and I've changed a lot of my consumer habits when it comes to beauty/skincare products and household cleaning products as a result. I thought I'd share something I just saw on the news regarding baby care products tonight. I'm a moisturizing addict, so I am really careful about what I put on my body now that I'm better informed. I read all the labels and I generally buy most of my products at the health food store now. Some of the brands I use I've listed there under my health section too. There are some great small businesses from around our local/rural area and in Canada that you can support and be smarter about beautifying yourself at the same time.

And then another topic that came up with a friend of mine recently regarding the plastic water bottles. It says a lot when a large Canadian company pulls them off the shelf.

Tuna Casserole

So my weekend had a theme of an "attempt at self care". I think I did not too badly. After a very hectic week and low spirits I tried my best to do things that would just make me happy. I had an amazing dinner with some friends on Friday night at a restaurant I would highly recommend. I skied - a lot. Since I wasn't doing so well at learning skate up in the park Saturday morning (1/2 an hour spent battling hills when I should have been working on my gliding technique), I went home, had a nice lunch (pictured above) and rested. Then I headed over to the TF complex once I figured the xc lessons would have wrapped up, and I practiced loops and loops of gliding without my poles. Before I left though, I had phoned up one of my friends and when she joined me later I switched over to my classic gear and did a loop of that park with her. Enough exercise for me? ;) I should hope so. After that I had dinner with she and her hubby where they had a special dessert for me (in celebration of the upcoming date of my birth). Today I slept in and then bummed around most of the morning. I finally got my butt out the door - brrrrr, it's a cold one today! And headed to the gym to do my strength training. Once home I cleaned a bit, studied for my exam, road the bike for 40 mins and then dinner, laundry and now this. Not bad. Today might not have been as relaxing as it could have been for a self care initiative, however, the total lack of doing anything until 1 PM likely made up for it!

As for the picture I posted... my new little treating myself thing - which I just started this weekend with that meal. My sister made me that little tray for Christmas - cute eh?! Talented little sister I've got. And it's my favourite colours and all. Makes me happy. So now I'm going to take all my meals to the living room on that tray - like a weird old lady. lol.

Carbon Offsetting

OK. Since my little fevered (quite literally) rant last Friday I have learned about a few resources for offsetting the carbon footprint we leave on the earth when flying. And now I'm sharing them. Thanks to those who shared with me.

Offsetters (can be used with various airlines from what I gather)
Aeroplan (just learned about this today via their newsletter)
Carbon Reduction Fund

A Heady Post to End the Week

In keeping with my latest theme (see yesterday's post) I have to say that I've been feeling very disappointed... No. Wait. Maybe that's not the right choice of words to describe it, although it's not totally off...

I have to say that I've been feeling - for the first time - a little ashamed of my country. Wow. That's definitely a first. But no. No. That's not totally accurate either. I'm not ashamed of my country - of the people who comprise it. No. I love this country - a lot.

I have to say that I'm ashamed of the government that is representing this country right now. Yep. That's pretty much it.

It's an extremely rare occurrence for me to get 'political' about anything. I'm not stupid. I know politics are a part of life - of almost every aspect of it. Work, school, even within groups of friends there are politics. But I try to avoid getting into it. Politics are very frustrating. Maybe because there's just no one way to please everyone. However, after a week of listening and reading and watching news about how our country - or rather the political leaders of our country - are still refusing to take any leadership on changing the way we live, produce, and consume (see the video in my last post... likely that didn't help my attitude on the topic this week - although maybe that's not a bad thing), I'm feeling really disappointed and ashamed. I know I can do more - personally - and I'm endeavouring to do so. But this thing is bigger than me. And while I also realize that the sum of our individual efforts is much more powerful than any one of us taking something on alone (not unlike voting... i.e. I won't NOT participate because I feel like I'm too small to make a difference), there still must be leadership.

As I sat down to write this, wondering if I'd even bother publishing it to the blog since it's just a bit of a barf-up of my thoughts into a little rant to end my exhaustive week, I realized that I have learned several lessons this week about leadership. I've been learning more and more about being a good leader over the past few years, actually. Anyway... the company I work for decided recently to make a tough decision and lead on an ethical issue. When this change was announced to us this week lots of people were upset because the decision might put us at a competitive disadvantage. Now, I'm not saying the people I work for make all the right decisions - they certainly don't, and I haven't always agreed with decisions that are made. But this decision has come at an interesting time for me personally as I think even more about leadership and making tough choices. Are all decisions these days based on 'preserving the economy' and selling and consuming and, and, and... me, me, me... ? Yeah. Exactly. Taking the high road is rarely the easy, smooth, comfy ride we might prefer, but it's usually a short-term commitment to endure hardship for an important long-term goal that gets easier later on - you know... no pain no gain. Any big change I've made in my life was hard at the beginning, and then it got easier as it became more routine - like changing dietary habits. If I didn't spend some time doing intervals on the bike (where you do hard, intense minutes over and over) I wouldn't get stronger or faster... short term pain, long term gain. Anyway... I'm sure you get this point. I know you're not stupid either.

The point I wanted to make, or come back to is this... leaders don't wait for their neighbours to make changes. Leaders do what they know to be a good, fair, perhaps difficult, but right decision and don't worry about what other people think. And they do it with confidence even when they are afraid that it might prove to make things more difficult for a time, while they figure out how to do things differently. Leaders don't bury their heads in the sand and hope that things will miraculously change - they take action. Leaders find solutions. Leaders make change happen. And when leaders do this, others follow.