Proud to Call Her "Friend"

I am certainly one of those people that is blessed with friends and family that motivate and inspire me. The good peeps in my life are always amazing me with their feats and accomplishments. I could go into a litany of examples but for the sake of brevity let me just make a

BIG SHOUT OUT TO ANN MARIE FOR WINNING THE CALGARY MARATHON!!!!!!!!

Yep. My homegirl, AMG, despite having a completely torn ACL since December, and despite the fact that she's only run 2 previous marathons EVER bagged first place with a time of 3:08.

So way to go girl. Everyone is so proud of you! I've been bragging to random people I come across...you know...the guy at the gas station, the girl bagging my groceries, etc.

Check out the hilarious and awesome posting on their blog about her victory.

Congrats girl. Way to set the bar so high that most of us can't even see it now!!!

(Just promise you'll remember the little people...heck I have proof that "I knew you when"--note the photo with iceberg in the background on right corner of this page :)

Is This the 6th or 7th Circle??

I'm melting...mmeeellllllttiinnggg!

It's my blog so I am going to say it. I hate summer. Really. I find nothing more irritating than being hot. Everyone who says "oh I love these nice sunny days" is saying that because all they do on those days is sit on their deck drinking beer, or sit in their air-conditioned office after driving to work in their air conditioned cars. They are not banished to various corners of their houses studying for an exam, with a fan on full-blast right in their faces. They are not trying to lose the paunch that came (free of charge) with their 6 week o-chem class.

Running has essentially become sun stroke roulette and unless I get up at 0500h or go at 2200h I am banking on nearly passing out. This displeases me. Running=good. Hot sun=bad.

I had to go to the hospital yesterday to get a TB skin test so I figured I'd run up there, thus multitasking my exercise and errand for the day. After nearly sliding off the vinyl chairs in the waiting room I sweat myself all over the magazines and then all over AM while she administered the injection. On the way home the temp was around 32°C (90°F).

I thought I was going...to...die. At the bottom of the hill near the river I was hoping for some cool breezes off the water but nope! It felt more like a sticky flower scented dish rag landed on me as I neared the banks.

Even after my shower I was sweating while trying to get dressed. GAK!

In the evening Syl and I had planned to go for a road ride (I've only ever ridden on my beefy XC bike) but due to a chain of events she had to bail. I was pretty amped to go still so I borrowed her bike and off I went.

OMG!!!!!

Am I the last person on the planet to discover that ROAD RIDING RULES??? I swear, I can't believe I have been on this earth for 28 years and have never discovered the amazing sport that is road riding. You get to go fast, it's a kick ass workout, the bugs can't bother you, and it is less likely that I'll endo/box myself every couple of kilometers or so. Yes, working ER at the bottom of a mountain which was home to a downhill bike park HAS made me even more of a poonce than I care to admit. So yes, downhill mountain biking is a great challenge and I do love it, but visions of embedded gravel, compound fractures, broken necks, and avulsions always dance in my head when I am on ye olde single track.

But last night, it was just me, the river, the sunset, the music, the mountains. Bliss. No visions of anything sinister dancing in my head.

It was stunning. I was in heaven. Not Dante's Inferno. The evening air off the water was like a swirling breeze from late fall, crisp and fresh.

At the 10 mile mark the road turned to gravel so I decided to also turn around. But it was so spectacular, I can't wait to get back in the saddle! And now I finally have a way to cross train!!!

YIPPEEEE!!!

As Joel Plaskett so aptly sings
there's a reason that I love this town.

Oh okay....maybe summer ain't so bad after all...

AMG Kills It!

Yesterday the Gills came to town for the 1/2 marathon race which was today. We had a great Teddy Bear Picnic here at the study pad, and as you can see Tobin was carb loading with us...

Then hiding in the bathroom...

Then going through the self loathing period after eating all those carbs, and obsessing about his weight...they start so young these days...

It was a beautifully perfect race day, the sun shining and no wind to speak of. A bit chilly first thing but it made for ideal temperature for a long run.

Here's AM in her ninja running suit rippin' up the pavement!

And here is yours truly being a jackass.

So the results are in and Mrs. Gill got second place!!! She rocked it and beat the winning time from last year even. John thinks that whoever came first must be a "tranny". Jury is still out on that one. You can see the relief on my face for having crossed the finish line. I was very pleased with my finish, though now the speed work has to start for the next one...ughhh. A year ago I would have never thought I'd ever run a race, or even be able to finish a 1/2 marathon. I rocked my physics midterm too (90%!) which is another accomplishment that would have seemed impossible to me a year ago. Those two things happening in one week have shown me that life is indeed full of strange and wonderful surprises.

Tobin giving me the thumbs up!

The Race is On

As a thought provoking soap opera proclaims daily, "as sands in the hourglass, these are the days of our lives"... and it's true. Though I don't have an evil twin who is recently back from the dead to marry my ex-husband (who turned out to be my fathers illegitimate brother from another mother) and really nothing else in my life rings true to the mind-numbing antics on afternoon television...as the end of the semester nears I feel like time speeds up to a frenetic pace, like those last few grains in the hourglass.

Maybe that is not the best analogy, its more like the weeks are a subway train going by in front of my eyes and once the train has passed I can't remember details or events, just a blur and noise. And I think, "my God, has another week just passed?"

There are 15 days of classes left for this semester, and if one were to ask, "but who's counting?" one would hear a resounding "I AM!!!!" from this corner of the room. My time is K-town is coming to a close. In fact, with much glee I brought home to the 'Stoke my first round of belongings last weekend.

Well, I won't get nostalgic yet around another life and residence change, but that post is a-commin' I am sure.

For now I am focusing on my new happy place. Running. Last weekend AMG and I ran 21kms together. She's training for the Boston marathon, I (was) training for nothing but was curious to see if I could do it. And heck! I did! Well, AMG had to slow her pace, but it was a great feeling to have that sense of accomplishment. I did something that two months ago I couldn't have done.

So today I registered for the Campus to Campus Half Marathon.

I think the endorphins continued to circulate for a few days, clouding my judgement because the race is in 12 days and I haven't been specifically training..but I guess one has to start somewhere.

It is starting to feel real. This leg of my journey is almost complete. One physics lab, two chem labs, and three finals left here before I am Alberta bound for the spring.

Last year at this time I was in Cambridge Bay packing heat (literally, I brought my hair dryer with me to work each day to de-ice my lock at home in the -50 degree weather). Now here I am training for a 1/2 marathon and worrying about my chem midterm. Amazing how life can change in wild and unimaginable ways. I certainly didn't think I would ever be here.

So the race is on, in every sense of the word. As winter '08 draws to a close, the hammer comes down on all my classes, and I amp up for the race I hear a faint drum roll in the distance...just gotta be able to sprint across this finish line...

Me and My Tibias--Stressed Together

Even I was getting tired of seeing my boring posts for the last week. The reality is though, things are pretty boring here on the home front. Last night I did get out to play music with the lads, which was good but I have to say my mojo seems to be in low these days. Another break in the boredom was John's brief visit on his way home from Vangroovy. We had a most excellent meal at Waterfront Wines--pork roast and organic veggies and the sable fish with celery root and scalloped potatoes. Yum...

The last two weeks have been frustrating for me as I was just amping up my running routine when I got totally crippled by a set of shin splints, or as they are now called, "medial tibial stress syndrome". It really really really brought me down. I saw a sport med doc and a physiotherapist so now I am in the cue for some orthotics and have had to take the last 10 days off from running. The MD gave me some anti-inflammatory cream (vioxx but in cream form) for my legs and it seems to help.

I realized how little I have been listening to my body lately. I felt those pains coming on a few weeks ago so my answer was to take 800mg of advil about 20mins before each run. BAD IDEA. I know. Its just soooo tempting. But I see that it really is not a healthy way of having feedback with your body when you're doing strenuous exercise, and I think I paid the price. I was able to run twice this week and it was okay, so I think I am getting back on the wagon---but I won't make my distance goal this month. Sigh.

I guess it is a good lesson though, pain is an important self preservation mechanism. People who have congenital insensitivity disorder with anhidrosis (CIDA) have a shorter life expectancy than those who don't. Their joints wear out because they can't feel when they are stressing them, they eat food that burns them, they'll break bones and never know. Take home message, pain is telling you something, listen to it.

So how does that relate to the PAIN I am in right now with regard to my physics midterm on Monday? The mental anquish must be telling me something--that I should stop doing physics, forget about med school and start working full time at Tim Hortons making breakfast bagels how they are meant to be made.

Okay maybe you shouldn't modify your behaviour with regard to all sources of pain...

Spring is Springing

The last few days have certainly felt like spring. I have been having deja vu from last fall when I'd wake up in the sweltering heat due to the fact that my completely windowed south facing wall gets barraged by the sun from the second it pops over the horizon.

The noticeably longer days and mild temps here in K-town have given me a bit of hope...soon winter, ergo winter semester, will be over. I've been running a fair bit to keep the insomnia and SAD syndrome at bay. Running has been my treat/healthy procrastination activity. I can't believe I just put the words "running" and "treat" in the same sentence---usually the pair would have been more in the context of "I am running to buy a treat". But really, lost toe nails, tight IT bands, gouges in neighboring toes from adjacent nails, shin splints, medial tibial stress, be DAMNED! At least I can sleep at night and I am lessening the number of "underground parking lot" moments as I like to call them. I ran about 100kms last month and my goal is 120kms this month. We'll see.

I recently discovered a fun blog called The Long Road to Medical School which to most people would be a major bore I am sure. But I had to laugh when I saw the name. It certainly would be a more appropriate name for my blog than "ohtanninbound". When I made this blog last January I was really getting into wine (I mean in an educational sort of way not in a high functioning alcoholic sort of way). And at the time I envisioned this blog as a way for me to keep a journal of things I was learning about wine and tastings, food I'd discovered or made, maybe throw the odd cheese or beer tasting in there. Yeah, not so much. I think the only mentions of alcohol so far on the blog have been "I got drunk last night" or "I am not drinking on this cleanse".

The 'Long Road' blog has been good for me though, because obviously I can relate to that statement. And I enjoy her humor and insight. Plus it gives me a little extra reminder of what I am doing all this for...I'll feel like quitting physics so I'll go to her page and read about how she got to assist in the OR that day, or about how she knew her stuff on rounds, or whatever and it makes me go, yeah, I want to be here. I want to do this.

It was tough yesterday though I will admit. It was a gorgeous 7 degrees and I couldn't help but think that I enjoyed last Saturdays views

only slightly more than this Saturday's views...

Sigh. Hoop #238985 here I come.
Back at it, from the well sweat/teared on desk of A. Blackbear.

In Defence of All the Things I've Been Slammin'

Such a Catholic am I. I have been feeling guilty about slamming school and living in K-town. So I will say there are a few great things about being here...just give me a sec...umm...

1) I have great profs. Really, they are great. In an alternate reality I would want to have a beer with most of them as they are smart, interesting, good folks.
2) I have a sweet pad here. It's quiet, it has a great view and it's close to the school. It has air con, and I get to control the heat all the time. True, I will have to do LOTS of nights on call to pay for all this when it is all said and done but anything beats living in a dark and dingy flop house with towels that smell funny and rotten macaroni behind the stove. Been there, done that.
3) The city affords some luxuries such as a nice selection of wines, cheeses, restaurants, art galleries...and good coffee, even on Sundays.
4) I can play music here at least once a week when the crazy schedule allows it.
5) I am learning the art of coping with stress and loneliness. Two things that will likely be a theme in my life for the next few years.
6) I can already run in shorts, and went for my first XC bike ride 2 days ago in the mud and snow!

Six is good for now.