Thursday, July 31, 2008

What to do?

Sylvan Lake was a target race for this summer so now that it is behind me I still feel like I should do at least one more. My mission will be to try and find something in the month of August in either Alberta or BC. The Alberta Challenge is an option but I want to check out a few others before I commit.
This summer has been relatively quiet for us. No vacation to speak of as we are still running so short staffed at work. Last week we lost our other Human Resources person, a very talented young lady, and now there is just me as Manager and our recruiting person. We are still short on the accounting side as well so I am back to doing month ends which I haven't had to do for a lot of years! Perhaps in the fall Angela and I will get away to somewhere warm, Mexico is always nice in November.
We have also been busy with working around the house as we prepare it for sale. Living on an acreage is great, but it is a lot of work. Currently we are working on a potential house swap with people in the Town of Hinton. With any luck it will work out as it would be the ideal situation for us.
Before long it will be time to bring Francesca back to school for her 3rd year at the University of Alberta. It is almost impossible to believe that she is already that far along! This year will be an exciting year as she is moving into a house with 4 very good friends (at least now they are!). We are very proud of her as she really works her butt off at school and has done very well. Nicholas will also be heading off at the end of August for his second year of schooling for his Heavy Duty Mechanic Trade. I am still amazed that this is what he is doing because he got absolutely no mechanical aptitude from his father! His grandfather and uncles are highly mechanical so that must have rubbed off on him. Being a licensed trade person in the Province of Alberta right now is a hot ticket and Nicholas has also made us proud with his hard work and by achieving the highest marks in his first term last year. Again, I can't take credit for the smart trait both kids seem to have and that will have to be attributed to their mother.
Heading into work this morning there was already a tinge of crispness in the air and, at 5:15 AM, it is darker already then it was a week ago. It is inevitable that we are on the downhill side of summer in the Rockies. And that's okay, because I love the fall. It reminds me of high school and running cross country and playing soccer. My best running has always been in the fall so I have that to look forward to.
Recovery workouts commenced this week and so far it has went good.
Sunday - 10 mile Mountain Bike Ride
Monday - OFF
Tuesday - 40:00 / 12.4 mile ride on the trainer - legs felt like lead
Wednesday - 37:00 swim / 1,700 metres - worked on some drills. Evening was an easy 7 miler in 52:00 - legs felt great and I could easily have went longer

It feels strange when I log my workouts and there is no plan. It looks so bare!

On the music front, I had a blast last Sunday as Nicholas brought out his guitar and we had a great little jam session. The really neat thing is he likes the same music I do so we can really have some fun. He is an incredible guitar player and can play some wicked blues licks! I am a good rhythm guy, but I can handle myself when he challenges me.

Recently read books include, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. If you haven't read this book you need to. It will put things in perspective for sure! Randy just passed away July 25 after a 10 month battle with pancreatic cancer. This book is about how to live your life to the fullest.
I also read When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris. This is some light reading by a very funny guy. It is a series of essays about life in general and is hilarious.

Have a great day!

3 comments:

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

enjoy the much-deserved taper. It's been one heck of a season for you!

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www.homeforswap.com

Love2Run said...

You've had a good week of taking it easy. Nice to see your kids doing so well. I'm sure the parents have had a significant influence keeping them on the right path too ;-)