T.Dot.

From the 416 to the 905 (with a little 519 thrown in there)

Onterrible isn't that terrible. It has been very humid, but not bad. Running has been alright. I keep forgetting that heat takes a bit out of you.

Being back with the sister in Toronto has been awesome. Time in London was great as well, finding out some of my oldest friends have been infected by an alien and spent some wonderful time with the Weaver clan.

I had the chance to see Kate and Stefan Timms - Kate is wonderfully pregnant and looking beautiful. I also picked up some more 7Systems, so I am ready to take on the world.

Now that I am back in Canada, the move to Vancouver is becoming more real. August 28th is the day we take our stuff from Victoria and truck it on a ferry over to the mainland. I have a lot to do in terms of the move, so while it will be fun to play house, I am a little overwhelmed with it all.

Oh, if any Victorians are going to the Fringe Festival, you really need to check out The Fugitives. They really are amazing! Reaaallllyyy! These are their times - check the program for the venue...

Home

Vancouver BC Performance Poetry/Music • 45 mins • $9 / $8 Ages 12+

Sat, Aug 25 • 6:00 PM Sun, Aug 26 • 7:15 PM Mon, Aug 27 • 7:45 PM Wed, Aug 29 • 10:15 PM Thu, Aug 30 • 5:00 PM Sun, Sept 2 • 3:30 PM

Back at my first home

Ontario isn't that bad. At least it wasn't last night, but we will see what the weekend has in store.

We arrived back in Toronto without too much hassle, but we still haven't seen our bags since Madrid three days ago. As I am heading up to an annual cottage weekend with university friends, the bags are (hopefully) being delivered to Sonja's house in London.

If you are in Victoria and haven't heard about the superfast 10k at Oak Bay on September 1st, you should go. The fast boys (read: Jim Finlayson et al.) are looking to go sub-30 minutes for 10k, and it will be fun to watch. 7pm. Free. What could be better? Go to 215north.com for more details.

Other than that I am feeling good and excited to be home and start some real running. Picked up a new pair of Glycerins from my old running store in Hamilton, Runner's Den (www.runnersden.com) and I will put them to immediate use today at the cottage. Nothing like going for a run in the sweltering heat of southern ontario only to plunge into a brisk lake. It is good to be home.

If you haven't been following the ENDURrun, you should check out the site today as it is nearing the end. Only three stages left! www.endurrun.com

Travel Days

Finished up Madrid with a quick 45 minutes around town. I found a very cool urban athletic park, replete with driving range, rubberized 1200m perimeter track and tennis facilities.

It is now onto a plane tonight back to London and then home to Ontario on Thursday morning. The trip has been great - the stark beauty of Iceland to the food of Italy and the history or Paris and the warmth of Spain. I am looking forward to being home and starting a brief prep for the Royal Victoria Marathon, but some good family and friend time in Ontario before all that happens.

If you still haven't been to 215north.com you really should check it out. It is a great website done by some friends as a documentation of two Canadian marathoners and their pursuit of Beijing as they try to beat the overly difficult time standard imposed by Athletics Canada.

Madrid and Fall Races

I've been running twice here so far and I have to say that Madrid is a city I could live in. The people are kind, there are tons of parks (more manicured than BC, but open spaces in the city nonetheless), great climate, and tons of culture. It might help that my past two runs have felt amazing and they were both here.

Since my almost two hour jaunt in Barcelona on Saturday, I have had great runs. Yesterday i explored Madrid on a sleepy Sunday evening, and this morning I went the other direction and hit Madrid on a very wakeful Monday morning. Both rus felt great. Smooth, quick, good turnover. It has me excited about racing again.

As I am moving to Vancouver, my staple races are going to have to change. I can't just nip up the peninsula for the Land's End Half Marathon anymore. What used to be 20 minutes away is now a 40 minute drive plus ferry. I think I have settled on two races to shock my system back into shape. There is a cool looking 14k run on Sunday September 9th (www.cohorun.ca). It is a point to point run from Kitsilano to West Van, going through Stanley Park and over two bridges, hugging the ocean the whole way. I am looking at that race for turnover and running quickly. I am not tied to a time or result, but just want to run quickly with other people around.

The second race is six days later, Saturday September 15th and it is a trail half marathon. In a way, this is a blessing. I wasn't able to race at the Gutbuster Half Marathon this summer, so here is a replacement. It is a 5 Peaks event at Buntzen Lake and it looks to be good. I was going to do an uptempo 2 hour run on the Sunday anyway, so this gets me running with purpose (and exploring new trail areas which will be useful for the winter training). Neither of these are going to race specific preps for the Royal Victoria Marathon, but they will get my head back into race mode and be a lot of fun in my new city. Thoughts on the choices?

We have one more night (and day) in Madrid before heading back to London for one night (and day) and then flying home. From there I am whisked away to the annual Boys' Cottage Weekend. I will continue to get my runs in and updating pictures as I can. There are new pictures up at the website on the top left of the page and I have added new captions as well.

Barcelona and some shameless plugs

Firstly, everyone should go to 215north.com and 7systems.ca Two very incredible endeavours being launched by my good friends. Trust me, both are worth it.

Running more consistently now. Heel is still hurting a little, but I am managing it fine. It is much shorter to Oct 7th than it seems right now.

I went for a jog around Barcelona today. I ran up a hill. It is a huge park with roads and gondolas heading up its slopes.

It is an incredible view from up there. But what do you think lies beneath this view.

YES! One of the most beautiful pools I have ever seen. It is their "Municipal" Pool.

Continuing my run around the park, I happened across this....

Yes, the Olympic Flame (which was not burning). For those that saw the lighting of the flame in 92, it is even more impressive to see how that guy hit that from so far away (he shot an arrow).

And the chance to see the olympic stadium was very inspiring.

But there is not only the one Municipal Pool in this park, but they also have the OLYMPIC POOL. Man, for all the trials of hosting the Olympics, they do leave behind some amazing facilities.

I am now stoked to keep running. Just being around the place where so many incredible people ran is amazing!

I'm from Barcelona...

Off to the hometown of the venerable housekeeper Manuel (of Fawlty Towers fame).

We will lose internet again, so updates may be minimal, but if you haven't read the full Iceland report, that should take about a week.

As well, the ENDURrun begins in a week, so you check it out at www.endurrun.com It is an amazing race and it should be fun to watch Bob Jackman (and Mike Strano?) battle it out.

Well...it's done.

No. Not my running career.

I couldn't believe it, but with only 30 pages left, I couldn't go on. I fell asleep last night just when Harry.....

But I woke up this morning and finished it. All 607 pages of "children's" fiction are now read. Finally. It is good. And satisfying. But I will say no more.

Today, running started to feel good again. I am little concerned about my right heel, but it seems to be doing alright (read: not getting worse). About 50 minutes booting around Paris trying to get a little lost. I ran by the main train station and then down to the River Seine. Ran along the riverside walk for a while before finding my way into a long tunnel leading to the street. It was about 2km long and the darkness and solitary nature contrasted the bright and bustling streets I had just be cruising along. I was listening to a podcast about marathoning and I definitely had a moment of quiet reflection; my footfalls pacing the story of a person's struggle through a marathon. I felt like a runner again.

If you are interested in more pictures from the trip, you can follow this link.

Running in Paris

The Full Iceland Update is now done and is the post below this one. Thanks for your patience....back to Paris...

So I went for a run the other day here in Paris....

I started down my street,



past the Paris Opera House (read: where the Phantom lives).



I continued down until I saw some red tape blocking cars from proceeding.


And then...




I waited for almost two hours....



for this ....












Ok, not my picture, but I was standing on a street post (one to stop cars from driving on the sidewalk) out of the top left of this picture. That's right. I watched the end of the Tour. I missed the start of the Tour in London by about 3 hours, so I made it to the end. Pretty cool run (with almost two hours of standing in one spot so I wouldn't lose my post).

This was my view from the post (the next day as my camera died on the way to the Tour) - imagine about 30 000 more people and a bunch of cyclists.

My other Paris runs so far have taken me here...

The view from behind Notre Dame. It is no St. Paul's Cathedral, but...

and here...

The Arc de Triomphe (it is REALLY big)

and to watch this...






I think Matty Rose is in town as well.


But I don't know if I will be able to go and see him. If not - go fast!

Lastly, Paris has a turned the side of the Seine into a beach - they call it Paris Plage. It is pretty incredible, and rather busy...

(not for those who get motion sickness)





Paris has been great so far. Some tours and a ferris wheel ride last night at a Carnival just outside the Louvre.


We actually went INSIDE the Louvre today. Pretty incredible stuff, but if I see one more painting of the Lord Jesus Christ I might cry. I mean, he is important and all, but EVERYONE wanted to paint him.

Tomorrow, some more museums and maybe a run. I was thinking of purchasing some new shoes, but my Glycerin 5's are about $200 CDN. A little steep, so I will just be aware of the pain in my heel (I am wavering between plantar fasciitis or a slight bone bruise from continually having to jump down from my post while waiting for the tour - regardless, no more flip flops for me).