Day 3

Feb 17^th

It was an early night last night, in which I went to bed about 7pm Australian time which is well past my usual bedtime in Canada. I was pretty tired at this point and I happily awoke at 3am and watched some tv. I awoke feeling nice and refreshed but there is not really that much at all on tv this early in the morning on a Saturday morning. The only I thing I found was some black and white movies on the tv channel GEM Albury.

I got a little bored in the morning, so by 7 am I was already itching at the bit to do something constructive today, which meant by 9am, I had gotten myself a rental car, a Ford Falcon, to drive around in for the week. Having the car also allowed me to get a bike ready for riding. The day turned out clear and sunny allowing me to get some sun tanning done but I may however got too much sun and am feeling a little burnt. Hopefully the burn passes quickly and becomes a base tan for the rest of my time here.
Bridget and I were able to video chat in the afternoon and I happily watched as my love showed me her best assets. I love her so very much and I really wish she was here with me. Maybe next time.
26c and sunny

Day 2

Feb 16^th

After arriving in Albury yesterday, I went to bed at 10 pm Australian time and awoke at 3am which is 9am CAD time, yep you got it, my body is still on Pacific coast time. This morning I was able to get out for a run during a brief gap in the rain. Since last night, it has been consistently raining solidly. My run took me to my sisters house where I woke up the kids and borrowed a phone to be able to facebook a little more freely, that way I have some contact with people without spending too much money. I can facebook and tweet for free without paying for anything, how nice is that. I don’t even need any type of phone credit.

I borrowed my sisters car to take my bike home which was a little weird driving on the left hand side of the road again. I took the bike home and found the tyres were too big for my bike to work properly. Bummer. So I drove back to my sisters to return the car and played with the kids for a while. Still not sure what kind of bike I’ll be riding over the next few weeks or if I need a car to drive around in.
23c and Rain

Day 1

Feb 13th 2012

The day started at work at 7.15 am in Oliver, BC, Canada with 8 hours of work finishing at 3.15pm. At 8.15pm I boarded a flight from Kelowna to Vancouver at which point, I discovered that I my Visa to work in Canada had been accepted which was a huge relief as I was expecting upwards to 8 weeks on getting approval. This was a huge weight off my shoulders. At 11.40pm I started a flight from Vancouver to Sydney, Australia. I arrived in Australia at 9.10am Thursday the 15^th which is equal to 3 pm on the 14^th of February Canadian time. After arriving in Sydney, I had a 5 hour layover at the Sydney Airport whilst I waited for my 3 pm Australian time (9pm CAD time) flight to Albury. At 4 pm Aust time, I had finally reached my destination. I awoke at 6am February 13^th and finally got to bed at 4am February the 15^th. I was able to get 4-5 hours of restless sleep in and out of watching Friends.
Pilot said Albury was 30c.

Air Canada

The past week has been a little stressful, Yes i am flying, No i am not flying, Yes i am flying, No i am not flying and eventually, i am flying. Earlier in the week, news broke that Baggage handlers would go on strike starting March 12 at 12.01am which was to be the day before my flight to Australia. Word was that even if they did go on strike, Air Canada would do its best to keep flights on time and active. I was a little nervous about whether or not my flight would take off at all.
Next came news that Air Canada would lock out its pilots if they did not accept an agreement which was also to occur March 12 at 12.01am, so even if the baggage handlers didn't strike, there may have not been any pilots to fly anyway. This one had me more worried then the strike notice but in the end, the Canadian Government stepped in and declared that any strike order or lockout could not take place. So once again, i am flying.

Todays Riding Conditions

What Happens Next

So I was unable to get an entry into the Granfondo in July here in Penticton, I could still enter but i am not that interested in paying $200 for something that i could do for free, so at the moment, that looks like it is on the backburner. I will still aim to ride 160 km that day like i had planned, just not in a big bunch like that at the Granfondo.

The next two months are the most important of the year for me, they are the lead up to my summer in Canada. They can either make or break my year. These two months are very important as they are Base Phase 2 and 3 which is all about building my aerobic endurance for me to be able to ride longer and faster at the same intensity. I am really hoping to improve on my Base Phase 1 which i only trained 16 hours out of the planned 34 hours which is less then half of the required training time.

I have two weeks left before i leave for Australia, where the weather is warmer at this time of year. I will hopefully have a bike that i can train on while there which will be great. If i am unable to find a job while there for the 5 weeks, i will have nothing but time to just ride and enjoy the warmth (well warmer then here, it's currently snowing here in Penticton). I arrive in Australia right in the middle of my biggest week in Base Phase 2 in which i require 11 hours of training time, this could put a dent in my training. I figure that i will be out of commission for at least 3 or 4 days (I lose one day in the time zone change, one day for travel and probably one or two days to get use to time zone change). My arrival back to Canada is right in the middle of a rest week which is perfect timing, i only need 5 and a half hours that week.

Well stay tuned, hopefully in two months time you'll be reading about how well my time was spent in Australia and that i am fitter then i have ever been. That's what this is all about, to make sure my health is improved due to my high blood pressure condition and to give 110% to see how far i can push my body to be the best athlete i can be.

2012 is going to be a great year!

Tom Cruise

A list of my Top 10 Favorite Tom Cruise Movies, in order of Favoritism.
Only ones i have seen are on this list.

Top Gun
The Last Samurai
A Few Good Men
Knight and Day
The Firm
Mission Impossible
War of the Worlds
Minority report
Collateral
Days of Thunder



#top10 #favorites

Dogs and Cats

A dog thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me ... They must be gods!

A cat thinks: Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me ... I must be a god!

Not so Smart Phone

I think my smartphone is broken. I keep pressing the Home button, but I'm still working.

Base Phase 1 Review

So the year is flying by with a review of base phase 1 already, it only feels like a few days ago that i was talking about working hard in my prep phase. Well, Base Phase 1 is nearly done with, just the rest week this week coming up, then Base Phase 2 will start.
Basically, BP1 started quite slowly with the weather being cold and work, i wasn't able to get out for as many hours as i would have liked.
Week 1- I completed 4 hours and 12 minutes.
Week 2- 7 hours and 47 minutes
Week 3- 5 hours and 11 minutes.

Week 1 was a little slow but things started picking up with week 2 and 3. Almost 8 hours on week 2 was a pretty good week of training including a race on Sunday at the Peachland 5km February Freezeup. At the race i personal best my time for 5km with a time in the 24minute range. I was feeling fairly happy with myself and wanted to keep the momentum going. Looking back, i should have had a day or two off after the race to let the body recover.

Week 3 started out well after the race with a few good long rides with a total of 5 hours of riding in two days. The week was looking like it was going to be one, well in the excess of 10 hours but nope, my body said no. Had i taken a day or two off after the race, maybe i could have allowed my bodies immune system to be a little stronger to fight off a cold that i ended up getting. So Week 3 ended up being only two days long with the rest of the week being spent laying in bed.

Week 4 has started off as the previous week finished but at least earlier today i was able to get out for a walk. Hopefully by the end of the week i can start getting out for a run or two which will allow me to start Next week, Base Phase 2, with a BANG and get in a good solid week. There will be no testing at the end of this week which i had actually planned for the end of the week but i will cautiously avoid the testing because of the cold and finish the week with basic aerobic work. Instead i will use the race from end of week 2 as a benchmark for future fitness especially the 5km run.

Homer Simpson Quotes

A list of my top 10 Favorite quotes from Homer Simpson. Reading this list, you will probably get an idea of my sense of humour.

1. Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love! 
2. I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman.  
3. Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers. 
4. Lisa, if you don't like your job you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. 
5. I'm going to the back seat of my car, with the woman I love, and I won't be back for ten minutes!
6. I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here. 
7. How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive? 
8. That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!  
9. Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. 
10. I'm in no condition to drive...wait! I shouldn't listen to myself, I'm drunk! 

10 Favorite Sports Teams

These are teams that i will nearly always tend to favor when watching a game involving the teams below. They are in no particular order.

• North Melbourne Kangaroos (AFL)
• Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
• Greenbay Packers (NFL)
• Australian Cricket Team
• Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
• Culcairn Cricket Club (Local Cricket)
• Manly Sea Eagles (NRL)
• Arsenal Football Club
• BC Lions (CFL)
• Penticton Vees (Local Hockey)

Looking out my window

This is more of a "trying to look out my window". This is the view of my car windscreen with snow on it. Not the best view as you can see.

#outmywindow #photos

Out My Window

So yesterday i took a photo looking out the window of a beautiful morning in which the mountains were clearly seen. Today, well, lets just say the weather can change so quickly. You couldn't even see the mountains and the snow was coming down heavy before this photo was taken. The snow plows had already been through at this point as you can see the roads had been "salted" and the traffic had started clearing it up a bit.

Out My Window  If you are wondering what "Out My Window" is all about, it is a bunch of photos that are taken by me of the view looking out my window. I always find it interesting to look back and see what i thought was interesting earlier in my life.

February 15th 2012

Looking out my window.
A view of the street and mountains Looking South from the Living room.
Penticton

Lost Moose Lodge

Took a ride up to the Lost Moose Lodge situated above Penticton. The road from Penticton heads in a vertical direction and just seems to keep on going all the way to the Lodge. I rode this knowing that it was going to be a solid ride and boy, i was not proven wrong. For 8km the road just seems to climb at an average grade of 8% which totals around 2050 ft of climbing. Today this took me roughly 1 and a half hours.
The way down is a lot quicker only taking me 15 minutes which is kind of lucky because my fingers were frozen by the time i got half way down the mountain.
This has been my biggest climb to date (626 metres/ 2050ft). I stopped a few times taking photos so no doubt in the future, i shall surpass the time i did today with a much better time. The mountain bike was the choice for today and it was probably the wise decision because the lower gear ratios allowed me to spin up the mountain rather then grind my way up the mountain like i would have on the road bike.

Strava - Looking for the Moose

28 Take to Beach Ave. for February ‘Freeze Up’

My first race for 2012 was the February Freezeup 5km run in Peachland on the 12th of February. There were not many competitors in this race with about 6-8 runners. Overall i was fairly happy with my run, with my pacing being fairly good throughout the whole race. My pace was fairly strong throughout and i don't think i could have gone much faster without blowing myself up. According to the timekeepers, my time was 24 minutes 30 which is the target i was aiming for. Before the run, my target goal pace was to beat 25 minutes. I finished 4th overall. The fastest guy on the day finished in 19 minutes and a handful of seconds.

My next race will be the Penticton Lakeside Resort 5km fun run on March 4th. My goal time for this run will be 23 minutes but that may change over the next month of training. My overall goal is under 20 minutes for 5km then it will be time to move onto 10 km training. I think that the next race shall be a little tougher competitive wise but that might be a good thing as i will have a few more runners dragging me along the rode. The good thing about the run next month is that it is almost the same route i train on everyday and it will feel like just another training run and that i will feel confident in knowing where i can pick the pace up a little and where i should take it a bit easier.

Here you can see a photo of the start of the race on the Peachland News. I am there in the photo, number 182.
http://peachlandnews.com/blog/2012/02/12/28-take-to-beach-ave-for-february-freeze-up/

A place to stay forever

This is a cache that i found that was pretty well hidden. It took me a bit to find but it is now one that i can add to my arsenal of caches that i know now to look for when i am out hunting.
Penticton - A Place to Stay Forever

Fantastic Four

Found 4 geocaches today.

The Rock Beach 7th Cache found
Luxor TB Hotel 8
By the Beach 9
I.C.U 10

Geocaching

Found another one today!  This Geocaching is getting addictive. Took my bike out for a ride along the KVR and using the GPS on my phone i had to go back and forth a bit on the trail to get close to the Cache site. Thinking like a cache hider, it had to be in a spot that people could get to. I saw an area that looked like it was accessible in the area that my gps was close enough to. Using the clue from the website "Look for Stumpy", i found a tree stump and sure enough, hidden behind the tree stump was an ammunition box.
This is the one i found today -->  River Channel Stroll

I added some photos to Photobucket for my geocaching. Check them out here. This is where the photos will be so this won't slow the loading time of my blog down. It's starting to get a little photo heavy.
Photobucket- Geocaching

Sicamous

The Sicamous, Penticton, BC Canada
8th February 2012.

Week 5

First week of Base Phase 1. 
I have been pretty consistent with getting out for a ride or run over the last month which has been great but my amount of time training has been lacking. According to my training plan, i was supposed to complete at least 7 hours a week during the Preparation phase but only managed to complete 4-5 hours per week. My first week of Base Phase 1 was meant to have 8 hours of training but only completed 4. I am not totally happy with this.
This is how my week went. I had Monday and Friday off.
Tuesday i spent 40 Minutes on the indoor trainer where i did a 4km time trial at LT. Wednesday i went for a 6.28km run. Thirsday was my best day with a ride and a run, while the weekend i did a couple of runs with some hill work on the Sunday.




This weeks plan is to complete 9 and a half hours which is a big step up from what i have been doing. Going to give it a try but at this time of year, i'm finding it hard to get the hours in. I might have to look at my training plan and do some reconsideration of how the hours look if i don't get anywhere near what the plan calls for.

Okanagan Lake

4th February 2012
View From Munson Mountain, Penticton. Bridget and i were up here looking for a couple of Caches. I am still learning the basics of Geocaching and spent a good 20-30 minutes looking for a Smaller cache that i went past so many times. Bridget happened to find the first cache of the day after looking in a spot that i had looked but things look differently to others. So after learning a valuable lesson, the second cache we went in search for was a lot simpler and only took us a few minutes to find.

Hands

Hands #febphotoaday Apex Mountain. http://twitpic.com/8fohvy

Words

Day 2: Words. This is a photo of a Crossword puzzle that i started at Work.
#Febphotoaday

Your View Today

Day 1: My View today from Sumac Ridge Winery, Summerland, BC.

#Febphotoaday

February Photo a Day

January Review

So January has come to a close already for 2012, Wow that was quick. For the Month of January, It was primarily Preparation Phase, which is all about getting the body ready for the upcoming year. I think i was heading in the right direction and will hopefully benefit from the work i have put in so far. The major thing for me to achieve was consistency which during Cold winter months is very hard to do. As you can see from below, i completed 29 total workouts in 31 days.

January Statistics
262 km Total
Run: 43.38 km (11 workouts) 5hr 14m
Spinning: 69.96 km (4 workouts) 3hr 33m
Cycling: 120km (6 workouts) 7 hr 16m
Hiking: 6.98km (2 workouts) 3hr 19m
Walking: 21.37km (6 workouts) 5hr 3m

Total Workouts: 29
Days Off: 8
Total Time: 24 hours 26 minutes

Cycling Total Ascension: 732 metres

Penticton, BC
Coldest Day of Month: 18th Jan - Max Temp: -13.4c, Min Temp: -16.1c, 6cm snow
Warmest Day: 5th Jan - Max Temp- 9.3c, Min Temp: -1.4c
Windiest Day: 24th Jan - Max Gust - 85km/h
Snow Amount: 24cm for the month

29th January 2012 - Bike Ride, Okanagan Falls, B.C, Canada

Bald Eagle Sighting

After a run this morning, the weather warmed up, so i decided to take the opportunity to get out for a ride as well. Not sure why but i didn't bring my camera. I had my phone but it isn't as good as an actual camera. I've been riding long enough now that i should know to always bring my camera.

Today i happened upon a Bald Eagle sitting so close to us, that i'm sure he could see my eyes dilate from the excitement. I did happen to get some decent photos of the Eagle which wasn't too bad. After sitting for a while to watch and enjoy, i continued on to Okanagan Falls where i took Mclean Creek Rd and saw for the first time, Californian Big Horn Sheep. These guys were further away and would have been great to have had a camera.

Todays Ride-
44 kms
2 hours 24 minutes

Check it out on Endomondo or Strava

Another one

Found another Geocache on todays run. A quick search on the Geocache site found that a cache that went missing had been replaced so i took a run to go see if i could find it. Had a look around and found it. Didn't have a pen with me, totally forgot it, so i will sign it next time i'm down by the Rose Garden.
A quick overview of Geocaching from the Penticton Cycling Club.

GeoCache

Today I went for a look for some GeoCaches in the area and found 1 out of 4 that i looked for.
Fuzzy 56, Fuzzy Lakawana and Fuzzy SOEC were the caches that i couldn't find today. Hopefully i get them next time.

The one i did find was
Bridge to Ikeda
N 49° 30.225 W 119° 35.472
Link: Geocaching.com
Found it! - January 28th 2012

2012 Training Plan

You've Got Mail

Training Page

Check out the Updated "Training" Page. SO much easier to keep up to date on how my training is going. Excellent news for both you and me. You can also find this page in the Menu bar at the top of this page. Training

Austraya Day!!

So Yesterday was Australia Day.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE AUSTRALIAN WHEN:
You believe that stubbies can either be drunk or worn.
You pronounce Melbourne as 'Mel-bin'.
You believe that the letter 'l' in Australia is optional, and it's perfectly ok to call it 'Straya'.
You think 'Wooloomooloo' is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
You believe it makes perfect sense for a country to have a... $1 coin thats twice as big as a $2 coin.
You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' cannot be just 'Woy'.
Beetroot with your hamburger...of course!
You wear ugg boots outside the house.
You believe that the more you shorten someone's name, the more you like them.
You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, but 'scuse me' is always polite.
You know what its like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle and a seat belt buckle becomes a pretty good branding iron.
You know how to abbreviate every word, all of which usually end in "o": arvo, convo, garbo, lezzo, metho, milko, muso, servo, smoko, rego, speedo, righto, etc,....
You know that there is a universal place called 'Woop Woop' located in the middle of nowhere, no matter where you actually are!
And you can understand all of this, had a giggle, and tell all your Aussie and international friends. I love Australia! :-)

Clif Bars

A few days ago i purchased some more Clif Bars from London Drugs when they were on sale (below). As of yet, i haven't had a chance to try them out on the bike but today, i did try them during a run. I felt a little hungry during a run and stopped home for a Clif Bar (Peanut Butter) and it agreed with me. It settled the stomach which allowed me to continue on and run a little further. When the weather warms up a bit more, hopefully i'll get to test them on the bike. I did try the Lara Bars on the bike and they went well so i don't see the Clif Bars upsetting my stomach.

January Review...

The Last Few weeks of Training. This being my last week of preparation phase before i begin Base 1 training next week, i thought it would be wise to reflect on how i've done the last month. With the training plan that i wrote for myself, i have seen my consistency increase greatly with at least 3 or 4 workouts a week while averaging 5 hours a week. This might not seem much but is a huge improvement. My biggest gains in fitness will merely come from the consistent efforts i put into my training.

Base 1 is very similar to the prep phase but with an extra hour of work each week and more time on the bike. This however might be governed by the weather here. I don't really want to spend too much time on the indoor trainer. By mid to late February, i am hoping to start commuting to work when the days get longer and hopefully above freezing temperatures.

Wind Warning

Warnings

South Okanagan - including Penticton
3:34 PM PST Tuesday 24 January 2012
Wind warning for
South Okanagan - including Penticton issued

Wind gusts expected to reach 90 km/h late this afternoon through this evening over the South Okanagan.
Currently strong winds are being generated over parts of the southern interior ahead of the weather system. Wind gusts reaching 90 km/h are forecast for late this afternoon through this evening over the South Okanagan. As the system passes through the interior overnight, winds of 70 km/h gusting to 90 are expected to develop in its wake for the Fraser Canyon. The winds will abate through Wednesday morning. 

Todays Ride

Jan 21st 2012

Pitbull - International Love

 Music video by Pitbull Featuring Chris Brown performing International Love.
http://tumblr.com/Z8O_cxE-p99a

The worst of it

So up until now, winter has avoided us pretty well and we have been enjoying some above average temperatures that have been allowing us to get out and about. However today (18th January, 2012) has been the coldest of all with the high being at around -13c. Not only did we have the low temperatures, we also had some snow on and off during the day which has made the roads a little scary to drive on.
Coming into town today, i actually had a bit of a scare when i came up to a traffic light and the roads were a little more slippery then i anticipated and had my ABS on my car come on and had my car fishtailing a little. All this happened at a reasonable 30 km/h but when you have someone else in the car, you worry more about them then yourself.
Below is a picture of Downtown Penticton on the 17th January. Today the roads were totally white.

 

Sumac Ridge on the 17th January 2012

Summerland

Todays Weather

KVR trail

I have ridden the Channel parkway pathway a couple of times and never noticed a trail that diverted off the pathway and headed towards Summerland. I've day whilst looking at maps of Penticton, I noticed a trail one day that did this and wondered how I had not noticed this. Todays bike ride was planned to be a big one of several hours but the -5c temperature made it a bit shorter. Not wanting to waste a ride, I decided to go explore an area that I have not been and I am write happy I did.
Even on poor weather days like today, this is still an excellent riding route that has a steady 2% grade that goes for several kms. On a warmer day, I will venture out to see how far the grade goes for.

Training

Maps

Came across a great site for making maps.
Open Street Map

OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you.
OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.

28 Days Later...

So my training for the last 4 weeks has looked great. I have covered 292 kilometres for a total of 23 hours which is exactly where i wanted to get my monthly total up to.



If you remember from December 11th, 2011, i wrote,  

"Looking at my stats there is plenty room for improvement as i think i could get my 4 week hourly total up to 20-30 hours averaging 1 hour a night, 5 nights a week."

Since i wrote that, i have planned out a Training plan for the year and with the guesstimated hours for the year, i should easily get the 20-30 hours a month, if i stick to the plan. The plan has come from....

 

Currently i am in the Preparation Phase which is preparing my body for the year to come. The workouts in this phase are low in intensity with the majority being aerobic endurance workouts and usually in the form of cross-training, such as running or skiing. The total volume of this phase is fairly low compared to other times in the year. For 2012, i have 4 weeks of Prep Phase then i move onto Base phase 1 on the 30th January. Base 2 will start 27th of February, hopefully just in time for the weather to start warming up a little in March.