Good day

Got all of the systems racked, nothing wired yet, but the heavy lifting is done!

Went for a six mile run with Tim this morning before we picked up Sherry at noon. Sherry almost didn't make it through customs! I gotta write a whole big post about customs!

This town is nothing but beautiful scenery everywhere you look. It really reminds me of Montana except more modern and with a ton of trails! The people here are extremely nice.

The hotel we are at has an outdoor water slide, pool and hot tub. Tim, Sherry and I all went to the hot tub. Oh, it is 20 degrees out! Tim and I decided to go down the water slide, which is 4 stories tall, fast and windy! It actually has you dizzy and disoriented by the time you get to the bottom! Yeah, I never thought I would go down a water slide when it was 2o degrees out! How cool, and it wasn't that bad.

Met some locals in the hot tub who were pretty cool and we got to talking about the differences between Canada and US. I never realized that Canada is not as open to free speech and free minds as the US is.

Anyway, off to bed after a shower here in a minute. Tomorrow we are cabling up all of our systems, making them look PRETTY (yes, I am serious, no sloppy wires) and then Tim and I will go for another 6 miles tomorrow.

Today was my first run in almost a week due to work being so crazy and my left knee was not happy with me, so I gotta spend some time stretching tonight because I think it is an IT band that is too tight.

Tony, you gotta come up here in the summer. Maybe we should go and take the wives? I think they have some tri's and du's up here as an excuse to come.

In Kelowna, and not sick

Just a quick note, it has been a long day.
Drove to Kelowna, BC today and the last time I was here I was only here for 1 day and I was extremely sick so I didn't see much of Kelowna.
Got in tonight around 7 and was able to look at Kelowna a bit. What a great town! This town makes me think of Kalispell, but with a bigger economy. I am excited to spend a few days here and see what this town really is like.

Rented a Cadillac Escalade for the trip (we drove a ton of equipment, needed a big SUV). This is my favorite rental I have ever had. An SUV that drives nice, is comfortable as can be, corners well (for an SUV) and is overall pleasant to drive.

Taking yesterday off, hitting it hard today

So, taking off yesterday was probably a good thing. I decided I would try again today.

The morning was raining and windy, and nothing I want to run 14 miles in. Luckily, at noon the skies opened up to blue sky and no more wind! Perfect day for a run!

I started out my run at a good pace, and my heart rate was staying low, and I was feeling good. At mile 6 I decided to up the tempo a bit for a 4 mile stretch of road. Usually this is an okay thing, but I was feeling my oats WAY too much. Around mile 10 my legs started to feel the push and they finally lost their snap, which is not good when you still have 4 miles to go.

I suffered the last four miles because of my "running immaturity". Suffering over the last four miles was good for me mentally, learning what mentally it takes to suffer through is a good thing, right? My new chi running form, along with my new orthotics really put me in a different foot strike and stride, and it caused my hamstrings to fire a little differently. The great thing though, I no longer can feel my ankle roll inside during my foot strike.

At the end of my run, my hamstrings were fried. I made the 14 miles, but I definitely stopped at 14 on the dot. I still had a mile to the house, and I walked on in, enjoyed the weather and the day, while I hobbled my way in.

When I got home, I laid on the floor with my legs up against a wall for a few minutes to let the lactic acid drain out. Then, against my desires, I hopped in the tub and turned on the cold water, only cold water. Kristin set the timer for 5 minutes, but she didn't hear the timer go off. So, I froze my ass off for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes. Then I stretched out a bit. I definitely have stiff hamstrings, but I have no pain anywhere else, which is great.

Next long run, no feeling my oats!

Well, that was a bummer

I started my run this morning to get a few miles in before meeting up with Mike. I got a few minutes in to my run and my Plantar Fascia started hurting me again, sending sharp shooting pains.

Most days, I probably would just walk this off, but I knew what this was. I had not stretched out like I should have and my hips were tight and my form was ugly, so I knew nothing was firing right this morning. Oh, and I got about 3.5 to 4 hours of sleep (call from work at 4:40 AM). I just felt that it was not a wise choice to continue, and I know that sharp shooting pain is your bodies way of saying "You are hurting me". My goal is to do a marathon, not go out and hit every run perfectly. So, I walked out of Forest Park.

I called up Mike and let him know that I wasn't going to do the run today. Which was a real bummer as I haven't seen him in quite some time. However, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

I went home, and Kristin was still asleep, so I crawled back in bed and slept in with her, which was great. We haven't slept in together for probably a couple months, so we were both happy to actually have a fully relaxing day.

14 mile trail run tomorrow

Tomorrow I am doing a 14 mile trail run and I am honestly a little anxious. This will be a long run for me and then to add the elevation gain/loss of Wildwood trail makes it a hard run.

The one saving grace for me, IMHO, is that I have picked up the book Chi Running, and my form is getting in line, and the effort I feel while running is much easier, at least on the muscles and joints, my aerobic still has to work. So, I don't feel nervous about my legs making it, I will WALK IT if I have to. What I am nervous about is that after 5 or 6 miles, I am meeting a friend, who usually makes me work hard when we both start fresh, so now I will have an hour in my legs, and I will bury myself in the pain cave to keep up if I have to, most days. My goal will be to not let him set the pace, and if he pulls away, just let him.
The only other area that I am nervous with is hurting myself on the trail. Most common injury would be rolling an ankle. My problem is I can't resist the trails, so I will be going regardless.

Foxworthy's comments on Montana

I received this in email today, and I associated with most of them. So, for my non-Montana friends, I have highlighted the one's I have experienced personally.

If "vacation" to you means going shopping for the weekend in Great Falls, Billings or Bozeman (while the kids swim at the Comfort Inn), You might live in Montana

If parking your car for the night involves an extension cord, You might live in Montana

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling Through 8 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping That the food will swim by, You might live in Montana

If you're proud that your state makes the national news Primarily because it houses the coldest spot in the nation, You might live in Montana

If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too Spendy", You might live in Montana

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, You might live in Montana

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't Work there, You might live in Montana

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the Middle of his forehead, You might live in Montana

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, You Might live in Montana

If your town has an equal number of bars & churches, You Might live in Montana

If you know how to correctly pronounce Butte , You might live In Montana

If you measure distance in hours, You might live in Montana .

If your family vehicle is a crew cab pickup, You might live In Montana

If you know several people who have hit deer more than once, You might live in Montana

If you often switch from "heat" to "A/C"in the same day & back again, You might live in Montana

If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a Raging blizzard, without flinching, You might live in Montana

If you see people wearing hunting clothes at social events, You might live in Montana

If you've installed security lights on your house and garage And leave both unlocked, You might live in Montana

If the largest traffic jam in your town centers around a High school basketball game, You might live in Montana .

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend or wife Knows how to use them, You might live in Montana

If there are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at Wal-Mart at any given time, You might live in Montana

If there aren't more people at work on Christmas Eve Day than On Opening Deer Rifle Season, You might live in Montana

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you might live in Montana

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, You might live in Montana

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still Winter and road construction, You might live in Montana .

If you can identify a southern or eastern accent, You might live in Montana

If you consider Red Lodge exotic, You might live in Montana . Actually, it wasn’t even Red Lodge, it was Spokane!!!

If your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer Next to your cottonwood, You might live in Montana

If the sunbelt to you means Miles City , You might live in Montana .

If a brat is something you eat, You might live in Montana .

If finding your misplaced car keys involves looking in the ignition, You might live in Montana

If you find 0 degrees a little chilly, You might live inMontana.