No Malaria?

So I called the clinic that I went to on Monday and they say it is a no to Malaria, however, I've started to feel worse again, I am feeling like shit now, so if this keeps up any longer I'm going to go home for the night. Dammit, I have my 32K run on Sunday, I do NOT want to miss it!

Ho hum

Looks like Nej stayed at home today. I'll miss her updates.

So what's new with Lj??? Not much. Yesterday Burger dragged me to the inaugural meeting of the UW triathlon club. Looks like it will be pretty good. I was expecting there to be mostly hardcore people there, but turns out I was wrong, looks like I'm one of the more experienced girls that went. Some of the boys were hardcore, one did the muskoka long course this year (2K, 55K, 15K) and one is training for his first Ironman - next september (3.8K, 180K, 42.2K!). Actually, the ironman boy (IB for short) was kind of cute - and a grad student - will have to investigate further :)

Then it was off to Yoga with QC. Lots of fun as usual, I managed to do all the poses except for one, the one I couldn't get was tough stuff. I think my chest is too large for it (and my back too weak which is odd for me to say since my back is normally quite strong!) (C-dub - I'm talking about crocodile, but getting to it from the floor instead of from plank).

I also went for a run yesterday afternoon, did my normal 8K route 2.5 minutes faster than my fastest, felt like a stud, this morning I did 10K 1.5 minutes slower than normal, felt like an elephant. Oh well, as long as I don't feel like an elephant on the 23rd of october :)

Sympathy Morning Sickness?

That is what I've decided I have :) Still waiting to hear about the malaria, don't think that is what it is, but I woke up this morning with funny tummy yet again.

Normally on Thursday mornings I run to the gym, do a spinning class and then run (a longer way) back home. I got outside this morning and turned around to go and get my car keys. It was not pleasant out there! Now it is clear and nice, not so this morning. Lots of trees down and things flying all over the place, so better to skip the run. I'll head out after school instead.

So apparently UW has a triathlon club again, so burger and I are going to go check it out this evening at their meeting. Should be good times.

And speaking of Burger, her new puppy is absolutely adorable. I got some pictures, so it is now up to her to post them :)

Oh, and one last thing. I found out that a girl I know (from doing tris) is going to be doing Ironman Canada next year. She's nuts (but in a good way!). She has a blog for her training, I'm going to ask her if I can link her :)

Exciting news :)

Okay, so before I get harassed, still no word on whether I have malaria. I'm thinking not. Honestly, it feels more like I'm pregnant, but there is no chance of that. But more on this topic later. This morning I woke up feeling queasy again, but had 17Km planned. Not fun. I decided to go and let myself pull out if need be. I got to the 8 K mark and still felt pretty good so I headed off in the direction that would be 9K left to go. I feel much better now. It is weird that running has been helping my queasiness. Note, the same thing happened on Sunday morning for my long run. Hopefully I'll find out later today if I have an infection of some kind and be able to go on drugs to clear it up. (I'm not a huge fan of antibiotics, but I don't want this cold to linger and effect my marathon).

Training swim started last night, and it was pretty tough, but I'm proud of myself. the workout went something like this

Warm-up
400 whatever you want
100 pull
100 kick
100 IM (Individual medly, means 25 fly, 25 back, 25 breast, 25 free)

Workout
4 x 100 alternating front crawl and back crawl on 1:45. This left me enough time to recover on the front crawl, but only seconds on back crawl - not my strongest stroke
Then some shorter stuff... can't quite remember what
3 x 75 on the 1:30. Lots of time to recover on these ones
some more easier stuff then...
8 x 25 dolphin kick on the 45 alternating between back and front... WTF??? I've never done dolphin kick on my back before - remember I didn't race back crawl. Now that was painfull, not even able to recover before switching to my front again.

Cool-down
200 whatever.

Man it was tough. A total of 2050 yds, not a whole lot, but more than I have swum at one time since the last time I did training swim (close to 3 years ago!). It felt good to be back in it though. I <3 swimming :)

So now for the exciting news. And yes it does pertain to the more on pregnancy issue. I got a call from D last night and looks like I'm going to have another godchild :D. She is due at the end of May :) I'm pretty excited. It is weird having a best friend with kids, but better her than me :)

If you want a good laugh

My father just sent me this by e-mail. I was cracking up at my desk. I think my office mate thinks I'm nuts!!!

Subject: 2010 Winter Games: Vancouver questions people the world over are asking.

Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the 2010 winter Olympics, The following are some questions people the world over are asking. These questions (and answers) about Canada were actually posted on an international Tourism Website.

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? ( UK)
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? (Sweden)
A: So its true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to contact for a stuffed Beaver. (Italy)
A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATMs (cash machines) in Canada? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (UK)
A: What, did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada?(USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your North... oh forget it. Sure the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (UK)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Calgary, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada? (Germany)
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada? (USA)
A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget it's name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)
A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare it by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: I was in Canada in 1969 on R+R, and I want to contact the girl I dated while I was staying in Surrey, BC. Can you help? (USA)
A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

Pain in the neck

Literally. Last night I develeped a pain in the left side of my neck. I have no clue what it came from, and when I woke up this morning it was still kicking around.

This morning I woke up feeling a little queasy again, but decided to go for my run anyways. I felt much better after I got back. Is that weird or what? I don't get it. Hopefully my illness is starting to abate, but if not, it hasn't really been THAT bad. Not really.

So other than my sore neck and lingering unidentified illness, all is pretty well here. I'm tired, but hey, I was up too late last night chatting online with KB. Oh, and in other news my Training Swim starts tonight. I haven't done any hard swimming in way too long, so I hope I don't suck! maybe I'll go in the slow lane this week...

Hat Trick Post

My third that is.

David Millar is making a comeback, he is joining the Saunier Duvaul team for the Tour next summer. His ban lifts 9 days before the tour starts. I'm still on the fence of whether I'll be supporting him or not. He was my favorite cyclist until he got caught for blood doping.

In other news, I'm feeling a bit better, I had my blood tests and they rush malaria tests, so I should have results tomorrow.

An update?

From me. I know, shocking. I'm going to get tested in half an hour. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid, but I want my mind put to rest. I started feeling nauseous again after lunch, and my headache has returned.

I'll update y'all in an hour or so.

Wahoo!

Internet in office :) it only took what, 3 months? It is pretty exciting though :)

This weekend, hmmm... Friday did nothing. Saturday Burger and I went for a bike ride and then I went to my Aunt and Uncles for lunch. And met my new little cousin, Deven, he was adorable :) As my friends from highschool would describe him, he is caramel ;)

Saturday night went home and relaxed. I watched the movie National Treasure, it was pretty good, but kind of ripped off the storyline from the Davinci Code. On Sunday it was my long run (but a cut back week, so only 21.5 km) and soccer in the afternoon. Burger and I watched the last part of the Rugby game, which was pretty fun. UW got creamed, 24-5 for UWO. Oops :O. Watching the game though made me want to play again. I need a serious psychological evaluation for even considering playing again, but it was so much fun. If I'm still interested in the spring, I'll look into the City team. I might be good enough for it. Who knows.

Last night I watched Desperate Housewives. A pretty good season premiere, but I was really tired and practically asleep. Maybe that is a bad sign?

So on the Malaria front, I just don't know, I seem to be feeling ill on and off, and keep on getting this bad headache. I'm thinking of getting the test done just to make myself feel better. I don't want to have malaria, but if I have it, better to catch it early.

I'm SO getting malaria

Shit. I'm supposed to continue taking my malaria drugs for 4 weeks after getting back in the country, and I just realized that yesterday I forgot to take mine. Shit. Apparently, you can go up to every 10 days for taking them, but they only advise every week so that people remember to take them. A lot of good that did me. Must remember to take drugs tonight with dinner... BTW, thanks to Margo who inadvertantly reminded me to take it while talking about her bad night sleep last night. Insomnia is a side effect of Larium.

Okay, other than that, not much. Second yoga class last night. There was a guy there wearing tight lulu lemon capris?!? It went pretty good though, and none of my positions had to be fixed. I felt totally cool. Then back home for survivor. The team I'm rooting for lost both challenges, but they made a smart decision about who they voted off. Then up to QC's for the season premiere of CSI. Pretty good episode, but also the most graphic pictures I've ever seen on that show. I seriously felt like vomitting. Oh, and I also liked Nick in his white shirt. V. Hot.

Okay, I guess I should be getting back to work. I'm supposed to be getting connected to the internet in my office today. Yipee! I've only had my computer for 3 months...

Oh my!

So last night I watched the premiere of "My name is Earl", and I have to say, it was one of the funniest shows I've ever watched. Definitely going to be on my TV roster. Only problem - it is in the same time slot as the Amazing Race, so I'm going to have to tape one of them. Oh well, I'll make that sacrifice.

Didn't do too much else. I made banana muffins, and they are yummy.

This afternoon is the first soccer game of the season. I think we are going to get our asses handed to us on a platter. We moved up a division (most of the people on the team can handle being up a division, I on the other hand am not good enough for this), and about half of our team can't make it, so we'll only have 8 players and the other team will have 11. So we will have to play the entire game - did I mention I ran 15 km already today???

Tonight is the season premiere of Americas Next Top Model. Woohoo! I'll probably watch it tonight, but I'm not sure if I'll watch it every week. I need to cut back on my TV viewing time.

Back to the Flow

Body Flow that is. I went last night for the first time in like a year. It was pretty good. I felt really good afterwards, my legs were loose, not tight, and I was unstrung (well, a little anyways). Now, after this mornings run, and being back at school all that work has been put to waste. Oh well, guess I have to start going on a weekly basis again. Plan - Monday night Flow, Thursday night Yoga.

Today - not much going on. I'm at school for the morning and possibly the afternoon. I'm on a waiting list to take part in this online seminar thing, and might have to rush home to take part if a position magically opens up. If not, no biggie, it'll be available online later this week.

So now that I'm back in the country, summer is over, and marathon training is dwindling into my taper (starts in two weeks!), I all the sudden have more time on my hands than I've had in a while. I plan to use some of the time at the gym getting back into activities I like (Monday night weights and flow, tuesday training swim, wednesday weights, and thursday yoga), but that still leaves a whole lot of free time on the weekends. Hmm... maybe I need a hobby. Or a boy.

Oh, and on Saturday I registered for the Niagara Marathon, so I really have to do it now! eek!

The love affair continues

My new combination - Cream of wheat and raspberries! yummy!!!!! I got frozen raspberrries last week to make jam, and I have some left over, so I tried it with my cream of wheat and success! Yummy :)

On Friday I went to get my hair cut (it is between my shoulder and my chin now. Just long enough to pull back, but pretty short). Then it was off to B-town to hang out with the Nej and C-dub. We had a blast, went to the kingdom and then foot attire shopping on Saturday. I didn't get anything, there were a few pairs of shoes and boots that I liked a lot, but they were either out of my price range (like over $200 for boots) or not in the right size. I stopped by Conestoga mall on my way home as a last ditch attempt and found one of the pairs I had liked at Transit in my size. yay! They are brown and pink and have cool velcro closures. And they were pretty cheap too!

Saturday night I did nothing of consequence. Watched some tv, read some, and went to bed pretty early. Sunday morning was my longest run to date - 30 km! I did the last 4 km just a bit faster than my hopefull marathon pace, and it felt really good. Yay! I wanted to do the Terry Fox run (well, walk) as well, but I didn't make it back in time, maybe next year?

Sunday afternoon I lazed around, and by lazed, I mean lazed. I wanted to sleep, but the adreneline from my afternoon rum wouldn't let me fall asleep, so I just hung out instead. In the evening I made my raspberry jam, and cleaned my kitchen up a bit. It is amazing how fast I can make a mess. Give me 5 minutes in any room, and it'll look like a tornado hit.

The new love of my life

So when I was visiting Kate, her roommate made this porridge type stuff out of millet flour, it was pretty good and I searched hi and lo for millet flour at Zehr's, but no dice, couldn't find it. Jamie and Kate suggested that I try cream of wheat since it was pretty similar, so I got that instead. I made it for breakie this morning and oh my! I put cinnamon, brown sugar and raisens on top, and it was scrum-didily-umptious!!! I think I'm in love with a new breakfast food.

Other news. well, there is none. This afternoon I'm getting my hair cut. Might go for something drastically different. With the exception of the brief foray with short hair in 2002, I've pretty much had the same hair style since starting university 6 years ago. I want something different dammit!!! Tonight is also the kingdom, so I'm going to get the hair dresser to do something funky with it :)

Oh, and I went for a run this morning, and it was pretty perfect. I did my usual 8 km route in 47:45 which is only 15 seconds slower than the fastest I've run it leisurely. I've run it faster when I was trying to, but this morning my heart rate stayed under 70% for almost the entire run (except for a few short uphills). It'll be interesting to see what sort of time I can pull off in the marathon.

Clarification

It has been brought to my attention that some people out there mistakenly think that Jamie is a Boy. I was informed this when I got back and was accused of never using a he/she to clarify this point. I would like to draw everyones attention to the first e-mail I sent out after being in Ndolage...

"Kate (my sister) has a physio student with her right now from Canada. She
is actually from Waterloo, so what are the chances???? She also has a
multi-enty visa since she was planning on going to kenya when she was done,
but is no longer going. Kate's Passport is in Dar es Salaam right now
getting the visa extended, and she's not going to get it back in time to go
to Uganda for the white water rafting, so Jamie, the student, is going to go
with me instead. We'll be going next weekend."

So Clearly, Jamie is a girl. Sorry for those of you who got up hopes about my love life. No dice. Although, Jamie is a very nice person, I'm not attracted to females.

Meh. Time to go to school. I don't want to go :( Oh well, I think it'll be another short day. I'm a little sleepy, so I'll probably come home early for a nap.

Back in the Loo

So I'm back after my whirl wind tour of East Africa :) I had a long and arduous journey on my return home. I left Ndolage at 8 am on Saturday look the dala dala to Bukoba (always an adventure - I think they managed 25 people this time.) That was followed by the first two of my flights home. First to Mwanza (second biggest city in Tanzania) and then on to Dar and a Taxi ride to my downtown hotel. Luckily there were no mosquitos around, the net was in pretty bad shape and slept without it. On Monday I started the longest leg of my journey.

My plane left Dar around 3:30 in the afternoon and was just over three hours to Jo'burg, but by the time we had taxi'd to the airport I had only 20 minutes to get through security and borded onto my next plane. I was luckily able to get my bording pass in Dar. So I made the plane with a few minutes to spare, however I was pretty scared about my baggage (it was a relief when I saw it in New York!!!!) The plane was pretty empty, so I ended up having the two seats along one edge to myself and was able to get a decent amount of sleep - about three hours on each side of Dakkar - but they had to wake us up for an hour in Dakkar to do a security check - What a pain!).

17 hours after leaving Jo'burg we arrived safe and sound at JFK where I had around 4 hours to clear immigration, collect my baggage, change airports and check in. So since everyone loves hearing about incompetence, here is one you will all love. So there were two international flights coming into JFK around the same time. they had two separate lines - one for US citizens and residents and one for non residents. Since it was an INTERNATIONAL flight, there were about twice as many non residents as there were residents. How does US immigration handle this. Why of course they had 6 officers handling the US people and 1, yes 1, handling all the non-residents. Finally after moving like 8 people through in half an hour they brought a few more people into the non-resident line, so it moved marginally faster (note, the non-residents for the most part take like 2-3 times as long as the residents, being Canadian, it took me under a minute...). So finally after waiting in line for over an hour, I cleared custums with my bad and was ready to set off for Laguardia. Note: Most Airports (like all) have a "ground transportation information centre" where people can get help getting a cab or a shuttle to whereever they need to go. It was closed. So I wandered around for a bit until finally stumbling upon the sign for the shuttle, and after nearly taking a cab instead, the shuttle finally showed up.

Trip through new york was uneventful. Much safer bus driver this time!!! I was pretty confused with where I was with respect to the rest of the city. I figure we went west of manhattan??? (Just checked a map, we were east of manhattan!!! however, I was correct that we drove through queens and brooklyn :)) I could see it from the runway at laguardia.

One final flight home and I was back in Canada and quite happy to be so. People here are so much nicer and friendlier than elsewhere. I chatted with the custums official (note we had like 8 or 9 officials on and didn't give preferential treatment to canadian citizens), and she helped me with my declaration form and it was off to see my dad :)

Last night was weird getting settled back into wloo. Burger brought Jenny over and we cuddled for a bit. I think she remembers me, and she hasn't tried to escape yet. When I woke up at 3:30 this morning (I was luckily able to fall back asleep) we had another little cuddle :) I think I'll keep her :)