Death Race

So this past weekend was the big bike race that I was "training" for. It was good, but I have to admit, I was totally scared the days leading up to it. I was worried about sucking it up and not pulling through for the team, and scared I was going to mangle myself and just general pre-race paranoia..

I went to Toronto friday night, Meg and Wylie were coming down for the weekend and I wanted to spend as much time with them as I could. I also wanted to be able to get up a bit later and not have to drive for 2 hours in the morning and then have to bike all day. So, I left at about 7:45, and arrived at the race site at 9am. It was happening just past Barrie at a place called Hardwood Hills, about an hour and a bit from my aunt and uncle's house at the north end of Toronto. I had to pull over part way up highway 400 to double check my hood which is currently being held closed with a bungee cord. I had visions of the hood flying up, smashing the windshield and me not being able to drive etc etc etc. On my drive up I passed a bunch of cars and trucks with hardcore mountain bikes attached to them.

I had no idea what to expect of the race, and pulling in the gates at the site I was ready to back out. Kate found me and I parked my car, wrestled my bike out of the backseat and took the packaging off my brand new bike helmet. (I hate bike helments. I doubt I'll even wear the one I bought again.) And then we waited.

Leah was running late, and then stuck in traffic (there was an accident on the road just after I went by. I think a bunch of bikes fell off someone's truck). While we were waiting we kinda walked around and checked out the whole thing. I had to sign a waiver and give them $5 for some "insurance" or something. I don't know exactly what. All I know is I paid 5 bucks for a blue sticker that went on the number plate on my bike. Not quite sure what that was about.

Kate was going first, and then Ange, and then me and then Leah. When 10am rolled around and Kate was leaving to go, we walked down to the start of the race and it was explained to me how it would all happen. Basically, we would bike up this hill, and then when we were done our lap, have to dismount at the checkpoint, take this little magnet and place it on this reader so that it would record our time and then pass the magnet off to the next person, who would run up this hill, get back on their bike and go down a bit of a hill and up the giant hill.

Kate did 2 laps her first go, and then Ange went and then it was my turn. I was ready for Ange when she got back, and I grabbed the time chip and grabbed my bike and ran up the hill. My heart was pounding and I was biking like a mad woman. Kate had suggested I keep my bike in the easiest gear so thats what I did. I was so revved up for the race that I started out going so hard and I was hyperventilating and it sucked SO much. I thought I was going to die. I've never huffed and puffed so much, I just couldn't breathe normally at all. There I was, slowly making my way up the hill (a long, gradual incline with loose woodchips and sand), sounding like I was going to have a heart attack, telling myself in my head to just breathe normally, and so I'd try to concentrate on breathing but that was hard while also concentrating on biking... I ended up walking a fair amount of the first major hill.

Despite the crazy scary beginning of the race, I had a blast once I was on the actual trails. It was a lot of single track snaking through the trees, up and down hills, with rocks and stumps in the way. I realized I really love the single track stuff, it's like a rollercoaster. The thrill of whipping your bike around tight corners is super exhilarating. Fully explains why my body is so sore today too, yanking the handlebars side to side..

I made it through my first lap in 50 min, and I was half tempted to go for another lap right away, but when I saw Leah waiting for me at the finish line I decided I'd much rather get off my bike and take a rest.

The second lap was so much easier for a couple reasons. I at least knew the trail this time and knew what to expect. I also decided to bike in 2nd gear instead of first, as this is what I am more used to. I tend to climb hills standing up on the bike, not sitting. I've always done it this way. I actually really prefer keeping my bike in the hardest gear. I don't know if it's a mental thing or what, but I like to have to work to climb the big hills. So, with that in mind, I took off on my second lap in second gear and remembered to not put all my effort into the first bit. I then used my whole body strength to get up the hill without getting off my bike, and then the next couple as well. I still huffed and puffed, but felt so much more comfortable biking.

I finished the second lap in 45 min, so that made me feel good. As a team we did 9 laps in the 8 hours, which isn't too bad at all. Technically we only raced 7 hours and 40 min (we didn't have time to do another lap before the end of the race.) If my math is correct, that averages out to be about 11.74 km an hour. (Crap... I was trying to figure out how fast I personally went, but now my math skills have left me...if you can figure out how fast I was going, please let me know!!)...

I was so exhausted after the race yesterday, and this morning felt like I had got hit by a truck. But the experience itself was awesome. I came away with a few scratches and a few bruises, but nothing compared to what I thought I might get.
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And now it's getting late and I really should end this...

Choose Your Own Adventure

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure novels that used to be around in the 90s? I remember reading them when I was maybe 10 or so, maybe younger. I never really either loved or hated them..... not as a whole. I loved the fact that I could have different options, but I hated when I picked a shitty one and the book ended on a crap note.

Thus, I started reading them backwards, more or less. I'd read the first little bit, but then I'd get bored and read the endings first. And then I'd pick my favourite and see if I could get there by reading the book and choosing the right path.

I've realized lately that I've kinda been doing this in my life lately. Or, for the last while anyway. There are events in my life that will happen, and I don't know quite what the outcome will be. Well, thats not true. I have 2 options. But for those 2 options, there are also routes to get there. I've been trying to work backwards and figure out how to get to the option I want... or at least what paths will take me to the different choices.

I had a talk with Bailey last night about the choices that I am facing, and when I said what I thought I should do, she made a good point that changed how I thought. So I feel like I keep ending back up at square one.

The problem is, I know what my outcomes can be. I just don't know which one I want. And I want to be able to go down one path and if I don't like it I can turn back the page and try the second option with no consequence. Unfortunately I don't know if this is quite possible.

Wish me luck, the adventure begins...

Watching the day go by....

So I'm sitting here at (name removed), more or less just chilling cuz only one person has come through the doors thus far... and it's oh so exciting!!

Last night was fun times, went out with Dave Wall to a friend's brother's bday party thing. The guy's house who we went to, I don't know him super well, but it was still not too bad. After that we went to The Still and then came home from there. Once I got home, I got in my car and drove up to Listowel and met up with Ange at Mo's. Oh, a typical night for Alanna.

Tonight going to visit wDave in Woodstock and then going to come back this way and watch movies and stuff with Trishelle and Sartaj at Sartaj's house... and then? I have no clue.

Working 12-5 tomorrow... I really should get on my bike tomorrow before work and do a really fast go of the trails... Gotta get in shape!!!! The race is next weekend and I am so not ready for it. I think I did about 10km the other day in under an hour, so maybe I won't totally die, but.... At least I'm not almost dying of my lungs collapsing anymore!

Oh! That reminds me, I have to go buy one of those thingys that tell you how far you've gone... Odometer? Is that what it's called?? Gotta look into a bike light too, cuz the other night I almost died in the bush because I had no idea where I was and it was getting dark WAY too fast.

I really should stop saying "I almost died"... because one of these days I'm going to say that and it will be true and no one will believe me.

Did I write about how Jer's stupid ass dog scratched me and gauged and bruised my leg earlier this week? That sucked a lot. It's a pretty impressive bruise though, I must say.

Oh! I can't wait until Oct! I'm going to Ottawa on "business" for a week! They're flying me up there and then putting me in a hotel for the whole week... and then I return home the friday night and 2 days later I get back on a plane to go to Calgary for the week to visit Camille!!!! I'm pretty excited about both things...

What else?? Hahah you can tell I'm bored because I'm just writing a rambling post....

My brother has mono... that makes me laugh. Cuz I'm just that nice. Maybe I'll catch it from him (though I guess it IS known as the kissing disease, and I won't be kissing my brother) and I'll lose 20lbs like I did last time I got mono back in grade 9. But that was probably more due to the fact that I didn't really eat much for 2 weeks and just drank water and lived on Tylenol.

I'm out of things to go on about... more soon!

Happenings.

It's been a while since I updated... I should have updated sooner.... told everyone about my new job...

::(name removed)::

I'm starting to get the hang of all this stuff I have to do at work... I do these online exercises and then eventually I use them in a real-life situation. I've looked up flights, booked a flight or 2, processed some rail passes, and entered countless ISIC cards and Greyhound bus tickets. I tell students they can get on the bus at South Campus Hall, though I have no real idea of where that is. I can't wait until I actually am doing something that doesn't require assistance. But so far I've got myself through whatever I've done. It's just SO much to learn! My brain hurts by the end of the day at the sheer amount of information that I have crammed into it. But it's good. They tell me I'm catching on really quick, and I get along with the girls I work with.

::Girls Night Out::

The other night out with Ange and Sartaj was thoroughly amusing. All three of us have this tendency to attract attention from random people and so with all of us together something was bound to happen. Ange happened to know this guy at the bar on Sat night, a guy she was friends with way back in the day. At some point along the evening we ended up sitting with him and his friends, having random conversations about everything from Sartaj's house to penis size. Somehow I became the one interrogated for that particular section of the conversation. And in typical fashion I said something that opened up a whole new can of worms and I had to somehow dig myself out of that hole. Argh. The one guy, I'm going to call him Shaun Wall (as he is a mix of 2 guys I know) had the most amusing hair. He fit my oh-so-specific requirements of "silly hair and a nice smile" (I wonder, maybe I should refine that... well, I guess there is "plays guitar" and "makes me laugh"... and "has his shit together" on that list... he met at least 2 of those 3)... But back to his hair... it was the coolest thing. It did whatever I wanted it to... think: Greg from CSI. (mmmm.....Greg).... Anyway... yeah... so it turns out he lives not far from Henry's... so I told him to come visit me and gave him my number. Something tells me he wont call/show up...., but if he does, man, I'm going to die laughing.

::DDay::

It's almost here and I don't know when it is. Nervous as hell, but an anxious nervous, not a like "oh my god, I'm going to die" nervous. Who knows what will happen, but I'm open to everything. Not like I expect it all to fall into place in 5 mins, I know thats not realistic. It could be a month, it could be a day. Whateve. The ball isn't in my court, so I'll play it when it comes my way.

::BIKE RACE!::

I'm going to die, I'm sure of it. I am doing this bike race at the end of the month and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it through cuz I'm out of shape. But I've been "training" kinda, and I think it will be good for me on some level. I need to get back into serious exercise, so maybe this is a jump start.


I think thats all I can come up with right now... more sooner or later.

Information Overload

Today was my first day at the new job... and man, it was overwhelming but at the same time, totally boring.

I arrived early, but had to wait outside until one of the 2 other girls got there. I walked in and was told I could put my stuff at the desk at the back. I expected to have a bunch of paperwork to fill out, you know, the typical first day stuff, but they hadn't sent anything for me as of yet...

Since today was my first day I didn't have any login information for any of the programs we use, like the flight reservation or the accounting software. Both programs are somewhat daunting, because they are unlike anything I've had to use before. I guess what makes them more intimidating is the use of codes and weird letter combos to look things up, more of a DOS system which isn't intuitive, but will require more memorization.

I'm one of those people who learn by doing though, so I couldn't even play around on the programs, trying out different things due to the lack of a login... hopefully one of these days this week I can actually use the program and give it a go.

I felt like a knob when people came in and asked for information on flights here or there, because as much as I'd love to help them, I have no idea how... so I sold bus tickets to people and fun stuff like that. Whoot! hahah.

Soon, I expect, they will have the online training program available to me. Hopefully that helps.

I'm a fast learner, I'm sure it won't take me long to figure it all out... but until that day comes I totally feel like I'm over my head.

*Happy Dance!*

Monday is the first day of the rest of my life...

I got the job as a travel consultant with (name removed)!

I'm so stoked... I had my interview yesterday and sat around waiting to hear from them today... got the phone call around 3:30...

I start on Monday, it's full time with benefits! Thats super exciting as well. Finally I can get my wisdom teeth out and have my Rx's paid for and all that fun stuff!! AND the travel benefits. Oh man, I seriously can't wait.

HAPPY!!!

Back and right in there

Today was my first day back at the store in Waterloo, and it was kinda weird at first... I expected it to feel really familiar, and in someways it did, but at the same time it was kinda foreign. It didn't take me as long to get back into the swing of it all like it did in Ottawa, but mostly because I knew what to expect of things. It was more the not knowing exactly where things were, but thinking I should. The day went SO fast though. I don't know exactly what it was about the day that made it fly by, but it was lunch time before I knew it, and not long after that time to go home.

It's going to take me a while til I stop saying "We" in reference to Ottawa just like it took me a while when I moved to Ottawa to stop saying "we" in reference to Waterloo.

It made me laugh today, actually... I sold a used digital camera to a customer... and it's rare that we get used stuff in Waterloo... and I looked at the tag on the camera and it was in my handwriting... and I checked the back of the tag and it had been filled out like we did in Ottawa... strange that I sell a camera in waterloo that I'd originally seen in Ottawa. Maybe it's just me thinking it's strange.

It's nice the things that don't change around home. There are still signs that I wrote AGES ago up in the store, and I still had a locker with my business card in it... I had my cards with my name on them ready for me.

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On a separate note, I have my in person meeting with the people at (name removed) either tomorrow or Thurs... I'm pretty excited, I really really REALLY hope I get this job. I feel kinda bad that I'll be working a lot less at Henry's, but this is my opportunity to branch out and get into a new field. The perks of the travel industry are just too good to resist.

Wish me luck!

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A few pictures from the weekend home (tell me what you think of my new bangs... I'm still undecided) CLICK!!

Home Sweet Home...

I arrived home yesterday after a totally unexciting drive. My car was stuffed to the max, but at least I got it all in! Dragon was beside me, all cozy in his house... he wasn't totally sure what to think a lot of the time but *shrugs*

I took a tonne of before and after pictures both of me moving out of my place in Ottawa and me moving back home here...

I decided on my way home that i wasn't going to put anything away that I had brought home with me from Ottawa until I'd gone through all the stuff I have here. So I piled all my stuff on my bed and futon, and went to work unloading everything in my closet. I went through all my clothes that I didn't wear, bagged 'em up and said goodbye... then I went through all my shoes... and then I moved my plastic organizer to my bathroom and my bathroom thing to my closet... and proceeded to make my closet into something of an "office". I've also realized that I own a Shoppers' Drug Mart worth of bathroom stuff. I buy things, use them once and forget about them...

My room is pretty much back to tidy now, it needs a good vacuuming and the floor needs a bit of a mopping but other than that it's pretty nice. Dragon has to move up here to his new home, right now he's in the back room at my house, completely unimpressed with being relocated AGAIN.

Now that I'm home I don't really know what I'm going to do all weekend. Matt isn't coming anymore, and so any plans that revolved around him have gone out the window. I think I'm going to a party at a friend from high school's house tomorrow, and I think that I might just make Jer take me tubing on Monday. Cuz I haven't done that all summer. Plans to get my eyebrows done this afternoon and chillin with Bailey in the 'Loo for a few hours.

Pictures from the last 2 days of moving out, the car trip home, and my room in various states of reorganization click HERE