Christmas home renovations
Every year my father and I work on a major home renovation project. This year we continued something that we started a couple of years ago and that is to lay hardwood flooring throughout the house. This year we laid red oak flooring in a spare bedroom. We started by removing the furniture and ripping up some carpet that we put down 15 years ago. The underlying floor is a little uneven some we put down a 3/8 inch plywood board to flatten out the floor. In the end, we put down about three 4′ x 8′ sheets. Over a couple of days, we put down about 140 square feet of red oak planks. We measured our progress in 3 1/4″ segments. Our estimate of the amount of wood to buy were bang on as we only had five spare pieces. All that is left is for us to replace the flooring in another bedroom some time in 2010 and the house will be completely finished in red oak flooring.
The Mysteries of Snow
Over the Christmas holidays I have been staying at my folks place where I have been happy to be away from the Ottawa cold and snow for a while. I knew that the absence of snow wouldn’t last long. Overnight we received two inches of fresh snow which brighten up the muddy front yard. As I was taking Hoover out for his morning walk, I started to notice something that the snow had revealed. The snow exposed all of the local animal activity. As we were walking around the back forty we saw mouse, rabbit, mole, vole and deer tracks in the snow. I spotted where mice had started to eat the bark off tree for food. Flying overhead were red-tailed hawks in search of a daily meal.
Albino/Leucistic Canada Geese
Today on my morning bike commute I spotted an anomaly that caught my attention, a Canada goose with an odd coloring. The bird’s feathers didn’t have any pigments. Once at the office I did a quick google check and Leucistic/albino geese are quick common. Here is a link to more pictures
Leucistic Canada Goose
Swing dancing — “switch dancing”
Something new happened at last night’s Friday night swing dance which I will call a “switch dance” but I’m sure there is another name. We were all on the dance floor watching the jam session and once it was over the dance started up again but with a twist about every 15 seconds we had to change dance partner. The DJ would call out “change” and we would dance with the closest follower. Over about a four minute period I danced with a fair number of women and many of which, I have never dance with before. It was a great way to meet a lot of dancers in a short period of time. After the dance I was able to dance with some new women which was great.
Jason’s Bachelor Weekend
Jason’s Bachelor Weekend
This is a quick chronicle of my most recent trip to Baltimore, MD for Jason’s Bachelor weekend. The adventure started on Thursday morning when I left early for the airport only to find that my flight had been delayed and I would be getting Big B in the evening. Having ready access to my laptop allowed me to kill the time drafting reports for the office. When I arrived in Baltimore I quickly discovered that my luggage was still in Chicago and didn’t clear customs in time. The folks at United Airlines offered to deliver to Jason’s place on Friday afternoon or to ferry it out to Deep Creek Lake. I opted to wait at the airport until the next flight for Chicago dropped off my luggage. Jason met me and we headed over to Safeway to grab some food for the weekend. While cruising the aisles of Safeway, Jason found the ultimate in terms of subs, a Super-Sub. It was huge.
On Friday morning Jason’s dad picked us up and we headed towards western Maryland and stopped at Sideling Hill for lunch. The geology of the rock folding were cool. It would take the three of us to devour the sub. By mid-afternoon we were in Deep Creek Lake and headed over to a place I have always wanted to visit, Swallow Falls. It was under light rain that we hiked on both sides of Swallow Creek. Along the way we checked out Upper Muddy Creek which is the tallest fall in Maryland. A little before sunset we headed over to the house we rented in Deep Creek Lake. It was at time point we started what was to be one of the many highlights of the weekend, playing Kings. One word of advice is to pick your beverage wisely. After playing a couple of rounds of Kings we had burgers and beans for dinner. This was followed by a couple of more rounds of Kings. A couple of hours before sunrise we all headed to be.
We all started Saturday morning possibly a little tired and hung over. Breakfast took the form of strong coffee, scapple, sausages and scrambled eggs. Much of the day was spent taking it easy and we paused the day for a pizza lunch (three large pizzas) We would need some physical activity to work off the meal. Some of us watched while other played ladder ball which is a game where you throw two golf ball attached by a string over to a three rung ladder. We played a couple of rounds of kings as we waited for the steaks, potatoes and aspargus to cook on the barbeque. Once dinner was over we would played more rounds of kings until the wee hours of the morning.
On Sunday morning, I drank twice as much coffee as I did on Saturday morning possibly due to a hang over or most likely being tired. We checked out of the house at noon. Dom, Adam and Eddie headed back to Baltimore. Dave, Mark, Jason and I headed over to Swallow Falls for an afternoon of hiking. I’m really glad we made the second trip as the recent rain had transformed Swallow Falls, Tolliver Falls, and Upper Muddy Creek fall into a torrent of water. Another highlight of the weekend was the hike the Herrington Manor. Along the way Jason found his first geocache. I hope that this starts a tradition.We attempted to find another one near Herrington Manor but ran out of time as the GPS reception in the cedar was bad. A little before sunset we started our trek back to Baltimore and made a quick detour for dinner.
On Monday, Jason dropped off very close to his office. I took the light rail north to the REI store in Timmonium. Today would be a geocaching day. I headed in an easterly direction over to Loch Raven and found a couple of good geocaches. Late in the day, I attempted to find a geocache near Jason office which involved wading across a river but bailed due to time pressure but hope that I get another attempt at next time. I closed out the evening with some swing dancing.
I was up early on Tuesday morning with the goal of finding a couple of geocaches near the hotel. The two I found were in cemeteries which were easy to find and well presented. By mid-morning I checked out of the hotel and headed over to Jason place to chill before my flight. (Thanks again Jason!) At this point, I did something that I really had to do and that was to take a run which helped loosen up my back. It felt good to run along the Inner Harbor in a light misting rain. A little before rush hour I headed over to the Inner Harbor to catch my flight to Detroit.
It was an awesome weekend…
2009 Baltimore Half-marathon adventure
Very soon I’ll start my second Baltimore adventure and thought I would take a moment to write about my most recent one. For much of the summer and fall the people I train with on Wednesday night at the Running Room had been gearing up for the Ottawa Army half-marathon race near the end of September. Coach Phil had designed a training program so we would peak for around that time. I was able to continue the program for another week. As I was heading down to Baltimore I knew that I probably should have done two more 12-13 mile long runs but if I had done so I would not be racing on fresh legs. I spent the final week detraining and allowing my legs to recover. This is a phase of training that I don’t enjoy as you cut back on your training volume and one feels grouchy.
On Thursday, before the race I picked up race packet and like the new system where you pick up your race number outside and then head into Raven Stadium to pick up your gear bag and t-shirt. Friday was spent giving my legs some more time to recover for the pending race. On Saturday morning, I got early and started the fueling routine of eating part of a book of Vector cereal. Jason drove me quite close to starting line area which was great. Thanks, Jason. If I’m lucky may be I can convince him to run the 5km race next year. I spent about an hour chilling at the Raven Stadium before eating my pre-race Clif bar. The idea was to stay relaxed while waiting for the race. About 40 minutes before the start, I headed over to the Inner Harbor to do my warm-up run followed by stretching. With about 15 minutes go I headed over to corral #1 to find a good starting point. After the national anthem was played we started on our 13.1 mile journey by heading north-west over to Patterson Park. The weather started to deteriorate in light rain which reduced one’s traction. On the uphills you would slip backwards and on the downhill you would slide forward. One of the race highlights was running in Clifton Park. A second highlight was running a loop of Lake Montebello before heading over to John Hopkins University before heading south to finish at Camden Yards. I was pleased with the way I finished as I had medical complications along the course. When I started off the racing I was sweating which is not a good thing. I had a migraine and severe stomach pain for much of the race. I was tempted to stop in at the medical tent at the end of the race but decided to pass. In the end, I was pleased with my time and place as I improved on my performance over last year and am looking forward to doing the race in 2010.
While in Baltimore I was able to do some geocaching in Falls Road area. I found a couple of geocaches in Falls Road Park before heading over to Robert E. Lee Park which has an awesome running trail network as well as mountain bike trails.
Three more runs to go…
As I type this blog I realize that time is running out. This a good thing. I only have three more workouts before I do my half-marathon in Baltimore next Saturday. I’ll do my usual 40 minute run along the Rideau Canal tomorrow night. The Friday night swing dancing and Saturday night contra-dancing don’t count as workout. On Sunday morning, I’ll do a 10 mile easy long run. On Tuesday or Wednesday I’ll do my final workout which will most likely be quite peppy. I’m looking forward to next weekend for a whole host of reasons. It caps off my fall training season which has been more intense than usual. I will be able to see my good friend Jason and his fiance.
Swing dancing innovations
This past weekend, I spotted something new on the sidelines of the dance floor. Chip, one of our dancers, who is a professional engineer has built himself a battery powered fan that is driven by ten “C” batteries. C-size batteries are the ones about twice the size of a fig newton or your thumb. Chip has mounted the batteries and the fan on a board which uses to cool himself between dances. The fan face is on a mount which means he can just the angle at which the gusts of air hit his body. I thought it was a cool concept but a little too geeky for me.
Hints of fall…
As I bicycle commute in the mornings I find it is becoming harder and harder to wear a quick dry t-shirt as it is getting colder and colder. I’m at the point where I start the day in a long sleeve shirt and roll up the sleeves for the nightly commute. My legs are much more durable so I’ll probably cycle bare-legged for a little while longer. Along the bike path there are more hints of fall each day, trees starting to develop shades of red, orange and yellow and the trees are starting to thin out as they start their annual shedding cycle. There is now a new hazard starting to appear on the horizon and that is, wet leaves on the bike path. Folks at the office say that they can almost double your stopping distance in an emergency situation could make a bad situation worse. Cycling with studded tires might be an option but I would prefer to take it easy when cycling under these conditions.
It’s almost race time…
In a little over two weeks, I’ll be heading to Baltimore to run in my fourth the Baltimore half-marathon. My training is progressing well and I only have two long runs before I can give my legs some much needed rest. The race comes at a good time as my running coach designed a training schedule so that team peaked for a race in Ottawa last weekend. I just have to continue the program for another week and I’m set to go. As the time draws near, I’m starting to get excited. As well, I’m looking forward to seeing Jason and Emily and catching up with them.
