Gorgeous Gorge

Is it November? Really, cause today I was sure it felt like May. What a beautifull day here in Victoria. Days like this when i am at work down in the Harbour I don't think I could anywhere more beautifull. Right on the water watching aircraft landing/taking off, the Johnson street bridge opening for tugs hauling huge piles of gravel or even houses sometimes. Seals swimming around the docks chasing schools of fish and the Coho manuervering ever so carefully in the tight channel.

Here are some photos of two gorgeous planes that came in today. The first is a regular Kenmore flight and the second was a chartered amphib plane.

Napolean

Here are a few photos of Napolean, Joel's dog who I have watched a couple times this year while Joel has been away at World Cups. In the photos it looks like he is sticking his tongue out at you but he actually has a really long tongue and can't fit it into his mouth sometimes. A lot a personality in this little guy.

Napolean ala Michael Jordan


Napolean leading the troops


Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Some TT's

Today at swimming we had two time trial efforts on the board. 100m Fr and 400Kick.

Both went fairly well i think. Out in a 30.0 back in a 32.4 for the 100 and the kick went off in a 7:53 LCM. The last two days have been 5.5k in the pool and the shoulders are now saying ok we are ready for the heat, bring it on.

I am house/dog sitting once again for Joel, national team coach, up near christmas hill in victoria. Napolean, a chiwahwah, is a fury ball of excitement and intensity. We are just back from a walk where we encountered many dogs. Napolean not so good with other dogs so i had to either pick him up or keep him in tight with the leash. If you could cross the furociousness of napolean with a big dog like a german sheppard you would have one hell of a police dog.

I'll see if i can't get some photos of him up here soon.

Boo!

So yesterday I went for an oil change. I wish i knew how to change my own oil cause i think i got ripped right off at this place. The mechanic lured me into putting premium oil into the car thru making me feel guilty about neglecting my car. Reminded me of a Seinfield episode where Jerry's mechanic does the same and eventually kidnaps Jerry's car.

Anyways the mechanic also was trying to get me to have my transmission fluid changed and to have somesort of extra cleaning done. I declined, he persisted with the guilt trip but i stood strong and said no thanks. I remember seeing his expression he wasn't happy with me. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as i could, who knows what there doing under your car. Anyways today i go down to my car and i have a flat tire! I tried changing it but as is the usual case the tire is ceased on to the drum. So I do the patented Russell family move of putting the wheel bolts just loosely on and preceed to drive around hoping it loosens. Nope! Then i pumped it up and realized it held air alright, slow leak. I am convinced the mechanic did this, out of spite or whathaveyou he put a slow leak in my tire to get me back for not blowing $200 bucks at his shop.

On a more positive note last weekend the BC cross country championships were held in victoria. I didn't race but watched instead. With all the racing I do i've forgotten what its like to be a spectator. For this race it was awesome. A lot of fast running and good battles.

I think my first run may be as a part of a relay around Thetis Lake on rememberance day. later in November there is a swimming hell week planned...

Patrick has organized some Yoga for us which we just had today. Last year i didn't go to the yoga sessions, but this year i think i will continue to go. THe body is noticeable limber and relaxed after, well so far anyways.

What an off-season

Well, most professional sports have a 3-4 month offseason where they relax and get fat. Not triathlon folks, try 3 weeks of offseason. I did manage to gain 10lbs in those three weeks though so it was enjoyable.

The other day I was looking back to where i was a year ago. See last year after racing the summer I took 2 or 3 weeks off totally...did nothing athletic. Then at the end of those 3 weeks i did one hard run and then entered into a ridiculous cross country run in Kelowna. Not only did i blow up and drop out from the race, but i also cramped up for days afterward just out of the blue. This year however i am one year older, one year wiser and have a coach to keep me on track. During my break i did some light swimming to keep the body active but no hard efforts. This makes the transition back to training volumes much easier...and no racing for a while!

This week I swam 5 times cycled 3 and ran 3. Next week will be similar and then I'll get into the full program. There will be big swimming volume coming up soon, i think i heard 35k/week possibilties.

It's great to be back with my teammates training again!

Moose Transplant

Moose Transplant

Yesterday I went for a bike ride from Revelstoke. One of my favourite routes is down Highway 23 south. Great rolling ride with some good climbing as well. About half way thru i spotted a female moose on the edge of a swamp just off the road. Beautifull creature and quite a hunk of beast.

That got me thinking.....what i need for next year is a moose muscle transplant. What better way to boost my power on the bike than a slab of moose muscle added to my match-stick quads and while your at it throw some on my glutes as well. Grade A Canadian Moose, its gotta be legal.

Boy was i tried after the ride.

Drove down to Victoria this morning and got in a run around Elk Lake this afternoon.

Turkey for me and Turkey for you...lets eat some turkey in a big brown shoe.

The smell of turkey is filling the house, not long before a feast with the one and only Turkey Lurkey draped with bacon, deeeelish.

Last night I started to watch the canucks game against calgary but went out after the 1st period. So just before i went out i thought i'd tape the game and watch it later. Our tv is funny in that you have to have the tv on and on the channel your taping the whole time so i left the tv on wasting power, but we've got a massive hydro dam up the columbia here eh, so powers not a problem.

I made sure when i was out that no one told me the score or I saw a tv that had highlights. A word of advice, when your taping something don't let people know that, otherwise they'll go out of the their way to deliberately tell you the score. So i kept the taping secret and it worked well..no leaks about the game.

This morning i remembered that i had taped the game and still didn't know the result so i put it on. What-a-game! That is some good early season puck. 3-1 canucks only to have calgary come back to tie it in the 3rd. Into OT and a PP for the flames...no worry..kill it off and then a break away by kesler but he's stoned by kipper. Then with 45s left in OT out of nowhere the screen goes black....click tape starts to rewind....noooooooooooooooo the end of the tape!

What luck, turns out 40s later sedin wins it for em....geeeez!

Enjoy your turkey and wine everyone.