Archive for April, 2007
April 11
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
I couldn’t wait to get home and try on the new blades last night! I went for a short skate (15 km) to test them out. Man, they’re fast! I’ll have to try them out a few more times to get a good feel for them, though. They have a lot more ankle support than my current skates, so they force me to use some different muscles.
This morning I decided to test out the new speed skates. All I can say is “Oh My God”! These things are fantastic! Rollerblade Co. make some amazing products! My typical morning route usually takes me 45-50 minutes. Today I was able to do the round trip in 35-40 minutes! Hopefully these will help me get ahead of schedule on my trip.
The sunrise this morning ranks in my top 5 all-time best. It was spectacular. There were a few clouds near the horizon which made the sky glow pink, orange and yellow all at the same time. And with the mountains in the foreground, it doesn’t get much better.
I met up with an old highschool buddy last night who works for EA Sports. He managed to convince EA to donate a few games for me to auction off to raise money for my Skate For Hope! Thanks Kevin and EA. Much appreciated.
Tonight is game 1 of the Canucks playoff run. I may be pessimistic, but I’m afraid our boy, Luongo, may be tired from a long season. Hopefully I’m wrong.
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April 10
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
And so the long weekend comes to an end.
This morning I noticed that the sun seems to be up noticeably earlier. It was a great feeling stepping outside at 6am and not staring into darkness.
I skated at a casual pace this morning. I didn’t want to push myself too hard after last night’s feast. Crystal and I had some friends over for our Easter dinner. We prepared a succulent leg of lamb, roasted vegetables and salad. I love lamb.
Today started off as predicted…busy. I had to sort through roughly 500 e-mails that had built up over the weekend. I finally got through them around lunch time. I’ve also been working on closing a few larger deals before I leave for my adventure.
While I was in the lunch room, the receptionist paged me to tell me a package had arrived. I was like a kid on Christmas morning! I knew it was something good. Sure enough, the Rollerblade Co. had sent me the skates, clothes and gear that I will be using everyday for the next 5 months. And let me tell you, these skates are nice! I can’t wait to try them out this evening.
Just when I don’t think the day can get any better, I get an e-mail from Sequel Naturals. Sequel is a BC-based (Coquitlam) natural whole food meal replacement producer. They have offered to contribute some of their products to help ensure my body gets the best nutrients possible throughout my journey. I’m really excited about this sponsorship because they came highly recommended to me.
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April 9
Monday, April 9th, 2007
Looks like I missed a couple of days in my journal. Sorry about that… it’s been a busy Easter weekend.
The whale watching was fun. Unfortunately there were no whales to be seen, but there was a lot of other wildlife out and about. We saw hundreds of sea lions, seals, porpoises and bald eagles. The nice thing about the tour is that since we didn’t see any whales, we can go back any time for free until we do see them! We’ll try again next summer.
Yesterday I did some light training. I made sure I covered a lot of distance, but I wanted to try blading at the pace I intend to skate at over the next 5 months. I think some people are forgetting that I’m not racing across the country. I will be pacing myself so I don’t over-exert and risk injury. But even at a casual pace, I still covered around 15-20 km per hour. It all depends on the terrain and the weather.
Crystal and I will be spending all day cooking our Easter dinner for tonight. We’re having some friends over and plan to have a slow-cooked leg of lamb. Should be fun! Does anyone else think long weekends like this should be mandatory at least twice a month?! It’s nice to be able to sleep in until 7:30. I never thought I’d consider 7:30 to be sleeping in.
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April 6
Friday, April 6th, 2007
I woke up this morning with a big smile on my face. Maybe it was because I had just been dreaming that I was King of Pizzaland – where pizza grows wild on the trees and the rain was actually marshmellows. Or myabe not. I think the smile was for a few other reasons.
First, Today is Friday…and it’s Good Friday, at that! Whoohooo! Long Weekend!
Second, last night I played poker with some guys from work. We played 2 tournaments and I finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Not too bad considering I haven’t played in months!
Third, I got to sleep in today (until almost 7am) because Friday is my day off trainging!
Fourth, I had my interview with the St. John’s Telegram yesterday. They hope to publish my story on Sunday and then another story in May when I get there!
Fifth, it’s sunny and warm in Vancouver and seems to be snowing everywhere else in Canada.
Finally, I’m going whale watching tomorrow! I’ve never seen Orcas in the wild, so I’m really excited! And the weather is supposed to be warm, too!
I also want to say Happy Easter to everyone and Thank You to my parents for sending me a little Easter card.
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April 5
Thursday, April 5th, 2007
2 days in a row wearing shorts to train in the morning!! Today was great! It was 8 degrees by 6am. The rain that was supposed to hit us apparently took a sharp turn to the North. No rain in the forecast until Sunday now.
I rotated my wheels las tnight. I can’t believe how much they have worn down. I can only imagine how fast I’ll go through wheels when I’m on the road. I had to get used to the feel of my skates for a few minutes this morning. After you rotate your wheels, it’s amazing how you can feel the blades pulling your feet in a different direction than what you’re used to.
I potentially found another sponsor last night. This company may be willing to offer me free printing of posters to promote my Skate For Hope. I’ll be in touch with them over the next few days to see if we can come to an agreement. Keep your fingers crossed. If things come through, I’ll be able to start sending out professional posters to all the cities across Canada!
Last night I finally picked up a package that had been shipped to me from the University of Alberta. I now have official media handouts, general info sheets, pledge forms, return envelopes and a few other things. The school has provided great support. I hope everyone reads about the DCA Research going on up there. It’s some incredible stuff and I think we could all benefit by looking into it and donating (through me, of course).
I’m sure you’ve all seen or heard about Facebook by now. If you haven’t, look it up. It’s basically a simplified, but better, Myspace. Well I came across a guy named Rick Ralph in Toronto. I guess I’m not as unique as I think I am. But it turns out that Rick is short for Fredrick. So I’m back to feeling unique again. Rick is in the media business, so I’m hoping he can come through and set me up with some contacts in the GTA. Fingers crossed again!
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April 4
Wednesday, April 4th, 2007
It was warm enough to wear shorts this morning for my skate around False Creek! My training sessions are so much more enjoyable when I’m in shorts.
I made great time today. I covered my typical 15 km in around 30-35 minutes. 100 km a day… no problem!
I saw a bald eagle perched on a tree branch near the Burrard Bridge this morning. I’ve always appreciated the eagle for some reason. They just seem to have a very motivating and inspiring presence.
Looks like there’s rain in the forecast for the next while. My current blades are getting to the end of their life. But I’ll use them in the upcoming rain. My new skates should arrive in the next couple days! But I’ll only use them a couple times to get the feel for them. I want to conserve them for the real deal.
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April 3
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
I probably should have posted an entry yesterday, but I got caught up in Prison Break. It should be nice being on the road for 5 months without television!
The last couple days have been so cold. I mentioned the hail on Sunday. Well, we got more hail on Sunday night. And yesterday was only about 5 degrees! I actually wore a toque this morning to train because it was only 2 degrees! But I’m not complaining. This is about as cold as it ever gets in Vancouver. And the local mountains got about 20 cm of snow over night. So spring skiing should be great right now!
On Sunday night, Crystal and I were just sitting down to enjoy a movie when our buildings fire alarm went off (again). I’ve never lived in a building with so many false alarms. Prior to this, people had been pulling the alarm on the 3rd floor, but surveillance cameras have now been installed. This time, we were really taking our time trying to decide if we should actually walk down the 16 flights of stairs. Then Crystal looked at me and said “do you smell something?”. I looked out into the hall and saw some light smoke beginning to accumulate. Decision made. We hurried downstairs and outside. Fortunately we found out that someone had dropped a cigarette butt down the garbage chute which resulted in a smoke-filled building. It was quickly taken care of, but the smell is still lingering in our halls. I think I’m going to start a petition to make our building completely smoke-free.
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April 1
Sunday, April 1st, 2007
Today was an interesting day. Friday was my day off and I didn’t get in nearly as much training yesterday as I had anticipated. So I wanted to make the most of today. I decided to go over to North Van for a bit, hit some of the hills then go over the Second Narrows bridge and into Burnaby. Well, about half way through North Van, I somehow skated onto the course of a triathlon! All of a sudden I was surrounded by guys on bikes flying past me! As I was trying to get out of their way I clipped the back wheel of one rider. Fortunately he didn’t fall, but when my foot hit his wheel I felt a weird snap in my ankle. To make a long story short, I have a cracked bone and torn ligaments. It is with deep regret that I’m going to have to postpone the Skate For Hope until the Spring of 2008. Thanks you everyone for your support.
Oh, and I should also mention…April Fools!
Training was great today. I did actually go over to North Van and across the Second Narrows bridge (which, by the way, is not the most ‘rollerblade-friendly’ bridge in the city). The path over the bridge was very rough, wet, dirty and narrow. I think I’ll be avoiding that one from now one.
Once I got into Burnaby, I noticed a dark cloud overhead and felt a few light drops of rain. As I turned towards Vancouver to head home I saw what looked like white cherry blossoms falling in the breeze. To my dismay it wasn’t cherry blossoms… it was hail! Now I can say I’ve been training in everything from sun to rain to wind to hail. Luckily the hail only lasted 5-10 minutes and the sun came back out.
For some reason I decided to follow Hastings St back into Vancouver. I know East Van can be sketchy, but I couldn’t see any problems in the middle of the day. But the closer to Main St I got, the more uncomfortable I felt. When I finally saw a guy sitting on the ground putting a needle in his arm, I decided to change streets.
I made it all the way home with no problem. It was a good session and worked out to be around 35-40 km.
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