Preparation for the Fall Colours Race

I managed to have a 2-hour work-out at the Y gym, but no aerobic exercise which I need in prep for the Fall Colours race in October.

Battleship Galactica Season 4.5

I have been following the TV series Battleship Galactica on and off. So, I bought Season 4.5 just to find out exactly how the story ended. The 13-hour long DVDs set is on sale for $39.99 at both The Future Shop and Best Buy.

I do like sci-fi stories from time to time.

Rest Day

Because of chores, I was not able to do any exercise today.

Coming down with a cold, by still up and running literally !!

Despite all precautions, I still caught some bugs somewhere and am coming down with a cold. But my body is strong and am fighting it. Some fresh fruit with vitamin C and a few decongestant capsules should do the job. Meanwhile, I am still preparing for my second race in less than a month (the Army Run half-marathon was on Sep 20 and the Fall Colours race will be on Oct 10).

I ran on the treadmills for 65 minutes earlier today. My max heart rate was around 150 bpm, with an avg of 131 bpm.

Cape No. 7

K and I went to National Library and Archives this evening to see this award-winning Taiwanese movie. The music and storyline are both quite good, and the movie enjoyable.

Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet

I accompanied my Mom to the mid-autumn festival banquet hosted annually by the local Chinese seniors association. As a guest, I was invited to sing on stage, but alas the restaurant owner could not find my song on the Karaoke machine. That was too bad because a lot of the seniors there might have enjoyed this golden oldie, "The Ding Dong Song", which I recalled was being blasted out from loudspeakers at every record store in Hong Kong when it had hit the top of the pop chart. The Chinese version was called 第二春.

Gosh Golly !! Time Flies !!!!!

As predicted back on August 18, 2009, I have been extremely busy. I wrote my last article here on Sept 5, went on a business trip Sept 7-10 inclusive, and have not had an entry for almost 19 days!!! By Golly, I must retrace my steps and fill in the blanks in btwn !!!!

(Thus, all articles from Sept 6 to 23 inclusive will be written and posted retroactively.)

Encounter of the raccoon type

See article posted on Lotusandcedar on Saturday Sept 5, 2009.

Dancing in Unison, Singing in Unison

Both the teleconference at noon and committee meeting in the afternoon went well. In the evening, I tried Line Dance for the first time and it was a lot of fun. The challenge was trying to follow the instructor's fancy footwork and to dance in unison with other participants. Afterward the dancers and the rest of the group sit down and sang some songs together.

Ikea at Pinecrest Mall

Ikea for ideas - so many neat things, so little space and money !!!

Go over the report with a fine-tooth comb

I spent all yesterday evening and this morning going over the Annual Report with a fine-tooth comb. It's amazing how much I missed the first time. I have my own professional standard for report-writing and must be satisfied with the product before it goes out.

Busy Bee

After spending most of the afternoon revising the Annual Report, I went w K to the Y gym at 18h30 for a workout. Due to time conflict, I was not able to attend the Running Room's Wednesday evening practice session.

World War Two started September 1, 1939

Germany invaded Poland 70 years ago, thus starting World War Two (WWII) that would burn the world for the next five years, with loss of many lives.

2weeks1gather Article "If I were a book ..." + Stressful Day

Having slugging it out with Margaret Atwood's "Survival - A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature", I finally completed and posted my 2weeks1gather article on the due date Aug 30, 2009 (see Lotusandcedar). Was I ever tired today zzzzzzz !!!

Anyway, I picked up K at Trail Head after work hours and we went to the gym at 6 pm only to find out J was at the Jewish Recreational Centre !!! We left the gym early. K had some "comfort" food at Dick's to console the stress and disappointment. I dropped K off and went back to the gym to finish my exercise.

Miserable Sunday Weather

The weather had turned cold and rainy since last Friday. It's hard to believe, but I turned the heater on last night. The day time high was in the teens, and at night single digit !!! We had a long cool spring, tornado weather in August, and now this. I feel robbed. Anyway, complaining abt the weather is very Canadian.

Machine-Human Interfacing

The Y Gym was re-opened Saturday Aug 29, 2009. Finally, I no longer had to do my weight training and machine-aided aerobic exercises in little rooms. But my favourite in-door track (16 rounds to a mile) would be replaced by one half its size :(

I tried out the brand new machines. They were not bad once I had figured out how to use them. As well, the body which had been conditioned by the old machines, would need re-adjustments, a process that I called "machine-human interfacing".

Mom II

We went to Lincoln Field again and there were hardly anyone there today. Yeah !!!

Mom I

I went w Mom to Lincoln Field but was advised to come back at 09h30 on Saturday. She said the suggested time would be too early. Okay Mom, let's try 11h30.

Last Zumba lesson

We had a small group this evening in the Fitness Room for Women, as the Y gym itself was under renovation. K didn't come and wouldn't continue with the next session :(

Marathon Training - Farlek Run

I showed up in a crowded Running Room with over 30 people milling around. There were the parents with their young kids for their first family run, beginners who would like to run but would likely walk towards the end, and veteran runners with belts decorated with gel packs like ammunition around their waists.

When it was time to head out, I found I was the only one in the marathon group. The instructor was a twenty something young man who was in top shape. I preempted by making statements that began with "I used to ...." and sprinkled it with " ... but not anymore (grin!)" It worked !! Well, actually he was a nice guy and would have let me run at my own pace anyway.

So the two of us ran all the way out to the Ottawa River parkway, did a 10 K loop around the bicycle path and I finished my one-on-one farlek/interval training in fairly good time - at least that was what I thought.

Back at the Running Room, I caught my breath, gave my "personal trainer" a high-five and thanked him for the run. Upon giving me a smile, he took off like a gazelle. To him, my "hard" farlek training was just a warm-up run for him.