Friday, April 30, 2010

Crunch Time: Studying for IB MATH

Eh. not particularly the best race I've ran but it was better than Southlake. The weather definitely played a huge part in my results. I hate the weather right now,it's been humid and hot for the last two days - it's going to rain but it hasn't yet. Ever since I popped something in my hip last fall I've had issues with my hip before it rains - it just aches and aches before it rains though it doesn't ache when it rains.

I started off well at a 4:20 pace give or take but around 3 or 4k I had to twice b/c BOTH of my shoes became untied. Lovely, eh? Around 5 or 6k I had to stop again b/c my hip was aching really badly - it was 6:00/k - ouch. I picked it up again at 7-8k for a 4:37. My 8-9 k was basically a 4:00 flat. The last k came in at 4:19 with a huge sprint in the end - I'm just so disappointed b/c if it were not for my hip I could have done a sub 45 easy.

Sporting Life 10k 2010: 46:52

Our trek home was fun though, we kind of lost some people who were supposed to go home with Mac & Civ but eh they know their way downtown, if needed they can take the subway to Finch and hop on a bus. It was starting to drizzle a tiny bit when we hopped onto the Dufferin bus and the whole bus was packed with runners. Civ was wearing an Iron Man hat and some guys asked if he did one - he was forced to admit he never did it, it was funny at the time. One of the conversations on the subway was totally inappropriate, manscaping, it was really awkward b/c I was the only girl in that conversation (4 guy teachers, my guy friend, and myself). Never want to repeat that conversation again, ever. Especially with these people.

!saw Pascal today, haven't seen her since last June, it was nice.

It feels really weird b/c the Sporting Life 10k that I did last year was my first road race and now, roughly a year later I've done so many more road races, the count up to today:
-4 x 10k (Sporting Life twice, Angus Glen 10k, Toronto Island Girl 10k)
-2 x half marathon (Toronto Waterfront Half, Southlake Half)

Personal bests:
10k - 45:59 @ the Island Girl 10k
Half marathon - 1:42:40 @ the Toronto Waterfront Half
5k - 21:00 - trail @ school

I know I can get under 45 and maybe into the 43-44 range, physically I am able to do it now as long as the race course is fast and the weather conditions are good. I've also done training runs where I hit 21k at around 1:22-26 so I know I need to aim for that for the next half (Toronto Waterfront half) b/c I know I can do it physically - mentally, I still need some work.

I have yet to do a 5k on road and I'm looking forward to that next week as long as it isn't too hot. I'm hoping to hit the sub 21 range which I think I can do b/c I've done the trail in 21:00 and there are hills on the trail.

Got to get back to studying

Notes:
***Some guy died during the Sporting Life today, he was 60 something and I guess he overexerted himself. One of the teachers with us is a fireman and he checked for the guy's vitals. RIP.
***we came in as the 2nd overall school - if it were not for the fact I had a bad race we would have came in 1st
***WILL IT RAIN ALREADY, MY HIP REALLY ACHES

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Cardinal Carter Track Invitational

Kind of pissed at my dad right now, during the ride home he was trying to hand me tips about my race. He only saw the last 300 - from after I was passed by 2 other girls. During the ride he asked why I didn't win my heat and when I told him my split times he told me I shouldnt' have looked at my watch and should have followed the girl in front of me I WAS THE LEAD GIRL FOR MOST OF THE RACE. He then went on to say I shouldn't have slowed down after the 1st lap (I know I shouldn't have slowed down but at the time it seemed right to slow down) - he doesn't understand I need to avoid the chances of getting burned out too early - I didn't want to make the same mistake everyone does, not to mention I'm a DISTANCE runner (real distance) so I accelerate as I run. He has never ran more than 400 from when he and I used to race with my brother when we were little, he doesn't follow running or anything related to running so I don't see how he can give me tips when he doesn't understand the concept at all. I hate how he thinks he's always right but he isn't. I think I would know more about running than him; since I race and all.

I hate the waiting game, I'm currently still waiting for the results of the 1500 to be posted - I left York less than 5 min after my race so I have no idea what I placed or what my time is.

I am so mad at myself, this was not a good race. I ran a 5:23 1500 yesterday so I should have started with Heat 1 but I didn't b/c I wasn't sure if I could run that again and those girls looked so pro - they looked like they can run it under 5. I was boxed in for about 200m until I decided I couldn't race like that so I popped out onto lane 2 or 3 and made my way up - I did not plan it out well, I ended up moving up on the curve which is not good. My first lap was faster than I expected, I ran it in 1:21 so I made myself slow down even though my body could have continued at that pace. My 2nd lap was a 1:34 - a little slower than my target time. Last lap was a 1:29 which was pretty much dead on target but I gave up the lead on the last 300m of the race. I wasn't sure when to start sprinting and with about 300m to go 2 girls passed me, as they passed me I realized I should start sprinting but it was already a bit too late - my final sprint wasn't as powerful as I wanted and I hadn't reached my max. pt yet when I got to the finish line. I think my problem was I had such a huge lead in the beginning I had no idea where the other girls were coming in at.

I'm not sure what my time is but I think I might have beat some girls in heat 1 - I kind of wish I ran in heat 1 so I could be pushed to my max which I wasn't today. I really want to know my time but it's still not posted yet online. If I didn't beat any girls in the first heat I think I'm 18 out of approx 45 - I think there was around 3-4 heats of 15 girls so I guess that's not too bad but not the best I can do.

Sidenote, my friend, Jaime C, came in 7/34 for 100mH - so proud of him, damm you club kids
***taxi driver who drove us to the meet drove soo slow and took the longest route, not to mention he was late so I couldn't nap before my race
***on one of the washroom trips I made, as I entered, I heard someone say "there's an Asian here!" - it was mostly white & African Canadians today - I was 1/2 of the Asian girls who ran the 1500

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

No Worries, It's not my sweater

I was volunteering at my elementary school today and one of the kids there live on one of the streets I run on during my standard 11k - I often leave my shirts or excessive clothing on her tree when I overheat. *b/c of the virus I didn't run last week and when I did run I didn't do the standard run so I haven't seen her in a while.

She informed me that last week there were police cars and dogs in her neighourhood b/c some guys were some sort of fugitives and they had broken into 2 houses. She then continued onwards that the police found some clothing and her whole family thought of me instantly. It's nice to know that the entire family associates me as the girl who leaves her clothes on their tree. But no worries, the sweater the police found was not mine - I was at home sick, coughing and hugging a box of tissues.

The one day something interesting happens in my town I miss it.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Finishing was Enough: Southlake Half Marathon

The Southlake Half did not go well - the fact I finished it and was not last is enough for me. I started the race off pretty well (considering the circumstances) and was on track at 5k for a 1:35 half but at either 5k or 6k (can't remember) the phlegm caught up to me and I nearly threw up my breakfast - dry heaved and threw up, the side effects of that virus - took around 10-20s which caused me to give up the distance I was leading by. I think I was still top woman until 6-7k but really, the race ended for me when I threw up. Around 15k I gave up, I actually walked about 1-2k of the race, physically I think I could have still ran a 1:40 but mentally I couldn't do it - my nose was clogging up and I was feeling just sick. I'm just happy I finished. I almost always run negative splits and I think this is the first time my 2nd half is longer than my 1st half. I have never ran a race this horrible in my life (even worst than the Angus Glen 10k where my hip was really messed up).

The course of this race was tough, I've done long runs where I hit 24k at 1:48 or less with the 21k mark around 1:22 so I'm just disappointed in my results, even with all the hills for this race I should have been able to beat 1:40. The number of hills during this race was disgusting, I felt like all I was doing was going up hill - running on Aurora Heights Dr was torture too b/c the road was so rough I felt like tripping every 2s. This race was just not good for me.

On the bright side my running buddy G came in 4th overall woman at a time of 1:41: -, so proud of her but at the same time I can't help but feel that could have been me. For a course like this 1:4- is an amazing time. I can't help but want to just forget this race and move on.

Post race I felt pretty good but about 30-45min after I was light headed and I felt like I was going to faint - I don't think it was b/c I was dehyrated or low on carbs b/c I had gateorade & post race pancakes. I don't know what is going on but it scares me - I battled the light headedness the whole day. When I finally got home from the race I couldn't even stand in the shower long enough to condition or wash my hair properly. Eating wat hard - made my mom bring up my lunch and ate it while covered in blankets but I was literally forcing food into my body - had no appetite. From there I slept for 4-5h which helped but I still dont' have much of an appetite.

Time: 1:52:28.3
Feeling: Sick, tired, disappointment

I think I'm going to take the rest of this month easy - no runs above 15-16K and then start hammering it for the Waterfront Half. I wasn't prepared at all for Southlake - b/w the slump, the fall, and that horrendous cold virus which I'm still not recovered from, I barely did any training. I'm taking June to late Sept not only as training for the Half but to start training for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in Sept 2011 for my debut - I want my first full to qualify me for Boston (not that I can go since it will be during uni exams and I won't have the money to head out there). I'm aiming to get up to 30-35k this summer for a long run and adding in some more speed work - aiming to do "Around the Bay" next year which is older than Boston.

Spring Road Racing:
April 25 - Southlake Half
May 2 - Sporting Life 10k
May 9 - Markham Women's 5k

Spring Track:
April 29 - Cardinal Carter Track {5:10 -1500 - b/c they're not taking us day 2 I can't do steeple or 3000}
May 13 - BCSS Track {1:00 - 3000m}
May 17 - YRAA Day 1 {9:00 - Steeplechase}
May 18 - YRAA Day 2 {11:00 - 3000m}

***Must go start my ToK Essay - didn't do it early b/c I was studying for math exam or sleeping.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

There are some damn crazy hockey fans out there

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/postedsports/archive/2010/04/23/police-say-man-killed-wife-over-dispute-about-penguins-triple-overtime-game.aspx

I still can't believe he killed b/c of the Ottawa vs. Pens thing - rooting for the Pens now that my babies, the Leafs, didn't make it. Rooting for SJS, Van, & Pit. I can't stand the Sens or the Habs - they can not win, especially the Habs. As much as I personally don't like Crosby - he's too much of a poster boy, not doing too much during the whole Olympics tournament and scoring the tournament winning goal is too story perfect for me, not to mention the number of fan girls he has is scary (I also find his huge butt kind of a turn off not to mention he's not hot at all) - I have to admit he's a great player. Scoring 51 goals isn't easy and it just shows the amount of skill he has - very happy Stamoks shared the award and Ovechkin didn't win - got to root for the Canadian boys! Enough with the hockey ramble - Caps losing to the Habs last night shocked me though.

I had my Italian oral today and I totally did not expect to do it today - I had wanted to do it this week but b/c I was sick and studied non-stop for bio (when I wasn't passed out) I didn't write anything for the oral during the week. I thought the final date of the oral for everyone would be next week so I showed up to class (late) with nothing written and with no knowledge on what I wanted my oral to be based on.

Decided to base it on the sports popular with Canadian-Italian teens and I actually wrote it within 45 min - around a 4 minute speech - with only a little help from the dictionary. I basically did the thought process in French and translated to Italian - I really wish I have a French-Italian dictionary. It didn't turn out too bad - the grammar and vocabulary wasn't as sophisticated as I wanted it and I didn't get to inject any idiomatic expressions but overall it was actually pretty decent in my mind. I actually had it memorized pretty well - well not dead on memorized since I don't do memorization - I just memorized the order of the points and I kind of summarized them in order - the vocabulary and grammar was simple enough that I could kind of make it up on the spot since I have issues with memorization. My teacher was very surprised I was able to get it done and how smoothly the speech part went - the questioning part, it didn't go so well. I understood the questions but I had some issues with replying - my speech in Italian isn't all that great not to mention I have a very heavy french accent.

Racing tomorrow and I'm not sure if I'm ready - my nose needs to be blown every once in a while still, and I'm still coughing a bit. Hopefully I will be 100% well by tomorrow. I just want to finish, that is my goal tomorrow - if it were not for the circumstances I would say finish at the top but that is not going to happen now. Mais comme les Francais disent, "c'est la vie". - also not sure if the 15k I did last night was wise, I usually take the day 2 days before a race off and do a 5k the next but I really had to make sure I could run over 10k so I did a 15k last night, got a 5k today.....

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

To the Finish Line

To the Finish Line

“I'm running
To the finish line, finish line, finish line
I'm running
To the finish line, finish line...”

Lynn Olsen squinted into the distance, as if she was looking for her finish line, mouthing the words to Brooke Hogan’s “Finish Line” in between her quick steps. She pictured the colossal red inflated structure she knew would be waiting for her at the end of her 21.3k journey – an expedition her body would never forget. With every stride made, her arms had contracted and relaxed as they propelled her forward and granted her momentum, likewise, her leg muscles did the same as she placed each foot before the other. Each nanometre made toward the bronze metal disks hung on red ribbons was an effort, with each kilometre she passed, her body became more fatigued with her leg muscles protesting from the effort.

The first 15k of the race had been a breeze, she had enjoyed every step of it – her legs had carried her swiftly past 5 water stations and 3 aid stations, landing lightly on slightly on her forefoot with each step. She smiled as she recalled the time that had been displayed on her watch as she had gracefully bounded beyond the 15k marker. The digits that had surfaced on her watch 5k ago were etched boldly in her mind, digits that male runners would scorn, digits that elite female athletes would scorn, but digits that made her smile.

She needed to recall the memory of those digits now, she glanced down at her knee before quickly looking away. The skin on her knee was still pretty raw and just starting to scab – she had opted not to use a bandage today as it limited her ability to manoeuvre her knee not to mention it changed her strides. The unaided eye would only be able to take in the rawness of her knee but that was only the start of her knee problems. Her right knee, the dominant knee, was quite swollen partially due to her fall two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago while on her daily run she had tripped over a rather large piece of cardboard which had once been a cardboard box, a metre long and a foot high which someone had littered. Going at a 4 minute per kilometre pace she had tripped over the damn piece of recyclable before flying a few metres and landing with full impact on her knee. The fall had scrapped away all the skin on her right knee as well as left this very important joint very swollen for a week and rendering her to take a complete week off of training.

Two weeks later it was no longer the size of a grapefruit but it was still quite swollen, at the 18k mark she almost fell when she slipped on someone’s wet paper cup – she hated it when runners threw their cups into the middle of the road – as she had braced herself to avoid falling she was forced to stride in such a way most of her body weight was impacted on her right leg. That split second with the strange twisted stride had placed unwanted and unnecessary pressure on her right knee, making it start to swell up again.

She tried not to cry as she felt a twinge of pain as her right foot hit the ground, this race had started off as a miracle but the ending was just as bad as she had feared. Not only did she have to take a full week off training before of the swollen knee from the fall but the week before she had gotten a horrendous cold. The cold had forced her to take a full five days off and refused her the last long run before a race. Her training for this half marathon had just not gone well, between the slump in March because of her workload at school, the fall, and her cold, she had not done a single 80k week. She shook her head, during the summer she had done 80k weeks with ease, easily topping 300k a month. But that was the past and she couldn’t help it now – though she did make a mental reminder in her head to pick a different race next year; a race further into the spring road racing season.

“Let’s go girl! Only 500m left! You can do it”

“Final stretch! Pick! It! Up! Come on girl!”

“Only 500m left! Let’s go!”

Lynn blinked fast, was she dreaming? Did the woman in the gray jacket holding a baby just say there was only 500m left? She glanced at the sign before her, never mind 500m left, there was only 400m left. She took a deep breath and picked up her pace. She imagined she was running a 400m repeat for track practice. She imagined her slump in March was Kara Goucher, the fall was Teyba Erkesso, and her cold was Megan Brown – she imagined she was racing the Boston Marathon with them as her opponents. Picking up her legs more and pumping her arms even more she saw the colossal red inflated structure was only a few metres in front of her. Drawing in a sharp breath she imagined elbowing the other three who were matching her stride by stride, out of the way. She made one final surge and left them the dust, not just any dust, her dust.

Lynn Olsen grasped for air as she looked up at the digits staring down at her, 1:29:26. Never had she thought she would be able to run such a time at the age of 16. When she first started running a year ago she never even thought she could run a half marathon much less in such a short time. She had envisioned such a time in her dreams but to see the digits looking down at her in reality was shocking. She had almost given up when she had her slump, and when she fell, and when she caught that horrendous cold but she hadn’t. She smiled as she realized she had a new personal record but anyone who knew Lynn Madison Olson knew that smile was also because she overcame the inner demons and pushed – she was unstoppable no matter how difficult the obstacles were.

“I'm running
To the finish line, finish line, finish line
I'm running
To the finish line, finish line...”

Smiling as a volunteer placed a finisher’s medal around her neck, Lynn Olsen mouthed the words to “Finish Line” before she looked at the sun and whispered to herself, “I made it to the finish line.”

Spring for Green!


Took the day off school today b/c I had breathing issues last night due to my stuffy nose - thought it would be better to take the time for a speedy recovery to become speedy - corny I know. This sick day was pretty sweet I have to say. I made my parents take me to the local Running Room so I could grab up some 5mm spikes since my current ones for XC are 6mm - for track it's a max of 5mm (6.99 not including tax! so expensive). Onwards I trekked to the mall which was 1 min away where I grabbed a "feel better soon" present for mysel: 2 bottles of OPI (10$ a bottle but they had a buy one get one 50% promotion going on). I really wanted another bottle. During an attempt to study for bio I painted my toes since it's a pre race ritual for me to paint my toes the week of a race - such a pretty green colour though I am a failure at painting my toes - I was completely over the lines and just sloppy. - as I read this paragraph I can't help but think my brain really isn't working b/c the writing style is of a 2 year old.

http://joeythegenie.xanga.com/725741466/spring-for-green/ (original post)

***was able to managed a 5k yesterday
will do standard 11k today
15k tomorrow
11k Thurs
Rest Fri
5k Sat

Monday, April 19, 2010

if only I were Teyba Erkesso

Left after ToK, I was basically dying in class - not a coherent thought in my mind. I feel like crap right now, stuffy nose and a slight fever. I am not running that last long run today (hopefully tomorrow, tomorrow is the last day I can do a long run and be in prime condition to race on Sunday), hopefully I'll be able to muster some kind of energy to do at least a standard 11k but even walking from ToK to the office left me exhausted. I feel so bad for Jimmy (a classmate) b/c I took K's seat today and I literally turned around and slept on Jimmy's desk b/c I couldn't keep my head up. I feel like crap.

On the brightside, b/c I came home early, I was able to watch the finish of the Boston Marathon - I wish I could run like Teyba Erkesso. At one point she had a 2 min lead! wow. If only I could run that fast - my goal is to make it to Boston on my first try - which isn't impossible since the qualifying time is 3:40 for W18. I hope I can pull off a fast time on Sunday but right now, even finishing sounds amazing to my extremely stuffy nose and exhausted body. I have no desire to eat or do anything whatsoever.

Need to somehow get the engery to study for that bio test.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

95% better - only stuffy nose left

I finally gave in and took a Tylenol (I hate swallowing pills; I need to bit them) and I'm feeling a lot better - to the extent I even felt a bit hungry and made my mom make me chocolate covered pretzels - b/c I had no appetite for the last 2 days she wasn't pissed at my rather unusual request at all. For the last 2 days even the thought of running made my head hurt but right now my legs are just twitching to run (if it were not 10 at night and I have school tomorrow I would head out now). I take this as a sign I can do a long run tomorrow. I think I'm going to period 1 &2 but I'm going to skip the last 2 tomorrow so I can sleep, catch up on work (bio & math), and run - the long run. I take this as a sign I'm almost better - other than the fact my nose is still a bit stuff. I hate being sick.

Fexibility - I hate Being Sick

I did not make 80k last week:( - the training for the half on Sunday did not go well, I have a feeling this spring road racing season will not be that great. I don't think I've made 80k for the whole 3months that I set out to train for the race. I feel so disappointed in myself since over the summer for 3 months I was doing 3 x80k/week + 1x 66k+/week, equally to over 300k a month. I think I'm a stronger runner since the last half but I'm not where I had hoped to be, I was hoping for a time b/w 1:29-1:38 but now if I even hit 1:38 I would be very thankful.

I would have made 80k last week but I started feeling sick on Friday night so I didn't do my 2nd run, and yesteday I didn't even head out. I think I was sick b/c I was doing multiple workouts in a day last week and on top of that I wasn't sleeping well so my body was pretty tired & weak and since everyone at school was sick the virus was able to invade into my cells (I know it's a virus b/c I don't have a fever and only a sore throat and a slighty congested nose). I am 90% recovered though - surprised b/c viruses usually need 5 days to run its course, but then I normally have a really strong body, I can't do my long run today b/c I'm not fully recovered but I plan on doing the last long run before hitting off my racing season tomorrow.

Yesterday was hell, my throat was just killing me. I had no clue what to do since it was viral and I didn't have a fever so all I did was lay there and try to sleep - which I had issues doing; I can usually sleep anytime anywhere but for no more than 3-4hstraight before waking up. Swallowing was not cool, I was living on Halls. I had to go to Italian yesterday b/c I had to hand in my essay, present, and write a test as well as ask the teacher questions about the oral & b/c I couldn't eat in the morning (other than a tiny apple) I became fully drugged on Halls - I'm kind of lightweight when it comes to drugs (you know those Mortin pain patches? they knock me out). I'm just so glad my throat is no longer killing me and I can swallow without flinching - just so happy my body was able to stop the virus inhibiting my cells for a even longer time. Apparently vitamin C doesn't really help with the prevention or recovery from a virus unless you are exposed to extreme exercise - I wouldn't call what I've been doing extreme but I guess there's correlation - my friend J was probably the one who gave me the virus (same issues, only she had a stuffy/runny nose too) and I totally recovered faster.

I'm so behind b/c I didn't do anything yesterday, I need to do everything I meant to do this weekend in one day - kill me now. But I guess since I'm no longer doing my long run today I have more time - but then I need to do what I planned for tomorrow, today. I hate being sick.

I guess what I learnt from being sick is that I have to be fexible, I have to be able to rearrange my activites from one day to the next if something happens.

Spring Road Racing:
April 25 - Southlake Half
May 2 - Sporting Life 10k
May 9 - Markham Women's 5k

Spring Track:
April 30 - Cardinal Carter Track {9:00 - Steeplchase| 3:45 - 3000m} - crap going to miss Bio
May 13 - BCSS Track {1:00 - 3000m}
May 17 - YRAA Day 1 {9:00 - Steeplechase} - ah. going to miss Bio again. Ciobanu is going to hate me
May 18 - YRAA Day 2 {11:00 - 3000m} - going to miss Bio trip, once again, Ciobanu is going to hate me

These track dates & times are not to my favour, steeplechase = missing bio which is not good - when I missed Monday b/c of an upset stomach (don't eat pineapple on an empty stomache) I was left so far beind. arg. I'm not sure if I should run the 1500, in track I'm not expected to do well since it's so long (well I don't expect myself to do well but the head coach does even though I've explained multiple times that I hate the shorter distances), I kind of want to do get more racing experierence but at the same time the 1500 is usually run on the mornings and I can't skip morning classes (anymore than I already am skipping) - afternoon classes I'm fine w/since we're basically done.

***Didn't realize the Cardinal Carter meet was so soon, will have to do the half, take 2-3 days off to recover then pop in some speed work before racing (say yay to less than 2 practices)

Friday, April 16, 2010

I need more time in a day

Since I skipped my run Tues I needed to do a double today but I slept through the "appropriate" time for running, woke up at 9 and my parents starting yelling about how dangerous it is to run at 9 - I find this hilarious and upsetting b/c during the summer I had some runs at 11 at night. B/c of this I need to do a morning run at 6am and an evening run at 6pm tomorrow - so I can have enough recovery time for my last long run before the half (next week!).

My thighs are still sore from my triple workout on Wed - weightroom, track, long run - arg. But they're not as bad as yesterday; I could barely walk yesterday. I hate how some people seem to think running is such an easy sport (namely the guy rugby players, drivers, & cyclist (I once heard one tell his friend that they were faster than me, I would hope so considering you're on wheels)). Running isn't just about running, it's about the number of k you run a week, how fast you can run, and building up the less used muscles to balance the body. It takes time and effort - especially those double workouts & speed work (I hate speedwork). Running is such a mentality sport I'll sometimes be fine physically after a hard workout but mentally I'm falling apart - I need to work on my picturing & visioning skills for racing. I need to be able to convince myself I CAN get to the top and own the rankings b/c physically I should be at least in the top 5 but mentally I'm not doing so well do to recent injuries (shin splints, that fall a few weeks ago) and that slump.

I need more time in a day, not only do I need more time to dedicate to running but I need more time for schoolwork. As of right now I have an italian dialect essay due tomorrow (which will need to be presented to the class - need to work to get rid of that heavy french accent) & an italian test on the history of italian opera & the future tense. I also need to work on that Italian oral. I have until 4am in the morning to get all this done (I haven't started anything yet) so I can get a 2h nap before my run. I need more time in a day.

I have my weekend all planned out, Saturday is dedicated to finishing all the math revision packs I haven't finished and to relearn statistics, probability, & integration. Sunday I have to rewrite those exams from Jan & do the practice exam for math. I also need to find time to hardcore study for the bio test on Wed - I just love translation & transcription of DNA. I need some time to take back and chill but with the math exams in less than 3 weeks I really need to buckle down and spend literally every single waking minute studying for it.

If only a day had 28h in it, that would make my life so much easier - as long as no more time is spent in french class - love the language but I hate sitting in the classroom - french trip on Wed! we're heading to see a play then lunch at Le Marché Richtree - amazing food.

***Excited for track season - we're actually heading to invitationals this year, instead of 1 track meet (no exclusive I'll make it to Centrals & OFSAA) we are heading to 3:). I'm kind of excited but not really, I hate the shorter distances but at the same time it's cool to see the pro people run. I really want to make Centrals & OFSAA this year but I don't think I will be able to - unlike with the longer distances, middle distance is really hard for me as I have to run fast. Hoping the 3000 and the steeplechase will get me to Centrals and we'll see from there. Track meets this year is the death of me, I have to miss a bio trip for the 3000, if I make Centrals I have to skip the Sudbury trip and if I make OFSAA i have to skip UNYCA - but then since I probably won't be making Centrals or OFSAA this year I can relax.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Standard Protocol: Lane One for Runners

I just had one of the better days of my life today, the bio test was EASY. Easiest test I've written all year:). It does suck that I somehow managed to miss some of the questions (2) for the assignment which means I have .5 off for each and I managed to somehow do questions that didn't need to be done - can we say I had a blonde moment?

I'm a little behind for the math reviews but I'm going to spend all weekend studying for that bio test & the math exams - so scared about the math exams. I can't believe my IB math exams are 3 weeks away - need to buckle down and STUDY.

Went to track practice today, full practice though I have to admit I was late (but I have a good excuse; I stopped by the weight room for a quick workout first).
2x400 warmup
4x400 steady pace (I'm guessing 4:45/4:40/k pace)
1x800 - 2:59, yeah it's really slow. I was boxed in for maybe the first half lap, my split was negative, and I had so much energy left but it's understandable since this is the first 800 in a long time and I'm not sure how to run it
1x400 warmup after stretching
3x400 -1:21, 1:25, 1:27, could have been been faster but I was trying to get steady times for each, my back stretch was fast, had so much energy left in me
Got to run 11k in about 15 min - just enough time to finish blogging & have a 12 min nap

***
-some rugby guys were walking on the inside lanes (lane 1) during warmup today and I told them to get onto the outside lanes if they were going to walk (standard track protocol), they then proceeded to tell me,"f**k you" to which I replied, "why don't you f**k yourself" before running away (simply b/c they were traveling too slow for me to continue the talk). As I passed them again on my 2nd lap they stepped into lane 1 on purpose to piss me off - honestly, you play rugby, you don't need lane one so why are you hogging it? It's standard protocol. Guys like this are such douches
-I love it when Gr 12 guys randomly come up and say stuff like "whaddup" to me - I always wonder why they do so since I don't know them....

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Cibo in Little Italy

Trip down to Little Itay, downtown Toronto with my Italian class today! Other than the fact the bus was 1h late the trip went by pretty smoothly.

Prazo a Capitol Trattoria Pizzeria

Rating: 4/5
My friends and I got to the restaurant a bit late so I didn't really get to look at the menu before ordering but upon looking up the menu online my mouth is watering just thinking about the stuff I'm going to get when I go back.
We prepaid for the trip beforehand and the deal the teachers made called for pizza for lunch - before you cringe and think about the soggy, greasy, pizza from the generic places come Pizza Pizza, Pizza Hut, & Pizza Nova, take a deep breathe and refocus. I ordered a Margheritta (first pizza on the menu) which normally calls for tomato sauce, mozzarella, e oregano but b/c I don't eat cheese I requested a no-cheese pizza which was granted - they were very accommodating to my wishes.

I quite enjoyed my very plain but very delicious Margheritta - I love the crispy thing crust and the tomatoy flavour of the sauce and there was just the right amount of oregano. I haven't touched pizza in around 3 years (since a rather unfortunate experience at the caf) but I loved my experience today - I am definately heading back to Capitol for more pizza.
[DSC05014]

Post pizza, we actually had dessert at Capitol which really surprised me b/c we paid 20-25$ (can't remember exact price) for the trip and I know for a fact the cost of busing was 12$+ (school buses are expensive). The apple pie they gave us wasn't the best - it would have been amazing had it been warm but I did love the fact the apples were not soggy but rather sweet, slightly tart, and munchable (is this even a word?).
[DSC05016]

Overall Capitol Trattoria Pizzeria is a 4/5 - loved the pizza and I thought the restaurant was very accommodating as they had closed it down for us, not to mention they granted my no cheese pizza request. I am absolutely going back there again - can't wait to take my friends there.

Dolce Gelato
What's an Italian theme trip w/out some GELATO? (well gelati since we're using plural)
I forgot to take pictures but my experience at Dolce Gelato was amazing. I wanted a scoop of every single flavour - it all looked so good! but I couldn't since my stomach & wallet weren't big enough. After eye raping every single flavour I settled a scoop of limone - it was amazing. It was sweet, tart, smooth, rich, and just pure lemonly - I love the taste of lemons. It was such a clean, crisp, springy flavour. Yum. Io amo gelato! I absolutely loved my experience at Dolce Gelato - the guy serving me my ice cream was kind of cute which helped but the woman there was just so cute as she took in my excitment over gelato. This was my first experience with gelato and I am so happy it was at Dolce Gelato

Capitol Trattoria Pizzeria
597 College St.
Toronto, ON M6G 1B5
Tel: (416) 534-2942
http://capitol.sites.toronto.com/index.html

Dolce Geltao
697 College Street
Toronto, ON
Tel: 416-915-0756

***also bought my mommy some kind of rolled spreadsheet cake with chocolate filling - it's amazing - not sure what it was though
***as I was leaving Dolce Gelato I called back, "I will be back" and guess what? I"m looking forward to my next visit already!
***I wanted to buy a pint of gelato to take home but I was scared it would melt - but next time I'm totally buying myself a pint of limone and just eating it out of the tube

Friday, April 9, 2010

Got to go with Spinoza

Normally I am a Voltaire girl - "I may disagree with what you say, but will defend to death your right to say it" but after an incident on my last blog where a white surpremist left me a slug of comments which I started to find really offensive to my background I am now a Spinoza girl - "Everyone has the right to an opinion, but no on has the right to be wrong about the fact that opinion is based". At first I didn't have any issues with the fact the poster's comments were slightly offensive b/c I was interested in what he was saying but after a while, it got pretty offensive - he was literally attacking my culture and background. I dont think I've blocked anyone before but now I have. (this is from my xanga blog)

Moving onwards, was my friend's sexy 17th birthday so we headed over to Baton Rouge for dinner. My burger was awesome, baked beans were soo yummy and the fries that I jacked were great. 4/5 - waiters were a bit snobby.
**R: OOO I want a cake like that
**everyone else: that is your cake!

Bio Lab:
-had to get to school by 7am arg.
-we cooked the liver by accident - we were supposed to heat it to 25C but we kind of forgot about it and cooked part of it by accident, such geniusness
-getting the liver out of the test tubes after it has been soaked with hydrogen peroxide is nasty and guess who had to do that? me. excellent. ew.

Speed work:
800 warmup
4x400 1:26 each (roughly) - could be faster, wind was a nasty cunt - expected 1:18 or less so disappointment
but long run was better than expected b/c of how stiff I still am from lifting

Thursday, April 8, 2010

4 languages - I am Canadian

I am Canadian
Je suis canadienne
Io sono canadese
我是加拿大人

During our fb war last night one of my guy friends, J, told me how proud of me he was that I chose to use CSIS instead of some generic agency name for a comment that I made, this sparked me to think about how proud I am to be Canadian. I love how my country is so multicultural - as a Canadian born Chinese I am happy to say I can read/write/speak in 4 languages. Well that's kind of a lie, since the only one that I'm fully fluent in is English. But, I can read, write, and speak relatively well in French. I can read/write/understand Italian to some extent - I take Italian classes (at the expense of the provincal government, the only Asian in that class!). I can also understand, speak, listen to Cantonese very well - the reading and writing is a bit of a challenge but I know enough to get by if I need to order at a restaurant.

I am Canadian
Je suis canadienne
Io sono canadese
我是加拿大人

&
I love Canada
J'adore Canada
Io amo Canada
我愛加拿大

Apparently They're Booking Everyone who Skipped

The Gr 10s had the OSSLT today so we were told not to head to school for Period 1&2, periods 3&4 were going to be shortened so no one thought it would be necessary to go to school at all - we all skipped. Apparently the school has been calling people and telling them that they need a note to explain their absence - I haven't gotten a call from the school yet but some of my friends have; I think it's b/c my dad was on the phone to HK the whole afternoon (when he wasn't sleeping). Seriously, who is going to go to school with a note of why we skipped when our teachers basically told us to not show up - they can't book the whole school for skipping when there's no point to being in class anyways - since my math exam is early next month we're done learning new things & we never do work in French, it's easy to say my afternoon classes are kind of not necessary to show up to. I think my afternoon was well spent - I slept for most of it:) before heading out for the most horrible run in a long time - wind, rain, slop = ew.

*Better redone my bio prelab - 7am bio lab tomorrow morning b/c we have a double per 2 (thanks to mass) - I have issues getting to class on time at 8:30 so this 7am bio lab will totally work out
*Heading out for dinner at Baton Rouge tomorrow night w/friends for my friend, Rachel's birthday - got her The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafron (one of my favourite authors)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

So Proud of Myself! Went to Track Practice

ednesday, 07 April 2010

*
Proud of Myself, I went to Track Practice!
Yeah! I'm so proud of myself, I actually went to track practice today. Well, I only stayed for 20min but that was enough time to warm up and do 2x400 - we weren't timed today so I'm not sure what I ran but I think it was decent b/c the 1st lap I was only a few s if even behind Kir. who is an extremely fast 400 person. My 2nd lap was faster since I had started to focus but I think I could have pushed way hard - the pace I went at, I think I could have done a 800 in.

I don't think the coach, Russell, is very impressed with me - I didn't get any of the warm up drills since I have no eye hand coordination and long distance runners don't usually do these drills. I'm excited to see what Coach R has instock b/c he's from York Track so he probably has some tips even though he does decathlon.

I slept through my 11k running time so I have to either do a double or a long run tomorrow - probably a double b/c it's going to rain and I hate doing a long in the rain - my long run has segments in grass b/c I'm running along a hwy. I hate running on muddy grass.

***
No school b/c gr 10s have OSSLT and I don't plan on going to school for 2 periods
Upon googling Russell, he was one of Canada's top decathlon/pentathlon guys!
My mommy bought me a easter bunny (since they're on sale now) and he's bad out of recycled plastic water bottles! he's so soft and cuddly
Saw an old friend today, he was at my school for a badminton tournment (we hosted) - he's a beast, I'm pretty sure he won. This guy will make it big for badminton - was going to talk to him but I was skipping french on a "washroom break" so I couldn't

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Predicted Marks are so Bad!

I got my IB predicted marks for Math&French today, they are soo bad. I'm not getting into university with my predicted marks, no way.

French - 5 (translated it's 80-89)
Math - 4 (translated it's 70-79)

I'm so upset, I know I can do better, I slept through all of Gr 11 math last year and I ended up with 90+ - there is no way my final mark is going to be a 4. I know I can get a 6 (7 is ruled out b/c I didn't do too well in my math portfolios), from now till May 5,6 I need to work my ass off and study until I know the whole IB Standard Math curriculum by heart. I think my predicted mark for math is so low b/c it's mostly based on the exam I wrote in Jan (which doesn't count) & I basically failed the Jan Exam since I had no power the 24h before the exam and lost 2-3 days of studying b/c the power was on and off for those 3 days. I can not get a 5, a 5 will not get me into university - especially since math is supposed to be one of my strongest subjects.

French Group Oral - 20/30 (level 5)
Individual Oral - 21/30 (level 5 - high 5)
I think I can get a 6 in French; I can not get lower than a 6. If I get the same mark I got on my Jan exam in May then I am set on the borderline of a 5/6 in french. I have almost 2 months to learn idiomatic expressions by heart to elevate my french writing - also need to use as many pronouns relatives, subjontif &etc when doing the written pieces. I also need to learn to not freak out at the exam table - what a great Victoria Day I'm going to have, writing a freaking french exam - at least it's not at the YRAA date like I though.

***I really think they should add 10% to our bio mark b/c we're not even learning Gr 11 stuff, we're doing pretty much pure Gr 12 Bio

Monday, April 5, 2010

I Hate Telling People what I'm Ranked

One of my friends and running buddies is at UBC right now and she messaged me tonight asking me if I was going to run the Sporting Life 10k this year (which I am). We then drifting to talk about half marathons, she asked me my time and told me the time her friend recently ran - from there I told her what her friend would be ranked in Ontario for F15-19, top 50. She then proceeded to ask me what my rank is, I really didn't want to tell her b/c it seems like I'm bragging which I am not, not to mention the time for the one and only half I've ran so far isn't all that great (in my mind). I'm happy about what I'm ranked in the province for F15-19 but I know I can move further up the ladder, I hate telling people what I'm ranked b/c they expect me to move up and be there at the top and this just gives me the pressure to run faster when really I want run b/c I love it (of course being the top would be nice).

Moving onwards, she told me how great UBC is for running and how much she thinks I will enjoy the Vancouver campus - I think she's right, I will enjoy it if I were to go there. I'm probably going to major either in Kine. or Business (with minors in French, Finance, Econ. maybe) and b/c IB has made my gr 11 marks so low I'm not getting into York Schulich for Business, U of T Rotman, or Queens so I'm probably going to end up at UBC of McGill (business at McGill isn't that great but I love the fact it's in a french speaking area). But if I drop IB I can probably get all high 90s and get myself into the above mentioned schools, only thing is their campuses/athletics don't do anything for me - but then I'm not at the level where I can continue to run and do well so I really shouldn't care about the athletic level of the school.

***must finish the bio questions, drawing of the replication of DNA
***Finished all definitions for the BIO ISU!
***Math review!!!!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

My Relationship With Early Morning Runs

I have a love/hate relationship with early morning runs - if I can help it I try to run in the early to late evening and even at night rather than in the early morning.

Pros:
-cool, lower temperatures - I am the type of person who runs in shorts at -8C, clearly evident that I HATE the heat
-get it over and done with so I don't need to plan my day around it - I don't know how many times I've ditched my friends to go home early and run
-less cars - I hate cars, in the battle b/w runners & cars the cars are winning simply b/c they are bigger and faster, some people should not be allowed to drive; they are horrible drivers who don't stop after they break a ton of rules and narrowly miss killing me
-can strip off my shirt and have less cat calls and drivers who don't have their hands on their steering wheel b/c they want to have a peek - sorry but I don't have boobs
-lower UVA/UVB rays
-imitate race day conditions

Cons:
-have to get up early
-need to remember to carb load the night before
-need to force down something into my system early in the morning when I don't have an appetite to eat, much less try to shove down enough carbs, calories to last 23k+ (my morning runs are almost all long runs - I can do a 11k in warm weather but absolutely not a 23k+)
-nowhere to stop for water if I become dehydrated during the run (I normally stop at friends' houses but I'm not going to wake them at 7:30 in the morning just b/c I'm thristy)
-people walking their dogs, the dogs think chasing me is fun
-the cyclists who think they're soo cool b/c they're travelling faster than me - you're supposed to travel faster than me considering you're on wheels
-must rush b/c I have piano at 11am on Sundays
-muscles aren't warmed out yet so I'm more likely to pull or injure something

I went out for a 23.7k+ this morning, uptil 18.5k I was actually on pace for a PR but then I ran out of fuel and had to jog the way home - I was almost 30min late for my piano lesson and almost fainted during it. It was so scary, I wasn't able to eat before it b/c my stomach closes up when I run so I had chugged gateorade (yuck) to force some carbs into my body but it wasn't enough, everything started to spin and turn fuzzy, plus, I couldn't hear. I've never had this happen to me, I was so freaked.

When I got home my mom forced some ribs into me before she let me sleep, had some mac in soup at around 5pm after my nap and now I feel alot better. Hopefully April 18 is cooler so I don't have to do a morning run. I can't believe how close the SouthLake Half is -
April 11 - no long run
April 18- last long run, rest week (meaning I skip speedwork/hills and I take Friday off, Sat is only 5k)
April 25 - Race Day

Hoping for a Sub 1:38 - or even lower.....

***
BIO ISU is killing me
so is my math review

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Trip Down to Iqaluit

We went down to Iqaluit yesterday - well not really, we actually went to downtown TO. It was one of funniest days I've had in a while - the sun, laughter, jokes &etc just made my day.

We started off on the subway where we somehow managed to miss our stop at Bloor (I think it was Bloor at least) so we just coasted our way to Union where we wandered around the Waterfront. Let's just say playing "I Spy" with K & J is pretty amusing. We also took pictures of things that looked like letters and the only thing we managed to spell was "Iqaluit" hence we now call downtown TO "Iqaluit". We had wanted to go on the tourist double decker buses and pretend to be a tourist rather than a native but there were no buses available yesterday as it was Good Friday - we would make rather awful Christians now that I think about it (I believe in God but I don't have a religion - kind of what Kierkegaard believes). Wish the bike rentals on the Island were open - would have loved to head there and just chill.

Onwards we trotted down Queen's Quay to Spadina to head to Chinatown so I could stop by one of my favourite Asian bakeries and buy some Napoleon for my mommy. After a pit stop to drop it off at my dad's - where he didn't recognize J at all - we continued onwards to Kensington Market. We didn't really chill out there - only store we went into was a hat store- but we did have dinner there. We stopped at this cute little cafe/diner restaurant for sandwiches, fries, and salad. The food wasn't bad - it was rather good considering where it was - the montreal smoked meat sandwich I had was pretty tasty, normally I hate mustard but it made the sandwich pretty good in my opinion. The fries were the homecut ones and yum:) they were good - felt guilty for eating all that grease though.

Onwards we caught the bus to end over to the streetcar stop on Spadina & Queens Quay to head over to the Rioch for the game. We were there rather early since we still needed to buy tickets and we were too tired to wander around the city anymore - was rather suprised by how many people were 1.5h early.

Section116 Row C - rather decent seats other than the fact we had some teenage kid 1-2 years younger than us who was such an attention whore sitting behind us - he was dancing really strangely when music came on, he kept commenting about J's phone, "the girl with the sunglasses on top of her head" (me), the game (he made mean & strange comments) and just a load of other stuff - it was REALLY annoying. He thought he was cool. yeah right. Duke the Dog - the mascot for the Marlies is such a perve, I thought he was cute so I asked for a photo. He was still cute when we took the photo and when he told me I was pretty in his dog sign language and when he hugged me but he became a perve in my eyes when he started to rub my back in a too friendly way - oh well. I guess as a dog he couldn't keep his paws to himself.

I'm just happy we didn't loose 0-7 this time but rather 3-1 (in favour of the Manitoba Moose). TO has great sport teams ! LOL. during the game some people actually stopped chanting "Let's go Marlies Let's Go" but started a new chant, "Let's Fire Eakins (the coach)". It was rather hilarious -to this I added Wilson of the Leafs should be fired too - that guy isn't the best coach from what I can see.

During the game, intermission we kept texting J's bf from her phone - making sexy, suggestive comments and he thought it was her the whole time. I feel bad now, we got him all excited for nothing - he has such a dirty mind! I felt even worst when I realized there was a cute little kid sitting behind us - he heard all our comments regarding sex, masturbation, ____jobs &etc.

I am very proud of myself - I didn't make any comments regarding how sexy the player's butts are - or how sexy their legs are - I find it funny how I have a "no athletes rule" yet I can't help but look - I have a strong butt/strong let fetish, nothing is sexier than strong muscular thighs. Though when #4 did the whole stretch thing with the stick behind his back I couldn't help but smirk a bit - but the stretch was kind of ruined by how pre game K was like #4 looks like a demon - he did with all his focus on the net. I think the people sitting next to us thought we were puck sluts b/c we were commenting on which guys were cute - they kept looking at us funny before moving away from us..

***Quotes of the Day***
-Death to the Douches (J's mom)
-Fire Eakins
-Something black & lacy
-Chocolate or Whipped Cream
-I spy with my eyes something that is brown (it turned out to be J's birthmark)

***still need to find some time to write my rant on Ann Coulter

***Delusional Leafs fan - you have to watch his video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doMV7KfJ7Cs- what a champ