Awesome Possum

Many of you know that my friend, Ed, featured here, moved to Australia with his fiance in late 2012. Ed now calls Brisbane his home, and is settling in to his new surroundings in the land down under.

 

A few weeks ago he found a possum hiding under his barbeque.

  

He either scared the possum, or woke it up (or both), and it high-tailed it out of there.

 

 

But not before it stopped to flex its muscles-- just to show Ed who's boss. Luckily Ed has phone with him, and was able to snap some photos of the possum in action.

I had no idea that possums would do this kind of thing-- they flex their muscles to demonstrate aggression or dominance. I loved it when Ed posted the photos on Facebook, and thought I would share them.

Thanks, Ed!

 

2:10:56

Me and my dad at the Scotiabank Marathon.

On Sunday I completed my second half marathon, another 21.1km!

I had high expectations for this race. I have been training five times a week for the last 18 weeks, and I have only missed three training runs during that time. Despite my rampant runners paranoia, when compared to last year, I felt much better after and during all of my runs. I had been training with a goal time of 2:05 in mind, and I felt certain I could beat that-- maybe even break the 2 hour mark!

As you can see, I finished my race with a respectable 2:10:56. Not nearly as speedy as I'd hoped, but still a personal best (last year's run was 2:13:14)!

I had to fight some disappointment as I felt my pace slowing over the course of the race. By the 12km mark, I knew I wouldn't be able to make up the time to meet my goal.

However, lesson learned! You never know how a race will turn out-- and personal best (even if it's not the one you are hoping for) is nothing to turn your nose up at!

To quote one of my co-workers, "Your personal best is where it's at!"

My training will continue in preparation for the SeaWheeze Half Marathon in Vancouver on August 10th! I'll be running this race with Ashley and Andrew, and I'm looking forward to trying out a new course.

Here are a couple shots that Ashley managed to snap of me while I was nearing the finish line on Sunday.

Thanks to my dad, Steve, Jeff, Billy, Ashley and Andy who came out to cheer me on!

Self Diagnosed

With one week until race day (my second official half marathon!), I have self diagnosed myself with what I have come to think of as "Runner's Paranoia."

Runner's Paranoia is probably not an uncommon conditions for runners in their final week before a race. Symptoms include (but are not limited to), possible sore throat ("Oh no! I'm getting a cold, better take Cold FX"), heel pain ("Dear God, I'm getting plantar fasciitis!"), burning in the shin area ("It has to be SHIN SPLINTS!") and sore knees ("Could this be illiotibial syndrome!?"). Basically, you think you have suddenly developed every malady a runner fears while training for a race. Throw in some blisters and some bruised toe-nails, and full-blown paranoia sets in.

Photo Credit 

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

At this point, I really do think I'm getting shin splints-- they occur when lower legs are overstressed, and small tears in the leg muscles where they attach to the shin. However, the pain is very minimal (1 on a scale of 1 to 10), and once this week is done, I can have some serious rest!

I am looking to break my half marathon time from last year 2:13:14-- and I don't anticipate any problems doing this. I'll be out Sunday morning, bright and early.

Think good thoughts for me!!

Harvard - Cambridge

On our second full day in Boston, Tom and I set out to explore Chinatown, and the waterfront. Although it is possible that we are now snobs since our trip to China, we did not see too much of interest in Chinatown. However, on our way to the waterfront we came across this bizarre mural on a building at Dewey Square. The mural is a piece of public art by Brazilian street art twins, Os Gemeos.

Building mural.

Around this time, the sun started shining, and we enjoyed some much needed warmth while we strolled along the water.

Boston Waterfront, me holding a bag of pork buns from Chinatown.

Boston Waterfront. 

From here, we made our way back to the red-line of the metro so we could make our way into Cambridge to meet up with Martha again. This time she took us on a quick tour of the undergraduate area of Harvard, as well as the Harvard Business School. The campus is a lot smaller than I'd imagined!

On Harvard Campus.

Steps to library.

Harvard Business School.

Harvard Residence building.

It was a long weekend on campus, so there weren't very many people around.

After our quick tour, Tom and I headed back to our hotel so we could get ready to do a long run along the Charles River. With my half marathon training in full swing, I needed to run about 12km. We found the distance from our hotel back to Harvard Business School (HBS) was about 6km. Along the way, we passed MIT, and even helped some people find HBS (yeah, we totally looked like local experts). We rounded out our trip with another huge seafood meal at Atlantic Fish. More lobster!

The next morning we were off to the airport to catch our flight home.

A whirlwind of a trip, but well worth it!

The Freedom Trail - Boston

Tom and I arrived in Boston on Friday, April 12th. Although our flight from Montreal was delayed by snow, our flights were otherwise very uneventful. We stayed at the beautiful Liberty Hotel, formerly the Charles Street Jail.  The jail was constructed between 1848-1851, and at one point housed Malcolm X as an inmate. In the 1920's it was used to house German U-boat prisoners of war, and continued to operate until 1990. The hotel renovation have retained much of the historic structure.

View from the 11th floor of the Liberty Hotel.

 On our first morning in Boston, we waited for my friend, Martha, in our hotel lobby before we headed out to hit the Freedom Trail. On our way to the beginning of the trail, we some a number of GIANT squirrels running around in Boston Common. Martha does not like squirrels! 

Giant squirrel.

Massachusetts State House.

The Freedom Trail heads past the imposing looking Massachusetts State House. The building houses the Massachussets General Court (state legislature), and has stood on Beacon Hill since 1798.

Old City Hall.

Although the Old City Hall is not one of the official stops along the Freedom Trail, it was one of the more beautiful buildings in the Boston downtown. Unfortunately it is now the home of a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Tom and I outside Old City Hall.

Eventually we made our way past Quincy Market, which was basically a giant food court full of food vendors. I had imagined Quincy Market was going to be more like a fancy farmer's market, so I was a bit surprised by what was actually inside. Nonetheless, Tom and I ate lobster rolls and clam chowder here for lunch on our second day, and it was delicious!

The famous Quincy Market.

Historic signs inside Quincy Market.

We passed an outdoor market where vendors were selling fresh fish and vegetables. What good prices! We picked up a container of strawberries for a dollar, which surely would have cost $4-5 at home. We also got some mini cucumbers which were easy to snack on later on in the day.

Fresh fish in an outdoor market.

The Freedom Trail then took us through an Italian district, and out near the water to a marina. Most of the trail was a brick line to follow, but in some areas, it was a painted red line on the sidewalk.

The painted red line of the Freedom Trail.

One of the last stops on the Freedom Trail is the U.S.S. Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. The Constitution was launched in 1797, and named by George Washington.

The U.S.S. Consitution.

After visiting the marina, Martha, Tom and I parted ways so Martha could get some weekend reading in. 

Martha, Tom and I.

Tom and I took a walk through the New England Holocaust Memorial. The memorial is comprised of six glass towers, representing the six million Jews killed in the holocaust, the six main concentration camps, and their six years of internment. There are six million numbers etched into the glass of the towers which represent the tattoos given to victims as they were brought into the concentration camps. This was a very beautiful memorial-- Tom and I were both impressed.

The New England Holocaust Memorial.

We reunited later that night to have dinner at D'Amelio's Off the Boat Italian & Seafood Restaurant. This was a seriously delicious meal. We had mussels, lobster, scallops and shrimp over fusilli, and finished off our meal with tiramisu and exotic bomba (peach passionfruit sorbet dipped in white chocolate).

We planned to meet up with Martha the following day so we could take a look at the Harvard Campus.

Stay tuned!

Boston

Tom and I travelled to Boston this weekend to visit a friend who is attending the Harvard Business School.

 

Our flight left Logan International at 11:15am on Monday morning. On our way to the airport, the driver chided us for not sticking around to take in the marathon. In fact, I was a bit sad that we were leaving without seeing the festivities. Hours later when we landed at home and turned on our phones, they both lit up with e-mails, texts and instant messages-- everyone wanting to know where we were, and if we were still in Boston. It hit close to home to learn that the finish line of the Boston Marathon had been bombed.

 

When we got home we turned on CNN, and realized that the explosions took place directly outside the restaurant that we had eaten dinner at the night before. It made me remember that when we were leaving the restaurant, there was a sign taped to a lamp post that read, "MILE 26: Amber, I love you so much. Won't you be my wife?"

 

Marathons are supposed to be an occasion for celebration.They are the kind of events that family and friends come out to spectate, and people you've never met before stand on the sidelines and cheer for you as you run by. The spirit and camaraderie at running events is something I have never experienced anywhere else. People train for months, or years to qualify for the Boston Marathon. It breaks my heart to see such an inspiring event end with such a malevolent act of violence. I have been thinking of all the visiting runners, locals, and first-responders all day.

 

With so many videos and photos of the marathon, I think it can be only a matter of time before the individuals responsible are caught, and quite frankly, I look forward to that day.

 

In the meantime, I'd like to share some of the sights in Boston that Tom and I saw over the weekend. Later this week I will post some photos from our trip. Let them be a reminder that Boston is a beautiful city, and will continue to be a beautiful city.

 

Pick-Me-Up

Every once in a while I find I need a little pick-me-up to keep me going through the day.

Here are a few of my favourites.

1) Meet Maru, a Japanese cat that loves boxes.

2) Baby sloths. That is all.

3) My secret (not-so-secret?) girl-crush, Jayme Dee.

4) Ellen scaring the crap out of Taylor Swift. I love that she falls down and almost hits her head.

Hope these were a pick-me-up for your day too!