Daily Musings

Let it Rain!

Rainy evening, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

That seems to be the weather theme here lately. And not just a little rain either - torrential downpour kinda rain. Saturday morning started out with a walk over to the gym - it was attempting to rain. When I finished my workout and we went out for a run, it wasn't too bad but then the rain started again. I actually prefer running in the rain to the heat so it was nice.

Throughout the day, we had bursts of downpours. It was definitely a stay in the house kinda day. This rain has been going on off and on for a couple weeks now and is getting a bit tiresome.

So, in the evening when it looked like we were getting a reprieve, Dan & I went out for a little drive. We drove downtown so I could show him my new working location and neighbourhood. The weather looked like it was going to hold so we decided to take a little walk. We weren't too far into it when the clouds opened up and we sought refuge under this tree (don't worry, there was no lightning). You can see the rain coming down in the photo. It wasn't long before we had to take cover under the bridge.

It was actually this move that led us on our little journey.

We walked along the last leg of the Rideau Canal where it spills into the Ottawa River. It is such a pretty sight - the majestic Chateau Laurier watching over the scene. You can see the blue sky trying to peak through. I have applied a filter to this photo to bring out some of the details.

Majestic Guard, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

A couple more photos of the final locks.

Historic Locks, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

The final Lock, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

We continued past the locks on the Ottawa River Pathway - I had come across this path a year ago when I did the HBC Canada Day Run. Amazing that I didn't know it existed before then. This was the first time that Dan & I had gone on it. Definitely a spot to go back to - we will likely go back on the bikes so we can cover more ground. We walked along the river to LeBreton Flats where the Blues Festival was underway and headed back on Wellington to the van. The sky had changed back to angry and was threatening another downpour...

A couple more photos from our journey:

West, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

East, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Noon on the Bridge

War Memorial, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Are you wondering how my job transition is going? If you are on FaceBook or Flickr, you have probably already seen some updates. It always surprises me (although it shouldn't) that when I make a change, I find that I was well overdue for it. I believe this change will be good for me in many ways:

• From a developmental perspective, I am already learning so much - expanding my horizons, etc. The project is very interesting and I am happy to be learning more about Canada's immigration programs.

• From a personal perspective it is amazing to experience working downtown. It is such a different atmosphere from the laid back complex on Vanier Parkway. They both have their positive sides - this is just different and exciting for now.

• I drove downtown on Monday and paid $15 for parking but have since been taking the bus and am actually quite enjoying it. I have decided to purchase an iPhone so I can make use of my bus time on electronic media - checking my personal email, facebook, flickr, my blog, etc. The only downside is there are no iPhone 3Gs' available so I am on a waiting list. Trying to be patient...

• Today (the first nice day all week), I dragged my camera with me on the bus and ventured out at lunch for Noon on the Bridge. David Maxwell was the artist featured today from Bluesfest. It was so amazing. I met with a flickr friend, we listened to the music and I snapped a few photos before heading back to work rejuvenated.

So, there you have it. Work is good, life is good!

A few more photos from my outing:

On guard, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Benches, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Noon on the Bridge, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

What a weekend!

Showy Lady's Slipper, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Whewww - I would say that I am glad it is almost over but I am really not. If the weekend is almost over, it means I only have two days left at the RCMP and that makes me sad :-(.

But... the weekend was jam packed full of things I love to do.

It started Friday evening with 50 minute - 6K run with my running friend Cheryl. Yup, you read that right. My training program is primarily about running slow so even though I could technically run 6K much quicker, it is all about keeping it in Zone 1 and training those slow twitch muscles.

Saturday morning, I met Cheryl at Ray Friel and we did about 40 minutes of strength training. I am definitely stronger than I was 3 weeks ago - I was able to do the lunges and step ups with relative ease and increased the weights on my chest presses and seated row sets. I even did three sets of the dreaded plank. After the strength training, we did two sets of two minutes each on the treadmill in Zone 5. The idea is to go at your maximum running speed to build up the lactic acid and then go for a slow 40 minute Zone 1 run to train the body to deal with it. We did the 40 minute run outside.

After the workout, I made my way to Purdon Conservation Area near Lanark. After seeing the beautiful Showy Lady Slipper orchid picture that my good friend Karen took, I was determined to find these babies. I heard about Purdon Conservation Area through a garden book I bought the week previous at Balderson. It was a bit of a drive to get there but it was so worth it. Purdon is home to the largest colony of Showy Lady Slippers in Canada!

Taken from the Purdon Conservation area website:
"The colony exists today thanks to the care and cultivation of Mr. Joe Purdon. Mr. Purdon was an pioneer of land stewardship and a great asset to our community. The wetland was originally part of Mr. Purdon's farm. Through careful management of the few dozen orchid plants he discovered on this property in the 1930s, Mr. Purdon grew the colony to over 16,000 blooms. Mississippi Valley Conservation acquired the site in 1984 and pledged to preserve if for the enjoyment and enrichment of future generations."

Both the plant and the bloom are quite large standing 35 to 90 cm (1 to 3 feet) high. They can live for 50 years, which they pretty well have to because their reproduction relies so much on chance: they can't self-pollinate and have no nectar to attract syrup-sucking bugs, so they have to live in the hope that wandering insects will blunder into them. Very few flowers get pollinated, but when they do, a single flower can produce up to 35,000 seeds. This sounds like a good start, but the wind can't blow all of them to the soggy, shady habitat they like. Then it can take up to seven years for their root systems and first leaves to develop.

Saturday evening - Dan & I went for ice cream at Dairy Queen (I say it is justified since I put in so much activity during the day LOL) and a nice drive on the parkway. This is generally how we manage to spend time together since life is so busy.

Sunday morning - 10K LSD (Long Slow Distance) run with The Running Room 1/2 Marathon Group. Again, I am training at a much slower pace so Cheryl and I ran together. Our goal was to run for 75 minutes. Our training program is focused on Zone running and time as opposed to distance. It is a great concept - otherwise human nature tends to want to go faster and get the run over with. We did a new route which always makes things a bit more interesting - especially since we normally manage to take a wrong turn somewhere ;-).

Sunday afternoon - Dan & I planned to take the bikes out for an inaugural cycle. He got a new bike last week for Father's Day and my poor bike hadn't been out for a spin in two years! We ended up going much farther than we should have for a first time out. We took advantage of the Rockcliffe Parkway - Sunday Bike Ride and made our way along the river path system down town. We had lunch across from Confederation Park at Starbucks listening to the bands in the Jazz Festival before turning around and heading back. Another stop at Dairy Queen for a Root Beer float and some much needed energy before we finally made it home. It was a tough ride - I was totally exhausted. Total distance was over 44k!!! yup - that was just crazy.

So, I have refueled and had a nap and am thinking about the awesome weekend we had. I didn't do any house cleaning or laundry (perhaps I will get to that tonight). That is just how I like it. Life is too short to be worrying about all the little things in life. My motto is to live life to its fullest. Those orchids wouldn't have waited for me to spend the weekend doing housework.

Hope you all had a great weekend too - thanks for stopping by.

Time of Change

Wings, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

It has been awhile since I posted on my blog. Lots of change happening around me and life has been very busy. What have I been busy with you ask. Well, here is a bit of a synopsis:

Employment - After almost 10 years on contract at the RCMP, I have decided to branch out and try something new at CIC. I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure on both CPIC Renewal and RTID and would have loved to have seen the RTID project through to fruition but I was offered an opportunity that was difficult to turn down. June 30 is my last day at the RCMP and I start on my new contract July 6. I will keep you posted how I deal with the transition.

Our son, Ryan, is also going through an employment change. He was offered a promotion at the Burnaby HMV. He will be moving to Vancouver at the beginning of July. Chelsea will be staying in Prince George for the next year to complete her Master's Degree.

Fitness - I have embarked on a new training program through Peak Fitness designed to improve my running. I am starting Week 3 of this program tomorrow. It is a combination of strength training, speed running, and endurance running. It is pretty intense - I am doing some form of activity five days a week. The first two weeks were very tough with my muscles adjusting to the new intensities. I am doing this program with one of my running friends so it makes it a bit easier. We both bought a three month membership at the Ray Friel Centre for the strength training. We have been using the treadmill for portions of the running training, particularly the speed work.

Garden - I finally spent some much needed time on our front garden. I have pulled out a good portion, expanded one piece, added new soil and planted new shade plants. That took quite a bit of time and I am so much happier with how it looks now. My goal for the summer is to photograph the plants and make a small scrapbook so I can keep track of what they are.

Photography - Unfortunately, with all the other things going on in my life, I haven't spent a lot of time with my photography passion. Dan & I took a drive last Sunday to visit Kiwi Gardens who were hosting Art in the Garden. It was a beautiful display of art sculptures and art for the garden. We bought three glass ornaments for the newly groomed garden. While we were there I spotted this beautiful Damselfly. It is an ebony jewelwing and was so beautiful. I did have my camera with me and captured its beauty. I am going to take a break tomorrow (after the gym, of course) to visit a new conservation area that I recently learned of. I am hoping to find some wild orchids to photograph.

So, that is a brief summary of what has been going on. I am hoping to get back to some sort of normalcy soon but I imagine that will take some time with starting a new job and such.

Thanks for stopping by - have a wonderful weekend!

A pink weekend

Pink Supporter, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

What a wonderful weekend it was! Friday night, Katie hosted a Breast Cancer fund raising crop. Her sister-in-law is battling this horrible disease. I am starting to know too many people whose lives have been touched either directly or indirectly by it as well. Here are some sobering statistics:

* One in three area residents will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
* One in 9 Canadian women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
* Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Canadian women
* On average, 407 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer every week.
* On average, 102 Canadian women will die of breast cancer every week.
* One in 27 Canadian women will die of breast cancer.

The crop was so much fun - Katie was a fabulous host - coming up with fun challenges throughout the evening and some awesome raffle prizes. Sandy was Queen for the evening, earning herself that role by being a 10 year breast cancer survivor! I won a special, hand painted piece by none other than Katie, herself. I will take a photo and post it soon.

This was my first visit to A Fine Mess (where the crop was held). The store is a very special place - from the moment you enter the doors, it is a welcoming experience. Genna, her mom Lina and her crazy nieces Christina and Laura are the soul in the business. Their stories of the kids that come to create and play are so touching. They truly have hearts of gold - I can understand why Katie fell in love with them as have so many kids and their families.

Katie raised over $500 for breast cancer! Pretty amazing for a small group of women (ok - I think Christina and Laura had a lot to contribute to that pot by donning their bras outside their shirts and taking their ta-ta cupcakes out to sell :-) - i told you they were crazy girls LOL). I wish I had brought my camera to capture some of these moments.

Saturday, I headed over to the Cancer Survivor's Park to cheer on some friends from work who were walking in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. This is a 60K walk over two days that raised $2.1M dollars for cancer research. It was an emotional event! I managed to catch a few photos and talk to a few people while I waited for them to arrive.

Here are a few from the day:

Marching for mammaries, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

With a skip, hop and a jump, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

1/2 Marathon

1/2 Marathon, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

It was a hot day today for running but it was fun! Not a stellar time for my race but it will have to do. Not much I can do about it now - LOL. I started out really well and at the 9K mark my time was 1:02. I was certain I would make my goal of 2:23 based on this start. But... you never know what is in store for the rest of the race. The sun had a big impact on me - as it always does and I ended up finishing with a time of 2:38. So, I am feeling a bit tired and warm tonight (from sunburn) and will likely turn in early. Oh well, I will try harder at the next 1/2 Marathon in September - the Canada Army Run! Hopefully the weather will be cooler... I believe the next round of training starts in June!

Jordan ran the full Marathon this morning - I was concerned about him doing it as were others who tried to convince him to run the 1/2. He was not ready for the full but he was stubborn and went out anyway. He had a tough run - injured his knee and developed blisters on the bottom of his feet (sound familiar?) so ended up walking the last 21K. I know he learned a few lessons from this experience.

run girl run

Well, it is the eve of the big race and I have everything ready for the morning - I even uploaded some music to my iPod Shuffle. I don't normally run with music since I run with a group - a race is individual though so I think this will help me get through the distance. The weeks of training will be put to the test tomorrow. My biggest challenge will be the sun. I bought myself a sexy new hat to combat the sun - in fact, I bought a few new running things at the Expo when I picked up my race kit yesterday :-). The pendant, of course, signifies the distance of the 1/2 marathon - 21.1kilometres. The key chain reads "I know, I run like a girl - try to keep up". I love that!

We will be out of the house very early tomorrow - Jordan is running in the full marathon and I will be driving him to be there for about 6:30. The marathon starts at 7:00 and the 1/2 marathon at 9:00. I will be happy with any time less than 2 hours and 30 minutes but would really like to at least achieve my Army Run time of 2:23. I'll post when I get back!

Yellow fluff

Yellow fluff, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

A quick post before I leave for the day. I went out a couple time this weekend - Friday with Dan & Garrett to Gatineau Park and Monday to Mud Lake and Andrew Haydon Park. I knew there had been gosling sightings and I really wanted to get their photos at this cute yellow fluff stage. I found a large family of 19 goslings at Andrew Haydon. I believe the geese parents have been growing their family by scooping babies from the other geese - apparently their family was only 14 the day before. Not sure why they want to raise so many babies - guess they like the responsibility LOL.

I am on count down to my race, which is this weekend! I was just going through my goals and how I want to finish this race. I would like to do as well as I did in the Army Run last fall which was a time of 2:23. That is going to take some work so we shall see how much I have in me on Sunday. So much of it depends on the weather - So far, the forecast is looking good. A high of 20º and sunny. I can handle that.

Bug's eye view

through the forest, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Sometimes you take a photo and you just know it is something you will love. I went on a photo outing Saturday morning with a photography friend. My goal was to find trilliums, which I know there are hundreds of in Gatineau Park. We stopped at the Museum of Civilization to visit the tulip beds en route. I have been inspired by the tulips this year and have visited several locations - Commissioner's Park, Major's Hill Park, Parliament Hill, along the Canal, Jacques Cartier Park and the museum. Yes, I am a bit obsessive - LOL. I am putting together a photo book with the photos from this year and wanted a variety of different shots and colours.

We did make it to Gatineau Park and found the trilliums just before the rains came and we had to head back home...

Sunday - Mother's Day - was wonderful. Dan had already presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Thursday night. Sunday morning, Jordan & I went down to the Sparks Street Running Room (along with all the other Orleans 1/2 Marathoners) to run 20K along the Ottawa Race Weekend route. This was the final long run prior to race day on May 24th. It was my most comfortable long run ever - nice and slow and steady. After the run, I went for brunch with my running buddies and then we ordered in Chinese for dinner. It was a great day!

Oh - and the above photo is posted on flickr and made it to front page yesterday and was #3 of the 500 most interesting for the day - yippee!! At this time tonight, it has been viewed 1300 times! This is the highest number for this period of time for any of my photos :-).

Here are a few of my favourite tulip photos and a trillium for good measure...

Stormy Capital, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Bee Bokeh, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

:-), originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

..., originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Wild Beauty, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

Happy Spring!

Tulip Festival, originally uploaded by Kadacat (Marlene).

The Tulip Festival officially started on Friday. Spring colours and everywhere. The green is popping out on the lawns and trees and the birds are singing happily.

I have not been very diligent with my blog lately - no reason specifically - just had nothing to say, I guess. I am still running, although I also need to update my training log. I haven't been to WW for a few weeks although I am still on the weight loss band wagon as well - just not as diligent since I am putting so many running miles on.

This morning we are running 18K - the weather is perfect so it should be fun. Only one more long run after this before the big event - Ottawa Race Weekend. I am feeling so much better with my running since changing my training program to a slower pace. I definitely started out too quickly after coming back from my injury.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Mellisa. We had a wonderful time trapsing through the beautiful magnolia trees at the Arboretum and then the flower beds at the Agriculture Farm before we hit the tulips at Commissioner's Park. I am still going through the 250 photos I took yesterday and am pretty happy with a number of them. Some may even get printed for the wall.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by!