"Good Old Starbucks"

Normally I'm not really a fan but today they are on my acceptable supplier list.  Actually I'm discovering that the coffee is quite good, and the oat fudge bar is to die for, but that's not the reason I'm here.

It's for the Internet!  The wireless at the RV park is shaky at the best of time, but right now it is entirely busted.  They are waiting on a part to come from Calgary!!  The price you pay for mountains I guess.

It was another of those ridiculous days made only acceptable by the fact that I am tapering.  Here's the pictorial summary of my 15 km run!

Hard to fathom eh?  For the first 20 minutes or so I would stop my timer while I took the picture, but after a while I even forgot to do that.  Some of these scenes just burst out in front of me when I turned a corner, or came out of a stand of trees.  By the way, this is the Bow river that the trail follows.

Life is beyond good.  How did I ever get the opportunity to do all the things I do??

And to top off the great scenery I feel quite a bit better today.  Despite all the stops, or perhaps because of them, I still had a decent run.  And after all is said and done, it's the run fitness that will tell all come race day!

I admit to missing my wife right now because she is always the first person I wish to share these great days with.  I suspect however that it may be good for me to be alone, and in charge only of myself.  It's something I need to practice a bit more often.  I know it causes stress to others in my life, and to me as well for that matter, when I try to control everything that goes on around me.  I have 5 more days to practice.

And even though she can't hear this.  I LOVE YOU ROO!

(15 km trail run)

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."---Eddy Cantor

Love

Peter

"More Goofing Off"

I just can't seem to get it together this week.  It was 10 degrees when I woke up this morning so I had a late breakfast before I headed over to the lake.  There were others swimming in wetsuits as there were yesterday.  I forgot to mention that I ran into a lady there that will be in Penticaton with me on the 26th. After my late swim I had lunch and then a little nap while I waited for the temperature to come up.  Then I headed off for this place.

And this is how you get there on ones bicycle.

Believe it or not there is an 8 foot wide paved path which parallels the transcanada for all of the 25 kms between Canmore and Banff.  Sweet!!

And this is what one sees when one travels to Banff.

Actually the last pic is taken right here outside the motorhome.  These 3 peaks have develpoed a special signifinace for me.  If I face Penticton from here I know they are behind me looking over my shoulder.      Like some kind of srong, beautiful guardian angels.  Supportive yet expectant.  How apt then, that they are named "the three sisters".

So you can see what I mean by goofing off.  I rode the slowest 50 kms I have ever ridden but it's all good I think.  For some reason I am feeling pretty sluggish but I don't really care.  Whatever will be, will be eh?  Ya just gotta have faith I guess.

Tomorrow I get to run beside the river.  I think I'm gonna bring my camera.  

Or should I say my phone.   We had to buy a new camera which Roo took off to the mountains with her.  It's been a very expensive trip so far.  Along with the camera, she also broke her watch, I stepped on my prescription sunglasses, the fender is falling off the motorhome,  this piece of shit Sears bike is falling apart, and today I busted my waterproof phone case.  And I share these things with you only for your amusement....I personally don't give a shit!

And lastly, yes you're right Elly.  I spoke to them today and that connection is so powerful I would probably move if they moved!

(swim 1000 metres, ride 50 kms)

Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying."---Mason Cooley 

Love

Peter

"I'm moving!"

This town is perfect for me!  They got a running store, a bike shop, a Canadian Tire and a grocery store that sells Skinny Cow ice cream, as well as skim milk in 4 litre jugs! They have running trails that go on forever, and dedicated bicycle lanes through the mountains.

They also have this!

It's called Quarry Lake and is just a nice 15 min bike ride from where I'm parked.  I spent about 20 minutes swimming in it today.  It is so glorious it's hard to find the words to describe it.  I will swim here at least 3 more times this week.  Unbelievable!!

It's gonna be a surreal kind of week, compounded by the absence of any kind of communication with Claudette.  Rarely has a day gone by in our 27 years together that we have been completely out of touch.  Here she is with her group of 7 hikers and 2 instructors just before they head out for their "Mind fullness in the Mountains" backpacking trip.  She was very, very excited!  Even though I know you won't read this my love, I hope it turns out to be everything you hope for.  I love you!

(open water swim 20 mins)

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books."---John Lubbock

Love

Peter

"Not Boring"

It was a tough bike ride today.  I just could not get serious about it.  We are in a park in Canmore Alberta where Roo begins her journey tomorrow.  I rode out towards Calgary and turned around at 53 kms.  The scenery just overwhelmed me and after I turned around I stopped several times to capture the ride back for you viewing pleasure.  

And to top off a distracted ride I got a flat.  My first with the new machine.  The good news is that I got some tire changing practice.

Oh and Elly.  The answer is right there....in the quote!

(ride 105 kms, run 4kms)

The more you let yourself be distracted from where you are going, the more you are the person that you are. It's not so much like getting lost as it is like getting found."---William Stafford

Love

Peter

"Borrrinnng"

This would be a great place to ride but only if you were going with the wind.  Otherwise it would be just mind and ass numbing tedium!  I swear to God however, that driving can be even more tiresome and tedious.  We went over 800 kms today and are now parked in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

All that monotony gave me lots of time to try to figure out what this is.

I am pretty sure we puzzled it out but probably you farmer types will know without doing any research. One thing I can tell you is that they grow an awful lot of it in Saskatchewan.  Almost as much as wheat it seems.

As to my LOTR subtleties of the other day I need to share them just to prove how crafty I am.  Perhaps you will recall that a few weeks back I called myself an old gapher.  The "gapher" of the more recent post just happens to be the very wise gardener of Frodo Baggins, and co-incidentally the father and mentor of Samwise Gamgee, the guy Sam learned everything from.  The second clever bit was hidden in the quote.  The author, Sean Astin is the actor who played Samwise.  Astin co-incidentally has run several marathons, and in actual fact had to quit running for 2 years to fatten up to play the part.  Interesting eh?

I can't wait to get to Canmore tomorrow where I will be parked for a week while Roo heads into the Rockies.  This past 4 days on the road has withered my discipline.  It seems like all I want to do is eat, and none of the right things.  I'm afraid that I'm a creature of habit and when it gets interrupted I lose some of my resolve.  Now is not the time to relax!!!  Game on!

(no workout)

"He will not enter hell who hath faith equal to a mustard seed in his heart; and he will not enter Paradise who hath a single grain of pride, equal to a mustard seed, in his heart"---Mohammad

Love

Peter

"Life's Pretty Good"

Here I am in an RV park in Brandon Manitoba.  I have my best girl with me, a glass of Baileys and milk in hand, the air conditioning is on, and the stereo is blasting out Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild.  I just ate a delicious McDonald's chicken sandwich, and followed it up with a skinny cow ice cream from the stash I brought along.  We have a great wireless connection, if no phone (fuck you telus!).  Earlier today I rode my bike through a nice flat section of North Dakota and followed it up with a refreshing little run. Afterwards, while I waited for Roo to put in her miles, I had a shower and changed into dry clothes right beside the highway, but in the privacy of my own home on wheels,

Yup!  Life's pretty good!

The only wee, wee, little disappointment that I have today is that no one (not even you Mike!)  commented on my 2 subtle little LOTR comments in yesterday post.  I thought they were very clever but maybe they were too subtle?  Or maybe too obvious to be worth mentioning??

To get over the disappointment I'm now gonna mix another drink, and then soak my feet.

Yup!  Life's pretty good!

(ride 30 kms, run 5 kms)

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back."---Arthur Rubinstein

"Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; do not outlive yourself."---George Bernard Shaw

....I like this one best...

"Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself."---Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Love

Peter

"Double-sided Tape and Bungee Cords"

When heading out on an adventure Samwise Gamgee always wished for a "bit of rope" to take along, declaring that it would probably come in handy.  If they had such things in Middle Earth I bet he would have wished for tape and bungee cords instead.

Well this old "gapher" (get it, get it?) indeed had those things available to him and had the wisdom to bring them along.  While traveling through Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and ultimately Minnesota we kept hearing this very unpleasant rattling, scraping, banging noise coming from somewhere outside the coach.  After our 3rd inspection stop, including climbing on top, we finally found where the lower, left, front panel was coming apart.  The brackets that connect it to the coach had let go from the panel itself, and we were very close to losing it all together.  Hopefully the tape and cords will hold it together until we get to Canmore on Saturday and then I will have time to do a better fix.  Wish me luck.

I did not workout out at all today for one reason or another but I'm entirely good with it.  Much better to miss a workout now than to do an extra one.  It has left me just a little edgy right now though, as Roo can attest to.  Sorry dear!  Talk to you tomorrow from Manitoba.

(no workout)

....,and this quote will only seem relevant if you know who the author is...

"A doable goal for me is to finish a marathon under four hours. I'm doing all the training, but the hardest part is eating right."---Sean Astin

Love

Peter