Category Archives: Everything Else

Joanne

March 29, 2012

A trail run is pretty much the perfect way to start the day!
I’m loving my Thursday morning trail runs at UBC.

Joanne

March 19, 2012

I was granted tenure today – which means that I’m eligible for sabbatical in 2013 – not that I’m counting down or anything! Now I just have to figure out how to do science education in Europe on a bicycle in the summertime.

Only Getting Better

When I’m broken down, I’ll be brushing off my kicks … I’m only getting better, better, better.
from K’Naan: “Better”

These K’Naan lyrics appeal to me for several reasons. I’ve got a bit of an injury and with a bit of rest and some TLC it looks like it’s getting better. But the real reason that I’m posting is that it looks like my running seems to pushing new boundaries, my riding is in a new place already and my swimming has new focus. The rocket launch of my new bike, a Cervelo P3 who I’ve nicknamed Pete, was this weekend. We were in the Okanagon for my first ride outdoors on the new stead. There was a crazy tail wind and the TT bike is pretty much made to ride straight and fast in those conditions (44+kph on the flats). It was pretty fun. My journey to IronMan Canada is starting off with this catchy theme song, “I’m only getting better, better, better…”

Let’s talk

One in five Canadians will experience mental illness in his or her lifetime, according to the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Most are unwilling to discuss it with a friend, relative or co-worker.

Hughes didn’t realize she was tumbling into a serious depression in 1996. She wasn’t alone. According to statistics from the Canadian Mental Health Association, about three million Canadians have a serious depression at any given time. They think they can get out of it by working harder – then blame themselves when it doesn’t work.

read the rest here

Clara has real courage and I really like this Let’s Talk campaign.  If we start talking openly about struggles with depression, bipolar disease, or whatever, we’ll start realizing how many people we care about struggle with these issues… and more importantly let them know that they have support networks of people who really care.  A student of mine, Laura recently gave a talk UBC recently that was open in this way and I was really proud of her.




Today I also spent a lot of time thinking about another student and friend of mine Drew. I have really good memories of sitting on the bus beside Drew talking about his work. He was a really smart guy. I often think of him when the sunshine hits the leaves in the right way on the drive out to UBC. I was running through Pacific Spirit park today and memories of Drew flooded back to me. I remember writing a note to his sister and sending some of Drew’s science papers to his family after he died. When I did this, I remember thinking that Drew would probably be surprised by how many people were affected by his death and by how often we think of him. I think it’s important that we tell people how much we love and appreciate them and how they make our lives better daily. You can do this directly or you can do it indirectly by asking questions like, “What have you been thinking about lately?” and “How are you?” and then listening. The listening and caring part is what makes it safe to talk openly about the challenges everyone is having. One in five Canadians – that’s a lot of us in this together.

Building community

This past weekend, I volunteered to become the president of the board of the Steveston Athletic Association.  I’m excited about this role for several reasons.  First, I think sport has enormous power to build communities. Second, I’m proud of the SAA because I believe in the values of the club.  I ran my first (by itself running*) marathon because Linda asked me, “What are you training for? We’re doing this. Do you want to do it too?” A supportive training group can be so empowering.

In my youth, I was a competitive racewalker* and we started a club to support community around our sport.  Racewalk West is still going strong… and even though I’m not connected anymore, I still enjoy following these athletes.  It seems a lifetime ago and yet here I go again. I’m a tiny bit concerned that I may have bitten off more than I can chew. But I find energy for these things because it’s worth putting a bit of yourself into these communities.

*My first marathon was the Honolulu marathon, I competed in the racewalk division.

Follow Your Passions

I like this image because of the cabbage. It reminds me that cooking is one thing I’m passionate about AND I do it to keep myself balanced.
Even though I admit that cabbage isn’t really that yummy, I do know that when I feed friends and family good food – that makes me happy. The same goes for sport. Sport feeds my soul and I also really enjoy sharing that experience with others. Even though it can sometimes be overwhelming to try and do it all, I keep coming back to this saying, “Follow your passions and a balance will emerge.”

True Competition is a Cooperation

True competition is a cooperation where competitors bring out the best in each other.  One competitor emerges as a winner but both have cooperated to create the performance.  I was recently reminded of this idea when flipping through my copy of Tim Gallwey’s book “The Inner Game of Tennis.”  If you’ve read Andre Aggasi’s great book – Open – you’ll remember him describing the scene with Marcos Baghdatis.  He describes that they were both thankful for the shared experience of some epic tennis.

This is what I’m hoping will happen with the last game of the Canucks season.  Please let the Canucks play at their best.  And, Boston too.  I’d much rather we win the cup in a well played game with no crappy calls or dirty hits or blow-outs.  Just good fast hockey, with good goals, and then this town will erupt.  The Stanley Cup deserves to be awarded in a spirit of competition and cooperation.

This is what we live for…

 

Does this sentiment apply to triathlon?  I think it does.  I think that’s the beauty of doing races.  The sense of community, the cheering, sharing your energy to help others, racing with friends, celebrating achievements with others.  For me, this sense of cooperation that I find in triathlon competitions might be what keeps me coming back for more.

Ultimate Tuesdays

I’m mixing up the my triathlon training this year by playing a social ultimate frisbee game on Tuesday nights. It’s fun – and a great dose of family and friends – to balance with my triathlon craziness. I haven’t played since 2005 and it’s a bit of a shock to the system.

I wore my Garmin last week to see exactly what kind of workout Ultimate Tuesdays deliver. Garmin made a little movie for me [click the image below to play]. You can see where my stuff was on the sideline, my lazy defense, our sometimes crazy offense, and where I parked the car (& please excuse my visit to the washrooms). Triathletes and their technology. Jeez.

I ran 6.8km in 2hrs 40min – which sounds VERY slow and steady! Ultimate is pretty much the opposite of slow and steady and involves lots of short bursts of sprinting, lots of standing around, and lots of smokies on the BBQ.

Throw a frisbee at the finish line & all my Ultimate Tuesdays will pay off.