In withdrawal already...

Was flipping through the pics on my phone yesterday, and came across this one - snapped during a moment of boredom on the customarily-jammed approach to the Champlain Bridge one afternoon. This place always made us laugh... I wonder how many people eat there, it's not the best marketing strategy I've ever seen. On the other hand, it could be pure genius. So honest, not to mention memorable!

truth in advertising :)

Today is Thursday... and it feels so strange not to be planning on leaving the office early to get up to Montreal to practice. Whatever will we do with the extra 14 hours of time we get back each week? ....

the in-between...

So season 1 ended, season 2 is about to begin... but even in the "off-season" there are medals to be had... check out the fabulous weekend I just had! A serendipitous paddle that netted a much coveted gold medal for about 55 seconds of work; and a 10K dash through my now-favorite-city-slash-second-home as part of the Montreal Marathon that earned me another medal, yes, but also my best run time EVER. I did it in 55:38 - and with an effed up foot to boot. Yaaaa! My running partner (not G for once - she had adventures of the family kind instead.. and much needed they were!) exceeded his expectations too... it was just perfect. So many firsts this weekend...

Season 2 of the road to Hong Kong starts October 10. The training will be murder. Our first fit test is set for November 26 (guess that means no turkey, no pumpkin or pecan pie, no nothing on the 24th!); and the roster for Hong Kong is being announced on December 5th. Good thing the Biggest Loser is back... we need the inspiration. Presently we're considering developing our own crazy-outdoor-in-the-woods-monster training session - with the help of Coach A (should he accept the challenge, woodland creatures and bugs) - and are just SO pumped to GET. IT. DONE.

Ok - gotta go train...!

the consequences of spending so much time together...

yup, it's true love :)

• people tell me "go - your husband is waiting" (and are talking about G)
• we both look at a crazy looking cloud in the sky and think it looks like a jellyfish
• G quietly thinks about what it would be like to try out a Concept 2 rowing machine with Vermont adapter at the same time as I blurt out "so.. i tried the VT adapter thing..."
• We gun the accelerator (yes we, not just the person driving.. because now even the passenger's foot twitches as if it were on the pedal), pass a big tractor-trailier, and then do a simultaneous and FREAKING IDENTICAL siren-like "whooooo!!"
• We hit a big toad on the road and both cringe, scream and scrunch up our faces in the exact same way
• I email G that there have been a few eating excesses over the weekend and therefore I need to cleanse and eat light the next few days, so please don't bring any additional stuff for our after-practice-dinner - on the same morning that she has decided she needs to detox because of those yummy but so-NOT-in-the-program mozzarella stix

Seriously - sometimes it's just dang uncanny.

Scariest storm ever.

Practice got cut short yesterday, due to a mega-threatening storm. We barely made if off the water as the lightning started dancing and the skies opened up. Since we'd planned on being there for a second late practice as well, we decided to go out to dinner and make a fun night of it. We sat inside while the rain continued.. and passed. A couple of drinks, amazing fried calamari, big plates of sumptious pasta, double espressos and much good conversation and laughter later.. we hit the road home. Just across the border we found ourselves barreling into the biggest, craziest lightshow we'd seen in a while. The lightning lit everything up better than a nightgame at a ballpark... the rain was torrential... the thunder just BOOMED. It was pretty scary at times. Then G's hubby calls. Tells us it's dangerous to drive in it. That we shouldn't use our phones. That we could basically die tonight. Grrreat. Pretty much exactly what we needed to hear at that moment!

ME: "Nah, the car is the safest place to be. Rubber tires!"
G: "Get on your phone and Google it."
ME: (looking, accessing all kinds of advice, contradictory and consistent alike). "Well, it's fairly  safe to keep driving. But it looks like if lightning strikes us, it won't be THAT that kills us, it'll be YOU that does it."
G: "Huh?"
ME: "Think about it... the lightning hits, we'll be ok, but you'll lose control of the car, and bang into the ditch/tree/whatever..."
G: (laughing and getting a teensy bit of a hysterical note in her voice) "Oh GREAT. NO PRESSURE THERE!!"
ME (ever so helpful as always): "Just be careful. Don't touch anything metal."
G collapses in a fit of giggles: "Just be careful? Is your phone metal? What's metal in here? My steering wheel is fine right?"
We're yelling at each other at this point, the noise from the rain and thunder is so loud. We turn the cabin light on and look for any and all metal parts. The shaft of the shift. The 4-wheel drive switch. That's about it..the rest is leather or plastic, we think.
ME: "Yeah, you're fine."

It lasted about 30 minutes... we had to slow it down to 40mph in parts, but overall it wasn't so bad. And we didn't die. Instead we started planning how we're gonna make the cut for Team USA next year. HA!

This is it. Year one. DONE.

This past weekend we were in Pawtucket, RI at the Taiwanese Festival and Dragon Boat races. It was supposed to be work, but as usual it just seemed like a mini-vacation. The coolest thing ever was that I got to try steering their boats.. which are NOT like any dragon boat I have ever seen. These are floating BATHTUBS and about as agile as you'd expect an old cast iron one to be! Impossible to turn on a dime, wide enough to lay crosswise, and steered from the wrong side with an oar that weighs.. well, seven tons at least. Ok, maybe not seven tons, but definitely more than I'm used to. The paddles too were shorter, thicker and heavier than conventional ones.. didn't get to try paddling but it looked quite interesting to say the least.

What dragons do for play :) We were going for the Titanic look...

The boats were gorgeous, the teams a lot of fun, and the day just brilliant - hot, sunny and perfect. (And did i mention that even though i couldn't turn the boat around with anything even resembling finesse or elegance, i was able to keep the thing straight down the course and won my first raceout?! Whoop! Oh it was awesome.) It was the last festival we're gonna work for the season - and next weekend is the last festival we're going to compete in. The Quebec Cup is the mother of all festivals for me - I think for G too. This is because of the insane 2000m race we have to do. It's full of aggression, determination, skill, and just plain old brutality. The steers are in the spotlight in this one.. and they do all they can (most of it legal) to get the edge they need to win. Raced around a 250m course, there are 7 turns to be made (and they need to be tight around the buoys so as not to lose time or allow another boat to get the advantage) and it can get really rowdy. Just our kind of fun.

Can't believe we're here. Yesterday was our last weight training session of year one. We have two last on-water practices this week, and then a weekend of crazy racing, and FINITO. (then three weeks of "vacation" and right back into murderous indoor training. Can't wait!)