The Universe sent me a sign today ...

In my head, I'd decided to do the Ottawa Half Ironman this Saturday, and my tri friends had agreed that I should go for the longer distance over the sprint, but then I got sick last week and couldn't train.

I'm feeling better now after this short but intense virus and actually had a good training today (50k cycle). So, missing one intense training weekend out of an available five seriously nicks "cramming" for a Half Iron, so I decided to do the Sprint Tri instead to play it safe, 'cause you and I both know I haven't done the miles for a Half, and I still have a hip injury.

So, I go online and lo and behold, online registration closed before the announced midnight cut-off today. And I'm not willing to pay more money to sign up on-site, especially at 6am on race day (since I'm working Friday and can't do early pick-up, Ottawa is two hours away!)

Guess it's an omen, a sign from the Universe ...

Another online registration opened weeks earlier than was supposed to (it was announced for mid-Sept) and a tri friend tipped me off. My heart jumped when she popped up suddenly in my Facebook chat window with the online registration link and I knew right away what I really wanted.

I signed up, no ifs or buts.

My credit card ain't too happy and I don't have the money to go yet (flight, hotel and shipping my bike, OUCH!) but I believe the money will come ... because my heart is already in this race ... and I'm going to be racing for my mom to raise money for cancer.

Ironman Canada 2010, here I come!

Interesting how I couldn't commit to signing up for the Ottawa triathlon ... I waffled and agonized and couldn't decide ... seemed that training, work, injury and sickness intended to get in the way ... somehow the Universe knew I'd need this race entry money for another bigger, more important race.

I've got a year to train ... a year to become disciplined ... a year to get ready ... and a year to find the money. But I have full trust in the Universe and it will provide :-)

On another positive note, the premiere of the short film "The Cat in the Pan" at the Montreal World Film Festival went well ... Very cool film, very cool cast and crew ;-)

From left to right:

Me (role: Goth Girl)
Bruno Philip, C.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Cindy Landerman (actor, wife to David Schapp and a beautiful mother-to-be!)
David Schapp (role: Monitor)
Anne Kmetyko (Director)

So life is wonderful and I can't wait for more amazing things to happen! Thank you, Universe!

[Edited to add: My friends with whom I was supposed to stay had their baby arrive 5 1/2 weeks early ... it would have been pandemonium at their house!]

Montreal World Film Festival: International premiere of "The Cat in the Pan"

Yesterday, I was still sitting on the fence about which race to do in Ottawa on Sept. 5. Today, I feel like I have fallen off, but not in a good way.

I'm fighting some kind of weird virus that makes it difficult to concentrate and keep my head up because I feel achey and woozy. My head and ears feel warm, my chest is a bit congested and my throat is swollen and I should really be lying in bed right now. But I am obstinate and am trying to be productive, well, at least semi-productive.

And I would love to go out and train but yesterday's short ride and run was difficult. I thought all the sneezing was due to severe allergies but I now realise that this nasty virus that I've caught was also contributing. Anyway, I would probably fall off from being too dizzy ... Sigh, forced rest day for me today.

So, being sick and not being able to train hard this last precious weekend before the race pretty well nullifies any chance of doing the Half Ironman. In addition, I've been called to shoot on a television series one day before the race, meaning that I'll miss the race packet pick-up Friday and would have to do it first thing Saturday morning, as well as familarise myself with the race course ... I could always fall back on racing the Sprint Tri ... hmmm ... but that starts at 8am and Ottawa is a two hour drive from Montreal.

Alright ... let's think about something else, something positive ...


My short film in which I play the Goth Girl, "The Cat in the Pan" directed by Anne Kmetyko, is making its international debut Sunday, August 30 at the Montreal World Film Festival. It'll be opening for another Canadian film called "The Poet".

Here are some pics from the shoot, taken by the set photographer, Aurelien Pallier-Colinot ...

Truant athlete

I admit I haven't been very disciplined this month with my training. A few short runs and swims, but hey, I lay in bed for days with fever at the beginning of this month so was out of the training loop for almost two weeks before I felt well enough to train, and now I'm sick again with another stupid virus, but at least this time, I'm not needing to lie down all the time from the wooziness.

So in these times of "non-training", what can I possibly write about on a blog about tri training? How about legitimate excuses for not training ... like a day of shooting?

This is a commercial shoot I did last summer. Here are some pics of the set and the production team:

More importantly, here is CRAFT ... the food:

On a long day of shooting, food, especially tasty healthy food, becomes essential to passing the time when one is waiting, waiting, waiting ... and then waiting some more.

Torture Boots from Hell

Had a blast recently on the set of "The Cat in the Pan", a hilarious short film by producer/actor Catherine Butikofer and directed by Anne Kmetyko. I got to play the Goth Girl and have never had my hair so straight in all my life. Wow, those flat irons really work!

Great script, fantastic crew, and wonderful actors! Oh yes, and nice location ... check out the marble walls and architecture. Sorry there are no set or crew shots as when I was around them, I was usually involved in the scene and not able to take photos! Thanks to my actor friend AD for snapping these ones for my blog.

Oh yeah, why the title of this blog? I had the WORST-FITTING boots in the world!! Inbetween scenes, I got to wear comfy slippers then when we were ready to shoot, I'd call out for my "Torture Boots from Hell" and slip them on. How I suffered! Besides being a 4" wedge, they balanced all my body weight onto my bunions. Let me tell you ... the pain could not have been more intense unless someone was actually carving the ball of my foot out with no anaesthesia. Nothing like chasing the main actress down several flights of stairs or down the hallway ... OUCH!!

But at least the boots looked good! And so did I!! It's amazing what wonders make-up, hair and wardrobe people can do ... ;-)

*Click for larger images

My compact crank rocks!

I finally got a chance to climb Montreal's mountain via the steep road that the car takes Camilien Houde. Yesterday's ride was supposed to be 2.5 - 2.75 hrs long but my trip to readjust my gears (again) cut my time short and I was left with two hours and lots of traffic to fight through to get to the store and out to Mont Royal. It was worth it.

Though I wasn't very fast, and it was difficult, I made it up and over twice and if I had had more time, I would have done it another couple of times ... well, at least until I puked. Anyway, I ended up with only 40k (city riding and traffic, you know) but was happy to know that my new compact crank rocks and makes climbing just a tad easier. How did I ever do Richter's Pass during Ironman Canada with a small chain ring with 42 teeth? My new crank is 53-34 and what a sweet difference!

The last week's been a little crazy coming off of my theatre performances and finally having the time to catch up with everything. I swam, cycled and ran ... not exactly as my training schedule dictated as I couldn't remember where I left it, but enough to feel like I'm starting to get up to speed, including my social life.

Here's a joint Kickrunners/Meetin' gathering ... what fun to combine two of my worlds!

Let's see what the rest of the week holds for training ... well today, what does my schedule say?

Swim
200 warm up
8 times 250 with 20 sec recovery.

Bike
1 ½ to 2 hour ride

Hmm ... I'd better get off the computer.