Week 17: Home Alone

It was really nice having my dad come to visit last weekend, but I didn't end up getting out for a run Sunday, so I had to really buckle down after he, Christine and Alexa left on Tuesday. Wednesday it started snowing, and didn't really let up until Friday - probably got close to a foot altogether.

I went out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, skipping Wednesday as that was when the bulk of the snow came, and the streets were a mess. I was pretty pleased with my run yesterday: I did 12.09 km in 55 minutes at an average pace of 4:33 min/km. Total for the week was 49.27 km at an average pace of 4:40 min/km. Overall totals now sit at 715.85 km run, and a surplus of 61.35 km.

I'm now roughly a third of the way through the year (32.5%), and have run 35.6% of my goal, so that feels pretty good. I'm hoping to increase my surplus quite a bit over May and June, as there will be times in July and August when my running will be minimal, due to work.

I'm really looking forward to going down south, both to see family and friends, and just to get a break from the north. The farthest south I've been since the end of May last year is Sanikiluaq, which is still pretty far north. Plus, it'll be nice to experience some warmer weather and no snow. I leave next Saturday.

Week 16: Slight deficit

As predicted, my attendance at Nunavut Mining Symposium affected my running this week; I only got out three times for a total of 34 km, giving a slight deficit of 4.5 km. This is the first time since week 7 that I've run a deficit, but I still maintain an overall surplus of 50.58 km, with an overall total of 666.58 km. The Mining Symposium went pretty well, and was well attended with approximately 500 delegates. I delivered a presentation on Tuesday, and co-chaired a session most of that day. I also had a number of meetings with clients, and attended various meet-and-greets. Still, I'm glad it's done - I was pretty wiped by the end of the week. My Dad arrived on Friday, and has been enjoying meeting his granddaughter, although she wears him out a bit. We've been enjoying having him, and showing him around town. Pretty soon, Dad, Christine and Alexa will be heading down to Saskatchewan, and I'll be following about a week and a half behind. Will post again next week.

Week 15: Another big surplus

This was another good week for running. Last Sunday I got to run in -5, and did 13 km in about 59 minutes. The rest of the week was a bit colder, but I got out for three 9 km runs, and another 13 km run yesterday. Total for the week was 53.28 km at an average pace of 4:44 min/km, for a surplus of 14.78 km. Overall total is 632.56, and overall surplus is 55.06 km.

We have Nunavut Mining Symposium this upcoming week, which tends to be quite busy, but hopefully I will not have to dip into my surplus. My dad also arrives on Friday, which we're excited about.

Not too much else to report. Alexa has topped 15 lbs. now, and continues to develop in new and interesting ways. The weekends with are interesting; it's great seeing her more, but they also throw off her schedule a bit, so she tends to be a bit fussy. Still, I'm going to miss her and Christine when they head off to Saskatchewan on the 24th - I won't be able to follow them until May 6th.

Heading out for another run shortly, but I might make it a bit of a shorter one, only 10 km or so. I went over to my friend Nik's place last night, and didn't get to bed until 1:00 p.m. We played a game of Risk 2210, my first time playing it. I like it much better than classical Risk, it has a defined time limit (only 5 turns), and a bit more complexity.

Week 14: Good week

This was a good week for running. I had done more than 30 km by Tuesday, and for the second week in a row set a record for kilometres done. I ran five times this week, taking Wednesday off as a rest day, and Thursday off for karaoke (more on this below)! I did 52.88 km at an average pace of 4:58 minute/km. My surplus for the week is 14.38 km, and overall is 40.28 km, which means I have more than a week's worth of running banked up. That feels good. Edit: My current total overall is 579.28 km.

Thursday we experienced 70 km/h winds in the morning, and which turned into a blizzard by lunch. Our office shut down for the afternoon, so I'm currently enjoying a 4 1/2 day weekend. My friend Nik is moving away as of the beginning of June, and I promised him I'd come out to karaoke at least once before he left. It was my first time going, but it was a lot of fun. I sang three songs: The Weight by The Band; Joy to the World (Jeremiah was a Bullfrog) by Three Dog Night; and Piano Man by Billy Joel. The karaoke machine rates your performance (accuracy?), and gave me 100 on two of the songs. It also seems to be somewhat flawed, because there were some incredible singers who got lower ratings, and Nik tells me that he once saw a song go through with nobody singing that it rated 94.

I'd probably be willing to go again, the only problem is the timing of it. It happens Tuesday and Thursday night, and gets started around 9 and winds up by 12:30. As my usual bedtime is 9:30, this poses a bit of a problem.

We've had a busy weekend so far. Thursday night was karaoke, Friday evening I had some friends over for pizza, a movie and some games, yesterday one of Christine's friends from church stopped in during the afternoon and a couple she knows came over to play games in the evening, and tonight we're having a few people over for Easter dinner. It's been fun, but I think tomorrow we may try to enjoy some family time.

Alexa is growing like a week, and has now topped 15 lbs. She had an immunization appointment where she was weighed, and then again two days later at Public Health. She gained six ounces over those two days! She has really been enjoying her Jolly Jumper. Put on some music, and she just goes for as much as 45 minutes.

The other exciting bit of news is that we got an e-mail from our property manager on Friday indicating that our tenant has expressed interest in buying our house. It kind of came out of the blue, but we're looking into the implications of this, and may sell depending on what the offer is.

Happy Easter, all!

Week 13: First quarter done!

This was a pretty good week for running. I did four runs of at least 9 km each during the week, and 12 km yesterday. My weekly total was 48.66 km, the highest so far this year, at an average pace of 4:57 minute/km. This gives me a surplus of 10.16 km for the week and 25.9 km overall, with a running total of 526.4 km. Not bad. I'm now a quarter done the year, and a bit over a quarter done my goal.

The weather is starting to look up, I went out today and it was sunny and only -17 with wind. I wouldn't mind if it got a bit warmer, but I'm certainly not complaining when it's warmer than -20!

Alexa is still teething, and her mom and I are both looking forward to when those teeth pop out. Her manual dexterity is improving, but she can't yet consistently hold a teething ring to her mouth. She's starting to really enjoy her jolly jumper, especially when Christine puts some fiddle music on for her. Yesterday, Alexa said 'hi' twice, which was cute even if she doesn't know what it means yet.

At work, we've now made it through the end of the fiscal year. April will be somewhat busy, especially with Nunavut Mining Symposium coming up. I'm looking forward to my dad's visit, less than three weeks from now, and then a few days later he, Christine and Alexa will be headed to Saskatchewan.