Week 25: Alexa is adorable

Well, I managed to get back running this week. I ran 8.5 km Sunday, 10.75 km Monday and 9.5 km Tuesday, all at an average pace between 4:33 and 4:35 minute/km. My run on Wednesday was cut short because my right foot and leg were giving me some problems, so I only did a little over 3 km. I figured maybe four days in a row was too much after two and a half weeks of not running, so I rested on Thursday and Friday, and got in 10 km on Saturday. The run on Saturday included a (modified) 5 km time trial; it went well for the 2.5 km, but then I turned around and was running into the wind, and had to stop at around 3 km for a coughing fit/break. I really would like to kick this cold/flu/whatever I have, it's coming up on a month.

I'm still hopeful I can put in a good showing at the Atii 10 km race, but it would be a lot easier to do if I was healthy.

My total for the week is 42.06 km at an average pace of 4:33, and my overall total sits at 967.79 km for the year. My surplus still sits at a rather paltry 5.3 km, but you do what you can.

Anyway, blah, blah, blah, blah running. My daughter is adorable. Alexa learned two new words this week: "Dada" (or more often dadadadada) and "cat". She yells out "Dadadadada" when she wants to see me, and it's pretty cute. Apparently she yelled it out in church yesterday, but I wasn't around to hear it because I was in a predator defense course. She learned "cat" on Saturday. Christine had brought her to lie in bed with us, and we were discussing Alexa's expanding vocabulary (in chronological order: hi, mom/mommy, yummy, dad/dada) and we agreed the next word she should learn is cat. Hearing us, Alexa promptly copied us and said "cat" twice. It's really neat to see her develop.

The course I mentioned is designed to prepare the participants for encounters and attacks by predators we might encounter while working in the field (bears, wolves, etc.). There is a focus on non-lethal deterrents, but we are also being familiarized with shotguns - we spend today at Iqaluit's shooting range (which is basically a large open space away from the city). I didn't get in a run yesterday because the course took up much of my day, and then I just wasn't feeling up to it in the evening.

Edit: I completely forgot one of the reasons that Alexa is adorable. Our friend Alia had us over for supper on Friday. While we were over there and two of them were playing, Alexa held out her teething ring to Alia. She kept trying to give it to Alia, and when she wouldn't take it, Alexa opened her mouth to show Alia what she was supposed to do (just like we do sometimes when feeding Alexa). Alexa got really frustrated that Alia didn't seem to know what to do. It was super cute.

My First Father's Day (As a Father)

I haven't posted recently, because I didn't feel very motivated to write about my lack of activity. When last I posted, we were at the tail end of our trip. We wrapped up our stay in Regina, flew to Ottawa and stayed for a few days with Christine's aunt and uncle. I got out for one 14 km run during this week (on Wednesday, May 30), and the next day came down with the same illness Christine and Alexa caught. We flew home on Friday, June 1, and hosted a couple who were up for the opening of the cathedral in Iqaluit on June 3.

I was asked to be an usher and assist with collection at the opening, which was an honour, but it was also busy as the cathedral opening was very well attended and there was a lack of organization. The cathedral itself filled up quickly, with more than 400 people inside, and the ceremony was also shown in the parish hall, where another 150-200 people were seated in overflow. The ceremony was nice, and the cathedral looks great inside. We have since had two services in there, with increased attendance over what we typically got when we were worshiping in the parish hall - there have been 50 or so people, as compared to 30 or so on average previously.

The illness (cold/flu/whatever it is) hit hard after that, and I spent the last two days of my holiday in bed before returning to work on June 6. I didn't run at all during week 23 (June 3-9), and tried for a run during week 24 (June 10-16) on June 11, but only got 500 m out before I turned back because I was coughing so much. Yesterday was the first time I managed to get out for a successful run, doing 8.5 km. My surplus I was so proud of has now been whittled down to a mere 1.7 km, and I only have three weeks (maybe less) until I begin traveling for the summer. I'll see how much I can do before then, and will have to try to make up the difference later in the summer or into autumn.

Yesterday I had a nice day, my first father's day as a father. Christine got me a present on behalf of Alexa (a season of Chuck, a bag of Wine Gums, and a neat six sided die carved out of stone, bought locally at the museum here), and we spent a good portion of the day together, between giving Alexa breakfast (she's started on cereals now), attending church together, hosting coffee after church, and then staying close to home the rest of the day. Christine also made a nice supper and a cake. It was a good day.

Well, I'll see what this week brings when it comes to running. If I can, I'll start bringing the surplus back up a bit. The Atii Fitness run is scheduled for July 7 (and I'm scheduled to leave Iqaluit on July 8 for two weeks), so I'm hoping to compete in that. Time to go get ready for work.