I guess I should start with a little bit about myself, and this journal. On-line journals or blogs seem to becoming more and more popular these days, with people in every niche out there having a look in at other people's thoughts and lives.
Gavin, editor of time-to-run.com asked if I would keep a journal of my adventures for his website. He seemed to think there might be some interest in such a thing. My adventures will include traveling to Scotland, running the World Cross Country Championships, in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.
Then traveling to Loughborough, in the East Midlands of England where I will be for 11 days of training. Then traveling to Rotterdam, The Netherlands where I will be running my debut marathon at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon on April 13.
A little bit about me; I am originally from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I went to University at Providence College in Providence, RI where I completed my degree and ran Cross Country and track for the Friars!
I now live 1 mile from the P.C. campus and work (yes work, yes 40hrs per week) for Brown University and the Miriam Hospital at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center.
I am coached by Steve Boyd, a fellow Kingstonian, a Canadian Distance Running stud for the past oh 25 years or so! Steve and I communicate mostly via e-mail and telephone. Despite Steve only getting to see me run sparingly he has been unbelievably dedicated to coaching me. I really appreciate all the effort he puts in to developing my training plans and communicating with me.
I find his knowledge of the sport and me as an athlete to be second to none.
I (and I believe Gavin) intended this journal more as a detailing of some of the experiences and adventures of my 18 day trip, and less as a training log. Considering the bulk of my training for these two races is in the bag, I won't be doing a ton of running anyways (If you have any specific training questions I'd be more than happy to answer them)
Travelling to Europe
Schipol Airport Amsterdam
It is 8:10am local time 3.10am EST. I am sipping a euro coffee (cappuccino, no drip coffee here) and eating a random sandwich.
The only breakfast options were at Sbarro or McDonalds (not so great). I was excited to plonk down in the âââ¬ÃÅwifi zoneâââ‰â¢ and check a few emails (not from any real people, but maybe a new coupon from borders books, or an update on some great flight deals from kayak, or some new radiohead gear groupie emails, all of which I rarely read).
The flight went ok. I was on the aisle and had no one beside me in the window, so that was great. I was excited to watch American Gangster, but some technical problems prevented me from really seeing much of it. Had a ½ decent veggie curry.
Tried to sleep when I realized American Gangster wasnt going to happen.
Put some Sigur Ros on the headphones and conked out for at least 2-3hrs. Was woken by the guy in front of me blaring some Celtic music through his headphones that could be heard loud and clear by a few other passengers.
I haven't done the flight to Europe often, but I do remember getting it all wrong when I went to Ireland for the World Cross as a junior. I arrived in the morning before the rest of the Canadian team and ended up crashing for a good few hours. I was all out of sorts then when I woke up.
This time around the rest of the team is going to be there already. So, hopefully they don't allow me to crash during the day.
The flight to Edinburgh from here is only 1.5 hours. I am excited about getting there and wrapping my head around plodding through the muck for 12k on Sunday.
Next article World Cross Experience
Gavin, editor of time-to-run.com asked if I would keep a journal of my adventures for his website. He seemed to think there might be some interest in such a thing. My adventures will include traveling to Scotland, running the World Cross Country Championships, in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.
Then traveling to Loughborough, in the East Midlands of England where I will be for 11 days of training. Then traveling to Rotterdam, The Netherlands where I will be running my debut marathon at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon on April 13.
A little bit about me; I am originally from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I went to University at Providence College in Providence, RI where I completed my degree and ran Cross Country and track for the Friars!
I now live 1 mile from the P.C. campus and work (yes work, yes 40hrs per week) for Brown University and the Miriam Hospital at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center.
I am coached by Steve Boyd, a fellow Kingstonian, a Canadian Distance Running stud for the past oh 25 years or so! Steve and I communicate mostly via e-mail and telephone. Despite Steve only getting to see me run sparingly he has been unbelievably dedicated to coaching me. I really appreciate all the effort he puts in to developing my training plans and communicating with me.
I find his knowledge of the sport and me as an athlete to be second to none.
I (and I believe Gavin) intended this journal more as a detailing of some of the experiences and adventures of my 18 day trip, and less as a training log. Considering the bulk of my training for these two races is in the bag, I won't be doing a ton of running anyways (If you have any specific training questions I'd be more than happy to answer them)
Travelling to Europe
Schipol Airport Amsterdam
It is 8:10am local time 3.10am EST. I am sipping a euro coffee (cappuccino, no drip coffee here) and eating a random sandwich.
The only breakfast options were at Sbarro or McDonalds (not so great). I was excited to plonk down in the âââ¬ÃÅwifi zoneâââ‰â¢ and check a few emails (not from any real people, but maybe a new coupon from borders books, or an update on some great flight deals from kayak, or some new radiohead gear groupie emails, all of which I rarely read).
The flight went ok. I was on the aisle and had no one beside me in the window, so that was great. I was excited to watch American Gangster, but some technical problems prevented me from really seeing much of it. Had a ½ decent veggie curry.
Tried to sleep when I realized American Gangster wasnt going to happen.
Put some Sigur Ros on the headphones and conked out for at least 2-3hrs. Was woken by the guy in front of me blaring some Celtic music through his headphones that could be heard loud and clear by a few other passengers.
I haven't done the flight to Europe often, but I do remember getting it all wrong when I went to Ireland for the World Cross as a junior. I arrived in the morning before the rest of the Canadian team and ended up crashing for a good few hours. I was all out of sorts then when I woke up.
This time around the rest of the team is going to be there already. So, hopefully they don't allow me to crash during the day.
The flight to Edinburgh from here is only 1.5 hours. I am excited about getting there and wrapping my head around plodding through the muck for 12k on Sunday.
Next article World Cross Experience