Where did the week go?

Wow…where has the time gone?  I can’t believe the weekend is almost over.  This week was somewhat of a fail on getting workouts done…  I know, I just raced a half Iron last weekend, and even though I was recovering that didn’t mean that I would get the whole week off.  Here is the breakdown:
- Cycling: 2 rides scheduled for a total of 3 hours.  I rode once for just over 2.5 hours.
- Running: 2 runs scheduled for a total of 1:45 hours.  I ran twice…for a total of 50 minutes.
- Swimming: 2 swims for 1:30, but I only swam once.
So what have I been doing if it wasn’t really working out?

Friday was rodeo day at the Calgary Stampede!  I caught the afternoon show with barrel racing, bronco riding, bull riding and a few other fun activities. Once the rodeo was over we went to check out the food available at the midway.  Warm beef sundae anyone?  (No, I didn’t eat it, I just took a picture of someone random stranger’s.  I swear I wasn’t the only one to do that!)

How about some pizza on a stick?
A guy gave me a $10 food voucher which I put towards some deep fried Oreos…
After we were done damaging our arteries it was on to an event offsite event at Fort Calgary – Glass Tiger and Tom Cochrane with Red Rider!!!  This was a super fun event.  Sleeman is the sponsor here (as opposed to Budweiser who sponsors the Stampede) so the beverages are better…  Plus your ticket includes a dinner of beef on a bun, baked beans, coleslaw and a fruit cup.  Tom Cochrane was fantastic and was a really fun night. 
Saturday was a busy day of errands.  Off to the hairdresser, then a quick drive to Balzac to stop in at Bass Pro Shops to pick up a birthday present for my brother.  As my hairdresser put it, they did a good job keeping a taxidermist in business with that store! 
I was supposed to have a long run of an hour that afternoon, but when I got home I was bagged.  A nap in front of the Tour sounded like a much better idea. 

Sunday Pam and I rode a portion of the Calgary 70.3 bike route.  We basically rode the Grand Valley – Horse Creek loop portion.  The weather was terrific and it was a fun ride.  We capped the ride off with a 20 minute brick and a trip to MacKay’s for some ice cream!  I tried Infinit for the first time on the bike today.  I had brought one bottle of Infinit and some gel to round out my nutrition for the rest of the ride.  I only drank my one bottle of Infinit, so I definitely didn’t take enough in on the bike.  It made for a fairly painful brick run…  Lesson learned that I need more on a 2.5 hour ride.

In the afternoon I went out grocery shopping…and came home with a BBQ!  I’ve been thinking about upgrading to a larger BBQ (I have an itty bitty Patio Caddie at the moment).  I thought I found a good deal at Superstore, but opted to check Home Depot out before I committed, and found a really good deal there.  But it was 6 pm and the sale ended at 8 pm…and they didn’t have the one I wanted in stock.  Cue the running around to another Home Depot to locate my dream BBQ.  I lucked out, somehow managed to get it into my front yard (?) and spent the rest of the evening assembling it.  Isn’t it beautiful?
As soon as the BBQ was together I went inside and made myself a peanut butter sandwich for dinner and sat down in front of the Tour.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!  Be sure to check out Marlene’s giveaway!!

Feeling Like I'm 13 Again

The New Kids on the Block concert last night.... What a fun time! I had to transform from engineer to screaming teenager though...

Which hair accessory should I pick? There are so many scrunchies to choose from!Ultimately, I went for my sparkly pink, purple and silver barrette. Because it matched my way oversized sweatshirt circa the early 90s. Boy I used to love that sweatshirt! I was also rocking the sparkly eyeshadow and a New Kids button, courtesy of my friend, DGB. I'm just sad that it is hard to discern my high bangs in any of the photos.

She brought her New Kids trading cards, so that we could catch up on all the trivia over dinner.

By the time we got to the Saddledome Lady Gaga was long gone and Natasha Beddingfield was halfway through her set. I was expecting each opener to get half an hour, then there would be half an hour between acts. They were a little more speedy than that last night. We were pretty excited to see some other people dressed up. There were plenty of old school NKOTB shirts, leggings, crimped hair, and pushed up bangs like mine.

After Natasha Beddingfield finished her set she was off to sign some autographs, so I went to take a peak and grab a total paparazzi style shot:

On the way back I ran into Richelle! Richelle, let me know when you want to do retro spin night and I'll be there with my side pony tail and scrunchie! Pretty soon thereafter it was time for the show to start. A stadium full of late 20 to 30-something year old women...11,000 of them...all screaming like teenagers the entire time. And yup, I was one of them!

We had awesome seats. D wanted to make sure I got a few good pictures of Joey, just for her.

They sang some new songs, did all of their old big hits and even busted out their classic dance moves. It was a great show! Thanks to the girls for a fun night out, old school style!

A Glance Ahead, A Look Back

On a completely non-running related note this should be an interesting afternoon and evening. I'm off to a presentation today being put on by the Queen's School of Business on Women and the MBA. Back when I finished university I really felt like an MBA was something I wanted to pursue in the future, but as I've been working that priority has somewhat dropped off. I'm interested to hear what they have to say though, so it could be an interesting look ahead at possibilities...

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This evening I'm off to relive my teeny bop years at the New Kids on the Block concert. We are doing the concert up right, so be prepared for some fun pictures when it is all said an done! Thanks to DGB for lending me a NKOTB button to sport during the day!

So come on girls, who was your favourite New Kid? I was always a Joey fan myself...

A rocking good time

Last night was the Nickelback show with Daughtry, Puddle of Mudd and State of Shock. We missed State of Shock (which was OK by me since I have no idea who they are), but got there just in time to see Puddle of Mudd take the stage. Nothing exciting to report on them, except they did play Blurry and She Hates Me which are good tunes. Daughtry played a pretty good set and he seems to be pretty talented. Unfortunately they way turned up the bass and it was difficult to make the words out when he was singing sometimes. Home was a good rendition, but I didn't enjoy It's Not Over quite so much. You can tell you've watched American Idol a little too much when you think to yourself as he's playing that Simon Cowell would be telling him that it was indulgent, pompous and screechy. I have to say I really enjoyed Nickelback though. They had the big screens, pyro and lights of a good show. Plus they played most of my favourite tunes. A good time was had by all.

Tonight it is time to get back to work with BBC at the Memorial Stairs. Tomorrow I have 9 miles on tap.

Happy Friday!

All the Right Reasons - to take a rest day

In case you worry that this intrepid blogger is all excercise and no fun, fear not... Tonight I'm skipping boot camp to take a rest day and catch Nickelback in concert (along with Daughtry and Puddle of Mudd). I have a make up BBC session on Friday instead. Last night I also managed to fit in yoga. For a couple of folks in the class this was their first session, so it wound up feeling a bit too basic for me - I like the challenge! When I got home I finished things off with a round of clamshells to work on my hips. Yup, I think I definitely deserve a rest day after all that I accomplished yesterday!