Day 2 - East Coast Road Trip 2012

Today my family and I were in Quebec city.
We walked 6 kilometers, our feet were hurting so much!!!
We also saw so many different things and buildings.



The hotel we are staying at is really cool.
The ground has tiles, not carpet.




There was a big candy store in old Quebec city.




This is what I had for lunch...it was delicious!




This was a Door about my size!


Ben's quote:
Today we walked a long time.
I also went on a twisty slide.
And I read a chapter book for the first time.
The hot tube was the hottest ever! Also today was so hot!


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Day 1 - East Coast Road Trip 2012

Today my family and I went to Montreal.
It took six hours to get here from Markham.
The hotel we are staying at is a Courtyard Marriott. My auntie Heather got us a great deal.
Tomorrow were going to hang out in Quebec city for the day.
Ben's Quote:
"Today it took a long time to get to Montreal. We waited 6 hours."













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How to ride a bicycle

"Just remove the pedals"

The Concept is simple - trying to learn all the skills of balancing, steering, pedaling, and braking at the same time can be challenging. Split it up into simpler components!

Here's how I was able to get both my kids up and running quickly:

- remove the pedals
- set the height so that the child can stand with both feet flat on the ground
- find a surface with a slight downward slope that will allow a bike to coast on it's own
- have the child coast down the hill with the objective of trying to balance on the bike without touching the ground
- try to remind them to look ahead and into the direction where they want to go and NOT down on the ground in front of them - I found standing about 10 to 20 feet away and having them use me as the 'target' to be helpful
- once they can do this comfortably (you'll notice that they will just 'get it' at some point), put the pedals back on the bike
- have the child do the same thing, but this time tell them to put their feet on the pedals and start pedaling once they are moving...

That's it! They'll be riding on two wheels in no time!


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Photos from Marathon Day

First Marathon Experience

I started running for the first time less than a year ago...and somewhere along the way decided that doing a full marathon would be a good thing to check off my bucket list. After seeing someone at the Sporting Life 10k wearing a really cool blue and yellow Boston Marathon shirt, I also decided to set my goals even higher and try for a qualifying time in my first marathon.

After signing up for the Goodlife Toronto Marathon, I officially started a training plan in June of this year consisting of runs at least 4 mornings each week. After months of waking up at 5am, regular long Sunday runs, some over 3 hours, tolerating shin splints due to the significant ramp up of distance and speed, and many 20 minute ice baths for recovery...the big day finally arrived.

Although I had lots of training, realistically, it was over a relatively short period of time...meaning my Boston goal would be a big 'reach' to accomplish. That being said, I still made the decision to make an attempt, with the understanding that I would risk possibly hitting the "wall" early. I didn't do all this training not to give it a try.

So here's how the run went:

- Started off great and felt good from the week of tapering and rest;

- I was able to keep the 3:15 'pace bunny' (Boston qualifying time) behind me for the first 21kms with a half marathon time of 1:37:57 - exactly what I needed to be doing;

- The run from 21k to 32k was a bit tougher both due to some fatigue as well as running against the wind; 32k time was 2:41:12, which meant that the Boston pace bunny had passed me, however, I could still finish with a good 3:30 time;

- That's when it started to really fall apart...

- The pain set in...first it was cramping in one calf muscle...then another...then the quads...then hamstrings...then all at once in both legs...

- From 35k to 38k was my toughest time when it hurt with every step and I couldn't run...and I had many doubts of even being able to finish the marathon...it seemed so far away...my new goal was no longer based on time at that point...it was just to finish...

- With encouragement from the growing crowds at 39k and knowing that my family and friends were waiting for me at the finish....I somehow was able to keep things going, still a slow pace, but moving; at this point, it was more about pain tolerance rather than cardiovascular endurance;

- Approaching the finish...I saw that the clock was counting towards 4 hours and I gave everything I had left to get in under that time....3:59.45 was my official chip time;

The following is a link from my Garmin GPS which officially documented every minute of my journey: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53430739

While I didn't achieve my 'reach' goal....I'm pleased with my final results...as I wouldn't have even thought that was achievable in the last part of the run. The last 10k was one of the toughest and most painful experiences in my life. Running a full marathon is a most humbling experience and I have learned much from it. While I'm still sore at this time...I have also started to think about when and how I will tackle it again...still with the goal to eventually get that blue and yellow Boston shirt.

There were many who were a part of my first marathon journey and I thank them for all for their support (and tolerance to my current addiction).

-billy

Day 10 - Last day in Tanzania :(

Today is our last day of the Safari. We got started early in the Crater in hopes of getting a closer look at the black rhino as well as still finding the elusive leopard. It's amazing how some of these animals can blend so easily into the landscape. You can literally be within 10 to 20 feet from a pride of lions and not even know it! (let's just say that some of the more 'natural' bathroom breaks in the wild were risky as a result!). Oh yes....remind us to tell you about how lazy these lions are as well...as they sleep most of the time.

We convinced Prosper to forego the traditional 'boxed' safari lunch and once again, take us into Arusha town for an authentic Tanzania meal at our favourite 'hoteli' restaurant. This time, since we bugged Heber all week, he finally ate with his hands like everyone else.

We boarded our plane to for an overnight flight to Amsterdam - the next leg of our adventure.

Day 9 - Ngorongoro Crater

We checked out of the Migration Camp this morning - what we felt has been the best accomodations in terms of experience, location, food, and service so far on this trip. We would recommend anyone considering a safari to spend more time in these tented lodges and camps (especially this one!) versus the more 'touristy' and 'resort' type lodges.

Today we got up close with my favourite, the Cheetah and as well, got a very, very, very distant glimpse of a black rhino. The Ngorongoro Crater is unbelievable in terms of landscape and wildlife.