A Day in the Life ~ Yesterday

5:03am  Wake up and look at clock. Hmm. 10mins until my alarm sounds. Think about getting up and instead lay there and wiggle my toes and flex my ankles in hopes of awakening my legs first.

5:11am  Finally suck it up, turn off the alarm (before it actually starts blaring) and sleepily wander into the washroom. Take care of all the usual business that needs to be taken care of first thing in the morning and then get dressed into my run gear. Flick on the light in the loft so I can actually see (it's so dark!) and notice that Rusty is cutely curled up on his dog bed. Tip toe back into the bedroom to say goodbye to Shane (I always try to be super quiet and gentle while saying goodbye, but I'm sure I startle him awake every time I do this, haha). Once I've said goodbye to Shane, it's time to go give Rusty some cuddles and then coax him out of bed with the promise of breakfast.

5:15am  [As noted in a previous “Day in the Life” post, I actually take longer than 4 minutes to do all that needs done in the washroom, but I set my alarm clock ahead by approx. 12-13 minutes – so I often make it downstairs with the same time on the clock as the “time” I get up]. Get Rusty breakfast; finish packing my lunch for the day while pounding a huge glass of water and give one last check to make sure I have everything I need for the day ahead.

5:25am  Load Rustbeast and my bags in the car and roll out of the dark driveway for the drive down to my folk's place.

5:45am  Pop into my parent's house so I can put Rusty's dinner in the fridge and grab a poo bag – trying hard to be super stealthy and quiet so my Mom doesn't wake up. Fail! She has supersonic hearing and I can't get in and out undetected. I've woken her. Have a quick chat before heading out to walk with the Beast.

5:48am  Walking with the pup. The streets are super quiet and dark. Usually it doesn't bother me, but something feels slightly eerie today. Try to put it out of my head and just keep trucking along, enjoying the silence and the furbabe's company.

5:52am  The skies open up and within moments, Rusty and I are drenched. Keep walking.

6:13am  Arrive back at the parental units, towel dry the beast, say goodbye to Mom and get back in the car to head into town.

6:32am  Park downtown by my office, locate satellites on the trusty ol' Garmin and head out for an easy 30min+ run (+ = hill strides). It's a mostly good run – a nice out and back past the parliament buildings and toward the water. My calves are a bit tight, and my easy pace feels a little harder than I would like or expect it to, but the rain has stopped and downtown is quiet and calm. I stop for a quick bathroom break on the way back before heading down to the causeway and finding a nice hill to do my strides on.

7:10am  Arrive back at my car, grab my work clothes and towel and head into the office building for a quick shower. It's time to try and make myself look somewhat presentable for the day ahead.

7:32am  All clean, hair brushed, smelling a little fresher than 20 minutes ago and I'm back at my car. Hop in and drive up to see the wonderful and amazing Lysanne for a much needed massage.

7:39am  Eat my yogurt and granola while sitting in my car listening to the radio before it's time to head into the massage clinic.

7:50am  Massage time! Bliss (and torture and pain) for one full hour.

9:03am  Now that my massage is done, it's time to get to work. Once parked, I wander to the office, grabbing a coffee on the way. Drop my lunch off in the fridge in the lunch room, and finally plop myself down in my desk. Work. Work. Work. Twitter. Facebook. Read some blogs. Work. Work. Work. It’s a pretty typical morning, although it is definitely a bit quieter than it has been the last few days.

12:02pm  Can't wait any longer. Must.Eat.Lunch. Head down to the lunch room, heat up my leftover quinoa casserole from the night before and proceed to inhale it in about 2 seconds flat.

1:05pm  Decide to head out for a short wander as the sun has broken through and the need for some fresh air and a little leg stretch has taken over my thoughts.

1:32pm  Back at my desk (it was only a short walk today due to my late start this morning). More work. A bit more slacking (yep, it's super quiet in the office today) and more work.

1:58pm  A co-worker and I are both so hungry we decide that afternoon treats are in order. So, I guess that means it's time for another little break. We head to the box office first to drop off some stuff and then onto the coffee shop. I clearly didn't bring enough healthy snacks today.

4:26pm  Sneak out a few minutes early to change into my CX gear so that I can get a bit of a jump on traffic and make it to tonight's cyclocross "race" on time.

5:04pm  Pull into the parking lot at Layritz. Get the ol' bike out of the car, helmet and shoes on, and hop right into the course for a warm up loop.

5:30pm  CROSS CLUB! 'B' group 'race' start. I hang back a bit as usual so as not to get in anyone's way. This was a long course compared to the last couple weeks, but it was a super fun course with some awesome mud puddles, lots of twists and turns, a couple little ups and downs. I definitely feel like I'm improving at this whole CX thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm still not great, but I definitely think I'm getting better. Tonight was the first time I found myself wishing I had started closer to the front of the group, and getting a bit frustrated as I was feeling a little "stuck" behind people that were taking the turns slower than I would have liked. That said, it did give me the opportunity to make a few fun and fast passes and I definitely ended the night having passed way more people than passed me.

5:57pm  Not quite done my final loop, I have to pull out of the course a little early, as we have company coming to stay for the night and I know I need to hit the road if I'm going to make it home on time.

6:15pm  Stop and pick up some take out for dinner. Feel an overwhelming happiness in my heart every time I look down and see my mud soaked legs. I think I love this crazy cyclocross thing.

6:30pm  Home, home at last! Laura, Ash and Bradley have arrived as well (yay!). I quickly rinse my bike and bike shoes (have I mentioned the mud?) and hop in the shower before dinner.

6:42pm  A lovely evening at home visiting with awesome friends begins. We eat, we chat, we try to keep Rusty from licking Bradley's little hands and feet and just relax and enjoy a long overdue catch up.  

10:30pm  After a few hours of visiting and catching up on all that has happened in our lives over the last few months, we all head off to sleepy-time village. I think I'm asleep within about 3 seconds of my head hitting the pillow.