TRIATHLON TRANSITIONS AND SAFETY ACCESSORIES

Last night, my triathlon buddy and I did our best to simulate transitions after a quick 30 laps to simulate the 750m swim. Our master's coach criticized our transition, but, to be fair, I hadn't planned to leave the pool so quickly, and I had to communicate with the Princess Pirate who was going to take the pool stuff home, and be on her own for the first time, and I left her swimming under the care of my other triathlon buddy who didn't have his bike.

I did have everything I need for the bike, but two essentials I need for the run: Sports bra and my proper runners. We biked 11 k and then ran half a km just to see. The transitions weren't bad. I found it hard to keep up a pace swimming or biking, but the swimming with alternating 50 m crawl and 50 breast worked well. For both, I was chasing my friend, which works out too.

The swim list:
swimsuit
goggles

a spare pair of goggles
towel
bag to put wet things

The bike list:
bike
combination lock
bike pump
tire patch?
helmet
sunglasses/glasses
bike gloves
bike shorts
sports bra and shirt
socks and runners (watch the laces don't loop/hang)
someway to pace?
platypus backpack 2L water
snacks

The run list:
hat
stow bag for above

To verify on my two decade old bike:
front white reflector
front tire white or amber reflector or circumferential reflector on tire
red rear reflector
white or red rear tire reflector or circumferential reflector on tire

For nighttime:
white light in front
red light in back

For more details see Bike safety in Quebec

An oddity of the Esprit Montreal Sprint is that the cycling is counterclockwise, so the slow lane is keeping left, and passing is on the right.

I may need a triathlon suit or wet suit. Maybe even a new bike! Argh! First, must try and borrow for the day.

FRANCAIS QUOTIDIEN

lutter(v), la lutte(n) = fight, battle, struggle
être bien décidé = to be determined
Merci pour votre soutenu = thanks for your support
haut les coeurs = chin up

ATAINING SELF ACTUALIZATION

I always thought I might be one of those people who are able to attain self actualization by the end of my lifetime, but as I move through middle age and find myself sometimes just barely, or honestly, sometimes not even able to tread water or keep up with the flow of life, I stop and reevaluate where I truly am. Without self-evaluation, I am convinced, it is harder to happen upon a goal. Many things in life require a concerted effort with a drive towards a specific goal.

SWIMMING TWEAKS I AM LEARNING (BEFORE I FORGET)

The last 3 summers, I have been swimming with a group of adults in a program called Masters. Basically, most people were swimmers as kids, and they come and follow one of two programs: long or short. Then there are a few of us, like me, who need a lot more work, and struggle to get the shortest program done. I try and stay out of the way, but each time I go, I feel a little bit stronger at swimming.

Not having goggles was the biggest limitation to me learning how to swim properly. A close second, though, was the feeling of lightheadedness that cause me to quit at Red Cross level White. The technique still remains to breathe every 3, 5 or 7. I still feel breathless on finishing a lap or two with breathing every 3, so I am best breathing every 2, no matter how lopsided that makes me feel.

What I have learned, is that lightheadedness is far from the warning needed to modify my breaths. This is based on the physiologic warning of increased CO2 and not from lack of oxygen. Still, I find it the biggest challenge to feel at ease breathing and being immersed in water, now that I have a pair of italian goggles that I adore.

There are four stages of breath holding:
First is that feeling of lightheadedness.
Second is diaphragmatic spasms, but this too is not life threatening, but your lungs will be burning.
Third is a splenic release of oxygen-rich blood released into the bloodstream, and you may give you a surge of energy. This may be your last chance to pull out. This also may be a mammalian dive reflex.
Fourth, and last, is blackout.

The front crawl is now called freestyle. The idea is to keep your legs kicking continuously, hinging from your hips, and to keep your hips up, so that your head rotating to breath is flat at the surface. This means using your abdominal muscles to bring your hips to the surface when you are breathing. I haven't mastered this yet, but apparently all it takes is one eye out, but I am still surfacing both. Also, to get the best strokes, you need to do the "Superman pose", externally rotation the shoulder as you extend, careful not to cross over your arms/hands, as I apparently do.

The breast stroke is my favorite, but it is clearly not as efficient. I had been doing it all wrong. I love the breathing, because it is one to one, so when I get tired, this is my go to stroke. The tough bit is the kick. Unlike the frog kick I practices for decades,  the whipkick comes from the knees, with thighs glued together. The head looks down after the breath with hands in streamline while you kick, and then pause to glide. Repeat.

CORTADO COFFEE

My brother loves coffee. He judges a new place by a drink I have never heard of: Cortado. I am trying to learn the term, because each place that serves it makes a pretty pattern.

Here is the cortado at Cafe Myriad, near Concordia University.

HAPPINESS DEFINITION

Malcolm Gladwell has extraordinary friends. Listening to his podcast  #11 Season 3 May 10, 2018 Revisionist History bonus, he debates his friend Adam Grant, who has a great sense of humour. This is one of the gems that comes up during the debate (a quote by Tom Magliozzi) :

Happiness= Reality -Expectations

FOOD AS CHUCK HUGHES RECOMMENDS

Montreal where to eat

OSLER BOOK CLUB LIST

OSLER FELLOWSHIP RESOURCES

STRADDLE INJURIES, 60 DAYS AND OVERTRAINING SYNDROME (OTS)

This week I am suffering from more than one injury. The great thing about a triathlon is that you have to procrastinate three times to do nothing, so usually you run out of excuses and can at least do one form of exercise!

MIAMI BEACH ART DECO

Art Deco Miami beach tour
(Come back for night lights!)

The tour starts at the Art Deco Welcome Centre at 1001 Ocean Avenue.

Miami Beach is famous for its Streamline Moderne Art Deco architectural style. It is considered the second wave of Art Deco, and unlike the initial Skyscraper style that began in the 1920s, it reflected a simpler more austere style in keeping with depression years of the 1930s.

The stone found throughout is a limestone full of coral patterns. It is called Ulitic limestone or Keystone Coral, and comes in peach, pink, blue and green. All of it is quarried from the nearby Everglades. It lines exterior and interior walls, even at the base of decorative fence walls .

Here is an example from the iconic Beach Patrol Headquarters.






Here is an example from The Viscoy Hotel facade:







Here is the interior counter from The Tides Hotel:






My favorite part was finding the detailed motifs:

geometric like zigzags, chevrons and semicircles
natural like leaves, fern fronds and sunrises
tropical like pelicans and water
frozen fountains

Here are some essential links:
Origins and Influences
Architecture in the US and the Dawn of Deco

PS
These are the notes from my beach tour:

Ulitic limestone (keystone coral) peach, pink, blue, green-quarries from Everglades
Frozen fountains
Rum runners-mob brought alcohol to Miami beach during prohibition
Nautical Deco
Portholes
Ziggurats
Stainless steel
Streamline
Geometric
Porter house style?
South of Fifth SoFi-Jewish quarter
Segregation beach-curfew-African Americans
View-no Jews
No AC
No pools
No building on east side of ocean drive
Miami Vice
ABA
Mediterranean revival- rebuilt Chris Colombo -Versacci killed by serial killer
Sea grape tree-shedding leaves-yellow parrots
Modern Art Deco
Grackles
Quaker came down from PA to see why his coconut investments weren't making money-helped build the bridge to Miami Beach-grew avocados( alligator pears) and mangos
Barbara Capitman started preservation of Miami Art Deco
Leonard Holovitz chose the paint colours
Aztec Art Deco-the Carlyle

ARISTOTLE'S GOLDEN MEAN

Alexander the Great of Macedonia was not known for moderation. But as fate would have it, his teacher was Aristotle, who must have at least mentioned it during his education.

The Golden Mean preceded Thomas Jefferson's idea of moderation, but it describes the balance that goes back to ancient China and the balance of nature called Yin-Yang.

I like this table that outlines some of the details.

WEST ISLAND TO THE OLD PORT: MANJIT CHATRIK

I love art. I love some artists especially. I realized that Mr. Manjit Singh Chatrik is one of those artists when I saw him at his booth on Place Jacques Cartier. I was happy to introduce my friends to his exquisite work. His works include animals and birds, and people and places around the world. He uses water colour, patterns in metallic paint and moonshapes to create fantasy and beauty in every painting. Today I learned he was previously an illustrator, which is where he developed his style. He also let me call him Mr. Singh, which was how I remembered his name, but I think he was just too polite to correct me! Strangely I couldn't find a website, but here are a few images. Check him out!

MARRIAGE VOWS FROM KATHERINE HEPBURN'S "WOMAN OF THE YEAR"

Dearly beloved...
...we are gathered here together
in the sight of God...
...and in the face of this company...
...to join together this man
and this woman in holy matrimony.
Which is an honorable estate...
...instituted of God...
...and therefore is not by any to be
entered into unadvisedly or lightly...
...but reverently, discreetly, soberly...
...and in the fear of God.
You are performing an act
of utter faith.
Believing in one another to the end.
As the bride gives herself
to the bridegroom...
...let him be to her
father and mother...
...sister and brother...
...and, most sacred, husband.
As he gives himself to her...
...let the bride inspire and sustain him...
...let her unite with him
in all the experiences of life...
...to which their paths shall lead.
The great moments and the small.
That the joys of each
shall be the joys of both.
And the sorrows of each,
the sorrows of both.
If you wish your new estate
to be touched with lasting beauty...
...cherish those gracious visions
of your first love.
Let them not be blurred
by the common events of life.
Be not moved in your devotion.
Believe in the ideal.
You saw it once.
It still exists.
It is the final truth.
William...
...wilt thou have this woman
to thy wedded wife...
...to live together after God's ordinance
in the holy estate of matrimony?

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=woman-of-the-year

IMMIGRATION AND THE PASSES

My daughter's school curriculum enlightened me to why I was a fourth generation immigrant to the Canadian prairies, but it did not do a good job explaining how the west was populated when it was already indigenously populated.

Today I watched a documentary that explains this "shared history". It explains "The Pass system", starting in 1885, concomitant with the immigration of farmers encouraged by "free landplots". For 60 years, the system was created that still echoes today. In order to leave the reservation, an aboriginal needed to ask an Indian Agent for a pass. To visit town, to go the hospital, to visit their children, who were taken as wards of the state to residential schools. They weren't always approved, were often hard to obtain, brief, and punishable by jail if not obtained.

Why is it so hard for history to be told by more than one side? As Napolean said, "History is a set of lies agreed upon". Surely it's time to tell a story with at least two sides?

SCAVENGER HUNT OLD MONTREAL

Today was a great day. It is easy to say that it was a great day because, we, as a group of four women, went on a fun scavenger hunt in Old Montreal today. It is tempting to blog the details of our great dim sum lunch (I will, but it beside the point). But the best part of the day was the reality that I have these three wonderful women in my life that I can rely on, have fun with, and I feel I belong with.

The funny thing about it is that it is easiest to blog about the food, then about the details of a scavenger hunt we did together, but it is hard to find the words and spend the time writing about what matters most.

It is also funny how some terribly important  and monumental events happen, and there are no blog entries, and how some blog entries occur with very little meaning. I suppose this is reflective of our photo albums and even our own memories.

DIM SUM AT RUBY ROUGE

I don't remember a lot of the names, but we were four people, and we ate a lot for $15 each at Ruby Rouge. It was wonderful. Definitely not vegan. Almost all were brought in threes, but since we were four, they were cut in half and gave us each a taste. We were late for lunch, but confirmed that they were serving with the carts until 3. One hour gave us enough time. A nice lady confirmed the entrance as it was not obvious to enter into the restaurant, but instead looked like a shop on St. Laurent.

We had steamed rice rolls (cheung fun is the one made of prawns) with shrimp and bbq pork. Highlights were the stuffed eggplants with shrimp, stuffed green peppers with shrimp, and taro dumplings. Simple shrimp dumplings were even better with "vegetables"; basically green with leeks. A simple plate of chinese broccoli. Phoenix claws (chicken feet) eaten for collagen's beauty. Some sticky rice bamboo packets. Sweet  sesame balls and "salty" deep fried balls of pork. All washed down with pots of brown tea and a finale of silky tofu pudding with ginger syrup.

What follows are not the best photos, as no plate was left untouched before I could photograph it! At least it will trigger some memories for next time!

Taro dumplings, bbq pork steamed rice noodle roll

Eggplant stuffed with shrimp, bamboo leaves of glutenous rice and pork

Chiu-Chao dumpling, veggie-shrimp and shrimp

Silky tofu pudding with ginger syrup. Yum!

SUMMER GARDEN TEA PARTY

It was a warm and perfect night. The girls came in their finery, and Cindy had made some incredibly beautiful fastinators that were inspirational!

I thought, after ten years of December parties, I wanted to host a summer one. The weather called for thunderstorms, and wikipedia suggested a high tea starts at 5 pm. Thankfully, we had a clear, if not a little warm, evening until dusk set and we cleared away the dishes. Only then did it start to rain!

Even those who weren't sure they couldn't make it did, and the places around the outdoor tables matched the number of verrines, plates and spoons. 8!

It was an evening full of food, laughter, and love. The courses went off without a hitch, and my Princess Pirate helped with the festivities. I think I may have to expand my party repertoire to twice a year!

Served with everything was tea I recognized from my Uncle's good taste and collection he sent to my grandma for gifts: Taylor's of Harrogate, which I found at my local Bramble House. I picked my favorite Earl Grey in leaf form, but figured that an afternoon tea might be best served with the Afternoon Darjeeling Tea. I was not wrong. It was the most popular tea served!

On the list for next time:

tomato bruschetta
vanilla macaroons
rhubarb crisp
fruit skewers (strawberry bocconcini)
almond marzipan dates
apple or zucchini cheddar rose pastries
spinach egg squares
quinoa salad

Allergy list
pineapple
gluten
milk
hazelnut
raw apple/peach/apricot

White roses being watered, inspired by Camilla, and a pink ribbon topper, inspired by Eugenie 

Currant scones, almost perfectly done this time, with Devon custard (from Devon!), clotted cream (overpriced butter), marmelade and a gift of pineapple sriracha jam

English tea cups from the family collection

Mint and edible floral ice cubes

Mint water in champagne glasses and colours of summer with floral arrangements

Crudités in hummus

Red Pepper soup, served cold, with quinoa and avocado,  rice crackers with red pepper pate

For the gluten avoiders, roasted chicken and almonds, mayo, chives and cucumber slices. The recipe comes from one I copied from Cooking Light 2005. It was originally made with rosemary, but I had fresh chives and enjoyed the variation at least as much.

Cucumber and roasted chicken, and almond crustless sandwiches

Seaweed and tofu salad by Jae

Veggie chips, Deviled eggs

Dulce de leche, brownie, custard and strawberry verrine

Sesame graham crackers, lemon poppy seed petits fours and brownies