I had planned to write this post on Monday but I ran into some problems with my domain… Turns out my domain was put on hold so this website was down for a few stressful days. But all is good in the land of Ottawa.cx again (thanks to Marc and his super sleuthing). Yesterday was a super busy day that left no time for blogging. Lets just say some cool opportunities are brewing that took up a large part of my attention span yesterday…

But now, now I have time so here goes nothing. Things I’ve Learned:

• Running can be fun. Running in the woods and trails is much better than running along the hot asphalt. Running up hills is not that much fun but the pay-off will be huge.
• Riding my bike helps me chase away my intermittent moodiness. A strange mood that can’t be explained can be chased away with a good hard and long bike ride.
• When your headphones stop working properly and you have to listen to crackly music and at times no sound from your left headphone, it can be frustrating. Using one headphone works but is not optimum.
• Food is good. Remembering to eat properly before a ride is very important. Even if you don’t think you’re hungry, eat something  – particularly if it has been five hours since breakfast and you’re about to head out for a 3 hour ride. A Clif Bar is good. A mixture of Vega Choc-A-Lot smoothie with chia seeds is very good (particularly when chopped apples are added to this). Yes this last combination sounds strange but trust me on this. If you’re not sure, eat a Clif Bar.
• The few weeks leading up to the cyclo-cross season are both exciting and downright terrifying. Can’t wait to race but slightly feeling uneasy about how I’ll do. But at least I know my bikes will be fast and my cycling kit will look good.
• Some time away from the computer, the bike, the running shoes and the day-to-day can be very valuable. Sitting down with a good book or magazine, a steaming mug of coffee or tea and sitting outside for a while can do wonders for the soul.
• I like caffeine. Yesterday for a brief moment I thought maybe I’d give up on my earl grey tea. I only drink decaf coffee. I had this idea that if I removed the earl grey tea from my diet I would help my performance. But, I really look forward to my earl grey tea. So I’ll stick with the caffeine.
• Veganism is a great way of eating. But I can’t do it full-time. I like meat. I need B12 (I can’t take over-the-counter supplements). I need to a lot of food when I’m a vegan – this makes groceries expensive. So I eat vegan/vegetarian for 5 or 6 days and eat meat on the other 1 or 2 days. This balance works perfectly.
• Life is good. Some days I feel overwhelmed and super busy. But this is a good thing. This means I’m healthy, I’m fortunate and I’ve got a lot to look forward to.
• I’m lucky. I believe this luck has happened because I try to be a good person. I’m not the best person. But I try to be positive and to be optimistic. Some days this is easier than on others. But so long as the ratio leans to the good more than the bad, then this is all I can hope for.
• That sometimes blog posts can get a bit long. So I’m going to stop now.