Operation Avoid Jet Lag

I sit here at my computer in front of a light therapy lamp at 4:45 am on my second morning of preparation in trying to avoid jetlag while I’m on my trip in Europe. Generally, holidays aren’t too difficult to adjust for because you’re able to run on adrenaline most of the trip, however having just come off the last week of exams, parties, packing and the subsequent 20 hour drive home, I think my adrenaline reserves are low as it is! So, I’m trying to adjust what sleep pattern I have going and tomorrow’s goal wake up time is between 3 and 4am, so that by the time I get on the plane at 3:30pm, I’ll be ready to sleep the flight away!

So where am I headed, and why, as a student am I going on a trip when I should be working? Well, it’s one of those “everything happens for a reason” type course of events. I’ll summarize briefly:

I had every intention of working from the day after I returned home, until the day I headed back to the US, however the short time I’m able to commit to a ‘real’ position limits a lot of the jobs. Any of the recreation jobs revolved around summer camps require that I be there until the end of August, but I need to be back in Colorado by mid August (etc.). I had another job interview for a great opportunity to aid in the operation and development of a new fitness facility, however the timing again of that position doesn’t have me starting until the fall (which doesn’t open anything for me until next summer). SO, that all being said, I realized that my likely summer role will be serving at any restaurant just to get some cash flow back before I return to school. That lack of extended commitment on the job front, combined with a price that was half of what I had been exploring around the Olympics time frame is what really nudged me to go for it. Financially I also have an opportunity at school which allows me to sustain my living while I’m there, so again, life providing me some unique opportunities that I’m ready to take advantage of!

The plan:

The most unique part about this trip is that I will be traveling alone! I booked the trip out of the blue, therefore I didn’t get a chance to discuss the plans with anyone else to see if anyone was on the same page of wanting to explore Europe in the same way. Once I booked, I had some offers for people to come with me (which was hugely appreciated, and generally would have been welcomed), but for some reason, the idea of traveling alone was an adventure in itself that I was looking forward to. I knew that I wanted to see as much as I could in the 19 days that I’m gone, so having the freedom to stop and go as I please is rather appealing in terms of getting the most out of the trip.

Don’t worry though, I won’t be alone the whole time. I have plans to meet an old college friend (hopefully two) in London, a girl (Jodie) from my home town is actually doing a study abroad program in Leeds, UK right now and happens to be in Edinburgh and London at the same times that I am, and I have family that I plan on visiting for a day or two. I’m also staying at hostels the whole way through, which is sure to give me enough people to meet and at least communicate with so that I don’t feel lonely (I’m assuming).

Here’s the broad overview of my agenda:

Glasgow
Edinburgh/St. Andrews
Bristol
London
Leeds
Barcelona
Liverpool
Manchester

 

(I’m probably most excited about Spain because I’ve never been. The cost of flying within Europe is insanely cheap, so again, on a whim I found a $100 RT ticket to Barcelona and I could not resist.)

I hope to come away with a life experience, lots of pictures, and a free and happy spirit!

If anyone has tips/suggestions for any of those cities or surrounding areas, please let me know!

The Gift of Hiking!

I had planned on posting a blog regarding all of the topics I went through at the conference last weekend in North Carolina, but with all of the other school assignments and exams I had going this week and next, the thought of writing more about issues in sport just seemed like work. So instead, my post here is all about my lovely day of hiking!

When trying to decide what to do for my birthday weekend I had first wanted to go spend the weekend in the mountains by renting a cabin or something to the like, but given that it’s the weekend before exam week some people are either totally free, or completely scrambling with their schedules, so it was hard to coordinate a group to head out. I had considered just scraping the mountains all together, but then I had hoped that at least a hike would be manageable. Luckily, when one of my friends wasn’t able to come on the hike, another friend was all for it, so with some insight from a local, I picked a hike that involved a summit, was noted as well traveled (good for safety), and was a day hike trail not too far from where I’m living.

I love the outdoors, though I’m paranoid about wildlife particularly the rattle snakes and mountain lions the internet warned me about on this trail, but luckily, the worst we saw were chipmunks and birds , so I was all clear. I would have felt cheated if I didn’t get out to do some hiking in the time that I spent here in Colorado, so I’m SO glad I managed to get out there today!

We took the more direct route up the mountain, and even did a little rock climbing to save us about 15-20 mins of hiking around the mountain towards the summit. On the way down we felt slightly deceived because we took the route labeled “meadow trail” which has you believing it’s the less strenuous route.  WRONG. While it was less steep during the 300 yards that you are actually walking through the meadow, it’s a much longer, and equally rigorous trail that had us both hobbling waiting for the trail to finish. If I were to use this post to make recommendations, I would suggest taking the shorter and “steeper” route both up and down the mountain because the views you get from the shorter trail are no less wonderful than the longer route. Here’s a few pics from our hike which lasted about 5-6 hours round trip, including lunch up at the top. It was a gorgeous, perfect day for hiking,  and an awesome way to spend a birthday! Oh, and we of course stopped for a post-hike brew at a brewery I had yet to try in Fort Collins called the Equinox Brewery. Nice vibe and loved their sampler tray!

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Star Struck!

I was definitely in the right place at the right time yesterday!

I had bought tickets to the Penguins/Avalanche game back when they went on sale in October or so, and had been looking forward to the game as of late, especially with all the school work I’ve been focused on. I decided to take the entire day off from school and went into Denver early to do some (mostly window) shopping before I met up with my friend who was driving in from Colorado Springs for the game. I was in downtown Denver for the shopping and I parked a couple of streets over from the main shopping strip, where there was space to park. The meter said two hour max, so I went and did some shopping, which couldn’t last too long due to my student budget. On the way back to my car I stopped in for some beer samples at the Rock Bottom Brewery that I had been meaning to try for a while. By the time I finished up there, my meter was about to expire. As I approached the street with my parked car I noticed a big charter bus waiting out front of none other than the Ritz-Carlton, which is where I knew the Flames stayed when they were in town, and thus made the connection that the bus was likely waiting to shuttle the Penguins over to the arena for the game! It was about 3:45, for a 7pm game. So I figured I had to move my car anyways, and had time to kill before I met my friend at 5pm, so I pulled around in front of the hotel and saw about 20 people waiting in Pens gear, and basically had no choice but to pull over and join them! It wasn’t my intention by any means to get autographs from the team, and in the end I actually didn’t ask any of them for autographs, but instead I got pictures with a few of the guys! I am a pretty big Penguins fan from the five years I spent devoted to them while I lived near Pittsburgh, and having watched many of the guys play in Canada, so I was pretty star-struck and excited to have the opportunity to even see the guys in person, let alone snap a pic.

Marc-Andre Fleury

(The pictures are Dupuis, Staal and Fleury) Unfortunately, Crosby and Letang were injured so they weren’t riding on the bus with the team.

I realized with Dupuis after we had taken the photo, that I should have said something to him in french, so by the time Fleury came around I asked for a photo in french and he was excited about it and asked me where I was from and thanked me for coming and then agreed to take the picture!

It was such an opportunity of being in the right place at the right time, and I am so glad in how it played out! Additionally, the game was a great 5-1 win for the Penguins, where Fleury played outstanding!

Other pics from the day/night:

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29 Day Bike Challenge

Drum roll please…

After 29 days riding the stationary bike, I made it to 438.8 miles or to sound even better, 706 kms! It works out to about 15 miles/24kms per day. Time-wise I committed anywhere from 30 min to 75 mins on the bike, which isn’t overly impressive, but I was going for the slow and steady approach, and I managed to ride every single day.

The Rec Center mapped our progress

Things I liked about the “Bike Across Colorado” challenge:

1. I can go harder and longer than I once thought…

I’ve obviously pushed myself to several fitness limits over the course of my athletic career. Playing without subs in basketball, or going hard in a conditioning drill, but when I’m working-out on my own time, it’s really hard to push myself beyond the minimum. I used to just set the time on the machine to 30 minutes and when the time was up, I would call it good and move on. What I found in being encouraged to rack up miles every day towards a larger goal is that if I can push myself through the first 5 miles, the following miles become rather smooth sailing. Every 5 miles in some ways gets easier, so if you can push past the 10 mile mark at about 30 minutes into your ride, the following 5-10 miles will be much less daunting. In the latter stages of the ride you’ve already worked up a dripping sweat, you’ve finally got your breathing leveled out. Had I stuck to my traditional 30 minute goal, I never would have realized how easy it was to ride out the final 15-30 minutes. Expanding the horizons and keeping my mileage goals open for the day really helped me just respond with how my body was feeling. Some days 10 miles felt horrible and difficult where others I was up past 20 miles and feeling great. All in all, I learned that it’s good to push myself over the tough sections of the ride, but then let my body decide what a good target for the day was.

2. My body can actually lose weight!

As I mentioned, I’ve always been relatively active, and at least quite conscious about my fitness levels. I’ve ever been a small person as a result of the activity, and over the years just steadily gained until the freshman 10 in my case, and have been hovering around that weight for the past 4-5 years. Sure I’ve lost a pound here or there, but really, for the variation in the types of training, intensity plus diet changes, my body probably should have fluctuated a lot more than it did. I suppose I should be grateful that all the drinking I did in college didn’t add more to than it did, but really, the scale didn’t move much up or down in the past few years.

Well, it turns out that upping the calorie burn consistently (7 days a week) has finally pushed the results my body wanted and I’ve been dropping pounds, without really even trying. I’ve been eating pretty healthy, and only had a few drinks throughout the whole month which may be a change compared to other months, but no drastic dieting methods were attempted. So, this 29 day bike challenge has encouraged me that there is hope that I can keep trimming my body to wean off the college weight I acquired.

3. Mood Boost

I thought that all the exercise would help me sleep, but I definitely didn’t sleep great all month. I was sick during the first two weeks of the challenge, and potentially the endorphin rush I got from the bike actually helped boost my brain power so that I spent a lot of time thinking instead of sleeping. The endorphin rush did however keep me pretty happy all month. I was proactive in my school work, positive about life, and generally well-tempered. In a winter month like February, this is a pretty great benefit!

Would I do it again?

Absolutely I would do it again, but obviously not every month. 7 days a week is a big commitment with regards to time and motivation. Committing to sweating every day from a girl’s perspective is sometimes annoying because it meant that I had to either shower and do my hair a lot or wear sweaty pony tails. (I swear I sweat more than any girl I’ve seen, so it’s an issue with regards to fitting it into my day, but the benefits really do outweigh the sweat.) Keeping a few rest days in the week also helps to avoid the burn-out effect. I found myself wishing I could just go for a jog or spend time lifting weights, but with the commitment to the bike, I was kind of tied for time/energy. I did squeeze in a few yoga sessions throughout the month, but I missed out on some other fitness activities I would have liked in order to mix the week up.

All in all, it was a great challenge to stick to upping my anti at the gym. I promised myself that if I made it to the gym every day to ride the bike in February that I would reward myself with some Lululemon pants that I’ve been avoiding purchasing forever due to my student budget. Using it as a reward somehow makes it more validated, so once my loan money comes in I’ll go get that reward!

Sophia and Rosie Do It Again!

These two girls do it again on The Ellen Show. This EIGHT year old Sophia pulls out a rap like a seasoned pro, and her lovely five year old side kick Rosie adds the dance moves.  I had to share this updated video because it just melts my heart a little bit Enjoy!

Superbowl Sunday Wrap-up

Another Superbowl Sunday has come and gone. So let’s talk about it…

While I wasn’t invested in either team, I was still impressed by the tight match up between the Patriots and the Giants. The Steelers had a rare year out of the big game, so I was actually watching the game from a sport marketers viewpoint, watching the reaction on Twitter and forming my own opinions about how the whole game went. Overall, I think the event ran smoothly.  The pre-game atmosphere from what I read about, the days leading up to the game were generating a lot of buzz and action in the compact downtown area. There was even a zip-line set up over the pedestrian street, though I didn’t hear or see many pictures from it, I feel like the atmosphere was probably great.

Half-time show…Madonna put on a great “show” with the theme and set, but I do feel like she was trying a little too hard to be young performing the way she would have performed the songs when they were actual hits.  The use of cameos was great, I especially loved the LMFAO remix, but I might be partial due to my love for LMFAO’s hit songs None of the people I’ve talked to actually saw MIA flip the bird to the camera, but it seems to be a big story today.  Where is the half-time show headed now, from the Janet Jackson mishap to a bunch of oldies, are we now headed back for safe?  I would like to see some of the bigger country stars put on a show, particularly Faith Hill  or Carrie Underwood.  We’ll see what direction they take it next year.

The commercials…

It’s tough for any advertisement to really stand out and live up to our ever-so-heightened expectations. It seems like advertisers this year focused on dogs and cars to get our attention.  I was particularly looking for how the hype of Twitter would be integrated into the commercials, and while a few ads did include hashtags, many didn’t.  Bud Light was lucky enough to have a catchy enough slogan that Twitter picked up on the #herewego campaign and had their own hashtag going.  The Shazam app that records music was used a few times to get viewers to use the app to record the commercial and get entered to win prizes, which seemed to be a nice use of technology integration.  Overall though, there weren’t as many stand-out commercials as I’ve felt there were in year’s past, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy a few.  I’ve uploaded a few of my favorites for you to see. Especially anyone in Canada who missed these on the CTV feed.

This VW one was really sweet watching the dog take it upon himself and get in shape.  I loved it up until the part where they tried too hard to integrate the Star Wars scene. Just got too weird and unnecessary. That being said, I loved the first half so much that it gets a spot in my top picks.

The next ad was hilarious, though I missed the punch line the first time, so I had to re-watch it and laugh again. It’s the M&M ad:

I thought this Doritos commercial was great. What I like most about these commercials is that they are made by fans. This one in particular cost $20 to make, and it was voted one of the top commercials of the night. Nicely done!

A controversial one, that Ford had actually asked NBC not to run was this Cheverolet ad. It seemed a little harsh for my liking, but obviously attention-getting. To say if you don’t drive a Chevy you would die?! WOAH

I’m off to class, so that’s where my recap will close. There are lots of other recaps posted online for you to catch up on any of the commercials you missed.  Anyone have any other favorites?

 

Bike Across Colorado

The Rec Center at my school posted a challenge called “Bike Across Colorado” which runs from Feb 1-29th.  You basically register, and self-report the miles you put in on the stationary bikes through the month of February and measure up your miles as though you were biking across the state. The total mileage is 582 miles, which requires an average of 20ish miles per day, every day of the month. Well, let’s just say, while a doable feat, isn’t in my radar and luckily they’ve broken the trip down into seven legs that make my workouts more attainable.  I’ve already put 4 days in and pumped out the following mileage: 

Day 1: 18.1
Day 2: 9.7
Day 3: 20.0
Day 4: 15.0

Total: 62.8 

 

I plan on putting in another leg today before my Super Bowl food coma this evening I’m on a good pace right now, and have already completed a leg of the trip. I thought I would blog about the challenge now, and update you again at half-way, and again when I’m done. It helps to keep me accountable when there’s something to report, whether or not anyone actually holds me to it.

The best thing about this challenge is it gets me pushing myself longer and harder on my cardio, and is an actual form of cardio that doesn’t hurt my knee, which is important. Lastly, I’ve been feeling energized mentally, but tired physically in a way that I know that I’ve done something in my day. When you’re a grad student with endless sitting and reading to do, it feels really good to get a sweat on!

If anyone wants to join me on this challenge and see how far you bike during Feb, I’ll give you a five days into March!

 

Island Recap

I’m sure most of my social media followers were getting annoyed with all of my island tweets, pics and updates. I know it’s not as fun for others to see my pics as it is for me to post them for my own records. These days I basically use Twitter to engage with people on a wide variety of topics, and Facebook as a public photo album.  I figured, to avoid recapping my two week Hawaiian vacation 140 characters at a time, I would post a blog about it, so that those interested could read (or not) and I will have the post for myself as a reminder of all the adventures we got up to on the cultural island of Kaua’i.

I had never been to Hawaii, so my expectations were basically of a similar experience I had in Cancun, Mexico. In the case of Kaua’i it was most definitely unique from Cancun or any other beach type vacation.  The first images I had after exiting the airport were of these lush, steep cliffs towering over the inland.

The island is only 30 by 20 miles, yet only 20% is accessible by road. That being said, in order to fully explore all that the island has to offer, we explored the island by way of: car, foot, kayak, helicopter and boat.  Another interesting fact is that Kaua’i encompasses all but two of the earth’s ecosystems (the tundra and the arid desert). That being said there is a LOT to see.

Favorite moments:

• Hiking the Napali Coastline
• Kayaking into a secret waterfall
• Boating with a pod of dolphins/whale watching daily
• Watching the sunrise and sunset multiple times

 I highly recommend this island for anyone who enjoys activities on their holidays.  While you could still simply do a beach and resort holiday on this island, there are so many beaches, hiking trails, adventure companies available that you could get up to as much or as little as you want in the time that you have on the vacation. Here are some of the things we got up to, and a few comments I have on each:

Kayaking

We went with the Kayak Wailua company for our tour.  They offer a 4 and a half hour kayak, hike and swim under a water fall! The guide was a native Kauai’ian who had lots to share about the island’s history and landscape.  She taught us the basics of kayaking, and I would say that even someone who has never kayaked would have no troubles paddling the Wailua River. The hike was muddy, but scenic through the jungle up to a small swimming area at the base of a scenic waterfall (as pictured above).  The water was COLD, but still a fun experience, and almost refreshing after the hike.  One recommendation I have for this leg of the trip was to absolutely pay the extra $5 for the upgraded kayak seat. I didn’t think it would be an issue, so I skimmed on it, and my back was hurting without the support that the upgraded seat would have provided.  Otherwise, this trip was of great diversity, and extremely enjoyable.

Boat Tour

We took the Blue Dolphin Charter catamaran cruise out of Po’ipu. This boat tour was supposed to take us up the Napali coastline, but we road it on a day where the conditions made it impossible to see the actual coastline, so we rode out to a snorkeling/scuba diving spot instead.  We saw pods of dolphins and whales breaching right away, and at several points throughout the day.  The whales are supposed to be around the island from Nov-April, so we saw whales nearly every day, which was a nice treat!

Hiking the Napali Coast
I’ve done my fair share of hiking in my life, but this hike was breath taking at every turn in the trail.  You start hiking up a muddy rocky jungle trail, which sounds

rough, but every 20 minutes you’re coming around a bend to see a different angle of the AMAZING ocean vistas.

Once you get a few miles in, you end up at this secluded beach where we watched huge waves crash into the cliffs. From the beach there is another 2 miles that you can hike into a waterfall, but considering it took about an hour per mile on the trail and we didn’t pack a lunch, we figured we wouldn’t push our luck.

The second best part of this trip was the fresh coconut stand at the end of the trail!

Being on the island for 16 days, felt like a month in the best of ways. It was a chance to be active, deeply relax, spend time with family and just take time off from the world for the longest time since high school.

There’s a lot more I could say about my time on this island, so if any of you are going to make the trip, let me know. Otherwise, I will leave you with an A recommendation for Kaua’i.

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How bad do you want it?

Today was a real test of my commitment to a career in academia in the field of Sport Administration. My final bill for ‘international tuition’ came in today at a higher than expected cost due to the fact that I am taking an additional course this semester than I did last, which caught me off guard and beyond my budget.  I’m attending school in the US, because they have the more developed sport management field of study.  Sport is a massive business in the US, where as the degrees in Canada stem from the Recreation or Kinesiology base, neither of which is what I am looking to pursue.  There must be some freedom at the PhD level to direct my studies as desired, but in terms of learning from the experts, I am here in the US for that reason. I am here paying an exponentially higher tuition rate, for those reasons.

Thoughts went through my mind like: “Is this really worth it?” “Should I pursue a slightly less pertinent degree back in Canada?” Followed by a bunch of other related logistical thoughts.

I’m a naturally frugal person, so spending money is hard. I saved up a lot of money for this degree, and watching it all go and using up my line of credit at once is a tough process for me.  It really is testing my belief in pursuing this dream and completing the degree. I have no doubt that I will be able to find a meaningful career post doctorate, but this current state of debt and confusion is not a pleasant place to be, for obvious reasons.

Throughout the day I’ve been able to talk myself out of quitting the process, and it was pretty easy to do, because the ironic part to this whole thing is that actually in the last few days I’ve been feeling a great sense of competence and peace with where I am. (How life has a funny way of throwing us around!) I know this journey is what I want, but I guess now I just need to logistically bite a few bullets and make it happen.

Money is an interesting twist on life, and I’m determined not to let it be the sole factor in making such crucial life decisions. I’m exploring any of the options that I can control, and committing to making this work.  In tonight’s case, making it work includes a bottle of wine and some Grey’s Anatomy

A Sunday Walk

I am inspired to write yet another post this week. Probably as a result of procrastinating from all the reading I have to do, but in any case here goes…

Without much intention, I’ve realized that Sundays have become my “get outside for a long walk” days.  When I lived in Calgary I was spoiled to live right along the Bow River bike trail, and while I utilized it for jogging quite frequently. No matter how many times I took the trail I never seemed to get over the beauty that the city and Alberta’s nature had to offer.  My heart (if you want to call it that) would be warmed every time I hit the trail.  Today, I had another one of my Sunday walks, where it is just me, the fresh air and my thoughts.  It’s nice to get out and get some activity without having to actually hit the gym.

You don’t have to worry about what you’re wearing, or getting in your car to drive to the gym.  You just put your shoes on and go.  We had a nice Chinook in Colorado today, so it made for weather that I couldn’t pass up in January!

Anyways, just wanted to share my affection for a nice Sunday walk.