Bruno & Belgium

When we heard that the much anticipated Bruno was opening early in Belgium we knew what we were going to do last night. It is one of the rudest and crudest movies I’ve ever seen but I have to admit… it was very funny. He certainly crossed the line many times but the character was just so captivating. I don’t expect that they’ll play the same movie in North America… but if they do, there will be a lot of offended people walking out! Go with caution!!!

Anyway, I didn’t come to Europe to write movie reviews…

So far this trip has been a good learning experience.  I’ve never flown this far for running and I’m learning quite a few things about recovery and what to do and not to do next time. Here are 7 simple things:

1. Do NOT fly through the night. While it seemed like a good idea at the time (in order to get onto their time schedule) it is not a great idea for a runner to get 2-3 crappy hours of sleep in a semi-prone/seated position.
2. Do NOT stop drinking water.
3. If you do STEP 2 successfully make sure you get an aisle seat so you’re not bugging your neighbours to go to the bathroom.
4. Do not be shy to ask foreign people for help. Sign language is more useful than you think!
5. Wednesday is Belgium’s Sunday (no…wait…everything in Ontario is open on Sundays….) so don’t arrive with an empty stomach on Tuesday, thinking you’ll get everything tomorrow…
6. Compressions socks are good… but if you’ve got a bad hamstring, compression tights are better!
7. When you’re deciding between the 12 pack and 24 pack of Powerbars…go with the 28.

Today we went to the track (a runner’s sanctuary (I’ll get some pics later on)) for a little workout. I was hoping I was going to feel better than I did but it has been a tough week adjusting to everything. My first race is a 1500 in two days in Kortrijk. I haven’t done many 15’s this year so it should be interesting.

Alright time to get some sleep…

Put the hour hand forward

So here’s how the travel went:
Start location      End Location      Start Time          End Time      Method            Thanks
Guelph                       Toronto                      8pm                      8:50pm             Car                     Adrian D and Sarah L
Toronto                      Frankfurt                   11:40pm              1:25pm              Plane                 Air Transat and all your crying babies
Frankfurt                   Brussels                      6:43                     9:27pm             ICE-Train         PowerBar –Meals made small
Brussels                     Turnhout                    9:46                     10:55pm           IC-Train            Kyle/Adam/Trent/Leanna – for meeting me

Besides the obvious – lack of sleep – it was an easy and uneventful journey. Special Thanks to VinceDelmonteFitness (more on that later).

The train station is a few minutes from our residence so we walked back (not before getting something to eat) and I went to bed almost immediately. I’m still getting settled in so I won’t write much today. It’s a really beautiful place here but unfortunately I haven’t been able to go outside today because of the rain! I’m going to have to at some point considering I don’t have any food!

Anyway, more to come…

From WINdsor to Frankfurt

So I spent the weekend in stinky Windsor. The city workers have been on strike since mid-April and the place made Toronto look/smell desirable (Toronto, as I have learned over the last year, is an awesome city to live in but the city workers have followed Windsor’s lead and have been on strike the last few weeks). It looks like this strike is going to go on for awhile so I’m going to get out of the country for a month… or until civility returns.

My flight leaves tonight at 11:40PM from Toronto. I’ve got a bunch of extra strength acetaminophen so I’m hoping that knocks me out. I’ll be heading to Frankfurt and then jumping on a train that will take me to a small town in Belgium (Turnhout). I’ll be on my own until I get to Turnhout where I’ll meet up with a bunch of Canadian runners. I have never traveled in Europe alone so this could get interesting!  We’ll be involved in a series of competitions around Belgium for a few weeks. Then it looks like I’m going to go to Switzerland to jump off of cliffs, go skydiving, whitewater rafting and whatever else there is to do in famous Interlaken.

Anyway, I’ll try and take a few pictures and videos and post them here. So if you’re bored and need something to fill your time with check back here!