Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

This year has been a pretty big one for me - graduation, starting residency, marriage, a new city and a new hospital. Let's hope 2010 is as fruitful!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

sisters in cycling

My town isn't exactly big on women's cycling. Or any sort of winter cycling training. So, I ride my rollers daily in isolation. If I'm lucky, Ben and I train together in the kitchen but he has this crazy endurance-aimed training schedule that involves not being able to do any intervals or talk or do anything fun, so basically we do our own workouts and stare at each other while watching old videos of the tour.

Today I was thinking - wouldn't it be great if a group of like-minded female cyclists could get together over the internet and train together. I envision 4 or 5 female cyclists getting together once every 2 weeks or so and each taking turns instructing a spinning class. I see it being over a skype-type video conference utility where the "instructor" is seen by everyone and what the instructor sees switches between the different people on-line or is a split screen so they can see everyone else at once.

Anyway, this is a pipe dream, but I think it would be good for any of those of us who are lonesome training alone.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

How come vacation always sounds so great until you're sitting alone in your living room watching toddlers in tiaras trying to resist eating all the chocolate in the fridge? Good thing I'm going to the movies with a friend to eat nibs while sitting on my ass later this afternoon :)

I'd better turbo tonight or I'm going to turn into a giant lump of chocolate. I'm looking forward to going to the cottage on Thursday and cross country skiing like mad! I wish I had my skis here because we just got fresh snow today. Unfortunately, the thermometer also dropped to -12 last night.. ouch. Ben bought new cross country skis the other day and I'm looking forward to spending some time finally being faster than him for once! I'm sure that will only lastfor a week because Ben never does something without getting really hardcore into being the best at it! Soon he'll be looking at biking as training for cross country skiing not the other way around. Plus, it's a sport that involves tights/spandex/red clothes so it'll be a hit with him.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Now that I'm married, I get really excited about other people's weddings. My friend wrote me a 2-line email asking for a little advice about planning his up coming wedding - whether to do it in Toronto or London (England) where his fiance is from and whether location has any bearing on citizenship application approval. I wrote him back a 4 paragraph message. Why? Because I secretly want to be a wedding planner. I keep asking Ben if he wants to have another wedding just for fun but he has declined. What a party pooper! So, I have to be contented with helping others.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone!

And to all a good night.

Gearing up for working xmas eve in the cath lab. I worked Monday in my clinic, Tuesday cardiology clinic and then OB on-call, Wednesday post-call and now cath lab. Cath lab doesn't really excite me. Let's hope I get to go home early.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Bike shorts review #1

So, I bought some shorts yesterday because they were cheap and seemed to have a relatively good chamois, and had a nice fit. They were the MEC Rapide cycling short . I'm sure there are fancier shorts out there, but I have to say, after 50 minutes on the rollers, they really stood up to the first test. I haven't washed them yet so can't say how they will fare, but my crotch was suffering a lot less yesterday compared to riding with my old shorts. The only down side is that they are a bit "squeeky" - the fabric kind of rubs against the saddle making vibrations. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I have a pair of Pearl Izumi Sugar women's shorts and I have to say that they are just too short. They end mid-thigh and bunch up into the crotch while riding so I end up with excess fabric rubbing in my inner thigh. I'm pretty sure they're made for people without inner thigh fat. They do make a selection of longer shorts and I should have gone for one of those.

I'm really tempted to buy a pair of women's bibs. Mostly because of jersey ride-up leading to back exposure while mtbing. Jersey ride-up never bothers me on the road but I think I just move around a lot more on the mountain bike and end up with my jersey around my nipples. Maybe I should just start wearing 1 piece suits!

In other news, I did some standing up on the turbo yesterday and then managed to fall backwards off the rollers because instead of the normal side to side motion you try to stay in the middle of the rollers stationary but some of the momentum gets turned into this forward and back bumping against the front roller and then if you get enough momentum up you fly off the back of the rollers. Oops. The lino in our kitchen now has some of the rubber from the tire on it.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Have I mentioned that I really dislike cardiology? I worked with a really nice guy this afternoon, but the medicine just lacked interest for me. It all seems like a bit of mumbo-jumbo - the up-sloping ST segment means something in one patient but not in another. The q-wave is significant here but not there. Disregard this lead from the ECG - it's meaningless. Bah!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Courtesy of M and 2S, what all female cyclists need to know:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7356/138

Monday, December 14, 2009

Ok... so my rollers experience has indicated one thing to me: I need new shorts. Badly. As I don't have the skills to stand up on the rollers yet, my crotch gets REALLY numb. So, cyclists, what brand are your favorite shorts? Keeping in mind that I cannot afford Assos :)

Saturday, December 12, 2009

First time on rollers - note the improper "shorts" i.e. my lululemons rolled up over the knee because I couldn't wait to jump on them when I got in the door!

I have now graduated to riding in front of the TV, but still in a doorway.

And... Our christmas tree!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Tap dancing is hard! But, I'm going back next week because it was fun. Everyone else in the class is a teacher and over 40... except me. But, that's ok, they're fun and very friendly and inviting. Now I'm debating whether to ride the rollers before going to bed.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Being a resident is all about trying to wrack your brain for that thing you learned about that disease in medical school and trying to pinpoint the right parts and ask the right questions before leaving and taking a quick peak at "up to date" before reviewing with your consultant/senior. It's all about taking 1 tidbit you remembered and trying to spin it into "knowledge". Then getting put on the spot when your attending asks you questions about all the other parts of that disease/medication/treatment that you forget. Then going home and trying to remember what you didn't know to read about it. Although, after getting through my clinic and paperwork today I got home at 8 and had to eat dinner and am now to fried to learn anything. So I drink a beer and watch a 1/2 hour of tv and go to bed. Isn't life grand?

I'm trying to start a beginner tap dancing class tomorrow. Problem is, I was supposed to go get some tap shoes after work today and ended up leaving after all stores were closed. Hopefully it'll happen tomorrow before the class.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Rollers

So,
I bought rollers today. Rollers with a front fork stand for those lazy days! The best of both worlds between a trainer and rollers. I actually wasn't too bad my first time, it just takes a lot of concentration. I didn't fall off once and I was pretty stoked about that. Ben tried to steal them from me for a while, but I beat him with a rubber chicken and he backed off :)

Tomorrow is a BIG OB day. Lots of preggos, lots of 3rd trimester management. Wish me luck!

Oh, and we put up our Christmas tree today! It's really pretty but I'm SO paranoid it's going to fall over when I'm at work and I"m going to come home to a giant mess!