Thursday, June 30, 2011

Triathlete on a Business Trip

This week I've been in Vancouver whoopin' it up with the good folks of the American Society of Engineering Education. I'm staying at a nice hotel right on the inlet, selected because (1) it had the only pool that looked like I could swim laps in it (2) there are refrigerators in every room so I could eat most meals in and (3) it's right by Stanley Park.

Yes, I attended the conference, but I can only do that for so many hours of the day before my brain implodes. So here's how one triathlete does a conference:

Monday (travel day)
  • Pack suitcase half with clothes, half with food (oats, casein, Xtend, raisins, almond butter, tortillas, gladware, plasticware).  Clothes split between work stuff and workout stuff.
  • Be only passenger on plane to pull out a picnic lunch from home - chicken + flax oil + brussels sprouts + cauliflower.  (Might have also been the only passenger with an actual "book" and not a Nook/Kindle/iPad etc.)
  • Ask cab driver to stop at grocery store on way to hotel to get perishables (pre-cooked chicken, veggies, cottage cheese, fruit).
Tuesday (day of my 15 minute presentation)
  • Knock out a darn good back and shoulder workout in tiny hotel fitness center using just dumbells, a stability ball, a lat pulldown, and one adjustable cable machine.
  • Rent a bike to ride the seawall around Stanley Park. That hour and a half bike ride was the best $16 I spent here. It was a BLAST.
  • Swim in the hotel pool in the evening.  Notice that while it is large enough and deep enough to swim laps, it is unfortunately warm enough to cook an egg.
On the seawall, hopefully not contracting anything
creepy from the borrowed helmet
Making do with what they have at the hotel.
This shows nearly the whole weight area.
People wander around the hotel in their
bathrobes to and from the pool. Hmmm.

Wednesday (conference)
  • Run the Stanley Park seawall!  Heaven....bliss, for about an hour!
  • Ice the legs...love hotel ice machines for that! 
  • Toy with the idea of paying $20 for fancy downtown gym but instead get creative (again) for a chest and arm workout (yes, not great timing with yesterday's shoulder workout but I want to hit legs with Kurt at our gym Friday). 
Thursday (travel day)
  • Finish reading Becoming an Ironman on the plane and Athlete's Guide to Recovery (thanks to TriCrowd member Joel's recommendation).
  • Wear calf compression sleeves on plane, just because.
A funny thing about being away is that I turned my phone off because it's global roaming and expensive (and I'm cheap).  So my family has been emailing me.  Here are some excerpts:

Grant (9): "a bit boring here too with you gone. we go to the pool in the morning, freeze our butts off. then we go home to our house until lunch which we eat at oma's house. we watch smithsonian or play uno or something like that, but today I went to william's house. love you and see ya soon!"

Spencer (11): "Grant and I both miss you and anticipate your return. The time while you were gone has been relatively uneventful."  Can you tell what a mature 11-year-old he is?

Robert (hubs): "Yes.  Love you. me" Classic.  Short and sweet.

By the way, I LOVE Vancouver. It's clean and beautiful and cyclist and pedestrian-friendly. I've enjoyed my few days here but look forward to returning home!