I Heart the Grocery Store

As a European you must love going to the grocery store.....it is an unwritten rule.

You must not think it's a chore.
You must not be too lazy to go.
You must love the small aisles and bustles of people with their grocery carts and shopping baskets.
You must love small conveyor belt space.
You must love the small children running into you screaming and dragging their own little shopping basket.
You must love not being able to purchase everything on your list under one roof.

You must love fresh food.

You must love food with no preservatives.

For if you do not grocery shop at least 2x/wk you will end up with moldy food.
Trust me.

It's gross.

No wonder the conveyor belts are small...

One Month Later...

I'm one month into my academic adventure in Maastricht, NL and there is so much to talk about that I can't really decide what to write about first....

But let's start with describing what it's like to live surrounded by a language barrier. Now, in reality - the Netherlands as a whole, speaks English. Out of 3 people you pass on the street I'd say at least 1 speaks perfect English and 1 more speaks 75% and the 3rd can likely "get by" but may be old and stubborn and shake their finger that you are an intruder into their motherland.

So....if you REALLY have a question or you REALLY don't understand something while you're out on an adventure, or a quick trip to the bakery or grocery store, it's not that hard to find some English help. That being said, being thrown into a culture/language barrier can provoke fear inside you that you never knew existed.

I would say that my first few days here were scary. I was a little freaked that if I walked outside alone, that some person would come up to me and start flailing their arms in dutch (or rather, the Limburg dialect which for me, is literally incomprehensible) and I would have that "deer in the headlights" look and then have to try and explain that I didn't understand what they were saying ("Ik begrijp je niet").

I'm not sure where I developed this paranoia that the minute I stepped outside my safehaven (i.e., my little shoebox studio) that I would be immediately swarmed by the locals but luckily that initial paralizing fear doesn't really exist anymore.

The first day I arrived I needed groceries so (thanks to the glorious internet) I found a grocery store, forced myself to walk there versus starving myself and made it home again without needing to explain to a single soul that I was a foreigner. It definitely helps that all cash tills that I have experienced thus far, have their little LCD displays facing the customer so regardless of whether or not you know your dutch numbers (which is another story in itself) you can quickly glance at your total and then start fumbling for the correct amount of euros. Now of course, the easiest way to look like a flippin' fresh of the plane tourist is to start fumbling with your money. The quickest way out of a guaranteed "YOU DON'T BELONG HERE" moment is to just give cash...don't bother with coin.

So of course, over the weeks your coin collection piles up until one day you decide to count it and realize you have over 15 euros in coin. 15 euros can buy me some damn good food so I decided to sit down and practice my coin sorting/counting and really learn what is the 50 cent vs 20 cent vs the 10 cent (so stupid - same color they only vary in size..and not by much. The 5, 2 cent is the same deal).

Now don't get me wrong - I am actually an experienced European traveler, but for the most part - I have been able to ride the coat-tails of my European-born and very culturally adventurous parents. It's a whole new world when you're totally by yourself and you're not here for a few touristy days....you're actually trying to integrate yourself into regular everyday society. Seemed simple enough right?

Yes of course. This seemed so simple that I was determined to push myself into uncomfortable or rather, unchartered waters. I joined the local community pool and after a few suprising open swims whereby the locals were swimming widths vs lengths ....I found the practice schedule (and finally an email address) of a swim team and self-invited myself to a masters swim practice. It was very nerve-racking to step onto the pool deck and know that everyone was looking and wondering who the new girl was and then to find the coach and explain my situation and hope to hell that he understood what I was talking about. Of course, I made this to be way worse off in my head than it was in reality- and the coach made it very simple. "No problem...you can swim in that lane. I give the workout in dutch but there is also an italien coming to practice so I sometimes translate...". Great.

For people that know me well - I come off as being a very outgoing, foreward, goofy and sarcastic person. I enjoy my quiet/solo/alone time and I also enjoy people and conversation. When I am stuck in an uncomfortable environment however, I close up like a clam. This is how it was at masters practice - I would silently swim up and down the pool and leave when practice was over. I never really spoke to anyone unless I was directly asked a question and if I didn't know what in the world we were doing - I just looked around and followed the others.

Being an intellectual however, and 50% dutch (my mother was born in the Netherlands and I actually have a whole whack-load of family that lives in this country) and also having a vested interest into integrating myself into this culture I am desperately trying to practice my dutch skills - both understanding and speaking. I have interactive CDs for my laptop in which I can play games and practice my dutch pronounciation and I spend a good deal of time at night - alone in my studio repeating numbers, phrases, countries, food etc.

This obviously becomes helpful when attending swim practice (now I understand much more of what the coach is saying) and when I'm out and about by myself, being able to communicate with the merchants in their own language without have to switch to English.

But here is the point of this blog post.....(yes finally..)....
One month into my stay here and I realized today that I've become comfortable with the cultural barriers. I walked on the pool deck this week and was humored by one of the other swimmers telling me that I was late. While at the stores this week, I used up my coins - giving the cashier correct change in a timely fashion and avoiding the "deer caught in headlights" look when I was asked in dutch whether I would like the free gift that you get from the Albert Heijn grocery store. (Heck yes).

I even try and communicate to my friends in dutch but this is where the problem arises. I try and say a word - or a phrase and then they look at me, shocked that I am apparently trying to speak their language. They look so shocked that I get embarrassed and then quickly give them the English translation. And they say, "yes yes" and then give me the dutch version of what I already told them. I guess this means they understood my broken dutch - but then why can't they just respond right away instead potentially either mocking my accent or wanting to repeat what I just said?

Yes I know I told you it was raining and I didn't have my umbrella....now can we just get on with our conversation and pretend that you didn't notice my accent? Because if we want to be real here....I could start mocking you for half the crap that comes out of your mouth and correcting you left, right and centre but then we'd never get anywhere and I'm thankful that you're kind enough to always speak English around me.

So there you have it kids....I've overcome my cultural barriers but am now trying to figure out ways to practice my dutch in real social settings without feeling like a total idiot and retreating back into my English ways.

Top 10 First Observations of Maastricht, NL

It's been just over a week...and here are my top 10 observations/first impressions.

10. There is an opera singer in my apartment building. He practices 2x/day and it resonates through the entire building (which really isn't very big). I have been told that there is a famous music conservatory here so I won't complain (he is no Andrea Bocelli).

9. There are absolutely fantastic music channels on TV. Europe can remix, spin, and throw together house/techno 1000x better than North America. It doesn't matter how tired you are - throw the TV onto a music channel and you'll be ready in 5 min to head to the club.

8. The shopping here is fantastic. Quaint little streets filled with shops and restaurants and pubs are endless.

7. Speaking of pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs - apparently Maastricht has some of the most per capita. I believe it. I could visit 1 per night for the next 3 months and still not cover them all...(and be very, very broke).

6. Grocery stores are big adventures. You can't make out what everything is so it takes 10x as long but that's okay, because it's 10x as fun. Seriously. Then when you finally haul your groceries home on your shit ass bike that wobbles and creaks you get to spend the next 30 minutes figuring out how to cook whatever you bought. It's awesome.

5. Washing machines take forever. I'm serious. I finally figured out that there is one in the sketchy basement in my building and my first load took almost two hours. I got irritated and tried to stop it early because it was spinning forever and then I couldn't get the stupid door open. I almost had a meltdown.

4. My colleagues seem pretty nice :)
I am directly working with Lex and Tim and one of the sweet lab techs - Janneau and SO far they don't seem to hate me for asking a million questions. (Or they hide it really well).

3. The dutch have really great junk food. Croquette, frikendals, waffles, duopasta, stroep waffles....the list goes on and on. Last time I was in NL I managed to gain 10 lbs in 4 weeks. I am not letting that happen this time around....so I am buying good groceries like a normal person and not someone on an extended vacation.

2. No matter how much stupid stuff I do on my little commuter bike, I am not honked at by automobiles. This is fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. It makes me miss my road bike a lot - but honestly spending 9-10 h/day at work doesn't leave much daylight left so running and soon to be swimming will have to do.

1. The scenery is beautiful. The students are plentiful (33% foreign population at Maastricht University), the parties are awesome. What more do you need?

My New Ride

I have moved across the ocean to the Netherlands to learn a new analytical technique for part of my doctoral degree. Above is my new sweet ride around this absolutely fantastic town.

His name is Herman and so far....I've only managed to nearly hit one person.

Ironman 70.3

This is a long overdue post...especially considering that I am not even living in the same continent anymore...so without further babble here we go...

For those that are unaware of my sporting background, I was a competitive swimmer for 14 years before taking up road cycling (hence this blog). I loved my bike and being on the road and racing for teams but in the last year I have been battling a hip injury that has left me unable to put in the training needed to compete at the level I desired. Thus, I reluctantly started running in order to help with some SI mobility (another issue that I was battling) and that somehow sparked some crazy idea to train for an ironman 70.3 (half the distance of a full ironman).

Before I chickened out, I signed up for Muskoka 70.3 and wrote out a 20 week training plan. All was going well (even the running) until the end of June where I stress fractured BOTH medial tibias. I had raced a sprint triathlon which felt really great but for 3 weeks leading up the the sprint tri I had been developing severe tibia pain which I attributed to "shin splints".

After the sprint tri however, I couldn't walk. The pain was incredible - even at rest, which meant that something other than shin splints was plauging me. I had to wait 2-3 weeks for a doctor's appt (summer vacation) and another 5 weeks until a bone scan which confirmed that 7 wks post injury I had one severe and one "less severe" stress fracture in each tibia. I was told with 2 weeks to go until the 70.3 that I shouldn't race as I was putting myself into high risk for full-fracturing one if not both tibias.

For those that are familar with Ironman racing however, you know how expensive entry fees are and they are non-refundable!!! Thus, no matter what - I was determined to be on the start line for Muskoka.

So now that you have the background...here is my race report (written for Stevens Racing Canada) of what was truly an incredible day and one that has gotten me hooked on the sport of Ironman 70.3 racing.

***
Muskoka Ironman 70.3 Race Report

Last Sunday in beautiful (but hilly!) Huntsville Muskoka marked the setting for my first Ironman 70.3. Muskoka is known for it's challenging hills and sometimes adverse weather conditions (wind/rain/cold) but it wasn't until the day before the event when I was reading the pre-race report that I realized that Muskoka Ironman 70.3 is known to be the toughest 70.3 course in the world. This particular 70.3 consisted of a 2km swim, 94km bike and 21.1km run.

I thought that this was rather fitting as I was going to be racing with two tibial stress fractures (thus 11 weeks with no running leading up to the event), a left labral hip tear and a newly developed ear infection from training in the open waters. Injuries aside, I was up at 4:45am for my "last meal" before the event and I was totally pumped to be on the start line. I was starting in wave 7 of 8, which meant that I would be faced with crowded waters as over 1000 people would be in the water before me.

The first thing that I learned, was that compared to bike racing, nobody fought for the front starting position in the swim. Only those that were strong swimmers were at the front of group which was nice because I thought I was going to have to battle with my 300 other wave starters for a spot at the front row.

After what seemed like forever (bobbing around the cold water, overcast skies in your wetsuit) we were off! I had prepared myself for a fast start so I took off like a rocket trying to establish a lead amongst my wave. By the 800m mark I knew I was swimming well when I caught the wave that left 5 minutes ahead of me. The first half of the swim was choppy - and by the second half of the swim I started to catch the wave that left almost 10 minutes ahead. By the time I turned for the finish I was swimming past people who had started at least 17 minutes ahead! I was pulled out of the water by volunteers, stripped out of my wetsuit and started the 300 m STEEP run-up to the transition area. On the way to the transition I was informed that I was the first white cap (wave 7) and by the time I left transition with my Stevens bike my name was announced as the first female 25-29 year old age-grouper to leave for the bike portion of the event.

My main focus of the hilly Muskoka bike course was to spin up the hills, drink and eat lots in order to prepare for the dreaded run. I must have hit my rest perfectly as I felt like I was flying on the bike course. The first 20km are hilly, then you spend the next 50 on open highway with rolling rolls and the last 20+ km back to Deerhurst Resort are STEEP hills where 39x25 felt difficult!

I really enjoyed the bike portion and was on pace to ride 2h 40 until the last 20 km where my lack of specific hill training this year thanks to my hip injury started to show. I still made it off the bike in 2 h 53 min averaging over 32km/hr on the hardest 70.3 bike circuit in the world and 2nd in my age-group.

The run was hilly, with multiple short quad busting hills and one huge 3km hill to the turn-around. I found myself running solid for the first 4km and then from 4-9km I became pretty depressed/discouraged and often found myself wondering how I was going to make it to the end. Although mentally I thought I was prepared for a tough run having been off land running for 11 weeks - but I really don't think anything can prepare you for a half-marathon run on a lack of run training. I saw one of my friends around the 9km mark, which may have given me new motivation to start "sucking it up" again and I found myself running slightly over a 5 min/km pace from about km 9-13. The last 7.1 km were a mess. I was walking through each aid station grabbing liquids and then I'm pretty sure I was doing the 500m run; 100m walk continuously until about 1km to go.

You'd think that with the cheering spectators during the last kilometer that you'd be able to run into the finish without any effort, but honestly, the last km was one of the hardest of my life. I crossed the finish line in 5 h 41 min having placed 9th in my age group and only lost a podium spot during the last 5 km of racing.

I was super proud of myself having overcome a lot of injuries. Three weeks before the race I was advised by a sports physician to forgoe the event for fear of full fracturing both tibias, but for anyone that knows me well, I'm not one to give up!

The event as a whole was very fast compared to last year. My total time would've won my age group last year by over 5 minutes!

Regardless, I'm totally pumped about next season and have gained so much knowledge about myself. I'm excited to begin running again so that by next year 21.1km will not seem so daunting. I have totally fallen in love with this event. Having been a competitive swimmer for 14 years before starting road racing I love that I can combine everything together and I really thrive on the solo battle that makes up Ironman 70.3.

Thank you Stevens Racing p/b the Cyclery for all your support. (I'd just like to say again...that I LOVE my Stevens bike!) Thank you to all my teammates for the well wishes - what a fun adventure this was!
(Please notice the awesome Stevens bike in my bike to run transition!)

RR Report

I told you I'd post the road race report...it just took awhile....

Provincial Road Race; July 26, 2009

Race report.

Riders: Sue, Naomi, Alyssa, Rachel

Welcome to the summer of 2009! Rain, cold, rain…and just when you thought there could be no more…..RAIN AGAIN! We were off to a fantastic start at the Ontario Provincial Road Race in Burlington last Sunday with a one hour delay that we spent huddled under the roof of the washroom hut at Hidden Valley Park. So much for our wonderful warmup where we toured “LaSalle Drive” – home of over one million dollar houses.

When we were finally hit the start line the pace on the first lap was blistering fast set by Merrill Collins. I knew this race was going to be a heart-pumping, adrenaline pushing challenge as the course was tough and this was my first road race in over 1 year as I’ve been unfortunately playing the injury card all season.

I started to feel pretty good by laps 2 and 3 but I knew I was in trouble when the accelerations and small attacks were letting loose across the start/finish feed zone area which encompassed a “big-ring” power hill followed by a false flat into a headwind over the 403 Highway overpass. Although I have the fitness to climb, my torn hip could not handle the heavy power produced during these leg-burning big-ring climbs. Sue and Alyssa (guest rider), being the absolutely wonderful people that they are, told me that if the pain became too great that I wasn’t to feel pressured to finish the race. Although the idea swam around my head a bit, once the big move of the day went, I became focused on playing the “super teammate”.

At the start of lap 5 (out of 6) on that nasty “big –ring hill” a large attack was initiated by Merrill Collins with Carrie Cartmill (Ultralink) hot on her wheel. These two were able to gap the field during the false flat section whereby Alyssa and I were riding beside each other muttering…”Come on Sue…this is the move!”.

Sure enough, Sue flew by the whole peloton as if we were rolling backwards and made a very fast bridge to the two leaders. At this point there were a lot of eager chasers wanting to try and bridge up as many recognized that this may be the winning move of the race. Although I haven’t raced in a year, the team tactics/race strategy is still solidly ingrained in my head, thus I knew I had to get to the front of the peloton in a hurry to cover any riders trying to bridge to the break. I give my hat off to those that tried but I stuck to their rear wheel like glue and no matter who decided to yell at me, I knew my roll as a teammate. After the pack settled, I did some light tempo at the front to try and give the break a solid gap to work with.

One of our guest riders, Rachel O’Reilly, riding her first year as a real roadie (former triathlete) has already qualified for team Ontario’s Canada Games Team put in a solid attack along the backside of the course before the end of lap 5 but unfortunately, the pack was not about to let another Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery rider get away.

On lap 6, all was quiet until the top of the climb when Alyssa launched Rachel off the front of the group playing the superb teammate, allowing Rachel a good 5-10 second gap to open up. Rachel managed to stay away until halfway down the finishing descent. I tried to launch a counter-attack but with the yellow-line rule in effect it was definitely not one of the finer attacks in my career! Krystal Jeffs (Ultralink) countered off my attack and by this time our pack was strung out in an all-out effort to the finish. With less than 2km to go, I looked up and realized we were going to catch the break.

This meant that we were going to fall to plan B, which was get Rachel (our U23 rider) in place for the sprint finish. Rachel’s lack of road racing experience did not show as she fearlessly placed herself in perfect position for the finishing 500m that consisted of an S-bend descent into the short big-ring power climb to the finish line. Unfortunately, the slick roads got the better of Rachel and within 200-300m to the line she lost traction during the last bend of the descent and went crashing down in that awful asphalt slide. All the Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery riders were caught behind and had to brake, lose speed, swerve and pray that Rachel was ok. Alyssa managed to pick up enough speed to place a very respectable 6th place, I road in for 8th place and Sue in for 11th place. Sue and I were very quick to turn our bikes around after the finish line to go and help Rachel when all of a sudden we see Rachel climbing the hill for a 13th place finish. What a rock-star finish to pull yourself up off the road and get back on your bike, covered in road rash to finish the race. Bravo!

Merrill Collins took the win however I think Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery takes the prize for the best display of teamwork. It was a pleasure to race with Sue, Alyssa and Rachel. It has been a difficult last 10 months dealing with a surgical injury but I’m so glad that my teammates were able to get me to the start line last Sunday. I couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you again to our wonderful sponsors – and of course, we DO ride the best bikes in the peloton!

Until next time…..keep the rubber side down. Naomi

Look MA! I did a RR!

Yes sir, the time has come that I finally got off my butt and participated in a road race this season......I believe my last road race was exactly 55 weeks prior. Wow. Ouch.

I'll upload my race report soon.....I think sleep is going to have to come first.
But of course, for your entertainment.....

Team Photo
Guest rider Alyssa, myself, guest rider Rachel and speedy Sue.
My other Steven's teammates (Tricia, Soph, Julie and Ireen) had the weekend off. (Ok, maybe Julia was racing around on the track...)

Always being a clown....
More to follow.....I promise.

Check this one out

When you're eating cereal....watch this and see if you can snort your cereal through your nose.

At first I blinked...watched....by second 20 it was game over.

It's the simplest things that make me hysterical.

:D

Congratulations...

July 17, 2009.
Congratulations on surviving another year without a terminal illness.
Warmest regards,
Simon G. V.

Thank you bestest friend of all time. Your heartfelt yet utterly ridiculous humor is much appreciated.

Ah man..it's been 8 years and my "ass-foot" joke is still not old. ;)