Gatineau

I'm officially moved into my place in Gatineau- have been since Saturday in fact. In my last post I actually referred to Ottawa instead of the city across the bridge, but I'm basically a stone's throw away from the Parliament buildings- there's not much difference. 

Training is going okay, not perfect, which is probably how I expected it to go given the summer I've had, so I'm not crushed with the realization that cross training will be an essential piece to the puzzle this fall. A bit of an ambitious progression run on Thursday banged up my left foot, so I had to substitute in some biking around Gatineau Park on the weekend. The good news is that the park is fantastically hilly and so aerobically I was doing alright. 

I was disappointed to realize last week that my plans to attend team training camp wouldn't be very feasible (rides to camp would be possible…rides home not so much). So it seems like I'll just have to put myself through my own paces around here and wish the rest of the team a great weekend. They'll have a blast! 

In other news, my current first-world problems relate to greeting people when I run/walk by them. You see, in all the places I have previously resided, English was my go-to language of greeting. Now that I live in Quebec, I have doubts as I run by people. Which is their language of preference? Will they mind if I say hello, or would they prefer something en Francais? What if I attempt to greet in French, despite obviously being an  anglophone? The one time I tried an "allo" I felt like an idiot. Oh the dilemma. 

This has grated me more than you might think. Because if I'm judging on first impressions alone, Ottawa-Gatineau is an incredibly fit area- I've encountered oodles of runners and even more cyclists each time I've been out and about. And each time I encounter a person, I must resort to a nod, or worse, no acknowledgement whatsoever! Oh the humanity! What happened to the solidarity I felt as I encountered others on the roads and trails? 

Regardless, I'm loving Ottawa/Gatineau right now. There's plenty of stuff to occupy my time until I start work next week, and it feels nothing like Toronto. Glorious!