Road Trip - Jekyll Island

We left Washington DC on Tuesday morning and headed south as quickly as we could. We had a long drive to Jekyll Island, Georgia and we were excited to experience a bit of warmth. We had left temperatures of -15C in Canada. Washington had not been much warmer. In fact we were downright frozen at times as the wind blew and the temperature hovered around zero.

Georgia, we figured, had to be better. Plus Jekyll Island is less than an hour from Florida. The land of palm trees and orange groves.

Before we reached Jekyll Island, we had to drive through the beginnings of the winter storm that was bearing down. It didn't take long before we saw a few snowflakes, then a few more. And finally, we were driving down the 95 in weather that could rival any Canadian storm. I drove and Doug stalked the weather channel. We could see from the radar map that, just before Savannah, the snow would turn to rain and then, by Jekyll Island, it would all be over.

As we headed south, we passed fleets of snow removal trucks and hydro trucks heading north, ready to help. And when we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant, people were taking pictures of the weather that they were just not used to seeing...or driving in.

We made it to the island just before the sun set. It was not exactly the balmy weather we had hoped for but it was dry and safe which was, by that point, much more important. The weather network over the next two days told us how lucky we were to get out when we did. The capital was shut down. Cities ground to a halt under an inch of ice and a foot of snow.

We had made it safe and sound and we had a day and a half to explore. So explore we did.

We found the famous driftwood beach.

We visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Centre where we learned that the cold weather we were in the midst of was causing all sorts of turtles to experience cold shock. Cold shock is like hypothermia and the turtles become so cold that they can't move. They just float to the surface of the water. If they are rescued in time, they can be rewarmed and saved. Three large turtles were arriving at the centre later that day. 

We had a lovely lunch at the famous Jekyll Island club. 

And we braved the elements to flex our photography muscles. 

Thursday morning, we got up and headed out for our second run of the trip. A 12k run took us on a loop of about 3/4 of the island. Afterwards, we packed up the car and headed to our third destination: Haines City, Florida. 

It had to be warmer there. 

It just had to. 

Road to Hope 2013

A long long time, I can still remember how their music used to make me smile...

...the musical sounds of the pounding feet of my Runners' Edge running group that is.

I started running on my own several years ago but quickly decided that I would benefit from joining a running group and learning how to run properly. I joined Runners' Edge and spent the next few years getting stronger, getting faster, learning how to run up hills...and making great friends.

I haven't run with my running friends in a while simply because the times they run don't work well with my schedule - work, diabetes and eating schedules that is. But I do so enjoy the moments when I'm able to meet up with my running peeps. Especially when there is a race involved.

A week and a bit ago, I ran my half marathon and proudly sported my Runners' Edge vest. I was cheered at almost every corner by someone from the group.

Yesterday, it was Doug's turn to race, at the Hamilton Road to Hope half marathon. I grabbed my camera and spent a few hours chasing him and a bunch of my Runners' Edge friends around the course.

The gang minutes before the start. It helps that they wear such easy to spot clothing. As that they pose in clusters based on their outfits. 

This is at the 5k mark, right before they turn on to the highway and run down the escarpment. It's also right after Doug high-fived a big shark. 

A little over an hour later, here he is mere seconds from the finish line. Going so fast he looks like he's flying. Looking no worse for wear.  

Every runner has a story as to why they were running that day. Most stories I will never know. A few I have the honour of reading a chapter or two. 

My friend Judy, who was running for herself and in the memory of her father. 

My friend Prudence (on the left) who was about to run her first marathon. She rocked it by the way. And my friend Melanie (on the right) who has improved as a runner more than anyone else I know. 

My friend Shane, who has been, literally and figuratively, transformed by running.

My friend Vince, who set himself yet another lofty goal for this race and met it. 

And Doug, who ran the Road to Hope marathon two years ago with one goal: to quality for a guaranteed entry to New York. 

He beat the cutoff time by a mile and, exactly one year later, we were in New York for the 2012 marathon that never was. 

Now he was back in Hamilton again - on the very same day that 48,000 runners were toeing the line in New York for the 2013 comeback. How bittersweet the first weekend in November has turned out to be.  

So many stories. 

So many moments. 

So many reasons to be a runner. 

So many reasons to document their journeys. 

Smile for the Camera

Tuesday afternoon was pretty fun.

I left work 30 minutes early.

I drove home.

I changed into my running clothes, grabbed my swim bag and headed to the pool.

There I met April from Animas and Geneviève the photographer.

The next hour was a photoshoot with me in front of the camera instead of behind it.

I ran, I stretched, I smiled, I played with my pump, I swam, I posed.

Hopefully at the end of it all Animas will have a couple good shots they can use.

Apparently the next step is a phone interview.

Followed by an article in Animas' magazine.

How's that for fun eh?

Snowbirds

Yesterday was rather busy at work. I got home late and was home for about 12 minutes before Doug and I hopped in the car and headed out again. So I didn't have time to blog very much when it was all said and done.

But I can show you what we hopped in the car to go see.

The famous Canadian Snowbirds were flying over Niagara Falls last night. The sky was blue. The weather was lovely. How could we not head over there, cameras in hand, to try our luck at aerial photography?

High Dynamic Range

I'm wearing my photography hat today so all you runners and swimmers out there will have to bear with me.

Doug and I both really enjoy photography. He has, on average, more opportunity to play with his camera than I do but we both like to go out and try play with our cameras, lenses and flashes. A few weeks ago, when the fall colours were at their peak, we headed out to capture the Niagara sights and then came home and played with HDR.

For those who don't know, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range.

Photography lesson: cameras can only capture a certain range of light and it's nowhere near the range that our eyes can see. So, for example, if you are looking at a scene that has bright sky and trees with deep shade under them, the camera will not be able to capture what our eyes can see in the sky (clouds etc) and the shade (the flowers under the trees). The range between the dark and the light is too far for the camera.

High Dynamic Range tries to deal with this by letting you layer photos on top of each other.

Here is how it would work for the scene that I just mentioned. I would take three photos. In the first photo, I would expose for the sky so that I could capture all the lovely clouds. In the second photo, I would expose for the mid-range (the trees for example) and make sure they looked good. In the third photo, I would expose for the dark areas (the shade under the trees) and make sure I captured the detail in there.

Then I would layer the photos on top of each other and, voilà, I create a photo that has the range of light that we see with our eyes.

Watch below:

In this photo I exposed for the shady areas. Note how the sky is really blown out? 

In this photo I exposed for the mid-range (the trees etc).

In this photo I exposed for the sky so you can see the clouds but the vineyards are very dark. 

Then I tossed all three photos into my HDR program and, voilà! Everything exposed properly in the same photo. 

Sometimes HDR can be really over the top and the photos end up looking really fake and oversaturated. When it's done with a bit of control, it can work out quite well. Particularly with landscapes. 

And that, folks, is the kind of stuff I do when I'm not running, swimming, curling, cycling or cooking yummy dinners with Doug. 

My Other Love

The month of May was consumed by the Cabot Trail Relay Race. For about three weeks straight I felt like I was living and breathing the multitude of tiny details that threatened to consume Klari and I. It was tons of fun and I am fully prepared to do it all again next year so I'm not complaining - just telling it like it was.

June has been the month of races - my races. Between the half marathon almost three weeks ago (already!) and the triathlon tomorrow I've been building up, tapering, racing, building up, tapering and racing again. 

July is the month of wedding photography. 

You see, by day I am Céline, the quality improvement coordinator / team leader who does her best to make life a little better with people who have a developmental disability. On evenings and weekends I am Céline the runner, swimmer, cyclist, friend, sister, daughter, lover, volunteer...and photographer. I don't tend to blog a lot about my love of photography other than to post many of the photos I take. But I sure do love being behind the camera. 

The love affair started years ago - during one of my life's big transitions. My life had just taken a huge turn (my choice) and I suddenly found myself living in a tiny apartment, struggling to pay the bills and wanting desperately to have my own camera. I have no idea why I wanted one so badly all of a sudden but I just knew I did. So I saved $20 every paycheque until I could afford my first digital camera. I bought it and promptly convinced my mother to take a photography course at Niagara College with me. 

By the end of the first class I knew that I would love my new little camera. The buttons were intuitive, making photos look the way I wanted them to look quickly followed. I was soon showing all the ladies who sat with me how to use their cameras and shooting EVERYTHING. 

One of my favourite photos - taken back in the day when I was learning about depth of field.

My mother quit after the first class - having learned all she ever needed to know. I saved my pennies again until I could buy my first SLR and lens and I took every class the college had to offer. During these classes I made some pretty amazing friends who are still a part of my life. We meet up a few times a year, take pictures, brag about pictures and check out the coolest new gadgets. During the classes I learned all sorts of neat tricks and I decided to start a little side business - Céline Parent Photography. I began offering to take pictures of anyone who would let me. I did family portraits, pet photography, boudoir, sports photography, aerial shoots (so much fun!) and wedding photography. I said yes to every request (no matter how nervous it made me) and I continue to take on whatever I'm asked to take on. If I don't know how to do it - I'll say yes and then quickly learn what I need to learn before the big day. 

My first attempt at aerial photography - Doug flew the plane and I snapped Niagara Falls. 

Photography, in my opinion is 80% technical and 20% creative. I'm pretty good at technical things - I understand how to create the effect I want to create, how to let just enough light in and how to adjust the shutter speed to capture a runner sprinting toward the finish line or create a fairy tale waterfall. 

My favourite running model - I need a fast shutter speed to catch this guy! 

I love the technical part of photography. I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to do something - like painting with light. 

My friend Breanne and I got together one night to try painting with light. We set up shop in my living room, picked a subject, turned off all the lights and used a flashlight to paint with light. After a few failed attempts, we were able to turn a small stone statue into an impressive, imposing eagle. 

The creative part of photography? Well that's where I struggle a bit. I'm much better at replicating something than I am at creating it out of thin air. So I spend the days leading up to an event devouring photography books and magazines in an attempt to fill my brain with pose ideas. I even have apps on my iPhone that provide pose suggestions if I completely freeze. 

I tend to do about two or three weddings per year. Mostly by word of mouth. Mostly for people I know. They don't usually fall two weeks apart however. So July is quickly turning into the month of wedding photography. Between preparing for the event, shooting the event, editing the photos, preparing for the next event, shooting and editing that one, I'll be spending a lot of time behind the camera and at my computer. I'm excited though. It's been a while since I've shot that kind of event and I'm ready to flex my photography muscles a bit. 

So race day tomorrow and then I trade my racing bibs for a camera bag for a few weeks. 

D-Blog Week Day 6: Saturday Snapshots

The best laid plans of mice and man often go awry.

One of my favourite quote of all time - partly because it's from Of Mice and Men and partly because it is just such an accurate summary of my life.

We are supposed to post diabetes-related photos today and my original plan was to photograph a day in the life of an insulin pump. The plan worked beautifully until I headed out the door for work and then all went awry. It was a day was full of meetings which made it difficult to photograph my pump adjusting for lunch and blousing for larabars. My post-work run got postponed so photos of my pump preparing for a 7k didn't materialize either.

So a day in the life of an insulin pump has been abridged to a morning in the life of an insulin pump. You take what you can get so join me and Mr. Pump on our morning routine.

Good morning Mr Pump! (morning walks from the bed to the washroom are always a juggling act as I try to carry my pump, my glucometer, my iPhone and my water bottle in one trip)

Shower time. Mr. Pump enjoys a brief reprieve before jumping headfirst into the day. Sometimes he sits on the bathroom counter, other times he perches on the computer desk in the office. Either way, I'm sure he enjoys the downtime. 

As mentioned in a post a few months back, I have to prime my pump every single time I take it off. Whether it's off for ten minutes or ninety minutes, he always gets an air bubble in the tube which needs to be evicted. Hence the morning prime routine and the insulin droplet.

The post-shower hookup. Mr Pump spends 90% of his time on my belt and we don't like to be apart for long so he gets reattached as soon as the belt gets buckled. 

Ready for work and whatever the world is going to throw at us. Mr. Pump is like my seeing eye dog - he sits patiently through meeting after meeting, emergency after emergency, and only lets out the occasional little boop-beep-boop to remind me he's there and working hard to keep me alive. 

Everything But Diabetes

Ever get sick of reading about diabetes?

I get sick of writing about it sometimes.

I get even more sick of having it.

Nothing I can do about having it but I can sure do something about writing about it.

So today, in celebration of Fridays and weekends and long runs and leisurely morning coffees, I'm going to write about fun things. Non-diabetes things.  Basically, I'm going to ramble for a bit if you care to join me...

I got a delivery from Amazon on Wednesday night. Inside the box were two identical copies of this book:

Have you heard of The Bloggess? Have you read her often hysterical, sometimes heart wrenching blog? My favourite story and one of her most famous is the one about the metal chicken. It's Friday, go on, give it a read. You'll laugh.

The Bloggess announced months ago that her first book was coming out. I immediately ordered two copies; one for me and one for my youngest sis. We're going to read it at the same time and text incessantly about the hilarity of it all. She and I still can't talk about Bridget Jones' Diary or Bossypant without succumbing to hysterical laughter - I'm guessing this won't be any different.

I'm getting my hair cut tonight. And coloured. I started colouring my hair last November and I discovered it's a very fun two hours. They give me lattes, we share stories and compare life adventures and I leave feeling like a glamour girl. The fact that I will wake up the next morning and take my perfectly straightened hair, tie it back in a ponytail, yank on a hat and sweat for two hours doesn't take away from the experience one bit - although I'm sure they might cringe and perhaps take a bit less time with the straightening if they knew...

I bought a new sports bra the other night. (Is it a sports bra if I only use it for running or is it a running bra?) Either way, I went in to Runners' Edge and complained that, during the last few runs, my current bra left some pretty horrible chafing. The ever-helpful Christina immediately replied "well, that's because you lost weight and it's too loose". Makes sense.

Then she asked how long I had it. "Um, three or four years?"  "Honey, these things have a lifespan you know. Based on your current mileage - you might get eight months out of a bra."

Oh good lord! I have to replace my running shoes every three or four months. Not my sports bras too?

Apparently bouncing has a positive effect on some things and negatively affects the life span of others...

So I have a new sports bra - and it's pretty comfy. And I'm really excited at the thought that I might not chafe on Saturday when I head out for my 18k run.

I also got a new running belt.  Mine is years old and it's a little too big now. So I got a new one with a big enough pouch to carry all the stuff I need to deal with emergency (for reasons we're not talking about today) situations. I like pink but opted for the blue one because, well, I don't always like pink. But I always like blue.

I ordered a new camera bag the other day. We're flying out to Cape Breton at the end of May for the Cabot Trail Relay Race and I needed a carry on that could carry my camera, my (we're not talking about it today) stuff and my snacks, reading materials and lip gloss. I wanted something that could work as a camera bag but ideally also work as a big purse-type bag for trips. I had no idea what to get so I asked Doug. He immediately opened a bookmarked website and...it was perfect. (Is there anything this man doesn't know?)

This should arrive in the mail in a few weeks:

It's orange with a purple interior. It's like a huge purse that can handle lots of professional camera equipment and still has tons of space. Her name is Libby. Kelly Moore makes her and all sorts of other fabulous camera bags if you're interested. 

I can't wait to meet her. 

Other than that, I've been drinking my water, eating well, feeling strong while swimming and running, making time for family and friends and getting my sleep. I can consistently swim 20m underwater now - five more and I can officially swim across the pool underwater!

Thanks for checking in. Have a great weekend and I'll see you all on the other side!

A Photo Contest and a Little Bit of Love

The Region of Niagara has been recognized as a 2012 Cultural Capital of Canada.  Yay us.

During this year long celebration there will be a wide variety of events and projects going on to highlight our area.  One of these is a textile art project.  A call went out across Niagara looking for photographs that highlight the rich textures and natural beauty of the Niagara Region.  Chosen photos will be used as the design inspiration of the collaborative textile and mixed media art project.

Now, I don't pretend to know what all of that means or what the final product might look like.  I just got all excited at the idea of submitting photos of Niagara and perhaps having one of them chosen to be part of the final product.

We are allowed to submit five photos and the submission date is February 15th.  My original plan was to hunt through my existing photos for a few good specimens and then ask my friend Breanne (hi Breanne!) if she wanted to go on a photo date to see if we could snap a few winning shots.  Sadly, as the weekend approached, I felt myself getting sicker and sicker. I was forced to toss my photoshoot plan out the window (sorry Breanne).

Instead, I sat in front of my laptop on Sunday afternoon with my box of tissues and my Halls and I went through my photos looking for five to submit.

I was looking for photos that highlighted the beauty of Niagara (either on a grand scale or on a macro one) and photos that had texture of some kind (I figured they'd be looking for that).  On top of that they had to be photos that I loved.  I settled on five (three that were taken in the last year and two that are several years old but are my favourites).

Photo contests are always tricky because everyone has a different idea of what makes a winning photo.  So, here are my submissions for your review.  Let's see if any of them make the cut eh?

This photo (and the one below) were taken last May.  It was freezing cold and ridiculously rainy outside but Doug and I really wanted to capture the spring trees in full blossom.  So we bundled up, put raincoats on our cameras and headed out into the storm.  

This is a purple coneflower, one of my favourite flowers.  I remember perching beside a flower bed and trying to snap a photo as the flowers were buffeted by a strong breeze.  After multiple attempts I finally got one in focus and was thrilled with how it turned out .

Last spring, when it was still snowy and grey outside, Doug bought some irises at the market to brighten up the house.  I decided to do a little photoshoot but wasn't having much luck photographing the flowers.  So I tilted my camera down a bit and discovered the beautiful curves of the vase. 

I used to live near Port Dalhousie.  One night I happened to look out my apartment window to see a particularly spectacular sky.  I grabbed my camera and drove like mad to get to the pier.  It was windy and unwelcoming out there and the only people crazy enough to venture out were photographers.  

This was not one of the photos I submitted but I love it.  Doug took it when we were out on the freezing cold May afternoon together.  I think the look on my face captures the joy in our relationship.  The world is a much happier place when we are together and even the worst days are made better when he is there. 

Happy Valentines Day baby.

Heart Rate Monitoring and Monster Midges

Long weekends are just wonderful.  It's amazing how having one extra day can make all three days seem longer.  We can certainly stuff a lot of friends, family, food and fitness into such a small window.   I also took a few days off blogging and other internet pursuits which was nice.  It made me realize the value of being unplugged every so often...

So I'm trying to figure out heart rate stuff so I can get a better handle on what the numbers mean.  Last week I reported my heart rate ups and downs during a hill training run.  This weekend, I wore the HR monitor during my Saturday morning 10k run and again during our Sunday morning 35k bike ride.

Saturday morning was, in my opinion at least, very hot and humid.  Not yet being used to that kind of weather, I started off strong but was really struggling by the end.  I mean really really struggling. Every kilometre took a little longer to run - the first was a 5:40 and by the last I was running a 6:40.  My heart rate climbed pretty quickly to 160 bpm and held steady.  In the last couple of kilometres, where I was wilting from the heat, it slowly climbed to 172 bpm despite my slower pace.   So heart rate is not only affected by pace and exertion but also by heat??

When we went cycling on Sunday, I expected to see huge spikes every time we climbed up a big hill and then rapid drops as we coasted down the hills.  My quads were really tired from the run the day before as well as the crazy sideways walk I've been doing across my house twice a day.  So it felt like I was working extra hard just to keep moving forward. We rode up several challenging hills and my heart rate max for the ride was 162.  Panting, legs burning, can hardly keep the bike moving = 162 bpm.  Pretty much the same rate I get during regular runs.  The rest of the ride I averaged about 120 bpm.  So cycling, no matter how hard it feels has less impact on heart rate than running??

What does it all mean?  I find cycling up a huge hill a lot more challenging than running down a flat road.  On the uphill, the blood is pounding in my ears and I can hardly catch my breath.  On a flat run, I'm just lopping along like the lone wolf - feeling strong but not struggling.  And yet my heart rate is pretty much the same.  I certainly couldn't cycle uphill for an hour but I can run for an hour, or two, or three...  So there is obviously more at play here than just heart rate.

Stay tuned for next time as I slowly try to figure this all out...

In the meantime, here are a few pics from our Saturday afternoon hike through Rockway.  It has been raining for weeks (it seems) and the river was swollen beyond its banks.  Pretty amazing.

The midges were also pretty amazing.  They attacked like a swarm of blood lusting sharks and had us high-tailing it back to the car.  Thank goodness for ice packs, three hour naps and Benadryl.  Two days later and my ear is almost back to normal size.  My neck still looks like I barely survived the plague but I'm sure it just adds to my nature girl mystique :)