| Final Farewell... |
[Jul. 2nd, 2006|11:38 am] |
Hi everyone,
I've touched the waters of the St-Lawrence river in the east and picked
shells from the Pacific in the West. I've watched fall turn to winter and
winter to spring and finally summer.
So, as I sit down for one of the last times here at the computer with 7 days
to go, I want to look back on experiences of my life.
This program has taught me a lot about life and love and love for myself.
I've met hundreds of people in the past 9 months who have all touched my
life in various ways.
In this program, I've grown into more of a man, more of a friend, a son, a
lover and a believer.
A believer in myself, a believer in others and a believer that can
accomplish anything that I try doing.
I've taught english to actors who knew little english. Mentally handicapped
clients in the west have opened my heart and eyes to a whole new beautiful
world.
A girl named Melanie in Quebec who knows no english has become someone I
hold so close to my heart that I consider her family and a friendship from
the past was rekindled in Vancouver with Erynn.
I've had ups and downs and have fallen on my face, but I stood back up and
kept going. With the support of loved ones back home I've accomplished
something I thought near impossible.
The experience is something I'll remember for a lifetime and talk about
always, so thank you. Thank you to everyone who has believed in me,
encouraged me and supported me in my times of weakness when I felt deflated.
Without all of your help I couldn't have done it.
As I finally close this letter and finish my last email to everyone from
Katimavik I want to say a special thank you to someone I hold so close to my
heart...He's been there when I've needed someone more than ever, I called on
high's and I called on low's...I called crying and I called laughing...I
don't need to name name's, but you know who you are...and you'll always have
in place in my heart...
Thank you...
Believe or not everyone, I'm actually crying...Thank you all again...you all
have a place in my life...
Rob |
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| not much further to go... |
[May. 29th, 2006|11:50 pm] |
well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it...So much is going on right now and I'm so busy with different trips and little day to day life things...
Number 1. I'm back on track with marathon training as I'm registered for the run the Regina Half Marathon on September 10th, which I'm quite looking forward to...
Billeting happened and I had the chance to live with a co-worker at the Y who has a very animated 3 year old son named Jack...this kid stole my heart as he was a joy to live with and still a joy to work with at the Y's child care center...Living with them was different, because they lived out of town about 15 minutes, so it was quite nights and early child screaming mornings...HA...
I had the chance to fly home for 5 days to visit with my family and JC, and attend my sisters social for her wedding...It was a nice and relaxing time, although only being with my family for 24 short hours was definitely a whirlwind evening...The 5 days flew by and before I knew it I was back here in Midland and back to Katimavik...The following weekend I treked my way up to North Bay to visit the Snells who I grew up with back home and hadn't seen for almost 2 years...a very very very relaxing weekend was had up there, where I slept in and just did my own thing most of the time, but nonetheless extremely relaxing...Thanks Bill and Ria...then back to Katimavik life it was...
Things here are winding down quickly and in 37 days I will return to my life in Winnipeg...I'm very busy here, but, look forward to the end...It's been a great run, but I miss the Jaime's and the Jessica's and the good friend's of Winnipeg...
Anyways, it's fairly late here, and I should head to bed as I have a 3 mile run that needs to get done in the morning...goodnight everyone and we'll see you all soon...peace and love,
Rob |
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| 10K complete....results KICK ASS... |
[May. 2nd, 2006|09:37 pm] |
hey guys...so...
my first ever "professional" road race is complete and all I can say is that...I LOVED IT...however, I didn't love it at the time it was going on...
Sunday here was sunny and warm, perfect conditions for a marathon, however, the wind was blowing VERY VERY hard...as I sat on the bus with my race number pinned on to me and talking to fellow racers as the bus made it's way to the 10K starting point I tried to relax as much as I could and just get my head in the zone...
When I lined up and waited for the timer to say "GO" I reflected on the training I did to get to that point where I felt comfortable enough knowing I could complete this race and do well..."GO" was yelled and I was off, I set myself into a comfortable pace but felt the wind, and knew it would play a definite factor in extra effort...I came along a lot of other racers and we shared a nice "this isn't fun anymore" smile as we passed each other and knew that we wanted to do our best...As I came up on to the uphill climb on HWY 93 where for 1 KM your climbing, it's in no way steep, just 1 KM of climbing...half way up and probably 7ish K's into the race my legs were definitely burning as the wind was howling in my face, but it was the honks and cheers from cars going by, the clapping of people watching on the side and the "your almost there, you can do it" from the course director riding on a bike behind me that kept me going...by the time I reached the top of the hill all I was thinking was "only 2K's left" I looked at my watch and knew I was going to beat the time I had set on my trial run 3 days previously...As I rounded the corner in front of the Hospital and almost ready to give up, I saw Gen from my group and Lauren and Catherine from my other group cheering and yelling "Go Rob", which sort of revamped me to finish...As I was running down a good straight stretch a runner had caught up to me and from that point on I told myself to let her set the pace and run with her...however, she was running faster...but I managed to keep up...as we rounded our way into Little Lake Park which is the last 1KM of the race, my legs and feet were burning and all I could think was "when is this thing over" the runner had gotten about 60 feet in front of me...I pushed and just couldn't catch her, then within the last 500 meters to go I saw Dagan and Christine sitting waiting of me and again, energy boost...I caught up to the runner, we smiled and laughed and she said "good job out there" I laughed and told her the same and then gave it all I had and got a head of her...The last 200 meters contained 1 more uphill climb to the finish line and my legs were on fire, but I pulled up the hill, rounding the last corner I could see the crowd waiting around clapping and cheering each time they saw another runner make it over the final hill...but this time, when the started clapping, I realised it was because I was the runner who made it up that final hill and gave it my heart and soul to run the last 100 meters, I saw about 8 people from my Katimavik group waiting at the finish line and jumping up and down and cheering for me as I came closer...As I crossed the finish line and the clocker yelled out "546" "52 minutes, 21 seconds" I knew that I had beaten my old time by 4 minutes and 25 seconds...I was so personally satisfied that I had finished that race and gave it every thing I had for every single kilometer of that race, that I felt emotional...I thanked the lady that I had passed in the last 200 meters for setting the final pace and we shared another laugh...
It ends up I placed 2nd in my division of males aged 14-29 and finished 4th overall for all competitors in the 10K race...WAYYYY better than I ever thought I'd do...I was worried about finishing last and under a time of 1 hour 15 minutes...I tapped into a community where, they aren't in it to win, they are in it to set personal goals and achieve them, and if your personal goal wins you a trophy, like mine did, then all the better...I love the running community from what I've seen and definitely plan on being part of it...Next goal...a half marathon...22KM...
I want to thank a few people for helping me in getting this goal complete...first off...JC...thanks for listening to me talk about my life as a marathon trainer...thanks for being excited for me as I got myself ready for this...It was nice to feel support from back home...Gen,Lauren,Catherine,Christine,Dagan,Kristyn, and Jess...thanks for being there supporting me during race day...you guys gave me the last bits of energy I needed to push myself that extra distance across the line... |
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| New Muscles(upper body) New marathon runners, same sexy legs... |
[Apr. 25th, 2006|05:04 pm] |
Ok...so, Marathon training progresses and with only 5, that's right 5 days left, I'm getting pretty pumped/nervous...
Decided to suck it up and splurge and buy new runners seeing as my runners soles were falling off...Mission accomplished, new runners purchased and in at under $100...SWEET...I've been pushing myself pretty hard with weights and running on the treadmill, and definitely getting myself pumped...other than that work is going swell and I'm really starting to enjoy it...however, there are certain people ( and not at work) that I'm finding difficult to deal with on a daily basis, but have realised that all of this is almost finally over...thus, I just choose not to deal with them...Not to say that I have a lot of negativity in my life, because I certainly don't...if anything I'm enjoying myself...I guess I just have different ways of doing away with negativity and that would be choosing to just not deal with it what so ever...
anyways, I'm outta here, gotta break in some new runners and go eat dinner...HOT BODY HERE I COME...
peace out,
Rob |
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| absolutely BONKers |
[Apr. 18th, 2006|09:37 pm] |
Have you ever been interested in "BONKING" or "HITTING THE WALL"??? If you've answered yes to either of those, follow me, on the story of my training for a 10K run...
With less than 2 weeks to go and 2 weeks into training for the Huronia 10K marathon I've had a few unexpected stops...
First off, overstressed foot muscle, EXTREMELY SORE and makes you miss 3 days of running...memo to self: AVOID OVERSTRESSING MUSCLES...I've gotten down to about a 10 minute and 31 second mile...my goal for this race is to finish in under 1hour 15minutes...I calculated it and I have about 12 minutes and 30 seconds to do a mile, which means I have some time...BUT...What I didn't factor in, is that this region is fairly hilly...NEXT STEP...I sat down with the personal trainer at my work and got her to map the course out with me, showing me where the hills are and expected times...There is one stretch where it's uphill for 1 solid KM...which means basically, your legs are on fire...NOW...I've learnt some runners lingo recently as well...
LESSON 1
"Hitting the wall" means, at one point in the race your body goes into complete exhaustion and for about 5 minutes you need to push yourself to re-energize whilst your already burnt out...usually midway through the race...
LESSON 2
"BONKING" means, when your body is so exhausted that it doesn't know what to do...so...YOU BARF...the trainer has told me that the last part of the course is where a lot of runners "BONK" because for the last 100 meters of the course when your legs feel like jello lit on fire, they make you...run UPHILL...
Now, this leads to my next question...why, is it, that I'M PAYING $20 to put myself through an hour of hell when it's something someone SHOULD PAY ME for...The answer is....The answer is...I DON'T KNOW...
ok dramatic moment over...when it comes down to it...I'm doing it because I feel that I've come a long way from the fat kid I knew 2 years ago who couldn't even walk for more than 10 minutes with out getting winded...It'll be a HUGE moment of self gratitude...
WISH ME LUCK... |
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| Katimavik Anthem... |
[Apr. 11th, 2006|12:07 am] |
ok, so just a few little tidbits...
first off, I'm house manager this week...booerns, cooking and cleaning suck...but other than that I'm 100% now...back to the gym routine and blah blah blah...I'm going to be running a 10K race on Sunday April 30th, which is going to be a big personal landmark for me, since it'll be the first of many races hopefully...my ultimate goal would be to complete a whole marathon...26 miles...EEEK...second thing...I'm going to be competing in a dragon boat festival on June 10th, which is a Saturday I believe...It's a fundraising event for a Association for Mentally handicapped clients...anyways, we did a draw within our group to see who got to be the one racing and lucky moi, it's me...WISH ME LUCK, as I train for the race which is in less than 3 weeks now...I'll keep y'all updated...Currently, I can do about 6K in 34ish minutes, so I'd like to pick up the pace and then be able to do 10K in just under or just over an hour...
I was listening to the radio while cleaning and coincidentally heard this song twice today, by Tom Petty....Coincidence? Je pense pas....
(here are the lyrics)
It's officially become MY Katimavik anthem...
I WON'T BACK DOWN
by Tom Petty
Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
No I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I won't back down.
Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down
Hey baby there ain't no easy way out
Hey Yeah I will stand my ground
And I won't back down
No, I won't back down
peace out from Midland Y'all...
Rob |
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| safe and sound in Midland |
[Apr. 7th, 2006|12:44 am] |
hey everyone...
well in less than 24 hours I go from being a West coast hotty, to a Ontario babe...HA...I'm safe and sound in Midland starting the third and final trimester as a Katimavik participant (after the program is over your allowed to call yourself a Katimaviktim)...and I'm enjoying Ontario to this point...definitely colder but during our work placement tours today all the supervisors reassured us it will get warm soon and be gorgeous here on the South Georgian Bay...CAN'T WAIT...
Tomorrow are our interviews for our work and I'm pretty pumped as it will be the last time that I feel like I'm selling myself for cheap labour...but in retrospect all of the placements look fun and I wouldn't be dissappointed with any of them...
Yesterday was a wierd day I tell ya...we had rotation camp in the beautiful Fraser Valley from Monday to Wednesday morning. It was nice to just relax with the crew and hang out...It was so gorgeous being surrounded by mountains...the weather was fairly decent and we enjoyed nightely bonfires and smores...
Wednesday we were up at 3 and on the bus at 3:45...4.5 hours of flying and changing 3 time zones really makes you screwed up...I had a breakdown yesterday and went for a walk to let the tears come out...
Most people I know don't like moving from one apartment to another in the same city...
so Imagine doing it every 3 months to a whole new Project Leader, House, Town and Province...it takes a lot out of you and makes you all wierd and shit...thus, the crying...
Today I'm better, still a little lagged, but the house is HUGE...it's like 3 times the size of the house in Burnaby...our PL is cool...I look forward to getting to know her in the next 3 months...Midland is interesting...I think we stick out like sore thumbs, but I'll deal with it...I can't wait to start meeting the locals...anywho...I should crawl into bed and try and get rested for the auction...oops...I mean interviews...
so have a great time reading this, and in less than 3 months...I'LL BE HOME...
ciao,
Rob |
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| Emotions... |
[Mar. 31st, 2006|03:45 pm] |
well, here I am....it's the last day of work and another trimester has flown by under the radar...Thank you BC...Thank you for keeping me warm in the cold winter months, thank you for making me appreciate the sun, thank you for the mountains, the ocean...but most of all, thank you for the friends that will last a lifetime...
As I sit here in the quiet office and look around, I have memories that I know will never leave and never stop making me laugh...From getting to know the clients, to learning to love them...It's all been a heart touching process...I mean, how do you not let yourself get attached when you spend 40 hours a week with them...You take care of them when they're hurt or having a bad day, you laugh with them when something funny happens and eventually, they're part of your heart before you realise it...
ConneXions has opened my eyes to a whole new world...I remember finding out where I'd be working and felt scared because I had never worked with people with mental disabilities before...But, I guess the only thing I was really worried about, as in most cases...Is the UNKNOWN...we all fear the unknown but once you throw yourself in, you realise there was nothing to be afraid of to begin with...
I've grown in this job...I've grown HUGE...These people are so incredibly amazing and all they want is your attention...Maybe they are a little different, but I've learnt that they don't want to be treated differently. They deserve every chance we deserve to live a normal day to day life...It's made me thankful and it's made me appreciate everyday...
BC has been great and I'm sad to leave this beautiful part of the country, but if I never did leave, would I still appreciate the beauty of it all? You look at the mountains in amazement and wonder what's up there...you see the clouds hanging 200 feet over the ocean and it's so beautiful it could stir emotions...
If I quoted someone very inspirational to me it would go like this...."Time goes by, so slowly" but, sorry Madonna, I disagree...because 3 British Columbian months fly by...I LOVE BC and can't wait to be back very soon...
So as I sign off on a Friday afternoon here at the office, I have to thank the staff at ConneXions for being so supportive when I needed it to make it through a day...But I really need to thank the clients, for they have touched my heart in ways perhaps some people never may...Thanks guys...
So, the bags are getting packed, the participants are getting eager and this wild and crazy adventure continues...3 months to go...
*flight attendants voice*
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard WestJet flight #710 with service to Midland, Ontario... |
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| A love affair ends... |
[Mar. 21st, 2006|09:23 am] |
So, 14 days left and again, I find myself not believing that it's almost over here in Burnaby...
I very quickly enjoyed being here in the city, feeling like myself again and just feeling like I had life in me...The scenery was stunning, the people friendly and the job enjoyable...I learned to love hiking, running, the mountain air and the constant rain or atleast drizzle...The rainy season slowed down a little, the flowers began to come up and the cherry bloosom tree's came into full bloom...I spent time getting to know family again, spent a few days with an important individual in my life and learnt to appreciate the simple little things that a gorgeous city like Vancouver has to offer...
I rode the sea bus, the skytrain and wandered the streets alone when I wanted to get away...I found ways to get back to myself and who I am and began to not be afraid of being alone and spending down time by myself...
My job was great and I really enjoyed it for the most part, I've learnt a new found respect for employee's who work with people with mental disabilites because it has pushed me to my outer most extreme limits...There have been days where I've wanted to run out of this office screaming and never coming back again...There have been days where these clients will break your heart because they are so bloody cute...
I have gained a lot more of life's experience being here in Burnaby, but most of all I have learned to love home and the people who are there...I miss my loved ones so badly that there are times where I will cry for no reason while thinking of them...almost 6 months away from home, and I'm certainly looking forward to being able to return there in July...but I also know that I'm not done growing as a person and the last 3 months of this program will finish off this whole wild experience...
I guess you could say a little light has been shed on a very long tunnel... |
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