After six years in Las Palmas, we recently moved back to Montreal. We’ve been here a bit over a month and I have to say I’ve noticed some differences in my regular training.

The Swim

Gone are the days where I simply hop on the motorcycle and cruise down to the beach for an open-water swim. Gone as well are the days of enjoying the outdoor 50m pool. Instead, I’ve been to the local municipal pool a few times during the early morning (when it is open that is – it is currently closed for three weeks for the annual cleaning…) where I fight with five/six others who flop around in the fast lane of the 25m pool. Just as I remember from 6+ years ago at this same pool, people do a single lap and then stand at the end and blah blah blah while you try to weave around them to reach the wall and do a flip turn. Quite annoying. Anyway, it is free and it will re-open soon, so I can’t complain. Much.

The Bike

This, I think, is the toughest thing. The roads in and around Montreal are notorious for being pretty much the opposite of roads in Gran Canaria. And drivers here are not as forgiving to cyclists. So I’ve spent a bunch of time so far on bike paths that lead to one of two good cycling locations – the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the local F1 track with perfect pavement that is open to cyclists daily. 4.3km of bliss, but the 40 minutes to get there and then return afterwards (using the bike paths) simply isn’t as good as the long stretches of mountain roads found in GC. Oh yeah, Montreal is pancake-flat as well, so the climbing legs will suffer a lot. But the weather is nice for now, early September, so I haven’t given a lot of thought to what happens when the snow falls – meaning the cycling cave setup I’ll need to do to get through the winter months…

The Run

This part of the training schedule is actually pretty good. I’ve already done a bunch of runs to Mount Royal (6.5km to get there, ~2.5km loops around the mountain, then 6.5km home), and last week I did a big loop along the Canal Lachine (3.3km to the canal, ~15km of available running space along the canal, then 3.3km home). Many new bike lanes have been installed in our area, and these are perfect for local runs where I want to up the pace a bit. Again, this will be good until the snow comes and I have to join a gym to use the treadmill. But that is at least another ~2 months away, so all is good for now.

Other things

On the health side, I met with my family doctor several weeks ago, so getting appointments does not seem to be an issue. That was one of the first things that I wanted to establish upon my return, making sure that I have someone to prescribe my necessary diabetes medications. One thing that does take a while, though, is getting back into the Quebec healthcare system. It seems that once you are no longer a resident, you are out of the system and must reapply, which I did during the second week of August. I received a letter two weeks ago saying that I would get back in the system, but that there was a waiting period until 1 November, after which they would send me my card. This is important as my medications, in conjunction with my Quebec healthcare card, are discounted and potentially fully covered – I’ll find out when I finally get my card at some point in November.

So, me and the family are slowly getting back into the swing of things here in our old neighborhood. More on our re-integration in the next installment.