I can't be sure, but I am working with the theory that Calgary has a little bit of a traffic problem. I can't really pinpoint what gave me the idea. Maybe its that people use the words "highway" and "parking lot" interchangeably around here. Or maybe it was the TWO HOURS I SPENT GOING NOWHERE while actually trying to get somewhere yesterday morning.

I got up extra early because I had to be at the University of Calgary for sprint testing, warmed up and ready to go at 9 a.m. I am staying at a friend's house in southeast Calgary, and the drive without traffic takes a little more than 30 minutes. So, and some of you may want to sit down as this might come as a little bit of a shock, to make sure that I gave myself plenty of time to get there, I actually got out of my bed before 7 a.m. For those who aren't aware, I am what some might call "not-a-morning-person." I prefer to think of myself as someone who lives with delayed sleep-phase syndrome, but regardless, you know that if I roll out of bed before 9 a.m. there is something pretty important happening.

So I left the house at 7 a.m. giving myself double the time I needed, so that I'd have plenty of time to warm up. And I decided NOT to take the Deerfoot Trail, since I had spent AN HOUR SITTING IN TRAFFIC on this particular "highway" the day before. So I get on McLeod Trail, which immediately turns into a parking lot. And I think to myself, well, it's a good thing I left early and gave myself plenty of time. Instead of staying on McLeod, I decide to get off and take another road to Glenmore, the one major thoroughfare which I have no choice but to take, as it's the only way around a big lake. I inch my way along 14th toward Glenmore, thinking, well, even if I get there by 8:15 a.m., I'll still have plenty of time to warm up. Then I inch my way along Glenmore, thinking maybe I can still get there by 8:30 a.m. And then I finally get on Crowchild Trail around 8 a.m., which will take me straight to the university. And I am sailing down the highway, thinking, no problem, I'll be there in 15. Oh wait, did I say that I'd be at the university in 15? I meant, that I'd still be sitting IN THE SAME DAMN SPOT in 15. Of course I had decided to take the road on which someone conveniently had an accident ... on a bridge. The road was backed up at least 4 km. Which isn't very far. Unless YOU AREN'T MOVING. Even the morning show radio DJs were making fun of the poor souls sitting on Crowchild Trail. I finally weaseled my way off the "highway," drove as far west as I could, so that I could get on the Trans-Canada to drive east back into Calgary, and I pulled into the university at 8:54 a.m. God at least had enough mercy to provide me a parking spot and enough change in my ashtray to feed the meter, as well as a little alcove on the other side of the gym, where I conveniently dropped my bag, tore off my jacket and was jogging around the track at exactly 9 a.m., already sweating after the sprint from my car, as though I had been there warming up for an hour.

So, yeah I am thinking there is a little bit of a traffic problem in Calgary.