Help!

Help! Can someone please tell me how to do this! I want to be this "House Husband"!!!

Yes, this would be my husband! He knows what it means to take a load off, relax in the sunshine, take time to smell the roses. How come, when I was home full time, there are no pictures of me doing this?... Hmmmm... Interesting isn't it. Well, not really. It's a man's world. No, I am not bitter... really! I am glad he is taking time for himself. Something I really need to learn how to schedule into my day. On a more positive note for me, my knee injury is improving and my training is going so much better now. Even though I am working more, I am finally getting the time management thing down and making my workouts really count. I skipped out on my first scheduled race of the season to rest the knee, and my coach was very happy I did. I am that much better for it now! It is almost the end of January and I have procrastinated enough now on posting my proposed race schedule for the 2009 season! I need to post my races in order to hold myself accountable to my goal results! If I post the races for all to see, I will need to post my result and blog about my race. (I love that part) I know it will feel good after doing it. So here goes nothing! Hope to see some of you out there this year at the races! I am looking forward to a successful year!!!

I'm Sorry!

Yes, I promised last year to be diligent and keep up my blog on a regular basis. I am delinquent and so sorry! Life has a funny way of getting in the way of the blogging world. I am in awe of the people that can work full time, train full time, take care of children full time, and then blog full time! I am struggling right now with all of it! Mostly, I have been trying to avoid sitting at the computer because I have been struck with some bizarre knee issue. Ever since we made the trip down to Arizona, I have had pain and stiffness in the back of my right knee and calf. If I keep moving, it is fine. If I spend too much time sitting, it seizes up on me and my training is done. I have skipped some speed workouts this week, and have given the legs a bit of a rest, with lots of stretching, and I think I am on the mend!!! Yay! Another reason why I have been absent from the blogging world is because I have now become the main bread winner in the home at this point in time.... Yes, with the economic down turn, whaa, whaa, whaa... I have to take a pull at maintaining the bank account on more of a full time basis. Shawn's company, like most forestry companies, has been hit hard with the lack of industry and therefore, no flying to be had anywhere. So, I am slowly getting myself into the groove of serious multi-tasking and breaking Shawn in to the mode of "House-Husband". Both have been a slow process! To say the least!!! Ha Ha!

We were really lucky to spend some time with my Aunt Phyllis and Grandma Gamracy for the last week! Every time we have them come out from Saskatchewan, we insist "that the weather is not normally like this"!

My Grandma's response was... "I think you people that live on the Island have really short term memory, and just don't remember how terrible the weather is here all the time"! Ouch! I guess we want to believe we have better weather than Saskatchewan so badly, we have to keep telling ourselves that we do, and it will make us feel better!

I do have to give a big shout out to my bestest friend in Kamloops, Sarah, for making my running experience so much more enjoyable this New Year!!! Thank you again Sarah for my new pair of Skins! I absolutely love them!!! I have been using them during all my runs lately, especially since my little injury. I also have to announce, I have found my racing flats for this year's race season and I am thrilled to pieces!!! They are the 2008 "Saucony Fastwitch 3". I know, I know, they are last years model. But!! They were on sale and so I picked up two pairs to last me for the rest of this year. I promised my new babies that I would only use them in races and pre-race speed workouts to save the miles on them!! They are absolutely the most light weight, anatomically correct runners I have ever put my "big" feet into! Now, if only they could keep this years model exactly the same. Of course, I had to get these down in the states! Good luck finding them here in Canada. They are special order, and most stores won't bring them in unless you beg them. Then, after you wait like 8 weeks, they will charge you double the price. I just love free trade!!!

Our lessons learned!...

No one would have believed us if we didn't have a camera to prove it!

It was socked in, rainy, grey, blah in the Comox Valley. I took a look at the Mt. Washington web cam and it said "Unlimited Visibility" all day! What???...

This Christmas my mom insisted that we not "buy" anything for them for Christmas. Christmas presents were to come in the form of long walks in the west coast trails, cross country skiing, etc. Anything active, healthy, and just keeping good company! So today I took my mom up on one of her requests. I hauled out my classic x-country skis and took my mom up for a lesson on how to tackle the downhill... After 50 something years of wearing glasses and a fear of heights. My mom needs to overcome her fear of skiing downhill. So we headed up to the mountain and we had "Unlimited Visibility"!!! It was so hot in the full sun. There was no breeze, just pure sunshine! We were pulling off layers, sweating, and lovin it!

I took my mom down a trail she had never been down before because of the 'big hill" at the beginning! She conquered the hill and it was all 'up hill' from there! ;)

The warm snow was very forgiving for learning today and she had a blast!

My lesson learned today came in a different sort of way!... If you click on the picture below you will see in the distance a woman standing on the side of the trail. As we approached her, she stood up from sitting in the snow, trying to compose herself. We quickly realized that she was not just taking in the sunshine.... She was having some trouble. Apparently this was her first time back on skis in 36 years! Her group had gone ahead and she was "just resting" and waiting for them to come back... The woman was sweating, pale, and weak and was going to take off her skis and "just walk back" to the lodge!!! It was a good hour to walk back at least! She had no water, no snacks, and was alone!!! OMG!!! I offered her my electrolyte drink and she reluctantly took some. Usually, I carry my "Camel Back" pack filled with fluids, gels, protein bars, etc. Today I packed light and didn't bring it!!! I felt terrible! My lesson... I will never leave my pack at home again! Once her friends caught up to us again, I insisted on going back to the lodge to get the ski-doo to come pick her up. "They" all said not to worry, that they had some trail mix and more water and that she would be just fine!... So off we went, taking our time enjoying the day. Just minutes from the lodge, we were passed by the ski-doo going out on the trail!... I asked one of the instructors if he was going out to pick up the woman. He said "Yes"!!!! Ugh!!! That was like an hour later!!! My lesson learned again! I will NEVER take "no" for an answer again!!! My gut was telling me to go get help for this lady, but the group of them saying no made me back down on my decision! Never again!

Today, I am heading up again. It is grey and rainy down in the valley, but I am looking forward to sunshine and I'm bringing my pack!

Happy Tuesday!!!

From Sunshine.... To SUNSHINE!!!

We are back in Comox after putting 8300 kms on our truck during our road trip to Tucson!!! Unbelievable!... The trip back was uneventful despite the extreme weather conditions all along our travels! There is soooo much snow everywhere! Our first day back was spent doing laundry, cleaning out the fridge and buying groceries! We really miss the fresh juiced oranges and grapefruits... I bought a bag of each, but it just isn't the same coming out of a bag!

Thursday morning was back to reality for my training regime and hopefully making my dreams of smashing some of my previous PB's in my 40th year!!! Thank goodness Master's workout today was a stroke improvement morning or I would be still at the bottom of the pool!!!

Below is how I spent the rest of my day!!! We had an absolutely spectacular day of sunshine and fast trails up at Mt. Washington! My mom had her "Classic" skis on and was getting her ski legs back. I was so excited to get back into the skate skiing again. Only 78 more days until the Mt. Washington 30 km Loppet!!! I have to start training BIG TIME! I was sucking wind out there yesterday severely.

Mom sporting her first pair of Louis Garneau sunglasses!!! Her day at the mountain was just as fabulous with her "new" eyes! The snow was brighter, the mountains were bigger and there were trees on the mountains, not just green masses of color! Wow... I can only imagine!

Love my new skate skis! They are so fast!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to everyone!!! Amazing.... 2009! Can you believe it?!?! I can't! Where did 2008 go? Now it is really time to set some goals and get back in the saddle again to make my 40th year one of my best ever!

I started the new year one day early with an epic ride up the infamous Mt. Lemmon! Absolutely breath taking! I set out from Grandma and Grandpa's house at around 12:30 pm with a tank bike jersery as it was 25' C and feeling hot on my back. Of course the local roadies to this area were wearing long sleaves and leggings. I didn't really have a plan to tackle the mountain today as Shawn also wanted to do the climb and he decided to stay back and swim in the pool with the guys.

After just under and hour of exploring the wide open bike friendly roadways here, I found myself at the bottom of Mt. Lemmon at mile 0. I thought, I will just climb for 5 miles until the toll, and see if I have to pay the $5 fee to get to the top. The road climbed through more cactus forests and several switch backs later, I found myself at the toll. At this point, I had already counted 25 cyclists doing the same route. I had one roadie fly by me, yelling "Way to go girl, you rock"! Ya right, he went by me like I was standing still. The Cervelo is not a climbing bike. I was missing my Specialized compact gearing big time! I asked the fellow if we needed to pay to climb this thing... Nope, just giver to the top, free of charge! The sign said 20 miles to Palisades, 26 miles to Summerhaven, and 32 miles to the ski hill. If I had to climb the next 15 miles at a whopping 8.5 minute per mile, that was going to put me at the first destination in like a couple of hours! OMG!! I decided to take it one mile at a time. After getting past the cactus forest, the terrain started to change and I was entering into Hoodoo country! So amazing, I just had to keep going!

I made it to mile 12 and decided I had to get to at least mile 15! When I saw the highway at the top of the picture, I didn't think I was going to make it.
This was what I saw when I looked up along the roadside! So cool! There were signs everywhere saying "Watch for Falling Rock" Yikes!

More Hoodoos! The pictures do no justice to the real deal!

Mile 15!!!! I did it. I was so exhilarated from the view, I wanted to keep going, but this is where I started to feel a bit of altitude sickness. I was getting dizzy and nauseated and so I thought it would be best to start heading down. Now, this is where a smart cyclist would have been more prepared. Yah, remember that tank top I was wearing.... I now had to go screaming back down, and all the cyclist were putting on jackets and arm warmers. It was freezing. There was snow on the side of the road in parts.

I had to stop and get some tourists from Jersey to take my picture. They were laughing at me and my lack of clothing and they new why I wanted the photo.... To prove I really did it!! Just after leaving this point, I saw a sign that said 6000 ft elevation! So, I figure I was up to around 6500 at the Hoodoo Vista Point. It took me 2.5 hours to get to my mile 15 mark, and then just one hour to get back to Grandma's! So, so, amazing! I recommend it to everyone! It was the best way to see the mountain. I will have to do it again one day!.... Shawn still wants to go!... Maybe tomorrow? Ha Ha! Oh yeah, the count for cyclist doing the climb was 45!! Including me! This place is a cyclist's heaven!