How much can you pack in on the Canada Day Weekend???

Thursday July 1st... Canada Day... Holiday?... For some, maybe. For Jordan, he spent his morning with an Oral Surgeon and had all four of his impacted 'wisdom teeth' removed! Ouch!!!

Loving the Tylenol #3's and post IV sedation buzz!!

"RICE"

Rest-Ice-Compress-Elevate

Jordan didn't enjoy the ice part. Too funny!

I couldn't keep the ice packs on him very long. Not a lot of tolerance for ice therapy! After making a couple of batch's of Jello, organizing Grandma to come in the morning with a grocery list of "soft foods" I was onto my bike for two hours and then a hill run for an hour while Jordan slept. Then I was madly packing for my 3 day training weekend in Penticton, BC on the Ironman Canada Race course with Rhonda and Sarah.

We arrived in Penticton Friday afternoon, unloaded our bikes at the Hotel, shopped for groceries, ate dinner, and prepared for the next days training. First thing Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn and out at Okanagan Lake to start our 1.5 hour lake swim.

After the swim it was back to the hotel for breakfast while we watched the Prologue for the Tour de France. Feeling incredibly inspired, we packed our camel backs and headed out for our 2:45 hour run on the hilly section of the marathon course. After spending one of the coldest springs we have had, I was not able to handle the temperature changes from the mild cooler Island temperatures to the dry hotter conditions in Penticton. I had to cut my run short as my head was spinning and I chose to lay in the lake, completely clothed, while Sarah and Rhonda finished the last 15 minutes. We made a pit stop at Whole Foods, picked up some fresh Chocolate Milk from one of the local farmers and headed back to the hotel to do a recovery ride and spin out our legs for around an hour. Dinner and wine was consumed back in our hotel, then bottle filling and nutrition calculations were made for the morning 180 km bike ride on the IMC course.

Sunday morning was not as warm, (for Sarah & Rhonda) they decided to use their arms warmers. I did not need them, as it was actually warmer than what I was used to.

We rode our little hearts out and conquered Richter Pass (11km of climbing), the rollers after Richter and then the head winds heading into Cawston and the out and back. Just as we were about to make our way to the final climb of Yellow Lake, Sarah's tire split open and we found ourselves on the side of the road wondering how the hell we were going to get her a new tire to ride the last 45 km of the course. Luckily I had used some hockey tape to secure my aero bottle and we used a few pieces of that to hold together the tire and Sarah's flat was fixed and we were on our way again. I would say we were not totally confident that the tape would hold, so Sarah road very carefully along the smoothest parts of the road and avoided all rocks, pebbles, etc. in order to limp her way back to the hotel. If anyone knows the IMC bike course, you know that we had some of the hardest cycling ahead of us. The climb to Yellow Lake was uneventful and a little celebration was had by my fantastic friend Rhonda who has come so far over the last 7 years physically and mentally. Rhonda told me that in 2002 she and her mom watched IMC. As they were standing at the top of Richter Pass watching all the incredibly fit Ironman athletes, Rhonda said to her mom, "That is absolutely nuts! Can you imagine ever riding your bike up that mountain?" "Never!" Now my friend you are one of those incredibly fit athletes and a mighty fine looking one I might add!!! I told Rhonda to enjoy the course, ride her little heart out, and I would stay back to make sure Sarah did not blow another tire and be left behind. The video of Rhonda squealing with delight says it all.

Unfortunately, Sarah's tire did blow again! With only 15km to go, Rhonda and I rode our little hearts out back to the hotel to pick up the car and retrieve our stranded friend! This called for yet another pit stop at Whole Foods for more chocolate milk!!!

Our day ended (7.5 hours later) with dinner at "Salty's" on Lakeshore Drive! It was a spectacular end to a great couple of days of pushing our bodies to the limit!

Monday morning we had the best intentions of getting up early and swimming again in the lake, but it was going to be over 9 hours of travel time for me to get back to the Island, so we called it a weekend and headed back to reality.

My reality came within 30 minutes of me traveling on the highway with a phone call from my middle son, Nathan, who informed me that he had some news from his friend Cade that they decided to head out to Mexico for 3 weeks and Nathan was invited and I needed to get all the travel documents and packing ready for him to leave first thing Wednesday morning!!! What??? Seriously???!!!

I'm not totally sure I am ok with letting my 13 year old travel down to Mexico for three weeks. I think I am in a bit of shock and disbelief that he is actually going. We said our Good-Byes this afternoon as they are planning an early start tomorrow, so Cade picked Nathan up and away they went! It will be a lot more quiet around here with one less boy! Be safe my Nathan!! I love you!!

School is out!!! Bring on summer holidays!!!

Nathan, Braydan, and Jordan!!! All together, looking fairly happy to be starting summer 2010!!!

It only took a few takes to get the final group shot. Braydan was stuffing cereal down trying to get out the door before heading off to Victoria with his good friend John and family to spend 'Canada Day' Victoria style. Lucky guy!

The summer is going to be filled with each of the boys heading off in a variety of directions. Braydan is going on his final Hornby Island Outdoor Adventure Camp for a week. Nathan will be heading down to Mexico with his BFF Cade to spend some time at Cade's Dad's gooey duck farm. Jordan will be spending four weeks in an adventure camp in Squamish, BC repelling, kayaking, mountain bike riding, etc. So much fun! I hope to keep everyone up to date with photos and video throughout the summer festivities. Hope everyone has a great start to the summer!!

I will be heading out on Friday to swim-bike-run the Ironman Canada Race course with a couple of "Ironwoman" newbie racers from Kamloops. I plan on taking as many photos as possible of our training weekend!

Cheers!!

Lucky Beer Speed Suits & Time Trials Make Wednesday Nights So Much Fun!

Wednesday night Time Trials during the spring and summer are on my top ten list of 'most favorite places to be' in the Comox Valley!!!

I had a slow start to the time trial season due to a conflict with Brady's soccer happening at the same time. Last week Brady went to camp with the school and this Mom was free to finally get herself back out to the club TT's. I missed them soooooo much! So tonight, I brought Brady with me after he finished his soccer. I am determined now to make them happen. Brady also attempted to do some video for the club and I. Sorry, we didn't get everyone in, and some are out of focus, but pretty good for an 11 year old!

Tonight was Forbidden Plateau with a 6 km climb up and then a 6 km fast descent back. I didn't have the greatest start as the 'bike holder' was still holding onto the back of my bike when I started to pedal. Then he let go and I had lost momentum and almost fell over. I was able to quickly unclip from my pedal, get my balance, and start going again. It was a gong show! I couldn't stop laughing! The stumble at the start will have to count for at least 3 or 4 seconds of time lost for sure! Yikes! That's big when your trying to keep up with the young guns!

Another big addition to my TT nights is my new Lucky Beer Speed Suit from Simon's Cycles! It rocks. No, I don't drink Lucky Beer, but Simon begged me to don a suit with the Lucky logo as there isn't any other female in the valley with the suit.

If you have not done a TT in a speed suit, you have not lived! You feel the wind on your body slip by, as these suits are so tight and aero, you feel fast, even if you really are not. I was actually 40 seconds faster than my last posted time at this event in 2009! (even with my goofy start!)

Thanks to everyone that volunteers every Wednesday night to let us speed junkies tear up the roads!

Still laughing after almost falling off my bike!!!

To everyone that is racing this weekend in the Victoria New Balance Half Iron, GOOD LUCK!

Soooo excited to do this race again! I will post a race report after Sunday!

Thursday Night Women's Trail Run!

The Man In the Arena

Theodore Roosevelt

April 23, 1910

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Absolutely one of my most favorite quotes of all time! This quote sums up exactly how I felt after I left the parking lot last night at the end of another epic ELM trail run. As we started our run along the famously named trails in the Cumberland woods the air was humid and it started to rain a little. There was no complaining. The sounds of bear calls and women laughing filled the trails. We were free to climb, descend, trip over roots, rocks, and share our most profound thoughts of the day and of our lives.

Sarah Seads (owner of ELM) building an Inukshuk while her trail runners put their map reading skills to the test! Our goal tonight was to tackle the steepest climb to get the most spectacular view of the Comox Valley and beyond to the Georgia Strait!

Arran enjoying a fantastic view of the town of Cumberland. The area of buildings that you can see in the distance is where our cars are parked.

Goose Spit in the distance!

Making our way back down the rootsy, knarly trails! Whoo Hoo!!

The fantastic women of ELM!!!

First Race of the Season!!! Finally!!!...

Shawnigan Lake Half Iron

May 30th, 2010!

OK, so yes, this was the first open water race of the season, and yes, it had to be one of the coldest swims I have EVER done!!! It was a balmy 4' C at 7am and I have absolutely no idea how cold the water was, but SERIOUSLY!!!!!!! My mouth was frozen open, my feet and hands looked like they had all the blood drained out of them! Oh man... There are no words to describe the feeling of riding and running on frozen stumps for 5 hours!! Luckily I had my mom close by watching me in transition. BRAIN FREEZE! I was in slow motion. I heard my mom yelling at me "Aud, your race number!... "Aud, you haven't put your race number on!" At first I had no idea what she was talking about. Then, I looked down and saw the race belt laying on the ground, laughed, tried to bend down to get in on and almost fell over! All you can do is laugh at yourself in situations like that. Thank goodness this race was titled "Fitness Builder"! The plan was to be "pacing not racing"!!! The goal was "no racing" on the bike leg. Cruise it! Then practice goal Ironman race pace on the run. The bike course is absolutely fantastic. Cruisin it would have been great on a sun shiny day, but in pouring rain and wind... Ugh! It was everything I had in me to just get through that part. We had to do 4 loops around the lake for a total of 88 Kms. The volunteer at the intersection thought I was hilarious! Every time I passed her, I told her how I couldn't feel my feet yet and she would belly laugh!

Dude in the picture watching me 'slow motion' peeling myself out of my wetsuit. Can't see his face, but he was laughing at me as I was talking myself through the brain freeze!

I have absolutely no idea how I actually ran on frozen feet. After we left transition we had to run up a back trail to the road in bare feet, then get on the bike and start going. I couldn't feel putting my feet in my bike shoes.

Just off the bike and attempting to get my helmet off with frozen hands. My mom yelled at me here and asked, "Are you OK"??.... I proceeded to jump up and down and yelled, "I still can't feel my feet"!!!!!!!

I'm off to start running 21Kms on frozen stumps! Nothing else you can do but smile at this point! I had new shoes for the race and I couldn't tell you how they felt. No feeling in the feet for basically the entire half marathon!

Can you say "Deer in headlights"?... Totally stunned! The high light of the race was running with the yellow jersey fellow for the last 400m to the finish line. He was too funny. During the run he passed me around the 9km mark and shortly after that had made a pit stop in the bushes. Then a little while later he passed me again around the 13km mark and I saw him up ahead making another pit stop in the bushes. Then, for the third time, at around the 20km mark he came up from behind me again! This time he said to me as he was passing me, "Hey, I caught up to you three times! My reply was, what the heck have you been drinking??? You've been peeing in the bushes every half hour!!... Then we were making our way down toward the finishing chute and I was hot on his heals. I started to pass him and I said, "Are you going to let me get ahead of you again or are ya going to beat me"??? He was very kind and said oh that's OK you go ahead. I gave him the gears and told him to step it up and sprint in with me. He said, "But, I don't like sprinting!" I told him to suck it up and giver! "We'll make it a tie"!! He liked that and we giggled the whole way to the finish line together!! It made the last 5 hours seem like a piece of cake in the end when you can smile and laugh to the finish line! He made my day! Having my mom (who deserves super fan of the year award!) following me all morning in the rain, wind, and cold was super fantastic!! Thanks mom for being my domestique for the day!!!

Podium (2nd women's 40-44 division) with Lisa Rogers (1st). Pretty good for a "pacing not racing" kind of day!!!

Next up, Victoria Half Iron, June 20th, 2010!!! Looking forward to another "Fitness Builder" race day!!!

My Super Chinook Pilot Makes Me Smile!

I have been absent online over the last couple of months. Not because I am trying to avoid the computer, just because I have found the everyday grind to be extremely boring to blog about. I am in "rehab" so to speak. True to fashion, our annual Yeti ELM Team , entered again in the Mt. Washington Yeti Snow Show Race. This year we decided to up the intensity a bit and take on the 10km race instead of the 5km "romp"! Well.... Needless to say a little too much hill training, and a little too much snow shoe racing in too little of time did my Achilles in! I have not run now for THREE WEEKS!!!!!! Yes, feeling a little sorry for myself. It has been a swim/bike focus for too long now and I am ready to try and hit the pavement again. This Ironman athlete has been reduced to a "5 minute walk/1 minute run" for 30 minutes tomorrow morning! What the heck is that??????? Oh, and if I really can get my head around it, a 60 minute "pool run". Can you think of anything more exciting to do inside a chlorine and germ infested environment? Nope!

So, enough of that, and onto something definitely worth blogging about! Super Shawn and his flying escapades! Gramma Wendy and Grandpa Bob (thank you for the photos) were so lucky to have spent the day in Southern Alberta where Shawn and his crew are flying 12o power line towers into place! According to Shawn, it is the most stressful and at the same time exhilarating flying he has ever done!

Shawn "just happy to be here" and just lovin his job!

Hope you enjoy the photos. There is video to come!

Wish me luck on my test run tomorrow. My coach has "officially" cancelled all my racing until May 30th for the Shawnigan Lake Half Ironman.

We Found Some Sunshine!!!!!!

Shawn arrived home last night after being away for 12 days. It felt like forever. I think it felt like forever because it was so dark and rainy outside the entire time he was away! Not today!!!

After the kids were off to school, we finished the morning clean up, packed up the dog and our snowshoes, and headed up to brighter skies! Mt Washington was the perfect place to get out and run our little hearts out! This sunshine is exactly what I needed. Today was supposed to be my "recovery day" this week. Even though we ran hard in the snow, I feel more recovered now mentally, than I have in a long time!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?....

It has been so long since my last post I really am not sure where to start. Being absent for so long, I may have lost everyone's interest in reading my blog. I have had several comments from all sorts of people about the lack of new posts in my blog. I have given them the excuse that I really haven't had time to sit at the computer lately. I have thought about recaping the last FOUR months several times and then decided it was just too much to put into one post. I have to admit, this winter has not been kind on my mind. For some reason, (actually, I know why) I have not been able to tolerate the short, dark, rainy days our winter has given us this year. Call it 'bad head space', 'spoiled', 'just tired', 'needing a break' whatever. My winter training season has just sucked. Having these feelings is so not healthy for me, my family, or my friends for many reasons! After spending the last 7 days, watching the daily suffering of the Haitian people after the horrific earthquake, I cannot spend another moment feeling sorry for myself! Yesterday I received a quote fromRunner's World "The Daily Kick in the Butt!"

"When we understand the privilege of what it means to be an athlete, we are in touch with, and rejoice in, our physical, mental, and emotional strengths and our endless possibilites"

This is where I need to get my head space back to again. No more excuses about the weather and feeling the blues!

Today's quote was perfect!

"Consistency requires discipline! Force yourself out the door!"

Just after I read this one, I had an email from my one of my favorite friends and training partners that I have been fortunate to meet while living in the Comox Valley! Pascale sent me a message saying "You want to run the trails today?" "Tomatoe Creek?"... Pascale's timing couldn't have been more perfect. I emailed her back saying "Bring it on, I'll be there". It was what I needed to get out the door on another dreary, grey, rainy day. But! We found super wet west coast trails, and before we knew it, we had climbed slippery, rootsy, rocky trails, huffing and puffing till we had to stop and take in the beauty of our home! We were wet, but loving it. The way it should be. Here's hoping I can carry on my path of crawling out of the dark winter months and finding sunshine again!

Thanks Pascale for a great escape today!