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!

4 weeks ago!.... Seriously?!?!...

Four weeks ago seems like another lifetime ago! I cannot believe how in just 28 days my life can go from "full on" Ironmania to absolutely the complete opposite. September is always such a difficult month for me. I have wanted to sit at my computer and share all the details with everyone from Ironman Canada race day, but have been caught up in the re-organization of our lives to start the school year up. The timing of IMC is so close to the school year start up, it makes for a slightly anti-climactic end to a great year of training and racing. I have compared the build up to Ironman to, as a child, the build up to Christmas in the past. Anticipating the day to arrive and then it is all over but the clean up, faster than you can suck down another gel or guzzle another sport drink! Now, after doing it for my 4th time, I can now say, nothing compares to the let down of not having another Ironman to do again until next summer. Not even Christmas. It is way more depressing for me to say that I will not be doing another one till next year. I just love the experience every year. The race is always different. Different people, different weather, new stories, more experiences to share, new tips to use for next year. So much fun!

This year, we were in Penticton for almost 2.5 weeks, so this time I had a lot more time to adjust to the heat and settle into our routine prior to the race. This gave my mind a bit more space to enjoy other aspects of the Ironmania in Penticton that I had not enjoyed before. Feeling a bit more like a "Veteran", I decided to skip the "Pre-race" meeting/dinner on the Friday night and we went for the first time, down to the "Party in the Street" with Uncle Lawrence, the boys, and Rhonda. So much fun. I have always enjoyed going to the Dinner/Race meeting every year, but the family has to stay behind, and this time we decided to go dance in the streets instead. That is definitely something I will do again next year! Way too much fun. Takes your mind off the upcoming race. I also have included some photos from the one of our nights at the bowling alley! Another way to keep an athlete's mind off of the race and getting a few laughs in to ease the race jitters!

Shawn and his "pinky" finger style of bowling.

The men in my life!

My ride, all pimped out, and ready for race day! Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY BIKE!!! So much fun to ride.


Friday morning "Underpants Run"... Still have not ventured out to do this one. Not that I couldn't run in underwear, I just have yet to make it work in the plan of activities.

Nathan, Rhonda, Braydan, and Nick dancing in the streets Friday night!

The boys have got some moves!

This was hilarious! Little infant t-shirts and diaper shirts with great sayings on them. My pictures are not the greatest, but you get the idea.

This one was on a diaper shirt! Way too cute!

Loved this bike and Triathlete!

Looking for my peeps at the start line! They found me first, obviously...

OOOOOhhhhh there you guys are!!! Absolutely amazing how many people are at the swim start! I find the amount of spectators at the race more overwhelming than the race start itself! This year, I was so organized in transition, I had over an hour to just sit and people watch before doing my pre-race swim warm up and actually had time to chat with Rhonda and Shawn before entering the washing machine!!!!!...

So Cute!!!!!!!! Part of my cheering squad and race signs up at Yellow Lake!

In this photo, from left to right are Rhonda, Sarah, Jordan, Josh, Nick, Braydan, Nathan, and Gabe. Part of the cheering squad is missing in this photo. (Steve, Steve, Shawn, and Sophia) This is the infamous "Yellow Lake" climb! The part where you are absolutely dying from the last 150 km of cycling around the Okanagan, with yet another climb! But, you are also so totally exhilarated and emotional, when you see your family and friends that have spent the better part of a day, waiting for you, to cheer you on, for a mere 20 seconds, if that! I always get all choked up and teary at Yellow Lake. I am so thankful for all the support and love I get from my family and friends that keep following and supporting my passion for my sport.

This is my favorite part! Where I can actually make contact with my peeps!! Now you know why I wear dark glasses! Tears of joy are flowing down those cheeks!

We didn't get a good picture of Uncle Lawrence on our camera... He is in the unzipped orange jersey. Sorry Lawrence!

Now, this is where I had to dig deep and keep my game face on. I had a goal of coming across the finish line this year at around the 11 hour mark. Well, that goal was quickly erased when I developed my enormous blisters on my feet at mile 3!! of the the marathon. Yes, I would have another 23.2 miles to go with some serious open wounds on my feet. This would be where I would learn one of my lessons for the day. Practice running in your racing flats prior to race day, but also with pouring water in your shoes and then running! That is something I didn't do. With the heat in Penticton, I was pouring a lot of water over me in the first few aide stations, and the movement in my runners gave me some blisters that made my running more painful than childbirth! Seriously! That was so frustrating. The fitness was there, and I just wanted to go go go. But the pain was holding me back, and I was altering my running gait a bit to compensate for the blisters. Oh well! 11:30 was a new Personal Best! Not good enough for a Kona slot... But OMG!!!!!! Those women just keep getting faster and faster! I would have needed a sub 10:40 to get one of those coveted spots. I knew I was close to the 11:30 mark, so I had to dig deep to get to that finish line before the clock rolled over to 11:31!

The final run in through the finisher's chute! So amazing!!!!!!!! I could do this every weekend!

Sarah, one of the best spectators on the planet. Sarah brought Steve, Josh, and Gabe with her this year. Steve was a newbie watching Ironman, and was totally blown away from watching the event! Not that he was planning on signing up anytime soon, just thought it was so cool to see all shapes, sizes, ages, completing the journey!

This is my moment after the race when I was talking with my mom in Saskatchewan. One day I will have to get my Mom and Dad out to watch a race! I know they would be inspired! Just shortly after this pic was taken, I did take a trip to the "walking wounded" medical tent. I was starting to feel a little faint and Shawn was going to have no part of that this year. I spent some time in there swapping war stories with some of the athletes and then reunited with the family asap! We headed back to the trailer, showered, and then went right back down to the main drag to eat and watch the rest of the Ironman athletes coming in to finish. I found the best ever cheeseburger and sweet potato fries for my post Ironman dinner. We were waiting for my Uncle to come in and he did at 14:5o! It was a tough day out there for him, but he did it again! Congrats Lawrence!!!

I just kicked myself when I realized I forgot my camera back at the trailer when we went down to the finisher's chute to cheer in all the athletes till 16:59 (11:59pm) That was so inspiring!!! Sister Madona Buder came across at 16:50 as the oldest women in the WORLD to finish an Ironman. 79 years old!!! There were so many cool stories of people that finished. There was also a marriage proposal! If you can spend the evening watching people come in until midnight, it is such a trip! Those people are true Ironman athletes. Out there in the elements from sun up to sun down and beyond. Priceless! I am already getting so excited for next years race, as one of my bestest friends is finally going to make the journey to the finish line of IMC too! Rhonda has officially signed up and has asked me to coach her next year! I am so nervous, yet so excited for her. I have never "coached" an Ironman athlete before, so wish me luck! I want her to have the best experience of her life on race day.