Sarah McMillan

2010-05-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Photo from 27 weeks along on a wonderful warm day spent with my mom.

Blur

2010-04-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

24 Weeks along in Kona, Hawaii

March was a blur. 2 great vacations. One to Utah with very good friend Jenny. Lots of hilarious adventures I will never forget and fun desert running! The second to Hawaii with Scott for a babymoon.
A babymoon is like a honeymoon, however it is before the birth. One last hurrah before life as you know it changes forever. We had such a good time we decided a trip to Hawaii every winter kids or not should be the norm. Scott took his bike and I enjoyed the beach and running.
Speaking of running I am feeling really good and running regularly. I have been listening to my body more and not afraid to take that extra rest and naps when I need it. I even did hill repeats up Munson Mountain last week with my run team! 26 weeks along and I am taking every day I feel good as a blessing. I wasn't sure how being pregnant was going to go over with myself. This middle part has been my favorite so far. It took some time but I feel like I have embraced it. Finally.
Today was my 2,344th blood test. (sure does feel like it anyways!) This was a routine test for Gestational Diabetes and they tested my iron levels. Both GD and low iron levels have a tendency to crop up this time of pregnancy. I feel very energetic so I would be surprised if the iron was low or if I have GD. Find out the results in a week or so.

The Best News

2010-02-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

Week 20 has come with the best news. After an agonizing 2 weeks of waiting for the blood test results, all the genetic testing has come back negative for Down's Syndrom, Trisomy 18 and Spina Bifida. It seems Junior's development physically is right on schedule as well. I had an ultrasound on Monday where they took 65 slides and measured every bone and checked out every internal organ. The photos are amazing! We could see the 4 chambers of the heart pumping away, the brain, bladder, everything. The baby weighs 10oz. He or she was sitting with legs crossed, comfortably in indian style at the moment. The sonographer got an amazing shot of one of the babes hands. I am feeling more and more movement as the weeks click on. Right now the movement feels like little finger tips tickling my insides.

Reality. There really is a kid in there and this really is happening. I cannot help but get attached to the youngster! We are very relieved and excited parents at the moment.

Pregger Porn

2010-02-21T10:18:00.001-08:00

With 70's music in the background and a new swimsuit to show off I was in the mood for some photos. Me at 19 weeks. The bump begins. Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary Scott!

Sunny Skies Ahead

2010-02-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

I am in the middle of my 5th month of being a pregger. Some days I just want this whole thing to be over, done with, baby out. Yeah! Lets go run for 2 hours! Lets be able to take a drug so I can sleep better when I have a cold. Lets have a pan-seard tuna steak! Lets hit the single track on the mountain bike and do my favorite trail with all the drops. Patience, patience, patience I tell myself. Half way now, only 20 more weeks of this. Seriously 20 more weeks is not that long when you think about it. But patience has NEVER been a strong point of mine.

I have been overdoing it with running and have caused myself a series of head colds. Typical me, this is how I learn my lessons. Several folks told me to slow down or I would have to slow down eventually during the pregnancy. I thought I was slowing down!! Plus I really don't like it when people tell me what to do. I also felt soooooo good running with my friends, how could this be bad? It was like I was still an athlete. I usually have to experience things first hand to believe them. So now after a string of colds I am finally listening. Stubborn me. So here's to slowing it down! Yeah! Relax on the couch! Yeah! Read a book! Oh Yeah! Internet Surf! Yeah! Oh I am so excited. Not really. But for the baby's sake I will get excited about it. I can still run, just shorter distances and slower, definitely slower paces. And yoga, the best thing for me right now. Prenatal Yoga Class has been a blessing.

So since I am putting off any sort of normal workout now I have developed a crazy appetite to race in 2011. One thing I have been doing while sitting on the couch is planning my 2011 racing calandar and training schedule. I will be off with Maternity Leave for a full year. (1 whole year! OH CANADA I LOVE YOU!) I am having Scott sign a contract that he will watch junior for 2 hours a day so I can get away and train. I don't think this commitment will last long hence the contract. :-) Another blessing....The Baby Jogger.

Time to embrace the pregnancy. I thought I was, but apparently there is much more embracing to be done. Embrace, embrace, embrace.

I feel bad for Scott having to deal with my raging hormones and crazy mood swings. I told him I am a crazy person right now and to google: 'Why is my pregnant wife so nuts?' I thought that might answer some questions for him.

Here's to Sunnier Skies Ahead...

The Rumor is True!

2010-01-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

Scott and I are expecting our first child in July. This is a very exciting news for us and we are both still in disbelief, even at 13 weeks. Life as we know it will change forever. We are looking forward to this change! I has been a long time coming due to our racing schedules and mostly me not feeling like I wanted to have children yet. It was time and I really think my body at 37 finally was ready for it. Pretty late for a pregnancy compared to most of my friends but I don't think I was mentally ready for it before. Everything feels right, right now.

When I first found out I was pregnant I tried to keep up the same workouts like before and the morning sickness and overall tiredness soared. I realized I needed to embrace the pregnancy instead of try to continue on like I was one tough mother. Toned down the workouts and changed things around. I listen to my body even more now. I seem to have the right balance down and I have been feeling really good.
Oh, and I have a new love for prenatal yoga. LOVE IT!!

Scott has been a super fantastic supporter. He set me up with a consultative phone call with professional triathlete Monica Byrn as soon as we knew. She is a professional triathlete, wife of world famous Coach Gordo Bryn. She gave birth to a baby girl just last year. She filled me in on all the fitness part of the pregnancy and helped guide me on what she has learned to be safe. The main thing-don't do anything new!

Well Junior is about the size of a peach right now. Hard to believe. I have already had requests to see my belly. Weird. I told them, "NO!".... and they will really only see the reminents of Christmas cookies anyway, not a baby bump yet!

Amy and Steevo Discuss Thanksgiving

2009-12-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

Moab Adventure

2009-11-22T09:36:00.001-08:00

Soverign Trail System

Various Amasa Back Trail Views

The SlickRock Trail

'Please Scott, let's stay another week?'

Moab Rim Trail, Looks like Star Wars.

Grandma, Millie, and Mom

Captive audience while I explained the phenomena of ketchup potato chips

Amasa Back Trail in a down pour

Hiding out from the rain and lightening on Amasa Back. Not safe!

Porcupine Rim - Gapers Point

The back side of Amasa Back - Scott on a staircase drop

Two crazy Canucks on Porcupine Rim

The SlickRock Trail

Something New, Cyclecross

2009-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

Scott and I enjoying our first cyclecross race.

A Happy Ending

2009-09-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

Since my last blog entry both Scott and I have completed our main races of the season. Scott raced Ironman Canada with a great race time of 9:49. I am so proud of him. He is happy, but quick to add he made some mistakes and could have cut some time down here and there. Yadda yadda yadda I tell him. Honey you're amazing!!

My main race was the Vahalla Pure Adventure Race in Kelowna which was last weekend. I am starting to recover finally from it. We had 8 hours to complete a course of mountain biking, paddling and trekking all with our own navigation. I raced solo. Most everyone had a team, which consisted of 3 people. When I showed up for registration the volunteer asked if I was really going to race it solo! Or was I going to hook up with another team? I told her it was me, myself and I, as I didn't know any of the other racers!
Race day arrived and I was happy that all the training and planning were coming together. AR Racing is a logistical puzzle with gear being driven all over the place. I was ready to work the plan. Tina Hoeben whom was doing the longer race loaned me her beautiful Outrigger Canoe (OC1) for the race. As a solo racer I had to provide my own boat. The other teams had race organization provided standard canoes that held 3 people. Early on when my achilles was first torn I spent hours upon hours paddling with the outrigger club here in Penticton. It was pretty much all I could do at the time and it paid off in the race!
Early on race day morning they released our race maps and Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates. The coordinates are all 6 digits and 3 represent the northing point and 3 represent the easting point. Where they meet in the middle is your check point (CP). We had 6 CP's to get to all in a certain order. Then you take the maps and figure out as much as you can your route. The maps are topographic maps which have dirt roads and contour lines on them. But most of the time you follow your nose and if a trail seems to be going in the right direction you take it!
Finally we were off. We started on the bike. I couldn't have been more lucky with the start arrangement. I was in the front. So I jumped right to the front guys and rode out with them. Draft legal race so I rode behind a team of 3 boys. The one other solo racer was in the pack as well. I checked back after 10 minutes of riding and we had dropped the rest of the field. I quickly grew confidence at that point. We came upon the first CP to get our passports stamped. The race director punched mine first and was surprised to see me! Here is where the good mountain biking on McDougal Trail began. I could almost hang with the team of 3 boys. Almost. We helped eachother with navigating and got to know eachother joking around about cult classice cycling movies a bit. Once the climbing was over there was a terrific downhill single track section. I kept catching them and finally past them as they had to wait for their 3rd teamate whom wasn't as fast. Rules for the teams are they must all stay together throughout the race. I bombed ahead and wanted badly to be first off the bike. However, they did catch me at one point towards the end of the bike ride, so I was 2nd into the checkpoint after close to 4 hours of mountain biking.
I quickly got in and out of transistion and the team of boys were right behind me. We were on foot for this section. I saw that bush-wacking for the next 15 minutes was going to be the fastest route to the trail I wanted, so I went for it. They were so much faster than me at bush-wacking. Obviously with the ankle injuries and recent achilles tear my proprioception is not even close to where it used to be. It will come back!! The boys quickly were out of sight. But they were loud so I could still hear them and quickly figured out they went the opposite way I had planned to go. I second guessed my decision for about 3 seconds and then pressed on. This was my 'Big Move'....didn't even know it at the time. The trek was close to 2 hours, with about 1 hour of it running. The most I have ran in months on the achilles and it didn't even bother me. Actually the rest of my body was starting to get really sore by this point, all except my right achilles! I began singing songs and making up rhymes to scare any bears away. I was loving it.
Eventually I popped out onto a road and met up with the other solo racer whom had gone a completely different way. We took one more trail down to the water and found our boats.

I quickly assembled the outrigger and pushed off. I didn't even look back and focused on the bridge. Just get past the brige and pull into the marina. My legs were cramping up. Being on the water on this HOT day was a nice repreive from the dirt. The paddle went by fast. I made up 10 minutes on the other solo guy by the time I pulled the boat out of the water.
Now was one last bike section to the finish line. The camara crew was shocked I was leading the race and kept asking me to comment on the course and what I had for breakfast. I said I needed to get going to give my self time to get lost. I hammered the bike home, one last bit of single track and on home to the finish. 1st person to cross the finish line in 7 hours 29 minutes. Perfect day.

It is Beginning to Look Like Ironman Around Here

2009-08-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Twas the night before Ironman Canada....And Scott is alseep. At 8pm...
He looks good, healthy and ready. I am excited for him! I am putting together the last details on my spectating costume. Of course one must have a spectating costume for Ironman. I am going as a Factor 9 Super Hero complete with cape. I think there will be lots of beer involved in our spectating tomorrow.
This week has been about catching up with old friends and enjoying the Okanagan. Last Sunday we kicked off race week by watching the ITU race in Kelowna with Simon Whitfield leading the pack. I now know Simon's secret to racing so fast......
His feet don't touch the ground when he runs.

Then I had to go down and check out what all the fuss was about this thing they call the underwear run. After watching, my friend Heather from work and I decided we will train for this event for 2010.

Then it was time to get some things done to the bike and pick out the days racing accessories. Only 2 or 3 curse words were heard the whole week. I was very impressed.

About 9 hours until race day begins, time to get some shut eye. Good luck to all the Ironheads, Factor 9'ers, and Penticton locals out there. It is going to be a good one!

Performance... : )

2009-08-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Never Let Them See You Sweat

2009-08-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Obviously I don't update my blog as often as I should! I know why. I have been recovering from a torn achilles tendon and I don't want to write anything in my blog as my true feelings may show through. For some reason I was raised to not let others see you sweat/suffer/in pain! Always be looking cool as a cucumber and like nothing is bothering you. Not sure where in my childhood I learned this as outside of sports I wear my feelings on my sleeve.
The Achilles injury after 3+ months if re-hab is now on the upswing. What a finicky injury. One day you think you have it figured out and what you need to do to keep it from getting pissed off-then before you know it the turkey changes it's mind on what irritates it and swells up again. Finally, it has been consistently improving for 4 weeks now. The physio therapist has found the culprit, a collapsing arch which has been greatly improving through specific exercises, thus improving the achilles health. I have even started running again a couple minutes at a time, which is the last thing you get to bring back into your lifestyle with this injury.

The achilles tendon takes all the pounding stress of your body weight with every foot step in walking, and 3-12 times your body weight when running. Pretty amazing piece of the human body. I have a lot more respect for that tendon now. My advice: if you do any kind of endurance sport stretch those calfs out 4 times a day and keep them supple. I am lucky as I don't have much scar tissue from it. That could be a real stinker down the road if left untreated.

A Great Day....

2009-06-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family,

About time I updated the blog! My mom was here in Penticton visiting us and asked why my blog hadn't been updated....Hmmmmm, I was actually shocked and happy to hear she read the thing! I vow to update it more frequently.
I am feeling back to a happy balanced lifestyle again with the new career change. Sometimes it is hard to know how much a part of your life is stressing you out until you make a change to it.
Instead of filling you in on 2 months of history I will tell you about my wonderful day - yesterday!
Early in the morning I met Tina, one of my teamates for the adventure race. Tina is also a swim coach for KISU our local swim club. We rode our bikes to Oliver's outdoor swim pool. She was holding a 2 hour coached swim workout for all of the KISU swim groups there. On this beautiful morning we were happy to catch up while riding with a tail wind. The swim workout was a tough one to try and keep up with those KISU kids! I swam for 1 hour. I love swimming outdoors. I think swimming would become a favourite sport if we had an outdoor pool in Penticton. For the last hour I sun-bathed in my bikini (of course I brought my bikini) and ate lunch while watching the other kids push through their last hour. Then Tina and I hopped back on our bikes for the ride back. Would you believe it, the wind had switched direction and we had a tail wind again. Double tail wind! That NEVER happens. I should go buy a lottery ticket.
On the way home we did a KISU mandatory stop at TickleBerry's for ice cream cones and jalepeno fudge. While in TickleBerry's I learned they have more than ice cream and fudge. I had never made it past the ice cream counter before. They have an assortment of jewelery, purses and handbags that are to die for with super inexpensive prices. Who knew? My only problem was how to get all the items I wanted home on my bike! I held back and stuck to practicality and made a purchase of a VERY CUTE pink purse, something I actually really needed. I swear honey, I needed it. I may have to go back with the car sometime.
Then back on our bikes to home with the friendly wind. I can see a thunder storm is brewing. I love thunderstorms. Home just in time and the thunderstorm is really on top of Penticton now. I stretched out in the living room with a shake and turn on the boob-tube to GUESS WHAT?!? Canada's Next Top Model and it just started! Not just one episode, but a marathon. With the Thunderstorm outside and me on the couch captivated inside, I had to think this was a great day.

Scott's Birthday

2009-04-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

I am up early. It is Scott's Birthday and I was too excited and couldn't sleep. He however, is sound asleep in bed still. It is also Easter Sunday! Hmmm....maybe I could put together an egg hunt for him while he is still in his slumber. He would probably think it silly and just eat his breakfast like he normally does and not even go after the eggs. The eggs would just sit in their hidding places for weeks and weeks until he stumbled upon them one by one. 3 week old chocolate eggs. Aw pooey that is no fun.

I have figured out something that makes Scott happy.....It is definitly not what you think. When I clean house he gets super talkative and happy to be alive. Just pick up a cloth and start dusting, Scott breaks away from work and is as cheerful as can be. I thought it was a coincidence at first. Then I noticed it happened every time I cleaned something. Clean a bathroom and I become queen for a day. I thought food was a way to mans heart. I am slowly learning after 5 years of marriage that this one likes a woman who can run a vacuum cleaner like it is nobodies business.

Well Happy Birthday Hot Stuff, I have some more cleaning to do!

The New Work Place

2009-04-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

My new job at Valley First Credit Union is pretty sweet. I am getting a kick out of the staff. Everyone has a title. They usually shorten it to an acronym. You don't really know what a person does even after they tell you their title. They crack me up. My title of Service Representative of Commercial Banking doesn't tell you anything really. I am basically a commercial loan clerk. I put a lot of documents needed for commercial loans together to get processed. Sometimes I get to fund a loan. That is fun. It is a lot of paperwork and takes huge attention to detail. I am learning a ton. I like it a lot! It is completely different from the sales world I came from. The office is very quiet. I am not used to that part. Before I really missed having a regular schedule and weekends off and all the holidays really being days off. Now I have that back which makes me SO HAPPY. I love leaving the office at 5 knowing I don't have to even think about work until 8:30 the next morning. The best part about my job though? The walk to and from work. Check out the view on the walk home today! Anyone have a quarter? Gross. Usually it is pretty tame. It is 7 minutes each way. I even walk home for lunch. Usually Scott is home so we can have lunch together which I think is killer.

Ridin....Ridin.....Ridin

2009-04-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

Heading out for another mountain bike ride here shortly. Finally some gorgeous sun in the 'Nagan to feed my craving of Vitamin D. I have found a new zest for training again with this adventure race looming. I haven't had this type of hungriness to get myself fit or even out the door for several months now. And it is back! I am so happy it is back. I feared the motivation to train was gone for good and wondered what I would do with myself. These are the options I thought of. a)Join a cribbage group. b)Join a photography group. c)Sit on my arce while eating chips and beer watching Next Top Model, thinking about how skinny those bitchy model chicks are. Ugh...........I chose C for the last few months! I have yet to attend the Penticton Photography meetings although my friend has been urging me to go. Cribbage is going to have to wait a few years.

If I can figure out my blackberry camara I will get pictures posted here of our Mahoney Lake ride today. Today we have 3/4's of our adventure race team together on this ride. Also we have set aside Mondays as our full team adventure evening of training. This way we can figure eachother out before the big race day.

It is Going to Be a Dirty Summer

2009-03-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Looks like I am taking it off road! A team of 4 is in the making for a 36 hour Adventure Race in September happening just north of Penticton in Kelowna. We met for a pow-wow last week to chat about the race and I think this team really could gel well together. Everyone has something unique they bring to the team that will bring us huge advantages. Three of us have adventure racing experience, and the other works with a forestry company. He knows mapping well and has worked on all the back roads and trails right where we will be racing! We will do a shorter adventure race together in June as a test race. In addition I have some olympic distance & off road triathlons lined up which are always good for building fitness.

The Adventure Race will start at midnight on a Friday. Then we have 36 hours to find our way via our own navigation following the UTM coordinates they give us. We plot the coordinates, use a compass and find our way to the check points. The diciplines we can use to get through the course are Trekking, Mountain biking, Paddling, and Rappel on fixed ropes. Like I said in an earlier post, my biggest limiter in adventure racing has been managing sleep deprivation. In that 36 hours we will not be sleeping much more than 10 minutes (!). So, I am thankful we are going to work on getting used to that in training with an all night hike after a day at work, where we navigate off trail (bushwacking). Sleep monsters here we come!

I am most excited about getting off road and seeing the South Okanagan from a more pristine view. The most beautiful area I have ever lived in and I cannot wait to experience it off road.

Along with this adventure race I am training for a marathon which is October 11th in Kelowna. The marathon training will definitely get me cardiovascularly fit. However, it will take second fiddle to the adventure training. But it will fit nicely with the skill building outdoorsy off road stuff we do for the adventure race. Are you excited? I am excited! This is just the kind of summer I wanted to have this year!

Swim Meet and Sleep Monsters

2009-03-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

What a blast! I haven't competed in a swim meet since high school. I completed 5 events and placed either 1st or 2nd overall female in all events. The 400m Free was the best by far as I beat all the boys too! Very happy about about that swim! Scott was there to spectate and said my stroke looks better. First time he has seen me swim since I started my 5 day a week swim gig. Very happy about this and might make this my regular winter plan. Now a break from the pool as the weather is getting better all the time, I am taking it outside for more running and cycling.

Here are my stats: I am putting this forever in my blog because I have NEVER swum these times in my life!!

50m Free 34.32
100m Free 1:15
200m Free 2:46
400m Free 5:53
200m Relay 2:17, my leg was 34.25

My swim coach Tina, came up with an idea to race Raid the North Adventure race in Kelowna this September. http://raidthenorth.com/2009/rtn/kelowna/

We need a team of 4, and so far she has recruited another male, possibly 2. Looks like we have a team in the making. The race involves 36 hour time limit to navigate our way by compass through a course of mountain biking, trekking, ropes, paddling while staying together within sight distance of eachother. No sleeping. That is my biggest limiter. I have done 3 adventure races and the sleep factor has been my achilles heal each time. I explained to Tina I wasn't ready to commit myself....YET! I need to think this over.
The last adventure race I did, the leaves were changing from yellow to red. This played mind games with me throughout the race. In the forest I swore up and down on images I was seeing. I was certain I saw a red barn, with a nice patch of green grass and a male bar-b-queing hot dogs! My teamate, a very experienced expedition length (5 to 7 day) adventure racer was amazed at how gone to mush my head was, so soon! I would never make it through an expedition length race. I even stood there staring at my hallucination pointing things out to her. And this was only 20 hours into the race. Finally she let me sleep for 10 minutes, which felt like 8 hours. She told me some stories about her racing experiences. Lack of sleep makes us do strange things. They call the hallucinatons sleep monsters. Once deep into a 7 day race she had a full out conversation with a rock. Her teamates would fall asleep while running or riding and they would have to make sure to wake eachother up. Very dangerous!
Still undecided on this race. We are meeting with a potential teamate tomorrow night for a little pow wow. I think that meeting will tell a lot.

New Career

2009-02-28T06:28:00.000-08:00

The cat is out of the bag. Time to celebrate. Job offer has been signed. Full time, full benefit position with Valley First, a local Penticton Credit Union. I will be working in their commercial banking loan department. This is my first non-sales position in 10 years. I am so excited! Looking forward to this long term change to regular hours, steady income and getting my weekends back! Cheers.

Swimming and Orgies

2009-02-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

My head is spinning. What a nutty yet exciting February. I have big changes in the career world coming soon but that is premature for this blog update.
Back to February. One thing has been constant. Swimming. Every day. It is my one constant this month. I have not swam like this, EVER.
Here is what swimming is like now. Go as hard as I can trying to be faster than last week at some point in every workout, everyday. Block starts. Perfecting the IM wall turns/flip turns to make them fast and meet legal. Perfecting fly. Doing Fly! Doing fly in warm up. Doing a workout of 4000m with 1900m of it IM. Kicking 10x150m. Doing 100m on the 1:30 interval. Gym upper body workouts to build strength, not endurance. Prance around with shirt off for Scott, to show off new upper body V shape. TMI! Sorry.

I have entered a swim meet that takes place on March 8th. I am swimming 5 events. 4 individual events, all freestyle with 400m being the longest and 1 relay. I am now just starting to taper for it. I dated a real swimmer back in the day (BS, before Scott) and he mentioned the fun of shaving parties before a meet. Swimmers got together to help shave eachother in those hard to reach places and bond before a meet. Actually that sounded more like an orgy to me. Wonder if Penticton will have one? HA!

Fish Like

2009-02-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

A much needed break from pavement pounding on my ankles has led me to swimming 5 days a week. I have been at this for 5 weeks now, waking up at 5am. Lots of 5's! Who knew it would be so much fun. Dare I say it....I think I love swimming. The fantastic feeling to go hard every morning and not even think about how it will effect my run or bike later is addicting. The feel of the water and working towards getting a better pull and making each and every stroke perfect is so fish like. I don't know if I am swimming any faster yet. I think I have just learned to hang on longer at my red line. But I don't really care about that. This is just the break I needed from the hum-drum of the last 10 years of ironman training and it is fun.

Ch....ch....ch.....cha....CHANGES

2009-02-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

What a week, what a month, what a year already. Aw the stress is leaving my body. My shoulders were just about up by my ears and are now back down where they should be. After months and months of thought and discussion I have hung up my real estate license. I began as a realtor in March of 2008 and the market took a nose dive ever since. Hard time to get into the market, especially if you are new town. I at first was very hard on myself thinking I was a failure in my business seeing it no other way. I do accept that some things in my business could have started off differently but I am convinced looking back on it now with a clearer head that coming into the career in a down turning market, in a new town, had a major impact on my business. Looking back in the 1 year of being a realtor I actually sold close to a million dollars in property but barely broke even on my income. RE/MAX, the brokerage, along with advertising take a fair chunk each month to the tune of $2000 whether you sell a property or not. People wonder why realtors charge so much commission! Well that right there is the reason.

I hope to come back to real estate in the future, I truly loved being a realtor, just wish it paid! I would only do it again in an up market and with gaurantees of selling at least 2 homes a month. Over the year I was a realtor Scott and I were hoping to save enough for a down payment on a house. Yeah right. That didn't happen. I am now working 3 part time jobs and the paychecks look so nice! We are on the plus side and working on saving for our down payment. Money is going in the right direction. I cannot believe the stress I was under before and the stress I was putting my husband through as well. It was one of those things you didn't realize until it was over how bad it really was. Not the way I want to live! Here's to a much better 2009!

Times Square Keeps Track

2009-01-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

I just learned that New York's Times Square has a National Debt Clock that keeps tally of the federal governments huge debt. Although they need to install more zeros. It is no longer accurate as of last September when the US debt load rolled over to $10 Trillion. 12 zeros. No biggie, as the makers of the clock are building a new one that can display up to $1 Quadrillion. So the USA can keep on going further into debt and the public will happily be able to keep track again. Kinda sickning isn't it? A website that will surely piss you off and get you riled up, especially if you are an American: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Is Vancouver ready for this?

2009-01-21T10:15:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Olympics are right around the corner. Vancouver/Whistler as the host city has me less than impressed. Are they really ready for this? Like most Canadians I am proud to have these games located in my province. I love the olympics. This is our time to shine Canada. However, Vancouver you have me concerned. I just heard on the radio this morning that they are short by $450 million for the athlete village. Yeah, $450 MILLION!!

Before Christmas the snow storms that heavily hit the city throughout the holidays caused Vancouver to become a snowbound embarrassment. Motorists were encouraged to stay home as the plows could not keep up. People couln't get around, garbage went uncollected and the airport was a huge mess of delays and cancellations. Then Whistler had 4 gondolas collapse due to ice jacking! Earlier in the year a dangerous rock slide on the Sea to Sky Highway blocked the one direct route heading to Whistler from Vancouver. Come on Vancouver, get it together. If Vancouver gets a storm before/during the games (likely) we need a much better plan of action with the increased population before/during the games. Noone wants the 2010 games to be an embarrasement.

This gave me a chuckle

2009-01-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

Letter from my 80 something year old Grandma with a picture of her arrived in the mail recently. Gorgeous picture of her taken in a studio. Grandma always looks gorgeous but she looked particularly well tanned and healthy in this one. I ask grandma what the special occasion for the photo was. Grandma works at a church in Santa Monica, California and she tells me the church decided to put out a program of all the church employees complete with photos. So all the employees were sent to get their pictures taken and they photo-botoxed all the photos! That only happens in LA right?

Re-Cap of UltraMan Canada from Aug 2008

2009-01-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

I met Sheldon in May as he needed a crew mate for his UltraMan Adventure. He is 4th from the right, back row.

The first leg of UltraMan is a 10K swim in Skaha Lake. Scott my hubby is in the Kayak.

Sheldon on the bike after his 10K swim, now its time to ride 144K.

After a sleep, now it is Day 2, a 270K bike ride. That is all. Only a bike ride today. Sheldon rode confident and strong today.

Day 3, 84K run from just outside Princeton all the way to Summerland. This is the typical dirt road surface with occasional washboards he ran on. When we hit pavement again just before Summerland he got down and kissed the ground.

Ultra Distance runners always tell me, in a long running race you walk the hills. Sheldon rarely walked, this is one of the rare times we caught him walking.

The Finish of Day 3. Sheldon's face says it all.

The whole Sheldon Crew. Besides Sandy and I, he had 3 other runners to keep him company on the run. We swapped them out 10K at a time. It really kept his speed consistent and kept things new for him.

The entire UltraMan Canada crew and racers for 2008. Good times! These people become like a family when you do this race.

Awards Breakfast. I think I saw Sheldon eat 4 well deserved desserts.

The Award. Congrats Sheldon!

Oh the weather outside is frightful.....

2008-12-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

But the Air Inside is Delightful.....Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow....

4 weeks since Ironman Arizona. The time has flown by. I have been busy with work and even have a new listing to shout about (studio apartment in Penticton for only $90,000!!)! Ha ha! I have hardly done any sort of exertion. Saturday mornings have been spent on the couch with a coffee instead of out on my bike with a Gatorade. I have stayed up past 10 o'clock and I have slept in until 11. I have had my share of wine and spirits. I did my classic off season requirement of letting loose 1 night and getting totally hammered. I can't tell you how excited I was for the off season this go round. I welcomed the change.
And now winter is upon us. Penticton has just been hammered with snow, AGAIN. Looks like we live in a ski town outside. I love it! More snow forecasted for the week with temps staying nice and low. Ice is forming on the lakes. And for some reason I said I would do a Polar Bear swim on New Years Day. The plan is to pair it up with a beermile on New Years Eve and calling it 'The Double'.
I love the off season. My clothes are fitting a bit tight but oh how I needed the break.
It did dawn on me, one thing I really missed about training was swimming with morning masters. I was a masters junkie before I did IMAZ and got into a great routine of swimming I looked forward to. Looking forward to any kind of swimming has been unheard of in my training world. I force myself. Duathlons hurt too much therefore I force myself to swim and get by. I also remember the good times I had with the other groupies I met in the pool. Such a fun bunch to attack a crazy set with at 6am.
So I figured with my ankles really needing a break from land and my body craving a swim I would give it a whirl again. Since IMAZ I have not even put so much as a toe into the pool, until this morning. After 4 weeks out of water I was a gong show. My stroke was all over the place. The strokes started coming together by the end of the workout. Good times. Lots of folks on vacation and out of the pool so not the same crew as I was used too but some new faces to meet. I will see if they share my sense of swim humour as the weeks go by because I think I am going to make masters my habit again.
2009's plan has short course triathlon written all over it, some of it off-road. Hmmmm....the masters swimming habit could really help the short course tri's...Hadn't thought of that. Also an October marathon in Kelowna is on the menu. Well back to work....Oh did I mention I have a cute studio condo for sale in Penticton for only $90,000? :)

Happy Holidays Everyone and Cheers to a Wonderful 2009!

Ironman Arizona - Some Shots

2008-11-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

2008-11-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

Mark my step dad and future IMAZ trainee in my 'ride' while in Arizona

The Grand Canyon

2008-11-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Breakfast in Arizona

Forest Fire Over Nevada Somewhere

Lunch

Mt. Rainier

Penticton From the Air

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:02:00.001-08:00

Ironman Arizona

2008-11-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here with a deep satisfaction of my Ironman triathlon racing over the last 10 years. I have completed 12 Ironmans to date and hundreds of other shorter distance races. I feel I have been so lucky avoiding any major injuries until now with all the crazy training I love to put my body through! It was not until this last Ironman race that I had experienced any hicups in my training due to injury or equipment issues. Training for this race with not one, but 2 sprained ankles, and then additional calf injuries was very creative. There were some clever changes that my hubby Scott added to my training: 2 hour water running sessions (happy happy joy joy), 1 day of rest in between the long bike and long run (aaaaaaaah), and then avoiding most all running off the bike (the ankles couldn't handle it yet). Icing every night. Loads of physio. I became an expert on leaving my shoes connected to my peddals and exiting the bike without having to twist out of the peddals, which just aggravated the ankles even more. I stayed off my feet as much as possible during the work day saving my ankles for my training sessions. I adopted the cycling motto-'Why stand when you can sit, why sit when you can lie down.'

I had one more challenge-I found some cracks in my treasured Scott bike. The bike had to go back to Scott USA to determine if they were cracks in the paint only or the carbon. So I had no bike to train on. At this point I had already questioned my ability to finish this upcoming race. Hmmmmm.....I actually was thinking I was ready to call it quits on the race. I was having this mental battle in my head with it. But why quit-I started this thing-If we all quit when life got a little rough nothing would get done. Then talking to Will at the Bike Barn 4 weeks out from the race he lent me an Orbea Ora to ride. It was just amazing the support at the Bike Barn that was given to me. This was the beginning of a major turn around in my confidence for this race.
I quickly got as used to this new bike. I cannot say enough about how much the Bike Barn helped me. They are so good to people, they just make me smile.

By this time I was seeing Mark Kildaw for physio on a very regular basis getting my injuries sorted. I had so much going on with my body! But Mark helped me feel so much stronger, especially with my running. I learned to listen to my body and those niggling injuries DO need attention. More confidence about the race was gained.

Race day arrived. Ironman Arizona felt really good-and the weather was perfect! I swam as hard and then biked as hard as I could. I felt okay coming off the bike for the first few miles of the run, but soon all that hard racing caught up to me and the ankles started letting me know they weren't happy. I had a feeling this might happen, so I was happy I went as hard as I could for the first part of the race. And I think everyone should be able to do that one time in their life, right?

My family was out there with me and they were ALL over the course! My step dad Mark, had his bike out on the run course which is 3 laps. I saw him 4 times each lap and it became comical. He kept me entertained throughout my run/walk. We were talking about all kinds of things and it brought back great memories of my first Ironman in Florida where he was out on the run course there keeping me company as well. I seriously don't think it would have been as 'fun' if he wasn't out there cheering me on and joking around with me. Then he did the unthinkable and signed up
for Ironman Arizona 2009! I am so excited for him to go after this. It is kinda like I have gone full circle and am passing this on to him. I hope he enjoys the sport as much as I have. He just lost his father to Pancreatic Cancer this month and is going to race in memory of his dad. Go Mark!

The finish line was great. Although I could do without Mike Riley, I tuned him out and enjoyed it. For now, I am focused on healing up these ankles. I enjoy going as hard as I can go in a race and being competitive. For now I am satisfied but before I do another Ironman or another race I want to be in top shape and injury free!

Pro Spotting

2008-11-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

I went down to the expo for a swim this morning. The first friend I hugged here in Tempe was Chris McDonald, whom I previously wrote about in a post called, 'The Double'. In September Chris raced IM Kentucky and placed 2nd, then 1 week later won IM Wisconsin in a record breaking time. I used to live with Chris and Marilyn for a short time in the land of Oz. Chris looked great and was his usual funny self feeling good for the race on Sunday. In case you were wondering he didn't have his compression socks on yet.
I got in line to get registered and quickly found out I needed to purchase a 1 day license for USAT and they only take $10 in green backs. Doh! I had 6 bucks and a visa card in my pocket. Typical move on my part, having hardly any cash-my husband always makes a first stop to the ATM wherever he goes, always has cash. I for some reason will never get cash thinking it will make me spend less money. The logic behind this obviously makes no sense. So, one thing I will add because I know my husband will read this-I HAVE been going to the ATM to get cash with my american account bank card-but its been so long since I've used it I can't remember my PIN!! They give you 3 tries to guess and then they spit the card back out to you. So I did try!
Anyways, to keep a long story short I outloud said, "Oh shoot, I only have $6." And all the sudden people started throwing money at me!! Christain, one of Scotts athletes was there and threw me $2-he said for Scott to deduct it off his next bill.
My step-dad is here and we had a chat by the pool yesterday. He is thinking about racing Ironman Arizona next year. He says he will decide by Sunday night as Monday is the day to sign up.
Well, I am going to play with Moe's doggies. Over and Out!

Made it to Arizona!

2008-11-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

I am here! It is sunny, 90 degrees with some winds down on the beeline hwy.

I forgot how much I love to fly! I received the full cavity search departing from Kelowna. Went through all my luggage. Panties and toiletries strewn all over the table while they gave me a $25.00 massage pat down. "Oh you're USO, right this way!" USO I think means, US outbound, therefore you are entitled to the full search.
I brought some food but not enough, I had forgotten-they don't feed you on the aircraft anymore! My total food intake on the way down was an orange juice
(70 calories)and the tiny bags of pretzel mix (60 calories for each one I could barter for). Every time the flight attendant walked by I asked them for another bag of pretzel mix. Please Mr. Flight Attendant!! I was starving by the time I reached Phoenix.
Maureen picked me up from the airport and we stopped to get some real FOOOOOOOOOOOD. My parents had just rolled into town with their RV all the way from Bend, Oregon. They stopped by the house to visit.
The cacti are everywhere and so beautiful. I am taking lots of pictures but have not figured out Maureens computer enough yet to download them. I took some sweet pictures from the aircraft of beautiful Penticton, Mt. Rainer, and even snapped a photo of a forest fire somewhere in Nevada.
After a swift bike ride today I lounged by the pool and worked on my tan. Maureen is great and she takes good care of me every time I come here. She has everything! Her latest purchase is a golf cart to ride around Fountain Hills on. Pictures and more on the golf cart adventures later.
Walking through the neighbourhoods here in Fountain Hills I cannot get over all the for sale signs that say 'bank owned', 'short sale', 'foreclosure'. All that lingo basically means-Bargain! If I had some cash to invest I would snatch up a property down here in a jiffy!

2008-11-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

Wild horses frolicking on Skaha Lake Beach
Picture courtesy of local Pentictonite and Swim Coach, Tina Hoeben

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

2008-11-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

Things are grooving right along for Ironman Arizona next weekend. I am through the woods and almost to Grandma's house. Well close, staying at Moe's house near Tempe but Grandma will be there soon. I am looking forward to kicking back with Moe and family by the pool in the 28C sunshine and kicking ass at the big race over the weekend.

The injuries (2 sprained ankles and now a weird deep pissed off painful calf muscle that likes to scream out) are all healing up! Mark Kildaw aka Myrical Worker Physio has given my injuries serious attention with deep massage, PNF, ART, and Graston-OH HOW I LOVE GRASTON!! Did you know a set of Graston tools cost $4000. Surgical grade stainless steel painful little pokers that leave bruises. But man they work. For my birthday today Mark had me in for the full meal deal treatment. All the fixins including chiropractic to get all my ribs back in place. Wow I feel tall today. Thank you Mark!

I am feeling soooo ready to race. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Shake It!

2008-11-13T19:45:00.000-08:00

February Coached Triathlon Camp

2008-11-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

Friends of mind Chris Brown and Sara Gross are holding a Tucson Training Camp in February 2009. I have heard great things about the riding in Tucson.

Here is what is in store for there camp:

CHRIS AND SARA’S TUCSON TRAINING CAMP 2009

Christopher and I would like to officially announce that our Tucson Training Camp will be taking place from Sunday, February 15th to Sunday February 22nd 2009.

Our goal for the camp is to make the week as simple as possible so that all you have to worry about is training and recovering. We will take care of as many details as possible. The camp will be focused on base miles and strength on the bike.

The following is included in the price of the camp:

Accommodation: You will be staying in large, 2-bedroom condos in the North East of Tucson. The complex has a pool and hot tub among other amenities. See the website at: www.greensatventanacanyon.com.

Airport pick up: We will do pick ups at both Tucson and Phoenix airport. Try to arrive before 2pm to be there in time for our welcome dinner on Sunday night. (There are flights from Calgary to Phoenix with West Jet and Air Canada that arrive at 1.30ish). Note: If you want to come 1 day early, we may be able to arrange pick up on Saturday as well, please email saragross@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Massage Therapy: Adrienne Stedford (RMT) will be joining us as our on-staff massage therapist for the week to make sure you all stay relaxed and healthy.

Breakfasts and Dinners: We will be providing group meals.

Coaching: All sessions will be coached.

Ride Support: 1 or 2 vehicles will support each ride, as well as leaders on bikes. A good selection of foods will also be available during long rides. This will be a bonk-free camp!

Swim Entry: We will be swimming in an open-air pool. Expect to get a tan.

Seminars and Talks: Chris will be giving an afternoon session on bike maintenance. Other speakers and topics TBA (we are taking suggestions)

Goodies: We are in discussions with potential sponsors, there will be SWAG!

PRICE LIST:

$1,650 shared room (one or two beds in room, depending on need)
$1,500 shared room with CSracing discount.

$2,000 single room (one person, one bed)
$1,850 single room with CSracing discount.

To register, email me at saragross@yahoo.com.

Register early to secure your spot. We would prefer payment in full at the time of registration, but if that’s not possible, simply email me to let me know you are coming. Final payment must be made before Jan 1st 2009 and can be made by email interact money transfer. (Cheques will also be accepted if you do not bank online)

If you are not yet convinced to come to the camp, then watch our 3-minute youtube video from our last camp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5xKH9yjVJo

See you soon!

Sara and Chris

Canada, Eh?

2008-11-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

CNN Poking Fun at Sarah Palin

2008-10-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

It is like listening to a 3rd Grader.

2008-10-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

No Sarah, that is not the correct answer. The Vice President is the first person in the presidential line of succession and President of the Senate. They are only allowed to vote when there is a tie vote in that chamber. I have an idea-why doesn't McCain spend $200,000 from his campaign and hire Sarah Palin a tutor?

I miss heels

2008-10-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

My two sprained ankles are healing up and training for Ironman Arizona is finally ticking along smoothly. The ankles have been feeling very little tightness and pain even after 5 hour rides and 2.5 hour runs. Yay! Physio has worked wonders.
I am missing one thing in my life though. HIGH HEELS. I can't wait to wear heels again! Oh the feeling of being tall, even taller than some men, that sense of power they give us! I love being a woman. And I love wearing heels.

Land Banking-As an Investment Option

2008-10-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Along with my career in Real Estate, I am working with a consultant for land banking projects in Alberta. If you haven't heard of Land Banking yet I will give you the run down.
Westside Land Corporation (WLC) purchases farm land that is on the edge of a developing city, usually on the outskirts of Calgary. It is land that is ripe for development but hasn't been zoned for residential yet. WLC then splits it up into small parcels for sale. Meanwhile WLC works on changing the zoning to residential and making it very attactive to a developer at a nice price! Investors typically see their profit in 3-5 years.

WLC's track record so far has been:
51 months with 24.5% Average Annual Return
28 months with 43.6% Average Annual Return
19 months with 58.2% Average Annual Return

Money, Money, Money!

Their current project is called Foxcreek, located 9 kilometres west of Calgary in the Elbow Valley corridor. This 91 acre parcel is going through preperations for future residential home development. You can be a partial owner. Cost to own 1/7 acre of undivided interest is under $20,000.

One of the best parts about this investment is you can use your RSP's to purchase an investment. What kind of return are you getting with your RSP's today, if any? I sure took a hit with the latest market turmoil. With the way things are going with RSP's right now this could be a much more profitable option.
Also financing is available in the form of an interest only loan at 11.75% for a 5 year term, ($137.08 monthly).

Shoot me an email if you would like to talk more about Land Bank Investing. This is also available to US investors.

6 Weeks Out!

2008-10-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

6 Weeks Out from Ironman Arizona. The two sprained ankles are healing up. Training has been.....creative.
Pool running. It is a whole new world. I did a 2 freakin hour pool run. Can you say pruned?

At least I cannot roll an ankle in the pool. Just keeping my life nice and safe lately. I have gone 8 days accident free. I feel like putting up one of those signs you see in warehouse factories, 'Safety is number 1! We are 347 days accident free!'

I have met a completely different pool crowd than I normally swim with. People of the 75+ catagory. Little bit different perspective on things than I am used too. We chated about their business ventures back in the day, all the properties they own and have sold, what Penticton was like 30 years ago, and the bummer of Paul Newman dieing. No, usually the conversation during masters swimming revolves around how fast we are swimming, how far we are going to ride on the weekend, and who is racing what!

Speaking of racing, Hawaii was amazing to watch even if it was from the couch this weekend. As always, it leaves Scott and I wishing we were there again, and seriously thinking about going back.

Accident Prone Athlete-Beware of Dark Cloud

2008-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Frustrated. I have got to get out from under this black cloud. Don't come near me for a while as I feel like I am an accident magnet. As I wrote about in my IMC race report, I sprained my right ankle 2 weeks before Ironman Canada. Well, that ankle was starting to heal up neat. In fact I actually was starting to be able to do a what I would call a long run! So on my long run last Thursday morning, I was cruising along enjoying the thrill of running again. Just then I lost foot placement running over a wooden bridge and twisted the left ankle!

At 7am in the quiet residential Penticton neighbourhood a jogger was heard yelling 'SHIT, SHIT, SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!' and then limped away. Residents peaked out their windows to see who it was and immediatly jumped away from the glass and hid under their beds. For it was the Accident Prone Athlete. Stay away from her-bad things happen all around her!

Yesterday I went to run an open house on some property(I am a realtor in town, and this is my typical start to every Saturday). As I was pulling signs from the trunk of my car I hear the worst sound immagineable to a triathlete, carbon scraping the pavement. Car hit a cyclist. One of our fast local triathletes, headed to race Kona, cut off by an oblivious right turning driver. Jen is going to be alright, she escaped with scrapes and bruises. She was damn lucky. I hate seeing that happen to anyone! I was hit the same way and came away with bruises and scrapes after a fly over the front hood. Lucky lucky lucky. But again I feel like this accident prone black cloud is around me.

Today was a local XC run race. I with my ankles in tensor bandages was not a candidate for racing but hubby Scott took a crack at it. As I was chatting and cheering at the finish line waiting for my man to come running in I noticed he was not coming in with the guys I knew he should be with. Stupid Black Cloud! It followed me here. I was making friends with the race's first aid person, Darryn, at the time. Go figure! Talk about forshadowing! Off in my left periphery I see Scott walking back to the finish line with blood running down his arm and both knees scraped and bloody. 11 minutes into the race he tripped over an ankle bitter rock on the course and took a flying leap with no landing gear. Ouch.

Later back at home Scott and I looked at each other and he started laughing first....and then I started laughing too. What the hell! All we can do is laugh. Get the flashlights honey, lets find our way out of this black cloud!

The Best Marketing Strategy I Have Seen. Re-Invent Yourself!

2008-10-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Don't Get Caught Up in Headlines....

2008-09-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

That was the subject line of my latest email from Fidelity Investments. The article goes on to say it is best not to change your investments based on short term trends or emotions.
Typically yes-that is the Warren Buffett Way. But this time around-I say a big 'hell no' to that advice. When a $700 Billion bail out is considered a 'short term trend' that worries me.
I think I will call up Warren and see what he is doing with his investments these days.

The Double

2008-09-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

As in Double Ironmans back to back or back to front.
Friend and Pro Triathlete Chris McDonald, dubbed School
Socks McDonald, is racing IM Wisconsin today. And he is currently
leading the race and is looking like he did that bike ride up neat-
and is pulling away from his competition on the run at the half-way point of the marathon.
All this only one week after a 2nd place finish at IM Kentucky!

I lived with Chris for a few months in Albury Australia in
late 2006. Unbelievable training this guy did while we were
there. He thrived on high mileage. But watching him race
two IM's back to back and do so well at both of them is
stunning. Maybe this is something new he is figuring out about
himself...that he can race better when the Ironmans are closer
together.

I know that the week after an Ironman with some down time soaking
up the fitness acheived on race day I actually have some
great fitness accumulated in my body. Perhaps as we move forward
in our young sport we
will find that racing Iron distance races can be accomplished with races
closer together. Not the usual 3-6 months or even 1 year apart.
Perhaps we can do a build, peak and taper and then race a couple IM's
as long as we fully recover afterwards.

As long as those adrenals get back on track with a long enough rest
after all that your body will bounce back. Then start the cycle
all over again. That is my theory......Just my theory.

do you want the BS answer or the real answer?

2008-09-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

How are you feeling after Ironman?

The REAL ANSWER: I am feeling a bit FRIED. I think I cooked myself pretty good before that last one. Whoops. I know I will come out of this tunnel. But right now sleep, hanging out with Scott, working and time away from Triathlon is on the menu.

Soon I will be smiling while running again.

Day 3 of UltraMan Canada - 84.4K Run

2008-09-04T10:33:00.001-07:00

Now this is the day I have been waiting for. Double Marathon from Princeton to Summerland. This is the kind of day that would scare me shitless. I never said that outloud to Sheldon or any of the athletes. And to my surprise they just all seemed to look at the day like it was just another day in UltraMan. No harder than the first 2.

Chilly morning start after a breakfast at the arena. About 10K's from the Arena is where the start banner was located. In the middle of freakin nowhere. The only town we would see today was Bankier, which is a little store and fishing villiage-blink and you miss it. The next major town is the finishline town of Summerland.

Sheldon quickly got into a rhythm and told us every 1K to stop for him. This was what he needed mentally to get through the day. If seeing the van every K was what he needed then that is what we were going to do. One thing I forgot to mention earlier was Sandy and I kept track of everything Sheldon ate after the swim on Day 1. We recorded some of his split times, a happy/sad face along with each notation for our super scientific recording of his moods. This was a huge help! We could pinpoint how much of a deficit he was in at times and guide him to eating more or less or maintain what he was doing. Also post race each day Sandy had an idea of how much dinner or how many dinners(!) he needed to get through before racing the next day. I truly think this is the secret to UltraMan. Don't get into calorie debt. Keep yourself fueled.

Through the run Sheldon consumed gels and electrolytes. This was working beautifully and he just kept ticking off the miles. He took the first marathon very easy. At the half way point (1 marathon down) we rolled out the blanket, I grabbed Wayne the massage therapist for Sheldon, and got him going again for phase 2. Oh, somewhere around 30K's into the run, the pavement ended and Sheldon ran for close to 40K's on washboard/pot-holed road! This blows my mind! Mid-way through this race Sheldons' friends Rob, Danielle and Lisa showed up to assist Sandy in pacing. They each ran in 10K shifts. This was fabulous. As each person began running with Sheldon you could watch his pace pick up. His spirits picked up as well. I wanted to pace Sheldon but with my own sprained ankle this was not possibile so I drove the van. At the steep hill sections Sheldon did do some walking. During this section I was so happy to walk with Sheldon up a hill. However, I could barely keep up. He was a fast walker. But I did get to tell him how proud I was of him during my brief pacing period!

The last 10K Sandy ran with Sheldon down into Summerland. This was just unbelievable. I think this part of the race was almost surreal. I was in the van, Sheldon's friends had to take off to meet a family member. Sandy was running with Sheldon through the streets of Summerland. Folks were out on their front lawns wondering why our van was painted with GO SHELDON! I yelled out, this guy is just finishing UltraMan, Cheer for him! And they did! I cranked the CD that was labeled, 'SUPER SECRET POWERS'! Only to be played on Day 3 when he really needed it. This was it. Sheldon was coming down to the last k's. Couple more stops and he was there. I was in awe of what I was witnessing. It was here that Sheldon picked up the pace so much Sandy later told me she could barely keep up with him. Our boy could smell the barn. I did one last stop to make sure he and Sandy were ok to the last 1K to the finish and that they knew where to go! This was it, he was going to make it.
I parked the van at the finish and met them to run it in as a team. I can't imagine what was going through Sheldon's head. He ran all that way from Princeton to Summerland while I drove there! That finish line must have been the sweetest sight!

UltraMan Canada Day 2- Just a little 273K bike ride.

2008-09-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

So many things going through my head after crewing for the UltraMan Canada event. So many stories over the 3 days to share with other folks. Most people in town know about Ironman but very few know about UltraMan. Sheldon is back in Vancouver and recovering as I type this. He just called from Vancouver to thank myself and Scott again. Actually Sheldon, I really want to thank you for letting me experience this race through your eyes.
Day 2 on the bike started at Skaha Marina where the group rode down to Osoyoos in a fast tail wind, and then turned right around and rode back to OK Falls in a stiff head wind. Ouch. Sheldon held it together very well through the head wind. I could see he was working it! He had planned to go with Perpetuem for the majority of the weekend, but he kept asking for Ensure. That stuff is so thick, 250 calories a can, with 10 grams of protien and 5 or so grams of fat! How he could stomach it I have no idea! But he quickly figured out the solid food was the kiss of death for him. And the Ensure was working. Sandy and I stopped in OK Falls to pick up more.

With the huge headwind at bay for awhile Sheldon carried on up the 'Wall' and through White Lake to Twin Lakes. Here racers turn left and go up to Yellow Lake and into Keremeos where they follow the bypass to Princeton. Major head wind on this section and I think Sheldon had just about had it here. At one point he yelled, "I need full service at the next stop, everything but the blow job!"
Like I said before in earlier posts, Sheldon always kept Sandy and I laughing with his funny comments throughout the event. I learned so much about him with his fun loving attitude towards life. Nothing seemed to get Sheldon down. I know he had rough patches through the event-how could you not?!? But he always took them in stride. Full service stop meant break out the blanket, stool, sponges. He would get off his bike and take a break while we massaged out his legs and shoulders while he would get some quick extra calories in. Sheldon was very good about getting going again back on the road. I think if I did a full service stop I would just lie down and not get up again!
Once through Princeton there is an out and back section up to Alyson Lake, a rolling mostly uphill section into a headwind after you have already ridden 220 clicks. Can you say OUCH! This event is not for the faint at heart. As we checked on Sheldon as we leap frogged him he was clearly in his own world. He told us later he was meditating and in a zone. Let him be we decided, see you at the next stop in 10K. Another ensure down and he was good to go. I still cannot believe he drank 8 cans of Ensure on this day! Sponsorship perhaps Sheldon?
After the turn around at Alyson Lake Sheldon made it look easy as he spun down to the finish of Day 2. The finishline is at the Arena in Princeton where there are showers and sports massage awaiting him! Chris Corfield was his massuese this time and spent a lot of time on Sheldon. Meanwhile Sandy and I went to get the hotel room at the Sandman set up and bottles prepped for Day 3. We picked up Sheldon and took him to Santos for a big group dinner. Sound asleep by 9 we were up at 5am for Day 3.

UltraMan Day 2 and 3 Completed.

2008-09-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Sheldon, YOU ROCK! We had that plastered all over our van over the weekend. Just back from crewing for the 3 day Ultraman Canada event. Sheldon was amazing through it and did so well! Yesterday was a 270K bike ride and today was an 84K run. Yup-a double marathon. I have so much to write about the event and how Sheldon was such a champ through all of it. I am exhausted! I will write tomorrow, have got to get some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's. I am so inspired and pleased Sheldon finished it so strongly! WAY TO GO.

Stage 1 of UltraMan Completed for Sheldon

2008-08-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

After one of the toughest weather days for UltraMan since 1993 Sheldon rolled into the finish line of Stage 1 at 10 hours 55 minutes with a smile on his face. He has 12 hours to complete each day so there was plenty of time to spare. He swam 10K in 4:22 and had 144K's on the bike in a huge head wind for the remainder of the day. During the swim white caps started on the lake. The wind really picked up. Sheldon had some cramping and suggested next time taking more endurolytes on the swim. What a trooper. He swallowed so much lake water on the swim his stomach was upset from the beginning of the bike and he couldn't get down any calories. Finally after swallowing a Groval his stomach allowed some food and we massaged his legs out at the top of Richter Pass. Then more solid food later in Keremeos. Perhaps a little too much solid food! He later felt nauseous. The power had left his legs, as all the blood was in his stomach and had left his extremities. Taking in electrolyes and water he struggled through a climb. He took in a 2nd Groval here just at the top of Yellow Lake and started feeling much better after that. We can tell Sheldon's mood always by the way he jokes with us! From the top of Yellow Lake he cruised all downhill to the finish in Ok Falls. He took in a massage at the end of the race and was in very good spirits. On the way home Sheldon looked at Lake Skaha in disbelief, "Shit I can't believe I swam that entire lake this morning!"
Tomorrow is only a bike ride. Only a 273K bike ride!! We end the day in Princeton and will be overnight at a hotel there with no internet so updates will come at the end of Day 3 which is an 84K Run.
Unbelievable stuff these racers are going through.

Big Shout Out to Bree Wee

2008-08-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Bree was medically DQ'ed at IMC last Sunday. She was pulled off the run course 2 miles in.
So her plan B is going after it this Sunday, one week to the day, at Ironman Kentucky. This Kona girl wants a Kona spot BAD and is on a mission to get it. Go GET 'EM Superstar Bree! Check out Bree's blog here: http://breeweehawaii.blogspot.com/

Sheldon is on his way....

2008-08-30T07:45:00.001-07:00

Day 1 of UltraMan has begun. 10K Swim in Skaha Lake from the marina to just south of Ponderosa point where they take a sharp left into shore. They come out at Sovereign Road (Just off of Eastside Road). There Sheldon will enjoy a warm meal and hop on his bike for a 144K ride that follows a very similar route to the Ironman bike course.

There is no drafting on the swim. As a current swim draft lover and pack swimmer I know this would be hard for me! I am looking at the time right now, and Sheldon has been swimming for 1 hour. Close to the time it would take me to do the Ironman swim and he has another 2.5-3 hours to go. That is a long time to be swimming. Wonder what goes through your head on that long of a swim. Scott in the kayak next to him has set his watch to beep at 30 minute intervals. This is the signal to feed Sheldon. That gives Sheldon a little break and hopefully Scott has some jokes to keep Sheldon smiling.

The air temperature was darn right chilly this morning. The lake temperature felt warmer than the air! The skies are blue with a few clouds. Temps are high of 20 today with light winds from the North. Could get a shower or 2 this afternoon but only 1 mm of precipitation within the next 24 hours. Perfect race weather.

I am warming up with a cup of tea back at the house before I head down to meet Sheldon after his swim. His expected swim time is 3.5-4 Hours. But I will be there at the 3hour mark just in case he comes out early. Sheldon seemed very relaxed, making lots of funny jokes. The morning went by very quickly and before we knew it the bag pipes were humming and leading the athletes into the starting shute.

Lucky me, I ran into another crew whom has window painting pens so Sandy, Sheldons partner and other crew support person and I, can decorate the van before Sheldon arrives after his swim. It is the swim portion that he is most nervous about for this event. I think he will be even more relieved once done with this stage.

Chatting with several athletes this morning I was shocked to hear that several hardly trained much for UltraMan. I know Sheldon has trained a ton of hours and even completed Ironman Switzerland (12:29) in preparation for this event. I am very excited to see how he goes. He says he is not racing it, just wants to complete it. Ha-Just wants to complete it. What a feat that is!! GO SHELDON!!

More updates later this evening at the completion of Stage 1 and hopefully have time to upload some pictures.

UltraMan Canada This Weekend

2008-08-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

UltraMan Canada August 30-September 1st. 3 Days.

Day 1
Swim 10K
Bike 144.8K

Day 2
Bike 273.5K

Day 3
Run 84.3K

I am crewing for athlete #31 Sheldon Boreen, a 43 year old engineer from Vancouver. His other crew mate is Sandy Sernowski, Sheldon's partner. We also have 2 more athletes arriving on Day 3 to help pace Sheldon through the 84K Run. My hubby Scott is paddling along side Sheldon during the 10K Swim on Day 1. That is our team. Our goal is to make Sheldon feel like all he has to do is Swim-Bike-Run. As an Ironman competitor I love it on race morning when I get out of bed and all I have to do that day is Swim-Bike-And Run. If we have Sheldon feeling that same way then we are doing our jobs well.

Today was the kick off breakfast and pre-race meeting. All the details are in place for the weekend and the van is ready to go. Well almost ready, as Sandy and I have decided to decorate it while Sheldon is doing his swim! There is no aid on the course so it is up to us crew members to keep Sheldon fed and hydrated and as comfortable as possible throughout his 512.6K journey.

Each day starts at 7am and the cut off time to be finished each day is 7pm. Sheldon seemed very relaxed and very clear headed at todays race meeting. He ate a rather huge breakfast which is also a very good sign!!

I will take my camera and post some pictures of Sheldon throughout the weekend. Also I hope to be able to do some posting here on my Sheldon updates each night. I am going to be like a sponge this weekend watching and learning from Sheldon. I someday want to tackle this event and what better way to do this than watching it first hand by crewing for an athlete.
For more information on Ultraman: www.ultramancanada.com

2008-08-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Toughin it Out to the Finish at IMC 2008

2008-08-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Here are the stats:
12:02 total time
1:05 Swim
6:16 Bike
4:33 Run
27th in division

Not bad for racing on a sprained ankle! My focus now is getting this ankle healed. I have Ironman Arizona on November 23rd. Just shy of 13 weeks to go. Focus is on getting rid of the massive swelling so I can rehab that ankle with local Physio here in Penticton, Mark Kildaw. I am taking a much needed break for 4 weeks and then start a training build for 9 weeks including a taper leading into IMAZ.
Right now my physio rehab involves standing waist deep in chilly Okanagan Lake for 15minutes every evening before dinner. Also keeping my foot above my heart is a big part of my day, which I am still trying to figure out how to do while selling homes!

Canadian Health Care

2008-08-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

I used it. I used my care card. I go in to the walk in clinic and show them my care card. No line. No wait. Don't have to pay a cent. Right this way Mrs.McMillan. Here is your room. Doctor comes in. Ironman Athlete himself congratulates me on my race. He checks out my ankle. Does some tests. Pretty certain not broken. Gives me papers to get x-ray just in case. All FREE.

Go to hospital. Hand over papers. Right this way Mrs. McMillan. No line. No money. X-Ray done. All Free.

Wow. So different from the states.

Photos!

2008-08-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

IMC Race Report....A Gong Show!

2008-08-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Oh my what a day it was yesterday. We had perfect race conditions with the cooler weather and lighter winds, light rain in the afternoon. It was the day to go out there and rip it up. I was really looking forward to the race but had some Uh-Oh's before the race lingering in the back of my mind.
All week during taper I could feel my legs were still not recovered from the previous hard training weeks. Uh-Oh #1. Two weeks out while touring a home I sprained my ankle. I iced and kept off it and thought I had knocked the injury out. Uh-Oh #2. Sunday and Monday prior to race day Scott came down with horrible stomach flu. I felt fine in my stomach until the day before the race started to get diarrhea. Perhaps a touch of the flu. This was a fun thing to deal with during the race. Uh-Oh #3.
I do have a great gift of putting Uh-Oh's out of my mind and settling down before the battle. Race morning I woke up ready to lock and load. But, throughout the day all the Uh-Oh's presented themselves one by one. I was so ready to call it a day on the run as soon as my right foot and ankle started to get buggered up. I did such a good job of putting the Uh-Oh #2 of the earlier sprained ankle out of my mind I was chalking it up to Plantar Fasciitis. Mark Kildaw, friend and local Physio in town was riding out on the run course cheering on his wife, Carla (whom had an awesome Ironman!!). I kept asking him if I could do permanent damage to myself by running on a Plantar fasciitis inflammed foot. Actually I was doing more of a hobble than a run. I was searching the grounds for a big stick to use as a cane! He said I couldn't do any permanent damage if it was Plantar Fasciitis and he and Dave Matheson were really helping me on to finish. I seriously don't think I would have finished if these guys weren't out there! Mark even offered free treatments if I ran the majority to the finish. At time time I thought this was just Plantar Fasciitis, no big deal. It wasn't until 200 meters from the finish when I realized this was the supposedly all healed up sprained ankle I had endured two weeks earlier that was rearing its ugly head. Yes, like I said I have a way of forgetting the Uh-Oh's. 12:02 was my finish time. Not my best. But definitely one of the hardest ones of the 11 Ironmans I have completed.
Today my ankle is swollen, showing some pretty colours and very angry with me. Icing/meds and I am staying off of it. Wish I had some crutches! Bonnie McMillan, Scotts mom is here with us. She used to be a health nurse and is urging me to get it x-rayed. I think that will by my next stop just to rule out any fractures.
As for my training I need to sit with coach and work on getting more recovery built into my schedule.
I learned a lot from yesterday. You can't fake your way through an Ironman. Listen to your body and really pay attention to the small details.
Calling Mark Kildaw, can I get an appointment with you tomorrow?!?
A big shout out to my buddies here in Penticton whom all had fantastic races. I loved watching you all race so well.
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy with my soul sista beating the 11 hour mark. She wanted to break 11 hours in this race, she came in at 10:59! Won her age group to boot. What a rock star. She negative split that marathon by 8 minutes. I don't think I have ever seen anyone do that! Congrats to you Jenny on an awesome race. Can't wait to get some Coronas and party with you.
Her hubby Brian also won his age group and had a phenomenal race. 2 age group champions in one house! You guys have some celebrating to do.
Congrats Janelle Morrison, one of Scotts athletes from Calgary was the top age grouper of the day with a 9:59 finish time. Finishing top 8 including the pro women in her first Ironman. Can you say impressive? Oh and she also had the full on stomach flu bug 2 days out before the race.
Another of Scott's athletes, Sam Smith cruised in at 10:05 also in his first ironman! These are amazing first times for 1st time Iron people. Sam left Scott a voice mail after the race where he said, "Coach, there were just a couple things that didn't go to plan on the day..." That is totally Sam, the ultimate perfectionist! Sam you rocked it, congrats.
My hubby Scott had a great race with a 9:55 finish. He says he really gambled on the bike and pushed it. He was in the top age group men until the last 10K of the run. What a gutsy move. Like I always say, you never know until you try.
There were so many local athletes that did so well, I am so happy for you guys. Penticton was in full force at IMC this year. Also many many friends from out of town I enjoyed spending the day with you. Well done Everyone!

Almost Race Day

2008-08-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Ironman Canada race day is tomorrow. Bike is in the rack, all workouts are completed, watch is cleared, best wishes to all my buddies racing, head is clear and calm....OK, now racer #112 is ready. I spent some time today relaxing at the beach with a trash mag. What a relaxing way to spend the afternoon before the big day! Cheers Everyone to an awesome IMC!

My Letter to Simon Whitfield

2008-08-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

Simon, 3 days later after your silver medal performance in the Mens Olympic Triathlon I am still in awe over your race. You had us jumping up and down and screaming at the top of our lungs at our TV. Our neighbours thought we went bezerk for the evening as we are normally the quiet house. Unbelievable performance. You have a fun loving hang loose attitude I admire, yet on race day you never never never give up. What a relentless, gustsy, ballsy performance. I will always think of your race when I race and need that push. We loved it Simon!
Congratulations,
Sarah

Only 2 days to IMC!

2008-08-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Holy Smokes, what a week!
I had a sale of a townhouse go through this week, 1 offer on another property made, 2other business deals were agreed upon, and 1 Ironman Race Week to contend with! So much excitment this week and with the Ironman on Sunday it just made everything that much more intense. I love it. The busy-ness with work has definitely gotten my mind off the race. I am a very exciteable person so getting my mind to think about other things besides racing is a good thing for me.
Lots of friends in town which has been great! Tonight is the carbo dinner. Can't wait to see everyone there.
But right now I have to run to see a client!

Emma Snowsill, You're Golden!

2008-08-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

Cyswog'n Fun Triathlon Race Report

2008-08-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

Scott and I travelled to the Kootney's to the town of Nelson last weekend to do a Quarter Ironman (1K Swim-44K Bike - 10K Run). Nelson is pretty laid back town and reminded us a lot of Hood River, Oregon.

We stayed with friends Janis and Steve Lampimaki in Fruitvale. Fruitvale has population of 2000, very small town! I would have liked to spend more time checking out Fruitvale, but hopefully we can go back and do more of that next time.

Janis and Steve have 4 adorable kids. So sweet and so easy to be around. Janis and Steve were also very easy to be around and provided us with the ultimate homestay, including a steak dinner!

Janis also raced. She is such a rock star. I've never really actually seen Janis during a race because by the time I get out of the water she is already 10K up the road. FAST Cyclist and she usually claims the fastest bike split of the day, and this race was no exception. She was quickly in the lead and hung on until only 2K left on the run where she was passed by another fast Canadian Cherie Cooper from Kimberly.

I had a decent race considering the amount of Ironman training I have been up to. The swim and bike felt great, the run not so much. Actually the name of this race, Cyswog'n which stands for Cycle-Swim-Jog which is just what I did! But I hung on for 5th place.

Scott the animal was leading the race for most of the day until mid-way through the run where he was passed by a fast running racer named Dallas. With a name like Dallas he must be a fast runner!

I was impressed by the amount of schwag given to the winners! Scott and Janis both received free entry's for next year, so we will be back in 2009.

My New Way to Swim

2008-08-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Lately I have had Sara Gross working with me on my swim. I have all kinds of weird swim habits I have picked up along the way. While trying to figure out what different swim coaches have been telling me I think I have been trying a little of this and a little of that. If this happened to you too- my advise-get video taped. Nothing spells the truth like a video of your swim. Remember the guy, his name escapes me now but he did the weekend seminars on how to glide more when you swim? Well I started doing this gliding thing. Gliding along. Getting slower and slower. As my arm stretches out in front of me before the catch, it was dropping! So I started my catch with about 40% of the catch GONE. I was, and still am a bit messed up. But working on it! At least I know what I need to do now. So Sara gave me a great drill to overcome this dropping arm. Grab the band and paddles. Band goes around the ankles. Paddles go on your forearms, not your hands. And swim. Swim a lot. See the video of me doing my new favorite drill. This is allowing me to achieve a higher elbow in the water and get a heck of a lot more out of my pull. Now....If I could only swim this way without all the toys. Soon.....Soon she tells me.

Suck it Up Princess!

2008-07-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

I don't usually write much about my training in here. I think it bores people. But this last weekend was an exception. I couldn't resist writing about it!
My favorite training buddy Jenny and I were back in sync on the same training schedule. We did a joyous whack of workouts together in 4 days. I have missed training with Jenny! We think way too much alike. And it is goofy stuff that noone else does or thinks about except her and I. That is a whole other blog article though. How did I ever get so lucky to have a friend like this and we even live in the same town?

We did our usual catching up and then we also proceeded to push eachother to our limits over the weekend. It was awesome and there was a lot of laughter and sucking it up. Sunday and Monday were 2 hard training days that I will remember come race day.

Coach had us scheduled for this:

Sunday: "5 hour ride, lots of steady, lots of climbing, mod-hard on the climbs, finish with climb to top of Apex, a solid hard 5 hour ride. Then later in the day head out for 1 hour endurance paced run."

Monday: "3 hour Long Run, Steady"

Gulp.

We headed out Sunday on our bike ride with that 3 hour run the next day looming in the back of our minds. I tried to forget about that run so many times but it kept creeping into my mind on every climb when I was pushing it. My legs kept revolting shouting back at me, "NO! I have work to do tomorrow-I am already tired and not busting ass today on this climb!" So, I made a deal with myself. Mind over matter. I decided to think about a DQ Brownie Batter Blizzard everytime the thought of that run popped into my head. It worked. (However, I have been fighting the worst craving for a blizzard ever since and will need to do emergency stop at DQ very soon!) I also tried to think about the Banjo Song Jenny had just taught me. But thats another story as well.
Our ride was a total of over 2100 meters climbed for the day. But the last climb of the day was the big daddy. Apex, our local ski area. That is the one that really mattered. The total climb is 13.8 Kilometers and gains 850 meters. Average grade of 6.2% but I swear most of it felt like it was over 11%! To compare, this would be a catagory 1 rated climb in the Tour de France. Yeah, SUCK IT UP PRINCESS is right. Aye Carumba. Especially because Jenny the speedy one beat me to the top by 8minutes! Holy man she is getting in shape!

By the way, if your geeky like me and want to see where your own climbs rate here is what another Le Tour afficionado wrote down for guidelines as far as how they rate Le Tour de France Climbs:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/bicycles-faq/part1/section-22.html

We both came home from the ride, devoured our own fridgerators (at least I did), took naps, and trudged through our 'later in the day' 1 hour Endurance paced runs, separately. Surprisingly this run felt good for both of us. Hmmm.....we must be getting in shape for IMC!

Well, Monday morning came early. Here comes that long run I had replaced in my thoughts with a Brownie Batter Blizzard. I had to be into work by 9. So we decided to do this run at 5am. Not only were we running 3 hours, but we were starting the run at 5am. Sometimes I think, yes-absolutely I am certifiably nuts. We ran on the IMC marathon course. 3 hours. Wow. Yeah, so the run started off slow as we were still waking up and I had only rolled out of bed 20 minutes prior to this. I eased into steady pace and was thinking how nice it would be to have a fantastic long run today, as my long runs for the past 6 weeks have been mediocre at best. Running along the course, with the sun coming up on the lake, the fantastic memories of last years race came flooding back in. I really loved racing IMC last year, especially the marathon. The memories put a goofy smile on my face and I started cruising into automatic steady zone and the miles were rollin on by. Jenny was pounding out the run as well and I think she was feeling like she was in a groove too. We did a set of 3x[4 miles Steady (Ironman Pace), 2 miles Light] with a few miles to warm up to at the beginning. Total 21.5 miles in 3 hours, 8:20-8:25 pace average. Best run I've had in months.

I dropped Jenny off at the lake and I scrambeld off to work. 9am, squeaky clean and in the office, hard to believe that I had already put in a 3 hour run that day.
Great weekend of training left us both hammered but feeling more and more confidently 'coiled' for IMC less than 1 month away.

Maillot Jaune

2008-07-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

1.SASTRE C. CSC 82h 54' 36"
2.SCHLECK F. CSC 01' 24"
3.KOHL B. GST 01' 33"
4.EVANS C. SIL 01' 34"
5.MENCHOV D. RAB 02' 39"
6.VANDEVELDE C. TSL 04' 41"

Final TT is tomorrow. Who is going to be wearing the Mellow Johnny after the TT?!?!
I am rooting for Frank Schleck as he is the best looking rider (I am so scientific in this decision) but can he time trial and hold off Cadel?

After I got over my rant about the doping, I started seriously enjoying the Tour this year. Probably one of the best in years. So exciting with not knowing who is going to win. When Lance reigned you somehow knew he was always going to win and he always did. This year we are down to the final TT and it could be any of these guys! I will be glued to OLN tomorrow morning to watch this unfold. Can't wait.

Peach City Triathlon Race Report

2008-07-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Had a good race over the weekend at our awesome local Olympic Distance Race here in Penticton, Peach Classic. Always the best when you can sleep in your own bed and ride your bike 1 Kilometer away to the start line. Same thing goes for Ironman Canada!! That is such a bonus of living here.
The Peach was your standard hilly hot olympic distance race. Everything went to plan, legs feel like a hippopatumus is sitting on them now, and its time to recover. Came in 11th place Female and had a blast. Now is the last big push of Ironman training to the big race day on August 24th.
Oh, Scott and I are kicking around heading down to Nelson to do a Quarter Ironman on August 2nd. Cheers!

BC BIKE RACE.......Are you Crazy Enough to Do it?

2008-07-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

A race I have been kicking around in my head for the past year. 7 stages, 7 days. All off road on some seriously technical mountain bike terrain. Victoria to Whistler Mountain Bike Stage Race. 4 Ferry Crossings. Team of 2 sticking together throughout the race and gutting it out day after day, covering 330 miles of off road thrill. It sounds like a good time, right? Well 2 old friends from Portland I used to train with, Grant Folske and Gant Enderle formed a team and did just that. The race ended just earlier this week and they lived to tell about it. I asked them if I could post their race reports on my blog and they agreed so here you are:

Go ahead and post away on your blog. There were 30 minute hike-a-bike sections that were brutal. The scariest part were the ladders and bridges with no guardrails that spanned ravines where you were falling 15 feet down in places if you went over the side. Craziness!

I loved the BCbikerace, but I've never done anything in my sporting life that was as difficult. Here's what I wrote for our cycling teammates:

Grant, Brynje and I are on our way home from Whistler today. Though
we didn't win anything, we sure were happy just to make it to the
finish line of the BCbikerace in one piece. There was major carnage
throughout the week from both the heat and the challenging trails.

It is truly an epic adventure. No problem for those on this forum,
but this not a race for just anyone. There are so many places to
seriously damage yourself it is a little insane.

This was my first stage race and I was amazed that we could go out
and push ourselves just as hard on day seven as we did on day one.
But I will add that the fatigue was deep and dark by day four. Every
day the starts were always intense like any mtn bike race where you
have to push to hold position before hitting bottlenecks at the first
singletrack.

Overall, this race was super tough but a lot of fun. I would highly
recommend. The organizers had a few blunders but overall did really
well considering what a massive logistical undertaking this race is.

PS. We stayed in hotels every night. I would never try something
like this if I had to sleep in a tent.

Here's what Grant told the ironheads:

Well Gant and I have just finished the BC Bike Race and we have both admitted that this was the hardest event we have ever done, to continue to race day after day at a high level for 7 days straight is truly grueling on the mind but especially the body, due to the hard pace we were putting down I felt it would be impossible to continue to compete at that level past day 3 but due to a lot of caffeine, a strong as hell teammate and some vicodin we continued on.

We came into this race not happy at where our fitness level was but had been able to dig deep each and every day to finish better than originally expected. One of the hardest aspects of this race for me was the start, the starts are an absolute suffer-fest, I feel I was on the edge of total exhaustion for the first 45 minutes of everyday, Gant tells me that this is necessary and all mountain bike races are like this, he is constantly yelling at me to go deep into the “Pain Cave” which I reply “I don’t like it in the pain cave, it’s dark and cold in the Pain Cave” mostly I’m just worried I will go in but never come out.

We have raced our bikes the past 7 days logging over 330 mountain bike miles, not just riding but racing for over 31 hours (not including warm-ups) burning approximately 28,000 calories each, incurring 3 flat tires, 1 broken chain, few minor mechanicals to pedals, shoes, derailleurs, and disc brakes, multiple scrapes and abrasions, a big chain ring to the calf and have lived to tell about it. This course threw everything at us, although the majority of the race wasn’t on singletrack, when we were on the trails they threw a mess of technical sections at us including large rock face drops, miles of tree roots to maneuver, and loose rocky sections, although it was painful at the time it will pay dividends teaching us great skills.
The entire experience has been rewarding and worth the time, pain, and cost.
You can see Grant's photos here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcNGjlw2Zt3EQ

I think you would love it, but find a good partner who is of similar ability, likes to suffer and doesn't get in a twit dealing with lots of logistics and pre and post race preparations. Grant and I worked really well together and had a lot of laughs. We were constantly busy making sure we were well fed, the gear and everything was ready for the next stage and then trying to recover as much as possible. We were like zombies by the fourth day.

Canada Day Off Road Triathlon

2008-07-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am 16 days behind on a race report from the Fairmont Hot Springs Fantastic 3 Off Road Tri. This was every girls dream of a race day and probably goes down as one of the highlights of my triathlon career. I was in Fairmont for a family reunion and they happened to have an off road triathlon race going on the same weekend! I Love, LOVE, LOVE off road tri's. It was a first year race and was put on by various volunteers in the community, which I though was so neat. Everyone gave a little here and there and really put on a great event.
The race started in the Fairmont Hot Springs HOT pool, 600m swim. We seeded ourselves an then we were off. Well what can I say, it was HOT. 38C Hot in the pool. Glad it was a short swim. Well I was first out of the water and was happy to be leading the bike which went UP, UP, UP to the tippy top of the Fairmont Ski Resort (above the top of the chairlifts) in the steep Canadian Rockies. Gorgeous 7K ride and since I was first my biggest concern was startling a BEAR! So I started singing. "OH! I love to ride my bike, OH! I love to ride my bike, Always take my bike, its better than a hike, Just hand me the mic, And I am off on my bike!" I am such a dork, but better than a dead dork. The route shot us out the top of the ski area and we had to come down the face of a ski run that was so FREAKIN Steep my rear end was WAY back off the end of my saddle just to keep from endo'ing. I was sooooo thankful for disc brakes at this point. Coming into T2 I still hadn't been past by anyone, even another male rider! Now it was time to run. Well if it wasn't enough to ride up to the top of the ski hill now we had to run 5K to the top of the ski hill and then run down, which I think was even more painful. I stayed out in front and took the overall win then waited for the 2nd place finisher to come across the line a full 8 minutes later. Every girls dream to beat the boys. I don't think they were expecting a female to win the overall in their inagural event! They just handed me a beer and said wow.

Shame on You Ricco

2008-07-17T16:20:00.001-07:00

Caution: Bit of a Rant that doesn't really get anywhere.

Wishful thinking on my part. Every July I lovingly watch the Tour de France on OLN. Every stage is examined, enjoyed and talked about. The unbelievable team tactics. The unbelievable come backs. The unbelievable attacks. The unbelievable thoughts in my head that perhaps we won't have a bunch of dopers this time around.

Every year I think that and every year I am proven wrong yet again. It is becoming the norm. Hell it is the norm. I just hate to admit that. 3 riders busted during the Tour so far and we are only half way through the race. That doesn't even include Tom Boonen whom was busted for Cocaine before the tour even started(Damn you Tommy!). I have to admit I was skeptical when Ricardo Ricco (photo above) took off on an attack like a bullet and the guys he rode past took a small glance at him and didn't even try for a second to stay on his wheel. He was riding with super human powers. This led me to think in the back of mind, "I hope this guy isn't another one on EPO. He's too good to be true." And the doubts crept in. But the other side of me always had hope that this guy was for real, not doping, and had some serious talent. There was even talk about him winning the whole thing. He just seemed unstopable. Woke up today to the news of him being arrested at the startline for an EPO positive drug test. I am ticked and dissappointed.

I just don't get it. Never did cheat in a sport. My grandfather made sure of that and talked to me about it when I was very young-5 or 6 years old. It was during a game of checkers. What he said I don't remember word for word but it had an impact because I still remember having the conversation about not cheating and what the heck good does it do for anybody, today. Good morals and self respect instilled at an early age. Why doesn't everyone have a grandfather like mine to sit across from them during a game of checkers and plant good seeds like that? What the heck is wrong with these people?

What my swim stroke is supposed to look like

2008-07-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

I have been getting some assistance on my swim stroke from good friend and local Pentictonite Sara Gross. You may have heard of her? 2nd at Ironman Canada in 2007. Most recently a 4th place at Ironman Couer d'Alene. We worked out a trade-in exchange for coaching I give Sara driving lessons. Thats right Sara has never had a drivers license. I can't wait for the driving lessons!
So we have been working on my stroke-she has underwater videos of me I will post here soon. But the main stroke issue she discovered is some kind of bad habit I picked up along the way I call 'lazy-stroke'! I have a lull at the start of my pull right before my catch. My arm drops during this lull, causing me to lose about 1 foot of my pull! This throws everything off from there. When I see myself on video I can't believe I can even get myself across the pool! I have been swimming Ironman swims around 1:01-1:03 so really hopeing to make some ground on that time this year. One thing is for certain if you have a way to get underwater video'd along with swim coaching do it! I had been working on my swim consistently for 10 years and still hadn't figured it out. I thought what I was doing was as good as it was going to get. Now to see it and to actually get it into my head visually where I need to be has been priceless. And gives me huge motivation to swim.

My own personal struggle....

2008-07-11T21:14:00.001-07:00

....with tan lines. This time of year it is a battle to avoid the dreaded tan lines. The more I train the darker they get, I can't stand it! The criss cross back line, the farmer arms, the very dark bike shorts line and that silly tan circle on the top of my feet from my sidi bike shoes! Ugh. I try to even it out with more beach time in a bikini but this only makes the other parts darker and the white parts only light brown. UGH! Oh the pitfalls of being a triathlete.

Way to kick ass at IM CDA

2008-06-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

While I was pedaling my bike for 7 hours and then running like a mad woman, Penticton athletes rocked today at Ironman CDA.

Dr. Tom Evans scored the win leading wire to wire. Well, thats not really true-I guess he let Rhodesy lead out of the water by a second or 2. But then it was all Tom!! They reported on Ironmanlive that Tom even yelled to Lovato to 'hurry up.' Lovato yelled back, 'Well slow down then.' Nothing was stopping Tom today.

Sara Gross had a stellar race coming in 4th place female. That just rocks!! Cannot wait to catch up over a Java when you get back to Penticton, Sara.

Also, freakin Olly Piggin. Shit he is fast. He has totally gone to the fast lane. The guy does push ups on the beach before he starts his Ironman. Maybe that is his secret. I need to consult with him on his training I think. : ) Well done Olly, 6th place!!

Also Dave Matheson, holy smokes. Winning his age group in time of 9:30. Off to Hawaii again Dave? Very well done.
Enjoyed 'watching' all your races unfold even if it was from home and via the internet. You fast guys and gals make living in Penticton even more fun.
Congrats to all on a stellar day!

B...Buh...Buh....BEAR!

2008-06-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

Finally. After living here 1 year I saw one. Biking on the ROAD (yeah the road) I came across a black bear this morning out past Naramata on my way to Chute Lake. The bear didn't seem to care about me and I didn't see any cubs. However, I thought it good idea to make that my turn around point and head home. I think I would have made a nice meaty breakfast along with a side of bagel and gatorade.

About time for a race report from Oliver 1/2 Iron

2008-06-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Long overdue. Race was June 1st. Usually a delayed race report means I am not excited to write about the race as it ... er... sucked, for lack of a better way to word it. But this race was anything but sucky. I was extremely happy with this half ironman. Race weather was about 12C and Rain. Not the fake rain we usually get either. It was down pour, solid, stick by the fire and have another cup of tea type RAIN. The only thing saving us was the temps were not too cold to deal with.

Race morning breakky was all liquid and the sweetness of it made me nautious (again!). I need to re-work this. I have been given some new breakky ideas to try for the next sessions, involving maltodextrin. My habit lately of puking up breakfast during the swim is becoming 'oh so last year'.

Ok on to the good stuff. After a quick warm-up and 10 seconds of just laughing at the rain I was in the zone mentally prepared to race. Complete with race face (that means no smiling) I seeded myself 2nd back from front. Before I knew it we were off. The swim just felt right. I didn't seem to get dropped too much in that first initial sprint out of the gate. Usually I never seem to join in on that first sprint part. I kind of just stick around the back skirts of it like a nerd at a cocktail party, then slowly start mingling my way back in as the swim goes on. I exited the 2K swim in 33:20-oh and that includes a wetsuit peel! I didn't realize there were going to be peelers. Always a delight to see the peelers-they truly make life easier.

After a smooth 'shoes already on the bike' T1 I was ready to motor for 93K. I was trying out Sara Gross's Aero Helmet today. Yeah-I Know, I know, nothing new on race day. I couldn't resist this helmet though. Sara I think we came from the same mold-we have exact same head shape. The helmet was awesome and WARM, which I so needed today! I vrrrrrrrm'ed on the bike. That helmet must be the answer. I used a disc on the back, 404 on the front. It was the perfect set up for the course. I biked hard, really hard-I didn't think about having to run later. I didn't really think about much else other than pushing as big a gear as I could as fast as possible for all 2:47 of it. Somewhere during the ride it stopped raining, but I didn't really notice! Definitely the helmet helped....So Sara how much for that helmet?? I would give out my watts but they spit out numbers that should have me leading the Tour de France, so I will keep them to myself. (My power meter is off but consistently inconsistent-so the numbers do make sense but only to me and Coach Scooter) I will say that my race nutrition was on target. I have been experimenting with a custom blend from Infinit Nutrition-this stuff is the cats ass! No stomach issues during the day once past breakky, and I felt strong to the finish. Its a Dextrose/Maltodextrin mix which allows me to comfortably absorb more calories per hour than just a straight maltodextrin mix.

Once of the bike I realized I did have to run. Not sure my legs would be able to turn over a run stride, it was interesting at first. I eased into first couple k's. Then I felt groovy again. I was beating my planned goal splits. Came home with run time of 1:43, the 2nd fastest run split I have ever done for a race of this distance. 5:09 was total race time. The race has me feeling very confident about my training and the year in racing ahead. The Peach Classic Olympic Distance is up next in July. Then its Ironman Canada and Ironman Arizona where qualifying for Kona 2009 is my goal. Pictures above are of me on the run course after the rain stopped and Scott during the bike-check out the rain!

I have a new listing!

2008-06-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

For sale! 2 bedroom plus Den. Spacious Townhouse in Penticton for only $193,900!
Pictures and details at www.mcmillanproperties.ca

Reason # 1,245,789 for loving the Okanagan

2008-05-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend our very good friends Todd and Lisa were here and asked both Scott and I why we liked living here in Penticton so much. We gave them about 10 reasons a piece but I can think of a million more!
As we were wine tasting in Naramata we heard and saw local quails. I knew that had to go on the list of reasons I love living here. These beautiful birds greet me on just about every workout I do around here all year long. They hang out in small sociable flocks known as conveys. They love dust baths. Only capable of flying for very short distances they will always RUN away from you, and only fly away as a last resort! Hysterical, yet so cute with their little pointy plume feather hats. I have busted up laughing at them while running so many times. A morning run is always greeted with a joyful, "Ah hoo hoo, ah hoo hoo, ah hoo hoo!"
The quail is the California State bird, but I never saw one when I lived there-could be the area I was in was too populated. Upon arriving here I actually had to ask someone what kind of birds these were!

Peach City Runners 10K

2008-05-20T14:19:00.001-07:00

Was an enjoyable 3 day weekend here in Penticton with Victoria Day. We had friends Todd and Lisa Gleinzer from Victoria here visiting, snuck in a 10K on Sunday and even enjoyed some wine tasting from Red Rooster (love the Foche)! Monday the holiday was spent lounging around and a walk down to the lake to read the paper.
Sundays Race was fun but hard after 2 days of 10 hours of cycling. My legs were pretty toasted. I was mortified when I saw my splits but kept telling myself it would be a great training effect and I would only get faster from the effort! I struggled in with a 48 minute 10K. Ouch. But good enough for 4th place overall and
2nd in Age group. Fun event that Peach City Runners puts on. Always a pleasure to catch up with the local crowd, especially Meggan Oliver whose pictured with me at the start above. She raced the 1/2 Marathon the studdette! A bonus, I won a pair of footbeds from Peach City Runners. Killer-I've always wanted some of these! Thank you Steve and Peach City Runners for putting on a great race.

Bare Bones Results are In

2008-05-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

10th place female, 3rd in Age Group-1:46, great effort, went hard the whole way and felt strong. What a blast we had at the event as well. I caught up with Janis Lampimaki from Fruitvale whom even though she says she hates to run had a stellar race with a 55 minute bike split-tied for fastest bike split of the day! Also Chris Brown and Sara Gross are finally back in town (YAY!)and we caught up over dinner after the race. During the race it was so much fun to race against the local crowd whom I train with. We push eachother so much, we gut it out to beat eachother in the race, yet when its over we are all laughing together having a great time reminiscing. It just makes our Penticton triathlete crowd stronger and faster. I love it here and I love the people here. I feel so at home in this town!!

Bare Bones Duathlon Tomorrow

2008-05-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

RACE DAY tomorrow at 4pm-so excited, 5K RUN-32K BIKE-5K RUN right here in Penticton on Skaha Beach.
I just heard from the race director Brad Lee, the run down of whom is on the start list. This is going to be one highly competitive race. Tom Evans, Jeff Symonds, Dave Matheson, Scott McMillan (my hubby), Anne Marie Madden (last years female winner) to name a few. Also Sam Warriner a top Kiwi ITU racer is here training in town and is racing on a team. I love it, our small town here has some kick ass talent!
Scott, Jenny and I will be sporting our new Factor 9 Race Kits. The photo is of the bike training gear. Pactimo did a fantastic job with these kits and didn't have the huge minimum requirements that most companies have and the gear ROCKS. Will have photo of Triathlon kit after tomorrows race.

Saucony's Arrived!

2008-05-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

These will not go near my shoe hell closet!

I have a few shoes to choose from

2008-05-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

HIM Simulation Workout

2008-05-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

What a blast today! We had a great group of us out doing a Half Iron Simulation workout on the Oliver Half Course, in wine capital of Canada Oliver BC. It started like this. 9am met at Tuc-el-nuit park. Got the bikes ready and headed out on our first lap. Ironman pace for the first lap which was so hard to hold back and stick too. Everyone went their pace which made it so much like a race. 2nd lap bump it up to Half Ironman Pace. I know I held back enough on the 1st lap because was able to pick it up on the 2nd lap and raise my average speed significantly.
Once back from 93K on the bike now it was time to run the Oliver Half Course. Time to test those legs to see if my pace and nutrition were in line. Run went something like this, 8K Half IM pace/2K easy/8K Half IM pace/3K easy to the finish line. I had to pee in T2 so my buddy Jenny was out of the gate ahead of me and I could see her the whole way, it was like chasing a rabbit and really felt like a real race. Loved it. Loved the day. Afterwards we soaked up more sun and enjoyed the lake.
I now look like a lobster but hey-I now have my base burn complete. : )
I love this workout for testing your race nutrition and testing your pacing. To be able to push it just like a race, which I have only seem to be able to do on race day, until today was a bonus!

A Good Nights Sleep and....

2008-05-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

....a great workout always put things back in perspective! I am looking forward to the weekend. A few Triathlete mates and I are headed down to Tuc-El-Nuit, the race site for Oliver Half Iron, for a big workout together and the weather is supposed to be sunny! Come on, bring on the HEAT!

Trying to think of something positive to write

2008-04-30T15:19:00.001-07:00

....and I have just had a shitty shitty day. Oh well it happens, right? Tomorrow will be better. There, I just wrote something positive. : )

Canucks

2008-04-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

As I am sitting here watching Stanley Cup Playoffs I am reminded of all the differences between the States and Canada. First thing is the HUGE hockey following here in Canada, rinks in every town, kids in hockey camp, and almost everyone you talk to follows the games. In the states we could barely watch a game on TV and only could get highlights from Sports Center. ....I mean Centre....thats another change for me here. Some of the words are spelled different. Color is colour. Favorite is favourite. And spell check isn't set up for Canadian spellings! Then there are the little differences like, Tim Hortons being a regular part of the Canadian diet. Being asked, "Good weather, eh?" -and of course Toque and Mitts!
There is something else that I notice as soon as I cross the border. This really is the reason I've always wanted to live here and will eventually become a Canadian Citizen because of it. There is a sense of community here stronger than anywhere I have ever lived. Like there is a group agreement set in making where we live better for everyone. Everyone does their part to make it better for all. It is a 'pay it forward' type of land for the most part, especially in small town Canada. Of course there are a few bad apples in there, but for the most part all are on board.
One of the downsides of Canada is our politics are rather dry. Sorry Stephen Harper, your dull after all I have been through with Clinton in office and now George Bush. And especially with the upcoming elections. Its no wonder the average Canadian is aware of Obama's latest, thats exciting stuff compared to parliment!

I just opened the mail....

2008-04-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

...and have received wonderful news! I have been accepted for Permanent Residency Status in Canada. YAHOO! This has been a long haul. I was starting to feel settled more and more as my temporary work permit was approved, as I moved up from just being a visitor to Canada to a temporary worker in Canada. I was soon able to get a Canadian Drivers Licence, apply for health insurance, get a SIN #. Now finally after 6 months of waiting the permanent residency status has been approved. YEAH! I am also thrilled its the play off season, gives me lots of chances to practice 'OH CANADA'!

Toastmasters

2008-04-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Holy man, I have done it. I have joined Toastmasters. I have actually paid them money. I go every Thursday to....to GULP....to stand up and SPEAK! Have I lost it? To actually pay an organization so that I can go every week to do one of my least favorite things is ludicrous. Heart racing, mouth dry, pitting out, sweating, stuttering, Um's and Ah's and So's coming out of my mouth like a river. Sounds like a day at the beach, huh?
Well, everyone I know, knows that I love to talk. Grab a java and have a good chin-wag on that one, I say. Never at a loss for words and usually forcing myself to bite my tongue to give others a chance to speak.
Talking is one thing, but speaking confidently and intelligently (especially about the Real Estate Market and a Mortgage)is another matter. One of my goals is to develop speaking skills for group speaking that make others feel comfortable and not awkward. Good smooth transistions, knowing when to shake hands, when to clap and stop clapping (seems like a no brainer-but there are specifics to it I did not realise!). For instance when I host the Oscars on TV someday, I want to be able to make others feel comfortable on stage with knowing when to speak and my interjections would run smoothly with their dialogue. I am kidding about the Oscars of course but there is a definite knack to being comfortable and confident in front of a group and it makes everyone else in the room comfortable. I also am working on developing a little watch dog inside my head that catches those UM's before they pop out. Learning off-the-beaten-path vocabulary is one of our weekly practices as well. We must use that word in our speaking during the meeting at some point.
Another skill we practice is how to stand up and tell a joke. How many times have you been at a dinner party, perfect opportunity comes up to segwey into that joke and you can't remember it or your not confident in telling it?
This is just the tip of the iceberg to what we do in class. I am definitely being challenged! I am happy I went for it and am concurring my fear of public speaking. And another thing-I asked my cohorts in class if they fear it as well-they speak so smooth and eloquently you'd never know they were nervous too. They clued me in that they experience the same things and learn how to use it to their advantage in their speeches. On ward - HO!

Saucony is the One

2008-04-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today I am very happy to report I have received sponsorship from Saucony! I am very excited about their shoes as they are super LIGHT yet comfy and sturdy enough for the long miles. The 2 pairs on there way to me are the Sinister and the PRO Grid Triumph 5, 8.4 oz and 9.6 oz respectively. The Sinisters will be my race shoe. To find your pair visit Saucony's shoe advisor to get your correct fit: http://www.saucony.com/ShoeAdvisor.aspx

My New Life as a Real Estate Agent....

2008-04-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

....ROCKS! I love it. This is the job for me. Actually thats just it, it doesn't feel like work to me. My first ad comes out this weekend, I have tried to plug in a copy of here-to show off, but its not showing up. Don't think Blogger likes working with PDF's converted to JPEG for some reason. My first open house is Saturday which I am very excited about!!

Camp in Total

2008-03-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

I am missing our camp days already. Here is a run down of our totals for the 9 days.

9 Day HTFU Camp Totals

Swim-2hours/3 workouts
5850 meters

Bike-32:10 hours/9 workouts
800Km,7900m Climbing

Run-6:07 hours/7 workouts
64Km

40 hours total training in 9 days
$400 in groceries
82 Hours of sleep
3 ice baths
1 massage
0 flats
0 technical issues (this part is almost more unbelievable than the mileage we covered)

Camp Day #9 The Last Day

2008-03-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Boo hoo, camp is over. So hard to get into the camp on the first 2 days and now that I am used to training 6-7 hours a day it seems so strange to not be hoping on my bike for another 150K ride.

Our last day was a 90 minute endurance run. I ran with Jenny. I took her out on my 'bread and butter' run through Redlands, Middle Bench and looped around with parts on the KVR. Nice run and we enjoyed a few good laughs together. We turned part of the run into a trash pick up or 'eco-run' as Jenny likes to call them. Up on Munson Mountain someone had littered a ton of papers which upon closer inspection turned out to be personal records from someones automobile. Looks like someone had their car stolen and this was the dumping place for anything with personal details from the glovebox. So we picked up the liter and threw it away in the dumpster. As a side note, Jenny and Brian have made close to $1000 from picking up cans/bottles while running since they moved here!

After the run Jenny and I met up with our boys, Scott and Brian. Scott made waffles and french toast and we celebrated with a feast. Amazing how much we ate over the week. I went to the grocery store 3 times over the 9 day camp and spent over $400 on food for Scott and I. And we even ate out twice during the camp!

Later in the day I had one last workout to do, a 1 hour spin. I did a loop around town on my mountain bike very easy and this was the final workout of the camp.

I had a little personal celebration of my own for completing the arduous schedule. This same camp schedule I completed in February of 2006 and have not been fit enough or willed myself enough to complete something like it ever since. So completion of this camp was huge for me. Looking back in comparing the two camps I definitely feel fitter and have recovered faster in this 2008 camp than the previous one. I believe this is due to the whole foods diet I have adopted and keeping better track of my nutrition. I made sure to get all vitamins/minerals from whole foods each day and not put myself in a hard to get out of caloric deficit. Some caloric deficit is expected as it was nearly impossible for me to stomach that much food! But keeping it within limits of a deficit max of 800 calories a day helped me feel strong and ready to take on each day of camp.

Whats next? A much deserved recovery week. Timing is perfect because I am starting on a new life adventure as a Realtor for RE/MAX. More on that later!

Way to go Ava Ohlgren at NCAA Div I Champs

2008-03-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

This one goes to Ava, a cousin of mine who attends Auburn University. She is rocking the swim. Here are her latest results from the NCAA Div I Swimming Champs in Ohio over the weekend:

1st in the 200 Individual Medley

3rd in 200Free Relay

2nd in 400medley Relay

2nd in 400Individual Medley

8th in 800Free Relay (this is one that she with her team holds the American Record-theres got to be a story behind this-wonder what happened? - if you hear let me know.

4th in 400Free Relay

Website link with more results:
http://swimming.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=swimming&cdn=sports&tm=38&gps=91_1060_1276_571&f=10&tt=13&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.ncaaswim.com/women08/

Day #8 of Camp IMC Cycle Course....Check

2008-03-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

We kept saying to each other today, "I can't believe it is March and we are riding the IMC Course already!"

Started our day off with the ride down to Osoyoos in a steep head wind. But after the turn up Richter Pass we had side or tail wind all the way home. But anyhow back to Osoyoos, stopped in at the good ol Husky station to fill up with goodies and water. They didn't have their big flag out, that must be a summertime only thing.

Our guest rider today was Brian Schroeder, the handsome husband of my training buddy Jenny. So for todays ride we had Jenny, Scott, myself and Brian. Brian rode with us out to Osoyoos and then flipped around. Took Jenny and I 2:30 to get to the Husky station. Took Brian and Scott 2:15 and then Brian said it took him only 90 mins to get home. Yeah, I don't feel so bad now for riding so s-l-o-w to Osoyoos, as that was a huge wind. On the way out I did have a few moments to speak with Brian about his upcoming goals and wishes for his 2008 Triathlon season. He was not happy with his 2007 IMC time he tells me. He knows he can go faster than last year, and most improvement will be made on his run time. Good on ya Brian, I wish you the best for 2008. Also, I have seen you out running this year in training and at Summerland 1/2-your looking pretty fast to me.

After some pictures and goodbyes to Brian it was UP Richter Pass. Boy oh boy this was great fun. All the memories of racing IMC last year were flooding in. After the climbing we did earlier in the week I gotta say Richter was barely a drop in the bucket and didn't seem like nearly the big deal it has been before. Onto the rollers, or the 7 bitches as Jenny told me they are affectionately named. Probably the most 'fun' part of the ride but if your not careful this is where this course will 'getcha'. Into Cawston where a huge fire was brewing south of the highway. It didn't look like a controlled fire either and the wind was absolutely howling from the southeast. Strange because there wasn't a fire truck in sight. I will have to check the papers on this one. Rolled into Keremeos for a goodies stop after a brief time trial section to try and stay on Scotts wheel. Nothing like a good tail wind to sure make you feel frisky on the bike. Too early in the year for the Bear to be open, we hit the gas station at the Junction and started hearing the fire alarms. We skipped the out and back, save that for our REAL training in June.

Back on the road with a direct on our asses tail wind up Yellow Lake, which was still frozen over. Quick stop for some pictures, will post soon! And then down, down, down one of the best descents ever. I continued my practice of descending like a woman and not riding like a girl and stayed with Jenny. Exhilirating.
Fun day out on the bike. Fun day with Jenny as always. The two of us together on the bike seem to never run out of crazy stories, what a hoot. Always a great time when I get to train with my soul sista. Rolled into the driveway at 160.0K exactly at 5:59:30, plan was for a 6 hour day on the bike.

My transition run was not very eventful. My legs felt good, however I was so mentally fried from the week, I couldn't think of a descent loop to run, so I stayed at the track. I got some great pacing for 2 miles to write down in the workout log and compare back to later on down the training road.

Days Totals
Bike: 160K, 5:59, 26.7AvgSpeed, 1598m Climbing
tRun: :30, 5K

Camp Day 7 Easy Spin and a Java

2008-03-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Good Friday in Canada means, day off work and get out and ride! 2 'new to me' holidays here-Good Friday and Easter Monday. I mean, I knew that these days existed in Ah-mer-i-ka, but not as days off from work. Hooray, 4 day weekend for most.
With the pool closed for the holiday Coach Scott decided to extend our easy spin from 1 hour to 1:30.
Marty, our guest rider joined Jenny, Scott and myself again. Always great to have guest riders join in on the camp. They have fresh legs and you can hop on their wheel when your zonked. Todays ride was a flat,(a massive 100 meters of climbing!) spin out to Summerland's Crescent Beach. Another beautiful day in paradise.
On the way home a stop at Smith & Co for Java's. We spoke with one of the guys from CPP Cycling Team. They were just back from their group ride. Said they usually go on WED's and SAT's 9am from Smith & Co, and will be moving to earlier times once weather warms up. Another group ride option, yeah!
For the rest of today it is stretching, ice bath, massage, rest up for tomorrow as we ride the IMC Course. Later tonight I am looking forward to dinner at Jenny and Brian's house and checking out their new sauna!

Camp Day 6 Freakin Hills!

2008-03-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hmmmmm....what do you think Scotts doing in this photo?
Day 6 of Camp didn't seem like it would be that tough of a day at first glance. 30 min Swim, 2:30 cycle with 60 minutes of climbing, 1:15 light run. No problem. Guess again. It was a day that snuck up on me!
The swim started off with my feet dragging on the bottom of the pool. I swear I could feel the tiles scratching along the tops of my toes. My hundy speed was in the 1:45 area, slow as molasses for me. Decided to stick with a pull-bouy for the remainder of my whopping 1600 meter workout. Finished and hopped out to the sounds of banter from the 7am swim group, aka the peanut gallery in the hot tub.
"Your done already-that was only your warm up, whats with the short swim?!?"
To that I replied with a big smile, "Its time to ride."
And ride we did. Today was a hard ride, finding every big climb close to Penticton we could. Jenny, Scott, myself met up with our Guest Rider, Marty Heck. Marty is a hell of an athlete. Tall and lean this kid can run under 3:15 at Ironman no problem with 9:36 his fastest IMC time to date. He has plans to go even faster, but is taking this year off from the Irondistance and sticking to shorter distances and keeping his training level sane.
So back to our ride. We started spinning out to Naramata and warming up on the rollers. Turned down Robinson road into Naramata. On the way out of town we went up a nasty bitch of a climb, Boothe Road. Holy Sh**t this was a short STEEP climb hitting 14-16% grades. Climb was only 1K long but Steep! We were warmed up after this one. Back on Naramata road headed back towards Penticton to the dump road or I think its really called Greyback Mountain road, heading up to Campbell Mountain. Another steep one and this one is longer! Turned left on Spiller which winds around kicking up to 14.6% grade several times. I was at the top of my limit trying to stay up with Jenny on this one. My lungs in my throat gasping for air. I know this will only make us stronger! Onward ho! At the top Jenny and I left our marks while the boys explored a jog in the road. The report back was the road ended quickly but was primed for housing development lots.
The descent down the hill was tricky as there was still gravel on the road from winter. I am skittish on descents as it is and this wasn't helping. I got a comment from Jenny at the bottom of the climb, "You better learn to descend faster than that before we go to France for the Tour together!" That is motivation in itself and I promise Jenny I will suck it up and stop riding like a girl!
A roll through town and up our last climb, Carmi (pronounced Car-My, not Car-mee as I say when pretending I am Miss Piggy affectionately calling Kermit) a long 40 minute or so climb up to Lost Moose Lodge-which has great eats and drinks by the way. This climb starts out gradual 6-8% but kicks up to 10-12% towards the end. On one switchback I had the creepy feeling come over me I was being watched. I looked into the trees and spotted 5 pairs of eyes. I hate that feeling. Glad it was deer and not a hungry bear or YIKES, a cougar. Started feeling good on this climb and challenged myself. Kept playing mind tricks to keep pushing myself. Watching the altimiter we were nearing close to same amount of climbing as in the previous day, but in half the time! This kept me going, I thought it would be impressive to match it. Well I hit the top of the climb, Lost Moose Lodge at 100 meters shy. Still impressive! The view from up there is incredible. I took a few minutes to take it all in. The descent was a white knuckler for sure where I started practicing my ride like a woman (not a girl) descents. On to home. Total ride time 3:21, whoops we were over our intended goal of 2:30. I learned today there is a lot of climbing close to home to cover!
After a couple hours of chowing down all kinds of food, and laying on the couch it was time to run. All alone in this adventure, I looked forward to spacing out to my ipod. Went to turn it on and damn it....orange light then no light, batteries dead. Ugh. Lacking mojo I started out slogging up the hill, turned onto KVR and then up Grandview to make a big loop around Munson Mountain. Legs started to loosen up. Endorphins kicked in then I started feeling really good. Strange how when you train huge weeks like this the body gets used to training and actually feels better training than at rest. I had to hold myself back on this run as it was supposed to be easier paced. A storm was brewing and putting out wicked cloud formations across the lake into the mountains. I thought for sure I was going to see some rain! I did get about 5drops, that was it. I love living here. What a fun day. What a hard day! Lots of adventure, lots of pushing and learning about myself, lots of good times.
Day 6 totals:
Swim: 30 min, 1600m
Bike: 3:21, 69K, 1533m Climbing (100m shy of yesterday), 20.6 avg kph
Run: 1:16, 13.25K