Embracing Winter

My weather preference would be warm blue sunny skied days, day after day. But, well, I live in Vancouver, and while the weather here is in my opinion better than pretty much anywhere else in Canada, we still do have winter, and wintry days. It is a La Nina year, and my expectations were that we’d have a lot of snow on the ground close to sea level this year, similar to the winter of a few years ago. I decided in the fall that I would embrace winter. While I do enjoy skiing, it is not my thing as much as it is Graeme’s, but I knew between that and some other snowy weather activities, I would enjoy the winter more.

Luckily the expected winter snow hasn’t really materialized, but this past week we did have real snow. Between that and the cold and the rain, I have had enough of weekday trainer riding to want to do that on the weekend too. With a snowy weekend on tap, we decided to make the most of it.

Saturday morning we were driving up to Squamish by 7:30am. We stopped in Britannia Beach as we always do, for coffee at Galileo Roasting House. I wish this coffee shop was closer to home. I love it.

By 9:00 we were starting our skin into Red Heather Hut at Elfin Lakes. It snowed lightly the entire skin in, which was 1:20 continuous. My legs were ok, but I am having some blistering issues with my feet. I thought between my new ski socks and body glide I would be ok, but it didn’t seem to help much. Unfortunately this meant not much actual skiing. We skinned up from Red Heather Hut and skied down, but my feet just didn’t have more skinning in them.

We were driving back down to Squamish and in the Howe Sound Brew Pub for lunch by 12:30. We had our first try of Total Eclipse of the Hop, which is their great new IPA. We bought a couple bottles to go along with the new red ale.

Sunday I had a longer trainer ride planned, but I was having a hard time getting up for it. With the dump of fresh snow, we instead decided to head up to Cypress to play. With my feet still not happy from Saturday I went the snowshoe route while Graeme went on skis again. It was puking snow and I have never seen such fluffy snow at Cypress. We headed up to Hollyburn and back, a good 1:15 of hard working snowshoeing. This meant only an hour was necessary on the trainer which was a lot better than the alternative!

My snowy weekend was also highlighted by snowy runs on both Saturday and Sunday. Footing was fine, but some drivers really need to either properly equip their cars for winter driving or leave their cars at home. I had one close call with an out of control driver who ended up running a stop sign and veering into the oncoming traffic lane while laying on her horn at me, all because she was going too fast down a slight hill. I think she thought she was closer to hitting me than she actually was, but still!

Of course, it's Monday and the snow is quickly melting away.

Mt Cain

The Mt Cain adventure was last weekend but this weekend was very busily trying to finish up my assignments for my realtors license (a work requirement) and then being sick, and unmotivated and thefore I didn't get around to writing about it.

Last Friday we took a half day and headed up to Mt Cain which is a non-profit ski hill north of Campbell River on Vancouver Island. I have been north of Campbell River (on the island) once, back in gr. 8 and that wasn't this far north. Once we got to Campbell River the winter weather started. The previously pouring rain (some of the heaviest I have seen) turned to snow and back to rain and back to snow. All the way to Mt Cain. High beams were a no go and the drive was slow going. When we finally got to the base of the mountain, and drove up the dirt road (snow covered) I was finally able to relax.

The hill itself is very funny. There are maybe 20 cabins, plus a lodge and hostel. There are 2 t-bars and no other lifts, and its all volunteer run. Everyone knows each other. The ratio of ski patrollers to actual mountain patrons was unlike anything I have seen before.

The heavy snow/rain continued through Saturday and it made for cement like "powder" skiing. I'd say the guys (there were 7 of us) enjoyed this day more than the girls - they are also better skiers/boarders than us. I did something to my knee and between that and being soaked through, it was a half day on the hill for me.

Sunday it had cooled down, and was maybe -2, but it made a huge difference in the snow. I would say this is the first day I have ever really "got" powder skiing. All day long there was fresh tracks available. I haven't skied as much this year as I had last year by this time (mostly due to my back) and my legs were really feeling it. Between that and the t-bar I was done by 1:30. We had to get going anyway and were on our way down the hill by 2:30. Instead of over 4.5 hours which it took us to get to the hill from Nanaimo, it took us 3 hours to get back. Light and a lack of snowstorm make a huge difference!

The t-bar


Riding the t-bar


The funny cabin


Digging the car out


The road out

New purchase

I bought a bike. But this is not one of those I BOUGHT A NEW BIKE! posts. I think I did that last year anyway, but then I didn't actually get the bike due to issues with Argon 18.

This time I actually have that bike, but it's still not an I BOUGHT A NEW BIKE! post.

It's not that I'm not excited. I am. But, I also have I'mnotworthy feelings. It feels weird to say it so publicly, but its true. The bike is much more fancy then I am, and I'm going to have to work really hard to live up to it. I guess that is motivation?



I know there are a lot of way more accomplished triathletes who don't have as nice as bike, and I guess that is part of what makes me feel not worthy, but Graeme keeps telling me I'm wrong and I need to listen to him. And work hard to feel worthy I guess. Thank you once again to Speedtheory in Vancouver. If you are anywhere in the vicinity, this is where you should be going for all your tri-related needs. They always do such a great job and are great guys.

It hasn't been ridden outside yet, but it has made it's debut on the trainer. I think a new saddle is going to be in order too! And possibly a name or at least a gender but I haven't figured that out yet either. I need to get to know it more first!

Another winter sport!

Graeme and I have been talking about learning to cross country ski for some time now. A few people had told us about the Learn to Skate Ski package at Cypress Mountain, which is 5 progressive lessons, over 5 weeks and they sounded really good. Luckily for us, Cypress is close to home and easily accessible on a weeknight.

So, for the last 3 Tuesday nights, we have spent a few hours at Cypress learning how to skate ski. Graeme of course is a natural, and while I am moving in the right direction, it is taking a little bit longer for me to pick it up!

The snow conditions have been really different all three lessons so far, with the loose snow of this Tuesday proving to be the hardest. While I have spent more time falling on my ass the last three weeks, then in years on skis, I think I have laughed with every fall. A few times out of frustration maybe, but I am having a blast.

Tuesday nights also happens to be when a local race series takes place and it is fun to watch those guys! Maybe with another year (or few) or practice!

So, another sport to add to the rotation, and another fun way to spend a wet North Vancouver evening, as that means its likely snowing up on Cypress.

I can't wait until we can head up to Callaghan Valley (home of the nordic events for the Winter Olympics) and try out our "skills" there.

AST-1

With backcountry skiing you can never be too prepared or too educated. Graeme and the people we ski with have all done avalanche training and continue to take courses. In general they won't go with anyone who hasn't. I've done some basic training with them and have attended some talks on recognizing snow conditions, but I needed to take the avalanche safety training myself.

The course is done over 2 days. I was supposed to take this course back in December (on what was a beautiful weekend) but had to postpone it as I wasn't confident enough in my back.

The dates I postponed to was this weekend. And so instead of beautiful sunny days, I spent the weekend outside in a combination of gray, damp and zero visibilty conditions to a complete downpour and zero visibility.

I don't think I have ever been as wet as I was today.

Saturday was day 1. We started off in the classroom for the morning and then headed out in 2 groups. We skinned up the trail at Mt. Seymour on corn soft snow. Luckily at this time it wasn't actually raining. We did some beacon practice, learned how to mobilize properly in case of an avalanche and learned things such as proper shoveling technique. The rain started during the session and it was wet, but manageable.

The forecast for Sunday was better. Never trust the forecast! It's not as though I could have worn something more appropriate anyway, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was the complete downpouring rain. We skinned up at 8:15am and learned how to dig a pit. Soon enough, even my goretex jacket was wet through. We were supposed to be out most of the day, but it just wasn't possible. we went back to the cabin, did some inside work while we tried to dry out a little and then headed back out for multiple beacon practice. Putting back on my soaking wet ski pants was not fun!

Overall it was a great course and I'm glad I took it, but the weather really left something to be desired!

2010 - Year in Review

2010 started off really well. I pushed my limits on skis, both with backcountry skiing and in bounds. Scary at times, but moving forward and I did see some improvement (still lots more to be had).

I had some mystery virus that took a lot out of me in the early part of the year, but after that training went really well. I pushed my limits in riding, doing 2 160km rides (the Penticton IMC course and the Earls Cove Ride) prior to Seattle to Portland, which was over 330kms in 2 days. A great couple of days with fun people.

Unfortunately after that is when my body started to rebel. I tried to push through it for the rest of July and August, but not only wasn’t it getting better, it got worse. September started the hard push of physio and rehab and by November I was back to activity, and in December feeling mostly like myself.

One of my goals over the last few years has been to increase my average weekly training time over the previous year. With the few months of downtime, that did not happen last year, but taking those months out, I was right in line with where I wanted to be.

On the non-training side, I really enjoyed our time off this year, even if we didn’t make it that far afield. January was our hut ski trip, February was a Big White ski trip with friends, end of March and beginning of April we were in San Diego, May we were in Victoria for a race for Graeme, and Penticton with the tri club, June I headed to Minneapolis, July was Seattle to Portland, August was Cowichan Lake with a big group, followed by Saltspring Island where we had some alone time before being joined by another big group of friends. September we headed out on Graeme’s parents boat for Labour Day weekend and October I was in San Francisco. Aside from a day tip down to Seattle in November, November and December have been about staying home!

I wouldn’t say 2010 was a bad year, my life is too good for that! But I didn’t accomplish as much as I had hoped I would. I am looking to accomplish some of those things this year.

Christmas Break

I’m back at it. Pun intended.

My back is continuing to improve and because of that I have been able to start to build some fitness. I am very out of shape, but I am already starting to see some improvements. I had a small flare up, which I thought was going to lead to more downtime, but it seems I really have turned the corner, because I was feeling better in only a few days.

I am getting stronger and this was really evident to me during yesterdays snowshoe up to the peak of Hollyburn Mountain. I snowshoed this same route about a month ago with a big group of girls. Only a few of us were really in shape (even in my out of shape state) and the trek was very slow going. Still, my back was getting sore with all of the uphill and we didn’t even attempt the peak. Yesterday with Graeme we were pushing the pace the whole way, and my back didn’t have any issues.

Not only that, but this was only 2 days after a ski tour of Elfin Lakes on New Year’s Day. Way more skinning than actual skiing, but the skiing still felt ok. And my hip flexors seem to be stronger from the rehab work.

Christmas and the holidays were a lot of fun. We hosted Christmas dinner for the first time. 9 people for dinner, which included a turkey – even though I don’t eat meat! Thankfully Graeme is very good at following recipe instructions and the turkey was apparently very good.

I gave and received some fun presents. One of my favourite gifts was my Kindle. I didn’t even know I really wanted one, but I love it. And I can read it on the trainer, which is a bonus!

I am hoping now that I am back to workout mode, I will also be back to blogging mode. I love to read other peoples blogs, and like to have a “diary” of sorts, so I need to get back into the habit. There will be a 2010 round up and 2011 look forward post soon too.

Some pics from the last few days

Elfin Lakes





Hollyburn Mountain

Still Out There

Technically, still inside I guess. I have not run in over 2 months. Shortly after my last post, the back got way worse. To the point where anything was a struggle. Sitting hurt, standing hurt, sleeping was interupted. I really wasn't able to do anything and was in a lot of pain. I started back at physio. First going three times a week (including some at home weekend visits - thank you!), then twice a week, then once a week, and now I'm at once every 10 - 14 days or so. But still not running.

In the past month I have been able to incorporate the trainer, at a moderate effort, some swimming (really recently), and some hiking. The first few attempts weren't great, but its getting better.

I am hoping that I will be able to try a run/walk this week. I was expecting to try last week, but then after some travel to San Francisco for work and having to walk down 30 flights of stairs for a fire drill at work, I had a bit of a setback. It seems to be moving in the right direction again though.

Now that I feel like I am at a point where I can "train" I am actually allowing myself to have thoughts about next season. We'll see how I feel after my first "running" attempt. I don't know if my back will ever feel perfect again, but I would like it to be manageable.

The winter sport season is almost here in Vancouver and I'd really like to be skiing before too long so for that and for the prospect of running again I will continue to diligently do my rehab/strengthening exercises every day!

IMC Weekend

Last weekend we headed up to Penticton for Ironman Canada to volunteer and cheer on friends. We left work at 3. Traffic was awful getting out of Vancouver. Almost 2.5 hours to Chiliwack! Once we were past the worst of it, Graeme totally laid on the gas and we made up some time. We checked into our motel and then headed to Theo's, which is one of my favourite Greek restaurants I have been to, and where we go every time we are in Penticton. We had the amazing seafood salad, I had calamari and Graeme had souvlaki. And we had a great bottle of BC wine.

Saturday morning we got up early, had breakfast and went to meet people for the group ride. I managed to ride 1:20, turning around at the top of Maclean Creek. I probably could have gone further, but I didn't want to push it. It was my first ride in almost a month and my back is still not 100%, though it is getting better. It was a windy day and coming back into town on my own was tough.

After the group finished riding the course, a bunch of us went for lunch on Lakeshore and then walked over to the expo and wandered for a while. The Hammer truck was out with samples, and I tried the melon Heed and actually really liked it. I will try using that next summer.

Sunday we literally rolled out of bed and headed down to the start line. We managed to make our way around the fencing and through the crowds to the get to the far side of the swim course, where we stood in the water and cheered our friends in. We then went for breakfast with a group of friends before heading up to Yellow Lake to volunteer.

It had been nice and sunny in town and I wore running shorts and a tank to volunteer, though I did grab a hoody. Of course the weather changed dramatically. It POURED at Yellow Lake. We were all soaked. And then the wind picked up for the descent back to town, causing many shivering athletes. I felt so bad for them. Seriously the day is hard enough!

After our volunteer shift we headed back into town (which took an hour due to traffic), changed and headed out on our bikes. We rode the entire run course, cheering people on. I was on the bike for 2 hours and although it wasn't perfect, I was able to do it. The headwind heading back into town did hurt though.

We then headed back to near the finish line and cheered again. Everyone we know did so well! I don't think I saw anyone do anything but smile all day long.You are all amazing.

Monday morning we were up early again. Graeme rode and I went and ran on the KVR which is one of my favourite runs in the world. We then packed up, had brunch at the coffee house before going wine tasting in Naramata. We bought about a dozen bottles from 3 wineries before droveing back to Vancouver. I always have a great time when we go to Penticton.

Summer Vacation - Saltspring Island

Following Lake Cowichan we headed straight to Saltspring Island. The ferry terminal at Crofton was only about 45 mins away. There is something about Saltspring, that as soon as I am on my way, I can immediately relax. Plus, this time I was already relaxed from being at the lake for two days!

We had a couple days to ourselves before being joined by some friends on Tuesday, and then even more friends on Friday for the weekend, bringing the weekend total to 11 people! This allowed for total downtime, then a bit more activity, before a bit of chaos (but fun) for a few days!

Sunday and Monday were the two hottest days we have ever spent on Saltspring. Even the ocean didn't feel too bad (and it is way colder there than Vancouver!). The weather was good the entire week, and between Friday evening and Tuesday evening, I was able to eat every meal outside. That is one of my favourite things about summer.

When on Saltspring we eat and drink like Kings and Queens. I like to think that calories don't count there. Of course not everything we are eating is unhealthy, but the volume makes up for that! Still, there is not too much to complain about fresh pasta with corn pesto (not cooked with bacon, but added at the end for the boys - SO GOOD), moules frites, fresh halibut, fresh salmon (caught that day), and fresh crab (caught by Graeme). Plus lots of salad, bread, and bakery pies. And homemade Baileys ice cream in the ice cream maker which was brought along for the ride. Oh and don't forget the chips, and eggs benny (with salmon and crab and avocado), patisserie treats, lunch pizza and beer and wine!

Yes, it is a culinary feast.

While my back wasn't allowing any riding I did manage to get some running in to try and keep things in balance (ha!) and we swam in the lake almost every day (though I was unable to swim for too long, at least I was in there).

Really the main things accomplished were reading, eating and general relaxing. Which is never a bad thing!

Summer Vacation - Part 1

We hadn't planned on a summer vacation, but after being asked for the 100th time what we were doing for vacation plans, I decided I wanted one. We had already planned to take a few days off, so we added to it and made it into 9 days straight.

The first weekend we headed to Lake Cowichan, hosted by Karen and her family. There were 15 of us total, and we enjoyed the HOT sun, lake and most of all the general relaxing. Plus, the meteor shower was still visible on Friday evening and we were treated to a great show, lying on the dock. It's amazing to think how far away the meteors are. One of them was so bright it was like a strike of lightening and lit up the entire lake!

How could you not relax here??

My Back

Well, so far August has not gone how I had hoped in the training department. I have a bad back - 45 degree S-curve scoliosis and 2 degenerating discs (L3 & L4). Scoliosis diagnosed at 13 and the discs in my mid 20s. I have been going to physio on and off since I was 13.

I would say in general I have been lucky the last few years with the amount of pain I have had to deal with. My teenage years and through my mid 20s were worse.

Interestingly enough, since I started running, I have had way less back issues. Without any scientific proof, I believe this is because my core muscles have strengthed since starting to run. I have also noticed that when I have been injured (not back related) and unable to run, my back seems to get worse.

The last few years, having found Moveo and the ART (active release therapy) practitioners, any time my back has acted up, it has only taken a session to have it calm down. Releasing of my psoas muscles has given relief to the tension and pulling in my back.

Unfortunately this has not been the case this time. I have had a number of ART sessions, massage, and other "work". And it is getting better. But its very slow. I was barely able to stand and sleeping was difficult in the beginning, but now I am back to running. Riding however, seems to be aggravating. It's only 2.5 weeks to Whistler Gran Fondo, and I have not been on my bike (for an actual ride) since the beginning of the month. I guess I will see how the next few weeks go.

At least I can run now, if not for as long as I was able to a month ago.

STP - Day 2

Sunday we were up by 5:30am, had breakfast and were on the road by 6:45am. Again, the sun was not out. In fact it was misting on top of being cold! Knowing that the sun was likely not coming out any time soon, I added more layers which was a big help.

Sunday we stayed together as a group the entire time, with a well functioning paceline. We all wanted coffee, which was supposed to be at the first rest stop, but was not. We then saw a little coffee shack and stopped there, where the only other flat tire(s) of the ride happened. So one before we headed off, and two when we were already stopped.







We stopped again for lunch, but headed straight through most of the stops, knowing Portland wasn't that far off. Coming into the city, the crowds were building back up again. It was a fun ride the last few kms, even if there were a lot of stoplights, as everyone was excited to get there. We rolled in around 1ish, 135kms and 4:29 of ride time later. The beer in the beer garden tasted really good!

Once it was check in time, we headed over to our hotel, where I think everyone had a quick nap, before heading out for dinner. We had planned to go to Deschutes brew pub, but the wait was 1.5 hours and none of us could wait that long to eat. Instead we ended up at Rogue Brew Pub. The beer was really good, and the food just ok. Still it was a great evening. We didn't get back to the hotel until 11:45! A late night for a long day.

STP - Day 1

Traffic was bad on Friday afternoon and by the time we got into Seattle it was a lot later then we had planned. Graeme had slashed his tire the night before and needed to get a new one. I knew the sponsoring bike store was open 24 hours before the rideand we passed it on our way to UW. After dropping off our stuff, we still needed to find some dinner. We got to bed later then we wanted and the dorm beds left a lot to be desired. I would not do that again! The only good part is they were really close to the start line.

I really didn't sleep much and the 4:45 alarm came very early. Up, stuffed half a bagel and pb down (it wasn't toasted and was hard to swallow), then headed down to the start. We met up with everyone else from the group, dropped our bags off at the truck for our rest stop and after Graeme changing his tire, and then a flat, we were rolling at 5:50am.

The first hour and a bit out of Seattle was very congested. The route goes past a couple lakes along the Seattle Marathon course. You really had to watch the riders as it was obvious not everyone was a good rider. We made our way through the packs and eventually the bikes thinned out a bit. We decided to stop at the first rest top for a bathroom break as none of us had wanted to wait in line at the start line. The volunteers at this stop were the best of the weekend. All wearing matching tuxedo shirts and high energy. I had some food here, and felt way more awake.

We didn't stay too long and started rolling again and it was COLD. We picked up the pace as we were all trying not to freeze. Where was the sunshine that had been forecasted for the entire weekend?? The route is a combination of main roads, side streets, and then leading up to the halfway point in Centralia, a long bike path. After the first rest stop our group split up, with Graeme and I, and another couple from the tri club, joining up with a few random guys and getting a good paceline going. I was a little worried with the speed and wondering how I would hold up all day, but it was good.

By the time we got to the bike path, it was down to the four of us. The path is too narrow to do a real paceline, but we still were passing people, cautiously, as we had seen a number of crashes. That is one of the most interesting parts. The entire time you are passing really slow people. How did they get that far in front of us??

We got into Centralia and had lunch there. That is the midpoint and where most people stay over night. After regrouping and eating lunch, we headed out again, as we had another 40km to do. Well, it turned out to be more, as there was a detour which was not noted! The place where we were staying is actually slightly off the STP route, and it's not marked. At all. As 2 of the girls had stayed there last year, we knew where to go. Until the detour happened. We found our way around it, but it added another 10km or so onto the ride.

The sun had started to come out at Centralia and the afternoon was really nice. Because the place we were staying is not on the actual route, the last section of Saturday was mostly open roads with hardly any other cyclists. We got in to Toledo around 3:30pm - the first to arrive at the school. 207 kms done, in 7:19 of ride time.

The afternoon was about relaxing and waiting for the spaghetti dinner, which was at 5. After eating, we headed down to the local pub for a few drinks which was quite the experience. After a couple drinks, Graeme and I headed back for some rest. Unfortunately, sleeping on the classroom floor was not much better than the dorm room, and once again, I didn't get much sleep!

Seattle to Portland

After work today we head to Seattle and then start the Seatttle to Portland ride tomorrow with 10,000 other riders.



200 miles in 2 days! There are 7 of us in the group. We are planning on 205km on Saturday and 120km on Sunday. Most of us are staying over in Portland on Sunday evening and then heading home on Monday. Another fun weekend on tap!

Random Mid-July Update

It's been a busy few weeks around here! Training has been going well. Well, at least on the bike front. Lots of good rides, long rides and hard rides! Running has been coming along. Swimming, well I need to get back at that.

Racing has yet to happen this year. First with Shawnigan being so cold and since then, I haven't signed up for another. It may sound stupid, but I just don't feel like I am ready. Mainly on the swim. Graeme says I am, but the problem is I don't have the confidence in myself. And not swimming much the past few weeks isn't going to help anything! Next week it's time to get back in the pool and really decide what I want to do.

I know how to much myself on the bike and run now, and need to figure out the swim part. The funny thing about all of this is I am actually a *way* better swimmer this year then last. I just can't find the drive to swim any long distances. Part is with Graeme not ironman training this year, we are spending way less time at the pool in general. But I just have to get myself there. No excuses.

On another note, today we celebrated 4 amazing married years. I am so so lucky! I was the recipent of a very pretty delicate necklace and this:



I have been talking about wanting a frozen yogurt maker for a while and Graeme did some research and found one of the only ones left in the city! I can't wait to use it. If anyone has any favourite recipes, let me know!

Ferry to Ferry - Langdale to Earls Cove

Graeme had an idea to do this ride about a month ago, and decided to set it up as a club ride. We had about 18 people total, mostly from the club.

The ride was the hardest I have ever done. 160kms of hills and hill and hills and hills. I am used to riding hills but this was a whole other level. We took the 7:20am ferry from Horseshoe Bay over to Langdale, arriving there at 8:00. We were lucky enough to have a club member and wife of one of the guys doing the ride drive support for us. After loading up the truck we were off. And up one of the steepest and longest hills of the day, with no warm up.

The hills were relentless. My legs had nothing from the start which I honestly think was both good and bad. I felt better the second half of the ride then I did the first, and as I wasn't able to push that hard, I didn't really strain my fitness which meant I didn't feel totally trashed the rest of the weekend.

I lost the main group early on (which would have happened dead legs or not) but thankfully was able to ride almost the entire thing with my good friend J, and then meeting up with a few others at the rest stops.

It is a beautiful ride - an out and back from the Langdale ferry along the Sunshine Coast to the Earls Cove ferry terminal. Great views and the weather was perfect. The support was needed both to refuel and rehydrate as well as for a break from the hills!

Overall I felt pretty good, except for a weird foot thing which started around 110km in. Both of my feet, from just below the toes and all the way through the toes started to BURN! It was so painful I thought I might cry. I honestly thought I would have to get off the bike at Sechelt and hop in the truck. Luckily a couple minutes of standing at Sechelt made them feel a lot better, and while I could feel it after, it wasn't too bothersome. I have never had it happen before, and I think it must have had something to do with all of the climbing.

At 155km, we pulled into the pub in Gibsons and met up with everyone ahead of us. We had time for a quick beer before the last 5 km down to the ferry. A great, if not exhausting day!

I have a CLIF bar in my mouth in this picture...




The data from MapMyRide - a bit stupid you can't actually paste it into the blog...

MapMyRide - Ferry to Ferry - Langdale to Earls Cove

Minneapolis

Heading to Minneapolis last week, I didn't have any preconcieved notion of what the city would be like, though I was still happily surprised with how nice it was. A work related conference was the reason for the trip, but I decided to add on an extra day and stay for the weekend. Luckily, I have an online friend who lives there who was more than willing to show me around. The city is really green, very active, and has lots of good restaurants and rooftop patios everywhere.

I arrived in Wednesday afternoon and took the train downtown. There was a Twins game that evening and the train was packed! Still, an easy and quick way to get around. I met up with my friend and we went out for dinner and drinks.

Thursday I wandered around town a bit before meeting my friend again. We went to the bike shop so I could rent a bike, all while hoping the looming skies would hold off and we could get a ride in. We managed just over 2 hours on the bike paths around the lakes. You can ride forever on those bike paths. So strange coming from somewhere where there is no alternative to riding on the road. The ride was a bit wet, but nothing too bad. With all of the bike paths, its easy to see how Minneapolis has now become the number one bike riding city, overtaking Portland. Plus, last week was the introduction of the shared bike system. I saw lots of people taking advantage, even with the weather not being the greatest.



Thursday evening and Friday were all about the conference. It was a good experience overall. Lots of learning, eating and drinking!

Saturday and Sunday I ran with the friend again. Shorter on Saturday and long on Sunday. I don't know if it was the flatness of the run, but Sunday's long run was the best I have had in a long long time and it was a muggy day! We ran from downtown, through the sculpture garden, through the old neighbourhood, and around Calhoun Lake. My friend dropped off to go home and I ran more of the lake before heading to her place.


(photo by Bl@ck Coffee)

After a shower, we went out for brunch, walked Uptown a bit, had ice cream and then she dropped me to the airport. While Minneapolis is not somewhere I had on my list of places to visit, I am glad I had the opportunity and would recommend it. At least if you don't have to go in the winter!

The race that wasn't

This is pretty much an anti-race report. I had been thinking for a while about doing the Shawnigan Lake Olympic, and last week I committed. We were going to be in Victoria for the weekend anyway, as Graeme was racing the Sooke Classic road race - 95km from Sooke, past Jordan River and then back. As the week went on, the weather got worse and worse.

I spent Saturday morning standing on the side of the road as Graeme raced. It was wet, cold, breezy and just downright miserable. People were dropping out all over the place due to the cold. A lot of those fast guys have no body fat! Graeme rode his entire race and was frozen after and he has a high tolerance for the cold. We had the heat blasting in the car on the drive back to Victoria and I thought I'd pass out from the heat, while Graeme was fine. It took him a few hours to defrost.

I looked up the weather for Shawnigan and it said low of 6 and 60% chance of rain. The thought of getting on the bike, soaking wet in a tank top and shorts in those conditions just wasn't working for me. This is supposed to be fun and I am just not that hardcore! I felt extremely guilty about deciding not to race, but Graeme told me to stand outside in my tri top and shorts for 10 mins and that would reinforce that I had made the right decision. Each time I went outside for the rest of Saturday and Sunday and was cold in full clothing made me feel a bit better about my decision. I am mostly over the guilt now and there will be more races.

Oops!

It's been an entire month with nothing! And that is most definitely not because there has been nothing going on. In fact, it's been just the opposite. Weekends have been filled with long rides, with a few weekends in a row of beating my previous longest ride distance.

The first was a 110km ride, which equaled my previous longest. This was followed by a 125km ride, which included a lot of hill riding and had me trashed for days. But it was a beautiful day and at least the first half of the ride was with great friends.

The following weekend was the Tri Club's annual Penticton training weekend. Last year I made it 110kms of the way on the IMC course and this year I wanted to do the entire 160kms (no out and back portion). I had a flat in 2009 and lost the main group (except for 2 very nice guys who stayed with me and rode with me to the next rest stop) and this year I was really hoping to be in a bigger group. We managed to stay together as a club until McClean Creek when things splintered. I ended up riding with a group of 6-8 that I would spend a lot of the day with. Most of the time I rode with one other girl (and then saw the rest of the group at rest stops) and had a great day. And I made the entire 160km. Of course my bike computer decided to stop working so I only have an estimate of time. We were out of the road 6.5hrs and that includes the rest stops.

When I got back I dipped my legs in the cold waters of Okanagan Lake. I think this was the key as my legs were nowhere near as trashed following this ride as they were for the 125km the week before. Plus I was able to get out and run 80 mins the next day.

This weekend was one of my favourites last summer and was great again this year. It is so nice to get out with a big group of like minded people for a long ride followed by a great dinner, drinks and chatting.

I can't find the cord for my camera (which is NOT a standard USB cord) so photos will have to wait!