Happy Happy New Year!

Hopefully all of you survived the Christmas season and were able to be with your loved ones. I was lucky to spend some time with my family and with SV's family...such a great time to relax with the people who know you best, share laughter and create new memories!

2011 is almost done and I have to admit it was a great year...so many great times...it was a busy year but probably one of my favourites! I didn't compete as much as I have in previous years but I have a feeling I am going to make up for that in the very near future.

SV and I saw some great concerts this year,Tragically Hip, U2, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, not sure how we are going to top those for 2012, but we are working on it!

Just over 10 months until we head to the Worlds in New Zealand...we have 5 friends that are going to do the race with us, so it should be a great race/trip and I am looking forward to the training and preparation to get ready for that one! SV and I did one final killer run to cap off 2011 and now we are getting ready to feast on every one's favourites for dinner(the girls had some interesting picks!) then a little dance party while we wait for the ball to drop!! Hugs and Kisses to all of you at Midnight!

BB

Patience..

I have found my way back to my yoga mat and I am enjoying teaching two classes a week...with all the training SV and I do and the running around with kid errands, it has become a great reward each week to spend time on my mat. My body is feeling a little more relaxed and I haven't had any hip issues since the summer...I am back to running as much as I was before and as the year winds down I am beginning to focus on my goals for the upcoming 2012 year and I am confident I will be able to get through this season injury free!

Sometimes life has a way of rewarding you for staying calm and focused, yesterday I had one of those awesome moments...I have been working on this pose for awhile and at different points I have been so close and other times so far...but yesterday I hit it and held it...I was so excited but I had to stay calm and focused so that I could stay where I was...truly awesome!! Now all I have to do is get SV on the mat!!

Roadie...

I have turned a new leaf...decided to try something new...after listening to so many sing the praises of road bikes and all the benefits of riding a road bike...and after 173km on my tri bike...I decided that it might be a good time to give it a go...plus there was a great deal on a great bike...so this tri girl is now the proud owner of a road bike...and it goes with all my gear, lol!

I have done a few rides on the new machine and it is amazing the differences I am feeling...it is hard to explain but it is a whole new world and I am loving the new positioning, new muscle recruitment, comfort and stiffness that my new ride has brought to my world...best part is I can do a big climb and shift gears at the same time!!!

100+ miles

Last weekend, I did my first ever bike race in Collingwood, Ont. I missed out on doing the race last year and was excited about giving it a go this year...although the night before the race I was kicking myself for not signing up for the 50 mile race...it was going to be a chilly morning and being on the bike for that long was going to hurt...no matter what 100 miles is challenging and I knew it was going to be over 107 miles/172km...so I was kind of dreading waking up early Sunday morning.

Sunday morning was a brisk morning..8 Celsius and I have to be honest, I considered staying warm in bed, which seemed like a much better option than putting on all my warm bike gear..but SV got me moving and we met up with 2 of his boys (Team Size 9....I was the token female member)...I started the ride with them but expected to be on my own for most of it.

The ride was a challenging course to say the least...some great climbs and they threw in some tough head wind around the 100km point to make sure we really had some fun. The last 50km of this race was brutal...the King of the Mountain climb, the climbs to the Ravena bakery and then 5 stinger climbs to Scenic Caves...all of which put my quads/hamstrings on the verge of cramping...By the time I turned at the bakery, 15km from the finish...all I wanted was to be done...I started attacking the hills and just thought of the finish line...I felt really strong even though I was tired.

In the end I am very happy with how I did...my goal going in was to be under 5:30 and top 10 in the woman's field (during the ride I decided I didn't care and I just wanted to be done) so my 5:20 finishing time and 8th place overall (2nd in my age category) was a great end to a challenging day and I even finished smiling!!

Short but Sweet

...so unfortunately our trip ended a little sooner than we would have liked...a young man set fire outside of an apartment door above SV's store and to say the least it was a stressful time. I am impressed at how quickly he and his team were able to set up a temporary location and keep the business operating. It's been a long few weeks but things are running smoothly, they still have a lot to do before they can be back in the building but for now he is taking it one step at a time.

We were sad that we didn't get to complete our trip....no lobsters were harmed though so I guess that is one positive :) We have ordered a new travel rack for the back of the motorbike so that I don't have to carry the back pack next time and we are looking forward to the next time we can go on our trip because even though it was cut short it was one of our favourite trips!

Road Trip

SV and I are enjoying our motorbike adventure...this is such a different trip for both of us...we have no schedule, no places to stay, nowhere we need to be...we are just going wherever, whenever...all we have with us is what we were able to fit into the 2 panniers, 1 backpack and a tank bag...this is very little (we both over pack...always) but I have some skills when it comes to packing and I managed to fit in as much as possible.

Day 1 was an exciting one, both of us were pumped to start our adventure... we agreed to go as long as we were comfortable and just decide where we were going as we went... our friends Sue and Brian have a cottage in Brockville and they invited us to pop in and stay the night if we wanted...which we gladly accepted...it was a beautiful spot and we enjoyed spending the night and next morning with them...the first day was 5 hours of riding and we were both happy to get off the bike that night...but still excited to head out the next morning.

Day 2 was a shorter day of riding, only 3 hours, but we had decided we wanted to head to Lake Placid and stay the night there...it is a very beautiful drive to LP and so much more enjoyable on the back of the mbike...we woke up this morning and walked around the main street for awhile checking out the shops, but given our space situation we weren't really interested in shopping! We did a swim in Mirror Lake, SV loved the line in the water (for the Ironman course) which made sighting unnecessary, but I was so cold after 45 minutes that I decided to get out..it is a great lake to swim in but I was needing my wetsuit big time, hadn't thought the water would be so cold at this time of year (I have only swam there in June and July) but SV didn't find it too bad, although he was shivering just as much as I was when he finally got out after an hour. We then headed out to run around the lake...it's just over 4 km around and a very flat route, which is a great change from home! I don't know that I can honestly call what I was doing out there as running but I plodded along...some hip pain for sure, but I am the first to admit that I am a stubborn one! SV had a great run and looked strong...after that we had a great little lunch and discussed where we were headed...Burlington, Vermont was the next stop..we had an hour drive to catch the ferry that would take us to Burlington, it was a beautiful drive and some great windy roads, so much fun! The ferry was interesting, my first ferry ride and it was an hour long...once we were in Burlington we sat and had a coffee, neither of us were sure if we wanted to stay or keep moving...after some entertaining/interesting people watching we decided to keep heading East...and wound up in Stowe, VT...what a great little place..lots of history here and so quaint. We enjoyed a great dinner and then strolled around the town...very romantic little spot!

Tomorrow it looks like we are going to get wet, but I'm excited to try out my rain suit...we are continuing East and seeing how far we get before we call it a day.

So far our total riding time is about 10 hours. We have come upon some wildlife...1 beaver, 1 falcon, 1 jumping fish and a camel...yep that's right a freaking camel here in Vermont!!

I am loving the trip so much better than any other road trip, the motor bike is a great way to travel and I am learning some interesting things along the way, which I thought I would share with all of you...in no particular order these are the lessons I am learning on our motorbike adventure:

1. The view from the motorbike is amazing...with no other distractions I can't believe how much I am seeing while we are driving...so many breathtaking moments! Truly beautiful being on the bike!

2. Going to the washroom at a rest station is very challenging...not because of the bike pants and boots but the not wanting to take off my helmet and the difficulties that comes with trying to do all bathroom related activities while having very limited vision!

3. It is not possible for me to chew gum while riding on the back of the bike...Again the helmet, along with making me feel like Bauble Head Barbie...the padding inside the helmet pushes my cheeks inward and puts my cheeks in prime position for biting...yep not pleasant and after several hard chomps I decided this would be the last gum chewing while I was riding.

4. Communication is possible while we are riding. Before we headed out, SV and I had discussed some ways we could communicate and created some hand signals...but the funny thing is we have barely used them...we just seem to know what the other person needs or is thinking which is pretty awesome and just another thing I love about our relationship...we can say so much with a squeeze or hand hold!! I know when we are going to go fast, I know when we are going to have some fun with the windy roads or when SV needs his back rubbed! I love pointing things out to each other and knowing that we are both enjoying the trip!

5. I finally am able to see the difference between an Adirondack chair and a Muskoka chair and I have to say that Muskoka chairs are the far better chair...no comparison!!

6. When SV asks me if we should stop for gas now or later...the answer must ALWAYS be yes!! It was a very intense 30km while the gas range was at 0 and there was no gas stations to be found...but we now know that the gas range indicator lies slightly!!

7. It is possible to have a nap while being a passenger on the back of the motor bike...not that it is the best idea but I was starting to head bob, which with the helmet was very difficult to fight and I knew that I should really get SV to pull over or something but before I did I guess I drifted off for a little bit...it was about 20 minutes but I woke up feeling 100% better and wide awake...SV said he could feel my helmet hitting him in the back and knew I was drifting off and made sure I was secure...love him!

So for now those are things that I have discovered on this trip...I'm sure there will be more, can't wait to find out what they are!

Update.

The hip is getting better...it isn't 100% better but I am no longer walking around like Frankenstein so that is a huge improvement. Certain movements still cause sharp shooting pains but they are becoming fewer and fewer. I have been doing yoga daily and I think that is really helping, not only my body but my mind as well....ever since my sister turned me on to Yoga in 2002 it has always been something that makes me feel so relaxed and strong. I am coming to realize that since I like to train hard, I have to reward my body for that hard work and Yoga is the best reward I can give it. I can see the improvements over the last 2 weeks and I am motivated to keep yoga on my daily list even when life gets crazy.

SV and I headed out on a great bike ride the other day...this route has become my new favourite...it has all the beauty and challenges that come with living in Muskoka...it was a tough route but I can't wait to do it again...and take some pics so that I can share it all with you.

My girlies came back from camp this week...so great to see them all tanned and fit and excited about all the activities and new friends they made while they were away...makes me wish they had a summer camp for adults...I love that they were able to have such a great experience and knowing that they spent 3 weeks enjoying the outdoors and being active and media free...love it!

A new adventure has me excited this week...SV and I are packing up and hitting the road...on the motor bike...yep that's right...packing only what we can fit into the panniers and a backpack...that doesn't leave me with a lot of options for footwear, lol....We are planning on heading east and just taking our time, stopping when we need a break...no real plan but hope to make it to Vermont and Maine...I have a feeling a lobster or two will be consumed!! Should be a fun trip...running and yoga and hopefully a swim or two...I plan on taking lots of pictures and I am sure I will have some fun stuff to tell you about when we return....not long till the little ones are back and school (and me as well) and the lazy summer days are behind us...hope you all enjoy it!!

Goal Reached.

The weather has been hot and sunny and I have been doing some good swims and rides...unfortunately the hip issue I have been having didn't clear up completely...I continue to do my exercises, work on my posture and stay on top of stretching, etc but running wasn't something I could do with enjoyment or pain free...so over the last few weeks, I have done only 4 runs...but on the plus side I wasn't having constant pain so I took that an improvement. I had committed to doing the Bracebridge Olympic Distance Triathlon, as it was a qualifier to the World Championships for 2012 and SV and I had decided that was a race we want to do next year, so the last 2 months have been about trying to get to race day in some sort of shape to get one of the age group spots available. To be honest, I wasn't feeling comfortable that I was going to get a spot (only 2 per age category) my lack of running and the pain I was having, I had a feeling it was going to be a long shot but I wanted to give it a go because it was probably going to be the only triathlon of the summer....and we have a few friends that were doing the race in hopes of a qualifying spot also, which would make for a great vacation next fall.

This was my first Time Trial style start (they started each athlete 5 seconds apart, starting with the youngest to oldest athlete)...which meant through most of the race you wouldn't know where you were in relation to the other athletes you were racing...also, now that I am in the 35-39 age category I had a while to wait before I actually got to start and I ended up swimming through a lot of the field...to be honest, I didn't hate the time trial start but at the same time I didn't love it...hard to get motivated to swim as hard as I could have if there were others to race...but at the same time it was fun to pass so many people...but I think I prefer getting into a groove and swimming with others who push you to go harder...so although my swim time was ok, it wasn't great and I think it had a lot to do with manoeuvring through so many slower swimmers...plus it was my first non-wetsuit swim since 2002... The bike course up here is a great one and I am very familiar with it... we have been biking it a lot lately as it comes close to the house and is one of our new favourite routes... I continued to pass many athletes on the first 20 km of the ride and felt pretty good on my bike, SV passed me at 22km and he looked fast, really fast. I was pumped for him and cheered him on. I felt like I had a pretty comfortable ride, I was only passed by 6 men on the ride and while I could have biked harder, in the back of my mind I was a little worried about the run so I didn't want to push too hard... I came off the bike and a friend that was volunteering informed me that I was 90 sec down on SV...could I catch him...hmmm...didn't want to think about that...wasn't even sure if my hip would let me climb the hill out of T2 let alone run SV down....

Coming out of T2 the race has you climb a grass hill out of the park...I tried to take small steps and just focus on getting to the road...so far the hip felt ok so I just tried to focus on the people ahead of me and tried to not let my mind go to my hip...by the 1km point I could see my training partner Brent up and decided I was going to try to catch him...I caught him by 3km and then decided to just focus on the next man in front of me...this was my strategy for the rest of my run...Just before the 5km turn around I saw SV coming back, still looking strong and I was pumped that I wasn't too far behind him and I decided to try to close the gap a little more...I got passed by another local guy(Joe) and we pushed each other for the next 4km...I pulled ahead but that motivated him to run stronger...around 6km a guy in a pink outfit went flying by me, I noticed he had a 44 on his calf and I hoped SV had enough of a lead..because this guy was moving...I was able to see SV for the last 2km ...but I knew I wouldn't catch him... but I had gotten closer so that was great...I never felt like I was pushing too hard on the run, I was scared to truly go hard because of my hip, but the lack of run training made the effort I was putting in seem pretty hard and in the end I am happy with how strong I did run....I crossed the finish line pretty confident that I had won my age category and I had passed 3 of the men that had passed me on the bike! So that made me pretty happy.

It ended up being a solid day of racing for both SV and I....the flying man ended up passing SV in the last km and because of the time trial start...placed 1st by 16 seconds, but SV still earned his Worlds spot...I won my age category and also ended up placing in the top 5 of the overall women, which I wasn't expecting so I was happy with that....

The hip/leg isn't feeling so great today but I am going to take care of it for the next while and try to get recovered as quickly as possible, it amazes me how adrenaline during the race can block the discomfort...because once I crossed the finish line and stood around for a few minutes...trying to walk almost did me in, lol....but since I have my worlds spot my new goal is recovery!

I'm Alive

It's true...I have not fallen off the face of the earth....life just has gone on at an incredible pace and I wasn't sure that what was happening was "blog worthy" but it seems that one or two people out there still check in to see if I have updated this site and I feel bad that I have been disappointing them...so here we go..Take 76...

Arizona was great again this year...MD,SV and I had an intense training trip...which started off with missing our connecting flight, 2nd year in a row(we decided to drive in from Phoenix instead of waiting 7 hours for the next flight)...the week was full of incredible biking and outdoor swimming...a little bit of running (SV was coming off a metatarsal fracture and I was fighting a chest infection so running was put on the back of the priority list). We met some great junior athletes from Ontario, we have such great young talent emerging from this area in the sport of triathlon...check out the following link for one young man that inspired MD, SV and I while we were down there (http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/Ironman+athlete+fights+back+from+drug+filled+abyss/4935511/story.html )

We did a great deal of biking while we were in Tucson and I even bumped into an old friend from London while we were out shopping for gear!

It was great to come back with a great base, but SV and I decided to skip the Sporting Life 10km this year...deciding to enjoy the night life of TO with the 55,000 other people that were there to celebrate the first UFC fight in Ontario...maybe not the best way to end a training camp, but SV and I tend to roll a little differently than most triathletes.

Since then we have been busy with life...triathlon season has started and I am coming back from a bit of an injury, nothing serious just a little hip pain...but a visit with my favourite Dr...Dr. Peggy Malone http://drpeggymalone.com/ and I am on the road to recovery and actually running again after 3 weeks of missing it.... I have been enjoying swimming in the lakes up here and riding my bike as much as possible...I only have a couple of races on the calendar this year but I am enjoying the weekly bike time trial series that we have been attending...it is a great group of people, a killer route and something to love/hate each week!

Here are some pics of the last few months so you can see what I/we have been up to!

Arizona...

started this morning by sleeping in, i wasn't wanting to see the snow that was on the ground this morning...after the girls had a snow day on April 20th..it is beginning to feel like the winter that never ends...however, once we finally got out of bed...i started to get excited about flying back to Tucson tomorrow morning! a few friends that are down there training now have been doing some killer training and have been commenting on how hot it is...bring it on....I'm ready!

SV, MD and i are packed and ready to go...the girlies are with their dad for the week and i cant wait to be riding outside...in shorts no less!! I'm sure Barrie is going to work us to exhaustion..but that is part of why we are going back..nothing like a week of crazy training to get you motivated, especially when the weather here has been anything but...the other part i am really looking forward to is the yummy food..Tucson has some great restaurants...and we will be kicking it off tomorrow night with group dinner at zinburger....Kobe beef burger..best thing ever!!!

ooohhh and i am hoping to follow that with a Margarita or two with sc...3/4 of my ultraman crew back together...only thing missing is the great Peggy!

hope everyone has a great Easter weekend....stay tuned for updates on our AZ training!

...sorry for any spots where i don't have capitals...my phone is being stubborn...not annoying at all!

Good to see you again....

Holy...life sure has gotten crazy busy and time has been flying by...can't believe it's been 8 weeks since my last post...Sorry for those of you still check this thing...thanks for coming back...I promise to be more regular with my posts...the weather is getting warmer and things are happening...I have a bunch of pictures that I want to post and I should have some fun training stuff to share with you soon!

Things are great with me right now, other than being crazy busy...I am happier than I have been in so very long and I am enjoying each day...hope that you all are doing the same!

Give it a go

Last week SV pulled out the heart rate monitor for me to wear before we did a hard ride on the trainer, just so we could see where I was riding at...No big deal I thought, I trained with a HR monitor back in 2004 as I was training for Ironman, I figured I was pretty good at knowing where I was at and pushing the correct zone....Boy was I wrong.

Turns out I don't do what I need to do while I am on the bike...I like a certain area and even though I feel like I am working hard, the HR monitor betrayed me, I have been in the aerobic zone and not a bit higher. SV pushed me on the hard ride and another ride to hit the target zone for the workouts and I will admit that I cried like a little girl, yep big fat tears, lol. I am such a wuss.

It was a huge wake up call for me...for some reason I am able to push myself to the point of discomfort in the pool and on the run but I have never been able to do that on the bike...I guess I just back off and stay where it is manageable...maybe it is the years of just going out for a bike ride...even last year on the time trials I would settle into what I could maintain..never really going for it...maybe it is the thought of having to save something for the run...or maybe I just haven't figured out how to put power into the bike, but I don't seem to have the switch that I can turn on while swimming or running...SV is excited to have me finally start pushing myself on the bike and while the athlete in me is interested in the possibility of pushing hard and finding that next "gear" so to speak there is a huge part of me that is dreading what is coming...man this is going to hurt...So we shall see if this makes a difference...maybe I will finally get some calf muscles, lol!

Winter

I have never been a fan of winter...probably because I hate being cold and it has been tough to stay warm this year! We reached -6 degrees this week and it was "nice" but I guess after nearly 10 days of bitter-34 degrees anything will seem nice. I have gone soft living here...I used to love running outside in the winter and could manage the temps as long as I was bundled, but I have learned the hard way that running up here is a lot different then running in S.Western Ontario...the amount of snow and the lack of road cleaning (melting and refreezing) makes the roads pretty uneven and dangerous. I strained my ankle while out for a run with SV and MD, had to take a week off and let it heal... I decided to make SV happy and I gave up running outside until the roads are cleared and have been hitting the treadmill a few times a week with him...the bad part though is that I am finding myself doing hard runs in the middle of January, a time when slow and steady has always been all that I could do...so I guess either way I am in for challenging runs, at least on the treadmill the worst that can happen is that I fly off the back...lol, I'm just klutzy enough:)

Even though I have gone soft and taken my running indoors, I have expanded my winter activities, up here that is easy to do, so much snow so many things to try...we have been downhill skiing a few time with the kidlets. After my first attempt last year I wasn't sure that this sport was for me, but I am happy to report that I have improved a great deal (not hard to do eh Kim!) and the kids really enjoy it. We are having fun and I am even considering buying myself some skis...can you imagine me owning something not tri related, lol...but living up here it just makes sense...although you won't see me on a snowmobile anytime soon (they make me nervous when I see them out on the lake...notice all the tracks in the pics below!)

Between the skiing and taking my running inside, I have to admit I am enjoying winter more this year than I ever have...it is almost bearable...and it really is beautiful from inside the condo looking out...but I would still rather be back here...

New Year

Hey there, hope that 2011 is off to a great start for everyone... I have been trying to decide if I should continue with this blog...which began as a log of my training and experience for Ultraman and the short course races I have done since then...over the holidays I questioned why I still had this blog...I have no desire to do anything "ultra" anytime soon (more on that in a moment) but I have people in my life that think anything I do is "ultra" and since I am not as close geographically as I once was...this is blog gives me a chance to share with them what I have been up to and hopefully makes me seem a little closer! Now I have some catching up to do!!!

SV and I headed to Hawaii back in November...a dream destination of mine for sure. I remember watching Ironman Hawaii on tv and thinking that when I was done swimming I was going to do that...which is where this all kind of started. I qualified for Kona back in 2004 but didn't go, a decision I was never disappointed in (maybe because that year the winds were pretty intense, lol). My parents have been to Hawaii on vacation several times and it is their favourite spot in the world and to be honest it is now mine as well. We spent 3 days on the big Island and I fell in love with Kona...having seen it on tv and heard so many stories about this place it was amazing to be there.

I had always thought if I went to Kona it would be to race, but I no longer have that desire, we connected with some Ultraman friends that were on the big Island getting ready for the World Championships, it was fun to see people that had been such a large part of my experience in Penticton and to hear about the UMH course...they tried to talk me back into the long races and part of my brain did start turning again to be honest...we swam the Ironman course with Gary and Amber (she won UMC'09 and 2 weeks later went on to crush the UMH competition and record!!) it was a beautiful swim, however, it didn't make me want to swim 10km in it!

SV and I did a few runs while on the big Island and I suffered like no other, the heat was intense that first run and I thought I was going to die in paradise...but a quick dip in the ocean and I was feeling better. Our last run in Kona pretty much sealed the deal for me on the ultra racing...we were running along the highway, to our left was black lava rocks to our right a few palm trees and the distant view of the ocean...we were out for a 12km run...at the same moment we both said there is no way we could do this for 84km...84km with nothing but lava rock, heat and distant ocean and a single road...I have no idea how I managed in Penticton, it had to be my great crew, but the turning in my brain shut off there and then...I no longer like the idea of doing something for 9+ hours, let alone more than 20!

So what is my plan for 2011?? To be honest I haven't quite figured that one out yet...a lot of changes have happened in the last 2 years and life is finally settled down and each day is better than the day before. SV and I have thrown a few ideas around for the race season but we have avoided committing to any races...still not 100% sure what we are going to tackle this year but I know we will have fun training together whatever it is we finally come up with!