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!