and you just keep plugging along

Well the winter season is upon us and although I do live in the warmest part of Canada it has been bloody cold here. It's official, I have become an Island wimp. Seriously, the other morning I met up with my lovely running buddy out at the Trans Canada Trestle and I swear to god it was 8 degrees colder over there. It didn't matter how hard I ran I could not warm up.

Last week was the annual Thetis 20km relay. Each team can have as little as 1 person or up to 4 to do the 4 loops around Theits lake. I thought I would be brave and wear shorts...

 

Holy moly it was cold out there. I thought I would be "cool" and wear shorts. I sure was cool. Took me 3 days to warm back up.

The sun was shinning but it really was cold. I'm not even convinced it got above 0 that day. Regardless of the weather it was a great time as usual. I was on a team with the group I train with- Island Striders youngsters.

Love my training group. In hindsight we should have got a photo or the rest of the team (there were 2 other teams that were part of our group.

Although the Thetis relay was all fun and games I am still hammering out light training. I'm doing 3 days a week strength training, a couple of easy bike rides and swims and of course really focusing on my running right now. I'm hoping that a full marathon will seem easy come August.

Last week I posted a video of me trying out some bike rollers that got loaned out to me. I was warned they are a little tricky at first but I had no idea that I might end up in the ER from them. If you get a chance have a look of the video on my Facebook page. You'll probably get a good laugh out of it. 

This morning I took my second attempt on them and I'm not going to say it was any easier but I managed to survive the event so I'm going to say it was successful! 

Now I have to admit the last few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for me training wise. I keep  getting anxiety thinking what have I done? I am signed up for  one of the hardest races around and I'm already tired from just riding my bike around the block. What have I got myself into. Honestly, I have had a few freak outs and I'm pretty sure there are going to be a lot more. I'm getting a lot of people telling me how I'm going to be able to do it all. Training, family, work. I really don't know but what I do know is life isn't always easy and it is all about how you deal. So I find myself searching for inspiration, reminding me that I am capable of whatever my heart desires.

I think that poster says a lot! Really, all it comes down to is you just do it. So for all of those people out there that question big dreams, remember us big dreamers have days of doubt (lots of them actually) and the last thing we need is questioning about doing it. What we actually need is inspiration and support that tells us we can do it and we will do it. 

On a lighter note, our dog and bunny are getting acquainted with each other. The crazy thing is that bunny has no idea just how dangerous this situation could be.

Although I am only in my prep phase of training I have already dove deep into my training but not just physically. Since my weekly training hours are pretty minimal right now I am taking advantage of my "spare" time and doing a lot of research. Because I only have a running coach I am still in charge of my cycling and swimming. So I am trying to ring the master plan as to what is going to work for me. A few weeks ago I came across a post on Facebook about a triathlon summit. What is a triathlon summit you ask? Well, someone brilliant has put together an only event where 23 leading experts come together and deliver fabulous talks and discussions about triathlon. All of this accessible by computer. 

I got my first taste this weekend by listening to Matt Dixion (I just read his book too), Chris McCormack, Andrea Reid (I'm going to listen to this one later), and Joanna Zeiger. 

I have to tell you, this idea is absolutely brilliant. Not only is this free but I can listen to the talks at my convenience. 

Matt Dixon's talk really resinated with me because I just finished reading his book last week. So it all tied everything together. Lots of great tips and ideas to put my Ironman training plan to work and pul it all together. 

I am most excited to listen to Mirinda Carfrae's coach Siri Lindley. 

So does filling your brain with all of this knowledge help or hinder your training plan? Although many coaches take different approaches you can still steer yourself on a route that you tend to follow.   However that doesn't mean that each of these talks don't send you away with something knew that might add to your training benefits. While listening to Chris McCormack's talk he brought up feelings while racing. There were definitely some ideas I took away from that. 

So what am I taking away from all of this knowledge thus far? 

Rest is best! 

Seriously, they key to great training and racing is ensuring adequate rest and recovery. That being said I am officially on a rest week this week!!!!! 

So with even less training hours this week I will indulge in even more of these talks. 

I highly recommend checking out the Triathlon World Summit here:

http://triathlonworldsummit.com

And so it begins

So I just completed week 2 of my journey into the wonderful world of the Ironman distance. August 30th 2015 I will conquer this ungodly distance and hopefully prove it ain't so bad... GULP!
Already a few hiccups including getting a wicked cold/flu that had me sleeping 12+ a night, missing more then half of my first week of training and then part of this past week. I held my own though, and the minute I felt better I was out pounding the pavement.
I've learned very quickly that this is indeed a journey. I am learning a ton and trying to find balance between family, work, training and friends. Luckily my family is so super supportive (ask me if they still are in 6 months). Work has been fabulous and also supportive and training is still pretty low key... for now. Friends are routing for me. I have my swimming buddies, my strength training buddies, my cycling buddies and of course my running buddies. Everything seems to be working out. My biggest concern is will it last? As the miles increase will I still have buddies excited to join? I have a feeling I might need to start bribing them.
So today I got the dreaded question... how do you do it all? I get asked this question often. With having to work, raise kids, have a husband that goes away for work part of the week how do you fit it all in and keep everyone happy? I'll be honest, not everyone is happy all of the time. This is why I plan, coordinate, schedule and reschedule to my best abilities. It's not always easy, and I can't always make it work. I prioritize everything and my calendar is chock full of myself, my husband, and both kids activities, work and training schedules. I kid you not, I know exactly where I will need to be in 3 months from now. I also get asked when do we do family activities. Well, we are avid campers and we schedule our camping trips when I'm on rest weeks so that I can do a nice easy run wherever we are and the kids hop on their bikes and join me. Or we all go for a bike ride together. You just make it work.

So bottom line is nope it's not easy but if you love what you do, you just make it happen. No matter what life gets busy and it's all in how you handle it.

So now I jump into week 3 which by the way this is all just pre-season stuff. I don't even start my "real training" until February. Don't be surprised if my tone has a sudden change once I'm out doing 6 hour bike rides... by myself.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!!! I hope everyone is filling their faces with good delicious food. Being a vegetarian family (with me being vegan) I am preparing a stuffed seitan roast. I decided to take a small break from that and do a post. I'll have to let you know how it turns out.

Big weekend in my sports world. Ironman Championships were Saturday and I could not tear myself away from the computer. What an awesome race. We had to go into Victoria to meet the family for dinner and I had to be super rude and keep checking my phone for results. Only the die hard triathletes would understand ; )

I have to tell you Mirinda Carfrae is an absolute idol for me. I have to be honest, I was cheering her on right from the start. Check out that photo of her on the left. She deserves the championship. Anyone that has that good of form during the run in an Ironman is pure champion in my mind. She is absolutely everything I strive to be. To be honest, everyone in that race inspires me. Hats off to all of those racers!!!

My big race this weekend was a half marathon.

 I was not training for this race. My coach decided after the year I had (it was so bad) that I just needed this to be a good training run.

My sister flew out for this race to come and join me. We ended up going to the expo right when she go into town Friday. Look what we found...

I love how the races are putting the competitors names on the banners and shirts. It's fun to show you really were there.

Saturday night I spent the night with my sister at her hotel. We had a nice evening catching up. Sunday I got to sleep in an extra hour since my sisters hotel was steps from the start line. Could not have been more convenient. Best of all, I didn't have to deal with kids!!!

I was supposed to meet up with one of my friends to run the race with. We really wanted to get a sub 2 hour for this race. It's been a long time coming for me. After my terrible race season and my coach not letting me race hard this fall I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it but I did right some splits on my arm to check in just in case I was feeling up to the challenge.

When the gun went off I was cool as a cucumber. Got jogging and weaving through all of the racers. I got stuck right at the back so I had to make my way through a lot of people. 

About 4km in I finally found my good buddy. I had lost my sister in the mass at the start so I was feeling a little lonely. It was fantastic running with my friend. 

Around the 17km mark my husband along with my girls and my parents gave me a great cheer squad that kept me going till the end. 

To top it off 1km from the finish line was my brother in law snapping the photos of me.

My form is looking not too bad with 1 km to go. A little collapsed but I'm obviously not very tired.

I ended up finishing the race in 1:56:39 (unofficial). For not pushing myself I was absolutely thrilled. I have not been able to get under 2 hours in a very long time. Which leads me to the next statement...

REST MEANS EVERYTHING!

I have been taking it very easy. I've been doing everything it takes to get healthy. I'm getting plenty of sleep. I'm eating exceptionally well. All of this adds up and it is so important to maintain it. 

Anyways, hats off to everyone that raced yesterday. I had a lot of friends out on the course yesterday and they all did absolutely fantastic! 

Right after my race, we had the kids race to do. So my two lovely athletes wandered over to the kids start to run 1.25km. This was an awesome event for kids. My oldest wanted to run on her own (in hindsight that was a big mistake when we couldn't find her for 30 min after the race). She did great!

Then my little one took off. She's a little nervous in crowds so I got the honours of running with her.

She was doing great until she tripped and fell. Poor thing skinned her knee. So, I had to piggy back her part of the way. She finally ran the last bit.

A big high 5 at the end!

My little trouper.

A big finish at the end! The kids got t-shirts and medals. Oh in case you were wondering how we finally found my big girl... she was getting her face painted instead of waiting for us at the finish line.

So big day in our house yesterday. We all felt like champions. To celebrate hubby took me out for lunch and a new amazing coffee spot:

FYI- Hey Happy is absolutely AMAZING!!!

Okay, last week I promised you a big surprise. Well, here it is. Once I tell you it means I am fully committed. Next year August 30th, 2015 I am going to attempt my very first full distance triathlon. 

3.8km swim

180km bike

42.2km run

Call me crazy but I am so excited!!! Also a big shout out and thank you to my awesome family, friends and 2 superb coaches for supporting me on this big adventure. I will be documenting this crazy challenge and I hope you will follow along for the ride.

Where do I start?

Another crazy year filled with hard training, great racing and of course a ton of fun. I am gearing down and tapering for my last race of the year... Victoria Good Life Marathon (I'm only doing the half). 

It seems I have neglected the blog to no end. I'll be honest life has been hectic, plus my computer crashed and frankly I had a disappointing big race this year which left me sick for weeks. I'll tell you more about that in a minute.  Lets start from the beginning...

First race of the season left me feeling anxious since I had just started getting back into training after being off for 3 months from pneumonia. After discussing with my coach we thought it best to not race then decided a compromise could work. I ended up doing the race as a relay. I of course got stuck doing the swim (which seems to happen every time I do a relay).

We placed first in our division which was the ladies relay. Best of all, we had a blast.

This race gave me the boost I needed to jump back into training. All was going great until I got a stress fracture in my foot at the beginning of June. So there went another 4 weeks of much needed training. So I dipped into a bit of depression for a bit, feeling extremely sorry for myself. I had to drop out of another race and worst of all, I had to relax. 

Come July I was feeling a bit better so I eased myself into training again. With only 2 weeks until the Vancouver Subaru Triathlon I was feeling less then ready. So I decided to go in as a strictly training race. The race went way better then I thought. The swim was not my favourite since it was an ocean swim (I am absolutely terrified of ocean swimming) but the bike course was a fast 2 lap course and the run was a gorgeous route right along the water. 

I had my husband and kids cheer me on and it was awesome!

Next up on my race schedule was the Self Transcendence race in Victoria. This is my all-time favourite race. It's a smaller venue but you are well taken care of. I recommend this event to all short distance triathletes. They even have a duathlon.

This race is always fun and games for me. My BFF and I head down Saturday to pick up our race packs and go out for dinner and have a fun evening together. We always go to bed reminding each other this race is all about fun!!! 

This year the water was so warm it was a no wetsuit swim. That's all right by me. I seem to swim the same pace with or without my wetsuit. Coming out of the water I had no idea what my time was since my Garmin wouldn't turn on for me. The swim course felt a little long (which it was according to everyone else's times). Got on my bike and took off. I wasn't feeling very fast on my bike and it showed. I swear I got passed by every single person out on the course. Even one of my friends asked if I was ok (it was that obvious I was struggling). When I came into transition I was ready to throw in the towel. I was feeling so crushed, but I decided to head out on the run anyways. Slowly I built up into a really nice pace and bit by bit I started picking people off one by one. In the end I pulled off my fastest run in an Olympic Distance Triathlon. I even won my age group!

Moral of the story? Don't ever quite. You might have a terrible swim or bike but sometimes if you persevere the outcome may be amazing!!!

Turns out the whole Berg squad came out on the podium!!!

I absolutely love this race!!!!

Now that I got a little self esteem in the racing department I was ready to tackle the rest of my training to prep me for Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3

This meant spending much quality time with my running group

This group is awesome!!!! So much talent and inspiration. Each one of them have had PR's this year. Very determined group they are.

So 2 weeks out from Lake Stevens and I'm a little worried. It has finally hit me a how little training I have actually done this year. All the set backs I had to deal with. I had a few people tell me I should just write this race off and worry about next year. I'm not that kind of girl. I signed out for this race so I need to finish it.

So myself and my lovely traveling and racing companions headed down to Lake Stevens Washington. Rumour has it that this race is tough. One of the toughest 70.3 around. I foolishly ignored that remark. When we arrived we went straight to package pick up. The race shirts were terribly ugly so I had to spend some extra money to get a shirt I would actually wear that boasts that I indeed do the Lake Stevens 70.3

We had a lovely evening getting to know the area and relaxing at the hotel. The next day (aka. the day before the big race) well, I think we were all feeling a little nervous. We decided to test out the water and get in a quick swim. The water was "furry" and brown. Not the crystal clear waters I'm used to.

Then we drove part of the bike course. We were trying to find the toughest parts. To us according to the race info the first half of the bike course was more challenging with a short but steep hill in the second half. Course seemed no different then what we ride at home. All is good!!!

Go to race meeting, then back to hotel for much needed RnR and race prep.

We stayed in the rest of the day and night and watched movies. Very nice way to prep.

Race morning came way too fast.

The jitters set in and I was feeling ill. The girls were keeping me at bay for not freaking out and even the fabulous pro Melanie McQuaid gave me a little hug and pep talk before the race.

It was time to get this thing started!!!

My group was the first group to go after pro's. I was nervous. I had an excellent swim despite being ploughed over by some of the men who started after us. I was in the front group and came out of the water in 12th. Got out on the bike and stayed focus. I had marked down which area's I needed to pay special attention to. Lake Steven's bike course is very technical. Lots of left and right turns and blind spots. I saw a few good crashes. The worst part about this bike course is because a lot of the turns were at the bottom of hills I could never really get my speed up. My average speed was only 28km an hour. Not fast enough.

Felt pretty good on the bike despite it being crazy hard. That little hill I was warned about? Well it was tough but manageable. The toughest part was after that hill, there were 100 more smaller ones. Ugh!!!! My legs were tired. Coming in to transition I was feeling pretty good but my stomach was feeling a bit off. I was staring to question my nutrition even though I followed my plan to a T. 

Go out on the run and started off with a great pace. I  was feeling strong. About 3 km's in I started getting weird stomach cramps. Not the usual stitch kind, but full on I think I have an appendicitis one. I tried to pouch through the discomfort but had to stop. I kept thinking it was my nutrition so at every single aid station I tried to eat something, anything. I tried bananas, oranges, pretzels, coke, gels. You name it, if it was available I tried it. Unfortunately every time I tried something the pain got worse. So I continued on and managed to shuffle across the finish line surviving the 1/2 marathon on just ice water. This was the toughest race for me physically and mentally. I have never gotten so sick. I have never wanted to quit so badly, I was never so uncomfortable in a race as I was on this day. I cried 3 times during the run. Something I have never done before. I was quite worried I wasn't going to finish and to be honest I'm not sure if I was upset because I might not finish or because I was suffering so bad. Regardless, I did it. What got me to the finish line? Probably my stubbornness and my cheapness... I paid a lot of money to get to that race and I wanted that friggin' medal!

In the end my sickness was not due to my nutrition plan but to the fact I was actually sick. The flu had gone through my house a few days before I left for the race and it turns out it hit me on race day. It turns out this was in fact my worst race ever but I sure learned a lot that day.

I am tough

I need to train properly

Know when to pull the plug

My body is capable or crazy things.

Am I glad I did the race? Yes! Will I do it again? Probably one day but no time soon. Did I have fun? At the time I would have said no but I did in fact have fun. Crossing that finish line meant a lot to me that day.

So how crazy am I? After being so sick during this race just 5 days later I have another 1/2 marathon to run...

This is the best half in the whole wide world!!! My sister and I go to this race together. We also did it last year. Normaly I would never do back to back races like this but I just couldn't miss it.

This is just how fabulous it is!!!

This year we really took advantage of our girls weekend. We went and saw Jack Johnson while we were in Vancouver on the Thursday night. Friday is the Sea Wheeze expo. All of that fabulous Lululemon clothing waiting for us to snatch up and buy. This year I was up at 5am to get in line. But check out our try on pile:

Afterwards we checked out the rest of the expo, including air brushed tattoos and massages followed by yummy treats.

We enjoyed Vancouver to it's fullest!

The race itself is always fabulous too. The best cheering around plus you get a ton of goodies. I definitely did not PR. Right from the 1km in I was hurting. My muscles screamed at me the entire 21.1km. I had to do a walk/run just to get myself to the finish line.

This year we got cute hats, finisher medals and Saje essential oils. Plus an after race brunch.

Then of course is the after party. After relaxing the afternoon away we head to the famous Stanley Park for food, music and fun!!!

So there you have it. My crazy race season in a nut shell. I know it was a long post but I had lots to share. 

So my last race is 6 days away. I am resting nicely and getting ready to finish with a bang! After that I have a big crazy announcement!!!

Tough Season

Well it's official, I have had a pretty tough season so far. What was supposed to be a crazy awesome season with some great races turned into sickness and injury. Worst part... I'm not the only one having this kind of year.

As my regular readers know I had knee surgery last October which was supposed to be about 6 weeks off but then turned into 3 months. Then just as I was starting to get back into training in January I caught pneumonia. There goes another 8 weeks of training. Now into March  I'm finally able to start training but work becomes so busy that my training yet again becomes scarce. What's a girl to do? This is when you have a heart to heart with yourself. Folks, this is not going to be my year but I will still do whatever I can to train as much as I can fit in and enjoy my races regardless of the outcome. So here's what I have been up to...

In May my fabulous friend I road tripped it  down to Federal Way Washington to do the Phil's May Day Classic. 

This was supposed to be a 100 mile ride for us but of course with all the stuff going on in my life we decided to drop down to the 72mile ride. Well, the day was brutal. It was cold, it was very wet and I got a flat. So we called it quits and just did the 50mile ride. We weren't the only ones, turns out the majority of the riders all felt the same way. So instead we went back to the hotel and had hot showers and went shopping. It was a great weekend.

Next up is the Shawnigan Lake Triathlon. This was supposed to be my first race of the season. Any nice Olympic Distance to start the season off right. Well, it didn't happen. I ended up having to switch to a relay because I and my coach knew I would probably hurt myself if I stuck to the original plan. But I have to say these girls were a blast!!!

We had so much fun. I forget how much fun relays are. I think I need to do more of them.

Next race was supposed to be the Victoria Goddess Run.  I was so excited to do this run with all of the great ladies in my life but wouldn't you know it... I hurt my foot 1 week before the race. I felt so bad that I ended up tagging along with the girls and being the cheer squad instead. It was a super hot day for them.

So now that the foot is injured I am off running. I spend my time cycling and swimming. Luckily my swimming buddy was up for the great open water swims. When we are together strange things happen...

We had just finished our swim and were at the cars changing when we heard some cracking and about 10 feet away this tree crashes down. Scared us half to death. We were lucky we weren't parked there.

Anyways, back to the sore foot. After a week off of running the foot did not get better so I had to take time off from everything. No bike, no swim. There goes another 4 weeks of training. Which meant I had to miss another race, The Victoria Subaru Triathlon AKA Victoria 70.3 This was probably the hardest race for me to accept that it wasn't happening. Barely able to walk and then to not race one of my big races the 70.3 I was pretty upset. I know stuff happens but it sucked big time not being able to participate. So now we are into July and I am again just getting back into training. I have a race coming up next week which was supposed to be a half iron distance but I have dropped down to Olympic for safety measures. 

In the meantime I've been getting in a ton of great family time. My special girl had her birthday and decided instead of presents she would raise money for a charity instead...

Way to go Sadie!!! We are so proud of you!!!

And then for Canada day we spent the day in Victoria soaking up the sun and getting in a visit with the fabulous Simon Whitfield. Don't tell my husband but I totally have a crush on him. The guy is not only good looking he is so kind. Chatted it up with Sadie and tried to chat it up with the littlest but she wanted nothing to do with him (she has no idea what she missed out on).

Anyways, despite a crazy off year I am determined to get back on that horse and keep trying.

Motivation and Rewards

How do you motivate yourself? I've been throwing this question around a lot lately. Right now I am on holidays from work which meant I could devote 3 weeks of intense training to get me back on track. Trouble is my motivation only lasted a few days. So how DO you get motivated? I am so lucky to have some pretty amazing friends who are also my training buddies. They motivate me. I could never pass up a 3 hour ride if it meant catching up on this weeks news with my best buds. I go to masters because I do love to swim but I also enjoy chatting after my sets with all of the lovely company there too. I don't usually run with friends very often but when I do it is always special. For all of those other runs I motivate myself with gearing up at my rare opportunity to listen to some fab tunes cranked up all by myself.

So this past week I got motivated and threw myself head first into some pretty awesome training. The one that has kind of stuck to me is always a nightmare ride. In our neck of the woods there is a road that winds back up into the most amazing look out. Rumour has it that the grade on the final climb up is 24% (that's the final climb of the already many tough climbs). So when my coach gave me this awesome workout (insert sarcastic voice) I needed every ounce of motivation I could get. Once I was done this bad boy of a ride I was getting myself the biggest, best reward I could buy.

  

Already a little rosy from the initial climbs and gearing up for the big one.

Before I even started the hard part I had it in my head that it's early season and I didn't HAVE to finish. I could be a quitter today. The negativities were being spewed out like a night after food poisining. Who is this quitter? Luckily I had my motivation with me and I am so glad he was there with me to get my butt up that mountain of a hill.

I sweated a lot, I swore a little, but I made it. I'll be honest, it was not pretty. My average speed was probably 2 km/hour but what matters is I did it and I did it because this crazy guy motivates me all the time. 

It's funny how we make up ideas in our head of how difficult things will be. Instead I need to remind myself that yes it will be tough but so worth it. Worth it to spend time with a great friend, spend time to be outside, spend time to sweat a little.

So you ask what was my reward? Well I have a confession to make... I love online shopping. So when I feel I need a little reward (and lately I feel like I've needed lots) I jump onto Amazon.ca to give myself a little something. So after eating a ton of food I jumped online and I bought not 1, not 2, but 3 books! Books on training!!! I'm such a nerd I know but if you walked into my house and saw all of my lovely books you would understand. 

So I want to know, how do you reward yourself? Food, shopping, night out away from the family? We all motivate and reward ourselves differently but we all know it works!

Now if you want to reward yourself or reward someone else there is a fab little place online that you can purchase gift cards and/or sell unused gift cards. Raise  has got you covered.