That's a wrap!

That's it, that's all. I just wrapped up my last scheduled race of this year. I can't believe I'm done. I can't even begin to tell you what a crazy journey it has been.

I started the new year by signing up for my very first Ironman 70.3. I had no idea what was in store for me. Then I continued to add all sorts of firsts to my list. I competed in all sorts of race distances for both running and triathlon. On top of it all I got my first awesome PR in a 10km race. I'm still surprised over that one. 

So what were all of my firsts? I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon.

It was cold but fun.

I completed my first half marathon with a surprising time of 2 hours and 3 minutes. I went in hoping for  2 hours and 15 minutes. Another check off the bucket list, and I got to do it with my super great and very talented friend. 

 

I then went on to do another Olympic distance triathlon and another half marathon. These all seem like a walk in the park though now that I've done a half Ironman.

Were all of these races perfect? Nope! Was I ready for all of these races? Definitely not but I've come to learn from every good race come a lot more bad races and I have learnt more from those bad races then I will ever learn from those good races. 

You definitely experience some surprises, some disappointments, but I have to say I enjoyed every single race good and bad. Even though the results didn't show 100% speed I knew I was always giving 100% heart and 100% effort. 

So how did I finish off my season? With a bang of course! After doing my "A" race the Calgary Ironman, I did a sprint triathlon 1 week later. Was this the smartest idea ever? Probably not. After doing a half iron distance you need to take about 2 weeks to recover. However the sprint triathlon I competed in is one of my favourite races out there and I had my two very good buddies racing as well. So I went in knowing my body was not going to do much for me so it was all fun and nothing but fun.

The swim was lovely except my legs were so tired that I could barely kick. I definitely found a nice person to draft off of.

The bike was a little better. I had one guy run into me as we were mounting our bikes and then he yelled at me for passing on the right. Um, I don't think the rule applies when we are still at the mount line. Anyways, I knew to get ahead of that guy before he tried to run me over again.

After I parked my bike I headed out on the run. After a few minutes I started to question if I took the wrong path. I only saw a handful of people. I kept going. My legs were seriously screaming at me. I felt like I was running hard but not going anywhere. After I found the turnaround and started heading back that's when I saw everyone was catching me. I had nothing. I got passed and it was okay. 

I came in 3rd in my age group and 22nd overall. Even with an exhausted body, I really enjoyed the race and best of all, I had a blast.

That night after the race I was so tired that I went to bed at 9:30pm. I woke up the next day at 9am. I'm almost embarrassed to even admit that but it's true. I really was tired.

So what next? The Sea Wheeze half marathon!!!

I had the pleasure to join my sister, her good friend, and my super fabulous friend to hit the roads of Vancouver and experience the craziest half marathon I have ever done.

Lucky or unlucky I'm still not sure but Thursday night I did not have a good sleep so when the rest of the crew stir at 6am I was more then happy to hop into the shower and get my day going. Since everyone else was feeling a little less motivated I offered to head down to the Sea Wheeze expo and get in line for our package pickup. Good thing I did because by the time the rest of my crew showed up the line was so long that I believe I heard it was a 3 hour wait to get in once the doors opened. We got in within 20 minutes (after I stood in line for an hour and a half).

So what do you do when you wait in line?

You get entertained by crazy magicians.

After our fun wait we walked through the doors and it was like the gates of heaven opened for us. (Start the choir)

This went quick.

After we received our race pack then we could head into the expo and let me tell you, it was mayhem!

There were people everywhere. They are running around pulling anything and everything off of the racks and then they run to a corner of the room for little privacy and start trying on all of this fab Lululemon clothing.  

Exhibit A- She looks a lot like me doesn't she?   ; )   I'm telling you these ladies are crazy!!!

Then if you don't like something you offer it to your equally crazy friends and then to your equally crazy neighbours and everyone ends up happy... and broke.

So after our shopping needs are met we move outside to the rest of the expo.

There was airbrush tattoos.

Fruit popsicles

There was popcorn, organic cotton candy, Vega protein smoothies. You could get your hair done, your nails done, and if you were willing to wait in the enormous line up you could even get a massage. I wasn't willing to wait that long. There was so much going on that I probably even missed some things.

Race morning we got up bright and early. Luckily our hotel was only two blocks from the start/finish. I was feeling pretty sluggish but the mantra today was all about having fun.

Unfortunately we didn't bring our phones with us to take pictures because we didn't have pockets to carry them and I didn't want to hold mine the entire way. Needless too say, I missed out on a lot of great photos : (

We did document my exhaustion though...

I have never been so tired. I will be the first to admit, 3 races in less then 3 weeks is not a good idea! Moving on...

We got showered up post race, did I mention the goodies? Our neat wooden medals that also served as a photo holder, water, coconut water, aromatherapy for our sore muscles, and Skull Candy headphones! We were spoiled. There was also a breakfast after but I was so cold I walked back to the hotel to warm up in a shower.

After getting cleaned up we headed to the fabulous Raw Restaurant Gorilla Food. OMG! So good!!!

After refuelling we had a little siesta and then did some more touring. Then we got taken to the Sea Wheeze after party. 

We had yoga which was amazing

and we got to listen to some pretty great music and eat some food and just hang out with some pretty great people...

I seriously love this girl!!!!

So that's it. I'm done. Now what? REST!!!!! I was hoping to have a little holiday down to California to participate in the fabulous See Jane Run Women's Triathlon but I just can't get the time off to do so.

I highly recommend this race. My favourite races are the women's only races because as we compete together we build a great bond. My closest friend are the ones I train and compete with. We have a magical friendship that we can push each other while we train and also support them even if we have a bad race. For some reason this doesn't appear as much when we are on the course with men. If you have the opportunity to try this race do it.

Don't worry about me not racing for a while. I will still entertain you with my wit and charm because I will still be training. I will also be having knee surgery in the fall. So I can guarantee that I will have plenty of great stories to tell.

You've come a long way

Before I even begin, this is going to be a very long post. I am warning you now...

Well, it's been a few weeks since you last heard from me. I was going to take my computer with me to document every single thing on my journey to my first Ironman 70.3. Right before we left I decided against it. I figured it was best if I could just stay under the radar and limit my computer time it would be best for everyone. I think I was right in doing so but now you will be plagued with my ridiculously long post race recap. Again, I am sorry for that.

I chose Calgary Ironman because that is where I am from originaly. Well Southern Alberta but I did live in Calgary for 12 years after graduating from High School. So we figured we could tie in the race with our annual visit. This means a very long drive ahead of us.

2 days of driving to be honest. Living on the Island means to leave it we need to either fly or take a boat. We decided on the latter...

We usually take a ferry into the USA because the drive is a little more manageable. We have also planned out the perfect coffee route. Yes, you read that right. We plan our road trips around where we can stop for the best coffee! First stop is in our neighborhood. Drumroaster Coffee is amazing!!!! Then we make a stop in Seattle to the fabulous Stumptown Coffee. FYI they have locations in Portland and New York. Then after usually staying over in Spokane, Washington we make a quick pit stop in Sandpoint, Idaho for our favourite Evans Brothers. 

These coffee stops are what makes the trip worthwhile.

We arrived at my parents house to get settled in for the next 2 weeks. The kids had a blast and I got to concentrate in the last week of training before my big day. 

I got in some good pool swims, some lovely warm road rides and of course some little runs. I also had to take the plunge and get in at least 2 more open water swims.

I don't know if you can see the colour of that water but it is dirty! and cold! I regretted going in right from the start.

It was super windy when I went in and I felt like I was fighting the swim the entire time but I did it. On to other things.

So the weeks leading up to your big race or as we like to call it our "A" race. All sorts of things happen. There are nerves to cope with, little hiccups to deal with, and day to day living as well. I had all of the above plus my tires started falling apart. Or should I say unraveling. 

This is the best photo I could do but the threads started coming off but then they would wrap around my wheel and get spun onto the wheel. Probably not a good thing to have happen. Luckily my brother in law is an uber cyclist who is more then happy to help me out. Two days before the race he picked me up new tires for the bike. He assisted me on getting them all put back together. Note assisting? My husband made it very clear that I had to do it and Darren was just supposed to guide me. Nice husband eh? 

So after dealing with tires failing, family stuff, anxiety and other things (these other things have to do with the race but I'm not going to get into the dirty details)  it was time to just take it all in. The big day arrived. July 28th 4:30am the husband and I slowly peel ourselves out of the bed and get ready. I think he was as nervous as I was. He drove me to the swim start which was at Mackenzie Lake in SE Calgary. It's a nice clear, clean manmade lake. The air temp that morning was a little cool.

I tried my best to keep my nerves under control. These races are funny because you get all sorts. The pro's who have done this a million times. The age groupers who think they are hot stuff and have the gear to prove it but they really are no better then myself (which by the way I think I was parked in between those types. They had super fancy Cervelo's and were less then friendly at set up and I never did see them again. Their bikes were still there when I came out of the water).

There are the newbies like me who wander around not really knowing what to do with themselves. There also the weekenders who don't really train for this but show up with whatever bike they can find and they still do awesome. It is definitely an interesting mix.

The much needed stop at the porta potty before donning the wetsuit. 

Then it's time. I have no more pictures after this. The husband left me to do my thing. I caught up with my new friends that live close to me on the Island and they were doing the race too. We had a brief chat and pep talk before we got ready for the swim. It was a beach start which I had never done nor practiced for. So when the horn went off I ran and dove in. The goggles leaked and I discovered we were still shallow. Stood up, fixed my goggles and dove back in and swam my little heart out. I went in the newbie group so I was in the last wave. So when I caught up to the men (who started 10 min before us) I knew I was in good shape. I got out of the water and they had wetsuit strippers but it was looking busy so I just kept running to my T1. Wetsuit came off better then ever. Swim time: 35:17

 Got my helmut and bike shoes on and hit the road. It was cold out. I briefly thought that I should have actually worn a jacket or at least arm warmers but after being on the for a few minutes I din't notice it much. 

The bike course in my eyes was pretty flat. Although most would say it was challenging with a few tough hills. Now in Alberta this is true. However coming from the Island the bike course really wasn't that tough. 

I caught up to my cousin about 20-30km into the bike. I think he was a little surprised and shocked to see me this early on (Remember he had a 10 min head start). So I of course had to  tease him a bit. 

I met a new friend on the bike course. A guy named Ryan. We were cycling pretty much the same speed for 2/3 of the course and got to know each other. I think he lost steam though because I never saw home again after Brag Creek.

the family was parked along the last 1/3rd of the bike course. Again, no pictures because my husband forgot the camera in the car : (

They did have a great sign that the girls made.

Notice the swimmer, cyclist and runner? My niece insisted my oldest add those guys.

It really is great to have support along the bike course. It can get a little lonely out there.

Right after I saw the family there was a big crash on the course. It happened minutes in front of me because by the time I went through they were all still laying on the pavement and the ambulances had not arrived yet.  My brother in law is a paramedic and my sister in law is an ER nurse. Because they were just watching me they were also tight there at the crash sight so they ended up helping out, they did not make it to T2 to cheer me on but I was glad to hear that they helped out with the crash. There were 3 cyclists involved and all I know is 1 swerved to avoid something and the other 2 got caught up in it. Scary stuff. 

The bike course was a little sketchy. It was hard not to draft since every time I passed someone there would be another person right in front of them. On one part they had signs to notify motorists of the race but they place them in the shoulder right where we had to ride so we had to swerve around them either onto rumble strips or into traffic. At one point I had to back off because I got caught up in a group of 7 or 8 of us. It was fast, scary and very dangerous. I just let them get ahead.

Came into T2 very happy and thrilled with my 87km ride at 2:52

Running is definitely my worst sport of the 3 disciplines. After having my knee issue I was still nervous that I wasn't going to be able to run. So once I got off my bike and into my running shoes I hoped for the best. My feet were numb from the bike. It was a lot colder then I thought. It took a good 3 km before they started to thaw out. Funny thing was my right foot still felt funny. So I decided to stop and take my shoe off to investigate. Turns our I had a Gu Gel in my shoe...ooops!

Once that was dealt with I was good to go. 

My knee was a little achy so I didn't push too hard on the first half of the run course. There were two massive hills and I did walk those. I took my time at the aid stations taking in a gel and a few sips of water. I felt pretty good up until around 14km. My knee was starting to hurt more and more, I was feeling tired. 17km was even tougher. I knew I was close and kept chanting my mantra. Push through it, the pain will pass. The family made it to the end of the race to catch me go by the last 3 km. 

Again, so nice to see them cheering me on. The last 2km was pure hell. I was exhausted, my legs were seizing up. I felt like everyone was passing me at this point. I was neck and neck with another lady holding a decent pace. We looked at each other about 500m from the finish and couldn't help but laugh at our pain and suffering. 

Then you start seeing all of the spectators. Total strangers cheering you on. The music is blaring and the announcer calls out your name. The feeling is vey emotional. It's a feeling I have never had before. It's at that moment that you realize all that hard work has paid off. 

I did it! Not only did I do it but I killed my goal time!

5hours, 37 minutes and 21 seconds!

Just barely holding on to the railing after.

The crazy large medal/belt buckle. I swear this thing weighed 20lbs.

My cousin and I after he crossed the line.

I had a fantastic race. I could not have done this race without all of the fabulous support from my friends and family, my training buddies, my treatment providers and of course my coach. 

All those training rides and runs with Steph, Dale, Rikst, Johny. 

My bike builder Al, my bike fitter Steve, My "guy" Rob who kept my knee under control. All of my friends who had faith in me that yes I can do this and yes I will do it well. 

My wonderful coach Wade has stood by me over the last 7 months and guided me through everything. He believed in my goal and knew I was able to do it. He gave me the support I needed when I got injured, reassured me when I wasn't feeling confident. I could not have asked for anything more.

My husband deserves the biggest shout out of them all. From the first day I signed up for this race and even today a week after the race he supported me. He believed in me and did whatever it took to help me get here. He never complained when I was out late doing my swims or gone all weekend fitting in my long training hours.  

So what does a gluten free vegan do after completing her first Ironman 70.3?

Yup! She has a Tim Hortens doughnut. Unfortunately post race food was scarce and this girl needed something glutenous. Heck I think I deserved it!

Crunch time

Eeeeeekkkkkk! Less then 2 weeks until...

I just got big news yesterday while at my other race. Due to the flooding in Alberta in June they have changed our swim location and bike route. Normally I might freak out a bit because changes this close to a race can be scary but I'm going to be honest...

I was dreading the swim in Ghost Dam. Seriously, it is one cold body of water. When I lived in Calgary the only way you went into Ghost was with a dry suit. Did you catch that? Yup, I said DRY suit. Now we will be swimming in the lovely temperatures of Mackenzie Lake. I can't remember but I'm pretty sure it's a manmade lake. Then we ride out 22X to Bragg Creek then back into Calgary. I'm a little bummed about the bike distance being shortened to 86km because I feel like my cycling is on fire right now. I am averaging 30km/hour consistently. My running on the other hand is not so good. Enough about that later.

So as I mentioned I had a race yesterday. So how do you prep for your last race before the big one?

That's right. You go out dancing. FYI, I probably should have rested a bit more but hey I had loads of fun!!!

My little poopsy pie just wanted to dance in my arms.

Big sis couldn't get enough dancing.

The fabulous live band. These guys are awesome! I can't remember the name of the band but they played some great music.

and what's a party without a little Frisbee???

The night ended a little earlier then planed due to the little one having a minor meltdown. Okay that was an understatement. I think hubby was ready to feed her to the wolves after this. I was just happy to spend time with a lovely friend.

So Sunday morning up bright and early. Picked up my lovely friend "PT" for hard core personal trainer. Got to race site for 7am. Got to set up with my bestie and fav training partner "S"

As we were setting up she looks at me and says"um, I think I forgot my timing chip". Seriously? Luckily it happened to be at the bottom of her basket. Phew!

Team Berg set up. I should have taken another picture when our other lovely friend and team Berg member joined us. We cleaned up the joint!

Myself and "PT" ready to roll. Actually we were just waiting in line for the porta potties.

And, some other lovely ladies. Seriously this is my favourite race because all of us do it together. It's super low key lots of fun and I get to be on the course with all of my good buddies.

Normally I don't like posting pictures of me running because, well, they are BAD!!!  However this is the only race photo I have of yesterday so...

I'll be honest. I was not feeling well. I had to duck into the bushes a few times to um, well, you know. I am so collapsed.  Worst part about this photos is my coaches wife took it so he of course see's everything I'm doing wrong. Now I need to remember to stay tall. Another lesson learned.

Anyways, I placed second in my age group and my knee didn't completely give out. I would say this all ended well. 

My lovely friend "R" and I compared ugly feet and most bandaged.

We were quite the pair.

Best part of the day? The family came to cheer me on. Big sis even made a sign.

So now I start my taper for my first 70.3 Ironman. I am still super nervous but I definitely feel more at ease about the course changes. Now it's time to just enjoy the ride.

  

Counting down

How do you get motivation to train when the weather is hot and all you want to do is be lazy at the lake or beach?

The girls and I have been soaking up the sun every chance that we get. The weather has been fabulous. I should be training hard since we are coming up to my 2 week mark right before my big race.

I'm going to be honest, I am totally freaking out. Why? I don't know for sure. My coach says I've done the training, my friends and training partners have the confidence that I am on track but yet I am nervous like you wouldn't believe. I get twitchy just thinking about it. I just found out that the water temperature in Ghost Dam (where the swim will be) is a nippy 13*. Yikes!!!!! That freaks me out a bit since I've been training in water that's 16-18*. I'm also nervous about my knee. Having a torn meniscus is not fun and I have more then a few people thinking I am beyond crazy racing with one. I worry that it is going to completely give out on the run portion. Yes I could walk but remember this is a half marathon I'm running after riding 95km. If I have to walk 10km back that's going to take me forever.

I am so honoured to have people working with me to get me as healthy and injury free as possible. I actually feel like a pro athlete. I had an awesome professional bike fit yesterday by the great Steve Lund that I'm going to test out today. Saturday I am going in for my special treatment by the awesome Rob Pearce.  My bike guy Berg Bikes has checked and checked again that my bike is in tip top shape and will get me through the race in a good position. My awesome coach has been more then patient with me reassuring that I am going to be just fine. 

All of these people have great faith in me and have totally helped me get to this point. I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for their support. Seriously they really do make me feel like I'm a pro!

This past week I had some big workouts to accomplish and thankfully I had some awesome friends to help me survive them.

My lovely, amazing and crazy hard core cyclist buddy after we did a great brick workout. There are smiles so it couldn't have been that bad. I'm still trying to convince her to join the crazy world of triathlon.

My big ride this week was an 80km that turned into at least 85km thanks to me not turning my Garmin back on after this...

Yup, a flat! The crazy thing was, my husband told my riding buddies right before we left for our ride to make me stop halfway through our ride to make me change my rear wheel because I haven't done it yet on the new bike. How ironic that I got a flat. Needless to say I sent him a text that wasn't very kind ; ) 

So my buddies sat on the side of the road heckling me while I changed the wheel all by myself. 

14 minutes later (I know that needs work) I finally get everything back together. 

Off we go to ride in the most beautiful part of the world. With the greatest of friends.

There you have it. I'm now gearing down for my 2 weeks of tapering. I have a race this weekend that I am treating as a training day. Looking forward to seeing lots of great friends out on the course and just having some fun. No pressure!!!!!

I'll be back for one more post for a race recap and then we are off to Calgary to prep me for the big one!

  

The heat is on

Happy belated Canada day!!! 

We had a gorgeously hot Canada day and celebrated with the family. 

I got up bright and early and did a nice swim followed by a bike ride that didn't turn out the way we had hoped. The swim was lovely and warm, we treated it as a brick workout, ran out of the water, stripped our wetsuits off then got ready to ride the route of an upcoming race. We decided to make sure we were properly protected from the sun. Thank goodness "S" brought sunscreen because I completely forgot mine.

By the looks of it you would think she slathered me rather well...

Apparently she missed a spot. OUCH!!!!!

Anyways, off onto the bike. We have done this upcoming triathlon a few times but the bike course has changed and "S" and I aren't familiar with the area. I printed a map to guide us and you would have thought that would help. Unfortunately we totally missed our turn around. We were supposed to only do 30km but it turned into more like a 40km by the time we were done. We never did find our turn around spot. We brought along a new riding buddy and I'm pretty sure she thought we were nuts. She fits right in. I think she has joined our team awesome!

After I got cleaned up from my hot sweaty bike ride I headed off with the family to join in on some Canada Day festivities.

What a great day!

What else did I do last week?

"S" and I did an open water swim at 9pm. It was getting dark by the time we got out of the water but it was so worth the swim.

I also had to be creative and do my bike training indoors due to husband being away at meetings and no babysitter.

Someone fell and hurt her foot and needed a lot of love.

Once I gave her some love she was soooooo happy.

I also had a great run the other day. I've been seeing "my guy" since the knee has been a big problem for me. He manipulates it and it gives me enough relief that I can run on it. It still hurts but its not excruciating. So after my appointment with him I went out for a run to test the waters. I did an easy 5k and my first split was a 4:10/km. I have never ran a split that fast in my life!!!! If only I could maintain that pace. Yesterday I did a crazy 5km run 3 times. One 5km first thing in the morning, 1 right smack in the middle of  a super hot day and my last one was after the kids went to bed thinking it might have cooled off a bit. It was not any cooler. I have to say the last run of the day was super tough. I was tired, I was hot and all I wanted to do was relax. But I did it and that is all that matters!

Speaking of running. See Jane Run Seattle race is coming up fast. SJR race series is absolutely fabulous. Not only do you get to race with fabulous women but you also get a lovely finishers medal, champagne and chocolate!!!!

If you are close to Seattle I really think you should give this race a try. Details are HERE.

Enjoy this super nice weather, I'm off to the beach!