Tuesday afternoon I got a phone call from Rosheen asking me if I wanted to go to Vancouver with her the next day, (Wednesday), as she had to go over for a meeting. I really wanted to go, but wasn’t sure how the logistics would work seeing as I had promised my Mom that I would have a “girl’s night” with her and Danielle later that evening. Kitt suggested that we look into Harbour Air or Helijet if we were worried about time. Rosheen called back a few minutes later to say that with our work discount, we could fly standby return for $150 each taxes included. Considering that the ferry is now $120+ roundtrip for just one person and thier vehicle, and that we wouldn’t have to deal with rush hour OR finding parking, we were set! With only 10 more days to go till the wedding, a stress relieving mini break would be perfect! The only thing that I was worried about was that I worked from 7pm Tuesday evening till 3am Wednesday morning and I knew I would be really tired. I am definately NOT a morning person!!

So I got off work and crawled into bed at 0330hrs and was rudely awakened by a persistant noise from somewhere on the night stand a very short while later. Then, in classic Devon fashion, it became a game of “Hit snooze and sleep more.” I am a master of this game, but I knew that when Kitt got up (he was driving us downtown on his way to work) the game was up. No matter how tired I am though, it’s always uplifting to see a happy dog wagging it’s tail while waiting for you at the door! Poor Panda was going to be alone for nearly 12 hours so we went for a 10 minute brisk walk around the block, and although it was great for her, it left me with about 5 minutes to get changed before we headed out the door.

We picked up Rosheen and Kitt dropped us as close to the terminal as he could before he had to turn around to head back to the firehall. Once we got to the terminal it was so exciting! I’d never been on a seaplane before, and the thought of it only taking 30 minutes to get to Stanley Park in Vancouver was crazy talk! Before we knew it we were on the plane with 10 other people and awaiting take off. I’ve been in the Inner Harbour paddling when these planes have taken off so it was awesome to be on the other side of the coin. Take off was very quick, but noisy. The ride was surprisingly smooth and worry free, except for the fan blowing air directly into my eyes! I tried to solve the problem by closing them, only to jerk awake 15 minutes later as we started to descend into the Vancouver harbour. I have never actually slept on a plane before so I was pretty surprised, and had a good idea of how exhausted I would be by the end of the day.

The terminal is 1 block from West Pender and Thurlow, right where Rosheen was going to have her meeting at 1100. Only problem was that it was 0830. What are 2 girls to do in Vancouver? Get tea to drink and talk about how we should have brought our running stuff and gone around Stanley Park! Or the trail from Ambleside Beach up to Cleveland Dam in the North Shore. We both agreed next time we would be all over it. We started to wander up to Robson and look at the stores just opening. Right away we got into a few stores and knocked half of the things on our list off. It was great fun to try on shoes that cost $500 but you wouldn’t be able to do anything but sit at a desk with. The time for Rosheen’s meeting came and I walked back to the building with her, then set off to amuse myself for a few hours. I had heard about a Nike store near Stanley Park where runners could go in and test drive different shoes and pieces of clothing, but instead of trying to find it, the girly girl in me that I usually try and supress reared her head and I went back up to Robson.

I had forgotten how much fun it can be to just walk and drift for the sheer enjoyment of walking and people watching. I explored a few stores, mostly looking for clothing deals (my fashionista sis Danielle took a look thru my closet, sighed and told me that dry-fit technical clothing in all colors did NOT constitute a wardrobe!) and gifts for the wedding party. Just as my stomach gave a long, loud growl, Rosheen called to say she was done and please, let’s do lunch. Perfect timing. On one of the corners near Robson and Thurlow there is a great little sushi joint called Tsunami Sushi where, if you sit at the bar, assorted plates of sushi float by in little boats and you are charged according to what plate you choose. 10 plates and 30 minutes later we were done. Full and tired. Not a good combination though as we both just wanted to find a place to nap!

We persevered though, for the good of our wardrobes and went into one of Rosheen’s favorite stores, Banana Republic. I must admit that this was my first time in this store and it made a sizeable dent in my wallet! All thier summer office apparel was on sale, so we grabbed a little of this and that, spent some time in the changeroom and then onto the till! It was fun to try on pants that were the same price as a new pair of Asic Kinseis, and mine desparately need replacing so I couldn’t justify it! Once we got outside into the beautiful sun we decided that it was maybe time to head home. Purchases in hand, we strolled back down to the terminal and waited to board. It was awesome, even though we were standby we always got on the first available flight. I tried to stay awake but it was no use. Once again I woke up as the plane started to descend for the water.

After picking up the truck from Kitt at the firehall and dropping Rosheen off at home I really craved a nap. Panda’s happy expectant face at the door told me maybe I’d sleep after I threw the ball for her at the park for a while. Aside from the fact that she had been home alone for 10 hours, she’s just too cute to pass up! 30 minutes later, all played out, we came home again and I tried to nap. It didn’t work at all. The only thing I could see was how messy my kitchen was and how much dog hair had collected in the corners in just 2 days. Kitt came home and I knew I was too tired to sleep. Best to do something, so I went to Thrifty’s and bought groceries for the next week. I hopped in the shower when I finished putting everything away and got the “where are you?” phone call from Mom and ran up to her place.

It was a surprise bridal shower!! My amazing Mom had thrown me a beautiful tea party style bridal shower with wonderful nibblies, tea and some hilarious games! My favorite was dressing Kitt, my brother Richard, and Danielle’s boyfriend Shaun up in toilet paper wedding gowns for a judged fashion show! I have not laughed that hard in a long time. Hopefully pictures will soon follow this post… I received so many fantastic gifts and feel thoroughly spoiled. Thank you everyone! I promise to start churning out the cookies and other recipes from the cook books as soon as the wedding is over! Around 10 we had cheesecake and tea and everyone started to head for home. Kitt and I went back downstairs and literally collapsed into bed. Thank you Mom for the wonderful shower!!

Over the last month our team has been very lucky. First came our amazing sponsor, Marty’s Mountain Cycle who has been so incredibly supportive. Next came our great first race as team Marty’s Mountain Cycle. Now I am very pleased to introduce Ocean River Sports of Victoria as our kayak sponsor, and our brand new tandem boat, the Doubleshot, by Point 65 Kayaks from Sweden. This is the first Point 65 tandem in North America and Kitt and I are the very willing guinea pigs!

This boat is sweet!! It’s 20 feet long, 26 inches wide, weighs in at 84 lbs, orange in color (it matters to us girls!) and can really move. It’s a new design by Nigel Foster with a shallow arched/hard chine hull configuration that allows coordinated paddling teams to make really accurate edged turns. Brian (the owner of Ocean River and original creator of Current Designs Kayaks) has dubbed it the “Passat Killer” and I can’t wait to race it at Cumberland and see! When we first took it out Kitt and I noticed almost immediately how very maneuverable it was. It actually skates into the corners which makes it super fun to paddle. One of my favorite things about the Doubleshot is that while it’s fast for racing, it also has tons of room for expeditions. This kind of duality in a boat is exactly what we wanted, race it in a MOMAR one day, take off for a week in the Broken Group the next. There are 2 large hatches both forward and aft, a middle sized mid compartment and 2 day hatches.

My one complaint is that my paddling skills aren’t good enough to take full advantage of how fast this boat really is. Just as I started to realize this Brian offered to teach Kitt and I how to use wing paddles and help us tweak and refine our paddling technique so we could really give it a fair shot at racing this boat. As with all things outdoorsy, Kitt’s skills dwarf mine, but I am game to learn. When Brian said this I started to squirm with excitement and wanted to go out and start right away! Ocean River is the perfect kayak sponsor for us, they carry everything a paddler could possibly want and have a large selection of clothing and camping/outdoor gear. Thank you very much Brian!

If you are interested in having a look at this great tandem (or taking it for a paddle! If you do - let me know what you think!) it’s kept in the showroom at Ocean River Sports. It’s adventure racing debut will be at the MOMAR in Cumberland on September 27th.

For me, it was a day where I finally saw all my training come together. All my hours running and racing the trails around Victoria, all the time and practice on the bike, it was worth every moment, tear and drop of sweat. This is also the first time I’ve ever tried to put my pain or discomfort in my “pain box” while racing and although I was quite skeptical at first, it actually worked really, really well.

Rosheen and I managed to squeek out the second fastest paddle in our catagory, 30 seconds behind the leaders, which surprised us both because it was our first time ever in a double kayak, much less paddling together. I don’t recommend this practice normally, but our earlier attempts to get together and paddle fizzled because of our crazy schedules. We lucked out that we work really, really well together! We had a brilliant transition at TA 1 to the bike and were the only duo female team off with the lead pack, something that I’ve never been able to do before, (I was thanking my winter base miles!) Rosheen is super strong on the road and keeping up with her was a real challenge. Sometimes it took all I had just to hang onto her back tire and telling myself, “just 10 more seconds, you only have to hang on for 10 more seconds.”

As we got off Renfrew Rd into Burnt Bridge we started to see lots of racers from the long course coming off the old Burnt Bridge Classic course. We caught and rode with a group of them up the east hill towards the old Tressel until they all stopped at the very well flagged junction to check their maps. Having been in this area tons (and it being very obvious where the turn was due to the excellent flagging) I knew exactly where we were supposed to go and Rosheen and I left them all and started to blast down the Trans Canada Trail. The only problem about leading down the trail is now we had everyone breathing down our necks from both the long course and the short! Stronger riders began to overtake us, most were your classic friendly adventure racers, but a few were rude (and you know who you are - karma!) Our first experience with the unfriendly was 2 guys from the long course, one whom rammed my wheel until I pulled way off the trail so he could pass. He didn’t speak a word till he was passing Rosheen, (who was riding ahead of me), at which point he called out “On your right ladies.” Grrrr… I tried looking for him at the after party but realized my glass of cider was more deserving of my time! Next we enountered 2 very nice girls from the long course, one of whom, as she was overtaking us, slammed into Rosheen’s back tire and sent her flying. She then landed on Rosheen as she lost her own balance. It was messy. Though I didn’t know it at the time, Rosheen really hurt her left foot and is now ordered to not run by her doctor until further notice. You never would have known she was in pain, the whole rest of the race she had a big grin on her face.

We were passed by a number of teams until we came to a “choose your own route” section between CP 3 and CP 4. There was a hint on the map that the punch for CP 3 was about 100m from the trail junction and it was amazing how many people were just standing at the intersection looking in the immediate vicinity only. We rode down, found it, and made our decision about the route. The 2 options were “steep” hill ride to the top of the Tressel where CP 4 was, or the other was a very, very technical section of single track that continued along the river and ended at the brutal set of stairs where you would have to hike-a-bike up after to continue the rest of the race. Being better hill climbers, we chose the “steep” hill. Thank goodness we did. The hill turned out to be not steep at all, about 2 minutes of spinning, then mostly downhill and rolly till the CP. We were fully prepared for the CP to be at the bottom of the Tressel and planned to bail off our bikes, into our running shoes and burn down there and back up. As it turned out, the CP was at the TOP of the tressel (I nearly cried I was soooo happy!). All we had to do was ride right up to it, punch, turn around and burn rubber. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. We passed a number of teams that we never saw again till the after party, it was such a cool feeling!

Out of CP 4 we lightly tailed 2 guys from the long course until they missed the very well flagged turn and we never saw them again either. This is one of the things about adventure racing that I love: we weren’t the fittest or the most experienced team there, but little things like watching for the flagging and course markers can be a huge equalizer. Next was the much anticipated river crossing for CP 5 and CP 6. Although it was a perfect 19 degrees, overcast and lightly raining, I was looking forward to cooling off with a nice dip in the river. We rolled into CP 5, left the bikes, into trail runners, kept the helmets and ran/scrambled down the side of the river towards the next CP. When we reached it a volunteer informed us that we had 2 choices: swim across (shorter) or scramble further down and across some of the big rocks (longer). Being a big fan of shortcuts, I opted to swim across. I opened the map bag, took out the passport, stuck it in my mouth and jumped in. Thank goodness it was in my mouth too, because when I hit the water I wanted to shriek like a little girl. It was bloody freezing!! Instantly it felt like I had a metal band constricting my chest and I actually had to talk to myself in my head to keep from starting to hyperventilating. I paddled the fastest doggie paddle ever seen, punched the passport and paddled my butt off back. I think Panda, our shepherd, would have been proud.

I hauled myself out up the rocks and had to really focus on getting my breathing back under control as Rosheen and I made our way back to the bikes as quick as we could. I then noticed that the map bag hadn’t been fully closed when I jumped in and the map was disintigrating. Oh crap. Dumb, dumb move. I later found out that my phone, packed at the bottom of my pack in a ziploc baggie for emergencies, also did not survive the dip. I didn’t have time to vacuum seal it like I normally do, so overall it was an expensive mistake. Fortunately for us the trail was very easy from this point on: when presented with an intersection, stick left until we hit the Quarry. 2 more big climbs in the silty ground and we hit CP 7, posed for a photo, and it was downhill all the way to the Quarry. Once at the Quarry we punched in at CP 8, grabbed a proffered pool noodle, jumped in, swam across to CP 9, punched, and swam back. Back on the bikes, up the big hill on the north side of the Quarry right into CP 10 and TA 2 where we could ditch the bikes permenantly for trail runners and our compass.

Last year in my haste, I didn’t fully read the orienteering map that said “May be completed in any order” and lost a little time crisscrossing the mountain a few times. This year I made sure I read everything on it but it actually still made sense to do the controls in order, starting with “A” all the way to “G”. Rosheen and I scurried around and I kept a close eye on my watch, not wanting to take more than 15 minutes for any one control. This is where it got tricky, you could take a 20 minute penalty for any missed control and zoom to the finish line, but I really thought we could find them all if I didn’t make any navigational errors. We ended up finding all 7 in 1hr 14min 15 sec, the fastest out of all the duo female teams and 6th fastest out of the 29 other teams in the short course. I think we averaged around 10min 20 sec for each control and I was estatic. This was my second time being the navigator and I was petrified about making an error that would put us off course or get us lost. This year was a really good combination of trail running and bushwacking, a few more scars on my legs and a little bit of blood, but TOTALLY worth it!

The descent down to the finish line was a steep hill and we could hear the announcers talking and it sounded like a good party. We let loose and came screaming down to find the team Frog Power (a super nice couple both having flown in from Quebec on Thursday) just in front of us. Rosheen and I gunned it and just pulled in front of them by 11 seconds right at the line. We were done. At that point I didn’t care how we did, I wanted some food, a little water (having run out 45 minutes ago) and to find Kitt and tell him we had a great time. Almost immediately I was thinking about how this race was different for me: I hurt through it (as you always do) but this time I still pushed, I never gave up forward momentum. I later found out that if I had pushed harder still, we would gave made top 3 in our group and maybe top 10 overall. You know what? It gives me something to think about all winter as I ride and run all the more base miles.

I would be remiss of me to not mention anything about the classic killer after-party that Bryan always throws with one of these MOMAR’s. It was at one of my favorite places in the Cowichan, Merridale Cidery. The food was brilliant, I surprised myself with my fastest sprint ever to the the front of the line as soon as the buffet opened (and yes, I was the chick in line for seconds before they called for seconds…) and more importantly, so was the cider! I am a HUGE fan of the Merriberri and always seemed to have a glass of it in my hand throughout the night… We won some door prizes, had some laughs at the slideshow, but most importantly, danced our butts off to the great live band! When it did finally wind down, Rosheen, Kitt and I piled in the truck to go back down to Victoria. I don’t remember much of the ride back home, just trying to get comfy in my seat and catch a little nap! I’m positive I was asleep within 3.2 seconds of my head hitting the pillow. It was an amazing day and a great party. And best of all, Rosheen hasn’t disavowed me as a friend after talking her into racing!

I would have posted sooner but Kitt and I took off on a little canoe trip (cuz I hadn’t gotten enough paddling on Saturday) to Portland Island (with it’s maurading racoons! video to follow) with our new boat!

Hard to believe our wedding is 3 weeks away as of this Saturday (race day!) there is still so much to do. The stress of running around like a chicken with no head probably helped with the whole cold issue too. This next few days before the race are going to be divided (hopefully relatively evenly) between some light training, final bike tune-up, work, and, dum dum dum, wedding stuff.

This morning at work I saw on the news that racer Marty Lund of Saskatchewan passed away during the Race the Rockies in Golden this past weekend. My sympathies and condolences to his family during this time. I remember getting the phone call that my father had passed away a few years ago and there is no other way to describe it other than it feels as if your heart has been wrenched from your body. Definately the worst moment of my life.

Thursday July 17th - hike along Juan de Fuca Ridge
Friday July 18th - hike along Juan de Fuca Ridge
Saturday July 19th - unplanned rest (worked all day)
Sunday July 20th - 1 hr LSD
Monday July 21st - plan: run w/ Rosheen
Tuesday July 22nd - plan: run w/ Rosheen
Wednesday July 23rd - plan: ride w/ Kitt
Thrusday July 24th - plan: run & planned paddle w/ Rosheen
Friday July 25th - plan: light run or ride
Saturday July 26th - **RACE DAY**

Rosheen and I decided that with the great weather, today would be an ideal day to take the bikes up to Shawnigan and I could show her the general area that the race might cover next weekend. Being that this was my old stomping ground, I remembered most of the bike route and the orienteering section. We started in the provincial park parking lot, took a look at the kayak launch and bike transition area from last year, hopped onto the Cowichan Trail and went north towards the Kinsol Tressel.

As we stood at the top looking down towards the river it brought back memories of the pain. It was a LONG way down, nice cooling water crossing, a LONG way up to the check point at the top of the other side. Take a quick breath, repeat. Studies say your body doesn’t remember pain, but standing at the top looking down, I beg to differ! Instead of going down and leaving the bikes unattended we just looked and said “Soon enough!” I had heard from sources (who will remain nameless) in my old running club, Ceevacs, that the bike trail specifically cut for last year’s race was now in really good condition. I was stoked at this news cuz last year, most of the trail was unrideable for me. Walking my bike then didn’t prove any faster as the silt averaged about 6 inches deep! Let me just say that 5 minutes up the trail I thought Rosheen was never going to speak to me again! But, I am blessed with a great friend who just smiled beautifully the whole way and said “This is great” when really, it wasn’t!

2 and a half hours and a lot of hike-a-bike later we popped out right at the quarry. We both wished we brought swim suits but kept pushing on. Out onto the pavement it was a 30 min slog on the road back to the truck. Just before the quarry I had drained the last of the water in my hydropack bladder and was working on my half full bike bottle when we started to really hear grumblings from our stomachs. We knew it was time to crank it up a notch and started to really push it. Rosheen took the lead and before I knew it I was falling seriously behind. She is brilliant on the hills and I just stuck my head down and struggled to keep up. Thankfully we arrived at the truck, both ravenous enough to nibble on our own arms, threw the bikes in the back and took off for the bakery in Cowichan Bay as fast as the law would allow!

MUCH to our dismay, the brilliant little organic bakery and cheese shop was closed!! The single thing that kept me going thru the last 30 minute push was now a daydream. Fortunately (especially for me!) the Rock Cod Cafe next door was a very tasty replacement. 45 minutes later, fuelled and full, we were cruising thru Mill Bay on our way home. A much needed shower and I was on the bed, barely keeping my eyes open before I hit the pillow (my excuse is I’m working nights tonight!

Week in Review:

Monday - Rest (and dentist appointment - eww)
Tuesday - 1.25 hr ride at Hartland with Kitt and Panda (my 4 legged partner)
Wednesday - 45 min light run with Rosheen
Thursday - Heavy weight upper body workout with Rosheen, 30 min hike up to alpine cabin on San Juan ridge at night
Friday - about 2 hours of hiking along the ridge
Saturday - home sick, exercise: lifted a mug of Neo Citron repeatedly
Sunday - Crossfit leg & upper body workout
Monday - epic 3 hr bike ride (sore from Crossfit and the ride now!)

This is Rosheen’s first adventure race and my 5th (2nd race in Shawnigan) and I’m stoked that it’s on this course. Kitt and I lived in Shawnigan for a year and I took the opportunity to fully explore, but a home town advantage counts for nothing in this race. Bryan, the race director, finds the toughest trails available, and when there are none, he makes them! The people who did Shawnigan last year know what I mean, I think I still have silt in my bike shoes from that crazy hike-a-bike section after the tressel!

If you haven’t been to Marty’s, it is definately worth a trip! The shop is full of great clothing, gear and, of course, bikes! As both a Brodie and Rocky Mountain dealer I’m in the great place of being able to get parts for my 2007 Brodie Climbmax and drool over my dream bike, a Rocky Element Team, (any member of my family reading this and thinking about getting me the greatest gift ever - Kitt will know what size to get!)

The last week has seen me biking more than running, logging lots of time in Hartland and Lochside Trail. Tonight Rosheen and I went for a short run on Lochside trail but it felt like I was pushing a baby carriage full of bricks. I was sure I was going backwards at some point. 2 and a half weeks to race time!

Then, my favorite moment, was on our way back: a boulder bridge that started between 2 (fairly narrow) trees. I was up onto the rocks no problem, but the left side of my handlebars hit the tree and next thing I knew I was off the bridge going down, down and further down into the brush. I was soooo happy my instincts are now tending towards sticking my butt back to balance and just riding it out instead of sticking my legs out and frantically trying to dump my bike! Once I realized I was still alive, it was kinda like ‘Hey - that was almost fun! Did you see I didn’t stick my legs straight out??’ Needless to say tho the adrenalin dump made me a little jittery and unsure of myself for the ride back to the car. A couple of times I chickened out at the peak of a rocky climb when my back tire started to spin out in the gravel. All in all, still making forward progress!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

I’ve got to admit, there was more to my volunteering than just the desire to be useful. I wanted to see how this race was run, to see if it really is worth the $2000 per person. At first glance, this event was totally worth it. After volunteering for 8 hrs, it was still worth every penny. The free swag would totally make it for me! For over an hour we packed 450 awesome wheelie Dakine luggage with custom white Synchros bars, boxes of protein bars, multi tools, TONS of clothing and treats! Right from the time I got there to the time I left, everyone had a big smile on their face. There was staff for everything and nothing was left undone.

After helping with set up we were given a killer bagged lunch (delicious cookies!) and started to organize the main check-in area. Kathy, the woman I was working under, was simply amazing, unflappable and highly organized. I would take part in any event this woman organized! There were a few very minor gliches but she handled everything with a big sincere smile on her face and honestly wanted all racers and non-racers to have the best time ever. One of the best things about the day was people watching. There were racers from all backgrounds and all ages: from super fit 25 year old pros to my favorite, a couple in their late 60’s who had only been mountain biking a short while. I’m cheering for them! So, the long and the short of it is, aside from the price tag, I want to do this race with Kitt next year!

In preparation for the race nest year, we went for our first single track ride of the year yesterday afternoon at Hartland in the searing heat. My skills are just shy of non-existant (I am missing this pair of male anatomy that makes mountain biking so much easier!) so Kitt was extremely patient with me (as always) and laid out a sweet little figure 8 track for me to ride over and over again till I mastered it. The first lap some of the obstacles looked gigantic and scared the crap out of me, but on the 2nd lap I could bump through them, and the 4th time was fine. After about 8 laps I felt confident enough to try everything at as much speed as I could manage, and VOILA, I am still alive to talk about it! After we mastered if frontwards, it was time to try it in reverse. I think the worst part was riding the loop backwards and seeing how tiny the obstacles really were and I felt rather foolish. I guess that’s how we learn though eh? My biggest joy was bumping over enough rocks and roots and struggling up rock faces to gain the confidence to not rip my feet out of my clipless pedals when it got a little hairy. I had a nasty crash 2 years ago because I did just that and landed with my left leg straight. Word of advice: Don’t do it!! Overall a great day, but I think I am still rehydrating!

I originally ran this test 5 months ago so I’ve had some time to train to improve my results before I ran it again yesterday.

ORIGINAL vs YESTERDAY’S
1.5 mile run: 11min 55 sec vs 10 min 55 sec
50m sprint: 8.4 sec vs 8.47 sec
bench press 145lbs: 0 vs 0
pull-ups: 0 vs 2 (very hard won too I must add!)
situps in 1 min: 47 vs 56
pushups in 1 min: 36 vs 50
standing jump: 152cm vs 180cm

Overall a big improvement! The best part about taking the test again was the HUGE difference in the run and that’s what I am most proud of. Last time I felt like I was red-lining it the whole 12 minutes and I hurt for a few days after. This time I felt comfortably uncomfortable (that works right?) the whole time. I actually thought I was going super slow and my time was around 15 minutes, so I was astounded to find out at the finish line that I had taken a whole minute off and recovered super quickly.

The days leading up to the test were some of my best anaerobic training to date.
MONDAY - rest day
TUESDAY - 2nd rest day (2 super early days for work and feeling a little run down)
WEDNESDAY - warm up, 4 sets of 50m of stair sprints, cool down, w/ Rosheen, total time of 25 minutes and super hard!
THURSDAY - (worked all night so had to run on treadmill at 2am) 15 min warm up (at 5 mph) and 3 sets of varied flat sprints: 30 sec at 9mph, 60 sec at 5.5mph, 30 sec at 10 mph, 60 sec at 5.5mph, 30 sec at 10.5 mph. Then 15 min jog cool down at 5.5 mph, 15 min walk/hike at 3.8 mph
FRIDAY - 40 min easy spin on Lochside trail on my mtn bike then rest
SATURDAY - Coopers Test
SUNDAY (Today!) - on the books: easy 10km run around Elk and Beaver Lake w/ Danielle and Rosheen

Now the countdown is on for the Shawnigan MOMAR! A little over a month away and training is hitting critical - sweet!!

The morning started at 0830 with Danielle and Rosheen coming over to our house for juice and a muffin, (or in my case, turkey bacon as well!) After some food in our tummies, we made our way over to the start line at the Beaver Lake parking lot. Kitt was volunteering, us chickies were warming up. The kids 1km race was so cute (except for the one poor kid who got lost and ended up running a 10km lap instead!) Our race started shortly after with the route going counter clockwise and took a turn right into the hilly side trails before settling out onto the normal track at the lake’s edge by the boathouse. Poor Danielle, she’d never been around Elk Lake before (or done a 10km for that matter!) and I had promised her up and down that it was going to be pancake flat! I think she’s forgiven me though. As usual, Rosheen was off with the front pack and Danielle and I made our way in the middle. The first 4 km hurt (as it always seems to lately!) but soon we realized we were actually exceeding our goal of 5:20/km and keeping a 5 min/km pace (for us that’s fast!) and thought we could hang onto it for a while. Initially this was supposed to be a training run for me so I could pace Danielle on her first longer trail race but she was game and it became a race. The shady parts of the trail were the perfect temperature but the sunny sections were brutally hot! It was good incentive to finish as fast as possible and jump into the giant sprinkler they had set up at the finish line.

We played tag with another woman from km 5 to 8 but then passed her and tried to reel in another couple that stayed about 50m out of our reach till the end. In the last kilometer we found Rosheen running back to see us and then we knew we were close. Danielle (she’s gonna be a great runner and I am so proud of her!) and I stepped it up and managed to run hard for 500 m, sprint the last 100m to the line. Danielle and I crossed it together and then walked right into the glorious sprinkler!

Finish time? 56 min 15 sec for roughly 11 km. Not too bad!! 10 months ago my fastest 5km averaged 5:20/km and I was gutted when I finished. This time I was roughly 5:10/km, felt solid, maybe could have even done it a little faster, recovered super quick and felt like I could have done another slow lap. It’s all one step forward! I ran up the observatory on Saturday morning with Rosheen and felt nice and solid the whole way up. Much to my astonishment it took me 12 minutes - my fastest ever in 2006 was 14:30. I LOVE this getting fitter thing!!

Next on the race list? Mt Doug Gutbuster short course on Sunday July 6th!