I’m looking forward to salvaging at least a a few races this season, the MOMAR being a definate, but hopefully the RR GutBuster and maybe even a beginner’s XC race. I do have a confession tho, when given the opportunity I’ve spent A LOT of my free time on my dirtbike! I LOVE IT! Kitt just got back from a 5 day dirt bike trip all over BC and maybe (if I practice REALLY hard and don’t kill myself..) we can do something like that next year! Anyways, Kitt and I have really disciplined ourselves to training daily for the last few weeks and it’s nice to have that grounding to your day. I always feel so much better after training, tired and sore, but mentally relaxed. If I miss a day I usually get kinda grumpy and beat up on myself mentally, but I’m getting better at rolling with my crazy schedule and just dealing with it.

A big CONGRATS to my sometimes racing partner and female athletic idol, Margo DOWNEY for coming in 1st in her catagory at Test of Metal and kicking butt in a time of 4 hrs 9 min. And this is a training day for her big race, Trans Rockies 2009. Killer job Margo!! I can’t wait to see how she does.

It’s been quite a saga too: my initial partner was my sister, who went down with a knee injury, and then Kitt became my team mate. He too went down with a knee injury at work and still can’t run more than about 20 minutes 5 months later. Was it me? Am I cursed? I think it’s safe to say that despite my enthusiasm, this race was not meant for me in 2010!

My work schedule has also started to interfere with my racing plans, and I was really disappointed to miss out on the first GutBuster of the season up Mt Tzouhalem. Congrats goes to Marion for skunking Sean, but they both would have beaten me anyways!!

All that being said, not a whole lot will change in terms of my training, just going to really ease into the mileage now and start to bump up the intensity as we come into summer. I need another long term athletic goal to ground me, maybe the Trans Rockies ultra in 2010? It’s definately closer and cheaper fees! Now back to work to keep us in trail runners and bike tubes!!

SUBURBAN RUSH:
Margo and I went over Friday afternoon, found our way to her daughter’s house in North Van and hit the nearest sushi joint and liquor store for some sushi and Strongbow, (serious pre-race ritual eh?) Hit the sack around 11 pm and woke to my alarm clock at 0630. Quick trip to Tim Hortons and Starbucks and we were rolling.

We only got lost twice on our way to Port Moody (both of us hate driving in Vancouver!) but in the end the GPS sorted us out (new roads = you might as well be in the ocean on the map!) We got to racer check in 2.5 hrs before the race started and were, surprisingly, handed our maps along with our swag bags. The volunteers were fantastic, all smiles and encouragement. We took our bikes up the hill to the first transition area and having the map already was great to help us orient ourselves and figure out a bit of the route. I can sum it up in 6 words: Big hill right off the bat!

Back at the start line we bumped into a few people from the MOMAR races and sat in a coffee shop and waited for the green light. I’ve got to say, out of all the races I have done to date, this one was the largest gathering of fit people I have ever seen! That being said, it didn’t affect our race as Margo and I had made it clear that we were in this for fun and fun only!!

10 o’clock and all 250 of us were off running. Port Moody really surprised me: it’s beautiful, quaint yet trendy, and surrounded by killer singletrack!! We ran up for about 35 minutes (prolly about 3-4 km? I had a hard time keeping track!) hit the first transition area and hopped on our bikes. The hill kept going up, even tho my legs didn’t! Margo is training for Trans Rockies and is SUPER fit, riding stuff 95 percent of the field walked. Not only did she ride it, but she dropped her bike at the top, ran back down, shouldered my bike and took it up the hill for me. At first I was super embarressed, feeling like I was a burden to my partner, but Margo soon shushed me, telling me that this is what partners do for each other and that all she’s been doing for the last 6 months is riding 20 hours a week so of course she is going to be stronger. That’s one thing I love about racing with Margo: she never makes you feel inadequate, she’s encouraging and laughs and smiles all the time. It’s fun, no matter how much my legs hurt!!

We hit the top of the hill (475 m I think the map said) and started a SWEET downhill. My legs were so done by this point, just before the final push to the summit, I was so tired that I actually started to roll backwards and just fell off to the side. Really smooth!! It hurt but I could laugh it off because I realized what I had just done and all the elevation we had gained in the last hour and was proud of it! The downhill was part fire road but even better: beginner / intermediate single track!!!! I was able to ride 95 percent of it, use some new skills and practice everything at speed. The trails were in such amazing shape, kind of a cross between Hornby Island and Squamish.

We popped out at the south end of Buntzen Lake and transitioned to the final run of the race (a little over half way thru the race at this point). 7 check points (CPs) in total, (about 4-5 km) collected in any order you like, no compass required, just a trail map and common sense. This is my one and only adventure racing forte!! I LOVE MAPS AND ORIENTEERING!! We ran to the first CP, up a bit of a steep hill, and followed a natural progression thru to the others. I always opted for going up the short steep hills as opposed to the longer more rolly route and we were rewarded twice by some brilliant down hill running that gave us a chance to stretch our legs before getting back on the bikes.

The next section was back on the bikes for a few kilometers of road riding back into Port Moody, and although the hills were small, my legs were TOAST! The route headed back onto the single track for a few more km’s then we came to the aptly named section: the Gorge. And it was a gorge with steep gravel sides. Margo rode down with ease but my weight was so far back that my back tire was leaving marks on my bum!! I got off and ran down, the deep gravel being a little deeper than my skills allowed my to handle safely. Again, on the other side, Margo ran down and helped me up with my bike, and we were off again! The last few kilometers leading into the finish area were the best riding: flowy, some roots and drops and thoroughly fun!! We screamed into the finish line, dropped our bikes and crawled under some cargo netting and we were done!

We didn’t stick around for very long after we finished as we were both eager to get home and sleep! The truck got packed in record time and we were off. I’ll say it again, I HATE driving in Vancouver!! I got us lost twice on the way to Tsawassen (please no comments…) but after several U-turns we arrived to find that we had missed the 3pm ferry by 5 whole minutes!!! Oh well, we got some food, magazines and lounged in the truck til 530pm, when our ferry docked late. I think I slept for most of the return ride, then drove home, said goodbye to Margo and literally fell into bed!!!

finish time: 3hr 36min
8th out of 17 duo female teams

Pro’s for SUBURBAN RUSH:
- great smiling volunteers and swag bag
- flagged every 10-15 meters and no compass necessary
- great single track for beginners or adventure racing newbies!
- beautiful area – I would definately go back just for the riding and running

Con’s:
- none I can think of!! I need to train harder for next year!

TC 10 KM:
When the alarm clock rang and I rolled over, I nearly unplugged it and went back to sleep!!! Thank goodness I had anticipated it being difficult to get out of bed and had all my gear laid out and ready to go. I skipped breakfast and grabbed an apple to try and snack on on the drive downtown.

I met my work team (Really Cool Motivated People) at the Royal Athletic parking lot and the other runners and walkers were shuttled down while a few of us jogged down as a warm up. It was so great to see so many people coming out to run and offer support! Hundreds of people were walking down and we made it down with about 5 minutes to spare before race start. We couldn’t find a break in the green fencing that funnelled everyone over the mats at the start line so we had to hop the fence and I had visions of bailing in front of hundreds of onlookers!! Luckily I didn’t, but I did notice too late that we were now seeded with the 40-45 minute runners!! Definately not my goal today!!

Speaking of goals, I had originally wanted to run the 10km in around 50 minutes, but as soon as I started warming up I knew I should just concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and building my weekly mileage. My calves and back were sore!! 20 minutes into the race and it became an mental exercise in moving forward. Sean and Nikki, my two work colleagues, soon left me in the dust but I was happy to just take it easy and enjoy the run. My favorite thing of the run: seeing 2 people running in ginger bread cookie costumes!!! I laughed so hard and it made my niggling complaints seem silly and insignificant.

I crossed the line just under an hour (my amended goal time!) met up with Nikki, Sean and a few others for a quick chat before running back up to Caledonia and getting my car. All in all I did 15km for the day and was thoroughly looking forward to my Rest Day on Monday!

finish time: 58 min 11 sec

Pro’s for TC 10km:
- close to home, great cheering sections, free food at the end!
Con’s:
- starts at 0800 (bad if you aren’t an early bird!)

Now I’m into a rest week, just enjoying giving my running legs a rest and working on my single track skills, building on the momentum from my experiences with Suburban Rush.

Right now it’s just all packing, re-reading the race info package, highlighting the crap out of it, bike maintenance and laundry! It’s times like now I sit back and laugh at myself and my totally OCD tendancies: I have printed off 6 or 7 sets of the waivers and forms and stored them in all different places in case we lose the ones we have already filled out, and I have enough gear to outfit myself, Margo and another team of 2! Just in case something happens of course! I’ve never been to Port Moody and don’t generally like driving in Vancouver as it is, so I’m pre-programming the race start and bike drop off locations into our Garmin 60CSX GPS so come race morning I will panic slightly less about making everywhere we need to be on time! Margo and I are going over Friday night and coming back Saturday after the race, then it will be early to bed for me and early to rise for the TC 10km. And after that, you might ask? I plan on eating a TON of Ebizo sushi, watching a movie and drinking a Strongbow!

I don’t have many goals for Rush aside from having fun at a new race in a new venue and trying very hard to stay on Margo’s tail!! She told me the other night that she thinks she’s the fittest she has ever been and little alarm bells started to go off in my head. Uh oh… Margo is already my athletic idol: master of all sports, wickedly fast and most of all, has the BEST team attitude ever! My goals: to hang on!! I’ve been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and praying for sun, or at least no rain, whichever is easiest!

The TC 10km will just be mileage trying to flush out my legs with my friends from work. Last year’s TC was my first running race ever and aside from the long lines at the porta-potties (nervous starter!) I had so much fun! I didn’t trip on anyone or get passed by a child in a jogging chariot so it was a great success! The people on my office team have been great, everyone training and getting ready. There are 14 of us and almost an equal number of runners and run/walkers. And you can’t beat our team name: Really Cool Motivated People. Yup, and we even have a wicked logo! (thanks Christy!) Maybe this race tshirt will be my special occasions bike cloth!

Monday was a rest day and both Kitt and I were off work so we loaded up the dirtbikes and headed to the Quarry in Shawnigan Lake. I love the Quarry and when we lived in Shawnigan, logged hundreds of hours exploring it. With the trails being so familiar it was a good place to try my bike on single track for the first time. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! I dumped the bike 3 times and managed to burn 4 twoonie sized holes on the inside of my pants (fortunately escaped without burning my leg!!) but I learned a ton by trial and error and Kitt’s great coaching and was able to get in a good groove by the end. I think dirtbiking will go a long way to helping my mountain biking skills: picking lines, balance, etc.. but it seems so much easier on a dirtbike because you don’t have use your legs for propulsion, just your right wrist!

Saturday April 11th – unscheduled day off
Sunday April 12th – 60 min hilly run
Monday April 13th – 20 min easy jog and total body weights
Tuesday April 14th – unscheduled day off
Wednesday April 15th – 40 min hilly run w/ 4 sets sprints
Thursday April 16th – 20 min run up Observatory
Friday April 17th – REST
Saturday April 18th – 40 min hard hill ride
Sunday April 19th – 70 min run w/ fartleks round Elk Lake
Monday April 20th – REST
Tuesday April 21st – 70 min LSD

http://www.cfax1070.com/newsstory.php?newsId=8679

We are still approaching various charities as our initial charity, World Vision, told us that they would rather have us sponsor a child ($30 month) than try and raise $10,000+ for them. Weird, I guess some charities just work differently.

The countdown is on for Suburban Rush and TC 10km (2 weeks to go!), and based on the way I’ve been feeling in training this last week, I want to make sure the season openers are my best effort. I’m also getting really excited about the Gutbusters too! I’m so pleased to see my training take over, especially when it comes to hills: my form is good, I’m moving smoothly and I finally have the quads and calves to light a bit of a fire going up! Rosheen will still always dust me on the hills, but at least I’m not so far behind anymore!

On Tuesday I got my birthday/wedding anniversary/xmas present from Kitt for the next 3 years early! I brand new dirt bike!!!! I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before and now I get to learn on my own! I was soooooo stoked. For the last year I have been listening to Kitt, Sergei and Marc’s stories about the great trails and camping trips, and to be honest, I was getting jealous. 2 hours later in a Camosun College parking lot and I was able to shift into 3rd and zip over the speed bumps with a HUGE smile on my face. So addictive (mind you I say that because I’ve been fortunate enough to not lay the bike down yet!) Yet another reason to countdown til the trails dry out!

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:
Friday April 3rd – easy 30min (5km)
Saturday April 4th – easy 45min (7km)
Sunday April 5th – long run 2hr15min (20km)
Monday April 6th – hills 60min (8km) sprints on bike 45min (legs: cooked)
Tuesday April 7th – REST
Wednesday April 8th – hilly trail run 70 min (10km)
Thursday April 9th – easy trail run 25min, hilly trail run 60min (10km total)
Friday April 10th – easy 30min (5km)

WEEKLY TOTAL: 8hr 20min – 65km

We got all packed up, had an amazing breakfast wrap at Breakers (downtown Tofino) and started to explore. I had never been to Tofino before, just Ucluelet for a MOMAR back in 2005, so it was super fun to explore and just wander. Next thing you know, we checked into the Wikinnish Inn and collapsed out on our porch. The Inn is actually a great place to escape to if you have pets. They were so welcoming to Panda and Guinness! As we were unloading our stuff, the staff put 2 large dog sized beds and 2 baskets of bowls, treats and tennis balls into the room. There was even a tennis ball thrower that saw a LOT of use! And an outside dog wash station too!

I went out for a short 45 min run on the low tide beach before our dinner reservations (the hotel restaurant overlooks the ocean – couldn’t wait!!) and enjoyed the sun and new locale. Dinner at the restaurant was something else – ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING! For the next 2 and a half hours we sat at the window overlooking the rocks (and listened to an american woman at the table behind us ask the server if the hotel hired local people to climb on the rocks for entertainment… O boy…) watched the sun go down and sampled 6 succulent courses. Wow. At 830 the restaurant actually turned off all the lights for Earth Hour and put out candles, which I thought was pretty cool of them! 9pm rolled around and I rolled into bed, just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.

Sunday we got up very lazily, grabbed 2 of the SWEET beach cruisers from the front desk and rode into downtown Tofino for breakfast. It was a freezing cold ride made more bearable by hot tea at the other end! We took the dogs out for a killer long hike on the beach at super low tide and watched the surfers (WAY too cold for me! Drysuit or nothing!) The rest of the day was spent leisurely reading, drinking tea and enjoying complete relaxation. Dinner was funny, we both weren’t hungry but decided to go into town to check out the night life at a few places anyways. We ended up smack in front of the fire at Shelter having the most amazing salad EVER! In the 3 days we had one of the most relaxing times ever and consistantly the best food ever. That’s not to say it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg, but it was sooooooooo worth it! All fresh and very very local, it was a culinary masterpiece of a weekend!

Monday, sadly, we came home. Granted, we didn’t actually make it home till nearly 11pm, but I missed having a fireplace in the bedroom and a porch with an ocean view! We took our sweet time coming back down the island, stopped in to a few friends places and generally tried to enjoy coming back to reality. It was the perfect little re-charge after a seriously stressful week!

For the next week I’m gonna be taking it a little easier, trying to keep from making the transition from being a ‘little sick’ to ‘really sick’ as race time approaches. If all goes well, next week and the week after I’ll really ramp it up, then coast into a quick taper and race time!

Wednesday March 25th – 45 min tempo run
Thursday March 26th – off sick
Friday March 27th – Rest day (but still sick)
Saturday March 28th – 45 min run on Chesterman Beach, Tofino
Sunday March 29th – 60 min road ride, 60 min beach run
Monday March 30th – Rest day
Tuesday March 31st – 45 min hills
Wednesday April 1st – 45 min tempo run

Saturday March 14th – easy 25 min run
Sunday March 15th – 50 min w/ intervals
Monday March 16th – REST day!
Tuesday March 17th – 80 min hilly run on King George Terrace
Wednesday March 18th – 40 min tempo run
Thursday March 19th – 20 min stair sprints & weights
Friday March 20th – 35 min walk (sooooo sore)
Saturday March 21st – 2hr mtn bike ride Partridge Hills (even more sore)
Sunday March 22nd – 40 min flat slow run
Monday March 23rd – REST day!
Tuesday March 24th – 50 min hilly tempo run

I was pretty happy with my workouts this week. If I had followed how I felt I would have stayed in bed for the snow days! But as it was, Rosheen and I slogged thru the fluffy white stuff from Cook street village to Spinnaker’s Pub and it ended up being one of my favorite runs to date this year! My tempo run on Wednesday night surprised me the most: as I was running to meet everyone I felt awful, drained and tired and nearly called it off 5 min from the house. I intended to stay at the very back of the pack and take it easy, but somehow I subconsciously convinced my legs and lungs to lead from the front of the pack for the whole run. I shocked myself, but went on to sleep soundly that night!

Week in review:
Saturday March 7th – Rest
Sunday March 8th – easy 30 min run
Monday March 9th – 8km over 45 min w/ Rosheen along the waterfront
Tuesday March 10th – 45 min run w/ 10 min speedwork (bloody cold!)
Wednesday March 11th – 8km tempo run (38 min but 60 in total run)
Thursday March 12th – Rest
Friday March 13th – 30 min easy run