The Kid Factor

Yesterday morning while dragging our butts to the gym for our morning 45 min bike workout we realized that it was not even 12 hours since we were at the gym last biking. Yep, and in those 12 hours we jammed eating dinner, getting grocery shopping done, doing the dishes, and 8 hours of sleep. That is probably one of the hardest things that we have found since starting our training program is the lack of time at night. We are up between 4:45 and 5 am to get to the gym right when it opens, therefore we are asleep between 8:30 and 9pm each night. We work until 5pm, are at the gym again and not home until 6:30ish and have to make, eat, and clean up dinner. That precious hour in the evening between 7 and 8 isn't even enough time to do the laundry which I discovered last week when I went to bed and left the washing machine going.

Last night, as we were going to bed at 8, talking about how exhausted we were, we got talking about how hard it would be to try and do this with kids! I just want to take a moment and give props to any mother or father out there who are training for something! It would be so difficult! YOu would defintely have to consider the kid factor when signing up for ironman and committing yourself to all those hours of training. Ben and I have the luxery of a full nights rest and being able to go to bed at 8pm. We don't have to worry about who will watch the kids as we go train in the mornings and in the evenings. If we are tired and grumpy and all we feel like doing is sitting in a corner and staring at the wall in the dark, we can do that! You could probably do that with kids too, but I think they would get very concerned about mommy. But most of all, if I am tired and grumpy and I bark at Ben over something stupid he knows that it is just because I'm tired and hungry and in a few minutes I will realize how stupid it was and apologize. We have that luxery to be grumpy without hurting anyones feelings, since there is complete understanding because the other person feels just as tired. Perhaps that is why most people that do ironman are males 30-50 and females 40+. The males don't have to worry about their kids because their wives will take care of them while they're training while the older females may have kids but perhaps they are older and understand that mom is training for the ironman.

Other than training, last week was a little hectic with people visiting. Infact a friend of ours was in town from Calgary and we didn't even get a chance to see her! Which is really too bad. Ben was getting adjusted to being back at work after a few months off. Ben's mom and her partner brought dinner and stayed the night on thursday. In fact, we walked into the house after training and Ben's mom was there cooking a delicious dinner, we were pretty spoiled. Then Friday night my best friend from high school and her boyfriend came down for some skiing. They didn't get here until around 11pm at night, and let me tell you it was a struggle staying up for them. I was pretty jealous of ben when he headed to bed around 9. On saterday we skiied allll day. It was awesome! It was a great day, there was lots of snow that week so the hill still had some sweet powder stashes left. We were supposed to bike for an hour and a half that day but we figured skiing all day more than counted for that. Then saterday night it started snowing, no more than snowing but completely blizzarding! Infact there was a snow warning here which never happens because they always get lots of snow! Well ben was like a little kid on christmas morning when he woke up on sunday. He was up at 5am going for coffee and checking the snow report and was ready to head to the hill!(and yes the hill does not open until 8:30 and we are only a 10 minute drive from the hill). My friends decided to be responsible and hit the road before itclosed, and ben and I headed to the hill for 745am (that was the earliest I was getting up there).

That day I skied the deepest snow of my life! like seroiusly. It was up to your waist! And that hill is amazing, we did not wait in a single line for more than 5 minutes all day! Infact, our first run we had an entire run top to bottom of untouched snow. Seroiusly, not a single person had skied it yet. Amazing. By the time we got home the power was out, so even if we had the energy to do the hour run and half hour bike we couldn't since there was no power! Instead we had a nap on the couch, went for a walk, and waited for the power to come back on so we could cook dinner. It's amazing how much you can't do when the power is out! That is the seccond time it has happened here. You cannot cook anything, there is no heat, it's even hard to shower by candle/flashlight! But it eventually came on by 5pm, and we were asleep by 8:30 getting ready for anther week of training.

One week down..... only 35 more to go.

One week down, and only 35 weeks left... and no unlike most of the other people with a 9 month count down I am not counting down a pregnency. Rather, we have made it through one week of training! Last monday was our first official day of ironman training! Last monday we were in calgary for me to get some tests done and I was not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight. So Ben hit the pool at 6 am (5am our time) while I slept cozily for an extra hour, mmm... However, joke would be on me when i had to swim after not eating/drinking all morning and a 5 hour drive home. I was very tempted to just skip it, I mean it was only a half hour swim. But I wanted to start this training program right, so I got to the pool and made it through the first workout. The next morning we were up at 5:30 am and hit the gym for a bike, then again at 5:30 pm for a run. Wednesday we were at the pool for when it opened at 6:30 and then were at the gym again at 5:30 for a bike. I can safely say that wednesday at work I was a zombie. I had to be extra careful to make sure that I was not inverting numbers and charging someone $934 instead of $349 for fuel. Thursday we had another pool morning and then an afternoon run. Although all week we were asleep by 9pm, by the time thursday afternoon hit I'm pretty sure I was asleep by 7:30. On Friday we had an optional day off or the choice to swim... we opted for the day off. Ben had not started his new job yet so he got to hit up opening day at Revelstoke Ski resort (lucky guy) and I worked. It was so nice to just enjoy sleeping until 7 and not having to worry about working out. Saterday we went out to ski for the morning but the conditions weren't great (especially since Ben had skied all the fresh snow the day before) and we had over an hour of biking to get done, so we left at noon and headed to the gym. That night was my company christmas party, which was a blast but we did not get home until 1 am (incredibly late for us, like seroiusly, even when we're not training we have a hard time staying up past 11). Luckily we didnt have too much to do on Sunday, except for a 30 min bike and 55 min run. We went out to look at an old truck west of town, hit the gym, got our shopping done and pretty much passed out. And that was the end of the first week, with only 35 more to go..

This week Ben started a new job working on 2 new schools that are being built in town. They are supposed to have steady work for the next 2 years so it looks like we'll be able to stay here (in paradise) at least until then... hopefully forever.. But training yesterday was rough on him and has shifted out entire training routine that we got going last week. Ben now starts work at 7am, so we're not able to swim in the mornings at all anymore since the pool only opens at 6:30. And we now have to make sure we're at the gym when it opens at 5:30. Then ben eats a quick breakfast and heads out while I get to enjoy the morning for a bit and then walk to work. I have actually quite enjoyed the past 2 days of walking to work. I just pop in my earphones, and enjoy the beaufitul scenery of revelstoke. I still have my moments of awe when I look up and see the mountain towering over me. I have found this second week much easier so far (although it is only tuesday). But Ben has been pretty burnt out. He went pretty hard last week and he is now working 7-4:30 days outside in the cold. So I think it will definitely take some time for him to adjust to working again and training. Especially since his job involves lots of lifting and what not.

That's all for now!

Ironman 2011

Ever since I was in grade 8 I have wanted to do an Ironman before I was 25. Therefore in order to do this I had to sign up this year! Grade 8 was a tough year for me, like many I think. I am not sure what happens in junior high school but for those 3 years girls go a little crazy and can be just plain mean. I had short hair and liked sports so needless to say the teasing had no end. But I did have some really great teachers and a great family who helped me throughout those 3 years. One of which was Mrs. Dunne; she had done Ironman Hawii the world championships and became my inspiration to do an ironman before I was 25. However, after my first kids triathlon in grade 9 my dream was kind of forgotten about until I met Ben 3.5 years ago. He was weeks away from doing his first marathon, and having just quit playing hockey I felt I needed something to train for too so i signed up for a half marathon later in the year, then the next year a full marathon, and after getting sick of running every day I convinced Ben to do an olympic distance triathlon last summer. The plan was to do a half ironman this year and a full next year, but I broke my foot weeks before my race and didn't get to compete. After not racing this season and only having 2 triathlons under my belt (one of which was 10 years ago) Ben and I went down to Penticton to volunteer this year and sign up for next year. Well it was a pretty emotional weekend with doubt filling my mind after a whole race season without doing a single race and never even having done a half ironman. Espcecially after working at a running aid station 5 kms to the finish line and seeing hundreds of people in pretty rough shape. Up until I was signing my name on the dotted line I didn't know if I was going to be ready. . But we paid the money and at the last minute ben signed up to! So we are both doing Ironman Canada 2011!

I have to remember why I signed up because I know that this race is a huge sacrafice both financially and with the time committment. November 28 is the first day of our 9 month training program which entails twice a day workouts. And there will be mornings where it is blizzarding outside and the last thing we want to do it get up and hit the pool at 6 am and that is when I have to remember grade 8 and Mrs. Dunne and why I am doing all of this. Ill have to remind myself on those days that this is something I have wanted to do for the last 11 years and this is the last shot to do it before I'm 25. Why 25? I have no idea.. maybe in grade 8 that's when I thought old was haha. I'm just luck to have a very supportive training partner, best friend, and boyfriend who will be up at 6 am with me.

Bumps, Bruises, and Mt. Begbie

I can hardly believe it is already the end of August! Where has the summer gone! After ben's race I accepted a part time job with Valhalla Pure here In revelstoke. This really ate up the spare time that Ben and I had to go on adventures. Needless to say that job only lasted 2 weeks. The breaking point was last weekend when I was going to be working all weekend and had already worked 3/5 nights that week. It was a beautiful weekend, and Ben and I were determined to take advantage of the 20 hours total that I had off all week(from 3pm Sat till 11am Sunday). At 3pm we packed up bags and headed up to camp on Mt. Begbie. It was a 6 km slough up a steep 22% grade trail with all our camping gear on our backs. There aren't any views along the way, but once you get above the treeline the view was rewarding! We could see the ski hill, the town, the setting sun, and it was a clear evening so that stars were unbelieveable that night. There is a couple of tent pads up there but they were all taken so we hiked up a little further and found a spot right below the glacier. It was unbelieveable. We had some wine, made some "dinner" (which is freeze dried astronaut food which you just add water too... yet tastes soo good after hiking)and built a fire. We hung out played cribbage and soaked in the views determined to stay awake for the stars. We camped that night without the fly on our tent and stared at them all night. Well ben literally stared at them all night because he didn't sleep at all since a spark hit his thermarest sleeping pad and created a hole.. I on the other hand slept peacefully under the stars.

We got up bright at early at 6 am because I knew I had to work. Dreading work. We started hiking down the mountain and wound up on top of a rock ledge. I was in front and kept walking trying to find a safe place to get down. Finally i found a place i thought I could do it, took a couple of steps until i felt my feet slip and fell about 10 feet. I am so lucky it was only 10 feet because I was pretty much helpless falling. My knees were pretty cut up, so ben came over with the trusty first aid kit and bandaged me up. All in all i was lucky and didn't think there was any major issues... that was until I started trying to walk down the steep mountain. My right knee that wasn't all that scraped up was really really sore, and very step made it worse. But I had no choice we had to get off that dumb mountain. It took us 3 hours. 3 hours of torture with every second step. Did I mention that we forgot the painkillers at home? whoops. Half way down I stopped trying to be tough and gave ben my backpack to carry down which made it a little easier but boy that was one of the hardest things I've done. Needless to say I didn't work that day, and proceeded to work one more shift before quitting. Working 8-5 is enough, I dont need to be working 60 hours a week. Especially since I want to do so much other things too.

This past weekend Ben and I had plans to climb Mt. cartier here in revelstoke. But it was soo smokey so we just went to the gym, had a mini triathlon, did a little hiking that was not strenous, and just hung out. I was supposed to work all weekend again so we just enjoyed having that time off together.

This coming weekend we're headed to Penticton. We decided to volunteer at Ironman Canada which will be really exciting! I'm planning on signing up for next year and we decided that since we were going so I could sign up we might as well volunteer and get involved in the whole thing! The weather is supposed to be nice and we've decided to bring our bikes.. maybe bike a portion of the route for ironman! should be a good weekend!

After the 2010 Canadian Death Race

Wow, what an adventure........i thought that i would share my experience for anyone who might want to do this race. Although it is not a typical ultramarathon, it has definitely become a popular race over the last ten years, and i was lucky enough to take part in the 10th anniversary. The death race is always over the august long weekend, and includes a Relay Race (5 legs), a Kids Race, and the Solo Race which i did. Its a pretty cool weekend, with thousands of people flocking to a tiny town in northern alberta, Grande Cache, which is west of Hinton, north of Jasper. We drove up on Thursday night, and camped at the local campground.













As for training, I basically started in early January. Im not a fan of running in the super cold calgary outdoors, so i chose to hit up the treadmills, usually on a serious incline, and did lots of stairclimbing with weights. Jen was training for her Osooyoos race, so she was busy with swimming, biking, and treadmilling, so we kept pretty busy. I was determined NOT to underestimate this race because of the elevation changes (17 000), so I planned on doing some serious hiking when the weather allowed me to (Canmore area/Kananaskis).........im truly lucky to be from the calgary area becasue there is some awesome hills to assault in that area, and those are super important for trail running an ultra! I peaked about 4 weeks before the race, which is a couple weeks longer than for a marathon but i was so out of routine with moving, and getting a new job, and all that stuff so i was concerned about not having gone hard enough, but the last 6 months had been full throttle and fortunately injury free.





The Race: the CDR is divided into 5 legs, each of which has its unique challenges and features, and this year, about 1200 people started the Relay Event, and just over 400 started the Solo Event. In the end, only 150 finished solo, and i was lucky enough to finish 24th overall. It was a good day to race, because it was relatively dry and the heat didn't get into the 90's so even though alot of people got serious dehyrdartion issues, it could have been alot worse. The day before the race, i started reading the brochure about the course itself, and became pretty uncomfortable and nervous. i questioned whether or not i had done enough, and worked specifically for this terrain. i probably got about 4 hours of solid sleep the night before. But race day came, and the gun went of at 8 AM. (they start the race later than most to give runners the 'opportunity to run at night'. Heres a breakdown from the lonnnng day:




Leg 1: Downtown Jaunt (21 km)
Starts downtown Grande Cache and quickly heads into the forest. my plan was to Pace, Pace, Pace and keep it slow and steady (around 10 minute mile) and was near the back of the back for the first section of paved road. I watched in disbelief as people went out WAY TOOO fast, sweating, out of breath, and i was so thankful that i didnt get caught up in the competition, and as i got onto the double track quad trail began slowly passing people, but still super relaxed and not even breaking a sweat. There is a few inclines on this leg, but nothing crazy. the main thing was to watch your footing, and try to keep calm and not get over excited. this stage of the race took just under two hours, and the the relay station at the end was erupting with crazy fans and supporters yelling "GO DEATH RACER!".....it was awesome to come cruising through the transition seeing champ waving frantically with my little station set up, and changing my shoes, gatorade and refuelling me for the hardest leg of the race..........


Leg 2: Flood Mtn, Grande Mtn (27 km)
This is definately the hardest leg of this race for a few reasons. There is some seriously steep uphills, and some insanely steep downhills, like 1000 ft sketchy, quad burning types). the only easy part is the 1 km back onto the highway and into town. this is where people started throwing up, and the test of whether or not you trained for this thing became apparent. It starts from the TA into to the forest and up, and up and up. you climb steadily for about 2 hours, and i casually passed a whole bunch of people keeping my heart rate and footing in check. you get to a point where you think you might have climbed the first mountain untill a race official says, "welcome to the climb", and you get hit with another 500 ft of straight up bush wacking up near the summit of Flood. your there for about 2 minutes, before running back down, down, down, down untill you get to do it again on another mtn!!.........one of the toughest sections of the whole race is called the Slugfest, which involves about 1000 ft decline on a super sketchy, super loose, bouldery, ravine where apparantaley a few people broke their ankles, and put their knees out. there is no real strategy for getting down, some were butt sliding, others were zig zagging through the woods, trying to make it from tree to tree, but definetaley a slog. From the top of the second mtn, you run down a steep power line, and get back to the highway. from there its about 1 km back into town and the TA is right at the start line. Again, I see jen with all my goodies (running vest, gatorade, goodies, and new shoes.....she was the best race crew, everyone neeeeds one of these! part support, part motivator, part psychologist, part physical therapist, part doctor.........) by the end of this stage, i was still mentally/emotionally intact, but my legs were getting dehyrdated and started to seize up a little.





Leg 3 Old Miners Road (23 km)
This leg has a net elevation loss of about 1000 ft, and its a pretty gradual decline down a rocky, sketchy old school logging road/creek bed. The nice thing is that its in the shade, and it was about 1 pm so super hot outside. By this stage in the race, people were spread out fairly well, so i only saw a handful of people. i was so jealous to see relay runners sprinting by me with fresh legs, but the REALLY COOL thing about this race is that there are NO EGOS whatsoever, and when most relay runners look over at your number and realize your doing it solo, they are so supportive asking if you need anything and encouraging you to keep going. As far as obstacles, this is the leg where there is normally a major river crossing with a current that is nee deep water. Fortunately, it was dry and there was only a whole bunch of mud/boggy lowlands to deal with so nothing like sopping, soaking wet feet!. That was a relief! I was approaching the half way point, and my legs started to really, really cramp up. I was surprised because i had been drinking tonnes of fluids (gatorade) and eating good gels and stuff, but i should have been replacing my salt much better. by the time i got to the transition, i was way ahead of the cut off time of 7:15, coming in at about 4:30 and getting to rest for 15 minutes before the insanely long 27 km Hamel Assault



Leg 4 Hamel Assault (27 km)
Jen had brought me a cold can of coke and man was that ever good!!! i put on my compression pants, and my legs really started seizing up. after some great words of encouragement from jen, this random dude on crutches, and some local supporters, i sacked up and headed out along the highway enroute to Hamel Peak which is a super steady but steep mountain with switchbacks, logging roads and alpine singletrack. I became so sluggish, i was wobbling down the highway and about to enter the trailhead for the mountain. i kept telling myself that it was game over. my legs were so cramped, and i could barely keep a normal gait. almost as soon as i started climbing (10 steps up, then keeled over wondering what the HE@# i was doing here, this elite runner came down the trail puking and telling me he was done.) I wanted to follow him, but i couldnt face my champ and all the supporters cheering me on and telling me i could do it, so i kept on slogging........the 2 hours it took me to get up that first section was in forest, switchbacks mainly and it opens up to a checkpoint on a logging road. this guy told me it was still 5 km to the top of Hamel, and i shook my head and kept going. By the time i got to the base of the real climb, i was pinned up against the wall in agony, and this relay runner gave me 2 bottles of a super concentrated sodium chloride mixutre to help my spasming legs from agonizing me. what an awesome guy, he helped me huge. another guy gave me some salt tablets, and my legs began to feel a little bit better. I got to the top of Hamel, and from there you decend 850 meters for a prayer flag, and then run back to the peak to place it and say a prayer. It was another 10 k to the aid station and a gradually declining double track. I got the aid station, where you have to again go back 2.5 km to a checkpoint, and then back to the aid station to check in. From there its all down hill! (9 km logging road down to the transition area). This was kind of freaky, because the sun had set but it was still kind of light out. I had to turn the head lamp on and by the time i got to the transition area on the highway, i could hear the massive crowd cheering, and saw my champ smiling, waving, and hooking me up with another cold coke, a breakfast drink and the best thing ever....A bag of regular Lay's........SOOOOO FREAKING GOOD

Leg 5 (Hells Gate 27 km)



At this point it was 11:00 pm, and i knew i was going to make it!!! I was on the last leg, and i was only thinking about getting to the jet boat 12kms away. thick jungle like forest, running with your headlamp by yourself is kind of sketchy, but the course was very well marked. it was typical of the death race, nothing easy, big climbs, sketchy footing and scary because i only saw a handful of people, but after a while i could hear the jet boats and you squeeze through this huge rock and run down to the loading area. This guy dressed as the grim reaper with a huge axe asks you for your fare (a silver coin that you carry with you throughout the race) to get across Hells Canyon and then you load on the boat. they rip across the river and you think, "man, im going to finish this thing". i got off the boat, and didnt realize that the canyon was over 1000 ft below the town, so guess what? an insanely steep 2 km climb up what seemed like a friggin wall. i was so determined to get it over with that i passed people and began a pretty steady pace untill i got out of the forest. from there its 3 kms up a gravel road and onto the pavement for the last km. i could hear the announcer and it was very emotional for me. I turned the last corner and began sprinting through the chute and around the corner. I ran through the finish and threw my arms up in total and utter exhiliration! Champy was there to hug me, and i was sooooo happy to do it! thanks to everyone who beleived in me!

Stoked on Revelstoke

Well it's nearly been a week since the big move! Last wednesday was a busy day for us. I went to see the doctor and found out that my foot is in fact fractured. So I've got another 3-5 weeks on crutches and in the cam cast. The nice thing with the cam cast is that it's removable for showering, sleeping, and when I was at the beach yesterday and sat with my legs in the water. Then I had my last final exam, Ben and I went to our favorite wing place for cheap wednesday night wings, and went shopping for last minute necessities. By 11 pm the place was more or less packed and we slept our last night in out little bachelor apartment. Which was a terrible sleep because of a mixture of excitement and the lumpy futon we were sleeping on because our bed was packed.

Thursday morning we were up bright and early packing what was left and ben brought all the stuff outside while I guarded it from the bums on 17th ave. If they came close I would have scared them away with my crutches haha, but not to worry they left us alone I guess I was just THAT intimidating. Dad and AJ came with their trucks at 8:30 and by 9:15 we were all loaded up and driving away. But the traffic was INSANE! there was a steady stream until past banff, and it was actually stopping! So it took us a little longer to get here, but we made it and while I held baby Jack since I'm not much help on crutches everyone brought in the boxes. Jenny, AJ, Olivia, and Dad were all a HUGE help. Since we only had one big airmatress Olivia and Dad wound up on Ben and My little backpacking sleeping pads in the living room while Jenny, Jack and AJ got the queen airmatress. Normally when we sleep on those pads we're exhausted from a day of backpacking, I guess they're not as comfortable when you're not dead tired. But Olivia and Dad made due until Jenny and AJ left and we picked up a couch from Salmon Arm.

Dad brought up his boat, unfortuneately it wasn't really nice weather. But we drove down to the shushswaps and followed some sunny patches. It was nice having them around for a bit. Ironically the day after they left the sun came out and it's been sunny and hot ever since!

Job wise, I had 2 interviews last week and an interview yesterday. So hopefully I get one of these jobs. I also had a job for a total of 2o minutes! It's kind of a funny story, I had given the enchanted forest and skytrek my resume months ago and they randomly called me about a receptionist position on monday. The funny thing was is that they didn't want an interview and wanted me to start that day (it was already 2 pm). I told the lady that I had a broken foot and she said it didn't matter. Well my the time we got there I realized that the position was not really reception as you'd be in a cramped, cluttered gift shop and the girl I was supposed to meet saw I was on crutches and we both thought that this wasn't going to work. I thought that was pretty funny. Ben still hasn't found a job but he's digging, it seems like there is alot of construction but there is also alot of tradesmen. I'm sure once people know him he'll get a job.

So since we have jobs we've just been trying not to worry and enjoy the time off. Ben's been training really hard for the death race. The training here is endless and there are HUGE hills. We're going to be so strong! Other than that we drove down to upper arrow lake yesterday. We took the ferry across the lake (and it's even free!) and we found a little place to get down to the water and hang out. Now i did have to crutch down to it which was pretty scary/funny but I made it without falling. There were big rocks to use as seats and we brought our cooler and had a fantastic afternoon/evening. When we started getting hungry and realized that we had just missed the ferry back and the other one wouldn't come for an hour we drove down to nakusp for a pizza and caught the ferry home. It was a great day.

Anyways, needless to say we are enjoying it here. Hopefully the jobs come together pretty quickly because this is definitely where we want to be. We LOVE it here, it's so beaufitul. And the winter will be even better!

The End of a Chapter

Well I can hardly believe it, in 3 days we're moving to Revelstoke. We have been talking and dreaming about this for nearly 3 years. Every time we drove home from one of our adventures in the mountains we'd say "one day we won't have to leave." It's amazing and we're so excited, and at the same time it is the end of a chapter of our lives. It has been 3 years since Ben and I met at COP and alot has happened in those three years here in Calgary. I've finished my universtiy, Ben started his plumbing apprenticeship, my parents split up, Aj and Jenny had beautiful baby Jack, and we've made a home in our little, no bedroom, bachelor apartment. I have no idea what we're going to do with all the space in our new place, we joke that we'll always be in the same room. But, on to the next chapter and living the dream in Revelstoke. When we visited there a few weeks ago looking for a place to live, any apprehension that I had about moving went away. It's where we're meant to be, and we're finally going to be there on thursday. Although we're excited it has been stressful too. Ben was in school until last week, I still have 2 finals to write before we go, my foot and inability to carry anything cause i'm on crutches, packing, and the crazy realtor that is trying to sell the place has made the last couple of weeks stressful. But we're on the homestretch now, only 3 days and we'll be on our way!

The foot is still really sore, which is my own fault because every time it starts feeling better I decide to try and walk on it. And while I can put weight on it within an hour my foot swells and I'm back on T3s. Yesterday was a particularly bad day. Ben went out to canmore and climbed ha-ling peak and Lady Macdonald, and I was very upset i couldn't go. So being upset and stubborn I decided to walk from the bathroom to my bed. Big mistake, I could do it with a limp but within a couple of hours my foot was hurting almost more than when it first happened.. which seemed to put me in a worse mood. Poor ben got home from a beautiful day of hiking to a hysterical jennifer. But he did a good job of cheering me up. We went out and got my hair cut, spent some time oustide and went to dad's for some dinner which was awesome. Dad made homemade burgers which I must say are the best. After dinner I packed up all my treasure from my room. Ben thought it was pretty cool seeing a glimpse of me as a kid through old pictures and keepsakes. I, however, was mortified when he found my medal from the science olympics.

Anyways, I should stop procrastinating and get on studying for my two finals this week. I'll keep posted on what the Doc says on wednesday about my foot. And Congratulations to Sammy who is graduating high school today.

Devastated.

6 months of training and a $300 race fee may now be down the drain, after I slipped getting out of the pool yesterday. It had been one of those mornings, where I hadn't given myself quite enough time to get ready. When the alarm went off at 6:15 am my bed felt just to comfortable and I was extra slow to get up. Because of that I had to rush out of the door. I got to the university by 7:15 and had 15 minutes to get across campus to the pool in order to have enough time to get my workout in and get to class. Of course, the university is going through major construction and it took me half an hour of walking outside in the rain, almost getting hit by a car, before I got to the pool. Feeling rushed I almost decided skip the workout and do it after work that night. But, I figured if I swam a little bit faster I would get the full 2500 meters in, I mean I had 45 minutes right. I quickly changed and jumped right into my 1000 meter set. I swam hard, and only made 2200 meters before the time ran out. Feeling pretty exhausted I tried to pull myself out of the pool, only to slip and bash my foot on the side of the pool on the way back into the water. It hurt, I swore, and I hobbled back to the change room. Little did I know that the pain I felt was only going to multiply exponentially throughout the day.

From the time I got up in the morning I was rushing through my day. I made it to class a couple of minutes late, then had to leave early to rush to work. By the time I got to work my foot really hurt to stand on, but I didn't have time to think much about it. I popped some Advil and worked my shift till 4. At which point I had to rush back to the university to meet Ben and get some homework done. Walking from the car to the school every step started hurting more and more, but I had convinced myself I was fine. I had to be fine, I mean how can you hurt yourself getting out of a pool. And my race was only 25 days away, I was fine. I had to be.

I finally got to the library, met Ben, ate dinner, and started on my last essay of my university career. As I sat there my foot started throbbing and aching more and more. I thought maybe it was just the Advil waring off. When we decided to leave the university, we started walking back to the car and every step turned into an enormous task. The shooting pain eventually became unbearable and I broke down crying hysterically scared and sore in the middle of the university campus.
Scared because my foot couldn't be injured with my race so close. But with the amount of pain that I was feeling I knew something was wrong.

We drove to Strathmore to go to the hospital to avoid the lines. Got an x-ray and the doctor didn't find any major breaks. Since I couldn't walk and was in alot of pain at this point he gave me some crutches and tylonal 3s and sent me on my way. I was beside myself. I didn't understand why he didn't examine my foot and figure out what was hurting so much. I was inconsolable, but Ben did what he could to calm me down. Last night was rough, my foot hurt despite the tylonal 3s and I didn't sleep more than 3 hours. I decided that I had to see someone else and figure out what was wrong. I have had alot of injuries in my lifetime, and I know the difference between a bruise and when something is serious. I was scared that if I didn't see anyone it would heal badly since it wasn't immobilized and I would forever have trouble with my foot. I was petrified because I was unable to walk with 3 weeks to my race and I needed to know if whatever was wrong was going to be feeling better in time. I found the calgary foot clinic and got into see a podiatrist this morning. Good thing I did. He thinks I have a Cuboid Fracture that wouldn't turn up on a x-ray. So I have to go get a bone scan done. Hopefully it's not that because that takes around 6 weeks to heal. If it's not that with the amount of swelling and pain he said I could have torn some ligaments in my foot when it hyperextended. Even so, I would still be on crutches in a walking cast for 3 weeks. So, he crushed the plan of the Oosoyos Half Ironman. He put me into a walking cast with crutches, booked a bone scan, and an appointment to see him in 2 weeks. I go back the day before we're supposed to be moving, and the day that I have my last final exam. Talk about stress.

I have been trying to deal with the fact that I am going to be unable to do the desert half ironman all day. It has been the focus of all those long painful training sessions and early mornings for so long, and I am feeling quite lost. On top of that, Ben and I are moving in 2 weeks. It is going to be quite the task trying to pack while on crutches. But that is life. No matter how much I wish I could turn back to 7:15 yesterday morning, and instead of rushing my swim waiting until I had more time in the eventing.. i can't. I have to deal with yet another injury. I have to focus on healing this thing properly and training for the ironman next year, and maybe a couple of races later in the season. My hockey coach from NSA in highschool always used to tell me that the only thing that will limit my ability is my injuries... and yet here is more proof of that statement. Frustration is an understatement to what I am feeling right now. But I know there are alot of people that are going through this. I remember when Linda hurt her back and was unable to do the half marathon she was training for earlier this year. Injuries are just a part of the life of an athlete I guess.

Anyways, sorry if this post is so melancholy. Like my dad says, don't sweat the small stuff. The foot will heal, and there will be more races. Until then I'll have more time to study and pack since I won't be training or doing many adventures for the next little bit.

3, 2, 1...... Goodbye Calgary

Well, since the running meltdown, training has been going well. I ran the Calgary half marathon at the end of may and did a personal best and hit my goal of under 2 hours. Ben did the full marathon, but he also ran TO the race. Yes, he added an extra 4miles (8kms) to his run. Training has hit its peak for me the last couple of weeks since I am now 4 weeks out of my race, so I have been getting pretty tired. The point is to almost burn yourself out so that you can taper and recover for 2 weeks and be ready to go for the big day! My Big day is July 11th in Oosoyos. Pretty nervous but excited. I have never done this distance before and I dont really know what to expect but as long as I stay healthy and injury free it'll be awesome.
Other than training, Ben and I have been pretty busy. Ben is in school right now getting his 3rd year of his plumbing schooling down. It's amazing how much the school throws at these students in 8 weeks of school and the most minute numbers and details they have to remember. But he's getting through it and will be done in 2 weeks. I'm in my last class of my degree and have finished an online class, in between working and training. I have found it pretty hard to keep my motivation up this close to the end of school and with only one class. But in 2 weeks I'll be done and I'll only have 2 finals (one in my online class), then Ben and I are getting out of this city... we're moving to revelstoke!!
We have kinda been up and down with when we were going to move, and in the couple of weeks all the signs have been pointing to leaving. So we drove down last weekend to find a place to live, and we found a great place! A freshly renovated 2 bedroom basement suite (but it's a split level so the basement is mostly above ground and is nice and bright) with a nice landlord who lives on the top floor. We're even allowed to get a dog if we want! That is awesome, because we really want one.. not right away but eventually. We camped in the rain all weekend, but after finding that place nothing could get our spirits down. It was a pretty jam packed weekend: We went for a trail run, hiked partway up the skihill, checked out the town and surrounding area, and went for another "hike" (more of a walk by our standards) before dinner, found a great pizza place and had a pre-celebration for my birthday. We even checked out the pool and gym for training. Everything was so amazing! I absolutely love it there, I was so relaxed and knew that this is exactly where I am supposed to be. The mountains are huge and beautiful. The people are super friendly. I felt inspired.
Sunday morning we got up early and hit the road to come home. It was a pretty whirlwind weekend leaving after work on friday and coming home sunday. But it is only 4 hours away and with the time difference you gain an hour on friday night. We got home mid afternoon and went to my dad's for a BBQ since it was mine, my dad's and my Oma from Ontario's birthday. Aj and Jenny did the cooking and it was delicious!
Anyways, now that we have a place to live and we're officially moving in 3 weeks. We have been pretty busy this week looking for jobs, trying to find stuff that we'll need for moving (since the place we rent is furnished we don't have much), training, and finishing school. Needless to say I have been a little stressed, but I have a feeling the next 3 weeks are going to fly by! And it's crazy but as soon as you drive out of the city and into the mountains the stress always seems to dissappear! So we've just got to hang on and before we know it we'll be living the dream!

The 8 mile melt down and an epiphany

Running and I have no always gotten along. Some times there is nothing better for my mood than a nice run, then other times I feel like a smoker with lung cancer trying to run. In January I decided that I was going to run the calgary marathon again (with a goal of under 4 hours) and then the sylvan lake half ironman 8 weeks later. Training was going well, I was getting my long runs in on sundays. Then I was thrown for a loop a couple of weeks ago, when the sylvan lake for canceled. Thankfully my registration was transferred to another race in Oosoyos, but it is 2 weeks earlier.

Since then my long runs have been a struggle. I have been trying to decide if doing the marathon was still a good idea with the half ironman that much sooner. Since Ben and I are not yet signed up for it, I do not have to do it. Well this indecision has shown up in my training for the marathon. Last weekend I was supposed to run 2o miles (32 kms).. well I got 1/4 of the way and got frustrated with people passing me and threw in the towel (it was one of those running days where I felt like an out of shape smoker). I sat down on the pathway by the reservoir contemplating the thought of continuing my run or turning back. After an hour passed, i decided it was probabaly a good idea to turn around and run home. Well after running 5 miles and sitting for an hour my legs had seized so the way home turned into a run/walk. The next day I was determined to finish that 20 mile run, so I went out with Ben on Sunday and we ran 14 miles. Since combined in those 2 days I got the distance in I wasn't too discouraged.... that was until this weekend.

This weekend I was supposed to run at least 20 miles again , with the calgary marathon 35 days away. Yesterday was pretty crumby out so ben went for a long run and I did a run bike day. I ran a personal best time for a 10k run, then hit the gym for an hour of pounding the bike (since the roads still have gravel on them for the bike). I felt good and had lots of energy. I felt very confident in my running ability. That all changed on Sunday. Ben and I went out for that 20 mile run at 9am. I didn't feel too bad and got past the 1/4 mark that taunted me last weekend. Then we hit the 8 mile mark, only 2 more miles and we were going to turn around and head home! That is, until my legs started aching, and I started wondering why I was running this far since in my triathlon I only have to run a half marathon, and I'm not even signed up for the calgary marathon. Also, I was 3 minutes off the pace that I wanted, too slow. Suddenly those 2 miles seemed like 10000 miles. I spoke up and we turned around. As we started running back I got mad and frustrated at myself. Why did I turn around, it was only 2 miles, that's not that far. Then thinking about how slow I am, and how I'm brutal at running. As i got more and more worked up about turning around and being slow, my asthma started acting up and then the tears came. I stopped on the path, crying. Poor ben didn't know what to do, except keep up the encouragement, trying to at least get me walking again. Being stubborn as I am I wouldn't budge. Eventually I decided to start running again, this time fueled with anger and frustration. I was running much faster than i should have been, but I didn't care, I was determined to be a fast, good runner. I only made it about 2.5 more miles. My legs and lungs were screaming. I was frustrated that I didn't run the 2 extra miles, that I was running slower than my pace. So, of course being the awesome girlfriend that I am, I took my frustration out on Ben. Poor Guy. We wound up walking the 5.5 miles home, and during those 5.5 miles I had an epiphany. If I signed up for the calgary marathon, I could of course finish it. Maybe not in the 4 hours that I would want to, but I would finish it. But I have been expecting too much from my running performance considering I am training primarily for a triathlon. Instead of running 6 days a week, I'm running, biking and swimming. How can I expect to excel at running when I am not concentrating only on running. My goal right from january is the half ironman, and the calgary marathon more of just an after thought. Therefore, do I want to just run the marathon to do it, cause if I do then I shouldn't be worried about my time.

In the end, I have decided that I am going to focus on speed and strength for my triathlon, and cheer everyone on at the calgary marathon. I need to focus on training for one or the other. If they were more spread out than I could do both, but they're not and I can't. I have been trying to spread my self to thin, and my performance in both might suffer. I can always do the edmonton or the okanagan marathon later in the season. Cause then I can focus on just running, instead of trying to squeeze in a long run for the marathon in between my triathlon training, and doing both within 6 weeks of eachother.

Other than my training crisis, life has been pretty good. I am officially going to be finished my economcis degree in June, and Ben will be starting his school in May and will be done in June. Since we're both going to be done, we're looking into moving to revelstoke this summer instead of waiting until January. So as soon as we find jobs and a place to live we're getting out of this city and getting our life started in the mountains, where we both belong.

From camping to skiing!

Well the weather has been all over the place the last few weeks here. At the beginning of march, the weather warmed up and Ben and I decided to test out all the new gear that we got for Christmas. So we packed up our packs and decided to climb up to our favorite spot in kananaskis where you can see the lights of Calgary and the mountains, so beautiful. Well we were quickly reminded that it was only the beginning of March when the road was closed for the winter. We turned around and drove to a campsite that was open close to Calgary, Mclean Creek. We were surprised how many people were out camping with the same camping/summer bug that we had, most in nice and cozy trailers mind you. We had a great time by the fire and stayed warm and cozy all night despite it dipping down to -10! It was really tough getting out of bed in the morning!

The following weekend we visited my mom and murray at their cabin by rocky mountain house. We love going out there, it's so nice and relaxing and you can never get enough of mom's cooking. It's funny how you really do not appreciate it growing up, but once you're cooking every night yourself (and it never quite tastes as good as mom's) Ben and I always look forward for it. It was a great night relaxing by the fire and playing games. The next day we went for a walk finally saw the river. We even got Wilson into the water.

This past weekend was easter weekend, and Ben and I went down to Fernie to visit Ben's mom. We had a fantastic time! Ben's brother and sister and his sister's husband flew out from Ontario, and I guess it's been a long time since they were all together at once. It had been so nice in calgary that Ben and I were debating whether or not to bring our skis. But we were definitely glad we did! We skied on Saturday and it was snowing all day, and we had some amazing runs. But the real treat came on sunday when it snowed 12 cms over night. Even tho it was only 12 cms tehre were places where the snow accumulated it felt like 20-30! If you're not a skier, it is impossible to understand the pleasure of skiing untouched, knee deep, soft and fluffy powder! Well to say the least there was lots of YAAHOOOOS from the group.

In between these weekend adventures we still are training really hard. Some weeks we're at it 5 days and others 6 days, we've just been listening to what our bodies are saying. Ben mainly runs and does hills/stairs which fits his death race this summer. I have gotten to switch it up with typically 1-2 times per week swimming, 2-3 time biking and 2-3 times running (one of which is a looong, slooow run). I quite enjoy not having to run every single time I train. Last weekend for our long runs ben ran a marathon distance (i think this is his third time he's ran that in the last couple of months) and I ran 30kms. Often Ben gets up and runs before I get out of bed, but I always see him when he's on his way home and it gives me motivation to keep going! The calgary marathon is coming up and we should be all set for it! Mind you my summer event was canceled this past weekend, so I am desperately trying to find another half ironman that is close by. I'm leaning towards the one in Oosoyos, but it is an 8 hour drive and 2 weeks earlier. But the only other option really is the calgary half ironman and that's august long weekend, which is also when Ben's race is. So if anyone knows of any others I could consider I would definitely appreciate it!

Finally, little Jack Alexander Bailey-Van Dongen was born on March 7, 2010! He is quite the adorable little guy, mind you I would love to see how they'll fit that name on the back of a hockey jersey. He has totally captured ben and my heart and we absolutely love having a little nephew!

Where as the time gone!

All right, I am the first to admit I have definitely fallen off the blogging train. This was supposed to be a record of the adventures that Ben and I have been undertaking; and ribbon creek falls has definitely not been the last adventure that we went on. In fact after I got home from Peru, the summer was full of adventures. We did our first olympic distance triathlon, and despite some setbacks like cracking my elbow in 2 places 2 weeks before the race, Ben and I did great. Ben as usual completed and came in 5th place! I managed to get across the line 22 minutes faster than I thought I had trained for, broken elbow and all. We also went camping and hiking and I finally took Ben to goodsoil, the place the defined summer and family when I was little. But I think the trip of the summer was when we did Northover Ridge. It was a three day trek, and we saw sights that we thought rivaled the view at the top of Mount Robson (a couple pictures at the bottom). Well, Before we both knew it summer was over and I was jumping back into school. We backed off the training, indulged in eating and drinking whatever we pleased, and enjoyed the little time we had together. While waiting for the snow to fly, and the ice to form so we could partake in our favorite winter activities of skating and skiing, we started planning our great escape from Calgary to the mountains.

The semester flew by, my class schedule and work schedule was hectic and stressful at times but before I knew it it was mid December and I was finishing up exams. Christmas came and we got totally spoiled on stuff that we needed for our future adventures, including wetsuits for our triathlons, and necessities for our backpacking. As 2009 came to a close I reminisced aboutthe year from Peru, to northover ridge and other mountain tops, our first triathlons, and countless other adventures. All in all it was a fantastic year. However we have big plans for the coming year. For 2010 I am going to try and update this blog more. I think i'll have alot to write about: it's our last year in Calgary before we move to the mountains, I am going to be finishing my Economics Degree, Ben will be finishing the schooling for his plumbing apprenticeship, We're going to be having a nephew since AJ is having a baby.

Athletic wise we have lots on the go. With January 1st training season officially started, we have our training calender for the next 7 months taped to the wall and that is what keeps us going one day at a time even when our legs are sore and it's cold outside. Ben's big event is the Canadian Death Race, I'll be doing the sylvan lake half ironman, we're both planning on doing the calgary marathon and probably the alberta challenge tri again. And inbetween training 5-6 days a week we'll squeeze in a trip or two to the tops of mountains! In the meantime hopefully we'll keep skiing and skating until spring comes and the snow and ice melts!