I've realized that I am pretty bad with sticking to the blogging scene. Sorry! No promises this time... but I know that once I get into the race season I will post quite a bit more frequently.
lagoon
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Holidays
Happy Christmas and New Year!
I've realized that I am pretty bad with sticking to the blogging scene. Sorry! No promises this time... but I know that once I get into the race season I will post quite a bit more frequently.
These are some photos from the Stewart Mtn 10 Mile challenge out at Thetis Lk. in the beginning of December. The race is put on by the Prairie Inn Harriers- and what an awesome race (swim- if you count those huge puddles)!! I did the 5.5 mile instead of the 10 and LOVED IT!
I've realized that I am pretty bad with sticking to the blogging scene. Sorry! No promises this time... but I know that once I get into the race season I will post quite a bit more frequently.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
December already?!
The fact that it is already December is mind blowing. Well... not exactly, but I'm still a bit shocked that the year is almost over. Driving to swim practice earlier this week I realized that it was already a few days into December and I hadn't paid my rent or some other bills... oops
Classes are over and exams are starting. Luckily for me I only have 3 finals to write this term. The 10th, 17th and 20th and then two weeks off for the holiday break. This will be my first ever "green christmas" as I am staying in Victoria for the break. I will be coming back to Rossland in February for reading break and guaranteed powder skiing! My mum is driving down to visit me for a couple of days, and we will probably have Christmas dinner at the Empress Hotel.
Training has been going well. Nice and light with little intensity, but good focus on form and strength. I am excited to build up my base for the coming 2013 season! I have been spending some great "me" training time exploring the local trails and mountains. Running up Mt. Work was definitely a highlight and has geared me up to race Stewart Mtn 5miler out at Thetis Lk Park this weekend! There is also a 10mile option, but at this point in time I don't want to mess up my running progress and set anything back, so a 5 mile race with a good warmup/cooldown it will be!
Time to get back to studying ( gotta follow my study plan ;) )
Happy December and happy training!
Classes are over and exams are starting. Luckily for me I only have 3 finals to write this term. The 10th, 17th and 20th and then two weeks off for the holiday break. This will be my first ever "green christmas" as I am staying in Victoria for the break. I will be coming back to Rossland in February for reading break and guaranteed powder skiing! My mum is driving down to visit me for a couple of days, and we will probably have Christmas dinner at the Empress Hotel.
Training has been going well. Nice and light with little intensity, but good focus on form and strength. I am excited to build up my base for the coming 2013 season! I have been spending some great "me" training time exploring the local trails and mountains. Running up Mt. Work was definitely a highlight and has geared me up to race Stewart Mtn 5miler out at Thetis Lk Park this weekend! There is also a 10mile option, but at this point in time I don't want to mess up my running progress and set anything back, so a 5 mile race with a good warmup/cooldown it will be!
Time to get back to studying ( gotta follow my study plan ;) )
Happy December and happy training!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Worlds- Auckland 2012
Here it is- the race report from worlds... almost 3 weeks later. I've been meaning to get this up, but things have been hectic lately- so I'm trying to be productive and use my study break to write this.
I flew out from Victoria on the 14th of October with Alex and we arrived in Auckland early morning on the 16th. After a frightening drive into town (those taxi/shuttle drivers are maniacs, and combined with being on the WRONG side of the road, ya, that was scary) we arrived at our cool hotel. We stayed in an apartment style room that was complete with two separate bedrooms, a large bathroom, kitchen and nice little living room. We spent the rest of the week doing some light training, meeting people on the Canadian team and exploring Auckland. I think the take-away highlight from this trip for me was how neat it was to be a part of the team. We Canadians really stuck out. I mean, you can't miss 300+ people walking around in an 80s themed track suit of bright red pants and a white hoodie, now can you? The reception and friendliness that we received from the people of Auckland was amazing!
On to the race. I went into worlds with a goal of having a solid race. I wasn't expecting any spectacular result, given being injured from May to September with no running possible, but I was hoping that my base would carry me through to something respectable.
Swim
The AG swim was, if I were to sum it up in one word: chaos. The wave of 18-19 and 20-24 females all left the pontoon at once into 14 degree salt water, and it was a fight to keep myself from panicking. The course was like a T shape, with the base of the T being protected in between Queen's wharf and Cook's wharf, and the top of the T being out in the open ocean. I had never swam with current, or in the ocean for that matter, and found it incredibly difficult to site the buoys or follow any sort of direction... I was basically swimming blind... but so was pretty much everyone else. In the end, not my best swim, but I was simply thankful to be out of that water!
T1
This being worlds, the transition zone had to be large enough to accommodate 3000+ athletes, which meant for approximately 680m of running out of the water, to your bike and to the mount line. My time was 4min for all of that. Yikes. But then again, check the results page and no one had the normal 80s T1.
Bike
The bike course got a lot of hype for its hills. Come ride in Victoria or the Koots and you will wonder why people were scared. Yes, there were gradual climbs and two steep climbs on the 2 loops of 20km course, but nothing extremely difficult. I chose to ride my road bike, instead of my tri bike for this course, but looking back I am sure that the Cervelo would have been fine on the hills. The hardest part of the bike was the flat section- wind sucks. I would definitely choose to ride more hills over battling that headwind coming back into the city! Overall I am happy about my bike leg!
T2
Enter another 680m of running. The positive? My legs got a chance to relax from the bike to the run.
Run
This part of the race I basically felt like I was winging it. Having only done my first real run workout a week before, I had no idea what was going to happen. I knew that the neuroma wouldn't give me pain, but I didn't know how my body would react to being pushed to 10k race pace. I discovered that I just didn't have the run fitness to "push" and keep a fast pace, but I was good for going at a steady pace, and managed to run under 49min, with given my circumstances I was super happy about.
Overall, I am so happy that I decided to not call it quits (which at one point was a valid option) and not travel to Auckland. These past 6 months have been an incredible learning experience (patience really is a virtue) and I think I have come out a stronger and more determined athlete. Thanks to my mum, grandparents and friends/family for putting up with me. And thanks especially to coach Noa for helping me think positively through this injury and for keeping my head in the game! Afterall, the goal is long-term, not just one race! The race reminded me that I love triathlon, and I love racing. It gave me fuel to the fire to have a stellar 2013 season. For now, lots of studying and a couple weeks of easy training!
I'll leave you with some pictures of the trip!
I flew out from Victoria on the 14th of October with Alex and we arrived in Auckland early morning on the 16th. After a frightening drive into town (those taxi/shuttle drivers are maniacs, and combined with being on the WRONG side of the road, ya, that was scary) we arrived at our cool hotel. We stayed in an apartment style room that was complete with two separate bedrooms, a large bathroom, kitchen and nice little living room. We spent the rest of the week doing some light training, meeting people on the Canadian team and exploring Auckland. I think the take-away highlight from this trip for me was how neat it was to be a part of the team. We Canadians really stuck out. I mean, you can't miss 300+ people walking around in an 80s themed track suit of bright red pants and a white hoodie, now can you? The reception and friendliness that we received from the people of Auckland was amazing!
On to the race. I went into worlds with a goal of having a solid race. I wasn't expecting any spectacular result, given being injured from May to September with no running possible, but I was hoping that my base would carry me through to something respectable.
Swim
The AG swim was, if I were to sum it up in one word: chaos. The wave of 18-19 and 20-24 females all left the pontoon at once into 14 degree salt water, and it was a fight to keep myself from panicking. The course was like a T shape, with the base of the T being protected in between Queen's wharf and Cook's wharf, and the top of the T being out in the open ocean. I had never swam with current, or in the ocean for that matter, and found it incredibly difficult to site the buoys or follow any sort of direction... I was basically swimming blind... but so was pretty much everyone else. In the end, not my best swim, but I was simply thankful to be out of that water!
T1
This being worlds, the transition zone had to be large enough to accommodate 3000+ athletes, which meant for approximately 680m of running out of the water, to your bike and to the mount line. My time was 4min for all of that. Yikes. But then again, check the results page and no one had the normal 80s T1.
Bike
The bike course got a lot of hype for its hills. Come ride in Victoria or the Koots and you will wonder why people were scared. Yes, there were gradual climbs and two steep climbs on the 2 loops of 20km course, but nothing extremely difficult. I chose to ride my road bike, instead of my tri bike for this course, but looking back I am sure that the Cervelo would have been fine on the hills. The hardest part of the bike was the flat section- wind sucks. I would definitely choose to ride more hills over battling that headwind coming back into the city! Overall I am happy about my bike leg!
T2
Enter another 680m of running. The positive? My legs got a chance to relax from the bike to the run.
Run
This part of the race I basically felt like I was winging it. Having only done my first real run workout a week before, I had no idea what was going to happen. I knew that the neuroma wouldn't give me pain, but I didn't know how my body would react to being pushed to 10k race pace. I discovered that I just didn't have the run fitness to "push" and keep a fast pace, but I was good for going at a steady pace, and managed to run under 49min, with given my circumstances I was super happy about.
Overall, I am so happy that I decided to not call it quits (which at one point was a valid option) and not travel to Auckland. These past 6 months have been an incredible learning experience (patience really is a virtue) and I think I have come out a stronger and more determined athlete. Thanks to my mum, grandparents and friends/family for putting up with me. And thanks especially to coach Noa for helping me think positively through this injury and for keeping my head in the game! Afterall, the goal is long-term, not just one race! The race reminded me that I love triathlon, and I love racing. It gave me fuel to the fire to have a stellar 2013 season. For now, lots of studying and a couple weeks of easy training!
I'll leave you with some pictures of the trip!
Goofing around at the opening ceremonies parade
Yeah, we stand out alright!
Elite women's swim
Auckland
Part of the run course
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Fall is here!
It would be an understatement to say that I have been a regular blogger/poster. Sorry about that... Thanks to some reminding from my Aunt Sharon (that some people really do read this!) I am back again posting, and since things seem to be going well I hope to be quite a bit more regular about it too!
I'm back in Victoria and loving it! Still following along the stream of microbiology/immunology I have found that I am really enjoying my classes this term and that I have an appreciation and interest in what I am learning. My course load is small this term, only 4 courses because of my trip to New Zealand for a chunk of time in October. Yes, I am still committed to going to worlds! My neuroma has been getting much better thanks to Clay Ward at Murray Chiropractic. He is even sorting out the rest of me- it's a huge process to sort out my alignment and postural issues, but hopefully once they are corrected I can better avoid injuries! My time back to running has been slow and with a few set backs, but I haven't given up and I have decided to take things as they come... there's nothing else I can do about it. Luckily, I have a great team of support behind me, and the fact that I might be one of the most stubborn people alive makes giving up NOT an option.
I will post again closer to leaving for Auckland (2 weeks!!!!) But I will leave you with some pictures and one special song (which I may or may not dance to everytime it plays)
I'm back in Victoria and loving it! Still following along the stream of microbiology/immunology I have found that I am really enjoying my classes this term and that I have an appreciation and interest in what I am learning. My course load is small this term, only 4 courses because of my trip to New Zealand for a chunk of time in October. Yes, I am still committed to going to worlds! My neuroma has been getting much better thanks to Clay Ward at Murray Chiropractic. He is even sorting out the rest of me- it's a huge process to sort out my alignment and postural issues, but hopefully once they are corrected I can better avoid injuries! My time back to running has been slow and with a few set backs, but I haven't given up and I have decided to take things as they come... there's nothing else I can do about it. Luckily, I have a great team of support behind me, and the fact that I might be one of the most stubborn people alive makes giving up NOT an option.
I will post again closer to leaving for Auckland (2 weeks!!!!) But I will leave you with some pictures and one special song (which I may or may not dance to everytime it plays)
Testing out the race kit
Roses from my front yard
Victoria and the ocean on a ride
Pretty awesome place to live!
NEW SHOES!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Think Long Term
Well... seeing as everybody else has updated their blog this past week, I guess it's now my turn too. I've been purposely avoiding blogging for the past while because I didn't feel like sharing what was going on. Here's what's up: I am still injured. My foot is not broken, but I've done big time nerve damage to it (changing foot biomechnics and footstrike from previous injury 2 years ago) and nerves take what feels like f o r e v e r to heal. As of this week I am trying a different approach/technique of physiotherapy and hoping that it might produce some results.
So with this going on, I have not been running, but rather once again have been water running. I am spending good quality time in the water working on my swimming and getting more confident on the bike. (Doing some group rides I tended to get dropped on the downhills!!) I am listening to coach Noa and thinking LONG TERM. I've got over the no-racing fact and I am accepting that I will be race ready for October and that's the best that I can do this year. It's all a learning process.
I had a great Canada Long weekend in Vancouver, probably one of the most relaxing times I've had since April. I'm back in the koots now and working the 9-5 and hoping to start enjoying the sunny weather (hint hint weather gods!)
Also, this is pretty amazing: God's Particle
Thanks for reading!
So with this going on, I have not been running, but rather once again have been water running. I am spending good quality time in the water working on my swimming and getting more confident on the bike. (Doing some group rides I tended to get dropped on the downhills!!) I am listening to coach Noa and thinking LONG TERM. I've got over the no-racing fact and I am accepting that I will be race ready for October and that's the best that I can do this year. It's all a learning process.
I had a great Canada Long weekend in Vancouver, probably one of the most relaxing times I've had since April. I'm back in the koots now and working the 9-5 and hoping to start enjoying the sunny weather (hint hint weather gods!)
Also, this is pretty amazing: God's Particle
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Month of May - Injury Mode
May has been a bit of a drag for me. I'm back in the injury boat again and none too happy about it. I started out with a strained vmo muscle that backed off the cycling for a bit- but that healed quickly as was expected. Of course, two days after my knee started feeling better, I got a burning pain with numbness in my right foot. It got to the point where weight bearing with full walk through motion wasn't possible. It's been a week with no exact treatment, just prodding, icing, anti-inflammatories, taping and an x-ray. This morning I went back to physio and had ultrasound, massage and stim done... and walked away with a pair of crutches. I hope that more of this style treatment will produce some change by the end of this week, as it got considerably worse with no treatment.
I am staying positive and am taking this time to work on my swimming, cycling and running form (water running does have some benefits!). I hope that I can be pain free by the beginning of june so that I am able to compete at wasa on the 10th. Need to take things one day at a time.
Off to the pool in an hour for a swim and water run session! Happy training everyone!
I am staying positive and am taking this time to work on my swimming, cycling and running form (water running does have some benefits!). I hope that I can be pain free by the beginning of june so that I am able to compete at wasa on the 10th. Need to take things one day at a time.
Off to the pool in an hour for a swim and water run session! Happy training everyone!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Artsy Picture Post
I thought that I would post some pictures of what my summer has consisted of so far. Without a job, I have lots of time to goof off and get creative! Another bonus is with my mum working during the day, I am able to play the grand piano. I can't touch it when she's in the house... once a music teacher, always a music teacher (it doesn't matter that the neighbours can hear me across the street- I just can't let her hear my wrong notes!)
Here are some pics of what I've been up to lately:
Here are some pics of what I've been up to lately:
Chopin is my favourite composer
Necklaces made from rags
Cervelo has hit the roads-
it's officially summer in my books!!
Dad has taken my old
wetsuit for Slocan swimming
Swimmer or superhero? He thinks the latter...
Melted crayon art- cheap and fun!
That's been my two weeks post exams. Quite the life if you ask me! Now to watch some race recaps from Wildflower and IMSG that took place this past weekend.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig
Sorry for the lack of blog lately! I've been experimenting with a wordpress site and trying to make up my mind on to which blog site I would like to stick with, and it looks like good old simple Blogger has won me back over!
I am back home in Rossland for the summer. Well... technically Warfield (but that's a small detail and one that I am still not a fan of), and I am staying for the full summer! No summer semester like last year, just plain work and training. I am very happy to have my old job with the Rossland Museum and Historical Society back, with an added bit of responsibility! I will still do site tours, but also "run the place" two or three days a week. So if you like gold, mining, history, or all three- come and visit me this summer!
Training has been going smoothly, I've just come off a big block and my recovery week was perfectly timed as a slight VMO strain decided to pop up. Luckily ice and massage have calmed it down and I am now good to go. I am looking forward to my first race of the season- the Subaru race series at Shawnigan Lake on May 27th. Not exactly looking forward to spending my 20th birthday (May 26th) in a van for 10hrs- but you can't always have your cake and eat it too!
I will try and keep up with more regular posting and some pictures once the weather turns around.
Happy training!
I am back home in Rossland for the summer. Well... technically Warfield (but that's a small detail and one that I am still not a fan of), and I am staying for the full summer! No summer semester like last year, just plain work and training. I am very happy to have my old job with the Rossland Museum and Historical Society back, with an added bit of responsibility! I will still do site tours, but also "run the place" two or three days a week. So if you like gold, mining, history, or all three- come and visit me this summer!
Training has been going smoothly, I've just come off a big block and my recovery week was perfectly timed as a slight VMO strain decided to pop up. Luckily ice and massage have calmed it down and I am now good to go. I am looking forward to my first race of the season- the Subaru race series at Shawnigan Lake on May 27th. Not exactly looking forward to spending my 20th birthday (May 26th) in a van for 10hrs- but you can't always have your cake and eat it too!
I will try and keep up with more regular posting and some pictures once the weather turns around.
Happy training!
Monday, February 6, 2012
February Sunshine
Shorts!
10mile point looking to yacht club
Love the sunshine!
These are some pics from my recovery run today. It was great to get out and enjoy the warm sunshine. I am very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place!
Hope everyone played in the sun on this awesome february day!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Simple Sunday
Thought that I would switch the blog up a bit and add a post about food! When I cook I go for simple, nutritious and most importantly gluten free. This sunday I don't have much time between midterm cramming and heading out to tutor- so I went for a quick throw-together that I can assemble at any time in the day, and cook up quickly.
You could call this fried rice. I prepped the brown rice and veggies before hand, and threw it in the pan just before I was ready to eat. (Eating it now as I am typing!)
Method:
Cook brown rice- (I used 1/2 cup dry as it was all I had left)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup shredded rapini
crimini mushrooms (about 5 or 6) coarsely chopped
1 cup frozen lima beans
1/2 a yam grated
1 tbsp GF tamari sauce
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 cloves garlic
2'' ginger, minced (lots of ginger!)
3 eggs
Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan. Once hot add the garlic and ginger. Saute. Add the yam, mushrooms, rapini, lima beans and raisins. Saute in frying pan for about 10min. Push veggies to one side and add the eggs. Next add the cooked rice and mix in, distributing the eggs. Cook until eggs are no longer runny. Put on plate, then eat!
This made enough food for about 4 or 5 servings! So for me that equates to lots of leftovers for the coming week!
Happy Sunday!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturdays
The weekend. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about weekends... usually I am on the fence when it comes to Saturdays and Sundays. Yes, come Friday afternoon I look forward to a break, but then I realize that my weekends are often more productive than my weeks!
Saturday is the BIG day. A long ride and usually followed by a swim. I love my long rides, there is something about exploring the area and seeing new sights that always makes me happy. Unfortunately, I don't always love the process of getting my butt in gear to get out the door. If it's a down pour, snowing, or freezing I tend to be a wimp and set up my trusty trainer. But yesterday was a pretty big (and well worth it!) exception for me. Not thinking that the snow was going to melt overnight, I planned on spending my 3.5hrs watching LOTR movies.... my newly decked out road bike, with super awesome fenders was going to have to wait. Turns out the heavy rain melted all of the snow and left clear roads, and to make things better I had two great athletes, Emma and Alex, who also wanted to ride. The ride was great- one of the best that I have had in a long time! Cycling through periods of ridiculously hard rain, patches of snow/slush and chasing the blue sky made me feel like a super hard core roadie. The only downside to the day was waking up with a small tickle in the day of my throat. Fast-forward to saturday post swim and that tickle morphed into a sore throat/cough, and now by sunday morning I have no voice. Time to bust out the oil of oregano, probiotics and buckleys. Some sleep will help too!
Hope everyone is happy, healthy and enjoying their weekend!
Saturday is the BIG day. A long ride and usually followed by a swim. I love my long rides, there is something about exploring the area and seeing new sights that always makes me happy. Unfortunately, I don't always love the process of getting my butt in gear to get out the door. If it's a down pour, snowing, or freezing I tend to be a wimp and set up my trusty trainer. But yesterday was a pretty big (and well worth it!) exception for me. Not thinking that the snow was going to melt overnight, I planned on spending my 3.5hrs watching LOTR movies.... my newly decked out road bike, with super awesome fenders was going to have to wait. Turns out the heavy rain melted all of the snow and left clear roads, and to make things better I had two great athletes, Emma and Alex, who also wanted to ride. The ride was great- one of the best that I have had in a long time! Cycling through periods of ridiculously hard rain, patches of snow/slush and chasing the blue sky made me feel like a super hard core roadie. The only downside to the day was waking up with a small tickle in the day of my throat. Fast-forward to saturday post swim and that tickle morphed into a sore throat/cough, and now by sunday morning I have no voice. Time to bust out the oil of oregano, probiotics and buckleys. Some sleep will help too!
Hope everyone is happy, healthy and enjoying their weekend!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Post #30 and some ramblings
This is my 30th blog post! Something small to celebrate, but celebrate none-the-less! When I started this blog I had no idea that I would ever reach 30 posts, or stay committed to (semi) regular blogging.
Currently I am back at Uvic for spring semester. Taking 5 courses is proving to be a time juggling act. Physics, advanced ochem, microbiology, statistics and genetics isn't the easiest load to pile on all at once. But I can handle one rough semester- after all it is only 3 months! The biggest downside to this semester is my schedule... unfortunately I can only attend one or two group workouts a week because of class conflict. I have also started a small tutoring job that runs two nights a week. Brushing up on high-school math, chemistry and physics is never a bad thing right?
The first sunday back in Victoria I participated in my first running race of the year, the Pioneer 8km. It went ok. Overall I am not pleased with my performance. The first 3km were great- and then I blew up. Guess I should learn some pacing techniques! My energy levels have been in the dirt, but I have now figured out the cause and hope that it will soon be remedied. I am very happy to say that I finally feel like a real swimmer! Over the past month I have noticed an improvement in my times, and I am super pumped to say that a 4km swim feels "normal" now.
This past weekend I had my first "city" experience: clubbing. Let's just say that it isn't really my thing... fun, but not for me. I also went to see an awesome band: The Boom Booms on saturday night. The have an amazing stage presence and great tunes to boot! Check them out here!
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