Audrey Erlandson

Oh that 'multi sport athlete' feeling again!!...

2011-03-02T15:11:00.001-08:00

There is just no words to describe how I am feeling right now! One of the biggest milestones yet for me was getting back on the bike! And... I finally did it! I have to say, there were a lot of feelings swarming around that moment. The surgery that I had directly affected those most precious parts down there and my surgeon told me that getting back on the saddle again may be the last thing I will want to do for a very, very, long time! Much to my surprise it went a lot better than I expected. (the saddle part that is) The part that was so hard was my tolerance to the actual activity itself! I cannot tell you how hard that was. I have not felt that "out of shape" on the bike in years. Very humbling to say the least. Just spinning to warm up the CompuTrainer felt like the end of a 6 hour ride. Once I set the computer, I inserted some seated and standing low cadence work for around 20 minutes and then called it done at 45 minutes!! My legs were shaking, my sugars were in my boots, but I WAS SWEATING AGAIN!!.. Boy, do I have some work to do!! It was again, another 'bitter sweet' moment. I can only go up from here, and that is a beautiful thing! At least I know I can tolerate the general discomfort of the saddle again. Just need to work on that endurance again.

The next part of my day consisted of a fantastic snow shoe up at Mt. Washington with my Mom and Aunt Dianne! We only covered around 4 km, but the snow was lovely and we completely enjoyed every moment. I know a lot of people are getting really sick of the snow, but the last time I was up on the snow shoes was just over a year ago when I raced the Yeti 10km snowshoe race. Another humbling experience for me. I did that 10km race in 1:21. Today, we covered 4km in just over the same amount of time. Granted we were stopping for 'photo ops', but still... I would not say it was easy that's for sure. I was feeling it by the end of the day. Another 'hurts so good moment'.

This is Hana, my amazing run partner. She has NEVER been so happy to be also getting out to run her hind off. The poor girl has been having sympathy post op surgery laziness too and is ready to get the running going again!! She is having a hard time going at the snails pace that I have right now and keeps looking at me like "come on, let's get this going already"!!!! Soon, my friend, soon!

Setbacks, Sunshine, Support and Six Weeks Post Surgery!!...

2011-02-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

"If you set a goal for yourself and you are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, improve your performance, or just finish the race. It's up to you"

~Dave Scott, U.S. Triathlete

My road to recovery hit another speed bump last Friday (over a week ago) when a post op infection set in to my incision!! Not sure if it was going to the public pool that instigated the whole process, or if there was something brewing in there that was beyond my control... I cannot dwell on that or wonder "what if" because it does not make the situation any better. When I saw my surgeon on Thursday he seemed genuinely surprised that an infection had set in 5 weeks after surgery. Something he does not normally see. The other interesting issue that he noted was my slow metabolism of the suture material that he used... He said normally the sutures that were still there should have been gone 3 weeks ago!! He said I was having an "atypical response to suture material, and should make note of this for future surgeries"... Anyhow, this speed bump had me down and out on the sofa again!! I am so looking forward to the days when I am using the sofa for a nap after a 6 hour ride or 2 hour run!!! I am also looking forward to the day when I can stop taking all the antibiotics, stool softeners, pain medications, etc.!!!

Now that the antibiotics were working their magic, and I had given my body another week of recovery on the sofa, I was able to get back outside again and attempt some sort of exercise to start moving this body (with my surgeons approval of course)!! On Friday, I walked 9.3km in 1.5 hours. I tried my "jogging legs" out and attempted some "power pole repeats". I was able to pick up the pace to a light jog for 20 seconds, running power pole to power pole. It was a very weird feeling attempting that first repeat. I had that same feeling that you get when you are about to tackle something scary, like jumping off a cliff into the ocean. I was so afraid that "something" might happen... Thankfully, the repeats went so smoothly and felt so good, I was able to insert 10 times 20 second repeats every other set of power poles with the biggest smile on my face!!! It was definitely not stellar, but it was something!! So on Sunday, Shawn (he was so supportive and encouraging), Hana (our pace setter dog), and I set out for another walk in the slightly sunny skies. My goal for my walk this time was to hit the 3km mark under 30 minutes and I did that with 3 minutes to spare. Then I wanted to hit the 9.3km mark under 1.5 hours and I did that too with 3 minutes to spare!! Whoot! Whoot!! We ended up going 10.44km in 1:37!! I was able to insert some more "power pole repeats" and actually some of the repeats were more like 2-3 minute jogs. At the end of my walk, my legs felt like I had just completed a marathon. It was that "hurt so good" kind of feeling.

Today marks 6 weeks post op!! I am going to give myself a few more days before I get in that pool again, making sure that there is no way of picking up any more bugs to bring this girl down again!! The sun is shinning super bright and Hana is sitting at my feet, desperate to run her legs too.

Happy Monday!!!!!!

Progress!

2011-02-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well.... It wasn't stellar, but I met and exceeded my goal for my first walk this week (4.5 weeks post op)!!! That was one of the hardest walks "mentally" for me in a very long time. My belly was full of fire and I could feel every nerve ending in my body just screaming to feel the burn again!! As soon as we started out onto the Seal Bay trails, my instincts were to start running!!!... And I couldn't!! So hard to hold myself back. In the Ironman training season, sometimes I come to these trails to do my long runs (like 2 hours plus!!) My mom and I ventured out in the freezing rain, that would eventually turn to snow and get this.... Drum roll.... I walked 3 km in 38 minutes!!! Seriously slow, but it was something.

Then I was off to see my Chinese Medicine Doctor!! She had me all needled up for over an hour of pure bliss. She always checks my tongue first for a variety of symptoms. Apparently in Chinese Medicine we show everything about our health on our tongues. Today my tongue was revealing that I was "stagnant"!! Ha Ha!! Oh, and my eyes were puffy and I looked very tired. So, I received the extra attention and was told to go home and drink my Chinese herbs in my tea and put my feet up for the rest of the day! Sounded fantastic to me, and I won't argue with that order.

Yesterday I made it back to the pool again for my longest session yet. 40 minutes of swimming and I was done. Maybe that is why I looked "stagnant" today. Swim yesterday and a walk today. Could also have something to do with the weather!! It has been grey, storming, and raining since we arrived back home January 1st!! No wonder I look grey!

Here's hoping for sunnier skies and tomorrow I will head back to the pool to try and add on another 5 minutes!!

Have a great day!

Baby steps!

2011-02-13T23:27:00.001-08:00

In my happy place again!!

Well... I did it!! I saw my surgeon this week and he gave me two big thumbs up to return to the pool again. But... I would have some restrictions. "No kicking, no flip turns, just pull ONLY, and push off easy". I was all smiles and I felt like a little kid that was just told they could open the biggest present they had ever seen!!

Now, I needed to keep my enthusiasm in check... Baby steps!! At least I am able to do something. It is definitely better than nothing!! I want to make sure I do not screw up any of the surgery.

I swam three times this week!! It may not have been as far or as fast as I usually swim, but I was in there doing it, and that made me very happy! I was able to get in 1500m in 30 minutes each time. Each week now, slowly, I will build up to a little more time and distance. Still will be a few more weeks before I test the running and the biking. It seems like it is an eternity away, but really in the big picture, it is peanuts!!

Remember that 1.5 km walk I did? Well, my goal tomorrow will be, "to beat my distance and time that I did last time"!! I might even get another swim in tomorrow too. Whoot, Whoot!! I will keep you posted on my progress.

"If you believe, you will achieve"!!

Have a great Monday!!

"My Speed Bump Year"!!

2011-02-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

OK, do I have some catching up to do or what???

Sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day!! I got lazy and I let my blog go. Like really go, since the first weekend of July 2010!!... No Ironman Canada 2010 results, no pictures of boys back to school, no stories from our trip to Maui in December. Oh ya, including the dirty details of the car crashing into me on my bike 2 days before Christmas while in Maui!!!... I could go on, for months about it all. But, I won't! I can imagine there will be very few people even looking at my blog now since there has been such a big time lapse from my last post.

There is no way I can catch up on everything that has happened in our lives since then. I have thought about it many times over the last three weeks how I could compose my return to the blog world. Goodness knows why it has taken me three weeks to finally sit down and do it. It is not like I have had the normal new year schedule of training for my long course triathlon season, raising three teenage boys, cooking, cleaning, working, husband that works out of town, etc... Nope!! All that seems so easy to me right now. If only...

I have spent the last 3 weeks on the sofa mending from major surgery!! And when I say "on the sofa", I am NOT exaggerating!! Today I walked outside 1.5 km and it took me 24 minutes!!! Normally that would be about a 5 km run time. I am supposed to "take it easy" for another three more weeks!! It is absolutely killing me, but I know that each week I give my body the proper healing time, the stronger it will be for me when I do start up again.

So, this is my "Speed Bump Year"!! That is what the psychic told me when I had my cards read at our monthly "girls night out". In the beginning of January, Sarah from ELM had a card reader come over to add a little spice to our afternoon get together. One of the very first things the psychic said to me when I sat down was "Last year was a good year for you... Unfortunately, this year is going to be a 'speed bump year'. It is not going to be anything that you cannot handle, and you will get back on your feet again". "But, it will be a bumpy road and be prepared to have lots of speed bumps to get over". I did NOT tell her that I was booked for major surgery in two weeks, so I kinda had a little giggle when she told me that.

Today on my 24 min walk, I decided it was time to start the blog up again!! If I am going to have some speed bumps to go over this year, I thought I would share my experience of "getting back on the horse" so to speak with everyone. I want to share my progress back with all the women (or men) out there who are potentially coming off a recent set back, surgery, lapse in activity, etc. I know that I am going to need all the support mentally and physically that I can get. I also know how inspiring it is to read and learn about other people's stories of "making a come back" after going through some kind of "life set back". I know that it is going to be a long road and a lot of hard work getting my body back to the Ironman physique and fitness that I had last summer. I also know that when I do come across the finish line at my 6th Ironman Canada event. I will be very proud of the effort that I put in and it will be that much more rewarding, knowing where I will have come from at the beginning of the year!!!

So, this is to everyone out there that is stuck on that sofa, wondering how the heck you are EVER going to get off!!! Get up, and tomorrow put one foot in front of the other, and "let's do this"!!!!

Anything Is Possible!!!

How much can you pack in on the Canada Day Weekend???

2010-07-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday July 1st... Canada Day... Holiday?... For some, maybe. For Jordan, he spent his morning with an Oral Surgeon and had all four of his impacted 'wisdom teeth' removed! Ouch!!!

Loving the Tylenol #3's and post IV sedation buzz!!

"RICE"

Rest-Ice-Compress-Elevate

Jordan didn't enjoy the ice part. Too funny!

I couldn't keep the ice packs on him very long. Not a lot of tolerance for ice therapy! After making a couple of batch's of Jello, organizing Grandma to come in the morning with a grocery list of "soft foods" I was onto my bike for two hours and then a hill run for an hour while Jordan slept. Then I was madly packing for my 3 day training weekend in Penticton, BC on the Ironman Canada Race course with Rhonda and Sarah.

We arrived in Penticton Friday afternoon, unloaded our bikes at the Hotel, shopped for groceries, ate dinner, and prepared for the next days training. First thing Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn and out at Okanagan Lake to start our 1.5 hour lake swim.

After the swim it was back to the hotel for breakfast while we watched the Prologue for the Tour de France. Feeling incredibly inspired, we packed our camel backs and headed out for our 2:45 hour run on the hilly section of the marathon course. After spending one of the coldest springs we have had, I was not able to handle the temperature changes from the mild cooler Island temperatures to the dry hotter conditions in Penticton. I had to cut my run short as my head was spinning and I chose to lay in the lake, completely clothed, while Sarah and Rhonda finished the last 15 minutes. We made a pit stop at Whole Foods, picked up some fresh Chocolate Milk from one of the local farmers and headed back to the hotel to do a recovery ride and spin out our legs for around an hour. Dinner and wine was consumed back in our hotel, then bottle filling and nutrition calculations were made for the morning 180 km bike ride on the IMC course.

Sunday morning was not as warm, (for Sarah & Rhonda) they decided to use their arms warmers. I did not need them, as it was actually warmer than what I was used to.

We rode our little hearts out and conquered Richter Pass (11km of climbing), the rollers after Richter and then the head winds heading into Cawston and the out and back. Just as we were about to make our way to the final climb of Yellow Lake, Sarah's tire split open and we found ourselves on the side of the road wondering how the hell we were going to get her a new tire to ride the last 45 km of the course. Luckily I had used some hockey tape to secure my aero bottle and we used a few pieces of that to hold together the tire and Sarah's flat was fixed and we were on our way again. I would say we were not totally confident that the tape would hold, so Sarah road very carefully along the smoothest parts of the road and avoided all rocks, pebbles, etc. in order to limp her way back to the hotel. If anyone knows the IMC bike course, you know that we had some of the hardest cycling ahead of us. The climb to Yellow Lake was uneventful and a little celebration was had by my fantastic friend Rhonda who has come so far over the last 7 years physically and mentally. Rhonda told me that in 2002 she and her mom watched IMC. As they were standing at the top of Richter Pass watching all the incredibly fit Ironman athletes, Rhonda said to her mom, "That is absolutely nuts! Can you imagine ever riding your bike up that mountain?" "Never!" Now my friend you are one of those incredibly fit athletes and a mighty fine looking one I might add!!! I told Rhonda to enjoy the course, ride her little heart out, and I would stay back to make sure Sarah did not blow another tire and be left behind. The video of Rhonda squealing with delight says it all.

Unfortunately, Sarah's tire did blow again! With only 15km to go, Rhonda and I rode our little hearts out back to the hotel to pick up the car and retrieve our stranded friend! This called for yet another pit stop at Whole Foods for more chocolate milk!!!

Our day ended (7.5 hours later) with dinner at "Salty's" on Lakeshore Drive! It was a spectacular end to a great couple of days of pushing our bodies to the limit!

Monday morning we had the best intentions of getting up early and swimming again in the lake, but it was going to be over 9 hours of travel time for me to get back to the Island, so we called it a weekend and headed back to reality.

My reality came within 30 minutes of me traveling on the highway with a phone call from my middle son, Nathan, who informed me that he had some news from his friend Cade that they decided to head out to Mexico for 3 weeks and Nathan was invited and I needed to get all the travel documents and packing ready for him to leave first thing Wednesday morning!!! What??? Seriously???!!!

I'm not totally sure I am ok with letting my 13 year old travel down to Mexico for three weeks. I think I am in a bit of shock and disbelief that he is actually going. We said our Good-Byes this afternoon as they are planning an early start tomorrow, so Cade picked Nathan up and away they went! It will be a lot more quiet around here with one less boy! Be safe my Nathan!! I love you!!

School is out!!! Bring on summer holidays!!!

2010-06-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Nathan, Braydan, and Jordan!!! All together, looking fairly happy to be starting summer 2010!!!

It only took a few takes to get the final group shot. Braydan was stuffing cereal down trying to get out the door before heading off to Victoria with his good friend John and family to spend 'Canada Day' Victoria style. Lucky guy!

The summer is going to be filled with each of the boys heading off in a variety of directions. Braydan is going on his final Hornby Island Outdoor Adventure Camp for a week. Nathan will be heading down to Mexico with his BFF Cade to spend some time at Cade's Dad's gooey duck farm. Jordan will be spending four weeks in an adventure camp in Squamish, BC repelling, kayaking, mountain bike riding, etc. So much fun! I hope to keep everyone up to date with photos and video throughout the summer festivities. Hope everyone has a great start to the summer!!

I will be heading out on Friday to swim-bike-run the Ironman Canada Race course with a couple of "Ironwoman" newbie racers from Kamloops. I plan on taking as many photos as possible of our training weekend!

Cheers!!

Lucky Beer Speed Suits & Time Trials Make Wednesday Nights So Much Fun!

2010-06-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night Time Trials during the spring and summer are on my top ten list of 'most favorite places to be' in the Comox Valley!!!

I had a slow start to the time trial season due to a conflict with Brady's soccer happening at the same time. Last week Brady went to camp with the school and this Mom was free to finally get herself back out to the club TT's. I missed them soooooo much! So tonight, I brought Brady with me after he finished his soccer. I am determined now to make them happen. Brady also attempted to do some video for the club and I. Sorry, we didn't get everyone in, and some are out of focus, but pretty good for an 11 year old!

Tonight was Forbidden Plateau with a 6 km climb up and then a 6 km fast descent back. I didn't have the greatest start as the 'bike holder' was still holding onto the back of my bike when I started to pedal. Then he let go and I had lost momentum and almost fell over. I was able to quickly unclip from my pedal, get my balance, and start going again. It was a gong show! I couldn't stop laughing! The stumble at the start will have to count for at least 3 or 4 seconds of time lost for sure! Yikes! That's big when your trying to keep up with the young guns!

Another big addition to my TT nights is my new Lucky Beer Speed Suit from Simon's Cycles! It rocks. No, I don't drink Lucky Beer, but Simon begged me to don a suit with the Lucky logo as there isn't any other female in the valley with the suit.

If you have not done a TT in a speed suit, you have not lived! You feel the wind on your body slip by, as these suits are so tight and aero, you feel fast, even if you really are not. I was actually 40 seconds faster than my last posted time at this event in 2009! (even with my goofy start!)

Thanks to everyone that volunteers every Wednesday night to let us speed junkies tear up the roads!

Still laughing after almost falling off my bike!!!

To everyone that is racing this weekend in the Victoria New Balance Half Iron, GOOD LUCK!

Soooo excited to do this race again! I will post a race report after Sunday!

Thursday Night Women's Trail Run!

2010-06-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Man In the Arena

Theodore Roosevelt

April 23, 1910

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Absolutely one of my most favorite quotes of all time! This quote sums up exactly how I felt after I left the parking lot last night at the end of another epic ELM trail run. As we started our run along the famously named trails in the Cumberland woods the air was humid and it started to rain a little. There was no complaining. The sounds of bear calls and women laughing filled the trails. We were free to climb, descend, trip over roots, rocks, and share our most profound thoughts of the day and of our lives.

Sarah Seads (owner of ELM) building an Inukshuk while her trail runners put their map reading skills to the test! Our goal tonight was to tackle the steepest climb to get the most spectacular view of the Comox Valley and beyond to the Georgia Strait!

Arran enjoying a fantastic view of the town of Cumberland. The area of buildings that you can see in the distance is where our cars are parked.

Goose Spit in the distance!

Making our way back down the rootsy, knarly trails! Whoo Hoo!!

The fantastic women of ELM!!!

First Race of the Season!!! Finally!!!...

2010-05-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Shawnigan Lake Half Iron

May 30th, 2010!

OK, so yes, this was the first open water race of the season, and yes, it had to be one of the coldest swims I have EVER done!!! It was a balmy 4' C at 7am and I have absolutely no idea how cold the water was, but SERIOUSLY!!!!!!! My mouth was frozen open, my feet and hands looked like they had all the blood drained out of them! Oh man... There are no words to describe the feeling of riding and running on frozen stumps for 5 hours!! Luckily I had my mom close by watching me in transition. BRAIN FREEZE! I was in slow motion. I heard my mom yelling at me "Aud, your race number!... "Aud, you haven't put your race number on!" At first I had no idea what she was talking about. Then, I looked down and saw the race belt laying on the ground, laughed, tried to bend down to get in on and almost fell over! All you can do is laugh at yourself in situations like that. Thank goodness this race was titled "Fitness Builder"! The plan was to be "pacing not racing"!!! The goal was "no racing" on the bike leg. Cruise it! Then practice goal Ironman race pace on the run. The bike course is absolutely fantastic. Cruisin it would have been great on a sun shiny day, but in pouring rain and wind... Ugh! It was everything I had in me to just get through that part. We had to do 4 loops around the lake for a total of 88 Kms. The volunteer at the intersection thought I was hilarious! Every time I passed her, I told her how I couldn't feel my feet yet and she would belly laugh!

Dude in the picture watching me 'slow motion' peeling myself out of my wetsuit. Can't see his face, but he was laughing at me as I was talking myself through the brain freeze!

I have absolutely no idea how I actually ran on frozen feet. After we left transition we had to run up a back trail to the road in bare feet, then get on the bike and start going. I couldn't feel putting my feet in my bike shoes.

Just off the bike and attempting to get my helmet off with frozen hands. My mom yelled at me here and asked, "Are you OK"??.... I proceeded to jump up and down and yelled, "I still can't feel my feet"!!!!!!!

I'm off to start running 21Kms on frozen stumps! Nothing else you can do but smile at this point! I had new shoes for the race and I couldn't tell you how they felt. No feeling in the feet for basically the entire half marathon!

Can you say "Deer in headlights"?... Totally stunned! The high light of the race was running with the yellow jersey fellow for the last 400m to the finish line. He was too funny. During the run he passed me around the 9km mark and shortly after that had made a pit stop in the bushes. Then a little while later he passed me again around the 13km mark and I saw him up ahead making another pit stop in the bushes. Then, for the third time, at around the 20km mark he came up from behind me again! This time he said to me as he was passing me, "Hey, I caught up to you three times! My reply was, what the heck have you been drinking??? You've been peeing in the bushes every half hour!!... Then we were making our way down toward the finishing chute and I was hot on his heals. I started to pass him and I said, "Are you going to let me get ahead of you again or are ya going to beat me"??? He was very kind and said oh that's OK you go ahead. I gave him the gears and told him to step it up and sprint in with me. He said, "But, I don't like sprinting!" I told him to suck it up and giver! "We'll make it a tie"!! He liked that and we giggled the whole way to the finish line together!! It made the last 5 hours seem like a piece of cake in the end when you can smile and laugh to the finish line! He made my day! Having my mom (who deserves super fan of the year award!) following me all morning in the rain, wind, and cold was super fantastic!! Thanks mom for being my domestique for the day!!!

Podium (2nd women's 40-44 division) with Lisa Rogers (1st). Pretty good for a "pacing not racing" kind of day!!!

Next up, Victoria Half Iron, June 20th, 2010!!! Looking forward to another "Fitness Builder" race day!!!

My Super Chinook Pilot Makes Me Smile!

2010-03-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

I have been absent online over the last couple of months. Not because I am trying to avoid the computer, just because I have found the everyday grind to be extremely boring to blog about. I am in "rehab" so to speak. True to fashion, our annual Yeti ELM Team , entered again in the Mt. Washington Yeti Snow Show Race. This year we decided to up the intensity a bit and take on the 10km race instead of the 5km "romp"! Well.... Needless to say a little too much hill training, and a little too much snow shoe racing in too little of time did my Achilles in! I have not run now for THREE WEEKS!!!!!! Yes, feeling a little sorry for myself. It has been a swim/bike focus for too long now and I am ready to try and hit the pavement again. This Ironman athlete has been reduced to a "5 minute walk/1 minute run" for 30 minutes tomorrow morning! What the heck is that??????? Oh, and if I really can get my head around it, a 60 minute "pool run". Can you think of anything more exciting to do inside a chlorine and germ infested environment? Nope!

So, enough of that, and onto something definitely worth blogging about! Super Shawn and his flying escapades! Gramma Wendy and Grandpa Bob (thank you for the photos) were so lucky to have spent the day in Southern Alberta where Shawn and his crew are flying 12o power line towers into place! According to Shawn, it is the most stressful and at the same time exhilarating flying he has ever done!

Shawn "just happy to be here" and just lovin his job!

Hope you enjoy the photos. There is video to come!

Wish me luck on my test run tomorrow. My coach has "officially" cancelled all my racing until May 30th for the Shawnigan Lake Half Ironman.

We Found Some Sunshine!!!!!!

2010-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Shawn arrived home last night after being away for 12 days. It felt like forever. I think it felt like forever because it was so dark and rainy outside the entire time he was away! Not today!!!

After the kids were off to school, we finished the morning clean up, packed up the dog and our snowshoes, and headed up to brighter skies! Mt Washington was the perfect place to get out and run our little hearts out! This sunshine is exactly what I needed. Today was supposed to be my "recovery day" this week. Even though we ran hard in the snow, I feel more recovered now mentally, than I have in a long time!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?....

2010-01-19T17:00:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since my last post I really am not sure where to start. Being absent for so long, I may have lost everyone's interest in reading my blog. I have had several comments from all sorts of people about the lack of new posts in my blog. I have given them the excuse that I really haven't had time to sit at the computer lately. I have thought about recaping the last FOUR months several times and then decided it was just too much to put into one post. I have to admit, this winter has not been kind on my mind. For some reason, (actually, I know why) I have not been able to tolerate the short, dark, rainy days our winter has given us this year. Call it 'bad head space', 'spoiled', 'just tired', 'needing a break' whatever. My winter training season has just sucked. Having these feelings is so not healthy for me, my family, or my friends for many reasons! After spending the last 7 days, watching the daily suffering of the Haitian people after the horrific earthquake, I cannot spend another moment feeling sorry for myself! Yesterday I received a quote fromRunner's World "The Daily Kick in the Butt!"

"When we understand the privilege of what it means to be an athlete, we are in touch with, and rejoice in, our physical, mental, and emotional strengths and our endless possibilites"

This is where I need to get my head space back to again. No more excuses about the weather and feeling the blues!

Today's quote was perfect!

"Consistency requires discipline! Force yourself out the door!"

Just after I read this one, I had an email from my one of my favorite friends and training partners that I have been fortunate to meet while living in the Comox Valley! Pascale sent me a message saying "You want to run the trails today?" "Tomatoe Creek?"... Pascale's timing couldn't have been more perfect. I emailed her back saying "Bring it on, I'll be there". It was what I needed to get out the door on another dreary, grey, rainy day. But! We found super wet west coast trails, and before we knew it, we had climbed slippery, rootsy, rocky trails, huffing and puffing till we had to stop and take in the beauty of our home! We were wet, but loving it. The way it should be. Here's hoping I can carry on my path of crawling out of the dark winter months and finding sunshine again!

Thanks Pascale for a great escape today!

4 weeks ago!.... Seriously?!?!...

2009-09-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

Four weeks ago seems like another lifetime ago! I cannot believe how in just 28 days my life can go from "full on" Ironmania to absolutely the complete opposite. September is always such a difficult month for me. I have wanted to sit at my computer and share all the details with everyone from Ironman Canada race day, but have been caught up in the re-organization of our lives to start the school year up. The timing of IMC is so close to the school year start up, it makes for a slightly anti-climactic end to a great year of training and racing. I have compared the build up to Ironman to, as a child, the build up to Christmas in the past. Anticipating the day to arrive and then it is all over but the clean up, faster than you can suck down another gel or guzzle another sport drink! Now, after doing it for my 4th time, I can now say, nothing compares to the let down of not having another Ironman to do again until next summer. Not even Christmas. It is way more depressing for me to say that I will not be doing another one till next year. I just love the experience every year. The race is always different. Different people, different weather, new stories, more experiences to share, new tips to use for next year. So much fun!

This year, we were in Penticton for almost 2.5 weeks, so this time I had a lot more time to adjust to the heat and settle into our routine prior to the race. This gave my mind a bit more space to enjoy other aspects of the Ironmania in Penticton that I had not enjoyed before. Feeling a bit more like a "Veteran", I decided to skip the "Pre-race" meeting/dinner on the Friday night and we went for the first time, down to the "Party in the Street" with Uncle Lawrence, the boys, and Rhonda. So much fun. I have always enjoyed going to the Dinner/Race meeting every year, but the family has to stay behind, and this time we decided to go dance in the streets instead. That is definitely something I will do again next year! Way too much fun. Takes your mind off the upcoming race. I also have included some photos from the one of our nights at the bowling alley! Another way to keep an athlete's mind off of the race and getting a few laughs in to ease the race jitters!

Shawn and his "pinky" finger style of bowling.

The men in my life!

My ride, all pimped out, and ready for race day! Have I mentioned that I LOVE MY BIKE!!! So much fun to ride.

Friday morning "Underpants Run"... Still have not ventured out to do this one. Not that I couldn't run in underwear, I just have yet to make it work in the plan of activities.

Nathan, Rhonda, Braydan, and Nick dancing in the streets Friday night!

The boys have got some moves!

This was hilarious! Little infant t-shirts and diaper shirts with great sayings on them. My pictures are not the greatest, but you get the idea.

This one was on a diaper shirt! Way too cute!

Loved this bike and Triathlete!

Looking for my peeps at the start line! They found me first, obviously...

OOOOOhhhhh there you guys are!!! Absolutely amazing how many people are at the swim start! I find the amount of spectators at the race more overwhelming than the race start itself! This year, I was so organized in transition, I had over an hour to just sit and people watch before doing my pre-race swim warm up and actually had time to chat with Rhonda and Shawn before entering the washing machine!!!!!...

So Cute!!!!!!!! Part of my cheering squad and race signs up at Yellow Lake!

In this photo, from left to right are Rhonda, Sarah, Jordan, Josh, Nick, Braydan, Nathan, and Gabe. Part of the cheering squad is missing in this photo. (Steve, Steve, Shawn, and Sophia) This is the infamous "Yellow Lake" climb! The part where you are absolutely dying from the last 150 km of cycling around the Okanagan, with yet another climb! But, you are also so totally exhilarated and emotional, when you see your family and friends that have spent the better part of a day, waiting for you, to cheer you on, for a mere 20 seconds, if that! I always get all choked up and teary at Yellow Lake. I am so thankful for all the support and love I get from my family and friends that keep following and supporting my passion for my sport.

This is my favorite part! Where I can actually make contact with my peeps!! Now you know why I wear dark glasses! Tears of joy are flowing down those cheeks!

We didn't get a good picture of Uncle Lawrence on our camera... He is in the unzipped orange jersey. Sorry Lawrence!

Now, this is where I had to dig deep and keep my game face on. I had a goal of coming across the finish line this year at around the 11 hour mark. Well, that goal was quickly erased when I developed my enormous blisters on my feet at mile 3!! of the the marathon. Yes, I would have another 23.2 miles to go with some serious open wounds on my feet. This would be where I would learn one of my lessons for the day. Practice running in your racing flats prior to race day, but also with pouring water in your shoes and then running! That is something I didn't do. With the heat in Penticton, I was pouring a lot of water over me in the first few aide stations, and the movement in my runners gave me some blisters that made my running more painful than childbirth! Seriously! That was so frustrating. The fitness was there, and I just wanted to go go go. But the pain was holding me back, and I was altering my running gait a bit to compensate for the blisters. Oh well! 11:30 was a new Personal Best! Not good enough for a Kona slot... But OMG!!!!!! Those women just keep getting faster and faster! I would have needed a sub 10:40 to get one of those coveted spots. I knew I was close to the 11:30 mark, so I had to dig deep to get to that finish line before the clock rolled over to 11:31!

The final run in through the finisher's chute! So amazing!!!!!!!! I could do this every weekend!

Sarah, one of the best spectators on the planet. Sarah brought Steve, Josh, and Gabe with her this year. Steve was a newbie watching Ironman, and was totally blown away from watching the event! Not that he was planning on signing up anytime soon, just thought it was so cool to see all shapes, sizes, ages, completing the journey!

This is my moment after the race when I was talking with my mom in Saskatchewan. One day I will have to get my Mom and Dad out to watch a race! I know they would be inspired! Just shortly after this pic was taken, I did take a trip to the "walking wounded" medical tent. I was starting to feel a little faint and Shawn was going to have no part of that this year. I spent some time in there swapping war stories with some of the athletes and then reunited with the family asap! We headed back to the trailer, showered, and then went right back down to the main drag to eat and watch the rest of the Ironman athletes coming in to finish. I found the best ever cheeseburger and sweet potato fries for my post Ironman dinner. We were waiting for my Uncle to come in and he did at 14:5o! It was a tough day out there for him, but he did it again! Congrats Lawrence!!!

I just kicked myself when I realized I forgot my camera back at the trailer when we went down to the finisher's chute to cheer in all the athletes till 16:59 (11:59pm) That was so inspiring!!! Sister Madona Buder came across at 16:50 as the oldest women in the WORLD to finish an Ironman. 79 years old!!! There were so many cool stories of people that finished. There was also a marriage proposal! If you can spend the evening watching people come in until midnight, it is such a trip! Those people are true Ironman athletes. Out there in the elements from sun up to sun down and beyond. Priceless! I am already getting so excited for next years race, as one of my bestest friends is finally going to make the journey to the finish line of IMC too! Rhonda has officially signed up and has asked me to coach her next year! I am so nervous, yet so excited for her. I have never "coached" an Ironman athlete before, so wish me luck! I want her to have the best experience of her life on race day.

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs!

2009-08-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

There are signs of Ironmania everywhere around town!!! Braydan and I went out for a little 'walk-about' town to see the peeps and the transformation of small town Penticton into an Iron City. We first had to make a few stops at my new stomping grounds since we have been staying here. In the past 12 months, our little shopping complex grew from a Tim Horton's coffee to an amazing Organic Grocery, Starbucks, T-Bone's, and Cobb's Bread. What more could a mother of three and a triathlete need in just 50 paces from my doorstep! I am in heaven. I don't have to take a car to load up on groceries I don't have room for. We come home from the day at the beach and walk to the stores and decide what we are going to cook up on the Bar-B-Q. Amazing!

The hotels are filling up and there are athletes out getting in their last minute training in the lake, and on the roads.

This sign is conveniently located right at the finish line area! I will be looking for this around 6pm Sunday night!

Down town artwork.

The sign right at the transition area exits says it all.

Boxes and boxes of tri-geek clothing just waiting to be opened for the grand opening tomorrow morning. It is like boxing day sales in these tents come 9am Thursday! The athlete's go crazy for M dot merchandise.

Downtown Starbuck's art.

Made completely out of bike parts, of course.

These guys were great. And Bree, if you are reading this. I was paid the best compliment here today. A couple of the employees asked me if I was "Bree Wee"?? I got a huge smile on my face and said "No, but I know her!" And they were like, " Really, wow!!" Thanks Bree!

The bike works guys got my girl all pretty and in tip top shape for race day! She looks fast!!!

I love Brady. He loves the simple toys we had as kids. He was so happy today, after we picked up a slinky for him!

After the walk-about, this triathlete took a very, very, rare nap! Well needed, and now I am off to Whole Foods to listen to Jordan Rapp talk about race day nutrition!

Have a great day!!

Monday Morning of IMC Race Week!!!

2009-08-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

Really???? Is it that time already??? Monday morning of IMC race week. The town of Penticton has grown by double in the last week. There are "Iron Bods" everywhere! My early morning swims with the lake to myself, not having to site for oncoming traffic has come to an abrupt halt! This morning there were at least 30 Tri-Geeks coming and going out on the 'flat calm' lake. A nice change from yesterday's windy morning chop. Apparently there were more than just the two swimmers I saw out there, as the rollers were deep enough you could not see to your left or right if someone was beside you.

Taper week went extremely well... Too well actually. I fell into vacation mode way too easy. I had some help though. We were fortunate to have the best friends ever come and keep us company for the week. It was easy for me to get up at the crack of dawn, get my training in before anyone was awake, and then spend the rest of the day laying on the beach and catching up with Rhonda and Sarah while the "boys" and the "boys and girls" swam, swam, and swam some more. A couple nights we were at the beach until 9:30. Just love those evening swims!

My little Braydan. Now 11, and man he is so cute. He is like his mom though. We both get way too cold in the lake swimming without a wetsuit on. He keeps me company when the other two boys stay in the water for hours.

This has got to be one of my most favourite pic's of the summer!

Braydan

I absolutely love my underwater mode of my camera. It still makes me a little uneasy using it under the water, as I don't want it to fail again.

Jordan

Nathan

Nathan, working on that stream line technique.

Nathan in stealth mode under the water.

Eden and Braydan.

So cute watching these guys. An 'all boys' family needs an 'all girls' family to hang out with. They were so cute. I just loved watching them hang out together. Eden was teaching Brady how to do a hand stand roll over.

Rhonda and I at the beach until who knows how long while the kids swam in the light of the moon. So cool!! Rhonda will be back this weekend to be part of the cheering squad and maybe, just maybe, get in that line up Monday morning for IMC registration.

Jordan, Nathan, Annika, Eden, and Braydan.

The gang and taco night with mom's famous "Mango Salsa".

No vacation is complete without making a couple of visits to the go carts. Josh is looking all "Chillaxin" here while he crushes his competitors on course.

Jordan loving the hair blowing in the wind and "driving". He has caught the driving bug and cannot stop talking about what car he wants to buy when he gets his drivers licence.

Braydan!

Gabe!

Nathan!

Josh, Brady, Nathan, Gabe, and Jordan!

Finally, after like 3 years, I have an updated Summer photo of my friend Sarah and I at the beach. So good to see everyone!

Monday morning "Race Week" swim. I actually had a little nervous tummy going into the water today. Now that the friends are gone, the real race week taper begins. No more ice cream until after the race! I have already picked out what I want Shawn to have for me at the finish line. Rhonda and I found some "Dutch Dairy" Chocolate milk at "Whole Foods Market". It is like drinking a chocolate bar. I always have such a hard time trying to figure out what I want to have right after coming across the finish line, as the nausea that sets in right after increases like 10 fold when you see the nasty pizza they are serving in the food tent. After my chocolate milk, we are going out for dinner, and I plan on getting something super creamy and full of fat!

This was just the perfect way to start the week. Today's high is to be 28C. The forecast for the week is calling for Tuesday a high of 27C, Wednesday 28C, Thursday 33C, Friday 31C, and Saturday a high of 33C!!! So glad to be here acclimating in this weather. Here's hoping my Hawaii and Penticton 'hot and windy weather' training will give me some good heat resistance come race morning!

Only 6 more sleeps until the 3:45am wake up call Sunday Morning!

Happy Monday!!

12 more sleeps and counting!!!

2009-08-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am finally at the Ironman Canada race site anticipating the big event in 12 more sleeps! OMG!! Where has the time gone? When you sign up for a sporting event a year in advance it sure does make life fly by. I remember posting the IMC and Kona countdown tickers on my blog page thinking I had so much time to prepare mentally and physically to make my 40th year as eventful as possible! I have had an excellent adventure leading up to this race this year. Coaching and supporting some of the most amazing friends in triathlon this year has made my own training and racing even more special. It brought a fresh start to the year, new training partners, new friendships, great adventures, and I feel I have had the best race season to date. Now, I just need to keep that good energy going through the next week and a half into next Sunday. This morning I was up at the crack of dawn eager to get out in the water. Which is a very good feeling to have in taper time. "Tapering" for IMC is definitely something to master. You would think it was just a piece of cake. Reduced training volume, no big deal. But what comes with that is the overwhelming feelings of "but did I do enough", "I feel like I should be doing more", "Oh, I can't eat all that food anymore cause I am not burning all those calories anymore", "what am I going to do for the rest of the day, I have only one workout, and it's done, now what?... Oh yeah, put my feet up, sit on the beach and watch the boys swim, relax in a tube and float down the canal, read, put my feet up some more, eat a little, sleep some more.... Nice! I need to make piece with this taper thing, it sounds like a good thing.

My Kona inspirational swimming cap! Look coach, I have my 'tempo' trainer with me too! Oh yeah, and my Lisa Bentley signed IMC lucky pack sack for my early morning wake up call to the "Peach" at Okanagan Beach!

We swim way out to those clay bluffs across and back race morning! 3.8km (2.4 miles for the americans)

The infamous "Peach" just before the finish line. When you see that after 11 hours and 59 minutes and 58 seconds you just want to kiss it! This year, here's hoping I see it at least an hour earlier than last year! "Our hopes and dreams should never be smaller than our memories"!

Have a beautiful Tuesday.

Martinis and Pedicures... Oh my!

2009-07-12T22:32:00.001-07:00

My one last hurrah and only 49 more sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kathy and I post mineral soak, exfoliation, and in this pic masking our feet. Yes, there is a hint of green going on there. The products were amazing! That will be the best my feet will look and feel for a long time now.

Not sure if the above picture should be on here... Hopefully Coach doesn't see this. Actually, I was really good. The "Arbonne" and Martini party could have gotten way out of hand, but the athlete in me kept me from loosing control over the alcohol consumption on Friday night. Sarah Seeds had all the "Run Leaders" over for an amazing Arbonne/Martini Party. We were to bring a Martini to share with the recipe and then we were all to taste them and vote on our favorite. Mine was titled, "The Ironmantini"... Of course. I won everyone over in presentation, but it did not win the big prize of the night.

This was my last weekend of sin. As of tonight, I am cut off of wine, chocolate, dairy, and anything else I fall victim to that does not go with the Ironman diet for the next 7 weeks!! Only 49 more sleeps until game time! Watching the race coverage of the Vancouver Half Ironman and the Desert Half in Osoyoos today has given me a boost of energy to make every workout count!

Enough about my training and racing!...

I have to brag about one of my very bestest friends and athlete from Kamloops, Rhonda Eden! She made a come back this year into the Triathlon world like a ROCK STAR!!!! Rhonda's last half was the Oliver Persona Half in 2007 in 40`C weather. It was a grueling race in the heat. Well, today in the Vancouver Half, she rocked that course out there today and I so would have loved to have been at that finish line to give her the biggest hug and kiss!!! 5:42 Personal Best!! She took off well over an hour and a half off her last Half Ironman time and she did it with a huge smile on her face! I wish I had a picture to post of her, but they will be on the LifeSport website soon! I am So! So! So! proud of you Rhonda! Way to go girlfriend! Rumour has it she is going to be around the Penticton area at the end August... Standing in a very famous line up.... Registering for a very special race!!!.... IMC 2010!! Woo Hoo Rhonda, you will love it!

Life Is Simple: Swim-Bike-Run-Eat-Sleep! Cheers!

I love my bike!!!!!

2009-07-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Comox Valley Cycle Club's Wednesday Night TT's!

Yes, I did get some new wheels... I had to. They were on sale, and Simon at "Simon's Cycle's" told me it was a deal I could not pass up. My first race on them was the Victoria New Balance Half Iron. Man, news travels fast. I arrived at the Wednesday night TT following the race and was swarmed by the the guys and them quoting my splits from the race and my 4 minute improvement on my bike split from last year. I'd like to take the credit for the improvement, but the "Techy" speed demons think it has to be the wheels. Well, I will take whatever these wheels will give me. My next TT, I took off 19 seconds. Then last night was our 32 km, 2 loop course route. My best time on this course was a 26:04 for one loop (16.1 Km). Last night was my first time doing the 32 km. As we were getting ready to start, I had huge butterflies, and I was so nervous. The guys that start after me, usually pass me by the half way mark, and fly by me like I'm standing still. I always have this thing that if I am going to ride a fancy bike and fancy wheels, I better do them proud! I passed a few of the younger riders on the first loop, made it around to the start of the next loop and had not been passed yet. I started to get a bit nervous and thought, maybe they knew something... Maybe I went out too fast, and now I am going to blow up on the second loop. Just shortly after my mind was starting to wander thinking about why the men were not hot on my butt, and the hills started again, the first one came by me, as per usual. Except, this was not one of the guys I expected. He is like half my age and was on a road bike!! No fancy wheels, no aero helmet, no TT bike. Just pure strength. I paced myself up the hilly section, and found myself still close enough to that young whipper snipper, that I decided to put on the game face, and push like I have never pushed before. I always read about racers pushing till they puke, or till their legs are totally cramped, so I told myself to suck it up and real him back in. Within seconds I was on his butt, and yelling at him "on your left"!!!! Oh my god, did that ever feel good! He looked at me like I had two heads. I peddled so hard, I did not want to see him again! Just as we were starting to make our way back towards the finish, I had a few of the fast guys pass me as I was expecting, but this time, I didn't let a lot of space get between us and held on (not drafting) as best I could. My final split for the night... 54:40!... I'll take that.

Have I told you lately how much "I love my bike"!!! Oh, and yes, the new wheels! Every time I get on my Cervelo, I get so excited to see how much time I can take off, and I am so looking forward to seeing how Ironman Canada will go this year. The last two years were plagued with injuries from my "Snow to Surf" crash and my ankle roll over last year. This year, so far, so good. 52 more sleeps until the big day! I am in a recovery week and feeling anxious to be doing more, but, I am listening to coach, being good, and letting the last week of training sink in and make me stronger. If any of you have a local cycle club that has regular TT nights, I believe those have helped me immensely in my improvement in my cycling. They make you push harder than you would normally, and you break down those cells in your lungs to build up stronger for the next time. I have had my normal post "TT smoker cough" since last night. A good indication that I gave'r my all out there! Happy Training!!!

Swim-Bike-Run-Eat-Sleep-Swim-Bike-Run...!

New Balance Half Ironman!

2009-06-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

http://raceheadquarters.com/results/2009/multi/NewBalanceHalf2009F.html

The New Balance Half Ironman was on Sunday! I need more time to sit down and give a great summary of how the day went. For me, it was one of the most rewarding weekends of my life. Congratulations to Sandy and Trish, my two yummy mommy athletes, that finished their first Half Ironman distance event. Sandy went 5:45 and Trish was 6:16 (on a freshly rolled ankle that was swollen and taped) You guys rocked! I had my own personal best of 5:05! I took 16 minutes off my time from last year! Still, it was not enough to be standing on that podium. Man those women in their 40's are lightning fast!!! Pictures and race report to follow.

Yes, I am still alive!!

2009-06-15T14:17:00.001-07:00

There is no place like.... Hawaii! Yes, I know, I did not keep up my end of the deal with this blogging thing. I have left everyone hanging for the last two months. I definitely will not recap the last two months, but I will share with you our family get-a-way that was well worth the time, energy, and $$ to get there. We did not actually think we were going to pull this trip off. This has been the worst year ever for Shawn and his employment in the Heli-Logging Industry. We had purchased the plane tickets last fall with airmiles prior to the great depression of '09 hitting us hard, but managed to find last minute cheep accommodations, and ate out at a restaurant like only four times, cooked all our meals in the condo, and shopped locally at the farmer's markets! That was my kind of holiday. There were no big tours with fancy tour companies. Just plain old fun in the sun. Oh, and yeah, I did the Hawaii 1/2 Ironman. Just a little 40th b-day present to me. Yes, some of you could think of 40 other things you would rather do for your 40th, but for me, that was just the icing on the cake. Loved, loved, loved the race! I recommend it to everyone. If you would like a little taste of what it is like racing in Kohala Coast where the magical Ironman World Championships take place and are like me, that can't get a "Kona" slot to attend the event. You can sign up for the 70.3 and feel half of what they feel on race day. My goodness, I have never raced in such extreme heat before. Even the locals were saying it was hot for them.

My view of the ocean, putting my feet up days before the race. The kids loved coming to boogie board here.

My Pro friend Bree Wee after she gave a group of us a little pre-race buoy swim practice session, some ocean water racing tips, and some great draft practice. Man that girl can swim. She wasn't feeling the greatest prior to the race, but you would never know it. That girl just gives her 100%, even when she is not feeling it, I so need to get me some of that attitude! I'm trying.

Coming out of the ocean pre-race warm up. This had to be the best swim I have ever had. No, it was not my fastest, but it was warm, clear, congested, and I loved every minute of it. Because it is a mass start, if you cannot get into a pack of fast swimmers fast before the first buoy turn, you will be stuck with around 500 other swimmers going at the exact same pace. I could not move forward, backward, sideways, or under. I just had to ride the masses and hope that we were all swimming at a fairly decent pace. Shawn thinks he saw 33 mins on the clock when I came in. It was a super long transition from swim to bike. My new Blue Seventy Speed suit was the funnest suit to swim in. I so do not want to get back into the choking feeling of the full wetsuit for the Victoria 1/2 this weekend.

Post race prune feet. They don't look as bad as they did in real life. I thought for sure while I was running, that the entire bottom of my feet were coming off. It was so hot and humid, I spent probably 15 mins of my 1/2 marathon time just trying to keep myself cool through the aide stations. The volunteers had 2 Litre soda bottles with the top cut off full of ice water and would pour a full one over your head for you while you 'walked' through. Then, I would get two cups of ice. One to pour over my head and one to pour down my bra top. No, there was no frost bite, but I made a lot of noise running with the ice sloshing in my top, my shoes full of water and my salts taps rattling in my back pocket. I was quite the site. One of my favourite parts of the race was the post race grilled Mahi Mahi fish burger. After the nausea subsided and I was able to make room for something more appealing than gels, salts, and gatoraide, I gulped down the burger and beers that were given to us. Yes, 3 beers to be exact. Nice! Shawn says all races should have beer tickets, as I can only have one sip and I'm done. So needless to say, the Stella's went down mighty fine for him.

Just one of the many shopping trips to the farmers market one block from our condo!

Yes, I take my recovery days very seriously! While the boys played in the waves, I put my feet up.

One of our favourite spots. Black sand beach at the north end of the island. If you have a copy of the new Runner's World Mag, Bree Wee is running up the trail we took to get to this amazing spot.

The boys voted this the best spot on the Island. Killer size snow cones. Actually, they had the smalls. The large were as big as footballs and you could get them with ice cream inside.

Another great spot for body surfing and boogie boarding.

"Magic Sands" beach. Otherwise known as "Disappearing Sands" beach, or "White Sands" beach. During the low tides you have some great white sand and great waves to play on. When the tides are up and the surf is up, the beach just gets hit hard with the waves and you loose the beach. This beach was just 2 miles from our condo and voted best place to hang out for our boys. The last day they were there, the waves were so big, the lifeguards would not let our guys in the water. The locals wait for sometimes weeks at a time for the surf to come up, so they were packed in on their boards and had no mercy for the visitor's getting in their way.

A Lava Tube off the main highway.

While you are in Hawaii, you have to go jump off the lava cliffs! We drove two hours to the "southern most tip of the US", "South Point". We met some locals that took us under their wing and showed us some sweet spots to cliff jump, swim in sea caves, and climb up blow holes safely. They were awesome people! The boys could not get enough of the cliff jumping thing. Very freaky! Yes, their mom had to jump too. I was a cliff jumper too back in the days of Shuswap lake. Mom's no chicken!

Brady's leep of faith! He was so brave!

Another highlight of my trip, was the hike from the South Point cliffs to the "Green Sand Beach"... Our local friends told us to pack a lot of water and expect to walk for 3 miles. They said it was well worth the journey. The boys were so good. It took us exactly 1 hour to hike to this special place and was well worth the trip. There are so many magical places to explore on the big Island. And, I know, if you were to hook up with some locals, they could probably show you even more secret spots that they don't like the outsider's knowing about. I could go on and on, but I must close for now. Enjoy the pic's we took tons. Unfortunately, my new underwater camera was not as shockproof and waterproof as they said it would be and filled with water the first time we used it. Have to send it back for an exchange. I am racing in Victoria this weekend with my two yummy mommies, Trish and Sandy who are doing their first 1/2 ironman!!!! I will keep you posted on the weekends festivities! Cheers!

Training Rides and Training Flights!

2009-04-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

What a day Nathan had!!! My 12 year old flew an airplane this weekend! Oh to be young and invincible again!!! He has absolutely no fear. Me on the other hand, I was just sick to my stomach the whole time he was up there in that big blue sky! Through his Air Cadet Training, Nathan has the opportunity to get his fixed wing pilots licence (for free) by the time he is 16! He has flying in his blood, like his dad. So this was the first of many flights on the road to obtaining his dream of flying the "A380" when he grows up! So, no, I did not go watch. Shawn took Nathan out to the airport and I set out on a bike ride to keep my mind occupied while he flew. His instructor told him that "he was a mighty fine pilot, and had very steady hands, and did excellent on the controls!" Nathan said it was absolutely the most amazing day of his life so far!!!

The above picture is just after the tow plane releases the glider.
Still attached before releasing the tow line.

Taking off from the runway. Sorry my pic's are out of order!

Penny and Pascale helping me keep my mind off the 'child' in the sky while we ride the Snow to Surf race course!

Yes, that is still snow on the ground!!! I am so looking forward to getting rid of all the extra gear I am wearing.

A much needed recovery drink post ride! I think this is the equivalent to a Jamba Juice in Hawaii! The sun was shinning and the weather was warmer than it has been, I was trying to imagine myself drinking this on the big Island of Hawaii, instead of the cold Comox Valley.

Now, a training day is not complete without the post recovery dinner dessert! I love it when dessert can be so simple and so good for you. We chopped up blood oranges, mangos, dragon fruit, and a strawberry papaya and drizzled organic vanilla yogurt on top! It was the bomb!!!!

Trainer Ride West Coast Style!

2009-03-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

I am getting really tired of the unsettled wind and rain we continue to have on the West Coast! I am so ready to be outside permanently on my bike. I was feeling (a little) sorry for myself this week. As this time last year, I was training and racing in Hawaii at the Lavaman Olympic Distance race and training camp! Where did the year go???...

Here I am again, riding in the dark, in front of my 17" computer screen. Shawn snapped this photo, while lying on his back. He keeps me focused on the positives in our life, and does well at redirecting my negative thoughts, even though he is the one that is suffering big time with the lay-offs in his company and lack of income at this time in our lives!...

Now if only we could afford to turn our garage into something like the photos below, I might have an easier time watching the CompuTrainer screen for hours at a time!...

Wow!... Wouldn't I love to have this little set up. Trish (one of my "Mom's of 3, Superstar Athletes) and Will, live down on the ocean (Doctors) and just finished renovating their "boat house" into a classy new "West Coast Gym"! The views through the windows.... aahhhhh! The 42' flat screen TV with surround sound and calming blue walls would make riding a CompuTrainer so much more enjoyable.... Well, actually, what made the ride even more spectacular was being able to do it with Trish and Sandy! That was the icing on the cake! We are pretty sure, we are going to make this a weekly routine now! I haven't had time to watch a movie from start to finish in years!

It was 7:30 in the evening, so we were just getting the tail end of a beautiful sunset on the Strait of Georgia. I felt really, really, sorry for the girls. I sweat like a crazy woman and they only had a few little beads of sweat on their foreheads! Thanks so much for having me over Trish!!! I loved it!!! A great way to end a week of training!

Spring Break, Best Friends, Pace Bunnies, and Hockey, Hockey, and more Hockey!!!

2009-03-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

Wow!!!! We just had the most amazing Spring Break! I don't think we could jam one more activity in! Thank goodness for being 'casual on- call' and scheduling myself off for the last 10 days! There was no room for work! Our Spring Break started with our Best Friends, from our old home town Kamloops, coming up to visit us for a few days. Sarah, Josh, and Gabe pulled an early 6 am start from Kamloops to start the holidays off with a menu created by the kids. First night "Tacos" (of course), 2nd night "Home Made Pizza's" and the third night "Lasagna and Bread with Melted Brie, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Garlic" and the grand finale "Audrey's Famous Thai Food" for the last night!!! Thursday morning we were up at the crack of dawn to start the FOUR days worth of hockey tournaments. Braydan started the puck rolling with a goal and two assists. Nathan's first game, he had a goal, and a few break-aways. Both Braydan and Nathan's team's won all three of their round robin games. Braydan had a "Hat Trick" for each of the last two games, and Nathan scored once more, with a few more assists.

I took Sarah to Seal Bay Park for some epic runs while she was here. It was still snowing in Kamloops, so she enjoyed the west coast trails immensely! I miss her! Yes, I know, not a great pic of me. I am extremely pale, and looking rather old around the eyes! But, what can I say, I am 40!

Note in the title of the blog, "Pace Bunny", ya right! Not sure yet why I do this to myself... So, for all of you out there pounding the pavement day after day, like me, trying your little heart out to improve your running. You might just want to skip to the photos and video at the bottom! My Shawn! Gotta love him! Ya, so this morning went something like this... 9:23am Me: Hey Shawn, (laughing) maybe you should come with me this morning and run the 'Comox Half Marathon' and be my pace bunny??..." "Coach has a plan for how he wants me to run the race today, maybe you could come and help me get a new PR???" Shawn: (Looking at me kind of sideways)"Ya?... So don't you have to train for those kinds of distances?... Like, when was my last 1/2, two years ago"??... Me: "Oh come on, it'll be fun!"... "We have to leave in 15 minutes!"...

So we get to the race with like 20 minutes till gun time. Shawn says to me, "Ya know, I sure would have liked a couple days notice, ya know, like... I might have trained a little for this"... Whaaa!!!

11 am gun goes off, Shawn is ahead of me, I am staying in his draft, slowly he starts to get a little further ahead... He keeps turning around, smiling like a little kid in an amusement park, "Come on Aud, stay with me", kilometer 2... he says, "see piece of cake", kilometer 3... nowhere to be seen!!!!

I'm on my own, no pace bunny, nowhere! Darn it! He does it again! Every time I ask him to do this for me, he just goes!!! Oh well, I slug along, keeping my heart rate in it's zone like coach said! At least I am following my plan. I am just about at the 10.5 km turn around... SHAWN!!! He is so happy to see me, grinning from ear to ear! Tells me I rock, and I suck it up and pick the pace up a little! Kilometers 11 to 16 went well, then we hit some hills and I lost my momentum and my little voice was getting smaller. I couldn't let him beat me by 12 minutes like last time! I was able to gather some strength, counting my foot strikes, I passed a couple of people that had passed me earlier. I was also passed by some that I passed earlier....

Finish line! Finally! My Mom, oldest boy Jordan and yes SHAWN!!! Looking like he had been to the car to change! He tells me, "No PR for me this year Aud, just 1:43 and change!"... So, he beat me by 9 minutes!!! I chalk it up to him taking bigger strides than me! I also have to justify my time with "Well, I did this at the end of a training week, you've done nothing". I have to try and take it where I can!

My SUPER awesome athlete, Sandy with her family! Sandy, was so looking forward to nailing this run today and came down with a huge sinus infection last week! She did the race anyways, feeling terrible, but with a new PR for her 1:57! Yay!!!!!!! I am so proud of her, way to go!

Check out the groovy mom's!

My youngest, Braydan, after his play off game. A little teary as he fought so hard to try and tie the game up 3-3 at the end, but his last shot on goal deflected off the post and the buzzer went. My heart was just breaking for him. I had to tell him my story of Dad, just coming out for his first run in years, and beating me by 9 minutes. He thought that was the greatest. Talk about crying!

Nathan's Gold Medal Round game start! He is number '96'

Unfortunately they lost 5-3, but Silver is really good too! Way to go Warriors! There were a few tears shed by Nathan also! Man, these boys, not sure where they get all their competitiveness from....

Josh and Jordan on the dirt bikes in our 'bike' yard! Gotta love living out in the forest. We have quickly outgrown our acre, and the boys are carving out our yard like a motor cross arena!... Now Back to reality, school in the morning for the boys and I work this week!!

Oh how I love my "Champion"!...

2009-03-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

When I graduated from Nursing College in 1991!... Yes, for me that seems like just yesterday. One of my first "big" purchases I made with my paycheck was my most amazing Champion Juicer. Actually, I didn't buy it outright at first. I put it on lay-away and made payments on it at the local Nature's Fare. It was $300! That was one month's rent at the time. Huge deal! My mom thought I was living the life of "Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget". I explained to her that this was investing in my future and my health and I REALLY!!! needed it! Ha! See mom, after 18 years I am still juicing and lovin it! I think it is probably the best $300 I have ever spent!

I Just wanted to share one of my favorite juicing recipes. It does not have anything unusual or exotic, but it is super tasty and full of soooo many vitamins and minerals! Just what a 'Triathlete-Mom-Nurse' needs to keep up the health while everyone around her is coughing and sniffling away! So far I have been able to ward off the cold and flu bugs! I don't think I could live without my juicer!

2 Grapefruit

2 Oranges

Bunch of Strawberries

One big Carrot

(sometimes I add some ginger and a whole lemon)

So amazing!!!!!

Cheers!

"Ve Vaunt To Pomp You Awp!"

2009-03-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable." -Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

Below are pictures of ELM's "Victoria Times Colonist 10km run clinic". One of my most favorite ways to spend my time is with a group of super motivated women, running their little hearts out! We had a variety of six hill repeats to conquer and we did them all with big shinning faces throughout the entire evening!

Look at the BIG smile on Kathy's face as we reach the top of the 1st hill repeat of the evening!!!

Love the big smiles on the up-hill too!!!

The last long slow gradual hill repeat along the pipeline! Yay, we did it!

We missed our fearless leader, Sarah Seads, this week! Don't worry Sarah, your leaders were full of high energy as usual! With 'Daylight Savings Time' starting last weekend, our run was totally in the daylight and we enjoyed much warmer temperatures than we have had all year! It was fantastic! Looking forward to seeing everyone next week, enjoy the weekend!

Sunny Sunday Sea Lion Sighting!

2009-03-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

I might be in trouble for this one... I haven't heard back from Coach yet. Probably because I just posted my training for Sunday in Training Peaks just this morning. Yes, I know, it's Thursday! If I take the time to sit at the computer, I get sucked into the black hole of endless blog reading, Facebook, emails, searching the web for the latest and greatest gear and gadgets or whatever I can, to sneak in a few more minutes of just 'sitting still'.

Part of my New Year's resolution this year was to use my time each day more wisely and to NOT sit in front of the computer, looking at other athlete's training blogs, and drool over their ability to knock off crazy training hours and still have time to document it all for everyone to read. Now, I have a set time aside that I allow myself, and if I spend more than a total of 15 mins on the net, my timer goes off and I log off! Sorry to everyone on Facebook that I haven't replied to!!! Really, I am sorry! I am in a 'recovery week', and I plan to reply to everyone that has sent me a message this weekend!

Another part of my New Year's resolution was to actually try and take my camera with me everywhere I go! I have been only slightly successful at doing this. But, it is only March, and I definitely have made a bigger effort than ever this year so far!

I was told on Sunday that if I rode out on the Ocean Highway, I would see the mass of Sea Lions basking in the sun and bellowing out for everyone to hear. My mom had told me, "Oh yeah, they are just down the road from town". I had a 2.5 hour ride to complete and thought I could ride out to see them and ride back, easy scenic 2.5 hour ride in the bank! Yay! The weather was sunny, but holy cow it is still freezing here! I think the temp was like +2 C! Riding a bike going just under 30km/hr makes the windchill feel like -7 C. This is where I might get in trouble with Coach. In the end I had to ride just a little further than "just out of town". I ended up riding 30 mins farther than I thought to find these gentle giants! There was absolutely no chance of missing them! As I approached an area along the highway I could hear them for about 5 mins before actually seeing them! So spectacular! I tried to capture a bit of their conversation for you to hear.

Where do I start???

2009-03-06T17:01:00.000-08:00

Happy March!!!

OMG!! Where did February go?... I have already been in my new age category of 40-44 year old women for exactly one month today!! I have not raced since Hately Castle, but I have been busy juggling the usual; kids (some of which have been super sick), work (way too much, really), training (loving that), coaching (super loving it), learning (always!), and... Oh yeah, and I had to add in there a little flood in the ceiling!!!...

Jack, the plumber made swiss cheese out of my kitchen ceiling, while I lay on the floor crying! Well maybe, I was a bit too hysterical! But, he gave me absolutely no time to adjust to the idea that he was going to take the big knife in his hand and start making holes, just like that... No problem for him, but for me, I still had no idea yet if my insurance was going to cover the whole thing or not. I knew he needed to find the problem, but he was just so fast with the big old hack saw he was wheeling in his hands! Thank goodness the Insurance Adjuster, "Jay", my new BFF, found my flood to be "Sudden and Accidental"! Cause, he told me, with a big smile on his face, that if it had been "Long Term Seepage" than I would be "Sweet out of Luck" with the insurance coverage! Thank you Jay!!!

My morning today was spent with one of my "Ironman Mama's", Sandy, who I am coaching. Getting up at 5:30 in the morning to help out a very enthusiastic 40 year old mother of two, who is just soaking in everything and anything triathlon is just so inspiring to me! Trish and Sandy are working into their already fun filled lives of full time work, kids, unexpected flu bugs, training, laughing, learning and they are just super troopers! Sandy will kill me when she sees her swim video below, but I just want her to know how proud I am of her! Trish had sick kids at home today and missed her Video moment... Don't worry Trish, yours is coming!! :)

Now, onto some motivation to keep your day going. I just recently viewed this last link on Sarah Sead's blog, which some of you may have already seen! I just had to post it on mine! Thank you Sarah for posting the link. Talk about powerful. I think I have just found my new 'mantra' for 2009!... Need I say more!...

"Are You Going To Finish Strong?"

http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

My kind of get-a-way!

2009-02-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I raced in one of the Vancouver Island Road Running races and was able to catch up with the folks from LifeSport. While waiting for results, they all talked me into coming down to Victoria for a little "mini training camp" weekend. I was, of course, all for the idea. Oh yeah! Bring it on... Putting it past the family and making it a reality was another thing. Easier said than done with this "working-triathlete-mom"!! It wasn't a for sure thing until Thursday afternoon when I found out from my buddy Sarah that her sister was willing to be my "home stay" for the weekend! Free accommodations!!! Yes!!! Thank you Sarah for asking your sister, and thank you, thank you, thank you Dani for opening up your home to me on such short notice to a stranger!!! Dani Rocks!

Friday morning, I am up at the crack of dawn to get kids ready for school and pack fast! I have to be in Victoria by 11:45 to swim with the Lifesport crew at noon!... I had such a great swim. I was a bit nervous and did not want to seed myself in a lane that was too challenging, so coach put me in lane 4. I ended up swimming better than I have been, and was getting a little more rest between my 100's than he wanted! Yay!! But! That was not the highlight! Lucy Smith appeared in my lane and was going after me. If anyone knows who Lucy is, they will know, I was peeing my pants thinking... "I'm leading the lane that Lucy is swimming in"! Check out her blog and all her athletic accomplishments over the last 25 years!!! She's one fast 41 year old!!! So at the end of the swim, Lucy gives me a "pat" on the head and says "Thanks for that, you made me work"!!!... Now, if only I could ride and run like her!...

Oh yeah, and check out the very important "post workout/race recovery bar"!!! Never leave home without it!

After our swim, I went out with Coach Bruce for a 3.5 hour base ride around Victoria. The weather was spectacular, and the ride was throughout the entire lower end of Vancouver Island! After the ride, I was treated to some famous smoked salmon, cream cheese, and red wine, at the Regensburg's home. Talk about recovery nutrition or what! Saturday we ran at Elk Lake in preparation for the insanely hilly Hatley Castle 8km run race we were about to do Sunday Morning.

Hatley Castle

Coach Bruce and I post race!

Coach gave me specific instructions on how to tackle the 8 km race today. I was to stay in zone 3 heart rate until after the hill at the 2.5 km mark to save myself for the 350 meter-16% grade hill that we had to climb shortly after. Man was I feeling my legs after the hills on this one. Apparently, people go out too fast and are walking by the time they hit the hill. I didn't walk, thank god! But, I would just get to the top, and the burn in my legs would slow me right down, and it took a few minutes to get the pace up again. This would be fine if the hills were to stop, but they just kept coming like that. Then at 6.5 km, we had 1.5 km of very steep downhill and then 500m again of another gradual climb to the finish line! Ugh!... This is where I counted 4 people passed me at the end. I so have to work on those hills!

Coach Paul getting his 8th place finish ribbon!

Coach Bruce on the podium as well!

Coach Dan's close up of his 3rd place 30:55!!! For Men 45-49

My 5th place for Women 40-44!! It doesn't help that one of the BEST runners in Canada is in my age category! Cheryl Murphy (1st overall female) in a big time of 29:55 (6 min/miles) Holy can that girl run! Yes, she is a mother and works full time too! I am not worthy!

Overall, the weekend was exactly what I needed! But, now back to reality and working early Monday morning will really send a shock back to my system!

Happy Sunday!!

Finally 40!

2009-02-13T20:03:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, it has been exactly a week since my 40th, but this is the first time I have sat down since!!!! Thank you so much to everyone that called, sent cards, emails, surprise visits at my work (Trish & Sandy came with wine!) and helped me celebrate the BIG 4-0!!! To celebrate my birthday this year.... I WORKED! Yes, woo hoo! Day shift at the hospital. Thankfully, it was only 7-3pm and I was able to go home and hang out with my Mom and Dad, Shawn, and my boys! They were great. The boys decorated with lots of 'black' and we dined on Gramma Connie's famous Ribs for dinner. Oh yeah, and lots of wine and chocolate cake. What more could a girl want!...

To commemorate my last 40 years, I sat down and made a list of 40 very special memories that I have and am so thankful for. It is long, I hope you enjoy!

Saving my brother, when he fell off a bridge into a creek, when he was four.
At nine years of age, moving to Saudi Arabia, and living there for the next 7 years.
Flying for the first time, First Class, on a 747 jet airplane from Houston, Texas to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Travelling in a VW Van with my brother, Grandma Gamracy, and parents for a month in Europe.
Climbing the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" with my grandma.
Walking in the tunnels and mazes where the Romans kept the lions and slaves in the bottom of the Roman Colosseum.
Touring the Vatican, seeing the Sistine Chapel, and Michelangelo's paintings on the ceilings.
Floating in a Gondola down the canals of Venice.
Standing under the Eiffel Tower.
Driving by the 'Arc de Triomphe ' at least 5 times while my parents fought over directions in Paris, France. Yes, we did finally get out of the van and walk around the monument.
Climbing inside the Pyramids of Egypt.
Climbing up to the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
Touring China with 27 other 15 year old teens for a month.
Hiking "The Great Wall of China".
Seeing the life size "Terracotta Soldier Army" in Shi Huangdi's tomb in China just after they opened it to the public in 1984.
Having a "Roman Candle" war across a lake with Chinese teens just after they celebrated their Chinese New Year.
Snorkeling with my friends in the Persian Gulf.
Getting my driver's licence on my 16th birthday!
My first date with Shawn, October 18th, 1986!
My high school Graduation! (It was all about the dress!!)
Going to the "U2" concert in 1987!!!
Spending 72 days at sea as a deck hand on a 50 foot Salmon Troller boat with an 'all girl crew' and bringing in a record 75,000 lbs of Salmon! It was the most brought in ever by a freezer boat! Ha! Girls rule, boys drool!
Graduating from Nursing School with honors!
My wedding day, July 3rd, 1993!
Our honeymoon to Hawaii (Jan 1994) and taking a pregnancy test the morning after we arrived.... It was POSITIVE!
The pregnancy and birth of Jordan Shawn!
My second pregnancy and birth of Nathan Brian!
The third pregnancy and birth of Braydan John!
Helping my best friend (Sarah Graham) deliver her second child Gabe!
Attending the wedding of Kurt and Misty (my brother and his wife) Just love her!!!
When we surprised the boys and told them we were going to Alaska and took them to Disneyland!
Competing in my first sprint distance triathlon!
Spending time with and caring for my Grandma and Grandpa Stirling before they passed away.
Taking our boys to Maui in December 1994!
Moving our family to Vancouver Island!
Qualifying for and racing in the Age Group World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2005!
Completing my first Half Ironman in Oliver, BC in 2005!
Completing my first full Ironman in Penticton, BC in 2006!
Chosen as a "Home Grown Hero" and being featured on a BC Lottery ticket!
Attending Shawn's younger brother's wedding to Kyla in Sept 2007! Absolutely love her too!!!

OK, so maybe I have a few more than 40 memorable moments... One being our trip to Vegas last year with Shawn's parents to celebrate Shawn's 40th birthday and our family vacation to Arizona!

Here's hoping I have another 40! more memories to share in the next 40 years!!!

Cheers!!!

A tribute to Shawn, my Helicopter Pilot, husand, and hero!

2009-02-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

In October 1986, I had a knock on my door from a very handsome 18 year old... Shawn and his best buddy Dan were hanging out on a Friday night, and decided to come see if I was home. At the time, Shawn was this gorgeous guy, that I saw around Kamloops from time to time, but always with a blonde girlfriend. (Who I was immensely jealous of) Never in a million years did I ever dream of this guy coming by to see "me" and to just hang out.... It was the weekend the clocks turned back and we made a date to hang out and watch videos at his house the next night. I had to pinch myself many times, as I thought I must be dreaming. "I was watching videos with "The Shawn Erlandson"!! Well, obviously the rest is history!

Shawn quickly became a permanent fixture in "The Alexa" home. My parents were instantly in love with him, and knew then that Shawn would be around for the long haul... From the first moment I met him, he expressed his desire and childhood dream, to be a helicopter pilot. A highlight of our early dating days, was flying with Shawn while he obtained his fixed wing pilot's licence. At that time, Shawn was not sure if he was "smart enough" to be a helicopter pilot. He wondered if he should just settle to fly fixed wing airplanes instead. I told him then, that if becoming a helicopter pilot was his dream, then go get it. Getting that dream was not cheap! The cost of a Helicopter's Pilot licence at the time was $32,000!!! (1988) He was devestated to say the least. Where was he going to get the cash for something like that. Student loans gave him $8,800, I donated a couple of my pay checks, and my parents co-signed a loan for him for $20,000! At the time this was all happening, (I was 19, Shawn was 20) my parents had no idea whether Shawn I would stay together or not. What they did know, was that they were investing in a young man's career. They believed in Shawn, and knew he would not have been able to live his dream without a little help. They knew Shawn would be successful, and wanted to give him that chance to live his dream!

Now, 20 years later, Shawn is currently working for Helifor Canada and a Captain on one of only three civilian flown "Chinook 234" helicopters in North America!!! For the next 10 weeks on TLC they will be featuring Shawn's profession as a "Heli-Logger", and the dangers and sacrifices these men (and woman, Karen Trimmer, a co-worker of Shawn's) make everyday to live their dream, and support their families back at home!

"TLC" will be airing the series "Heli-Loggers" about the crazy life of a "Heli-Logger"! Hopefully you will all be able to tune in an see a little of how my husband has spent the last 20 years of his life!!... Show times are starting Thursdays 10pm eastern, 9pm Central, and 7pm Pacific time.

You are my hero Shawn!!!

Help!

2009-01-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

Help! Can someone please tell me how to do this! I want to be this "House Husband"!!!

Yes, this would be my husband! He knows what it means to take a load off, relax in the sunshine, take time to smell the roses. How come, when I was home full time, there are no pictures of me doing this?... Hmmmm... Interesting isn't it. Well, not really. It's a man's world. No, I am not bitter... really! I am glad he is taking time for himself. Something I really need to learn how to schedule into my day. On a more positive note for me, my knee injury is improving and my training is going so much better now. Even though I am working more, I am finally getting the time management thing down and making my workouts really count. I skipped out on my first scheduled race of the season to rest the knee, and my coach was very happy I did. I am that much better for it now! It is almost the end of January and I have procrastinated enough now on posting my proposed race schedule for the 2009 season! I need to post my races in order to hold myself accountable to my goal results! If I post the races for all to see, I will need to post my result and blog about my race. (I love that part) I know it will feel good after doing it. So here goes nothing! Hope to see some of you out there this year at the races! I am looking forward to a successful year!!!

I'm Sorry!

2009-01-24T11:55:00.001-08:00

Yes, I promised last year to be diligent and keep up my blog on a regular basis. I am delinquent and so sorry! Life has a funny way of getting in the way of the blogging world. I am in awe of the people that can work full time, train full time, take care of children full time, and then blog full time! I am struggling right now with all of it! Mostly, I have been trying to avoid sitting at the computer because I have been struck with some bizarre knee issue. Ever since we made the trip down to Arizona, I have had pain and stiffness in the back of my right knee and calf. If I keep moving, it is fine. If I spend too much time sitting, it seizes up on me and my training is done. I have skipped some speed workouts this week, and have given the legs a bit of a rest, with lots of stretching, and I think I am on the mend!!! Yay! Another reason why I have been absent from the blogging world is because I have now become the main bread winner in the home at this point in time.... Yes, with the economic down turn, whaa, whaa, whaa... I have to take a pull at maintaining the bank account on more of a full time basis. Shawn's company, like most forestry companies, has been hit hard with the lack of industry and therefore, no flying to be had anywhere. So, I am slowly getting myself into the groove of serious multi-tasking and breaking Shawn in to the mode of "House-Husband". Both have been a slow process! To say the least!!! Ha Ha!

We were really lucky to spend some time with my Aunt Phyllis and Grandma Gamracy for the last week! Every time we have them come out from Saskatchewan, we insist "that the weather is not normally like this"!

My Grandma's response was... "I think you people that live on the Island have really short term memory, and just don't remember how terrible the weather is here all the time"! Ouch! I guess we want to believe we have better weather than Saskatchewan so badly, we have to keep telling ourselves that we do, and it will make us feel better!

I do have to give a big shout out to my bestest friend in Kamloops, Sarah, for making my running experience so much more enjoyable this New Year!!! Thank you again Sarah for my new pair of Skins! I absolutely love them!!! I have been using them during all my runs lately, especially since my little injury. I also have to announce, I have found my racing flats for this year's race season and I am thrilled to pieces!!! They are the 2008 "Saucony Fastwitch 3". I know, I know, they are last years model. But!! They were on sale and so I picked up two pairs to last me for the rest of this year. I promised my new babies that I would only use them in races and pre-race speed workouts to save the miles on them!! They are absolutely the most light weight, anatomically correct runners I have ever put my "big" feet into! Now, if only they could keep this years model exactly the same. Of course, I had to get these down in the states! Good luck finding them here in Canada. They are special order, and most stores won't bring them in unless you beg them. Then, after you wait like 8 weeks, they will charge you double the price. I just love free trade!!!

Our lessons learned!...

2009-01-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

No one would have believed us if we didn't have a camera to prove it!

It was socked in, rainy, grey, blah in the Comox Valley. I took a look at the Mt. Washington web cam and it said "Unlimited Visibility" all day! What???...

This Christmas my mom insisted that we not "buy" anything for them for Christmas. Christmas presents were to come in the form of long walks in the west coast trails, cross country skiing, etc. Anything active, healthy, and just keeping good company! So today I took my mom up on one of her requests. I hauled out my classic x-country skis and took my mom up for a lesson on how to tackle the downhill... After 50 something years of wearing glasses and a fear of heights. My mom needs to overcome her fear of skiing downhill. So we headed up to the mountain and we had "Unlimited Visibility"!!! It was so hot in the full sun. There was no breeze, just pure sunshine! We were pulling off layers, sweating, and lovin it!

I took my mom down a trail she had never been down before because of the 'big hill" at the beginning! She conquered the hill and it was all 'up hill' from there! ;)

The warm snow was very forgiving for learning today and she had a blast!

My lesson learned today came in a different sort of way!... If you click on the picture below you will see in the distance a woman standing on the side of the trail. As we approached her, she stood up from sitting in the snow, trying to compose herself. We quickly realized that she was not just taking in the sunshine.... She was having some trouble. Apparently this was her first time back on skis in 36 years! Her group had gone ahead and she was "just resting" and waiting for them to come back... The woman was sweating, pale, and weak and was going to take off her skis and "just walk back" to the lodge!!! It was a good hour to walk back at least! She had no water, no snacks, and was alone!!! OMG!!! I offered her my electrolyte drink and she reluctantly took some. Usually, I carry my "Camel Back" pack filled with fluids, gels, protein bars, etc. Today I packed light and didn't bring it!!! I felt terrible! My lesson... I will never leave my pack at home again! Once her friends caught up to us again, I insisted on going back to the lodge to get the ski-doo to come pick her up. "They" all said not to worry, that they had some trail mix and more water and that she would be just fine!... So off we went, taking our time enjoying the day. Just minutes from the lodge, we were passed by the ski-doo going out on the trail!... I asked one of the instructors if he was going out to pick up the woman. He said "Yes"!!!! Ugh!!! That was like an hour later!!! My lesson learned again! I will NEVER take "no" for an answer again!!! My gut was telling me to go get help for this lady, but the group of them saying no made me back down on my decision! Never again!

Today, I am heading up again. It is grey and rainy down in the valley, but I am looking forward to sunshine and I'm bringing my pack!

Happy Tuesday!!!

From Sunshine.... To SUNSHINE!!!

2009-01-09T08:33:00.001-08:00

We are back in Comox after putting 8300 kms on our truck during our road trip to Tucson!!! Unbelievable!... The trip back was uneventful despite the extreme weather conditions all along our travels! There is soooo much snow everywhere! Our first day back was spent doing laundry, cleaning out the fridge and buying groceries! We really miss the fresh juiced oranges and grapefruits... I bought a bag of each, but it just isn't the same coming out of a bag!

Thursday morning was back to reality for my training regime and hopefully making my dreams of smashing some of my previous PB's in my 40th year!!! Thank goodness Master's workout today was a stroke improvement morning or I would be still at the bottom of the pool!!!

Below is how I spent the rest of my day!!! We had an absolutely spectacular day of sunshine and fast trails up at Mt. Washington! My mom had her "Classic" skis on and was getting her ski legs back. I was so excited to get back into the skate skiing again. Only 78 more days until the Mt. Washington 30 km Loppet!!! I have to start training BIG TIME! I was sucking wind out there yesterday severely.

Mom sporting her first pair of Louis Garneau sunglasses!!! Her day at the mountain was just as fabulous with her "new" eyes! The snow was brighter, the mountains were bigger and there were trees on the mountains, not just green masses of color! Wow... I can only imagine!

Love my new skate skis! They are so fast!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone!!! Amazing.... 2009! Can you believe it?!?! I can't! Where did 2008 go? Now it is really time to set some goals and get back in the saddle again to make my 40th year one of my best ever!

I started the new year one day early with an epic ride up the infamous Mt. Lemmon! Absolutely breath taking! I set out from Grandma and Grandpa's house at around 12:30 pm with a tank bike jersery as it was 25' C and feeling hot on my back. Of course the local roadies to this area were wearing long sleaves and leggings. I didn't really have a plan to tackle the mountain today as Shawn also wanted to do the climb and he decided to stay back and swim in the pool with the guys.

After just under and hour of exploring the wide open bike friendly roadways here, I found myself at the bottom of Mt. Lemmon at mile 0. I thought, I will just climb for 5 miles until the toll, and see if I have to pay the $5 fee to get to the top. The road climbed through more cactus forests and several switch backs later, I found myself at the toll. At this point, I had already counted 25 cyclists doing the same route. I had one roadie fly by me, yelling "Way to go girl, you rock"! Ya right, he went by me like I was standing still. The Cervelo is not a climbing bike. I was missing my Specialized compact gearing big time! I asked the fellow if we needed to pay to climb this thing... Nope, just giver to the top, free of charge! The sign said 20 miles to Palisades, 26 miles to Summerhaven, and 32 miles to the ski hill. If I had to climb the next 15 miles at a whopping 8.5 minute per mile, that was going to put me at the first destination in like a couple of hours! OMG!! I decided to take it one mile at a time. After getting past the cactus forest, the terrain started to change and I was entering into Hoodoo country! So amazing, I just had to keep going!

I made it to mile 12 and decided I had to get to at least mile 15! When I saw the highway at the top of the picture, I didn't think I was going to make it.
This was what I saw when I looked up along the roadside! So cool! There were signs everywhere saying "Watch for Falling Rock" Yikes!

More Hoodoos! The pictures do no justice to the real deal!

Mile 15!!!! I did it. I was so exhilarated from the view, I wanted to keep going, but this is where I started to feel a bit of altitude sickness. I was getting dizzy and nauseated and so I thought it would be best to start heading down. Now, this is where a smart cyclist would have been more prepared. Yah, remember that tank top I was wearing.... I now had to go screaming back down, and all the cyclist were putting on jackets and arm warmers. It was freezing. There was snow on the side of the road in parts.

I had to stop and get some tourists from Jersey to take my picture. They were laughing at me and my lack of clothing and they new why I wanted the photo.... To prove I really did it!! Just after leaving this point, I saw a sign that said 6000 ft elevation! So, I figure I was up to around 6500 at the Hoodoo Vista Point. It took me 2.5 hours to get to my mile 15 mark, and then just one hour to get back to Grandma's! So, so, amazing! I recommend it to everyone! It was the best way to see the mountain. I will have to do it again one day!.... Shawn still wants to go!... Maybe tomorrow? Ha Ha! Oh yeah, the count for cyclist doing the climb was 45!! Including me! This place is a cyclist's heaven!

More biking, more sunshine, more forests and more OJ than a girl can handle in one day!

2008-12-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Today was absolutely spectacular!! I rode for over 2 and 1/2 hours! It felt like 30 minutes. I wanted to keep going, but I promised to be back to take the boys to "Cold Stone Creamery". Some amazing ice cream for a protein recovery meal and I was good to go again. Unfortunately the sun was setting and I also promised to be back to help with dinner. Tomorrow we plan to ride Mt. Lemmon early in the morning so we can play at the pool during the "UTP" times ("Ultimate tanning position"). I haven't used that term since high school! Then some shopping and a run in the afternoon! Happy New Year!!!! I am feeling very spoiled, but I am also so appreciative of my life. I am very lucky!! I have to come back at spring break. Nana Cindi has welcomed us back with open arms! Sorry Shawn, me and the boys are Tucson bound come spring break whether you are off work or not!

More cactus!
More sunshine and blue sky than a girl can handle!

The cactus are absolutely amazing! They have to be 70 years old before they start growing one of their arms, so this one is ancient! They are also only native to this desert here in the "Arizona Sonora Desert".

This one is just a baby cactus! But still bigger than Brady!

Of course our day would not be complete without the fresh squeezed OJ. We have added some delicious grapefruit that we got at the "Sunflower Farmer's Market". (3 for a $1) They are blood red and very juicy! Hope everyone has an amazing New Year's Eve tomorrow!

Cactus Forests, fresh sqeezed oj, and beautiful bike rides!...

2008-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

We have had amazing weather for two days!! Highs of 22' C and lots and lots of blue sky! We took the kids to see the cactus forests and the Tucson zoo. There were so many cyclist on the road. It was awesome. They were climbing huge climbs through the winding desert roads. So cool. I was drooling... Shawn and I have been juicing oranges and tangerines from the trees in the back yard every day! Delicious!

I have been taking too many pictures. They are getting a little tired of me. Well, mostly Shawn. He gave me his typical smile while talking to me at the same time "OK, are you done yet, just take the picture"

Tomorrow we plan on riding for at least three hours and a run to follow!!! I feel free again! Thank you Tucson for giving me some sun!

It's Freakin Cold Here!!!

2008-12-28T11:20:00.001-08:00

Christmas day dinner at the Erlandson's in frigid Tucson Arizona!!! We have woke up to frost on the grass and snow in the mountains! I haven't rode my bike yet... I'm starting to feel like a loose canon!... We have 6 days left and I am hoping the outside air temps are warm enough to ride, cause I'm going no matter what!! We are only 10 minutes from the famous Mt. Lemon. Apparently if you are a real triathlete you will ride Mt. Lemon while you are here training. I have yet to get there! Hoping to go today! It is supposed to get up to 14 C by 3pm.

We had a rare family photo opp! Way too much turkey and stuffing!!!

The Grand Canyon!!! Yes, we were slipping and sliding along the trails in the snow!!! I guess we should be thankful that we are not in 3 feet of snow!

-31 C Oh My!

2008-12-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

My Olympus camera used through the back seat of the Toyota Tundra! Pretty sweet shot of the Rocky Mountains! We are packed liked sardines, but have survived the trip so far.

My youngest boy in the back seat. He has the greatest lips! We are so jealous! He thinks we are teasing him, but man, those lips are just fantastic.

We started our Journey from Comox in the pouring rain (+6 C) and arrived in Kamloops to 20 cms of blowing snow and temperatures dropping to -20 C with the windchill!!! AAAHhhh!!! We spent a couple of days visiting friends, family, eating early Christmas dinner, and celebrating Poppa Brian's 60th birthday! The next day, after much deliberation, we decided to venture out into the frigid temperatures and travel through the Rocky Mtn's to Calgary for the next leg of our Journey! We watched the thermometer drop to -31 C and rumor has it, with the wind chill, it was -45 C. Thank goodness we were in a truck!

My boys gave us about 30 seconds to shoot a couple of family pics in the snow. Notice we are not really dressed for the cold temperatures. We are spoiled on the Island!

For those of you that don't believe I really have a husband! There he is!! I had seconds to get this shot. He really does not like getting his picture taken!

My last one!!!!!!!!

2008-12-12T01:12:00.000-08:00

My last 3 hour Compu Trainer ride of 2008!

Yes, I did this! I know, I know! No one admits to riding on their trainer for 3 hours! But, I know there are a lot of 'Closet' trainers out there that do. I'm just crazy enough to actually tell someone I do this... Hey, if Lisa Bentley can take her Compu Trainer with her on a cruise ship, this is nothing!...

I had just the most amazing day today! 6:30am I swam with Masters for the last time in 2008. I am looking forward to swimming in Arizona next week. (Maybe I'll find an outdoor pool to train in!) Then, I had coffee and exchanged Christmas gifts with the most fantastic, generous, enthusiastic and inspiring 40 year old Mom's (my athlete's training for Victoria 1/2 Iron) They spoiled me beyond words!!! Then I met up with my Need For Speed Thursday Night group with Sarah and the gang to do some serious hills! I finished the night with our farewell dinner and drinking a bottle of the best wine ever!!! with my Mom and Dad. ("Beaufort 06 Cab-Sauv") from the Comox Valley!!! (given to me from Sandy and Trish) Woo Hoo!

Now I am off to bed, to wake at 6 am, to start our journey through Kamloops, Calgary, and down to Arizona! I promise, I promise to try and blog my way down and back!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!

It's Like Christmas.... Again!!

2008-12-08T21:03:00.000-08:00

I am one lucky girl!!! Christmas has come early AGAIN! for me! Well, really I worked pretty hard for this one. All my shopping at Safeway, collecting airmiles actually paid off. I probably spent way more in groceries getting those airmiles, but now I have a brand new WATERPROOF Olympus Camera! With just a few clicks on the airmile's website, I redeemed some miles and was given free shipping to boot!.. 10 days later it's here.

I have been wanting something small and easy to carry in my run pack or on the bike to capture those "I wish I had my camera" moments! Just in time for our cross country journey to Arizona! Now I just need to figure out how to use the little thing!.... Woo Hoo!!!!

Birthdays, Boys, and Bathing Suits!

2008-12-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

Birthdays! I love them! We get to have the most amazing desserts on these special days! My Mom's 61st birthday. Had to have the dessert from down under. Usually we make this one in the summer with all the fresh fruit. I just couldn't resist. So I paid a little more for the fresh raspberries and blueberries, it was worth it. Now, the "fresh whipping cream", ya I had to have that too. What's a Pavlova without fresh cream. Notice the recycled birthday candles. Must have been from Braydan's sixth b-day cake!

The boys and their Gramma Connie... Need I say more. Other than my Mom after 57 years!!! is not wearing glasses anymore. She had two lens transplants and now has better vision than me. She has been clinically blind without her glasses since she was 4! My Pavlova was looking even more fantastic to her this year. She says she can't believe how bright and colorful the world is! Happy Birthday Mom!

Merry Christmas to me!!!...
Well, just a little pre-Christmas gift to get a girl excited about going into a cold pool at 6 am! I received my first of 3 Splish suits that I ordered for myself to help keep the winter swims more enjoyable! A girl has to do what a girl has to do.... I remember when shopping to perk yourself up in the winter was a fancy new party dress for the Christmas and New Years Eve Bash! Nope, not that girl anymore. Just bring on the Tri gear! That's way more healthier!

We will be venturing off on a 3 1/2 week cross country road trip from Vancouver Island to Kamloops, to Calgary, to Tucson, Arizona next week! I am so looking forward to riding my bike in warmer weather and shopping at the sweetest Triathlon stores around! Again, Merry Christmas to me!!! I hope to post our adventures of the Erlandson family of five doing the USA tour in a mini-van when we get to Tucson and settled there for a couple weeks! I am sure it will be an adventure!!!

My life in 24 hours!...

2008-11-26T12:19:00.000-08:00

24 hours in the life of a Mother of 3 boys!...

6 am - Make and apply frosting to Christmas square for cookie exchange.
7 am - Make breaky and lunches for boys and drive them to school.
9:30 am - Volunteer guide for trail Running Adventure group.
11:00 am - Cookie exchange and wrap up get together post trail run.
2 pm - Arrive home and unload $150 of groceries, ice cream cake, party supplies for 12 year old b-day sleepover party.
Dishes/Laundry
3 pm Set up "Dance Revolution 3" dance mats for XBox 360 and watch 9 boys compete and then move on to ACDC World Tour Rock Band "Highway to Hell", and then ride dirt bikes and skate boards in yard while I prepare chicken strips, french fries, seven layer Mexican bean dip, bagel bites, fruit plate with yogurt dip, veggie plate, dry ribs, and "Virgin Tequila Sunrises"!!
Dishes/Laundry
6 pm - Serve and wait on 9 hungry boys.
7 pm - Act as professional photographer for Candle Blowing moment!
Dishes/Laundry
9 pm - Sit down for a few minutes and watch "WAL-E" with the crowd.
Dishes/Laundry
11:30 pm - Clean up 5 sets of sheets, pillow cases, pillows, mattress covers, mattresses, and blankets that were used as a slide down 2 flights of stairs... Remake all 5 beds for boys to sleep on!
Dishes/Laundry
1:30 am! - Attempt again to get 9 boys to bed and over hear one of them say something about someone "doing the reverse cowboy position"! HUH????....
2:06 am! - Stop sleep over guests from writing with red ink over birthday boy's face while sleeping... Nathan made the mistake of telling his friends he was born at 2:06am on the 25th.
6:30 am - Wake up with first set of boys wanting to play ACDC rock band!
8 am - Shower/Dishes/Laundry
8:30 am - Gramma Connie arrives just in time to help make 50 pancakes!
9:30 am - 1st parent teacher interview!
9:50 am - 2nd parent teacher interview!
10:30 - Home to laundry/Dishes/starting lunch for crew.
12 pm - Serve and watch another fruit plate, veggie plate, more chicken strips, box of girl guide cookies, plates full of Quesidillias, and 18 Japanese oranges be consumed with a matter of minutes!
2 pm - Attend another parent teacher interview!
2:45 pm - Say good-bye to last party goer and drive boys to dentist appointments, call best friend and have a small cry over disappointing parent teacher interview!
4 pm - Buy another $125 worth of groceries, as the fridge is now empty again!
6 pm - Pick up husband from being in Camp all week, give him a big "Big High Five - Tag Your It"!! and run as far and as fast as I can!!!

So much fun!! Now it's time to take and break and start training again!!!

"Free Speed!"

2008-11-24T00:04:00.001-08:00

If I haven't told you the storey yet... I have to tell you again! "I won a Compu Trainer" !!! http://racermateinc.com/

How long have you been submitting your name into that "Compu Trainer" draw box at Race Expo's?... I know it was 6 years for me! So, when I had the phone call from Racer Mate in Washington at the end of June this year, I felt like I had won the lottery!! I was an absolute looser on the phone. Of course, I was screaming with delight and kept asking the guy if it was a joke. I told him "I have had a Compu Trainer on my Christmas wish list for the last 6 years" He kinda laughed... After I hung up the phone, I couldn't go 5 minutes for the next week telling someone... "I won a Compu Trainer"...

So today, I rode the Ironman Arizona Race course, while watching it on Ironmanlive.com!! I absolutely love it! I am hoping that this "Free" gadget will give me the "Free Speed" I am looking to gain to step it up for next year! I will keep you posted on the progress!

7500 meters!!!

2008-11-22T12:19:00.001-08:00

https://www.swimming.ca/swimming.htm

6:00 am Saturday morning!!! :))) What are we getting ourselves into!

So it wasn't 100 X 100 on 1:30, those guys were in the next lane over! Whew! The best this little triathlete could pull off this morning was 100 X 75's on 1:30!!! 7500m, 7.5km, 8202.1 yards, 4.66 miles! Doesn't matter which one you use, it was a long way for me! It took our lane 2.5 hours. My shoulders are killing me!

We were mixed in with the swim club kids, and the guys in the 100 X 100 lane did Fly for their last 100. They did 10,000m! The little 14 year old chic in our lane decided that after 25 100's on 1:30, she would join us and do 75 X 75 KICK on 1:30. She lead the lane and got 20 seconds rest each time. We all thought, who needs arms when you can kick like that! We were in awe! Now I am going for a run. The storm has passed, the sun is out and the trails are calling me! So is Hana! I must not let her down.

Rainy Days and Rest Days!

2008-11-21T21:01:00.001-08:00

Nothing like a full on West Coast winter storm to get everyone into the full swing of power outages, 'take out' Chinese Food, and REST DAYS!! We have be SO lucky this fall... I think it was just three days ago that I posted a picture from this same beach in short sleeves and beautiful sunshine!!!

So, yes I am human, and I do take rest days! Lucky for me it was today! It is always so challenging to not do ANYTHING on a rest day when the sun is shinning and you just want to bike or run for hours. Nope, not so much today! So I took it very seriously and decided to pamper myself at the salon, drink coffee, and read rag magazines! (What, no Tri mags, what is that?) Except I did pick up the latest Triathlon Canada mag at the grocery store when I stopped for Chinese Food. I told the kids that I was going to haul out the camp stove and candles for dinner. They laughed and called Grandma's and asked if she had power... She did! So THEY made the plan that I was to pick up take out and bring it to her house! Huh?...

Yes, this was the brief moment, captured on film, of me sitting still for just over two hours. Now I am off to bed! We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Swim Canada in our Master's workout. Something like 100 X 100m on 1:30 was mentioned.... There might be a typo, but rumour has it 10,000 meters in 3 hours is the goal!!! AAAAHhhhh! I will let you know if I survive!

She Keeps Me Honest!

2008-11-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hana!

My training partner...

Always willing and ready to run. Dependable. She is so fast through the trails, she keeps me on my toes, chasing her faster and faster. When I feel like I want to quit, she gives me the inspiration to race up the hill again. She keeps me honest, as I would feel guilty if I didn't give her one more hill repeat. She is always waiting for me at the top smiling. She never complains. She is also patient when I am slower to the top than her. When she doesn't see me coming, she always comes back to make sure I'm safe. She never criticises. She doesn't complain about the pace. She never gives up on me. She accepts my speed, and runs beside me, protects me, and loves to be with me.

Thanks Hana for a great run today!

Rainy days and compression socks!

2008-11-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

So what does a girl do when it is absolutely pouring outside and you gotta get your track workout done?.... Thank god for the garage tread mill! Gotta love the "look". Yes they are knee high socks, but they are to die for!! Sugoi Compression Socks are my new best running friend. I picked up a pair just before Ironman in the summer. I had been doing a lot of reading on these socks and had to get me a pair. They work to help reduce fatigue and if you have a second pair, wear them to bed and you recover quicker after a hard training run! I totally recommend getting a pair. I thought I was going to look like a dork in Penticton walking around in these things, but to my surprise, EVERYONE had a pair! Except, I think the men can pull off the look better than the girls. Especially when we have our skimpy running shorts on, we kinda look like, well... You know! Trust me, you'll love them!

I'm so excited!!!

2008-11-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

Approximately 6 years ago I begged my girlfriends to enter as a team for the Kamloops Y Mini Tri. I was going to swim, Rhonda would bike, and Sarah would run. It would be a 700m swim, 20km bike, and an 8km run. The deadline for the race was coming close and my friends couldn't commit to the race.... We had talked about doing it now for a couple of years, and I had always wanted to try this "Tri" thing. So secretly I submitted my application, signing up to doing the entire distance myself. OMG! What was I thinking. I had always been sporty. I competitive swam, ran track, and raced BMX growing up with the guys.... No problem! Unfortunately that was over 15 years ago and three babies later, my body was not exactly what they call a "Triathlete's physique"... I searched the net and found a "Beginner's Sprint Triathlon" training program. I remember doing my first "Brick" workout. I was to bike 60 mins and then get off my bike and run 20 mins!!! I remember thinking that was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life!!! I guess the rest is history. I went from a 165 lb Mother of three, to a 133 lb "Triathlete". Thank you Sarah and Rhonda for jamming on me! I believe things happen for a reason, and that if you believe you can do something, "Anything is Possible"! Now, I feel guilty if I don't get my swim, bike, run, weights, yoga, and stretching in every day....

So now on to why I am so excited!!! Last week, I had a message on my answering machine. The women's name was Sandy. Sandy went on to say how she and her best friend just turned 40 and they had signed up for a Half Ironman for June 09. They wondered if I would be interested in helping them get prepared for the race!!! I was nearly busting at the seams!!! I am always so excited when women, men, and kids decide to participate in Triathlon. I love inspiring others to do things they never thought possible. Their excitement for training and racing next year has also inspired me to take it up a notch and pursue the coaching side of this sport! If I can compete and help others to compete, that is so cool! I signed up for my first Tri-specific coaching course, and have already mapped out my future courses! Below is my Lottery Ticket that was released in 2006! Just before the interview, I had met a 75 year old man in Hawaii at the Age Group World Championships we were racing at. He was sitting there with his grandchildren. He told me that he had now done Ironman Hawaii World Championships 6 times! I think about that man and what he has achieved alot.

So here's to you Sandy and Trish!!! I am so looking forward to watching you guys transform yourselfs into an Ironman athlete! Maybe you will be inspired to go on and tackle the full distance.... "Anything is Possible" You are an inspiration, and your family will be so proud of you!!

"Lottery tickets featuring a photo of Comox triathlete Audrey Erlandson have hit the stores. The tickets, which went on sale Monday, are part of the SportsFunder Homegrown Heroes fundraising campaign.The campaign, focused on raising funds for amateur athletes in B.C., directs its proceeds into a variety of amateur sports organizations across the province. Erlandson is a mother of three and a labour delivery nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital. She lists her family and fellow triathletes as major sources of inspiration. "I got involved in triathlons because I wanted to set a positive example for my kids," said Erlandson, adding that she is motivated to train hard by her family. "We have faced some major health issues - and a healthy, athletic lifestyle is the best way to overcome them," she comments. "When I was in Hawaii, I met a 75-year-old man who had competed in the Ironman for the past six years and that inspired me.I want to be able to race far into the future and be there for my kids as they grow up." Along with other athletes displaying her competitive drive, Erlandson is appearing on tickets which feature over $1 million in prizes, says the BC Lottery Corporation.

Happy November 1st!!! Already???

2008-11-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!!

Nothing like bags and bags of candy to keep a kid going till after midnight!

Nathan and his friend Cade decided riding their bikes this year would get the job done faster! After the trick or treating was over, we all headed over to the neighbourhood block party for more treats, hot apple cider, fireworks and a good old fashioned tractor ride around the farm fields. Jordan decided this year, he was too old for the trick or treating, so he was at home handing out handfuls of candy. The weather was windy and drizzly, so not as many kids made the trek down the long driveways in the Sand Pines area. They were lucky, all their bags of candy looked just as big as last year!

Hannibal, Cade, and Nathan post "bike tricking"

Can I carve a pumpkin or what??? Even after waking up from night shift, I can still get the pumpkin carved before the first kid comes knocking on the door!

The little kids at the door thought I was a great looking "rock star"! My husband's comment was "Brunette!"... Huh?! Unfortunately I do not have the legs to go with the hair!

This would be post candy, fireworks, and fun! Braydan, needing a little pick me up, after he realized his hockey game was to start at 7:45 am, (this means waking at 6:45 am). There was a whole lot of whining going on! Braydan said, "awwwwhhhh, it's not fair that they make us play hockey so early in the morning on Halloween!!! We should have a holiday, it's not fair" Mom says, "But Brady, just think, in the morning you get to sit in the dressing room and brag about how much candy your scored"... Brady: "Oh yeah!! OK, goodnight!" Wow, competitive or what. So what does he do at his game today?!!!.... He ramps it up and scores the tie breaker goal to make it 6-5! Then turns around 1 minute later and scores another one on an empty net, after the other team pulls their goalie to try and tie it up. He carried that puck all the way to the net, just to make sure it went in. He said he was just shaking, remembering a you tube video of an NHL player that had an empty net shot and missed! Ha Ha!! I love it!!

CAN

2008-10-28T10:09:00.001-07:00

I "CAN" JUST BREATHE!

2008-10-28T09:32:00.001-07:00

Some days I find being a Mom one of the most immense challenges I have EVER attempted! Some days it feels like there just isn't enough coffee, wine, or chocolate to make anything better! The morning war zone of making lunches, finding hoodies, fighting over "Tech Decks", begging for brushed teeth, combed hair, wearing clean clothes, using our "nice" words, and getting out the door on time can make a Mother want to just fly far, far, away!!! Then, as you are driving like a maniac to get them all to their schools, so that teachers can continue the madness with them, you see this....

Nothing like a good old sunrise over the Georgia Strait to brighten any ones day!!! That is when I say to myself, "Just Breathe, you are so lucky to be alive and to have the gift of sight, movement, and three amazing boys... Breathe!" (My mantra!)

Then I come home, pour myself another cup of coffee... This time it is hot! I have a piece of chocolate, log onto You Tube, and get my daily reminder of how much harder motherhood could be! This video is my most favorite, and I cannot ever get through it without getting a knot in my throat!

Have a beautiful Tuesday! and remember to BREATHE!

I LOVE MONDAYS!!!

2008-10-20T13:41:00.001-07:00

I LOVE Mondays because I get to meet up with great women that LOVE running in our spectacular trails we are so lucky to have!

At 7am our day was looking pretty wet. It was absolutely pouring rain! I had been anticipating our trail run today all weekend hoping for sunshine so that I could take some great photos. Fall is always a great time to do the Trent River trail because you cannot describe the colours! Just fabulous!

It was our lucky day!!! The rain stopped and the sun was out in full force! I am so sorry for the other trail running women that didn't make it today! You missed a great morning trek!! So here are some pictures for you to drool over!

Beautiful Monday Morning Adventure Running women!

Entering the trail at Trent River

Moe's Misery sign at the turn around.

A rare 'Old Growth' beauty!

It's Just Like Christmas!!!

2008-10-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Check out my new Sugoi "schwag"!!!

I am so excited! I recently sent in an application to the "Sugoi Brand Champion Team" www.sugoi.com

I received this exciting email from them!

"Audrey, Congratulations! Our SUGOI team has reviewed your application and would like to inform you that you have been accepted as a SUGOI Brand Champion! We believe that you will be a great ambassador of SUGOI and will make us proud in your athletic and personal endeavors. You are an incredible individual, and SUGOI is dedicated to making incredible apparel. We think you’ll agree that together, we make a great pair."

So today my package came in the mail, and I was like a little kid at Christmas!! Shawn was complaining at Ironman Canada this year that my outfit wasn't splashy enough, and that I didn't stand out for him to recognize me... Now, I have a brand new outfit for next year (another excellent reason to get off my butt!). I hope it is splashy enough for him! I just love it!! I just had to go out for a run today in my new technical shirt. I had an awesome fall run in the North East Woods!

I also just had to look up the word "Schwag". I remember the first time I heard the word at a race package pick up, I was totally clueless as to the meaning of the word!

"The term schwag refers to all manner of logoed stuff given away by companies to get people to remember them, feel good about them, have their phone number and website at hand and generally make them think about them before any of their competitors. And studies show.... it works!! The original spelling is "swag" (for Stuff We All Get). One site explained "schwag is what the coolest of the cool people say" and another site indicated it's "called schwag if the item is particularly good."

So, I can tell you already, that I am going to love wearing my new schwag! Practically 95% of my training and racing apparel is by Sugoi. It has to be my most favorite gear to train and race in. Now I can wear it and be part of their team too! Yay!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-10-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

My Boys!

If I sit up tall enough, I can still look a little taller than the boys. They are getting to be huge!!

Grandpa John carving the turkey bird! Dad, you are really looking like a "Grandpa" today, Wow!
Today, we had a small, but absolutely amazing Thanksgiving dinner at Gramma Connie's and Grandpa John's. Gramma said, "don't make to big a serving of sweet potatoes and stuffing (my contribution) cause there is only 7 of us". Yeah right! We had enough food to feed 20! That Gramma Connie always outdoes herself! Seriously! Oh, yeah and the Pumpkin Cheesecake was to die for. Sorry Kurt, you have competition!

After dinner my Mom, Dad, and Uncle Ray taught me to play "Farmer's Rummy". I am always such a terrible card player. So I reluctantly agreed to allow them to try and teach me. Being the somewhat competitive person that I am, I quickly got into the groove of the game and with a little beginner's luck, I smoked them all!!! Ha!

Today we didn't have all of our family with us, and we missed them so much! I just want to say "Thank You" to my mom and dad for having us over for dinner AGAIN!, and for all your never ending support while I try to raise the boys in such a demanding world! Thank you to my boys for being just who you are and making my life so exciting! Thank you to Shawn, who missed dinner again! and for being the absolute King of all Kings and for taking such good care of me and our boys! We really do appreciate the sacrifices that you make in your life for us to all live such an amazing life! I am also so thankful for my health and my family's health!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends that I could see today! I am so thankful to have all of you in my life!

Ooops Sorry Linsey!

2008-10-12T09:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry Linsey!

I posted last night that she was 6th Women Pro overall. Nope actually she was 5th!!! Yay!

I first met Lindsey at the Oliver Half Iron in 2006. It was her first race as a rookie Pro and she won in course record time. I think that race Shawn had double the pictures of Linsey on the camera than he had of me! He really liked her Timex race suit... Ha! If I remember correctly, there were a lot of shots of her from behind. He said it was because she was so fast, he couldn't get the camera focused fast enough to get her coming at him! (ya right!) "We" have followed her rising triathlon career ever since!

It was so exciting to see her come across the finish in top 5! I love it when the race commentators are caught off guard with athletes that are not well known. That is what I love about the sport. "Anything is Possible" Ironman racing is so unpredictable. Every race is so different. It is a new journey every time, and that is what is so addicting about wanting to go back and do it again, and again.

LIFE IS SIMPLE: SWIM-BIKE-RUN-EAT-SLEEP

Kona Ironman World Championships!!!

2008-10-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

"I want to do that!"

"365 more days!"...

"No Time Like the Present!"...

"No More Excuses!"...

"Bring on the W40-44 age category!"...

As I was sitting in front of my computer monitor, watching the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii, drooling over the ocean swim, the athletes, the bikes, the palm trees, everything. I came to the conclusion very quickly this morning that this was the last time I wanted to watch this race from my living room! That's it no more doggin it in my training! If I want to get a spot and participate in this race I have to get my big butt off this chair and do something about it!

Yup, nothing like a little "Ironman Live" to get you feeling motivated! I decided to hop on my Compu Trainer while the men and women were on their bikes on the Ironman race course. No I did not go 5+ hours, I went 2+ hours, and tried to maintain my goal race pace of 21.5 miles/hour. I climbed when they climbed and picked up my cadence when they were descending. No problem when you are on a flat surface with a fan and all the luxuries of home.

I think that's Chris Lieto on the bike in second place.

Not the greatest pictures of the Women's overall winner... again!! Chrissy Wellington coming across the finish line and then a group hug with her Mom and Dad! What an inspiration, what an athlete! Chrissy has won every Ironman she has started! Including Kona now, twice! Chrissy started this addicting sport just two years ago, and is one of the sports latest phenom's. Wow, I wish I could run like her!
Chrissy Wellington 31/WPRO
Swim 00:56:20
Bike 05:08:15
Run 02:57:44 (new course record)
09:06:23

Congratulation to all the Lifesport athletes that raced today! Lindsey Corbin, you rock! (6th WPRO)

Ironman World Championships!

2008-10-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

If anyone is looking for me on Saturday, I will be glued to my computer monitor watching the race live!

Sarah's Fearless Run Leaders!

2008-10-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to Sarah Seads, our fearless Run Leader. These pic's are for you! Don't worry, while you were "striking a pose" in New York with Madonna, we ran a tight ship back at home at the Thursday night trail run!

First there were three, then there were 5!!! (Lynn is taking the pic)

Yes Sarah, we fearless leaders started the run with 3 Leaders and 1/2 way through the trail run we grew, and then we were five!!! Tee Hee! We have now "all" included us on our "Fave Fives"! We promise this will not happen again!

It is official, it is fall! We had our first extremely wet! trail run of the fall season. Everyone survived the Tomato Creek run for your life. It took us 28 minutes to scale to the top of a very slippery slope of technical west coast trails. There were several lungs that blew up on the way up. But! We quickly recovered and pulled off some layers and made our way through the rest of the Comox Lake trails on our pre-planned route that Sarah had kindly sent all of us ahead of time to review and become familiar with prior to taking our run mates out for an interesting trek of unfamiliar territory for some of us! (including the leaders!) Thank goodness Cindy was there or we could be still out there today making our way back to the Dam. Ha!Ha! We did manage to make it back before dark, and slid into the parking lot at 6:42pm! Just about time to take out the head lamps! Wow, where did the daylight go? We were surrounded by school teachers that were watching their watches and made sure we were back before Sarah's 6:40pm rule!

Hockey Morning In Comox

2008-09-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

No, today I am not racing in an adventure race! I am racing my own clock, to keep Braydan and Nathan in the good books with their new hockey coaches. I think it bothers me more when they are late for their games than it bothers them. They have it figured out. It is way too early in the morning to really care if they are not there 20 mins before game time. Shawn is at work, and we have our first "Mom needs to be at three places at the same time" type morning!!!

Braydan 4:55am getting ready for the first game of the season!

6:20am, I have just returned from dropping Braydan off and I am home to see Nathan is enjoying hot chocolate and taking his sweet time getting going!!!! AHhhhhhh!

We stopped briefly to see the sun just peeking over the ocean, before doing mock 3 to the arena for Nathan's game start!

Braydan scored 3 goals in the first period!! He was quickly moved to defence and told he was only allowed to get assists for the rest of the game. They are still trying to even the teams out, so they don't want anyone to take him away, so they are hiding him until regular season games start!!! Ha! Ha! Trick, Trick!
Gramma Connie was at the arena and enjoyed the action too! Grandpa John was already down at the ocean casting, hoping to snag a salmon! Jordan was lucky to stay in bed through all our morning activities. He really needs to get a job! It is actually 13'C this morning, blue sky, beautiful. It would have been a great day for an adventure race.... I couldn't imagine being anywhere else other than watching my boys play their little hearts out, priceless!

I GET TO DO THIS!!!

2008-09-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Happy First Day of Fall!!!

I am so lucky! I spent my morning with 8 other wild women running through our amazing network of trails that start at the Comox Lake Dam. The morning was initially on the cool side, so we were all wearing our long run leggins and long sleeve technical t's and we were pleasantly surprised by the warm sunshine and clear blue sky! We were peeling off the layers and sweating in no time. Our run was around 5-6ish kms, just over 40 mins of exploring great west coast rain forest. The light was awesome, and we stopped for a few map reading lessons by our most amazing ELM trail running expert Sarah Seads! http://www.elmhealth.com/ Check out her site and blog! Amazing! Enjoy the pic's.

Oh yeah, and I might be entering my first MOMAR race on Saturday!

www.mindovermountain.com/momar

OMG!! I have never done an adventure race before.

I will keep everyone posted!

A "Proud to be a Mom" moment!!

2008-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

So today I had one of those "proud to be a mom moments"!! I am not saying it doesn't happen everyday, just today was a bit more special. Most of my closest friends and family know how hard it has been for Jordan to just get up in the morning and get ready for each school day. Every September Shawn and I dread the last week of September as this is when we usually receive the phone call that goes something like this " Hello Mrs Erlandson... this is Mr. Dixon... We just have some concerns with Jordan and his school work and we were wondering if you could come in for a parent/teacher interview.... blaa, blaa, blaa"

Well today my phone call was completely different. It went something like this. "Hi Mom... Do you think you could come pick me up? I have something for you..."

I arrived at the school with Jordan just beaming with self-admiration. He gets in the car and says "Mom, you have to see this, I think your gonna just love it... well I hope you do... I think you will..." Below is a pic of Jordan holding that amazing gift he gave to me... Sometimes it is the little gifts that we get as being a mom that make all the hard work and frustration melt away in just milliseconds. The letter says it all! Congratulations and Thank you Jordan! Well done, keep up the good work, Mom and Dad love you!

Chocolate Almond Banana Smoothie

2008-09-18T08:38:00.002-07:00

Just because summer is almost over, doesn't mean we have to put the blender away! I love this smoothie recipe that I stole from one of my favorite pro's 'Bree Wee'. Enjoy!

Chocolate Almond Banana Smoothie

3 Bananas

1-2 TBSP Almond Butter

8-10 oz of Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk

2 scoops Soy Protein Powder

1-2 TBSP Flax Seeds

1-2 TSP Agave Nectar

1/2 cup of Organic Vanilla yogurt

Handful of ice cubes

Blend

Enjoy!

Subaru Ironman Canada 2008!

2008-09-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

Training for and racing Ironman reminds me of the Christmas and New Years holiday season. We have the big build up of x-mas shopping buying everything and anything hoping it's going to be the best gift, baking, eating, stressing over money, (swimming, biking, running, eating tons, sleeping, working, purchasing everything and anything that will make us faster etc.) Then the big day!! (Ironman) We get to open the presents!... Some are what we hoped for (I finished!), some totally take us by surprise! (my medical tent visit) We are mostly happy, but mentally and physically exhausted. Then the next day it is all over! A bit anti-climactic, back to reality, and we start cleaning up for the new year.

Every year that I have trained and raced Ironman Canada has been a completely different journey! I think for me, that is what makes it so addicting and I can't help myself. I have to sign up again!! If I didn't, I would always wonder what experiences I would be missing if I didn't participate. I definitely can say, I do not feel as mentally exhausted as I did last year. I look back to last year and just think about how much pain I was in the whole time, and how much garbage, mentally, I was carrying with me through my training and then racing IMC due to my nasty crash that I had in the Snow to Surf Race. This year, I was so much more at peace mentally and felt more physically prepared for race day. I had a little bit more confidence and felt alot better about my training and was so excited to see how I could perform come race day. I thought for sure this year might be the year that I could come close to getting that "Kona spot"....

Then on Tuesday August 5th, everything changed! (19 days out from Ironman)... At the Tuesday run club track practice I rolled my ankle doing some crazy running drill! I can't even post that it was during some great trail run or hard race. Just a running drill! Ugh!!!... My ankle was the size of a softball within 30 seconds. Thank goodness Wayne Crowe was there and he held my shoulders (while I was in absolute panic mode, bawling my eyes out!) and said, "Do not panic, you will be o.k., you have just officially started your tapper, you will race"... Somehow, deep down inside, I did believe him. But it would take me until 2 days before stepping on that start line, that I really felt, I would make it!...

I do have to admit there is a small part of me that is saying, "So that's it???" "That was my "A" race"?... I felt a bit ripped off. And I felt like I just wanted to do one more with a healthy ankle, just to see how I could do. Having had the ankle injury just before my taper for my "A" race of the season was a huge disappointment for me. I cried my eyes out for days on end, and at one point had completely thrown in the towel for the year. But!!! Thank goodness that passed and I was able to crawl out of my "Oh poor me" hole.

I learned alot in those last three weeks leading up to IMC. I learned that I was not JUST doing this race, just for a Kona slot! Or that I would be placing all the success of my season in just that one day! I was doing this race because that is who I am. It is a lifestyle that I have slowly created for myself, and I love everything about it. I love the training! Not just for my health but for where it has taken me and for the people I have met doing it and for where it will continue to take me for as long as I am doing it, which I hope is until I'm in the 80-84 age category (at least). I love inspiring people and I love being inspired by others. I love the gear, the clothes, the bikes, the race venues, and yes the gadgets! Bring on any gadget (if I can afford it) I love it! I love to be competitive and I am lucky to be able to do this great sport as we know, so many can't. I had a few people ask me after the race if I was disappointed in my result... Believe it or not... I am absolutely and completely satisfied with my race day. First, because I started the race, and was told by a lot of people not to even start! (Like the Emerg Doc at St Joe's who told me I would be in an air cast for 4 weeks, and "No, you will not be doing Ironman, not this year") Second, because I finished the race (my third Ironman) and within minutes of my last years time (injured). And finally, because I am proud of myself for staying mentally strong and positive, and I learned more about racing that will help me for my next Ironman. I have more goals to set for next year, and I am still hungry for more! And that, I think, is a good thing. Cause if I wasn't hungry, I would be wondering why I was doing it then.

Race morning I kept everything simple, followed my plan for breakfast, eating three hours before the start (3:45am). I took a gel at 6:40 am with water. I went out into the water just after the pros started and warmed up for about 10 mins. I started the swim slightly off to the left, just a few rows back from the front. I may have been a bit too far over to the left, because I could see a big gap between us and the other pack that started more to the center. I didn't have any sort of issues in the swim start what so ever. It was uneventful! Yay! I was feeling my ankle a bit as I was kicking alot more (of course cause your in race mode now), so I tried to just allow that leg to move easily thru the water instead, as I didn't want to tweak it before getting out of the water. I drafted for most of the swim, except for the last 1000m, it was a bit more spread out and finding someone to draft was more work than just swimming to shore. I really thought I had a much better swim than my time showed. That was a little disappointing for me. I know I can swim alot faster than that and I am not sure why I don't get the results in the open water. I do find my arms fatigue alot faster in a wetsuit and I don't hold the water at all. This is what I want to work on for next year. (more lake swims!)

My T1 was uneventful! I was only a few seconds slower than last year, and that is because I put on an ankle support for the bike.

The bike start was a bit of a gong show. This is why I need to get out of the water like 10 mins faster!!! I am stuck with about 500 big men on bikes that don't like to have a chic pass them. It was so congested! I was in packs of 40-50 guys until the start of the climb for Richter Pass. My heart rate was around 145 for most of that stretch, and then staying at around 155 for the climb. Again, after the climb, it was so hard to just get around everyone, that my heart rate at times was like 130! Heading out to Cawston for the out and back, I got a warning for drafting. I was feeling a bit low and was needing a bit of a break, and I zoned out and all of a sudden the big chic on the motor bike was freaking on me! I didn't even hear them coming. Thank goodness it was just a warning! ;) The out and back was so congested again, and it was hard to get a good rhythm going thru that area. So, in retrospect this is where I had one of my learning lessons for the day. I had placed one of those new chocolate caramel Recovery Power Bars in my special needs bag because I thought it would be a nice treat to have something like that to perk me up for the last couple of hours on the bike.... It was amazing, and I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. It was exactly what I needed. I felt better after that, and was able to get out of my low and power on.... BUT!.. I paid for it later in the run!

I did go thru some mental stuff on the bike. I was having little battles with myself over going hard or going conservative. Part of me wanted to see how hard I could go, cause coach said, "if in the end you don't finish, have something positive for the day" (like a fast bike split). The other part of me was saying 'just take it easy, enjoy this moment, it's working for me... I know I can finish this... Don't blow up on the bike and wonder, what if I could have run, but blew up on the bike instead kinda thing'. Shawn and the kids were at Yellow Lake. Shawn said 'I looked amazing'. He said 'I looked like I was truly enjoying myself and looked strong'. When I saw them there, that was when I knew I was going to finish for sure, cause my ankle wasn't even an issue at that point. I was not even thinking about it. But, that is also where I could be flying down those hills into Penticton, and I am still a big chicken on the descents! I really need to get over that. The winds were going with me at times, but there were some pretty good side gusts that freaked me out and I can't help it, I slow down!

My T2 was again, uneventful! I put on my new Sugoi Compression Socks for the marathon! They saved me! Love them! I recommend getting a pair for recovery or running!

At the start of my run, I was feeling the effects of zero run training for three weeks, and was a little worried that I might have a bit of a battle ahead of me. It was so windy!!! Ugh!!! Was about all I could say. Shawn met up with me on his bike just before Skaha lake, and I was moving at a big 9 km/hr. The winds there were crazy! Seeing Shawn, I told him, I am going to do this, don't worry! It's not about what place I am going to come in, it's about just being here, enjoying the moment, and I was having a great time. I was already completely satisfied that I had made it that far without any issues. I just really couldn't go any faster than the pace I was keeping. My goal was at that point, just to get back to the finish line on my own and without medical assistance! What I was mainly worried about during my first 1/2 of the marathon was that I did not see Bree Wee (First year Pro athlete that I love to follow) and I was so worried about her, and couldn't help but think of all kinds of crazy scenarios that could have happened to her. Then at the turn around it happened!!! I was all excited cause I was going to be running with the wind going back, and I felt good, and I even thought "oh my god, I might even beat my time from last year". But no!.... Remember that Recovery bar I had at 120km into the bike. Well, I think it finally got to my large intestine and that was it for me. I barely made it to the 14th mile porta potty and so on and so on!!! This brought me to a slow walk. Every time I started to run again, I would get cramping and even had to use the bushes b/w aide stations one time. I tried to stay on my schedule of one gel every 25-30mins with water and salts, but the gels were not liking the tummy either. So I switched to bananas and coke! By now the rain was coming down, and I was getting a little cold, and this is where I made mistake number 2! I didn't mean to, but I guess I stopped taking in any water. I wasn't feeling thirsty, I just wanted my stomach to stop. I had about 5 immodium and eventually I didn't have to hit another porta potty again until after the finish. By the time I saw my coach at 5km out, I knew I had some work to do to get under 12 hours again. Just before the finishing chute, some man said to me, "you have just 10 mins to get under 12 hrs". When I hit the turn around on Lakeshore, I saw Coach Lance, and he yelled at me that I had just two minutes to get under 12hrs, so I gave it everything I had and sprinted my ass off the entire way to the finish. I couldn't even breathe when I stopped. It was so cool. I was so proud of my accomplishment. "11 hours 59mins and 44 seconds"!!!!! I made it by 16 seconds!... My excitement was short lived. I had to hit that porta potty so fast, and my stomach issues didn't stop for like an hour after. I got so dehydrated and cold and couldn't stop getting faint. I ended up getting carried into the medical tent about an hour later and had an IV and warm packs all over my body. My heart rate was like 30!!! I think we made it back to the trailer at around 11 pm. I showered, put on my compression tights, and lay in bed awake for hours. My legs were killing me. I couldn't remember being that sore so fast ever! I wore my compression tights non-stop for 3 days straight. My legs were so swollen and sore. But, that didn't stop me from getting up and hitting the "Finisher's Tent" at 7:00am to buy myself an Ironman Canada Finisher's Jacket! I decided this year to purchase one, as I have not bought any of the finisher's swag before. I love it! A bit too flashy, but hey, I love it all! I did, of course, sign up for next year, and I am already planning some of the other races that I would like to try next year! Oh yeah, and by the way. Next year I am in a new age category!!! I turn 40 in February, so Women 40-44 here I come! I am so excited to see what the next chapter in my triathlon lifestyle will bring! It is truly a "Sport For Life"!

"Life is simple: Swim. Bike. Run. Eat. Sleep."

Audrey

My First post!!

2008-07-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. Not sure if anyone will ever come here... If you do, enjoy and leave me a message! I will try to expand on my site and post some blogs about life in the Erlandson home.