CRAZY!

Things have been insanely crazy the past few days. The combinataion of:
1) A two day wedding Aug 1,2
2) Engagement shoot/Maternity photos
3) Getting ready for Ironman Calgary on Aug 2
4) Packing and getting ready for 3 weeks vacation leaving Aug 4th.
5) Saying goodbye to 3 friends who are leaving for school before I get back from Vacation :(

I've had a rare chance to rest and take things easy. I'm sitting at KAWA having a Tanzanian coffee prepared on the clover. It's a little TOO acidic for my liking. I seriously haven't had a coffee that I've liked for 2 years. My favourite is still the Ethiopia that tasted like peaches at Phil and Sebastians a LONG time ago. I dusted off my ibook (haven't touched it for two years since I got my Macbook Pro). I need to clear up some space since I plan on travelling with this brick.

I went for a long ride which was supposed to be 90km on Saturday. I rode 1A from home to Cochrane, then turned onto Highway 22 to climb another big hill before turning back. On Crowchild near Stoney, I got my first flat of the year, and Second in my road biking 'career'. Unfortunately, I had left my tire lever at home. I improvised and used the house key to pry the tire off the rim. Patching the tube went smoothly but when I attached the CO2, it wouldn't inflate! The little pin which punctures the CO2 cartridge had broken off. I gave my brother I call since none of the motorists were stopping to lend a hand.

Shortly after calling for help...two seperate cyclists rode by without saying a word....WTF!!!! A super nice lady stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. Her husband was a cyclist as well so i think she understood my predicament. I declined since my brother was on the way. Another cyclists rode by but this one offered to help along with another gentleman who had just been picked up by his wife.

I'm extremely excited for Ironman Calgary coming up. It's been a long year of training. I've let nutrition slip a little which is funny because I've been so good all year long. There'll be alot of support on the course. I'll constantly be reminding myself to pace myself since I've never completed the full distance.

Victoria

I went to Victoria June 26-30 as part of my 7 days off. I was sitting on the fence because I knew Victoria would be amazing, but I wasn't keen on training on my own in a new city. Westjet had a seat sale for $49 which pushed me to comitt to the trip.

Luckily, after buying the tickets, Amy and Kjell told me that they'd be driving out and could meet me on the Big Island of Hawaii (I wish). My flight landed at night, so we settled into the Gaunt's place which was next to Elk Lake. In case you didn't know, Elk Lake is notorious for Rowing. National teams, and our very own olympic team row out of Elk Lake. In fact, the Gaunts were hosting two rowers, One was going to school in Princeton and the other at Toronto (i think). They were both on the Junior National Squad.

I'm pretty obsessed with Simon Whitfield and Kirsten Sweetland. I was DYING to randomly run into these two during a training ride/run. But no luck :( I was reading Bree Wee's blog last night. She's been in Victoria the past week and was running mile repeats with Mr Whitfield himself. They were doing loops around Elk Lake!! Darn it! i missed them by two weeks.

Anyways, here's a summary of the work outs and a few photos.

Victoria, Tofino, Uclulet Training including:
-140km ride Victoria to Salt Spring Island and back
-20km rain forest trail run along the ocean
-80km ride from Uclulet to Tofino and back with a stop along Long Bach
-1hr Swim in Thetis Lake which was WARM!
-15km run to the top of Mount doug (210m elevation gain) for a GREAT view of the Peninsula.
-40km ride through farmland riding pass Butchart Gardens.

Good food, Better Seafood, Great friends, and fun!

The majority of the trip was out on the WEST COAST by Tofino and Uclulet. Both were AMAZING little fishing/surfing towns. The weather worked out perfect and I couldn't have asked for more!