dreaming over the ocean

so, I often think that my mum takes too many pictures of flowers, and leaves and the such. but, recently, being overwhelmed by the beauty of the cherry blossoms, here a tribute to spring time, the cherry blossoms, and my mum. as you can tell, the blossoms come in white, and light pink, and dark pink, and with small pedals, and big pedals. and, a huge wonderful lush smell... and, a tulip

I love: this photo, these people, these signs!

and, in vancouver that means a few things: first, the cherry blossoms come out. and, cherry blossoms are pretty much the best natural thing in vancouver in the spring. I was running the other day, with a little breeze, and it was beautiful to have pink pedals falling around me, with a beautiful smell to add too it. it also means that it is NHL playoff season . which, if you don't know, is a bandwagon to hop onto when you are a canadian. I am currently watching game 3 of the canucks vs st louis blues. (blues just scored this second, making it a 2-2 game... dang. this is an exciting game. i wish that i had more than a fuzzy television to watch it on) The other night, i was watching game 2, with a co-worker friend of mine (at her friend's place). we rode our bikes back after the game, and it was very much a "i am a college freshman" moment. christine's bike is a crappy old mountain bike, it was warm, lateish at night, she is wearing a ~15 year old hockey jersey...

I watched this video this morning, and it gave me chills... (i got it off of Simon Whitfield's blog...) Enjoy. a applicable quote from Chariots of fire: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

so, it was easter this weekend. a quiet, relaxing four-day weekend. And, i had nothing to do. anthropology paper: finished. imnola: finished. master's degree: finished. woo! it was ridiculous. today, i just thought "what the heck. i am bored." i had no idea what to do with myself. What do people do all day long!? anyone!? On saturday afternoon, i went on a hike with my good friends Erik and Celine, on the northshore to walk Erik's dog. Up at the seymour preservation forest , which (oddly enough), i have never been too. The rainforest here on the west coast is amazing. and, as i was walking, i realized how much I am going to miss this. this being the outdoors, and the beautiful accessibility of the mountains and ocean and temperate weather. so, here is a picture of me, sitting on an old water (?) pipe. easter has been nice. i think that my favourite service in the church calendar is maundy thursday. what an epic idea. i think god was quite on top of it when he did that...

So, the first thing that I want to say, is that before you look at my time, and before you look at the splits, you have to read this statement: Every single person I talked to went 15 minutes slower on the run than planned. So, here are the stats: Amelia Payne F 25-29 Vancouver - overall: 694 division: 27/101 1 female: 41/649 swim time: 33:44 T1: 3:20 Bike time: 2:51:45 T2: 2:46 Run time: 2:16:07 3.5 mile split: 33:27 total time: 5:47:40 Before I left, I had a couple goals, and I now that I am finished, I can tell people what they are… since, before hand, I kinda like to keep those things to myself: 1) To finish strong, and feel like I was happy with what I had just done. 2) To be out of the swim before Donna, and within 10 minutes of her on the bike (D~ I love you!!!! I am so glad that I got to race this with you… you are such a huge inspiration to me. I know...

so, i already want to sign up for next year's race..... but, to tell you the truth, i can think about training in Montreal, and I don't think that I can handle it. but, oh man... i already want to do it soooooo bad.... in addition, i love this place. i love the architecture, I love the cafes on the streets, i love the multiculturalism. I love that the people i have met here, i feel like i have known them forever. they have been my friends forever, and everyone here is for one reason: the 70.3 tomorrow. NEW ORLEANS, LA | SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2009 This city is crazy, and when i think about how much this race is bringing into the city, i think that it is so good for it. it is a city that is not physically active. A city that has had so much devestation, and needs so much help. so, to have 3000+ athletes coming and throwing money into the economy, and showing people what it takes to do a ridiculous feat of athleticism. I have now set up my gear, filled my bottle...

are the letters for Vancouver Airport. where i am sitting. where all i can think about is how hot it is that 3000 athletes are all getting their raceface on, and their positive selftalk together, and their bike lubed, and tires pumped, and body glide prepared. 3000 athletes, ready to race for 70.3 miles, through the bayou of New Orleans. That is fricken hot. and, the best thing about it, is that no matter how slow I go, i am going to be getting a personal best! yeeehaw! i think that might be one of the best things *Ever* about doing a race for the first time. And, finally, i am stoked about the whole thing. la la la!!!! I will update on the weekend!