dreaming over the ocean

Today I sent out two emails.  One to 3 people, the other to hundreds.  If you are reading this, you may have received one of them.  I sent out both emails, then I went out to a movie with my love.  On my way home, i was thinking about the butterflies of uncertainty that I was experiencing in my stomach.  So, we talked about it. (and ps:if you go a see Thor 2, stay until the end of the credits.  its worth it.) The first email included a request of people who may make for a professional and career mentor. The second was a email contact list clean up, but also a request for people to buy gift cards for Warm Heart Initiatives.   And, what I find curious, is that despite these two topics being super positive things, and two topics that I believe are important, it still makes me have a sense of nervousness in sending them.  Because, despite being things that lead to good outcomes, sometimes it feels that I can be a burden if I ask other people to...

I can't remember exactly what motivated it back in 2004, but all I remember is that fall I wanted to be a better person.  I wanted to be a better rower~ so I started riding a road bike.  I wanted to be a better student~ so i set apart a dedicated study time.  I wanted to build my faith~ so i dedicated to a quiet time.  I wanted to deal with a broken relationship~ so I sought counselling. I remember my senior year at WVU as being a year that I grew a lot.  Let's do a throw back to that year: New years 2005 in Key Largo with some of the most quality people in the world. The reason why i mention this, is somehow this fall, I am feeling that motivation again~  it's building in the past few weeks.  The motivation to be a better person.  Maybe it comes as part of my off season from Triathlon, and I have more time on my hands... maybe it comes out of a trip to visit my brother and his family.  Maybe it comes with the autumn season, where the...

wow... it is almost a whole fricken month that I ran over the finish line at Challenge Penticton.   How time flies.  I guess that it is a bit hard to write a race report a month late, but, in so many ways, it still feels like it was yesterday.  Probably what happens when you do an epic thing for the first time in your life.  Full-distance racing is no joke.  It's crazy, its inspirational, it's EPIC! One question might be "have you done an Ironman?"  No.  I have NOT done an ironman.  However, with this event, I have done the same feat: completed a race that is 4km of swimming, 180km of biking, and 42Km of running.   Last year, as you may know, the city of Penticton chose to go with the Challenge Family , rather than Ironman. It brings a new feel to race week in the Okanagan, but a great feel.  The biggest expression that I have about the whole even is WOW.  What an amazingly put on event from the fantastic volunteers, Felix ...

Boy oh Boy, do I have some race reports to write!  What a few weeks!  I haven't (obviously) posted since after Lake Stevens 70.3, where I think I did the best 1/2 iron of my life.    July and August were fantastic, with lots of sun, lots of bike riding, and all round general beauty of the summer.  I love long days, and they are quickly running away from us. I wish that I can write a few other things other than triathlon, but, really, I feel like that is all that my life has involved recently.   I am finally on my off season, and I am happy about that.  A few weeks of doing *not much* is needed.  I plan to spend the time at home with my pup and my hubby, possibly to road trip a bit (jasper & lake louise this weekend! hopefully to go see family in October!), eat some good meals, and generally just not exercise very much.   I do have goals for the fall, and most of them include the outcome of being a better runner.  I have really strug...

Thank you for covering this interesting occurrence in a city where bike theft is rampant.  I find the social media furry that is coming up around this story particularly striking, as something very similar happened to me earlier this year. Last February, my 2000$ bicycle was stolen from the "secure" bike room in my condo's garage. Someone had targeted my bike, with a blowtorch to destroy the lock.  My husband's (more pricey bike) was left behind.  I, like Kayla, was incredibly disappointed with the loss.  I spend more time on my bike than doing any other leisure activity: I commute, I shop, I race on my bike.  It had traveled to Montreal and back with me.   I filed a bike theft report ASAP with the VPD, including a serial number, description, and inspection of the crime.  On the morning of the bike theft, I tweeted and facebooked my loss.  The bike company (Brodie) replied, and reposted.  My tweet was repeated a few times in the vancouve...

and, what a summer it has been.  I cannot believe how quickly it is zooming by, and part of that is probably because I have been working a full time job, as well as trying to enjoy the dog days of summer.  Other than working, our trip to alaska, and eating ice cream sandwiches, i have been busy training and racing.  Of course, I have a big race coming up in exactly one month August, which is Challenge Penticton.  I am really excited for this race, because it is my first full-length/iron-length/"ironman" race.  It is held on the same course as it has been for the past 30 years, but put on by a different company.  I like getting new flavour in the triathlon world, and I think Challenge is going to be able to deliver great things.  Meanwhile, I have had a few other races on the docket, and this past weekend was one that I felt excited about. The first time I ever was exposed to Long distance triathlon was way back in 2008, when I did a relay r...

It was holiday time in early July!  And, for the... THIRD... time in my life, i went up to Alaska to enjoy the wilderness, spend time with my good friends Sam and Gretchen , spend 24hrs a day in the light, and get eaten alive by bugs.  Oh how much I love alaska, and oh how much it reminds me that i probably wouldn't mind doing some nursing up in the Northern Latitudes.  Sean and I had a few "discussions" prior to our trip, about what we planned on doing, as we tend to have opposite views as to what a holiday should look like.  I would love to just take off and spend a week in the backcountry.  Sean likes cultural activities. We tried to meet half way, and I think we did. Lets go through some of the highlights: My 30th birthday!   That's right, I'm now approaching the crest of the hill.  4th decade of life, bring.it.on.   We spent a few days in McCarthy, which is a wee small down at the end of a gravel road, surrounded by a national park....