spring has sprung...

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 that is too small for her, and we had just polished off a bottle of wine. classy girls, very classy...

on that note, watching the game the other night made me wonder if the st. louis blue's coach oddly resembles the green goblin???!?!
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/005a41CcrH5EV/610x.jpghttp://www.mixedreviews.net/maindishes/2002/spiderman/osborn.jpg


it also brings the sunrun. an annual crazy event in vancouver. we are talking 50'000 people and more. it is a pretty neat event, with the runners at the front most often finishing before the walkers at the back of the line. today, it was supposed to rain (yup, on the day of the sun run), but it has held out. in fact, the weather was perfect. between 10-15 degrees, overcast, and dry. :)

it was a funny story this year, because i did the 10km route, twice. yup, pretty much, I ran my race, then I walked right back to the start to meet a client of mine, and another girl from the gym, and walked it with them (taking almost exactly two hours!). at first, i was a little annoyed that I was going to have to do this: the one girl has a disability, and is diabetic, and had never walked more than 4km in her life. She was encouraged to walk by one of the staff at the gym, and then no one wanted to walk with her... so, a few days ago, people were telling me that we should discourage her from participating.

I don't know about you, but no matter what, if someone has been encouraged to enter something like this, you don't subsequently try to discourage that same person from participating. so, instead of discouraging her, I decided that i would be the one to walk with her. So, after a bit of organization, Christine and I ripped up our 10km runs, and then went back to meet the two walkers. and, it was great. totally inspirational, actually. 'cause both of these individuals were not necessarly thinking that they were able to do it. finished the day with a bruch at milestones, and a bike ride home :)

My results (first time around!):
time: 47:28 (a 10km personal best by about 5 minutes!!!)
split: 4:45/km,
Place: 2414


finally, last week, I also got the information of the kids that I am going to be taking to haiti. 27 kids, all from the states (not one canadian!!!); 13 boys, 14 girls (which is amazing, since when I went, my first team was 20girls, 7 boys; my second team was 20 girls and 2 boys!!!). it is wonderful to finally see their faces, and have it be a bit more real.

we gave our notice to our landlords yesterday. kinda strange to think that in almost exactly a month, I am going to be heading to haiti, and then shortly thereafter, heading to montreal.

oh yes, and, in other exciting news... if I am able to manage it, I am hoping to be hopping on the "let's get coached" band wagon in the fall. I have loved doing these tri's. and, if i can get better through the help of another amazing individual, then, okay. sign me up.

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