Reflection

When I started this blog it was to document my journey so that I could always be reminded of where I started and where I was along the way. During the process I have found that I am much better at capturing the moments in photos than I was in the past, even if it means stopping for a moment to take in the scenery (which you don't have to twist my arm too much to do). Here are some of my favorite moments of 2011 that I managed to capture.

January:

love running with my dog, especially when she leads:)

February:

So many pretty winter sunset runs

March:

our last mountain bike ride before he converted to road only

Palm Springs training camp, refueling at Native Foods

April:

Big Rock Triathlon

May:

Run up the Bump and Grind

June:

Test of Metal Squamish BC

July:

Vineman Triathlon bike start, this course is so pretty

August:

This may have been beginning of Sept, I can't remember for sure but it was a great day on the bike!

September:

San Fran trip with my mom

October:

Afternoon reading on my favorite beach

November:

Sunday morning run at Mission Bay with the 3 day walkers, so Inspiring

I might start wearing a tutu for my races, so FUN!

December:

Still a few days left to make more memories for 2011, get out there and end the year on a high!









Active Cougars

Bikes Ready to Roll

Coming off the hardest part of a race course with a fun hour long section left in front of me I wasn't thrilled to see a sign that said 'Active Cougar in area, proceed at your own risk'. A BIG sign, with lots of people waving to it and yelling cougar spotted in area. My first thought was, do you have to make such a big deal about me coming through here? Oh, not that type of cougar. My second thought was, if I choose not to enter at my own risk, does that mean I can take a short cut to the end, or does it mean that I did all the miles up until now for naught?

Riding the Roller Coaster

Needless to say, I entered at my own risk, along with everyone around me, but not before taking the whistle that they were handing out. By now I had been on the bike for a while, long enough to play a round of golf and I still had more time to go. That is if I made it through active cougar territory safely. Now instead of having a strategy for getting to the finish line faster, I was making up strategies for getting to the finish line period. I was wondering if the purpose of the whistle was to blow it continuously to warn the cougar of my approach, or was I to blow the whistle once I saw the cougar? How come no one blew their whistle when they saw me? I wasn't really sure what the purpose of the whistle was except that it was hanging around my neck and banging around on the bumps. I was trying to remember all I knew about cougars and their hunting methods. I knew they like to attack their prey from behind and they will prey on the smallest and weakest looking. SHIT! I kept passing big guys going up the hills and then I would be on my own. New plan, go slow until someone catches me and then stay in front of them holding them up. (this was not a plan others were playing into for me, and the ones who were stuck behind me didn't really appreciate my logic). Due to the lack of air I had from the heavy breathing I was doing, I wasn't sure I would be able to blow into the whistle if the need arose. In order to let the cougar know I was coming, I decided to screech as I rode across every bridge that I came across. For some reason, this wasn't too popular of a tactic with the fellas behind me either. But, I should point out it worked. We did not see a cougar! But really, people, of course there are active cougars in that area, there are diamonds, and lots of them, the black variety!

Out of the Woods!

PS- any young men heading out to a wine bar in the near future contact me, I have a whistle you may need:)

Diamonds, a girls best friend?

It was brought to my attention by a reader that I have not posted in close to a month. I tried, I just had sketchy internet connections and each time I would click publish post, after having spent hours writing such witty, insightful prose, the connection would disappear and my words would be forever lost to the outside world. So here we go again, I will try to catch up but mostly it will be old news and it won't be nearly as well written as the originals were.

I was up in Squamish British Columbia to do a mountain bike race. This race was 67km with over 50% of it being on single track. Luckily, none of the trails were named Thirsty Beaver! I had arrived a few days before the race so that I could preride some of the course. Mostly, so that I could see how much trouble I had gotten myself into when I signed up for this race back in January. There is a section of the course that is considered somewhat technical so that is where I headed.

I was really enjoying the ride as I headed to my intersection with the course. It was quite pretty and the trails were lots of fun. I even rode over a bridge, which is huge because a few years ago I could barely drive across a bridge and I was in a cold sweat the whole time!

The Bridge

Now that I had ridden a bridge, albeit it a rather tame one, I was feeling some confidence emerging. These trails weren't too bad. Of course, I was on a green circle trail at the time, which is why there were handrails on the bridge! When I moved onto a blue square trail I started to feel a little more challenged but was rolling along and cleaning everything. It was actually quite fun. Then I turned a corner and the black diamond trail appeared. I had been told that this trail is a cross country trail and totally ride able. I had also been told to drop my saddle and go for it. I have seen people ski off cliffs, that are totally doable, doesn't mean it is doable for me! Keeping this in mind, and the fact that the last time I rode BC single track was not exactly a dream experience, I knew that anything that required dropping ones saddle, required me to dismount. I know my limitations and if it was sketchy for me to ride when I was on my own and the trail was wide open, it would be impassable for me during a race with other riders all around. So, I naturally did what any triathlete would do and I got in my transition run, with my bike.

I still had trouble navigating through some of the sections on foot, and I definitely had trouble seeing the ride able roll out sections that my experienced friends had told me about.

Totally ride able, right?!

After 20 minutes of pre-riding/running this section of the course, I knew that I had better climb well on race day because the descending was going to be a lesson in humility. Diamonds may be toted as a girls best friend, but this girl decided that she is more partial to squares, Blue ones!