Catch up

Hiking was great last week but also a celebration! Our last hike before Christmas, so we all wore Santa hats and had a shot of Sambucca at the top of the hike. Great day.

As Christmas falls on a Friday we moved our hike to Wednesday (today) however the temperature has dropped to -30 celcius with some wind which is quite cold.

We will try again next Wednesday to see if we can make it out.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Winter hiking.

Made it out for a short one last week, still had trouble with my boots. Back into the podiatrist for another modification.

Up at and it early this morning as we moved our afternoon to a morning hike to fit as many of us as we could in. Temperature was not bad but it was blowing snow pretty good and we had received about 5 cm over night. But we knew it would be nicer down in the trees,

With my long underwear on, a fleece, my Northface soft shell and a wind resistant shell I was too hot!

Had a beautiful hike and glad we went in the morning as the weather has definatly had a turn for the worse thia afternoon. My right foot had a moderate cramp which was uncomfortable but not debilitating like the last two weeks! So we will keep this and give it a go next week.

Hiked the actual creek for a bit but had to pull off due to flooding. It has frozen very smooth and thought we should of had our skates with us.

Still need to do some learning of the GPS so I will post when I know the actual distance.

I remembered my camera!

So on my way to my hike last week I was very preoccupied with remembering my camera and GPS. Both of these items I have forgotten so many times I can't even tell you. So on my way out the door I am grabbing touque, mitts, phone, socks, water, camera, GPS.
All set.

As I am pulling out of my subdivision I realize that I had meant to also bring my poles and get using them some more. Oh well, I have been hiking all summer without them, one more day won't hurt. So I don't turn around. I keep my eyes on the road and head off to Shelley's, thinking thank goodness I was able to remember my camera!

I pull into the driveway and begin assembling all my paraphernalia. Touque, mitts, phone, socks, water, camera, GPS and boots. Boots? Where the **** are my boots?

I have forgotten my boots!

Who goes for a hike without boots!

So in I go in to break the news to the girls. We try to figure something out and decide to go for a smaller hike with out too many hills as my winter pull ons are not built for walking long or difficult terrain.

We do a quick 4 km in about 50 min and had a good time.

Pictures to follow! HA HA.

Our very small hill that I had to shuffle up. Dumb boots!

Nancy and I.

Nancy and Shelley

Blogger extrodinaire!

I have been fiddeling with the settings on both my blogs and am amazed at how far they have come in such a short amount of time. It seems like it is a matter of finding the right information and steps as to not confuse the snot out of me.
So keep checking as I am on the lookout for the new "thing" to make my blog just that much better.

Just a note. We officially won our first curling game last night, and played with three again so lots of sweeping. Such good interval training!

Wordle - Adventure

Wordle - Adventure: ""

Killer Hill

Friday was a nice "little" 10 km jaunt that took us across the creek 4 times. Meaning that we got to go down 4 times but back up 4 times as well! And in the process doing Killer hill twice! I keep forgetting to take my camera and really wish I had because now without the leaves on the tress you can actually see across the ravine to the other side of killer hill, really giving you a look at where you will end up.
Cross your fingers, I will remember this Friday.
I will be taking my GPS from now on to get exact mileage and we will time out Fridays so that should be nice to see.
I am also going to bring my poles next week. I am not used to the snow and although I felt ok, I also felt a little out of control a couple times. So we will see. Amanda and I think we will use poles on leg 2 anyway so I midaswell get used to using/carrying them.
Nancy has joined the Friday hike and what a pleasure to have her.
I have been asked to attend something next summer which will move my adventure race to another year but I am really looking forward to this new opportunity! I said the road would be bumpy! I don't have too many details but will keep you posted when I know more definate plans!
The one thing I have learned, is you never know when a great opportunity will arise and somtimes you need to jump at them and changes your plans!
I will still be committed to the Death Race Leg 2 and am nevously excited for that as well.

It's been awhile...

Even though I haven't posted I have been moving! Amanda kicked my butt a couple weeks ago and I paid for it for a couple days.

I jumped on the WII fit last week and to my surprise am down 10 lbs! Who knew. I don'y have a scale other then my WII fit so I don't check it often. Nice surprise though.

Back to it this week. Will hike Fri, crossing my fingers for nice weather although I probably can't hope for it to last much more. We are in November.

Friday....

Went and picked up my warranty North Face shoft shell. Oooo...I love that coat. I missed it!
I also walked down to Fourword with my list of questions about bikes. Now don't get me wrong I know how to ride a bike but I don't really know how to RIDE a bike.
I have never changed a tire.
I didn't know what a deliminator was.
I have never really known what I was doing when I was changing the gears...only that I knew it was getting easier to pedal and that seemed like a good thing.
Who knew there were so many things to consider. Shocks, gears, brakes, seat, weight, height, price, price, price!
Mathew was patient with me. Thanks Mathew.
Turns out my online research helped a bit and I was on the right track. I was even informed that they will be doing winter training sessions on bike maintnance! Sign me up!
Now we just need to lose the snow.....how much longer will that be around? Ha Ha

Actually, had to hike alone today but it was so beautiful out. Pretty cool temperatures for October so I ran about 1/3 of my 5 km. Felt really good.

Now for Thanksgiving. Might have to run a bunch more next week.

Laughing in the face of death...

Well it's official.
I will be running Leg 2 of the 2010 Death Race.
27 km, over 2 mountains, net elevation of over 6000 ft, in about 5 hours!

I am so excited! (stop laughing here)

Official winter training begins tomorrow and hikes have moved to the afternoon so it won't be so cold and dark! My replacement Garmont boots are on their way back to me. Thank goodness! And North Face was good and replaced my soft shell. Shout out to Valhalla Pure. The very best customer service I have had in town.

The Adventure race is still on the board and its has been narrowed down to the the Peace Christian School Adventure Race in Chetwynd. See youtube video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J35zISXmsa4

It runs in middle June and the Death Race August long weekend so it will be a great way to cross train for both races.

Now I just need to train and bike!

Maya Coba

Although I have to admit my week in Cancun invloved alot of eating, suntanning and drinking; I was able to get out for some exercise one day.
We were up early and down to wait for pick up at 6:40 AM. Ashley and I had 10 min at the breakfast buffet before we left and threw a couple nectarines in our bag for later.
The first part of out day invloved a rappel, a zip line, kayaking in crocodile infested waters (didn't see any), a few short hikes, swimming in a cenote and a lunch prepared by the ladies in a Mayan villiage.

On one of the hikes we did see some wildlife. The very scary kind! Yikes!

He is about 4 inches across.

The second half of our day involed another bit of a drive to the Coba Ruins. And when I say drive, I mean careening down a one way road at 110 km per hour meeting traffic head on, fearing for your life kind of drive.

It had been a very rainy day and so we were advised to not hike the 1.5 miles into the ruins and take a bike taxi. Thanks to Jessie and Jody and Luis Miguel.

Once there, it a beautiful set of ruins with 130 steps to the top.

Who needs a stairclimber!

Hot stuff!

Well, I left for Phoenix with such good intentions. Other then being extremly busy helping set up the house (remember-working vacation), it was WAY TOO HOT!
Wow. I'm not sure hiking in the middle of the night would have helped. It was 100 degrees F when you woke up, rose to 105-107 in the heat of the day and was still over 100 by the time I swam and went to bed @ 11 PM.
Back to it this Fri though!

On a side note, I have to tell a cute story about Westjet. As we were boarded our flight in Calgary and were taxiing away from the termianl I happened to look out my window. And there were the 4 ground crew employees holding a 12 ft X 4 ft sign that said "THANK YOU". All waving their arms.

It was such a small gesture but we were all smiling and talking about it the rest of the day. Go Westjet!

September is vacation month?

I am off to Phoenix tomorrow for the weekend. It is being called a working holiday however, setting up a house with a pool in 40 degree sunny weather seems much closer to holiday then work!
I will be up and out of my house by 5:30 AM and will then miss my Friday hike! Before you start laughing and although I am extremly happy to be going to Phoenix....I am sad. I have been hiking at least 10 km 95% of Fridays since April. It has become my routine and I love it.
So of course, I have been searching hiking in Phoenix. Luckily for me the house in Phoenix is 8 miles from a huge provincial park! Estrella Mountain Park. With miles and miles of trails. Who knew!
There is a sunset hike Friday night but am not sure I will be able to pull away the first night.
I would however like to go with a group as there are different hazards down there.
Here....bears. ok
There...scorpions. Not ok.
Here.... cougars. ok
There.... poisonous snakes. NOT OK!
In reading some information on the animals and how to be careful. It said to stay on the trail and not to grab onto branches. Yike. Well, I guess I better just face my fear head on.
Mental note, pack my hiking poles. They may come in handy as weapons!
So who knows. I hope to get at least one hike in. It looks like beautiful country and lots of elevation (my favorite).

Well I finished the half marathon @ 3:29 (unofficial time) and have learned a bunch. First of all, that I can do it. Yeah me! Secondly, I still have some work to do on footwear issues but they aren't too bad. Third, don't wear pants in the rain, they get wet and heavy.

But to come around the corner and see my family cheering me on, was one of the best feelings. The one drawback to having your family waiting for you is that there is a great chance of having to carry one of them!

It was pouring when I started, rained most of the way and was coming down pretty hard at the end.

All in all I was wet.

Great snacks at the end which was great for me and the kids were pretty happy too.

Now off to put my feet up. Bed will feel fantastic tonight.

Don't Get Lost in the Woods!

Even though this title is the actual name of the race tomorrow it seems to have quite a relevance for me. I received a phone call today that I am the only person entered into the 1/2 marathon as a walker, would I mind walking alone. No problems, but I hope it's marked well.
Glad to have my bear bell and my ipod, I may not see too many people on my trip.
Looking forward to getting through it. It was about my goal of completion in 3 hours anyway, not about beating someone else.
It will be great to have some of my family and friends cheering me on at the finish line.
See you before 11? (I hope)

Getting started

After deciding to do something totally out of my comfort zone this year, I chose to hike the Juan De Fuca trail on Vancouver Island in June for my 31st birthday. Due to the training, scenery, friends and fun this summer, I have become addicted to anything that revolves around hiking.

I have even started receiving eye rolls when I talk about my next hiking trip, escapade or "crazy" plan. All I can say is that I am thoroughly enjoying every time I step out. How far will we go today? How long will we be gone? Where should I hike next? Why doesn't anyone want to come with me????

I have continually received another question. How is your running? My answer is a version of, "I don't run, I'm a hiker." It seems to me to be such an obvious difference. I am out to achieve a distance or goal and not necessarily a time. Not that running may not become something I do as I add another dimension to my repertoire of things to accomplish. But who knows.

I am going to be completing my first half marathon (as a hiker) this Sunday and am very excited. It is a great achievement and something I never would have thought possible if you had asked me this spring. What a great feeling to look back over my Summer 2009 and see where I have come (and gone)!
I have been on the lookout for the next big challenge and entering into this half marathon got me thinking about races. There are so many out there that are more about finishing then winning. More about the team then the individual.
Count me in!
However, now that I have been searching for them I realize how many there are and how much training I will need to do. Especially in the mountain biking area!
And so becomes my search and preparation for the 2010 Adventure Race Season! Which ones? I will keep you posted.