Pearl's Great Stick Adventure ... in search of the Perfect Stick!

"How's your training going?"

Really? Good for you!

Now, about me... I ran for 1:40min today!  That's a legit run.  It was in the trails, but I'm feeling very happy about it.

Now let me tell you about my swimming... this is funny!  I joined the VAC Dolphin's group, since I enjoyed Dale's workouts so much in the summer, founding them very challenging.

I have done 2 swims (one last Saturday and one this Saturday) since July.  No I have not swam a stroke since July and boy do I feel it!

I'm barely able to keep up, it's a very big piece of humble pie for me.  But I'll get back to it, if I can manage to swim more than once a week! 

Yesterday, we were on the second part of the main set, and we had been doing a 1:40 base.  I was way behind everyone, sucking wind, barely able to lift my arms out the water and drinking half of the pool, because I was basically drowning, and then all of sudden everyone started screwing up the pace times, leaving 20s faster!  I was super pissed, so I call out to the coach: "Hey!  Everyone is going too fast!"

(It didn't occur to me that it was more probable that 10 people had it right and that I had it wrong...)

He laughed, thought I was joking because I couldn't keep up.

"No, really, they're leaving early." 

"No, you're not making the time anymore."

Turns out that the pace time had dropped, I was just so slow I was still swimming when he was explaining the next part of the set...

"Oh."  And I put my head down and bubbled off, playing 'touch 'n go, continuous swim' until the end.

Yikes!

Colin's Wildlife Photography getting better...

Just in case I haven't posted enough pictures of Pearl...

Halloween

Jack-o-Lantern Row

On Friday night, Elisabeth came over and we carved our pumpkins.  Elisabeth hustled us, like a pool shark:

"Oh, I'm not very good at this.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

Then she pulled out her own carving tools, and began sharpening...

Ok so she didn't actually have her own tools.  But she did whip out some pretty nifty carving tricks!  And her pumpkin ended up being the winner.  Even though it wasn't a contest...

Mummie monsters, which Clint was calling "Yummy Mummies"

Creepy Witches fingers

Pumpkins!!

What's this new tasty treat?

Oh Ya!

What?

Happy Halloween!!

Early Morning Vancouver Romp

The morning was spectacular...
The sun was rising.  It was a clear crisp day.  We were watching the morning slowly rolling over the city. We were admiring the beautiful mountains on the North Shore as they delicately awoke ...

But I just couldn't get Pearl to pose properly!!

Another marathon?

I hope yes!

When I watched those finishers in the Victoria Marathon the other weekend, (especially the top three Vfac men! Wow!) I was inspired.

Setting a marathon as a goal, then executing the training program and race has got to be the most fulfilling endeavour I have ever done ... and I've only ever done it three times!

I've been saying that I want to run another marathon for almost three years now, but with injury it just hasn't been possible.

However, things are feeling better lately, (holy cow, I've said that just a few times before!) I've started a new strengthening "program" (if you can call doing strengthening exercises and yoga in your living a program), which seems to be having some benefit.

I've been able to run 90min, with no issues. And whopping 3-4 runs a week! It's been tough with Pearl, but I am figuring it out. Very early mornings are the only option and longer on the weekends.

[Sidenote: I have also taken up commuting to work a couple times a week! I thought I would never be a commuter, but since having a little puppy, I've had to take up any opportunity for exercise possible!]

So back to my marathon, I have set a goal in my head, and so now when I write it down, it will be even more real: Vancouver marathon 2:55 (or under...of course!).

It wasn't too too long ago that I ran a couple marathons under and just over 3 hours ... so we'll see.

I'm looking forward to the training-trip!

This or That?

Training or Puppy?

The other day Colin commented that I'm a little puppy-crazy. That all my updates and blogs are puppy-centered.

"Well, yes ..." thought I. "... but what do I usually write about?"

Training, racing, triathlon and frankly I am sick and tired of reading about training reports... (because it's only interesting when I write them!).

Either way, I'm happy that I have something else in my life to blog about!

So I haven't even done much exercise since Pearl came, let alone "train", even though I only ever averaged about 6-8hours a week, and I'd like to think I do pretty well on that amount of training!

[A side note of remaining bitterness to a certain coach who made fun of the fact that I won "age group nationals" and didn't race as an "elite"... well I didn't WANT to! No I won't forget that one! ; ) It's a choice made because I'm not a professional triathlete, I have another full time profession, and I believe I did mention I only train about 6ish hours a week. And I've been struggling with persistent injury since the last marathon I ran in 2007! Bitter rant over.]

Anyways, it's fall, and winter is coming soon. Time to put aside triathlon and find something else to get excited over, for Colin it's running, cyclocross is also on the go ... but for me it's Pearl!

Fish Tales Part 2

This past weekend we went to Calgary for a wedding. On the drive we stopped because:

"I can see salmon in that creek."

"What are you serious? How can you see that far?"

Colin actually spotted salmon in the creek, that was at least 100m away from the road!

So we pulled over.

Along the way to the water ... evidence of the salmon run...


Now the pictures aren't the best but you can see the red blurs in the water.




Family road trip!

Fish Tales

I think this was the first week we had Pearl and Colin took her fishing for sockeye!

Hitting the trails!

Pearl was out amongst the many many dogs and families out for a Saturday stroll through the beautiful Pacific Spirit trails. She is doing so great with socializing with people and other dogs. She is curious and slightly playful with others, but on her own with just Colin and I she shows her more aggressive side!

She is kinda getting the whole peeing outside thing. She still has mistakes, but at least the mistakes are happening near the door, so she knows she is supposed to go that way! It's all about throwing her a parade of praise along with a treat when she potties outside! Yay!

We also checked out the beach today. She was so sweet running in the sand, picking up the shells and clams and even running after a couple pigeons ... honing those hunting skills!

What a puppy!

It has been a couple of weeks since Pearl has joined our family! She goes between sleeping, peeing, and then going bezerk! She transforms within seconds from quiet, calm, and cute to crazy, biting, attacking puppy!

It has been such a drastic change to our lives. I am thrilled if I have managed to go for a 30min run.

But she is such a gem, a precious gem, and I love her more and more everyday!
Passed out puppy...


Crazy time...


And sleepy time...


Terrorize and chew time...


And we're out again...

Picnic

Last weekend we went to Spanish Banks for an "End of summer, meet our puppy, and it was my Birthday a couple days ago, Picnic".

There were 10 of us, along with 6 dogs, and one toddler. It was such a nice afternoon! Thanks Charlie for the pictures!

Puppy Training 101 - Chewing

Highlights from some of the cities we visited...

After cycling we headed west to the coast for some beaches! Our first stop was Biarritz, a very ritzy, surfing, touristy city...








A couple days later we took a bus down the coast into Spain, to check out San Sebastian. When we arrived we walked into kids bike races... little Contadors in training...



And we were there for Grande Semana, which was a week full of street parties, parades, food festivals, fireworks every night ... and here we saw a "home made boat races", where there were pirate ships, made out of what looked like garbage...the Spanish just seemed crazy all the time!



A view of the main beach from up top of Mount Urgull.



Another beautiful European church...



Of course Spanish tapas...



Pirate parades...



I think it was a celebartion of the Pays Basque culture, but they looked like pirates to me.

And Colin, practising his European stylings...



Next Bordeaux and Paris...

Another day...

This route seemed a bit daunting to me as there were 4 cols in it, but you can always go slow, and I was feeling quite good considering.

We were determined to no get lost this day, as we had been semi-mocked as "the guests who hold the record for getting lost" ... gee thanks!

So we checked the map at pretty much every turn, corner, sign etc.

The first climb was Col Des Ares, not very long 797m and not very steep. Actually Julie and Ian use it as a hill climb Time Trial with their camps. They have a little top 10 fastest times posted in the dinning room, Colin recognized a couple of the guys on the list as "big names".

We were just going to go slow. But as we started, some guy rode past us, and that was enough for me. I started to chase. And that was enough for Colin, he lay into it also. So there we were suddenly time trialing up. I actually felt awesome! Good way to start the day. Unfortunately we had no idea of where the "official start" was to the climb, nor did we time ourselves, so we couldn't compare times... (we also found out later that the TT was up the other side...!)



This was the only picture of the two of us together from our trip. (You see, the camera was slightly broken, the lens wasn't holding on well, so we didn't want to ask anyone to handle it.)

Climb one down, on to the next... Col de Buret. Well it was so subtle, only 599m that we didn't even realize we were climbing it, until we reached the top, which wasn't really a top at all.

Then Col de Portet d'Aspet. This was, for me, the toughest climb of the trip. It was not very long, nor high, 1069m, but it was STEEP! At some spots up to 17.6%, where the only way you are moving is from direct pushing straight down from standing.

At the top, I was a bit cranky, but only just because I was hungry...! Mars bars hmmmm!





At the top, we bought the customary meat and cheese from the local farmer. (Colin had moustache envy.)





Descending we were cautious, as it was so steep with sharp turns. Actually an Olympic cyclist Fabio Casartelli, died on this hill during a Tour de France, very young, very sad. Here is the memorial:



Now the last climb. All these hills were very close together, all in the first 40k of riding. So it was good hard work! Col de Mente was the longest and the highest of the day 1349m, but it was a very nice climb. Very scenic, and steady even climbing, were you can get into a good rhythm. And after a mars bars and some cheese I felt energized.

Climbing through the cows again.



At the top.



We then had a delicious lunch at a lodge on the top.



Colin also went for the ultimate dessert:
"You've got a little chocolate on your teeth..."



The we made our way back through more beautiful French towns and countryside.



Even though the weather wasn't the best again, we still had a wonderful day!