Pacing at Zion – the endings & beginnings of a new chapter!

Hard to believe that today I hit the 5 month mark in my pregnancy!  I’m over half way, my bump seems to be getting larger by the day but my energy levels remain great.  I have just spent the past
week away at the Zion 100mile ultra down in Utah pacing for my dear friend and athlete Mary Betts. 

Reflecting back 1 year ago, I was in a totally different place in my life.  I had traveled down to the Zion 100 to pace my friend Slater Fletcher at his 2^nd place finish and I followed that up with a run across Zion National Park the next day and then a double crossing of the Grand Canyon with my friend/old team mate Matt Hart.  As amazing as that trip was, I was plagued by my adrenal issues and achilles tendonitis – both at the height of causing havoc on my life.  But through some dedicated changes over the past 12 months, it's become apparent that I had made some great progress with my adrenals.  Heck, I was able to get pregnant, something that I don't an unhealthy body would have allowed.

So, back to the present.  I knew prior to leaving for Zion with Mary that this would be my last run.  Post race I would hang up my runners and switch up my exercise more. This is the time to really let my achilles rest and heal with no pressure of an upcoming event anytime soon.  At 5 months pregnant, I wouldn’t pace for just anyone but Mary is a special person in my life and I wanted to re-assure her that she would be successful in achieving her goal.  Not only did Mary finish, she came in 30mins under her goal time and 7^th Female overall!  She both impressed me as a coach and inspired me once again!

I was excited to hit the course with her but I had 2 personal rules that I would follow.  Firstly, if the temperatures were too warm, I wouldn’t run and secondly, if my heart rate went above talking pace I would stop.  Fortunately, I felt amazing out on the race course other then my frequent need to pee (which got overly annoying!)  Anyways, I ran through the night and early into the next morning.  We maintained a steady pace and I loved our small chit chat and running under the stars surrounded by all the super cool Mesa’s. Knowing this would be my last run for a long time, I embraced every hour that went by.  I think I logged just under 70km with her and did take a break at 4am to stretch out my hamstrings and back.   What I noticed was a lot of pain in my lower back, it was just a constant throb and I attribute that to my pelvis shifting about and the pelvic tilt that seems to come with the extra weight of my belly. I wanted to be smart so Mary did 6 miles on her own before I re-joined her around 7am at the next checkpoint.  We enjoyed our last 11miles together and finished up just in time for breakfast!  Congrats to Mary on a mission successful!

I’m thankful for Mountain Mama who has welcomed me onboard as an ambassador for this stage of my life.  They make some great clothing for active pregnant woman and I can’t tell you how sweet it is to have a few new pieces in my wardrobe that actually fit over my stomach and don’t compress me at the waste.  I am living in the Harper Hoodie pullover and fleece pants that they make.  Only a few of my Salomon tops and jackets still fit so thankfully summer is just around the corner.

We said goodbye to Zion (I’m almost most certain I will return there to race in the near future) and flew onto Palm Springs for post race recovery for Mary!  I can handle 34C, no problem!  I enjoyed some great morning rides with Barb Sweeney out on our road bikes followed by pool time in the afternoons with Mary, Barb and fellow “chief of crew” Kay Simpson!

Now that I am home, its back to putting the final touches on the Loop the LakesTrail Race course as race day is quickly approaching (May 25th - have you signed up yet to come run some great Squamish trails???)  I’ve also got a great new carbon Specialized hard tail that has been calling my name!  Biking will be go-to for long as I can and hopefully by then, the lakes will have warmed up.  Besides my cycling jerseys being overly tight now (I usually have to wear one of Norm's) I'm still comfortable in the saddle.  We will see how long that lasts for.

Thanks to everyone who has been reaching out and all you "already mom's" who are offering all sorts of advice and words of wisdom!  It goes a long way!!

The 4 Month Mark & Oranges

It's true what they say, time really does fly by when you are pregnant.  With that said, I can only imagine how fast time goes by as you watch your little one grow.  Hard to believe that I am already over that 4 month mark. I'm having a good time following along in all the books that my sister has given me and learning about the development of the baby along the way.  Talk about an opportunity to learn and a real eye opener.

I have been feeling great as I'm through all that morning sickness crap and now my energy has returned to normal (as in, I can't sit still.) I was happy to learn from my latest blood tests showed healthy iron and adrenal levels.  What a change from last Spring when I was near rock bottom.  I've managed to completely change things around in a very short amount of time. To assist with this, I've been diligently taking my Floradix liquid iron.  I also take a pre-natal vitamin (which has made me throw up several times if I take it on an empty stomach) and another product called Efanatal made by Flora which assists in maintaining good DHA levels for both me and the baby.  I've had the odd bit of heart burn too which was something totally new to me, I don't think I had ever experienced this unpleasant feeling before. I read up on it and quickly stopped laying down after eating.  I also take Flor-Antacid if I need to and that seem to clear things up quickly.  In my smoothies I'm taking Flora's new 7 Sources Oil (3/6/9).  Other then that, I'm starting to return to good clean eating and finding it easier to eat Paleo most of the day.  Sometimes though the body just craves grains so I give in.  Being that I have a gluten intolerance, I have to be really careful or else I end up looking 9 months pregnant and the nasty stomach aches return. Lol - one more reason for me to avoid gluten as I have known for a long time.  After 2 months on a no coffee hiatus due to the smell making me feel sick, I do have the odd de-caf now down at Beans Brackendale!

Cravings? Yes, for the past 2 weeks I have been all about oranges!  Cold, organic oranges are AWESOME. I'm easily eating 3 a day plus orange juice! I always liked oranges but never LOVED them like I do now.  I've also never been a juice drinker at anytime in my life and now, well, I just gotta have it!

The trails in Squamish are in amazing shape and I have been having such a great time on both my mountain bike and road bike.  I pretty much ride everyday and am taking a good break from running.  My achilles flared up in Tofino a few weeks ago from beach walking for hours in my Gum Boots so I've been off my feet and onto the bike.  Thanks to all my friends for all the great rides recently.  Your patience and support on the trails to not have to have a "hammer fest" has been greatly appreciated. I'm loving all the social rides.  Controlling my heart rate on the road bike is much easier and I have accepted that when on the mountain bike, I just settle into my 1 pace and not get stressed out about feeling slow.

I never really thought about the benefits of Chiropractic care and pregnancy in combination but I've gotta say, I'm so impressed with how I am feeling due regualr treatments.  I'm seeing Amber at SkyHighLifestyles twice a week and we continue to make progress, not just on my achilles but on my entire body that has been locked up.  I'm excited to keep up with this as I really believe that it's going to keep me feeling good as my body changes and will help ease the return to competition post pregnancy.  Massage remains as a staple in my life too.  Di Adams and Britt Jonat over at Garibaldi Active Wellness work their magic on me weekly too.  The body is shifting and changing more then I'd like to admit but it's amazing what some of these therapies can do and how great I walk out feeling afterwards!  My next post I will chat more about Hypnosis & Pregnancy as I've been reading up on this and am excited to explore it further.  We have the amazing skill set of Sylvia Raymer here in town to provide it!



Norm and I just enjoyed a great Easter weekend on Haida Gwaii with friends Vanessa and Dave.  So nice to have relaxing play holidays without feeling stressed about having to get training in.  I'm coming to appreciate this more and more and am enjoying the break. The weather was perfect and we got out for several good walks and some SUP.  I quickly fell in love with Haida Gwaii to say the least.  Dave and Vanessa live on a great piece of property on the ocean, talk about perfect therapy for R&R. 

Most of my clothes are getting pretty tight and I find I have to put on Norm's puffy jackets and vests more frequently, especially near the end of the day when my belly gets larger.  Friends have been dropping off clothes, so appreciated!

And lastly, big news in our family when my sister gave birth to her 2nd child last week! I still haven't met Oliver Wiatt yet but am planning a Victoria trip soon!  So excited that our baby will have cousins close in age!

More to come as the weeks roll on......

Excited for a new chapter!

A bit of time has passed since my last posting but there is a good reason why.  I've taken the past few months to wrap my head around some amazing news that Norm and I received in January.  Without a doubt, we are about to embark on the greatest challenge of our lives to date........

I'm PREGNANT!!!

Yup, you've read that correctly.  I couldn't be more excited to be welcoming a new little adventuring member to our family later this year.  The "baby" is due in September and Norm and I have already started to plan all the cool things, trips and experiences that we want to share with him/her.

I'm already into my 2nd trimester and starting to feel much better. January and February were really rough months for me.  Tonnes of sleeping, morning sickness and trying to adjust to many changes at the present time as well as to the year ahead.  It was all a bit overwhelming at first as there were many phone calls to sponsors and work related projects that I needed to let know right away.  It was bitter/sweet having to cancel my 2013 calendar as I had it full of bucket list races and adventures. But, lets be honest, nothing tops the opportunity to have a baby.  All those cool challenges that I was getting set to undertake with my runners on or, on my bike, will just have to wait another year or so.  I plan to get right back into things as soon as my body allows.  Thankfully, everyone has been so supportive and pointed out some great opportunities for how I can be an ambassador in a different way this year and really, for the rest of my adventuring/racing career.  Kind of cool.  I will soon get to add "MOM" to my endurance athlete title :)

So as the weeks have rolled by, each day has brought with it some kind of new change, adaptation or learning experience.  I'm struggling to come with terms of how fast my body is changing.  Clothes aren't fitting like they used to and that has been such a struggle mentally. The water retention is returning (like it does when you are pregnant apparently :) but I had just overcome all those issues with my adrenals so having it be present again is not great.  I'm trying to keep super active and am still running, skiing and mountain biking.  I just have to tone it down a bit and thankfully, all my bike partners have been more then understanding.  If anything, it's just me and my ego that have to make the change and embrace that "it's ok" to cruise! I'm slowly getting there.

I will continue to keep up with my running for one more month as I have a commitment to pace a client at the Zion 100 next month, something that I am really looking forward to!  After that, I will likely stop as I want to take the remainder of time until the baby arrives to really heal that achilles tendon.  I'm having a blast on my MTB and Road bike these days, the chief still feels great and I will likely put in a whole lot of lake swimming time this summer.


I type this blog from my favorite place in the whole world, Tofino where I have just spent the past few days out on the water, playing in the surf on my SUP.  Norm and I hope that our time here will give the the baby a good taste of what he/she can expect with our West Coast lifestyles.  Walking the beaches, listening to the surf at night and just having a chance for R&R while Norm teaches during the days has helped me re-ground myself and get pretty excited for this adventure ahead.

I will be blogging here as this pregnancy continues.  I hope the information I share can be of use to those of you wanting to embark down the path of parenthood.  I know so many female athletes who want this for themselves but have no idea how to overcome the concept of how having a baby fits into their plans.  I hope I can shed some light on this as I roll along :)

Friends and family, you have been so supportive already.  How lucky I am to be surrounded by an amazing crew of people in all aspects of my life.  Thankyou already. 

Im Like An Onion

Happy New Year everyone!  This is my first blog of 2013.  I'm excited to turn over a new leaf, put a few of the not so great memories from last year away and make the next 12 months the best yet.

I've been a happy camper lately.  My shoes are back on my feet and I'm 3 weeks into easy running.  Several days ago I got to start running some hills showing myself that I truly am on the road to recovery.  I look back to 4 months ago and the complete and total mess that I was in and I compare it to how I feel today:  full of energy, not stressed, sleeping well, moving without pain 75% of the day, under control and positive.  As my chiropractor Amber Kirk likes to tell me, I'm like an onion, we just keep peeling back layers of damage and build up. We expose it and then we work on fixing it.  So I guess I really am like an onion, the more I heal, the more layers that keep falling off. Cheers to being an onion, my new motto for 2013.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching as well, thinking about the things that I value the most in my life and the traits that I admire in others. I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by a great network of amazing people, everyday I count my lucky stars.  I'm excited to be launching a new project this year that will help me give back or if you will, pay it forward.  Stay tuned for details.

With my motivation high, I'm looking forward to great year of challenging myself in many capacities.  One too many races to choose from. I use location, a desire for adventure and a cool experience to guide me in my decision making.  I know some people like to re-visit the same race each year but rarely do I do that.

I will be careful this year to keep my life-racing-training-resting-work in balance.  Things at CBC are really busy and my coaching roster is near full. The inspiration that I get from working with other athletes, no matter what their goal, is insane.  Bottom line, it's just great when people get out there and get after it!  In addition to our regular strength and conditioning classes daily at the CBC gym, I'm coaching at numerous trail running camps both in Canada and the USA, we are offering some Ironman prep weekends as people prepare for the new IM Whistler course and I'm once again race directing for Loop the Lakes Race that has a 3 month trail running clinic attached to it. However, I've also slotted in some downtime into my calendar and I feel good about planning for that as it's equally as important.
 
  
   
I will leave you with a few quick reflections on 2012.  I only put them out there as I've learned to embrace the positive ones and learn from the not so good outcomes.

Coolest Experience:  running the Zion Traverse (50miles) and the Grand Canyon's R2R2R with Matt Hart in April.

Most Defeated Experience:  running the Leadville 100miler with crazy achilles pain

Most Enjoyable Day on the Race Course:  Ireland 100km, running with my Irish Leprechaun and sharing a great course with a new friend.

Turning Point:  the day after Leadville when I finally put the brakes on and vowed to get healthy

What I've Learned to Love:   De-caff coffee - as long as it's a good bean, it tastes great.  Thank goodness that Beans Brackendale carries an amazing Espresso de-caff :)

Gutted about the most:  not being able to carry through with a project that I've been dreaming about due to injury.  Tackling it this coming summer - stay posted!

I Never Thought that I Would:  be able to run 100miles in the Salomon Sense.  I did and I loved it.

New Location that Blew My Mind:   Colorado's 14ers.  I will be back!

My mindset leaving 2012:  I have a whole life in front of me with a million more things on my bucket list, things will get accomplished in due time as they are supposed to.  Nothing is as important as one's health so learn from my mistakes, take care of yourself!

Cheers to each of you and all the best for 2013. Would love to hear what goals you've set for yourself?  I hope to see many of you back on the trail this year. Thanks for your continued support as I peel back the onion layers :)