Two Times the Love

Time flies by as always in my world. Hard to believe that our Salomon International trip was 1 week ago. I returned home with 2 sprained ankles but I must say, I am healing very fast and feel positive about the rest of 2011 ahead.


I wasted no time in getting back to training. Thankfully I have this huge race coming up in 2 months called Ultraman and it's going to require some serious time on the bike! Thank you to Cannondale for their sponsorship and coming on board with me to help me along the journey to this Ultraman goal. I am in love with my 2 new rides and look forward to the bond I am building with them already. The bulk of my training will be on the Cannondale Synapse road bike and I will start to build my confidence on the Cannondal Slice tri bike starting next week. Corsa Cycles is just finishing my bike fit. As my ankles heel, riding will be the perfect cross train. I was actually so excited to hit the bikes that I added some extra time onto this past weekend to train in Vernon and Salmon Arm, BC when I was out that way for a good friend's wedding in Kelowna. Awesome riding to be had in the interior of BC and nice mentally to look at some new terrain.I have run a few times since the TNF100km course, each time with the focus on my foot placement. The trails are in great shape in Squamish right now so it really is hard to stay off of them. I'm back to hitting the C3 classes at the studio when JF and Nicola are teaching. Love actually being able to work out with all my clients and I need the strength component as I prepare for Ultraman.

While I am missing the world of adventure racing right now, I think it's a good choice to have that mental break. All things pending how the year goes, I might be able to pull off a race or 2 with my team (nuun Sport Multi) later this year. In saying that, this coming weekend is the annual MOMAR and because I am not race director this year, I am headed to its new location in Burnaby to race with team Raid the North Extreme. Should be a good time, nothing serious, just a play day on the trails.

Next trail race for me? Looks like I'm headed to Montreal in June to race at the Ultimate XC 56km event. Really excited to see this race course - I hear it's super narly, which of course, captured my attention! I will be joining some of my fellow Salomon Canada team mates for this event.

Oh and tonight??? First swim in Alice Lake - ONWARDS!!!!

3 days away from race START

I've had limited access to internet while here in Oz due to a combined issue with my computer and the hotel connection. My apologies for not being able to update sooner, I am actually posting this blog from a friends computer so.....no pics to go with!

Anyways, I arrived into Sydney after a rather painless flight on Saturday morning. I managed to sleep 10 of the 14hrs on the plane which was great. It has taken me though 3 full days to really get my sleep and energy levels back on par. We are very fortunate to have a great group of people here with the team to make this all happen including Frosty (Anna) and Adam Chase as our managers and co-ordinators. Luckily too we have team therapists Angie and Jamie to keep us healthy with regular massage as needed. In addition, we have full support from Salomon Australia and they are doing a terrific job of showing us their country and providing opportunities for us to interact with different members of their team Down Under.

On Sunday, the crew was really keen to hit some mountain trails so we made a day trip to the Blue Mountains and put some miles down on the actual race course. That was great as it gave us all a sense of what to expect on Saturday. I had hoped for WAY more elevation gain and technical single track but that is not too be the case. This looks like a rather fast course, lots of fire road and minimal single track. However.....for what the course lacks in terrain type, I think it will make up for in stunning views!!

Monday and Tuesday were spent at some of the local retailers and being apart of a fun Corporate Day where everyone got to run in the new Crossmax shoe and have a preview of the new Killian's Quest Video from his Kilimanjaro experience. I joined Adam and Jamie for a really great run yesterday morning down to the Botanical Gardens and the Opera House - no better way to see the city then through a morning run when the streets are quiet, the sun is out and its only the local running crowd. My ankle is slowly healing, thanks to daily massage from Angie, but I decided that this morning I'd join Julia for a swim session cross training workout. Later today we are headed to Manly Beach for an ocean side trail run which should be really nice!

Thursday we are leaving the city and heading back to the Blue Mountains - time to get focused and rested up for Saturday! You will be able to follow the race live at the race website:
www.thenorthface.com.au/100

Oh, and perhaps a huge highlight for me is arriving tomorrow - my friend of over 10 years, Jo is flying into Sydney and joining us for the race as crew! This is so exciting for me!!! Jo recently moved back to Oz half a year ago and there has been a huge void on my life. We've been through everything together, a friendship that has never waivered. Jo has come to countless events with me, given unselfishly to my dreams and helping me succeed. When ever I've needed a late night driving partner so that I could make a race start line by 6am, she was there. She came with the team to Badwater and ran her first 21km. Jo has always given me that balance in my life and I've missed her dearly. I'm so excited to see her here tomorrow and to get a few days to catch up! If only time allowed for me to see her family and friends back in Melbourne......I suppose that will be another trip...........

TNF100k - Last few prep days

(me at the finish line but not with my official race time -
I just wanted a picture under the banner)

Training has been going fairly well these last few months and I feel like things are coming together well. I did however, sprain my ankle a few week ago during a dusk trail run. I wasn't paying attention and for some reason, went over HARD on my right side. I've tried to brush it off with lots of ice and massage, a protocol that seemed to be working well up until Tuesday. I was flying down a trail, happy as can be during a sunny evening run, when I really messed it up bad by rolling it again. The tendons and ligaments are now fully stretched, I lack stability big time and every little rock that I seem to misplace my foot on lets me know. However, we are now just 2 weeks away from the big 100km race in Australia making last week and this week key training time. (my 1st place finish prize - LOVE it - they must have known I was coming)

So what did I do?? I got a massage on Friday by Laura, went and got taped by Lindsay at SkyHighLifestyles that afternoon and then drove down to southern Washington in the evening so I could camp out and take part in yesterdays Capitol Peaks 55km Ultra. I didn't want to miss out on a final tempo paced run of that length so instead of the RICE principal, I thought that the MICE protocol would be a better (mobility, ice, compression, elevation.)

Perhaps not one of the most brilliant things that I have ever done but I knew that I wanted one last hard workout and some trail distance before this race and it had to be THIS weekend. I had a good run overall, but the 14hours of training during the week caught up to me around 40km. I was pretty tired as I dug deep with lots of self talk to re-find my motivation and zip in order to make it to the finish line. It was a good thing I had gotten my ankle taped as I jammed it about 6 times during the run. I was forced to cruise the downhills so to not twist my ankle. I completed the race in 5hrs12mins, a lot slower then I had hoped but given the circumstance, I won't stress it too much. I finished 1st for women, 2nd overall. Oh, and I think after now re-looking at the race website, I broke the womens course record as well by 10mins or so.

The highlight for me was getting to meet one of my athletes that I am coaching for Western States this year. Jerry Peters, a Washington runner, hit up the 50miler. We ran the first 30km of the course together (having never met before, he just looked "for the girl wearing salomon" - I had to laugh - at the start line.) He has been training very hard and with so much focus, I feel very confident as Western approaches in just over 6 weeks. Congrats Jerry on breaking your 8hr goal time (7:52 is solid.)

Team Salomon leaves for Oz this coming Thursday. We will arrive with plenty of time to rest up and nuke the time zone bug. I ran with my new Lab pack at this race but don't think I will be able to use it in Oz as the mandatory gear requirements are pretty heavy. I'll be bringing both the Speedcross (which is the shoe I just raced in at the Capitol Peaks race) and the S-Lab with me and will decide when I get there which shoe to use.

More updates to come in the final days before we leave. Life at the CBC studio is getting really busy as I try to find that balance between my work that I love and the trails that call my name.

Onwards.........