A Lucky Lucky Girl

Ok so.. anyone that knows me knows that I really like my job. My favorite part about it is that I get to do a fair bit of traveling. I've gotten to see New York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC and have enjoyed the scenery of driving through Maryland country side in the summer. However, last week my love for my job was propelled to a whole new level when I was taken to Aruba to visit with a client. Yes, that's right, I said ARUBA!

The original plan would have had me poolside and drinking some tropical drink with an umbrella embellishment by 3pm on Saturday afternoon, except that it took me 16 hours to get there since every flight I was on was either cancelled or delayed by two hours.. but nonetheless.. I got there. An even though I missed out on an afternoon of sunshine and the most incredible aqua green water that I have EVER SEEN, I was up early on Sunday morning to let the relaxing begin.

Here I am on the beach creating what I think is a pretty good impression of my very own Corona commercial.




Ahhhhh.. I can still smell the ocean...

Back to reality.

Last weekend (or was it two weekends ago now??? Who can keep up?) at the last race of the year in Milton, my sister Jen and her two boys Nate and Liam came out to cheer me on. Not only was she great support- but an excellent photographer! Here's a few new pic's of the action:

This is a semi-birds-eye view of the bike lanes and the spectator action.



This is me coming out of the water and in T1 getting ready for the bike. You can't really tell from the photo, but this is where I'm really laughing to myself because bending over like this I almost ended up flat on my face since I was shaking so much.. hehehe



And of course- the source behind my power, the cutest spectator ever, my little nephew Liam who is turning 5 next weekend!




So, now that the season is over, and Aruba is only a memory *sigh* I'm back hard at work looking at what the next month holds. Next week I'm off to Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland, but that doesn't mean I won't be hard at work still planning the next (and final) Team Diabetes fundraising event.

My final deadline is approaching and I've got one last chance to reach my goal of raising $8,000 for Canadians living with Diabetes. I've set a date, and October 21st I'll be hosting the Poker Tournament in the Beach.

All the details to come very shortly.

Until then..

A successful premier season

This weekend was the last race of the Ontario Womens Triathlon Series. What an amazing experience! I have totally fell in love with this Triathlon business and can't wait to start training for next year!

I had a great race. This was by far my best race of the season and I really couldn't have done much better. I took the day off on Saturday so even though I thought maybe I should have gone for a short run or a light swim, I think I may have been better off with the rest. Sunday morning before the race I went for a short jog to loosen up and get my head straight, and I think it was the perfect balance for me.

The swim was tough for some reason, I wasn't feeling like I was into a good groove, it was a bit forced and so I thought that I was falling behind right from the start. Turns out that wasn't the case at all. I had a great swim time of 9:04min.

Here's me coming out of the swim:

Remember back to my first race? I had a terrible case of the noodle legs and coming in and out of transitions was quite dramatic and I almost caused a domino effect on innocent runners?? I was laughing to myself in T1 this time too because I had a bad case of the shakes coming out of the water. Putting on my shoes and shorts for the bike/run was Laugh Out Loud funny.. I just about fell right over.

Out on the bike course.. I'm not sure what was going on with me that day.. but MAN! I was EATING UP THAT COURSE!!! I came out strong and just never slowed down. The course was quite hilly and a couple big climbs. On my heavy mountain bike you would think that I would have been lost at the back of the pack- TOTALLY NOT WHAT HAPPENED! I must have passed 5 or 6 people in the first half. Coming home, I found a woman on a road bike and used her as motivation. I caught up to her and passed her on a downhill. We kept going back and forth almost the entire half of the course. She passed me, then I passed her.. I thought for sure I had her... but she passed me on the flat coming into home. Oh well- I kicked her a$$ on the run anyhow ;)



I was really looking forward to my run. This was going to be the run where I have no "pace", no timing, no strategy. This is a 2.5K run. This is nothing! This is not even a run this is a warm-up! So- here's my plan- I'm just given'er! I dropped my bike in transition and headed for the Run Exit. The entire first quarter of this run is uphill. Right out of the gate. HOWEVER- while I'm running up this hill thinking - CRAP- THIS IS HARD! I'm also thinking to myself that this is just as hard to everyone else. The difference is that I'm ready for it. I trained for it. I want it. I LOVE IT! This is the stuff that makes me come out to these races. This is the stuff that makes my blood pump. And those are the reasons that are going to make me finish the race before any of these women. Hills were not an issue. I finished the run in my best time yet.






I finished 28th out of 182 women in the race.

I finished 5th out of 33 in my age group.

I finished 2nd overall in the entire series for Ontario.

What a summer it was! I can't wait until next season when I've got my new road bike that I'll be saving for over the winter. My goal for next year is to compete in the Olympic distance Triathlons across Ontario. CAN'T WAIT!

Love that western hospitality..

Wow! What a great weekend. For the labor Day long weekend I traveled west to visit my Mom out in Alberta. I moved back to Toronto in 2000 after spending 6 years or so in Calgary, Mom stayed out there since she fell in love with the Western Canadian culture (or was it a cowboy???) anyhow... Mom and I are great friends and strange as it is, the distance has made us even closer. I haven't gotten to see her much over the years, a visit here and there when she was in Ontario, and I've only ever heard of this great town of Okotoks that she calls home.

So- when the opportunity presented itself.. off to Alberta I go!!!

Friday night she picked me up at the airport and took me allllll the way out to Okotoks. The drive isn't all that long thanks to minimal traffic and highway overpasses- but man-o-man... she's definitely outside the city alright. We stayed up into the night talking, catching up and she showed me all around the homestead. It was SO GREAT to be in my Mom's house. It really is a Mom's house. There are trinkets, and memorabilia of years past all over! and of course, most importantly- pictures of me!!! Mom and I have moved a lot- so seeing all this stuff made me feel like there was a "base camp" for all the memories we've created together over the years.
It was awesome.

The next morning, Mom and Jack (Mom's onion chopping, olive oil using, jokester and chef extrodinaire boyfriend) were already up and att'em making breakfast in the kitchen. Apparently they're used to the trains that pass ridiculously close to the house NON_STOP through out the night. One of them- probably the one at 6am- I could swear actually passes THROUGH the house.. Anyway, by the time I got upstairs, Mom was already cracking the eggs and I was treated to breakfast in my PJ's!! MMMMMM Breakfast!




Mom and I had a full day planned. First portraits at Walmart! Why is this so exciting? It's not.. it's just really exciting that Okotoks now has a WALMART!!! Then it was off for a surprise massage that Mom booked for me. She thinks I've been working too hard this summer and my body needed the rest.. who am I to argue? She's the Mom.

Then it was off for a trip down memory lane:

First we went to our old community to see our first house that we lived in. It's changed SO MUCH since I left- it's unreal! We were about to get out of the car and take some pictures when the new owner of the house showed up! Mom of course felt weird about taking pictures of someones house (even though it's reallllly our house) so she went up to introduce herself. WOULDN"T YOU KNOW IT- the lady remembers her! She invited us in and gave us a full tour of our old house. She even showed me the cartoon drawings in permanent marker that she's STILL trying to cover up on the walls in my old bedroom.. LOL.. silly teenagers.. what was I thinking?

Here on the driveway I can still see my initials SL in the corner of the driveway. I was there the day the cement was poured! You probably can't see them.. but I can.. and that's all that matters.



We also visited my old high school.. lots of memories here... well... mostly I remember that I spent a lot of time AT school, I just probably could have spent more time IN class.. but hey- I made it through. Good times at EP Scarlett..





After the trek down memory lane, Mom took me out to Black Diamond, a town 15min even FURTHER into nowhere than Okotoks. There is a 6km trail that connects Black Diamond to the next town called Turner Valley. This was the perfect path for a run. Here I am running in the hills!




Well after that long day, I was pooped. I had to call it an early night- tomorrow we were off to Banff! We headed an hour north to Banff and I got to do my long run of 12km this week through AMAZING trails in the mountains. It was incredible. The altitude made my body have to work extra hard, but it was worth it. How lucky am I? Here I am afterwards enjoying the view at Elbow Falls.



We had a great day. After my tough run, I figured I deserved an Ice Cream and Mom and I trekked into town and strolled, and shopped and got coffee and ice cream. Here's me in Banff!



It was a long day. Thank god Mom still had the energy to drive home. I enjoyed the scenery and just sat back and relaxed. Here's what the drive into Okotoks looks like at sun set. It's actually really pretty.



On Monday, Mom took me for a great bike ride down by the river. She's got these really old bikes that are actually kinda cool. Life sure moves slower in this little town. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my last day out west. We took our time riding, chatted a bit and just enjoyed the day. On our way home, Mom took me to see some of the really old houses in Okotoks that the locals have turned into antique shops etc. Here's Mom giving me a bike tour.. she'd be a great bike tour guide.. maybe an option for a retirement hobby???



Of course while Mom's being so attentive and proudly showing off her quaint little neighborhood.. here's me being a ham behind her.

You can take the girl out of the city, but...



Anyhow, it was a GRRREAT weekend. I love my Mom SO MUCH! I can't wait to go back again. Thanks so much to Mom and Jack for having me come out and pampering me in your home!

This weekend is my last Triathlon of the summer. Hopefully all that mountain running will do me some good! I just found out that I'm on the Leader Board for the series! I'm in thrid place in the Ontario Women Triathlon Series in the Sprint Triathlon! WOO HOOO! YEY ME!

Until next time...