Today I brought my baby home!!!

Check it out!!! I drove down to Seattle this weekend to pick up my new Stand Up Paddleboard! It's fair to say that I have been beaming all weekend with my new toy. Now, I know we don't live in Hawaii but c'mon folks, you are going to love this sport! It's been around for years down in the warmer areas of the world (Pacific Islands, California etc.) but only now are we starting to see it here in the cold waters of BC! However, it doesn't matter what the water conditions, this board and you can take it! Dress in a wet suit on the cold days or in the ocean and board shorts when the sun is out and SUP'ing can be done year round. This is a killer core workout - full body extravaganza! Everytime you put the blade in and pull back, its like doing an abdominal crunch. The entire body works to stabilize as well! Needless to say, this will be a huge part of my conditioning from this point forward!


Over the weekend I hit up Green Lake and Samish Lake (both in WA) on the SUP and logged some good distance in new scenery and got to spend some time with the DART nuun crew!! Some of the team are off to Abu Dabi really soon for their last race of the year so I am sending them all kinds of good fast energy as they head to the United Emirates.

Downtime really is Downtime

Its been just over 3 weeks since getting off the World AR course in Brazil. Time flys by so fast as I realize that I only have 1 more month of guilt free R&R. I continue to struggle with this and as I look back at my training log, I can see that there has not yet been 1 day of pure "nothing-ness" leading me to the conclusion that yes, I have a problem! However, I've decided that just keeping busy is good because as you can imagine going from "all out" to "all nothing" would probably just shock my body into crazyness. So, I think it is fair to say that I really am taking it easy in a "Jen kind of way", I am sleeping in and I am just doing what I feel like doing each day. Essentially, I've been ellipticalling, surfing, easy runs (no more than 1hr) power walking and hiking the chief. It feels good to go at an easy pace and to fit it into my day more as a way to just keep active. I do feel like I am getting that mental break and am catching up on my to do list!


Last weekend we had a block break up at the university so after working until 11pm on both Fri and Sat night at some home basketball games, I seized the opportunity (along with several of the students might I add - always great to see that they get out there to play and enjoy) to head over to my "heaven on earth" aka - Tofino, for a good but-kicking session in the surf. 3 days and 2 nights of surfing Chestermans on my fish, sitka longboard and the Stand Up Paddleboard.


Perhaps though the weekends highlight was meeting some great folks, Kathy & Richard, from the Out Landish Shellfish guild on Cortes Island one afternoon in the parking lot. After speaking to them, they sent us away with the ingredients for making the best dinner in the world - fresh seafood galore!! That evening we enjoyed (and might I stay oversuffed ourselves) with oysters, clams, mussels and the biggest scallops that I have ever seen! It was absolutely unreal and greatly appreciated. Paired with a bottle of red wine, life can get no better! Thank you Kathy & Richard!! Your tips on how to prepare and cook each of the shellfish worked perfectly. The dinner goes down in history as one of the best.


The weekend before that was also Tofino, celebrating my friend Jessalyn's birthday! Although it was very rushed, it was great to have a session with some friends I hadn't seen in a while!


2 weekends of back to back surf - yes my friends, true R&R!

Reflections of my 2008 Season

I’ve been home for 1 week now since our wicked awesome race at the World AR Champs in Brazil. After catching up on sleep and piles of work, I’ve begun to reflect on 2008 - what I accomplished, what I didn’t, where the highs were, how the lows felt and what I am thinking and feeling moving forward.

First things first. It feels fricken' good to have some R&R! My body feels good, so I have been doing short runs, hiking the Chief and surfing with friends. Major accomplishment #1 – I finally completed an expedition race with ZERO, yes ZERO blisters!! Times are a changing, my friends, and it feels so good to be able to walk and move about and wear shoes post-race. As I log more and more miles of adventures on my body, I can see much more clearly how I must treat it. Laura has been helping me with this, giving me the greatest massages in the world and so to her, I am truly grateful.

I feel fortunate that I had some great races with my team (and good friends) of DART-nuun. We continue to grow and develop as one of North America’s top teams and I attribute this to the dedication to each of our training schedules and our love for the sport. We have a passion for what we do and so we make training fun. This means that racing is a lifestyle and can be sustainable.

On the solo scene, I had a good year. Top of the list was my 135 mile run at Badwater. The support that I received for this was amazing. I look back at it and see how I really applied myself to sport specific train for it, despite the hours and hours and hours of road running that I hated. A 9th place overall finish (5th for women) is ok for me on a 100% road race and being that I have never run so many consecutive paved marathons before. I’ll take it! I also managed to set the bar as being the youngest female ever on the start line. Coolio. The journey to Badwater actually started the year before with completing my race resume so that I could apply. I’ve had a great crew of people from San Diego all the way up to Whistler supporting me in my goals. So lucky!

Wished that I had run more trail ultras but due to schedule conflicts this year, I had to keep these to a minimum. More to come for 2009. However, I’ve also come to peace with the fact that I don’t need to be on every single start line. I can pick and choose races and do what I feel. I think I am getting better at removing some of the expectations and pressures that I put on myself.

The lows this year have come more in my personal life as I’ve struggled with decisions, goals and direction. The plus is that I have learned more about myself, and apparently, life teaches lessons differently for everyone. There is one person who has stood beside me and supported me in my goals for over 7 years and to him I will always be grateful. Thank you, Ty. Neither of us would be reaching dreams without each other.

Looking forward, 2009 promises to be a great year. Life is an adventure so I remind myself of this all the time. DART-nuun is currently selecting races and I am developing my solo events calendar. Looks like a mix of snow and sun adventures await me. I plan to be humbled in some ski mountaineering races, hit the southern race scene on the SUP and paddleboard, complete a 24hr mtb race or two, partake in some chilly multi-day ultras and continue on the AR scene. Lots to look forward to.

I continue to want to help, inspire and motivate others to be out there, adventure seeking and setting goals. This remains at the top of my list!

Stay tuned as R&R adventures get posted! Thank you everyone for words of encouragement when I have needed them most. Thank you to my sponsors who believe in my goals and have helped me experience them!

R & R Time

hello from the finish line
apologies for the typing here but i only have access to a french keyboard so this is slow 2 finger typing and internet connection is very slow
anyways, wow, race is done and we managed a 6th place finish here at the world championships in smoking hot brazil
it has been an amazing experience as we raced against the best
the top 15 teams were in a full battle from start to finish, there was always a team near you chasing you down
i will send a full race report when i get home
we got all the emails from the website so thanks for that, it was huge for motivation as we suffered
for now, we are cleaning gear and resting
tomorrow if the hands feel better, we are taking kite surfing lessons and i hope to get a surf in as well
we are all well and healthy
i hope you enjoyed following and thank you so much for all the support that we have received
there were a good 12 teams here who all could have won this race so we are happy with the outcome

hugs until i can type better, seegs

Before the fun began!

DART On The FLY
Looks like DART is starting making their move. They are now showing in 7th position, and, if w can believe what is posted, they are closing in on the front runners. GO DART!

Another Update From The Front Lines

The Ecomotion website (http://www.ecomotion.com.br/online2008/)is somewhat challenging, to say the least. It is very hard to see what is actually going on because, according to the reports, many of the athletes don't know how to use their "SPOTS". At any rate, according to the people who are so kindly taking on the job of being support crew for DART-nuun, Jen is doing great. I just had a look at one of the videos on the Ecomotion website, and as always, I am amazed at what these ultimate endurance athletes are doing. Talk about "Challenge By Choice"! This is what Fred reported today:
hello everyone...
here we are, back on line, it was 30 hours without any signal, rolling around very remote areas, wich are awesome!
so, the team is at the moment arriving in Viçosa do Ceara, coming from trekking, and switching to biking.
it is going to be a big trek, including climbing, ascent, descent! they are considering to do this piece in 10 hours time, since they already payed 5 from their 8 mandatory hours!
on the last PC, about 5 hours ago, according to myself, Jen was the best shape in the team, she is handling very well the local hotness! Good girl!
now, dart nuun are at 8th position, checked on the last PC, 5 hours ago!
that's gonna be all for now, coming back from the next PC, if the signal helps! 8-)))))))))
bye bye everyone!
see you soon. hopefully!
(Not EXACTLY sure what that last line means???)

A message from "Seeds"

Just a little note hot off the course in Brazil. Jen's nickname on the course is "Seegs". It looks like she's just got herself a new handle....

Hi from Brazil!!!!

Our team looks good, they used some good sleeping hours through the kaiking section and were feeling well and positive....
First thing Seeds said smiling when came in " Look at my hands,"!!!!! after 20 hours paddling....they were nasty...wrinkles!!!!
The team took a 25 min break, and start the bike section, we will probably meet them in 8 hours.
Not sure if we will have internet conection from now; we;ll try to keep you upated!!!!

Support crew, Tati and Fred.

Hot On The Trail!
Things are moving along on the course in Brazil as we go in to Day 2. Jen and her DART-nuun team are in a tight pack toward the front of the group, currently posted in 12th position. I expect the teams will start to spread out a bit over the day, as weariness sets in. No doubt, heat is a huge issue. I have a feeling that Jen's "Badwater" experience will serve her well in this race. It probably feels cool to her!

This came from Frederico Garreta, one of the guys on DART's support crew, who has been given instructions to keep us updated. (I'm sure Jen did that so I wouldn't call down there!!)

hello everyone...
so, yesterday, the team left the starting point at 15:30h, and ran for 5 hours aprox. on the dunes, close to open sea, arriving in Tutoia for the first transiction, where they got the kaiakes and left to Parnaiba, racing for aprox. 18h, with maybe, and only maybe, 1 or 2 hours of mandatory sleep.
The team were feeling pretty well on the transiction, and they showed a very good shape after running on the dunes! they spent around 10 minutes to drink and eat, then left for kaiaking cruise on open sea, and mangroves!
more updates will be coming in few hours!
bye everybody!
Fred (Support Crew)

The Ecomotion website is a bit tricky, - http://www.ecomotion.com.br/online2008/ - due to our language difference, but it is quite navigable. You can send "Shout Outs" under the tab "Recados" if you feel like cheering DART on. Jen LOVES to hear from you and they pick up the messages at various check points along the course.
Thanks for your support!
Bonnie
PS There is a GPS system operating, too, and you can actually follow the teams as they move through the course. Quite exciting!