T'is been the Season of GREAT times!

Only a few hours left in 2008. I hope that everyone is ready to enter into a new chapter! I've sure enjoyed the past few days. Being surrounded by my family and good friends has been just what I needed. I spent a few days in Squamish to start things off, doing some skate skiing in the Callaghan and ski touring up in Garibaldi. Then it was off to Vancouver Island to have Christmas with my mom, which was really great. The Island got dumped on and I got out for lots of runs in some white snow! Caught up on some R&R, too. Then, I headed back to Squamish on Boxing Day. Nothing like traveling with BC Ferries over the holidays and with tons of snow. It always makes for an interesting screw up of plans! However, I enjoyed a few days in town running in knee deep snow on my favorite trails and another skate ski. Even managed a good night of UFC entertainment. I then packed my bags yet again on the 28th to head back to the Island, this time north to Campbell River to spend some quality time with my dad! Despite a horrible wet and stormy drive here (thanks to my Subaru and new winter tires) I arrived safe and sound.

Dad and I tackled Mt. Washington on Monday where I did a good 1.5hr skate ski on some gorgeous nordic trails! Must mention that one of the hills took me forever to climb and I nearly suffered a heart attack in my attempt :) Dad took off on my snowshoes for his own little adventure (putting on his ski pants that he hadn't worren since 1999 as his old ski tag reminded us) and felt afterwards like he had just done the workout of the century! We had a good laugh. I used to spend many weekends up at Mt. W snowboarding back in high school. Love that place as it brings back great memories.

Back in Campbell River, I've enjoyed some great road runs as I start to increase my mileage for the 2009 race season. High headwinds have made for extra good training. My wonderful Salomon apparel comes through for me every time!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and I am headed to Tofino (my heaven on earth) to bring in the New Year with a whole crew of good people. Surfboards are loaded and wetsuit is packed. We are planning a big potluck dinner and breakfast! Everyone is stoked. Bring on the good times.

So with that, my friends, I have written my last blog post of 2008. I am really eager to enter into a new year with new adventures and a new path to follow. I've promised myself to move forward with a positive mind set, an openness to create a great new future and to make 2009 awesome!

Cheers to each of you! See you in '09! Happy Celebrations! Make the new year the best yet!

Logic to Adventure Racing & Sleep Deprivation

A team mate just passed this along to me in regards to the sleep deprivation that we put ourselves through on the race course. Hmmmm......interesting. Have a read.

What is your goal for 2009?

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"I do not know how to instill a taste for adventure in those who have not acquired it, and yet there are those who suddenly tear themselves away from their comfortable existence and, using the energy of their bodies as an example to their brains, apply themselves to the discovery of unexpected pleasures and places."

- Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Exhaustion and Fulfillment: The Ascetic in a Canoe; 1944

Love the Pain

Today is Friday and I just completed my last day of work up at Quest U. Feels great to be done and have some more time freed up for winter play. But, let's back up a second as I need to mention that I can still feel my "play" from Wednesday.


Phil Villeneuve was in town (fellow Salomon athlete and Mr. Nordic x-country in Canada) so I joined him and Munro out in the Callaghan for a morning skate session. As these two cruised around effortlessly, chit chatting up the hills, I worked my ass off! Technique is everything. I had 2 great teachers with me so now I have all kinds of tips and tricks to work on. However, we tackled all the Olympic race courses (ie - hills and more hills) and I have felt super drained ever since. I've done a few runs since but there is this lasting fatigue in my body. It might be because I have pushed through a "kinda sore throat" and "kinda stuffy nose" (k, I hate to admit that I am feeling a bit under the weather) but I prefer to just say that I worked hard on the skiis! Oh ya, and it's been a week of Christmas parties, too. In fact, we hosted a little get together last night and I was reminded once again how many great friends and people are in my life :)


Anyway, I gotta celebrate a day off tomorrow so I am headed back out to the Callaghan to go at it again! Hope the pain in my butt disappears overnight.

Weeks of Fun & Firsts

I think that my down time has been well spent. I feel rested and healthy and am actually getting really excited to get back into training. Just realized that I haven't had a single day away from activity since the day I flew home from Brazil. This reiterates the fact that what I do is a lifestyle. Now, let's be clear here. I haven't run everyday, by any means, but I have managed some form of exercise. Here are a few highlights from the last little while:

Last Saturday, bright and early, Norm and I paddled on the SUP's from Porteau to Britannia. Thank goodness that we didn't have the crazy Arctic winds like we are currently getting. In fact, yesterday we checked the waves in Howe Sound and they were definitely surfable! Imagine, Squamish as a new surf destination - it might happen! Anyway, we followed the coast line, pulled our boards out, trotted across the highway and right into coffee shop in Britannia in our wetsuits for an Americano! A few strange looks but I am used to that :)

Sunday was a torrential downpour but I was happy because it meant that snow was falling high in the alpine. Arron Pitt drove up and joined me on a great 30km trail run all over Squamish. This was my longest run in a quite awhile! Felt good and was great to catch up with Arron.

Last week I got some runs and hikes in and then Friday was the first ski tour of the season! Oh ya!!!! 6:30am departure and we were skinning up to Red Heather by 7am in the dark with our headlamps on! We skiied from the parking lot with only a few bare spots.
Now, this weekend's stoke factor was a day trip down to Mt. Baker in Washington to hit up their backcountry. CSG made a good on call on where the fresh snow could be found. A few coffee stops along the way (oh, and I think that the little town of Glacier has my name on it) and we were gone into some new terrain that I have never been in before. 2ft of fresh pow. I am still waiting for my touring set-up to arrive so I had to push through with my downhill gear. However my Salomon minx skiis were sweet and I appreciated them on the descents. 4 hrs later and we were wiped! Great day in the snow! FYI - Baker is only 3 hrs from Squamish and the terrain there is epic! Can't wait to go back for more.


Then yesterday, I headed up to the Callaghan for my first skate ski of the season! Megan Rose joined me for an afternoon session. Conditions were super awesome but it was cold! I was stoked to get back out there and pick up from where I left off last year but WOW, do I ever have work to do. The skate skiing thing humbles me big time. I managed to get a nice easy 5km jog after in Whistler before meeting up with Jo to celebrate her 30th B-day at Nick-North! So there have it. Winter is here and I am getting all the firsts out of the way. Now, bring on the seconds, I'm ready for round 2!

If you surf, then remember this....

(sorry, too funny not to share)

THE SIMPLE WHITE ENVELOPE

My mom recently passed this along to me and it was such a good reminder to me of what Christmas really is all about. As I have said before, my mom is an absolutely incredible person and so for Christmas this year, she has really limited her shopping and instead, is donating an extremely large amount of Frequensea to help someone fighting a brain tumor! This is why I love my mom!

It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas --oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against another team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition --one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, And on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas . It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and Our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand With wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.

New Website

Check this out www.dartadventure.com

My adventure racing teams DARTnuun just launched a new website. Have a look. I hope it will be a good place for you to stay current on what we are up to, get to know my amazing team mates and be able to check out some of the gear that we use and love! Enjoy.