Really, it's December?

The last few months have literally been a blur! October went by so fast, I don't even know what to say. Then the beginning of November wrapped up cyclocross season, finishing the year with back to back weekends of 4 very snowy races and an upgrade to open women for me - EEK, oh my!

Then mid-November we all hopped on a plane to Oregon for a Picky Party to reveal their new wrappers! Why did we go, you ask? Well ...

Picky Bars came out with 6 new wrapper designs that all represent #lifepoints moments captured by a picture and a unique story told from pictures across the globe. We were one of those 6 that made it onto a wrapper, and so honored to have been chosen in such great company as the other winners. 

Picky Bars embraces and lives the #lifepoints lifestyle and want to encourage others to get out there and be awesome in their own unique way; whatever that means to each individual person. Read our story and the other five, then get out there and create your own #lifepoints! 

I also had the opportunity to meet and spend time with some really down to earth and fabulous people while in Oregon. Not to mention getting the chance to mingle and run with a group of really cool women including Kate Grace and Lauren Fleshman, two of the fastest and wickedest chicks on the planet. The run was a few days after the party, on one of their easy run days, their words, not mine - I was out of my league and couldn't keep up, but loved every minute of it! 

If you've never been to Bend, OR you should! It very quickly became one of my favorite places I've visited! Passionate active lifestyle people, with unique and locally owned stores, great running vibe and trails; not to mention the best waffles I've ever had at the Mill Inn, our Bed and Breakfast while there. 

With November now behind us, December brings the start of the winter race season and the holidays! Training, racing and eating ... some of my favs!

It's cross season!!

The 2014 triathlon season was a great season that included PB's, staying healthy and strong and some great training sessions and racing paces; but it had one exception - worlds. I pent up so much nervous energy that week leading up to my race days that I totally crapped the bed come performance time. Had nothing in the legs and was disappointed to say the least. Even though I know all the do's and don'ts of nervous race energy, it didn't seem to help me for this one. Note to self: must learn to control nerves.

Although I'm always a little bummed out when tri season comes to an end, I also get really excited because it means that x-country running and cyclocross seasons are starting up! If you don't know, cyclocross is a funny sort of combination of road and mountain, speed and technical and ride your ass off to the finish. It's often cold and muddy; it's hard and scary (for me, because I'm a chicken), slippery and wet but also awesome!

Fall usually means double (or more!) race weekends between me, javelin daddy and littleman followed by long family cooked suppers and a often cold pint. Fall is good.

Race(s) re-cap, rest, recovery and roll!!

Oh my gosh ... I am behind in the blog world so here goes a whirlwind recap:

July 26/27 was a double race weekend for me and a double PB - I was over the moon excited!! I needed to race under tired legs on the Sunday so I did what any normal person would do and signed up for a 5km on Saturday night. I have a love-hate relationship with 'later in the day' races. Hate waiting for them, love it when I'm actually racing. I walked away from Saturday night with a 5km PB and tired legs, but produced on Sunday morning's tri. Goal accomplished!

First official race under the Oiselle wing!
(PB's don't always produce the best expressions do they?)

It had been a long time since I PB'd in a tri...!
#slightlyexcited

Recovery week was spent hitting the trails with Javelin daddy for a little mountain biking. I'm still a chicken, but I'll take any opportunity I have for a ride with my honey!

Ouch. This one hurt a little.

(Note to self: when preparing for the biggest race of the year in less than a month,
maybe don't crash on your mountain bike!)

As does in any training and racing plan there is usually ups and downs; my race mid-August was not the outcome I had hoped for - but sometimes those are the ones that help us most. We get out of our comfort zone, we push and down the line that is where we punch through! 

I'm one week out from worlds and ready to rock! 

Camp recap, flying and recovery!

The view from above...climb, climb, climb!

I'm still recovering from my camp that happened last week, but what a week! Hard rides up and down and up again in the hills of BC. Quality training in the bank! My legs were and still are totally thrashed, but we'll hope that pays off come end of summer! Riding with the lake in view, orchards everywhere, mountains galore and many other cyclists on the road at all hours of the day was wicked. 8 hard rides (plus a few really ugly runs) in 9 days and love/hated every one. Of course what's a rockin' training camp without a few side trips to watch track side throws (PB for @Javelin_daddy!), mountain bike with @Javelin_daddy and littleman, kayak and eat gelato for lunch!

Too fast for the camera - not quite. I am a chicken - but getting braver!

Moving on to more adventures, this week I'm super proud to say that I'm part of a great group of women runners as a new member of their running flock. Oiselle is a fabulous running company out of Seattle that makes great and stylish running and training gear, as well as gives back to the community and is not afraid to stand out on their own.

Not as expected...

Holy man does time ever fly! This past month has been the month of unexpected, here's my top 3:

Not expected #1:
My trail race on June 7 didn't exactly go as expected. It went ugly. Little did I know that later that day the flu would hit me. The run was horrible and I felt awful. I was most pissed on the fact that I am never sick, and now I was going to be out for a few days. This does not make me happy. Later that day came the fever, chills, no appetite, and inability to do anything but lay in bed. For a days! Not just a day, days. My recovery week quickly turned into a survival week to get better. 2 weeks later, I still didn't feel fully recovered.

Not expected #2:
A few weekends ago was track meet in Calgary for @Javelin_daddy, so we decided why not take some side trips in between throws to discover new trails on our mountain bikes with our littleman. Our Friday night ride of an expected 1-1.5 hour loop quickly turned into a 3 hour 19 minutes adventure when we got to a map on the trail and realized that we had totally missed our turn and went the wrong way. Once the "oh shit" factor was put aside, we carried on. This trail was up a mountain, down a mountain, up again, and through some insane mud, roots and technical trail. Lesson learned: when in doubt, get your compass out!

This is the sign we see exiting the loop, after we've already done the trail:

Not expected #3:
This past weekend I dipped my hand in off-road tri. Considering my mountain biking skills are what I would classify as "remedial" and "chicken shit" (evidenced in the expression on my face below from an earlier training ride), I was pleased with how it went. Only once did I get ejected from my bike, and managed to conquer some crazy root sections. The unexpected: I really loved scaring the crap out of myself. Eek, that isn't good.

Mountains forever!

Although spring took it's sweet time to get here, I'm hopeful to say it's finally here!

There were many days of this:

Trips to the mountains to kick start the year's training are always sweet. There's just something about running up a mountain, on trails that allow no view of roads or buildings with only the sounds of birds chirping. Well, that and the occasional rustling in the bushes that scares the crap out of me - is that a bear? A cougar? Run faster!!

But other than great smashing training days, we also get great family time. There's nothing like a 20km commute to lunch for beers on the patio of a beautiful day. Or a 2.5 hour trail ride through snow, mud and rocky creek beds with a picnic lunch in the middle. That is what makes our family.

And what would any mountain adventure be without the proper fuel to keep you going? My littleman's creation - and WOW was it delicious. All raw nuts and seeds (only exception was salted cashews), dried fruits and plain popcorn. YUM. It didn't last long!

I wish I could live in the mountains forever, but we do eventually have to return (although we're trying to make that as seldom as we can!).

Goodbye winter race season, hello spring!

It's been a long Alberta winter. Last official race of my winter season was on April 6 racing with my littleman.

Easter was celebrated with a very muddy but very fun cross ride with @Javelin_daddy and spring race season starts Saturday night with a trail run in the dark. Let the fun begin!