All things Scotland …..

A short prose accompanied by some photos from my trip back home in August.

The long haul home was relatively uneventful :

- A pleasant 3 hours to Sydney in Emirates business class enjoying a 3 course meal and fine wine.

- Another 3 hours in transit at Sydney airport with lots of walking and  a bit of shopping

-14 hours  to Dubai but sadly in Emirates cattle class. The section of the plane I was sitting in was full of young children, including the babe that cried THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. I just adjusted my dose of sedative ( read: doubled ) to ensure I got some sleep.

The Big bird in Dubai

- A couple of hours WAG spotting at Dubai airport and the sheer joy ( its the little things!) of paying AED 40 for a long shower and putting on clean underwear and the new shirt I purchased in Sydney. Followed by a some skulking in duty free to "test" various lotions and a spray of perfume.

- 7 hours to Glasgow….. and I am back on Scottish soil. Weeeeee!!! First thing Mum said when she saw me was "Oh, you look really tired".  Yep.

Hugging Sir Chris Hoy's golden postbox

It had been two years since I was last in Edinburgh; I love the feeling of coming back home and the warm, comforting familiarity of being back in the place I grew up.

Things I love about Britain:

Mummy.
Marks + Spencers
Sainsbury's on the go healthy snacks
Fat Face
Red post boxes
Old dry stane dykes
Some really old buildings
White Stuff
Oatcakes
double decker buses
Public transport availability
Castles or ruins of castles springing up in random places as you drive by
Tea.
Scotsman newspaper
BBC radio and TV.
Royal Commonwealth Pool ( 50m)



Things from NZ I really miss when in Britain:

Brett and Jemima.
NZ white wine - can't be beaten, ANYWHERE
Really good lattes+ flat whites with deep flavour+ properly frothed milk.Not Starbucks.
Early opening cafes with great cafe food- even at winds.
Bright sunny days with not a cloud in the sky.

See you in a month, Mum!

Anyhoo, had a few days in Edinburgh to get over the jet lag and reacquaint myself with  swimming in a 50 m pool as well as sort out a rental car for Mum and I's trip up north……..stock up on a few Clif books + a new short sleeved thermal from my favourite shop the Tri Centre to wear on race day.

See you in a month, babe!

Mum and I headed north on the Thursday, 2 days pre race. It was a bit mizzly as we crossed the Forth road bridge into Fife but started to clear as we hit the outskirts of Perth then took the road towards Braemar. We stopped for lunch at some wee country inn/hotel and had a tasty bowl of home made soup then grabbed a take away coffee and i couldn't resist but to purchase a couple of baked treats. The road was rather rolling and windy here so progress was a little slow but we trundled on until Braemar and got out to stretch the legs. I hadn't been to Braemar, Royal Deeside since a primary 7 school ski trip to Glenshee. It is very typical of a well to do Scottish market town and given we were in the region of the Grampians  the buildings are all a grey stone ( granite , I think) , very tidy  main street with hanging baskets in abundance and two large hotels with a few little shops dotted in between. Not to mention the backdrop of the mountains and an old  red telephone box. Love it.

After that we drove through the Spittal of Glenshee ( you drive up to a pass where the ski field car park sits then descend towards Balmoral )  in a real pea-souper ( dense fog for those who don't understand Scottish colloquialisms).  I think visibility was ~ 20m or so. I was worn out by the time we emerged from the mirk as the sheer concentration and slight terror had sapped my energy. 

A few more windy B class roads and a slight disagreement as to which direction as we came through Keith - headed for Aberdeen until Mum pointed out we should be headed north - and then found the road to Cullen,  another winding road through farming country; fields dotted with cows and we also passed a field of donkeys! Eeeeh-ooohhh.

Home for the next 5 days.

Cullen is a small town on the Moray firth - origin of one of Scotland's more famous dishes, Cullen skink ( its fish chowder basically). A pod of bottle nose dolphins live in the bay and we were lucky enough to see four of them leaping and bounding through the water on our last morning.

Anyway, before I go into laborious detail and get bogged down in what would become a very long blog, I'll give a list of highlights of the northern sojourn:-

- A visit to the Baxters village in Fochabers to stock up on shortbread, oatcakes, preserves…
- Family catch up with Jean, Sylvia and co in Fraserburgh
- A very tasty lunch at the Mountain cafe in Aviemore, the menu had a few dishes I didn't expect to see in the UK but then I discovered the chef was a kiwi!
- Fresh salmon for dinner at least 3 nights.. yum.

Cullen looking towards Buckie

-  Discovering this  gem of a place and the deli on the main street selling fresh cheeses, venison, locally made pates, coffee, smoked salmon. A foodie's heaven.

-catching up with an old friend Therese, who now lives up in Aberdeenshire with her husband and three year old daughter. We met up in Huntly for a coffee and caught up on all the news- had been six years since our last get together!










We drove back home down the A9 via Aviemore, Grantown on Spey and over Drumochter pass to get some different scenery. It was a stunning, sunny day - not a cloud in the sky and 21 degrees. Scotland is a marvellous place in fine weather :)

I had a sore throat the following day which then developed into a full blown head cold and cough but i guess I can't complain as I rarely get sick or get colds and the best time to get one is when you are at your Mum's house, don't have to go to work and are recovering from running an ultra the weekend before  and wouldn't be doing much training anyway. Well, good for us Type -A people anyway :)

Edinburgh Highlights :

- going to a show at the festival fringe; Alistair McGowan the impressionist. Very funny, thankfully only an hour or so long as the hall upstairs at the Gilded Balloon @teviot was akin to sitting in a sauna.

- took Mum and Alan for dinner to www.urban-angel.co.uk . Highly recommend as an eatery in Edinburgh. Casual dining, food and wine list was excellent. I chose the haggis - a real treat. Mmmmm.

- great summer weather and the buzz of the city when the Edinburgh festival is on. Can't beat it!

- a 50m Olympic pool to swim in..at the Royal Commonwealth pool. A reminder of how much I miss QE2.

- Old buildings, older buildings, really really old buildings.

- A visit to the museum to see an exhibition about Mary, Queen of Scots.  #culture.


Then, the long haul back to Christchurch via Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney. Again relatively uneventful apart from the long queue waiting to get through passport control in Dubai and being stuck behind Mr and Mrs Moaner-from-the-north-of England who were apparently discontent with absolutely everything  including the airline, arab, the USA as a whole, other airlines…. why the hell travel anywhere then?!!!

There was a slight delay both landing and leaving Bangkok as a plane had skidded off the runway earlier that day which meant one was closed. They didn't tell us that of course but when it appears on the BBC world headlines that pop up on the screen, doesn't take a double digit IQ to work out…..?!

The best bit was the roller coaster ride as we approached Christchurch. The good ole' norwester was blowing like buggery; confirmed when the plane dropped ~ 50m unexpectedly then was getting thrown from side to side by the wind. I could hear some children screaming, however they were the kind of screams you hear on a fairground attraction - I was having a bit of a white knuckle ride myself!

Returned home to a freshly painted and decorated house with new carpet laid…. poor Brett had been living in the garage while I was away and we had our earthquake repair work done. Looks fabulous!

Once i was over the jet lag ( took AGES!).. time to get back on the bike and knuckle down to some triathlon training. First race of the season on 9th November a half ironman  down in lake Hood, Ashburton.

Catch ya soon for the next instalment…..

A couple more pics to make this more interesting...

Speyside Way Ultramarathon race report.

Ah, long overdue but thought I had better  (figuratively) put pen to paper before the ultra becomes a distant memory, embellished by fond memories of running along the coast with the breeze in my hair and good times. Rather than the aching body and engorged toenails that were apparent by the last hour of the race!

Race distance  36.5 miles ( 59 km for me- as had an extra detour , more on that later)

The Speyside Way is a long distance walking path, of which there are many scattered throughout the British isles. Most of the way is disused railway and snakes alongside the River Spey and several whisky distilleries, until it reaches the river mouth at Spey Bay. From there it follows the coastline to a market town called Buckie; it ends in the town square.

The ultra mostly followed the way with a few detours - up Ben Aigen , the only sizeable climb en route, several rolling B class roads and rolling twisty forest track behind some sand dunes until the last stretch of road along the coastline to the finish.

http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/SNVF6XYGAO474GNJTSICWVKFRE

Garmin file from Training Peaks above. It says total ascent was 3000m but there was nowhere near that amount!  ~ 1100 m over the entire run which isn't too bad really. Also noted in the file is what I consumed during the run . No nutritional problems although I ran out of fluid on the descent of Ben Aigen and had around 6-7km with nothing to drink. I didn't stop for a pee the entire run, toilets were very sparse or a wee way off course.

Smiling up Ben Aigen- eh???

There were 2 aid stations to refuel, one at 12 miles in and the next at 24 miles in. I chose to carry a hydration pack ( My Salomon XT wing which I LOVE) as prefer to be self sufficient and had done all my training runs carrying the pack. I didn't use the first aid station but had put a special needs bag in for the second aid station with a large bottle of water to refill my bladder and a small bottle of flat coke; to get me through the last hour or so.

There was no compulsory gear requirement but, given that we are in the north of Scotland ( ~ 60' N approx) albeit during summertime, I thought it prudent to carry a beanie, light rain jacket, space blanket plus some paracetamol, a very small container with vaseline in and some lip balm as well as   race nutrition which was a mix of gels, blocks, lollies etc.



The weather was reasonable; some light mizzle early in the morning in Buckie and again at the start but no more for the rest of the day. We actually had perfect conditions for running - cloud cover, very mild ( warm, even!) little wind. It could have been a whole lot worse - my biggest fear was torrential rain and having to deal with potential blisters and trench foot through the race. Phew!!

View from the run- Charlestown of Aberlour old railway station

I won't bore any of my (one) readers with  a blow-by-blow in depth analysis of the run; the garmin file should suffice. I have, however, made a noteworthy list of points pertinent to losing my Ultra virginity :)



- the last hour of the run feels like the last 15 km of an ironman marathon

-***pacing is everything*** - I started at the back ( little choice as we had to cross a narrow swing bridge which funnelled everyone into an even longer line) had a very steady first 2 hours on the flattest section of the way and spent the final couple of hours passing an awful lot of people!

-Toe socks with vaseline in between the toes again proved to be my best defence against blisters.

-Ate lightly the day before and a smaller breakfast which had no negative effects on my energy but plenty of positive effects i.e. not feeling like a walrus on the start line!

-Coke travelling in the side pocket of a hydration pack while running may have been flat to start with ….."all shook up..uh-huh"……

-Drinking said Coke resulted in a bad stitch, a problem that has plagued me in my last 2 iron mans.Definitely must be result of gas- don't gulp your drinks, even if they are non fizzy!

-Was able to keep running through the stitch- a HUGE bonus and something to harness for my next ironman.

-Cut up Mars bars taste SOOOOOO good 39km into a run!

-Walk the steep bits, didn't spot many people running Ben Aigen but make sure you can run downhill+ practise in training.

- Wore my iPod , was great. ***allowed to, btw***

- This was the ideal race for a first ultra - pretty mild terrain, reasonable gradients and surfaces i.e. nothing too technical ( apart from a few rooty sections in the latter half), achievable distance if you have already run a marathon.

-Concentrate on the sign posts+ way markers ! I missed a turn about 41km in and ended up way down a wee path to the river. Realised my mistake ( thankfully) and was able to get back on track. Only an extra 800m at most but it coulda been a whole lot worse!

-Enjoy the scenery and the great camaraderie that exists between other runners. A cool bunch of people. Especially when there are four of you that all got confused in the same spot and ended up deciding that running straight up the road ( parallel to where we were supposed to be) must be the right way. Then a marshal appears and we had to stop and wait while he rung the race director to check we could continue. "No ******* way are we backtracking" was the consensus; we had not actually taken a shortcut and we were 10 km from the finish.

FINISH LINE is 20m away!! Embrace the Suck!!

Mum and Aunty Sylvia, Joanna, Jonny and their daughter Faith were all waiting for me in Buckie so it was great to see familial (?!geddit?!) faces.  They live 35 miles round the coast in Fraserburgh so had come over for the day to keep Mum company while I was running and catch up.
As with iron mans, I tend to find that as soon as you stop you feel HUGELY worse than you did previously so best to keep moving. We ended up in a pub/cafe on the main street and I was finally able to get a cup of coffee and had a large bowl of wedges. Yum- salty chips are just what the Dr ordered post endurance event. We said our goodbyes and then Mum and I walked   shuffled up to the high school to pick up the car and make our way back to Cullen.

Once back at the B+B I was able to inspect the damage - very little chafing (bonus!!) and 2 massive blood blisters on the outer aspect of my big toes . I tend to build a lot of hard skin here as despite wearing orthotics I still have some pronation causing the big toe to roll in and rub on either my shoe or orthotic. I had visited the chiropodist and had everything dealt with 5 days prior to the race but I guess six hours of running must create some unavoidable friction!

I'll write a short post about the rest of my holiday back in my beautiful homeland…very soon, promise!

Rehydrating and replenishing with a fine brew

More Hawaii in pictures.

USS Arizona memorial @ Pearl harbor

Dangers of the tropics

Acai brekky



Thought I'd share a few pictures from my trip to Maui. Hawaii is a fabulous place, the people are lovely and the climate is perfect ........I became addicted to fresh pineappples over there.

 Hibiscus flower     

 

 

Whale skeleton at Whalers Village


I'm not sure what blogger does with the photos but somehow they keep moving to places I don't want them to and then I can't place them back to where I'd like them or get the text to where I want it. Hence I don't work in typesetting or graphic design :)

Mum and I spent our last 3 days together in Waikiki; plenty of shopping + fine dining along with a trip on the bus to Pearl Harbour, which far exceeded my expectations. I admit I didn't really know much about the Asia-Pacific involvement in WW2 or understand why Japan  and the USA was involved in a war that apparently involved the Nazis invading various countries of Western Europe. However, an informative movie made up of newsreel from the period and narration gave me clarity and understanding of the significance of the attack on Pearl harbour. The short boat trip out to the memorial and the wreck of the USS Arizona is well worth a visit, albeit a rather  stark reminder of the horrors of war and why we must acknowledge and be very grateful to the servicemen and women who fought to defend our nations to enable us to have what we have today.



USS Arizona wreck


 

Also of note was a fruitful trip to Ala Moana boulevard- a 3 floor shopping mall with all the US chain stores a girl could possibly ever want :)  Needless to say a bit of $$ was spent in Lululemon.


What a wonderful place..... I can't wait to visit Hawaii again. Only 8 and a half hour flight from Auckland, NO jet lag as the time difference is only an hour. Next time I hope to visit the Big Island and see what all the fuss is about there. Wakiki is great but very busy with scores of medium to high end boutiques and high rise hotels. Maui has a very relaxed, quiet vibe but one is never bored there!

Home on the big bird

Xterra world champs 2012- big fat DNS!!

Mojito at Dukes on Ka'anapili

A bit late for posting the rest of my Hawaiian adventures......but better late than never, right?

Short version is that the day before the race, when finally the predicted north westerly swells arrived, I went for a practice swim in the big waves and somehow mistimed my return leg and got swallowed up, dragged under and spat out by the massive shorebreak.

Although I was probably only under the water for a few seconds, it felt like an eternity and I was pretty shaken and quite tearful. The best course of action would have been to get straight back in - back on the proverbial horse so to speak - but since I was alone and terrified, I decided to leave and put it aside until the next day ( race morning). The lifeguard had the red flags+ "Dangerous Shorebreak" sign out on the beach so I didn't feel like I was being tooooo much of a wuss......

Waves never previously seen around Chch.

More stress yet to come in the form of a tsumani warning for Hawaii that evening after an earthquake in the seabed off the coast of Vancouver. Luckily I was on the 4th floor of my Oceanside condo block however, after the experiences of living through an earthquake in Christchurch I was rather apprehensive. The hotel manager said anything above the 3rd floor was fine and not to panic; most of the guests seemed to be alarmed and were scurrying off in various directions to go elsewhere. I did move my rental car up the hill on the advice of the hotel staff and after reading the local civil defence website and skypeing with Brett and another friend I relaxed a little and came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't too much to worry about. Another added bonus of course could be that they would perhaps cancel the swim!!

Bike course-steep, sandy+hot

 

Anyway, I was one of the lucky ones after hearing of racers who ended up being out of their accommodation until 2am when the warning was rescinded. I ended up getting to sleep around midnight, crossing everything that the swim would be cancelled.
No sign of any rogue waves early next morning ensured that the local coastguard declared all the beaches on the west side of Maui safe for swimming. **************cue serious trepidation+anxiety*******

After a very casual registration + transition set up ( so nice not to be shivering while standing around in a trisuit!) I headed down to the beach and saw that the conditions were identical to the previous day, along with the red flags and the "Dangerous Shorebreak" warning. To cut (what could be) a long story short, I had a big panic attack and couldn't even dip a toe in the water. The race people were kind and lovely but nothing could get me in there and I wasn't allowed to continue sans transponder and do the bike and run so that was my day over. I spent the rest of the morning doing a bit of cheering and taking photographs then headed home to get changed and meet up with a couple of the other Chch people there who had raced and we all had an enjoyable evening at the awards dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.  Definitely a different vibe from Ironman events I have attended; much more back to the fun, grass roots , pioneers of triathlon type atmosphere.

I am not one to dwell on decisions made in the moment as you can't change those- you can only learn from the experience and take action to ensure you won't either put yourself in that position again or find yourself in that situation again. We get choppy sea to swim in in the harbour over summer and when we used to swim at Scarborough you could some reasonable swells there but we don't get the big shorebreaks around Canterbury. But I could do a lot more to get comfortable in the surf and also learn how to read and understand what the waves and the water are doing.

Anyway, a couple of days post race Mum arrived and we had a fabulous holiday in Maui, ending with 2 days in Waikiki. We spent a lot of time on the beach, saw a few turtles and a manta ray, shopped, ate locally made ice cream, drank a mojito and ate fish tacos.

Banyan tree in Lahaina



Church in Makena

 

Aloha

Aloha from Hawaii!

I arrived a week ago,; left a chilly Chch morn to arrive to a VERY wet and wild Auckland to depart for Honolulu. Poor decision on my part to walk between the domestic + international terminal but hey ho - I was already committed before I decided it was not one of my best ideas. Plenty time to dry off inside.

Pretty Hawaiian flowers

Enjoyed a snack in the Koru lounge and even better I had been awarded my Silver recognition upgrade so was to enjoy a pleasant 8 and a half hour flight in business class. The only downside is the amount of food and wine they serve you though and by the time we landed in Honolulu I felt like a barrel! Great to be off the plane first, bags and bike didnt take long, no immigration queue and managed to get a shuttle out front to my hotel in Waikiki so arrived there just after 9.30 pm ( except it was actaully the day before I had left Auckland given that we crossed the dateline- rad, huh?!!)

So I settled into my nice air conditioned room on the 17th floor, couldnt resist a few nibbles of the giant Toblerone I had purchased in duty free of course and rolled into bed hoping for a good sleep.

Good sleep didnt arrive until after midnight however as I couldnt drown out the drone of the antiquated air conditioning unit but eventually  drifted off.

Spent the next day wandering around Honolulu, looking at shops trying to acclimitise and took the free trolley bus to Ala Moana mall where to my delight I discovered Lululemon and got myself a new pair of run shorts.
I made it out for a run later that evening along the Ala Wai canal path after a short stint in the miniscule hotel gym then headed out for a dinner for one at the california pizza kitchen. Sure the waiter thought I was a bit odd, especially when I asked for a low calorie beer.... WTF?,,,,,

Had another run next morning along Waikiki beach front, resorted to brekky at Starbucks then got my shuttle back to the airport for next leg of the journey to Maui.

Wee plane, 30 minute flight and my luggage also made it so ..phew.....grabbed a taxi and 3 minutes later was at the Ourigger Royal Kahana which will be home for the next 10 days. However the no nonsense receptionist assured me that there was to be NO checking in before 3pm but they could store my luggage so after a couple of enquiries I located the bus stop and got the bus to Whalers Village in Ka'anapili and had a wander round then got the other bus to Lahaina and found Safeways so was able to get some groceries while I was there. I also found Barnes+Noble so was extremely happy.

Much trailing about later a weary , slight sunburnt and frazzled version of my former self made it back to the Outrigger and was able to check in.

So here I am. Lots of rules+regs here though, Bike has to be stored in the basement, you have to ask for the fitness centre pass each time at reception...the tiny pool is heated to bathwater temp ( WHY??? we are in Hawaii where it is 30 degrees C outside!!!?)

Right on the ocean though; although I am not so keen on swimming here as no lifeguards - and am a bit apprehensive. The sea is nice temperature -27 degrees I would think.

No MTB trails close by and the Xterra course is open from Wednesday before race day. Have been out tootling about on my MTB on the road, found the swimming pool in Lahaina ( its free!!) and hired a car for a day so that I could ride over in Mokowao which are the only public MTB trails

Yeah baby!

This is what they gave me....didnt have enough gumption to roll the top down, partly because Eduardo ( my Epic MTB) was in the back but more so because I didn't have a clue how to do it.

More of my Maui adventures to follow!!

IM Canada RR 2011



Richter Pass

Swim start in Lake Okanagan

Bling

Side stitch pleeeease  P.OFF

Happy!!

Not sure what happened to my official race pics when I downloaded- they are all tiny! Can't seem to enlarge them either which is a bummer- any tech geeks out there who may read this please comment+ let me know!

Swim 1.13.41 42 AG

- Not much to say was uneventful but the water was pretty choppy/rough so I spent a bit much time with my head up. To be expected when 2900 athletes are also in the water. Sighting on return leg into sun was a bit tricky. I hit 2 km in 38 mins so my return leg was a bit slower paced.

-Realised post St G that relative placing gives me an idea where my swim's at rather than time as course are difft.You only learn this when you race in different places!



Bike 6.15 (actaul 6.14 spent 40s fxin a dropped chain) NP 135. Av P -115 34th AG

-Its fast for the 1st 64 km. easy to stay aerobic+ within watts+ fuel. Did a 40 km PB here ( faster than any olympic race!)

-
-Capped myself 175 W up Richter, small chain ring let people go past
-Stayed aero as much as poss thru rollers, pedalled downhills
-Aero on out+back, hit one small climb in big chain ring ( oops) otherwise stuck to power
-Aero as much as poss towards yellow lake. Quite hot in here and a bit of a headache which I think was from my neck - had been hydrating well.
-Normal bike helmet.
-Pushed it up Yellow Lake ( capped 190 W which =ftp). Fun!!
-Quite a headwind on descent + back into town, stayed aero pushed it as could see I was going to make 6.15.

- Enjoyed the entire ride and never hit any bad patches during it

-

Run 4.44. (2.23 to turnaroun 2.21 to finsh) 36th AG 

- Stuck to my NOWALK APART FROM AID STATIONS policy so despite slow pace I still ran the whole run.
-Used G's airport walk thru aid stns ( it really works!! You pass quite a few people too)
-Spent entire run with stitches either under ribs or moving left to right. Wondering if this is postural??
-Focussed on run form, fueled on coke/water/ice/occ powerade


In review + what I have learned+ gained from this race ( IM #5)

- Stuck to race plan+nutrition plan no tummy issues, headache disappeared when I got off the bike so mustve been my neck

-Spent the last few months on some mental training which has paid off- I stayed in the moment the entire day and smiled my way round. I came in with a positive attitude and the self confidence that i could and would cope with whatever the race threw at me this in turn I feel resulted in the race not actaully throwing any curve balls at me.

The only point in the race I recall having a real mental low point was at mile 22 of the run but it passed relatively quickly.

- Spent an extra 30 secs in T2 to put on my Injinji toe socks. No blisters or sore feet

-Another HOT race ( 32 deg). No prob for me as was well acclimitised. I need at least 2 weeks in hot climes.

-I knew the whole course as had biked it all. REALLY helped when writing my race plan as I could visualise EVERY part of the day. Something to take forward for future races how important and useful a tool that is in race prep.

- Run was quite a bit slower than I had hoped but the +ve side is it was evenly paced + I DIDNT walk.

- wondering if I should have set my power targets a little lower and perhaps biked 6.30 ( as anticipated) then would have been able to run a little quicker?

- Glad I have learnt how to pee on the bike. With so many athletes on course, the portapottys were always full.

- I loved this race and the course. Its my favourite one so far.Wil definitely be back.

- The mental side is everything in long course racing; something to build on and ensure its in the training plan for future races. Am also a firm believer in Noakes Central Governor theory. I worked him hard at EC womens camp when there was less oxygen around which made this bike feel easy.

And I'm back!

The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say - 11 months of intending to get back on the blogging wagon  and I am finally here.

Guess that happens when life returns to the normal humdrum of 9-5, domestic chores and trying to encompass swim/bike/run, not to mention my minimum 8-9 hours of  sleep a night!

Winter Olympics 2010- nr Whistler, BC

Next up is my IM Canada race report. Had a few issues with the photos I purchased or perhaps more accurately is the way I downloaded them as a zip file and they are all miniscule! Have not quite figured out how to open them up - even a lad in the camera shop couldn't tell me. Ah well.

Almost as good as the real thing......

Super inspired by the London Olympics ( and serious FOMO) that I wasn't back home and able to watch it all live or even in a sociable time zone I have posted a few pics from the winter Olympics  venue ( Vancouver 2010) that I visited. Highlight was seeing the ONE AND ONLY BEAR of my entire 5 weeks in Canada.