Buddhist Shoulder

Have my first religion-related injury...... First, fell ON shoulder. (Technically, drinking-related injury.) Second, fell and stretched shoulder when suspended only by grip on a tree root while rest of body dangling down hill (trekking injury). Third, completely aggravated sore right shoulder by turning VERY large prayer wheels - always with right hand, and always clockwise. On the upside, suffering makes the blessings more potent. These blessings are sending messages of peace into the world. You're welcome.


Buddhist Shoulder - a bit like tennis elbow?

Everest and nuns

Incredible flight this AM. It was clear as we went along the Himalaya, so we had clear views of Everest. WOW.
I flew past Everest today.
I FLEW PAST MOUNT EVEREST TODAY.
HOLY COW, I FLEW BY MOUNT EVEREST TODAY!!!!!


Bhutan is nice, but feels very tame compared to Nepal :) We did visit a Buddhist nunnery this afternoon though, and were able to witness them praying. They play various instruments (cymbals, drum, long loud horns) and chant prayers. I was sitting beside a girl as she was turning the pages of her "prayer book", and one "hymn" they did was called 'A Light Shower of Blessing Flowers'. Cool, right?

Diwali in Kathmandu!

All is well here in Kathmandu. It is the Hindu Festival of Diwali here, and for the next 2 days. Yesterday we hung around until the office until we had a ceremony to welcome Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, into the place. It was cool. They made a puja, like an altar, with small cash bills, flowers, fruits, incense, colours, pictures, oil lamps....all led into the office by a mandala on the sidewalk outside, and then a trail of smeared cow dung with a few oil lamps and flowers to lead Laxmi inside. All of these were to attract her attention and tempt her to come inside. (Cows are sacred to Hindus - I think this explains Laxmi's attraction to cow dung.) Also, they annointed all of the money-making items in the office (computers, desks, filing cabinets, safe, telephones) with colours and flowers, again to attract Laxmi's attention.


We all did a small ceremony at the puja/altar, where we threw colours and bits of rice and millet at the puja, as an offering. And Deepak, as head of the household, gave each of us a tikka. That's a small blob of colour on your forehead, as a blessing. The ladies also got a small amount of cash.

Later, we went to Deepak's house, where he gave us beer. Hindus are not meant to drink alcohol at other times of the year, so this is significant. And Deepak's wife gave us round, fried, sweet rice bread treats (similar to a doughnut, but not quite) that are only made at Diwali.

Children came to the house, and sang songs and were given a bit of cash. It is said that if the singers come and are given money at your home, this will bring prosperity and wealth into your home this year.

Next, a band of troubadors came to the neighbours' house, wtih big speakers and trained folk dancers. They put on quite a show! Sometimes the dancers were performing, but other times it was a group dance to a popular song. (Keep in mind the Nepalis were all drinking, so they were happy to dance.) I joined in dancing to one song, thinking I'd just stay on the sidelines, but OH NO, nearly immediately I was in the middle of the crowd. I got plenty of compliments on my dancing. Seems all that time "dancing and bouncing my bums" in Africa has paid off in spades.



Another cool part of Diwali is that they worship different animals as part of worshiping the earth and a healthy ecosystem. So far, they have worshipped crows, dogs and cows. I didn't see how they worshipped crows, but on Dog Day, dogs were fed nice food, given flower malas (necklaces) and tikkas on their heads. It was the same for cows today - marigold necklaces and bright colours put on their foreheads.



Tomorrow is Brothers and Sisters Day. Will let you know how that goes.

in Kathmandu!

oh wowowowowoowow, the trip has been awesome so far

First, the greatest layover ever in Hong Kong.
Then 2 really nice days hanging with the Days in Singapore
And yesterday a super fun night in Bangkok with new all-Canuck friends Terry, Mike, little Darcy, Natasha and Samir. The short version:  got spiffed up and went to the Long Table, which is on the 26th floor. We were there in time for Happy Hour, so me n Terry drank half price prosecco. Yippeee! My fave! (Astute readers will recall that I see this as a sure sign that Gods love me when sparkley wine is on sale.) After much too much fun with a truly INCREDIBLE sky line view, we headed to N and S's swanky-assed apartment. It's only $2000 a month, but WOWOWOWOW, it would cost $6000 a month for similar in Vancouver. There, we had incredible Thai take out (cost = $8 for all of us), gin and tonics (another of my fave drinks) and smoked a hookah with rose-flavoured tobacco.
Too bad I don't have my photo-posting thing to put pics up now, so this will have to wait.

I'm now in Kathmandu, Nepal. Major disappointment today:  it was cloudy so did not see the Himalayas, namely Mt Everest, as I flew by. Pretty bummed, but maybe in a month?
Leaving in the morning for 18 days of trekking. SUPER cool.

Hong Kong!

I am posting this from Singapore.

On the way here, I spent a 9 hour layover in Hong Kong. I was last there in 1988, so thought it would be cool to see how it had changed. And WOW, has it ever!
When I was there back then, Hong Kong was the first place I visited as I traveled solo across Asia. It was foreign, confusing, had NO English and smelled like Chinese 5 spice. It was the first place I had ever seen beggars with deformities.
Well now, HK has english signs everywhere, directing you to any landmark you might like. The people speak english. There is a mass transit system that takes 24 minutes from the airport to downtown. The people seem to be from all over the world, not only China. It was modern and clean, and lots of new construction.

I especially liked the advertising for all sorts of things.

winging into Hong Kong

Hong Kong

easy peasy! English signs pointing your way to any landmark

Hong Kong

hangover from SARS and H1N1

view from Victoria Peak

slope stability works

more slope stabilisation stuff

lion statue

me, on Victoria Peak

No Smoking lion

found a display about dim sum. THis kid REALLY likes it

cleaning the photo display

I was highly disturbed by how much this child enjoys meat balls

is it a cloud?

I have NO idea why the Marriott chose to advertise with a spider as big as a pillow

Victoria Peak tram

Hong Kong

will be sterilised every 2 hours? A method of money laundering?

Hong Kong skyline from the Star Ferry

and now we know what Clark Kent wears

food experimentation in HK. Had to wait for the mochi to thaw for 20 mins. Tasty, but :(

skyline on Tsim Sha Sui side, HK harbour

construction on reclaimed land

Personal Best!

YYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
New personal best today in the Royal Victoria Half Marathon! I took nearly 2.5 minutes off my previous best time at this distance. AND it was my 6th half marathon in 6 months.

Celebrated with champagne and OJ with the girls, of course. Pretty sure there's electrolytes in champagne, right?



Queen Super Wonderlust, aka. Carol



Susie Sunshine

Reggie the GILF and Core Queen Cathy

BIG Update

I've been hopeless at writing on this blog for ages, so here's a biggie update!

I'm off to Asia on Tuesday at 2 AM. I'm going for 8 weeks!! One of my old high school galpals lives in Singapore, so I'm going to stay with her for a bit. Then she's connected me to her friend Terry who is currently living in Bangkok, so I've got a guide with a couch lined up in Bangkok! Then it's off to Nepal for 18 days of trekking. I've wanted to go trekking in the Himalaya for about 5 years, so I'm happy I'm finally doing that. I get back to Kathmandu in time for a 3 day festival of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. Very cool. I love attending festivals as it is an amazing snapshot of local culture, and I am thrilled I will see this!


After Diwali in Kathmandu, I'll leave for 11 days in Bhutan, another mountain kingdom in the Himalaya. I have wanted to visit Bhutan for decades, literally, so this is HUGE for me. I had hoped to do some trekking there, as it is meant to be incredibly beautiful. But instead I'll be lucky enough to see a, you guessed it, FESTIVAL in eastern Bhutan. Bhutan is a very traditional country, unique and interesting, and not very open to the West, so I am so excited to see this place. Did you know that instead of tracking the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), they track the GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness)? How fantastic is that? Apparently the King noticed years ago that citizens of more economically successful countries were not necessarily happier, and he decided that happiness is more important than money. WOW. I cannot wait.

My friend Gary has just booked some of his trip, and will be joining me for part of the Nepal trek and for Bhutan. His friend worked with the Prince of Bhutan, so I am strongly angling for a meeting with the Prince!! hahaha, we shall see.

After Bhutan, I'll head back to Bangkok for another couple nights, and hopefully see Terry again.....if they have not yet moved away from Bangkok. (They have a great lifestyle where her husband works in internet something, so they just choose somewhere that sounds cool and live there for a few months.)

Then I've got a night planned in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had the option of flying directly back to Singapore, but instead chose the "less good" connection to give me a night in a place I've never seen before. Fun, right?!

Then....back to Singapore. At that point, I'll have 2 1/2 weeks of holiday left, and I have made no plans so far. Maybe hang with Laura and her family? Hopefully we could do a trip to Cambodia to visit the orphanage she sponsors. Anyway, those plans will be made when the time is right.

And then I'll be back in Vancouver on Dec 8.


Update on my projects

I have 2 great projects in the works:
1. a book about the good things that come from the adversity of cancer
2. Getting Gold for Canada


The book project has been in the works for a while, but over the last couple months, I have done some wonderful and inspirational interviews. People have made gains and found things such as: more fulfilling meditation practise; the ability to love more deeply; financial freedom; improved personal relationships; changed careers; etc etc. It is great!

2. the project about Getting Gold Medals for Canada has me working with competitive and elite paralympic athletes who do nordic skiing. This started because I watched my friend Jamie guide a visually impaired skier in Whistler last spring. I watched at the categories of nordic skiing, and was fascinated watching those competitions. As usual, I met some engineers in a bar and got chatting about what I was excited about, so the idea came up that the athletes should have better equipment. And that I should find corporate sponsors to do this, AND that if these companies has engineers working there, they could have a perk of working with elite paranordic athetes. I saw it as a perfect match!
Then I sat down with Jamie and Tony, who run the local nordic ski club in Vancouver, which happens to have many of the Canadian National Paralympic Nordic team. I pitched them my idea, and they were super keen! But then it came out that most of the paranordic athletes had not accessed the research and academic resources available in the Lower Mainland. WOW, I just assumed that was something that would have already been done! So the first phase of my project is to link athletes with researchers and students in Vancouver.
I have now met a few athletes and made some incredible contacts at UBC and BCIT. I am really, really excited! I've met a gal who is doing her Ph.D. in Human Kinetics, so she has many grad students and undergrads to approach. And I got connected to the Head of the Prosthetics Dept at BCIT who was shocked to hear that our best standing athletes do not have a sport-specific prosthetic. (Fyi, standing athletes have issues with lower limbs, such as amputations.) He's going to talk with his lab, and I may also look to form a partnership with folks at UBC too. And I met another woman who is a resident in at UBC Med School in Physical Medicine (this is physiotherapy medicine, and sports med, and rehab med, and prosthetics. It's a broad field). She told me she has spoken to some of her contacts, and they are excited as it's tough to find research subjects. WHAT?!? So here I am, finding a gap in athletes' development and connecting it to a gap in related research! How great is this? I'm thrilled!

I spoke last night with Sean, who is in a wheelchair and brand new to nordic skiing, although keen to compete. He doesn't have equipment yet, or really know how to ski. But I told him he's great, as he's a raw talent. He used to play hockey at an elite level, so has the "right stuff" to be competitive. One of the other sit skiers has spent years on trial-and-error to get his sled set up, although he is now on my list to be analyzed for biomechanics, to see if he is in the most efficient position. (Seriously. This guy is the top ranked sit skier in Canada, but has NOT had analysis done to see if he is skiing as efficiently as possible.) Anyway, I'm thinking that perhaps Sean could be put into our program at an earlier stage, and maybe shorten the learning curve to become an efficient skier? He is excited about my idea!

I see HUGE potential for this project, and I am excited.
Have I mentioned I'm excited?!?!?!?    :-D


What else? Healthwise, I'm great. I have a recurrence, just a little one. Anyway, we've known about it for 2 years now, I guess. I had to meet with all sorts of specialists last year. Eventually, a treatment plan was recommended, so that I would have another blast of radioactive iodine. They did say I could take thyrogen to do this, so it wouldn't be nearly so horrible, but.... I have currently declined treatment. It's a little speck of a tumour, and we're just watching it. If it grows a bunch, or I get mets, or whatever, THEN I'll have some I131. But in the meantime, I'm healthy and happy.

Fitness wise, I've set a goal for myself of running a half marathon each month for a year! I have one coming up on Sunday, and that will be one a month for 6 months, so I'm halfway there. :) I'm surprised how tired I am, actually. But it's going fine.


So......that's my update. It's a long one, as I've been soooooo busy, my poor blog has been sadly neglected. Terrible.

Guest Blogger!!!

oh, how exciting. My first "writing gig". OK, not a paid job, but nonetheless, I have been published somewhere other than where I published myself.

I was asked to guest post for Amanda, as she is off doing the Seattle RnR Marathon and cruising to Alaska.

So go check out the link:  http://runtothefinish.blogspot.com/2010/july/5-weird-but-good-smoothies

yes, it is the same post as I published here, but it's at a different place!
Anyway, I'm excited about that.

Hole E. Coyote!

I went out for a run with the doggies tonight. No big deal....until the dogs found some coyotes. The dogs kept disappearing into the bush, then I heard some strange barking, and then they came back....followed by a  coyote! The coyote was definitely afraid of me. But he kept circling around us, through the bush. And the dogs kept running back into the bush to challenge (or maybe play?).

Eventually, there were 3 coyotes, and I started to get nervous. We were heading back to the car, but a long way into the forest. I picked up 2 really big sticks, and ran along the path like a Masai Warrior!

I kept stopping to look (with my 2 big sticks in hand!), and the 3 coyotes were clearly sticking with us. They stopped for a long group howl at one point, which was totally creepy. They kept crossing the path behind us when I wasn't looking. And the dogs kept heading into the bush! I don't know if they were trying to challenge the coyotes, or play with them, as 1 of the coyotes would always follow them back toward me. But as soon as the coyote saw me, it would turn back. That one followed us right to the edge of the forest, near where I was parked.

Anyway, it all ended fine. Thanks coyotes, for my unplanned speed workout!

5 Smoothie Recipes That Sound Weird But Are Tasty and Healthy

This post is being written because Amanda at http://runtothefinish.blogspot.com/ is heading to do the Seattle RnR Marathon this weekend, so she needs some guest bloggers. And I offered to write this for her to help out.

Good luck Amanda! Have a great run! (You can look at my posts from June/July '09 to see how my Seattle RnR Marathon went. It was my first too.)

_____
OK, there are a few reasons that I now make a lot of smoothies.

1. they are easy, and a fun way for me to experiment
2. my stomach likes them, even before a long run, and definitely after
3. I have finally figured out how to pack plenty of calories/energy in them so I can manage a big workout, although I only "drank my breakfast"  (this used to be a problem)
4. my naturopath has recommended that I go on a vegetarian or vegan diet, with way more greens, as this raises the pH of my body. Why? The theory is that cancerous tumours thrive and grow in an acidic pH environment. So, to discourage the growth of cancerous tumours in the body, you should raise this pH, as well as reduce other sources of stress/inflammation for the body.

I really, really like to experiment, and am totally horrible at following a recipe, or doing anything the same way twice...so making the following recipes was a small challenge for me. But I have done it, and I hope you try them all. Enjoy!

My general guidelines for a smoothie are that I try to use vegan ingredients with organic fruit & veggies and no added sugars. I like some texture, I like it thick, and I don't mind if it's cold or not. Throw everything into the blender and push MIX. Add a bit more liquid if it's too thick. Add ice if it's too warm. Add an extra scoop of protein powder if you have a huge workout planned.
I welcome you to try these recipes and modify any way you like!

Sweet Tart Greenie
banana - 1 whole
vanilla soy protein powder - 1 scoop
avocado - 1/2 a large one
broccoli - a generous spring (about 4 inches high and 2 inches at the top). Break or chop it into smaller pieces
lime juice - roll it on the counter, chop it in half, and squeeze in juice of 1 entire lime
long English cucumber - about 5-6 inches, chopped coarsely
orange juice - about 1/2 cup. I just add enough so it tastes a bit sweeter and my blender doesn't burn out.

This smoothie is pale green, with a grainy texture, and tastes both tart and sweet. It is very fresh, and will wake you up, but in a nice way.


Chocolate For Breakfast
kids and husbands like this one

vanilla soy powder - 1 scoop
baking cocoa - about 2/3 of a scoop (I used the scoop from the protein powder)
long English cucumber - about 6-7", chopped coarsely
banana - 1 whole
vanilla soy milk - add enough to prevent blender burnout (maybe 1/2 or 3/4 cup)
cinnamon - about 1/3 to 1/2 tsp

The cinnamon adds a sweetness without sugar, and it's a natural anti-inflammatory. The cocoa has all the goodness of chocolate, without the fat or sugar. So my mouth loves this chocolatey taste, my heart loves the antioxidants, and my knees love the anti-inflammatories. Consider switching banana for raspberries or pie cherries...or any fruit that tastes divine with chocolate. It's a winnah!

Razzmatazz
Amber's favourite - very raspberry-ey!

frozen raspberries - 1 to 1 1/2 cups
broccoli - a sprig (about 4 inches high and 2 inches at the top). Break or chop it into smaller pieces
vanilla protein powder - 1 scoop
vanilla soy milk - 3/4 cup (I really never measure...I just make sure the blender does not make horrible noises. And sometimes I eat my smoothie with a spoon)
orange juice - a good splash (about 2 tbl)

The strong raspberry flavour and grainy raspberry seeds hide the broccoli in this one, although it does smell slightly grassy. If raspberries weren't so dang expensive, I'd make this one all the time.

Melon Delight
vanilla protein powder - 1 scoop
avocado - 1/2 a large one
peaches - 1/2 pint of home canned peaches (feel free to use 1 whole fresh peach, or a half can of no-sugar-added store-bought peaches)
melon - 1/4 of a medium-sized melon. I happened to find a Casaba melon in my local grocery, which was a bit like a honeydew. Cantaloupe would be good too.

smells nice, pale yellow-green colour, sweet and tasty
This was a big hit with my friend's husband and 12 y/o son.

"Oh Hello! That's Delicious!"
that's what I said when I tasted this one  :)

vanilla soy milk - about 1/3 cup
vanilla protein powder - 1 scoop
orange juice - 1/4 cup
peaches - 1/2 pint of home canned peaches (feel free to use 1 whole fresh peach, or a half can of no-sugar-added store-bought peaches)
long English cucumber - about 6", chopped coarsely

my friend's husband said:  "What did you put in this? Malibu Rum? It's really good."  Nope. No coconut or alcohol, although that might be a great idea... post-workout  ;)


Notes on ingredients
protein powder - Be careful with the ingredients in your protein powder. Look for NO fake sugars, non-GMO, organic, no weird fillers, or anything that seems like a bad idea to eat. I get whey protein. I prefer vanilla flavour, as that always seems to add a nice taste to a smoothie and make it more of a treat. Get a recommended brand in a health food store, then see if you can find it for less $ online or at the grocery store.

avocado -  my naturopath is crazy about avocado! The fat is a "good fat", the pH is quite high, and it adds a lovely creaminess to a smoothie. Buy them in season if possible. In Canada, they are usually cheaper to buy in a bag of 3 or 5. A smoothie is the perfect way to use the one you forgot on the counter, and it's a bit too soft for putting in guac. Or that second half that's gone a bit brown in the fridge since yesterday.

cucumber - I know lots of people do not like cukes. I find their flavour disappears in a smoothie, but might add a freshness. Also, they are so wet, they add lots of water to a smoothie. The little bits of green skin add a nice dab of colour. And their pH is really high, so that's great.
 
broccoli - this was a pure fun experiment one day, and it worked! As long as you don't add too much, no one will know it's in there, except there are small green bits. Bioflavenoids, fibre, high pH....these little trees are so good for you!
 
Thanks very much to my testing team: Amber, Karen, Allan, Spenser and Keltie the dog (She is normally a picky eater, but she LOVED the Sweet Tart Greenie!)

Race Report: Mayo Midnight (Half) Marathon

It all started 18 months ago, when Amber figured, "If Tara can run, so could I."
And then 6 months ago, when I said, "You bet Amber, of course you can run a half marathon. If you train for it, I'll come run with you, wherever you are."
So on June 19, Amber and I ran the Mayo Midnight Marathon together.

So I drove from Kamloops, BC to Whitehorse, Yukon to Mayo, Yukon. And back south, eventually. All for a total of nearly 6000 km in 2 weeks (ok, yuck...but totally worth it)

insect carnage - vegans and Buddhists avert your eyes

The run was TOUGH. Poor Amber was nervous and didn't really understand how concerned with FOOD I was.... so she was really nauseous for the entire race. Poor thing! She thanked me a zillion times for blabbing nearly non-stop. She figures there is no way she'd have finished without me. :) She told me a couple times that I could go on my own pace if I wanted, but I was like, "You are not getting rid of me with an effing crow bar, lady. I came to run with you, and that's what I'm doing."

 

pre-race:  dinner by the fire, and then...2 minutes to start!!

We nearly missed the start of the race. Twice. I am not kidding!!!!
The first time was because maybe I was a bit slack about leaving town and getting on the road. (story of my life...) So I was then zipping along in Central Yukon, and the oncoming police car flashed and pulled me over.  Oh Boo  :(      
But let's hear it for being back in my old stomping grounds:  he took one look at my driver's license, and asked, "Did you grow up in Whitehorse?"  "Aaahh, yup."
"Did you grow up on Stewart Road?"  "Why, yes!"  
"Is your mom Nesta?"   "Yes, Officer Ben, that's right!.... ummm, do I know you?"
"Yah, I lived at 6 Stewart Road."  And I was at 18 Stewart Road. And yet I failed to LIE and say I remembered him....
So Officer Ben went back to his car, and Amber and I debated my luck. She figured my history would get me through. I guessed that he'd pull my file, see I got a speeding ticket last week too, and I didn't remember him so he'd be annoyed, and I'd be unlucky.
OK, he came back to the car, and did ask about my last ticket. Ugh. And then I set a new record for strange things to say to a cop:  "Ben, how old are you? When did you move to my street?"  And the pinnacle, "Oh, no wonder! I was in junior high when you moved, so why would I hang out with a little kid like you?"  (I am soooooo smooth.)
But all's well that ends well..... He made me promise that we would race IN Mayo, and not race TO Mayo, so he let me have a warning. It took cruise control to keep to the speed limit for the remainder of the day. And we almost missed race registration.

The second time, we were hanging out at the campsite, having a fire and  chatting, when SUDDENLY, the race was gonna start in like 10 minutes! ACK! Luckily, one of the other campers was just leaving in his pickup, so we hitched a ride on his bumper. We made it with like 3 minutes to spare  :)

But other than Amber wishing for an early death for 19 of 21 km, it was awesome!!! I high-fived EVERYONE on course. OK, truly, I missed 1 cop (as he was on the wrong side of the vehicle), 1 conservation officer (as he was on the wrong side of the vehicle), and 1 EMT (as he was on the wrong side of the vehicle). I nearly got run over by both the RCMP and ambulance, as I was attempting to high-five the occupants. Ooops. The next morning, ambulance driver apologised to me for hitting me, and hoped it wasn't too hard. haha. He actually did not hit me, but he was bored, so probably woulda liked a patient!

at a Hawaiian water station

I ran up to one lady with my arm out for a high 5, and she thought I was offering hugs, so gave me a huge hug. YAY! Then another runner hugged me. And then much later, a couple marathoners were clearly struggling and HURTING (oh crap, marathon is hard and HURTS!!), so I hugged them. YAAAYYYYY! On-course hugs are a new development for me. So great!

We watched the sunset, saw the sun dip below the mountain, and watched the dawn at 1:30 AM. But of course it never got dark at all. :)

Amber running STRONG with only 2 km left

no flash needed - it's only 1 AM in Central Yukon in June

 

And then the food!!!!!! Runners are so into food!

At the end of the race, they offered tea and coffee, bagels, fruit and home-made soup!! I'm tellin you, every time you have soup offered to you, made by a First Nations lady, TAKE IT! I swear it's in their DNA to make delicious soup.

And the race put on a HUGE breakkie the next morning. (Did I mention runners are really into food?!) MASSIVE spread: coffee, scrambled eggs, potatoes, ham, lots of sorts of bread, muffins, bagels, the FRUIT was incredible - strawberries, kiwi, bananas, and WATERMELON - YAY!! And carrot cake! And banana cream pie!!!! Oh yes! Pie for breakfast! And just when it could NOT get better, they poured champagne cocktails!!! Champagne + cranberry juice + a huge frozen strawberry!!!

And we got a great race shirt.

And all this for $45!!!!

the day after, at Pelly Crossing:  Amber learned that Cold Water Therapy is fantastic, not crazy

Plan B

I have hurt my foot again :( It's been bugging me all spring, but then I thought it was all better, and hurt it running hills yesterday. I'm taking this week to do mostly yoga and not much running. I'll go for massage (oowwwwww!!) tomorrow. And hopefully run Thurs night and next Sunday. Fingers crossed. I am planning to run Amber's FIRST HALF MARATHON with her in Mayo, Yukon on June 19, so hope all is well for that.


As you'll recall I hurt my back BADLY last summer, just prior to the marathon. Well, it just feels weak and twitchy all the time now.

I had been dreaming of doing a full marathon each year from 40-50, but I've had to accept I just cannot do it this year. It's silly to increase my training that much when I'm already a bit injured all the time. I am pretty bummed about this.

I wish there were 20 mile races!!! It is so hard to go from 13.1 miles to 26.2 miles. I would like to do 3/4 of a marathon. Hmmmm, perhaps I need to start an event like this?

So instead, I'll run a bit and bike a bit and do lots of REHAB and core strengthening. I can always find a triathlon to do in the fall??? Maybe. Not too bad for Plan B.

Dude. Litres are litres.

I wheeled into Trinidad, California tonight.
At the gas stations in Cali, you need to prepay for gas, but you have to punch in your zip code, which obviously I do not have, so I always go in.
Gas Jockey:  how much gas do you need?
Me: I dunno. I'm gonna fill it.
GJ:  I have to put down a max amount.
Me:  I'm not sure. I think in litres, not gallons. I'll need about 50 litres. How many gallons is that?
GJ:  Well, are your Canadian litres Imperial or Standard?
Me: Dude. Litres are litres.
GJ:  Oh yah, I was thinking about pints... 16 ounces or 20 ounces.
Me:  Umm, 40 bucks? Thanks.
[I pump my gas and come back inside.]
Me:  the sign on the highway says there's lodging in Trinidad?
GJ  [really animated]:  Oh yah! I've got a flyer for a place in my van!
Me [raised eyebrows]:  ummm, wow, that sounds kinda sketchy
GJ:  well, I wasn't gonna go get the flyer out of my van
[I start laughing]
GJ:  oh no, it's awesome. The food is great and there are cabins and free wifi. And there will be a reggae band playing. It'll be the hotspot in Trinidad tonight.
Me:  hmmm
GJ:  oh oops. Reggae is tomorrow. Monday.

So that's right. I'm at that place. It's a dive. But the room was cheap, the wifi free, the shower hot, the fish tacos are tasty, the margarita strong, and I ate some really spicy grilled melon. Yummy.

Road Trip!!

Today is Day 1 of my latest road trip. My underlying purpose to run a half marathon along the Avenue of the Giants. That's along this road, and through these trees:

How great is that? Can't wait.

Here are more trees. I took this shot last year.

Oh boy! Can't wait! I'll be running on Sunday morning. Think energetic thoughts for me over your morning coffee.

My Life in Pics 2009

Rave Run....Marin County

I went for an amazing run in Marin County, California. It was all the better as I've been pretty sick for weeks, so haven't done much of anything. so....as usual started with a "gentle" 5 miles over hill and dale. Check out the views! How awesome!

gorgeous light :)

sun setting over the Pacific

my excellent trail guide, and guide to excellent trails, Eric

Mom is World Champ!

from the Whitehorsestar.com, Oct 19:
Whitehorse’s Nesta Leduc has won a gold medal in orienteering at the World Master’s Games in Sydney, Australia over the weekend.

Whitehorse’s Nesta Leduc has won a gold medal in orienteering at the World Master’s Games in Sydney, Australia over the weekend.
Leduc came in first a whopping 12 minutes ahead of her nearest competitors to steal first place away from two favourites from Sweden in the Women’s age 75 category.
The course was 2.3-kilometres, and Leduc managed to finish up in 47 minutes, 51 seconds against 14 other competitors.
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I did a google search on mom:

• when she won gold in the Canadian champs in August, they called her a 'wily veteran'
  
• "Giving an unblemished performance was Whitehorse’s Nesta Leduc, winning gold in all three events in the women’s 75-plus category." from a report earlier this year
  
• “I didn’t do any sports as a kid; I was the fat kid who was never invited onto any team. I didn’t waste all my joints with injuries when I was young, so now I still have what it takes to keep going.”

ok, I better stop. She can easily cut me out of the will :)

But I do think she should wear her WORLD CHAMP medal when she carries the Olympic Torch this winter.

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here's a comment from a friend: Ya know, I think you need your own reality show: “Orient Yourself: Keeping up with Nesta.” You take a bunch of macho 20-somethings out to the woods and show them what’s what. I’d watch that religiously!

Royal Victoria Half Marathon

For the second eyar on a row, Susan Kelly and I ran the Royal Victoria Half Marathon. Once again, the weather was PERFECT. We may not have trained for the run, but it gave us a chance to catch up on all our stories from the last 6 months :)

We Can-Can Do It!
A Beautiful Day!

Oh no! Took a wrong turn and accidentally did the full marathon. Had to recover at the beer table one km after this shot...