Ironman CDA Changed my Life

Hola Bloggies:

Slightly over a week ago I had the absolute pleasure of volunteering at the 2010 Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

A beautiful lake in the Idaho Panhandle may seem like an absolutely random place for this Canadian to show up but really it’s not. Currently, I live about a 3 1/2 hour away from CDA. When I heard (through Punk Rock Tri Guy’s blog) that this was the site of a full Ironman I knew I had to be there. It was only a couple of days before the event that I was able to confirm that I would be able to attend but that didn’t matter – I was just happy to be heading down.

I spent the night before the event in a friend’s vacation home in Sandpoint; that put me about an hour away from CDA. Of course this meant that I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to make sure I was on the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene in time for the start of the Ironman pros. Another reason to arrive early? To meet up with Punk Rock Tri Guy (and family). This was going to be Ron’s first ever Ironman and I was excited for him. Just the mere fact that he was willing to walk up to the shores of the lake and take on that monumental task (!) made him a hero in my eyes.

Waiting for the race to start you could cut the excitement and nerves. The competitors were just ready to go and their supporters were ready to get their cheer on.

Honestly,when I signed up to volunteer I thought I would have fun but nothing could have prepared me for how life altering this event would be.

The Ironman is about so much more than the race itself; it’s about the stories that have brought each competitor to that day.

It’s about the absolute joy and triumph on the faces of the competitors.

It’s about the first time competitor that barely misses a beat and smokes the swim.

It’s about the fact that the swim portion of the Ironman took the bulk of the competitors approximately an hour an forty-five minutes. Call me a mere mortal but I would have deemed that a very long workout and called it a day.

And yet these men and women were about to head out for an over 100 mile bike ride. And as if that wasn’t enough, they were going to chase the bike ride down with a marathon. Insanity.

While the competitors were making their way around a seriously hard bike course, I headed to (wo)man Run Aid Station #1. It was only then that the immensity of the event started to hit me.

While we were waiting for the runners to arrive we could hear the announcer on the loudspeaker telling us about the competitors. There was the man who used to weigh over 460 lbs and lost over 250 (!!!). No Biggest Loser type help. Just good old fashioned hard work. I do hope he finished. I hope he knows how much he inspired me.

One of the most amazing things was seeing the different shapes, sizes, and ages of the competitors. I saw elderly people run by me – not hobble by – but run!!! I saw men and women that looked like they had no business being Ironmen and yet there they were – proving everyone wrong. Defying the stereotypes.

By the point people ran by us they had been racing for the better part of the day. And yet, some of them managed to run by with completely fresh legs and sound totally in control when declining fuel. I’m looking at you Mr. Potts.

Calling the Ironman gruelling is an understatement of epic proportions. Yet no one complained. Never once did I hear people say they wanted to quit. They all pushed themselves beyond what I thought any human body could accomplish. And they did with style and grace.

 

Right then and there I resolved to never complain about a workout again. If these people could be out there for over a dozen hours surely I could manage to find a way to push through a four mile run or a hard P90X workout. Surely I could do more.

And that’s why Ironman CDA changed my life – it forever altered my concept of what I can achieve. It takes determination, discipline, and strength of character but you really can accomplish anything. Sure, I had heard that before but I didn’t really believe it until that day on the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Every single one of those competitors taught me something. From the ones that smoked the race to the ones that missed the cut off. And especially the one that finished triumphantly with 900 seconds to spare (a massive congratulations to you Ron!).

I spent days letting the experience sink in. Admittedly, I gushed about it to absolutely anyone that would listen. And you know what? Some ten days later I can’t stop thinking about the race. It’s changed my life. I will forever be grateful to the competitors for allowing me to share in their day in even the smallest of ways. It was a privilege and an honour.

There really are no limits.

I Earned Every Single Inch of that View

Hola Bloggies:

How did you like yesterday’s entry? I’m rather proud of myself for blogging from the road – so I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures!

Back to where we left off . . .

On the afternoon of our first full day in Banff we accomplished what will likely be THE most epic of all of this weekend’s feats!! We climbed a mountain. Hiked up the whole thing. And not just any mountain – the highest mountain the Banff Area!!!! Us three blogger girls conquered a mountain!

You’ll have to excuse my use of exclamation marks in this post – I’m kind of proud of us!!!

We started our hike down by the village of Banff, right by where we were staying. From there we walked through the Banff Springs Hotel eventually ending up at a parking lot that marked the trail head to Upper Banff Springs (the tourists normally take automobile transportation to this point and then take the gondola).

It didn’t take long at all for us to fall rather silent. Don’t worry, we still liked each other! We were just trying to keep our breathing even! lol As Holly (of The Healthy Everythingtarian) said “It’s crazy how it just takes a steep hike to show you just how out of shape you are!” Still we kept on going. And by the time we got to Upper Banff Springs I had already worked up a sweat.

In order to psych ourselves up for the rest of the hike, we took a break at the base of the gondola for pictures.

Spectacular view much!?!?!? From there it could only get better!!!!

After eating an apple for fuel, all three of us bloggers started our way up the mountain. It soon became evident that our heart rates would totally remain “in the zone” during the entire hike. This was no walk in the park.

I had brought my Garmin along and turned it on at the base of the trail head (the one that lead to Upper Banff Springs). Based on the map we knew it would be about 5km to the top or roughly 3miles. To get to the Gondola Station we had already hiked 1.5miles. So by the time we were at the top we would be at about 4.5miles. This was helpful to know because it helped us to track our progress up the mountain.

Now I go hiking quite a bit. In fact at least once a week. But I’m still a chicken. Challenging hikes kind of scare me! They totally make me want to run home . . . where it’s flat. But I wasn’t going to be the blogger that wimped out and took the gondola – so I sucked it up and pushed myself!!!

The going was hard but the increasingly more beautiful views made it all worthwhile! Every time we caught a glimpse of the mountains through the trees we were absolutely gobsmacked. Banff is one of those places that people dream of seeing – and there we were! On our way to it’s highest peak (Sulphur Mountain). That’s the kind of stuff worth blogging about!! lol

To help ease our trip from the gondola base up to the summit we made a decision to take a break every 30 minutes. It was while stopping for our breaks that we realized how far we had come. Go us!!!

You see my red face? lol How about the sweat across my forehead (the sweat that would later turn into a crazy amount of salt on my face)? By this point my legs were starting to feel kind of heavy. We only had about a mile left to go but we could tell the trail was getting steeper. Funny how it coincided with when we were most tired! lol

Now this was the part where I started to have trouble. I had been drinking water but I guess I was low on fuel because I started to get light headed. Given that I live at a fairly high elevation I didn’t think it was due to being so high. Holly (of The Healthy Everythingtarian)  came to the rescue with a Larabar. Thank God!!!

With renewed strength we made our final push to the top. Near the end I kept on checking my Garmin. I knew how long the trail was and consequently how long we had left. Just when I thought I couldn’t make it any further (my knee was starting to hurt) we spotted the summit!!!! We had conquered Banff’s tallest mountain!!!!!

 

Voila, Holly (of The Healthy Everythingtarian), Susan (of The Great Balancing Act), and me!!! The trio of Healthy Living Bloggers feeling pleased as we could be!!!

And the views!?!? Oh my!!!! I think it’s safe to say I earned every inch of that glorious view!!!!

No picture we could ever take could do this magnificent place justice. Knowing that, we tried to take mental pictures of the stunning scenery surrounding us.

For reference sake, this is a picture from the summit of the mountain. You see those little buildings down there? That’s where we began!!! And look at how high we went!!!!

I pushed myself to the limit on this hike. And kids, peer pressure can be a great thing! Without my partners in crime I don’t think I would have hiked this mountain. My first really big mountain hike.

All told, we climbed 4.61 miles straight up the side of a very high mountain. In total the hike took us 2 hours and 22 minutes.

I will forever be grateful to my new amigas for joining me on this adventure! It was EPIC.

What’s a Gear Again?

Hola Bloggies:

Is it just me or is tri fever spreading around the blogosphere? Lately it seems absolutely everyone is participating in one triathlon or another!

I don’t know about the rest of you but I have a funny feeling I’ll never do a tri. Besides the fact that I’m not a fantastic swimmer I’m a terrible bike rider. No really. I grew up in Toronto – which is pretty flat. Consequently, I have no idea how to use the gears on a bike. Which means that if I encounter even the slightest of hills I struggle like woah!

Of course there was that one time I decided to throw caution to the wind and head out on a bike excursion. It all took place a couple of years ago. At the time I lived on Vancouver Island and decided with the boy (now the Fiancé) to board a small ferry to one of the Gulf Islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia. Specifically, we hit up Mayne Island because we had heard it was the flattest of the bunch.

Sounds idyllic doesn’t it? It is!!!

On the ferry to the Island I couldn’t help but feel very proud of myself. This was relatively early on in my journey towards wellness so spending the day riding around an island was still out of my comfort zone. Still I wasn’t scared – I felt alive!!!

And then I got to the Island. Remember how people said it was flat? LIARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the hill that greets you when you get off the ferry (photo taken on the return trip so imagine yourself trying to go the other way). Seriously!??! I thought it was a cruel joke! lol

But you know what? I walked the bike up the hill and promised myself that no matter what, I was going to have a great time. And I did!

The Island turned out to be nothing short of gorgeous! It was full of hidden little corners just waiting to be explored. A Japanese memorial garden, a lighthouse, a village, gorgeous vacation homes . . . it was the kind of thing you see in movies!

Sure it was hard. Sure it took us all day to cycle the Island. And sure I wove a little here and there while struggling on my bike (I’m not road worthy yet – only small Island worthy). But in the end I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone! I tried something new and made memories to last me long after I left the beautiful West Coast!

Do you cycle? Are you completely rubbish on the gears like me? Any advice to help me figure out how to cycle more efficiently?

Get up and finish what you started!

Hola Friends,

Tonight was a good night.

I managed to sneak out of work at a fairly reasonable hour, came home, got ready, and took Daisy on an hour and a half hike through the forest. We were joined on our adventure by about eight other dogs and their owners. On the whole Daisy and I got our blood pumping and had a blast!

After the hike we came home and I traumatized my puppy by bathing her. You see, by the time we ended the hike her usually white paws looked like they were covered by black boots! Crazy times.

After she was more or less done shaking I bundled her up and we sat down to watch The Biggest Loser. Tonight's episode featured the quote I used as a title, "Get up and finish what you started!" Those words hit me like a ton of bricks and I've been mulling them over ever since.

So for tonight I'll leave you with this thought - what have you yet to finish? What's holding you back? Why not make today the day you put an end to the false starts?

Buenas noches bloggies!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

California Dreaming!

Hola Bloggies:

So this here is a blog post I’m SUPER excited to share with you – but you’ll have to read on to find out why!

Now I don’t know if you bloggies have had the opportunity to visit California (if you’re super luck you may even live there) but there are some very cool things to see.

California has Disneyland and California Adventure . . .

California has the Santa Monica Pier . . .

California has lovely oranges that fall just outside of property lines so Canadians like me can take them on their way home (true story) . . .

California has absolutely massive Sequoia trees . . .

California has the brilliant Walt Disney Concert Hall . . .

California has the wonderful (and free!) Getty Villa . . .

But more importantly for today’s purposes . . . . . . . . .

California has the Long Beach Marathon!!!! And yours truly will be running the half!!! EEEEEK!!!!!!

You know who else will be there for the Marathon?

Danica (Chic Runner)

Aron (Runner’s Rambles)

Maritza (Marathon Maritza)

Tara (On the GO!)

Kristin (Keeping up with Kristin)

and Nicole (Runner Nic)!!!!

To say that I’m ridiculously excited is a massive under statement!!! I’m also, frankly, nervous at the same time!

So there you have it bloggies – come October 17th, 2010, I’ll be racing it up in Long Beach! Woot woot! Bring it!

 

PS: Anybody else want to join us?