White rabbit, white rabbit...

We are officially gearing up for next season...Alan and I have upgraded the Jeep, for a new...are you ready...a new mini-van! And are we excited.  It'll be perfect for crew support for Alan's IronMan in Coeur d'Alene; both toting all the gear around and making sure the roadside support crew are comfortable.  It'll also come in very handy for those family ski trips...lots of room for skis and passengers, and the DVD players will keep everyone amused on the ride out.  Luckily, it's the same color as the Jeep - white - so we'll still be able to keep the name, "White Rabbit" when we caravan to the mountains.

Training this week has been somewhat dismal...as it's quarter end at work, and there are a ton of board reports that needed to get done.  There were many late nights at the office (as late as 10 and  midnight); although I did manage to squeeze in a bike and a swim on Saturday, and a lunch hour run on Wednesday - so it wasn't a total write off.  This week will be better, as the reports have been mailed out, and it's "business as usual", so I expect to run at least 4 days this week and get a swim and a bike in, too.

All for now...kids are starting to arrive.  Trick or treat? I choose trick! 

breathe in, breathe out...

We did it...Alan and I officially completed our open water dives this weekend, in Lake Minnewanka (that's in Banff - and yes the water was bloody cold).  The water was so cold it almost took your breath away (not to mention other body parts that seemed to disappear)  ...when we had to remove our masks, it was a real shock to the system...I kept telling myself to breathe in, breathe out.  I just wanted it to be over.  I accidentally swallowed a little water during one of our drills, which resulted in a slight panic and lots of coughing.  Alan came close to running out of air on our last dive. At the time, both incidents seemed quite eventful and exciting, but they were really much ado about nothing.  In hindsight, it was great fun - even in the cold mountain water - and we are really looking forward to Mexico where we will be diving in much warmer water. 

I managed to get in a few runs last week, which were uneventful, but runs nonetheless.  As for swimming, the Lake was enough for me.  I also didn't realize how much work it would be lugging 30 lbs of extra weight around (that's how much weight I had to add to my wetsuit while diving) and the weights fit in the pockets of the vest (called a BCD).  So the whole time I was wearing the vest, I was toting the weights up and down the stairs every time we got out of the water. That must count for something towards my strength training. I know I was bloody tired at the end of both days...

All for now...

first season...somewhat underwhelming

My inaugural triathlon season was an overwhelming success...OK, more like underwhelming.  My goal for every race was "to finish" and my results were consistent in that regard.  I'm officially in recovery mode - aka weight gain mode.  Bring on the Turkey! 

I've been running - albeit not much - for the past few weeks.  The Harvest Half was more like a long, slow run than a race - and I was glad to get out and enjoy the course.  Reading Charlie Brown's blog has been inspirational, not to mention quite humorous - and it has me wanting to get back in the pool.  So that'll happen this week-end.

We bought a trainer for our bikes and I've ridden a few times, however it's much different that riding outside.  I'll continue to give it the "college try" and see how it goes.  I don't have the desire to face a 6 am spin class - so that's out.

The maintenance season for 2009 has begun...the Great White North is only 9 months away.