Taralyn and Jason

First Triathlon of the Year

I did the Cultus Lake Triathlon last Sunday which was more of a survival test than a race. I had the flu the week before so wasn't feeling 100% and the water temp on race morning was only 10 degrees so it made for a bad combination. (If that doesn't mean anything to you, my uncle summed it up best: "If the water was any colder you could walk the swim."). The race director made a call to leave the swim optional and those that still wanted to take the plunge would only do a single 500m loop.
Unfortunately I decided to swim. I had a wetsuit but no neoprene swim cap and within the first 25m my heartrate skyrocketed and extremities went totally numb. I had no choice but to flip on my back and kick the entire length of the swim. (In hindsight, I'm pretty stoked to have done 500m kick in under 12min.) I wasn't the only one that had problems. Apparently there were several people that jumped in and then right back out. One made it to the first buoy but then flagged down a kayak and some didn't even start. The 40k bike was one loop around Yarrow farmlands and the 10k run was 2 loops on a gravel path near the lake. My feet didn't thaw out until the second loop of the run!

I guess it's all a learning experience but I don't think I'll be registering for this race again next year.

The art of sighting on my back.

More Updates.....

Whew, we've had a busy couple of weeks here in Whistler! The Telus World Ski & Snowboard festival was April 11-20 and we had a houseful of guests for most of it. If you haven't been here during the festival, I would highly recommend attending one year. There are free outdoor concerts every day and events at the base of the mountain. We had tix for the Filmmakers showdown where entrants have 72 hours to make a 5 minute film within the Sea to Sky corridor. Filmmakers come from all over to enter a film in the showdown and local Whistlerite Robjn Taylor won!! His film Arbitrarily Pear will be shown on MTV.

We also went to the Photographers Showdown which was just as exciting. The photographers put their photo slideshow to music and it's really incredible!

We were in Victoria this past weekend to run the Times Colonist 10k with 10,000 other people. We finished in 57 minutes and both of us were having trouble walking the next day. Jason has only run 2 times since Xmas so he has an excuse but I'm blaming it on the fact that I've been running on snow, not pavement, for the last 5 months and road running is much harder on the body. Regardless, it was fun and it's the only race I've done 4 years in a row so it's a good measure of how in (or out of) shape I am.

And now for some Arthur pics.....

Coyote? You decide.

The final showdown - Arthur vs. Sabrina. I think Sabrina will win. She's one tough rabbit and she's 10 years older than Arthur

We're Back!

It's been almost a year since the last post but after many requests I'm going to start updating this page regularly again. As most of you know, I registered for Ironman Canada again this year and will be toeing the start line on August 24th. Jason and I are currently in Penticton on a mini-vacation so I can train on the course. I rode up Richter Pass today, the first time since IMC 2006, and it's still the nasty 13km climb I remember it to be. I also splurged on a new bike at the Bike Barn and get to pick it up tomorrow morning. It's a snazzy new Cervelo P2

SL in a lovely banana yellow ( I had no choice on the color but at least you won't miss me coming down the road.) I'll post some pics of the trip when we're back in snowy Whistler on Saturday.

Penicillin Allergy

I want to show off my nasty allergic reaction just in case I'm ever in some type of accident and you have to tell the paramedics on my behalf that I'm ALLERGIC to PENICILLIN. Last week I developed Strep Throat for the second time in my life and was put on penicillin-type antibiotics. 5 days later this bright, swollen rash took over my entire body. The picture doesn't even do it justice; it got worse after it was taken. I went back to the doctor and she said I definitely have a penicillin allergy which is scary because I've heard that an allergic reaction to penicillin can cause your throat to swell and close up. Who knows what might happen next time. The pharmacist at Nester's market said my reaction looked pretty severe and I should probably be wearing a medic alert bracelet. Who woulda thought?

Now for some more cute pics of Arthur.....

All 6 brothers and sisters.

Meet Arthur

Jason and I have been considering adopting a dog for awhile but didn't start looking seriously until a couple of weeks ago. I was tracking all of the shelter dogs available for adoption online at www.petfinder.com and then last Saturday I checked the Whistler shelter's website (again) and a litter of 6 puppies had just come up for adoption! WAG (Whistler Animals Galore www.thewagway.com) is just down the street from our house and is a no-kill animal shelter for Whistler, Pemberton and Mt. Currie. The mother of these pups was rescued from Mt. Currie and had them at the Vet's in Creekside on March 28th. It's really sad because she's only 9 months old herself. She'll also be up for adoption in a couple of weeks if you know anyone that could give her a home.

We rushed in to the shelter that same day and put in an application for the puppy we wanted. It's no simple process; 4 pages with background checks and references from employers and past Vets. They want to make sure that the dogs get placed in the right home the first time and WAG has and amazing 99% success rate. They also bring everyone in for an interview before selecting the new owners. Not surprisingly, there were TONS of applications for these puppies and we received the good news yesterday that we're getting one!

His shelter name is Boba Fett (from Star Wars) but we're renaming him Arthur. The shelter thinks he's a husky/shepherd/lab retriever mix. The mom is a reddish/brown retriever-looking dog and it's anybody's guess who the father is but Arthur definitely has Husky coloring. He has an appointment to get neutered and vaccinated next Saturday (May 26th) and we can take him home the same day. We'll be spending this whole week puppy-proofing the house and getting extra sleep since it'll be an unbelievable amount of work when he comes home.... but so EXCITING!

Lesson #1: It's REALLY hard to get a puppy to pose for a picture! I took these in a rush today but I'll get some better ones tomorrow.

Arthur and his sister Jennifer. There are 4 boys and 2 girls in the litter and they've all been adopted

Whistler/Blackcomb

Here are a few pics from the mountain. The weather was warm and sunny last week then it started snowing again in the Village today. It must be some April Fool's joke by Mother Nature.

Yesterday was an exciting day in barging-shopping land. I bought a pair of practically new ski boots for $20 at the Re-Use-It Centre. Most of the lightly used gear is stuff the pros got from their sponsors and never used. I tested the boots out on the mountian today and dropped them off at SureFoot (ski boot specialty store) to get them punched out so they're perfect for my feet. I haven't given up on snowboarding but the snow is really hard right now and I don't need to punish myself more than I already have.

View from the top of Whistler

The weather tower

And the training begins....

This post is more about motivating myself than anyone else. I'm registered for the New Balance Half-Ironman on June 17th in Victoria and since the last race in November, my training has completely fallen off the wagon. I took December off to give my body a break, but the break has pretty much continued until now. With 12 weeks to go, I'm getting really nervous and feel that drastic measures need to be taken to survive this race.

Work has also gotten in the way of training since I've changed positions once again. I'm still at the Chamber of Commerce but I've been promoted (after 8 weeks) to Member Services Coordinator. I'm now the contact for our 750+ members and I'm also doing communications (website, newsletter advertising etc.) It's a lot of work but I really like it.

To kick-start my training I started a running group here in Whistler. I made up a bunch of posters and handed them out to people I knew. So far it's only been my friend Judy and I but I think more people will join when the weather gets better (there's still a lot of snow on the ground and the last 2 runs were in the rain).

Here's some more pics from last year:

The Y group after the Victoria Half-Iron

Is there anything cooler than a flame painted bike strapped to the back of a Camaro? (BTW I sold the Camaro to a friend in Whistler so I can still go visit it sometimes)

IMC bike course

Just practicing for the finish line

Christiane and the boys after the underpants run. Triathletes are weird.

Dress-Up Dodgeball

Jason and I have started going to drop-in dodgeball on Monday nights (yes, like the movie). It's one of Whistler's LUNA events (late and unique nighttime activities) and it's tons of fun. A couple of weeks ago they had a costume contest and Jason won! The grand prize was a $50 gift certificate to Nester's Market. Not bad. He had the outfit planned a week in advance and even shaved his beard into a handlebar moustache to top it off. My costume was kind of sad, I threw on a Hawaiian shirt and called it a night.

Before getting rid of the stash, Jason thought it would be hilarious to wear a costume to work. Unfortunately not everyone realized it was a joke and several of the regulars wouldn't even look at him when they came into the store.

C'mon, would you buy a pita from this guy?

Here are some random pics from the last few months.

The snowwoman that Judy and I built. It's hard to tell but it's about 7ft tall.

Our yard only a couple of weeks ago.

Surfing in Oz, gotta love the duct tape on Jason's board

I stood up on the first try and I'm allowed to brag about it.

Elfin Lakes Snowshoe Trip

This weekend I went on an overnight snowshoe trip with four friends from Whistler. We followed the high alpine Elfin Lakes trail in Garibaldi Provincial Park and it was amazing! You turn off Hwy 99 in Squamish and follow a gravel road for 16km to reach the trailhead. The trail itself is 11km long which doesn't sound like much but going uphill with packs and snowshoes it took us five hours. BC Parks maintains two cabins along the trail that are equipped with bunks, propane cooktops and woodburning stoves. It's a great setup for overnight hikes and backcountry skiing. This trip was organized at the last minute but I'd love to go up again this year if anyone's interested.