Author: Christine Cogger

I am not a writer. I like my kids, coffee, running around and reading about you. I live in the most incredible part of the world and am lucky enough to live some pretty great adventures.
Day-to-day life, Racing, Running

Abs of August: A guest post

Christine Cogger

While I search for inspiration, AKA try to think about something to write about that doesn’t consist in whining about what I can’t do or the silly things my kids say, please enjoy this guest post by Lizzie.

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Are you tired of that pudgy layer around your midsection?  Have you heard the whisperings of “muffin top” as you walk by in your pre baby jeans that you just can’t afford to replace?  Is your washing machine broken and you need a washboard and they haven’t made a washboard in like 100 years so you need to ripple that midsection just to clean your clothes?  If you were born yesterday then you need these amazing ABventions:

AB_Circle_Pro1

As seen on TV; and never, ever in real life.
As seen on TV; and never, ever in real life.

 

Who wouldn’t be convinced that these would work?  I mean, look at how happy she looks.  But, seeing as we couldn’t come up with three easy payments of $19.95 plus shipping and handling the recovering member of CITS came up with [in your best stadium announcer voice]: ABS OF AUGUST.

Well, it’s really more a CORE challenge than just a way to get sexy Abs, but sometimes you just have to live with side effects.  So why the big challenge?  Enter the team.

–SMO: Surgery recovery and general boredom. Recently pinned in place wing removing all fun summer activities that require a working arm including running. Boo.

–Yenny: C-section recovery.  Cute little Ella didn’t turn herself around in time, so out through the lower abdominals it is.

–Lizard: Regular pregnancy recovery.  A little bit of Diastasis Recti, core weakness, general flabbyness and a refusal to purchase new jeans for post baby hips.

-Laura: general core strength for long distance running

We are all runners and enjoy being active, so we know that a strong core is the key to performance and injury prevention. So here we go, 30 days of about 10-15mins of core each day.  We have all taken before pictures too, but will most likely only post them once noticeable changes have been made.

So what are we doing?  Nothing revolutionary.  We didn’t go out and spend $150 on a TRX (although I’d kinda like one).  Just your everyday core regime:

-planks

-v-sits

-heel drops

-twists

-hip raises

-etc.

modified for one arm, post c-section and general laziness as necessary.

(Editor’s note: ever try a one-arm plank?  I’ve topped out at 15 shaky, huffy-puffy seconds.  It isn’t pretty).

Will it work?  No idea, but along with the four of us keeping each other honest there’s the added motivation of first person to miss a day owes the other three wine.

With any luck by September we’ll be stable around the middle, ready to get back to some serious running training and looking half decent on the pool deck.  With a lot of luck, we’ll be looking like this and running 1:20 halfs.

6a00d83451b18a69e201156f68b6bb970c-500wi

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And here’s the best part.  We’re taking weekly pics.  Whether or not we get brave enough to post remains to be seen.

We’re still looking for joiners… If you’re in – just remember the bottle of wine rule.

 

 

 

 

 

Kids, QOTD

QOTD: The Anja edition.

Christine Cogger
This Kid.
This Kid.

Quite a few gems coming forth from this face lately.  Here’s a few samples.

Scene: in the shower, losing her marbles because she thinks she’s meant to go straight to bed afterwards, thereby missing family TV night.

“Waaaaaaaaah! But I, I, I, wannna watch D-D-Deadliest Catch!”  (you can send our parenting awards via the mail, we’ll accept all deliveries).

 I half-laugh at her and ask if she even knows what she’s talking about.  “Yeah, it’s about boys who go fishing for crabs and fishes.  But no girls”.  In the end, she settled for watching The Canada Awesome Race.

—

Buried in the sand up to her neck at the beach:

“MAKE ME SOME SAND BOOBIES!”

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Packing her lunch for school: “Don’t give me the green bananas, they’re not stripe yet”.

—

And I learned last night that she’s very afraid of thumberstorms.  Frankly, who isn’t?

Day-to-day life

What’s my bionical name?

Christine Cogger
Lookin' fiiiine. Photo credit: Will
Lookin’ fiiiine. Photo credit: Will

It’s been a little over 48 hours since I had surgery to fix the fracture in my shoulder which dated back to January.  Although I was hoping to postpone it until the summer was over, my surgeon (and inner-smart person, when I decide to listen to her) felt sooner was better in order to prevent more damage.  So I pouted, mentally kicked and screamed, squeezed in 2 road rides the day before the operation and drove to the hospital for a 7 am check-in.  Highway 99 sure is pretty at 5:45am…

Frequent flyer
Frequent flyer

Fast-forward 7 hours, 4 screws, 2 surgeons and some fantastic nurses (who remembered me from knee surgery 6 months ago) at Squamish General and Jay was driving me home in a lovely fog.  I know we discussed several things, none of which I can really remember.  My kids were kind and happy to see me and I was happy to hit the couch.

These last few 48 hours haven’t been easy; discomfort morphs into pain if I’m not careful, I can’t sleep and the best part?  It’s 34 degrees and my arm is pinned to my side, making me an itchy mess.

Jay has kindly taken the kids away for the weekend, leaving me a quiet house in which to properly rest (or, as the case may be, type blog posts with one hand).  I know I’ll appreciate it more tomorrow but for now the house is eerily quiet and I’m wandering from place to place, a bit nervous about how I’m going to take care of myself as a one-armed bandit.

See you in September, road-selfie.
See you in September, road-selfie.

Herewith, a list of things I’ve discovered that I can and cannot do, one-handed.

I cannot…

Start the lawnmower.

Use a shovel.

Open a jar of pickles.

Negotiate buttons.

Make a decent sandwich.

Apply mascara.

Pick up kids.

I can…

Karate chop an apple with a kitchen knife (quite fun, actually).

Shimmy into clothing from the ground up.

Type with my left hand.

(Good god – I hope this list gets longer.)

Soon I will…

Swim.  Run.  Flail my arms with glee.  Pick up my kids and squish them.

Bring on the patience potion, grasshopper!

This will be my last pity post.  Here’s to being on the mend, having a patient and helpful partner, universal healthcare, sunny days and a good left arm to toast with.

Day-to-day life

The 6 hour summer holiday

Christine Cogger

Yesterday, I took a day off of work.  I dropped the boys off at camp.  Anja was with her sitter and I was faced with… 6 hours all by myself.  It was what I’ve coined “my 6 hour summer holiday”: time to do whatever I wanted, to fit in a few last hours of play before going for surgery on Tuesday.

Kicked it off with a run on one of my Whistler favourites, River Runs Through It.  In a way,  I was scouting if prior to letting the kids ride it.  Normally, I run with music but for some reason, I decided against it – and a good decision it was… some rustling bushes stopped me in my tracks and it took seconds before the bear charged towards me then stood up.  My throat still hurts from yelling at it.

A peaceful lunch in the village while reading a magazine, a ride with the boys up the Callaghan and then a while at the lake with the kids before calling it good.  Not bad for 6 hours, in 34 degrees.

I *heart* summer.

Biking, Pemberton, Racing

The Duffey: Defeated.

Christine Cogger

 

The Duffey Lake Road: Defeated once again

Local riders tackle notorious climb

Pemberton, BC – A group of dedicated, hard-core, lycra-clad weekend warriors gathered at the base of the relentless climb to take on the challenge of Defeating the Duffey on a sunny, mosquito-y Sunday morning.  This year’s race, the third annual, saw the biggest turnout ever for Pemberton’s premiere uphill event, attracting 15 riders from as far away as North Vancouver.

Per the regulations governing the event, riders surrendered all timing devices prior to the start and submitted their guesses to the timing officials.  Said Anja Taylor, assistant timer and official mosquito repellant sprayer, “5-6-4-fwee-2-1-GO!”  Although race rules call for the time-trial start to allow for one minute intervals between riders, swarms of mosquitos forced organizers to bump the intervals up to 30s to avoid too much blood loss, which would effectively negate all blood-doping advantages.

The pack charged hard up the hill, with early leader and slow-time predictor Kevin Glavas leading the way.  The peloton soon followed, with several attacks brought on by the hard-charging Sarah Olner and the hard-gasping David Higgins.  Eventual winner Vincent Marcotte picked his way through the field, whistling.

The caravan, sponsored by Volvo, safely carried paparazzi and a frenzied fan to the finish line to greet the exhausted racers. Once at the finish, racers were thrown a curve ball with a new finish line/rock this year, adding 15 feet to the race and throwing off many a prediction.  A stiff breeze picked up at the finish, and racers wasted little time trash talking one another before enjoying a very rapid descent.

At the awards banquet, the podium ceremony was derailed by the organizers very poor math skills but the event was salvaged by an eagle-eared Higgins.  Winner Paul Nicholas said, “thank god for this victory.  My ever-expanding brood depends on me to bring home the bacon, and this bag of cherries and bag of Pemberton Coffee makes all those early mornings so worth it”.  He teared up as he hugged and kissed his young family and waved to his adoring fan.  Organizers would like to thank all those who attended and list all the winners, losers and times but the results sheet went missing.

The race committee looks forward to hosting next year’s event and to not being in charge of timing.

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Biking, Pemberton, Racing, weekend

Defeat the Duffey 2013: It’s here!

Christine Cogger

The event is upon us… Sunday morning.  Lakeside.  Hot temps in store.  The more the merrier, you’ll be rewarded with a killer ride, sweatiness, and a post-event BBQ/smack talk event.  C’mon.  It’s fun.

 

photo (1)

Join us… Don’t be scared.  We’re friendly, we don’t bite but we do like to smack-talk each other.

https://www.facebook.com/events/180213698806736/180221032139336/?notif_t=like

Day-to-day life, Family, Kids, Pemberton

Summer.

Christine Cogger

Has finally arrived in all its hot, sunny glory in Pemberton.  Combine the fact that when possible, I choose to be outdoors rather than indoors with a self-imposed screen/virtual/social media/internet break on weekends, I’ve not got much time or inclination to write.

Simply summarized, life looks like this these days:

Coffee on the deck early in the mornings rather than bundled in a dark kitchen.  Commuting to work by bike a few times a week in only a jersey and shorts.  Fans in almost every room of the house.  Pool or lake time instead of baths and showers.  Lots and lots of time on bikes.  Sunscreen.  Hot, hot, hot trail runs (my favourite – except for when the sunscreen stings my eyes).  Water bottles scattered everywhere.  Entry way full of flip flops.  Falling asleep when it’s still light out (I consider this a luxury while some consider it a weakness).  Kids in swimsuits 24/7.  Ice cream treats.  Fresh local fruits.  Gardens, sprinkler and trampolines.

One angry little parade marcher.
My wee patriots.
squinty, sweaty. happy.
I tried to tell her that pop rocks + coke = exploding head. She wouldn’t buy it.
“Look! I’m a bumble bee, this is my stinger!”
Cocktail hour
Watching

Happy Summer, friends.  Up next?  Defeat the Duffey – a local event not to be missed!

Day-to-day life, Kids, Pemberton, QOTD

QOTD

Christine Cogger

Scene: after dinner, leaving Mile 1, back steps of the restaurant.  Anja, 3, wearing white and black zebra print top with pink ruffled sequinned skirt is hauling her runner bike up the steps.

Me: “What are you doing?”

Anja: “I’m gonna ride down the stairs.”

Me (looking at the 4 concrete stairs): “Um, no.”

Anja: “BUT I DID IT BEFORE A LONG TIME AGO!”

Me: “Right. Whatever.  Wait till Dad gets home so you can try then.”

Anja: “Ok.  That way I’ll do it and Dad will spot me.”

dad will spot me, said the 3 year old.  Only in this world.

Racing, Running, weekend, Whistler

You win some, you lose some…

Christine Cogger

And then there’s Comfortably Numb 2013: The Death March.

Earlier in the week, I signed up to run Comfy Numb as a last minute replacement to the Test of Metal.  I hadn’t run this race in probably 6 years, so I was looking forward to re-visiting it and besting my not-so-fast times from previous years.

Never one to shy away from looking ridiculous.
Never one to shy away from looking ridiculous.

I’d had some good runs leading up to it, and was feeling happy and relaxed about doing it.  I had no goals per se, just go out and enjoy.

Fun fun
Fun fun

Race morning I woke up a little tired but nothing out of the ordinary.  Ate some breakfast, grabbed a coffee, watched some cartoons and was on my way.

3, 2, 1 Go!  And we’re off.  The race starts straight uphill, but I like to climb so no worries there.  I settled into a nice little train of people for about the first 6K.  Once we crossed the bridge (or as I like to think of it, the point of no return) I started to feel little off.    No big deal, I thought, this happens all the time.  I drank a bit, ate something and slowed a bit.

Then the doubts started creeping in.  I mentally looked back on what I’d consumed the day before, wondering if that was the cause of my discomfort.  I couldn’t get into a rhythm and for the first time in about 8 years, I really, really wanted to quit.

This was my mental image of myself between kilometers 6-10.
This was my mental image of myself between kilometers 6-10.

BUT.  That’s the thing about Comfortably Numb.  It’s a 25k point-to-point trail and at this part of the trail, I figured it would take me as long to turn around as it would to keep going (oh hello, terrible race math.  Thanks for nothing.)

Luckily for me and unluckily for her, Marie-Anne had sprained her ankle at I caught up to her at about 11k (I know this because that’s about when I turned off Strava because seriously?  I didn’t want to know anymore).  And that was pretty much the last run step I took as things went rapidly downhill from there for me.

Ugh.
Ugh.

Thankfully, Marie-Anne stayed by my side as my stomach turned itself inside out in a variety of disgusting ways for the next 14K of misery.  We chatted, commiserated, and looked forward to seeing that finish arch… 5 hours after we started.  Never in a million years would I have ever guessed the two of us would tie for DFL at a race.

Got myself to the clinic, and 3 litres of IV fluids + heavy doses of Gravol + 12 hours of sleep means I finally feel human again.  My eyes are swollen but the upside is I don’t have any blisters and my legs don’t hurt.  There’s always an upside, right?

My ever-lasting gratitude to:

My in-laws for taking control of the situation at home and thus allowing me to care for myself.

Marie-Anne for staying with me.  If not, chances are I’d still be out there, sleeping under a tree with my race number as a blankie.

Jenny + Liz for encouraging me via text and checking up on me.

Best text conversation ever.
Best text conversation ever.

Bob for waiting for us.

Chris Colpitts and crew for not taking down the finish arch till we stumbled under it.

The staff at the Emerg in Pemberton for taking care of me and not making fun of me.  Why is it that when I’m sick it’s always super-hot-doctor guy on duty?