Today would have been Mum’s birthday.
I think I miss her more with each passing day.
xo.
Category: Family
Summer.
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!
Monday wrap
I’m starting to understand more and more what people mean when they say that weekends go by too weekly. Seriously, how does that happen? One minute it’s Friday night and I’m relishing 48 hours off and the next I’m back to making school lunches.
My grand plans to return to the Test of Metal this past weekend were foiled by injury and babysitting costs. So on to plan B we went… The Whistler Valley Trail Run. The boys both promised they’d run the whole thing. Will kept his word. Rory, however, not so much. Pushing 75 pounds of kids through the trails is the same as running 10k, right? Right. 
Anja rounded off the team effort with the Teddy Bear trot. No dress this time, I don’t know what got into her.
(Editor’s note: Why don’t more people do this run? Cost? Location? Timing? It could be so good and yet…)
Sunday I celebrated Father’s Day by sleeping in till 7:30 and then treating myself to a 2h solo trail run. That was pretty much perfection right there.
Later that afternoon we tackled the trails for some kid mountain biking. We’re working on our “descending and cornering”. Also known as “slow down and watch where you’re going or you’ll give your mother a heart attack”
(Editor’s note: to the woman who snarled at us on Happy Trail because our kids were “in her way”: trail karma will get you and it will take you down. If not, I will, next time you do that.)
Phew, I feel better already.
Next up: a trail race without kids, Comfortably Numb. My body has blocked out the pain from the last time I did it, let’s see how quickly those memories come flooding back next weekend.
Flattered.
And that? Is a total understatement.
Thanks for the time, Lisa Richardson.
http://choosepemberton.com/2013/06/13/a-local-take-on-iron-man-christine-cogger-digs-deep/
Whistler Half Marathon: a comparison report.
Day before:
-Collect my own race package. Keep feet up, hydrate, eat right.
Night before:
-Pack my own bag, lay out clothes, check that the sitter is coming at 6:30am, go to bed.
Morning of:
-Enjoy a hot shower, leisurely coffee, a well-planned breakfast, some stretching. Sneak off before kids wake up.
Race:
-Warm up, run in the sun, enjoy, wave, take pictures, laugh, etc.
-Admire pics taken by Robin of me running with my 2 best friends.
After:
-Eat, sit in the sun, stretch, bask in the glow of our accomplishments.
-Return home to house full of kids being cared for and well fed by Pete and Kev, relax (sort of) for the rest of the day.
Whistler Half-Marathon 2013.
Day before:
-Collect 7 race packages: mine, the husbands, the 3 kids and the neighbours.
Night before:
-Pack kids snacks, pack kids bags, pack rain gear, pack bike gear, stay on my feet for as long as possible. Go for a walk.
Morning of:
-Roust crew at 6. Shove waffles down some throats, coax peanut butter sandwiches into others. Almost forget own breakfast. Load truck with bags, bikes and blankies. Slurp coffee.
-Meet neighbours for caravan to Whistler. There may or may not have been some yelling to “get in the truck already!”
-Meet sitter in parking lot. Kids explode out of the cars in 5 different directions. Have fun, babysitter lady. Realize that rather than teaching her their names, I should have just numbered the kids 1 through 5. Much simpler. Next year.
Race:
-Send of 10K-ers. Bye 10Kers! See you in about 2 hours.
-Almost forget bib. Where are my socks? Oops. No body glide. Oh well (and also – ow.) Don ridiculous but oh-so-comfy sleeves.
-Run with Maja, wave to crowds, take pictures, find self irresistibly amusing (see photo), suffer from 15K onwards. Stupid Nimby legs.
-Finish with a smile and head held high.
After:
-Do not sit. Do not rest. Try to keep track of kids. Shovel grilled cheese into my mouth. Chase kids to start of 1K.
-Sprint across lawn during kids race (note to self: never, ever sprint after a ½ again).
-Squeal like a stuck pig cheering for off-spring.
-Feel nauseous. Head to skate park. Negotiations to go home ensue.
-Succumb to my inner tri-nerd, don compression tights, enjoy the best nap with Anja EVER.
What a difference a year makes.
The Mar-Lors: Joining forces.
What better sight to come home to than this? 
Our kids have transformed the driveway into a mini bike park and in doing so, seem to have further cemented the merging of families with the neighbors.
Rare is the day when we find ourselves being “just” the five of us. More often than not, Rowan is here on his bike or the kids are playing some complicated games of insert-name-here. Anja and Sophie can usually be found squirreled away somewhere, raising a family of snails or raiding each other’s’ closets. In fact, Anja decided to move there last week. All 5 kids helped her pack.
Editor’s note: she didn’t go through with it.
Do they fight? Sure. But don’t all families?
I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every day, I’m thankful that my kids have the comfort of knowing they have another family steps away, across the street. We rely on each other for help, laughs, advice and friendship.
Living in a small, amazing community really does have its perks.
QOTD and weekend foreboding
Tomorrow, I’ll be throwing a leg over my mountain bike and doing my first “real” mountain bike race in probably 8 years. The Nimby 50 is tomorrow morning and seeing as it’s about 50ft from the backdoor, I’ll be giving it a go. My goals are simple:
1. Don’t die.
2. Don’t break any bones (except, maybe, for the one that’s still broken. That’ll give me reason to go ahead with the surgery I don’t want).
3. Finish before they start pulling down the Finish Chute and still be capable to eat the burgers/drink the beer!
4. Reinforce my race mantra that there’s no shame and walking and that chatting to volunteers is the best part of the day.
5. Ride faster than the mosquitos on the uphills.
I asked the boys if they’d come and cheer for me. Will replied:
“Yeah, maybe. We’ll have to see what the weather does”.
Touching.
I hope to have a full & fun report up soon, as well as some good before/after pics. The big decision I’m wrestling with right now is whether or not to bring a camera. Sigh, first world problems.
—
On a similar note, the boys are really into their bikes right now and have set a goal for the summer of riding all the “Blue” trails in Pemberton. We’re off to a good start!
Let’s run.
Spring has truly sprung here… 32C last weekend?! A little early for scorchers, but I’ll take it. June-uary will be here soon enough to remind me not to put away the puffy coats so soon.
With everything greening up around here, it means I’ve been able to explore the trails more than the roads… which also means Season 2 of CITS has kicked off. Well, sort of. There’s been an early season modification. Since the usual “C” in the ITS refer to my running girls who both happen to be avec bébé right now, I needed new partners to kick off the season.
Insert Children here.
Will and I had planned to run the Mosquito Lake trail run for a while (we’d even been “training”) but when Rory heard that he wasn’t included, plans had to change – pronto. It wouldn’t do to be left out. When you run with a 4 and 7 year old, you re-evaluate your race goals: from trying to run yourself into the ground to win to making sure no one goes head-first into a tree. It’s the little things…
So despite pouring rain, cold temps and having never run before, he powered through (most) of the 6K route, with a little help from Dad, some encouragement from Will and incessant annoying photography from me. Will ran the 10K route in a little over 1:20! Proud moment. He’s been asking when our next one will be.
Is it too soon to ask him to pace me at the Squamish 50?
One love.
It’s funny what you remember about certain people in your life. I’ve known Julian for over 20 years now, and I knew who he was long before we’d actually met. He was a big shot bike racer and I was a lowly slowpoke. To this day, I clearly remember the first conversation we ever had: we were at Silver Star resort for a Canada Cup race. Organizers had made changes to the race for reasons I can’t remember (forest fires, maybe?) Anyway. One night there was some sort of dirt jump contest and we sat in folding chairs at the end of the course and chatted for most of the evening about all kinds of different things. I was so intimidated by the idea of him but he turned out to be such a genuinely nice, open and friendly guy.
Fast-forward to present day… Juliand and his little family are facing a challenge that no new family should have to endure. Let’s just say that cancer sucks, affects all of us and really should just be wiped off the face of the earth.
Even if you don’t know Julian and Vanessa, surely you know someone who’s been affected. So it’s simple. Donate, do the right thing and let’s help them the best we can:
https://www.sites.google.com/site/myreyasunshine2013/
Do it.
I knew I was on to something!
Keep riding, boys. I’ll have less to worry about.
The SMO's stories 