weekend – Page 2 – The SMO's stories

Family, Kids, Racing, Running, weekend, Whistler

Whistler Half Marathon: a comparison report.

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013 Christine Cogger

Whistler Half-Marathon 2012.

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.

2 adults + 3 kids = thanks for the new grocery bags!

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.

Anja: front line. All I could think was "please don't get trampled". — Anja: front line. All I could think was “please don’t get trampled”.

The future of Canadian running, right there.

-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.

Biking, Pemberton, Racing, weekend

Nimby Fifty: It was all about the socks.

May 27, 2013 Christine Cogger

Not only did I achieve my goals (in particular, #1) but I had a blast doing so. I’m convinced that the Nimby Fifty is one of those events that every mountain biker in the corridor ought to try at least once. And if you aren’t in it to win it, then you can be like me and wear stupid socks.

Rare is the event where I don’t at least once think “Ugh, this sucks. I am so done”. Oddly, I didn’t experience that during this race, even when I was cramping, when I was staring at yet another uphill or I was quaking in my spotty socks at the top of the Red Bull Downhill section. Incidentally, I placed 3^rd to last in that race-within-a-race; I was trying to DFL but couldn’t quite make it happen.

The atmosphere at the start was relaxed yet buzzing. The race itself unfurled at a totally manageable pace and for the most part, I was surrounded by really nice riders. The cheering sections were fun (thanks for the sips of beer, Seb) and there were lots of unexpected conversations. Particularly the lovely German gentleman who asked me – at the bottom of Happy Trail (the beginning of a 45-60m climb) – if we were “almost done wiss ze climbing”. Schiesse, no.

Lots of miscellaneous thoughts run through your brain when you are on your bike in the forest for about 4 hours. A mere sampling:

“Wow. That guy is really hammering. Too bad the race started 6 minutes ago.”

“Eeep! Hold on tight! Why am I closing my eyes, DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES, YOU DUMMY!”

“I’m hungry.”

“Hmm. Some of these boy mountain bikers don’t like getting passed by a girl any more than boy triathletes.”

“How the f#$% do people ride down this?”

“I’m so glad I wore these socks.”

“Why am I all alone? Where is everyone?”

“Oh hey! Hi!”

Those burgers at the finish, the friendly faces everywhere and the family BBQ to top off the day really made it a perfect, Pemberton spring day. Thanks to the organizers, sponsors and the riders for making it so.

I promised some before and after pics. Behold, the spotted socks:

Photo credit: Jon Anthony

Before! The jersey on the left may offend some, but I whole-heartedly agree. C_UsersMainAppDataLocalTempDSC_0031 Alex, Baby Finn (not nursing, despite popular belief) and me – all done.

At the finish with Bren and Rich. Bren broke a derailleur and finished on a borrowed bike; Rich and duked it out for a while out there – oh yeah, he got me at the end. Note my styly hair. C_UsersMainAppDataLocalTempDSC_0077 The only time Brett Tippie, aka The Mouth of the South, will ever interview me. I think he’s grimacing because I told him my favourite part was the uphill.

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Next up, the Whistler Half Marathon, family-style: 21K for me, 10K for Jay and Little Rippers for the kids. Come out and cheer!

Biking, Family, Kids, Pemberton, QOTD, Racing, weekend

QOTD and weekend foreboding

May 24, 2013 Christine Cogger

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!

CITS, Family, Kids, Pemberton, Racing, Running, weekend

Let’s run.

May 10, 2013 Christine Cogger

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.

Dry, warm and haven't left the driveway. — Dry, warm and haven’t left the driveway.

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?

Racing, Travel, Triathlon, weekend

What I did on my summer holiday

August 28, 2012August 28, 2012 Christine Cogger

My summer holiday this year revolved around spectating and supporting at IMC. Turns out it’s the last one and it did not disapoint. I was pretty excited when I got the green light to head up a few weeks ago. I was kid-free for the weekend so despite 13+ hours of driving and no sleeping-in, this really did feel like a holiday.

I was excited to support Liz as she had done for me years ago. To watch the other athletes, to take pictures, to yell and cheer and clap. I was a bit apprehensive that being around this race would make me sad and ultra-envious that I wasn’t racing and in reality have no plans to “go long” in the near future. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself relieved not to be getting in that water with the other 2500 athletes. I really did enjoy my day of chasing athletes, riding my bike and eating an ice cream cone when others were feasting on gels and warm, flat coke. Maybe it was because I am not race fit, or maybe it’s because I’ve lost my racing mojo, I’m not sure. Either way, I did enjoy my summer holiday immensely.

I loved seeing the families out there supporting their loved ones with silly shirts and signs. I don’t think I’ve ever really noticed it as much before but it really blew me away how much these people get into. I hope that when my kids are older that they’ll do something like that for me, if I’m out there again. You can bet that if any of them do something like this, there will be shirts, banners and signs GALORE. I don’t care how embarrassed they get!

I’m so proud of Liz for turning her race around after 2 flats. To be able to put a smile on and enjoy the day when it could have gone entirely the other direction takes a mental fortitude that I’m not sure I possess! So kudos to you, ST. You did awesome. You’ve inspired me to improve while keeping the fun factor high and smiling while I do it.

A few photos to remember the weekend by.

View from our temporary home. I’ll take it.

He raced in this kit to raise money for cancer below the belt. Love it!

Yes, I’m 12. But who waterskis in a Speedo?

Lead car. I’d love to be in there one day

The legend, Sister Madonna. 82 years young, she finished in 16:32.

Well deserved. I think I was most impressed that she could eat and drink that night.

Family, Kids, Olympics, weekend

Rolympics

August 7, 2012 Christine Cogger

4 years ago, Rory was born… amidst a rock slide that shut down the Sea-to-Sky Highway and left us separated from Will for something like 6 days. That adventure was followed shortly thereafter by the Beijing 2008 Olympics. I don’t think I’ll ever forget being in my brother’s apartment, Will asleep in the other room, Rory on my shoulder, whisper-screaming for Simon Whitfield to GO! GO! GO! And Go! He did… to a silver medal.

Sadly things didn’t end well for Simon today, but in honour of that event four years ago, we gave Rory’s 4^th birthday party a fitting theme this year.

Bring on… The Rolympics!

We like our Games to be inclusive (we mix age, gender and qualifying times for every ‘event’). We keep our athletes hydrated and fueled (aka juice boxes and cupcakes). We provide diversion from the stress of competition (aka smash the piñata). We are quite flexible on uniform rules (nudiness encouraged). Our flag bearer was selected by his peers (more like forced to do it). We all napped afterwards.

All in all, success!

Biking, Family, weekend, Whistler

Another weekend wrap up

July 30, 2012August 3, 2012 Christine Cogger

That was certainly a full and fun-filled weekend. CITS had to take a backseat this weekend (for me anyway) so that I could partake in the silliness that was Charlie’s Angels.

: DH Angels.

I have to hand it to Tony Horn. I’d never done one of his events and can now say, with certainty, that if he does another event, I’m in. He puts on a great event that was challenging yet achievable and more importantly, all for a good cause.

I haven’t raced a mountain bike race since 2003… and I’ve been on my mountain bike precisely 3 times this summer. I was certainly out of my comfort zone as we rode up to the start of the DH. Surrounded by downhillers, there’s no doubt in my mind that I am definitely more of an Uphiller (that’s a word, right?) I had seeded myself just about last because of my, uh… prowess in the park? However, I couldn’t take sitting up there watching everyone go. So I jumped in and went.

Proof that I made it to the bottom – in one piece, no less.

I loathe time-trial starts and despite not pre-riding the course, I didn’t exactly light the world on fire BUT I laughed (nervous laughter) all the way down, even after I hit a tree and then crashed off a jump. I made it down in one relatively unscathed piece and then flew home to catch the Opening Ceremony. It was, in my opinion, a great way to spend an evening.

Saturday held the XC portion of the race and although I experienced some kick-ass cramping in muscles I forgot how to fire, I had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the course Tony put together. It was fun to ride to some fun women I rarely get to see. I much prefer mass starts (it’s where my pointy elbows come in handy) and especially ones that start uphill. It got me out of the fray quickly and on my way. 2.5ish hours later I was at the lake, ready for more Olympic spectating (I immediately turned on my phone to see who won the Phelps V. Lochte dual – NERD).