Back Smack

Dear Jill from Juneau,

I hope you enjoyed your stay with us here in Whitehorse. I hope you enjoyed the down duvet and feather pillows, not to mention the swimsuit you borrowed to use the hot tub. I hope you didn’t mind us touring you around the best Yukon mountain bike trails, and feeding you fresh lettuce greens from my garden. It is unfortunate that I didn’t have a chance to read the smack talk you posted on your blog before you got here – I must have missed it while I was frantically cleaning and cooking in anticipation of your arrival.

I have some good news for you – next year, if you dare to cross the border, I will be waiting to crush you in the 24 Hours of Light race. You may have set the new female solo record – but I will take that record and annihilate it. Starting today, I will methodically prepare for the day that I destroy you, using all my Yukon powers. I will stop shaving my legs to create a warm covering that will keep me moving through the cold Yukon night. I will make friends with the local bears and coyotes and use them to block your path and distract you in the early morning hours. I will use all 22 hours of light to train my body into an endurance biking machine.

I know that you are scared, I know that you recognize you are coming to the end of your reign as the Whitehorse 24 Hours of Light champion, but I have more bad news for you Jill from Juneau – I’m half American. That’s right Jill, I am the spawn of a full-blooded American mother, which means in addition to all my amazing Canadian skills – I know how to win. I will dig deep into my American self and I will do whatever it takes. If it looks like you are ahead of me, I will jam a pump into your wheels then bunny hop over your sprawled body. If your insanely fit body has more speed/endurance (which we all know it does) – I will accidentally make the wrong turn and shorten the course by a couple miles (yeah – that’s right, I know what a mile is). I will use every manipulative trick known to cyclists and beat you in the name of freedom and democracy. So be prepared Jill – be prepared to hurt!

Sierra from Whitehorse

P.S Can I still come stay at your place when I visit Juneau?

Sierra posted this on Jul 01, 2008 from the outside | | permanent link

Ridin' in the Rain

Week 16: June 16-June 22

Bike: 270 km
Run: 0 km
Swim: 1500 m

It was solstice weekend in the Yukon and time for more than 1000 cyclists to join together in suffering and complete the 240 km ride from Haines Junction to Haines, Alaska. This ride an be done in teams of 8, 4, 2 or as a solo. For the first time, I was attempting to finish the entire trip as a solo rider. Thankfully, I had my Dad to ride with, a seasoned veteran on his 4th full Kluane Chilkat bike ride. The plan was to ride together, and then I would sprint away in the final 20 meters (a skill I had learned from my Mother who had honed the maneuver during the Birkie ski race.

As a solo female rider, I knew I was going to be in a pretty small grouping. I was crossing my fingers, hoping that there would be less than 3 of us - guaranteeing myself a podium finish. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when I got to the Captain's meeting and saw there were 6 girls - my hopes for the podium were gone and I was fairly sure a top 5 would be out of reach. At least I was going to finish in the top 10...

After 5 years my KCIBR planning skills have been perfected. This is after a 2 years of doing the full drive in one day (5 am drive to Haines Junction for the start and a post-race drive back to Whitehorse)and 1 year of 3 people sleeping in a 1 bed hotel room. This year, I booked the hotels one year in advance and took the Friday off work. This approach worked well - especially because I was extra careful and booked 2 rooms in both Haines and Haines Junction, so when Dad tried to check into the Alcan and there was someone already in his room, we were able to all sleep in the same room without too much trouble.

The Haines to Haines relay started with a Bailey's and Coffee early Saturday morning. I have decided that this is not an ideal pre-race beverage, as it didn't take long for my stomach to become displeased with me. My Dad and I started off slow (okay - we were the last ones to get up the Haines Junction hill), but soon took advantage of an uncharacteristic tailwind and starting flying towards Dezadeash Lake. It seemed like the first 3 legs of the course were over with quickly and besides a mini-breakdown at leg 2, where I thought my knee would cause me to pull out of the race, I was feeling good. My Dad and I were riding together and able to rotate pulling (with the Dad rotation being inevitably longer than the daughter ones). Even when we hit leg 4 and the big hill out of Million Dollar Falls, I was feeling strong and had a great ride up the hill with Wendy (thank God her bike was about 5 pounds heavier, 10 years older, and I was able to keep up).

The main job of my KCIBR support is to listen to me whine. I usually catch up with Tony and the Subaru every 20 km, which gives me almost one hour to think about all the things I could whine about. I create a mental list, which I then prioritize, just in case I don't have time to whine about everything. When I met up with Tony after leg 4, I started whining about my stomach, when Tony (correctly) pointed out that I'd only drank 1.5 bottles in 100 km of riding. This was a bit dissappointing because it ruined my perfectly good complaining with a solution. Then I whined about having to pee - Tony pointed out a bush for me to squat behind. I was almost out of ideas when it started to rain harder, and I began to whine about being cold. At this point I realized that my Dad still hadn't arrived, which was part of the reason I was getting cold. This led to some fairly heavy duty complaining that I didn't know what had happened to my Dad. Unfortunately, Dad did not have the complaining gene and had been suffering through some stomach problems and instead of whining had decided to take a quick nap in the ditch. I didn't know this, so I decided to keep moving on my bike, and leave Tony the job of finding my Dad.

Once I got back on the road, I caught up with George and his pack of solo riders who were kind enough to let me join their pack. I couldn't decide if the pack riding was good because it cut out the (now) headwind, or if it was a bad thing because the wet conditions were leading to grit and water being sprayed into my already wet face. Leg 5 of the race was definitely the most brutally slow and miserable, and I was happy when we got to the checkpoint and the last of the summit legs. At this point, I had to disembark from my pack of fellow solo-ites, as they were stopping for food and Tony was still behind me with the dry/warm clothes. I was nice and soaked and figured that stopping would lead to hypothermia and possible death.

Leg 6 started with a big climb, but my favorite "Steep Descent - 18 km" sign was at the top of the hill and I started to cruise down towards Haines. The hill was long, fast, rainy (picture being pelted with little spit balls at 50 km/h), and very cold. The realization that I was going to get to the bottom of this hill, completely soaked, and Tony was nowhere to be found started to sick in and I began to panic...who would be there to hear me complain about the freezing rain or road grit??? More importantly how would I ever warm up. At checkpoint 7 I found salvation in Beth's friend Margo, who was able to provide a warm coat; as I sped by the 50 car line up waiting at the border I realized this would be my last piece of dry clothing until the finish line.

The last 2 legs were long, flat, windy and largely uneventful. My IPod bit it with about 30 km to go and I suffered through the last hour and a half in silence. Tony managed to catch me with 20 km to go and we planned to meet at the finish line, so I could get some warm clothes. I happily rode through the finish, down the hill and into the waiting car. I stripped out of the cold, wet clothes (much too tired to be modest) and we headed back down the course to support my Dad through the final 20 km. Our hotel room was about 100 meters from the finish, and when Dad crossed the line we went straight for a warm shower.

The 5th riding of the KCIBR was a success. The big question will be whether I solo it again next year (a challenging, but relatively pain-free experience), or try it as a 4-person team and go with a fast, but insanely difficult event. Only time will tell...

Sierra posted this on Jun 30, 2008 from the outside | | permanent link

Triathlon - Year 2

Week 12: May 25-June 1

Bike: 120 km
Run: 40 km
Swim: 2000 m

Week 13: June 2-June 8

Bike: 24 km
Run: 5 km
Swim: 0 m

Week 14: June 9-June 15

Bike: 126 km
Run: 0 km
Swim: 1500 m

In the past 2 days, a half dozen people have asked me about my blog. This has left me with a serious case of blogger's guilt, because I have not been good about updating. In a desperate attempt to catch up, I'm summarizing three weeks into one post. You will also notice that I'm changing my "weeks" so they include both Saturday and Sunday. This approach seems to work more logically because it fits with my training schedule.

The last three weeks have been dominated by one event - the second running of the Whitehorse triathlon. Last year was my first ever triathlon, and it was not a particularly pleasant experience. In fact, it was downright painful. This year, I went with a little more training and a lot more gear - including the lovely Contessa Von Awesome, my new Scott triathlon bike. Although the bike was specifically bought for triathlons I didn't think I'd rider her until the week before the race. I'd been having real problems with her and trying to maintain a triathlon position. The biggest problem was that I was getting blown all over the road and I was too scared to stay on my tri-bars. I was about to give up on Contessa all together and ride Lucy in the race, but the day the Tuesday before the triathlon, Tony dropped my handlebars by an inch and I decided to give her one last try. It turned out that Contessa was worth every penny when it came to battling a headwind, for the first time in my life I prayed for strong winds on race day!

The day of the triathlon, Ben and I went to the pool bright and early to secure prime bike parking for the transition zone. Unfortunately, neither of us really knew what "prime" parking might be, so we just ended up sticking our bikes anywhere. Following our setup, we headed back to Ben's house to pick up Jen and make our last minute clothing adjustments. Ben and I were both in the first heat, so by the time we got back to the pool it was time to get marked up and into the water. There are both advantages and disadvantages to being in the first heat. The advantage is that you get to the bike transition while it is fairly clear. The disadvantage is when you get passed by people who started 45 minutes after you - it's fairly humiliating. Last year, I was passed by many second heat participants - this year I hoped to minimize the humiliation.

The first event - swimming - is my weakest, but also the thing I've been working the hardest on. I was thrilled to get out of the pool in 31 minutes, the fourth one out of the pool in my heat. The bike transition went well, and I took off on the road for the second portion of the event.

The bike ride into the wind went well, and at the turn around I was feeling strong. My event history in the Yukon is such that I am a regular top 20 finisher - this would be more exciting except for the fact I've never been in an event with more than 20 people. Usually I place comfortably in the bottom 5 of the field, a position that I am happy with considering the caliber of athletes in this town. Imagine my surprise when I realized that with 20 km to go on the bike, only 2 girls were still in front of me. I decided to seize the opportunity and race back to the Games Center, knowing that it may cause me to completely breakdown in the run; but it could be the one and only time I ever finish something first. I don't know if it was the surge of competitiveness, or the 1750 gram bike, but with legs a-spinning I managed to zoom past the other girls and into the transition zone - first! It didn't matter that the second heat would surely have faster swim/bike times, I managed to get to the transition line before anyone else. It was thrilling, for about 2 seconds, then I realized I still needed to run 10 km and I was not a strong runner. Ooops!

The final leg of the triathlon was a 5 km run up Hamilton Blvd. and a 5 km run down Hamilton Blvd. My goals was to be passed by as few people as possible. I managed to stay in the front of the pack for about 20 meters before the first team sped passed me, with the burden of leading the group gone, I was free to run at my own speed. I finished the run portion a full 16 minutes faster than the previous year and made it to the end in 2:49, 20 minutes faster than last year and 11 minutes faster than my goal. It was a good day and it felt nice knowing that with a little bit of training, and a lot of wicked gear you can improve.

My favorite part of the triathlon was getting to see everyone I had been training with, especially Mr. Ben. Ben has been my faithful swimming partner and triathlon buddy. Training with Ben is always amusing and racing with him is even better. This year was Ben's first triathlon and I think he learned a couple of key lessons - the most important being don't ride a bike that has a seat affectionately known as the "ass hatchet". By the 30th kilometer, Ben was screaming in ass-related agony and running like a robotic penguin (as described by his lovely wife Jenn). It's things like this that make sports fun!

Post-triathlon, I was feeling awesome. So awesome I decided to go for a lunchtime run on Tuesday. This awesome run resulted in horrible swollen, pain filled knees and the end of training for 2 weeks. With the Kluane Chilkat bike relay looming on June 20th, there was no point risking injury. During my hiatus from athletics I managed to zip down to Vancouver to visit Miss Alexis and get to Ottawa and a sweet room at the Chateau Laurier. Details on those may (or may not) follow. But for now, I am caught up and entirely guilt-free.

Sierra posted this on Jun 15, 2008 from the outside | | permanent link

Sex and the City (of Whitehorse)

Like most Sex in the City fans, I couldn't figure out why the movie premiered in London. Everyone knows that Sex in the City should have premiered in Whitehorse. As the center of fashion and food in North America, Whitehorse is where Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda were meant to be. Unfortunately, the Yukon didn't have much success in convincing HBO, or the fabulous four, to premiere here. We couldn't let this minor setback stop us from throwing a good party. so the fabulous Barbara Coppard took the lead in hosting a movie event to be remembered.

Like any good Whitehorse party, the Sex in the City bash started with a Gucci dress and drinks in front of the woodpile.

We moved into the next logical step - a Sex in the City tailgater outside of Qwanlin Theater . To go with our cool and classy theme, the tailgate party featured Cosmopolitans and hors d'oeuvres, not to mention specially baked STC cookies.

Our evening continued with the movie screening, in a decadently decorated (thanks to Barb)theater.

After the show, we headed up to Barb's house for the after party. At this point, I had moved into Triathlon preparation mode and was no longer enjoying Cosmopolitans, but focusing my efforts on good old water and carb loading. Thankfully, Barb had prepared some of her famous cupcakes - guaranteed to get glycogen in the muscles.

In the end, it was a fabulously fun party.

Unfortunately, you can't quite tell from the picture, but that's because I was practicing my America's Next Top Model face. The is a face that I've been training for since hanging out with my sister in Aspen. Not only is my sister way cooler than me, she is also an employee of Dior (and former Gucci Girl), giving her lots of experience with the botox-aful and collagen-ated. I trust her posing pointers and think I look very chic (not to mention slightly airheaded).

Sierra posted this on Jun 04, 2008 from the livingroom | | permanent link

Going Golden

Week 10: May 11-May 17

Bike: 451 km
Run: 6 km
Swim: 1500 m

Week 11: May 18-May 24

Bike: 440 km
Run: 8 km
Swim: 2000 m

Golden Triangle

Whitehorse to Skagway: 180 km
Haines to Haines Junction: 240 km
Haines Junction to Whitehorse: 160 km

The long weekend of May is usually reserved for gardening and hammocking - two of my favorite summer activities. This year, with the Kluane Chilkat looming over my head, Tony and I decided to use the long weekend to do a local bike trip. The Golden Triangle (or Golden Circle depending on how strict of a geometrist you are) is a ride that takes you through the White Pass and Haines Pass, with a fun little ferry ride stuck in the middle.

Right up to Saturday morning, I wasn't sure that this trip was actually going to happen. The wind in Whitehorse has been brutal this summer and the gusts from earlier in the week had me convinced that riding a bike was a very bad idea. To get ready for the bike trip, I had ridden to my work retreat at the Sundog retreat, one day it took me 2 hours to make the 35 km back to Whitehorse thanks to the awful south wind. On Saturday morning it was calm, but rainy, so we headed to Skagway.

By the time we reached Carcross 70 km and more than 2 hours later, I was frozen like a popsicle. The cold rain had managed to soak through my clothes and my feet felt like blocks of ice. I was tempted to head back to Whitehorse and resign myself to a week-end in the sauna. Tony gave me permission to go, but said he would go on the trip without me. Refusing to be out-biked by my husband, I ate two pieces of pie and carried on.

We climbed through the White Pass to Log Cabin and sat down to enjoy a nice lunch. We had a 4:30 pm ferry to catch in Skagway, but we had made fairly good time and we figured we were only 15 km from the summit and our long descent into Skagway, so a cheese and bread stop was in order. The stop was lovely, but 500 meters out of Log Cabin we realized why it was called the White Pass. In what seemed like a split second we went from planet Earth to Dagoba (Yoda's hometown). The fog was as thick, and I couldn't keep my eyes focused on Tony, who was only a couple feet ahead. At this point I decided to embrace the fog and be as miserable as humanely possible.

After what seemed like forever (but could have been 200 meters for all I know), we reached the summit and were ready to head down. This was supposed to be the "fun" part of the day. Unfortunately, the fog had not lifted, ice rain was following, and the lovely Holland America bus fleet was heading back to town. Not only did my speedometer not climb over 30 km/h, by the time we reached US Customs I was so cold that I was shaking violently on my bike. I dumped my bike against the side of Customs, ran inside and started stripping off my wet clothes in front of the 8X10 framed photos of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. I replaced all my wet clothes with the only slightly less wet clothes from my panniers and sat in the building chattering and shaking. In the end, I finally understood why the body shakes to warm up, I was convulsing in an almost epileptic state, but I was definitely warming up.

I finally decided that if I didn't get back on my bike, we weren't going to make it to the ferry, and I crawled back on the icycle and quickly moved from winter into Skagway summer where the leaves were fully out and the flowers were in bloom. Tony had to stop at the bike store to find a spoke and I hurried to the coffee shop for a hot drink and 2 cheesecake brownies. Then it was onto the ferry and off to Haines, Alaska.

We got to Haines at around 5:00 pm and went straight for fish and chips. The food was barely in our stomachs before we headed back to the bed and breakfast, and more specifically in the bed. Our Haines to Haines Junction trip started bright and early at 6:00 am Alaska time. The early start was so that we could make our dinner reservation at the Raven's restaurant where the last sitting was at 8:00 pm. Thanks to the time change, this would give us 13 hours to complete the 240 km into Haines Junction.

To say that I was not happy at the start of our trip is an understatement. After riding the Kluane Chilkat for 3 years with a brutal headwind into Haines, Alaska, I had high aspirations of a wicked tailwind blowing me right up to the summit. When this didn't happen I threatened to turn around and hitch back to Whitehorse. Tony called my bluff and got me to Mile 33 for a deliciously satisfying breakfast and several cups of coffee. The intake of food was enough to lift me from my depression just in time to start the 1010 meter climb to the top of the Haines Summit. This is a climb that I knew well because I had flown down it several times on legs 6 and 7 of the Kluane Chilkat road relay. It's funny how hills don't seem nearly as long or steep when you are going down instead of up.

Once we hit the top of the Summit it was smooth riding through the hilly path and towards Haines Junction. The biggest problem we encountered was the lack of available water. Looking for fresh water on the Haines Road is a challenged, especially when the creeks are named things like: Goat Creek, Chuck Creek and Buffalo Creek. I kept my eyes peeled for Evian Creek, or Purity Creek, but eventually settled for whatever slow flowing water was closest to the road. For the next hundred kilometers I just imagined I was drinking lemon-lime-grass-mud flavored gatorade. by the time we hit Dezadeash Lake (80 km from Haines Junction) we had run out of water. You would think we would have ridden to the lake to refill, but the long hours had affected our brain cells and we were well on our way to Kathleen before we got desperate for some water. With only 20 or so kilometers left, we came to the Kathleen Lake Lodge, a newly opened lodge between Kathleen Lake campground and Kathleen River. Thankfully the lovely owners had water...and pie. Two pieces of pie, a Pepsi and a big bottle of water later, we were ready to tackle the final kilometers back into Haines Junction.

We arrived in Haines Junction with enough time to enjoy a hot shower before our Raven's reservation. After warming up and cleaning up, we had a fabulous meal at the Raven capped off with Tiramisu and Creme Brulee for dessert. If you are in Haines Junction and eager for an amazing meal, I strongly recommend the Raven's gourmet menu. Post-dinner we crashed in our lovely Raven's Room and enjoyed a well-deserved sleep.

The last day of riding was nice because our only time goal was to get to Whitehorse before Gossip Girl. This meant we had enough time to sleep in and enjoy a very big breakfast before hitting the road. Being a Monday of the long weekend, we decided to try to get as many kilometers in as possible before all of Whitehorse decided to drive home. We managed well and got to Kusawa before the RVs really started to zoom by. When the traffic got heavy, we decided to pull in for some calories. By day 3 I realized that I couldn't physically eat the amount of calories that I wanted to consume and was wanting to eat something every 15 minutes. At the pull out we met a lovely woman from Anchorage that should have never been allowed behind the wheel of a vehicle. We tried desperately to get her on the road in front of us, but unfortunately she insisted on hanging out at the rest stop and we spent the next 30 minutes fearing for our lives. Thankfully she managed to pass us without inadvertently running as over.

We pulled into Whitehorse and came home to find a very happy Starbuck. My calorie deficit was significant and I ended up eating a box of Kraft Dinner, a cheeseburger, 2 tins of tuna and a mini tub of ice cream as my post-bike dinner. I would have had onion rings, but somehow the Whitehorse A&W can't seem to keep them in stock. The next day I realized a couple important lessons about long bike trips: hotels/bed and breakfasts are the way to go, riding with your husband/wife is always a good idea because you have to forgive them even when they are a fatigue-induced jerk, and saddle sore is a noun as well as a verb...ouch!

Sierra posted this on Jun 03, 2008 from the outside | | permanent link

Rubbing Saltspring In

Week 9: May 4-May 10

Bike: 134 km
Run: 32 km
Swim: 1500 m

After my Vancouver marathon weekend, I decided to test out the roads of Saltspring Island with a small bike tour. Of all the Gulf Islands I had chosen Saltspring for a very good reason - Saltspring Island Cheese. I figured that a place that made delicious cheese would be the perfect location for a long bike ride. Despite my great hope for biking and brie, my trip to the Islands was full of unexpected problems.

Problem #1 was getting my bike from Whitehorse to Vancouver. The solution, although somewhat easy, was also unfortunately expensive. We decided to buy a bike box from the local bike shop. I was hoping that the bike would just magically fit into the box without adjustment, this was not the case. Tony and I spent the better part of Friday night trying to figure out how to get the bike to fit in a box. Alexis helped by laying in the box and exclaiming it was her new garage bed and Starbuck helped by trying to make Alexis throw him a frisbee. Wow...who could ask for more helpful friends.

Problem #2 wasn't realized until after we had managed to get the bike safely into the box. We had forgotten to add the rack which would be able to carry panniers. There was no way we were taking the bike back out, so I decided my tour would have to be taken from a central place, instead of point-to-point. The only plan I had made was to start in Saltspring, so this small alteration in style of ride wasn't going to involve changing accommodations or anything else.

My bike tour started with a trip to the Tsawassen ferry terminal. The bus system is fabulous in Vancouver, and I was easily able to get my bike on a bus to Ladner. Once at Ladner (in Delta), I popped off the bus and rode the beautiful bike path through farm country to the ferry terminal. My Gulf Springs ferry was planning to take 3 Island stops before Saltspring, so I spent my morning enjoy a prolonged nap in the waiting area of the Princess of Something-or-other. I arrived in Saltspring at about 1:30 and rode my bike off the ferry and into Ganges to find a hotel room. I was able to quickly secure a room at Wisteria Guest House. I had grand hopes of finishing 100 km in my first day, so I dumped my stuff into my room and jumped on my bike to start my big ride.

The first thing I realized on my Gulf Island adventure is that Saltspring is not a flat island. The hills were frequent, but never too long or too hard. Easing the pain in my quadriceps was the beautiful scenery which included great ocean views:

And wonderful farmyard encounters:

As soon as I reached the furthest point from Ganges and Vesuvius, the two northern towns, something went terribly wrong. Problem #3 was a derailleur in my wheel:

Apparently Saltspring is the not the happy little hippie town it used to be. I spent the next hour and a half walking down the road with my bicycle. For the first 15 minutes I carried my bike because the back wheel didn't move at all (and I figured carrying my bike was a fairly obvious sign that I needed some assistance). After three Jaguars and a Lexus SUV passed me, I realized that I might as well remove my derailleur because no-one was going to stop and it was a LONG way to carry a bike to Vesuvius (which according to my map was about 10 km down the road). I made it to Vesuvius despite the heat and bad bike shoes, and a couple of nice men drove me and my mangled bike back to Ganges.

Once back in town, I stopped at the Ganges bike shop to see if there was hope, but there was nothing they could do to help. I saw my dreams of cycling slowly floating away. Worse still - I didn't make it to the cheese factory for my beloved goat cheese treat. Depressed, I went back to my room and took a long nap - figuring that there wasn't much else to do. I woke up at 7:00 pm, still upset, but also hungry. I headed into town where I realized, nothing in Saltspring was open past 6:00 pm, so it was going to have to be Clif Bars and Gatorade for dinner. So far, Saltspring was not my friend. I decided to phone Tony (mostly so I could whine) and he suggested converting my bike into a single speed using the handy dandy bike tool he'd stuck in my bag. I had never broken a chain, reconnected a chain, or used the odd tool that was apparently in the bottom of my bag, but with dreams of ash ripened camembert I decided to give it my best shot. It took me almost 2 hours, but in the end I had rechristened my bike the S.S Lucy (S.S for singlespeed) and was ready to try my luck again.

My goal on day 2 was significantly reduced - get to the cheese store only around 15 km away. My bike was clearly not pleased with its new single speed status, as it liked making a lot of odd noises, especially on big hills. My thighs were also a little upset - especially because overnight the island had not gotten any flatter. It took me a while, and I gained a new appreciation for one geared cycling, but in the end I reached my destination:

I got to enjoy a true biking lunch: banana, block of cheese, bread and coffee...yummmm

I set out from the cheese store with the thought that I might be able to make it to the second Saltspring cheese factory, but only 500 m from the gate, my chain busted and I had to get a ride back to Ganges. With nothing to do back in town, I decided that if I couldn't bike, I should at least go for a run. Unfortunately because I didn't have panniers for my bike I had done some minimalist packing and only had bike shorts and a bike jersey. I figured that it was a Tuesday and nobody would even notice, I was apparently wrong as it didn't take more than 15 minutes for someone to ask: "Is there a triathlon on today". Because it was Tuesday at 2:00 pm, I thought the answer should be obvious, but still replied "No, I just don't have other shorts."; I should have answered "Yes - I'm in the lead!". My run took me all the way up to the top of Ganges and then back down to a small point out in the Ocean. This was a special experience, as it is the only time I've ever had to be wary of seastars while running.

I finished my run just in time to zoom to my hotel room and grab my stuff for the ferry. Hopped on my re-repaired bicycle and headed out of time...but not before encountering a few familiar faces on the telephone poles in town.

The ferry took me back to Vancouver for a day of meetings before heading back to Whitehorse, a few kilometers shy of where I wanted to be on the bike, but a nice cycling trip none-the-less.

Sierra posted this on May 26, 2008 from the outside | | permanent link

Va-va-va-vancouver

Week 8: April 27-May 3

Bike: 166 km
Run: 10 km
Swim: 5000 m

It's been 3 weeks since I headed down to Vancouver with a crew of Whitehorse girls to run the Vancouver Marathon relay. This trip to Vancouver was a great way of disguising a girls/shopping/eating week-end as an athletic endeavor. It was also a chance to catch up with my lovely friend Kailyn, who I don't see nearly enough. Whenever I do get a chance to see Kailyn we do very important Vancouver things, like shop at Betsey Johnson (where nothing fits and we can afford even less), strut down Robson (where she fits in an I look like a Burly Mountain Woman returning to civilization) and eating mini-cupcakes (the worlds greatest invention, because it allows you to eat 4 kinds of cupcakes without stuffing your stomach).

The real reason ("real" meaning what we told our husbands/bosses/boyfriends) we went to Vancouver was to do the relay marathon. Our team went to Vancouver with three goals in mind: 1) kick some Kenyan butt and run away with the Marathon title 2) have fun and 3) look hot. We managed to meet two out of three objectives, which isn't that bad. As everyone knows, the most important part of a team challenge is the team name, ours was "I'm too sexy for these running shoes", an homage to Right Said Fred and the legacy of bad 90s music. Our outfits were carefully designed around the theme, and as you can see we ended up being quite the sexy group of ladies.

I started off the race with a run down towards Granville Island, I'd love to give details, but let's be honest - I just followed everyone else and didn't pay much attention to where I was going. Because I was only doing 10 km instead of the regular 42km, I had the pleasure of starting the race approximately 9000 people earlier than normal. Running with people who average a 3h20 marathon, instead of a 4h30 marathon certainly changes your running perspective. One of my great pleasures was watching the marathon leaders go by after turning around near Granville Island. Every time I watch the future winners race by, I can't help but get a little teary eyed. It's amazing how beautiful really great runners look when they are cruising along. Plus - seeing the leaders only 1/2 km from the turnaround made me feel pretty good about myself - last year in Victoria, I watched the fast guys run past me when I was 8 km into the half marathon, and they were 5 km from the end.

After my leg, I passed the baton to Nicole, one of Jenn's friends from Vancouver. Nicole was a great addition to our team, and definitely embraced our sexy theme. While Nicole started her leg, I transitioned from my running shoes to my biking gear and set off to be support for the rest of the marathon. I wasn't sure how it would work riding along the marathon course, but my biking portion was actually more fun than my running portion. It also gave me a chance to reacquaint myself with the diversity of Vancouver. Nicole's portion of the marathon ran through the less glamorous parts of Vancouver and my biking took me around East Hastings, and kept me weaving through some peoples' sleeping spaces. After spending the day on Robson, it was a good reminder of some of the social issues that can be easier to ignore than look straight at.

Lisa was the next to go and got the pleasure of winding through Stanley Park. In an attempt to keep up with her and get my morning coffee, I managed to one-hand weave down W. Georgia street with a coffee in my hand. Tracy was the next to go and ran the tough climb up to Burrard bridge before heading down to Kitsilano. Finally, Miss Jenn took us all the way back to BC Place wearing a boa, dress and fishnets the entire time.

Following our triumphant completion of the marathon, we continued our Vancouver adventure with shopping and a trip to the Eatery - a super cool Sushi joint that featured a flying Astro-Boy.

The next day, I left the girls behind to begun my solo adventure to the Gulf Islands.

Sierra posted this on May 19, 2008 from the outside | | permanent link

The South Wind and the Sun

Week 7: April 20-26

Run: 45 km
Bike: 209 km
Swim: 1500 m

Biking in the wind is the most depressing and most exhilarating thing in the world. Since Thursday Whitehorse has been swept up in a raging south wind. On Thursday I took an easy ride into the wind and then rode as hard as I could back into Whitehorse. The slow grind into the wind was well worth spinning at 100 RPM in my highest gear and hitting speeds of 45 km/h on the flats. I fooled myself into thinking that I would have an equally fabulous time doing the same thing on Saturday. This time I took out my new triathlon bike thinking that I'd get even faster speeds. Unfortunately, my poor Contessa von Awesome (my triathlon bike) was getting thrown all over the road and every time I tried to use the tri bars, I was worried I'd get creamed by an oncoming semi truck. I learned a bit of a lesson, and on Sunday Tony and I rode to the Marsh Lake Dam (30 km south), then turned around and rode to Bean North for a coffee (70 km north). I probably compromised the training integrity of the ride, but who cares...riding with a tailwind is awesome.

The camera is en route, so the blog should be slightly more interesting soon.

Sierra posted this on Apr 28, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

My bike lost 5 pounds...why can't I?

Week 6: April 6-12

Bike: 132 km
Run: 17 km
Swim: 2750 m

Week 7: April 13-19

Bike: 75 km
Run: 26 km
Swim: 3000 m

The bike renovations of my mountain bike were completed this week with two new wheels. More important then the improvement in looks, my bicycle also lost 5 pounds. I have to say, this is the easiest 5 pounds I've ever lost - it required no dieting and no exercise. I used to mock the people who paid $500 for carbon fiber cranksets, I used to preach that if I wanted to lose 500 grams off my bike I'd stop eating chocolate truffles everyday. Consider me converted - I am on the bandwagon! Screw dieting (or even eating responsibility), bring on the carbon fiber bottle cages, helmets and bike bells. For approximately $200/pound I can shed weight faster than ever. I figure as long as my loving husband continues to foot the bills, I'll end up with the lightest bikes in the Yukon. Unfortunately, nothing to date suggests that I will be any faster on said bikes, but that's a small detail at this point.

Last week the bike riding was interrupted when Spring was rudely interrupted by a dumping of fresh snow. I was not the only Whitehorse resident that was unimpressed by the return of winter, many other people saw fit to voice their concerns by crashing their vehicles. I just pouted and temporarily retired the road bicycle. The only thing convincing me that Spring was still on its way was the garbage bags full of dog hair that were spontaneously falling from Strabuck's body. Thankfully Starbuck's shedding was right and by Sunday the snow was gone and the highway was ready to ride again.

The blog will be temporarily photo free thanks to an unfortunate incident with a camera and cement floor...damn that gravity.

Sierra posted this on Apr 21, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

Pimp My Ride

Week 5: March 30 - April 5

Run: 12 km
Bike: 32 km on trails and 2 hours on the trainer
Swim: 3800 m

Tallying up the weekly numbers can be depressing, especially when you've only run 6 km (woohoo further investigation shows it was actually 12 km). I suppose I had a bit of bike love, thanks to the arrival of our newest bike addition and the pimping out of my old mountain bike. Thanks to Tony's overactive bike shopping habit, I came back from Denver to a pile of pink bike parts. In one week my bike dropped some serious weight and was blinged out. The seat post and handlebars were swapped out and a new Chris King headset was added in. Extra pink was added with a new chainguard and handlebar holder (which I realize has a more technical name).

While this has made riding the snowy Whitehorse trails a lot easier, it has also meant the end of riding Frederika the Wonderbike to work. The transition has been made easier by the re-introduction of Princess into the regular bike line-up. Princess is my big cruiser and the most fabulous bike in the world to ride around town.

I was going to blog about my little tomato plants that are happily growing in the guest room, but unfortunately the picture of said plants has been lost in memory card land.

Sierra posted this on Apr 07, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

The Exercises of the Rich and Famous

Week 3: March 16-22

Ski: 11 km (plus 2 glasses of wine)
Bike: 3 hours of spinning and no kilometers on the road!
Run: 11 km
Swim: 3000 m

Week 4: March 23-29

Bike: 22 km in the snow and 30 minutes on the spinner
Run: 30 km
Swim: 3250 m

The latter part of March was not as dedicated as the first part. This was in large part due to the fact that I had the pleasure of visiting my Grandma in Colorado. I find in exceedingly difficult to work out while traveling, mainly because I am almost completely unmotivated. This lack of motivation was exacerbated on this trip by the fact that any small athletic endeavor left me completely out of breath and thinking I might just keel over and die. It's also made me seriously consider altitude training before my next big race!

The most fun exercising I did while in Colorado was on my visit with Heidi, my little sister. Heidi decided to take me cross country skiing Aspen style. The day we went was absolutely gorgeous, with the sun so nice and hot that we managed to ski sans shirt for part of the afternoon. This alone would have made the skiing memorable, but the real treat came after the shirt came back on. Apparently when you are in Aspen, home of the millionaire ski bums, cross country skiing actually means skiing 2 km to a beautiful wooden lodge where you are fed 5 star food and drink 15 dollar glasses of white wine. You don't get much better than this:

I felt guilty (and slightly drunk thanks to the increased elevation) after our "pit stop" and we did a few tours before heading back to the car and upscale Aspen life. This may have been the highlight of my Aspen experience, but later that day we sat with Cindy Crawford for dinner. By sat with - I mean that I spotted her at the restaurant and stared at her while she tried to enjoy a quiet meal.

In Denver I had lots of fun opportunities to run around while my Grandpa played Tennis and before the daily crossword regime started in the morning. It was funny to run on bare sidewalks in a city where daffodils and tulips were already poking out off the ground.

My trip back from the States was made slightly more exciting by missed connections and an unexpected overnight in Vancouver, but when I returned it was back to slippery runs and snowy mountain bikes. The next week was slightly more diligent, especially because I had a bike trainer at my disposal. I can't think of anything more boring that biking on an indoor trainer, but I also can't think of any other way to train for road biking when the streets are covered in fresh snow.

I've realized that the best part of my Ironman training is that I get to do all sorts of cool athletic activities with my friends. Whether it is jogging. swimming or biking, I'm pretty effective at recruiting someone to come along. For my friend Princess (aka Alexis), who once told me that she didn't like to sweat, dragging her (kicking and screaming) on my athletic adventure has been particularly satisfying. This weekend she decided to attempt her first ever push-up:

Garden updates will be happening soon, as I am starting to think about seedlings...

Sierra posted this on Mar 31, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

All Om-ed Out

Week 2: March 9-15

Sun salutations: 50 (although it felt more like 2938478329)
Bike: 42 km (on a trainer...so technically 0) and 28 km on the trails
Run: 13 km
Swim: 3250 m

Last September I did Sabu's intensive yoga class for a month at Shanti Yoga. Yoga is not the kind of activity that I would naturally pursue. But, after last year's knee injury, the physiotherapists suggested that I start a daily stretching routine to help ease my stiff joints. At first, yoga was not an activity that I particularly enjoyed; even the small stretches were uncomfortable and there is nothing more painful than trying to relax. But, after almost a year, I can touch my toes and bend my back and contort myself into odd positions - unfortunately, I still can't relax.

Sabu's yoga class means waking up at 6:00 am every morning to bike to the 7:00 am class. Most days, I can't even touch my toes on the first sun salutation on account of being so stiff in the morning. But, by the second or third round, my muscles are awake and I can actually get my hands around my feet. This is much better than last September when it took me 2 or 3 weeks before I could even touch the ground.

My big yoga accomplishment to date is my ability to do a headstand. I'm not sure how this is going to help me in life, but I secretly giggle to myself every time I manage to get upside down.

Aside for morning yoga classes and evening swims, I'm running on the packed snow trails of Whitehorse. It's the perfect time of year for winter running. The trails are packed hard, but not too slippery and it hasn't gotten warm enough to reduce the tracks to slush and mud. Besides my faithful running partner Starbuck, I've been actively pursuing Mingus and Jennifer as training partners. On Saturday, Juneau joined our pack of bikers, runners and canines on a tour of Hillcrest. I couldn't ask for better training companions. Although, I do have to wonder if Mingus' poop-sicle eating is the best nutritional strategy.

Sierra posted this on Mar 16, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link