March 12, 2016 - BMO St. Patrick's Day 5k & BC Provincial Championships

58th/812 Female OA, 3rd Female 40-44 (Ribbon Winner!)

The BMO St. Patrick's Day 5k is a tough, rolling course on the Stanley Park loop road that finishes with a long up hill on Pipeline Road.  I ran a smart race, with pretty even splits across the 3 mile markers, and higher than planned heart rates, but I was missing my top gear (at least according to Coach!).  I raced after coming into town from a work trip that had me on my feet for long days.

I would have liked have to run faster in the Championships but my time (21:12) and placement are the best I could produce last Saturday.  That, at least, is satisfying.

The race is a fantastic and exciting event that has fast age groupers toeing the line with BC's current and former elite runners, including Olympians like Nancy Tinari (who beat me of course) and Art Boileau.

Plus there are beer and cupcakes at the Finish!

February 7, 2016 - MEC Vancouver Race One

3rd Female Overall

Saw a lot of progress with a time of 20:47: one minute faster than on the same course last year.  I've been running really well in training, both on the track and on the road, and it's nice to see the fitness in a race.

I like the MEC race series because they award only the top three male and female finishers in each event: no age group awards!

Me on the podium with the fastest women of the day:

At home after the race:

October 11, 2015 - BMO Okanagan Half Marathon

30th Female, 9th Female 40-49

August 9, 2015 - MEC Langley Sprint Triathlon

2nd Female Overall, 1st Female 40-49

I'm still not sure what happened in the swim, but another solid race, particularly on the bike and run. The bike and run routes were super hilly, which made for a slow but super fun race. Langely's rural areas are very nice.

After the race in the finishing area:

July 18, 2015 - VOWSA Kits Challenge

2nd Overall, 1st Female Overall

EPIC WAVES!!!!

Waves came up during the warm up.  This added to my nervousness although I LIKE swimming in rough water.  They hit us in the face from the start to the 1st buoy, then we swam with them hitting us from the side, first from the left, then from the right after we turned to complete the loop.

Sighting was hard as a result and the waves pushed us towards the beach. We fell into the troughs between swells as we swam. I LOVED it and thought that I was on pace, but the conditions were slow.  Still, technically and tactically, I had a great race.  Picked up a draft at the 1st buoy and dropped her at the 4th buoy when she got pushed off course by the waves.

Catching my breath after the race:

In my Sugoi Brand Champions "Podium" jacket with my 1st Overall ribbon and my little one:

July 5, 2015 - Subaru Vancouver Sprint Tri

6th Female OA, 1st Female 40-44

Forest fires in the Coast mountains created "perfect" race conditions in the middle of a heat wave in Vancouver by covering up the sun.  After several windy days the ocean was pretty calm.  A near perfect warm up followed up by a well executed race, resulting in, well, excellent results!

Coming out of the water in 7th (currents took me a little far west):

Finishing the bike (after seeing only Carolyn Hubbard on the bike course, just before the turnaround):

On the run (where I passed Carolyn Hubbard in the finishing shute after hunting her down):

With my little one, who won the 500m IronKids race on Saturday:

June 19, 2015 - Longest Day 5k (BC Championships)

25th Female OA, 6th Female Masters

Race conditions were perfect and I followed the race plan for the very hilly route. Finished behind two pros, an Olympian & a varsity runner in the Masters Division.  I ran in good company!

The little one ran the kid's mile with her dad :)