The race started at 8:10am so we had a pretty laid back morning getting up and going. I’m trying to do way more carboloading before my races now, so I was able to hit almost 550g of carbs the day before the race. I woke up feeling too full for breakfast, so we just had oat milk lattes and I ate 2 wine gums.

It was easy finding parking, however, the lines at the portapotties were super long so we ended up starting the race 2 minutes late, and I made a decision to try and catch up to my desired pacers.

My GPS wasn’t turned for the first 5km because I had been fussing with settings the night before and never finished doing what I was doing, so ran by HR for that first bit.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have done that because my heart rate got too high too early into the race. I finally turned on the GPS after 5km and then switched to running by pace, with my 8min run 30-second walks. My legs felt so awesome throughout. I cannot remember the last time I felt so strong.

My stomach felt really full throughout. I got most of 1 gel in near the beginning of the race, and then just had water throughout. I almost barfed once around the 12km mark so just dialed exertion back a bit for the rest of the race. There are a couple of lollipops on the course, where the course runs back on itself, so I was hoping to be able to sight Justin but wasn’t able to. I was able to spot my friend Jeannine as she was running the 10k.

Felt like I could’ve run faster if my stomach didn’t feel so full the entire time, but overall a good day! I will skip the oat milk with my coffee next time. I focused on my form a lot through the race. And maybe I could’ve breathed more deeply throughout.

The temperature was 3C at the race start, so I wore crops, a tshirt, long sleeve, vest, hydration vest, hat, gloves. Switched to buff to cover ears and took off vest and gloves during the race.

The post-race for runners was great. There were bananas, pastries, cookies, chips, juice, as well as hot coffee and hot chocolate. I couldn’t get over how wonderful it was to enjoy those hot drinks inside merchandise/gear pickup tents. Since it was also the 25th anniversary of this race, they had this super cute display of mini cupcakes.

We really enjoyed running this race, and we look forward to next year. The race bling might be hard to beat because the 2019 medal is so cool, it spins and it’s glittery!

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Package Pickup

Package pickup is really straight forward, as it is just at MEC. It’s a pretty minimal race package, as all you are doing is picking up your race bib. And you get the chance to explore the store for things that you might not need, but want.

Race Day

The best thing about this series is the races start pretty “late”. The 10k started at 9am, and there was a 5k distance that started at 9:15am. It felt like the setup of tents was much smaller at Myra Bellevue. We knew parking was going to be limited that morning, so we decided to leave early and it was a good thing we did. When we rolled up, we snagged one of the last couple of spots in the lot. It wasn’t bad if you missed out, but you had to park further down the road and it was a little bit of a trek because there was construction and it ate up a lot of the prime parking on what would’ve been the shoulder of the road.

I’m still struggling with digestion issues. Not as bad a a few months ago, but it’s not great. We had breakfast smoothies on the road, and then I decided to eat a chocolate chip granola bar. I don’t think granola or oats really agree with me, and oatmeal really threw a wicked wrench into my whole day in Whistler for my Ironman Canada 70.3 race in 2017. I should know better by now. I felt like it took me a really long time to warm up, and my stomach just felt bloated for a good chunk of the race which is tragic considering this was only 10k. I think I need to start doing 1-2 mile warmups before any race now.

The course was beautiful. We had no idea what to expect, other than we knew it was going to be a little less elevation than Big White. Justin was feeling strong so he ran ahead of me for a good chunk of it. I decided that I would try and hang onto anyone in front of me and try not to lose them. I power walked a lot of the hills, and tried to run all of the descents.

I was really impressed at my fellow racers. A lot of the racers around me would also power hike the climbs, and then they would fly down the descents and I wouldn’t see them again.

Overall, Myra Bellevue is gorgeous and we cannot wait to go back. I realized I need much stiffer trail shoes for a course like that. Myra Bellevue is pretty rocky with a lot of roots, and I could feel every step with the shoes I currently run in. There were a couple mountain bikers out, and the areas we ran in looked like pretty easy trails to navigate. Like I said before, I can’t wait to go back and bring our mountain bikes. There are stunning views of the lake and mountains to take in on foot or on two wheels.

The post MEC Kelowna Okanagan Trail Race TWO – Myra Bellevue August 2019 Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

Package Pickup / Showcase Store

There is a wristband system at SeaWheeze and you are supposed to register in advance for when you want to pick up your package, as well as shop the Showcase Store. I used to think the shopping was a tad ridiculous, because what could they possibly be selling that has people camping out in the street overnight? However, I got the chance to shop last year with some friends, and I totally get it now. It’s actually quite fun, there’s tons of cute and limited edition merch being sold, as well as the very coveted reflective gear.

The organization for the reflective gear was absolutely ridiculous. In my experience, all you had to do was show up early, and then head straight to the reflective merchandise booth. This year, they handed out cards with specific names on it in the lineup. And they would call out specific card names throughout the morning. The premise was to allow shoppers to browse at other merchandise, instead of waiting in line for reflective gear and missing out on the other items throughout the convention center. It just didn’t make sense in my opinion, but I’m grateful for my loving husband for enduring that ordeal and picking up some cute things for us.

Package pickup was pretty straight forward after the shop. So nothing much to really write about. Justin came back to the hotel and we went for breakfast.

We had Kintaro ramen for dinner, and then went to Thierry for dessert. They didn’t have mille feuille the last time I was there, and we were really happy to be able to pick some up this time. There weren’t any places to sit inside or on the Thierry patio so we headed back to the hotel to eat our treats.

Race Morning

We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. And it is my new favourite hotel in downtown. It’s dog-friendly and much closer to all the activities than the Sheraton. The race started at 7am, and we rolled out of bed around 5:15-5:30am to have some coffee. The weather was overcast, so Justin wore a Lululemon shirt, his SeaWheeze race shorts, Salomon hydration vest for water and to carry his phone, and ProCompression socks. We walked over to the start line, and puttered around a little bit. We saw our friends Richard and company, he and his/our friend Carmen is the whole reason why we got into SeaWheeze. And then after they headed off on their way, Justin got into the corral.

I decided that I wanted to be able to take some pictures of Justin on the course just after the start. So I headed past the start line arches and towards Hastings and Burrard. There was a bunch of huge construction trucks that lined the right side of the course, and I just realized as I’m writing this that I think it was set up that way for crowd safety — which I really appreciate.

Since we got up so early, I headed back to the hotel after the race start to take the doggos out and feed them breakfast. I assumed the hotel had hotel bikes and I had this great plan that I would be able to use one to go catch Justin on Burrard Bridge. When I headed down to the Concierge, they said they had no bikes left so walking it was.

When I checked the race tracker within the Lululemon app, I saw that Justin was making incredible time so I booked it down to Burrard Bridge. I cheered for a bit, and when I checked the app again, it appeared that Justin had already passed! So I ran down Pacific, cut down Denman to hopefully catch him at the 20km mark. I never ran so fast. When I finally got to my spot and cheered for runners. I realized that there was an error with the map. I was spectating the same people who I saw at Burrard Bridge, and they were not quite elite, but I knew they were pretty fast racers. I even saw a couple people I knew.

Then I realized my error. The race tracker was off! For SOME reason, I believed the race app instead of other trackers we use. Race trackers NEVER work. They’re not accurate, and I really should’ve known better. And I was under the impression that Justin was making killer time. The time it was predicting could be something he could pull off and I believed it. I realized that if I had waited longer at Burrard Bridge, I would have definitely seen Justin coming over. Anyway, I saw my friend Niles, and not too long after I saw Justin. Because of the way the seawall is set up, I actually got to grab a few photos over a few spots.

The finish line wasn’t too far to go, so I told Justin I would meet him around the Convention Center. The nice thing is there are a ton of places for spectators to watch for their racers. Runners then get their medals, and their finisher hats, and proceed up the ramp toward to the Convention Center, where they can grab brunch and head inside for post race activities like massages.

Post Race

The race ends pretty close to the start, which again is awesome because we were staying in the area. We walked right up Burrard street back to the Hotel Vancouver to clean up and get ready to head back home. We had to skip the Sunset Festival because we had other plans that we needed to make. We’ve been to the festival in years past, and they are a blast. Outdoor yoga and a concert is an amazing way to end SeaWheeze. We didn’t believe it for years, until one of our friends convinced us that SeaWheeze was worth the price of entry. And we are so glad we finally listened! We’re definitely going to always put our names in for the SeaWheeze lottery.

We went for our favourite Chinese food in North Vancouver before we left, of course! Ming’s Garden is the best. And that basically wraps up how we did SeaWheeze weekend. We hope you enjoyed this SeaWheeze race recap.

Did you race SeaWheeze 2019? Have you run in other years? What was your experience like?

The post SeaWheeze Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

Race Morning

We were participating in the 12km race, and it didn’t start until 10am. There were other distances, like the 50km that started at 7am. I don’t think we’ve ever started a race that late in the day before, other than Rock N Roll Vegas, but it’s a night run and they shut down the Strip for that! It was nice to have our normal breakfast routine at home, before getting in the car and driving out to Big White.

There were MEC flags that marked the parking at the Happy Valley Parking Lot, and when we rolled up we saw plenty of other cars as well as a portion of the race course with some 50k runners making their way through. I wanted to race in shorts and a t-shirt, but the weather was chillier than I expected. And since we’re in the mountains, I didn’t want to take any chances even though we were “only” covering 12km with 2 aid stations, so I changed into my crops and long sleeve that I had packed with plans to wear afterwards.

The starting area was pretty low key. We waited inside the building nearby where a lot of other racers were hanging out, used the bathrooms, did our stretches, and then it was time to start.

Race

For some reason, I thought we were running the course counterclockwise, so I felt so disoriented for the first little bit, thinking that we were headed toward Rhonda Lake. It took me a long time to realize we were going the other way, which is funny because I had looked at the map and saved it to my phone.

The race started with a bunch of uphill, and I was expecting to be dropped immediately by everyone to take off right away, just like what happened at Nimble Bear. But I caught up to a huge group that didn’t seem to be moving, and it was because everyone was taking their time hopping on the pallet that was positioned across a stream that was overflowing from snowmelt. Once I got across, the group started to thin out again, and it stayed pretty thin for the rest of the course.

Justin was trucking along pretty well but I felt like death by the time we got to the first aid station. I was so out of breath and my legs felt like lead. I was still pretty full from breakfast, so I didn’t have anything, other than some water. Then there was more climbing as we headed toward the top of the Exhibition chairlift.

After we got to the top of the Exhibition chairlift area, it flattened out a bit and there was some up and down as we headed towards the second aid station. Now, I wasn’t expecting much at the aid station since this was a pretty small race, and I thought I saw somewhere that said there wouldn’t be much either. But when we rolled up to the table, there was a bunch of different GU gels, ruffle chips, pretzels, and some other treats. That was nice surprise. I forgot to take a picture because I wanted to be done already.

Even though there was a nice spread, I didn’t eat anything and took a gel “just in case”. After we started on the descent towards Rhonda Lake, I immediately regretted not taking some Ruffle chips. Not because I was particularly hungry, but because I love Ruffle chips. A 50k runner came through while we were there and complained about how much hiking he was doing, instead of running. It made me laugh because that’s all I could manage out there, and we were only on the 12km route!

It was smooth sailing after we left the second aid station. There was a quick descent, and we headed towards the finish. The course started to get crazy muddy. I had spent so much time trying to avoid all the mud and muck, but eventually, it was taking too much effort and I started splashing straight through. You have to be careful if you never run in these conditions because your feet can sink pretty deep and take off your shoe.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, this race was super fun. The course was challenging but the views were gorgeous and made it all worthwhile. The weather was agreeable and made it for comfortable racing conditions. The course was well marked with a bunch of little neon MEC signs. You get a 10% discount in-store when you pick up your race bib. There are no race medals for distances other than the 50km distance — and we’re totally OK with that. There was an announcement that we had access to the gondola for the day, which is a nice perk. And we could have hung around the village, but we didn’t feel like it so we just headed out and got lunch downtown. We’re looking forward to the next race of the series at Myra Bellevue!

The post MEC Kelowna Okanagan Trail Race ONE – Big White Resort July 2019 Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

Race Prep

Lots of Haribo gummy candy, carb-rich food, and tons of Skratch Labs hydration thanks to my sponsor Race Day Fuel over the 3 days leading up to the race. We didn’t wear anything new on race day, and Justin and I opted for matching Pro Compression compression socks. We started wearing compression socks a few years ago because we wanted to match our friends at races (they are also ambassadors, we are not) and I’m just in love. No lower leg fatigue during racing, and they’re fun! We wore our Solomon hydration packs, because we always like to have our own water and hydration. In our drop off bags, we packed sandals, a change of clothes, and a small washcloth for after the race.

Package Pickup

This race switched ownership for 2019, and I think that left a little to be desired in terms of organization. No complaints though, just observations based on our previous experiences at other races. When we showed up to package pickup, we had to wait in line to “check in” and then told to wait in another line to gain entrance into the “expo”. Very tiny expo, but it was cool. There were a few vendors to browse, if you needed some cute on-sale gear, Birkenstocks or other racing essentials like fuel or Body Glide. As part of the entry fee, we got cute gender specific tank tops in this beautiful shade of blue. We got our race bibs, racer bracelets (for after the race), and a big clear plastic bag for bag drop-off in the morning.

Race Morning

The city of Kelowna is wonderful, because parking is free all day Sunday! We drove and got a primo parking spot in front of the Delta. There were buses that shuttled us to the start at Bertram Park. I was having major stomach pain all morning, so I spent a lot of the time walking around and dry-heaving while my hubby and friends went to go use the bathrooms before we hopped on the school buses that would shuttle us out to the start line.

We brought a change of clothes in our drop-off bags, and there didn’t seem to be anywhere accepting our bags. We saw 2 volunteers from package pickup, and when we asked them they said to just leave it on the grass by the buses. We were a little skeptical but went along with the instructions, because we didn’t have anything extremely valuable in our bags. This was also one of the smallest races we’ve ever done with 1,300 races, so we just tried to go with the flow and keep criticism to ourselves.

The bus ride felt rather long from the Delta to Bertram Park. Maybe because I spent most of the time trying not to vomit. The race course was meant to start elsewhere, but got changed to Bertram Park at a later time. I’m not sure entirely when it happened, since I wasn’t paying too close attention to the route anyway. I wanted to be surprised and not worry about how I was going to pay for this all with my lack of training. What I didn’t know wouldn’t be able to hurt me, right?! We went over about 4 hills which felt monstrous in the big yellow school buses. Finally, we were dropped off in Bertram Park. It was communicated that people weren’t supposed to drive and park at the start line due to space, but it seemed fine. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot when we arrived. And the first thing I noticed was the huge lines to the portopotties. I did not feel like going into the bushes, so I waited in line.

Race Start

After we used the most clean and pristine portopotties in the world, we got in line with about 5 minutes to spare to the start time. November Project kicked off some warmups at the start line. They got everyone jazzed, and sang some funny drills. We did our own Peloton-inspired pre run warmups. I couldn’t stomach the idea of jumping or doing butt kicks with my stomach acting up. I recorded some Instagram Stories, and before we knew it we were off! Justin wasn’t even ready, so I waited for him to get himself together and we were off. The start line cleared pretty quick, within a minute or two. I held my stomach with one arm for a good mile or two, because it was just generally hurting and thought the support would help.

Race Course

The race course was so beautiful! I was so worried about the hills at the beginning of the course, but they weren’t bad at all!! I would run half way up each one, and then walk to the top and take off running again. They were gentle rolling hills at best. I should’ve worn my heart rate monitor to better gauge my effort, but I knew I didn’t want to red line early in the race and then have to worry about over-exertion and then being on the verge of puking every time I made a push.

The view was spectacular throughout the race. We ran on Lakeshore Drive, which means a view of the lake to your left. We mostly had the entire road to ourselves, but there were a few cars that drove through since there are some residents who live on the route. This is when running with headphones is really dangerous. Yes, you are supposed to have a dedicated course for running, but life happens like cars on the course, and you have to be mindful of your surroundings.

We ran along Lakeshore towards Dehart and Swamp Road. This was my least favourite section because we were just running on the shoulder of the road and the road was pretty active with cars. We ran by Michaelbrook Ranch Golf Course and I wished for a moment that we were golfing instead of running. We finally got off the road and got to run a bit on the Mission Creek Greenway. It was great to finally see Mission Creek! It was beautiful running beside the creek. I used to hate there-and-back/lollipops in race courses, but have grown to enjoy them, because it’s nice seeing other people racing and not feel like you’re last.

The last 3-4 miles really dragged on for me. I miscounted one mile and thought for that entire mile that I was closer to finishing than not, so that didn’t help. Since my stomach hurt all morning, I decided not to eat anything all race even though I had 2 gels with me. I drank a small cup of water at all the aid stations, and drank the coconut water I was carrying in my hydration pack closer to the end of the race.

The Finish Line

The finish line was at Waterfront Park and had a nice long finishing chute. I saw my hubby and friends waving me in. They announced your name when you finished, and you were given your medal. It was pretty crowded but my hubby and friends were able to find my pretty quickly in the throngs of finishers. I was the last of our group to finish at 2:32. The course was also a bit short, but overall it was not bad of an effort for a half marathon! There was finisher bananas (which I missed), more of those SunRype bubbly ice teas (which I promptly grabbed for calories), Clif fruit filled bars, and fruit bars. Our drop off bags were displayed on a table top. There weren’t too many left when I arrived, so I got my bag in seconds! We headed off to the bathrooms by “Tugboat Bay” to get cleaned up and head to the wine tastings.

Finisher Festival

This was the entire reason why I knew I needed to finish the race. I only had one small moment of doubt early on in the race, but that doubt was squashed quickly because I needed to finish to get that medal and finisher wine glass. The way the finish line was laid out, it was pretty quick to wander through and get our finisher wine glass, and head to the park and fill up on wine. They had a bunch of different wineries there, pouring samples of wine. I tried a few whites from a few wineries we had never gone too, and then just stuck to revisiting my favourites. Not bad for 10am on a Sunday morning. Eventually, we grew tired as the adrenaline wore off, and decided it was time to sit down and get brunch at Oak + Cru at the Delta.

Overall Thoughts

We will do this race again for sure! The 2019 Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon was great in terms of value and swag. The weather was cool and a bit rainy, much to my own personal delight, so it was a perfect day to run a half marathon. The race course was beautiful, and it was easy that the day “started” and finished at the Delta. The race is perfect if you were from out of town and stayed at the Delta. And if you are local or visiting, Kelowna on a Sunday morning is extremely easy to navigate and there’s ton of car parking. The wine festival at the end was also a good time! Not sure if the organizers will plan on providing on-course nutrition in 2020, so make sure to pack your own. We’re definitely going to try and snag an early bird rate and entry for next year.

The post Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon June 2019 Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

Would we do this race again?! Read on and see! This race is part of the Pace Trail Series, put on by Race Director Rene Unser. In my opinion it’s the Kelowna equivalent to Vancouver and area Coast Mountain Trail Series put on by Race Director Gary Robbins. With the Nimble Bear race, medals are home made, and top finishers win home baked apple pies! You had a chance to win a pie through your package pickup, but sadly neither of us “won” any pies.

Race Prep

Nimble Bear 25km was the same weekend as Justin’s birthday. So our family had come in for the weekend to celebrate as well as spectate. You can bet we did the usual wining and dining. We tried to make sure we were eating a lot of carb-rich foods, and stuffing our faces with Haribo gummy candies. They are honestly some of the best food for carbo-loading because they pack so many grams of carbs in such a tiny size!

Race Morning

Since there was a 50km, the 25km runners didn’t have to start the day until 9:30am! This is probably one of the latest morning starts we’ve ever had. We got to wake up at a normal hour, and proceed with our standard morning routine. We decided to have eggs on english muffins, with a slice of back bacon. It was so delicious, and kept me full all morning and about 3/4 of the race! We had coffee, and then walked over to the race start for the race briefing.

Race Start

This part makes me the most crazy. The announcer was warming up the crowds and talking about how this was the first race of the season for many, and asking how many people were prepared. Everyone was laughing about how underprepared and undertrained they were. Well guess what, when the gun went off and we finally cleared the congestion from a bunch of runners trying to squeeze through a tiny gap in the fence separating Rose Valley Park from the elementary school, I was left in the dust!! And left in the dust for most of the day, I was! I would be muttering about that a lot when I was alone on the course.

Race Course

The race course in Rose Valley for Nimble Bear is absolutely stunning. Rose Valley Park is a great place to hike or mountain bike, as well as trail run. It’s a lot of single track, and there are tons of great trails and views. The course start was congested at the beginning because the starting area is adjacent to an elementary school, and then you go through a formal opening in the fence to head into the park. It created quite a bottle neck because people with broad shoulders had to turn sideways and shuffle through.

For the entirety of the race, there would be plenty of 50km runners zip past us since it was a 2-loop course for them. It was incredible to see how fast they ran! I never passed a 50km runner once.

There was a lot of up at the beginning of the race, and we got to run towards this gnarly tree on the top of this hill that always catches my eye. It was a little steep there and I personally felt myself scrambling a bit at times. Weirdly enough, there was a family of 3-4 coming towards us from that area, and I wondered how they had got there as one of them was wearing flip flops!

The course eventually flattened, and then there was a there-and-back/lollipop towards the first aid station. The best thing about trail races are the real food at the aid stations! We’re talking slices of watermelon, candy, chips, pretzels, muffins, ugh the best!!

I recall The City of the the Edge of Forever was the most insane climb ever. This was one point on the race where we were “running” up double black mountain bike trails! Like how insane are trail runners?! While I was struggling to just keep my feet moving up and onward on the million switchbacks, I could hear the sound of clicking approaching behind me. The sound got closer and closer, until I could see it was a 50km trail runner with poles who was RUNNING this ascent. I need to train harder, because I could barely made this hike up, let alone run it! It was amazing to see the sheer strength of trail runners.

Justin waited for me at the second aid station, and we finished the rest of the race together. It was a suffer fest at this point, and we were both getting tired. But it was really enjoyable to run together as we we kept each other entertained, and I managed not to full out cry even though I was on the verge of tears at one point from fatigue and frustration. Eventually we recognized some of the trails we’ve hiked together before, so that was a glimmer of hope that the race would soon be coming to an end.

There was a band playing at the finish line, and the noise was the sweetest sound after 25km of trampling through the woods. We ran the descent and headed towards the flags and Solomon finisher arch. We got hugs from the Race Director, Rene, and chatted with her for a couple minutes before we hobbled away.

Overall Thoughts

We definitely need to put in serious training to give this another go. Way. More. Training. For many years our first race of the year was in May, and Nimble Bear was an entire month earlier. I refused to run outside all winter and since our move, we ran all winter indoors on a treadmill. Kelowna has real winters with snow that sticks around, unlike Vancouver with the rain. I am just not interested in running in snow or icy conditions.

I would like redemption at this race, so we definitely will need to have a structured training plan for when we tackle this race next time. Nimble Bear 25km was hard as hell, but super rewarding because of the effort required as the views that were earned. The snacks/aid stations are also infinitely better than road races which is another great motivator. I’m a little annoyed that the shirts we got with registration run super small, so I’m not sure how much we’ll wear them. But overall, it was a great race. Grass roots, local, well-organized, with a challenging route and awesome views.

The post Nimble Bear 25km 2019 Race Recap – West Kelowna appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

SeaWheeze

SeaWheeze is a race hosted by Lululemon, and it’s not JUST a race but an entire weekend of yoga, running, and partying. As part of registration, you get a pair of exclusive SeaWheeze shorts mailed to you so you can wear them during training. There is a Showcase Store where you can buy exclusive swag. There’s also yoga classes in the days leading up to the race, a bunch of SeaWheeze activities, and then finally the Sunset Festival. We attended the festival in our first year, but since 2018’s event fell in September, the weather was too gross to head to Brockton Oval and do yoga in Stanley Park.

Where to stay

The Sheraton Wall Center is one of the host hotels, and we decided to stay there because they are dog friendly! The hotel is also in a great location close to plenty of restaurants, shopping, and the Robson St Lululemon Store.

Package Pickup

The package pickup went pretty smoothly this year. You got to book your pickup times in advance, so I showed up for my time slot and it was easy breezy. There was still a significant lineup though, so that surprised me a little considering they were touting this whole new package pickup process.

The Showcase Store

Justin and I were arriving in Vancouver at separate times due to our schedules. Since I got in first, I had nothing but time on Friday morning to go check out the The Showcase Store with some friends I had made/met because of SeaWheeze in 2016! It was such a mad house. You had to book your times to shop, and I was able to snag the first slot of the morning. The lineups were still insane when I arrived at the Convention Center at like 6am.

I also got to meet and hang out with Andrea Barber from Full House/Fuller House, since we have mutual friends! I didn’t know who she was until afterwards. Listen, it was like 7am and we’re all a little tired and haggard from waiting in the rain, being forced to walk through a maze of a million stanchions, and then racing or lining up some more to get ourselves whatever we could get our hands on. I had my heart on some matching reflective hats for Justin and I to wear for our next race, the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon.

The Race

Race morning was gnarly. It was raining the days leading up to the race, so we knew it was most likely going to be a wet race. It was drizzling all morning but when we showed up to the race start, it was starting to slow. The rain stopped for a while and then it just sprinkled on and off throughout the race. Justin runs much faster than me so we typically start a race together, and then we both run our own paces.

I stopped listening to music a few years ago. I started to practice because you can’t listen to music in triathlons. I also try not to run with music because of safety reasons. And finally it’s also a SeaWheeze race, so typically there is a ton of entertainment on the course so you don’t really want to me running with your earphones.

Since we’ve done this race before, and also run the course a million times outside of SeaWheeze, it was a pretty boring this year. I was grateful for everyone who braved the weather and stayed out to cheer because it was pretty wet and cold, but compared to the previous year when the weather was nice, the difference was night and day. Our friend who didn’t get in was cheering near the 12 mile mark, so I kept an eye out for him and stopped to grab a selfie.

Post Race

The race finishes near the Convention Center. The finish line is on the seawall, and then after getting your medal, you walk up the ramp towards the Convention Center. This year, they handed out hats!! I was beyond thrilled for the hat, and it’s my most favourite race swag to date!

Bearfoot Bistro caters the Finisher’s Brunch, and it was pretty good! The way they organized the lineups was super annoying though. They cut off the line behind us to start a new one, and then the new one ended up going faster than our line. We were hungry and cold, so we weren’t exactly pleased about that. We headed inside the Convention Center with our food, and sat down to eat. They offer massages and physio, but I’m not a speedy finisher so the lineups are always crazy by the time we get in.

Overall, we’d do this race again. We’re going to put our names in for the 2019 lottery, but there’s no guarantee we’ll get in. It’s pretty decent value for the price tag. SeaWheeze is definitely a fun little race-cation.

Check out our 2019 SeaWheeze race recap here!

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First off, the expo was pretty good. With 40,000 I expected it to be pretty crazy, but it was no different than any other package pickup. I picked up some PRO Compression socks, and a Roll Recovery R8 roller that we’ve had our eye on for years!!

Pre-Race was great. The Strip was completely closed to traffic, so we got to walk on the road a ways toward the start line. The T-Mobile arena was pretty busy, but manageable. We went to meet up with some friends, Richard and Niles, and hang around a bit before starting. I think we did a great job carbo-loading leading up to the race. While I was hungry, I just ate a banana because I didn’t want to feel too full while racing.

It was time to get started, so we all headed in and formed a conga line and weaved our way to the front corrals. It didn’t seem like there were many entry points into the different corrals, and so we just went with the flow.

There was a moment of silence for the victims of October 1, the National Anthem was sung, and then there was a bunch of pyrotechnics on the starting arches, and we were off to run #StripAtNight. The first 3 miles were quiet, without any on-course entertainment as a sign of respect.

The full and half marathon share a bit of the course, so I got to run with Justin for the first little bit. We decided to get a picture at the Vegas sign, and then he would peel off to get his new marathon PB. We ended up being the first people to pull over! Marathonfoto got a really nice pic of us that we’ll buy shortly. Justin and I grabbed a quick selfie together, and then I waited around for the rest of my group to arrive and we grabbed more pictures together.

The sun was setting at this time, so the sky was a spectacular red/orange. I couldn’t get any good photos, so I just tried to enjoy it with my eyes. It was stunning as we headed back towards the Strip.

We managed to run 13.1 miles as a solid crew of 10 people. We’d occasionally gain some people and then lose them when we made our 2 beer stops, character stops, fuel stops, and bathroom breaks.

We stopped for (our first) beer a little earlier than I expected, but it was great because I don’t like miles 7-10 on races anyway. I could not believe that I was able to sip on my beer and continue running. It was really, really strange to be running, to be on the road, passing cops, with a beer in hand.

We stopped for beer one last time, around mile 12, and walked the last mile to the finish. As we got closer to the finisher chute, the rest of the crew crossed over and I stopped to grab a few pictures, and debated waiting for Justin to arrive and finish together. Yes, it did take us a little while to do the half, a lot of fun was had! While I was taking pictures and debating, my friend Jeannine popped up! She was able to spot me in the finisher chute, and so we crossed together.

It was a super long finisher chute, which was awesome for a cooldown. We got medals, pictures, water, gatorade, snacks, bars, and my fav, chocolate milk. I went go to meet our parents, and wait for Justin to finish.

This was an awesome race, and I highly recommend it to anyone. I definitely wouldn’t make it your first half marathon, because you definitely want to soak in the entire experience. And there are a ton of people. So there are going to be racers who don’t know runner etiquette, or just running for fun. It’d be hard to run your tangents, and the roads are craggy and dimly lit or dark in some places. But considering the entire Strip is completely closed to car traffic, and the amount of fun there is to be hard, before, during, and after the race, Rock N Roll Las Vegas is a must do.

And yes, I was a little worried about security too. But I hope that even after what happened on Oct 1, by still deciding to visit Las Vegas, and participate in this race, we all helped show that there is still love and light in this world. #VegasStrong

The post Rock ‘N’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon 2017 Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

Ironman Canada 70.3 was such a challenging and awesome race!! It was a sufferfest for me, because I had some pain and nutrition issues, but I’m still going to sign up for this race again in 2018. We got to explore Whistler in the summer time, and have a mini race vacation, a race-cation. It was a Team Betty takeover, with 15 of us racing. A few friends were also racing, so it was awesome to have so many familiar faces.

The 70.3 shared the same course as the 140.6, and it was so awesome. We had amenities like wetsuit strippers, change tents, and sunscreen applicator volunteers. It was so luxurious! The race is also very spectator friendly, I saw my hubby 8x over the course of the day. Seeing Justin, our friends, as well as so many of my team mates was really special. Special thank you to Betty Designs for making sure we look amazing out there on the race course.

Pre-Race

I was thrilled heading into this race. I felt fresh, I felt strong, I felt ready!  Transitions were in separate places and had to be set up the day before, so there wasn’t much to do on race morning but bring nutrition and swim gear.

Race Morning

We got up around 530am. I felt so rested and ready to go. Since we weren’t racing until 9am, I thought I’d be able to manage 2 breakfasts. On a regular day, I have breakfast and am hungry again at 9am. So I started with oatmeal. I didn’t feel like eating, and I should’ve listened to my body. It was such a mistake. Eating created a huge knot in my stomach which ended up bothering me all day. Thinking it would pass, we packed up to head to T2 to catch the shuttles that would bring the athletes to T1. Justin then walked from T2 to swim start.

I dropped my favourite running hat into my T2 bag, and went to get body marked. I ran into a friend and we chatted on the bus all the way to T1. So happy we had that conversation, because I didn’t get a chance to preview the back half of the course so I had no idea what to expect. I knew it would be hilly, but I couldn’t visualize it until after our chat.

Since the 70.3 didn’t start until 9am, we bummed around T1 for so long. Put my food and water bottle onto my bike. Chatted with girls who were racked nearby. Watched the full 140.6 athletes start their day. The 70.3 got some time in the water before the race, so I made sure to get in and swam to the first buoy and back. Alta Lake was the perfect temperature, and the water was so clean and fresh. The lake was pretty calm, but it would change quite a bit during our race.

Swim Start

The swim is a rectangle. I started closer to the back, around the 40 min swimmers. I was hoping to find some fast feet to hang onto for a better pace than my own. It took a few minutes to get into the water, and I was feeling pretty calm. I swam straight out towards the yellow buoys, and found myself swimming close to the inside line the entire time. Got caught behind slower people a few times. Laughed at myself because I saw one person backstroking faster than I was front crawling. I generally enjoyed the swim out towards the first turn. I got a couple mouthfuls of water but thought it was due to poor body rotation. I hadn’t noticed yet that the waves were picking up.

Once I hit the first turn, it got a little choppy. Once I got to the next turn, I peeked at my watch and saw it was at 30 minutes. Then I looked around me and noticed it was a little quiet, and how wavy the water was. I kept swimming and I could feel every wave. I was starting to get nervous about my time, so I picked up the pace. Then the buoys started to feel farther and farther apart, so I got a little more nervous. Reaching the last turn buoy was a huge relief, because it looks like a short, straight shoot to the finish. But this is where the swim got really interesting. The water was super choppy and it was really windy. It was my hell.

Luckily in training, Leana and I went for a horrible swim at Kits. It took us forever to get to Kits Beach because of traffic, so I committed to swim at least an hour even though I just wanted to go to splash around and get some open water time. The waves were huge that day. It took us 40 min to swim 400m. I’m sure Leana could’ve swam a lot farther, but she’d wait while I panicked every 10 strokes and stopping to tread water and calm down. So while the last turn at the swim in Alta Lake sucked big time, I told myself to HTFU and keep going because I had been through worse.

T1

It was all smiles on the swim exit. I gave someone a high-five, and proceeded to the wetsuit strippers. I didn’t wear the straps on my bib shorts during the swim, so I held onto my pants to make sure they didn’t come off. I got my bike bag headed into the change tent. It was pretty quiet inside the tent so I had a volunteer all to myself. As I exited the change tent, there were sunscreen applicator volunteers, so I let them spray me down. I hurried over to my bike, and headed toward the exit. The mount line was surprisingly a bit busy, so I made my way to the left side and peddled away.

Bike 

I left my bike geared down, so that I would take it easy out of T1. It was a scenic ride past Alta Lake out to Highway 99. Popped some Tums, hoping it would sort out my stomach, and then later sipped on my liquid nutrition. As we got onto the highway and headed towards Callaghan Valley, my hips and deep in my hamstrings started to hurt. I tried moving around on my saddle and stretching on the descents. When it didn’t seem like the pain was going away, I started to get upset because now I was distracted from enjoying the bike course and scenery.

The pain in my hips and hamstrings finally ended after about 30km, but my stomach pain wouldn’t let up. Any time I sipped on my liquid nutrition, my stomach would protest and hurt even more. So I picked up some course nutrition. Managed to get down half a pack of Shot Bloks and a vanilla gel. After debating on making myself throw up, I attempted to around the 70km mark, with no success. Then I just dumped my liquid nutrition and decided that Gatorade and water would have to do. Always for fun, I packed Ghirardelli chocolates in my bento box, and I was so happy I did. I was able to get down a small square of caramel chocolate. It was only 60 calories, but it was a great pick me up. There were some great descents on the north side of Whistler towards Pemberton, so I made sure to enjoy them because they wouldn’t be so fun on the way back.

All in all, I managed to get in maybe 600+ calories by the time I finished on the bike. I was aiming for 1,100+ calories. So that calorie deficit had me on the verge of tears quite a few times. At one point, I actually started to see stars and my vision got a blurry. So that wasn’t fun but I survived. Since the bike course is 2 lollipops, it was so nice to see so many of my fellow Team Betty girls and other racers coming and going. It was uplifting to see so many familiar faces, and it made the time go by much better. I also saw Justin and our friends quite a few times too! So despite the pain, I really loved the bike course and experience. It was pretty hot and windy too, but I didn’t notice because my stomach hurt so much.

T2

It was really quick to get myself out of my cycling kit and into my tri onesie. I threw on my favourite racing hat, shoes, and race belt, and I was off. Justin was cheering me on out of T2, so I went over to give him a kiss and told him I’d still be a while until the finish.

The Run

I didn’t pack any nutrition because I was planning on Coke and water. When I made my way to the first aid station, I immediately grabbed a coke, and that made my stomach hurt too!! I was really counting on the familiarity of Coke on my stomach. It was settled, this day would stay hard. The beginning of the run course was pretty quiet without many spectators, so I sniffled and ran/walked, trying to hold back tears of frustration. My fellow team Amelia was out cheering, and she jumped up to give me a hug and I just started crying. I was so happy to see her, but so upset in that moment. She gave me a huge hug and sent me on my way. So I ran a bit more, and when I was far enough away, started to cry again hehe.

Eventually, something clicked and I decided to buck up and finish strong. The course finally got more busy, with more racers and people around. The run course was gorgeous, and went past Lost Lake and then up to Green Lake. Part of the run course was on dirt trail, and some on concrete. On some parts we ran alongside the highway, so we could see the full distance Ironman racers heading back into Whistler. I took ice at most aid stations to put down my trisuit. and it was divine. I ended up being able to get in tiny sips of Coke and water. Some people said the run course was pretty hilly, but I really didn’t think so.

THE FINISH

As I started to approach the finish line, all my pain went away. I high-fived people and soaked in the finish. I couldn’t find Justin, but he got this great photo of me!

OVERALL

Loved this entire experience!! I woke up Monday morning and decided I’d be racing this one again. Ironman 70.3 Canada was a great character builder. I wish I hadn’t got upset so much, but I didn’t give in and kept soldering on. Even if you are suffering big time, you can fake it til you make it. I made sure to smile all day, especially when it got tough. And guess what, it totally works!! I’m already making plans for Whistler 2018, can’t wait.

The post Ironman 70.3 Canada 2017 – Race Recap appeared first on The Lifestyle Of Us.

I just had the most fun I’ve ever had in a race at Ironman 70.3 Victoria. The training cycle for this one was pretty rough and not a priority at times, so I’m pretty happy how everything turned out. I had raced BMO Vancouver Marathon 6 weeks prior, and also wanted to have a great time at the Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon that would be 6 days after finishing Victoria. So with (the lack of) training, I was banking on my riding my marathon fitness, and seeing what I could pick up and cram in from a well-timed triathlon camp in Vernon that I attended three weeks prior to race day.

Athlete Check In/Bike Drop

Ironman Victoria 70.3 had the worst check in I’ve ever experienced. In previous years, all activities were held on the other side of Beaver/Elk Lake, and they moved it all this year so there would be more parking and space available. It was awful, so I can’t imagine how it used to be. When we arrived at Beaver Lake, the road by the highway was really crowded, so we decided that we should hop out and walk in with our bikes. It. Was. So. Far.

When we finally arrived at the Athlete Village area, there was a huge line up to check in, and I stood in line with our bikes before space finally cleared up on nearby racks. I needed to pay one day race insurance fee, and got diverted to the slowest table to even though I had exact change. Then we had to go to another table to sign waivers, and give permission on if our names could be shared in case of accident. Then we went to another table to pick up bibs and swim caps. Then another table for our chip timers. It was in a really small crowded tent, and I disliked the process here compared to other races.

The Athlete Village was kind of nice and had a few vendors. As a pre-race ritual, I went to go buy a new pair of goggles at the Aquasphere tent. I did like how there was a huge swag tent, there was lots of swag to look at compared to Ironman Calgary. I bought a bunch of race branded water bottles because it looked like they were running low, and planned on returning to the swag tent once I finished. We put the stickers on our bike, dropped off our bikes in transition, and walked by the swim start before leaving for the day.

Pre-Race

Since the race started around 6am, we woke around 4am so that we could get to transition early without rushing. I opted to eat a Clif bar for breakfast, which I took with me and ended up eating while setting up at transition. I was going to have a gel before the swim, but totally forgot.

Swim

With the way I swim, I really have no business participating in triathlons. But I really wanted a 70.3 finisher hat. I didn’t do any pre-swimming at the venue because everyone had nasty things to say about Elk/Beaver Lake. I didn’t do any open water swimming before this race, because the waters were still too cold. I was only swimming about 1x/week.The outdoor pools had just opened for the season. I didn’t even try on my new wetsuit until before athlete check-in/bike drop. The odds were really against me.

On race morning, we learned the swim was officially shortened due to lake weeds. Yay! Shortened swim should mean auto-PB. It didn’t take long to set up at transition, and I rushed so I could get in the water for a small warm up. I wore a one piece Sugoi trisuit, and quickly put on my wetsuit. I made sure to Bodyglide the back of my neck, around my elbows and knees. Walking barefoot from transition to swim start was honestly the hardest part of the entire day. The swim start was really far from transition and I should’ve brought flip flops.

The lake was warm and there was no visibility — perfect! All my triathlon swims have been in murky water, so this is all I know and I think I prefer it. I let water into my wetsuit, swam towards a buoy and got back out to get in line. It was a self seeded start and I put myself in the last 1/4 of the crowd. The swim start area felt like a cluster. The corral was too small, and there was not enough space to wait by the signs for your expected swim times. I’ve only ever experienced wave starts, so this rolling start was new to me but it felt very much like a running race. The gun went off, and you gradually make your way through the starting arch. Everyone started getting into the water, and I waded in until about waist deep and started swimming. Some people walked in until up to their neck. I swam a little bit and then started to get jostled. Nothing major, no punches or anything. But in the first 100m, every time I got bumped I would completely stopped and then I started to panic and get scared. But I couldn’t quit because I wanted that hat. And I was too close to the shore and the crowd. So I forced myself to keep going. I exhaled extra hard and counted my strokes to keep myself busy. After I passed the first buoy, I felt better. When I passed the second buoy, I was over the moon. I was suddenly having THE BEST SWIM EVER. I was having the best time ever. I just kept counting my strokes and enjoyed the swim. It was magical. Until it was time to turn back. The turn buoys switches sides (which was really confusing, I thought we kept all buoys to our left) and we got into the lake weeds. I didn’t love that. I didn’t know what to do so I started to swim weird. Then a weed landed on my face. But it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I thought that if you were to get into the weeds, it would start pulling you down into the depths of the lake and stuff. Nothing like that happened. The lake weeds were also nowhere as scary as people bumping into me.

We got pulled out of the water at the swim finish, which was a floating plastic dock thing. The volunteers form a human chain to hoist you out. No wetsuit strippers. I literally skipped and ran with joy into transition. I’ve never felt like I was having fun in an open water swim until now. I hope this is my new normal. My swim time was still pretty awful, 42:19 for either 1500 or 1600m, I’m not really sure what the distance was. I lost some time with the buoy confusion. I need to work on sighting, getting comfortable in crowds, and swim strength. So, basically everything.

T1

I was able to run to T1, which is a first for me. I had tucked the end of the zipper string into the velcro part on the neck of my wetsuit, so it was really easy to reach and start unzipping myself. I took off my swim cap and goggles and held them in my left hand while I pulled off my sleeve so they got safely stowed away. I sat down in transition to wrestle the rest of the wetsuit off. I rinsed off my feet using an extra water bottle, and put on my hot pink Betty Designs cycling jersey and Sugoi cycling shorts. Yes, on top of my one piece Sugoi trisuit. I like extra padding. It was overcast, and my jersey has SPF, so I skipped sunscreen.

BIKE

I had a great time on the bike, but I am so embarrassed by my time. I felt really strong and rode in the big ring for almost all of the ride. Compared to where I now currently ride and train, the Victoria course felt pretty flat, other than 2 major hills. I spent a lot of time with my head turned looking the at scenery. Not aero at all. I planned on riding by HR but couldn’t because the HRM I brought with me ended up being a dud. So I decided to go by RPE alone, and not check my time.

The course was really beautiful, but I felt like there were too many cars for my liking. There were also a few accidents. One was at an aid station, and I think I saw at least 2–3 ambulances over the course of the ride. But maybe that’s par for the course when you’re back of the pack like me. I rode with concentrated Infinit and water, and my nutrition felt bang on. I will ride with one disposable water bottle on future races, so I don’t have to fumble with water re-fills.

When I got back to transition, I finally looked at my time and was shocked! 4 HOURS?! I was so annoyed at my time, and got little disoriented so extra T2 time was wasted by trying to exit out the wrong corner of transition. 4 hours?! 4 hours. Boo. My RPE is a liar. I was hoping for at least 3:25 or under, and ended up being 03:45:13. I learned my RPE is a liar and elevation charts are greatly exaggerated. Next time, I’ll be sure to ride with a working HRM and most obviously, check my time.

T2

I was pretty upset at my bike time, so I forgot to take off my cycling shorts. I changed into my sneakers and threw on my race belt. I opted to run in my cycling jersey because the weather was still cool and I still didn’t want to bother with sunscreen.

RUN

The run was pretty flat, 2 loops around Elk/Beaver Lake. The aid stations were every 2km, but felt a lot farther than that in some places. Normally I run 10 minutes and walk 1 minute, but since I never do any speed work, I decided to try a new ratio of 4:1 and see if I could get free speed. I stuck to cola and water, and ate half of a peeled banana for some reason. Pre-peeled bananas are weird. It was pretty hard having to run by the finish line to start the second loop. I thought about how hard that would be on a 140.6. My second loop got a lot quieter. I also stopped for a bio break, and I’m convinced it was the reason why I did not PB (in reality, it was many things). There was a younger guy whose left leg didn’t seem to be cooperating, but he was limping faster than I was running. Just like how there were people who were backstroking faster than I was front crawling on the swim. We leap frogged a bit and chatted some. I lost him when he stayed to walk with a couple girls in really cute Zoot kits. It got a little warmer near the finish, so I started throwing a cup of water down my chest. I’ve seen plenty of other people racing in what look like cycling jerseys, and I loved racing in my hi-vis Betty Designs cycling jersey for so many reasons. It was easy to spot me. It kept me comfortable. It had sun protection and covered my back and shoulders, and I learned it could keep me cool when I needed it.

Overall Thoughts

I was pretty undertrained going into this race. I was getting into the pool once a week. Barely running. I was focussed on getting stronger on the bike (and I was getting there) but never doing any speed work. If I was racing in July, I would’ve been in much better shape. Especially with everything I learned at this awesome training camp. Regardless, it’s pretty cool to see what my body is capable of. Victoria won’t be the top of my list for next year, since it’s really early in the season for me and I don’t like taking the ferry from Vancouver. But I’m excited to race another 70.3 and see what happens. Thanks to my husband and family for being really supportive, and thanks to my friends for all your messages and encouragement.

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