Elements of Erin 337

After being inspired by the Canadian Blood Services chase point in the Vancouver City Chase (the one where I had to eat a cricket), I decided to fulfill my promise to give blood. Having no idea what to expect, I checked out the info on line at the Canadian Blood Services very informative website. So, on Saturday after Jamieson got his hand caught in my car door (thankfully it was not too serious) and a mani/pedi in Kerrisdale I donated blood. Half a litre to be exact. The actual blood extraction only took about 9 minutes. The process of filling out forms and answering some interesting questions about IV drug use and sexual preferences took longer. After chatting with a lovely family over cookies and very sweet peach drink, I was off. I did feel a little tired for the rest of the day but it didn't stop me from enjoying Jamieson's birthday party at The Fridge with 15 nine year olds running around. Blood, it is in you to give!

Looking for affordable yet comfortable place to stay in Whistler this summer? Check out the Whistler Mountain House. It is about a 5 minute walk to the Villiage. We were referred there last summer by a friend and have stayed there twice now and have booked a third stay. Martin and Pepper, the owners, run a great B&B with a wonderful breakfast. http://www.whistlermountainhouse.com/rooms.html

Yesterday was Mother's Day. We took my Mom out for brunch at Runway 26 at the River Rock Casino. We all had a great time and the food was excellent. Yum...Chocolate Fountain! In this photo, me, Jamieson, Tim, Colin and Natsuko

Tomorrow starts my second four week block of training for Lake Stevens 1/2 IM on July 6th, 2008. The training is really starting to step up and the intervals look extremely challenging. I am finally heading to The Peak Centre on Thursday to use a Compu Trainer for my bike training. For the past 4 week block I have been trying to use HR to measure my Z5 intervals on the bike but it is really difficult to do. The power metre on the Compu Trainer really is key. With 8 weeks of training left I will really need to keep an eye on the food quality and intake to make sure I am at my goal 'race weight' of 128lbs.

This years race proved to be more exciting and more challenging than last year. The weather was not bright and sunny but the rain held off until after we were finished. Now I can say I have eaten a live cricket and had a tarantula crawl on my stomach. My new claims to fame. This race is the closes thing we have to the Amazing Race in Canada. So for everyone that has ever said they wanted to be on Amazing Race, give this a try. Saturday's event was the first of the season and will be broadcast on CBC June 30t h . Can't wait to see the strategy of the winning team.

It has been a while since I updated my BLOG. Since my last post I have completed the first three weeks of my training program for Lake Stevens 70.3. I managed to stick to all but two of the workouts planned for my by The Peak Centre for Human Performance (doesn't that name sound cool!!) I am currently on a 'recovery' week awaiting my next four week program later this week. I also competed in the Delta Triathlon. It was a great day and a great event. Gotta love the Sprint distances. Great news is that all my training paid off. I took 5 minutes off my time from last year and felt great doing it. Goes to show that training does make a difference. Good thing since I seem to spend a lot of time training these days.