Elements of Erin 337

Next weekend we are headed once again to Las Vegas.  Our warm weather and relatively cheap escape from reality for a weekend.  Of course, what do we do when we go to Vegas?  Yes, we do have some great meals and a few drinks.  We even gamble a little bit.  Of course we find a community running race and go for it. For this trip we found the Desert Dash in Boulder City, NV .  There is a 5km, 10km, 21.1km, 30km or 50km trail run option.  Now as tempting as the 50km run is...we are running the 21.1km distance.  The run starts at 9am.  The temperatures in Las Vegas are already reaching 25C so the weather will be warm.  From what I know, there is no support on the course so we are packing the Fuel Belts, Gatorade and PowerGels . Check out the route map for the 1/2 Marathon here . Anyone else going to be there?  Tweet up anyone? Viva Las Vegas Desert Dash!

This past weekend, my husband Tim  ran the first Dallas Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon.  Of course he PR'd his race at 1:38:37.  He was fortunate enough to meet TriBoomer  at a tweet up pre race dinner.  Brian writes for the Dallas Examiner and published this article about the race giving Tim and I a mention. Check out the article Examiner Article . Yes, I have added the San Diego Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon to my race calendar for 2010.  Why not?  I am going to be there anyway cheering for Tim, why not race myself. Happy Training!

On Saturday I ran the St. Patrick's 5km Race in Stanley Park.  The weather was not overly inviting with the wind and rain but a 5km race doesn't take hours...they only take minutes...fast pace and hard minutes. My Dad and I were running the race together.  Well, actually, my Dad is much faster than I am but we did warm up together.  After arriving early to pick up my package and timing chip, we made our way down to the Start line for a quick warm up. After warming up, I ran into my friend Jim from The SAA.  He is faster than me also but closer to my time so we had agreed to run together (for as much as I could keep up).  That turned out to be about 2.5 kms. We positioned ourselves near the front of the starting line and the countdown started.  The gun went off and we are on our way.  I felt great for the first 2.5 kms as I usually do then hit a hill.  The hill slowed me down and took a lot out of me.  I did manage to pick it up again bu...

Back in January when everyone was making New Year's resolutions, I really hadn't figured out my training goals for 2010.  I think this was the first year in quite a few that I didn't have at least one resolution. I still don't have a resolution for 2010 but I do have a running goal. I am going to run a 4 hour marathon at the BMO Vancouver Marathon  in May.  The last time I ran this marathon was in 2002 when I ran about 4:40.  Since then, my marathon PR is 4:24:54 at the Florida Marathon in December 2009.  This was a hilly run and I feel like I can better the time.  Of course, bettering the time by 24 minutes is a lofty goal. After scouring the Internets to find a suitable marathon plan, I decided to hire a local coach to help me achieve my goal.  I am now being coached by Calvin Gehlen of Finish Line Coaching .  Calvin coaches quite a few of T he SAA members and is our official run coach.  If you are on Twitter, Calvin tweets as...

Olympic Caudron in BC Place at the Opening Ceremonies Originally uploaded by erinlesleylee I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Opening Ceremonies at the the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. This photo was taken with a Blackberry but I thought it was pretty amazing. The energy in the stadium was awesome!

It has certainly been an exciting past few weeks.  We took a trip to Phoenix, AZ to run the Rock N Roll Marathon and 1/2 Marathon, I started a fantastic new job and the Olympics came to town.  There has been no shortage of things to do, just a shortage of time (what else is new?). Below are photos of Tim and I in the finishing area of the Phoenix, AZ Marathon and 1/2 Marathon.  Overall is was a great trip and a great race.  I didn't get a PR but managed to have a great time on the course and in the city.  We were only there from Friday to Sunday and we stayed in downtown Phoenix so there wasn't much to do except get ready to run.  We did find a restaurant gem that I will recommend.  We traveled most of Friday to arrive in Phoenix around 6pm.  I booked a reservation at Nine 05 with my Open Table iPhone app (I love this app!)  It was a great place for outdoor dining.  Highly recommend it.    Tim ran the marathon in an amazing...

2009 was my year.  It was all about the big show, Ironman and the training that went along with it.  2010 is not my year.  2010 is The Year of Tim.  After running the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Marathon in December 2009 he was hooked on the events and signed up for 6 Rock N Roll events in 2010.  Now that he has committed to the races and the dates, I was able to finalize my races for 2010.  With starting a new job, I am not 100% sure that these will all be possible but here is the plan: January 17, 2010 - Rock N Roll Phoenix 1/2 Marathon March 13, 2010 - St. Patrick's 5km April 24, 2010 - Delta Sprint Triathlon May 2, 2010 - BMO Vancouver Marathon May 24, 2010 - North Shore Sprint Triathlon July 11, 2010 - Squamish Olympic Triathlon August 15, 2010 - Lake Stevens 70.3 September 6, 2010 - Vancouver Sprint Triathlon Looks like I will have my plate full! Happy training.