Elements of Erin 337

P3214470 , a photo by erinlesleylee on Flickr. When I planned our family adventure to the Grand Canyon for Spring Break, I NEVER thought the weather would be like this. I thought it might be cool at the rim of the canyon and hot at the bottom. Check out all our adventure photos here .

Since I am on a roll with my blog posts, I thought I would provide an update of races I am doing in 2011. Will I see anyone else there?  Let me know so we can meet up. I am pretty excited about this year since I am moving up an age group and feel like I am right on track with my training. February - Pacific Roadrunners First Half (I know this has already past) March - Family trip to the Grand Canyon (not really a race or training camp but still very cool) April - Delta Triathlon and Easter Base Camp May - Vancouver Half Marathon  and May Long weekend training with Finish Line Coaching June - Oliver Half Ironman July - VOWSA Canada Day Swim 4km and Desert Half Ironman August - Ironman Canada September to November - TBD December - Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon (maybe Marathon)

View Larger Map Anyone out there done this drive?  Any recommendation on places to stop and things to see? 

Wow, has it really been August since I updated my blog?  Looks like it! What have I been doing since August? Well, I volunteered at Ironman Canada and signed up for IMC2011 Ran a PR 1/2 Marathon at the North Shore Half Marathon of 1:51:29 Ran a PR Marathon at the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Marathon of 4:16:35 Hired a new coach - Calvin Gehlen of Finish Line Coaching   Ran the Pacific Road Runners First Half Marathon (not a PR but a good early season run) My training is right on track and going really well.  Knock on wood, I am fitting it all in. This past weekend, I was on the Run Tri Chat podcast by Kelownagurl (Barb) chatting about my training this time around.   Click here to listen to the audio .  

This was the first time in a few years that I had done the Grind. Jamieson had done it once last year and bragged that he could do it under an hour. That did not surprise me given his ability to run. The hot weather took its toll on us and we completed the Grind in 1:33:31. Feeling that we had something to prove, we returned the Grind today. The weather was much cooler going up and almost cold at the top. It was even busier today but we covered the ground quicker. We reached the top 20 minutes quicker than last weekend. 1:13:37. We celebrated with a Beaver Tai l and then went for lunch at Mix, The Bakery . Happy training, happy life!

Does this seem hilly to anyone or is it just me? **This post had a link to the marathon and 1/2 marathon route that is now out of date, so I removed it** For the record, it was hilly but I would do the race again. Very well organized community event.