slippery when wet . . .

just booked my flight yesterday! am going to kelowna again this year for christmas to see my very most favorite sister and this little guy. and you know what that means - way too many home baked cookies, hours of building stuff with lego and lots of multi-colored playdough stuck to the bottom of my sox . . .

still can't believe this weather! after thrusters and kettlebell swings at sunday mass with father jimmy this morning, i threw on the cascadias, braved the 'torrential rain' and played in the mud for almost 2 hours! perfect running temp!

trail pistols . . .

so that's what the inside of a squirrel hole looks like - kool !!!

as i was coming back, i bumped into the super cute, phenomenal mountain biker matt farquharson. he had unfortuntately learned the hard way NOT to try and go fast on the bridges when wet . . .

owwwwww!

he asked if we could do some running together over the winter. okay, ya, right - like this kid is one of the fastest racers in ontario. my only chance is to hope for a lot of slippery bridges ...

and WTF - who put this on my car . . .

saturday was 'date night'. me, lia, marsala and kat went to see the new 'muppet movie'. it was awesome! one of my favorite parts was of course, the singing chickens. oh, and i want fart shoes!!

i think we were the only adults in the theatre without small children. (we tried to convince lia to scrunch down in her seat so we didn't look so strange.)

friday night club was wallballs, box jumps and toes2bar. also practiced front squats - managed one nasty attempt at 145 . . .

and did anyone see the sunrise on friday . . .

There is never an absolute answer to everything, except of course that you have to do your squats.

Coach Mark Rippetoe

hay porky . . .

i hadn't been running in albion all year so i decided to give er a go yesterday. i had been soured from there for the longest time after training for the death race in 2003, when i ran way way too many km's, including one nasty day involving over 11 hours. that and the fact that i've done endless loops of the single track AND a couple of 24 hour mountain bike races over the past few years. so to my surprise, i actualy really enjoyed myself! the freezing rain we'd had the night before made for some icy sections, but in general the trail was in great shape! i stuck to the north-east section - i call it the 'dead zone' - for the most part.

and i came across this little dude on the side of the hill just past the look-out! he was sooo cute and not moving anywhere in a hurry . . .

absolutely LOVING this freakin weather! it can stay like this until april for all i care ( sorry snow gawds)

seriously - bar facing burpees !!!???

fun run on saturday! can't believe the temps! started out with moose and homey from humber station. the asian zamboni team was out today, and we had to play 'frogger' to get by them while going up k2. AND i almost 'angry birded' one of them as i was trying to run around her when i went off trail and tripped over a piece of wire! anyway, made it over to the creek on the dingle before homey had to head back.

laughed our asses off trying to set this one up . . .

kool fungiiiiii . ..

the creek by the porcupine bridge . . .

the yoda tree just south of hwy 9 . . .

put in 3 hours and was glad to finish. i think my feet are a little kranky from the kick box lessons i've been taking . . .


after, me and moose met up with the crossfit girls for burgers at kelseys.

great shot of kat and the lovely lia!


friday night club saw a smaller group, but no less energetic! we did front squats and then a short wod of wallballs and pull-ups. made a couple attempts at a pic . . .

ahahaha! awesome face kortney!

okay, so remember when i said i thought burpees couldn't get any worse, and then to-nay made us do bar jump burpees ?! well tuesday the yummy dillon had us do bar facing burpees - with deadlifts! argh! so you do 21 deadlifts (mercifully with only 135lbs) and then you do 21 burpees - BUT - at the top of each one, you have to jump over the fucking bar! ohmygawd! this went on for a total of 84 reps (times 2). i think i almost threw up!

OH! and just LOOK who showed up on thursday for ring dips and muscle-ups! kane! hiiiiiiii kane . . .

now pylon rules DO allow for tights - it is november - but it's not near cold enough yet. so i braved the 'several centimeters' of snow in palgrave thursday in a pair of shorts!

and in closing, a shot of miss lilian hanging out at the treehouse . . .

''And you don't need to bother;
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther
But once I hold on,

I won't let go 'til it bleeds''

Gary's 25 km Trail Run (7th Annual)

OHMYGAWD! look who made his way back to the box friday night!! luca! i made him promise he has to start training with us again - him and fedon!

our newly appointed cfb mascot - thomas . . .

hay kat - happy birthday!

friday night club was a blast. we worked on our back squats, and i managed to 'pr' at 170lbs! wahoo! i almost fell over! lia and sara both maxed out too - with 170 and 190 respectively! holy krap those two are wicked strong . . .

saturday was ''time again to get ready for gary's (7th annual) trail run. (for those who don't recognize the name. I'm gary from Aid Station # 6 at haliburton)''. i have met gary a few times at various runs, but mainly remember him from his undying support at haliburton. that and he was the sweetheart who handed me a chair to sit on in the parking lot just after i finished my hundred in september - an act for which i will forever owe him!! hehe! (i just wish i could remember who gave me that hunk of chicken . . .)

i had never attended this before, but it sounded like a blast so i figured i'd check it out. i managed to convince homey to come with me - okay, it didn't take a lot of convincing - so he picked me up in the benz just after 9.

after making sure at least one of us had reading glasses so we could figure out how to get there, we were on our way. we arrived at the parking lot of the bruce trail just north of milton by 10am and met up with a big group of runners. awesome!

small break by the falls - naturally gary is surrounded by beautiful women . . .

what a gorgeous area . . .

seriously - a pothole in the forest . . . but how the hell do i get back out of it!?

again - gorgeous . . .

had a great run! spent a lot of time with these 2 incredible ladies - jodi and maryka - thanks for letting me tag along! and check out homey sticking his head into the pic . . . what a maroon!

afterward, a bunch of us went over to ned devines in milton for beer and burgers. it was really kool listening to everybody - kinga and stephen are going to hawaii in january to run the hurt 100 - yikes - probably one of the most difficult hundred milers! and especially kool was listening to running legend helen malmberg talk about her THREE IRONMAN KONA races! in-fucking-credible! what a great day! thanks gary!

went running with moose on thursday - good gawd what is he wearing???? i can't even begin to count the number of pylon infractions happening here . . .

and super stoked to get me 2 new pairs of cascadias . . .

cuz i sure am going to need them to start training for this . . .


i can't believe i let jd, chris and steve talk me into it . . .

thank you . . .

wahoo! it's movember

and time for all the boys to start growing their 'tuff-guy' staches !! i think richard's is the best - makes him look rugged and not at all 'dentisty' . . .

had a couple of fab runs on the weekend! whoever didn't get outside was a moron - it was beautiful for sure!!!!! had a good romp up k2 on saturday, despite being abandoned by geoff and the moose. well, geoff tried, but neglected to actually read my email with directions, and ended up driving in the wrong direction to find the trail! doh!

regardless, it was really really nice out . . .

this is the best temp for running . . .

ewww! what the hell was THIS ??? spotted it in the ditch on the gore . . .

sunday i couldn't decide whether to bike or run. i ended up heading over to palgrave on the cascadias. look who i bumped into as i got there! junior broke his bike, and wayne did an 'on-trail' repair, converting his fully-geared ride into a single speed - why wasn't he riding one of them in the first place - while billlllllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee stood by and made smart-ass comments!

anyway, i had an absolutely groovy run - legs were hopping the whole time and i had several private dance parties!

'life is good'