Looking across the cozy mess of my bachelor suite, I have taken some pictures to better illustrate where I will be living the next 8 months. I had already spent three days unpacking and sorting the many bags of junk I should never have dragged to Vancouver. At some point I would get bored from studying and clean, but right now my alternative is to curl up and let my eyes glaze over the temporarily free cable…too late already cut off.

How to Make the Most of Your University Experience
Steps:
1. Take elective courses that interest you and are outside of your major.

2. Play or watch varsity and intramural sports.

3. Go out to clubs and bars frequented by students.

4. Eat at the campus and town hot spots.

5. Read the books, magazines and papers that students talk about most.

6. Stay up late at night discussing controversial topics with friends.

7. Attend special lectures, panels, speeches, plays and/or concerts.

8. Ride a bike and walk around campus. A lot.

9. Listen, play, sing and/or dance to music often.

10. Study in a foreign country for a quarter or semester.

11. Join a student group that is passionate about something.

12. Protest something at least once.

13. Take wild spring break trips.

14. Go to professors' after-hours sessions to ask questions.


Tips:
Do a lot of everything, so long as it's legal and relatively safe.

GOING TO HAWAII


Here is Charlene Parrott and I after the National Triathlon Championship race giving Team Canada our info to confirm our spot for Hawaii. Sweet ass!! We both made the team and are off to Hawaii to compete against the top athletes in the world at the 2005 ITU Triathlon World Championships.

Sweet ass!! Triathlon Nationals are held in Kelowna August 21st, and I have been selected for Team BC. This has been a long term goal of mine ever since I started competing in triathlons and if has finally come true. This summer so far is rocken'

Reflexion Clinic Triathlon
This morning I got up bright and early to race at UBC in Race #6 of Triathlon Provincial Race Series (Sprint distance) Reflexion Clinic Triathlon. Following a week off of training after recovering from a chest cold and ear infection the race went very smoothly.

One thing I had never done before but use to always joke about was puking at the end of a race. Lauralee a co-worker from Surrey and I adopted a slogan "Win or puke" two years ago at race, after seeing a finisher puke up their breakfast from exertion right after finishing the race. We used this puking scale as a test of how hard you were willing to push your body. There is also an other expression we used however it is only reserved for the crazy Ironman competitors who can finish in sub 9 hours get the title of recognition..."Win or Poop." It is nuts the limits people are willing to push their bodies in sport, I sure as hell not going to push myself to the point I loose all control of all my bodily function.

Despite puking at the end of the race, which instantly cured my cramp that plagued me my entire run, I won. Finally my thousands...yes thousands of hours of train have amounted to something. Not a personal best time but a podium finish. I do not race entirely to win however it is a bonus when it happens. I race for the intrinsic rewards of the sport, I love what I am doing.

Canada Day Challenge
This morning was the most fun I have ever had celebrating Canada's birthday! Sure it required exercise and it was early, however it was tons of fun swimming 2kms around Sasamat Lake, in Port Moody, doing the Canada Day Challenge. The race was intended to be 2kms however I still have not mastered the ability to swim straight in a lake. I might have swam an extra two or three hundred metres however my skills are coming together. This might not be your idea of fun however it wasn't mine either until last fall when I started swimming a few times per week. It doesn't matter how fast you go, just have a good time...and finish. Sure some twelve year old girl might practically drown you as she powers past you in a Speedo Fastskin kick your butt, but who cares? So if you are interested in doing the Canada Day Challenge next year here is how you should train for the race. HARD, and with a buddy.

Inspirational Quote of the Week
"We all have the potential to participate in any sport we choose, as long as we have the desire and develop the appropriate skills. Size or body type does not have to be a determining factor. While the average basketball player is not so average in height, we occasionally see outstanding players who are quite regular in size. Just as the typical long-distance runner is very slight, there have been quite successful runners who don’t fit this prototype.

It’s all about spirit and desire. It’s about the power of the underdog. When we set our hearts and minds on something, chances are our bodies will cooperate. We are truly our own best motivators."

Kara Leverte Farley and Sheila M. Curry, authors of Get Motivated!

Click for pictures

I was up in Oliver last weekend for TriBC Provincial Championships and Race #5 in the TriBC Race Series.

Here is a break down of the race
Swim - 750 metres - along the shore of Tucelnuit Lake
Bike - 20 kilometres - challenging out and back course
through the city of Oliver and beyond
Run - 5 kilometres - flat 2.5k out and back loop.

"For me, the hardest part about racing is how it extends to my a social life. I'm friends with a lot of my competitors, in fatherly way. It gets pretty awkward when their wives and girlfriends are always flirting with me."
-Skeletor-

Sasamat Lake Swim 6:30AM
First of all, being able to see is no guarantee you'll stay on course...I learned this early this morning when I zigzagged back and forth probably an extra 200m trying to swim to my target. I met the "women in robes," Traci and Char at the floating bridge, a 200 metre floating walkway with 2 swimming and fishing decks. The initial plunge was a little chilly however as water slowly seeped into my wetsuit I warmed up. We swam from the South end of the lake to White Pine Beach and back. Being early June, the water was already pretty warm, I can imagine how nice it would be in July and August.