Pictures! very random selection

Support Staff on the course


Wish i could do that for real!



Wheres waldo??



Dance dance revolution with the locals!



Simon on the podium but i couldn't get close enough to get a real pic...only the big screen!


Me and Le Jenk at Canada House with Simons medal



GIANT China!!



me and cosmo


Dane, Josh and Shawn after Emma race!



me and cosmo doing our best gucci look...pathetic!




Sake and a sunburn



Dr. Keeler eating a cricket! we all did!! (thanks to the sake :)



Canada dorms



Simon at CBC

Olympic Green from CBC tower



At Nike House

i guess karma comes full circle!

first i have to apologize for the lack of updates! this was one whirlwind of a trip!

I want to start by saying how great the team was before the race! I was a little unsure of what the atmosphere would be like..i hear things tend to get tense around the Olympics but our team was the same old...if not more relaxed! Kyle and the support staff were the same. Our chef Cosmo Meens has to be the coolest guy i know! I had a surprisingly easy time too.

The day before i left i was pretty upset...what set me off was going down to HBC to BUY a team shirt to wear over there...i guess it's because the Olympics were everywhere and i had to explain the story everywhere i went..i was just getting tired of it and just wanted to get there! I was on the verge of tears all day and that never happens to me! I'm sure that day a disney movie would have brought me to tears! haha But after that one day i haven't felt sorry for myself once! It has been all positive!

The flight was an adventure...vic-van flight cancelled...rebooked for 1pm... flight to Beijing left at 1:50...first flight arrived in domestic at 1:30...i tore through the airport to international..the longest possible route in the airport.... and the most i'd run in 10 weeks complete with a 20lb backpack! I arrived just as they were shutting the gate...totally out of breath and already sweating...great! haha but once i got on the plane it was great..i got a row to myself so i slept most of the way! When i got into beijing i realized that no one had given me instructions..i didn't have our hotel address...i thought i remembered the name of the district it was in but wasn't sure....the Olympic volunteers had no idea where the Jundu Tourist Villa was because its 50km away in the middle of nowhere! and my blackberry had just died so i couldnt call anyone or look anything up! and my luggage didn't make it either.....so i was in the lost baggage center trying to fill out chinese paperwork with people who didnt speak a word of english and no address for them to bring my luggage to! but i got it all figured out and found Barry Sheply and Phillipe Bertrand (2 of our team staff) and we got a ride to the villa...whew...stressful few hours! My luggage didn't make it for another 4 days so thanks to Kathy for outfitting me!

With all the bad luck out of the way i finally got some good luck! I received an accreditation card when i wasn't supposed to be accredited! So i got into the venue for training on the course with the team and could go anywhere i wanted! The bar code even scanned green! This came in very handy later.....

I watched the races in the stand with the canadian crew...the girls and guys were very well represented! Tons of people came out to cheer! The womens race went pretty much according to plan...Emma Snowsill was incredible! She would have run under 33mins if she didn't celebrate the last couple hundred meters! and Moffy!!! i was jumping up and down for the whole last lap when she caught and battled Laura for the bronze medal!!! I even made it down to the VIP area with Dane, her boyfriend and Josh, her training mate and saw her before she crossed! I am soooo happy for her!

Then the mens race...Simon...what can i say...that was one of the gutsiest performances i've seen! He was dropped 2 or 3 times and fought his way back up..when he came out of the spill way and onto the blue carpet in 4th 20m back it seemed he was going to be fourth...but before we even had time to be disappointed i noticed how quickly he was closing the gap..just like Sydney...he kicked it in again and went right past the lead group of 3...all of this seems near impossible when you are in the last 400m..dropped and exhausted which is why it's so impressive....i screamed so loud (for me) that i still don't have my voice back yet almost a week later! my hands were shaking..even my knee caps were quivering! I thought he had it but Jan came around and looked so strong. It was such an exciting race...i hadn't been training too much but this certainly got my heart rate up for me!

After the race we went to a very swanky Sushi place where Gold Medal Chefs from Canada were cooking a 5 course meal for us. We showed up in canada gear..tattoos on our faces and all...it was in a square filled with Gucci, Versace, Missioni and many other posh stores...we fit right in! It was the best sushi i've ever had! Thanks to the Gold Medal Plates guys! The next night we went to a Trican function at a Palace somewhere outside Beijing...another fabulous meal! Then the next day i woke up early to go to CBC then Nike house with Simon. I had to be in the lobby at 7am SHARP (quoted from Tom's email) so i set my alarm on my new watch for 6:00am so i could pack, eat and get ready....new watch..i obviously didnt know how to set it properly because i woke up to a bright room at none other than 6:52 am! great! I packed all my stuff, checked out and ran to the villa to drop it off by 7:02 then headed out with Simon...whew..i have a feeling there are many things left in my hotel room...not to mention the fact that i was going out with hair that looked like Einstein and last night's mascara all under my eyes! haha I got to meet Ron McLean at the CBC studio in the big tower overlooking the Olympic green and watched some interviews from behind the scenes..Simon did a really great job. Then it was off to the Nike house which was the super swanky/modern/chic as usual for Nike. I met up with Adrian, the Nike Canada rep there and got myself some schwag! haha we went to the buffet there which was like gourmet and even had good coffee imported! ( because it's a rare finding in China!) Then it was off to the village! I thought i had a day pass but it turned out it didnt come through...thank god for my accreditation card!!! I scanned green and headed in with simon! It was sooo cool in there! Its funny but for some reason i pictured the village a big indoor building...haha this was MUCH bigger and MUCH nicer! It had everything! Cafeteria (so glad we were only there a few days..it was so awesome but i think i may have come back 200lbs if i was there for much longer!) , internet lounges, salon, gift shop, art and general stores, kodak picture place, chinese learning center, WADA info place, Right to Play had a set up.. the most well equipped gym i've ever seen! complete with a change room that was more like a spa and a 10 lane 50m outdoor pool! A polyclinic that even had a room full of MRI's! There was a concert stage...tennis and basketball courts....i can't even begin to describe how awesome it was! There was so much detail too! nice paths with little ponds and rivers...gazebo's art/statues everywhere.....plants in the shaped of different events and symbols....it was so cool!

I ended up staying there for the rest of the trip! haha the only catch was that i had to sleep in a tiny closet..(so small that i couldn't straighten my legs) on the stone floor on a bath mat with a towel for a blanket! :P that is until we realized on my last night that there simon had an extra tempurpedic mattress in the room! hahaha so that helped! it was all worth it though! I got into events everyday..in VIP seating too! I saw track a few times in literally trackside seats! I saw the race walk finish, high jump heats and finals, relay finals (4x100 and 4x400), womens 5000m and 1500m finals, mens 5000m (Bekele is amazing!) and 800m...Gary was the best! he got boxed in a number of times and bumped around but he was by far the fastest over the last 100m...he was disappointed i think but he should still be proud of his performance! 4th at the Olympics in one of the most competitive events isn't too shabby! I also saw the womens 10m diving finals where we got a silver!! Beach Volley ball...seated next to the US coach..pretty sure me and carolyn were on NBC! haha then i saw Mt. Biking and rhythmic gymnastics which is sooo cool! and i think that was it.... if i hadn't been in the village i don't know what i would have done! it was my golden ticket!! I got to do literally everything except race...it was the most Olympic experience i could have possibly got! Thank you Trican for sending me!! I did miss the closing ceremony but that wouldn't have felt right anyway...i headed up to Jundu to get my bags that were still left there! I watched some of the fireworks from the steps of the villa. Now I'm on a very crowded plane back home..i am ready to come home...this was the best time of my life though! Just wait until I'm actually in it! I can't wait! Now i have to get myself together for next year.............pictures coming!

Less than 4 years until it's my turn!!

(this pic is not from today but it works with the post!)



I woke up this morning to an absolutely stunning opening ceremonies on CBC! If that's any indication of what the Games will be like...i think it's going to be pretty good! I couldn't help but feel a little tug on the heartstrings while i was watching though..even though i kept telling myself that we wouldn't have been there yet anyways! I got a note from a friend today that said less than four years until the next one...i like the way that sounds! Time is flying by so i can't image it will take too long!

Tonight was the send off for the triathlon team at the local bike shop Fort St. Cycle...it's amazing how many people came out! We have such great support in this city! Although i have to say...after all that standing my legs are killing me! Well...the standing combined with the 4 hour hilly ride i did by myself today! Quite an adventure...an even more so if you know me well enough to know what my sense of direction (or lack there of) is like! ok key points and useful things from todays ride:

3 google maps of finlayson arm and shawnigan lake
2 Ipod nanos loaded with happy music :)
25$ in case i got REALLY hungry! (or needed a cab.... ;)
1 cell phone (which equals a tire change kit for me!)
1 bag of mixed gummy candies
2 powergels
1 powerbar (the new fruity one! :)
2 stops for directions
1 pair of baggy cycling shorts (i am notorious for baggy cycling kits) which led to.. 1 majorly chafed leg!
100 million bugs flying into my face

All in all it was a great ride! I went out to durrance lake then up the willis point climb, through the hilly,winding millstream road, over finlayson arm then up and over the malahat and around shawnigan lake (at a harder effort) then headed back into a strong headwind past home (very hard thing to do..pass your house nearing the end of a ride!!) and out to sidney along the lochside trail THEN home! I couldn't believe how the time flew by! I maaaaay be retracting previous statements of "NEVER doing an Ironman!" ....maaaybe.... )

A few minutes after i got home, my sister came home from her last day at work at thrifty's (a local grocery store) where they gave her flowers and 1/2 of a cake.. just what i was in need of! so i was very thankful for her quiting!

Another solid ride tomorrow...should be interesting!

Also....3 more days until i leave for Beijing! It's starting to get exciting! I'll most likely update like 13 times while bored in airport lounges!