Celebrating the three month milestone!

So it's now Wednesday evening and I can finally sit down without feeling any pain! Why you ask? Well, last Sunday I completed my first ever half marathon (with the help of Missy & epic support crew Steven & Dave)!

Given the mediocre build up and despite the emphysema-esque cough I had (and still have) (see previous post featuring the return of my dreaded flu-cold), I was pretty happy with the end result. In fact, earlier in the week I had attempted one last training run of only 40 minutes and by the 20 minute turn around mark I thought I was going to die! So let's just say it was celebrations all 'round! 

The weekend started off well and was pretty low key but mostly sunny weather meant we were all in happy moods. On Saturday after his ride (Steven has now started training for his next Ironman - more on that below) Steve and I decided we should finally visit the little cafe on the corner of Comox & Denman called Central Bistro (just a short walk at the end of our street) because we'd heard so many good things about it. Well yes, it was amazing! So amazing in fact, that then and there I declared my chicken BLAT sandwich to be the best sandwich I had eaten in Canada so far. And as you know, we've eaten A LOT in Canada in the short time we have been here! Needless to say it was a big deal. Steve had the lambwich (bet you can't guess the key ingredient) which was also delicious, but once again I was the victor in our 'best meal' competition.

True to my traditional pre-competition form, I spent the majority of the weekend a nervous wreck but by Sunday morning I was relatively calm as I underwent all my pre-run rituals including eating a small bag of popcorn (yes - I finally found the cure to my running cramps!!).

Over 5,000 people (and one gorilla) competed in the race which began at UBC (University of British Columbia) and finished in Stanley Park. Vancouver even managed to turn on a gorgeous, sunny and warm (20 degrees - woohoo!) day for us so we had awesome running conditions. Our support crew were very dedicated, making their way to various points along the course to cheer us on. Needless to say I think Steve now has a lot more respect for all the hard work that goes in to being support crew!

These guys were only a few k's behind us! ;-)

Told you!

Missy & I at the start

Picturesque running conditions!

Quite a few k's in and still feeling good

Finishers!

 The only support crew 'fail' was that I had to take my own finisher's medal photo ...

  ... because my support crew stumbled at the final hurdle ...

So tired he couldn't even take his socks off!

But at least he supports a good team! ... 

Secret Lions supporter??

Completing the half marathon is something I am pretty proud of and I am very happy to be able to cross it off my Vancouver list and life list of personal goals. It was also a pretty big highlight to cap off hitting the infamous three month milestone. It's hard to believe we've been here for only three months - it feels like a lot longer ... in a good way of course!

Aside from the highlight of crossing the finish line, I was also excited to be able to harass a stranger's pet once again (I'm desperately missing Ruby, Marty, Zorro, Benny, Charli, Cracker, Angel, Brownie, Curry & Noel) - this time it was a Jack Russell puppy called Toby -  

Sadly for me he was more interested in someone's old apple core!

We celebrated post race with ice cream and reading triathlon magazines down at English Bay for the rest of the afternoon. The most exciting part? My ice cream melted for the first time in 3 months!! Hello summer!! (I never thought I'd be so happy to announce a melting ice cream).

As I mentioned above, Steven has now started training for his next Ironman event which takes place on November 27th in Cozumel, Mexico. Pretty exciting stuff! At the moment he's at the start of a big bike block of training and actually just got back from a six hour ride this morning. During the sessions he often updates me to let me know he's okay, where he is and what time he'll be home. Since training in Vancouver began, the texts I now get are something else ...

"It's snowing up here, I don't think I'm dressed appropriately" AND

"Umm... there's a bear on the side of the road" ... he wasn't kidding!

So with the next release of upcoming triathlon dates, our travel schedule for the rest of the year looks something like this: 

September 14-21: Ironman 70.3 Cancun (Cancun, Mexico) 

October 5 - 11: Ford Ironman World Championship (Kona, Hawaii) (Spectating)

November 3-6: ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships (Henderson, Nevada)

November 23-30: Ironman Cozumel (Cozumel, Mexico)

Looking pretty good indeed!