End of summer

Signs that summer is ending:
- The dock at False Creek is very quiet now; dragon boat season is done.
- I’ve had to turn on the heater in the house.
- Air is crisp and cool, even when the sun is shining.
- New episodes on TV.
- NHL is back on.

Summer just zoomed by. I’m kind of sad it’s coming to an end.

Cooking for friends

Last weekend, I cooked for my friends. Every other month, we have a dinner date with a group of our friends. We call it “dine in/dine out“. I got the idea from my friend, Lizza, who does a similar get-together with her friends in Spokane. There are eight of us (four couples) in our group and we each take turns organizing what the group will do or where the group will eat for that get-together. This is our way of ensuring that we all see each other at least once every two months, since our schedules tend to be pretty busy. Most of the time, we eat out or order food in.

But I was in a cooking mood. Ed and I have not been home a lot the last month or so. I don’t think I cooked a meal at home the entire month of August. So I found myself missing my kitchen and wanting to do homey stuff. Like cooking. I chose dishes from the Wild Rose cookbook that I can prepare for our friends. Simple, healthy yet delicious dishes. I made salsa, rice pilaf (basmati), steamed vegetables, lemon tahini dressing, lentil dahl, and baked herbed red snapper. I quite enjoyed preparing the meal for Ed and our friends, and I was proud of it (I don’t normally cook). I felt quite happy having friends around the table, enjoying the meal I prepared. But it can’t all be healthy stuff - we balanced it out with some cake from Pine House bakery.

Too long

Wow, summer has certainly zoomed by. It's been too long since I last posted here. The days since I went go-karting seemed to have started and ended with me always in a rush to get work done, to meet deadlines, to get to paddling on time, etc, etc. Rushing. That's a perfect way to describe the last month.

What have I been up to since my go-karting evening...
- Ed and I attended Paul and Teresa's wedding (wonderful celebration!)
- We went camping at Green Lake - actually cabin-ing is a more appropriate description
- We went to Vernon with our DB team for the Vernon DB Festival
- I went to Vernon (again) with the FCRCC Outrigger team to compete in the 45km Fresh Water Challenge
- I volunteered to be a timer for the novice and womens races during the Outrigger Nationals in Kits
- Ed and I went to Calgary with Without Warning to compete in the Club Crew qualifiers
- And in between all the paddling and road trips, I worked and worked and worked.

Yes, it's been a busy summer. Regrettably, I have not been in touch with family and friends much. But with my paddling season winding down, there will definitely be more time for that.

I'm looking forward to a lazy weekend where I can just sit at home and hang out with Ed and our cats. I'm crossing my fingers that weekend will come soon...

Go-karting

I’ve never gone go-karting before, until last night. I went with my workmates and we had a blast. I didn’t expect to have soooo much fun driving a little, speedy, noisy go-kart around and around a track, passing and bumping (not on purpose) other go-karts. I started out very slowly and tentatively. I just wasn't sure how to handle the car in the turns and how fast it can go without me losing control. We got to race four times and with each race, my confidence grew and I got faster and faster. I even finished second in one race. I still can’t believe how much I enjoyed it. Definitely have to do that again!

Gibsons race

July 7, 2007
27km! I actually did it. I raced with the FCRCC outrigger womens #2 crew - Jen, Sandra, Cathy, Lela, and Barb. I carpooled to Gibsons with Cathy on the Friday. On the ferry, we bumped into a couple of paddlers from Victoria. Mick started pointing at landmarks - this island and that island - and how we’re going to paddle from the island over there to the island over there and then to Gibsons over there. Like, far points over there! That was when it truly hit me that this race is freakin’ long! My heart started pounding and I started to feel very anxious. What the hell did I get myself into?!?

I had a restless sleep. The anxiety of the race made it impossible to sleep well. Woke up at about 6:30am and had a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Filled up my hydration system and got my energy gels ready.

Time to race. The first leg of the race had big waves. I still find it awkward paddling in big waves but I concentrated on getting into the forward lean position to plant my blade and catch. I guess paddling in big waves is more fun and interesting than flat water. I just need to get more comfortable doing it. We finally got calmer water once we turned around Hut Island and paddled the length of Bowen Island. The boat also sagged at that point. But we battled through it and got some power pieces in there. I set my Garmin GPS to beep every 15 mins and also every 9km. I started thinking of the race as 15 min pieces and that helped a lot in keeping my focus. I could do a 15 min piece, no problem, and focusing on the task at hand that way was a big help. I focused on my technique - keeping my back tall, swinging my hip forward as I reach it out, leaning forward solidly for the plant, burying the blade fully, and using my legs for the pull. I thought about acceleration through the water. But as I got tired, the harder it was to do that. But really, all I thought about throughout the race was keeping my form solid and doing what it took to keep pulling hard.

The third leg of the race, we turned away from Bowen and started heading back towards Gibsons, was wavy and windy again. This last leg was pure adrenalin. I think all of us got a second or third wind because we got the boat to glide a lot better. The most tiring part for me was around km 20 when Barb had me paddle on the left side for a while to help keep the boat stable through the waves. It must have been around 6 hut-ho’s that I stayed on the left. It was like dragon boating but after paddling for 20 kms first. That one hurt.

Our time was 2 hrs and 42 mins and we came in 5th overall (out of 11) in the women’s category. I think that was a good showing for a crew that had a newbie who had never paddled 27 kms before. I was very happy with how I did and how my body held up. Staying hydrated did wonders and eating properly before the race helped, too. When we crossed the finish line, I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe that I did it! What an amazing feeling that was. I think that’s what people who finish a marathon for the first time feel. Disbelief and pride, all rolled into one big emotion. It was great!