Finding my balance again….

After a month of stress, change, excitement, new friendships, easy training, planning, packing, organizing, applying, etc I am starting to find my balance again…

My friends have been a strong wall for me to lean on during these trying times of indecision, confusion, excitement, confidence, lack of confidence, etc They have been by my side no matter if I came running with excitement and confidence or lying in the middle of the floor in tears and confusion…THANK YOU…you guys are the best!



My family is absolutely amazing…no matter what, they provide me with 100% of unconditional support even from the other side of the country!



I am beginning to see the light and a plan is truly brewing, bubbling and developing. I am planning to head to South America. I will hopefully first head to Guadeloupe to race in the IGWA with one of my teammates from Yogaslackers and then head to Lima, Peru to spend some time with another good friend. I hope to spend about two months in Peru and then race in the Trans Andes Mountain Bike race as well as the Patagonia Expedition race in February. From there I might head to Argentina and fly home mid March. All this being said I am going down with open arms, eyes and plans…I am ready to just flow with whatever comes my way: learn, experience and discover….but for now I am still buzzing from a fab weekend on the island.


Comox Mud Ride Weekend…



What a fab weekend! A good crew of us met up in Comox on the island at Nikki and Marc’s place to go ride some of the killer trails in the area. Fortunately (for me) there was no rain and plenty of sunshine which kept the trails relatively more sane than they could have been. I’m still working on my technical downhill skills and so the weekend proved to have some frustrating moments but how could anyone not enjoy the trails no matter what….after a great day on the Cumberland trails, we headed for hot chocolate and then all gathered back at the house for a delicious potluck where we met some more of the local biking gang. After lots of yummy food, Kala, Marg Andrew and I practiced some Acroyoga..they are all improving so much…it is making me proud and excited… We are beginning to spread the word and love of acroyoga and having some acroyogi partners to practice with is so great.



Sunday we headed to Forbidden Plateau. Andrew, Angie, Paul and I rode up from the bottom ‘cause that’s how “hardcore” we are..hehehe… the ride down proved to be pushing my limits but I am getting more and more excited and can see that I am really starting to push through things that before I wouldn’t have even imagined I would ride down. Although I have much room for improvement I can already see how far I have come. I gotta just keep spending time on my bike…which is not a bad thing at all….



live, love, laugh,...DREAM!

Birthday Weekend

Twenty Eight...hmmmm I don't feel any different?!?

Saturday Andrew, Paul, Angie and I headed to Mt Galbraith in Washington to go mountain biking and then to a concert at the University in Bellingham. Before we headed out Andrew had some car problems so I ran around Port Moody's trails along the inlet. I always love running in different trails no matter what the level or business. These trails are super cute and tons of people were out on the sunny Saturday morning enjoying them.



Mt Galbraith is a great little mountain just outside of the town of Bellingham with a fabulous network of fun trails. We didn't end up arriving until late afternoon but managed to use of up all the light we had left (which still left us with a solid ride). I'm really enjoying spending loads of time in the woods this fall with the sunny days and beautiful fall colours... Fleet Fox was a great little west coast band that I recommend to anybody.



Birthday Hike



For my birthday I enjoyed a little sleep in, and one of my fav hikes/runs on the North Shore. Andrew and I headed up Lynn Peak. The clouds were awesome Sunday morning...they were hanging really low so as we reached the peak we were in fact in the sun above the clouds....really cool. The trail was empty which is always nice for a Sunday morning on the northshore. We then got to create our first Vegan carrot cake (it was amazing!). All in all a fabulous 28th birthday!



As I am preparing to leave I am enjoying spending a lot of time with many of my wonderful friends!



live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Winthrop Thanksgiving...

Cool breeze, fall colours, empty trails, delicious food, great friends, rad mountain biking, cold beer, beautiful house,... I have a lot to be thankful for....

Winthrop is this awesome little tourist town. It has an old cowboy feel to it with lots of fun little shops and cafes.... It is in the middle of nowhere amongst the northern Cascade Mountains... 5 of us travelled down to this little town for the weekend. We met up with a great guy, Chris.



Day 1 consisted of a fun mountain bike loop on smooth single track...my kind of riding! The day began with a huge pancake breakfast and ended with an amazing canadian style thanksgiving dinner, turkey and all.. It was really cool to share our little Canadian tradition with so many internationals... In between we biked, slacklined and I did a little acroyoga. We hung out in the SUN, yes SUN....





Sunday= Starvation Mountain....my kind of day.... again our breakfast did not fail us...we headed out for a long long long climb on our bikes... I managed to find my climbing legs again and loved every moment of the entire climb. The views were fabulous and the terrain unique. The down was great...very flowy, fast and gorgeous. I think we were all riding a high following the ride....



Monday was time to leave but we still managed to sneak in a little ride....



another weekend for the memory bank! love it.



I'm still buzzing after this great weekend. It is difficult for me to concentrate on all that is to be done before my next very big adventure...more to come on that

thanks paul and andrew for taking some fab photos!

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Life is ever changing...

I love life! Despite, the many ups and downs,... By keeping an optimistic attitude, learning from the many lessons life teaches you on the way, friendships and following your passions and dreams you will learn to live the life you want to live. I have just been through a very confusing time during these last 2 weeks of my life...mostly trying to figure out what it is I am suppose to be doing with my many gifts i have been given. I am lucky to have found an amazing person who has seen past my craziness, moments of indecision and emotional disorder...THANK YOU (having unconditional support is important throughout trying times). I have also made a huge decision this weekend...a decision to follow the positive energy in my life, a decision that might not be accepted by most but will lead me to what I believe to be a fulfilling, adventurous life where I will be able to give all that I am meant to give and receive that which is needed to balance the circle of life. I finally feel like I have maybe found my feet again. It is a beautiful feeling...

All this being said: I have many big decisions and choices ahead of me but they are beginning to feel exciting rather than daunting...

This weekend I managed to meet some new wonderful people that I look forward to getting to know more, I reunited with some old friends, I learned more about a new close friend and also got to experience some fun outdoor adventures along the way. I went whitewater kayaking with Andrew and Kala for the second time (this time down the Cheakamus)...I look forward to many more adventures on the river.

I also raced in my first cyclocross race (well sort of, I was on a mountain bike): it was tough, but am looking forward to persevering through the challenge.

I also went for a beautiful run around Buntzen lake with Andrew. We ran he Diez Vistas trail which is a beautiful technical trail looking over Deep Cove. It is definitely my favorite time of year to run, the crisp air, the colourful leaves and quiet trails. AWESOME!
We finished off the evening with dinner with friends Paul and Angie.

I couldn't have asked for a better rainy weekend in the city.

Live, Love, Laugh,..DREAM!

Living with NO REGRETS

…A mighty tough thing to do… but an especially important thing to attempt to accomplish. Living in true happiness is a complex and deep topic that I muddle over a lot in my brain. What is true happiness and how is it achieved? How do we know we have achieved this? Why is it difficult for most to find it? These are many questions I ask myself and the answers are potentially different for each person.

Back to the topic of living with NO REGRETS: I believe it is an important aspect of achieving true happiness. Why is it sometimes difficult to live by this motto? We are sometimes thrown for a loop and are forced to make very difficult decisions where there is no wrong choice but both choices are equally agreeable and fabulous…what does this mean? You can’t have it all and one of these things will not be a part of your life… You must acquire the ability to choose and let go and live in the present with no regrets of the path you have chosen for yourself. It is your choice, your path, and therefore it is the right one….

I recently had to make what was for me one of the toughest choices I’ve had to make in a very long time. It essentially determined part of my life path that would take place in the very near future and obviously affect my life forever. It was a choice that was beyond difficult and has caused me many sleepless nights and many interesting bodily stresses. I have chosen to decline my opportunity to head to the World Adventure Racing Championships with team Yogaslackers and continue working. It was a choice that was not my instinct (my passion is adventure racing, my teammates are like my family and Worlds is the biggest race there is for this sport)…my instinct was to quit my job and go race and figure out life from there. It was what most people expected of me, it truly was what I expected of myself….
I decided to go with my inner gut feeling… to stick it out with my job (a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for an event that I am also very passionate about). I found this choice to be so difficult. These are two things both which are amazing opportunities and I found myself angry at life for forcing me to choose only one of these. I am still having difficulties with all of this (as of course it is not that simple…) but am trying to achieve peace with the choice I have made.



By living with NO REGRETS you are able to put your heart and soul into your present life and enjoy every moment as you should. You only have one life to live so might as well take advantage of every second, minute, hour, day….

As I am working hard to live without regretting the choice I have just made, I challenge everyone to do the same. I am positive that in the end it will provide you (me) with peace and happiness and a fruitful life full of excitement and fortunately or unfortunately many more choices to make.

Live, Love, Laugh,…DREAM!
Lina