Last Week's TNR: Dion.... I have my eye on you:) Thanks Deep Cove for filming!



Last week an amazing package arrived at my door.... some amazing pieces from Laiph Clothing. Board shorts and tops. I got to try the Athena 18 shorts and Sol UV Top at last weeks TNR race. Check it out in the video.... The stretchy fabric allows for amazing movement and comfort and I am loving the bright colors... Although, now people can spot me from afar... a target;) I will continue to wear Laiph Clothing, different colors and styles so ask me about it and I will share. It is an amazing company with great values.

I am also excited to test out some different Werner Paddles. I am currently using a 76" Small Grand Prix. I've been wanting to try a bigger blade and shorter paddle for a while... Now, I get my chance... I am going to test out a 75" Medium Grand Prix this Tuesday at TNR. I am curious if for these shorter distances I will be able to get a little more power from the slightly larger blade. Also I feel like a slightly shorter length might lower the chance of shoulder pain over longer periods...
I am going to try  Nitro 73" for surfing when the opportunity presents itself... looking forward to a slightly shorter paddle for quicker cadence when trying to catch a wave.

A couple of weekends ago I got the amazing opportunity to work with my favorite photographer and good friend Colin Meagher. We met back in 2006 in Costa Rica while I was racing La Ruta, a 3 day mtn bike race across Costa Rica. Amazingly enough we are still in touch and still friends and I love seeing him when the opportunity allows (we are busy folks...) He is based in Seattle but came over to the shore and we did some trail running shots... he is amazing... I can't wait to work/play/chill with him again! You rock Colin... A couple of shots to showcase his style!

Two weeks ago, I also got the opportunity to paddle with Starboard super star Zane Schweitzer. He and his brother Matty Schweitzer were in town. I am sure some pictures will arise from the occasion, but we had a fun time sailing and testing out the Starboard Inflatables off of Declan's Sailboat and then I got to race him at our weekly Tuesday Night Races... Surprisingly I was only 50 seconds behind in a 5.2km race.... pretty stoked about that one!

Following a hectic week, I found myself exhausted..... A little too much exercise, a little too much time being overly cold outside in the rain, and not enough sleep.... I was forced to take an easy week physically... Luckily, I was out on expedition with our amazing students kayaking in the Gulf Islands... I feel rested and rearing to go again!

keep playing outside....
There is wind today... I am going to go chase some waves I think!

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

CHACO

Super stoked to be an Ambassador for an awesome company: CHACO! 

I look forward to sharing stories, adventures, tips, and thoughts on everything Chacos! Look for me at the Big Chop, Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak TNR's, and on the water paddling and chilllin' in this awesome product!

live, love, laugh,..DREAM!
lina

REST is an important part of training...

I learned something this week the real way... through experience... it wasn't/isn't fun but I think its good it happened now and only for a short time with no real damage done....

I actually over did it: I pushed myself over the edge and onto exhaustion. Sort of by accident and sort of not....

I bike commute everywhere. I do actually enjoy it (95% of the time) and I really just don't enjoy driving and so it works for me on many levels...
I forget that I bike commute and still train over top of that. I am paddling, mtn biking, running, crossfitting, and when I can I squeeze in a little yoga... on top of my 2 hour M-F bike commute.
My job involves movement and the outdoors so at times at work I am moving more than I realize and because it is work don't count it in my head as physical activity.
So, this past week, a combination of just having too much of doing all the things I love to do, training, commuting, working, with the added mix of the cold rain did me in. I had to succumb to the exhaustion.

Thursday evening I was biking home from my second job (that I really love doing as well), cold, with numb feet, so wet that I was soaked through to the bones, emotionally and physically drained I found myself biking and crying for no particular reason....
Did I listen to my body and mind? Not right away,.. Friday morning I biked to work again and it took me 15 minutes longer to get to work.  I knew I was tired and was kind of content that the weather was looking dim which wouldn't motivate me to get outside after work... but lol and behold, as I was climbing with the school climbing club, the sun came out and I managed to get myself out for a trail run with Andrew... and once again that evening I broke down... NOT good... I got some good sleep Friday night, was feeling better saturday morning, after some chores, we met a friend for a mtn bike ride in the semi sunshine,... I was pumped but afterwards as we were having coffee the exhaustion was creeping back... then while helping friends move and just chilling, I knew something was wrong... I went to bed at 7:30pm, my body just hungry to relax... so this morning for the first time EVER I DROVE myself to deep cove for work.... I wasn't happy about it but rest is what I need at the moment...

I am feeling sooo strong right now which is super exciting and I wish I knew what it was that I was doing that was giving me this strength and speed and because I don't know I am scared to stop doing the wrong thing... I am not 22 anymore, I work, I have friends and a husband and I have training.... I want to do all of these things well and so I need to watch myself because being sick or injured won't allow me to do these things that I love to do....

Lesson learned: and there I have it, a rest week for myself! Let's see if I can stay sane:)


Exciting news: I am officially entered into Molokai! YAY I got the email confirming my entry. It is soooo ON (after my rest week:))

THANK YOU WERNER and NIKKI REKMAN for helping me keep this dream alive! And Mike D:)

Mike D and I sporting our new Werner Hoodies at Deep Cove Canoe and kayak Centre

live, love, laugh,..DREAM!
lina

TNR is back

 Spring has arrived with the start of the Deep Cove Tuesday Night Race!

Mike D and I battling it out: PIC from Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak

I started going to these races back in my peak adventure race days... When I started I didn't know anybody and I was in a plastic single sea kayak in the back of the pack somewhere...I later moved onto a surfski, met some great people and began to socialize, feeling like part of the TNR gang... Now, I work at Deep Cove and I race on a SUP, I know most people and I love the atmosphere, the people, the sport, and of course DEEP COVE CANOE AND KAYAK....

Last year I missed most of the TNRs (that's what the cool kids call these races...). Due to being in China and then traveling around... it was sad, as they are a key element to my summers in Vancouver!

Tuesday April 9th, was the first TNr of the 2013 season. It was windy, raining, and cold... typical winter night.. but it is supposed to be SPRING! ha....

I was paddling with my Grand Prix small blade WERNER paddle... Mike D lent me a Starboard 14ft 25inch carbon Ace. I don't yet have boards for the season so I will be trying to swing some deals until I do... hehe.. It felt quite stable up and down wind, and surprisingly speedy in the conditions we had that evening. I didn't really move my feet though as I find the double deep foot sockets tough for movement on the board... It was no problem as despite it being choppy the waves were not too big and I was able to keep the nose above water on the downwinds...I have never raced on a 14ft at a TNR but I wanted to this year as last year I left all alone.... not fast enough to be with the guys on the 14ft but too fast for most others on 12'6ft boards. I was flying solo most of the time and it certainly started to get a little old. So, I am happy to be on 14ft boards for these races, staying in the game and keeping it all exciting! It's all for the fun and training so REALLY the placing doesn't really matter....

This first race, I didn't expect much from myself as I am still in training mode and hadn't raced since 2012, therefore I had no means of comparing my strength to anyone else just yet. I was certainly surprised when I found myself chasing Mike D off the gun and then eventually deciding to pass him and finding myself in front of the pack... I certainly did not expect to lead the SUP crew to the first buoy. There was a strong headwind and usually that is a strength of mine but still... surprise.... maybe whatever I am doing is paying off?!?  sure wish I had been writing it all down:)

It was tough going until the turn around point at Lone Rock but I was keeping my lead. Then, after the turn around it was like a mini downwind all the way back... Now, typically I would say downwinds are my weakness, and they likely still are but hopefully not for long... what has changed is my confidence and enjoyment of them. THANK you Jeremy Riggs for all the coaching on Maui... I think it is paying off already:) Anyway, I was sure to find Mike D and others passing me but alas, I managed to hold my lead, surf some little waves, and paddle into a 1st place finish overall at the first TNR. I am sure this will change quickly but I have to say it did raise my confidence to feel so solid out there. It could be that having Molokai on my mind is helping me mentally and emotionally, pushing me everytime I get on the water. I am certainly out there paddling more and LOVIN' it. As I type this I am about to get ready for a little mtn bike ride with friends... It is going to have been a successful day of training despite working all day... I managed to bike commute for 2 hours to work, SUP for 45min and now hit the trails for about 1.5 hours...

Bob and I warming up:  PIC from Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak

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

Settling into my groove...

Every time I exercise its exciting as I know it is a step closer to my Molokai goal.... My legs are tired this week. I don't think they really got a chance to recover from the Spearhead traverse since I haven't taken a day off really since. Sadly march break was over this week but luckily I enjoy my job so not such a bad thing. My legs though were getting lazy over the break from the lack of my crazy bike commute to work everyday, I can feel them now, just after three days of back to commuting life. This week, I managed a SUPx2, a run, crossfit, and a little yoga along with working full time, and cycling there and back and everywhere....

The thing that is looming over my head these days though is the LOGISTIC and figuring out expenses... I really am looking forward to securing a boat captain and boat.... I luckily have some contacts that are helping me: THANKS Milton for getting me in contact with Mike and Rob..... I am hoping I get this figured out soon so I can then start to focus on other things.... LIKE what board I am going to paddle.... AHHHHH....

I love getting awesome advice and pointers to help me along the way....

"L, read about your upcoming channel crossing. i've done it 7 times (5 in a surf ski; twice in an OC6) and each was great: if the trades are blowing, it's heady stuff, especially for an east coast paddler like myself. my recommendation vis a vis training is to do lots of 10-20 stroke intervieals as it's all about explode, surf, recovery and repeat! good luck. jg" 

Thanks JG: I will use your advice in my training for sure...

Exciting news on the sponsor front these dayss!!!! I am associated with these companies because I like their product and also I enjoy the company, their philosophies, and the community surrounding them..... 

I chatted with these 3 sponsors last week... I am definitely stoked to be a part of their extended family!

WERNER paddles! Unbelievable product, unbelievable people, unbelievable in general. If you haven't tried their paddles DO.... stop wasting your time.... If you have questions, let me know

RYDERS eyewear! Local and awesome! I am looking forward to helping them develop some watersport eyewear! 

TRIDENT SPORTS/STARBOARD: Friends since I started...... my first board ever... still on Starboard boards.... 

ALSO: 

A huge thank you to MOVEO and Dr. Jenn Turner.... Amazing chiro, lovely person, and a great athlete herself.... thank you for allowing me to move again painfree! 

Jeremy Riggs, Randy Royse and MAUI..... I will be back.... can't wait! 

I'm off sailing through the gulf islands for the weekend with a great group of students.... 

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!

lina

SUNNY SPRING LONG WEEKEND: PNW= do any outdoor sport your heart desires: good Molokai cross training days

About to hit some groomers for the last stretch of in bound skiing to the bottom of Whistler: happy couple!

WOW! What a weekend... First off I always assumed everyone got 4 days.... but have since discovered and learned that that is not the case. Andrew has to work on Monday and so do many other people....hmmm

There were a couple of different friends doing or not doing different things.... None really suited our situation... Andrew had to work on Monday and I really wanted to beable to get some SUP training in.... SO, we were on our own to cause some chaos and explore this wonderful little piece of sunny paradise...

Thursday night it happened to be a good friend's birthday so we joined him on a mtn bike ride and drinks and bbq aftewards.... we socialized a little later than usual which caused us to have a lazy Friday morning... Luckily that was in our plans... we eventually got ourselves packed and headed out towards Pemberton for some mtn biking... It is not that often that so many trails are ready to ride in March.... So we were pumped! We rode Happy trail and then trails around Mosquito Lake some that I remember the names of are radiotower, cream puff,.... FUN!  We also ran into a crowd of Steed Cycles rippin it up...
I think mtn biking is great crosstraining for MOLOKAI.... long, hard, pretty full body fun workout.... especially trying to keep up with Andrew (which I can't... just on the easier climbs...maybe)....

Andrew getting some air with Mt Currie in the background

We camped at the Owl Creek Forest Recreation Area... no people, no money, and beautiful! We slept in the Blue Elephant, which again proved to be comfy and easy! We are loving our Element!

Saturday morning we had to wake up nice and early to make some breaky, coffee and get backcountry tickets in Whistler... We were planning to ski the Spearhead Traverse in a day...  I had never done this traverse, which is  classic in this area.. Andrew did it about 5 years ago... so was a little fuzzy on the exact route sometimes... The cool thing is you can get a backcountry ticket and ride the lifts up to the glacier... the pooey thing about all that: it is still expensive and you have to wait for the lifts to open....

Andrew skinning up...

I didnt really check when we started to ski but I am guessing somewhere around 9:45/10am.... We started to make our way around and UP... from the start Andrew's memory was a little wonky and we managed to take a slightly longer and different route, which involved an interesting boot pack BUT all was good.... we eventually came back onto the regular route and then got hit with our first real tough climb... the sun, the length, kind of everything about it was tough.... at the top we gathered ourselves again, had some food, water, and got each other re-motivated... we still had a long way to go,...luckily, the sun was shining, and it was GORGEOUS up there.... We kept moving, we could see a group of two ahead of us and until a certain point a group of two behind us but we were fairly spaced out and it really wasn't as busy as we thought it might be.... actually the whole way round we only ran into one group of 4 going down as we were going up.... kind of amazing for a sunny long weekend...
As the day was getting hotter moving along the snow was getting softer and softer... we skied over an old crown slide.... and had at least one more brutal sunny climb.... on the whole we were feeling good, especially after our redbull (our secret weapon on these long days of skiing, paddling, mtn biking, etc)... We managed to catch the group in front of us.... but they headed out Singing Pass.... we however went over the musical bumps.... The Oboe climb always seems to be longer than it should... but we made it, had our last devouring of food and then headed over to Flute and back n bounds in Whistler.... The icing on the cake for this one was...... we managed to score free (well I guess technically not free as we paid for the backcountry lift) FRESH groomers ALL the way down to village bottom... it was pretty amazing actually. We were loving life for a bit there....We celebrated with  Splitz burger, fries, and coke.... We were nowhere near the new record of 3 hours something... but luckily we weren't trying for it:)... What a great way to test my mental, and endurance skills.... it was about a 9 hour day of ski touring.... I have to say after a week of paddling in Maui my legs were on fire....

Andrew skiing a glacier: Spearhead

bootpack: spearhead

We managed to make it to a friend's house in Squamish for the night, enjoyed good company and then crashed hard...

Sunset slackline

Sunset Vancouver slackline

The legs were sore the next day but we managed to get out for a ride in Squamish... Credit Line area...
Somehow managed to slackline that evening with the setting sun... Out for a SUP and back to SUP specific training....

a little solo training in the SUN

yeah self shot!

A wonderful long weekend composed of mtn biking, ski touring, slacklining, and SUPin.... Total Pacific Northwest Love right now.... Can it be sunny spring forever?!? And truly good motivation for training.... MOLOKAI you are always on my mind....

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