In case there's anyone still checking in on my blog..

Hopefully, there is one person left out there that cares to read this.... I know, I've been a very, very bad blogger.....spank me.

What's not so new? A bum knee that's really starting to annoy me...
I have been in athletics long enough to know that injuries happen to everyone eventually. You can try your best to prevent them: stretch, eat, rest, pray. But I don't care who you are, if you push your body - you will get injured. This time around, it wasn't overtraining, it wasn't going too hard on a track workout or adding too much mileage. It was from not lifting my feet high enough on a trail run.Arizona trails are not for the faint of heart. We've got mountain lions, rattle snakes, cliffs, rocks and prickly things everywhere. Fortunately for me, the only element I encountered was the rock. And we clashed hard. Turns out, rock is harder than bone, tendon, most definately skin and ipods. I messed myself (figuratively and literally) up. But believe it or not, considering the other options, I got off lucky.
I digress to the old cliche, "Everything happens for a reason". In an effort not to sound too much like my mother - I have always believed that within adversity lies an opportunity to improve upon yourself..... however, 8 weeks away from running can really start to get to a gal (me). I tried real hard to work my (biggest) weakness.
Thankfully, I have a coach that really knows his shize when it comes to getting stronger on the bicycle. I spent a whole lot of time doing this:

And I entered the Arizona State RR Champs and won this:

So, my cycling is coming along nicely. My quads look like watermelons.... really. I have also been doing squats. Between the swimming and cycling (and lack of running) I kinda look like a wrestler -- definately not what I want.
My knee has recently started to feel good enough to run for 20 minutes staight (baby steps) and I can't wait to get back at it.... hopefully, better off because of it.
Unfortunately, no Kona this year. Maybe a blessing in disguise. New job + pay cut = 0 vacation time and 0 extra cash. But with any luck (and of course, blood, sweat and tears), I will be there in 2010 stronger than ever.
As for this year, it is looking like Muskoka 70.3 may be my first half of the year. Maybe Clearwater and hopefully IM AZ in November.... but anything can happen.
We are also hoping to do the inaugural IM St. George - very exciting.
Another goal for this year is for me to get back to regular blogging. I've been so busy that something had to give. But the reality is, I should be able to update my family and friends on my where abouts at least once a month. I will try every couple of weeks to post something of interest!
Now to watch LA kick some ass in France.

oh where oh where have I been...

it's been a really busy month (or two). priorities I guess. work. training. family. and then way down the list is BLOG....( i did not put family behind training on purpose!)
i have done some races and travelling. and have modified my training/racing schedule for sickness. or allergies - whatever it is that is making yellow/red gunk come from my nose and causing me to hack up part of my respiratory track.
Fortunately, I have had a great feb/march in that I got to spend time with friends from Canada and my parents.
Early March, we headed to Vegas for a few days of training and a (tough) half marathon at the end to top it off.
Londoners (canada) kicked 'a' in vegas and brought home some sweet hardware:


there are many more pictures of the Vegas week... but as they say, "what happens in Vegas... gets posted on Facebook" - much easier to put pics on there.
one of the campers said it best, "I'm not sure if we became better triathletes or drinkers!"
This past weekend was the local triathlon. I know you must be thinking "Tucson? Triathlon? Where's the water?" well, the water is the U of A pool. This was a first for me. It caused a logistical problem in terms of wardrobe. no wetsuits - water was too warm. a swimsuit was the best bet but my thighs are not ready for that kind of exposure, so I opted for the Blueseventy Swim Skin!
Not gonna' lie, it was tough. Orders were to go hard in the swim, harder on the bike and hold on for the run.
My legs had a different idea.... excuse inventory: I'm sick, I climbed Lemmon the day before.
I gave it all I could... and I think I've hurt less in IM!!
In the end, Teri A. smoked me. But she rocks so that's okay. Another super fast chick rounded out the podium so I left feelin' alright about the outcome.

Totally looking forward to getting started on some IM training this month!
Will be heading to St. Croix in May, Florida two weeks later, then Coeur d'Alene!

From the mouths of babes....

Yesterday, I was doing my tricep extensions at the gym when a little girl not any older than four walked straight up to me, looked me in the eye and matter of factly stated, "that's not that hard".
I repressed the instinct to reply with a "oh yeah, you try it!" and instead faked a smile - cute kid.
I then thought about her attitude. Maybe she was onto something. Maybe, I need to reconnect with that immature yet possibly genius idea that I can do anything. That maybe nothing is as hard as we build it up to be.
I'm going to try it. I'm going to hit my workouts with the thought that 'it's not that hard'.. little train that could, mentality.
Kids don't get limits. When exactly do some of us develop that notion?

This comment got me thinking about how we can learn from kids and reminded me of an email I received a while back that is definately worth revisting. I've posted the guts of it below.... take a second to read it. It chokes me up everytime.

the meaning of love from children's mouth
Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it.
Touching words from the mouths of babies.
What does 'Love' mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does 'love' mean?'
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

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'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8
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'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4
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'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5
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'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissie - age 6
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'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4
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'Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7
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'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mummy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8
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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
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'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
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'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7
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'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8
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'My mummy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6
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'Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5
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'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer tha n David Beckham .'
Chris - age 7
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'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day'
Mary Ann - age 4
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'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4
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'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7
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'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark - age 6
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'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8
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And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'
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When there is nothing left, that is when you find out that love is all you need.

What A Game!!

Not that I'm a fan of the Cardinals, Steelers or even football. But since I was at work and all my patients were watching the football game I had no choice but to participate in the Superbowl festivities. Being the competitive type, I got into it because it was a really tight game.
As an added 'bonus', Tucson viewers that utilize Comcast as their provider (my hospital being one of those) got a 20 second clip of some very hardcore porn.....
As hilarious as this was, it made me slighty uncomfortable when I had to explain to an elderly women what exactly was happening on her TV set.
Here's a news clip:

Porn interrupts Super Bowl broadcast in Tucson
By Alex Dalenberg
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.02.2009

Tucsonans watching the Super Bowl got more action than they bargained for when a short clip from an adult movie channel interrupted Comcast's feed with full male nudity during the final moments of the game.
Officials at Comcast said about 30 seconds from Club Jenna, an adult cable television channel, were shown on the local Super Bowl telecast. The company was still working Sunday night to figure out how it happened.
Comcast had "no idea" at the time it happened how the porn may have gotten into its feed, said Kelle Maslyn, a company spokeswoman.
The Star newsroom was flooded with calls from irate viewers who said that the porn cut into the game with less than three minutes left to play, just after Arizona Cardinals player Larry Fitzgerald scored on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to put the team in the lead.
Callers said that the clip showed a woman unzipping a man's pants, followed by a graphic act between the two.
"I just figured it was another commercial until I looked up," said Cora King of Marana. "Then he did his little dance with everything hanging out."
Jeanene Piek said she was outraged that her granddaughter had seen the clip.
"I was in a state of shock. I am totally disgusted," she said.
The Super Bowl was being shown locally on KVOA. The station sends its signal to Comcast through a fiber line, said KVOA News Director Kathleen Choal.
KVOA's signal didn't have porn on it when the station sent it over to Comcast, station president Gary Nielsen said.
The company will continue to investigate what happened to its signal, Nielsen said.
Engineers at Comcast will be working throughout the night to determine what happened, Maslyn said.
The porn broke into the standard-definition feed reaching analog TV sets. It appears the porn only reached homes in the Tucson area, but Comcast did not know exactly how many homes were affected, Maslyn said.
Comcast's high-definition feed was not affected. Maslyn did not know how many homes were affected.
Comcast is the second-largest cable-television provider in Southern Arizona and serves more than 80,000 customers in unincorporated Pima County, Marana and Oro Valley.
Comcast has set up an e-mail account to take feedback from concerned customers. The address is comcasttucsonfeedback@gmail.com.

Also, a young man managed to video tape the event:
www.comcastsuperbowlporn.com

Back to work......

Oh Canada!!

Since I was unable to make the trek home over the Christmas holidays, I booked some time off in early January to visit the `fam`. I knew from conversing with my Mommy that it was going to be cold. When I finally walked off the last plane, at the last airport in Toronto the air took my breath away. I instantly remembered that I left my winter coat in Tucson, by the door. I put it there so I wouldn`t forget it!
I froze during the 10 minute wait for our cab ride. The air burned my throat. How did I ever manage 20 + mile runs in this awfulness! It was official, I had become a cold weather wuss. I have been spoiled!
On our drive home, we passed a few `Timmy`s` and I began to realized how much I missed that little donut shop. While there maybe one of these gems on every corner, it remains unsurpassed as the most refined, delicious of donut shops - somewhat classy and clean, and it seems that I took it for granted while I lived in Canada. Tim Hortons is a Canadian staple, especially in the winter months. Almost everyday I would enjoy a half hot chocolate, half coffee with a few chocolate and honey dip`timbits`. No wonder it was so hard to lose those last 5lbs!
Let me just let everyone in Canada know how good they have it!! NOTHING even comes close to Timmy`s in the states (unless you`re in Michigan and are going to Tim Hortons). It was never something I thought I would long for, but even sitting here typing would be so much more enjoyable with a Timmy`s close by.
Exhibit A:

In the 12 months (can't believe it's been that long!) I've been living in the US, I've also come to realize how much I miss a good bulk food store. Of course I enjoy Sunflower Market and Whole Foods, but their bulk section leaves much to be desired.
Exhibit B:


Canada has the best bulk stores in the world (I'm pretty sure). Complete with hemp seeds, chia seeds and coconut flour (all organic).
Of course, going home also reminded me how much I miss my family. Since I missed Christmas, my mom left the Christmas tree up well into January for me.

While I was upset to leave my family I was happy to be leaving the snow and cold behind... It seemed as though I just got out in time as a big storm and cold front came in the day I left. This is what the airport looked like in Toronto:



A couple of weeks ago, I participated in my first race of the season, the Phoenix Half Marathon. I went into this race not really knowing how it would turn out seeing as i haden't done a 13 mile run since Clearwater. My coached had faith. He told me to run 6:30's and that's what I did (more or less).

Chrissy Parks #21936
Tucson, AZ
Age: 31 Gender: F

Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 1:25:19
Chip Time 1:25:15
Gender Place 6 / 14094
Age Grade 77.3%
Placeoall 115
Placediv 2
Pace 6:31
Ttldiv 2357
Ttlsex 14094
5 Km 20:18
10 Km 39:59
10 Mile 1:04:49

Not only was my half time a PB, I also got a PB for 10km (it's been a while since I've raced one), and the 10 mile. Yippee!! Great start to 2009!

An Arizona Christmas

This year, I had to work Christmas eve. That meant, I couldn't go home (Southwestern Ontario). For the first time ever, I was away from my family for Christmas. Thankfully, Ryan had to work too so we could at least be together.
There has been a cold spell go through Tucson and it's been colder than normal (it's actually colder here now than in southern Ontaio!!) Even though it was cold and rainy, we headed out for a 3 hour ride.




After that, we came home and started to cook our feast. It was a relaxing day filled with reading and 'where's waldo':


It was also my first experience with making lemon meringe pie.... the meringe turned out to be tougher than I originally planned, and it ended up being a soupy mess.

While I had fears of our turkey exploding like in the movie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacay" (neither of us had cooked one before), it actually turned out to be delicious. Between the two of us, we almost ate the full 12lbs of it.... what? we're training again.

My favorite present was triathlon related (duh) and will help me put in the long miles in sunny AZ:

New Years is usually followed by 100 x 100 in the pool. However, this year we're planning a 17 mile trail run in Sabino Canyon.... feel the burn.

Belated Gratituesday

I've seen Gratituesday posts pop up on a couple of different blogs and I thought it
was a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, whenever I remember it's a different day of the week. Well, I remembered this morning and decided that Wednesday was close enough. So here it goes. Five things I am thankful for (and I will try to make this a week dose, using a different 5 each week).

1. My health
2. The best family and friends one could possible have
3. My friends and family have their health
4. The warm (er) climate that I live in
5. The monster feast I'm partaking in tomorrow

This was super easy. I have so much to be thankful for, it could have been 100 long.
What are you thankful for?