Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ROCK CITY RUMBLE II: THE RECKONING

This past weekend was our 2nd annual Rock City Rumble paintball war out at the Mark property. Although they don't make paintball guns in Tycho's size they do make camo onesies at the hunting superstore in nanaimo - who knew? So Tycho played superfan in the "safe zone", flirting with Lisa and telling everyone stories about how he earned his ninja headband in 'nam.


Tuesday, June 1, 2010

RESULTS TRANSLATED

Now that I am on team M.O.M. you might think that I spend my days wandering around WalMart looking for good deals on diapers. Sorry to disappoint but I have yet to have my skin itch in a way that only WalMart can trigger (although Zellers is a worthy adversary). With a full year on maternity leave I envisioned myself with heaps of spare time to kill. Maybe I should pick up a hobby. But apparently being super mom takes a bit of time. Who would have thought a little munchkin could be such a time suck. A pretty cute time suck but still on the high side of maintenance. Now add moving out and starting a major reno on the house, training for BC Bike Race and suddenly I am busier than if I was working full time. What happens when I DO go back to work? Gulp. I will just have to sort that out when we get there. So for now I am still dabbling in the race game hoping for a fun summer of all play and no work. When summer shows its pretty face that is....

Before I started racing seriously I was a firm believer in the scientifically unproven regime of "racing into shape" and I now I find myself full circle. Training time is limited so you may as well just go for the good stuff. Once I got my first race out of the way without a major catastrophe or meltdown I picked a few more local training races. Minimal travel for maximum return. That wasn't too hard to find as BC is home to many top athletes. I went to a local Island cup race in Duncan and lined up next to multiple Xterra world champion Melanie McQuaid. Never saw her the entire race. I went to the new Nimby Fifty race in Pemberton and raced against current World Cup leader Catharine Pendrel. Got absolutely annihilated. A couple of second place finishes but a smack in the face memo that I am nowhere near the top of my game. But it didn't seem to bother me. Especially since a few weeks back I discovered that I can be a local hero without racing around the world. It was only a third place finish in the local trail running Gutbuster series yet I had people all over the island congratulating me like I was a superhero! Hmmm. Have I been busting my butt all these years when all I had to do was get pregnant and pull out a podium finish in my own backyard and have it sent out to cyberspace via the world of facebook? duh, less training more marketing now you tell me....
Our cute time suck.

Our ugly time suck. Underneath the pretty interior was almost no insulation, 3 ant nests, secret cupboards, water damage and dodgey wiring. I guess you could say we were a little overdue for some upgrades.