Best Dam Triathlon

A week ago today, I participated in the Magrath "I swam the dam" triathlon. It was an incredible event, very fun and lots of hard work. There were about 300 particpants all together including those who did the sprint distance (me), those who did the olympic distance, and those who participated on teams. The race began with a 750 m open water swim in the St. Mary's reservoir. The water was a little chilly, but not that bad once you got going. I completed the swim in 16.10 which was 50th of 115 in the solo sprint triathlon group.
In this picture, I am with my friend, Tabatha, just before the race. She swam as part of a team.

Can you see me swimming? I'm swim cap #246.

This is me just starting the bike. The bike is where I lost a lot of time. My bike time was 58:09, but I like to think that if I had a real road bike, I could have knocked a fair bit off of that. I was 77th overall on the bike and 11th in my age group. The bike time includes all the transitions and was 26 km.

This is me on the run. The run was my strongest segment. I ran 5 k in 26:58 which was 46th overall, or 7th of 20 in my age group.

Overall the race took me 1:41:18 which was 62nd overall or 9th out of 20 in my age group. And, man was I tired! I loved doing the triathlon and highly recommend it. My only/biggest problem, is that I have had very sore feet, especially my right foot since the race, such that I haven't been able to run. I have plantar fasciitis and this is the source of my complaint. I managed to keep it mostly at bay through my 1/2 marathon training, but lately it has been worse and the training and race for the triathlon put me over the edge. But, stretching is one of the best treatments, so I am attacking that aggressively.

Prete Reunion: Holland Lake Day 1

By the end of the reunion, we may have forgotten that there was one day at the beginning that was almost nice enough for boating. Emma, Sara & Haylee got to kneeboard, I think Joe got to ski and lots of us got ejected off the tube. Sarah only got dumped off twice, so maybe next year she can add to her P-U- an N-K. Preston and Hannah, keeping warm in the boat.

Sara kneeboarding. Good job. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of Emma kneeboarding.

The girls on the tube.

Austin, Joe and, is that Sara? on the tube.

Having a camping/boating reunion for my parents and siblings and their families was, I have to admit, my brainchild. The reality of the experience did not correspond very accurately with my vision. My vision included 30 degree Celsius (or 88 F) days spent on the boat or relaxing on the shore. The vision included teaching the kids how to kneeboard and waterski. I pictured going back to our campfire every night tired from all the fun. I imagined a little hiking and fishing on the side, and an evening game of pounce, and a little singing with Sarah's guitar, telling lots of jokes and stories and leaving with sunburns. As it turned out, the weather was cold and rainy most of the time. Several kids were sick, and we were more at risk for hypothermia than sunburn. The mosquitos also were thick enough that we drained several bottles of off.

Still, I have to hand it to you Pretes. You did an amazing job of making lemonade from the lemons. We managed to have quite a bit of fun despite the difficult circumstances. I hope the pictures I post here will help us reimplant in our minds some of the happy memories, lest the final memory of packing up in the rain, after a rainy Sunday, is what sticks in our heads.

Prete Reunion: Holland Falls Hike

The hike to Holland Falls was spectacular and was a highlight of the reunion for those who took the hike. It was about 2 miles each way, the last 1/2 of which was pretty steep uphill. Anna put red licorice in her bottled water, which was completely disgusting...though she said it was pretty tasty. You can see the dried licorice on the side of her mouth.

Some of the views we enjoyed while hiking.

Holland Falls.

Emma at the falls

Mom made it to the top too. Good work, Mom!

The advanced party! These girls were the first to make it to the top of the hike.

Happyland Graduation for Garrett and Pierce

Liz and Christian enjoying happyland graduation

Aly is so cute!

Anna, giving her opening remarks at the Happyland graduation

Emma's speech was classic. Garrett and Pierce need to enjoy their moment on the top before they go to the bottom of the totem pole as the lowest level happyland employees.

"And it was when Garrett and Pierce started coming to happyland that it started being fun for me...and....sob....I'm just really gonna miss those guys..."

Rob enjoying the happyland graduation

The proud parents with the graduates

The happyland executive

Holland Lake activities: Canoeing, Fishing

Dad rented a canoe and several of us enjoyed peaceful canoe rides on the beautifully calm and crystal clear lake. I went a little canoe ride with Alyssa and Anna to an island. Dad and Joe went with the little kids over to the same island to fish on Thursday afternoon. We drove them all over on the boat, and left them there for an hour or two. No fish on that trip. However, dad planned two early morning fishing trips. The first one got rained out, but on the second day, Sarah, Dad and Joe caught several perch. They also got soaking wet and cold, but apparently the fish tasted pretty great.

The first picture in this post is of Alyssa with Isabella on the hammock Joe and Haylee brought. Lots of kids had fun on the hammock swinging more than resting.

Holland lake: Keeping warm and dry..as much as possible

Preston, Pierce and Garrett having a rip roaring game of Toy Story Yahtzee.

Austin, Hannah and Sara. Sara was pretty sick, and Hannah wasn't 100% either. Cold wet nights and cold wet days didn't help the situation much. Hopefully the trailer provided a bit of reprieve for the little sickies.

Our trailer is pretty small, but it is where we had breakfast Friday morning, games Sunday night, and where cold and sick kids could warm up a bit here and there.

In Response to You Anna

Well when my cousin Anna posted her Proud to be American thing on her blog I decided to try and top that with my 10 Things That Makes Canada Better than the US List! so here it goes

1. We don't have Obama as a president!
2. We have an economy that is not trillion dollars in debt
3. Free Health Care
4. We are a multi-cultural nation
5. We burnt your white house down!!!!!!!
6. We have a real Conservative Party
7. The 1st sounds better than the 4th (because that is what Canada is 1st!)
8. WE have better chocolate bars and chips
9. Orr Flag is way prettier
10. And to top that al off Alyssa's here so it just way cooler
Your Proud Canadian
Alyssa