Mt. Kinabalu Race - October 2010

I wrote this post directly after completing the Mt. Kinabalu race in Borneo, Malaysia and then forgot to post it!! Please enjoy the recap!


Kinabalu Climbathon – October 23rd, 2010
It all started as a mere suggestion in August and came to fruition today. I am in Borneo, Malaysia and just attempted the 21km Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon. I say attempted because I did not complete the summit. In fact, I missed reaching the summit by 700m; I know- heartbreaking. Instead of feeeling disappointed, though, I am proud of myself for what I accomplished today because I did not think that I would make it as far as I did, not by a long shot. We flew into Kota Kinabalu at 8:55pm and did not make it to Kinabalu Park until 11pm. We then discovered that our reservations were in fact for the next 2 nights, and not Friday night. The staff at the park was great and found us another hostel to stay at because all accommodations at the park were fully booked. It was midnight when we finally reached our hostel room. Things were not looking good; I had early symptoms of a nasty headcold, and was due to complete a race the next day with what would be 5 hours of sleep. I was not optimistic and was struggling with the choice of going for it, or copping out.
The alarm went off at 5am and I wasn’t feeling too tired, surprisingly. I still wasn’t too psyched at the idea of attemtpting the race, so I initially decided to not race. I went into the common area to cancel the transportation and found 3 men that looked like they were participating in the race (today’s race was for all women and senior men). They were so excited when I said I was doing the race, so I gave into the peer pressure and decided to compete. I am so glad that I went for it because it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I am feeling great physically, and am looking forward to watching Steve complete his daunting task tomorrow; the men’s category only gets 2.5 hours to summit and 3 hours to get down.
I started the race feeling good and entirely unsure as to what the mountain held for me. Though I had completed the hike two years ago with Cassie, I had never completed the hike as a race. The terrain is tough as the steps are uneven and quite high at times and all the hike does is go up, up, and up more. I initially thought that I would only make it to Laban Rata, a guesthouse at 6.5km (altitiude), but I felt good enough to continue persevering. The last 2.5km of the hike is quite treacherous as it is up the face of the mountain and the only tools are limbs and a rope to climb. It also started raining at this point which made the already wretched rocky terrain quite slippery. Luckily I bought Panadol Nasal Cold and Flu at the HK airport and took some in the morning, hoping it would keep the cold at bay; it did. I also made myself stop every 30 minutes to quickly hydrate, eat a little (half a date or a bite or an energy granola bar), and blow my nose- a seemingly good system. The result? I made it to 8km (3929m) in 3.5 hours and was politely told that my time was up at that point, even though the summit is 8.7km (4095m). I promptly turned around, and made it down Mt. Kinabalu + 3.2km to finish (about 20km in total) in 6.25 hours (the cutoff was 6.5hours). So why didn’t I make the summit? The one thing that held me back (I think) was the altitude and subsequent lack of air. The air was extremely cold, and many people said on the way down that this definitely affected the climb. Everyone was moving really slowly close to the summit as it was difficult to push any further. Plus, the summit was so foggy I couldn’t actually see where the top was! This was more mental than anything, but it would have been good to see the dangling carrot as I had no idea how close I really was.Overall, I am really proud of myself for attempting this race given the fact that I had many reasons not to. Don’t we all have reasons not to do the things that scare us or seem hard? I will leave you with the tagline of a TV show theme song and ask: what have you done today to make you feel proud?
This race recap was brough to you by (not officially, but the following helped me along the way today): Panadol Sinus Cold & Flu, ForeverGreen Electrifire, Vega Sport Optimizer, lululemon athletica, North Face, Hydrapak, Asics, Kleenex, and viewers like you. Thanks for reading :)
I am now off to relax and scuba dive in one of the top ten dive sites in the world: Sipidan.

Long weekend Hong Kong hiking & camping

I heart long weekends.

We have completely lucked out this month, as we have two long weekends in a row. Yay! For our first long weekend, a group of four of us hiked along McLehose trail in the New Territories and camped at Tai Long Wan beach. Hong Kong is known as a booming metropolis, but the New Territories takes away all of the typical HK hustle and bustle. For those in the area, take the MTR to Diamond Hill station (red line to green line), exit to the Transport area, then take bus 92 to Sai Kung. from Sai Kung take the 94 to Pak Tam Au. There, cross the road and begin Stage III of the McLehose Trail. The (brief) challenging hike is about 1 hour and 20 mins and at the end is an amazing reward in the form of a beach restaurant with the most delicious salt and pepper calamari. This restaurant also rents out tents, sleeping bags, coolers, and sells charcoal, flashlights, drinks- you name it. If you want more isolation, continue hiking to the left where you will get to another section of Tai Long Wan that is more secluded. We made a fire (I sacrificed my crappy book, so bring newspaper), roasted hot dogs, drank beer, and made s'mores. it was the perfect evening! The view is spectatcular and the sound of the waves crashing at night made me sleep like a baby (despite sand as a mattress!). The swimming is nice as well, even for being salt water.

I first did this trip a year and a half ago, and will definitely make this trip again.

Great Canadian Death Race recap

Whew! It's August 2nd which means that our team completed the Great Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache over the long weekend. We had a really great time even though we were unsure what exactly we were getting ourselves into. Here is a recap of the weekend- enjoy!

Death race rundown: (from the Great Canadian Death Race official website)

"The Canadian Death Race is a 125km all-terrain extreme adventure race course on very challenging terrain including three mountain summits and 17,000 feet of elevation change"

Roadtrip - July 30th: Justin picked me up and we were on our way! The trip to Grande Cache from Edmonton was awesome. We had sunshine and great tunes all the way. We even ran into some fellow competitors and had a chance to talk to about the race as we were all very curious and excited. We arrived in Grande Cache, setup our awesome tent (thanks, Tim!) and obsessed over the course map and leg descriptions. I guess the point is to be scared and kept in the dark because the race itself was not organized well to those who have never done it before. Let's just say that there was a lot of guess work! After a pasta dinner and a great chat with some other fellow racers, we went to bed, but didn't get a lot of sleep because we were all nervous of what the next 24 hours would hold!

July 31st 0806 - Death Race start

We arrived at the Rec Centre and checked in at 7am. then, our fearless captain Jenn took the coin and timing chip and set off when the gun was fired. this leg is described as a "downtown jaunt" but I think Jenn would beg to differ!

1030 - Leg 1 complete in 2hrs 32mins!

19km later we met Jenn and she passed the coin and chip off to Chris. Jenn was hurting pretty badly from muscle cramps so we took it easy, walked around the transition area, and got her some fluids. At this point our first teammate had come in and was pretty roughed up. I was scared. What would I face?

1630 - Leg 2 complete in 5hrs 55 mins!

Chris did so well in this leg. in 26km, he climbed 2 peaks, dominated the "slugfest" in the sweltering heat and gave it all he had. Literally. Ziebart's don't stop so Chris pushed through and made it to the end with a smile on his face. He passed the coin and chip to Justin for leg 3. As Chris sat down the heat stroke set in. Chris ended up going to the hospital due to dehydration and was put on a saline drip. I'm so proud of Chris, he totally represented. Might I add that Leg 2 is seen as the most tehnical and difficult leg of the race.

1900 - Leg 3 complete in 2 hrs 27 mins!

Justin pushed through this 22km trail and made the time cutoff even though 9 minutes was taken off of the original cutoff time! The heat was still in full force, yet J persevered and made it. This was the longest Justin had ever ran in a race and he did awesome!!! At this point we were very close to the cutof times for the 4th leg of the race and we were all a bit uncertain if our team would finish. Julie took the coin and chip from Justin and absolutely throttled the next leg of the race (a whopping 36km on a treacherous course!!). Timing is everything in this race. Julie needed to be at her check in point (10 km up up up from the start of her leg) by 2215 in order to keep going. We tried to see if she had made it, yet the race centre could not give us a clear answer which was really frustrating. We all just sat and waiting, sending Julie good thoughts of being strong, safe and happy (our three words of focus for our legs). I was a nervous wreck! At this point, 3 of our racers were done and I banned the phrase "I am so glad it's over," because it wasn't even close for me- I hadn't even started my leg! This was possibly the worst part for me as the day was full of excitement in seeing my teammates finish, but also full of anxiety because I still had to wait!

0050 - Leg 4 complete! Julie's husband got a text saying she was done! The problem was that we had to drive to the transition area and we were planning on leaving at 1am! I was ready to go so we all hopped in the truck and made our way as quickly as possible. Julie finished in an amazing time of 5hr 37mins. Her predicted time was 6.5 hours and she absolutely thrashed this!! It took about 10 minutes to get to the transition area, where I was about to (finally!!) begin my leg! My timing chip was 20 minutes and running, and I hadn't even started yet. I gave Julie a huge hug, took the coin and timing chip, and was off! I could hear people cheering for me as I turned on my headlamps (one on my head, one around my waist) and made my way into the complete darkness.

The final leg was was amazing and spectacular. The terrain was rough, uneven, unstable and uncertain most of the time. The trail, however, was clearly marked and easy to navigate through with the headlamps. I met some incredible people along the way and was passed by only one person at the very beginning; Otherwise I was able to pass a mixture of solo and team racers as I cheered them on with a "Go Death Racer!!" Though I did not get to enjoy the full scenery around me because of the darkness, I knew that there was incredible nature all around me. I did find myself psyched out a couple of times because I thought that I had heard grumblings, which made me run faster! I was even spooked by my shadow a few times... 3. :) At 10km in I was ferried across the Smoky River and gave the coin to the Death Master to be able to proceed. Then I had an amazing climb, which definitely gave me a run for my money. I think it was better that I was in the dark because I couldn't exactly see what was in front of me, therefore I kept surging ahead. Some excellent advice was given to our team before the race and one piece was "don't look up, don't look down, and don't stop." This advice was so true for me and it definitely kept me focussed. I had a few potential trip-ups and ankle rolls from tree roots, etc. but held my ground and came out scrape-free. The last part of the leg was unforgiving as it was a steady uphill gravel road. I thought of my good friends Dave and Yvonne and thought, "what would they do?" My answer was: RUN! So I did. I ran back into the town of Grande Cache pumping those arms and pushing with all of my might to finish my 22 kms. I was nearing the last loop to the finish line and there was my team, cheering me on. They joined me for the last stretch and we all crossed the finish line together. It felt amazing to finish with all 5 teammates.

Technically this was the hardest race I have ever done in my life. Mentally and physically it was not as I can say that (surprisingly) my training had paid off. I had a great team that supported me and I ran and pushed for them because they had done their absolute best to get me to where I needed to be. I had 7 hours to complete my leg so the pressure of time was off completely. I enjoyed it, yet pushed myself to finish in under 3 hours - my Garmin posted 2.53.32 (the final chip time was 3.11.25 because of our transition error). My time prediction was 4 hours, so I couldn't be happier.

We had 24 hours to finish this 125 km mountainous race and we finished in 19 hours, 43 minutes, and 30 seconds. We rocked the Death Race. I can now look at other challenges I face and be motivated to do even better, because our team was able to complete this race. Thanks to all of you who supported me and our team along the way! It helped me cross that finish line!

Great Canadian Death Race- gettin ready!

On Friday I will leave for Grande Cache with my cousins Chris and Justin, and other teammates Jenn and Julie. When Chris and Justin first approached me about running the race last summer, I must say that I said yes without doing my research. After looking into the race, I was intimidated but definitely intrigued. So in January, I signed up as 1/5th part of the Kananaskis Weekend Warriors.

My leg is described below:
Fifth and final leg, 24km, The River Crossing
Includes 1 km pavement, 6 km gravel road, and a river crossing. The rest dirt trail, grass, and single track. Net elevation change of over 2500ft. This section runs from the Northwest end of the Hell’s Gate Access Road southward to the Sulphur Gates Road, across from the Hell’s Gate emergency aid station. It crosses the Hell’s Gate road and heads down to the Boat Launch road . Runners will be ferried across the Smoky River. There is an emergency aid station on the west bank of the river. From the raft crossing, racers will proceed up the east shore of the Smoky River and follow the trail to the Sulphur Rim trail. The course passes the Firemen's park, heads up Firemen's Park Road and continues to the Finish line in the Grande Cache town square. Please note: For most runners this leg will be completed in darkness with much of the trail under a heavy canopy of trees, so eye protection is required. Although this section is well marked with reflective markers, flags and signs, we recommend you bring a halogen headlamp with brand new alkaline batteries. Daylight training on this part of the course is highly recommended.

We have all trained so hard and we are all looking forward to this experience! I will admit that I am a little nervous, but I am up for the challenge :) Send me amazing, positive thoughts this long weekend as I compete in my most challenging race to date.

Check it out!
http://www.canadiandeathrace.com/

All dogs must go to heaven

It's true. Our lovely, sweet, funny, amazing family dog is at the end of his time. At 15 years old (people age... that's like what, 100 in dog years? :)) he has had a great life and has even had the chance to interact with a lot of YOU! So this post is for him- my adorable, incredible Wicket. I am sorry that I can't be there, but know that he is in excellent hands- and is even getting the best food of his life this week, right Mom?

Big hugs and kisses to you, Wicket. You have been the BEST family dog. Kisses and love always.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!!

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Since it is the New Year, Cassie and I will have to make a trip to HK to have our fortune's read again. The last time we went I was told my health would get better in the fall, and that was the time that I was able to start eating dairy again! Coincidence? Possibly. It was still fun though.

So here in Macau the fireworks start as soon as it gets dark and don't really stop until the wee hours. I am grateful for my ear plugs!

Life is really busy, and will hopefully resume to some normalcy in the next month. Everything that is happening is all good, and all at once, leaving me feeling slightly overwhelmed.

1. The Student Council is organizing a benefit concert to raise funds for Haiti on Feb.26th - yay! We have about 20 acts performing, it will be great!
2. From March 7-13th our students are on Experience Week and I am the lucky leader of a scuba trip to Phuket, Thailand. This has been a lot of work to organize, but I know it will all pay off.
3. Student Teachers from U of A start on Monday and will be at TIS for 9 weeks! I am sharing 2 student teachers which will be a great new experience for me! I have a feeling that it will be nice to have my classroom back at the end of April :)

Also, I haven't made this too widely known yet, but I guess it is overdue- I am staying another year here at TIS! I will be home for the summer and also plan to come home for Christmas and New Years as well. I am really excited with my choice of staying and look forward to the opportunities for me to develop even more as an educator.

I guess that is all for now! I am finding myself glued to any Olympic information that is out there, though access to programs are sparse! GO CANADA!

Exploring India's Spiritual Mecca

First of all, Merry Christmas!! It is December 25th and Cassie and I are relaxing in Delhi for the day before heading to Jodhpur tomorrow...

Varanasi was incredibly unique. By the 3rd day we had a pretty good grasp of things. The time volunteering at the school was interesting, as they asked us to come back at 12;30pm, which we did. We then helped serve lunch and were told that the school day was over! So much for that- but it was great to see the kids, interact with them and get to know their lives a bit better. Their English lesson for the days was Q: "What is the name of your school" A: "My school name is Learn for Life." Cassie and I had all of these extravagant plans of teaching them an English sounds song or maybe a Christmas song and didn't get to do either. The teachers overplanned, once again!

We treated ourselves to a spa afternoon at Hotel Surya; the treatment we chose included an Ayurvedic massage and a steam bath/shower which was so nice considering our hotel did not have hot water. The ladies were so sweet, though one insisted on watching me get dressed and then gave me a thumbs up while saying "verrry nice!" haha

We also spent time along the ghats and saw the evening festivals consisting of rituals and cremations. One ghat, the Burning Ghat, has cremations all day and this is where the bodies go that are carried along the path that we encountered on the first day. Of course cameras were not allowed so we have the memories only (though burning bodies are not what they are all cracked up to be! Except maybe slightly disturbing!) The next morning we were up early to take a sunrise boat ride along the ghats which was AMAZING. I am so glad that we chose to take the boat ride, it was one hour and only 100 rupees. The sunrise was beautiful and being in the water was very peaceful, even though there were so many other boats around. It is seen a purifying to bathe in the Ganges River so we also got the chance to see many people bathing, dipping, praying in the Ganges River (which is very polluted; mad props to those who venture in!). The boat ride has been one of my favourite experiences so far.

We then made it for a morning yoga class at Om Shanti. The class was 2 hours long and consisted of breathing exercises, 80 minutes of yoga, and then a meditation at the end. It was only Cassie and I so we had our instructor all to ourselves. He was very nice and forgiving at our lack of flexibility!!

After eating lunch at our favourite little bakery, we went to check out of our hotel and head to Delhi. The train ride was a much better experience that the 3 bed per side sardine can experience a few nights previous. We actually got a pillow, sheets, and a blanket! It was heaven! I didn't even have to put on my sweater that was purchased from a men's shop in Agra! (Oh yea... the sweater is HOT)

All in all, Varanasi is not to be missed. It is an amazing assortment of Hindu and Muslim cultures and the oldest city in India. The 'old' aspect has been well-preserved... and not to mention the gorgeous silk fabric they are known for!!

We are now in Delhi, taking it easy on Christmas Day. We are hoping to see a Bollywood film tonight, so that should be fun!!

Hope Santa is good to you all!!!! xo