More From Michelle's Ironman Florida

My Dad sent me some cool pics from my sister Michelle's "40th Birthday Party" at Ironman Florida recently. Here's the scene race morning approaching 7:00am.

Awaiting the race start the goal was to keep warm.

Awesome pic (thanks to the Beast John Ceko) of Michelle just before the start of her epic day.

And off they go!

My folks went out to the bike turnaround to cheer Michelle on and they got some great shots of her cruising the bike.

Looking pumped and excited to start the marathon knowing she has more than enough time to get this Ironman thing done.

Joshua waiting for Mom - pretty cool for him to witness this event.

Job well done!!

With Jacob and Kelsey back at the condo for a well-deserved rest - Congrats!

The proud family!

Cheers!

WOW - Inspirational!!

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7208128

Please have a look at this video - truly inspirational!

Cheers!

Michelle - You Are An Ironman!!

While I'm now coming to terms with the upcoming cool weather and eventually - dare I say it - snow, my sister Michelle decided to celebrate her 40th year on the planet with a little race called Ironman. Yesterday she closed the deal on her amazing tri journey with a 16:10 at Ironman Florida. I spoke with her this morning and despite feeling like she's been hit by a train and hobbling on blistered feet, she is proud of her accomplishment - we are all proud!! The weather turned out to be great for the competitors and the Gulf was calm. Michelle encountered some jellyfish but it did not affect her swim - she came out in 1:33. Onto the bike the first half was into the wind but that was okay as the back half brought a nice tailwind which was welcomed as the first signs of fatigue reared its head. Her bike time was 7:16 and her pace was consistent throughout. Michelle got off the bike and settled into a power walk and her splits indicated her pace was consistent again. Despite the blisters becoming an issue for the last third she finished in style dancing, high-fiving and soaking up the atmosphere that is the Ironman finish! Now it's recovery time, I mean, beer time!! Michelle will hopefully have race pix available soon. EDIT - thanks to Mel Anderson on Facebook I've managed to get a few Ironman pics.

On the home front we have been quite busy with Halloween and Logan's races. We did our annual visit to the Carluke orchard for pumpkins and apples. With the rainy weather the bees were nonexistent which was a nice change from last year. As you can see from the pictures Logan was "roughing it".

Dork picking apples!

Race number 1 in October was the Wellwood run for Colorectal Cancer at McMaster University. Logan did the 1k and Sara powerwalked the 5k with Sheila. I think was more sore from the powerwalk than when she's run - Sheila can walk!

With our game face on.

The McMaster grounds in Fall are nice and the weather was perfect.

Here's Logan heading towards the finish - nice finishing kick!

Race number 2 was the Oakville Trek or Treat race. This race was on a Friday night and had a kids "Creepy Mile" and a 5/10k. The course was lined with Halloween decorations and went on trails, through a graveyard and had lit pumpkins marking each kilometre. A lot of people dressed up for the race including Logan in his dinosaur costume.

Here we are just before the start with our headlamp on. All racers had the have headlamps and it was really cool to see all the lights on the dark trail. This is a must-do race for us next year.

Hope all is well - Cheers!

Halloween Laughs!

Have a great weekend - CHEERS!

What A Difference a Week Makes and the Real Athlete in the Family

Thanksgiving weekend was one to remember! The weather was amazing - hot and sunny. People were out in force enjoying the weather. Logan, Emily and I went to Canterbury Hills in Ancaster for a hike (Sara was doing a massage course in Toronto - pretty agonizing considering the weather and the fact she was indoors!). The trails had a couple of beautiful waterfalls - here's Logan posing at the biggest one, very cool.

This view is from the falls looking back down the trail.

We went exploring and followed the trail deep into the forest. We only covered a few kilometres but it looks like a cool place to do a trail run in the future.

Another smaller waterfall.

There were trees galore and it looked awesome with the sun shining through.

Logan did a couple of tris this summer - the final one in the later part of September at Lakeside. John Salt and the Multisport series do a fantastic job with the kids and the focus is on participation and fun. The kids really enjoyed themselves and it was apparent nobody cared what place they came in - they were definitely there to have some fun!

At Lakeside pre-race they always take a picture of all the kids together. Logan's on the far left, second row with all the other 8 and 9 year olds (Logan turns 8 at the end of October and did fine with the older kids). Check out how many kids were in his wave! The swim was 100m long, followed by a 2.5km bike and finally a 800m run.

I was lucky to get this shot as Logan was moving pretty fast - he loves the bike!

Here he is coming down the home stretch. The girl on the right is a local kid who happily ran back and forth to support the participants - a great atmosphere all around.

Basking in the glory of a job well done!! Mom and Dad are very proud!

CHEERS!

Some Funny Pics to Chuckle By

I don't know why but this picture cracks me up every time I read it!

CHEERS!