6th Annual Iron Knee 25K Trail Race

Getting up early on Sat for Ray's race was worth it even though I was not keen in doing so in the beginning. Vancouver was truly a beauty especially with a gorgeous sunny day by the water and the mountains in Deep Cove. Although the morning was a bit chilly, I was having a time of my life in the sun. I really needed some Vitamin E because I felt like I'm lacking it :) Let's just say, I am so blessed by God to be able to experience this wonderful life in Canada.

Anyway, let's get back to the race. Ray did the Canada's largest long distance 25K trail run called Iron Knee all the way from the base of Grouse Mountain to the shores of Deep Cove. Of course, there are hills involved in this race with the popular 2K hike called Powerline trail which is similar to Grouse Grind. Well, no thanks. I will just stick to Grouse Grind and that would be it for me. All the runners are to tackle the up and downhills with very technical trails. All I can say is "Good Luck" and "Watch where you're going". This was Ray's first time doing this race and it sure was a challenge for him especially he never ran anything that is more than 8K in the trail. I think he had a good time even though he's hurting now but all runners have that adrenaline in them to want to keep going...hmm, I'm just not like them at all. This is how he did in the race : 39th/281 overall, 36th/147 for males and 29th/59 in his age group with a finish time of 2:01:53. Great job!!!

Shaughnessy 8K (Timex Road Running Series #8)

It started out to be a nice morning at 6am and then it turned out to be very warm towards the mid-morning at around 9am during the race. Oh boy!! It was sure hot when running in a sunny condition. The race was a tough one because of the many hills. I am just not good in tackling hills and I was definitely very tired after the 5K mark. Since it was a very warm day, I was thirsty pretty much the whole time and was on a lookout for a water station. I also had a stitch around my diaphragm area and it slowed me down quite a bit between the 5 and 7K mark. I still haven't figured out what caused it. Despite the problems, it was sure a well-organized race by the Lions Gate Road Runners (LGRR). Ray was volunteering for them as he has been a member of the LGRR since Dec 2007. This was the first time that I ran and he stood on the side cheering me even though I didn't see him when I finished. I guess he was working hard on the side helping out Raceheadquarters with the timing. Speaking of timing, I finished the race in 43:03 mins and placed 166th/317 overall, 53rd/146 for females and 7th/19 in my age group.

Camping at Othello in Hope

What a terrific way to spend the long weekend with camping!! I decided to go camping a few days before the long weekend after I checked the weather forecast. It was a gorgeous weekend except it got rainy on Monday late in the afternoon. By then, we were all packed and ready to go home. So that was all good. Anyway, the spot that we were at was not too bad but I wished there was a creek or a river that was not too raging to go in and play. But there was still a nice creek that was nearby for me to at least wash my hair even though the water was icy cold. There were about 16 of us at this campsite and it was sure a lot of fun to be able to do stuff together. We went hiking, took a few spins on the ATV and played horseshoe pitching. Even though I wasn't that good at the horseshoe game, I still had an awesome time. One of my favourite things about camping was 'cooking'. I just love cooking in the wild. For some reason, the food taste so much better :0 You should enjoy that the next time you're camping. Not sure when I will be camping again. Until then, Happy Camping!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there! It was sure a wonderful evening to treat all the mothers in my family (my mom, my sister and my sister-in-laws) to a lovely dinner at Chili Pepper House in Vancouver. After a long day at work and church, I thought I better wind down to a relaxing evening to sit down and enjoy the night with my family. Ray did a race this morning at Golden Ears which was the first series of 5 Peaks. He came first in his age group and third overall. Nice job! I'm sure he would like to just relax for the rest of his day by celebrating Mother's Day :) What a great opportunity to bring my mom out for a dinner before my parents leave for Vancouver to go back home in Brunei for 3 months. I will be joining them in July when it will be my turn to go back home to Brunei for a month. Ray will be coming with me to visit Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia. It will be such an exciting and adventurous trip. I am so looking forward to it!!

37th BMO Vancouver Marathon/XLR 8K

I couldn't ask for a better day to do a race especially for the Marathoners. A nice bright sunny morning followed by a little overcast in the mid morning but that was just perfect condition for the runners. I couldn't believe the number of participants in the races this morning; 3099 runners in the Full Marathon, 5599 in the Half Marathon, 446 in the 8K and even in the Marafun Kids' run, there were about 1300 kids!!! Wow...what a great turnout. Ray did the Full Marathon and I did the 8K which was a new event this year. I did the 8K just to kill time while waiting for Ray but it was a pretty tiring run for me. I guess I went out too fast in the beginning like any other races I've done. It is so typical of me to go out too fast in the beginning. After I finished my race, I had the privilege to be in a great spot about 100m from the finish to see the runners as they crossed and also to take pictures. I guess it is great to know people from the timing company :) In fact, it is Ray's sister that works for Race Headquarters. Anyway, here are the official results: Ray finished in the personal best time of at 3:25:29 with a position of 284th/3099 overall 241st/1808 for males and 51st/266 in his age group. Way to go, Ray! As for my 8K, I came in 67th/446 overall, 24th/297 for females and 6th/97 in my age group with a PB time of 42:20mins. My next race will be the Shaughnessy 8K on May 25th. Hopefully, I can improve a little bit on that one or maybe not because of hills. Will see about it.

A Get-together with Soay

I can't believe that it's been more than 4 years since I last seen Soay (the one in yellow shirt). Soay has been residing in Shanghai ever since he left Vancouver to work there. Time really goes by so fast and here we are again with the rest of the crew who I used to hang out with a lot. We went to Azia Restaurant downtown for a nice get-together dinner for Soay. As far as I can remember, the food was great and the service was good too. I sure had fun with everyone and let's just hope that it won't be another 4 years till the next time we see each other again ^o^. Now, I have to hit the sack early for Ray's Marathon and my 8K race tomorrow. Wish us luck!!