How going home for Christmas makes me faster

I love going home (to NS) for Christmas. The house is full - 7 kids running in every direction, 9 orso adults, lots of food, and the feeling of 'home'.

So why does this make me faster? Well, imagine a few feet of snow, kids from the age of 2 to 16, loads of sleds to choose from and a great sledding hill ... and your daily workout quickly becomes sledding! Now, with kids it's not just the act of sliding down and walking up ... but of waling up while towing one or two kids behind you yelling 'faster! faster!'. Now you are getting the picture! It's a cardio and strength workout all in one ... and if you try to talk or get into a snowball fight on the way up the hill ... well, it makes it that much more fun.

Then of course there is playing alphabet soup, hunting dragons, and generally keeping up with the neices/nephews!  Add to that the fantastic home-grown food (in massive quantities) and the relaxation of being home, and when I got back on the bike - i could push more on my intervals!

I highly reccomend this specialized Christmas training program! It's good for the body and soul :)

Happy holidays all!

Where is Waldo?

Yes, it's been quiet ... and we all know what that means: Busy training weekends, long work days, and everything else jammed in there somewhere ...

It's been a busy month - can't beleive it's almost over! I'll catch you up really quick on what i've been up to:

1. Doing 1,000,000 laps at Tiger. OK, not really, but I've done my share. I've gotten faster which is always good. I've taken 1 minute off the climb, 2 off the descent (woot!) and 1 off of the flat. This is off my best time and i posted 3 laps in a row at this new 'Monilee record'. Not too bad. Another interesting note - I've recently had several people asking me if I am the 'Norco Tiger Girl'? Um yes? Apparently I have a name for myself. I am guessing it is because I often spend 8 hours riding at Tiger and lap many people in my rides.

2. Hiking Mt Si (see photo) - a quick 2.5 hour hike up and back (8 miles, 3500 feet of climbing).

3. Visiting family in Victoria - had a fun weekend with Marilee and kids! Love Victoria - very cool town.

4. Work, work, and more work - I've taken on another project and have been pretty busy - but still loving it!!! We had the Microsoft company meeting on Sept 10th which is always very cool.

5. Shopping for new fun bike toys for nationals - mostly light batteries but it's still fun. i love buying new bike stuff. Retail therapy.

6. Prepping for Nationals - woot!!! 3 weeks and counting

7. Fixing my car - Got hit by a student driver on the way home from work - passenger door is busted up and I am having fun with insurance and estimates now.

That about sums up the last month ...

As nationals nears i'll be sure to keep the blog up to date!