Hello Blogging Buddies,
Here’s an online version of the our 2007 Christmas letter.
Happy New Year to you all,
Joanne.
Completing my first IronMan (4km swim, the 180km bike, and the 42km run) was a big part of the year for 2007. I enjoyed the day very much and was proud of my finish. The day was rich with many shared experiences. I high-fived every little kid that cheered my name on the race course. Physically, the last part of the run was harder then I could imagine. Mentally, the support from everyone around me made it easy to get to that finish line.
Preparing for IronMan involves long hours training together. It was a summer filled with memories of being outdoors in the rain, sun, water, wind, and heat with my friends and family.
1) LETC friends at IMC training camp, 2) Uncle and Niece before riding the Richter (hill repeats x3).
3) + 4) Completing IronMan Canada – from Start to Finish in 12hours, 6minutes and 20 seconds.
Over the year, friends and family tolerated busy weekends and early curfews. I learned that good friends and long training days go well together! I share my IronMan with so many special friends, and family who helped me get to the start line ready to go.
In 2007, Torbin, Penney and I also enjoyed many road trips. Trips to the Okanagon helped to solidify our tastes for local BC white wines. We also made it to Canmore in June to visit my brother, Grant. While there, Torbin discovered his mountain biking talents as we rode from Canmore to Banff and back. In August, Grant came out Vancouver to pick up the latest edition to his family, a 6-week old puppy, Maya.
At the end of the summer, we headed up into our favorite mountain cabin for our annual Lake Lovely Water trip. The LLW trip is a great way to finish off summer. If you haven’t joined us before, you should consider coming next year.
2007 was a busy year for us both at work. Torbin’s company, Zaber, is doing really well and growing fast. New additions to the Zaber team and exciting plans for 2008 keep Torbin very busy. In July, I started a new teaching job at the University. 2008 promises to be a good year ahead for us both.
To get us into the right mindset for the year ahead, we spent a wonderfully relaxing two weeks in Mexico over Christmas. You can see more pictures here.
Best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy year in 2008. Love from: Joanne, Torbin, and Penney the Dog.
PS. My IMC race report lives on a piece of paper at the bottom of my desk. It will find it’s way onto the blog one day. Right now, it’s still at the bottom of the pile.
Happy trails!
J.
Good on ya – definitely a solid time. I may do IMC in the next couple years. Right now I get more of a gas from running hard and doing shorter tris. Doing Victoria Half Iron this year, tho’. I think doing both the Boston and New York Marathons in ’09 will likely preclude sandwiching in IMC next year.
Funny thing, stumbling across your blog. I’m pretty sure I recognize you from ulty, and I have definitely played my share of games against Torbin, with Penney in tow.
Sounds like we might also have some other similarities. I’m the user experience lead at BCIT and my own site changes designs and topical focus so many times, I can’t count the different looks (and domain names) I’ve had over top of multiple WordPress installations.
Anyway, keep up the solid racing.
James
Hi James,
I’ll be at the UBC event in early March. I’m doing the duathlon. Keep your eye out for me – if you see me, come on over and say hello!
See you soon,
Joanne.