Whistler Recap

Almost every year, my dad, brother and I make the 4 hour drive to Whistler, B.C. for an annual ski vacation. My parents put us on skis around age 3, and ever since we've been skiing every year! I was lucky to grow up in a state where the closest ski area is 1.5 hours away and Whistler is an easy drive through Canada. I've spent many new years here, gone through all the levels of Whistler Ski School, celebrated Valentines Days, met people from so many different countries, met up with our family ski friends, and even been mountain biking and horseback riding down the mountain in the summer. It holds a special place in my heart - right behind Lake Chelan, WA.

January 4

We started our drive at 11am on Sunday morning. The road was fine until we turned one corner on the Ski to Sea Highway - it went from brown dirt to a blizzard in 2 seconds. It was bizarre. From Squamish to Whistler (a drive that usually takes 45 minutes), it took us over 2 hours because snow was coming down so hard. We were excited because that meant the powder the next morning was going to be amazing!! 

We arrived at our room and went for a walk in the village. The snow was crazy - we were trudging through at least a foot of fresh snow. It was so hard to walk! We went to an Irish pub and celebrated with a few cold brews. 

January 5

We got up bright and early to start our amazing morning of fresh powder (or so we thought). We were in line as the lifts opened at 8:30am. We were wrong. The snow was heavy and thick, and the mountain (we usually ski Blackcomb, not Whistler) was sitting in a big cloud - making the temps at mid-mountain hotter (and rainier) than the temps at the base and the top. Visibility was next to nothing, we were super wet, and the powder that we thought we would be skiing in turned to slush :(. It was disappointing, but we still had fun. My legs were BURNING by the end of the day and so I for sure got a good workout in!  

Afterwards, we came back to our room and went hot-tubing - possibly the best thing to do after a day of skiing. We hung around, went to our favorite dinner place, the Mongolie Grill, and walked around the village. Peyton and I hit up the bars after my dad went to bed :). 

January 6

We decided to sleep in and decide if we were going to ski based on the weather. Unfortunately, the report was even worse than the day before, and we decided to skip the expensive ski ticket since it was just going to result in us being wet and not being able to see. Sad days :(. However, we made the last minute decision to go snowmobiling instead! My brother and I had never been before, and it was so much fun! We got them up to 50+mph, went on ungroomed tracks, and my brother even ended up falling off (don't worry, he's fine!). We also explored the village a bit more, went ice skating, and ate lunch at a restaurant where all food is $4.95. 

January 7

Today was our last day in Whistler. I decided to treat myself to a massage and Scandinavian bath experience. I told myself that after finals, I would get a massage (to clear those tension headaches) - and since I'm in Canada and the US-Canada Dollar exchange rate is pretty good right now - why not here!? I had a Swedish massage and then spent 2 hours at the baths. You sit in hot water, a sauna or a steam room for 10-15 minutes, dip into COLD water for 10 seconds (like 58-64 degrees) and then you go relax for 15 minutes either outside next to a fire pit or inside these wooden rooms. The entire time you must stay silent. It was so beautiful and worth the money. The baths are outdoors, in the trees and amongst the snow. My massage therapist told me that I had so much tension in my upper back/shoulders and I could feel multiple knots in my back. Thanks a lot, law school. I will for sure be coming back to this place.

Here's a gopro vid my brother made of the trip:

The Best of Whistler, B.C.

Tomorrow I will recap my trip, but I decided that since I've been here a lot in my short lifetime and that I've racked up a pretty good sense of what to do and where to go, it would be fun to share with anyone who was planning a trip!

Best Food

• The Mongolie Grill - my family makes sure that we visit this once every time we come up. It's a typical Mongolian Grill - where you choose the noodles, veggies, meat, sauce, etc., give it to the cooks, and watch them grill your food! It's a really fun place to go because it is cool to see them cook your food and the also do cool tricks with their spatulas! Make sure to tip the cooks!
• The Keg (for steak) - the Keg at Whistler is always busy, so make sure you get there early to put your name in or be prepared to wait (same with the Mongolie Grill). Good steak, better mashed potatoes.
• 21 Steps - for the more adventurous foodies. Hated this place when I was little, but I like it now. They have small plates and large plates and it's more of a fancy place.
• El Furniture Cafe for bar eats - all food here is $4.95! I had the roasted turkey sandwich and it was delish. My brother had the nachos and I ate some off the plate.
• Whistler Brewing Company - typical brewhouse food but delish beer and it's in a cool location. Always loud and great for families.

Best Bars

• The Dubliner - live music on select days, always busy, huge beer selection, outside fire pits, nice people, and a great location at the bottom of Whistler. It's by far my favorite bar. And even when they don't have live music, the music that they have playing is always on point.
• The Longhorn - across from the Dubliner and also at the base of Whistler Mountain, this one is pretty well known. Dancing at night, good music, huge bar, firepits outside. It's always packed after a day on the slopes. And if you are lucky, maybe you'll even see a famous person :) My mom went to the Longhorn and sat next to Queen Latifah one time.
• The Amsterdam Cafe - this is a quiet little bar about a 5 minute walk from the base of Whistler. It has yummy drinks, fun people, and a set of house rules you must follow. Just don't ring the bell unless you want to buy the entire bar a drink!

Best Things to Do (other than ski, during winter)

• Snowmobiling - we actually just did this today for the first time and it was SO much fun. We got bused to a location about 15 minutes outside of the village and we had our own tour guide for the 3 of us. They take you riding for about an hour and a half and depending on how fast your group is, you can get pretty far! They give you everything you need to do it. I had a blast and would highly recommend, especially if the snow is bad one day and so you are looking for something else to do.
• Zip-Lining - we didn't do this, but the zip-lines were located in the same location that we went snowmobiling and so we got to see them. It looks so much fun and I've heard great things about it. I have never been zip-lining in the winter, so I can only imagine how pretty it would be.
• Scandinave Spa - I am doing this for the first time tomorrow, so I'll recap that afterwards. Everything I've heard so far has been great - you basically go to the spa and baths. They have a bunch of warm baths and cold baths and relaxing rooms. You do each for 15 minutes, four times. And the entire spa is silent! Perfect for relaxing. You can do just the baths, or add a massage.
• Ice Skating at the Olympic Park - They transformed the area where they did the medals ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics into an ice-skating rink! It's cheap (only $5 for rentals) and super fun. They have great music, cool lights playing, and even the little push carts if you need some extra balance.
• Meadow Park Sports Center - We used to do this ALL the time when we were little. They have a sports center with an ice skating rink and a huge pool. The pool has a 25m lap pool but also a large play area with a lazy river. It used to be my favorite thing when I was younger. You can float on the lazy river, go into the whirlpool, go off the waterslides or off the rope-swing. After that, head over to the ice-skating rink (although I think the one at Olympic park is better, but smaller).
• Movie Theater - there is a great movie theater under the Mongolie Grill for people who want to go catch a new release. When we were younger, we used to see a movie at least once a trip. It's a great idea to do when you have small/young kiddos with you.

Best Skiing
First off, BLACKCOMB. I think its a lot better than Whistler Mountain, less crowded, less "learning zones" and better runs. If you are just learning to ski, Whistler is for sure the better learning mountain. If you want to take a lesson, I think that the instructors in Whistler are some of the best and it's a must if you are willing to spend money on lessons. I did ski school my entire childhood and I met people from all over the world, learned lots about the mountain, and had fun (while my parents got to ski without kids - so it's basically glorified daycare).

My favorite runs

• Backstage Pass (Crystal Chair) - On a powder day, this is the best! Rolling hills, usually not crowded so even in the afternoon you can find some fresh tracks. Bonus is that they just re-did the Crystal Chair so now its a 4-seater high speed instead of the 3-person slow chair.
• Aurther's Choice (Crystal Chair) - This is a gladed tree run that can be so much fun and powdery after a big snow day.
• Little Cub (Catskinner) - Also a gladed tree run. My favorite of the entire mountain. It is in the trees, really pretty, not busy, and at the end it drops you into the easy terrain park (which is fun for me because the jumps are small - no way you would find me in the main terrain park).
• Blackcomb Glacier (Glacier Chair) - To get to this, you have to take the glacier chair to the top, and then take a t-bar. After you get off the t-bar, you have a bit of a hike to do (aka must take off your skis) but it's so worth it, especially on days when it has snowed recently. It's a huge bowl and you can always find a fresh track. It's the highest up on Blackcomb you can get, really.
• Cruiser (Solar Coaster Chair) - My favorite blue run to get down the mountain. Rolling hills and you can catch some great speed. The perfect run to end the day when your legs are spent.
• The Adventure Castle (Catskinner) - if you have kids (or even if you don't), this is a must do! It's a run through the trees that leads to a giant castle that kids can play on! It has a slide and stuff to climb on. It's so cool and so much fun for the little ones.

First days of 2015

I am still in that 'new year' mindset of recap/fresh starts/wonder of what the new year will bring. I like this feeling and I know that once it hits feb (or before), I will probably lose sight of it. I hope that I can keep the feeling, reflect on all the good, and hope for the future - while at the same time remaining present and in the moment. 

Right now I'm in whistler, British Columbia on an annual ski trip with my dad and brother. I'll post more on that tomorrow, but I thought I would recap the first 5 days of 2015 tonight. 

Day 1 - January 1st

I rang in the new year with some of my best friends in Seattle. We were right by the space needle, so we counted down and saw the fireworks go off at midnight. It was the best way to bring in 2015

I slept in until noon (something that never ever happens). Brett and I got up, went for a 5 mile run, watched football, and made breakfast for lunch. We watched a pretty amazing sunset and went hottubing. It was the most perfect, relaxing day to kick off the new year. 

Side note - I bought a jawbone with some Christmas money. This was the first night I used it and I kicked off the year right with my sleep schedule. (I honestly mainly bought this to track my sleep habits because I'm trying to get better getting more sleep and because it reminds you if you've been inactive for a certain amount of time and I'm also trying not to sit for long periods of time). This is what it does when you sleep...and this is probably the most hours that it will ever track me for. It's crazy to see how you are sleeping though. 

Day 2 - January 2nd 

I went to the gym, went to starbucks and read my book (Shadows of the Night), had a mild freak out over family drama but realized I couldn't let that ruin my happy mindset, met friends at Pike Place Market, went to dinner with Brett and watched the huskies miserably lose both basketball and football. 

   (Everywhere you go in Seattle, chihuly)

Day 3 - January 3rd

11 miles! It was brutal but so fulfilling. My mom and I started off at greenlake in Seattle, ran through Ravenna to the Burke Gilman trial, ran to Gasworks park, and then through UW and back to greenlake. It was hard and we stopped a lot for various reasons, but I'm feeling good. After, did nothing all day and watched football, and met Brett because I'm the most amazing gf ever and dropped him off at the airport at 430am the next morning (ugh)

 (Not a bad running view)

Day 4 - January 4th

After the airport and more sleep, we headed to whistler! It's about a 4 hour drive from Seattle, but took longer this time because they got over 20cm of snow. The drive was crazy and took so long (hence my face) 

But we eventually made it! Here's a preview of tomorrow....

Half Marathon update - one month away!

I can't believe that it's almost here! I'm ready and feeling good about my training thus far. I have 3 more long runs left - 11, 12, and 13 miles. Then I'm going to take a rest week and then it's here! Before this, I did two weeks of 10 miles. The second one went much better than the first. I've been doing 2-4 runs in between the long one, depending on the day. I usually do one fast short one (3-3.5 miles), and two longer ones (4.5-6 miles).

Before that, I did one 9 mile run and 2 8 milers (the first of which was so rough). The first 8 mile run I did was one of those "I hate running I never want to do it again, I suck and I'm slow and I'll never finish" runs. It was bad. But it taught me perserverence (I think) and that sometimes you need to suck because of teaches you to get better and stick through it.

I'm feeling good about tomorrow My huskies did lose a painful game today and I may or may not be hungover tomorrow... But I can do 11 miles. Maybe not fast. But  I shall keep you posted.