Can't I have my cake and eat it too?

It's 12 degrees in Vancouver today with a blue bird sky, the city is all a buzz with Olympic fever and I've been working all day in the athletes village. I know I'm supposed to be all Olympics all the time... but all I want to do today is go out for a long run, a long ride, climb a mountain and ride back down.

I can't wait to get into full time training. I'm having an incredible experience with the Games, but I can't wait to focus on Ironman....

Day 7

Here it is Day 7 and things are trucking along. It's been a great week for Canada - gold in men's moguls and gold in womens snowboarder cross.

Day 4 Jen and the boys and I went to see Canada take on the Swiss in Ice Hockey. We had seats right behind the net in the first row! The game was pretty exciting and Canada kicked some serious a$$ beating SUI 10-1.

Day 5 I ran around like a crazy person, but I did get to the womens snowboard cross event at Cypress and saw Maelle win gold for Canada! Later that evening Anthony and I got out to Canada Hockey House to celebrate with a few cold ones.

Day 6 I took on a shift in the Sport Command Center at HeadQuarters to provide a little relief for the team that has already taken on so much more than what was expected of them. Hopefully I can continue to help them out with a shift here and there. Fortunately, while I was there I came across some tickets to the men's halfpipe finals that were not being used. Unfortunately no one on the team was able to use them but luckily enough, I have a boyfriend who was giddy when I told him he could go. He was pretty happy.

Day 7 I did some work this morning but spent most of the day visiting with Jen and the boys. Time is flying by and before I know it they will be gone. I got to accompany them up to Cypress once again to see the womens halfpipe final. Very cool.

That's the update for now. Here are a few more pics from around town.

Day 4

I can't believe it's already Day 4 of the Games. It's hard to keep up with everything that's going on, so I'll have to just give you the Coles notes version.

Day 1: Brought the Opening Ceremonies, serious Olympic protest and the tragic death of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. Despite the shadow of mourning, Canada pulled off an incredible show.

Day 2: I was up at the Whistler Sliding Center saying hello to our team, a quick stop at the Nordic Center where the ski jumping was happening and back down to Vancouver to see the first heats of the Short Track qualifier. We couldn't stay long since we had to get up to Cypress to see Canada win the first medal - Silver in the womens' moguls.

Day 3: My sister and the boys arrive today! It's so much fun having them in the city. We're squished into my little apartment but nonetheless, it's so much fun.

Day 4: We're off to UBC to see the Canadian women take on the Swiss in hockey.

I'm trying to post pics as quickly as possible! Here are a few from around town.

Things are getting pretty ramped up in Vancouver with the Games only 5 days away! I can't believe they are finally here. I've been bouncing between Whistler and Vancouver a few times and have started keeping track of how many times I travel up and down the Sea to Sky highway. Let's see - since Saturday (and it's Monday) I've done the trip 2.5 times. Tomorrow will make it an even 3 round trips in 4 days.

It's certainly gotten busy, and the days are getting longer, but it's not all work and no play. On Saturday I had to do a run to deliver some goods to the team in the mountains, so Anthony (the bf) came along and we hung out in Whistler and did the Peak to Peak gondola ride from Whistler to Blackcomb. It was awesome!

I also have gotten to see some venues up close and personal. Below are a few pics of Pacific Coliseum where the Short Track and Figure Skating events will be. Thanks to one of the sport managers, I got a tour right down onto the ice (practically).

That's it for now. Not much else to report since training seems to be close to non-existant. I'm sure that will come back to haunt me in a month when I have more time, but for now, I'm trying to soak up all the Olympic experiences that I can. It really is an incredible thing to be a part of and I'm taking advantage of being so closely involved.

Wednesday night Anthony and I are going to the full dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremonies. I'm so excited. After that - it's only 5 more sleeps to the real fun begins.

Here's me on top of the world on Blackcomb. What an amazing day.