And what a lovely weekend it was. Spent it in Canmore, just east of Banff, in the Rockies. This lovely couple I know own a condo up there, in the Three Sisters area, and they lent us the place for the weekend. Little do they know that H. and I have no intention of giving it back! Muu-wa-a-a (not sure how to spell an evil laugh!). OMG, the place was amazing...tastefully yet comfortably decorated, stocked with pretty much everything you'd need (save for fresh food and booze) and only a 6k walk into town.
Headed up Friday and had a great pasta dinner (one of my 'go to' faves for pre-races: toss sliced onions, garlic, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts (and whatever else floats your boat) with some lemon zest, juice, wine, capers, basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme, tuna (I use a smoked, packed in water variety), and then toss that with cooked whole wheat pasta. Top with some feta cheese and parm, and it's go time!!! Enjoyed a lovely bottle of wine and then hit the sack. So that's what a pillow top mattress feels like...wow...
Got up Saturday, and enjoyed the morning as this race was organized by my people...start time was 11 am! So very civilized... Still completely disorganized and chaotic, but soon we were all off. The run was either a 6 or 12K, but not officially timed. I decided I would be happy with 90 minutes. The trouble with the 12k is it was just a repeat of the 6k route...run out once, return and run out again. I wondered what the route would be like, and H. said (she was a volunteer, because the race was full by the time she went to sign up) she was told it was undulating hills. Undulating my ass!!!!! It was one long hill up, one longer hill down - which was great, until you realized you had to turn around and run up that longer hill again! Return to the start and do it all over again. I was crabby, my feet hurt and I finished dead last with a lovely pair of young ladies from Central Alberta, but still managed a time of 1:33. I'll take it!!! I am a little worried about Vancouver next week, as it's almost 4 times that distance, but at least it's not just a repeat of the 22 k route!
The rest of the party was too wild and crowded, so H. and I headed back to the safety of the condo, where I had a long hot shower and waited for her boy to arrive. We all went into Canmore (drove), had dinner and drinks, met up with some more friends of H. who just happened to be in town for the run, a great visit and shared some good belly laughs. Then back to the condo and the most comfortable couches ever, watched a little TV and drank some more and then off to bed.
Got up this morning, and was the only one not hung over...which was odd. But after some breakfast, we bundled up and decided to walk into town. There are awesome pathways everywhere, so we just followed the one in...6k from door to main street Canmore. Passed amazing houses (okay, mansions) and condos, some elk and tons of people. Wandered some more (my feet were starting to ache, but I sucked it up), had some so-so lunch, and then walked back to the condo, just narrowly beating the snowstorm that blew in! The boy left for Calgary (totally beating the storm) while H. and I finished packing up, tidying up the condo and stopping for gas. We were not so lucky!!! White-out conditions on the highway from just east of Canmore right through to Calgary. Luckily it's only an hour drive, but still...it's the end of April...I am officially tired of snow!!! There is an inch or more of solid ice on the front of my car, but we made it back.
Now I am exhausted and going to lay down and chillax.
Here's to no more snow!
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