What have I done???

Tonight was the first night of Marathon Clinic, and I'm afraid!!!! It was a pretty hard-core looking group milling about the Eau Claire Running Room...in fact, most looked like they've all run marathons before...like just last week!!! One lady was discussing Boston, and since you have to qualify for that (which begs the question...how exactly did Valerie Bertinelli (did I spell that right) get in?!?!), she's already run at least one. After intros, Garrath (our leader) decided that we were doing time trials tonight, to take advantage of the fact that it's still +6 at 6:30 in the evening! What the?!?!?!? "Just" a quick 5km run to see which pace group we would start out in. Um...I can tell you that, without even having to go outside, but I'll give it my all anyway. I was last, all the way, but I DID NOT STOP RUNNING the entire 5km!! I am very proud of me just for that alone. I've heard really good comments about Garrath as an instructor, and tonight I found out why. He was waiting for me at the half way point, and ran back the entire 2.5km stride for stride. We talked about my Vancouver experience, and running history, and he even managed to get me to speed up a bit. I was officially last (told everyone someone had to stay with Garrath, so he wouldn't get lonely!) but am feeling a bit better about this group. My time was 39:and change, which is under 8/km, which is my fastest pace in forever. Sadly, the group average is about 2 minutes faster then that. Uh-oh...but someone has to finish last, or we don't know it's over, right?!

Day in recap:

Breakfast - nutella-banana-coconut oatmeal with milk

Lunch - just walked to the bank, as I wasn't sure if we were running tonight or not. Had leftover beef burger, gravy and roasted veggies. But I was still hungry, so I grabbed a spinach salad downstairs, which had about 4 cups of spinach, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. I topped it with fat-free Italian dressing. Filled the void, but nothing spectacular.

Had to go the vets after work, to pick up more insulin for Mr. George. Made really good time, as most of the trip was spent in the +15's. If you're not familiar, they are a raised walkway that joins most of the buildings in Calgary's downtown core. I went from 3rd Ave & 5th St SW to 10th Ave & 2nd St SW without having to step outside, or wait for a set of lights to change. Then it was straight up 2nd St to 17th Ave, picked up the insulin and then back home (6th St & 15th Ave)...all in all, a good healthy hike before running club!

Dinner was a very quick omelet, albeit an rather unattractive one. Just once I want it to fold over nicely and stay that way right to the plate. I diced up a couple of roasted red peppers (packed in water) and sweat them off, before adding two stirred eggs with some water and spices (Epicure Roasted Red Pepper dip mix). When it was almost set, I sprinkled on an ounce of goat cheese. It tasted far better then it looked.

Home from run club, and am now debating my weekly schedule. As much as I love/hate Boot Camp, I think I'm going to restrict it to Mondays and Fridays, so that I can focus on running on Wednesday (the group meets Wednesdays and Sundays for group runs, and Thursdays for clinic and a run), because I really want to work on my speed. I'd like to finish a marathon in under 5.5 to 6 hours.

So I think my week will look like this (we'll also see how the foot likes it):

Mondays: 1 hour Boot Camp

Tuesdays: scheduled Tempo run at lunch

Wednesdays: scheduled Tempo (Hills/Fartlek/Race Pace) with the group at 6pm

Thursdays: scheduled Steady Run with group after clinic

Fridays: 1 hour Boot Camp

Saturdays: scheduled Steady Run

Sundays: scheduled LSD with running group

I'm exhausted just looking at it! LOL

Okay...I think I'm hungry (having some water, just to be sure) so I'll have a bowl of Kashi with almond milk (only 3 points and filling), catch a little TV and then hit the sack.

Later,