Golden Sunday

YEAH BABY!!!!! WHOOT WHOOT, CAN-A-DA!!!!!

Okay, now back to me! Got up bright and early, and ate breakfast of oatmeal, nutella, milk, banana, coconut, and some of the crushed pineapple leftover from my pancakes. Yum-o! Then I raced downtown for running group, and after hitting every red light (at least 12-15 between my house and the Running Room...are you freaking kidding me?!), I finally made it to the parkade with minutes to spare. That's when the parking machine decided it didn't like my coins...any of my coins...or the coins of the girl ahead of me! ARGH!!!!! Run back to the car, grab my credit card, run back to the machine, back to the car with ticket and then up to meet the group outside, just as they were splitting up to head out...whew...
Today's long slow was taking us to the Alberta Children's Hospital, or 19km. And what a day...the sun was shining, it was only -3C when I got up, so I only had to wear one pair of pants, light socks, a long-sleeved technical shirt, a tech t-shirt over top of that and a light vest. No gloves, no toque, no neck-guard. It was AWESOME!!!! Sun shining, birds singing (heard, but didn't see, but definitely heard the distinctive song of a ROBIN! It's February 28th in Calgary, OMG! Someone tell that bird to head back south for another few weeks!), us three enjoying a nice, long slow distance. I'm really feeling the training, as I am not puffing or struggling or even feeling like I'm working. In fact, I'd like to feel a little like I'm working, but I'll save that for race day. My workout did come at about km 8 though, as we had a rather long hill to ascend. Slow and steady, bent at the ankles, breathing deep...it all came together. Turn around, and head on back in. We arrived back in 2:45 with the average pace of 8:55/km, just in time to get some waffles & strawberries (Eau Claire won breakfast from Nike, for having the most people use Nike+) and then after some stretching, a well deserved cup of coffee.
Met another friend for lunch, although I wished we had picked someplace that actually had a TV, or even appeared to care that Canada was playing the US. After lunch, got back in my car, in time to hear the OT period, and Sid the Kid's winning goal! Yeah, baby!!!! Of course, I was still stuck in the 'burbs, so there was no yelling, cheering, high-fives, horn honks or nothin'!!! I was scared to be happy!!! Finally, I am back downtown in my hood, listening to the dull, constant roar of happy, happy Canadians! I live a block of the Red Mile (17th Ave) where all the sports celebrations seem to happen, ever since the year the Flames made it to game 7 of the Stanley Cup. I'm guessing the police are out in full force, but that isn't stopping everyone from honking their horns and screaming at the top of their lungs. Puts a smile on my face, and a tear in my eye...just hope they all go home at a decent hour! After all, it is a school night!!!
Canada did us all proud these past two weeks.
Stand tall, Canucks, stand tall.
Well done, Canada, well done!