Fly by post

Still waiting on the new CPU to come live at my house, so after catching up on everyone's posts, I thought I'd drop in a quick recap.

Sunday was our road trip run (check the link here and if you have time, watch the fly-by video...cool). After catching the train (I think we freaked a few people out, as it's 8am on a Sunday and suddenly there's about 60 people, all dressed in running gear, waiting to catch the train), we got off about 30 minutes later in the south end of town. Used to be where my family drove on Sundays, because it was a lovely country drive...now it's practically inner city!! Anyway, off the train, cross over the major thoroughfare and over to the entrance of Fish Creek Provincial Park. After a quick (okay, 60+ people did not make it that quick) pit-stop at the washrooms, we were all off in our various pace groups.

It looked like it was going to be a warm day, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. I had slathered up with sunscreen (interestingly enough, I only use SPF30, as when I was in Australia, I was told by many experts there that anything higher is just a marketing ploy...and I didn't burn when I was there!) but stupidly forgot one last spray of the spot on my back that I knew I didn't reach. More about that later... The run through the park is LONG, and I got a tad confused at one point (okay, the 5 other opinions weren't helping!) and we ended up taking a right when we should have gone straight. We added about 3km onto our loop, before connecting back with the main path (oh, would you look at that! We're right back where we should have gone straight!!) and north out of the park. No wildlife to contend with, unless you consider hot, shirtless dudes. And dogs...lots and lots of dogs being walked. We stopped at about the 10km mark, looking for water, as it was a lot hotter than the 23C (74F) predicted, and we were all running low on aqua. Found another washroom, where we filled up, after confirming there weren't any signs saying NOT to drink the water. Continued our journey north, with some slight trail running due to a huge construction project going on (you actually see the area on the fly-by), and one rather large hill to climb, as the "running" path by the river was totally overgrown and impassable. I had already led the group through one trail (and heard about it)...I was not prepared to Sherpa them through another!!

Sadly, the heat got to me, despite the water, OJ, hat, sunscreen and light clothing (albeit black), and by the 23km mark, I knew I was done. I'm prone to heat, having suffered many times in the past, so I am the first to notice the signs. Sending the group on, I went straight for the river (thank goodness for glacier-fed rivers in Canada!) and soaked my shirt, hat, head and neck. I then found a patch of shade to further cool down in, and waited for the last of my pack (my "to finish runner) to make her way to this point. I walked while she ran, but both of us were out of water, and while the river is tempting...rule 1 - do not drink from the river!! Luckily we came by the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary which had a fountain inside! After sucking back a good quart, I refilled my camel back (which does hold 6 cups on it's own), and we took off to finish this bad-boy of a run. Because of the slight detour in the park, we finished the 29km run with another 3.5km to get back to Eau Claire. Oh well, it was a good time to walk, pretty neighbourhood and gave us both a chance to cool down some more and walk off the lactic acid.

All in all, I burned off just shy of 2500 calories, and before my crash, maintained a decent LSD pace of 8:13/km. I was reminded though of the one spot I missed with sunscreen, as I am seriously BURNED on my back. One would think by my advanced age that I would know better, but sometimes we just make silly mistakes. No blisters (fingers crossed) yet, and while I did generate my own heat source Sunday night, it has cooled down and doesn't hurt that bad. Although sweating and doing core work yesterday at boot camp was an extra special treat!!!!

After we reached Eau Claire, C. and I grabbed a protein Jugo juice and hit the kiddy pool to cool down! "Mommy...why are those ladies sitting in the pool in their clothes?!" Man, it felt GOOD!

After that, it was a typical Sunday...home, shower, pick up Mom, visit Dad (family meeting tomorrow to discuss options), drop Mom off, feed friend's cats, home, couch, bed!!!! Yesterday was pretty much the same, except for adding work in there.

Wow...for a short post, I sure had a lot to say, but then again, I usually do!!!

Hope this finds everyone having a great week. And congrats to Angie and her hubby on the arrival of peanut Cameron. He's a cutie-patootie, and for me to say that is huge, as you all know I really only prefer the short, furry, four-legged variety!!!

Later,