Catch up

Seems like every time I sat down to blog, suddenly it was after 11 and I was tired. Not sure why, but I ended up not writing anything, instead deciding sleep was more important. Even today's blog about Together is Amazing was written on my lunch hour. I just really wanted to start spreading that message!

So here's the week (thus far) in review.
Monday: I swear tonight was the closest I have come to actually losing my lunch at Boot Camp. Seriously! It was close...had to grit my teeth several times, and just sucked it up. Once again it was an all over body circuit, but Trainer Josh also threw in sprints up the little hill. Okay, by little, I mean probably 100-150 feet, up, on loose dirt/gravel. Good times!!
We did the full circuit starting with drop-leg flies, up to shoulder press, over to the benches for dips, over to the mats for push-ups, up the hill, back down the hill, squats, 50 jump ropes, leg drives, curls, lat pulls, lunge walk, high-knees and finally butt kicks. All of these stations are a good 100-150 feet from each other, by the way. Once we passed the "finish" line, Josh told us our time. Next circuit (in reverse order) had a goal of finishing faster. I am proud to say I shaved 15 seconds off my time! Then we split into two groups and did half the circuit, each going in opposite directions...half did the 'west' side while the others did the 'east'. We met up at squats, but returned the way we came. Back at the mats (where we all started), we then switched sides and did both half circles. This is where what I had for lunch came back to haunt me a little!! Finally we were all done, and we could collapse on the mats for some core work. Once again, an awesome class...I may curse and hate how I feel during, but I LOVE how I feel afterwards.

Tuesday was running clinic, but a tricky one. You see, our leader is hanging up his runners. Oh, not to quit running, but to quit teaching. He has taught these clinics for 5 years now, and has decided the time commitment is taking him away from his wife and child too much. Granted, I know how much time I spend running, so I can understand if his wife would like him to actually be home on a Sunday morning...Tuesday night...Wednesday night, etc. We had hoped to surprise him (we're pretty sure he was on to us though) with a farewell pint, although he seemed to do his best to drag out clinic - talking about setting race goals (set 3 - one you'll be happy with, one you'll really like and one you'd jump over the moon over), positive thinking (don't let the negative thoughts take over, because once they do, you're done!), getting your mantras ready (I like "release my inner Kenyon", "I run like a girl - just call me Uta!", and if need be..."Left, Right, repeat!"), and stuff like that. I think he got suspicious when none of us asked him any questions! But we had arranged to be at the local pub at 7:15, and most of us knew we wouldn't (couldn't) beat Speedy back! We were instructed to run a 6km tempo, with him stressing we had to run up Centre Street...most of us were trying to fake him out with a run out to 10th street and then doubling back. But off to Centre Street we went, not knowing that the 3 hour group had planned on taking him out to Crowchild (a nice little 10km jaunt!!). We cut back down Curling Club hill, ending our run at 2.36km, changing and rushing into the pub. While I don't think he was surprised about the actual party (when he finally managed to get there for his "meeting" with the local race director), I think what did catch him off guard was how many of us were there to say goodbye. He really has quite the following, and most of us are quite saddened by the news that he is taking time off. Although rumours have started that he's going to teach a "personal best" clinic...sign me up!

That leaves tonight...we had a choice. Speed work (1.6km repeats tonight) or race-pace tempo, if you had a run this weekend. Since I have Melissa's on Saturday, and I am treating it as a race and not a training run, I decided to tempo it. The route was out to Crowchild and back, roughly 8km. So race pace for a 5 hour marathon finish is 7:07...add in walk breaks (10:1's) and that needs to pick up to 6:52. I started my warm-up km at 7:04...uh-oh! But I hit a stride, I felt great and I went for it. My fastest km was 6:24, my slowest was the warm-up of 7:04. Average pace overall...6:44!!! I will most definitely hit my goal of 2:30-2:45 finish for the 22km on Saturday (last year I did it in 3:05). Most importantly, I feel awesome.

Picked up more Emergen-C at London Drugs, as it was on sale (2 boxes for $30!) as well as some Creatine. I was looking at the Glutamine, but the Creatine said it was for more endurance and recovery, so we'll give it a try. Also picked up some odds and ends for the weekend away, including the book Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I plan on chilling a lot this weekend, as I'm heading out to the condo in Canmore tomorrow and not returning until Monday sometime. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend, and I am looking forward to just getting away from all the stress and demands of the last few months.

So this could be the last post from me for a few days, as I do not own a laptop...not even sure if the condo is wifi friendly or not, for that matter. I may see if there's an Internet cafe in town, but then again, a few days cut-off from the world may not be a bad thing!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, where ever you are and whatever you're doing.

Later,