Saturday strollings

Where did the rest of the week go? Last post was Wednesday! Thursday was spent at work - nothing too major there, except everyone seems to really like Floyd, our new killer, attack fish for our pod. Sadly, Buddy went to go live on a farm over the weekend (that's the story Floyd is getting!) and I brought Floyd in on Monday, with some fish-friendly greens (read - plastic) to swim around in. He appears very happy.

I was planning on heading to boot camp after work, but somehow my couch grabbed my butt and I woke up 10 minutes before the class starts! The 6pm class just does not work for me...I have to get home, get changed and go. Do not stop, do not sit, do not rest. Oh well, I'll be going on Friday for sure.

And what a gorgeous day it turned out to be on Friday. Sadly, us Calgarians had to wait till October for summer to arrive, but arrive it has, with temps in the low 20's and the sun shining. We had a 50/50 draw for our food drive at work, and I ended up winning the $143 pot. Which I then used to buy a $125 food hamper (which will feed a family of 3 for a week) and bought a lottery ticket with another $6. Figured I didn't have it to begin with, so why would I miss it if I spent it.

I did make it to Friday's boot camp, which we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and "run" the big-assed hill and do some stairs. Not sure if I've described these stairs, but they are not neat, even, 1' steps leading up a hill...they are 3' "squares" hacked into the side of a hill, and they are a bitch!!! But up the hill we went, over the top, across the ridge to the base of the stairs. Which we then ran up and down 4 times. Back across the ridge to the top of the BA hill, down it to the halfway mark, and then turn and sprint to the top! Insert vomiting here!!!! Back down to the mats, which we picked up and moved with all our gear to the nearby picnic tables...sadly, it was not to have a picnic! Upper body work, step-ups, more curls, presses and push-ups and then we played "follow the leader"...wanna guess who the leader was?! Carrying our weights, we ran for 30-seconds, then stopped and did some workout for another 30. That went on for 5 minutes, and although Trainer Josh thinks he's clever, we all figured out that we were actually making our way to the bitch-path (gravel pathway up a rather steep little hill). And we were right! After sprinting it a couple of times, with jumping jacks added for fun, we went back to our mats and did some core work. Finished with some stretching, me plugging the food drive (and getting some others to take some bags to fill and return!), I came home and collapsed on my couch! I don't know how I managed to move at all last night!

Dinner was a simple fritatta, which was so good I ate it before I thought to take a picture. I sauteed onions, celery, zucchini, grape tomatoes and some Asparation (baby broccoli/asparagus cross?), then tossed in some fresh salmon. Mixed eggs, milk and Epicure Lemon Dill dip mix, added that to the pan, topped with some lovely grated Swiss cheese and baked till done. Dee-vine!

Woke up today without an alarm (glory), and after some cranberry wheat cookies, I finally hauled my butt over to Starbucks for a cup of energy (5-shot latte). I then plotted my day. I had to pick up my race package for tomorrow's Alzheimer 10k, vote (because I will be in Toronto on election day) and pick up the Thanksgiving feast for tomorrow from Sunterra. Changing into my yoga pants and a running tank, I strapped on Mr. Garmin and off we went.

It's absolutely gorgeous out there! I should have taken a camera. Walked to Eau Claire, where I discovered that I am a heartless, cynical city girl. I may have bought the sob story dude was trying to sell me, if it didn't keep getting more and more off point. He asked how well I knew the train system (not really) - well, he took the train from the northwest and then got off where it turns east, but it turns out that he left his package on the train, and (insert soft sobbing here) that Calgary Transit needs 5 days to look for stuff in the lost and found (seriously?!)...but that's not the problem...he has to get to the Greyhound station, where his mother has left him a bus ticket...but it'll take Greyhound and hour to two to process it (what has that got to do with the package???), BUT there's more...he has to catch that bus to get to Lethbridge to catch a plane to Grande Prairie (why don't you just take the bus to Grande Prairie?!?! and what has that got to do with the freaking lost package?!?!) and since his sick, elderly mother languishes away in Raymond, she can't make it to Western Union to send him the $17.70 he needs to make all this happen. Ahhhh...now we have the point of this sad tale of woe...oh, and he's outright crying now. I made him cry harder when I said I don't carry cash and walked away. I know...heartless. I still prefer wise.

Picked up the race package, which have the ugliest shirts (yellow...I do not wear yellow...ever...) but a nice little pack to carry stuff in. Resisted the urge to spend money in the Running Room, as I'll be getting a $75 gift card for my fund-raising efforts. Now I don't do this for the cards, but for my Mom...just so you all know. Walked from Eau Claire to City Hall to vote. My timing is not great though, as I managed to get there at the same time as every Sudanese citizen in Calgary did, who also came down to exercise their right to vote. Seriously...they had to have taken a bus to get there, as there was at least a hundred of them! I do hope they know they were voting for mayor and city council though, as they were all sporting t-shirts about voting for an Independent Southern Sudan. I don't see how Calgary's mayor and alderman choice is going to help with that! But voted and continued on my way to Sunterra.

Dinner looks awesome. Cream of wild mushroom soup, salad with strawberries and walnuts, roast turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted vegetables, stuffing and fruit compote, and finally, deep-dish pumpkin pie with ginger cream. Sunterra appears to be a good cooker!!! We will know more tomorrow. Loaded up, I headed for home, but somehow found myself inside the main Bernard Callebaut chocolate shop, where I bought myself a box of pure heaven. I have loved this man and his chocolate for years, ever since he first set up shop in Calgary with a family recipe for Belgian chocolate. He is going through some financial trouble, so I thought I should have a box in my fridge...just in case. At least that's my excuse!! In the meantime, I'll try to ignore it's existence, stretch out my now sore quads and figure out what to have for supper.

While I was up this week at weigh-in, based on the scale this morning, I've already lost that. Focus is on the run tomorrow, boot camp on Monday and Wednesday, and eating healthy, getting loads of sleep and hydrating in time for next Sunday's marathon. Only 8 more sleeps!!!!

BRING IT!

Later,