Sunscreen...must remember sunscreen!

I am lobster red today...so stupid. Oh, and really sore. The stiffness is hitting me really hard in the quads and my right calf, which appears to be one gigantic knot. Good thing I see the team at Shephard Health tomorrow.

I hobbled into work this morning, wishing I was the kind of person that can call in sick. I am not...that, and I was scheduled for a lunch time meeting at which I was the guest speaker. Kind of had to show up. Although for a "lunch n' learn", lunch was not provided! Weird...ended up buying a bowl of soup (chorizo and corn - tasty) and a turkey/brie sandwich on a lovely multigrain crusty bun. Delish.

Hobbled home, did a walk through with a tenant leaving and finally decided to tackle "front 40", hereby to be known as my front lawn. Man, what a little water and sunshine does for grass! I swear it was a foot high and had gone to seed in several places. Oops!!! Took some muscle (good thing my arms weren't sore) but I got it done, and at least you can see the lower half of the building.

Then met up with H-woman and her mom for noodles at Vietnam Fortune. They make everything so much better. Inhaled my bowl of chicken satay pho with extra vegetables, and the shrimp salad rolls. Best Vietnamese in the world. I swear!

Okay...fading fast, so I'm going smear some more Aloe cream on my burn, medicate for my achy muscles and hit the sack.

Later,

Calgary Marathon

Okay...next time I go to bed to dream a number, I really must concentrate. Mainly because my 4:59:59 turned into a 5:58:28. Oops...

Again, not my worst race (Policeman's still holds that honour) but most certainly not my best. Not going to over-analyse it, as after all, it's run. I can't change anything I did or didn't do, but I can learn.

Calgary is an incredibly challenging course. It is hilly, with one very large one that continues on for a good kilometer or so, and we climb over 100m...oh, and it finishes up hill. That's just mean!

The day dawned bright and sunny, with yesterday's north winds and smoke from the forest fires gone overnight. Oh, how I would have liked some wind...you see, it's Calgary in May. The trees haven't exactly filled out yet, so shade was at a premium. While +14C doesn't seem hot, it is smoking when you are running in full on sunshine along blacktop. I officially cooked myself. Sadly, didn't think sunscreen (thought it was supposed to be overcast) so while I wore a rather protective tank, I am still very red in the face, chest and arms. Heck, even my legs got colour and they never do! Came home from the race (very slow hobble to C-train and then home the 8 blocks) and laid down for a nap. As soon as I was shaking from the chills, I knew that I got a tad too much sun today. Keeping myself very hydrated (it'll help the legs when I have to keep getting up to pee!) and will invest in a white/light coloured running ensemble for my next marathon, since it'll be in August, and it's sure to be HOT!

Another factor that I need to consider, and do something about, is the fact that I am hauling around an additional 20 lbs over last year's race. I felt every.single.one.of.those.pounds.today. I need to quit jerking around with the "journey" I am on, and actually focus on where the heck the finish line is. My running group did really well, with E. posting a 5:06 and C. & her hubs coming in about 10 minutes before I did. The cool thing about E. is today is also her 30th birthday. What a way to celebrate it!

Went to her house after my nap for a visit and a slice of cake. Luckily I started moving! When I first got up, I couldn't stand!!! This did not bode well for tomorrow and work, but then I got things moving and slowly all night everything has been loosening up nicely. Another stretch before I go to bed, as well as a good dose of vitamin I, and I'll be set.

Not really hungry, despite burning over 3600 calories, so I just had some pasta to tide me over the night. Add to that a piece of cake at E's, and some scrambled eggs on hash browns (must get the protein in) before my nap, and I'm done for the day. Not sure how much longer my eyes are staying open, so it's time to shut down for the night.

Later,

Final night

I've done all the training I can do. I've eaten my carbs, proteins and such. I've stretch, been bent in all kinds of different ways by the chiro and rested. I'm hydrated. Here goes nothing!

Instead of the 3km Friendship Run (meet the bunnies, essentially) I opted to go to Zumba. After all, today was the last class of this session, and unless there's enough interest, for the summer. Although I did find out where Veronica teaches during the week, so I may have a new Thursday night routine! Hehehe... We shook our groove thang and got our sweat on, and I left feeling great! No aches, no pains, no nagging hammy. Fingers crossed.

After Zumba, I did my running around for the day...Costco (picked up contacts - and that's all - holy, freaking ZOO, grabbed and ran!), Walmart (x 2 - first one did not carry the litter I like), registry (to turn in old plate and get refund - in the mail, of course), vacuum place (desperately need bags and found one of two places that carry the brand I need), Mom's, grocery store and then home. Ended up having a quite accidental nap afterwards, as I fell asleep watching House Hunters and could barely keep my eyes open through the news at 6 - at least I'm well rested!

Food today was simple - whole wheat bun with PB and banana for breakfast, a late lunch of meat and cheese on said bun and finally a pasta toss of whole wheat pasta, tomatoes, some smoked meat fried up like bacon and Parmesan cheese. I am satisfied, got my potassium and sodium in, so there shouldn't be any cramping tomorrow. About to mix up my OJ/salt mixture for the race, and then head for bed. Clothes are laid out, bag is packed, breakfast is organized. If only I were this organized through-out the week for work!!!

All right...I'm off to bed to dream the route and envision the big, red clock as I triumphantly cross the finish line...

4:59:59

Later,

2 more sleeps

Not nervous, but am getting anxious about the race. After all, there's not much else to do but wait...bring it already!

No boot camp for me since Monday, as the last thing I want to do is injure myself so close to the run. And it's been raining non-stop in Calgary since Wednesday. Not that this is anywhere close to the hell that southern Quebec, Manitoba, Slave Lake or the United States have endured, but 9,000 of us runners have had our eyes on the skies with fingers crossed. It started to clear up when I was coming from from the Expo, which is a good sign. It's supposed to be sunny and +16C on Sunday, which should mean perfect running conditions at 7am.

Dinner last night and tonight was from the weekly handout at Weight Watchers, Buffalo Chicken sliders. Ground chicken, buffalo wing sauce, onions, red peppers, salt...grill, stuff into slider bun with tomato and lettuce and enjoy. You are supposed to top with blue cheese, but it's one cheese I actually don't like, so I topped mine with Havarti. Very, very good, although I did had more hot sauce tonight. Found a dipable Frank's at the store...it's thick like ketchup, but with Frank's Red Hot kick. YUM!!! Rounded out my "wing" night with celery and carrots and a Parmesan cheese dip (mayo, parm, basil and cider vinegar).

Hydrating and am off to sleep now. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but at least I got the Expo part over with. I walked in and out tonight, while I heard line-ups of 45+ minutes happened shortly after I left. Dodged that bullet!!!

Good luck to my running peeps doing the Blackfoot Ultra tomorrow outside Edmonton, AB. Most are doing the 50km, but one brave soul is up for the 100km!!! Yikes!!!

Later,

Five more sleeps

Tonight was officially our last clinic night. In January, there were over 40 of us. Tonight...9?! Granted, some ran Vancouver earlier in the month, but wow, the numbers have seriously depleted over the last few weeks. But it's 5 sleeps till marathon morning, so after a quick pep talk from Evil Uncle Doug, we were off for "a nice, calm 6km run". Yes, in the books it says to do a tempo, but this close to race day, Evil Uncle Doug turns into the Good Uncle when he stresses that we are as good as we're going to be, so why do a bunch of junk miles right before the race?". I'm liking that!

It rained all night, and then just a steady drizzle most of the day, but the run tonight was actually nice. Granted, had to look for the longer pants and shirts, as I got used to running in shorter capris and t-shirts, but overall I was fine, if not a little hot by the end of the run. Not sure how we did, as again Mr. Garmin and I had a slight disagreement. One of the group stopped to use the loo, and I thought I had turned him back on. I had not...but E. said we did a 7:34 pace, which I'm good with. Tomorrow night will be just as nice and slow. Then it's rest, eat well and rest some more before Sunday!

In keeping with that whole rest thing, I'm off to bed and to dream.

4:59:59

Later,

Rainy Monday

Knew I should have tackled the lawn yesterday, but whatever. I won't stress that the grass will get to grow for another week now. Woke up this holiday Monday (Happy B-day, Queenie) to the sound of rain hitting my roof (joy of living on the top floor of a flat top building) and knew I could stay in bed, guilt free. I did just that, snoozing until after 9. I love waking up without an alarm.

So what have I been up to these past days? Didn't go to boot camp on Friday. I have had this weird voice thing going on for a few weeks now, where it sounds like I have the worst case of laryngitis, but my throat doesn't hurt and I don't feel sick. However Friday, I felt a little congested (surrounded by sickies at work) so I decided to take a night off. I made up for it at zumba on Saturday, and I did go for a good walk at lunch (5km) with a friend.

Zumba was a blast, as always. I am starting to convince my Irish hips that they have a little Latin in 'em, and we shook our groove thing!! In fact, my back is still feeling it today!! According to marathon schedule, we were to run a 16km at race pace on Saturday, but since I don't do any of the Saturday runs (usually 6km) due to boot camp and zumba, I also skipped this one. I am ready for Mr. Marathon, and really don't think missing 16 is going to hurt me all the much. Besides, Fun Uncle Garrath doesn't really believe in over doing it, and he runs a 3:11 marathon, repeatedly. I'm going to bow to his wisdom.

But Saturday did start with a quick trip to Mom's hairdresser for a much needed haircut, then a quick cup of coffee with H-woman and E., before heading to Zumba. Then off to my hairdresser for an even more desperately needed cut and colour. After that, H. and I headed off to E.'s place by the river for an evening of wine and food. H. had some chicken marinating in tandoori spices (Epicure, thank you very much) and I worked up a real culinary sweat picking up a couple of salads and cheese and crackers from the store!! E. provided the grill, champagne and some fruit and veggies. A lovely evening was had by all. Sadly, there's a fire ban in Alberta right now, otherwise we could have had a fire to sit by at the river's edge, but we just retreated inside when the air turned crisp.

Yesterday's long, slow run was a taper, of course, so at only 6km, there were all of 6 of us from the clinic that bothered to show up!!! Granted, it is a long weekend, but still. I ran with D., who paces the 4:30 group, as none of our peeps showed up. I am pleased to say that I kept up with D., as we ran a 7:34 pace for 6.9km. My usual Sunday pace is 8:34, so I was really happy. Out of breath, but happy!!! Bring on the marathon!!

This week will be spent getting ready for Sunday...choosing good carbs all week, light proteins (fish and chicken) and getting lots of water and sleep in me! I will go to boot camp later today, but will go Thursday instead of Friday, to help the legs, and will have a nice, easy shake at zumba on Saturday, just to get the blood pumping.

Goals for Calgary...I always pick 3, as Garrath always says to pick one you'd be happy with, one you'd be extra pleased with, and one that would send you over the moon.

So, #1 - finish of 5:30. Faster than last year's time (my hips seized at the 33km mark) of 5:43, and within my training times.

#2 - 5:15 finish. This will be a PB, knocking a few minutes off Toronto, but Calgary does have way more hills! However, I did do okay on most of the hills in Canmore last week, so I'm not going to let them scare me here.

#3 - sub 5...even if only by 1 second...4:59:59! I will literally try to do a cartwheel if I do this. As long as I can kill the hill down (which I love) and settle into a good pace on the long, boring stretch back, and kill the little hill up to the finish line (yes, we get to run up, not one, but two hills to get to the finish line in Calgary - mean!), I think this is within my sights. I'm going to line up with the 5-hr bunny, even though I like to run 3km/1 minute intervals, rather than the 10/1's the bunnies do, I think as long as I have them in my sights, I should do okay.

Okay...I should try to do some laundry, and clean up my kitchen on this rainy day. Plan and get some groceries and get ready to face the short week.

Later,

Topsy-Turvy World

It was very strange last night, to not see everyone that I usually run with and to be home by 8pm, since no one went for beer. Tonight was a different story, as we all went out to celebrate a couple of birthdays, and to say good-bye to one of the best race coordinators in the biz...I don't think the racing community realizes the impact of J. leaving just yet...the first few races will be interesting.

We all met up a newer bar/restaurant called the District. Luckily for me, it's walking distance, a mere 4 blocks from home. And luckily for me, I didn't really like it. Rule #1, if you don't have Guinness, don't try to sell your home brew that "tastes just like it"...no, it doesn't. There's a reason why Guinness has been around for over 200 years, and why you are the 3rd or 4th micro-brewery to move into this space in the last 5 years!!! Their menu was also rather offbeat, as there was a huge board just for burgers (a friend had the Bison..."interesting" was the word he used), another for oysters, yet another for poutine, yet another for 'regular' food. Then there was the appie of bacon and maple syrup. Seriously...it was a bucket of bacon, with maple syrup to dip it in. While I love the salty sweet combo, I did not partake. My bacon topped poutine was enough to send my heart back into convulsions of Montreal memories. I will need to eat nothing of green things tomorrow to offset.

I know I've had way too much salt though, as I couldn't have a Guinness, so I went for a Caesar instead. I love those things, but they go down way too fast and way too smooth. I stopped at two and made sure I drank lots of water! I'll most likely be up all night, but price we pay, right?

No work out for me today, which is fine after last night's second hard run of the week. And I had an appointment at Mom's this afternoon, which went really well...quite a positive outcome, which is what I hoped for. Mom and I then went for a little drive to pick up a couple of things, dropped her off and came home (first time since I left the house at 6am) only to turn around and go back out. I am so ready for bed, except Caesars and poutine are fighting for domination in my stomach right now, and I think I'm going to be the big loser in this wee battle!

Only 10 more sleeps!

Later,

Taper time

This is it...11 sleeps and counting before the Calgary Marathon. And as far as marathon clinic, we have done all we can. To quote both clinic leaders, nothing we do now will improve us for the end of the month. We are as fast as we are going to be, we are as trained as we are going to be. No more hills, no more speed work, no more pushing ourselves to the edge, unless we really want to hurt ourselves! I am all for not hurting myself. I want to make it to the start line, let alone cross at the finish.

Last night was tempo, and I have to say that our little group rocked it. With the warm-up km and a cool-down, we averaged at a total pace of 7:07/km. That is actually tempo pace, WITHOUT warm-up and cool-down. We were doing really well, and everyone said they felt good and it didn't seem like that hard of work. Tonight was a different story...not that I suffered, but I just didn't feel it like last night. Granted, we weren't that much slower (did the same 6km route) with a pace of 7:20/km. We were far more consistent in our pace, treating tonight more like a steady run, albeit a fast steady.

Dinner was a simple dish of tortellini and tomato sauce, as it's usually beer night after the run. But we had several people away tonight, and we're all heading out tomorrow for joint birthday/going away parties, so will enjoy a beer then. And, since it's AFTER weigh-in, I may even be all decadent and have something "bad" like a chicken wing or the likes! I am such a rebel!! I will report more tomorrow.

No plans for the upcoming long weekend, and by the sounds of it, it may be a wet one. Which is fine, since it can put out the fires in northern Alberta and make me stay inside and do some organizing. A great goal will be to sort out my closets, and donate some clothing and such to those in need.

That's it for me...I sat up far too late last night watching a show I never watch (and don't really like) so am feeling beat today. I think I'll shut down early and try to get some good zzz's in. After all, I do need to start stocking up on rest, to be at my best on race day.

Later,

Really long day

- up and off to work at usual crack of stupid.

- noon appointment with chiro resulted in leg hurting worse than when I walked in...like physio dude better. Will request next time. But did get back adjusted, which felt awesome!

- more work, after a lunch of veggie pannini and tortellini salad.

- boot camp - up big hill, across ridge, down west goat-trail. Then tabata...oh, so much tabata (arms, legs, core, cardio...oh my)! Am thoroughly beat now.

- sold Baby Girl. Tears were shed...am sad. But young man taking her home looked very excited to be driving her, so she's going to a good place.

- picked up, delivered, unpacked, sorted and handed out work Epicure party order. Just walked in door at home. McDonald's "may" have provided sustenance, since I haven't been here long enough to eat at any point in the day.

- am about to collapse, so am going to bed.

Later,

Awesome Weekend

It was an awesome weekend, spent in my beloved mountains. I am so at peace there...the bluest of blue skies, the massive pillars of stone, wind in the trees, fresh air, nature. Big inhale in and let go of all the stress in my life. Awwwww...

Okay, so the weekend did start at 6am on Saturday, when I got up, ate a banana and flax bun with PB, packed up James and picked up H-woman. Stop in at Starbucks for much needed caffeine and then drive out to Canmore. We got to the Nordic Centre (where the cross-country races for the '88 Olympics took place) just after 8am, with plenty of time before the race started at 9:10.

Me, ready to run...fresh as a daisy.

There were a lot of women there (it was a women's only run, after all) with 3 distances to choose from: 6km, 12km and a Half. This was only the 4th year of the race and the 2nd year for the Half, but since last year's race worked out to more than 24km, they had some work to do on the course this time around!


Unfortunately the race got off to a bit of a late start...this is hard, as it's a great race, good cause, lots of fun and great swag (a bag of great coupons and Rocky Mountain Soap products), it's run by some rather "floopy" people. There was a flash mob dance scheduled before hand, and while kind of fun, planning it takes away the spontaneity. And a race that was to start at 9:10 didn't get going till 9:30, and now we've all be standing around in the crisp mountain morning air for over a half hour and can feel muscles freezing up!! Just go already!! Races need to be run by runners, and runners that actually run races. We are a bit obsessive about these kinds of things. Anyway, we got through the dance portion of the day, and finally the countdown to go.

Hey, still happy here...okay, so this isn't even at the 1st kilometer mark yet! H. ended up not running, which was wise since she hasn't trained and got little sleep before hand. Would have been very foolish to push herself on such a challenging course, cold. It could have been a running season-ender. So she was awesome race support and picture taker!


The course ran down Spray Lakes road, weaved through a neighbourhood to the pathways along the Bow river, heading west then back to the east, where we ran out past the 3-Sisters area (almost a separate town - where I stay in a friend's condo sometimes, or about a 6km walk to downtown Canmore). My face must have said it all when I passed one man cheering us on, when he said, as he high-fived me, "the word you're looking for is undulating!". I almost fell down with laughter. That so made my day!! It undulated all right...but I am proud to say I ran most of the hills, and stuck pretty good to my planned 3km run/1 minute walk intervals. I did get frustrated, anxious to get to the turn-around point (this happens to me every time I run a new race/route) but then settled back in to a rhythm after turning around. It was when I passed the 15km mark (yay, only 6 to go) when the realization that we must now run back UP to the Nordic Centre and the finish line. I'm not kidding here...the last 6km of this race was pretty much up hill. There were plateaus, but they were few and far between. Not going to lie...walked quite a bit here, but I also managed to pass some other women, and finally with a final burst of stubborn pride/energy ran in the final hundred meters to the finish line, taking about 2:50 to complete.

Not quite as fresh as a daisy, but feeling pretty good. The cloth is nice and cold and is soaked in essential oils meant to refresh. All I cared about is that it was cold.

After a quick bite of salad and a wrap (way too garlicy though), I changed into a dry shirt and H. and I took off for Banff, desperate for more food. We parked and settled on Magpie and Stump and shared a plate of awesome nachos (with shredded beef, rather than the usual ground) and the best Cerviche (shrimp, haddock, scallops, salmon) I have ever had, EVER. So good...I also replenished my depleted sources with a vitamin C mixture of coconut milk, pineapple juice and vodka! Okay, I had a ChiChi!!!

Checked in to the hotel (very basic, but what more do you look for?) and after some chill-axing, met back up with H., where we made our way to the Banff Springs Hotel, and the International Food & Wine festival. Admittedly, wearing girly heels to an event where we would be standing a lot, after running 21.1km, may not have been one of my better decisions in life. My feet.were.killing.me by the end of the evening. Seriously, wanted to chop them both off!! But had a nice night, sampling some good food (nothing stellar or outstanding, save for the confit duck sliders) and some okay wines, liquors (m-eh to the wine, but did try a new Gin that was outstanding) before heading back into town with friends, to the Rose & Crown for one final cocktail - my beloved Guinness. Didn't do anything for the pain I was in, and my legs had seriously seized up standing all night, so bid adieu and walked (oh, so slowly!) back to my hotel (blessedly close to downtown), medicated up and went to bed! It was a long day!!

Got up this morning, met up with H. and off to the Bison for breakfast. Such a perfect morning too...have I mentioned that I love, love, love the mountains?

Breakfast was okay (could have had some more hashbrowns, and another slice of toast would be nice) but we did score extra bacon (makes everything better!) and their homemade roasted tomato ketchup was to die for (and I don't really like/use ketchup). Wandered around Banff, scored a really cute top set at North Face and some chocolate/cashew brittle at our favourite fudge shop before checking out (thank goodness for late check-outs) and driving back into Canmore. More wandering around (H. scored the cutest pair of rubber boots or galoshes), before heading to the Iron Goat for a late lunch. Enjoyed a wicked good burger and potato wedges and one of the best views around. The famous Sisters...

Sadly, it was time to leave (no one won the lottery on Friday or Saturday, so hope springs eternal that I will be back soon!) and come back to reality.

Unpacked, got milk, watched Survivor, bonded with the furbabies and now it's time to go to bed and prepare for another week of work. Have two people lined up to look at Baby Girl, so she may well be sold this week, and then the usual routines of running, boot camp and Zumba. Good times!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Later,

Pre-race

Race #7 looms...The Rocky Mountain Soap Company Women's Only run weekend. Phew, what a mouthful. It's in the beautiful town of Canmore (where I will live, one day), so H-woman and I are driving up first thing (race starts at 9am, so it's out of the city by 7!) and while I am running for sure, H. is still up in the air. Guess it'll all depend on how she feels in the morning.

I am watered, fed (ww cheese tortellini, artichokes, red pepper and a tomato sauce), packed and prepped for the morning. Just winding down now, and getting myself mentally ready to go to bed. Shouldn't be hard...I've been tired all day.

Went to boot camp, and in celebration of spring, and nice weather, and the return of many boot camp friends, we ran Douglas Fir!!! Thought I was going to hurl!! Wow...doesn't take long to forget how hard that path is. Up and down, stairs and tree roots, dirt and mud, rocks and such. But I did it, and wasn't too far behind. In fact, managed to pass a couple on the way back in. Ha!!! We finished up with the hour with ladder work, hurdles, push-ups, squats, weights...a good, old-fashioned butt kick. Hoping the legs are good tomorrow, but I'll roll and stretch my hamstring tonight before I sleep and take some vitamin "I", just to be on the safe side.

Taking my notebook (yay, free WiFi) to Banff (heading there after the race) for the Food and Wine Festival, so I'll post a race recap then.

Later,

Need for Speed

Sorry, no post last night. Got home after dropping off an Epicure order in a far, far, far away neighbourhood at the very tippy edge of north Calgary, and just flaked out. Good run clinic, where I held everyone back to a nice steady pace. There is no need to kill ourselves this close to the race...we are as good as we are going to be.

Tonight was speed work, and once again our group did laps rather than the dreaded fartleks. I just prefer the consistency of a lap, pre-measured, over running and speeding up, then slowing down. We ended up doing 6 laps, all very consistent in speed and effort...exactly what we are looking for right now.

Okay, weirdness...I appear to have hit something on my keyboard that has it now typing French symbols instead of what I want. For example, è is actually supposed to be the apostrophe, and É is supposed to be the question mark. WTF!

My dinner tonight was really simple. I volunteered at our local Drop In centre at lunch (Shaw sponsored the meal, and a bunch of us prepped, wrapped and served) so I grabbed lunch downstairs. A nice salmon salad in a wrap, and an orzo pasta salad with tomatoes. I grabbed an extra one, and brought it home, topped it with a little can of tuna and called it dinner. Perfection. After run club, I enjoyed a pint (okay, two) and I may have snuck some french fries from the communal plate. Damn, they were good!!!

Home now, and I am so ready for bed. In fact, time to shut down.

Later,

So much fun

Because we had such a good time on Friday, we ran the hill/ridge again today, although it was a little on the muddy side, due to a day of rain yesterday. Okay, so technically I walked said hill but I did manage to run a bit more of the ridge, although again, the kids (half my age, thank you very much) all beat me back and were started on the next circuit by the time I set up. Leg lifts followed by lunge walking. Followed by squats, pyramid squats, sumo squats, shoulder press squats, side walking squats....sensing a trend here?!?! Trainer Josh was introducing a new trainer to his style (the boot camp I go to bought out the downtown franchise, so is expanding, but I am sticking with Trainer Josh all the way!) which I think she was surprised by how much we laugh and kid, but also by how much we work. I totally had my mean face on today!!! We then paired up for some push-ups/sprints and squats (one sprints, then does 10 push-ups while the other sumo squats the whole time, switch...back and forth for 3 minutes...it was a LONG 3 minutes!). Followed those good times with some shoulder and core work (shoulder press, swing squats (there's that word again!!), followed by plank till we hit 1 minute in total), then down on the mats for abs. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to move in the morning.

I did go to the chiro this morning, and let Dave really work on my hamstring. He did something new today (although I did love the move where he treats me like a Christmas turkey and makes a wish!!! I really don't think my leg is supposed to go that way!) which seemed to help a lot. Of course, the irony is I pay Dave to fix me and make the pain go away, and then I pay Josh to break me all over again. Around and around I go...I think they're in on it together!

Home after boot camp, to make a quick supper that was Latin inspired. I tried our new Adobo seasoning, marinating some chicken in it with evoo and vinegar all day. I then fried it up in a dry pan, till the pieces were golden brown. Wrapped those in a whole wheat wrap with sliced avocado, sauce of salsa/sour cream and some shredded cheese. It turned out to be a little dry, so I made more dip of the sour cream/salsa blend, and dipped happily away. I rounded out the meal with a green salad (dressing was sour cream/salsa) and had tortilla crispy strips on top, as well as some shredded cheese. Finally a half a cup of rice, with our new Cinco Pepper blend and a tomato mixed in. That Cinco spice has some serious kick to it!

And now I am trying to stay awake, but I'm not sure for what exactly. Granted, I do have to submit an Epicure party order, but then it's bed time! And good news...I didn't eat all my supper (for once!) so I have lunch ready for tomorrow.

Later,

Long run debate

Two schools of thought here.

1) do you run the distance, to train your body to get used to the time and effort?

2) do you run for no more than 3 hours, knowing you have more training runs in the following week, and not wanting to put your body into a deficit?

G.U. Garrath used to promote the distance, and therefore the time. How is your body to adjust to running for 4+ hours, unless you run for 4+ hours? This way, you can play with fuel, sleep, eats the day before, etc, all before race day. E.U. Doug promotes the shorter time, and therefore recovery for the next stresser on the body, such as the usual tempo run on Tuesday. He feels if you take longer than 3 hours, then you need to give up running on Tuesday, or else you put your body at risk for injury.

I have to say I agree with points from both, and having run the distances many times, understand the consequences of both. So today we compromised in our little group. Today was the last 32km before race day. We decided that rather than run 90 minutes out and turn back, that we would run 2 hours out before turning around. A four-hour run would get us much closer to 32 than a 3 hour run, and if we felt good, we could run out the last 3-4 needed to hit the magic number.

We woke to rain. It had rained all night, so the city smelled like squished worms...blech...imagine fish mixed with dirt. That to me is the smell of worms. I hate the smell of worms! I wore a technical T under my rain/wind breaker, and packed the camel-back for the long run. I knew I would need more than the 750ml my usual bottle holds. I did go to bed nice and early last night, and got up, ate a bagel, PB and a banana with a glass of milk. Run clinic was very light this morning...either a bunch of moms decided to stay home and be pampered or they were off running the annual MD 10km. The rain was a steady drizzle when we started out, thankfully on a different route, heading east and then south to Glenmore Landing. Our foursome made it as far as the Hospital (roughly the 14km mark) before going in, using the facilities and filling up with some more water. On the way back, my body said we were done when we got to Eau Claire. My legs, while not hurting, were lead-like and tired. And I was totally seizing up from both boot camp and zumba. Still can't cough without grabbing something from the pain!!

We did just over 27km in 3:54 minutes, and I for one am happy and ready for Calgary. Some of the ladies ran off to finish the 32km, and good on 'em. I've already decided (and discussed it with Doug) that we will not be running tempo pace on Tuesday, but will treat ourselves to a lovely, slow steady run. Next weekend, I will running the Rocky Mountain Soap Company Women's Only Half (man, that's a mouthful!) while the ladies here do their final 23km. Then it's officially taper time, as the marathon looms (23 sleeps!).

Had a lovely lunch (I was HUNGRY) of breakfast wrap (eggs, bacon, cheese, tomato and green pepper in a wrap) with fruit salad (watermelon, Asian pear, grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew and strawberries), a bottle of water, chocolate milk and a cup of coffee! After a visit with D. and K., I headed for home and crashed for about an hour before a phone call woke me up.

Got up and made a dinner of tortellini, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, roasted grape tomatoes, pancetta and pine nuts, all tossed with some shredded cheese and Greek dressing. Yum!!! Since my run today earned me 54 points (HOLY!), I also enjoyed a So Delicious Coconut bar (little ice cream sandwich, but lactose free - I bought them because of the coconut) and am now lounging on the couch, waiting for the Amazing Race finale.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends.

Later,

Boot camp booty kick

Trainer Josh handed me my butt on a plate tonight...I knew it was not going to bode well when he couldn't decide if the "stairs" (goat trail in the hills, with wooden slats to make squares in the dirt...some are 6" step ups, some are 12"...good times) were dry enough to play on, or if we should just do the "hill"...

The hill won...

I barely got 10' up it before my lungs were burning and my legs were all but crapping out. Managed to get the top and then "ran" the ridge - okay, so it was a running/walking shuffling type motion. I didn't run the whole way to the top of the roadway, as I knew I was way behind everyone else, so I found the "shortcut" and after sliding down a rather steep and slippery hill, made it back to Trainer Josh and the group.

Where they had already started the next circuit. No rest for the wicked here...grabbed my weights and joined in with the weighted step-up/shoulder press/lunge/curl combo (WTF?!). From there, we moved to our mats and did overhead drop legs, jump up (um, okay...) and head to the next set of benches to do dips. Return to start, adding hell lifts (this is what I call them - lat raise but cross hands in front of body right over left and then left over right, drop arms...OW!!!), scissors (holding weights above head) at the mats and incline presses after the dips. Return to start...now add dead lifts (hamstring LOVED that move), seated twists (we call them Russians) and seated squats (hold your hands over your head and squat to sit on bench, but stop with about an inch to spare, stand back up). We then did some band work (curls tabata) before a weighted lunge walk tabata and then we did...are you ready for this?...I still don't have feeling in my legs...just sayin'...pyramid squats followed by hill sprints. Starting at 3, we squat 3 times then hold squat to count of 3, increase to 4, 5, etc, all the way up to 8. After holding squat to count of 8, we sprinted (I tried...I really tried) up the little hill which has a wicked grade, before returning to the start and doing it all over again!!! Ended on the mats with some core and ab work before calling it a class. Zumba tomorrow is going to be such a treat if I am lucky enough to be able to get out of bed!

I was hungry when I got home, so no photos, but I had 5 strips of chicken breast tossed with Souvlaki spices and S&P, fried up in a little evoo, before stuffing into a thin pita (just like the kind you get at Donair shops - only 3 pts for the whole thing and it's big) schmeared with hummus and red peppers (Tribe - tasty). Side green salad, half of a LARGE beefsteak tomato and a good 5" chunk of English cucumber, and I was satisfied.

So, if I wake up, I'll go to WW in the morning. If not, I'll be there on Thursday and will take my lumps for missing a week. Then it's off to Zumba, to the vets to get cat food for the kids, my pharmacy to get meds for me, Mom's to switch out cars (sniff, sniff), the licence place to register my new car and then home. Early night, as I've got 32km to run on Sunday. Hope the rain is only at night, and that it holds off during our run. It's the last big one before Calgary, and I'd like to enjoy it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and happy mother's day to every woman out there. We are all mothers, regardless. I hate it when someone wishes me HMD and then says "oh, but you don't have children, do you". But I do...they may be short, furry and walk around on all fours, but they need me to care for them, love them, discipline them, clean up after them, feed them, hug them, etc. They didn't grow under my heart, but in it.

Later,

Getting too old for this

Man, I am BEAT!! It's a good thing I drove to work, loaded up with Epicure goodies, as I seriously don't think I could have walked home.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo...to celebrate (and make me some money, of course) I served a tasting buffet of handmade corn tortillas, turkey taco filling, enchilada sauce, salsa with grilled corn, guacamole, refried beans and agua fresca. Sales have have been brisk, and everyone seems to like the spring and summer offerings.


Had to quickly whip down to the lawyers, to get some notarized copies of documents needed, and while outside I thought I snap a picture of my Baby Girl. She and I will part ways on Saturday (well, she'll be parked at my Mom's till she sells) and I'll be driving James (2004 GMC Jimmy, but I prefer the name James). It is quite the upgrade, as Baby Girl is 21 (almost ready to graduate college!) and has been mine since the day she came off the train from Ontario! I will so miss her sportiness. She rocks. Off to cry a little now.



Seriously am heading to bed. Feel like I've been hit by a truck. I just can't operate on less than 5 hours sleep anymore.

Later,

What am I thinking?

Just because Epicure introduced a Mexican theme for it's Spring and Summer launch, I thought it would be a good idea to have a tasting party at work on Cinco de Mayo. Oops...that's tomorrow!! Double oops, I have run club on Wednesdays!! I got home around 9, after some great speed laps (800m, pushing race pace, we averaged 6:30), and a quick pint with everyone (just isn't a Wednesday without), I have now made taco filling, enchilada sauce, guacamole, salsa w/grilled corn, refried beans and tortillas. Yes, FROM SCRATCH! Okay, with our Masa mix, but still, had to squish out 32+ little balls of dough in the press (yes, we sell the press!) and fry them all up. Oh, and Agua - some kind of drink made with hibiscus flowers. The car is mostly packed (product and catalogues) and now I just have to make sure everything else is in the fridge, the stove is off, and it's time for me to crawl into bed. After all, it's 12:30am.

Oops...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Tasting results later,

My future (I hope)

After a lovely lay-in (ran a Half yesterday, so no long training run for me today), I ended up down at Eau Claire to meet up with the other runners for coffee anyway. It just wouldn't be a Sunday without that. However, wish I had known about the crane being taken off the condo complex beside Eau Claire, thereby blocking the parkade entrance, and the Lupus charity walk AND the Kid's Help Phone charity walk (who booked TWO walks to start/finish at the same location, at the same time and on the same day?!)...suffice to say, it was insanity down there. But I finally scored a parking spot (I know I should have walked, but I was off to meet a friend later) and wandered in to the chaos, to meet up with only Dave. Oh, a young couple as well, but they were done their eats and ready to head out for the day. Dave and I chatted over coffee and my breakfast of egg wrap, before we too parted ways.

I drove to E.'s place, sticking to the "new" East Village route. Can't wait for all that construction to be done, as it will be a lovely area when it's all complete. E. lives in Inglewood, Calgary's oldest neighbourhoods, which is a lovely area of town. It's right down beside Fort Calgary (the city's origin) and is on the river. In fact, E's house is right on the river. After dropping off her Epicure order, we poured a glass of wine and walked with the dog to the river's edge, where they have deck chairs, a table and firepit waiting for use. We sat and watched the ospreys, the geese, the ducks, listened to other birds, the peacocks across the river at the Zoo and generally watched the river flow. I could get used to that!!! In fact, I must check the lottery tickets, because the house attached to E's is for sale (they share the yard) and I would make an awesome neighbour!!! Dare to dream.

Came home, did some laundry and puttered around. I just unpacked my groceries from Sunterra when H-woman called and tempted me with thoughts of sushi. Off to Kinjo we went, where I drooled over plates of sushi floating by. I ended up with six plates beside me! Luckily I did feel full, because they are oh, so tempting. Home again, and decided I should work on my taxes...after all, they are due by midnight tonight, although I have a refund coming, so there's no penalty if I file late. But I got all my business stuff organized, and hit send at about 10pm last night. Now I just have to wait for the money to magically appear in my account. Quite a lump this year, so I'm busy thinking of all the things I can buy with my windfall.

If you are a Canadian, do not forget to vote today (if you haven't already)...do not waste this privilege. It is your duty to speak up and cast a ballot.

Later,