A summer of fun

I have had a great summer!  I've been running, but not in the standard "pathway or roadway" type running.  Nope, I've branched out, wanting to try new things.

The first one was Mud Hero.  THE.MOST.FUN.I.HAVE.EVER.HAD.ON.A.RACE.EVER!!!!!!

Run a 6k trail race and throw in 14 obstacles, from mud puddles, net pyramids, fire poles, tires, parked cars, 4' fences, 10' walls, webbing through trees, straw bales, giant bouncy slides and finish it all with a good crawl through the mud!

Of course, I couldn't just do one...

SPARTAN!!!

I completed (toyed with the words attempted, struggled, tried but truth be told, I started and finished said race...Mama didn't race no quitter!) a Spartan Sprint a couple of weeks ago, and while it wasn't quite the giggle-fest that Mud Hero was, I still had fun, and challenged myself in ways I never knew I had in me.  Such as going down a steep hill and back up, all with a 20lb sandbag on my shoulder.  Or crawling under barbed wire and through the mud.  Ended up doing way more burpees than I wanted (next year, more bacon please) - at every obstacle a fail = 25 burpees!  But I got through, survived and got to get hosed down by our wonderful fire department!

And this past weekend, I finally ran my very first, real trail race.  Moose Mountain.  Had two awesome running buddies sign up last minute, to run it with me, and that really made this the most fun.  We weren't in it to win it, but just to enjoy a gorgeous day in K-country, get a run in, and have fun along the way.  Every km or so was another photo op, and we laughed, skipped, danced and sang our way to the finish line.  We may have been last, but I guarantee we had the most fun!

Next up for me is a new Half just outside Cochrane, AB in 2 weeks.  It will be a hilly one, but it'll just be good training for San Francisco, which I was just reminded today is in 6 weeks!  And in between Cochrane and San Fran is Melissa's 22 (one of my all time favourite runs), Harvest Half (south end of Calgary...new views) and the Alzheimer's 10k, for Mom.  But I'm not freaking out...this is the year I finish.  No PBs for me, as I deal with injuries and stress and weight gain.  As long as I stand up every morning, and can put one leg in front of the other, the PBs will come.  Maybe not this year, maybe not even next, but then again, I will be in a new age bracket then, so who knows.  I may become one of those speedy old ladies we're all so envious of!!

Okay...Melatonin in (again...so grateful for this wonderful little pill of sleepiness!) and I'm ready to sleep.  Time to shut down and go to bed.  Bootcamp at 6am.

Today I am grateful for the wonderful running community I am part of.  There are far too many names to mention here, but each and every one of them has touched my life in the most life-affirming, positive, supportive and funny way.  I smile just thinking about them.  Thank you all for just being there.  Hugs and kisses...mmmwah!

Gratitude,

Confused

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged and even read some posts, but still...this new Blogger design is confusing me.  Where is everything the way I want it?!  Doesn't Blogger know that I don't like change, and that they're just adding to the pile right now?!?

Okay...things I'm grateful for.  Melatonin...it does appear to be helping.  Which is a Godsend.  I was not doing well on no sleep.  I did not make it to bootcamp on Monday (yes, I am still faithfully going at 6am, or the crack of stupid, as I like to call it - only for Trainer Josh) because of zero sleep the night before, but I did make it this morning.  Not feeling like the speedy, super-woman of camps past, but I'll get there again.  Today involved a lot of burpees (just for me...thanks Josh!), deadlifts with rows, jumping jacks, step-ups, leg drivers, mountain climbers, curls with press, squat press, v-sits, full body bike, incline push-ups, regular push-ups, bent over rows and running.  I was a very sweaty mess by the time I climbed in the car 60 minutes later.

Work is...my work location has changed because of a fire in our downtown office, and I'm not overly happy about it.  For the first time in 12.5 years, I have to drive to work.  Yes, I have walked to work, practically every day, for the last 12.5 years.  I miss it.  GREATLY!!  There is no where to walk around the new location, as they failed to install sidewalks in this particular end of town.  I guess they wanted more room for all the semi-trucks and the like.  It's going to be a very long year.  Yes, it will be summer 2013 before we're back downtown.  I do not like change.

I did manage to pack breakfast and lunch all three days this week, which is huge for me.  I have been sitting outside at lunch, to try and get some vitamin D and to shut off the rest of the world.  I plug into my iPod, open my Kobo and ignore.  It's going to be a long year...wait, I said that already.  I also packed my running gear, and drove straight from work to Eau Claire, and went out at 6pm for a 5k run.  Wasn't fast, wasn't perfect, but I was a sweaty mess again when I was done.  Boo-yah.  Dinner consisted of chicken tacos (soft, not fried), a pint of Guinness and a very small piece of cake (many birthdays, going away and racers off to Canada Ironman - lots to celebrate).  I am home, Melatonin is in, and I am preparing to wind down.

So I should shut this down, right?  Right.

I am also grateful that I can run.  I may not be fast, I may not win, but I never give up.

Gratitude,

Gratitude

 I am grateful today for:

- for purring kitties, despite their mommies not getting more than a few hours sleep, between hot flashes and hot weather.  They don't care...they purr, therefore they are.

 - Vietnam Fortune.  Best chicken satay pho this side of Vietnam, I dare say.  THE.BEST.  Whatever was tickling and niggling in my throat has gone away since a bowl at dinner.  Ah-ha, take that germs!!!

 - Work.  This one is hard.  I like my job.  I like my coworkers (well...mostly).  So I'm going to pull up the big-girl panties and start the countdown.  Only 325 more sleeps till we're back downtown.

 - Fortitude.  I packed my breakfast (Greek yogurt, oatmeal, blueberries), lunch (quinoa, tuna, cucumber, tomatoes and Greek dressing) and snack (Clif PB protein bar, apple).  And breakfast (yogurt, granola), lunch (noodles, a ton of veggies of all colours and tuna in sesame dressing...ooooo...different) and snack (cherries, fibre 1 bar) are in the fridge, waiting to be loaded up in the morning.  I can...nay, I WILL survive this year.

 - Melatonin.  Well, don't know if I've grateful yet, because I don't know if it's working yet, but I'm about to shut down here, go get ready for bed and with all fingers, toes and legs crossed, will actually sleep tonight.  Think good thoughts.

Gratitude,

Bliss

I've lost mine.  Not sure where I saw it last, or if I put it down somewhere and walked away, but I have lost my bliss.  Haven't even been motivated to blog.  No bliss.

Still running, but getting slower.  No bliss.

Trying new things, but they're getting harder (Spartan - got my butt handed to me!).  No bliss.

Paying Weight Watchers to GAIN weight over the summer.  No bliss.

Summer heat wave & menopause.  Definitely no bliss, but kind of out of my control.  I can still whine about it though!

Came full circle at work, trying something new before being put back in the niche I fit best in.  No bliss.  Add to this, a fire earlier this year at the downtown office has me now driving 20+km a day to the NE, where there is NOTHING (crappy restaurants, no sidewalks, no river pathway, no shopping, no NOTHING), thereby eliminating my daily dose of calming vitamin D and adding to my cloud of blah.  No bliss.

Social life...what social life?  No bliss.

Finances.  No bliss.

Home.  No bliss.

Barely been hiking.  No bliss.

Recently went to Victoria for the Epicure conference.  No bliss.

So...what exactly am I going to do about things?  At this particular point, I really have no idea but I do know I need to do something.  So I'm breaking it into small pieces.  Didn't lose it overnight, can't find it overnight, right?  So please bear with me.

I'm starting with a gratitude journal.  I will take what bliss I can from where I can.  A kiss from a puppy, the smell of rain, sunrise, etc..  I will be grateful for every day that I have.  Every day.  I'm also going to map out some plans for the key things I need to get control of...or at least those things I can control - weight, finances, training.  I'll keep you all informed, in order to keep me focused.

Today's gratitude:  Starbuck's Lime Refresher...cool, not too sweet, refreshing and under 100 calories for a vente.  And I am moving somewhat well, even after yesterday's butt-kick Spartan Race.  Heck, I'll even take the fact that I completed yesterday's Spartan race.  It was 5k of humbling moments and I managed to get to the finish line in one piece, albeit after having to get really good at doing burpees!!!

Grateful,

After, after the marathon

Needless to say, I fell asleep rather quickly, and easily, Sunday night, and hoping for some sort of miracle, woke up thinking, "hey, not so bad".  Then I moved...oh, all that is holy, I am SORE!  Got out of bed and after convincing my legs that standing wouldn't be so bad (I had to promise them that they would never, ever have to run a marathon again...little do they know that my fingers were crossed behind my back when I made the promise!), I gingerly made my way to the bathroom.  Why, oh why, are toilets so dang low to the ground?!  Once the blood started flowing, I was moving well enough to go across the street for some much needed Starbucks.  The one downfall of the Four Seasons is the fact that they don't have a mini coffee-maker in the room.  Mini fridge, yes, mini coffee, no.  Oh well, Starbucks is a mere 3 minute hobble away.

Coffee in hand, I puttered till I heard from my friends, and plans were made to meet up with M. (here from Germany, and such a fast runner, I don't know how much longer we can be friends!), SM and new friend, B.  I ate some breakfast (yogurt and oatmeal, leftover from Sunday), drank the coffee, showered and changed, and then headed out for the day.

Heading straight up Howe to Robson Square, I sat to wait for two of the three.  We were planning on meeting M at an Indian buffet lunch, so I went hungry.  Luckily for me, the sun was shining (weather in Funcouver has been PERFECTION!), and it was Music Monday.  That meant school bands and choirs to entertain the lunchtime crowds.  What it also meant was last minute rehearsing, so I also got to listen to the same two songs three times each!  Oh well...the sun was shining and I wasn't moving, so all was good.  Got the text that the two missed their bus, so I had another hour to wait, and I was getting HUNGRY.  It's bad to be waiting for someone to go for lunch, sitting beside not one but two lunch trucks!  They smelled soooooo good, but I resisted.  Got distracted by the music (excellent drumming group) and finally met up with the two.  We took off up the street and down Drake to the restaurant to meet up with M.

The buffet was fabulous...butter chicken, rice, chickpea curry, a fish dish, two veggie dishes, salads, rice pudding, watermelon and naan.  All for $7.95!!!  What a deal!  Ate to bursting point (probably shouldn't have gone quite so hungry) and then we wandered down towards Stanley Park.  Somehow got talked into renting bikes (um...probably last rode my bike in '95 - '96!) to tour around the park for the afternoon.  After assuring myself I'd be fine, and that we were sticking to the bike paths and not the roads in Vancouver, we took off.

It turned out to be a great idea.  After a quick picnic of cupcakes (Happy Birthday, M!), we rode all the way around the seawall, stopping for photo-ops and reminiscing about Sunday's race.  Both M. (3:18) and SM (4:58) ran, while B was awesome race support.  The quads objected a few times, especially pedalling uphill, but again, kept the blood going, which is important the day after.  At one point, we stopped long enough to run out into the cool ocean, which I so longed to do right after the race yesterday.  This is where SM proved to be a bit of a klutz, falling in the ocean, and totally cutting up her knees!  Who cuts themselves in WATER?!  Did some emergency medical attention (well, the best we could with the tissues we had on hand) and finished the loop of the park back to the bike shop, where they actually had a first-aid kit. Taped her up, and then we were on our way back down the convention centre, to see the Olympic torch and decide if we were hungry enough for dinner.

B had to leave us (good luck of UBC), but J joined up, and the four of us ended  up at Ceili's in town.  Shared some appies and a pint (real Guinness...oh, so tasty!), before making my way back to the hotel.  It was a long day, fun-filled, but suddenly I was TIRED.  After some stretching (legs totally seized up) and some vitamin I, I crawled into bed and CRASHED. 

Up this morning bright and early (crisis back home, but now averted), showered, walked for coffee, breakfast eaten (last of the yogurt/oatmeal) and now packed up, waiting to check out and head to the airport.  I really like the skytrain for this...easy and cheap.  And the station is just across the street from the hotel.  Loved the Four Seasons, and highly recommend it to everyone.  All in all, race weekend in Funcouver was FUN!  My legs will agree with me soon, I'm sure.

Should have pictures from the weekend loaded tonight.  Meanwhile, happy Tuesday, everyone.

Later,

After the marathon

I am nothing if not a wealth of information.  Learn from me, people.  Never, ever...and I mean NEVER attempt to run a marathon after a 2 month taper!  OUCH!  But lesson learned.

Needless to say marathon #7 is done.  Kudos to the BMO Vancouver team...the new course is nothing short of gorgeous.  Not too many nasty hills (there is the one long one up along Spirit Park) but what goes up must come down, right? 

Met up with DO from Calgary, also running the marathon, as we were staying at the same hotel (huge shout out to the Four Seasons for having the MOST.COMFORTABLE.BEDS.EVER!) and made our way to the train to get to the start.  Four stops away from us, and then a good 15-20 minute walk to the start corrals.  What a mob scene.  I'll post the pics later, as I forgot my port at home.  15,000 runners total, with 10,000 doing the half and the rest in the marathon.  Side note:  I refuse to call it the "full".  A marathon is a marathon...26.2 miles or 42.2 km.  Therefore you can run a Half or an Ultra, but if you run a marathon, you're running a marathon...not a full.  Just a quirk I have! 

The start was a bit of a gong show, as it took 4-5 waves to get all the Halfers on their way.  Didn't help that they started later than the 7am gun time, but I think the last wave took off across at the mat at 7:30ish.  Then it was our turn.  Queued up with a group of friends from Calgary, and waited patiently for our turn to start.  Finally we were off...

Ran through gorgeous neighbourhoods, and past some lovely parks.  There was a large group of older Japanese runners that stopped every km or so for a photo op, and one ran with a birthday cake hat, others had tweetie birds on their heads.  They were machines though...I think  they all beat me in!!  My leg eased into things well, and I thought "okay, this will be good".  It was a clear day, but some cloud cover came over at one point, which was welcome.  There was also a bit of a breeze, which I didn't realize how hard it was coming at our backs until we had to run into it for a bit.  But that just kept us cool.

The bald eagles kept an eye on us as we ran through the University grounds, circling overhead and perched atop some very tall trees.  The volunteers and spectators were enthusiastic and friendly.  Did I mention the course was gorgeous?  Headed down towards the water, running past Jericho and Kitsilano beaches, over the dreaded Burrard St bridge and then it was English Bay and the sea wall.  Eleven km of sea wall!  By the time I got there, it was packed with Sunday strollers, cyclists and walkers galore.  Many were respectful of us "crazies" running past, but quite a few gaped at us like we had two heads, and even a few asked "what's going on?"...um, guessing the marathon has been talked about once or twice in the past few weeks! 

By this point, I was mainly walking.  My left leg was cramping all over, mainly quad, but what was really giving me grief were my feet!  My toes felt like I had squeezed them into a pair of shoes 5 times too small!  May be time for new runners.  I kept slogging along, as I am want to do, just praying for that one turn around the point when I could see the convention centre, and therefore the finish.  Finally made it, but there was a still a few km left in Stanley Park to get through, and then a llloooonnnngggg stretch UP the street before we could make the turn to the finish line.  Some random spectators got my spirits up and had me running a bit towards the end (thanks for that) and I crossed at 6:07 chip time.  John Stanton of the Running Room hanged my medal around my neck himself, knowing that I really earned it this time out.  Such a sweet man.

I came into Vancouver knowing I was not going for a PB, due to the injury and told myself that I only had to beat my previous Vancouver time (I was officially the last person in 2009!) which I did.  So, was it a good race?  Yes and no...I need to figure out what was going on with my feet, and get the leg issue settled once and for all.  But I did enjoy the race overall.  Calgary is also a new route at the end of the month, but I don't think anything they do will beat the Vancouver course.  I will most definitely (and defiantly) return to conquer Vancouver!

Now to keep moving...

Later,

Leavin' on a jet plane

I am packed, house tidied, and am just about to dive in the shower before heading to the airport.  Noon flights are just so civilized!

Leg feels good...one last Graston treatment on Wednesday (Therapist Dave's eyes light up a little too much when he gets to use his tools...just sayin'!), and I have been very good and not run since.  I may do the 20 minute friendship run tomorrow morning, or I may just hang at the store and chat with the other runners.

Race Sunday morning (I only have to beat 6:28 - my first Vancouver time), stretching and rest Sunday afternoon, PAR-TAY Sunday night!  Again, flying back on a Tuesday, at noon, is so civilized!

I'm taking my notebook with me, so I'll blog from the scene.

Later peeps,