Mountain Retreat, day 4

After falling into bed at 10:30 the night before, totally spent from an early wake-up, BEST.RUN.EVER, lunch, couple of pints, soak in the hot springs, etc, I slept GOOD! And woke up feeling fresh, and not too bad, leg wise.

Made a big pot of coffee and puttered around, chatting with the girls about our plans for the day. H-woman had to return to Calgary at some point, as sadly she had to work. And M. had to return to her home to get ready to return to work herself, but was facing a two-hour drive. So we decided to forage for some breakfast and then go for a walk, to help loosen things up a bit.

Day didn't dawn as crystal clear as the day before, but the wind was also far less. I guess we get one or the other up here. At least it wasn't snowing!

We walked a couple of klicks, finding a nice spot to settle down and take in our surroundings. H. demonstrates Tree pose...

After returning to the condo, we then foraged for lunch (leftovers! Yum!!) and M. packed up and took off. Shortly afterwards, so did H., and I was once again alone in the mountains. I decided I wanted to walk into town, so strapped on Mr. Garmin, grabbed the camera and off I went.

I mentioned the pathway system earlier, and it really is quite wonderful, as it weaves it's way through the outlying neighbourhoods, past some pretty swanky homes, and follows the river. According to Mr. Garmin, it is exactly 6km from the start of the path by the condo to the south end of Main Street in Canmore. So now we know!

Still took some pics along the way, despite the odd showers that sprinkled on me here and there...

Again, Canmore was a mining town, and there is still evidence of that. I did not go in...who knows who or what lives in there now!

Once in town, I wandered up and down Main Street, buying myself a really nice running shirt (50% off - score!), some product from Rocky Mountain Soap Company (and confirming when my absolute favourite sugar scrub, Spicy Mandarin, will be available again...I am stocking up this year!), doing some window shopping and heading into Sobey's once more to pick up a few more things for my supper tonight.

Passed this dude along the way...

And this guy on the way back...again, ode to mining.

Since the skies were threatening to open up again, I thought I should high-tail it back home. After all, I now had a bunch of stuff to carry (purchases, groceries) and 6km to hike. Off I went, pretty much tucking the camera away for this walk. Although I did pull it out for this one shot...love how this looks.

Only got wet a couple of times on the walk home, but my legs were now tired and I was ready to flop on a couch.

Since H. doesn't know how to cook small, there was loads of leftovers, which I decided to turn into a curry stew of sorts. I added some coconut milk to slop it up, and with my extra naan, enjoyed a lovely dinner, along with the last of the tandoori chicken. Yum, yum, yum.

Watched the Amazing Race on TV...seriously, could they find dumber people this time?!?! Holy mother..."what country are you in?"...London... It's going to be a long race!

Totally chilled and relaxed, I enjoyed the last glass of wine (I did bring home 2 of the 3.5 bottles, so no panicking, people!), watched TV and went to bed.

Why don't I live here????

Later,

Mountain Retreat, day 3

It's RACE DAY!

Happy, shining faces, despite the early hour (that's me behind the flash...hehehe).

Our goal, after last year of almost not finding a parking spot and then feeling rushed, rushed, rushed, was to get to Banff by 8:30am. We both thought the race started at 10am, but M. thought it started at 10:30. Either way, we wanted to get there with enough time to park, grab a Starbuck's, chill, use a nice indoor bathroom, walk calmly to the start area and get our shirts in our size! The last few years, H. has always lost out to all the other mediums out there...what's the point of picking your size if they never have enough!?

I got up at 6:45, after not a bad night's sleep, but not the best. I can't quite describe it as tossing and turning, but I did not sleep the night through either. But I didn't feel too bad, so I must have rested at some point. After a breakfast of oatmeal cooked in milk with nutella and a banana, a glass of OJ and a quick cup of coffee, we gathered all our gear together and headed out. Takes about 20-25 minutes to get into Banff from where we were, and that's without having to wait at the park gates to pay for a day pass. Thank goodness for the annual pass!! We parked in my favourite place to park in Banff, a free 12-hour parkade. There was still plenty of room when we got there, just after 8:30.

We decided to walk over to the fairgrounds to get our shirts first. It was very busy, as many people leave picking up their packages till the very last minute. And here I thought it was crazy waiting till Friday night in Banff, which H. and I did, and got the hell out of there!! Anyway, we all got the shirts we wanted, which even though they aren't technical shirts, they are nice ones to wear on a crisp, fall day. And silk-screened with original, local artwork. Very nice.

2009 on the right, with the new one on the left.

After getting our shirts, we wandered back into Banff and braved the crowds at Starbucks to get a much needed dose of caffeine. And I do enjoy using an indoor bathroom at events like this. I don't do the porta-potty thing very well! Very weak stomach!!

Back to the grounds, stored our gear and waited...and waited...and waited. Yup...start time was 10:30.

And that was for the 10km group...all 2,879 of them! After the last straggler (many still lined up at the potties when the gun went off...good thing it's a chipped event!), we (1,125) queued up for our turn. This race is capped at 4,000 and sells out literally in hours. But really...running in this?! Can you blame us???

Since H. and M. were treating this as a training run (their marathon is in December) and I wanted to test my racing skills, we split up almost immediately at the start.

I can honestly say, and still say that today, that this was my BEST.RACE.EVER!!! I felt awesome...I felt strong...I felt like I could run all day. I placed myself between the 2:30 and 2:45 bunnies, which I lost sight of almost immediately, and just hit a stride. I decided that I would walk when I needed to, and only for 1 minute at most. Ran past the first water station, and down past Bow Falls to the golf course. It is a glorious hill down, and darn it, I love running down hill! Grabbed a water and a quick 30 second walk at the next water station, and watched as the front runners were looping OUT of the golf course towards the second half of the race. Yes, by the time I hit the 5km mark, the boys who won it were done over 11km and on their way to the finish line. I am still in awe...the guy who won it did it in 1:20. And he had to endure the same gale force winds the rest of us did. Who knows what his time would have been without the wind.

Oh, the wind...this is the third year I've done Melissa's 22km, and I don't recall there not being wind. But this year was downright nasty! There is nothing more unpleasant than running your hardest and being sand-blasted as you run past the sand traps on the golf course! Add pine needles and cones, and your patience is really being tested. But at least I no longer need microderm abrasion on that side of my face!

Once out of the golf course, you hit the first real hill (the one we ran down to get there, Bow Falls). It is quite steep, and again, I decided early on that I wouldn't kill myself on the hills and walked it, knowing I could do that faster than running it, while saving my energy. That seemed to really work for me this time around. After the hill, we then "run the gauntlet" so to speak...we have to double back to the fairgrounds and run past, up to the Cave & Basin area. But timing sucks, as most of the 10km runners are done, have had their munchies and are heading back into town, so it's like being a salmon swimming upstream! But this year the volunteers were quite awesome about getting everyone out of the way. Even had a cute guy give me a shout out but as usual, we were headed in opposite directions at the time! The other sucky part about this section of the race is you really run past the finish line, knowing you have another 7km to go! It is a mental kick in the pants!!

Walked up the hill into Cave & Basin, and then enjoyed the long sloping hill down, really picking up my speed again. Walked through another water station, hit the turn-around point, and told myself "only 4km to go!"...walked and ran a bit at this point, got over the last big hill and then opened 'er up for the end. Twenty-two full minutes off my time from last year. Ya-freaking-woo!!!!

Can you see the wind pushing the trees down behind them? The lady holding this tent in place actually broke her thumb with the force of the wind!!! That's what we got to run into most of the race! But with scenery like this...who cares?!

Did some stretching, cheered some others across the finish line and waited for H. and M., who came across looking as strong as they started. I wonder if M. ever stopped smiling!!

After some more stretching, a little food and watching the final runners come in, we grabbed our gear, threw it in our cars and headed to the Rose and Crown for lunch. Enjoyed an awesome lunch on the rooftop (yes, we climbed a whole bunch of stairs!), hoisted a couple of pints (well, I did anyway), and reveled in the sunshine. It was a glorious afternoon after a glorious run. A little wander around and some shopping (must.keep.moving), we got back in the car and went back to the condo to make dinner.

Tandoori chicken, ala Gobi (oh, please forgive my spelling!), a lentil curry, a chick-pea curry, naan, spinach and bulgar. H. is a good cooker!!!! After dinner, we drove back into Banff and enjoyed a well deserved soak in the hot springs. Ahhhhhh...

All in all, a great day.

Later,

Mountain Retreat, day 2

I woke up without an alarm, and without a furry face sticking his cold nose into my eye, wondering if I was up yet.

Granted, I did miss that part, but waking up nice and slow when I wanted to was glorious.

After a pot of coffee for breakfast and leftover pizza (nothing better), I decided to go for a walk while I waited for H-woman to show up. I didn't get all gussied up, just heading out with my birkenstocks and the camera.

First place was a wander down the road to check out the new Bistro (a tad disappointing...don't advertise yourself as a food store unless you have cool food to sell!), before crossing over the road to get to the top of this grassy knoll overlooking Highway 1.

Birkenstocks + barefoot + grassy hill dotted with tons of elk droppings = difficult walk! A glance back at how far I had come. I turned back when I saw a "pile" that most definitely did not belong to an elk, but a larger, fur-bearing creature! While I told myself "large dog", I hoofed it back to the road in a hurry!!! How does one tell they are in bear country?? They look for the piles of poop with bells in 'em. Sorry...bad mountain joke!

Went the other way past the condo, and onto the pathway system. This route connects Three Sisters and all the outlying communities with the town of Canmore and is phenomenal.

Loads of beautiful scenery to walk by.

Canmore was a mining town before people realized they could sell their land/homes for millions of dollars!! Apparently the sport/acting elite from the States love Canmore because it's not as build up as areas to the south.

The only wildlife that would sit still long enough for me to take a shot. No elk on the walk, although did see some later when driving into town with H-woman. And the cheekiest of chipmunks, but he wouldn't stop long enough, just enough to chatter at me for interrupting him!

The mighty Bow River, which flows east into and through Calgary. Still considered one of the top 10 fly-fishing rivers in the world.

Wandered back to the condo, where I had lunch (the rest of the pizza) and waited for H. Who, it turns out was shopping, so she didn't get there till almost 4. Which is fine, except I was at risk of falling asleep on the couch!

We trucked into town to pick up what H. needed for the curry feast she was making us Saturday night, post Melissa's, and then back where I made our pre-run fuel-up meal of Mediterranean Tuna Toss. That's what I call it. Sorry, still hadn't quite figured out the lighting and indoor shots, so they suck.

In a frying pan, heat evoo and saute garlic, sliced onions, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives sliced up, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. I usually add spinach as well, but forgot it Friday. Once the veggies are soft, add a can or two of tuna, some red wine, fresh basil and parsley. Heat through. Top with feta and Parmesan cheese. Enjoy over whole wheat pasta of your choosing. Enjoy with said wine. Only one glass though, since the race was in the morning.

After going and rescuing M. from downtown Canmore (she misread the directions), we all settled down for an early night. Only a few hours till Melissa's!!!

Later,

Mountain Retreat, day 1

After much running around during the day (I always leave way too much till way too late!): tidy house, arrange food for cats, load car (with too much stuff for 5 days!), fill tank in car, weigh in (down 1.4 this week!), plug Together is Amazing to Weight Watcher's group, visit Mom, take Mom for groceries, drop Mom off, pick up key from friends for condo, eat lunch (way, way, way too late in day!) and then get horribly stuck in traffic (damn construction!!) and finally make it out to Canmore around 5pm.

"Home" for the next 5 days.



This is the view from home...

All together now. Inhale...slowly exhale. Stress begone.

After running into town and spending WAY too much at the grocery store (one that isn't convenient to me at home, so I have to stop and look at everything and bought practically everything I looked at!!), I returned to the condo, popped the fresh Greek pizza into the oven, poured a glass of my favourite Meritage (just in case, 3 more bottles came along for the ride!), settled into the couch and just chilled the rest of the night.

Peace was with me.

More to follow.

Later,

I'm back...

So didn't want to leave the condo today...this I vow. I will live in Canmore. Yes, I will!

Meanwhile, had a lovely, relaxing weekend: part alone, part with H-woman and another friend M., ran a little 22k in the middle, and spent the last day and a half on my own again. Bliss...it was serious bliss. There was good food, good laughs, good wine, good coffee, good walks, good hikes, freaking.awesome.runs, and the most beautiful backdrop ever to enjoy it all in. Pictures to follow...I managed to take 138 over the weekend, but I was also playing with what will soon be my new camera, a Canon Powershot S3 IS. There'll be a good recap too, I hope!

But what I'm really excited about...Melissa's 22km was on Saturday.

2008: 3:12:53
2009: 3:04:08
2010: 2:42:45

Yeah Baby!!! That was on a very hilly course (elevation starts at 4,418 ft, and we climbed and declined another 592! ) into a blustery head wind that the winners (yes, the guys that did it in just over an hour!) described as "hurricaine, tornado" type wind. All I know is that it almost blew me over a couple of times, blew my running leg into my other leg (looked like I was kicking myself) and running past the sand-traps of the golf course was an extra special treat!! At least I don't have to worry about a face peel any time soon!

That's it...I'll provide more deets later. I'm trying to get my butt to bed, since it's back to work tomorrow.

Sad for me...
:(

See ya...

Must.shut.off.computer!!!

I need to finish packing, haul some stuff to the recycle place, load the car, get gas, weigh-in, pick up keys for condo, visit with Mom, get last minute groceries (wine!) and hit the highway. Good thing I'm not in a hurry, and Canmore is only an hour away. But still!

So, hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell on Monday.

Later,

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,