The Weekend – Part I – Saturday

Blessings In Disguise?

I had a plan for Saturday. It involved fitting in a 13.5 mi run. My parents left their car here in Calgary when they went on holiday. After they left the check engine light came on. I had an appointment to take it in to the dealership on Saturday morning to figure out what was going on. The car was due in at 9 and I figured I’d go for my run while they were looking at the car. I put the key in the ignition…and nothing…dead battery. With no way to boost the vehicle I called and canceled the service appointment and tried to figure out what to do instead.

I was pretty keen to go to the Outdoor Show if possible so that I could see Samantha McGlone speak. I figured I’d get my grocery shopping done, head to the Outdoor Show, then get my run done in the afternoon. The Outdoor Show? It was pretty small and was focused on travel agencies, fishing trips and ski resorts. There was a small running and triathlon corner with a few different booths and a stage set up for different speakers. I caught the presentation by Fresh Fitness on heart rate monitor training where they talked about the importance of endurance training in a low heart rate zone.

Sam McGlone was there to talk about how to balance training for an Ironman with work and still having a life. Apparently the saying is that you can race, you can work, you can have a life…pick two. She talked a little bit about her training throughout the year and throughout the week and how you can schedule things to try and achieve some balance. As you get closer to race day it becomes harder to balance everything, but at that point you’ll probably have to make a few sacrifices. It was great to hear her talk.

After I left the Outdoor Show I grabbed some lunch and headed home to change and set out for my run. But there was a problem. I’d been dealing with a sore ankle since Friday. And I wasn’t sure that it was something I should be running on. I called Angie and the first words out of her mouth were, “What’s wrong?” Angie advised not running, but I could try a water run or a stint on the elliptical instead. Turns out the problem was most likely due to some shoes that need retiring and Angie was pretty sure that since the onset was so sudden that if I took care of it, it should go away pretty quickly too. I headed off to the Y and knocked out 46 thrilling minutes on the elliptical. In hindsight it was probably a good idea that my plans changed and I didn’t get my run in first thing in the morning.

Getting My Veggie On

I came home from the Y and started in on dinner – some vegetarian lasagna. I worked with a recipe from here. I used whole wheat noodles, and put eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and mushrooms in the tomato sauce. I also added in a layer of chopped spinach in with the ricotta. It turned out really well! I had a big day planned for Sunday, so headed off to bed early.

Details on Sunday to come in another post!