Someone Needs A Haircut!

Poor Finlay was starting to look pretty scruffy! I had an appointment to drop him off at groomer nearby that we haven't been to before early this morning. As I brought him inside the girls were joking around that Finlay looked like he had some serious bed head.

Once Finlay was off for his day at the spa I headed down to Edworthy to meet my friend Tara for a run. We met at Angie's spin class back in January. It turns out that we both ran the Disney Marathon, plus we are training for some of the same races this year - Police Half, Wasa Lake and Great White North. We've talked about meeting up for a run before and finally it worked out.

Angie wanted me to run 14K (8.7 mi) today. I also have a 10K race tomorrow and she wants me to practice racing on tired legs in preparation for the Police Half in a couple of weeks. Tara had 18K on her schedule so she ran her extra distance before I got there, then we headed out.

It is always a bit nervewracking to run with someone new. You don't know if your pace is going to match up well. Are you going to hold them back, or are you going to be too fast for them? Are you going to be able to think about interesting things to talk about? Are you on the same page for walk breaks (or lack thereof)? I've found it tough to find someone that is typically training for the same event so even matching up distances you need to run can be tough. I really enjoyed running with Tara this morning though. The company was great, and hopefully we'll be able to squeeze in some more runs or bike rides together in the future.

I came home, had some lunch, and then Finlay was ready. He's looking pretty cute now, eh? Time to carbo load and figure out where I need to go for my race tomorrow!

Running with Friends

Last week Karen e-mailed me to ask if I needed some company on a long run this weekend. She's currently training for the Moose Mountain trail race and needed to run for about two hours with a hill. I had 12 miles on my schedule. I figured the company would be terrific, so we decided to meet at Glenmore Reservoir at 7 am on Saturday, along with Karen's friend Giovanna. We decided to run the north side of the reservoir first since it has less tree cover so it would be better to get it over and done with while it was still somewhat cool outside. About 5 min in my overactive bladder started acting up, so I was really glad to see the Mac's just after the first mile. We stopped off for a quick break, then got back to running. The time was flying by and I was in charge of calling out the walk breaks, but I kept missing them because the time was moving so quickly. We were all keeping pace really well together and this was turning out to be a slightly faster long run for me. I think Giovanna is actually much speedier than us, but she just wanted to be out running with someone and wasn't too worried about the pace. At 5 miles in I scarfed an espresso Hammer Gel down. Yum, that thing was actually good! Definitely my most favourite flavour and brand so far. We finished the route leaving the big hill for the end and we all powered through it. I felt so strong running up that hill! We had about 7 minutes left to go to meet Karen's 2 hour request so we recovered on some flat ground and finished up with 10.7 miles in 2:00:03. Afterwards we all went to Primal Grounds for some delicious food and more chatting. It made for a really great morning, so major thanks to Karen for organizing the group run! Giovanna is moving to Nashville at the beginning of August and she's keen to get as many runs in before leaving Calgary as possible. She's even volunteered to keep my company on my 18 miler this weekend! I rounded the day out with some hot yoga, a massage, and my share of three dozen oysters and a fantastic bottle of wine. That is my idea of a fantastic day..!

Good Friday and a Good Run

I had all the best of intentions to run on Good Friday, however my body decided that sleeping in was more important. By the time I woke up I needed to get a move on to prepare for dinner and company that evening so it just didn't happen. While perhaps not the most appropriate for Good Friday, the stuffed pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon was absolutely amazing... As was the Baileys and banana bread pudding that was had for dessert...
My niece was hamming it up for the camera as usual.
Saturday morning I met up with the usual group of runners at Eau Claire, except most of the folks that I usually run with weren't there. Everyone was a really speedy runner, but luckily Stacey and I were at the same pace and we watched the group pull away from us within the first three minutes of the run. We agreed that we couldn't keep the pace with the rest of the group so we'd just continue on together for a 12K run. I was worried that the pace we were keeping in the first mile wouldn't be something I could continue with the entire way but I settled into it and it was feeling great. My shins were also feeling great and even the 20:1 intervals were flying by. Unbelievable. I finished up with 7.43 miles run at a consistent pace the entire way through. Running with Stacey was great. I don't think I would have pushed myself as much if we weren't running together and at the end of the day the run felt terrific.

The weekend in review

Ah, so today starts a new week and hopefully a chance to get back on track. I got in two runs last week - my disastrous 3 mi run on Thursday and a half decent 6.41 mi run on Saturday. Saturday morning I met up with the group on the north side of town. Some folks were going for long and hilly, other folks shorter and hilly and another group shorter and flat. I was going to try and run the hills but after we went up one big climb we ran into the group going the flatter route and I veered off to join them. One of the ladies we were running with is a walk coach with TNT and she just took a group to the Disney race. I told her about my shin problems - it seems to happen during my weekday runs but the weekend runs feel great. She wondered if I was overstriding by trying to go faster and if that was maybe causing a problem. I'll have to keep an eye on that. We wound up running a bit slower than my usual pace but the company was great. At the end I veered off to take a slightly longer path around the lake to our starting point and I picked the pace up for the final mile or so. Afterwards one of the group members had us all over for breakfast at her place and it was a great way to cap the morning run off. Yesterday the weather was too great to ignore so the pup Finlay and I headed out to Baker Park for a great walk around the Bow River and over towards Valley Ridge. Despite the warm temperatures there was still some ice and snow on the ground in the shady parts. You can tell folks have had cabin fever - it was incredibly busy out on the pathway. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the weather stays this way...

A Productive Weekend

Saturday morning I was up early for a group run from Eau Claire. Instructor S's group has grown and there were probably 20 or so of us running. Half the pack split off early as they were planning on running longer and faster as many of them are preparing for the Calgary Police Half. I stuck with S and several of San Francisco ladies and all of the chatting made for a great run. We even passed the mayor of Calgary as he was out training for the Police Half. Afterwards we all met up at Good Earth for breakfast and coffee and talked about life and racing plans. It looks as though a bunch of people are running St. Paddy's Day and the Police, plus there is a pretty large contingent gearing up for Footstock in June. Most people are going for the 10K race and I'm aiming for the half marathon that weekend though. The good news is I definitely feel like I'm getting my running legs back.

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Saturday night I met up with my brother and sister-in-law for a round of pop culture Trivial Pursuit. My brother never loses Trivial Pursuit so Saturday night was a bit of a humbling experience for him. It all started when I stole his green 'movie' pie piece by knowing that Good & Plenty is pink and white and ended when I remembered that the butler's name on Joe Millionaire was Paul. Kinda surprised I got that (and kinda embarrassed to admit that I watched the show)...

Hi, I'm a clutz!

Friday night dinner went pretty well. Nothing too exciting happened at the "introduce the parents to the BF" dinner and the food and beverages were very good that night.

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Saturday morning I drove up to Airdrie for the final run with the San Francisco ladies. We planned on an hour total run, with socializing and breakfast afterwards. We took off on one of the pathways around town and it was a really pretty run. It is always nice to see some new scenery. There was some good chatting, and we finished up with 5.04 miles in just under and hour. When we got back to our starting point, Cheryl's house, there was french toast and fruit salad waiting for us. I hung out for a bit, but then had to boot it back to town for my niece's party that was happening at my house. Avery was introduced to friends and family where she obliged by napping peacefully as people were taking turns holding her and we chowed down on ridiculous amounts of food. As soon as the house was empty my parents, brother, sister-in-law and the BF hurried downtown for the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival. Now here was another good reason to get my long runs in on Friday and Saturday and leave my Sunday relatively free... $20 admission and as many tasting tickets as you want to buy gives you the opportunity to taste all kinds of wines, beers, bevvies, scotches and ports. Oh, and there is food to taste as well... I stuck with my sister-in-law since our focus was wine and a few high lights included the Jackson Triggs Chardonnay being made exclusively for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, the Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel, a nifty wine called House Red, and a shiraz from Jacob's Creek. After some late night food to offset all that wine it was time to call it a night.

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Sunday was cross training via curling if you want to call it that! My biggest worry was slipping on the ice and damaging something right before my crazy race schedule coming up. Since I'm a newbie I get to throw lead rocks and after awhile I got the hang of the weight I needed to get the rocks into the house, but not past it. After throwing rocks you get to sweep your teammates' rocks down the ice and here's where I started to get a bit nervous. I made it almost to the end with no incident, until the final rock of the final end of the game. The rock I was sweeping was almost in the house when I slipped and fell flat on my back. I took out all the rocks that were still in play on my way down... We gave a point to the other team and had to play another end to even things out. Luckily I wasn't too much the worse for wear after the fall although my rear end is kinda sore for taking the brunt of the landing. Yeah....I'm a clutz...

I'm going to need a vacation after this weekend...

This morning saw me stressing over all the things that are happening this weekend. Luckily my SLR of 4.2 mi over lunch helped to calm me down a bit, but that doesn't change the fact that this is one busy weekend. The run went well, and was essentially inconsequential. I saw lots of squirrels, marvelled at all the leaves on the ground and felt some sunshine on my face. It was pretty quiet out on the pathway. Tonight is "introduce the parents to the BF" night. I mentioned to my mom last night that I hoped she would like him and her response was, "I'll reserve judgement until I meet him." He may not be nervous, but I'm now nervous for him ;) I kid, I'm sure it will go just fine. Tomorrow is my final long run with the San Francisco ladies. One of the gals is hosting us - so we are starting the run from her house - an hour total run - and then we come back to breakfast and socializing. It will be a quick socialize for me though because I have to head home and get things ready for my niece's grand introduction to Calgary society at the "Meet Avery" party. It is happening at my house....how everyone will quite fit in my place I'm still not sure... Sunday is my first curling game of the season. Apparently I've been matched with some superstar curlers....oh dear. I'll throw lead rocks, but I sure hope I remember how I'm supposed to do that. At some point I still need to fit some studying in for this ethics exam I'm writing on Monday. Thank goodness I have a vacation coming up because I'm going to need it...

Back for some speedwork with the Roadrunners

Last night I was back out at Edworthy, ready for some speed work with the Roadrunners. Tamie came out to join us after she heard me talk about how much I enjoyed those pyramids last week, so it was great to have her join in. This week we'd be running 8 - 400 m repeats instead...gulp! We jogged just over a mile to warm up, and then it was time to go. The pathway has painted marks on it showing 100 m intervals, making an ideal alternative to running repeats around a track. As usual the fast folks took off and Karen and I were bringing up the rear. The best thing about being in the back was you knew where the end was as all the fast folks were waiting there for you, and they were great about cheering you on. What a supportive group! After resting for about 1:45 or so it was time to start up again. I should have been aiming to keep my splits consistent, and around 2:00 or so, but I didn't have my watch set up properly to watch that, so I was only able to see what I had done after the fact:

1 - 2:10 (included a tad of warm up still, and the first interval)

2 - 1:54

3 - 2:02

4 - 1:59

5 - 2:10 (detour off the path due to some construction, and the final one to the turnaround - boy this one was tough!)

6 - 2:07 (hey, I saved 3 sec when I turned around)

7 - 2:03

8 - 2:02

Final mileage for the night was 3.28 mi. I see some potential for improvement here. Wow, this was a tough run, but I know this speed work will help me in the long run. Check out Karen's version of the evening here. It will be a few weeks before I'm out with the Roadrunners again as I'm going to hold off on speedwork next week since my half marathon is that weekend. After that I'm out of town for a bit. I'll be back for more work with the Roadrunners for sure though!

Coming out of the weekend in one piece

So...I survived Thanksgiving weekend here. Friday night was meet all of the BF's friends and despite the fact that I don't watch Dr. Who I think I did okay overall. Saturday morning was a group run with my San Francisco ladies. They were planning on an hour out, an hour back and I was really mostly along for the ride. We started downtown at the YMCA and made it all the way to Edworthy in our hour. On the way back Stacey and I kept a pretty good pace together and kept picking the pace up a bit, resulting in a bit of a negative split. We finished up with 10.2 miles in 1:56:37. A few of us gathered for coffee and a bite to eat, and then it was time to move on. Saturday afternoon was Thanksgiving Dinner #1 at my sister-in-law's mom's place. We chowed down on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots and pumpkin pie. It was a good time with family, but then it was time to head off to the Flames vs. Canucks game for the 8 pm puck drop. So, I hemmed and hawed about whether to visually show my support for my beloved Canucks by wearing a shirt and well...I'm sure you are all dying to know the answer. I decided that since my opportunities to go to a Canucks games are few and far between I went for the shirt - a t-shirt my brother had given me a few years back with their classic NHL logo on it, and Trevor Linden's name and number of the back. I certainly heard a few things about it in the box, let me tell you...but I'm glad I went for it. By the way - this box...wow! On the center line, facing the benches - the view was amazing. The Flames scored first, leaving things 1-0 at the end of the first period. In the second period the Canucks took full advantage of the power plays and came out with a 3-1 lead. Things looked good until the Flames were able to claw their way back to a 3-3 tie in regulation. Overtime.... The Flames took a penalty with 12 sec left to play, and with 4.7 sec left on the clock the Canucks made the most of their man advantage and came away with a 4-3 win. Hurrah!! The shirt made an interesting talking point with the other folks in the box, and at least I didn't have to walk shame faced out of the stadium. Sunday was a drive up north to Edmonton to meet the BF's paternal grandparents for Thanksgiving Dinner #2 at their place. This time it was ham, scalloped potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and pumpkin pie for dinner. It was fun meeting a few of the family members and I think I managed to survive this key meeting too. Monday I contemplated running for a few minutes, but really I wanted to make the most of a relaxing weekend and it just didn't happen. In the evening it was off to my brother and sister-in-law's for Thanksgiving Dinner #3. Major kudos to those two on an amazing meal - roasted veggie soup, turkey breasts wrapped in oodles of bacon and smoked over maple, mashed potatoes, carrots and cornbread and chorizo stuffing. I supplied the cranberries (done in port with orange zest) and the dessert (apple, cranberry and raisin crisp) and it was truly a feast. All in all, a great weekend. Now time to get back to running..!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I didn't say too much regarding yoga on Wednesday...mostly because I forgot to...but it was a terrific class. We moved on to a few new poses that required quite a bit of balance and concentration. In addition our instructor had us practice a few Chaturangas (as shown on the right) which really helps to improve your upper body strength. I was able to hold a few of these for 30 sec each. If we are able to do good Chaturangas then we'll be able to move on to headstands before the class is up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get there..! The hockey game last night...meh...it was alright. If the game isn't exciting it is hard for me to get into it if I don't have a vested interest in one of the teams. Of course the game I am really looking forward to is tomorrow night's game versus the Vancouver Canucks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Canucks to pull out a win here. Besides hockey tomorrow night it is a pretty busy weekend here. We get a long weekend as our Thanksgiving is on Monday. (Did you guys know that Canada had its first recorded Thanksgiving 43 years before the American Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock?) I'm meeting up with the ladies for an 11 miler tomorrow morning. I opted to add the weekend mileage together into one long run on Saturday to get a final run in with the ladies before the San Francisco race in two weeks. Sunday I'm off to Edmonton for the day to be introduced to the new BF's extended family for their Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah....slightly nervous about that one so wish me luck. Monday is dinner with my brother, sister-in-law and niece. Brother D is smoking turkey breasts so it should be a good meal. And somewhere in the middle of all of this I have to attempt to study for my engineering ethics exam that is coming up on October 15. Pass this and I'm one step closer to being a Professional Engineer. This isn't really looking like a relaxing long weekend, is it?

A group run over lunch - a new recruit!

It was time to get a run in over lunch today, so I met up with Tamie, one of the ladies I met through Instructor S's running group. Also, a girl in my office, Pauline, is keen to join for runs even though she hasn't done much running so far. A new running recruit! I checked the temperature before leaving the office - 3 deg C!! Or 37 deg F... I did not pack my running clothes for 3 deg C weather so all of a sudden I was nervous. I grabbed my woolly cap and mits and Pauline and I took off to meet Tamie. As soon as we hit the pathway at the river we started running and within 30 sec I took off the hat and mits - too hot! This weather is a tricky one to figure out how to dress appropriately for... I was planning on running 4 mi, but since Pauline is still new to all of this she only joined us part way. She did a great job keeping up, and she is becoming gung ho on this running thing. Yeah...it is addictive! She's going to aim to run a race soon, as she's working hard to convince a few runners in our office that have fallen off the bandwagon that they should join for Thursday lunch time runs as well. I read a great article in the New York Times over the joys of group running, and it is true. You make true friends while out running - you bond faster than you might normally otherwise do, and all topics of conversation are on the table. I've really enjoyed running with Tamie so far and I feel like we share some great conversation. I logged 4.17 miles to make for 10 miles for the week so far. Tonight I'm off to see the Flames take on the Philly Flyers in their NHL home season opener. Fingers crossed for a good game!

Running fast with the Roadrunners

Last night I finally got my act in gear and met up with Karen and the Calgary Roadrunners in Edworthy Park. It was speed night and pyramids were on the menu in intervals of 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 minutes. We ran a quick warm up for about 10 min and then it was time to get going. There are some speedy people in this CRR group, but Karen, Lisbet and I all ran about the same pace so we were able to keep each other company. Even though the speedy folks took off in their intervals they always walked back to meet up with us during the breaks so that we could all start off together. It was good motivation trying to keep those speedy folks in sight, and I ran some fast intervals! 4.39 miles in 40:45 for a 9:17/mi pace - including warm up and cool down..!! Everyone was really welcoming and I had a blast, plus I got a great workout in. I truly believe that the best way to run speed work is with a group as it helps to have company even though you don't talk that much during the run. It really helps you push yourself more. Here I thought I was more of a loner runner and now I'm turning into a groupie. Karen is convincing me to try some of the CRR cross country races to shake things up a bit once I'm done with the Goofy in January. I may start with the 12-Mile Coulee Cross Country Race on January 26th since I can walk to the start line from my house..!

Feeling like a Snuffleupagus

Last night was arms and core at Fit Ball. I know my lower back is weak and needs some improving so this was a great class. Needless to say, I definitely feel the effects of it today. After the class was done a few of us went out for a quick 20 min run - 1.45 miles for me. This morning was a bonus cross training session as we had a fire drill. There is nothing like walking down 30 flights of stairs to kick in the leg muscles a bit! Tonight I have confirmed it with Karen, I'll be meeting up with the Calgary Roadrunners. I'm looking forward to meeting a few more people I can run with here in town since I'm definitely getting into the group running thing more and more. I'm also making plans to run with at least another one to two people over lunch on Thursdays as well. In bad news I seem to have caught this sinus cold thing that is making its way around. Tons of people around here seem to have it. Hopefully it won't take too long to clear up as San Francisco is right around the corner. Advil Cold & Sinus is about to become my new best friend...

4 mi - 12 mi - C-Level Cirque

Ah...so...the weekend in review...

Friday:
I got my SLR of 4 miles in over lunch. It wasn't really a pretty run - I think I learned that drinking a latte just before going on a run is a really bad idea because apparently milk + running do not mix well for me. Now I know... The great part was my mile splits were increasingly faster.
Saturday:
I met up with the running group ladies for 12 miles along the Bow River. We met up at 7 am - it was still dark and it was just above freezing outside. Time to admit that fall is here I think. Most of the group were running 22 miles as their final long run before tapering for the Nike Women's Marathon, but we ran 6 miles out west along the river and back, then I left them to finish of their run heading east and back. Thank goodness for the group because I wasn't feeling the run that morning and it would have been easy to try and put it off if I didn't have anyone to meet. 20 min in and I was in the groove though. We took it nice and slow and ran 20:1 intervals which felt surprisingly good. I think I'll still stick with 9:1s on my own and on race day though.
Sunday:
The rest of the weekend was spent up in Banff and I managed to get a final hike in for the year. We opted to hike the C-Level Cirque trail just outside of Banff - a 2 mi (one way trail) that gains 1500 ft in elevation along the way. It was a gorgeous day to hike - not too hot, not too cold - but as we kept climbing more and more snow appeared on the ground. Thanks to the warm weather the snow was melting, but that meant that a couple of times snow would fall off a tree branch and hit you on top of your head as you were walking along. The trail passes an old mine site, so you see the abandoned mine shafts nearby.For the most part is pretty well wooded around you. There was a short side trail to take out to a coal tailings pile for a great view of Lake Minnewanka. The view of the cirque at the top was amazing. It was a pretty quiet day for hiking - we only passed about six other groups out the entire time. The only wildlife we saw along the way were a few grouse and squirrels.

The official start to my Goofy training

This weekend my Goofy training officially started as I began my weekends of back to back runs with planned 5 and 10 milers. On Saturday morning I met up with Instructor S to run the pathway along the Bow River from Eau Claire towards Edworthy Park. Originally S had wanted to run 6 - 7 miles and I was going to keep up, but when she heard I was originally thinking about 5 we decided to cut the run down (she was breaking her long run into pieces this weekend as she was also running as a coach for Team In Training later that morning, but she is still training for the Nike Women's full marathon in October as well). We took the run nice and slow and she gave me some great pointers while we were running. The key one was to relax...I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and they really creep up, which also translates into the Fonzie thumbs up I tend to sport throughout most of my runs. Running slowly really brings out any problems with your posture and yours truly was no exception. So many things to keep in mind while out running. This morning I was a little concerned about bonking...my nutrition has not been the best this weekend (I think I od'ed on burgers) and I was sure it would affect me....not to mention I was way late getting started considering Maggie had a vet appointment early in the afternoon that I was going to have troubles making. I ditched the idea of running around Glenmore (my favorite 10 mile loop) and went back to run from Eau Claire up the Bow River since it was closer. I kept up with my 9:1 run/walk intervals and things were feeling good. The pathway was beautiful - nice warm temperatures and leaves changing colours. By a mile and a half in I was in a groove and I didn't even feel like I had run 5 miles the day before. I also tried out the cola Clif Shot Bloks for the first time on my run and I have to say that this is definitely my favorite flavor of Bloks...too bad they aren't available in Canada (at least anywhere that I've seen around here). I finished out my 10 miles feeling strong the whole way and then I raced home to rush Maggie to the vet. Interestingly enough, this week has probably been one of my most sleep deprived weeks thanks to things at work, but this was also the first weekend where I didn't crash out on the couch for a big nap after my long run. I can only hope that things continue to feel this way!

A final BBC, 3 speedy and buggy miles

Monday I made it out for a 4 mile jaunt through Edgemont. There isn't too much to say about it, other than it happened. It wasn't a fabulous run, it wasn't a bad run. Last night we had a final, bonus BBC session at Edworthy park. We did some work with resistance tubing, a stability ball, some step ups and tricep dips, and lots of abs. There was a lot of laughter and joking around in between all of the serious exercises and it was a fun final session. Some girls are continuing on for the fall session of BBC, but most of us are going it on our own. I'll still get some great work outs in with Instructor S at her Fit Ball class, so at least I know I'll still get challenged by her. I'll miss the other girls in the class though. After boot camp DGB and I hung around chatting with S for awhile, but we both wanted to get a few miles under our feet in preparation for our 10K in Seattle this week. We started out around dusk and the weather was perfect. DGB is pretty speedy so I wasn't sure we'd be running together the whole way - either because I couldn't keep up or because she wouldn't want to hold back. Despite the perfect weather the run was pretty gross. All kinds of aphids are out right now, and they were out in full force along the pathway. I honestly felt like a windshield as we ran through them and if I wasn't with DGB I might have considered calling it a night a quarter of a mile in. I probably don't give myself enough credit for how fast I am capable of running as DGB and I stayed together until the final sprint to the end and it made for one of my fastest practice runs in a long time. It was terrific to have company out there and it was great to talk about our thoughts on the upcoming Iron Girl race. Honestly, I'm really hoping to PR this 10K this weekend - but I'm hoping that I'm not so set on it that if I don't I won't be completely disappointed. At the end of the day though I'm looking forward to getting away, seeing the sights in Seattle, and being there for DGB's first race.

14 miles with friends

Saturday I had 14 miles scheduled. I was trying not to think about it too much, but this would be my longest distance...ever... I figured this was a good time to run with the group as I thought some company would be nice. We met at 7 am at Eau Claire. Most of the ladies were running 20 mi, one was running 11 mi. I was going to stick with the 20 milers and turn around when I hit my halfway point, but Tami, who is running New York City in November, opted to run the 14 with me so I had company the entire way. Honestly the miles were just flying by....and we were running 20:1 intervals. Let's compare that to the 4:1 I was running a few weeks ago... I've been doing 9:1 most recently, but I barely noticed the transition to the 20:1 for the most part. We ran along the Bow River, through Edworthy Park, up to Shouldice and into Bowness. At Bowness Tami and I turned around and headed back. Our pace started to pick up without too much thought but we were feeling good about it. We did opt to drop to 10:1 intervals in order to finish strong, and our pace kept getting faster and faster. 2 hr 42 min later we were back at Eau Claire, ready for breakfast and feeling terrific that we had knocked 14 mi out that day. It was great having company on the run, and I felt like the ladies I was running with on Saturday were a great match pace-wise. I also felt pretty strong at the end, and the legs weren't tired. The run did hit me after breakfast and knocked me out for a 4 hour nap though... But otherwise no soreness post run at all.

Group Hills....and a potential gong show

Tonight I met up with some of the ladies in the running group to run around Cardel Place on the northeast side of town. Originally it was looking like it was just going to be Stacey (the bringer of the birthday cake a couple of weeks ago) and I, but three other gals showed up as well. I was running a couple of minutes late as our group at work had gone out for drinks to say farewell to our co-op intern who is going back to finish off his last year of school. Except while my coworkers enjoyed some Guinness, or a Chambord martini, or an Alexander Keiths...I had water. Because I thought beers before hills might make for a bad combo. Anyhow....I made it to Cardel just in time to start our hilly run. The first mile and a half was essentially all uphill, but then we had an amazing decent overlooking Country Hills Golf Course. Then it was back uphill a bit more, and a pace pick up all the way back to the start. I really enjoyed running with the group - it sorted of took your mind of the hills a bit, and I definitely pushed the pace in the last 2 miles more than I would have on my own, but felt comfortable doing so. I don't normally post my mile splits, but they look interesting to me today, so: 11:31/11:08/11:04/9:54/9:04. Afterwards a couple of us went to Booster Juice for a smoothie before calling it a night.
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OK...seriously, what have I done..?? On my way home I got a call from a lady who noticed that I had curled in a Greenhorn (beginners) league last year. She organizes a rec league of her own and she was recruiting new players. Now let me tell you - last year was my first attempt at curling and it was quite the gong show. Ice and I are not friends balance-wise and I'm surprised I didn't lose a tooth from falling forwards and nearly hitting a rock. Gong show or not, curling was fun... I'm debating in my head...going over my crazy Excel spreadsheet of all my training runs and trips...but at the end of the day I couldn't pass up the chance to curl in an actual league. Games run October through March on Sundays. This should be interesting... The games are in the mornings, which should leave my afternoons clear for my long runs, which would probably happen in the afternoons anyway since I'll want to wait until it warms up. And I've made sure that there is a sub list in place since I know there will be weekends in October, December and January when I won't be able to play.

Hooray for Speed

OK, three posts in one day, I know that is a bit much. Tomorrow I'm off to Red Deer all day for a meeting (that's about an hour and a half north of town) and I didn't want you guys to worry that something terrible happened to me during speed work this evening if I didn't get a chance to blog about it. Not that I blog at work though. Ahem, where was I? Right, speed work this evening. I was super intimidated to run with these women again after they blew me away last week, especially considering we were going to run longer intervals. 1 km intervals to be exact. The good thing about running a longer interval is that you don't run quite as all out, and this time I was able to keep up with them with no problem. I even held a conversation with them in the speedy parts. In fact, I felt like I could have done another interval or two (which is great, because next week we are supposed to run 5 - 1 km repeats...). So anyhow...I finished up the night with another 3.88 miles under my belt. In order to bring my mid-week mileage up to 10 mi I may aim for a quick run before BBC tomorrow night. I'd like to try and keep my weekly mileage increases in that 10% range, hence the reason for squeezing that small extra bit in.

How about a little cake with your speed work?

Tonight I met up with Instructor S's running group for a little speed work along the Bow River pathway starting at Edworthy park. The plan was to do an easy jog for 10 min to warm up, then do 10 repeats of 2 min fast, 1 min slow, then another 10 min easy jog to cool down. During the easy jog I was thinking to myself, "This is great...I can keep up with these girls. This is going to be awesome." And then the speed work started. I think I discovered something about myself this evening. I really only have one speed. Sometimes I'll be slower on uphills, sometimes I'll be faster on downhills, but on flat ground....there is not a lot of differentiation between my fast and my slow running. At least that is what it felt like towards the end... I hung with the front girls during the first three minutes, but in the second pick up I lost them and wound up playing catch up the entire rest of the run. There were a couple of ladies a ways behind me, but otherwise I was alone with my thoughts on this speed workout. Here were my thoughts:

• Minutes 0-10: Hey....this is OK....this is going to be a great run.
• Minutes 10-13: Hmm, this speed work thing is tough.
• Minutes 13-15: Oops, I'm too slow...on my own.
• Minutes 15-25: Speed work sucks. Why did I think this was a good idea?
• Minute 25: Hey, I just remembered that I totally forgot to put Body Glide on.
• Minutes 26-50: Oh...dear...for the love of...why did I forget to put Body Glide on???
• Minutes 27 - 40: Oh...hey...I think I feel some lactic acid in my legs...
• Minute 40: Thank goodness for the cool down...I hate speed work.

One of the gals in the group was celebrating her birthday today, so another gal brought cake so we could all join in the fun. This group running thing isn't so bad if there is cake afterwards! So we put the tailgate down on the pick up and stood around chowing down cake which made for a great end to the evening. And then...bonus! Another lady in the group works for IKEA and she happened to have a bunch of coupons for money off. Looks like someone is taking a trip to IKEA this weekend.... And the fact that I hate speed work probably means that I should be doing more of it. Maybe I should be alternating hills and speed work..??