Running Manhattan Beach

It was mayhem at LAX on Thursday night....ridiculous traffic getting into and out of the airport. I made it to my hotel in Manhattan Beach eventually, checked in and relaxed. My flight to Singapore wasn't until 8:00 pm on Friday so I had plenty of time to explore in the morning. I picked Manhattan Beach for my layover because of the ease it would present in getting out for a run. Let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed. I watched the news reports of the cool front that had blown in overnight to LA - the low was 49 deg F, high was 61 deg F. I dressed in a running skirt and long sleeve top, just in case this cool front really did feel cool. There was a pathway - Veteran's Parkway - that essentially connected the hotel to the beach.I ran down the pier - whew, it really was windy! Despite that it was an absolutely gorgeous day.I ran the Strand down Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach. On my left were all kinds of empty beach volleyball courts. On the right were all kinds of amazing houses.
It was interesting to see all of the different folks out running the Strand that day. There were folks bundled up in sweatpants and sweatshirts, a couple of folks out in shorts and t-shirts braving the cold front. There was one fellow out running in just a pair of shorts (no shirt) and a pair of gloves. I pondered over the point of the gloves... I regretted my decision to wear a long sleeve top - while the wind was brisk it had a cooling effect from the strong sun.
I ran up and down the Strand, ran back towards the parkway and finished up with 10 miles. I walked back to Manhattan Beach and stopped in at one of the restaurants for a late breakfast - carne asada benedicts. It was pretty tasty... A tea latte from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and it was time to walk back to the hotel. I checked out of my hotel and wandered over to a nearby movie theater where I caught an early afternoon showing of Juno. After that it was time to head back to LAX and check in for my 8:00 pm flight to Singapore. This run in Manhattan Beach definitely goes down as one of my favorites - beautiful scenery, a run that felt great, and a yummy reward breakfast. Good times!
***It is 9:43 am here in Singapore...time to start the day!

Someone has a problem...

I loved Jessica's blow out running skirt review on CompleteRunning.com. I am a huge running skirt fan. Evidently. I came home to discover my two new RunningSkirts.com skirts in the mail and it started me wondering....just how many skirts do I own? Well, with the exception of my zebra Gym Girl which is hanging out in the laundry hamper, there they all are folks. In sum total:

• 9 Skirt Sports Gym Girls
• 4 RunningSkirts.com skirts
• 2 New Balance skirts
• 1 Skirt Sports Roller Girl (not my favorite...too short)
• 1 Skirt Sports Marathon Girl

I took the zebra Gym Girl on its first test drive yesterday, and I am sad to report that this baby shall never see long run nor race. There is some stitching on the shorts that is really uncomfortable after awhile. Thank goodness I have a zebra Marathon Girl coming in the mail to remedy that issue. I think I seriously must be put on skirt purchasing hiatus though.

A good group will always watch your behind

Yesterday I met up with Instructor S's running group at the Eau Claire YMCA at 6:30 am. Wow, it is hard to meet anyone at that time of the day, but luckily everyone in the running group was feeling the effects of the early morning, so it wasn't just me. The folks training for the full had 15 mi planned, the rest had 9 mi, but we all started off together. Early on in the run I discovered a reason as to why it isn't always the best to wear your Fuel Belt down around your hips. I guess the belt was in the right position that my running skirt was catching up in the bottles and it wound up riding up to provide some extra air conditioning...ahem. Thank goodness for the shorts underneath, and thank goodness for the lovely person behind me who was able to point this wardrobe malfunction out to me. After a reposition of the belt I was good to go. There we go, chalk up one point to running in a group!

The pace of the group was significantly slower than what I've been running my long runs at - a good 2 to 2.5 min/mi slower - but the conversation helped the run to go by quickly. I hung out with the ladies running the 9 mi, so as I had planned on 10 mi, I wound up coming up a bit short. After the run we hung out at the Good Earth coffee shop, had a bite to eat, and waited for the 15 milers to finish up. All in all it was a fun morning. I enjoyed the group running, but I think I'd like to find a group that runs a bit closer pace to where I've been at lately. The interesting thing is - I'm not sure if I can attribute this to my pace or to the mileage I've been putting in lately - but it didn't feel like I ran that far yesterday. It felt almost...easy...

I had planned on yoga for my XT today, but unfortunately the yoga studio is closed since it is a long weekend here (Monday is Heritage Day for us in Alberta). Instead I found a few new items so that when I go back to yoga I'll be styling...

A birthday opportunity

Just in case anyone is interested in trying one of the skirts from RunningSkirts.com, now is a good time to do so. They are having a birthday sale, with 50% off select skirts. I love a good sale, I already ordered another two skirts...not that I need another two skirts...

Baker Park and the Doggie Swimming Hole

I've been feeling really fortunate lately, because Calgary is definitely a beautiful city, and a great city to run in. Last night that feeling was so profound as I went out for my 5 miles starting at Baker Park along the Bow River. I waited until 8:30 to run since the temperature was still holding strong at 30 deg C (86 deg F). It was pretty quiet out on the pathway for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. Baker Park then transitioned into Bowmont Park and all of a sudden there were a ton of people out on the pathways with their dogs. I rounded a corner and found the local doggie swimming hole and tons of happy barks and yips punctuated the air. Past the swimming hole the terrain started to change as the trees disappeared and the pathway started to climb up hills. It broke out on to a ridge that overlooked the Bow River and offered amazing views of the river valley. The pathway continued up along the ridge and offered some great hills in places. Before I knew it, it was time to turn around, just in time to catch the setting sun. I definitely need to come out here more often, and is one to remember for when my runs start getting really long. If you keep going along the pathway it continues to Shouldice Park (where I was running regularly in June) and it takes you all the way downtown.
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In the continuing spirit of trying new things (routes, running gear, etc.) I dug my Skirt Sports Marathon Girl out of the closet. I got it months ago through their Convert to Skirt program, but had never used it, partially because it feels so much shorter than my other skirts. Well, it still feels short, but it definitely felt breezy out there last night and I surely appreciated that. The Marathon Girl shall now enter the rotation.

New Favorites

I tried a few new things out on my run today and I officially have a few new favorites:

1. Fuel Belt: I tried out my new four bottle Endurance Fuel Belt and I was really happy with it. It stayed in place and felt really comfortable the entire way.
2. Sharkies: I finally tried these organic energy fruit chews out in Berry Blast (cherry and blackberry flavors). These actually tasted really good - kind of like a gummy candy but not as sweet, and not as salty tasting as the Sport Beans. Plus the small size was more manageable than the Clif Shot Bloks. And the best part? They are shaped like small little sharks!
3. RunningSkirts.com: I took this running skirt out for its first spin and I think this surpasses the Skirt Sports Gym Girl on the favorite list. The fit was great, and no chafing. I may look into getting one or two more these..!!
   

HSBC Calgary Half Marathon - The Race Expo

This weekend I hit the race expo for the HSBC Calgary Marathon. The expo was being held at the Mewata Armoury downtown. Packet pick up was smoothless as I got my race number, timing chip, shirt and swag bag. Once I grabbed all of that I was able to turn my chip in and get my personal chip registered, then it was time to look at the goodies! First up was all of the official race merchandise. Brooks is the official gear sponsor and they had jackets, tees, long sleeve half zip tops, all of which you could get with either the half or the full marathon logo. You could even get a finisher's shirt that they will imprint with your finishing time on it once you are done. The Running Room is also a big sponsor of the race, and they had a lot of gear for sale. The founder of the Running Room, John Stanton, was there signing copies of his books. Plus they also had a prize wheel you could spin, and I won a coupon for 20% off my next purchase at the Running Room. Other exhibitors included PowerBar (you could sample one of their drinks), Goody (more Stay Put hair elastics), CanMar Grain Products (sample some of their golden roasted flax seed), Accelerade (they make a sports drink with a 4:1 ratio of carbs to proteins, but I'm not sure what I thought about the taste), Herbalife (free sample of their Liftoff energy drink) and tons more. I picked up a skirt from runningskirts.com in choqua which I can't wait to try out. I also was able to get my zebra print Gym Girl from Skirt Sports as well. You could also purchase tech shirts from last year's race at a really good price, and the aqua colour of last year's shirt goes really well with my new skirt! The blue and white shirt is from this year's race, and it says "Run Calgary" on the back. My dog Finlay wanted an up close look at all of the stuff that I picked up at the expo obviously..!!
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The run starts at 7 am tomorrow. The weather forecast is OK, but not the best for the morning: 13C rising to 21C (55F to 70F), cloudy, with a 40% chance of showers. Here's hoping the rain holds out, but otherwise the temperature and cloudiness sound pretty good.
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Wish me luck tomorrow!

4 miles full of wildlife, and a skirt review

Yesterday was one busy day. We had the day off in lieu of Canada Day and I got in plenty of cross training thanks to my massive cleaning spree around the house. I wanted to move my Tuesday and Thursday runs to Monday and Wednesday this week, and I finally made it out for my 4 mile run in the evening. I decided to try a new pathway, so I headed out to Edgemont in the NW quadrant of the city to check out their pathways. The pathways follow the ravines in the area, so you are rewarded with rolling hills, and lots of green and nature. I spotted two deer out there last night, plus a ton of birds and ducks. Luckily neither of the deer decided I was a threat on the pathway and thought I should be taken out..!! It was a great route (loved the hilliness), and I'll definitely be adding this one in to my repertoire!

I also tried out my New Balance Bonita run skirt last night. I may have a stronger opinion of it after a longer run, but I did like it. I think the waistband may have a tendency to roll, but with my waist pack on that was minimized. The shorts did creep up (they didn't really feel like compression shorts to me), but I found them pretty comfortable and did not feel the need to keep tugging them down. I loved the shape of the skirt, but it would be nice to have a pocket somewhere. So yes, very comfortable, but I have to say I still think the Skirt Sports are my favorite though!

Skirtastic!

I am excited about the Calgary Marathon race expo next weekend. I'm a big fan of running skirts and I never run in shorts anymore. They are much more comfortable and it helps to avoid the rather annoying and painful "chub rub." Tights are a cold weather necessity, but I abhor those as well (mostly because they are so darn unforgiving).

Anyhow....my favorite running skirt company, Skirt Sports, is having a booth at the expo, and with any luck I'll be able to pick up one of these:

I figure the zebra stripes are bound to make me look fast....

There is also another company, Running Skirts, that is also going to have a booth at the expo. Maybe it is worthwhile trying another brand to see how it compares? I have a New Balance skirt that just arrived in the mail that I will be trying out soon, so we'll see how I like that one. Ah, who said running was an inexpensive sport?