Posted by: Karen | May 23, 2010

5 Peaks Canada Olympic Park Enduro 8.5 km

I have only run one 5 Peaks race before, back in 2002. Compared to the Roadrunners XC Grand Prix series these races are expensive, but they also offer swag, on-site music, chip timing, longer distances in mostly warmer weather, different locations, and medals for age group winners. Compared to triathlons, 5 Peaks trail races are very affordable, I don’t have to manage so much gear, I get to run on DIRT, and their Enduro distances are just right for my preferred training level.

At this 1st race of the Central Alberta season we all received a nice pair of socks. Racers who had signed up for 5 of the 5 Peaks races this season were also supposed to receive a free 5 Peaks t-shirt, but a couple of us who signed up for a split of Central and Northern Alberta races were denied. Evan, the very cool race director, was nice enough to pull a couple of his draw prize shirts (without the 5 Peaks logo) to appease us, but I really want a 5 Peaks shirt. I signed up for 5 races; I want a series-branded shirt to show for it.

Never mind, I was not there for the shirt. I was there to run up and down and all around the dirt trails of C.O.P. Just before I parked my car I heard on the radio it was 2*C, almost freezing. No worries, I was dressed for it. I had some old sweats on over top of my racing clothes to keep warm until the start.

The race began at 10:00 am in three waves; Elite, Used-to-be-Fast, and Tourist. I started somewhere in the middle of the Tourist herd. I was passed by many racers in the first km, and passed a couple runners myself on the way up the first big hills. It was a typical double-loop race, where in the first loop I took it easy in between cautious racers who gently picked their way down single-track descents. There was no point in getting aggressive on the steep downhills at this stage – my pride would be sorely bruised if I tripped in trying to skirt around other runners, and they would all likely catch me on the next ascent anyway. Besides, I was running two loops and many of those at my pace were only running one. I would get a chance to go crazy if I still had energy left later.

About 2/3 of the way through the first loop the sun came out and skinny fast racers started lapping me. The racers around me weren’t bunched up in packs anymore. We had all spread out on yet another climb. I counted 15 fast lappers before gulping down a drink and turning off on my second loop of the Enduro course. The first lap took me about 40 minutes.

Now I was pretty much on my own. There were runners way ahead of me, and likely a couple more behind me. I was able to just run and hike my own pace without accommodating anyone else. The sun warmed things up considerably, and I was glad I’d left my warm layers at the start. The gloriously long, technical descents were well worth the climbs and I let out whoops of delight as I plunged downwards. The finish line was a perfect downhill grade. It was impossible not to finish strong and feeling amazing!

After the race I hung out with a few Roadrunners while munching on standard post-race fare; bagels, fruit, cookies and pretzels. The clouds took over the sun again and it got chilly during awards, but I just donned all my warm layers again. It was a good race and I definitely got my money’s worth. I’m looking forward to the next one.

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Posted by: Karen | May 22, 2010

Bike Commutes 16, 17, and Club Night

Wednesday and Thursday I continued to ride to work, and the legs continued to recover from the weekend. Wednesday I stayed at work an extra hour due to a workshop, but daylight hours are long here now, and the commute home was actually more peaceful without the usual rush hour traffic on the detour street.

Thursday my legs were back to feeling “normal” again. I was passed twice by the same speedy person on the way in. It was kind of funny – apparently I managed the under-bridge intersections better than she did.  When I caught up to her the third time downtown we laughed and she agreed the extra pathway distances to work around traffic lights are more efficient.

Thursday was also club night with the Calgary Roadrunners. Almost immediately after returning home I grabbed a granola bar and headed out to the north Tech Shop store. There was a good turnout with a few newbies. We enjoyed a nice social run up on top of Nose Hill Park before retiring to Kilkenny’s for refreshments.

Friday I didn’t ride or run anywhere. I took the day off work and spent some time with my kiddos in between optometry and dentist appointments. Towards the end of the day I dropped them both off at home and headed over to Mountain Equipment Co-op to pick up my 5 Peaks race bib and do a bit of shopping. I found a pair of capris I think will be perfect for my commutes and look forward to trying them out Tuesday.

Today I get to race the first of my 5 Peaks races this summer. I’ve had a drippy nose for the last couple of days – I thought it was due to tree blossom allergies (the May Day and crabapple trees are in their glory), but this morning it feels like a head cold. Ugh. I’ll manage. Wish me luck!

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Posted by: Karen | May 18, 2010

Rides 14 and 15

My legs were quite tired from Friday and Sunday’s runs, but I have committed to commuting by bike daily, so I rode. The weather is gorgeous this week, and I was not disappointed. Mayday and crab apple trees are blooming, emitting heady whiffs of sweetness.

Yesterday (Monday, ride #14) I took the new detour around the construction and got to ride on pathways instead of streets most of the way to work. I even tried a route through Centenary Park south west of the zoo and got to detour around more construction. The route was interesting, but not efficient. I just followed the regular pathway home.

This morning I my legs were still tired, but I reminded myself that I don’t have to race to work, just ride. I was still kind of sleepy as I rounded the zoo corner, but was rewarded with the sight of a waking bear yawning on the other side of the fence. It made me smile.

There were thunderstorms predicted for my home commute, and indeed I encountered some rain on the way home, but it had been warm all day. The rain was gentle and refreshing, and I didn’t hear any thunder. I enjoyed splashing through some puddles, and the clean, wet smell of the rain was delicious.

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Posted by: Karen | May 18, 2010

A Swim, Some Cheer, and a Trail Run

Little Runner was off at grandparents for the weekend, so I was free to do my own thing. I started off Saturday morning with a 45 minute swim at the local pool. I had not done any lane swimming for at least a few months, and it felt sooooo good to just quietly glide back and forth. I did not think much about my breathing, just mostly concentrated on overall form and rhythm. I wasn’t sure how long I could swim, but ended up with a very satisfactory 45 minutes, with few breaks. I have not been swimming much lately, but apparently the bike rides are keeping my fitness level up.

The rest of Saturday I puttered around on errands; recycling, grocery shopping, updating my car registration and license, housework. I cooked up a big pot of chili and had some friends over for a surprise party. The surprise worked, and we even got to play a fun game of Settlers of Catan that lasted almost until midnight.

Sunday morning I was up early again. I drove to the University and snuck into the back of the pre-race orientation meeting for the UCTC super-sprint triathlon. I wasn’t registered to race or volunteer, but it was Dawn’s first triathlon and I was there to cheer her on. I brought my camera and snapped a few photos throughout her race, in between whoops of encouragement. In between Dawn’s loops past transition I chatted with others I knew from a couple of running groups. Dawn did better than she expected, and finished with a huge smile.

I had dressed in running gear under my street clothes, so once Dawn was done I headed over to a dirt trail west of Valley Ridge. A running buddy had told me about this route, and I was delighted to explore new terrain with a friend. We covered about 12 km, mostly running, but with some hiking and a couple of rests to admire the scenery.  The path we followed overlooked Bearspaw Dam and the water-side community of Emerald Bay. It was a beautiful summer day, and leaves were just starting to pop open. I spotted buffalo bean wild flowers and even a few late prairie crocuses.

At one point we wondered where a certain dirt road led, and followed it up a hill to a locked gate.  On the other side of the gate there was a sign telling us what we had been running through:

“PRIVATE PROPERTY
NO TRESPASSING
GUARD DOGS”

Ut oh. The sign looked pretty old. We decided that the guard dogs had likely died off by now, took a couple of photos, and headed back down to do some more exploring. It was an awesome trail to run. I look forward to doing that again.

After the run I treated myself to a fudgesicle on the way home. I showered and dropped by to visit with my son before heading over to the grandparents to pick up Little Runner over dinner. After that I likely should have crashed into bed early, but instead stayed up to watch the Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Finale. It was well worth staying up late, but oh, now I need to catch up on sleep. It was a great weekend.

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Posted by: Karen | May 14, 2010

Detour Workaround

Yesterday and today I enjoyed bike commutes #12 and #13, for four commutes in one week. I would have biked all five days, but had a dentist appointment requiring me to use my car on Wednesday. I likely won’t cycle a five day week until the first week in June, according to my calendar. Even so, my legs are starting to figure this out, and they’re not feeling so tired at the end of the day.

I still have not managed to get all the way up the 6th Street hill on my bike. Since that heroic effort a couple of weeks ago, when I got as far as only 2 lamp post spans left, I have decided to save my legs and lungs and just get off the bike with 4 lamp posts to go. I’m still breathing very hard at the top, even walking. I might give the 6th Street hill another epic, all-the-way-up attempt later in the season.

I went for an evening run tonight after supper. My legs didn’t mind a bit. I didn’t take a watch, but a friend came along and we had a nice chat. We ran along my bike route, to see if we could find a better detour than the one the City has designated to get around the bike path construction near the Fox Hollow golf course. Sure enough, after a little exploring, we found a short-cut with far less change in elevation than the 6th Street hill. I just have to manage one nasty block of heavy traffic before ducking back through a parking lot onto the pathway again. I’ll try it Monday.

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Posted by: Karen | May 11, 2010

Bike Commute #11… and Beyond

Today I rode my bike to work for the third working day in a row, and my 11th bike commute this year. Goslings were out on the path in Prince’s Island Park, and I carefully skirted their protective elders on the way in this morning.

I’m not working 365 more days in 2010 – not that good at time management. I’m not even working 200 more days in 2010, BUT…

If I were to ride my bike EVERY SINGLE WORKING DAY between now and the end of October, not including vacations and driving because of occasional appointments, I could theoretically make it to 100 commuting rides, or what one of my employers who cycles to work calls “a century”.

At 16 km a day, that’s 1600 km of bike commuting, or $240 in unused bus tickets. That’s assuming that I am not hampered by extreme weather, injury, illness, parental duties or general wimpiness fatigue. I don’t know if these legs are cut out for riding five days a week. All that riding could make my running feel sucky for a little while too, but I bet after a while my legs will get used to it.

60 is definitely within my reach. 80 will require some discipline, and likely a new pair of capris. 100 rides in 2010 sounds like a challenge.

Ready for bike commute #11

Ready for bike commute #11

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Posted by: Karen | May 10, 2010

Bike Commute #10

I really like riding to work. This morning I rode past my bus stop just as my bus was stopping to pick up everyone but me. I still arrived at the office at the same time as I usually do, but feeling quite a bit more awake than when I take the bus.

On the way home I got a glorious whiff of freshly mown grass. Ah, wonderful! As I pulled up to my home I almost wished I lived further away.

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Posted by: Karen | May 9, 2010

Out and About

Last week was horrible in terms of May weather. We sometimes have brief snows in May in Calgary that last a day or two, but this week it was Monday – Thursday and it was still freezing on Friday.

Bike:
The snow and frozen puddles were not something I wanted to bike through. I’m not that hard core in the commuting department yet, so I bussed it Monday – Thursday. Friday was bike-to-work-day and the snow had mostly dried up, so I donned plastic baggies under my shoes, a buff under my helmet, and ski gloves, as I had done last month. I only made it part way up the hill, with 4 lamp posts left to go, but it was still a good ride. The sun shone the wind was light, and there was no snow. I tweeted about the ride, and Buzz the DJ invited me call in to 90.3 AMP Radio for a brief chat live on the air. Neat.

Run:
– Last Sunday I ran about 80 minutes on the pathway and into Nose Creek Park near Dawn‘s place. I walked too much and felt awful afterwards. I will take Ultima and a gel on my next long run. I will. At one point I ran alongside a train, which somehow inspired me to keep chugging along.
– Despite falling snow I ran Wednesday at lunch. Did two repeats of the curling club hill and felt great. It wasn’t bad weather for February.

Swim:
Last Sunday I took Little Runner and a friend to the Y and got in a few laps myself. It wasn’t much but it’s a start. That’s it.

Other Stuff:
Yesterday I cleaned out my place of a lot of stuff I don’t need.
– I had a bag of milk jugs, cartons, bottles, stuff with refundable deposits, so I gave those to the dude who fishes them out of our dumpster.
– I had a big bag of other recyclables in my car trunk (my townhome complex doesn’t have a blue box program yet).
– Earlier in the week I had stashed 2 bags of old clothes in my trunk, too.
– Now that I have closet organizers (thanks Dawn, who recommended CLOSETCO!) I have been unpacking boxes, so I had a back seat full of collapsed boxes.
– Dianne and Derek came and took the big extension ladder I had borrowed to paint my stairwell.
– Friday I read about a book drive the Firemen were supporting for a charity sale for Servants Anonymous, so I grabbed all the books I had culled through that I hadn’t disposed of in the move – 5 boxes of books! I was loading those into the car around lunchtime yesterday when my mom and step-dad Ed showed up.

Ed wanted to go to the zoo. He joked that he wanted to “see his relatives”, but really belongs to a photography club, and the recent assignment is to find letters in nature. I dropped him and his camera gear off at the zoo – does that count as recycling? Then I continued on to the Goodwill depot (clothes), the fire hall (books), the recycling depot at the grocery store (blue-box worthy materials).

After all that you think my house would float away, but no, I still have more stuff to sort through and organize from the move.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day today. All the best to you and yours!

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Posted by: Karen | April 21, 2010

More Exploring, and a Swim

Sunday morning I did some more off-sidewalk exploring in my new neighbourhood. I was curious as to how hard it would be to run up to Nose Hill Park from my place. Nose Hill Park is it’s own hill, but the surrounding communities all slope up towards it, so it’s a challenge to go visit it on foot. A good thing about living below it is that it’s all downhill on the way home.

On the way to Nose Hill I was delighted to run through Egert’s Park, a beautifully groomed, large green space I had not known about before. It was a gorgeous day, and there were a few others strolling about. There were a couple of very, very happy dogs bounding about off-leash.

I entered into Nose Hill Park through one of the four tunnel entrances under 14th Street. Going through the tunnels alone always creeps me out, but this was mid-morning on a Sunday; there were lots of other hikers and dog walkers nearby.

I didn’t get far into the park, as my time was limited, but I did get far enough up one side of the plateau to admire several fuzzy, purple wild prairie crocuses. They are a special spring flower that my mom always took me to see when I was a kid. I was worried that with this warm spring that I had missed seeing them, but there they were. Egert’s Park on the way to Nose Hill had me grinning hugely already, but the crocuses made me smile even more. I would have stayed up there longer, but I was running late and had promised my Little Mermaid a swim at the pool.

On the way back I bounded down through a narrowing green space between streets that felt kind of like an alley with all backyard views, but wasn’t. It spit me out on the busy thoroughfare of McKnight and I had to run a couple of blocks on concrete before working my way back to alleys and green space again.

After the run I quickly changed and grabbed a snack, and the kiddo and I headed off to a pool we hadn’t tried before. It was very similar to the one we usually go to, but closer to our new home. We hadn’t been swimming since the move, so it was good to be back in the water.

I’m looking forward to more exploring and more swimming next weekend.

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Posted by: Karen | April 15, 2010

Sweeping Gesture

Attention: City of Calgary, Parks & Recreation:

I would like to graciously thank whoever it was that swept all of the gravel off Calgary’s Nose Creek bike path under the bridges. This made my bike commute #4 today ever so much nicer, and I truly appreciate it. It almost made my climb up the agonizingly steep 6th St. N.E. detour around the closed bike path portion bearable.

No, I have not made it all the way up the 6th St. hill on my bike yet. I did make it up one lamp post further than I got to last week. I think I have about 4 more lamp posts left to conquer on that hill. I did cheer on one cyclist in orange, who crested the hill riding as I just about topped it walking. He encouraged me back.

I will really appreciate it when someone sweeps all the gravel off the shoulders of 6th St N.E.  I will really REALLY be grateful when the bike path opens again. Why is it closed until July?

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