All Downhill From Here

… my thoughtful husband!

Last night I got stuck on the second packed, late train home, which meant also getting stuck on the late bus. I had left a Roadrunners run optional, and the possibility of making it was evaporating. My cell rang when I was almost home, and it was Hubby, saying dinner was ready, and where was I? 

He’d cooked up a steak supper, yum! He had the day off and thought he’d feed me before sending me off to running. I only had 15 minutes once I got home before having to leave again, but he patiently encouraged me to literally eat and run, which I did. Love him to bits.

It had poured earlier in the day and threatened to rain more, so only 5 of us showed up to run. After a warm up and a few drills, we ran 4 x 1 milers – the same as I ran last week.

This week I took off more than a minute total of my overall time from last week. 8:58, 9:11, 9:33 & 9:28, with breaks of around 3 minutes each to catch my breath. Cool! I’d thought I could do better, even with half a steak in my belly.

We ran in very light mist with a gentle breeze. It was perfect for cooling down and it smelled fresh. The mayday and other trees are all blossoming, so we were bombarded with sweet floral scents. The first mile blasted us between some grown geese and six goslings, but the parents didn’t seem to mind.

It dumped rain on the drive home, then drizzled again while I went to the grocery store and the bank. I got home in time to shower before tucking in Little Runner and Hubby (he turned in early) and then settled into a nice quiet evening of not-looking-over-my-teenager’s-shoulder.

Orienteering tonight, close to home. I’ve made sandwiches for supper already, so Little Runner and I should make it in time for a solid session of map-reading.

I’ve posted an Excuse Amnesty Run Report on the Calgary Roadrunners Learn to Run blog. We kept the event simple, friendly and fun. If I promise cookies next time I bet we’ll have a bigger turnout.

Thanks to Dawn for all the great pictures!

In other news, we’ve set up a facebook Calgary Penguins group. Sign up. Chime in with your ideas for getting each other out there. Resistance is futile.

I didn’t think I would be able to, but somehow the planets aligned and I showed up right on time with the 10k group last night. We warmed up for about a mile, then did few drills, plus some sit ups and push ups.

The group had 3 x 2 mile repeats on the program, which sounded a bit much for my first night back to speed work in almost 4 months. I aimed for 2 x 2 miles, but 3/4 of the way through the first mile decided that 4 x 1mile repeats would suit my present needs much better. Dave was holding back to 1 milers too, so he waited for me at the path markers.

As usual, the first couple of miles took a little adjustment, even though I managed them each in about 10 minutes. The third mile rocked. Even though it had the tiniest uphill grade (it was the reverse of mile 2), I squeezed it out in 9:30. The fourth mile was not too shabby either. I found a rhythm my legs could keep, and although the cardio system protested mightily, I dug in with 400m to go and hung in there for an 8:58 mile. Yay!

I know that I’m supposed to keep repeats to the same times if possible, but it was fun digging that last bit of gumption out at the end.

When I got home from the run, Hubby had barbequed salmon for dinner and had kept a plate ready for me, complete with a nice glass of homemade piesporter. What a sweetie.

Today I didn’t get home from my first day at the new job in time to take Little Runner across town to Orienteering. It was just as well, she had a headache and headed to bed not long after dinner.

Since the sun was still brightly shining, I got the bike out and zipped around Dalhousie’s hills for 35 minutes. I think I’m going to name the bike “Stretch”, because riding it is a stretch out of my comfort zone. I like riding, and being on a bicycle is not new to me, but riding this kind of bike this way, with a triathlon in my sights? That’s a stretch for me. Stretching is good.

I have to admit my training this last couple of weeks has taken a back seat to other priorities (The new job starts Wednesday. Did I mention that?). That’s okay, as long as I don’t let that happen too frequently. I’ll purge some of those excuses this Thursday and get them out of my system.

Here are a few more things that are inspiring me this week:

• Less than 15 weeks to the Moose Mountain 29k. Will I let the elevation and distance intimidate me this year? No. There, I said it out loud.
• I signed up to volunteer out in the mountains at the Banff-Jasper Relay this June, because volunteering is motivating. I’m starting to believe that mountains themselves are motivating.
• jeff’s video of running downhill on the Serano trail. WaaHOO!

Job hunting is like running through a maze. I know there’s cheese somewhere! It’s frustrating, tweaking letters and resumes for different positions, filling out on-line forms (personality shredders) and not getting responses.

Last week I changed mazes by dropping in at an employment agency that’s placed me twice before. Within two hours I’d been tested and interviewed, and they set me up with a prospective employer before I even got back to my desk. Over the next three days I spent five more hours in interviews and more testing, and this week accepted an offer to start next week. It’s fun, discovering new ideas and people along the way.

I’m struggling through mazes in my recreational life, too. Last week I tried to take Little Runner to Orienteering, only to realize that we’d gone to the wrong park. After making herculean efforts to arrive on the other side of the city early, we’d shown up at Riverbend instead of River Park. LR didn’t mind much – she was so tired she’d fallen asleep in the car. When we got home she gave me a hug to tame my disappointment.

It is so bitterly ironic that we got lost on the way to Orienteering.

This week we showed up at the right place and got lost on the course. This was going to happen eventually, right? We never did find control #6 out of 8, but we had a lot of fun trying. Every time I’d grumble that the course was too hard or grouse about the damp, cold weather, LR would exclaim in delight “Oooh, flowers!” or “We can see downtown from up here!” Once when I almost tripped she laughed so hard she couldn’t talk for a couple of minutes. I had no choice but to cheer up too! It helped that the course held a great big downhill slope at the end.

The blog has suffered while I’ve been a-mazing, so I’ll catch you up on a few more things before I go.

The CRR Club Night last week was a small group. The three faster guys left promptly at 6:30 and ran probably 8k, while I arrived 5 minutes late and trotted closer to 5k on my own. It was a delightfully warm night, complete with a strong breeze and new leaves popping out on the trees lining the riverside path. Afterwards we enjoyed beer and burgers and caught up on each other’s running plans for the summer.

Last weekend LR and I went to a friend’s cottage on a lake for the weekend. Sunday morning I got out the door with Derek for a solid 7 miler over rolling hills on a country dirt road. It was warm out but the cloud cover held for our run. It just what I needed.

This Tuesday my husband and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary, so I postponed rejoining the running group in favour of time together over sushi and saki.

Last night I stayed home instead of running in the rain because I just felt like it, and no one made me go out. I did get some work done on the Robert Hamilton Memorial Race registration site, however. So I was thinking about running.

We survived our camping weekend in a foot of snow at Winchell Coulee in the foothills. All four of my family spent Friday night in tents. The kids stayed warm because we made sure they had really warm sleeping bags. Hubby and I froze, because we’d only brought a quilt and some blankets (I thought we’d packed two quilts, but the second didn’t make it).

Saturday Hubby and I packed up the tent and the big air mattress and he took them home. The cold had made his hips ache terribly. The kids and I stayed and went for a long group hike, made crafts, hung out in the long house and wandered around camp outside.

When it got dark again they held a formal campfire with skits and songs and cheers from the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Ventures and leaders. The formal campfire was deliberately, absurdly serious and silly at the same time. We had to be silent going to and from the fire, with no flashlights, cameras, or knives allowed. We were not to applaud between acts, yet the songs and skits were hilarious.

Saturday night Little Runner and I stayed inside, in bunks in the heated long house – much better. Venture-boy came in from his tent just to give me a Mother’s Day hug before going back out to make breakfast with his group. It made my day.

I ate breakfast with the Vents. They made sausages and pancakes on an outdoor griddle. We ate outside while the sunshine tried to turn the snow into slush. Little Runner stayed inside with the Beavers in the dining room. They’d pack up first, then eat later.

I went for a short run of about 40 minutes on a very big hill in the mud and slush. When I returned, Little Runner proudly presented me with a second breakfast of pancakes and sausages. Very funny!

After breakfast there was a “Scout’s Own” ceremony in lieu of a church service – very interesting. They also held their “swim up” and “leap up” ceremonies for those kids moving up levels.

Hubby came out and brought us home. The second we got home, Little Runner gave me a little plant she’d started at school (which I’d discovered and watered before we left) and a clay pot and tissue flower she’d made. Vents-boy gave me card he’d slipped into the cart when we were grocery shopping last week.

Then we unpacked and started laundry and bread and cookies for the week, and invited hubby’s parents over for take-out Swiss Chalet chicken – yum. I was tired, but we sure packed a lot into the weekend!

Hopefully I’ll have some pics for you later in the week, but for now, on with our regularly scheduled lives…

We survived our camping weekend in a foot of snow at Winchell Coulee in the foothills. All four of my family spent Friday night in tents. The kids stayed warm because we made sure they had really warm sleeping bags. Hubby and I froze, because we’d only brought a quilt and some blankets (I thought we’d packed two quilts, but the second didn’t make it).

Saturday Hubby and I packed up the tent and the big air mattress and he took them home. The cold had made his hips ache terribly. The kids and I stayed and went for a long group hike, made crafts, hung out in the long house and wandered around camp outside.

When it got dark again they held a formal campfire with skits and songs and cheers from the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Ventures and leaders. The formal campfire was deliberately, absurdly serious and silly at the same time. We had to be silent going to and from the fire, with no flashlights, cameras, or knives allowed. We were not to applaud between acts, yet the songs and skits were hilarious.

Saturday night Little Runner and I stayed inside, in bunks in the heated long house – much better. Venture-boy came in from his tent just to give me a Mother’s Day hug before going back out to make breakfast with his group. It made my day.

I ate breakfast with the Vents. They made sausages and pancakes on an outdoor griddle. We ate outside while the sunshine tried to turn the snow into slush. Little Runner stayed inside with the Beavers in the dining room. They’d pack up first, then eat later.

I went for a short run of about 40 minutes on a very big hill in the mud and slush. When I returned, Little Runner proudly presented me with a second breakfast of pancakes and sausages. Very funny!

After breakfast there was a “Scout’s Own” ceremony in lieu of a church service – very interesting. They also held their “swim up” and “leap up” ceremonies for those kids moving up levels.

Hubby came out and brought us home. The second we got home, Little Runner gave me a little plant she’d started at school (which I’d discovered and watered before we left) and a clay pot and tissue flower she’d made. Vents-boy gave me card he’d slipped into the cart when we were grocery shopping last week.

Then we unpacked and started laundry and bread and cookies for the week, and invited hubby’s parents over for take-out Swiss Chalet chicken – yum. I was tired, but we sure packed a lot into the weekend!

Hopefully I’ll have some pics for you later in the week, but for now, on with our regularly scheduled lives…