All Downhill From Here

Last night the I ran 18 x 30/30’s indoors with the CRR 10k group at the Olympic Oval. After our usual, gentle, 1800m warm-up-and-chat-session, we set our watches to beep every 30 seconds and hit the track running hard… for 30 seconds at a time. We slowed to a slower, recovery jog for 30 seconds in between each sprint.

18 of anything is a lot for me to manage, so I just reset my chronometer on my watch to zero and remembered to start it before starting my 30 second timer. My watch has been doing strange things since we replaced the battery over Christmas, and at first I couldn’t get it to work for more than one 30 second interval at a time. Then it would only beep for 5 in a row and stop. No matter, as Liesbeth‘s timer was working well. She raised her hand and called out the sprints and jogs until I worked out an alternate timing method with my watch.

I love running short sprints. Here’s a sample of my internal conversation last night:
Free Me (FM): Wheeeee! Look how fast we can go!
Sensible Me (SM): Are you sure you can do this for 18 minutes?
FM: Only 30 seconds at a.. jog’s over. Wheeee!
SM: Hellooo! The jogs are getting hard. FM? Are you listening?
FM: Wheeee!
SM: You know, this pounding is gonna hurt later. WTF is with this watch?
FM: Wheee! (puff puff)
SM: (puff puff) Who sucked the oxygen out of here?
FM: (puff puff) Whee. (puff puff)
SM: Suck it up, F. 13 more to go. Sprint now!
FM: (gasp) who’s idea was this? (splutter)
SM: Jog’s over. 12 left. Run!
FM: (puff) watch (gasp) sucks (wheeze) lemons!
SM: “Only 30 seconds”, eh? 11 more. Go!

Jocelyn and I slowly lost Liesbeth somehow, and I only realized that J was still with me when she asked me how many more we had to do, about half way through the set. She didn’t have a watch, so had tucked herself in behind me like a shadow. I was constantly fiddling with my watch on the jogs, to reset the timer and not lose track. I think we might have done an extra minute or two, but J had no complaints. We walked a full lap after the 30/30’s before resuming a cool down jog.

Sacha, one of our new Penguins, came out again last night. She brought a friend, and they walked and ran around the track while Sacha passed on the track etiquette and basic starting suggestions we’ve covered recently. I’m going to have to give them to a starter’s program if they keep this up.

Jason, our fearless and very organized leader, gave us all printouts based on the tests we did last week. Very cool! It showed us goal paces for our upcoming speed workouts and possible race paces if we can build enough stamina with the workouts.

I’ll be back at the track Thursday for a few stairs, but not too many. I’ll be saving some climbing energy for Saturday’s XC race in Tuscany.

… but I seem to be moving right along without one. Yes, yes, I will work on it.

Tuesday night last week I did an “11 minute test” with the 10k group, except it wasn’t really to be exactly for 11 minutes. We were to run somewhere between 4-6 laps of the 450m track, whichever we could do in 11 minutes. I managed four laps in 9:55 and didn’t try for another lap – the pace in that last lap was dizzingly hard to keep up. This was a benchmark kind of test. The group will do the test again a few weeks later and we’ll see if we’ve improved.

After the test, the plan was to complete 4 x 400m repeats, but I only got one done before I had to cool down and go pick up Soccer Boy from practice. 50 minutes is just not long enough for me to do the whole workout, but at least I got some fast running in. Some is better than none.

Our newbie, Sacha, was there again, and we chatted briefly in between the 10k assignments. She walked some laps to warm up, then worked on running the straight sections of track. Every time I passed her I’d give her a “Go Sacha” and keep on going. We grinned as we encouraged each other.

Thursday I ran indoors again at the Oval, since there was no one to run with at Club Night downtown. I did a four lap warm up and three sets of stairs before cooling down with four more laps.

Sunday morning I made up for Thursday night’s dearth of running buddies by showing up at Dawn‘s local running store for their weekend group run. She led the learn-to-run group out on a jaunt around a nearby pond, and I hooked up with the 10k group for a 6k run out to Nose Creek Park and back. Our route was almost entirely covered in a few inches of sugary snow, so I was glad I wore my Yaktrax. I started out in the middle of the group, and finished with the front pacers – a different experience for me!

It was a cold morning, and our faces got all frosty. Even the women had white whiskers. Dawn took a picture of my face frost before it all melted.

It’s Dawn‘s birthday on Thursday and *jeanne*‘s birthday Tuesday. Go drop by their blogs with some happy wishes!

Sometimes I feel like I’m paddling upstream.  I think I need to do some dreaming and plot a better course.

The River

Written by Garth Brooks & Victoria Shaw 

You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin’ as it flows
And a dreamer’s just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what’s behind you
And never knowing what’s in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores.. and

I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I’ll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry

Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
‘Til what we put off ’til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don’t you sit upon the shoreline
And say you’re satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide.. yes

I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I’ll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry

And there’s bound to be rough waters
And I know I’ll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all.. yes

I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I’ll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry

Yes, I will sail my vessel
‘Til the river runs dry
‘Til the river runs dry

Yes, there is white stuff covering the ground and the cold wind is blowing it everywhere. Suck it up, folks. It’s January. and I’m still going to run outside for Club Night.

Coming? Need a ride?

We had beautiful, sunny weather for the Nose Creek cross country race on Saturday. Dawn did a great job of organizing it and we all pitched in. Her daughter, Carrie and I helped set up the tables and chairs at the hall with the Taerums and Karin. I also got to be the “rabbit” for the kid’s 1k race, which (joy!) involved running down a hill (whee!) and then coming back up. It was a nice warm up. Little Runner ran the kid’s race and stuck around the finish line the rest of the time. Soccer Boy was a course marshal and enjoyed taking pictures of all the runners as they came by.

The course itself was very brown, with hardly any ice at all. Even though I didn’t push my pace, it was still a good workout, with over an hour of running and walking. My inactivity over Christmas and that cold at New Year’s must have taken more out of me than I thought.

After we got home and cleaned up, took a short nap and then we all headed out to a housewarming party. There was a karaoke machine and we got carried away making noise most of the evening.  Sunday I caught up on housework, baked some bread, edited photos from Saturday (I’ll post some later), and then headed out to another party, at Sander and Liesbeth‘s house.

It was a busy weekend.

Last night I cooked a good dinner for us all and even made it onto the bike in the basement later in the evening. I didn’t spend a lot of time working out; it was more of an orientation for myself. I played around with gear shifting, and learned how to clip in and out of the pedals with the special shoes. I think the seat is at just the right height, but it’s going to take some time to get comfortable on it. I might swap it with the seat from Olga, my old mountain bike, and see how that feels.

Tonight I’ll be running around inside at the Olympic Oval. Thursday I’m hoping to show up at the Calgary Roadrunners Club Night, as I wasn’t able to attend much in the fall, and won’t be able to again for the next few months.

Club race series are very motivating – when you know you have an 8k race coming up every 2-3 weeks, you train.

I’m normally stingy with my race fees, but the Grand Prix series in which I run charges a mere $7/race for members. They provide the course, volunteers, timing, community hall and soup. We bring the fun, our soup bowls and a pan of brownies to share.

After I’d tried out half the series (and I did the 4k option for 2 of those) back in 00/01, a friend challenged me to do “All the Eights” in 01/02. So I did. I’ve been hooked on them ever since.

Today will be my 28th Grand Prix race in a row. Dawn the Pink Chick is directing this one, and our families are volunteering in various capacities.

I get to be the “course sweeper”, which means I have to run last and tell the volunteers when it’s time to pull up their flags and come in. This isn’t a difficult task for me – last race I gave it my all and was second last anyway.Here’s what I’m bringing for dessert:

Sorry to disappoint Linda and Anne, but I’m not pregnant. I do have a new baby bike!

Surprise! One of my former running buddies sold me her very gently used tri-bike. She was very happy to clean out her garage, and I was equally as delighted to hand my Christmas bonus over to her. She’s about my size, so the fit of the bike and even the shoes seem to fit well. I’ve got it set up on a wind trainer in the basement in the t.v. room, and am looking forward to learning something new.

You know what this means; yes, I’m hoping to try a triathlon this year. I’m thinking maybe the Strathmore Women’s Sprint Tri, as I’ve heard very good things about it. I’m pretty sure I can swim the distance required, which means I’ll have to get in the pool as well, but for now, the bike.

The bike was surprise number one. Surprise number two is that I’ve agreed to be a leader with the Tech Shop North’s Learn to Run Clinic, which starts February 18th and leads up to the Mother’s Day 10k (My raceversary. Woohoo!). This means I’ll be taking a 12 week break from the Roadrunners group for the spring. A very good thing about the timing of this clinic is that it is mostly between my kids’ indoor and outdoor soccer seasons. Also, I often find myself in a motivational slump in March and April so this will help me get out the door.

One of my other running goals for the year is to challenge my 10k PR once again. Leading the LTR group will not include speed work, so I’m going to have to figure out a way work that in separately. You know, between bike rides and soccer seasons…

Did I mention in that last post that I had a surprise for you? Well, I’m not telling yet. Mostly because I have a lot to do today, and the surprise isn’t ready to blog. I’ve actually got two surprises for you, and they’re related to my goals for this year, but you’ll have to wait some more.

In the meantime, I’ll tell you about my run with the Roadrunners at the Olympic Oval last night. It was nice to see many of the regulars back with the 10k group, and we even had a few new runners show up. While everyone else started out on their four-lap warm up jog, Sasha and I did a couple of laps of brisk walking while she told me about her fitness background and plans. I gave a brief overview of the track rules, markings, and some social and physiological pointers for starting out. Annie and her friend joined us a couple of laps in, and we began running the straight portions of the track and walking the curves.

Once the new folks were set in motion, I picked up my pace. The 10k group’s assignment for the night was to do 5? 6? x 800m repeats. I chose not to settle in for the whole workout (just didn’t feel focused) but I did one 800m with Meaghan, another one with Liesbeth, and a 400m at tempo pace (not really pushing it) on my own before cooling down.

… but the folks over at Complete Running have made their page even better. I’m looking forward to spending some time over there, to see all the great stuff they’ve done.

I’ve re-submitted my blog to the Running Blog Family directory using their new form, as they’ve made the list searchable under several different categories. If you blog about running and want more readers to find you, make sure you do the same. Dawn explains it better here, and you can learn more about it from others in her comments.

I’ve also got another surprise up my sleeve this week, but you’ll have to just stay tuned for that one.

My friend Gabino had an idea to get a group of crazy runners together this Saturday, and maybe raise a little money for charity while he was at it. No waivers, course marshals or clock, nothing heavily promoted – just a couple of on-line ads on local running sites and facebook. He marked most of the trail with orange chalk the day before, and we would all chip in an optional donation, maybe enough to buy a goat. The first one to finish the route would get to have the group’s donation in their name.

Cool, right? Yeah, Jason and I thought so too. A few others we knew liked the idea as well, but they couldn’t make it, so it was just Gabino, Jason and me for the inaugural running of what just might become an epic series of events.

We met at Angel’s cafe, north of the bridge to Edworthy Park. We ran east from there for a couple of miles along the north side of the river to warm up before hitting the slopes of the Douglas Fir Trail from the east entrance. Gabino sent Jason and I off promptly at 9 a.m., and hung back a little longer to wait for any latecomers.

Now, I haven’t done a whole lot of running in the last couple of weeks, and Wednesday I came down with a doozy of a head cold. The snot factory that had set up production in my nose on Thursday had abated somewhat, so I was up to putting in an effort. I trotted alongside Jason at a decent pace for me, and let him fill in the conversation gaps when I needed to catch my breath.

Just as we were approaching the train track crossing to enter the trail, a train came along and we had to wait. This was good timing for both me, who needed a break, and for Gabino, who caught up to us while we waited. Then we followed the trail up and down through the park.

The single track paths were mostly either hard pack snow or dirt. There were some icy patches around a couple of the wooden bridges, but most of the time we just zipped right along without much concern about our footing. The guys slowed their pace to stay with me, gents that they are, and helped me over one of the bigger ice flows.

There were a few other women out on the trail that morning. They had Yaktrax or ice cleats on their shoes and easily clicked right over the ice. I didn’t have my yax on – really didn’t need them for most of the course.

The temperature was just below freezing, with very little breeze, especially in the heavily treed park. Some of the handrails on the staired portions were slick with a thin layer of frost, but by the time we got to those I’d tucked my mittens away. When I needed to use them for balance I’d touch the side of my hand to the side of the rail.

As I was breathlessly toiling up one of the lo-o-o-ong, steep stairways, I tried to tell myself it wasn’t really all that hard. I just kept moving as best as I could. The best part about a hilly route for me is always the running DOWN part, and I thoroughly enjoyed kicking up my heels. Most of the downs were technical enough to distract me from whooping “Wheeee!” but I was thinking it inside. You know I was.

A few landmark moments stick out in my mind from the course. Aside from the glorious beauty of the heavily treed slopes, there is one part at the bottom where we run through a meadow of shoulder-high grasses next to the train track. This day the grasses were beautifully frosted up.

As we crossed the site of a former landslide, we saw a cuddly doll stuck up in a tree. It looked absurdly happy there, and we laughed as G captioned the image: “Where dolls go to hang out when they’re bored.”

There is a look-out area from the top of one of the western climbs with a fabulous view of the river and the pathway along it. We stopped there for a brief breather before tackling the remainder of the route.

We covered the course in 68 minutes, slowing down a little through the picnic area of Edworthy park and on the pedestrian bridge over the river for a cool down. After some stretching we headed in to Angel’s for hot drinks and a nice visit before heading home.

After my post-run shower at home I indulged with a little nap to keep the head cold at bay, and then got on with the rest of the weekend.