All Downhill From Here

 
moar funny pictures

I couldn’t resist posting this shot from one of my favourite blogs. They make me laugh every day, and I don’t even own a pet.

I don’t know how many games of tag I played as a kid – tons. Now I’ve been caught in a blog tag!  Here are the Rules:

• Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
• Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

My tagger: Loping Loubob Linda

1. I sang mezzo soprano in my college choir, and still enjoy listening and humming along to choral music.
2. I rode my ten-speed everywhere as a teenager. It wasn’t exercise, it was transportation. I frequently rode sitting up, without using the handlebars.
3. On race mornings I can’t eat both pieces of toast, even though every other day of my life I eat two pieces for breakfast.
4. When I’m conversing with new, interesting people I can never think of any good questions until after it’s too late to ask. It drives me nuts.
5. I read the entire book of Heidi and much of the Anne of Green Gables series up in a big ol’ poplar tree down my back alley when I was 11.

Now to tag a few more folks: Sarah, Glenn and Una.

Oh yes, I ran with the CRR 10k group Tuesday evening. Jason, Thomas, Davey-the-Scot and I ran to and around Bruce’s loop to warm up and then did 6 x 600m repeats back and forth in the park near the Children’s Hospital.

The path there has a slightly undulating incline, which makes the 600m up seem like a lot more work than running it back down. I totally miscalculated my effort in the first sprint up – set out at a 400m cadence and just about heaved up a lung by the end. I guess I shouldn’t have drunk that extra coffee late in the afternoon at work earlier. Davey was nursing a sore calf and was going to pace me, but exclaimed at my craziness, “What the heck were you up to!” All I could gasp as I shook my head, with my hands on my knees, was “No good!”

I sensibly kept the rest of the up-slope repeats at a decent tempo pace, and let Dave carry the conversation while I grunted short replies.

I won’t be out tomorrow (Thursday) to either the oval or Club Night – got a swim date with the Little Swimmer. I will be running at least 5.5 miles for Ryan on Saturday, though.

I don’t know how many games of tag I played as a kid – tons. Now I’ve been caught in a blog tag!  Here are the Rules:

• Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
• Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

My tagger: Loping Loubob Linda

1. I sang mezzo soprano in my college choir, and still enjoy listening and humming along to choral music.
2. I rode my ten-speed everywhere as a teenager. It wasn’t exercise, it was transportation. I frequently rode sitting up, without using the handlebars.
3. On race mornings I can’t eat both pieces of toast, even though every other day of my life I eat two pieces for breakfast.
4. When I’m conversing with new, interesting people I can never think of any good questions until after it’s too late to ask. It drives me nuts.
5. I read the entire book of Heidi and much of the Anne of Green Gables series up in a big ol’ poplar tree down my back alley when I was 11.

Now to tag a few more folks: Sarah, Glenn and Una.

Oh yes, I ran with the CRR 10k group Tuesday evening. Jason, Thomas, Davey-the-Scot and I ran to and around Bruce’s loop to warm up and then did 6 x 600m repeats back and forth in the park near the Children’s Hospital.

The path there has a slightly undulating incline, which makes the 600m up seem like a lot more work than running it back down. I totally miscalculated my effort in the first sprint up – set out at a 400m cadence and just about heaved up a lung by the end. I guess I shouldn’t have drunk that extra coffee late in the afternoon at work earlier. Davey was nursing a sore calf and was going to pace me, but exclaimed at my craziness, “What the heck were you up to!” All I could gasp as I shook my head, with my hands on my knees, was “No good!”

I sensibly kept the rest of the up-slope repeats at a decent tempo pace, and let Dave carry the conversation while I grunted short replies.

I won’t be out tomorrow (Thursday) to either the oval or Club Night – got a swim date with the Little Swimmer. I will be running at least 5.5 miles for Ryan on Saturday, though.

I’m passing on an e-mail, received from another local runner, about a local tribute to Ryan Shay, the marathoner who died last week in New York. I don’t know Malindi (author of the e-mail), or Ryan or his wife, but I wish my condolences to all who are connected to them.

Hi All,

As I am sure most of you have heard, a 28 year old elite marathoner passed away last week at the US Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC. As runners, I am sure this hits particularly close to home – he was out trying to achieve his dreams and doing what he loved most in the world when he was struck down by a massive heart attack.

I knew Ryan and he actually helped me with a couple workouts earlier this Spring when I was in Palo Alto. His wife, Alicia, is a good friend of mine and a former Stanford team mate. They were married three months ago and were both training for the Bejing Olympics. Since his death last weekend I have been trying to think of something to do/ to help – not that anything can be much of a consolation during these tragic circumstances. However, my thoughts keep drifting back to some way to help Alicia…as a full time runner she does not have carding (American) and lost her sponsorship last year when she quit running…but thanks for Ryan’s support she had re-newed her love and passion for running and was excited about training and racing again at next year’s Olympic trials. As such, a few friends from Stanford and I are trying to help out financially while she gets back on her feet. We are hoping that she can still pursue her Olympic dreams when she is ready and not be totally limited by lack of finances…as Ryan was the “bread winner” if you will.

What I was thinking of is holding a large group Memorial Run Monday at 10 am at the Weaslehead. Although any small contribution to be sent to her directly is appreciated, this run is more than just about fund raising. It is also an opportunity to get together and run in Memory of Ryan and any other special person in your life that you have lost. As a holiday for Rememberance Day, it is also an opportunity to remember all the people who have served (and continue to serve) our country to make it the mostly wonderful place we enjoy today.

Details:

When: 10 am
Where: At the parking lots at the North end of the Weaslehead off 37th St and 66th Ave.
Who: Anyone – spread the word, bring your dogs, kids, friends and walk or run
Why: To have our own little runner’s Rememberance Day Event

And for all you CIS kids…for one less celebratory beer you can help a fellow runner out and make sure you feel well enough to join us in the morning 🙂

Go Dinos – good luck at CIS!

Malindi

Editor’s Addition:  There is also another way to Support Ryan and Alicia, if you can’t make it to the local Monday run. Jeff, one of my Californian bloggy buddies is organizing a virtual hometown run in support and memory, on Saturday, November 17.

Tuesday and Thursday I ran outside behind the Roadrunners 10k group again. We did a few 600m repeats back and forth on Bruce’s Loop on Tuesday, and three hill repeats on the Foothills Hospital hill last night. We might have done four hills, but a few of us are planning on racing the Edworthy Cross Country tomorrow. That should make up for keeping the hill workout short.

Now that it’s dark and getting colder, the outside group has become smaller, but we have been running in shorter loops, so as not to leave folks like me behind too much.

I say “folks like me”, because I know you’re out there, wondering if you should come out and run with us. You’re wondering if it’s worth cutting into your schedule to drive all the way to the U of C to struggle with parking, just to be left behind by a group you’re looking to for support. You’re thinking that running isn’t really a social sport, and you should just suck it up and run on your own until you’re faster. On the other hand, you’re wondering if you really want to run alone all winter in the dark.

If you’re still reading, you’re probably wondering why I’m rambling on about this. I’m not quite sure, myself. I just know that I am a much more consistent runner and my best is a little better when I’m challenged by a group to show up and put in the effort. You might not be a runner like me, or you might be a lot like me and don’t know it yet. Let me know if we should look for you next Tuesday, eh? See you out there.

One more thing, if you are a Calgary Roadrunner member, check out the new members-only Forums feature on the CRR website. You can get to know some of our other members on-line, ask or answer some questions, even plan meet-ups or find a running buddy. See you in there!

Yesterday one of my favourite triathletes, Linae, completed her first Ironman. I signed on to the ironmanlive website as soon as I woke up, and tracked her all day long. I didn’t stay with the computer all day, but I checked back frequently to see how she was doing. I kept the live streaming video screen going on my computer, with her checkpoint results open in another window.

Shortly after she headed out on her marathon distance run, I headed out the door for an hour on my favourite trails. I took Linae and all those ironpeople out with me. When I needed my cadence to be strong and even, I called up images of the racers approaching the finish line.

I savoured the dry, snow-free dirt paths of one of my favourite trail routes and wondered how many more times I will get to run there before the route is all iced and snowed over. The weather was perfect; 8*C, 46*F.

Up, down, up again
Dirt, trees, roots, grasses
On top, see forever
Fresh air, happinesses

After a shower and dinner I settled in with a glass of wine and watched racers finish while I waited for Linae. By this time there were all kinds of racers finishing. So many parents crossing with their kids; people crossing with loved ones and kissing them; exhausted, happy people and some just plain exhausted.

I saw Joe, Linae’s husband, working the finish line as a “catcher”. Every racer who crosses the line at an ironman race is assigned a volunteer to escort them from the finish line and make sure they are alright.

Linae finished well ahead of the possible goal time mentioned on her blog. It was over in a few seconds for us watching at home. Someone Linae’s height, wearing her trisuit, with her body shape and head shape and a huge smile approached the finish line, victoriously crossed, and was whisked away. Was that her?

Within seconds, the tracking site confirmed it was indeed Linae. Woohoo! It was so fun watching the finish line that I kept the video streaming until the race finished. What a happy place it was!

Where did October go? It went by so fast, I forgot to celebrate my third blogiversary.

Tuesday this week I showed up with a few Roadrunners to run outside from the winter meeting place at the entrance to the Olympic Oval. Some runners opted to run inside on the track and five of us headed outside to run “Bruce’s Loop”. The ground was dry and the temperature was still above freezing. I really didn’t see why I should pay $3 to run indoors yet.

Bruce’s Loop is less than a mile away from the Oval, and is about a mile long. We all jogged and chatted together to the start of the loop near the Children’s Hospital, and then stretched out into our various paces. The faster ones waited for the slower ones to finish the loop before doing their next loop. I was the slowest, but was not allowed to feel bad about it, as the faster ones cheered me in at the end of every loop. We did 3 loops and cooled down on the way back to the meeting place.

Thursday I met up with them yet again, kind of. I was a little late after dropping off Ninjutsu Boy, but parked near the University and jogged up towards the meeting point to see if I could meet the group as they came out. There was a bunch of fenced-off construction in my way, so I just turned around and headed down to hospital hill, where I knew they’d end up anyway.

It turned out there were just two Roadrunners willing to do hills outside. There were four hills on the plan, so that’s what we did. Last week five of the same hills did not feel as hard to me as those four did this week. Sometimes runs feel good, sometimes they are more challenging.

It was a crazy week outside of running. I was the mom-taxi for soccer three nights in a row, and then Wednesday was Halloween, which meant taking the boy to a party and following the girl around trick or treating in between. This week will be a little less hectic, thank goodness.

I got a TON of stuff done this weekend. It’s amazing how much I can accomplish when I’m avoiding paperwork and don’t have any races to distract me. I bought groceries, baked bread, cleaned bathrooms, paid bills, did laundry, took in Little Runner’s glasses for repair, dropped off my new blazer to be tailored, took Soccer Boy to his practice, all kinds of stuff.

Saturday night I attended the Calgary Roadrunners AGM, and am now on the executive as a “Member at Large” I’m not sure exactly how big I need to be in this role, but we’ll figure that out later. I’ve also become the new race director for the Robert Hamilton Memorial Race. You know how it is, if you want something done, ask a busy person…

Sunday I dressed to run, but made the mistake of checking in to see how Nancy, Holly and Shawn were doing in the Marine Corps Marathon. I became hypnotically drawn to the very cool online chip tracking system and cheered them from afar most of the morning.

Somehow I forgot to write my Confederation Park XC race report. He-e-ey… I like writing race reports. How did I miss that? I missed my weekend run, too. Got so busy it just got squeezed out of the weekend.

I did run earlier in the week. Tuesday night Hubby had to work late, so Little Runner came with me to Soccer Boy’s practice. She played on the playground while I ran loops around the school yard until it was too dark to see the ground.

Thursday night I dropped off the Boy at Ninjutsu and ran hospital hill five times (ups took me about 4 minutes) in near-freezing, very fresh air. Wearing my fuzzy new pink mittens made it a little easier.

This week I’ll be back with the Roadrunners both Tuesday and Thursday. Note that our meeting location and time has now changed to the Olympic Oval entrance at the U of C, at 6:45, to be ready to run at 7 pm. We’ll still run outside, as long as it’s not too icy out. As it will be dark, we won’t be doing the same kind of speed work as we were along the river. If you’d like to come but don’t want to pay for parking, (like me), leave me a comment and I’ll e-mail you back with a couple of options. 

Thursday night I didn’t run, but still showed up at Club Night after everybody else’s run, for a beer and a burger. Excuses coming later.

Saturday (yesterday) I walked a new race route twice with Dawn, but it wasn’t race day. More photos on my flickr page.

 

I have a race report inside me from today’s 3 x 4k cross country, but it’s not written yet.

For now we’ll just say that we had FUN (as always), and I think I set a personal best.