All Downhill From Here

Confession (sorry Mom): This weekend I could have driven up to Red Deer to gather with the rellies for my auntie’s birthday, but had prior plans to attend the quilt show here in town with my visiting brother and his wife. Brother had to cancel, and he very nicely did so in time for me to revert to the Plan B, the birthday party, but I didn’t. I forgot all about it until late Friday night, and didn’t have the desire to rearrange life for a drive north.

Confession: Soccer Boy had a game in Cochrane Saturday, to which I had assumed Hubby would take him. Hubby forgot about the game, and chose instead to start replacing our fence. Though I’m grateful about the fence work, I grumbled that Hubby would choose it over kid time.

Blessings: Not that I mind watching my kids play soccer. I like that part. Bonus? The sun shone. This must have been the first game this season where I didn’t have to wrap up in three fleece blankets or even a jacket field-side. Extra-wonderful bonus? I got to snuggle with a 2? week old sleeping infant for the entire second half of the game! And a lady bug landed on my shoulder. Life does not get much better than that.

Back to confessions again: After Tuesday’s speed workout I tried to ignore the repercussions of a) neglecting to take the post hard workout cool bath and b) lying around the rest of the week. I should have gone for an easy jog Thurs or Fri to work out the lactic acid. The acid sat there quietly and painlessly in my muscles until Sunday, when I finally extracted my head from Youtube and Facebook and hauled myself out the door.

Lead legs 😛 Served me right. It took me a good 40 minutes of hiking, interspersed with brief burst of sluggish running, to actually find a groove. The groove lasted about 2 minutes on a downhill stretch of trail.

I knew not to be lazy. I was still lazy anyway. Ouch. Hopefully the memory of sore, heavy legs will remind me not to do that again..

Confessions: Since I left my run so late in the weekend, I never did get to the quilt show.

Blessings: I did follow up the lead legs run with a sunny afternoon walk to the 7-11 with Little Runner, for slurpees and Cheetos. Hang on, is that a confession or a blessing? Both, I guess.

*WARNING*  *WARNING *  *WARNING*

Graphic photos of Mr. Snowman in advanced state of decay. Viewers who might suffer trauma from seeing him in this state should skip to the flower photos below.

 Most experienced Calgarians are not phased by a May snowstorm,
because we know that the next day it will all just melt away.

I must apologize for taking the winter lining out of my dress coat yesterday, because the winter gods had obviously not yet gone to sleep. What was I thinking?

Last night I showed up promptly with the Calgary Roadrunners to run along nice and easily with any Penguins or new runners, but none of those folks showed up. Not sure why – maybe my über-elitist snobby attitude and incredibly buff physique make me too intimidating to be on the welcoming committee. Ah well, I’ll still be there next week, and the one after that.

Plan B kicked in: Whatever the CRR Skinny-butt 10k’ers Were Doing. I warmed up alongside them for 10 full minutes before letting them edge on ahead of me towards the starting marker. Dawn‘s right – the view IS better back there. They had 8 x 400m repeats on the schedule, which didn’t scare me much. Eight repeats seemed like a lot to me, seeing as I hadn’t done any repeats since February, so I aimed to complete six.

Somehow I managed to complete five 400m sprints in a very consistent 2 minutes each, give or take a second or three. Some of the 10k group were still catching their breath as I reached the first few path markers, and cheered me on before diving into their next sprint. I made sure I took at least a minute before each repeat, to let my heart rate and breathing recover. The sixth repeat took me 2:07, which was a little long, but I still felt like I had at least one more in me, so I did a seventh in 2:09 and then took a two minute rest before cooling down.

My legs were like rubber by now, but I ran on the grass and looped around trees to keep myself entertained for 10 minutes, to make sure I’d cooled down enough.

By now the 10k group was back from their repeats, and members were doing alphabet drills and stretching. I gamely joined in for a few butt kicks, skips, and horsey steps before stretching and heading home.

There are five weeks left before my first big race this year, in which I plan to run 18 kilometers over hilly mountain trails in the K-100 Relay.

Last Saturday, May 12, I managed 90 minutes of hilly trail running, which sounds like a lot until I confess that I walked more than I would like to admit. Last weekend was warmer and sunnier than anything I’ve trained in so far this year, so I’m chalking up my slow pace on that run to seasonal conditioning.

I ran my usual route through the Ranchlands parks, up through Hawkwood and into Edgemont. I made it up to the top of the ridge above the rec. centre, then came back down and home through Dalhousie. I took a chocolate Clif Shot gel at about 50 minutes, and sipped Lemon Lime Gatorade mixed from a powder throughout the run. Even chocolate Clif Shots have a bitter taste to them, blech. It must be the brown rice syrup. Immediately after the run I took a cool bath, and suffered no residual stiffness.

This Saturday I broke my usual 10% per week increase rule for stretching the long run, and ran happily up and down and up over much of the same route for 128 minutes. This time I made it all the way up to Nose Hill Park, where I touched the entrance sign, stopped by the bathroom, and then headed back home. I took a chocolate Powergel at about 50 minutes, and thoroughly enjoyed the rich caramelly taste of it – way better than a Clif Shot.

Instead of coming directly down the hill and home through Dalhousie like last time, I nosed my way back around the Edgemont plateau ridge before returning the way I’d come out through Hawkwood. The panoramic city and weather-laden view towards the west was spectacular, and I struggled to keep my eyes on the trail.

The wind was stiff and cool, and perfect for keeping me cooled as the sun peeked in and out of the clouds. In the few moments where the wind was blocked by trees, I actually missed it, as several mosquitoes found me and took advantage of my bare arms and legs.

There is a big dip in the middle of Edgemont, which means I had to climb up out of it before I could cross back into Hawkwood. After 90 minutes of running I was having a hard time running UP again, but remembered how Linae counts steps when the going gets tough. I started counting steps. I thought I would just run 20 and walk 5, but gained some momentum and ended up counting to a hundred at a time. Yay me.

After almost two hours of running I was nearing my home neighbourhood and my stomach had begun to slosh. I stopped sipping the Gatorade and focused on getting home. Little drops of rain started to fall sporadically, and I dared the skies to open up. My legs were getting all wobbly and achy, and I was really glad to be close to home. Once there, I immediately took a 4 minute long cold bath just barely deep enough to cover my legs (shiver). The bath did the trick again, because recovery has been a breeze.

I’m not an every-day runner. Lately it’s a challenge for me to wring out three runs a week, but somehow the social runs always draw me out.

Last night Hubby made dinner and took the kids to soccer and a birthday party, and I ran along the river with Josh and Trish. Well, at first I started out with Josh and Trish, and then in the second half I ran behind them in my typical Penguin mode. It was interesting, listening to them talk about Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, Vermont, Boston and Montreal. We ran to the Crowchild bridge, crossed the river, then turned back East to the Prince’s Island bridge before finishing up – slightly less than 5 miles.

J & T are newbies in Calgary. Trish actually reads this blog (See? You aren’t the only reader) and came out to see if I really am as slow as I say I am. Josh saw the notice on the CRR web site and came out to see if our members really are as social as we say we are. Ahem; members? We could use some help here…

Ken and his guest Jim were there too, but they started late, so we met them back at the Key West Bar and Grill afterwards. They finished early to make up for being late, and snagged a good table away from the stereo speakers.

We shared some bruschetta and the guys had burgers. I did indeed have a Big Rock Honey Brown, in between two large glasses of water.

Next month’s run is June 21st – mark it on your calendars. Maybe by then we can sit out on the patio after the run.

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow (Thursday) is the Calgary Roadrunner’s monthly Club night. Come for a nice run beside the river and meet some other members on the run and/or in social mode afterwards.

Since I missed Tuesday’s run for a very interesting work event (Did I just blog about work out loud? oops), I’ll be making up for it by showing up at the Club Night tomorrow. I might have to suffer through a post-run beer for good measure.

I actually did get out for 90 minutes of trail running on Saturday morning – beat the slug monster after all. More on that later.

Sunday morning Little Runner and I ran and walked the Mother’s Day 5k with ~12,000 of our fellow nuts, out in the drizzle. More on that later, too.

That will have to do, while I go play the circus plate-spinning game this week. Woohoo! Let’s see how many I can keep up there…

I’m spending a lot of time out beside soccer fields this month and next. I realize this is a blog about my running, but my kids do a lot of running out there on the field, so it sort of counts.

* * *

Soccer Boy’s first game of the season was an exhibition game against a feisty team from a younger age group. The teams were well matched with no clear dominance evident, even though many on the opposing team were smaller. At one point Soccer Boy twisted his ankle and as I tended to him, I remarked about his opponents’ strategy. He straightened up and grinned “I’m like those dragon lizards – just trying to look BIG!” It does work sometimes.

* * *

Monday night I settled in beside Little Runner’s field. She’s 11 and this is her first soccer season. I really hesitated to sign her up for a team sport, but she really, really wanted this, so here we are. She’s the smallest one on her team, and a little more clueless than the other girls about what to do out there sometimes, but her team mates are generously patient with her. When she seizes a moment to rush to the ball, oftentimes the others will back off and let her at it. She kicks the ball, I cheer her on, we both feel elated, and we have redeemed the full value of registration and rushing through supper.

Oh yes, back to Monday’s game. Hubby hadn’t made it to one of Little Runner’s games yet due to work and being there for Soccer Boy at his fields. Monday night, early in the second half, he made it to her field and started cheering her on. It was funny, the moment she realized he was there. She was running away from us on the field, towards the play, and then her upper body turned back towards him. She stopped and her whole face lit up like a firecracker as she turned back and waved, totally oblivious to the play. Hilarious! and beautiful.

* * *

Wednesday night we had a double header. Little Runner played at 6:15 and Soccer Boy played at 8:00. I volunteered as Line Flag Waver for her first half, then left the game at half time to get Soccer Boy to his field 3 neighbourhoods away. I had a ride arranged for LR, so set myself to stringing up the nets for SB’s game. Eventually we settled down in the biting wind and watched the boys play while the sun set.

SB was one of the fastest runners out there (my totally unbiased opinion). It is a pleasure to watch how his skill and strength have improved over the years, and I really enjoy watching his games.

By half time both LR and I were shivering, despite snuggling up together in our winter coats, sweaters, mitts, and three fleece blankets. I leaned over and asked another mom if she could bring our boy home, as LR was starting to fade. “Yeah,” said LR, “and I’m getting tired, too.” Aw.

Last night was one of those nights when all of the planets lined up for my run. At 5 pm I was sure I wouldn’t be able to squeeze it in, but one by one all my excuses were magically eliminated. Before 7 pm I strode out in the evening sunshine in my running togs, feeling strangely like Cinderella must have felt stepping out of her carriage at the ball. 

Well, except I didn’t have glass slippers on. I had on running shoes with sticky bud-cases caked on the soles, from Tuesday’s run under newly green trees.

And there was no prince to woo, just a couple of upcoming trail races calling me up and over the neighbourhood’s big grassy hills. The hills that have courted me with wild crocuses over the last month still had a few purple fuzzies left in shady crevices, but now were mostly covered in bright yellow buffalo beans and budding buttercups.

It took me awhile to warm up, but by 35 minutes I was boldly charging up hills with a mad grin/grimace on my face, egging myself on out loud between lung-busting gasps. Oxygen depletion has an odd way of making hill play interesting.

I returned home after a 50 minute workout, pleased as punch. My carriage turned back into a pumpkin, and I returned to my mommy-merry-go-round while I hummed a little tune.