All Downhill From Here

Correction: Right after I posted the previous, Hubby came home early and put Little Runner to bed while I scooted out the door for my 5k after all. First time running in the dark alone this year, but it was warm, dry and wonderful. I managed a 32 minute 5k and was quite pleased with myself. I felt fast and strong and grateful that I’m not skirting frozen puddles yet. I’m going to have to stop finishing off the run in the alley, though. There’s just not enough light to see predators or potholes.

Immediately after I got home, 5 minutes before Survivor was to start, Little Runner called from her bedroom. Her tooth had fallen out and she’d dropped it! I called in the reinforcements (Hubby, Soccer Boy) and we found the delinquent tooth just as the show was starting. Survivor first, bath later. After my bath the toothfairy paid a visit and then I slept very, very well.

Correction: Right after I posted the previous, Hubby came home early and put Little Runner to bed while I scooted out the door for my 5k after all. First time running in the dark alone this year, but it was warm, dry and wonderful. I managed a 32 minute 5k and was quite pleased with myself. I felt fast and strong and grateful that I’m not skirting frozen puddles yet. I’m going to have to stop finishing off the run in the alley, though. There’s just not enough light to see predators or potholes.

Immediately after I got home, 5 minutes before Survivor was to start, Little Runner called from her bedroom. Her tooth had fallen out and she’d dropped it! I called in the reinforcements (Hubby, Soccer Boy) and we found the delinquent tooth just as the show was starting. Survivor first, bath later. After my bath the toothfairy paid a visit and then I slept very, very well.

The weather has been lovely this week, if you don’t count frozen white crusty stuff that was on my lawn Tuesday morning. I can’t believe I’ve been too busy to run, but sometimes those weeks just happen. So last night’s run got bumped by a little girl turning 10 – c’est la vie! And a GOOD vie it is.

Today I did manage to ride my bike both to and from work (5.1 km one way), and rather enjoyed it. I had meant to get out tonight to run, but chose to do dishes and yack on the phone instead. Now said 10 y.o. who stayed up way too late last night needs to get to bed a little sooner tonight and my run will wait some more. Not going after she’s in bed either (even though her dad will be home then) as my one t.v. obsession is on, SURVIVOR, and the VCR’s still broken.

Maybe tomorrow…

I will be running for sure on Saturday. The first XC series race is at noon and I’m really looking forward to racing the 8k. Yippee!

I didn’t get my bike home on Friday, as planned. I didn’t manage my work time adequately and ended up taking the car back home in a rush to meet Little Runner’s school bus. I didn’t get the bike Saturday either, but did get in an eensy bit of cross-training at the pool. Little Runner went to a swimming birthday party and I went along to make sure she didn’t drown. We had a fun time, and I even got in a few laps of the pool.

Not getting the bike earlier meant I had to get it sometime, so I worked it into today’s long run. The plan called for a run of 12 km. I mapped out a longish route through Silver Springs to my work and ran it there; 7.5 km. I wasn’t feeling particularly energetic, but that part was a net downhill route and I reminded myself it was a Long SLOW run, and eventually found my stride. I made it there in 55 minutes and hopped on the bike.

Once on the bike I remembered that I’d brought along a new gel to try. Gord had handed out free samples of Honey Stinger at the store a few weeks back and of course I had to try the chocolate one. I knew it was made of mostly honey, and I normally LIKE honey, but it tasted terrible with the cocoa mixed in. Blech. I wasn’t enjoying my Raspberry Ultima very much either, but it washed away the honey taste at least. I ate it all anyway, and cycled the short route home.

I was interested in finding out how far my bike computer thought the distance was, but it looks like I need a new battery. The Google Pedometer map calls the short route home 5.2 km and it’s a net uphill route. After riding home I parked the bike, popped into the house for 15 minutes of parenting and a bathroom break and then left for 5 more km of running. I’d stopped my watch for the break at home. My body felt tired, but there was no pain involved, and my heart and lungs found a nice subsistence level of operation that even allowed me to run up the big hill I’ve been running on the usual 5k route.

By the time I got home I’d been working out for 2 hours. I haven’t run or done anything like that for 2 hours since before the Stampede Half in July. Funny, I haven’t felt this tired since then, either.

I quickly scarfed down some leftover salmon and a big glass of milk and went over to pick up Dawn and her granddaughter. We made it to the theatre just in time to watch March of the Penguins. What a miraculous story, well told with fantastic cinematography and music. I would never walk 70 miles to the grocery store just after giving birth. And if I returned from said far-away store with only fish breath after weeks of leaving my hubby with the kiddo, I’d better be bringing beer. Seriously though, it was a beautiful movie and I think penguins are miraculous, amazing creatures. If you are a parent, or even just love someone, it will give you new perspective on life and family connection. Go see it.

I topped off the day by signing the papers to SELL OUR VAN 🙂 Hubby had managed to sell it while I was at the movie. Isn’t he amazing? Oh, and I went out after supper and bought Little Runner’s birthday presents (she turns 10 on Wednesday). I’m getting a little stiff, so have taken some Advil and a Brown Cow (Kahlua in milk) and am heading for my electric blanket.

I usually only run three times a week, most often Tuesdays, Thursdays and one day on the weekend. I don’t ever plan to be an every day runner, but if I’m to run a marathon next summer, a fourth day of running a week is something I need to work in to my schedule. So Tuesday I ran with the group (as usual), Wednesday I ran home from work (an experiment) and last night I managed to get out for 35 minutes of running between supper and Survivor: Guatemala. I can’t think of the last time I ran three days in a row.

It rained a tiny bit yesterday afternoon, but by the time I got out after supper it had cleared up and the air was crisp and fresh. I was glad I’d worn my gloves and leggings, but didn’t really need the button-front fleece. Half the time I ran with it shrugged off my shoulders but still on my arms. I could see my breath, but the air tasted good. There is a substantial hill on my 5k route that I ran all the way up last Thursday and I did it again last night. Felt good to push to the top.

If the weather is nice this afternoon I’ll ride my bike home from work and leave the car there. First I’d better fill it up on the way to work, gas prices are going crazy again in some parts of our country (Hamilton, Montreal, for example). I hope that the Calgary gas stations don’t go all hysterical too. On that note, I’m sending calming, supportive thoughts to the Gulf Coast, to all those fleeing and already suffering from hurricane Rita. Calgary has a lot of connections to Houston, and any help we can give is on it’s way already.

I still have images in my mind of all those people being rescued from New Orleans and being sent to Houston. Now what happens to them?

You know all those times when I’ve wished I lived in a sunny, moist, climate, where it’s always warm and it’s only a short ways to a shrimp feast on a wharf? I take it back. Suddenly I’m very grateful to live in a place where “evacuate” is not a word that applies to my seasonal preparations.

This morning the sun shone, the birds sang, and I even found the key to the new shed Hubby built, so I could extract my bike from it and ride to work. Riding to work was the easy part. Figuring out what to wear and what to put in my pack was considerably more difficult and took twice as long. It took me less than 15 minutes to zip gently down through the streets and pathways to work.

After work I changed into running shorts and left my dress clothes and shoes at work, to bring home tomorrow. No need to add extra weight to my pack on the way home. I needed to be home on time to catch Little Runner from her school bus, but I figured that 40 minutes would be PLENTY of time for me to complete the 5k I’d mapped out, even with the elevation gain. I had neglected to consider traffic lights and school crossing guards. Even when I tried to make up for lost time by cutting through places, I found myself clambering onto a 3 foot concrete retaining wall and scaling a chest-high chain-link fence. It was my own little Amazing Adventure Race. I was positive as I sprinted down my alley that I’d failed my mission, but I tried the best I could. I made it home 5 minutes late, but thankfully the Darling’s bus was late too. I even managed to unlock the door, doff my pack, and pant for a minute before the bus pulled up.

I will give myself more time to get home next time I try this.

Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain, and I have errands to run for work, so I’ll take the car again. Friday, depending on the weather, I can walk to work (I won’t run, no showers at work) and cycle home, or I can run down and pick up my bike on Saturday. I’ll bet running to my work on Saturday will take a lot less time than running home did today.

I have to say I felt quite self-righteous as I jogged along. I’m used to being a runner, but today I actually was a running COMMUTER. Look at me, staying healthy and saving gas and carrying my lunch bag home in a pack on my back!

I’d had lots of reasons not to do it. Construction at work making it difficult to store the bike; it’s September, what am I doing starting this crazy practice in the fall, not the spring; what if a tire blows? what if I twist an ankle? what will I do when it snows?

I did it anyway. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it again, or for how many times, but I did it today. And that is good enough for me.

I went for a quick bike ride with Soccer Boy Monday night after supper. We had to keep it short, because the sun went down so soon. I took him on a couple of my running trails and we ended up walking the bikes up a couple of steep hills. He was much braver than I on some of the downhills.

Last night I ran with the Gord’s group. We started out in waning sunshine, heading East and South down to the river. Tim, Linda, Yolanda and I stayed together. I felt a little speedy last night so Tim and I ran up front. As we passed a bench near the homeless shelter where people often hang out, one of them called out to Tim “Don’t run ’em too hard, eh!” I joked with Tim that we should buy him a fuzzy purple fedora.

We yacked with Linda and Yolanda a bit, but after awhile I wondered if our pace was a bit too fast. I shouted back “How are we doing?” and Linda chuckled back “Let’s just say the conversation’s a little sparse back here.” We took a couple of walk breaks and before long Linda was saying that if Tim wanted 3 gals chasing him again he’d better get running some more.

We headed back over the Sunnyside train bridge to the sound of the river patrol gunning the engine of their stranded boat in a shallow spot. As we climbed a ridge back up to Crescent Heights, the sky was getting dark and all the lights downtown and in the neighbourhood below us looked beautiful. The temperature was perfect for running, the paths were dry, and we couldn’t have asked for a better night to be out. Not only did I felt pretty darn amazing towards the end, but I had to get to a bathroom soon, so I finished off the run at a slightly faster pace.

I wish I could order weather like that in bulk, and keep it just for running nights.

Today, I’m going to ride my bike to work, and maybe run home. I need to build a 4th day of running in per week if I’m to get serious about marathon training for next July, and Hubby often works Wednesday evenings. maybe if I run home from work it will still fit into my schedule. And I get some riding in, too. I plan on running down to work on Saturday to pick up the bike and bring it home. Or if it’s not raining too much I’ll ride it home from work on Friday and run back for the car on Saturday. It’s complicated, I know, but according to an online map, it’s only 5k to my work on bike paths and streets.

Friday night Hubby was asked to judge the homemade wines at the Chestermere County Fair again. Since Chestermere is East of the city and we live in the North West, we decided to do some East Calgary shopping before going back to pick him up. Here’s a store we spent a LOT of time in. I think Jon would approve, seeing as it was on a Friday.

Check out these chocolate and caramel apples.

After the mall closed Hubby was still wrapped up in judging all the entries, so we hung around the gym where many of the entries were displayed and I told Little Runner to have some fun with the camera. We set the resolution on very low, so she could take a lot of pics before the card filled up. When the card did eventually fill up, we erased about half of the photos due to fuzziness and set her off taking pictures again. It was a GREAT way to keep her from touching the entries. Here’s what the display tables looked like from her point of view:

I should mention that in Canada, first prize ribbons are red.

Little Runner really enjoyed looking at the entries submitted by kids.

Yesterday I got all dressed for a bike ride and was disappointed to find my gel bike seat was soaking wet from the recent rain. My morning window for riding came and went, and I spent the rest of the day caring for Little Runner and her fever. I did manage to make a couple of zucchini chocolate cakes, though.

This morning Little Runner’s still feeling kind of icky, but I got out for an early morning run with Linda for about an hour. The weather was PERFECT for a jog at about 8C/46F.

During one walk break about 2/3 through we came upon a chainlink fence bursting with sweet pea flowers. Beautiful! As we stuck our faces into the blooms to enjoy the fragrance a man stuck his head out the door and told us to pick some, if we wanted. Oh JOY! We each picked a modest bouquet and trotted off on the rest of our run. What a picture we must have been! Ah, but the camera was at home for that part.

I meant to capture Linda holding her bouquet when we got back, but forgot. So here’s a snap of my little bouquet instead. Little Runner was quite happy I’d brought her back some flowers.

Well, not really. I work in Real Estate, but my office building is undergoing a major re-surfacing. Since July I’ve had to walk through/under a maze of scaffolding to get into the stairwell and put up with machinery sounds that remind me that I need to see my dentist.

A construction guy cracked the outer pane in my window the first time he had the window out a couple of weeks ago, and with all the rain we’ve had lately, water got trapped between the panes. The Big Cheeze humourously named my window the goldfish bowl and we’ve been chuckling about it. Yesterday the construction guy took out my window again, applied a bunch of smelly goop around the frame, and put it back, still cracked, explaining that they still didn’t have a replacement. He had a huge grin on his face, though, because he’d cut out a grinning fish out of blue plastic and set it swimming in the window! I laughed to tears as he took out his jiffy marker and drew a little castle for the fish to swim through. I’m naming the fish “Bruce” because he kind of reminds me of one of the characters in “Finding Nemo”.

At least I got some fresh air in the office. With all the rain seeping through the wall, the carpet was starting to smell musty.

It felt REALLY good to get out after an early supper last night and go out for a run around the block. I hadn’t got out Wednesday night, but cleaning out the van-for-sale and grocery shopping will have to count as necessary cross-training. Last night I thoroughly enjoyed the freshness autumn air tempered with hints of decaying leaves (I love that smell). It had rained a little bit just on my way home from work so the leaves on the ground weren’t crunchy enough to enjoy shooping through. I made my way around my neighbourhood and stopped at the 7-11 for some whipping cream to have over fresh peaches later. As I came out of the store, I met up with one of our Calgary Roadrunners and jogged a little ways with her before turning back to my route. Last stop on the neighbourhood jog: I popped into a new friend’s house (they’re moving in this weekend) and she showed me her new digs.

I covered 5.6 km and got home in time to bathe and tuck in Little Runner before settling down in front of Survivor: Guatemala. Go Steph!