All Downhill From Here

I bought a green 2000 Chevy Malibu on Saturday, as part of our “reduce the family debt” campaign. This summer we moved to a smaller home, now I’m moving to a smaller vehicle. I’m not crazy about the green colour of the car, but at least it’s a tasteful, very dark teal-green. The Malibu was owned by a retired army vet and most of it’s moderate miles were acquired on the highway. It’s got new brakes and tires and seems very dependable. Just what I need.

Now my white 2002 Olds Silhouette is up for grabs for a mere $15,200. When we bought it I had a vending machine business, a big dog, we still went camping and carpooled to soccer. We rarely camp any more. While Soccer Boy is still playing, we never transport more than one or two extra kids. We don’t need the extra space or the extra loan payments. We’re going to miss it – it has keyless entry, a power sliding door, removable, foldable seats, and a bike rack. It even knows the way to all my favourite races 🙂

Last night I got to drive the Malibu to Gord’s for the usual run. Linda and Yolanda were both back after their summer hiatus (what’s plural for hiatus?) and were raring to go. We jogged out to Tom Campbell’s hill and took a scenic street we hadn’t tried before on the way back. We were out for 57 minutes according to my watch. I was so happy to have my running partners back that I must have yakked their ears off. I must reign myself in and listen more next time. We had so much fun we planned another run for Sunday morning at 8.

It rained most of the weekend here, but by this afternoon the sun came out and I got out for a dry run after all. There were just enough puddles to make it interesting.

I planned my route ahead of time today using the Gmap Pedometer because I wanted to make SURE I got in 10 km. I don’t trust my run-by-time method when there are hills en route, and I’m still getting to know my new neighbourhood. Even though I wrote down the streets to follow from my map on a scrap of paper, I messed up my route and found a street I didn’t know existed. I went south instead of north on Dalhousie Drive, missed Dalhart Whatever and ended up on Buckboard Road instead.

I guess it figures that a western-themed town like Calgary would have something named “Buckboard Road”, eh. At least it was an interesting detour. Believe it or not, it’s got a couple of older farmhouses and country-type lots mixed in with triple-garage mansions on the other side of the street. If it wasn’t on an uphill slope I was trying to avoid I might have enjoyed it even more.

Ah well, I still got my “easy” 10 km done, and made it back in around 75 minutes.

My blogging’s been a little sparse lately, but at least I’ve been running. The kids are back in school, which strangely enough doesn’t give me more time to myself. I find myself having to shepherd them out the door in the mornings in a strange paradoxical flurry of insisting that they get dressed, eat a healthy breakfast, pack a healthy lunch and be on time for their buses, while at the same time cheerleading/cajoling them to do this all independently.

Drives me nuts.

Fortunately, Hubby was home both Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so I got out the door in my running shoes. Tuesday I met up with Dawn at Gord’s as per usual. She decided to run on her own so Kelly happily ran with me and we did the medium run to the 14th St. bridge and back. I chatted along happily and ran a brisk but comfy pace for over 50 minutes. We only walked when crossing 2 bridges on the way back.

Last night the sky clouded over just before dinner and the wind picked up, but I just threw on a long sleeved cotton shirt with my shorts and got out the door anyway. There are few weather conditions for which cotton shirts work, but 13C/55F with a stiff breeze and rain sprinkles was perfect. As I left my crescent, I fell in behind a Running Room class whose students were practising pacing. They were running along at different paces and learning how their efforts felt at each pace. It sounded interesting, but I was out for a quick tempo run myself, and rather enjoyed leaving them behind in the dust.

I left them behind 🙂
I ran a tempo pace for most of 40 minutes 🙂
and it felt rather amazing, when I wasn’t climbing a hill and gasping for air.

I would say I felt strong and capable for about 80% of my run last night, which is a really cool thing. Other really cool things – the brisk, Northwest wind was refreshing and energizing, especially when I faced head on into it. The way my neighborhood streets work mean that facing into a north wind means I’m going uphill, working hard and getting hot, so the wind cools me down. Best cool thing: it rained a little. Just enough to give me tingly splashes of sensation on my calves as I kicked behind me. Just enough to cool my sweaty neck and shoulders, but not enough to get my glasses wet or sog my feet. Just enough to moisten and sweenten the air my lungs hungrily guzzled.

I’m looking forward to a solid long run of at least 75 minutes this weekend. Nothing onerous, but something longer than I’ve managed over the last couple of months.

Every year around this time I have a little run with friends and we go back to my place for some baked brie wrapped in Pilsbury crescent rolls. This year much of our group was otherwise occupied (2 with impending weddings and Dawn has a very sore toe), so it was an intimate brunch with Linda and Dianne. I gave Linda a tour of the pathways and parks I’d recently discovered in my neighbourhood, and then Dianne joined us for brunch and we had a nice visit. The sun shone, only a few trees are starting to turn colour, and we appreciated many gorgeous back gardens in their last stages of summer bloom. Linda and I ran for about 55 minutes or so.

After the girls left I puttered around the house doing weekend housework until it was time to go over to the in-laws for an Indonesian shrimp boil for supper. Shrimp always makes me think of Forrest Gump and the Gulf Coast and we couldn’t help but shake our heads sadly over the dire situation in the Katrina-ravaged states.

If you’re like me when the conversation around you turns to the upsetting topic of how scary it’s been in New Orleans this past week, Anne Rice’s piece about what it means to lose New Orleans has been very helpful in giving me a native’s perspective.

Author’s P.S.: I almost forgot to mention that our friend Dudley found a way to contact the Penguin Yahoo Groups and so far he and his family are doing okay.

Every year around this time I have a little run with friends and we go back to my place for some baked brie wrapped in Pilsbury crescent rolls. This year much of our group was otherwise occupied (2 with impending weddings and Dawn has a very sore toe), so it was an intimate brunch with Linda and Dianne. I gave Linda a tour of the pathways and parks I’d recently discovered in my neighbourhood, and then Dianne joined us for brunch and we had a nice visit. The sun shone, only a few trees are starting to turn colour, and we appreciated many gorgeous back gardens in their last stages of summer bloom. Linda and I ran for about 55 minutes or so.

After the girls left I puttered around the house doing weekend housework until it was time to go over to the in-laws for an Indonesian shrimp boil for supper. Shrimp always makes me think of Forrest Gump and the Gulf Coast and we couldn’t help but shake our heads sadly over the dire situation in the Katrina-ravaged states.

If you’re like me when the conversation around you turns to the upsetting topic of how scary it’s been in New Orleans this past week, Anne Rice’s piece about what it means to lose New Orleans has been very helpful in giving me a native’s perspective.

Author’s P.S.: I almost forgot to mention that our friend Dudley found a way to contact the Penguin Yahoo Groups and so far he and his family are doing okay.

Thanks so much for your birthday wishes! I like birthdays. They mean I’m living longer, which is way better than, well, not. They remind me I’m one year closer to my ultimate running goal of winning a 90+ age group award someday.

My run this morning was both serendipitous and sad. I don’t usually run in the mornings unless it’s a weekend long run with friends or a race, but tonight I’m booked for something else. I was awake early anyway, so I got the togs on, downed a cup of coffee and a slice of whole wheat bread with Nutella, and headed out. My runs from home lately are a basic quest to just “get ‘er done” – find something as close to flat and mindless as possible and don’t come home for X (today X was 40) minutes.

I ran for 2 minutes and walked for a few steps. Started again and ran for 2 more before walking again. Thought of how I need to TRAIN, not just jog. Thought about how beautiful the morning air felt, how grateful I am for the comforts of a dry home, electricity, and the fact that my city hasn’t been wiped out, and ran the next 8 minutes straight without a break, until I had to wait for a traffic light. I kept thinking “Get ‘er DONE”.

You can imagine the immense grin that spread across my face a block later as I passed by a young man waiting in a bus shelter with a message on the back of his shirt in huge lettering: “GET ‘R DONE” !!! I actually went back after a few steps and thanked him for wearing the shirt.

The rest of my run involved contrasting feelings of sadness and delighted gratefulness. I prayed for victims as newspaper headlines in vending boxes reminded me of devastation from Hurricane Katrina, hundreds dying in Bagdad and a local suspicious death. I thought about a fellow Penguin, Dudley, who has posted so much about Lafourche Parish in Louisiana, and wondered if he was able to evacuate far enough from Katrina’s wrath during his change in residence to Laplace.

I hope Dud and his loved ones are okay and I said a few prayers to that effect. I also hope that we will hear from him soon. I held him in my mind and imagined him and his wife Mary helping out wherever they can. I toodled around on paved pathways winding between beautifully gardened back yards and thought about how Dudley, with his back problems and health challenges always ends his posts with “Live Life”.

That’s just what I’ll do, then.

Happy Birthday to Me 🙂

I’d post about my group run last night and the CAKE we had afterwards, but I have family visiting and it would be rude to spend all my time blogging. It was probably rude enough that I went out to the group run last night, but many of my fellow runners are like family too, and I couldn’t miss it.

I’m posting from work (shhhhh) and need to get back to it. I doubt I’ll have time to post after work either, as my Mom is making a special Krensekake (sp?) (Norwegian cake) for me and then we’re going out for greek food for supper.

Here’s to one last year of trying to keep up to the young ‘uns in my age group!