All Downhill From Here

A little while ago Dawn tagged me with a meme. I kind of like being tagged with these kinds of things, but right then I was busier than a one legged runner in a butt kicking contest. This week my scabby knee is still slowing me down, and I’m one kid short of a full house (Little Runner is bonding with Grandma), so I’ll rise to the challenge of the meme.

Three names I go by:
1. Karen
2. Mom
3. Rob Johnstone’s Assistant

Three screen names I?ve had:
1. lilpiggi2 (as in the one that stayed at home)
2. downhillnut
3. oldrunner2b

Three physical things I like about myself:
1. My hair (long, wavy, and grows back fast)
2. My legs (just enough muscle, and they take me places)
3. My eyes (they laugh a lot)

Three physical things I don?t like about myself:
1. My jiggly sugar belly (yes, I know what to do about that, I just haven’t yet)
2. My flat rear end
3. My chin

Three parts of my heritage:
1. Norwegian
2. Lutheran
3. Albertan

Three things I am wearing right now:
1. Timex Ironman 100 lap watch
2. Glasses
3. Stampede Rodeo Race 10k t-shirt from 2002

Three favorite bands/musical artists:
1. Great Big Sea
2. Billy McLaughlin
3. Jo Dee Messina

Three favorite songs: (I’ll keep it respective to the 3 artists)
1. Let It Go
2. Fingerdance
3. That’s the Way It Is

Three things I want in a relationship:
1. Love
2. Respect
3. Trust

Two truths and a lie (guess the lie)
1. I have one brother.
2. I have never broken any of my bones.
3. I have given birth 3 times.

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeal to me:
1. Dreamy eyes
2. Solid chest
3. Muscular but not bulky arms

Three favorite hobbies:
1. Running
2. Writing
3. Baking

Three Things I want to do badly right now:
1. Get my house and life organized
2. Float aimlessly on a calm lake under a sunny sky
3. Go for a run

Three things that scare me:
1. losing track of a child in a public place, or anywhere
2. drowning in a submerged vehicle
3. physical pain

Three of my everyday essentials (not always in this order):
1. hot drink with toast (ginger mint tea or orange cappucino instant coffee)
2. time to think and write, even if it’s just to make a list
3. hugs & kisses

Three Careers you have considered or are considering:
1. Doula (birth coach)
2. Tour Guide
3. Public Relations

Three places you want to go on vacation:
1. Disney World with my hubby and kiddos
2. Fiji, Tahiti, or somewhere like that
3. Via train across Canada

Three kids? names you like:
1. Paul
2. Emma
3. Beth

Three things you want to do before you die:
1. Run a marathon.
2. Travel with my family to some place with indigenous palm trees and an ocean beach.
3. See my kids graduate high school.

Three ways I am stereotypically a boy:
1. Low maintenance self care routines
2. Low heeled shoes
3. I prefer pants to skirts

Three ways I am stereotypically a girl:
1. Long hair
2. I can talk about “nothing” on the phone for EVER
3. “nothing” never includes sports stats, cars, or investment tips

Three celeb crushes:
1. Tim McGraw (though only when he’s wearing his hat)
2. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Carribean
3. Will Smith (funny, muscular, and kicked butt in Independence Day)

Three people I am tagging with this list (not sure if you’ve been tagged already):
1. TxSkatemom
2. Linae
3. Dudley

Here is a link to the Running Room site where there are lots of pics of ME having a fabulous time a week ago Sunday. Looks like those “Find the Race Photographer” lessons from *jeanne* are paying off. Did I have a fantastic race or what!

I’m not going for a run any time soon. Last night I called Dawn and told her we’d have to find another partner for the Light Up the World Relay this weekend. I thought maybe I’d be able to try a gentle jog by tomorrow and then just take it easy on the trail 10k by Saturday, but this injury is taking longer to heal than I thought.

*Warning* Detailed Injury Description and Whining to follow:
As recommended by my doctor, I’ve tried to leave the scrapes as exposed to air as much as possible, so a hard crust can form over my wounds. The problem with a massive crusty scab on a large joint such as my knee is that the healthy skin wants to move, and the crusty stuff does NOT. Theoretically, I thought my moving the knee in as large a range of motion would encourage the knee skin to heal in a way to support as much movement as possible. Realistically, there are hundreds of very sensitive nerves under there that protest heartily at any hint of stretch, so I’m hobbling around, trying not to bend too much or move too fast.

The good news is that it still seems that all I’ve got are “flesh wounds”. My right shoulder and elbow were stiff Friday and Saturday from absorbing the impact of my fall, but seem to be fine now. Mainly I’m concentrating on preventing infection and resting my sorry self so as to recover as quickly as I can.

Next injury related dilemma: Now what the heck do I wear to work this week! Getting up two big flights of stairs to my office is not going to be a piece of cake.

Last night I took Soccer Boy to the South end of the city for his last game of the season. I wore my running shorts and shoes, and once I’d dropped him off and said hi to the other parents I headed off to find a hill to run. I found a nice short loop that took me about 10 minutes to run, including a nice 3 minute hill. On my second loop I thought that maybe I should wander a bit farther and find a bathroom before doing that hill again, and I managed to find the Canyon Meadows C-train station. No bathroom available there, but there was a commercial zone just beyond it, and I headed over towards the mall with the gym in it.

Since I have a trail race coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought I’d run on the dirt instead of the sidewalk. So there I am, running along looking at the dirt, and I sensed someone walking towards the station. I like to be aware of my surroundings, so I looked up to see who it was. Apparently I should have kept my awareness of my surroundings focused on the ground, as in that split second a bent metal pipe sticking up out of the ground grabbed my left foot and I went sprawling forward in the dirt.

“Whoa! Are you okay? That was quite a wipe out!” Skateboard kid is wide-eyed, as I’m quickly assessing my right elbow and pinkie knuckle, my left palm, and my left knee. Ooh, the knee has had a large patch of skin scraped. I brushed out most of the dirt, reassured Skaterboi that I was okay enough, and jogged bravely towards the Good Life Fitness Centre. The staff helpfully showed me to the locker rooms so I could wash up. I rinsed my wounds as well as I could and then the receptionist handed me bandages and ointment so I could patch up and get back to Soccer Boy’s game. I didn’t have any trouble getting back, even jogged a fair bit. I would have run more, but the cloth tape holding the gauze on my knee kept sweating off, so I’d stick them back on and walk for a bit.

I made it back with about 10 minutes of the game left, so collected the boy and headed home, stopping only for a slurpee. I removed the gauze and cloth tape and we re-dressed my scrapes with Nexcare Tegaderm over the knee scrape and fast healing gel strips for my pinkie knuckle. I have had allergic reactions to Elastoplast adhesive, so wanted to get the cloth bandages off as soon as possible.

Hubby made me a tequila paralyzer and I toddled gently off to bed. Around 2 a.m. the paralyzer wore off and I limped to the kitchen for Advil. I feel much better this morning – no pain at least. The knee seems to have wept a lot, and the bandage has sealed all that moisture in, leaving a pouch of liquid there. I’m wondering if I should change the bandage, or leave it. I think I’ll call the Healthlink line and ask a nurse.

I hope I can still do a training run this weekend.

I don?t think I?ve ever been that happy at a finish line, and I LOVE finishing races. I crossed with a huge smile on my face and panted up to a straw bale to have my chip removed by a couple of Roadrunners. They grinned at me and told me if I run any faster I?m going to have to give up my Penguin status. I received my medal, looked at the big crowd, and turned back to the finish line. The announcer was quite excited, as the kids were starting to come in from their mile, and several sub 3:15 marathoners were finishing. I walked back on the course through throngs of kids, looking for the purple shirt I?d laid out for my blonde Little Runner. I’ve already posted about her finish and my attempt to keep up with her here. Next time we try this dual finish thing I’m just going to wait for her at the straw bales.

There were kids, parents, and race finishers everywhere. I held Little Runner’s hand and we milled around the exit of the finishing chutes until her Grandpa found us. He had lost Soccer Boy (he just wandered away) and had left Grandma somewhere near the finish. I had given Soccer Boy my old cell phone with a few pay as you go minutes in it, so I called him and asked him to meet us at the base of the large clock tower. It seems he was the one calling my name as I finished. Grandpa went off in search of Grandma. Dianne found me in my bright pink hat and I told her about my race over a hamburger, watermelon, oranges and chocolate pudding. There were bagels too, but Kids Mile competitors receive a free burger at the finish and shucks, Little Runner didn’t want hers 🙂 Grandma and Grandpa came back and retrieved Soccer Boy, as they were taking him to his game at 12:30. I am very blessed to have such supportive in-laws. Hubby was still cleaning out junk over at the old house, and had to work from noon to 8:30 pm.

After a porta pottie stop we headed over to the air filled bouncer and the balloon guy, where Nancy C. found me and we had a good visit. We cheered on age group finishers as they received their prizes. After Little Runner got a balloon, we picked up my checked bag, checked our results and dropped off Dawn on the way home. I took a long, coolish bath, picked up a sub sandwich for supper, and headed back over to the old house for one last go. I was there from 4 – 9 pm, and still never got the tops of the cupboards washed. All of our stuff was out, and the bathrooms and appliances were cleaned, we were DONE.

Little Runner and I went home and Hubby and I popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate our successful move and races. What a weekend!

I met up with Krista, Linda P. and Linda L., Dawn, and Linda L?s Mom close to the tank at the Mewata Armoury. I was the last to arrive, and I had cut the timing close. I said quick, excited hellos, checked my bag, and then quickly got into a porta pottie line up with 10 minutes to spare before the start. When I got into the porta pottie there were still lots of folks behind me. When I got out, there were only 3 people, also exiting their little blue rooms. We gave alarmed looks to each other and quickly headed towards the start. My buddies were waiting for me and we trotted to the pack of the pack together. As we walked past the 1:45 pace bunny Krista joked that oops, we?d missed our starting group. I popped my second Imodium and prayed I wouldn?t see the inside of a porta pottie again until the race was over. Dawn snapped a couple of shots of us waiting for the shot gun start, and then we were off.

Linda L. and I started off at a gentle warm-up pace but within the first km we were well in front of the 2:30 pace bunny, called Too Tall Dave. TTD was indeed a very tall guy and whenever I saw him during the race it looked like he barely even picked up his feet. It was a gorgeous morning. The sun shone and the high promised to reach only 20C/68F. We settled into a jog slightly faster than we usually go for our long runs. I could talk, but not constantly. After the first 20 minutes or so we took our first walk break and I set my watch to 10/1s. Entertainment included a guy on a keyboard and a brass band. Later we saw belly dancers and a juggler. Whenever we saw photographers on bridges and down on the ground we gave them big smiles and thumbs up.

We tended to hit water stops just before our walk breaks, so we took our breaks earlier and often didn?t listen to the beeps on my watch. I had Ultima in my water bottle, so didn?t take any Gatorade, but I took water, mostly for dumping over my head. I grabbed water-filled sponges at nearly every stop and squeezed them over my hat and neck. The water cooled me as it evaporated, but I discovered later that a lot of it made it?s way down to my shorts.

Before long we saw the elites on their way back and we cheered some on. Whenever we saw a fellow Roadrunner we gave a whoop of encouragement. After we turned around, we took note of where our 2:30 pace bunny was, as a gauge of our progress. I missed seeing Linda P., because in my starting excitement I?d forgotten to take a good look at her and remember what she was wearing. Shame on me ? now how could I cheer her on? I did see Krista and Dawn a couple of times, as the course gave us two out and back opportunities.

Even better than the water stops was the refreshing sight of Yolanda, cheering us on. The course goes close to her house and she was out with her coffee and a big sign she?d made for us. She?d cut out letters from coloured paper and taped them to a big sheet of cardboard. It said ?Go Penguins! You Rock!? It gave me such a boost to see her. I shrieked her name and gave her a big hug. When we came back after our first turnaround she had switched to the other side of the street and we hugged her all over again.

Linda and I took our first gels at somewhere around the 10 km mark, near the belly dancers. We did our first 10km in about 1:07. Wow, two years ago that was my 10k Personal Record! In training I had only taken one gel on the course, but on race morning I?d been able to eat precious little, so we took a second gel at the 10 mile water stop. They were actually handing out Powergels at that stop, but they didn?t have chocolate, so I pulled out my own.

Things got really quiet after that 10 mile water stop. With little more than 3 miles to go, the crowd had thinned quite a bit, and those running close to us were not chatting anymore. My wet shorts caused my thighs to rub, and I remembered a couple of places I?d neglected to apply my Body Glide. Oh well, not far to go now. I struggled to keep up the pace and little gaps started to appear between Linda and me. She?d shorten her stride to wait for me and I?d suddenly remember to stretch out my legs again. We hugged Dawn when we saw her, and cheered on someone who seemed to be with her.

By km 19 I had buckled down and really tried to focus on my form and getting this thing done. We were doing it. We were not as tired as we usually were at this point. Heck, we were darned amazing.

I was so excited when we passed the 20 km marker. 20! Woohoo! We took one last walk break up a bridge and then gently increased our speed bit by bit. There were two preteen girls giving high fives to racers and we gave them ours back with lots of noise. A woman wearing clothes with Florida on them cheered us on. We could hear the music and ran up over the last hump in the road. Linda?s husband was there directing racers to the right lanes, and gave Linda a kiss before we hightailed it in. There were crowds of people lining the last 50 meters, and I heard my name called beside me. I briefly turned my head but didn?t see who it was. Then just to the side in front of me I saw Dianne calling my name and I veered over for one last high five before zipping under the clock.

Our big moving day was the Wednesday before the Sunday race. I got no sleep the first night in the new house, because we had only paid the movers to move furniture and large items that we had packed up, and I was stressed/excited. There was still a lot of stuff over at the old house that we?d have to sort through and toss/give away/haul over before we could clean up, and Hubby and I were still working at our respective jobs. I thought we could manage it with a few hours here and there around our work schedules and have it done by mid-Saturday, but it was iffy. By the time Saturday came we still had a ton of stuff to do, and I still needed my rest before the race. I struggled very hard not to become an emotional basket case, but Little Runner and I cried together when the Rubbish Express guys came and destroyed our ancient, heavy upright piano (with the cracked sounding board) in the back yard before hauling it away. It is a very, very sad thing to hear a piano being murdered. Let it go, I had to say to myself, let it go.

My Saturday carbo loading and hydration consisted of a few handfuls of Shreddies and blueberries for lunch, with multiple glasses of water. I didn?t have time to sit down. I wanted chicken for supper, but only took time for a quick bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce. We did our best at the old house, and Little Runner and I ended up at the Calgary Roadrunners booth at the race expo only slightly late for my 2 hour volunteer shift at 4 pm. I met Linda for the first time and we visited at the booth. I?m afraid I wasn?t much use otherwise, but I did take home the Roadrunners clothing, as I?m in charge of it.

At least I had packed my race bag before the move. I knew where my sunscreen, Body Glide, running togs, shoes, Ultima powder, gels, bandana and hat were. Before I went to bed at around 10:30 I pinned our numbers to our shirts and attached our chips to our shoes. I laid out Little Runner?s clothes for the next day, taking care not to dress her in red, as that was this year?s t-shirt colour. I wanted to make it easier pick her out of the crowd. I deliberately let go of my moving stress as much as I could and focused solely on my race.

I was up at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, well before my 5:00 alarm. I thought I was up because I was hungry and hadn?t eaten enough protein the day before, so I heated up some wieners and beans. Normally I LOVE wieners and beans, but when I could only stomach a few spoonfuls of beans I realized that it was just nerves. I went back to bed for a 30 minute ?nap?. Got up again at 5 am, did dishes, ate pb toast and more blueberries, drank coffee and water and took my first Imodium. On the drive to the race I fought to keep all house thoughts out of my head, and thought about the finish line instead. Thinking about the finish line made me teary too, so I slid a Jodee Messina CD into the player and sang along with ?That?s the Way?

I set my resolve. I would have a great race, I would see my Little Runner finish, and I would survive this move. I would have the strength, energy and flexibility to get ?er done.

This is silly. I’m trying to write up my usual looong, chronological race report for my half, and you’re not getting to see it, because I’m not done yet. Not only that, but since I haven’t posted my race report, I haven’t posted Tuesday’s recovery run either, because I keep thinking I should get my race report written.

Warning, Whiny Excuse Alert: I’m very distracted by my unpacking, answering my boss’s forwarded cell phone calls, and ferrying my kids hither and yon during my “week off”. I think I’ll just dish out details bit by bit and you can snack on them as they come.

Tuesday night it was hot again, but we showed up at Gord’s for our usual run. Gord assigned his usual scenic Stampede Week route, to the Expo grounds and back, but we Penguin racers had ice cream on the brain and did our own route. Dawn’s beginners stayed on a flat route up on the plateau on 8th Avenue, and Krista and I jogged down to the Eau Claire wading pool and back. We jogged down, at least. We walked most of the way back, coming up through Prince’s Island Park and up the Curling Club hill instead of the stairs. We met Dawn’s group just leaving the ice cream store, and popped in for our own cones. Krista had mint chocolate chip and I tried peach mango tango – yum!

We rehashed our race experiences and talked about what we might attempt next. Dawn signed us up for Light Up the World (woohoo!), so I’m happy I’ll be getting my trail race fix in a couple of weeks. I will keep that in mind as I run up and down some hills tonight during Soccer Boy’s game.

I’ll get into some Half details in the next post.

Despite finishing our move and putting in a small amount of volunteer time with the Calgary Roadrunners I somehow managed to find time to race the Crape Geomatics Half Marathon. The race was undoubtedly the best part of my weekend! I vaguely remember a few km somewhere between 16 and 19 where things got quiet and I had to really focus, but otherwise I had an awesome run. I ran faster than I thought I could for such a long time, and it was great.

I will get into the total debrief of every detail later, but here are a few impressions of the day to start.

Linda Loubob came and started the race with Krista, Linda L., Dawn and I. It was so cool to finally spend some time with her in person.

Running Buddy Linda was as patient in her pacing of me as ever, and I really value her support and company the whole way. Thanks so much, Linda! I had no strategy but to just run our 10/1, run/walk pattern, consume my sports drink and gels, and hope for the best. Linda’s strategy for us included getting well in front of the 2:30 pace bunny and staying ahead of him the rest of the way. There were times in the first 10k when I definitely felt we were going much faster than our usual long run pace, but I was happy to be pushing it at the same time. I believed I would still be able to find the strength I needed at the end.

I made it in 2:26:38, official chip time! I haven’t had such a happy-finish-line high since… ever!

Not only did I finish before my goal of 2:30, but I had time to have my chip removed, receive my medal, and walk back through the throngs of kids finishing their race to find Little Runner. She gave me a bone crushing hug, and then sprinted towards the finish like a jackrabbit on speed. I barely kept up, but as I bounded after her my medal came off my ribbon and bounced off my foot. It took me a couple of steps for this information to sink in, as folks in the crowd helped me realize it. I stopped and went back for the medal, leaving Little Runner to cross the finish on her own. The whole finish was a very crowded place by now, but I found Little Runner waiting for me between the finishing mats. I took her hand and we crossed together. I’m so proud of her. When we checked her time we discovered that she’d run it a whole minute faster than last year, at 13:18.

My camera batteries were low and I wasn’t sure where I’d packed the spares, so left it at home. Dawn has a great pic of us on her blog, bless her pink heart.

What an exhilirating experience. Thanks for all your good wishes and support. I’ll describe more of the weekend later.