Tweekend Runs!

Thank God for early morning runs with my gals!!!

Due to the flooding sitch here in Calgary (and of course beyond) running has been hard to do. Most pathways have been shut. For almost 2 weeks. A few days ago they reopened.

THANK GOD. I was having to run on my city streets (which is soley hills in my area!)

This past weekend had two great run dates. Tweetups if you will. Sunday met up with Cori. Monday met up with Michelle.

Running With Cori: NoseHill
Cori and I decided to meet at 7 at Nose Hill Park on Sunday. Wait. It was actually 730 at a different entrance than I was at! hahahahahaha.

Oh well. I drove to the other side and came to the correct location and started our run. We had a couple hours to tackle the rolling hills and some steep hills, It is one of our largest parks and is all about the natural environment.

After soaking ourselves with bug spray off we went. And then came back to lock my car. WHAT is wrong with me today??? I am a bit off. HA! Good thing Cori is so laid back.

The trails in this park are awesome. And so great we can see the city. From such a great vantage point we had to snap a few. We were all about slow today. Good thing. Becuase it was one of THOSE runs. As in having the runs. ARGH! Again, did I mention Cori being patient? And making good poop jokes!

What was great about this run was that it was just so nice to be out running. And so nice to see so many people out walking their dogs, running, biking. And everyone was so HAPPY to be out. Our City has seen a lot of sadness in the past couple weeks, so I think everyone was pretty chuffed to be out there.

We had a great (and very slow) run in some VERY hot weather. Got our sweat on, got in a lotta hills and got a lotta frustration OUT! And as you can see from the above pics, we had a LOTTA fun! I was worried I wasn't fast enough, wasn't getting in the right amount of miles...and was so grateful to Cori for pointing out that sometimes, it is just good to get out, and to stop worrying about the pace, distance. It was a perfect way to start the day. 

And an Iced Coffee was a perfect end to a great run! 

Running With Michelle: Along the River, Except where the paths were Closed

On Monday both Michelle and I needed a nice long run to celebrate Canada Day. Happy 146th Canada!

We rang it in with a 2 hour run...and got in 16km. Actually with some of the walk we did, we really logged 18km.  We started at 7 to beat the heat. But the heat really was there. But then so was a nice breeze coming off the water.

While Cori and I saw deer and heard a pack of coyotes howling, the only animals we saw on the run were a lot (A LOT) of Canada Geese.

They hogged the pathway and were not keen to move at all. We were hissed at us every chance they got. And man, they poop a lot!

We kept up a pretty solid pace and didn't have too much trouble with the pathways. We had to jag around a it due to some pathway closures...so disconcerting! But with all the water we have had in these areas, it was understandable. And we were not about to go breaking through a barricade.

At one point on our return, we stumbled upon a closure area and peeked around to see a bit of damage. Well, really, a LOT of damage. Half the pathway was crumbling into the river. And, as we ran miles down some of my favourite pathways, we could see how much the river cut into the paths on the other side of the river path we were on. Pretty sure that area is still shut...let's hope all our areas open soon. Slowly we are getting back to normal!

Finally saw WHY the path was shut...its falling into the river! 

All in it was a true LSD run. But so awesome to get those miles in. It was great to run, bitch, chat, laugh and jsut get into a great rhythm. And now I taper as my big ol trail race is next week!!! eek!!!

Thanks to my ladies for getting out there with me. And enjoying the sun and fun run!! And really good coffees after the hot hot runs. 

Before and After: Floods in my 'Hood!

Before the floods, During the Floods and After the floods....

A few shots showing how some of the roads and paths are faring after the flooding!

I am so glad to see one of my favourite running areas about 10 mins from my house. 

The pathway was been washed and cleaned, and is looking back to normal. 

Memorial Drive took a LOT of water...

It is crazy to see these pics and know a 4 lane roadway is under that water!! 

The clean-up looked like a hellova mess, but it is getting there. Right now it is mostly dried silt leftover. And not too much damage. Thank Goodness!!! 

At the end of my run on Monday, I saw the best sign. I summed up the gratitude many of us feel about our city, emergency workers and volunteers....

Seen at the end of my run! Sums it up PERFECTLY!

Happy Birthday Canada

you don't look a day over 146!xoxo

...taken at 11 pm July 1st in my hood peering over the trees at the fireworks! iPhone not so stellar for the pics, but still...love me some nightime fireworks.

YYC Floods...weekend washout!

(sorry for the delay in posting. I have had trouble publishing this...and well writing much of late)

Last Wednesday I blogged about being excited about my FIRST trail half. Well, not really a half...since is was 25km. Rundle's Revenge was gonna hurt, be tough, but a huge step for me. And an awesome training run for Sinister 7 Ultra (a relay in which I am doing the first 2 legs!) this weekend...

Thursday I went to to work, and by 8pm everything changed.

Canmore was flooded. Ravaged by floodwaters. Communities all around the City were underwater. High River - a town of 12,000 people 37 km (23 miles) south of Calgary was evacuated. THE WHOLE TOWN!  It was insanity.

Thursday at work our manager started careening throughout the store asking each of us where we lived. Depending on the answer, some of us were promptly sent home. To EVACUATE. Jesus.

Not me. I lived a couple communities away from the first two waves of evacuations and areas beginning to flood. I was certain my area would have no impact. Then I left work at 8 pm. I was pissing rain. No not just raining. PISSING. Torrential. Rain. ugh. (I normally walk home, but the policeman standing on the corner near the train platform told me my paths were all barricaded. The only way accross river was the train...really???????) As I rode the train across the river, my heart sank. Holy shit. This river was HIGH. not just fast and furious. As in foreboding and holy shit serious about flooding the the community between the river and me was going to flood. Unheard of....

It was so dark out...and power was being shut off in two neighbouring communities ... and WHAM. No power. Odd. But I took it as a sign to go to bed. And As i checked the twitter feeds, another community was being evad'd. And at 1130 I woke up to choppers flying overhead  and could hear them announcing the evacuation of West Hillhurst. Um. That is ME. WTF???? I live on an uphill section. WHAT? I cannot be evacuating now. So I get out of bed. Fo out of my condo. Where a neighbour has just come from speaking to a Policeman posted down the street. He said, we were were on standby for evac. And that we were a couple blocks up from the evac border. WHEW.

Back to bed I go.

I wake at 530. Barely Slept. So worried. I still had no power. It was soo grey outside. I got work clothes together and walked the 15 minutes it takes to get to the main bridge (10 St Bridge - one of the FEW not shut in the past 24 hours ... so surreal). I get to the bridge and the water is noticeably higher. LIKE a few feet higher and lapping up onto the road. FRACK! I do not think I am going to work. But I haven't got an email or call...and then I hear. Do NOT go down-town. OK. So i snap a few pics. Of my pathway areas and of the neighbourhood jsut 10-15 minutes from where I live.

  (you may not see all the damage in these pics....but if you have seen me post pics of my runs in my 'hood...you might see how HIGH this water is....) Howzabout this lovely before and after?

And speak to the officers manning the blockades stopping traffic from entering my part of the city.And I walk back thru Sunnyside and then Kensington to home. NO one is on these streets. All power is out. Sky is GREY. You really can hear the thunder of the river behind me. As it fades, I hear a chopper above. And then a disembodied voice saying:

"Stay away from the water. Stay off the pathway. Do NOT go near the water. Water levels are rapidly rising. GO NORTH. Evacuate this area immediately. GO NORTH. STAY AWAY from the water. You will drown if you get in the river"

HOLY SHIT. I sort of lose it. And well. Start running home. And crying. And as melodramatic and silly as it sounds I was really freaked out.

A pal sent me this which was a small part of DT Calgary
in the early morning

And well then I threw a bunch of clothes into a couple bags and drive a few hours northeast to my parents. At this point I know of a few dozen friends and a few family members evac'd. No point staying anywhere where i am so close. Plus I need to get this GD long run in.....so Go North indeed.

And well be without much on the internet front (since being at my parents is bloody prehistoric!) While at home alone in my parents house, and hangin at my sisters...i barely watch TV. Watching makes me so upset and watching the areas i live in, stay in  hang in all being massively flooded is awful. Watching people lose thier houses makes me cry. I feel sick. I feel well like I cannot cope. So instead I tune out for a few days and so some short runs. And one long one. And only do 16 instead of 25 on the trails. But it felt good. And it got me going. but something is sort of amiss. I have lost a bit of mojo. Its like depression is creeping in. God knows why. I am good. I have a home, no damage....But so many are so devastated. What can I even begin to do to help....

About 5 days later we are allowed to go back into Downtown area  - but only a quarter of the area has power. Still reeling. This whole bit has been surreal. But my city and the wonderful peeps in it are strong. We will clean up our neighbourhoods. Completely rebuild some of them. And stay strong. I am glad to be back home and when I am not working will be looking to help out in my areas and others for some volunteer work!

So...for a good recap (and to truly show you the devastation that occurred) here is a video of some of the wicked damage done to the city and surrounding areas.

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Interval Training

Thanks for this Greatist:

More Health and Fitness News & Tips at Greatist.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: CEP Compression Love

Between April 28 and May 26, I ran 3 half marathons. On one of those races, I tacked on a 10km race the next day.

Sounds crazy! It was. It was also a test to get me on the track to push my endurance. If it hurts keep going....push those legs...keep moving forward! WHY? In order to get me ready for a couple trail challenges. In a couple days, I will do my first 25km trail race.(OMG!). Then in another couple weeks, I will do 2 legs in an Ultra Marathon - a total of 30.5 km. eek!

I just wanted to say that in those three half marys, my legs felt pretty damn good. And recovery was quick! Sure part of it is training. But I credit my happy legs to my CEP Compression Socks!! Love running in them, but i also wear em AFTER the run. I honestly think they make a difference in recovery!

Thank You CEP!

Here is my May Montage of CEP Happiness! How do you #RockYourCEPs?

#TeamCEPCANADA2013

#rockyourCEPs

Bowness 10km - Hitting the road after hitting the trails

The day after I finished my 5 Peaks race, I hit the trail  for a small local race in the community of Bowness!

My legs were sore, it was spitting rain...but it was a great day for a run! I wanted to come in around 65 mins...Its totally feasible!

Tara and I hung around  (went pee my usual 2x pre-start). Chatted about 5Peaks, since I got Tara started on that too. She only runs 5km distance, so the 5Peaks have been a real eye opener for her.

GO TEAM FABULOUS!

She is pretty fast, and the hills and trails have been a great ass-kicking - erm TRAINING opportunity!  She had done the race the day before too so it was also a challenge for her to lay two races back-to-back! 

So off the 10km squad goes. I keep up the 6:30 pace pretty much the whole race...then at the mid-point where we went off pavement onto trail, I lost a bit of my happy pace. But I kept focus. Jsut slowly pushed and pushed myself to get back up there. I was pretty happy that the last 3 km i picked right back up and pushed HARD (and chased a gal who had to have been 8 inches shorter than me) right to the finish! 67 mins was not the under 65 I wanted, but I was so consistent and it was a solid push, I was happy! I was also soaking wet (not from the rain, but from the sweatfest!). 

Tara snapped these in the last few meters of the race! Not looking too bad, I must say! 

The temp during the he entire race was awesome...nice and cool, no rain, just great. The volunteers did a great job of cheering us on, and most of us runners were all hi-fiving each other as we passed each other. THAT is why i love small community races!

Seriously I finished the race...i grabbed some yogurt, fruit, water...then towelled off, changed and went to work! lol. And that was my weekend! 

Now this weekend...one last LONG run to prep for my first 25km trail run! EEK! 

Hittin the Trails with 5Peaks in Canmore

 Last Saturday got up at 5 and headed out to Canmore with Sherrey B to hit the trails for the 5 Peaks series - out that the Canmore Nordic Centre!

Love this series. Hard as hell, rarely a PB, and best workout ever! Its a super well organized race, and I get up and go extra early to get my volunteer on. Which is also fun. I get out here and run for the fun and the amazing workout.  And it feels great. It is SO SO SOOOO much harder than any road race. You cant get your footing, you never secure a constant pace or feel a consistent cadence. But you FEEL IT! I love how novice and pros are out there. There are two distances sport and enduro (this race was almost 5.5km and 11km). Normally I do the sport distance, but did the enduro for training and challenge! (And then had a 10km road race planned for next day to push myself to get ready for my first trail half in a couple weeks!!) 

My one celeb sighting before the race was registering Chandra Crawford (2006 Olympic Gold medalist, winner of many world cup medals in Cross Country Skiing!) for her sport distance race! She heads up Fast and Female, a very cool organization (Go Check Them Out!)!  As she is registering, her colleague introduces me...and tells Chandra about my recent race weekend out in Canmore! She got so excited when she heard about me running the mountain half mara and then followed with a 10km the next day, she asked if she could hug me! ME? But I just ran slow! She is cheering me on saying wasn't it so amazing to know you could? Didn't it jsut feel awesome to know what you can accomplish? It was pretty awesome to have someone like her (this woman has upteen medals...she's a inspiration to a lot of us Canadians) say that to me. I mean, i think I said something about me not being fast or anything...and she was no way! What an inspiration keep it up! And she is right! It is pretty cool to now be able to set a challenge like that for myself and  have the endurance to complete it, both in pretty good times. I am going back for MORE next year. Three years ago I would never have dreamed of doing that! Her short pep talk made me feel great! Love her!!!   Pity...no pics of that moment :-) 

So...back to the race...off we go...climbing up out of the Nordic Centre and into the back country (after the bear and cougar sighting talk, of course). 

I am in there...right under the start sign! Ha! Can you spot me??

I never take pics on a race route...but as this was my first trail race of the season, and I knew i was off my planned pace I decided to take a couple! 

Yup...these are the easy spots...I took a few moments during the run to grab some shots of the route. Since someone I know asked...boy your times on those trail runs are sure slower than your road races...Thanks for POINTING that out. Maybe if you ran one 'mister go check my times and comment' you might get how hard a challenge they are...a LOT of hills. And not rolling hills. These are mountain trails, rocky, slippery, uneven. I LOVE IT!!!! Running trails has helped me lose a lot of weight, given me strength, mental and physical agility. And I have made me some 5Peaks friends too!

The halfway viewpoint...stellar...had to snap a pic! 

I finished the race (just shy of 11km I think, though my GPS was a bit off) check my time and was right around 87 mins. Not bad for hella hillworkout! And, I got a third place medal for Athena category. Athena? That would be the over 165 pound category for women. I am more motivated to get out there and run harder. Can't wait for the next race. I coulda/shoulda been faster...my hills endurance just wasn't quite there. But it is getting there! 

Do you hit the trails? If you haven't you should!

Why I run trail....because it is FREAKING GORGEOUS!!! 

National Running Day Update

Today went for a RUNCH date (harhar get it...run and lunch!!!) with  Cori! We've been doing it for a while now....It was a hilly affair today. But went a tad easy, since last night Cori hurt her back! OUCH! I was worried she should not run, but there was no putting off a jaunt for #nationalrunningday! Nice easy run on a hot sunny day. The hills always look easy...then you get on em and they push back. It is hard work showing them who is the BOSS! We got our sweat on for sure!

These were taken at the top of a hill, then as we boogied down. Surprisingly we are in focus! 

Oh yes...we got the BEAST on as we came down our hills! To see Cori's pics and recap go HERE! 

RUNCH is DONE! 

UPDATE: After RUNCH DATE, went home and putzed...then went for another run at my local Running Room! 

Got 2 runs for a total of 9km in today! 

Happy Day, indeed!! 

What did YOU get up to??

Rain Run Gets er Done!

On Sunday I finally got to go for a LONG run with Michelle and Cori!

As Michelle tweets...woootie wooot! We had been planning for a while. And with my trail half coming I need some distance. I have been having troubs regulating my time. Staying Steady.

I was SO GRATEFUL for the offer of my two lovelies sayin, "Yes, we will run with you!". So no way could I bail with this weather. Prepare to get wet!!!

So we meet up and Cori snaps this pic! It definitely shows the rain...and the reticence to get out in the rain. We have a few jokes about going for coffee, waiting for it to clear.

Then Michelle says, "First K is the worst" So out we go!

So we get moving, and a nice pace. About 6:30 per kilometre. 10 and 1s. Its nice running. and the rain seems to cease. Its pretty laid ack, and there is lots of chatter. From me. The Chatterbox!

I might have let the other gals talk. HA!!! WE talked last weeks Calgary Mara (Cori did a PB 10km, I did a half and Michelle did the Mara).

We chatted about all doing the Mara next year, Cori's kids, Cori's dog, training plans and what works or what doesn't, why we run, how happy we are to have all met, our plan to do a relay in Oct, and a lotta other stuff. EVERYTHING, nothing, and lots of laughs.

Made the miles whiz by. We kept a nice comfortable pace. Tried hard to stick to the LSD plan. Work on that endurance!! woot. They were patient with me when I had to take a potty break. As luck would have it a race was setting up and there were portapotties on the pathway!

Then another 5 km later, at the halfway mark, we all had to pitstop at Edworthy Park. Man!!! Well despite the GI issue, the last half still went well. We slowed down a fair bit with the hundreds appearing on the pathway for the EnerPlus MS Walk. But, we cheered the runners and walkers on. And politely declined the aid stations! It was a great run. Slow, and got us all out there and we had a last. I honestly think that I haven't had an enjoyable long run in recent memory!! Thanks ladies! Can't wait for the next long run!

Soooooooo....What do you do after 18 kilometres? 

Why, you jump in puddles!!!

Nothing more refreshing than 18km in the rain...we LOOK and FEEL fabulous!

Thanks to Cori! for having her phone at the ready and taking such great pics! 

Mine was wrapped in platic as I don't have a waterproof belt for it! 

Wordless Wednesday: HAPPY NATIONAL RUNNING DAY!