August

August.....it was a hell of a month but I survived. Here's the Reader's Digest version:

Aug. 1-10
This week or so at the beginning of the month was pretty much entirely dedicated to the move and all the details of buying our house. Every day was filled with an endless to-do list of paperwork and phone calls, but I worked my butt to make sure everything was in order before leaving for my course.

Aug. 11-25
My two-week indoctrination course in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. It was, at the same time, the shortest and longest two weeks of my life. The days were long (5am-11pm) and exhausting but not terribly difficult. We were on the 12th floor and we went up and down those stairs about 3-5 times a day, usually carrying a bunch of stuff. We did our PT tests at the beginning of the course and I got my exemption level. We spent a lot of time in class, with endless boring powerpoints. I got to be the fire picket, platoon 2IC as well as section senior (twice). The people in my platoon were fantastic, and the girls in my pod were especially awesome. One thing I can take away from this course is a true appreciation for the army motto of "hurry up and wait."
The day we left, guess what time we got up at! 1:30am! Yes, that's right. We woke up at 1:30am. March out inspection was at 2, we moved all our stuff downstairs at 3, waited for bus which came at 4, and arrived at the Montreal airport at 5am. The first flights (for those going to Toronto) left at 7am, but for those of us whose flight didn't leave until 2pm, it was a long boring day at the airport.
Half my platoon ended up sick at some point over the course and I was pretty lucky that I made it to the last day before catching something. I'm glad I wasn't sick on course but I've been hacking my lungs out ever since.

Aug. 25-present
Dealing with the house. All our stuff was waiting for me in boxes at the new house when I got home from my course. Chris had already left for his operation and is currently recovering at his parents' in Barrie, so unpacking and organizing the house was all on me. The movers did an absolutely atrocious job packing so there were a lot of broken and damaged items. At the moment, almost all the boxes are empty but there's still stuff everywhere - I don't know where to put half this crap! I also redid the dryer outlet in the basement and had a plumber in today to clear the roots out of our sewer line, so it's been a busy week.
Thursday is my first day of classes, so last week I went down to the university to buy my books and get my student card. I love new books and school supplies!

Next on the agenda: safety inspection for the car tomorrow morning!

Whirlwind!

Oh man, it's been a crazy couple weeks! Sorry for the lack of updates but the only internet I have is off my phone, so I have to use it sparingly.

Where to begin? I've been working on the base here in Winnipeg during on-the-job training in the transport section. Normally you do some sort of basic training before they send you to work on an actual base, but no such luck here - I've been completely winging it! Thankfully, between what I already knew and the help I've gotten along the way, I've been managing alright. All the simple things like how to wear your uniform, whom to salute and when, etc. I've picked up along the way. Hopefully that'll give me a leg up when I leave for my orientation course next weekend.

In running news, I've been averaging about 18-20 miles per week. Believe it or not, but most of those miles have been before 7:30am - this is huge since, as you know, I am not at all a morning person. We've also been doing a lot of circuit training as part of unit PT. On top of that, walking around all day in steel-toed boots is exhausting! I had no idea what a leg workout it would be. As well, I'm sad to report that the RandomAbs streak is no more. One day I was just too tired and sore and that was that. I'm going to try and pick it back up when I get back from my course.

Last week, Chris came out to Winnipeg for our house-hunting trip. The hotel he booked gave us a free upgrade, so we ended up with a jacuzzi in our room. Score! The whole week he was here, we were run off our feet scouting neighbourhoods, looking at houses and stressing about the general insanity that is the Winnipeg housing market. But it was worth it! We put an offer in on a house we really liked and it was accepted! As a bonus, it wasn't in competition so we got it for less than the listing price. Major score! All that stands between us and home ownership now is a mountain of paperwork.

Another major advantage to the house we bought is that it offered immediate possession. That means that Chris will be moving out here in the next couple weeks, to take possession on the 21st. Unfortunately, since I'm stuck here in Winnipeg before going on my course, Chris is left to take care of the move entirely on his own. I'm doing as much as I can to get things done from my end, but the majority of work is on his shoulders. I feel really bad putting him in that position, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it. At least he has the puppies with him...

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading!

I made it!

Just a quick update - I made it to Winnipeg in one piece. It was an early morning on Thursday, with my flight leaving Bagotville at 5:40am EST. I was supposed to have a one hour layover in Montreal before departing to Winnipeg; however, because of mechanical issues, they had to change our plane and that delayed the flight about 4 hours. I finally arrived in Winnipeg around 3:00pm CST and got settled into my room on base. I went for dinner with a friend of mine but by the end of the day, I was exhausted.

Yesterday was spent doing all my in-clearance. This meant going around from building to building filling out paperwork and getting things signed and stamped. I probably walked at least 10km all over the base - CFB Winnipeg is much bigger than Bagotville. I also got my uniform and I'll get to wear it to work on Monday. In the evening, I checked out the gym here and did a quick upper body workout.

Today was my first run in Winnipeg. I mostly stayed on and around the base, as I'm still learning my way around, but I'm definitely going to have lots of running routes to choose from.

Only a few more days!

I made it through the yoga challenge! 4 days in a row of yoga at 5:45am! I am not a morning person so I'm quite pleased that I repeatedly managed to drag my butt out of bed that early in the morning.

I took a couple days off from running after Wednesday's 5k race. Good thing too because it's been brutally hot here the last couple days. Yesterday evening I waited as late as I could to do an easy 3 miles, but I still came home drenched in sweat.

Today we hit the weights at the gym and enjoyed the air conditioning there. That's about all we enjoyed because Chris and I both had a rough strength session. I managed to get through everything (just barely) but Chris had to abandon some of his exercises. I think the week of not eating properly after his wisdom teeth surgery affected him more than he realized. To make up for it, we played some 1-on-1 basketball in the gym. He beat me 22-18 though I think if we had kept going, I might have won. We finished up our workout with RandomAbs to keep the streak alive.

Workouts aside, the weekend was pretty busy. Our friend's babysitter bailed Friday night so we babysat her two kids. Other than that, most of my time has been spent cleaning the house before I leave and packing. I found out that my flight leaves at 5:40am on Thursday, so it's a good thing I spent last week practising getting up early.

Le Vincent 5km - Race Report

Last night, I ran my second ever 5k. If you look at a calendar, you'll see that yesterday was a Wednesday, which I've heard is an unusual day to have a race. It was race #12 out of a 20-race circuit that takes place around the region over the course of the summer. I'm not sure why, but about half these races are held on either a Tuesday or Wednesday night.

There's one thing I've noticed about racing in the Saguenay and I don't like it. Whether it's running, cycling, triathlon, etc, no one here is an "amateur." They have this mindset that either you need to be super hardcore and take everything really seriously, or you shouldn't even bother. As a result, there's no room for casual athletes. Even the kids "fun" races are way too serious, in my opinion. It's really quite discouraging.

The start of the race was delayed 15 minutes, which meant I ended up sitting around a lot longer than I would have liked. About 25 minutes before the start, I did a mile warm-up with some pick-ups. It was pretty hot out so it didn't take much to break a sweat. By the time I got to the starting area, there were already a lot of people waiting so I didn't get as close to the front as I would have liked. I'm not a pushy person, so I navigated as far forward as I could before elbowing became necessary.

Just before the gun, the announcer gave instructions regarding the course. This was important because they didn't publish the course beforehand and I don't like going into a race blind. However, I didn't get to hear a single word he said between the crowd noise and amplification distortion; add to that that he was speaking in French and I couldn't pick up anything. Grr.

It took about 10 seconds for me to cross the starting mat after the gun went and the first 0.1mile was a downhill. I remember thinking, "Great, I have to run back up this to get to the finish line." The course, as it turns out, was very similar to the one used last year in the duathlon I did. And man is it hilly! The Garmin data doesn't do it justice - it's up and down the whole course.

The rest of the race was just about survival. I ran hard and it hurt. I think the first mile is the fastest mile I've ever recorded. Unfortunately, the hills kicked my butt and I wasn't able to run negative splits, though my effort definitely increased throughout the race. My limiting factor in this race was not my legs but my lungs, so I need to work on that. The last mile was brutal and I curse the idiot who decided to have an uphill finish.

In the end, I finished in 26:22, a 56 second PR. That was good enough for 63/88 overall, 21/41 among the women, and 9/12 in my age group (F20-29). Here's a pic from the finish line (showing the gun time):

Garmin time: 26:22

Checking in...

Since my marathon, I haven't had anything very exciting to report. Here are a few tid-bits from the last week or so:
- 23 miles of running so far in July.
- I have 5km race coming up on Wednesday. I hope to beat my previous time (27:18).
- My RandomAbs streak still lives (since June 8).
- I'm starting a 4-day morning yoga challenge tomorrow. The classes start at 5:45am and it's really going to be a challenge for me since I am 100% not a morning person.
- Everything is still on track for my enrollment next week and my departure on the 19th. A lot of my time lately has been spent researching, making lists and planning for my move.
- I had a wonderful lunch with a friend of mine this afternoon. I'm trying to catch up with as many people as I can before I leave. While I won't exactly miss Bagotville when I'm gone, there are a lot of people I'll be sad to say good-bye to.
- Chris had his wisdom teeth taken out last Wednesday and his squirrel face is almost gone. Sadly, he won't let me post any pictures.
- A friend of mine got married on the weekend and the pictures I've seen so far are absolutely beautiful. Best wishes to the happy couple!


That's it, folks!

Back from vacation

After spending a week on the beach in Maine, we're back in Canada. We had a pretty good time - the weather was decent for most of the trip, though we had a few more rainy days than I would have liked. And......I didn't get a sunburn! This is quite an accomplishment, considering my pasty complexion. I managed to squeeze in a few good runs while I was there, plus RandomAbs every night. Even though it's nice to get out of the region every once in a while, I was happy to come home to my puppies. (By the way, Mika's ear is healing up nicely.) Here are a couple pictures of the beach:

Goose Rocks Beach

The other side of the beach

Now I've got just under 3 weeks left in Bagotville before I leave and I'm trying to figure out how best to spend them. There's a lot of stuff to get ready for the move, but I want to make sure I get everything in before I leave. I don't really have much planned, except a 5k race on July 11th and a good-bye party for a friend who's also leaving this summer.

Random side note - I did something today that might almost be considered "tech-savvy." First, I connected my Hotmail account to my Outlook program on my computer. This then allowed me to connect my Outlook calendar to iCloud so that it syncs seamlessly with my iPhone. What that means is that I can add an appointment on my computer and it will show up on my phone and on the iCloud website automatically. It's like magic!

The final(?) version

This week has been really chaotic! Lots of big changes coming up. In between all the chaos, I did mange to squeeze in quite a few workouts - 3 yoga classes, 2 runs (including one with a 9:44 average pace), RandomAbs every day and an upper-body workout at the gym. I'm all set to head to the beach next week!

Regarding my moving situation.....*sigh*. I think the story has changed 6 times this week. There was one day where it changed 2 or 3 times within a few hours. On Monday, I was told that the information they were giving me was the final version and that it wasn't going to change. That lasted until Wednesday, whereupon I got the "new" final version. So here it is:
On July 17th, I will be officially enrolled in the military. On July 19th, I fly to Winnipeg - bye bye Bagotville! When I get there, I'll start doing all my admin stuff, including setting up the house-hunting trip. Once that's done, Chris will be able to fly out to meet me and we'll have 5 days to find a house. Hopefully, we'll find something in that time (the Winnipeg real estate market is a bit peculiar); if not, we'll put our name on the list for a PMQ (~3 month wait). After that, Chris flies home and will only rejoin me when it's time to move all our stuff (depending on when we take possession of our house).
In the meantime, I stay in Winnipeg, living in the quarters on the base, until it's time for my orientation course in St-Jean. It's a 2-week course (full boot camp is next summer) and I'll be flying there on Aug. 10th or so. At the end of the course, I'll return to Winnipeg and get ready to start school. So that means I have less than a month left in Saguenay!

Back on the bike + fur-baby story

After a long, hard day of sitting outside in the sun, I decided it was time to go for a bike ride. It's been a while since I've gone out on my own but I have to say it went reasonably well. I kept the route fairly easy, with only a couple minor hills to contend with. I covered 13.78 miles in 53:35, averaging out to about 15.4mph/25km/h.

My bike is running nice and smooth, thanks to the spring tune-up it got a few weeks ago, and it was nice to be back out on the roads. But, let me tell you - I am out of riding shape. At this time last year, my legs were in much better condition to handle hard hills and long rides.


Here's a NRR dog story that happened yesterday afternoon. Both Mika and Kona were outside playing while we were enjoying the sun. Their favourite pastime is "lip-biting", where they derive some enjoyment out of trying to bite each other's lips, cheeks, ears, etc. Dogs are weird, what can I say? Normally, they continue like this until they get tired, but sometimes it evolves into a bit of a scrap if one of them gets annoyed. Usually, I order them to break it up, they shake it off and they're back at it again without delay. 


Yesterday, however, when I separated the two of them, I noticed that Mika had some blood on her fur. It's happened a couple times that one or the other has drawn blood (after all, they do love playing very rough), so I wasn't immediately concerned but as it turned out, there was a lot of more than usual. It took me few seconds to realize that the blood was coming from her ear. We tried to get a look at it but Mika decided to shake and little tiny droplets of blood flew everywhere, completing covering Chris. I took her inside to clean it up, but once in the bathroom, Mika promptly shook again, turning our bathroom into a crime scene. In all this, Mika didn't seem to notice or care that her ear was bleeding; she wasn't whimpering or complaining - all she wanted to do was go back outside and play some more.

This morning, once everything cleared up a bit, we were able to get a good look at it. We think what happened is that Kona bit Mika's right ear and her tooth went through the skin, most likely by accident; Mika, not too thrilled by her new piercing, probably pulled away and her ear got ripped in the process. As a result, she has a small slice in her upper ear, about 1/2 inch long. We're keeping an eye on it, but it seems to be healing nicely and Mika doesn't seem bothered by it at all. I guess it makes her look tough.

Yeah, I'm tough.

Week in review

I've been done my contracts now for 2 weeks and with not working, my perception of time has gotten really messed up. The days seem to drag on endlessly, yet the weeks fly by. Weird. 

It hasn't been a fantastic week for workouts since my knee was giving me grief. It wasn't painful and it didn't hurt while running, but all week something felt out of whack first thing in the morning as well as post-run. I don't want to jinx it and say it's better, but it has felt fine all day today. My sleep schedule's been a bit off too, waking up at 4:30am every morning this week. Not the groggy, "ugh I have to go to work" kind of waking up - we're talking wide awake, can't get back to sleep no matter what I do. Normally, I'd use that time to go for a run but with my knee acting up, that hasn't been an option.

On to the workouts....

Monday

Monday was a rest day from running but I did my daily RandomAbs workout to keep the streak alive.

Tuesday

4 miles in the heat of the day. I came home drenched in sweat. Not my smartest move but I survived. Later in the evening, I went to the weight room for an upper body workout followed by the day's RandomAbs. Normally I quite enjoy weight-lifting but this workout was really rough, not because it was especially difficult, but because I kept getting an exertion-induced headache with every set. What I mean is that while doing an exercise, I would develop a headache that disappeared within 30 seconds of finishing my reps. Very bizarre. Maybe it was the heat?

Wednesday

For this run, I thought I would plan things a little better so I decided to do my run in the evening, close to sunset, in order to beat the heat. As it turned out, the day was much cooler and I ended up freezing during my run. However, I did get to try out my new shorts that I ordered from Lululemon and they were awesome! I'm not a huge fan of short, loose-fitting shorts because I find my thighs end up chafing, so I was thrilled when I saw they introduced a pair of longer, tighter shorts. Finally, I finished up the day with a RandomAbs workout.

Thursday

Thursday was supposed to be a bike ride, but my knee was feeling wonky when I woke up so I decided to skip it. Instead, I spent the day on the couch, icing it while doing some research. I am determined to fix this thing before it gets to be an injury. I did do my RandomAbs workout, though, since that doesn't involve my knee.

I also got a call with some information about the move to Winnipeg. With what the clerk told me, we are one step closer to possibly being able to know something that might be concrete someday. Which is to say that I know nothing new. 

Friday

Scheduled rest day (from running anyways). Still did RandomAbs though.

Saturday 

Today I was smart. Since I knew today would be hot, I went for my run as soon as I got up. Granted, that was at around 10am but I'm a night owl, not an early bird - don't judge. In the afternoon, we hit the weight room and I'm happy to report that there were no funny headaches this time. I'm progressing nicely with my weights but I've discovered a slight problem - my limiting factor is my grip strength. In certain exercises, I find that my forearms end up tiring long before the working muscles do and it's preventing me from progressing as I would like. Any suggestions? And of course, I did the RandomAbs workout - 9th day in a row. 

Last week's workouts

I realized that I haven't been posting my workouts very often, so here's what I did last week. The main focus has been easing back into running post-marathon, as well as building strength.

Tuesday June 5: 3 miles in 28:36
Wednesday June 6: rest day
Thursday June 7: 3 miles in 30:14
Friday June 8: no run (achy knee); 45min of upper body strength training, plus a RandomAbs workout
Saturday June 9: no run (knee still grumpy): ZWOW #21; RandomAbs workout
Sunday June 10: scavenger hunt run; RandomAbs workout

Going into Saturday's workout, I was already a little sore from Friday. It only took me about a half hour to do both the ZWOW and the ab exercises. Not a huge time commitment. But holy crap! Sunday morning, I was so sore that I could barely sit up to get out of bed. I had no idea such a short workout could leave me walking like an old lady. The lesson here - don't underestimate the power of a short, intense workout.

Photo scavenger hunt

Here's my entry in Loopster Mr. Bacon's Scavenger Hunt 2012 (click on the link to see the full rules).

1. A "No Trespassing Sign"

Bilingual bonus!

2. New construction 

Notice the bonus "Acces interdit" (No Trespassing) sign

3. A novelty.

Well, this one's more of a "novelty" shop...

4. A sign with a misspelled word.

Sadly, this was the only one I couldn't find, at least not on my run. Of course, on the drive home, I saw plenty of mistakes.

5. Something older than you. 

City Hall, built in 1932.

6. GPS-a-Sketch. I got some weird looks while I was doing this....

LOOP

7. Your reflection.

In the window of the library.

8. A bridge.

If you look closely, there are 2 bridges - one vehicle, one pedestrian.

9. Something that starts with the letter J.

10. Physical representation of a song title

The courthouse (Cour municipale) where "I Fought the Law" (but I actually won!)

11. Something that reminds you of a specific Loopster.

Tracer1973 - Probation officer

12. Playground/swingset

Water park at the Old Port.

13. Sign with a 12-letter word

Bibliothèque = library

14. Something temporary

Midway at the Old Port

15. Litter that you pick up and put in a trash can.

Litter

Trash can

16. Wildcard

Clown walking down the street eating ice cream.
I hope he's with the midway....

Not so healthy eating...

Confession: I have been eating like crap the last few weeks, especially the last few days. I've been using my marathon as an excuse to eat what I've wanted the last week, all the things I didn't let myself have while I was in training. Like pizza, chocolate chip ice cream, cheese fondue, cake, girly drinks....dare I go on??? It's disgusting and it's starting to catch up with me, especially with my decreased mileage. I feel really gross and it's time to do something about it. I'm going back to my calorie-counting, starting tomorrow morning. I'm also going back to our meal-planning, now that I have the time to go to the grocery store and actually make decent meals (you know, the ones that come from cookbooks, not boxes). I especially want to incorporate more in-season vegetables and fruit. If you have any suggestions for meals/snacks to help me kick-start my renewed commitment to healthy eating, I'd love to hear them!

On a side-note, today I FINALLY got my admissions letter from the University of Manitoba. I applied to the school back in January and with a 4.39 GPA over 4 years of university, I wasn't exactly stressed about getting in. However, I do need to give the admissions letter to the military so they can proceed with my file. So, 6 MONTHS after applying (and at least 3 semi-harassing phone calls to the admissions office), I finally got my letter. Finally.

Rough week

This week has been challenging, to say the least....

Monday morning (post-marathon), I woke up to discover that my legs were in surprisingly good shape. My quads were a bit sore, but nothing I couldn't handle. Then I tried to get out of bed. Out of my entire body, the part that was the sorest was my back. And not my lower back either - it was more mid-back. Once I got going, it was alright but that initial "standing up" was rough. All in all, the 7 hour drive back to Bagotville was relatively painless. I think the foam-rolling right after the race really helped decrease the soreness.

Since the marathon, I've gotten in 8 miles, which is WAY below what I'm used to. I did 4 Monday night after I got home, then 2 Thursday and 2 Saturday. I've also gone to the weight room once and I did a power yoga class on Friday.

Unfortunately, this is creating bit of a problem for me. This week has been extremely stressful, dealing with the move to Winnipeg, house-hunting and getting a mortgage pre-approval done. I won't bore you with the details, but there are a million pieces to the puzzle that all have to come together in exactly the right way at the exact right moment.  How is it going to work? Right now, I have no idea. Is it even going to work? Again, no clue. Normally, running helps me deal with this kind of stress, but no such luck this week. As a result, I've been a bit of a nasty-a$$ b*tch this week - just ask my husband. (Sorry, Chris) Hopefully, next week will bring some answers.

But, on the bright side, a friend made me a cake to celebrate my marathon:

26.2 (Ottawa Marathon Race Report)

I did it! I finished my first marathon today! I woke up at 4:30, had some leftover pasta for breakfast and we were ready to go by 5:30. I'm staying with Chris' aunt and uncle, who live in Ottawa, and they were kind enough to drive me to the race site so I wouldn't have to worry about parking or getting lost. I was extremely appreciative because downtown Ottawa can be a bit overwhelming if you don't know where you're going, especially with all the street closures.

I arrived at the race site just before 6:00 so I had about an hour to kill before the race start. I was wearing a tank top and shorts and I found it a bit chilly at that time of the morning, but thankfully there was a building nearby where we could wait. At around 6:30, I called my grandmother because I was getting a little freaked out (and she's the only one I know who's guaranteed to be up at that time).

Around 6:45, I made my way to the purple corral (4:30-5:00 finishers) and shortly thereafter, they sang the national anthem. The wheelchair marathon started at 6:55 and then all of a sudden we were off. It only took about 3 minutes or so for me to cross the start line, despite how far back I was. Within the first couple minutes, I had to stop and readjust my hydration belt. Despite my best efforts to get it right before the start, it kept flopping around too much. The adjustment mechanism is not very good and as a result, I'm not a fan of this new 4-bottle belt (also, the bottles sometimes fly out - happened 4 times during the race). I think I lost about a minute here.

My goal pace for the race was 11:00/mile and I managed to hit that for the first 18 miles or so. At mile 5, I went through a water station and did something kinda stupid. In addition to the Gatorade I took, I grabbed a cup of water to dump down my shirt. However, I forgot that I was wearing my iPod and I killed it! At that point I was thinking that it was going a long race without music...

Thankfully, there were about a dozen or so bands spread out over the course, including one drum corps that was awesome. There were also lots of spectators in the first half as well as some amusing signs. For example, there was a little kid dancing on a corner while singing over and over again, "I like to move it, move it." Shortly thereafter, I had to make a pit stop at around mile 9 because my stomach was cramping up to the point where I was doubled-over in pain. Even though I lost just under 2 minutes there, it was definitely worth it.

After a few miles without music, I was getting pretty fed up with the whole thing; the race just seemed like such a chore. But then genius struck! I was carrying my iPhone with me (so Chris could track me from home) and what does my iPhone have lots of? Music!! So I unplugged the headphones from my dead iPod and plugged them into the phone. Brilliant! I had music again! That gave me a good mental boost and my pace picked back up a bit.

After that, there's not too much to report. The miles chugged by and I was slowly getting more and more tired. The temperature was also heating up so it made it more challenging to keep pace. Once I hit 20 miles, I seemed to lose a lot of steam. Most of my miles were still 11:XX but at the higher end. Unfortunately, this was beginning to jeopardize my hope of finishing under 5:00:00.

The last few miles were pretty awesome because of all the spectators that had gathered in the downtown. Despite the fact that everything hurt, I wasn't going to give up when the end was so close. One particular song came on that gave me a little extra boost, Colonel Hathi's March (the elephant march from Disney's The Jungle Book). I have no clue why but it seemed to do the trick, so I listened to it 3 times before moving on.

I finally made it to the home stretch and Chris' aunt and uncle were waiting near the finish line to cheer me on. Normally, I sprint the last 100m or so to the finish line but not today. My final time: 4:59:14. I just barely squeaked in under 5:00:00 and I'm so glad I did. (I'd have been really annoyed if my time had been something like 5:00:16.) Here's the link to my Garmin data. (It doesn't match my chip time because I forgot to turn off the auto-pause feature and the timer stopped when I stopped to adjust my belt at the beginning.)

And here's me post-race with my medal:

So will I do it again? If you asked me today, I'd probably say no. But I've been told that the pain fades, much like a woman forgets how painful childbirth was. We'll how things go in the next couple months but I'm not ruling it out entirely.

Week wrap-up

Another week is in the books and honestly, I wish it had been a little less stressful (more on that later - running/biking stuff first).

Wednesday night was an event that my bike club organizes annually - Le Tour du Silence. It's held on the same day across North America to honour cyclists that have been injured/killed on the roads. I biked to the event start (about 10km from home) before the start of the ride to help with registration, etc. When I left the house, it was 25*C/77*F so I wore shorts, a short-sleeved jersey and I brought arm-warmers, just in case. Within 10 minutes of arriving at the start, the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees and it started to rain a bit. Then it started to rain a little harder. And a little harder....until finally we were in a total downpour. With the rain, wind and cooler temperatures, I was freezing. At one point, I decided I had to bail because I was miserable and I didn't want to risk getting sick before my marathon. Since Chris was at football practice and biking home was not really an option, I ended up calling a friend to come rescue me. Thank you again, M! (As it turned out, they decided to cancel the ride so I don't feel so bad for bailing.)

Yesterday, I got in a nice 4-mile run in the sun. With my marathon next week, my runs have been so much shorter and the miles have been flying by really fast. It's nice, though, because it leaves me feeling really energized rather than spent.

Today was my last "long" run before the race. It's weird because when I looked at the schedule, I thought, "It's an easy day - only 8 miles." Since when did 8 miles become "only" 8? It was a nice run despite the heat; all my miles were under 11:00. I left from the university where Chris' team was practising, so I was running in unfamiliar territory. At one point, I found myself in a neighbourhood with some new, fancy houses (and some weird ones, too, with really modern architecture). Unfortunately, I forgot to put on some sunscreen so I'm looking a little lobster-like at the moment.

NRR - I spent a lot of this week trying to find out answers to questions I had regarding my military situation and my move to Winnipeg. The biggest questions related to Chris and how he was getting to Winnipeg. I won't bore you with all the details, but at the beginning of the week, I thought things looked pretty good. However, after getting the runaround from one place and having to go talk to someone else, who had to talk to someone else, etc, etc, we finally got some clear answers on Friday. And not good ones either.
The end result is that I'm moving by myself (with no more than 450lbs of stuff) into an apartment in Winnipeg for the duration of my studies; Chris will stay here in the house with our stuff and the dogs until his situation gets sorted out. Worst-case scenario is that we're apart the entire time I'm in Winnipeg (3 years) but there are a couple avenues he can explore to try to get out there a little faster. Trust me when I say I'm glossing over a lot of the details here for the sake of simplicity; apparently our particular situation is one that's rather complex.
While I'm not pleased with the news, I am happy to finally have clear answers. I know that I'll be leaving for a week at the beginning of August to go find a place to live and meet with the liaison officer in Winnipeg. After that, I'll be in St-Jean for 2 weeks for an orientation course; then, it's the move to Winnipeg, just in time for classes.

Now, a question for readers - if you could only take 450lbs (out of a houseful of stuff) to move cross-country into an apartment, what would you take? What would be your biggest priority?
For me, I don't think I'll actually take 450lbs. I have to leave so much here for Chris (ie. kitchen stuff) so I'll probably end up buying a lot when I get there. On my list right now are clothes (especially running stuff), my bike, computer/printer and wool for my knitting/crocheting projects. Maybe a couple books. Any other suggestions??

Sunday run in the heat/Yasso 800s

Sunday

This past weekend was definitely the nicest weather we've had all year. The temperature was actually quite warm, so I took the opportunity to do my long run in the heat of the afternoon. I know it's going to be much hotter in Ottawa in a couple weeks for my marathon and I want to be prepared to run in the heat. 

I dropped my husband off in La Baie for his football game, so I did my run there instead on the base. It was a nice change of scenery with quite a few more hills than I'm used to. Despite that and the heat, every single one of my 12 miles came in under 11:00. Here are a couple pictures from my run:

The view of the fjord, with the tide out.

What's this? Yes folks, it's a pyramid made out of yield signs.

And what is this ridiculous structure called??? (No, this is not a joke.)

At the end of my run, I was pretty hot and sweaty, so I decided to stop at the convenience store and get a popsicle. Best. Idea. Ever. (The cashier may have been a little grossed out by my salt-crusted face, but I didn't really care.)

Tuesday

Tonight I did my last speed workout before my race, 8 Yasso 800s with a goal of 4:45 or better. I didn't have the chance to go to the track in Jonquiere, so I improvised a track out of the long, straight road that runs beside the PMQs. I'm pleased to report that every single one came in under time. Here are my splits:

#1 - 4:41

#2 - 4:33

#3 - 4:25

#4 - 4:31

#5 - 4:08

#6 - 4:21

#7 - 4:05

#8 - 3:56

Not bad, eh?

First bike ride of the season

It's been a while....The week of Conference was a blur. The week after Conference was a blur trying to get caught up on everything I missed while I was gone. I've gotten in a few runs this week (including a speedy one today), but most importantly, today was my first bike ride of 2012. It was a short one with my club, about 24 miles/39km, but it was mostly about getting back in the groove of riding and riding in a group. I was surprised by how challenging it was but I guess I'm just out of bike-riding shape.

20-miler - check!

Today was my first ever 20-miler and I'm feeling surprisingly good afterwards. While I'm in Barrie, I'm staying with my in-laws, and they are going to be moving to a new house soon. This house is conveniently located about 20 miles away, so that became the destination for my run. 

I left the house at 11am, after a breakfast of delicious ham-and-cheese crepes made by my father-in-law. It was about 6*C/43*F, but with 20km/h (12mph) winds and much stronger gusts, it felt a lot colder. Most of my run was spent running north, where the wind was coming from. That combined with all the hills made for a much slower run than I would have liked, but what can you do?

The first 7 or so miles passed relatively quickly and easily. I had a lot of turns to take as I navigated my way through the rural countryside, so that kept things interesting. However, once I got on the road that runs parallel to the highway (northwards, of course), I was stuck there for a good 8 miles. 8 miles of running straight into the wind and freezing my butt off. It was rough - it took a lot to convince myself to keep going, but I managed.

Once I turned east, out of the wind, the last 5 miles flew by. There were a couple of challenging hills towards the end but surprisingly, I wasn't completely dead when I finished. I think that bodes well for my race in 4 weeks, especially since the course is quite flat. When I was about 3 miles away from the new house, I called my in-laws, who came to pick me up. Here's the link to the Garmin data if you're interested.

A few statistics to note. 

- 20 miles is a new distance PR for me

- April has been my highest mileage month ever with 117.13 miles in the books (and there's still tomorrow)

- My 2012 mileage total is 359.98, which averages out to almost exactly 3 miles per day. This puts me well ahead of the pace to achieve my 1000 mile goal.

Happy running!

Good news!!!

Whew, this week has been a doozie and it's only going to get better.

Monday
Rest day. After Sunday's tortuous run, I took a complete rest day. In the morning, I went to see my chiropractor (aka torturer) who worked on my quads and psoas muscles. I nearly cried. In the afternoon, I worked from home and wrote the final exam for one of my classes. I *may* have been writing in bed.

Tuesday
Another rest day, physically anyways. 
In the afternoon, I got a phone call from the recruiting office with offer to join the military. I've been trying to get in since last February, but due to budget cuts, there wasn't much hiring going on. This was the best phone call I've received in a long time!
My situation is a little bit complicated though. Normally, if you already have a degree (which I do), you would apply to join DEO (Direct Entry Officer) and start your trade training immediately. In this year's budget, they only had openings for engineers and medical professionals (which I am not), so I wasn't able to apply through this program.
However, they were accepting applications for the ROTP program, where they pay for your education in exchange for obligatory service after graduation. It's a bit redundant, given that I have my B.A. already, but it's what the recruiter suggested. Anyways, I applied and got accepted! I will be an Air Force Logistics Officer!!!
What does this mean? It means we're moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba in the summer so I can start classes at the University of Manitoba in the fall. Wahoo!!! 
Why Winnipeg??? Because my husband was supposed to be starting his pilot training and the bulk of it takes place in that part of Canada. With his knee as it is, it's doubtful he'll ever start his training, but the offer was for Winnipeg so that's where we're going. We're still working on all the details regarding the move but it looks like he should be able to come with me while they finish up his knee and process his (probable) release.


Wednesday
I have to admit - I didn't sleep very much Tuesday night. I spent most of the night processing my news and figuring out all the logistics of how it's going to work. Unfortunately, Wednesdays are also my long day (start at 8am, finish at 9pm) and teaching on little sleep is not the most fun. 
When I got to work Wednesday morning, as I got out of my car, I heard this weird "pssssss" noise coming from somewhere. In fact, it was coming from my tire. It seems I ran over a nail driving into work and as I watched the tire deflate before my eyes, I realized how lucky I was that I had made it to work without incident. 
I called my husband and he was able to set up an appointment for me at the Canadian Tire down the street, but I still had to figure out how to get it there in between my classes. I know how to put the spare on theoretically, but I've never actually done it. I asked my students for some advice and surprisingly, they offered to help me. They were fantastic! As it happened, one of them had an air compressor in her car, so we left a class a little early, went out to my car and re-inflated my tire. I turned it into a teaching moment, where we talked about car parts and the like, and we were able to get my tire in good enough shape to drive down the road to the shop.
When I got home after my afternoon class, I was able to squeeze in a quick 3 miles before my evening class started. I really needed it and it turned out to be a fantastic run. It was really relaxing, and the temperature was just chilly enough to be refreshing. It was the boost I needed to get through the rest of the day.

Thursday (today)
This morning, I woke up early to get in 5 miles before work. The alarm clock almost won the battle, but I was able to defeat it with a last minute rally. Aside from some stomach cramping, it was a pretty good run. After that, it was off to work, then to a friend's house to pick up something, and finally to the recruiting centre to ask some questions about my situation.
Before I knew it, it was time to go to the bus station. I'm going back to Ontario for 10 days so that I can attend the Ontario Student Classics Conference (more to come on that) with my old high school. We only have 1 car and since 10 days is a long time to leave Chris car-less, I'm taking public transit to get home. I took the bus from Chicoutimi to Quebec City, now I'm on the train to Montreal, then I'll be taking the overnight bus to Toronto and finally another bus to Barrie in the morning. In total, I'll be on the road 19 hours but it'll be worth it.

And just for fun...How is this possibly comfortable???

A story of perseverance

Ok, the title might be a bit dramatic but that was my long run today. Complete and total disaster. I had 18 miles on the schedule for today and I have to admit, I was not looking forward to it. We got a lot of wet, heavy snow over the weekend and I was not keen on running in slush. Thankfully, that ended up being the least of my worries as most of the roads were dry.

According to the forecast, the high for today was supposed to be 6*C/43*F so I planned to run in the afternoon when it would be warmest. I wore two-part pants (tights with a waterproof shell), a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket. As it turned out, I was way too warm at the beginning but I didn't want to take off my jacket because every now and then, there was a stiff, cool breeze that caused me to zip it back up again.

The route for this run was simple, 9 miles out-and-back, starting from the base and going into downtown Chicoutimi. Aside from being too warm, I really had no complaints for the first part of my run. Just before my turnaround, I passed one of my students, who was out for a walk with his wife, so I stopped to say a brief hello.

Getting to downtown Chicoutimi involves going down a lot of hills as you descend into the river bed. In an out-and-back route like this one, what goes down must go up....This is where the problems started. I had two major hills to climb in quick succession and after each one, I had to take a short break to catch my breath. Even after those two killers, the route was a steady uphill for several miles, with another quick steep hill thrown in for fun.

During this run, I thought I'd try out another fuel option to help me keep my energy up. The last time I ordered my EFS drink mix, they included a free EFS liquid shot. Honestly, it looked and smelled nasty. But, hey, if it works right? Wrong. It made me really nauseous and I ended up heaving into a snowbank. Twice. I felt better afterwards though.

As I was returning home, the temperature suddenly dropped and the wind picked up. Where I was roasting at the beginning of my run, now I was freezing. On top of that, my stomach was cramping and I could barely hold my torso up because my abs and hip flexors were still sore from Friday's workout. Surprisingly, in all this, my legs were doing just fine.

I had the phone with me and I don't know how many times I almost called Chris to come pick me up. The last 4.5 miles were absolutely horrible and I can't even remember how many times I stopped to take a break. At one point, I just sat on the side of the road and cried, thinking about how I still had almost 3 miles to do to get home. However, I refused to give up and I did eventually make it home, though my time was embarrassingly slow.

As soon as I got in the door, it was straight to the bath for me to warm up. I still feel pretty crappy, even 5 hours later, but I think I'm glad I pushed myself to finish. I think.

Snow?!?!?

After a few weeks of spring-like weather, this is what it looked like Friday night:

By morning, we had about 30cm of wet, heavy snow on the ground. It's going to be unpleasant tomorrow when I go out for my 18-miler.

Otherwise, this week, I got in 18 miles (5, 8, and 5) and two upper-body workouts. I'm really feeling the shoulder exercises today!

My first 5k ever

I've done 5 years of triathlon, 3 half-marathons, a 20k race, a 30k race and a staircase challenge, but today was my first 5k race. It was fun!

The race itself (La Jakours) is part of a local race circuit of about 20 races in the region. The vast majority of the runners are members of running clubs and they're all ridiculously hard-core. One thing I've noticed here is that no one does anything for fun - it's all taken super seriously and there isn't a lot of room for amateurs.

Before the start, I ran into one of my students from the tax centre so we chatted a bit while we waited. I couldn't hear a darn word the race director was saying at the beginning because everyone was talking and then all of a sudden the gun sounded and we were off. It was a 2.5km loop through a residential neighbourhood and it was pretty much flat the whole way. I did almost get hit by someone backing out of their driveway - not cool, people.

Compared to all the distance running I've been doing over the last year, this race went by so fast. I don't really remember too many details, to be honest. I pushed as hard as I thought I could get away with, without killing myself before the end. And it worked! As soon as I saw the finish line, I gave it everything I had left and finished in 27:18 (Garmin time). There was one girl I was neck-and-neck with for the last mile, but sadly she pulled away just before the finish and I couldn't catch her. Oh well. I'm really pleased with my time. Normally it takes me about 30min to do 5km, with 28:22 being my best time, so this is a huge improvement. I finished 5th in my age group and 74/97 overall.

New shoes!!!

This week has been a great week for workouts. I got my new shoes on Tuesday!!! Sadly, I didn't get a chance to try them out right away because I already had a yoga class AND a spinning class booked for Tuesday.

Yoga was awesome - it really helped stretch out my sore muscles from Monday's workout at the gym. I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but one of the things I did was a 4-minute tabata calf workout. You do 20 seconds of single-leg calf raises, 10 seconds "rest" in the up position, then switch legs, and repeat the sequence for 4 minutes (8 times total, 4/leg). Come Tuesday, I had a hard time straightening my legs because my calves were so sore. It was a challenge to put my heels on the ground so I ended up wearing high heels to work to help with the soreness. I couldn't believe that 4 minutes could do so much damage. Anyways, yoga was a BIG help but they're still a bit sore even today (Saturday).

I got to try out my new shoes in between my afternoon and evening classes on Wednesday. They're like a dream! They're the exact same model as my old ones, only new (and a prettier colour)! It was just a quick 3 miles but it was fantastic. My last mile came in at 9:23 which is pretty fast for me. Thursday was another easy 5, just out enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having.

Friday's run was pretty cool. I did 4 miles over on the base and I got to see the F-18 demonstration jet practising his routine for this year's airshow circuit. It's pretty impressive and I have to admit, having the jets here does make living in Bagotville a little better. Back in 2009, just after we moved, I was over running on the base while the demo jet was rehearsing his routine before the big airshow here. At the time I was a little unsure about this whole Bagotville posting, but I remember thinking that was pretty awesome.

Friday night we went to the weight room. I got my 8x75lbs on the bench press!! I've been improving on most of my exercises, but I've hit a bit of a plateau with my biceps curls and military press. It's frustrating...

Today I got 12 miles in this afternoon. I met up with a co-worker and for the first time, I actually had a running buddy. He stayed with me for 6.8 miles before we headed back to his house, then I finished the rest of my run alone. It was great having someone to talk to - it made miles pass much faster. At the end of my run, I was faced with a huge hill. I could have finished the 12th mile at the base of the hill if I had wanted to but I decided to tackle it. I figured it was the end of my run, so why not, right? It has a 14% grade over about 0.2 miles and it took about 2 minutes to climb, but I did it!

Update on my background check saga

I spent Friday morning on the phone inquiring about the status of my background check. I finally got in touch with someone who knows what they're doing and I had the appropriate document in hand within an hour. Turns out, they actually can do it locally, even though I was told by countless other police officers that it wasn't possible. Isn't nice when people know how to do their job? I just wish I could have avoided the time-consuming and costly saga it took to get to this point. Despite the headache, I get to go to Classics Conference!!!! Yay!

Navigating bureaucracy: the saga of getting a background check

This post is not running-related at all. It is about the ongoing quest to get a Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS) completed so that I can chaperone a school trip with my old high school. It's a verification that is absolutely required by the school board, in addition to a regular criminal background check. Without it, I can't go.
Alright, here it goes....

First, let's go back 2 years to the last time I went on this same trip as a chaperone. I did a background check at the local police station and sent the results to the school board. I didn't hear anything back, so I assumed everything was ok (my record is completely clean, by the way). When I arrived at the school (after having driven 12 hours to get there from Bagotville), I was told that I didn't have the VSS. I had asked for it at the police station and the officer said that he had given me everything he could, but I guess that didn't include a VSS. I signed a one-time form and was given special permission to go by the principal.

Now, knowing that I absolutely must have this screening, I started the process back in December. To be valid, it must have been completed within the last 6 months, so I couldn't have started it any earlier. First, I went to the Saguenay (municipal) police and they had no idea what I was talking about. Second, I went to the SQ (provincial police) and they sent me back to the Saguenay police. Come to find out, VSS doesn't really exist in Quebec; however, for a VSS to be valid, it has to be completed in the municipality where you live. Grr...

Finally, I discovered that it could be done through the RCMP (federal police). I went to talk to them and they tried to send me back to the municipal police. After doing some research on the computer, the lady found what I was talking about and printed out the documentation for me (in English and in French - keep in mind I'm doing all this in French). She said I would need to have my fingerprints taken and sent to Ottawa. Ok, no problem.

So, I went back to the municipal police to be fingerprinted. I was told that they didn't do fingerprinting at the police station - I would need to make an appointment at the court house. Which I did. I went to the courthouse and explained my situation to the officer there. I showed him the documentation from the RCMP and I emphasized that I needed a VSS. I think I said it 6 times and he assured me, yes ma'am, VSS. We did  the prints, I paid my $25, he filled out the form and put it in a sealed envelope. He said it would take about 8-10 weeks, which back in January was plenty of time. I went straight to the post office to have it mailed and I paid about $15 to have it sent registered mail (you know, because my fingerprints, full name, address, etc were in there - I wanted to make sure it ended up in the right hands).

Fast forward 8-10 weeks. It's now late March. I finally received my letter from the RCMP and as I expected, everything was clean. However, as I read further, I saw "Vulnerable Sector Screening - not requested." Um, what? I'm pretty sure I requested it. When I got home from the post office (after having a minor meltdown), I immediately called the RCMP. Of course, you can't speak to a person directly - you have to listen to a 4-minute recording before leaving a message. A 4-minute recording!!! I put it on speaker-phone and made a sandwich while I waited.

A couple days later, I received a call back from a guy at the RCMP. Was I home to take the call? Nope. So I had to call back, listen to the 4-minute message AGAIN and leave another message. Thankfully, the next time he called back, I was home. He reviewed my application and as it turns out, the officer at the courthouse didn't check of the VSS box. And since they destroy your prints after the search is done, I would have to start all over again. Remember it takes 8-10 weeks to complete? The RCMP guy told me I could have it done faster if I had my prints done electronically, about 3 business days. Unfortunately, this technology doesn't exist yet in the Sag so that would mean going to Quebec City (2 hours away) or Montreal (5 hours away).

The RCMP guy gave me the names of a couple private security companies that do digital fingerprints, so I called one in Quebec City and made an appointment. On the phone, they told me it would take about 3 weeks to process (not quite the 3 days I was told by the RCMP, but I still had enough time for that). Thankfully, we were already passing through Quebec City on our way to my 30k race, so I didn't have to make a separate trip.

The gentleman at the Commissionaires in Quebec City was nice enough. I explained my situation to him and assured me that it would work this time. I watched him fill out the form and made double-sure that he checked the VSS box before submitting the form. I asked him how long it would take and he thought it might take longer than 3 weeks though because of the VSS. Great. Anyways, I paid my $90 and continued on my way.

Last week, I received a call from the guy at the Commissionaires. Apparently, there was a problem with my request because it wasn't being submitted from a police agency plus it wasn't in the municipality where I reside. Thanks for the suggestion, Mr. RCMP guy. He told me he got in contact with someone in Saguenay and he forwarded my request to him. He gave me the name and phone number of the man, and sure enough, it's the same guy who forgot to check the box in the first place. Great. Also, I don't know if my prints will be submitted from Quebec City or Saguenay, which will make a huge difference since Saguenay can't do them electronically. This could mean waiting 8-10 more weeks while it's done by paper.

I've given a deadline of April 20th. If I don't have any results by then, I'm going to have to tell the school I can't go. We would be leaving for the conference on May 1st, but I need to give my work some advance notice whether I'll be gone or not.

Anyways, that's the saga. It's still not over yet, but hopefully it will be soon. And did I mention that this was all done in French????

My foot's feeling better!

I've been resting my foot since Thursday, mostly icing it and keeping off it as much as possible. It feels much better and I think I might be able to squeeze in a couple easy miles tomorrow afternoon.
After my aborted run on Friday, I went over to the weight room for an upper-body workout, and we were back there today for another round. I've been trying to make a more conscientious effort to strength train on a more regular basis. Lately, it's been about once a week but with my workload letting up, I'm making it my goal to go twice. I'm quite pleased with my progress on the bench press and biceps curl!
On Friday, Chris also got me to do some front squats and man did I feel them on Saturday (and Sunday too). I thought I had pretty strong quads from all the running and biking, but I guess I was wrong. I must be a sucker for punishment because I went back for more today.
Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Brief hiatus

Unfortunately, I am on a brief hiatus from running at the moment, forced by the continued grief my left foot is giving me. We've identified the problem as worn-out shoes, since my current runners (New Balance 860s) have about 450 miles on them and haven't given me any issues until now.
It started last Sunday during my long run, where I ran the last 6 miles with a cramping left foot. I know, I know, not the brightest move but we'll call it an exercise in mental toughness. Understandably, the muscles in my foot were not too pleased with me Monday morning, so I rested for a couple days.
Thursday, I tried 5 miles on the TM in a new pair of shoes (the ones that I bought at Christmas -  New Balance 1260s). Even though I was fitted for them and in the store they felt good, I'm not 100% sold on them. The run was alright - the shoes didn't make my foot feel any better but at least it didn't feel any worse.
Yesterday, I had a speed workout on the agenda and I really, really, really wanted to do it. Even though it was cold and windy outside, I bundled up, all excited to run fast. Guess how far I made it? Not even to the end of the street, less than a quarter mile. I had to do the walk of shame back to the house.
Because of my uncertainty I'm having with the 1260s, I decided to order a new pair of 860s online (exact same model, different colour). So I'll probably be on the bench until they arrive on Wednesday or so.

Lack of motivation (NRR)

The last few weeks, my motivation towards my job has dropped significantly. I have about 8 weeks left and I just don't care anymore. Mostly, it's my tax centre groups that are leaving me feeling blah. This is the second year I've taught most of the students and it's just not interesting anymore. I'm finding it hard to put in the same effort as I used to - I just don't have the energy or the desire anymore.
Being an ESL teacher was definitely not what I planned to do in life. It just sorta happened when we got to Bagotville and I was looking for a job. It went like this: you're Anglophone, you have teaching experience and you have a languages degree - you can teach English, right? At the time, it was supposed to be temporary, as was our time in Bagotville. Flash forward 3 years and here we still are, with no end in sight.
Sorry for the depressing post, but that's about how I'm feeling at the moment.

Long run...ugh (with pics)

After my 30k race last weekend, I set out to cover a comparable distance this weekend (18 miles). Honestly, I didn't really want to do it. I would have much preferred to stay in bed or on the couch all day. I didn't care that it was nice and sunny outside - I wanted to be lazy, especially after spending 4 solid hours cleaning yesterday. But I didn't. I pushed myself out the door and got those 18 miles in. It was a fight the whole way and I wanted to give up for most of it.
Like my awesome run from a couple weeks ago, I decided to run from the base into downtown Chicoutimi and this time the plan was to continue to Jonquiere (to my work, in fact) to get the rest of my miles in. Here are some pictures of the river and the fjord:

I continued along the waterfront, following the bike path. The signs told me I would get to Jonquiere eventually so I kept going and going. After two miles of slow, steady climbing, I was beginning to get a bit fed up. I also noticed that I was in the middle of the woods and couldn't see any houses or roads. On top of that, my left foot started to cramp up. I finally decided to turn around and head back into Chicoutimi (which meant 2 miles of downhill - yay!).
I finished my run in 3:19:13 (Garmin data) and then I called Chris to come pick me up in Chicoutimi. While I was waiting, I bought a Coke from the grocery store and man did it taste good! Now, I'm plunked on the couch, icing my left foot, with plans to make chicken parmesan for dinner. Yum!

Around the Bay 30k Race Report (long)

What a weekend! I'll start right at the beginning. (For details on the race itself, skip down to Sunday.)

Friday
We dropped the dogs off at the pet hotel and left Chicoutimi around 8am Friday morning. Normally to Barrie, it takes a good 11 hours; unfortunately, we had to make a stop in Quebec City and that cost us about an hour. After a relatively uneventful drive, we arrived in Barrie around 8pm, tired and hungry. As luck would have it, we managed to meet up with some friends for dinner. We finally made it back to Chris' parents' house around 11 and were in bed by midnight or so.

Saturday
5:30am. Alarm goes off. Ugh. I'm not a fan of early mornings. We dragged our butts out of bed and after a stop at Tim Horton's for some caffeine/breakfast, we were off to Burlington. I dropped Chris off at his coaching clinic for 7:30 and then I had some time to kill before picking up my race kit (the expo opened at 10am). I had a flash of brilliance and decided to go to the Ikea in Burlington. Except.....it doesn't open til 9am on Saturdays. What did I do? I pulled into a parking spot and took a nap in the car. Real classy, I know.

Thankfully, the restaurant opens at 8:30 so I was able to get inside a bit sooner. After some chocolate milk and a cinnamon bun, I wandered the showroom, imagining what my house would look like if I had a million dollars. I really wanted to get some new dishes since ours are a mismatched mess, but decided against it in the end.

According to Google Maps, going from Ikea Burlington to Copps Coliseum in Hamilton should take less than 20 minutes. I had only the vaguest directions since Chris has the phone with him, but I figured it couldn't be that hard to find a stadium once I got downtown. Wrong. I was expecting to see signs, directing you to this local landmark, but alas there were none. On top of that, Hamilton's entire downtown is composed of one-way streets. Loads of fun. (On the plus side, I did get to turn left on red once as a result.) After an hour of driving and having asked 4 different people, I finally arrived at the expo.

I hate expos. To me, they seem like a giant money grab. This particular event was set up in the concourse around Copps Coliseum. You could only go in one direction and of course the bag pick-up was at the end. So you had to navigate through all the booths as people forced brochures on you, dodging slow people the whole way. I was in no mood to buy anything after all the driving around I had done - I just wanted to get in, get out and go home. I finally got to the end and picked up my kit, which included a nice purple and black long-sleeved technical shirt. And then I had to walk all the way back through the expo to get out because they blocked off the exit near the packet pick-up.

Finally, after all that, I went to my grandmother's house since she lives about 10 minutes outside Hamilton. I spent the afternoon there and we did our usual crocheting and working on crosswords. For dinner, we went to East Side Mario's. I had spaghetti bolognese - perfect pre-race carbo-loading meal. After dinner, I said good-bye and went to pick up Chris after his coaching clinic before heading back to Barrie. Chris was hungry so we stopped to get some delicious pizza (more carbs - I promise I only had one piece....and some crusts) and then it was off to bed.

Sunday
5:30. Alarm goes off. Again. I wanted to leave extra early so I would have time to navigate downtown Hamilton. I did not want to repeat Saturday's experience and I had no idea where I would park either. For breakfast, I had my leftover spaghetti which was a fabulous way to start the day. Seriously. I love pasta for breakfast.

After dropping Chris off at his conference, I was on my way to the race. I was having some serious doubts about what I should wear for the race because the weather seemed so iffy. It looked like it might rain at any second yet they were calling for a high of 15*C/59*F. Jacket or no jacket? I managed to find parking with relative ease and I got to Copps Coliseum about an hour before the start of the race. That gave me time to check my bag and hit the bathoom (a couple times). One advantage to using the stadium as the race HQ - no porta-potties!!! Real bathrooms!

About 15 minutes before the race started, I made my way to the race start a couple blocks from the stadium. In total, there were about 7000 people participating in the race, either running, walking or relaying, so it was a big start. I found a spot towards the back, slightly behind the 3:15 pace bunny. I had finally settled on wearing crops, a T-shirt, arm sleeves and gloves, but as I was walking to the start, I wasn't sure I had made the right decision. It was cold!!!

Finally, the gun sounded and we were off. Well, the leaders were off anyways - it took a good 5 minutes for me to cross the start line. The first mile (11:00) was a bit tricky, trying to navigate around all the people and get a good pace going. It was interesting for me to be working in miles while the course was marked in kilometres. I don't really have a mile-by-mile replay for you, but here are some of the highlights that I remember (in no particular order):

- Each km marker had a funny/inspirational quote on it. My favourite was "Not all runners have what it takes to go the distance. The polite term for them is sprinters."
- I got high-fived by someone wearing a Notre Dame jacket.
- Someone set up a bacon stand at the end of their driveway. Sadly, by the time I got there, they were packing up but it was still a cool idea.
- There was a choir outside a church that we passed and you could hear the organ music from inside.
- We passed a lot of cemeteries. At least 3 or 4, I think. The last one has some signs warning "Dying Runners Ahead"and things like that. There was a plastic skeleton dressed in running clothes on the side of the road, and two people dressed as the Grim Reaper were there giving high-fives.
- I passed 3 military members in combats with their ruck-sacks on.
- There was a guy dressed like Elvis.
- T-shirts with funny quotes on the back. "My pace or yours?" "If you can read this, it means I'm not in last place."

The first 20km of the race were fairly flat and uneventful. The last 10km, however, were a challenge. I could feel my energy lagging and I wish I had started taking Gatorade from the aide stations sooner, rather than relying only on my hydration belt. The rolling hills weren't too bad, just tiring, and it was starting to get quite hot at that point. I was a little concerned about the last big hill everyone warned me about around km26-27, but I have to say - I killed it! I ran the whole way up, passing people left, right and centre. And when I got to the top, I actually thought to myself, "That's it?"

After the last big hill, it was an easy 3km to the finish. I tried to push myself as much as I could but I was getting tired and I knew my goal of 3:15 was slipping away. Once I got Copps Coliseum in my sights though, it got a lot easier (the downhill to the finish also helped). The finish line was inside the stadium and they projected all the finishes on the Jumbotron. The second I saw the word "Finish", I just gave it everything I had and sprinted to the end. I blew past at least 5 people in the last 20m. I hope they post the finish videos- I felt like I was going so fast!

And now what you've all been waiting for. Final time: 3:18:26


I got my finishing medal:

And.....I ran into my friend KirstenH9 who also ran the race and posted a great time. I don't have any pictures from the actual race because there was no one there take any but I'm waiting on the official race photos.
Unfortunately, almost immediately after the race, I had to go pick up Chris from his conference. I spent a good half an hour stuck in traffic trying to get out of downtown Hamilton. I finally got to the school where the football conference was, changed in the car in the far corner of the parking lot, and soon we were on our way to Montreal. We stopped at a couple service stations along the way so I could stretch my legs a bit and each time, I saw people from the race (they were wearing the race shirt). It was crazy!

I think that's about it. For those of you that are still with me and care, here's my Garmin data from the race. Thanks for reading!