Rocky Mountain Soap Half Marathon

We had some fabulous weather this weekend so it made the Rocky Mountain Soap Womens Half Marathon in Canmore an even more enjoyable experience. This is the 4th year that this weekend event has taken place and it offers a 6km, 12 km and half marathon so appeals to all type of runners from all over Alberta. It's a hilly course so everyone gets to have a good workout regardless of which distance they've chosen and the hill work at the finishing line makes everyone relieved to be done!

It's great to see so many women out there having fun, giving themselves a challenge and supporting each other. Plus it's a great fundraiser towards Breast Cancer so everyone wins! Rocky Mountain Soap is made here in the Canadian Rockies, is all natural and smells divine! If you have a chance to come across it, I highly recommend it.

This was my second half marathon and I managed a time of 1:56 so was pretty happy with that. I think I'm starting to like this distance!!

Running photos from the Grand Canyon

This was our first visit to the Grand Canyon and I found it incredible. It's so big that it's almost overwhelming. It was exciting to get our first glimpse of the Colorado River, knowing that we'd be running all the way down there. Yay - downhill all the way!
This is a trail runners dream. And it's warm and dry - I can't tell you how lovely that felt after being buried in snow for the last 5 months.
The scenery reminded me of the old west - I was half expecting to see John Wayne out there.
What a great first day. We started on the South Kaibab Trail, ran down to the Colorado River and came back up on the Bright Angel Trail. It felt good knowing that we had another 4 days of hitting the trails.
Going down is optional, coming up is mandatory!

Grand Canyon

We just returned from 5 days of running in the Grand Canyon. Wow, what a place! More photos to follow ....

Rogers Insurance Half Marathon

I went into Calgary on Saturday and ran my first ever Half Marathon! I'm not much of a road runner but figured it would be a good way to get some speed work in over 21 km and I actually enjoyed it.

It was bit of an overcast day but the temperatures were good and there was quite a bit of bare pavement to run on which made a nice change for all the snow and ice we've had this winter! I didn't really know how to pace myself for this type of race so figured I would go out and try and keep a consistent pace going which seemed to work well.

Steve was en route to visit family but gave me a nice surprise by showing up near the end and running the last couple of kilometers with me before I bolted for finishing line.

I finished in 1:57 hr and came in 91 out of 233 (7th female out of 33 in my age category). Not bad for my first Half! I think next time I might try and push a bit harder as I had plenty of juice left in the tank at the end and my legs felt fine the next day.

Running on empty

I ended up getting a stomach bug last Monday so spent most of last week sick. I don't usually get ill so it was a good reminder not to take good health for granted. Thankfully I'm starting to get my strength back and feel like my old self again.

Frozen Ass 50: race report

Yesterday was the Family Day public holiday so we got to enjoy a 3-day weekend. And what better way to spend it than racing in the Frozen Ass 50km in Calgary. This is an event run by Gord's Running Store and is one of those lovely, low key, no-fuss type of races with fantastic volunteers and a bunch of running nuts willing to get out there and put some mileage in at the start of the year.

The weather was quite warm which made it pleasant as I can't imagine how bitterly cold that course would be on another day, especially as it's so open. The footpaths were snow covered and a little icy in sections but the footing was pretty good. And just prior to the halfway mark (or the finishing line if you were doing the 25 km race), we were running down the middle of a frozen river which was fun as the front runners were just starting to make their way back so it was nice to see who was out in the lead. It wasn't long until I saw my mate Ellie (first female, 2nd overall) booking along. And not too much later I saw Steve and then my mate Mike. I recognized quite a few folks from the Calgary/ultrarunning community there too as they went running past. It also meant that I had to be quite close to the halfway point which had me happy! My friend, Angela, was helping to man the aid station there so it was great to see her and have her help me on my way.

Going back was quiet as all the 25 km folks had finished at Angela's aid station and the 50 km people were now more strung out. I'm not a huge fan of flat terrain, especially over this type of distance, but I figured it would be a good training run and I actually felt pretty strong up until the 35 km mark but then my legs starting to complain quite loudly. My calf muscles were giving me some cramp spasms and my quads were screaming so the only thing to do at this point was to hunker down and get 'er done! I kept reminding myself that the pain was good experience and a taste of what's to come in my summer races, so it was a great motivator to recommit to my training program!

I was very happy to see the finishing line and was one of many people hobbling around afterwards! The post-race gathering was held inside the Canoe Club and was a great end to the day. Tons of food, various drinks and nibblies. Plus door prizes. Frozen Ass has to be one of the best value races out there and has a great vibe to it, so if you're in Calgary at the end of next February, I'd highly recommend it. Gord does a great job of organizing this event and has an army of fantastic volunteers to ensure that it runs well.
http://www.gordsrunningstore.com/frozen_ass.htm

I wasn't sure how long the race would take me but I was hoping it would be no more than 6 hours and I came in at 5.48 so was pretty happy with that. I got the mileage in which was more important and, even though my legs were pretty tight today, I managed to get up early and go to my muscle class (skipping out on the lower body section, thank you) and got half an hour of yoga in at lunchtime (I was too sore to do any more!) And yes, that is a grimace that you see on my face as I try to make the stairs, but hopefully I'll be back to bouncing around again soon.

Moving house

I move to the other side of town at the end of next week so am now knee deep in packing boxes and am counting down the days until I'm ensconced in my new Princess Pad. I've moved tons of times in the past and am one of those who try not to accumulate too much stuff but still, it's surprising how quickly the "stuff" mounts up. I'm also having to downsize so it's a good chance to do more purging (I'm not sure how I'm going to fit into 360 sq ft of living space but I guess I'll find out next week!!)

I'm trying to keep myself organized as there's also a lot of things going on in my day-to-day living. The Fifty Ass race (50 km) is on Monday in Calgary so I'm keeping one corner of my place as "the running corner". Losing sight of my running gear at this point would be a bit of a disaster!