Done and done!

Sunday was the Calgary Police Half Marathon, and I ran it. I was a little weary leading up to the race, with my shin injuries, and then dropping a garbage can on my ankle on Wednesday which got swollen and hurty, and then me not running at ALL the week leading up to the race (because of the garbage incident). I wasn't really sure what to think about anything. It also blew snow and rain the entire day on Saturday. Anyway, at 8am on Sunday morning, I started the long 21.1km trek from Mount Royal College to around the Glenmore Resevoir, up the Weaselhead hill and back to MRC. I also had a huge fan club. Kristen, Matt, my mum, Della, and my dad all came for the start. About 100 m after the start line they were there and Kristen had a big poster that said "run like the police are chasing you" which made me giggle. Then, at Glenmore Landing everyone (sans my dad because he had to leave) was there again with a poster that said "hurry up, we're cold" which also made me giggle. Then, after the hill of death (which wasn't THAT bad, but I walked up half of it) they were there AGAIN, with an other poster that said "go heather" with a picture of me.

This picture has a bit of history. I can't really remember how old I was, but I decided it would be funny to take Kristen's clarinet and pretend to play it and put my mum's magic bag on my head. It made her laugh, so mum took a picture. That picture is still on her fridge, and any time she feels a little blue, she just looks at it and she giggles. Kristen and I also just need to think of the picture and it makes us laugh. SO, there they are, with a bazillion people running by, with a huge sign that says "Go Heather" and then there's me with a magic bag on my head playing the clarinet. I think I said "you're dead" but I laughed too.

Anyway, back to the race. The last 2 km of the race were pretty difficult. We had to run up a pretty long not that steep hill. If you were just walking, you probably wouldn't have noticed that there was even a hill there, but when you've run 19 km, every little incline makes a big difference. I also was very tired. Anyway I was feeling a little sorry for myself, since I knew I was a little shy of making my 2:00 hour goal, and I was wasting my finishing kick on surviving the hills, when out of nowhere (well, somewhere) came Kristen, and she decided to run the last little bit with me. So I was not really talking, grunting more, giving her looks of pain, and she was all "go go , don't stop, you've got it, keep going" and it helped. It would have helped more if she had picked me up and carried me, but this was a close second. She left me to finish the last tiny bit because she figured she shouldn't actually cross the finish line. Then there was Matt, saying "go heather" very calmly, like he does, then there were mum and Della, who yelled all enthusiastically, and then my boss from the store was there (looking way too well rested for someone who had already run the race) and he yelled at me to "push it girl" and told me apologetically that there were 100 m left... And then I saw two of my friends, one of whom had finished probably 25 minutes prior, who yelled at me to keep going, and then I finished. And I was happy. I ended up with 2:05 and I'm happy with that. My old time was 2:13, so shaving off 8 minutes is a pretty big deal for me, and that's that.

So I was the most popular participant (ha!) in the race with the best fan club who went to 4 different spots, and I felt WAY better during this race than my first. As I put it, I was less miserable for way less of the race, which is great. The first one, I felt awful for probably the last 5 k or more, and this one was only the last 2k. So I'm improving. And with the help of everyone, the race was a great success! And I pretty much had no pain! My knee crinked a bit at the start, but other than that, my body waited until after the race to hurt!!!

Now I have to remember I have a super sprint triathlon to train for. Speaking of that, I'm off to the pool!

Seems like a listy thing to do!

There are a lot of lists going around the internet these days so I'll join in. Just a list.

• I have watched a lot of star wars lately.
• I just ate a large bag of mini eggs that my mum got me for easter. I feel a little sick.
• I think there was a ghost in my hotel room last night. Either that, or I was in some kind of electromagnetic force field. All the lights in my room (lamps and overhead) flicked on and off for about 10 minutes. Also, my cell phone started flashing, the screen flickered, and one light that doesn't normally stay on stayed on. It was a fairly new hotel, so I'm just going to say it was something wonky with the wiring. Or a ghost.
  
• I have a very very busy week starting tomorrow. I hope I survive.
• My left ankle is almost always cold these days.
• I'm starting to feel like I can actually swim properly. It's taken a while, but I'm not as panicky and frantic in the pool as I used to be.
• I really want to do something outside today, but I'm stranded indoors by laundry and not wanting to over exert myself for my busy week.
• I'm REALLY excited for Kristen to come for a visit this weekend.
• I hope I run a strong race next Sunday and will be disappointed if I don't. (I think that's normal).
• I think I may need to buy a bicycle.
  
• I have finally perfected homemade hash browns. I've tried for years to make good ones out of fresh potatoes and today I finally did it. And it was so simple. Now I need to perfect the shredded hash brown.
• We will get our new work uniforms in the next couple of weeks. I hope they fit and look good!
• I got the greatest coffee from the farmers market last week. I worked with a first officer who told me about it, and she actually is friends with the two owners. They both quit their jobs as engineers one day and started this coffee shop and it's been really successful. It's amazing and totally worth the extra cash.
  

I guess that's it for now!

Ouch!

I haven't posted in a while!

I've had a few running mis-haps in the past few weeks. Mainly, my shins have been bothering me like crazy. I ran 18k on the 22nd of March, then ran the following Tuesday and thought that my legs were going to snap in half. My shins were hurting so badly that for the nest three days, I hobbled around like an idiot. I didn't know what to do really. I stretched, iced, but nothing really worked. I finally decided to see a sports chiropractor. I have never been one to go to a chiropractor, even when recommended to me by my doctor, but this time I was desperate. The one I went to specializes in running and other sports injuries and injury prevention, so I felt that they would at least know something about what I was doing and how to help. It definitely worked. I found out that I have disproportionately weak hips compared to the rest of my legs, and my calf muscles were having to make up for that and in turn pulling on my shins. It's a type of shin splint, but not a normal or common type. As long as I strengthen my hips and stretch my calves, I should be good as new.

The good news? I ran for the first time today since the whole calf dying incident, and it went well! I did 20k, and there wasn't too much pain. I'm icing and stretching now, and hopefully with a few more sessions with the chiropractor, I'll be pain free!

What else is new? Not much. I got some hemp hearts from my grocer and just tried them for the first time. Apparently they have some crazy health benefits and I decided to give them a go since I've seen them around a lot lately. I'll let you know how that goes.

How's everyone else doing? I know Kirsten is training for a race (I really hope your knee doesn't hurt anymore!), k is getting back in the running game (WITHOUT getting hurt), lu just ran her longest run of the year, evey just joined a gym, fuzzy wuzzy (I have a hard time writing that without giggling) is gearing up for the half marathon walk... The goals are set and they're getting closer! My race is less than a month away! Keep me updated!