Biggest week thus far...

Monday: Off
I usually take Monday off as a rest day. I always have and it just feels right after what feels like a long week of running. Doing back to back long runs on Sat/Sun usually leaves me wanting a break by Monday to recharge for the upcoming week. But, my boyfriend Peter is a climber and I usually end up spending a few hours at the Edge climbing gym. I find this is a great activity to stretch out the muscles and challenge myself in a different way (strength- core and upper body). I have been improving weekly and I am looking forward to getting outside to climb some real rock soon!



Tuesday: 1:40
Peter and I ran in the pm this week. Tuesday is more of a hill day where we head up Grouse Mountain and down. I always push myself a lot harder when I power hiking up the Grind with Peter, as he is a much superior mountain climber than myself. We only made it to the 1/2 way sign due to snow and finished up the run along the Baden Powell train and I took the power lines back home.



Wednesday: 2:00
Peter and I woke up early and ran out to Norvan Falls and back. If the legs feel good this run doesn't seem like it climbs too much (only gradually), if I am tired, it can feel a bit more arduous. But, my legs felt great and it turned out to be a beautiful run up the river.

Thursday: 3:00
I had the whole day off and I managed to get in a longer run this day. It was beautiful out and I took advantage. However, it had clearly rained A LOT the night before because the trails were like rivers. But, I don't mind wet feet!!!! Again, my legs felt awesome, for some reason I remember feeling surprised by this. I finished the run off by soaking in the canyon for 10 minutes. The water was ice cold but the sun was beaming on my face so I managed to stay warm. I walked 5 minutes to the corner store for a chocolate milk and during this time I got really cold. So cold that I literally sprinted the 5 minutes back home. My legs were still frozen from the ice bath!!!!!! It was a weird sensation.



Friday: am-1 hour bike, pm-90 min snowshoe adventure
I normally like to cross train this day just to give my legs a bit of a break before a big weekend of running. I felt so good though that I could have ran but I decided to go for an hour bike ride in the woods instead. That night Peter and I joined a group up Cypress and snowshoed up to Hollyburn Mountain. I forgot how steep this trip and it ended up being more of a workout than I was anticipating. The view from the top was worth every step!

Saturday: 4:45
Peter and I woke up early and ran to meet the Mountain Madness Trail Clinic, who were meeting at the picnic area on Mt. Seymour. The run there was 1:30 and we finished into deep cove at 3 hours. I had done some self talk to myself as we descended the final steps to the end of the Baden Powell trail. My legs were feeling a bit tired and I was going to call it a day here with the rest of the clinic members. I felt a bit guilty about stopping early as the plan was to run 4 hours. I thought perhaps I could just do an out and back to Quarry rock which would have gotten me close to the 4 hour mark. However, as I was coming down, I saw Peter coming back up!!! I said "are we going to go back to Quarry rock and back?" and he said "nope, were running back home". I stood there for a moment contemplating that decision. I had mentally checked myself out of the option to run back home. But, I remembered the Motive for why I am training, to run a 100miles. I think it's good to run when your tired because I sure as hell am going to be during WS100!!!! So we did and it felt great.

Sunday: 3:00
This run was simple and fun. Peter and I joined the North Shore Athletics marathon clinic and ran 23 miles (their longest run). I love running with these guys as I get to see so many familiar faces. Remember, I trained for my first ever marathon in 2005 with them. That move changed my life and has shaped a lot of who I am today. I also get to date their cute manager!!! My legs were definitely tired but overall I kept a consistent pace and was very happy with how I feel rounding out the week. I ran the entire way with Pete, which was awesome because he had never ran longer than 10km on the road!!!!

This week was the biggest in terms of hours spent training. After being injured for many weeks last year, I am always thankful when my body allows me to do what I love to do: RUN! I am turning the big 26 on Wednesday and I am looking forward to a nice big run that day!!!!! I am planning on going over to Victoria to visit my good friend Fawn. If my memory served me correctly, I haven't been back there since I did the marathon in 2005! I just want to give a congrats to Gary Robbins and Chris "G.T" Downie who came 1/2 at Diez Vista 50km this weekend and to my buddy Adam Way for lowering his previous PB!

I hope everyone had a great weekend of running in the sunshine,

See you in the trails!!!!