Wow where did the summer go?

My goodness where did the summer go?  It's been a busy summer and a frustrating one at the same time.

My ankle is taking its sweet time healing and I've been very frustrated with it. I haven't been able to run for so long now that I'll have to start all over again when I can run again. 

I've had to drop out of multiple races, although I did walk one race last weekend with my husband and cousin.  

We did the inaugural PNE Donut dash. A 5k race on opening weekend of the PNE. It was a hot muggy day but we had fun. I had to encourage my husband and cousin to go on without me as the further into the race we went the slower I  got as my ankle hurt. 

It was a great race and we had a blast ding it. It was really neat to be able to go around the fairgrounds before it was open. 

The race jig jagged through the park. The different characters from the shows at the fair were along the route to cheer you on. As you went down the fairway on one side you were handed bags of cotton candy. On the other side you were given little bags with 5 hot fresh mini donuts. When you crossed the finish line you got the ultimate in bling.  A beautiful medal, the largest one I have received to date. 

With your race kit you also received an entry to to the park. We decided to stay and go to the Beatles exhibit at the fair. Gary is a huge Beatles fan and we all really enjoyed it. 

All in all it was a great day.  A week later and my ankle is still sore, but it is hopefully getting better. 

Running naked...well not really.

It has been three weeks since my last run.  I had an extremely busy couple of weeks at work and came down with bronchitis. Running has been out of the question. I've been sick, tired and lacking the ability to breath properly, thus I haven't been able to run. 

I am getting very nervous as I'm now three weeks behind in my half marathon training. And only 57 days until race day. 

I had a 5K race on the schedule for today.  The Vancouver Hot Chocolate. My cousin Carolee had signed up for it as well. Awesome husband drive us and we picked Carolee up at her house before making our way to The as Stanley Park Pavilion and the race. 

It was Carolee's first race and I'm so glad that she made it this one. It's a smaller race with a 5K and 10.4k distance. 

It was great to experience the start of the race through her eyes, we started off together but before long I encouraged her to go on ahead as I was taking my time. 

We had planned to do 2:1's for the race, we texted back and forth last night. I set my Garmin and we were ready to go. Until I realized half way to the race that I had left my Garmin at home.  This is the first race I was doing naked. And I didn't like it!  I didn't like not knowing my intervals.  I didn't like not knowing my pace and I didn't like not knowing how long I had been running.  

Carolee and I passed each other at the turn around point with high fives and we both continued on ways. Carolee was about 5 minutes ahead of me.  

I started struggling at the half way point with my breathing and I began coughing in earnest. When I reached the 4 kilometre mark I was walking more than running but I kept going the best that I could. I decided to walk up the last hill and the run through to the finish line. I was really happy to cross the finish line and see my awesome husband, his friend Dan and our cousin Carolee. 

Carolee and I have another race next  Sunday. We'll be doing the Green Sick Shamrock and Race. Carolee will be doing a 5K and I'll be doing the 7 miler. I'm hoping my lungs will be better and it will be an easier race to run breathing wise. 

I will also ensure that I'm not running  "naked" next week!

Scotiabank 5K - Team Alzheimer's

I'm very proud to have been part of "Team Alzheimer's" for the Vancouver Scotiabank Half and 5K on Sunday June 22nd.

Not only was this a scenic 5K to run, but I was running as part of Team Alzheimer's, in memory of my grandfather who passed away from the disease and to raise funds for the Alzheimer Society of B.C. which offers much needed support services to people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia's, their caregivers and their families.  If you or someone you know needs assistance due to Alzheimer's Disease, please contact your local Alzheimer Society.  In BC the website is www.alzheimerbc.org

Race in support bib on my back

 It was an early morning for Gary and I on a beautiful morning.  We were up and out the door around 7am, a quick stop at Tim Horton's and we were off to Vancouver.   I knew that the 5K race had sold out so there were going to be roughly 2500 runners doing the 5K with me and after the great experience with a big race in May, I had high hopes for this one.  Unfortunately it really wasn't all that organized.  There wasn't a lot of communication prior to the race, an occasional email but nothing like the details I received for the other race.  The one thing that was made clear was that parking at the starting line was next to non existent and we were to park in Stanley park and take one of the shuttles to the start line.

After parking there were a lot of people milling around looking for information.  There weren't any volunteers anywhere in the area and after waiting quite a while for a shuttle, we decided to walk to the start line as it was starting to get  a little too close to the start time for my liking.  After walking almost 20 minutes we finally saw the first volunteer who looked to be giving directions.  I asked him where the 5 K start line was and he told me he didn't really know but if I followed the sound of the music, I would probably find it.  Not exactly the most helpful information but eventually we did indeed locate the Charity Village where I checked in with Team Alzheimer's and made my way over to the start line.

We were supposed to be in corral's, based on our estimated finish times, but there were no corral's.  I lined up somewhere towards the middle of the sea of people and hoped that I wouldn't be in people's way.  As it turned out I shouldn't have been worried about that as I kept bobbing and weaving around people.  That was a pretty good feeling.

The 5K course itself was very pretty and scenic, it was based mostly on trails through Stanley Park, out along part of the seawall, and then we wrapped around a corner, up a hill and joined in with the half marathoner's for the last kilometer of the race.

Garmin showing the route

 






It felt great to be a part of a team, and see the group of volunteers from the Alzheimer Society cheering the runners on.  I saw my wonderful husband just before I crossed the finish line and then I was in the finishers chute where there were a few more Alzheimer Society Volunteers.  My co-worker was there as well and took a great photo for me with my finisher's medal.

In the finishers chute with my medal

I headed back over to the Charity Village where Team Alzheimer was to meet after the race for a team photo.  Again, it was so great to be a part of a team.  This was the first time that I've done a race as part of a team and it was great.

Team Alzheimer's

After we took the team picture ( the team actually had about 70 members so not everyone was present for the picture), my wonderful husband and I started back to the car.  We still had no idea where the shuttles were so we walked along lost lagoon and the rose garden back to the car before heading home.

Oh yeah!  I also had my best official race time for a 5K yet!  Yeah!  Here is the link to my garmin, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/528867302   I was 785/1211 and finished 83/121 in my age group.  A huge improvement to a year ago when I was mostly walking the races. Here is the link to the official race results: http://www.canadarunningseries.com/results/2014/svhm/5k.html

I won't be ordering any pictures from this race, but it's neat to see the video of me crossing the finish line in the middle of the pack instead of the back.
And the link to the photo's. 
https://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?template=MPX2&new_search=1&event=Sports%2FSTCA%2F2014%2FScotiabank%20Vancouver%20Half%20Marathon&match=8391