October

A big reason I haven't posted much about my training is that there really hasn't been much training to post about. Some swimming, the occaisional run, a couple games of ultimate and no riding whatsoever.

I've been debating whether I've been relaxing and recharging or simply lazy this month. As I currently feel pretty mellow I'll go with the former.

My other debate at the moment is whether or not to do the Fall Classic. I haven't missed one since I got into running in 2004 but I'm not sure if I want to race when I'm out of shape and untrained. It's not that I feel I need to PR every race (okay, I do but I'm trying to get over that), more that there doesn't seem to be much point in signing up for a run when I can't give it a good shot. That said, I want the tights!

I'll hit the run workout this week and see how I feel before I make a final decision.

So what have I done?

- Cleaned my apartment (if you don't know me [why would you read this blog if you didn't?] you may not realize what a huge accomplishment this is)
- Read 'Anna Karenina' - a much better book than W&P but I'm ticked that Penguin gave away the climax of the story on the back cover
- After AK I motored through three books in five days, including the new Ursula LeGuin novel 'Lavinia' (I need another book, I'll take recommendations)
- Became hooked on So You Think You Can Dance Canada
- Visited the 'Wack a couple times
- Saw movies in the theatre (Paschendaele [I wanted to like it] and Hamlet 2)
- Cooked a scrumtastic gourmet meal
- Drank lots of wine, ate lots of cheese
- Spent lots of time with friends, both tri and non

Amazing what you can get up to when you aren't training 16 hours a week!

Brewskidaddle

It wasn't my best race of the year, it certainly wasn't my fastest, but it was definitely my silliest.

The race was the first ever running of the Brewskidaddle 5km, an Octoberfest run/touch of silliness. I signed up for the race after Team Pink fed me copious amounts of wine then handed me a laptop - internet connections should come with breathalyzers!

The key draws of the race were that instead of a T-shirt you got a beer mug and the post-race festivities included an October fest feast (somehow this ended up being being referred to as the "shirtless sausage party"). Then we discovered there would be prizes for costumes. Finally, something I could win at a race!

My costume prep was significantly more involved than my race prep, although in my defence I've had a pulled hamstring keeping me back and a cold last week slowed me down.

Once I get pictures from Team Pink I'll post them here, lets just say that many a tourist has photos of the three of us in with their shots of the totem poles. ("Are we running through their shot??" "We ARE the shot!")

How was the race? Slow from the start, I never really felt like I got going and my final time was 25:++. This was more than two minutes slower than my time from the Breast Cancer 5km two weeks prior, which was close to a PR. Rather than be ticked at being slow, I enjoyed crossing the finish line with Team Pink and was more concerned that my stockings were pulled up for the finish line photo than having a PR.

The post race meal took a bit of time to get going but that gave us time for a massage (free!), a beer and catching up with Rachel, who joined us proudly wearing her tiara from winning the Diva 10km that morning.

After things had wrapped up I asked the somewhat harried looking race director if there were supposed to be costume awards. He apologized for forgetting, gave me a water bottle then saw Amy and Brian waiting for me at the door and gave me prizes for them too.

Oh yeah, if I'd run the same time I'd done at the Breast Cancer run I would have been the second place woman.

Breast Cancer 5km

I headed out to the Valley this weekend for a quick family visit and to run the Breast Cancer 5km in Abbotsford with Mum and her team - Sue's Crew.

The visit was short but fun, we mostly had a lazy Saturday. We hit the honey store and I borrowed my Dad's bike, riding a mountain bike for the first time in about 4 years as we dropped off race packs to various team members who were joining us on Sunday.

We got to the run early this year so Mum could be in the survivors parade. I managed to miss seeing the parade as I was warming up, poor planning on my part.

I was the sole runner of the group, the rest of the team; Mum's friends from the complex, golf, Probis, and Prince George; were walkers.

I forgot to check my previous 5km times before the race so had no idea what I was aiming for. As there are no km markers I don't think knowing the time I was aiming for would help me in the slightest! Turns out my best 5km is 23:11 set at a track workout in the spring.

The run felt shorter this year, probably because the weather wasn't absolutely miserable. I finished in 23:28, a little off the 5km time from May but running on a track (flat, easy to measure splits) is very different from running on the road.

There was a WTF moment near the end when we were passing the 1km walkers. A woman doing the walk was smoking. Smoking while participating in a charity run for CANCER! I looked back after passing her and the guy running behind me was shaking his head, obviously as shocked as I was.

My post-race cool down was to back track to find my Mum then walk the remaining course with her. Apres run was at ABC Family Restaurant for the buffet (brunch, Fraser Valley style). The team tried to get me the seniors' discount but apparently I didn't look the part.