Do I "Half" to?

After hitting the snooze button on my alarm 6 times, I finally rolled out of bed this morning thinking, "I want to go back to bed." I was seriously considering NOT doing the half marathon this A.M. The only thing that motivated me was the fact the start line was local. In fact, I was "running" incredibly late so I was thankful I could just run up there in less than 10 minutes. Plus, it made for a nice warm-up. :) I had a yogurt, half a banana and a Clif Shot for breakfast (and took an extra one with me). For fluid, I used regular Gatorade. I figured they'd have water on the course if I needed it.

When lining up to start, I stood way in the back as I knew I'd be a slug. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I only started to run again last weekend and I haven't done a distance longer than 10k in 6 weeks. So in order to refrain from hurting myself (and perhaps, coughing up blood), I kept it slow. By slow, I was planning on a 2:35-ish finishing time. (Which would be a 7 min pace with a few, quick walk breaks.)

View from the trail.

This was an out and back course. The weather was cloudy and cool. Perfect for me. As I was getting closer to the turn around point many of the runners were well on their way back. I did a lot of smiling, thumbs-up, "good jobs" and clapping to keep up the energy as there was very limited spectators due to the location. Despite the rise of registrations over the past few years it's still definitely more of a 'low-key' type of race.

When I was about 1.5k from the finish line, I was stopped by a couple for directions? I'm writing a question mark at the end of that last sentence because I thought that was quite odd. Especially, when it was an open trail and it's sort of hard to get lost. lol. There were other odd things that happened like bike riders riding 4-abreast so I had to stop off to the side to let them go by... or people who came out with their dogs so us runners got to trip over them as they came up trying to sniff us. This wasn't a closed race, but I thought it would be common sense to not let your dog weave in out of running legs or take up the entire width of the trail on your bike. Oh well. lol.

There was 3 aid stations along the course (2 that you'd see twice). They had either water or energy drinks. The 5/10k'ers started about an hour after the half marathoners. So for slower runners like myself, I was running with them on the way back. The 10k'ers were a little less smiley, though. lol. I think for a lot of them, it was their first race so they were a little more "serious", maybe. :) This course was well marked and next to impossible to get lost on as it was a lot of straight lines. The RCMP were out directing us and stopping traffic on the only road we had to cross. That road isn't usually busy, either... but it was still nice that they came out and cheered us on, too! As usual, the volunteers are great and I always make a point to thank them for volunteering. :) The course is very pretty - which is why I choose to run it for my training runs. Overall, the race was nicely organized and I'm sure I'll be back next year to do it again (this was my 3rd year). It's a fair price and you get your timing, bib, finisher medal and a souvenir postcard with your time written on it by a volunteer. My finishing time ended up being 2:28:05 which was better than expected (but much worse than previous years. lol. Oh well!)! I also felt great post-race which was a bonus! Not tired or sore after. So there's some benefits of going much slower. ;)

When nearing the finish line, my bf and daughter were waiting to hi-five me through. Seeing her smiling face was awesome. After the racers all came in, she did the kids 1k run. She had some difficulty breathing at the end due to her asthma and never-ending chest cold, but she powered through and I was very proud. She was a little grumpy she wasn't first, though. LOL.

My girl powering through to the finish line! :-)

Overall, I'm glad I went but hopefully next year, I'll either meet or exceed my last years results (2:15). I'll be sure to train for it next time, though. lol. For more info about the Trail River Run, you can go here.

Thanks for reading!

Summer ReCap

I feel like this summer has completely blown by. Can't believe it's been nearly 3 months since I've posted anything. Let's see if I can recap the entire summer into one blog post. It's about time I put my summary skills to the test. ;-)

July: It had been about a million years since I've been up to Lynn Canyon. So we took an easy hike across the suspension bridge over to Twin Falls, back around to Rice Lake then back around to the 30 ft pool (which was absolutely packed). We also stopped in at the ecology centre which was interesting. The kidlet thought it was great and even suckered her Mother (yes, me) into buying yet another stuffie to add to her massive collection. The weather was awesome but by about 3PM (when we were leaving), the bridge was pretty packed with a long line-up. Regardless, the bridge is still free to cross when Capilano Bridge you need to pay. I do, however, recommend going there over Christmas season when they have all the light displays. Kind of cool to cross the bridge in the pitch dark as well. Anyway, our trip to Lynn Canyon was definitely an awesome family day and we immediately planned our return...

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

View From the Bridge

August: So after our day out to Lynn Canyon, we decided practically the week after to go back and take the Baden Powell Trail - Hike from Lynn Canyon Park to Grouse Mountain Skyride. Needless to say, taking a 6 year old on this hike was a little bit challenging at times. There were some steep drop-offs after Skyline and my kidlet took a few spills. One of which I followed after her. I'm not the most dainty person when I fall either... and it's even worse watching me get up. As it's been a while since we did the hike, here is the review I wrote on the Vancouver Trails website the day of completing the trail:

Started at Lynn Canyon Park and worked our way towards Grouse. Got a little confused a bit in the beginning (after taking the bunch of stairs and up a steep-ish hill) and ended up on the road. We then found ourselves walking through some residential area before we found our way to the trail again. Some nice residents directed us (along with a few other hikers that lost their way as well) to Mountain View Park and we were back on the trail the rest of the way. We didn't think to bring a map or directions. Woops.

The first 1/2 of the trail was great and perfect for my daughter. Just had to watch out for a few Mountain Bikers racing through. However, after we hit Skyline drive it got a bit more technical. Some of the drop-off's made me a bit nervous taking her through especially when the trail was more sideways than flat. We had to hold her hand constantly. There were some steep areas where she lost her footing and wiped out. All the dry weather we've been having has made the ground a bit more unstable. I fell once as well. Probably would have helped if we were wearing trail shoes instead of crappy runners. :) We were also trying to pick up the pace due to the gate closing at 7PM (at the base of the Grind) and we wanted to get there in time. Luckily we did with 45 minutes to spare. Took us around 5 hours with a few stops for lunch/snacks/rest. There is only one part that you could really see a view of the city, but being surrounded by gorgeous nature and trees was good enough for me.

From Skyline to Grouse, I wouldn't bring a child under 8 years old or taking someone with 'height vertigo' due to a couple of areas that had narrow/single track, steep, slippery terrain. It could be potentially dangerous if you don't keep a continuous eye on them. Otherwise, it's a really great, very well-marked hike and totally recommend it. :)

Stumbling our way through. ;-)

A rickety old bridge in the last km or so of the trail.

A week later, we headed out for a few days in Squamish, where I participated in the Arc'teryx Squamish 50 race. No, I didn't do the 50 miler, but I did do the 21k distance (which I found out later was a tad longer than that). I was not ready in the slightest to do this race. I ended up being really ill the night before - pretty sure it was some sort of food poisoning. Regardless, I made it through with the help of my old friend Imodium and Pepto Bismal. It was tough, though.

There were times throughout the race where I was actually getting nervous as I didn't see anyone running (past) me for quite some time. "Did I go off the trail?" "Did everyone get eaten by bears?" "Am I dreaming that I'm here and I'm actually sound asleep in my nice cozy bed at home?" (Ha. Ha.)

The volunteers were so nice and the energy of the athletes was so fun and positive. I'm still in absolute awe over the 50 miler runners who were blowing past me with big smiles on their faces. "You are awesome!" I'd yell out, while walking. "You're almost there!" They'd yell back at me flying by. 10-15k isn't "almost there", I'd think to myself, but nice try. :-) The only thing that sucked through the whole race was the bugs that seemed of the "stinging" type that would appear every so often and intimidate me. They seemed to come out more when I opened a gel and I couldn't get rid of the empty package (no littering!). So I think they were attracted to the sugar. There was this one mud wasp (at least that's what I think he was. Other than that, it was something pre-historic) that literally came right in front of my face (and he was a loud, buzzing sucker!). It 'stood' there staring at me and I screamed where I proceeded to run away waving my arms like a crazy person. No one was around to watch me, but I'm sure that would have been mildly entertaining to have witnessed. Next time, I'm bringing one of those bug repellent things that hang off of you and a plastic baggy to properly store my syrupy gel packages.

I had never run out in Squamish before, so overall, it was a nice treat. By the end, I needed ice packs on my knees as they were very swollen but I still had a great time. It was a challenging course with an abundance of hills as well as steep declines. I may do the race again next year (if they offer a 50k - no way I'm doing a 50 miler, there). The best part of all - it was my 10th half marathon! (Yay, I'm in the double digits, now!)

Here I am adjusting my earbuds before the race. (21k start line was at Quest University)

View going up one of the hills in the beginning of the race.

I soooo wanted to jump in here! The breeze off the water felt awesome!

My finisher medal!

Unfortunately, a few days after the race, I came down with a flu. Then no sooner I got over the flu, I had to have surgery. Then of course, with the general anaesthetic, demerol and my incredibly weak stomach, I not only had to recover from the incision pain, but I was pretty ill afterward and couldn't eat for days. As a result, I didn't get back into running till last weekend where I did the Terry Fox run. I wanted to do it because it's a great cause and Terry Fox was such an amazing inspirational person. I even did the 10k - but very slowly - like I mean SLOWLY. Advil was my friend when I got home. lol. Since then, I've done another 16k and plan to keep going. It will take some time to get my speed back up as I'm still recovering, but I'm out there doing it. ...plus, I have a 1/2 marathon this weekend that I forgot I committed myself to, so that's a bit of a butt-kicker. lol

After the Terry Fox Run 10k (I plan to burn those pants, by the way. They look nasty on me. lol)

Well, there's some of my very brief highlights from my summer in a very firmly packed nutshell. The weather has remained amazing, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll be back here writing but I promise it won't be in another 3 months.

Thanks for reading!

“I don’t feel that this is unfair. That’s the thing about cancer. I’m not the only one, it happens all the time to people. I’m not special. This just intensifies what I did. It gives it more meaning. It’ll inspire more people. I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try." ~Terry Fox