Girl Run

Tonight I went out and ran with 3 other women. One of them I know and the other two were new to me.
Talking with runners is like talking with mothers. Instead of comparing birth stories in detail, you compare races, training plans, the good, the bad and the ugly of running. Just like a birth story, you know all the details, play by play and so it is for training and  running races.
Instead of running past cows, corn fields and pumpkin patches the scenery on our route looked more like this:

This is an actual building in north Kanata, also known as Research Park - lots and lots of high tech companies there. Ottawa is mostly government employees or high tech geeks.
So the run started off feeling kind of weird. I'm so used to putting on my music, having my dog Shelby with me and zoning out. But this was a very chatty group. At first I found it distracting, and then I noticed it was more effort to talk and run. But I got used to it after awhile and the chit chat made the time pass by quickly.
This is my third run this week with no 1 minute break after every 10 minutes of running. I'm doing it!
 So, although I was slow I was pleased that I finished the 6.6k, just over 4 miles without a walk break. Not too shabby for me. In one week I've gone from running 3x week with walk breaks, to 4 x a week without walk breaks + one day of 400m interval runs.The human body is an amazing thing. Shelby seemed a little insulted when I got home but  tomorrow it's a 30 min. easy run and she'll be coming along.

Resolution run

I've been thinking of signing up for the resolution run again this year. Last year on New Year's Eve, I ran the 5k, my first race ever. It was so invigorating! It was challenging as the road was covered in a layer of greasy snow. You have to live in snow country to know what I mean. It isn't really greasy but it feels that way, so you work extra hard, a little like running in sand as it gives way.

I ran that race with my group from the Running Room which was nice. I have been running solo for months and I do miss running with a group sometimes. I didn't want to sign up for the race and show up alone. What fun is that?

 Today I found someone to sign up with. She's a friend of mine from church and she ran her first marathon this past summer. She runs indoors at a gym and has hooked up with two other ladies and they train together. They have all signed up for the race. I'm going to join them and we'll train together on Friday nights. For some of them it's their first time training outdoors in winter. I love winter running! So I'm stoked about having a small group to run with. It will motivate me and keep me focused on the training for the race.
I would love for our runs to look like this

but, really, it's going to look more like this

Bring it on!
Really, it's so refreshing, and I only had to wear my belaclava twice last winter!

Fall Garden

This is one of my favorite Group of Seven paintings. It's be J.E.H. McDonald. It reminds me of this time of year and kind of how my back yard is looking right now, there's work to do tomorrow...

I am finally starting to feel better, but still keeping the kleenex close by. Man, I've been so sick and have not gone out running. I'm hoping I'll feel fully recovered by tomorrow and test out my endurance.
It felt great to turn the calendar over to October this morning. I don't work Fridays and I started the day feeling lots of hope for this month for many things. I spent the day reveling in domestic bliss. It's a treasure to be home, puttering around the house, nesting this time of year. I'm looking forward to the cooler temps. for running too. It's been almost a year (end of October) since I signed up for my first running clinic. I think I'll do another one as I'm getting a little lonely running alone, well Shelby is ever faithful, but I did enjoy the camaraderie of running with a group.
During my 2nd clinic which took place in the winter months, I distinctly remember having a wonderful 6k run with 3 other women, we broke off from the larger group and chatted on for awhile. The temp. was hovering around 0Celsius (about 32F) and a few flakes of snow were falling, it was dark outside. The conversation slowly died out as we became almost lulled into the quiet rhythm of four pair of feet falling onto pavement - it was the best- and I want more of that... but it's not winter yet... looking forward to some nice Fall running.
Lee