Hello Summer!

Greetings Peeps!

I heart summer.  Every single little thing about it, too.  I love the heat.  I love the Northern Ontario humidity.  I love the cool lightning storms during the heat waves.  I love being on holidays.  I love the lake and visiting my family.  And of course I love summer running!

This will be a quick post as I'm in between swims.  Nothing beats this crazy 40 plus degree heat like some jumps off the dock!

First.  Decided to stop wondering about all this barefoot brouhaha and give it a try myself.  And then decided I am not hardcore enough to do the total barefoot thing (and my feet are ugly enough from running) and purchased a pair of Saucony Hattori minimalist trainers.  This is them...

I started by running my summer training and personal training in them.  And guess what?  Love.  They felt great!  So, I took it one barefoot step further and just went for a jog.  A quick 33 minute affair that included 10 repeats on Christie's hill.  I decided this was a good way to experiment since the hill is steep and I am mainly on my toes for this anyhow.  The outcome? My  left achilles and knees are slightly sore, but other than that, a good thing...or so I think.  I had to work really, really hard to stay off my heels, especially on the downhills. 

Anyhow- the long and the short of it is that I think these are GREAT, although I'm not quite ready for a 26.2 in them yet and likely never will be!  But they will be fun for shorter runs.  Want some?  Go see Nolan and the gang and the Tech Shop in Calgary.  They will put you in the right pair!   

Second.  Did I mention I love summer?  This is why:

Summer training, lake style.  What I see while working out at my cottage.  Or camp, in Kenora speak.

Broke out the TRX and hung from our crooked tree.  Worked beautifully.  Plus got to jump in between sets.

Anyone want to come over for a workout?  We could even swim for intervals!

Third.  A huge shout out to KayZ (like JayZ but she's way cooler, trust me) for her third place finish in the Stampede Road Race 10k.  You. Are. Awesome!  And you run like the wind!  I see some very speedy fall training runs in our future!

Fourth.  I get to meet Barry the Baby in just 22 short days.  At least if I have my say and mother nature cooperates.  I'm going to be an ant!  I mean an aunt!  I wonder if it's too early to purchase some new runners for the little one...

Happy summer everyone!  Enjoy!

Signs,Signs, Everywhere...

Do you ever feel like the universe is against you?  At times, I sure do.  I realize that this is in direct contradiction to the very optimistic promise I made to myself over the New Year, where I indicated that I was going to see the glass as only halfway full.  Having said that, it gets hard to see the glass as halfway full when the thermometer consistently reads -30!

My training for Vancouver stinks.  That's it, in a nutshell. To be fair, it's really only my endurance on the long runs that is a bit questionable, since I haven't really done a long run in forever, since every time I try to get out for my Friday long run its FREEZING cold.  I've tried to improvise by heading to the track, but there is something about completing a very long run on the track that just doesn't work for me.  I get to about 2 hours and I just can't seem to push over the mental hurdle to get those miles pounded out.  My brain says no and my body doesn't like it much either.  This Friday, I was positive I was going to get out for a few good hours of training, but the wind foiled me this time.  It was a chilly -9 and with the wind it was brutal, biting and cold.  In fairness to myself, I made it for 24k (10 k short of the 34 I was trying to accomplish) which is a decent amount, but certainly not enough to quell the anxiety I'm starting to feel build when I think about my endurance.  And endurance I need if I have any hope of pounding out a decent 26.2 in Vancouver on May 1st.   Let's all say a quick prayer to the weather Gods that this most hideous of Calgary winters is behind us and we have nothing but blue skies and big mileage in the future.

Along with the signs, did you ever notice that sometimes terrible things happen to very, very, VERY good people?  I had the unfortunate experience of witnessing just this earlier in the week, when the wonderful gym that I am privileged enough to train clients at had a major disaster.  Poor Alive.  The location flooded and is now condemned.  Words cannot express how sad this really is, and further, I can't believe this is happening to the owners, Holly and Ben, who are two of the loveliest people I have had the privilege of meeting.  These two have the most fabulous attitude and are promising that Alive will be back, bigger and better than ever before.  I believe them when they say that, because they are full of positive energy and are determined to make something amazing out of this bump in the road.  And I hope I am fortunate enough to still be a part of it!  Please everyone, send some positive energy and love out to Holly and Ben and the Alive crew!  They sure could use some positive vibes for the speedy recovery of Alive.

And last be not least, I came across this little gem...

And so I sign off thinking about becoming an awesome marathon runner...

Look out pathways, here I come!

Born to Run...Barefoot?

Runners!  Enjoying the -30 temps?  Enjoying layering up to run outside?  Enjoying large icicles hanging off the old head?  Not me, I am TIRED of this weather, and although I managed to get outside for 4, yes, 4, runs in this freezingest of freezing cold weather this week, I am tired of the cold and the running trials and tribulations that go with it and am ready for summer.  It is just so much more work in so many more ways to run outside in the winter, especially when its cold.

Remember before when I mentioned Christopher McDougall (author) and the book Born to Run?  Remember?  He recently did a talk at a Ted X event...and even if you're not a runner, the science is fascinating and worth 15 minutes of your time- this I promise.  Watch and consider- is this crazy barefoot running thing for you?  Yes?  No?  Comments?  Debates?   And one last thing, for those of you crazy enough to consider it...I seriously do NOT suggest a barefoot run in this weather.  Perhaps let's wait until summer to check this crazy barefoot theory out!