Day 98 - ....and we're back!

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?

Please don't take my lapse in blogging commitment to mean I've been similarly lax about sweating.

I've been sweating faithfully each day, but haven't been posting much (read: at all) largely because I hate my netbook's keyboard and incredibly slow speed. I realise that that a cluttered keyboard seems trivial, but I assure you that when you're feeling a little less motivated to write than usual, the cramping of your hands on a tiny set of keys is enough to quell the desire altogether. Similarly, trying to format a post on this stupid thing is enough to make you want to chuck it out the window.

Or maybe that's just me.

So where are we today? It's Day 98, and my physical activity today has consisted mostly of some pretty thorough stretching following Day 97's long training run of the week. In fact, this was a momentous run because I ran farther than I ever have, including races.

That's right, I broke the half-marathon barrier by running 22k yesterday.

Admittedly, it was done on a treadmill because I wasn't feeling equal to the Halifax chill, but I'm still pretty proud of my achievement. I didn't run fast, but I sure did run long. And that's a good thing, because a few days ago I signed up for the Limestone Race Weekend half-marathon in April. Last year I ran my first 5k at this event, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to reflect on my progress over the past twelve months. I'm sure I won't be speedy - I just don't want to finish last! - but I know I've accomplished a lot in terms of endurance and mental training. I'm looking forward to continuing to increase my distance and speed, hopefully moving up to the middle of the half-marathon pack within a few years. For now, I'm just happy that I can continue to grow as a runner and get in some good cross-training for synchro.

Speaking of cross-training, my month in Vancouver was full of fun physical activity. Some highlights:

Skiing at Cypress Mountain

Dan was my patient ski coach.

It seems like all anyone - residents, attendings, nurses, patients, homeless people as I walked down the street with my Starbucks tea - would ask about in Vancouver was whether I had had a chance to get some skiing in during my stay. I was ashamed to admit that I had never skied before.

(Well, okay, I'd been on snowblades once at Blue Mountain in Collingwood, but I'm told that doesn't count.)

So I was ecstatic when Nicolle and Lauren suited me up in some of their gear and drove Dan and I up to Cypress for some skiing. I rented a pair of skis - and, fortunately, a helmet! - and Lauren gave me a few quick tips (Don't point your skis straight down the hill. If you feel like you're going to fall, don't lean backward.). Then I was off with some patient coaching from Dan.

Never thought I'd be this excited about snow!

It was much harder than I had expected!

On my first run, I somehow managed a pretty spectacular face-plant, with poles going in different directions and one ski popping off my boot. I briefly thanked the powers that be that I had rented that helmet, and dragged myself back into a standing position. After digging snow out of my oversized pants, I gave it another shot. It went much more smoothly from there, with only a fall or two on the next several runs.

I'm so glad I got the chance to try skiing, and I suspect I'll want to do that again in the future.

Running Tour of the UBC Campus

I hadn't seen Ruth pretty much since undergrad, so when Erica told me that she was in Vancouver, I knew I had to connect up with her and see what she was up to.

Feet, feet, pawprints at Wreck Beach.

I put the 'I' in University. And obliterate the 'T'.

Busy as she is with her PhD research and rugby team, she kindly offered to take me on a running tour of the absolutely gorgeous UBC campus. We even toured down to Wreck Beach, which is apparently where a lot of people hang out without clothes on! Everyone we ran into on that dreary February day was fully clothed, and the beach itself was absolutely stunning.

Snowshoeing at Grouse Mountain

Snowshoeing's biggest challenge was staying upright.

One of the things I really wanted to do in Vancouver was the Grouse Grind.

Who knew it wouldn't be open for runners in the middle of February? Not me, apparently.

It didn't matter, though, because Christie took me up (and down) the Grouse Snowshoe Grind! We struggled to find a day that would work with my slightly crazy elective schedule, and finally settled on a Wednesday night. There are groups of snowshoers who do nighttime runs on Mondays and Wednesdays, and we joined up with the intermediate group for the trek to the top.

First surprise: Snowshoes are not big wooden racquets!

Top of Grouse Mountain with Christie

Nope, they are metal things that strap onto your running shoes and are surprisingly mobile. I struggled as we got near the end of the trek up the mountain, but stayed the course without any extra breaks, just about in the middle of the pack. We had spectacular weather; it was raining in the city, which meant fluffy white snow was falling in the mountains. By the time we reached the peak, the snow had stopped and we had a perfect view of the city.

And then we went tripping and sliding down the mountain back to where we had started. So much fun!

Running in Stanley Park

Danya and I stopped for a few photo ops.

I could write an entire entry just about my beautiful run in Stanley Park with Danya, but suffice it to say that it was a spectacular day, if a little grey and damp, as we ran our first loop around the park. Then, partway through our second, I had pulled just a bit past Danya and looked ahead only to see a massive storm rolling in. Stopping for a moment, I waited for Danya to catch up. We looked at each other and realised that we weren't going to make it around the loop before the storm hit.

Cue us turning around and running like crazy people while the sky opened up and dumped buckets of water on our heads.

Perfect excuse to stop in at the Teahouse for an extended brunch, wouldn't you agree?

I've since left Vancouver and headed to Halifax (on my travel day, I speed-walked loops around Pearson International Airport on my stop-over, with my carry-on luggage), where I've been enjoying half hour walks to work everyday (and half hour walks back, of course) as well as runs at the gym.

One more week here and I'm homeward bound!