Dawn on the Run

Short Version – I shoulda worn my spikes!!!

Long Version – read on…. Last night I baked cookies for the race today. I almost forgot and as I looked in my cupboard realized I had nothing I could bring unless I started baking. So I grabbed the cookbook and looked for an easy recipe that I would have all the ingredients for. My choice – raisin molasses cookies. Yummy.

I made it to bed before midnight with plans to get up around 7am. When the alarm went off I rolled over and decided I really didn’t need to get up that early. So I rolled back over and slept for another hour. At 8ish I climbed out of bed and found some running clothes to wear. Once downstairs I headed out to the deck to check the weather. Chilly. It was chillier than I expected. Perhaps I would need to wear longsleeves. It wasn’t quite t-shirt weather.

I decided I would eat breakfast and then check again. I opted for a toasted bagel with peanut butter, some nuts and a banana with water to wash it all down. I read a few blogs (still have some catching up, gang – but if you’ve been by here, thanks!) and replied to some emails while I ate my breakfast. I checked my watch, time to get a move on so I will be ready when Karen shows up. Another weather check and I decided maybe I should wear a long sleeve shirt under my fleece vest. I added a bandana around my neck for warmth and a headband over my hat to keep my ears warm. Seemed like a perfect solution.

Karen was running late but we still made it to the hall for setup with lots of time to spare. Then it was off to the start area to register. Registration for Calgary Roadrunners Cross Country races is very high tech. We have a mobile registration vehicle…lol. I handed in mine & Karen’s forms & fees then we visited with friends.

It was still a tad chilly as you can see by the above picture on the right. The kids did their 1km race and right on time they lined up the 8km runners. They get to start about 5 minutes ahead of the 4km. Rumor has it the 4km was more like 5.5km. I was standing around waiting my turn and realized I should have been taking pictures. Thankfully all the runners hadn’t gone by so I got some good shots. Karen is the one with the pink hat in the bottom frame.

Finally it was our turn to start. After leaving the nice flat start area the course takes you along the edge of a steep ridge. I had forgotten how close to the edge we ran. I am terribly afraid of heights and clung to the left of the trail not looking down. I snapped a few pictures but didn’t even look at what I was taking. I lost a lot of time trying to avoid the edge and perhaps going a little too slow in that area.

By the time I made it to the steep downhill part the lead 8km runners were headed the same way. I waited a few minutes to let about a dozen or so runners go by. For me this downhill part is the toughest. It goes from muddy to icy and back to muddy. Its pretty much straight down and very narrow. Not wanting to hinder the faster runners I end up adding more time to my run as being the nice person I am I move over. Sometimes there’s no room to move so it means stopping, moving to the very edge and hugging whatever tree is nearby to get out of their way. Sometimes I waited while several runners would pass. Most thanked me and made a comment as they passed. I remember one yelling “I’ll read your blog tomorrow”.

I saw a speedy runner wipeout on the ice ahead of me and cautioned a few others as they passed. They were on their second loop and most knew what lay ahead. I vaguely remembered. Finally we hit the flat area. The course goes from the ugly downhill to a flat open field. I think I gained 5 pounds of mud on the open field. My feet were heavy and bits of mud flew off here and there as I made my way to the other side. Next we run along a fence line where thankfully some of the mud worked its way off my runners. Then as you see below we enter a treed area. A big muddy puddle area marks the start of the treed area. Last year there was a rock for me to leap this area but this year I hiked up my pants and ran through it. Brrrrrr that was cold. I was still being passed by runners. Nothing new here. Eventually we leave the trees for a flat open dirt road/path. This is the last of the flat stretch.

Then its back uphill. I find going uphill on mud and ice a bit easier than going down. Somehow I seem to have a little more control and this path wasn’t nearly as narrow or ugly as the downhill one. It kind of meandered and there was only one real bad spot where there was a rather wide swath of ice. To wide to jump and hard to avoid. I went off the path to the right and hugged some trees to make my way over it. The course didn’t go up the stairs today, instead we meandered on a path to the right. The odd runner passed me as I went up the hill. I was thankfull Karen hadn’t lapped me yet. Wait, I looked behind me, is that her pink hat I see. Good for Karen, bad for me. Yup, here she comes. Oh well at least I got a great shot of her. She laughed as she went by remembering that meant she would end up being a butt shot on my blog…lol.

Finally I made it to the top of the hill. The view of the city from there is fantastic.

Then it was back to that ridge. Even with my fear of heights going back the other way wasn’t so bad. I think its because I was running more at an uphill angle. I still didn’t look down to my left. Almost done, one last dippity do hill. Last year a dog had chased me through this area. I mentioned it to Kathy who was a few feet behind me. We laughed and a few minutes later I was being chased by yet another dog whose owner took their sweet time in calling him off of us. Ahead I see the finish line and Karen waiting patiently. Yeah, I am handed my popsicle stick and done! Finally. I think my time was right around the 1 hour mark. Considering all the stopping and walking I did, that is just fine with me.

We hit the hall for some great soup and cookies. Karen dropped me back home just before 3pm. I showered and edited my pictures for the blog. Now I need to dress for our party tonight. Hubby and I are off to a house party with the paving contracter he works for part-time in the summer.

Ok, that’s it I’m done – *hit publish*