Saturday's Epic Run Brought To You By …..

I’m giving a shout out to my favourite running companions – Garmin 910XT. Nathan VaporShape and Pink iPod Shuffle. My wonderful gadgets played a big part in my long run today. I needed all the help I could get because I have missed two long runs. And I was forced to take a few days rest due to a horrific cough and sore throat this week.

Praise Buddha! I survived my three-day cough/sickness/near death experience! Things were looking dicey on Tuesday but I drank a secret magic potion that seemed to do the trick. Okay.. I am not very good at keeping secrets. My magic potion? Grapefruit smoothies! I drank a pitcher a day for two days!

I was almost at 100 per cent by Friday so Brent and I went for a short 10K tempo run. It didn’t go that well. I pulled the plug at 8K. But I am glad I got out for a bit. I was feeling antsy!

Today I was determined to run for a few hours. I went to bed on Friday super early. I felt great when I woke up and the temperatures were above zero. There was no way I was going to miss this opportunity!

I went out this morning with endurance on my mind. My plan says I should be running closer to my marathon pace but I am not up for it right now. I want to build my endurance a tad more and wait until better conditions. I get really frustrated with these crap trails!
I won’t lie to you. It felt really good to spread out on this piece of wet pavement. It was a tough 25K run. I argued and made deals with myself for hours. I have to buck up though because there’s no turning down the long run volume for anytime soon. This is my new normal. 

Because I was running “slow,” I was able to take some pics on my run. First up is a picture of the public bathrooms that are NEVER open. They are near one of my favourite places to run. It’s also usually the spot where I have “to go.” Fortunately I have found a nice spot in the bushes to do my business.

I must run over this bridge more than anybody in the city. It’s near my apartment building and it’s one of the popular spots to gaze at the Red Deer River. I like crossing it because it gives me options to connect to other areas of the city. When you’re running for more than a couple hours, it’s nice to have options.

This is the top of the long and winding road to one of the city’s golf courses. It’s usually a perfect 10K away from my place along the trails. It was slightly shorter today because I had to take an alternate route. One path was completely inaccessible because of the snow. 

If I were ever to be hit by a car, this is the crosswalk where it will likely happen. The drivers turning left NEVER pay any attention to the crossing. I’ve had to jump back after touching the hood in order a few times to save my life. I’m sure you have experienced the same thing (especially if you live in Alberta!).

And that was my epic run ….. how was your Saturday?

8 Comments

  1. I'm so happy you're feeling better! Awesome job on your run Crystal 🙂 some drivers are crazy! I have an intersection similar to yours where I will most likely get hit, if god forbid it happen. Stay safe 🙂

  2. When I first saw the pic of you on the pavement I feared you had fallen…thankfully that wasn't the case. Please tell me that you have a Road ID tag attached to you somewhere!!!!

    1. Ha ha no it was outside my apartment building 🙂 I wanted to take a pic 🙂 I should look into getting a Road ID. Drivers here are horrible!

  3. 25K? Holy, stuff like that freaks me out! Good work! So is laying out on the pavement like that part of a stretch routine or something? Also jealous of the above freezing temps, although we're getting pretty close here. Cheers!

  4. 25k that's awesome! I have a 25k training run next weekend, first time running over 21. Hopefully spring is on its way…SOON 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge