Over halfway there!

I ran 8k last night. I'm over halfway to my goal of 10k! That may seem obvious, as 8k is more than halfway between, say, 0 and 10k, but I was at 5k when I started this goal so I'm counting 7.5k as halfway.

Almost 4 weeks to go before the 10k "race". I hope there's no time limit. An hour should be enough for most runners, but I'll probably need an extra 10 minutes. Especially if it's hot. Which at the end of October in Ottawa is a highly remote possibility. More remote than Sarah Palin coming up with a brilliant, feasible plan to save the financial sector that would garner bipartisan support. Well, maybe not quite that remote.

Saturday's run was hot, humid, slow, painful. Monday's was cool, breezy, fun and I'd like to say fast but that was only true when I was going downhill. I like the new route, downloaded from the Running Room - much more fun than adding extra blocks onto my neighbourhood weave. And it ends on a downhill. I like running downhill. It's the only time I move fast enough that it really feels like running. That, and the last block before I finish.

I'm still in shorts and t-shirt, it was 12C last night and that was about perfect. I also remembered a headband for the first time, and realized I don't like headbands, I like wristbands as I need to wipe off the sweat. I am my mother's daughter in that respect - we both turn beet red and sweat like horses when exercising. Jane Fonda can rest secure, knowing we'll never compete in the exercise video space.

Snot runs freely

I am wimping out on today's run. Zoe shared her cold with me, and I'm being a giant wimp.

I did have 2 good runs this week, 6k on Monday and 6.7k on Wednesday.

I have nothing else to say. 

Up and down

My run last Monday night was pathetic. I barely made it 5k before I had to stop and walk for a half a block, then I only made it another 1/2k. I blamed my prior day's gardening marathon, although I'm not sure why that would impact my breathing, which was really stressed.

Wednesday was much better, I ran just over 6k fairly easily.

Saturday was long. I ran with my colleague, and enjoyed it, but her route is a little over 6.5k. Very nice route.

I plan on running tonight, but not too far - I did spend the rest of the weekend, after Saturday's run, in the garden. I emptied 2 composters, spreading about 20 wheelbarrows full of muck on the paths. Then I moved another 10 wheelbarrows full of the last of the triple mix I bought last summer. Then I spread grass seed on the finished bits - I need another 10 wheelbarrows or so of dirt. As I don't want to order more, I'm not sure where I'll get it, but I'll figure something out. The driveway's bad enough with the load of rocks I moved from the paths, no need to add a mess of dirt to it. I'm very happy I managed to get the seed down, as it started raining almost immediately after I finished and is going to drizzle on and off today, perfect grass growing weather. It is the little things that make me happy...but at least I'm not so obsessed that I watch the grass grow!

Getting there

I've run almost 6k twice - and if I'd realized I was a few metres short, I'd have run another block. It turns out running is a lot easier when you don't spend 10 hours a day gardening. It's amazing the things I should be able to figure out, but don't.

I want to keep up the running, and go farther, and maybe even go into the odd organized run - not for speed, just to see what it's like.

I don't want to spend foolish amounts of money on running gear. So far my shoes were the only thing I've bought new. I have shorts, shirts and tank tops from ye olde Sally Ann, aka the Thrift Store, and tights from my old cycling days, as well as a rain jacket. I'm hoping that's enough gear for winter. It's definitely enough for summer!

Not much else to say about continuing to put one leg in front of the other, in a manner far less foolish looking than the speed walkers. It still feels good. I'm really happy I got through the summer, even though I didn't run nearly as much. I stretch a lot more now, since I had to take a few days off after hurting either a tendon or a muscle - doesn't really matter, as it got better on its own. The kids have expressed no interest in following me. Hugh remains sedentary, although given his knees and hip I'm not surprised.

His hip is still acting up. Damn sheep. Note to self - don't ever sprint after suburban sheep. You know they're destined for a bad (baaaaa-d) end. And if you injure yourself, the story makes people laugh so sympathy is off the table. Poor Hugh. Sheep induced bursitis. At least it's not scabies...

Cooler weather works for me

I ran 3 times in the last week. First time I've done that in, um, a while. I've also agreed to run a 10k "race" in October. My enthusiasm for this venture is about as high as my kids enthusiasm for the first day of school. They hate school. Well, the boys do - my daughter's fine with it. That's because it's full of people who understand that it's normal to talk on the phone while chatting on the computer and texting with your cell.

Max distance is still 5.5k, which I ran on the 31st - my brother's wedding day. Beautiful day. Very nice wedding. I hope his marriage is more enthusiastic than the anemic kiss he bestowed on his lovely bride - although he is such a private person, I'd have been shocked if it had been an Al Gore style tongue wagger.

Since my last post, in addition to several runs of varying success, I've moved 2 tonnes of gravel, ripped out 80 landscape timbers and nearly finished my summer project, the stepstone path. I'm at 17 of an estimated 19 stepstones made, and have learnt enough about concrete to bore anyone. The garden now looks like an enormous mess, as the formerly tidy gravel paths are dismantled, the new shape is still a work in progress, and of course it's September and dry and the plants are not at their best. Can't wait for the weekend - I didn't get much chance after the gravel moving and timber ripping to actually reshape the beds and remake the paths. With grass this time - much nicer underfoot than gravel.

The houses continue to spring up, although many more for sale signs are sticking around longer - will the US experience come to Canada? Probably in a less extreme way, but we'd be fools to think we're immune.