Photos and other Evidence

Today was much the same as the last week - get up, disbelieve my phone's weather report, get dressed, eat, go to Running Room.
What I hadn't done was read the RR e-mail as closely as I should have - the half-marathon group was to meet in St. Albert. By the time I figured this out, it was too late to drive to the St. Albert store and hope everyone was still there, so I went out and did the 14km on my own.

When I started out, the weather was nearly perfect. The temperature was 15C, the wind was cool but not cold, and I had my route planned out. Ragnar seemed a little surprised that I would do all 14km on my own, but as I found out through personal experience, you don't just show up to a half-marathon and expect to run - you gotta do the work first. Or, 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail', and other like clichés.

I planned out my route for maximum can't-stop-now-ness, and it worked. A leisurely tour of Klarvatten and Lago Lindo where I didn't get lost once led me back to the main road, and then I went to run around a loop in Castledowns. The houses in that area vary between new to 20 years old or so, but most of the time, the area is very picturesque, with some lovely trees providing crucial shade.

My knees, however, were not as delighted with the weather and scenery. Their main concern was the fact that the LSD was happening at a 6:30min/km pace, which used to be my fast pace. My hip was nagging me too, so I think a visit to a physiotherapist or some such medical person would be a benefit. Hopefully, it's just a need for a quick deep tissue massage to straighten things out. Did I really just say 'hopefully' about a deep tissue massage?

Right as I was continuing down 97 St., I hit the wind tunnel. Sadly, the wind was attacking me, so in natural human competitive response, I ran harder against it. Not conducive! But that's how my body reacted, and to slow it down would, sometimes, tire me out further.

Thankfully, that was nearing the end of my run, so I managed to make it to just over 14km. It was relatively flat, but not quite enough shade for my liking. Also, when there is a choice of sidewalk, take it! The initial thrill of running off the path will be soon dashed by the realizing that mud is collecting on your shoes, making you heavier!

And the only unusual thing I saw today was the gigantic Great Dane who seemed very eager to meet me.

In other news, someone mentioned that I should post some photos. I will try to do that a bit more.

Here are a couple:

This is what I get to see while running in the River Valley!

Classy as always, Edmonton. Well done.