My Week In Running

I discovered a lot of new things in running this past week:

1. BC has a lot of hills. Sweetie and I did our 15km long run on Saturday, as we were planning to drive home on Sunday. This began with a big downhill, which meant on the return, there would be a big uphill. However, it was a nice run, fully enjoyable time with Ragnar, and I was able to enjoy the beautiful near-countryside of BC. Weird thing seen: a couch in the ditch.
2. Podcasting: I've heard of podcasting, but never figured it out until I needed something, anything, to block out the Flames of War podcast Ragnar was listening to. So I hooked up to Geeks in Running Shoes, which is a couple of self-proclaimed geeks who are recording their continuing efforts in making running a norm in their lives. They have guests, they talk about their race results, and they're super-nice: one already responded to me on Twitter! They also led me to the Slow Runners' Club, which espouses a joy in running and racing that is based on having fun, not racing for time, personal bests, or a win. Also, running while listening to podcasts? Not awesome, because you may have to laugh too hard.
3. Upon returning to Edmonton, it was, as my sister had described it, as hot as the seventh level of Dante's Hell. Constantly 28-30C, and humid to boot! Fortunately, I had lived in Ottawa, so this humidity was a mosquito's bite compared to some I'd experienced, but it made me start running in the morning again, because running at noon was torturous.
4. Which I did, actually, because I hadn't woken up early enough Thursday morning (the invasive heat and resulting two-hour thunderstorm broke my sleep too much). In deference, I brought a bottle of water with me, and took more walk-breaks than usual. It was a light 5k, but ended up taking a bit longer than usual.
5. Speaking of torturous running and podcasting, one of the topics that Geeks in Running Shoes covered at one point was Ultra running. This was very interesting for me because my boss runs ultras, and Ragnar is getting into them. As a matter of fact, Ragnar is training to participate in the Canadian Death Race (my boss is also training for this, but I'm not his pit crew). Listening to GiRS's podcast, I got a sense of what Ragnar will need on his run in the Death Race: yes-or-no or other equally simple questions, like "Are you peeing? When did you last pee? Are you drinking water? Electrolytes?" Quadratic equations are right out at a time when someone is concentrating on one foot in front of the other.
6. Last but not least, I really hope the wildfires in northern Alberta die down fast because I want everyone to be safe, and I want the air in Edmonton to clear up - right now, it's a disturbing yellow-peach colour during the day, stings my eyes, and doesn't feel healthy in the lungs. I wanted to go rollerblading tonight, but maybe I'll wait for a clearer day.

And that is what I learned.

Addendum: Dear hip, shut up. Just because we're turning 30 tomorrow does not mean my warranty has run out. Stop whining. You just have two more half-marathons to do this season. Quiet.