By the end of last week - my 4 day work week - I was trashed. I mean a 4 day work week seems fun and all but it just means that I have to fit the same amount of work that I can't already fit into a 5 day week and squeeze it into 4 days. Aaaaargh! By Friday my 11am coffee break was happening at about 9am - just for the caffiene hit to keep my eyes open! There had been a few after work things too (like freezing my ass off on Wednesday for an hour waiting for the Olympic torch on Banff Avenue only for it to sail past carried by some random person who I had no clue who they were, or my Thursday night Albertan initiation into line dancing at Lake Louise!) so I hadn't got as many runs or long gym work outs as I would have liked and although exhausted I was getting pretty fidgety for a decent work out. And this weekend has more than made up for that...
Friday night I hit the treadmill for 2 hours. I really don't mind the treadmill, I just grab the one in the corner, plug in my iPod and try to run under the radar since you're only officially meant to be allowed on the treadmill for 30mins! Oh well, I guess other people have more exciting social lives so the treadmills weren't too busy at 8pm on a Friday anyway.
One work out checked off the list I hit the hay and got a stellar night of sleep in - exhausted from work and my mind relaxed that I'd already got a decent run in. So come Saturday I jumped out of bed feeling so refreshed and eager to run. I headed out for about 4 hours and it was THE most beautfiul day - a light layer of fresh snow and awesome light that made the mountains and sky look tinged with pink. I hit a couple of icy sections on the trail but nothing too bad and much better than I had hoped for. To top off the awesome run I was heading back towards town along the closed road on the Banff Springs golf course when a wolf ran out across my path and up onto the hillside next to me. Now if that isn't a little blessing on a run then what is? The Rockies really can be a magical place to live :) It wasn't until I was literally turning the corner back to my apartment that I realised that in clocking 4h30 it was my longest solo run ever! I'm definitely getting better at doing long runs on my own and dealing with the mental aspect of not having friends to chitter chatter to and help the time go by.
So my final run/ hike of the weekend came today. I decided not to go skiing (I am still struggling with being a runner in a ski town!) and instead get another run in so headed up Sulphur Mountain and then added some loops of the Fenland trail in just for some extra miles and time and real running, rather than hiking.
All in all I am now feeling way more confident heading into Orca's in two weeks time than I was even a week ago. Although my long runs are super slow due to the snow and ice, I have at least got the time on my feet and hope that the treadmill work outs will have kept some of my pace up....
Only downer, back to work tomorrow :(
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ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of running for me for sure but compared to most of my ultra buddies it's nothing! I count treadmill running - it's not a replacement for outdoor running but it's a good way to get some better speed in and a more consistent pace, as well as saving the legs from extra aches from trying to stabilise on ice and snow!
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