Indoor Track Season Begins!

Half of our TWU team ran at the University of Washington Opener on January 14.  I was so excited to have jumpers and sprinters with us this year!!!  Fiona, Blair and I ran our 3000m at 5:00 ish so our coaces didn’t even let us come to the track until later, so we watched our teammates on flotrack and caught the USA Olympic Marathon trials on TV which developed my 3k race goal: to run my race with their marathon pace! Yeesh! They are speedy human beings!

During my race I got stuck behind a wall of slow ladies but still managed to pull off a 15sec PB!  Woo hoo!  Also, I was dealing with a glute issue (a different type of 'glute' issue from my mom -hee hee) so I was happy that I felt okay enough to run!  The pain that came after was manageable. :]

My Time: 10:18.18 

Watch it here.

P.S. My mom is gluten intolerant - hee hee

The Last 'Catch-Up' Blog for Cross-Country

Canadian Cross Country Race @ Jericho Beach, Vancouver, BC

Ha ha, yes, again it seems that if I can’t win then SOMETHING interesting has to happen.

I had a really good race in the mud.  It was warmer than Quebec but waaaaaaay muddier :] which made things really fun I think!  7K is more my style than 5K.  I am really happy with the lines I chose to run I just wish that all my spikes didn’t fall out underneath me!  The last 2K I ran with 2 spikes in one shoe and one in the other...I was spinning my legs like Road Runner off of Loonie Tunes!

And congratulations to my fellow teammates Blair and Fiona who were named B.C.'s Junior Cross Country Athletes of the Year.

My time: 28:28

Bad Dog

Courir... Je suis tombé et ai été débordé!

Running...Running...Bad Dog...Running

Mmm...meaty

Yup, I was attacked by a dog on my long run at Aldergrove Park.  The worst part was that the lady, who had her two German Shepherds on leashes, didn’t do anything!  She looked at me and walked away without asking me if I was okay or not.  The hole in my upper right thigh soaked my shorts in blood and dripped into shoe.  I finished my run – I was in the tempo part of my workout! And I had to get back to my car.   

Thank you for Rochelle and Phillip at TWU’s Athletic Therapy station who cleaned me up and made "If I ever see that woman..." statments :]

The next day I was grossly swollen and the bruise covered a large portion of my leg.  It is three months later, the wound has closed (it was a large tooth size hole and some side scratches) but I am left with scarred memories.  Also, my heart rate increases every time I pass dogs on my runs and I spot German Shepherds wherever I go.

This looks like a safe dog

2011 ‘Battle on the Plains of Abraham’ not as successful as the Original battle in 1759

The tragedy is that I never got to compete in that first winning battle!

It seems to be that if I can’t be the best, then it has got to be dramatic. 

Race morning teammate Katelynn and I take the walk to the en francais Starbucks for a hot, hot, hot tea (we ordered in English).  Briskly we walk back to the hotel only to be stopped on the street by the light falling of snowflakes all around us and in between these stone historic buildings – it was magical.

Our race was at 1:00 (or 10:00 B.C. time)

Our coaches found us an empty floor at the hotel so we could warm-up inside and then out into the cold snow to start the race.  The French start command caught me off-guard leaving me a few steps behind the other pony tails.  The 2.5Km course was very technical with hills and slopes and tight turns – not to mention the additional component of wet grass and snow.  

The first tight corner came not even 1Km into the race. 

 I was on the inside, slipped, fell, got spiked in the lower calf (two long slashes), got up, ran hard to catch up, died early and didn’t have much to give near the end.

We are making race plans for next year.

Next time, CIS!  I’ll get you next time!

A shout out to my teammate Marissa Ratzlaff who had a phenomenal race!!  Woot woot!  Congrats to the boys who had steady finishes.  Thanks to Nikki Bell’s family for coming out to cheer us all on and take pictures of our soggy bodies.

My time: 20:22.1