So long March, thanks for all the fish

End of the month already. How time flies! This has been a very busy month. The Easter weekend was jam packed with fun. Spent Tuesday preparing for another mini holiday and took off early Wednesday for the island again. Spent 2 nights in Ucluelet and it was wonderful. Yoga in the mornings looking out at the ocean where whales were spouting and a run along the Wild Pacific Trail. Delicious food, good books and lots of relaxing.

Went surfing on Thursday and had a blast. It was my second attempt and I was able to stand up several times. I never thought I'd like surfing but I really can't wait to go again. And again and again. I'm really looking forward to trying in Hawaii. It was mighty chilly on the beach for our lesson but once in the water I warmed right up. There was snow on the beach and it hailed while we were out in the water. Crazy weather! We had a few hailstorms mixed with sun, cloud a bit of rain...

Friday we went to Tofino to the Long Beach Lodge for a wedding and it was amazing. One of the best weddings I've been to from the location right down to the tiny details. Definitely one to remember. Our room was spectacular - king size bed, huge soaker tub and an amazing view looking out to the beach and ocean. The weather cleared right up and we had beautiful blue skies for the last two days.

Drove up to the ferry terminal and right onto the ferry to get home. I was dropped off at Nicole's and we headed out for the longest run we've done so far. Here is a map of the route we took:



It was so long! The weather was beautiful though and I felt fine until we were leaving Stanley Park. I started getting really tired and sore - mostly my feet. It was such a relief to reach Science World and start heading for home. We walked the last mile to cool down. The map shows 22.5 miles but I think I may have cut some corners when creating it because I'm pretty sure it was closer to 24. We basically ran a marathon which is only 2.2 miles farther. Yikes! I took 5 gels, about 40min apart. We were so hungry by the end... that's what happens when you run from 4-9pm and miss dinner. Thankfully our wonderful husbands had made pizza and when we walked in the front door it had just come out of the oven and smelled so good!!

All in all it was a very long day and I collapsed into bed after a hot bath with a Marathon bubble bar from Lush. Mmm, cinnamon and mint. Very soothing for tired muscles. I feel ok today, tired but not too bad. My legs are very tired but I don't think the stiffness has quite set in yet. I can still walk down stairs and my knees feel fine - they didn't hurt at all during the run. Next week is a short run (12-14 miles) and then we've got one more long one (22-26 miles). Two weeks of very short runs (10 miles, then 7 miles) and then it's the race!

Super weekend

A busy weekend and already it's nearly Wednesday! Had a cold last week but it didn't last long. Ran on Wednesday for 30 minutes with a stuffy heady, felt fine by Friday. Ran with Nicole around Stanley Park on Friday morning. We ran about 8 miles (1hr 20min) and it felt good.

Trying to cycle more now that the weather is getting better. Took my bike out of hibernation Saturday morning and cycled over to the farmer's market at Adanac and Victoria. Took the 10th Ave bike route and it took about 30 minutes. Coming home I took the Adanac bike route and then hooked up to the 7th Ave route. That took about 40 minutes... I think it might have been a bit longer that way and I was also pretty loaded down with goodies. So nice to have such nice routes to ride along.

The Vancouver cherry blossom festival is coming up and I came across this event. Can't wait!

Ran 13 miles on my own on Sunday. I ran the route out along the seawall to Spanish Banks, up to UBC and home along 16th Ave. I took 2 gels and not sure if it was the run on Friday, the bikeride the day before or maybe it was just an off day but I was pretty tired.

Using the goodies from the farmer's market I made a big Easter dinner. Made a double-crust apple pie first - it was so satisfying. We were given some lamb quite a while ago so I defrosted it the day before and roasted it with new potatoes, garlic, rosemary and dijon mustard and served it with mint pesto. It was so delicious! First time cooking lamb. We also had a salad with winter greens and roasted beets. Sauteed some mixed mushrooms with butter, garlic and sage to have on the side and also steamed some baby carrots - so sweet!



Monday morning woke up early and headed up to Whistler with Nicole to ski. I rented some awesome powder skis and with nearly a foot of new snow in the previous 24 hours they were so much fun. It was an amazing day. Cloud, sun, snow, wind... I love the new Symphony chair - takes you right up to the ridge we hiked doing the Musical Bumps a few years ago. We skied all day. My legs were so tired! You get good value for your tickets now that it is light out so long. We finally went in for food at the Roundhouse at 3:30 because we were starving and decided to download off the mountain to avoid the icy lower half of the mountain (so spoiled with the powder and awesome conditions at the top) and because we were so exhausted. See more photos here.



Spent all day today getting ready for our little mini holiday to Tofino and Ucluelet. Made a bunch of food to bring along for the first half of our trip in Ucluelet. We're going surfing on Thursday. I'm excited. Last time surfing was so fun. I think it'll be colder this time... Last week was the whale festival and I'm hoping to see some migrating gray whales while were there... I'll hopefully get a couple runs in and when we get home Nicole and I are going to do our longest run yet - 23 miles. Yikes! Then only 5 more weeks until the race!

7 weeks to go

We ran to Dundarave in West Vancouver on Sunday. Along the seawall in Coal Harbour, through Stanley Park (trails on the way there, causeway on the way back), over the bridge, down to the West Vancouver seawall to Dundarave and back again. When I mapped it out it was about 14 miles. Took us just under 2hrs 20min. It was a nice day and I felt pretty good, but I didn't really want to run very much further. I took 2 gels, after an hour and again about 45 minutes later. My favourites are definitely vanilla, apple cinnamon and strawberry kiwi by Carboom. So much better than any other brand. They are made with fruit puree whereas many others use brown rice syrup for sugar and I don't like the taste of it. I have a recipe to make my own gels... it's on my to-do list.

I ran last week once in Victoria along the water and through some old familiar neighbourhoods. I did a bunch of lunges after the run and they made my legs so sore!! Maybe I should be doing more of those!

I also found an ashtanga studio in Victoria and went to mysore morning practice while I was staying there. They have a really nice space in an old building right downtown. I used my new Manduka mat and I love it!! No bunching or stretching and it felt really solid.

Next week is a long run - 22-24 miles (a marathon is 26.2 miles). The group is running 12-14 instead and will go longer the following weekend (because of the holiday weekend). I'm away the following weekend and would rather do it here so I've got to figure something out.

I've signed up for the Edge to Edge marathon on June 8th. I'm really excited about it. It's 5 weeks after the Vancouver marathon (12 weeks from now!) which I think (hope) should be long enough to recover. Then hopefully it will be hiking season! Looking forward to the grind opening - I wonder if we'll be any faster after all this running.

Victoria run

We were in Victoria this weekend for a wedding and I was looking forward to a change of scenery for my long run. After drinking mezcal until midnight Friday night, I woke up bright and early on Saturday and headed out. I wasn't feeling bad, but it took a while to get into the groove. It was a beautiful day and running along the water was very nice. I have fond memories of Dallas Rd and the breakwater. We used to spend a lot of time there as kids when visiting relatives in Victoria. I had mapped out this run before we left Vancouver and it was a bit short distance-wise so after looking at the map I made a mental note to turn a block or two further than I had originally planned to increase the distance. The houses out along the water in the Oak Bay area were amazing!! Big yards with beautiful gardens. The streets were so quiet, it was very nice. When I finally turned on Lansdowne I was getting pretty hungry. I only brought 2 gels with me and took them both - the first one at about 50 minutes and the second one at about 1hr 40min. I was so relieved to be finally running through downtown and back on familiar streets. I felt so relieved to see the Parliament buildings and felt pretty accomplished too that I had managed to navigate the route without any trouble. I was a bit worried that I had been running too slow since by the time I was back at the hotel my watch read 2hr35min. A 14-mile run should have only taken me 2hr20min. Turns out it was a 15-mile run so I was right on time!

After heading out for breakfast (which was incredibly delicious) Loranda and I had a bit of a spa day in the hotel. We had foot masks, manicures and pedicures and face masks. My feet were very happy. I got some blisters on this run where I haven't had problems before and my feet were very tired and sore. No time for sore feet though! By 5pm we were all dressed up and happy to watch our friends on their special day. Dinner was delicious and then the dancing began. My legs were so tired and my feet were so sore!!! But it was still fun. We stumbled up to our room around midnight and fell asleep pretty soon thereafter.

Luke and I are now at the Saltspring Spa for a few days for some relaxing and pampering. We've got some visiting to do back in Victoria and then Luke will be going to the Victoria Juggling Festival this week and I'll be (happily) heading home. I'm looking forward to my next run for 2 reasons... first, it's another short 12-14 mile run, second, Nicole is home!! :)

Deering Island

Ever heard of it? I hadn't until today. 19.5 miles, 3hrs 15min. There are some crazy huge houses in Southlands. Everyone has horses. Deering Island is a strange little place. A short little stretch of land with VERY expensive houses. We didn't see a single person, but I know people were home since their Audis, BMWs, Mercedes and Landrovers were in the driveways. I took 3 gels today, 2 of them had caffeine. So far Carboom is definitely my favourite. Clif shots taste like the rice syrup they are made of with lousy flavouring over top. Power Gels are way too sweet. I tried a vanilla Goo gel for the first time today, but it wasn't nearly as good as the Carboom vanilla gel which tastes exactly like vanilla icing. Mmm. I felt really good today. Only 7 more miles in a marathon and I felt today like I could have done it. Maybe not today. Hard to say. I felt good at the end of the run and I could have gone farther - I can say that much. It was nice to go someplace new - I'd never been to Southlands and I was pretty amazed by the houses. House isn't the right word - estate is more like it. Huge mansions on huge lots with perfect landscaping. Anyway, this was a pretty hilly route but I felt strong. I actually felt like we were running a bit slow at times and I could have gone faster. All in all this run left me feeling ready for the marathon - 9 weeks to go!!