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!! :)