Back from Vacation!

Well, time flies when you are having fun.  I have been tardy in posting, as we have had a busy late-August / early September.  I'll start with a summary, then wander aimlessly wherever my faulty memory circuits take me.  Us.  Sorry...

Creemore Copper Kettle Dash:

Setting up for every race involves planning, spending lots of cash and fighting a losing battle of trying to avoid forgetting anything of import.  An inaugural event has that added bonus of the unknown.  With 42 signed up and an estimated (you'll hear that word often) 80 expected for the race, what shirt distribution is best?  How many pins do you need to buy.  Water?

Lee Anne (she is the race director) and I put in countless hours (I did not count them) getting read for the race.  Bought a new kiln (the old one blew up real good!) and had some issues with off-glaze pottery, 2 weeks before the race.

The race went smoothly, with one runner going off course.  Last minute panic while talking to the antique car director, when it became apparent that cars would be trying to drive through the race course at the start of the race!

Aside from the glitches, the race itself was well received.  There were awards and spot prizes for almost everyone who raced.  Much positive feedback and some ideas for a better race next year.  The finishing times for the 5K were good, with room to break the record in future years.  The 10K is a different story.  The 10K has a big hill.  Try to remember who is writing this.  Big = 2K up and up and up.  Winning time?  37:31.  I'm not sure which national team Nikoloy belongs to, but I'm not sure how a 10K with a 2K hill can be run in under 40 minutes...

Vacation:

Not sure how we pulled this one out of a hat, but after some fruitless effort trying to set up a trip out west, to climb in the Canmore / Banff area, this is what happened:

Lee Anne:  2nd in the Ottawa Ironman Duathlon (4K run, 180K bike, 42.2 run).

A good friend (can I use your name Dawn?) was being visited by her daughter, who has a beautiful house just outside of Gatineau park, north of Ottawa.  Lee Anne signed up for the Ironman, we drove to Ottawa and Lee Anne tried her first Duathlon.  It was a long day (13:42), but interesting, from a support capacity.  During her race, I was able to get my first "long" run in, by running 14K of the bike course.  The next day (Sunday) was recovery, with a short hike in Gatineau park.

Next, we drove to Lake Placid, for some "little" mountain hikes.  Little is in quotes, because although the elevation was small (circa 3,000 feet vertical) and the hikes short (13 - 21K), the effort was incredible!  Large sections of the Marcy, Phelps and Algonquin peaks were boulder fields.  More up and down, right and left, than actual moving forward.  Some 2K sections took an hour.  Yes, we are slow hikers, but Marcy (highest peak in NY) took 10 hours to hike 15 miles.

We stayed at the Adirondack Loj for 5 nights.  Deliberately rustic, the lodge has no locks on the doors, so keep your passports in your car.  The town of Placid Lake is possibly in decline, although this would be difficult to tell from the restaurant prices.  The food was great, but $30 for a main course usually accompanies a world reknown eatery.

So now I sit typing in a B&B in Niagara-on-the-lake, to end the vacation.  Went out today for what was supposed to be a long run, only to find the knees (both!) were so beat up from hopping boulders in NY, that it took me 1.5 hours to run/walk about 10K.  I guess that serious training for the 25K Toad starts this week!

Ramblings:

As I type, friends are running Haliburton.  One of the plans was to show up today and run it.  It fell through, primarily because we are both battered from the hiking in NY.

Other friends are running the 24H in Poland, which (as I type) started 2.5 hours ago.  Thoughts go out to Sharon Z. in particular, who had a tough time in Wales last year.

Good luck to all of you, who toe the line in these epic races.  I fervently hope to join you within the year!

Lee Anne was second, in a field of 2 women, at the Canadian Ironman Duathlon, in Ottawa.  Nevertheless. it was a gutsy move, for a 58 year old women, to attempt an event that does not lend itself to 55+ women.   The cutoffs, although generous for 30 year olds, can be difficult for older women.

Today is a small setback in my post-surgery running.  I could not run at points because of knee pain, but the musculature is fine.  I anticipate that a fine balance of ibuprofen and red wine will rectify the shortcoming within mere days...

Keep on running!