Long Live the Weekend!

I love the weekend. Everything about it, but especially the parts where you don't have to work :)

Anyway, this past Saturday I ran the Bear Mountain 10k. I hadn’t really intended on taking part in this race before the Sunday prior. My thoughts about doing the race went something like this: “well, I’ll wait and see if Kelly puts it on my calendar and if so, I’ll run. If not, no biggie.” [Read: ‘no biggie’ as ‘yippee, what crazy person would really want to do this race!’]

Kirsten had registered but wasn’t able to run due to her ongoing battle with plantar fasciitis, so using her registration was another push to get out there…. Oh, and yes, after a brief discussion on the Sunday night prior Kelly had included the race in my training schedule (with the qualifier that it was supposed to be an easy base run, really just an excuse to get out and enjoy the social aspect of running and racing). As such, I had no expectations or goal times to meet.

So, let's see - the 'race'. I went slow. Very slow actually... Mentally, I think it’s kind of hard to go out to a ‘race’ and not intend to push yourself fully, but I did just that. Trust me, I still worked my butt off – it is “Canada’s Hardest 10k” after all – but in the end, I enjoyed myself. The first part of the run included a lot of negative thoughts (mainly “why did I agree to do this” over and over in my head), but as I approached the half way point and saw Kirsten and my folks standing there cheering me on (as corny as it sounds) I reminded myself I should be thankful that I was able to be out there, running, being active, taking part in a great event. Six months ago, I don’t know if this would have been considered ‘moderate’. Anyway, it’s amazing what a bit of positive thinking can do because the last half of the run went pretty well.

As for the physical side of the run, I found I didn't warm up quite enough and had some really bad calf/achilles pain on the first climb, which led me to walk a bit up one of the hills. I did find a nice pace in the mid portion before having another small walk break up the second major climb that is known as "Mama Bear". I know I probably could have run it, but the climbs were hurting my calf more than I would have liked, so I figured it wasn't worth pushing it or risking an injury.

So, all in all, it was fun. I know I didn't push myself as hard as I could since I felt pretty great at the end and after the race, but that’s what it was supposed to be. And heck, now I know I should be able to get a PB next year at this race.

As for the rest of the weekend, it was full of catch-ups and get togethers with some great friends that I hadn't seen in a while. A couple of them were over for visits from Vancouver and another pair who actually live here in Victoria that I just hadn't seen in a while. It's amazing how life can just get going sometimes and before you know it, it's been a month or two since you've connected. Anyway, it's always nice to reconnect.

Now it's back to the grind for the week. I'm looking forward to some down time with Shane now that the opera is over, as well as some solid training days and the first (of what I'm sure will be many) group rides and technical run sessions with the LiveFit crew.

And last but not least, I came across the paragraph(s) below this morning, and it has kinda stuck with me, so thought I would share.

Almost nothing worth doing can be done alone. You will need help. You will need people to challenge you. You will need people to support you.

Remember this quote: you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If you don’t like that average, you’re going to have to start introducing some positive people into your social circle.

Get help, get mentors, team up with friends, do whatever you can. Better yet, do all of the above. Then you can become the positive social support for those around you.