Tuesday, April 19, 2011
This guy shares my name.
When I get self-absorbed and google myself, I occasionally come across someone who shares my name. I've never found a picture of him before though, so I was surprised. I thought he'd be 9 years old.
Here he is. He has dark hair and looks to be fairly tall. He runs (I'm faster though, at least for now) and attended a Christian school. At least he lives in Georgia and probably has an interesting drawl. I think my individuality is safe!
Monday, April 18, 2011
A sunny April day
Here are a couple pictures from today, a rare sunny day. It's April, and still it rains. I think the moniker Rain City is more appropriate for this town than Van City, which seems to get thrown around a lot more often. I've seen a bike shop called Rain City, and a tradesman's truck with Rain City Cement or something similar on it. I guess Van City is more neutral, while Rain City could be seen as negative, but only if happen to feel that continuous and unrelenting grey, cloudy, rainy weather is negative.
Today was sunny and great, and therefore could be seen as positive! The tide was out at Locarno Beach, and the actual ocean was further away than I'd ever seen it, which was exciting for me. Carmella says that it happens all the time though, and wasn't sure why I was so impressed. In the summer, people buy skim boards and shred the puddles and little rivers that a receding tide leaves behind. Maybe I'll buy one and get into it!
Next up is a picture of a BBQ we went to. It was put on by an Aussie friend of Carmella's, and it was fun. It was still quite cold, but sunny. We sat around and chatted, enjoying the sun.
It's been a busy weekend! I had a too-long Sunday nap, and still find myself awake and it's now Monday morning. Time to go to bed!
Oh, we are taking weekly swing dance classes, and our first one was on Saturday night. For me, it was successful as I wasn't the worst in the class, and left knowing the steps we were supposed to know. We'll see if I can continue to keep up! We're taking the classes from Rhythm City Productions, who I bet will re-name themselves Rain City Productions soon.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
April Fool's Half Marathon, Gibsons to Sechelt
On Sunday I ran the April Fool's Run on the Sunshine Coast, a 30 minute ferry ride from Vancouver. It's a rural area, with lots of friendly people and a ferry to keep people from the city away.
It was a good race. I ran the same race last year, and was hoping to better my time this year. I ran it off the couch last year, but had a few weeks of training this year, so I was feeling confident.
It's great to be running again; if only I can make the time to train as much as I want to! The last time I felt racing fitness was in China when I raced in Hong Kong. My training was rewarded back then, as I felt strong in the races and had some good results.
Carmella came along for the trip, and she wished she could be involved in the race, instead of "just" cheering. But I was happy to have her waiting at a few points along the course to keep me going.
The race is a tough one. The first 5K or so are fairly flat. The next 9K are flat to downhill. Then, from 14K to about 18K, it's insanely uphill. This course gives me a false sense of speed until 14K, then make me feel like I'm running through wet concrete. Training more would cure that I think! Here's an elevation profile, from RunningAHEAD:
Last year I finished in 1:36:00ish, and was looking to better that this year. My ultimate goal for a half marathon is sub 1:30:00, so in the back of my mind I was hoping for that. Again, training regularly would help with that!
The day was overcast and a bit cold, so I decided to run in my tights and a long-sleeve shirt under my lucky yellow race shirt. I got pretty warm around the 5K mark, and tossed my long sleeve shirt to Carmella who was cheering on the side. With my temperature better regulated, I was ready to race!
Here are some pictures from the event, taken by SiPhotography. They had a photographer take shots at various spots along the course, and then they publish their photos online in the hopes that you buy them.
I didn't even know the photographer was there!
It was an easy part of the race, as it was mostly flat and there was a water station, and Carmella was there to catch my shirt and cheer me on.
The next photos come from the 15K mark or so. Here I am going up a lonely hill, with a bunch of hills behind, and many hills ahead. I'm in pain!
When looking at the pictures, I'm happy to see that I've improved one aspect of my form, even if others have fallen by the wayside. I used to flap my hands around, cupping them like I was swimming or something. Now, I've got neutral hands, so that's positive.
My core isn't as stong as I'd like it to be, so I want to work on that. That will help me keep my shoulders up and back. This was on a hill though, so there was a bit of necessary forward lean.
Because I ran this race last year, I knew to expect these hills so they didn't feel as terrible as they did last year. They ended my race just like they did last year though! Once things flattened out with 2 or 3K to go, I just couldn't keep my pace up, and got passed by everyone. Last year at the same point in the race I got passed by a guy wearing a Darth Vader costume, so happily that didn't happen this time around!
I finished in 1:34:40ish, which is about two minutes faster than last year, and only two minutes slower than a half marathon I raced in 2004, when I was a bit faster, and running more. So that's positive! I'll be able to break 1:30:00 this year if I can keep running and training.
The most positive aspect of the race is that I didn't feel any knee pain for the whole 21.1K. I switched shoes, and that seems to be the solution.
Carmella is thinking about running the Sun Run in Vancouver, and that race is touted as the biggest 10K in North America, or something like that. It's big because they get big corporate turn-out, with many teams entering. People say it's not a race you run to get a good time, but a race you run for the experience. So many people run the race that apparently you never get any space to yourself. We'll see how it goes! I may register for that race, and see what all the fuss is about.
Now it's time for bed. Work wakes me up early, and I have to wake up even earlier to bring Shiffy into Midas, to get a new muffler. It fell off yesterday. I'll be bringing it in before work, and picking it up after.
Keep training everyone!
It was a good race. I ran the same race last year, and was hoping to better my time this year. I ran it off the couch last year, but had a few weeks of training this year, so I was feeling confident.
It's great to be running again; if only I can make the time to train as much as I want to! The last time I felt racing fitness was in China when I raced in Hong Kong. My training was rewarded back then, as I felt strong in the races and had some good results.
Carmella came along for the trip, and she wished she could be involved in the race, instead of "just" cheering. But I was happy to have her waiting at a few points along the course to keep me going.
The race is a tough one. The first 5K or so are fairly flat. The next 9K are flat to downhill. Then, from 14K to about 18K, it's insanely uphill. This course gives me a false sense of speed until 14K, then make me feel like I'm running through wet concrete. Training more would cure that I think! Here's an elevation profile, from RunningAHEAD:
Last year I finished in 1:36:00ish, and was looking to better that this year. My ultimate goal for a half marathon is sub 1:30:00, so in the back of my mind I was hoping for that. Again, training regularly would help with that!
The day was overcast and a bit cold, so I decided to run in my tights and a long-sleeve shirt under my lucky yellow race shirt. I got pretty warm around the 5K mark, and tossed my long sleeve shirt to Carmella who was cheering on the side. With my temperature better regulated, I was ready to race!
Here are some pictures from the event, taken by SiPhotography. They had a photographer take shots at various spots along the course, and then they publish their photos online in the hopes that you buy them.
I didn't even know the photographer was there!
It was an easy part of the race, as it was mostly flat and there was a water station, and Carmella was there to catch my shirt and cheer me on.
The next photos come from the 15K mark or so. Here I am going up a lonely hill, with a bunch of hills behind, and many hills ahead. I'm in pain!
My core isn't as stong as I'd like it to be, so I want to work on that. That will help me keep my shoulders up and back. This was on a hill though, so there was a bit of necessary forward lean.
Because I ran this race last year, I knew to expect these hills so they didn't feel as terrible as they did last year. They ended my race just like they did last year though! Once things flattened out with 2 or 3K to go, I just couldn't keep my pace up, and got passed by everyone. Last year at the same point in the race I got passed by a guy wearing a Darth Vader costume, so happily that didn't happen this time around!
I finished in 1:34:40ish, which is about two minutes faster than last year, and only two minutes slower than a half marathon I raced in 2004, when I was a bit faster, and running more. So that's positive! I'll be able to break 1:30:00 this year if I can keep running and training.
The most positive aspect of the race is that I didn't feel any knee pain for the whole 21.1K. I switched shoes, and that seems to be the solution.
Carmella is thinking about running the Sun Run in Vancouver, and that race is touted as the biggest 10K in North America, or something like that. It's big because they get big corporate turn-out, with many teams entering. People say it's not a race you run to get a good time, but a race you run for the experience. So many people run the race that apparently you never get any space to yourself. We'll see how it goes! I may register for that race, and see what all the fuss is about.
Now it's time for bed. Work wakes me up early, and I have to wake up even earlier to bring Shiffy into Midas, to get a new muffler. It fell off yesterday. I'll be bringing it in before work, and picking it up after.
Keep training everyone!
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