Less than a month till race day!

Yep that's right. Race day is just four and a half weeks away! And unlike my botched attempts to train for a race this fall and winter, this time, I'm on track. I've been keeping to the schedule, which I know works. And I'm looking forward to crossing that start line on June 1st for my first Calgary race!

What's more fun is I've joined the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Charity Challenge team, and we've all been working to raise funds for NCC while at the same time encouraging each other to get ready for race day. For some team members, this will be their first race of any length - so the energy and excitement is getting palpable.

Yesterday a small group of us headed to the Eau Claire Running Room for a reveal of the race day medals and an inspirational talk by John Stanton. And no many how many times I hear him speak (I've now seen him in Toronto, Halifax and Calgary), John never fails to get me excited and reassure me at the same time.

John Stanton at the Eau Claire Running
Room medal and t-shirt reveal, Apr 30, 2014

"If you've made it this far, then you'll be fine on race day," said John, counselling us even to take it easy these few weeks if we felt like we might be struggling with an injury and fatigue.

John also pointed out that some of us may start getting antsy before race day, particularly on our taper period. I'd always thought of that as a nice break, but as he said - "You've been carbing up, and now people are telling you to take it easy, and you're walking around thinking 'When is this going to start?'"

The mood certainly was festive in the Eau Claire lobby outside the Running Room. To lock off the reveal, John beat a gong and the race day technical tees were displayed, in addition to the 50k beer steins and belt buckle medals and medals for the other race distances (one of which, if I understood correctly, can also serve as a bottle opener, which will come in handy for those recovery drinks!). People crowded around the table, oohing and ahing at the race bling and snapping shots.

Olympian Cheryl Bernard was also present. She's been training for a full, and told the group assembled that she's been finding training for a marathon harder than training for the Olympics, which made many of us present puff up a little bit with pride.

In the meantime, I'm continuing to raise funds for the Nature Conservancy of Canada. I'm now at 48% of my goal and while that's the most I've ever raised for any race, I'd love to get to 100%!

If you're interested in sponsoring me and supporting the important work of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, you can do that here.

So tonight is the final round of hills before speed work begins. And while John's counsels to take it easy and not worry seems tempting, I know that I have to get out there and get 'er done - if not for me, then for the generous people who have sponsored me so far and the species and spaces that I'm running for as part of the Charity Challenge.

~ HRG

NaNoBloPoMo (Nov 9): Wild things..Keeping encounters with nature safe while running

I remember a run one wintry day in Halifax a few years ago...We were exiting Point Pleasant Park and I looked up...And there, circling with its wings spread out wide, white head stretching out from a black body, was a bald eagle.

As someone who had spent most of my life in Ontario, to see a bald eagle in flight above an urban area seemed nothing more than mystical, particularly knowing that they had come close to extinction due to pesticides. But colleagues at my work who were familiar with the nature of the city assured me it was quite normal for Halifax. What to them was commonplace seemed to me extraordinary.

But that's about as wild as it got in Halifax over the course of five and a half years, beyond the songbirds who visited our birdfeeder and who I soon learned to identify. Despite news reports of coyotes nearby Spryfield, a panicked deer in downtown Halifax and a moose on the loose in Clayton Park, I never encountered them myself. Even on trips to the interior of Kejimkujik National Park, about the wildest creatures I ever encountered were loons...lots of them.

In contrast, since moving to Alberta, we've already spotted:

- catbird
- heron
- muskrat
- cedar waxwing
- red-tailed hawk
- white-tailed deer
- pronghorn (at Waterton Lakes National Park)
- snake of an unidentified species
- elk (at Waterton Lakes National Park)
- black bear (also at Waterton)
- mallard

...and today...a coyote!

We were driving out of town, passing a lake on our right, and there it was - seemingly at home in the middle of the ice, laying down and scratching itself like a dog. Unaware that my husband and I had stopped our car in the middle of a busy street to get out and stare at it, it got up and walked to a hole in the ice to drink.

It seemed like something more suited to the wilds than the middle of a suburban development. But although we and another family stopped and stared at it in awe, it continued lapping water, completely unabashed.

I stood there in awe - this was the first time I'd ever seen a live coyote. I was fascinated by its thick tail and pointy snout. But in the back of my mind, I also remembered the attacks in Nova Scotia by what have recently been identified as coywolves - a new species, some scientists say, which seems more aggressive and less fearful of humans than traditional coyotes. That species does not seem to have occurred in western Canada, however.

All of a sudden, despite myself, I grew a little more wary of running around town at night on my own, knowing that such a wild creature is living among us.

I suppose it's a reality of living near the foothills of the Rockies now - we're more likely to encounter large, wide-ranging mammals than elsewhere (one of the nature reserves we recently visited, just 20 kilometres from our home, had warnings of cougar sightings). And while I'm not a proponent of sensationalising these encounters, I did come across this article by Runner's World that offers some useful tips for animal encounters on your run.

If nothing more, it's a reminder to all of us to be vigilant on our runs and aware of our surroundings - whether in a downtown metropolitan area or on a trail in the Rockies. After all, encounters with nature are not to be feared, but rather celebrated - so long as we remain safe and aware.

As always, stay safe and warm out there, fellow runners!

~ HRG

It's just spring, silly! Or, learning to measure my enthusiasm

So today was the first day in months that I actually ran in my cropped pants, tank top and running sleeves. After a grey morning with heavy winds and rain, the weather changed so completely and abruptly as it can only do in Halifax. Suddenly the sun was shining, the breeze was light, and it was 9 degrees...

After a productive day at work, I decided there was just no way I could pass up a run in such glorious weather. So I pulled on my running gear, laced up my shoes, synched my Garmin to GPS, and headed out for an easy 10k run as per my schedule.

Or so I thought.

No sooner did I pop my earphones in and head out on the sidewalk, that I started pumping my legs. Although the schedule only called for about a 6:20 pace for today's run, I started pushing it. Soon, I was doing 5:45, then 5:35, and suddenly...5:20.

I felt great. I felt like a running goddess. I probably didn't look like one, but for the first time in months, I felt like I was floating on air. Rihanna's "Only girl in the world" was pulsing through my iPod, and I started belting it out (thankfully no one was around because I'm pretty sure that I was not remotely in pitch...but then again, I'm not auditioning for American Idol).

I coasted down Oxford, past University, watching my step on the cracked sidewalk -- last week I tripped in front of a whole bunch of cars at Dutch Village Road and I didn't want to repeat it.

Then, the pain began in my left shin and calves. "It's just pain, not muscle fatigue," I thought to myself. But -- I had another 6.5 k to go.

So I decided to use this as a teachable moment -- to use it as a reminder not to go too fast out of the gates, while at the same time being able to push through the pain and discomfort for the long haul.

I slowed down for a bit, heading down Point Pleasant Drive and then South Park, and letting my legs rest up a bit. But as soon as I turned onto North a few kms later, I picked it up again -- I only had a few more kms to go, so suddenly the energy bank was full again!

Lesson learned: sure, spring is around the corner (though I haven't packed away the snow shovel yet) but that doesn't mean I should burn all my fuel in the first few kms of a run. A lesson I'm going to need to bear in mind once I'm standing at the starting line of the Good Life Marathon in a couple of months!

Still - I love spring time! Woo!

~ HRG

Week eight: running with Lisa Simpson and David Suzuki, halfway there, and more

Ok, I haven't really been running with David Suzuki or Lisa Simpson. But as the weather starts to get warmer (6 degrees today - I actually ran in a t-shirt and my favourite running accessory - running sleeves from Lulu Lemon), the city's critters are starting to come out of their winter hiding places. I'm such a nature girl that the sight of a bald eagle near Point Pleasant Park last week and a pair of common mergansers floating in the Halifax Harbour today gave me an extra little spring in my step. Cause spring is in the air! I freely admit it - I'm a nature nerd.

My husband imagines that running with me (because he's never actually done it) must be like going for a run with Lisa Simpson - me trotting (or hobbling, depending on the day and the distance) along, my curly hair sticking out in points, chattering excitedly about little details like a cute shingled birdhouse or listening the chirps from a flock of chickadees nearby as we wind our way through the city. Which made me wonder - what would it be like to run through Halifax with David Suzuki? I'm sure he'd be much better than I am at identifying species, and he'd probably be able to pick out all kinds of other natural wonders I haven't noticed. It would be like having my very own Nature of Things documentary of Halifax. Then again, he might also start a monologue about our current environmental crisis, which could be a little bit of a downer. After all, some of those long runs can be painful enough without focusing on all that's wrong with the world.

But I guess my point is, the fun thing about road running outdoors is that you get to experience the city and urban nature as it shifts from one season to the next. I remember running through a rainstorm last fall, cold wet and miserable. I had merged onto the multi-use trail in the South end that extends off of Oxford, when all of a sudden a red squirrel jumped off one of the trees and started running alongside me on the top rail of the fence, hopping over the upright beams like they were hurdles. I'm sure he was probably racing around trying to hoard nuts before the weather turned chilly and he turned in for the winter. But I could have sworn he was racing me. Pretty soon, he hopped back onto another tree and circled around, letting me go on my way. I was still wet and cold, but a little warmer thanks to our little race.

As for my training program - week eight is now complete and we are now into week nine. Which means that we're at the halfway mark to my marathon goal: the Toronto Good Life Marathon on May 15. Actually, now that I think about it, I can't believe we're already halfway there! Just nine more weeks and I'll be at the start line, surrounded by thousands of other runners, my adrenaline racing. Eep!

The distances have been getting longer - 23k last week, which went fairly well (in fact I ran an extra kilometre or so without knowing it) and 26 today, which did not go as well, though that might have something to do with me only getting a couple of hours of sleep last night. Chalk it up to pre-long-run nerves (I never sleep well the night before a really long run). We've also started hill training and I'm continuing my strength training.

Next week, it's back down to 19k, then we jump right back up to 29 the following Sunday. Having done this training program once before, the distances don't seem as intimidating. I'm not saying I could go out and run a full marathon tomorrow, but at least I know what it feels like to be on the road for two, three or four hours.

And while I'm out there, there's so much to see and hear! I can't wait for the weather to keep getting warmer so I can observe the crocuses beginning to poke their heads out, dotting the city with bright polkadots.

Oh and before I forget - a shout out to Heart & Sole Running Club, a new local running group based in Dartmouth. Thanks for the follow!

That's it for today. Until next time, happy running!

~ HRG