Volunteering & Volunteer Students

… Karen gets so busy having fun that she neglects to blog it all Let’s see if I can lump some of it into categories, so you can skip parts if you want.

Bike
(first clipped-in fall)

Last weekend the Boy made me buy a new bike helmet. Well, he made me buy him one, because his was tight, but whilst browsing in Sportmart  I discovered Ironman Brand helmets for half price, $20! Thus, I have a new helmet. The other one was at least a couple of years old anyway.

Last Sunday I rode the Robert Hamilton Memorial Race (RHMR) course with Jason, my race co-director. We chatted about where to place volunteers, signs and water stations. It wasn’t a strenuous ride, but it counts as time on the bike. I considered going for extra time on the bike once I got home, but while taking the bike out of the trunk I decided the car had been far too dirty for far too long, and gave the interior an extremely detailed cleaning.  The things I do to avoid training sometimes!

Early this morning I got in a solid 105 minutes of cycling in the Church Ranch utopia NW of town. It takes me about 20 minutes to get there by bike from my home, and the pavement is soooo smooth out there. There’s next to no traffic there from 7:30-9:30 am on a Sunday. I saw a deer, a lot of ducks, 3 sheep and one happy-go-lucky dog.

I also had my first clipped-in fall off the bike today. 15 minutes into my ride I had reached a lighted street intersection at the top of a steep bike path. I knew I was wobbly and I had to clip out as I stopped, so I did. I clipped out my right foot, but then turned my bike left, making it lean the wrong way. AAAAHHHH! Over I went, arms waving wildly. I have a bruise on my left thigh, a slightly skinned knee, and gear-shaped welts on my right calf. I must have looked HILARIOUS to the lone car waiting at the intersection.

Ah well, glad to have that rite-of-passage over with.

Run
(various excuses and distractions)

Last Saturday I ran up and down my local trails for 75 minutes. I actually felt pretty strong on them compared to usual, but having wasted away the week before it without a decent run likely made me feel rested. Or maybe it was restless.

I’ve been running with the Start Line group again downtown on Tuesdays at lunch. Nice group of newbies again – we’re having fun with them. This week they’re up to running a whole minute at a time, with 90 second breaks.

Thursday I tried to keep up with Liesbeth and Karin as we did the usual 5 mile Thursday Edworthy-Crowchild-northside-southside loop by the river. The leftover chili I had for lunch did not agree with the run and made my last 15 minutes rather uncomfortable. We saw a couple of deer along the railroad tracks, the young buck had fuzzy 4 point antlers. Very cool.

Today I got in a half hour of running through my hilly neighbourhood after the bike ride this morning. I had planned to do a separate run after helping to set up the pancake breakfast yesterday morning, but succumbed to fatigue. and pancakes.

Swim
(and another excuse)

Last Saturday after my trail run I took Little Runner to Cardel pool, a fun pool with a small indoor river in it. A couple of other neighbourhood moms came with their kids too, and I snuck in a few laps on my own between bobbing along with the kiddos.

On Monday I headed over to my usual pool and found it closed for repair. It was too late to go anywhere else, so I went home and knitted.

Volunteering

Yesterday morning before the run I’d planned I walked a km over to our community center, helped set up tables and chairs for the pancake breakfast (it’s the Calgary Stampede! Yahoo!), and walked home again. Those tables and chairs were heavy – I found my biceps that morning, ha. I took Little Runner to the local community parade and then stood in line for pancakes with her and her friends. Of course, we walked there and back again.

This last couple of weeks I’ve been working on the final preparations for next Sunday’s RHM Race, which is kind of why I feel a little guilty taking the time to blog. There is still so much to do, and now less than a week to get it all done, so if you don’t hear from me before that, you’ll know what I’m up to. I’m looking forward to race day!