So, last night I get home to discover a large padded envelope had arrived. FROM HONG KONG, IT'S MY DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!! After I treat Bryan's broken eardrums incurred from my shrieks of delight, I tear open the package, breathless with anticipation! I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...
You can't fake this kind of excitement! It had a Thank You card!
OMG- It looks even better in real life than it did online!
Hold on a sec. I'm not the 7 year old girl this was made for
Stop laughing, it'll fit.
See? I'm halfway in! Am a genius!
I'm not stuck, ummm....I'm thinking about my next move
Hold on...I forgot about two things
Cheap feel, but someone's gotta do it
Serious error in judgement. Am taller than a 7 year old
Yeah, it's on, but that's as far as it goes. You win, dress!
So, it didn't quite fit. I thought I could squeeze into it, but didn't bank on the height of the dress being my downfall...I knew it would be about kneelength instead of a ballgown, but I didn't realize it would be more of an empire waist. The whole bodice is about 6 inches long! I'm not worried, I should easily be able to cut off the skirt and add a yellow tank top, which would be moisture wicking anyways. And being able to breath is always a great idea, especially on a 21K run.
I did give it one more try later where I just pulled it on as a tube top instead of trying to fit into the arm holes...I think it looked a lot better with the accessories and I can't wait for race day!
A princess always curtsies! Even when her ribcage is collapsing.
Well, I also ran on the weekend, but pretty much had a totally different experience than my fellow princesses. Now, I've lived in Calgary for over 25 years so I should be used to it, but it still amazes me how much easier it is to breathe pretty much anywhere else, especially when running. So when I found myself in Victoria this weekend for a belated Christmas celebration I had been looking forward to a long ocean side run for weeks! I was expecting a good run based on the fact that I was going to be at sea level, where I've found that running feels a lot easier because I don't have to breathe through tight lungs full of fire like I do at 3500 feet. This run did NOT disappoint!
After a breakfast of freshly made bread topped with peanut butter and banana, I headed out along the ocean. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the grass was green. Yes, GREEN grass! And it was warm enough that I didn’t need mittens or have to worry about slipping on ice. Along the ocean walk path, I blew by dozens and dozens of walkers….with walkers….or canes. Did I mention I was in the retirement community of Saanich, not actually Victoria? Eat my running dust, good citizens!
Combined with the altitude and humidity that didn’t have my mouth dry out like a raisin in the first 3 minutes, I felt like I was flying! I felt so good, I actually did 14k instead of 12 just because I thought I should take advantage of the great weather and how awesome I felt. Around the 12K mark I had to cross an overpass over the highway, and I actually sped up running up the incline to the top since my lungs weren’t filling with fire. In Calgary, I would have trudged up, possibly crying a little by that point, but behold my sea level skills! I am Superathlete, watch me fly!
When I finished, I checked my trusty Nike Plus, confident I had broken all speed records. I was actually SHOCKED to discover I was only a few seconds faster per km than usual, not really anything special or overly speedy. I guess the combination of altitude, humidity, temperature and the fact that I was alone on a new route and had nothing to compare my pace to except by how I felt. And it felt GREAT! Hopefully, since Florida is also at sea level, this half is gonna be a breeze!
PS...Guess how much butter chicken I can eat at a Fairmont buffet after running 14K? I DISGRACED myself with at LEAST 4 trips up...but it was awesome!
Well the time finally came that a whole lotta bad weather came in and stayed in, no chance to move the schedule around in order to run outside instead of on the treadmill. So while Felicity ran her 12km in sunny Victoria, Crystal and I worked convincing ourselves to get off of our respective couches and go run the track at Mt.RoyalUniversity’s indoor track, another running first for us. With temps falling to -28 with the windchill it was our only real option.
We arrived at Mt Royal, paid our $10.78 (yes, paid to run the track), got out of our layers of warm clothes, made our way past the guy doing the grapevine up and down the stairs (seriously impossible if you want to try) and found ourselves in front of the “How to” board. Now before we even got to Mt Royal, Crystal had done the math, 200m x 60laps = 12km, right? **(we’ll come back to this later..)
Ok, so here’s how our run went..
Laps 1- 4 “How are we ever going to remember what lap we’re on when we have to do 60, I lose count running hills and stop one short?” “Let’s remember that when ever Christi is on the inside it’s an odd lap and when Crystal is in the inside it’s an even lap, oh and let’s switch every lap to make it easier”
Laps 5-17ish.. “Uh, heh, remember how the outside lane is 228m, well that would mean we don’t have to run 60laps, definitely less, right?” “ok, soooo… if 60laps at 200m is 12km, how many laps do we have to run?” silence… “Uh, well what if we figured it out at 225, it’ll be easier” silence… “Uh, well 4 laps would actually be 4 and a half, right” “Yup, right” .. silence.. “Sooo.. what does that mean?” … silence “Umm.. I’m really good at math on paper…” silence.. “Well using simple math and our fingers.. every 4 actually being 4 ½ .. sooo 9 + 9 +9.. so 54 laps would be right?” “Let’s do 54 then figure it out on our phones later”
Laps 20-22 “Well now that, that is sorted out.. So glad to be here” “Sure wish we could have run outside like Felicity did” “Yeah, we were talking about flying somewhere for a long run.. why haven’t we done that?” “I guess it hasn’t been that cold yet” “We’ll still have to go to the Pannenkoek Haus next Sunday” “I have to work, I can’t do next Sunday L” “Definitely the weekend after!” “Definitely!”
Laps 23-30 Random conversation about anything and everything.. all VERY important subjects mind you, work, friends, the Princess Run, etc
Laps 31-35 “Hey, that guy is running the wrong way!” “Seriously, why is he doing that” “Hey, that guy is talking to the Mt Royal guy about direction, what is he thinking?” “Wait, are WE running the wrong way?” “Most indoor tracks have some sort of sign telling you which way to run?” **(see reference 2nd paragraph) “Maybe let’s take a big detour and read that sign again” “Nope we’re right.. Sundays are clockwise.. thank God!”
Laps 36-42 Then more random conversations like Victoria Beckham's pregnancy “Victoria Beckham is pregnant?!" “Ya! Crazy!” “that’s 42 right?” “No I think she is like 35 or something?” “35 laps? I thought we were on 42??” “YA! No, SHE is 35 years old, WE’RE on lap 42. right??” "Right!"
Laps 43-45 “This is waayyy better than a treadmill” “Yeah, but still not as great as winter running though” “Yeah, winter running your clothes get wet and summer/indoor running you just get gross and sweaty” “Yeah” “Hate all the sweat drying on my face and turning salty”
Laps 46-55 “Already done 45 laps” “Remember when we had like 50 left?” “46 laps!” “Was that 46 done or 46 when this lap is done?" “What was it last lap, 45 or 45 once we’re done?” “Let’s count down then?” “We only have 8
laps left” “We’re in the single digits now!!” “Only 7 more laps left”
“Have we sped up our pace?”“6 laps” “How long have we been running for” “Only 5 more laps..”“Hey that guy is running our direction again” “4laps!” “We’re almost done” “3 laps!” “Thank God” “2 laps.. only 2 laps” “Doesn’t really feel like we’ve been running that long” “LAST LAP” “Stretching then we’re outta here”
(photo - see speedy "wrong way" guy flying by in the yellow t-shirt)
