Good stuff, sounds like you had fun. Da Hood again ?!...
Maybe we should have t-shirts printed up..on the front ? ?Thurzday Night Hills with Mars ? rain or shine? and on the back ? ?see ya on Da Hood??.

TB got lost cause he didn?t have Ms Sashay with him.

Omni3 - still waiting for little O we see?I bet Mme O is big time ready, what with the heat we?ve experienced these last couple of weeks, uncomfortable for the mamans in waiting.

JB- who was chasing you tonight -- some other ole gal ?

The weather is good this evening, the wind blowing away the humidity. I laced up( I know I said I would take a week off) and shuffled (barely lifting my feet off the ground) around my area to see how I would do, not bad. Now to stretch and shower.

Bonne fin de semaine everyone Df

Thanks for a great run on Thursday guys. You really know how to keep the slower kids like me pushing their limits! Felt great afterwards - very accomplished.

It was great to see Omni again after a bit of an absence. And always a pleasure running, and being guided and inspired by Mars and TB. Now I just need to book one of you to chase/pace me in my next 10K race.

Thanks again, and maybe see some of you on Sunday morning.

Yamachiche = HOT = HARD

Left my house at about 7:15am. Had forgotten Yamachiche is as far as it is. Thought I would have enough gas and prayed to God for 20k that I wouldn't have to call CAA (yes, John, I was that worried.) But after finally finding a gas station, we got there on time at 8:20!

John ran his 5k at 8:45. While he ran, I got myself and the kids ready ... and then we hurried back to the finish line thinking that he would be coming in soon. Needless to say, John sprouted wings overnight and beat us to the finish ... I'll let him tell you his story

My story ... well, I started somewhere in the middle of the pack and didn't even notice the gun had gone off until I noticed people moving forward. Having no clue what pace I was running, I hit the 1k marker at 5:15, which normally is a good thing except when you're being passed by the back of the pack. And then soon afterwards by the man with the stroller too, who had to stop to calm the crying baby at some point, but then managed of course to pass me again.

The Yamachiche Half is an out-and-back. Usually there are a few spectators to shout words of encouragement. Today though, I think it was too hot for them to be outside.

Heck, it was too hot for ME to be outside.

But I was ... and so were some cows, some great volunteers, and some crazy runners from clubs like La Foulée, Boréale, Vainqueurs, Milpat ... does that give you an indication of the field at this little race?

Anyway, long story short ... my legs were like lead from the start, and only got heavier. There are good running days, and bad running days. The lack of sleep during the week, the climbing stairs all day at Super Aqua Club yesterday, the bunions that started hurting at 2k intensely, the blisters that I rarely ever get, and of course, the scorching heat with no shade (wait, I did get to run in the shadow of a tree 3 or 4 times) all contributed to a gruelling race.

I couldn't lift my legs up higher, I couldn't turn them over faster ... so I tried increasing my stride, but only landed harder on my bunions. My butt hurt, my hips hurt ... not used to running on asphalt for so long.

Groan ...

The old lady passed me, the old man stayed ahead of me, and I saw the man with the stroller after he doubled back, already well over a km ahead of me. First race I actually felt like pulling a "DNF" ... but didn't. I don't even remember the Barbados Half being this gruelling.

Great seeing my kids and TB close to the finish, who ran with me (and another runner) for part of the last km. Great morale boost - Mike and I picked up our pace and sprinted in!

I'm so proud of John and my kids, who ran their first real race:

John 5k = 21:32 (yes, a PB!!!)

Toulouse 1k = 4:46 (just turned 10)
Gustav 1k = 5:23 (7 years old)

Sally 21.1k = 2:07:?? (unofficial split 1:01:15)

<Sigh> ... Gotta log in more mileage before NYC or I think I'm going to die. Have to remember to carry pain-killers.

Thanks for reading Hope you enjoyed my report, and thanks so much for your support.

Sally

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"Follow your bliss"

http://This message has been edited by Silly Sally (edited Jul-16-2005).

Great RR, Sally. Good job too. Don't be too hard on yourself, it was hot out there. Very tough to deal with on a 2-hour run.

In addition, it looks like you got behind the 8-ball with your really fast start, tiring your legs out early, hitting a high-level of intensity really quickly considering the distance and the heat, and moving at a pace that is really fast for your feet. Hey... live and learn. Good lessons to remember for NYC.

Still, a very courageous effort, and definitely a gusty performance. Congrats on the good work.

TB? Under 22 minutes for Mr. Base-Training, for Mr. I-m-taking-it-slow-on-today's-run? Phenomenal. Looks like those intervals have really paid off. McMillan predicts 3:30 for your next marathon, if you log in the necessary miles. Chalk another one up for training slow, Turtleboy style. Bravo!!

Anyone else with a RR on Yamachiche? TB... a few words from the speedster?

Apart from JB, who's in tomorrow on Mt-Royal?

Take care y'all.

http://www.findmall.com/photogallery/displayimage.php?pos=-149[/URL" target="_blank">

Hey... where was everyone?

You guys missed some beautiful scenes on Mt-Royal. It's never as gorgeous as when it rains up there. The green of the wet leaves becomes so intense. The odors are so rich, pungently sweet one minute, spicy the next. Tree bridges over the running trail appear where you had never noticed them before. The sound of the rustling streams plays the bass background to the beat of the falling raindrops. Just magical...

Gosh, was it ever humid this morning! It was much better in the rain, as the temperature eased off a bit, and the weight of the humidity was less noticeable. But when it wasn't raining, it was really heavy. I actually had to remove my glasses before the halfway point of my run... They had been fogged up for the better part of an hour, and I just couldn't see much anymore.

As for me, I ran a little over 7 K to the Monument from my home. Then I ran 3 K waiting to see if anyone would come. Next, after giving up on everybody, I ran up to the top, 2 loops, and then came back (13.7 K), Finally, I ran back home for a little over 7 K again, giving me a total of almost 31 K for the day. I must say, running up Pine Ave. after 24 K was some hard work...

Got back home, clothes and shoes sloshy, and I jumped into the freezing cold pool we have behind the building. Just what the legs needed. A nice soapy shower after that uncovered some chaffing at the very top of the inner thighs, but other than that, looks like my body came out of it A-OK. Here's a 1st 30+ K run under my belt for Lake Tahoe in October.

BTW, it is official... I will be leaving Montreal on Thursday, August 11th in the morning. So, I hope to have a chance to catch a final run with all of you between now and then.

Take care.

Mars

http://This message has been edited by mountmars (edited Jul-17-2005).

Hey Mars,
I am so sorry about this morning... The girls were not doing so well, so I just could not get out of the house. All seems better now (11:25pm), so I did in fact get out for a little 10K jaunt in the neighbourhood. I thought that since the sun set a while ago, that the heat might have dropped, but no sir. it's still 83% humidity out there. I was completely soaked within about 4minutes. ah well, at least I was out there.

Congats to Sally and Rocketboy on their (hot) outings yesterday, glad to see you survived. And TB, have you put those shoes in water yet, they are likly to start a fire they are so hot!

Again, sorry Mars, I feel quite bad.

Hey JB... don't worry about it. Life happens. Sometimes we just can't make it. As long as you got a run in, everything's cool.

Rolyone... good pacing. I normally keep 5:00 to 5:30 on 10 K runs, slower of course on longer ones. Yesterday, breaking new ground for the first time since the Ottawa 2004 marathon, I took it easy and averaged about 6:00 per K.

The running GPSs are very accurate, unless you run where there are a lot of tall buildings, or where there's tree cover... the signal gets interrupted. Your new toy should prove to be a great training aid.

The weather has indeed been hard on everybody. Just really tough to get going (in speed and in distance) when it's this heavy. But any mileage that gets done is a plus, and we'll get back on track when it cools off a bit. At which point we'll be complaining "is summer over already?"

In any case, everyone keep in mind the hill run this Thursday at 6 PM. I'm only around for another 3 weeks of hill runs, so this is your chance to explore the great hills of Westmount and Outremont with me. After that, someone else will have to take on the responsibilities of setting them up if the Thursday evening hill runs are to continue (Ralf? Chops? TB?) Despite the high level of machismo surrounding these runs, anybody who has run a 10 K in under an hour can survive these. It's a lot of fun, and good training (everything else feels easy).

Hope to see many of you there.

Mars

quote:<HR>Originally posted by mountmars:

I'm only around for another 3 weeks of hill runs, so this is your chance to explore the great hills of Westmount and Outremont with me...Despite the high level of machismo surrounding these runs, anybody who has run a 10 K in under an hour can survive these. It's a lot of fun, and good training (everything else feels easy).<HR>

I really hope that I will be able to make another hill run with you Mars, I really enjoyed running Da Houde with you. It was actually a faster and much easier run, even with the incline, than Yamachiche was

BTW, I never experienced one second of runner's high, or settling into my groove during that race! First time ever in a run ... hmmph! My legs are tight and heavy just thinking about it ... I'm going for a swim folks!

Sally


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"Follow your bliss"