Registered for BMO Vancouver Half Marathon 2013

Registration for the half marathon is complete.  Registration cost goes up to $109 after tonight (from $79 right now) so if you are thinking of doing this one, sign up now!

Hotel and flight booking is still in limbo.  Last year we booked through Expedia and stayed at the Georgian Court, right downtown.  I'll keep an eye on Expedia's sales and try to get the best price again this year.

Fast Alex Training Hard to Defend His Title

Training Update: A Bad Month, A Good Week, A Bad Week...

I still haven't really gotten going on training to beat Alex yet.  Whenever I try to ramp it up my hip ends up bothering me again and I ease off.  Hopefully over Christmas holidays I can get on track, plus I have a new advantage, new Saucony Shoes!  I ran today so presumably from here on out it will be all catching up and then running faster than Alex.

New Running Shoes!  Saucony ProGrid Guide 4

Jaime Platz YMCA Tri Club

I saw this at the Y this evening when I went for my workout:

YMCA Tri Club

Details

We saw the tri club working out a lot when we were working out last year, and saw their big race as well.  The race is all indoors, the swim in the pool, then the bike in the spin room, and the run just outside the Y.  Not needing to buy any equipment and having organized workouts makes this a great way to get into triathlon, they always seemed to be having a lot of fun...

Other People's Ironman Arizona Race Reports!

In the tradition of my previous accumulations of race reports, here and here, these are great race reports from IMAZ 2012!

• Thomas Gerlach
• Coady
• Matt Russell
• Wed With The Fishes (pretty cool blog name) Swim, Bike, Run & Finish
• Kimberly Schwabenbauer
• Charisa Wernick
• Year of Alison Swim, Bike, Run
• Molly
• Vince (has good pics)
• Cook Train Eat Race
• Shannon Coates
• This Spartan Will Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (this is a mega race report)
• Base Training (this is another mega race report)
• Derek Garcia
• Haley Chura
• Ironmancona
• SWTrigal
• Rian Bogle
• Quadrathon
• Todd Mellinger
• Dan Billingsley
• Dave Tallo
• Dreaming Big
• Eric from Hardy Breed
• Marek Jasolka
• Waylon Christensen
• Travis McKenzie
• Multisport Dad
• Iron Tatum

Training Update - A Poor Start

In the last two weeks since the Fall Classic 10 Miler I've gotten off to a bit of a poor start running.  First, I took 3 days off after the race, ran on the Thursday, then didn't run again until the Sunday (6.5 miles).  After this run my hip was sore so I took it easy again the next week, only running 3 times.  Next week, I will definitely pick it up...

Race to Beat Alex Training Overview

Beating Alex in the Spring Half Marathon

Fast Alex

My goal for the winter is simple, get fast enough to beat Alex in the spring half marathon!  This could be the BMO Vancouver Marathon if we end up doing it, or maybe something around Edmonton like the Police Man's half.

The Background Story

Pace Times for Vancouver, Edmonton Half Marathons and the Fall Classic 10 Miler for 2011/12

Alex is basically the running champ of our half marathon crew.  Of those we run with regularly KK is the only one who can get close to his half marathon times and he is still around 3 minutes ahead of her.  As you can see from the graph above, Alex's times are consistently lower, and slowly but steadily improving to boot.  Rich's times are quite a bit higher but as of late are dropping fairly quickly, he has definitely seen some major improvements this year.  My usual training trend is to train fairly consistently and vigorously in the spring for the Vancouver marathon, lay off a little for the Edmonton, then train harder for the Fall Classic to try to make up for the disappointing Edmonton time.  The closest I've ever gotten to Alex's time was the Vancouver half this year, where I was 10 minutes slower.  Losing that 10 minutes (and maybe more if Alex picks up his game and follows the trend) is going to require more than the usual training plan/pattern.  Which is why I have...

The New Plan

First, I am going to ramp up my mileage.  I first read Hadd's Approach to Distance Running on Chuckie V's blog, and it sounded like a good theory.  Basically, it suggested I needed to run quite a bit more at easy heart rates to push up my lactic threshold and learn to run fast at a low heart rate.  To that end, I am going to try to ramp my training up from 20 miles this week to 50 miles a week by Christmas (an increase of 10% a week). I'm going to try to run most of it at an easy pace, with some faster runs to add a little speed.  Then, in the new year I'm going to switch to Hal Higdon's advanced program.  I've done the intermediate program a couple of times and it is always pretty solid, but hopefully the advanced program will help me take it to another level.  This plan features 6 days or running a week with hill running AND speed work, how can it fail?

29th Annual Edmonton Fall Classic is in the Bag

Yesterday was the Fall Classic.  The weather was nice and the course was beautiful, and I ran an OK race.  I took 1:35 (1:28 last year), 9:32 pace (8:49), and was 142nd out of 239 (109/261).

Nothing has really changed from my review last year, so I'll just link that here instead of going into too many details.

After the Race

The Start Line

Edmonton Fall Classic is This Weekend!

The Fall Classic is almost here, this Sunday in fact.  Race pickup is at the big Running Room by the University (on 109th) and is Friday and Saturday.  Looks like there are 225 people registered in the 10 mile run, so it should be a good race.  I've been trying to build up my distance and consistency at the expense of speed so it may not be as fast as last year, when I was 109th out of 261 and took 1:28 (8:49 pace).  Maybe if I really push it I can match that though?

Fall Classic Training Update

I've been trying to run 6 days a week, but have only managed to pull off 5...

Week 1: Tues (3 miles), Wed (4 m), Thurs (3.25 m), Fri (2 m track), Sun (7 m), Total: 19.25 miles
Week 2: T (2.5 m track), W (4 m), F (2 m track), Sat (3 m track), Sun (7 m), Total: 18.5 miles
Week 3: T (3 m track), W (4.37 m), F (3m track), Sat (3 m), Sun (3 m), Total: 16.3 miles
Week 4: T (3 m), W (4.5 m), Sun (10 miles/race), Total: 17.5

Jaime Platz Adult Master Swim Club

Looks like there is a masters swim club this fall at the west end YMCA.  $60 is tempting, maybe I'll do it in the Spring?  Masters clubs make getting the swims in much easier...

Getting Started in Ironman: My Story

Cheesecake Post IMAZ 2008

In the fall of 2007 I had never done any sort of triathlon, though I had been running for a number of years with my longest race being a marathon in Kelowna in 2005.  I had only heard stories of Ironman, when my friends sent out this message:

Mike and I will be doing Ironman Arizona and we are going to register today...
Is anyone else in :)

I was pretty tempted but of course was nervous about the difficulty/commitment so I fired back:

Alright, here are my questions:
How many slots are left?  Do you guys really think I can do it?  How tough is this whole swimming thing, once you start training is it easy to build up swimming endurance, do you have to go front crawl the whole way or do some people use other strokes to rest from time to time?  2.4 miles seems like an awful long way to swim, how long does that take, like 2 hours?  And who is the atticmaster?

I think a lot of people are worried most about the swim.  Pretty much everyone has biked and run at some point when they are growing up, but actual lap swimming as opposed to just playing around for fun is a lot more rare.  Mike said back:

I know that the Ironman Coeur D' Alene sold out within two weeks. I have no idea of how many slots are left but the list of participants grew quickly within the last day. 

I am just learning to swim so Kathleen would have to answer the question on the distance and such. What I can tack on though is one girl that we talked to in Coeur D' Alene said that her friend was not a very good swimmer and she trained hard for 8 months and was able to complete it. I had basically no swimming experience and I am going to try it. Maybe not the best role model. There are scuba divers and kayaks to pull you out if you were to start drowning from what Kathleen said. Atticmaster is Guitar Hero Rocker ... Tyler.

The best thing to do is call Kathleen tonight at home. We should be home by 8 PM and then she can convince you and answer all your questions. You have a year to train for it so if you go hard I do not see why you could not do it.

I don't know what Kathleen said when we called her, but I guess I was convinced enough?  When one of my friends heard I had signed up he sent me the following email:

Are you crazy??  What possessed you to decide to do a full ironman?  You do realize the distances, time and that you have to swim, then bike, then run a marathon, right??

I don't think signing up for IM was that crazy, in hind sight.  It is definitely a huge commitment, and a big training leap for someone like me who is not that hard core of an athlete, but as long as you take it seriously and make that commitment it is sure to work out and be a lot of fun.

Once I signed up I had to go from casual jogger to serious enough swimmer/biker/runner to finish an Ironman!  In my opinion, these are the key steps in that transformation:

1) Find friends to train with.  I once read a blog post that said one of the key indicators of being able to succeed and excel was being able to train alone without a group.  I don't know if I agree with that, but I know having friends to train with makes the hard work way easier, and the whole experience fun and far more satisfying than training and racing alone ever could be.  There are triathlon clubs and teams in Edmonton too, I know people who like APTS and the west end YMCA offered a triathlon training course last year (though not Ironman.)

2) Buy a good training book.  We bought Don Fink's book Be Iron Fit and one of the first things I did was to read it.  He includes a training regime we tried to follow and it was a great resource.

3) Join the YMCA!  Or a similar gym/fitness facility.  You need some place that has a pool you can swim laps in, a track you can run in during the winter (or just tough it out outside), and spin classes.

4) Join a Masters Swim Class.  We joined the YMCA masters swim program at the Don Wheaton Y and it was great.  Twice a week we went for an hour and a half or so swim workout with a coach who provided workouts.  This basically took us from panting and struggling to do a single 25 M lap to being able to swim the full IM swim in Arizona!

5) Do as many spin classes as possible.  In the winter spin classes are a great way to start gaining bike skills, and WAY more interesting than biking on the trainer.

6) Buy your equipment.  I left this for awhile into my training, no need to buy a lot of the stuff until closer to race day.  I bought:

• bike - Cervelo Team Soloist from Way Past Fast (and bike shoes from the same place) (Elements is another good triathlon store in Edmonton)
• bike helmet and bike shorts from MEC
• wetsuit (also from Way Past Fast)
• goggles - I had aquasphere early on in training but eventually switched to a different type.  They provided great underwater vision but I found them a little tight which hurt on longer swims.

7) Do some smaller races to prepare.

• Half moon lake in June
• Alberta Challenge at Miquelon Lake in August

Other than that, just get training ASAP, don't push it too hard at first, try to follow the training plan you decide on as best as you can, and go from there.

Mike By the Swim Course

Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre

Earlier this year, a new city run recreation centre (similar to Terwillegar which I've written about) opened up beside Commonwealth Stadium.  Finally this weekend I got a chance to check it out, as Mike P and I went for a workout Saturday morning.  We ran around the track, did some weights, and checked out the hot tub and steam room.  The facility was...  Awesome.  Its smaller than Terwillegar but the city has done an excellent job.on the small details, everything was very good.  It is designed to let natural light in and to have a great view of something no matter where you are or what you are doing, the pool area, the field house turf field, Commonwealth Stadium itself, etc.  The cost was $8.20 for an adult, a decent price for entry.

The centre has:

• a 250 M track, it is a fairly uniform rectangular path, below and to the interior of it is the field house turf (when we were there kids were playing flag football).  The track has great natural lighting, with many of the windows being brightly coloured stain glass.  There are great views of the outside too, of Commonwealth Stadium and the outdoor practice field (FC Edmonton was practicing here at the time of our run) and of the pool area.
• a solid pool area, it is not as big as Terwillegar, but has a nice large hot tub, steam room, waterslide, lane swimming, and an aqua climbing wall (only really good for children.  Like the rest of the centre, tons of natural light and interesting views everywhere.
• a huge turf field house/football field with the same turf as Commonwealth Stadium.  Apparently in bad weather the Eskies practice inside here, it would be pretty awesome to be able to watch an Eskimos practice as you were getting your run in, for sure.
• 2 studios for yoga, pretty large and also looked nice
• lots of weight machines, spin bikes, etc.  All have been arranged so as to have a view of something, mostly the pool area
• large hardwood gym
• an Eskimos store with Eskimos fan gear for sale

Things I liked:

• natural light and fantastic views, as mentioned above
• wallet lockers by the admission desks were free and had key locks with wrist bands you took with you.  Terwillegar has a combination lock but personally I think the key is way better, its a great way to secure your wallet without having to worry about remembering a combination or worrying someone would guess your combo
• being able to go and toss a football around on a gorgeous field at the end of a workout seems pretty neat

Things I didn't::

• swim change room did not have enough lockers, and was crowded.  There was another change room up on the second floor, but if you wanted to go swimming you would have to use the small, crowded one, didn't seem optimal.

The Centre

Mike in Front of the Turf Field

In the Eskies Store Post Workout, Checking out the New Eskies Seating

Stain Glass Windows on the Running Track

View From the Weight Machines

2012 Edmonton Gorilla Run!

Today the kids and I went down to Victoria Park to watch Alex race the Gorilla Run.  The Gorilla Run is a 5K race where every contestant is given a Gorilla costume to keep with their race entry fees ($100 per adult, $50 per child).  The purpose of the race is to raise money for Gorilla conservation, and you are allowed to run, walk, or bike (as long as you wear your Gorilla outfit the whole time.)  It is great that there is a race like this that kids can do with their parents as well.

Some of the runners do take the race pretty seriously, though times are not nearly as fast as no outfit races.  Alex said the suits were very hot too, though he felt they had surprisingly good breath ability.  Alex got 5th, so it was a good day for him.

Unfortunately we missed the start of the race, which I think would have been awesome to see, but we did catch the finish.

The Finish Line

Second Fastest Biker

First Runner

Another Gorilla

Are There Black Bears in Edmonton?

While running alone in the darkness the other night on a wooded trail near our house I heard some rustling in the bushes.  I ignored it, because although there are lots of coyotes near us I didn't think there was anything to worry about.  When I lived in Coquitlam, there were many black bears in the woods where I ran, and running late at night was always a somewhat nervous affair for me.  I've talked about animals that can be seen in Edmonton before, but after this I decided to do some more research into the likelihood of seeing a bear while running here...  The answer is that there are some bear sightings in the Edmonton River Valley system, but it is extremely rare.  This is what I found:

• here is a news link from August 2010 about a black bear sighting by the Equestrian Center, which is pretty far into Edmonton
• a quote from the article: "Paul Prefontaine, one of two officers surveying the area, said bear sightings are not unusual, adding several have been reported in Edmonton and the surrounding area this season."
• this Government page showing the range of Black Bears in Alberta does NOT include Edmonton as Black Bear turf
• finally, this Wikipedia article lists Bears as among the animals living in the River Valley, Wikipedia is always right, right?

Other People's Ironman Canada 2012 Race Reports

I love reading race reports, so here are a collection of links to race reports on other blogs:

• Runner Leana (and long)
• Brad
• Mama Simmons
• Feral Dave
• Taline
• Karyn
• Nathan Veldhoen
• This is the Life
• Gillian Clayton (Speech)
• Steven
• Iron Krista
• Bounce Bark Run
• Matt Russell
• Jennifer
• Fergdog
• Running Man
• Rhys Spencer
• Owen Martin
• Running With Doggies
• Minus a Few Organs
• Jacqui
• Mackenzie Madison (Part 2)
• Swim Cycle Run Pre-Race (and swim) T1 Bike Bike 2 T2 Run
• Lawrence Keller
• Clark Endurance
• Sporty Mama Swim, Bike
• Nathan Killam
• Neo Medic
• Mediocre Athlete
• The Sarcastic Triathlete
• KP
• My 2010 Race Report

Short and 2nd Hand Ones:

• Kyle
• Uncle Bill

Ironman Canada vs Challenge Penticton

I am a huge fan of Ironman Canada and consider it the best race I have ever participated in.  However, next years event is swirling in controversy, as WTC has lost the event to the Challenge group (run Challenge Roth and other races over seas).  You can read about it here, here, and here.

It appears WTC will host an Ironman Canada event at a similar time of year, but it won't be in Penticton for the first time in 30 years.  Both of these races will likely be pretty awesome, so here is my pro and con list for doing each:

Ironman Canada

Pros:

• WTC always puts on a good show
• an all new location and event, this could be your chance to become part of history
• they are offering an opportunity to get on a priority registration list, so you can guarantee yourself a spot while still not committing until important details are know, like venue
• could be somewhere awesome like Whistler
• Ironman Canada will always be a legendary race to be a part of
• they are doubling the Kona slots (note: doesn't affect me in any way)

Cons:

• location of this race is unknown!
• feels rushed, there is lots of time to organize this race but still...

Challenge Penticton

Pros:

• Challenge Roth sounds and looks awesome, maybe challenge can make Ironman Canada even better???
• they are offering a relay option, that might be a fun way to participate without the same training requirement
• same great course, same great host city, presumably same great excitement?
• apparently the refund policy is quite a bit more lenient

Cons:

• its just not Ironman (some will say)
• first year of a new event is always risky, could it be a flop???

Summary

Normally, you would have had to already have decided and committed to racing Ironman Canada by now.  This year you have not one, but two opportunities still available (IMC, CP).  While both races face the risk of flopping, personally I think both will be successful, even if they take much longer to sell out.  From my perspective, you can't lose no matter which way you go, and if both become sold out monster races triathlon in Canada can only be helped.

Canadian Derby Edmonton Half Marathon Race Report

Race Medal

The Race

I was out of shape and it showed!  I started out too fast (well, slow but too fast by heart rate) and eventually it caught up to me.  I started a fair way back in the pack near the last of the runners and quickly caught up to the 2:15 pace bunny, I stayed with them for awhile but when they stopped to do the 10 and 1 walk I kept going.  I caught up to Rich and ran with him for a bit but this whole time my heart had been quite high and I knew I had to get it down or I would face problems.  I slowed down and let Rich go but still couldn't get the heart rate down that much.  I sat on a bench for a second to stretch out my foot and Mike passed me too.  Ran until the half way point and was then really hurting so I walked for a bit.  Eventually the 2:15 group passed me and I settled into an 8 and 2 type pattern.  Took a 5 minute break to go to the bathroom at the Y and felt way better, rejuvenated and ran it in with 8 and 2s, and felt like I finished strong.  Final time on my watch was 2:23, 1/2 hour slower than Vancouver, but for limited training I wasn't TOO disappointed.

Post Race Party/Race Venue

Last time around I wasn't that impressed with the venue but this time I was really impressed.  The start at the race track at Northlands is good because there is plenty of parking (only slightly painful getting into the lot) and being able to use nice bathrooms in the Expo Centre before is a huge benefit.  For some reason there was an employee stopping people from getting in and using the bathrooms at the one entrance, but all the other entrances were unwatched and runners were walking freely throughout the Expo Centre.  Post race is where this venue really shined though.  The end of the race was alongside the horse track and after grabbing a drink or muffin you could walk straight into air conditioned Northlands for the buffet.  Food included scrambled eggs, ham,  pancakes, various pastries, orange/apple/fruit punch/cranberry juice and water.  Once you had your food there were tons of comfortable tables overlooking the track where the runners were finishing.  Top marks for the buffet this year, one of the best post race experiences of any race I have been to, I think.

2012 Canadian Derby Edmonton Marathon Expo Expo Expo!

Picked up our race packages at the Derby Marathon Expo yesterday.  It wasn't a massive event, held in one of the smaller halls at the Edmonton Expo Centre (Hall D) but there were some booths and a play area for children etc.  Not as good as the Vancouver or Seattle ones but obviously there was some effort.  John Stanton was there meeting and greeting at the large running room booth.  Here are some pics:

The start/finish is Ready!

Historical Artifacts on Display

John Stanton is in this Picture (Behind the Guy in Blue), But You Can Only See Part of Him

The Course Map

Expo Booths

Registration Day

Yesterday I signed up for the Edmonton Half Marathon (the 2012 Canadian Derby Edmonton Marathon 21.1, if you will) and also the Fall Classic (29th Annual Fall Classic 5 and 10 Miler).

I am not really up to training snuff for the Derby, but I hope to beat 80 minutes for the 10 Miler.  I did both last year, reviews here and here, and they are both great races.

A Tale of Two Hats

New and Old Hats

My favourite hat has been getting dirtier and dirtier for quite some time, to the point where I still like to wear it, but feel a little silly wearing it.  I tried to wash it, but didn't want to get too aggressive for fear of wrecking it.  I had bought it from a triathlon store in Canmore 3 years ago on our way to my first Ironman Canada in 2009, making it tough to replace...  But my wife tracked one down and ordered me a new one exactly the same from Sugoi online!  Hopefully the new hat will serve me as well as the old one, which I had worn for many races including the Vancouver half marathon this year!  Here are some pics of the old hat in action:

At Ironman Canada, When it Was New

In Terwillegar Park

In Canmore

In San Francisco

The hat in Vancouver

I'm not really sure when the hat got so dirty, but I know it was dirty in Vancouver...

Other People's Calgary 70.3 Race Reports

Here are some links to race reports from Calgary 70.3.  They are all pretty interesting, definitely good reading if you like Calgary 70.3...

• Magali Tisseyre
• Sara Gross
• Rich Allen
• Danelle Kabush
• Joel Maley
• Steven Burkard
• Triathlete Dad
• Brendan Halpin
• Shannon Stallard
• Heather Jackson
• Carls in Charge
• Dancing in the Rain
• Lisa Graham
• Deb Tris
• Somebody from Saskatoon
• Leslie-Anne
• Steve W
• Tri-LifeStyles
• Dean
• newspaper article
• my old 2009 race report!

Lake Swimming In or Near Edmonton (For Triathlon Training)

There really aren't a lot of great options for lake swimming in Edmonton, so you pretty much have to drive somewhere to get to a place to practice lake swimming.  These are the lakes I've swum at in or near Edmonton (or watched a race at), and what I think of them.

Lake Summerside

• this lake is on the south side of Edmonton, and it is very good, it is nice clean water and very nice all around. I've swum here and it is a really nice lake with a very nice beach
• It is about 800 meters to do a loop of the lake, if I remember correctly
• HOWEVER, it is not open for public swimming, you must know someone who lives in Summerside to swim here, which is a big draw back...
• there is a triathlon here:  http://www.multisportscanada.com/index.php/race-schedule/details/41-lake-summerside-triathlon and they let you come for warm up swims before hand

View Larger Map

Hawrelak Park/Lake

• this lake is right in the center of Edmonton and is the site of the ITU Edmonton World Cup
• HOWEVER, the water is usually not swim-able, they only treat it for this weekend (July 6 to 8th this year (2012))
• I haven't swam in this lake, only watched the race, but it looked pretty nice at the race

Warning about Lake De-contamination process

Lake just before the swim

Warning not to swim here, people were still in the water at Heritage Days

Half Moon Lake

• I did the Half Moon Lake Triathlon here several years ago, it is now the Mission3 triathlon 
• Personally, I like this lake, it sometimes gets a little green but especially once you get a little far out from shore it is not too bad in my opinion.  Others, like Mike, refuse to swim here though...
• I think it costs something like $3 to swim here, though we didn't pay when we went because we were warming up for the race
• it is about 1/2 hour east of Edmonton

View Larger Map

Hubbles Lake

• Great White North Triathlon is held here
• No motor boats are allowed on the lake making it ideal for triathlon swimming
• HOWEVER, there is no public beach, there are times when you can access the lake but it is awkward (https://hlcra.com/About_Hubbles_Lake.html)
• I've always heard good things about the water, but have only watched races
• KK claimed she got an eye infection from swimming in the lake, but I guess anytime you swim with contacts in a lake there is some risk...
• it is about 20 minutes west of Edmonton, here

Miquelon Lake

• the Alberta Challenge triathlon is held here, I raced this race a couple of years ago and it was lots of fun
• Miquelon Lake is a very nice lake, it has plenty of camping, a great large beach, fairly nice water.  It is saline water which I guess prevents algae growth.  
• It is about an hour south west of Edmonton

View Larger Map

Pigeon Lake

• there are several public, free beaches on this lake
• boats are allowed, but there are some roped off swim areas
• it is about an hour and a half south west of Edmonton
• the water seemed pretty nice to me

Edmonton ITU World Cup 2012 Spectating and Triathlon Cheering

Last Sunday we went to Hawrelak Park in the afternoon to check out the Edmonton ITU World Cup 2012. We parked at Laurier Park (always lots of parking by the zoo) and walked over the footbridge, slightly over a mile to get there.  We were unfortunately too late to see the pro women start, but caught the finish and saw the whole men's race.  It was pretty cool to see pros racing up close, very fast, for sure.  The amateurs races had all been earlier in the day.

We got a couple of pictures/videos of the races:

Panorama Shot of the Lake

Before the Swim Start

Leaving the water

More leaving the water

The Swim:


The Bike:


The Run:

Great White North Triathlon Swim Start

Went to watch KK start the Great White North Triathlon last weekend. It was very windy and cold, but as always seemed to be a well organized event.

Here is the start:
 

And here are a couple of pics:

Swimmers warming up

Transition, start line in the background

Mike drinking his coffee

The lake

8 Weeks Til Show Time

Training is definitely behind, and in fact I feel like I have lost much of the fitness I had when running the 1/2 marathon in Vancouver at the start of May.  Oh well, time to dig in and take care of business for the next 8 weeks, I guess?  I figure there are approx 75 workouts between now and race day, if I hit all of them, I'll be good to go?  Last night I ran 1/2 an hour with a low heart rate, so 1/75 done!.  Here is a picture of some hoodoos: