NO DOGS?

I have meant to put these photos from a trip to Florida up for a while. I just think the sign is hilarious.

I am pretty sure that the dog has more chance of outrunning that alligator then the guy does. 

The trail this sign was posted on looped around a swampy area and despite the sign I actually went for a jog there as it is the only dirt trail around and I was getting tired of running on the paved roads. It was the dry season so most of the alligators were not that far inland...I hoped.

Post Sandbanks 5km race I felt really good with no knee or calf problems for my effort. Just to be on the safe side I made sure to ice my knee and calve/achilles daily for the first few days. I had some easy NO Garmin runs and an amazing long run with a 50 minute slow tempo in the middle of it as preparation for the longer Sydenham 8km race which is only 3 weeks away.

Sandbanks 2009 The Movie

Sanbanks Official Results

My Goal: 22:30 and on a great day 22:00
The Results: 22:37
5km Race History: June 2008 Time Trial 29:50
                              Sandbanks 2008 25:46
                              Kingston May 2009 22:53
                              Sandbanks 2009 22:37
In Summary: I am getting FASTER: )
Future Goal: 22, 21, 20, ............ minutes
Thanks to Sara for my New Fave Quote she thinks is attributed to Lance Armstrong, "Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight."
I like it because I do feel the mind plays a powerful roll in determining our success' and failures as far as personal developement is concerned. Believing you are capable and deserving of a goal is key in reaching that goal. My favorite part of the quote is the part about having to fight. I love this part because it means we hold the power to succeed within us.
Note: My Garmin gave the funniest readings for this race. Not at all accurate. It said I ran 5kms in 19:54. Oh if it were only true. Perhaps my Garmin is from the future and was racing with me next year at this same race and somehow got sent back in time. WE HAVE NOW ENTERED THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!

My Trophies

Showing Off my "Trophies" scabs, stitches and ALL!!

My coach once had the nerve to tell me that the excruciatingly sore legs I was left with after my first goal race were infact my "TROPHIES". What kind of prize is that I thought, he must be CRAZY. But hey no one else was giving me any trophies so I took my prize and ran with it(them). The next time I raced my legs were sore again and as before I took my prize and ran with them. I have been running with my TROPHIES for a year and half now and I gotta tell you that these suckers are stronger and sturdier and faster then I ever thought possible. Sometimes I look down at them and I wonder where they came from and how they got attached to me. I am beginning to think that perhaps my coach was not so CRAZY afterall. I am very proud of my TROPHIES these days so I'm happy to show them off scabs, stitches and all and I must admit that my TROPHY CASE isn't looking too shabby either. If I do say so myself: )

Well I spent the week recovering from my fall while testing out the "trophies" with an easy run on Wednesday and Friday. Derrick scheduled a Tempo/Long run on Saturday and all felt great. I feel I have recovered 100% from my unfortunate fall and am good to go for my race this Sunday where I expect to be picking up another set of  "Trophies" for the effort. Wish me LUCK!

3 Lucky 7's

I was feeling amazing. I thought to myself that I wish I always felt so light and springy. I was nearing 2.5 km when I was thinking about a Pose Running Clinic going on in Montreal. I had missed the posting on line and thought that perhaps I could have gone...then I was down. My hand was bleeding and my head was a bit shaken although I did not hit it. I got up and kept going thinking how this was my second time falling in a month and I hoped I was not going to be making a habit of it as it was beginning to hurt. I kept running and rounded a bend on the trail at about 4.5km when a fawn saw me and began running down the trail away from me. I thought to myself I hope the Mom is not around and realized I was actually afraid of a deer. Hey one attacked my Mom and her dog once. Anyways I was thinking about all of that and BOOM I was down again...HARD. The ground came up so fast at me and I knew I was hurt. First thing I thought was I won't be able to finish this long run, 2nd thing I won't be able to run my Tempo on Tuesday or my Intervals on Thursday. I figured I could still run the race on the 20th if nothing was broken so I checked the body parts. I was bleeding from every limb and my left side of my body was all scraped up. The worst injury was my right knee. A thick flap of skin had lifted and was all mangled. GROSS. I thought about walking home but the blood was really coming down so I walk down the trail some more to a house and called my husband to pick me up. I have never had to make such a call to my husband and I hope I never will again. I spent the night going between Emergency rooms at the two Kingston hospitals. I finally saw Dr. Jones at KGH. He cleaned the wound out really good as it had half the trail in there and stitched me up. Which strangely enough leads me to another story. I was at Costco on Friday and my bill came to $77.77. I then went to a corner store and my bill was $7.00. I thought to myself that I was due for some LUCK and another 7 as things usually come in 3's. To my surprise I got my 3RD NUMBER 7 last night at the hospital as the Dr. finished stitching up my knee. 7 stitches in the shape of a 7. I am still waiting for my luck to kick in :)
PS
I feel fine today. A small bit of stiffness. My knees are both bandaged thank goodness because they are horrible to look at. the stones put huge pock marks in both of them and my elbows and my thigh and hip. Otherwise I'm OK. Just find all those 7's interesting so though: )

As Fall approaches...

For some reason this week I am finding it hard to finish my sentences and to form coherent thoughts.
I think it is just my excitement over getting back from Florida to my trail and some more sensible weather.

As Fall approaches I am LOOKING FORWARD to-
-training on my trail
-the race reports from this years Haliburton 50's and 100 Sept. 12th. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!
-training for Sandbanks
-racing at Sandbanks Sept. 20th
-training for Sydenham
-racing at Sydenham Oct. 18th
-running in the beautiful fall weather as the leaves change color