Tackling the bypass.

Another week has gone by. I missed last week's 16 mile run. I was scheduled to run on Sunday but about 3:00 am Sunday morning, I had Dale taking me to the hospital with severe cramps. It was probably food poisoning. I felt pretty rough all day and after losing 3-4 hours of sleep that night I just wasn't up for a run.

The good new is that I felt rested on Tuesday night when I went for a Tempo run and average under 9 minutes per mile for 4 miles. I did well on my Wednesday Tempo run averaging 9:30 per mile. And even though my Thursday run was an easy 5 miler, my pace was faster than the guideline I'm using. I'm pretty happy with my progress. I actually feel quite fit, though I am physically beat quite often. It's all the rest of life that gets in the way :)

A group from Vancouver came up today to map out a course for their September race. They invited our group to join them for a run. Their course was 20K or 26K but we could turn back at any time. I went expecting to do the 20K as my long run this week (which is suppose to be shorter since I'm racing next week). However, as it turned out, we walked most of the way. I headed back with a couple of other women about 45 minutes in thinking I'd be better of cutting my losses and doing my long run myself. My GPS registered 4.66 miles. So, I went home, had a power bar and glass of water, dropped the van off at the fire hall and started my run. I decided to try a different route so I ran to lower Gibsons, then along Marine Drive to the ferry terminal where I stopped to use the facilities. Then I ran up the bypass. I took it really slow but I did it with no problems at all. I continued on my way and ended up with over 8 miles at just under 12 minutes per mile. Now, I think that is a great time considering the long steep hill of the bypass. I'm actually quite proud of myself. I was hesitant to attempt the bypass at first but now I feel confident that I can attempt more challenging runs and still be able to do it in a timely fashion. I'll never be an elite but I'm happy just to improve.

I'm really looking forward to going to town to watch Samantha run her first race (without me). I'm looking forward to seeing the boys as well. The 6:20 ferry - not so much! Good luck tomorrow, Moo!