The best weekend

I had the best weekend.

Friday I was busy, non-stop busy all morning. I had a call with my soon to be former Manager to talk about next steps. After that was busy getting some quick housework done, and out the door to meet Steve at his work - he had a transfer in my car, which he forgot to take out before going to work. I spent a few minutes with him, then zipped a few blocks over to my friend and former colleague Ginette's house, where we sat in her hot tub. For FOUR hours. It was great to catch up, decompress and just relax. I want a hot tub :) Anyway, met up with Steve, and we headed to the race expo. We picked up our kits, and looked around but didn't buy anything. We did register for the HBC Canada Day 10k. Registering early we got a free shirt (from the 2006 race, but quite honestly, they are the most comfortable shirts that I wear my old ones every time I run!) and a discount on the entry fee.

Saturday we went to my nephew Joe's baseball tournament. It was so fun. And so cute! He's 8, so you can imagine the cuteness of the little ones playing. And some show real talent! From here we went back to the expo because I apparently forgot to sign something for the Canada Day race, and I wanted to look for shorts. No shorts that I liked, but I did find a nice long sleeved shirt. I only have one, Steve borrows all of them and throws them out I think! We bumped into my former trainer, the great Ray Zahab at the OneXOne booth. He's such a star now. I'm so happy for him, and thankful to all the hard work he is doing. From here we raced home, and our deck guys were almost done, so we had to go buy the risers and wood for the stairs, now that he had exact measurements. We were back within an hour, and it was time to change for the race! We hopped back in the car and motored downtown. Found parking for $3 (wooo!) and headed to City Hall. Holy crap there were a lot of people! I love race weekend! I tried to position myself properly, but there were so many people (7463 racers Steve says, but not sure how he'd remember that exact number... ;)) it was hopeless. I got really concerned when the group of ladies next to me were offering each other PBJ sandwiches and bananas. Sigh. The gun went off, and of course we walked. It only took a 3 or so minutes to cross the start line, and we were officially off. For 5 seconds. After about 15 more seconds, which felt twice as long, I was able to scamper around people and run a little. I never did get to just run, there was always jockeying for position, or leaping around the walkers who link arms and take up most of the road, or the sudden walk breaks that some runners take. I saw Steve 300m from the finish, and I was pushing, but I was feeling really good. My goal was under 35 mins, but dream time 33 mins. I was thrilled when I crossed the finish at 32:01! Looking over my race results, I haven't run a 5k race under that time since 2003! Ok, haven't run a 5k race since 2003 :). But even in training, I haven't seen 32 mins for a 5k probably since that time. At least since I got my Garmin in 2006. Anyhoo, I might have PR'd on that course had I moved closer to the front - I was 21 seconds away...

Steve lined up for his race, and I watched the elites warm up at the front. The women got a 4 minute (or 4.5 min, can't remember!) head start on the men, and if they crossed the finish first would walk away with an extra 5k. Oh, and Frank Shorter was there, he looks awesome. Anyway, after the gun, and the three minutes it took Steve to cross the line and fight the walkers (and he was coralled in the 50-60 mins area), I wandered over to the finish. Wow, those elites are amazing. And the lead woman I thought had crossed the finish before the lead man, but apparently he beat her at the line. It was that close, and that exciting. Love it. Steve did really really well, a 10K PR. Congrats Honey!

We came home, marvelled over our gorgeous deck, ordered pizza, ate too much, and fell into bed pooped.

Today we were up and out to watch the Marathon and Half Marathon. We took our bikes, biked around to find a good spot, watched the leaders go by (they are truly different creatures than we are!), and went for a bike ride. In all we covered 36k, and had a blast. Oh, maybe Steve not so much, he took a tumble on his bike. Poor pup. We came home and put the gazebo on the deck, got the furniture out and organized, planted the veggie garden, had dinner, and here we are. It's going to be an early night, we are pooped. And a little sunburned.

Anyway, this was one of the best weekends ever. Tomorrow, I have some housecleaning to do, some prep work for the resume and career workshops I have on Wednesday, and then I may sit on the deck and read a book.