The 16k That Turned Into More

Today, I had the luck to have my Goofy Runner Girl, V, as a long run partner.  Our plan was to run the majority of the 16k I had on the schedule and then meet up with the new TNT team for Nike Women's and run the last bit with them on their kickoff...and that was exactly what we did.

V and I met up at 7:30 to give us plenty of time to get in a leisurely long run before the kickoff.  We headed west along the south shore of the river and, by Crowchild, we decided to do a loop by running up to Edworthy park and then coming back to Eau Claire on the North shore.

The miles passed easily as we got caught up on life.  I haven't seen her much since Goofy (possibly not at all) so it was wonderful to hang out.

Once we were in the shelter of the forest past Crowchild, we were amazed at some of the Glaciers that still covered the path...that is ice, my friends...

and here is another one coming down the hill...

But the weather, which had seemed really cool when we started, had become a truly beautiful morning.

Before long, we came to a huge burnt swath which had just yesterday been a brush fire in the north west.  You could still smell the tang of smoke in the air.

We soon crossed the river and headed back.   The miles passed super quick and a lot of our conversation was bird focused since V is as terrified (or more) as I am of the frigging things.  We ended up leaping across pathways to avoid geese  A LOT at this point. While I don't mind geese as much as I loathe blackbirds - the geese down there can be downright mean (Please, people, stop feeding them) and we weren't taking any chances.

Before we knew it, the Peace Bridge was in sight

and V confessed that she had never run across it! So, we made sure to document it! Gawd, I love that bridge!

and we arrived back at Eau Claire just in time for the Kick-off to start!

Garmin geekery for the first part of our long run:

The kickoff was awesome and I completely forgot to take photos (though there may be one I can add later that someone else took). So many of our friends from the season we did Nike are going back this year so we knew a lot of the people there.   Coach Sheena and the ladies from the Calgary TNT office introduced themselves and then a cancer survivor gave the mission moment for the run.

And then we all headed out for a quick 30 min run. Just an out and back along the south shore.  V and I were pretty tired from our first 15k but our friends kept us at a pretty good clip for the entire run.  I wanted to beg for walk breaks to come more often than every 10 mins.   I called an end to the run at the corner where we turned back to Eau Claire and enjoyed finally being able to walk...with a 19K long run under my belt.

Garmin geekery for part two:

Phew...what an amazing day for a run and I so loved seeing so many of my favourite people this morning!

After the run, I had a quick coffee with the TNT ladies and then headed to Chinook to find some clothes for the girlies at Target and then to hit Gap for some workout wear, as recommended by a Twitter buddy.

What a fantastic shopping trip.  Not only did I find cute outfits for the girlies to wear at their first race tomorrow, I also scored 2 running tanks and a pair of winter leggings (on sale for $15!) and a pair of my favourite dress pants (on sale).  My bad body day of yesterday seems to have subsided and it felt great walking out of a store with things that fit.   Might have also had something to do with the scale being much closer to my Dietbet goal this morning ;)

Gap "gets" my body.  This stuff is super cute.

and, as I was pulling out of the parking lot - my spirits were further buoyed by the sight of the tents and work crews busy setting up for tomorrows race, which starts at Chinook Centre. Can't wait!