Monthly Update: Goodbye July, Hello August!

**I want to dedicate this post to my Aunt Shirley, who passed away two weeks ago. We met for the last time during my visit to Ontario in April, when attending the wedding of my cousin – her granddaughter. She will be missed.**

 

The weekend has been busy. We had an extra SummerChor rehearsal on Saturday – 10am to 2pm. As mentioned in a previous post, we’re singing the Durufle Requiem – and our concert is just 3 weeks away! In addition, because the Durufle is kind of short, we’re also singing the Faure Requiem. A lot of folks in the choir have sung it before, but it’s my first time. The Faure also happens to be my Dad’s favourite, so I’m sorry he won’t be here for the concert.

We attended the Powell Street Japanese festival, and I got dressed up in my Japanese duds – a bit different from my usual running gear!

Saturday night was the Celebration of Light – third night of fireworks, with Canada putting on an amazing show set to music – glorious!

On Sunday morning, I went for a quick run – about 8.5km – along English Bay and around Lost Lagoon.

That was followed by the Vancouver Pride Parade – colour, glitter, music, festivities – lots to see and do! And Monday is BC Day – so we’re enjoying a beautiful long weekend!

 

Keeping up with tradition, here is another installment of my Monthly Update. I will continue to give credit Brie (Like the Cheese) for giving me this idea – and bow to here commitment in participating diligently in the November Project. I had planned to join, but they were forced to relocate from downtown to Queen Elizabeth Park – which is just too far from home and work to be feasible on a Wednesday morning. Nevertheless, a few things have happened this past month…

In July, I…

1. Did 3 rounds of speed work. I know, that’s really not a lot. But given how little speed work I’ve been doing, I decided it was time to commit to some regular workouts. So I joined Coach Carey’s Thursday night clinic (care of Forerunners). Over the course of three weeks, we did:

• Hill repeats – 9x up Jericho Hill (a steep, short run)
• Track workout – 9x 400m, gradually increasing our speed
• Sprints – 5x 800m in Little Australia (near UBC)

I plan to continue with the speed training through August as well.

2. Met a celebrity. I got my geek on when we ran into Stephen Amell from the TV show Arrow. I had just finished the Summerfast 10K at Stanley Park, and I saw him walk by – he had run the race as well. I approached him and asked for a photo. This isn’t exactly an ‘achievement’ for the month, but I found it kind of exciting!

3. Ran the Golden Gate Bridge…twice! After months of anticipation, we finally made the trip to San Francisco. I ran the SF First Half Marathon, and the route took us out across the Golden Gate Bridge and back again! It was a foggy day, so not a lot to see – but the thrill of the event made it totally worthwhile. I also went fully ‘branded’ as a BibRavePro for this race – I even heard someone read it out as I ran by: “Bi..bra..ve – oh, BibRave!!”

I’m now considering running the Half it All Challenge by participating in the Second Half in 2016! Stay tuned!

In August, I will…

1. #PlankADay. We’ve all heard about the benefits of planking – what it does for our core, and how it strengthens runners. I get regular alerts from the @PlankPolice, reminding me to stay on track. I was a bit half-hearted about it last month, but I’m going to make a concerted effort this month!

2. Find a balance. I’m trying to fit a lot of things in each week. I want to run, I want to get to the gym – but I also have to work, I’ve got choir rehearsal, and I want to spend time with family and friends. Even in the summer, when the days are long, I’m not good at being an early riser. I find it tough exercising after work. So I’m not sure how this balance will be achieved…yet. I’m working on it.

3. Run a race in the Arctic! Yes, you read that right! I am heading to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories for a business trip in the second week of August. I’ve run there before – but just a TravelRun, on my own, in the cold.

On a whim, I Googled ‘yellowknife marathon‘ and came up with a result. The Overlander Marathon and Half Marathon…well, it just happens to fall on that very weekend! I turned to Twitter:

And so, with that, I have decided to stay a couple of extra nights in town, and run a half marathon in Northern Canada!

Can you believe it’s already August? How’s your summer going?

July posts you may have missed:

• San Francisco Half Marathon
• Summerfast 10k
• Tiux Compression Socks – Review
• Fort Langley Half Marathon
• Weekend Update – Summer Skies?