Early Valentine Run

Saturday morning Neil and I drove to Brockton Oval to meet up with Club Fat Ass for the Flash-Valentine Double. It was a 50km event from Brockton Oval to UBC and back. We had predetermined that we would only do 30km today which would make the Jericho Yacht Club our turn around point. It was great to see some inspirational folks out today. John who we have met through ultra events was there looking very tanned and rested. He and his wife had spent a month in Hawaii relaxing before embarking on a round the world trip. He managed to keep up with his running and shared his experiences of participating in the Dubai marathon. John and his wife travel the world doing destination runs. How cool is that! Gilles who organized the event was a gracious host welcoming all old and new members. Gilles led us through the trails of Stanley Park at a comfortable pace making sure no one was left behind at the start of the event until we reached the recognizable sea wall. Today's event had many km's of road, something I had not done for quite a while as I spend the majority of my time on the trails. The trail runner in me felt somewhat out of place running along the sea wall and over the Burrard Street bridge amongst the crowds of people and cars. My gear also reflected the trails with 2 hand held water bottles, my light back pack and of course my trail shoes! I had a few stares as a ran by all the Lululemon wear! Overall Neil and I really enjoyed the outing. We covered 30 kms in 3:15. Hamstrings, calf muscles were letting me know that I had not been on the road for awhile! We made it a Vancouver day by finishing it off with the Canucks vs Chicago Black Hawks game. It was a great game, I don't think I have ever seen the Canucks score so many goals! We met up with 2 couples who we knew were also attending the game between periods. Great run, good physical challenge and oh so nice to catch up with friends!