Dodging bears and parades!

Today I had a 32km run to get done. OK, I admit it - I was supposed to do it yesterday but unlike Susi, Ken and Phil I wasn't willing to face that temperature and rain quite yet this fall. As I headed out on my run I was stopped by a gentleman a few meters outside my front door. There had a bear sighting in the area! "But I have a 32km run!" I whined to the kind man whom I had never met (oops). He recommended that I stick to neighborhoods and main roads (he said if I saw the bear I could jump over a fence. Hmmm.......OK! And off I went. I stuck to main roads and avoided the pathways (darn, I love running the pathways in Cochrane on my long run days). I headed downtown Cochrane and saw alot of horses and parade floats. Crap! The Labour Day parade! I hit some side streets and managed to avoid the parade and most of the crowds. As I past by some parade go-ers though I did get a few odd looks. I was the only person not dressed in Western wear as the Cochrane Rodeo was on this weekend.

The run went fairly well but I did have some IT band tightness and managed to run only until 26km and walked the rest. Augh! This is frustrating as last weekend I had run 30km with no issues. This is all apart of training for a marathon though. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body. As I walked up the "bonus hill" my friend Jonathan, who is an amazing runner and triathlete, came bounding up the hill beside me. He was on a long run too. He looked so strong and I wished I could take some energy (and running ability) for myself.

When I got home and made sure I stretched (after my new favorite post-run snack, PowerBar Creamy Chocolate Recovery Shake). We are all guilty of not stretching after we swim, bike and run but, if you commit to it you will help ward off some of those annoying injuries.