8r4d #running #runcrew and sunday scenes

8r4d sunlit trails through the #rivervalley near #downtown #running

8r4d #sunrise #running

8r4d Oh, thirty klicks on a #sundayrunday will be my last loooooong #running for a few weeks while we explore a bit more of the world beyond the #yeg #rivervalley … but it doesn’t mean we can’t still have a bit of local fun.

8r4d One last #downtown meetball run before I sign off. It’s been a minor blast having an excuse to revive some adventure #running in the middle of our marathon training season, but it’s a heckuva drive back and forth after a long day. #runcrew

8r4d On this particular #sundayrunday the skies opened and we found ourselves #running 19k in the various waves of #rain and fluid #weather conditions as we wove thru the creek and looped along the trails. You can’t save your training for fair weather days or else you’d be hard pressed to find any days to train at all, and while we can run inside when the air is smoky (dangerously so) rain , as they say, is best avoided only when one is made of pure sugar and sweetness, a description that I’d not say applies to myself.

8r4dsfeets In the parking lot, as usual, for a #sundayrunday but the spitting rain was just a prelude to the downpour we’d eventually encounter about half way thru our #running adventure.

8r4d On another #running adventure #downtown for that whole downtown marketing campaign for work, five of us explored some of the streets and trails and tackled that nutty hill on 105th street with only a bit of walking. #runcrew

8r4d After another Tuesday tempo training run, we wander back at a more leisurely pace. Our marathon training is broken up into various types of training and #tempo runs are meant to be run at an elevated heart rate to increase your endurance and stamina. We do a casual warm up run out to a regular starting point that also happens to be the start of a good long 4 km flat and L-shaped path. Warmed up you kick up the speed to a pace you can just barely sustain for the duration. We start with an 8 minute out then 8 minute return run, totalling 16 minutes and then add a minute to each in consecutive weeks, so 9+9 then 10+10 and so on. Tonight we did 14+14 for a total of 28 minutes of sustained threshold #running. Or booting it and really hauling ass, in technical terms. It hurts in the moment but pays off on the race course. #runcrew

8r4dsfeets The rock snake swallowed our run club logo. I recall that at one point a couple years ago, back during COVID days, when this #rocksnake was one of those spontaneous community projects that appeared around town, she painted a few rocks with the logo I created ten years ago for our #running club. It's held up very well and is now about mid-point in the chain of rocks stretching about 50m down this asphalt path. #runcrew

8r4d The #running #runcrew descending into the river valley under the high level bridge. We were approaching the end of a #downtown adventure run in the #summer heat.