Sunday, April 20, 2008

Victoria Moments

Sam's Deli - the fabulous restaurant where we dined on shrimp and avocado sandwiches the first day we were there.

A magnificent garden on the way to Craigdarroch Castle



Nicole and I having high tea at the Empress Hotel



The view from our 6th floor balcony




Victoria

Having just recently returned from a 4 day excursion to Victoria, BC I'm already planning my next trip.
Victoria was wonderful. What a treat to see (and smell) so many flowers and trees already leafing out at this time of year. While the weather was mostly cool and windy, we were still out and about every day. We decided not to rent a car, and ended up doing a lot of walking. A lot. Lots and lots of walking. One day, nearly 6 hours of it. Which was probably a good thing, because we also did a lot of eating.
Mmmmm...we ate at some fabulous restaurants. The lunch highlights were Sam's Deli and Willie's Bakery, and supper was absolutely amazing at Pescatore's. Halibut is in season there right now, and my meal was melt-in-your-mouth good.
We took a partial city tour, visited the wax museum, toured Craigdarroch Castle, and watched a show at the Undersea Gardens. We had high tea (afternoon tea) at the Empress Hotel, which I would recommend to anyone who visits Victoria. Using solid silver utensils and fine china, served tea and the most amazing food by a gentleman named Josief, relaxing in huge comfy chairs listening to a talented piano player, looking out over the harbour...it was a lovely experience.
Now...where to next?

Thursday, April 10, 2008

$20? For Socks? Really?

I bought some running socks today. From an actual running store. Thank goodness I had birthday money. Granted, I didn't buy the cheapest ones in the store, but rather the ones recommended by the salesgirl, who has used them to run admirable distances.
I took the socks for a test run as soon as I got home, and they performed beautifully.
And yes, I can actually tell the difference between the Walmart socks I was using and the Brooks beauties I bought today.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Long Run - Too Long

I woke up this morning with a sore back from moving around some heavy furniture in the basement yesterday. I thought I should probably forgo my weekly long run, so as not to turn what was just discomfort into an actual injury. As the day wore on and the sun broke through the clouds, I found myself unable to resist the pull of the run. "Just a short one," I told myself. An hour, tops. As my internet connection wasn't working, I was unable to plot out a route, leaving me free to run an exploratory route - a turn here, a jog along that path, wherever I landed was fine with me. I love these kinds of runs, because there are no rules - just go for as long as you can or want to. The pitfall, unfortunately, is that I always think I can go further than I really should.
Alas, it happened again. An hour passed and I found myself downtown, by the Bessborough. Now, if you know where I live, you know that I probably shouldn't have run that far, given that my scheduled distance, even if I had been feeling up to it, was only 16 km. I called Nicole to let her know that I would be longer than my imagined one hour. She offered to come and pick me up, but I wasn't feeling too bad at this point.
Off I went, across the Broadway bridge and heading home. My feet were really starting to ache at this point and I was happy to turn onto Taylor. I usually end my runs coming home on Taylor, and as such feel that it is my home territory, even if I am still many kilometres from the end of my run. I probably should have called for a ride at this point, but the crazy part of me didn't want to concede defeat to the route I had chosen.
Well. Now I pay the price. Overall I'm sore, but not unexpectedly so. However, my right calf has decided that it no longer wants to flex when I walk, forcing me into an unusually slow, stiff-legged gait. I hope I haven't done any serious damage with my ill-advised and probably a little foolish 20 km run today.
In comparison, though, my back does not ache nearly as much :-)