If I remember the events as they actually occurred correctly, Heather’s Boot Camp was conceived upon our return from Disney. We were regimented to weekend duties of trudging through the snow, ice, sleet, up hills and down dales. And always leading the pack no matter what the weather was our leader, Heather. Dedicated to keeping us in line Heather made sure that our k’s were put in and that we were fed and entertained along the way.
This round of training lead us to London and a stay at her grandparents house for a weekend of fun and friendship, shopping (what else do we do when we are gone besides eat) and just because that was what we braved all that weather for, a half marathon to finish it all off. We started out on Friday evening, Shannon at the wheel and a long trip ahead of us. The conversations and stops for coffee and bathroom breaks made the time just fly by and we soon arrived at our destination. It wasn’t long after arrival that we headed off to bed. After all, we had a hard day of shopping ahead day of us.
Up and breakfasted early and a trip to the race expo before our standard Costco shopping expedition in the afternoon. The expo was a lot of fun. Petra and I had our feet done. (reflexology) Wonder if that was why my legs felt so good on Sunday? Bought a couple of shirts and then the wagons were ready to roll home for lunch. What a spread. There was this wonderful 3 seed bread, eggs, bacon. WOW
After lunch there was a little GPS’ing doing by Adam for Shannon and then Shannon drove Petra and I back to the expo for more shirts and then we headed off to Costco to meet the rest of the crowd. Well there were two Costco’s in town and we ended up at the other one. But all ended up well in the end as we met up with Jane and Heather to finish our shopping and then headed home to make dinner. Well I guess this is getting long and I haven’t even got to the race yet so I will just add that dinner was awesome. Jane’s parents put on quite a spread. I felt like I was at home for a family dinner. Thanks again to her parents for making us feel so welcome. (and my son who had the pleasure of eating the pasta leftovers said that they were the best I had ever made) An early bed time was expected as we had to leave for town by 7.
We were up at the crack of dawn with our Drill Sgt Heather smiling and encouraging us right from the first moment. With the effortless drive and no parking problems we had plenty of time for bathrooms and relaxing as well as greeting fellow runners that we knew. It wasn’t too long and it was gun time. After the gun went off it was less than a minute to the start line. That was cool. I had no time to feel like a sardine at all.
If I haven’t said it already, Petra was off like a rocket and we watched her slowly disappear into the distance before us. The first several k’s afterwards we had the pleasure of having Shannon with us. It was hard to leave her but as we found out at the end she hooked up with some running mania girls and had a good time chatting with them. The course had lots to offer. From roads, to fantastic homes on quiet streets, to parks and the university grounds. This course was definitely a pleasure to run. Jane knew some of the history of where we were running as she lived in some, or close to some of the areas we ran. There were areas along the route that had lots of spectators and the cheering and encouraging remarks was certainly welcomed.
As the kilometre’s grew shorter we realised that we had a chance to bust both our records. Heather’s for her previous half and mine for (besides Disney) both of my previous half’s which were almost identical in times. The closer we got the more excited the girls got and the more my cold was wearing on me. We pushed and pulled a bit around the 13 through 17 k mark, both speeding up and slowing down. I was having issues but was delighted that my legs just felt wonderful. It was my sinuses that were wrecking havoc on me. About 3 k out I thought that I was going to loose it and told the girls to go ahead. But they would have none of it and as my Drill Sgt directed me, I bucked up and tried my best to finish clean. As we got closer to the finish, just rounding the last corner we spotted Derek stretching on the grass. This and Heather grabbing me by the hand helped me over the finish. What excitement there was. We saw Petra and Bob and Donna and Adam there and the girls were screaming as the cameras flashed and we were captured in all our glory. What an exciting finish. We even thought that we were going to be in the newspapers as we were asked where we were from and Heather found out that the girl asking was from the London Free Press. But our hopes were dashed as they only published the winners photo’s.
We spend the rest of the morning anxiously awaiting our remaining friends and visiting the food booths, eating and getting medals engraved. Oh and I almost forgot, getting pictures taken with TONY. What fun we had. But we couldn’t stay all day. We arrived back at Jane’s parent’s house for one last meal and a shower and change of cloths. Soon we were heading back home. And what a long trip it turned out to be.
So this has managed to take almost two days to get posted here. And you should thank goodness that I tried to keep it short. I truly had a wonderful time and owe that all to good friends and good times. Thanks all for sharing this experience with me and Jane’s parents and our Drill Sgt’s grandparents for having us. Thanks Shannon for all your driving. We wouldn’t get there without your expertise on the 4 0 whatever’s. Thanks Petra for sleeping with me (once again). Thanks Jane and Heather for staying with me and especially Heather for hauling me across the finish, Thanks Adam for all your fantastic pictures that captured our every moment. I look forward to our next adventure. Can’t wait. Oh wait, it comes too soon. That’s this weekend at the Frankford run. I promise to try and keep the report short. (maybe)
OK and now with the whole delay thingie, I get the report finished after delay after delay and the internet is down again here.
And I actually captured a few photo's before the race. Our prep mode lets say.
OK, we are slow again. They will have to follow.
