Yeehaw! Greetings from Calgary, Alberta!



















The Calgary Marathon takes place during the kick off of the Calgary Stampede (one of the worlds largest rodeos). The festivities are opened with a grand parade through downtown Calgary.













This is a really cool marathon, half marathon, 10k event and they even have a "timbits" kids run on race day! Get this - the marathon finishers are awarded with a belt buckle in lieu of the traditional medal too (similar to the western states 100 mile finisher buckle). We had a great time at the marathon expo, the people out here are always so upbeat and friendly!

I registered for the half marathon a few weeks ago, not realizing it was only 5 days after the Canada Day 10k race. After my 10k on Tuesday, which ended with a sprint about 800 meters out from the finish, I was quite sore. I decided to take a few rest days on Wednesday and Thursday. With the marathon expo taking place, I never found the time to run again on Friday or Saturday and by the time Saturday night rolled around, I was starting to second guess the decision to run the half on Sunday morning. It's always a bit challenging to run on race day after working the expo skirt booth on your feet for 2-3 days straight, not to mention I was pretty sore after the 10k race on Tuesday. After my traditional post-expo ice bath torture session to help flush the legs, I was feeling pretty rested and I decided to toe the line on Sunday - if nothing else, as a training run to make up for not running over the last few days. The weather was perfect - clear and cool, but not cold at the 7:00 a.m. start. I wasn't sure what I was going to run, but I was hopefully optimistic that if everything went well and my legs were ok, I'd be able to take a few minutes off my last half marathon time and run a 1:30 or better. My race plan was to go out and try to hold a 7:00 minute per mile pace and pick it up on the last 10k if I was still feeling strong.

It was a hillier course than I was expecting, but it was very scenic. The course started downtown and ran through the Stampede Grounds and the runners were greeted by a lineup of cowboys & cowgirls on horseback and spectators that were enjoying their traditional stampede pancake breakfast. It was funny - their wasn't a lot of applause, but mostly people standing with blank stares at us runners as we cruised by. I can only imagine they were thinking "what on earth are these crazy people doing running?!?". I did appreciate the occasional "go girl!" or "go skirt!" as I passed by. The course than ran through the Calgary zoo. I recall seeing a flock of pink flamingos as we entered the park and I was looking out for the Tiger (we were told we might see) cage, but as we started winding up a slight incline out of the zoo my mind switched gears and I tried to get back into concentration mode. On a side note - one thing I really enjoyed about running while pregnant was the nice mellow pace of the races and actually being able to take in the scenery and race spectators, etc. I remember last year when I was here I ran the 10k while about 5 months pregnant and I actually carried a digital camera and snapped photos along the route. After leaving the zoo there was a portion of the course on a small gravel/dirt road and then back to the streets heading back toward downtown. We ran along across and along the beautiful Bow river. I remember seeing a great one man country band, and a few other bands along the route. Once I reached the halfway or probably 12-13k point in the race, I recognized the 10k course from last year. With about 4-5 km left to go I was feeling pretty strong so I picked up the pace a bit. I remember there were a few good hills before the finished and tried to talk myself through them one at a time. Before I knew it, the finish line was within eye shot and I gave it one last push to finish in 1:30:40. Here are my splits: 6:27, 6:50, 6:54, 6:51, 7:02, 7:02, 7:05, 7:01, 6:48, 6:45, 7:06, 6:41, 6:46 finish time 1:30:40. I was surprised to finish as 3rd woman and 1st place age group! I was expecting a lot of speedy ladies to run today, but I'm not complaining - it was great fun to win another prize this week!
















We won shiny prize medals & big arse white cowboy hats too! Yahoo!

Results:           10k    gun       chip
1/242 F 30-34 3645  40:20  1:24:33  1:24:31  4:01  Maggie Finlayson  Calgary AB                 
1/141 F 20-24 3529  40:06  1:27:11  1:27:10  4:08  Erin Sask         Calgary AB                       
1/205 F 35-39 3480  42:58  1:30:40  1:30:38  4:18  Cindy Lynch       Barrie ON 

Happy Canada Day!



















Team "RunningSkirts.com" Cindy, Arma & Val

Today was the HBC Run for Canada event(s) across the country. Team Running Skirts was out at the Toronto Waterfront event in full red & white glory. We were lucky to get a wonderful sunny day.

Here are my splits:
mile 1 6:22
mile 2 6:30
mile 3 6:34
5k time 19:26
mile 4 6:32
mile 5 6:31
mile 6 6:12
finish 39:51:06





Our "speedy skirt" Josiane won the 10k event, I came in 3rd woman and Val was 6th woman. We were awarded with HBC Gift Cards - woohoo! $1000 for Josiane, $100 for me & $25 for Val. Let's go shopping! For those American readers, HBC stands for Hudson Bay Company or "The Bay" similar to "Macy's" department store in the US. I think this was the first race that I've ever won prize money. I've run for a team before that won team money rewards before, but never been lucky to be handed a check myself. It's pretty cool!

Iron Girl Del Mar...what a fabulous event! This 5k and 10k is for the ladies only and was super fun. It was really really baking hot and we actually felt like horses running the start and the finish on the horse track at Del Mar...it gave Cindy's famous running mantra "HORSE TO THE BARN!!" a whole new dimension!

This event was the best though and I will list some reasons why...

Great Girlie Energy
First names on all race bibs
Great goody bags including the adorable plush Aflac Duck with the abnoxious quack (see picture) and flower leis
Free Buffet Breakfast (yum!)
Cute Technical Race Tees
Free "finish line" photos
Cool jumbotron at the start/finish
Rudy the announcer
RunningSkirts.com rockin booth
Free massages at the finish
Earrings for the top 3 finishers in each age group
Mother/Daughter category
Everyone had fun!

We had so much fun and I highly recommend this race to all ladies everywhere! We're looking forward to the next one!

Please join us in our thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery for "Jen Skirt" who was hit by a car during a recovery run last week!

Jen was running in her neighborhood early Tuesday morning last week when a lady in an SUV rolled a stopsign and plowed into her. Jen has multiple facial fractures, broken teeth, cuts, bangs and bruises to say the least. To all our fellow running friends - please be careful when you are out on the streets and always expect the unexpected. Don't trust the drivers, most of the time, they don't see you. Always have an "escape" path. I know we can all be guilty at becoming complacent or absorbed in deep thought sometimes during our runs and even assume that we are always safe when we obey the traffic laws, stay in the running/bike paths, etc. Always run aware!

Thankfully Jen survived this accident, we wish her a speedy recovery as she's got more training to do...she is Boston bound in 09!

Whew - it's been a whirlwind week since the Rock n Roll marathon weekend in San Diego.
After a busy weekend at the marathon expo we had the pleasure of running with our "Skirthusiast" Jen as she finished her first marathon. We waited for Jen at the 18 mile mark
As you can see in the photo to the left - she was looking great at this point. All smiles & energy! Her original race plan was to run a 3:40 or better and she started with the 3:30 pace group. At mile 18 she was right on target with the 3:30 group and looking strong. We joined Jen at mile 18 where the course winds through Crown Point.

Here she is still running strong at mile 20. It was funny, right before mile 22 as she continued to pick up the pace and run negative splits, Jen sheepishly asked "so, when am I gonna hit this wall?". We assured her that she had done all the hard work and all her training miles and as long as she continued to stay hydrated and fueled up (hello espresso love gu!), she would be just fine. We had to chuckle at her enthusiasm - she had WAY to much energy these last few miles. She would spot friends from her training program or fellow San Diego Track Club members and she would sprint up to them, cheering them along and trying to carry on a conversation as if it was a casual short training run. Some of them looked at her like "who is this psycho chick that wants to chit chat right now?....doesn't she know we've been running for 20+ miles?". We reminded Jen to hold back a bit & save all that extra energy for the last few miles and found ourselves laughing again as she exclaimed "only 4 miles left - wow - that's it???".

By mile 23, the last few miles were flying by as our splits were getting faster and faster (To be honest, Christy and I were expecting to scoop up the pieces of Jen at mile 18 and run her in at a nice mellow pace - we had no idea we'd be getting in a tempo run on Sunday!) I think our last splits were sub 7 minutes.

All in all - Jen ran the perfect marathon race. She started out at an easy pace and ran the first with the pace group and then slowly picked it up on the back half.













An excellent first marathon and Boston Qualifier - 3:25:32 - here's a photo of the three of us after the finish. Congrats and well done "Jen Skirt"!

RunningSkirts rock San Diego! We had a great weekend at the expo. Thanks to all our loyal skirts for showing up in their gear. Yes, we launched the new skirt colors, yes they are awesome and yes, promise they will be available on our site soon.
















We had the pleasure of finally putting a face to the our countless painful double loops around the track (the infamous but effective yasso 800s!) Mr. Yasso himself was autographing copies of his book at the marathon expo.

Here we are with a local Marine sporting or new camo athletic skirt and camoaqua running skirt. The marines had a booth at the expo and a marine challenge where you had to hang on the chinup bar to earn a cool marines tshirt! The rock n roll marathon expo finishes at beautiful MCRD in San Diego - a great way to finish the race.







Guess which twin is behind the bear sporting the new camo-aqua? Our booth was stationed across from the Big Bear Marathon booth, we couldn't resist sneaking into the bear head at the beginning of the expo on Saturday.
















Here (on the left) is Bart-Elvis-Yasso! One of the hundred elvis or should we say "elvi" running the Rock n Roll marathon this year. We had a great time at the finish line celebration cheering on all the skirts. These two elvi were hilarious & jumped out of the marathon pack for a quick snapshot with only 800 meters to go to the finish.













Dean Karnazes was at the marathon expo and also ran on Sunday. We have some video footage of his motivational talk and race day coming soon.

Just returned from the big Marathon weekend in Ottawa.


















We had a lot of skirts out on the course for the 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon events. Photos & video footage:



After working the expo and being on my feet 3 days in a row, I wasn't sure what to expect on Sunday for running the half marathon. The half marathon started at 9:00 a.m. - 2 hours after the marathon start. It was a warm sunny day already at 9:00 a.m. I did take my ritual night-before ice bath to help flush the legs, but at the 3k mark on the course, they were still feeling pretty heavy. I plodded along noticing that my first 2 mile splits were a bit aggressive as the course led us into the Quebec portion of the course. I tried to rein myself in a bit and hoped to run the 2nd half a little more agressive. Here are the splits: 6:47, 6:57, 7:17, 6:58, 7:15, 7:10, 7:06, 7:13, 7:24, 7:20, 6:53, 7:09, 6:52 - you can see where I hit the hillier portions of the course. I finished the half in 1:34:04 (garmin said 1:32:50 - wierd!) I've come to the conclusion that my garmin just doesn't work right on raceday - maybe it's the proximity to hundreds of other garmins in the pack. Anyone else experience this with their Garmin 305?

The marathon course had a few good climbs but for the most part was rolling hills into Hull, Quebec and along the Rideau canal in Ottawa. All in all it was a pretty pleasant race, a little warmer than I'd prefer, but manageable. It was really green and pretty (I missed the famous tulips - sorry, Carlene!) Where are those tulips anyway? I'm convinced they must just be on the full marathon course only. There were lots of water & gaterade stops, one sprinkler and even a sponge stop to help combat the heat. I arrived at the finish line one soaking wet drowned rat...but a cool soaking wet drowned rat in a cute new camo/aqua running skirt.

Oh yeah - I could have done without the obnoxious "space invader" dude in the red skull cap and white jersey with ipod on (you know who you are!). Apparently my new camouflage/aqua running skirt rendered me invisible because he just kept cutting me off. I understand this happens in crowded courses & that's perfectly understandable, but it was pretty thin where we were in the pack - probably only 4 of us stretched out along an entire street at that point. For some reason, this guy would keep running up next to me and than would step right in front of me as if we were going into single lane course....not once, or twice, but 3 times. I had to keep darting out from behind him and moving aside to get back in stride. He was wearing an ipod, so perhaps he didn't hear me either...or maybe he was just bitter he was getting outran by a skirt! Now I sort of understand why race directors are starting to forbid the headphones though, it can be a hazard for runners that are oblivious and discourteous to other runners around them.

Our RunningSkirts.com Olympic hopeful won the Mississauga Marathon 10k event this last weekend. Josiane ran the 10k as a training run in 35:11. She is hoping to run an Olympic Qualifier at the Ottawa marathon in a few weeks! Congrats Josiane! Please join us in supporting a fellow woman to accomplish her Olympic Dreams. Even a dollor or the cost of your daily starbucks can make a difference for Josiane!

CAD$

USD$

Happy Mothers Day!
















Today was my first Mothers Day, I still look at our little guy with awe and thank
God to be blessed with a wonderful healthy & happy child! I was also lucky enough to start my day out with a great half marathon in Mississauga. My angel neighbor came through again and watched baby bear while we made the early morning journey to Toronto for this morning's race. I made it just in time for a quick visit to the portapotty and meet up with my sister-in-law Val at the start line. Val just ran a PR Boston 2 weeks ago and was hoping to run a NYC marathon qualifying time for the half marathon (1:37 or better) crazy but true! We were lucky to get great weather - cool & sunny. Spits: 7:01, 7:03, 6:48, 7:03, 7:03, 6:44, 7:28, 7:06, 7:00, 6:59, 7:00, 8:06, 6:15.

Here's a shot of us almost halfway into the race!
















I'm happy to report that we beat the 1:37 goal by almost 5 minutes, finishing in 1:32:20. This is one of my favorite 1/2 marathons - a beautiful and very fast course! The three days of rest were perfect for the hamstring, it didn't bother me at all today.
And the finish:















Here's Arma who ran an awesome first post-baby race in Mississauga also!



















Check back for more photos & details about Josiane's 10k win Saturday night!

This weekend was a family race weekend with Union Tribune Kids Magic Mile Race for Literacy on Saturday and the 8k race on Sunday. The race was a lot of fun and Ronald McDonald, Rolly the Newspaper and our favorite race announcer Rudy were there cheering on all the kids. Sadly, or maybe its a good thing, our kids had absolutely no idea who the orange haired guy was. They did run their little







hearts out though...Hudson cruised in the stroller until the last 20 meters then he sprinted in and stopped right in front of the finish line like a deer in headlights. The race announcer was calling out his name and Ronald McDonald was there and it was all too much. He stopped a foot short of the finish line and just started crying. Avalon ran the entire mile...there were a few tears along the way but "She Did It!!!". They got awesome medals and books at the finish and ate their weight in Tiger Milk Bars.
Christy

Christy's Marathon Madi running the "Marathon Mile" race in Carlsbad.

May 4-11 Weekly mileage:
5/4 Sun- 10 miles
5/5 Mon -rest day
5/6 Tue -6 miles
5/7 Wed - 4. 5 miles (mile repeats & 800s)
5/8 Thur - recovery day (sore hamstring)
5/9 Fri - Mississauga Marathon Expo
5/10 Sat - Mississauga Marathon Expo
5/11 Sun - 1/2 Marathon 1:32:20

Video of my niece (Christy's Avi) running the Keebler Kids Mile at Legoland in Carlsbad a few months ago. I've been meaning to share it - it is adorable! Watch closely where she makes a pit stop for "free legos" who could resist!?

April 27- May 3 Weekly mileage:
4/28 Sun- 12k (2k fun run with stoller - see photo) & 10k race
4/29 Mon - rest day (believe it or not - I think the ribs are feeling better today!)
4/30 Tue -
5/1 Wed - 5 mile run w/ a few 600 repeats - right hamstring sore from race
5/2 Thur - recovery day
5/3 Fri -
5/4 Sat - Sudbury Marathon Expo

After 2 weeks of practically no running (or any exercise for that matter) due to the fractured rib injury, I broke the spell with a 10k race yesterday. We were at the Huronia Half Marathon and 10k event in Midland, Ontario on Sunday. (I was initially registered for the Half Marathon.) When we arrived and set up the skirt headquarters at the finish line, I was going crazy watching all the pre-race preparations by all the runners. I decided to pick up my bib number and change my entry to the 10k instead of the half marathon. I figured if the ribs hurt too bad, I could walk my way through a 10k...and get some exercise.

Before I hopped on the bus that took us to the 10k start line, I pushed baby bear through the 2k "kids fun run" in the stroller. This was my way to test the waters with the ribs & running and also get the baby a lot of nap-inducing fresh air. The 2k was even hilly - I can't believe all those little kids ran the whole way up & down the hill. At first baby looked up at me from the comfort of his stroller like I was nuts as if he were saying "Mommy - what are you doing?" was the look on his face. (I normally walk with him in the stroller). After the first kilometer he found it quite entertaining and busted up in fits of giggles especially as we ran over the speed bumps with the stroller. We made it to the finish line - ribs intact and off I went to catch the bus. The hubby send me along with a good luck kiss and kind of shook his head in disbelief (he has listened to me moan and groan in pain the last 2 weeks).

I found running the 10k was no more painful that walking around and my day to day activities (which have been quite restricted). I was breathing deeper during the race with brought a bit more pain, but then the adrenaline kicked in and I was plodding along. I had no idea how fast I was running and how far I had gone. I had purposely left my garmin and ipod at home so that I wouldn't be tempted to run once I got to the race and risk prolonging the injury. Obviously, that strategy didn't work either. The 10k course through Midland and along the waterfront was quite hilly and I definitely realized I had started too fast with about 4k to go. Thankfully the bike pacer volunteer who showed up next to me was kind enough to point me in the right direction of the course, let me know I had about 4k to go and share his water bottle with me. I managed to hold my pace (I think) until the last kilometer when I started to fall apart. I finished in 43 minutes and change, with all my parts in place.....and the little shiny trophy for my victory was the icing on the cake. I am hoping to get back to some moderate training this week. Race Wrap up: The Huronia Half marathon and 10k race is a really great event in the small community of Midland, Ontario. It is beautiful there with the rolling hills and lakes, I highly recommend it! I'm not sure if I heard the announcer correctly, but I think it was the 25th year this race was held. It was known for it's "chicken" prizes. It is sponsored by a local meat company and each year some lucky winners receive boxes of frozen chicken.

(Before Haircut)

Since I have been sidelined with a recent injury - I will bore you all with non-running entries. Today was baby's first haircut!

OK - I'm trying to have a sense of humor about this. We took baby to the hubby's first barber in Toronto this morning (it was sentimental for him to have the baby's first haircut where he grew up getting his cut).

I was also feeling guilty because the poor little guys hair has been in his eyes and he's been rubbing his eyes a bit lately. It was time! Before we got started I clearly informed the barber that we just want to trim the bangs slightly they way that they were so that they weren't in his eyes anymore.

So we show up at this barber shop - 3 old-school Italian barbers - see photos. Before I could say "mamma mia" they had a drape wrapped around me and baby (while standing) and started spraying us down with a water squirt bottle. Next thing I knew the scissors were flying and oh my gosh - look what they did to my little baby! My mom could have done a better job with her "bowl" and sewing scissors (sorry mom)...it definitely would have produced a better outcome. Needless to say we left with a "hat" on. I am trying not to be mad at the hubby for insisting we use his barber! It was a very sentimental moment for him (this barber cut his hair for the first time). Hello!! Hubby is 38 now - which means his barber is probably 130 now and blind as a bat....just kidding. They (barbers) all were very sweet and quite animated....baby loved them all!

I'm thinking I am going to have to "style" him tomorrow with some of daddy's hair products.

p.s. you tube video coming tomorrow















(isn't "after" supposed to be better than "before")
















(baby trying to hide himself!)

April 20- April 26 Weekly mileage:
4/20 Sun- 4 mile walk
4/21 Mon - Go Boston Runners!
4/22 Tue - 5k (ouch!)
4/23 Wed -
4/24 Thur -
4/25 Fri -
4/26 Sat -
Tuesday - The rib pain has gotten progressively worse over the weekend despite my r&r. I decided to test the waters on a short 5k run to see how it felt. The thought that if it was manageable, I might still be able to squeeze in the 20 miler for the upcoming marathon in May I want to run. Ouch Ouch Ouch....each footfall brought on a knife-stabbing pain in my chest. It was the longest 5k ever. My legs felt great in the nice warm sunny weather, but oh my - I've got some more rib-repair work to happen before a long run takes place. Bummer. If anyone out there has advice on recovering or training through rib injuries, please let me know!

April 13- April 19 Weekly mileage:
4/13 Sun- travel day
4/14 Mon - rest day - everything is sore from snowboarding!
4/15 Tue -6.5 miles moderate
4/16 Wed - rest day (ouch!) sore ribs
4/17 Thur - 1.5 miles trail run (I thought the softer terrain of the trail would be easier on the ribs...not so much)
4/18 Fri - recuperate day
4/19 Sat -recuperate day

Home from the week in Whistler. We were lucky to get a few beautiful days weather out there to wrap up the trip. I realized squeezing in my training runs and snowboarding wasn't realistic. After a few hours of boarding (falling over and over and over again) my whole body was worked. The hubby joked that I was getting a better workout boarding anyway- similar to doing say 100 dips and 200 pushups and 300 squats. So I took the last few days of the week off from running and simply enjoyed the mountain and worked on my snowboarding skills. All in all it went well until the grand "splat". I would explain it to you, but I'm not sure how it all happened - one minute I was cruising along down the hill and the next I was face down whimpering "ouch" "ouch". I am now nursing some (hopefully only bruised) ribs. Who am I kidding? my whole body is sore, but the rib thing kinda sucks. I'm planning a run for this afternoon, hopefully it doesn't slow me down.
















Thursday - OK -so I have pretty much concluded that my ribs are more than bruised. The pain seems to be getting worse instead of better. I'm guessing they are fractured/cracked/broken. I can feel the pain with each breath in my right rib cage, kind of feels like a bad side stitch when running. I think I'm gonna take a few days off to let the swelling go down and hopefully start healing. I am so bummed since I"m supposed to be doing my last long run before the marathon in May! I'll take thursday and friday off and see how it goes on Saturday.

Good luck to all you Boston runners this weekend, Val & friends from the Canada police team, Glorybelle, PCN Racers and all the other "skirts" running! I will send you my energy and follow your progress on Marathon Monday!

I've got some great photos of the Telus Ski & Snowboard Festival and the Big Air competition. It was amazing - I'll get them up soon!

(fire & ice show Whistler)

April 6- April 6 Weekly mileage:
4/6 Sun- travel day
4/7 Mon - 7.5 miles easy
4/8 Tue - 8 miles moderate Whistler golf course loop x2
4/9 Wed - cross train
4/10 Thur - cross train (snowboarding)
4/11 Fri - rest day (ouch)
4/12 Sat - Cross Train (snowboarding)
Tuesday -
Sunday -We just arrived in Whistler. I have been asking around for any snow-free running routes since I need to ramp back up in training and hopefully get in a few interval and speed workouts. Not a lot of snow free ground here still, but I did get a few suggestions from a local runner: The Whistler golf course loop and West Side Road. We are staying right at the base of Whistler in the village as I type this I am watching the gondola go up the mountain with the first of the fresh tracks go-getters. It is snowing and absolutely gorgeous out there! If there are any great snow-free runs in the village that anyone knows of, please comment!

I did bring my boarding gear and plan to get up there with the hubby and pick up where I left off with my skills last year when I got pregnant. My husband and I always jest that it was one of my face plant falls last year that lodged the fertilized egg firmly into place for me. A week after my first few snowboarding attempts, we got a positive pregnancy test. Snowboarding and Skiing are 2 of the activities you can't do when you are pregnant (or at least highly discouraged).

While I was pregnant I did a lot of research on jogging strollers. After discussing whether this was a must-have with Christy, she convinced me that unless you get a good fit, she didn't recommend it for training. She found that most of the jog stollers weren't adjustable to the proper height for her and her form suffered as she found herself running hunched over and uncomfortable. Plus - she emphasized her running time was her personal escape and decompression time and she cherished these solo moments. She convinced me! But now, I find myself wishing I had a jog stroller so I could take advantage of those beautiful spring days and take the baby out for a stroll instead of going out for my run at the crack of dawn or when the hubby returns from the city at night. So if any of you fellow running mummies can recommend a good jog stroller with adjustable height handlebars for taller runners - please let me know.

I did take the bugaboo stroller out for a test drive. It was ok for a short jog, but it took a bit more effort to keep on track and steer. Here's a few photos. As you can see, baby is lovin the jog stroller idea!
















This beautiful hat and blanket set were handmade by one our skirt customers - how sweet is that! Thanks Carlene!