Cross Country is really OVER :(:(:(

Cross Country season ended on Monday and although this gives me a teensy bit more time to do things like write blog posts and spin off bows, and maybe even some work stuff, Im still intensely sad to see it end. The reality that some of these kids I will not see anymore because they are going to graduate is setting in. While there will be times I will run into them and see them at the end of year party, it wont be the same.
But all good things come to an end and there will be new kids next year...SIGH.

I did get my run in last Tuesday afternoon before picking up the little kids. It was good :) I ran around town a bit, down through industrial park and up to Walmart.  Across from Walmart/Kent there was a small field and I had to stop and watch for a bit because there was an odd group there; 3 deer and a fox were staring back at me.  They were so close together! One of the deer pretended it was alarmed that I was watching and put on a little snorting, hopping away show...but none went far. Pretty cheeky.
8.05 km 47:38 minutes.

Wednesday I saw the Osteopath again.  Im not sure if you can tell a difference after 3 visits or if I should be? No idea. But with a little less running and seeing her my knee doesnt seem to be bothering me much at all. Wednesday was therefore a rest day.  I had some spare time in the afternoon and the kids and I went for a nice walk.

Thursday was pouring rain!  LOL It was a busy day for me with Scott picking up the kids and my lab going late; it was easy run day and I hirried to the park in my work clothes to send the XC kids off on their last easy run before deciding what I was to do. It was not just raining there were rivers everywhere but it was super warm; 19 C!  I found a small group of dedicated runners and Lavinia waiting for me there so I changed quickly and Lavinia and I headed up into the park behind the kids and wandered around on the trails for an hour!  It was SUPER pretty; leaves on the ground everywhere (hiding roots and bumps oops) and tonnes of ankle deep water. After the first while trying to keep feet dry (ha) I gave up and just paddled through the water.  Some areas were foggy and were like running through a dryer vent; hot!  Other areas were cool. The river was running way high and the falls were exciting! Where was my camera? In my dry car ;)
Estimated 10.5 km in 1:02 ish. Pretty fast considering we walked up some of the steepest hills.  One of the best runs I have had lately :) I need more run companionship!

Friday was clearer and cooler.  I made it to Holly's hockey practice for 6:40 am and had a good skate with her for 50 minutes; brutal way to start a long work day LOL
We met the XC team at the park for their last hard workout before Provincials and the end of the season :(  It was not too hard a workout, 4X30 seconds then 6X90 seconds with equal rests.  I did the workout with them although not toooo hard LOL.  afterwards there was a little bit of Parkour (which seems to be them clowning around and climbing everything in sight) "Parkour (sometimes abbreviated PK) is a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency. Originally developed in France, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping. Traceurs (parkour practitioners) train to be able to identify and utilize alternate or the more efficient paths. Parkour can be practiced anywhere, but areas dense with obstacles offer many different training opportunities."  Then they had a contest to see who could gather rocks and build an inuksuk fastest. I think I see more team-building opportunities next year :)

Saturday was busy "sigh" with hockey for me, bows, hockey for Holly, Hockey for Annika, and then more bows before the 4H Auction fundraiser in the evening. Not an early night.
Sunday there was more hockey for Annika (X2) and me (X2) and Holly (X1) plus Taylor had Drama, the kids all went to church, more bows got "done", and we had the XC Pasta Dinner party at Lavinia's place.

We had a little bit of yoga before heading in to the fooooood which was so good and there were games and coach presents which were SO incredibly sweet :):):) Im so going to miss my team!

 I had to leave the party early for our 2 hockey games; this season is going to be a little brutal I suspect; some unpleasant changes to our team might be hard to overcome :( I did get a very pretty goal, popping a pass up over the goalie :) Could not do that if I meant to! lol.  I need to learn to lift the puck.

Sunday night could not come soon enough for me UGH!

No running for 2 days; Monday came in nice and foggy and I worked for a couple of hours before heading away to Halifax's Point Pleasant Park for the XC Provincials!  The park is beautiful LOL and we had a nice 2 km walk through on the course before the race start, and I did get a chance to run a warm up with some of the team members :) And spent the day running...from the bottom of the hill to the top and back at least 25 times ;) then to finish and to our cozy tent staging area overand over :) It was another exciting day which came out sunny with fog and temps up and down but no real wind; perfect running weather.  The teams had good races with Senior Boys taking a bronze medal.  Lots and lots of good running and an awesome course (sure, I know I didnt run it ;))

Tuesday was back to early morning class and long day at work; it started raining in the morning but I steeled myself and went for a 6.5 km run after lunch; it was not cold (9C) and the rain (more like a heavy heavy drizzle) was pretty wet.  39:20 minutes.

Annika and the Golden Jersey

After drying up and another meeting I was able to go get Annika and take her to hockey practice; I forgot my skates and was useless in the warm room.  House was cold and damp when we got home; Fall is so hard temps wise as it's often too warm to keep a fire going but too damp and chilly to have none :( so shivery waiting for house to warm up. 

And now it is Wednesday and I managed to get a run in at supper time before going home to family :) 8.7 km 52:45 minutes and I felt awesome BUT had some knee and hamstring issues :(