In the dinosaur's foot prints...

Remembrance Day, Nov. 11, 2010 at Dinosaur Provincial Park in southern Alberta. The Badlands.

There were very few people in the park, so we nearly had it all to ourselves. On the loop road, there were two fossil displays. In the picture below, there was a path between the two displays so we walked between them instead of driving. Our van is on the right.



Doing my favorite tree pose on the top of a formation (it was 10 feet high).



The trail wasn't always clearly marked, so we took some interesting routes...



Leah pointed out that the steam makes the Lululemon symbol! My little lulu spotter!



A wider view of the stream. We are at the top of a large hill & steep cliff.



The kids climbing the hills.



We found a short cave/tunnel/arch, only a few feet deep, so the kids climbed through it.



The duck-billed dinosaur bones displayed in the fossil display. This is it's tail.



There were lots of deer around, and these two young deer were adorable!



It's a beautiful place, and well worth visiting.

2010 Loop Around the Lake (Chestermere)

11.2k or 7 mile run around Chestermere Lake.

This was my longest race to date, and the farthest I've ever run! Oops, not a good idea, but it worked out okay.

September 18, 2010, 8am, and it was cold. It was around 3 to 5c, with a bit of wind and slight drizzle. After standing around waiting for the race to start, I was so cold that my hands didn't warm up until I had run 5km.

I'm in the blue jacket. This is just before the finish line, I sprinted the last 100m and passed the woman in front of me.



I finished in 1 hour, 11 minutes, working out to 10 minute miles. I was slow compared to this fast group (I was 50 out of 72), but I'm very happy with my time.

2010 Calgary Women's Race

It was a cold (6c or so) and drizzling day, but hey, it's August in Alberta, any weather is "normal" here and we try not to let it stop us!

There was a kid's race, so Eric and Leah gave it a try. There were maybe 12 kids all together, and mine came in dead last, of course. They got a cookie medal for their effort, which was quickly eaten! Note that they are wearing winter coats.

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Then it was my turn. I'm in the blue jacket, setting my watch.




At the finish, stopping my watch.


My results:

Overall: 28/135
Time:00:27:08.65
Pace (miles) 08:45
Age category result 5K30-39: 7/29

That beat my last 5k time, so I'm happy enough with it.

I bought that blue Asics water resistant jacket just two days before - at the Tech Shop's Women's Night and race package pickup. I'm very glad that I got it! I barely got warm enough to be comfortable.

There were people here and there along the race course to direct you and cheer you on! My favorite was the Lululemon group, of course! They had a vehicle with the red manifesto print all over it! I was wearing lulu socks, underthings, headband, silverescent tank and the white run top (along with the Asics jacket and Nike pants). The run took you down the road, under a bridge, then on the pathway along the Bow River, so there was some nice scenery, but also potholes and loose gravel to watch out for!

Rock the House Run

For my second race ever, I ran the 5k Rock the House for Ronald McDonald House on August 8. The kids also did the 1k walk (their very first "race")!

Eric and Leah, waiting for their "race" to begin. They were running late, so I didn't stick around to watch them - I didn't want to be late for my race. They had a great time and were thrilled with all the "goodies" they got to pickup while on their race.



My goal was to be under 30 minutes, and I did that easily, finishing at a chip time of 27.54!! (27.38 by my watch). Either way, my best time ever! I normally run alone, so it's fun to run with 600+ other people!

Approaching the finish line, the woman in purple behind me is doing the 10k, and is only half done.



After the race. There were lots of free food items - coffee, ice cream, bananas, water/sports drinks/juice and even muffins & scones.



It started to get pretty wet, so we didn't stick around for much longer.

For more pictures of the event, visit the barefoot runner's blog.

And thank you to those who sponsored me (family & co-workers). It was appreciated!

First 5k Race

I ran the 5k in the 2010 Stampede Road Race.

My goal was to run the 5k (3.1 miles) nonstop in under 30 minutes.

I was very close. My time chip gave me a time of 30.11.25! 12 seconds away from my goal!



Oh well, it's so close that I'll consider the goal met!


my stats:

                            
Place   76/171  (this includes men)
Div/Tot   8/38  (8th of age 30-39 females!)
Bib#  2132
Name     Z...., JENNIFER    
Div    5K30-39F  
Time  00:30:25.10
Pace/Mile  09:48  
Gen  F 
Gen/Tot   32/111   (#32 out of 111 females)
Chip Time   00:30:11.25  (my actual time)

I played "spot the Lululemon" while I ran. Lots of women wore their clothes. Including me! I'm wearning Race Tech Mesh top, Rock Out Shorts, Flight Running Bonnet, Ultimate Running Socks.

Fundraising Gala

Library staff was offered free tickets to the foundation's funraising Gala, so Stephen and I went, along with more than half of the staff! It was fun. It was a 1920's theme, so I slicked back my hair, wore a headband with feather in it, had on two pearl necklaces, and had a black feather boa! Stephen surprised me by renting a Zoot Suit.

Men in Zoot Suits. The emcee, on the left of the below picture, is Bruce McAllister, co-host of Global morning and noon news. That makes it 3 local celebrities so far this year that I've had my picture taken with!





There were tons of silent auction items, but I was outbid on the two things I wanted, right at the last minute. I took lots of pictures, and this guy didn't say a word when I took a picture of his hand!! LOL! I tried to win the iPod Nano at the far left.





Another picture with Bruce. The bit of blue on the right is Tammy (sorry, I cut you out of the picture).

Vancouver 2010 Gold Medal

Work occasionally has a few perks. Tonight's perk was meeting Vancouver 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist John Morris, watching his slide show and talk, then holding (and wearing!!) his gold medal!!!


The kids and I with John.



Wearing the medal (I just HAD to).



Love the "With Glowing Hearts" on the ribbon.



The back of the medal has "Men's Curling" etched on it.



I got to hold the medal for a LONG time! He signed books, I babysat the medal (tough job, isn't it?)

Brianne Needs a jacket

Leah's Maplelea girl Brianne didn't have a jacket of her own. So she would borrow her friend Red's jacket, which was too big, and the sleeves too short.

Using Red's jacket as a guide, I made a pattern for Brianne, and sewed her a jacket out of animal print fleece. Below is Brianne modeling her new jacket, as well as Red (sitting).



The coat does up with velcro and the edges are serged.



Above, Leah happy with the new jacket.

I can't get enough of that torch

I just had to get my hands on that torch again! This is me with Marla Forth. She ran in Chestermere, and she lit the Olympic cauldron in Chestermere with this torch. (Thanks for taking the picture Tammy!)



This is at the library where I work. She opened the torch and showed us the inside. As you can see, the fuel container has been removed. The number on her jacket means she was the 105th person to run with the torch that day. 5 people ran in Chestermere, and the other 100 people ran in Calgary that morning.




And this is the signature of the person who assembled this torch!



The torch is inscribed "With Glowing Hearts," which is a line in Canada's national athem.



The torch runners had different mittens than what was available to the pubic at The Bay. Their gloves have grippy maple leaves to help them hold the torch.



To keep the flame burning the brightest, keep the maple leaf pointed towards your heart while you run.



Close up of the emblem.

Trip to Banff & Sulfur Mountain

The ride up the Sulfur Mountain gondola in Banff National Park dazzled the kids.




You can see the bottom building just behind Eric.



High enough that you can barely see the building.



View of the Banff townsite from the top of Sulfur Mountain.



Usually, you can climb up to the second, higher peak, but it was closed.



It was beautiful up there! We were lucky that it was a warm and sunny day.



An empty gondola approaching the top building.



Doing a little yoga in the snow. This is the hiking trail if you climb the mountain - it's a fairly easy 2-3 hour climb. I've done it several times. At the top of the hill to the right was about 30 Japanese tourists, who looked very confused that I kept doing yoga poses in various places! But I got some neat pictures, and the tourists got something to gawk at and a story to tell when they get back home...



The kids played in the snow while I was getting my yoga picture taken.



Driving home through Canmore at dusk. That's the 3 sisters mountain on the left.

You can't be Canadian unless you can

Ice Skate!

I was watching Eric motor around the rink with a skating support and I said to him: "Eric, you can skate! You don't need that bar!" (he's only skated short distances without a bar). So he let go of the bar, and off he skated. He was so excited and wanted to know when can we go skating again!




Leah and Stephen.



Me, practicing arabesque on my bad side (I can get my leg up much higher on my good side, but of course, Stephen didn't get a picture of that!)

100 Day

It was the 100th day of school, and the kids were allowed to do something related to 100 to celebrate.

Eric choose to pin 100 safety pins to his sweater, and wear that to school. In case you are wondering, it took about 60 pins to make the 100, and then we put the remaining pins on the sleeves.

It looked really neat, almost like sequins. Eric was happy with his creation.

Olympic Torch Run

My kid's entire school was bussed to Chestermere to see the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay and Ceremony! I went along as a volunteer. It was totally worth it!

The lit torch approaching the stage.


I HELD ONE OF THE TORCHES!!!!




HOW COOL IS THAT!!! Leah got to hold it by herself too.



Eric was with another group, so I have no idea where he was!