Calgary experiences

It was an early start this morning as I couldn't resist taking part in a race I'd seen advertised. We went to a running store to enter the race a couple of days ago, and they loved the fact that I was a tourist! A crazy one at that as I decided to do the half marathon even though I have just started running again on this holiday. I've been struggling with what turns out to be gluteus médius tendinopathy for four months now. It came on in the build up to my marathon in April and it has taken a frustratingly long time to get it diagnosed. I've seen a couple of physios, osteos, had X-rays of my spine (just discovered I've got scoliosis, which isn't a big concern) and so on. Anyhoo it seems that my body does not respond well to rest so my physio has encouraged me to start running again, although with less intensity. I'm not sure he would approve of me doing a half marathon so soon but as its a Sunday and i normally do a long run and the race started at 7:20am, I thought why not! I promised my hubby and myself that I would just treat it as a training run and enjoy it and that's exactly what I did.
It meant we had to leave our apartment at 6am as my husband insisted on driving me to the start as he didn't want me getting public transport so early in the morning in a city I didn't know. Hubby and kids were fantastic as they didn't complain once - I guess they're so used to Mummy and her running now! Once at the venue there was a cool dress up section with bales of hay, cowboy hats, neckerchiefs and other accessories - well it is the Calgary Stampede season after all! After lots of photos and playing hubby left me to it and took the kids out for breakfast.
It's been unusually hot in Canada since we arrived (we really weren't expecting the kind of weather that we've had, not that we're complaining!), so there were warnings at the start of the race about the temperature. The course was lovely even though it was a bit hilly for my liking and the support was great. I made sure I thanked all the marshalls and the the people handing out water and I high fived kids along the route. It was great when I heard a cry of "there's my tourist" when I was running - it was the lady from the running store who was marshalling. When I entered the track for the finish the announcer called out my name and told everyone where I was from which was kind of cool. All runners were rewarded with a breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup, sausages, cob bread, oatmeal and all sorts of juices, teas and coffees which was much appreciated!
I was lying on the masseuse table having a free massage when my hubby came running over to tell me that they were calling my name for the podium. What?! Surely not, as I'd just been enjoying myself. Turns out that there were very generous cash prizes for the top five finishers and I was fifth! I was then called back as I won my age group so I was given another medal (different from the original) and handed another envelope!
What a great morning! The atmosphere, support, the most brilliant medal(s) which now rank up there as some of my favourites and the cool t-shirt, definitely made this worth the effort. I will make sure that I spend the dosh on my most devoted fans - my family!

The rest of the day was spent at the actual stampede as it was free entry again for families. It was horrible as it was so busy and so hot. We stayed for as long as we could all bare, watched a real cowboy band at the end and then we all retired to the calm and cool of our apartment, to organise ourselves for the next part of our Canadian tour.