Bell Island Blast 10 miler

Sunday past I did the Bell Island Blast . . . a tough 10 mile race on Bell Island . . . which is hills. All hills. Actually, never ending hills. It seemed to me that there were some road/geography things at play which made it mostly uphills. Either way I spent the better part of the race wondering why we couldn't do the race from end to start. Seems like it would have been much easier!!

It was the inaugural race. That was fun. It didn't take me long to look around at the ferry line up and realize that inaugural race meant that most of these people are fast. The running crowd. Much more experienced than I was. A fellow runner took this picture of me in the line up. He told me to put on my war face.



It was a few hours before hurricane Bill, so humidity was through the roof. That was worrisome. None the less once we were at the start line location I was feeling pretty good. I was hydrated and fed and had new tunes on my mp3 player. After watching the faster runner warm up I never saw them again until the reception. I lined up at the end of the pack which is where I knew I'd finish. This picture was about 5 seconds after the gun. I was full on running, which means a blurry picture!



About 1/4 mile in we hit the first hill. I remember thinking that it wasn't so bad. Then we hit another hill that was much worse. it was at about mile 2 when I thought this may be much more difficult than I thought. It was just past a big hill when we turned a corner and saw another, even bigger hill. Now the holga and it's wide angle lens is not the best for capturing this type of thing. You'll just have to trust me that there were a lot of groans by a lot of folks right about here. You'll also notice that the pack is really spreading out now.



It was at that point where I realized that I was sweating like a pig and to get through this race I'd need to just run. Concentrate. Forget the camera. Save the camera for a flat course or save it for next year when I have more experience running. Something. Anything.

So I kept running. Soon the sun came out and made the hot humidity even hotter. The hills kept coming. I kept going. Eventually I came to the finish line, which was of course at the top of a hill. I was 101/102, and I don't feel bad about that because I was just at the end, not far back, from the pack. It was a tough tough course. I was comforted by the fact that the after race chatter seemed to indicate that everyone thought it was tough, even the experienced ones. They mostly added about 15 or so minutes from the 10 mile race a month ago that was an easy course. I only added 3 minutes. This means that all my hard work and hill training is paying off. I"m still slow, but I'm stronger than I was and that is good.

Here is a photo from their website. It's me coming into the finish.



A few last frames. First is the dock from the ferry.



And last but not least . . we were treated to show of dolphins in the bay on the way back! Literally hundreds. It was pretty cool!!



SO all in all . . . it was a great experience. I have decided to do another race in three weeks. This time a flat 10K. It should seem like a breeze so that I can take many many pictures next time!!

The mailman has my film.

Sorry, mail-PERSON. Letter carrier. Since I know he is a man I'll say that dude with my film!!

Alas it is Sunday and he sits home with his family today not one bit worried about my film.

The bad news: I took no pictures today. :(

The good news: I have been back running for three days since my forced little 5 day running break to ease up on my aching foot. I discovered spin class, but wanted to run . . . It was hard but I'm glad I did it because the foot feels fantastic now. Friday I eased in with 5k on the treadmill and felt pretty good once I got going. Saturday I was still feeling good but didn't want to push it so I just did a 4k jog outside with the dog. Still felt great. My foot might be a little tender, but no pain at all. Me and the dog were happy to be back in business.

This morning I did my scheduled 8 miles ( was actually 8.5) and one thing I've noticed is that aerobic fitness is so much improved over the past few weeks. I've really passed a hurdle. I am very excited by this. Three weeks ago I did the 10 mile race and spent at least the last 4 miles vowing not to throw up or pass out. At the end of it I was in great distress for at least two days. It was brutal. Today after 8.5 miles I trotted back into the house like it was nothing. Don't get me wrong, it was not THAT easy . . but I didn't feel like I was dying and I sit here about to start in on some good-time bathroom painting, so I'm clearly not wiped out. Hard work pays off.

As a result, I think for next week I'll do another 10 mile race. I'm scheduled to run 9 miles anyway, so I'll take it as a regular long run and get a chance to run around Bell Island and get a free hat. Well, a $25 hat.

Oh, and I'll bring a camera on the race course this time. ;)

-Donna

New header

I've just edited the header to include a description so people know what they are looking at. I can't make it any clearer to the average blog surfer.

I'm really excited about this!!

I'm happy to add other peoples pictures to the header, as soon as y'all upload some. ;)

-Donna

Middle Cove

Another day alone with the kids and after many days on the treadmill at the Y . . . I couldn't do another treadmill run. (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Y's free childcare and it saves me a couple of days a week!!).

I packed up the kiddos and headed to Middle Cove beach on a chilly morning. It is about 1/4 km I guessed and I just ran back and forth, back and forth, back and forth while the kids played in the sand and rocks and had great fun. It was more interval training than the regular run I was supposed to do, but it worked. I don't think they would argue if we did it again. :)

The Fisheye makes the Holga 2x as heavy. Plus I'm a bit sick of it. I think I'll be leaving it home for a while.

-Donna

Dead Bird

What can I say? I live near the sea! This was during a trail run on Signal Hill.

It stopped me in my tracks. I found this bird somehow artfully placed on the rocks and found it rather beautiful. I thought it deserved a blue-hue, rather than my usual warm tone.

-Donna

Working on Power Lines

Spotted while on the way home from an 8km loop.

-Donna

Feilds!

A regular 5km run on my father's long road. He lives on a rural stretch and let me tell you . . . I'd rather see people than cows! Peaceful, sure, but too peaceful. I could have fallen asleep. Maybe I was just tired that day. ;)

-Donna

See . . . snooze!!



So I took a picture of myself. ;)



I did see a few cows at least. Thankfully they were friendly. :)

Murphy's Law rules my world

So I start a running blog, vowing to post regularly, and then get called away to a long birth (I was doula/photographer) that took me out of commission for days.

Shortly after I had an aching Achilles, but went out for 10km. You guessed it - now I have a really really aching Achilles. I've been running hills in prep for the next race and I figure I've over done it.

I've not been running since that 10 km, but I did discover spin class. (Hmmmm, I should take a camera to spin class . . . not quite the same, but it could do I s'pose.)

I'm hoping after a few days of ice and ice and no running and constant orthodics (even in the house - that is annoying!) I'll feel better. I actually already feel better, but I'm going to make myself wait until Friday before I attempt anything, running wise.

In the meantime I'm about to post a bunch of older film to make it LOOK like I've been running everyday, lol.

-Donna

How I got started

I'll post my story. I hope that my fellow photographer-runners-bloggers will post their story too.

I had a really rough winter. Rotten. I was really sick with pneumonia and no voice, I was back and forth to various doctors and as I was nursing a broken tailbone I broke a couple of ribs. Needless to say I was not very active. By the time spring rolled around I was not very surprised to realize I had gained some weight. Nothing serious, but to someone who had never really struggled with weight it was disconcerting. I was also realizing that I was in a real funk. I was diagnosed with a voice disorder that gave me an explanation for the past 30+ years, but left me sad for the future. It is neurological, and like many thing neurological it would be up and down depending on many things - not the least of which is my own health and fitness.

Mothers day was my tipping point. I realized I had to make a choice. I could learn to rock the frumpy mom look and complain about my health issues or I could get off my ass and be fit and healthy. With my broken bones mended and the snow melted away up I had no more excuses.

The idea of running was always something I stayed away from. I had never participated in any kind of sports, never ran unless I was catching a bus, and legitimately thought I could not run without severe dizziness. Well my voice diagnosis taught me that I COULD run, I would just always have trouble running and talking at the same time.

So I headed out alone.

Day one I could not run 100 meters. So I ran 80 meters and walked 500 meters. Then I did it again and again until 2 km. By the next week I found I could run 100 meters. I thought I was on a roll. So I decided to run the local 10 mile race that was 3 months away. I figured it was good motivation and I was right. ( I DID initially think it was 10 KM since I live in Canada, but that is another story!!).

I started researching and learning all I could about running. I completed the race with only 4 - 1 minute walk breaks (through the water stations) and I beat my goal time by 5 minutes. I made some mistakes, but that is to be expected in anything you do for the first time. The biggest win in it all is that I am now 100% hooked on running.

I am a runner.

Here are some pictures from that race (Only before and after, being the first race I was nervous about carrying a camera. I'm over that now and will carry one from now on! )

-Donna

Shuttle buses.



Most folks were waiting in here . . .



but I went for a walk instead and found my corral . ..



found the guy that was maybe supposed to be holding the sign for my corral . . .



found them setting up the start line . . .



found the empty porta-pottys that sat idle until about 10 minuted from this picture when 2500 people tried to get in one last pee!!



And this is after the race. My great family had made a sign that read *let's go/let's go/1560*. (That's a rhyme, a chant . . . 156-oh). I was happy to see them.



I'll squeeze in one more just because my little guy was all caught up in my excitement and couldn't stop hugging me. So cute!

A photographers running blog

A photographers running blog? What else is new?

But wait! It's not an on-going blog. Not THAT king of running blog.

This is a blog about running. By photographers. With pictures (because photographers like to take pictures!!)

I am Donna Ramsay. I am photographer. I like to run. It's all pretty simple really.

I like to use film cameras, more specifically I like to use Holga cameras. One day I realized that my lightweight Holga camera fit perfectly inside an old diskman case we had. I popped it in there and hit the streets. I realized that it made my runs even more fun and made me want to run even more. All the sights that I see everyday, the small things that I notice on my daily running routes, the many things that make running outside so wonderful . . . trapped on cellulose forever. Win Win!

I have invited some photographer friends to join me. I hope that they will pack up a lightweight camera and hit the streets running.

I have dedicated one of my Holgas to running. I pledge at least a roll a week. Maybe more, but never less. 12 exposures a week. Seems reasonable since I usually stop for a second to compose the shot. Stopping twice a run is enough! I'm logging miles here people!

Here is my first post. My legs. It's where it all begins. Legs and feet and camera. The fisheye confirms what I've always suspected. I have big thighs and small feet. :)

-Donna