Friday, July 15, 2011

Belated Birthday Post

A week ago I celebrated my birthday in Montreal. While my wonderful, wonderful was going to talks at the conference that brought us to Montreal, I was out exploring.
First stop: The botanical gardens. They were a short metro ride from the hotel. The gardens were absolutely worth the trip.

Then I walked all the way to the Lululemon store and H&M and Zara and about 30 other places. Then I went for a run. The hotel we stayed at had an "in house runner" named Claude who leads runs on Wednesdays and Fridays. I figured why not?! So I went down to the lobby at 4:15 and saw another guy dressed in cotton shorts, t-shirt, etc and we waited for Claude. The cotton guy said I looked like a serious runner. :) Claude showed up dressed in a white singlet, white leggings and a garmin.(he runs marathons) He asked us how far we wanted to go- (I was expecting 4-6 miles since it was advertised as an hour long run) Mr. Cotton said 4-5 miles. So we took off towards this. (Parc Mont Royal, notice the very small cross at the top)
Around 4 miles we hit the summit. I felt good, and was wondering if there was a shortcut way down, but was secretly hoping for a long run... (Montreal is so beautiful)

Then we jogged around the cross.
I picked up the pace for a few K's with Claude down the Mont, and made my way back to the hotel while Claude ran back to Mr. Cotton to finish out the run with him. I ran without water- luckily there was a water fountain around mile 3.5. (and that it was less than 80 degrees, and like 50% humidity- otherwise I would have died)

So for my birthday I ran the farthest i've run since May 28. 9.3 miles, or 15K. The nice 1 hour run I was expecting turned into a 1:30 run up the Parc Mont Royal. It. Was. Awesome! The calf is still tender, but it was a confidence booster since I havent run more than 7 miles at a time since my calf exploded.

Later on, I had a nice birthday dinner with my wonderful, wonderful and then we went to a club for the conference party. I would say it was a birthday success.

What are some of your favorite birthday memories?

~for me, this year was awesome. Being able to spend your birthday with someone you love is always amazing, no matter where you are.


  1. What a great way to spend your birthday!!!! You are an awesome photographer!

  2. Happy birthday a little late! Sounds like you had a great birthday!

  3. Great pics of Montreal, especially the garden pics! That is awesome that the hotel has a "hotel runner", that is sweet! Happy bday!

  4. A running concierge? That is the coolest thing ever, I wonder why telhe hotel I work at doesn't have that.

    Your birthday looks like it was wonderful.

  5. Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a great time.