Howdy Folks! In case you weren’t aware, Wednesday June 5th, 2019 was Global Running Day. Obviously, this is a high holiday celebrated by all the running fanatics at Blue Mountain. A sign-up sheet went around to staff back in April for a 5 km celebratory run. And I thought “Hey! This could be so much fun! I’ll be a month into running by then”…Yah, turns out that was wishful thinking.
Due to less than ideal weather in this part on Ontario lately, this usually outdoorsy girl has been hibernating inside. I had blissfully forgotten my past action of signing up for the run… until I was harshly snapped back into reality by my leader Marie-Eve Dolan, an extremely fit and passionate runner. Marie Eve kindly reminded me that I was running a 5 K on Wednesday morning as I emptied a bottle of white wine into my glass at Blue Mountain’s Celebration of Excellence dinner on Monday night. So, not only had I forgotten about this run, it was less than 48 hours away and I had less than zero training.
The night before the big run, I did what any logical person would do. I watched the episode of Friends where Phoebe runs wildly through Central Park and embarrasses Rachel for inspiration. I decided that even if I wasn’t going to be first at the finish line, I was going to have a ton of fun running anyway.
Wednesday
morning arrived and the intimidating team of runners from our Marketing
department shrank quickly from five people to two. The two most dedicated
runners had to bail due to a last-minute meeting. I did feel a sense of relief
that my lack luster performance wouldn’t be burned into the minds of my
leaders. That left just me and Jason
Petznick, long time friend in and out of work, as the only participants from
Marketing. Sensing my dread, Jason reminded me “Mel, we get a free breakfast”.
I was instantly reinvigorated with motivation.
We arrived at the Westin front Lobby to a very excited Travis Nixon (trail
runner extraordinaire) who was hosting the event. He outfitted us in bright
yellow sweat bands, wrist bands and Run Westin t-shirts. As the other
departments rolled in, I socialized with the other runners and realized I
wasn’t the only one who had ignored the training regime. He channeled his best
“November Project” and got us chanting and hyped with a quick warm up, and then
we were off.
Mistake #1 – I did not stretch before or after. Why is this an issue? Well, as
I was born with a body meant for true athleticism, (lol), my flat feet caused
SEVERE calf cramps by the 2 km mark. And after finishing, I was too focused on
the fancy fruit infused water station to stretch. Now, a day after the run, my hip
flexors have essentially seized up and my future is looking sedentary.
Mistake #2 – Pacing a friendly giant… I tried to pace Jason for the first 500 meters, but since his legs are basically the same height as my shoulders, he was already past the lift plaza before I had left the Westin parking lot.
Mistake #3 – I was lured into this 5 K with promises of an Oliver & Bonacini Breakfast. Dreams of French toast, bacon and eggs Benedict got me to the end of the finish line . But once I got there, I discovered a healthy spread of bananas, oranges, apples and Clif Bars. Since I work in sponsorship, I have an unlimited amount of Clif Bars at my fingertips at any given time, so this breakfast was not exactly a treat for me. My visions of a gourmet carb breakfast went sadly unfulfilled.
Note: I actually really like Clif Bars, I eat them almost daily – and no, this is not a paid promotion. Thank you Clif Bar for curbing my Hangriness on the daily, especially with your builder bar, which is full of chocolatey protein goodness!
It wasn’t all mistakes though. And as much as there is a dramatic undertone to this blog, I did have a lot of fun on this run.
Fun Fact #1 – I got to meet a ton of new people who I wouldn’t have met otherwise. The person who held pace with me was Amy. She works in our conference service department and I see her emails often but have never had a chance to interact with her. I cannot stress enough that company wide events, even out of your comfort zone, really bring the community together.
Fun Fact #2 – I have been slowly curating playlists of songs recommended by colleagues for some added fun content for Blue Mountain. We have been working on one for runners and hikers and I decided to give it a whirl. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. There were some seriously questionable choices that more than raised my eyebrow, but mid calf cramp – Shakira’s Waka Waka came blasting through my ear buds and my slow as molasses run turned more into some sort of weird, dance/walk movement (though not as erratic as Phoebe Buffay).
Enjoy the Spotify Playlist below.
Fun Fact #3
– Because this was a company wide event that wound through the different buildings
that our staff work out of, there were employees who came out to cheer everyone
on. That was very unexpected, but a memorable moment of support.
I said this in my last Blog about Dillon’s weekly exercise program – GET
INVOLVED! These resort wide employee initiatives are there for a reason. They
are fun (even if you hate running) and you really get a sense of community and
resort wide comradery. It is week one of Employee Adventure month. Don’t let
that pass go to waste. Grab some co-workers and get out there to attend these
events that the Human Resources team work hard to put on.
