The Canadian Tire story

Last Monday night after a meeting at BC Place Stadium I decided to stop in at the nice new CT store on Cambie. I park on the top level which is their seasonal area. I go do my shopping, stand in line and pay for my purchases. Heading out to my car I realize that I had meant to pick up some potting soil. So I throw my bag in the back of the Santa Fe then wander over to look at the potting soil. I decide on the one I wanted, the Promix 35 L for $6.95. I go back in the store and get in line again.

It's finally my turn and I tell the cashier what I want. She looks at her potting soil code list and can't figure out which one it is so she starts trying different codes. I am keenly aware that there is a long line up and only this one cashier. As she brings one up I say I will take it, its the one I want but double the size. She wants to keep looking but I'm like its fine, there is a line I will take that one. She then decides to call the guy working on the floor. He comes over and they discuss it and he wants me to go outside and show him the one I want. He keeps saying I need the ticket for the soil, that I should have grabbed it outside. I again say I will take the one she has found and just find it outside. . He refuses to let me do this so I said that I didn't want one after all, that it just wasn't worth the hassal.

I leave the store, a little frustrated by the experience but not all that angry. As I am walking back to my car I decide to take a look for these tickets you are supposed to grab. I'm a little confused as I see nothing at all that looks like a tag your grab and take it to show which one you want. I turn and head back to my car. All of a sudden I hear yelling and I turn to see the guy from the floor come running out and he's yelling at me. So I stop and he's screaming at me to see my receipt. I'm now at my car so I open the back and reach into my bag and show him the reciept. He then says he thinks he saw me put a bag of potting soil in my car. I'm flabbergasted (love that word). So I say "I'm sorry....did you just say you think you saw me put a bag of potting soil in my car?" He states the same thing again at the top of his voice and I almost laugh as it is absolutely outrageous. So I then say, "Are you accusing me of stealing a bag of potting soil" and he once agains says he though he saw me put a bag of potting soil in my car. I'm not sure how many times we said "A bag of potting soil". Through all of this I am just stunned at the allegations and I explain that I was just looking for the tickets he said I need to bring in. He then denies ever having said anything about tickets and tells me I can go back and ask the cashier, she will back him up. Next he wants me to go back into the store with the bag of soil I originally wanted and pay for it. I said to him, so let me get this straight, you now want me to pick up the bag of soil, walk back inside, stand in line and buy this bag of soil". It was in fact what he wanted. At that point I said I was leaving.

I was too stunned at the time to do anything about it and now a week has gone by and I think its too late to complain.

Anyways...that's the story. I always thought that I looked rather innocent, not like the thieving type.

It looks like it will take me a few days to recover from the marathon, and I'm not talking physically. My desk looks like a whirlwind has passed over it and its starting to look like a going out of business sale what with the marathon stuff, the yoga mats and now the exercise balls left over from the Expo.

A few thoughts on the half marathon:

1. It might not be such a great idea to be both an organizer and a participant
2. The first 5 miles were awesome
3. Having wet feet for 13 miles is not fun
4. Having dry shoes to change into unlike thousands of others is good
5. If you put your head down and just go, Prospect Point is nothing!
6. Seeing familiar faces on the course really does make a difference
7. Diggs may have beaten me but I can walk normally
8. Meredith Jenkins is awesome
9. Having a VIP pass that allows you to hangout right in the finish line chute is very cool
10. Hamburgers post race taste awesome!

My little running group is now planning to do the Scotia Half at the end of June in Vancouver. Before Sunday I was not interested and now I can't wait. I'd really like to see if I can improve my time with a little pre-race rest.

I did it!

1845 716/4345 F 161/753 F3034 2:01:00 9:14 11713 Jennifer Stanford Vancouver,BC 1:58:53

Special thanks to NB for the delicious home cooked dinner Saturday night and to Sully for the healthy dessert. After setting Diggs up on the air mattress it was off to bed as we had an early wake up called scheduled for the morning. Battle Oatmeal came to be when Diggs stated he didn't need to eat anthing before the race and I inhaled a double serving of quaker instant oatmeal. Then it was off to the races as NB...being the marathon fairy that she is (I just came up with that) was kind enough to pick us up and drop us off at the stadium for 6:00 AM.

After some volunteer chaos at the stadium I was finally able to switch to participant mode about 15 minutes before the race was to start. Things were not looking good heading to the start line as we hadn't found our regular running partners and it was pouring rain. The gun went off...actually we were not even sure about that and I started off with PD one of the ladies I run with on Saturday mornings. The first 5 miles felt awesome and i felt strong right up the Prospect Pt hill. Diggs and I finally found one another again going down the hill and stayed together until about 2 miles to go. At this point Diggs realized that I was in fact beating him having started a few minutes back from him. It was at this point he took off like a bat out of hell and finished the race with a 14 second lead over me.

Big thanks go out to ML, NB and LE for cheering me on as came into that final stretch. Thanks ladies!

The pictures below really are great as they show me finishing the race. I'm smiling as I can see two of my friends (JM & EF) at the finish line. What's really cool is that they even caught us hugging. EF had a great run and came in around 1:55 and JM got to hold the finishers tape.

Please don't let me forget to tell you the story about how I was accused of stealing potting soil at the Canadian Tire last night. It's quite a story.

Nothing sucks more than making yourself a kick ass lunch and then leaving it on the kitchen counter. sigh!

6 days left now until the half. I'm feeling well prepared. We ran 10K in the Demonstration forest Saturday morning. To say it was hill would be an understatement but it was a great run none the less. I did it in just under 55 minutes which included a short walk at 5K when we turned. One of my running partners EF reminds me a lot of another girl FD who I used to run with on the women's team. Neither of us being particularly strong runners we worked really hard one summer to improve. Who ever was a little faster each day would do their best not to let the other pass. While EF is definitely faster than me, I am starting to catch up. On Saturday we stayed pretty close until the last big downhill when she pulled a head and I just couldn't keep up. I can't seem to get my legs to move as fast as the others on the downhills (thank god I can power up the hills). With about 1K to go I decided to try and reel her back in so I put my head down and started pushing it. I got to about 25 metres behind her when she started to hear my footsteps. She glanced over her shoulder, saw it was me and immediately drove up her rate and started to widen the gap again. We had a good laugh at the end when I called her on it but in all truth it was very motivating to know that I'm starting to appear as a threat!

The apartment is starting to come together. My herbs are starting to grow and I've started work on sanding down my bistro set in prep for a new coat of paint. I think my little balcony is going to be a lovely little oasis once its all done. These photos were taken between about 7-8 PM. I get full sun on the balcony for most of the day as I am south facing.