Thursday, March 11, 2010

NEW ZEALAND HERE I COME!!

Only one more day to go and I'll be on the plane to "down under". I'm really looking forward to seeing my family, especially my Dad, as it's been a couple of years since I last went home. Hopefully it will still be nice n' warm by the time I get there (they're just going into early autumn).

I'm also looking forward to getting spanked in the Tarawera Ultra 100km. Oh, I think that's gonna hurt!

Wish me luck.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Racing



Every other week I've been going into Calgary to race in a cross country series hosted by the Calgary Roadrunners. The trail races are about 8 km and are a great way to see parts of Calgary that I never knew existed! They only cost $10 and are the best way for me to get some speedwork under my belt as I'd never run that fast by myself or with friends; the Calgary folks are speedsters so I'm guaranteed to get a lung burner! Afterwards they offer soup, bread and coffee and everyone brings a dessert so it also gives me a good excuse to do some baking every couple of weeks!

Skoki


The Skoki area at Lake Louise is beautiful at any time of year and it's made the perfect venue for my weekly long runs. Skoki Lodge sits nestled some 14 km from where I leave the car so it gives me a nice 28 km round trip on pretty hardpacked snow. There have been times when I punch through but most days it's fairly solid. People ski into Skoki Lodge for a weekend and are extremely surprised to see anyone running in for the day!