Brenda on the Run

Happy New Year!

2012-01-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

I know ... I've been off the grid for a while but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of you.
All the best for 2012! Here's to more fun, more adventures and a year brimming with possibility!

Tor des Geants: race report

2011-10-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Tor des Geants was a great experience and I must say, I really enjoyed it. Sure, there were moments of feeling utterly exhausted, craving real food and a long, deep sleep but what an incredible journey. On the whole, I kept pretty happy throughout the week with just one day of wondering why I was doing this to myself, but that thought soon passed! It took a day or two to settle into the race, getting to know how the life bases and refuge huts worked, but it's surprising how quickly we adapt.

The route runs along the Alta Via 1 and Alta Via 2 of the Valle d'Aosta, with the start and finishing line in Courmayeur and is a self-paced race of 336 km (200 miles) with an altitude range of 24,000 metres with 150 hours to complete it. There are life bases set up throughout the week where you can get a hot meal, shower, access your drop bag and get some sleep. These tend to be busy places with people coming and going so the chances of getting any real sleep are slim but they're a great place to get yourself clean and fed before heading out into the mountains again.

There are also certain refuge huts in the mountains that you're able to sleep at for no more than 2 hours. I quickly found that these were the best places to get some shut-eye as they're not as busy as the life bases and a 2 hour sleep when you're exhausted feels wonderful!
Even though this is a self-paced race, you still have to make various cut-off times throughout the course but I realized on Day One that this wouldn't be a problem so I didn't bother take much notice of my times/pace etc and because of this, it made TdG one of the most relaxing "races" I've been in. There are some weird timings as to when you have to leave a life base ie you have to leave by midnight on one day, 2 am on another .... this means that you're forced to run during the night time which added to the sleep deprivation. And that was a whole new experience for me - I was having early morning hallucinations by the end of the week which I've never had before but were fun and entertaining.

One thing I learnt from racing UTMB last summer was that it is super steep in the Alps so I knew that TdG would be an incredibly challenging course every day for 6 days. I took it pretty easy on Day One as this is the day that will either contribute to your success or your demise; it's amazing how many people take off as if they're in a 10-km race from the starting line - this is great if you're some super-fit mountain goat, but it sure is a difficult pace to maintain for that type of distance. I took the tourist approach - get there when you get there and remember to stop and enjoy the views en route. The one thing that is hard in this type of steep environment is getting your head around how long it takes to cover a short distance. On the first day, it took me 13 hours to cover 43 km which is super long (even for me!) And there are times when even 5 km will take a couple of hours so I found having a "get there when you get there" approach kept me from going insane!

My goal from the beginning was to get to the finishing line on the morning of the 6th day, hopefully in one piece, but my main goal was to enjoy it as much as possible and I found this easy to do. When you break it down to its bare bones, the only things you need to know on a daily basis is that you're going to be hoofing it up a steep uphill for hours and hours (and hours), and then you'll cross some crazy mountain pass, and then you'll drop down for hours and hours until you reach the valley floor and then you do it all again, sometimes many times over during a 20-hour period including doing all this through the night when you're so tired that you end up staggering on the trail, hoping you don't fall off the mountain. Oh, and if you're lucky, you may get to sleep for a couple of hours here and there.

I bumped into Steve periodically either on the trail or at a life base which was great. During the last leg, I decided to stay at a couple of refuge huts en route to the finishing line. By this time, a huge part of me was eager to get finished - my stomach was sick of all the running food and I was having a hard time getting calories down me. But on the other hand, I really wanted to finish in the daylight as it's a shame to miss out on the beautiful mountain scenery. Plus it's way safer to hit the last downhill section in the daylight. So I ended up making an additional stop at the Bonatti refuge hut for a 2 hour sleep and just before going to the dorm, Steve walked in! Talk about perfect timing - it meant that we could sleep for a couple of hours and then head off at sunrise and cross the finishing line together.

I met loads of great people at TdG and also saw some of our Calgary friends out there too which was a treat. There was a nice feeling amongst people - everyone trying to get to the finishing line and everyone dealing with their own challenges either physical or mental while doing so. The scenery throughout this course is utterly amazing. And the towns and villages that we ran through were very neat and tidy, with friendly people giving support. It's a very well run event and the volunteers do a great job. What a great event - thank you to everyone involved!

Tor des Geants

2011-08-26T20:16:00.001-07:00

Well, it's time for another big adventure and this one will take me to the Italian Alps. I signed up for Tor des Geants back in January and it's a race that has somehow come around very quickly.

Banff, like the rest of the northern hemisphere, had a very long winter and I still have to do a double-take every time I look at my calender; is it really the end of August already? It feels like summer has only just begun.

Tor des Geants is a multi-day mountain race which ran for the first time in 2010 but is a race that filled up within days of opening this year. I will be on the starting line with 499 other people who will all be hoping to get to the finishing line in one piece! The course is 330 km in length and you get 150 hours to complete it. There are some life bases en route where you can get a shower, food and sleep so I'm hoping to be able to get some shut-eye during the week but am not counting on it. When I ran UTMB last year, I was shocked at how steep it is in the Alps so I've got a pretty good idea of how long it takes to cover a small distance and how challenging this course will be - pain is definitely in the forecast!!!

My only goal is to get to the finishing line without too much long-term damage but if the body blows up on me, then Plan B is to sit back in a gelato shop and watch the world go by - now that's an attractive idea. Maybe I should just skip the race and go straight to the gelato shop!!

Anyway, wish me luck! I'll let you know how I get on after I've hobbled back home.

Images from a week in Jasper

2011-08-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

I raced the Iron Leg 50 miler last weekend and then took a week's holiday and spent it running in neighbouring Jasper National Park - what a blast! I ran on lots of new trails and also did my old favourite, the classic Skyline Trail. Together with the race, I managed to rack up about 300km so was pretty happy with that as I felt great at the end of the week.

Fryatt Valley

Fryatt Valley from the Headwall.

A very misty Sulphur Skyline

We don't usually have a lot of mist here so this was fun.

Whistlers summit overlooking the town of Jasper

Mt Edith Cavell.

The Tonquin Valley

A moose!

The view from Wilcox Peak

The view from Bow Summit.

A quick fastpacking trip into Floe Lake

2011-08-14T06:05:00.001-07:00

It was my birthday on Wednesday and I decided on a spontaneous fastpacking trip into Floe Lake to celebrate.
Floe Lake is part of the classic Rockwall Trail and is easily accessible from the 93 South Highway. After a couple of hours of climbing up and around, you step into the beautiful and quiet Floe Lake area. There were quite a few campers already set up, fed and hunkered down in their tents for the night. I'd gone in straight after work so didn't expect to see too many people up and about but I still had quite a few hours of daylight left and sat on the edge of Floe, eating my pre-made dinner and just marveling at how easy it can be to "get away from it all".
I had a pretty good night's sleep and was up super early to pack everything up, make some hot coffee and then boogie back down the trail to my car where I had my office clothes waiting for me. After a quick wash and change, I was back on the highway and at my desk by 8.35 am what a great start to the day!

Helen Lake

2011-08-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Exploring beyond Helen Lake

Isabel Lake

Western States: race report

2011-07-02T18:45:00.001-07:00

Wow! What a race. After all these months of training and fretting, the big day finally arrived at Squaw Valley and I took my place at 5.00 am with all the other runners, looking forward to a long day of running some beautiful trails. I tried not to think too much about the distance because 100 miles (160km) is a very long way and I figured I would just let the day unfold as best as possible. My pre-race nerves had actually kicked in the day before during registration so I ended up feeling super calm on race morning and felt even better once I'd hooked up with friends Angela and Leslie. Leslie was pacing Angela from Foresthill so after our good luck hugs, we said goodbye to Leslie and Angela and myself pushed our way as close to the front as possible before the countdown had us on our way.

My only goal for this race was to finish under 30 hours and to try to enjoy it as much as possible. I wasn't hung up on exactly when I was going to get over the finishing line so didn't have any split times or anything like that. I did however run with a list of the aid stations and their cut off times as there was always that small niggling doubt of whether I could keep ahead of these.

It was just getting light as we started pushing our way uphill and I was amazed at how many people were out to support us. I even saw some sponsored athletes cheering us on. Once I reached the snow, I found that my legs were feeling pretty nimble and I ended up overtaking loads of people who seemed quite shy of this hard white stuff under our feet. That's one good thing about having lived in Canada for so long - I've gotten very used to being on snow!

Some of the course was a little slick, especially on the snow slopes and I wiped out a couple of times so pulled myself back a little as it's no good getting hurt so early on in this type of race. The scenery was stunning and as the course opened up, I forced myself to take it in as much as possible. It felt like it was going to be a good day. There was a warm breeze and the skies were clear.

I figured that the key to success for this distance, especially in the heat of the canyons, would be to keep myself hydrated and fueled as much as possible. My weight on race morning was 127 and by the time I got to the first aid station, I was down to 124 so this was a good cue to start drinking more and to add some electrolytes. My weight all day only fluctuated by a couple of pounds and when I got on the scale at the finishing line, I was 126.

I think most of my day was occupied with monitoring my food and drink, always looking at my watch and taking a gel or some solid food at regular intervals. I tend to start these long races eating sweet food and I was extremely happy to see chocolate chip cookies at the first few aid stations so I grabbed some of those to munch on inbetween my gels or blok shots. I was impressed that the aid stations had plain gels so I didn't have to gag on all the strong flavours that are usually on offer.

Later on in the day, I switched to saltier foods ... things like Ritz crackers, chips, boiled potatoes etc. I must be honest and say that I love eating during these races and usually have a really good appetite. Western States was no different; I had a solid stomach all the way through which I was very happy with as I passed at least 4 people throwing up on the course and I can't imagine how crappy that must feel, plus how difficult it must be to try and refuel your body after that. I also used Carbo Pro which is a non-tasting powder that you add to your water/nuun and this is a good way of sneaking in some extra calories.

I'd opted to make Michigan Bluff my main aid station and this is where I was picking up my headlamps and also getting changed into dry clothing for the night time section. It was still daylight when I got there but I thought it would allow me to skip through the larger aid station of Foresthill as quickly as possible as I imagined that it would be a gonk show there what with people picking up their pacers and lots of spectators etc. I never had any intention of running with a pacer as I really wanted to do this race by myself and, even though I knew it would be a little more challenging running solo, I also knew that I'd get a kick out of doing it this way. It was quite funny to have people pass me at night telling me how ballsy they thought I was. I'd never dream of running at night by myself at home, but it doesn't bother me in a race. I actually like it. But maybe I'm too tired at that point to really care!

It always surprises me how quickly time passes during these races. I remember looking at my watch at some point and realizing that I'd already been going to 15 hours straight and yet I felt reasonably fresh. I'm sure I was moving fairly slowly but it all felt good. Until the blisters on the bottom of both feet appeared. I can't tell you how painful that is. It felt like I was trying to run on hot coals and the bad news was that I still had 30 miles to go. I was quite relieved when they finally burst as they now just felt like someone was cutting into my feet each time I placed them down. However, there comes a time when you have to suck it up and just get 'er done. I think this part of our British genes - stiff upper lip and all that!!

In some ways, the last 30 miles felt a little easier as the aid stations seemed to string together nicely and I managed to get myself a steady pace - not fast, but at least moving forward. I hadn't seen Angela since the race started and I assumed that she was still ahead of me so I tried to pick up my pace a bit in the hope of maybe catching her up (I found out later that she was actually behind me and was suffering from knee problems - hardly surprising considering the amount of downhill elevation involved). I was also wondering how my friend Ellie was doing as I'd been hoping that she'd come in as first female (she's super speedy!) The one aid station wasn't sure but once I got to Highway 49, they were able to confirm that yes, Ellie Greenwood was first female! I can't tell you how elated I felt. Somehow it put a spring in my step and I was off, ready to knock off the final few miles to the finishing line.

There's a section between Highway 49 and No Hands Bridge which is the prettiest section of the race - lucky for me, I was running across this during daybreak and it was amazing. It's an area which is open and flat, with beautiful long soft grass and gorgeous soft billowing trees - it's like something out of a poster.

I managed to make my way down to No Hands Bridge without too much pain. My feet were in a stable state of painful numbness and my quads were still screaming, but were losing their voice. I was starting to realize that I was going to make it afterall! I was surprised at how early it was in the morning and didn't feel in a massive rush to get finished because I had nothing at the finishing line and they didn't start serving breakfast until later in the morning so it seemed pointless breaking my butt to finish, just to sit around waiting. So I kept to as good a pace I could maintain without stressing over the hour.

And finally I got to the very last aid station and pavement. Who would have thought that a paved road would look so good?!! It was surprising to see so many people out on this warm morning and how fantastic they were at cheering us on. I managed to overtake quite a few folks on the last stretch and then ran onto the track of the high school for the final push to the finishing line. I can't tell you how excited I was. I was laughing, pumping my arms, clapping my hands, giggling ..... what an amazing journey! I crossed the finishing line in 26:11 hours. I was so proud of myself for keeping myself strong, looking after hydration/nutrition and remaining happy throughout.

A ton of work goes into these events. In some ways, us racers have it easy. The course is marked, there are aid stations set up in remote areas, all of them have ice to put in with your fluid, the volunteers are amazing - they go out of their way to treat you like an Olympian and thousands of hours of trail work and paperwork is done well before race day. My job was to show up, run as best as I could and to enjoy it as much as I could. And that I did. Thank you Western States for making this such a special event.

Racing!

2011-05-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a great couple of weeks for racing. Last weekend, I stopped at the 5 Peaks race in Calgary for a 5.4 km trail race and then headed to Red Deer to run Woody's RV Marathon. We've still got tons of snow around Banff and so I signed up for this road marathon in order to get some good mileage and speedwork in and ended up really enjoying the race! I've never been to Red Deer before so it was a good way of seeing this small Albertan city and the marathon itself is very well organized and supported. Kudos to the organizers and volunteers for making everyone so welcome. My goal time was 4 hours and I ended up crossing the finishing line at exactly 4 hours. I was pretty happy with this as I wasn't pushing terribly hard so now know that I could finish a marathon under 4 hours if I needed to.

And this weekend was another long road trip to race the Blackfoot Ultra. This race offers various distances and I'd signed up for the 80 km hoping that I would be able to recover quickly and so far feel pretty good. I was hoping to finish in 9 hours and crossed the line in 9.09 so was again pretty happy with that. My last lap was definitely a lot slower than the others but it was fine for a training race. And the added bonus was that it was hot, dry and snowless!

Next up is Western States at the end of June. Blimey! What have I gotten myself into?!!!

Rocky Mountain Soap Half Marathon

2011-05-16T18:30:00.001-07:00

We had some fabulous weather this weekend so it made the Rocky Mountain Soap Womens Half Marathon in Canmore an even more enjoyable experience. This is the 4th year that this weekend event has taken place and it offers a 6km, 12 km and half marathon so appeals to all type of runners from all over Alberta. It's a hilly course so everyone gets to have a good workout regardless of which distance they've chosen and the hill work at the finishing line makes everyone relieved to be done!

It's great to see so many women out there having fun, giving themselves a challenge and supporting each other. Plus it's a great fundraiser towards Breast Cancer so everyone wins! Rocky Mountain Soap is made here in the Canadian Rockies, is all natural and smells divine! If you have a chance to come across it, I highly recommend it.

This was my second half marathon and I managed a time of 1:56 so was pretty happy with that. I think I'm starting to like this distance!!

Running photos from the Grand Canyon

2011-04-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

This was our first visit to the Grand Canyon and I found it incredible. It's so big that it's almost overwhelming. It was exciting to get our first glimpse of the Colorado River, knowing that we'd be running all the way down there. Yay - downhill all the way!
This is a trail runners dream. And it's warm and dry - I can't tell you how lovely that felt after being buried in snow for the last 5 months.
The scenery reminded me of the old west - I was half expecting to see John Wayne out there.
What a great first day. We started on the South Kaibab Trail, ran down to the Colorado River and came back up on the Bright Angel Trail. It felt good knowing that we had another 4 days of hitting the trails.
Going down is optional, coming up is mandatory!

Grand Canyon

2011-04-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

We just returned from 5 days of running in the Grand Canyon. Wow, what a place! More photos to follow ....

Rogers Insurance Half Marathon

2011-03-29T19:38:00.001-07:00

I went into Calgary on Saturday and ran my first ever Half Marathon! I'm not much of a road runner but figured it would be a good way to get some speed work in over 21 km and I actually enjoyed it.

It was bit of an overcast day but the temperatures were good and there was quite a bit of bare pavement to run on which made a nice change for all the snow and ice we've had this winter! I didn't really know how to pace myself for this type of race so figured I would go out and try and keep a consistent pace going which seemed to work well.

Steve was en route to visit family but gave me a nice surprise by showing up near the end and running the last couple of kilometers with me before I bolted for finishing line.

I finished in 1:57 hr and came in 91 out of 233 (7th female out of 33 in my age category). Not bad for my first Half! I think next time I might try and push a bit harder as I had plenty of juice left in the tank at the end and my legs felt fine the next day.

Running on empty

2011-03-14T18:50:00.001-07:00

I ended up getting a stomach bug last Monday so spent most of last week sick. I don't usually get ill so it was a good reminder not to take good health for granted. Thankfully I'm starting to get my strength back and feel like my old self again.

Frozen Ass 50: race report

2011-02-22T18:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the Family Day public holiday so we got to enjoy a 3-day weekend. And what better way to spend it than racing in the Frozen Ass 50km in Calgary. This is an event run by Gord's Running Store and is one of those lovely, low key, no-fuss type of races with fantastic volunteers and a bunch of running nuts willing to get out there and put some mileage in at the start of the year.

The weather was quite warm which made it pleasant as I can't imagine how bitterly cold that course would be on another day, especially as it's so open. The footpaths were snow covered and a little icy in sections but the footing was pretty good. And just prior to the halfway mark (or the finishing line if you were doing the 25 km race), we were running down the middle of a frozen river which was fun as the front runners were just starting to make their way back so it was nice to see who was out in the lead. It wasn't long until I saw my mate Ellie (first female, 2nd overall) booking along. And not too much later I saw Steve and then my mate Mike. I recognized quite a few folks from the Calgary/ultrarunning community there too as they went running past. It also meant that I had to be quite close to the halfway point which had me happy! My friend, Angela, was helping to man the aid station there so it was great to see her and have her help me on my way.

Going back was quiet as all the 25 km folks had finished at Angela's aid station and the 50 km people were now more strung out. I'm not a huge fan of flat terrain, especially over this type of distance, but I figured it would be a good training run and I actually felt pretty strong up until the 35 km mark but then my legs starting to complain quite loudly. My calf muscles were giving me some cramp spasms and my quads were screaming so the only thing to do at this point was to hunker down and get 'er done! I kept reminding myself that the pain was good experience and a taste of what's to come in my summer races, so it was a great motivator to recommit to my training program!

I was very happy to see the finishing line and was one of many people hobbling around afterwards! The post-race gathering was held inside the Canoe Club and was a great end to the day. Tons of food, various drinks and nibblies. Plus door prizes. Frozen Ass has to be one of the best value races out there and has a great vibe to it, so if you're in Calgary at the end of next February, I'd highly recommend it. Gord does a great job of organizing this event and has an army of fantastic volunteers to ensure that it runs well.
http://www.gordsrunningstore.com/frozen_ass.htm

I wasn't sure how long the race would take me but I was hoping it would be no more than 6 hours and I came in at 5.48 so was pretty happy with that. I got the mileage in which was more important and, even though my legs were pretty tight today, I managed to get up early and go to my muscle class (skipping out on the lower body section, thank you) and got half an hour of yoga in at lunchtime (I was too sore to do any more!) And yes, that is a grimace that you see on my face as I try to make the stairs, but hopefully I'll be back to bouncing around again soon.

Moving house

2011-02-17T20:14:00.001-08:00

I move to the other side of town at the end of next week so am now knee deep in packing boxes and am counting down the days until I'm ensconced in my new Princess Pad. I've moved tons of times in the past and am one of those who try not to accumulate too much stuff but still, it's surprising how quickly the "stuff" mounts up. I'm also having to downsize so it's a good chance to do more purging (I'm not sure how I'm going to fit into 360 sq ft of living space but I guess I'll find out next week!!)

I'm trying to keep myself organized as there's also a lot of things going on in my day-to-day living. The Fifty Ass race (50 km) is on Monday in Calgary so I'm keeping one corner of my place as "the running corner". Losing sight of my running gear at this point would be a bit of a disaster!

Bow Valley Parkway

2011-01-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely run this morning on the Bow Valley Parkway. Locally known as the "1a", the parkway more or less follows the route of the first road completed between Banff and
Lake Louise in 1920.

With the completion of the Trans Canada Highway in the late 1950s, the 1a became an alternative, slower route. So if you want to go for a Sunday drive, enjoy the scenery, see wildlife,

ride your bike or simply run, then the Bow Valley Parkway is a piece of heaven.

Newport Ymerodraeth State of Mind

2011-01-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

I love it - this is such a funny take-off! And so Welsh!

Chilly!

2011-01-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

It's a very cold week here in Banff with temperatures hovering between -27 and -18 celcius. I've still been able to get out for some runs but it's chilly!

Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011!!

2011-01-01T17:43:00.001-08:00

I love this time of year, seeing all those months on the calendar looking fresh and ready to be used.

2010 was a pretty good year. I ran three 100 km races in preparation for UTMB and enjoyed visiting New Zealand, California and Europe, catching up with family, old friends and making new ones. It was also sad to see a lot of young people I know die of yukky diseases, and that's always a reminder to make the most of the present, as none of us know what's around the corner.

I've just spent the last 3 weeks on holiday and decided to stay home which surprised everyone, including myself. But when you live in a place as beautiful as Banff, it's not a hard decision. I got to work out, do some running, read, watch films, visit friends, celebrate, ate a ton and even drank some wibbly wobbly stuff. I guess it's time to get back on the program again!

And I'm really looking forward to 2011 - there's lots of adventures out there waiting to be had!

Happy New Year everyone.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T17:51:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and New Year!

Western States - I'm in!

2010-12-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

The lottery was on Saturday and I got in! Guess I'll need to put my game plan together.

Running close to home

2010-11-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

The clocks went back last night and it was great to have an extra hour in bed! It was another warm day today and it made for a nice run near Cascade Ponds. We're lucky in Banff as we don't have to travel to get great views or trails - they're literally outside our front door.

Yamnuska

2010-10-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

We had another amazing day of blue skies and warm weather on Saturday so we headed up Yamnuska or "the Yam" as it's affectionately known (a stoney word for "wall of stone"). This is the most easterly mountain in the valley and is a popular area for rockclimbers and hikers.

Looking towards Calgary
However, once we got into the shade around the back of the Yam, it was frigid! It was nice to get back into the warmth of the sunshine again. Brrr!!

Plain of Six, Lake Louise

2010-10-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

The last 3 weeks have been amazing here in the Rockies but the weather is changing. Knowing that Lake Louise would be nice n' quiet, it was the perfect day to run to the Plain of 6 teahouse and also add some extra mileage in for a nice 15 km loop. Lake Louise is still looking beautiful and turquoise!
This is Mirror Lake, already frozen.
Lake Louise in the distance
Mitre Peak, Mt Lefroy and part of Mt Victoria - en route to the Plain of Six

Ha Ling Peak

2010-10-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I decided to hike up Ha Ling Peak (2408m).

The view of Canmore from the summit. We've had beautiful weather the past few weeks but it was chilly on the summit! And the trail down was incredibly icy - I fell on my butt 6 times and felt like I'd been beaten up when I got out of bed this morning. I think I'll stick to running in future - it's way safer!

Beautiful Banff

2010-10-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

The weather in Banff has been amazing this week so I've been out running during most of my lunch breaks. But today I felt like sitting on a bench next to the river and just enjoying the moment - I'm lucky to live in such an incredibly beautiful place.

Hilarious!

2010-09-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was surfing on the net the other night and came across the blog:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/ and thought it was hilarious! Here's an article on camping ....

If you find yourself trapped in the middle of the woods without electricity, running water, or a car you would likely describe that situation as a “nightmare” or “a worse case scenario like after plane crash or something.” White people refer to it as “camping.”

When white people begin talking to you about camping they will do their best to tell you that it’s very easy and it allows them to escape the pressures and troubles of the urban lifestyle for a more natural, simplified, relaxing time. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In theory camping should be a very inexpensive activity since you are literally sleeping on the ground. But as with everything in white culture, the more simple it appears the more expensive it actually is.

Camping is a multi-day, multi-step, potentially lethal activity that will cost you a large amount of both time and money. Unless you are in some sort of position where you absolutely need the friendship of a white person, you should avoid camping at all costs.

The first stage of camping always involves a trip to an outdoor equipment store like REI (or in Canada, Mountain Equipment Co-Op). These stores are well known for their abundance of white customers and their extensive inventory of things for white people to buy and only use once. If you are ever tricked into going to one of these stores, you can make white people like you by saying things like “man, this Kayak is only $1200, if I use it 35 times I’ve already saved money over renting.” Note: do not actually buy the kayak.

Next, white people will then take this new equipment and load it into an SUV or Subaru Outback with a Thule or Yakima Roof Rack. Then they will drive for an extended period of time to a national park or campsite where they will pay an entrance fee and begin their journey. It is worth noting that white people are unaware of the irony of using a gas burning car to bring them closer to nature and it is not recommended that you point this out. It will ruin their weekend.

Once in the camp area, white people will walk around for a while, set up a tent, have a horrible night of sleep, walk around some more. Then get in the car and go home. This, of course, is a best case scenario. Worst case scenarios include: getting lost, poisoned, killed by an animal, and encountering an RV. Of these outcomes, the latter is seen by white people as the worst since it involves an encounter with the wrong kind of white people.

Conversely, any camping trip that ends in death at the hands of nature or requires the use of valuable government resources for a rescue is seen as relatively positive in white culture. This is because both situations might eventually lead to a book deal or documentary film about the experience.

Ultimately the best way to escape a camping trip with white people is to say that you have allergies. Since white people and their children are allergic to almost everything, they will understand and ask no further questions. You should not say something like “looking at history, the instances of my people encountering white people in the woods have not worked out very well for us.”

UTMB: race report (5)

2010-09-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

UTMB was a joy, even with all the funky things going on. I came away from that race feeling like I'd experienced something very unique. I had quite a few reservations beforehand about the race because it's so big but I really loved it and found that the sheer size of the race is what makes it so special. And of course, the spectators are incredible - they give you so much energy when you're out there, especially late at night when you're starting to droop. To all the volunteers who make UTMB such a success, THANK YOU!! And to the race directors, local mayors, security, medics etc, THANK YOU!!

I got to run 119 km of the 166 km course with 2 race starts. I was wondering afterwards what it would be like to do the whole thing in one go, in 46 hours. I guess there's only one way to find out, and that's to go do it next year!

UTMB: race report (4)

2010-09-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

After a bit of "hurry up and wait" we found ourselves inside the Italian town of Courmayer, gateway to the Italian Alps. And from here, we restarted the race. How weird is that! It was time to get the game plan back on.

The Italian Alps are beautiful. I loved running in this area and it was an amazing sight with so many of us stretched out for miles and miles. One of the helicopters would fly by periodically and hover as they filmed us running. Can't say I've experienced that before - it felt a little bit like being in a James Bond movie!

Just before heading over our first mountain pass, the heavens opened and the rain came back with a cold wind. It was freezing up there but I didn't hang round for too long. Tackling the steep descent was entertaining as it was now a mud fest.

I did what I usually do in adverse conditions; I put my head down and kept going. I can't tell you how much I appreciated the hot noodle soup at each of the aid stations. The aid stations are like miniture villages - huge marquees are set up with rows of tables and rows of food/drink. There's something for everyone on offer and yes, I even tried out the local cheese and crackers. Yum! However, I couldn't quite get into the idea of eating salami!

The support in all the local villages was fantastic, especially during the night. All our bib numbers had our names printed and also our country flags. It's quite amazing to hear people yelling "bravo Brenda, allez, allez". It took me a short while to work out how they knew my name (duh!)

UTMB is a tough course for sure. The uphills are incredibly steep and they don't always have a lot of switchbacks to them - they're straight up. There were a couple of times during the night where I was getting the wobbles - I was walking like a drunk but my body felt pretty good otherwise. I figured it could be borderline hyperthermia as my clothes were soaking wet for most of the race and I was slow on the ascents and descents. Everything was pretty slick and muddy so I moved cautiously on the downhills, especially during the night, but it was cold going.

I bumped into my friend Joel in one of the aid stations and that surprised me as I was expecting him to be miles out in front but he'd stopped to help another runner and then had gotten slightly hyperthermic himself, but was back on track when I saw him and was now on a mission to get to the finishing line under 20 hours. He was pleased that we could run together but I knew it would be hard work for me as he's so much stronger than I. So he took the lead and together we spent the next 6 hours making our way back to Chamonix. He'd call out to me periodically to make sure that I was still there. And any time I started to slow down too much, he would get me going again "allez, allez". He knows the trail like the back of his hand and would tell me what was in store. It was heartbreaking at times to hear how many mountain passes we still had to go up and over but we would plod on, slowly slowly. And at the top of the last pass, we had beautiful moonlit views of the mountain ranges.

The last descent was easy compared to what we'd experienced up to that point. Out of the blue, another friend, Jean-Luc, caught up with us so the 3 of us ran down together. We were on a mission to get to the finishing line and it was going to be touch and go if we'd make it under 20 hours. Joel and Jean-Luc kept a pretty hard pace so I stayed focused on keeping up with them and promised myself anything and everything if I would just keep running for another 20 minutes. You know that feeling - the finishing line is not so far away, but is still not close enough.

When the 3 of us ran over the finishing line together, joined together like the 3 musketeers, it was pure joy! I was sweating like a pig and felt relieved to have finished. We looked at our time and we had crossed in 19:51 hours, just 8 minutes to spare. That's what I call cutting it close!

UTMB: race report (3)

2010-09-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Jez Bragg (UK) in green, accepting his first place award.

Well, if you follow racing news, you'll know that this year's UTMB race was a little funky. We had loads of rain the morning of the race but by mid afternoon, it had cleared up. And just as we started the race at 6.30 pm it was sprinkling lightly. The start of the race was amazing - I've never experienced anything like it before. The streets of Chamonix were lined with hundreds and hundreds of people, all cheering and clapping. It felt like we were part of a massive celebration. It took me all my strength not to cry; I know that might sound a bit pathetic, but it felt very emotional and we were only just leaving the starting line!!

Me with female winner, Lizzie Hawker (UK).

I was having a great run. It was incredible to see that people were still lining the streets to cheer us on, even though we had already left Chamonix behind. It started to pour with rain again but at least it was warm and it added to the fun - I felt like a kid sloshing my way through the mud and puddles! After leaving the valley floor, we started to climb up and all I could see were hundreds of runners above me and hundreds of runners below me - it was a fascinating sight. I felt like I was part of a human train. It was lovely and quiet too; the Europeans don't seem to say much when they're racing! And everything seemed to flow well - I was expecting some pushing and shoving what with so many people being on the trail but everyone was very gentile and polite about passing each other.

Saint Gervais was at the 21 km mark and this is where the first main aid station was located. I was planning on stopping here to refill my water and re-adjust my clothing. I can't tell you how surprised I was when I stepped into the aid area and was told that the race was cancelled. I was only just starting to warm up! However, I didn't feel any emotion as such; no anger or disappointment. I think most of us were still trying to wrap our heads round the fact that it was finished. As in finito. Finished. Cancelled. No more race. I rang my friends who were ahead of me and we quickly found each other and they had already arranged for another friend to pick us up and take us to Les Contamines which was 10 km up the road. As we neared the village, we could see that some runners were still running but they were soon stopped by the volunteers and told that it was over. It's amazing how quickly the organizers had reacted because there were already lots of buses pulling in to take people back to Chamonix. I think most runners were in shock.

Yannick, Joel and myself met up with friends in the local pub and had some hot chocolate. None of us really said very much as there wasn't really anything we could do except for go home to bed (it was already gone 10 pm). And so we called it a night. I spent the next couple of hours sitting on my bed writing notes about the race start and the terrain (I know I'm a nerd!) but I figured it would be handy for next year.

After 4 hours of sleep, I was woken up by knocking on the door. Joel had received a text message to say that the race was back on but we had to leave immediately to catch the bus into Courmayer (Italy) so he came to see if I was wanting to go. Heck yes! Are you kidding? I was there to run and being able to run another 98 km of this course was music to my ears. So after throwing together my gear, we headed out.

UTMB: race report (2)

2010-09-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

The UTMB is more of an event, rather than just a race and there was a real buzz in Chamonix days before the actual race. We went in a couple of days beforehand to pick up our race bag, bib number and, thanks to one of the volunteers, had our timing chip safely attached to our wrists!

There are 3 other races in the North Face series which depart out of the same area in Chamonix and we were lucky enough to see one of them start their adventure earlier in the week. It gave me butterflies in my stomach!

Chamonix is beautiful! It all looked so European that I had to pinch myself. What a great place to go for a race.

UTMB: race report

2010-09-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

It's funny how things work out .... Steve and myself spent part of last November running across Costa Rica which was a French-run event and so when I was accepted into UTMB, the first thing I did was to contact my new French friends who live just outside Chamonix, and it turns out that they're also racing UTMB. How fun is that?!!

The beautiful, quiet village of Les Contamines. I loved it here. I actually felt like I was on holiday and everything was just so very French!!!

The UTMB course also ran through here so it gave me a good chance to scout it out (when I was eating almond croissants and drinking lattes!)

UTMB here I come!

2010-08-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's that time already. I'll be flying out to Geneva soon and then making myself at home in Chamonix, getting ready for the big UTMB! I'm under no illusion that this race is going to be brutal but I'm hoping to keep it together and enjoy it for what it is. I think being in Europe and being part of such a huge race will be quite the experience and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I make it to the finishing line in one piece. We get 46 hours to finish and there are 10 cut-off stations along the way so I'll try and pace myself; I've never run through 2 nights before or for this amount of time in one go so it'll be interesting to see how my body/mind hold up. The elevation gain/loss is horrendous so there's definitely pain in the forecast but it'll also be a beautiful place to be and a great experience. Fingers crossed!

Mt Piran

2010-08-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

Lake Louise - probably the most photographed lake in Canada

The view on the way up to Mt Piran

Mountains and glaciers!

Cirque Peak

2010-08-11T22:26:00.000-07:00

I made my annual run/hike to Helen Lake last weekend. I've been doing this hike every summer for the last 15 years and never tire of it. I used to guide hiking groups here regularly and would often spent my time off returning to Helen Lake to do it all over again! However, this was the first time that I had climbed up Cirque Peak which is something I've fancied doing for eons but never wanted to go up alone (I'm a baby!) It's basically a hike up and has amazing views.

It was little hazy up there, a combination of smoke from wild fires in British Columbia and cloudy weather. However, it was still amazing and will be somewhere we'll go again on a clear, sunny day.

There's always lots of Marmots at Helen Lake! This one was at the bottom of Cirque Peak and was really cheeky; it wouldn't leave us alone probably hoping for some food.

Birthday girl!

2010-08-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday yesterday! Yay - another year older. And a beautiful, rich chocolate cake. Oh, life is sweet. Thanks Steve!

North Boundary Trail: last day

2010-08-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had another great night camping - I love carrying what I need on my back during the day and building a little home for the night at the end of the day. I like the rituals that I fall into to ensure that I stay safe and healthy.

I realized that I would be back in civilization again within a few hours and felt ready for it. I don't think I've gone 3 whole days without seeing another human being before and even though I'm comfortable by myself, I was looking forward to having a cruisy day running down from Robson as I knew the area would likely be free of any animals and if there was a problem, there would a ton of people who could assist. Even though it's fun being "out there alone" it's also quite edgy. I'm constantly on the lookout for wildlife, forever making lots of noise to give any bears the heads up that I'm running through, and am very conscious that I can't make any mistakes.

Being at Robson washed away all these concerns. I let my guard down, giggled out loud and enjoyed every minute of this beautiful area, quite happy to say hello to the numerous people that I met on the trail. I was down at the visitor centre by lunchtime and as I munched on my egg sandwich, I looked around at all the tourists and smiled .... if only they knew where I'd spent the last 3 days!

North Boundary Trail: Day 3

2010-08-08T19:04:00.000-07:00

Day 3 was a long day, running through lots of forests, but for some reason I was excited. I was pretty sure I would make it to Adolphus campsite which is not too far away from Mt Robson. And Mt Robson would be crawling with people, so it was possible that I may see some folks today. It was after all, 3 whole days without seeing or talking to anyone and I think I was excited to have human contact again.

I passed lots of beautiful lakes and crossed lots of old avalanche slopes full of cow parsnip and tall willow bushes, so I was making lots of noise, especially later in the day.

Chown Creek was particularly beautiful. And just before getting to Adolphus, I turned a corner and there stood Mt Robson like the majestic mountain it is. Highest in the Canadian Rockies and oh so beautiful! I never did see anyone - Adolphus was yet another deserted campsite but that's okay, I didn't mind being alone.

North Boundary Trail: Day 2

2010-08-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

After a fairly good night's sleep and a hot breakfast, I started out for another adventurous day. I was starting to gain some elevation today and the trail was a little harder to run on; or maybe my legs were just tired!

My favourite part of the day was crossing Snake Indian Pass. It's just gorgeous up there.

I was tempted to camp up on the Pass as it felt beautiful to be in an open meadow with gorgeous mountains to look at but I fancied having a fire at night so decided to head to Byng Campground which happened to have a huge stock of dry firewood. I got in late afternoon and enjoyed having a few hours of hot sun to dry out all my sweaty clothes and I even took a small bath in the creek that ran next to the camp (no soap of course!) What a great day.

North Boundary Trail: Day One

2010-08-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

For this year's fastpacking adventure, I chose the North Boundary Trail which is close to 200 km in length, starts east of Jasper and runs west, popping out at the back of Mt Robson. I'd spent the Saturday running the Brazeau Loop (82 km) with Steve, Mike & Leslie so I spent Sunday in Jasper getting the final details of my trip organized and resting my legs. Parks Canada confirmed that no-one else was on the trail which is what I expected; it's a pretty remote place to wander and takes most people 10-12 days to backpack so isn't so popular these days. Which is a shame, as it's a beautiful location and is well signed.

After a good night's sleep at the Athabasca Hotel, I got dropped off at Celestine Lake Road by Mr Taxi and started to yell and holler my way on an old fire road so that I could access the trail. This area is prime black bear territory so I made lots of noise, especially as there was a lot of fresh bear scat on the trail. Snake Indian Falls was a little ways off the trail so I ducked down to take a look. The mist coming off felt nice seeing as it was turning out to be another hot day.

As I made my way to Willow Creek, I spent a bit of time in the horse camp as it was such a beautiful place. I opened the registry book that I found mounted on one of the trees and saw that a couple of wardens had travelled through this area 4 days before me to do some trail maintenance. I kept thinking that I might bump into them somewhere, but it wasn't to be. I was having a great time and found the running easy enough on my legs that I ended up doing 62 km but called it a day once I reached Blue Creek camp. I ended up setting up my tent in the horse camp as the creek crossing was way too dangerous to get to the hikers camp.

Skyline Trail: a double serving

2010-07-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome weekend. I boogied up to Jasper on Thursday night so that I could run the Skyline Trail back to back. This is one of Jasper's classic backpacking trips and one of my favourites. It's a 45 km mellow run so it's easy enough to do in a day. Logistically, it's a bit challenging as it's a point to point trail. However, to keep things simple I figured that I would run it in one direction on the Friday and then run it back in the other direction on Saturday.

It's surprising how different it looks when you run it in the opposite direction, but one thing's for sure; it's a beautiful trail regardless of which end you start.

There was still quite a bit of snow up there but hopefully with some hot weather, it'll soon disappear. This was my first trip into the alpine this summer so I was jazzed to be out there. Summer is late this year so we're all itching to get things rolling and this was a great start!

Glacier Lake

2010-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Another good weekend of sunshine last week so we headed off to Glacier Lake which is located in one of my all-time favourite areas - the Icefields Parkway (regarded as one of the most scenic highways in the world for good reason).

I've never run into Glacier Lake before so it was a nice treat to do some exploring. It's known as a good early season trail as it dries out fairly early in June compared to everything else that is still snow bound.

Exshaw Ridge

2010-06-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

It was hard to believe that we were suppose to have hot, sunny weather this weekend as it had rained all week and was suppose to continue raining again on Monday. Having 2 sunny faces sandwiched in between the grey clouds on the weather forecast looked nothing more than a tease. However, they got it right! 2 days of super hot, super sunny weather, all happening on the weekend - how sweet is that!

Not wanting to miss a minute of being outside, Steve and myself decided to go exploring somewhere new so headed off to the hamlet of Exshaw which is down the road from Banff. Exshaw is known for its cement factories but if you head up the valley, you leave all that yukky stuff behind and head into some beautiful mountain scenery. Getting up onto Exshaw Ridge is a bit of a grunt, but the views are well worth it. And once on top, there's an adventurous ridge run across, before pounding your way back down into the valley. My quads felt pretty tender afterwards and were squealing as badly as my sunburnt shoulders!

BLACKFOOT ULTRA: race report

2010-06-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I had a speedy recovery from running Miwok, I decided to sign up for the Blackfoot Ultra. I've got fond memories of this race as this is where I did my very first 50 km 3 years ago! Up until that point, I had only run a 21 km race so wasn't too sure how I'd get on but it turned out to be the perfect day and I got to the finishing line without any problems and a huge smile on my face! I then went back the year later to run the 80 km in preparation for the Canadian Death Race and had another good race. So this time, it made sense to sign up for the 100 km. I'm not a big fan of doing laps but I figured that running 4 x 25 km laps would be good mental training for me.

I like the 5 am starts but after 20 minutes of running, the skies opened and the rain started. This went on all day and turned into sleet and finally into snow. Parts of the course were incredibly muddy; I don't think I've ever seen so much mud before and, even though it was fun to be slipping n' sliding my way through it all, it was also freezing cold to wade through.

I knew that there would be some rain during the day so I had packed lots of different layering options in my drop bag and was able to change into dry clothes during the day. It was unbelievable that some people were still running in shorts, some without hats or gloves. Needless to say, there were a few folks pulled off the course due to hypothermia.

Before coming into the 50 km mark, I did consider dropping as my glutes were getting very stiff and, as this was a training run, I was a little concerned that I'd injure myself which would be a bummer at this time of year. So, I ended up hunkering down in the main shelter for a while with the idea of calling it quits but then decided to get back out there after the race director murmured words of encouragement in my ear. And of course, this meant that I was then in it for the long haul! Due to the amount of time I'd lost hanging out in the shelter, I had to start pushing myself to keep up a decent enough pace not to end up missing the cut-off time (that would have been hilarious!) but it all worked out well in the end. Running through the slippery mud was slow and tedious, especially on the uphills but I got to the finishing line with a smile on my face and no injuries. Mission accomplished! A huge thank you to RD, Gary, and all the volunteers. I can't imagine how cold/wet they must have been and yet they were still happy and smiley, cooking up hot soup at every aid station and giving out lots of encouragement. They were amazing!

Miwok 100 km

2010-05-05T21:30:00.001-07:00

Miwok was everything I expected it to be; beautiful trails, views of the Golden Gate Bridge (above), and gorgeous ocean. Not to forget, great people and fantastic aid stations (thank you volunteers!) It was great seeing so many familiar faces at the race start; people who I recognize from either the ultra magazines or from blogworld.

My friend, Angela, from Calgary. A kick-ass runner who I met at the Western States training camp last year. We were both loving the sunshine, especially as Calgary had just been blitzed by a severe snow storm the day before!

Beautiful trails that go on forever!
Local wildlife - turkeys!
Hmmm, just smell that ocean air.
Miwok is a fantastic race and makes me want to spend more time in California! The trails are fun. I knew it would be a hilly course but it wasn't as bad as I expected. My lower legs were paining me partway through the race so I popped a couple of Advil at the 80 km mark and that seemed to do the trick. I ended up feeling pretty good for the last few kilometers and even broke out into a full-on sprint for the last 500 meters and finished by leaping over the finishing line. I'm not sure who was more astonished; me or the race officials! I think the sprinting also helped to flush out some of the lactic acid as I had no stiffness at all afterwards which is pretty amazing, especially considering I was scrunched up on planes the next day, flying home.

Many thanks to Tia Boddington and all the people who make Miwok work like a well oiled machine. And congratulations to the winners: Anton Krupicka in 8:02 and Kami Semick in 9.10 hours. I did it in 14:33 hours and wasn't quite at the back - there were about 50 people behind me. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to get into Miwok again and who knows, maybe I can knock some time off that 14:33!!

Victoria

2010-04-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a long weekend in Victoria, BC and what a lovely place! I've wanted to go there for a long time so was super happy to visit for 3 days. Victoria is a lovely little city and is nestled next to the ocean with a temperate climate. The cherry blossoms are out and all the gardens are full of tulips and daffodils so it was lovely to see it in springtime.

I know quite a few folks who are from the west coast so went armed with lots of beta as to where to go, what to do, where to eat etc. My favourite restaurant was the famous Rebar Restaurant. I've seen their vegetarian recipe book but had no idea that they were a restaurant and that they were located in Victoria. Lucky me! The food was fantastic and it doesn't cost a fortune to dine there. In fact, I ended up eating most of my meals there, working my way through their menu, because it was also super healthy and nutritious! Of course, I visited lots of the local coffee shops inbetween, just to keep things in balance! If you find yourself in Victoria, a visit to Rebar should definitely be on your list.

So, after an eating/coffee shop tour of Victoria, it's been time to get back on track. I have Miwok coming up in 8 days. Yikes!

Race report: Tarawera Ultra (100 km)

2010-04-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

After being welcomed to the race by director, Paul Charteris, we set off amongst the redwood forest. The starting point for the Tarawera Ultra is Rotorua, one of the most famous towns on the north island of New Zealand known for its thermal hot springs, boiling mud pools, geysers and maori culture. A place not to be missed!
The great thing about this race is that it appeals to lots of different runners; there's a 60km, 80km and a 100 km - you can opt to do any of these as part of a team or run it solo. As daylight breaks, we pass by the beautiful Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake). If you're planning on being in New Zealand in March of 2011, then put this race on your calendar!
I loved the first 60 km of running through the New Zealand bush. I didn't get many photographs and missed capturing how beautiful it is so you'll have to take my word for it.
Whenever I go over to visit, my Dad ends up driving me all over the country so that I can race. The last race I did in NZ was another point to point but was a mountain race so there were no spectators. The nice thing about the Tarawera Ultra is that crew and spectators can drive down to the aid stations to watch. My Dad drove his car down bumpy, dusty forestry roads into what seemed like the middle of nowhere, just so that he could check that I was still doing okay. He did this all day long and then waited for me in the dark to cross the finishing line! Seeing his face as I crossed the line was something I'll never forget! Huge thanks to Paul and the volunteers to making this race such a success!

Made it!

2010-04-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but it already seems like an eternity since I was in New Zealand! Funny how that happens once you return from holiday and get sucked back into "normal life". It was a good trip, fun to see family and I'm glad to say that I survived the Tarawera Ultra!

I haven't done a huge amount of mileage so far this year so was pleased to make it to the finishing line, even if it did take 14.40 hours to get there! Maybe the kiwi kilometer is longer than those in Canada?!!

Anyway, I'll try to put a race report together soon. Kudos to Paul Charteris and his merry band of volunteers for putting on such a great show! Thanks Paul.

NEW ZEALAND HERE I COME!!

2010-03-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Racing

2010-03-07T17:49:00.001-08:00

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

2010-03-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

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!

2010 RACE SCHEDULE

2010-01-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

20 March - Tarawera ultra (100 km), New Zealand
1 May - Miwok (100 km), San Francisco
27 August - Tour du Mont Blanc (100 miles)

Excited? You betcha!!

GETTING BACK ON TRACK

2010-01-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

It feels good to be getting back into a routine again after the Christmas break. I'm eating cleaner, going to bed earlier and am exercising regularly again.

Went for an awesome run on Sunday .... 2.5 hours out and back on Lake Minnewanka. It was pretty casual, just went as far as we wanted and then turned around. It was kinda eerie running on the frozen lake as the clouds made all the ice look very black; I'm looking forward to going back when we've got some blue skies!

HAPPY 2010!

2010-01-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

It was fantastic having 2 weeks off work for Christmas and New Year but now I'm back at it. I didn't mind returning to work on Monday as I enjoy my job for the most part. And I also felt excited to get back on track as I love eating way too much and think I could quickly become quite chubby if I didn't work out as much as I do!!

At the weekend I wrote out my list of highlights from 2009. This is something I've been doing each year as it's easy to forget all the things that we do every month. 2009 was the best year I've ever had here in Canada and some of the highlights included running my first fastpacking trip (solo), racing 100 miles and maintaining good health throughout the year (except for major surgery in February but I figured that it didn't count).

I tried a few new things .... biathlon, started this blog, opened an on-line trading account, a multi-day race in Central America and tried circus school (okay, that last one was not a great success!)

I spent most of my money on travel, running gear and racing.

I travelled to Cuba, the States and Costa Rica. I also did some neat road trips in Canada.

My biggest failure of 2009 was not being able to get off the sugar train (I'm still addicted!) Guess that one will have to go back on the list for 2010.

And the thing that got me super excited were all the new trails that I ran; a lot of them in my own backyard.

I think 2010 is going to be another great year. I don't have much on the books yet for racing; I'm doing Miwok 100 in May but that's about it so far. I plan to spend the summer out on the mountain trails in this area but will hopefully find an exciting race to sign up for in the autumn.

Happy New Year everyone - make it your best!

CIRCUS SCHOOL!

2009-12-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

This week's fun is 6 days of Circus School! When I saw this advertised, I was all over it. I thought the trapeze would be a pretty cool thing to learn, plus all the other circus apparatus that they had rigged up. What a great way to spend my Christmas holidays.

However, it didn't turn out quite the way I expected. I spent all of day one feeling very nauseated from hanging upside down and swinging around. And I was hoping that an early night with lots of sleep would put it behind me but no; day two was even worse. I bought some motion sickness patches, packed a very simple lunch and also took a thermos of hot ginger tea. But by mid morning, I was already feel a bit yukky. And by the end of the afternoon I started vomiting! So today, I decided to stay home; I guess I won't be running away to join the circus after all!

LA TRANSTICA, COSTA RICE: RACE REPORT

2009-12-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

La Transtica was fun and definitely an adventure. We were picked up at the San Jose airport by none other than Bernard Marchall, the Race Director. That in itself was pretty incredible, but the fact that it was gone midnight, made it even more amazing!

We got to meet the other races (31 of us in all) at the press conference the next morning and it was fun trying to put names to faces from the website. We were then invited to the French Ambassador's residence for lunch. Ooh la, la! The following morning we headed out of the city towards the Pacific Ocean where we would start our race. The Costa Rican Fire Department (Los Bomberos) were providing security and medical back-up (we had our own ambulance!) so we got plenty of funny looks as we travelled along in convoy fashion.

After reaching our destination and sorting out our gear, we headed down to the beach for a 6km prologue, just to get the legs moving and see where everyone was at with their running. There were some pretty fast runners but I sure wasn't one of them! I found running on the beach really hard, plus the air seemed so incredibly hot and heavy. I moved as quickly as I could, bearing in mind that I had a lot of mileage coming up over the week, so didn't kill myself out there. There are 2 categories in La Transtica; adventure (approx 20 km per day) and extreme (approx 40 km per day). Steve and myself were in extreme.

The next day was suppose to be 43 km and it started out super hot. And hilly. And humid. My running skirt was dripping wet within in an hour which kind of freaked me out to start with but I figured it would be like that all week, so best to get used to being wet. We started on the beach and ran on a dirt road that ran next to the river, which happened to have crocodiles in it! Needless to say, I ran the first 5 km as quickly as possible. It was a tough couple of hours to start with due to the heat, but I felt a little better as I started to overtake some folks. I think everyone was suffering as we had all come out of autumn/winter for the race.

Unfortunately, there was a problem later on with the course markings and all the front runners were lost so the race was stopped while the organizers spread out to make sure that everyone was accounted for and safe. I'd only run 30 km and was starting to get into the groove (plus I'd overtaken 5 people at this point) so was disappointed that the day had been cut short, but what to do? We're in Costa Rica and things don't always go to plan so best just to let things flow. So, I sat back waiting for some of the other runners to come in and watched life in a local village which was fun. As we were transferred to our lodging for the night, the heavens opened and I got my first taste of "The Rain". Oh boy, it's torrential!

The next few days were spent dripping in the heat of the morning and running in the rain in the afternoon. I loved it! It was like being a big kid again, splashing through enormous puddles and mud, glorious mud! We ran past lots of coffee plantations and ran through some fantastic rain forests. The jungle sections were amazing - it was like Indianna Jones!

The nice thing about this event is that it's not just about the running as there is a humanitarian side to the it. As we ran across the country, we would stay in local communities where we helped deliver medical and school supplies to the village which was sweet. We would all help to present school kids with backpacks full of books, pencils etc and quite often there would be a delivery of a computer or building supplies. In one case, we delivered a wheelchair. We would camp in local schools or buildings and the local people would cook for us and the kids would put on a show of local dances. It was interesting to see how everything differed from region to region.

We spent one morning rafting which was incredible - it was 4 hours of Class 4 rapids pretty much continuous. It was a total blast - I think I spent more time laughing than I did paddling. We pulled in at one place for lunch and to make a donation to the indigenous indian tribes who live about 8 hours by foot, from the river. The elders and some of the school teachers had come down to receive the school and medical supplies, along with some of the kids who were shy but very excited! It was fascinating to hear about how they live.

We spent the night before our last day of running outside the Caribbean town of Limon where most of us unfortunately got food poisoning (the only time on the trip). Yuk! Luckily we only had 27 km to run, which is far enough when you've got nothing in you. The race took us from the rainforest to the beach and I decided I would run my legs off through the rainforest and give myself some headway as I'm totally crap at running in sand. After running through lots of mud, tree routes and swampy trails we hit the open beach where we had to swim across to a sand bar. The first part of this was okay, even though it felt a little strange swimming in all my running gear! But once we reached the sandbar, it was obvious that the next swimming section was going to be more challenging as the there was quite a strong current coming in with the sea. The first runner to start crossing needed rescuing pretty much immediately and once he was safely pulled back to the beach, we started to look at finding a safer spot to swim across. Once a safer spot was found, loads of people starting swimming and I felt comfortable doing the same. After swimming half way, one of the Costa Rican runners started to panic in front of me so I called out for help and tried to calm him down but found myself getting into trouble as he was thrashing out with his arms and legs and before I knew it, I couldn't keep myself upright or breathe properly; the thought of drowning was not fun. I somehow managed to find the energy to let out one last huge scream for help and someone pulled myself and the Costa Rican to shore. It'd been a pretty scary experience. Once everyone had gotten safely to shore, I figured I needed to stay focussed on the job at hand and continued with the rest of the race. It's probably the hardest 27 km I'll ever do and I can't tell you how relieved I felt getting to the finishing line as I was wasted at that point!

We were treated to a lovely resort that night where we had hot water (a novelty in C.R) and only myself and Steve in the room (instead of camping beside 40-something other people!) It was bliss! The next day we headed back to San Jose for the Banquet and Award Ceremony. There were 15 people in the extreme category and 5 of them dropped out after a few days (and moved to the adventure category). Steve came in 3rd overall and I came in 8th. We met lots of really interesting people and enjoyed seeing Costa Rica from the ground up. It was fun being amongst all the French people as they gave it a different twist and the Costa Ricans were lovely to be with. All in all, a great trip!

WESTERN STATES LOTTERY

2009-12-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to those who were picked in the WS lottery this morning. I was watching the live feed hoping that my name would come up, but it didn't happen. Next time!

We survived Costa Rica!

2009-12-03T19:20:00.001-08:00

Wow, what a trip! The race was a full-on adventure. Packed with rain, mud, rainforest, jungle, crocodiles, snakes, frogs, lost people, i.v's, near drownings and french people! Who could want more from their holiday?!!

Race report to follow.

LA TRANSTICA, COSTA RICA

2009-11-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

In 48 hours, Steve and myself will be en route to Costa Rica and I can't tell you how excited I am! We signed up for a fairly new multi-day running race called La Transtica
www.latranstica.org/en/

We'll be running from one side of the country to the other so we should get to see lots of interesting countryside from the ground up. It's got a bit of everything; beach, rainforest, coffee plantations and dirt road. Plenty of elevation gain/loss and and lots of heat, humity, mud and possible rain ... my body won't know what's hit it! And instead of bears, cougars and wolves, it's got venomous frogs, snakes, jaguars and goodness knows what else! I hope I don't need to step off the trail for a poop at any stage because it might be ugly; it's a jungle out there!

The other great thing about the race is that there is a humanitarian aspect to it as we'll be helping to deliver medical and school supplies to the local villages that we pass through. I think that's neat as I'll be the first to admit that I get pretty self-absorbed with this running lark so it'll be good to be involved with helping others rather than being focussed on my own self.

It sounds like a unique event. The Race Director is French, as are most of the other runners, except for a half dozen Costa Ricans and one Aussie.. It was hard to know if to learn Spanish or brush up my French! Luckily, speaking Aussie comes naturally!

Anyway, wish us luck! I'll let you know how we get on once we're back.

The Wildest Dream

2009-11-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

The Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival is one of my favourite local events. Located at The Banff Centre every November, the campus is transformed for the week with prayer flags hanging outside the buildings and world class adventurers and explorers catching up with old friends and swapping stories. I attended a talk by Chris Sharma who is probably the best sports climbers in the US, if not the world. And later saw Mike Fay who has just finished walking through the Redwoods in California.

I also bought a ticket to see Dean Karnazes who had been invited to the event to talk about his running accomplishments but I was disappointed; he's got a very polished act which I thought was cheesy and superficial. Nothing like I expected. I take my hat off to him for his athleticism but I wouldn't pay good money to see him speak again. However, the evening wasn't a total right-off as they were screening the premier of The Wildest Dream which is a beautiful documentary and well worth seeing. Below is the description of it.

In 1999, Conrad Anker discovered the frozen body of George Mallory on Mount Everest. For years afterward, he wondered about Mallory's quest for the summit. Mallory and his partner, Andrew Irvine, were last seen in 1924 only a few hundred meters from the summit. Had the pair tackled the Second Step successfully and made it to the top? How much was Mallory torn between his love for Everest and his love for his wife Ruth? What was it like to climb a mountain as cold and brutal as Everest in the relatively light, flimsy gear of the 1920s?

The Wildest Dream sets out to answer these questions with archival video footage of Mallory and Irvine on the mountain, love letters between Mallory and Ruth, and a bold attempt to reenact their bid for the summit by modern-day climbers Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding. The new National Geographic feature film got its premiere Canadian screening Saturday night at the Banff Mountain Film festival.

Priceless!

2009-10-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

2010 Western States Lottery

2009-10-14T16:46:00.001-07:00

If you've been sitting on the fence about putting your name in for this race, then you only have until midnight tomorrow
(15 October).
Go on, you know you want to do it!
http://ws100.com/home.html

HAPPY THANKSGIVING CANADA!

2009-10-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

I've grown to love the ritual of celebrating Thanksgiving. Like all Banffites, I cram as much into the summer as possible and this year was an exceptional one - life just seems to keep on getting better every year! It was super busy with running, road trips and many fabulous adventures. But now that we're on the cusp of winter, it's all starting to slow down a little. We had our first BIG snow dump yesterday so it's all white and beautiful out there. Time to dust off the cross-country skis, put together a winter training program and take a little more time to rest and relax. Banff is quiet and it's lovely to be able to bump into friends as I make my way around town. Even though we love our tourists, I think most people in Banff breath a sigh of relief every Oct/Nov when we get to reclaim the town back for a few weeks inbetween seasons.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's a great reminder of how lucky we are.

Pipestone to Skoki

2009-09-26T16:19:00.001-07:00

With the larches turning yellow, it was time to run into Skoki. We decided to make a day of it and run via the Pipestone (48 km) which is the same region where Mike and myself had been running on our Molar Pass day.
There are always creek crossings involved when we run with Steve - guaranteed! I can't start to explain how freezing cold the water felt but luckily there were no more than a half dozen of them!
The Skoki valley
The larch trees were so yellow, they almost looked neon.

The colour of this lake was amazing - I love turquoise! Even the sound of the colour is exotic.
Looks like a storm is coming - I hope everyone brought their rain jackets?!!!!!

Crypt Lake, Waterton National Park

2009-09-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

Crypt Lake is rated as one of the best hiking trails in Canada because it shouts of Adventure! 17.2 km of Adventure. First, you need to take a 15 minute boatride from Waterton over to the trailhead.
Then you run a beautiful, hot and dry trail (mainly uphill) to the Real Fun Bit - the ledge and the tunnel!
The trail to the ledge/tunnel.
Steve climbing the ladder up to the tunnelWatch your head!

When you come out of the tunnel, you have to scamper up another rocky section but there's a steel cable in place to help you up.Sure is a long way down!

Crypt Lake! What time did you say the last boat leaves?

I'm HOT!

CARTHEW SUMMIT/ALDERSON LAKE

2009-09-20T19:04:00.001-07:00

Waterton has some beautiful trails to choose from and we decided to run Carthew/Alderson Trail, but instead of doing it as an out and back which seems to be the most popular for hikers, we planned do one big loop and run along the Boundary Trail inside the US and pop back out at Waterton Lake, a total of about 34 km. What a fantastic day! The trail up to Carthew Summit was beautiful; very rugged and mountainous. On the other side, the Boundary Trail looked like it hadn't been used for many months - very overgrown and rugged.

Waterton National Park

2009-09-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's taken me so long to get down to visit Waterton. It's only 5 hours from Banff and if you take the #40 through Kanananskis, it's a beautiful scenic drive. You also get to travel through the ranching areas of Longview and Pincher Creek and it's a reminder that Alberta is Cowboy Country!

Waterton neighbours Glacier National Park in the US and together, they form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. How cool is that! 505 sq km in size, it's not a huge park but boy, it is choka-blok full of beautiful scenery and unique features. It has the oldest exposed sedimentary rock in the Canadian Rockies so looks very different from the mountains here in Banff and is surrounded by the prairies.

Mist Ridge, Kananaskis

2009-09-16T18:17:00.001-07:00

I managed to take a Friday and Monday off so it was time to plan a road trip! When you have 4 days off in a row, it's important to do something special with them so Steve and myself decided to have our last summer hoorah and head down to Waterton National Park. It's only 5 hours away from Banff but is another world from here!
Instead of being scrunched in the car for most of the day, we decided to stop in Kananaskis en route and chose Mist Ridge as it's a nice 24 km loop and would give us some great views of the area past Highwood Pass.

I'll post photos from Waterton shortly!

Molar Pass-Fish Lakes-North Molar Pass

2009-09-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

I love running loops! Big loops if possible. When Mike told me he wanted to run into North Molar Pass, I was quick to suggest doing a loop which turned out to be 53 km. Perfect for a day's outing so he, Leslie and myself set off from Mosquito Creek and took off to Molar Pass. I hadn't been in that direction before so it was fun seeing something new. This is the view from Molar Pass.
Leslie had run this way last year and had mentioned that it's easy to lose the trail which we did almost immediately after the Pass. But it was fun bush whacking our way down to the valley floor and from there, we followed Molar Creek. We weren't the only ones travelling this way. We bumped into 2 hikers from Seattle who had done the loop in reverse over 3 days and were on their way out. They were quite surprised that we were doing it in a day! We also came across these wolf prints which were very cool to see.
After reaching the Pipestone River, we started to head in the direction of Fish Lakes. It's such a beautiful area out here and, apart from a party of horse riders, we saw no-one until we started up North Molar Pass.
After leaving Fish Lakes, we started heading towards North Molar Pass and bumped into lots of people hiking into the camp ground there. It'd be a gorgeous place to camp! We bumped into some folks that we had passed earlier on in the morning so it was nice catching up with them. Thanks for taking the photo of the 3 amigos for us (L-R: Leslie, me and Mike).
Mike and Leslie heading over North Molar Pass.
Mike in his element!

Northover Ridge

2009-09-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

At the end of last month, Mike and myself ran Northover Ridge in Kananaskis. This is a 36 km loop which we did for the first time last year and which quickly became a classic.

Burstall Pass

2009-09-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Kananaskis is one of my favourite areas; not only does it have one very cool sounding name, but it is also home to some drop-dead gorgeous scenery. Located between Banff and Calgary, it's easy to get to and tends to have less people than Banff. Last weekend, Steve and myself headed out to do some running at Burstall Pass and even though I knew it was going to be pretty, I had no clue that it was going to be so stunning!
The Robertson Glacier above, views from Burstall Pass and looking down on Leman Lake.

Mt Assiniboine poking up at the back of the mountain range.

Summer fun

2009-09-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

I finally got ran the Skyline Trail in Jasper a few weeks back. It's stunning. From the minute you leave the trailhead at Maligne Lake, it's just one gorgeous run. The views from up at The Notch were a little hazy due to some forest fires further north and it was also very windy, but what a sweet day!

Race report: Stormy 100 mile

2009-09-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

Located close to Vancouver and en route to Whistler, Squamish is dubbed the "outdoor recreation capital of Canada". I can remember passing through this small town many years ago and being impressed with the huge rocky crags that sit at the edge of town.

Stormy 100 starts at the recreation center in Brennan Park and comprises of 2 x 50 mile (80 km) loops that have you running on all sorts of terrain. The race is 97% trails or forest service roads and 3% paved road and has 6000 feet of elevation gain per loop.

We started the race at 10.00 am (the original start time is 12.00 noon which seems extremely late in the day if you're a crack-of-dawn type of girl like me). Luckily, the recent heat wave had started to drop and the temperature was perfect. I was surprised at how fast everyone bolted off from the starting line. With 100 miles (160 km) to run, what's the hurry? Steve and myself stayed at the back for quite a while but knew we would inevitably catch up with some of the folks who had gotten sucked into the fast start. Funny how that happens ... I made that mistake when I first started racing and learnt the lesson well after being totally spanked on a local race.

The nice thing about this race is that you get to run on such varied terrain. The paved sections were short enough to enjoy and the single track was the sweetest, technical single track that I've ever run on. It was a blast! I felt like a 5 year old running through some of the most amazing forests with ferns and plants bigger than me. I like the technical stuff ... it's like mountain biking without the bike and is pure fun. The other thing I enjoyed was running with Steve for the first 30 km or so. He's a much faster runner than me so it's natural that we eventually lost sight of each other.

Also on the course were sections of forest service roads and the 2 main ones were nothing short of evil. The first one, called University, had us climbing up and up (and up!) and then finally we were back onto a single track section for the descent. The other gnarly section is another forest service road called 9 Mile Hill. Yep! it's 9 miles of super steep up on a gravel road but a nice descent on single track.

During the first lap, I tried to make a mental note of the course as I knew I would be running most of the second lap in the dark and even though it was very well marked with flagging tape, we all know how easy it is to zone out and miss a turn. I was amazed at how much I remembered!

The race director for Stormy is Wendy Montgomery and it was obvious that she had put in a lot of work into the race and had a wonderful team of volunteers also putting in a lot of hours to make the event a success. There were plenty of aid stations en route with fluid and nibblies and there was no problem with being able to drop an aid bag at the bottom of 9 Mile Hill (which is a life saver if you enjoy running without a crew or pacer).

The other nice thing about this race is that it's a low key event. The volunteers and the crews of other racers do a great job of cheering you on at the aid stations but otherwise, I found it to be a pretty quiet race. And with only another 29 competitors on the course, you get to spend lots of time running by yourself. This might not be some people's idea of fun, but I love being able to spend time inside my own head and tend to be a bit of a loner when it comes to racing so it definitely suited me.

I had a great time at Stormy; I thoroughly enjoyed the race and kudos to all the people who work so hard in making this event a success.
www.stormytrailrace.ca

Stormy 100 mile

2009-08-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that we made it!

Apart from some foot/leg pain that would cramp periodically, I felt pretty good and even managed to run the last 4 km pretty hard and finished with a sprint; I was trying to beat the clock I guess - I made it in 24.55 hours and came 12th overall and 3rd female in my age group. Steve did awesome and was waiting for me at the finish. He came in at 22.52 hours, 5th overall and 3rd in his age group.

Will do a proper report later - it's time for me to have a post-race and birthday drink!

Time to Taper

2009-07-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

I do my big 100-mile (160 km) race weekend after next (it sounds a lot further when I say it in kilometers so I think I'll just keep referring to it in miles!)

I can't honestly say that I've been doing any specific training for it except for getting out into the mountains and "just running" so it will be interesting to see what happens. My longest race so far is the Canadian Death Race which was 125 km. So, it's only another marathon on top of that. Yikes!

Oh well, I'll do my best! I've got no emotional attachment to this race which makes me feel pretty good; it's more of a morbid curiosity at this point as to what's going to happen to my body!! Hopefully it doesn't break as I've still got a long list of runs I want to do before the snow flies (which isn't actually that far away!)

SUNSHINE TO MT ASSINBOINE

2009-07-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

When the forecast was predicting 30 degrees (86 for our Southern friends) and a fire ball of sunshine for this weekend, I knew that I wouldn't be going too far from home. It's not very often it hits 30 degrees in Banff and I wanted to be sure to get a piece of the heat! So after considering various options, I decided to run from Sunshine to Mt Assinboine, camp overnight, and then run back out the next morning. The 29 km to Lake Magog was a lovely mixture of alpine meadows, forests, funky rocks and beautiful views of the Canadian Rockies' own version of the Matterhorn. It was a toss up where to camp but the mosquitos were pretty bad at Lake Magog so I ran back to Og Lake where it is more exposed. After a yummy breakfast, I hot-footed it back to Sunshine Meadows and enjoyed every minute of the 22 km trail. It was hard to believe that I was back in my house by mid morning - very civilized!

Mt Assinboine
My campsite for the evening.
Another fab-o weekend!

The Rockwall

2009-07-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

The Rockwall makes for a classic run. You have the choice of running the whole thing (55km) or doing some smaller loops. Whatever you choose, you'll come away happy because the views are STUNNING! Steve and myself decided to do the full 55 km and thanks to Leslie, Keith & Miles who were doing a run in the same area, we were able to drop our car off at the ending point and then get a lift to the starting point. What a great place to spend the day!!

Day 3: Poligne Creek-Maligne Pass-Maligne Lake

2009-07-12T18:01:00.000-07:00

Avalanche campsite is in a pretty location next to the creek and was deserted so I had a choice of where to pitch my tent.
And how's this for a dunny (toilet)? The high back and sides give you plenty of privacy and they're way better than those shed-type drop toilets where it's pitch dark inside and smelly.

After breakfast, I started towards Maligne Pass where I could see the clouds starting to look threatening. There had been days of rain on the forecast so I wasn't surprised but was hoping that it would blow over.Maligne Pass is another beautiful area but as soon as you head over the other side, you start entering hours and hours of willow meadows and forest trails which becomes very monotonous. The willow bushes vary in height but sometimes I ended up swimming through shoulder height bushes which was quite a slow process. The rain finally came so I put the camera away for the rest of the day and focussed on getting to Maligne Lake. Once I reached Trapper Creek Campsite, there was only another 5 km to go and thankfully, the trail turned into a beautiful forest run which almost looked sub tropical in the rain.

I reached Maligne Lake at 4.00 pm and decided it would be best to skip running the Skyline Trail as originally planned as there was still quite a bit of snow on the Notch and the clouds were low so I wouldn't be able to see anything from up there. It only takes 4 hours to drive to Jasper from Banff so I can head back to do that run some other time.

It was strange popping out at Maligne Lake as it's quite a big tourist attraction and I felt out of place amongst the holiday makers. I felt really pleased with my trip and was already starting to wonder where else I could go - preferably for a lot longer next time.

Day 2: Nigel Pass-Jonas Pass-Poligne Creek

2009-07-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Not the best night's sleep as I woke up cold a few times, and not having eaten the night before probably didn't help. I was camped in a beautiful area and it was lovely to get up and see the mountains and hear the creek running nearby. I love being in a tent. When I lived in Nepal, I worked as a trekking guide so would spend the season taking hiking groups into the different regions of the Himalaya, camping in a tent for up to 3 weeks at a time, and from there I moved to a beach in Southern Thailand where home was yet another tent ... good days.

After getting up, I boiled some water and had my oatmeal and coffee and slowly packed up. After bidding my campspot goodbye, I headed off towards Boulder Creek.

I bumped into a couple at Boulder Creek Campground who were surprised to see me out running, especially as it was only 7 o'clock in the morning! After Four Point Campground, the trail takes you into a forested area and you gain a lot of elevation. Coming out into the open meadows of Jonas Pass is very sweet as it is long and very beautiful.
After enjoying the meadows, it was time to start climbing again, this time up to Jonas Shoulder. The one side of the shoulder was free of snow but the other side still had quite a bit on it so getting over to the next valley was a bit nerve wracking as it meant traversing a fairly steep, snowy slope. I took my time working out the best route to take and weighed up the risks and then moved as quickly as possible. I had realized when I was out on my own the weekend before that it wouldn't be an animal that would give me a problem, it would the natural environment. So, I made sure I was as careful as possible, knowing in the back of my head that something as simple as a twisted ankle would be a big problem out here.After getting over the shoulder, it was time for some more sweet meadow running before hitting the forest trails that would take me to my second campsite at Avalanche.

Day 1: Norman Creek-Cataract Pass-Nigel Pass

2009-07-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

My buddy, Mike, joined me for the first day to see me off on my merry way. After grunting up the Norman Creek trail, it was a relief to see meadows so that we could start running but with the pack, it was harder than I expected. After enjoying the views from Sunset Pass, we headed down to Pinto Lake, climbing over lots of deadfall on the way where we were rewarded with the sight of a moose and her calf.

After consulting the map, we headed up Cataract Creek where we found a faint trail to follow. I knew this area would be the most remote and difficult to navigate through so I was surprised when we came across a defined trail but this ended very quickly and gave way to either no trail or sometimes a faint trail. Passing lots of grizzly digs and wolf prints, we kept heading in the general direction of where we thought Cataract Pass would be but once the landscape opened up, we realized that we had lots of options in regard to which route to take.

After struggling up to a ridge that we thought might be Cataract Pass, we realized that we needed to be further over in the valley. Oh well, at least we were rewarded with this amazing view!!

By the time we reached the Pass, I knew that Mike had to get out of there as quickly as possible if he was going to reach the Parkway by dark. He then had to head down the road as the car was still at the trailhead. So, as soon as we got ourselves down off the Pass, we split up. Mike zoomed off in the dusk and I sat, exhausted, on a rock trying to find enough energy to get to my first campsite. However, I was done. It'd been a long day and I was wiped out so I decided to do some random camping in the meadows. After finding a spot nestled amongst the trees, I pitched my tent and crashed for the night.

Made it!

2009-07-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it to Jasper in 3 days (not too sure on mileage but somewhere near 140 km I think). And it was fabulous! Once I reached Maligne Lake, I was intending on continuing up and over the Skyline Trail but unfortunately the weather had turned and it was pouring rain with very low cloud coverage. I don't mind the rain (being a Brit!) but being up on a ridge isn't the smartest place to be in those type of conditions so I had to end the trip at Maligne Lake instead. I'll go back and do the Skyline once we get better weather. I felt a little at a loss as to what to do next as I was wanting to stay out for longer, but that's the way it goes. Mother Nature will always have the final word. Trail report and photos to follow.

Sneak preview

2009-06-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

I'm off on my fastpacking trip next weekend (4 July) so decided to go and scope out Cataract Pass beforehand as I was concerned that the snow level might be too high and, if that was the case, I'd have to rethink my plans. Lucky for me, the snow doesn't look too bad so I'm happy to give it a shot. If the snow melts too much, the creek crossings will be buggar to navigate as some of them are pretty wide and fast, so fingers crossed that won't be an issue.

The plan is to start at the Icefields Parkway just down the road from the Saskatechwan River Crossing and run the mountain system behind the Parkway all the way to Jasper. It's just under 200 km (can't remember the exact mileage) and I'll camp en route either in backcountry tent sites or will do some random camping. I've spent a lot of time researching the right gear, and have been tweaking this over the last couple of weeks. I'm just in the midst of putting together my food (the fun bit!) and first aid etc.
I feel pretty good about things. I've spent the last month having nightmares about all the things that can go wrong so have spent a lot of time reviewing my wilderness first aid, how to deal with angry bears, how to fight off cougars, falling off a cliff etc. I even bought the Survivor Man's book and will be packing some drier lint with me in case I need to make an emergency fire! It's amazing how the imagination can take you on some dark journey but it's also the catalyst you sometimes need to ensure that you're prepared for anything that might come your way. Having just run into part of the area, I now feel confident that it'll be a fun trip. I've taken a week off work but don't have any schedule of being anywhere on a specific day. As long as I get to Jasper by the end of the following week so that I can make it back to Banff in time for work on the Monday, then I'll be happy.
I think it'll be an amazing experience; I haven't done anything on this type of scale before, especially not as a solo trip, so it'll be interesting to see what I make of it. This could be the start or the finish of my fastpacking days!!! Either way, I'm excited.

TEST RUN

2009-06-22T17:04:00.000-07:00

I'm busy prepping for my solo, fastpacking trip coming up very shortly. I've spent the last few months researching ultralight gear and spending my tax refund on new toys and thought it would be a good idea to test everything before leaving home to make sure it all works. So on Saturday afternoon, my buddy Mike and myself ran out to a campsite at Lake Minnewanka which is close to home. Mike's been collecting some fastpacking gear over the last year and was keen to give it a go, so we snagged the last tent site and set ourselves up; Mike in his hammock and me in my shiny, new Contrail tent courtesy of Henry Shires from Tarptent. Weighing in at only 24 ozs, it's a gem! Once we set up our home for the night, we headed up Alymer Lookout which has stunning views over the valley. This was a good way to work up an appetite for dinner and the perfect opportunity to try out our homemade stoves (using an old cat food tin!) We had boiling water in no time and were soon munching down on our dehydrated meals feeling quite proud of ourselves. After hunkering down for the night, we were soon greeted by huge winds followed by thunder, lightening and torrential rain that lasted the whole night. Perfect conditions to test all the gear and I'm happy to say that everything went well. I had a little bit of water pooling in my tent which was my own fault as I hadn't staked it out very well due to the gnarly tent site we were on, but otherwise everything worked really well. Our GoLite Jam2 packs were awesome to run with and even stayed dry during the downpour which was a bonus. I think we both learned a lot from the test run and it's given me a chance to tweak my packing list. Plus it was huge fun!
Mike setting up his hammock.
The morning after the storm .... time for a nice, hot cuppa!
The food storage area where you hang your packs/food from a pulley system. Very Blair Witch!

Norman Creek run

2009-06-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

Camping

2009-06-20T09:17:00.001-07:00

Canmore Challenge

2009-06-18T05:46:00.000-07:00

Steve on his 2nd lap! And me above, tackling my first hill.
Mike (in orange) ran from Banff to watch the race which I thought was hilarious! And we met up with our good buddy and running extraordinaire, Jason Loutitt. This is the man responsible for lighting my passion for trail running and I will be forever grateful to him for that.

I haven't done any short races for a very long time and had forgotten how hard they are!! Steve decided he wanted to run the 12 km Canmore Challenge at the Nodic Centre so I got caught up in the excitement and signed up for the 8 km, thinking that it would be a good way to get in some hard speedwork for the week. They were using this event to select the Canadian Mountain Running Team so there were lots of amazing runners competing in both distances. Unfortunately, the course that had been chosen for the race wasn't that great considering that we were in a place that has an abundance of very cool, single track to run. However, it was a beautiful hot day and fun to get out for a local race. Steve took 3rd place for his age category and I took first place in mine so we both enjoyed a brief moment on the podium. It was also a great way to catch up with some old friends who we haven't seen for a while. But the best bit was going for ice-cream afterwards! Hmmmm .... that was well worth running my socks off for!!

JUMP FOR JOY .....

2009-06-14T18:19:00.001-07:00

it's been a hot, sunny, action-packed weekend! More to come .....

NIPIKA CRAZY SOLES TRAIL RACE (25 km)

2009-06-01T18:13:00.001-07:00

Deb and Laurie getting ready!

Mike and Lesley listening to Race Director, Lyle

My mate Jules and her friend Jane

What an amazing weekend; we had brilliant blue skies and hot sun! On Saturday I went to Nipika Lodge with my friend Mike to run the beautiful and challenging 25 km trail race, Crazy Soles. They've got some wicked single track trails out there that snake their way up and down The heat of the day and the dry environment definitely made it a bit more difficult. My heart rate was off the roof but I had a great day. I even won a prize at the end so that was a bonus. Lesley came along too for her very first race - she's so awesome, as she's only just started to trail run and this is definitely a tough course. Loads of local people were there too so it was lovely to catch up with everyone. They also offered a 3 km race for kids and a 10 km race for those who didn't want to do the full 25 km so it was a great event for the whole family! Nipika Lodge is an eco-lodge set amongst beautiful scenery in the Kootenay's and is run by Lyle and Dianne Wilson. This is also the site of the Nipika Loppet in the winter. Thanks Lyle and Dianne for all your hard work in putting on a fun race! Check out their website at www.nipika.com

WESTERN STATES TRAINING CAMP REPORT

2009-05-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

The WS training camp is a blast! If you feel like spending 3 days running beautiful trails in sunny California amongst lovely people, then mark the Memorial weekend in your calendar for next year. Kudos to Greg, Tom and Donni plus all the volunteers for making it such a success. The course itself is really nice with lots of variety. Day 1 comprised of 51 km, a lot of it being downhill (with a couple of killer uphills) which absolutely hammers the quads and then on Day 2, you get to run 30.5 km on rolling terrain. Day 3 is a nice n' mellow 35 km with just enough downhills to make your tired, hammered quads s-c-r-e-a-m! Who would have thought that an uphill would look so appealing?!! The scenery is pretty and there's plenty of creeks to cool off in, plus the river in the bottom of the valley offers sweet relief on a hot day. What else can I tell you .... it was the best long weekend I've had in a long, long time doing my most favourite thing of all - trail running somewhere nice and warm! Plus we got to meet some AWESOME people out there. Good luck to everyone who is competing this year; I take my hat off to you. It's going to be one hell of a 102 mile course to run in one go!

WESTERN STATES TRAINING CAMP

2009-05-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

We're heading out to Sacramento (Auburn area) for the WS training camp this weekend because it's PLAYTIME! Even though we're not running the race itself, I thought it'd be fun to run lots of mileage over 3 days in a place I've never been to, surrounded by other trail runners and plus it gives me a chance to dig out the tent and camp. Oh, and the weather over there is HOT! It's going to be a blast. It'll also be very cool to run the Western States course as it's a race name we're all familiar with. I'm not sure if my body is ready for a lot of long mileage, especially when it's back to back but it'll be fun trying. I'm also packing a good book, just in case I don't make the cut-off times and get to spend more time in camp. Either way, I'm looking forward to being able to r-e-l-a-x. Yum!

SIGNS

2009-05-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

I ran to Canmore and back last Sunday and saw these signs as I approached the Nordic Centre!

Running solo, playing safe

2009-05-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

I just bought 2 new toys to make me feel a little safer when I venture out by myself, especially for the longgggg days I'm planning for the summer. The first is my mate SPOT who will be coming with me on all my jaunts. The good thing about SPOT is that if the chips are down and I'm need of an emergency evacuation, then I can call for help regardless of where I am. This will be good whether I'm alone or in a group as we tend to get fairly remote on some of our runs and there is usually no cell phone coverage. The other great thing about this is that I can send an "okay" message so if I'm gone for a few days running, then folks at home can receive a message from me, saying I'm okay. I can also send a "help" message too. It's a very cool gadget to have. The second new toy is a small pen-sized bear banger kit. I bought this for peace of mind as bear spray (which I always carry) is pretty much last resort and hopefully the sound of a bear banger going off will be enough to scare away anything large with big teeth that wants a piece of me! It's not that we're falling over bears and cougars here but they're definitely out there sharing the same landscape as us. Most bears don't want anything to do with humans and vice versa but you never know when there's a bad-ass bear in the area.

Women over 40

2009-05-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

THIS IS PRICELESS!

In case you missed it on 60 Minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks about women over 40:
60 Minutes Correspondent Andy Rooney (CBS)

As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting. Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?', here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? ---> Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

I'M A BAD BLOGGER!

2009-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to take my camera out with me; guess it takes a while to get used to this blogging lark! Had another fabulous weekend with some good weather .... it's great to feel that round, yellow thing in the sky shining down. I love being in the sun! Spent Saturday running some local trails but it wasn't so great. Oh well, sometimes you have one of "those" days where the body just doesn't seem to want to work. I managed to get 2.5 hours under my belt so that was good. On Sunday we hiked up Sulphur Mountain which still has quite a lot of sugary snow but it's in fairly good shape; this time last year we were hiking the same trail crutch-deep in snow (well Steve's a lot taller than me, so it was knee dip for him!!) Got out on my mountain bike after work tonight as it was another beautiful day. They're calling for rain and flurries for the rest of the week but hopefully it'll clear up by the weekend as I want to run something long (and fun).

Snow

2009-04-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's bloody snowing again! Hopefully spring will return by the weekend as I'm ready to RUN!!!

Lake Minnewanka

2009-04-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

The beautiful weather continued throughout last weekend so we headed out to Lake Minnewanka. The trail dries up fairly quickly out there so it was busy with hikers, mountain bikers and us runners. It was great to see so many people out on the trail, enjoying our first warm weather of the year.

Bike ride

2009-04-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

I love riding my bike from Banff to Canmore as the scenery is incredible and the shoulder is nice and wide. Friday last week was a fantastic, warm spring day so Steve drove my car to the town next door and then ran back to Banff on the trails and I rode my bike to Canmore, picked up my car and continued with my errands for the day.

Life is sweeeeet!!!

2009-04-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

I had to work on Friday and spent yesterday in Cowtown buying some new toys so today was time for my long run. I've only just gotten back to running regularly again and it's only been for about 35 minutes at a time but today I did 2 hours non-stop. It felt awesome!! Spring is in the air and it was lovely to see so many people out and about enjoying the Easter weekend. I chose to run around the Banff Springs golf course and out to Cave and Basin and back. Even after 14 years of living here, I'm gobsmacked every day by the sheer beauty of the place. And the wonder of sharing the landscape with so many animals; I saw loads of elk, squirrels and a coyote.

Happy Easter everyone!!

2009-04-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Most of you will have an extra day off this weekend so go run some more .......!

Tunnel Mountain

2009-04-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening was gorgeous; it's definitely feeling spring-like in Banff at the moment so Steve and myself made the most of it and hiked up Tunnel after work. It's only a few minutes from home and is a popular trail for locals and tourists. This is the view from the back side, looking onto Mount Rundell. Despite living here for 14 years, I'm still blown away on a daily basis by the beauty of the mountains. I went for a short run this morning and felt pretty good so am really excited to be getting going again. Yahoo!!!