Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

Last weekend was the Last Chance Half Marathon and with things turning more towards winter as the days go by, I figured I would squeeze in this last road race of the season before the proper wintry stuff sets in. I turned up at Eau Claire not really expecting anything spectacular. I certainly didn't have a race plan and the only goal I had was to run hard to help gauge my current fitness level and to determine how recovery is progressing following all the ultras I've done recently. With light snow falling and a brisk wind making it feel more like a chilly -18 degrees, conditions were hardly ideal for a fast time, and with a distinct lack of speed work for well over 2 months, I anticipated  finishing in around 1 hour 40 mins.  Start of Last Chance Half Marathon The course followed the river for a short while before turning back towards Eau Claire and heading out in the opposite direction past the zoo. I found that I was really enjoying the run although I was curs...

I can’t believe that it’s November already, but then since September, I’ve been pretty busy racing ultras and acting as a tour guide for UK visitors. It’s been a fantastic couple of months and it seems really strange and extremely quiet now that things have settled down and life has gone back to normal. Beautiful autumn colours of Alberta   Thankfully, winter arrived a little later in Calgary this year, prolonging the fall which I have to say has been absolutely beautiful. We had some balmy temperatures along with gloriously sunny days and gorgeous blue skies, and even in the city, everything has looked amazingly beautiful with the autumn golds, oranges and yellows on the trees. With living in Mahogany in the South East of the city, we also get to see some of the fantastic sunsets over the mountains,  and with the development of the new wetlands progressing so well, it’s meant some fabulous easy runs over the past couple of weeks whilst I’m still recovering from my 1...