Winter has arrived...and time for Cross Country :o)

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 100 mile race.

Sunset over the Rockies viewed from Mahogany

A week or so ago, we had our first snowfall of the winter. On the Saturday afternoon, I ran around the wetlands with Wilson in shorts and t-shirt as temperatures hit 18 degrees. Come Sunday, we’d had several cm of snow and my long Sunday run was much different with both myself and the dogs wrapped up in winter woollies to protect again a biting wind and driving snow.

A Chinook wind midweek caused the snow and ice to melt quite quickly, but winter was back with a vengeance by the following Saturday as another winter storm moved in over the mountains from B.C.

Now that the weather has turned and my “big” races are done for the year, it’s back to cross country every couple of weeks with the start of the Calgary Road Runners Grand Prix. I loved the series last year and finished 1^st in my age group and 2^nd overall, so despite still feeling a little tired and heavy legged following the longer races over the past couple of months, I was excited to be heading down to Okotoks on Saturday for my first cross country race of the season.

There was a new venue for this year’s race and on first arriving at the recreation centre, I had visions of something similar to Winsford back in the UK – endless laps around a flat playing field, and not really what I would consider to be “proper” cross country. If it weren’t for the extremely wintry conditions making things appear more challenging, I may well have been tempted to turn around and go home rather than face the monotony of a flat cross country course. However, that wouldn’t have been fair to the organizers and volunteers that had turned out to stage the event, and when informed just before the start that there were some “very narrow single track trails” when “running up the escarpment” that could be “quite messy due to the snow”, I began to think that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Snow, hills and mud - PERFECT cross country running :o)

I wasn’t disappointed, and with 2 x 4km snowy, icy and muddy loops that included several steep and slippery climbs followed by some tricky descents through a lovely little woodland area, it made for an extremely enjoyable run.  I finished 3^rd lady behind 2 good friends – Kim and Anne – the former of which shot off like a rocket and never looked back, storming to her first victory and showing she’s a true contender for the title this year.

Although I quite liked the course, I wasn’t feeling as confident as usual – hesitant at going off too fast and burning up as I simply wasn’t used to setting off at such a pace, especially given that I hadn’t done any speed work for a while and recent races have been more about starting slowly and keeping it going. Thankfully, although the faster pace and shorter distance was still a shock to the system, I managed to keep going and whilst I wasn’t my usual sure-footed self and ran more cautiously that what I’m used to, I didn’t feel as tired or clumsy as I expected. Given a couple more of these races leading up to Christmas, I’m hoping that I’ll get some confidence back and will be able to “attack” the courses like I did last year and get some more good results.

Today, the weather in Calgary is still on the cold side and we’ve had a few more flurries since the cross country on Saturday. A couple of weeks ago, I registered for the Last Chance Half Marathon, so on Sunday, I headed out for a 25km run just to make sure I’m recovered enough to cover the distance for the race next weekend. It was still quite chilly with a gale blowing, and after a painfully slow and tentative 8km on very icy pathways, I decided to head for home and resort to the dreadmill of doom. Even with some good old rock music blaring out, the time on the treadmill seemed to drag and I found myself pushing the pace just to get the session over with as soon as possible to prevent the boredom becoming too intense. Normally I wouldn’t let the weather win, but I really want to use the race next weekend to help gauge where I’m at in terms of fitness so that I can structure my winter training ready for next year which I hope will be as good as 2013. It’s highly likely that conditions will still be poor underfoot but I at least want to get to the start line in one piece so that I can give it my best shot.

2013 has already been an awesome year of running for me and I’ve finished every race satisfied with my performance and with a smile on my face. I’ve learnt not to put pressure on myself and to just run to enjoy rather than chase PB’s that are beyond my reach these days. I still have goals for next year, but there are so many races to choose from and I guess I’m going to have to rely on some advice and recommendations from the many good running friends I have met since moving to Canada :o)

However, winter training is going to be somewhat more focused this year, and with my initial goals being to run good races at 2 of my favourite events – Run for L’Arche and Calgary Marathon, both of which are very well organized with fantastic support and are ideal for both elite athletes as well as beginners - I’m hoping they will get me off to a good start in 2014.

Calgary Marathon celebrates its 50^th anniversary next year, and being my local marathon and also one of my favourites, I have to be a part of the party and hopefully improve on my time once again.

Meanwhile, Run for L’Arche raises funds for a worthy cause, and due to taking place in March, it’s the ideal, perfectly timed race to blow off the winter cobwebs and to get an indication as to how to tackle the marathon later in the spring. Add to that the flat course along the beautiful Bow River, the free pancake breakfast and other goodies, I am certainly intending to race this one again next year and can certainly recommend it to anybody else that is pondering whether to take part.

But both Run for L’Arche and Calgary Marathon are several months away yet, and we still have at least 4-5 months of what is likely to be cold, icy and snowy conditions to contend with. The good news is that I love winter running, I feel more motivated than ever, and I’m looking forward to a good winter of training and racing that will hopefully help me to achieve those goals in the new year – bring it on!