Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

NOMAD : a person who does not stay long in the same place, a wanderer ITINERANT : a person who travels from place to place Yes, we're on the move yet again - or are we? The past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic, not least because huge decisions have once again been looming over us, causing feelings of excitement, nervousness, doubt, uncertainty, happiness and relief,  as well as a whole host of other emotions. A possibility of relocating has once again arisen - this time to the United States - and whilst no decision has yet been made either way as to whether we start packing up our belongings into cardboard boxes again, it has certainly been on our minds for the past couple of weeks whilst we explore all possibilities and options available to us. In all honesty, we've always had trouble staying in one spot for too long, but whilst I'm open to packing up and being on the move again, I can't really see myself wanting to become an American in the long...

After 3 days of trail races, I think that I've rekindled that childlike excitement and regained a degree of confidence for the mountains that I once had before. The trouble is, I'm now faced with a dilemma - do I go ahead with the 50 mile trail race on August 16th and head back to those very same trails again, this time tackling the distance in just one day, or do I head to Edmonton for a road marathon where I was hoping to run close to the 3 hour mark again. I know what my heart and mind are saying, but I really don't want to let anybody down, and even I'm not stupid enough to run a 50 miler followed by a fast marathon just a week later - it's a recipe for injury, particularly at my age! I knew that the TransRockies Kananaskis 3 Stage Trail Race would completely wow me, and whilst I was bubbling with excitement about tackling the trails on my own without friends to lean on for the next 3 days, I was also extremely nervous.  As a road runner, the focus is...

I'm getting pretty excited if a little nervous at the moment, as this weekend I'm hoping to complete 3 races in 3 days by doing the Kananaski Triple. "So what?!" I hear you say - I've done endless ultra races including a 100 miler in 21 hours, and I've even done 5 races in one day without too much trouble. That makes me sound almost cocky, and yet I am genuinely concerned about my ability to do the triple this weekend. Since living in Calgary, I've done some pretty amazing races both on the roads and the trails, but what I haven't done is a "proper" mountain race. Sure, I've done mountain races in a previous life in England, Ireland and in the Swiss Alps - but those races were a long time ago, and I suppose you could say that I've lost some of that mountain confidence.  Swiss Alpine Mountain Marathon - 78km Davos, Switzerland - 2008 The Grizzly 50km race took me around Canmore Nordic Centre and there was a fair bit of ...