A Year of Adventure and Making Lots of New Friends :-)

So as we come to the end of yet another year, for some of us it's time to reflect on the past 12 months and all the adventures we've had.

For me, it's been a pretty awesome year again and whilst I may not have set the local running scene alight with outstanding performances in any of my races, I've had so much fun both out on the trails and on the roads, and have met lots of fantastic and pretty amazing people along the way.

I'm not going to go over all my races again - if you're that interested, you are more than welcome to read previous entries to see what I've been up to - but I will mention some of my favourites moments from this year and I know that they will stay in my memory for a very long time:

Del and Kim  in Red Deer

Winning the Red Deer Marathon back in May on a cool and rainy day, and celebrating with good friend Kim, who won the half on the same day - not bad for 2 ultra runners!

Banff to Jasper Relay 

The Calgary Road Runners BJR Team (minus a couple)

The Banff to Jasper Relay was pretty awesome - a great bunch of people in superb surroundings, and an outstanding event - I can't wait to do it all again next year!

Final presentation at K-Triple

The Kananaskis Triple - 3 consecutive days of trail racing in the mountains covering around 80km in total and 15,000 ft of climbing - who would have thought that a girl from Stoke could finish 3rd lady overall?!

6am and just before the start of Iron Legs 50 miler

Iron Legs 50 miler - super super tough race but one of the BEST ultras I have ever done.

Berg Lake at the foot of Mt Robson

Mount Robson Marathon - absolute paradise at the foot of Mount Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, the beautiful Berg Lake, and certainly a race that I would love to go back to and race properly

A borrowed bike for the Blitz Duathlon

Competing in my first duathlon and finishing 3rd lady - yep, this girl has cycling legs too

Happy with a 3.06 in Toronto Marathon

And finally, the Toronto Marathon where good friend Dawn ran an excellent PB, I finished 3rd masters and was in the money, and of course, I got to meet Dawn's wonderful family.

I've also had some pretty spectacular training runs, none more so that when joining Joanna back in the summer where we headed up Heart Mountain and then the following day we both joined Emily and Sean for a 50km run through Assiniboine Provincial Park - an absolutely wonderful weekend with super friends in fantastic surroundings. And then more recently, wintry training runs with our very good friends Glady and Michelle and their network of friends that are now our friends too - and all the runners that have joined Mahogany Running Club throughout the year.

Fab day out in the mountains with Joanna, Emily and Sean

A few members of the Mahogany Running Group

Wintry run with good friends

Of course, none of this would be possible if it weren't for Andy allowing me to pursue my goals and dreams - he's an absolute star and I know that I would be nothing without him. In addition, I have 2 exceptional friends that never let me down, they are with me through the good and the bad runs, the happy days and the sad, and they stand by me no matter what. They run with me, walk with me, share my food, they've been on camping trips with me and tried to cram into our "mummy" sleeping bags, and they've never let me down - I'm sure Wilson and Brandy need no introductions! 

Luring with my favourite boy.....

....and my favourite girl

I've already started to think about my racing next year, and so far my main goals are a sub 3 marathon in London and a good race at the TransRockies 6 day Stage Race in August south of the border in Colorado. I have also put my name forward for consideration to be selected for the GB team at the World Trail Running Championships in France at the end of May next year.. I am under no illusions that I will be selected - there are some very good British lady trail runners across the pond, and it will be difficult for the selectors to draw comparisons between my results over here in the mountains of Canada compared to races in the English Lake District or Scottish Highlands - but I at least wanted to give myself half the chance of competing on the international scene one last time, before I become a Canadian Citizen.

There will of course be other races along the way, but at the moment, I'm reluctant to commit to too much. Nobody knows what the future holds and there is a high possibility that there may well be changes in our lives again next year that will affect the races I do. For now, I am purely focused on London and the TransRockies and the good news is that at present I am feeling fitter, stronger and alot more confident in my running than I have done for a long time, and that's thanks to my excellent coach Laura who is helping me immensely. As things stand, I'm pretty sure that next year is going to be another great year and I'm looking forward to the challenges and new adventures it will bring.

So I guess all that remains now is to say Happy New Year everybody, and may you too have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 :-)

Icy Silver Springs....and it's raining!

It seems a little strange to see greenery in Calgary during December but the milder temperatures this past week or so has led to pretty much all of the recent snow melting. I'm so used to running indoors this time of year or trudging through deep snow in 5 layers of clothing that it was a refreshing change to be greeted by light rain at today's cross country race at Silver Springs. 

The problem is that despite the warmer temperatures, things still hover around freezing point at night and so pavements and pathways turn into skating rinks by morning which makes it treacherous for running.

Today was no exception and even though it was raining, the course at Silver Springs was pretty much  80% solid ice - even the organisers recommended not doing the race without spikes or some other sort of traction aids - either that or walk around! 

I always enjoy the race at Silver Springs - it usually feels festive with being so close to Christmas and the course is hilly enough to be challenging but not enough to throw you off your rhythm too much. It's also always nice to see friends and other familiar faces, and I have to say that with the long hours I've been working in the new job, I do feel that I have neglected my friends somewhat recently, so it really was a joy to see them :-)

Festive start of Silver Springs XC Race :-)

The good news is that today, I feel as though I had a good race even though I only finished as 4th lady. Yes, the ice was problematic and required a certain degree of caution at times - especially when running along the "cliff edge" overlooking the river below - but it also seemed to suit me better than running in deep, soft snow, and I found that I was running pretty quick for a cross country race. I was also feeling much fitter and stronger than of late, and even the hills weren't causing me any problems today as I just put my head down and literally took them in my stride. I was overtaking people after the first couple of kilometers and I was feeling extremely good.

In all honesty, I was having a personal battle with one of the other ladies that had beaten me by a good minute at the previous two races. She was ahead of me at the start today, but as the race progressed, I eventually passed her and with every stride I started to pull away, growing in confidence as I went. She tried to keep pace with me and I was extremely aware of her just a few metres behind, conscious of her footsteps speeding up every time I attempted to pick up the pace, but I was determined not to let her pass unless she really was prepared to work for it.

We hit the first of several inclines and this would normally be where I would lose a few places, but I pushed hard, trying not to dwell on my breathlessness and the lactic acid building in my legs as I climbed. I was relieved that the other lady didn't pass me, and so I continued to push on and attempted to open the gap even further.

The icy conditions were making it difficult, especially on the downhills, but it was pretty obvious that everybody was being affected and it was a case of seeing who was the bravest to just go for it and trust in their balance. 

I was so concentrated and focused on staying upright that I became oblivious of everything else for a short time, but then I suddenly became very aware of just my own heavy breathing as I tried to maintain the pace. Without looking behind, I sensed that I had dropped my competition, and when I passed a couple of marshalls before the next climb, it was a much longer gap before I heard them pass on their encouragement to those following. I had  a feeling that I had perhaps 100m over the other lady by now, and as we climbed an extremely steep, long hill, I sneaked a glance behind and sure enough, the gap between us was widening. I just needed to get to the top of the hill where after, with less than 2km to go to the finish, I knew I could hold her off unless she started running close to 4 min km pace - not likely given the conditions.

The closer I got to the finish, the more confident I was feeling that this time, I would be at least a minute ahead of her, and yet I kept pushing, kept working hard, up the final hill to the finish line.

Final push to the finish line at Silver Springs XC

I'd finished 4th lady and had ran one of my fastest paced cross country races this season so far. I couldn't breathe properly, but I had at least finished strong and felt as though I had given everything I could today. I was very happy and now feel that the consistent training I've been doing recently, along with all the strength work, is starting to pay off, and I'm looking forward to improving further over the next couple of months. 

Of course I had to celebrate having what I considered to be a good race for once - any excuse for a pumpkin pancake breakfast at Dennys - nom nom nom!