A Rabbit's Tale

For some of us, our pets make up a huge part of our lives and I certainly know a fair few people that would go to the ends of the earth for their furry babies. I've personally been blessed over the years and have had the greatest pleasure of having dogs in my life from the day I was born, and I'm sure that those that know me well realise how much our old boys Sam and Leo meant to me, and now Wilson and Brandy.

But it isn't just dogs that have stolen my heart in recent years - we had 3 cats at one point, all with their own unique personalities, and we still have Khayman who keeps us awake at night either meowing for attention or purring very loudly whilst sleeping contentedly on our pillow. We've also had 2 rabbits, both of which came into our lives by pure accident.

Before Bunny and Spud, rabbits were never our pet of choice. Sure you can cuddle them and they are soft and fluffy, but you can't take them running or walking with you and the common perception is that they are kept in outdoor hutches all day long. Yet both of them brought us so much pleasure, and there is absolutely nothing like seeing 2 rabbits doing endless binkies around the living room, and charging up and down the stairs like a herd of elephants whilst playing chase with each other. Rabbits are also extremely sociable animals and they thrive on human company and pampering.

Bunny :-)

We found Bunny abandoned in a field about 7 years ago, and not wanting a fox to make a meal of him, we decided to take him in and adopt him. He was quite the character - he used to literally dance around our legs, he would always entertain us with some impressive leaps and bounds and binkies, he used to let us hand feed him, and when Wilson was a very young puppy, him and Bunny used to snuggle up together in the indoor rabbit hutch.

Snuggles with a young Wilson :-)

Wilson enjoys life in the rabbit hutch!

Spud :-)

Playtime in the snow for Bunny and Spud - UK picture :-)

A couple of months after Bunny entered our lives, I arrived at work in Stafford one morning and a young brown lop rabbit was spotted hopping around the car park. A few of us from the office spent about half an hour trying to catch the little chap, and when we finally caught him, he didn't half have a powerful kick! 

Being next to houses, it was pretty obvious that this rabbit wasn't wild and so we spent the next couple of days trying to track down the owners. We found the owners and they seemed really eager to have their rabbit returned, but when we went knocking on their front door, the door remained firmly closed despite people being at home as they were expecting us. They clearly didn't want their rabbit back and were probably relieved that somebody had found him and that they could now deny all responsibility for his welfare - and so it was that this little brown rabbit entered our lives.

For 2 male rabbits that were never neutered, Bunny and Spud got on extremely well. We'd heard endless horror stories about buck rabbits fighting each other to the death, and yet these two bonded remarkably well. We no long danced with Bunny as he preferred to snuggle up next to Spud, and they'd spend hours grooming each other or playing rabbit games, whilst other times it was like we were on the set of a rabbit porn movie as they engaged in what rabbits are thought to do best with hours of bonking every week! Spud was always the chilled out rabbit, whereas Bunny was more highly strung and frequently charged at the dogs and cats if they came too close when he was having some special bunny loving with Spud. Both had their own personality but they didn't mind being handled, and we never once had any issues with them biting us or chewing through electricity cables or wooden floor boards.

In February 2012, those 2 little rabbits made their biggest journey ever. After much deliberation, they were housed in a mini rabbit hutch and along with Wilson and Khayman, they made their way to Heathrow Airport ready to fly across the Atlantic to start a new life in Canada with us. We received a mixed reception from people about moving our bunnies overseas - rabbits are highly sensitive animals and we were told that the stress of the journey would kill them, whilst others said that so long as they were well looked after before, during and after the flight, they would be absolutely fine. Undoubtedly, we wondered if we were doing the right thing, but how could we leave them behind when they had both already faced abandonment and had now supposedly found their forever home? There was of course the chance that all would be ok, so we decided to take the risk and having boarded that same one way flight to Calgary, I had an anxious 10 hour wait before we could relax and know that all was ok.

Landing in Calgary and having to declare the import of 4 live animals was interesting - whilst a cat and dog were completely understandable and actually quite common, 2 pet rabbits raised a few eyebrows and the customs officer shook his head in bemusement as he stamped our import documentation.

The good news was that all 4 animals were none the worse for wear following their flight and like us, it was pretty obvious that they were extremely pleased and relieved to see us again.

Although Wilson and Khayman didn't need to go into quarantine (the UK is thankfully free of rabies, so they were allowed in to Canada with just a valid health certificate), the rabbits had to do a 4 week quarantine period due to the risk of myxomatosis, and so we had to keep them isolated from the outside world in our basement for a full month. They settled in really well and both were eating healthily and playing like they always had done, and there was absolutely no need for any concern. But with just 3 days remaining in quarantine, we lost Bunny. A rabbit's teeth are continually growing, and whilst in the wilds, they are kept trim by gnawing on wood and eating grass, pet rabbits sometimes need frequent visits to the vets to have them trimmed. Our rabbits never ate hay and were quite lazy eaters, and sadly Bunny's teeth had grown quite long which hindered his ability to eat. We called a local vet but they wouldn't do home visits for rabbits, and because they were still in the quarantine period, we couldn't take them to the vets. A rabbit also needs to continually eat in order to keep the digestive system active and to maintain the correct balance of bacteria in the gut - without food, it can lead to intestinal problems, so Andy spent hours hand feeding Bunny with a syringe in an attempt to keep him alive. It wasn't enough and poor Bunny passed into another life.

Losing Bunny made us even more attentive and protective of Spud, and we made an even greater effort to play with him, groom him, allow Wilson to play with him, let him have a good run on the grass in the back yard, just to make sure that he was still getting the social interaction that he needed. He was still eating healthily and was gaining weight,  and he started to thrive in his new Canadian home.

Even rabbits suffer from old age, and about 18 months ago, Spud started to develop cataracts and started to go blind. He lost some of the mobility that he used to have and we had to help him to climb in and out of his hutch sometimes, even though he was still hopping around quite happily and then, around 3 months ago, he developed a head tilt that needed medication. During this time, he had a couple of seizures and yet he was still eating healthily, he was still responsive to his name and to touch and he was maintaining his weight. He was no longer a young rabbit and the signs of old age were starting to show, and yet he wasn't prepared to give up the fight just yet.

February has been a really warm month in Calgary, and so a couple of weeks ago we let Spud on the lawn to bask in the warm sunshine. He had a hop around and did a  little exploring before he settled down in the sun, his nose twitching and his teeth chattering in contentment. It even looked like the head tilt was on the mend and apart from his old man image, he was almost the Spud of years gone by.

Spud enjoying some warm February sunshine :-)

But at the age of 7 years, he was indeed an old bunny. On Wednesday this week, Spud stopped eating, by Thursday he had become less responsive and was just sleeping a lot, and by Friday he was making his way across Rainbow Bridge. Both Andy and I were extremely upset. Spud had suffered another seizure and he had quite possibly developed a tumour, and the little guy left this world whilst I was nursing him in my arms. Even Wilson had sensed that something was wrong and he was very unsettled in the couple of days leading up to things.

I spent Friday evening crying buckets of tears, and having taken Spud to the Calgary Humane Society to be cremated on Saturday morning, the tears once again flowed and I had a pounding headache.

It was unfortunate that I also had a cross country race that day. I have been trying to do all of the races this year as I wanted to get my Iron Person Award with it likely being the last time I will be able to compete in the series due to our impending move. But apart from feeling extremely tired, fatigued, sad and antisocial, I felt guilty even thinking about racing after what had happened to Spud. I didn't want to be surrounded by chatty runners that were excited about racing - I just wanted to sit in a corner on my own in silence, and think about the good times with Spud.

I've always said that running is fantastic therapy and a great healer, and after reluctantly starting the race, by the time I had reached around 2km, the fogginess in my head started to clear and I was starting to feel the endorphines kicking in. The race was at Weaselhead with a good stretch of the course following the gently rolling Jack Rabbit Trail alongside the Glenmore Reservoir. With a name like that, it got me thinking of Spud and the fun and laughter he had brought us over the years. I was no longer feeling down - I was enjoying the feeling of being outdoors, I was enjoying the fresh air, I was enjoying the snowy conditions, and I was enjoying having that special time to myself on that trail with no interruptions which allowed me to think and reflect on things. I thought of Spud now running wild and free with Bunny again, where they had regained their youth and were doing endless binkies to show their joy. It made me feel so much better, it made me realise that Spud was no longer in pain or discomfort and that he was now in a far better place.

Reading this I'm sure some people will think that I am crazing dedicating a post to a rabbit, but I also know that lots of people have experienced that unconditional love offered by animals, that dependence on us to look after them and care for them, that sense of responsibility we have to give them the best life we can, and I know for certain that my life is far better sharing it with animals than without - I'm also one of those people that would go to the ends of the earth to protect those in my care.

I know that my running has helped me so much over the years - it gives me time to be alone if I choose, time to think and clear the mind, time to appreciate what life is giving us, and where most other runners will not judge you and you really can be yourself.

As it happened, despite everything, I actually had quite a good run at the cross country and finished in a faster time that in previous years, and no matter what anybody else thinks or says, I know that I have Spud and his memory to thank for that.

Jack Rabbit Trail - a sad day but thinking of Spud xx

5 hours in the Life of a Pace Bunny

The Frozen Ass 50km is held annually on Family Day, and since my arrival in Calgary 3 years ago, I have competed in the race every year. Being an out and back course, it's not exactly the most inspiring of routes, and with the added bonus of being held in February when the weather can be bitterly cold and the pavements snowy and icy, strangely enough the event isn't on everybody's bucket list of "must do"races. Yet it is a great, low key race that is extremely well organised with fantastic volunteers, and having won the ladies race for the past couple of years, it has become a part of my life as a runner.

I wasn't intending to run it this year - getting the long runs in during the winter months in Calgary can frequently be challenging to say the least and running indoors on the treadmill for 2-3 hours can literally drive you bonkers - besides, I had been purely focused on running the London Marathon as my first major event this year. My training hadn't been tailored towards a 50k in mid-February, and I've been concentrating more on strength and speed in recent months rather than building endurance, but when I heard that my great friend Michelle was hoping to run and she would love to go under 5 hours if training went to plan, I offered to pace her on the day if she had no objections. And so it was that I entered Gords Frozen Ass 50km for the third consecutive year.

I'm not going to deny that going for a hat trick of wins would have been fantastic but when asked by so many people what my goal was going to be this year, I calmly replied that I had the honour of being a pace bunny for Michelle, and that helping her to achieve HER goals was far more important than me winning another race.

Being a pace bunny is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I knew that I could comfortably run 50km in under 5 hours, and whilst I had every confidence in Michelle, I didn't want to put her under any pressure prior to the race. She was already nervous without me making things worse, so whilst we  intended to set off with a target time in mind, our real goal was to get around in one piece and to enjoy it. 

Amazing Friends before the race :-) Photo Credit Olivia

Whilst I knew that Michelle was prepared to aim for sub 5 hours, I also knew that she wouldn't be too disappointed if she didn't make it, but I still felt like I had a job to do and I desperately didn't want to let her down. When it comes to pacing myself, I'm usually pretty good as I know my limits and how far I can push myself - I also know when I'm slacking and when I need to give myself a good kick up the arse!

With Michelle it was different. She had only ever done a 50km trail race before so we had no idea what pace a road 50k would need to be. She had ran a 3.58 marathon back in Edmonton last year, but that was on a flatter course during the summer months and although we could use that as a guide, it could mean that we set off far too fast and we faded in the latter stages of the race. In the end, we agreed to run around 5.50km pace which would give us a finish time of 4 hours 55 minutes if we could maintain it - the next few hours would be the test! 

I won't go into any great detail about the actual race as there is only so much you can mention about an out and back 12.5 km lap that we had to do 4 times. What I will say though is that the outward section was extremely windy and pretty cool, the pathways were still quite icy in places, there was about 100m of the route that involved running off road due to construction and with each passing, it got even more muddy and slippery, the great part about an out and back course is that you get to see all the other runners and get loads of cheers and encouragement, and it also means you get to see the awesome volunteers more than once just in case you forget to say thank you!

We started extremely well, we were both feeling relaxed, and we completed our first lap in 57 minutes - almost 3 minutes ahead of schedule - so we knew that we could afford to slow things down if needed.

Our second lap was only slightly slower, and we passed halfway in 2.28. That certainly gave us a good cushion for doing the sub 5, but I could tell that Michelle was starting to tire and I knew then that it was going to be tough for her. 

From then on, I'm surprised that I didn't finish with 2 black eyes! Our pace was starting to slow slightly, so I tried to encourage Michelle as much as possible - "just keep doing what you're doing", "no need to speed up, just keep it going", "come on Michelle, just another 2k to the aid station, then you get a rest and some food", "focus on that chap in front, just focus - we're going to pass him in the next 10 minutes or so", " breathe Michelle, keep the breathing controlled, that's it, nice and relaxed", "make sure you eat and drink at the next station, get some energy in you", "think of running with Brandy, Brandy is pulling you along, just imagine Brandy pulling you", "Glady will be at the next aid station and he's going to be so proud of you".

I wasn't sure if I was saying the right things, I was conscious that maybe I was talking too much and putting Michelle off, conscious I maybe wasn't talking enough. I was constantly checking my watch, knowing that so long as we didn't go any slower than 6.00 km pace, we would still break the 5 hours. 

We lost some time at the aid stations, but it was more important for Michelle to refuel and I could tell when the gels and energy drinks were taking effect as she started to look more relaxed and was speeding up again.

The final lap finally arrived, and we had 75 minutes to the magical 5 hour mark. It was still extremely windy on the outward leg and I could tell that Michelle was in some sort of discomfort and yet not once did she complain, not once did she feel the need to quit, not once did she start to doubt herself. She kept pushing onwards, smiling when she could, and trying more than ever to fight the fatigue that by now was inevitably causing her to slow even more. We went through the marathon distance by my watch in 4.11 and I frantically tried to mentally calculate what that would mean in terms of finishing time - "8km still to go, 8 x 6 min km pace is 48 mins, lose some at aid station and on the hills towards the finish, oh no!!!! We've got 49 mins - this is going to be sooo close! Can't let her down but it's going to be so hard, oh God, she's going to hate me, but we have to push hard."

I tried not to let Michelle know how tight it was going to be and just kept telling her "we can still do this, come on, we can do this!" It hurt me immensely to see how much Michelle was struggling by now and I just wanted to break down and cry as I felt like I was being so cruel, but she kept going, she didn't stop, and when husband Glady started to run alongside with around 3km to go, she had both of us pushing her onwards. 

We were in to the final km, my watch was on 4 hours 54 minutes, we had just 6 minutes to break 5 hours, and I knew that it finished on a hill. We had been averaging just under 6's for the past couple of km, so by now I really was yelling at her, my good manners gone out of the window as I urged her onwards - "800m to go, come on, push, use the downhill to speed up, 600m to go, come on, we are nearly there, we're going to break 5 hours, 400m to go, come on Michelle, push!, 200m to go, come on, absolutely everything you've got, come on, push, come on, use the arms", and turning the final corner to head up the steep hill to the finish with about 120m to go, the clock was ticking away and we had less than a minute to finish in. I was praying that the course wouldn't be long, I was praying that it was bang on 50k or slightly short because I knew that I would feel extremely bad now if Michelle didn't do the sub 5 despite the immense effort she had put in.

As Michelle crossed the line just ahead of me, I stopped my watch on 4 hours 59 minutes and 45 seconds - she had done it with 15 seconds to spare,and I was overcome by a wave of emotion and the need to have a cry. I was bursting with pride for Michelle and no matter what she says, she was the one that ran that time, despite the pain, despite the tiredness, despite the wind and the hills and the mud and the ice, despite the cramp in her legs and the numbness building in her feet. - celebratory huge hugs all around!

Both super happy and proud of the result :-)) (Photo credit: michelle and Glady)

If that wasn't enough, several other friends also had amazing runs in their first ever ultra, and in the canoe club afterwards, it really was cause for celebration as we tucked in to pizza, soup and cake.

Very happy and proud Michelle, a proud Del and a super happy Olivia
who ran her first ultra today :-)) (Photo credit Olivia)

The ladies winner this year ran 4.34 compared to my 3.56 and 4.06 in previous years, and whilst there was a possibility that yes, I could well have won for a third year in a row, no amount of winning could replace the feeling I had when seeing Michelle achieve HER goal - the joy on her face, the obvious pride and love shown by her husband Glady, the joy from other members of her family and friends, and the look of disbelief and the realisation that yes, she had done it. Even now as I write this, I am welling up with tears and full of pride for Michelle - not only is she a super friend that I absolutely love to bits, but she's a truly inspirational athlete - she just needs to realise that now and be proud of what she herself has achieved.

Growing in Confidence :-)

I've been in the running business long enough to know that it's full of ups and downs - some days we run and everything just clicks into place, whilst other times we have a bad race or a string of bad training sessions and our confidence starts to hit rock bottom. Thankfully, the runners I've met over the years are generally an optimistic bunch of folks and they don't tend to dwell too much on the "rather forget" days.

About 5 years ago, I was hit by my first major running injury - the dreaded plantar fasciitis. I'd had some fantastic races prior to the injury, but then I did a 78km mountain race in Switzerland which I wasn't prepared for, and the rocky descents that I had to contend with completely battered my feet which led to the injury woes. Like most runners, I kept running despite the pain but with every race, my performances were getting even worse. I started to lose my confidence and avoided racing for a while, but my passion for the sport I love meant that after a couple of months of keeping my head low, I couldn't resist the temptation and figured that I would much prefer to deal with the pain rather than sit at home losing fitness and gaining in weight.

I guess I was one of the lucky ones. After about 12 months of gritting my teeth on every run, the pain subsided of its own accord and I found that I was running pain free for the first time in a long time. But the damage was done - psychologically I'd lost my confidence and I was afraid to push too hard in training as I dreaded the thought of being faced by yet another running related injury, It took a couple of years before I started to push myself hard again, but even then, I never seemed  able to get anywhere near the level of runner that I used to be.

Fast forward to February 2015, and I can honestly say that this past couple of weeks have been absolutely awesome with regards to my running. I have my coach Laura to thank for this. She's been planning my sessions since October last year, she hasn't overwhelmed me with things but she's had me working hard and putting in the effort, building things up gradually, and this past couple of weeks, things really have start to click. My confidence is growing with every running step I take, and I'm getting excited about really testing myself at my first major target event of the year - the London Marathon in April.

Yesterday I raced a cross country race up on Nose Hill in the North West of Calgary. As the name implies, it is a hilly course and I'm the first to admit that hills are definitely not my strength these days. I was a little apprehensive at the start as I knew the first kilometer is all uphill, and with two laps of the course, I knew that the hill could potentially throw a spanner in the works and cost me a good race.

I had a reasonably good start and tried to focus on just getting to the top,  knowing that it soon flattened out before we headed back down through the trees and started the ascent for a second time. I was lying in 3rd place in the ladies race although the leading ladies weren't too far ahead, and I was also conscious of another lady just behind me. I tried not to think too much about my position and just concentrated instead on trying to get up the hill as quick as I could as I knew that I would start to make gains come the flats and the downhills.

Start of Nose Hill XC Race

I didn't let myself down, and after a couple of kilometers or so, I started to overtake some of the men, pulling away from the chasing lady and gaining on the ladies ahead. I tried not to focus too much on my position, concentrating instead on maintaining my pace and pushing hard, completely surprising myself when I suddenly realised that good friend Alan was now just a few strides ahead of me and I was about to overtake him too (Alan is a fantastic runner and usually miles ahead of me, but in all fairness he has been suffering with a knee problem recently).

At the start of the second lap, the two leading ladies were still in striking distance, but I knew that once I started the climb up the hill for the second time, the gap would widen and I would have no chance of catching them. I didn't mind too much as I already knew I wouldn't win the series outright by now but I would still  win my age group category, so the race became a battle with myself and a test of how hard I could push myself.

Having fun at Nose hill XC - 3rd lady :-)

I eventually finished in 37.17 - almost 2 minutes faster than  my time last year on the same course - and I was absolutely over the moon with my run. Aside from the hills, I'd felt fit and strong all the way around and I really couldn't have put in any more effort than I did on the day.

The result fed my confidence once again and having been discussing the Hypothermic Half Marathon earlier in the week with a friend, I made the decision to race that the following day. My schedule had me doing a 15km trail run at best effort, but instead I opted to run 21km on the roads to determine how fit I really am at the moment and to enable me to feed back to Laura to help me to be even more prepared for London.

The Hypothermic Half Marathon in Calgary has 2 waves - one starting at 9am and the "Sleepy Head" option that started at 1pm in the afternoon. I'm not really a morning runner unless I'm racing, and with the morning wave being sold out, I was entered for the afternoon event. Those that know me well will know that I like my food - running brings the added bonus of being able to eat absolutely anything within reason, and with the race starting at my usual lunch time slot, I was worried that I would be absolutely ravenous before I even started. A huge bowl of porridge (with milk and sugar - none of this salt and water for me!) and a few rounds of toast later, I felt I had sufficient energy to keep me going until after the race.

My main goal for the half marathon was to go sub 90 minutes. I felt that I was fit enough and fast enough at the moment to make that achievable, but what I didn't know is how far under 90 minutes I could go. I knew that my PB of 1 hour 20 minutes was way beyond my reach these days, but I felt that I could perhaps run around 1.28 if all went to plan.

Despite the late start, the temperatures in Calgary were around -14 but feeling much colder with the windchill. It was a lovely and sunny afternoon and the wind was barely noticeable at the start and I found that I was running around 4.05 km pace and was managing to keep it going. The time of day meant that the pathways alongside the river were extremely busy with folks making the most of the beautiful but chilly conditions, and we had to encounter tons of people jogging or walking along with dogs or baby strollers. Thankfully the majority of them realised a race was going on and they moved to the side of the path, but some of them were pretty traumatised by a couple of hundred folks approaching from behind and scaring them half to death as they whizzed by.

I was running strong and went through 10km in 41 minutes and being an out and back route, I reached the midway turnaround in just shy of 43 minutes - if I could keep this going, I could run a 1.26, something that earlier in the day had seemed completely unreachable. But the return leg highlighted just how windy it really was as we were hit with a headwind that paralysed the face due to being so cold and required that extra bit of effort to maintain the pace. A 15km split of 62.30 gave me a PB for the distance (I've only ever done two 15km races - the Spaghetti Western and Meerbrook and my previous best was 63 mins a couple of years ago), and with just 6km to go, I was by now convinced that sub 90 was on the cards.

The last 5km really took it out of me, and my pace actually dropped to around 4.20's. My legs had started to tighten up and despite my best efforts, I couldn't speed up. I couldn't help but keep checking my watch, and with 1km to go, I had 5 minutes to spare.

I crossed the line as 1st lady and 4th overall in a time of 1.29.14. I was once again over the moon and so happy to have achieved what I'd set out to do.It was my fastest half marathon time on Canadian soil, and to do it in such chilly temperatures so early on the year, without having done too many longer tempo runs, made me realise that the training I am doing is starting to bear fruit. 

Post Race - Hypothermic Half Marathon - Fort Calgary

With 10 weeks or so to go before the London Marathon and assuming that I remain fit, healthy and uninjured, I'm getting ever more confident that I will once again break the 3 hour barrier for the marathon. The good news about London is that it is at sea level rather that 3,500 ft like Calgary, it will be much warmer, I'm extremely familiar with the course, and I'm hoping to see lots of old friends during the race that will mean we can support each other on race day and help us all to meet our goals.

For now though, it's back to the grindstone with more hard, focused training this week before the Frozen Ass 50km on February 16th. This year I won't be racing the Frozen Ass nor going for the hat trick of wins - instead I will be pacing a friend around the course and hoping that she will achieve her goal of going sub 5 hours for 50k and smashing her PB. It's going to be a great day for her I'm sure, and I'm already planning the celebrations :-)