Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

Training this past few weeks has been going extremely well which has been a great help in building confidence ready for the London Marathon in just under 6 weeks time. I've been doing plenty of faster paced runs and generally hitting my target time, and now that the longer runs of 30km + have started to kick in, I'm hoping that everything clicks when I toe that start line on Blackheath Common on April 26th. Although I've been doing the cross country races all through the winter months, trying to find a road race at this time of year in Calgary or the surrounding areas is pretty hard, and when you do find one, you can rarely race "flat out" simply because it's really cold and you're weighted down by tons of layers, or you have to trudge through 3 ft of snow or if there's no snow, you'd be better off in ice skates rather than a pair of runners. It certainly makes things entertaining but it can also be extremely frustrating as you don't reall...

It has once again been pretty amazing this past couple of weeks, and I have never been happier. For starters, Andy and I finally became husband and wife after 18 years of being together. I've already written a short post about the day, and we had the most wonderful, magical but quiet wedding on the shores of Lake Minnewanka in Banff with just Wilson and Brandy and some very special, close friends there to celebrate with us. It was just the way we wanted it - private, intimate and away from the public glare, with the peace and solitude of the Rocky Mountains around us. Having spent that night in Banff, the following morning we were greeted by bright sunshine and gorgeous blue skies so we decided on a trip up Sulphur Mountain for one final time before we leave Canada for Arizona. After the ceremony - Mr and Mrs Smith :-) The Salt-Smith Family  Talking of our move to Phoenix, things are finally starting to gain momentum and whilst things are a couple of weeks behind...

Everybody has them - you know, those perfect days where you're so happy and nothing else really matters - last Friday was one of those days, and I feel blessed to have been able to share it with the people I love and care about more than anything. At the beginning of February, I received the most unexpected text: "I suppose we'd better get married then!" Yes, despite the jokes over the past 18 years of being together, Andy had finally popped the question in the most unromantic style possible, and yet I love him even more for the way he did it! Just 3 weeks later, we eloped to the mountains and were exchanging our wedding vows on the shores of Lake Minnewanka in the Canadian Rockies. The day really couldn't have been any better - it was a chilly -8 with light snow falling, and the surrounding mountains were shrouded in low cloud and mist, adding an eerie yet mystical beauty to the location. Everything was silent and still as the snow fell softly to the gro...