Pushing the Boundaries

I'm a firm believer that life is for living - there's no point sitting around thinking, "I'd love to do that, but...." and then coming up with a whole load of excuses for not doing something. Sometimes we have to take a leap of faith into the unknown, to challenge ourselves and get out of our comfort zone, to move away from all things familiar, as that's the only way we truly find out what we as individuals are capable of.

These past few weeks have been pretty awesome even with Andy being away from home. Even now, as I write this in my little 1 person-2 dog tent at the Lake Louise Campground listening to the wind in the trees, the sound of the nearby river rushing by, the crackling of wood from the campfires outside, whilst the birds are singing their last songs of the day, I can't help but smile at what I've been doing this past month or so.

Since my marathons have been completed, my focus has now turned to my next main goal - The Transrockies Run - 6 days of running over 120 miles with 20,000 feet of elevation gain in the mountains of Colorado - which means lots of trail running and lots of climbing over the coming weeks.

Whilst recovering from the marathons, I did a few 10-15km trail runs with Wilson and Brandy on Nose Hill in the north of Calgary. They've been easy paced runs which has been ideal for taking the dogs for company, and we've had so much fun running up and down the hills and  finding sneaky, winding, single track trails through the trees. I'm much more familiar with Nose Hill now and whilst I still have a fondness for the trails at Fish Creek, Nose Hill has become my new favourite closer to home due to the massive open space and the amazing views of the whole of Calgary with the plains to east and the mountains to the west.

Fun with Wilson and Brandy at Nose Hill

Despite my new love for Nose Hill, I have still found the mountains calling me so when friends have asked if I would like to join them on their mountain running adventures, I've jumped at the chance.

My first trip to the mountains since Andy has been away pushed me completely out of my comfort zone, not in terms of the physical effort but rather from a fear perspective and pushing those boundaries.

As a child, I used to do alot of scrambling with the family and the fear of sheer drops just a couple of feet away from me was never there as I clambered over rocky slabs or steep shale on narrow ridges - I'd walk along confidently and be in complete awe of the views around me. Now I'm alot older and wiser and whilst I do still have an adventurous spirit, I'm also a little more conscious of danger and risk and what it really means if you lose your footing on a narrow ridge high up in the mountains.

Mary Barclay Mountain stands at just under 7,400ft and the way to the summit is described as a moderate scramble. The climb is steep and it gets even steeper as you break out of the trees and the ridge starts to narrow somewhat. The final section as you near the summit becomes quite exposed with a pretty hefty drop either side, and it certainly wouldn't be for the faint hearted.

My good friend Joanna invited me along to this one, and I had the honour of meeting another great person in the form of Jamie who would be our guide. I knew I was in good hands, but having researched the mountain on the web and seen pictures of the ridge, I'm not ashamed to say that I was a little apprehensive. I so wanted to make it to the top and I knew that I would be disappointed with myself if I chickened out, but the description of the crux to the top got me shaking just thinking about it.

Mary Barclays - Photo Credit Joanna Ford

The first part took us through the trees where the trail was steep and hardwork but nothing to be afraid of, and we got treated to some wonderful views of the valley below and the mountains stretching out into the distance. As we broke the tree line, the route turned more to shale and as we climbed higher, the ridge did indeed start to narrow and eventually, there was a need to start using our hands to pull ourselves up the rocks. We'd been making really good progress and I felt that I'd actually been doing ok, but then as we looked up at the final section which would take us to the summit, I froze. I cannot explain the fear I felt as I was standing there looking up at what I now needed to climb - my legs were shaking, my heart was pounding, I felt like I couldn't speak properly, adrenalin was pumping through my body, and I steadfastly said, "I can't do it." I'd gone as far as I dared and I was convinced that I was going to trip and fall and never see my dogs or Andy again.

As I looked at Joanna and Jamie, for some reason I felt that I would be letting them down if I didn't at least have a go. I also knew that I would hate myself and be extremely frustrated if I turned around now and headed back down. Both of my companions were so calming, saying all the right things to encourage me to carry on but without neither of them saying directly that yes I should continue, or yes I should head down. After a couple of minutes hesitation, I made the decision to carry on, Jamie offering to lead the way, and Joanna following behind to help me figure out the best way to climb if needed. Being in the middle of such amazing people was very reassuring, and whilst I didn't exactly climb with confidence, I slowly started to scramble across the ridge, focusing on the 2 feet in front of me and trying to block out my peripheral vision which was showing me the huge drop either side of me. I tried to control my breathing, I talked to myself to calm me down and encourage me to keep going, and with every tentative step I took, I was making progres

Before I knew it, I was touching the cairn at the top and signing the summit book. My legs were still like jelly, my heart was still pounding, and yet the views from the top were out of this world. I knew that I had to get back down the ridge and that I would likely encounter that fear again, but now I knew what to expect, now I knew what that fear felt like and I knew that whilst I would still be a little anxious on the way back down, I would be able to deal with things far more easily.

Summit of Mary Barclays - Still wobbly legged!

I actually took my GoPro with me that day and the footage of the scramble is absolutely amazing. Playing it back, I can hear the fear in my voice, and I can hear all the reassurances that both Jamie and Joanna gave to help me overcome things. They really are amazing people, and I can't thank them enough for helping me to realise that I had to at least give it a go.

The evening ended perfectly as day turned to dusk and the sun started to set, shedding a beautiful golden light over things. We spotted a bear on the trail ahead, a blue heron on a pond as we ran past, and several deer in the woods as we ran along. It was the most amazing Friday afternoon/evening I had had in a while.

The following weekend, I had a 25km trail run scheduled in for the Saturday, followed by a 30km run on the Sunday. The problem was that 2 major races were taking place that weekend - the Blackfoot Ultra and the Calgary Marathon - and virtually all of my friends would be racing in one of them. I'd initially decided that I would run Nose Hill again one day, and then Moose Mountain the next - that was until I heard that my other very good friends Kim and Adam would be heading up to Banff to do a few "hill" reps up Sulphur Mountain. Kim has been selected to run for Canada at the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in July, so she's training really hard to be in the best shape possible, which includes lots of hill work on mountain trails.

I've been up Sulphur Mountain several times but I've always gone on the gondala as we've either being holidaying in Banff or we've had visitors from the UK and of course, the gondala is all part and parcel of the "must do" things when visiting this part of the world. However, I had always said that one day I wanted to run up there and thanks to Kim and Adam, I fullfilled my goal not once, but twice as I ran up the mountain twice that day.

Sulphur Mountain is just over 8,000 ft high, and when running from the base, the climb is around 2-2,500 ft. The trail consists of switch backs which makes it perfectly runnable, but it does get steeper in places. That particular day, it was also extremely busy with lots of people heading up on foot but for me, that was kind of reassuring as at least I knew I wouldn't encounter any bears or cougars with the volume of human traffic toing and froing.

Summit of Sulphur Mountain and the trail heading up/down

Kim did absolutely awesome and made the climb look easy, and I was in complete awe that she actually ran every step of the way - now that's commitment! I meanwhile, ran as much as I could and hiked the rest, and although I was much slower, I was really pleased that both runs up there took me approximately the same length of time give or take a minute or two. It was a beautiful run despite the fatigue in my legs as they made the climb, something that they aren't used to just yet. The coming down wasn't too bad and we made good progress on the descent, the quads not taking too much of a battering. It was a fantastic day and I was really pleased to have covered over 25km with almost 5,000 ft of ascent - I was feeling really excited about TransRockies!

With my confidence once again starting to grow, the following day I decided to tick another goal off my list. Although I had been up Moose Mountain on numerous occasions, I had never actually made it to the summit due to weather conditions - the closest I had been was the false summit that we ran to when I did the Iron Legs 50 mile race last year - so after Sulphur Mountain on Saturday, it was time to tackle the "Mighty Moose". The weather reports called for a gorgeously sunny day, and so as long as that didn't trigger any thunderstorms, I knew I was on for another summit.

With having to cover 30km, I decided to park at the very bottom by the highway as a return trip from there to the top would give me the distance I needed. I was running on my own today as everybody else was either recovering from Blackfoot or racing Calgary, and whilst I would have preferred the run through the forests up Pneuma, it was still early morning, I was on my own, and I knew that there had been recent sightings of both bear and cougar in the nearby areas. On that basis, I decided to run up the gravel road which had lots of steep sections and twists and turns. This time of year it is also open to traffic and people head up to the Moose Moutain trailhead, so everytime I encountered a passing motorist, I took in a mouthful of dust and dirt as they drove past.

Despite an early morning start, I was surprised to see that the trailhead car park 7km into my run was already full. I knew it would mean that Moose would be exceptionally busy, but I hoped that with my running and power hiking, I would be able to make good progress. It was another really warm day and I was carrying 2 litres of water which made the running extra hard, but with Moose being so dry with no mountain streams, it was a necessity.

The run through the woodland area was beautiful and I made really good proress, but as I broke from the trees and started the rocky climb up the switch backs, my progress faltered a little as I caught up with those hiking up the mountain and at times it was difficult to get passed them quickly due to the rocky terrain. Fortunately the views were fantastic, and I found myself just gawping around me at every opportunity and being wowed once again by the beauty of Canada.

Before I knew it, I had reached the false summit and I was ready for the final push to the very top. I could see that the trail narrowed considerably higher up and that bottlenecks were already forming due to the sheer number of people heading up the mountain that day, but I pushed on and hoped that maybe I could sneak past folks or they would at least move aside as I approached behind. Up until this point, I had still been running as much as possible and although my legs were really starting to feel it, it felt good knowing that all this climbing would help me when I do the Transrockies in August.

The climb up Moose Mountain

The wind was starting to pick up as I climbed and I figured that it was going to be a little chilly on top which may put people off hovering around too much, and as I turned the final corner and saw the helipad, I became a little emotional that I had once again been able to tick another thing off my "To Do" list. It was certainly gusty up there, so I spent just enough time to have a cheese butty, some crisps and a banana whilst admiring the views before I started to head back down.

Enjoying the views on Moose Mountain

In total I ran over 32km that day and boy did my legs know it! It had taken around 3 1/2 hours to cover the distance including a couple of photo stops, but in the process it meant that I had climbed almost 10,000 ft in one weekend.  I was knackered, I was hungry, but I felt over the moon that I had achieved so much in just 2 days.

And so, just 5 days later I now find myself camping at Lake Louise and tomorrow morning I will be running a leg of the Banff to Jasper Relay. I'm here on my own with just Wilson and Brandy for company, but I feel reassured that there will be no troublesome bears tonight thanks to the electric fencing they have installed around the tenting area. It's a beautiful clear night and the moon is casting shadows of the mountains and trees on the campsite, and I would love to go for a walk and soak in my surroundings but I know better than to walk along trails on my own after dark in places such as this.

I will openly say that I do miss Andy at the moment and I do wish he was here to share these adventures with me, but I have Wilson and Brandy for company, and I know that we'll all be sharing new adventures in the not too distant future. For now though, I'm loving every moment I have in this wonderful country and I'm grateful for that.

Banff to Jasper Relay

Since writing the above, I have once again been a part of the Calgary Road Runners Banff to Jasper Relay Team and ran leg 3 on the southern half of the route yesterday. It was an absolutely amazing day and I got to meet so many new people again. It was hot and I found my leg quite tough with 21km all uphill and over 1000 ft of climbing, but like I keep saying, those hills are good at the moment! I ran 1 hour 43 minutes for my leg making me the 13th fastest on that particular leg out of 50+ teams. It was hard but I felt good, and I'm pleased to say that we did not encounter any bears on my part of the course, although apparently leg 2 and leg 5 had a black bear and a grizzly protesting at the number of runners from what I hear. Calgary Road Runners finished an outstanding 7th in the open category, and I was so proud to be a member of their team.

End of Leg 3 South - feeling relieved to have finished
Photo Credit Sue Co

With having Wilson and Brandy with me, I was unable to go to Jasper afterwards for the post race party, so instead I headed back to Canmore with intentions of running up Ha Ling with the dogs. I've only attempted this mountain once before, in the dark when I first arrived in Calgary in 2012. It was a night run with Alan Lam and Charlie Breaky, but we never made it to the top because of the ice and the steep incline. It was another of those mountains that I wanted to summit, but alas, yesterday it was far too warm for the dogs, and far too busy with countless hikers on the trail. The trail is steep and narrow so we had to keep stopping to pass people, and then when we broke above the tree line, the heat was so intense that even I thought I was going to get heat stroke! We still had an amazing day though, and I certainly got further than last time, turning back just 600m or so before we had made it to the top. It was disappointing to some degree, but I would rather save it for another day than see my poor dogs suffering from heat exhaustion.

600m from the summit of Ha Ling....but two hot for dogs - and me!

I've had yet another amazing weekend having finished off with a 17km run at Nose Hill again today - I've got sunburn and pretty tired legs, but  you know what? I'm very happy. Yes, life is good :-)