Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

So another Christmas has been and gone, and 2020 arrives in just 2 days. I seriously cannot believe that this is our ninth Christmas since we left the UK and next time, we'll be celebrating a decade since we left Staffordshire and England behind us. Christmas has once again been a quiet affair with just Andy, myself and the pups. I remember last year when we were so sad having just lost Brandy, and it was inevitable that she would enter our thoughts this year, and will do so for many years to come. Our beautiful girl Brandy at our wedding :) But whilst we still miss Brandy immensely, we did have a happy Christmas, thanks to our 3 pups Wilson, Tillie and April. I was so happy that we managed to get out for a Christmas Day run as a pack - considering I was running with 3 dogs, they all behaved so well, and I was greatly impressed with how they positioned themselves and ran in line with each other. We then spent a day out at Elk Island, having a lovely little walk besid...

For the past 3 years, I have been trying to break 130 miles at 24 hour events in the hope that it will give me a better chance of being selected to the British national team – my best is just over 129 and whilst that was enough for me to make selection for the 2018 European 24-hour championships, I ended up withdrawing as it clashed with our move back to Canada and I didn’t feel as focused on the race as I should have been. This year was no different. I had registered for Desert Solstice several months ago, it was to be my final event of the year, and once again, I was hoping to exceed my goal. I went into the race feeling fit and strong, confident that I could do it, but also cautious of being too cocky as anything really can happen in an ultra! My training this year had been somewhat different than in previous years, and instead of 2 to 3 hour runs and lots of negative splits, tempo runs and progression runs, I had done more reps, more tempo runs, and definitely much longer...

With just under 6 weeks to go until Desert Solstice 24 hour, my training has started to ramp up again and so far, I have been happy with how things are going. I’ve already managed 2 good sessions on the track to get my body both mentally and physically prepared, and over the coming weeks, the time spent on the track will become progressively longer. The aim of these sessions is to practice running at race pace as well as working on my nutrition in the hope of keeping myself fuelled for the entire duration of the race and avoiding the vomiting that I tend to get at some ultras. Around and around we go! Running in Phoenix in December certainly won’t be as hot as during the summer months, but the temperatures will be warmer than what I’m likely to encounter here in Alberta. The good news is that running at the indoor track does keep things at a steady 70 degrees – even warmer if I opt to wear a long-sleeved shirt rather than a singlet – so hopefully this will be prepare me for a...

I've always used this blog as a repository for my running and racing experiences, a place to reflect on things in years to come when I'm old and grey, to look back on what I've achieved over the years, the lessons I've learnt along the way, and maybe a way of encouraging others that read my posts to register for races, to try something different, and perhaps challenge themselves in a different way. I've been neglecting things a little lately and I seem to have lost some of that motivation and creativity for writing, that way of engaging people and sharing my thoughts and emotions during my races, and I just haven't felt like putting my life on display for the rest of the world to see. The good news is that for whatever reason, I am now at the stage where I feel ready to get back into the groove, to get back doing what I enjoy doing, and I'm ready to pick up where I left off in the summer. It's good to be back :-) There is no denying that m...

A couple of weeks ago, I ran the MEC Half Marathon. It came just a couple of weeks post Blackfoot and for once, I didn't really say too much about the fact that I was racing. I felt the need to keep a low profile as I needed to get some confidence back, but that didn't stop the nerves as I drove to the start on that Sunday morning. The previous day, I'd ran almost 17 hilly miles on the trails. My legs felt ok, but there were definitely some aches from all the climbing and whilst I wanted to run a good time, I had a feeling that the achy legs would cause me some problems. For once I knew most of the course, and although still a couple of good climbs, I knew it would be one of the flatter Edmonton road races I'd done.  On arrival st the start, it was so good to see Ailsa McDonald and her hubby. She was also running the half today and she looked fab considering she had spent 6 hours on a track the day before - she went on to win  half in 86 minut...