Happy New Year!

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 beside the lake before sitting on the snowy beach for a picnic and a cup of hot chocolate as the sun went down.

Christmas Day Puppy Run :)

Family day out to Elk Island :)

Unfortunately this year I only had the 3 days off work, but the past few days have been wonderful, and I'm sure that 2020 will hold lots more fun and adventures for us all. I'm really hoping that Andy will be around more next year - he's spent something like 8 months of this past year working away and whilst me and the pups have kept ourselves busy, it has also been extremely difficult trying to plan things and knowing that Andy will likely not be joining us due to work.

Looking back on 2019 from a running perspective, I've certainly had my ups and downs with my racing! I'm not about to revisit all my races in any great detail - that's what this blog is for, to detail the nitty gritty at the time - but there are some things that remain memorable and I'm sure will be under discussion for many years to come.

In terms of races, I added another 7 ultras to my tally, along with a couple of other distances on the roads. I got frostbite on my big toe, had my fourth DNF, lost my confidence and started to get anxiety again about racing, regained my confidence and started to run for myself again, encountered a grizzly bear during a race and then had a nasty fall that resulted in 10 stitches to my knee, completed the Canadian Death Race, revisited my first 100 miler, and of course, headed back to Phoenix for a  not-so-lucky third time at Desert Solstice.

MEC Half Marathon Champ - Road Racing ??!

Canadian Death Race in August - 125km of awesomeness :)

But of those races, I won 5 of them and made the podium in all of the others, whether in my age group or open category - I certainly can't complain :)

I also switched coached back in April which brought a new approach to my training. Adam who had been coaching me for two years whilst living in Phoenix, moved to Japan, and with me moving back to Canada, it made sense for us to part. I will always be thankful to Adam for his support and encouragement with my races, and for pacing me to podium finishes and victories when in the USA. I do miss him but I really hope that he and his family are having a fantastic time out in Japan, and that other athletes out there will benefit from his knowledge in years to come.

But in losing Adam I gained Paul - a fellow Brit living in Edmonton, and who has certainly given me some challenging sessions that have brought out the best in me in recent months. He too has been encouraging and supportive these past few months and I am truly grateful for that - it's helped me to enjoy my running again and to realise that I need to run for me and not for everybody else. I'm looking forward to working further with Paul as we go into 2020 and beyond, and I'm sure that there will be more difficult sessions to come but I know that they will help me to be properly prepared for my races make my goals more achievable.

Of course, it isn't all running and racing for me, although there is no doubt that does play a huge part in my life. There are also my three little pups that bring so much joy and happiness to our lives. We started the year off with just Wilson and Tillie - our family had shrunk in such a short time to just the 4 of us which somehow brought us much closer and much more protective of each other. We went on a couple of camping trips, we've had mountain adventures together, and we've done runs together.

Before April joined the family ..... Jasper with Andy Wilson and Tillie 

By the time summer arrived, we'd welcomed another pup in to the family - another pointy snout called April. She brought chaos and mischief but my goodness, we are so happy to have her living with us, and she bonded with Tillie and Wilson very, very quickly, not really giving them a choice as to whether they liked her or not. On our first camping trip with April, she slipped her collar and had the entire campground chasing her which she thought was hillarious, we've bought something like 5 new comforters since she joined the family, we've had to throw away a bag of ripped clothing, and all the stuffed dog toys are now non-existent. She really has been - and still is - full of it!

April joins the family in June 2019 :)

It's great being a 3 dog family again, but we do still miss Brandy and we do still think of her.

This year, we also headed back to Las Vegas for a few days - yes, Robbie Williams had finally got residency there and we managed to get tickets for one of his March shows. Vegas is wearing thin on us nowadays but it was so worth going back to see Robbie, and of course, the show was amazing! Not surprisingly most of the audience were from the UK, and with a few Stokies in the audience, it was strange to hear a few "ay up ducks"!

Talking of Stokies, one of my long term friends made it out to Canada for a visit in September, all the way from Stoke. I've been friends with Julia for many years now, she's always there for me and has always been a shoulder to cry on, even from afar. Having Julia here for a 10 day visit and having a good catchup was wonderful, and being able to spend a few days with her camping in Banff was so special - I really hope she can visit again some day.

Above Lake Louise with A very good friend :)

If that wasn't enough, come November, we had yet another visit, this time it was friends from Phoenix as they came to sunny Leduc for what they termed as "Yanksgiving". We spent a few days in Canmore  with them and did teh usual visit to Banff and Lake Louise. It was cold, we had snow, we saw Elk, Deer, and a Grizzly Bear, we did all things Canadian when we could, but their time here was too short and they headed home before we had time to do much else. We are hoping that they too can visit again some day as we really miss them.

More friends visiting, this time from PHX :)

Of course we say it every year - we don't know what next year will bring - but I'm hoping for good health and happiness, for more visits from friends and hopefully from family, for lots more mountain and camping adventures, for more time with family and friends, to continue to enjoy my running and have fun, and to spend as much time as possible with Andy and the pups.

To all my family and friends, and to any random strangers that may be reading this, I wish you all a very happy new year, and may it be filled with lots of love, good health and happiness.