Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

February has always been my favourite month, and even more so nowadays. When living in England, it was a sign that we were past mid-winter, and by March, the daffodils and crocuses would start to emerge from the ground, and we would be looking forward to the first day of spring. Being in Canada is much different, and I'm pretty sure there may be some colder days and maybe even some more snow to come over the coming weeks, yet it doesn't change the fact that spring is on its way and with that will come lighter nights and warmer temperatures. But it isn't just the weather that makes February my favourite - it's also the month when Wilson joined our family, it's Valentine's Day, it's my birthday, and it's also our wedding anniversary this month - so many things to celebrate and look forward to, even in these Covid times :) Add to that that I usually do my first race of the year by the end of February, it sure gets things off on a positive footing moving for...

Running so far this year has been going great, and I'm really happy with how my training and fitness is progressing. I've not been doing high mileage per se and have just been topping out at around 50 or so miles per week, but my pace has started to improve again which makes me happy. Of course, gyms are still closed here in Alberta, and with my treadmill still in pieces and waiting to be fixed in the basement, it means I have to get outside for all my runs. I much prefer to run outdoors anyway, but winters can be tough for us runners, especially when there's a heavy dump of snow or we face extreme cold. The winter weather usually means wearing more layers which can weigh you down, whilst breathing in the cold air plays havoc with the lungs sometimes, and don't even mention the running in deep snow or dancing on ice! Last weekend, I did have 2 x 10- mile time trials to complete on Saturday and Sunday, the idea being to run the same route both days and try to run a littl...