Mountains and Trail Races

Just two weeks after the Canadian Death Race, we found ourselves back in the mountains again, this time at Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Being quite spontaneous, we often find ourselves making last minute plans, and having found a vacant site at the campground just a couple of days before, we hit that reserve button and gathered our camping gear for a two night trip to the mountains.

There is no doubt that I would be in the mountains far more if I lived closer - when we lived in Calgary, I was out there every weekend either running or hiking, but it's not as easy when it's a 4 hour drive from home. This time, I wanted to make some time for trail running or hiking, plus we were also going to be filming a new video for my YouTube channel which would mean sleeping in a bivvy with Wilson overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

It was a great weekend, and whilst I didn't get the run in that I wanted, I did manage an awesome 7-mile hike with the pups, and we certainly got some fabulous  views of Lake Louise and the surrounding mountains.

I decided to take the three pups up to Little Bee Hive and then over to Lake Agnes, where we would have a spot of lunch before heading back down to Andy who was waiting at the shoreline of Lake Louise. It was a really warm day and the expected heavy rain didn't materialise until later in the day, which meant I had three quite warm and thirsty little pups that were very keen to drag me in to every stretch of water we came across.  The trails were also extremely busy, but unlike other occasions when I've found myself getting frustrated at the sheer volume of people, I was much better prepared today and took the constant crowds in my stride. Even the pups were very well behaved for me, and other than a couple of "I'll rip your throat out!" reactions from April - who incidentally is the most friendly out of the three of them! - it was an absolute pleasure to hike with them for a couple of hours.

Hike to Little Bee Hive and Lake Louise below

Hike to Little Bee Hive - these pups are so amazing!

A girl and her pups at Lake Agnes

Wilson in Lake Agnes

Lake Louise and three gorgeous pups :)

After a great day of hiking on the trails, it was nice to get back to camp and get ready for a night in the bivvy. It was going to be quite a cool night with temperatures close to freezing, so I was looking forward to snuggling up in the sleeping bag and being all cosy warm. Unfortunately, Tillie had other ideas, and I think Andy described her little mishap in the most perfect way; "She's done the worst thing a dog could do in a tent ...!" - yep, she'd pooped all over the sleeping bag that I was intending to use, and having given it a good scrubbing, it was still too wet to sleep in by the time bedtime came around.

Fortunately we had taken spares, along with plenty of dog blankets, and my night in the bivvy turned out perfectly fine. I slept well and was exceptionally warm and comfortable, and it was so nice to open the door in the early morning and be surrounded by pine trees and mountains :)

My bed for the night, small and snug!

Night night! Snuggled up in the bivvy

It had rained heavily overnight so the tent and bivvy were pretty wet, and we sat around having a leisurely breakfast hoping things would dry out a bit before we hit the road and headed home. I contemplated doing a short run alongside the river, but I really didn't fancy getting a good soaking and not being able to shower until I arrived home, so I was happy to just walk the pups one more time before heading off.

I love being in the outdoors and we've certainly done lots more camping again this year, and aside from really enjoying spending time with the family doing all things outdoorsy, I have also enjoyed making the videos I have been doing. I'm still far from being an international YouTube star and I am nowhere near being monetised, but when I see the end result after the effort put in to the filming and editing the videos, it makes me happy and seems so much more worthwhile. I really don't mind that I'm not hitting the thousands of views that others receive - I'm just happy doing what I'm doing, and in a few years time when I'm old and grey, I can look back and see younger versions of ourselves, and know that we have been having tons of fun and sharing lots of laughter throughout our lives.

The following weekend, I make another last minute decision, this time registering for the 5 Peaks Trail Race out at Chickakoo Lake. I had done this race a couple of years ago and then volunteered the following year, so I was keen to go back to see how I found the course this time around.

It's so nice to have in-person races again and seeing all my friends that I haven't seen for many, many months was awesome. Watching the kids races, seeing the back-of-the-packers, and then experiencing the joy and enthusiasm of all the other runners in both the sport and enduro races, made me so happy, and the race day atmosphere and cameraderie is certainly something that I have missed.

Chickakoo Lake Recreation Area
PC: 5 Peaks Trail Running/InMotionPhotography

My aim for the race was to use it to gauge where I'm at fitness wise ready for the Grizzly Ultra 50k in 6 weeks time. My running has been up and down all year and I really don't feel like I've hit any of my targets, and whilst I've not really been disappointed, I have found it frustrating given that training in the main has been going really well.

Being just a 13km trail race meant that there was no expectation on me. I haven't ran anything this short for over 2 years, so I already knew that pacing would be an issue as I lacked the confidence to go off fast, and having not really done any speedwork, I wasn't even sure what fast was these days. I just wanted to run hard and see how things went, and having positioned myself around about midpack at the start, I was willing to just see how things panned out.

Heading out and wondering how to pace things!
PC: 5 Peaks Trail Running/InMotionPhotography

I love the Chickakoo Trails as there is so much variety, ranging from twisty turny single track, to wide open forest trails. There are plenty of rooted ups and downs, and I was loving it! On the flatter parts I was able to run a fairly decent trail pace, whilst the downhills saw me being just as reckless as I had always been, running confidently down the trail, overtaking people and pushing the pace. Not surprisingly though, it was the climbs where I found my weakest link, and it was here that I lost a few places. I worked as hard as I could but there always seemed to be a line of people behind waiting to pass - I just didn't feel quick enough for them and so let them pass.

Into the last half mile or so :)
PC: 5 Peaks Trail Running/InMotionPhotography

With a strong finish in the last kilometre, I crossed the line in1 hour 16 minutes, placing 10th lady and 3rd in my age category. It was a far cry from how I was running 2 years ago, but given the number of ultras this past couple of years, I really wasn't complaining. Besides, I came away with a place on the podium and another medal to add to my 5 Peaks collection- I was pretty happy with that :)

Podium finish - yay!
PC: 5 Peaks Trail Running/InMotionPhotography

I'd half expected to wake up feeling tired and achy the next day, but the legs felt good so I headed back out to the trails on the Sunday, this time in Devon, where I did 25km with almost 1800 ft of climbs. My legs felt much stronger and I had a great run, and with the next 5 Peaks race being on these exact trails in a few weeks time, I may just enter that one too as a sharpener before the Grizzly the following week.

25km out in Devon and feeling great :)

August sure has been a great month of mountain and camping adventures, of amazing walks with the pups, and some great trail running. Kids go back to school this week which is a sign that autumn is just around the corner, and I am already noticing the cooler morning and the changing colour of the leaves. Fall is my favourite season as things cool off, and everybody starts heading indoors as they brace themselves for another Alberta winter. For me, I feel more alive and raring to go, and I'm really hoping that's just how I feel on Thanksgiving weekend when I take on the Grizzly :)

Until next time, happy trails my friends :)