Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

After what seems like forever, the frigid cold temperatures in Alberta finally lifted, and last weekend, I headed up to Edmonton for my run, where I was able to enjoy a 10 mile run in a balmy -18 degrees. It was actually quite nice to have that change of scenery, and I had a lovely run exploring a couple of new to me pathways and trails not too far from the downtown core. It was still quite snowy, but the pathways in the capital had much better footing than I'd been experiencing locally, and I was finally able to pick up the pace a little, although I was still feeling extremely slow. YEG running :)   The slow paces in recent weeks have had me feeling somewhat concerned about my marathon goal in May, and I was starting to wonder whether I was perhaps getting a little ambitious in targeting that sub 3.15. My pace recently has been hovering around 9 minute miles which would give me a disappointing 4 hour marathon if I don't get some speed back in my legs. I am fully aware that a 4...

I'm a little late in posting this - it's January 9th, but I've been so busy with so many other things, and now is the only time I've really had to finally sit down and think about what I actually achieved in 2021, and what my goals are for 2022. Last year wasn't actually so bad, despite not hitting my A goals in a couple of races. I had a few race victories albeit in virtual events, finishing first lady in the Beat Sinister 100k, the Run for Support Dogs 50k, and more recently, I received an unexpected prize for finishing Runukah with quickest cumulative time in the ladies category, and a further prize for covering the most distance in the Advent Run Streak, where I finished with just under 400km in the 24 days. The latter event was bitter sweet for me in all honesty. There is no denying that I am a hugely competitive runner, and if I can smell victory, I will go for it. For the Advent Run Streak however, my main opponent was a "friend", who was ahead of m...