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 me by just 11km on the Monday evening. Part of me wanted to let them win, but another part of me - the competitor in me - wanted to finish the year on a high, and so I found myself chasing down this so called friend. Unfortunately, I don't think they could handle the competition, and by the middle of the week, I had been blocked from following them on Strava, and by new year, I was blocked by them on all other social media platforms. Having considered this person a good friend for the past couple of years, we hadn't actually spoken properly in person for quite a while, as they'd moved across the country earlier in the year. The only conclusion I could come to was they didn't appreciate the competition and had therefore felt compelled to remove me as a friend. I'm not about to lay into this person as they aren't here to defend their actions, but their behaviour is extremely disappointing although not unexpected. I have discovered things about them over the past 12 months that have made me question their integrity, but I had continued to give them the benefit of the doubt - more fool me eh?!
But I digress .....
I finished the Advent Streak by running 45km on a very chilly Christmas Eve as I completed the "Beauty and the Beast" Marathon/Ultra. It was close to -30 and I spent a good four and a half hours running around one of the local lakes, but I was happy to finish with a huge smile on my face, and hopefully having done enough to give me that overall victory :) My husband was there supporting me for the most part, making sure there were warm drinks and food as I battled through the cold, dark evening, when everybody else was likely spending it with family and friends.
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| Christmas Eve "Beauty and the Beast" Ultra 45km |
Christmas was a quiet affair for us, with just myself and the hubby and our three pups. We didn't really do anything like in previous years as I was expected back in work between Christmas and New Year, and the time off went very quickly. Although the Advent Streak had now finished, my coach had set me the challenge of running every day right through into the new year, so I ran everyday although the distances reduced dramatically and I didn't run any further than 10k that particular week.
Just before Christmas, we did have a considerable dump of snow, and then temperatures dropped off and the whole of Alberta was under an extreme cold warning. Temperature during the day were getting no higher than -28 degrees celsius but with the windchill, things were dipping down in to the minus fourties. I was still running outside, making sure that I was well layered and protected from the chill and frostbite, but I will admit that it was getting somewhat tedious trudging through deep snow and experiencing such extreme temperatures.
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| Deep freeze in Alberta |
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| Christmas Day fun with the pups |
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| Running with the pups but so so cold! |
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| running is meant to be fun :) |
I was of course missing running with the pups immensely, and they weren't even going out for proper walks which I'm sure they were missing. The girls Tillie and April were taking one sniff at the door and scarpering back to bed, but Wilson seemed better able to cope with the chill, and he was quite happy to do a quick 10 minute walk in the mornings, and again later on in the day.
One evening as I was preparing to head out for a run, Wilson was sticking to me like glue, and when I started to put on my running shoes, he started yapping and getting very excited It was still bitter cold outside, but I knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer, so I put his winter jacket and his booties on him, and he joined me for a most enjoyable 7km run. He did absolutely awesome on that run, although he was clearly ready to finish when we got back home, and he spent the rest of the evening snuggled up next to me on the couch, snoring away in a blissful sleep.
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| An evening run with my favourite boy :) |
With Christmas whizzing by so quickly, it really didn't feel like I'd even had chance to relax, so we decided to spend new year away, and rented a cabin in nearby Ponoka, about an hour's drive away.
The cabin was really cute and we had the whole place plus an annexed kitchen and sitting room all to ourselves. The weather was still bitter cold, but with a wood stove to keep us warm, the cabin was really cozy, and we were loving it. It was just what I needed, and after celebrating the new year on our own with the pups, and having been away for a couple of nights and had a change of scenery, I was definitely feeling much more rested and much happier about starting the new year.
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| Puppy New Year's Eve party |
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| Just enjoying the cabin life and the great outdoors :) |
Of course, we were hoping to do some more filming for my youtube channel, but the weather had been so cold and it really wasn't suitable for doing anything outside for any length of time. We did however make an "End of Year" video where I chatted about my favourite videos, and on Boxing Day, we headed over to Elk Island to film some winter experiments. You can find both videos on my YouTube Channel which can be found by clicking here.
Moving forwards, I am really hoping to build the channel up further. I now have 51 videos on there, and I hope to do at least two or three a month moving forwards. Sure, I get some internet trolls making some pretty nasty comments occasionally, but I know I am stronger and better than those kind of people, and I have hardened up to those kind of personal comments and am thankfully able to brush them aside and ignore them.
From a running perspective, I do have some goals for this year, although I don't really have many races planned. I do have a marathon in May where I hope to dip under 3 hours 15 minutes, and leading up to that, I will be doing some shorter races on both road and trail, to hopefully get some leg speed back. I then have the Doggy Ultra as part of the Blackfoot event in May, followed by Rundles Revenge in June and another Backyard Ultra in July.
The July BYU will be a biggie for me as I am hoping to run close to 40 hours and hopefully make the cut for the Canadian Team that will take part in the satellite event for Big's Backyard ultra in October. I would love to do this again, but I know the competition will be fierce, so I really will be focused on getting to be the fittest and strongest I can, both physically and mentally, ready for that July 31st race.
Depending on how that race goes, October will hopefully see me doing another BYU, but if not, then I want to do either a multiday event later in the year, or another 100 miler. I'm not going to make any decisions about that just yet, and will be unlikely to do so until August time once I know how my year is panning out.
I am also extremely delighted to have been invited back to the Team HoldtheCarbs for a second year, this time as a member of the elite athlete team, Headed by Canadian Record holder Viktoria Brown, and joined by the like of Stephanie Simpson and Carla Rodriguez Dimitrescu, I know I am in great company and will no doubt be inspired and encouraged to work even harder on my goals, with being surrounded by such quality athletes.
So that's it in a nutshell as I end 2021 and move in to 2022. I don;t know what this coming year holds, and just like everybody else, all I can control is how I approach it. I am a positive person and try to remain upbeat with things in life, and that's the way I intend to continue, with the love and support from my little family along and good friends along the way.
A happy belated new year to you, and happy running to you all :)
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