Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

Is it really September tomorrow??!! The year has flown by yet again and I will be honest in saying that my running year so far has been pretty average with more disappointments than highs this year. But that's ok - you can't be at your best all the time, and things have certainly been somewhat hectic this past few weeks. I soon got back into running after my disappointing DNF at Sinister, and so far things are going ok. There has been some nonsense going on at work this past couple of months which has interfered with things, and the hubby is currently working away in India which brings added stresses dealing with everything at home, but if there's one thing I have learnt from my ultra running it is resilience., and I know I've the ability to overcome these things and push through them. I'm still focused on my next race in October, I still have ambitious goals, and I am making that my priority rather than letting anything else drag me down. Three weeks after Sinister...

 I knew going into the Sinister 7 Ultra that I wasn't as well trained for mountain running as I was this time last year. Twelve months ago, I ran the 50 miler with relative ease, finishing in a little over 12 hours and even making the podium with a third place finish, whereas this year, I hadn't been to the mountains once, and I knew I was in for a hard time. Regardless, I headed down to Crowsnest Pass with the goal of just finishing the race, even if I was DFL and only just made the 30 hour cut-off. After a rather soggy and cooler spring and early summer, July brought heat warnings and hit temperatures in Alberta, and the forecast for race day was calling for highs of 30+ degrees - it was going to be a hot one! I did the best I could to prepare for the heat, continuing with my lunch time walks at work, and then running after work when things seemed to feel even warmer than earlier in the day. I even did my longer weekend runs just after lunch during the hottest part of the day...