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, it was the Canadian Death Race. I wasn't racing, but being a long weekend and having a serious case of FOMO, we made the decision to head to Grande Cache for a wee camping trip, and to cheer on the runners. We took the pups with us and stayed at Tent City for a couple of nights, and on race day, I made the decision to run leg 4 of the race as a training run, which would take me up Mount Hamell.
I have done the Death Race three times now, and leg 4 is where the wheels have fallen off every time. I just wanted a wander up there on my own terms, to enjoy the views and make some happy memories for the next time I decide to tackle the race. It was also a good opportunity to create another YouTube video to show my mini adventure in the process. The weather was gorgeous, the views did not disappoint, and I had the most amazing five hours or so out on those mountain trails. You can watch the video here if you want to experience on screen - one thing's for sure, that day whetted the appetite to go back again, and I am seriously considering racing in Grand Cache next year.
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| View from Hamell |
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| Heading up Mt Hamell |
It was just a couple of weeks later that we were off on another camping trip, this time to Kananaskis Country, with a weekend break at Gooseberry Campground. We've stayed at Gooseberry a few times now, and it's a perfect location to pop in to Bragg Creek for supplies if needed, as well as being close to the mountains to enable some of those awesome mountain hikes.
We arrived there on the Friday evening, and it absolutely poured it down with rain. Thankfully everything in the tent stayed dry, and with a couple of tarps covering it, our cheap make-do summer camping tent from Walmart held up to the elements too, ensuring we all had a really good night's sleep. By Saturday morning, the clouds had dispersed, and we were greeted with warm sunshine and blue skies.
My original plan for being in K-country was to volunteer at the Iron Legs Mountain Races again which were taking place that weekend, but knowing that Andy was going away for a month, I opted to spend time with the family instead. I had wanted to head up Moose Mountain as it has been far too long since I last hit the summit, but being a hot day and with there being no water available on the trail up there, it would have been far too warm for the pups. Instead, I headed up Prairie Mountain - a much shorter walk and quite steep, and possible to do in just a couple of hours.
It was a weird hike this time around. Wilson turns 14 in December, and although he is still energetic and active for his age, I knew he would struggle on the climb up Prairie. The kindest thing to do was to leave him to spend the day with Andy, popping into Calgary for some bits and pieces and hanging out by the river where he could stay cool by having a swim. Meanwhile, I was going to head up Prairie with Tillie and April, both of which are young and fit enough to make it to the top without having to stop every five minutes.
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| Mountain summits with the girls |
It was a most amazing hike! Tillie and April were so well behaved, and with off-leash dogs being allowed on the mountain, for the first time ever I let them loose. There were lots of other dogs up there too and the girls didn't even flinch at them, and whilst they did walk ahead of me, they kept stopping to look behind and wait for me. It was such a pleasant walk and I loved it! Of course the views off the top were amazing, and we shared some cookies and cheese, and the girls also had a doggy biscuit or two before we headed back down to meet up with Wilson and Andy. With a run into Bragg Creek and supper at the Powderhorn Saloon afterwards, followed by a relaxing night around the campfire, it really was a perfect family weekend.
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| Happiness in Bragg Creek |
There are a couple of things that I wanted to do to prepare for my race - do the River Valley parkrun every couple of weeks to monitor progress towards my goal, and to race one of the 5 Peaks races, either Chickakoo or Devon.
Parkrun has been going well, and I think I've done three in the past 6 weeks or so. My times are still a little slow compared to previous years, but then I have only just started to get back into speedwork, and my body is still adjusting to running those faster paces rather than the ultra runner's shuffle. My times are around 23 minutes so I am at least close to that 7 minute miling, but I will be much happier if I can start to run consistently under 23 minutes which will give me greater confidence for my race.
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| Being reflective and pondering things ... |
Talking of races, I did get out to Chickakoo to do the Enduro race with 5 Peaks. I was hoping that I could race this one, and race it hard, but as mentioned earlier, shit has been going down at work and that affected how I ran.
The race wasn't bad, but it wasn't my best either, and my mind just wasn't on the race when I started. I was also lacking that familiarity of racing shorter distances - I was cautious about going off too fast, but then I now think I started too slow - that's lacking confidence for you! It took a couple of miles before my mind was focused, and it was only then that my body responded. I felt strong, but the emotional stress of the past couple of weeks made me feel emotionally exhausted at the same time, but I got around the course and thoroughly enjoyed it. The single track was lots of fun although I wasn't too good on the technical climbs, but I was flying both the ups and downs on the double track, and my pace was good. Unfortunately, I didn't get the confidence that I was hoping for from the race, but that's doesn't mean that I have given up on my goals for Iron Horse. I'm confident that things will settle down over the coming weeks, Andy will of course be home, and come race day, I'm hoping I will have a much better than I anticipate. I certainly need a good race this year - my results really haven't reflected the time and effort I have been putting into my running, and I just need something to make me feel like I've accomplished something, no matter how small. I should mention that I finished Chickakoo as 7th lady and first over 50 lady - I was on that podium in my age group and that made me happy, so I guess I have accomplished some things already and I'm.just putting too much pressure on myself.
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| PC Kevin Cheung |
So with just 5 weeks now until my race, this is where I start to panic about whether I will actually be ready. I'm sure I will be. I did a 5k on the track today and ran just under 23 minutes, and tomorrow, I have a 50km trail run to do that mimics the race course - the latter will certainly give me a good indication as to what to aim for in just a few weeks time.
On that note, I bid you adieu, and I shall update all you readers again in due course. Happy trails folks!
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