Tales of Trails, Mountains and Rocky Roads

When first moving to Canada back in 2012, I remember asking a friend what hikes I could safety do without having to worry about possible bear encounters. In hindsight, that is a pretty naive question - there are bears here in Alberta, and whilst you are unlikely to see them every time you set foot on a mountain trail, there is still a possibility that you could see a bear any time, any where. Of course, I was a newbie back then, and two hikes were recommended due to being popular - Prairie Mountain and Moose Mountain. The former is a short but steep hike, the other - Moose Mountain - is longer and more drawn out. Since that day, I have ascended both mountains more than once, and whilst the possibility of a bear encounter is still there, I'm not quite as anxious about it as I used to be. Living in Leduc, it's not quite as easy to do regular ascents of these two mountains like I used to do when living in Calgary, and nowadays, I have to plan ahead rather than just heading up ther...

 I first ran the Sinister 50 miler back in 2023  as preparation for The Divide 200. I'd done lots of hill running, I'd been out to the mountains to get some elevation training, and I felt confident of a good run, setting a goal of a 12 hour finish and came away with a 12.03 and a place on the podium. It was a tough race with plenty of climbing on some pretty technical trails, but I absolutely loved it and had every intention of going back. One year later I did go back, this time to tackle the 100-miles, but unlike the previous year, I had barely done any trail running let alone lots of hills. 2024 saw me DNF at the 100 miler, simply because I went into the race completely unprepared. Last year, I did the 50km event and once again, it was extremely tough with tons of climbing considering this is one of the shorter distances available. I think it took me 8 hours to complete - maybe a little longer - but despite it taking much longer than I had anticipated, I felt like I'd had...

I'm not going to lie. I really wanted a great race at Survivorfest this year. I wanted to get that age group record and was willing to do whatever I had to on the day to get me there. I wasn't exactly at my most fittest, but I genuinely believed that it was in my reach. Unfortunately, the best laid plans sometimes go belly up, and a couple of weeks prior to the race, Andy found out that he would need to travel to Sweden and then the UK on business which would result in him missing the race. This was somewhat disappointing as he was meant to be my crew, but I also knew that I could crew myself if needs be, and with the level of support at the event, I wouldn't be alone and somebody would be willing to step in if needed. I did put out an ask for help on social media, and was really happy to have two experienced crew offering to help me out - they were already crewing other runners, but they offered to help me out and also to share their tent on the day to save me having to se...

Although I'd registered for the Calgary Marathon, I never intended it to be a target race. My original plan was to run it at my target pace for Survivorfest 24-hour which was just three weeks later, and I would be perfectly happy finishing the marathon in around 4 hours, providing I finished comfortably and without too much effort. In the months leading up to the marathon, I felt terribly stressed by my training schedule which had lots of focus on doing my long runs at marathon pace. Since I started going through the menopause, trying to do weekly speed sessions, hill sessions, and long runs that included several miles at marathon pace has been far too much, and I haven't been recovering as quickly as I used to. I struggled trying to pick up the pace, which in turn really knocked my confidence. Initially, I honestly believed I could run around 3 hours 40, but the slower and more tired I got from hormonal fluctuations and lack of sleep, the more I lost confidence in my ability. ...

 Lakou Backyard Ultra was not on my list of races for this year, but having missed the Jasper Half Marathon due to the rock slide, I was missing being around the running community and spending time with people who can relate to the things we do. The 2026 event was just one week out from the Calgary Marathon and after what feels like weeks of ups and downs, I just wanted another long run before I toed the line in Calgary. Having already put my name down to volunteer in the timing tent for the evening, I decided to register for the race too, and spend pretty much the entire day out in Devon by squeezing in a few hours of backyard loops prior to my shift.  We were greeted with overcast skies and cool temperatures on race day morning. I'd planned on wearing just shorts and a singlet, but when I saw that it was just below freezing outside, it was obvious that I'd need something a little warmer, particularly for the minutes in between laps where if just be sitting around waiting to ...

 One of my running goals for 2026 is to compete in at least 3 road races. I'd already completed the Hypothermic Half Marathon back in February, and with the Calgary Marathon coming up, I only needed one more road race to hit my goal. I contemplated doing the St Albert 10 miler which was about a month out from the marathon and would be a great test of what my marathon goal would be, but then I spotted the Jasper Half and being a week later, it still fitted in well with a good marathon buildup, plus we could combine it with a weekend in the mountains. After registering for the race, we tried to find some pet friendly accommodation in Jasper, but given that the fires destroyed some of the tourist accommodation, there was a lack of availability for the race weekend. We thought we might camp but campgrounds don't open until late May, and whilst there are plenty of hotels in Hinton, few of them would accept three dogs. After a little more searching, Andy was able to secure an Airbnb ...

It was my third time at Hill of a Race, and I have to say that those ski hills don't get any easier! This year, the race fell on Easter Sunday. Usually we'd be winter camping over Easter weekend, but with a weekend in Jasper coming up, followed by two weeks holiday with a friend visiting in May, we opted to stay at home and do a few things around the house instead.  I find it hard having time off from work and just being stuck at home. Time is so precious and I don't like wasting it, and with nothing else planned, I found myself registering for the race just a month or so out from race day. I wasn't exactly in hill running shape, and I have been feeling terribly slow and unfit after a winter of ups and downs with the weather, so my plan was to just go out there, spend a few hours amongst friends, and hopefully get in at least 10 laps of the ski hills in the six hour period. Andy dropped me off at Rabbit Hill on race day morning, and thankfully there was still some snow ...