Category Archives: travel

Apr29

Boston Marathon 2016-Post 1/4-Friday

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So, my Boston post isn’t going to be one giant mess, I promise.  I have decided to break my own recaps on this amazing trip into four posts-Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  That way I can better highlight each day!

Runners world cover

Cover shot!

Friday was one long day, and actually a continuation of Thursday…we flew out of Calgary at just after midnight, connected through Toronto, and arrive in Boston at around 8:30 am. After figuring out transit pretty well (only one small fail, which then led to a one mile walk to our hotel with our suitcases in tow…this happened to Dan and I in Quebec City too…hm) we unpacked, changed and headed downtown to the Hynes Convention Centre for the expo.  Before entering the expo, I decided we should take the time to walk down Boylston to see the finish line set up, which was getting finishing touches as we made our way to it.

 

As we looped back down Boylston, we came across the Adidas RunBase store.  This store is relatively new, and is the official store of the B.A.A (Boston Athletic Association).  I ended up buying a nice store shirt for $25 and a black/neon pink/teal headband for $16.  They also had some cool signage that explained the meaning of the unicorn logo among other things!

Entering in the convention centre was something else.  You could tell from that very moment that “YES  THESE PEOPLE HAVE ORGANIZED THIS EVENT BEFORE.”  My husband even realized that as we made our way to packet pickup, as there were volunteers and security at every possibly corner directing us.  There was no possible way to get lost.  The pickup process went so fast and so smooth.  I had my bib!  My lucky ticket!  We then made our way back downstairs to the expo floor.  I knew Dan was just going to follow me aimlessly as I walked the aisles looking for nothing in particular.  This is when I eventually got my Runner’s World ‘cover shot’ done.  As you can see, I am wearing my go-to shirt that I wear on expo day to a lot of my races!  I love wearing the Nike “Hustlin’ From Start to Finish‘ shirt!  I think it says everything I need to say!  Before getting this photo done I was able to stop and meet Runner’s Worlds very own Bart Yasso…the man behind the menacing Yasso 800 workouts.  We had a nice chat, and he even spoke highly about the city of Lethbridge, where I live!  He had been there a few years back and had the opportunity to run in our famed Coulees, and raved about it!

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Bart Yasso & I

The expo was massive.  It was hard to actually gauge how large it was, as the ceilings were rather low, unlike when I attended Chicago in 2006.  In Chicago, the convention centre ceiling was quite high so you could see how many booths there were and it was a more natural looping through the exhibits.  I was scared I would miss something as we walked through.  I picked up some freebies here and there, and even bought a couple little things.  My big purchases were made prior to arriving, as I had already pre-ordered my Adidas jacket along with some other long sleeve shirts and shorts.  We even managed to find a Samuel Adams booth where we got to sample their 26.2 brew.  I have to say, I really liked it!  I tend to lean toward more of the IPA-style beers, and never expect much from a beer with lower alcohol percentage, but this was a good brew!  I had it lots over the course of the trip!

By this point in the afternoon, the fact I hadn’t really slept on the plane hadn’t settled in yet.  We made our way down to the Fenway Park area where we went to a couple pubs, most notably the famed “Cask & Flagon.”  This is where I had my first cup of Clam Chowder during the trip.  (I ended up having four!)

After checking out another nearby bar, Jerry Remy’s, we made the trek back to the hotel so I could dump my stash of goodies.  We had an hour left in us, as it was still light out, and after making it back from a little tour of the Brookline neighborhood (where our hotel was located) we hit the sheets pretty early.  Dare I say Dan was snoring by 9:01 PM and I followed closely by 9:30 pm.  An action packed day for sure!  And Saturday had an early alarm coming up, as we would be running in the 8 am B.A.A. 5 km even the next morning in Boston Common!  Rest was needed!  More to come…..!

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The swag acquired from the day!

Apr26

Boston Marathon 2016-Post from Mom

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And here is my mom’s straightforward look at her experience spectating me at Boston Marathon 2016!  My husband will do a post on his, and mine will follow. 

My daughter has asked me to do a guest post about my experience at this year’s Boston Marathon. Let me start by saying that my excitement began when she qualified on May 3, 2015 in Vancouver, BC. As soon as I heard this from her, I immediately called Kathy, my best friend from high school, who lives northwest of Boston, & asked if she’d like a visitor the following April. She’s been asking me to visit for years, but I was holding out waiting for Andrea to get her BQ time. Even though Kathy has lived in Massachusetts since 1978, she’d never experienced the Marathon so she was as excited as I was.

Our Marathon Monday began by catching the commuter train from Lowell, where she lives, to North Station in Boston. This is about a 40 minute trip but the only way to go, especially on this day. Once in Boston, we transferred to the Green Line C train to meet my son-in-law Dan in Brookline, where they were staying, to watch for Andrea as well as her friend Bob Higgins & Dan’s cousin Erin Moore. We arrived about 20 minutes later than planned due to all the people & traffic, but still had plenty of time to go grab something to eat & drink. After that we found a spot at mile 24 & watched & waited. I was being updated on her splits by AT&T & also watching her, Bob & Erin on the BAA app, which by the way was slow in updates but did have a map that tracked them which was a big help. We saw Bob & a bit later Dan spotted Andrea first & I guess recorded her coming up to us. I tried to get a picture, but failed. She stopped to give Dan a kiss & me a hug then continued on her way. She certainly didn’t look like she had already run 24 miles! Dan wanted to hang around to see if he would spot Erin, so Kathy & I decided to head into Boston to meet up with Andrea in the Family Meeting Area.

We should have stayed with Dan. Two trains passed us because they were full before one stopped to let us on. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize this one was not going as far as we needed. It stopped two stations before & we had to get off. The station was jammed with people who had just left the Red Sox game, so Kathy said we should just walk since it was less than a mile. If we could have just gone from point A to point B it would have been fine, but streets were closed & there were so many people it was like salmon swimming upstream. Not sure how long it took us, but Andrea texted me to say that Dan was on his way & she’d let me know when he got there. We were still trying to make our way to the area when Andrea told me to just stay where we were & they’d come to us. Thank goodness for cellphones. We met them outside of the Westin Copley Place hotel, decided to just go in there for something to eat & drink, & all was well with the world.

I’m very proud of my daughter, happy I got to see her run in this race that she worked so hard to qualify for, but will never again venture into Boston either on race day or the days surrounding it. Way too many people everywhere for me to contend with. I plan to go back to visit Kathy & see more sites in & around the area again, but not during Marathon Weekend for sure.

Feb17

8.5 Weeks Until Boston…Training Progress, Race Goals, Injury Update

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Helllllloooooooooooo!  Crazy to see on my training plan that I am now 7.5 weeks in, with 8.5 weeks left to go!  Almost at that halfway point!  Training is on schedule and I am feeling pretty good.  I lamented before how it is frustrating sometimes as I notice myself slower on some workouts this year than I was last year, but I then remember that last year I was coming off some strong races in late fall/winter so I was better prepared to enter training.  I have had some awesome training runs, though, and that makes me feel even more confident getting to this halfway point.  The 16 miler I have on Saturday will be my first true test, in my opinion, as it has the mileage challenge and the mental challenge.  I missed my first 16 miler two weeks ago because I was fighting this awful stomach bug, so I need to go out and just get the mileage in.  Nothing fancy, no crazy pace accelerations…just run 16 miles in my long-run pace range (7:48-9:04 per mile).

I also have mentioned before that not having any races lately has made it hard at times to really push my limits.  On February 27th, I will be doing my first event of 2016.  The Hypothermic Half is an event held nationwide and put on by Running Room.  I am doing this in conjunction with my 18 miler that day, so I am not going to race it, just simply use it as part of my training run that day.  The ‘competitive’ events come in March and April, as I have the local Moonlight Run 10km on March 19th and the Trailbreaker Half Marathon in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on April 2nd.  My dream goal at Moonlight would be to place in top 3 women overall.  The race can be all over the place, due to the change in weather, time of year, and the wicked hill climb for the last 3/4 of a mile.  Last year, while I ran faster than the year prior, I placed 5th overall in women.  I ran a 43:47.  In 2014, I placed 4th overall with my 47:27.  This year, I expect to be somewhere in between those times, but have no real clue how I will finish.  It really depends on who shows up on race day….and I don’t mean just what competitors….I mean what Andrea will show up?!?!?

For Trailbreaker, I am planning on pushing myself to the limits and run the best half marathon I possibly can.  To beat my personal best, I would need to run faster than a 1:35:41.  I did that time exactly one year ago in frigid temperatures.  My most recent half marathon time was my less-than-pleasing Lethbridge Police Half, where I had stomach issues the last 4 miles and dropped position and time, finishing with a 1:40.13…well off what I was capable of.  So really, I am aiming for anything under 1:40 at Trailbreaker, as coming off a week of ‘vacationing’ in Milwaukee is sometimes a bit much.  And since I have been training for Boston, I know my  legs are ready for this.  And, the elevation is lower back home, so you never know!  Lets just hope the humidity stays away!

Lastly….my foot.  It’s not an injury, per say, but a nuisance.  I know, KNOW it is getting more aggravated by the day as I keep pounding out the mileage.  The new shoes and orthotics have helped tons, and I am so glad I got them.  However, the only way for it not to hurt would for me to not run, walk, stand, be human.  So, I am just going to keep ruining my foot and build that bone spur up more and more until I have a surgery date set.  I have been putting prescription 10% Voltaren on it as of late, and this has helped numb the pain.  I am set to see my podiatrist next week to talk about pain management, and then I will hopefully be booking an appointment with my family doctor (and sports medicine extraordinaire) to have him inject something into it?????  I have been going to physiotherapy pretty regularly, and I am addicted to the TENS machine…those electric wave pulses (or whatever they are) on my foot feel SO GOOD.  I really don’t know how my foot will hold up on races, as during runs I don’t really think about it. It is after I am done running and my shoe is off that the throbbing really kicks in.  So the Hypothermic half, Moonlight Run and Trailbreaker will all be good indicators on how 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston will physically feel come April 18th!  I don’t really care if my foot feels like it is going to fall off during that race, because emotionally it will feel amazing!

 

 

Dec31

2015-Year in Review

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What an amazing year in running for myself!  I started January 2015 off strong, as I had just came off a very productive 2014.  Injuries weren’t messing with me as of yet, my husband and I had just moved into our new house, work was going well, and I was motivated to train for my spring goal race of the BMO Vancouver Marathon.

January brought a quick trip to Temecula, California, during exam week, where I participated in the Spartan Super & Sprint with my BFF Ali.  February came and I decided it was a good idea to run The Hypothermic Half marathon in Calgary during a huge cold snap.  Good thing I did, as I ended up running what is now my personal best-1:35:41.  That race was crucial as a morale boost and proved to me that training and hard work does pay off.  Never did I think I could run in the 1:35s!  I also signed up for and participated in a virtual race; The Coaster Run.  Why did I choose this as my first virtual race?  Well, the actual race was held at Knotts Berry Farm in California and had a Peanuts theme!  I needed that Snoopy medal!

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In March, I had the local Moonlight Run 10km.  I pushed myself to my limits there, running my best Moonlight time ever of a 43:47, earning me 1st in my age group.  I was very pleased with my training progress!  A local 5 km in Coaldale came in mid-April and I crushed my previous 5km time, running a 20:42, earning me first place female.  The following week, on the anniversary of my dad’s death, I ran in the Rattler Run 10km in Medicine Hat.  This was the pinnacle race at the peak of my training cycle for Vancouver.  I busted out a 41:30, good enough for 1st female overall!  So, I had bested my 5km, 10km and half marathon times all before my goal race even came.  Had I burned myself out?

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I have written about it lots on this site, so I can just briefly mention the importance that the Vancouver Full Marathon was.  This was my third dedicated try at qualifying for the Boston Marathon, having failed in 2014 while running the Calgary and Edmonton Full Marathons.  This May, it all paid off.  The training, pushing, races, tears, and pain were worth it because I not only beat my qualifying standard of 3:35.00, but crushed it with a 3:24.56!  I would be going to Boston!

Dan & I headed to Montana for the Montana Spartan Beast, which completed what would be my first trifecta of the year.  I had plans on going for a double Trifecta later in September, so this was part of the process.  I also did the Calgary 50km Ultra during Marathon weekend at the end of May, which was my first ever 50km.  My 4:40.34 earn me 2nd in my category.  The first 5 months of 2015 were such a huge success, I felt unstoppable!

But then, my body was starting to feel it.  I took a bit of time off before doing the Alberta Summer Games in July, where I ran the 10km.  A sloppy 45:55 on a hot afternoon had me frustrated—I am way better than this.  It motivated me to push hard the rest of the summer as I trained to try and get a personal best at the Disneyland 10km in September.  Before that race, I had the Lethbridge Police Half Marathon at the end of August.  Here, I also had plans to shoot for my best time.  This was a huge slap in the face, as I went out too fast, started having stomach issues, and almost broke down.  I ended 3rd female overall, which is fantastic, but my body was breaking.  The 1:40.14 at the end of summer, in the midst of a forest fire smoke warning was respectable—but I was frustrated.

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September was all about Disney & Spartan Races.  And being stressed with work.  But, I had to make it happen somehow.  I went to Disneyland over Labour Day weekend where I did complete my goal of placing in my category at the Disneyland 10km.  I wasn’t anywhere close to my goal time, but I ran a respectful 43:28.  Then the following day, I ran the half marathon with my BFF and helped her crush her personal best!  All while dressed as Mary Poppins!  It was my second Dumbo Double Dare Challenge, and it was a great one.  I had registered until the DDD, however, Ali hadn’t been able to and had to do the 10km and half as two separate race registrations.  Having a Dumbo medal from last year was enough for me-I passed my 2015 medal on to her.  She earned it by completing both races!

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pic 6leaping to the finish

Spartan Races….the highs and the very lows.  I did the Hurricane Heat, Super and Sprint three days in a row in Red Deer.   I felt great during all three and was pumped for my Ultra Beast in Sun Peaks two weeks after.  I have a post about that here, and let me tell you….it was humbling.  I had my first ever DNF for a race, and I think I was over my head.  I could have crawled my way to the finish perhaps, but I was exhausted and fearing injury.  This was the time that the “bump” on my foot had been really bothering me.  As I ran by myself during the second loop for about an hour I was imaging hurting myself and not being able to do Boston.  I pulled myself out of the race, and a lot of tears followed.  While I can’t go back and change it, or say register just for the Beast, I don’t regret my decision. 

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October brought the end of Cross Country season coaching and no races for myself.  Our team made us proud, and we sent five talented young women to Provincials in Grand Prairie, Alberta.  That is WAY north!  I took it easy, and took about 2-3 weeks off from running after the season ended mid October.  I started physio for my foot, and found out more about my x-rays.  Degenerative Arthritis and a bone spur in my right foot.  Surgery is in the works, for a time after Boston.  If something isn’t done to this soon, I run the risk of not being able to run down the road.  And I don’t want that!

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November had me give it my all in the local Claus Cause 5km, only to then laugh at myself and realize how out of shape I was starting to feel.  A 22:04 would have been something I dreamed of two years ago, but now I knew I needed to keep recovering, but then get back to work.  The month of December brought the Runners Soul 4th Annual Run Streak, which I just completed today.  31 straight days of running at least 1 mile!  And this past Sunday I began my 16 week training for the 120th Boston Marathon.  My plan for Boston is to go in prepared, do my best, finish, and have fun in the process.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime race, something I have been striving towards for so long.  So, it is perfect that my 2015 ended with me doing day 5 of my Boston Training plan, as one year ago I had yet to start my Vancouver Marathon training….and Boston was just a distance dream away.

Cheers to everyone as they bring in the New Year!  Best wishes, happy thoughts, and enjoy every moment.  Je me souviens.

-Andrea

 

 

 

Oct30

Disneyland Half Marathon Race Recap

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So, almost two months late, but this recap is right in time for Halloween!  Why does that matter?  Because I put more effort into my Disneyland Half Marathon costume than I ever have into any Halloween costume!  This would be my second year running in the event, and my second year doing the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge.  I did my recap on the Disneyland 10 km here.  The Disneyland Half is held on the Sunday after the 10km, part of Labour Day weekend.  The fact it is Labour Day weekend makes this event especially desirable to myself, because as a teacher, I have the Monday off.  It makes the travel to California possible without having to book many days off!

I would be running this race with my best friend Ali.  I have mentioned her lots in this blog, and she even has her own blog here.  She is a relatively ‘new’ runner, as she started running in April 2014.  She started running because I signed her up for the Disneyland 10km 2014.  She has now done many other events, and this would be her 3rd half marathon.  We were going to be aiming to get her a personal best time, specifically below a 2:30.00.  Her previous personal best was a 2:44 and that was at the San Francisco

We arrived bright and early like with all Disney races.  This time, we spent a lot of the extra time taking photos together.  As my one friend said, I ‘upped’ my Mary Poppins game!  I went as Mary Poppins for my 1st RunDisney event (Wine and Dine Half) but was dressed in her nanny outfit.  For this race, I went for the Jolly Holiday costume.  My mom made the arm bands, skirt and red waist corset.  I made the hat, neck piece, and the carousel horse.  That horse was interesting to pack!  Since Ali would be next to me the entire race, I wanted her to be part of the costume too, however, I knew she didn’t want anything restrictive on.  So she was one of the penguins from the Jolly Holiday scene!  I think we looked pretty cute!

before

Ali had ran a fast enough 10km time at the Tinkerbell 10km to get into Corral C.  So, we were the third group off and running.  I kept Ali going at a pretty good pace through the parks.  The first part of the Disneyland Half course is solely through the parks, and its a lot of fun!  With it still being dark out, it is really cool to see CarsLand lit up and run through the castle!  After exiting the park, we were well under pace.  But I think Ali was starting to hate me!  We were cruising!

cali advent

carsland

We would power walk up any big hills (aka overpasses) and I kept encouraging Ali the best I could.  I knew I would be pushing her limits.  After leaving the parks, you are on the streets of Anaheim until the last mile.  While the streets don’t offer a lot of picturesque views, there are a lot of spectators and groups out there keeping everyone motivated.  I think Disney does an awesome job with this portion of the race, given the fact this could be a very, very boring stretch!  Tons of high school bands, cheerleaders, dancers, ethnic dance performances, antique cars, people in costume and more!  During this stretch, the sun was starting to come up and was shining right in our face.  The heat was starting to bother me, but I wasn’t going to complain, because I knew the pace was starting to bother Ali and she really wanted to slow down.  But I wanted to keep her going, as I knew she could do it!

We were still right ahead of the 2:30 pace group when we got to the Santa Ana trail before Angels stadium.  This was the only unfortunate portion of the course, as it narrowed quite a bit and part of the trial seemed to be under construction.  Being in the mid-pack of runners was a different thing for me, as I was used to starting in Corral A at Disney races, so now I see how it can get very bottle necked.  We took a lot of walk breaks in here, and I knew we’d be able to make up the time once we reached the stadium.  The energy in Angel Stadium is amazing!  Rows and rows of Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts fill the seats, cheering us on.  The announcer is there saying as many names as he can, and video footage of the runners coming in appears on the big screen.  Ali and I were smiling through this portion and it felt awesome!

stadium

After the stadium, I knew we had to slow down.  Ali was having a little trouble keeping the pace because she was starting to feel a bit dizzy, but I knew we had built a good cushion so she could still easily get a personal best.  We kept moving and I kept encouraging her that the park was coming quick and we would be done before she knew it.  As we approached the back entrance of California Adventure, we wound around back stage for the final stretch.  This is unlike in the 10km, where you go through Downtown Disney.  I like that the final stretches are varied for each race, but the 10km finish is a bit ‘more magical.’   As we went down the final stretch, this was one spot that I didn’t mind it was narrow.  The crowds of people on each side really encouraged all the runners and pushed everyone until the very last moment.

leaping to the finish

While we weren’t able to break 2:30, we did manage to crush Ali’s personal best by over 10 minutes!  The final time was 2:33.41!  I was so proud of Ali!  She has done so much in the past year to improve her running performances and is so motivated to keep on crushing her goals!  I would not have wanted to run this race with anyone else, and I will always remember this Disneyland Half weekend!

finish

Sep4

My Best Friend 

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I’m flying to Los Angeles for the second time this year. And for the third time in a rolling calendar year. I used to go to LA to visit Ali while she was out on summer program at USC, and then while she was there doing her masters and after. That would be maybe once a year…sometimes summer, sometimes college breaks. I’d go and visit, and we would attempt to go to Price Is Right (which we got into while Bob Barker was still host, but not never called to “Come on Down!”!), drive to Tijuana, Mexico (before it was basically a ‘do not enter zone’ as it is now), or go to Conan O’Brian tapings. But now, I apparently go for racing. And not just for myself.   
  
It’s only been the last year that Ali has started doing road running races. She did her first ever 5km in Independence, Iowa, in August 2014. Don’t know Indee? Yeah, unless you’re an Isham, you don’t know Indee. There’s an Insane Asylum museum there you can go on a tour at…We have pictures in straight jackets. There’s also a lot of corn and Dollar General stores we used to ride a two-person bike to when visiting her grandparents in the summer. Anyway, Ali did her first ever Spartan Race later that same month of August when she came to visit me in Lethbridge, Alberta….the other LA. We drove the two hours to Calgary one Saturday morning to compete in the Spartan Sprint. She has admitted it being one of the hardest fucking things ever. She could have stopped trying after taking 1 hour and 44 minutes to finish a 5 km obstacle race.  

  
But she hasn’t.  
This girl has always hated running. I’m serious. While she was a competitive swimmer growing up, she would loathe dry land practices. I do remember once having her go on a run with me when we were both in Franklin and she did a 2 mile loop on the bike trail and hated her life. The fact she went back at it after having such a hatred for it so many years later is admirable.
Ali has found a love and healthy addiction to Crossfit. Crossfit works for her. It motivates her. She is focused. She has caught on to healthy habits and lost a shit ton of weight the healthy way. She has achieved so much since being part of it. And she keeps pushing herself. She has now, since that 5km, run numerous other 5 km and also 10 km races. She is hooked on Spartan Races (she even bought a damn spear to practice throwing) and the Rock N Roll series of races. She has become a “bling addict.” Last year at this time I was flying down to run her first ever 10km race with her in Disneyland. We ran it together in a 1:27. This past May she ran the TinkerBell 10km in 1:04.  

  
So this weekend I head to LA not for Tijuana or late night shows. I’m going to run the Disneyland Half with my best friend. I’m going to push her towards her goal time, and we are going to have a great time doing it. She may hate me partway through (I can already picture the look of death at mile 10) but I’m there for her. I’m always there for my best friend.

  
Lanikai 

May26

2015 Western Canada Spartan Races—Information and a Giveaway!

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Disclaimer: Spartan Race Media Canada contacted me about writing a blog post to generate buzz around the upcoming Canadian Spartan Races. Any Spartan Race Logos/images being used in this post have been used with permission on Spartan Race Media-Canada.  No compensation was received for this post, and the opinions stated here are my own.
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Coveted Trifecta Tribe member for 2015! Going for Double Trifecta with the Canadian events!

My US Spartan Race schedule has come to an end. I completed the Temecula Super and Sprint in January, and two weeks ago I participated in the epic Montana Founder’s Beast! I am so fortunate that I was able to travel to California in the early part of the year for 2/3 of my Trifecta, and being so close to beautiful Big Fork, Montana, is always helpful when the Montana series occurs each year. US Spartan Races occur all year long, all over the country. I could be flying to New York, Ohio, Idaho, Colorado….The choices are endless. I unfortunately do not have the funds to be able to travel across the USA and participate in all these fantastic options. However, I am fortunate that the Western Canada Spartan Race series is right in my backyard!

canada spartan race logoThe Spartan Race Canada series began a few weeks ago with a Super & Sprint in Montreal. Other race sites for the Eastern Spartan Races include Halifax, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Toronto. I have yet to make it to an Eastern Spartan Race, but hope to someday. The Western Spartan Race series begins in June with the Vancouver Sprint. The provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba all have confirmed events for 2015, with a Saskatchewan race also being in the works. With living in southern Alberta, I have the ability to drive just a few short hours to many of these events!

Sun Peaks Sprint Finishers in 2013

Sun Peaks Sprint Finishers in 2013

When I started doing Spartan Races in 2013, I completed my first trifecta by doing Western Canada Spartan Races. My first ever Canadian race was the Calgary Spartan Sprint, which is held right close to downtown Calgary at a local BMX course. I knew after doing this event that the Canadian Spartan Races were the real deal! Canadian events offer the same experience that the USA events have. Some of the same great obstacles are always included—rope climb, monkey bars, spear throw, sandbag carry, barbed wire crawl, traverse wall. But depending on the event, unique obstacles are added! Because of the course makeup in Calgary, there are TONS of mud pits. I’d go out on a limb and say this is the dirtiest course I have ever done! You also get the same great finisher t-shirts and some incredible bling!

Fun in the Calgary Mud in 2014!

Fun in the Calgary Mud in 2014!

While Calgary is held every August, the events that round out the Western Canada Spartan Race series happen in September. I first did the Red Deer Super, Sun Peaks Beast and Sun Peaks Sprint in September of 2013. I am heading out to the same areas again this year, but mixing it up a bit. In Red Deer, I will be participating in the Super on Saturday and the new-to-me Sprint on Sunday. Then a few short weeks later I will be capping off my Spartan Race year by making the drive out to beautiful Sun Peaks, BC, where I will participate in the Ultra Beast-26.2 miles of Spartan craziness! I love that the events have been adding enhancements each year, with different distances and new courses being offered. This makes these races very repeatable, as you won’t do the same thing twice!

Fire Jumping in Red Deer, 2013

Fire Jumping in Red Deer, 2013

Slip Wall in Red Deer Spartan Race, 2013

Slip Wall in Red Deer Spartan Race, 2013

Yes-Snow may fall during a Western Canada Spartan Race! Sun Peaks Beast, 2013

Yes-Snow may fall during a Western Canada Spartan Race! Sun Peaks Beast, 2013

My first Spartan Race Trifecta from 2013!

My first Spartan Race Trifecta from 2013!

I encourage anyone in Canada who has thought about doing an obstacle course race to look up the the Spartan Race closest to you. Spartan Race, in my opinion, puts on the best obstacle course race in not just America, but Canada as well! I am so sure of this, that I am going to offer my readers a chance to win an entry for any Western Canada Spartan Race in 2015! The fine folks at Spartan Race Media Canada are making this giveaway possible! I will have this giveaway open for a week. You can gain entries for it by entering in my Rafflecopter giveaway at the bottom of this post!  You are able to register for the giveaway until it closes on June 3rd.   And if you already know you are going to be registering for a few Spartan Race Canada events, use the discount code AROO15 for 15% off your next race entry!

If you are interested in entering the FREE giveaway for an entry to any WESTERN CANADA SPARTAN RACE please follow the link below to my RAFFLECOPTER giveaway page. You can enter for free there!

Click HERE to enter for your chance to win a FREE Western Canada Spartan Race entry for 2015!

Apr12

Milwaukee Recap and Training Countdown

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Three weeks to go until the BMO Vancouver Marathon!  My last few weeks have gone well, but I knew I had some crucial training runs coming up that needed to go well, as to boost my confidence.  Also, take into account I went home last week to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and this has historically led to me sluffing off on training.   I only skipled  (whoops) one day on my plan, so I am pretty proud.  I had slept in too late before a friend picked me up for the morning, afternoon and evening of activities, and by the time I got back home I was wiped.  What crazy activities did we do?  Well, went and got my bridesmaid dress for her wedding fit, and then we went to Potawatomi Casino downtown to play bingo for three hours.  We used to do this back when we weren’t yet 21, as 18 year olds can access the bingo hall at the casino, just not the casino floor.  I think the best part of it was just laughing at all the crazies around.  Best person we saw was a lady on the smoking side (glass wall separation) walking around with a surgical mask covering her face.  

 

Other Milwaukee-Related activities I partook in was watching the Badgers NCAA Final basketball game at the bar I used to work at.   They lost.   Then my mom, cousin and her husband went to Miller Park to watch the Brewers second game of the season.  They lost too.  But all was a lot of fun!  One of my last nights my mom and I spent a day and night in Milwaukee doing the Lakefront Brewery Tour, eating at some awesome local places, shopping, and then painting at Splash Studio.

 

  

  

  

  

Now, I didn’t just eat, drink and watch sports.   I did run.  I really did!  I even found one trail in the Franklin Woods that I honestly had never ran on before in my life.  It was super pretty!

   

 

It was also actually a lot of fun to do my runs back on the bike trail near my moms house.  It is really an awesome trail.  For the training runs that I did it worked quite well.  My best run was on Thursday morning when I did 5 miles at my Tempo Run pace.  I needed to be between 6:54-7:10 minutes per mile.   I was thinking “how the hell am I going to do this solo?”  I was going to get up real early to do this run but there had been thunder lightning, hail, rain, downpours, everything all night.  It was still raining pretty heavy.  I checked the radar and ther was going to be about an hour or so window at around 8:45 with no thunderstorms so I waited and headed out then.While it started thundering in the distance at mile 4, there was no lightning (just a steady rain), but this caused the trail to be empty!  You never see this trail empty.   Anyway, I head out unsure what I would be able to do, but I made it back home doing better than I could have ever hoped for!  I did my 5 miles in 35:18, with each mile being 6:52, 7:03, 7:19 (you can see this as the out and back point on the map where I had to do a turnaround), 7:03 and 7:01.  I felt like a million bucks when I got home!

  

So the running in Milwaukee went well, but I wasn’t home free yet,  what I was nervously awaiting in my Lethbridge home was my 20 miler run to do on Sunday.   After a week of making poor food and drink choices not conducive to a good training plans, and after a day of traveling….I needed to muster out 20 miles at a pace between 7:48-9:04 per mile.  The weather was quite windy, but the temperature was ideal.  I headed out optimistic and knew I wanted to push myself.  The route Runners Soul had planned for our club run today was awesome.   Only one big hill and the wind was fortunately at our back heading up it,   Running down the hill into softball valley first was more challenging, as it was the slowest downhill I have ever run!  Wind was pushing your body backward almost, and the water treatment plant sewage was wafting right in your face.  I managed to complete my 20 miles in 2:42:42 with an average pace of 8:08 an mile!   I am training for an 8:00 minute mile, so I am right where I need to be!  My fastest two miles were actually mile 3 and mile 20, each at a 7:48 and 7:49, respectively.   My slowest were mile 8 and 11, where I had an 8:29 (wind!) and 8:30 (hill!).   Being able to hold it together strong the latter half of this training run was my big concern, so the fact that I could makes me so excited for Vancouver….just three short weeks away!

   

 

Jan28

Initial Thoughts and Rambles from my Spartan Race Weekend in California

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      spartan medal sign  pro pic 

I am still not fully recovered from my whirlwind weekend in Southern California.  I flew out at 7 pm on Friday, and then was back at LAX on Sunday by 3:30 pm.  I drove home and got into my bed by 3 AM Monday morning in Lethbridge.  I am tired, my body is tight, I had chaffing marks on my ankles from my calf sleeves, my eyes hurt, I am sunburned, and my number is still etched into my calves with permanent marker.  But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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This weekend I ran the Spartan Race So Cal events-Super Spartan (9 miles) on Saturday, Jan. 24th, and the Sprint (approx. 5 miles) on Sunday, Jan. 25th.  Both events were held at Vail Lake in Temecula, California.  My best friend Ali, her boyfriend, and their dogs picked me up from the airport and we headed to Temecula on Friday night.  We were at the race site nice and early for check in and to peruse the site.  I also spent a lot of money on merchandise!  I would run the Super with Ali and Kevin.  This would be Ali and Kevin’s TRIFECTA race weekend (completed the Beast the weekend before, a distance of a half marathon).  Heading out at the start of the race, I didn’t think the wind would be to bad, seeing that I am used to Lethbridge winds.  I was wrong.  These winds were just as strong at winds in Lethbridge, but add the gritty sand and dirt from the course blowing around and the sun, and that makes it a whole different experience.

view of vail lake

I enjoyed all the obstacles on the course—some that are the same as previous years’, and many that are new.  Seeing that this is my 3rd year doing Spartan Races it is appreciated that they change things up.  Like the Traverse Wall—while they still had one, instead of this one going in a straight line, it now zig-zagged.  The terrain of Vail Lake also just added new natural obstacles that reminded me of the Montana Sprint.  Ali and I finished this race together in a time of 4:40.06.  I know I have said this before, but considering this girl wouldn’t even run 900 metres last year at this time and was now doing 9 mile obstacle course races is amazing!  I am so proud!

us before superfinish beer

That night I realized when we went in the hot tub how sunburned and wind burned my thighs had gotten.  It stung like HELL getting in the hot water.  Whoops. That being said, I still decided to go out and push myself during the Sprint.  Seeing a preview of the course the day before was a huge help, and I was able to tackle those hills just like I would if I were in the Coulees in Lethbridge.  I even nailed the Spear Throw obstacle!— a Spartan Race FIRST for me, and this was my 9th Spartan Race ever!  I still move quite slow over any height obstacle, as my fear sets in, but I made them.  I fell on the Monkey Bars, Rope Climb and also made it 3/4 of the way on the Traverse Wall….so 90 burpees for me.  Even with those burpee penalties, I finished in a 1:21.52, which was good for 33/1655 females in the Open Division!  My running came in handy for my lack of upper body strength!before sprintI knew what to expect coming into a Spartan Race, but I am very happy to say that I feel the organization is back bigger and better in 2015.  The obstacles did not disappoint, the race swag was new and improved (finisher shirts that are specific for each distance, instead of a general shirt!), and incredible medals!  I am very excited for my Spartan Beast in Montana this May so I can become a member of the USA Trifecta Tribe!  AROO, AROO, AROO!!!!

trifecta medallionbefore super

Dec14

Weekly Wrap Up-My Random Thoughts From This Week

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I don’t really have much to report on “race wise” but I am still trying to keep up with always posting a new blog on Sunday’s. I am actually quite shocked that I have kept up so well with it since starting this blog, as I mentioned in early posts that “journaling” was never really my thing. So the fact I am still at this almost two years and counting is amazing!

This past week brought some unseasonably warm December weather for Lethbridge (low 50s on Friday!) and then a pile of snow yesterday. Go figure. I went on an awesome 8 mile run Friday to take advantage of the weather. It was my first run with my new pair of shoes…aren’t they pretty!?!

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My RunStreak is now 47 days strong (will be 48 after a quick run this afternoon!). I think yesterday was the most comedic of the runs, as I did 1 mile on the WCHS treadmill….with my dog and two cats in the room. Why? Well, we had an open house from noon till two and I had to get the pets out of there. So taking them to work was the logical solution. I watched them in the mirror as I ran the mile and holy crap, they were confused in there. They were much more at ease once we got to my classroom. I Spy a little orange cat…..

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I also received my tentative training plan for the BMO Vancouver Full Marathon, which I am running on May 3rd. This blog will definitely focus a lot on my training for this race, as I attempt to try and qualify for Boston. I will talk more about the issues I have had in attempting before in the past year in a later post, but I can say that I feel very positive about my chances after seeing this plan. I had Dean Johnson, of RunDeanRun a local Lethbridge coach, make my training plan. He took my previous race times into account and customized my plan quite nicely. He did tell me that the plan is “pretty aggressive” and that’s what I need!

I have one last race this month, and that is the New Years Eve Resolution Run 5km in Red Deer, Alberta. I was hoping to find a race during Christmas week in Milwaukee, but apparently none exist. Oh well, I’ll just have to go on traditional training runs while home for Christmas. I may do a non-traditional run next Monday, though, while at our station stop in Minneapolis, MN. I need to keep that RunStreak going, and the Amtrak stops over there long enough that I could bolt off the sleeping car and get in a mile before we leave again…that could prove for an interesting story!

And in conclusion to this weeks random thoughts and stuff, RunDisney picked me as their “Fan of the Week” on Facebook. I had submitted my Dopey Challenge photo last week and they picked me! No, I don’t win anything for this, but it is pretty damn cool if you ask me! Have a great week everyone! The holidays are right around the corner!

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