Tag Archives: trail running

Oct8

Lost Soul Ultra 50km

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NOTE: I am writing this post during the Alberta Public Education Teacher Strike. I will not be doing a post regarding the importance of this current situation, but I am noting it so it’s a reminder of why I was able to find time to get this done from my to-do list.

Anyway. Onto my Lost Soul 50 km recap….

This would be my final big race of the year. The year started with my focus on London Marathon, and during that training I did a great local 10km race (Moonlight Run). I completed the London Marathon, earning my 5th Abbott World Marathon Major, then onto a solid half marathon a few weeks later. Trail season hit and my body felt it. It needed recovery. But I kept moving on and eventually got into a good swing of training this summer and kept building, feeling strong.

Could this be the year I not only beat my time from 2019 (6 hr 48 min) but could I get close to a sub 6 hour Lost Soul? Before the new year, I had written time goals for all my races. For every goal race so far, I had achieved my written goal. My goal for Lost Soul 50km was a 6:0x.xx. A dream goal was a sub 6 hour.

Overall my summer training went really well without mistep. I had one big stupid fall in late July and that sidelined me for about a and a half. But after that, I had a really great 4 hour run and felt as ready as I could be. But then, after a cool summer with an unseasonable amount of rain for Lethbridge….we got the heat.

I became worried. Heat is troublesome for me. I get cranky AF. I hate it. And I didn’t have a heat training built from a summer of burning, so I got nervous. If it was hot or smokey on race day, my goal times would have to take a backseat and my focus would be on a finish.

As race day neared closer, I started making my game plan. I knew it’d be tough for my husband to be my crew person, as I had some detailed plans for aid station stuff. Dan would have to be also taking care of Andy, and if they were late to an aid station and I was stressed, it could be a disaster. I offered the idea of being “my crew” to my returning Cross Country athletes at my school. All 6 boys took it on, and honestly…the day wouldn’t have gone as well if they hadn’t been my F1 Pit Crew. Sure, they had a huge cheat sheet that I went through with them the night before and put all the stuff together (I think I made it pretty hard to screw up…you just had to follow directions, haha). I know they were a bit nervous about the idea of actually screwing up, so I think that pressured them a bit to be on the ball with everything…they knocked it out of the park!

Race day came, September 6th. The weather had cooled that week and I knew it wouldn’t be terrible. The morning would be great but after the first two hours, it would start to warm. After going back and forth about what I would do to stay cool, we decided I would in fact use an ice-pack system in the bladder of my pack starting on Leg 3 (There are 5 legs total in the race). I borrowed a second Salomon hydration vest from my coach/friend so that way the F1 Crew could get it prepped to swap with me after Leg 2, with ice ready. I would also take ‘my stupid hat’ at that time, with water and ice in it. I HATE HATS. But I wore this Ciele bucket hat for the remainder of the race and it honestly probably saved me.

Courtesy of Ralph Arnold Photography

Back to the start of the race…I was a tad nervous in Leg 1 because I KNEW I was pushing it. I did Leg 1 is great time, under an hour, at 54 minutes… and I was admittingly a little worried if I went out too crazy. Leg 2 I kept holding on my pace pretty well and fell into a good groove. I did start to get hungry so getting to the aid station at Softball Valley was a welcomed arrival. I arrived to Softball Valley approximately 1 hour and 49 minutes into the race. I did my vest switch with my crew, had some more fuel and headed out.


Courtesy of Ralph Arnold Photography

I knew going onto Leg 3 that if I was to start to fall apart, it’d happen after Gun Range and Ryan’s Hill. I would feel it in my body, that I pushed to hard. I kept moving and going and felt strong. A note for this whole race is that I was pretty much on my own the entire time. No one with me to pace, no one right in front of me or right behind. I had to completely count on myself. I made it into Pavan almost exactly 3 hours into the race. So, I had 3 hours left to hit my goal of sub 6 hours. But it was onto the dreaded North Loop, which is 16km, pretty desolate and a big mind f&$K.

My F1 Pit Crew and I

I went on out and felt solid, very grateful for my stupid hat and ice in it. A weird thing happened, though, when I got to the first major coulee climb in the private land–my inner thighs started spasming. SHIT, I am going to fall apart out here on this private land that has nuclear sign warnings placed randomly. I am going to have to have someone evac me out.

Spoiler alert-I did not need an evac.

I kept moving, and I think my mind telling me to make it easy to figure out how fast I needed to go on the last leg….I made it back to Pavan in 2 hours. I was roughly 5 hours into this 50km foot race, with only about 7 km left to go (It is a 50 km race, but it measures approximately 51km). A friend came up as F1 Crew helped me and told me I was 3rd female, but did not know where 4th was in relation to me so I NEEDED TO GET GOING. I got going.

Every uphill I faced in the short final leg hurt my inner thighs, always spasming. But I had my eye on the finish. I kept going, knowing I was so close to home. And I could hit my goal. And surpass it.

As I made the final turns back into Softball Valley, the sweet sounds of Macklemore’s “Downtown” played in my airpods, I started crying, and I came into the finish line surrounded by people cheering me in. I not only got my handwritten goal of a 6:0X.xx, not only did I break 6 hours…I finished in a 5:47.33. Never in a million years did I think I had the ability to place 3rd place female overall in this damn race. This was the most amazing feeling and I could not be happier to be surrounded by Dan, Andy, my coach, my friends, my coworkers, my cross country athletes, and all other spectators. It was a fairy tale ending.

We stayed around to cheer other runners coming in, hang out with the people who cheered me in. I went home and showered and then headed back to Softball Valley to cheer on more finishers and just soak in the whole day. The next day was the banquet where we had an excellent breakfast, speakers and awards. It was everything I could have asked for in this weekend and I will always cherish Lost Soul 50km 2025.

Apr3

Running, Dad & Disney….Isn’t that what this is all about?

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I can’t promise I will start regularly posting, but I know I am good for at least one yearly post.  So here it is.  In reverse order. 

Disney

Well, of course Disney is still a huge part in my day to day life.  Yes—day to day.  I feel like I am always thinking or daydreaming about it.  It really is my ‘happy place.’  Last August, Andy and I went on a mommy & son trip to Disney with my dear friend Maureen and her son.  It was such a great trip and we made so many memories.  The memory I want to forget is catching COVID for the first time while there and us having to truck through the trip with that going on.  WOW-that took a lot out on my body.  Andy had one night where he broke his fever and was a bit of a mess, but he trucked on.  My positive test when we came back confirmed how shitty I felt, and it honestly threw off my running for about a month then.  At least I didn’t have any big events planned!

Disney 100!
Cheese & Castles
Grandpa Andy’s favorite character

We are doing another mommy & son trip to Disney this August, with hopefully no COVID, and with Grandma.  I am really excited to see what rides Andy is most interested in doing and all the memories we can make.  Dan and I have been working with Andy a lot lately preparing him for swimming pools, because he is not keen on his swim lessons.  We have him in private swim lessons starting a few weeks from now, so hopefully that helps.  I made a fake ‘threat’ that Grandma wouldn’t book us at the nice hotel anymore if he didn’t start to want to learn to swim….hopefully that’s lit a fire!

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party…in hot August

Dad

This month marks the 20th anniversary of when my dad passed away.  I turn 40 this year.  That’s a lot to take in.  I have worked really hard in the recent years to deal with the grief that still was lingering and I feel like I am in a pretty good place.  There hasn’t been anything new with the family history/DNA/ancestry area.  My one close contact hasn’t talked to me in about two years, and it was sort of left that there may be some family resentment/conflict due to the potential unknowns/family skeletons.  I decided to send one more message earlier this week to just touch base and say hi…you never know what things could have changed?

There is also a date I am awaiting, and that is June 8th.  This day is the day after what would have been my dad’s 72nd birthday, but it is also a day that Quebec puts forth Bill 2 into action.   I will put a snippet below from the Province of Quebec website regarding what Bill 2 entails:

This act amends the Civil Code in respect of filiation, the law of persons and civil status. In particular, it amends the rules concerning the knowledge of one’s origins in relation to adoption so as to broaden their scope. Thus, this act allows the adoptee greater access to information about the identity of the parent of origin by eliminating almost all possibilities that a refusal to disclose would hinder it. It also gives the adoptee the right to obtain, under certain conditions, a copy of their original birth certificate and the judgments relating to their adoption, as well as the names of their grandparents and brothers and sisters of origin, and, if they consent to it, the information allowing them to contact them.

It extends services to new categories of applicants, such as the original grandparents of an adopted person and the first-degree descendants of a deceased adopted person. The latter will be able to obtain the same information and documents as the adopted person.

Lastly, it enshrines a person’s right to know their origins in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. These measures will come into force on June 8, 2024. Until then, the current provisions on knowledge of one’s origins continue to apply.

Honestly.  That statement in bold…that is me.  And this gives me so much hope.  I read this outloud to Dan just now as I typed it and he paused….and said “I am cautiously optimistic for you!”  Hopefully, 2024 can be the year we find the real answers.

Running

This is a year, other than the pandemic, that I have no real big races planned.  And I can say that I am at a place in my life that I am ok with that!  I started the year off with a quick trip to Los Angeles where I was able to take part in the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend with my bff.  It had been since 2017 that Disneyland had races (due to conflicts with the city of Anaheim and then the pandemic, etc) so it was great to be back there in that atmosphere!

Cheese & Castles (mom’s turn)

A few weeks ago, we did the Moonlight Run 6km as a family-this was Andy’s first 6km distance.  Even in the late-winter snow, he did fantastic.  We finished just under one hour, and that was even with him in snow boots.  My race focus this year should have been more explicitly stated-it is to run 5km races with Andy!  Up next….Coaldale Family Fun Run.  He’ll also have the Red Deer Kids race during marathon weekend, Little Souls, and I also plan to get him signed up for a kid’s race in Wisconsin.

Moonlight Run

Andy and I head to Wisconsin in July, and I will be doing the Dances with Dirt Half Marathon Trail Race in Devils Lake.  I am looking forward to my first trail race outside of Western Canada!  I am not looking forward to the humidity!  I will also sign up for one of the local beer garden 5km events that coincidentally have a kids event too. 

Dan and I are signed up for the return of Lone Wolf in September, and Coulee Cactus Crawl in Lethbridge will be our warmup trail race together.  Still trying to think of a good team name, otherwise our Lone Wolf original of “Lammers & the Dilf” will still hold on.

One big thing to mention that ties directly in with where I am at with my running is to talk about where I am with my health.  Without going into too much, I will say that I am in a much better place than I was one year ago.  I have lost close to 20 pounds.  My body is not hurting.  With the guidance of a doctor, I weaned off my antidepressants that I had been on for close to 12 years (but I think were doing more harm than good the last while).  I have now been off them for 7 months.  I took time off alcohol.  Between the being off the antidepressant and pausing on boozing, I weaned off my blood pressure medication.  I tracked my blood pressure off the pills for about 2 months in November and December (some time while drinking, some while not) and it has now been stable since January.   And I am not on that pill either.  I am actually now on no prescription medication—just a daily multivitamin and collagen because I’m old hahaha. And, I had my yearly echo and my heart function has improved since the last one.  And super minor, but I am not consuming even CLOSE to the amount of caffeine as I was previously….living on the half caf/decaf life.  The meaningful changes I started making a year ago really have made a difference-the tests don’t lie.  I am not going back to where I was before. 

Took this photo a few days ago. Now it’s pounding snow.

A week ago, this blog entered my mind during a workout.  And I reflected on how great I felt when I was actively posting about my running and training.  It was therapeutic.  I know it will take some extra effort to make posting happen, but with the upcoming Disney, Dad and Running events on the horizon, sharing the good news could do some good. They will be shorter than this, more often than not, and not very well proof-read. But I know this helps.

Until then….

Apr24

A reframe, per say.

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Hello.

Yes. I still exist.

Life is funny. And busy. And not linear.

I have really dropped off with keeping this site updated over the years. Back to work after maternity leave, COVID and excuses all weigh in.

But, doing this site has really brought me JOY over the years. I would to start writing monthly again. But I am not sure what to focus on.

Yes, I am still running. I actually did the Disney Marathon weekend this January and did Goofy Challenge and had a blast. I’ll share a photo(S) below.

And prior to that , I did my first 100km trail race in September 2022. I never wrote a recap on that race. And I plan to do a second 100km this September.

And prior to that we went to Disney’s Aulani in Hawaii! I didn’t even do a recap of that! Well, we returned and moved into our new house so timing was a challenge.

I’ve gone to Disney world a few times since the Pandemic. We bought a new house. And the 19th anniversary of my dad’s passing is tomorrow.

19 years with him. Now, 19 years without.

I need suggestions on what I should post about below. Yes, the origin story of my dad is still in question and I have some new avenues I need to pursue. Yes, I am still running and doing Disney races and crazy races. Im going to Disney this summer with my good friend, her son and Andy. And we are making our own family memories.

What do you want me to write about if I start up monthly writing?

Sep2

Summer Running Recap

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Of course, I did my last post 3 months ago. Of course, I haven’t written about any of the races I did in the late spring and any of the training I have been doing this summer, and I haven’t written about what is ahead.

So, I am doing it now. It’s going to be pretty concise, but it’s a post.

I left you with the fact that the race weekend for Whitefish Half and Full Marathon was upon on. We headed down for the Canadian long week in May and had just an overall fantastic time. We went with our good friends Nick and Alycia, and my husbands parents also came down and stayed at a hotel to help with Andy. Dan and Alycia would then run the full marathon, while Nick and I both ran the half.

En route

Everyone runs the first 13 miles together. Half course was relatively “easy” as far as elevation, turns, etc. Dan and I ran together and had a very good pace for most of it. Dan was actually killing it and ended up leaving me at around mile 8 or 9. I had trouble in those two miles and was very tempted to just start walking and quit. My competitive edge felt lost. However, I mustered up some willpower and pushed through. My finishing time was 1:47:47, which I will happily take after it being such a long time without racing! 20/237 for women and 4/40 for women 35-39.

At the end of the half marathon
Four finishers!

The following weekend I had the disaster that was the Calgary Full Marathon. I need to stop doing this full marathon because it’s never a good race for me. The half goes well. The ultra has gone well. But this damn distance. Anyway, 5km in to the race I knew stuff wasn’t going to go right. I also had my worst day of my period and felt like shit (yeah, I’m whining. but I’m talking about a natural thing that everyone should know SUCKS when you are trying to compete) so there’s that. The fact I finished is just good enough for me. I ran a 4:30.23, and YES-Dan’s time at Whitefish (even with the crazy elevation!) beat mine. He ran a 4:07.25, with a 1:45.41 half split. And his time for the second half wasn’t slower because he hadn’t trained….it was slower because the second half of that course was EVIL!

Happy to be done with a beer!

In the end, Calgary was completed. But the highlight may have been seeing the photos and video of our son Andy run the 1.2 km kids run. Ohhh, he had the best time!

Mascots at the kids race

How was summer then? Well…we bought a house, sold a house, moved, went to Hawaii….and oh yeah….I trained for the Lost Soul Ultra 100KM. This race happens ONE WEEK FROM TODAY and HOLY SHIT IT IS STARTING TO GET REAL.

I did the LSU 50km twice—once in 2019 and then also last year in 2021. Last year, a monsoon came in the middle of the night before the 50km race start so they had to change things last minute and make it the wet-weather route. Not a trail race, but it was done. This will be my first ever go at a 100km race distance, with my farthest ever before being the 54km that is the regular Lost Soul…and the most I’ve ever run in one day is 70km during our silly 100 point day.

Look really close and you can see me. The coulees were so green early in the summer!

My good friend Tracey is crewing me (thank god) and the weather appears to finally be getting cooler. The rain needs to hold off and all should be good. I know there will be some really high HIGHS and some pretty low LOWS during my attempt at this. But as long as I finish, then it’s a personal best.

I really do hope to do a detailed report on this race because this is a pretty big deal for me. I’m grateful for having the time in the summer to do the training while not teaching, and also for Andy being at daycare so I have this selfish time to run.

Next post will hopefully be posted in this same month! I can’t wait to share stories from the trails!

Jan6

Looking back on 2021 and ahead to 2022

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So, as I look back at 2021…..race wise, I want to forget about it all

No races yet this year. Everything had been cancelled. Notice how on the top of my main page I have result headers going way back to 2013? And the last year was 2019? That’s because 2020 blew up all the races. And then 2021 just kept being disappointment after disappointment of races being delayed and then cancelled. I have said it before–I am not a virtual race person. So I only did one in 2021 and that was the Haida Gwaii Half Marathon. That race holds a special space in my heart from when we went and did it in person in 2019. Once summer hit in 2021, I hit the trails. It was my last hope. Lost Soul 50km WAS going to happen! The 100km and 100 mile racers started on Friday, September 10th. It was exciting that something was actually occurring. I started to get my pre-race, night before jitters and laid all my stuff out.

And then….the rain.

This won’t be a really big recap, but the main thing is rain hit at around 9 pm Friday night. We had been so dry and at risk of wildfires all summer long, and it chose to rain that night. Rained all night long….100 mile runners were STUCK on the course in coulee mud. They pulled the runners off the course starting around 3:30 am whenever they reached their next aide station. At some point in the middle of the night the race directors started making a plan.

When I woke up at around 5:30, everything was up in the air. I believe it was at 6:15 am that a decision was posted on Facebook that YES the 50 km race would start, but it would be delayed to 7:15 am, and at that time all 100 mile racers would also start up again with the 50 km runners. The final catch-wet weather route.

What is a wet weather route for a 50 km trail race in the easy-to-destroy coulees? It is a 10km loop you do 5 times that is on mainly pavement, a touch of shale path, and one 100m stretch of mud.

Now. Today’s date is Jan 6th. This race recap is so soon after the actual race, it’s going to be very detailed…..yeah, no. My New Years Resolution is going to be to get back to actually doing training and race recaps, because 2022 better have some fucking races (more on that at the end). But the main thing about this Lost Soul….we were all just SO HAPPY to have a damn race! If this race had been cancelled due to weather, and not COVID, it would have been a huge slap in the heart. Was my time faster than it would have been on the coulee course? Of course—it was pavement. But was I in more pain than I would have been on the regular route? Of course—it was pavement.

Just look at that muddy shale! Photo Credits above and below-LSU volunteers

I am forever grateful for the lovely race directors who made the decision to change the route in order to protect the coulees and allow us to still have an event. It was very stressful even leading up to race day before the weather hit as there was a chance that it would be cancelled if new COVID restrictions had come in by then. So, the only thing I can thank Jason Kenney for is that he delayed any sort of Vax Passport restriction stuff until after my race. THANK YOU, but you are still an asshat.

My finish time was 5:28. I was sore AF after. I got to run with our son Andy into the finish line. My husband got to see me finish. My friend Tracey helped me at the main aid station whenever I came through. The positive about a looped course was that anyone who was spectating was in the same spot and you got to see everyone anytime you came through headquarters. No, it wasn’t the traditional Lost Soul Ultra. But nothing since March 2020 has been traditional.

So, what’s next? Register for the 50km for 2022 so I can do the regular route again and try to beat my 2019 time? Nah…..how about do it twice? That’s right….I registered for the 100km Lost Soul Ultra. This will be my farthest race ever. The most I have ever run in one day is 70 km during our crazy 100 Point Day event in 2020. This will be a total different race for me, and my main goal is to just finish. I need a different challenge; something to motivate me. I had little motivation last year with everything getting cancelled, so starting 2022 off on the right foot with signing up for races and starting plans is step 1.

While that is the Goal race it isn’t until September. I have also already signed up for the Whitefish Half Marathon and Calgary Marathon (both in May) and Taber Tuff 25km Trail Race in July. We also have a deferred entry to the Lone Wolf trail race in September (that was another last minute cancellation due to BC COVID rules). I am going to attempt to get in to the Elk Valley 50km in July to use as a training run. And I will also keep my eyes open for other races that intrigue me.

This year is about getting back in the habit and reaching some new challenges. Here goes nothing!

Dec30

2019…the new normal

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You can take a look at my 2019 race result link to see the events I did this year. And then, if you feel like it, you can click on 2018, 2017, 2016…and you’ll soon realize how few events I did this year in comparison to other years.

This was the first full calendar year that 1.) I was back at work full time after maternity leave and 2.) we would be now parents to our son Andy, who turned 2 in October 2019. Before a child, I could run whenever I wanted and sign up for any race I wanted (obviously within reason). There were really no constraints! Even when I was pregnant, I kept up the running and shorter events. During maternity leave, I actually did have lots of time to run and train because I was off of work and I was willing to take Andy with me to any daytime boot camps he was allowed at. We still could travel lots and my schedule was flexible. Coming back full time to work with a child at daycare and trying to manage your own activities is not for the faint of heart.

Race medals from my 2019 events

I barely remember the winter and spring of 2019, but it was me focusing on just running in general. I did start a run streak during that time to get myself motivated for the season, but stopped in late March due to just being worn out. My husband never understands it, but Moonlight Run in March is always stressful for me. The first race of the year! I ran alright, and now looking back at that 45:17 I don’t know why I was that down. Then Rita’s Run 5km in May and Woody’s Half Marathon. The half was frustrating for me because 1.) Dan beat me and 2.) my time was actually about a minute slower than the year before while on maternity leave. I just felt down about my decline.

2019 race swag

As summer hit, things got better. Switched over to trail season and I had a lot of fun. This was my first year really giving trail running an honest try. Dan and I did a two-person coulee cactus crawl team and actually placed in the mixed division, even beating teams who had up to 5 members. We also did Lone Wolf in Fernie as a 2 person team and had a blast with our friends and Andy that weekend. In July, we travelled way West to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, where I ran the full marathon. What an experience that was! It was a small field of runners, but I was honoured to place 2nd female with a pretty respectful time. With little recovery time and still a busy summer, I had to stay prepped for my first trail 50km Ultra. And I did the Lost Soul Ultra in September, even beating my goal time and placing in my age group.

Special awards

I had one more half marathon race lined up in October before the NYC marathon would come in November. That race never happened, as my world was flipped when I got a phone call late September that my Uncle Ed had passed away. This was my dad’s only sibling. I was shook. I travelled to Longville, Minnesota, for the funeral and to see family. When I came back, I could never get back into a groove. I forced my body through the NYC marathon, thankful that my only goal that race was to run with my husband and our friend and have fun. And since after NYC I’ve just lost motivation.

Am I going to stop running? Hell no. But I need to be a little easier on myself and get back to the root of running—-to stay healthy. Dan reminded me that about two days ago. That is the number 1 reason to run. And now, our number 2 reason to run is to spend time as a family and with our friends. That is something that has changed a lot in the last year or two and I am forever grateful for our running friends. Not just the ones we see at marathon club or races, but the ones we hang out with while in NYC…at beer miles…on our patio…our friends who hosted us while we ran in Haida Gwaii…the ones who cheered me on and crewed never at Lost Soul…the ones we are running with in New Years Eve for a group pub run. The last thing is to be competitive. That may have been a higher point to me in the last years. But it shouldn’t be now. It still matters to me; I’m still going to be competitive. But I gotta remember what is more important.

So 2020, what will you bring? I am registered for the Lost Soul 50km and hope to better my time. Dan and I are also doing Lone Wolf again, and our friend and his daughter are going to come and camp with us! We also plan on having a group of us go down to do the Whitefish Half Marathon in May and making it a fun long weekend with friends. 2019 may have been different compared to my other years, but now after reflecting on it, I’m looking forward to what my running future looks like!

Goodbye 2019…hello 2020!

Jul15

Taber Tuff 12.5km

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Saturday, July 13th, marked the inaugural “Taber Tuff” trail race. Taber is a small rural community east of Lethbridge, about 45 minutes away. In my mind, all I think about when I hear Taber is CORN. I don’t think of much else at all. And I definitely don’t think of a tough trail race. So I was very interested to see what this would be like.

The race was held at the Municipal campground in Taber. Once you get into town, you make a turn and head down the road for about 3km. What you end up at looks completely different than the town of Taber itself. The campground has lots of trees and is nestled along the water. The coulees that we are used to in Lethbridge, while not the same here, are prominently located past the trees. It was a nice surprise to see this landscape.

The race had two distances-12.5 km and 25 km. I was registered for the 12.5 km. If you chose to do the 25 km, you did the 12.5 km loop twice. The 25 km runners started at 8 am and the 12.5 km runners started at 8:15 am. This allowed for runners to get pretty spaced out which made it easier if you came up to any 25km runners and needed to pass on the single track.

It was already a very warm morning when the race started and I was happy that I was only going to be doing the 12.5 km. Heat is not my friend. Once they started the 12.5 km, I got myself set as lead female. I had no idea if I was going too fast or too slow. I was just going to try and listen to my body and see how it all played out.

The first 5 km were what I would call “deceiving.” What I mean by that is that it was pretty easy as far as trails go. You start by entering into some wooded area and then get some basic rolling coulee hills. Nothing tricky. This was going to be easy…..

Then it all started to change. In my opinion, the challenging parts of this course were between miles 4-6. This was where there were often holes in the ground or sketchy single wide paths on the face of a coulee. There was loose sand and lots of areas with erosion. For me, being someone scared of heights, I was freaked in some spots. I had to really slow my roll in order to comfortably tackle some of these areas.

I also hit some GI issues around mile 4. I honestly have no clue why my stomach got upset, as I was actually more careful than usual leading up to this race with my food and drink intake. I totally felt ready to go in the morning, and didn’t do anything weird with my fueling routine. I am putting this problem I experienced due to the heat but I also noticed that if I really coasted my way downhill fast, the jarring motion in my stomach seemed to bother me and that’s when it got more upset. These are all good things to find out now at a small 12.5 km race so I can work on them in preparation for Lost Soul 50km. Many times I had to literally stop and take some deep breaths before continuing on with my run.

You looped back to the campground at 10km and followed some cones through the campground. Lots of little kids were sitting in their camping chairs cheering us on. The last big climb was a paved path with then a nice descent back to the rivers’ edge, a stroll through some shaded area, and back at the campground base area.

I ran in a time of 1:33.36 and finished 1st female and 3rd overall. There were 27 finishers in the 12.5km race. I think if I was able to do this same course again on a different day I could break 1:30. But, between my stomach issues, the unexpected sandy and scary areas that I am not used to, and my upcoming marathon this Saturday, I couldn’t push as much I know I could have. I am pretty proud of my time though, because I did step out of my comfort zone a bit with this race. Every trail race I do now is a step in the right direction. It’s a new way of thinking and running for me and it’s going to take time to get used to. Maybe I’ll eventually get used to the heights?!?!?!….

Oh yeah. I also won a sweet Igloo cooler in a draw prize! And we needed a new one !
Jul10

The Lone Wolf-Team “Lammers & the DILF”

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Father’s Day weekend 2019 was spent camping in beautiful Fernie, British Columbia….and running the trails of beautiful Fernie, British Columbia! The Lone Wolf, put on by Stag Leap Running. This was the second year the event was put on, with last year being the inaugural running. We did not participate in the inaugural event, so I cannot speak to how this was compared to 2018. But I will say that overall I was impressed!

These type of trail events seem to be a trending thing: last man standing style. For The Lone Wolf, you could either enter as a soloist or as a team of two. The idea is that every hour, on the hour, runners leave “The Den” to attack an approximately 4 mile loop. On the odd number laps, you would run clockwise and then on the even number laps, you run counterclockwise. You must finish your lap in the one hour, otherwise you are eliminated. It’s up to you or your team how much you want to push it on each lap. Run balls out on your laps, you’ll have more time to rest in between. Run slow and steady, and you won’t have much time before the next lap starts. Also, if you are a team you can decide how you want to split up the laps between you and your partner (more on that later).

Race photos from Raven Eye Photography

Before getting into actual race day, I want to say that if you are into camping, booking a campsite at the Mount Fernie Provincial Park campground is ideal for this race weekend. We are relatively new to the camping world, but I researched and found out I could book a campsite in mid-February. On the day booking opened, I had full selection of campsites. I chose one that I thought would be close to the Nordic Centre that the race would be located at. We came to find out that we were about 1/4 of a mile away! This was awesome for us, as we would be at the race with our 20 month old son and we knew we’d have to be going back and forth for various things. For example, in the evening once my husband was done doing his laps and threw in the towel, he took Andy back to the campsite to feed him dinner, and then he was able to return to the race site before I finished! There are lots of other hotel accommodations very close to the race, but I would strongly recommend booking early so you get exactly what you want.

Happy camper!

Race package pickup was at a hotel near downtown Fernie. It was a quick pickup, with waivers to be signed. We got our race bibs and our shirts. I really love the shirt colour and design, and they are also very soft. We headed back to the campground and were able to get a really good night’s sleep-Andy slept like a champ! With the race not starting until 10 am, we didn’t have to worry about getting up super early. If you are staying at a hotel or Airbnb you would want to get there relatively early and/or carpool as parking is at a premium. We had our friend Nick come to our campsite at 9 am and he parked his car there.

The race staging area is very large and there’s lots of spots to set up your own personal area. We had a group of us from Lethbridge put a couple of those four-sided shade tents together and had camping chairs, coolers and Andy’s pack-n-play set up in the shade. If you have a group that wants to be near one another, also get there early enough to make sure that happens.

So on to the race. Dan and I chose to do this as a relay because 1.) we aren’t skilled enough trail runners to want to try it solo and 2.) we needed to alternate who was watching Andy during each lap. Since we could choose who ran on which laps, I decided to start us off and always run the odd number laps. I can’t even remember who I paced myself off of the first lap, but I ran a conservative 51:10. What I learned during the first lap is that it was approximately 1/2 a mile from “The Den” to the base of the mountain. Then you’d get up the mountain to its peak at just over mile 2. It was then a descent all the way back to start/finish area. Knowing how long it took to get up to the peak would be helpful in later laps, because you could then know if you were going too fast or too slow.

As Dan and I alternated our laps, there was a great selection of food and beverages for the runners. Funny thing is that these items had to be relocated at one point because when I was out on lap 7 a fucking bear came right up to the finish line. It would not move away, even with bear spray and noise. The parks officials came and got it out of the way but holy shit, had I been at the group area and this occurred I would have told Dan we were quitting and done!

Racers could drop out at whatever point they chose. Obviously, soloists generally stopped before teams. The rule was that whenever the final soloist stopped, the teams must stop too. I don’t know what our true tema goal was, but since I’m competitive with my husband I knew I just wanted to run more laps than him (stupid, I know). Dan had had some back issues the week prior so he wasn’t even sure leading up to the race how he was going to feel. After his fourth lap (lap 8) he said he was done. This was at 6 pm. It worked out pretty well because I went out on lap 9 and Dan took Andy to the campsite. I was running with our friend Dylan, who was actually very injured, but it was comical at least. He didn’t want his team to quit yet. When we came after lap 9, Dan wasn’t back yet. Our friends said he was fully expecting me to run another lap. Also, had I stopped at that point I would have felt obligated to go back to the campsite and help out, when really all I would want to do it sit down and have my free finisher beer. So, I had some snacks and headed out for lap 10 with Dylan’s teammate Mark.

With lap 10 finishing at just before 8 pm, I felt like the smart thing to do was stop. I was STARVING and even though my legs felt fine for a lap 11, I knew I would probably pass out from hunger. Had I been able to get out there for lap 11, we could have placed 3rd in our mixed team category. In the end, there were 4 teams that completed 10 laps. They then calculate who ran the 10 laps the fastest to determine placings. We were the slowest of the 10 lap teams, and in the end we placed 6 out of 9 in the Mixed Under 40. The team that won were a couple who sat right near our tent. The husband was running 4 laps and then the wife would run 1. He was training for the Canadian Death Race and yeah, I think he could have lasted all night if the soloists didn’t stop.

We will definitely be back next year. It was so much fun and a really unique experience. I do have to give a special thanks to all our friends from Lethbridge who were there. They really stepped it up and helped out with Andy quite a bit. Andy is so used to everyone from all the other events we do in town and we are so lucky to have these friends who are like family. The race weekend wouldn’t have been possible had they not been there with us.

Jun12

Coulee Cactus Crawl

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I ran this as an unexperienced soloist in 2013, then as a last minute team member for leg 2 in 2018. This year, my husband and I opted to run as team “Danada & Miss America” for the 25th anniversary event. This event was now lengthened from 20 miles to 25 miles in length. You could choose to run the 5 legs of the race however you want between you and your relay partner(s). The interesting thing for this race that since there are 5 legs to it, you could have a relay of up to five people. Dan and I decided two would be the way to go, and I am very happy with how it all went!

I was nervous the day before the race, as the smoke from the wildfires up north had travelled south to our area. Not nervous just for us as runners, but nervous for Andy as a spectator. He would be outside with us all day at the race, as we would be trading him off at each relay checkpoint. Thankfully, the smoke cleared and all we had to battle through was the heat.

Before the race

We had originally planned for Dan to run legs 1 & 2 and I would run legs 3-5. Dan started off what with what seemed to be a conservative pace. About 20 minutes into the leg, my phone rings. It’s Dan. WTF….you should be running….He said “be ready to run leg 2.” With that statement I had no clue what type of shape he would be in coming to the transition area. He came through in a decent time, and actually had us 2nd in our category (mixed relay <40 years old). I headed off to the 2nd leg.

Playing around at the transition area for leg 2

I had messaged him before heading off stating I would run leg 2 & 3 and hope he could do 4, and then I would do 5. This is what ended up happening. Dan was recovered by the time it got to leg 4 (which was just leg 2 in reverse) and his main issue was the pressure the water belt was putting on his stomach. At the end of leg 2 we were still in 2nd place, but then during leg 3 (when presumably other teams had a fresh runner take a spot) I slid our team down to 4th place. This was the longest and most challenging leg, and I was happy to have a little break.

During these breaks we were basically just shuttling Andy and ourselves to the different transition areas. Andy was a CHAMP! It was hot out, but we kept him under umbrellas and in the shade. With the help of our friends who were also running as teams or spectating, we had such a great crew surrounding us. It’s awesome to have a random selection of people to pass your kid off to when you have to use the bathroom before heading off on your leg of the relay!

My pale-skinned men waiting for me during leg 3!

So Dan made up some epic time in leg 4. We were in 4th in our division when I came in after leg 3. When Dan tagged me off for my portion of the race he had climbed back up to 3rd place. With our friend Nick on the team in 4th place, I knew my burnt out legs (which had already ran 10 miles) would have some work to do in order to stay ahead of his fresh legs (he was running his first leg of the race).

Andy fell asleep finally during leg 5 and the post race celebration

I somehow mustered to hold on, bringing our two-person relay in with a time of 4 hours 23 minutes even. I was really proud of how Dan and I adapted the race on the fly given how he was feeling, and how we were able to hold on and place in our division with just two of us! We had so much fun that day with each other, our friends, and with Andy. We are looking forward to our upcoming race weekend in Fernie, where we will be doing another relay together. This one is a set two-person relay, and thankfully a lot of our same great friends will be out there too. Hope Andy does as well as he did here!

Post race beverages and fun!
Feb10

2019 Race Plans

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The kid is napping, I finished my Sunday chores, so I am going to try to push out a blog post!  It’s early February, and I will say that the last month has been tough on me for running.  With the holidays and the year end of 2018, I was getting my daily runs in for the December Holiday Run Streak that our local store puts on.  But other than that, my physical activity was going downhill.  Work has been tough, and managing work with being parents and wanting to still do the same level of running and training I did before Andy is even tougher.  And it’s not even the ‘before Andy’ that is the most challenging.  It’s the now being a working parent.  Maternity Leave was a godsend and I was probably close to the best shape of my life by mid July and August of last year.  I ran my best 5km ever, was feeling strong AF and also felt like a pretty bad ass mom.

Now, I just feel like a mom trying to swim upstream.

I am still doing the Runstreak, and have been running at least a mile a day every day since December 1st.  My first 2019 goal is to continue the RunStreak for one whole year.  It’s not a mileage goal, or a race time goal, but it gives me something to focus on every day and it something that I know can be attainable even when I am feeling overloaded with work and everything else.

As 2019 creeped into existence, I knew I needed to get back in control of my diet and exercise.  It wasn’t awful, but in the last months of 2018 I started buying chips and salsa again for at home.  And I was drinking more beer than my ‘lack of running’ body should be consuming.  The husband and I both went in for body composition appointments at Kinetic at the beginning of January.  My weight was actually better than I expected.  But, weight is a funny thing.  It’s a number to not take too much to heart.  I weighed in at 135 lbs.  The measurements for the body composition though, however, were frustrating (but expected).  I didn’t completely fall of the wagon, but comparing the results to what I had back in June at the end of the Mommy “Time 4 Me” challenge was frustrating.  My body fat percentage had gone up and my measurements had increased in total inches.

This was all expected because I 1.) Wasn’t running as quality of workouts 2.) It’s winter and not race season so I wasn’t in the training mode for anything in particular 3.) I am not able to go to boot camp anymore (damnit, I wish I was still on mat leave!) 4.) our diet had started to creep back into the higher carb amounts.

Husband and I have decided to tweak our eating habits, using the tools I learned during the Time 4 Me challenge.  Lower carb, higher protein.  We’ve also greatly cut the beer intake, and have generally switched to red wine (except I am drinking a beer as I type this……).  I’m not making myself go crazy with this, but we are going to do another body composition early March to see what has happened in two months with some small changes.

The bigger thing is that I have my second goal of getting back into racing shape and loving to run.  I contacted Dean Johnson, who did my race training plan for Vancouver in 2015, and asked him is he’d make a plan for me for this year leading up to my big race in September (more on that later).  If someone makes me a plan to follow, I automatically make it work in my day.  It was also key that I gave him which days work best for me to fit in quality workouts (Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and then have the other days as just my minimum mileage for my runstreak.  I started this Thursday with his set workouts and even though the cold and snowy weather is absolute shit, I have to say I’m already feeling better about myself and the race season ahead.

I know I can’t necessarily have crazy time goals for my races this year, but I need to have some goal.  If I just register for random local races but don’t have a new big race or plan in sight, I’ll get into a rut.  My 2019 race schedule is shaping up to look like this:

-Moonlight Run 10KM in March

-Some local 5km races (possibly with Andy in the stroller) in April and May

-Red Deer Half in May (goal of sub 1:37, depending on how training goes!)

-Lots of trails in June (Coulee Cactus as a relay, Lone Wolf in Fernie as a relay with the husband)

-Haida Gwaii Full Marathon in July (would like to run at least faster than Berlin, with the dreamy goal of sub 3:30…but its a very small race and it’ll be mentally challenging for me).

-Lost Soul Ultra 50km in September (My first trail ultra….more on that in a much later post)

-Police Half Marathon in October (would like to beat my time from this years’ race which was 1:37.39)

-New York Marathon in November (run with the husband and just generally have a blast)

How the next two months go will determine how those 5km’s and Red Deer half goes.  Will I be competitive with the field, or even with my own times?  I’m sure as hell going to try.  When June rolls around and I start playing with trail races, I have the hope that this ignites a new fire in me.  I am really looking forward to July and August, as I will have off of work and Andy will still have daycare Monday-Friday.  I can use those days to follow a trail training plan in preparation for Lost Soul.  As that approaches, a reasonable goal for the race will be determined.  Or maybe not so reasonable.  I have one in my mind, but it may be a bit lofty.

Anyway, with second semester in full swing and a new training plan to follow, I have high hopes for the coming months of running.  And bonus—kid is still napping!