Pine Line Runner: December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Thanks for a great year 2009!

Well well well...here we are on the last day of 2009...is it just me or did this year go ridiculously fast? It would appear I fell off the blogging bandwagon for the month of December...I had many posts planned and lots to talk about...and all kinds of good intentions to blog...but I was quite busy as most are this time of year. December flew by and the holidays were awesome! The past couple of days i've found myself planning out my racing season for 2010...I plan on sharing it with you guys very early in the new year...tomorrow is the opening of registration for the Death Race and whether or not I do it determines a ton of other races I'm looking into. I'll let you know tomorrow whether I signed up! :)

Anyway...I've had a really amazing year and lots to be thankful for and happy about. Work is going well...I had a fabulous year of racing...I met a really awesome guy...I got to see my family a lot more...I met a whole new group of running friends...not to forget the amazing friends I already have....what more can I ask for? More of the same...more happiness, more laughter, more adventures...I'm really excited for 2010 and I have lots to celebrate tonight! :)

Unfortunately I don't get to ring in the New Year with Andrew as he's on a ski trip in Utah...but I do get to ring it in with some really great friends of mine...looks like it's going to be a Newfie party tonight :) I'm getting ready to head out on my last run of 2009...so i'll leave you with a few pics of what i've been up to over the last few weeks...

My dad and I...after a bitterly cold run in -27 (-36 windchill)...during a week long cold snap in Calgary

Andrew and I having lunch while skiing at Lake Louise

My fabulous Christmas present from Andrew!!!

Kira and Julia on Christmas morning

Dad, opening his stocking

Steve, stuffing the turkey!

Me and Dad skiing at Silverstar in Vernon on Boxing Day

Hope you all have a very Happy New Year...stay tuned as I get back to a regular blogging routine in 2010 :)

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Welcome to Winter!

Well, if you looked outside right now (or woke up to -26 C this morning) you'd think we were in the middle of February...but nope, it is classic December in Calgary...we got a massive massive dump of snow last weekend (I had a pretty intense shovelling workout on saturday!) and we're in the middle of a lovely cold snap. Ugh.

Generally i'm anti-treadmill and run all winter long regardless of the temperature...but i've still been enduring some brutal treadmill runs these past few weeks as I try to get my foot all healed up. Progress is slow but it's definitely getting better! I've been running 3 or 4 times a week with usually at least 2 of them outside so I haven't been going completely crazy with all my time in the gym.

I've also started doing leg weights again which will hopefully make me a better climber once I start running and racing trails again in the spring. I just realized last night when dreaming of all the races I want to do next spring/summer that my first one is a 50 miler on May 30th...which is less than 6 months away! That might seem like a long time but I feel like i've got lots and lots of work to do before then to be able to run that distance...and i'm pretty excited :)

So things are definitely looking up as my foot continues to get better. Saturday I ran my coldest run so far this winter and it was only -10 with a -19 windchill...ugh. And that's nothing compared to what it will be like this winter! I think wind is the one thing I hate the most and I would be fine doing any activity in super cold temps as long as wind wasn't involved! But I find that once i've made myself get out there it's not so bad! And i'm always super satisfied after the run.

As most of you know, my dad is a runner (and that's where Steve and I were lucky to get our running genes from :)...and my parents are coming up from Newfoundland for a visit on thursday. I was hoping to get in some runs with my dad while he's here so hopefully the cold temps forecasted while they're here doesn't deter him (or me) from getting out there....even for just a short one.

I hope you're ready to welcome winter cuz it's definitely here to stay for a while!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Waterton + Winter + Camping = Awesome!

Almost 2 weeks ago now I went to Waterton for some hiking and camping with Andrew and his friend Jim, as well as Logan and Andrew's dog Duke. I love winter camping and I had also never been to Waterton before but have heard a lot of awesome things about it!

We didn't end up hiking as much as we had intended but it still turned out to be a great trip! We backpacked in our stuff a short 1.5km to Crandell Lake where we set up camp. Here are some pics that I took as well as Jim (who is quite the photographer so I won't take credit for those nice scenic shots!!)