Pine Line Runner

Welcome to Winter!

2009-12-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

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!

Waterton + Winter + Camping = Awesome!

2009-12-02T14:40:00.001-08:00

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!!)

At the Trailhead

Crandell Lake
(Jim's pic)

Getting caught giving Andrew a smack!

(Jim's pic)

I'd love to know what was so funny...
(Jim's pic)

Testing out the foot...pain free yet?

oh I miss trail running...

(Jim's pic)

Crandell Lake

(Jim's Pic)

Duke checking things out near the water...

it's cold and he's loving Andrew's scarf!! (Jim's pic)

Cooking area near Crandell Lake (Jim's pic)

Andrew and Jim enjoying some "Hot Toddy's"...we had no lemon

but we put in some oranges instead...not bad at all!

Hanging up the food bag!

(and yup, the Warden told us there were still bears out in the area at this time!)

Getting cozy with the dogs in the tent :)

Good morning! It snowed while we were sleeping!

Breakfast time! Andrew cooking up Backpackers omelettes
from the bag...actually SUPER tasty! (Jim's pic)

Logan keeping an eye on breakfast!

Andrew and the dogs hiking back out to the truck.

Andrew and Duke overlooking Upper Waterton Lake (Jim's pic)

Bizarre...

2009-11-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

Monday I ran a fairly relaxed 8km at lunch...for the first 4 km the pain was annoying but not too bad...for the second half it was really quite painful and I was cringing with each step. I came back to work after lunch pretty bummed and I could barely walk for the rest of the day/evening.

After all of the advice I received from my previous post and from others, I decided it really was ok if I took a full month off from running (and a really good idea) to see if that would be enough to heal it. When I thought about it longer I realized a month off is really not that bad. When I went to Thailand 2 years ago I was off from running for a full month and came back and started back up training for a marathon the next week...albeit I started slow with shorter runs...but it wasn't really a big deal. So that made me happy and I was then fine with the decision to take my month off.

Then tuesday I decided it would be my first day at the gym doing other cardio...I did a half hour of elliptical and my foot felt great. Then I thought I wonder if I just go on the treadmill for a little bit how will my foot feel? I ran for a half hour...absolutely pain free! I was going at a pretty slow pace but had no pain! WTF? I know, just retarded right? The pain often comes after I stop running and is quite bad in the evening and the next morning but it didn't even come back that night or next morning. I'm excited and maybe the treadmill will be the way to go for a while as I try to heal this. I'm sure the nice soft surface is definitely a big help!

Monday night I had slept in my compression socks and spent a good hour with high heat from my heating pad on my calf so that must have been a big help as well for sure. I know a big cause of PF is due to tight calves and I guess that's definitely a big issue for me although I never feel like they're particularly tight! That was definitely the problem last winter though when I had PF for 6 months before Boston...but I did manage to get rid of it with lots of stretching and heating of the calves and wearing compression socks.

Anyhow, I took yesterday off and i'm going to try some elliptical after work to warm up and then try some more running on the treadmill tonite to see how I do. If I experience any pain then I'll immediately stop...I promise :) I was pretty pumped though after tuesday's little run! Wish me luck!

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Waterton with Andrew, his friend and the 2 dogs for a weekend of hiking and camping...i'm pretty pumped! Hopefully i'll come back with some sweet pics to show you next week! Have a great weekend!!

deb

Holy F(rustration)!!

2009-11-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

Hmm...i thought after my last post I'd get better with my blog again not worse...geez. Guess I don't have a lot of stuff going on...well, I do...just not running related I suppose. Aside from running, life is pretty great these days.

I'm kind of depressed about running right now...my foot is not cooperating at all...the thing is, it hurts less while i'm running than after the run and on my days off. I took today and yesterday off from running and my heel just continues to throb while walking around....and by the end of the day it aches so bad I can barely stand on it. It's super frustrating. I've read some other blogs lately of a couple of people also having to deal with plantar fasciitis...and they're managing 100 mile weeks...while I would be happy with a 50km week! Anyways, they've been talking about taping it which seems to help and i've read about the proper taping techinque for plantar fasciistis so I may try that this weekend for my long run.

So far this week I've only done 2 runs...a 20km on sunday where I felt pretty minimal pain for the first 10km and then the last 10 kind of sucked with foot pain. I impulse registered for a 10km race in December...not sure what I was thinking since i'm injured but who knows...maybe it'll be better by then? Anyways, after registering I then decided at lunch to go out and run a fast 10km...managed to do it in 45 mins which boosted my confidence. I also didn't experience much pain at all...not sure if it's because the quicker I run the less time my foot is on the ground? Makes sense. My PB is 42 so I'd love to get closer to 40...although my brother seems to think I could easily break 40 mins...but I don't agree...especially if i'm having troubles training because of my foot. Guess we'll see.

Ok, now I promise to try and blog more...

The running blues...

2009-10-27T14:10:00.001-07:00

Yes....I realize i've been a lazy blogger lately...thanks to many of you for pointing it out! I didn't realize it was that big a deal but apparently some of you actually enjoy reading this so I'll try to get back on the blogging bandwagon already! :)

I guess I just haven't had a lot going on since the marathon...nothing I thought would be interesting to blog about anyway! I took 9 days off from running and any form of activity really after the marathon (unless you count drinking? ;-) which was kind of nice but kind of annoying as well. The other thing I hate to do almost as much as I hate tapering...is recovering after a race. In my experience it always takes me quite a long time to recover after a big road race in comparison to a trail race...just another one of many many reasons why I prefer the trail to the road!

Anyhow...while my legs have felt decent since I started running again last week, my heel has not. Plantar fasciitis is proving to be the biggest pain in the ass yet. I haven't really been able to enjoy my runs as it's just a constant pain with every heel strike...bummer. I did a short trail run on the weekend in Kananaskis...around 15km or so and it really wasn't good...I feel out of shape trail running wise which sucks...but I guess that's what happens when you haven't been on the trails in 4 weeks and have been running on flat pavement...argh! No worries, I plan on rectifying that pretty quick!

The week is looking up as I'm looking forward to seeing the Flames vs. Avalanche hockey game tomorrow night...as well as some trail running on the weekend. Yeah I know...probably shouldn't complain about my heel so much if I refuse to take time off and keep running eh? I ran with this issue last winter while training for a marathon and I did manage to get rid of it...so i'm assuming i'll manage to do that again without taking time off :) Yes i'm stubborn.

Oh yeah...Banff winterstart 5 miler is in a week and a half...not sure how much speed my legs have left in them but it should be fun. Nothing better than running a night race with 1000 other runners and glowsticks....and then partying the night away in Banff after wha?

deb

Okanagan Marathon Race Report

2009-10-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

My brother Steve lives in Vernon, BC which is about 40 mins or so from Kelowna, where the Okanagan marathon took place last Sunday! Since the race started at 7am we had to get up at 4:45am so we could eat breakfast and be ready to leave by 5:30. Several things screwed us up from leaving on time...I didn't change my watch back 1 hour for BC time so when I set my watch for 4:45am it woke me up at 3:45 which sucked! So then when I fixed it, I either did it wrong or I slept through the alarm and ended up waking up around 4:55am. Apparently Steve knocked on my door but I didn't hear it.

It was a cold morning and I was slow getting ready and we left the house a few mins late. Then after driving a couple of mins I realized I forgot my hand bottle and we had to go back and get it...and so by the time we left a second time it was 5:45...woops. I thought it only took a half hour to get there but that's to the outskirts of Kelowna. After getting every freakin light possible on the way we ended up getting there at 6:40ish, parked in some residential area, peed in the bushes, stripped down to our racing clothes, and ran to the start as our warmup. It was -10 C in Kelowna...holy F! Of course there were some crazies in their singlets and short shorts...I was in 3/4 tights, long sleeve, vest, baseball hat and gloves...turned out to be the perfect amount of clothes for me!

There were too many people to get through as the half marathoners were starting at the same time so we climbed the fence to get into the coral and started right up front. The gun went off and as I watched Steve take off I thought, ok well that's the last i'll see of him! I had intended to do a slower first km to warm up a bit but when I looked at my watch it was at a 4:15 min/km pace and for some reason I just couldn't make myself slow down! So I said what the heck and I just went with it...figured I may as well experiment and see how long I can keep this pace up...might work well or I might die a slow and painful death!

Even though I had a quick pace going on the first 5km seemed to take FOREVER...and because of the cold I couldn't feel my legs for probably the first 10km...they felt so numb and my stride felt super awkward. When I got to the 10km marker I was a little shocked to see my time was 44 mins...only 2 mins slower than my 10km PB! That kind of freaked me out and then I was definitely worried I went out too fast! But, I still felt good so just went with it.

As the sun finally started to come up, I finally began to warm up a bit! My friend Paddy caught up to me around 13km and we would end up running together off and on for the next 20km or so which was nice. At the 16km there is the first timing mat and here we part ways with the half marathoners. I crossed at 1:09 and was pretty pleased with that time! The last time I ran a 10 mile race my time was a heck of a lot slower than that!

Anyways, I was pumped that all the girls that had been around me were all going to the right for the half marathon as I went on to the left. Soon after that an aid station came and people were cheering at me and kept telling me I was the first woman through in the marathon. Instantly, I was like oh no, really? I don't really like to be told that...kind of feels like they're jinxing me...then I end up running scared for the rest of the race and am always just waiting for a woman to pass me!! I would continue to hear I was the first woman for the rest of the race from volunteers as well as spectators along the way.

Around 18 or 19km we bagan the lone hill in the race...it was actually a pretty long gradual hill but it wasn't a big deal...I passed a lot of people going up this hill which I liked. Up ahead I saw the leader in the marathon round a corner and continue on down the hill. I was like sweet, I'm gonna see Steve in here! Two more guys come out and then Steve pops out shortly after...I was so pumped for him being in 4th place! We were both yelling at each other and cheering and as a result my heart rate instantly skyrocketed, as did my pace since I was so excited! I thought, Shit Deb, take it down a notch, you're going to die before the halfway point! I reached the half marathon point at around 1:32-1:33...4 mins faster than my half PB! Of course then you start thinking, wow I wish I could double that and run the same time for the next half...I'd get a 3:06 or something!

I knew that wasn't going to happen when I hit the 30km mark and almost instantly felt like hell. The road was taking it's toll on my legs huge...they hurt so much, as did my left foot with the whole plantar fasciitis garbage i've got going on. I looked at my watch and was not happy with what I saw...my pace slowed huge! With 10km to go Paddy kept talking me through it and giving me words of encouragement before leaving me to suffer on my own! The next 8km were pretty much a blur and I don't know how I got through it without stopping. My pace was still decent but just not where I wished it would be!

Then the 40km mark came and I hear 2 people behind me...I look to my left as a guy goes by...then I see a shadow ahead of me as the next person starts to pass...all i think is shit, that's definitely a girl...and I look over and i'm BUMMED! Getting passed with 2 km to go and zero energy to go with her, sucks!!!! She didn't get any farther ahead for a while so I thought maybe she'll die or i'll have enough energy at the end to pass her. I have to mention here that these last few kms were a friggin gong show...it was super confusing and there weren't any volunteers around pointing you where to go as we ran through these last few subdivisions. So a bunch of us (and later I would find out, a huge number of marathoners) took this little 500m or so loop that was meant for half marathoners only! We get to the end and it says half marathon turn around point. A few of us stopped dead and were like WTF? Did we go the wrong way? There was nobody around to tell us anything so we had no idea if that had been right.

Anyways, blah blah blah that was annoying, got over it, finished the race and that's that. I couldn't catch the girl that passed me, nor did I care in the least at that point...and I placed second in 3:12:07....taking over 7 mins off my best marathon time. Not too shabby!

The results were posted and they have me and the 1st place woman in 2nd and 3rd and we're like WTF? There's no way...who is this woman that they say ran a 3:03 chip time/3:07 gun time? And if she really does exist, why would she start 4 mins back from the start of the race if you're going to likely win...why did she not pick up any of her awards at the end...why did she cross the 16km timing mat in 2:19 (a full hour and 10 mins after me) and not cross any other timing mats? Despite all of this and chatting with the race director about it...he was a total ass and it was obvious he didn't believe us but told us he would look into it. I decided to email him about it on tuesday and just got a response saying "it's under review". Today I noticed the results have finally been changed and she has been removed from the first place spot! I have a feeling perhaps she was a marathon runner or walker that decided to only do the half and the results got screwed up and they placed her first. Anyway, here is the link to the results...and check out who took 2nd place overall in the marathon...Steve!! Mister mountain runner decided kind of last minute to run his first road marathon and he killed it...2:54!

Oh wait, update...just noticed they have already adjusted the times for those doing the extra loop and they've got me down as running a 3:09...too funny. Weird. I wonder if I mentioned it to the race director when I was talking to him after the race and that's why he changed it? I'm pretty sure without the extra 500m loop or whatever it is they're saying it was that I didn't run a 3:09! That's crazy. I'm sticking with my 3:12 thank you very much. I don't like all of this adjusting times business...until I run a marathon where it says 3:09 when I cross the line then I ran a 3:12. They adjusted one of the guys that placed behind Steve and he has ended up infront of him now and pushing him to 3rd. Whatevs. Like I said this race was a bit of a gong show! And what about the people that will say they did the extra loop when they didn't, just so they could have their times adjusted? You know there's definitely people out there that will do it. I'm sorry but if that's what you have to do to qualify for Boston...well that's just about the lamest thing I've heard.

Ok that's it, that's all i've got on the topic. I'm still recovering this week and haven't done a bloody thing! I drove home on monday and celebrated the end of my racing season that night with a friend and we each drank a bottle of red wine. So good! :) My legs still hate me and i'm not sure when i'm going to attempt my first run but i'm planning on enjoying some hiking and camping this weekend in Fernie! Woot!!

deb

#5

2009-10-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday will be my 5th marathon (on the road)...and I don't know how I feel about it. I'm still relatively inexperienced when it comes to racing...especially marathons...so I never really go into it with a game plan and still feel like I have no idea what i'm doing. And I keep going through waves of excitement and dread. On the one hand, I'm excited to run a road race again as I haven't done one since Boston way back in April...and after a summer of hard training and trail racing I feel like i'm stronger, fitter and faster.

However. this has been a long 2 weeks of taper for me and I just hate tapering more than anything...it starts to play mind games with you...making you doubt yourself and feel like you're not ready and that you should be doing more...even though it has always proved to be a good thing in the end. Then I get more and more nervous and anxious and want the damn race to get here already so I can calm down. I don't get this nervous for trail races and I think it's because I've never really paid attention to the clock and where I should be at certain points along the way. With road races I always have big goals for a certain time that I want to achieve and i'm never quite sure if they're unrealistic or not. Right now i'll keep that goal to myself and let you know next week if I achieved it or not!!

As of today, i'm feeling excited again and looking forward to getting out there and rockin it. I do best in cold temps and it's going to be a chilly start at 7am with a high of 8 for the day...sounds pretty great to me. I think as I get closer and closer to Sunday i'll continue to feel more and more excited and the feelings of doubt will go away.

Tomorrow is my friday off so i'll just wake up whenever I wake up...pack up Logan and my stuff and head off to Vernon. I'm excited to see Steve, Kira and my niece Julia again...especially for Thanksgiving!! Plus my brother is really really good at getting me pumped for races...he's always so stoked and optimistic. I'm still waiting to hear if he's decided to run it or not...it's going to be a last minute decision on his part I guess.

That's it for now.....oh and good luck to Trevor who'll also be in Kelowna racing it, to Cam rockin the marathon in Victoria, and to Kelly racing the Chicago marathon!

Fall is my favorite season!!

2009-10-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

It was winter in Calgary this weekend...seriously...not cool. It was snowing on Sunday...blech...so not ready for winter yet! Funny in a week and a half it went from 33 degrees to below 0. It's sad for me that Fall is my favorite season as it is soooo ridiculously short in Calgary.

Now that the colder weather is here, I think literally every single person around me is or has been sick...i've been fighting if off as best I can with Cold FX, Vit C, Echinachea etc...and it seems to be working well for the most part...except this weekend I did feel like complete ass. So while I had some runs planned I ended up bailing on them and doing zero exercise.

I think hopefully it'll be for the best as I have the Okanagan marathon in less than a week now...frig...that came quick didn't it? Wasn't I just running at Transrockies? Damn! Anyways, i've been quite excited for the marathon for a while but after feeling under the weather for a week i'm getting a little nervous. Plus the stupid taper always makes me feel out of shape and doubt myself...should be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out though!

Anyhow, since this weekend pretty much sucked for me...let us reflect on last weekend...which was AWESOME. I got out to the mountains both days and enjoyed Fall in all it's glory!!

On Saturday my friend Jason and I went for a 25km run...an out and back along Jumpingpound to Cox Hill trail. It was a beautiful day despite the insane wind going on.

Jason freaking out the infamous Kananaskis "killer" cows!

Deb the Dork!

Cox Hill

Pumped to be at the top!

Woop woop!!

Jason rockin the downhill

On Sunday I joined some friends to hike Burstall Pass in Kananaskis. Again...another beautiful fall day....

Tara, Steph, Leanne, Ash, Jeanette

Dogs: Charlie and Logan

Ninja?! Nope...just dorky deb again! :)

My friend the Larch!

me and my boy!

Logan appreciates a good view too!

Last trail race of the season...and some Skoki fun!

2009-09-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

So now that i've taken almost a month to get out the full Transrockies Report...what else have I been doing with my time since the finish of TR?

Two weeks after Transrockies ended, I took part in my first 5 peaks race in Canmore! I've been signing up for some of these races each year and every year something comes up that prevents me from running them! Finally I was about to do one...the Canmore 5 Peaks half marathon, wahoo! I was a little worried that racing so soon after TR would be a bad idea but my legs felt pretty good and this was to be the shortest race i've done all summer! Couldn't be that bad!?

I got to Canmore about an hour early so I could chill and get ready. I always like to be to the start of races early so I can get a good warmup and stretch in, as well as a little socializing or nervous chatter in. I had a bunch of friends doing the 14km race but since it started an hour after me, none of them were there yet. I did run into a few people who were running the half that had also run TR...Phil Villaneuve and Blaine Penny. And I was so pumped to see Leslie from Banff was there also!!! I love this girl and she makes me smile everytime I see her and I'm instantly cheerful...she is awesome! She was volunteering and an awesome cheerleader the couple of times I passed her during the race! Also a huge shout out to her as she runs her first 100 miler in Utah this weekend!!! Check out the Bear 100 and they update the live race results!

I'd never run in Canmore on the trails of the Nordic Centre before so it was a real treat! I'm not going to go into the details of the entire race but it was fun! I can't wait to run out there more often! It was a super rolling course with some wicked steep steep steep technical downhills that were awesome. Surprisingly I ran pretty quick down those and made up time on people which was shocking as we are all beginning to learn how I am on technical downhills! Apparently I just might be getting better than when I started this year :) I battled it out with some talented ladies and ended up placing as the 2nd female overall. Good times! It hurt though and my legs hated me....helllllo? Wasn't Transrockies enough pain for the summer? Sorry legs, not quite done yet!

Here's a pic Leslie nabbed of me on my way out for a second loop at around the 14km mark I believe.

So yeah, it was an all around great day...and got to enjoy some great weather, great running, and some awesome friends! What could be better?! After the race I was hanging out with a bunch of friends from Calgary that also ran and we were all chatting away and stuffing our faces. We had moved away from the food as there was a serious wasp situation going on and after my wasp incident this summer I did not want to get stung again! I take a bite into my bagel, I feel pain and take out the bagel while something is stuck to my tongue. I reach in and pull out a wasp while my tongue continues to throb in pain. Frig, are you kidding me?!?

Last time I got stung my hand swelled up like a balloon and I had visions of that happening with my tongue. I went to the medic and all they could do for me was give me ice for it....which I was initially annoyed about since they couldn't give me drugs...but the ice actually did make it feel better. Then I remembered I carried around reactine in my bag and went to the car to get some. I'm happy to report that my tongue did not swell up like a balloon and I got to enjoy the rest of my afternoon on the patio of the Grizzly Paw in Canmore drinking beers with some friends. Great day!!

So I've been reading Leslie's blog for a while now and remember reading about her adventures in the past to Skoki Lodge. So when my friend Jason suggested that for a run last weekend I was all over it!

It's about a 2 hour drive to Lake Louise so we left Calgary around 7:30 and were off and running before 10am. It started off as such a beautiful day but the forecasts called for some not so good weather in the afternoon. Luckily we got most of our pictures in when it was sunny and awesome outside. Before I let you enjoy the pics we took along the way, can I say one thing...HOLY LARCH!!! I've never seen anything like them in the fall. Beautiful!

I LOVE larch!!

Ptarmigan Lake

Running up Deception Pass

On Deception pass before making our way down to Skoki Lodge

Skoki Lodge!!

Cleanest and nicest outhouse I've ever used!

Perhaps this is why?

Transrockies - Stage 6 - the Grand Finale!

2009-09-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Stage 6 - Vail to Beaver Creek
Distance: 21.2 miles (34.1 km)
Total Elevation Gain: 4,623 feet

I woke up the morning of Stage 6 pretty relieved this was the last day. Man I was sore and was pretty excited for this evening with my first night in almost 2 weeks sleeping in a real bed! Oh and I was going to really enjoy some well deserved beer later. I only had to get through 34km of running with 4,623 feet of total elevation gain first! Sigh...

I was surprised and relieved to find my heel not so bad this morning. I could still feel all of the vaseline the medic put on there and it was wrapped up really good so I just left it alone. I was hobbling around a bit trying not to put any pressure on it all morning until I had to start running!

Remember when Steve said I could walk all of stage 6 if we got on the podium yesterday in Stage 5? Clearly he wasn't serious but we didn't plan on killing ourselves today. We were currently sitting in 3rd place in the GC with 20 mins on the 4th place team and about 40 mins or so on the 5th place team. All we wanted to do today was keep our 3rd place and not let those 2 teams get in any time on us.

Now that's not to say that I planned on taking it easy and not racing...I had every intention to race. My body however had different ideas. Remember how Steve felt on Day 1? Well I didn't feel quite that bad...well probably not even as close to feeling that bad...but boy did I feel like ass. And my legs were done from the start. They had a mind of their own and basically told me to screw off and that 5 days of racing was enough. I kept waiting for that feeling to go away like it had done after a few km every other day but it never happened. My head got frustrated with the rest of me and I felt emotional. There were mixed teams passing us in the beginning that never passed us before and it was playing tricks with my head.

I don't know if I felt good once the entire day. I hurt so much that I didn't even get to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me and there really was some fabulous single track that ran through the forest for something like the first 10 miles or so. I almost wish I could go back and run it again as a fun training run and get to enjoy that part.

I kept telling myself it's ok, as long as we keep our lead over the Spanish team - Team Helly Hansen who were 20 mins behind us overall, then I would be happy. Well once we finished the first big climb of the race, we turned and began the downhill which was probably the worst part of the entire 6 stages for me. It was mostly overgrown singletrack trail with most of it running through tall grass up to your waist. You could barely see the ground and there were big rocks everywhere to trip you up...I don't even know how I didn't bail in there. For whatever reason I decide to look back and see if anyone was there and of course it was Helly Hansen coming out of nowhere. These two are good at descending and they caught me pretty quick, passed and were gone before I knew it. Shit!!! Now I was worried. If they were having a really good day could they put in 20 mins on us now in the 8 or so miles we had left? There was no way I was about to let that happen so it definitely did cause me to start running a lot faster so I could catch them.

I think Steve was a little frustrated with my shitty slow running but if he was I definitely didn't know it. He still remained super optimistic and kept telling me that they weren't too far ahead and we'd catch them on the next climb we had to do. Finally we got down to the town of Avon and had some flat running to do on the streets through there and to the next aid station that was right before the last big climb. I stopped to fuel up and pour a ton of water on my head..it was mid day and super hot out there. While stopped at the aid station Helly Hansen was not too far away so I started to relax a bit. We had just under 5 miles to go with a really gross 1000 ft climb looming ahead but I knew we were the better climbers.

We caught them pretty quick and I ran whatever I could but there was a great deal of walking in here for me. This climb was gross, I can't even describe how much I hated it. I wouldn't have thought twice about using a tow rope that day if we had one and would have welcomed Steve as my own "personal sherpa"! As someone said recently...he's a friggin mountain goat...and the dude literally pushed me and power hiked my ass all the way up the climb (not to mention the many other times throughout the day).

Finally finally finally we were done with climbing and had 2 miles of single track left to go taking us down into Beaver Creek. We crossed the line in 5th place for the day in 3:57:05 and managed to keep our 3rd place overall. Fewf. What a battle.

Steve and I finishing up Stage 6 in Beaver Creek!

Four Newfs finish Transrockies! (Steve, me, Gary Robbins, Blaine Penny)

Top 5 Mixed teams on the podium ( From Left to Right....2nd Place - Team Nike/Gore-Tex, Peter Courogen Julie and Leasure, 3rd Place - Team Pine Line!!, 4th Place - Team Helly Hansen, Francisco Perez and Eva Braa, 1st Place - Team Montrail NSA, Tamsin Anstey and Gary Robbins, 5th Place - Crasian, Don Sims and Erika Mastny)

To recap the whole experience, here is my Post Transrockies report once again. It was an awesome event and I would recommend it to everyone! Will I do it again? For sure! Just probably not next year...i've got a lot of other things planned for next season.

Transrockies - Stage 5 - and a podium finish :)

2009-09-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Stage 5: Red Cliff to Vail

Distance: 23.4 miles (37.6 km)

Total elevation gain: 4,407 ft

The past four stages of racing was starting to take it's toll and I was getting tired. Each day I woke up feeling the same soreness and it never really got any worse. We would do a brief warm up before each stage and think holy crap, my body is sore...how the heck can I get through another day of this? Yet when it was go time, somehow I would just ignore it all and think of the task at hand. I was impressed with what my body was able to do.

At dinner after Stage 4 there was lots of talk about the two stages that remained. They were both super long with the most elevation gain. I found that throughout the race the best thing to do was to just think of the next stage that we had to do and try not to worry about the stages that remained. It definitely helped! So...Stage 5 was to be a big day...the second longest stage and the second highest in elevation gain. Whew...I was a little worried but excited. Generally, I tend to do better with the longer stuff...especially since it takes me so long to get going...so I was looking forward to another day similar to Stage 3.

We took a short shuttle ride back to Red Cliff where we ended Stage 4. It was so cold that morning...I think 28 Fahrenheit they said when we woke up and when we got back to Red Cliff we still had an hour until race start. Luckily Mango's Mountain Grill (known for their world famous fish tacos) had opened it's doors for us runners to hang out in and keep warm for the hour. Steve and I sat on stools at the bar and I was tired. I didn't want to move. I didn't want to think about what we had to do today. I didn't want to go outside and warm up in the freezing cold. Ugh. I was cranky and sore and not looking forward to the day.

I was feeling a little better after warm up and once the race started I went through my usual routine of struggling to breath for 20 mins or so before finally settling into the start of the 10 miles of running uphill that we had to do out of Red Cliff. The day was taking us "up and through the legendary back bowls of Vail Mountain and then down into the village itself". I've heard a lot about Vail and was excited to hang out and spend the day/night there after the stage! We got into a good rhythm and started passing teams and quickly seemed to move into 3rd place for mixed. I was thinking, holy shit, this hasn't happened before...do not get excited...it's so early in the day and you're in 3rd already? We had passed Dean and Helen (Team North Face) early on and I assumed that I would see them again shortly.

The first 8 miles on dirt road seemed to go on forever... and we were both getting cranky and just wanted to get to the first aid station already to fuel and take a bit of a break. Finally we arrived...ate, drank, took some salt pills and were on our way for the remaining 2+ miles of the first big climb on single track and summited Bowman's shortcut trail!! Wahoo! Then we got to enjoy some fun, technical downhill for a while and i started to feel good again.

I knew we had another big climb ahead of us after the downhill ended. Two Elk Pass had a lot of long switch backs and luckily they were mostly all runnable. It was pretty sunny though and I was feeling the heat on the way up. I looked up and was happy to see the second place team...Nike/Gore-Tex not far ahead...I couldn't believe how close they were! That helped to boost my spirits and before we knew it we were at Benchmark summit which was the second aid station...and we were standing there fueling up with Team Nike/Gore-Tex. I was stoked and we had 10 miles to go...all downhill!!

The girl (Julie) from that team left before us and we quickly followed but the guy (Peter) left a little after. Eventually she stopped to wait for him and we continued on...and now were in 2nd place. Steve was running balls out and I couldn't keep up with him but he wasn't getting too far ahead either so I just concentrated on what I was doing and making sure I didn't trip and fall. We were pulling farther ahead from Nike/Gore-Tex and even though we were in 2nd, I would not let myself get excited that we might podium that night. There was still a lot of running to do! I was getting more and more tired and Steve promised me that if we podiumed today that I could walk the whole Stage 6 tomorrow if I wanted. I've gotta say...that was a pretty good incentive! :)

The last aid station came and went and they had caught up to us there. Damn it! We left before them and they did not spend much time there before following us. There was a little over 5 miles to go. I don't think I've ever run so fast or hard in my life as I did during the last 5 miles of this race. They were on our ass and we couldn't shake them. I felt sick and hot and crappy and wasn't sure how much longer I could keep this up.

I would say with about 2 miles to go as we're rounding a turn I hear Julie yell out as she slips on the loose rock and falls. I couldn't help but be relieved because I was really getting tired of them chasing us and didn't think I could hold them off. I didn't dare look back though as I knew it would be the time that I would trip and fall as well. They seemed to start catching up to me again pretty quick and finally we had a little bit of single track to run down to get into Vail. I'm completely out of control and don't know how I didn't wipe out. Steve was already down through it waiting for me and I was all over the trail and just running scared from these guys. I guess this tactic worked as I ended up pulling farther away from them. Steve was waiting for me as I busted out of the single track and he said they were no where in site. We didn't have far to go and we flew through the finish line in 2nd place in 3:59:10...with Team Nike/Gore-Tex crossing about a minute after! It was the most stressful day of racing i've ever experienced and it was AWESOME!!

On a side note...I had also been running almost the entire day scared from Team North Face...Dean Karnazes and Helen Cospolich....always afraid that they were going to catch up to us any second and pass us. That night we found out that they actually had to drop out of the race at the second aid station that day. Dean had fallen in Stage 3 and had cracked a rib. WTF? Guess he finally decided he needed to go to the hospital! I don't know how he managed to still race as much as he did after that but hats off too him.

My attempt at getting in to soak my legs....it's frigging cold...I think I managed to get in just past my knees. Yes i'm a wimp.

On the podium!! 3rd place - Team Nike/Gore-Tex (Julie Leasure, Peter Courogen), 1st place - Team Montrail - NSA (Tamsin Anstey, Gary Robbins) , 2nd place - Team Pine Line!

Tent City set up in Vail - ours is at the top of the second R :)

After the crazy downhills of Stage 4, I ended up with a giant blister covering my heel. The awesome guys in the medic tent fixed me by draining it, pumping some zinc oxide in there and bandaging it up. After today's Stage 5 with 10 miles of downhill at the end...the blister was enormous covering my entire heel pad. It was a giant flap of skin that the medic had to completely cut off and told me he'd never seen anything like this. The only thing he could do for me was put on tons of vaseline and wrapped up the whole thing. He literally told me it would hurt like a bitch tomorrow and wished me luck on Stage 6. How nice :)

Transrockies - Stage 4

2009-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Stage 4: Nova Guides to Red Cliff

Distance: 14.2 miles (22.8km)

Total Elevation Gain: 3,009 ft

Stage 4 was to be another day very similar to Stage 2...a shorter day with one big climb and one big descent! I was actually looking forward to the shorter day and had so much fun on Stage 2 that I thought it would be great...so I didn't really have any nerves going into this stage.

With our wake up being generally by 6am it was damn cold in the mornings and I would try to get dressed for the run in my sleeping bag and then pile on as much clothes as possible to walk over to the breakfast tent. The sun started to peak out over the mountains by 7-7:30 and I would wait as long as possible before discarding my clothes and doing a little warm up before the 8am start.

Finally some sun starting to peak over the mountains...with the race clock counting down in the distance

Steve looking a little chilly after breakfast

Stage 4 started with a gradual uphill on a dirt road that we had come down at the end of Stage 3 to the finish. I was starting to get used to the same issues I would have at the start of every stage. I always felt like garbage! It took me such a long time to get into it...usually about 4 or 5 km till I would finally start to feel better. Come to think about it...I think I start every race i've ever done pretty much feeling the same way...it always takes me a while to warm up and get going so the first 20 mins or so are usually rough. I think it was worse at Transrockies though as I could really feel the cold air on my lungs at the start of each day making it harder to breath as well as the altitude.

Anyhow, finally I started to feel better and got into a pretty good rhythm as the route turned from road to trail and we started to go up. I was surprised and thankful to find it was mostly runable stuff with limited walking and not like Stage 2 where we immediately started fast hiking. Each day we continued to find ourselves running with the same teams around us and it was fun to chat with some of them along the way.

At one point we were running with Dean Karnazes and his partner Helen Cospolich (another top ultrarunner) from Team North Face. As we finished so close to them the previous day and were not far back from them in the overall standings, I really wanted to stick with them or beat them today! Dean seemed to be struggling a bit and was farther back with me while Helen is simply a powerhouse and was running up farther ahead with my brother. I'm running along minding my own business and slowing down over this steeper section when Dean comes along and puts his hand on my back and pushes me up over this hump. I laughed and said thanks I needed that! Steve turns around laughs and says "oh no, does that mean I have to reciprocate?" and then does the same thing to Helen. It was pretty funny and helped take my mind off of the task at hand!

Dean dropped back farther and I continued on while Helen slowed to wait for him. I'm pretty happy we're making some time up on them when after a while I turn back and see that she has strapped the tow rope on him and is towing him up the hill...and is gaining on us. WTF?! She is a machine! Even if Steve was feeling like crap there is no way I would ever have been able to tow him! They tow on past us while Dean happily comments "it's like I have my own personal sherpa!". While many teams used the towing system...I really didn't want to go there and told Steve I wanted to do this thing on my own as much as I can. Maybe if we were in contention to win the whole thing then I would have thought about it more.

The last couple of miles to the top became STEEP....straight up...and I was bent far forward pushing off my knees with my hands trying to "power hike" up this thing. Steve helped in the really tough spots and would push me from behind to get my legs moving quicker and I was thankful as I was starting to slow down. The crazy thing was that this was some type of dirt 4 wheel drive road but have no idea how anything could drive up here and why they would have ever made it this way! A little further up we actually passed one of the jeeps from Nova Guides with aid station supplies in an interesting position...not sure if it was stuck or maybe the drivers didn't want to attempt to drive it any further up.

Finally we bust out at the top of this climb and get to run along an amazing ridge for a while with absolutely spectacular views. In a race I have a habit of not taking the time to check out the view around me...plus i've been known to fall and am always looking down so I don't trip over stuff. I look up all around me and immediately get a boost in spirits as it's pretty breathtaking up on this ridge as we run along at around 11,500 ft. We got to see several 14,000+ foot mountains including Mount of the Holy Cross, Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. We get to Hornsilver Summit and I feel relief as I know the rest of the run is entirely downhill...awesome!

Running for a long long period downhill is not as easy as it sounds though...especially when your legs are cooked from previous days of running with lots of descending. Steve and I could feel it in our quads pretty quick and my legs were getting more and more tired as I tried to keep up with his fast ass flying down. I knew towards the end there was to be a few river crossings which I generally hate as often they lead to blisters for me or make existing blisters worse with having wet feet.

We managed to avoid the first one by running up the embankment and around but then I came to the next one which was kind of unavoidable. I should have just said screw it and run right through it but decided I would try and keep my feet dry as long as I could as I had a pretty giant heel blister going on and really wasn't keen on getting it wet. So I tried to step on the bigger rocks that were sticking out of the water. I step up on the last one to climb up out of the river but it's wet and I slip off and go down HARD on my hip. Instantly I yelled out in pain (with a few choice words) and Steve stopped, asked if I was ok and was freaked as he thought I had hurt my knee pretty bad. I didn't even realize I had hit my knee even though it was bleeding as my hip hurt so much. I started trotting a bit with frequent cursing and finally the pain started to go away. That or the fact that I had to run down a river bed for the next half a mile took my mind off the pain. I was taking it pretty slow because I really didn't want to fall again on all of these wet rocks and the pain from the cold water on my feet hurt so bad. Eventually I couldn't feel my feet and when we were back on the dry path it was pretty painful running with them so numb.

At this point i'm really wanting this day to end as i'm pretty tired and am feeling beat up. We have about 5km to go downhill on a dirt road which I like as I don't have to think or pay attention to my footing so much. We pick up the pace and end up passing two mens teams during this time and really don't want them to catch us or any other mixed team to pop up out of nowhere and pass us at the end so we keep increasing the pace. Just like the previous stage we end the last couple of miles at a pretty sick pace close to 6 min/miles and are both left wondering where the heck this energy is coming from. We cruise in to beautiful Red Cliff satisfied with our 4th place finish in a time of 2:30:56.

Steve and I finishing up Stage 4!

Transrockies - Stage 3

2009-09-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Stage 3: Leadville to Nova Guides

Distance: 24.2 miles (38.8 km)
Total elevation gain: 2,930 ft

We spent the night of Stage 2 in Leadville at 10,000 feet! (where the famous Leadville Trail 100 takes place) Tent city was set up on the soccer field of a school in town. I had a pretty great sleep that night and was happy to not wake once to use the bathroom. My quads were feeling pretty sore after the previous day's long descent but after a little warm up before Stage 3 began they were actually feeling pretty good and ready to go! This was to be the longest stage of the race and I had no idea of how long it might take and had hoped for nothing over 4 hours.

The race started through Leadville with a couple of miles on paved roads and a really long hill down that seemed to last forever. Steve and I were going at a fairly good clip yet teams were bombing down this hill and passing us right from the start. We thought this was kind of strange as we knew as soon as we turned off onto trail at the bottom and it started to climb we would pass them again...and we did.

Stage 3 was quite rolling and it was my favorite type of trail running. The weather was very cool that day and we felt like we were back at home on one of our training runs. We both felt fantastic and enjoyed the entire day. There was this one climb I remember that lasted a while and we both got into this awesome groove and were passing teams on the way up including this Spanish team we soon found ourselves competing with each day for overall placing.

I think our favorite part of the day was when we found ourselves on the Colorado Trail which was a combination of some really beautiful single and double track trail. We felt so good that we couldn't help but run fast through there and it felt pretty effortless. We kept thinking..man it feels like we're back home in the Canadian Rockies...this is awesome! Towards the end of our run we caught up to and passed some mens teams as we continued our descent out of the trees and down along a giant meadow. Eventually we came out from the meadow and had a few km or so to go on a dirt road.

We started to pick up the pace as we didn't want the teams we just passed to pass us again...and then Steve sees the team down the road that's a couple of minutes ahead of us and says that's Dean (Karnazes). I knew we had made up time on them in the GC yesterday as we finished ahead of them and I really wanted to catch them today! We decided to giv'r and kept saying...we're totally going to regret this tomorrow!...but decided that we felt so good that what the heck let's go for it!! We gave it all we had and at one point were running close to a 6 minute mile but in the end finished just over a minute behind them. We were super pumped with our 4th place finish on the day with a time of 3:59:01.

At the end of the race Dean congratulated us on a good race, was chatting away to me (yes I was super excited lol) and asked where we were from. When he found out we were from Canada, he started talking about the Death Race that he had done in Grand Cache, Alberta only a few weeks prior! He went on to tell me how tough that race was and how he couldn't even believe he managed to come second! I mentioned that I had already planned on doing that race next year and was super excited about it! :) So yeah it was awesome to chat with him...what a really nice guy!

I then decided I really needed to go soak my legs in the creek nearby or I wouldn't be walking tomorrow...boy did it ever feel good! There's definitely something to be said for an ice bath or a good cold water soak after a long, hard run! We then spent the afternoon hanging out at the Nova Guides campground in historic Camp Hale, happy with our finish and happy to find ourselves moving up in the overall standings!

Chillin out at the Salomon Relaxation Station

Steve and Julia also enjoying some relaxation!

Happy Birthday! And welcome to Stage 2 of TR!

2009-09-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

Stage 2 - Vicksburg to Twin Lakes

Distance: 10 miles (16 km)

Total elevation gain: 3098 ft

I had an awful sleep after Stage 1 and our first night in the tent city. A cold front blew in overnight and the winds were pretty intense. The noise from a billion tents flapping in the wind was crazy...not to mention the several times when i did manage to fall back to sleep I would roll over on my side and then get woken up with a smack in the face from my wind blown tent. Lovely.

With maybe 4 hours of sleep that night, I woke up on the morning of Stage 2 and welcomed myself into my 30s :) Today was to be a fabulous day as I was doing the coolest thing I've ever done on my birthday...I get to run up to 12,600 ft today in a kick ass race!

Today we had to be up and ready to leave on the bus by 7:30 as it was about a half hour drive to the start in Vicksburg and we wanted some time to warm up. Unfortunately the bus ride was a bit of a pain in the ass for me as I get motion sickness fairly easily. So the whole school bus on a super bumpy dirt road got old pretty quick. I've never been on anything so bumpy and it was so bad that it actually made my head hurt...I felt like my brain was shaking around in there. Seriously. Aside from that, the bus driver missed the drop off for us and took us an additional couple of kilometres on this road before realizing and turning around. Ugh, I just wanted to get the hell off this thing. I remember saying to Steve...there's got to be other runners in the past that have puked on this drive to the race start...then I had flashbacks of myself as a kid in Florida throwing up on the metrobus...nice. Finally we got there with about 15 mins till race start.

It was a really cold morning and with asthma I find it really tough to breath when the air is cold so I wanted a good warm up first. Obviously this did not happen since we arrived so late to the start. Steve and I did a quick warm up run and then headed to the start.

Due to our late arrival and time spent warming up etc we ended up being stuck pretty far back at the start. So when the race started we spent the first 2 miles of flat road passing teams and trying to get ourselves in a good spot for when it became single track. I could tell right away Steve was feeling amazing today as he took off pretty quick from the line while I spent the first 2 miles struggling with my breathing. Finally we hit the single track and it got pretty steep pretty quick and most people had started some fast hiking. I have never been a good fast/power hiker but I still managed to pass some teams here and tried my best to keep up with Steve. He is a machine and could definitely hike that faster than I could run up it. This 2+ mile section of fast hiking up to the top of Hope Pass was quite comparable to scrambling in the Canadian rockies back home.

Finally we reach the top of Hope Pass...spend a brief few seconds at 12,600 ft to take in the view and grab a gel...then drop over the other side for some super fun and fast single track running all the way back down! I have yet to become super speedy on technical downhills but i'm definitely getting better. I was just loving this day and Steve and I were having a blast all the way down. We were so pumped at how good we were feeling and pretty much loved every second of the descent. Nicola and Pete passed us with a few km to go and while Steve was well ahead of me and could have likely kept up with them, I just did not have the speed on that technical stuff to keep up. Those NorthShore runners from Vancouver have got some serious skills...way to go guys!!

My quads definitely took a pounding on that long descent and when we hit the flats with a couple of km to go I just lost steam and instantly felt like crap. I ended up slowing right down but started to feel a little better after a couple of river crossings at the end. We finished pretty strong and were happy with our 5th place in a time of 2:07:06

Steve and I nearing the finish

PUMPED after today's awesome race!

Transrockies - Stage 1

2009-09-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

Stage 1 - Buena Vista to Railroad Bridge
Distance: 20.8 miles (33.5km)
Total Elevation Gain: 2,721 ft

Race morning arrives and I wake up thinking the same things I think every race morning...I'm tired, I don't want to do this, maybe i'll bail? Ok well I didn't exactly have thoughts on bailing for this race but was definitely thinking uh oh, what have I gotten myself into. I always wake up so cranky on race morning...it never fails. But when I finally drag myself out of bed and get dressed things start to get better.

Steve and I drove into Buena Vista back to the school where breakfast was provided for us. There was tons of food...cereal, fruit, bagels, bacon, eggs, pancakes, you name it! I don't know about you but there's not a whole lot I can stomach on race morning so I stuck with my usual...bagel w/ PB and a banana. It's always done me well in the past so why mess with a good thing? I was in awe of the runners that had gigantic breakfasts with bacon & eggs...all the good stuff! It made me a little queasy just thinking about eating that before a race. If I did it would definitely come back later to haunt me for sure!

We drove back to the campground to get ready, pick up Kira & Julia, and then head back downtown for the late 10am race start. We cranked the tunes on the way to get us pumped...my favorite pre-race song being "There's an Arc" by Hey Rosetta...it starts off slow but it picks up pretty quick and is total kick ass! If you ever get to see them live DO IT...you will not be disappointed...i've seen them twice now and they're freakin phenomenal. But...I digress. I'm not sure why the race started so late the first day and was dreading it as the clouds slowly moved away and the sun came out in full glory about 20 mins before the race was to start. Damn! It had been mid 80s all week and I was not looking forward to this. Generally I don't run well in heat but Steve was training in high heat all summer in the Okanagan so it didn't worry him at all.

While we waited for the start, we ran into some Albertans I knew. I met Doone and Tim Watson at Powderface 42 a couple of months ago. It was great to see some friendly familiar faces! And they were with Leslie & Keith from Banff! I was so pumped to finally meet them and have been reading Leslie's blog forever! They know all the best spots to run with the mountains literally in their backyard...I can't wait to come visit them in Banff and run!!

Here's a pic I borrowed from Doone of all of us before Stage 1!

(Doone, me, Steve, Leslie, Keith, Tim)

That picture was taken very shortly before the race started. We quickly seeded ourselves around midpack I guess and got ready to go! The race started with a quick jaunt down one of the streets leading us across the Arkansas River and immediately onto some single track trail that climbed for a couple of kilometres. Unknowingly, Steve and I had actually run part of this same trail on thursday. He guessed that this was where Stage 1 was going to go and he was right! So the first little bit of it was pretty familiar to me.

Unfortunately I pretty quickly started to feel like garbage. I'm not a fan of starting a race with immediate climbing and it takes me a while to get used to it. The heat and altitude was not helping and I quickly found myself breathing super heavily. I kept forcing myself to drink nuun more than I ordinarily might and I finally started to feel better about 4 or 5km in. Steve was feeling like a rockstar and I had to tell him to hold back a bit so I could get my heart rate down some...it had skyrocketed pretty quick.

Once that was under control we were running along pretty good till around the 10km mark. What seemed like all of a sudden to me...Steve says he's not feeling well and that he was having stomach issues. I had a feeling he was dehydrated as well as he hadn't been drinking as much as I had in the beginning. I was actually shocked when Steve said he needed to stop and walk for a bit...this is something he never does. I figured once we got to aid station 1 and pumped him full of saltstick, fruit, water etc things would be good again. It seemed to help a bit but he had a hard time getting stuff down. He would go through big waves of feeling awful and feeling shitty as the day went on...i don't know which was better? And I felt bad cuz I was actually feeling pretty decent and didn't know what to do for him. I was fine with slowing our pace or walking or whatever we had to do to get this bloody day overwith. It felt like we were running the entire day. What ran through my mind was oh shit...this is supposed to be the easiest of the 6 stages.

The day didn't get any better with our mix of running flats and downhills and having to walk up even the easiest hills. It was disappointing for us both as we knew normally we could run the entire thing without any walking. I was hot but always left the aid station feeling like a star after dumping water on my head and eating some banana and watermelon. It was definitely a combination of altitude, hot dry heat with little wind, and some dehydration that plagued Steve all day and he was unable to recover and get his heartrate to go back down.

We knew that the route eventually went back down to the river towards the end and Steve said to me if he sees the river soon he might have to stop and go for a dip to cool down his core. I kind of just wanted the day to end at this point but knew he was hurting huge so I agreed it would be a good idea. I would say with about 7 or so km to go I see Steve veer off sharply to the left out of the corner of my eye. I was like ohhhh shit, he's passing out and is going down!! I was wrong! I look over and he's running down this little enbankment to this stream and dunks his head and hat in. I have no idea how he saw it...but I almost laughed in relief and went down to dunk my hat as well.

Steve seemed to feel better after this and soon we were at the last checkpoint with about 6 km to go on a flat road. While we're stopped here and getting some food, a ton of mixed teams come out of nowhere, stop quickly at the station and then pass us. I'm bummed, where the heck did they all come from? We leave and follow them down to the road. I'm pretty happy that the rest of the race is completely flat for 6km and just concentrate on getting this thing overwith. Steve is not doing well and we have to walk run walk run the entire way. I felt sooo bad.

The funny thing is that the road to the finish was so long and straight that you could see all the teams infront of you doing the same thing. Clearly we were not the only ones feeling this way and I guess the heat and altitude really affected a lot of teams that day. When we were actually running we managed to go at a fairly good pace and passed a bunch of mixed teams at the end so I was pretty happy about that. We ended with a time of 3:44:14 and in 9th spot in our division. Despite such an awful day for us I was surprised and pleased that we still managed to be in the top 10.

Transrockies Pre-Race

2009-09-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

So yes, I know I know...i've been really procrastinating with the whole Transrockies race report. I feel like i'm back in university and I've been putting off the start of some ridiculous historical geography paper as long as I can...although I would like to think my blog and my race report would be far more interesting than historical geography...ack! I guess because it wasn't just a 1 day race that i'm finding it hard to remember things from 6 whole days of racing....and also the fact the whole experience was incredible and much better than I had anticipated....I don't want to leave anything out...but i'm sure I will. At the ripe old age of 30...my memory is not what it once was.... ;-) Anyhow, I'll do my best to try and keep you entertained.

After arriving in Buena Vista 5 days in advance...getting a couple of runs in as well as a couple of hikes in at around 12,000 ft, Steve and I felt good to go. Our first run that week had worried me a bit as we were running on the flats and struggling pretty huge to breath. We both have asthma as well and I was wondering if it was worse because of this or is this what it feels like to run at altitude? After talking with everyone else who had run prior to the race starting I realized that yup, this is pretty much what everyone is feeling...well I guess except for the teams coming from Colorado, Arizona etc. Anyhow, each day that we spent running or hiking after that leading up to the race we started feeling much better and were getting used to altitude. I was just so thankful we showed up 5 days in advance!

Steve had randomly picked this campground for us to stay at for 5 nights prior to the race called the Arrowhead Point Resort. After arriving and chatting to the couple that run the place we discovered that this was actually where they set up the tent city for us to stay after Stage 1 of the race. That was kind of a weird coincidence. Anyhow, I brought my tent along and camped there for the 5 nights before the race while Steve, Kira and their 6 week old Julia stayed in an RV that the owners rent out. The RV was pretty sweet and nice to hang out in the evenings before the race started.

The race started on Sunday...and by friday before the race we were getting super antsy and excited and really just wanted the race to finally get started and have those pre-race nerves out of the way. I woke up on Saturday feeling pretty stoked as things were finally starting to get underway. We drove to downtown Buena Vista to registration and gigantic race package pickup. Here we picked up our race bibs, course maps, timing chips and big duffle bags that would hold all of our gear for the 6 days of racing and camping! All I can say is good thing they gave us those duffle bags there because it was needed to haul away all the other crazy gear they gave us. We left with a TR shirt, Windstopper jacket, Timex Watch, hats, waterbottles, socks, Salomon recovery shoes, visors, food...and i'm sure there's more that i'm missing. It was insane. Aside from that there was other free swag given away each day. I've definitely never experienced anything like that at any race i've done before!

Steve and I at registration

The rest of Saturday we pretty much just chilled out and enjoyed the day. That evening we were at a local school for the opening ceremonies and dinner. It was strange that I recognized so many people but didn't actually know any of them! I finally met Gary Robbins (fellow Newfie!!) after chatting with him through the blog and facebook world the past few months...as well as Aaron Heidt...another fast runner that actually lives in Vernon like Steve & Kira.

I was pretty much starstruck with some other faces I recognized and yes I got made fun of when I got a little excited at dinner and said...hey isn't that Dean Karnazes?!? I've been reading one of his books! Aaron proceeded to ask me if I wanted him to go get his autograph for me...come on...I know i'm a geek but please, i'm not that bad! If I wanted his autograph...I'd just go get it myself haha :) And no, I didn't. What the heck am I going to do with an autograph? I actually didn't realize that so many top ultra runners would be there...Nikki Kimball, Anita Ortiz, Hal Koerner (Mr. Western States!!) to name a few. I was loving it...this is what I do and I get to spend the next 6 days hanging out and running with all these people who love it as much as I do? Sigh...

After the ceremonies/dinner was over we headed back to the campground and I decided to spend the night in the RV so I could get one last night of really good sleep before spending the next 5 nights in tent city.

My Stage 1 Report will be coming along shortly...here is an exciting preview of what's to come as quoted directly from my brother... "Steve sucked and hurt so bad, he nearly crawled over on the side of the trail to die" LOL. I guess yeah it was something along those lines...

Post Transrockies

2009-09-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

Transrockies...what can I say? I had an absolutely fantastic experience and I think it's definitely one of the coolest things I've done to date. This running season has been nothing but spectacular for me and what better way to end it than with an epic 6 day, 113 miles of trail running in the Colorado Rockies. The icing on the (birthday) cake was that I had a kick ass partner...my brother Steve. There is nobody I would rather have run it with! One of my favorite days was Stage 2 (yup, my birthday!). I can't think of anything better I would have rather done to celebrate the big 3-0 than do a tough run up to 12,600 ft at Hope Pass...take in some great views...and then enjoy a fabulous fast descent on some fun single track all the way down the other side!!

I'm going to get around to some kind of real race report on the whole 6 days eventually...hopefully while my memory is still fresh from the whole experience. Once I get some pictures organized I promise to fire off a report. I will say that Steve and I managed to claim 3rd place overall in the Mixed Division and that was more than I could have asked for. I had no idea what to expect and went in thinking I would be thrilled with top 10. Here are the final results showing the 5 divisions...80+ Men (when the 2 partners ages add up to over 80), 80+ Women, Open Mixed, Open Men, and Open Women.

I just wanted to comment on what an awesome and well organized race this is and I would highly recommend it to anyone that loves to trail run! This summer was my first introduction into trail running and i'm definitely hooked more than ever...and already working out my race schedule for 2010! Steve seems to be pretty hooked as well and I look forward to seeing him kick some butt out there in the future.

I was a little afraid that after this race I would be tired and ready to take a long break and not run or race for a while. If anything the opposite has happened...I can't wait to get back out there. Our last Stage was friday...4 days ago and i'm itching to get out for a run. The only thing holding me back at the moment is the giant blister I received on stage 4 on the bottom of my heel. It got so bad that they eventually had to literally cut off all of the skin from the bottom of my heel...yeah it looks pretty awesome, and feels even better! Luckily I didn't have any major issues with it for the remaining stages. Stage 6 probably gave it the worst beating but at that point I was just happy we were finishing up the last day!

While I consider Transrockies to be the official end of the season for me, i've still got 3 more races to go...all within the next 6 weeks. Then I promise I'm taking a real break :) I've got the Canmore 5 Peaks coming up on Sept.12...i'm supposed to be doing the Enduro distance 12km but I'm trying to upgrade to the half marathon. I prefer the longer stuff and am not much of a sprinter. Then I have 2 road races after that. Melissa's 22km in Banff is coming up on Sept.26th and then the Okanagan Marathon on Oct.11. It looks like some fun weeks ahead!

That's it for now! Thanks for all the kind words everyone and putting up with my Transrockies babble all summer! My race report is still to come!

Deb

Podium Tonight!!

2009-08-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Stage 5 of 6 is complete at Transrockies and i'm tired! Don't worry, there's going to be a full report on it all when i get back to Calgary and can get a look at some pictures I have from the whole experience. I just wanted to comment on our best day so far...today!! We've been doing really well all along finishing usually in 4th or 5th each day... but today we finally managed to nab 2nd place in the mixed division and we'll be on the podium tonight! I'm so excited :)

It was a long exhausting day...especially when we've already completed 4 tough days previous! Today was the second longest stage at 37.7km but it was also the stage with the second most elevation gain...4400 ft!! It was a super tough day but a great one! Only one more stage left to go and i'm kind of relieved it's finally here. My body is hating me!! And my feet definitely hate me...the downhills have been pretty sick and gives me issues with my right heel which has turned into one big giant blister. Luckily the sports medicine guys have been fixing me up and pumping it with zinc oxide...it's magic I tell ya!

Well that's it for now, 1 more big day of running to go tomorrow...21 miles and 4600 ft of elevation gain...the most in the whole race. They definitely don't want to make Stage 6 easy on us. Yikes.

Gotta go stretch out these legs!
Deb

Welcome to Buena Vista, Colorado!

2009-08-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

We made it! We're hanging out at 8000 ft in Buena Vista, Colorado...the start of Stage 1 of Transrockies in 3 days from now! Steve and I went for an easy 10km last night and i'm not going to lie...we definitely noticed the altitude and had a bit of a tight chest at first. Luckily that didn't last too long and we felt pretty good after a few km in. Fewf! The weather has been pretty good so far...sunny and fairly warm but windy as hell...windier than Newfoundland and that's saying something! :)

Today we decided to do a little 10km hike...Cottonwood Pass which starts at just over 12,000 ft.

Steve and my 5 week old niece, Julia, at 12,500ft :)

Family photo :) Steve, baby Julia, me, and Kira

Tomorrow Steve and I are going for a short, easy run in the morning and then in the afternoon we're going to check out the town of Leadville. This is where Lance Armstrong won the 100 mile mountain bike race last weekend and where the 100 mile ultramarathon event takes place this saturday!

Well that's it for now. I'm off to my tent for a good night's sleep! It was a fun day and i'm tired! I'm happy to report that my extra thick thermarest is working out very nicely :)

Deb

It's Show Time!!

2009-08-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Guess i've been a lazy blogger laterly...sorry about that! But i've been a busy girl :) A couple of days after my last post I went on our annual work "team building" trip. It was great! This year we went to Vancouver Island and it was beautiful. I haven't been there in a lonnnng time and really don't remember a whole lot.

It was a pretty awesome trip...definitely didn't feel like a typical work trip or anything like that...just got to hang out with a bunch of great people and do lots of fun things! We went to the beach...got to go see some huge huge trees in Cathedral Grove...went on a whale tour (and saw hump backs and gray whales!!)...ate some fabulous food every day and had an evening of wine tasting! Does that sound like work to you? Heck no!! Here are a couple of pics from the trip...there are definitely better ones floating around at work but this is all I have right now!

Playing at the beach - Tribune Bay

Loving the starfish! :)

Big ass trees!

This is a little blurry but you get the idea of how big this tree is!! It was beautiful at Cathedral Grove!!

At Hot Springs Cove...HOT HOT HOT Springs!!! I did some pretty big runs while I was on the Island so it felt pretty damn good to get in!

My good friend Beth and I on the zodiac for the whale tour!! Yup, we had to wear survival suits...it was pretty chilly out there so I didn't mind...kept us nice and warm!

So that's a quick recap of my trip to Vancouver Island. We were gone for 5 days and it flew by! It was nice to come back and only have to work 2 more days till the weekend though! I had a really fun weekend and got in 2 great trail runs in the mountains with some friends. I'm pretty happy as my legs are feeling awesome and I guess this tapering thing really works haha. I can't wait to get down there and start racing. I'm also really excited that I get to do this with my brother as my partner and it's going to make the whole experience even better.

Steve, Kira and my 5 week old niece Julia left on saturday for the drive to Colorado. They should be in Denver by tonight and I'm going to fly in tomorrow morning and meet up with them for the 2ish hour drive to Buena Vista...where Stage 1 begins! I'm incredibly excited and can't wait to get going! I'll do my best to keep you guys updated but not sure how easy it'll be for me to do that. You might have to wait until the race is over so I can post a full report! I think they might be posting updates at the end of each Stage on how everyone is doing so you can probably follow Team Pine Line somewhere on here!

I'm on my way out for some delicious sushi and then home for some last minute power packing...I know...it's no surprise that it's the night before I leave and I still have packing to do. Ok that's it for now...wish us luck! The fun all begins at Stage 1 on Sunday, August 23rd! :)

Deb

I've been inspired!

2009-08-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

I have decided i'm going to do the Canadian Death Race next year!! I am pumped! Isn't it funny how you can already be so excited for something a year away? A girl I know from the Trail Trash group I run with did it this year and rocked it. She has totally inspired me!! And since i've been hooked since my first and only ultra so far this year...the Scorched Sole 50km...i've been busy planning next year's season of ultras already! This has been such a great summer! I can't wait for Transrockies! Only 12 days till I leave for Colorado and 17 till race day!

Oh...one more thing...anyone out there looking for a pacer for Lost Soul let me know!

Great Training Weekend!

2009-08-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend of training for Transrockies! I managed to get 3 good days in...I'm feeling pretty great and thinking I could do another good one tonight but I'm going to take the day off instead. I have some plantar fasciitis acting up again but nothing major....just feeling like I need a day off and then get some more good runs in the rest of the week. Unfortunately there won't be any mountain running this weekend as I'm off to Vancouver Island on saturday for a work "team building" trip for 5 days. How fab is that?! I'm still going to be doing lots of running however, don't you worry about that :) Not a bad way to start my taper though!!

Saturday I teamed up with Alan and Mark for a 3okm run from Upper Kananaskis Lake to Turbine Canyon. It was a beautiful day! It's a bit of a drive so we didn't end up getting started till about 9:45. By then it was already warming up pretty quick and was 30C by the time we were finished. Here are some pics the guys took along the way :)

Jumping Turbine Canyon! Doesn't look like much here...but check out the next couple of pics to see what I jumped over :)

Overlooking Turbine Canyon...it's a long way down!

Following this run was a nice little dip in the lake, a mini tailgate in the parking lot with some food we brought along...then stopped at the store out there for some chocolate milk for recovery, and a "single" scoop of ice cream...which apparently means 3 scoops (but i'm not complaining!) before driving back to Calgary...

Sunday was another hot one and I had a bit of a lighter day with only 20km but it was on Moose Mountain so definitely a good workout! That night an insane cold front blew into Calgary with the craziest thunder and lightening storm I've ever witnessed. It woke me up about an hour after I had fallen asleep and lasted for a good hour. I had the window open because my house was a sauna but the wind blew over my lamp and slammed my bedroom door. I was a little worried one of the trees out there was going to slam through my bedroom window. I got up looking for Logan, opened the bedroom door and he was just standing there looking freaked! Poor guy! I let him come on the bed after that!

Monday was a holiday here for us so I had planned on a pretty big run. I woke up to a cool day...around 12C I think for most of the day and got 35km in on some trails around Calgary. Damn I forgot how much I love to run in cooler weather...I felt like a star! I was super happy though that my legs felt in great shape and ready to go after my 2 previous days. That's a relief...but I still can't get over the fact that i've got 6 days in a row to do at Transrockies....I'm excited though! Bring. It. On.

Is it taper time yet?

2009-07-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Whoa...3 weeks from today I leave for Colorado. That's sick. Where did all of my training time go...it's almost time for a taper of some sorts...nuts! I'm getting pretty excited but still feel like I have lots of training left to do. Training is going really well but i'm starting to feel a little out of my league with my brother as a partner...damn guy is a machine and keeps pumping out these sick days of running. I really hope I can keep up!! I am getting pretty tired though and am definitely looking forward to the taper. I'm also getting more and more mentally exhausted and it feels like i'm turning into a bit of a dumb ass as a result....especially on mondays after a long weekend of training...some of the stuff I do on monday blows my mind. Dumb. Ass.

I'm also starting to go a little crazy doing so many long runs by myself and am trying to hit up anyone I can find to go on some long trail runs with me! Things are looking up for this weekend as I think i've found people to run with for at least 1 of my 3 long days. I have to admit that after this ridiculous summer, getting back to training for a normal marathon again is starting to look better and better. I mean don't get me wrong...it's still tough and hard but training for this multi day mountain stuff is a bit intense. I look forward to a bit of a "break" after this summer and getting back to my one long run a week (not multiple) as I train for the Okanagan marathon in October and Boston again next year (oh and Vegas? maybe in December).

Last night I was feeling pretty decent when I got home so decided to go on a 20km trail run. There's not many places you can do this in Calgary so I decided to run through the Douglas Fir trail 4 times....it's close to my house and it has some hills and lots of stairs. It was tough but I felt pretty good. At about the halfway point I was running down a hill and this wasp flies into my hand and gets stuck under the strap of my handheld water bottle. I didn't realize it had happened until I started to feel pain and then more pain...and had to rip the bottle off my hand to get it outta there. It stung me right between the fingers and my hand is actually sore and a little fat in that spot today. I'm glad nobody was around as I let off a few choice words! Ok, yeah if you know me then maybe more than just a few. What?...it hurt damn it! Good thing i'm not allergic or that could have been an interesting turn of events for my evening :)

Anyhow, aside from that...things are good, training is good, life is good. I'm a happy girl :)
deb

I've got my horseshoe for Transrockies :)

2009-07-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Transrockies is approaching fast and i'm getting pretty excited! Sunday past marked 5 weeks till Stage 1 of the race. I just booked my flight last night to Denver and i'm leaving nice and early...i'll be there about 5 days in advance before the race so hopefully I can get somewhat acclimatized in that period. It should be interesting to see how my body feels. I do remember what it was like to move from Ottawa to Calgary and run for the first time...I felt slow, winded, and out of shape...and that was only an increase in about 3000ft. The race starts in Buena Vista, CO which sits at just under 8000ft...4500ft more than Calgary (that's not even to mention how high we get during some of the stages)! So yeah...this is why i'm heading down 5 days in advance!

I managed to get in some pretty decent running this weekend. Friday I got in 25km and unfortunately Saturday was a weak day for me and I only managed 14km...it was damn hot, I was damn tired, and just felt like hell. So I cut it short and headed home to sit in a cold bath...felt mighty nice on my legs! I made out better on Sunday and joined the Trail Trash group for 45km out in Kananaskis starting at the Little Elbow Campground. It was a long day and I hadn't anticipated how long we'd be out so I ran out of the 2L of nuun I brought...luckily a bunch of people had those water bottles with them with the built in filter so you could fill it up anywhere...they saved my butt for sure! Much of our run was on a horse trail and there was some crazy deep mud and I almost lost my shoe a couple of times...the same thing must have happened to one of the horses as I picked up a horseshoe along the way and brought it home with me!! That's gotta be some kinda good luck for Transrockies no?

It was a beautiful day and there was nothing I would have rather done! I felt guilty spending my entire day in the mountains and not having my best friend Logan to join me! He wouldn't have made it past 15km...those huskies get HOT quick! So I made it up to him later by taking him on a good trip to the park!

Here are some pics of our run...some were taken by Alan with my camera, some by Hugh....

At the start - Little Elbow Campground in Kananaskis

Took me about 5 mins to get warmed up and shed the long sleeve!

1st of maybe 15 river crossings!!...wet feet for about 30 of 45km!

And another...

Are you kidding me?! Argh!!

She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes!

This is more like it!

Our view from the top of Paradise Pass - at 8300 ft

Me and Adrian

I got worked at Powderface

2009-07-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Holy Hannah...what a day what a day! I knew going in that this was going to be a tough race and it did not disappoint!

I left my house at 6am for the 45 min drive to Kananaskis Country where the race started at the Station Flats parking lot. I run into my friend Alan on arrival and hang out and chat in the parking lot for a while and get introduced to some people and some other people that are also doing Transrockies this year. Good times. It's probably 40 mins before race start and there's already people all ready to go and i'm sitting there yawning my face off and waiting till the last possible moment to get changed and ready. It's not that cold...around 10 degrees...but when I wake up in the morning i'm always freezing no matter what the temp and it takes me a while to get over it! While I'm in line for the bathroom a guy turns around and asks me "Are you Deb?" I'm like, yeah! (that's never happened to me before haha). Anyways, he knows a friend of mine and also ended up finding and reading my blog! Cool beans! It was great meeting you today Jason, great race! :)

About 10 mins before race start we have a pre race meeting and are told that due to a wildlife incident our route is going to be detoured about halfway through the race...we have to go off the trail and down to the dirt road to run on for about 3km to the midpoint aid station. Hmm...interesting...bear siting? I dunno what it was...but we're told later :)

So...the race...what to say...I don't know a lot about the details of elevation other than the start of the race was at 1410m, the highest point of the race was at 2025m, and we had a total elevation gain for the day of 1858m. What can I say...the first 10km was hard! I had a feeling there was 3 girls in total ahead of me and I had been following behind 1 of them for the first 5 km. At about 5km came aid station #1 and I ended up leaving it quicker that her. She had been running really well and I was actually thinking she would come back and pass me pretty quick but this didn't happen. The next 5km was pretty fun and had a lot of fun downhill leading to aid station #2 at about the 10km mark.

This is where I met the guy just infront of me - Jeremy - and we left the aid station together. It was especially nice to have the company as the second 10km was harder and mentally exhausting as well. It helped take my mind off of how I was feeling. There was a lot of steep climbing that we walked and he chatted away and I cursed to myself how easy he was talking while I gasped for air with my responses. Damn you lol! This is where I really was not feeling well at all...I was not happy that I was already feeling this way at about 13km in! These hills were tough!! I expected Jeremy to quickly move on but he was content to stick with the pace we were going. Finally we got to some great downhills again and he was a superstar while I'm still learning to go fast on them. I was actually super impressed with myself on the downhill sections today as I'm trying to get used to just letting myself go and stop holding back all the time. There were many crazy sketchy spots where I could have seen myself tripping and flying in the air halfway down the hill.

At about 18km or so we break out onto the dirt road for the detour and reach aid station #3 at about 22km. We hear that we're 12th and 13th overall and I am infact the 3rd female. Cool stuff. We leave that aid station and after having some banana and orange slices...i'm feeling like a rockstar! Fewf! The trail is nice and rolling and we fly along chatting away. At about 26km I notice 3 guys come out of nowhere from up ahead just standing there...huh? As we approach I realize it's my running friends Al, Garrath, and Erich and they high five me and cheer me on. It was awesome seeing them and it definitely brought a huge smile to my fast and gave me a boost!I had no idea they would be out there today!!

The rest of the run up to aid station #4 around the 32km mark was fun and I felt really good. I knew there was still some tough stuff to come but didn't want to think about it and just enjoyed the run! We start catching up to half marathoners at this point as they were doing an out and back route. I didn't expect to see so many at this point as it should have been pretty late into their race...they were supposed to start 2 hours after us...but apparently they started about 40 mins late as there was a bear on the trail. Aid station 4 is a bit of craziness as we're coming in and half marathoners are everywhere. Leaving the station it climbs up and we run the same route back that we did on the way out for the last 10km. As we're climbing up on this rocky section I don't know if I should be moving out of the way for the people going downhill or if they should move for me?...mostly they moved but I felt bad and the first time I tried to move...i kind of step off the edge of the trail and stumble somehow and total wipe out...so yeah I end up screwing up the people coming down and the people going up...very nice Deb, nice work. Come on though...did you doubt this would happen? Every trail race i've run so far this year i've totally bailed on.

Anyways, from about 8km on my long 22km run with Jeremy ended as I was feeling pretty good and I guess he wasn't and slowed down a bit...however, his longest run in preparation for this event was 26km up to this point so he was doing a pretty kick ass job! I kept going and fully expected him to appear out of nowhere. 8km left and I felt awesome!!! I come to this weird section that looks like it used to be a river with big round rocks...I should have slowed and walked over them but did I? No. I tried to run through it and ended up falling HARD onto both knees and getting a bit of a nasty gash on one of them. Oh my. What a surprise...Deb falls again...shocking I know. It definitely didn't feel good but I was more angry than anything for being such a dumb ass!

Anyhow, I continue on and began to realize that we had come down some crazy downhills a few hours ago to get to that last aid station...which means there's some fun climbing to come...damn! All i'm going to say was that the next 4km were tough...tough! And while i'm cursing the hills I look back and see these 2 guys catching me pretty quick...shit balls! Relief hits when I see by their bib that they're half marathoners...saweet. But I also notice this girl farther back down the trail power hiking and moving pretty quick...to me she looks like the girl I passed over 25km ago! That instantly gets me moving quicker and finally i'm into the last 4 km which is pretty much flat or downhill...running scared! I can't get caught when I have 4 km to go!!

And I didn't...yay! I finished a long day in 4:39 and managed to get 3rd place overall female. Unfortunately I heard throughout the second half of the run that I was only 2 mins behind the 2nd place woman but i never saw her! I had trouble believing that but it's true...first place was Doone Watson (also heading to Transrockies) with about 3 mins on me and the second place lady was about 2 mins on me. Honestly, I couldn't have given anymore and was pleased with my finish! And it turns out that it was a half marathon female that I had been running scared from so I should say thanks to her for motivating me to pick up the pace!

After the race, my friend Alan (who also finished about 3-4 mins ahead of me) and I drove a few mins down the road to get to the glorious river to soak our legs...damn that glacier fed stuff is cooold. I could only manage to get in just passed my knees...i'm kind of a wimp that way! We spend the next couple of hours waiting around for the awards and chatting with everyone about the race. I was happy to discover a lot of people had also bailed and looked worse off than me with their cuts and scrapes :) However one guy that ran the half marathon ended up falling and having a stick go completely through his hand...poor guy was rushed off to the hospital!

For my third place finish I got a sweet ass SmartWool long sleeve zip merino wool shirt...it fits perfect! Great prize! Oh and remember the "wildlife incident" that caused the detour and the race being a bit shorter finishing at about 41.3km? Apparently there was a cougar kill on the trail that a grizzly was now enjoying. Yikes. Pffft...and Alan called me a rookie for running with bear spray...whatevs, if it wasn't for Jeremy i would have spent almost the whole day by myself and it's Kananaskis Country...bear country people. I feel safer with it...bears freak me out!

So yeah, this was definitely the hardest race I've ever done and I'm damn sore! I wore my skins in the race and i think they really helped a lot and now i'm recovering in my zoots which are a bit tighter...feels great. I'm actually thinking about buying a pair of compression tights for Transrockies for recovery each night. My quads and hamstrings are super sore and if they feel like that after each stage then I'll definitely want them!!

It'll be interesting to see how I make out on my run tomorrow. Tonight i'm chilling and watching more of le Tour...can't get enough :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Deb