Squamish - 6.5 hour training run!!!

The Biostatistics final exam was Thursday and we took great pleasure this weekend boxing up the notes and cleaning up my study. The last few months of work, school and of course running have been a full on effort. Ahh but nothing good comes easy!! We started the weekend with a 4AM rise on Saturday to volunteer at a local trail run. Andy joined Neil and I to pre-sweep the course and add more markers as appropriate. This course is the most well marked trail run I have ever seen. They don't quite do the same with ultra events (and yes I have been lost a few times!) Neil and Andy did an awesome job of placing the trail markers as I ran ahead and pointed to where I thought they should go.;-) It was a very wet cold morning so I needed to keep running to try to stay warm. My nickname soon became "princess" where would you like the next one? It was a fun outing. Once back we quickly took the wet clothes off and warmed up in the car. It was interesting going from so cold to warm I fell asleep in the car on the drive home. We were only out there for 2.5 hours. Perhaps it was the 4AM wake up. Today we were up early too to drive to Squamish to join Wendy, Bill and Jess for a long run. We have been keeping up with about 50-60 km/week but with shorter runs during the week with back to back weekend runs of 2.5-3hours. We really needed to ramp it up on the long runs. Wendy is very familiar with the trails in Squamish and planned an awesome outing for us today. We were out there for 6.5 hours and covered lots of ground with good climbs, downhills, technical terrain and amazingly I felt good and was still able to run at 6.5 hours. I was pleased and realized that although I haven't had the time to participate in any long events in the last few months my weekly mileage has probably given me a good base. Wendy is keen to to join us for long back to backs taking us right up to West Highland Way. It is what it is and we will do what we can do!!
Great run today - thanks Wendy, Bill, Jess and Neil we discovered some awesome trails!

The weather was awesome for running this weekend. Clear skies with a refreshing breeze! Friday night we enjoyed catching up with some running friends at a wine and cheese party in North Vancouver. They managed to convince me that British Columbia can produce a decent red wine. I was doubtful prior to the tasting! Saturday I had limited time for a run but we did manage to pull off a loop of Hayward Lake - 17km of undulating terrain. We enjoyed it so much we went back and did the loop again today but in the opposite direction. It was good to do that 2 days in a row...Neil just said tonight let's do it again tomorrow! The Trillium flowers are blooming in the woods at Hayward Lake and the Daffodils and Tulips are looking good in the garden. Heading into the final week of classes and then the exam the following week. I've almost made it through Bio statistics.

Mount Gardner - Bowen Island

Today Neil and I met up with Wendy at Horseshoe Bay to board the 9AM Ferry with our bikes for a journey to Bowen Island. This was our first outing in the 2010 Bagger Challenge. Once on the ferry we discovered that we had left the directions/map in the kitchen. No worries - we have been to one of the planned peaks before. A new Peak on Bowen Island has been added this year to the Challenge. From Snug Cove where the ferry docks we pedalled our way on the undulating road in search of the base of the new peak - Mt. Collins. Working off recall of the map it became obvious that we really didn't know where we were going. We came upon a local lady walking her dog. Neil politely asks her for directions to Mt. Collins. "You can't go up there she says, there is no trail." Yes we know that but we were planning to go anyways Neil replies. "you can't go up there it is private land and that would be trespassing." We got the feeling she was not happy that we would consider going up her local mtn that has no trail and no public access. We got back on the bikes and came upon a local runner - thought he would know for sure. "don't know....never heard of it...don't know" he kept repeating. OK maybe Mt. Collins wasn't meant to be today. So we head back to the base of Mt. Gardner and perhaps we will see people up there that know. Stashed the bikes in the bush and set off. The skies cleared and we had a great climb up through the forest and were rewarded with awesome views of the snow capped North Shore Mountains. Not another person in sight. Hmmm...thought there might have been some other hikers/baggers out since it was Easter Sunday. Had a great run down and we came to the agreement that one peak today was a good start to the 2010 Bagger Challenge - Doc Morgan's Pub was calling. Unfortunately the island had been hit hard in the storm that happened on Friday and they were low on beer choice and had no food to order. Just when we were about to leave Fish and Chips arrive at the table next to us - not what hungry runners/bikers want to see - others eating!! We had a good laugh that it was an interesting outing today on Bowen. Found food elsewhere while we waited for the ferry. Next time I think we will check the ferry schedule as well as bring the map!

It's Here - North Shore Bagger Challenge | Club Fat Ass

It's Back! April 1st brought the start of the 2010 Bagger Challenge. See the highlights and follow the excitement at the link below. Last year was the inaugural year and it took us on many great outings with fellow baggers. I was the winner of the "Baguettes" - the female with the most peaks bagged. Wendy was close behind me! We are planning to get out and bag our first one this weekend that will include a boat ride and a bike ride. Another peak has been added to that journey - can we find it and do both in the same day? Apparently the newly addded peak requires some route finding skills and bush whacking - note to self - wear long tights and long sleeves!


North Shore Bagger Challenge | Club Fat Ass