Christmas was spent at home in Canada this year with the Canadian side of the family and with "soon to be relatives" visiting from Australia. The weather has been overall spectacular of late which has allowed us to get out for some great winter activities. We have been enjoying our Atlas Running Snow Shoes. The New Years weekend was a full of great outings. We decided to enjoy the weekend in the city and stayed in a downtown hotel on New Years Eve. Late afternoon on the 31st we joined Ean and Sibylle and family for a snow shoe outing on Dog Mountain. It was cold (minus 9)with fresh snow. The skies were clear and the views crystal clear. After snow shoeing Neil and I enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel lounge and barely stayed up until midnight to bring in the new year. The next morning we participated in the Club Fat Ass New Years Day 50km run. We had signed up for a "custom" but knew we were going to try to complete the 50km distance. Marla drove in from Maple Ridge and joined us at the start line. It was great to see so many people out for a New Years Day run (130 +!) on what was truly a spectacular weather day in Vancouver. Cold and clear! Ean and Sibylle do a great job of hosting this event. It was the second time Neil and I have participated. They said "go" and we were off chatting to many trail friends. Once through the trails in Stanley Park we were on the very familiar sea wall that goes along the Vancouver shoreline. The time passed quickly and we made our way over the Burrard Street Bridge through Kitsilano and along the beaches until we found the Kintec van that was offering some aid (great aid station ;-) The next section was through the trails out by UBC. This section was new to Marla and I but we were running with Neil and Craig at this point and they more or less knew the way. We ran through a maze of trails and eventually came upon the turn around spot where some kind strangers gave us some nibbles and water. I don't think they were part of the event! Once fueled we set out to retrace our steps back through the trails and towards the beaches. We had another 30 minutes left on this trail section when I heard a bit of commotion behind me. I turned around and Marla was in a heap on the ground. She was silent and in slow motion raised her right hand. Her middle finger was pushed back and standing straight up. Marla asks "is this normal?" The pain started to set in and oh my she was one tough chick! Thankfully Neil was with us (veterinarian) and he managed to splint her finger using the West Highland Way Buff he had in his pack. There's another use for the buff advertisement! Again, thankfully, Marla could run/walk as it was very cold when we stopped moving. The pain was obvious and she took a couple of anti-inflammatories we had. Liza was running with us and fortunately she had her car parked down by the beach and was planning to stop when we reached it. Marla and I decided to call it a "custom" at this point and Liza kindly offered to drive us back to the start so Marla could head off to the hospital. Neil carried on and finished the 50km. Marla and I did 30 something km's so we were pleased with that. I caught up with Neil at the finish and we stopped by the hospital on the way home to find Chad and Marla waiting patiently for a final x-ray after the doctor had frozen and re-set her finger. Not a great way to bring in the New Year but despite the incident we really did enjoy the run and all the other runners out there. Neil and I managed to get out for some good local runs yesterday and today. We are starting to think of goals for the year. I am feeling optimistic that we will participate in more events this year with me having a lighter school year. I will be working at my own pace on my thesis. Snow is in the forecast for the next couple of days - nice!! Happy New Year!
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