Cateran and Vancouver 100 Training

We've been doing so much training - it's been hard to find the time to blog! ;-)

 

Easter Weekend we had 4 good days of training. We had a couple of long outings on the Baden Powell trail that the Vancouver 100 takes place on, some flat running and a 3 hour hike with Fergus on Easter Monday.

A section of the Baden Powell trail - it is rough and very eroded at times.

Some sections of the trail on Grouse is very eroded with sharp drop offs - don't look down! 

Rough but runnable in sections.

This weekend Neil did a solo 50km outing on the Diez Vista (his choice) to experience the journey on this own. He has completed 4 x 50 km runs in the last 2 months. Saturday, I did the climb out of Deep Cove to Mt. Seymour Road return to Deep Cove and then followed by a flat run around Burnaby Lake.

Neil doing a Selfie on the Diez Vista Course. The bay across Burrard Inlet is Deep Cove where I was for my run.

And from the other side......From the Baden Powell trail looking over to where Neil was on the Diez Vista  trail.

 

 

Unfortunately my run was diverted on the Burnaby Lake trail due to a Big Black Bear blocking the way. The bears are awake which definitely means spring is here!

 



More friendly creatures on the other side of the lake! Baby Canada Geese - mom was watching closely.

 



Today we had a good 2.5 hour run on the Lake View Trail at Buntzen Lake. Near the end of our run we were caught in a hail storm that was quite fierce. The hail hurt as it hit our bodies and we were  totally soaked. The weather this weekend was very unsettled from thunder showers, to hail to moments of warm sunshine.

Today on the Lake View Trail we came across this tree. It has been pecked to death by Wood Peckers.

We are looking forward to our trip to Scotland and the Cateran 110 mile event. I will be crewing for Neil with brother Graeme and Fiona. We have a couple more weekends of good training and plans for some longer mid week outings. We have been consistent with the training and weekly mileage. Our niece Kendall and her husband Chris will be joining us in Edinburgh for our final week in Scotland. We plan to visit Graeme and Fiona in Inverness area on the shores of Loch Ness. Neil is celebrating his 50th birthday on the 23rd of May. Nothing like the gift of a 110 mile event for your 50th!
 



Craig is in Vancouver next weekend for some Vancouver 100 training on the Baden Powell. Last I heard he was planning on doing more than a 100 km at Vancouver 100. It's an event where you can customize the distance. I have completed several distances over the years varying from 100 km to 25km but I've never considered doing more than the 100km. ;-)  It is a tough course, very gnarly with plenty of climbing on slow moving rough terrain. There are sections filled with snow which often require Yak Traks and poles. Last year after the Cateran we did 50 km. This year I am dreaming big for the full 100km. Happy Trails!