Longer Days are Approaching...

The weather improved as the day progressed...Neil texted and said he was on his way home and let's hit a trail. I quickly changed and grabbed a head lamp. We decided to go on the trails near our house on Thornhill. Throughout the winter we have been mainly road running during the week at night. The sky was clear and the day light was hanging on. Not too long into the run it was like someone turned the lights out. The woods on this trail are very dense with a canopy cover of trees. I brought a head lamp but not the best one and it obviously was working on low batteries. We carried on for about an hour but it was a spooky outing with the feeling that we were not alone in the woods. Coyotes, deer, bear and domestic dogs are out there - the occasional cougar has been spotted in the area. Neil had a hand held light and I saw him shining it a few times in the direction of a noise in the woods. We haven't been on this trail in the dark for a bit...now I remember why. It's a great run but next time I'll take a better light! We look forward to the longer days approaching. I'm sure you are too!

Running in the Snow

The snow was deep this past week and we enjoyed a few snowshoe outings. The temperature has warmed up, the snow is melting and it's time for the Yak Trax. They fit very easily over the shoe and provide just the right amount of extra grip without being too cumbersome.

They have velcro straps that fasten over the top of the shoe. Very easy to get on and off and they really provide you with that extra bit of confidence on the snow.

The floating bridge at Hayward Lake where we did a 2 hour outing today. It is really a great work out running in the snow, the effort is a little more and you can feel your leg muscles working it!

Wind warning for tomorrow with milder temperatures - that will melt the snow. The snow was nice while it was here!

A Weekend of Snowshoeing

Friday night it snowed! Not too much in the city of Vancouver but several inches where we live in the Fraser Valley. Our original Saturday plan was to run at Buntzen Lake but with the snow and unpredictable road conditions, we decided to stay closer to home and embrace the snow. So we went snowshoeing and broke trail at the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest. It was hard work as the snow was up to 15" deep further out. Today we doubled our pleasure and went back to push our trail in the snow a little further and enjoy the bright sunny day. Dave joined us for the outing and we covered about 12km.









There is more snow in the forecast over the next few days. Winter is here!

First Long Run of 2012.

Saturday was our first long run in 2012. We completed almost a 5 hour outing on trails on the North Shore. The departure from home was a bit dodgy with trying to register online for Chuckanut 50km trail run. Registration opened at 8am and has a history of filling up in minutes. It is a popular ultra in Washington state just over the Canada/USA border. This will be our 5th time for this event. Once registered we were off...

We picked Marla up and arrived at Craig's to meet up with Craig, Liza and Wendy. We ran from Craig's through Lynn Valley until we found the trail to join the Dirty Duo Route. It was great to catch up with them all. The time passed quickly and we all did well considering we haven't been out for this long for awhile. It was a cool/wet day on the trails and we met snow at the Mushroom Parking Lot. There was a bit of lolly gagging around the half way point but Craig ensured we picked up the pace and all was well.

I didn't pack enough food for the run and really appreciated Craig sharing a fruit bar with me close to the end. Sometimes we become complacent with our outings and aren't as prepared as we should be. It was a good reminder to us that we need to take more food for the longer runs.

The post run food was good! We were all quite hungry. It was nice to share our running plans/goals for 2012. There are many great events - how to fit them all in?

Happy Trails in 2012!




Craig and I last year at the finish of the Dirty Duo 50km.


Craig and Wendy post run Saturday.


Craig and Liza post run Saturday...waiting patiently for our food!

Some of My Favourite Things at this time of year...

Homemade Wreaths for the Doors.


Lights in the Garden.


A Little Christmas Tree


Christmas Flowers, Amaryllis and Paperwhite Narcissus


Lights in the Trees


Holly from the Garden and Candles.


Real Little Trees

And of course running every day! Yes I successfully completed the Marcothon. I ran for at least 25 minutes every day in December. It was toughest early on in the month but once the holiday parties were over things got less hectic and it became easier to fit in the daily run.

This past week Neil and I have both been off and we have enjoyed running together every day. We have done some loops of Hayward Lake and also had some good runs at Buntzen Lake. We will start the New Year with either a run in Golden Ears Park or at Hayward.

In 2011 I completed Dirty Duo 50km, Chuckanutt 50km, Vancouver 100km, KneeKnacker 50km and Frosty Mtn 25km. I also maintained my title as top female in the Bagger Challenge for the 3rd year in a row by climbing 33 Peaks from June to October. Couldn't have done this without Team Dodgy! I think there were a few Club Fat Ass events in there as well throughout the year.

2012 has some big goals like finishing my Master's of Science Degree at Simon Fraser University. I sent my final proposal off tonight for my thesis - now that's a dedicated student working on New Years Eve!

2012 running goals include the Big ones such as West Highland Way 95 miles and Vancouver 100km. And of course the events to get me to the big ones such as Dirty Duo 50km, Chuckanutt 50km, KneeKnacker 50km (if I get in) and the new Squamish 50miler, Whistler 50 miler and many outings with fellow baggers and Team Dodgy!

Next week is the transition week from work to school...yikes!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve - Eve

Well there are a couple of hours left for December 23rd here in Vancouver. The trees (yes 2!) are up and the house is decorated both inside and out. Over here we do the "outside lights" too. Don't worry we don't go tacky - just some nice white lights in a big tree and over the rhododendrons up the drive way.

The gifts are wrapped in time for the family to take them away tomorrow evening. We are having family over for Christmas Eve. I bought Neil a slightly bigger climbing pack that can take a few extra items. ;-) (Don't tell him!) Some of my fellow Baggers may appreciate this gift.

Whew...what a busy time it has been. Thank goodness for the Marcothon! I've been good! Forcing myself to fit in 25 minutes of running every day in December. On the weekends that is no problem as we are out for some longer outings. What is really tough are those wet rainy dark days when you have Christmas parties to attend after work. It makes one be creative at some very early hours or squeeze it in after work and be late for the party. I must say I think it has helped one cope with the busyness at this time of year. I usually run 5 times/week but adding those 2 extra runs on the road,albeit short, is inflicting upon me a few aches and pains. Neil has been trying to run every day as well but has missed a few. He too is noticing the aches from the road.

We are both off until after New Year and plan to run every day but we will have more time to hit the softer trails instead of heading out on the road from home.

Merry Christmas To All!

West Highland Way 2012!

Confirmation this morning by email that both Neil and I have been accepted into the West Highland Way Race in 2012. This will be Neil's 4th and my 3rd. We have agreed to do the journey together again - something I highly recommend every couple try. I recall in our first year Dario commenting that there were no marriage counsellors on the route!

We actually do quite well together, Neil lets me set the pace and we help each other through those down moments along the journey. The goal is to finish together. One ultra we did together Neil whacked his head on a tree and I really thought I was on my own to the finish line. So you never know what an event will bring!

From January to April I will be taking an education leave from my work to complete my Masters of Science Degree at Simon Fraser University. This will be a focused time of study but also an opportunity for some change to the training patterns. Change is good!

On December 1st we committed to the Marcothon - running for 25 minutes every day through the month of December. So far so good! We even squeezed the 25 minutes in before a Christmas party on Friday night. Saturday Neil, Liza and I had a 2.5 hour run in the Buntzen Lake area. Today we had a shorter run at Hayward Lake so I could attend an annual Christmas Wreath Making party. I used Cedar boughs and Holly from the Holly bushes in our garden. I plan to get up early most days this week to do the 25 minute run in the morning and then will have a few evening runs as well. We are planning on a snow shoe run this Thursday night at Grouse Mountain as the weather looks clear and cold.

We have decided to stay home here in Vancouver for Christmas. We were considering spending Christmas in Scotland but with me preparing for the thesis writing and upcoming courses it all seemed a bit much. We will keep it simple and plan for our WHW trip in June! Exciting!