A Snowy and Icy Weekend!

Winter hit Vancouver this weekend. We had a good bit of snow fall Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning we joined Craig and Liza at 10am to participate in the Club Fat Ass run from Lynn Canyon to Deep Cove return to Lynn Canyon. Actually we did it in reverse - it really was intended to start in Deep Cove. Craig lives in the Lynn Canyon area so if we finished there we could shower up before heading out to the Vancouver Canucks vs Boston Bruins hockey game. It was cold when we started (-3) with light snow. As the day progressed and we retreated into the woods it appeared to get colder. The trail was really quite dry when we started due to the cold temperatures this past week. Some sections had some ice but they were quite obvious. We saw many familiar faces coming and going on the route. Just before we reached Deep Cove for the turn around Liza rolled her ankle. Ouch! She made a wise decision to call it enough. Craig rounded up a stranger in the Deep Cove parking lot to drive Liza back to her car at Lynn Canyon. The strangers were runners so we knew she was in good hands;-). We set out for the return leg back to Lynn Canyon with the long climb out of Deep Cove. I was glad we were going up and working hard as I was starting to feel the cold. The snow was starting to cover the trails with ice patches forming on the trails. We made it back in about the same time, 5 hours total. We showered up at Craig's and went for a bite to eat before heading into Vancouver for the hockey game. It was really snowing in the city. It didn't keep the fans away though! It was a good game but the Canucks did loose 3-1. The ride home was a bit treacherous. Today, first thing we went to Hayward for a 1.5 hour run in the deep snow. It was fun but there was the odd icy patch beneath the snow to test our reflexes! Neil could hardly wait to get home and clear the 6" of snow in the drive way with his John Deere Tractor and new this year, snow blower attachment. It worked great and the driveways are clear and good to go!

Snow Snow Snow!!

Today Craig, Neil, Liza, Dave and myself went as planned up Mt. Fromme for some snow shoeing. Wendy joined us at the start and waved us off as we started to get into deep snow. Wow...did we get into deep snow! We were breaking trail and trying to follow the trail markers up Mt.Fromme. We weren't having much success following the markers and soon realized many of them were below the snow! We were getting close to the top when we really lost the trail, made a few loops and retraced our own tracks in the snow to no where. I was starting to get cold with the slowing of the pace as we tried to find our way. What great trail buddies - offering up their spare gloves, hats etc...Once we picked up the pace I warmed up. We couldn't really find a route up so the guys decided the best way out was straight down the mountain with hopes of eventually landing on Mountain Highway. It was steep, it was deep, it was crazy!! I went down on my butt for most of the way! Thankfully we did eventually land on Mountain Highway. We had a challenge of crossing the ditch but eventually all of us were on the road. It was a nice run out back to the car. Another fun adventure with great company!

What a Beautiful Day!

The weather in Vancouver has been so nice! A little cold (-5 to plus 5) with clear blue skies. The mountains are looking fantastic against the brilliant blue skies. Friday the weather was so beautiful I went for 2 runs just so I could really take in the weather. Today Wendy, Neil and I did 22km on lower trails on the North Shore - we ran into snow on the Seymour Grind and Powerline. It was so great out there it felt like we could keep going forever - but common sense prevailed and we returned to the car as planned. Tomorrow we are going a little higher for some snow shoeing with some bagging buddies.

Trans Canada Trail - 30.5km

The Start for us Today!


The Trans Canada Trail Map.


The Finish at the Pitt River Bridge.

This weekend is the anniversary of the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. What a better way to celebrate than to go for a run on the Trans Canada Trail! Thanks David for posting this flash Club Fat Ass idea. The Trans Canada trail upon completion, will be the longest shared-use recreational trail in the world, spanning roughly 17,244 kilometers (10,714 miles) and winding its way through every Canadian province and territory. Approximately 75% of the 17,244-kilometer Trail will be built on existing trails, abandoned railway lines and crown lands with the remaining 25% being "new" trail. Currently, just over 10,000 kilometers of the trail have been registered. It will be owned, operated and maintained by local organizations, provincial authorities, national agencies, and municipalities across Canada.
We joined the trail at the top of Burnaby Mountain @ Simon Fraser University. Chad dropped Marla, Ken, Neil and I off and we met up with Wendy who ran from North Vancouver. Not too long after we started we met Ean running towards us. Marla noticed a trail marker that said another 11,000 km to the finish! The trail took us down Burnaby Mountain, along Burrard Inlet, into Rocky Point in Port Moody, through Port Coquitlam on the Poco Trail and then joined the dykes in Pitt Meadows where we finished at the Pitt River Bridge where we had left our car. The trail was well marked with the Trans Canada Trail markers. We dropped Wendy and Ean off at the sky train station in New Westminster and joined the others for some food at the Gillnetter Pub. I fell asleep in the car on the way home - sign of a great long run!

New Shoes - Kitty Checking Them Out!

It was time for new shoes. Both my trail and road shoes were pretty well done - I couldn't decide on what I needed more road or trail shoes so came home with both! Thankfully Santa had brought gift cards for such items. I have been wearing Nike road shoes on the trails this past year. I like the cushioning the road shoes have. Nike has a new trail Pegasus that felt so comfortable and has the tread that is less slippery. Our mid week runs have been predominantly on the roads close to home over these winter months so the road shoe is a must! It was a wet weekend here in Vancouver with the trails very muddy, I left the new shoes at home. We ran locally both Saturday and Sunday - repeating the route both days. It's a challenging route that takes a couple of hours on the trails behind our house.

Holiday Re-cap! Happy New Year!

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!

The Snow was Fresh and Deep...

Today Neil and I both had vacation days. We had plans to stay home and prepare for Christmas but the beautiful blue skies and snow covered mountains enticed us for some snow shoeing. We went for a mid afternoon trek on Mt.Seymour on the Dog Mountain trail. It was so pretty and a nice runnable snow shoe trail. The views were spectacular and we could see many of the peaks that we climbed this year in the Bagger Challenge. What a great day!