I Got Out! It's been awhile...

The past few months I have been completing my Masters of Science degree at Simon Fraser University. I have been writing my Thesis and finishing my final course work (only 2 weeks to go!) It's been an incredible journey although very intense at times which has kept me close to home and the university. I have been running most days of the week with longer runs on the weekend being close to home so nothing too exciting to blog about. Although I did have a great outing with Neil and Dave last weekend at Buntzen ( just didn't have time to blog about it!) This week Craig suggested a snow shoe outing on Friday night at Grouse Mountain. It was pouring with rain at sea level but the mountain report was showing 24cm of fresh snow. We took the gamble on the weather. As we were driving in the skies cleared. It was a spectacular outing in the fresh snow and all the rain down below kept everyone away! Once we left the ski area we didn't see anyone - we had the mountain to ourselves. Now that doesn't happen very often. The snow was deep and the silence and crisp air felt so good.
A view down to the city of Vancouver and freighters in the harbour.

Craig and I working it - it was a steep climb most of the way up with all the fresh snow.

Almost there!

Craig and I stopping to take a layer off. The steep climb warms you up quickly.

Cold at the start. Craig taking a phone call!

Ready to go!

Getting the gear on.

Thanks Neil and Craig for a great outing. The apres snack in the lodge was so nice and relaxing with the lights of the city below. Nice to have a mountain all to ourselves in such spectacular snow conditions with incredible views. Let's do it again soon! I think the snow will be there for awhile with the North Shore Mountains having greater than a 600 cm base.

Soaked in the Snow!

Snowing! Note the snow accumulating on us.

Having fun but getting cold!

Turning back!

Saturday morning as we were driving to the North Shore the rain was torrential. During my final shut eye of the morning (Neil was driving) Craig called and confirmed he was not joining us. Perhaps he was the sensible one - it really was dodgy out there. When we pulled into the car park at LSCR, we all just stayed in our cars for a few minutes. Dave, the brave one, broke the code of resistance. One by one we rolled out quite tentatively. The rain drops were large, the wind was nasty and it was that raw 2 degrees.

Once the route was confirmed we waved good bye to Helen and shuffled off. We went left on Homestead and then along Fishermans for a few kilometers and then onto the Seymour Dam service road. The rain had now turned to snow. The flakes were the size of toonies and not only was it accumulating on the ground it was also building up on us! Our coats were wet and sticking to the under layer(s). Silly me didn't have much on except a long sleeve shirt underneath my soaking wet jacket. My fellow runners were all sporting a few more layers. Liza pointed out that we were climbing and getting more into the snow which we were not really prepared for.

Team decision to retrace our steps, we crossed over onto the Seymour parkway. It remained cold and snowing all the way until the last kilometer before the gazebo. Dave and Neil went for a few more minutes but I headed back to the car. My arms were numb and my hips were frozen solid! My hands were nice and toasty (thanks Santa for the over gloves). Once we regrouped we enjoyed a warm bowl of soup and coffee at the Black Bear. Craig joined us and looked very warm and well rested. Today Neil and I ran for 2 hours at Hayward (flat side). That's about 4 hours of flat continuous running this weekend - good!

Team Dodgy is planning a trip to the Grand Canyon this Spring. We plan to run from rim to rim back to the rim we started at - approximately 47 miles. Flights, car and hotel are all booked!

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!