Pre Race Jitters!!

I cannot believe that it's been a year since last year's Trans Alpine Race, when I was writing a similar entry from my guesthouse in Oberstdorf, Germany. This year, I am sitting in my guesthouse in Ruhpolding, Germany but feeling some very familiar things!

The last 6 weeks of my training were very eventful, and filled with 2 training weekends in the Rockies!! Both weekends contained 3 solid days of running and hiking with some great elevation and some great times with friends!!!

Running into the Assiniboine lodge for a long weekend!

Great running and hiking weekend at Lake O'Hara!!

 The last 3 weeks have been very challenging physically, and I have been having some issues with my back, glutes and legs again. Again, Martha Sirdevan has been my physio angel, treating me 2-3 times a week at "Suite Physio" and at Wave Physiotherapy. I have really tapered, and am trying to rest and let my muscles and nerves settle down before the race.

Martha (on Right) is not only a great physio, but a great runner too!!!

I'd be completely lying if I didn't tell you that this has planted some doubt in my mind, and that I am scared that my body will not hold up for the 8 days!!!

I decided to stop by PEI again before heading to Germany for a quick trip to visit my family, relax, rest my body, but really try to calm my mind and de-stress before the race! I had a great visit, and was so happy I went!!! I tried not to think about the race at all, and it worked!!! When a family member was saying goodbye and wishing me good luck, I asked them for what!!!? Island life is simple and very relaxing......:)

New cottage construction- the new view from "My" Room:)

On Tuesday night I flew to Montreal, and got to sit with my cousin, Jana who was heading back to Ottawa. (I am a horrible person to travel with, because I fall asleep almost instantly as soon as I sit down and we start moving!!!) From Montreal, I flew straight into Munich! And somehow, I managed a seat in Business Class!! It was amazing!!! But again, my borderline narcolepsy got the best of me, and I was asleep after my gnocchi and vino.......waking up just before landing!!!

Things really were better in first class.... ruined for economy class now!!

From Munich, I took a few trains to Ruhpolding where I found the guesthouse and my polygamy family! (AKA my TAR partner,Rene, her husband Trent and son Carter!)
It was great to meet up with them and catch up!! I feel like I haven't seen Rene in a month!!!

Carter, Trent and Rene first night in Ruhpolding

So, today we did a quick day trip to Salzburg, Austria then met up with the Canmore team of Mike and Johnny! It was great to meet up with them and pick up our race packets, and have some good pasta and laughs!!

Johnny and Mike outside the train station

I think you are now caught up on the last 6 weeks.....
So tomorrow, is the last day before the race starts Saturday morning. I plan on getting a great night's sleep then taking it easy and staying stress free by doing some knitting. I know it always calms my nerves:)
So, with a longer, harder race this year, our game plan is to take it one day at a time. Don't look ahead. And be in the moment. Whatever it's going to look like this year.

I am so excited to see what route Wolfgang (aka Wolfie) has set out for us this year......I'm sure we will be cursing his name at least once again this year!

A Scare and a wake up call!!!

It's been close to 4 months since I've blogged. And to be honest, I've been having a hard time getting motivated to do it.
So much has happened during that time.

After traveling to Portugal with the Canadian Men's 200m Kayak Team for 2 weeks, I was home for 1 week, then back down to Florida for 2 weeks to work with the Canadian Canoe and Kayak Team.
After being home for 2 days, I moved into a new condo. I did almost all the moving myself, with the exception of the heavy furniture.

All the while, I kept up my running.....doing lots of trail running in Portugal, then moving into flat road running in Florida, then back on the trails when I got home. My focus in Portugal was distance, then speed on the road in Florida. So getting back to Kelowna in April, I was running the fastest I've probably ever run, while keeping my mileage high.

Trail Running in Portugal:)

Every time I switch from trail running to road running, I have a few issues with my low back and hamstrings which I usually get a few sessions of physio (IMS) and massage, then I'm ready to roll again.
With all the traveling, I was ignoring the tightness in my back, and then the intense pulling in my hamstrings. I was able to run through it, and every day vowed to start stretching....
I had 2 bad consecutive long runs.....hobbling near the end of the 3 hours.....feeling like my glutes and hamstrings were starting to cramp on me.

Then on a hilly run on May 30th, I was running downhill, stopped, and everything decided to seize up on me. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life.....barely able to get to my car and drive myself to the clinic, where Greg saw me right away!!! He diagnosed me with what I was ignoring for so long....Disc irritation, causing bilateral sciatic pain. We think it was irritated especially from all the traveling, then all the heavy lifting with moving.

He got me moving again, and I went home that night, took some anti-inflammatories and was hoping for the best.
Over the next week, I was severely humbled.....continuous pain down the back of my legs, unable to sleep, walk, sit...... Fortunately for me, I stand with my job and change position often- I felt the best when I was working!!

I got in for a CT scan within 5 days and it showed I had a disc bulge at L4/L5.
I got IMS needles 2-3 times a week by Greg Redman, and Martha Sirdevan, and massage once a week by Tao Farrell. This team was amazing, and kept me in check yet optimistic when I was feeling down.
I spent 3 weeks of doing absolutely NO activity except light core exercises, and back extensions,  and feeling my fitness slip away, and seeing my race in the Alps in September seem unfeasible......
The constant pain was wearing on me....not sleeping, feeling emotional, and quickly slipping into a depression...

So many things were racing through my mind...... I didn't want to let down my partner, Rene......I didn't want to let down our sponsors......and I wanted to do my race in the alps in September!!
I met with Rene and we talked about what was happening....she offered tremendous support, and we set a deadline of July 1st. If I wasn't running by then, then I wouldn't have time to get the fitness for the Trans Alps Race starting Sept 1st.

I left that meeting and went straight to see Martha for physio. I felt AMAZING after that....I had no sciatic pain- even with sitting!!! I was Mtn biking on the greenway 3 days later, hiking the next day, then ran for the first time 2 days later!!! It seems like my back just needed a deadline for recovery:)
It feels so great to be running again, but so amazing to be pain free!!!!


The reason that it has taken me so long to blog about this, is that it's taken some time to trust my back, and feel like my confidence has returned. I'm now into my 4th week back running, and have managed to get my weekly running volume to 14 hours this week.

And I feel like I have the best running partner, a girl could have- Rene has been an amazing support through all of this!! Can't wait to start training again with her!!

Rene and I dorking it up at race package pick up at last year's TAR

I can't thank Greg Redman and Martha Sirdevan (suite physio) from Wave Physio enough!! Not only have they been amazing physios going above and beyond to get better, but great friends and a great sense of support through all this!!!

I'm ready to train. 6 weeks. I'm excited and ready to put in the miles!!!

A long overdue THANK YOU!!!!

I can't even believe it! Rene and I are heading back to the alps to do the Trans Alps Race again in 2012!!!

It hasn't even sunk in yet, and we registered 3 weeks ago!!!
We both didn't think we'd be able to do it this year, because it is such a HUGE financial commitment, and to do it 2 years in a row seemed like too big of a stretch. But then a very gracious local company, Western Financial stepped in and offered some very generous support to us!!!!

 We are so overwhelmed by this support, it's hard to express into words!! They are making our dreams come true in the alps this year!! They are so active in the community, and support so many great causes and events! Thank you again for supporting our dreams!
We feel so supported by our community, that Rene and I are committed to giving back this year for local charities. We are looking at organizing a hill climb, and a run to Naramata to raise money for the BC Cancer Foundation- a cause that is dear to both of us!!

Rene getting lost in the weeds -Wildhorse Canyon

I'd also like to do more trail maintenance this year, especially on the trails I use on a daily basis as well as the trail to Naramata through wildhorse canyon that has become severely overgrown with no one to maintain it after all the funding cuts to Parks.

On a training run to wildhorse canyon with Kevin

This year, I am dedicated to not taking anything for granted and being grateful for every moment and every person that enriches my life. By doing this, I want to give back to the community that has been so kind and generous to me....both personally and professionally.

It's been a whirlwind month, and why this 'THANK YOU' shout out is so late. We found out about Western Financial Group's support, and signed up for the TAR 2 days before I had to fly out to Florida for 2 weeks to do massage therapy work with the Canadian Canoe and Kayak team during their spring training camp.
I love working with these guys and girls!!! Not only are they amazingly gifted and dedicated athletes, but they are a great group of people as well.

While I was there, I was asked to go to Portugal with the Men's 200 meter kayak team. After pulling some strings at work (THANK YOU!!! to all my patients who are so patient and understanding:) and to KATE and TARA- the front end staff at WAVE that do amazing work, and always with a smile!!!),
and coordinating with Bernie, (the massage therapist who works with the Canadian Canoe and Kayak Team full time), and Jason (the best dog dad ever!!!! xoxo) I committed to going.

So, here I sit at the Calgary airport waiting for my plane to Frankfurt, then on to Porto, Portugal..... where I will meet up with the team at the Nelo Training Facility for 2 weeks.
I feel very lucky these days, and I just want to say "THANK YOU" to everyone that has given me support, opportunities, love and friendship!! I appreciate you all, and I can't even tell you what it means to me to have you all in my life.  2012 is shaping up to be a great year!!

Really excited to see Portugal! Don't worry, I brought my trail runners.....

Back on Track!

It's been a while since my last post, and I was wondering the other day why that was? I think it's because it's taken me a while to get back on track after getting sick in Turkey!!! A bacterial infection and some parasites later......I can honestly say I didn't feel like myself again until late November!! I'd like to thank Udo's oil probiotics for getting me back on track!!! I think I've gone through 8 bottles since being September!!
After going down to Florida in November to work with the National Canoe and Kayak Team during their training camp, I felt motivated to get training again! Being around Olympic caliber athletes can do that!!!
I was feeling sluggish still, and trying to build some muscle I had lost in the time I was sick, all the while trying to keep my mileage up to run the Marathon in Vegas in early December.
As it turned out, I ended up only running the half....a decision I made because of the volume of runners this year- 40,000!!!! I knew that the marathon runners only started an hour and a half before the half marathon runners, so that I would have to merge in with them at the half way point after their race had been under way for only 10-20 minutes!!! I thought it would be chaotic, so I decided to run the half with Jason!
It was a great decision, as we ran the strip at night, chatting and having lots of fun!!!! On the second half, we had almost 5 lanes of road to ourselves!! There was no one around us!!! We had such a fun run!!! And by the sounds of it, about 20 minutes behind us was pure chaos, with so many people on the road, you couldn't hold your pace!!! Great decision!!!

So, as you can see, my good friend Robina and I ran the strip in matching tutus!!! It was so much fun....from the look of disdain from the "serious" runners we were lined up with in corral 1 to all the people cheering and complimenting my tutu!!!! My major claim to fame, and where my only bragging rights from the weekend come from is that I was the first tutu to cross the finish line!!! How fun:)

So after Vegas, it's been back to the bread and butter of running.....building endurance, some speed work and hill repeats. My next race is Chuckanut in the middle of March, which seems early for a 50 km!!!  The saving grace has been our weather....it's been a relatively mild winter so that we can get out on the trails, and not have to contend with too much snow.  I've been having so much fun running with friends, and doing more running on the road too!!!
One thing I've really missed this past year is my bike, so I have been doing at least 3 hours of biking a week! It feels really good to be back in the saddle again..... I feel like I'm back to my old self, feeling good and running happy again:)

Back to Reality....Or is it?

After finishing the transalps race in Latsch, Italy, I was ready for a vacation!! After spending 5 days in Northern Italy, laying on the beach and eating lots of great pizza and pasta, I was feeling really ready for some more adventures:)

Me and my new adoptive family travelled by train down to Venice for the day....after spending 3 weeks in the mountains, it was quite a culture shock to visit such a busy, touristy city!! We had a fun day, and had a lot of laughs and funny moments:) Then that night, Rene and family left to go back to Riva and I stayed the night in Venice, ready to fly out the next morning to Istanbul.

I spent such a fun and relaxing week in Istanbul with my longest, and one of my dearest friends, Charla. It was great to have someone to show me around and it was just amazing to see her!!! That is until the day before I was supposed to leave, I got incredibly sick.....we're talking a different kind of sick. I honestly thought, I was going to end up in a turkish hospital. I was so thankful to be with such a close friend who was so fabulous and thoughtful. To make a long story short, I've been struggling to this day, with this "Turkish Plague" back in Canada.

I've been totally inactive for 5 weeks, getting excited when I make it through a full work day, let alone doing any exercise. ( The only positive thing to lazing around the house is the amount of knitting I got done for christmas presents:) )
The last week has been better, and I started to run again 1 1/2 weeks ago.....I feel pretty motivated considering I have signed up for the Las Vegas Marathon in December. Yup, only 6 weeks to train for a marathon after being sick and not running for 5 weeks.
It may be ugly, but at least we will have a lot of fun:)
Everyone keeps asking me what's next. And to be honest, I haven't even thought about it.  Well,  that is, not until this week.....now I'm plotting my next adventure:)

Stage 8- WE DID IT!!!

Sept 10, 2011- Stage 8
Today we ran 30km from Schlanders to Latsch, Italy. We covered 1800 meters of climbing, and 1900 meters of descending.

I've been thinking of this day for the past 8 months....the Finish Line at the 2011 Trans Alpine Race. What would it feel like? What would I do next? Would I be relieved or sad that it was over?

After yesterday's horrible day, I was hoping today would go much better and would be more fun. The profile of the stage looked better- only 30km, and more runnable terrain!!
I woke up feeling great and ready to go!! We took off slow, and I took Rene's lead as to what pace she could hold.  I have to admit something though, when we started to climb and I saw the top women's teams slipping away and forging ahead, I just wanted to run them down and catch them all!!! Now I know that we set off to just finish this race, but after feeling so good all week and feeling stronger by the day, I just wanted to RACE!!! Now, this doesn't make any sense- at this point, the 7th place team is an hour ahead of us and this late in the game, TOTALLY unrealistic that we could move up any placements. So I struggled all the way to the top of the climb with all of the above thoughts..... fighting the urge to run as fast as I can, and knowing that it just plainly didn't make any sense, and I would be the world's worst partner if I did so. I probably shouldn't admit these things, but it was the first time I really struggled with it. I feel very guilty just admitting that I had these thoughts:(

After nearing the top of the climb though, I chilled out and relaxed a bit more.....surrendering to the moment, taking in the gorgeous views and did I mention WILD HORSES at the summit?!!!!! If they were unicorns, it would've been a dream sequence....... WOW!!!

Now, Rene and I talked the night before and we agreed that if she felt up to it we would push the downhill to the finish- to finish this race strong!! And that is what we did!!!
 Right from the summit, we pushed the technical singletrack and were laughing and giggling on the way down. Then we heard Mike and Nadja (the mixed canadian team who has been kicking ass this whole race!!)- Nadja was having stomach issues, and problems with her foot and forced to walk the downhill......We really felt for them because they were placing in the top 10 every stage up until this point.  They are so positive though, they both had smiles on their faces:) Love these guys!!!

From there, we got into the 2nd aid station pretty quick and had a quick stop, then ran hard on the forestry road down approx 6km.....then into rolling singletrack....to a flat asphalt finish for 3 km......It was like heaven.....I got my strong finish, and all my selfish thoughts from earlier completely disappeared and I remembered why we signed up for this race initially. For the Experience.  And it was an Amazing one!!! 8 days, 4 countries, 274 kilometers through the Alps with 15, 436 meters of elevation gain!! And partnership. It is all about working as a TEAM and looking out and supporting each other. Rene is my partner, but has also become a very good friend and that is something that I will cherish more than any race placement could ever offer. There is a different degree of trust and closeness that goes along with being partners in such a race. The training for months, the sharing of feelings (good and bad), the good days, the bad days.....The sharing of the whole experience is something that no one else fully understands. It has bonded us in a way that will be there forever. I am very proud and lucky to have a partner like Rene!

And my body held up!! Actually my body completely amazed me.....feeling stronger and faster every day, no muscle pain, no blisters and my foot was pain-free until stage 7!!! I was expecting to have to take anti-inflammatories every day, but I only ended up taking 2 in the 8 days-It's amazing what the body can do!
And we ended up with an 8th place finish in the women's category! Not bad for 2 girls that didn't have any "Real" mountains to train on.....instead of 1 mountain repeat, we did 10 smaller ones:)!!
I am so thankful that we finished the race with no injuries, no serious illnesses,  and no falls, which is amazing considering the gnarly terrain we were running!!!
We've had such amazing support from Valhalla pure- we had such amazing gear out there!!! We were always comfortable....wether it was in humid 30 degree heat, freezing rain or near freezing at the summit of the mountains, we had the right gear!! Thank you so much Valhalla!!

Also, I can't thank Trent and Carter enough for all of their help with the logistics of this race, and for all their cheering and support!! It was unbelievable how seamless and easy they made things for us- they worked so hard, and had to drive to all the stage towns, find guesthouses and lug gear!!! And a huge Thank You for Rene, Trent and Carter for letting me be part of their family for the last couple of weeks and for including me- It has been such a fun and great time!!! Thank you so much again for everything you have done for me:)!

So after reaching the finishing line, what was I thinking? I was thinking how much I loved to RUN, how much I loved this experience and that more importantly, I was ready for a vacation......

Stage 7.......tough day on the trails.

Sept 11, 2011- Stage 7

Today, we ran 37 km from Mals to Schlanders , Italy.  The stage had 2063 meters of climbing and 2334 meters of descending!!
After yesterday's finish, we got to start in the B gate!! I was so excited because we are notoriously late lining up every morning, and always end up being the shmucks who duck under the fence and budge in line to get an ok starting position. Starting in the B gate, we could roll in 5 minutes before race start and have a great position!

This was a hard stage, and we knew there was a nasty climb from 16 km-21 km.
Rene felt horrible the whole stage, and it only got worse. The worst thing about being in a team is when you are feeling amazing and your teammate is suffering!! You want to make them feel better, give them some of your energy, etc. But bottom line, there is very little you can do for them except try to make anything you can easier for them and support them with whatever they need.
This was a very hard stage emotionally for me (and obviously for Rene too!!!), as I hate to see my friend and teammate suffer.
On the big climb, there was a drummer, a tuba player playing music- VERY cool!! We also climbed to our highest point of the race- 3000 meters!!! Also VERY cool!!

It was hard to enjoy this stage though when my partner was having such a rough day:(
But she made it through, didn't quit and persevered as best she could- I am VERY proud of her for that!!!
Tomorrow is the last stage, and above all else- we know we will be at the finish line tomorrow!!!