New Year, Fresh Start

I've been increasing slowly, and ran for 40 minutes on New Year's Eve which felt incredible.

After, I took some moments to myself out on our back field before celebrating one of my favourite nights of the year. It was warm with some snowflakes gently falling, and the moon, even behind the clouds, made it light enough to see without a headlamp. I had happy dogs scattered all around me, and I was feeling very thankful for everyone in my life. Over the holidays we've spent some wonderful time with family and have collected nice memories and warm thoughts.

Looking up the hill at the house snuggled among the big pines, it struck me that the cabin in the woods I always dream about is sitting right there in front of me. The realization was typical of this year for me. I did some things that I am very satisfied with, but ultimately the real gift is that in doing them I know that as satisfying as reaching goals can be, happiness is more about being grateful for what we already have.

Best Advice I received when injured...

- Being Positive - After a rough day during our injuries, Derrick reminded us both that thinking positive is helpful and healing.

- Derrick encouraging me that once I get to the point of being in the woods for 30 to 45 or so minutes on a regular basis everything will seem a lot better, which is totally true and helped break the recovery into a manageable thing. Whenever I started feeling like I would never get back, I'd think of this and it helped it feel a lot closer.

- Derrick again, on improving form. If I hit a higher stride rate, I won't overstride. Turnover turnover turnover. Doing a lot of barefoot this summer helps it feel natural.

- Think Spring - Asking Greg Lehman about training and racing again and him telling me to 'think spring'. It made me feel kind of sick to hear, but it was good to know so that I could settle in to the recovery process and accept the reality of it.

Happy birthday to Meela, our millenium sibe and pack leader, who is ten.

Perspective

I've been writing about my injury a lot, but with the benefit of time I have more perspective on it than I did when I first started rambling on about it earlier this fall.

In the time I've been running, this is only my second injury that has required any significant time to heal. The last one was five years ago, when I wrecked my foot during our Rideau Trail fastpack.

There were a few things that led to this injury (a degeneration of tendons in my hip and hamstring):

- I think I'm really good about recovery day-in and day-out, but taking any larger amount of longer, seasonally-based recovery is something I never seem to get around to.

- As runners we can develop a weird relationship with pain. It's sometimes hard to distinguish pain we should pay attention to as opposed to the type that is just a normal part of training.

- After R&I I just wanted to keep going and run a 50 miler. Why start over when I was already there? My aerobic base was my limiting factor for so long, and after a few years of solid mileage, it was seductive to think I could just keep going. My legs were suddenly the things holding me back, which was a strange thing for me, and in hindsight I didn't pay enough attention to what that was telling me. That led to compensating by recruiting other muscle groups, and before I knew it the whole house of cards was falling around me.

- Advil. I started to pop it during races. Never. Again. I can see it being helpful for really long races when used sparingly to relieve muscle soreness. Turns out I was actually masking signs I should have paid more attention to.

- Overstriding, especially on snowshoes.

- Yoga - doing too much too soon. I don't think yoga caused my injury, but I started getting really into it and doing more than I was ready for, which didn't help. I hope to get back to it next year as I really enjoyed it.


Some good things to come out of this injury:

- Huge renewal to my enthusiasm. Getting to the point of missing it deeply and appreciating it more.

- Not being hungry all the time. I can skip a meal and not want to eat my arm.

- Having more time, which is good timing because work has been busy. Change of pace in general. When I get back to harder training, I plan to keep a better balance.

- I always say that if running can't teach you patience, nothing will. Bingo. Again. Learning.

- Deep healing. For example my big toe joints aren't sore for the first time since I can even remember. Toenails are even growing back.

- Working on form. I don't believe in overhauling form, rather tweaking over time and getting in touch with what works for you. I've now been chopping my stride right down and working on turnover. Barefoot has helped me so much this year, because it helped me get in tune with my own natural form, and it feels right.

- Realizing I can live without running. It isn't my life, it's just part of my life.

I don't have time right now, but next time I'll post about the best advice I've received during my downtime.
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I started typing all of the above on Sunday, before one of our beautiful dogs, Cody, died on Monday. None of that other stuff seems to matter as much now, and I still miss our golden boy terribly and feel a void in my heart. Last night driving home, the sunset was gorgeous, with a bit of a "sundog" effect shooting up into the sky. I took comfort in thinking that maybe Cody's energy had something to do with it. But still, I would prefer that we could sit on his house and watch it together, and I could give him a big furry hug and scratch his softest, dark ears. Then maybe one more time I could watch him trot across the snow and ice looking undeniably wolfish. We never got to say goodbye to our friend, but take comfort in many fond memories and knowing he lived a long and happy life. Derrick and I play a silly game where we pose questions like, "If all the dogs were rock stars, who would they be?" If Cody were a rockstar he would be Eddie Vedder, and he would have penned this wise and haunting song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aePWkeDxRjE

Turning the corner and other news

Whoo hooo. I'm starting to feel a bit optimistic that I've turned a bit of a corner with this injury. The past week has felt much better, and I'm starting to very gradually add more running. I did a half-hour run last week, and also did three days in a row. Both were firsts for a long time. Yesterday was our first snowfall of the season, and it was almost unbearable to not run, but I somehow managed it.


Some other stuff: My brother Jeff and his family are in Australia for the winter. They are keeping a blog of their adventures here. It's been fun to follow what they are up to. Here they are before they left (Jeff, Heather, Whit, Sully).


















A really nice sunset this fall:

Halloween at our place is followed by the annual Smashing Pumpkins event.

I went through a puzzle phase early in my injury. I'm over it now. The cats were very helpful.

These La Sportiva stickers say on the back: Stick it to your car, your helmet, your dog, or whatever. Siku played along, but then gave me a look as if to say, "Don't you wish you could run instead of playing with stickers?" Bad doggie.

I took these this morning of the pretty snow.

Hi from the Pit

Still waiting here patiently in the pit stop, watching the world run by.

Since this is a running blog, I don't have much to write about. Things are improving, but it's a slow process. I'm actually running a few times a week really short, and doing a bit of elliptical. It really could be a lot worse, though it's still a long way from my usual training.

I know it's an investment in healing that will pay off in the end. To be back 100% will make it all worth it.

Solo Flight, Feb 2007

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I had the day off for Heritage Day, and I sat finishing my coffee while watching the sunlight stir up twinkles in the snow outside. Filled with a rush of energy that had nothing to do with caffeine, I sprang up and threw on my warm clothes and boots. I was on a mission - this was the day of my first solo dogsled ride with our huskies. (I had driven the dogs before, but had always had Derrick with me helping to hook up, and be there in case something went wrong.)

This was before we had Siku, so I had a four husky team. Knowing the dogs as well as I do made it even more special to share this with them. It was the most exhilarating expreience ever, working with the dogs and moving through the gorgeous winter landscape. The ride was about 25 minutes, though it seemed timeless. The last part was a downhill and they raced to the finish where they rolled in the snow to cool themselves off. I gave them snacks and we hung around all proud of ourselves for a while before heading home.

Later, when I had settled myself back onto the couch, the Olympians in my backyard started singing their sweet howling chorus. My heart sang along with them: thank you, too.

Here’s a video I took from the sled. As usual, Meela (in lead on left) is smarter than me. It’s okay, I’m used to it.

A Week in Banff

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We arrived in Banff National Park last Thursday. The drive from Calgary was amazing, with the late afternoon sun turning the entire landscape golden. As we headed west, the abrupt line of mountains rose higher with every passing minute. Soon we were swallowed up by them; more mountains than you could count. We had arrived in paradise.

Even though we were tired and hungry from the day of travel, we couldn't wait to go for a short run. We found a trail near our hotel and got our first taste of the Rockies on some meandering trails near our hotel.

The next day, we drove up to Lake Louise and ran the Agnes Tea House trail and then up to Little Beehive. Unfortunately, the road to Moraine Lake was closed for the season, though at least that helped us narrow down our endless choices. This entire area is usually very busy, but this late in the season, and with the trail being icy, we had it almost to ourselves. Our Kahtoola Microspikes allowed us to run without any problems at all. Little Beehive was 7,300', so I'm not sure if it was my lack of fitness, the altitude, or the incline, but it was a challenging run. As always, totally worth it with the feeling of accomplishment and the views. It was gorgeous looking out over Bow Valley, at the mountain ranges, and down to the brilliantly-coloured Lake Louise.

That night we were invited to have dinner with Leslie and Keith at their amazing place right on the edge of town, partway up a mountain. They made us the most amazing meal and we had a fun night of hearing their stories of adventures in the park. We learned a ton and it helped us get inspired and prepared for the rest of our time.

Saturday took us to the Johnson Canyon trail and out to the Inkpots. It was a nice valley with some beautiful views even though the day was mostly overcast. I could breathe the crisp mountain air right down to my toes. Even with less oxygen, at this height anyway I'd happily trade it for the humidity of home.

We drove over to Canmore that night to meet up with our friends Gene and Sue. Their place is amazing, nestled up a mountain with the greatest views in every direction.

Sunday, we drove further north, past Lake Louise and up the Icefields Parkway. It was a bright sunny morning, and we were gaping at the unreal views the whole way. We stopped at Peyto Lake on the way up, then reluctantly turned around at the Saskatachewan River Crossing. I wanted so badly to keep going, but that will be for another trip. On the way back we stopped at Bow Lake for a run. It was cloudy now, but it suited the barren landscape we ran into. It felt like another planet.

We checked into the Banff Centre, where my CIRPA conference started on Sunday night with one of the three great keynote speakers they brought in. Monday morning I got my presentation on GIS over with early, then was able to relax for the other speakers.

Tuesday was a full day of talks, but over lunch time I ran up Tunnel Mountain which was just five mintues from the conference hotel. I loved this little run, as it had many switchbacks and easy footing to make it just a nice workout up and runnable down without too much pounding. Derrick met up with Magi in Canmore for a run in the snow at the Nordic Centre. That night we went to dinner at Melissa's in Banff with Gene and Sue, where a few mountains of nachos and beer went down over many laughs and stories.

Our last run on Wednesday was Lake Minnewanka, where we did an out-and-back to near the end of the lake. Some mountain goats met us in the parking lot and enjoyed cleaning our car while we were gone. What a gorgeous run, and we had a nice sunny day for a lot of it. The views were spectacular, and the footing a little more technical than most of the other runs we had done out here. It had a few rolling hills, but was mostly flat.

We toured around Canmore for a bit of shopping, and were happy to run into Liza for a quick hello. On our way back to the airport in Calgary, we had one more visit on our calendar - dinner with cousin Wes and his wife Ally in Cochrane. Another great visit and delicious home cooking.

All in all, not a bad week of running considering we were both a bit injured. My hip and hammy held up okay I think/hope. Having started some rehab going into the week probably saved me, though I took it beyond the limit of what I should have, ideally. Ah well, we were in the Rockies, what can you do. To top it off, at the end of Sunday's run at Bow Lake I fell hard on a patch of ice just a few steps from the car (stupid parking lot hazzard!) and landed on my sore hip. Nice!

I'll post my favourite photos in a separate post.

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Banff Photo Gallery