Running: It Warms the Heart

It's a beautiful day in the Most Glorious Place on Earth - the town of Banff, Banff National Park, Alberta Canada.

Damn, it's good to be home. Life is good when you come home from a kick-ass holiday and you're glad to be home. Coming home to Banff is always like that whether it's 2 days or 2 weeks. When I pull into my drive way, there's always a deep exhale of breath, pleasure and the warm-fuzzy feeling of Pheeeeew. I'm home. Yes.

My adventure in Europe was exactly that - a huge and monumental journey in every sense of the word. I survived 3 days of Tor des Geants and it was so awesome. My 3 days on the trail were absolutely mind-blowing and a joy to spend in the company of my friend Angela. We had a lot of fun. Nicki said it best when she described this race as "the most mind-blowingly beautiful, well-organized, soul-destroyingly difficult and memorable race I've ever done."

Unfortunately, I injured myself and called it quits at the end of Day 3, almost happily. I hadn't quite got to the "soul-destoyingingly difficult" part of this race, but I certainly had a good taste. I had 3 of the toughest mountain days that I have EVER had on trail and loved every moment of it. As well as the race, my time spent enjoying the company of good friends was equally as enjoyable, as was the short trip I made after the race. All and all - a great European adventure.

Naturally, I'm putting together a blog post to share my thoughts and photos. My 3 days were a bit of a blur of mountains, high mountain passes, people and lack of sleep. Hopefully, I can put it all into perspective. Congrats to all of the finishers of this race - especially to Angela and Nikki and the rest of the contingent, Bruce, Beat, Dan and Craig. To finish this race is impressive beyond words - so congratulations my friends!

Today, is the annual running of a Banff fall tradition - the Melissa's Road Race. It warms my heart to see the town full of runners, appreciating, enjoying and running through the town of Banff. So, congrats to all of the fine people who ran their first 10km or half marathon right here in Banff. It impressed me to see the back of the packers, struggling, moving forward one step at a time. I was out there cheering, shouting out loud: You Guys Rock! Go Runners! You Can Do It! I just wanted to share the love. The love of something so simple as putting one foot in front of the other.

Saturday, September 25th - Melissa's Road Race 2010 Edition

So, here's to running! You bring me so many good people, good places and beautiful adventures. Thanks to all of the friends who attempted this crazy-ass-silly-fun-ridiculously-challenging race in Italy - the Tor des Geants. Wasn't that a grand adventure? An even bigger Congrats to those of you who got to the finish line, I'm forever impressed with your strength and mental fortitude.