Australia Adventures - Part 1

Well, Australia has been good to us so far.  Our Number One observation has been that Australians are a warm, generous, welcoming and giving people.  We've been spending time in smaller places mostly and people seem to be willing to give you their right arm if you need it.  Be it that Keith and I are also like-minded folks, we've been having lots of great interactions and adventures.
We started our trip on the right note - that is, with a visit with my uncle in Port Stephens.  Uncle Ronny picked us up direct from the Sydney Airport and whisked us off into a far more relaxing corner of Australia.  His backyard is populated with quiet beaches, bays and villages and was the perfect low-key way to ease ourselves into this journey.  My uncle is also a wonderful, warm, generous man who has a great sense of humour.  Our time with him was thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing and fun.  Thanks Uncle Ronny!

During my time in this area, we made a trip to visit the lovely Gretel Fortman and go for a run in Brisbane Waters National Park.  It's an amazing pocket of nature located not-to-far from the metropolous of Sydney, but it felt wild and wonderful.  The run from Girrakook to Patonga is highly recommended.  It was a hot day and I was super-happy to find a killer swimming hole to jump in.  Gretel's home town of Terrigal is absolutely lovely, as is the lady herself and her family.  It was great to connect up with another runner girl and this girl rocks!  Watch out for this one - she's not only gorgeous, but young, athletic and talented.  Gretel spent a fab year and a half working and training in Squamish and has had a helluva' running season.  With great finishes at White Mountain and a top 10 finish at UTMB this year, the girls got legs to go with a sparkling personality. 

Gretel in her playground

After our time with Ronny, Keith and I got in the car and made our way North to Yampa where we would base ourselves for a few days while we enjoyed the Yuraygir Coastal Walk.  I knew nothing about this walk apart from reading this little brochure, but when I found out it was the largest stretch of undeveloped shoreline in all of NSW, I decided we needed to go and see this place. 

The Coastal Walk was amazing!!  It was an amazing stretch of coastline, with crazy beautiful scenery, remote villages and long stretches of walking on the beach.  We followed the "path of the Emu" in hopes of seeing a rare coastal emu.  In our time we saw dolphins, sea eagles, whales, incredible bird-life, beaches and shared the trail with kangaroos.  We didn't see an emu, but we did find emu tracks and scat on the trail.  We saw virtually no people on the trail and most encounters where with locals where we were close to the villages.  On our first day, we came across a naked guy, just walking along with his sunhat and sunglasses on.  He was carrying an apple and a smile and was barefoot.  I surprised him walking around a blind corner and greeted him with a warm and chuckling "Hello Mr. Naked Guy!" to which he had a laugh.  He was also kind and generous and offered up some great local knowledge.  I just had to avert my gaze from time to time.

 Most Aussies have brown feet and a flip-flop tan.  I do NOT.

 Heading down to the beach on the Yuraygir Coastal Walk

 Walking in my bikini bottoms - Why Not?!?

 Sunset at the campground - Sandon River

 Longest stretch of beach walking- 10km on Sandon Beach

The lack of people on this walk was a serious highlight, as was the incredible scenery and the encounters with the few people we encountered along the way. We met a couple outside of the village of Sandon, who took us in, fed us and got us blindly drunk with one of those bottomless-glasses-of-wine. It just kept getting re-filled and the next thing you know, Keith and I where not just drunk, but plain-ol' shit faced. It took us 2 cups of coffee to get us out on the trail and it was a long walk in the sunshine, but totally worth every moment.

Berna and Cora - on the headland behind their house

We did 100km in 4 days - with a bonus night spent at a lovely campground close to town for an easy walk back to civilisation.  The Yuraygir Coastal Walk was amazing on so many levels, highly recommended if you wanted to do something well off the beaten track.  You can't go wrong with a place this remote and beautiful.  So far, Australia has proven itself to be a big, beautiful wonderful world.

Shits and Giggles

Beware. Banff Trail Trash is about to get trashy. There's going to be some potty-talk here. Brace yourself because it's all shits and giggles!!
Poo. There's been a lot of it this month. I got the Fever! The Beaver Fever. *Insert bad jokes here please.* That's Canadian-speak for Giardia. It's a nasty little critter which takes hold of your guts and reaks havoc. Essentially, aliens have colonised and reproduced in my intestines. It's been crappy, so to speak and I've been feeling like Ass. The Aliens made me sick for quite a long time. I was out of commission for a couple of weeks with The Fever and my energy has been slow to return. But I'm back! I'm feeling good. Moving on and moving forward. Life has certainly been passing, as fast as projectile poo and bad gas!

After 2 weeks of zilch, nada, zero activity - I was itching to get out. It was time for some shits and giggles. I eased myself back in the saddle with a road trip to visit my folks in Creston B.C and a 2 day backpack with the lovely Danni. I thought I would try and see if I had enough energy to walk, yet alone run. It was an awesome summer weekend in Montana and while I wasn't feeling 100%, it sure was glad to be back in the saddle.

I'm having problems downloading the Montana photos, but trust me when I say Danni took us to a beautiful place.  I had great company in Keith, Danni, Amber and the 2 puppy dogs to keep me entertained.  My energy was still in the tank, but I managed to backpack for 2 days and I sure did enjoy the relaxing.  It was an honest-to-goodness summer weekend with time spent lounging in the sun, playing with doggies, swiimming in the beautiful Crater Lake and it was even warm enough to sleep without a tent fly.  I sure do love my Montana friends and their fine backyard! 

I jumped in with both feet the next weekend, with a 3 day mountain bender. My energy was perking up, so I needed to get moving again.  The weekend was crazy weather-wise. On the Friday, I found myself high atop Northover Ridge in winter-like conditions. Snow had accumulated and the conditions were sketchy enough for us to turn around. Craziness!

Let's Go There!!

Waaaaay Up There!!

Where we came from....

Views

Views.....

....thinking about Winter

...cornice in September!!

...and more Views!!

Despite the snow, Northover Ridge was an amazing place to spend a September day.  It was Awesome with a capital A.  It's an incredible beautiful place and I'll be back next summer. Up high on the ridge line, the conditions got sketchy, so we turned around and lived to "run" another day.  Still, Mike and I had a great day and a fun adventure!

The 2 days that followed were perfect summer days. Oh the difference of a day! 

The sun came out and just like that, summer was back.  It was incredibly calm, we enjoyed clear blue skies, sunshine and warm temperatures to get us all blissed out.  Our friend Lara was visiting on the long weekend, so we decided to go hike the Lake Louise Teahouse Circuit.  You can visit both Lake Agnes and Plains of Six Glaciers in a day - and we added in a bonus hike of both the Little Beehive and the Big Beehive.  We beat the crowds by starting early and had the place to ourselves.  It was a great day and it felt good to stretch out my legs which were surprisingly sore from the day before.  I guess that is what happens when you don't run for 2 weeks!

Lake Louise

The next day, I was joined by some of my favorite Goofballs Miles, Monica and Nicki.  We decided on an extra-special destination and ran a run that features some of the most gorgeous yet accessible scenery in all of Banff National Park. We ran a gorgeous route from Moraine Lake to Lake Louise.

It's the beginning of a Great Adventure!

Heading towards Sentinel Pass

Views from the South Aspect of Sentinel Pass

The North facing side of the pass was still covered in snow and ice.  It was tricky footing as we made our way through the boulder field, the rocks were super icy.  Then we got to make a glissade through the fresh avalanche debris to get us to the bottom in one piece. ;) 

Eventually, we made our way down Paradise Valley and past Lake Annette, before turning abruptly skyward and beginning the ascent up Saddleback.  The views climbing upwars were simply astounding, with great views of Mount Temple the whole way.  At the top of the Saddleback, we coudn't resist scrambling up to the summit of Fairview Mountain - one of the most accessible scrambles in the area.

From there, we had a quick fun descent down to the shoreline of Lake Louise where we couldn't resist jumping in the lake.  It was mayhem on the shoreline of Lake Louise with it being a long weekend and a beautiful day and I'm sure the crowds were entertained by the shenanigans of these 2 lovely ladies.

Glacier Fed!

And then as a grand finalee to a Most Excellent Day, I had to bust out my own personal salute to Lake Louise.

I Love you Lake Louise!

Finally, my energy felt almost normal this week so I was excited to make the drive out to Mount Robson for the inaugral Mount Robson Marathon.  It was an absolute perfect weather weekend and I couldn't pass up my one chance to run a race on the Berg Lake Trail.  As a bonus, I had some great surprise company for the road trip in the form of  my friend Martin Gaffuri.  Martin is from Annecy, France and is part of the extended Trans Rockies family.  We stopped for a run at Parker's Ridge because the weather was so damn incredible.  It was a rather amazing day to be driving the Icefields Parkway with not a cloud in the sky.

French Beefcake!

Upon arriving in Mount Robson Provincial Park, I don't think I ever recall seeing Mount Robson so clearly.  As the largest peak in the Canadian Rockies, it's huge, massive and impressive.  We had a visit with the rest of the friends who were running before heading back to the campground for an early night.

Mount Robson

As one of my favorite trails, I was stoked to be running an actually race in this incredible place.  The Mount Robson Marathon was a one-time only event to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of B.C Parks.  Only 100 people were allowed to run and it was to be a special day for all.  The marathon started at 7:30 in the AM on a beautiful clear cool morning.  I had no expectations on this day and started slow with almost everyone charging out in front of me.  I was expecting a lot of them would come back to me and I was right.  Eventually, I passed a whole bunch of them on the steep climb up - and I walked every inch of it with my hiking poles.  I was looking forward to seeing Berg Lake and Mount Robson under a clear blue sky and when we reached the turn-around there were all sorts of awestruck first-timers gawking at the lake.  This was my 4th time to Berg Lake, but I was equally in awe.  I snapped a few photos before turning around and blazing down the trail.  As soon as the trail turned downhill, I started passing people and I had lost track of how many when I reached the bottom of this awesome descent.  I was having fun and gaining some serious momentum.  I kept it going right to the finish line, elated to be finishing happy and strong and feeling much more like myself.  I think I got my mojo back!!

Sadly, I'm having trouble posting my Berg Lake photos - but you should all seriously put Mount Robson and Berg Lake on your life list.   It's that good.

On that note, I'm all caught up.  That's been a snip of my life the past 3 weeks.  Now, I'm embarking on a new adventure as I right this post from the airport.  Keith and I are leaving for Australia today for 3 whole months!  Now that IS exciting.  It's all about Shits and Giggles.  And Adventures, too!

Finding Inspiration in Your Own Backyard - Ironlegs 50 Mile Race Report

It's not hard to find inspiration in my own backyard:  everywhere I look the mountains, lakes and valleys inspire.  This past week, the Trans Rockies bike race rolled through my backyard and I wanted to go get a taste of some Trans Rockies bike action.  I love this organization, this race and these people. I've said it before and I'll say it again:  Trans Rockies Rocks.  With Keith participating, I thought I would head out on course and cheer like a crazed woman.

So, the day before my "big race" I went and climbed up a mountain.  After my mountain bender, I was feeling pretty trashed all week and had zero expectations for race day - so I thought, Why Not?  My legs are already tired.  Maybe it will loosen them up.

 One Sweet Day on Cox Hill

I threw caution to the wind and hiked up Cox Hill with an elevation gain of around 700 meters. Plus, I really wanted to see the Trans Rockies riders in action and surprise Keith.  At the summit of Cox Hill, the view is absolutely stunning.  I could also see the cyclists winding their way up this ribbon of single track, way off in the distance.  It was the prime viewing spot to see all of the action and just a beautiful place to take it all in.  The trail connects up with Jumpingpound Ridge, a wonderful flowing ridge line trail which beckons off in the distance.  Jumpingpound Ridge and Cox Hill is prime Alberta mountain biking.  It's a rollicking, rolling, challenging trail that flows sweet and smooth over ridge and mountain.  It also happened to be the very same trail that I would be traveling during my race the very next day.

Arriving at the summit, it was a picture perfect blue sky day in Kananaskis Country.  I love this place on the front range, the rolling views looking East and the stunning grey peaks looming to the West.  The meadows of wild flowers, expansive views and mountains in all directions make it a very special place.

 And so, I sat and waited.  It wasn't long before the lead riders appeared in the distance, legs churning, climbing, spinning their way up to my perfect perch on the top of Cox Hill.  They crested the top, high-fived, sat up for a moment to take a breath and disappeared into the woods.  Last year, I was also here - on a day that was entirely different.  I had seen these this same team in action, powering up the mountain while being buffeted from all directions by wind and snow.  It was dramatic, compelling stuff.    When I threw my hands up in the air and shouted, "Yay!  No blizzard!" they dropped their game faces for a moment and grinned.

Slowly, the rest of the pack started appearing and they all shared one thing in common:  they were pushing their bikes and had steely-glazed-over-eyeballs.  Afterall, it was Day 6 of a 7 day race and it was the 3rd major climb of the day.  This race is incredibly challenging - you've got to have mad skills and you've got to be tough.  My loud cheering and jumping up and down usually snapped them back into reality and I was rewarded with lots of smiles, cheers and positive vibes.

It was pretty darn cool to see everyone come up that mountain - and I saw it all.  A lead guy with a snapped chain, happy smiling couples, riders in need of food, water, chain lube, tubes.  People enjoying the day, people suffering, people desperately in need of a few calories.  People on single speeds, people on tandems and people sharing the love of the bike.  I also met a couple who asked me to take there photo - because it was their wedding day.  How cool is that?

  Whoa.  Trans Rockies on a Tandem

I even got to see lots of familiar faces - riders and volunteers of years gone by.  It was awesome to see my friend Alana flying up the hill, leading the charge for the women.  For her, and only her, I bust out the Leslie Ass and gave it a little slap as I ran up the trail ahead of her.  Nothing like a little Ass to inspire.

 Gary, putting on his best Tough Guy face.

Eventually, I heard the chatter of a familiar voice off in the distance.  It was Keith talking up storm, like it was just another Saturday ride.  You know, Just Riding Along.  My husband is amazing. He was on volunteer duty, riding at the back-of-the-pack as a Trans Rockies ambassador, riding, socializing and clearly enjoying himself.  He was also totally surprised and happy to see me, as he thought I'd be saving my legs for my big day.

Lucky for me, Keith was in no hurry - so we sat down and had a little quality time while waiting for the rest of the back-of-the-packers.  Still, they came by:   people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and ages - all with the goal of getting to the finish line.  It was all so impressive. I was feeling awfully inspired watching all these people endure.

After waiting for the final cyclists and the sweep to come through, I headed down off my perch and back to the car.  I spent a great evening at Trans Rockies camp, visited lots of friends, enjoyed a Trans Rockies wedding, some great food and some great fun.  After that, I hopped in my mini-van and drove off into the sunset, giddy and smiling at such a wonderful day.  I rolled into the Station Flats parking lot where my race would be starting at 6:00AM in the morning, stretched out in my sleeping bag and slept like a baby.  Oh, sweet exhaustion.

I awoke to a parking lot full of runners, slammed down a mini-thermos full of coffee, a Pro Bar and hit the start line.  I was half awake and someone was kind enough to point out that my shirt was inside out.

Well, the coffee eventually kicked in and I blinked wide-eyed at my early morning surroundings. It was another beautiful day. I was wide awake by the time I crossed the Moose Mountain Road - and thrilled to see friends Julie and Mario on volunteer duty.  There was a lot of hugging and socializing to be done on this day!  I was warming up slowly and running comfortably, but I couldn't help but turn on the jets on the first big descent.  Weeeeee!  Such fun. I flew by a few people.  My quads are built for descending.


At Powderface Aid Station, Mairead and Sandy were on volunteer duty  and there was already a huge crowd gathering at 7:30 in the morning.  The biggest surprise of all was running into my buddy Evan, who was heading out on the same trail for an early morning mountain bike ride.  He's a dad of 4, so the mans got to get his ride time in early.  Was that ever a great treat! We hooted and hollered all through the woods as we climbed up to the saddle of Powderface Mountain.  Brenda caught up with me for a bit and we tag teamed for awhile on the trail.  Surprisingly, my legs were feeling great as I powered up this climb and I flew down the descent on the other side.  I zoomed through the Ford Creek section and passed a few guys who were already looking done.  Ironlegs can also be run as a relay - so it was hard to know who was a soloist and who was running the relay. 

At Aid station #2, Brenda and I headed out within seconds of each other and it was great to have company through this short boggy section.  Once we hit the climb up Jumpingpound, I settled back in to my power hike.  I was feeling strong, ridiculously happy and the climb was feeling easy.  I had hoped to be on Jumping Pound summit by 11:30 and I was ahead of schedule.  At the summit,  I was thrilled to see 2 of my favorite Silver Foxes Wayne Gaudet  and Adrien Feddema.  These boys have leg speed and are always kicking butt when they race.  We took some awesome photos and they made every runner tag the "official" summit.

Helloooo, Boys!

Are my quads really bigger than Waynes?

Jumpingpound Summit

Runners nearing the summit

Well, at this point I'm so stoked I can't control myself.  I go sprinting down the singletrack like a crazed woman and pass a bunch of people.  The descent off Jumpingpound is fun and I'm making my bear noises and whooping uncontrollably out loud.  I'm even passing bikers and hikers, when I hear someone shout "Is that Leslie?"  It's my friend Kamren Farr, who's running on a relay team.  I get to enjoy some quality time with Kamren and we climb Cox Hill together, chatting and visiting and happy to be in this place.

We stop on the top of Cox Hill for photos and I'm thinking of all those cyclists that I had watched in this same place, only one day earlier.  It's almost weird, but there I am running my own race only one day later.  Fortunately for me, I'm not suffering rather I'm having a helluva' great day in this beautiful place.

Along the way we pick up Naomi Humenny, who saves the day by giving me a gel.  Phew.  Thanks Naomi.  And so good to finally meet you!
 

 Gel! Gel! Gel!

And then comes the fun part!  The incredible descent down to the bottom of the valley and the Dawson Aid Station.  The Leslie Quads are loving this and I fly down, fast, relaxed and easy.  I love the downhills, but I was having so much fun and going so fast that I almost feared I may have over done it.  Somewhere on the descent, I come across Mr. Trail Trash Hugh Magill who is out for a short run with his dogs.  It's always great to see Hugh!

There's a huge crowd at Dawson Aid Station and my friends Julie and Chris are there to take care of me.  They refill my bladder and send me off on my way for a pretty quick turn around.  I stop to soak my head in the creek and wrap a wet bandana around my neck - the day is heating up.  It's only 7km to the next aid station of largely flat, cruisey soft double track.  Along the way I pick up the lovely Terri Gale from Tumbler Ridge, B.C.  We run the 7km together and the kilometers click by quickly while we visit.  I quickly determine that Terry is a beautiful and amazing woman with a kind soul.  She's a few years younger than me and a mother of 3 boys.  She tells me that her oldest son is 16 years old, 6'7" tall and autistic.  Wow.

Charlie Breakey is waiting for us at the Spruce Grove Aid Station and I catch a glimpse of my friend Jen Silverthorn on a short out and back section.  She's ahead of me by at least 10 -15 minutes and I cheer her on.  It's her longest ultra Post baby, and it's been a long road back for her.  I'm stoked to see her rockin' it.

The next section is Slog-arrific.  It's rolling, runnable, hot and covered in cow shit.  I come across a couple of guys that are suffering.  I'm feeling the heat, but my body and my legs are still feeling great. I stay moving and am doing a lot of self-talk at this point.  Go! Go! Go!  I tell myself.  Pick 'em Up!  Pick 'em Up! Pick 'em Up!  I'm talking to my feet.  It seems to work.  All of a sudden, the scenery becomes familiar.  It's been years since I've been to this place and on these trails!  The trails of West Bragg are a place that I've spent a ton of time, back when I was a mountain biker 15 years ago.  I think of my old friend Ann Dahlberg who gave me a painting of this exact place for my wedding.  Cool.

It's good to be back in this place.

Moose Loop my old favorite mountain bike trail!

As I arrive in to the West Bragg Aid Station, friends Katherine Labonte and Alan Lam are there to take care of us.  Jen is also there and while she's not bonking, she's not feeling so good.  We head out together, walking and she asks if I want to walk together for a bit - but I can't.  I've got that horse-to-the-barn disease, when I realize that I've only got 10km left and I'm feeling good.  

Jen and I

So, I put my head down, put on the jets and went.  With only a couple of kilometers to go, I'm flying down the one last descent when I pass a gal like she's standing still.  I don't know if she's a soloist, but I'm running hard straight through to the finish line because of it.  I don't know where this energy is coming from, but I'm going with it and finishing fast and strong.  Where did that come from?  I was thrilled with my time of 11:09 on this challenging course with such a ridiculous amount of elevation.  My pie-in-the-sky goal had been 12 hours, so to say I was pleased is an under-statement!  Overall, I think this was one of the best races I've run, where everything just came together and I felt great all day. Who would have thought?  I wish it could always feel this easy!  So, there it is.  A truly inspired weekend.  And fun. Lots of fun.

It was very cool to know every one at the aid stations and be at the receiving end of lots of hugs and encouragement.  This is why local races rock!   Thanks to Jamie and Tasha Nott, all of the Trail Trash who were out there volunteering and to all of the racers out there.  Historically, I haven't been able to compete in this one due to it's proximity to the Trans Rockies Run but this year, I finally got to run it!  Thanks y'all for a great day. 

Results here. 

Brenda, happy to be done!