My Leap Year Run
5 km
+5 Degrees Celcuis
Cloud, No Wind
Feb 29th and I Wore Shorts

Extra Day

Oh, just throw an extra day in there to get the drift back on track! That’s what today is, and they call it a "Leap Year"! A day chucked in to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. I still don’t know why they pick the word "leap" for the type of year to call it. When I think of "leap" I think of jumping over, like playing "leap" frog! Or skipping over or hopping over, but we’re not leaping over anything.

But, I’ll take this extra day! I’ll make it an extra special " me day"! Take a vacation day to make it an extra long weekend! Sleep in a little extra longer! Have an extra cup of coffee! Send an extra smile someone’s way! Throw in an extra run! Show some extra skin running, after-all it’s going to be plus 10! Pick up some extra groceries (chips, chocolate)! Have an extra glass of wine! Read a few extra pages! Write an extra blog! Have an extra desert! Go to bed extra late!

There’s lots to pack in to make the best of it because it’s another four years before we get another extra day thrown in!

Today's Run

12 km

Edworthy & Return

-8 Degrees Celcius

No Wind

Fresh & Exciting

It’s A Keeper!

I tried it out for the first time today! It had been stored away waiting for the perfect occasion and that turned out being today. I wasn’t expecting it to happen this soon, April sometime would have been more realistic.

It fits, it’s the right size. It felt good. I gave it a try of 75 minutes worth and found all parts are in working order. Those in the know say there will need to be adjustments. Today was the first time I tried out my new Trek bike since I got it at Christmas. It’s a keeper!

Now I have a reason to shop! I want some new little toys. I need a bottle holder, I want an odometer, I would like to have a new helmet, I should have cycling gloves. Tomorrow I will know if I am in need of proper bottoms.

Doctor! Doctor! Give me the news...

....I got a bad case of....! Well, I don’t have a health issue right now but I do have a bad case of trying to find a Doctor for when I do have a health issue! My Doctor retired in December, I went to her for 23 years. Now, it’s time to replace her and I am not having much luck. I did make a bit of headway this morning but I am not out of the woods yet.

I did the online search for those Doctors accepting new patients. I got my list (a very short one) and started making phone calls. It became a circus of laughs amongst my coworkers as they could not help but overhear my conversations, and then when I shared the reasons with them for being declined, the laughter became buckled over hysteria! This is not a laughing matter I say!!!

Can you believe these responses I got when I placed the calls?

1. "Call back in three weeks"
2. "Send a blank email saying new patient in title section then read our 6 page response"
3. "NOOOO!"
4. "Where do you live?" I say in "B..." She says "you're too far away." I say "I’m right next door." She says "NO!"
5. "Call 911 or health-link"
6. "We can set up a Meet the Doctor appointment for 10 minutes but it's no guarantee she will accept you."

So I have a "Meet the Doctor" appointment for mid March. That’s the headway I made! "Meet the Doctor", it makes me think of those meet and greet online dates you hear about or those speed dating events. I’m hoping the Doctor likes me and that I like her. I hope we make a connection. I hope we will have a second meeting and something will develop. I hope there will be a long lasting relationship like there was with my last Doctor.

Geesh! What has become of our medical system?

Resolutions Review

It’s more than half way through February and about time for a "Resolutions Review’ on those 50 that I made on December 31st.

Knowing my little book sits there with the 50 listed, big spaces in between each resolution for progress notes and check marks, is an incentive for me to make sure there are positives to promote. I want to be a successful winner!

All that being said, I have made great progresses. Got to make lots of check marks (they are backwards left handed ones but they are check marks). I even surpassed one resolution! And it’s only just a little more than half way through February. I will check back in a little more than half way through April for an update.

P.S. I have to get back at flossing more often. That resolution only lasted three weeks.

Coast to Coast

From the Pacific to the Atlantic! I’ve been there, to lighthouses on each coast, the Fisgard Lighthouse in British Columbia and Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse in Nova Scotia. And here they are, an acrylic painting of each by my artistically talented friend.

These paintings represent so much more than what you see before you here or what I see when I look at them hanging on my kitchen wall. A lighthouse, on its own, alone, means something to me, different than what they may stand for, for your average person. When I look at a lighthouse I get a sense of safety and security. I feel guided and protected. I get goose bumps when I see a live lighthouse and my hair stands on end when I have the opportunity to enter in. Strange! Maybe for you, not for me!

I received these two gifts at significant times in my life. I know too, they were projects, of my friend at poignant times in her life. For both of us, they represent therapy. At what more important times in one’s life do we look for guidance and a safe place!

Pass Perfect

A lady should never go anywhere without her lip gloss because you just never know! It should be put to use and not stored away, forgotten! That proved true today! Along the route, I stopped, looked back only to see my snowshoeing friend in an amorous embrace with a fellow on x-country skis. What the heck? It had to be the lip gloss! I only got to look on, you see, my gloss was zipped in a pocket, forgotten! This occurrence took place on today’s West Elk "Pass" snowshoe outing.

I’ve grown up where lots of snow is no big deal. I’ve seen and I’ve been to Winter Wonderlands but today’s snow was more beautiful and more spectacular then I have ever laid my eyes upon. Today consisted of four and a half hours of exercise, an abundance of fresh air, this beautiful snowy scenery, all along with great conversation. Is there anything better for the soul?

The Pass was Perfect! A little more so for my snowshoeing friend! :-)

Skreeek Skreeek Skreeek

Today's Run

10km

Crowchild Loop Plus Two

-23 Degrees Celcius

-37 Degrees Celcius Windchill

The sound of my footsteps!

Fullerton Friend Found

One never knows where one will meet another one!

Boy, this tall tale teller will have a tale to tell for tens of years to come. This Starbucks Thermos had a thirst to be quenched. There had been a demonstrated desire to find a friend. My promise was to do what I could, maybe even look on line.

When you least expect it! There! Right under the Thermos’ lid, sitting on the bench, appeared an unbelievable sight. A perfect match!

This tall tale teller Thermos found a friend at Fullerton in February. What better month to make a match!

Fullerton In February

February can be Frightfully Fierce but this February day at Fullerton was Fabulous! Don’t you just love all those "F" words?

So close to home but yet so far. Today felt like being worlds away. This outing was lacking in so many ways. It lacked traffic on the commute to and from. It was lacking in populous (we saw seven people). There was a lack of towers, buildings and structures. The day lacked cloud cover and cold.

Who ever thought the lack of so much could be such a good thing?

Wide open views of forever to see!

Trek to Mount Assiniboine

I told you to stay tuned for more Tales of the Traveling Thermos!

The Traveling Thermos reports it did a trek to Mt. Assiniboine. Um, a trek to Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park that is. O.K., a trek to close proximity of Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park to be exact. Ahh, well actually, a trek to a place where there was a view of Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park a way off in the distance.

This tall tale teller teases me when I tell the truth!

Here we go! The Starbucks Thermos accompanied us on a recent snowshoe trek. As you can tell from the photo, it got up close and cozy with a set of snowshoes, nestled right in there in the middle. They became quite attached and it was difficult and disheartening when it came time to pry them apart. Before you know it, we will find the Thermos throwing a temper tantrum desiring to be strapped to the snowshoe instead of sitting in the tote pocket. I’m sensing the Thermos needs a friend so I will have to see what I can do about that! Maybe I can find it a mate on line!!! This will be a task to tackle for the next trek!

Fork in the Road

What did you do Saturday? Oh....we snowshoed all the way to Banff, had lunch there and went for a Starbucks coffee then snowshoed all the way back!

The plan wasn’t to end up where we did, our destination was Karst Springs. Our quest was unconquered because when we came to the fork in the road, we choose the high road instead of the low road. Our destination remains undetermined because of the lack of any kind of signage that would tell us how far we went and where we exactly ended up. We made guesstimates!

O.K.! O.K.! I embellished a tad on snowshoeing all the way to Banff, having Starbucks coffee and lunch. The high road took us down a path (certainly not a garden path) that crossed the border from Spray Valley Provincial Park into Banff National Park. This path was full of rolling hills, dips, inclines and one big long decline, no word of a lie, was a kilometer itself. A couple of clicks after crossing the border, we set up lunch camp in a sheltered, open, flat area with a view of Mount Smuts directly in front of us at the end of a snow covered alpine meadow. We did have lunch and our coffee was better than Starbucks coffee but was from a Starbucks thermos.

Once the overcast lifted and the winds died down, we were afforded an absolutely beautiful view to feast our eyes upon. And to think, there are some that have no idea this even exists! What a shame! The high road was the road less traveled. Sometimes when you go where others have not, the experience can be ten fold. It was for us! Our mistake was our gain!

Icing on the Cake

It was everything "ice" today!

"ice" falls, "icy" cross country trails, "ice" cleats, "icicles", "iced" over creeks

Our escape! Our day away! The whole day away!

For the majority of our adventure we experienced the sights, sounds, smells of a treasure filled place to be. Donned in hikers, "ice" cleats, poles, backpacks, sunglasses we carried on to our destination and beyond. The initial destination of frozen "ice" falls was all we thought it may be! Postcard Picture Perfect! A detour then brought us to a path that was narrow, curvy, leading up, "icy" in spots, tree lined, filled with sunny shadows, it was drawing us along and we followed. It was quiet and peaceful and quite beautiful.......then all of a sudden we came to an end with an opening there in front us were a few thousand people, hundreds of cars, flags blowing in the breeze, tunes blaring over a speaker system and a gigantic sign that read NAKISKA! We happened upon the Day Lodge at the Nakiska Ski Hill. Interruption!

Our treasure was interrupted for about thirty minutes to dine in the sunshine and then we ventured back to our treasured space. We did not want this day to end. Once our plan of attack to attack "ice" was attacked, it was still early enough, nice enough, sunny enough, warm enough to tack on another plan of attack which turned out to be a little more than we could chew. But what do you do! We’re ladies of substance and fortitude and when the going gets tough, we have what it takes to get tough, soooo we got tough!

......and the "ice" cold beer at the end to celebrate was the "icing on the cake"!

A “So Long” Snowshoe

It wasn’t a soooo looonnnggg snowshoe! It was a "so long to 2007" snowshoe! My very good friend and I choose this way to say goodbye and hello. Something healthy, fun, active, outside. We could not have asked for a more perfect day.

blue sky blanket of white
sunshine -9
wind there was not
at times the sun felt hot

Chester Lake was the destination choice. We have conquered that snowshoe trip numerous times in the past but today was different. It was special and unique in that today’s adventure stood for something it never stood for before. This was an accomplishment in inspiration and motivation for each of us! We laughed, smiled, we joked, complained (hey, we’re only human), we planned, gossiped a tiny bit, we wished and hoped. We had lots of quiet time, it was comfortable. For me, I was being introspective, trying to be strong. What about you?

I am the picnic girl and my good friend proved she is too!
Vision this!
bright yellow tarp
on that blanket of white
sunshine on faces
ham sandwiches & vegetables
havarti cheese and baked chips
hot coffee and chocolates
Champagne...Happy New Year Sign
A toast and a resolution!

Goodbye 2007! Hello 2008!

I Am A Finisher!

It’s time to take a few minutes to reflect on yesterday’s accomplishment! Why would I call this an accomplishment or feel that it is? After all, it was just a half-marathon! I know, some would say "JUST"! I tell you, the emotions I experienced nearing the end of the race tells me it was an accomplishment.

As I re-live the experience in m mind, there is not one single thing I would have changed to make it any better than it was. Oh, maybe one thing...I would have preferred a different bid color to match my outfit! No, not really!

There were many memorable moments and scenes and experiences that made this event special. I mean things like, running through the Stampede Grounds and finding hundreds of folks cheering us on at about 7:15 am on a Sunday morning. Running through the Zoo as the animals start their day, that’s when they seem to be most awake and active. I did not get to see the warthogs, they are my favourite. Sharing a few kilometers with John Stanton, the Running Room guru. What an inspiration that man is! He is in his 50s, he is running a half marathon, and his race is not about him like it is for the rest of us. For each of us, this race is "all about me"! For John Stanton, this race was all about everyone else around him, the runners, the volunteers, the spectators. Maybe that’s why it looked like it was an easy race for him to run, his focus was everywhere else but on himself. Maybe he knows the true secret!

From past experiences with running, I know what is facing me with a couple of kilometers to go, but for some reason I think it might be different this time. I don’t know why I thought this, maybe I needed to know a reason for why I felt it was going to be different. I did not have a reason and it turned out being no different than in the past. This is where my experience begins to tell me I am accomplishing something worthy! I feel the lump in my throat and I begin to feel the moisture in my eyes. With a couple of kilometers to go, the pace quickens slightly, the heart beats faster and I cannot contain what I am feeling inside. My emotions spill out as I run. I wonder what the people along the sidelines think when they are see a grimace on my face and the odd tear on my cheek. Maybe they think I am pushing on in pain! I want them to now these are emotions of joy, of exhilaration, of release, of accomplishing a hard earned goal I set for myself! All this tells me I can deservedly call what I did an accomplishment!

I am a finisher of the 2007 Stampede Alberta Jeep Eagle Half Marathon!

Royal Victoria Half-Marathon October 8, 2006

Documenting Days Gone By

photos are scanned from prints

other documents are scanned from scrapbook pages

     

Royal Victoria Half-Marathon October 8, 2006

Victoria, British Columbia

Thanksgiving Weekend

October 8, 2006

Me & J Mo

I did not write a race recap after running this half-marathon so what I share here is what I remember today (February 20, 2019) as I write this.  My memory is terrible for some things but for the races I completed many years ago the memories are very vivid.  In hind-sight my stars were not aligned for this race but at the time my thoughts did not even venture there.  

J Mo and I met at the airport for our quick flight out to Victoria.  1.  stars unaligned - Going through security I was pulled aside while J Mo sailed on through.  This was the first time ever I had a thorough security check off to the side where I was facing a wall spread-eagle with my hands in the air against the wall.  I was patted down  from head to toe by the female officer. When she was done and I carried on through with the balance of security and met up with J Mo she had this look on her face and said "What the he!! happened to you!" I got myself together, clothes back in place, hair somewhat styled again and carried on.  2. stars unaligned - The flight was rough where the small plane was bouncing all over the place.  We held on and I said a prayer.  I had never been scared like this before on a plane.  3.  stars unaligned - The evening before the race we went out for our carbo loading dinner.  Mine arrived and it did not look that appealing.  I ate some of it but was turned off and lost my appetite.  J Mo shared a bit of hers with me.  I filled up on the bread and a desert.  4.  stars unaligned - We turned the light out at a decent time with hopes of a good night sleep.  Before midnight a noisy crew arrived to their room  a few doors down and got a party started which went on for awhile before it was shut down by staff. Sleep was restless and on and off from that point on.   5. stars unaligned - We woke to the sound of pouring down rain.  Luckily we were a 5 minute walk to the starting point of the race.  6.  stars unaligned - We made our way to the start and within that 5 minute walk and about 10 minutes to use the restroom then get in line, I was already soaked, before the race even started.    

I remember all that so vividly yet even so, I remember running the race and enjoying it, being lost in my thoughts, admiring the scenery especially the kilometers we ran along the Pacific Ocean.  The views were not bright and colorful but they were distracting and enjoyable.  I was in a zone and just did my thing.  It was not my best race time-wise but I did finish upright with a smile on my face and healthy.  We beamed after receiving our medals, we got caught up in the euphoria that comes with a happy finish and then partied a bit with the crowd.  Eventually we made it back to our hotel room, cleaned up then draped our medals proudly around our necks and went out to the bar to celebrate!  

professional photo from along the race route

I thought these words said it all on how I felt about this race day!  

Penstock Loop February 26, 2006

Documenting Days Gone By

photos are scanned from prints

information is from what I wrote in a journal

Penstock Loop

 February 26, 2006  Sunday

Me,  J Her

5.5 km round trip

10:00am - 12:00pm

As it turned out, it was much warmer in Kananaskis than it was in Calgary.  Temp was about -2C.  The trip started at the Canyon Day Use Area.  It was rolling hills with lots of snow.   We had to break trail most of the way.  We got back to the car at noon and had lunch at a picnic table then just snowshoed along the Lower Kananaskis Lake for a few minutes. 

Looking back:  We were thinking we would be out there for a few hours and that's what we planned for and take gear and food for.  It was very disappointing to find it was a short trip.  I guess we were now more experienced snowshoers and ready to move on up the ladder. 

Grotto Canyon February 20, 2006

Documenting Days Gone By

photos are scanned from prints

information is from what I wrote in a journal

Grotto Canyon

 February 20, 2006

Me,  J Her

4 km round trip

10:45am - 1:15pm

This was a hike along the frozen canyon.  We wore cleats for the ice and our gators more for warmth,  It was about a km of hiking before we reached the canyon.  It was quite neat on the ice.  Took lots of photos  We continued pass the canyon and up to the base of the cave.  Had lunch there.  On the way back the frozen canyon was melting and not too pleasant.  My feet were soaking wet.

Looking back:  We wondered why when we were hiking in the canyon everyone was hiking out.  We realized after wards you need to get in there before the day warms up and the sun gets on the canyon floor ice.  They got out before they were up to their ankles in water.   Is was then I thought it a good idea to take a change of footwear and socks  for after a hike or snowshoe.  My shoes were a mess and my socks drenched and my feet uncomfortable.   I drove home in my bare feet.  

Buller Pass August 28, 2005

Documenting Days Gone By

photos are scanned from prints

information is from what I wrote in a journal

Buller Pass

 August 28, 2005  Sunday

Me,  D.

13 km round trip

670 m elevation

9:30am - 4:30pm

+25C

 

This was a great day!  We started around 9:30, it was a little fresh but warmed up nicely and soon  We stopped a couple of times for a snack on the way up.  As we got near the scree ready for the climb it was cool and very very windy.  At the top we stopped for lunch for 30 minutes or so.  We had a beautiful view of Ribbon Valley and Ribbon Lake.  On the way back we stopped and rested for 30 minutes in an open area.

Looking back:  It was my turn to drive this day and we took the 742 up from Canmore. The drive to the trail head was fine but on the drive home on the 742 I hit a big pot hole and cracked the catalytic converted on my car.  This was an expensive hike!  I liked orange back then but little did I know how much.