Last hike of the season

We headed to the mountains this weekend for one last hurrah before the snow hit! (At least that’s what Kelly desperately hoped since he cannot wait for winter activities!)

My plan was to wake up and trail run on Saturday and then go for a hike. Good thing Kelly kindly reminded me I should choose either the hike or the run since I probably couldn’t do both. Otherwise I’m sure he would have had to carry me down the mountain 🙂

I chose to hike since it’s been a while since we went on a good one. We headed back to Mount Swansea, a hike we did at the very beginning of the year. It’s a perfect shoulder season hike and not nearly as challenging as some we tackled this summer but enough for me to count as a workout.

There was a crazy thick fog that morning, so some of the views were pretty cool since you could only see above a certain level.

the abyss

At the top, the wind was howling. The storms were blowing in.

The hike certainly wasn’t easy for me. I really depended on my hiking poles for the steep sections, and I took quite a few breaks! Since getting pregnant, I huff and puff a lot more when hiking than running.

But it felt SO good to be outside and moving for a substantial amount of time! (I forgot to mention in my last post that only my a handful of my runs and bikes have been over an hour.)

We woke up this morning to a snowy and cold forecast. I think the snow is here to stay!

What did you do this weekend?

Three goals

Hello! It’s been a while…

When I wrote my last post, I had no idea how long of a break I would take. Turns out four months away from blogging flies by!

Three goals
I had three main goals for this year when we decided not to sign up for any big races. I am happy to say I achieved all of them, with a few smaller ones accomplished, too!

Goal #1: Visit the mountains often

This was a smashing success with 17 weekends spent out there, and 11 days for summer vacation!

We hiked a ton, and I trail ran and SUPed to my heart’s content.

I even paddled in my first SUP race in Canmore and hope to make it an annual event!

Goal #2: Heal my injuries/ailments
After taking a break from running, strengthening like crazy, and seeing numerous people, I found a chiropractor who I credit for getting me back to pain-free running!

One day in late July I realized not one thing hurt when I was running, or afterwards. My hamstring, glutes, piriformis, iliac crest, knee, and hip were all quiet.

I’m still working on my weaknesses so I can continue! However, new aches are constantly popping up, which I attribute to goal three.

Goal #3: Get pregnant
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a couple photos. I am excited to say I am now past the halfway mark of my pregnancy and am due on March 6, 2015.

I’m still trying to stay active with trail running, biking on the trainer, and strength training. Hopefully I can continue throughout!

We ran a 12km trail race on our sixth anniversary. I was 17 weeks, and have definitely ‘popped’ since then.

Everything else
Other than that, my sister had a precious baby boy at the end of July so I now have an amazing niece and a nephew!

The first year of my garden box was a blooming success.

And it was our hottest summer I can remember.

What’s new in your world?

Ideal end of summer – Jasper interlude

I had hoped to have all my Ironman Canada posts finished by now, but I still haven’t finished writing a couple of them! I plan to have them posted in the next couple days. (If you missed them, you can read about the pre-race and swim.)

We took off to Jasper for the long weekend to cap an amazing summer.

This was only our third camping trip this year due to training and Kelly’s work schedule. I’m so glad we made it one last time before the real fall and cold weather sets in.

We got up there in time for dinner on Saturday night: a delicious pot of vegan chili I had cooked on Friday.

 We woke on Sunday ready to tackle the day! We went for a fun, 21.6km hike and saw some gorgeous views!

The little guy got pretty tired towards the end so had to be carried the rest of the way.

On Monday we woke up when it was still dark out to drive to a hike we’ve been wanting to do all year: the Sulphur Skyline.

Last year we tried it in May and got stopped due to waist-high snow. It was also super foggy so we wouldn’t have been able to see the views.

It’s been bugging us for a while! On the drive there we got pretty excited since the skies were clear and the views would be top notch.

At this time of year most of the bears are mid- and upper-mountain eating all the ripened berries, and this climb goes pretty high. So I asked my husband to go over our plan for if we see a bear. (He’s read a lot about them and isn’t scared, whereas I’m terrified of them!)

We were just starting out. I was a couple steps ahead of Kelly (husband) and Harold (dog). We had walked only a kilometre before I saw a big black bear around a corner and calmly told my husband there was a bear in the middle of the path. We literally ran into the bear!

We slowly backed up to around a corner and talked really loudly. Kelly went back up and the bear had retreated. We tried going up a little further, but I was too nervous to continue. So, it was another bust and the Sulphur Skyline still eludes us.

I was glad we did call the hike off, as we talked to people in the parking lot and they saw a momma and cubs earlier. They were only black bears, but I don’t want to risk seeing more or getting up higher and chancing a grizzly.

It was still an amazing weekend and an ideal way to cap off summer!

What was the highlight of your weekend?