Week 1 Run 4 Sunday Long Run 12.8 Km

I did everything I could to talk myself out of this run today, but I got 'er done!

The warmest part of the day (-11C) was around 4 so I started the run just after 3.  The roads were very icy, almost too icy to walk, and after 5 km my knees were complaining almost enough to give up, but I couldn't stand the thought of giving up on my plan in the first week.

I do have to remember, though, that running along the shoreline of Lake Superior is colder than running on the bush roads away from the lake.  The wind was brutal today, but the gorgeous colours and ice formations made up for all of it.

At the bridge onto the Island - looking out to the Sleeping Giant.

I love this Christmas moose flag!

Clinging to as much daylight as possible on this last day of holidays.

Ice gems on the north shore of the island.

Ice along the shore with the Sleepy G in the distance.

I just love the pattern of rocks and snow on the shoreline.

Memories of Terrace Bay!  I love the icicles.

More pancake ice.  Hear it in this video: 

http://youtu.be/6j7GDrLzcjk

The roads were

Saturday "long ski" at Kamview

With no snow in Thunder Bay, we struck out for an adventure at Kakabeka Falls.  Along the way, a call to the new snow phone told us that the lower part of Kakabeka was not skiable, so only 4.5 km was available.  It wasn't going to be a lot of fun skiing 2.5 hours around a 4.5 km loop, so we sucked it up and went to Kamview where the word was that there was a bit of trail mending going on.

I stayed away from Aspen where there was so much grass and stuff from the trees on Thursday.  Other than that it was a pretty good ski.  The upper part of Jack Rabbit was skiable, and a bit of Lookout was available, but the downhills were so icy and ridged they were almost dangerous.  It was a bit sketchy so I only did it once.

I really enjoyed a slow ski.  Beaver was in excellent shape so I did it a few times.  Jackrabbit was all but abandoned so that was good too.  Northern Lights was pretty much done after all the people on it on Saturday, and it was a bit crowded, so even though I love it I only did it three times.

I have no idea how to train for a ski race.  Hopefully I am on the right track! (ouch)

Rock skiing @NorthShoreGolf

We are so lucky to have some ski trails within 10 minutes of work.  Tonight we tried them out on our old no-wax rock skis, because there are only classic trails.

We managed three laps before dark - and we could barely see the track-set at 6 p.m., but the days are only going to get longer, and our daughter gave us such amazing headlamps for Christmas that the dark is irrelevant anyway.

We weren't fast, but we had fun!  Pizza is such an awesome post-ski recovery food too, we discovered!

Week 1 Run 3 5 km

Day Skiing at Kamview

Lots of sore muscles today, but what is a trip to TBay without going for a ski?

This was an easy day, just an opportunity to get outside and move.

I probably should have had my rock skis though.  While the night loop is great, Aspen trail is a bit sketchy still.  Lots of grass.  There is some ice on the uphills of Jackrabbit as well.

Otherwise, just a beautiful day.

And yes, I forgot to turn my watch back on after stopping for a chat.

Night Skiing at Kamview

Night skiing at Kamview!  Our first night ski of the season.  There is plenty of snow on the night loop.

Thank you to the sponsors who help keep the lights on at night!

Was I the one asking for more snow?

I did two easy laps of the night loop.

Week 1 Run 2 8 km

This week I am simply trying to remind my body that it is a runner.   It's about putting in the mileage, getting back into the habit, getting the equipment and routine down.

It is challenging!  The roads are icy and we are in a bit of a cold snap - though -14C isn't all that cold for Thunder Bay.

Today my body didn't really want to run, but I looked at it as time to listen to some podcasts.  I am working on an essay on student health and change initiatives around this topic, so there were some ASCD podcasts that were relevant.









The little snowflakes were quite beautiful on my mittens.  We need snow really badly, so I have no complaints.  Photographing them with an iphone on a shaky arm was a bit challenging.  This is actually the only one I managed to get focused.

Once I got to the end of the road, I was making the only footprints in the new snow (except, of course, for a few fox and wolf tracks).

It was cold enough to freeze my gatorade!

The snowflakes kept sticking to my eyelids!

I love being outside.  I could never be a gym rat!