2,330 kilometres

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Right so where was I? I headed north to Grande Prairie. I know it may seem like a weird destination to some people. Just six or so years ago, I landed in Grande Prairie from Ottawa. I had finally found a newspaper job after being away from the business in Asia for four years. 

I wanted to work and any place would do. It was funny because I had travelled quite a lot but I had never been to Alberta. Now it’s 2014 and I am on my second newspaper job in this province.

I made a lot of great friends in Grande Prairie and area. It was also the place where I started running. The running community in this northern community is awesome! I used to write a widely popular biweekly newspaper column Running with Rhyno. I am sure you can find some of my old columns online somewhere. I stopped by the old office to visit with my old city editor and other ex-coworkers. There weren’t many of them left.

I haven’t been up north in years so I thought what the heck. What else am I going to do? It is a 6.5 hour drive so it is not that fun. The night before I had drinks with Steve and Josh. I vowed during that long drive never to drink again. Seriously no more booze. (Not that I drink A LOT but I think it’s time to curb the nonsense.) My back up plan was to slip into town, visit a few friends and run. 


Right away I hooked up with some friends for a short run/walk. We visited some of my old running haunts like Muskoseepi Park and other trails. It was great seeing old faces and places. I didn’t get to see as many people as I would have liked because the trip was unplanned. Next time. 

I had planned to hike in Grande Cache with Laverna and crew but the weather was crap on the day I wanted to go. (Of course!) Robert begged me to run in the Wolves x-country race at the Nordic ski trails. I love running there so I signed up. (Deep down I was freaked out about running a short & speedy 8K trail race with a bunch of college kids.)

 
But I surprised a few friends who were out for the race including the lovely & speedy Tammy! She secured a second-place bib in her 5K race. Tammy used to be part of my 13 Miles & Higher running group in the city. We ran a lot of Sunday mornings together. It was great to catch up! 
Remember it was exactly a week ago that I did Lost Soul. I wasn’t sure how my body would respond. Gosh this 8K was a real lung buster! I am not used to short and speedy. This was a great challenge for me. The baby ski hills nearly killed me. Thank goodness I was running alone for most of the race. My breathing would have thrown the other runners off! It was a small race and I managed to squeak out first place in open women and second overall woman. It was fun but for now I will stick to the longer distances! 
I spent time with Sara hanging out and chatting. We went to the Eastlink Centre for an epic Saturday night workout session. Love that place. I convinced Sara to try a Crossfit-like WOD before we swam laps in the pool. 
I had a great visit but now it’s back to reality. I am a little tired from all that driving – 2,330 kilometres. But it was nice to get away from the usual hum drum of work and life. 

3 Comments

  1. That's a lot of driving for sure! Good for you for tackling another race so soon.

  2. Wow that is A LOT of driving! I'm not a huge fan of road trips, probably because my parents forced me on so many as a child, lol. Looks like you had a great trip and those trails look beautiful. Way to rock an 8k only 1 week after your Ultra… amazing!

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