I went to Lethbridge recently to run in the coulees. As expected, it was bloody hot. Wonderful. I needed the heat training. Rachel and I went last year around the same to get that extra kick of motivation before race day.
Rachel passed on Lost Soul this year so I am on my own. Robert and Lorna from Grande Prairie doing the race for the first time so it will wonderful to seem them both. It’s the best feeling knowing someone at the finish line!
Our friend Greg acted as tour guide again. I was very grateful that he took time out of his busy weekend to run with me on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s nice to have a veteran Lost Soul runner share some tips about the course.
I felt a little hesitant on the downhills, which means I have some work to do. I wore my Altras last year and I didn’t like the grip on them. On Saturday, I sped over to Runners Soul to pick up a new pair of sneakers. My Lone Peaks were well past their due date. Three hundred dollars later, I scored two pairs of sneakers! More on this later.
The coulees were as challenging as I remembered. No surprise here. Besides working on my downhills, I realized I need to get in a few good steady long runs. Lost Souls is not just about conquering the coulees. There are a lot of great runnable sections that I should be prepared to do just that – run.
Oh boy was it windy! I had to hold onto my hat so it would not fly away. I didn’t mind because it cooled us down. The temperature had reached something like 32 C. Boy was it lovely.
A rattlesnake crossed our path, which did not amuse me. I am not a fan of snakes. I better get used to the idea of snakes on the trail. You may remember last year I came across two on the final few kilometres of my race. Still not a fan. Anyway, you may want to check out the Lost Soul Marathon group on Facebook. Lethbridge runner Julia posted a video of this crazy and scary looking snaked that slithered across her path while running recently. So creepy.
I can train for the heat and the distance.
But how do I train to run with snakes? Suggestions?
Hmm…if I had to choose between a rattlesnake and a bear…..I take the snake!
A few years ago we had a bear actually show up in our part of London (inside the city!) and now that I know they CAN show up, I really worry about whether they WILL show up!
Although a rattler would be creepy….
The snake posted in the FB group was a bull snake, while they look creepy AF, they are nonvenomous, and pretty innocuous. Rattlers freak me out though!