Last week was a bit rough. I was feeling unwell for most of the week. Thankfully I was able to work at home since most of my assignments involved conferences downtown. Trying to work in brightly lit office with a raging headache would do me no favours.
Needless to say, I didn’t run or train at the gym for a few days. I couldn’t wait to get outside on Saturday. Even though it had only been a few days, navigating the snowy West Bragg Creek Trails did not come easy. Honestly it was more of a hike than a run but I will take it.
It has been quite some time since I had run at West Bragg. I used to meet Rachel here a lot to train or to run up Moose Mountain. I contemplated for a second going up Moose but I decided against it because I didn’t have enough water for a long day.
The parking lot was about a quarter full when I started out. By the time I finished some hours later, it was nearly full. It was a gorgeous day. People were out hiking, running and skiing.
The trails I took were about 80 per cent snow until about the last kilometre or two. Thankfully it was packed down mostly. Some ice but I managed to stay upright most of the time. A foursome of male runners passed me early on but I didn’t see anybody – save for a hiker with a big back pack – for at least an hour.
I finished a podcast that I had started on the way to Kananaskis but mostly I welcomed the sounds of the forest. I trusted all the bears were in hibernation so I wasn’t too worried about getting attacked. Besides I still haven’t found my bear spray since I moved in September.
Around the 5K mark, I came across the little fence where I sprained my ankle last year. It was a good reminder to take it easy since I didn’t tell anyone where I was going, and the last thing I needed was to re-injure my ankle.
Lovely day overall.
Have you run at West Bragg Creek? Where is your favourite place to run in the winter?