Can you feel the wind?

You have to love a Calgary winter. Last Thursday Peter and I braved a blizzard of snow and wind to trot around Elbow Park. slip-sliding our way we had a glorious trot. What a difference a week makes. The wind is still there but the temperature has improved by 20 degrees and the snow is becoming a forgotten memory. Okay, a bit of a stretch there but you must admit that a week makes a big difference in the weather around our lovely city. My apologies to my lovely bride Joy as these weather fluctuations kill her...

For those that are fine with the wind blowing so hard, I would be honoured to trot with you Saturday at 9 am from the Eau Claire YMCA. With the freeze melt I want to keep us to paths that are less susceptible to glazing. See you Saturday!
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As we train for our next event (or the first one for that matter) We get the pleasure of discovery about who we are and what we can really do if we set our feet in motion. We are in the dark days of training. Cold, poor footing, windy, dark, and cold again. I do think back to 2006 when one of my training buddies for the Disney Marathon had to do all her training outdoors...in NWT. Think -50C for a four hour training day! I guess we weren't so bad off afterall.

In the next couple of months Peter above will be off to Kyoto, Japan for his first (was I drunk when I thought this?) marathon. Perhaps Saki was on his breath? A group of my virtual friends are off to the Bahamas in only a few weeks; Brandi, Brenda, and Kelly will be cruising the island and hopefully enjoying the scenery. The above mentioned Peter and Tamara have signed up for the Frozen Ass 50, a race created by my good friend Gord Hobbins. Did they not realize that the two things they dislike (cold and distance) are both part of this event??? And finally I will have the privilege of touring the streets of Rome with Ashley, Jenny, Melanie, Rhonda, and Stephanie.

Perhaps I can steal an idea from my buddy Dave and get the Pope involved? I hear he drinks wine too? The Marathon du Medoc is a truly blessed event!

Was he really a leftie?

What are you thinking of doing this year? Zoong is doing her first half. Will you be joining her on the journey?

See you on the trails

A New Year and a new adventure

Hello everyone out there. What a lovely couple of weeks since we last chatted. Well, other than the week of the flu and the constant coughing since then, it has been a great Christmas break. Did santa bring all the presents you were hoping to receive? Did you get the chance to give what YOU wanted to give?

Were you able to create any New Year's resolutions that haven't already been broken? It is the 11th of January already...I have decided on a resolution to reconnect with those that I haven't seen nor heard from in far too long. This week we lost a good one...Jim Morris was a faithful runner with the Tech Shop and started the Winterstart Night Run back in the mid 90's. Jim lost his battle with brain cancer on Monday after a couple year battle. He lived longer than expected, probably due to his wonderful stubbornness.

He would come into the Tech Shop twice a week with his three loves, Terry his wife, Boomer and Loki his two running dogs. he had five or six dogs, but these two were the lucky ones who got to run with Bick's buddies. Boomer passed away a year or so ago but his memory too will live on with the grainy picture below  still gracing the walls of the Tech Shop. The running buddies are back together. go long my friends, go long.

The official Tech Shop dog, Boomer

Jim's funeral is tomorrow at 11 am so I will be trotting on Sunday instead. Would anyone like to show me a good route? Give me a reply to the blog. I do believe some will still be at Eau Claire for Saturday at 9 am so don't be afraid, there will always be someone to trot with. Look at last Tuesday for instance. fourteen of us went to celebrate birth, of Elvis that is (78 he would have been), and watched the Heebee Jeebee's and Steve Pineo give a very worthwhile tribute to the king. No cheesy costuming, no bacon, peanut butter, and banana sandwiches, just some really good music in honour of the man. Because we were all delinquent in our training Susan and Sharon (Sharon last was with us in the LAST decade!) showed our friend Zoong the post loop. Thanks for being part of the group while the group partied...

A couple of weeks ago a number of us went for a snowshoe in the cold. Normally one wouldn't be fond of going out in the -20C weather but we had a great trip around Kananaskis Village with no limbs frosted off nor anyone lost in the woods. We will try another snowshoe soon. Stay tuned...

I do love the outdoors!

 See you all soon...

John