Sunday, June 07, 2009

Running in the Rockies

That's the Canadian Rockies, by the way. We're spending a few days in Canmore, near Banff, and then a few more in Jasper, followed by one in Calgary.

Just before leaving I ran 7 on the mill and then 2 more on the trails in Heritage park. This was significant for two reasons: one because I saw two dead, decaying dear on the trail (kind of strange), and two because this enabled me to hit 70 miles for the week. That's the first of those in a long time. I'm gonna try to keep it going though.

Sunday's run goes under the category of "whoa, I didn't think I'd see that!". There are trails galore in Canmore, and generally all over the Canadian Rockies. I studied the trail maps intently before venturing out. As soon as I found the trailhead, I got lost on some dinky trails and thought: whoa, I didn't think I'd see that! Whilst I was lost, I looked up at the towering mountains that had been gray and misty in the early morning gloom, and I thought: whoa, I didn't think I'd see that--- The tops of the mountains were pink. BRIGHT PINK. It was from the sunrise, of course, but I certainly did not expect to see that color this morning. Then I saw and animal right in front of me on the trail. It was an elk, and it was as big as a draft horse. You can guess what I thought at that moment: whoa, I didn't think I'd see that! I eventually found my way onto the better maintained trails and got 90 minutes in.

Oh, the sights you'll see. Some of Monday's run was similar to Sunday's. A little lost, but not as much. More pretty pink mountaintops, but not as much. More elk, and this time they wouldn't get out of my way on the trail. I ran along the other side of the river for miles and miles. What a great place to run. Call it another 10 in 85 minutes.

Tuesday's run was not so good. It was raining and snowing, so I didn't use the dirt trails which would've been muddy. I therefore didn't see any elk. I was feeling tired and lousy anyway. But I somehow managed to stay vertical for 90 minutes. A miracle.

My first run in Jasper was a beauty: all along the Athabasca River. Like Banff and Canmore, there are trails all over the place. These were as fine as the others. I ran the ¾ mile up our road to the start of the Bighorn Alley trail. I took that to its end, near a bridge over the Athabasca River. After crossing it, I continued to follow it on the trail alongside. The return was a little faster: my splits were about 47 and 42 minutes.

My Thursday Run was a long one. See my separate post: That’s Not So Raven.

Finally I also got a run in on Friday before leaving for Calgary. It was also on the trails in Jasper, and at times I ran at a decent enough pace. Other times, of course, I ran slower. 85 minutes in all.

And that's about it for running on this trip. For more about the trip itself, including pictures, see Debbie and Dan's Travel Blog.

4 comments:

Dan D. said...

The color of the mountains when the sun hits them was one of the reasons we moved to CO 11 years ago. I can only imagine that the Canadian Rockies are a bit more pristine than those in America. Watch out for those elk. "Man VS. Elk" has the same results as the "car VS. truck" headline on the morning traffic report.

Clifford Running said...

we saw some deer leaping across the trail in front of us last week and then heard a story about a deer taking out an ultra running. Have a nice trip, going to the picnic next weekend?

Dan Horvath said...

I had an even more close encounter with an elk today (Monday). The durn thing wouldn't get outta my way on the trail.

Dan Horvath said...

forgot to mention, won't be back for the picnic.