training

Loco Local – 2 Weeks to Go

/ runningforthegate / 3 Comments

We are in the 2 weeks-to-departure window now folks!

This close to departure my excitement meter goes way up and, full transparency, I also experience a few moments here and there of anxiousness too. All part of the process I think! It helps to focus on being prepared. So, this last pre-departure stretch will be about packing, confirming travel plans, figuring out why British Airways has changed my seat on a 9hr flight from the one I paid 100 bucks for, and making sure all the things I leave behind are left in order.

Seems I also need this next couple of weeks to pick my lip up off the floor and figure out a little adjustment to my approach to the 400km I have on trail ahead of me … why?

Sadly, frustratingly, madly, grumpily, growly … I am fast and furiously wrapping my head around a new injury. I messed up the PCL in my right knee in a soccer match. Noooo!

Honestly, the knee has been misbehaving for a while now. Ever since I tore the ligaments in my right foot last year (dramatic details here) I have been landing quite differently when I jump. To protect my sore arch, I am landing flat footed which is jarring my knee. I have had some pretty sore days following soccer and volleyball matches. A jumped to head the ball in a soccer match a couple weeks ago and it did me in I guess. When I landed, I felt a rip (not a pop so that’s actually fantastic news) and yikes a good amount of pain. The PCL in my right knee now has my full undivided attention!

What is a PCL you ask?

Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) is a ligament ‘is a band of tissue that crosses inside the centre of the knee joint. It connects your thigh bone to the bone of your lower leg. The PCL keeps your knee stable when it moves forward or backward.’ (thanks HealthLinkBC.ca)

I mean let’s think about this … is knee stability important? Sure. Will I be moving my knee forward and back as I walk 400km? Most of the time. Is it a 6-12 week recovery and I only have 2 weeks before departure? Yes. Am I sad but also mad and pouty as heck? Also yes!

The good news, my PCL is intact it’s only a tear. My knee doesn’t feel too hugely unstable – just not right on inclines and declines and stairs, and a misstep over extends it quite easily. And, also good news, when hiking – unlike soccer and volleyball – I can watch exactly where I put my feet. Heck I won’t be doing anything but watching these dogs for the next month! Also good news, there is a brace on the market specifically for the PCL.

The ‘bad’ news, I had to shell out a bunch for said brace (think the equivalent of my entire spending money budget for the trip in the UK for 30 days – I am gonna need a bake sale before I go so I can refresh my pint budget). More worrisome, I am breaking my most cardinal hiking rule – never ever EVER hike in something you have not trialed at home. Nothing gets packed unless it is tried, tested and true and a BUNCH of times before you depart. Well not this time B – we will adapt on the trial with a smile and as many spontaneous energizing dance parties I might need!

Stay tuned – lots more to come as I wrap my head around this turn of events and a brace a around my rebellious knee. So much to think about but also not over think. I got this! Right? Right! Absolutely!

Brande

PS the injury has also caused a Baker’s Cyst on that same knee (lovingly named jumbo prawn thanks Lana) which I hope just magically goes away and I never have to blog about! A girl can dream …

Loving Local-ish – 4 Weeks to Go

/ runningforthegate / 2 Comments

Just wrapped up end of my 4 week countdown of the 2023 Scotland Trifecta and things are getting really, real!

First, let’s get the skinny of what was on the training list since my last post Living La Vida Local – 6 Weeks To Go. As we get closer to departure the training ramps up but in a couple weeks it will also ramp down to ensure I am for ready for and also rested for this 400km challenge.

Here is 5 Weeks To Go training looks like on my tried and tested 20 Week Training Plan:

  • 1x 6km Hills (with 15lb pack)
  • 3x 7km (with 15lb pack and poles)
  • 2x this week let’s get some muscle on:
    • 50 squats
    • 25 lunges
    • 40 calf raises
    • 20 fire hydrants
    • 10 donkey kicks
    • 15 cat/cow
    • 35 double Ds
    • 60 second plank
  • 1x slow flow yoga for flexibility

Last week, at 4 Weeks To Go, there are a couple of subtle differences as this is a ramp it up week:

  • 1x 15km (with 15lb pack and poles)
  • 4x 7km (with 15lb pack, poles optional)
  • 3x this week let’s top up the muscle:
    • 50 squats
    • 25 lunges
    • 40 call raises
    • 30 fire hydrants
    • 10 donkey kicks
    • 15 cat / cow
    • 40 double Ds
    • 60 sec plank
  • 1x flexibility session (stretching, yoga)

Of course, for each hike there should be some gentle stretching as your warm up, and some post hiking stretching too. And to be clear that means more stretching than just the reaching my arm across the bar for a cold pint – add in a calf stretch with your toes on the leg of the bar stool while you do it for extra pints .. I mean points!

My bestie was visiting a couple weekends ago and we had to chance to get in a few of my training sessions with local walks or hikes on a little weekend adventure to Vancouver Island .. hence the local-ISH.

Westsong Walkway

The Westsong Walkway is fantastic, flat and easy walk along the Victoria inner harbor!

A mix of paved path, some boardwalk and a few rock trails that gives you fantastic views of the water, float planes landing and taking off and, if you plan it right even offers a chance to quench your thirst at a fantastic local watering hole, Spinnakers.

We walked about 5km. You can add some additional kilometers if you walk from Johnson Street to Esquimalt and back around the harbour over to Fisherman’s Wharf. Basically, it’s beautiful Victoria and walking all the places is just a total joy!

Thetis Lake

We also had the chance to hit one of my favourite hikes from when I lived in Victoria – Thetis Lake! Instead of the regular (busy but beautiful) lower and upper Thetis lake trails we did some meandering on Phelps Trail, Trillium Trail and more on the outskirts of the park. We were able to cobble together about 12km. It’s been a while since I have been to Thetis and I am still amazed at just how beautiful a hike surrounded by city can be!

Pre-hike energy loading may have been a most fabulous, delicious, amazing Pork Belly Eggs Benedict from Six Mile Pub and post-hike celebration may have been a refreshing flight .. or two … from Herald Street Brewing in Victoria. All the yumminess! This day was pretty close to the daily activities I will be experiencing over in Scotland. In Alba, the day will start with a Full Scottish Breakfast transition into a hike then transition into pints. They do say your training at home should be as close to the real deal abroad! I am just following great advice 😉

Juan de Fuca Trail, Mystic Beach

Completing the entire Juan de Fuca Trail is on my to-do list but not on this trip. This trip was more around getting some kilometers on the training dashboard and ensuring my bestie from land locked Alberta got some max ocean views in! Hello Mystic Beach.

After a great drive from Victoria to Shirley, BC and a stop for breaky at Shirley Delicious (which was most surely delicious) …

… and a quick waltz down to the Sheringham Point Lighthouse, which was so picturesque and barely a soul around …

… headed to the China Beach trailhead / parking lot and walked the well marked 2km trail down to Mystic Beach. This short trail had all the things we love – suspension bridge (Lana loves those not me), boardwalks, bridges, some up and some down, and enough people to keep the bears away! We saw a bear on the road just before starting our hike so we may or may not have been on high alert!

We spent a good amount of time down at the beach just taking it all in. The sound of the waves, hot sun and views you cannot even believe are in front of you makes it easy to stay a while.

Once we tore ourselves away from the view, and humped the 2km back to the car – where we may or may not have discovered just how bad my misbehaving knee / leg / foot / is feeling (more on that later) – we made our way back to Victoria. Well, not before a quick post hike refresh at Sooke Brewing Company! Yum!

Back in Victoria, we parked the car and accidentally headed to a couple more local breweries. You sensing a theme here? Including Whistle Buoy Brewing in Market Square – so delicious! That pretty blue one on the end was a perfectly sour Gose to cleans the flight-pallet!

That’s a wrap on our weekend all about training and filled to the brim with pints and laughs and more laughs!

Stay tuned for Week 3 and 2 To Go training updates – we are in the the final stretch to departure now folks!

Brande

Living La Vida Local – 6 Weeks To Go

/ runningforthegate / 4 Comments

Officially in the 6 week countdown window to my next adventure in Scotland! On this visit to majestic Alba, I will be meandering Speyside Way, West Highland Way (for a second time) and East Highland Way. A little 395km walk from a full Scottish Breakfast in the morning to my next Haggis Neeps and Tatties dinner with a pint in the evening. Nae bother!

6 weeks out means the training is getting good and fun and tough! We are experiencing crazy warm temps right now (30C) so a bit challenging too! As far as I am concerned, some training that hurts the body at home = happy body and mind in the Highlands! Here is what Week 6 training looks like on my go-to 20 Week Training Plan:

  • 2x 6km hike w hills
  • 2x 7km hike
  • All hikes with 10lb pack, poles optional
  • Also some strength training, 2x each of the following at some point this week:
    • 50 squats
    • 40 lunges / leg
    • 40 calf raises
    • 20 fire hydrants
    • 15 cat/cow
    • 30 Double’s
    • 60 second elbow plank

Getting these training hikes in is such a great way to discover new places in the Greater Vancouver area to hike! A few new ones that have been added to my ‘done like dinner’ list (yes it is literally called that on my All Trails account):

Shoreline Trail at Rocky Point, Port Moody

A scenic, easy walking trail. Mix of gravel and paved path, loads of people, a touch of incline/decline with loads of amazing scenery! The path wraps around Burrard Inlet and a workout can be rewarded with 1 of many breweries right there at the start/finish at The Port Moody Ale Trail.

While I didn’t get a chance to hit the brewery (we walked early to beat the heat) I was rewarded with a 7km fantastic conversation with my local hiking / training bestie Amber! Next time a post walk pint is definitely in order for these gals!

Eagle Bluffs via Coquitlam Crunch, Coquitlam

A moderate hike that will have the thighs and buns burning! The Crunch is a lovely 500 stair torture device made worse by the ‘You Can Do This!’, ‘Almost There’, and ‘Pace Yourself’ signs that pepper the ascent. Can I do this? Am I almost there? By ‘pace yourself’ do you mean stop now and go grab a coffee and read a book? Likely not, so up and up and up I went.

After defeating the evil stair master, I meandered up and up and around the local neighborhood for a bit to eventually hit the, mostly uphill, trail to the Eagle Bluffs.

The trail is an old gravel access road and if you can ignore the power lines that run above much of this trail, it is still quite a nice hike – and sure a great workout with enough forest time to make me smile!

All in all it’s about 13km from the bottom of the Crunch up to the Eagle Bluffs first look out and back, and about 550m elevation! At my acceptable pace of just slightly speedier than turtle, I clocked it in at 3hours. That includes a sunny snack break on a rock at the top, of course.

This is a hike I will be using to gauge my training progress, not so much about getting faster more around if it gets easier. I did it a couple weeks ago with my bestie Bean and felt the burn, did it again this weekend and felt more like a smolder. Progress!

Sidewinder and Pipeline Loop, Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby

Loving all the things Burnaby Mountain lol right now – lots of trail to choose from, 20mins from work, 40mins from home, well trafficked, so green and great views!

The Sidewinder and Pipeline Loop are connected by Function Junction and Meil’s Trail making for a great work out. Lots of switch backs, good and long incline sections, and even a few sketchy sections that are good for my managing my ‘fear of heights’. I didn’t really need my fear of bears to be exercised though but it is a mountain in all.

This is another trail that I will be using to gauge my training progress. Less breaks on the incline switch backs, higher pace, and faster recovery – all signs the training is working. Especially if this happens as I increase the weight in my pack and how many times I do the loop.

I had the chance to hit up this trail a couple times last week. Once after work on Wednesday (amazing!) and again on Sunday morning (saw a bear, less amazing). The 1.5hr time on this 6.5km trail with 250 elevation gain is a perfect quick one or even to do a couple times in a row.

Ok off the plan the rest of my training hikes for the week. It’s a a long weekend this week – so maybe I can even get in a long one!

Brande

20 Sleeps and 20 Kilometers

/ runningforthegate / 3 Comments

The countdown is on for real now folks! I am under 20 days to departure which means I am in the final push of my training.

Getting miles and trails under these feet that will best emulate what I will experience abroad is important! Just as important as testing every single piece of gear, yes even your undies, and the food you intend to eat while hiking before you even leave on your adventure!

Yesterday’s training was about all of that – the gear, the food (and water) and the hike.

I picked a fantastic recorded trail on All Trails called Burnaby Mountain Tour – it promised the length I wanted (around 20km), a lot of elevation gain and loss, mucky messy trails, and rain! Yes, I purposely picked a day with a forecast of 100% rain so I could give the Gortex of my boots a go.

Trail and distance training …

The trail and length were fantastic – ok full disclosure there were a few uphill slogs where I would have rather been in a pub – but still fun. Pretty impressed that I got it done under 6 hours considering the rain and elevation gain/loss – but that’s a good sign for my UK hiking days ahead.

I don’t usually worry about the time I finish. I am just out there to take it all in for as long as it takes – but loads of pubs and restaurants stop serving food over in the UK before we ever would here in Canada. So while you don’t need to rush on the trail per se, you do need to be mindful of the time or potentially go hungry.

I remember a time on Hadrian’s Wall Path after a very tough and wet long hiking day got away on me, I walked into the ONLY pub right as the kitchen shut down. The barkeep said there is was no more food. This hiker (me) erupted into a look of horror with tears in her eyes. The barkeep offered fish & chips. I think he saw I was on the edge and wanted to avoid tears. It was the day I was chased by a bull so I was a little emotional. More on that another time.

Food and water …

For this upcoming adventure, I have quite a few days in and around the 20km mark in Wales and England so today was a good lesson at this length. And a length that reminds me why you carry our max water and take just a bit more food than you need….

More water! I ran out of water at about 12km of a 21km hike. On a cool, rainy day it was not too horrible a thing. Had it been hot, I would have 1) carried more, like my usual 2.5 liter bladder not a bottle in the first place and 2) planned where the water refill opportunities were on my route. The H2O spirits were on my side yesterday – at about 13km there was a random skate park with an epic water fountain. Filled me up and then my bottle. I did also have my Life Straw with me if things got bad and I had to take a guzz from a creek.

More fuel! A good reminder that what you pack for a 5km walk-about is not what you pack for 20km+ hike. It is both more and different food you need – not just 4 times more. You need to think of cumulative calories burned and the total time hiking, what your usual meal cadence is over the time you are on the path (i.e do you always eat lunch and are you hiking over lunch) and how much effort the trial will be. A little trial and error before you go is key here!

A few things I have learned:

  • If you took it the last couple hikes but didn’t eat it, don’t pack that thing again. That’s carrots for me, not a carrot + hiking fan.
  • Chocolate covered anything is not the way to go for summer hikes – if it’s your lifeline, keep your chocolate contained, like M&Ms.
  • If you need utensils to eat it, reconsider. Leave the pudding and salad at home.
  • If you are walking over 15km, make sure you have something salty – nuts or trail mix are my go to.
  • After 20km, carbs do not count – eat the carb things guilt free!
  • Pack things that can take a beating – go for the Granny Smith apple over the banana.
  • Take things that won’t create a huge burden to pack out. Orange peels VS a snack pack container.
  • Pack it out. Even if it’s biodegradable – that apple didn’t grow there so don’t leave it there!
  • Check the best before date and maybe keep it in mind. The Sport Beans I scavenged out of my first aid kit when I hit the wall yesterday may have expired June … 2019. Still good?!

Gear training …

The feet were feeling good yesterday. You know you have exceeded your days distance when it feels like your feet have their own pulse (aka dogs barking) – didn’t happen for me yesterday so yahoo feet!

A couple of hot spots in my usual suspect places so I blame my feet not the footwear and these I can proactively compeed. Compeeds seem to be the best blister solution for me of all I have trialed – and I have trialed many! I did give Leukotape a go on this hike without success but I have another technique I can try with it before I give it a fail. Compeeds are expensive so even if I can get to a Compeed and Leukotape combo that would be cheaper and save me from reaching for the duct tape as an extreme measure. For someone who loves hiking, my feet did not get the memo.

Confirmed I most definitely am happiest when I have a gaiter like solution in place. What? Let me explain. I get a lot of snakes in my boots. Aka rocks and grit bits that find there way into my boots and that is a recipe for blisters. Every time a bit gets in my boot, I say ‘I have a snake in my boot’ in my best Toy Story, Woody voice. Yes, every time it happens – not annoying at all. So I need a way to keep them out so I am less annoying and, most importantly, I don’t have to stop and fix my feet every 20 feet. Introducing gaiters!

Yesterday I was able to use my Bewilder tights over my boot top like a gaiter and it worked amazing! I like that it was breathable and stretchy. But I won’t be wearing long tights every day so need a stand alone gaiter solution and don’t prefer my waterproof Outdoor Research ones in summer weather. Based on how good a fabric solution felt during my tights trial, I have ordered the Montane sock-it gaiters that I can wear everyday boot or shoe and they are largely stretchy fabric! See ya snakes, find someone else to hitch a ride with.

Of course my hike yesterday was also just about hiking. Feeling the miles stroll past you and taking in all the sights and smells and green and nature and wow. Here are some pics of all that too to wrap this up!

Brandé

PS 17 Sleeps

Chilling in Lagg

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Day 3 (the real day 3 – sorry about the typo on yesterday’s post) here on the Arran Coastal Way was amazing. We walked from Machie to Lagg just over 20kms and loved every minute of it. A day full of amazing views, challenging and beautiful trails, and many a quintessential Scottish moment. Cheryl and I couldn’t believe how many Scottish moments we got in before noon!We began our day at 8am with a full blown Scottish breakfast – complete with Black Pudding or Haggis. Shar and I of course took the Haggis, we both love it. Rosa had Haggis too but Cheryl went with Black Pudding. She originally hails from Newfoundland, Canada where Black Pudding is a regular menu item and she wanted to know if it was as good as home. It was!We dallied way too long at breakfast but how could we help ourselves with such an awesome meal, beautiful sunny dining room and all the tea and coffee we could drink. Ok full disclosure here… we were expecting rain and no one was ready to get out there into the potential sogginess.Leaving our B&B, the amazing owner woman lady (I feel so bad I can’t remember her name) knowing our love of Helian Coo’s offered to take us out to her family’s pasture where she raises them for a ‘wee look’ before she drops us off at the start of our day – heck yah!We met Aggie a beautiful brown mom nd her baby, and another black Coo (I don’t remember her name) and her babe – they are absolutely adorable! Standing in a classic scotch mist rain seeing Helian Coo’s – now that’s quintessential!Oh my goodness they even have a Coo named Pippa and she knows her own name. The B&B gal called it out and all the way across the field Pippa raised her head and made to come our way! She is the Coo way way across the field.Once we got our Coo time in, we were dropped off in Machrie (where we were picked up yesterday) to start our day of walking … with standing stones! Oh wow, wow, wow. Sadly, Rosa did not hear the buzzing of bees and find Jamie Fraser but we had an awesome time all the same!Overall I think there was 3 or maybe 4 standing stone circles in that field – some more impressed than others in size but all pretty awesome to see. Our standing stones excursion was a 3km+ detour and worth every blister bandaid step! Just amazing how they have stood the test of time. From the standing stones we made our way the couple of km to King’s Cave. This is the cave where Robert the Bruce hid out and they say spoke to the spider who changed the course of Scotland. I have heard many a cave claim the Robert and spider story so I am not sure about that but it was amazing all the same!The walk to the King’s Cave Park area was 1.6km on the road but once there it was the most amazing path trough the forest and across the hill top then down a rock gulley to the shore – beautiful!From the King’s Cave we continued along the coast on a gassy knoll just above the boulders on the beach heading towards Drumadoon cliffs and Blackwaterfoot town for lunch. This section of trail is so far my favourite! Easy underfoot on the knoll and then entertaining boulder hopping with amazing views of the ocean to the right and imposing beautiful cliffs to the right – wow!We wrapped up this morning with a 1km+ beach walk to bring us into Blackwaterfoot for lunch. We hit the Post Office/Liquor Store/Grocer to refill snacks and suck for our packs and then grabbed some lunch from On A Roll.I had a very tasty Scotch Pie and the rest of the crew enjoyed super fresh sandwiches. Sitting outside at a picnic table we enjoyed our lunch, took care of any feet concerns, and reviewed the trail info for the afternoon.Once back on the path, our next milestone was Preacher’s Cave at about km 1.6 – we found it. It is a massive triangle shaped cave that was used as a church in the early 1800s. Pretty neat to see! From here the guide book describes the path as ‘tortuous’ over boulder fields grown over with vegetation making for difficult and uneasy footing with very few way markers. Bang on!Well the description was correct .. but we loved it! The sun came out, the stepping up and over and across to the different rocks was entertaining, and the conversation was great. For sure our speed slowed right down as every second stone was an ankle breaker but we didn’t care – we were happy as clams out there and we saw a seal!From this tortuous path we made our way up a very steep – outside of my comfort zone – hill to the top of the cliffs where we rejoined the road.Once up the hill, we took in the amazing view and changed from boots to shoes and continued walking. We had 6.8km left to cover on the road to reach our evenings destination, the Lagg Hotel built in 1971.We walk on the side of the road where the traffic is coming at us so we can give them a chance to see us and give us some space or we can jump into the ditch. There is no shoulder on these roads and barely enough room for cars to pass so it’s a little sketchy but easy underfoot.At 3.8km we happened past a bus stop and hmmmm don’t mind if we do! We didn’t come here to walk on roads – we came to walk on paths and when there is no path, we are outta here! Sure it was only a 3.8km trek and only saved us about 30mins but wow did our feet thank us!We made it to the Lagg Hotel at just after 6pm our earliest at night so far! We checked in and even had time to shower and get into clean clothes before dinner, which was booked for 830pm. It was so nice to have our home right in the very place we were enjoying a cold pint and our meal.We even met the hotel owner who lives part-time in the Calgary area, just like 3 of our peeps! Lots of chat about the Calgary area ensued. We finished the night off with a wee dram of Arran Gold Liquor (like a really good and more real Baileys) liberally poured by Peter and then headed to bed – all secretly hoping the rain in the forecast was a bad weatherman’s joke.Brande

Goat Creek to Goat Fell

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Yahoo lassies!

On Monday the crew of us heading to Scotland to complete the Arran Coast Way in July had our one and only chance to train all together and it was awesome!

Shar selected the Goat Creek Trail for us seeing it would mimic much of our path in Scotland. I sure hope so too because the trail was great and I could do that for a week for sure!

The trail starts at the Goat Creek trail head just outside of Canmore and ends 19km later at the Banff Springs outside of Banff (the trail tail / trail butt as Rosa and Shar joked).

The path was undulating for the most part, up away from Goat Creek and then back down again as we left Canmore further behind and gained on approaching Banff. Just a few slogs up overall really – what a treat!!

At the head of the trail there was a big ole sign warning of wolves and grizzly bears in the area. Always a nice ‘welcome to the trail you hikers who may also double dinner’. Ha! Usually I see these signs when I am alone hiking and they freak me out – which 4 of us hiking though it was way less intimidating. Ok maybe not way less but at least a bit less.

Best way to curb the ‘gonna get eaten’ fear is to launch into full ‘don’t eat me’ mode. This includes being generally loud on the trail – holding conversations, hollering out a word or two every 50 feet or when approaching a bend in the path or a creek, and staying together if you have a hiking tribe.

Really you are just hoping to scare any wildlife away before there is any chance of you startling them into eating you. We also did a quick run down of what to do if we do see a bear, cougar or wolf so we were all on the same page. We did this loudly of course as part of our ‘be heard and be seen’ wildlife strategy. (I like to call things strategies so they sound all planned and awesome – even though this this was more of a ‘holy crap, what if’ scenario discussion.)

We had a lot of fun with the calling out a word every 50 feet or so strategy; turning it into a game of sorts. This keeps the bears away, is fun, and seems to eat up the miles quickly! We did the classic name that country sound off starting with A thru to Z, then a round for celebrities and one for names of songs. This last one may have include some short bursts of singing which may have been the best thing for keeping those pack hunting wolves at bay. At least when I was belting out the ole Toy Soldier by Martika! Remember that one?

During our walk we focused on a two things – the beauty of the trail and our gear. Lots of gear talk. Mostly gear talk. We were out there on Monday to test gear. Everything from socks to hats, and from undies to backpacks to see what will make the cut for Scotland.

I discovered my penchant for being cheap has resulted in wearing decade old SmartWools that don’t keep their shape any longer resulting in under the heel blister potential, and that my new hiking capris from Eddie Bauer are great but they are not the replacement for my long standing favourite Nike capris that need to make one final trip me thinks. I also confirmed that after logging probably 1000s of kilometers in my Asolo Backpacking boots across the globe I may need to splurge for some new insoles. I better get on that quick so I can train the next 6 weeks in them before we depart.

Rosa tried the switch from boots to shoes technique to see how that worked for her dogs – a strategy I deploy on 20km+ days with great success especially when it includes compression socks! Cheryl discovered that the pants she thought would be perfect were not and will not be making the cut for the trip’s packing list. Shar confirmed her hiking shorts are perfect for the trip and that the wax from Baby Bel Cheese can be used to prevent sunburns on your the nose if there is ever a shortage of sunscreen.

Overall the trail of 19km took us just over 4 hours at a very easy pace with lots of wee stops to check and test that gear and some snacks mid way too. The weather was overcast with some small breaks of sun – perfect for hiking! Not too hot or cold. Oh and

A little extra time was added to the trip for an extra special reason! We had to make one special pit stop for Rosa to see if Jamie Fraser of Outlander was perhaps at this standing stone – nope, she did not hear bees. Doh! We will try every standing stone in Scotland for you Rosa until we find him.

Oh and we had to stop for Shar and Cheryl to knock off a few yoga moves for those tight ham-dogs and hip-flexors too.

We rolled into Banff arriving at the trail butt by the Banff Springs Hotel of amazingness. But us classy gals didn’t stop there for a cool, fancy drink. No way! We made our way down to Buffalo Bills for a cold pint and some meat!

Then we headed up Banff Main Street to catch the Roam bus for $6bucks back to Canmore where our vehicles were waiting! Lots of peeps bike the trail we walked so there were even some bins strapped to the front or the back of the bus to bead back to Canmore.

Am awesome trial and trail day for all of us! We all loved the trail and each of us figured out something a little more than we knew before about our gear for Scotland.

Eeeek the trip is coming fast!

Brande

Guest Post – The ‘Be You’ Training Plan

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Well Hello!

My name is Shar and I am Brande’s sister – here as a guest on the blog today! I am VERY honoured to be adding to the amazing posts that B (what we call her in our family) does throughout her adventures and her process of preparation!

We are gearing up to do a long distance walk in Scotland, the Arran Coastal Way. This will be long distance walking adventure number 2 for me! The Great Glen Way in 2013 with B was one of the most memorable adventures of my life time and I am sure this one will be that much better!

The reason I wanted to hop on the blog today was to address those whom are intimidated by the word “preparation”!

I respect so much the thought, care and dedication B puts into every day leading up to an adventure. But for me, I have a short attention span for most things! So the idea of getting through a long training routine in anticipation of wanting to just get going is SUPER unnerving for a person like me!

Best advice I can give is … do things that are gonna get you out there doing things! Don’t try to be or do something your NOT! Don’t over schedule and over complicate! You do you, and don’t apologize for it!

B made up this awesome training program (20 Week Training Plan) and sent it out to us for help and guidance on where to start and I took that program and twisted it a bit so it fit my family’ incredibly crazy schedule and my need for short and sweet commitments!

For me, I love love love Jillian Micheals‘ workouts – she is the bomb when it comes to short but effective work outs! The longest I have done is 28mins or less!! No going to the gym or finding time to hit an hour class; it’s my house and on my time! I don’t have to think, she tells me what to do and I am working every muscle I need to support the multiple kilometers we are going to cover on our next adventure! Start with the Beginner Shred if you want to give it a try – quick and effective! Oh and Yoga meltdown is an awesome one as well! Rock star!

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Alternating that with a 5km Running App- which gets me outdoors with out having to rearrange schedules and move mountains to get there! Just throw on the runners and go! Combine it all with a 15-20 min recovery yoga when and if I can fit it in!

Throwing in some fun 30 day squat or plank challenges here and there makes it a workable routine that fits within an already crazy schedule and it all does not have to be done at once! Trust me I know how important fitting it all into a crazy schedule is!

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To keep me going – I keep an pretty elementary schedule of what I need to do each day and cross off with a happy face when I complete it! Writing it down helps cement the commitment and crossing it off cements the accomplishment!

Does it make a difference? Why can’t you just stick to walking for your training?

Well what I noticed after just a wee few weeks is the recovery. Yesterday, after a 17km moderate hike with one of my besties – my recovery was nothing.

guestshar_training_hike_may2018.JPGI felt the workout which we all want but I did not FEEL the workout! If you know what I mean. My endurance was awesome, the steep climbs and equally as important the steep descents weren’t painful!

This is what makes hiking for an average everyday Joe (or Shar) like me that much more amazing!This helps keep me motivated, it is such a great feeling when I do get the chance to get out and enjoy the mountains with out my body bitching me out when I’m done!

So start simple! I started the first week with just the Beginner Shred workout and added in the run on alternating days a couple weeks later – so it’s not overwhelming and I wasn’t struggling to keep up with life!

Take that step… even if you don’t have a long distance walk ahead! Feels great and keeps us young!

Happy Trails!
Shar

10 Weeks to Isle of Arran

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We are officially 10 weeks from departure for our long distance hike around the Isle of Arran, Scotland and up and over Goat Fell Mountain as our finale! Not sure if goats have actually fallen off this mountain or if humans nicknamed Goat fell off the mountain to prompt such a name – either way I plan on staying firmly planted to the pointy rock myself.

With just 10 weeks till departure (eeeek) and a distance of just over 120kms to cover by foot once we get there, physical training needs to hit full swing this week so we are feeling spry and fit every day when we approach the 20km mark and our end of day pints!

Here is what my training plan looks like for Week 10:

  • Hike: 4 x 6km+ hikes (1 of these should be all hills, up and dreaded down)
  • Pack: 10lb pack this week, work to find that strap sweet spot (any rubbing?)
  • Gear – Lower: use the sock combo I will use on the actual hike (any issues?)
  • Gear – Upper: use your poles on 1 hike this week if you plan on taking em
  • Strength – Lower: 2 x 55 squats, 2x 25 lunges each leg, 2 x 40 calf raises, 2 x 20 fire hydrants
  • Strength – Upper: 2 x 15 cat/cows, 10 x Double D’s, 2 x 60sec elbow plank
  • Finishing Touch: Yoga (at least once this week, any kind will do)

I am one of those peeps who loves a goal. Some may call me competitive, some call me driven, and some may call my an over-planner / control freak. Well, whatever name you wanna throw out there, it does not matter to me. What matters to me is that I like to feel good doing whatever it is I am up to – I like a bounce in my step when I hike!

I know travelling half a day on a plane to enter a time zone that is half a day ahead of what I have at home can make it so you look and feel like Gollum after only 5km of a 120km hike. So I prep hard to avoid that from happening. I want to throw my head back and laugh joyously and courageously at a 30km day of hiking, to have a smile on my face and spirit fingers in the air at every km that we achieve!

Having a robust training plan that works for ME is key. I love checking off the weeks and training sets to departure. It feels like every one I complete gets me that many sleeps closure to departure. Its like going to sleep early on Christmas Eve so Santa will come faster! That’s a real thing -its science really!

For this trip, I created and shared with my fellow Isle of Arran hikers (Shar, Rosa and Cheryl) my 20 Week Training Plan. I created it for me but with all of us in mind, and each of these gals are making it work for them as it works for them. Its not a prescription or a directive, its an idea of how to get those boots on and those thighs ready to work-it once we touch down in one of the most amazing small countries in the world!

I am also happy to share this 20 Week Training Plan with you!

Please know that I am not a health professional, exercise professional or any other designation that would suggest I am an expert in training plans. I am but a gal who loves to walk long distances and has done enough over the years to know what MY body needs to feel good at the end of a long hike day that will be met with a long hike the next day. You are welcome to use and adapt my 20 Week Training Plan as it works for you and your body and your goal. Just as my fellow Isle of Arran hikers are doing.

When we arrive on July 24th, It will be nearly 5 years to the day since my boots last hit the Glasgow Airport tarmac (when me and my sis Shar did the Great Glen Way!). Wow is this Scottish lass ever itching for her Alba fix!

Brande

 

Announcing a New Adventure

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I am super excited to announce my next adventure …

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I will be heading back to do some more hiking (hill walking as they  like to call it) in Scotland this summer. A celebration of a milestone birthday. I cheered my 30th in Scotland so what a great way to bring in my 40th. Hmm maybe this trend will continue for my 50th in another decade!

The hike I will be celebrating with is the Arran Coastal Path, about a 108+km path that goes all the way around the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. An area I have never explored and an island that boasts it is a mini-Scotland.

I will be joined in my merriment with a trio of three amazing women…

My sister Shar, who I have done many hikes with including the Great Glen Way in Scotland back in 2013. Which we both loved and have been trying to get back on the long distance path together since! Shar brings the planning, go-get-em-ra-ra cheerleading, and excited clapping to our band.

My sister-in-scrapbooking Cheryl, who I have not hiked with before but have had the awesome pleasure of spending loads of deep thinking and laugh till you cry time with so it should be awesome. Cheryl brings the deep conversations, conventional and unconventional wisdom and get-it-done-in-colour to the troupe.

My sister-in-as-good-as-law Rosa, who I have not hiked with per se but we have put on a tonne of miles together walking and stair climbing during far off family vacations. Rosa brings the perseverance, logic, competition and hilariously heckling sense of humour to the team.

We are just 19weeks out and already having a wonderful time just in the planning. Over the coming weeks I will share our training plans, details of our itinerary and all the other preparation bits and bobs. Then of course a day by day, play by play here on the blog while we are on our adventure.

Brande

We See the Sea in Cee

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Yesterday, Lana and I were back at it – moving along the Camino by our own two (well four) tired but happy to be on the trail feet.

We walked from Oliveroa to Cee. A go of 19kms or 30,465 Fitbit steps in a little less than 4hours. We had the pleasure (tongue in cheek) of either mist, rain or just plain old sogginess all day. It was our first day on the Camino where we had to wear waterproofs for the full walk. We have been at this Camino thing now for a couple weeks so that’s not too bad! No complaints.

We were up this morning at our usual time of about 7am with the rest of the hostel crew in our room of 12 near full bunk beds.

I was feeling more rested than the days prior thanks to my headphones that play literally the sound of a big electric fan running on repeat. White noise magic! Lana was a little less rested. A pilgrim in the bunk next to us was sawing logs like no one’s business. I turned up my white noise volume and Lana tuned him out – snoring not the problem. Turns out another pilgrim could not tune out the snoring and proceeded to snap loudly or clap from across the room trying to get the snorer to wake. But instead of waking the snorer actually just woke everyone else up. Not sure where they read that the snap/clap technique was a thing – cause it sure was not. You can tune out a consistent snore but not someone snapping and clapping loudly in small room at midnight. Too funny (well it is now, it was not late last night).

Any who, we were up and ready for our soggy day by 8 or so and enjoying breakfast (coffee, toast and bananas) in the cafe of our albergue. By 920 we had done our good morning social media stuff and we hit the trail. See ya later Casa Loncho of Oliveroa.

Boots on, packs covered, and waterproof jackets on we set out. We had pre-made some sandwiches for lunch but it looked like the sogginess of the day was going to prevent the vision of a picnic we had in mind. We threw them in my pack anyway of course and hoped for the best!

We were quickly out of our village and walking on a forest gravel road of sorts – up, down, across and up another river valley. The rain prevented much of a view and the fog hid the row of massive wind turbines that dot the ridge of the hills.

At the 4 or 5km mark we walked through the last couple of villages we would see before starting a barren stretch of approximately 12kms into Cee.

At one of these villages we learned about the ferocious Vakner said to haunt the woods we would be walking through – that’s great to know!? Where is my bear/Vakner spray? Do you act big with a Vakner like you would with a cougar? Or make loud noise and back away like a Bear? There was no Vakner tips in the guidebook.

With no reason to delay (besides being mangled by a Vakner) we got right to the barren stretch – it was foggy, humid, raining or misting (similar to a Scottish like mist) the whole time. We had our hoods up which makes it really difficult to have a conversation. So we just got up business!

While I couldn’t have my camera (aka iPhone) out much due to the rain, I was able to snap a few pics. The landscape was just awesome even in the rain. I can’t imagine how great it would look on a sunny day!

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Before long we were at the ‘distinct decent’ section that was described in our guide book. A long, big toe punishing hill that when over means you are in Cee.

Lana and I did an assortment of jogging, switchback, long stride and short stride hiking techniques to get down the hill while keeping our toes intact. Lana felt the jogging was her best bet and would often be 20-30 feet in front of me jogging almost out of sight in the thick fog. If she didn’t have her lime green cover on her backpack I am not sure I would have seen her at all. Seems the Vakner does not like jogging, so we not only got down the hill in great time and we also kept the beast at bay. Win, win!

All of a sudden we saw a road, some houses m, and if you squinted hard enough you could also see the sea in the distance. We had made it to Cee on the Sea!

We found our humble new home, Albergue Tequeron at the beginning of town and just a couple blocks from the harbour and a bunch of great cafes and checked in. The hostel lady greeted us with tea and cookies! Perfect after such a soggy day!

We were finally in a dry place. So decided to have that pre-made sandwich picnic we had planned for a sunny afternoon instead in our rain roof hostel terrace!

After that there wasn’t too much to do besides hang our stuff to dry, shower of the muddy mess that was on our legs (clearly kicked up by our amazing speed and agility on the muddy trail) and check our Cee from under the hoods of our rain jackets!

Well that ended up being a sit in a great pub and journaling, playing Camino-grams (a travelling version of Scrabble / Bananagrams of sorts that I made with paper and stamps before leaving home – too keep the weight down) and seeing what is happening in the world on iPad and iPhone. We love evenings like this!

We are up and at it again this morning with a walk to what is called Mile 0 of the Camino in Finisterre about 20km away. The forecast is 30% rain and 97% humidity… aka soggy but smiling!

Buen Camino!
Brande