2013 World Mountain Running Championships

I woke up before my alarm as almost every racer does with a race this big, but luckily I slept pretty well! I only woke up once or twice durin the night so that was good! Right from the get go I knew it was going to be a good day. The sun was shining, my shoes were shining and my face was shining! I had a breakie of the hotel's yogurt and cereal with dried fruit and of course some mochas for a lil caffeine kick.. I love coffee! Our team was looking ready to go but all coming in at different times with varied levels of sleep. You could feel the anticipation in the room, that excited vibe that today was the day! We soon headed up to our rooms and got ready to warm up down on the dirt road before heading up the gondola to the race course. It was great to warm up with Mel and Sarah. This trip has sure made me try to understand a bit more French! BAHAHA most of our team is French-Canadian so there's lots of fun and enthusiasm!! It was exciting to be chauffeured onto the gondola by the workers as we were the elite athletes being brought up! And let me tell you were there ever a lot more elite athletes on too of the mountain for us to join! It was so amazing to be surrounded by such lean, muscular running machines!! Spandex, polyester and sweat were the articles of clothing to be worn! We were soon brought into the call area which was fenced off from the others.. It felt a bit like a cage keeping the tigers in at the zoo. All the women paced, sprinted, high kicked, lunged and stretched back and forth in the pen. Leg slaps and words of encouragement showered the ears and the feeling of anticipation continued to build! Some of us took it with a smile and broke out into a dance party... Okay maybe it was only the Canadian girls who did that! Lol.

Soon we were summoned up to the inflated arch to line up country by country . The next thing we knew a gun shot off and the race was on!! I was feeling strong but could feel where my comfortable pace was and tried to find that balance. We stormed up the hill to wild cheers and fast footwork! Just as your legs started to scream we hit the peak and tore down the dirt road with all those loose rocks I mentioned earlier. Luckily I knew the right hand side had a bit of a path with less so I tried to get over to that side right away! 

These girls are amazing! I consider myself pretty fast at running downhill but I found myself getting passed and had to have a talk with myself, to continue doing what felt right for me and to run my race! After all that's all we can do at the end of the day! It's the best talent in the world! I felt good and was running hard flying down the road, making the sharp corner and heading into the forest! 

Aye yaye! That's where you beg as plead for your eyes to adjust faster so you don't trip or roll an ankle on hidden rocks roots divets and drops Hidden in the shadows! I passed some people here and got passed too! It was a free for all with the thought In your head that not only was the uphill comin but we had to do this twice. I felt pretty solid with my placing up until the ski hill came. I knew this was going l be brutal for me. Uphill like that is HARD! Wow! I struggled up the hill losing places but pushing and pushing running and power hiking and was relieved to see the summit and water station! Grabbing a cup of water I thought I was going gulp down the most refreshing water but it hit my throat and I thought I was going to throw up! It was carbonated mineral water!!!! Why oh why would they do this?! Yuuuuck!! The bubbles and taste was the last thing your body wants when it's red lining! Fortunately I didn't puke and continued on my way up the single track. It was harder than we thought but I persevered and continued the trudge uphill smiling with every tiny flat or downhill slope as I tried to catch a deep breath. 

The last hill up to the top of the course was hard but I could hear everyone and the announcer calling out names and countries and tried my best to keep those feet turning to run that corner and start round two! It was then I found out that Mel was right behind me and I was happy to hear that! Sarah took off ahead and strongly from the start and Meggan made a great pass by me on the ski hill! It was so encouraging to know we were all running strong! 

Lap two was much of the same thing but even harder as I had already been pushing so hard for what felt like so long. My legs felt weak on a few corners as quick slopes where I had to slow myself down but nothing to do but to do it and I ran ran ran!! One girl got injured on course and required the medics to come attend on their 4x4, it was brutal to see a race end like that for someone but I had to carry on my way as it was my race too and I knew she'd be looked after. Fortunately she was limping with another runner so I didn't feel obligated to stop. I continued on and pushed up the hill alternating places with a great girl from Australia. Mel came by us with her strong legs from biking and I was happy to cheer her on as I gasped for air! Hahah. It was so brutal but so epic to be racing up this challenging hill. 

I couldn't find the energy to thank people or even smile as I Climbed the uphill but knew I had to keep my strength. I made a final pass of the girl ahead of me and settled that place then saw the last hill to the finish in sight! I was exhausted, lungs burning, legs on fire and so hot but I knew I had to finish that line strong! I made it up the slope fighting every step then saw our team manager Adrian Lambert ahead and was able to ask him which way to turn, left or right, once I got to the top! Hahah the worst thing would  have been to run the wrong way!! Luckily he caught my drift and pointed to my left and I ran into the finish line as they announced my name and country! It felt so good to finish but wow was I tanked!!

My legs shook, I tried desperately to gasp at air, and fought the urge to puke and pass out! All while taking in more awful mineral water and being congratulated by teammates. I left it all out there and couldn't be happier! I placed 57th out of 82, minus the 3 that DNF. Better than last year and with a great time!!! I'm so happy! All our Canadian women placed under 60th position which is awesome!  I'm so proud of everyone!! We had such an amazing team and I couldn't be more grateful for this experience as opportunity to represent my country.


Of course, after I regulated my body temperature, breathing and regained some strength back it was all back to smiles, laughs and.. ninja jumps. Obviously.

We watched the senior men race, who all kicked major butt!! So proud of all of them!! Then Calum, Sarah and I then went on to do a two hour run as we took an adventure in the Polish mountain side before we had to head back home to get ready for our closing ceremonies. Which were much to our surprise outside.. followed by a dinner trough style feeding frenzy which we happily bypassed for a great restaurant that was serving up fresh pizzas, pastas, salads, ice cream and beers all with live music! We had a blast and ran home to catch the last bus like Cinderella!

Some of us continued the party on in the hotel bar playing pool and hanging out after. What an amazing day!!! This has been another incredible experience and I couldnt be more grateful for all the amazing love and support from my family and friends. It wouldnt be the same without you all and I appreciate every minute of it!! Big thanks especially to my family and my best girlies (you know who you are!!) I didn't run with duck wings Lauren, but I think I went fast enough! Hahah!!

Love, smiles, laughs and sore muscles,

Shanny!

Krynica!

WOOOOOW!

Can you say an incredible experience?! That was amazing! Ever since meeting up with my teammates (the most wonderful people- our team Canada had so much great spirit, life, talent, personality and shining aura) I've been on cloud 9. It's so exciting seeing all the top athletes in the world coming into your hotel and all prepping for a race of a lifetime. The lean, mean athletes that can destroy a buffet faster than a hotdog eating competition! BooM! Hahah no I'm just kidding. Our hotel did an amazing job keeping everything stocked up and fruit on hand at all times. :)

After getting our new team gear for this year (which looks incredible- BIG thanks to Running Room for sponsoring and supplying us with our gear this year), we started looking sharp and ready to roll! We recieved singlets, t-shirts, shorts, and track suit this year! We are all so excited to have them actually say Canada and Mountain Running 2013 on them! Our team got together and scoped out the course for the race two days before.. it was great to see what it would be like.. Starts off with a grassy sprint about 400m long up a wide hill, then past the gondola where the downhill starts along a dirt road that was covered in about fist sized loose rocks here and there! Talk about scary for your ankles! There were some sharp hairpin turns that we instantly knew would be a challenge to run. After running down for quite a long way on this same road which eventually got some tree coverage as it went into the forest, we discovered less loose rocks, but a harder trail to see with all the shadows from the trees playing tricks on your eyes. The road went down for what seemed like a crazy long time. And then we realised we missed out turn up and had to head back after about a km or two of going too far! Hahah Thank goodness at least! Lol! After back tracking, we found our turn off.. UP A SKI HILL! Boom! Hahah but unlike last year, where we had to go straight up the hill, this time the course zig zagged up the hill which I actually wasn't too excited about.. it makes it harder and longer (less steep, but uneven muscles and a challenge to try to run or walk). It's in dead grass which also is hard as it becomes slippery on your shoes and let me tell you.. sliding back sucked! The great news was that after you finish that section, we enter a single track trail which is much more to my likings! I love the trails, it was a challenging trail continuing up the mountain though which although wasnt too technical, it was pretty steep in places, but gradual enough to make you feel like you shouldnt be walking even though thats all my muscles could let me do at a lot of times. After that, we pop out onto a rocky road and up a short hill that takes us back to the top of the gondola.. where we get to do it all over again! Hurray!! Hahahha!

Me and a few of the guys from our team including Calum, Mathieu, Kris and Sean headed out for a small shake out jog that afternoon before the opening ceremonies. It was nice to get the muscles a bit looser and we actually ended up seeing the start of a 10km race we think. It was amazing to see even more people of all shapes and sizes running. The most emotional thing for me was seeing a man with a disability running the same race with his walking sticks.. tears sprang to my eyes when I saw the determination and spirit in this mans face. It's amazing how the body can do so much if we let it. He really inspired me! There were a ton of little polish stands set up selling wooden carvings, polish furs, toys and random other polish things outside of the race exhibit which was filled of all the same things as the ones in Canada.. but not as many free PowerBar samples unfortunately. Lol We enjoyed exploring the stands and I saw the cutest little puppy!! So naturally I played with it for as long as I could stay there!

The opening ceremonies consisted of a parade through the main town of Krynica with our national flags.. which Canada provided their own thanks to one Calum Neff, who saved our butts, by bringing his own flag and duct tape to make one for us when the organizers did not have our flag! Fail on their part! But we didn't mind too much and took it in real Canadian grace and continued on our way to pose for pictures with other countries! After the ceremonies opened with some speeches from VIP's we broke into a dance party to one amazing opera singer then headed home for some pasta with salmon and last minute stretching and rolling. Some of us gathered up and made a pool on who would win the race tomorrow picking up to six contenders for the senior men.. unfortunately my plan of voting for the coolest names didn't pan out the way I planned and I ended up dead last according to the guys. Lol! Rats!

Anyways, we trimmed our ridiculously large numbers down so that they could fit on our shirts.. and not be the full size of a page of paper.. so funny. I've never seen anything like that!!! I got to bed at a decently early hour and shared a moment with Mel on how this was the experience of a lifetime tomorrow.

Annnnd that's all you get for this post! Hahaha the next one will be on the race itself.. what you've all been waiting for! :)

Medieval Training/History Tour!

Today I went back in time. I probably looked like a Roman spartan.. or Greek warrior... no, let me correct that.. I DID look like a wicked cool spartan/warrior/runner in Asics!! Hahhaha okay, not as fashionable as the bronze battle armor, but heck that would be a lot heavier to run in and I gotta taper. right? Right!

So my teammate Kris Swanson came into Krakow and we met up for a training day. After running a couple km to meet up we ran off to this park which Kris had found on one of the maps. It was a pretty easy route there so that was good! After entering a bit of green from the city we soon ran up a little hill(harder to find in the city) and came upon this epic old track! It was a gravel track surrounding a soccer field in the middle, but the sweetest part was the brick and concrete tiled old stadium that was built around it! It was absolutely epic! You felt like you were running in the middle ages! Some of the concrete slabs were crumbling, bricks were falling off and I'm sure you could hear swords clashing in the background! We did some nice easy laps then Kris did his speed work while I did some stairs.

How awesome?!

Awesome!

Later on I met up with Aussie team member Nick Wightman and Kris again and we did a walking tour of the Jewish area in old Krakow. It was really informative and I learned a ton, but some parts were pretty heavy. I still can't believe the atrocity of just how many innocent Jewish people were killed.. So so tragic. We enjoyed the tour though and were able to clock in another 3km of walking in our running shoes! No silly sandels for runners! hahahha! After a nice dinner where we had all ordered our sides of grilled veggies and then tossed them on our entrees we headed back to our respective homes. Me back another 3km to start packing up for the next day. I really enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Chopin and they put up with my weird requests for glasses of ice and first aid supplies and massive appetite for breakfast! Hahahahha

We saw something really cool when we were walking that was really uplifting. Along one of the bridges there were a ton of padlocks. The guide explained to us that each of these padlocks was put on by a couple in love and then they toss the key into the river to represent their never ending love. They often had their names and dates engraved into them too! It was so cool to see so many and so many different ages! Some must have been from over 50 years ago where other ones were sparkling new! <3

A new day brings a new adventure and it started off great with a nice facetime chat with my awesome man, Joel. :) And continued on well after that! I was even early for my bus to the airport! 

I'm now at the Pegaz Hotel in Krynica after a fun bus ride with Meggan Franks and her husband, Housten and the whole Aussie team! It seems likes a beautiful hotel and the sun is shining! I'm all settled into my room and am just about to head out for a short jog. I've already run some familiar faces from the American team included Joe Grey. I'm very excited and it's starting to be so real now that we are all starting to arrive!! This is such an incredible experience! I've been having a blast with my teammates, meeting some new members and enjoying a nice dinner. This is a real step up from last year. Very organized and very nice!! Couldn't ask for anything more! 

Talk to you soon!!

Shannykins

No Where to Go, But Up!

Wow! Was today ever spectacular!! It started off right with a nice healthy breakfast of oats, raisins and hot milk and some egg whites with a slab of smoked cheese on toast. No fruit this time.. I think I've discovered the upset tummy issue wasnt food poisoning.. it was allergies to pinapple which was in the fruit salad.. I'm assuming its all doused in pineapple juice from the can cuz I picked out all the pieces.. I discovered this after some eye swelling after eating fruit and oats and yogurt the other morning. So I will stick with my apples and bananas I have in my food stash in my room! Hahahah!

Anyways, on with my story! So I ran into town to get a bike to both get my workout in and explore around some more. My buddy that I made friends with was working there again and he hooked me up with a sweet bike and pink helmet to match my pink shirt! Woohoo!! I rode along the whole waterfront and then went up to this old fort! It was so cool!! I couldn't believe the view from it.. ( i even paid the 9zl they charged (supposed to be 11zl, but they dont like giving change back really and maybe he was just nice to me well, yes he was just nice to me! Hhahah so he let me pay the kids rate.) This big grassy mound is in the middle of the fort that has an astounding view of all of Krakow! It was gorgeous!!!

Well when I was in the fort.. I saw something that must be a requirement for every castle built.. ever. Now I know you must be wondering.. what is this?! Turrets? A drawbridge?! Cannons?! Nie! It is a DISCO BALL! It's not a castle without a disco ball folks! They knew how to live in up back in the day! :D


Looking up at it I knew it was going to be great and it made me happy I didnt have to run straight up! But it sure reminded me of the Aussie's team slogan for mountain running last year.. "no where to go but up!' It was perfect!!




After riding around for 3 hours and hanging out in the fort taking pictures and exploring for another hour I decided it was probably time to head back because I'm supposed to be taking it easy. lol. So i returned the bike and chilled out in the main square to enjoy some people watching and light greek yogurt that I found in the little grocery shop! I might have been the only weirdo there in athletic gear, stretching and eating healthy high protein post workout snacks... okay yes, fine i admit.. i was the only weirdo doing that!

It was a gorgeous day and I really loved being out there! I found some whole wheat pasta for dins (a shocking surprise!) and had a nice relaxing evening in the hotel. I can't believe I head to Kryinca so soon!! It's starting to become real again!! Ahhhhh!! Exciting! I'm starting to feel a bit nervous now too! Can't wait!

Love and hugs,

Shanny

Wieliczka Salt Mine!

I made sure to wake up early and leave early to make sure I had time to catch my bus time! No diddle daddling! And yes, I made it with plenty of time to spare! I proudly stood out front and waited for the bus after being a major keener and being one of the first people there! Hahaha. Anyways, our group was smaller so our guide was saying with only 21 people. It was a nice size group and people seemed to be from everywhere.. yet everyone pretty much kept to themselves. So many people speak multiple languages in Europe! It's so cool. Everyone was on the English tour, but I could pick out at least 4 different languages spoken just within our group too. The salt mine was really cool! I had no idea how big it was! In the 2 hours we spent inside of the mine, we saw less that 1% of the mine!! Crazy, we covered 2km walking too!

The mine itself was really cool, we started it off by going down a ton of wooden stairs.. which of course I considered running up, (as it turns out theres actually a firefighters race that does that carrying all their gear!) The tunnels are dug right into the salt which is so cool! Our guide Sebastian was showing us that even though it looked grey, the floor, walls and statues were all actually made of salt and when you held a light up to it is when translucent!

That's one thing I didn't expect.. all the incredible carvings!! It was beautiful to have these elaborate decorations in the mines against all the rough old wooden machines on display. One of the coolest things I saw other than the salt that looked like cauliflower, was the chandeliers made of salt crystals! Sooo amazing!!!



At the end of the tour we were able to take the miners elevator up which packed 9 people into a tiny compartment, much like the sardines of the Grouse Mountain Gondola in the peak of the winter season! It was a suuuper fast elevator and whipped us up 125m in no time!!

After the tour, I headed back to the hotel and had a nice little workout in the old but decent gym at the hotel. After that I was a good girl and rolled and stretched and iced. And then got a suuuuper yummy dinner! I had planned on going into the Old Town again, but then it started raining on my 2.5km walk into town so I shortened it and just went to the mall. Theres a tooon of places to eat in there and one of the restaurants was serving major yum yums! I got the baked eggplant stuffed with walnuts, spinach and mozzerella then covered in tomato sauce.. omg.. it was incredible. I need to go there again! I couldn't believe how yummy it was! It's crazy how you can find some amazing deals here if you look in the right places! My dinner cost me 19zl which is about $6 canadian. say waaaa! heyoooo! Gotta love that!

There was also something cool down there which marks it a monumental day.. toilets! Bahah! This marks the second weirdest place I've taken a potty break and I can now say I've peed both on top of a mountain and 125m underground!

Anyways that's my big day! Hope you all had wonderful ones too!

Love, love, love,


Shanny

On Two Wheels

Well, I've definitely had a few more challenges this trip than I did last time, but I've been having a great time! Yesterday was rainy so I decided it would be a great day to do the salt mine tour! So I ran into town in the morning bought my ticket for the next leaving tour then ran back to the hotel to pack a lunch and such. I had to put on some pants and warmer clothes too and ended up being 5 mins late after I had to stop at the store which had a very unexpected line up at the cashier! I arrived saw a big bus and was like  yeeeeees! Went into the store to announce my arrival and get on the bus.. only to learn that mine had already left! Bah! Fortunately they were kind enough to defer my ticket to the next day so I'm leaving early this morning. Hahahah!

After that bombed, I noticed a flyer for the rent a bike place in Krakow and was reminded that I had wanted to do that! So I headed into the main square and quickly made buddies with the rent a bike guys. They spent about 30 mins with me going over possible options on where to ride. The park I really want to see looks really confusing to bike to.. so I decided to veedo that and opted for a easier route.. which ended up being too confusing anyways. I really need to get better at reading a map! Lol. Anyways, I had a lovely ride in the rain (they thought i was crazy for wanting to take a bike out in this weather..) went around the Planty again then headed water front crossed the bridge and did the whole coast line. I saw the coolest/weirdest thing!! They built a beach!! Theres this big barge that they put a swimming pool in and then on the hill above it they built a platform with a sandy beach! There's lawn chairs, umbrellas, a playground and beach volleyball courts! So cool!

Then kept going along the road to get to hopefully these lakes or monastery that most ppl want to see thats about 10km away from the main square.. well I did better than that and went way past the monastery and continued into the next town through the polish farm land. It was quite pretty!! Making it to the next town meant that I miss my turn however, lol so I headed back after having my peanut butter and banana sandwich. The way home was a lot quicker it seemed, but when I got into a little village I decided to try to go up on the curb so i wouldnt have to be close to the cars.. few as they may be.. i saw the lip of the curb and thought ohhhh no this is how i always fell as a kid... "no shannon, you can do it..."  BOOM! lol no shannon you still cant do it! blast! sooo embarrassing. I ate it, but had my helmet on and such so stayed safe, dont worry! Just a few new battle wounds to my poor shins n bruise on my hand. they have taken a hammering this year! but what falls off must get back on and after pickin up my pride.. or what was left of it i climbed back on and rode back to the waterfront and enjoyed riding for another hour. After returning my bike I headed home to warm up and drink my keffir, it's quite popular here! Did some laundry in the shower and chilled out to write my blog.

Later on I went out for dinner after looking at reviews online.. found a great restaurant called Dynia! It has italian food and is super affordable. I made the big trek there, which was a lot colder than I thought.. the sun had come out in the afternoon, but it didnt warm up much to my surprise! lol. I got the most amazing pasta! Never would have expected that in Poland, but hey good food is everywhere! And Italy is closer to Poland than it is to Canada! My spaghetti was a mountain of sundried tomatoes, eggplant, spinach and goat cheese! NOOOM! I ate the whole thing! Hahah I guess that isn't a surprise if you know me and my appetite, but I was even impressed that my tummy held it all!

Anyways, I better go so that I make sure I make my bus this time!! Hahahhaha

Love and laughs,
Shanny

Dzień Dobry

Good morning!!

Hope you had a great slumber! I'm back to update you on my days! Hurray!! 

Yesterday:

Talk about feeling the time difference! The day before had been great- didn't really notice a difference at all and I went to bed nice and tired like I should have been.. but then woke up at 2am.. my body was convinced it should have been awake and should be eating dinner! I tried very hard to tell it otherwise.. sweet talk it into considering the possibility of sleep and me.. but it was a tough cookie~ At 6am I called it quits and got up and doodled around until 625am so that I could get some breakie that starts at 6:30am. After some healthy oats, fruit and yogurt I said what the heck, lets hit the road and see if I can run to the lake I had read about the night before! Followed the waterfront path all the way to one of the bridges when I brought out the tourist map (flashing sign for people to point and laugh.. not really, but you know what i mean) and I navigated through some tiny and some busy streets to find the entrance to the park. It had a paved road that I ran along into it and it was there I ran into a whole bunch of movie set crews! They were filming that day but luckily hadnt started because.. who else is awake at that hour, so I was able to run through and with the help of sign language I was able to find the quarry and lake!! WOW! Beauuuutiful!! I ran a bit around the lake, took some pics and found the biggest snails ever! They must feed them MiracleGrow out here.. it was the size of my index finger!! I'll have to put up a pic to show you!! 

The path was very cool, but unfortunately there was a ton of post partying litter and garbage! Boo! Why do people do that to trails?!!? The run was feeling good but then my tummy started really being unhappy. I had some pain the "night" before-when i lay awake, but didn't think anything of it.. maybe should have. After seeing the lake and taking as many pics as I could, i headed off running back to the hotel. I ended up having to stop and walk early to keep my tummy attached, but I made it back! That's what counts! 

A bit later I could be found passed out sleeping on the bed with the sunshine streaming in for a solid two hours. Bleeeeeh! But I was feeling better than before and promptly ate my peanut butter n banana sanny. nom noms. Since it was only about 2, I was able to finish my original plan for the day... THE ZOO!!! YAAAAY! I havent been to the zoo since i was a wee little one!! So excited!! I caught a bus there and had a blast seeing all the animals! It was a great zoo! They had all the major animals you expect and hope for at the zoo like tigers, lions, elephants and sea lions.. but they had two animals that really blew my mind... RACCOONS AND CANADIAN GEESE! (oh and a skunk too) Bahahahhah!! Sooo funny to see these animals we consider pests featured at the zoo! hahahhahha! I guess that's what people from other areas think when they come to our zoo too! The chimpanzee scared the beans out of a group of tourists when it jumped at them, the gorilla climbed the hanging tires, the tiger stood and layed back down, the sea lion smiled and made goo-goo eyes and the little tiny monkey had enough off my pictures and turned him bum to me. IT WAS AWESOME!

Had some delicious cabbage rolls and some sort of grilled polish cheese for dinner and had a nice relaxing evening :) 

Oh yeah! I almost forgot.. when I was finishing up dinner.. look what rolled up! A tricked out carriage!! Dwwwaaaaaaammmnnnn! Lol!

Anyways... this is really long so Ill just write about yesterday and make todays later on so i don't make you go cross eyed. 

Love, love, love! 

Shanny