Nov 8, 2015
It seems that when times get rough and my emotional tank is empty, I always find myself back in the mountains. And I kinda feel like Pavlov’s dog in the sense that because I now associate the mountains with replenishing my spirit – as they have done time and time again on this path - I find that my brain and my emotions go into auto ‘relax’ mode as soon as I am on my way to the mountains.
So it was that I found my pain dull, just a little, as we drove out towards the
mountains the day after Jan’s funeral. Me and 8 of my girlfriends were on our
way to Banff for the annual Winterstart race – a 5 Mile (8k!), uphill RUN, at night
in the dark, up a mountain, in Nov…Did I mention the bear warnings and snowfall
warnings in effect??
To be honest though, I almost cancelled going. With Daisy starting the week off rough, and Jan’s funeral the day before I just didn’t have the heart to go. Phil, who always seems to know what’s best for me even when I don’t, pushed me to go anyways. Grudgingly I consented to go, on the promise that if Daisy took a turn for the worse he would tell me right away so I could come home. Never mind all the years we had her since she was a pup, but she had been with me through the whole of my canser treatment as my constant companion – I was not about to abandon her at the end of her life when she now needed me.
We spend Sat shopping, or hot tubbing and ate at my favourite restaurant
Nourish (and I now think most of the girls favourite too!) and were again the
loudest ones in the place. We may or may not have had a few beverages that had
alcohol in it…before we went back to the hotel to change and get ready for our
5k run ….apparently fancy boozy drinks are the stuff of champions!
The thing to know about Winterstart if you don’t know anything about it, is it’s not your typical competitive race…people go there dressed up. Like in costumes…like there were a bunch of lit up Bananas running around…yes, bananas. Yes, lit up… Among elves and all kinds of elaborate costumes or gaudy, bright clothing, often adorned with Christmas lights. We, for our part were in Skeleton Tutu’s (ha) and all wondering how this would turn out. There was a thin sheet of ice on the road where it had been snowing and melting so that added to the challenge. And most of us hadn’t run in weeks…or months…or ever!
There were A LOT of people at the start line. We were pretty excited; even if we weren’t sure we would make it the whole way…without being carried! Then the starting gun shot went off, and as my mom says, we were “off like a heard of turtles in a cloud of pepper dust”. Like turtles on ice…which I’m sure was entertaining for anyone watching.
It was dark…like really dark! They gave everyone glow sticks, and I could understand
why – at least then you had something to light you up, not to see, but to at
least be seen. But it was really well organized and I was surprised when I made
it to the turnaround point, which was part way up Tunnel Mountain…I was even
pretty sure I had at least 1 lung still working…though I couldn’t be sure with
how loud I was breathing…but breathing I still was, so that was a good sign.
All 9 of us came in within 15 minutes of each other. I’d be lying if
I said the finish line was what motivated me to push through the 2nd half of
the run – it was really the free beer I knew awaited me!
As I crossed the finish line I remember thinking “wow, 230k bike ride in Aug,
5k run up a mountain in Nov…maybe I’m having an early mid-life crisis!”. And
then I found the rest of the girls, was handed a beer and my shoulders felt
lighter. I don’t even like running! But we decided then and there that this
would be our annual girls’ event…and that maybe we might recruit a few more for
next year’s.
The setting and the company of those with me were incredibly healing for me. It turned out to be a fun weekend full of laugher and no responsibilities. I think it wasn’t just healing for me – I think some, if not all my girls needed it.
I also think that weekend allowed me to recharge enough to be able to handle the heartbreak I had no idea awaited me upon my return.
It seems that when times get rough and my emotional tank is empty, I always find myself back in the mountains. And I kinda feel like Pavlov’s dog in the sense that because I now associate the mountains with replenishing my spirit – as they have done time and time again on this path - I find that my brain and my emotions go into auto ‘relax’ mode as soon as I am on my way to the mountains.
To be honest though, I almost cancelled going. With Daisy starting the week off rough, and Jan’s funeral the day before I just didn’t have the heart to go. Phil, who always seems to know what’s best for me even when I don’t, pushed me to go anyways. Grudgingly I consented to go, on the promise that if Daisy took a turn for the worse he would tell me right away so I could come home. Never mind all the years we had her since she was a pup, but she had been with me through the whole of my canser treatment as my constant companion – I was not about to abandon her at the end of her life when she now needed me.
I suppose it’s not that surprising that within a few minutes of getting to the
room, wine was being poured by the 3 of us who got there first, waiting for the
others who would be showing up in the next couple of hours. I think we were 2
bottles in when some of the others started to roll in…
Obviously alcohol is not an answer when you have pain in your life, but that
night, with my wonderful girlfriends, it was exactly what I needed. The stress
melted away and those girls – my girls – surrounded me with their love and
support without even talking about it – and kept me in the present moment the
whole weekend. I could finally breathe again. We laughed so hard we cried, and
I’m sure all of Banff knew we were in town from the noise we made when we
finally left the room and hit the town – a few more bottles of wine later…Not
everyone knew each other super well, but by the end of Friday night
you’d think we were all friends for years (which some of us were!)
 |
| Terrorizing the town |
The thing to know about Winterstart if you don’t know anything about it, is it’s not your typical competitive race…people go there dressed up. Like in costumes…like there were a bunch of lit up Bananas running around…yes, bananas. Yes, lit up… Among elves and all kinds of elaborate costumes or gaudy, bright clothing, often adorned with Christmas lights. We, for our part were in Skeleton Tutu’s (ha) and all wondering how this would turn out. There was a thin sheet of ice on the road where it had been snowing and melting so that added to the challenge. And most of us hadn’t run in weeks…or months…or ever!
There were A LOT of people at the start line. We were pretty excited; even if we weren’t sure we would make it the whole way…without being carried! Then the starting gun shot went off, and as my mom says, we were “off like a heard of turtles in a cloud of pepper dust”. Like turtles on ice…which I’m sure was entertaining for anyone watching.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After - look at those smiles! |
The setting and the company of those with me were incredibly healing for me. It turned out to be a fun weekend full of laugher and no responsibilities. I think it wasn’t just healing for me – I think some, if not all my girls needed it.
I also think that weekend allowed me to recharge enough to be able to handle the heartbreak I had no idea awaited me upon my return.
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