Every Race is an Adventure!

6 miles @ easy pace (no watch)

After 18 miles on Saturday my legs didn't have a lot of zip this morning, but they didn't really feel heavy and I had no significant aches or pains. I'm satisfied with where I am in my training at this point this year.

Drive to Helena, MT.

Drive from Helena, MT to Mountain View, Alberta, Canada.

3.1 miles @ 9:34/mi with my niece Eroica. With not many choices of where to run, we ran on a rolling gravel road with no shade. I very much enjoyed the company, but the heat, the hills, and the gravel were less than ideal.

After we got back I ran another 1.4 miles doing loops around the property of the cabin where we were staying. The ground was a little uneven, but at least it was mostly grass with about half of it in shade.

Later in the day several dozen extended family members got together for a hike up Bear's Hump in Waterton Lakes National Park...one of the prettiest places on earth. Very steep ascent to a awe-inspiring overlook of the lake, park, and surrounding mountains. 1.8 miles round trip.

Family reunion breakfast. Very fun game of \Danish Ball with extended family. Family dinner followed by a very well attended Family History night. A total of about 105 people participated in the reunion at one point or another, from Canada, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington D.C. (I may have missed some). Most were there for at least several days. It was so enjoyable.

The reunion was planned for descendants of Ora and Vivian Nielson but also included descendants of Vivian's sister Althea and relatives of Philip Williams (my father-in-law, also from Cardston like my mother-in-law, Ora & Vivian's daugther).

7.25 miles @ 9:10/mi

This was a solo run from the cabin where we were staying in Mountain View, Alberta, Canada. It was earlier in the day than my last run, and much cooler...sunny with a nice cool breeze.

I ran north of Highway 5 this time. I learned that the roads are really just very long driveways. I followed one fork, and then another, that both ended at farm houses with barns and other outbuildings. The third road also led to a farm but also looped to the west and connected with a highway that I followed south back to Highway 5 and home.

I had about 1.5 miles to go when I left the gravel road and got on the highway going south. I climbed a steady hill for about 3/4 mile then was rewarded with about another 3/4 mile of steady downhill. I decided to push the pace downhill to the stop sign at the junction with Highway 5. I averaged 7:52/mi.

As I approached the junction I noticed a cow on the shoulder on my side of the highway, on the wrong side of the fence. I had seen another juvenile cow on the road near the beginning of my run. Since the shoulder was small, I decided to yell and make some noise as I approached, hoping it would walk off the road before I got there. As I approached I realized this wasn't a small cow. In fact, it was pretty big and musculuar. As I got nearer, and it heard me and turned to face me, I realized it also had horn. I suddenly stopped maybe 30-40 yards away. It stared unwaveringly at me, lowered its head a bit, and raised its right hoof slightly. I recognized the stance from movies I've seen and the bull fight I attended in Spain. I quickly decided my best option was to climb the barbed wire fence into the empty field next to me. I then walked slowly past the bull, who turned to follow me with his gaze. Once I passed he returned to his grazing. I climbed the fence onto Highway 5 then finished the last 3/4 miles back to the cabin at about 7:30/mi pace. I think the adrenalin helped.

Our family + Wendy hiked Red Rock and to Blackiston Falls then skipped rocks on the north shore of Waterton Lake and ate pizza. In the evening we invited others to the large fire pit at our cabin for s'mores. Some of us played a little soccer with my sons portable goal in the large grass field next to the cabin. We later played Catch Phrase around the fire in the darkness. Very enjoyable.