Yesterday I had a great run - 25km on Christmas Day! (ask me a year ago if I would have thought that was possible.. Haha no.)

This was my longest distance to date!

Now I am aiming for a new goal.. 30km, then 35, then 40, and the big goal - 50 km on my birthday (the end of June!). After all.. If you wanna be an ultra runner.. You've gotta train like one.

The weather was surprisingly warm for December (12 degrees!) .. And for the fact that I live in Canada. I ran all the way to a marsh trail. I didn't know about until my step sis mentioned it and said I would like the view. She was right.. The trail was beautiful and I will definitely be back!

Also.. Please note the beautiful camelbak my amazing boyfriend got me for Christmas!! I've been talking about getting one for ever, he's so thoughtful. It's fully insulated and holds 2L. I feel so safe running long distances now without worrying about getting dehydrated, and it's got a pocket that fits my phone and snacks perfectly.

Also.. Dad got me a hilarious pin that I stuck on my pack..

Hehe that little broccoli is so cute!

This Christmas was extra special to me because I got to spend it with Kirk. Our first Christmas together, and many more to come. We sat around the tree watching Christmas movies with my family eating tons of food and having some wonderful drinks that my step mom created, called Jack Frost.

Loved the red and gold theme we had going.

Judy's delicious drinks! I may have had a couple too many.. But it's the holidays ;)

Our gorgeous stuffed chicken. I don't eat meat anymore due to health problems, but I hear it was great! My sis Keshia raises them with her hubby.

We had so much leftover food holy moly.

Quinoa is the shit! Super good in salads too.. Just sayin.

I made this stuffing for everyone, and it's delicious! But takes like an hour to cook.. So never again. Also.. Yes I was drinking and cooking haha. I don't drink often, but holiday flavoured stuff is my weakness!

#whitegirlSolutions

I've eaten so much food this week.. I believe that Runger (running+hunger) is a thing.. And that's what I blame my appetite on. You run that far for training and can't help but be hungry after burning basically thousands of calories.

Seriously.. Keep your carbs away from me, cause I'll eat them.

It's like whenever I get home from a long run, I instantly turn into a bottomless pit. I ate an entire box of triscuits by myself haha. The Runger is real.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends, and hopefully you were able to stay active as well!

The Rural Runner

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The past week I've been spending time with Kirk and his family in Cape Breton. There's no better way to spend the holidays than with family. I baked some vegan cookies before I left to bring with me, since I hate showing up empty handed if I'm staying for a bit.

I found an awesome vegan eggnog spice cookie recipe and decided to give it a try. Original recipe here. I love it when websites offer vegetarian alternatives!

They didn't spread out as well as I thought.. Opps. Had to flatten them with a fork.

Kinda look like timbits, YUM!

The finished product was a hit!

I stayed with Kirk and his family for a few days and had an amazing time as always. I love Cape Breton and plan on living there eventually.

Of course while I was visiting, Kirk and myself went for a couple runs.

Our first run was 8km on the Ceildh Trail. It's old an old train track trail that runs for hundreds of kilometres along the Western Coast of Cape Breton that's well maintained and (for the most part) sheltered by trees. It's also pretty flat, so it made for a good run.

Zoom, zoom!

Of course we also found some obstacles to play on.

Some day, I plan to climb across this entire thing.. Ninja warrior training!

The next day we did a quick 5k up the mountain and back down, which really made me realize how much I need to start adding hill training to my workouts!

It was a much more difficult trail than I normally train on.. With a couple technical climbs and some rivers to cross. We go until we reach a hunters cabin hidden in the woods, then turn around as our half way point.

It was a great week away and I love spending it with Kirk and his family.

This week we're planning on spending time in the valley with my family over Christmas, and fitting in our long run tomorrow on Xmas eve! My longest distance ever - 24 km (cause we're all festive and shit). Stay tuned for a recap.

Merry Christmas friends,

The Rural Runner

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Now that Ive been home a bit and life has calmed down, I figured it was time for a race recap.

Kirk and I arrived in Fort Lauderdale after a long day of flights and being at 4 different airports. We picked up our rental car (note to self.. Book this in advance next time. Airport car rentals are a nightmare.. And Canadian debit cards are apparently useless in America.)

We finally got everything sorted and headed straight to Whole Foods.

Seriously, there needs to be a whole foods in Nova Scotia.

We got all carbed up and ready for a weekend of racing.

The race venue was pretty flooded, and it was raining hard on and off.. But that didn't rain on our parade, duh we are Spartans! Aroo!

The race went very well, I only ended up doing Burpees for the Hercules hoist (this seriously weighed more than I did and lifted me off the ground) and the rig (opps, need to practice my monkey bars). I'll get you one day, burpee free race!!

Heres the pictures from Saturday's race

Who's this happy during a bucket carry?? Me apparently.. Lol like I said, we were in Miami, it was warm, can't rain on my parade!

The only obstacle that is easier when you're a shorty.. Also, man buns and barbed wire don't get along.

Mmmm doesn't that water look delish.

Pretty excited because I passed a dude! #spartanchicked

Kirk was waiting for me at the finish line with a big hug :)

Ps - you get a free Shock Top at American races.. Now that's what I'm talking about!

I placed 33rd in my elite heat for females, and 5th age group, which makes me super happy because I thought I would be near the bottom of the group! A goal for me had been to place top 50 of elite females so to do this at my first elite race was pretty exciting!

New goal: top 10 female.

Kirk placed 3rd in elite and made it to the podium! He has been training his ass off and deserves a big win like this!

Look at that smile! :)

Holy moly am I ever a proud girlfriend, I literally bragged to anyone who would listen to me that weekend about him winning! Well deserved. Someday, I'll be up there with him :)

The next day I was far too bruised and beat up (8 foot wall probs) to race elite again so I had the wonderful opportunity to cheer on Kirk instead. Watching him race is amazing, he's so fast and focused and when he goes through obstacles he makes it look effortless. I've never been so proud! He came in at 4th place in a very close finish! That man never fails to impress me.

Later on that day, we met up with our friend Juan and ran in the open heat (less competitive). It was super fun completing the race with friends and getting some awesome pictures along the way.

Romantic date idea.. Bucket carry through a swamp, haha😂

Again, man buns and barbed wire don't mix.

We decided to do a sexy hair flip dunk wall photo.. But I forgot.. Hahaha still the best picture ever.

Dunk wall photos are beautiful.

Note to self.. Don't wear a strappy sports bra at Spartan races. Also, say hi to my awesome friend Juan! :)

Overall it was SUCH a amazing weekend. I made a bunch of new friends, completed some goals and had fun racing. For now, it's technically Spartan race off season, but we're training for our upcoming race, the hypothermic half marathon. Back to the cold in Nova Scotia!

After that race, the workouts will be getting very intense as we have decided to compete in the Montreal ultra beast (45+km) July 31.

Ps - we made the 3 hour drive to Orlando to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was literally the BEST DAY EVER! 

Cheers,

The Rural Runner

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Finally, finally, finally!!

Tomorrow morning I'm flying out of cold and wet Nova Scotia and heading toward hopefully sunny and warm Florida! Im emphasizing this because I just put my snow tires on Tuesday and am in denial that it's almost winter.

Although it's always fun playing in the snow with your puppy!

Anyway, I've had this trip planned with Kirk for quite a while now and we're super excited to go!

We arrive in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow around 6 and will be staying close by, as our race is in Davie. We're also hoping to get an early sneak peak at some of the obstacles tomorrow once we land!

Goal: keep Burpees to a minimum.. Aka don't fail any obstacles!!

We are racing in the elite heats both days and then probably doing an extra lap just for fun!

After the races were hoping to go out with some friends for food and post race celebrations. We're going to be super close to Miami beach so we are going to rent bicycles and go exploring as well! It's going to be a very active vacation.. Just the way we like it!

After the weekend race weekend is all over, we are also planning on heading up to Orlando for a day to go to Universal Studios.. And more specifically The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!! I'm full on fan girling, this is basically my life dream.. Finally going to Hogwarts!

I'm gonna be that adult that's more excited about this than most children there... Yup.

It should be a great week and I'm counting down the hours until we leave! I'll definitely be posting race recaps as well, so stay tuned.

The Rural Runner

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