Ah…so…the weekend in review…
Friday:
I got my SLR of 4 miles in over lunch. It wasn’t really a pretty run – I think I learned that drinking a latte just before going on a run is a really bad idea because apparently milk + running do not mix well for me. Now I know… The great part was my mile splits were increasingly faster.
Saturday:
I met up with the running group ladies for 12 miles along the Bow River. We met up at 7 am – it was still dark and it was just above freezing outside. Time to admit that fall is here I think. Most of the group were running 22 miles as their final long run before tapering for the Nike Women’s Marathon, but we ran 6 miles out west along the river and back, then I left them to finish of their run heading east and back. Thank goodness for the group because I wasn’t feeling the run that morning and it would have been easy to try and put it off if I didn’t have anyone to meet. 20 min in and I was in the groove though. We took it nice and slow and ran 20:1 intervals which felt surprisingly good. I think I’ll still stick with 9:1s on my own and on race day though.
Sunday:The rest of the weekend was spent up in Banff and I managed to get a final hike in for the year. We opted to hike the C-Level Cirque trail just outside of Banff – a 2 mi (one way trail) that gains 1500 ft in elevation along the way. It was a gorgeous day to hike – not too hot, not too cold – but as we kept climbing more and more snow appeared on the ground. Thanks to the warm weather the snow was melting, but that meant that a couple of times snow would fall off a tree branch and hit you on top of your head as you were walking along. The trail passes an old mine site, so you see the abandoned mine shafts nearby.
For the most part is pretty well wooded around you. There was a short side trail to take out to a coal tailings pile for a great view of Lake Minnewanka. 
The view of the cirque at the top was amazing. It was a pretty quiet day for hiking – we only passed about six other groups out the entire time. The only wildlife we saw along the way were a few grouse and squirrels.
I got my SLR of 4 miles in over lunch. It wasn’t really a pretty run – I think I learned that drinking a latte just before going on a run is a really bad idea because apparently milk + running do not mix well for me. Now I know… The great part was my mile splits were increasingly faster.
Saturday:
I met up with the running group ladies for 12 miles along the Bow River. We met up at 7 am – it was still dark and it was just above freezing outside. Time to admit that fall is here I think. Most of the group were running 22 miles as their final long run before tapering for the Nike Women’s Marathon, but we ran 6 miles out west along the river and back, then I left them to finish of their run heading east and back. Thank goodness for the group because I wasn’t feeling the run that morning and it would have been easy to try and put it off if I didn’t have anyone to meet. 20 min in and I was in the groove though. We took it nice and slow and ran 20:1 intervals which felt surprisingly good. I think I’ll still stick with 9:1s on my own and on race day though.
Sunday:The rest of the weekend was spent up in Banff and I managed to get a final hike in for the year. We opted to hike the C-Level Cirque trail just outside of Banff – a 2 mi (one way trail) that gains 1500 ft in elevation along the way. It was a gorgeous day to hike – not too hot, not too cold – but as we kept climbing more and more snow appeared on the ground. Thanks to the warm weather the snow was melting, but that meant that a couple of times snow would fall off a tree branch and hit you on top of your head as you were walking along. The trail passes an old mine site, so you see the abandoned mine shafts nearby.
For the most part is pretty well wooded around you. There was a short side trail to take out to a coal tailings pile for a great view of Lake Minnewanka. 
The view of the cirque at the top was amazing. It was a pretty quiet day for hiking – we only passed about six other groups out the entire time. The only wildlife we saw along the way were a few grouse and squirrels.
Hey, that looks like the stuff we call snow in the states! It’s October, that can’t be snow. Isn’t it great how running groups can keep us honest?
It’s allowed to snow in October at +6000 ft 😉
Oh what a beautiful run! I really do envy all the great places you have gotten to train!
Great job on sticking with the run!
I have never been to Banff but my husband has. he has been all over the world and said Banff was one of the most beautiful placed he had ever seen!
Those locations look AMAZING! I wish I had such beautiful scenery available so close to run through.