It's now been almost a week since I got a moderately bad cold that essentially stopped my training. No fever, no nausea, no real weakness - just congestion and a pretty bad cough; so safe to say it's not the Swine Flu (H1N1). I'm trying to view this as a forced early taper; most importantly, I hope to be able to get in another week's worth of at least light training before the race begins. As part of my motivation, here's a road trip video of the Cabot Trail - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia here I come, healthy or not!

05/13/09 by visitEarth
Tags: Cabot Trail Relay Race, training, cold, swine flu, H1N1, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

 

Just 40 kilometres west of Montréal, Québec is an area called La Pinière, a pine forest which includes the Base de Plein Air des Cèdres. Beautifully groomed ski trails for both classic and skating cross several ravines, and this day towards the end of January the skiing conditions were just fantastic. The bonus of winter time is the ability to enjoy outdoor snow sports!

02/01/09 by visitEarth
Tags: Montreal, Quebec, Canada, sking, skiing, cross country, cross country sking, cross country skiing, La Piniere, Les Cedres, Base de Plein Aires, ski video

 

As a means of psyching myself up for the next 4 months of training for the Cabot Trail Relay Race, I watched this tourism video promoting the Cabot Trail (and by extension Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island). The rolling hills, ocean cliffs and wildlife scenery in this part of Canada is really stunning!

01/28/09 by visitEarth
Tags: Cabot Trail, video, Cape Breton, Cape Breton travel, Cape Breton tourism, Canada, Cabot Trail Relay, Cabot Trail Relay Race, Cape Breton Island, Baddeck, Auberge Gisele's

 

Now this is what a high-end extreme skiing video looks like! Great production here, showing heliskiing in British Columbia, Canada. Anyone familiar with his work will recognize Warren Miller's trademarks, combining long, scene-setting shots of and from inside the helicopter, with slow-motion closeups of skiers carving turns in deep, fresh powder. Have a look!

12/29/08 by visitEarth
Tags: heliskiing, heli skiing , helisking, heli-sking, Canada, British Columbia, ski, skiing, extreme, helicopter skiing, BC, Warren Miller

 

Have a look at this guide/instructor who teaches people how to climb and hike the majestic icefields in Jasper National Park, in the Canadian Rockies in Alberta just north of Banff. I've been there before, and it is really beautiful - the town of Jasper itself is quite small, but the glacier is huge and stunning.

12/20/08 by visitEarth
Tags: Jasper, Alberta, Icefields, glacier, Jasper National Park, Jasper Icefields, Rockies, Canadian Rockies