Before leaving the house for our daily adventure I did a quick core video. The "cool car" felt like going to Lake Louise. We got to the parking lot to catch the shuttle only to find out the wait was HOURS away. We thought about maybe going up the gondola, but then figured maybe we would just find a hike somewhere else. Eventually we decided to just CHECK what parking might look like, and what do you know - there were plenty of spaces! I had mapped out a route called the Fairview Lookout and figured a good loop might be fun.
Once we got to the lookout - WOW. I have never seen water this color in my life! It didn't seem real. The lookout was not very big, and there was a group of guys taking pictures.
Checking out where the loop was SUPPOSED to be proved to be an issue - the signage indicated that the trail was closed further up. I went maybe a tenth of a mile out to scope it out, but in the end we decided to just go back the way we came.
We had time to get some food, so we put our name on the lunch list at the hotel. We had delicious food and some spicy drinks!
Once we finished up we were pretty hungry and wanted to get food in town. We ran into issues finding things that were open, and finally settled on a rooftop. We had delicious pitchers of (inexpensive) sangria and shared some plates.
And we FINALLY got our Beavertails!
I split a Reese's one with Melanie, but honestly could have eaten one of my own. Yum!! We stayed up late watching a really dumb movie, but it was our last night in Canmore, so it was worth it.
We had to get ready to go and clean up the bnb before heading out. The "cool car" decided we wanted to drive around and look for bears since I still hadn't seen one. First, we hoped to drive on the road where we had run during the marathon, but coincidentally it was closed because there was too much wildlife activity. The next step was driving on the Icefields Parkway. My eyes were starting to hurt and I was getting dizzy from looking in the trees for a bear - when suddenly it seemed like there were a lot of cars on the side of the road. I told Heather to slow down and all of a sudden....
I have to applaud the people in the area for clearly NOT trying to feed the bears, because this one had ZERO interest in people or vehicles. We sat and watched him for a bit and all he was doing was grazing on the grass and plants. SO CUTE.
We had JUST enough time to go into town to get some food and snacks before we had to head back to Calgary. (Sad face).
We had dinner reservations in Calgary at a fancy steakhouse for Christian's birthday. We hoped to take the scenic drive, but Melanie accidentally left her phone in the bathroom at the coffee shop and we had to go back and retrieve it and didn't have time. Dinner was amazing, but the service was pretty slow. I haven't had filet mignon in probably 15 years. YUM.
After dinner we checked into our hotel and got all our packing finalized since we had an INSANELY early morning, with all of us having flights before 7 am.
When I was done I just started the drive back. I only stopped to get some water and gas. When I got closer to Fort Collins I stopped to get a beer, and that's when I found out that not only did Ben leave me home for the race, but he had enlisted a female pacer. I felt like my earth was crumbling around me. WHY. I had one beer and sat in a booth crying until I finally decided to head home. Turns out Ariel was staying with a friend, so it was just me, home alone.
There were not many people on the trail - I think most people were walking on the paved path near the lake. I didn't think this was challenging, but the Texas gals were struggling a bit with the climbs.
We were NOT going to miss the beer cruise this time, so we headed back down towards Banff. Sure enough, that boat left RIGHT ON TIME. Lake Minnwanka was a beautiful lake to be on and the beer was decent - four different local beers that were split between two people
Wednesday (13,596 steps) - Up early to run 4 miles. No one else felt like joining, which was ok. I mapped out a route that was much closer to 4 miles, and it was a LOVELY route. Bummed I hadn't found it the first day because it was great. It was also rainy and I got stopped by a train, haha.
On the way back to Banff we stopped at Bow Lake - it was really pretty and still a decent amount of ice!
Thursday (9,354 steps) - I didn't have a bag to check, but my flight was a half hour earlier than the other girls, so I kind of rushed to get through security. In Canada, you apparently go through customs for the US before you board the plane. I was glad that I had allowed some extra time because it ended up taking a LONG time. We boarded on time, and once again, I lucked out by not having anyone sitting next to me on the flight. Quickly got to the train and then walked from Union Station back to my office to get my car. Expected to see Ben at some point, but he did not text me all day. I think that is when it set in that he was not going to be taking me with him to California for Western States. I was pissed off all day about it. I took Paula up on an offer to meet for a beer.
Took A to a physical therapy appointment. Other than that, I really have no recollection of how I spent the rest of the day. Ben had said he would be home to see me, but he did not call, nor did him come home.
Friday (7,242 steps) - Ariel had to work in the morning. I kept waiting around to see if I might hear from Ben after all, and when I finally hadn't heard from him by the evening I reached out to Steph's husband to see if she still might want help during her race. I packed quickly and thought maybe a drive to South Dakota might clear my head. It in fact, did not. I spent a lot of the day crying and upset because WTF did I miss that Ben decided to pack up and go to WSER alone?? By the time I got to Silver City it was about midnight. Unfortunately, when I DID see her, she was in the car because she had dropped. So, second effort of supporting someone and I still had run zero miles. They offered to let me stay at their hotel, but it was over an hour drive in the pouring rain - which was NOT fun. Finally fell asleep after 2.
Saturday (30,454 steps) - Woke up crazy early and opted to just sneak out. I planned on doing a run on the Mickelson trail before driving back to Denver. I found the trailhead, at mile 0, pretty easily. This was a very sad, angry run. The entire time all I could think about was Ben running his dream race, and me being by myself struggling to get through the miles. It was seriously pitiful.
Sunday (9,764 steps) - I wanted to spend the whole day NOT thinking about Ben and Western States. But with it being the biggest race in all trail running it was literally the only thing I could see on social media. So many of my friends probably thought they were helping by texting and giving me updates and all it did was make me sad. Finally, as it was getting closer to the cutoff I finally decided to go for a gloomy walk. And the skies matched my mood.
I got home with just enough time to find out he had made the last cutoff and would finish the race. Someone, I can't remember who, even told me he crossed the finish line with the girl. At least he didn't hold her hand, but I couldn't believe it. That was supposed to be OUR moment. After receiving a special beer package I think I literally just drank myself unconscious.
Monday (5,438 steps) - Well this day sucked. I literally did nothing. I slept awful, I was VERY angry all day. Took A to another physical therapy session and then shopping. Got her a few inexpensive shirts (since apparently she realized she doesn't have any?) and some groceries. Actually have no real recollection of what I did all day other than get a haircut after I took her to work.
I did list a bunch of stuff for sale, but unfortunately didn't have much luck getting rid of anything.
Stats:
- 93,438 steps
- 19.07 miles run
- 0 minutes of cardio
- 15 minutes of strength training
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