A 16 km loop from the Candy Store, Log Train Trail. Port Alberni

This is a nice loop starting and finishing from Port Alberni’s iconic Candy Store, where many hikers, runners, cyclists, quad enthusiasts park to start an outing.  We walked down the Log train trail and up Citizen’s Climb to the power lines.

Citizen’s Climb

Port Alberni Turkey Trot 2012: Running and walking for the Food Bank

Jeannie and me

Hey, now that was a fun morning! (It helps when this October weather continues to be so beautiful!)

A few dozen of us runners and walkers all met up at 10am this morning for the Turkey Trot, a 5k run/walk/ride organized by local runner and news reporter Kristi Dobson to gather food donations for the Food Bank. Registration was free – all we had to do was bring a food donation.

The morning was crisp but sunny, and we all set out from Ozzie’s Cycles on our 5k loop through town. It was great to get out and meet other runners! Dave and I mostly are out there on the trails on our own, so it was a good chance for me to get out there and connect. And I was thrilled to find out that there is another ultrarunner in this town – Mary, who just ran her first 56k race this fall, and is now training for a 110k race for next summer. Mary’s daughter Megan, age 12, ran the whole 5k too – very impressive.

Re-finding the love of running

It’s been a tough year for me, running-wise. Which you may have noticed, by the lack of posts about running on this running blog. Winter is not the best time to get lots of running in – and then by March I was down with both sinusitis (which really sapped my energy) and Achilles tendinitis. Both lasted about 6 months (i.e. until August!) – and the only thing I can say is that I am glad that I at least had them both at the same time. It would have really sucked if I just got over one, and then the other started up!

So, this last month, it feels like I am almost starting at square one with my running. Almost. But, I’ve realized, the one important difference between a new runner