Salut, Sutton!

Well folks, I believe there comes to be a time in every blogger's life... or anyone's life in general.. where the question arises: should I save face or should I spill the deets.. The thought did cross my mind to keep my cool facade in place, but I think I've already lost that, so it's your lucky day!

My hardcore cool face ;)

The trip over here was eaaaaasy peasy! Kidding! Hahahah Oh man, I must have a rabbit foot somewhere cuz I've been able to come away unscathed for the most part from all my adventures this trip thus far (Knock on wood). Getting to the airport= transit- nooo problem. Finding your gate and getting your seat= noooo problem. Putting your bag in the overhead compartment to realize you've left your laptop in the terminal= Problem!!!! Squeezing through people trying to get off a boarding plane is neither easy or a good idea, running frantically trying to find security whom the laptop has apparently been returned to, getting lost and having to go through security all over again when your plane is leaving in 9 minutes with no lap top, a bag on board, and waiting for your purse to get scanned while you count the minutes on your watch til take off.. AHHHHH! But I GOT IT!!! They had it at the info desk INSIDE of the gates area. Luckily I ran back and fell back into my seat just as they announced the last person had boarded (me, again). PHEWWWWF! Thank goodness!!

Flight was no problem, brought a handy sandwich and granola bars, yum! Rental car- upgrade to brand new Sentra! Heyooooo! Got lost 3 times trying to find the grocery store, then hit a pot hole and worried that I'd get a flat- no flat! Weoooo! Bought healthy ingredients for the weekend and hit the road for the long 120km or so drive to Sutton. Soaring away down the road to a wicked radio station (the music in Quebec rocks! Dance music channels! Who would have thunk it!) Anyways, its about 11pm here. Driving along and Highway section closed and google maps doesnt know it- slight problem.. getting stuck in stop and go traffic for 10km TWICE cuz I got lost 3 times trying to follow the directions from google, finally learnt my lesson and just followed other cars and a sign here and there. Wooooo!!! Rest of the drive was nice and easy :)

Suite is gorgeous and had no problems getting in cuz they left a key for me. Went for a nice jog on the road, had to do loops of the only sections lit by street lights, so I felt a little crazy running back and forth but.. hey if you can't see your shadow, you shouldn't be running there I don't think! :P

The trail course seems pretty easy to find and a direct route there as my suite is just further down the same road to Mont Sutton. The course is wonderfully marked with pink ribbon! Yay! I love pink! Spent a beautiful 2 1/2 hours hiking it in the morning and was impressed with the gooooooooorgeous scenery and exciting trail! It's by far the most technical course I have ever seen! Wow! I bumped into Mirabelle and Sean on the course (two amazing people who have also made the trek from Vancouver! Mirabelle is an incredible runner and was on the national team with me last year! Sean is so nice and offered to hike more of the course with me later, but I decided just to do it all in the morning so it wouldn't be too hot and I could relax later. Mirabelle clued me into the fact that I was doing the course backwards.. LOL! Oops!! But it's a fortunate error! That's the best way to preview a course sometimes and works some different muscles. I took a ton of pictures and ran some easy sections. I just couldn't believe the wide mix of tough terrain! Deep mud that your shoes get lost in, roots, rocks, dirt trail, dusty gravel road, grassy mountain side, wood bridges and ladders, river crossings, loose rocks, and I got up close and personal with wet slimy rocks. If you leave blood on the course before the race that means that it's yours right?? Ouchies! My foot slipped and crashed me down into the rock smashing my knee and splitting my shin open. A few tentative steps let me know that it wasn't broken! Heyo! hahahahah Win! The damage seems to be contained to the split open shin.. its a very deep gash.. I got to play some surgery on myself, but luckily it stayed clean and not filled with dirt.. two small scrapes on my knee and some bad bruising and swelling on the side of my knee. It's pretty darn tender, but not as bad as the balloons on my leg I got from missing a box jump about two months ago so that's good news!

The rest of the day has been wonderful, too! Made some delicious meals, explored the quaint town of Sutton (it's beautiful here!) There is a cute little main strip of different shops and tons of cafes and restaurants. Chatted to a bunch of really friendly people, bought a new cute dress and visited some art galleries. I'm just off to the meeting for the elite Canadian Mountain Running Championship runners at the base of the mountain! Should be interesting to learn some more about the course.

The question now is.. what sort of animal should I run like tomorrow? A cheetah? A wild horse (for Carrie), a fluffy bunny (for Lauren), a chamoix (for my hiking buddies from Europe), or a giraffe?! I now know that giraffes can run up to 60km/hr! Isn't that the most absurd thing you've ever heard?! How do their necks not flap behind them!? Hahahah! New goal has to be to see a giraffe running that fast, and maybe race him!

 Big thanks to everyone for all the love and support and good luck wishes! (I'll try not to fall again! Hahahah!) Looking forward to an exciting experience and the sweet fresh mountain air! There's nothing like that delicious aroma!

Bonsoir! Love you always,

Shanny