I love riding my bike. We don’t do enough riding. This evening was a perfect summer evening. That sent of summer was in the air, that gentle air that is so light. Perfect for a ride.
The grain harvest is happening, and the soya beans are growing.
Summer Evening Ride
Categories: #thisday, Cycling
Tags: Best Friends, bikes, Blister Sister, Fun, Greatful
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Morning run
So nice that the late spring weather has been perfect this year. Here are a few shots from our morning run. 😊
Categories: #happydays, Spring Running
Tags: Best Friends, Blister Sister, Fun, Morning Run
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Volunteering Sunday
We popped into town today to volunteer at the Easter Seals Run this morning. The Upper Canada Mall Easter Seals 10k is York Region’s longest running fundraiser for children and youth with physical disabilities. Over the past 40 years this race has raised nearly $3 million to help children and youth with physical disabilities.
Team Running Free Newmarket and the Blister Sisters were course marshals, making sure all the runners and walkers were on the right track. It was great to see such a good turn out on such a hot morning for a great cause!
Categories: #happydays, Uncategorized, Volunteering
Tags: Best Friends, Blister Sister, Fun, happydays, Volunteer
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Raid the Rib 2016
Interesting weather for April last Sunday. It was cold, below freezing, damp and even a little snowy at times. Not quite want we expected for a mid-April romp through the woods. It was just perfect weather for Raid the Rib at Albion Hills Conservation Area. From what we could tell the organizers from Don’t Get Lost had a great turn out for the race.
Blister Sisters and the Butterfly in action – Facebook images from Don’t Get Lost. Tx.
Our team had a newbie this year, we were fortunate that Stephanie was able to join our team to make up the required team of three – The Blister Sisters and the Band-Aid (although she would have preferred to be called the butterfly strip!) We arrived in plenty of time to plan our route and to fill Stephanie in how an orienteering race works. She was a great addition to our team.
Studying the maps, we picked out the controls that we thought we could get to with in the 4 hour time limit. We did caution Stephanie that this was just an idea we had, we don’t ever really stick to our plan. When alternatives pop up, chances are we’ll take them, so be prepared for anything!
The first three or four controls were a piece of cake. Partly because of our great map reading skills and partly because the snow cover ground presented a trail right to the control. Track reading goes along with map reading, right?
Off we went down the road and onto the second map. Now, I’ve mountain biked at Albion, it’s a pretty popular place for riding and I have a general idea of there I am when I’m there. I really had no reference for the second map. We had to trust our map reading abilities, which at first proved to be sketchy and we got completely turned around after a couple of controls. No problem, here is where the alternative popped up. We just continued mapping our controls we hadn’t planned on getting but did find just like that. Everything just fell into place!
Other than that little turn around and missing one control we were sure we were going to find, we had a great race. Stephanie survived and we made it back to the finish with minutes to spare!
Categories: #happydays, Orenteering, Run, Trail Event
Tags: Best Friends, Blister Sister, Don't Get Lost, happydays, winter
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Happy Birthday Sister!Â
Glenis and I have known each other for quite a few years now, probably close to 20. My life would be so normal without her! Just look at our blog! Happy Birthday Sister! So what’s next!
Categories: #happydays
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Iditarod record earned
Awesome blog post about Tim Hewitt’s record breaking 1000 mile trek in the Iditarod Trail Invitational by Craig Medred! Worth the read.
Tim Hewitt on the Iditarod Trail at White Mountain/Joanna Wassillie photo
You can’t begin to do what Tim Hewitt just did in walking 1,000 miles across the godforsaken, frozen wilderness of Alaska in less than 20 days to set a record in the Iditarod Trail Invitational, and he doubts you’d want to.
Who’d choose to beat themselves up this way?
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Categories: #happydays, Trail Event, Ultras, Winter Running
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Iditarod Trail Invitational
Right now the Iditarod Trail Invitational is going on in Alaska. No I don’t mean the famous dog sled race (although that is going on now too). I’m talking about the Trail invitational that involves people on foot, skis and bike, running, skiing or biking 130, 350 or 1000 mile across the Alaskan wildness.
The 1000 mile race runs from Knik Lake outside of Anchorage to Nome Alaska. For the most part this race follows the Iditarod Trail, the same one that dogs will use but these people head out before the dogs start (in some cases the dogs will pass them by). Fully self-supported; these cyclists and walkers can expect to spend up to a month riding or walking in the wilderness. I can’t imagine sleeping outside in the Alaskan wilderness by myself in a bevy sack on the side on a trail at 40 below but that is what these participants will do if they have to. Tough people these racers.
Iditarod map with Spot tracking of participants.
I’m following Jill Homer, a young endurance athlete/writer who is riding a fat bike in the 1000 mile race. She is the only women in the 1000 mile bike race. I’m so excited because she is almost done! She has made it down the Yukon River and across the sea ice, and now is only about 100 miles from Nome!
Jill Homer Facebook image by JJ Weizel. Check out that bike!
I’ve followed Jill for a few years in all her exploits ever since I read her first book Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide, an inspiring story of her race in The Tour Divide – 2745 miles from Banff Alberta to Antelope Wells New Mexico (where she broke the women’s time record). I didn’t even know these types of ultra-endurance races existed. It isn’t a bad thing for me to find out about these event now because if I was younger I would probably want to do one dragging Glenis with me – Go Blister Sisters!
I’ve thought of Jill and her stories a few time when I find the going tough in a run. Her strength through adversity reminds me that nothing I do is that hard. I can’t wait for her next book.
Just a quick update. Jill finished 937 miles in just over 17 days, a women’s course record! We are so impressed! Yeah Jill!
Check out Jill Homer’s blog Jill Outside!
Categories: #happydays, Cycling, Other stuff, Run, Ultras, Winter Running
Tags: Cycling, Trail Event, winter
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It’s Maple Syrup Time
Winter is passing and cold nights and bright sunny days can only mean it’s Maple Syrup time! Â On our run this morning we came across trees tapped along the back road.
There are a number of types of maples that can be tapped and apparently these old beautiful trees are just right.
The Blister Sister and some sticky fun!
I had the opportunity to help make maple syrup with a dear friend who tapped the trees on her beautiful property. I always thought it would be a big involved production to make syrup but it wasn’t. She just boiled it down on her barbeque. It was just as simple as the syrup is. Pure Canadian sweetness.
I checked out the web to find out more about maple syrup’s history and production. If you have a minute check it out here. Maple Syrup
The sap is running and trees are tapped!
Categories: #happydays, Finds
Tags: Best Friends, Blister Sister, Doane, Morning Run, winter
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Thursday Night Runners
I’m putting in a few hours at the store tonight. It’s cold out, really quite cold, minus 22 with the wind chill. There is a couple of groups going out on training runs.
 Hearty crazy runners! Lol, but then we’ll be out tomorrow morning and it will be even colder! I love running!
Winter run
It’s been a rare day this winter when we have had an opportunity to run with snow on the ground. It’s been such a mild  winter so far. Who know what the rest of February and March have in store. What ever happens we will remember that today was a beautiful day for a morning run.
wonder run, we saw a herd of deer dancing in a field and this beautiful hawk.
Blister Sister Adventure Race Team 