Altitude Training In Alberta

This past weekend I was in Calgary and Canmore for my cousin Sean's wedding, I'll detail all that in a future post dedicated completely to the wedding. For now I'll describe the days leading up.

The weather in Calgary was pretty good for my arrival Wednesday morning. Clear skies and I was welcomed to the airport by my parents, brother, cousins, Aunt and Uncle and even some family friends who all showed up on different flights within 15 minutes of one another. Wow, its almost like we planned it that way.

Wednesday was pretty low key. I spent most of the day complaining about how my nose was dry from the dry air and then we went for a tour of Calgary given to us by my parents friends daughter. It was a very good tour. We saw the ski jumping venue for the 88 olympics.

If you had really good eyes you would see people preparing to jump

Next we saw the Saddledome where the Flames play. It was pretty cool, you could see where the stampede is held as well, but I didn't include that photo.

Calgary Flames walking to their car outside the Saddledome

After staying in Calgary for a day, Thursday morning we went to Canmore to check in to our hotel where we stayed until Sunday.

Leaving desolate Calgary and approaching the mountains, not a bad view.

After checking in to the hotel, we decided to drive further into the Rockies and check out Banff and Lake Louise.

Arriving at the gates to Banff National Park

Heading towards Lake Louise

We got pretty lucky with the weather. It wasn't the best conditions for photos because there were still some clouds in the sky, however, I won't complain. A lot of people went up to Lake Louise on the Friday and Saturday and couldn't see anything.

Just outside the Chateau Lake Louise. (Left to Right) Myself, Amanda (Luke's girlfriend) and Luke

We then walked the north side of the lake, and here you get a nice appreciation for just how blue/green the water really is. And believe me, these photos don't give it justice.

Mom and Dad

Incredible blue water

After all the excitement of Thursday, Friday rolled around and I decided that with the half marathon just over a week away that I should go for a run. Lesley (my cousin), Amanda and I went for a good 80 minute run around Canmore. There are a lot of nice little trails that kept the run nice and easy. I've never run with a camera, but decided this time I would.

Lesley and I

And since I had my camera, I couldn't resist taking an action shot of myself. That stupid grin on my face is because I couldn't keep a straight face when posing for photos.

Pretty nice setting for a run

Today only 4 days out of the half marathon I'm still pretty sick. Between the wedding and work I just never got ahead of this cold. Hopefully I can get myself back into health before Sunday but there is no doubt in my mind that my fitness has taken a beating. I no longer really have any expectations for this half marathon. A PB is all I ask. But you never know. 3 days of altitude training, that should help right? With that I will probably sign up for the Fall Classic in November. That way finishing off my season well.