What An Adventure

If you had told me two weeks ago that my run across Manitoba would end in Portage, I would have been disappointed. But today, I hold my head high knowing the end result was much greater than I could ever have imagined.

Running halfway through Manitoba was incredible! Having driven across western Manitoba many times over the years, I am so thankful I had this opportunity to run it and see it for its real beauty. The rolling hills, scattered forests and acres of cattle were enough to keep my mind occupied.

By the end of day 8 I had a love/hate relationship with trains. Because the railway runs along the Trans Canada Highway, we were always within sight and sound of trains. This provided a nice distraction while running, but proved less than desirable when trying to sleep at night. One thing I questioned over and over was whether my brothers and I might have tried hopping on a passing train as kids if we had lived just a little closer to the track. 

Sharing this experience with Tracy is something I will forever cherish. If you ever want a pick-me-up, get your spouse to drop you off in the middle of nowhere, then drive five miles down the road and have them cycle back to come meet you. The image of Tracy cycling along the shoulder of the highway towards me, knowing that she came carrying my provisions and would greet me with the warmest of smiles is an image I hope stays in my mind the rest of my life. Tracy, you were my rock out there, and if God hadn't made you so stubborn, I would have ended our adventure before ever reaching Brandon.

You learn to appreciate many things from an experience like this. For one, my bed has never felt more comfortable. I've also learned that I take both gravity and fresh water for granted. My goodness, do you thank gravity when you are running down some of those hills west of Brandon. And fresh water was invaluable, except when it starts to take on the taste of your plastic bottle after baking in the sun for three hours.

Though the mental battle was something I wasn't prepared for, I am beyond ecstatic for how my body held up physically over those 8 days. I told Tracy when we returned to Rosenort that my body felt better on day 8 than it did on day 1. This gives me all the assurance I need that my six month training plan was perfect. 

I can't thank you all enough for the words of encouragement, the texts, emails, phone calls, messages, visits and prayers that Tracy and I felt during the entire adventure. I also can't thank God enough for keeping my body free from injury, protecting Tracy and allowing me to have this experience.

In the end, I ran 147 miles in about 8 days, while Tracy cycled almost that same amount. According to my calculations, we've got about 159 miles left before reaching the Ontario border. Tracy and I are already considering running/ biking the second half of Manitoba next summer.

The wife Perspective; I miss biking, I miss Fleetwood, I miss cheering on my husband and doing my bike relay, but boy did we have an adventure. My legs of steel have been missing the miles so I’ve been biking around town this week, but biking to my parents isn’t really a feat at this point anymore (3ish miles). We haven’t included every story as we’ve just been too tired and let’s be honest the posts weren’t short. So we haven’t told you about the freaky lady we passed as we entered the Portage bridge (she didn’t even blink or move when I said good morning), or the guy who ran out of the trees at Shannon & Jared Friday evening, or how adorable our nephew was when he wanted to show his splash pad friend his bunk bed in Fleetwood...
Thank you for all the love and prayers; this adventure had a bigger purpose than we’d ever would have thought. Bring on part 2, 2020!  

Side note; the Mr just told me as we sit on the couch watching tennis that we should be out running on the highway, “I’m addicted, but Portage is just a bit far away for an evening run.”