Canadian Triathlon

The best run I've had in months: 2 miles straight down a rocky trail, followed by 2 miles straight back up the same rocky trail.

Fred and I just returned from a 10 day road trip in Canada that was filled with camping, beaching, hiking, running (a little), and good seafood. We drove and camped all over Nova Scotia, and concentrated most of our time in Cape Breton Island national park. Between the cliff drives, whale watching, local beer sampling, and photographing, we also found time for some hiking, trail running, and swimming....which we later found out is known as the Canadian Triathlon.

After a quick 6 mile hike around the Skyline Trail outside of Cheticamp Nova Scotia, we headed towards the Fishing Cove trail, hoping to just get a short trail run in before grabbing some lunch. What we didn't know was that the trail was STRAIGHT down a rocky gorge for 2 miles....think burning quads and twitching muscles by the time we reached the bottom. But we were rewarded at the bottom by the most beautiful, pristine, isolated beach I've ever seen: clear blue water, cliffs on either side, a small freshwater stream, and bald eagles soaring up above.

view from the trail head at Fishing Cove

Soaking up the scenery, we steeled ourselves for the 2 miles straight back UP the gorge. It took a lot of willpower and quad strength, but Heartbreak Hill has nothing on me now! We rewarded ourselves with a picnic at another little isolated stream, and took a quick swim before heading off to do some more sightseeing.

How can you not have a good time with a boyfriend that looks like this?