White Grizzly Trail Running Retreat Recap

We (Dr. Eva Gifford) and I are over the moon with how our first Trail Running Retreat went! It was an incredible experience, shared with many lovely fellow runners. Highlights included:

staying in the beautiful log cabins at the White Grizzly Lodge,
being pampered, sitting with books beside the crackling fire,
lying back into lazy boy couches,
multi-course gourmet meals,
Swag and prizes from Naakbars, HOLOS, Swiftwick Socks, The North Face, Tract Journals, Backseat Bivy and Athletic Brewing
practical workshops,
and gorgeous guided runs with running drills.

Dinners every day were a fabulous surprise prepared by the chefs! (Photo cred: Corby Martin)

Don’t forget the peanut butter-coconut banana split with cholocate! (Photo cred: Corby Martin)

Day 1 (Friday)

We all met in the quiet and cute mountain town of Kaslo BC. After introductions, First Nation Land Acknowledgements, and reviewing the weekend’s itinerary, we jumped into Running Dynamic Warm-ups and our first guided group run.

That evening, we all settled into the White Grizzly Lodge. We had our first delicious meal, prepared by Chef Bree and sous-chef Jack. Then we cozied up by the fire while Eva and I presented workshop #1: Injury Prevention.

Jazmine (me) talking about the fundamentals for preventing running injuries.

Next, sleep!

Day 2 (Saturday)

We woke up, breakfasted on poached eggs, salad, or fruit, yogurt and homemade granola. Packed our running gear and headed out for our run of the day… A steep out and back with lots of vertical climbing. Time for running drills on polework, steep bounding, and uphill pacing.

With all the uphill work, you need to take in the views!

Snaak breaks along the way with yummy Naak Waffles

Make it stand out

Matching Swiftwick socks, way to go team!

After we gorged on lunch burritos, we relaxed either by the fire or hot tub time.

Chill time by the fire never felt so good!
(Photo cred: Corby Martin)

Workshop # 2: Biomechanics

A huge, topic tackled by Eva, we learning about the gait cycle, important jargon, and what to look for in our biomechanics.

Eva getting into the thick of Biomechanics! (Photo cred: Corby Martin)

Workshop #3: Endurance Nutrition

This could be a neverending topic, so I filtered it down to many practical subjects on nutrients for life, nutrition periodization and metabolic efficiency training, blood sugar optimization, nutrient timing, race nutrition, and special considerations (females, masters, health conditions).