LIFE IN VERNON!

Howdie! It’s definitely been a while since I last posted and a lot has changed. Directly after the Fat Dog 120, Peter and I moved to Vernon, BC, which is considered the hub of the North Okanagan. We nestled into our new place and quickly set out to explore some of the many trails in this part of BC. Although the mountains don’t soar as high as the one’s back home, the views are plentiful and instead of having the ocean in my backyard, there’s crystal clear lakes a 10 min bike ride from home. I am not going to lie, I am a bit of a baby when it comes to mountain biking. I pretty much stopped riding while living on the Shore but I've taken it back up again because the XC trails up here are so fun!

A few of our favorite places:

1) Kal Park: Trail Running and Mountain Biking

My La Sportiva Helios are the perfect shoe for the trails here!

2) Ellison Park: Mountain Biking, and lake side Rock climbing & bouldering

Ellison Lake which is a great place to go for a swim post mtn bike! 

3) Enderby Cliffs (in Enderby): Trail Running/Hiking

4) Bluenose Trail (on the way to the Aberdeen Columns): Trail Running/Hiking

5) Mount Rose-Swanson (Armstrong): Trail Running/Hiking

6) Cougar Canyon: Rock Climbing

7) Aberdeen Columns: Rock Climbing

9) SilverstarMountain: Hiking/Trail Running/Mountain Biking (haven’t explored much of this- next year!)

10) BX Falls Trail: short and sweet but pretty!

The main reason we moved to Vernon is because I am attending the Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy to become an RMT (registered massage therapist). This school rocks! I can’t say enough about the quality of the program here. My classmates are pretty awesome too. A few of them own farms! One of my classmates, Jada, has laying hens and brings us eggs! 

There 39 of us total! 

I get to walk to school every day because we only live 4 blocks away! We are right in the heart of downtime which is super close to groceries, restaurants, coffee shops etc. This brings me to my next list…

Great eats in Vernon:

1) Intermezzo: OMG! This is some seriously good food. This is a fine dining Italian restaurant kiddie corner to our apartment.

2) Bamboo BeachFusion: Really delicious and unique food.

3) Naked Pig: The place to go for a great beer, also has great food, especially BBQ.

4) Wasabi Sushi: It’s where I work!!! The sushi is great and really fresh J

5) The ItalianKitchen: Great mussels!

6) Hungry Jack’s (Enderby): Awesome breakfast and soooo inexpensive!

One of the coolest things about Vernon is all the local produce. In the summer there was pretty much a farmer’s market every day of the week and a lot of the specialty grocery stores continue to sell local produce from local farms.

 As far as running goes, I knew my mileage would take a backseat to school. Doing well in school is something that is really important to me and I will forego running to get extra study time in. It seems to be paying off because I am doing really well! I used to be a pretty terrible student in high school but my previous 4 years of university really helped develop my study skills. I never thought I would love school as much as I do because I really didn`t enjoy university that much. However, this program is super hands on which is great because I am a kinesthetic learner. We have a couple practical classes which are awesome. This is where we get to learn and hone my stroke techniques. Were constantly practicing on one another and sometimes I have to pinch myself because I get massaged as part of my school day. 

After living in North Vancouver for the past 31 years, it`s been really refreshing exploring and getting to know a new town and the areas around it. I missed out on a few of the local running races in town but I plan to work them into my race calendar for 2016.  

I have a week off now! Super stoked to relax, do some running, and some baking...and of course studying for exams I have after the break. 

See you in the trails!

Nicola!