In the last few weeks, I finally got over the few little injuries that seemed to be plaguing me throughout Winter. My knee strain is all better and I’ve regained full strength and mobility in my right ankle.

I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my first two full seasons on the trails as I head into my third. Call them affirmations or just lessons learned, here are 33 thoughts on trail running (inspired by this post).

What a strange winter! I normally do a big trip abroad over the holidays, usually involving trekking and a bit of altitude. But this year I spent the holidays in Toronto nursing a bum knee where it was unseasonably mild, and then tried to make the most of what little snow we had back in Vancouver.

In late-December, I had managed to posthole through a tree well on a run to Kennedy Falls, which caused a strain and possibly a very minor tear to my MCL according to my physio. It felt okay to run on flatter terrain, but hurt to walk or extend my leg, and I had to stay off very technical terrain for a few weeks and cut back my training volume significantly.

Are you new to trail running and considering training for your first race? Maybe you’re not too familiar with the local trails, or have questions about gear and nutrition.

Join me and the team at North Shore Athletics for a brand new Vancouver trail running clinic which will cover a wide variety of skill-based techniques to help grow your trial running passion!

Tell someone that you’re training for a 10k or even a marathon, and you’re bound to get a few insightful questions. Ultra running, on the other hand, is a little harder to understand. Here are the 11 more common misconceptions that I’ve heard about the sport.