The coach just returned from an 8 day trip to beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia – part of the east coast of our beautiful country – Canada. The key focus of the trip was traversing the Cabot Trail which winds around the coastline of most of Cape Breton.
Everything about the holiday was ‘over the top’. My wife and I had the opportunity to visit many of the beautiful vistas indigenous to Cape Breton:
- Sydney, staying in a suite overlooking the ocean
- Louisbourg, the fortress built by the French back when they occupied the island and defended it against the British
- Ingonish Beach and the Keltic Lodge, where the coach swam in the Atlantic Ocean, climbed over a natural stone barrier covering only 100 metres and swam in the fresh water of Lake Ingonish. It doesn’t get much better…
- Pleasant Bay, where I ventured to to edge of the cliffs overhanging the Atlantic – breath-taking
- the Skyline Trail on the west side of the island, where we came face to face with a giant bull mouse and calf. Thank God I was barefoot and able to run quietly out of harm’s way :-))
- Baddeck and the Black Rock Falls, where we hiked in about 2 kilometres and viewed the spectacular falls from basically directly underneath. If it was up to me, I would have scaled them barefoot…:-))
- Glace Bay and the coal mines located UNDER the Atlantic Ocean, where we took a guided tour deep into the mines. This was one of my personal highlights of the tour – even though I couldn’t go in barefoot:-((
There were a number of other highlights centered mainly around the spectacular hiking trails with beautiful vistas overlooking an ever-changing ocean. The weather was perfect, the people were salt-of-the-earth, the seafood was to die for, the peace, tranquility and serenity of the environment and the people made us long for the same back in Ontario. Of course, there is no way that will happen!!
I noticed a few things that somewhat surprised me relative to my barefoot running along the Atlantic coastline and especially swimming in the salt water of the ocean. I was able to run rather effortlessly on all types of terrain – mostly likely helped by the calm of being on holiday and the clear, pollution-free air. Further, even though I was tired after hours of daily hiking, climbing and running, after a short swim in the ocean, I was revitalized. No fatigue, no soreness/injuries, no cuts left open (the salt water is a GREAT healer). I know that going barefoot helps me flush out toxins from my body, improves the blood circulation through my whole body, improves my ability to ‘square up’ and maintain balance and exercise daily without unnecessary discomfort.
If you do get a chance to travel along the Cabot Trail and hike its many pathways, do it BAREFOOT! Heck, try and swim across to Prince Edward Island whilst you’re at it!!!:-))
coach Jeff
Natural Running Canada 