This Site is Moving

I'm still going to keep this site because there is a lot of stuff on here I want to keep.  But all new post are on WordPress.  At ultradad100.wordpress.com here is the first post http://wp.me/p1ZONV-1

The Whole Food Project

http://www.thewholefoodproject.com/#4e644af5aa6c8

Check out this new site. Just click on the link. This site has some really valuable information! I am a member and a supporter. Tara is a friend of ours, and we have learned a lot from the Whole Food Project. Let me know what you think!

I lead an interesting life

I lead an interesting life.  With 4 children it's never boring.  It's never quiet and never boring.  What follows is an amalgam of the past 5 weeks or there abouts.  At times my head spins so much I lose track of the days.

Last month my eldest son took Gold in a speech contest conducted entirely in French.  How cool is that?  His topic was racsim.



One week later my middle son got some sort of infection and his first severe migraine that laid him up in Childrens Hospital for a weekend.  One course of antibiotic, a couple of blood tests a CT scan and a spinal tap and we are all good.

The very next weekend we are in a lacrosse tournament in Vancouver where he wins the Gold Medal. Nice recovery my boy!

Last weekend I was at a structure fire.  The person who was transported via this helicopter apparently lit a cigarette in the garage and some fumes ignited. The explosion shook the entire block.  I took this pic with my Blackberry and caught the rainbow.

Same weekend I ran the Run for Water Half Marathon.  I've never run a half marathon with a running stroller but thought it would be fun.  I wasn't wrong. Final time was 1:52.18 which was good for 112th out of 504 runners. Kallie had a blast she loved the candy on the course!


What you aren't seeing is pictures from the swim meet jammed in there for good measure.  My oldest got 5 PRs which was pretty much every single event he swam and my youngest son got 4 PRs.  Amazing!  We juggled in two lacrosse games during the weekend.  did I forget to mention that?

I thought I would add this one in.  After a fun filled weekend I am in Edmonton I just get out of the car at the hotel and the SWAT team is taking down something.  I don't think I've ever seen assault rifles in real life before.

On Any Given Monday

I’m not going to lie. I love going to Kelowna because it affords me the opportunity to run my favorite trail, the Greenway. The Greenway is the name given to it by the locals. The name on the sign says Mission Creek Greenway. I’m sure the name Greenway is used in several communities as a descriptive term of the scenery surrounding the trail itself. For the most part the Greenway is kind of boring. Of the 16 km in length about 10 km of it fairly flat, the trail is wide enough for a vehicle to drive and has a long sweeping bend to it where you can see pedestrian traffic for a hundred feet or so. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like boring. Boring is beautiful because it follows Mission Creek and is far enough removed from urbanization that you can’t hear the cars and for the most part can’t see the city.

It’s the east end of the Greenway that I live for. I’ve been coming to Kelowna for 5 years now and only recently have I run the east end of the Greenway. For 5 years, typically the third Monday of any given month you would find me on the Greenway. From about the kilometer 10 marker to the end at kilometer 16 the trail twists and turns leaving the creek’s edge to get up to the top of the bank only to have you taken back down and return to the top once more. It’s hard to believe that this creek could have cut such a profile 300 or so feet deep into the earth. The views at this end are breathtaking. It’s either that or the climb up to the top of the bank leaves you out of breath.

This end is not for the faint of heart or for cyclists with steps cut into the multitude of switchbacks going up and down the bank. Maybe that’s why I love this end so much because it’s not for everyone but it is for me.

On this particular Monday I had a couple of rough days leading up to this trip. My son Ethan was admitted to the hospital complaining of vomiting and a severe headache. Shuttling back and forth all weekend and seeing very little of my wife, sleeping on the couch provided in his room we made the best of it. The neurologist was convinced that it was a severe migraine but we had to rule out things like meningitis so he got a spinal tap and a CT scan. Blood tests gave confounding results which ended up keeping us there the whole weekend. After a clearly negative blood culture he was given the clearance to go home and I was clear to resume my work life.

I don’t know about you but I appreciate my weekend for the small amount of respite it gives me from the stress of my job. To go from one stressful situation to another and then back again left me tightly wound and ready to pop.

I approached this run like an uncorking of sorts. This was my make or break. I knew going in that my fitness had kind of fallen off a bit. But call it naïveté or just plain stupidity the 10% rule went right out the window. My longest run in the recent weeks had been a 10 miler and I could hit 14 on a really good day.

I started slow and went even slower going up the switchbacks but one I made the turn from the far end of the Greenway (16KM marker) I still felt good. For a moment I thought I could do 20. Wow 20 miles, the benchmark long run for most marathoners. The thought ruminated in my head for the next few miles.

My pace thus far was a pedestrian 12 minute miles. After starting the Greenway at the 6 km mark and heading east the steep grades quickly sapped speed from my overall pace. Now back in the flatter portion of the Greenway my pace became more consistent and the overall pace picked up.

As I ran past the point where I entered the Greenway I still felt okay. My nutrition was getting low as I had consumed 2 Clif bars and a Chocolate #9 gel in the 2 ½ hours I had been out there. My stomach was starting to grumble. It’s 6 km (4miles) to the other end of the Greenway. The sun was setting on the horizon and on my legs my fitness was starting to show.

As my Garmin hit the 3 hour mark, it kind of reminded me that I haven’t run 3 hrs in a long long time. I really wanted to hit the 20 mile mark but I opted to turn for home with 3km to the end of the trail. My legs weren’t thrashed but they were starting to stiffen up.

The Garmin chimed in at 18.34 miles in 3:16 with an elevation gain of over 1,600 feet. I was pretty happy with that.

Episode 63 The Spare Test Kit

#publishing: "http://ultradad.libsyn.com/u-d-63-the-spare-test-kit"

Random thoughts from the Weekend

Random thoughts from the weekend. 5 of 7

1) Do think running style in genetic? After watching two lacrosse games this weekend I have decided that my lacrosse playing son, I only have one child who plays lacrosse, runs identically to me. The picture isn’t pretty but freakishly déjà vu. I have been criticized for my feet barely leaving the ground, stiff legged with no heel kick to my stride and fairly flat footed. I guess the telltale sign that we share the same gene pool is my mother in law’s exasperated comment “Oh my gosh he runs like Rob!” I wasn’t built for speed but I have run a Boston qualifier.

2) Have you ever heard the expression, “This place is like a Rat’s Nest”. After today’s spring clean up I now have a basis for comparison. The garden shed was overrun with either mice or rat’s which were feeding on the leftover grass seed. Over the winter the rats found safe haven in the dormant garden shed. Rat’s nests look like a big ball of litter. It was gross.

3) I found a thread sewn into the collar of the shirt that I was wearing today. It made me smile. When we travelled to Ethiopia to bring home our daughter we stayed at this tiny hotel that had a laundry service. In order to indentify the clothes as yours and not anyone else’s they color coded your laundry with single thread sewn into various places on the shirt. That thread has been there for 25 months. I’m also thinking that I need some new shirts.

4) I’m not sure which news is bigger. The death of Osama bin Laden or the Royal Wedding. you decide

5) One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. As we cleansed our garage, shed and garden shed of excess junk that has been building up for years. I placed all of it on the curb. Since that time a steady stream of pickup trucks have been driving by and picking through my junk. Go figure.

6) Lacrosse is a very cool sport. My kids have never played in fast paced team sports. We’ve swum competitively every summer which is exciting for the two possibly three minutes that the race goes on for but then it’s over. Lacrosse is heart stopping action packed for three 20 minute periods. I’m exhausted and I didn’t run a lick this weekend. One win One loss.

Run for Water (One month counting)

The Run for Water is a fabulous run. Not so much for the scenic views of Abbotsford or the incredible volunteers but rather the cause. The cause is bringing fresh water to small villages in Ethiopia. Each year for the past 3 years, we’ve run this run as a family. We started strong with all seven (Nana included). It was a tough year I pushed Owen my then 5 year old in the BOB running stroller for the 10K. My oldest went with Nana and Ethan ran with my beautiful running wife. If you could describe running as a bug, an infection perhaps, she got her first taste of it then. She cured her self for awhile but by the following year the infection came back.


The next year she was serious. We started buying running clothes, outfits! New shoes were a necessity. That year she picked up a running jacket, new shoes, a Nike+ sensor My wallet started to hurt a little. I picked out a beautiful pink Fuel Belt for her one special occasion. From a long time runner it was fun to watch her develop, too watch her infection turn into a full blown disease.

Unfortunately life gets in the way. As we runners have all discovered the cure for a serious case of the running disease is a busy life. You see my wife is not only married to a serious runner (LOL), mother of 4 children, full-time career but is also working on her degree in Social Work. And you thought I burned the candle at both ends. Needless to say sometimes life just crashes down around you and you can’t run. No time! No energy! You know the tune! But I’ll tell you the biggest turn on in the entire world is commiserating with your beautiful wife when she says, “I missed my run today, damn it!”

I know things are starting to go my way and she is starting to understand the runner’s mind. Now the runner’s mind is a complex thing far too complex to discuss in just one blog post. But when she was signing up for this run she asked me what event I was going to run. This event has a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon and for the first time this year a marathon. I joked with her that I would run the marathon.

She said, “You couldn’t run the marathon?” And I responded, “I bet I could!”

The only catch was this is Jenny’s event, it’s her time. I run with our daughter no matter what. I slept on it that night and thought of every logistical consideration and came to the conclusion that I could probably complete the marathon with a running stroller. No Boston qualifier but still finish. However keeping my daughter trapped in a running stroller for 4 hours seemed almost cruel. Although Kallie loves running with me in the stroller, 4 hours is a bit much.

In the end I signed up for the half marathon. A daunting task with a 35 lb child and a running stroller but I relish the challenge. I’ve always wanted to be one of those guys who can pop off a marathon in a weekend whenever and wherever they wanted. I am almost positive I could have but not with the circumstance. Maybe one day but not today.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to run a half marathon and my running future is only getting brighter.

Burden of the Responsible Man

I love the painting Burden of the Responsible Man by James C Christensen. It’s a conceptual painting with the central figure packed down with all his ‘stuff’, all his responsibilities. The painting oozes with symbolism. I have inserted a graphic to show you what I mean and I won’t bore you with what I think it all means. I would much rather share with you his work and let you interpret it yourself. I love the dangling carrot. My brother owns a print of ‘Burden’ that he purchased quite some time ago. I swear I could stare at it for hours every time we see each other.

When he first bought the print over fifteen years ago, I wasn’t married; I had no children, no mortgage etc. The burden back then was deciding what I would eat for breakfast or how I would pay my bills with the income I had, or are these tires going to make through winter. I smile at how simple life seemed back then by comparison. And yet at the time the burden was real. As we mature and gain experience in life we are able to take on more responsibilities.

I recently read an article by a NY Times columnist Jenna Wortham, she was discussing FOMO the fear of missing out. If you can find it, it is a great read. It goes on to talk about our dependency or our interdependency with social media to hook us up with the best parties and goings on. Anxiety is fueled by social media and it gives us this underlying fear that we may be missing something better elsewhere. In our little running community (all my Tweeps are runners) I too, am inundated with tweets describing their runs or their big marathons coming up. I too, am somewhat anxious that I have missed a chance at a tweet up or a Ragnar or Mojo Loco with some people who have become kindred spirits to me.

The FOMO gets worse when I have a streak of non-running days. My anxiety lets me believe that I am getting out of shape, gaining weight. I become bitchy on non-running sunny days and a runner crosses our path. I want to be out there for sure. . .

“You okay Dad?”, she says to me. Her big brown eyes stare back at me and she smiles.


“Of course I am honey” I reply.

I jammed my thumb putting the wall into place. Her third birthday is next week and I am rushing to get her birthday present finished. It is a beautiful cedar cottage 4’ x 4’ inside. It took me all weekend and a bit more to finish but it was the only time I had to finish it. I passed on two long run opportunities to get it finished. You see I was away all week and we have two lacrosse games this weekend so time management is key. Running just has to take a back seat.

She absolutely loves it! I just wish the weather was a little better so that she could use it. I wouldn’t say it was a ‘Burden’ more likely a labor of love. And as far as FOMO . . . well I am 46. I’m not planning on hanging up the shoes anytime soon but my kids are only young once. At this moment in my life I’d rather be there on Saturday morning when my kids wake up and laugh at the cartoons or watch the Wiggles eating peanut butter on a spoon before my wife wakes up. Missing out? Don’t believe for one second that I’m missing out.

Cheers!

The North Face

Day 2 of 7

The North Face, what have you started! Okay maybe it wasn’t TNF but certainly they are guilty of the same crime as most high profile sports companies. Whether it is TNF, Lululemon Athletica, and of course, Nike these brands were once singularily identified with their sports origins. Lululemon for its yoga, The North Face for its extreme alpine climbing and Nike for its running. Since its humble beginnings they have all branched out to the mainstream. Capitalizing on their popularity and taking their brand to the average Joe.

I remember in my early running days, I’m thinking 25 years ago. I worked at an outdoors store that manufactured its own line of Gore Tex outdoor gear. The designer shamelessly copied the designs of TNF and produced it as his own ‘sans logo’ at a far more reasonable price. The concept was a hit, only because Gore Tex was a great product. Waterproof and breathable the perfect combination for outdoor enthusiasts and as the fledging salespeople, we were intent on selling it on its benefits and defending it against its shortcomings. I say the concept was a hit because only outdoor enthusiasts flocked to the store. The designs were good, the colors were eye catching yet it lacked that certain identifiable savoir faire that TNF had and my former employer did not. Can you guess? Yup that ‘big ass’ embroidered symbol of Yosemite’s Half Dome on the shoulder. What you didn’t know it was Half Dome? Wise up, Ansel Adams is rolling over in his grave as you read this.

Still talking about the early days, I had a friend who was going to fashion design school. Who knew higher academia had such an institution fervent on teaching others about something so trivial as clothes. To me clothes had always been something to cover the body and not much else. Much to my wife’s chagrin my shirt often don’t match my pants and I constantly go out on our date night with some worn out Asics 2130’s. So the story goes, I remember vividly having a philosophical discussion about logo’s and branding. “Make it big, make it simple and people will buy it!” (In the background I’m hearing W.P Kinsella “If you build it, they will come!”) She listened to my soapbox rant with slight distain. All the while I was thinking she doesn’t give a F what I think. She went on to having a career with a local very popular clothing company that got swallowed by the leading names in that particular industry, namely: Quicksilver, Dakine, and Roxy just to name a few. Do you see where I’m going with this? Close your eyes for a second and picture the logo of each of the last three names I just mentioned. Simple, big and memorable.

I weep for my lack of creative entrepreneurial moxie all those years ago. Clearly I had the foresight but not the creative gift nor the intestinal fortitude to carry off such a venture. Since my early days I have watched as many a fledgling clothing company falls by the wayside not for lack of quality goods but yet for the marketable eye catching logo or memorable slogan to go with it “Just Do It” (Nike) or “It’s in You” (Gatorade).

And for a time I mocked the successes as they sold their birthright to grab a piece of the pie. I chuckled when I saw a less than an athletic looking man sporting The North Face apparel. I thought to myself, this guy doesn’t look like he could climb a flight of stairs let alone scale a mountain. What does he need the hardcore gear for? As I matured and thought more about it, my thinking changed. Maybe these people will never scale the north face of the Eiger but only dream of it. Or maybe they bought the outdoor gear with the intent of wearing it for its designed features or maybe they bought because they just looked ‘hot’ in it. They wanted to be identified as athletic or outdoorsy. If The North Face could design a garment that appeals to the mainstream, that appeals to those who think ultra runners are nuts but yet gets them out the door and on to the trail. Then we all win!  Today from its humble beginnings The North Face manufactures all sorts of clothing, shoes and sponsors a number of cool ultrarunning events as well as a bunch of high profile athletes.

America is getting fatter by the minute. If branding can be identified with athleticism or athletic pursuits and dreams. If it gets people off the couch and around the block if even to show off their new Vibram Five Fingers or Lululemon yoga pants then who am I to scoff at these corporate giants intent on fueling their motivation. Branding becomes the kindling to our spark. If newbie runner feels more like a runner sporting the ‘big ass’ logo on his gear then and it keeps him running then I’m all for ‘big ass’ logos.

7 Posts in 7 Days

 I was thinking about going for 30 posts in 30 days but come on now I have made less than 7 posts for the entire year let alone for the next 7 days. So here I am stuck in an airport once again pondering life, more specifically social media. I remember seeing a tweet by Erin337 a couple of months ago and it stuck in my mind. She asked the question “Does anybody read blogs anymore?” Of course the handful of responses varied from the sarcastic to the avid endorsement of said social media outlet.


Blogging to me is a step above Facebook and Twitter quite possibly on par with Podcasting or the new Urban Dictionary term, “Blogcasting”. Blogging takes style and a fair bit more thinking than the 140 characters Twitter involves. That being said Twitter is the social media equivalent of a haiku, condense what you have to say in 140 characters or less. Make it meaningful, contrite, and you very well may become a social media darling. Certainly there is power in numbers. Try and try again and become someone’s favorite or certainly build the number of followers. It feeds the fire and you become part of it. In doing so, your every thought is tweeted and you blog less because . . . well you’ve said it before!

I love reading and responding to Tweets when I can. Once again quoting Twitter I remember Adam Tinkoff, The Zen Runner, comparing a conversation on Twitter to having a conversation on an elevator with a megaphone. Classic Tinkoff indeed.

I love reading blogs when I can. Blogs on the other hand give insight to the psyche, the emotion, the aura of the writer. Much like podcasting because of there one sidedness, blogs become and expression of the person. In essence the writer (podcaster) and the blog become one.

I like blogging. The problem is as I said before blogging takes a fair amount of thought. Thought requires time. Thoughts I have in abundance. Time is something I don’t have a lot of. So there is the challenge and I lay it down as a challenge because in doing so I put it down on the line for only myself to beat, a personal challenge. You can call me out on it if you so please. But this is more for me than anything.

I sit hear in the Edmonton Airport waiting for a flight home. Time is something I have, for now. My next challenge is the next 7 days. Life at home is hectic. Life on the road slightly less. For all the runner’s out there I had an absolutely fabulous run one week ago and have been on the go ever since ergo no running since. Hopefully tomorrows post will be a celebration of tomorrow’s run.

Wish me luck. See ya tomorrow!

uD 59 It's not about the job

Planning My Self Supported Ultra

This is fun! More fun than actually signing up for a race because when you plan your own you get to do all the course planning and timing. The route planning can be a lot of fun.

FACTS:

1) I travel at least once a month for work and the night times are long. So these times are the most probable time to hold a self supported ultra.

2) I can run as fast as 8 minute miles on roads. It goes slower from there depending on the steepness and technical difficulty of the trail. 

3) The amount of available sun increases until June 21st, the summer solstice, then the days get shorter. The highest the sun gets is 9:20 pm for Vancouver.

So taking these factors into account, I can run about 4 hours maybe 5 hours in complete sunlight. Even at dusk there is still a significant amount of sunlight. A 50K takes about 6 hours. A 50 mile takes almost double that.  I'm leaning towards 50K first

My Route:

The start is the backdoor of my hotel which is typically the Holiday Inn Express in Kelowna (elevation 1150’ or 350m). After a quick right and right again down some back streets into Mission Creek, ‘The Greenway’. The Greenway is flat and follows the creek for about 5 miles but I’m turning after about 2 ½ miles at Casorso Road taking a left. At the roundabout stay left and keep left. Casorso Road turns goes up steeply to Bedford Road. The elevation tapers off a bit but Bedford then turns into Stewart Road East. At the end of Stewart Road East is the parking lot for Myra-Bellevue Regional Park. The elevation at the parking lot is 1750’ or 533m.

Believe it or not the trail has recovered from this devastation

Inside the park my route follows the Scorched Sole 25K course from 2010. I say that very specifically because the Scorched Sole course changes almost annually either due in part to snow, fires or some other unforeseen circumstance. (True enough at this posting the Scorched Sole 2011 course has changed again) The 2010 course follows the Lost Lake Trail to the end where it picks up the Kettle Valley Railway trail. The Kettle Valley Railway or KVR was this old defunct railway built after the turn of the 20th century. It’s famous for these gigantic trestle bridges which spanned these beautiful canyons. Even today these trestles are considered quite a feat of engineering. In 2003, the Okanagan Mountain fire (hence the name Scorched Sole) many of these trestles mostly wood burned to the ground. It was only through the efforts of interest groups that these marvels were restored to their original splendor. (wow that sounds like it should be in a brochure).

The bottom line is I’m truly excited about this. It doesn’t impede on family business. Although there is no pomp and circumstance, I’m thinking there won’t be as much of the low that follows a grand event either. I’m already ruminating about a second and third ultra closer to home. The mojo is back!

Where did the Mojo go?

I’m having a bit of a crisis getting my mojo going for 2011. Maybe it’s the fact that there was so many people who I follow were doing the Goofy Challenge and my vicarious life has been satiated through there accomplishments. Or that some of these same people have yet another marathon or big race planned less than 16 weeks out. Or maybe it’s the fact that after working my ass off qualifying for Boston I came up short in the funding and was a no go for this year and most likely next year as well. The fact of the matter is these races cost a lot of money, hell, shoes cost a lot of money. But my passion is running and therefore to keep my sanity I must run.

I was listening to the DDRD, that would be Dirt Dawg’s Running Diatribe Podcast last week and I had a bit of an epiphany. His guest interviewer was a fellow blogger/runner who made the comment that she could not run without a goal, without a purpose. It brought to mind all the books on motivation and drive that I have read. Side Note: Why is it that people who lack it always seem to gravitate towards books about the subject matter? No matter, my research tells me they all seem to break it down into three things and depending on whose book you’re reading it comes down to:

1) Autonomy-that self driven, master of your own domain facet that must be met to keep the wheel turning.

2) Mastery – the sense that you are accomplishing your goal through endless repetition. Positive feedback loops, 10,000 hours of practice. No lie! Ask Malcolm Gladwell. A good coach doesn’t hurt either.

3) Purpose – the Why! Or better said the WHY? A lot has been written about this and I’m going to boil it down to Intrinsic and Extrinsic goals. Your goals have to be intrinsic if they are going to get you through the rough spots. They have to fulfill some need within you.

I need races to fulfill the why. A race that I had been eyeing was the Chuckanut Mtn 50K. Not to say that fate is playing against me but this year’s race sold out in 2 hours. Although the start line is about an hour from my house it filled up with the likes of Krupicka, Roes, and Jurek. Wow Ultrarunning celebs in my neck of the woods.

So I enter the spring season with no definitive goal and in essence a serious mojo problem.

Here is what I have for ideas so far:

1) Self supported Ultra. Probably a 50 miler or 12 hour. No bells no whistles, no fees . . .no problem

2) Join Club Fat Ass and enter a few of their races.

3) Find a cheap Ultra and just sign on the dotted line and open up those purse strings.

4) Get faster! Train for a 5K, 10K or a mile.

5) Take up another sport. . . Naaah!

Welcome to 2011

Like most people I’ve been reflecting on the past year, trying to sum up my highlights and accomplishments of 2010 from which to learn from. To be honest there wasn’t a lot going on. Two races in all, one of them a marathon. I want to share the highlight with you, here goes:
Run for Water – Once again I was able to do this charity run with my family or at least the abbreviated version. My wife and one son ran the 5K while I ran the 10K with my daughter in the BOB stroller.
BQ at the Okanagan Marathon – I’d be lying if I didn’t put this near the top of the list. But to be honest it was more about the journey than the destination. The race was just the execution of the plan. A 3 ½ hour blast of nirvana for sure but compare that to the hundreds of hours or prep and planning it’s a toss up to what I enjoyed more.
Social Media – I resuscitated my podcast this year after a long hiatus. I joined Twitter and the Daily Mile. I have a tough time explaining Social Media to my wife and friends. Not so much how it works but rather the group of friends I have acquired through the different avenues. It’s hard to explain how a person can empathize the sorrows and celebrate the joys of events, running related or not with people you have never met. But in my life I have very few running partners, I don’t belong to a club and yet running is a big part of what makes me tick. Social Media completes the loop. You work through a tough set of intervals or a set of hill repeats or even a killer long run and you want to share it with friends. I think everybody wants a little validation and if you are reading this blog I think you understand?
GOALS
For 2011 my goal is to communicate more. I plan to open up the relationships I’ve squandered. I plan to talk more. I’m going to blog more, tweet more,phone more friends. In a nutshell I am going to share my life more. Although they are just numbers I’m a numbers guy. I made 17 blog posts in 2010 down from the all time high of 34 in 2009. This year the goal is 52 which of course is a weekly average of 1. I think this is an achievable goal.
Running goals are as yet undecided. I have got a few that I’m still thinking about but have to discuss with the better half. After all when you come from a family of six, everything has to be a concerted effort. I’ll share that with you next post. Thanks for coming along!