Ultradad

This Site is Moving

2011-11-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

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

2011-09-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

Random thoughts from the Weekend

2011-05-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

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)

2011-04-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

Planning My Self Supported Ultra

2011-01-26T04:53:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-01-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

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!

You know your a runner when . . .

2010-11-26T06:47:00.000-08:00

The only good thing about business travel with crappy weather in the forecast is the ability to check out and compare the fitness facilities. On my recent trip to Edmonton I was shut out of my usual haunts due to not booking early and the Grey Cup being held on the weekend. As such I checked out the Ramada in the not so downtown core. The rates were cheap due to its less than desirable location.

You know you’re a runner when you choose a hotel based on the treadmill you see in the photos of the fitness room or the proximity to a good trail or a track. This year alone I have chosen a hotel because:
1) It was on the marathon course I was running in the fall and I could preview the course this way.
2) It was about a mile from the only track in town and I had an interval workout scheduled.
3) It was less than a mile from a well known trail I had heard or read about.

All sad and yet all true. Yes I have an addiction!

So the Ramada Inn in Edmonton not only had a great rate but a great treadmill. Typically I prefer to run outdoors no matter what the conditions but this hotel was in a bad part of town AND it was -25C with snow on the ground. I know when to stay inside (most times).

The treadmill au jour was a sweet LifeFitness commercial grade model. After my workout I pondered purchasing just such a beast to replace the Sears/Walmart residential strength model I have in the basement. The comparison of the two makes you lean toward the LifeFitness brand for sure. The LifeFitness treadmill has a wide deck probably about 20” or so. The length of which I could probably lie down on (okay it was 60" but it felt longer). The decking itself was a thick rubber. And I could actually hear myself think or listen to Oprah, not like my home jobby that is more akin to a Harley Davidson Fat Boy idling with 88 cubic inches of pure thunder. This beauty also inclines to 15% whereas my home model goes to 6%. The differences clearly favored the LifeFitness right up until the price tag. LifeFitness treadmills start at about $2500. Yup that’s right I didn’t add an extra zero by mistake. Ah well, I’ll stick to my bought and paid for Sears special (gratis by my Mom who was gonna throw it away after her exercise New Year’s resolution failed).

I was inspired to run the treadmill after watching a Youtube video of Tony ”Naked Guy” Krupicka, the superhuman ultrarunner having a treadmill race against James Bonnett , another ultrarunner sponsored by The North Face. Check it out, It is pretty nuts! If you notice they start the race at 15% grade. I’m guessing the pace is like 8 mph. I tried 15% and made it up to about 5mph but had to stop because I feared getting shot off the back if I stumbled. Enjoy!

Sleep deprived for no good reason

2010-11-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

It doesn’t help that I’m suffering from Post Marathon Blues and I lack a little bit of motivation right now. But this shoulder thing is really starting to bug me. It started as a small minor twinge that I felt occasionally when I ran and never any time other than that. Now four weeks post marathon it has built itself to a nice little crescendo. (That is music talk, folks)

I can lift my arm albeit slowly. I can crawl on all fours into a burning building (simulated), search for victims and drag a 180 lb dummy out a hundred feet through stacks of tires on one hand (attached to the same shoulder) and not even wince. I did that on Tuesday. I can throw a ball side arm and underhand did that Thursday

But throw a ball over the top has me screaming like a little girl. Okay I didn’t really scream but I wanted too. Trying to sleep can be a problem too. I never realized how much I move in my sleep until you get woken up because you’ve lifted you arm a certain way and the pain sends high voltage down my left side. It’s like an alarm clock for some sadomasochistic Spanish Inquisition torture freak.

I don’t mean to whine. I hate whiners. I’m from the School of Suck It Up. Although I am only at high school level, I haven’t graduated to the university level, the infamous U Suck. It is just a distraction that keeps me up at night and deprives me of rest. I mean I could be worse off. I’ve been following a few blogs. Colin has a heel problem that has dogged him forever but he managed a marathon though his problems. He’s now on the long road to recovery with a surgery option if need be, whatever the case he can’t run. I wish him well. Gary broke his 5th metatarsal in his right foot. Once again out for 8 weeks and no running.

I can still run. The twinge is still there and Jen says I shouldn’t aggravate it. I’m not so sure. I always take a layoff after an event: marathon, ultra or whatever. I race so infrequently that the event becomes the pinnacle of the year. So 4 weeks of little training I’m not sure if it is a coincidence this shoulder thing flared up, was it due to lack of exercise or is there something else. I could try and get my ass off the couch and run for a solid week and see if the pain goes down. But I keep waking up at 2 or 3 in the morning for a few painful minutes falling back asleep so when the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. I am beat.

In the mean time I’ve been to the doctor who sent me for an X-ray for which I await the result. The doc was skeptical the X-ray would show anything. He said an MRI would be better but in this province it takes about 15 months of waiting before you get an appointment. Unless you have $800 and can do it privately. For $800 I’d rather do something frivolous . . . like eat.

BMO Okanagan Marathon

2010-10-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

It’s been a week since I ran the marathon. I think a week is long enough to mull over the events of the day, the past 18 weeks, or the past lifetime. At any point, I just jump back and forth and reflect.

THE DAY

It started out nice. Temperatures were in the 50’s which by all account is perfect running weather. I got a good night’s sleep and woke up at 5 a.m. raring to go. Although the race didn’t start until 7:15 and my hotel was only 10 minutes from the start line and parking was abundant, I wanted to make sure certain bodily functions had run their course before I ran my course (Enough said).

I got to the starting area with a half an hour to spare. It was your typical starting area for a big city race port-a-potties, people wearing garbage bags, old sweatshirts mulling about doing stretches, sprints and running on the spot same old stuff just a different race. A casual observation had me notice the sparseness of the area, I guess because the marathon started first and the half marathon was a half hour later with 15 minutes to the start the layout of the start area left room for 10 times the people that were there.

THE PODCAST

I knew from the beginning of the 18 weeks of training that I would be podcasting whilst I ran. You can listen to my production hear. I made it into a Rocky Balboa prizefighter type fight because those thoughts played in my head, a 26 round prizefight with only one winner. In marathons and in prizefights some people get the shit kicked out of them and get knocked out, hit the wall, bonk, or whatever term you want to use something inside them say “No Mas, No Mas”. Some are lucky enough to survive to the end only to be struck down by their time goal, a split decision if you will. Completing a marathon is a victory in itself but if you set a time goal like I did then you can win and lose when you cross the line. Which one you dwell on is up to the person. And then there is the win, the time goal complete. I guess you can knock it out by smashing your goal time by minutes or you can eek one out with a few ticks of the clock to spare. Win, lose or draw I was prepared to podcast.

In my head I was conscious of the fact that there were people around me so the stream of verbal diarrhea that explodes out of my mouth was for the most part corked. That’s okay though, I got to talk to actual people on the run (probably annoyed the Hell out of them)

THE PEOPLE

The people along the course and on the course were amazing. As the weather got worse the people that volunteered stuck it out. I mean runners are like furnaces, boilers chugging out a constant heat so once they get going a drop in temperature or a cold blowing wind only fazes them slightly. The volunteers are standing around for hours and when it starts to rain or a cold wind blows off the lake they certainly feel it. I take my hat off to the “vollies” they are my heroes of the race.

I saw a woman running in Newton Running shoes. It was the first time I had ever seen Newton’s so I had to ask. She pulled the earbuds out of her head as I proceeded to ask questions. She quickly told me about her supination problem. She was from Calgary and the stores there have them. A typical on the run meeting and it was over and done in a minute.

I met a guy doing his second marathon. His goal was 3:30 like mine and he had his eye on the pace bunny. It was late in the race and he was hanging on. He told me he couldn’t run after his first marathon. That just after the finish he felt nauseous and his legs started to spasm which sent him into a long post marathon recovery. But he was back one year later with his eye on the prize, 3:30. And then he took a walk break. . . gone in 60 seconds.

I talked to a women who was also running her second marathon. Vancouver was her first which she thought was very hilly compared to this one. To that I would have to agree. This one had no bridges, no hills and I think the announcer said 5 meters of elevation gain/loss. The woman told me that she had already qualified for Boston at Vancouver. She said her time was 3:40:59, which if you know Boston qualifying standards she used the full 59 seconds allowed for that age bracket. I was impressed. She too was aiming for a 3:30 finish. I never saw her after my break.

MY BREAK

After the first loop of 13.1 miles and well into the industrial park the urge to pee overwhelmed me. The course is a two looper, which you could almost call a four looper. You start in City Park and go north into the industrial park, loop back to City Park and go south into a residential area for another loop. You do that twice, hence four loops. On the second time into the industrial park I could not hold it and I detoured behind one of the many buildings on the course. I figured if I didn’t do it now I couldn’t do it on the south loop unless I peed in someone’s hedges. (A marathon faux pas).

I lost 22 seconds but saved a bladder. To that point I was probably right on 8 minute pace with maybe a few seconds to spare. The stupidity of trying to get it all back at once was a grave mistake but a calculated one. Psychologically, running with a crowd is easier than running alone. There was a small pack of about 20 runners on the 3:30 bunny. So after dropping 22 seconds they were that much more ahead of me and I was literally alone. I couldn’t see anyone behind me and only the 3:30’s ahead of me. I ran an 8:22 mile with a break and followed it up with a 7:40 mile. This was about mile seventeen. My legs really felt the energy drain after the catch up mile.

THE WALL

The wall came on the south loop in the residential area. To this point I was well hydrated (I drank at every aid station and had a bottle of Gatorade with me) and I was well fed (I had 3 Clif Shots). The legs felt okay and psychologically I was still in the game. But I could see myself folding . . . slowly. Mile after mile the time slipped and I couldn’t respond to it. I was whipped. The irony of being an ultramarathoner trying to run fast enough for Boston was comical. The farthest I’ve ever run is 100K, 62 miles so you would think a race of less than half that distance would be a walk in the park? Not so!

THE FINISH

The Garmin 305 on my wrist said 26.2 miles and yet the finish line was still a long kick away. Mentally that was tough. I remember being out on the course and there were cones at nearly every corner and course marshals telling you to go around the cones, “Go ‘round the cones!” So I did . . . religiously, I stuck to the course. Deep inside I didn’t want to cheat myself. If my Garmin read anything less than 26.2 miles at the end of the race I would have felt guilty or been guilty of not running a full marathon. So being the ethical runner I stuck to the course. When I hit the 26.2 mile mark on my Garmin I was kicking mentally kicking myself.

I approached the final turn and there was less than 100 meters to go. The clock read 3:29:55 or so I sprinted and bore down on the timing mats. In my head I was thinking about how far back from the starting line I started and I was cursing myself. Who knew I was going to cut it that close. I crossed the line with a gun time of 3:30:05 and a chip time of 3:29:38. The gun time is what counts to Boston so I still had 54 seconds to spare. The Garmin said I ran 26.38 miles which is 950 feet beyond 26.2. The chip time is what counts to me because now I’m a sub 3:30 marathoner!

Week 3 Day 19: Intervals

2010-06-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

I can still remember the chapter entitled Intervals in the book Once a Runner by John L Parker. Quenton Cassidy doing endless intervals pushing himself to his ultimate limit lap after lap and just when you think he can’t do anymore he resigns himself to another set. In the end he goes home after his ‘make or break’ workout and collapses into a deep sleep on his bed. Awesome!

My own experience wasn’t quite as dramatic as the fictional Mr. Cassidy’s but it was a new experience for me. I am on Week 3 of Hal Higdon’s Advanced I Marathon Training Program. This is the weekly ‘Quality’ workout which rotates from Hill Repeats to Tempo to Intervals and back to Hill Repeats. Since Week One I have been kind of looking at this workout as my biggest challenge. My trail running told me I would be able to do Hill Repeats and Tempo is just a slow build to pace and back down again. What’s so hard about that? Intervals are done on the track, this is speed work! What have I done? I’ve given up my beloved trails for a 400 meter oval. Jen said to me the other day, “You don’t run trails anymore do you?” I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. Definitely I have resigned myself to the roads, the pounding pavement all for the single minded purpose of qualifying for Boston.

My work schedule took me to Kelowna, BC, a beautiful place, which is no secret to anyone in the know. That being the case hotel rates sky rocket during the summer months. I couldn’t justify paying an extra $70 for the room I stayed in a month ago. So in searching for a place I chose my hotel based on proximity to a track. Using Google Earth I noted that there is only one ‘local’ track. What gives? Kelowna has a population probably double maybe triple that of Mission and only has one track, or at least that’s what I could find via Google Earth. The Apple Bowl sits in the heart of the city and is close to several hotels but it mystifies me as to why the city has just one track. This track is where I did my infamous barefoot run a few months ago and is a beautiful rubberized track. So if you are going to have one track it should be a good one.

My warm up was a direct route one mile straight to the track. Perfect! Lap 1 with a target of 3:30 was a little shaky. I wasn’t used to the faster pace and I felt like I was speeding up then slowing down but I ended up with a 3:22. A little fast but I was looking more for consistency rather than being bang on 3:30.

After a one lap rest in 2:24 (Hal says to keep rest between 2 and 3 minutes) I sped off again. This time I was a little more controlled and finished the 800 with a time of 3:24. Not bad!

Another rest lap and my third 800 was another 3:24. Now I thought I was getting the hang of this.

The final 800 was also a consistent 3:23. So taking into account hundredths of second the total range of values was within 1.5 seconds. I stepped off the track totally satisfied. Intervals were not as daunting as I had thought. I felt like I could have done more but I wanted to stick to the plan. I can hardly wait another three weeks before I get to do 5 x 800.

I ran back to the hotel and stepped into Starbucks for a Grande Dark Roast and it was barely 6 am.

Welcome to Las Vegas

2010-06-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

I used to love coming to Las Vegas. So many lights, the casinos, the all day party atmosphere it was continuous fun. “Was” is the key word in this sentence. I am just returning from 3 days in a desert town that I think was Las Vegas at least that is what they told me when I landed at McCarran International Airport. Of course I was there on business and I’ve been there before on business but this time was in a class all by itself.

I’ve heard it said that if you go a block or two off the Las Vegas Strip you can’t tell it’s the same place. Try 5 miles away and it could very well be Anytown, USA. I was there for meetings all day so it really didn’t matter but still the excitement from travelling to Sin City was gone. The hotel didn’t even have a slot machine in the lobby.

RUNNING IN LAS VEGAS

The last time I ran in Vegas was last summer. We went with my kids and we even took the running stroller. I ran off Strip from the MGM Grand and I explored the areas in and around the UNLV campus. By doing so I was also able to scope out places to buy groceries, bottled water, and of course diapers. In August the temperature hovered in the high nineties and one day broke a hundred for one of my runs. It was fun, I imagined myself running the Badwater and it was only beginning to warm up.

I run before in Vegas up and down the Strip which from a tourist perspective is kind of fun because at 6 in the morning the streets are empty and you get an unobstructed view of the city. I can only imagine what the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon would be like. I think you actually get to run down the middle of the Strip. Just imagine it no sidewalks, no escalators and walkways, that sounds like fun. Bucket list are you listening?

On this trip I was down to business, I am in week 2 on my marathon program and I had to get in 3 miles, 5 miles and then another 3 miles.

The first run I had to squeeze in between meeting end and dinner plans. Three miles, the prescribed distance fit in perfectly to the allotted time. At this point in the program I didn’t want to skip any workouts for any reason. I found a park right across the street from the hotel. What strikes me as odd is talking about going for a run in a park in Las Vegas. I saw trees and plants I even saw a rabbit scurrying into the sagebrush.

The second run was a five miler. The park was small and doing loop after loop in the park didn’t seem to inviting so I ventured into the industrial park right next to the hotel. Like I said this was an atypical visit to Las Vegas, industries, warehouses, and parks.

Run three I went back to the park for three. I don’t know if it was the heat or the elevation (2000’ above sea level) but my easy pace went from a typical 10 minute pace to just over 9 minutes for all three runs. I never focused on pace. I never focused on anything. I recorded my thoughts on one run but for the most part I ran by feel and ended up too fast. My HR was too high for all three runs. The saving grace was they were shorter runs. I recovered well but I’m going to have to pay better attention to the HR zones.

Tomorrow is my Tempo run. A 40 minute run of increasing effort to a tempo just below 10K pace and then back down again for the final minutes. Question is “What is my 10K pace if you haven’t run one without a running stroller in front of you?”

Week One

2010-06-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

Week 1 In the books

Monday – 3 mile easy run. Week 1 Day 1 and he starts it with an easy 3 mile run. The temptation for me was not to go farther or harder. Koda, my Golden Retriever with the onset of hip dysplasia appreciated the pace.

Tuesday- 5 mile “Sort Of” long run. I think I’ll call these SO Long runs because I can’t type fast and holding the shift key down twice to make the term “Sort Of” is annoying. So a 5 mile SO long run was okay! A no event, I know I can run farther, faster but I stick with the plan.

Wednesday- easy run for recovery from the SO long run left me wanting more. A 3 mile run but I wanted to stick to plan.

Thursday – I woke up with a little fatigue in the legs. I’m usually not a streaker. I define being a streaker as running consecutive days anything longer than 3 days. So usually by the fourth day if I wake up and before my feet hit the ground I’ll decide whether or not I’ll run or not. Today I had no choice. In sticking with the plan I knew that today was a hill workout. Hal says to find a hill, any pitch will do about a quarter mile long. I have just the hill just outside my house. I started with a warm up of 2 miles and hit my hill. The hill is exactly a quarter mile from bottom to top so cresting it each time was the plan. It rises about 140 feet in the quarter, it is fairly punishing it is steep to begin with the grade lessens for about the middle third and the final third is the steepest grade. This is the type of hill the city closes down during snow events. I’m going to call it “the Horn” not only because the name of the street is actually Horne Street but because I know this horn will actually prod me to improvement.

I’ve attached a graph from my Garmin Training center. As you can see at mile 2 is where the hill repeats began. After a quarter mile I came close to maxing out on my heart rate, something I’ve always had questions about. My speed is kind all over but never drops to zero. It’s neat to see how my heart rate recovers on the downhills. I wish my speed could have been a little more consistent on the downhills..

By the third repeat I was spend I did everything I could to hold my pace to the top and was reduce to a walk once I crested the hill. My heart rate was 98% of maximum but I felt victorious. I completed the hardest workout of the week thus far and I didn’t die.

Friday –rest day. Remarkably I felt good when I woke up and I resisted the urge to do anything but rest. Hal has been around a lot longer than I have so I trusted his wisdom.

Saturday – 5 miles at Goal Marathon Pace. The 8 minutes I knew would not be hard for 5 miles. What would prove to be hard was finding a relatively flat course like the marathon course where I could test the pacing. My hometown is not flat. It is built on the side of a river bank so anything north to south gains a lot of elevation. East to west is flatter but still rolls a lot more than wanted so I picked the flat city block I could find close to home and ran in circles. Unfortunately, I’ve kind of lost touch with pace and my pace ended up being closer to 7:49 than 8:00. For 5 miles at 8 minute pace I expected to be around 40 minutes exactly. I ended off the day at 38 and change.

Sunday - The long runs may prove to be my undoing. Not so much the distance but fitting the distance into a specified time slot. With my ultra training I always scheduled long runs for Saturday early am. Although Hal says you can switch them up he has a preference for the GMP run to precede the long run. Sundays for my family usually involve early morning commutes to a swim meet in some far off locale. The more kids involved the more time is needed to embark. This year we have four kids. I woke up at 5 am and we planned to leave the house by 7:30. So fitting in a easy 10 mile run in between was going to be tight. I did it but I had to increase my pace in the back half to get the job done.

WEEK SUMMARY

It wasn’t too bad! It was definitely a full week and I feel like I’ve accomplished something big. Confucious says “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Week one down, 17 more to go.

And so it begins . . .

2010-06-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have embarked on a journey that is ground breaking for me. I have started following someone else’s marathon training plan. The final destination is as yet to be determined but I have a few places on my bucket list that are definite possibilities. The date is confirmed as 10-10-10 that is October 10th 2010 and there are two marathons to choose from one is the Okanagan International Marathon the other is the Good Life Fitness Victoria Marathon. It is a bit of a mystery as to why race organizers would schedule identical dates when perhaps if they separated the two by a week or more you might increase participation from a few Marathon Maniacs out there.

THE PLAN

This time around I’m following Hal Higdon’s Advanced I Marathon Plan. Mr. Higdon is a well known guru of sorts and his training programs have been around for years. I’ve actually tried one of his plans before. Actually let me clarify that, I’ve looked at his plans before and I thought to myself “ Are you serious?” because even the Novice plans aren’t exactly novice. They are definitely serious plans for serious committed athletes and for the longest time since first looking at them I’ve wanted to re-visit them and actually see if I could commit myself to following one of the plans.

THE HISTORY

I’ve done three marathons, all spring marathons and all of them Vancouver, 1999, 2000, and 2005. My personal best is 3:31. Since then I’ve moved up to ultras. I figured if couldn’t get faster then go farther. I’ve run two ultras to date, a 50 miler in 2008 and the longest ultra I’ve run is 100K which was last year’s Haney to Harrison 100K Ultra. That definitely pushed my limit for distance. With 4 kids, a wife, a job, and also being part-time firefighter I don’t know if I have the time to train any longer than 4-hour training runs, something that it is a requirement for longer ultras. Now that I can’t go farther let’s go faster, I was inspired by the many stories of people trying to qualify for Boston and it too has been on my bucket list for a long time.

CHOOSING THE PLAN

With three plans to choose from: Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced and two levels for each. The Novice plan was for lack of a better term too novice. The Advanced Plans looked serious enough but lacked the speed work that I felt I needed to achieve my goal of a Boston qualifier. At 45 years old the BQ time must be better than 3:30 which is not too far off of my personal best but that was 5 years ago and there is a lot of miles on these legs since then. One thing ultra running does is sap a lot of speed from you. Whether it’s the shifting focus on endurance, the lack of speed work in your training regime or the cumulative miles I don’t feel like I could pound out 8-minute miles like I did 5 years ago. Hence my choice for the Advanced I program.

THE PROGRAM

For the next 18 weeks I’m going to review the program week by week. Hopefully my schedule will permit me to keep up with the program and to keep up with the blog posts. The program runs 6 out 7 days. Monday is an easy recovery run from the weekend duo. Tuesday is what Hal describes as a “Sort of” long run it starts at 5 miles and builds up to 11 miles over the 18 weeks. Wednesday is a recovery run from the “Sort of” the day before. Thursday is the quality speed/power workout alternating between Hills, Tempo, and Intervals. To be honest I’ve always hated this regimented type workout which is probably why I abandoned marathoning all those years ago. I knew if I wanted the BQ this is what I needed to do, this would define me, this is where it would start. Friday is the only rest day of the whole week, something tells me I’m going to look forward to Fridays . . . TGIF. Saturday is a shorter distance (starts at 5 miles and builds) at GMP, Goal Marathon Pace. A run to make you feel the pace you want to run at, in my case 8 minutes per mile. And of course Sunday is the long run. The Advance I program builds its long runs to 20 miles and does it 3 times prior to race day. I think my ultra experience made this program seem less daunting than in the past. In fact, last year during my 100K build up my 20 milers were the most enjoyable part of the whole program.

So there you have it. There is the goal, the history, the plan. All I have to do is commit to the plan and carry it out. I still have to choose a marathon, sign on the dotted line and ‘git R dun’. Wish me luck!

Episode 45: Run for Water Race Report

2010-06-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

On today’s show two thirds of our family compete at the Run for Water in Abbotsford. I give my 10K report for which I run with the BOB stroller with my daughter. Jenny and Ethan give their 5K reports.

Check out the links

Run for Water

http://media.libsyn.com/media/ultradad/uD045_Run4Water.mp3

Episode 44: Our Not So Secret Smoothie

2010-05-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

On this show we share our favorite smoothie recipe that you can find here at Canadian Running Magazine.

http://runningmagazine.ca/2010/04/sections/health-nutrition/nutrition-get-real-whole-foods-for-runners/

http://ultradad.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=619372

Blueberry Ultra Power Smoothie

1 banana fresh or frozen (peeled, break off into 2″ pieces, and freeze overnight)

1/2 cup pre-soaked almonds (soak 1/4 cup almonds in water 3 to 4 hours or overnight)

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

2 1/2-3 cups of water

3 tablespoons Green Foods Vegan Protein Powder

6 dates or 2-3 tablespoons natural sweetener

3 tablespoons Udo’s Oil DHA 3-6-9 Blend

2 tablespoons raw maca powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or raw vanilla powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add water if a more liquid consistency is desired.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Nutritional info per serving

Calories: 312

Fat: 19.5 g

Carbohydrates: 30.3 g

Protein: 7.9 g

Fibre: 5.5 g

Sodium: 317 mg

Anonymity and the Podcaster

2010-05-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

Anonymity and podcasting make strange bedfellows. On one side you have the security and privacy issues while one the other side you can be autobiographical while sharing your views to the podcast world. I am a podcaster, every episode I tell you my name is Rob and I am the host of the Ultradad Podcast. In the past I’ve told you about the races I’ve run H2H 100K and STORMY 50 mile. I’ve told you I’m married with 4 kids and at various times I’ve told you their names. While not being completely transparent, in today’s information overloaded web world it wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what my last name is or where my house is.

There was a recent episode of Criminal Minds, a TV show I watch, where the killer stalked his victims via Facebook and Twitter. Of course this is an extreme case and was sensationalized by some very good writers but the point was made. I had to smile when in the opening moments of the show Joe Mantegna’s character David Rossi was going through some of the Tweets of the victims like “Had dinner at such and such”, “Going to shower now” while those weren’t the exact Tweets they were very similar. Rossi was mystified as to why anybody would post this information and why anybody would want to read this was just as mind boggling. And yet still we all do it.

Whether we like it or not information about us is out there. I live in a small, very blue collar town and a lot of my friends don’t own computers, some don’t carry their cell phones when they go out. That being the case they aren’t on Facebook or Twitter. So I was curious what kind of information was out there for these 1970’s throwbacks. Amazingly there was quite a bit of information to pick up enough information to write a small biography with pictures. Have you ever Googled your name?

Podcasters are a weird breed. We run the gamut from being completely anonymous using only a pseudonym or a web identity to being completely open with our first and last name. While I consider myself stuck in the middle I can see myself leaning more to the openly transparent podcasters. Like I said before there is more than enough information out there to figure out who I am.

I guess we leave it to the discretion of our listeners if they want to be cyber-sleuths and figure it out I’m okay with it just so long as they don’t show up at my front door. Look me up on Facebook! I kind of like those podcasts that share their daily lives with us. Not just the peaks but the valleys too. We can both celebrate and sympathize.

I guess where I’m going with this is the boys formerly of Trilogy Running have a new podcast called Those Guys Running. It’s basically the same format as before but they don’t ever mention their names. But through word of mouth, past history and clearly identifiable voices it won’t take long to figure out who they are. I can respect their need for privacy but who are they kidding. It’s out there. It’s like Rossi from the Criminal Minds episode later explained. Once you put something up there on the internet it’s up there forever.

Episode 43: The Barefoot Debate

2010-05-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

http://media.libsyn.com/media/ultradad/uD43_Barefoot.mp3

Well folks we've switched to Libsyn. I guess when you compare Podbean and Libsyn the two are very similar but I just liked the look of Libsyn. In the brief time that I've used it I've got to say Libsyn is by far a lot easier to use. My uploads are so much faster and user friendly because I don't have to use a ftp server to upload. On the downside I couldn't figure the whole iTunes feed thing so there is a new feed on iTunes. It is identical to the Podbean feed so the show hasn't changed much.

On today's show I wanted to put my two cents into the Barefoot Debate. I want to start by saying that I'm firmly sitting on the fence on this one. But I bring up something to think about. For example, if barefoot is suppose to be good for you by strengthening your foot because there is less support for it. You are forced to land on your forefoot etc. Then why aren't worn out running shoes just as good. The argument that a shoe wears out after so many miles baffles me now. The compression of the foam rubber cushioning is a slow transition. And doesn't the foot adapt to the changing conditions of the shoe?

Do you remember the article mentioned in Born to Run about the foot strike impact of barefoot runners and shod runners? That the impact was actually less with the barefoot guys and the adaptation of shod to barefoot was immediate. Based on this information I would think if a shoe wears out in 500 miles the foot strike, impact force and stride would slowly adapt over the 500 miles so that at mile zero you may be a heel striker but at mile 500 you transition to forefoot more to balance out the loss of cushioning. Does that make sense? I don't know it's just food for thought. Give it a listen at the above link and thanks for dropping by.

PS the feet I use in my id tag are my daughters. We are on the beach at La Jolla in California. Aren't they cute?

Episode 42: Haney 2 Harrison Ultra Report

2010-04-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Taking the Zoom H2 out for a ride

2010-04-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Taking the Zoom H2 for a spin. Watch this space for details

Untitled by ultradad at Garmin Connect - Details

Motivation

2010-01-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a tough month! A bit of travel, a lot of rain and not a whole lot of running. I've been kind of down and out lately. I'm not sure if this is still post ultra blues or not. It's been about 3 months since my race and I would almost guess I've run less than 100 miles in those 3. Of course it is winter and winter in Mission usually means rain. I was reading a friends blog the other day and he had a post entitled "Rain, Rain Go Away" He talks about the debilitating effects of the rain on your motivation to run. I couldn't agree more.

I've been playing with the idea of running before bed instead of early in the morning.

1) It's easy to lace 'em up after a frustrating day of work and after the kids go to bed.
2) I don't have to rush home before the kids get up, unless I run all night (a la Dean Karnazes)
3) My energy stores will be more in sync as I would have had 3 square meals rather than a fast of about 8 hours.
4) Bodily systems would be more in sync as I would have completed my business long before. (If you know what I mean ;-)
5) I would actually get to sleep in, which is what I've been doing anyways.

On the down side
1) I've heard its harder to get to sleep right after a run because of endorphins and such.
2) After the kids go to bed is usually our couple time. I could wait until 9 when she goes to bed.
3) If it rains and I take the dog he'll be wet and although I personally don't mind the smell of wet dog I think my wife might have something to say.
4) There are more crazies out at night then there is in the morning.

I still don't know it could go both ways. Probably the most appealing aspect is the Pros as the Cons don't seem all too bad.

I'll let you know.

Audiobook Review: Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner

2010-01-09T21:48:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned to you before I recently started subscribing to Audible. I have listened to three books in the three months I have subscribed. Most recently I listened to Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All night Runner by Dean Karnazes. I have both read and listened to this book.

In the curious case of Ultramarathon Man, let me preface this a little. When I first read this book about 4 years ago I borrowed it from the library. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about the book not so much that it was poorly written but rather the subject matter being self glorifying, egotistical etc. That being the case I didn’t want to spend my hard earned money on something I might find worthy of the waste basket. I gave it a read and actually enjoyed it. At the time I wasn’t an ultrarunner and only aspired to be one. Reading about someone go through every agonizing step from couch to ultrarunner was just what I wanted to see and read. To read accounts of Western States and Badwater, two of the classics in the world of ultras is kind of can’t miss literature in my narrow minded , tunnel vision view of literature.

A few years later I read Karnazes’ book 50/50 Fifty Marathons in Fifty States in Fifty Days it was his follow up book. I bought that book because I enjoyed the first one so much. That book was okay but just okay. I guess when you know the outcome of the story it becomes more or less a series of 50 race reports hardbound into a book. Don’t get me wrong I love race reports but this book could have been and probably was Dean’s blog (I can only speculate). I love blogs but for someone looking for great literature or a great story or something epic then look elsewhere.
Fast forward a few years to me purchasing the Audible audiobook Ultramarathon Man. As it goes the book is half as long as the other books I have purchased so on a dollars per word value it is a little short. I had run a couple of ultras and remember the stories as being empathetic . Listening to the book the stories are still great and after completing a couple of ultramarathons I still found it inspirational. Now here is the ‘BUT’.

Only after hearing the words come off the page and into my ears I had to shake my head. Maybe I am too modest. Maybe I should toot my horn a little more than I do. I am proud of my running accomplishments and maybe I should flaunt it more. Whatever the case (I am choosing my words carefully) I have maintained a bodyweight and body fat content consistent with my running lifestyle. So even in this little blog of mine which very few people read I would never refer to myself as cut, ripped, muscular, single digit body fat or whatever would make a reader envision something that I may be but modesty wouldn’t allow me to say. When I heard the narrator say these words written autobiographically by Dean I thought it was a little much. I honestly don’t remember reading this the first time through the book or maybe I just blocked them out. After the first cut/ripped reference I passed it off but soon came the second, third and fourth reference and I thought too much.

Have you ever gone on the Ultra List? It is kind of a throw back to the early days of emailing before chat rooms and Yahoo Groups and the like. Without going into too much detail about how it works let’s just say the threads are various and can go on for quite some time. Most or all of the participants are hardcore ultrarunners with various pedigrees so their opinions are valid and not some couch potatoes or armchair quarterbacks putting in their two cents. Mention Dean Karnazes or simply DK on the Ultra List and you get a long continuous thread of Dean bashing with only the occasional ‘but he was so inspirational to me’. In his defense he is very inspirational, his accomplishments are incredible and I never really polarized myself one side or the other. Now after listening to the book and hearing the blatant lack of modesty I see where the bashing gets its fuel. Dean deserves all the attention he gets both good and bad.
Bottom Line: Would I buy the book or audiobook again? Hell yes, I just told you it was inspirational even if it does make we wince when I hear the word ripped.

WE ARE AWESOME!

2010-01-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

I received this email recently. Normally I don't read the glitzty kind of chain mail stuff people send me but this one caught my eye and made me think . A lot!

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,

WE ARE AWESOME !!!

OUR Lives are LIVING PROOF !!!

To Those of Us Born

1925 - 1970 :

At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno. If you don't read anything else, please

read what he said.

Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

~~~~~~~~~

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank

while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then, after that trauma, we were
put to sleep on our tummies
in baby cribs covered
with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,
and, when we rode our bikes,
we had baseball caps,
not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes....

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.

--And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building
our go-carts out of scraps
and then ride them down the hill,
only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were
no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
no video movies or DVDs,
no surround-sound or CDs,
no cell phones,
no personal computers,
no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS
and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut,
broke bones and teeth,
and there were no lawsuits
from those accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, and mud pies
made from dirt, and
the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and
-although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts
and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn't had to learn
to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers, and inventors ever.

The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of those born
between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?
~~~~~~~

The quote of the month
by
Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu , swine flu , HIV and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Audiobook Review: Born to Run

2010-01-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

Recently I have started subscribing to Audible. If you don’t know what Audible is, they are a company that produces audiobooks ‘for your listening pleasure’ that can be downloaded to your iPod or MP3 player. The books run the whole range from bestsellers to textbooks to classic literature to podcasts. I can’t remember the number of thousands of titles they report to have but it is a lot. I first heard about Audible through the Phedippidations Podcast as Audible is one of the sponsors of the show. I’ve been subscribing for a few months and every month I can’t wait to use my one credit for my next download. Of course, you can buy as many books whenever you want but my monthly subscription affords me one book per month. If you do it this way by paying about $16.48 CDN/month ($14.94 USD)you can get more expensive books for less because most books are one credit which is your monthly allotment for being a member.
So far I have listened to three books but have built up a wish list probably for the next year or so. I am hereby going to give you my 2 cents worth of reviews for the books I have listened to.

Audible Review: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Narrated by Fred Sanders)
What more can a person say about Born to Run that hasn’t already been said. McDougall writes an epic tome about his adventures into the world of ultramarathoning. Being an ultrarunner myself, this was no brainer for my first Audible book. I bought the book a few months prior to buying the audiobook. If you haven’t read the book McDougall shares with his readers his adventures into Mexico to run an ultramarathon with the legendary Tarahumara Indians as well as some legendary ultrarunners from this world too. People have described this book as the best book they have ever read about running. I couldn’t agree more. I won’t elaborate too much about how much I enjoyed the book but it has so many facets that appealed to me such as: the history of ultrarunning, the Tarahumara, barefoot running, the science of running and some really interesting characters.

Finding time to read books for a father of four is almost as challenging as finding time to run. When I get a chance to read it’s usually in some crowded noisy place like an airport or on a train. At times the book can get pretty ‘heady’ meaning there are some deep anthropological or physiological theories explained in layman’s terms but still somewhat elevated. McDougall gives full credit to the researchers and their work and thus gives as much background as possible before delving into the full on theories. That being said if you can’t read the chapter from start to finish the flow of thought is interrupted and you lose the gist of the theory. Step in Audible and a narrator coursing through the heady matter explaining it at a pace and meter better than you could ever read yourself. You can back up or speed forward if you want. Audible is perfect for some of my long commutes or long runs.

This is my favorite audiobook by far. I have listened to it start to finish a couple of times and listened to certain chapters nearly a dozen times. I never tire of the subject matter and always seem to pick something up each time though.
Bottom Line: Two thumbs up. Audible rules

The Year in Review

2009-12-16T06:57:00.001-08:00

It is time to get out of the post race blues. The end of the year is always a time of reflection pat yourself on the back and hopefully get out of the post race blues. For me it was an awesome year unbelievable, monumental and life changing.

Let us start by reviewing the predictions. At the beginning of the year I posted an entry here. At the beginning of the year I knew I would be travelling to Ethiopia to pick up my daughter. At that time I just didn’t know when. But let’s review just to make sure.

January – we officially became parents to Kalkidan. It was . . . different. Being new to the whole adoption process it was a bitter sweet. You become her parents but you can’t have her yet. There is no predetermined time frame just a general rule. So the ultimate high is brought down with a question mark.

February –Travel, travel travel! Out of the first sixty days of the year I was away from home for 18 of them. I told myself that I would have to learn to love to travel. It was around then when I killed my podcast and sheltered myself from the rest of the world.

March – Loving to travel! On Monday March 30th we left Canada for Ethiopia to pick up Kallie. It truly seems like yesterday. Jenny had booked the flight prior to getting official notification from Imagine Adoption. We received official notice (I believe) awaiting our flight in Vancouver Airport. The Starbucks in international departures had no coffee. WTF! It was my very first Americano.

April- Hello Kallie welcome to our world! We met Kallie on April 1st. She cried and we cried, for different reasons. Our time in Ethiopia was amazing. I still tell everyone who asks that everybody should go to Ethiopia. For the record I ran in Ethiopia at Meskal Square. So cool!

May- Imagine Adoption the adoption agency we used, files for bankruptcy just after we get home. Amazing, unbelievable story but yet true. The fallout from the whole ordeal continues. May 31st The whole entire family including my mother in law does the ‘Run for Water’, a fun run to raise money to dig wells for villages in Ethiopia. This month we begin our fourth season of swim club. Mother’s Day takes on an even more special meaning. Mother to 4. Wow!

June – Ethan does his very first triathlon at only 9 years old the kid amazes me at his willingness to try and his whole attitude towards sport.

July – Business as usual. Two swim meets. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released mid month. It is very big around our house and deserves mention in the archives of our life. We went on the 15th at noon. It was released at midnight.

August –Vegas Baby! We travelled to Las Vegas for a family vacation. Yup it’s true. Although Las Vegas isn’t known as a destination hotspot for families we did have a lot of fun. My mother in law, who was supposed to travel with us, at the very last moment was called away to England and unfortunately could not make the trip. Most memorable moment: Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur. Runner Up: Getting inked in Vegas. August is always a blur even without family vacation mixed in there: 4 birthdays, an anniversary, and usually a swim meet and swim club regionals Did I forget something? Oh yah Kallie’s first steps but I’m not sure it was a blur, remember?

September - New school, new routines. We switched schools this fall going to the one we are actually in the catchment for. It was definitely a learning curve with different school hours and a little girl who needs a nap just when the boys needed to be picked up.

October – Trying times. Over the next two months I have to be out of town 20 days of the next 60. I told myself earlier that I’d have to learn to love to travel. I still haven’t got that one but I’m learning. Kallie’s first Halloween. Good times!

November – On November 7th I completed my second ultramarathon, a 100 km foot race from Haney to Harrison. I’ll say this about running that kind of distance; my beautiful wife was my support crew for the last half. I have never felt closer to her in the time during and after the race. You expose who you really are during extreme endurance events and when the person you love most isn’t scared or turned off it really becomes an incredible shared emotion upon completion. The family Christmas lights went up on the house November 29th. I say this now for the record because I swear I’m putting these things up earlier and earlier.

December – As the end of the year approaches with Christmas around the corner I write this post from the airport in Edmonton. Hopefully these are my last two days of travel for the year. Currently, we have been shifting focus between Christmas and the start of the New Year when Jenny must go back to work. Trying to nail down a posting for her to move into and arranging daycare. It tears me up inside and I feel helpless and anxious. How could such an incredible year end with such angst?

Book Review: Once a Runner

2009-12-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Okay I believe the hype. Long touted as the best running novel ever written (by Runner’s World) it was forever on my hit list of books to read. But reading it proved elusive as the book has been out of print for decades. So the story goes John Parker wrote the book and sold original copies out of the back of his trunk. Read and re-read the book took on a cult status. I wasn’t sure if it was because if it was out of print or because it was that good.

Flash forward to the new millennium, thirty some odd years after its first release and Quenton Cassidy, the hero, is on peoples mind again. I finally picked up a copy and lay into it. The book did not disappoint me at all.

But let’s be real for a moment. There aren’t a lot of running novels. Sure there are a lot of novels whose characters run or their characters are runners. None come to mind right now but I’m sure they are out there. This book running aside is well written and captivating.

It is a fairly elevated read. Parker writes masterfully. Each chapter is short and beautifully written. You immerse yourself in the life of Quenton Cassidy who is on a Holy Grail quest to run the mile in under 4 minutes. Being a runner you empathize with Cassidy in his day to day workouts and how entwined into his life they become. Parker spares little detail and you actually feel Cassidy’s pain.

My favorite chapter has to be the one entitled ‘Intervals’ which Runner’s World published in its entirety as an excerpt to the book. Parker being a former miler himself writes with incredible believable accuracy.

Although I have not read Running with the Buffaloes the story of the college life of the University of Colorado Buffalo cross-country team I imagine it would be of similar stuff. Quenton Cassidy being a fictional character is so real by the end of the book you are forever wondering ‘Where are they know?’ Hence Parker has written a sequel to Once a Runner and followed it up with Again to Carthage.

Haney 2 Harrison Ultra Race Report (Part 2)

2009-11-22T16:17:00.001-08:00

It was mile 40 about 60 kilometers with another 40 to go. My hands were cold and wet. I was so achy and I felt like I was walking way too much. My wife had been keeping a closer eye on me. I slowed to a walk again I felt dejected as I approached the van. In my heart I was ready to quit.

“You can’t quit!” She very quietly said to me.

The look, in her beautiful green eyes, was both empathetic and dogmatic. I knew she was right. It was just pain. What is it that Lance Armstrong said “Pain is temporary, quitting is forever.”

I don’t advocate the use of NSAIDs (non steroidal anti-inflammatories) for distance running. I know the pitfalls and dangers i.e. masking pain and covering up serious injury yadda, yadda, yadda. Not to mention all the talk about damaging your liver and kidneys. BUT . . . It was 40 miles into it I had another 22 miles to go. I popped a couple of Advil and two Tylenol. I changed my gloves and put my fleece vest back on. I dropped all the excess weight I was carrying: Water bottle, camera, even some food.

As I approached the end of Nicomen Island Trunk Road my steps became lighter. My gait improved. I was able to run again. I start flying by the power poles that 10 minutes ago were like Sirens from Homer’s Odyssey begging me to stop. A smile grows on my face. The checkpoint for the end of Leg 5 is about 100 meter down Athey Road. So for about 100 meters you see people in various stages of their relay either starting, finishing, or warming up. Running the gauntlet to the checkpoint it is here I see Orange. We exchange ‘fives’, he was going out I was still going into the checkpoint. I’m encouraged my spirit picks up.

Running into Deroche you cross the bridge over the slough and take a hard right across the tracks. The train tracks! The bellowing sound of the oncoming train whistle fills the air. Why do they call it a train whistle anyway? I guess some throw back from the steam era but today’s whistle is a deafening horn, more baritone than soprano. In the distance I see Orange he’s been ‘trained’ having to wait while the 200 or so railcars cross the road. I almost catch him when the guard rail goes up freeing the dozen or so cars and Orange to the road ahead.

The road out of Deroche climbs ever so slightly. I was here that I passed Orange. He had taken a break on the opposite side of the road where his support car was. I wouldn’t say I had a killer instinct or a Type A personality but after I passed Orange I kind of picked it up. Just a bit. On the stretch of road between Durieu and the Sasquatch Inn I took very few breaks.

Now the great thing about trail ultras is you can pee just about anywhere. Some people go slightly off trail and some people just drop ‘em where they are. On a road ultra you usually wait for a driveway or a bush or some sort of privacy. At this point of the race, although my pace had improved it didn’t improve enough that relay runners weren’t still passing me. It’s one of my pet peeves about Relay/Ultra combined events you always look worse than the fresh set of legs passing you. So on this particular stretch of road there was no privacy and I had to go.

As I approached the checkpoint I saw a wall of port a potty’s. I did a quick check over my shoulder and could no longer see Orange. I thought how cool and somehow perfect. I slowed down but on the other side was a huge line up of relay runners waiting to use them. “ Shit!” I murmured and with a deep sigh I headed back for the course.

“ Hey! Do you want to go first?” A young racer called to me. “We don’t mind!” another one said.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you” My gratitude was immense. I was floored by their act of goodwill. I quickly used the facility, still no Orange, went through the checkpoint and head out for ‘the Hill’.

The seventh leg of the race crosses the Harrison River passes Historic Kilby and then winds its way up Mt Woodside. It sounds more daunting than it actually is but the hill is two miles long so it is more of an energy sapper than a quad crusher. It had been raining all day long a slow steady rain never letting up and if you can believe it on the flat approaching ‘the Hill’ it actually rained harder. It rained so hard the bouncing rain from the road was reducing visibility. To my right I saw a black Volkswagen pull over, it was another support car.

“You look great, keep it up!” the guy in the car yelled.

I did a quick wave thanking him for the encouraging words and looked around to see who this car was supporting. In the blur that was now the road behind me was a fast approaching figure . . . Orange, he gave me a big wave as if to say ‘I’m still here’. I thought, as you do when you are out there for 8 hours, that this was kind of like a suspense horror movie. Just when you think it is over some hand suddenly emerges scaring the bejeezus out of you or in my case, a guy in an orange jacket. Just when I thought I wouldn’t see Orange again there he was. I waved back.

I loaded up with potatoes and gels and set off. I have to hand it to my wife, my support crew (always), it was extremely ugly weather. Getting out of the van a person would be drenched in less than a minute. And yet every twenty minutes like clock work she would be there with potatoes, Gatorade, and gels and sometimes a camera cheering me on. I know in the days prior she would tell me “you are never doing this again”. But on this day, I could see the enthusiasm despite the rain, I could hear the pride in her voice and the sincerity of her cheer. I love my wife!

As I head into the last checkpoint I saw my wife up ahead just before the turn. In another van with her was my mother-in-law who brought out my four children. It was a busy section of road so I couldn’t stop long. I could hear their muffled cheers from the backseat.

“We’ll see you at the finish!”, my support crew in an instant turned back into a mom. I had at least an hour to go and trying to occupy and keep my four kids dry for the next hour had taken top priority, both in my mind and hers.

As I came out of the last checkpoint the unthinkable happened . . .Yes, you guessed it. My shoelace came undone. On any other run on any other day kneeling down and re-tying my laces would be no problem but at kilometer 97 of a 100 kilometer run in the cold pouring rain. . . .”Houston, we have a problem!”

I crouched down as best I could and I took off my gloves and set them down in the shallowest puddle on the road. My fingers were nearly numb. My concentration was gone but I completed the task like a machine. So when they came undone and I had to do it two more times in the next 300 ft I had the routine down. As I rounded the corner on to Harrison hot Springs the black Volkswagen pulled up. I smiled and shouted “Where is he?”

“Not far behind!”

By this point I didn’t care, sort of, I couldn’t run any faster than I was going now. I was still being passed by relay runners. I started reflecting on the long journey. Not just the last 100 kilometers but the last 4 months the long sought after dream. Fruition! In the final, hundred or so meters of the race I was overwhelmed with emotion. As I crossed the little footbridge and down the last 20 feet to the finish I heard the announcer, Steve King call my name. What he said I’m not so sure. I crossed the line in 11:37, a PR for the distance (first time too). I started crying as I crossed the line. My wife was there to greet me. She was crying too. She said,” Stop crying ya big baby.”

Congratulatory handshakes were everywhere. People I hardly knew. Other ultrarunners who passed me at some point during the race. As much as I wanted to see Orange come in I was so close to hypothermia I couldn’t stick around any longer. We bundled up the kids and went home. You draw motivation from wherever you can in ultramarathons. At different times it is different things. Sometimes it was Orange creeping up on me and sometimes it was the encouraging voice of my wife and friends. Ultras are deep soul searching journeys. They rip you apart only to see what you are made of and how you are going to build yourself back up . . .if at all. It’s for this reason I love ultras there is no other experience like it.

Haney 2 Harrison Ultra Race Report (Part 1)

2009-11-18T05:04:00.000-08:00

“Three, four, five six . . . okay good. Walk!” I slow to a lumbering walk, a death march. The rain was beating down. My thin “weather-proof” grey nylon jacket was now saturated black with the day’s rain. My fleece gloves were doing their best to keep what heat remained in my waterlogged hands. It was 12:30 and I was 65 km into a 100 km ultra. I had been running for 6 1/2 hours and by all accounts I had another 5 hours to go. I was getting colder from all the walking but I couldn’t maintain a run because my hips were hurting from being so cold. This bitter Catch 22 was sending me spiraling to my demise. I was relegated to counting power poles. I would run six and walk one, then run seven and walk one. “Okay run!” I would yell at myself hoping my body would listen. “One, two, three . . .” Five more hours?!

The day had started early enough. The alarm on my wristwatch was set for 2:15. All the planning, pre-planning and training would come to a head at 4 am, the start time for the 13th running of the Haney to Harrison Ultra Marathon. The H2H is a 100 km road ultra passing through some of the most picturesque scenery in the Fraser Valley. I had been thinking about doing this race for as long as I’d been thinking of ultramarathons. For years a route map has been tacked to my running wall. I call it my running wall because its where I hang my marathon plaques and finishers medals as well as the coat rack for all my running gear to dry out. This was my room with a door to the outside. It made a convenient point of egress for my escape to the running world. Every time I laced them up I would have to look at the route map of the Haney to Harrison Ultramarathon. Today I was going to finally run it.

At 3 am even on the best days my brain is kind of foggy. Sandy James, my early morning race crew and I set off for the start. It’s a twenty minute drive from my house so after laying out all my gear the night before you would think I would have my act together. No such luck. As we pulled up to where the start was I realized I had left the Mandatory Runner Information Waiver and Crew Information Sheet. They had extra copies of the Crew Sheet but I had to write my name on the bottom of someone else’s waiver

3:50 am- we all listened very carefully to the Race Director (RD) Ron Adams giving us the pre-race talk. By this point most of us had been standing around in the rain for the better part of a half an hour. We were cold. The wind just started to pick up but would occasionally blow away the rain so there was some relief.

The gun went off at about 4:02 on my watch. I had been so involved in filming the start scene that I had almost forgot to turn on my Garmin. I was trying to save power on my GPS because I knew it only had a battery life of 11 hours. Luckily the synching of the satellites only took a few seconds because we were off. Everyone seemed to be going so fast, I knew right away that this was not my pace. I watched as the whole field went by me right from the start. This year’s race was the national 100K championship so I also knew the field would be faster than usual. By the first set of turns the leaders were nowhere to be seen. But I wasn’t last I could hear voices behind me and the blinking red lights of the runners ahead of me were not the far in the distance.

For the first part of the race we ran around the city streets of Maple Ridge winding away through some arterial roads and eventually heading back on to Dewdney Trunk Road. The turns were well marked and there was always a volunteer. Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers! I couldn’t imagine standing out in the dark, cold and just pointing the right direction to go. Volunteers make a great race.

By the time I made it on to Dewdney Trunk Road my pace was set and I was running comfortably. The wind and rain had let up for now and I was actually overheating with the amount of clothes I had on. By the time I met Sandy James at checkpoint 1, I had to take off my fleece vest which was underneath my Hi-Vis vest and windbreaker. I rolled into the first checkpoint in 56 minutes. There was still a bunch of us fairly close together but for the next stretch of road between Garibaldi High School and Stave Falls we would most certainly stretch out. The road is very straight and a bit hilly and still with another 1 ½ hours before sunrise there wasn’t much to look at except the distant glow of red blinking lights from runners who past me.

Running into Stave Falls always brings me home. Our first house is in Stave Falls, our first and second child were born while we were living here. I volunteered at the firehall up here. Such fond memories I’ve run these streets many times. I told Sandy to meet me at the firehall which I guess all the runners behind me were doing because there was quite a few cars in the parking lot. As I approached the hall I could see Sandy standing next to someone. I thought to myself that Sandy makes friends so easily. It turned out to be Bob Gray, my old friend from Station 2. At 6 o’clock in the morning he was doing some work. Always the jovial character he gave me a big bear hug as we chatted for a few moments. Sandy re-filled my water bottles for the first time, I was carrying two and had drained the first one long ago but to save weight I refrained from refilling it ‘til now and I was off again.

The next few checkpoints and the one after went off without a hitch. By this point Sandy and I were working like a well oiled machine. We leap frogged each other though these sections of the course. We would meet up about every 15 or 20 minutes, it seemed he would be sitting there in his big black truck and ask me if I needed anything, then he would hang back for a few minutes and pass me on the road and do a double check. The cycle would repeat throughout the morning. At Hatzic Prairie right in front of Sandy’s parent’s place we would switch crews. Sandy had his daughter’s soccer game to attend and my wife Jen would be taking over at that point.

For years this course has run by the house of Dick James who lives on the prairie on Sylvester Road. And for years it would piss him off that support cars would park on his front lawn. His house is strategically located as one of the last houses before the highway and at the halfway point of the race. There’s a warning in race guide “Watch for fast moving gravel trucks” Dick James’s own a gravel truck company. Not to say that it was Dick who was driving but I think all the tire tracks left by support crews on his lawn were kind of annoying. This year would be different because this year my crew would be his son Sandy and my new crew, being my wife would be parked in his driveway. As I rounded the bend I was passed by the first relay runner and then the second. As they faded into the distance the image was replaced by smaller figures on the horizon running towards me. The rain had started to come down again and by now but the distinct voices of my children gave me an immediate boost of energy which was starting to fade. And there in the driveway was my beautiful wife, my three boys, Sandy’s wife Ilja, their daughter Julia and none other than, Dick James.

“You look terrific!” the shouts all said. The shot of adrenaline from seeing my family and neighbors had masked the reality that I was starting to fade. Off in the near distance was that imaginary 10 foot stonewall that every marathoner knows at mile 20 and every ultramarathoner sees several times. I was at the 50K mark.

As I came out of the checkpoint at Dewdney Elementary School my hips started to ache. It had been raining for the last hour. It was at that point I started to count the power poles.

ONE . . .TWO . . THREE . . . FOUR . . . FIVE . . .SIX and walk.

Then I was passed by the orange guy not a relay runner but an ultrarunner like me. As he passed, Orange guy gave me an encouraging pat on the back like Tarzan Brown and John Kelly on Heartbreak Hill. (You can see him in the background in the picture, right) I wasn’t sure if I was discouraged or encouraged by his gesture. It’s odd what you notice about what people are wearing at 55 kilometers into a 100 kilometer race. The previous two lead relay runners were wearing singlets and shorts in the cold pouring rain. Orange guy was wearing a bright orange rain jacket that had the Boston Athletic Association logo on the back. I’m guessing orange guy or Orange as I would call him had run the Boston Marathon. I’ve always wanted to run the Boston Marathon. Qualifying is the biggest challenge of course. I thought to myself now that I’m 45 the qualifying standard changes to 3:30, my PR is 3:31 . . . hmmm. Orange starts to fade in to the distance, his stride, his gait were light and effortless. I’m discouraged!

ONE . . .TWO . . THREE . . . FOUR . . . FIVE . . .SIX and walk.

Other relay runners are starting to pass me now. One group in their support car are all wearing mullet wigs. They get out of their cars and they all have these long haired wigs, some blond and some black haired like a group of Waynes and Garths from Wayne’s World. Are these guys drunk or just incredibly psyched? They cheer me on like there is no one else on the road or because there is no one else on the road. Their runner passes me and down the road they go.

ONE . . .TWO . . THREE . . . FOUR . . . FIVE . . .SIX and walk.

The Apache Prayer

2009-11-06T20:27:00.001-08:00

I saw this prayer in a gift catalogue. It was this fridge magnet with the Apache Prayer on it. As I read it I thought of how cool it actually was and how fitting it was for ultrarunners who are out there all day and sometimes all night. I thought of those dark and empty times on those long runs when I just felt like giving in but yet something inside me or outside me renewed my strength. I saw this prayer and thought about how we as long distance runners find motivation and energy from our surroundings probably more so than any other sport I’ve ever played. I thought I’d share it with you.

May the sun
bring you new energy by day.
May the moon
softly restore you by night.
May the rain
wash away your worries.
May the breeze
blow new strength into your being.
May you walk
gently through the world and know
its beauty all the days of your life.

Worksheet

2009-11-05T20:09:00.001-08:00

Okay I said I don’t like lists but a good spreadsheet now that is a different story. I remember making one of these for the Stormy 50 Mile Ultramarathon. I was accurate right up to about mile 16 or so and then the wheels fell off. My spreadsheet time was 10 hours I think I finished in under 12 hours. But this course is not technical, not too hilly and all pavement so it plays to my strengths. The accuracy of my pace is suspect. All of my runs including my 35 mile longest have been at 10:00 +/- 10 seconds. I even felt I held back a little. SO . . . add a little speed for race day and subtract a bunch for the distance and I am predicting somewhere between 10 and 11 minute per mile pace. Goals: 1) Just to finish in under the cut off 13 hours 2) Finish in 11 hours 3) Pie in the Sky goal <10 hrs Haney to Harrison Ultra Worksheet
				10	11	12	13
Leg	Elapsed Times	Km	Miles	Elapsed Time
1	Start to Garibaldi SS	9.38	5.86	1:04:48	1:11:17	1:17:45	1:24:14
2	Garibaldi SS to Stave Falls	13.51	8.44	2:29:14	2:44:10	2:59:05	3:14:00
3	Stave Falls to Municipal Hall	15.12	9.45	4:03:44	4:28:07	4:52:29	5:16:51
4	Municipal Hall to Dewdney Elementary	14.42	9.01	5:33:52	6:07:15	6:40:38	7:14:01
5	Dewdney Elementary to Athey Road	13.12	8.20	6:55:52	7:37:27	8:19:02	9:00:37
6	Athey Road to Sasquatch Inn	13.08	8.18	8:17:37	9:07:22	9:57:08	10:46:54
7	Sasquatch Inn to Cameron/McCallum	13.47	8.42	9:41:48	10:39:59	11:38:09	12:36:20
8	Cameron/McCallum to Finish	7.87	4.92	10:30:59	11:34:05	12:37:11	13:40:17


	Clock Time			10	11	12	13
Leg		Km	Miles	4:00:00 AM	4:00:00 AM	4:00:00 AM	4:00:00 AM
1	Start to Garibaldi SS	9.38	5.86	5:04:48 AM	5:11:17 AM	5:17:45 AM	5:24:14 AM
2	Garibaldi SS to Stave Falls	13.51	8.44	6:29:14 AM	6:44:10 AM	6:59:05 AM	7:14:00 AM
3	Stave Falls to Municipal Hall	15.12	9.45	8:03:44 AM	8:28:07 AM	8:52:29 AM	9:16:51 AM
4	Municipal Hall to Dewdney Elementary	14.42	9.01	9:33:52 AM	10:07:15 AM	10:40:38 AM	11:14:01 AM
5	Dewdney Elementary to Athey Road	13.12	8.20	10:55:52 AM	11:37:27 AM	12:19:02 PM	1:00:37 PM
6	Athey Road to Sasquatch Inn	13.08	8.18	12:17:37 PM	1:07:22 PM	1:57:08 PM	2:46:54 PM
7	Sasquatch Inn to Cameron/McCallum	13.31	8.32	1:41:48 PM	2:39:59 PM	3:38:09 PM	4:36:20 PM
8	Cameron/McCallum to Finish	8.03	5.02	2:30:59 PM	3:34:05 PM	4:37:11 PM	5:40:17 PM

The Checklist

2009-11-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

I’ve never been one for lists. Actually I hate lists! Lists represent deficiencies and needs which I may or may not be able to achieve. I know it sounds stupid but I’ve always been a come as you are roll with it kind of person. If you don’t have it you’ll have to suck it up and make due. As I get older and possibly wiser and definitely more experienced the lists that were once emblazoned in my mind become harder to retrieve from its recesses. Ergo the need for a written copy becomes mandatory. Here we go:

The Check List

ÿ Gels, PowerGels - 3 Chocolate, 3 Mocha Note: anymore and I’d get sick of them

ÿ Sharkies 3 packs Note: see Note above

ÿ Nuun hydration Tablets

ÿ Waist Pack to contain Sharkies/Power Gels

ÿ Ultimate Direction Access Waist Pack w/500 ml bottle

ÿ Ultimate Direction Fast Draw Handheld Water Bottle

ÿ Reflective Vest

ÿ Visor

ÿ Petzl Tikka Plus Headlamp

ÿ Camera

ÿ Jacket

ÿ Long sleeve

ÿ Shorts

ÿ Ultimax Socks

ÿ Asics Gel 2140 Sz9

ÿ Gloves

ÿ Cell Phone

ÿ Bluetooth

ÿ iPod Nano

ÿ Garmin 305

For the Support Vehicle

ÿ Water 500 ml bottles 12

ÿ Gatorade 500 ml bottles 4

ÿ Red Bull or Monster

ÿ Sandwiches - Peanut Butter and Jam

ÿ Bagels

ÿ Granola Bars

ÿ Toque (duffle bag)

ÿ Long Sleeve Shirt (duffle bag)

ÿ Short Sleeve Shirt (duffle bag)

ÿ Duct Tape

ÿ Band Aids various sizes

ÿ Spare Shoes (duffle bag)

ÿ Ultimax Socks (duffle bag)

ÿ Jeans (duffle bag)

ÿ T Shirt (duffle bag)

ÿ Hoody (duffle bag)

ÿ Towel

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for H2H Leg 1-2-3

2009-10-04T19:36:00.001-07:00

I wnet out intentionally slow. I still don't think it was slow enough. I felt okay by the end but I think if I had gone slower I might have felt better. I ran 14 yesterday to similate tired legs. They were.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for H2H Leg 1-2-3

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FGD Runs and Getting Back to the Basics

2009-10-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my run all planned as I usually do. I was going to run my loop out to Hatzic that I have run for years. You can’t go any further east without venturing down the highway. The only thing wrong was after I strapped on my Garmin the warning came on telling me I had a low battery. I know from experience that when the low battery light comes on I would have three quarters of a mile before it finally cut out. Damn another FGD run! Do I need to spell it out? F__ing Garmin Died! I don’t know what it is about technology that makes you so co-dependent on it but you almost feel naked without it.

Being a recovering podcaster I had a hard time giving up my digital recorder. My Bat Belt also known as an Ultimate Direction Access Water Bottle Belt had a ton of gizmos and gadgets. The digital recorder sat inside an old cell phone case clipped to my belt with the Giant Squid microphone threaded up my shirt and clipped to my collar. My iPod is always clipped to the other side with the ear buds running inside my shit as well. And I always had some sort of measuring device that recorded every step I take, every breath I make; it was watching me (Sorry Sting). Whether it was a Garmin 101, Nike+ or of late a Garmin 305, 99% of my runs were being recorded.

But like the song says, “Oh can’t you see? You belong to me!” In essence that is the truth; my dependency on gadgets was affirmed. If I didn’t get this run recorded somehow I wasn’t being validated. In my mind it didn’t exist. Maybe because I couldn’t see the data or maybe because it wouldn’t get uploaded to the many online training journals I subscribed to. I just felt empty if it wasn’t there digitally.

Shortly after my podcast ended so did my Nike+. I think in the last episode I recorded I said my Nike + died and I was actually sent a couple from a listener who had a few extra. Unfortunately for me the new sensors didn’t last long nor did the one I bought to replace them. So for a period of about 2 months I had nothing. Emptiness ensued and I became a runner with no podcast, no Nike+, and no recorded history, basically a non-entity. If a tree falls in the forest without a Garmin on does it make sound? Does it actually fall?

I continued to run empty for about a month or so until I pulled out my old Garmin 101. It was slow to sync with satellites which I’m sure the neighbors have me pegged as some sort of weirdo. Whether it was the Nike+ telling me to ‘begin by walking around’ and me walking in circles like a dog chasing its tail or me staring endlessly at a hockey puck on my wrist telling me it is locating satellites. There I was every morning in the middle of my cul de sac doing nothing. There is a certain irony of your run starting by going nowhere until some gizmo tells you can because it is ready to record it. What ever the case I was validated once more but my Buckeye account would not recover from the lapse in history.

So yesterday, on a brisk beautiful autumn morning, I had my shorts on all ready to go. My dog Koda was leashed up doing circles waiting for me and I had a dead Garmin on my wrist. Liberate yourself I thought to myself! Be free! I took the hockey puck off my wrist and opened the door. It was quite a strange feeling. Nothing to tell me how fast I was going or how hard my heart was working, I even left the iPod at home. It was just me and the sound of the trees blowing in the wind. I’m sure my pace was uneven and I’m positive I wasn’t in Zone 3 but I didn’t care. Damn you anyway Garmin for making me a slave to your satellites. This was my proclamation of my emancipation, I was a free man.

It was a great run. I knew exactly how far I had run because I had done it a hundred times before but this time I had no data except the smell of the trees, the sound of dogs barking or the train in the distance, or the leaves just starting to show their beautiful autumn colors. The sensory data was more than enough to compensate for the loss of digital data. The record is only this blog post for which I can’t tabulate, calculate, or postulate an event history into numbers. Take that Mr. Garmin I win this one. Tomorrow I’ll be yours again but today is mine.

An Experiment of One: What's working and what's not?

2009-09-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

George Sheehan use to always refer to the runner as an experiment of one. You have to experiment with different training strategies, techniques, shoes or whatever and find out what works for you. Be an experiment of one. The scientist in me gets with this philosophy and in doing so I find myself changes this and that, pushing limits and mixing it up. In the twenty five years I’ve been running I’m still finding what works and what doesn’t due in part to the fact that no matter how hard I fight it my body is not what it is twenty five years ago.

I went for a long run on Friday, which was yesterday. I normally don’t run long runs on Friday but the work load was fairly light and it actually afforded me the time that I could cut out early and get in some miles before the weekend. Not to mention our weekend was going to be pretty busy so it worked out better if I ran now. My goal was to do 26 miles and I ended up doing 25.11 miles. It was close enough and I was pretty much done. As I dragged my sorry ass thru the 25 miles I took some mental notes.

1) Specificity of Training – although roads are harder on the joints than trails. Trails use a whole new set of leg muscles that road running does not. My long run had a 6 mile interlude of trails that just about killed me. My rhythm was all wrong and I actually didn’t enjoy it like I use to. This was my first trail run of the year. Last year I logged about 500 miles on the trails. This year 6! Analysis: Stick to the roads until the ultra.
2) Fuel Up- It could have been because I didn’t eat much all day and my run started at 1 pm. It could have been that I didn’t take enough food for the run but I was definitely hungry. The Garmin tells me I burned 2800 calories. I consumed 4 – Double Latte PowerBar Gels 110 calories each for a deficit of 2360 calories. Analysis: Eat more food. Real food not just gels. Experiment more. On my last ultra by about 30 miles all I had to that point was gels. I was craving real food to which my wife handed me a bagel. It gave me a real boost.
3) Legs felt stiff- It could have been dehydration or loss of electrolytes but I have never been a stretcher. I’ve never stretched pre-run or post-run and for my lack of efforts I probably have the tightest stride you have ever seen. Analysis: Stretch more, do yoga. Philosophy: The looser your muscles are at the start the more they have to tighten to that point of discomfort.
4) Electrolytes – the gels had 200 mg of Sodium and 20 mg of Potassium. I guess I should find out if that is a lot. Analysis: do a sweat test and figure out your electrolyte requirements.

I carried a Camelbak with approximately 70 oz of water. I never refilled it by I did use my standby water bottle for my Lipton Ice Tea mix. I’m not sure if it had electrolytes but I know that it had artificial sweetener which served me well.

I’m slowly getting it. I think for my next long run I’m going to make a checklist something like this:

Electrolyte mix
Water bottle
Bagel
Peanut butter and jam sandwich (why not?)
Gels 4
Water in the Camelbak approx. 70 oz.

I’m getting to the point where I have to figure out how much water to carry on my first leg of the run. I don’t want to carry too much and I don’t want to carry too little. Experiment!

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Reservoir Trail Run

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Garmin Connect - Activity Details for H2H Leg 5 Training Run

2009-09-21T13:03:00.001-07:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for H2H Leg 5 Training Run

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H2H Leg 5 Nicomen Island Trunk Road

2009-09-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

I had it all planned in my head. Visualization is the key to a successful run. I was going to wake up at 4:00. I had my clothes all laid out, camelback all clean and ready to go. I even slept downstairs so I wouldn’t wake Jen up. I was going to do Leg 5 of the Haney to Harrison alpine style. I call it alpine style as in alpine climbing where climber makes assaults to higher elevations from base camp and then retreats back down to base camp after setting up a camp higher up. They do it for slower acclimatization I’m doing it for pretty much the same reason to acclimatize to the conditions of the course and familiarize myself with what is out there.

When the alarm went off at 4 o’clock I had to drag myself out of bed. I had to go early because I knew I’d be about 4 hours maybe more. The most important things were to happen later that day, kids soccer game, basketball signup, another birthday party. I let the dogs out the back door to the sound of rain. Lots of rain coming down in all directions and for a brief moment I thought I’m not going out today. Then I thought, it very well may rain on race day so I’d better suck it up. I laced up my shoes and headed out the door.

By the time I hit the Highway, about 2 miles into it, my shoes were soaked. The blisters on the souls of my feet from my foray into barefoot running had just started to heal. This would not be helping.

The problem with discovering a course alpine style is that you have to take the most direct route to the start of ‘the Leg’ you are discovering. The Lougheed Highway is a connector two lane highway that joins all the small towns and municipalities in my area. The H2H route does a good job in avoiding the highway by crisscrossing and using feeder roads. Although Highway 7 as it is also known is the most direct route from Haney to Harrison.

Running along a highway isn’t pleasant at the best of times. Add torrential downpours in the pre-dawn hours of the day and it paints a pretty ugly picture. By the time I made it to Dewdney Elementary, the start of Leg 5, I was soaked. My shorts were clinging to my legs and a steady stream on water cascaded off the brim of my visor down my cheek and down my shirt but at least I didn’t get ‘trained’. The term ‘trained’ refers to those unlucky individuals who whilst running a route that involves a train crossing get stuck and must wait while a 200+ car train makes its crossing. I just missed getting trained by a few minutes, today was my lucky day.

As I ran through the town of Dewdney I started scanning road signs for the turn. There would be no course marshall to guide me. Although I had to laugh because at 5:25 in the morning with the exception of a few choice milk tankers flying by me creating a tsunami-like wave there was hardly anyone on the road. Nobody except some dude in a Golf with a snowboard asking for directions to Hemlock. I found the turn to Nicomen Island Trunk Road and made a soft right.

Nicomen Island is a river delta at the confluence of the Fraser and Harrison Rivers. Nicomen Island Trunk Road is a feeder road to the island’s residents. Most people passing through will drive through Nicomen Island via the highway but the H2H route winds its way though the lush farmland that is home to many of the provinces dairy producers. My plan was to do an out and back so I could scout for landmarks and take in the scenery. Unfortunately at 5:30 in the morning it is about 1 hour before sunrise and there are no streetlights in ‘Farmville’. The only lights were my headlamp and the rather well lit barns. The next hour was spent running barn to barn.

H2H Tip: Know the course
I can see on this part of the course where people could take a wrong turn and end up off course which can be both frustrating and time consuming. Nicomen Island Trunk Road parallels Highway 7 and joins it in several spots via feeder roads but the route actually runs from one end of the trunk road to the other. Your inclination is to join the main highway but keep your sites on it and keep it in the distance for as long as it goes. Eventually the two roads converge near the end of Leg. If you run a 10K in close to an hour you shouldn’t hit the highway until about that.

I hit the 12 mile mark at sunrise exactly. I was still about a few miles from the end of the Leg but I wanted to get home at a decent hour. I turned around as the sunrise slowly revealed some of the most picturesque landscape I had seen all day. Field after field of incredible greens and brown hues and in the backdrop the hilly terrain from which I came, it was so beautiful. And although it was still raining it didn’t dampen the beauty before me.

It’s amazing how a little light changes things. For the first time I noticed how narrow the road actually is. I also noticed that the side streets are marked but the road you’re on is not and how uneven the pavement is from years of patchwork and settling cracks. Slowly I made mental notes of all the benchmarks and stored them in my memory banks.

After I made it back to the highway with the post sunrise traffic now on the roads, I was treated to a never ending parade of fishing boats, campers, and 4x4s out for their weekend fun.

I had no speed left in my legs and I knew that this 10 minute pace would be too fast to run the whole course. I’ll have to practice a tempo run at sub marathon pace. The legs still felt good after 24 miles and I had to do one loop of the cul de sac just to get in an even 24. It was a great start to the day and I can hardly wait until next week. Just keep moving!

The Barefoot Experience

2009-09-16T00:03:00.001-07:00

My story begins last night; I arrived home late last night probably around 10:00 pm I just got back from Prince George. I was tired, Jen was tired it was a long day. On the days where I don’t get a chance to run in the mornings I always feel kind of blah no matter what the day unfolds. Today was one of those days. Tomorrow I would be driving up to Kelowna. My plan was to get up early and take Koda for a run, take the kids to school and head out. I carefully laid out my running gear for an early morning run the previous day because I knew I’d be getting home late I had already packed for Kelowna.

“You’re alarm isn’t set is it?” My beautiful wife asks.

“Yup, I’m going to take Koda for a run.”

“But you’re going to Kelowna tomorrow. You’ll probably run tomorrow night”

She had a point. I was planning on doing a double; you know two workouts in one day. But I was really tired and could probably use the extra sleep so I turned my alarm off.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of Jen’s alarm. A quick glance at my watch and I had come to the realization that I had about 5 minutes to let the dogs out and make some coffee before I had to yard the kids out of bed. The morning always seems rushed when I sleep late. Coffee’s on, kids are up and fed, teeth brushed, books and lunches packed and damn it is already 8:00! It’s time to go to school. I run downstairs grab my suitcase; out of the corner of my eye I see my Garmin . . . can’t forget that. I throw the suitcase and my laptop in the van before we pack up the kids and walk the kids to school. Smooth!

I always listen to podcasts on the way up to Kelowna. It sure beats music. I probably only own 300 songs and of that only 100 are mine. So podcasts are always new, always varied and always free. I love podcasts. I was listening to Chris Russell talk about the new running movement started by Chris McDougall’s book “Born to Run”. Everybody is talking about this book and how barefoot running can be good for you. Steve from the Phedippidations podcast spent an entire show on the topic. Funny enough the very next podcast I listened to Running with the Pack and Allan and Jeff were talking about the same book. I thought to myself that one day I would like to try barefoot running.

No sooner had I thought that then this dread came over me. “My shoes”, I thought to myself,” My f—king shoes . . . I don’t have my running shoes with me”. I quickly pulled over to the shoulder of the highway and opened my suitcase. A cry of frustration echoed through the mountains through which I was travelling. I brought everything but my shoes. A deep calm suddenly passed over me. I’ll try barefoot running. How hard could it be?

How hard indeed? I thought about where I could run. I ruled out the streets because of the potential for broken glass and other crap. I ruled out the trail because there would be too many stones and rocks. I thought the best place to run would be a track, especially a rubberized track. It would be clean enough, flat enough, and the rubberized surface would offer some cushion. Kelowna was bound to have one.
So after work I quickly checked into my hotel, booted up Google Earth and started scanning for a rubberized track. The Apple Bowl met my requirements and was only a few blocks away. Even though it was a few blocks away I chose to drive for fear of stepping on something prior to my arrival at the track. The stadium is a beautiful facility not only does it has a rubberized track but it has covered concrete stands on one side of the field where aspiring fitness geeks run the stairs flight after flight. On the far side of the field they have more bleachers for the overflow seating. The stadium is the home of the Kelowna Sun, the local junior football team. From what I hear they are quite good. It’s a good thing there was no practice today because then the track would be closed.

I stripped down to my shorts and took off my work boots and socks. The glow from my untanned feet and the distinct line around my ankles signified to the world that I was new to this barefoot revolution. With slight trepidation I walked across the lanes and took a glance at Lane 2. No sense in grabbing the inside lane, I’ll leave that for the faster runners, not that there were any I had the track to myself. Start the Garmin and off I go.

Lap 1 was a breeze. It felt really odd at first suddenly my toes were free, independent of each other. The track was coarse and had a lot of traction to it. Surprisingly my stride didn’t feel much different. Lap 1 went down in 2:08, not bad!? My intent was to get in a good run possibly 5 miles which would be about 20 laps. I didn’t know if I could hold that pace or not. It didn’t feel hard so I just went with it.

Lap after lap went by no aches or pains to report. I turned my iPod on and listened to some music. I checked my Garmin auto lap and the consistency was incredible. As I approached lap 18 I checked my cumulative mileage. I had already hit 5 miles? Could running in lane 2 and 3 add that much more mileage? I told myself 20 so twenty it would be. As I crossed the line to start lap 20 I felt something under my right heel. Could it be a pebble? Nope it started to burn. Damn I think I was getting a blister.

As I completed lap 20 I immediately headed to the infield to sit down and assess the damage. Ouch! I had matching quarter sized blisters on the heels of both feet. And my baby toes new found freedom didn’t bode well for them either, blood blisters for the two of them.

I ended the session with 5.5 miles in the bank. If I had stopped at 5 miles I might have walked away with only a hotspot. The skin on the heel is really thick so I’m debating whether to lance it or not. As I write this I’m resting my feet. The rest of me feels really good no joint pain in the hips, knees or back. I should have done less but I was so eager to get some miles in I over did it. I don’t see this deterring my running the rest of the week. I wouldn’t be able to run tomorrow if I had shoes simply because it is a travel day. I’ll let you know how it goes Thursday!

Just keep moving.

Just Run

2009-09-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

I always get a thrill out of Monday. New week! New training plan! Where will I run this week? What days should I take off? I remember listening to a few different podcasts and coached athletes often don’t get their training plans until the week before they are supposed to. In effect being kept in the dark also harbored fewer anxieties or so such was the thinking. I not so sure about coaching and training plans. The rigidity just doesn’t appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure there is a fair amount of flexibility built in or at least allowed for but for someone to tell me how far to run and when just means breaking the rules. Being self-coached I don’t have that novelty but my approach is fairly straight forward . . . Just run!

More times than not life gets in the way or what we call ‘the job’. The word job is a
dreaded three letter word that will throw more wrenches into the training machine then I care to admit. Okay I’ll admit it my career job has quite a bit of flexibility I start when I need to, finish when the job gets done. As long as everybody is happy I can go home. On rare occasions people aren’t happy. The other job firefighting is on-call so when the pager goes so do you. There has been times when people aren’t happy and the pager goes off and it is during those times when the training machine comes to a complete stop.

It all centers around the long run. So after I decide on my long run I plan on the rest of the week. I don’t want to call it filler but I don’t do speed work although I did one session and I don’t do Tempo runs so really it’s just to keep my legs going until the weekend Today is Monday and I unfortunately I had to get up early to go to the airport. I won’t get back until late so no run for Monday. I’ll run tomorrow, then Wednesday and probably Thursday. Friday I might schedule rest or if I feel like it I’ll run.

My plan for this week is to have a long run of about 22 miles or so. There is no rigidity if I feel like 25 I’ll do it or if I feel like 21 I’ll do that. One thing is for certain and I’ll build my miles from last week. I’d like to try a back to back long run if time permits. As my long runs get longer I have to wake up earlier and earlier so as not to impede on the family life. Last week I hit the road by 5 am. And was back by 8:30. This week I think I’ll shoot for between 4:00 and 4:30. I always plan my long runs for Saturday but sometimes life gets in the way and I’ve got to push it to Sunday.

The excitement and fun comes from planning on where I will go and to what points of interest I will see along the way. Lately I’ve been getting a huge kick from tracking it on my Garmin and seeing it on the map with Garmin Connect. I saw in Runner’s World where someone actually spelled out words with their running route. I think they were looking for sponsorship but cool idea all the same! The sense of accomplishment is so much more visual when you can see it on a map.

I would like to do a point to point but that would take a fair amount of logistics and a whole lot of planning. Maybe run out to Harrison or the other way out to Haney either way its about 50 K. I think I’ve centered this whole post just literary babble.

Like I said my plan is very simple and fairly straight forward. . . Just Run!

20 Mile Run

2009-09-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

There is something about a twenty mile run that is the epitome of long distance runs. Twenty miles just sounds so much longer than it really is. Nineteen miles sound good but twenty miles sounds better and maybe even better than twenty-one miles. Semantics I am sure but I like twenty, so round, so plateau-ish like I’ve made it to the next level.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Dump Run

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I would be using this twenty miles as on more test to see if this old body could handle the rigors of ultra distance training. I jumped into 18 miles last week, a huge leap from my previous long run of 12 miles which wasn’t the week before. This week I wanted to get back to the 10% rule or at least close to it.

My original plan was to start at Municipal Hall and run Leg 3 of the Haney to Harrison backwards to the transition for Leg 3 at Burma Road. I got off to a late start after setting my alarm for 4 and finally crawling out of bed around 4:45. I was on the road at just after 5 am. I plugged in my iPod and listened to an old Trilogy Running Podcast. Nobody makes me smile more than Jason and Shawn. I could listen to those guys forever. On a recent trip to Prince George I drove 8 hours straight and listened to 9 episodes in a row. By the end of it I was listening real hard and talking real good.

Around the 8 mile mark I took a look at my watch and the sign on the road said “Landfill 2.5 km”. It was already after 7 am and I told Jen I’d be back by 8:00. I knew I could stretch 8:30 but 9:00 would be a no go. The landfill is still another 2 miles to the transition, all downhill which means all uphill on the way back so doing the math I had roughly 3 or 4 miles the original destination. It would put me somewhere around 23 miles for the day. Time was not on my side. The distance was not on my side. My legs felt okay I mean after all I was only half way. I decided to change plans and only run to the dump then pick up the pace and try to make it home before 8:30.

The Dump Runners Club
I’ve been listening to the Dump Runners Club, a podcast, for a few years now and although I’ve run to and past the dump a number of times I’ve never taken a picture and submitted it for my official membership. Matt Tartar is the host of the show and I really appreciate his reviews of the Track and Road Racing news. But I digress, to the Dump it would be I would snap a few pictures with my phone and call it a turnaround and I would be part of the DRC.

Finding Flow
At the turnaround I switched to music. I just can’t pick up the pace listening to podcasts. I find myself too into the content rather than the experience. As far as finding flow when you listen to podcasts while running your actions (running) are too separate from your awareness which is in the podcast. In order to achieve flow action and awareness must become merged by concentrating on what you are doing, focus on the run and you will achieve flow.

I did pick up the pace on the way back. For about 7 of the last 10 I was in flow. It was magical! Towards the end of the run my legs started to feel the ache. In retrospect I think I’m down on electrolytes. My fuel was okay I think I might try to eat more next time out. Next week I’m going to run to the Transition at Burma Road it should be about 23 miles. I still have 8 weeks before the race so I think I’m doing okay. I don’t think I want to go beyond 30 miles. I think what I’ll do instead is do 30 one day and 10 the next or 20 one day and 15 the next. The time factor is one thing although to this point I’ve had some really strong support.

Testing the Waters

2009-09-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well I did my longest run of the year yesterday. I didn’t die but I did hurt a little towards the end. I threw “the 10% Rule” right out the door and on to the street. This was my test of mettle and testing grounds to see I could ramp up my mileage to do the Haney to Harrison Ultra.

The Haney to Harrison is 100K (actually 102km but who’s counting). It literally runs through back backyard. For this run I was able to try out Leg 4 which goes from Municipal Hall to Dewdney Elementary a distance of about 13km. There are I think 9 legs in the race usually run as a relay but for discussion purposes it makes it easier to talk about the legs for my ultra. Most legs are 13 km a few are shorter. I ran out to the start of the leg and ran the most direct route back for a total distance of just over 18 miles.

My longest run in the last 3 or 4 months has been about 12 miles so I increased my distance by 50%. I know why there is a 10% rule now.

Today I hurt. I would call it soreness not a pain. I went for a very easy recovery run today to assess the damage I inflicted yesterday. My knee was yelling at me and my hips said ouch more than once. I walked some and ran some but it doesn’t hurt to walk or bend down. I’m just a little stiff.

The whole idea is to see if I can get my mileage up to a respectable ultra distance before the final registration date when I finally have to commit. The race goes in two months and the final day to register is about 7 weeks from now so I still have time.

Today I expected soreness and stiffness. Tomorrow if I still feel it then that could spell trouble. I’m going to take it day by day. I guess we will see tomorrow

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for H2H Leg 4 Training Run

2009-09-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for H2H Leg 4 Training Run

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Podcasters Rehab

2009-09-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

A lot of people questioned why I quit podcasting many months ago. Listenership was up at a peak almost. Popularity was high but Podcasting is like Crack. Podcasting is an addictive medium for which a modicum of self control is needed or else you stand the chance of losing it all. There is a certain rush associated with publishing your first podcast. The high becomes elevated after you watch your site meter for the number of downloads or streams. Your ego boosts and you become hooked when you get your first comment back and it is positive. Just like a drug you start looking for other avenues to elevate that high. The social media addiction ensues.

A website for the podcast,
Comments and Feedback
You open a separate Gmail account for the podcast
Get yourself on other peoples podcasts
The Runners Round Table
iTunes
Podcast Alley
Podcast Pickle
Podshow, The Podsafe music
Twitter
MySpace
Facebook
And In the case of a running podcast like mine there is Nike+ links, Runner Plus, and Buckeye Outdoors which has now spawned GoWagon.

Your vision becomes blurred by the popularity the hype. Sponsors start calling or emailing. Listeners keep commenting fueling that desire, the hunger. Your tired but you’re being held accountable by the social media. You run hurt or sore just to put a show. The show needs content. I can’t change the format now. Bless me Father for I have sinned, it’s been three weeks since my last podcast.

Hey Mom where’s Dad?! He’s on the computer checking his Twitter updates, getting his fix.

In the end you lose sight of the reason why you started the podcast in the first place. Why did I start this podcast because I can’t write worth a damn and I have an opinion that needs voicing. Or at least I felt needed a voice. Why are you listening to me anyway?

Can’t stop now. How do I stop now. Cold turkey. Stone cold turkey. The Betty Ford Clinic for Podcasters. Kill the podcast, kill Twitter, get off Buckeye.

Rehab!

Blog Much?

2009-09-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

So why don’t you blog more? The question hits me like a descending cloud fogging up my thoughts to the point where I can’t surmise an adequate answer. I love to express my thoughts in blogs. I love to put it out there to cyberworld for all to see. It’s a lot like fishing really. You cast out a thought, some more personal then others or you share a piece of your life and you see what you get. Sometimes you get a nibble and sometimes you get a bite. I would say that’s really what it is all about. The comments that you get back from the people who read your blog somehow give you a feeling of validation.

In Facebook, you can write a little blurb like a mini blog on your status section. Depending on how many friends you have they will be forced to read it on their own news feed. Some will comment back and now you have the ability to simply click the ‘Likes this” button. Either way it becomes instant validation to your rambling thoughts. I think Facebook has diffused a lot of peoples urge to blog in that they no longer need paragraph after paragraph to elaborate on a thought. They can write a mini blog in their status and get the validation they need.

But for me that’s not the reason why I don’t blog. I guess if what really important I would find time. It can take me hours to write one post. Well maybe not hours but at least an hour. For example I’m writing this one on the train into Vancouver a trip that takes just over an hour.

I think for me it’s that loss of validation. I don’t get anything from it. I know a few people who read my blog. I’ve seen the “Hits” on my counter. They don’t comment and somehow maybe I think they are just storing up the accumulated information into my psyche to use later for public ridicule. Whatever the case there is a certain amount of catharsis from these posts and that’s my only solace. So I write for myself.

There maybe some truth to the fact that I have no time. I remember back when we were anticipating Kallie’s arrival and the journey to get her I would blog late at night well past my bedtime but that would come after a comment from Jenny “Have you blogged lately?” These days I get home from work chase after Kallie, do the dishes, follow up on some work, read my emails (I don’t get access during the day), post some emails, put Kallie to bed. The list goes on and on. But there is time to catch up on Facebook or some of my on line training logs but that is it. The accumulated free time is about an hour but not one hour continuous. After that it is usually bedtime.

I use to podcast. I loved podcasting because I would record on my runs. My runs would be about and hour and I would talk the whole time into my little digital recorder. It’s amazing how clear your thoughts flow when you run. You would think that they would be an hour of rambling but I usually chose a topic that interested me, research it and then share it into the microphone. Nobody else was out on the street and it was typically early morning. But I would post it once a week and every week I would get at least one comment sometimes a dozen comments back. So the next run out I actually felt like I was running with someone. Suddenly I had a running friend who would meet with me every morning on my terms.

I quit podcasting months ago, lack of time, and other commitments, whatever, long before Kallie came home and not a run goes by where I don’t miss my running friend. Like a real running friend podcasting would get me through those lulls those ‘canyons of funk’ that sap your positive energy. I still take my digital recorder out with me and voice my opinions only to erase it forever after the run. Sometimes I feel better but usually I think “What am I doing?” This feeling of despair ensues.

Peter Pan wanted to be a Firefighter too

2009-07-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

How old do have to be to stop chasing dreams? When is it time to say enough is enough, Peter Pan . . . grow up!? I’m not sure why I’m writing this entry. I guess because I haven’t contributed to the new blog at all and I’m at a difficult juncture in my life. A place where a difficult decision must be made, a possible career change. After all the blog should chronicle the life and times of the people blogging, shouldn’t it?

So here is my dilemma, I am a volunteer paid on-call firefighter and a laundry resource manager. I have two paying jobs. I love both jobs but for different reasons. One job I don’t have to explain to the reader it is kind of self explanatory. The other job I couldn’t explain in a hundred words or less so I won’t even try.

I can’t explain the laundry job but let me tell you why I love it. It always presents a challenge. The challenge can be major or minor and sometimes I overcome the challenge and other times it overcomes me. I guess that is the key to enjoyment of most jobs. I recently read a book about Flow. It was called Flow: The Optimal Experience and it was really insightful. It talked about the things like work and getting into the zone. The optimal experience occurs when you are at the edge of your skill set where skills meet challenge. Without getting too far into it, that is what I enjoy about my job.

What I don’t enjoy about my job is the travel. When I first started the job I was gone one week a month. I hated it. A shuffling of accounts and I was back to a couple of days a month. A few longer days instead of overnights and I was down to one day a month. Lately I’ve been up to the 3 or 4, sometimes 5 nights a month and quite frankly I see it getting worse not better. My boss probably spends 2 or 3 weeks a month travelling. My counterpart in Alberta is the same. They have been doing for years.

My wake call came 3 weeks ago. I was in Prince George, miles away from home counting soiled garments on a production line (yeah it doesn’t get much more exciting then that) I was in the middle of the line “42, 43, 44 . . .” (The phone rings . . wake up call)

“Can I call you back!”, I yell (it was very loud where I was standing). Without waiting for a response I hung up. I finished my task and called Jen back.

“The kids and I have been in a car accident . . .” She says in a distraught voice. She tells me the kids are okay but she has wrenched back.

I was absolutely floored in disbelief. I couldn’t believe I hung up on her a moment ago.. I started to tremble. I was at least a plane ride away. I just wanted to be home. I couldn’t get a flight out as it was already 3:30 in the afternoon. The earliest I could get home was the next morning. which I did. At that point I thought that things would have to change.

So what about this crossroads? Well my fire department is going to a career hall which means a lot of phasing out of guys like me but not a complete phase out. They will still have a need for volunteers when the volume of calls spikes. When they first announce the department was going career I thought about briefly . . .the pay is really bad. But then I heard rumor that they were going to start the first four at first class rate. First class rate is what I make now but without bonus. Bonus is something you see when the economy is good. I didn’t see a bonus this year so in my eyes I’m trading one for one.

So my dilemma is applying for a position with the fire department. I have wanted this to happen for as long as I’ve been a firefighter. But with each passing year I see my chances slipping away. I was almost at the point where I was ready to pack it in a leave the job for someone else but then the posting came up and I couldn’t resist it. I had to apply. One more kick at the can.

For the last week or so I’ve been shaking my head in disbelief or possibly with the faint hope that yes it will work out financially.

The Chief is keeping the salary thing pretty close to his chest. Even on the application it states “Salary :TBA”. I say WTF?

Thoughts from Ethiopia

2009-04-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

You know I had a thought recently. It’s true I know I don’t get many but here goes. History has a way of writing itself. These are the most memorable times of our lives right now we are in a far off country picking up our daughter and blogging it. This is our account, well my account, my wife may have a different view which is my point exactly. History is told by one person’s account and retold using that account. Years from now that becomes the point of fact. Recently Barack Obama flubbed his swearing in the oath of office. He re-did it and recorded it as history. Are there re-dos in history? Of course there are! Remember Douglas MacArthur landing on Leyte Beach in WWII. That was a re-do at least on film it was. I think in today’s world, CNN and Wikipedia will hold us all accountable, at least for the major events of the world.

So here is my bit of history. Today we went to get Kalllie’s last vaccination. It was an adventure as Jenny has written and maybe the whole vaccination thing played apart in Kallie’s behavior the rest of the day. As far as attachment issues I’ve become or am becoming more aware of what could be there. I think under different circumstances I would have blown it off. For example, the moment she got her shot she was in the lap of Hana, (her nurse and someone she has known and trusted her whole life) but the realization of pain made her reach out for us. Okay that was cool. I took her from Hana as Kallie reached out. I was able to console her for a brief moment before someone else stepped in. (Read into this folks, it is being edited). So Jen took her back to the car and off we went with vaccination records in hand. We stopped at a little open air shack which is Ethiopia’s equivalent to Kinko’s the copy place and took copies of the records and we were home soon enough.

As far as consoling and cuddling goes it was an up and down day. There have been times today where Kallie didn’t want to be held and she just kind of sucked her thumb and rubbed her blanket. Then there were certainly times where we could not let go of her. Today we were finally able to let her play on the bed by herself without her crying. She even squirmed over to other parts of the bed where a different toy was and she grabbed it. But those moments are fleeting and we have to build on those when they come again.

We had our first ‘child in restaurant’ episode this evening. We decided to venture out to Makush a kind of Art Gallery and restaurant all tied in to one. On the walls were these amazing paintings by local artists. I wish I knew more about art styles but some were very real looking pieces, some more abstract, and some were just lines on a canvas that if you stared at long enough really came to life. We were seated in a quaint little table for two, with one on lap. Did I ever tell you Kallie may very well be a drummer.

“Wham, wham, wham!”

The big spoon at Jenny’s place setting makes a thunderous sound on our table. How delightful. Jen soon moves the other items in front of her to a very attractive yet functional radius about the size of a short arm. The circle of fun!

In the background I hear “ Table for six?” There were some very well dressed, older people walking in and were being seated down a couple of tables over. They were quite well dressed or perhaps I was under dressed, no matter. I can over hear their conversation about the artwork in the room and how good the food is hear blah, blah, blah . . .

“Wham, wham, wham”

There goes the big spoon on the table. It somehow got louder or the place got quieter I’m not sure. So Jen takes the spoon away from Kallie. Did you know Kallie isn’t big on words. She’s doesn’t say much but when she’s mad and in a mood she’ll let you know. She scrunches up her face and makes this sound like “EEEE!” It’s not really loud but its kind of fun to watch as she waves her hand. I swear she is shaking her fist. So what does an 11 month old do when something is taken away? She lunges for it of course but Jen was quick to put it outside the circle of fun. What was inside the circle of fun was the table cloth.

So after we changed our meal plan from dining in to take-out. I noticed that the table for six had moved to the far side of the restaurant. But through it all the people in charge were extremely nice. They even held Kallie and played peek a boo with her. Ethiopians are incredible with children, maybe that is too broad a statement but I have yet to find one who doesn’t crack a smile and wave to Kallie as we walked around today.

Our take-out didn’t quite meet our needs. I think the whole selling point for Makush is the atmosphere and not the food. Jenny couldn’t eat hers and me I’m lactose intolerant so getting an order of CHEESE ravioli in a cheesy tomato sauce wasn’t a great idea. The menu said Ravioli in Brown sauce. Usually I have a 50/50 shot of getting meat ravioli. I played the odds and lost. Our doorman was very appreciative of the meal

Keep moving folks I’ll see you tomorrow. Today’s history is written.

Ethiopia Notes

2009-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

I don’t care what you say there is nobody could ever capture the essence of this city on film, in blogs, or in photographs. The guidebook we were given quotes an ancient traveler calling Addis Ababa ‘noisy, dusty, sprawling and shambolic’. A hundred years later, he may still be right today but for the 2.8 million people who call it home it does have a certain appeal that I cannot quite nail down.

Maybe it is the fact that this place is so rich in history that around every corner there is a story to tell. On the other hand, maybe the people are so beautiful and culturally proud. We went to church today, yeah I know church with an 11-month-old but after she fell asleep, all was good. The sermon was okay. All in English served by a pastor from the US. Religion is big in Ethiopia you are pretty much Orthodox Christian or Muslim with no in between. It wasn’t so much the sermon that got me thinking it is the people and there undying faith. To look at the big picture you would almost say God dealt them a bad hand. Think about it: drought, famine, poverty, AIDS, war, this place has it all. Yet through it, all these people are incredibly proud.

This afternoon while Kallie was napping I thought about what I would blog today. The thoughts came in chunks so I thought I would kind of blog babble.

The streets of Addis are a shambles the main streets are well paved but all the side streets are patchwork cobblestones. Navigating the streets is an art form; there are very few street signs. Surviving the streets is a challenge with drivers weaving in and out doing, U turns are commonplace. The smog is incredible! Considering Addis has almost no heavy industry it makes it easy to place the blame on the poorly tuned automobiles described previously. Probably 70% of the vehicles are blue and white taxi vans or cars. Its funny to see these vans zipping up and down Bole Road, some guy half out the window calling out the next destination.

“National Stadium!” he yells. An arm waves and the van pulls over. An old man squeezes into an available bench seat after giving the person in the window a couple of Birr (the local currency). Off they go in a cloud of blue smoke.

A couple of kids, probably about 10 or 12 years old, are kicking a little ball down Bole Road. They are oblivious to the cars zipping by. Pass, kick, pass kick and a miss the ball goes into the street. Undeterred the one kid does a quick check and is in the street after it. The cars aren’t slowing down. Near miss a honk and the game goes on down the street as if nothing happened.

The other day, when we were on the way back from getting Kallie we were on one of the major feeder roads of Addis Ababa. It is quite common to see animals at the side of the road or even on the road. Donkeys are still used to tote around heavier items like bricks to construction sites. We were driving along zipping in and out of traffic when up ahead we saw a bull. Actually there were a couple of them just walking down the street. Abraham, our driver, honks his horn thinking they’ll get out of the way as he quickly approaches. He is still full throttle and the bull is still . . . well . . .still there. Rapid deceleration. HONK! We are a mere few inches from this bull. If the bull was breathing hard he’d probably fog up our windshield. But he wasn’t breathing hard because he wasn’t moving. Abraham calls to the farmer or whomever owns these beasts and moves them out of the way. Where is my seatbelt? Oh wait this van doesn’t have any!

Yesterday, we went up to Entoto the former capital of Ethiopia. Entoto is a mountain that was once heavily populated with eucalyptus trees. Of course eucalyptus is not indigenous to Ethiopia and was brought here by Emperor Menelik around the turn of the last century. Eucalyptus did well in the environment. I say it was ‘once heavily populated’ because it is being deforested by these women, known as the ‘fuel wood women’ who cut down the trees and haul them down the mountain to sell the wood for fuel. I’m not kidding. Going up the mountain we saw dozens of women with bundles of tree stalks carrying them down the mountain on their backs. These bundles were about 8 feet long and two or three feet in diameter. The stalks ranged from 1” to 3” in diameter. The bundles must have weighed about 60 lbs. These women were tiny probably not more than 100 lbs. So how much to you think you get for carrying a cumbersome 60 lb bundle of sticks down a mountain several miles to town? Incredibly the going rate for a bundle of fuel wood is only a few dollars!

We went shopping yesterday as Jenny mentioned. Every time we stopped the van we were mobbed by children trying to sell us something or just begging. But begging wasn’t restricted to children, adults half blind or crippled or both would constantly come up to you. “Please I’m starving” was usually what came out of there mouth. I don’t doubt that they were but we were warned not to offer anything. Any amount of generosity on our part does nothing to solve the problem. It was indescribable the gamut of thoughts and feelings running through your head as you are told to look the other way. The marketplaces were the worst for this but even the street outside of our hotel has it’s fair share of street people.

This trip has been an emotional rollercoaster. In my mind I’ve got tons of questions. In my heart I wish I had the answers.

Just keep moving folks. Just keep moving.

Day Two :Our Trip

2009-04-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Day 2: The Best Day of My Life (tied for 5th)

The title says it all. The birth of my children was something to behold. Each birth has a different story and each was remarkable in its own way. I was never present for Kallie’s birth so this will have to serve as that day, the first time I laid eyes on her.

The day had began where the last post ends, We landed in Nairobi early at about 6 am. Nairobi Airport was a little different then I expected. We walked through the arrivals gate to find our connecting gate to Addis Ababa. The walk itself was different. We arrived at Gate 16 and had to make our way to Gate 4B. Picture the departures level at Vancouver Airport big wide open with many different gates and destinations to boot. Interspersed between the different gates are vendors selling magazines or coffee whatever your last minute needs. The decorum is impressive, local artist’s work is proudly displayed in the long gaps between gates and vendors. Now close your eyes and forget what you just saw because Nairobi is nothing like that. Walking to the next gate was more like walking to your next class in school, the hallway was just as wide and as the bell rings and a thousand kids want out in the opposite direction you are going. There are still vendors except they display their wares from their lockers one right after another. The entrance to the gates are merely doorways with someone standing out front and you waiting patiently while the masses move past like salmon spawning in a stream and you clinging to the nearest rock.

Our gate was slightly different we were fortunate enough to be at the end of the hallway at the bottom of the narrow staircase in the basement. New country means new security clearance, you know the routine: bags through the scanner . . . any gels or liquids? . . . remove your laptop? Wait a second they didn’t do the last two. Maybe the walk-through metal detector constantly going off constantly distracted them. A quick pat down at the shoulders and waist means you are okay. It must because the detector went off when nobody was going through. I feel secure now!

The flight to Addis Ababa was short enough depending on how you look at it. One hour and forty minutes or the tail end of a 29 hour odyssey which the case I was glad it was over. Hop a bus from the far end of the tarmac to the arrivals area. First though the Visa area an impromptu line ensues $40 dollars and a decal in my passport and Jen and I are officially visiting. On to the immigration line to hand in the card, we filled out and down to the carousel. I’m reserving comment on the Addis Ababa Bole Road Airport. A little more wide-open but still needs some work.

I’m being bogged down folks, with too much to say not enough time to write. Let’s jump to meeting Solomon. Super nice guy, he bought us flowers and he took us to the Weygoss where we could freshen up. The plan was to freshen up and meet back at two o’clock. We made a quick trip to head office sign some papers and we would be off to the transition house. See! Now we are getting there, I could always write separate posts about: the lost stroller, the Weygoss toilet , or the Streets of Addis Ababa. Lunch our first meal in Addis. Trust me folks I’ll get there.

Let me just say this quickly. If you had to get somewhere through the downtown core of your own city, could you navigate there without road signs or street signs? Welcome to Addis Ababa! We made it to the compound of Imagine Adoption and we met Martha, a very nice lady. I’m trying to visualize the trip so that maybe I could look it up later on Google Earth but that’s just a minor detail. Our meeting was brief we were just there to get Kallie’s passport and facilitation visa and other original documents. There is a certain irony to the whole event. The facilitation visa as part of the citizenship route looks very much like our visitor visa, a decal inside our passport. The whole process at the airport took about 5 or 6 minutes. The whole process to get the facilitation visa took 11 weeks, no pomp with this circumstance. I don’t know its just mind numbing and almost upsetting.

Another jaunt through the city and I’m seeing a whole bunch of stuff. Steady Rob . . .hold the course, talk about it later. I saw the Federation of Sport (cool I took a picture), heading south, a Roundabout and a right turn down a dusty boulevard to the bottling plant, turn right and right again up an alley they call a street and I see the familiar site of the Transition House, the red roof is a give away. It’s probably the nicest building on the “block” and perhaps of our whole trip, so far.

Timeout! You are probably wondering when this guy is going to get to talking about his daughter the suspense is killing me. Yeah well now you know how I felt. It’s about 36 hours since our plane took off in Vancouver. Total sleep hours to this point is still in the single digits not close to breaking the double digits. I am tired and cranky sleep deprived jet lagged but amazingly coherent. Okay I will get back to the story.

The foyer you see in a lot of peoples blog pictures is the front door. A sliding glass door and you are in a beautiful vaulted ceiling atrium. The only décor is two couches, a single matching chair and a glass coffee table. Then we are met by the social worker, whose name is also Kalkidan, we exchange handshakes and she seats us to get ready to meet out daughter. The smell of freshly roasted coffee beans permeates the air as one of the staff is preparing coffee for us.

The head nurse walks in with Kallie in her arms. My daughter is absolutely beautiful, of course I’m biased but she is stunning. Kallie is wearing a little yellow Ethiopian style sundress, her hair is done up in braids like corn rows. She glances over at us pauses, and cries, howls in fact! Quick transition and she is in Jenny’s arms, two of the most beautiful women on the face of the Earth are before my eyes. The next couple of hours we spent getting comfortable with her. Every time we switch off she cries. She soon has us trained to the fact that yes I will cry but if you get up and walk around with me so I see stuff I’ll stop crying. Time is standing still right now I’m trying to record everything in my foggy head, on camera, video camera, and digital voice recorder. I am geeked out.

When all the staff come back we ask a barrage of questions about habits and behaviors and all sorts of stuff. Jenny is diligently taking notes. We have coffee. It is incredible coffee. Another caregiver comes in with Kallie’s food it is banana and papaya mushed up. This is her “juice”. We start to feed her but she is kind of distracted. The level of trust hasn’t quite built up enough to where we can feed her. I’ll let you hold me but feeding me maybe another time.Hana the head nuse takes over to feed her and is done in a flash!

Our visit seemed all too brief but it was past her nap time and she seemed to be getting a little cranky. We asked to see her crib and roommates. No pictures, of course, but there were 5 cribs and only four occupied at the time. Kallie was one. Pictures we sent her were posted above her crib. In the crib next to her was another beautiful little girl about her age also with pictures of her family. I didn’t get to read the names on the card except Mommy Daddy and someone else. We did not impress this little girl. At least we got a reaction. In the crib next to her, a little girl was fast asleep but didn’t event stir with all of the chatter of adults and, one girl screaming . The little boy in the room was quite the gentleman. We was standing in his crib just staring back at me. He was not crying or anything just trying to figure out who I was. A brief visit and of course all other doors were closed. No photos and they would not even tell us the babies names. Kallie’s room was on the ground floor and there were many other rooms above us.

Alas it was time to go. We had a shopping list and food to buy. I’ll see you tomorrow Kallie! We made a quick trip to the store and back to the hotel. Okay now I was physically and emotionally drained. As the sun went down so did I. With luck on my side the Weygoss was in a brown out which meant no lights, no internet, no problem.
The last thing I remember is Jenny telling me that she had left a babbling, sobbing message to ours boys and Jen’s mom. It is three in the afternoon Vancouver time, 1 am local time. I am just finishing this off.

Oh and if you are wondering the fifth best day of my life was my wedding day, of course.

Day One: Our Trip

2009-04-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Nothing ever goes as planned when it comes to long flights on an airplane. Case in point, Day 1 of our journey to Ethiopia, probably from the outset of when we first thought of adopting from Ethiopia was how long the flight to get there would be. The number of layovers was kind of a given in that you had to have at least one, there are no direct flights. So in your mind you kind of develop a game plan of what is going to keep you occupied for the long flight.

Books
Several weeks prior to our trip we ventured out to Chapters and picked up some really good reading material, stuff that I’ve been getting into but yet holding back because I didn’t want to only to savor it for the long flight. As my stopwatch ticks away at 19:45.27 (I started it the moment the wheels left the ground in Vancouver) I have yet to crack open my book.

Magazines
I brought two running magazines. Actually I bought one and one is the gift subscription my mother-in-law gets me every year. I have had both in my possession for about a week, once again savoring for the moment. Once again, I have barely skimmed the contents of either.

Electronic Gear
I have brought my iPod, two in fact just in case the batteries run out in one I will have the other. The iPod has puzzle games and the video games and stuff. Usually I like to load the thinking games likes puzzles, Sudoku stuff like that it keeps my mind amused.

However, this trip has been different. I think I have turned my brain off and I just do not want to think. That being said I have channeled into my blogging persona and pulled out the laptop for the final couple of hours of this tour.

Random thoughts of the Day:
So far, we have been to two airports Vancouver and Amsterdam. Vancouver takes it easily minus a couple of points for the Starbucks in the International Area not having coffee. What kind of Starbucks runs out of coffee?

A Yotel is a incredible concept. I wouldn’t call it a hotel but more of a functional closet that you can wash, sleep, and connect to the internet. Although it seems fairly pricey it is well worth the bed time spent if even for a couple of hours.

Amsterdam is very expensive. It’s funny that some people benchmark the relative prices of things based on standard commodities: a cup of coffee or a beer. As parents of small children we alter our perception of things based on the price of a Quarter Pounder w/Cheese meal and Star Wars Action Figures. If the dollar was par with the Euro we would be good but since the Euro is worth nearly twice what our dollar is things are not so good.

We have been lucky so far tapping into our good karma. Two very long haul flights, Jenny and I have had a row of three seats to the two of us. Jenny is flaked out beside me now taking two of those seats.

Well it is getting late or early depending where you are. I’ve probably slept 6 hours in the last two days. We land in Nairobi in just over two hours we have a connecting flight to Addis Ababa in less than 45 minutes after we touch down. It’s a two hour fight to Addis and Jenny has requested to see Kallie right away.

OMG – last though of the day. Jenny woke up! There is a small child about Kallie’s age screaming her head off right now. I wonder how well Kallie is going to travel? Come on karma hold out for a little while longer. Just keep moving.

Running in Edmonton

2009-02-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

It’s a chilly Edmonton evening. The sky is a dark grey as clouds conceal the moon from shining down on us mortals as we tap away on our laptops. The mood is somber and I am wishing it would change. Tap away I do, searching the inner depths for something positive. I’ll go for a run to change my mood, it is not raining yet and travelling here on business has left me with nothing but time.

Mile one rolls by with not much of a thought, the streets are a dark mocha brown from all the sand and gravel that has been laid down over top on the rippled icy surface. It feels like cobblestones beneath my feet and still I run.

Mile two passes beneath my feet and to myself I think about the adoption. How long it seems to have gone on, I no longer count the months because this does nothing to improve the mood. I’m listening to my iPod but barely acknowledge the words as my mind drifts in and out of the waiting. The surface turns to hard packed snow. There is a groove where people tread down the center of the path. It may have been safer during the day but it has become slick at night as the miles go by.

Mile three and four go by I’m feeling my groove. That point where my solace takes a quantum leap into effortlessness. I fast forward to travelling to a far off land exploring the culture, the people, and the places but most of all holding my daughter for the very first time. Fast forward even more to our daughter’s first steps, the first time we hear momma and dada. The blues are blowing away beneath my feet.

Mile five, she’s crying now why is she crying? Is she hungry? Is she wet? Is she scared? There, there little one I’m here now. The trail ends I had better turn around. The moon is chasing away the clouds and lights up the trail. There is old snow on the ground that has turned to glass. It glistens in the moonlight.

Mile six, hey I was running uphill I hardly noticed. I have to put up that baby gate when I get home. Man alive we bought a lot of gear that we had years ago. I can just picture her little face pressed against that baby gate saying “hey I want ot go down there!” “No honey it is too dangerous.” Runners cross paths in the night. They are out for a run with their running stroller. How cool is that.

Mile seven, the river looks beautiful in its frozen blanket. A flat white sheet covers the mighty North Saskatchewan River. It divides this city in half as it meanders slowly through the metropolis.

Mile eight, I still have lots to do before we leave. Lots of work at work and at home but still I would leave in a moments notice. In my mind, I picture her sleeping now, she’s seem content. I wonder if she sleeps through the night? We will soon see. I wonder if she likes dogs? We will soon see.

Mile nine, I see the lights of the city. I am running along the major roads now. Stereos are blaring, people are honking their horns and in the distance I hear the faint sound of someone’s car alarm.

Mile ten, the home stretch I’m better now I have made peace with the universe. The problems of today melted away beneath my feet and back to where they came from. And with it another blog post. Thanks for reading. Relentless forward motion.

Day 8: Still no luggage

2009-01-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well today is Day 8 without my suitcase. I get upset every time I think about it now. I called WestJet this morning just to get an update. Officially, the Central Baggage department is handling my case. They have yet to make contact with me.

So far, I have gotten on with my life. I am running on my old shoes that have close to 600 miles on them. Yes, they do hurt and my hips and knees throb a bit afterwards but the good feelings far out weigh the bad. However, the balance is quickly changing. I do have two pairs of old shoes that I am switching out for the moment but both pairs have 500+ miles on them. It is funny to note how different they feel after running two weeks on brand new shoes. In the new shoes, I hardly felt anything until about 8 miles and I recovered quickly to run the next day. Now I throb after five and probably could not run more than 4 times a week, even running consecutive days is taxing.

The loss of running clothes has been a challenge. Although I have escaped the wintery climes of Edmonton, the temperatures are still below zero in the morning. If I had something more than shorts to wear, I probably would wear it. Seeing as I don’t I compensate by layering the top half with fleece, which is surprisingly comfortable to run in. The weather has been compliant in that it has not rained since I have been back. There is no rain forecast for the next 4 days.

As far as podcasting goes, I think I mentioned all my podcasting gear was in the bag as well. Digital recorders are surprisingly cheap and I do use it for work as well, so I will be able to replace it and expense it. The loss of the Giant Squid microphone is damaging. Therefore, I will replace the recorder and be back in operation for the weekend.

Lost

2009-01-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

My world came crashing down in a blur as I touched down at the Abbotsford Airport. As I got off the plane and headed for the Arrivals area of the airport, I watched as people picked up their luggage and I patiently waited for mine to show. It never showed and in fact at this writing still has not shown up. I have been researching all sorts of lost luggage statistics to find some solace, a glimmer of hope.

I have been nothing but a cranky, miserable SOB since the moment my luggage failed to arrive. I would like to blame WestJet for my condition but really, I am in control of my mood and nobody else.

As I face the reality that my luggage may never show up, I keep going over all the things albeit material things that are in the suitcase that are very much part of
1) My brand new running shoes – I got them for Christmas
2) Running Pants –for cold weather running
3) Running Shorts
4) 2 pairs of running socks
5) Long sleeve running shirt that my boys bought my for my last birthday
6) My Ultimate Direction water bottle holder that my wife got for my first ultramarathon
7) Several running shirts
8) Work shirts
9) Pants
10) Underwear
11) Socks
12) A printer – yeah a mobile printer light compact expensive
13) My iPod Nano – doesn’t get much use now that I have a Touch
14) My digital recorder for recording my podcast along with the microphone
15) My electric shaver – I’ve had to shave with a blade for the first time in years –ouch!. Plus the other toiletries
16) My running jacket
17) Down vest for added warmth

Sure all these things are replaceable. However, with a baby on the way real soon I cannot afford the cost of replacing any of it. Some of thing things kind of go together. Much of it has been accumulated over years of acquisitions.

I cannot change what has happened and it has given me cause to re-evaluate my life. I may not run for a couple of days or until I can, figure something out but I will live.

Moreover, to my wife, I admit I have been an ass. Forgiveness is the first step in repairing the wounds.

Manzella Wind Pro Gloves

2009-01-07T22:30:00.000-08:00

I bought a new pair of gloves today at the Running Room. For all of you who do not know the Running Room is like a Canadian institution. Starting from one small store in Edmonton, it now has stores in every major city in Canada. Little did I know that the store I would visit today was actually store #1.

Manzella makes the gloves from Polartec fleece and come up well past the wrist. The Index and Middle finger and thumb have an added reinforcement for a little extra grip.

The official name of the glove in the Wind pro®-10 as part of the Manzella Glove Selection System. I chose the ‘warmer’ glove as there was also a ‘warmest’ and a ‘warm’ glove for three different climates.

They fit well and breath really well and don’t allow my had to get all sweaty. They were pricey at $39.99 but I had a gift card that I was dying to use. After yesterdays near frostbite episode, I did not want to be cold again. These gloves did not let me down.

Edmonton: Day 2

2009-01-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

Awesome run today, I really tested my mettle. Although the run was only 8 miles it was -25C which is biting cold. The run started well deep in the heart of the city and within a few block of the hotel I found an awesome trail which I recorded my podcast. I don’t know how far the trail went on for I took it for about 4 miles out and turned around.

By the end of the run I couldn’t move my fingers. My wife called me on my cell phone and my hands were so frozen I couldn’t grasp the phone hard enough to pull it out of my pocket. I don’t think I could have lasted another mile in the cold but I had a ton of fun suffering through it. Is that pathetic or what?

When I I finally got inside and started to thaw out the pain of the circulation coming back into my extremities was excruciating. It’s later now and I’m totally thawed out. I didn’t suffer any noticeable windburn so I’ll be out there tomorrow

Edmonton

2009-01-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

Edmonton is not such a bad place after all. I never thought that I'd actually appreciate the cold Albertan weather. The weather has actually warmed up over the last week. Last week Edmonton was one of the coldest places in Canada at -42F. If you are wondering -40 is where the Celsius and fahrenheit scales meet and are equal.

But I must say Edmonton has got it together when it comes to snow removal and sanding. The streets are a beautiful mocha brown, beautiful maybe an over statement but I really love running on a surface with traction. Back home in Mission it is still slushy and the streets are frozen. In fact it was a snow day back home so even better that I'm out of town. I ran to Staples and around the downtown core where I am staying. There were some pretty interesting sites to see even in dark. I love exploring a new place.

Although I really miss my family when I'm gone and I think they miss me. Eatting out every meal really sucks and you have to find healthy places to eat. I'll have to work on that tomorrow!

Runner,dude!

2009-01-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

We watched an amusing movie last night. “Surfer, dude” which is a film starring Matthew McConaughey. It was a bad movie but the premise of the movie was somewhat interesting. I will not spoil it for you but Steve Addington is a surfer, which is all he is. During the movie, we see what happens when a surfer has no surf and nothing else in his life. It is a long drought and this is possibly, where the movie dried up.

Nevertheless, I started to draw parallels between the main character and myself. You see it has been about three weeks since I last saw the street in front of my house. Three weeks ago, the snow came and stayed for a while, a long while. As a runner, I have longed for the clear open road and a chance to unwind on it. It started the day after school let out and it has not let up yet. I have had brief glimpses on the road and sometimes ventured out on to the snow pack or slush and ice or whatever safety allowed. However, these were very rare adventures. My moments of solace abate me.

And so now begins the real storm before the calm. In my entire work career, I do not think I have ever been busier. In the next 8 weeks from this day forward I have planned and in the books:

Two trips to Edmonton
One trip to Toronto
One trip to Prince George
Two trips to Kelowna
And topped of by one very important trip to Ethiopia.

Most of the trips will be flying some I may drive. The trip to Ethiopia is not in the books and as an added stress; my beautiful wife says she is going with or without me. First available date and she is gone. My first available date is the middle of February.

The Christmas break was simply wonderful well maybe not simple but wonderful just the same. The weather could not be better suited for a break as it almost forced us to stay home and relax or shovel snow. My back may never be the same. I am always sad to see long breaks end but this one I was ready to end it.

From what I understand, the weather pattern has changed and it will be warming up and switching to rain. Maybe I will be able to see the road beneath my feet once more. However, until that time I wait.

Resolutions 2009

2009-01-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

Well we are 3 days into 2009 and I’ve had a bit of time to think about things I’d like to change this year. I’m usually not one for resolutions, in fact I’m kind of a ‘Do It Now’ kind of person. Or more so ‘Do It Now or Never at All’ but I’ve been inspired.

Personal Resolutions
Communicate more. – I like blogging I really do but I get distracted by whatever comes along. Finding time to sit down for a hour or so just doesn’t happen so if I blog I will blog shorter. It’s taken 3 hours to complete this post. Work in progress.
Communicate efficiently – say it succinctly in as few words as possible. Whether it’s podcasting or blogging. Just don’t babble.
Details matter- I’ve always for as long as I can remember have been a Big Picture person and details were not as important. I’m finding more the details do matter in that it shows a different side of a the person.

Goals for 2009
 Run in a far off place. In picking up our daughter in Ethiopia I plan to get at least one run in.
 Run another marathon. The next goal and this goal are not necessarily exclusive of each other
 Set a some PR’s
 Run another Ultra. With my schedule I’ve got a short list right now
 Work the core. My core sucks and I’m going to change that now!
 Build the Upper body and gain some weight. I’ve got put on some muscle.

Yes it’s a short list but like I said the shorter it is the more efficiently I can get it out.

The Wait is OVER. This is my Daughter

2009-01-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

Thank you thank you thankyou. Just a quick post. News came in via email with great news. And now I wish to share a couple of photographs with you. For more information and news and stuff check out our other blog http://ethiopiajourney.blogspot.com.

Counting down to the Court Date

2009-01-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

Do you believe in jinxes? I guess that is to say are you superstitious? I believe the Bible says not to believe in it as it gives power to the evil one. I can't help myself really, I'm a jock, an athlete if you will. We are superstitious by nature: favorite socks, favorite hat, pre-race routines the whole enchilada.

In baseball if a pitcher is throwing a no hitter nobody but nobody talks to him in the late innings. Nobody looks at him for fear of the 'stink eye'. It's bad mojo, superstition prevails we don't jinx.

In many sports during the playoffs they don't shave once again superstition.

January 1st was just a few days away when I started this post and with it our second court date. I can't help but think we somehow jinxed the first court date. I can't elaborate but I think we did. The question
is: Is writing about it now somehow changing my karma? I don't believe so because I'm not changing the groove. I am merely an observer to the celestial events I haven't bought any plane tickets I'm just taking it all in.

I must say the anticipation is killing me. If I don't post this then the karma dogs got the better of me. If I do post this then it gives Jenny an out and I become the fall guy.
Okay I di

At 11:30pm with just 30 minutes left in the year my pager went off. A
Cardiac call with ambulance delayed, something inside triggers everytime an cardiac emergency call comes in like somehow I've been given a special gift and only I can do this. But with just 30 minutes left in the year I knew I'd probably be on scene rather than at home ringing in the New Year.

As it turned out, the patient was DOA. In fact it was Mission's final homicide of 2008. With just 10 minutes left in the year we were told we could clear. I might make it after all I said to our District Chief on scene.
"Hey guys!" was the call from the paramedics.
"You jinxed it", I murmured to myself. A minor detail but just enough to have me on a truck rolling home when the clock struck midnight instead of at home.

The house was dark and quiet when I got home at 8 minutes after the New Year.

When the pager went off at 6:30 I was extremely groggy but I had the presence of mind to remember that this was the big day. Stay home dumbass!

I got up and let the dogs out. Silently I would wait. If the phone rang it would be good news. If the email alert went off it would be bad news.

7:00 and then 8:00 painfully I watched the time go by. I lit the prayer candle my mother-in-law brought by the night before. I popped my head in to the bedroom to see if Jen was awake. Bad move dumbass!

In my head, I fought off visions of that terrible day in November when we got the email and not the phone call. I quickly put it out of my head. Think positive, be happy.

9:00 Oh yet another cardiac call. I do nothing but silently stare at the computer scene.

Episode 29: Show Notes on Shoes

2008-11-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

Episode SHOES
The life of the average running shoe is 300 to 500 miles
The wide range in lifespan is due to make up and materials but also the runner and the running surface.

Weight if the Runner a heavier runner will land with more impact than a lighter runner. Thus the midsole will compress more and lose it rebounding and elasticity sooner.

Cleanliness of the shoe. Running outdoors will degrade the uppers. Soil and debris like mud will wear away the upper just like any other material

Outsoles will wear away with surface abrasion. Trail shoe in particular will wear away from abrasion quicker than the midsole breaks down from impact. As a general rule, here is Canada our sidewalks are made from concrete. Apart from being one of the hardest surfaces a runner can run on, thus transferring the most force back into the joints. Concrete is one of the most abrasive surfaces we run on and therefore should be avoided at all costs.

Shoe type. Shoes are designed for basically three types of runners based on the varying degrees of pronation. Stability Shoes Pronators, Motion Control, Neutral Cushioning. If your foot roll inward from the ankle while you run you are a pronator. Basic checks: Check the arches, check the wear patterns on your shoes, check into a reputable shoe dealer.

There is a lot more about shoes that I could ever cover in one podcast But I’d like to talk about Trail Shoes

Trail Shoes are not meant for streets. Because of the uneven surfaces they don’t take a lot of pronation control into account for their design. In fact it’s a whole new ball game when we talk about trail shoes. The last is usually stiff because we expect rocks and roots. The midsole is tiff because we expect cushion from the ground. The upper is either waterproof or drains incredibly well. To use an analogy choosing a trail shoes is choosing a tire for your car. Mud Tires for 4 x 4s , Snow Tires for Snow, Slick if you want to go fast. The variations are endless. Some shoes are designed with thick lugs which are great for mud and dirt but maybe not so for slick rock or packed trails. Tread pattern is important so decide what is best. Keep your trail shoes for the trails. Avoid hot pavement and concrete which will shorten the life of your tread.

Quick note about Responsible Shoes I agree with Steve Runner. But the way to do it is not to boycott their shoes but rather write your congressman or MP. Ask for trade sanctions unless labour codes are improved. This goes way beyond shoes. Shoes are a drop in the bucket. Many countries are involved, many consumer products are involved from running shoes and sportswear to automobiles, computer software and hardware, electronics, virtually every product in your house has been touched by poverty stricken countries with poor labour practices. If we expose one company it just means those workers will lose there jobs or work for a sub contractor to a subcontractor of some other consumer product. While at the same time we voice our concerns we also must be ready for the outcome and the ripple effects we create. I’m sorry to sound apathetic but this is an inconvenient truth. As far as auditing goes once again this is very tough. In my own country auditing safety concerns has a huge backlog and only the worst o

In my own experience I am a heel striker and a pronator. I need an outsole that has a plate of rubber at the heel strike corner. I’ve had shoes that have had lugs at the heel and have ended up wearing out the heel lugs. I would love to find a shoe that has a little less cushion or midsole in the heel. The height of most of the trail shoes I’ve worn are higher than their road counterparts. The end result, or what I believe to be the end result is my heel strike is harder than my road shoes. Kyle Skaggs winner of this years Hardrock 100 wore a prototype shoe from New Balance which resembled racing flats. I’d be curious to try those. Anton Krupicjka sponsored by La Sportiva was once fabled to cut out the heel of his midsole to get a better feel

Chasing the Runner's High

2008-11-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

This week’s episode I talk about the elusive Runner’s High. I recently re-read an article by Amby Burfoot of Runner’s World about the high and give you some of the highlights from the article. I then go on to discuss the merits of the article. Is it real and why can’t we tap into it more readily?

This weeks highlights from the Firehall
Still no TUNE notes this week.

Feel free to contact me at:

Ultradad.podcast at gmail.com or read my blog at

http://ultradad.blogspot.com/

Runner's High? Endorphins? Fiction, Some Scientists Say

Yes, Running Can Make You High

Frightening at times!

2008-10-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

We have three boys, each with their own vibrant personalities and habits. As the days get shorter they start to spend more and more time indoors, bored. I try spending time with them whenever I get a chance but it’s not always easy finding a happy medium with all three. In a nutshell, I’ve got a thinker, an explorer/dreamer, and a how much trouble can I get into before someone catches me child. In each I see myself looking back at me. Many times I marvel at this fact and still there are those times where it’s down right frightening. Jenny usually makes the connection to this truth long before I do. I’m in denial.

This past weekend was beautiful and for late October temperatures were practically shorts weather. My legs usually take on a light bluish color before I relegate the shorts to the summer clothes drawer so this particular day was a bonus.

As Sunday drew to a close I couldn’t give up the day without going for a short run. As many of you know I’m a runner. I love to run and will do so at any opportunity given. One of the greatest pleasures in a runner’s life is being able to run with your children. I remember when I did my first ultramarathon my family met me at several of the aid stations. At one particular aid station, Ethan had asked if he could run with me for a while. A while ended up being only a couple hundred yards.

“I’m going to be a runner like you Dad!” he said with pride before calling it a day.

Since that time we’ve run on several occasions including our first 5K together. On Sunday I asked if he wanted to go for another run and as always he said, “Sure!”

Conversation is always light but that’s okay. Ethan always highlights the week’s events which are usually activity based and rarely informative of his academics.

“I’m second fastest in my class” he tells me with pride.

Our runs are usually interspersed with walks and only last about a half an hour but the quality carries on for the rest of the day.

Ah yes, the rest of the day. As I mentioned before I have three boys. In the time that I wasn’t watching over them directly my youngest had decided that his bangs were bugging him. So he cut them. Short!

Okay let me give you just a little background. I cut my own hair. I’ve cut my own hair for about twenty years now. I can’t be bothered with style and the other frivolous things that go along with it. If I make a mistake, gel can usually cover it up until it grows out a bit. It’s no big deal. My kids have seen me cut my hair on numerous occasions. Fade to black.

“Honey, did you see what Owen did to his hair while you were supposed to be watching him!” ,my wife says in a somewhat frustrated tone.

“Yes, I did!”

“Are you going to say something to him?”

“Owen, come here!”

Owen walks into the room. His head hung low. His bangs resemble something of a semi-circle or maybe a bent sickle I can’t be sure. It took everything I had not to laugh or crack a smile.

“Owen, did you cut your hair?” I said with the sternest face I had. And yet still a sense of pride was welling up inside me. Just like me my boy had cut his own hair. Free from style conscience masses that dictate what hair should look like. Free from the fashion police that draw the solid black line between what is in and what is out.

Dejected, he nods.

All I could muster was “Owen, don’t do it again.”

The resemblance was uncanny. In fact it was frightening.

Its Picture Day at School!

2008-10-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Picture Day at elementary school was always a challenge. A long line up of kids from your class lined up one after the other. Each one dressed up in their finest outfits or at least their coolest outfits. I remember as a kid trying to maintain some level of coolness as my mom picked out the geekiest clothes and combed my hair in the style to match my clothes. It was alright though because even the coolest kids had moms like mine and their hair actually looked worse.

It was a torturous day as we tried to maintain our hairstyles and keep our clothes clean until we got our pictures taken. There is a reason why photographers ask that the kindergarten and early grades go first because their expectation to make through recess unscathed was much less than the older grades.

One by one an already wearisome photographer rattles off a couple of shots per child and moves one to the next child. “Smile!” he commands not really waiting for a response just clicking the picture with a “Good enough” smirk on his face.

“Next please!”

One by one my friends were taken down. Their dorkiness captured forever on film to be produced into an 8 x10 and a couple of wallet size photos for all the relatives to laugh at.

Oh the torture of standing in line, all your friends looking at you weird like they’d never seen you before. Maybe they were secretly giggling at you. Laughing at the dorky haircut your mom just gave you. I’d show them I said to myself. I’m going to do the goofiest smile and make them all laugh. Yeah that’s it! But wait what will my mom say. Mom will freak if she sees a goofy smile in my picture.

Invariably the photographer always captured the very essence of the moment. Not quite a picture perfect smile and not the goofy weird face that would have won respect from the line up behind me but rather somewhere in between.

Years later, I’m a parent and now the roles change as the photographs come back from my children’s own picture day. As the media has gone from film to digital, a new era is brought in. A photographer could surely rattle off twenty pictures in the time it use to take one and there is virtually no cost. Just erase the one with the goofy smiles.

“How did the photos turn out honey?” I ask my wife.

“Hmmf! I could have done better!”

I stare in amazement at the photographs with their supposed grins, not quite a smile and not quite a goofy face that would have brought down the house. I have no response. The memories come flooding back and secretly I smile.

An 8 x10 and a couple of wallet size, please!

Episode 10: Ultradad and the 3 Bear (Stories)

2008-07-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

There's a bear out there. On my podcast I discuss my encounters with bears. This one photographed here is on my neighbor's lawn. I'm not joking!

I also discuss product reviews that you read in magazines. In fact here are my notes for the show:

It’s funny how a podcast can develop. I think in the past 10 shows I’ve reviewed my hydration systems, my shoes, my shorts. I wish I had more stuff to review. I don’t know about you folks but other peoples opinions matter to me about gear I’m going to buy. Not so much about shoes because everybody’s feet are different. But I read every review I can find about a product I’m interested in for two reasons. The first I look for experienced people to go through the ins and out of these products before I buy them. Manufacturers tend to highlight the good things about a product and downplay the shortcomings. Magazines I am torn with the opinions from magazines for the simple reason the a large majority of their operating income comes from advertising. Because of this you’ll never see Runners World say Wow those new Nike Air Watchamacallits they suck. The forefoot doesn’t fit many, the heel counter fits poorly and the construction is poor. I give it two thumbs down. Instead you’ll see ten pairs from different manufacturers reviewed, a few will get top marks for design, others will get Editors Choice and the new design for the Air Watchamacallits will get average marks with neutral statements made about it. It’s not that it is highlighted but it isn’t swept under the carpet either. We as the consumer have to read between the lines.

This is where the opinions of consumers become valued. I like going to websites for online stores where the consumer will openly state “They fell apart after 100 miles” Midsole lost cushioning after three weeks, stuff like that. I need to know this sort of stuff because I can’t go into a store and size up the latest gizmo in a 10 minute perusing of the features only to get home and find it isn’t as user friendly as all the ads made it out to be.

This is what I’m going to do. Because I’m the frugalest (sp) the most frugal runner on the face of the Earth. I am going to solicit supplier for their products. The products I’m going to solicit are things that I’d like to have but don’t necessarily need to achieve my goals. For example:
Moeben Arm Warmers
Salomon XT Wings – okay I have a pair and love them but come on they aren’t cheap.
North Face Gear – I know North Face makes some really good quality stuff but do you need it compare to a lesser made pair of gear. I hope to explore the differences.
Gels and Energy Bars – right now I use Power Gels and Sharkies because they are available. I’d like to try other products but I’m frugal and it takes a few runs and a few packs to really know and if it doesn’t work you’ve spent $20 on nothing but a stomach ache.

I’m not looking for sponsorship but who am I kidding it would be nice. Wouldn’t it be cool to actually find a sponsor whose products you chose to be the best out there and not because they were the only ones to flash free stuff and the occasional entry fee. In this way you’d being doing a public service and not selling out. Still I’m skeptical if it would work.

The New Media

2008-07-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

Podcasting is the new media. More clearly defined podcasting as a subset of the Internet is the newest medium for conveying information to the targeted masses. By ‘targeted’ masses I mean a specific listening audience that is intent on finding information about a topic. My podcast is about running more specific than that I key in on trail running and even more specific than that ultra distance trail running.

NUMBERS
I don’t know what the numbers are and I’m sure some company somewhere has been paid to keep tabs on the numbers but a lot of people are into fitness, whether it is diets and keeping the pounds off any way they can or activity based fitness. Of those people are born the runners which possible number into the hundreds of millions. In my own corner of the world the Vancouver Sun Run, a local 10K, had 50,000 participants this year. Of those people there are marathoners or aspiring marathoners. I’ve been told that marathoners constitute ½ of 1% of the world’s population. If that is even remotely close that may seem like a minority in the world but that translates to 5 million people worldwide. Add to that the aspiring and the number grows even more. Ultra distance runners are even fewer than that. But the aspiring from that are probably bordering on similar numbers to sum to the total population. In other words everyone who has run a step to classify themselves a runner probably has considered or is at least intrigued by a marathon so the numbers of aspiring plus actual marathoners borders on the total population of runners. A similar argument can be debated for ultra marathoners. So you see creating a podcast about trail running and ultra marathoning may not be as obscure as one would think.

THE WALTER MITTY FACTOR
My nine year old recently asked me what an alter ego was. He had heard the expression on a TV show that he had been watching, I tried as best I could in terms that a nine year old would understand that as alter ego is like a secret life or something you do that is different from your everyday life. Without waxing on the philosophical, I said it was like being a superhero and an everyday guy like Clark Kent and Superman. I remember reading the short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty a terrific story about a daydreamer who escapes into different worlds only to be brought back to reality by the circumstances that surround him. For that brief moment we are with him we are right there for those interludes those romantic escapes. And that in essence is my podcast.

MY APPROACH
My approach to podcasting is to be myself. I am one of you. I am you. I am a middle of the pack, working, mortgage paying, forty-something, father of three, happily married living in the suburbs and escaping to the trails every chance I get. My real escape is chasing my dream of running the ultra distances. The Walter Mitty in me escapes into a world some only daydream of and I take you with me. Whether you listen streaming online at your cubicle at work or you yourself are grinding out a workout of your own.

I think my appeal will be just that. As I get out there and record my podcast, it is for those of you who run or those of you who aspire will be able to relate or grab little tidbits of the experience of long run. My intent is to inspire and motivate, to educate and commiserate. You know its great to read the blogs of the ultra distance elite like Krupicka and Meltzer but they probably feel no pain. And if they do they don’t let on about it. My podcast is stream of consciousness, moment by moment as the run unfolds. It is for the most part unscripted but sometimes researched ahead of time.

IN SUMMARY
To paraphrase Steve Runner of the Phedippidations Podcast, Podcasting is about the community. It’s about expanding our own horizons and in the process expanding those of others. For me it is making the impossible seem possible, there are no boundaries just hurdles. I hope you enjoy my podcast and discover your dreams in the process.

My Podcast

2008-06-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

I’ve decided to try Podcasting. It is a little more convenient than blogging because I can mix to worlds or running with blogging and record verbally instead of writing it out and editing. So far it has been a lot of fun. There is a huge learning curve and this is what I’ve learned so far.

On running and podcasting:
1) Clarity of speech is proportional to speed and exertion. The faster you go the harder you are to understand.
2) Lapel microphones are extremely touchy. Therefore I don’t use one!
3) The amount of background noise dictates the quality of the podcast.
4) Weather controls background noise. i.e. Rain, Wind, even rain slick streets
5) You’ve got to enunciate!
6) Notes or cue cards help to keep you on track.
7) People look at you funny when you appear to be talking to yourself.
8) It is harder to run and record on trails than on roads.
9) It is hard to understand a person running uphill.
10) Trails produce better sound quality than roads.

On podcast production:
1) The amount of time you want to spend editing increases proportionately with the quality of the product.
2) It may not be rocket science but there is a science to producing quality. Experience counts!
3) The closet makes for a great sound room.
4) The tiled floors and hardwood floors do not make great sound rooms.
5) A script although initially hard to follow, takes a lot of practice and keeps you on track.

I’ve learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. I plan to take my podcast all the way to Ethiopia and my first Ultra. So you’ll see a few less blog posts and more podcasts. Stay tuned.

My Podcast

2008-06-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

I’ve decided to try Podcasting. It is a little more convenient than blogging because I can mix two worlds or running with blogging and record verbally instead of writing it out and editing. So far it has been a lot of fun. There is a huge learning curve and this is what I’ve learned so far.

On running and podcasting:
1) Clarity of speech is proportional to speed and exertion. The faster you go the harder you are to understand.
2) Lapel microphones are extremely touchy. Therefore I don’t use one!
3) The amount of background noise dictates the quality of the podcast.
4) Weather controls background noise. i.e. Rain, Wind, even rain slick streets
5) You’ve got to enunciate!
6) Notes or cue cards help to keep you on track.
7) People look at you funny when you appear to be talking to yourself.
8) It is harder to run and record on trails than on roads.
9) It is hard to understand a person running uphill.
10) Trails produce better sound quality than roads.

On podcast production:
1) The amount of time you want to spend editing increases proportionately with the quality of the product.
2) It may not be rocket science but there is a science to producing quality. Experience counts!
3) The closet makes for a great sound room.
4) The tiled floors and hardwood floors do not make great sound rooms.
5) A script although initially hard to follow, takes a lot of practice and keeps you on track.

I’ve learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. I plan to take my podcast all the way to Ethiopia and my first Ultra. So you’ll see a few less blog posts and more podcasts. Stay tuned.

Check it out I'm searchable on iTunes and there is a link in the title subject line to my Podbean feed.

My New Shoes

2008-04-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Shoes are always fun to buy. I am relentless at trying to find a good deal. My wife an I did some power shopping in Boca Raton down in Florida. Actually the mall we went to was about 45 minutes away. We were told that Sawgrass Mills Shopping Mall is like the third largest attraction is south Florida next to Disney World and Universal Studios.

There was 270 shops in all and I was on a hunt to find a new pair of Trail Shoes for the summer. My last pair did me well, Montrail Continental Divide. The only problem was my trail runs are half trail and half road and I wore out the outsole really quickly in my last pair.

The Salomon XT Wings are advertised as the perfect match to my needs. I read all the reviews. TrailRunner Magazine, Runners World, and even a few local ones all of them said the outsole was geared toward a bit of both.

So I found some for just under $110 in a discount shoe store. I couldn’t resist them they looked just like the picture in the ads in the magazine. You know the ones where they include an excerpt from some trail description of a badass race like Western States or Miwok 100.

Now after bringing them home, I’ve been wearing them around the house trying to get use to the funky lacing system. Thin Kevlar lace and a lace lock then you have to tuck the excess into a flap. The first couple of times I wore them too tight and the tops of my feet hurt from the pressure of the laces. Now you kind of have to remember how tight to pull and lock it into place.

The other thing that may take some getting use too is the pronation control feature. This translates into a soft arch support. I haven’t run in them yet but I’m worried the ‘arch support’ might rub a bit.and eventually cause blisters.

I wear them from the time I get home to the time I go to bed and they feel awesome. They literally fit like a glove.

I’ll keep you posted on how they do on the trail/roads.

I know why God gave us Trail Shoes

2008-04-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I resumed my quest for ultra distance by hitting the trails. I had to take a momentary hiatus from the trails because of that darn Daylight Savings Time. A few months ago it was great I would start my runs in the dark run for an hour and hit the trailhead at sunrise. Then daylight savings time comes around and BAM it’s dark for another hour. So I went long on the roads for a while, then I got sick, then I went to Boca Raton and now I’m back at it.

My new long run starts out on the roads (as do all my runs). I run for about 5 ½ miles and I hit the trailhead at Bear Mountain. Bear Mountain is the local mountain biking downhill. It has its steep moments and the overall elevation gain is about 600 to 700 feet.
Some of the areas are washout from the spring runoff. It is those areas where I now appreciate a good trail shoe not so much for the ankle support or the toe protection but the stiffer sole that allows you to cruise over rocky surfaces.

I topped out after a mile or so and decided to look around. There is a whole network of fire roads that I have to explore. I wanted to keep my miles below 12 this run as it was my first long run in awhile. On the way down all the uneven surfaces slowed me down more than normal in my road shoes. I tended to roll over a bit more in my road shoes too.

Once back on the road it was the weirdest feeling to have your very flexible sole on a flat surface. The run ended up being 15 and change, so much for keeping it under 12. But at least I discovered new ground to cover. I think I’ll break in my Salomon’s on this trail.

All I have to do figure out how to attach my Nike+ Sensor to my Kevlar Laces. Duct Tape?

Vision Quest

2008-04-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

I remember hearing about some native ritual from long ago whereby young men as passport to manhood are deprived of food and water and sent out to the wilderness alone. They starve and thirst and achieve a heightened sense of awareness and gain better focus on what is truly important or they die in the wilderness. They call it a Vision Quest. Tough love!

I believe the turning point or epiphany the young man observes has a lot to do with the deprivation of the normal, the material and survival goods that surround his everyday life.

For me this past week was full of epiphanies, if that’s possible. I’ve gone on week long business trips without family but I always have my running. You see I’m a runner. Running makes me normal. On my runs I find solace. On my runs my head become clearer thinking. So when I don’t run I go through several stages much like hunger. To take running away from me makes me less than normal. On the first day I yearn for it and miss it. On the second day I get cranky and pretty miserable to be around. On the third day I’m kind of weird almost like a constant confusion, a daze if you will. And that’s usually the most it ever goes because injuries are rare, sickness only last a few days and I’ll run on the cusp of recovery. Day Four never comes, I have never walked into the wilderness.

My company as a reward for the past years performance take the top ten reps on an all expenses paid trip to some plush resort. They then proceed to pamper said employee and their spouse to a weekend of decadence. This year I was so lucky to attend the weekend in Boca Raton, Florida.

This past week, as I said was full of epiphanies. Our whole family, even Nana was sick with a respiratory infection. Everybody went on some form of antibiotic, me being a mediphobe (fear of medication – my term) did not take any. So for three days I didn’t run. I was on the cusp of recovery, Day Four, when our trip to Boca Raton was scheduled. I walked into the wilderness on my Vision Quest.

Because of the time difference, jet lag, and social networking I didn’t run for the duration of the trip. I had a short 40 minute bout on a treadmill but treadmills just don’t count. By this time I was on day 5 of my Vision Quest.

My first epiphany was more of a point of clarity. The realization that my wife means everything to me became clearer than ever. We talked like when we first met, we hung out like we were the only two people in the World. We didn’t fight or argue. On the other end of the continent was our world, we were in the wilderness. We could survive and communicate and love each other without being entwined in our world. The epiphany part is that sometimes because of the daily routines and fast paced schedule of raising children, holding down a job to pay the mortgage and feed the kids. The romancing takes a back seat or at least sits in the side car on the motorcycle of life. With some people it’s lost altogether and never noticed until the kids are gone and there is no mortgage. But for us this trip reinforced our bond, our love.

I just wish it could be that way more often. I see glimpses of it in the twenty or so minutes between the time the last child goes to bed and we go to bed ourselves. Seeing that glimpse now makes me smile like it never use to.

I’m back running again. Vision Quest completed. Things are normal again, I have just gained greater focus.

I hope all of you who read this blog someday get a chance to get epiphanies like I did.