On My Way To Miwok...

Wow, what an interesting, busy, eventful, and somewhat scary week leading up to my departure to San Fran! I'm currently in the airport trying to catch up on things before we fly out at 7am. I moved into my new place over the last few days and as to be expected I was without any internet service, which in and of itself is a little torturous these days.

Where to begin, well let me just say that I am incredibly excited to run Miwok in 24hr time. With a 5:40am start time I'll be exactly 30min into the most competitive solo event of my life tomorrow! They will hopefully post updates and race results shortly after the race and you can check this website to see how I have fared: MIWOK 100

So after a long week of moving, my Montrail Canada teammates and I departed North Van at 4:45am this morning. My new place is finally coming together with my bedroom now set up, the bathroom good to go, and the kitchen looking organized. My living room / dining room however still resembles a factory warehouse. One step at a time I guess.

I landed what could only be considered a steal of a deal within the North Vancouver housing market, and could not believe my good fortune in doing so. On Tuesday afternoon I had finally managed to relocate most of my belongings to my new place from my old stomping grounds of Squamish...I'll miss ya Squamish!

I've always resided in smallish towns/cities, having grown up in Mt. Pearl Newfoundland with a population of 30,000 people. From here I moved to Banff Alberta and then to Canmore, again fairly small tourist towns. After a few years of travel I ended up in Whistler, Pemberton and finally Squamish which has just 15,000 residents. I love a small town atmosphere, where you have all the amenities, a city within close range, and can get to know most of your immediate demographic within the community. I have always said that I love small towns because crazy people can't hide out there. The crazies tend to stand out too much and seem to need a larger environment to blend in and feel normal. North Van is officially the first large city that I have ever lived in, and it has not disappointed as of yet...

I had been in my new place all of fifteen minutes and had literally just dropped the last box upon the floor. I was about to change into my running gear as a friend was swinging by to help initiate me onto the local trail scene. As I was about to change my shirt I heard a HUGE WHUMP against a wall. I paused and thought, huh, almost sounds like my door...then WHACK...SHIT, that is my door! Roxy, who normally barks at every single scratch upon the door had already cowered in the corner. She was trying to get familiar with her new pad and was acting pretty timid as it was.

WHACK, WHACK, WHACK

I quickly made my way towards my entrance but before I could make it there my front door came flying open! There was a half crazed man crouched over a shopping cart and breathing heavily like a raging bull, anger emblazoned across his face, with a hint of a snarl at the lips. He was in his mid to late 40's, at least 200 pounds, wearing glasses, and now staring me down in my own apartment while brandishing a shopping cart as a battering ram!!

The pure shock of it all overwhelmed me,

"WHO THE F#$K ARE YOU!!"

He shot back that I was the guy who had been knocking on his door all the time. I simply looked at him and yelled,

"WHAT THE F$%K ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"You called the cops on me didn't you!"

"I'VE BEEN LIVING HERE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES ASSHOLE! WHAT THE F$#K IS WRONG WITH YOU!!"

This continued for a couple of minutes, with me screaming profanities and this guy getting continually more and more confused. Eventually the neighbor across the hall came out as I was threatening to have this guy evicted immediately, not that I knew anything about anyone at this point in time. He refused to tell me his name, or his unit number, and then casually walked down the hall and into his home...he was my immediate next door neighbor!!!

I was still in complete shock at what had just occurred, and like my friend eventually said, I don't even think people would believe that story! I eventually found Roxy hiding in the back and she immediately jumped on me while whining and needing some serious comforting to calm down. She had not seen me loose it like that before and I wonder if that is what scared her more than anything? I called the housing authority, filed a complaint, my friend showed up and we went for a trail run to burn off some steam and really digest what had just transpired! Roxy, needless to say, was glued to my leg as we departed my building.

As it turns out, I actually do live next door to a crazy man, who is on meds and happened to forget to take them. Apparently he had an issue with the previous tenant, who I was told was evicted...not so sure about that anymore. This guy, who I'll refer to as Psycho Phil for arguments sake, had an issue with his previous neighbor and could not distinguish me from a hole in the wall. I have since been assured that this has never happened before, nor will it again...time will tell I guess. Either way I do have a nice new pad, and as long as Psycho Phil stays on his meds I think I will continue to believe that! I have stashed my fire extinguisher by the front door just in case, as I've always wanted to unload one upon someone before. So if Phil pays me a visit again he'll be eating fire foam for at least a week!

Hey, some neighbors bring cookies and cake to say hi, others simply smash your door in with a shopping cart. Either way at least he was nice enough to introduce himself!

I'm in San Fran right now as it's been a long day of travel, stress, over thinking things and trying to relax. I've never competed in a 100k before so it leaves a bit up in the air for me. I know I have over packed my food stores, but better too much than too little.

San Fransisco has proved to be an 'interesting' place so far. I was here once before in 06 and loved my short lived experience. Today however my Montrail Canada teammate Ryne Melcher was sitting right in between a bus brawl between a bunch of thirteen year olds! The moon must be closer to the West Coast than it normally is!

I hit up the Whole Foods grocery store about an hour ago, which stocks primarily organic, wheat, and gluten free foods. I was floored when I found a gluten free beer for just $8.00 per six pack. I've never tried this stuff before because in Canada it averages about 20.00 per...two beers in and I should probably save the rest for the post race celebrations...it did help calm my nerves though!

GR

P.S. Mom and Dad, I'm fine, really, don't freak out about Phil, I'm sure he only smashes a door in once every 6-8 months!

Suburban Rush Sprint Adventure Race Report

The Suburban Rush Adventure Race, which Todd and I would be competing in as a team of two, was amazingly salvaged for us the night prior by a rather random act on my part. I was thinking about the race, and guessing (completely ignorantly) that the terrain would be easier, flatter and faster than most AR's that I had done. With this in mind I proceeded to my mountain bike and decided to up the tire pressure, which I really never, ever touch. I put an additional 10psi in each tire and went about putting together the rest of my gear and hitting the sack for the night. When I was loading my bike onto my car the following morning I was greeted with a flat rear tire. Weird I thought, but whatever, I could replace the tube in Port Moody before the event.

Once we arrived at the race start area we went about fixing the flat when Todd noticed that I had a torn sidewall, which is a gash in my actual tire that leaves a hole in it and exposes the enclosed tube! Todd went to work slicing up the old tube and with the ever handy roll of duct tape created a band-aid for my bike. This is pretty standard in this type of situation, but the tire was now compromised and could blow another tube much easier. Todd was confident in his repair and I pretty much forgot about it as there was nothing else I could do now anyways. Had I not inflated my tire the night prior, the tube would not have popped in advance, and we would surely be left dealing with this at some point during the race itself. Being a shorter event of around 30km, it would have all but ended our chances at a top finish. I was very thankful for the randomness of my action and my complete misconception of what this race would entail!

Todd and I had both agreed that The Suburban Rush Adventure Race was a beginners A.R. and that we didn't quite feel right about going out to race and try to win the event. It wasn't until we learned that our Helly Hansen Vancouver Island counterparts Justin Mark and Jeff Reimer were making the trip over that we started to give the race serious consideration.

I know Todd would confirm, that after enjoying an incredible and challenging race yesterday, we were both wrong, very wrong in fact, in every single one of our assumptions about The Suburban Rush! As a testament to this statement, the race, as always, had sold out at 200 racers with many more left wanting in from the outside.

Everyone was treated to the nicest day of the entire year with temps getting up in the high teens, not a cloud in sight and for the first time in awhile, no wind. For a sprint race where we guesstimated our time to be around 2hr, we wanted to get a warm up in as redlining right off the start, and from scratch on the day can create an overload of lactic acid in a hurry. We decided to bike up to the bike drop and run back down, plus I was able to get Roxy a pre-race run and since it was a flagged course we could legitimately see what was in store for us on the run. As we were running down I turned to Todd and commented on what a great climb this was going to be and how it was already shaping up to be a tougher course than I had envisioned.

We got back down with 15min to spare, but after I fumbled about for a bit, changed my clothes and subsequently lost my bib number, Todd and I ended up sprinting through traffic to barely make the official start as they were counting down. For the record here, my watch said I still had 3min to spare Dean! (which of course means my watch is five minutes slow)

The race started and with our heart rates already racing Todd and I worked our way to the front of the pack. We knew that a good 25min straight uphill climb awaited us, and with our race plan centered mainly around the other HH team we figured we needed to gain a lead on the run as they are both very solid bikers. Todd and I hit the transition with about a 1min lead and were departing just as Helly Hansen Vancouver Island started to change into their biking gear.

Even after almost a half hour of uphill running our climbing had just begun. We seemed to match this elevation gain again on our mountain bikes. As Todd and I followed the flagging up the never ending climb we came to a major intersection that was all of a sudden devoid of any flags or flagging tape. In a bit of a panic we turned back around and doubled back to our last know flag, which temporarily looked like it could jut off in another direction. This cost us our 45sec lead and with HHVI knowing the area fairly well they hit the intersection, cut left, and were gone. Todd and I did not want to make any hasty decisions as we've seen all too often what an ill timed decision can lead to. Once the next team of two caught up to us, who ended up being the winners of the previous two editions of S.R. we realized that we did indeed need to take the left, and once again continue climbing.

We went to work trying to catch up to the now lead team of HHVI and managed to close the gap as we came into a short 'off the bike to run to a CP n back section'. The Suburban Rush course was covering some similar terrain to Diez Vista did just a few weeks prior. In my two runnings of the Diez course I had yet to see a single view. As we grabbed this out n back CP I was startled to see how incredible the scenery around the area was. No wonder the D.V. is such a renowned course! It made much more sense to me now as otherwise I just figured it to be a super tough 50k trail!

After this we were finally riding some downhill terrain and I started to feel bad for Todd as there were pretty large strewn rocks all about. I was getting bucked around on my full suspension, yet Todd still rides a hardtail bike! (he assures me that his new full suspension in in the mail) I was very impressed at Todd's ability to keep a decent pace over this terrain as I personally would have either bailed or submitted to the constant bashing on the body to act as the main shock absorber!

From here we hit up some sweet single track riding and HHVI managed to distance themselves from us again as the terrain was rough and did not lend itself to hardtail riding. Once we hit the more open and faster section of the bike leg we hammered on the pedals to try and once again close the gap. The bike leg lead us into what was listed as a bushwhack, but was 90% on packed runnable trails. We arrived before HHVI were able to depart and with a quick transition managed to catch and pass them within a few hundred meters of running. As a foursome we all blew right past the first CP, which was hanging off to the side of the trail. We were under the assumption that the CP's would be on the main route and it was not until we ran back down an embankment that we were able to determine that we had to backtrack. HHVI had continued past us and stopped a few hundred meters down the trail. We yelled at each other and indeed confirmed that neither of us had found the CP. Todd and I decided to turn around, while HHVI continued on with the intention of snagging the missed CP on the way out.

As Todd and I ran back up hill to find our first CP on the trek we were passed by the previous years winners, sporting the 'leaders yellow jerseys'. At this point I recognized one of the racers from a random training encounter in Wash State in 06 and immediately knew that there was now a solid three way battle for the lead happening.

Once Todd and I realized that the CP's were somewhat hidden Todd went into his 'superhuman dialed into the maps mode' and I knew that we were in a position to make up some serious time on the other teams,

"Let's be the first back to the bikes Todd, we can win this thing out here right now!"

With the exception of one additional CP that we overshot and dropped about forty five seconds searching for, the stage went like clockwork and we ran a solid pace back to the bike transition. A quick scan allowed me to see that everyone elses bikes were still in place and we made out of there like bandits in the night trying not to be spotted from any potential teams coming back into the transition area behind us.

Once up the hill and around the corner I figured there to be about thirty minutes of racing left, and knew that barring any serious issues or cramping, that we should be able to maintain our lead.

Todd faced some minor cramping issues that did not seem to slow him that much and I prayed that my torn sidewall would continue to hold. We bombed down some nice open flowing single track and upon reaching the finish area has to crawl under some netting to cross the line in 2h08m and claim the 2008 Suburban Rush win!

The 2007 winners crossed the line about ten minutes later and Justin and Jeff of HHVI claimed third. The day had only gotten nicer and we all enjoyed the social atmosphere and incredible weather.

Suburban Rush is a top notch adventure race. The organization was second to none, the volleys, as always, were amazing and the energy around the event superb. We had a stellar day and after heading in with so many misconceptions about this race we were both happy to have educated ourselves a bit better and opened up our eyes to another staple event on the adventure racing scene in B.C.

Thanks to Dean Wutke, Shawn Leclair, the entire Suburban Rush crew, and Bryan Tasaka of Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing as he was the one who constantly told us that we were completely wrong in our assumptions and insisted that we come out and try it for ourselves. I'd also like to thank Cap's Westwood Cycle for their very generous prizing donations, along with all other sponsors as well of course! Todd will vouch for the fact that we had some incredible customer service at Cap's Cycle. My brain was shutting down and I was surprised at how tired I found myself after the event. I created what could only be described as the longest and most confusing transaction in the history of retail, and the girl behind the till handled it all in stride and with an actual genuine smile upon her face. I personally would have snapped on someone attempting 1/2 of the mess that I had created!

Six days till Miwok, thirteen till MOMAR, fourteen till the hangover of the year for me!

GR

Fresh Legs, What A Treat!

I just got in from a really nice 45m sundown run here in Squamish. It was 'really nice' cause there was zero pressure to run a certain distance, a certain pace, or a certain elapsed time. I was about to strap my watch to my wrist when I realized that there just was no need to bring it along this time. I put it down, left the house, was on the trail in five seconds as per usual, and simply ran how I saw fit to.

I only really needed to get my feet moving so as to keep everything in working order until next weekend. It never ceases to amaze me how my body often seems to seize up as much or even more from inactivity as it does from pushing myself through big training weeks. Either way I felt great and decided to run a really good pace on a flattish 45min circular route. I honestly have not felt this fresh in months, in fact I spent most of my run trying to remember the last time I felt so good, and I traced it back to February's Yeti Snowshoe Race on Mt Seymour, way back on Feb 2nd...almost three months ago! Albeit this was the race where I finally pushed my calves over the edge and ended up unable to run for a full month thereafter, nonetheless my legs were fresh, I was climbing strong and I had my best snowshoe race to date.

Something else that certainly was not hurting my running tonight was that almost a months worth of stress was completely relieved yesterday afternoon with four simple words,

"You've got the place."

I kindly held the phone away from my mouth as I went into a spastic celebration for a few minutes. Once I returned the phone to my ear I heard the very stoic German gentleman who I had to go through to get this unit laughing out loud! I can't believe how fortunate I was to have found such a great apartment as it truly is by far the best unit I was able to locate in a full month of searching. The German guy, who's name is Roland, took a liking to Roxy right from the start and actually made a few exceptions for us. Roxy is no longer 60 pounds (of pure muscle), she is 25, and her bread is no longer Husky - Sheppard (or Doberman, still not quite sure on this), it is officially MIXED. I ain't asking questions, that's for sure, just give me the keys and you'll never hear a peep out of us!

I'm going to hit up an early morning road ride before embarking on one of my final commutes to North Van...I may even take the time to enjoy the drive this time!

I noticed the following quote at the bottom of an e-mail my Dad sent me. I could not find who wrote it, but it did strike a cord. I have been fortunate enough throughout my travels to have seen first hand that I made a difference in a few people's lives with some well timed words from the heart, and have indeed had this come back to me as well. You really never know what someone else is facing in their lives, and all too often we, me included of course, can forget this.

Be kinder than necessary. Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.

GR

Some Pics and Vid From 6hr Run

Pictures are worth a thousand words right? Here's my 6,000 word recap of my training run this weekend!

Weather not looking so pretty down towards Van and Vic!

Looking pretty damn sweet in Squamish though!

I ended up on a completely new trail and came across this rock wall memorial. It was kinda freaky to just stumble across, but someone obviously put a ton of work into it!

Ten minutes later and we came across this old collapsed cabin on a secluded lake. I think Roxy is sizing up a squirrel for lunch!

A few hours after the cabin and we were on some typical 'old school' B.C. trail work, Roxy was not only posing, but leaning to one side so as not to block the tree stairs behind her!

After 6hr of running Roxy was asleep before her head hit her pillow! In case some of you may think that is just too much running for a dog, of course I bring along a meal for her to eat mid way, and she woke up on Sunday and was dying to go again! This dog is a machine!!



A short video of the gorgeous views we had on the day.

GR

The Countdown Is On...

Just ten days to go till my first ever 100km ultra run! I got my bib number in the mail today, two ninety nine, two ninie nine, two dolla ninie nine cent...I like it, and for no real reason other than the fact that I can now say my race number is two ninie nine!

I put in the longest training run of my life on Saturday, a solid 6hr with over 6,000 feet of climbing. The best part was that I only seemed to feel stronger as the hours ticked away and I am definitely feeling fit and ready to rock it down at Miwok! I can't wait to board that plane to San Fran next weekend!

Saturday night involved getting together with a few buds for some UFC 83 action, which was also followed up by some drinking and partying. I justified it by dragging my ass outta bed on Sunday to log a great paced 2.5hr run in Deep Cove and a 1.5hr road ride in Squamish. Oh yeah, and all that snow that was forecast for Saturday...well it snowed in North Van, it snowed in Whistler, hell it even snowed in Victoria...but in Squamish, not a single flake! That strong northerly wind that is ever present in Squampton at this time of year seemed to keep the rough weather at bay and although a ridiculously windy day, I seemed to be the only one of my running friends that got off with a long run on nothing but sweet single track!

Monday night was a nice, fun 45min run. It was supposed to be 1.5hr but after I noticed that I had a nail in my car tire, and that it was flat, I had to cut the run in 1/2 and deal with the issue at hand.

Today was another great but windy day and I managed to hang onto the rear wheel of my riding friend Dwayne Kress for 2.5hr...well I held his wheel for 2hr, then my legs went POP, you're on your own now, and I glided home to watch the game seven NHL action.

Todd and I have decided to race The Suburban Rush this coming weekend, which is a short course adventure race with winning times of about 2hr. The course is completely flagged with ZERO navigation, and fellow Helly Hansen racer's Justin Mark and Jeff Reimer will be competing. With no nav to give us an advantage this will be a tough and fast barn burner of an event...game on!

That's it for this posting, just a quick update on some stuff without too much depth...not a single word of what was dreamed up during my latest runs and rides! It's bedtime for me.

GR

The Blah Blah Blahs

I'm definitely suffering from a low of energy this week and unfortunately my training has been compromised. I have a few big days planned this weekend with Saturday consisting of a 6hr run + 3hr ride, and I'm just trying not to bury myself before this. The forecast isn't helping one bit, with everything from rain to snow to sleet making an appearance on the evening news lately.

I'm feeling the pressure of having to find a place to live in North Vancouver for May 1st...yup, as much as I love Squamish, the time has come to make the big move. Work awaits and there are absolutely no serious options for me in Squampton. Since I no longer own a home there it makes absolutely zero sense to torture myself on a daily basis with the 2-2.5hr return commute along the Sea To Sky Highway.

There seem to be plenty of places for rent, but amazingly enough, considering B.C.'s dog population, dog friendly housing is very hard to come by. I have only managed to make it to one home showing out of four, as the other three called me in advance of our apts to let me know they had found renters already, and we're talking within the first hour of hosting an open house! It was all summed up best when last night I had an apt to look at a 'bright and spacious' two bedroom (I have options of friends to share a unit with if need be) just down the street from North Shore Athletics on Lonsdale. It was comical for as I pulled up in my vehicle four others simultaneously converged and all of us entered together. We all shared a look of shock at entering what could only be described as a run down crack house...and all for the low, low monthly cost of just 1200 dollars plus utilities!

I managed to get up at 6am this morning and squeeze in a really good 1hr run before embarking on my 1h15m drive to work. The positive of the day was that I actually checked out an incredibly nice single bedroom dwelling this afternoon (incredible of course being a relative term at this point in time), and am hoping to hear in the next few days if Roxy and I have 'won the lottery' with this one.

I did not realize the toll everything was taking on me lately until I awoke at 4am on Tues morning completely covered in sweat! The only time in my life that I have ever experienced this has been while fighting a fever and the flu. I did not feel sick at all and was completely shocked and confused. My alarm was set for 6am that day so as to hit up the gym before my commute, but when the beeps sounded I didn't move an inch. If I was on the verge of getting a cold or the flu I certainly was not about to do anything stupid and help it along! I haven't felt bad since, just continually tired, which I guess is normal given the circumstances.

I was supposed to pull a double run today, having scheduled a 90m session tonight, but without a training partner to fall back on, I managed to convince myself that it might not be the best idea right now. I'll hit up an early morning run tomorrow, fight the weather for 9hr on Sat, and again for 4hr on Sunday for a weekly total of 17hr, and then it's taper time...thank God it's taper time! I'm looking forward to the break, and assuming I can find a place to reside in the next few days I'm sure the lack of stress won't hurt a bit either!

GR

Bears and Bikers, Out Of Hibernation

What an incredible weekend we have just had here on the coast, 17-20 degrees and nothing but sunshine, the perfect weather to log some big days of training!

It's funny cause I tend to write these, what I would consider, incredible blog postings in my head while riding, and by 'incredible' I mean no spelling mistakes, subtle humor, and good punctuation. Then somehow between the moment where I am peaking on my cycling endorphins, and the end of the ride, I completely forget how to spell my own name. For a brief time during almost every ride though, I feel somewhat poetic. The same was true when I cycle toured Central America in 2003. I had a website back then called 'Poor Boy Travels' that I used to update with travel stories (unfortunately there was no such thing as a blog back then and I eventually took the website down as it was costing me 500 a year just to maintain), I would always end up with these incredibly fluent thoughts for my next travel story, then when I actually sat down to try and type it all out, five or six hours later, nothing. If they ever come up with some sort of thought to blog technology then the world will be mine, MINE I TELL YOU!! I have no idea where all that just came from, and at least 30% of it was true.

It's been eight days since my last blog posting, eight days since Diez Vista. I have hereby decided that from this day forth I will refer to my life as pre and post Diez. Today is officially eight days since Diez. Something I remembered while out running this week was the exact moment that I learned of the Diez Vista 50k trail race. It was Feb of 2004, I had just returned from Central America, moved to Whistler and decided to pursue endurance sports. I had also just learned of trail running and was browsing some shops on Broadway in Vancouver. I had no idea about 'trail running shoes' and had yet to officially run on trails as my initiation through the Club Fat Ass Mountain Highway Madness was still a few weeks away. In this one shop the person helping me pointed me towards the Montrail Diez Vista shoe (which later ended up being my first ever trail running shoe). I was unsure as to what to buy at the time and figured I'd wait and see what the other runners were sporting at this CFA run.

The gentleman helping me then asked if I intended to run the Diez Vista race?

"Oh, ah, yeah maybe, haven't heard of it before. I'm new to all of this."

"Oh, well the D.V. is a 50k race held annually in..."

I Immediately cut him off,

"Did you say 50k?"

"Yeah it's a 50k held in..."

"Ummm, no. No, no I don't think I'll be attending that race anytime soon!"

I pretty much backed out of the store thinking this guy was some sort of freak...which I guess explains the looks I tend to get from time to time now.

The last week has been a good one indeed. I was amazed at how well I recovered after Diez, in fact it was by far the best that I have ever, ever, felt after running an ultra. Normally I am stricken with what was aptly named by Mark Fearman as 'The Robbins Shuffle' for days after a big race, but this time I felt great. And this is not to say that I did myself any favors after this one either. Pre race started at 5am, post race finished at 4am the next day! I was flying high after such a solid run and decided to join some friends in Vancouver for some fun and festivities. Vodka Red Bulls anyone? Uh yeah, I'll take 15 please.

As if things could get any better I awoke on Sunday, after 4hr of sleep, without a hang over! I'm pretty sure I was still tripping on caffeine and decided to head back to Squamish instead of trying to fight for sleep any longer. Once home I grabbed a quick nap, enjoyed a walk with the dog and headed to a friends for a playoff pool. After another caffeine fueled evening, just to stay awake, I ended up at work on Monday having slept just 9hr since the damn race. Needless to say I slept like a baby that night!

The week was a good one for training as I managed 20hr and two days off. Here's the quick cap:

Mon: Off, thank god!
Tue: 1h30 trail run
Wed: 2hr Gym and power spin session, 4hr 'adventure biking' (about 2h30 of actual riding), 1hr trail run
Thu: Off, tired for some reason?
Fri: 1hr road bike, 1hr road run, yes on actual roads...it was weird!
Sat: 4hr run, 2h45 road bike, 1h30 mtn bike
Sun: 3hr mtn bike ride

The adventure biking was interesting to say the least. I had just finished up my gym session which consists of a one hour workout followed immediately by power intervals on the spin bike when I got a call from a few primarily downhill riding friends. We decided to head out for what was supposed to be two hours, maybe three. Four and a half hours later and I was scrambling to get home in time to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs! We did quite a bit of bush whacking while trying to locate different routes. My buddy Ian kept apologizing while Nick lead the way. I laughed, it was all to reminiscent of an adventure race for me to mind and I actually quite liked it! As we hit one of the final turns on a trail out at 'Cat Lake' I turned to the guys and said, you know apparently 'Alice Lake' is a short bush whack over that way somewhere.

"Oh yeah, let's do it!"

And with that we were constructing a downed tree bridge across a river and dragging our bikes through dense forest brush. I believe Roxy was the only one who truly enjoyed this section as she moved effortlessly and was leading the way for the first time all day! Eventually we did manage to pop out onto the trail around 'Stump Lake' and continued on our improvised route from there back to the cars. I thanked the guys for an eventful day, headed home in a hurry, turned on the game, sat there for five minutes, and decided to head out for a trail run. I was feeling great, and as I've learned over the years, you never know how you might feel, or what the weather may hold for you the following day, so I decided to go for it. After a quick hour on my feet I sat back and finally enjoyed the game. In the end I was glad I squeezed in that run because on Thursday I wasn't feeling it at all and took a somewhat guilt free day off of training.

Friday consisted of a 1hr ride before work and 1hr run afterwards. I had somehow managed to forget Roxy's leash...and my damn running shoes! I improved a leash with the auxiliary cord in my car and since I work at a running store, I decided to 'demo' a pair of shoes, hence the road run on the night. It's funny because I never, ever, run road as I'm in love with the trails, however, on this night in particular I was really thoroughly enjoying the road run. It was a beautiful evening and the sun was just starting to set over Vancouver. From my high point in North Van I was able to take in the entire sky line from numerous vantage points. I can't say enough about how much I love it here. Training never gets old when we are so spoiled with this incredible scenery and access to terrain.

Sat was to be my big day of the week, a four hour run followed by a four hour ride. I knew to be successful I needed an early start and hoped my motivation wouldn't wain throughout the day. Thankfully I was blessed with the nicest day of the entire year to date! The temps managed the high teens here in Squamish and even up to twenty in some lower mainland areas! Generally on a long run such as this I would take it fairly conservatively, but I was feeling really good so decided to go for it. I ran from downtown Squamish through Valley Cliff and out towards The Chief. Then up to Third Peak, which I had not done in awhile. It was soooo incredible up there. Roxy and I had it to ourselves and I sat there taking it all in for ten minutes, snapping pics and just generally loving life. On the run back down I was quickly reminded of the fact that it was indeed a sunny Saturday as what was obviously a tour group were strung out along the lower km of the climb. There were at least thirty people to negotiate, but I still manged a decent pace and some funny looks along the way.

After this 2000 foot climb and descent I headed out the forest service road towards 'The Powerhouse Plunge' and then decided to run it from bottom to top. I was surprised to have not come across a single rider, but I guess it was still somewhat early in the day. Once I crested this climb, of at least 1000 additional feet I knew I'd have a nice twenty minute downhill run ahead. As I crossed the 'Darwins' bridge at the exit to these trails I was greeted with the first 'hot spot' of the day, and I'm not talking about blisters. I lay in the sun by the river soaking it all in. The smells, the sounds, the warmth, it felt amazing to know that summer isn't that far off after all! Roxy chugged water from the river and we departed after a few minutes. From here is was out onto another gravel road that would lead me into a twenty minute downhill run, and this would be followed up by running the completely flat golf course trails back to my house.

As I was approaching the g.c. trails I knew that I would have to concentrate on my stride, as flat running is definitely my weakness. With Miwok now just a few weeks away, and a good portion of that race on flatter, runnable terrain, I was fully aware of the fact that my flat land turn over is more than likely going to determine if I have a good race, or a great race in San Fran. I spent the last thirty minutes of my four hour run trying to sustain as quick a turnover as possible. I started strong, but faded a little, then went into a somewhat detailed day dreaming scenario. I've always been able to train effectively as an individual because I am completely capable of convincing myself that my current day dream is relevant enough to believe at that moment in time. I put myself in San Fran, I put myself 10k from the finish line of the 100km Miwok run, and I put Scott Jurek within striking distance. Crazy maybe, but hey, whatever it takes right! This was all the fuel I needed and I quickly upped my pace again and truly felt as though I was running faster on the flat stuff then I had in a long, long time. I eventually caught and dropped Jurek....hey it's my daydream people...and held my solid pace right up until the last turn towards my house, at which point I walked it in. Roxy and I collapsed in unison upon the front deck, and neither of us moved for ten minutes. I think Jurek finished about three minutes behind me!!

After a ten minute rest and a thirty minute fueling session I was on my road bike and out the door again. I hit up Squamish Valley, Paradise Valley and then climbed up past Alice Lake. There were finally riders out enjoying the day, and after a 2h45 road ride I immediately grabbed my mountain bike to finish up my training session. I had ridden a good pace on my road bike throughout, as there was a steady head wind, and as I began on the mtn bike I was amazed that I still felt really good. I started back up the gravel road I had run down earlier, and back towards 'The Plunge'. As I was climbing I came across even more riders and honestly, for pretty much the first time this year, I was sharing the trails and roads with other people. Welcome back everyone, hope you enjoyed your hibernation! I have not come across a bear just yet, but a few friends have already.

I continued to push myself on the climb, even managing to catch and pass some other bikers. I bombed down The Plunge and headed into the Crumpit Woods trail area. At this point in time I came across the coolest thing I had seen in a long, long time (this one's for you Hannah). There were two people pushing their bikes up above me on the switchback trail and I could see that I was about to catch them. As I rounded the turn I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a girl, with a full air cast on here foot, out pushing her bike up the hills so that she could get in at least some form of a ride on the day!! I loved it. It made my day to see that and I simply turned to her as I biked past and said,

"THAT'S AWESOME! NICE WORK!!"

She replied with "It's too damn nice to be inside today!"

If she wasn't out with her apparent boyfriend I surely would have stopped to get her name...at least I know she would not have been able to out run me at that point!

I bombed down the rest of the 'Farther Side' network of trails and back to my place in 1h30m to punctuate a very solid 8h15m day of training. The highlight of my entire day though was seeing that girl out there pushing her limits and not letting anyone stand in her way. I'm sure that countless Dr. had told her that she needed to rest, I'm sure all her family members were telling her that she wasn't allowed to do such a thing, and when I rode past her boyfriend shot me that look that said, 'I tried to talk her out of this, so now I'm just here to make sure she doesn't do anything really stupid!'

It actually made me think back to my four years of racing, coming into all of this completely fresh in 2004. People seemed to doubt what I thought I could, and would accomplish in these sports. I had zero experience with anything endurance and as early as 2000 I was thirty pounds heavier than I currently am. However I got into racing with but one goal, to go as far as my mind would allow and to be as fast as my body would allow. After my first few MOMAR races with then teammate Mark Fearman, as 'The Bleeding Nipples' I remember talking with my good buddy Chad Fox here in Squamish. I told Chad that I was going to win these races eventually.

"How far back are you from the leaders right now?"

"Well...forty minutes in our first race, an hour and forty in our second."

"Oh, umm, going the wrong way there aren't ya?"

"I'm telling ya Foxy, I can catch these guys, I know I can!"

I did know it. Deep down inside I never doubted it for a second. It took a few years to get to that point, but in 07 Todd and I accomplished something that no one had ever done before, as we managed a full series sweep over the three MOMAR races.

There were many people along the way who did doubt what I could accomplish, and I'd even put Bryan Tasaka, MOMAR owner, as one of them. Bryan might not remember this as much as I do, but in my second season of racing and at the final MOMAR of the year in Cumberland I was coming off of the kayak stage having returned to the mainland.
I turned to Bryan and asked,

"Who's leading?"

His response with a laugh, "NOT YOU!!"

In Bryan's defense we had developed a rapport by that point in time and he was not being a jerk, but it was obvious that I thought I should have been doing better, and Bryan didn't see it that way at all. I ended up finishing 24th overall at almost 1h30 minutes behind the overall leaders. It was the last race of the season and I had lots of time to ponder what it was I really wanted to accomplish with my racing. It was blatantly obvious that my biking and paddling skills were piss poor and my running was all that was even allowing me to stay 'competitive' at all. I was faced with some choices, race adventure races recreationally, quite adventure racing and focus on running, or start actually training and focus that training on the biking and the kayaking side of things. My running would suffer, but my running base undoubtedly allow me to pick it up again if I were able to improve upon my riding and paddling. I took a few months away from things and then went about actually training for the first time in my life. I put in the hours on my bike and in the boat and sure enough in 2006 I finally had a few decent results. In Cumberland, just one year later, Mark and I won the team of two and finished third overall, less than a minute out of second and just ten from winning the entire thing. Mark and I had put in our time, and we were rewarded for it, plain and simple.

I feel like I have known a few things over the years that maybe I should have questioned more so than actually believing in them whole heartedly. Did I really know I would get to this point in my racing, or was it simply the fact that I believed in it so much that I MADE it happen?

Whatever the case, I believe that I KNOW a few more things that I will tackle in the coming years...and yes I would consider these things HUGE goals to attain! Again however, I do not doubt that as long as I continue to put in the time and effort, as long as I continue to make the necessary sacrifices, and as long as I stay focused on my goals, then I can not go wrong. IF in the end I fall short of some of these goals, then I have still managed to significantly enhance my life experiences along the way. Whether I finish 8th or 80th at Miwok, I'm still fortunate enough to be able to compete in one of the most scenic 100k runs in North America, and that in and of itself is what this game is really all about for me. To find the balance in life. To mix travel and racing, to mix work and play, to pursue what I am truly passionate about!

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and common sense."

BUDDHA


GR

Vindication, Diez Vista Race Report

(Roxy as a pup, I think D.V. 06 was her first race experience!)

So here is my memory of my previous Diez Vista experience in 2006. Super technical downhill section about an hour in. Long fast open running section in middle. Decent climb up another ridge to a soul destroying turn around up and down a gravel road with less than 10k to go. Completely blowing up like I did not even know was humanly possible and getting passed like I was standing still for almost an hour. Stumbling across the finish line in more pain than I had ever experienced while 'running' and honestly amazed that I was able to keep moving at all.
(me suffering across the finish line at D.V. 06)

Diez Vista 06 was still fresh in my mind as the absolute worst running experience of my entire life (well four years now), and I wanted nothing more than to get my revenge upon the course for inflicting so much pain and suffering upon me two years prior! I was lucky to have snagged a last minute entry from good buddy Ean Jackson and after picking up my A.R. teammate Todd Nowack in Lynn Valley at 6am, having myself crashed with good buddy Wade Repta in Vancouver the night before, we were off to Port Moody for the 7:30am start.

I had viewed the registered entrants in the days leading up to the race and noted such runner's as Darin Bentley, Aaron Pitt, and Americans Michael Sanders and defending champ Brian Morrison. My good buddy Aaron Heidt had told me that he intended to head down and attempt the last minute day of entry, and as I was to learn, he was not the only person with this plan in mind. Everyone who showed up for day of entry got in, and rightfully so as the drive to Port Moody and more specifically Sasamat Lake, is not exactly down the street for most people. As I was rushing around tending to last minute bathroom breaks, taking care of my drop bag, and then stressing over whether or not my shoes were tied to loosely I couldn't help but notice how many additional 'ringers' had decided to come out for the 50. Jason Loutitt was there along with Americans Matt Hart and Hal Koerner! This race had gone from being decently competitive to the most competitive ultra I was to have run on Canadian soil!

Hal Koerner won Western States last year, which is the premier 100 miler in the U.S. and internationally recognized. To win this race is to solidify your name amongst the best in the sport. Brian Morrison had won Diez in 07 and came as close as you possibly can to winning Western himself in 06, having collapsed just a few hundred meters shy of the finish and being DQ'ed for receiving assistance across the finish line. He had a twelve minute lead on second place at the time, so undoubtedly he is another trail animal. Matt Hart is a good friend from down the coast and has been chalking up solid running results for over a year now while competing on the U.S. Montrail Ultra Running Team. Jason Loutitt has competed for Canada in the world Mtn Running Championships and was recently crowned National Snowshoe Champ. Aaron Heidt is a former University track runner turned trail runner who had set new course records on all but one of his races in 07. Darin Bentley has run on the Canadian 100k team for years and holds numerous course records himself, and fellow Montral Canada team runner's Aaron Pitt and Ryne Melcher are always strong as well! I was in shock as I looked around and started wondering how far back I'd end up finishing on the day. For a brief moment I contemplated changing my race plan, then reminded myself that I was competing against the course and not any runner in particular. I had come into this race with a plan, and I was going to stick to it from start to finish, no matter how tough that might be to do!

The race started and Jason Loutitt quickly began to distance himself at the front of the pack. I though this was great because I had no intention whatsoever of going out with the lead group and was hoping some of them might tear each other apart while fighting for the lead. My plan was simple, I was going to start conservatively over the first climb, open up a bit on the first major downhill, concentrate on keeping a good tempo through the flatter mid section of the course, put in a solid but controlled effort on the last significant climb, and effectively safe myself for the final two huge descents into the finish. This is where it all fell apart for me in 06 and I watched fellow Club Fat Ass runner Colin Freeland put ten minutes into me in the final 4k alone! I knew that if I could just stay smart, and keep my legs fresh for this last stage of the race that I'd end up with a solid result out there.

The leaders were gone in no time and I was cruising along somewhere around 15th for the first 40 minutes. As I crested the first big climb I knew that the most technical section of the entire 50k lay ahead over the next twenty minutes or so and that this was a good area for me to make up some time. I quickly distanced myself from the pack I had been running with and thought for sure that I'd catch the group ahead of me. As I am now growing accustomed to, I ended up in no man's land for the next few hours! At the bottom of this descent you are spit out onto a hard packed gravel road and although I did spot four runner's just up ahead, they quickly pulled away over the flats and I did my absolute best to limit those losses. I thought I would be caught from behind by at least one or two runner's and was continually running scared. Thankfully this was not the case and I felt confident that my pace was not causing me any great time losses to the leaders. About 1h40m in a volley told me that I was just over 5min back, which was way better than I had anticipated! I told myself that I had another three hours to make up that five minutes and to not get too excited. I kept telling myself, 'Just stick to your game plan Gary, just stay smart out here'. So far so good.

You can only tell yourself 'so far, so good' for so long before you really need to see another runner. I felt confident that my pace was good, I was feeling fresh and happy with how my race had unfolded up until this point, but I almost started to panic when I had gone so damn long without seeing another runner! Why wasn't I catching anyone? Was I pacing it too slow out there? Did I take a wrong turn? Shit, did I take a wrong turn?! The one big benefit to running solo is that it absolutely forces you to actively search out all the flagging tape on course, and after my three second panic attack I saw yet another pink ribbon and knew that this was not the case. I calmed down by reminding myself that I had not been caught either, and right about this time it happened, I heard the voices of the next group of runner's in front of me! There was a short turn back section in which the road was about fifteen feet higher than the trail I was currently on, I heard Matt Hart's voice and at that moment I knew I was sitting in a good position. So far so good...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it snowed on us out there! It was a nasty day at times and I was very happy for the fact that I had given my Helly Hansen Mars Jacket to Aaron Pitt's girlfriend Rowan who was taking care of our drop bags. As I came in to switch bottles I ripped off my second shirt and threw on my jacket over my long sleeve lifa. I had been getting chilled and I was very thankful to have that wind breaker for the remainder of the run. Thanks Rowan!

I'm also done with competing with music on. Chuckanut was the first race I had ever run with tunes and my ear buds actually died on me about 1/2 way into the race. Well I had replaced them and the issue of the day was the ear phone cord sticking out of my pocket just a bit too far and snagging on tree branches, which would then rip the ear phone out and leave a cord dangling in front of me. After struggling with this exact issue three times I tucked the damn thing into my pocket and eventually slammed it into the ground when I grabbed my bottle from Rowan at the aid station. I then went about singing two songs for the rest of the race. 'The Shadow Of The Day' by Linkin Park and 'Renegades Of Funk' by Rage Against The Machine. This is of course, completely random and useless information...back to the race report...

I was feeling good and knew that the last major climb of the race was not too far off. I finally caught up to Matt and was dismayed to learn that not only did he manage a wrong turn on course, but that an injury had flared on him and his day was looking like it was over. As I headed into the switch back climb that would lead into the out and back portion of the course I spotted fellow Team Montrail Canada runner Aaron Pitt. I started to pick up my pace to catch Aaron but quickly told myself to just chill. I was almost at the crux of the race, I had followed my personal race plan to a T up until that point and it did not make sense to deviate from that plan now. I wanted every once of energy I could spare for these exact trails on the return trip.

I eventually caught Aaron at the top of the trail and did not realize how much pain he was in. I later learned that he was dealing with a flared injury as well and was really toughing it out at that point. I looked up ahead and spotted Darin Bentley within striking distance. The timing of it all felt perfect and I knew I would learn shortly who was leading the race and exactly how much time they had on me.

I was surprised, but knew I shouldn't have been, to see fellow Squmiash runner Aaron Heidt leading the way! I glanced at my watch to time myself back to that exact spot. I pretty much hit the turn around aid station together with Darin Bentley and Brian Morrison!! I was pumped...but also wondering where the hell some of the other competitors were? I would later learn that unfortunately Hal Koerner also dropped due to injury and Jason Loutitt dropped after taking a wrong turn.

Brian had stopped at the aid station just ahead of me and departed immediately before I tagged it and turned. I was confident in my Carbo Pro 1200 and Thermolyte game plan and did not utilize a single aid station on course. Brian lead it out over the climb back up towards the last big downhill and I timed off Aaron Heidt's lead at just over six minutes (I was later told it was as high as 9 min at one point, of course you can never be sure of exactly how precise this info actually is). I am guessing the distance from here to the finish to be about 8km maybe?? Could I make up six minutes in that time frame? Could I overtake and hold off Morrison? Were my legs gonna allow me to hammer the last section like I had been dreaming of for two years now!?

As this was the out and back section we were also getting a feel for where the rest of the field was in comparison. I had put in a bit of a push to pass Morrison, managed a bit of a gap, and was now in 2nd place. As Aaron Pitt ran past he had a big smile on his face, as did I, and he simply said to me,
"Go get him dude!"

Todd was not far behind, but when I flashed a big smile at him he was somewhat unresponsive. I had no idea of how much he himself was suffering, but I thought he was still running decently well and in line for a solid top ten finish.

As I spotted the single track switch backs to my left I got excited, this was it, this was what I had been planning my race around, finishing up strong and letting loose over this portion. I popped back a few Thermolytes and leaned into the trail. As people climbed up the trail it only fueled me more to be getting the congrats from other runner's, as of course I shared right back with them. I saw Wade Repta and he could instantly tell that I was having the race of my life. We laughed a bit as I ran past and I started telling myself that I was gonna catch Aaron if it killed me!

At the bottom of this first big descent I glanced back to see that I had gained at least a minute over Morrison. I told myself that this was my race, this was my day, I was gonna make this happen, I was going to pull out this win. Right about that time Aaron's brother Kertis biked past. I had seen Kertis earlier in the race as well and know him through the North Shore Athletics snowshoe team this year. He looked at me and said,
"I think you're gonna catch him! You're looking strong and he's hurting! He's only a couple of minutes ahead!"
Aaron's own brother was challenging me to take him down, it was priceless! To learn that I had taken back half of that six minutes in such a short period of time only helped to quicken my pace. I had saved my final two Thermolytes for the last climb of the entire race. My legs were feeling it and I was just hoping they would hold up for the last 5k or so to the finish. I power hiked up and over the last ascent and knew that all I had left was a big fast downhill strewn with decent sized rocks, which makes it somewhat technical, and about 1k of flat lakeside running...oh yeah, and about thirty stairs! What masochist puts the finish line on the upside of a set of freakin stairs!!

I hammered down the road and was constantly hoping to spot Aaron just up ahead. Towards the bottom there are two wide open sections where you can see a few hundred meters ahead, and I though for sure that I'd at least catch a glimpse of him here...but nothing. Aaron is an amazing runner and I knew he was digging deep to take the win on the day. For a fraction of a second I slowed, telling myself that he had me, there wasn't enough course left, then I internally yelled at myself to wake up and continued to leave it all out there. As I came into the final km of the race I was told that Aaron was 2m10s ahead. I knew he had me, but it didn't matter for this was one of the best races of my life. I had run the smartest race of my 'running career' and that in and of itself felt incredible. I continued as heavy a pace as I could sustain along the waterfront, cursed the race director as I climbed the final stairs, and sprinted across the finish line just 1m03s behind Aaron for second place!! I screamed out in elation as I crossed the line in 4h22m50s! Miwok here I come baby!
(Thanks to Brad Dean for this pic)

Both Aaron and I had eclipsed the previous course record (although barely for me), which of course belongs to Aaron now, and I believe that puts him at four out of five in terms of trail races he's run, to course records he now holds! Obviously it sucks that some of the top runner's were forced to drop out for one reason or another and hopefully no one is injured for too long. I think it was awesome to see so many American runner's on the starting line and hopefully they will continue to see more Canadian runner's at their local races throughout the year!

Unfortunately Todd was at the finish waiting for me! He had bonked hard, and seriously rolled his ankle early on. He made the tough call to drop at the turn around aid station and he was still freezing cold when I finished. His ankle had flared so bad that when we later went for Sushi he could put no weight on it at all. Thankfully it sounds like it has subsided since Saturday and hopefully Todd will be back on his feet again right away!

My new Montrail Streaks were awesome for this race and I think I may race in them at Miwok as well. They are a lighter trail flat type shoe, so I may keep my Hardrocks in my drop bag in San Fran just to be safe. I found that they were a bit slick on the wet rocks and roots out there, but don't see how another shoe would have fared better in these conditions.

My nutrition:

-1x Carbo Pro 1200 (I actually didn't even finish the first 1/2 so maybe closer to 1000 calories here)
-8x Thermolyte Tablets
-1/3 Pack of Cliff Shot Bloks

This is even less that I consumed at Chuckanut! Thankfully, once again, and for just the second time, no cramps Ma!! There are many contributing factors to figuring out my specific nutritional issues in the last few years, allergy to wheat, sensitivity to milk and soy, etc. But it appears that the addition of an electrolyte tab such as Thermolytes has been the final key to the puzzle for me and has finally helped me to bring it all together this year. To race without cramping is completely new to me and something I could definitely get used to!!

More pics to come in the next few days as they become available and full results here.

GR

My Lame Blog Posting

I wanted to post something today before heading into Diez Vista this weekend, well here it is:

I'm freakin exhausted, I tried biking for 3hr today and only got through 1hr before calling it and I have absolutely zero energy right now. I truly did not realize how spent I was until I was WALKING my dog and found myself to tired to even carry on a cell phone conversation with my family back in Newfoundland. In the last seven days I managed just shy of 23hr of training, as I was trying to free up a day and a half of recovery before my 50k on Sat...I think my body finally demanded a break today. And I'm not about to sandbag here and start making pre race excuses because I still have two sleeps to go and I honestly think I'm going to have a solid race on Saturday. Either way though, I'm all blogged out. Wish me luck.

GR

A Funny Vid, Not That I'd Ever Actually Eat At Rotten Ronnies!

Find more how to and instructional Tricks videos on 5min.com

New Shoes, Possible New Speed Record??

Last weeks training during my recovery week, 15.5 hours

Sun 30th: Mtn Bike 1h30m with hill intervals thrown in.
Sat 29th: Mtn Bike 3hr, Road Bike 1hr, Run 3hr (always running on trails!)
Fri 28th: Road Bike 1h15m, Run 1h15m
Thu 27th: Off, I get two rest days on a recovery week, yeeaah!!
Wed 26th: Gym 1h, Power on Spin Bike 1hr
Tue 25th: Run 1h45m, Spin Bike 45m
Mon 24th: Off

Yesterday, Monday March 31st, my life changed forever...I finally received my brand new Montrail Streaks and damn I was EXCITED!!! I hit up some trails in North Van after work with running teammate Rune Melcher to test these babies out. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that when I first walked on the pavement with these suckers, it felt like there was gum on the bottom of my shoe. The new tread is amazing, and the shoe weighs next to nothing! I used to love the Montrail Masai and have been missing it ever since they discontinued it a few years back...finally Montrail have released not only an ample replacement, but a serious upgrade. This shoe is the bomb! We went for a good paced 1h15m run until the sun set on us and hit up some huge climbs and descents. I was in love...not with Rune, with ma new shoes dammit!!

Today was the day that I really wanted to put these babies to the test. They had eaten up the trails for breakfast, well dinner I guess but how would they fare on steep exposed rock? I headed out to run one of my favorite routes, the first peak of The Squamish Chief, which tops out at 610 meters or just over 2,000 feet. This route starts from just about sea level and I'd guess it to be about a 1,500 foot climb up a seriously steep grade. I put in a focused but somewhat uninspired climb, for I was out to test these shoes on the down side. My time to the top was 27m22s from the parking lot (about 1.5min from the start of the climb) and as it was a glorious day I spent about ten minutes up there snapping pics of Roxy and I...then I went to work.

I had been told by a climbing friend of mine that in a climbing publication it had listed the fastest known descent of 1st Peak to be right around 13min. I timed myself once this winter, with the top 1/3 of the route covered in snow, and managed just over 15min. At that point I realized that I wanted to grab this somewhat obscure 'record' at some point this summer. I hit my timer and bolted from the top section. There is still a very minimal amount of snow and ice, but just enough to keep someone from really opening up through two shorter sections. I had Roxy along with me and she is fine on all but one ladder. I had to stop, get her to sit, grab her like a child embracing my body, which she is completely used to by now, climb down the ladder and place her down again. I figure this process to have cost me about 20-25 seconds maybe? I didn't bother stopping my timer as I really didn't think I'd be on pace for 13 min on the day anyways. I was guessing maybe 14 if I really hammered the middle portion and kept solid footing the whole way down.
(Roxy and I striking our cool pose)
With each step down the steep rock faces, over the huge tree routes, and through the strewn boulders I gained more and more confidence in my shoes. I knew I was running strong and as I hit the final few sets of stairs I could not even hear the dog tags behind me anymore! I jumped down the final rock face, hit my timer and then sprinted for the parking lot. I was unsure as to where the 'official' time might stop, but I could only guess that it was be at the very bottom of the rock and not in the parking area itself.
(just kidding, we're not too cool for this pic!)

I quickly started scrolling through my watch data as Roxy finally caught up and looked at me as if to say,
"What the hell man? Like seriously, what the freakin hell!!" (insert Stewie Griffin voice of course)
14m17s to the parking lot...13m14s to the bottom of the rock!!

I was amazed! Now I'll actually have to try and track down this published info and give it another go, minus Roxy unfortunately, in the near future. It's my home turf, if there's gonna be a 'record' here, it's gonna belong to me!!

I was feeling great after this so decided to continue my run even though I was only 'scheduled' to run an hour on the day. I quickly drove to a trail head and continued on, at an easy pace, for an additional hour. I decided to explore an old trail that we did in a Sea 2 Summit adventure race in 2005, which I had not been on since, and quickly found myself lost in the forest! I kinda went in circles for an hour, but I finally linked up a few new routes in my head, so it ended up being a very beneficial exploration.

I capped off the day with a gym session, to really ensure that my legs are toasted for tomorrow, and am off to bed here right away. I have a big week as I am trying to load my hours early so that I can hopefully take Friday off of training and hit up the 50k Diez Vista (which the race director has ensured me is completely free of snow) with at least semi fresh legs!

Oh yeah, and my time is not an April Fools thing, and I must give some serious props to Bryan Tasaka of the MOMAR series for pulling one over on a handful of us this morning. For a very brief moment...actually I spent my entire run thinking about it before I learned of his trickery, Bryan had a group of us convinced that Ian Adamson and Michael Tobin, both legends in the A.R. scene, were flying out to compete in the Squamish MOMAR and give a presentation about Ian's brand new race coming this fall to Quebec. Check it out, Terra Traverse. Team Helly Hansen - MOMAR are still giving this one some serious consideration and our expedition schedule should hopefully fall into place in the next few weeks...all I'll say for now, is that it's looking pretty exciting if we can pull it all off!!

GR

Ride n Run, Rain n Sun

So after my struggles with getting through my workout on Wed I faced similar issues on Thursday. The flash snowstorm did nothing to help my motivation and I decided that I would take Thurs off instead of Sunday and rest up a bit.

Friday started off early with a 6am alarm to an incredible sunrise. Check out this shot taken from within my bedroom! Not hard to get going when you are greeted by days like these! I hit up the road bike with a friend for a 1h15m ride before commuting to North Van for work. After an 8.5hr shift I met up with fellow Montrail team runner Rune Melcher and we headed out for a 1h15m run with some intervals thrown in. I have not done intervals in longer than I can remember and I am finally realizing that these need to quickly become a weekly addition to my training. I actually love intervals, but unfortunately that damn calf was speaking to me again so we cut it short by one sprint session. In the car, back to Squamish and then to a benefit concert called 'SAMapalooza' for an hour, with all funds going towards HIV/AIDS relief in poverty stricken communities in Zambia. It was pretty much a high school party, but I knew some volleys so instead of just dropping off my donation I hung out and caught up with some friends, and even managed to 'win' some goodies on the silent auction table!

Today was the big training day for the week, 7hr split between riding and running. I stayed up late last night watching 'The Matrix' on t.v., as it's one of the best movies ever...even with Keanu Reeves in it! Seven hours later at 9am I was outta bed and planning my day. An incredibly blue sky lay before me and I initially intended to do my 3hr run first, but while having breaky I happened to catch the daily forecast and they were calling for cloud, rain, wind, and falling temps by late afternoon. It was hard to believe this while staring out the window, but in the last week alone we've had numerous days where it's gone from an incredible spring day to a full on snow storm and back within a few short hours, so I did not doubt their predictions. I have always found running in the rain much more 'enjoyable' than biking in it, so I reversed my plan and was out the door at 10am...a late start for sure, but as mentioned I couldn't not watch 'The Matrix'!!

I grabbed the mtn bike and managed a solid three hour ride while climbing three significant routes. Thankfully, even with these intermittent snow storms this week the trails are still clearing off nicely. I had Roxy with me so did not want to push her beyond the 3hr barrier while biking. She was right by my side the whole time and amazingly enough, seems to be full of energy again right now...damn super fit dog doesn't take any down time anymore!!

I then hopped on the road bike for an hour to make up my 4hr of riding for the day. As I hit my turn around on the ride, the weather did indeed change almost instantly. By the time I reached my home again I was freezing, it was windy, and the rains were looking like they would only get worse. Damn weather woman actually being right!!
(the nice weather on its way out)
I fueled my tired body for thirty minutes and headed out again, minus Roxy, for a 3hr run. I started slowly and honestly wasn't sure what to expect after my calves had flared on me less than twenty four hours previous, but as the minutes eclipsed I could feel that I was gonna be alright and slowly upped the pace. I again threw in some nice climbs and felt surprisingly strong so decided to run what I would normally hike on a long training day such as this one. I took one walking break around the 2hr mark and then decided to push myself for the remaining hour. The rains were picking up so the motivation to run faster was already there! I found myself on my back patio after exactly 2h59m of running and pretty much completely shattered from a solid day. It took me a good 45min to come around and if not for Hockey Night In Canada I probably would've lay down for a nap. Glad I did not as the Oilers managed to squeak out a mandatory victory to keep our playoff hopes alive.
(a rare shot of Roxy chillin, with her new roommate Marley)
Now however, it's bed time...if someone could just get this crazy dog to calm down. I'm seriously thinking about cutting her training hours here, before she becomes too fit for even my long days of training!

On another note, big congrats to all finishers at this year's Baja Travesia, especially the two DART-NUUN teams who after a hard fought battle decided to cross the line together to share the win. Lina Augaitis' team Yoga Slackers ended up finishing a solid 3rd, in a sprint finish! If you can believe it, after over three days of racing there were numerous sprint finishes. The race directors Karen Lundgren and Paul Romero of Team Sole did an incredible job this year and the online coverage was some of the best I've seen. I still find myself hitting up the site for updates...even though the race is completely over and done with! Todd and I are hoping to make it back to this race in 09.

GR

The Power Of Music

I'm on a bit of a blogging roll here lately eh!

I struggled to make it to the gym this morning for a 2hr workout and spin bike power session, as my motivation to do anything today was way down. I dragged my sorry butt there and literally walked into the gym and nearly turned straight around! I changed into my gear and told myself that no matter what I was gonna fight through this and put in at least a decent workout. I threw on the I-pod, cranked up some 'Rage Against The Machine', and went to work. Amazingly I started to come around and put in a solid one hour workout, but the spin session still remained. I looked at the bikes, then at the exit to the gym, then back to the bikes, then repeated this process three times. A full on mental battle ensued and although I knew there was no way in hell that I was leaving the gym without putting in all of my time, my mind was just not into it at all. I finally managed to change into my biking gear, crank up some 'Audioslave', and again surprised myself with a good effort. When I was finally free to leave the gym I felt even better than I normally do, because I fought through some very uninspiring moments today.

Motivation can be a funny thing and I often have conversations with people who can't understand how I can log 20+hr training weeks. These weeks are never easy or without issue, but for every mental stumbling block along the way that I conquer, I know I have made myself a better athlete in the process. The mind is a powerful thing and as they say, "The greatest distance you will ever cover in a race, is the one between your ears".

Time and time again I find myself delaying getting out there to do my run, my ride, or hit up the gym. If I'm meeting a training partner, I'm there, but if I'm on my own I can often waste time while over thinking what I'm about to do. I have realized over the last few years that these moments have made me who I am in terms of a competitive racer. Not once have I ever let these thoughts get the best of me and I always manage to get my time in, but I also understand how tough it can be for most people to put in their hours while battling these exact same issues. All I can say is this, I have never, ever, not one single time, regretted getting out for my training, no matter how crap the weather was, or how exhausted I may have been. These days, these low motivational moments, are what will define you in the end. Either you get over it and get on with it, or you sit on your ass and lose invaluable training time and conditioning to your competitors.

The fact of the matter is that by the time you reach your goal race of the season, it's already over before it has begun. At that point in time you can not change anything that you have done in the months leading up to that event, nor can your competition. The race has already been decided, the players just have to confirm it all on the playing field. What I do today will in turn determine how I do at Miwok, how Todd and I do at the MOMAR's this season, and how B.C. Bike Race will unfold for us.

Today, was a very good day indeed.

GR

Baja Update

I got out for a great 2hr run this morning, but couldn't help but spend the entire time thinking about what was going on in Baja, and of course wishing we were there for the ride!

As was to be expected DART-NUUN and DART-NUUN NW Kayaks surged ahead during the canyon section and are currently neck and neck, probably working together, to put time on the rest of the field. It's exciting to follow along on Sleepmonsters as they have a live updated feed. I'll be tuned in regularly right up until the finish in a few days time!

GR

Baja Travesia Started Today

The Baja Travesia expedition adventure race started this morning in Baja, Mexico. Team Helly Hansen - MOMAR has many friends racing at the event this year and although I have been cheering for all of them, it pains me to be sitting on the sidelines for a race like this. My work situation changed so drastically in the last five weeks and I went from being completely unable to make it down for this race, to sitting here on my hands and biting my tongue as I constantly check in on the leaderboard. Currently Lina Augaitis' team Yoga Slackers are leading the way! Go Lina Go!! My team raced alongside of the Yoga Slackers for about ten hours during XPD Australia and they are both top notch guys. I'm sure they're having a blast down there right now!

Here's a course preview:

Paddleboard relay: 5 km
Trek: 30 km
Rally cars (time neutral): 25 km
Trek: 30 km, ascending a canyon some 7000’
Bike: 91 km a big downhill along amazing remote single-track
Trek: 26 km another canyon
Bike: 60 km another big downhill
Trek: 25 km
Bike: 35 km
Kayak: 17 km to Ensenada
TOTAL: 349 km
-----------------
Meanwhile, back in winterland,


Todd made it over from Vic for the weekend and we put together a couple of solid training days. On Sat the weather held and we managed a good paced 120km road ride to Whistler and back. We stopped off at my fav, cheap, Whistler Sushi place, Samurai Sushi and then went to work punishing each other over the hills back into Squamish.


Sunday was not so nice with the rain hammering down, but we headed to North Van to meet up with some of the Montrail-Mtn Hardware Trail Running Team. We then helped out with marshaling a portion of the 'My First Trail Race' 10k course, before heading out for a 2.5hr run of our own. We intended to go for longer, but an ill timed bag drop left us without food, fluids, or a change of clothes! Todd hopped on the road bike and headed back to Victoria, and I drove back up to Squamish and jumped on the mtn bike for a few hours. All in all I logged exactly 20hr of training last week and am feeling really good right now. This is a scheduled recovery week of 15hr before my final three week build, followed by a taper, heading into Miwok on May 3rd...WOW, almost April already! Hard to believe that we'll all be running around in shorts and a t-shirt in no time at all...while a few lucky bastards are doing that as we speak down in Baja!!

GR

Training Update

Things are moving along nicely this week as I am back on my feet from that damn calf injury and I sincerely hope that this very blog posting will be the absolute last time I ever mention it.

So far so good as I am on pace for my first 20+hr week in as long as I can remember. Looking back, I just did not fully comprehend how much my running can fuel my entire training process and mental well being. Sure I could still bike, and for a time I thought I could also ski tour and skate ski...oh yeah, I don't think I ever took the time to blog about the fact that Ski Touring ended up being the root of all of my calf issues! It was puzzling because the tension would normally play out in high impact activities like running and snowshoeing, but it was the low impact ski touring that initially injured my legs and then kept them injured as I was heading out into the back country at least once every seven days. Anyways, now that I managed to figure that out, and have unfortunately removed this from my training regime, at least for the time being, my legs have been on the fast track to recovery.

I logged a good brick workout yesterday (back to back multi sport) and it felt great! I was in Vancouver for the day and initally visiting the best sport lights company in the world, Princeton Tec, and had packed along my bike and running shoes. After a 2.5hr ride on The North Shore I quickly transitioned out of my car and headed out for a 1hr run. Nothing too huge, but one step at a time here as I am still not quite 100%. Either way it's been a great few days and it only gets better as this weekend my Helly Hansen - MOMAR adventure racing teammate Todd Nowack is coming over from Victoria for a training weekend, and I finally get a chance to run with my Montrail-Mountain Hardware trail running teammates on Sunday, for the very first time none the less! A 4hr run followed by a 70k road bike back to Squamish is in the plans for Sunday, hopefully the weather cooperates!

Here's my week as planned, so far so good:

-Mon: Off (super sore from Chuckanut and limping around all day!)
-Tues: Mtn Bike 2.5hr, Run 1hr
-Wed: Mtn Bike 2.5hr, Run 1hr (back to back)
-Thurs: Gym for core 1hr, Spin Trainer 1h15m (power intervals)
-Fri: Run 2hr
-Sat: Mtn Bike 4hr
-Sun: Run 4hr, Road Ride 2.5hr

Total Hours: 21h45m

Damn it feels good to be back!!

GR

Chuckin Nuts Race Report

This will be a bit of an abbreviated race report since I gave most of the plot away a few days ago! (This ended up being, in no way shape or form, an abbreviated race report, sorry!) Todd and I headed down to Bellingham on Friday night for Saturday's Chuckanut 50km running event. As I have blogged endlessly about, I am coming off of a serious calf injury (it was actually both calves) that pretty much kept me completely off of my feet for a full month. I was able to sustain my fitness through biking and some gym work, but overall I was very uncertain as to if I would even be able to complete this distance after coming off of just five days of 'pain free', well 'serious' pain free running.

Todd was going into his first ever ultra race! I was highly confident that Todd would do amazingly well for himself as he is an athlete with endless potential, having only really gotten started with all of this a few years ago. His best attribute heading into a distance like this is how level headed he is. It sounds so simple to be able to run your own race, but in the four years I have personally been running I have met many a seasoned runner who have never, EVER figured out how to do this successfully! Todd had a game plan and I knew he'd stick to it. That and that alone would ensure a certain level of success for him going into his first ultra.

We were fortunate enough to have stayed with fellow ultra runner Daniel Probst who lives all of ten minutes away from the start of the event. We were up at 6am and in the end thankful that the race started ten minutes late at 8:10am.

The first 9-10km of this race are almost completely flat, on a hard packed forest service road...a road runner's dream...a trail runner's nightmare! I knew that I would really have to ease into this race as the last thing I wanted on the day was to end up with a D.N.F. next to my name. About thirty minutes in and I really wasn't feeling very good at all. The hard pack was beating up my calves, and even though we were hanging back and taking it easy, I was still breathing hard and struggling to find a rhythm to my step. Todd even commented at one point that I didn't seem comfortable at all. He was right, so I dropped back even further and just tried to limit my losses over the first 10k.

Shortly before the race finally headed into the single track trails there was a turn around where you could see the runner's ahead of you. Two guys were absolutely blazing a trail at the front and I found it hard to believe that they were running 50 on the day! They were already close to six minutes ahead of me and even the second group of runner's had put over 3.5 min into me. I was sitting back somewhere in the 30's positionally and was starting to get pissed off about how my race was unfolding. My mind was playing tricks on me but I kept telling myself that there was still a very long 40km until that finish line. I decided that as soon as we reached the climbs I was gone, calf pain or not, if I was going down with a DNF on the day I was at least gonna enjoy some actual running before that happened!

We had to squeeze through a few trail posts to initiate our climb up Chuckanut Mtn, and the instant that I cleared those sticks I went to work. I have managed to develop a pretty fast power hike over the years, which really comes in handy during steep ultra running events. I was hiking faster than most people could run and went about making short work of the first climb. One thing I definitely noticed was that my body was feeling much leaner than ever before. I initially learned to power hike because it was the only way I could be effective, but I was easily running terrain that I would have been unable to tackle at those speeds in years prior. It felt amazing! The great part about it all is that not one single person that I passed even attempted to go with me. I was killing it, and loving it!

Within approximately thirty five minutes of climbing I had made up the entire 3.5 min gap on second pack of runner's. We hit a huge switch back descent and I unleashed into it with a huge smile upon my face...God I love, and missed, downhill running and racing in general. Within a few switchbacks I peered back to see that the three runner's I had just passed were already nowhere in sight.

At the bottom of this descent the race filtered us into a 5km forest service road ascent. As I popped out I heard someone yell my name! One of the most enjoyable things that Todd and I have encountered over the last few years of doing the occasional event in Washington State is that we have gotten to know a whole other group of racer's, and of course, incredible people!

I started off power hiking the climb as I was unsure as to exactly how long it went on for at the time. As I did this one of the runner's I bombed past on the descent caught up to me and looked at me in dismay,

"How? How? How do you do that! I've never seen anyone run downhill like that before!!"

I laughed and simply replied that I lived in Squamish and it was all I really knew how to do! He slowly pulled away, but I was sustaining myself against the other runner's who were in sight, all of whom were of course attempting to run the hill. After a few minutes of power hiking and then chatting with a fellow competitor to determine what lay ahead, I realized that I could indeed run out this hill and hence drop a few more people. I went to work, quickly caught the guy I had traded spots with, and picked up another three spots. By the time we departed this climb in favor or more single track running I had managed to work my way back up to 15th place! I had gained somewhere in the vicinity of twenty positions in just under one hour of focused running! I WAS LOVING IT, and was definitely back in race mode, counting positions and shooting for the highest placing I could still salvage.

This mid section of the run was along a ridge line and then up and over the steepest climb of the entire 50km. We ended up in the fog a little, but you could really tell that this would be an incredibly scenic area on a clear day. Worth mentioning is that it was absolutely hammering down rain as we drove to the starting line. The race started, the rains seized and we got away with a completely dry...well dry from above, day of racing!

The field was obviously more spread out as I continued to gain position, and I ended up running quite a portion of this section in 'no man's land' (no one to chase, no one to run from). I slowly picked off a few more people and was surprised that not a single runner attempted to come with me. Usually when you pass someone in a race, at the very least, they come along with you for some period of time.

There was a ton of mud on the course, especially in this section, but none of it was really that deep, and certainly did not even compare to Knee Knacker 2005 'The Year Of The Mud', or anything you would encounter upon the West Coast Trail or The Juan De Fuca Trail. I was surprised to hear some people complaining about it afterwards...it's a trail race, we love mud!!

As this middle section of the run flattened out a bit my calves once again flared up on me. I was starting to slow a bit and told myself that I had ten minutes. If the pain got worse, I was done. If it subsided, I'd continue...but either way, I had to pick up the pace and continue trying to track people down. As soon as this flat section led into another climb my calves shut the hell up on me and I was able to forget about them. I came across a volley who informed me that there was another runner just thirty seconds ahead, AND that the leader's were just eight minutes in front of me! It was a huge boost to my confidence as I had effectively limited my losses since we departed the initial flat section of the course. I looked at my watch, we were now 2h45min in. Even if I did have to drop before the finish I would be taking a lot of positives away from this race. I went to work tracking down the next few runner's.

Again as the climbs became steeper I continued to reel in a few more positions. As we were spit back out onto the 5km F.S.R. that we initially ran up...which we would now be running down, I was ecstatic to learn that I was in 10th position, and 9th was all of thirty meters ahead! This downhill was an absolute killer! It was so hard packed, without any reprieve at all, that it truly felt like it was ripping the quads apart. I was right on the heels of the 9th place runner, and then he just stopped running. I was surprised at how strong he was looking, and not three seconds after I had that thought he just gave up. He ended up coming back strong, but it always amazes me how you can often believe that you are suffering more than the next guy, when in reality, everyone is dying by that point in time and it all comes down to who is mentally tougher and able to ignore every single thing that your brain keeps throwing at you,

'If you stop...right now...I'll grow all of your hair back for you...I swear it to you man c'mon, you'll have an Afro by the end of the week if you want one...and all you have to do is stop running....now...how bout now....NOW...just STOP RUNNING GOD DAMMIT!!'

As I came through the final aid station, at the bottom of the descent I was indeed told that I was currently in 9th place, and that 8th was thirty five seconds ahead of me. I started to dream of a seventh, or sixth placing if I could just finish off strong. This lasted all of about four seconds as the last two runner's I had passed, obviously road runner's, came blazing past me! I tried to hang on but my body was pretty shattered. During the descent I could feel muscle pain where I usually do not in ultra runs. Everything from my lower back to my abs, to of course my quads were screaming at me and it became very evident to me that I had indeed missed out on a full month of running. I just tried to sustain my position from there on in, which was now 11th overall.

As if this flat, 10k hard pack surface was not a torturous enough way to end an event, there was a collage running team out training on the exact terrain. I kept hearing footsteps, would then try to respond, before realizing that I just didn't have it in me and in my head simply tack on another placing to my day. 'Looks like I'm 12th now'. Then some young speedster would come blazing past and yell out,

"Nice work man, almost home!"

This repeated itself four times before I could actually determine if these guys were in the race or not before trying to punish myself further by going with them! The guy who was just 35sec ahead after the last aid station had increased his lead over me, although just slightly, and I realized that we were both in the exact same boat. Who had more left in the tank? With just one mile to go, 1.6k, I decided that 10th sounded a hell of a lot better than 11th. There was one minimal climb with two switchbacks. He exited the climb as I entered it. A nice family cheered us on, and I put my head down and bargained with my legs,

"Here's what I'm offering. Give me this, and I promise you I WILL NOT even attempt to stretch you after this race."

"DEAL!!!"

I started to close the gap and he shoulder checked. I was hoping he would have waited longer to do so, but this was enough to tell me that he was mine. He was checking because he was scared. The guy responded well however, and I remember thinking to myself, 'C'mon, I'm faster than you, just give this to me. I don't wanna fight for this!'

I consistently narrowed his lead until with just 400 meters to go I surpassed him. I tried to gap him right away and was successful, however I heard him respond...this guy just would not die! I upped the pace, so did he, and with about 300 to go I wanted this race over with. I pretty much sprinted it across the line and ended up putting 45sec into him as I finished in a time of 4hr28m57s (chip timing). I had snagged 10th place. I was amazed and so damn satisfied with my day!! The best part is that I was very confident that I did not mess myself up in the process of pushing through the pain. I knew that outside of the usual pain associated with recovery after an event like this, that I'd be back and running within a few days!

(I love this pic. This is in the first 10k of the race and these are the 3rd-8th runner's. Scott Jurek is wearing the red shoes and Brian Morrison the white visor. The other three runner's are currently running someone else's race plan and I caught all of them during the climbs. Number 274 is who I duked it out with at the line, while the other two are the the runner's who passed me back on the final 10k home stretch. I was back around 35th when this pic was taken!)

Now for Todd. I knew he would not be far behind, and at 4h40m28s and 16th overall, I was super happy for him! He too suffered on the final stretch of the race and had managed to pair off with the lead female runner in the event for the final 15k or so and they both helped each other keep a solid pace. They crossed the line together, but Todd's chip must've started just after hers. So not only did Todd have a solid race, but in just his first ultra run, he managed to not get 'chicked' or 'skirted', and that is with the utmost respect to all the female runner's out there because they are all pushing the guys to their limits in events such as these. In fact the gaps between the top female and male ultra runner's are surprisingly small and it's not uncommon to see a strong woman standing atop the podium, having chicked the entire field of competitors!

With the race chip timing they were able to give exact split times, and after reviewing it I was elated to see that I had the 4th fastest time in the entire field over the middle section of the race. I was just 4min slower that the top guy and but 2.5min behind world class and famous in our circles, runner Scott Jurek! As if I needed any more positives to walk away with, this was the first event of this length, in that 4hr-5hr range, which would include all MOMAR races and sprint adventure races in general, that I did not suffer from a single leg cramp throughout! AND, I took in far less while racing as well!! This was the first event I did with Thermolytes electrolyte tablets and I will never attempt another race without them!

My total nutrition on the day:

-1 Bottle of Carbo-Pro 1200
-6 Thermolyte Tablets
-1 Package of Cliff Shot Blocks

Gear:

-My brand new, super hot Montrail Hardrock 08 shoes. Love em!
-Helly Hansen Lifa long sleeve, with a Lifa short sleeve over top.
-I was even able to carry my Helly Hansen Mars jacket along with me for the first half of the run, just in case, and not even notice that it was in my pocket!

That was it, that was all, not a single cramp for the very first time! I have yet to do an event where I did not learn something about my body. Hopefully this will all help me when I hit the starting line for the Miwok 100k in just six weeks time. In the mean time, thanks to Ean Jackson's broken rib, I was able to scoop myself an entry into the 50k Diez Vista on April 5th. This will be a tune up race leading up to Miwok, with a full week of training going into it. I have done this race once before, in 2006, and it was the absolute worst performance of my life. I 'blew up' (bonked) big time and crawled home to a 13th place finish. So at the very least, I am hoping to vindicate myself upon this course. Until then, I just damn happy to be back running, and competing, once again!!

GR

(4/5's of the crew that ran the Howe Sound Crest Trail together in Sept)

Pay Attention...

I'm gonna catch up on my race report here later tonight, but in the meantime check out this video...too funny!!

Chuckanut Was A Success!

I'm off to bed here soon as I am completely exhausted. I managed to limp through a one hour walk today and then hopped on the road bike for a 2.5hr recovery ride with a friend.

Yesterday's Chuckanut 50k in Bellingham Washington went incredibly well for me. Not only did I manage to cover the full 50km distance, but I actually cracked top ten!! Well 10th exactly, after a hard fought battle in the last km of the race. The event had a pretty stacked field and even top American runner's Scott Jurek and Brian Morrison finished 3rd and 4th respectively, with some speedster from Boulder, Colorado enjoying the thick sea level air as he powered himself to the overall win.

I was on the verge of pulling out at three points in the race, but each time gave myself ten minutes to deal with the pain in my calves and reassess. I told myself that if it got any worse I would have no choice but to end my day early. Thankfully it never got to the point where I believed that I'd be setting myself back in my training for the Miwok 100k in just six weeks time. After a very slow start in which I was down in the 30's positionally after the first hour, I managed to go to work over the mountainous section of the race and really excel at what I consider myself to be good at, which is power running, up and downhill, over tough, steep, technical terrain. The race started and ended with a 9km flat section, which obviously favored the road runner's in the event.

Anyways, I took a lot of positives away from this race and will post a full race report in the coming days. As for now, I need to catch some serious zzzzzzz...oh yeah, and stretch...uggg...I need a personal masseuse, any takers!?

GR

A Few More Steps In The Right Direction

Pretty solid day of training today with a 1hr run and 2hr of mtn biking. This is not huge by any means, but it was my first 'brick' (back to back disciplines) workout in as long as I can remember and in and of itself that felt great!

I started the day off with an early morning run on the Alice Lake trail system of Squamish. The area is a bit higher than town and hence holds snow longer than most other trail networks. The run was a mix of completely clear and snow covered but I did get to run one of my absolute favorite trails of all time, 'Credit Line'.

If I'm ever having an off week for running or training I usually drag my ass onto Credit Line and bomb down it to feel better about myself! I love technical steep trails and this meets both those criteria. I believe you could run it just as fast as you could bike it, but it's the fast turn over and quick foot placements that I love. There is nothing else that can go through your mind except where your next step needs to go so as to prevent you from eating dirt or hugging a tree with your teeth.

I started off around the Four Lakes trail system and the funny thing was that I felt really good out there. I ran harder than I remember running this route in a long, long time, and flew up all of the hills. By the time I hit Credit Line I truly believed that I was on pace to P.R. this loop, but without a watch on my wrist it was all just a guessing game. I felt like I was flying on the trail and powered effortlessly over the few climbs that are involved (seven pounds less will do that I guess!). By the time I was spit out onto 'Jack's Trail' I decided I should stop and stretch. I may have been getting ahead of myself a little as I am definitely sore here tonight, but the trails got the best of me, I couldn't resist feeling like an actual trail runner again!

From there it was off to Corsa Cycles (the best bike shop in Squamish) to pick up my brand new Specialized Epic mountain bike...schweeeetness!! A two hour ride, climbing up to the snow line on numerous different routes ensued before I called it a day and went about tackling some long overdue errands and chores, such as cleaning my stanky doggie smelling car for the first time in six months...I'm a busy guy, things get ranked in order of necessity, and without a woman in my life I don't get any flack for stuff like this, which is obviously not always a good thing!!

I put in a good stretching session tonight, will hit up the road bike tomorrow and am then off to Chuckanut for Saturday. Still uncertain as to if I'll even make it through the entire run, but either way it'll be good to catch up with a lot of familiar faces!

GR