Why I Hate X-Rays Version 6.0

BECAUSE THEY ARE ALWAYS WRONG DAMMIT!!

(June 28th, 2011)

Much like the first time I went through this, the fracture has gotten worse before it decides to get better. Yesterdays six week out x-ray is virtually identical to the six week out x-ray that I had in mid December. I'm struggling to accept what this all means, even though it's pretty clearly laid out in front of me.

-It'll be September before it's even probable for me to take two steps in succession without metallic assistance
-I knew 2011 was a wash but now my 2012 racing season will be impacted as well
-I'll end up missing out on my second straight attempt to return to The HURT 100 in Jan
-I'll spend this entire summer on crutches and at least 7 out of 10 months completely sidelined
-There are no guarantees that this will follow the exact same trajectory as the initial break and as such the new BEST case scenario is 3.5 months on crutches, or another eight weeks

This was going to be a much more composed and polished blog posting in my head but it's morphed into an emotional based release instead of a sensible assessment of the overall situation. I wanted to touch upon the frustrations associated with the complete disconnect between mind and body and how these x-rays always manage to completely blindside me, but in the end I just need to get this out, accept it, and begin to move on.

Don't take this personally, but I hope it rains on every single runner, biker and outdoor enthusiast for the next eight weeks straight (uhhh, this is meant to read as a joke, if you take it personally or seriously and feel the need to slam me for it than by all means join the party below) and that we then somehow get an Indian Summer unlike anything the Pacific Northwest has ever seen before. I'm totally fine without the racing, but if I do not get at least one adventure hike/run to a mountain summit before the snow starts to fly again I may just lose my mind.

PS: Do me ONE FAVOR if you feel inclined to leave a comment. Please don't make it one of sympathy or pep talk based, as I'm way beyond that side of this already. I greatly appreciate people taking the time to leave a comment at all, but may I respectfully request the following or nothing: A link to something that's funny or entertaining. Whether that's a story, a video, a picture, a personal blog posting or whatever. If it's made you laugh or smile at some point than feel free to pass it along.

I'll leave it at that, and lookout HURT 2015, WS 2016, and UTMB 2017, there'll be no stopping me once I completely regrow all of my bones in a yet to be proven, properly tested (or in fact designed) exo-skeletal compression electrolyte infused infrared calcium depositor (patent pending)

GR

Distractions

I got back into a kayak for the first time in over a year yesterday. It was the best thing I'd done in...well it was the best thing I'd done in five weeks to the day to be exact.


GR

Predictive Of Failure

I haven't even logged into my blog since the day I posted my video almost a full month ago, and now that I'm here I'm struggling with what to say and how to say it.

It's been a long month, period. The entire process has been much more difficult than the first time around and the numbers can crush my spirits when I think about them...by the time I hopefully get off of these things again I'll have spent six of the past nine months on crutches, and that's the best case scenario. That fucking sucks. No matter how I attempt to spin it, it's just upsetting for me to think about. Given that I was on these things for three and a half months the first go around, and I am already four weeks in this time, I should ideally have less than six weeks to go, but as before it's one x-ray at a time right now, and again that's the best case scenario. I am currently refusing to process the worst case scenario.

(I'll specifically reference these xrays below)

Did I have surgery?
NO

Why the hell not? Am I stupid?

I automatically assumed that once my foot faltered for a second time that surgery would be the best course of action. I think the majority of people believe the same thing. We're programmed to. As a general rule we are taught through many mediums to place surgery ahead of natural healing. To place modern medicine ahead of naturopathic/eastern medicine. We look to pills to solve everything in today's age and 'putting a pin in it' is not the instant solution everyone believes it to be.

I sat down with my surgeon for over an hour on Thursday May 19th, having already booked in for surgery the following morning. He had me slotted for a fifteen minute consultation, assuming I was simply signing the paperwork and going about my day. I had questions. Lots and lots of questions. I was not afraid to have the surgery, it's a fairly straight forward procedure, I just needed to know if the potential benefits of the surgery made sense. I wasn't about to have a screw put into my foot without knowing the facts, and here's where an additional frustration lies...

Everyone seems to think they know what's best for you without even having the slightest insight into the nature of the problem. A Jones Fracture is not 'just' a broken foot. It's one of the most complex single fracture lines you can sustain within your foot, and as such no matter what course of action is chosen recovery is quite difficult. If one more person tells me to take a calcium supplement I'm going to impale them with a crutch, upload their picture to every social networking site on the planet, tag them with their own name and many additional four letter descriptors, and threaten to eat their children a la Mikey Mike, Hall Of Fame, Tyson (I've had a bone scan and it's come back as 100% good)

I spoke to the surgeon for a solid hour and not a single answer provided to me was conclusive. Most were 'ifs' and 'maybes' and 'most likelys' but the words that were never uttered no matter how the questions were phrased were:
SURGERY IS YOUR BEST OPTION

Surgery 'can be the better option for some people in some cases', but conversely that also means that 'non surgical healing can be the better option for some people in some cases'.

My thoughts when I broke my foot again in Hawaii was that I would obviously miss Western States on June 25th, but with surgery, six weeks sidelined, and a few months back on my feet I might just be able to make the starting line of UTMB in France on August 26th (yes in hindsight I now know how ridiculous this was). The estimated time line presented to me for recovery from surgery was 10-12 weeks. THREE MONTHS! That's what I just went through without surgery...why am I not hearing any benefits here??

Will the foot be conclusively stronger?
No guarantees

Is the recovery time significantly shorter?
No

Is it any less likely to refracture again?
No guarantees

I drove home (don't ask) and was completely uneasy about the whole thing. Surgery was now twelve hours away and nothing felt right about it. I did a bit more research and when I found a few specific studies around elite soccer players suffering from Jones Fractures my mind was effectively made up for me:

The return to play following a Jones fracture continues to be an enigma for the competitive soccer player. Caution and patience must be applied since re-injury to this area is common. Potential types of re-injury include a fracture with deformation of the screw, incomplete bone healing or non-union and compensatory injuries to the foot from the altered biomechanics. There are inherent risks with competitive sport and the athlete should understand that the Jones Fracture, even when repaired can create significant disability...

one must remember that this fracture site has a characteristically poor blood flow. Consequently, its healing rate may be slower than other types of fractures and the new bone may not reach peak strength until much later post-operatively...

Also, the traditional guideline of letting pain direct activity progression is not infallible because the athlete may be pain free or there may be only very minimal pain prior to re-injury. There are also many adjacent joints and bones that may generate a pain response due to disrupted mechanics or contact from the screw head

And Another Report

          - out of 15 people who had surgery there were six treatment failures: four refractures and two symptomatic non-unions
          - there was a higher proportion of elite athletes (division I or professional level) among the failure group (83%) compared with those without complications (11%) - return to full activity, especially among elite athletes, before complete radiographic union was predictive of failure

PREDICTIVE-OF-FAILURE 

And this was WITH SURGERY!!!

I called off the surgery immediately. My summer was over anyways. My racing season was a wash. There was no rush. I needed a few days to come to terms with it all.

Hadn't I been counselled with 'pain as my limiting factor'? Wasn't I told that I should be good to go? Could all of this have been prevented? Would I have even listened at the time and really slowed down anyways?

There was a lot weighing on my mind, and none of it was made any easier by feeling like I was repeating my story to people every five minutes. I know the questions were coming from a place of genuine concern and caring, but I just did not want to talk about it. How could I when I was still so uncertain on so many aspects of it myself?

By the end of that first weekend I was confident I'd made the right decision. Knowing what I'd gone through the first time round had given me slight insights into what might and might not work. Back in late December early January I had an immediate healing response once I introduced regular acupuncture and ultrasound. As mentioned in a report above, lack of blood flow to the area is the number one complication in the healing process. I immediately referenced my friend Kim Graham at Thrive Total Fitness and began getting acupuncture 2-3 times a week. I unfortunately had no luck in attempting to land an at home ultrasound device this time around.

I had viewed enough x-rays of my own foot by now that I was certain what I'd seen in Hawaii was not quite as severe as what I'd seen way back in September, and then on my follow up xray in December. On top of all this, my foot itself looked completely different. The first time around the swelling continued right into my HURT trip, ten weeks out. This time however there was very little swelling initially and virtually none within the completion of the first few weeks. I requested a follow up x-ray here in BC on May 31st.

The x-ray on the left was taken two weeks post fracture in Hawaii. The x-ray on the right, SIX weeks post fracture in Oregon (travel insurance is your friend)

You don't have to be a Doctor to clearly see that although I definitively re-fractured the exact same line of my foot, it is not as severe as the initial break was. There is still some integrity to the initial healing process.

A few things can be taken from this, as reiterated by my own Doctor/Surgeon (and I should clarify that he's been great throughout this entire process). Given that the x-ray on the right was taken six full weeks after my initial injury and had yet to even begin to adhere to itself at all, there was serious question as to if I would in fact be able to naturally heal the bone. It's actually quite common for people to not gain union of this fracture through natural avenues and THEN surgery becomes the only real option. Some people still do not gain union of this bone even after surgery. It's a shitty situation no matter how you slice it. 

So What Does It All Mean?

-Because I have recovered from a more severe version of this already there is no reason to believe that I won't be able to do so again. I WAS on the right path to a full recovery if I'd only been counselled slightly differently from the start

-PAIN is NOT the limiting factor in a full recovery from a Jones Fracture, TIME is

-Once I do get back onto my feet running will be seriously limited for an extended period of time. Vive le bicyclette, but Lance is going down

-The world is a nicer place when you're on crutches, people actually care, but I'd still toss em tomorrow if I could

-If The Canucks lose in game seven at home I'll join the looting just for the hell of it. Put in your pre-orders now but keep in mind it will need to fit into an average size backpack

-I think they should cancel Western States this year because of all the snow and roll over all 2011 entrants into 2012

-UTMB should be postponed until at least December so as to avoid a possible mudslide like last year, PLUS covering the course in the winter would be way cooler...and I only mean that literally

-WHAT the hell is Jersey Shore and WHY the fuck are they on TV? Seriously? I just got cable for the first time in over two years

-There are no shortcuts in life and Lebron James epitomizes what's wrong with our way of thinking in North American society. No professional athlete wants to take the time to build a franchise into a winner anymore, everybody wants weight loss and happiness in a magic pill or potion, and the majority think that surgery is an easy fix. It is not.

It's one day at a time right now, one foot in front of the...err...one foot in front of, uhh, itself I guess? Over and over and over again...

PS Here's the song you should definitely have in your head on your next run. You're welcome

GR

Break Two, Take Two: Hawaiian Heli-Rescue

MOMAR Burnaby Course Preview Video

Whether you are still on the fence, or already signed up and ready to go, here's a little insight into what you can look forward to come race day on May 28th...

GR

Deep End - Capitol Peak 50m Race Report

Having read most of Geoff Roes's race reports I'd have to say we couldn't have two more polar opposite takes on ultra running.

Geoff's typical report: Ran 100miles in eleven hours, felt challenged for eight minutes, managed to pull through

My typical report: Ran 50miles in fourteen hours, felt good for 43.7seconds, why do I do this to myself

Geoff: I found the meaning of life and everything in between

Me: I forget how to spell my first name and am no longer sure of if I have a middle name

Geoff: I got paid another $3,000 for my win

Me: I owe $500 in two parking fines and a speeding ticket

Geoff: I think I'll run another 50miles in training tomorrow and race another 100miler in six days

Me: If I get through 10miles of total training this week I'll be amazed. Where are my crutches, I might need them again

I already forget where I was going with this, if I even had a point to begin with. If you want stories of winning races while running backwards it's probably best to migrate on over to Geoff's blog right away. If you want to read about someone who nearly dropped out of a 50 mile race no fewer than fifty times than feel free to continue. (for the record, not only is Geoff a great guy, his father Don is pretty damn nice guy too)

Eight Months

That was the last time I ran anything even remotely close to 50miles. My 215km East Coast Trail run near the end of August was the last time I ran any real distance. Shortly after that I was injured and couldn't run for more than twenty minutes. Then I took a five week work stint in Northern Quebec jumping out of helicopters, and I ran a total of 1hr in those forty days. Upon my return to BC in Mid Oct my body felt great. I had twelve solid days of running, capped off by one 15mile/25km-3hr mountain run up The Black Tusk near Whistler. Then I flew to Oregon, then I broke my foot, then I spent three and a half months on crutches, then it took six weeks longer before I could even come remotely close to running, then I ran a half marathon, then a twenty miler, then a 10k, then on the Wednesday before the race I ran 21miles and I put in a total of 48miles on my feet in the six days leading up to the start, in an attempt to get my first 100mile week of training since August. Obviously I thought this all through, followed the 10% rule, and did it all by the book...ahh yeah, here was my rationale:

Western States 100 is on June 25th. Capitol Peak 50miler was on April 30th. That's exactly eight weeks. If I couldn't get through a 50mile race that was basically in May, how in the hell did I intend to make it through WS in June!? It was time for a test, period.

(Photo Credit Glenn Tachiyama) (This is ~1/3 of the way into the race and I was getting all the test I could handle and more)

My goal going in was a) just to finish and b) to attempt to finish top three. I like top three. I don't like fourth, fifth is better than fourth sometimes, but fourth is better than sixth, and sixth is better than seventh but nowhere near as nice as fifth. Second is up for debate. You win second great, you lose first not so great...where the hell was I?

GO!

I figured with Rod Bien and Adam Hewey both in race season shape that the top two placings were spoken for, but that didn't mean I couldn't play with the fast kids for at least a bit off the start...I started off too fast, and I knew it, but for the first time in a long time my mind and body were not in agreement on the speeds we should be running. Mind = Faster, Body = NO, Mind = Faster, Body = You Must Be Kidding Me, Mind = Faster, Body = I'll Puke, I'll Shit, Or I'll Cry, But One Way Or Another You Are Slowing The F Down!

Conversions

My watch rolls kilometers. The race was in miles.
1k-2k-3k-4k, "We're rolling right along, still feeling strong"
5k-6k-7k-8k, "Good stuff, only 42...? Only, ahh, err, hang on a second here...hmmm"
I KNEW I had signed up for a 50miler, I just hadn't bothered to really think about what that meant in my terms.
"Uhhh, so, carry a one, multiple by twelve, subtract a seven, add three, divide by six, YOU'RE RUNNING 80KM TODAY! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME GARY! SERIOUSLY ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"
"Calm down, calm down. You got this."
"72 KILOMETERS TO GO! SEVENTY TWO FUCKING KILOMETERS TO GO...GAWD I HATE YOU SOMETIMES!!"

Rod had decided he didn't want to share his gels with the rest of us and he went about playing in the mud solo off the start. Adam left me for dead 1/2 way through the first major climb. I don't know what I said wrong but he definitely kicked mud on me, intentionally, as he passed by and disappeared over the horizon. I was left with a group of three that slowly dwindled to one. Gennadii Tertychnyi is a Ukrainian born, Washington resident. He is a mountaineer and ran the race the year before. He said he forgot to eat, anything, and he couldn't understand why he slowed to the finish. He placed 7th last year. He has circumnavigated the entire 93mile Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier, self supported, in 28 hours. He thought it was slow. I did not. I was later told this is probably an unreported Fastest Known Time. He spoke with a thick accent and I struggled to understand much of what he was saying to me. He was a very nice guy, but I wanted him gone. I was third, he was fourth. I hated fourth which by default meant that I hated him being there. I knew I was pulling him along, and to make matters worse he was eating when I was eating. He was using me as his on the fly teacher.

"Hey Gennadi. This is the part of the race where I usually lay down and do ten minutes of power yoga. I have terrible form though and it's embarrassing so I'll just go on ahead a bit and do it solo. You hang out here and work on your downward cat or something. It'll help your finish time, I swear."

I appreciated being pushed. It kept me honest when all I really wanted to do was lay down and die. I seriously faced lows in this 50miler that rivaled some of the lows I've faced in 100milers. It was a torturous reintroduction to the ultra running world and my only saving grace was that I stayed on top of my nutrition for 90% of it.

Just over half way there is a turn around on an out and back. Rod already had 15minutes on us but Adam was less than two minutes ahead. I knew we weren't catching him. I felt like I'd been in survival mode for hours already, but that didn't mean I couldn't play with his mind a little...

"Hey Adam! Man you look SLOW today. You hurtin? You look like you're hurtin. I'm just sayin, you look really, REALLY rough right now. You know we're only half way through this thing right? I think you can still choose the 55km distance if you call it at the next aid station. Anyways, I'll see ya again in a few short minutes when I catch up to ya. Don't slow down and wait, I know I can close the gap, I mean, man, if you could only see yourself in a mirror right now. WOW, you must really be hurting! NICE DAY EH!"

Adam might claim we simply exchanged smiles and 'nice job' comments, but he's a liar.

I knew I would not see Mr. Hewey until the finish line.

My girlfriend was also running the 50miles. On the out and back I had finally managed to gain a gap on my Ukrainian shadow. Then I spotted my gf and stopped for a sob session,

"My EVERYTHING HURTS! Wha-wha-wha. I want my Mommy. Wha-wha-wha."

"Well think of Dolphins and Butterflies and you'll perk right up honey!"

"Dammit here comes Borat. I gotta go."

I thought I was gonna drop outta this thing no fewer than six distinct times. Then I had a flashback. Circa 2005. A younger, less lean, much slower version of myself, albeit with a full head of hair...hmm, which would I choose...was in conversation with a close friend.

"I've never made it through ANY race, of ANY distance, without wanting to drop out at least once, most often twice, and sometimes I just lose count altogether."

YES! I said this! I meant this! This is my truth that I had somehow forgotten. Racing sucks. I still have no idea why I subject myself to all the unnecessary pain but I do, and I'M GOOD AT IT! YEAH, I wanna drop out! I'm doing something right out here today!! Woo Hoo, I hate my life right now, do dah, do dah, I hate my life right now, do dah, do dah, day!

Aid Station 8 (Thanks Owen for your help)

Fifteen miles to go. Almost all downhill to the next and final aid station. Gennadi and I entered and exited together. I had long since lost the mental capacity to decipher what he was saying to me so I simply gave him a smile and threw my forearm into his shoulder. He smiled back like he thought I was being friendly but I was actually swinging a left hook with all the power I had remaining in my body at that moment and I came up short. He was taller and bigger than myself and I figured I had no choice left but to attempt to outrun him.

Half way down the thirty minute descent and he was still hanging tough.

"That's IT! Seriously, I'll break my foot again if I have to but this is ending NOW! I'm NOT going into the final eight miles in a head to head battle."

I opened it up and was thankful to gain a gap within a minute. I then capitalized on this and started re-routing as much flagging as I could while on the fly. Usually I carry a spare roll in my pocket for instances just like this but it must have fallen out somewhere over the first 42miles.

The final eight miles were a mix of pure physical fatigue with slight injections of adrenaline from the realization that I was actually going to make it through fifty miles of running. I was going to finish my first ultra distance in over eight full months. I was going to finish third. I was going to e-mail my foot Doctor and say "Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah" Since he had said I'd be lucky to get through 10km within eight weeks. I'd been off crutches for twelve weeks and back to running for six weeks. This race was more of a mind bender than a Rubik's Cube once you attempt to remove and replace all the stickers on it...yeah, don't act like you haven't done it too...but now I could spot the finish line. I'd made it...and my reward for doing so...I get to run 100 miles in eight more weeks...DOHHHHHH!

*This was only my second ever 50mile course, having run the Mountain Masochist 50m in 08 & 09, and I must admit, this distance entices me like never before. It's not 50k, it's not 100miles, it's somewhere in between and as such has its own set of rules. I'm looking forward to pursuing more of these in the future*

Thanks to the RD John Pearch for a great day out and an immaculately flagged course.
Full Results

GR

Win FREE MOMAR Entry + 10 Q's With One Of Canada's Top Adventure Racers

Todd Nowack is a Victoria based, Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing sponsored athlete. On July 23rd he'll be captaining a co-ed team of four racers against the most challenging endurance event in North America in 2011, Raid The North Extreme.

Tell us a bit about your racing history. For those who don’t know, where did you get started with it all?

Like many other adventure athletes on the west coast, I got into adventure racing with the MOMAR and have kept going ever since.  I was an avid mountain biker and was just getting into trail running and various other outdoor pursuits when I was asked to team up with the infamous ‘Snot Sisters’ to be a ‘Booger Brother’ in the Cumberland 2005 event.  We ended up winning the team-of-4 co-ed category and that race got me hooked.

How many MOMAR races have you done to date and how many of those have you won?

I have done all the races since the Cumberland 2005 MOMAR with the exception of 2009 when I was living in Norway. This makes it 12 total races with 7 overall wins: 2 solo, 4 with teammate extraordinaire Gary Robbins (Editors Note: I DID NOT add that but I will leave it in since it has a nice ring to it) and 1 with Natasha Dilay (only team-of-2 co-ed to ever take an overall title).

What was your favorite MOMAR experience and/or course to date?

‘Three-peating’ in 2007 at the Cumberland MOMAR with yourself. We had won the previous two races of the year and had lots of pressure to win as no racers had ever won all MOMARs in one year. Winning that race was definitely a highlight but the feeling of being completely dialed in during that race still hangs with me.  I think that was the first time where we both really knew exactly how hard we could push, when to back off, and how to flow from control to control while being efficient. I still have memories of us ‘running’ through the town of Cumberland like scarecrows with cramps everywhere, our legs stiff like pencils, and our arms and back stuck like the Tin-Man from Wizard of Oz while Brian is yelling at us that we could sit down and have a coffee and still win.  Memorable times.  Favourite course would have to be one of the incarnations in Cumberland. The single-track riding is phenomenal, the area is beautiful and the community is fantastic! (Another Note: I swear I did not know that would be his answer, and I did not add it after the fact myself! PS Couldn't agree more Todd)

Will we be seeing you lining up for our first ever Burnaby MOMAR race?

Yep. I will be there racing solo and looking to have yet another great time and experience.

Have you ever raced an expedition race like RTNX before?

I’ve done two other expedition races (RTNX 2007, and the Baja Travesia 2007).  I’ve also done some 24 hour and 36 hour races, and some orienteering ‘Rogaine’ events.  I have yet to have success in expeditions with brutal 20+ foot swell kayak conditions in Baja that wiped out several teams including leaving us unranked due to abandoning one of our kayaks and gear.  In RTNX 2007, we had some really bad luck with tearing our inflatable kayak open (even though we were being extremely careful and watched other teams literally drag their boats over sharp rocks) this situation delayed our paddle by many hours pushing it into the night where I ended up suffering from hypothermia after my body temperature had dropped by 3 degrees due to being exposed in our open cockpit kayaks.

What did you learn from these previous experiences that you feel you can apply towards your next shot at this format of race?

Eat lots of pizza and drink lots of beer to make sure that you have a good spare tire to keep you warm in times of need.  Seriously though, I think these races come down to fitness, experience and a bit of luck.  Had we been able to make it out of the swell and get to the checkpoint in Baja (which was literally right there) we would have continued ranked and placed close to the top.  RTNX would have been the same had it not been for a piece of rusted rebar that was sticking up out of the beach and virtually invisible.  Either way, luck would not have it.  For this coming race, I’m going to bring all the fitness and experience I have, stay out of trouble and race smart.  I’m done with this bad luck stuff ;)

Tell us a bit about your teammates?

Pete Cameron and Leanne Mueller are a very strong and experienced adventure racing couple based out of Ontario that have partaken in numerous races over the years and are always contenders in any event that they enter.  I met them at Raid the North Extreme in 2007 and had the pleasure of racing head-to-head with them during the final stage of the race.  In 2009, we had teamed up to race the biggest race of the year, Explore Sweden, but due to some technical issues, were not able to race together.  So, it seems fitting that we are teamed up again.  While I have yet to have the pleasure of meeting our fourth member, James Galipeau, I have only heard good things about him, one of which being that he is a team strongman (able to take extra gear, pull others, put his head down and never stop).  The great thing about this team is that we have three solid navigators (Pete, Leanne, and myself) who all have proven race navigation experience and all of whom we can count on for pre-race mapping work, route choices, race time decisions, etc; this is an incredible advantage .  I have never been in this situation and cannot say how incredible this will be knowing that we can trade off navigating when the mind begins to crumble after countless hours of no sleep and physical hardship.

How is the rest of the field stacking up this year? Where would you place yourselves, and what are your racing goals for RTNX?

Being that Primal Quest is no longer and there are no other large events going on in North America, RTNX has virtually sold out with a great number of strong teams signing up which is awesome to see. Compared to 2007, the field will almost be double. In terms of our placement and goals, a great thing I learned from speaking with my teammates is that we all really have a similar approach to racing; we race against ourselves and where we end up at the finish is where we end up.  As long as we all put in our best possible effort during the entire race, I don’t think any of us would care what place we came in. That being said, of course were shooting for first. J

Rumor has it you were injured throughout the winter. How has your training been going lately, and describe for us what a typical week of training might look like right now?

I have been suffering with an ‘upper body injury’ (insert NHL pun here) that I am still recovering from. While I’m still not 100%, I keep in shape on my bike commuting long distances, rolling my kayak down to the beautiful waters off Brentwood Bay to partake in long paddles, and doing lots of walking and hiking off-trail through the forest to simulate expedition racing conditions. I’ve been playing it on the safe side and not running much so I’ll have to see how I fare on my legs on the new MOMAR Burnaby course.

What’s one piece of advice that you have received or learned over the years that you would pass on to new and aspiring adventure racers?

Learn how to navigate. Join a local orienteering club and get to the point where you can run while reading a map and navigate on and off trail; this is a very rewarding experience and will enhance your outdoor pursuits. Don't train, just get out lots, compete here and there, and have fun! I've never trained a day in my life J

Great stuff Todd! Thanks for your time and best of luck at the race this summer. I know I'll personally be glued to my computer looking for live updates and cheering you guys along.

NOW, to be entered into the FREE MOMAR entry, which can be claimed at either of the 2011 venues,

Burnaby May 28th

Cumberland Sept 24th 

Simply leave a comment below. Thanks for reading, good luck with the draw, and I hope to see you out on course during the first race in exactly four weeks time!

GR

10k PB - Really? (Vancouver Sun Run)

I ran my fourth ever 10k road race this past Sunday, and all of them have been over the same Vancouver Sun Run route. The good part about this is that I got a true gauge of fitness, though against a comparative time from five years ago. (my only road racing experience is 10k x4, 21.1k x5)

My previous Sun Run times
2004 42m18s
2005 37m51s
2006 36m36s

2011 36m07s

Don't bother trying to verify this online as I ran under an alias to fill in for an injured runner on a corporate team. In all honesty, had I had any idea that I might be fit enough to run The Sun Run a few months ago I surely would have signed up, and planned a better 72hr pre-race regime. In the end I got an email at the EXACT RIGHT minute on Friday night.

Following The Peterson Ridge Rumble 20miler on the previous Sunday I had a terrible week of running. I wasn't particularly sore, I just possessed almost zero energy reserves and I didn't even attempt a run until the Wed night, where I did a 10k mountain run as part of The Knee Knacker group. That went very average but the following morning's 10k run was the worst I'd had in weeks. I decided to sleep for over ten hours on Thursday night, and I was pleasantly surprised to bounce back with a very solid 21k technical mountain run on Friday afternoon.

I was suffering from a runners high, I got the invite, and I said YES immediately. Sure, I thought, I'D LOVE TO DO THE SUN RUN ON SUNDAY!

An hour later I was wondering what I'd agreed to. The very next morning I tacked on an additional 15km, 5 Peaks course scouting run, and ended up heading to bed on Saturday night wondering why I was so dumb sometimes.

(Seabus to the race start on Sunday morning)

I figured since I was running under an alias there was ZERO self pressure around a time being associated with my name, in fact I told the alias runner that he'd better buy me some beer or he'd be in for the slowest 10k time of his life.

(sneaking into the fast people starters chute)

(over 50,000 people lined up and ready to rock)

Even when the gun went off I was still saying to myself that I might not be racing the thing.
"Just run smart. Just enjoy the day. Just savoir being back running again."

I opened with a 7min flat 2KM split.
"Ok, ok, I guess we're racing this thing after all"

2KM till 4KM: 10k road runs SUCK!

4KM till 5KM: Why are so many woman ahead of me!??

5KM: Who put this G-D BRIDGE HERE, WHY is it so steep, and HOW is that girl passing me making this look so easy!

6KM till 7KM: Is there an ally-way that I can divert into, disappear from this race, walk home, and never think about this type of thing again?

7.5KM: Adam and Lauren Campbell SCREAM at me and jump out from the sidelines. It's enough to scare the shit outta me an hence triggers my fight or flight response and helps to propel me faster

8KM: The guy in front of me is old enough to be my Father. WHY THE F can't I catch him!

9KM: ARE YOU KIDDING ME, ANOTHER BRIDGE!

The wheels really did start to fall off as I hit The Cambie Street Bridge. You can virtually see the finish line from here yet my legs started to quiver. I had a vivid mental image scrolling though my head.

If you did any time in Boy-Scouts you'd undoubtedly remember the cars that you used to make out pre-packaged blocks of wood and race against other Scouts on a pre-made track. (I have a whole other story here for a future posting)
Well all I could picture was that I was in one of these blocks of wood and my two front wheels were hanging on by a thread. The singular pin wasn't driven in deep enough and the wheels were now an inch off the frame, a fraction of an inch from falling off altogether. I reached out, pushed the wheels back in place, and duct taped over the 'lugs'. Of course while I was doing all of this in my head the people around me promptly dropped me.

I crested the bridge and could see the finish. I figured the 'duct tape' would hold and the runners I'd been suffering with for the better part of the last five kilometers had all left me for dead. They had easily opened up a 100+ meter lead over me. As I came down and into the final finishers chute I looked off in the distance and watched the clock click over 35minutes. Early on I had allowed myself to believe in a sub 36min finish, and now it was all laid out in front of me.

I pushed harder than I had in the last five years, period. Since I had found myself in this exact same scenario in fact, during my 2006 running of the race. I got tunnel vision, both figuratively and literally, as I was pushing as hard as my battered body would allow. I caught and passed every runner that had left me for dead on the final bridge, but I didn't even care. I was fixated on the clock. I was staring through the finish line and hoping beyond hope that I could still crack 36minutes.

35.52 F@#K
35.53 ME
35.54 SIDEWAYS
35.55 I
35.56 CAN
35.57 TASTE
35.58 BLOOD
35.59 DAM-
36.00 IT. I
36.01 WASN'T
36.02 EVEN
36.03 CLOSE

In the end they took gun time anyways and my official time was 36m07s. I'LL TAKE IT! I mean I am truly, truly, ecstatic with that time given the circumstances. I think I have a 34mXXs in me before the end of the season though, and the funny thing is, I really liked the whole experience and I plan to do another one soon.

Last I heard, our corporate team won! Sweet.
GR

FREEBIE GIVEAWAY: Vancouver Trail Running Guidebook

I've got some really fun prizes to give away over the next month, including:

a Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing Entry

a Drymax Socks price package

a brand new pair of Montrail Rogue Racers

a new for 2011, 200 lumen Princeton Tec Apex Pro headlamp (the annual Roxy draw)

BUT FIRST UP...

IT'S HERE, and author Rich Wheater has been kind enough to spot me one of the very first books to hit the shelves as a FREE giveaway, right here, right now.

Vancouver Trail Running is a first edition guide book and as such it fills a massive gap in our local scene for relevant, accurate trail information. As with any first edition there is some room for improvement, but overall the pictures are engaging, the information flows nicely, and each route is accompanied by an adjacent trail map.

Elevation profiles are also added, though they are slightly small to get a fair estimation of exactly how much climbing each route really posses. Thankfully there is a fully functional legend for each run, which is complete with a heart (attack) guide, ranked from 1-3 and referred to as the 'burl factor'. This alone should clarify the possible need to pack your very own defibrillator.

My hat really goes off to Rich with what he's accomplished here, and I have no doubt that much like the 2005 release of Scrambles In Southwestern BC, this book will become a veritable bible for travellers and locals alike. In fact, these two books combined, would provide all the necessary information for one incredibly fun filled adventure/running summer!

ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO BE ENTERED IS,
tell me the square root of Pi...all of it...
(random draw from all comments will take place on Wednesday, April 20th at 8pm-ish)

GR

Full Circle + Roxy's 1st W! (Peterson Ridge Rumble 20miler)

I headed down to Sisters, Oregon this past weekend to attempt my first real racing experience since July of last year. In July I ran our local Knee Knacker 50k, but that race was just two weeks after Western States and I kinda consider Western to be my last real race. That's over NINE full months without a true test. There were of course two speed attempts and a few days on crutches thrown into that nine month span, but all in all, it had been a hell of a long time since I'd really tasted and savored the camaraderie of competition.

The Peterson Ridge Rumble is organized by Montrail teammate Sean (P-Diddy) Meissner and offers two distances to choose from, those being 20 and 40 miles. I had always known of the shorter version of this race as Sean allows for a DOG category and I'd dreamed for years of bringing my pooch Roxy along and tackling the race together. Heading into the weekend this did not seem like a reality though, as my dog had 'acquired' almost as much weight as I had during my extended hiatus -  to the tone of jumping up from around 55lbs to over 70lbs, which is of course almost 30% of her own body mass. Since I see her on a daily basis it never fully dawned on me why so many people lead into their greetings with her with, 

"You've gotten fat Roxy!" 

Then I pulled up a not so long ago picture for my own reference and couldn't help but laugh. 

My dog now had a bulging waistline and I did my best to ignore the fact that her winter ski jacket from just two seasons ago wouldn't even adhere to itself once stretched around her belly. 

Knowing this and seeing her struggles to keep up on even shorter runs over the last month I had no intentions of running my dog in the 20mile race. The initial plan was to run solo before trucking her back out on course and allowing her to run the closing portion with my girlfriend. Once the anticipation of the impending race started to build however, with howls of excitement from all around, she peered up at me with an all knowing glare,

"You CAN'T SERIOUSLY intend to leave me here at the finish while all these other dogs get to run this race with their owners? I thought you loved me!?"

A backup plan ensued after I expressed my concerns with with Leslie Gerein's significant other Keith Brodsky. Keith was out for a leisurely scenic run and we agreed should my dog really start to suffer or fall apart I'd leash her at an aid station and Keith would grab her on his way past. I honestly lined up for the start assuming no other scenario to unfold on the day, and I was excited at the prospect of running even half the race with my pooch, as it was simply too far to drive and too cool a concept not to enjoy with my now five year old pup.

The full circle part about this on a personal level was that I had broken my foot and significantly altered my own path over the last six months, just 40miles from where I was now standing in Sisters. I saw a T-Shirt in town advertising the Mt Bachelor ski resort of which Sunriver services and I couldn't help but cringe a little. That fateful date in October started out like any other and I still struggle to understand how I could sustain such a significant injury over such buff terrain. Here I was, just down the street, on an almost identical surface, and about to attempt my first race back. Was there another 'one wrong step' awaiting me out on those plush Oregon trails once more? It wasn't trepidation as much as a simple recognition. I wasn't fighting to get back on the horse, but the horse was reminding me that it had bucked me once before without warning and that I simply needed a reminder not to take anything for granted.

The course is mostly single track with a few climbs thrown in and the Garmin showed around 1000 feet of gain and loss. There were a few fast guys and a few fast dogs all mulling about as we waited for Meissner to get the show started. Roxy employed her now perfected cool as ice persona to intimidate all other four legged competitors, yet as soon as the countdown hit one she bolted to the front of the pack.

I take great pride in how much effort I put into training her and as she realized she'd already dropped me I loved seeing her pull aside to find me in the crowd verses simply stopping short and/or freaking out in the excited energy of the moment. I witnessed more than a few dogs loose their minds and a couple of runners take aggressive bumps that I was surprised they stayed upright throughout. It was like Nascar, "bumpin' is racin'!"

(DAD! Let's GO already!!) (these two pics thanks to Janine Beaudry)

My goal with the race was to run as hard as I could for as long as I could and to take stock from there as to where my fitness was. Essentially I intended to run a smart race but fully expected to blow up at some point and I was fine with that. I've only been back on my feet for four weeks after the better part of five months off and I trying to be as realistic as possible with my goals. 

The race opened fast, as was to be expected, and I drifted back to around 10th as I tried to compose myself and get my breathing under control. Roxy was making out fine and as we closed in on the 5km point where you duck into the forest and start enjoying some singletrack. I managed to bridge up to and pass a few runners in front of me right as we hit the junction. 

We knocked down the first 10k in 42min, and the half marathon distance in 1h32m. During this span I had many thoughts floating through my cranium.

-Can Roxy keep this pace?

-Can I keep this pace?

-This is harder than I remember, racing I mean, this kinda sucks right now

-I don't think I want to run this fast anymore, can I walk now please?

-You pansy, shut up and enjoy the fact that you can even still do this type of thing

-Alright, here's the deal. We WON'T stop running due to mental weakness. Let's just keep this pace and when the legs truly give out your free to whimper and cry and walk

-Whoa, I think I'm finding a groove. Where did this energy come from? This almost feels good again!

-I LOVE THIS

-Is my dog still alive, I can't hear her dog tags?

-There she is, the tags are stuck to her drooping tongue

-She's actually SMILING! I'm so happy I brought her along for this

-It's going to take a bit to get used to gels again

-Oh yeah, I should probably take an electrolyte tab or two while I'm at it

-I'm catching people, SWEET!

-This is a REALLY NICE TRAIL, flat as f#@k, but nice

-Oh a climb! I'm gonna enjoy thi....uhhh, it's over. Hopefully there's another one or two of those in here somewhere?

Along with other ground breaking, earth shattering, axis altering, deep thoughts about the cosmos and all that resides within it.

Roxy was starting to fade, as I expected, but overall she was still holding tight. We hit an aid station right as we had caught up to another runner and I made sure to give Roxy her dues. I gave her a few minutes as we found the doggy dishes, of which she drained both, and then the doggy treats, of which she devoured a few. I looked down at her to ensure she was able to close this thing out. I could see it would be a push for her but we'd come this far and to my knowledge she was the second place pup, first place female. I certainly wasn't about to take that away from her so off we went in search of more runners and one speedy dog named Henry.

Within a few kilometers we once again caught up to, and this time passed the runner who'd eluded us during our last stop. Shortly thereafter I spotted Montrail teammate Joelle Vaught who was killing it in the forty mile distance. There was a short climb and descent of which we cheered each other through. I then ran scared as she pushed hard from behind, while running twice the distance as myself! She had effectively flattened my ego right as it was starting to feel good about how I was finally moving. (she went on to win the 40miler in 4h58m!)

I was now ready to close this thing out and somewhat surprised to discover I had fuel left in the tank after almost two full hours of high tempo running. Roxy on the other hand was drifting further and further back and had started shorting the switchbacks (don't DQ her, it's Euro style don't ya know!)

Unbeknownst to me, and more importantly to my dog, the race would finish with about 4km of completely flat and open terrain that was predominantly covered on a gravel road. I KNEW she was about to tap out on me and my grand visions of a sub 2h20m effort were disappearing by the stride. I employed my time tested strategy of basically lying to her and hoping for the best. I incessantly spit out words she knew and loved, mixed in with a few I could only hope she recognized,

"TREATS!"

"PUPPIES"

"WATER"

"HOME"

"Spa day cause I love you and don't want you to die on me right now"

"Massage...for me, but if you only knew what this meant you'd perk right up"

"TREATS, lots and lots of TREATS!"

"PUPPIES, oh I can see lots of happy puppies up ahead Roxy!"

"We're almost home Rox, you're doing awesome! Almost done! Treats, treats, treats!"

This worked, for about thirty five seconds. Fifteen minutes later and I could tell that if I stopped to wait for her she'd claw my eyes out on the spot.

By the time we reached the finish at the track I figured I had enough witnesses to prevent her from gnawing off one of my legs once I slowed down for her. She gapped up to me and then shut down on the spot. We had 400meters to go...her to me,

"WHAT the F#$K! SERIOUSLY, WHY are you still running away from me? Why are you attempting to walk in a huge circle right now when I can clearly see water and pigs ear treats just over there, and WHY are these people laughing at me!??"

I started walking the track with her and she still struggled to keep up. We made it about half way before Meissner grabbed his megaphone, 

"JUST RUN ALREADY!"

I ran the last half, with Roxy nearly in tears as to why, and I then stopped short of the finish. There was no way I was crossing the line without her, and about fifteen seconds later we did just that. 

(Roxy giving her version of a salute to the race organizers) (pics thanks to AJ Tauber)

Apparently we had the slowest closing split around the track...by minutes...I think it took us over three full minutes to circle the damn thing and once we finally stopped she simply collapsed with a look that said,

"YOU HAPPY!? NEVER again Dad, NEVER again! Now WHERE are my pigs ears?"

(Twenty miles for these hey? How bout next time I just give you $30 bucks ya cheap bastard!)

Unfortunately for the other pooch Henry his owner took a late race wrong turn which by default made Roxy the OVERALL Dog winner...to which she really couldn't give a shit!

Full Results
I'm confident I would have broken 2h20m had I run solo - I'm happier to have run 2h25 with Roxy in tow

Thanks to Meissner for an incredible weekend!

As always when I'm truly racing I have a song that plays on default in my head, and given we had just seen these guys in concert on the Thursday night before the race, this was the theme song of the day:

GR

THIS Is Why I'm Counting Down The Days Till The 166km UTMB In France (08-26)

THIS is what helps to get me out of bed on those rainy dreary mornings and kicks my ass out the door on a training run.

THIS is what is allowing me to push distance on a supposedly injured body that is still in recovery mode.

THIS is what is tempting me into flying over a full month in advance of the August 26th start date.

THIS is what Ultra Running is ALL ABOUT!

166km, August 26th, 6:30pm start time, 21.5hr Course Record, 9500 meters of elevation gain, 2300 runners, and a who's who of ultra runners from around the world. The countdown is on!


The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® by UltraTrailMontBlanc

GR

XS-NRG (Cdn Ultra-Running Doc) Avail For 3 Day Rental $2.60

XS-NRG was a running project spearheaded by Ean Jackson back in 2004. Along with his buddies Wade Repta, Dom Repta, and Dave Cressman they attempted to become the first group of runners to complete the overly rugged 180km Sunshine Coast Trial, in a non-stop effort.

In the end only one survived...that's right, three of them DIED en route, though not in your typical end of life definition. I've since had beers with all of them and they're just fine, by all standard definitions, other than their running egos having taken a bit of a beating along the way.

There's also a little cameo by yours truly, though you may not fully recognize me as I'd honestly only been running for a few months at that point in my life. My running style could only be described as a full body workout, and I also successfully disguised myself under a full head of hair. This, combined with the fact that Dom Repta looks twelve years old, should not confuse the fact that we are indeed just seven years removed from this historic running accomplishment.

Good friends Shay Wilson and Angus Mclellan produced, directed, and edited the film and they've now posted it online for three day streaming rental for just $2.60! If nothing else, you can mock my running, marvel at my flowing locks, and witness one runner's never say die attitude that carried him through nearly two full days of relentless forward motion.

Here's the trailer (that's my trademark "wooo" in the dark)

http://www.xsnrg.tv/XS-NRG/Movie.html

If you click on the movie itself on their HOME page you'll be directed to the rental side of things.

Enjoy!

GR

My 1st 'Race' Back & A 50mile Week o Runnin'

THAT'S RIGHT! I actually cracked 50miles of total running last week, and somewhat unexpectedly to be honest. In fact I had no intentions of running a 'race' last week but it all lined up so perfectly that I just couldn't say no. In the end I currently find myself on a nice little running streak that goes something like this:

15th Tue: 3.2k / 17min

Wed: 6.5k / 33min

Thu: 10k / 52 1/2min

Fri: 5.3k / 28min

Sat: 10.5k / 52min

Sun: 9.2k / 47min

TOTAL 44.7km

21st Mon: Gym w. Curb

Tue: 14k 1ST TRAIL RUN! An hour after an xray showed my foot was 100% healed!

Wed: 12k Trail

Thu: 11k Road

Fri: 16k Trail on Cougar Mtn trail system just outta Seattle. Great terrain!

Sat: 21k Trail 'Race' at Seattle's Dizzy Daze 3mile gravel loop

Sun: 11k Trail

TOTAL 85km

28th Mon: Gym w. Curb + 10k Road

Tue: 11k Trail/Track

Wed: 10k Road

That equals fifteen of the last sixteen days of getting to lace up the shoes, granted I only lace my shoes about once a month and simply slip em on and off for about four weeks till they loosen, but either way IT FEELS GREAT RIGHT NOW!

And I know what some people are thinking and I can only say thank you for the concern. Honestly I'm holding back so much right now I could burst and there has been very little physical fatigue or significant pain to push through to make all this happen. It really is just feeling RIGHT right now. I have pretty much zero pain in my foot and my ankle is feeling like I'm recovering from the worst sprain/strain you could imagine. It still hurts with every step but it tends to feel better and not worse after the runs so I'll continue rolling and see how it goes.

THE RACE

Dizzy Daze 13.1/26.2/50k/100k was started by my buddy Jonathan Bernard. I had no intentions of running a half marathon distance last weekend and especially not in the form of a 'race'. In the end a text message reminder while knowing I was in the Seattle area planted the seed. I figured that since it was a looping course over a three mile gravel trail, and completely flat, that the worst case scenario was that I'd do a few laps and call it a day if things went awry. 

I kind of purposely ensured I was late for the start just in case there were any serious runners. I really just wanted to run my own pace and not even think about being in a 'race'...ok I'll stop putting that in parenthesis already! I officially started at 7:09am and the race itself began at 7am.

My goal was to simply stay under five minute kms / eight minute miles for the first three loops and then to try testing things out on the final lap and see where it left me in the days following the run. I was really happy with my splits given I was mostly just running by feel. I was even happier given I hit a 3m35s km pace / 5m45s mile on the final lap, though ever so briefly, and that after donning my super hot compression gear I managed to continue my short running streak without issue in the days to follow. My splits on the 5.17km loop

1) 24:42

2) 24:41

3) 24:15

4) 21:42 + just over a minute to cover the final extra loop to hit the distance

21.1k / 1h36m26s

My Reaction

My Dog

My Sprint For The Line To Win The Race

GR

Mr. Jones & Me

IT'S GOOD!! Mr. Jones Fracture has officially been put to rest.

(How I felt after seeing the x-ray yesterday morning)

Finally, finally, finally there is X-Rayed proof that my foot is 100% healed and ready to start taking a proper beating once more!

When I left the hospital on Feb 1st I was told it was 80-90% and that I could start back at things as long as I "Didn't Do Anything Stupid"...Who ME?? NEVER!

Those exact words played out in no fewer than a dozen different scenario's during my constant foot tweaks over the last seven weeks. I have finally had the weight of my own mind removed from my shoulders...wait a second, there's many different ways to interpret that statement...anyways, no more stressing out because of foot pain, it's all good pain from here on out!

The worst mental tail spin I ended up on was for a week while I was experiencing direct pain in that exact portion of my foot.

"I'm done. This sucks. I'm soft. I'm broken again."

Dr. Jenn Turner "It's your cuboid"

"Huh?"

"Your cuboid. Here..."

"OW! Mother of..."

"Done"

"WHOA. SWEET! You ARE a magician!"

Runnin' In Circles


I blogged about my 10k treadmill run, but I never really mentioned how much of a price I paid for that stupid move. The fact that I ran 10k wasn't the issue, it was that I did it on a treadmill and simply kept upping the speed and attempting to hang on. In the end I felt great, for about an hour, and then my right ankle felt like it'd taken a bullet. I was unable to even walk without a limp, let alone run. The only beneficial thing that subsequently transpired was that I got sick and ended up having to take nine full days off anyways. By the time I had gotten over the flu my heal/ankle had come around and my lesson was learned. On the advice of Curb Ivanic I hit the track and ran in fully self propelled circles, instead of a treadmill assisted speed workout. In the end I am undecided as to what sucks more?

I Ran A Marathon

Over a span of six days that is...and I couldn't have been happier to have knocked down a six day mini running streak!

Mon 14th: Strength w/ Curb
Tue: 3.2k / 17min
Wed: 6.5k / 33min
Thu: 10k / 52 1/2min
Fri: 5.3k / 28min
Sat: 10.5k / 52min
Sun: 9.2k / 47min

Of course every run looked like this:

But whatever, it's all about the small victories right now right!

My First Trail Run In Almost Five Months!


With the news of a healthy foot yesterday I finally got back onto the trails for the first time since Oct 26th! A 14km jaunt out to Norvan Falls and back felt like an ultra but for all the right reasons. (1h23m)

Thankfully my body was ok with the distance, pace, and terrain I covered yesterday and I managed another trail run today of 12km in 1h08m with the first 5km being all uphill. It was a fantastically beautiful day by all definitions and as I sat in the sun at the top of my climb I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. It's been a long journey back to the trails but all things considered the timing of it all could not have worked out better. There's still a long road ahead before I manage to get into race shape, and I know it won't be an easy process, but, mark my words. I'll be 'Showing Up' at Western States and I'll definitely be 'Showing Up' at UTMB!!

Songs o Da Week (I saw these guys in concert with Bon Jovi in 97)



GR

Gorge Waterfalls 50k

I had the pleasure last weekend of getting away to Portland for a few days. Unfortunately I'm still not even close to running an ultra again, but that didn't take away from all the fun to be had.

James Varner of Rainshadow Running was hosting the inaugural Gorge Waterfalls 50k, and along with the Orcas Island 50k he has now sold out each of his first two events for the season. There's a reason for this of course, as James is known for putting together incredible, and incredibly challenging courses. At the pre-race briefing he very boldly stated:

"I think this can and will become one of the best 50k races in the country"

Shortly thereafter the runners were off on a waterfall tour unlike any other. The course has something crazy like 30 waterfalls in thirty miles kind of numbers? As the runners started to trickle in 4h25m later the overwhelming sentiment was that this race had just become an instant classic. Many expressed that the race was harder than they expected, but not a single person could go more than a minute without talking about the pure beauty of the course itself.

On a personal level I experienced a significant setback following my exciting 10k treadmill run the week prior, and when coupled with a decent flu bug, I had not produced a singular drop of sweat in over nine days. I seemed to have bruised some deep tissue around my ankle from that run, and in the end I was more than pleased to simply be able to hobble/hike five miles of the course and capture some pics and vid. It really is incredibly beautiful and I can't wait to get a chance to run it myself in 2012.



GR

It Takes A Village

Last summer there was a guest speaker at one of our local North Shore Athletics Run Club nights. He was highly respected within the industry and had once worked as the team physiotherapist for the Toronto Blue Jays, back when they were winning no less...and yes there's still a baseball team in Canada eh!

One point he made throughout his presentation that really hit home for me personally, was in regards to the main differences in injury recovery rates of professional athletes verses weekend warriors. He simply stated that once a pro gets injured there's obviously a full team of people to help instantly diagnose them, a village if you will. When your non professional athlete goes down however, it can often take weeks or even months to properly figure out what has gone wrong and why. It's an incredibly costly and frustrating process. On average most people wait out their injuries at least two or three weeks before they even admit there's an issue. By that point you've only managed to dig yourself a deeper hole to crawl out of.

I looked at my own personal situation and couldn't help but feel incredibly fortunate that I had finally, after many years of searching, pieced together my own village of incredibly talented individuals. I've manged to tap into the substantial network of professionals we have right here in North Van, and right at the top of that list is my 'go to girl' Dr. Jenn Turner of Moveo. I called her a magician and I feel that if she had lived in the middle ages she would be flogged and stoned for possessing her powers of healing and recovery.

Jenn has been completely integral throughout my painfully lengthy recovery process and I wouldn't be nearly as far along as I currently am without her weekly attention. I recently sat down with Jenn and put together a short video. She works with Olympic Athletes and is constantly being flown around the world to keep our National Track Cycling Team on the straight and narrow. The girls got skills and her resume backs it up. If you're local to the area and tired of running in circles trying to get answers to your injury issues I can pretty much guarantee she can fix ya up! Check her out...


GR

130 Days to 10k (a new online training program coming soon to Amazon)

I've just completed the yet to be released 130 days to 10k training program! Here's the general outline of what you can expect:

The first six weeks of this program involves heavy drinking and partying like it's 1999. You will awake daily to a hangover the likes of which you've never dreamt possible and with the stark realization that you were actually born in the 70's, NOT the 80's, or more importantly the 90's. This trivial fact however should not dissuade you from attempting to out dance kids half your age while scaling dance floor speakers. (Side note, expect to be promptly removed by a nineteen year old bouncer who could crush you like a little girlie man. He may also drop you into a taxi against your will and direct the driver to the nearest old age home)

IF you can survive the first six weeks...only 7.3258% manage to do so, you will then be subjected to a monthly game of 'Build Em Up / SMASH EM DOWN' based around your own delusional expectations and belief that you're somehow deserving of a better fate, HA! You should feel lucky we didn't just amputate one of your legs from the start! This will continue for another ten weeks and though you may attempt to complete 10km in a similar fashion, it simply will not be the same:

(photo thanks to my fantastic running partner Debra Nicol. NYD 10k 1h28m)

Your final exam will be the most challenging part of this 130 days to 10k as you will eventually gain the freedom you've so actively yearned for. However you'll once more be subjected to the 'Build Em Up / SMASH EM DOWN' and without any prior warning. The big difference this time though is that the smash down will be completely internal, MWAH HA HA!! YOU and you along will have to come to terms with this and you'll struggle with the fact that you can no longer extol your anger towards a separate entity (an X-ray machine). YOU will have to realize on your own accord that you ARE in fact human and that you will not be able to simply pick up where you left off almost four months prior. Try as you may, your own body has been decommissioned with a purpose. This purpose at it's core has been disguised and designed to make you stronger both physically and more importantly mentally.

YOU once thought you loved the sport of running but did you ever really grasp or fully appreciate just how much a part of your life it had become? Did you ever stop to smell the roses as it were, to step back and think for two seconds how fortunate you were to simply be able to run, let alone afford a life and lifestyle of running around the world in the some of the most scenic environments upon the planet. Had you ever explored just what this simple act of a daily run truly meant to you? Though you would have emphatically answered YES to all of these questions just 130 days ago, you should now appreciate and understand all of these principles on a deeper level. A level that you were not even fully aware existed until we were able to strip you down to your absolute core, before attempting to build you back up again.

Your final exam will initially consist of completing the first 10km run you've attempted in over four and a half months (treadmill 1.5% incline, 45m58s, painful but oh so good). Your final grade however will be determined 100% around which song you are able to submit that best sums up your journey back to health. And KNOW THIS YOUNG JEDI, there is only ONE correct answer:


GR

Running or Something Like It (my first month back)

Hard to believe it's March 1st already, though I kinda find myself sayin that at the beginning of each and every month. In all seriousness though, having not been able to run through what are typically the worst months of the year I truly can not believe that spring is right around the corner (hopefully).

SO, the quick and dirty, though not nearly dirty enough, recap of my first month off of crutches...it still hurts, lots, though in all the right places from what I am told. In hindsight I still would not have taken the surgery option over the natural healing option, though what I am now dealing with is a direct result of being off my foot for three and a half months. Had I taken the surgery option, and had it been successful, I would more than likely be months ahead of where I am now in the recovery process. Conversely had the surgery gone wrong for any reason I might not have ever run again. Hence I'm very content with how things have gone to date.

What I was not fully prepared for or educated on was just how lengthy the process of reconditioning the specific musculature of the foot and ankle would be. I'm already four weeks off crutches and I still feel each and every step that I take, albeit in my ankle and not in my foot or more importantly within the bone fracture site. It's been painfully slow going, but it has continually moved in the right direction so I have zero complaints. I still feel that I will have a successful top ten effort at Western States in June and hopefully an even better race eight weeks later at UTMB in France. All in all the timing of UTMB is kinda perfect given where I'm coming from right now. It has distinctly become my A race for the year and I am weighing options on hopefully travelling to France a full month early in an attempt to develop an intimate relationship with the course, and with the absolute goal of having the race of my life come the August 26th starting date. THIS of course is a whole other side story...

Feb 1st till Mar 1st:

Week 1: Having finally been told I could start back at it I headed straight to the track (as shown earlier) to see how things would hold up. I ran/walked a total distance of 2km, with a mix of about 1km of very slow painful running and about 1km of very slow walking, alternating as my body demanded. This was both the stupidest and most beneficial thing I could have done all at once. In the days following this 'run' my right leg basically seized up and my right calf felt like it had been assaulted with a baseball bat, Nancy Kerrigan style. My body had dictated the terms of recovery very definitively and I was forced to immediately accept the fact that this was going to be a very long process.

Feb 1st - 6th

T: Above run/walk for 2km

W: off / regret my decision from previous day

T: 1h30m spin session

F: Gym workout with Curb Ivanic

S: Trail hike on Orca's Island of 3.5km which took a full hour

S: off

Feb 7th - 13th

M: 1hr strength session with Curb

T: 1hr trail hike

W: 1hr/26km Road Bike with previously shown crash 

+ physio session with Jenn Turner

T: 1hr spin session at home (so as to prevent another possible crash)

+ 30min trail hike

F: off

S: 1hr spin session 

+ 1.5hr/8km trail hike

S: 1hr spin session (1st time really pushing hard & getting a great w/o) 

+ 1hr/4km trail hike

Throughout these two weeks I was still unable to walk without a significant limp due to the overall muscle fatigue within my foot. It wasn't until almost three weeks out that I finally had a full day of being on my feet without once looking gimpy. Each day felt slightly better and stronger so I was confident it was just a matter of time and not something worth worrying about

Feb 14th - 20th

M: 1hr strength w/ Curb

T: off

W: Physio w/ Jenn Turner at Moveo

T: quick workout at home

F: 1hr spin session which was definitively my best to date as I was finally able to push decent wattage 

S: 1hr/4km snowshoe hike in Whistler

S: off

Feb 21st - 27th 

Having finally progressed beyond limping and also feeling like my overall upper leg strength had returned I focused on getting my first full and consistent week of training in.

M: 1h30m/7km snowshoe hike

T: 1h30m / 1800 vertical foot hike up Grouse Mtn to the 1954 F-86 Fighter Jet crash site on the trail known as Jetboy, followed by a gravity assisted run back down to fully assess my leg and ankle strength which I was pleasantly surprised with over the following 48 hours of basic and expected but not overly debilitating quad pain 

+ 1hr spin session

W: My 2nd attempt at running. 30min/6km painful in ankle but overall ecstatic to officially run once more

+ physio session w/ Jenn Turner

T: 2hr road ride / 51km. Bitterly cold but stunningly beautiful day

F: 1hr road ride / 28km. Again bitterly cold but overall my best workout to date

+ 1hr hike up BCMC at night

S: 30m/5km treadmill run

S: 1h30m Jetboy hike up and run down

(this was taken on Friday afternoon and by Sunday morning everything was buried under a foot of snow, forcing the road bike to once again become attached to the indoor trainer)

All in all, things are definitively heading in the right direction and on an almost noticeable daily basis. When I left the hospital on Feb 1st the Doctor said,
"Your goal should be to run 10km within the next eight weeks"

This was immediately followed by my own thought of,
"TEN KILOMETERS?! I'll run ten by next week and fifty within eight weeks DOC!"

Of course I didn't voice this because I didn't want to get into trouble but realistically he wasn't too far off. I managed 8km on the treadmill this morning and will most certainly complete 10km in a similar fashion by the end of this week (5 weeks out)...though I'm still intending to do 50k by the end of eight weeks Doc!

GR

About That NOT Doing Anything Dumb Stipulation...

First day back on my road bike in over four months...didn't quite go according to plan...


Thankfully my hand isn't broken which was my initial concern after the adrenaline wore off and the swelling set in. Amazingly the bike sustained only minor damage and outside of the 'delayed onset muscle soreness' through the following 48hrs I escaped with nothing permanently damaged other than my pride. Oh yeah, and I jimmy-rigged my GoPro to my bike for the first time but thankfully for my ego the camera wasn't actually rolling while I went over the bars, nor was the camera itself damaged in the fall.

On a funnier note, I did arrive home to my Grandma neighbor doing gardening to constant uncensored gangster rap.



GR

Feb 10th: FREE Endurance Nutrition Talk By Steve Born

One night only, tonight from 7pm till 9pm at The Granville Island Hotel.

15 Simple Ways To Improve Your Athletic Performance RIGHT NOW

Nutrition expert/author Steve Born will be in Vancouver tonight and talking about the number one thing most endurance athletes still struggle with, NUTRITION.

Don't squander months and months of training only to have your race go south due to improper fueling strategies. Steve is an expert in the field and will give you personal insight into what you may be doing wrong and how to hopefully fix it before your next big event.

Here's an excerpt from one of his presentations:

Proper fueling of the body prior to, during, and after exercise requires personal experimentation to find the ideal fit for you, the individual athlete. There is no “one size fits all” approach; we are all “experiments of one” when it comes to fueling during exercise. You need to determine, through trial and error in your training, what works best for you. However, there are some basic guidelines that will enable you to eliminate much of the guesswork, so you can more rapidly learn how to properly fuel your body, allowing you to enjoy higher quality workouts and better race performances.
Some of these recommendations may seem pretty foreign to you, especially in regards to fluid, calorie, and electrolyte replenishment during exercise, where some “experts” tell you that you need to eat and drink at or near depletion rates...


There is seating available and although RSVP'ing is recommended, you could still show up without doing so and more than likely squeeze into a seat at the back.

Any questions please contact Donna Wanless: adrenalinmarketing@telus.net

If you happen to make it out, I'll be front row center taking it all in myself.

GR