Gary Robbins

BCMC Descent FKT - 15m52s

December 29, 2012

It's rare that I have a run where I celebrate it like I've just won The Stanley Cup. Today was one of those very special days.

With perfect conditions on the local BCMC trail, which is listed as a 3.3km / 2 mile trail that loses 853 meters / 2800 feet over an average grade of 25-35%, I leaned into it and held on (stayed upright) all the way to the bottom in less than sixteen minutes.

Just last week I ran a 19m29s descent in which the conditions were a bit more complex, and I commented afterwards that I thought I could break nineteen minutes. That was my goal today. That was all I expected to see when I clicked the lap counter once I'd reached the gate at the bottom. Seeing a time of 15m52s sent me into a flurry of leaping around like an idiot.

Now this run will certainly have to be noted as a snow assisted descent, though you still have to cover the terrain underfoot. By perfect conditions I mean that there is a decent snow pack over the top portions of the route so you can really stride out over what is normally very technical terrain. The mid portion however is a bit of a slushy slip and slide and my downhill ski experience certainly contributed to keeping me upright as I slid as much as I ran through this section.

The bottom was a mix of snow, ice and then the normal rocks and roots. I managed to rip my microspikes off my feet in about six seconds flat and refused to pause my watch for any reason as I didn't want to compromise the GPS file.

I pretty much turned myself inside out on this run. I made but two missteps in the snow which cost me a few seconds and had just two hikers who refused to relinquish the trail and forced me into the knee deep snow on the sides of the trail. All in all people were incredibly accommodating, and I attempted to give them as much heads up as possible with friendly "hellos" as I approached. The run really couldn't have gone any better. My only regret is that I wasn't wearing my GoPro for the whole thing:)

What really makes this an extra special run is that I've been training my tail off in preparation for my first 100 miler in two and a half years, that being the HURT Hawaii on Jan 19th. With 115 miles / 190km in the last six days I don't get much more tired than I've been as of late, but thankfully the body has stayed strong and my mind is simply being strung along for the ride right now.

Enough blogging, it's time to convince my mind that it wants to go for yet another run already.
GR

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The Bee's Knees

December 12, 2012

It's been over a year and a half since I met Leon Lutz at a running conference in Utah. I was impressed by his dedication to his beard, he was impressed by my dedication to my running. We hit it off and shared a few drinks over the course of the weekend.

Leon asked if I'd mind doing an interview regarding my injury and recovery process following my initial broken foot, and I happily obliged. Neither of us could have ever guessed it would take the better part of 18 months to finally piece this together, but then again neither of us could have dreamt that I was in fact nowhere near the end of my recovery process when we first met. Au contraire, I wasn't even at the midway point since the second broken foot had yet to actually occur.

I have to admit that I get a touch emotional as I read Leon's take on my story. I believe he's done a great job in really summarizing what the last few years have truly been like for me. It's not been easy. It's not been without its constant self doubt and frustration. I think the reason Leon nailed this one, outside of his writing skillset, is in essence because he kind of lived it along with me. Leon became personally invested in my running successes and failures after we'd befriended each other and agreed to conduct an interview on the premise that I was already fully recovered from a jones fracture (I still can't even type that word without a tinge of anxiety hitting me).

As we leaned toward making that initial interview a reality everything went sideways again. I never would have believed that a full recovery could take nearly as long as it did, and Leon didn't even broach the subject again until he knew that I felt it was finally behind me. Eighteen months along and I find it was actually worth the wait, because although one's story is ever evolving, we hope and believe that this lengthy chapter has finally been put to rest.

Leon's blog is titled "This Bee's Knees" and here's the link to his interview. I hope you enjoy it.

GR

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How To Go From 3rd To 19th In A Few Quick Steps - Mountain Masochist Race Report

November 4, 2012

This was my third time lining up for the Mountain Masochist Trail Run 50 miler with my last run being in a time of seven hours flat for 3rd overall in 2009.

The last time I lined for for a 50 mile race at all was 18 months ago during my short recluse from crutches. I was really excited for this one for after being sidelined for so long it was one of the few races I could use to really gauge where my fitness was. In the end hurricane Sandy removed any chance of fast times though as the upper portions of the course were blanketed in a decent amount of snow. I figured this could only play to my favor though, being Canadian and since we live in igloos up here.

This was the 30th rendition of the Mountain Masochist and it also involved a few course changes. The first six or seven miles used to be on the relatively flat paved Blue Ridge Parkway, now there was but a few miles of paved surface and a bit more climbing on trails.

I found myself inadvertently leading the race through the first trail section and then settled into a group of seven runners who included Eric Grossman, Brian Rusiecki, Chris Reed, Frank Gonzalez, Brian Schmidt, Ty Draney and David Hryuniak (a 2h32m marathoner attempting his first 50)

I was happy to follow the leaders but given the first hour was by headlamp and my Princeton Tec Apex was casting shadows over other runners legs as the brightest light, I got pushed back to the front. Eric Grossman joked,

"Is that some kind of crazy Canadian light you're wearing there?"

I think someone else piped in with,

"Yeah what is that a metric light?"

We clicked off the miles with occasional banter. Having run the race twice before I was surprised that our lead group was so large.

As we hit the first climb people laid into it. I'm a decent climber but my bread and butter is my descending so I slowly slipped back in the pack. I quickly found myself in 6th, from 1st and it always amazes me at how much this can affect your perception of how you're running. I immediately attempted to stifle my inner voice which was freaking out

"DROPPED! What are we five miles into this thing? You're dnf'ing for sure today"

I just kept reminding myself that the placings weren't accurate until after the equivalent descents. Sure enough as we crested and I let my legs roll out I found myself back in the lead within a mile.

A longer climb ensued and I found myself in 7th

"D-N-F. You're not a runner anymore. It's been too long and you haven't had a good race since getting back at this. You can't keep pushing like this and make it to the finish line today."

"We'll see what happens on the next descent!" Says positive me to negative me.

We topped out at an aid station where half the group stopped to grab fluids. My one handheld still had enough to get me to the next aid so I rounded the corner behind two others. It was singletrack and a bit rough and once I hopped back into the lead I was actually able to open up a decent gap. I figured it best to capitalize on this since I knew I'd be yo-yo'ing with guys in this fashion throughout the day.

Confirming my fondest memories of Masochist the sun rose, right on cue, as we were on a gravel road that allowed for relatively open views. Though a brisk wind pervaded and some cloud cover lingered, it was a beautiful morning.

"What are ya gonna do now that the suns up headlamp boy!?" Grossman jokes.

The pack had closed the gap and went about putting some distance into me on the long strung out gravel road climb.

The following descent was steeper and rockier and I managed to get myself up into second, just behind Eric. An obvious pattern was unfolding and it wasn't until about fifteen miles in that our pack started to thin. I was shocked to see that Brian Rusiecki was no longer with us as I considered him the pre-race favorite given the year he's having.

We eventually settled into groups with Eric leading and Hryuniak off his wing, third and forth paired off together as did sixth and seventh. I was in no mans land without a dance partner. No one spoke fluent Canadian though so I wasn't completely surprised.

At about twenty four miles in Rusiecki comes storming up out of nowhere,

"Man they were hot outta the gates weren't they"

"Yeah I was surprised by how many people stuck with the lead group"

and with that he was gone. I knew then and there that he was going to win. It wasn't even a question in my mind. It was almost the same spot where Geoff Roes pulled away from me in 09 to smash the CR. Geoff had apparently just warmed up that year while I was running to my capacity.

My good buddy Hays Poole and his wife Kathy and son Will who reside a few hours away in Raleigh NC had driven up to crew for me. It was Hays's third time doing as much yet the first time his wife and son could join. The long story short is that we met through NHL hockey as his Carolina Hurricanes defeated my Edmonton Oilers in seven games to win Stanley's Mug. This is relevant information because we're die hard fans. I came into the twenty six mile 'half way point' and while looking for Hays, Kathy and Will in the crowd I spotted an Edmonton Oilers shirt screaming at me like a beacon. Quality move, for not only did it allow for a flawless transition but it gave me something to laugh about for the next hour.

Right after the half way point you get into the largest climbs of the day. In my previous runs I had predominantly power hiked these areas I wanted to alter that to predominantly running them this year. My goal in 2009 was sub seven hour race and i missed by twenty nine seconds. I locked into a rhythm and started doing what I had not in these past races. This combined with the fact that I felt really good while doing so was showing me that I was outperforming my previous best run on the course. This is what I came for. This was the test I wanted and even though we all knew the course would run slower with the snow I was at least confirming to myself that my training has been paying off and I'm close to, if not finally back to where I was before my injuries derailed me.

I picked up fifth within a few miles and then snagged fourth as we headed into 'The Loop' at mile thirty three. The Loop for me has been one of my favorite sections of the race. It's five miles long, all on singletrack and with a decent level of technicality to it. It's the closest section of MMTR that feels familiar to my home terrain. As I grabbed fourth heading into The Loop Horty tells me that third is only three minutes ahead and the leaders are fifteen minutes up. Immediately we get into the snow and Clarke's pre-race proclamation of

"It's like two different courses out there" in regards to the front half vs the back half is showing itself to be as literal as he intended it to be.

I went to work with the knowledge that from there to the finish is predominantly downhill. I liked where I was and had told myself throughout the day that I simply had to be within striking distance by this point in the race. The first half works a bit against my strengths while the back half aligns with them perfectly.

I powered through the snow anticipating doing The Loop as in previous years. I follow the flagging through the snow and eventually see Brian and Eric running together and towards me,

"Waaa. What's goin on?!"

"Out and back"

Oh right I think to myself, I remember reading about the out and back section this year. I mark the spot where I crossed paths with the leaders and take a time check. A few seconds later I spot Frank a switchback ahead of me and as I close the gap we reach the top nearly in unison. There's an orienteering punch that you clip your bib with to show you've gone up. I was distracted by the views for a second and actually said to myself

"No you're racing, you can't hang out here and fully appreciate this"

"But, but, but...I hate racing, you suck" Again these are the internal conversations I have with myself when I run.

Hats off to Clarke though, the view from that perch was beyond anything the original course ever presented. It was the highlight of the entire race course for me.

The snow obviously became deeper as we climbed and near this high point it was shin deep in sections. Given that only the four of us runners had been through we were in essence breaking trail (Clarke and crew had been through so it wasn't 100% breaking trail)

I laid into the descent and having plenty of experience in the snow Frank graciously stepped aside and cheered me on. I time checked where I'd seen the leaders and was pleased to know that I had gained two minutes on them. I had flirting visions of maybe closing in on one of them by the final three to four mile long descent that takes you into the final mile of the race.

I flew through the snow and was buoyed mentally by the fact that I knew I'd at least crack top three unless something completely unforeseen arose.

"You're going the wrong way!"

"No I'm not, it's and out and back!"

"You're going the wrong way!"

"No I'm not, it's and out and back!"

"You're going the wrong way!"

"No I'm not, it's and out and back!"

x10

Couple that with my own recognition of where I was by thinking

"Its weird we're not doing the full loop this year. I wonder if there was just too much snow on that side?"

"You're going the wrong way!"

"No I'm not, it's and out and back!"

I had this exchange so many times that shortly before arriving back at the aid station (which is in fact the same aid station you hit after the loop) I wanted to say to Horty and Clarke,

'Can you please tell people it's an out and back this year. No one seems to understand this' (yes I'm a complete moron)

Instead I just look for my crew as I'm in full on race mode and feeding off of the slim hopes of catching 2nd.

"Hays! Hays! Hays?"

Clarke and Horty look like they're staring at a ghost as the approach me,

"What are you doing?'

"I'm looking for my crew. Hays!"

"No what are you doing here?"

"What?"

"You're supposed to come in from over there" As Horty points to the exit from the loop about a hundred feet away.

"No it's an out and back" I say, still not clicking into anything around me. Then it hits me. Then my eyes open as my racing goggles are ripped from my face, as the horse blinders are lifted I see twenty volunteers all stating at me with remorse. That look of "oh no" "I feel terrible for him right now" is just emanating off of everyone.

My brain snaps back into reality and I'm overwhelmed by the flood of emotions coursing through me. In my head,

"Are you f#@king kidding me! I did what!!? Don't speak Gary. Count to something. I don't want to f#@king count. Walk. Walk away and compose yourself dammit."

Out loud to Clarke,

"I'm just. I'm just gonna go over this way for a bit."

I walked around the corner and sat down in a pile of snow in front of a truck that put me out of sight. I slumped my head into my hands and started processing what had just occurred. Clarke found me a few minutes later.

"I'm sorry man. How ya doin?"

Both of us knowing it wasn't his fault of course.

"I'm alright"

"What are ya thinkin?"

The serious thought of being a poopy pants and not closing it out never crossed my mind. I just needed a few minutes to basically tell myself that a result on the day, whether 3rd or 30th, wasn't going to change how I ran, how I felt, how happy I was with what I had done up until that point. Yeah it sucked that I was no longer in the race, but there were exactly zero reasons not to finish. Couple that with the fact that I was staying with JB Basham who'd done a 112 mile version of the Hardrock hundred miler back in July and I really didn't even have a choice in the matter.

Five minutes further along and I started cooling off in the breeze and realized if I didn't get moving that I might end up with an actual reason not to continue. I said thanks to all the aid station crew and walked back out on course. Having absolutely nothing left to fight for I ambled my way along letting my body temperature determine when I'd actually start running again. I sauntered for a mile before the wind on my body coupled with the snow at my feet had cooled me to the point of needing to generate my own body heat.

A few miles in and I stopped at the intersection where I'd gone wrong. I distinctly remembered my thought process as I ran through the first time, which only strengthen my resolve in my ignorance.

There was a ton of flagging there and while running out it really stood out as being heavily marked. My eyes instinctively followed the majority the flagging towards the right and I never even noticed the additional flagging to the left that would guide us back around the loop. My thought while running through the first time,

"There's a ton of flagging here, they must really want to ensure we don't go left by mistake"

After I digested all this I proceeded to close out the final twelve miles of the course. I alternated between running walking and chatting along the way. Given that I've never been able to chat up the aid station workers while racing MMTR in the past two runs I spent a few minutes at each of the remaining four stations joking around with everyone. When I spotted watermelon at an aid station it necessitated a lengthier stop to help lighten their eventual pack down load later in the day. A runner I had passed came into the station while I was owning the watermelon and I looked at him with a piece hanging out of my mouth and deadpanned

"Don't f@#king touch the watermelon"

Thankfully he got my sense of humor.

I ended up finishing with what my Garmin showed as fifty six miles in 8h55m for 19th place. Top Twenty!

Brian won in 7h30 which many believe would equate to a low 6h50'ish time without snow and Eric was second in 7h45m. Local rockstar Frank Gonzales snagged third in a time 8h07m. Outside of my folly I had a fantastic weekend in Virginia.

Thanks as always to Clarke and his amazing team of volunteers. David Horton, for nothing more than his comment to me post race,

"That was impressive what ya did out there today. STUPID, but impressive that you stuck with it."

Hays, Kathy, Will, best crew ever!

Hilary and Jonathan Basham for adopting a Canadian stray for the weekend and then allowing their friends to endlessly mock me for the rest of the evening over our post race drinks.

Gear

Montrail Mountain Masochists (yes named after the race)
Mountain Hardwear Hooded Ghost Whisperer Anorak Jacket
Mountain Hardwear Ultrarefuel Shorts
Drymax Socks - Maximum Protection Trail Running v4 (no blisters, as always)
Princeton Tec Apex Rechargeable
Hammer Gel
Hammer Endurolytes

Hammer Seat Saver (best running lube I've found)

I'll be back...(I'd return again no matter what the outcome)

GR

Montrail Mountain Masochists
Mountain Hardwear Effusion Hooded Jacket
Mountain Hardwear Epic Gloves
Mountain Hardwear Refueler Shorts
Princeton Tec Apex Rechargeable
Drymax Max Protection Trail Running v4
Hammer Gel

Carkeek 12hr - The Custom 5hr Version

October 27, 2012

I ran the Carkeek 12hr today in Carkeek Park, Seattle. Race Directors Brock Gavery and Sam Thompson have been organizing the fun run for six years now and all proceeds go to charity. Couple that with it being a Halloween run where plenty of people show up in costume and it's one fun day out on the trails.

It's a looping course and at just 1.93 miles it might not sound like much but checkout their website and know that their claim to it being one of or indeed the hardest 12hr out there is legit.

Each loop has 430 feet of climbing and descent, and on this day in particular weather was a slight factor as it was rainy, windy and freezing to start in the dark and though the rains eventually subsided the trail became slightly more slick with each passing loop.

I never thought I'd draw this comparison but it really does run like a mini HURT course, though it certainly lacks the level of technicality that HURT has become famous for. The similarity starts with the fact that it's a looping course and continues with the fact that there are pretty much three climbs over the 1.93 miles, and of course the first is the longest, exactly like HURT. In fact if you were to complete a hundred miles on the Carkeek course you'd end up with 22,278 feet of climbing and descent, which is pretty damn close to the 25,000 that HURT presents.

The 12hr starts at 6am. We were late getting outta Tacoma and ended up arriving at 6:03am, which of course meant everyone but the RD's were gone, and even they were still setting up camp.

Given that we were in our Halloween costumes and not 100% ready to run anyways we were quickly sucked into the fire to help sustain our falling body temperatures. After a good thirty minutes and watching the lead crew come through I realized that if I didn't get my ass in gear that the nasty weather was gonna win out and I'd be ridden with guilt at cowering to our standard fall precipitation.

At 6:45am I headed out with the intention of simply trying to warm up sufficiently enough so that I could kill another mug of coffee by the campfire pit after one loop before actually getting on with my run shortly thereafter. Of course once actually running everything starts to make sense again, the body heats, the rain seems like a compliment rather than a hindrance to your day and the mind settles into a relaxed state that makes you wonder how you ever could have considered not running because of a few measly rain drops.

With one lap down I knew stopping would be a terrible idea and I found my groove and started to roll. Roxy was along with me and of course in costume herself. It wasn't going so well for either of us and after numerous stops to address her outfit I ended up stripping it off and carrying it along (she ran the rest completely naked).

After lap two I changed out myself and will point out for sake of accuracy later in the post that I in fact paused my watch for the few minutes it took me to switch outfits. Carkeek doesn't keep times, just laps, and I had a time goal in mind as a test of where I'm truly at right now.

After lap three I passed off Roxy to Linda as she was also running and typically Roxy prefers Linda's pace on long runs.

Lap four and I was on it, I felt good. I was on top of my calories, my electrolytes, and my fluids. I decided I would in fact shoot for my pre-race goal of the equivalent of a sub five hour 50km run. Due to the looping nature though it broke down to attempting to run 17 laps or 32.81 miles or 52.8km as a 16 loop run would only equal 49.7km. Blah blah blah

Over the next 13 loops I was really happy with my consistency. There were obvious highs and lows but a few other things I really wanted to test out on the day were my mental game, and my ability to really fight for something I had set out to achieve on the day. This race toughness has been lacking for me lately. I've fought hard to reach numerous finish lines this year but most of those were made more complex by my mind being months ahead of my fitness levels. I never set out to just finish the CSP115 in March, but that's what it ended up being. I never set out to finish 53rd at UTMB in early Sept, but that's all I had in me. Obviously Carkeek is a fairly low key event and for me I desired nothing more, for if I blew up at least I'd know where I was at right now. Heading into Mountain Masochist 50 miler in Virginia next weekend and then finally returning to HURT Hawaii again in Jan, I was really setting out to hopefully confirm what I'd been sensing as of late. This is the best I've felt since pre-crutches, since August 2010.

(Managed one slip during the race. Never suffered from road rash in a trail race before)

The highs were so beautiful. I was forced into a reminiscing phase that lasted hours. The repetitiveness of the terrain and the certainty that an aid station was always less than a few miles away allowed the mind to wander while the body did it's job.

One year ago at Carkeek I very tentatively walked two loops, a mere 6km, and it was a victorious day. I'd been out of a walking boot but a few weeks and off of crutches just over five weeks. The doctor advised that it was potentially doable but to stop at the sign of any pain. Every step was a struggle and yet I refused to stop because the only thing that scared me more than potentially breaking my foot a third time was having the inability to walk six bloody kilometers.

It was January before I was allowed to run ten kilometers. I have spent far too much time this year staring off into the distance at where I want to be with my running and racing, longing to simply match where I was in 2010. I've forced my body to do things it wasn't conditioned for and then been frustrated by my lack of ability to achieve my racing goals. I've never been completely fair with myself throughout this process and I've never properly celebrated what really boils down to some of my best race results when the entire journey is put into perspective. I had completely lost perspective on this, and thankfully today it hit me full force...of course the fact that today was the first time in this lengthy journey that I felt like I had glimpses of my previous running levels certainly helped the positive mindset and awareness along.

2012 has been one of the best years of my life and it's been capped off by asking the love of my life to marry me while we were in France AND she actually said yes!

I have nothing to complain about and I know this. Today was still an extra special day though as although I just missed out on my sub five hour 17 loop goal, running 5h01m24s, I was well over 50km by five hours as I closed out the 52.8k version of my own personal race today.

Splits
18.49
18.41
18.03
18.30
16.42
16.40
17.16
17.23
17.12
17.30
17.02
17.23
17.13
18.59 (Roxy left Linda and caught up to me. I had to hold her up:-) )
18.08
17.57
17.58

Gear

Hammer Endurolytes

GR

9 Comments

The Numbers Don't Lie

September 11, 2012

(Everyone in this picture ran significantly more mileage than me in the previous two years)

This isn't my UTMB race report as much as a general overview of the numbers I've come across in the last few days while playing with my Garmin files.

The numbers don't lie because the numbers are training mileage. The numbers are how hard you've worked to get to where you are. The numbers are often predictive of race day results, successes or failures.

I didn't like the numbers of my last few years, and additionally last few months of training while heading into UTMB, so I did the only rational thing I could think of and I completely ignored them.

In fact I inadvertently stumbled across the numbers below while searching for six week stats around my departure for France. I had never looked at or appreciated just how consistent my training was in 2009 which lead to my highly successful 2010 season of running. Since then it's just been a mess due to injury. In the one and a half year span from Sept 2010 through Jan of this year, I ran a total of just over 1000km.

I had ONE really good month of training this year. In June I ran 650km, which for me was the highest mileage I'd ever attained, but the climbing was only average at 25,000 meters. In July I caught a shitty head cold that lingered for four full weeks. In August I directed my first ever 50 mile trail race, The Squamish 50.

I had envisioned the final six weeks before departing for France on August 15th to be littered with laps of my local 3,000ft climb up and down Grouse Mountain. In the end I couldn't bare to even look at how little I'd been able to run. It has only been since returning to Canada that I've actually brought myself to do this. I honestly feared that a reality check into how little I'd accomplished in the pivotal final six week training stretch might have completely flattened any false sense of confidence I'd possessed while heading to France. Even I was startled to see that in those six full weeks I'd run less than 375km with less than 20,000m of climbing, in what should have been the toughest 42 day stretch I'd faced in years.

So what am I even getting at here? Post UTMB I said this via FB:

Of all the ways I could chose to dissect my race I care for only one, it was a resounding success.

UTMB, even in its shortened version, was still nearly 110km long with over 18,000ft of climbing and descent. Mix that with a run almost entirely by headlamp (7pm start) where we had rain, slush, snow, and leg thrashing descents, and all in all it was really a beast of a course. I battled as hard as I could and truly left it all out there. That was all I had to give, every ounce, and I'm incredibly proud to know that I could not have demanded more from my body on race day.

Just one year ago I longed for this race while hobbling around on what felt like an eternal broken foot, and today, less than a year removed from those sticks, I simply could not be happier to call myself an official finisher the Ultra Trail Du Mont-Blanc!!

I believed almost everything I was saying. I still somehow expected more out of my body, even though I gave every drop I could towards my race. It's only in referencing the below training numbers that I have finally come to terms with my UTMB. I couldn't have asked for more, in fact I think I managed to out stretch my training numbers and come up with a race day performance that rivals some of my best runs. Most importantly though, I DID NOT GET INJURED, I had a blast, and I'm fully ready to hopefully set into a solid twelve months of running and training...UTMB 2013 of course, is less than 11.5 months away...

2009

3,915km (would be over 4,000km with Jan stats)

Jan - Didn't Own Garmin Yet
Feb - 380km - 35,000m
Mar - 310k - 25,000m
Apr - 430k - 36,000m
May - 455k - 46,000m
June - 200k - 16,000 / (Western States blow up, walk to 49th place finish)
July - 270k - 30,000
Aug - 365k - 30,000
Sept - 375k - 27,000m
Oct - 300k - 21,000m
Nov - 260k - 20,000m
Dec - 570k - 35,000m

2010

2,590km

Jan - 310k - 15,000m / (1st CR HURT Hawaii)
Feb - 320k - 8,500m
Mar - 320k - 8,500m
Apr - 450k - 13,000m
May - 135k - 9,400m / (time off after over training symptoms)
June - 355k - 13,000m / (6th Western States)
July - 200k - 8,500m / (more rest from over training symptoms)
Aug - 375k - 10,000m / (FKT on 215km ECT and 80km WCT)

Sept - 20k - 300m / (decided on a month off)
Oct - 105k - 4,500m / (had been back at it less than a week when I broke my foot)
Nov - 0
Dec - 0

2011

858km

Jan - 0
Feb -0
Mar - 165k - 3,200m
Apr - 430k - 12,600m
May - 220k - 8,500m / (15 days, another broken foot)
June - 0
July - 0
Aug - 0
Sept - 0
Oct - 0
Nov - 10k - 35m
Dec - 33k -783m

2012

2,900km

Jan - 163k - 3,000m

Feb - 265k - 6,000m
Mar - 361k - 9,000m
Apr - 363k - 10,000m
May - 376k - 15,000m
June - 650k - 22,000m
July - 261k - 10,000m
Aug - 461k - 21,000m / (53rd at altered version of UTMB)

GR

9 Comments

Speedgoat 50k Puke-A-Thon

July 29, 2012

Given that my Speedgoat 50k race ended in my second straight dnf and a subsequent iv being drained into me it would be easy to simply say this was a disappointing experience. In all honesty though I knew my personal finicky relationship with altitude and placed no expectations on my race. I was hoping to experience a beautiful race in a new location and to finish as high as my body would allow, while getting some complimentary training for UTMB.

Karl Meltzer had managed to round up some of the best trail runners in the world for this one and it was the most competitive race I'd attended since WS 2010.

Within two minutes of starting the event it was clear to see that the true world class mountain runners such as Ricky Gates, Killian Jornet, and Max King weren't the least bit affected by the altitude as they blazed up and over our first visit to 11,000ft like it was a flat road race.

I have no illusions of being in the same class as these guys and was almost in awe of their skill set. By the time I crawled over 11,000ft some 25+ mins back of the leaders I simply wanted to finish in a decently respectable time. Thankfully on the ensuing descent I was able to catch and pass a decent number of runners who passed me like I was standing still just minutes earlier.

At the half way turn around Roch Horton, as always, was captaining the aid stn and handing out delicious frozen popsicle treats, thanks to some dry ice freezing techniques.

The climb back outta here to our second visit to 11,000ft was harsh and although I consider myself to have a strong power hiking skill set it was continually rendered useless by my lack of oxygen uptake. I was truly out for a walk in the mountains.

Again once cresting I passed a half a dozen runners on the descent, which realistically only put me close to top thirty in the race. I didn't care what my placement was for I was truly out of my element and just trying to enjoy the challenge.

As I hit the aid stn at about km 35 everything changed instantly. I actually found myself staring at 'the chair' and then internally scolding myself for even completing such thoughts. I downed a bunch of watermelon and coke and headed out into a 2000ft climb that would bring us to 11,000ft for our third and final time.
From there it was but an eight km downhill into the finish.

A two hundred meter flat run brought us to the start of the climb and the second the grade changed I knew I was in trouble. It was like driving with the handbreak struck on, every single step took 100% of my energy to complete. I felt like I was moving backwards and the ease with which people were passing me only confirmed this. Through all the struggles with the altitude I hadn't processed until that moment how damn hot it had become. I continued in slow motion until the first shade presented itself under a tree which I sat under to attempt to compose myself. Five minutes became ten, ten became fifteen, and finally nearing twenty minutes I hauled my ass up and promptly lost my guts.

I've never puked in a race before, ever, even in seven day expedition races I've never had an issue with my stomach before. The only comparable experience I could draw from was when I went quickly up to 12,500ft in Guatemala in 03. I suffered from altitude sickness and continual puking until I regressed to 7,000ft the following day. I was hoping 11,000 wouldn't hit me so hard, but it was feeling all too familiar.

Puke and rally. It's a mantra in ultra running for many. A Canadian friend has puked in almost every ultra he's run and is closing in on his own version of an all 50 states achievement. I kept telling myself this as I struggled to the next shaded tree and lay down again. Ten minutes later I lost my guts again and proceeded up and to the next shaded spot.

Sean Blanton & Ashley Arnold came across me at this point and given Ashley was working the aid stn I'd left nearly an hour previous, just a mile away, she knew I wasn't doing so well. She was a champ trying to rally and motivate me and hung out with me for an addition thirty minutes as I struggled to the next shaded recluse. Eventually I set her free of her babysitting duties and stared at the runners, all hiking, on the ridgeline far above. Ten further minutes of this before I internally said to myself "It's over Gary. End this debacle and retreat to the aid station. The sooner you get down from here the better"

As I eventually made my way towards the aid stn from the wrong direction the course marshal asked me if I was alright. In a rather comedic moment as I opened my mouth to simply say I was dropping I instead, completely unexpectedly, projectile vomitted in his direction. As he attempted to ask a second time I cut him off again. For good measure as he made a third stab at asking me a question I lost my stomach one last time, to which he simply responded with "let's get you a cot."

They eventually transported me back to the race start at 8,000ft via a ski lift and gondola combo. After about 45mins of failed attempts at rehydrating, anything that went in only lasted a few minutes, they threw an iv into me. Another slightly comical moment as they asked if I'd like some anti-nausea medication. After confirming there were no side effects I obviously said yes. The iv drained and I felt 100% better,

"I think I'm okay without that nausea medication. I feel way better"

"That's because we put the medication in the iv bag five minutes ago"

"Oh, right"

As a further side note I was informed that a half tablet of Viagra can in fact help with elevation issues... please just ensure you aren't wearing spandex if you utilize that tip however... no pun intended.

Speedgoat. You killed me. Thanks for the humbling experience and especially for the chance to really witness the best in the sport show us all how it's done. Congrats to Montrail teammate Max King on snagging 3rd, and Sean Meissner on running solid for 24th.

A quick peruse of the results tells a story of altitude living to running at altitude success. I guess Max has been sleeping in an altitude tent at 12,000ft for two years. They look pretty simple to make so I'm just gonna sleep in a giant plastic bag from here on out and hope for the best.
Onward and upward, but hopefully just shy of 11g for the next little bit.

GR

9 Comments

North Shore Explore

May 6, 2012

It's always nice to get out and properly explore your own backyard. All too often we get caught up in what we already know and we forget to explore. As runners I think we can get stuck with our 'two hour run route', our 'favorite mountain route', our 'long run route' etc, etc. We are mostly creatures of habit and when I want to run hard for a few hours I certainly don't want to take time figuring out where the heck I am.

Today was the opposite. A backyard exploration day where I was made to promise that I wouldn't run. Hiking only dammit. The plan was four or five hours on foot simply meandering our way through the mountains with no real plan in place. In the end we were rewarded for our lack of planning by happening across what has to be one of the largest remaining living trees in North Vancouver. The funny thing about this trail is that I could see my general direction of travel through the forest but had no real idea of if it would allow us to do a loop, or if we'd end up back tracking for over an hour. In the end it could not have worked out any better as we had nothing but a short but frigid water crossing to bring us to within three kilometers of where we'd dropped our car. It was the most fun I've had while not running in the mountains in a very long time, and the best part about it...I now have a NEW FAVORITE 20km route that I can't wait to RUN!

We started off by going up BCMC and playing in the snow

Thankfully Mountain Highway had recently been plowed

Which made for some real fun snow cave running

Messing around with a large stump

Finding the grand daddy of the living in North Van

If only this would load properly

Big hug for the big tree

and the look of (joking) disdain for the frigid river crossing to cap it all off:)

GR

The Mountains Are Calling - Thank You Orthofix

May 3, 2012

Back in December when I was just starting to dream about actually running again I hit up top notch ultra runner and physician's assistant Luke Nelson. Based out of Utah I had met him just four months prior at OR and within minutes there was that instant connection that ultra runners always seem to find.

"You like running. I like running. You like talking about gear. I like talking about gear. You like trash talking. I like trash talking. Let's be friends FOREVER! LIKE TOTALLY!"

Luke has insights into both the complexities of the jones fracture, and the stresses and strains both physical and mental, of attempting to be a competitve ultra runner.

Luke was kind enough to lay out a strategic plan of attack for my 2012 season that would ideally allow me to finally make that starting line at UTMB at the end of August. In line with that plan was a slow increase of mileage instead of the 0-60miles an hour, or better yet 0-100miles a week, that I incorporated into my training at this time last year. There was one additional stipulation however, NO MOUNTAINS. I know right, what's the point of running if there aren't mountains involved. Turns out that I guess there's something to that four or five times your body weight on descents that might stress a healing bone. Stupid physics.

MAY. That was what it all said. In MAY, assuming I'd had a successful build back at it through the first four months of the year, I could start in on some of those climbs and descents I used to live for. Yesterday was May 2nd and with a mix of slight trepidation and blatant excitement (not excrement, thankfully) I headed back into the mountains and onto one of my old favorites. A local trail called BCMC that's crazy technical and climbs 2700ft in well under 2miles. I had ZERO expectations but once I was out there I decided to see where my fitness lay compared to when I was last healthy. Apparently excitement carries with it adrenaline which is the perfect fuel to stoke an internally competitive fire. By the time I'd topped out I had to do a double take on my watch. I don't actually know my fastest time on this trail, but this was certainly right up there with them and significantly faster than I'd anticipated, in fact I had myself mentally prepared for a time nearly eight minutes slower, no really it went THAT well.

As I cruised back down the trail smiling from ear to ear I ran into Canada's top ultra runner Mr. Adam Campbell. After a five minute catch up I have to say that he's doing some pretty special things right now, not just in his racing but in his own training. His 100mile debut is coming in two weeks time and I'd have to say I believe he's poised to do something great over in Japan.

Back to the point. Last summer after snapping my 5th metatarsal for the second time in mere months I had a follow up xray six weeks out that could not have been any worse. Here's the evidence of just how bad that was. A month and a half after breaking my foot and it had actually gotten worse, not better.

Late June 11 - 6 weeks out

This brings me to my point...I had one for once. I had a life saving moment in which I got educated on, and into contact with a brand/device called the Orthofix Bone Stimulator. I had a non-union fracture and both sides of that fracture were still quite angry with each other. Neither side had apologized and both were still blaming the other for the second such break...when in fact it was pretty much all my minds fault for telling my foot it was healthy enough and had to do 100mile training weeks just a few months off crutches. See how I effectively removed the blame of myself and segmented it into parts of my own body. My hands are clean here.

"I hate you" says the medial side of the fracture,

"I hate you" says the lateral side of the fracture,

"This is YOUR fault"

"NO F-IN WAY DUDE. YOU f-ed up this time!"

"Screw you!"

"Screw ME? How bout SCREW YOU. It'll take a f-in screw before I ever consider talking to YOU again!"

"Bring on the hardware. Get bent"

Along came the Orthofix Bone Stimulator, effectively acting like a mediator

"What's up guys?" Probably best to add in an Ikea accent for effect here

"F#$K you asshole" Angry bones are angry bones, what can I say

"Ohh, that's not very nice" Ikea accent

"Seriously, who the f are you? We're waiting for surgery. One more bad x-ray and it's guaranteed. Coupla more weeks and we should be good to go here."

"Well I know you guys won't want to listen to anything I have to say about the possible complications with surgery and how many athletes have had to have the screws removed after the fact so how bout a little massage to ease you minds" Ikea accent

"Massage? Don't touch us ya creep. And what's with your funny accent?"

"It's okay, people really like me when they get to know me. My second job is building human mazes filled with furniture were whole families have been known to disappear for months on end."

"Weirdo"

"Just a wee little mass-age. What's the harm in that?"

"Get...oh that feels kinda nice. HEY, hands off, what did we just sayyyyy, that's fantastic. Do you work out? Your hands are so strong and yet supple. What did you say your name was?"

"Orthofix"

"Ohhhh, you're like a magician in there"

"Well I..."

"Ya know what, lateral side of non-union fracture"

"No what, medial side of non-union fracture?"

"I miss you"

"Ohh I MISS YOU TOO honey bunny"

"CENSORED" moans and growns

"My work here is done. I'll be back tomorrow for another three hour treatment" funny accent

That's the technical description of what happened. Here it is in laymen's terms:

The Physio-Stim Bone Growth Stimulator uses a very low-strength pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) to activate the body’s natural healing process.

Electrical currents have been used to heal broken bones since the mid 1800s. However, it wasn't until the 1950s that scientists made an important discovery. When human bone is bent or broken, it generates an electrical field. This low-level electrical field activates the body's internal repair mechanism, which in turn stimulates bone healing.

In some patients, this healing process is impaired or absent. The fracture fragments may not mend properly, and a nonunion results. The bone growth stimulation provided by Physio-Stim has proven very successful in treating fracture nonunions. In clinical studies, Physio-Stim helped 8 out of every 10 patients to heal.

This was followed by a daily treatment of three hours of bone stimulation. Non painful, and most nights I just slept with it on. Less than five weeks later and "the proof of the pudding was in the eating"

Late July 2011

Surgery, thankfully, was completely ruled out as it was evident that the Orthofix was doing it's job nicely and I was on the eventual road to recovery.

I had a safety follow up x-ray just last week and Luke's response summed it all up nicely,

"I'm super impressed by what your body has been able to do here. It looks fantastic."

Where would we all be without a little help from our friends? THANK YOU Orthofix for getting my body to communicate with itself again. I can conclusively say that I would not be sitting here today (prepping to go on another mountain run) without a pin in my foot had it not been for your timely intervention.

(left image is late April 2012)
Two thumbs and one healed Jone's Fracture up from this kid. Now bring on the mountains already!!
I should also mention a huge thanks to my non-surgery surgeon Dr. Dory Boyer for always allowing me more of his time than he really had, supporting my every decision along the way, and getting me into contact with the crew over at Orthofix.I couldn't have done it without any/all of them.

GR

Here Comes The MOMAR

April 27, 2012

Less than six weeks until the second edition of the Burnaby MOMAR takes off in...well Burnaby of course.

Last year we had a solid debut in a slightly unconventional location, at least compared to the majority of the areas the MOMAR has historically visited. Burnaby Mountain out at SFU made for a fantastic mid-point of the race as we truly had a unique urban orienteering stage throughout the university's architecture. Many competitors referred to it as the highlight of the day for them.

Overall, competitors in the first ever Burnaby MOMAR seemed impressed, if not amazed, at the varied landscape and combined elevation profile which proved to be much hillier terrain than most envisioned possible. As a course director I was pumped on our kayaking stage as it brought racers back into the waters of Deep Cove, which as anyone who's frequented the area can attest to is one of the most scenic paddling locations in BC's lower mainland.

From there I found that I was content with the climbing offered throughout our race and that the singletrack riding really rounded out what I believed was necessary to brand this as a MOMAR worthy event. My only true complaint as a course designer last year was that I was somewhat resigned to a few too many necessary urban road connections when I truly desired to incorporate more mud, dirt, and forest. Thankfully, The City of Burnaby did us as racers and them as a city a major favor during the 11 months since last year's event...the built more trails! Really nice, buffed out, professional grade stuff that links together this years course in ways we could have only wished for just one year ago. As such we are able to say that almost 35% of the trails we're including in this, the second edition of the Burnaby MOMAR, either weren't touched last year or simply did not exist. As a course designer it's hard to ask for much more than that!

I'm confident that no matter how familiar you may think you are with the terrain around SFU, you'll thoroughly enjoy what we're pieced together for you on June 2nd.

Bryan and I had a bit of fun a few weeks ago and created a short video of our day out on course. Check it out along with a few pics I snapped back in Feb and we hope to see you out come race day.

MOMAR Race Page

GR

Squamish50 First Half - My Longest Run (42km)

April 4, 2012

This past Saturday March 31st I had the pleasure of touring four friends around the full first half of the Squamish50 course. It was my longest personal run since pre-I Never Wanna Talk About It Again, which dates back to mid May of last year. Needless to say I was very, very happy with the day.

Turns out our course is almost exactly a marathon distance from our starting point on The Squamish Spit until our midway point at Quest University, in fact if I had added on our first little loop around The Spit to string out the eventual racing field it would have come in at pretty much exactly 42.2km. We'll likely add this to our race options in 2013 since it's already built in completely by accident...err, by design, yeah by design, I'm smrt like that.

Here's the Garmin file for those looking for a bit more course insight and just below are the highlight pictures of the day AND a short under 2min video in which the first minute was filmed during our run on Saturday.

Oh yeah, and here's the compliment of the day which I have to share cause it makes me look good, and I rarely get a chance to do/say that:

North Face Ambassador Athlete Sasha Brown: I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of the first half of the course on Saturday! I have to say: IT IS AMAZING!!! I know many of the Squamish trails, and Gary still managed to shock and awe me with the selection and variety! :) If you're on the fence - Sign up! You will be treated to an impressive event.

GR

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50miles Of Philly & Not A Single Cheese Steak (a photo tour)

March 21, 2012

Last week I had the pleasure of going to Philadelphia for the very first time as I joined my girlfriend who was attending a librarian conference there. We were blessed with incredible weather and lots of free time to tour around on foot, which of course is the only real way to check out a new place.

I gotta say Philly is one amazingly historic and beautiful city. It has its issues for sure, a few of which are that people love to relentlessly honk the hell outta their car horns and often it's difficult to surmise why they even honked to begin with. Garbage doesn't seem to find its way into garbage bins all too often, and the city certainly appears to have seen better days.

There is a definite rough edge quality to Philadelphia, which was evidenced by the fact that Linda's cell phone was stolen from a restaurant we were in only to give us a GPS signal 24hr later from an area north of us. Upon filing the police report their exact words after hearing me say I wanted to head up there and knock on the door was "We don't even wanna go up there!"...so none of us did, as of course police can't just knock on someones door and say "Hey a GPS signal says you stole this girls phone. Please give it back." Despite this however we had an incredible time and thoroughly enjoyed the fact that everywhere you turned there was history to be had, as should be the case within a city founded in 1682 that was the largest city in the US at the turn of the 19th century. Below are some of the highlights of the week

Less than two hours after hitting the tarmac at the airport

Scalpers tickets got me into Philly vs NJD

By the 1st intermission I was drinking with the locals. Note that my MHW Effusion DryQ jacket in Flyers Orange certainly helped with the male bonding/free beers.

Flyers win 3-0 and lots of history hanging in the rafters

Yo Adrian

Came across this personal shrine on our self guided city run tour

Street art is always worth checking out

Captioned: Their bands have broken asunder

View back over the city from the run along Schuylkill River

Amazing statues/history at every turn

The City of Brotherly...

Yeah we had to. Celebrating our 33km run

Kinda says it all

Yes their sign is completely warranted

Visiting Princeton Tec factory

Getting to personally construct two Fuel headlamps

Crashing the Librarian Conference Party...free drinks!

Talkin to a few stiffs

How they really worked their way through the signing of the Constitution

No gluten free, soy free, dairy free options...weird

The Liberty Bell

Big fan of these sidewalk accessed underground staircases

Things I should not be able to forget I packed in my carry on and find once I arrive

Best window seat ever for return flight

And as mentioned above I hit 52miles / 85km of running. It's all starting to come together. Slowly but surely.

GR

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7 Comments

100 Miles!

February 12, 2012

Well it took three full weeks of running to get there, but I'm still pretty damn happy to be able to say it. The last twenty one days have consisted of 50km - 53km - 57km for a grand total of 160k or 100 miles.

Slowly but surely I'm working my way back towards the ability to cover this distance in a single day. More than anything though I'm just incredibly happy and thankful to be regularly running again.

It's not about the mileage, or the racing for that matter, it's about the simple and undeniable love of the ability to cover distances under my own steam through beautiful environments. That and that alone is what I missed most about 2011 and what I am loving the most about 2012 so far. I had a moment on a recent trail run on Orcas Island that made me realize that I desire most to be a runner for life. Competitive running will eventually fall by the wayside, and I'll be ok with that when the time comes. I am most certainly going to put everything I can into my running over the next few years, but my end goal is definitely longevity. I dream of happily and easily running distances into my 60s and 70s and I never would have had that appreciation, had I not been sidelined for so long.

I love to run, and I never want to lose that love again. I hope I am finally on the right path to achieve this long term goal.

GR

7 Comments

Running Stupid - I Interview Ken

February 11, 2012

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Running Stupid's very own Ken Michal in a flipping of the script as I stole his mic and took over the Running Stupid broadcast. It was a lot of fun as we traded a bunch of stories and laughs, talking about everything from The HURT 100 to WS to the common theme of over-training in ultra running. I can't guarantee you'll learn anything, but hopefully you'll at least get a chuckle or two.

Interview here

GR

(video) 215km East Coast Trail Speed Record

January 8, 2012

On Friday, August 20th, 2010, I set out to run the 215km long East Coast Trail from Cappahaden to St. John's in a non-stop speed record fashion. Exactly two weeks prior I had run the 75km (80km) West Coast Trail and messed up my hip (glute med) in the process. This would be the pain and injury I keep referencing in the film below, and why I was unable to run for so long following the completion of the ECT. I distinctly remember saying to my Mother the day before the ECT attempt that I needed another day or two to recover/prepare/sleep, to which she responded,

"You have to do this now. The extended forecast is turning nasty within hours of your anticipated completion. It's now or never. This is your day to do this."

Why do Mom's always have to be so damn right all the time?

I flew across Canada on the red-eye flight from Tuesday the 17th till Wednesday the 18th, departing Vancouver at 10pm and arriving in St. John's at 12:30pm the following day. I managed one full night of rest on the 18-19th, and then stayed at The Midnight Hill Manor in Renews the night before the attempt (I never got a chance to properly thank them for their incredible hospitality and support of Right To Play. THANK YOU Carol Ann and Bob)

Late on the night of the 19th, after finally feeling confident enough in my preparation, I managed less than four hours of rest before the 4am alarm went off. It was then or never. It did have to happen on that day. I remember thinking to myself that I would have DNS'ed (did not start) any other race with how I was feeling, right down to a 50k distance, yet I showed up and gave it everything I had in me. It was yet another amazing lesson in the power of the human mind and the ability to truly block out pain. I am incredibly proud of this run, and even if I had shown up that day 100% healthy and rested I doubt I would have been much faster anyways. I may just have enjoyed some of it a bit more...what am I saying? It was 35hours on my feet, how much can you ever really enjoy something like that anyways? (I loved every second of it)

The above is my official video, thanks to Erik Nachtrieb over at 1iOpen Productions for tirelessly working on this piece and trimming down my very rough, approximately eight hours of footage into what you see above.

I hope you enjoy it.

These are the people that made this run possible.
My Ma and Pa, my niece Kayla, brother Bryan, and his wonderful partner Heather

GR

4 Comments

(Video) Taking The Stage At FEAT Canada

January 4, 2012

Back in October Sean Verret asked me if I'd like to join the line up of featured speakers for the first ever Canadian version of a FEAT night (Fascinating Expedition and Adventure Talks). The premise both scared and excited me and I said yes when everything inside of me was screaming no. I only have a handful of previous public speaking experience, and though I know I can banter and joke without question behind a mic, my last presentation left me feeling embarrassed for myself. I say this because at the time (two years ago) I simply did not know what it took to produce an engaging talk. I showed up to that one woefully under prepared, as I had left far too much for the last minute.

Fast forward to November 2011 and having learned from previous mistakes, I finally realized how much time something like this would take in advance of the night to get it right. Add to that the fact that the FEAT nights are very specific and the 'rules of engagement' are that you get 21 slides, that auto-scroll every 20 seconds, for a grand total of seven minutes. Once you start talking your slides start rolling, and the timer starts counting down. There is very little room for error or improv and as such I am not exaggerating when I say I put well over 40-50hrs into this thing before I took the stage on November 15th.

I was exceptionally nervous, even though I was among a group of supportive friends and peers. When I walked out on stage I did exactly as I had practiced. I took a deep breath, smiled, and tried to let it all flow. I had memorized the talk inside out and my plan was to easily reference the first few cue cards before finding my rhythm. I guess I was shaking so much that it was noticeable to most of the audience and all I could figure after the fact is that my shaking hands would not allow me to clearly reference my cue cards. Less than a minute in and I blurted out something like

"WHAT, THEY'RE NOT IN ORDER?" (when in fact they were)

Which was immediately followed by a numbing of my entire body and complete silence, as my world seemed to be shrinking before me. There were numerous umms, and ahhhs as I was completely rattled. The slides were rolling along and I actually turned to the organizers and said,

"Can I get a redo?"

To which the response was,

"Just talk."

Now at this point I was angry. Not at the organizers but at myself. You don't get redos in life, period. I'm thankful they simply told me to talk and left me to fend for myself. I had put so much time and effort into this thing that I doubted many others had prepared so thoroughly. Yet I somehow still found myself standing in front of an audience of 400-500 ppl looking dumbfounded and like I'd taken a wrong turn on my way to the bathroom and somehow ended up on stage.

As I was internally cursing myself all I could focus on was that I knew the damn talk intimately. It was MY TALK, how could I NOT know it. I looked up, the clock ticking away, now multiple slides behind, and just started rambling off all I could remember. I cut out little bits here and there as I knew I had to catch back up to my slides. I spoke like I did when I first left Newfoundland, when no one else could decipher a word I was saying because I can speak so fast. I continued plugging away and at exactly three minutes I finally managed to align my talk back up with my slides. I remember a huge sense of relief as this happened and again I was grateful for all the back end work I had put into the thing. Knowing my presentation so well, was all that salvaged it. This allowed for me to remove small tidbits along the way, to speed up my voice, and to know exactly when I was back on track.

Now for some reason FEAT edited out my 45second debacle, with a cut at 1m25s in. As funny as this is to say I kinda wish it were still in there as it would help explain why I was behind my auto-scrolling slides and speaking rather hurriedly to catch back up. It would also put on full display just how scared I was by the whole evening and how happy I was with myself, after the fact, for pulling it out of the ashes. I was seconds away from simply going down as the one presenter who couldn't handle the pressure. Thankfully I simply went down as the one guy who nearly botched it but somehow managed to pull his head out of his ass just in time to salvage the damn thing.

Have a watch, and feel free to let me know your thoughts. I would like to present again somewhere, sometime, and am wide open for constructive feedback.

And be sure to check out the next edition of FEAT here in North Vancouver on Feb 12th

GR

4 Comments

The Things You See (a dog riding a bike)

January 2, 2012

Went for a walk, got highly entertained. Unfortunately Roxy was out for a run (she trains harder than I do) as I would have loved to see her reaction to this as well. I'm still contemplating whether the dogs owner was just plain crazy, or crazy awesome?

6 Comments

A New 50 Miler Is Born: The Squamish50 (08-11-12)

December 21, 2011

After a one year hiatus for the ten year old Stormy ultra marathon we're bringing it back with a bang for 2012. Same great location of Squamish, BC, same great date of August 11th, two new race directors (including yours truly), a new name, and a BRAND NEW COURSE!

I myself resided in Squamish for over three full years and I consider it to be where I first cut my teeth in the running world, in fact my first ever ultra was the 2005 Stormy 67k and my first ever 100miler was the 2008 Stormy100.

Though Stormy had continually changed and evolved from 64k to 67k to 50miles to 100miles, co-race director Geoff Langford and I are simply looking to create one hell of a 50miler that will knock your socks off, almost literally. We've also continued with the relay option, and added in a 21k run over the final portions of the course.

I've had a long standing vision of what I dreamed a 50mile run in a true trail town like Squamish could be, and I could not be more excited to finally piece it all together. For those who knew the Stormy Trail Race, Nine Mile Hill is officially dead! To clarify, we removed this heinous climb not due to the fact that it was uphill for six miles, but due to the fact that you were on logging roads for nearly seven miles by the time you completed the loop. In a town that posses well over a hundred kilometers of cushy, flowing singletrack, we considered this completely unacceptable. Stormy was born of a bike racing course (The Test Of Metal), and we're proud to offer up the very first running specific course to ever be designed in the trail haven of Squamish, BC.

In line with The Squamish50 mission of creating the best possible running course in Western Canada, we've completely retooled the first 20miles of the original route. This has allowed us to accomplish our goal of removing as much logging road as possible (we're down to just a few miles now), while still keeping and even adding to our overall vertical gain. In the end we came very close to 10,000 feet of climbing and descent, in a completely new point to point run. In fact over half of the Squamish50 course has never before been sanctioned in an ultra run. We've pieced together over 80% singletrack on a 95% unique route, as you'll cover just 2.5miles of the course twice, and for that we're confidently saying...

YOU-ARE-GOING-TO-LOVE-WHAT-WE'VE-CREATED-FOR-YOU!!

For full details check out our:
Website
Twitter
Facebook

We're also proud to announce that we've added an official race day photographer. Anyone who's run an ultra in the Pacific Northwest is sure to know the one and only Mr. Glenn Tachiyama. His work does speak for itself afterall.

Last but not least, on the topic of pictures, these are not Glenn's shots but we thought you might enjoy them, and we sincerely hope to see you out come race day. We are confident that we're really onto something special here and we simply can not wait to show it all off come August!

GR

6 Comments

A Little Story That Has Nothing To Do With Running

December 4, 2011

(If you scroll to the bottom ahead of reading it steals the punchline. It's a short posting I promise.)

Not sure why this just came to me but I realize it's been an awfully long time since I logged in here...

Way back in the spring, on the same day that I crashed my bike into the ever dangerous concrete floating street curb (it was ducking and diving so much it was impossible to avoid), I posed this video showing my neighbors gardening to gangster rap. I didn't know this lady at the time, and with her short plump build, constant stoic appearance, apparently over-sized offspring, affections for gangster rap, and incessant work ethic I pegged her for being Eastern European. It was obvious she was stuck here in North Vancouver after the boat she solo paddled across the Atlantic Ocean slammed into Nova Scotia, at which point she figured she could just walk home via Sarah Palin's bridge from Alaska to Russia. Upon completing her 8,000km trek on no sustenance other than rain water, she discovered that no such bridge existed. Undeterred, she settled on residing in North Vancouver until she could build yet another row boat off the land. Able to afford nothing but seedlings she had obviously taken to gardening in an attempt to grow a single oak tree before she turned 108 so she could row back to her homeland for her passing, much like the salmon returning to their coastal waterways in the fall.

With this highly intuitive and accurate knowledge of this lady firmly entrenched in my brain, she finally spoke to me one day in passing,

"You like fix?"

Thinking to myself, shit, did she just say that? There were painters here yesterday that aren't here today. Dammit she's gonna put me to work like the Canadian child they wouldn't let her adopt...act stupid...

"Umm...(awkward silence) what?"

"You like fix?"

Shit, she didn't even crack a smile. This lady is tougher than Bruce Willis in Die Hard, not Die Hard 2, 3, 4, or 5, THE ORIGINAL DIE HARD.

"Ummm" sweating bullets "Ummm" can't think, scared for life, just run, she knows where I live, SAY SOMETHING, "Whaaat?"

Now she's getting pissed. This is not what I want. She huffs a little and stares straight through my soul as if to say 'listen you little shit, you either help me fix my house or your gonna be my fertilizer'

"You like fix?"

Petrified that even the slightest delay may cost me my life,

"YES!" YES, please God have mercy on me, I'll fix anything you want lady!"

"Come"

Oh shit. Of course I have to follow her, please don't let this be in her basement, please don't have posters of Anthony Hopkins and Kathy Bates on your walls, please don't hurt me, I'll do whatever you say lady, I'll dig six feet deep as long as it's not for me. I'll wear a skin suit if it fits. I'll put the lotion on the skin. Whatever you say lady just LET ME LIVEEEE!

"Take" as she points to a ladder.

At which point I stare 30 feet up in the air at her near vertical rooftop and contemplate faking an injury. She knows I was on crutches all winter, just fall down. Just fall over Gary. If you want to live FALL ONTO YOUR DAMN FACE NOW!

Then she has me set up the ladder under a tree in her yard, and SHE starts ascending it. Slowly, one agonizing rung at a time. Clang. Clang. Clang. The bell tolls for thee. Clang. What's she hiding up there? Body parts? Locusts? A treehouse of death? Is it...

"Catch"

OH NO, oh God NO what could it be...

"Figs. You like Figs?"

What's that they say? Something about books and covers and stuff. Of course I knew she was a sweet ole Italian lady named Rosa. Knew it all along I did.

GR

Taking The Stage

November 12, 2011

I have very little experience in the realm of public speaking, though I do love attempting to engage an audience. A month back Sean Verret from FEAT Canada (no this has nothing to do with jones fractures thankfully) contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in presenting at The Centennial Theatre, which is only a block away from my house.

FEAT standing for "Fascinating Expedition and Adventure Talks" and was first held in South Africa one year ago. In all honesty the premise of it scared the crap outta me and I instantly dreamed up a dozen reasons to say no. This of course meant that I had to force myself to get past my fears and step up. I've had an undertone of excited stress ever since, and on this coming Tuesday November 15th I'll take the stage with eight other presenters. Here's the official write up, I hope you can make it out.

Inaugural FEAT Canada comes to Vancouver's North Shore

FEAT, an evening of adventure sport-themed talks, has crossed continents and the Atlantic Ocean to land in Canada for the first time. The first FEAT Canada evening will take place as a part of the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) Fall Speaker Series in mid-November.

Fascinating Expedition & Adventure Talks (FEAT) was first held in South Africa a year ago. In this time there have been three FEAT events, presented in the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town. Created by adventure racer Lisa de Speville, FEAT invites speakers from a range of adventure disciplines to talk on recent accomplishments and expeditions. It’s a fast-paced, slideshow-based presentation format where each speaker has only seven minutes to tell their story. Far removed from a formal speaking platform, FEAT is social and fun and the audience is encouraged to interact with speakers; ooohhhs, aaaahhhs and laughter colour the theatre.

FEAT Canada’s line-up of nine speakers includes Jen Olson, Kevin Vallely, Megan Rose, Nicki Rehn, Paul Gleeson, Philip McKernan, Scott Frandsen, Gary Robbins, and Sebastian Salas. They’ll speak of adventurers and expeditions in the disciplines of rowing, cycling, mountain climbing, ultra-distance running, skiing and mountain biking.

“It's fantastic to have so many great speakers from the lower mainland, Vancouver Island and Alberta,” says Verret, who has enthusiastically leapt into the adventure of presenting FEAT Canada. “We truly are lucky to put together a line up rich in record holders, adventurers and motivators. The night will be a magical and inspirational.”

FEAT Canada will be held on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 at The Centennial Theatre in Lonsdale, North Vancouver, British Columbia. Tickets are $15 and they can be booked by contacting (604) 984-4484. or online here

FEAT Canada is made possible by the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF; www.vimff.org)

You’ll find FEAT Canada on the web at www.featcanada.ca. There’s the speaker line up as well as links to videos of talks from the FEAT South Africa events. FEAT is also on Twitter (@FEATCanada) and Facebook (FEATSA).

CONTACT: Sean Verret, sean@featcanada.ca, 604-365-7326

GR