The Mountains Are Calling - Thank You Orthofix

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

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)

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

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

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

100 Miles!

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

Running Stupid - I Interview Ken

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

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

(Video) Taking The Stage At FEAT Canada

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

The Things You See (a dog riding a bike)

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?

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

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

A Little Story That Has Nothing To Do With Running

(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

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

One Year Ago In Northern Quebec

Quick Reflection w/Pics - 1st Season Of Race Course Managing

Late last year I commented to a few friends on how I was looking to explore options for race course directing and design. Amazingly enough and shortly thereafter it all started falling into place, and this year I joined the teams for the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing series, the 5 Peaks trail running series, and a forthcoming local Red Bull Divide and Conquer adventure race. I felt as though just being brought on board by these highly successful and established brands was a victory in and of itself.

Basically as the course director/manager I'm responsible for everything from the inception of the specific race course until its completion. Starting with assisting in course design, pre-race flagging, implementing a race day safety strategy, dispersing of volunteers, setting up aid stations, managing volunteers while runners are on course, addressing any on the fly emergencies, and then packing up and making it appear as though you were never there to begin with. It's a behind the scenes job and I truly loved every second of it.

Obviously unforeseen was that I would end up directing all but one of these six races while on crutches, or in a colossal sized walking boot. All in all though I'd consider this to be a highly successful first season from a course directing standpoint, and I learned something new at each and every turn along the way. Being thrown onto the mic as race day MC for the Whistler version of our 5 Peaks race was the most daunting and hence one of the most rewarding experiences of my summer.

Between these six races I saw over 2500 runners and adventure racers (obviously not 2500 individuals as most raced multiple times) and we had ONE person take a wrong turn for the entire season. We're still not quite sure how that person made the wrong turn, but either way, I liked our save percentage (to steal a hockey term). Having raced for several years now myself, there's nothing I hate more than getting lost while on a flagged course (and I'm exceptionally good at this) so it's at the very top of my list of things not to f-up, though 5 Peaks have certainly been leaders in this realm since their inception.

I'm really looking forward to being back on board with all races again in 2012...unless of course they're secretly looking for my replacement as I speak? 

It was a pleasure to be a very small piece in the very large puzzle towards ensuring race day success, and I'll truly miss the monthly meeting of familiar and smiling faces. Our trail running community is as strong as any I've come across and we should be exceptionally proud of this.

Of course our access to beautiful locations certainly doesn't hurt, and as an example, here's how the season finale looked at Buntzen Lake yesterday morning. Thanks to all who frequented these races this year and I look forward to seeing you again in 2012.

First wave start of Sport and Enduro courses

Ghost kids 1k race

Original unaltered shot from top of posting. All pics were taken on an iPhone 4

Flooded beach due to an upper lake dam being spilled

Flooded beach made for spectacular shots

Trimmed and flipped. Otherwise unaltered. Water reflection on top

Trimmed and turned. Reflection on left. Otherwise unaltered.

Trimmed, flipped, and brightened with a filter

Trimmed, turned, and brightened with a filter, plus an added border

And finally, never, EVER leave your car keys unattended

GR

Moving Right Along

One week out and things seem to be moving along quite nicely. No pain in my foot which is a great sign, and the walking with a proper aircast, calf cut boot, has been a breeze.

My recent exchange with my Dr. and yet another reason why we've worked so well together...

Me to him:

Alright, quick quiz. Scales of 1-5 with 1 being "don't even think about it" and 5 being "you shoulda done it yesterday"

Biking on Trainer: 
Road Biking: 
Elyptical Trainer: 
Water running: 
Swimming with full kicking: 
Gym workouts: 
Kick Boxing: 
Sky Diving:

Dr. Boyer to me:

OK to do if pain free: 

Gym (just no heavy pushing with feet)

Biking on trainer (in a shoe is probably OK)

Water running and full swimming

More cautious: 

Road biking (until you can control a bike pain free as cars tend to be big and dangerous)

Elliptical (again, give it a week or so and try in a shoe)

Kick boxing - seriously? 

Sky Diving - Um, no

So there you have it. Apparently my skydiving career is on hold, which might prevent me from attaining my big break, as I surely would have auditioned for the role of Johnny Utah in the unfortunate remake of the truly classic Point Break. Other than that though, I’d have to say it’s been a great first week back on my feet.

And Roxy thinks so too.

GR 

Baby Steps - Latest X-Rays

In a nutshell. I'm getting there, if ever so slightly.

The good news. I've been cleared to ditch the crutches and start walking with the assistance of an aircast style walking boot. Looks like I'm still 4-6 weeks away from getting back to my feet proper. Baby steps.

GR

The Calm After The Storm

Well now that the biggest ultra of 2011 has come and gone, that being the UTMB in France just under two weeks ago, I can finally consider my season of dreaming of running to have come to a close.

Via Adam Campbell

Typically in past years I've taken extended downtime in the fall anyways, and as such, even though completely sidelined, there feels like a sudden closure on the year of running that never was. I know that there are still a lot of big ultras to round out the year, but going into 2011 it was all about UTMB for me. Even though I've known conclusively since early June that it would not happen, I never quite let go of the dream of attending the race until it actually began on August 26th.

In the end simply finishing would have meant finishing ahead of most of the top names in North American ultra running. Each runner with their own story and day of race issues, it certainly made for a very dramatic race to follow via online updates. I have no doubt that given this years outcome most, if not all, will be looking to attend again in 2012. I am no different of course and hopefully the lottery gods will smile down upon most of us again come December-January. It would be an honor to stand among a class of runners even half as deep as this year's race attracted.

Once it was all said and done the indefatigable Kilian Jornet laid sole claim to the top ultra runner in the world bragging rights, after what can only be described as an unbelievable season. Lizzie Hawker took the women's race, with two American's finishing in the top six. Those being Darcy Africa in third and Helen Cospolich in sixth.

Canada's Adam Campbell proudly flew the Red and White after an incredible 2nd place finish in the 100k'ish version of the race known as CCC. Massive congrats to him on what turned out to be damn near twice as long as he'd ever run before!

As for me I have my next x-ray in six short days time. Assuming all has gone according to plan in the last five weeks (of course nothing has to date) than I might just find myself finally off of these damn sticks. After 7.5 months on these things, dare I say I might not even know what to do with myself.

IF I am set free, I am most certainly looking forward to a fall season of walking, hiking, and road biking, while holding off on the running temptations until at least Jan of next year.

I know I've been on these things just a wee bit too long when while catching the final Harry Potter flick with my girlfriend this past weekend, I found myself wondering when Harry had gotten off his crutches...yeah, seriously.

GR

Musings From The Sidelines - Weekend Ultra Story Lines

A couple of big races took place this past weekend and as always there were many story lines that emerged. A couple that stood out to me

(Hope Pass)

Ryan Sandes's 100 Mile Debut

South African Ryan Sandes won the Leadville 100 miler with the 3rd fastest time in the race's 28 year history. Yeah, that little race in Colorado that attracts one of the largest fields of any North American 100 miler. The race with a low point of 9,600 feet, and a high point of 12,620 while cresting Hope Pass...twice. That little race where the two fastest times ahead of this 100 mile rookie's performance are Matt "The Lung" Carpenter and Anton "My Bones Heal Faster Than Yours" Krupicka.

It's not like Sandes is inexperienced by any stretch of the imagination though, as he's the only person to ever sweep the Racing The Planet stage racing series. That does little to diminish the shocking caliber of his 100 mile debut however. And, if you happen to be keeping tabs, yes that another Salomon victory this year, and yes that's the 4th major US race to be won by an 'out of towner' since December.

NF 50 Champs - Heras

WS 100 - Jornet

Hardrock - Chorier

Leadville - Sandes

Can a U.S. runner finally snag victory at the most competitive race of the year, starting in France on Friday evening? (and yes my heart bleeds just a little bit every time I think about missing out on that starting line)

Dave Mackey Back Atop UROY 2011 Voting?

Dave Mackey got back to form again on the weekend by breaking yet another course record. This time at the Waldo 100k in Oregon. This one is summed up nicely right on their homepage: It is not a beginner-level ultra and participation in the race should not be taken lightly.

Dave shaved just over four minutes off of Erik Skagg's 2009 effort, in which you may recall he ran himself straight into the hospital, which thankfully he eventually fully recovered from.

After Mackey finished 8th at Western States he seemed to fall out of favor with the UROY chatter, even though his 8th place finish was a pretty damn solid 16h36m effort.

It will be interested to see what the voters think come year’s end, though there is still a lot of racing to go. I'm curious if we'll see similar to past years, where there seems to be a weighted voting process associated with the distance of the runs upon one's resume. Though it's pretty hard to argue the stats:

-1st CR Bandera 100k

-1st Amercan River 50m

-1st Miwok 100k

-8th Western States 100m

-1st CR Waldo 100k

Canadian Back In The Mix

Canadian runner Chris Downie broke onto the scene a few years back with some impressive results, before seeming to disappear for about a year. Well it appears the BC native is back with a vengeance as he pulled off a very impressive 4th place finish at the above mentioned Waldo 100k on the weekend. Downie finished just ahead of Oregon's own Yassine Diboun, who is a highly regarded ultra runner, and all around great guy period.

I believe Chris's next race will be another Oregon gem, the Pine to Palm 100 miler in mid September, and I'll say right now that I'm picking him for a podium finish. Chris has shown nothing but success over longer distance runs while winning his first 100mile and 146km races.

Thoughts?

So whatdaya think? Is Ryan Sandes poised to become the next great 100 mile runner? Is Dave Mackey your pick for UROY through 2/3 of the year? Have you ever raced against Chris Downie and come away shocked that a man who looks like a football player can be so damn fast?

GR

Funny Fridays - Tommy Tiernan (+Anderson Cooper Giggle Attack)

I managed to get my first speeding ticket in over seven years a week back, and in a 30 year old Subaru held together with duct tape and spit I might add. I was initially upset over it but before I arrived home, just ten minutes later, I found myself swelling with pride as I'm quite confident that it's the first speeding ticket my 81 Subaru GLF has ever earned, given that I purchased her from an elderly family, as a second owner, and with but 80,000miles on the odo.

Tommy Tiernan's take on his speeding ticket:


and if you have a few more minutes on your hands I promise you won't regret watching his take on the all drug Olympics as well:


And as a last second addition here. Mr. Anderson Cooper has a pretty funny giggling breakdown last night. They have disabled embedding so you'll have to click here to watch the 69second video.

Enjoy your weekend!
GR

33 Days To Freedom (a nice x-ray)

August 2nd, 2011

Thankfully I have finally had an image of my foot that looks positive, and for all intents and purposes I should be cleared of these sticks by my follow up x-ray on Sept 13th!

I headed into this thing last week (it's taken me a bit to catch up on here) knowing I was going to hear one of two things:

1) Your foot is finally healing properly and you should be off crutches within six weeks

OR

2) Your foot is not healing properly and you'll need surgery and be on crutches until December

In all honesty I had built up my defenses for the latter and was prepared for the worst. So much so that when I glanced at the initial x-ray myself I thought for sure I was headed to surgery, "Book me in Doc". As he looked at it properly though he was able to distinguish distinct healing lines upon the bone structure that suggest that I should be on the home stretch for this thing right now, which was obviously a massive relief.

I've said this continually to those close to me but recently noticed my rather large oversight in not posting it on my own blog: I'm fully aware of the fact that no matter what the circumstances of the last twelve months of my life have been, this will always boil down to 'just a broken foot'. It will eventually heal, I will eventually run again. If this is the worst thing that I have to tackle in the coming years than I'm an even more fortunate soul than I already feel that I am, simply through being born into a prosperous and free nation. I spent a full calendar year cycle touring impoverished and post war-torn countries, and though that was eight years back in my life, you never quite look at the world the same again. I don't say it with every blog posting as I've never felt the need to, but, it's never been lost on me for even a moment that I've been born with a silver spoon in my mouth simply based upon where I was geographically conceived (nice work Ma and Pa).

Running is not not life and death, no matter how we slice and dice it, it will always just be running. We can live, quite happily, without it. In the meantime though, I fully intend to appreciate every additional running step I'm granted upon my newly fused bone, starting early in the new year.

I can start back on my bike in six weeks though, which basically means my Christmas present, is arriving early...

"I feel happy of myself" (that link the closest you're getting to a FF this week)
GR