Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

If this doesn't spread a lil Christmas spirit I don't know what will!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

This is our Christmas morning waffle breakfast!!

Riverbend bum

Had a good weekend, plenty of holiday happenings which made it extremely busy for Lisa and I.  Especially since two of them were at our house!!  Despite all this craziness I managed to run every day on the weekend and get 6 runs in for the week and almost 40 miles.  Exactly what I wanted to do. 

I keep meeting the Riverbend Bum(homeless guy) too!!  It's actually quite hilarious as I think he recognizes me now and we play this game where one of us says somthing witty directed at the other.  Since it's usually a quick meeting ie. he's on his mountain bike, or we're running/walking opposite directions and one of us is the first to spot the other, so there's not much time to say much, you gotta be quick on the draw!!  One of the first meetings/Witty remarks was in summer when he rode up behind Lisa and I walking.  He burnt me really bad, I was actually a little miffed by this.  I just happened to be either scratching my butt or pulling the underwear out of my crack?  He yells as he rides by somthing like "Stop scratching your ass!!"  So from that point it was on!!!  Almost every time we meet, which is really often, who ever gets the first word in gets the upper hand.

I'm actually looking forward to the next time as I'm gonna get him good!!  This last week it was kind of a chain reaction.  Wednesday on that epic run with Curtis I see him trudging along the trail along the river with an accustic guitar.  It was weird, but I managed to spot him first so the moment we were in ear shot range I shout out, "Play a song, play a song!!"  ha ha damn I yelled too early as he got in somthing like, "Nawwww you guys don't have time"  touche Curtis and I make time!!  So this weekend Saturday I'm at the gym running on the treadmill, the treadmills are facing the windows.  Guess who walks by on the sidewalk along the strip mall.  My buddy and he has this big grin on his face, he knows he has me where he wants me.  He chuckles and gestures for me to come run outside.  Aughhhhh well I wasn't moving and he stayed there for me to gather my response.  So I point at my watch and mouth the words, "No time, no time!!"  He continued grinning from ear to ear so I try to explain that I will join him outside tomorrow!  Anyways that was the latest installment.  For the record I did run outside the next day, but didn't see him.  Next time I will get his name, wish I could also get a picture and put him up on my blog.  I've seen him everywhere in the Riverbend area, even at the public library.  Once I even saw him with a rake or somthing attacked to the frame of his bike so I know he must do some odd work for people?  Also thought of bringing him something for Christmas, I think I know where he sleeps.  Anyways till next time Mr. Riverbend bum there will be pay back!!

DP

Epic Run

Yesterday Curtis and I finally got out for another run.  He's extremely busy these days so we had to schedule it for the evening at 9:30.  We only left my house at somthing like 9:45.  We have loads of runs at times like these(in years past), even in winter.  We are alike that way, both night owls, both like the night time runs.  It was only about -9 and we headed south along the bow river around my favorite 11-13 mile loop.  Took the long way which gave us 12.3 miles.  Most of it was actually scraped, but it seems the scraped part is almost more dangerous as it can have melted/frozen water on it.  The good part is last night it was super bright outside.  I brought my head lamp that I got for sking but didn't need it cause it was so bright outside you could see the path well enough without it.  We met several deer and scare a few hundred ducks crossing the footbridge by the dog park.  The only hard part was the hills and the single track before the dog park.  My hips/legs are a bit sore from that as you get thrown a bit back and forth and have to tighten up each time that happens to compensate.  Thanks for the run Curtis,

DP

Merry Christmas from Bailey the Unknown Reindeer

Progress

I had a good run yesterday.  It was snowing and about -12 so I decided to do the long run on the tready.  Last winter I ran most of the time outside even up to like -25(just temperature)?  This winter since I have the treadmill option so close I'll probably be using it more.  As long as they don't kick me out of the gym for hogging the treadmill for hours at a time. 

On a side note, when they gave us the gym tour our guide mentioned that the treadmills stop at 1 hour.  Then she casually mentioned that it's not a big deal, who runs for a couple hours anyways??  lol I said ahhh I do(I should have kept my mouth shut) but yeah it's not a big deal starting over at 1 hour.  Then she also mentioned that the eliptical could be a tougher workout than the treadmill.  I kinda rolled my eyes, but kept my mouth shut.  lol I don't want to get into a debate, but seriously eliptical vs treadmill???  For what I need it for?  Actually running races?  Not that she would know that.  Not her fault, for a workout sure it's a great tool.  But to resemble or mimic any type of natural movement ie running?  Nope it doesn't cut it.  Anyways side rant, sorry. 

So I did my 13 mile run indoors and today my skin in various places is/are chafed raw.  OUCH!!  My running is comin along great, and that one pace that I always set the dreadmill up to is becoming quite easy.  Yesterday I wore my hr monitor and could see my progress.  I'm a ways off from where I was during the summer, but it'll happen.  Gotta be patient.  My weight isn't coming off yet, I have to be patient with that too.  Last week I ran 5 days, this week probably 6.  I'll keep a journal so I can keep track of my runs and make sure I'm not doing too much too soon.

I've decided to follow a plan by Pfitzinger, linked here http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4432&CategoryID=&PageNum=5.  I'm sure it's ok to post it since it was posted online at runningtimes's site.  So my plan is to build up my mileage to the start of the plan.  If I count the weeks backward it would start on Jan 24th and I want to be doing the correct mileage by then so I can step into the plan and not get injured.  Right now I'm building with out doing any speed work.  I'm resisting the urge, although I really want to increase the speed, and or do some intervals.  In my opinion the miles have to be built up before you add the speed.  That way your body is already used to the stress that running gives, and will recover faster when adding the speed work.  Plus hopefully I'll be leaner so my legs will be able to handle my body weight. ha ha.  While that plan is very close to what I've done in the past I may have to change some things around as I'm different and my life is different too!!  It's ok, I'm just using it as a starting point.  I feel I need the schedule and goal for each day.  It keeps me motivated and on days where I have none, it reminds me that I'm headed out for a run anyways!!  Happy running folks

DP

What the heck are ice pellets?

Are they really triangular shaped like that?  That could hurt!! 

Back running

What can I say, I'm a runner at heart.  I absolutely love running.  It doesn't matter on the technique, or equipment, my income, or maintenance(other than on my body).  All I do is head out the door and put one foot in front of the other rinse and repeat right Cam?  I tried sking a bit and I really do love it too, but it's just not running.  For the sking I have to take more time to do it.  It takes longer to get ready, then I usually have to get to the trail(if there is a trail), and to get a good workout in I have to do an hour minimum.  So yeah, I'm gonna hit up the running again.  I want to ski a couple times a month though, it is awesome cross training.  But I def. won't take it as serious as I at first planned on doing, and probably won't be doing the Berkie like I really wanted to do.  I dun know, maybe I'll change my mind again, stay tuned I guess.

So what will I do??  I will run, and tentatively do the Calgary marathon.  I've never done my home town race, the full that is.  I need to get over my fear of the marathon.  My last two marathons didn't go well and I'd like to get the confidence back that I can go the full distance... at "race pace" what ever that means.  lol  Then after that, I'm still looking at ultras, I may sign up for a couple and let my body decide.  They're cheap compared to Ironmans, if I sign up for a couple then end up not starting it won't kill the pocket book too badly.  :P

Last year I ran mostly outside during the winter, with some key workouts on the tready/track at the talisman.  This year I signed up at a gym in my neighborhood.  It's actually 24 hours so I could run at midnight if I want.  So I will combine outdoor when it's warmer, indoor when cold or I want to run in the light.  :P  Cheers,

DP

Our tree is up!!

Yeah I know, a lil early.  It was Lisa's idea, I just go a long with it.  We also practiced some of our dance moves.  Yes I learned to dip!!!  (I don't know how correct that is as this was one of the last things we learned)  Don't laugh too much, a little is ok though.

Anyone need a wetsuit???

Or even if you don't and think you might in the future, check this deal out.  I'm considering it even though I'm not doing any triathlon next year.  I couldn't find any reviews on the profile design suit, I know they make good bike parts, kinda strange they're designing wetsuits now.  It looks like it's relatively new, which is why there are no reviews worth reading(I found two but they weren't helpful) anyways.  You can't go wrong for 89 bucks, and I can tell you this.  The company(bicycleoutfitter) is awesome to deal with, I bought my kurt kinetic trainer from them and they sent it to Canada as a gift therefore I payed no customs fees, only the shipping.  I checked the cost of the suit other places and couldn't find anything close that that price.

http://catalog.bicycleoutfittersindy.com/product/profile-design-bionik-2-54134-1.htm

Some more sking notes

I forgot to mention a few things on yesterday's post.  I really notice the soreness in my muscles, especially after my first two skis, and then again immediately following yesterday's ski.  Just like cycling, it seems that the quad gets the most work.  I guess it's very similar to the cycling push down on the pedals, with sking it's pushing off the ground.  Although so far my hips, lower back, and overall core muscles are getting a working over too.  But I think that's mostly from the trail cutting(balance needed) and the uneven ground that I sometimes go over which would require more balance as well.

I got a cool head lamp from Mec.  I figured with the sking on uneven unknown terrain and often in areas with no lighting the head lamp would come in handy.  It's got two, well three settings, plus it dims as well on each setting.  So it's quite versatile, and all the brightness I need.

I have one slight problem that I hope will go away.  I don't know what mec's return policy is but my boots get uncomfortable after a while.  When I push off, the boots have to bend a lot just past the toes.  The boot material folds and puts a lot of pressure on my pinky toe.  After awhile my toes really hurt a lot.  I'm not sure if this is just part of breaking in the boot(will it go away??) or should I go back and try on a few more boots to see if I can find somthing more comfortable.  The boot fits perfect, and I like the style, so if I knew it would correct itself as I break it in, I would stick with it.  My foot doesn't blister, it just gets sore.  Sking two days in a row is painful when I start out on the second day, so I'm not sure.  And again, I'm not sure if Mec would take used boots back.  Does anyone know?  It's a shame cause there's no way I could have known this problem with out actually sking with the boots.

DP

NSR (new sport report)

Heya!

I've been out 3 times already on my cross country skis.  It's going so so as I need to learn to ski properly, and it's tough to learn when you're having to make/groom new trails all three times that I've been out.  I've also taken my garmin out a few times and although it's a great tool to see where you're at as far as distance/speed/heart rate, but then again sometimes those numbers can be down right discouraging.  But I do want to see my progress, so I did want to know where I started at.  Soooo I have to suck it up and ski, recording the numbers, but also letting them not bother me so much.

So the first two times I went out saturday and sunday near my house in the park with the ponds.  It's hard to find good space to make trails.  I attempted to make some and the first set that winds through Riverbend to get me to the park is fine.  I cut them far enough away from the path to keep the walkers/dogs/animals away for the most part.  Rabbits don't bother a good cut trail, but dogs and people really suck, and neither really cares that they're destroying my attempts at cutting a good trail.  So the the first part is fine, but then as I get out of the neighborhood it's tougher.  Especially since me and who ever else skis started cutting the moment the snow had nearly finished falling, so when people started walking their dogs they saw a ski trail so they figured why not just walk on that since it's already packed down a bit.  Grrrrrr  So I had to recut them the second time I went out.  So combined with the trail cutting, cornering, and with always having the new path it's hard to learn proper technique because you can't really glide well, and classic sking I've learnt is all about kicking and gliding. 

Today I decided to drive to a near by driving range.  I prepared myself mentally for more of the trail cutting, but I kinda hoped some other skier had already started with a trail.  I got there and saw there were none so I started cutting the new trail.  Verrrrry slow work, it's like a super slow walk, especially when at times your skis get covered with hard packed snow.  The second loop was ok, then the third I could actually start thinking about what my legs are doing.  I watched this youtube video just before I left, this guy I think teaches it really well.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjFcZRNR1Q check it out Cam or others that are interested in trying.  Or maybe you're an expert already Cam?  Feel free to correct me at any time if I'm wrong with this, but this is how I see it.  I've seen a few videos and at first I right away noticed that everyone kicks up at the back.  This may seem obvious to you, but it didn't for me at first.  It looked fine for them, but when I tried doing it the motion just didn't seem natural.  I'd always just kept my skis on the ground and shuffled along, we're affectionately called "Shufflers".  The people that strap skis on and walk along not sliding at all.  K, I wasn't that bad, I glide, but not nearly as much as I should and definately not with that damn'd kick.  So then I remembered buddy doing his warming up exercises.  That's when it clued in, it wasn't so much kicking back as it was pushing off one foot and lunging forward onto the other one.  As the weight transfers it forces the other foot back and with the follow through it'll kick back.  So this is what I started to concentrate on, pushing off each foot.  You see, with classic skis you got your regular wax, and then you have a grippy kicker type wax that goes in the middle.  So that when you step on one foot, the gripper wax actually touches down and it grips in the snow so you can propell the rest of you forward!!!!  Make sense?

So today I was practicing my lunging forward.  My back foot isn't kicking up much yet, but I'm gliding forward on each step as I should.  Especially as each lap around my golf driving range would cut the trail and pack it down better for me to slide on.  So for example today I skied 3.5 miles in 52 minutes.  I think that's an average of 15.XX minutes per mile.  hee hee super slowwwww.  If I look at my first mile when I was cutting most of the path it was somthing like 21 or 22 minutes.  One lap I saw was about 0.65 miles.  So each lap/mile got quicker and by the end I cracked the 12 minute mile.  Getting better, I'm seeing improvment.  I just have to think of pushing off one foot and LUNGGGGGGGGGGGINg onto the other foot as I slide.  hee hee.  I have yet to go to an actual groomed trail this year.  I think there's a golf course near by that cuts trails, maybe I'll go tomorrow.  That should be interesting.  Guess I'll have to put on the different wax as it's warming up(they got dif. kicker wax for dif. temperatures as the snow is stickier as it warms up).  Wish me luck,

DP

I feel like a Gollum quote!!

`I daresay,' said Sam. 'But where have you been to – sneaking off and sneaking back, you old villain? '

* Gollum withdrew himself, and a green glint flickered under his heavy lids. Almost spider-like he looked now, crouched back on his bent limbs, with his protruding eyes. The fleeting moment had passed, beyond recall. `Sneaking, sneaking!' he hissed. 'Hobbits always so polite, yes. O nice hobbits! Sméagol brings them up secret ways that nobody else could find. Tired he is, thirsty he is, yes thirsty; and he guides them and he searches for paths, and they say _sneak, sneak_. Very nice friends, O yes my precious, very nice.'

* Sam felt a bit remorseful, though not more trustful. 'Sorry.' he said. 'I'm sorry, but you startled me out of my sleep. And I shouldn't have been sleeping, and that made me a bit sharp. But Mr. Frodo. he's that tired, I asked him to have a wink; and well, that's how it is. Sorry. But where _have_ you been to? '

`Sneaking,' said Gollum, and the green glint did not leave his eyes.

Tips for getting your man into dance lessons(it worked on me, it could work on anyone)

This may not be a simple task. 

1. Keep at it.  I'm gonna let you in on a little secret about men, if you don't already know it.  Even though they may "seem" totally against it, they might actually want to, or at least not be as against it as they may show on the first request/attempt.  Remember some of us think or think others will think less manly of us for signing up.

2. Ask multiple times.  This may not at first fit into our schedules, and in some cases the man will use anything and everything as an excuse as to why we may not have time.  So plan ahead, get creative, use your head!!  Say your man happens to be a triathlete and is preparing for the big event of the year.  Think to yourself, hmmm he's gonna need some downtime, recovery.  He won't be training as much after the event.

3. Find a inexpensive opportunity.  This will help thwart the excuse, "oh but honey, it's wayy too expensive".  Maybe offer to pay for it?!?!?!  Or just look for a cheap lesson.

4. Something convenient.  If you have a community centre check to see if they have lessons, or might somtime in the future.  Walking distance is perfect

5. Focus on having fun.  Don't put too much pressure on the man, especially if he's like me and is totally un-coordinated.  Go figure, who knew you could get to the finish of a IM with two left feet??  Another secret about us men.  We ultimately want to please our mates, so if you show how much this will please you and how it's about hangin out and doing something fun together.  Maybe give him a little something to look forward to after the lesson,  ha ha j/k

6. If he's super duper embarrassed about taking the lessons, don't put it on your facebook or blog.  Help him keep it discreet.  Lisa if you're reading this, in my case I don't mind having random girls ask me about how the lessons are going.  I just figured other men might not be cool with that, I'm fine though.  I probably wouldn't have blogged about it if I didn't want people knowing.

That's all I can think of for now.  There ya go Julie, some tips for you and Mike.  They worked on me, and trust me I was the last person I thought would be taking them.  CHeers,

DP 

I learned something new today

I have this calender thing at work, where you have to tear off a paper each day.  It's a stack of days basically, 365 days that is, one for each day.  Each paper has a picture, well most do and they often have 2-3 in a row telling facts about a certain animal, land form, etc.  The last few have been about tall/big trees.  Today's had no image but told me that the largest living thing in the world is a tree!  Go figure, I'm not surprised about this really, but when they named the tree I just had to google it to see it for myself.  I knew it would be big, but man this still blew my mind when I saw it.  It is named General Sherman after some General in the war.  I found it hilarious that when you google that, the tree wiki page comes ahead of the actual civil war General.  Some other interesting facts are that it is believed to be between 2300 - 2700 years old, 275 ft tall.  Google it, very interesting.

Oh yeah, also had a pretty good run yesterday.  Ran a hard 5k in 21:09.  Not too bad, did the same route in summer just after IM in 19:40 somthing so I've lost a bit, but it felt good to letter rip.  And I actually finished this hard run, the last two times I tried some intervals I couldn't do as many as I had planned.  Getting mentally stronger, which is nice to see.  Curtis and I will run Sat. morning again, we did our first long one in a while last weekend.  We need to keep this weekly long one up as it not only provides a decent long run, but also motivates us both for the coming week.  Cheers all, happy running,

DP

PS:  The second pic is that of the biggest branch that broke off of General Sherman in 2006, yes that's right it's the freakin branch!!!

JUST DANCE!!

As what's her face would say, ummm Lady Gaga?  Anyways if you are reading this and you know me pretty well you'll be surprised by my latest adventure.  I took on dance classes with Lisa(my wife).  I think I managed to weasel my way out of it 2-3 times.  The first excuse was Ironman, then the second I think it was just time, money, and I found a substitute for dance classes(it was to be somthing we could do together) so we joined a yoga class.  We did a few sessions, then Lisa noticed the bill boards coming into our community of Riverbend.  They mentioned the dance classes so close to us, at the community centre.  She checked, lol before she would mention it to me again.  I think she figured she needed somthing more convincing then just "it's close by, right in our community!!". And she found out that they only costed 50 bucks per couple for 4 sessions.  It's friday evenings and for that cost???  I couldn't hold out any longer.  hee hee we had the first one last friday.  It was ok, I enjoyed it, but it was frustrating too.  Like I suspected I'm very uncoordinated and don't really have a sense of beat or rhythm.  At one point our instructor(after having worked with Lisa and myself) told the class that the lady, "Has to follow the man, into rhythm hell!!!".  LOL could he have been talking about me???  hee hee oh well I had fun, and it was good exercise.  Another funny thing he mentioned, was that the man always starts with the left foot, the woman, "Well she's always right"  ha ha.  touche.  Wish me luck for friday, hopefully I'll get the hang of this jive thing.  The foxtrot wasn't so bad though, over and out.

DP

Support my Movember bro please!!

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/942968

Let it snow!!!!

Heya!

Like my new skis?  I think I already mentioned I'm taking on some new hobbies/sports and Xcountry sking will be one of them!  Let it snow snow snow ha ha ha.  I'm usually the opposite, dreading winter, because it usually means indoor riding.  Not this year, I'll be outside, enjoying the white stuff.  Course with my luck I bet we'll get a late winter/early spring.  Oh well I'm still running now so I'll embrace either. 

Speaking of running, it's been going pretty good.  I'm slowly chipping away on the gained weight.  I'm down 5 pounds, gotta remember to be patient.  The running is improving, I did my first harder workout yesterday.  It didn't go super, I planned on doing a fartlek run in one mile increments.  I started off with a easy mile, then a hard one(maybe a touch fast), easy one, then I tried a second hard one and just couldn't hold the pace.  So I stopped for 20 seconds and jogged it in.  I was bagged for the rest of the day, but felt super.  Man it feels good to letter rip again!

Today I went out and ran 6.5 miles, I started out at about 8 min miles and moved it down till almost 7 min pace.  As I was comin in with about 1.5 miles to go another runner pulls onto the path just ahead of me.  He's just going a tad slower than I so I pick it up a bit to run with him.  I start running behind him and he notices me and tries to pull ahead of me a bit.  I wasn't intending on racing him or anything just run a bit of tempo with a "friend" ya know.  I never get to run with anyone anymore so I thought I'd chat with him, but I wasn't too close.  So before I could get a word out, he pulls aside abruptly and stops dead.  Waves me through, I said something like, "oh no worries" like don't worry about it, you're not in my way I mean to run with you.  He says "NO PLEASE!", I shrug and run on.  I guess he didn't like that I caught up with him.  Jeez people need to lighten up.  He acted like I was drafting him on the bike.  lol

DP

Joke of the day

Sorry I know I already posted today.  I just saw this joke and have to post it, I literally laughed out loud.



Ironman wants to do a long training day with his buddies, but his wife won't let him.

Next day, the buddies see the Ironman out there getting ready for the swim and they can't believe he showed up.

"Thought you were banned from the big day, what happened, your wife have a change of heart?"

"Yes, last night she came up to the bedroom in nice red teddy with some rope, told me to tie her up and do anything I want"

Run with me!!!

If you dare!!  I think you will all agree I've reached a new level of nerdiness/dorkiness/goofiness, etc.  But it's partly Cam's fault as he started with his video of one of his rides.  I tried takin the camera along and videoing some of my run.  Try to watch some, but I will include a **********WARNING******** please do not consume any alcohaul before watching and avoid looking directly at the screen as you will probably either throw up or fall on the floor twitching and convulsing because of the side to side, up and down movement.  One other thing I will add, my feet are NOT that noisy the mic just seems to be super sensitive, I was actually talking really quietly.  So without further adue...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8YAeL9jUs

The second one is shorter and steady don't worry, no more dizziness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwJXAsVZLCs

Like I said I know I'm a dork.  lol

Couple pics I bought

Jenna did you mean to kick me ??? /cry

I don't have access.  If not please add me with darryl dot penner at gmale dot come.  If you did I'm sorry and I'll leave you alone.  Take care anyways.  I am a bit of a creeper I realize.

Anyways I had an awesome run yesterday!!!  I'm finally starting to feel some fitness creeping back into my legs, even though I still run with a bit of a belly.  My weight is still up, but of course I won't loose that over night, I think I'm down about 3 pounds??  I was up to like 187ish, and my absolute lowest has been 160, 165 was racing weight.  So yeah I'm a bit of a fatty, but I'm loosing again, down to 183.  So getting back to yesterday's run.  The weather was sooo nice, 20 degrees during the day.  I went out almost right away after work.  Did my favorite loop, 11.5 miles.  Did it at a pretty snappy pace, for me 7:41 average I believe.  That hard run I did 2 days ago where I ended up walking really boosted my fitness.  Probably made my body remember some of it's fitness from earlier this year. 

I started out at like a 7:50 mile and I thought this would be a bit quick for a 11.5 mile run so I talked myself down, or tried to anyways.  I assumed my body would slow down like I told it to, but that didn't happen.  Next mile about 7:45, then faster and faster, I couldn't help it, I moved up or down to a 7:30 pace.  I even ran 7:50 for the mile with the big hill.  The poop fairy tried to visit me, but I fought her off many times despite the abdominal pain that resulted.  I remember back running in Manitoba, my coach/friend at the time would call it "Crap Disease"  ha ha I had a good chuckle remembering that.  Anyways kept the miles up and the sun went down as I ran.  It's interesting how the temp plummets in fall when the sun goes down.  Even if it's warm during the day, it always cools off for night time.  Never saw any wild life, I looked for it, but nothing. Came up on this hot chick walking near my house though, wistled at her a couple times.  She turned around and blushed.  Then I realized it was my wife!! 

In other news, I'm gonna head off to the ski sale today to hopefully pick up some used skis.  Then we're off for yoga today, we as in Lisa and I.  We were gonna go yesterday, but after the longish run I convinced her to go today since I don't want an episode like the last time I went to yoga dehydrated(I got sick).  Over and out.

6 days on the road and I"m a gonna...

Isn't that how the song goes?  Anyways 6 days consecutive running for me isn't too bad.  Yesterday I went out with Lisa again.  We have this route that takes us to a pond in carburn park.  We start out together, her walking, me running.  Some days I'll run ahead, then turn around and come back, then run ahead.  That way we stay in contact and it makes it more fun for both of us.  Other days like yesterday I continue onto the pond(the pond loop itself is about a 27 min) then I do loops till she gets there.  I know which direction she'll take so I go the opposite so we wave as we pass going the opposite direction 2-3 times.  Then as she's finishing up the loop and headed home, I'm done my 40 minutes which was the goal for yesterday.  Then we walk home together.  Yesterday I walked a bit then had to finish up running as I was sweaty and beginning to get cold.  Anyways it was still nice to get out together.  Damn Lisa ended up walking by the coyote, but didn't see it.  I wonder if he's had any luck catching the geese.

Burnt a few matches yesterday

Had a really good run yesterday.  But it was also a good reminder that I'm not there yet, ha ha.  Sometimes when you start to feel good you deceive yourself into thinking I'm not that out of shape.  Start to pick up the pace, check the watch on the last mile, think to yourself, hmmm I"m not feeling too bad lets pick it up some more.  Hee hee so yesterday I kept doing that first mile 7:51, then 7:31, then 7:32(with a pretty big hill), 7:16, 7:13(on lots of gravel with big stones).  Shortly after the last one it all of a sudden hit me like a fricken freight train.  I'M TIRED!!!  LOL  So I jogged and eventually walked the last .75 miles home.  It was nice weather and honestly walking in a training run doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  I guess I don't need to feed the ego as much.  I know what I'm capable and don't need to prove it.  If I was on a specific schedule I would have sucked it up and kept running.  But now when I'm just out to get in shape, I find I like stopping ever so often to walk, you get to soak up the soroundings so much more.  I'm betting Cam agrees, after all if you enjoy it more, appreciate nature, the animals, etc, you're more apt to head out the door tomorrow right?  I stop for animals too, at least a few seconds, long enough to say hi.  My two cents fwiw...

DP

Back running

Hey there,

I had a good week, 5 runs last week, a couple walks, and one swim.  Pretty good for a retired triathlete.  I've gained a bunch of weight since IM, but I'm happy to say I'm starting to shed again.  Saturday's run I finally started to feel smooth again and the sub 8 min pace started to feel like it's supposed to.  It's funny cause I run that same approx. pace no matter how fit I am.  I just hurt more if I'm out of shape, or will even stop mid-run if I have to.  But it's the pace I dial into all the time, it varies a tad, but not much more than like 20 secs per mile.  I can run faster if fit and I have a specific goal or in a race of course, but if I head out without a goal it's always going to be about the same.

Still thinking of sking this winter.  I was gonna go shopping last week, but then I saw an advertisement for the annual ski sale/swap thing at Barlow/Maxbell.  So I think I'll hold off till then, it's actually starting this week so I don't have long to wait.  There's no snow yet anyways, although we had some last week(it melted).  I'm guessing if I do get skis we'll probably not get a winter(or at least very little snow), because that's just the way things go right? 

I also finally got some of those vibram barefoot shoes/sandles.  What ever you call them, I figured I'm in the off season so I could try using these a bit here and there to help strengthen my legs/feet.  I think I first heard about them from Susi and then a friend from work here does all his running in them.  I doubt I'll ever drop my running shoes completely, I just want to strengthen my legs.  I totally buy into the fact that we spend too much time in very cushioned footwear that that it causes us to actually weaken.  I don't know if it'll prevent injuries, I hope so, as long as I don't do too much of it too quickly.  I will be extremely cautious starting out with these as I've been running for so many years, it would be super easy to get injured.  Especially since I already have calf problems at times, with these things it works your calves wayyy harder as there is no heel at all.  I did 2 miles in them on sunday, mostly on ashalt, with some on grass.  My feet ache a bit even from that.  I even started out walking so it wasn't a full 2 miles of running.  Gotta watch the stones as you can feel it all through the thin rubber sole(not really a sole).

PS:  Saw a coyote on saturday.  On one of my regular runs to Carburn park he was cruisin around the pond possibly trying to catch a goose?  They're gathering on the pond for the trip south.  Has anyone ever noticed that not all the geese fly south?  It's true I see them year round, even in cold weather.  Yet they gather in fall, maybe just to go through the routine, then some end up staying? 

Critter update

Hey,

I was running yesterday and came upon a couple of people gathered pointing up.  I looked up into the trees and saw my buddies.  A couple of porcupines.  There was one bigger one and a lil guy.  Just perched up high in the trees, not moving at all.  I wonder if they were sleeping there all day???  They're supposed to be nocturnal.  So I hustled over to where Lisa was walking to get her over(she's never seen them before).  I just love those guys, I need to train one to run with me.  In other news, I'm not quite 100%.  My achilles is still fine, now it's my calves again that are tight.  So I guess I'll have to start stretching, self massaging and maybe even go for a massage or two to correct that.  Kinda disappointing, but at least it's happening now instead of during summer.  Love the warm temps we're getting, I hope it continues for a month or two.  :)   Over and out.

DP

Update

Hey all,

Had a busy couple of weekends here.  Busy but good, awesome!  The weekend before last my buddy had a stag, he's an outdoorsie person so we went hiking in K country.  We hiked up Mt. Baldy, I think that's what it's called??  It's just across from barrier lake.  It was amazing weather.  The leaves are changing but mother nature has blessed us with some semi-summer weather that we never got.  Anywho there were about 6 of us that made it up to the top of the mountain.  I'm hoping to go once more yet before the snow hits.  I just love climbing.  You get to be out in Nature, climbing, getting a good workout.  Then you get the amazing view at the top which is the reward for the hard work.

So then this weekend we had the wedding.  Again like I mentioned they're both hikers/photographers so they decided to have it on top of the tram/mountain in Jasper.  Kinda gutsy for October, we could have gotten any kind of weather possible eh?  But we got probably the best day imaginable.  One of the tram guides was saying how they only get a hand full of days in a entire year that were clear enough to see Mt. Robsin.  The tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.  It was so warm up top that we took our jackets off, and dead calm too.  So my friends Gerad + Laura had a picture perfect wedding, congratz to both!!  I'd post some pictures, I did end up taking a bunch with my crappy camera, but they're both photographers and I'm not sure I'm allowed to post them.

The running is going well again, I had to take a few days off from that hike up Mt. Baldy.  My legs were so wrecked after that, they needed time to recover.  That is just totally different muscles, but that's part of the reason I want to do more.  I forget what the name of the peak is, but hopefully we can climb it this coming weekend.  Gotta make it quick since it's thanksgiving and I got a dinner to go to saturday.  It should be an awesome workout and even better view.  It's the peak that if you're on the number one heading west just entering the Rockies on the right side.  It has the huge rock face and big scree slope going up to the rock face.  It doesn't look climbable from the highway, but you can climb around either side and make it up the back side.  Crossing my fingers, please mother nature, all I ask is one more good weekend plllllllllllllllllllease!!! Over and out,

DP (aka. bignose...I just realized)

Wow!

Not often we get to be proud of a Canadian marathoner, check this story out.

http://reidcoolsaet.com/2010/09/27/while-im-here-id-like-to-thank/

Pain free!! (cross your fingers)

Ran 46 minutes today pain free, didn't feel a thing.  I'll still be careful building up, but hey, I'm ok to run!!!

Walking

Hey,

The last week I've been doing a lot of walking with Lisa.  We've been doing pretty much 4-5 miles per day.  She def. walks a lot faster than when we did our first walks.  It's great to see the improvement.  I'm looking forward to running and I honestly can't feel anything from my achilles, but I just want to make sure and there's no real rush to get back into the running.  I've decided I'm not doing anymore races this year so I may as well make sure it's ready to go before I test it out.  While you're walking you notice more stuff that you wouldn't normally while running.  We've seen lots of deer, some of them are very well cammoflaged, but my keen eyes pick them out.  Yesterday we got to see a owl right up close.  The big sucker landed on a evergreen right beside us.  He kept an eye on us while we watched him.  These things are amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzing creatures and it's rare to get a close up view of one as they are nocturnal and very very shy of humans.  The coolest feature by far is the way they spin the head around.  So cool how they do this with out moving anything else.  I just move my head 90 degrees and I'm straining my neck muscles.

Fall is so nice with the leaves changing color and even with the temps going down(although sounds like we may have a warmer weekend) the air is so crisp.  The leaves on the ground are like a plush carpet, well a carpet that crunches under the feet.  I had an idea while on all these walks.  I might just buy some classic cross country skis and make tracks around our pond near our house.  There's also plenty of other trails through the bush, I could make my own trails.  I have good memories of doing this as a kid.  Make a loop then do laps, I could even time myself and on weekends I could make a trip to COP or Canmore, or K country.  Not sure yet, I go through ideas pretty quickly and my mind really takes off when I think of stuff.  Skis shouldn't be too expensive and it'd be super good exercise in the winter.  I could substitute all the indoor riding with that, make it more exciting.  I even thought of a good goal to work towards.  I really cannot do any type of exercise without giving myself something to work towards.  You guys ever heard of the Canadian berkie?  If I was trained I wonder how long it would take, 4 hours? more?  I guess it depends on the terrain.  It's held near Edmonton so I doubt it would be killer hilly, maybe rolling.  Just a thought, we'll see how far I get with this.  Here's the website http://www.canadianbirkie.com/ Cheers,

dp

50 Ironmans!!!

Yesterday Lisa and I hosted a little get together between some long time tri buddies. We ate and ate and talked and talked. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did. I had a blast!!! At the end Trevor suggested we take a Ironman(the men) picture, what a good idea. Sorry Susan, we all know you're an Ironman(woman) too but her ironmans didn't count for the "mens" tally. Between us guys we counted 3.8km swim x 50, 180km bike x 50, and 42.2km run x 50!!! That's a long friggen way. Take a look at the picture, make a guess as to how many each has done??

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7gITWfiR7vTpvyYCdhJGayIo7HIugcVUqbidtWKDZ5vsLxIzyWaoyzGAFGq4AAiiR3-i4SYxDepwjC2AXv4LdreMdABbRyqZ0aESIQuCBM09InEfmtKnrXepA32IZyBxsh08r_FJ0u8/s1600/IMG_0202.JPG

(Thanks for posting the picture Trev)

Random crap, memories, etc. (long boring post)

Hey all,

My season is officially over. My achilles doesn't like the fact that I ran 30 miles, go figure. So I'm gonna listen to my body and rest it properly before I start running for the winter. I'm not actually minding taking a break. The ultra was really just a last minute goal to try to keep my sane. It really wasn't doing the job anyways, I still miss triathlon training like crazy. I guess the grass always does look better on the other side of the fence. I think I was saying to Greg the other day, I hated all the hard work triathlon training was, but now that I'm not doing it I miss it and get depressed all the time not having it there. It's an addiction, like you all know, but for me it's not the actual training. It's the way it makes me feel. I just love challenge, and accomplishing this(even day to day workouts) gives me that satisfaction. Yes just like the stones song. So here I am, 35 years old wondering what's next on the horizon. I've thought about many things, but so far, nothing really seems like it can fill the void. Some things look possible(although I'd rather go for somthing that might not be) but nothing to do right now!! I'm impatient, I need somthing right now. I wonder if anyone's ever gone to rehab for something like this???

This led me to thinking of some of my favorite workouts over the past 4 years. Here's a few that bring a big smile to my face. Some weren't so much fun at the time, but now I remember them and realize they def. helped shape and mold who I am today. Here they are in no particular order.

#1 Signing up for my first IM. Like most of you know, this is a big deal and the first step down this path to IM'ing.

#2 Going for some epic rides with a friend from work. We'd both signed up for the coming year and wanted to get some good rides in before winter. He had some injury problems so the following year I ended up doing the training and eventually IM CDA on my own.

#3 Running with Curtis at the res. On one particular time I got sick about half way through our run, shakey, feever, muscle soreness(think flu) so Curtis had to go get the car and pick me up near the Tech shop.

#4 Every last long run with Curtis, I have so many memories of this. We've been friends since I moved to calgary way back in 1999. All the smoothies/coffees after, all the miles, good times, will never forget...

#5 Two epic rides with Cam, especially the first one where we did about 120km around his 40k loop? It was sunny, hot, the absolute best riding weather you could imagine. I had so many questions about IM, he took me under his "wing" and answered all of em. Even hung out with me at the race and made sure I had everything in check. But really this memory is about that ride. I hope I can do that loop with him again, damn it was fun climbing on that road. He made me feel like a poka dot jersey wearing TDF mountain goat. At one point I remember clear as day we were climbing side by side(no traffic) with the sweat pouring off our faces, heart pounding, porn star breathing, heat radiating off the pavement and he looks over and says somthing like, "You better be hurting as much as I am". I was.... but I tried to hide it hee hee. The run after was great too, hard.... but awesome.

There's just so many memories I don't know which to post..

#6 Racing IMC cda, the first one. I was finally accomplishing this. It was huge for me!!! I'd dreamt about doing this since I was a young teen watching wide world of sports and watching the athletes kill themselves trying to finish the Hawaii Ironman and then IMC as well. I remember at one point on the bike choking up. Thinking about all of this, and realizing I would get to the finish.

#7 Greg agreeing to coach me. I was sooooo excited at the prospect. He seemed like a really down to earth guy who was genuinely interesting in helping me be my best!! Guess what, I was right and he's become not just a coach, mentor, training partner, but also one of my best friends.

#8 Epic training camps. I soooooooo love to push. I've attended 3 May long camps, they were always hard, really hard. But so many good memories from them. I think I enjoyed them nearly as much as IM. A chance to go out to an amazing place and train train train. With friends who had the same hopes and dreams that you did. I can't do the camps justice with my words...

#9 The IM races themselves, there are many memories from them as well. Each one is special, each one is different. If I had to pick one thing from each race that clearly defined it(if this is possible at all) I'd say; #1 CDA was all about getting through the swim(it was brutally rough water conditions in 07) I knew if I could make it to land, I would finish #2 IM 08 I blew up and big time on the run, ended up walking a lot. I knew I didn't have enough calories in me, the watermelon really appealed to me so I gobbled up as much as I could. This and thoughts of the Curtis/Cam dual catching me got me back into the race to finish strongly in a respectable time. #3 IM 09 Canada again, this time stronger on the bike which helped my run. This race I really thought I would/could run the whole marathon. No walking the whole way through the OK falls(the hilly section). This was a huge breakthrough and I was nearly back into Penticton when my calves/groin started cramping and forced me to take walk breaks. Still finished pretty good and another PB #4 IM CDA I really raced for the first time(at least in my head it felt like more of a race) terrible swim which made me want to quit. But I fooled myself into thinking that I still had a chance at a sub10 and or kona slot. So I went for it on the bike. Rode a little harder than I might do normally. I still ran well and only walked aid stations in the last 10 miles. A PB barely

#10 Flat tires, sorry Curtis this is a memory. It's really about you, but about me too. It was frustrating for both of us how many times we sat on the edge of the road in 08 waiting for you to change your flat. I rememeber one particular ride we were between Calgary and Strathmore and you flatted while I was ahead and just out of ear shot range. We both had cells that day, I remember looking back and wondering what was up as I couldn't even see you anymore. I then felt my cell phone buzzing. I couldn't safely get it on time but got the message(after I'd stopped) that you were fixing another flat. I had to ride like 10k back for you. Then when we managed to get going again, it was early in our ride so we stopped at Canadian Tire in Strathmore to see if we could pick up more C02 since I think you'd left most of yours at home??

#11 Epic weather. One particular long ride Curtis and I did this last year. We went out in 6-8 degrees and did 180k. At one point at a gas station(again in Strathmore) we saw snow flakes and we both looked at each other and asked something like, "Are we really this crazy???" We both knew the answer with out having to say it.

#12 Epic training weekend. We eventually had some summer days this year. One particular weekend Chuckie had me do 200k plus ride one day, followed by a hard ~140km the next day and immediately after a hard run. I had friends along for parts of those rides. That weekend really stretched me and made the next one seem easy(May long weekend).

#13 Getting Chuckie as a coach!! What an honor to be coached by one of my heros. He made me work hard this year. I still feel like I didn't really get a chance to show my fitness, but that's the way it goes and he certainly understands this. IM doesn't care who you are, what you've done, or how badly you want it. You still need to get the job done on the day. So anyways I hope I get to work with this awesome coach again.

#14 Climbing Anarchist Sorry Greg I gotta mention this. We spent a year talking about this climb. It's both our favorites and def. has to be mentioned as a memory. The whole camp at least I was looking forward to nailing this. At first was a bit worried as I was sick the first two days of the camp. Then everything seemed to come together for the climb. One of my favorite things to do on the bike is to climb, when things are going right I always imagine I'm a tour climber. I know it sounds silly, but it really makes me feel good when things are flowing and I'm pushing hard up a hill. Fighting gravity to make it to the top. This was one of those times. It also helps that I was riding away from my training partners. hee hee ;) (sorry I know this is cocky, but it's the way I feel?? and this post is all about me)

Jeez these posts are gettting longer, some of you must have quit reading by now...

#15 Epic hammer fests on tues/thurs rides. Some of these ended up to be solo for one reason or another. I think there were only 1-2 this year, more other years. But they were def. highlights. Climbing the cochrane hill, or hammering up the last Stony trail hill on our springbank loop. It always amazed me how on the bike you can attack so hard, ride till your legs literally give out. Then relax for 1 minute(still riding hard), recover than attack again, rinse and repeat. I just love the pissing contests we have. There was none of the "we're doing a workout, not racing each other, I'm sticking to my pace, doing my own thing" stuff it was clear, drop the others period!!

#16 The IM trips. It was exciting driving down to CDA or west over to Penticton to take in all the IM festivities. Oh it had it's share of stress too. But these memories are about the good and the bad so this one def. had both. Lots of people, lots to do, rushing around Penticton then forgetting to eat the day before the race!!!

#17 My mom and wife coming to watch me race. I absolutely loved this and I"m sure you all get it, I don't have to explain. It was difficult finishing my first one with out Lisa at the finish.

#18 The weather def. goes down as a bad memory. Especially this year!! Chuckie was my coach and he was living in either Solvang, or Boulder. Either way he really didn't understand some of the weather issues. Actually now that I think of it, it was probably more that he didn't care, his sole purpose was to get me ready to race and weather be damned I needed to get those rides in. Anyways this memory is about watching the weather and wondering if the weekend hard ride would have to be done on a trainer. I could handle some of the trainer rides, but the thing that ticked me off was when I thought I'd be riding outside, then the last minute the weather looked bad and I had to change my plans last minute. Ohhhhh I hated having to put my bike back onto the trainer and try to prepare myself mentally(all over again) for a indoor ride. Also especially where the workout was designed to be done on the roads!!! ha ha good times... this leads me into #19

#19 SWEAT!!! The trainer into sweat fests. It was already super cold in the basement for some rides, but I always poured a ton of sweat. I hated it, not so much about how gross and slimy it made me feel, or the clean up on the floor. But and this sounds weird but I couldn't stand the times I could feel it literally coming out of my pours. It just drove me crazy as I'd just wipe my back and I could feel it running down my back the moment I put my towel onto the bench or bars of my bike.

#20 The swim this year. Sorry today I'm ending on the worst one of all. This year during the swim I got fed up with it all and actually wanted to quit. I had choked on some water and had some flem in the back of my throat(now thinking back I think it was the ensure I had drank on the way to the race) and was afraid of drinking or inhaling more water. The congestion in the swim made this even worse and I just plain mentally got out of the race. I hated swimming with all my heart at that point and asked to be removed. Well you know the rest.

I have many more, but now Lisa and I have some errands to do. Gotta go.

Marathon and beyond!

I'm still not sure about signing up for the Ultra. I ran 30 miles monday(last monday, 8 days ago) and it was hard, very hard. One, I did it on my own, two I had to refill the bottle at the 25 mile point and head out again into the dark for the last 5 miles, and three it's just a long friggen way and the longest I've ever run. For that it was a neat feeling to look at the Garmin and see the 26.2 mile point come and go. I ran the whole way, no walking only two brief stops. I actually rushed through the stops to refill my infinit and gobble up some gel blocks. 30 miles in 4:16, I ran pretty well 8:30s the whole way right where I wanted to be. I ran as much as I could on dirt, grass, and gravel. Some of my 12.5 mile loop is a red gravel trail, maybe 1/3 of it??

Anyways since then my achilles has been bugging me here an there, just a tad though. Sooooooo it was gone sunday, showed up a bit after sunday's run, gone today, so I'll run today and see. My plan is to run long tomorrow, or friday, cross my fingers hopefully do 35 miles or more. That'd be my last chance to run long since this weekend I'm busy and that is 3 weeks till the race so I don't want to push the recovery period. But!!! If I feel anything in the long run or even before then I'll pull the plug, I'm not risking an injury, the last half of this year is really all about experimenting with some longer runs which I have done. I don't Neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to do that ultra. I'd rather not and run comfortably all winter. I'll let you know how it goes, I should know for sure by monday if I plan to run the race.

Some Random pics

Crab hunting anyone? (a pic from Lisa's camera, I'd already gone home)

One hot couple(at Johnston Canyon)
What did you just call me?
Post IM training

On the way back from Johnston Canyon there were all these cars parked on the side as well as on the road. All that interest only means one thing in Banff..... wild animals. I usually make fun of all the tourists with their cameras, this time I joined them and happened to get a pretty good shot of two big elk disagreeing about somthing. They put on quite a good show right in front of us all. Check it out.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq--UO74QGU

For all of you IMC 2010 athletes here's some inspiration!

This is one of my favorite, most inspirational write ups on IM, and it's all about Ironman Canada!! It's long but don't worry, if it doesn't bring a tear to your eye and send shivers down your spine(inspiration, not fear shivers) ..... well I don't know what will. Nuff said, enjoy the read. It still puts a lump in my throat after having done two IMCs. Cheers, and GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=940442;search_string=inspiration%20imc;guest=115510944&t=search_engine#940442

Effing poop fairy!!

Yesterday Curtis and I went out for a longish run, longish as in longer than a regular weekday run, but not long anymore in terms of the actual weekend long run. We started from my house and cruised south towards fish creek. I tried to poop before leaving but couldn't really manage much, I had a bad feeling about that as we left. Sure enough like 2-3 miles into the run she was right in my face harrassing me to the point where I had to stop and walk a few times. It was NOT pretty!!! I contemplated knocking on someone's door. We also ran by someone waiting for their dog to finish it's business and I soooo wanted to go "Look over there!!!" and add some to the dog's pile for them to pick up. Can you imagine the look on the owners face when he looks down and sees the amount of crap down by his feet, and the thoughts just went from there. Curtis and I would have howled talking about that, I think he did, but I kept it down as I probably would have had an accident. We finally made the turn and headed back, eventually we came upon a bathroom that was open and I relieved myself. WOW, that felt good!! The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. The flies were extremely annoying though. I had to tilt my head down at times pulling the hat down over my eyes to avoid getting them in my eyes. I ate some of them though, yummmmm. 11.5 miles I believe done in 1:3X:XX with some stops along the way to pinch. We'll see what I do this weekend.

Not sure yet if I'll up the long run, or do another med length run and wait for the next weekend to run another killer long run. I def. like the versatility of doing a ultra, and I'm right on schedule or maybe even a bit ahead so if I need to take a weekend off of the long run build, I can. It would however mean I'd have to build up a lil faster.

Runnin Long

Hey there,

Sorry I haven't blogged for awhile. There's less to talk about now that I'm down to a single sport. I run.... that's pretty much. Somthing new though is that I'm possibly doing a Ultra marathon. I was talking with Mark Nalphin a while ago, I think I asked about possibly doing a 50k this fall. I knew he'd be interested since I know he's done the frozen ass 50 and has talked about doing the Canadian Death race next year. Well he immediately suggested doing a 50 miler!!! At first I was like nooooooooo way that's too far!! But I thought about it, checked out the course and time. It all is actually good timing, plus it's a bit of a bigger challenge than JUST a 50k, hee hee. I've never been satisfied with big challenges, almost more interested in the Mammoth goals. When I first signed up for my first marathon I had just completed a 4.5 mile run as part of a marathon relay. I think I completed a few smaller races, a 5k, maybe a 10k, but I didn't do a half marathon till I'd completed several full marathons.

So anyways the course looks pretty flat, it's mostly a long a country gravel road. I know 50 miles is a long way to build up to in a relatively short time period. So I'm gonna give it a shot as long as my body stays healthy. I've done 14,20, and 24 miles as my long runs so far. For me to have a good shot of running the whole way(yes my tentative goal is to run all of it, other than filling up bottles) I think I'll need to build up to 35 miles in training. Yikes even that scares the crap out of me!! The 24 miles last weekend was breaking new ground for me already as I'd never gone that far in training. I used to do 22-23 miles as my longest long runs while training for the marathon. This is part of the reason I don't even know if Ultras is my thing, this is a real experiment. "An experiment of ONE" - John Collins. I've never run further than 26.2 miles so how would I know?

The ultra is a unique challenge. The biggest challenge I have is that I don't yet have the patience. You totally have to find another gear. But unlike any other foot race the gear that you need is a slow slow gear. Not even so much for a 50k, or even a 50 mile, but DEFINATELY for a 100 mile run. Gotta keep the effort level even through out. It's really hard because the effort is so low that your mind starts to wonder, I get bored easy. Even the hills, where normally I'd try to power up keeping the pace nearly level. Not so with Ultras, I'll slow down, shorten the stride, the goal in my mind at least is to save what ever energy I have what ever way I can. So that means slowing down to a crawl while running up hills. Keeping awayyyyyy from any increases of efforts. The longer I can keep running the better.

Another thing that kinda worries me. Most Ultra runners, at least the beginner types walk at some point in the long ones. Especially since most of the Ultra courses are brutal. I'm only trying to run this one since it's a very flat course on gravel road. Most ultras even a 50k, I think I'd walk up the very steep hills just to avoid any kind of extra fatigue. K, getting back to the concern. I tend to run till I drop. I can hold a pretty good pace till I need to stop and walk, and then it's such a slow walk it's like I'm not moving at all. So I'm a bit afraid that if I do end up having to walk at all that the pace will slow to almost a stop.

Oh well I have a ways to go and I don't even know if I'm gonna do the race. I promised myself I would pull the plug the moment I feel any kind of injury. I have lots of time for ultras or any other challenges no need to rush it. Part of me is relieved though, it feels sooooo good to have another big goal on the horizon. I think I'm addicted to feeling overwhelmed?!?!? Maybe that's why I prefer going long vs going fast. I'd prefer to enter a event not knowing for sure if I can complete it. Sure I tried for a few years for time goals in the marathon and IM, but those finishes still are never guarrenteed. No matter how fast you are, I think everyone has multiple times during the race where they don't even know if they can finish. So that's I think what makes me tick.

I'm back in the saddle again

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack as Mr. Tyler says. The trip was awesome, I have some pics up located here http://picasaweb.google.ca/Darryl.Penner few highlights and lowlights were.

Highlights:

-Meeting the inlaws. They are grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat, Lisa's dad and I spent a lot of time hangin out joking around, etc.
-Time at the beaches, to get to the one you see in the pics you have to go on a windy, twisty, narrow road to get to. It was nesttled right in the mountains with thick rain forest all around. Really beautiful
-Swimming with Dad(in law) he loves the water almost as much as I do. I think I even taught him a few things on open water swimming
-meeting the uncles,aunts, cousins
-The trinidad people are super nice, despite not being able to understand them at times(yes even though they're talking English)
-The hot humid weather, I loved it!!!
-I didn't get burnt at all, weird cause it didn't rain all the time, some each day, but there was still plenty of sun.
-Going bareback at the track(it was just too himid to run with a shirt, hello 100% humidity) and not being made fun of too much for being so damn white
-Talking with a triathlete from Trinidad(he saw my IM shorts)
-The food!!! (lots of curreys, Roti, chicken, goat, duck)

Lowlights:

-loosing my wedding ring :( (although it's not my fault, I gave it to Lisa for safe keeping while we swam) I swam every where around there on the sandy bottom looking for it with my goggles
-understanding what people were talking about. They speak english, but with such a thick accent and slang(or w/e you'd call it) that at times I couldn't even get the jist of the conversation. I got better towards the end of the second week and was starting to get some sayings. A popular one is YEAH BOY!!! (you would say this as a greeting to pretty well anyone, no disrespect meant at all)
-huge blisters on my feet from the longer runs I did have on the track(Dad and I went to the track a few times to run/walk) because it was soooo humid my shoes got soaked.
-delayed flights, all 6 of them!!!

That's pretty much it, feel free to ask questions if you like. I might actually answer them. Other than that I'm back and running, not so much swimming or biking. I might give ultra marathoning a go this fall and next year. We'll see how my body likes the extra miles. Ran 20.5 miles yesterday and it wasn't too bad. I have a slight hip thing that comes and goes, doesn't bother me while running though later after sitting for awhile and I get up. Cheers,

DP

Do I measure up???

No not in an Ironman, not even my triathloning speed or anything to do with fitness. I've been married to a wonderful Trinidadian(is that a word?) for nearly 2 years and now for the first time ever I get to meet the inlaws. Yes this Canadian boy, and now Canadian girl are headed wayyyy down south to meet the family!! It's taken us wayyy too long to finally get the trip scheduled. It's not cheap, that's for sure, but I'm excited to go. I'll obviously get to meet Lisa's mom and dad, family, friends, but more than that I'll get to see where she grew up!! What kinda school she went to, and what it was like living in a completely dif. culture. Hopefully I'll like the food!!!(I'm a picky eater). Anyways we're off early tomorrow, I got nothing else to say. I borrowed a nice camera from work so I can hopefully capture some of it on film(digi film that is) and show you all. Cheers,

DP

Inspirational Wall Paper

MADE YOU LOOK!!!!

IM Coeur d'Alene RR

Tom Evans(he's won this race before)

I think going out for the second lap

See the spectator on the right side informing me that I need to ride further LOL

Beautiful day for a run eh?

Nap time!

Elmo!!!

Curtis! (my buddy and training partner)

Cruisin along the lake running strong at this point(my fav. pic)

Curtis's family workin the aid station(thanks so much guys)

Finish!!

My #1 fan(very nice medal)

That'll do Pig!!

My mom and I in Seattle

In Seattle near Pike Place Market(two days after the race)

Hey there,

Well it's been almost 2 weeks since IM. I'm recovered and running already, actually went for a bike ride yesterday too!! I've had plenty of time to reflect. It's nice to not have to get the workouts done, but it also feels very empty. See this is the first time I haven't had another IM on the horizon in nearly 4 years. So it feels different for sure. That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it either. I'm getting to do things I don't normally do, or at least more of it, and I want to do other things as well. I'm keepin up with the running. Anyways here's another RR and some pictures.

Swim:

I don't know if I've ever been this nervous before a start. I felt a lot of pressure, mostly from myself, but I think I also felt some from all the friends/family(which is kinda self induced as well. lol) I met Julie near the start and hung out with her a bit. I didn't get to see Curtis at all before the start. This year I made sure to get onto the beach a little earlier. I remember in 07 they didn't allow people into the water. I wanted to make sure to get used to the chilly water so I got there early. The water wasn't too bad though, it was actually comfy after a few minutes swimming. I lined up on the bouy line, this may have been a mistake. The last years I've done this at IMC because I could actually swim on the inside of the bouys(most people don't know this) but this year I didn't get far enough on the inside so there were too many people for me to get out by myself. Sorry hard to explain. So I waited for the cannon. It finally went after the national anthem. FINALLY, I was sooo nervous, almost in tears, now I can finally swim. "swim" as there were sooo many people, it was also a bit choppy out there. As we swam out the waves got bigger, finally maybe 200-300m out I could finally swim with out getting clobbered. As we got to the first corner there was a major traffic jam. Literally NO ONE could move, it was rediculous. People were getting angry/aggravated. We basically doggy paddled slowly around the corner as people from behind kept running into us as we tried to start swimming. I heard someone say "Calm down people we're all in this together", it was good advice and I think it actually helped lighten the mood. Somewhere around the second corner I suddenly got some water in my lungs and I had to stop and violently cough it out. I wasn't having fun at all!! I swallowed more and more water and I was becoming fatigued which made everything worse. Came out of the water in 33.5 minutes. Not too bad, but I had a bad feeling about the second lap. Mentally I was out of it and just wanted to quit. Half way out I suddenly decided I was done. So I swam out to a kayak and hung on. After a few minutes I tried to swim on and eventually came back to the same kayak. I think I mentioned at that point that I was done. I guess I really didn't look that bad(no risk of drowning) and still quite far up the field. I didn't see anyone else hanging onto boats at all. I felt like a fool, but I just couldn't go on, I just couldn't!! I was soo afraid of taking in more water, I was also afraid of the corners. Also soooo disappointed that I was already out of "the race". So the kayaker didn't really take me seriously. He was very supportive though, said I could hang on as long as I wanted and would even paddle with me if I wanted. Well eventually I swam further to the next kayak and held on longer. Eventually past the corners and made it back to shore in 1:15. I think I was a bit surprised, I thought it was worse. And to kinda explain, it wasn't the time so much that disappointed me. It was the fact that I didn't swim to my best ability, I gave up the race. That's what made me mad, I could have swam twice a week and swam 1:15, this was NOT my best, NOT even close. My goal was to be close to an hour, and if I'd done my best and still not done it, that would have been fine with me.

T1:

So I got out onto the beach, I was soo thankful. At times in the swim I actually wondered if I'd drown, yes I drank that much water. Also angry that WTC allows so many people into a narrow start like that. Part of me still wanted to drop out, but I didn't. The volunteers don't really let you, lol they rush you through everything starting with the strippers that take the suit off you and urge you through the transition. The tent is absolutely crazy, I just stood and changed into my cycling gear. Not too speedy, but not slow either. I got to say hi to Lisa and my mom as I ran out to the bikes. They were having a blast at the transition aid station. My mom actually got onto the video they showed at the Monday brunch.

Bike:

I felt awesome on the bike, not tired at all from the swim. I guess all that stopping helped as well as the crazy amount of swimming Chuckie made me do. Finally some benefit to that as my swim time certainly didn't show it. So what can I do, try to forget the swim, try to forget kona, I need to try and refocus. How do you have a good bike/run when you are wayyyyy too far behind to have a great finish??? Well right or wrong I kinda convinced myself I wasn't out of it yet. I made a conscence decision to go for it on the bike. I got nothing to loose, I've always run well off the bike(I've never run over 4 hours) and now I knew I needed a monster bike to get back into it. So I pushed almost from the start. Maybe a little hard?? But not too hard, my bike fitness was great!! There were lots of people to pass, a few passed me as well, but not many. I had a disc/404 combo and it was super fast. At times on the flats/downhills I could feel the disc slice through the wind and create the sail effect. I could also hear the wup wup wup echo in my helmet. lol Sooo cool, finally I'm comfortable cruising up and down the hills. I went through 3 bottles of infinit before the special needs. So I had to dip into the race aid station gaterade. A few gels as well since the gaterade was just the regular stuff and would not give me enough electrolytes/calories. I take on more calories then most people, here's the tally 6 bottles(260 cal) of infinit, maybe 3-4(100-150cal?) gaterade, 5-6(50-100cal?) gels, crazy eh??? That's just the bike. Finally got to meet Sonja, it was maybe 60k into the ride? Sonja if you're reading this, I got to see the message on the one hill grrrrrr grrrrr grrrr Go Sonja! Or somthing like that, ha ha I got a chuckle out of that!! Then later on just after special needs I passed Trevor, he looked good and we exchanged encouragement. It was warm, but not too hot, perfect really 27-28 degrees. I felt great through out the ride, didn't really have a weak spot like other IM rides. I think I'm finally getting the endurance and able to push my limits for the entire ride. Later on the passes were less frequent and it helped to know I was up with the top age group women. Made me feel better. I rode really well overall for that course(slower course than IMC) but still not fast enough to make up for the bad swim time. I came into transition, had to swing my leg over the bar twice as I misjudged the actual finish of the bike. It was further in then in 07. I saw Lisa, my mom, Greg as well. It helps so much as it gets boring out there and seeing family/friends really gives you a mental boost. Sorry I'm babbling. Onto the transition 5:23 bike time.

T2/Run:

The legs felt pretty good. I think out of my 4 IMs this is the best they've ever felt. I couldn't pee at all on the bike, so by now I had to go really bad. So after the quick change I hit up the john. Lisa and my mom were just out of transition. First few miles 7:30 pace, right where I wanted to be. It felt comfy, not too fast. I didn't take any of my own nutrition for the run. I think later I took a red bull that's it. Gaterade/water from aid stations and an occasional gel for the first 16-18 miles. Then for the last 10 or so I got into the coke. It helps settle the stomach, a change in taste, plus extra simple sugar mmmmm yummy. On the bike the bottles of infinit out of the special needs were actually warm. Yikes that was gross, I literally had to force it down. It was soo warm that it actually cooled off on my bike and in the wind. K back to the run. I ran 7:30s almost on the nose for the first 10-13 miles. I started to slow a bit after that. First walk break was at around 18 miles. I think I could have kept running if I was still in the game, but I just didn't have the desire to really hurt. I started walking through each aid station, then run to the next. It's a great way to break up the run into pieces when you're hurting. Looking at the watch I thought I could go under 10:20, but as I came into the finish I realized I couldn't quite do it. Oh well, still a 3 minute PB, not too bad, good come back and a 3:34 marathon. Clare was there at the finish as my catcher, it was great to see her. I wonder if she's signing up for next year.

Reflection:

This year I felt better finishing, I don't think I hurt myself as bad as last year. Maybe I would have run faster if I knew I was closer to 10 hours??? Who knows!! No med tent visit, and no throwing up, so that was nice. I'm still disappointed, no sub 10 no kona, but I overcame adversity, it def. ended well. Every race is so different, it never goes according to plan. Your success depends on your ability to deal with adversity. When one thing goes wrong you have to regroup, reassess. Find another reason to keep going. It's such a long day that you can easily(well not so easily as my PB goes down) make up for lost time even when somthing goes wrong.