Runningman

TDF flash mob

2012-02-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Good for a friday morning laugh.

http://www.nimportequi.com/en/video_le_tour_de_n_importequi.html

Random pics

2012-02-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

Critiquing my own fit, must get more aero this year.

After, hmmmm can I drop another spacer or two??

Triathlete in disguise

This is my "Man Cave"

I baked woopie pies!!

Coldest run day(outdoor) of the year

2012-01-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Went for a run at lunch. I couldn't do the tready thing today as I wanted to get a head start on the training(friday is usually date night, or some form of it) so I def. had to run outside. It was ok and sometimes it's nice to simply HTFU and run outside no matter what Mother Nature throws at you, eh friends? There's something satisfying about heading out and running wind chill be damned! So I went anyways, but it did have it's consequences. I froze my fingers while running into the wind, also froze my nosey, as well as my *cough *cough male parts. Wowzers I forgot how much that hurts to thaw out in the shower. That brings back cold Manitoba winter running memories. Anyways I got the run done, outside!! In only minus 20, but with the windchill it was -30. Lots colder than my coldest one this year. Did a bike spin when I got home too(inside for that). I'm so far so good with your challenge Cam, although I one upped you, sorry but I've got a hour minimum every day this month. My legs are feeling it a bit today, fatigue is creeping up on me. Good thing tomorrow is just a long spin, maybe a short run. k, back to our movie, have a great weekend all,

DP

I survived...

2012-01-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

More than once today. Once at work when the announcement came through that 30 people would be layed off as our company was merging with the owning company. We waited at our desks for 2-3 hours while we waited for that dreaded tap on the shoulder. It didn't come for me so I survived. We were all sent home early today.

I decided to do another ftp test today as my legs were feeling pretty spry after 2 days away from the bike. This time I did a 20min test with a 5min blowout int. before. It's been 12 days since my last test, I didn't really expect much of a change, but I wanted to confirm the numbers. Plus it's a hard/beneficial ride in itself!! So I warmed up with 30 minutes spinning, then did the 5min at my prescribed goal wattage. I didn't care too much about those numbers as it's more of a hard "warmup". Then 5 minutes easy and into the 20 minutes all out. This time I had a fan to help up and I discarded the shirt. Lately I've read about how much heat indoors on the trainer can skewer results even though you don't necessarily "feel" hot. Some people use big industrial sized fans to cool themselves. All I got is a small one that I can't turn the auto swivel off so I don't even get it directly all the time. Oh well I do what I can, had my ipod hanging from the joists and I rode it all out. Man I wanted to quit shortly after 10minutes, it got so hard to concentrate. But I made it and when I looked at the results on the comp, I was 3 watts over last times 2x8min test. See it was accurate!!

Went to the gym with Lisa later for a run on the tready. Brrrrr still sooooo cold in calgary. Ran easy for 35 minutes, then cranked it up and ran hard for another 10min. So happy with today's workouts...just another day at the office. I remember what Chuckie would tell me, somthing like, "Don't let any ONE workout's results affect you GOOD or BAD". In other words, don't get depressed about a single workout and on the flip side don't let a really good workout excite you too much. Out,

DP

Almost done the Christmas celebrations

2012-01-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

I had two this weekend and although I didn't over eat at either of them. It sure did havoc on my stomach. Friday's workout was good, did 5x5min on the bike @ 115% of ftp. The ride was really tough, this is obvious as it's impossible to get the right wattage without a "warmup" interval. So my first was a bit low, but after that I was able to nail them all with 5 minutes rest between. Then saturday I did a longer spin and a short run. I was going to run harder but my stomach was beginning to give me problems. Then sunday was going to turn part of my long run into a tempo, but again stomach. grrrrrr, oh well I got the time in. This week will be better, colder too eh? Guess that means more treadmill running. Today I'm gonna try a swim group for somthing different. I find I have trouble pushing myself with out others in my lane. So even though I hear this grp does other strokes, I will give it a go. From the looks of things(from me watching them before my solo swims) it looks like they do lots of free too, and I am able to do all the strokes cept fly so I should get by. I can do one armed fly, I'm ok with that. Keep warm blogger buddies,

DP

PS: About almost being done the celebrations, this next weekend is the last one, but it's at a really fancy tasty Italian restaurant so I'm sooooo looking forward to it. Especially when someone else picks up the cheque eh? lol

Good weekend of training

2012-01-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

Not huge hours or anything, but definately quality workouts saturday and sunday. I did intervals on the tready saturday night, 6x1km with 90 secs rest. They felt really good and I upped the last one by .1 mph and felt I could have really done all of them at that pace. Oh well I really payed the price sunday from the late night run. A couple buddies and I managed to get outside for a 2.5 hour ride. It was around 10 degrees and by the time we went 1pm the wind had died down enough. I didn't feel I had the power on the bike, however with the first ride outdoors in awhile it's tough to know exactly how I should feel. No matter what you do inside, it's really tough to simulate being outside in the great outdoors.

Winter challenges

2012-01-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I picked up two new challenges for this January/Winter. The one that Cam served up is a 30min per day challenge for January(at least I think it's just for one month). At first it sounded like the boys would be doing another running challenge, but I'm glad Cam changed it. This suits me better.

I also joined one with a couple buddies from work. We all have power meters on our bikes so we figured a winter FTP bet/challenge would be good. The challenge is on who improves the most over the course of the winter. So we decided to do the initial test together at someone's house. There's a few different tests you can do to measure one's FTP and we decided on a shorter 2x8min test. One of the guys couldn't make it so it ended up only being Reinier and myself. It was a short test, but let me tell you it HURT a lot. It may have even been tougher in a way because the two intervals were short. Anyways it went really well, I think I did ok. From the test you take your best 8min and take the average Watts, multiply that by 90% and you got the FTP. FTP is the average wattage you can hold for an hour, or 40km itt. You might think from this short test that it might not be accurate, after all why wouldn't we just do the full hour tt. Well the full hour is hard to do inside as concentration is hard to keep, therefore it might not be as accurate if that makes any sense. It's important to get your BEST effort no matter which test you do.

So the test was done, it was great to have Reinier there too as it really helped with the motivation. My numbers were good, about what I expected and we are super close, within 2 watts actually. I'm not sure if we're actually taking our FTP number or adding weight and using the Watts/kg ratio which adds weight loss over the winter. I'll be at a huge disadvantage if we do as I'm at my lightest I've ever been outside of highschool, I'm not sure how much more weight I can loose. I might even gain some. Anyways good jog Reinier, we have our benchmarks, I'm sure you will do further testing this winter and we will do some trash talking, all in good fun which will keep the motivation and keep us training hard. Let the cycling (and running and swimming) begin!!

DP

amble with the angus RR

2011-12-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Training has been going pretty well. I haven't been putting in huge hours, but very consistent week in week out. This week and the next may be a bit different. I looked at the past two weeks and it seems like I'm getting into a cycle of more bike, vs more run. One week I'll get in 5 runs and 3-4 bikes, then the next week 5-6 bikes and 3-4 runs. Swimming has been a solid twice a week, which I know I shouldn't expect much, but I'm actually improving!!! I'm getting close to where I was in the pool. I'm able to start pushing some workouts, I did a toughy yesterday with a main set of 10x200 @ ~ 1:40/100 pace. My weight is down a bit more too!! Wow that makes a difference, both for my run speed as well as my layering lol I'm right on my all time low weight and wayyy lighter than I usually am this time of year.

Last week friday I did the amble with the angus 5k! I feel I didn't do the half mary justice so with some prodding from a friend or two I entered this fun run. It would give me some indication as to where exactly my run speed was at as well as give me another good tempo. My friend from work Reinier picked me up in the morning, yes friday morning before work. Weird eh? That's a first for me, running a race before work. It was still dark as we did our warmup around prince's island park(that's where the race started). Even as we lined up to start and ran off it was still dark. It was really cool that all the "fast" runners stayed home for this so I could enjoy some time in the spotlight. I ran out with the lead group, one which included Mike(a friend of Reiniers and a fellow triathlete). But the grp soon put maybe 20 yards on me. I counted maybe 5-6 just ahead of me, not close enough to latch onto.

Arg I hate being in "no man's land" it's so important in a fast race to be able to run with a grp, mentally it's just so much easier right? After they got the gap and we headed through a few turns, some snowy parts and the first mile marker(6:10 right where I wanted to be) I realized they weren't gaining anymore. I could even see Mike(he'd beat me easily in the half mary I did from my last post) so I kept them on target. We were headed west along the bow, then up a short hill onto 14th st. This is where I took a good chunk out of their lead and got into the grp just as we headed onto the bridge across the bow. It seemed like some of them faded a bit so I moved to the front and continued on. There were also some icey patches especially once we'd crossed and ran down the bank, back onto the bow pathway headed back east. There was 5-6 of them when I joined, but here's where it started to break apart and I was able to move to the front. One of them had also moved further ahead, he was too far up to catch.

Once we hit 10th street we crossed over on the road, then looped around and ran back across to the north side again on the footpath. Weird, lots of corners and with some icey patches. We really had to slow down, especially when in a grp. This is where I lost site of our leader?? I wondered if he dropped out or took a wrong turn? Anyways we continued on, I guess I was leading at that point, but not too long as some young teen came by me. I was content just to run on his shoulder. I was hurting, but I'd pretty much kept a even pace through out the race. Then we crossed the two bridges by Oclare, the guy I was running behind almost made a wrong turn, I corrected him. We heard as we crossed that we had finished 2nd and 3rd. So I guess buddy that cut the course did cross the finish? Mike came across just after us in 4th and confirmed that the leader had cut off at some point. Oh well, it was just a fun run, my time was 20:30 as the course was long, 5k time was 19:07 according to my calculations. The goal was to break 19 and with some snow, turns, and ice I'm really happy with that. What's next??? More hard running, I'd really like to PB at the police half in spring, we'll see that's a tough course. Out of my running pb's that seems like the first one to tackle. Long RR eh?

Oh and of course Merry Christmas to all you blogger folks and have a happy New Years. Stay safe and don't drink an drive. Cheers,

DP

I look like I want to hurt someone (last chance half)

2011-11-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed yesterday's swim

2011-11-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

Hey,

I had a pretty good swim finally, I might actually admit that I enjoyed it again!! I've been steadily swimming twice a week for maybe a month. I know it's not a lot, but that's all I can do for now. Late winter, maybe spring I'll add the third swim, and more later. Anyways yesterday I finally started to feel some swim fitness. I was kinda surprised as with the 2 swims it's really hard to improve. Anyways yesterday I did a warmup of 500m and then did 10x100 on 2 minutes. At first I thought I should go on 2:10 but I thought I'd give 2 a go, I can always adjust after a few. I was happily surprised that I was getting adequate rest, hitting the wall on 1:40 so 20 secs was perfect. I also did every other with pull, which helped a bit. I had someone in my lane who was just a touch slower than me. So every time I catch him I rest on his toes till the wall, and then giver. The 10 went by fairly easily, did some more pull and that came to 2k in 45 min. Pretty good for November. Cheers,

DP

Training indoors

2011-11-19T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hey blog,

My wife and I have been training at the local gym! I'm actually enjoying running on the treadmill. I don't know why, maybe I'm a freak, but it's fun to run hard and make that tready motor hummmmm. The hum turns into a whirrrr at about 10 mph ;). I'm also riding in the basement about 3 times a week so far. No more than 2 hours yet at a time. I think I'll wait till later and watch hockey again while I ride. This seems to be good to pass the time, and I'm really enjoying cheering for my Winterpeg Jets!! Go Jets GO!!! I'm not swimming more than 2 times a week yet. This year I think I'll hold off on the 3x and maybe even 4x till later so I don't start to hate it that much. Although it's really hard to improve on 2x a week. I've found I just improve a bit and then just stay at that level till I add a swim, improve a bit, then add another swim, etc. Oh well the training is going well over all, and my weight has stayed off. Other years I've tended to gain a bunch in winter and have to train it off when spring/summer hits. Not this year, I'm keeping it off, which is really nice for the running. Not so nice for keeping warm though when the wife wants to keep the house cooler than I do. I wear sweaters constantly in the house, somtimes more than one over a tee-shirt. ha ha. That's it for now, make sure you all our cheering my buddy Cam on tomorrow in AZ. Check his blog for daily updates on his adventures. Out,

DP

Last Chance Half mary

2011-11-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I ran the Last chance half marathon today. I almost didn't show as I'm still not quite over a cold I got like 4 weeks ago? I'm really over the cold itself, I just have a bit of a sore throat/cough. I've had no problems training through it now, I just notice it when I'm breathing hard. The dry cold air makes me cough. So I woke up in the morning still not sure if I'd even go run. I didn't feel too bad, so I went.

Started out ok, but after about 5k I thought I was done. This is the spot where we cross back over the river and I was contemplating just jogging back along the Oclare side back to the start/finish. I felt really weak, no energy even though I know I hadn't started out too fast, must be the bug/cold thing. I slowed a bit, let all the runners around me go ahead thinking I'd run easier a bit and see how I feel. Well I started to feel a bit better and noticed myself picking up the pace again.

I continued on and actually felt ok in the middle(miles 5 - 10) and re-passed all those I had previously let go. Then towards the end I was still on pace to go under 90 minutes, but then into the last 3 miles, into a head wind and I just had nothing left. I was running all by myself and walked a couple times inside the second last mile. I thought for sure the sub 90 goal wasn't in the cards. But then I got to 20k and noticed I had 5 minutes to run the last km. No problem, so I sucked it up and finished ok. Felt kinda lousy for having to walk, it always sucks to have to succumb to that. But to run sub 90 on a bad day. I just know my running fitness is better than that. Next time... Here's the Garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/128584108 (yes the course was a touch short)

DP

PS: Good luck in AZ Cam, I just know you're going to rock it!

Victoria Marathon

2011-10-11T08:40:00.000-06:00

Success on the weekend for two runners I coach. Jason ran a personal best by 8-9 minutes despite some mechanical problems during the race. The goal was to run under 4 hours
and he was close 4:04. Jenna blew her PB to pieces and took 30 minutes off her PB and in doing so qualified for Boston with a time of 3:32! Congratz to both of you guys, I am
super proud!

My triumphant return to the pool

2011-09-13T22:42:00.001-06:00

Just got back from the pool. Wow, it has been like a year and a bit since I swam last and it showed big time, ha ha. Oh well, I had no pressure, my three goals today for the swim were to #1 remember my lock combination(check), #2 do some swimming(check), and #3 although not as important I wanted to swim 1k meters(check) although I nearly quit after 500m. Nope, no joke I nearly bailed. But after some 50s(after 500m all I could do is 50m without stopping) I went and got a pull bouy and finished it off with that. Ahhhh the pull bouy, like old friends, lol. Think I'll be swimming at city pools two evenings a week to start, if anyone cares to meet up let me know.

In other news my cycling and running are doing really well. Did 20k the other day in a record time and my heart rate stayed low in Z2 where it should. I was really pumped, too bad I don't have a race to show off my foot speed. Someone mentioned the last chance half, hmmmm I'll think about that one. The cycling is improving too, I'm riding with some roadies a few times a week and last weekend I did a couple longer rides as well. I ride with a power meter on my tt bike, wow that's a big eye opener. So much to learn, you never realize how much the power spikes up and down. It's really gonna teach me to ride with a smoother power stroke. These rides I do with two friends are interesting. It's quite different as they're always playing cat and mouse games, hammering up hills and doing really hard tempo sections that has me panting, legs screaming at me. It's good after all it's tits(time in the saddle) but I wonder how applicable to tt'ing it is. Or maybe it's something us triathletes need more of?

DP

Ironman Canada

2011-08-31T12:56:00.001-06:00

Hey all,

Congratz to all that did and completed Ironman Canada Julie, Dan, Lisa, Richelle, Dusty, Mike(from work), etc(I'm sorry if I missed anyone). No matter how many times you've done it, wheather it's your first or umpteenth, it still is never easy and if you got to the finish than you completed the number one objective of the day. Sorry I ~~couldn't~~ didn't come watch. I wanted to, but after our vacation I was broke, sick of driving, and still had not procurred a place to stay(that was cheap enough for me) hee hee so I didn't go. I will however make sure to go next year, I know, broken record I said that last year too. But this year I signed up, so I def will be on the course... As long as training goes ok. **cough cough (I have not swam in a long time).

EDITED: Here's a summary of my trip in Garmin recorded runs. Try to recognize where each run is...run!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365902 (guess the first one will be impossible, we were in the boonies, wayy of the main highway near Kelowna, but super high, check out the elevation graph on that.)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365871
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365835
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365787
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365766
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365708 (short but quick ;) )

Day off too

2011-08-08T21:31:00.000-06:00

I raced a itt this weekend. The results are here https://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=4039&cat=274

A friend from work had invited me to race. It was a lot of fun, really neat experience, and hard, really hard. These cyclists really know their pain, they're like masochists. It was interesting lining up for my turn, everyone leaving in one min intervals. I started out behind the two citizen women(I was the first cit. male). I caught the first lady right away, but man the second was soooo strong. It was really disheartening when I didn't see her up ahead for the first 10km and then when I did see her there I couldn't catch her till about 16km. That was very humbling. Oh well, after that I rode alone till the hill up to the turn around. There I started to see some cat5s on the return. Once we turned it was a tail wind, and some down hills. Yikes did we ever fly. Every time I looked at the computer it read 45-50km and that was just on the flats. I think I maxed out at like 74km p/h with no big downhills. Thinking back with as strong wind as we had, I think I probably lost some time on the return with all the times I was spun out and had no more gears. I was riding in my second highest gear on the flats. It was hard motivating myself to push, I kept reminding myself that I would not have to run after, push push push. Eventually I saw the finish and gave it a little extra to cross the line in 1:09. Later I saw this and was a tad disappointed, but I did all I could with what I had. I will get faster again next year. I own a power meter now and managed to get a average wattage of 261W so this will help a lot in training, having that bench mark. That is essentially my FTP and I can do all my workouts using that number.

Yesterday I met Curtis at the Res for our regular loop. My legs were heavy at first, but by the time we hit the big hill I was ready for some high revs. So I pushed it up the hill, heart rate up around my threshold. Then later I also picked it up for the last 4 miles. It was really encouraging seeing the low sixes for the last few miles, especially towards the end of a 11.3 mile run. I nearly choked on a bug as I was sucking wind so bad and one went right down. My last miles were 6:39, 6:44, 6:22, and the last 0.3 6:02 pace. I've written my running PBs off, but as I improve it makes me start to wonder. It's really working well to run less mileage now(did high volume at the beginning of the season) but with more intensity. I run hard almost every run at some point. They aren't long workouts, sometimes all I do is crank it up for a mile or two. Or add some intervals with jogging between.

Thursday morning we leave for BC, roaddddddddddddddddd trip!!! We're stopping in Kelowna, Van, Tofino, Vic, then down to Seattle(through port angeles) and then CDA no not to do the Ironman. Should be lots of fun, lots of driving. Don't worry Cam I'll save some driving for IMC. Looks like I got monday off so I can go watch, if you're reading and doing the race make sure you comment so I can look for your name out there. I will be sure to yell to HTFU lol j/k I'll be nice.

DP

The Riverbend Run club is growing

2011-07-27T20:25:00.000-06:00

Not sure if I actually mentioned before that I have started a run club in my community. Today was pretty exciting as we got 6 people out to run, usually it's 2-3, but it's slowly expanding. With the expansion it only encourages more to come out so I expect it to really pick up. Heck even solo runners on the pathway can't help but notice the big grp running together right? We meet at 6pm at our community centre and run 4.5 km, I usually sneak out after for an additional run.

Someone asked me today why I do this? I had to think about it for a sec, I guess I've really got a passion for running, triathlon too, but mostly running. I just want to share it with everyone. I know what it's done for me in my life, I know it can help others too. It's contagious too isn't it? You guys know what it's like for yourselves, but when you hear about someone talking about a big PB in a race or a experience where they were able to run through discomfort, etc. It seems to re-kindle the flame right? Maybe I'm seeing it's harder for me to run PBs so I like to help others do it uh? See! you knew there was a selfish spin on it, and there is to some extent. Not to give me credit or anything, I couldn't careless about that, just to see someone else realize their potential.

Oh and btw I had a really good run after the club, I did 8x intervals. Not time/distance based or anything, they were usually about 400m and just went by heart rate. I'm getting faster even with the less mileage. DP out!

Awesome tour pictures

2011-07-26T11:13:00.005-06:00

Check these out, amazing!!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/07/2011_tour_de_france_part_1.html
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/07/2011_tour_de_france_part_2.html

Also found a blog lots of the above pics come from. I haven't checked it all out yet.

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/

EDIT: I'm such a nub, I only realized now that about half of these pics are taken by Getty Images which is the company that owns the company i work for Istockphoto. Cool eh???

skunks!

2011-07-22T08:20:00.000-06:00

I went for a late night run yesterday. I think I headed out at like 9:45(the best time to run). The flies were bad, I had to watch the eyes and mouth for intruders constantly although I failed at times. For the first part of my run I go along a pathway that has peoples' backyards facing it. Lots of really nice yards with trees, flowers, roses, etc. It was starting to get dark so it was a blur at first, but I saw some rustling, a lot of black and white blur. I stopped and realized there were a pile of baby skunks running around the yard. It took me awhile to get a proper head count as they were running around and it was a big family!! The mother didn't even take too much notice of me and retreated underneath some bigger plants. I was able to get in real close and count 7 babies!! Amazing, those things are the cutest ever, and really tame too. I think I could have picked them up they ran right up to my feet. Although it was in someone's backyard so maybe they are pets?

Good ride yesterday

2011-07-20T14:35:00.000-06:00

Most of my rides involve some kind of hard effort. Yesterday was no exception. Sometime between thunderstorms I managed to get out on a loop near my house. I did 6 or 7 loops on this bike path with the middle 5 including a threshold portion. If you look at my garmin info you could probably figure out which part. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100429890 There was a stiff head wind at times, which made it really easy to get the heart rate up. The max hr you see there is pretty much bang on my threshold. I was panting like a porn star hero!!

One thing to note is I had a bit of a tiff with a dog walker. I don't have a bell on my bike, I really need to get one of those. So I'm def. in the wrong there in that I don't warn people when I ride up. That being said the path did have a line on it, it's one of the wider ones clearly marked for walkers and cyclists. It just makes sense to keep on the right. I had slowed down, cause you never know what a dog will do. Sure enough just as I get close the dog runs across the path so I hit the grass. Don't worry dog lovers(I also love dogs) the dog was in no real danger as I was already going slow. What annoyed me is that the owner when he saw me made no effort to pull his dog back over onto his side of the path(remember there's a solid line in the middle) instead he starts cursing at me cause I nearly clipped his dog. He's screaming somthing like, "Hey, bleep bleep bleep, I'm trying to walk my dog here!!" "Go around!!"... Where should I go around??? I already went off the path to avoid the dog, does he really need the whole path??? I was going at a safe speed and the dog was in no danger. Did he want me to ride through the long grass and bush??? I was tongue tied, I honestly didn't know what to say I thought it was so stupid. Some people really do believe that the world revolves around them. Anyways I will get a bell as I'm riding in the city quite a bit and it would be good to warn my fellow path users up ahead.

Inspiration

2011-07-18T22:55:00.000-06:00

I just eat this stuff up. Even with all the drug problems professional cycling still has it's share of inspirational stuff. It still blows my mind how these guys can punish themselves so much through out a tour, especially when they crash and just get back on the bike for some more. Then are back on the bike the very next day ready for some more, bandages en all. If you haven't heard of Johny Hoogerland, check out this story.

Johny got hit by a car, here is the youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPDAry-A-s&feature=related He took 33 stitches and went on to start the next day. Went on a breakaway two days later and even held the king of the mountains jersey.

Then there is Laurens Ten Dam from Rabobank who I saw cruise off the road hit some rocks and proceed to fly over his handle bars smash his face on some rocks. Yeah he finished the stage and now I just read he showed up for the next days start.

Jens Voigt the oldest man in the pelaton crashed twice on a stage two days ago. He not only finished the stage but was still able to help out his team leader Andy Schleck in pacing the pelaton up one of the pyrenees.

Lots of inspiration...

ahhhh multisport

2011-07-17T23:00:00.000-06:00

Heya!

I had a great weekend of training, not in terms of huge volumn or anything. But I'm just really enjoying the cycling and running, maybe I'll add swimming before the end of the year? Stay tuned... just don't hold your breath.

Friday evening I went out for a trot. I love being coached, but one thing about self coaching is I can totally do workouts as I please. If I feel good I run hard, if I don't I just trot it out. So after I'd been out there for 3-4 miles I stopped for a bit while I decided, tempo or not? There were these swarms of flies out along the river so this could be pretty tough, plus I had that nagging pressure in the lower half of my body. Running hard would just make that worse. So I stopped for a bit to let the pressure ease up a bit and decided to try. So I reset the watch and gaver down the gravel/dirt path. I started off along the bow just north of glenmore trail and headed south. Got onto the paved path maybe 2/3 of a mile further, ran to carburn park out and then ran back towards the park again to end a 3.1 mile jaunt or 5km whichever you prefer in a time of 20:03. Pretty good, although the 3 seconds are a little annoying, 19 somthing looks better. Oh well, I'll get faster.

Saturday I went out for a bike ride with Greg. It was a beautiful day and we headed out on springbank road and to Bragg creek. We didn't quite make it to Bragg, turned around at the round about. It was fun, my fitness isn't bad, but it still needs lots of work too. I rode my road bike and it sure made it tough coming up the last hill headed back into Calgary. Yikes that hill hurts, and with my road bike I run out of gears sooner than on my tt bike.

Today I went out for another bike ride. I had thought of doing a long run, but I had eaten some cheese earlier for lunch and I thought it might hurt me running. So I headed out on the road bike again. This time I rode south, then west through fish creek. Got up the hill in the far south western part of Calgary near Keith's house and then rode back. One thing I've noticed this year is my sweat is like wayyyyy saltier. I assume that's why I had the cramping problems in the marathon. I guess for my next long race I will have to take in extra salt. I hate being a heavy sweater, so annoying. So anyways with the tempo and two days with almost 4 hours riding total it was really a good weekend. I love the hotter weather, cheers all have a great week.

DP

still kicking

2011-07-12T23:12:00.000-06:00

Hey all,

Things are going good over here. I'm riding my bike again!! Just got back from a nice little ride to Sikome lake with 8 climbs and then ride home. I went out late and actually only finished 9:45, riding in the dark for the last few minutes. It rained a bit, although at times when I thought it was rain it was actually the swarms of fruit flies and mosquitoes. Saw some deer and scare the crap out of a coyote as I rode up quietly behind him.

I'm running as well, right now as long as I get a ride or run in every day I'm fine. Since I'm not doing that much I try to include quite a bit of intensity. I'm already thinking of Ironman next year, although I'm not swimming yet.

Couple of new things I've started this year is coaching(two marathoners) and a mini run club in our community of Riverbend. The interest has been slow for the run club, but I'm gradually having more and more contact me. The key is to get more regulars showing up every week.

The coaching is a lot of fun too. I'm really lucky to guide a couple of good runners. They're doing the Victoria marathon in Oct. I've learned so much with both of these ventures. It's one thing to train and follow what you know works for you. It's completely different to try to learn how someone else responds to different training stress. Everyone's different, what works with one will not work with another. That's why it's so important for communication in the athlete/coach relationship. Cheers,

DP

Finish pic

2011-06-04T23:55:00.000-06:00

Hey,

Went for a bike ride today. Yup that's right, first bike ride this year!! It looked gloomy in the morning outside, but thankfully the sun came out in the afternoon and I took my road bike out for a ride along the canal pathway to Chestermere and back. No idea on the exact time 90 minutes approx and no bike computer, I just road like I felt. It was a little windy, but not too bad. My legs felt it, the lack of riding. Still not sure how I'm finishing this year off. I think I may just stay away from the races and just get back to some general biking/running and who knows maybe even go for a swim here and there?

Cam didn't post the finish pic of both of us. If you didn't read my race report this is what basically happened. We started running together at about 5 or 6 miles, got to 18 miles and he went into a portapotty. I slowed in the last five miles and he caught me right at the finish. Pretty good picture, I might actually buy it as it'll be a good memory down the road.

Ironman Mount Tremblant

2011-06-02T14:51:00.000-06:00

Food for thought eh guys? I've always wanted to visit this area, I bet I could convince Lisa to go too. Curtis I believe you've talked about how beautiful that area is correct? Maybe we should go east? Although Canada's course is difficult to beat. Oh btw it's the same time of year too. Apparently a new york city Ironman will be announced sometime too.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Its_official%3A_Ironman_Mont-Tremblant_P3366785/

What now??

2011-06-01T17:40:00.000-06:00

Got that empty feeling. I have several options. I guess the marathon didn't go exactly according to plan. The time was ok, but deep down inside I wanted more(or less meaning time). This was meant to be it for this summer. I was to slowly start preparing for next year. Now I'm not so sure, I could make another attempt in fall?? Although looking at it, this would be for 2013 Boston and I'd have to run 5 minutes faster as the newer faster times apply for that. Funny how I never really cared much for Boston when it was "easily" attainable. Now that I can't run that fast anymore I want it!!! LMAO. I hadn't even planned on going to Boston if I were to qualify, but nowwwww /cry Oh well, I need a week or two to figure out where I want to go from here. Right now I have all these ideas floating around in my head.

DP

Calgary marathon RR

2011-05-30T09:35:00.002-06:00

Hey,

I had a great time hanging out with my buds Curtis and Cam. We missed Trevor though, hopefully next time he'll be in the grp too. Cam came out from Golden to stay at Hotel Vierling, we had a marathon pasta dinner there the night before. Then the next day I met up with them there again so we could all be dropped off by Curtis's wife. We got to the race site close to an hour before. It was chilly, maybe 3-4 degrees? The sun was starting to warm things up so that helped although it was still hard when it was time to discard the warm clothing and get over to the start area.

This is the first time I really drank coffee the morning of a race. It really helped to ummm finish ALL the pre race business. As Cam says "Clean the pipes", although it might have contributed to cramps later in the day. Cam and I ended up close in the start area, Curtis a bit further back. The first few miles I spent trying to relax, not go out too fast. Cam had bolted up ahead to get through people and I just ran on my own, although never more than 50m ahead. I wanted to be sure this was MY pace that I started at so I made no rush to run up to him, I kinda planned to run the first few miles on my own anyway. Then after that if he happens to be in the same area well then we could hook up.

Slowly the distance got cut down, I think it was about the fifth mile where I ended up right behind him, but I just stayed there. Finally he turned around and laughed, he says he knew I had to be there. ha ha so we ran side by side for the next hmmm 12 miles? During that time we ran up Shaganapi. Cam figured we ran it too hard and that it was my fault, ha ha. Then some stomach issues, but that for the most part calmed down. Through miles 13-16 we moved back and forth a bit. Somtimes it seemed Cam would pull away from me and I was sure I should let him go. Then other times he told me later that he was sure I would drop him. I guess that's the way it goes(we were less chatty by that time) sometimes you feel good, sometimes you don't.

So at about 18 miles we come up on a porta potty and Cam announces his need to stop. I thought he would make it quick so I promised him no accelerations(not like I could have anyways at that point). But that was the last I saw of him till the finish. He says he came out and I had about 200m on him. I think I felt pretty good coming up to the top of Shag. My calves were a problem though, the only real problem. They were starting to cramp. Like Ironman Canada 2009 deja vu. I made it onto memorial drive and shortly after 21 miles(I was still on pace for a sub 3:15) they really started cramping and I had to have my first walk break. Aughhh that was frustrating as I only had 5 miles to go and really the rest of me was doing pretty good. So I ran and walked the rest of the way in. I was waiting for Cam to pass me, but he took his sweet time. Then ended up catching me right on the finish line just shy of 3:20. Pretty good timing Cam. Curtis came in later, his knee had been bothering him at one point in training and that flared up in the race again. But we all finished, that's the important thing. Not a bad race, and the time is ok as this Calgary course is a toughy. I just wish I hadn't had to walk so much. I may have to take in more sodium during the race, to keep the cramps at bay. Dunno

Last long run

2011-05-25T12:25:00.000-06:00

Well that was the last long run for this "trip". This time it just so happened that my cousin(who also runs) was in town so I bugged him to join us for a shorty. He did agree to a res. loop so we met at glenmore landing like usual for Curtis and I anyways and ran the loop. We had a good time, sorry Gord I realize the pace may have been a tad quick, and maybe the altitude? Either way he made it, hope he enjoyed the Calgary run as much as Curtis and I always do. 9.5 miles in the tank. I've done a few shorter runs this week with one day off, probably one more day off and a few extra easy runs with some accelerations to keep sharp.

I really don't know how it will go. I've always cherry picked the easier marathon courses, plus it's been awhile since I've run a stand alone marathon. All I remember is they hurt!! Yes believe it, sometimes even more than an Ironman run. Good luck to my buddies doing the race, and sorry for the ones that couldn't make it. Hope it doesn't rain too much, but if it does honestly it won't matter after 5-10k.

What will I do after the marathon? It's helpful to always keep the next goal in mind. I'm not sure I have one at this point, I do have a few things in mind. Nothing solid for this year though, I may start slowly preparing for IMC 2012. I have let the bike slip and have done ZERO swimming so it would be good to slowly bring those back. I will keep you all up to date. Cheers,

DP

Hey there

2011-05-18T10:49:00.000-06:00

I'm still kicking too. Had a pretty good long run last weekend with Curtis. I was MIA for 5 days before that as we had a mini vacation in Vegas. It was a lot of fun, but my running has taken a step back. Hopefully I'll get the legs to come around before the marathon, and maybe loose some of that Vegas weight, ha ha. We ate lots of good food. We've had a bunch of nice days here in Calgary. We've got it lucky as we have no fires or floods to worry about like other Canadians. Cheers, happy hump day.

DP

Sup

2011-05-04T15:32:00.002-06:00

Hey,

Had a couple good training days on the weekend. It was tough for sure, but really a good test of fitness. Saturday Curtis and I went to the track and ran a 10k time trial. We got there bright and early 8:30 did a little warm up and started out. It went pretty much as expected, I don't think it was quite race pace, but close. My schedule called for a race this weekend followed by a long run. I didn't want to pay for a race, so figured a track 10k would suffice. My time was 40:25, about 6:32 average pace? It hurt a lot!!

Sunday we got together later on. Not sure how the legs would feel and they actually weren't too bad starting out. I expected much worse, maybe it was the mango we pounded back immediately after the run on saturday. It has magical powerssssss. We ran a pretty comfy just barely under 8min mile pace for most of the run. At the end Curtis and I separated to finish on our own. The last miles were a little quicker, and finished it off really strong sub marathon pace. So that was good, but I was feeling it quite a bit from the weekend. Monday I was really sore.

Today I was talking to my mom and apparently my nephew(10 year old) who would ride with me at Christmas time. Remember you guys? here's a pic from then. https://picasaweb.google.com/106198986038535884164/Runningman?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDvsrzEz9PFGg#5423050708184126914 Anyways he's convinced he's going to run the full marathon in Manitoba. He is a good runner, he did the 2.6 mile super run last year and did well. But that's quite a jump to the 26.2 miles uh? hee hee my brother convinced him that they could run the half together. Say what now??? I'm on the phone with my mom hearing this going, "How old is he again mom??" Anyways I'm gonna have to talk to my bro even about that venture. In my opinion 13 miles is too much for a 10 year old. Made my day though, everyone wants to be someone's hero right? Cheers,

DP

Broke 170 yesterday

2011-04-28T09:53:00.000-06:00

Stepped on the scale yesterday and saw 169! It's been a slow grind from my off season weight of 185. Nothing more to say, just over a month till the marathon!! This week I've been more tired/sore than usual. I think it's still that damn marathon pace run on sunday where I went a bit too quick. I also have bought a bad pair of shoes. They are hurting my forefoot and I'll loose my big toe nail on my right foot because of the sunday track run. I hardly ever loose toe nails, my feet are model feet compared to most runners. Oh well, I guess not anymore!! Cheers,

DP

We have a winner!! (winner chicken dinner)

2011-04-26T21:55:00.000-06:00

January 1st a bunch of friends started a running challenge. The challenge was to run 100+ days consecutive. The previous record held by Susan Oseen(correct me if I'm wrong) who went over 200 days a couple years ago. Not so much about the competition, other than bragging rights it's more about encouraging us to get out the door and put the miles/base in. Anyways we have a winner, Curtis was the only one to actually make the 100 days. I think he went 112 days and I was lucky to join him for his last run without a day off in 2011. Here's a picture of his winnings, a Americano, so fitting eh Cam?? Despite not winning, the challenge definately provided motivation. Anyways I thought I should mention it, Curtis didn't want me to brag too much, but I had to at least mention it.

We've kept up the training here in Calgary. We got together on sunday to hit the track for a longer marathon paced run. I think I went a bit too hard as today I still felt flat from it, that and the poop fairy not allowing me to do well with the 600s today. I think we have 2 more hard weeks eh guys? And then it's taper time?? I'm already feeling the pressure/race nerves. I'm not so confident with the marathon, and this Calgary course, it's not a easy race is it? Comeon guys give me some positive feedback, is it really that bad? Just lie to me if it is, I need a pep talk. lol

Pond loops

2011-04-20T08:26:00.002-06:00

Had a really good run yesterday. My legs are slowly remembering how to run fast. The first intervals I did this year really felt like I had to force the pace ya know? Like my legs didn't even know how and I had to stay on the gas despite the brakes rubbing on my wheels. Kinda like that. Yesterday was different. The moment I started the 6x1k workout I just seemed to flow, it was still hard, I ran as hard as I could for the workout, but I didn't have to force it. My body just felt like it was flowing along and I only had to apply the gas for the small rise in the pond loop, or when my mind started to wonder. The pace naturally occured with no thoughts of stopping the workout. The first one was a bit slower, then the rest were all descending by like 2 seconds every time. So the pace was really consistent. The rest was 90 secs or somtimes close to 100 secs because I just made the recovery the time it took me to jog to the start of the pond loop(the loop is 1200m, so I would do 1000 then jog the last 200m to the start line).

DP

three days of...

2011-04-17T21:33:00.000-06:00

REST AND RELAXATION!!! That's what the doctor ordered. Ok no doctor, but it was self administered after my knee decided to act up on friday at work. I have no clue why, well I do really. It's the running obviously, but I didn't feel any warning of any kind. But I won't eff around with injuries as I've said before so I took three days off. It feels much better now, tomorrow I'll try it out.

Last week I knew I was kinda pushing things by continuing to run with these old pair of shoes I have. So I actually had already decided that on friday I'd finally go out and get a much needed new pair. Funny that my knee couldn't wait 1 friggen day. Oh well it just so happened that Lisa had booked a night at the Banff springs hotel this weekend she kept me busy(not that kinda busy you sickos.... ok maybe some of that too) enough out there to not think too much about the knee.

We took in the hotel tour as soon as we got there yesterday. The guy who gave the tour had been there forever and was amazing, I've never had a tour from a guide who knew half as much as this guy. He'd seen and given tours to pretty much every celebrity, politician, and sports/movie stars ever. Man could this guy talk, and we even got to hear about the famous "Doomed bride". She was walking on a stair case when her dress caught on fire by some candles along the railing. In her panic she fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Apparently lots of people see her with her fiery bridal gown. Then today we went and got a massage at the spa. That was really good, the therapist I got was really good and we got to hang out in their mineral pools and multiple hot tubs(all set to different temperatures) and of course one of them outside. My knee got pampered like you wouldn't believe, ha ha. If that doesn't heal it, nothing will. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow.

Cheers,

401 post here!!

2011-04-13T17:38:00.000-06:00

Heya,

Got the intervals done yesterday. I was much stronger Cam this time around. Again I went out to the park and along the river pathway towards Glenmore trail. Did a little over 3 mile warmup and did a hard 5x 2.5 min with 90 sec jogs between. I don't know the speed(didn't want to), but I just felt strong and steady. No thoughts of stopping, although they did hurt, especially on the small rise I had to do. Today we're supposed to get snow, the clouds have rolled in there's some rain drops starting to fall. Curtis and I want to go out for a longer one today, hopefully it'll work out. Worst case scenario we'll cancel and I'll have to hit the treadmill, haven't done that in awhile. So it goes, got to see the new Calgary marathon course map. If you're not man(or woman) enough to enter the full you won't notice as it only applies to the full Mary runners. Cheers fellas(and gals),

DP

Intervals

2011-04-07T15:23:00.002-06:00

Aloha!

Had a good run yesterday, although slow, but I was able to do all of the intervals so hopefully Cam won't make fun of me. lol I had a med/long run scheduled for yesterday, but sometimes you gotta make adjustments because life gets in the way of your training program. I didn't have 2 hours to do the longish run because Lisa and I had tickets to the Flames game. So I looked at the schedule and figured since I have a rest/easy day tomorrow(which is today) I could add a shorter but fast workout. Friday I have a tempo so with the easy thursday run wednesday would be perfect for some intervals. Yayyyyy, not a bad day for weather so I ran to the park and did 4x pond loop. I found out later that the loop is 0.75 mile. So I did approx 4x1200 with 90 second walking rest between. I started off with the first two pretty conservative in just over 5min and then just under. Then for the last two I was able to cut off a bit more time. I basically descended the times all the way through. Later looking at the times it was a bit disappointing as I should be doing them at my 5k race pace, but more importantly I wanted to do them all and finish strong so I accomplished that. Just goes to show how little speed I have though. Looking at the schedule it does show me plenty of intervals coming up in the next phase so that should def. help.

There was a pretty good runner I noticed doing a tempo on the pond loop, he was faster in his tempo than I was in my intervals. We happened to finish at the same time so I chatted with him as we did a cool down lap. Turns out he's training for the Police half and eventually the Chicago marathon. It was nice meeting someone new, although it sounds like he just works in the area and that's why he drops in at the park on his way home to get his run in. I failed to get his email address so maybe we could run together in the future. Oh well, I should see him again this summer. Cheers,

DP

Don't forget about the .....

2011-04-03T23:53:00.000-06:00

Ass slapping guys

I want to hear all about how you guys battled it out..... for second place that is!! muah ha ha ha ha Man I'm so funny.

Anyways had a solid week. It was labeled as a rest week, but it didn't really look like it. Maybe 10 less overall miles, down to 58 but just as much fast running. Oh well next week I'm supposed to run 70(I may shave a few off of that) and it looks like a 22 miler on sunday. Should be fun, today I just ran 15. Good job on gettin 30 in today Cam. Thanks for the slurpy pic. I'll have to think of somthing creative to send you next week. Train hard guys, only 2 months away time to start doing some speed work, hopefully the base is mostly there already. Cheers,

DP

Kicked my ass today to kick yours May 29th

2011-03-30T21:36:00.000-06:00

The 6x600s done today were tough!! I'm not used to running distances that short. Total distance today was 8.7 miles I think? I started off with 2 miles warmup and then did 2.5 min on, 2.5 off which I figure would be about the 600m interval with about a 400m jog. Pretty tough stuff, I even had to bail on the 5th half way through as I was feeling a bit sick. I came back though with a strong 6th rep. It was a tough jog home, I barely made it and now sitting down my legs are still hurting. Oh well, hopefully this will give me the edge to kick ass in the marathon, eh fellas? Train hard guys, leave no stone unturned = no mile not run. I don't want any excuses when I mop the city of calgary with your butts. NO MERCY!! ha ha, that's my trash talk for the week.

DP out

Pretty good weekend of training

2011-03-28T17:00:00.000-06:00

No outdoor running, and no long long run this weekend, but lots of miles. 34 miles to be exact including fri,sat,sun. Friday I did 12 miles, easy pace, picked it up a bit for the last half hour. Saturday 7 miles easy, then Sunday 15 with 12 miles at marathon pace. It didn't feel too bad, after 2 miles at 7.5 mph I put it up to 8.3 for the 12 miles, that's 7:13 min pace. Felt strong the whole way through, only at the end I had a bit of stomach distress, but felt like I could have kept going. Not 26.2 miles yet, but I'm about to go into a race prep phase so that should take care of it. I hope some of the snow melts as I have my first session of VO2max intervals(600s) on wednesday. I'd like to go to the track for that. 58.5 miles last week, little lower than I wanted to be, but I had changed one of my earlier long runs into a tempo because I had less time to run. I looked at the schedule and really I only have two more 20+ milers on the schedule, lots of 15-18 mile stuff and plenty of marathon paced runs and shorter intervals in this next phase. Fun stuff, only 9 weeks till race day. Oh and I also crossed the 85 consecutive run day mark. Wooo hooooo 15 to go to hit 100.

Gotter done, thanks to Cam

2011-03-20T21:53:00.000-06:00

Had the long run to do today. I was debating since I woke up in the morning, do I run indoors on the tready, or head out the door and risk the ice,water,and possibly snow? The forecast was for snow, but it wasn't happening yet. Wednesday's run was a disaster cause of all the ice and water, plus not taking any nutrition or water to drink. Sooooo I gotta admit I was leaning towards hittin the treadmill. I really thought I should get it done outside, but I also didn't want to risk not getting the 20 miles done.

Then what happens, I get this text. It's a image, and Cam's face. Although I couldn't see it cause of all the white and blue sky in the back ground. He took a pic and sent it from the trail and at 2:20 of his long run. I guess he takes his iphone along in case he meets any bears. hee hee oh well it was just the kick in the ass I needed. I figured he's running outside, I'm gonna hit up the great outdoors too!! So I did just that.

To avoid the big crash I had on wednesday with Curtis I took two bottles of nutrition. One with nuun, and the other with infinit, plus some gel chews just in case. It was really annoying going off with two full bottles. One bottle I found is fine because you can swing the other arm more, but two bottles is a little annoying. But they did empty after awhile. There was a lot less ice than wednesday, I guess the temp was a little warmer. Still had a few rivers to cross, soaked my socks a few times. I had a weak moment, probably from 9-12 miles I found it tough. The legs were starting to get a bit sore and the fact that I knew I was only half done was a bit disheartening. But then I stopped once for some gel chews and that seemed to help. By the time I hit 15 miles I kinda got a second wind and started picking up the pace a bit. It also really seemed to help when I finally got back on a usual run route and on my way home. Had to do 2 extra loops around the pond near home to make up the extra distance, managed the last few miles in 7:28 - 7:38 pace. Those didn't have any ice or snow. Finished strong just past my house. The average pace was 7:44, man my hamstrings hurt about 20 minutes later in the shower. Thanks Cam, for the motivation to hit the pathway. Sure there's nothing wrong with the treadmill, but for me today it was def. time to run outdoors. Over and out.

DP

My legs are tired

2011-03-17T23:30:00.000-06:00

Today was rough. Yesterday Curtis and I went out in the evening for a 14 mile run. The path was mostly clear other than a LOT OF ICE!! Yikes I've run on a lot of ice this winter, but that was the worst. We also had these rivers of water/ice/snow crossing the path at various spots and we both got our shoes/socks soaked a few times. Fun fun, freeeeezing cold water. I was looking at my shoe today, the right one, it looked odd. Strangely red??? Had I worn red socks where the color had run or maybe the bits of red from the shoe run onto the white?? I had some sores on my toes from all the running I'd done, but I never thought of checking them for cuts. Anyways after today's 5 miler I took off my right sock and noticed my toes had bled. Yikes my toes must have bled a lot yesterday and I guess all the water washed the excess blood off so I didn't even notice. Strange...

Anyways as I said a easy 5 miler today. It was really hard, my legs were sooo trashed from yesterday. Did I mention all the ice, plus we didn't carry food/water along so I was famished. I'm usually ok for up to 2 hours, yesterday was the exception. It made for a tough recovery. I think for today's 5 miler is the worst my legs have ever felt this year. Crazy, I'll def. be bringing 2 bottles of nutrition along for sunday's 20 miler. Hopefully all the ice will be gone, my hips, groin, and over all core does not like it. Cheers,

DP

PS: Curtis and I saw a porky pine, a monster beaver(like knee high) running beside us, and the usual deer. LOVE IT!!

Long run just wasn't meant to be today

2011-03-13T22:47:00.000-06:00

First off it was a busy day. Church in the morning, I volunteer today and I was late getting there(not the time change thing, I actually remembered). Then at 5 a friend had invited me to this fund raiser thing. I thought about canceling, but thought I should go. After all my gym is 24 hours right? In theory my plan was flawless, I even skipped most of the meal at the fund raiser thing so my stomach would not hate me on the run. I had salad!! So I left that early to get to the gym and attempt my 21 miler. But after 10 miles, stomach gas most of the time, 3 bathroom trips. I just couldn't get my stomach to co-operate so I pulled the plug after 10+ miles. Frustrated, but it's the first workout I've quit in a long time, and I have lots of 20+ milers to do. Tomorrow's another day, I will get the run done tomorrow with out any trouble from the Poop fairy. EOM

DP

Place your bets!!

2011-03-11T16:18:00.002-07:00

Here is another view point of the bet/challenge:

Cam's profiles are good, but I think you have to also look at the age categories as it makes a big difference. We're not directly racing each other. For example:

Darryl 35 - 39 PB - 2:56 4th place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010
Trevor 35 - 39 PB - 3:12 8th place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010
Cam 40 - 45 PB - 3:07 6th place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010
Curtis 45 - 49 - 3:09 2nd place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010

Please correct me and don't hate me if I happen to get your age cat. wrong. I will fix it if I have. So looking at the results some extra things have to be noted. Some of the PBs were run a long time ago and not in the age class we're in now. But I thought it was interesting to look at anyways. Also have to look at the course run on. For example, mine was run on a pancake flat course, while Curtis's was run on a very hilly course at the beginning of the season. Cam's race was run on a cold rainy day I think? Trevor, sorry man I don't know where you ran your personal best and what the conditions were like. We're all pretty close though if you look at the age cat. placings. This is the marathon, 26.2 miles, anything can happen. On paper not knowing anything about you guys and trying to look at it from an unbiased view(me not being Darryl) I'd go with Curtis. Just my two cents. Place your bets, or correct me where I'm wrong or somthing I've forgotten about.

Ass kicking

2011-03-10T22:56:00.000-07:00

Ass promised :)

Good easy, really easy 3.5 miles today. I recover like a PRO!!

Couple solid workouts

2011-03-09T22:36:00.002-07:00

Make me feel like a rock star. Yesterday I did a 9 mile run on the tread mill with a 5 mile tempo in the middle. I managed the 5 miles @ 9.1 mph (6:35 min pace) so I was very happy with that, I thought it would be more difficult than it ended up. I had the heart rate monitor on and I was right on target 155bpm(my threshold is pretty low @ 165ish) so that's good.

Then today, it's always a good sign when you recover quickly from a hard run and are ready to go again the next day. Today it was a med/long run 14 miles. I got to run outdoors again. I was a bit wary and anxious to know what my fitness was like outdoors. I've been running so much on the treadmill, I felt good there. But sometimes it doesn't translate too well to outdoor running. I was really happy with the result. The run felt easy, I kept trying to hold back and my pace continued to be too fast for my goal. Managed a 7:38 min average for the 14 miles, about 2.5 miles of it was on slick snowy conditions. So that's very good, I'm pumped!

One minor bummer, I'm still not able to loose much if any weight. Kinda surprising, good but bad, which ever way you look at it. I'm basically where I was last year(running fitness that is), I'm just 15 pounds heavier. Just imagine what I could do if I could get rid of the baggage. Oh well I'm not panicking yet. Yesterday and today were good runs, tomorrow I get a recovery run. One thing Chuckie told me is something like, "Don't ever let one workout define yourself, good or bad" Really good advice and I know what he means, but man progress even in one run sure makes a guy feel good. It also motivates oneself and makes it easier to head out the door tomorrow. Am I right? After all half of our sport or more is mental. 21 miles on the weekend, hopefully the weather will co-operate again. Cheers, all, happy running,

Blast from the past eh Cam? For the rest of you this is obviously in Golden, training for my first Ironman(on my road bike... not that there's anything wrong with that)

DP

PS: You guys are going down, may as well pay up now. hee hee j/k but no really I will crush you!! ok j/k Train hard my friends!

Bad News

2011-02-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Don't think I'll be participating in the death race this coming year. I feel silly for having entered, especially since I won't get any of the money back and one of the reasons I won't race is because of money. 1. Money, I've been putting off some line of credit debt that I need to pay off. If I keep entering races it just doesn't get done, and next year I want to do Ironman and give KQ another go. 2. The hotels are all booked in Grand Cache. I was going to stay in Hinton, but that's 150km away. At first I thought this wouldn't be a big deal, but honestly thinking about finishing at 3-5am and getting out to the hotel after hopefully finding Lisa. 3. I'm still burnt out from cda training and this year was supposed to be a year of recharging so I can do Ironman in 2012. 4. At first it didn't seem like it would take that much training, but after really looking at it, some of my days would be longer than my longest IM training days. Not really fair to Lisa. 5. Don't really have a support crew figured out, and I don't want to ask a friend to do that. It's just too much time, and money committment for them. I think there's probably more reasons, I just thought I should tell my readers.

So this year as of now(I say that because my plans seem to change often) I plan to train hard for the marathon. Do my best, hopefully qualify for Boston(although I doubt I'll actually go do it). Then start my prep(swimming/riding) for Ironman next year. I will start off really slowly so that I can have a good summer involving lots of camping hopefully. That is all,

DP

brrrrrrrrrrr

2011-02-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I had a good outdoor run yesterday. I had a 10 miler to do and it was -12, -20 with windchill which I didn't see till later. I might not have run outside if I had seen that. But it had been awhile since I'd run outdoors so I was eager to do so. I can't loose the outdoor feel. So I headed outside towards carburn park and the river. The path there is mostly scraped so I'd have less problems with snow/ice. I alternated running around the pond, then running out to glenmore trail and back(Curtis the same type of thing we did last winter for those Chuckie tempos). On the third loop/outanback I just had to go a bit further out to make it the 10 miles. The pace was pretty good, I didn't go hard or anything, but the pace wasn't exactly easy, I guess moderate. I tried slowing down at times, but I right away sped up again like I was on cruise control. Felt really good, the average was only about 18 secs per mile slower than my goal marathon pace. So things seem to be going well. I doubt I would have been able to do 26.2 miles at that pace yesterday, but I have time yet. Progress is the name of the game. Tomorrow is the long run, 20 miles on the schedule. I wonder if I should attempt to do it outdoors, or just hit up the treadmill. 57 runs in a row now(58 if counting Dec 31st) Cheers,

DP

Quick update

2011-02-23T09:23:00.001-07:00

The running is going really well. I've slowly built up into Pfitzinger's marathon plan and aside from the fact that he has monday as a offday of running I'm following it almost exclusvively. I just run like 25 min on that day and then take a mile off of three days of running and I'm set. I'm up near 60 miles a week, this week I should probably be just over. The long run is just over 17 miles. Not too much speed work yet as it's a endurance cycle that I'm in now which basically means it builds up the mileage. Once the mileage is up then more speed work gets added. For now I do one day a week of either accelerations, or a short tempo. This week I did 4 miles yesterday at 15-20k race pace in the middle of a 8 miler. That's pretty much it for now. Oh yeah, I'm over the hump 50 some days in a row now and still going. I have an average of 6.4 miles per day. Not sure if I'll keep going, as I get up over 60 miles a week I really need the recovery more and more and a day off would help more than even a really easy short one. Dunno yet what I'll do, for now I'm just monitoring how I feel, so far all systems check, no aches or pains at all.

DP

Back to the tready

2011-02-17T09:18:00.003-07:00

So it's back to the treadmill for me. Tuesday I had some fast stuff to do and since I didn't really fall on my ass, I went to the gym to do it. I'm working my way into the pfitzinger schedule I posted awhile ago. It's a touch more mileage, and since I started a bit late I'm working my way into it, still trimming a bit of miles. He had 9 miles with 10xstrides. That didn't seem too bad and it turned out fun cause the strides really breaks up a run and the time seems to fly by. I cut it down to a hour run which gave me like 7.6 miles. For each stride I'd slowly crank it up to 10.5 mph for a count of ten, then slowly bring it down to my regular 7.5 mph. It was perfect, Chuckie had me doing a bunch of these last year. He called them analactic sprints I think? His theory was that they worked on your form, stride, but were too short to really create any lactic acid in the muscles. So they could be done on a easy/recovery type of run. Yesterday I did a med. length run on the tready. 1.5 hours or 11.5 miles. Did the first hour at 7.5 mph and the last 30 min at 7.8mph. Felt ok, not too hard.

DP

night vision

2011-02-11T10:13:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

Had a great run with Curtis last night. We did our res. loop the long route. The back side was tough though, since we got that huge dump of snow on monday the running room grp has not been through the trail yet. So it was really rough single track(if you could call it that) which meant we were sliding back and forth off the path(again, IF you could call it that) it was dark but it may just have been a cross country ski path. Either way it was hard on the core, hips, ankles, etc. Towards the end nearing the paved part again(the crazy snowy part was maybe 5k?) I ran under a tree and happened to look up and there was a great grey owl. I've seen lots of owls especially around where I live, but this guy was like only 6 feet above us!! I couldn't believe he didn't fly away. Even when Curtis stopped under the tree he didn't lift off. He just sat there looking around. They are so earily quiet, it's unbelievable. Have you ever heard a owl fly over your head? Probably not because they make no sound, absolutely none!! They are the most incredible hunter. Anyways we stood there a bit, it was dark, but we were so close we could see him occasionally look down straight into our eyes. He seemed to look right through us. I guess with that night time vision and from that distance it's possible. That definatly made up for the crappy footing. I've never been so close to one of them. Amazing. Anyways we finished up our run and headed into the star bucks for a much deserved Venti coffee. :) The highlight of the run, well second highlight of the run. Later,

DP

37 days and counting

2011-02-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I had a crappy/good weekend of running. Crappy because on saturday morning when it was time to get up for the long run, I just couldn't. My stomach was bugging me a bit, but more than that I just had no motivation at all. So I bailed on Curtis, sorry buddy. :( I still got in a 5 mile run that night, it actually felt really good. I just am not a morning workout person. No matter how much I try, I can do it, but I can never get to the point where I actually enjoy getting up for it. Give me a evening anyday, it doesn't matter how late it is. I can do workouts till 2am if I need to. Anyways, I felt good sunday too so I decided to do a solid tempo run. I'm still over weight, but despite that I'm feeling pretty quick. I did a mile warmup then went right into a 5 mile tempo @ 9 mph or 6:40 pace per mile. It was tough, but got through it no problem. I did one more mile cool down for a 7 mile run. That makes it 37 days run this year. overandout,

DP

Pictures

2011-02-04T10:34:00.002-07:00

Hey,

I finally put some pictures up from our trip to LL for the ice sculpting.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Darryl.Penner/LLIceCarvingFestival#

More hills and more treadmill

2011-02-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Had a pretty good run yesterday on the treadmill. I could really have run outside, but I really wanted to do some steep hills and there is no better place to get the precise grade and length of hill like the treadmill. Another plus is you don't have to run down inbetween, you can keep going up and up and up as long as you want, crazy phenom eh? lol

My workout:

15 min Warmup

3 x 5min Walk @ 15% grade 3.5 mph, the last 4mph
Active rest between sets 5 min @ 0% grade, 7.5 mph
Just over 4 miles in 42 min

Simple as that, wasn't really that hard of a work out(the last one at 4mph was hard though) and short. I really need to be careful how hard I work my calves. They pull really easy so I'm thinking I need to gradually get them used to the steep uphills. That is why I did the shorter workout and not too intense. That and I didn't have much more time than that. Don't worry, when I'm ready I'll be doing some epic hilly training runs. Right now it's baby steps. The way I look at it is I have to train now, to prepare myself for the hard training later. My current training will prevent injuries and burnout later. Running challenge going well, feeling good after 32 days(well 33 technically) running.

Goin down!!

2011-01-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Heya,

I had an interesting, yet productive weekend of running. Last week it had melted so much that even the snowy trails would turn into ice by evening which is when I do most of my runs. Friday I went out and it was extra slick, lots of clear/black ice. What makes black ice even worse though is when there's a slight dusting of snow on top. You can't see the ice so you can't prepare yourself for the slippage. Also the dusting of snow makes it worse, it acts like a bit of flour on the bottom of your shoes. AS an example to start my run I walk down the steps to the sidewalk where I KNOW/KNEW there would be some ice under the snow. I knew it was there, I walked super slow over it expecting the slippery surface and guess what... I still went down!! I guess it was a slight downward slope? The good part was that I was going slow enough that I could easily get my hands ready and didn't even land hard on them. So I got up, dusted myself off, took a moment to look around made sure none of my neighbors weren't keeling over laughing so hard at me, then went for my run. It was super dangerous out there and I barely caught myself 3-4 times where my foot would land and keep moving as it lands on the slick ice.

Saturday there was just too much snow on the ground to attempt a long run. The hardcore ultra marathoner types would have toughed out the long run outdoors, I guess I'm just not up to par yet in that department. I wanted to make sure I get 3 hours/21 miles in though as this is 3 weeks out till the Frozen ass 50. I headed to the gym, where I knew I could get through it. Boring yes, but actually it's not as bad as you'd think. You just have to prepare yourself mentally for it, know you will be on the treadmill for a long time. The good part is I don't have to carry any nutrition, it all sits around me on the treadmill trays. I had 2 bottles of infinit, a bag and a half of gel chews and if the poop fairy insists on paying me a visit, well I got a warm comfy bathroom in the back of the gym where we can visit all she likes before I continue my run. On a side note, funny how you never need to pay her a visit when the option is there. That was my longest run ever on a treadmill, but to help kick it off I just so happened to catch the Xterra world championships in Maui. That race was soo amazing, so epic, yet I still have no desire to take triathlon to the dirt trails. I soooooo want to visit Maui again though, love that place!! Anyways I got through that and then flipped to watch some bob sledding, downhill sking, and 2 episodes of the simpsons to get me through the run. Finishing I felt sore but not too bad really.

I just don't know how I'll get through 125 km of mountain trails... I really don't. Maybe I should have stuck to marathon running this year till I can give Kona qualifying another go next year. I don't know, it just seems crazy, and not the usual crazy. Like insane!! This the first time I actually heard my mom try to talk me out of somthing. She's been very supportive about Marathons, triathlon, Ironmans, but this, nope this time she actually told me I should maybe stick to doing Ironmans. lol and if you met her you'd know why I'm so surprised, she's normally all about challenge, she's one tough lady!!

Sunday's run was fine, hardly even felt the long run from the day before. I emailed my friend Sonja who's coached by Chuckie. She's an amazing athlete that last year completed a 100 mile ultra, and did 3 Ironmans(including 2 Ironman qualifiers and the Hawaii Ironman, yes that's right she's already qualified for 2011). I ask her advice on ultra marathoning. You see I did this 21 miler 3 weeks before the frozen ass 50. I wasn't sure if I should chance another long run. Ideally it would be nice to get a 25-26 mile run in before the event, but I want to be sure I'm recovered. Her answer, do it with a big IF I'm completely injury free, no niggles, no pain. Which I am, and really it's more than 2 weeks the event is on monday, and I'll most likely do the long run saturday morning so I have 16 days to recover. Hopefully I can do the last long run outdoors. Later,

DP

Run to the hills!!

2011-01-25T08:04:00.002-07:00

Just a quick update. This time I mean it, short and to the point. The challenge is still going with me. This weekend was tough as we went to LL for the weekend(the ice carving festival). They were amazing, I was blown away. I got some pics, I may post some later. We left saturday morning so I quickly got a 20min run in before we left. That was my first 20min run of the challenge. Then when we got home Sunday late, I relaxed a bit and went to the gym for a 50min walk/run. Most of it was done before midnight, at least 20 min of it. To answer your question Susan I'm already training specifically for my race. I'm not doing the marathon schedule that I posted awhile ago. I'm running/walking really steep hills near my house and also some walking on the tready at 15%. This will help strengthen my calves as that's always been my weak point and this race will be all about hills. Hills hills hillssss. :) Later,

DP

Running outdoors again

2011-01-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Heya,

Finally got to run outdoors yesterday. It's been 10 days in a row on the treadmill, that must be some kind of record for me. I just did a short 3.65 miles and after I could feel the effects. I started to feel sick and had to lay down after the shower. I guess I'm not used to the cold air anymore, plus being a bit under-dressed didn't help. Some of my shirts are literally wearing through. I am the king of thrifty as some of the under shirts have been with me since the beginning of time. I will have to take a picture so you can see, there are several that are over 10 years, maybe even 15 years old!! The one long sleeve I have I remember buying before my first marathon which was in 1995, yup 15 years ago. Anyways the forecast looks like some warmer weather so it looks like I should be able to run outside more frequently. I'm sure the deer, coyotes, porky pines, etc all miss me a lot!! Today will be 19 runs in a row, too bad Trevor had to bail out. Although he's smart in doing that, health always trumps challenges. Over and out...

Are you getting tired of the dreadmill?

2011-01-13T23:21:00.001-07:00

Here's a workout to spice up your running boredom! Not that treadmill running is that difficult for me, but I am kinda getting tired of the same pace for varied distances. Sooooo I figured I'd pick it up a bit, here's what I did.

8 miles
-Start out with a easy mile, not sand bagging easy, but comfortable.
-Then for the next mile crank it up 1mph, or 1 min per mile(it's pretty much the same thing.
-This harder mile should not be very hard, like a touch slower than your half marathon pace. But by the fourth you'll start to feel some fatigue, but not too much
-repeat this as often as you like, I did it 4X tonight, it's not quite speed work(it's slower than I'd normally do my tempos), but doing some kind of intervals like that breaks up the workout and adds a little spice to a otherwise dull dreadmill run. At least I thought it was fun, try it! The treadmill doesn't have to be a cop out workout. A major benefit of the treadmill is it's specifity. You can do workouts on it that you couldn't manage outside, intervals, hills, etc. May as well use it to our advantage while the weather forces us to. :)

Day 11

2011-01-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

Heya,

The last couple weeks have been pretty good. It's funny cause last week I ran almost exclusively outside, this week so far has been a treadmill week. This year I'm in the gym for the cold days. Last week got about 41 miles in, it's super easy to get the mileage up when you're running every day, eh fellow runners? 15 mile long run on the treadmill on sunday. Probably no run with Curtis this week as he finally got sick, poor Curtis that really sucks. Last I heard though he's kept up with the runs(no pun intended I hope). If I get really sick at any point I don't think I could do it. This week hopefully 18 mile long run? Maybe outside this time?

As you saw I'm doing the death race this year. Man truth be told I'm so incredibly scared, I admitted in a earlier blog that I was afraid of the marathon and I still am! But then I go and enter a marathon almost 3x longer, what was I thinking?!?!? But part of me is also extremely satsified, finally I'm going to see what I'm really made of. I've always wanted to run through the night, to actually get to that point where I don't know if I can go on. I'm probably going to go coachless this year. I have lots of ideas as to how to train for this event. Most of it will be in the city, not ideal I know, but it's what I got to work with. I'm already starting on some extra strengthening/stretching. My back, abs, upper body in general will need some work.

As for my other races, I finally entered the Calgary marathon. It's the first time doing this race, that's funny I'm not afraid. Well that's not because anything's changed, it's just that I won't be exactly "racing" it. It'll be a training day who knows maybe I'll run to and from the race? I wanted to do the Police half too, but it's earlier this year and Lisa has somthing special planned since it's just a few days after my bday. I'm gonna try to do the Frozen ass next month, then do the marathon, and I want to do one of the training camps in Grand Cache. I hear these camps are hugely beneficial, so I want to get over there for the first one in June. That way I have a bunch of time to get back here and train my weaknesses.

Here are some fun "run challege" statistics

11 days run
5 days on the tready
6 days outside
71.82 miles
Time - too lazy to tally up
Average speed - slightly faster than 7.5 mph or 8 min per mile
Average distance per day - 6.5 miles

What have I done!?!?!?!?!

2011-01-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I'm also 4 for 4

2011-01-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Jan 1st 1 hour tready
Jan 2nd 97 min outdoor (yes Curtis I did our epic loop, although this time it was EPIC slippage!!) my ankles are still recovering from it
Jan 3rd 30 min run outdoors
Jan 4th 40 minutes outdoors

I've been running a few months consistently. I actually ran about 35 miles each week on my Christmas break. Not bad for me, and I didn't gain anymore weight!!! Now I need to shed some off.

Christmas, New Years, Run challenge, Bum sitings, etc

2011-01-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a long post from the title, but I'll have to make this quick as house cleaning awaits!! Here are the highlights of my Christmas/New Years holidays

First off I met my friend on the city bike paths again. On a late night run I was climbing the hill near the Glenmore trail and the bow river. He had his belongings sprawled out on the bike path. I didn't recognize him at first, but then I doubled back to say hello and to finally introduce myself. His name is Jim, he is homeless, and made it clear he does not drink alcohaul. I couldn't smell anything on him so I'm gonna assume this is correct because in all my sitings I've never seen him act drunk or smell of anything other than BO. He confirmed pretty much all my guesses. He does do odd jobs around the neighborhood, he even mentioned he collects toys for kids? Anyways I kept it short, I just wanted to introduce myself, say hello. He made it clear to me that all our ummmm meetings and his jokes were just his way of letting people know who he is. So there you have it, Jim is his name.

Second, running with my bro. Now I know I have some natural running talent, but my bro would knock my socks off if he were ever to actually pick up running. Who in their right mind could just walk out the door and pound out 10k without any run training??? Well that's what my bro decided to do, with a little coaxing from me. I borrowed him some running gear and we headed out. I was able to show him some of the critters that I see. Lots of deer and even a bald eagle. I made a pit stop to drop off a little somthing at my new friend(Jim)'s "home" and we carried on. Curtis we ended up doing the footbridge 10k loop(he'll know which that is) which included the steep hill. I let my bro walk that and then we kept running, on snowy paths from there. He had to walk a bit at the end so I'd keep going and double back for him a few times.

Third, walking with my mom and bro. We got a couple gorgeous days and all the ducks/geese, eagles made it worth it!!

Fourth, Going to watch a really good game. You would have to see it to believe it as most of you will not believe that the Edmonton Oilers could produce such a game. Well ok the opening period sucked, they played TERRIBLE!! The gave up 3 goals to the Avs, but then a different team walked out to start the second period. I really think it was a team of impostors who started the game as this was a different team!!! They came back goal by goal to tie it up in the third. They could have really won the game as they clearly out played Colorado especially in overtime, it was a nail biter. Edmonton got a penalty though and then eventually Colorado did too, but no one scored in the 4 on 4 5 min over time. Then in the shootout Colorado scored, but it was a super 2 periods + overtime, too bad the game started out 3 - 0. Oh well just goes to show, you have to play 60 minutes of hockey.

Fifth, the time spent with family. I don't know why, maybe cause it was at our house but this year it was extra special. One of my bros wasn't here, I'm sure that would have been the icing on the cake. We had the tree up, we slept in, then had breakfast all together. Waffles, omelettes, or cereal, and yes Cam as you saw in the video PLenty of coffee!!

Sixth, playing games with family. We played plenty of Mexican train(with dominoes) and knipsbrat(or crokinole). Knipsbrat is the german word. Yes I speak Plattdüütsch, I don't write it as I had to google the two german words there. Anyways those games are so much fun. If anyone wants to come over and play, you are always welcome. Look them up if you want to see how they are played.

Seventh, and the last, but not the least. The run challenge. Yes I will take part, but since I have some aspirations this year about doing a couple ultra marathons I don't know how long I'll last. As I'm sure is the case for some of you as well I'll need to do some longggg runs, so I will listen to my body and if I do happen to need a day off here or there. Yes 20 minutes might not cut it at times. But who knows, I will still try to do it, just will listen to my body and not risk an injury.

Here are the rules as layed out by Cam if anyone else wants to still join.

1. Run every day a minimum of 20 minutes.
2. You may miss one day per month, however you must make up for that day by running twice the day before or the day after.
3. Those two runs must be separated by at least 3 hours and of course a change of clothes.
4. Run as many days as you can. This started out as a 100 runs in 100 days contests but Susan smashed that record out of the water by doing something like 210 days a couple years ago??

Jeez when ever I say it'll be short it ends up being long. Arughhhh

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

2010-12-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

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

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

2010-12-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is our Christmas morning waffle breakfast!!

Riverbend bum

2010-12-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Progress

2010-12-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-12-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

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

Back running

2010-12-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-11-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

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???

2010-11-26T11:19:00.001-07:00

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

2010-11-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-11-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-11-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

`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)

2010-11-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-11-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-11-04T11:07:00.000-06:00

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

Let it snow!!!!

2010-11-01T21:21:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-27T12:04:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2010-10-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-25T16:01:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-22T11:13:00.000-06:00

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...

2010-10-20T08:55:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-19T09:07:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-18T11:36:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-06T08:39:00.000-06:00

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

2010-10-04T11:13:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-09-28T08:40:00.002-06:00

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)

2010-09-24T22:51:00.000-06:00

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

2010-09-23T15:11:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2010-09-20T10:53:00.002-06:00

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??

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IvQj0oaz9KM/TJdhytmzHII/AAAAAAAAAbg/KHstNwhyHpA/s1600/IMG_0202.JPG

(Thanks for posting the picture Trev)

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

2010-09-18T13:02:00.005-06:00

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!

2010-09-14T15:53:00.002-06:00

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

2010-08-31T21:26:00.008-06:00

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!

2010-08-27T15:43:00.002-06:00

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!!

2010-08-26T12:26:00.002-06:00

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

2010-08-24T12:30:00.002-06:00

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

2010-08-16T14:49:00.003-06:00

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???

2010-07-24T13:17:00.002-06:00

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