Go Jump off a bridge!

Of all the crazy things i have done, i have never tried bungee jumping. When asked why not, i always said i didn't want to pay money to do it. Well that excuse finally went away when the great guys at Whistler Bungee offered our staff at Coast Mountain Photography a free jump. They ended up hosting about 20 nervous photographers. I shot video of most of the jumpers, then handed the camera over when my turn came. It was starting to get dark so the video is pretty grainy, but i think it speaks for itself. All i cared about was not screaming like a little girl. As i jumped, i kept wondering when i would reach bottom, it seemed to last forever. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a bit of a scare.

PS - I think my scream was quite manly!!!

1 down and 99 to go.

So today was the start of the annual Slowtwitch.com 100 runs in 100 days challenge. The goal of this challenge is to lay down a solid run base by doing volume through frequency. I figured it would be a great way to build a solid base for the Transrockies. Each run has to be at least 30 minutes to count, and as long as they are separated by at least an hour, you can log double run days by running twice in one day. I am aiming for at least 70 runs in 100 days, but we will see if i can make 100.

Speaking of the Transrockies. They just announced a new category for mixed teams with a combined age of over 80, so Gabi and I have a better chance of placing higher in the race.

Nikon Vs Canon

Ok another one for all the photographers out there. In honor of the start of a new season at Coast Mountain Photography, where we have a new crew starting up in a few days, i thought i would post this video i found. Sorry to those of you who just don't understand, it's a photographer thing.

First day of skiing!

Ok, so I realize so far almost all of my posts have been about running and training, and very little about photography. So here are a few shots from today. The snow has been dumping for the past week, and today Whistler broke the record for the most snow ever in the month of November, and it's only the 19th. Yesterday I went up Whistler Mountain with Peter Smart of Extremely Canadian Ski Clinics to shoot some stormy powder shots for Whistler Blackcombs Website. Pete is a great model, as he know the mountain better than anyone, and has years of experience skiing in front of the camera as well as being featured in a few Warren Miller Ski movies.

Here is one of the images on the WhistlerBlackcomb.com homepage, followed by a few others taken during the same run.

It's Official - I am a Fat Ass!

Well I finally did it. After years of procrastinating i finally became a Fat Ass. Yup, i joined the club. I know, many of you have secretly called me a fat ass for years but now it's official. Club Fat Ass is a grassroots sports club that host trailrunning and other active lifestyle events for fellow members. Once a member, all of the events are free to join. I have been thinking about joining for a while now, and thought this would be a good way to meet some fellow runners and get some good training in while during trips to the city.

On Saturday, Nov 14th, i took part in the Sweet Go Deep trailrun in Deep Cove. It was a 20km race over some pretty technical terrain. I met up with about 14 other club fat ass members in the parking lot in deep cove, and after some introductions and group photo we were off. Being a grassroots event, there were no trail markings of any kind, just a description you could print out of the course. I realized quite quickly that this would be more challenging than i thought. We began with a steep climb up some steps then what some people were calling the seymour grind. The lead group of 4 runners quickly disappeared in front of me, so at the first intersection i had to take out my directions. Luckily fellow runner Jonathan Weresch was nearby. He quickly helped me with some route directions for the next little bit and we were off. The route followed the Baden powell trail for the most part, home of the infamous Knee Knacker run. It was my first time trail running on the north shore, it has some great terrain, but there is one small problem, it has alot of climbing. My GPS told me i climbed a total of 13000 ft in under 12 miles, and it sure felt like it, but i think that is way off as GPS elevation accuracy really sucks. After about 4km in we stopped to check a map on the trailhead. Jonathan and i both agreed that we we map people and not instruction people, as we were having a hard time following the route instructions. but he had done the race before so he knew where to go. He pointed it out on the map and it all made sense. As we climbed the next hill he slowly pulled away from me, but i figured i was good. unfortunately i apparently can't tell the difference between a right and and left, as i went the wrong way at the next intersection. i went down old buck instead of up. Unfortunately the route descriptions seemed to still make sense as i was on the right trail just going the wrong way. After another mile it started to snow/hail. and at this point i realized i was no longer on the right path. i knew i could find my way back along the route, and with the snow coming down, i thought about turning back, but i found a trail marker for the Old Mushroom Parking area, which i recognized as being part of the course, so i kept going. I was almost up to the My Seymour Parkway road/ picnic area when i ran into Jonathan again. Turns out i was climb the trail the the race went down. i probably missed about 1km of the total route.

I stuck with Jonathan for the rest of the way as we made our way past Mystery falls, then down a Mountain Bike trail called Dirty Diapers. This got pretty slippery, and very technical. At this point we were joined by Philip Waters, and the three of us made our way through the rest of the course. At each trail intersection we had to stop and try to figure out which way to go. If i had one recommendation to the event organizer, it would be to try to include a map of the route. I know this is not very easy, but with more and more people with GPS running computers, maps should be a bit easier to create. I will post mine below, but it will of course show the wrong way. Anyways after a long climb back up to the trail i went took the wrong turn unto, we were on our way back. It was mostly all downhill for the last 6km so i was able to pick up the pace for a few miles.



Kinda interesting but a bit disturbing story on the way back to the finish. I had to take a pit stop at an outhouse, as i was leaving and started to head back down the trail i came across another Fat Ass. Only this one was not a runner. Right in the middle of the trail was a woman squatting with her pants down and her naked butt staring right at me. In fairness it wasn't really a fat ass, but she could have at least done it a few steps off the trail. or perhaps used the outhouse that was 100 ft away. Oh well!

As i came back into Deep Cove the trail started to get a bit more crowded with a lot of hikers etc. i took a side detour to the lookout and realized how high we had climbed. I crossed the finish line in 3 hours 25mins with a total Distance of 11.9 miles. After the race i joined a few other CFA runners for the apres party at Mosquito Grill in North Vancouver. The restaurant provide some free Beer and draw prizes were handed out. I received a free subscription to Trail Running Magazine!

So event though i got lost, i still had a great time and would like to thank the event host Cheryl, for waiting at the finish for us. Sibylle for the great draw prizes and Jonathan for his help out on the trails. Can't wait for my next event coming up on New Years Day where i will try my first 50km Ultra run.

New Toy for my Running

So somehow my TransRockies teammate accidently ordered 2 running computers instead of 1. So i am now the proud owner of a Garmin 310xt GPS watch. I was planning on getting one eventually, but this was just a bit sooner than expected. It was a killer deal though.

Being a GPS device, it tracks both my distance and speed, all of my split times as well as tons of other features. And the best part is after i finish a run, i can download the details to my training log for further analysis. Soon i will also be able to track my Heart rate as well. Then all i will need to do is to figure out what to do with all of the information it gives. In the meantime, it allows me to output my running routes out to Google Earth, so here is whare Gabi and i ran today. Just under 20km in about 2 hours.



The watch was designed for the triathlete in mind, as it is water proof and has some great features for cycling as well. But i am really looking forward to using up on Whistler Mountain this winter, to track how far and how fast i am Skiing Downhill.

The future of Triathlon results

How about we use this program for next years Whistler Kids of Steel Triathlon results.

Pretty cool!

My First Trail Running Accident

So i was out for a trail run today, Doing the lost lake/tin pants trails, and was feeling pretty good. I was running downhill on one of the double track ski trails we often did hill repeats on in the summer, when next thing i know, i am flying through the air headed straight for a rock. I don't think i slipped, but as it was starting to get a bit dark so i probably stubbed my foot on something. I went crashing into the ground face first. I had just experienced my first Trail running crash. I have crashed many time on my Mountain bike, while skiing etc, but this is the first time i can remember crashing while running. I once read an article that talked about training how to fall while trail running. It even had some drills to try. Maybe i should go find that article again and study up.

Anyways, I currently have 2 scraped palms, and 2 damaged knees, one sore shoulder, and a scrape on my right temple where i hit my head and a bit of a headache. Somehow i also cut open the back of my hand and it would not stop bleeding for over an hour. It's funny how different parts of the body hurt at different times. I was able to walk/run out from the trails and my hands were killing, by the time i got home, my knees were the worse, and right now it's the headache. I should be fine though, I will probably still go for another run tomorrow.

TransRockies Music Video

The team at TransRockies put together this music video from footage shot during Stage 4 of the 2009 race. It features Bruce Hayes' song "Feast". It give a great look at some of the scenery and fun we are in for at next years event.

Lumpy's Epic 10k

Today was the final race in the Sea 2 Sky trail running series so i made sure i got back from my trip in time to do this 10km trail run. It is a very grassroots event, all of the $15 entry fee goes to a local charity and the top male and female finishers each get a dozen eggs from the organizer's chickens. I think the rain and the cold kept alot of people away, but at 10am about 40 started the race. After about 100m we started up the hills, after about 20 minutes of climbing we came out on what would have been an amazing view point, but with the low clouds, all we saw was white. We continued on a ridge with a bunch of up and down, before we started the long descent. Once again, my climbing sucked but my downhill running was pretty good. Once down the backside of the climb we had about 2.5k of flat running along a slippery trail. Wet leaves mixed with mud made for an interesting finish lap around One Mile Lake. With about 200m to go, we had to jump out onto a floating dock for about 20m to get around a cliff. Each step splashed water up between the boards. Seamus Frew and Arlene Schieven took home the eggs,(no bacon was given out) and Ben Biswell took second place by 1 second over 3rd. That must have been interesting across the dock. Thaks to all of the volunteers and organizers for putting on a great series of runs.

3 Runs in 1 Day

So after a few days of shooting in bad weather, i figured i better get a run in. The elevation in Yellowstone is around 7400 feet, so it made for a good test of running at elevation for the Transrockies. I grew up in Richmond BC, which is actually below sea level, and aside from a couple of runs over the Rubble Creek trail run course, i have not really ran much at elevation. As we left the hotel, we had the sun shining down on us, but by the time we entered the park, it started raining quite heavily. We hit the turnoff for the Fountain Paint Pots, another Geyser basin in Yellowstone that we had not checked out yet. so we stopped for a quick look. I figured i might as well get a short run in and test running on the boardwalks around the geysers. The day before, all of the boardwalks around the geysers had snow on them, so they were too slippery to walk on, but without the snow they were fine. After 15 mins on running the loop and watching one Geyser erupt, I met my Mom back at the car and we continued on down the road.

We accidently passed to trailhead that I had planned to run, so we kept going until we reached the Old Faithful area. There was a 1 mile loop that climbed up over the basin to an outlook that i wanted to check out, so off i went for run number 2. Running at 7400, i did not really noticed the altitude while on the flats, but once i started up the switchbacks on the climb, i could really feel it. As i neared the top i could barely breathe, my mouth was wide open gasping for oxygen, I know my hill climbing sucks but this was crazy. Transrockies will start at a higher elevation and go up to over 12000ft, Looks like i got lots of work ahead of me. As i headed back down, i passed Solitary Geyser, which erupts every 7 minutes, so i figured i would wait to watch it blow. It had a large pool that you could get really close to. As i waited, it started to downpour again, a mix of snow and rain, so I hid under a tree, but luckily it passed quickly. Just as it stopped, the geyser started to act up. All of a sudden, a huge bubble about 6 feet wide burst out of the geyser, it reached up about 5 feet above the ground before it popped. It was cool to see but that was all it did. After that one bubble it flatten out, and that was it. I headed back down the trail and continued down past about 50 other geysers all the way to Biscuit basin, for a total of 5 miles or so.

I figured i was done at this point, but as we drove past the the original trail i planned to run, i told my Mom to pull over. Why not make it 3 runs in one day. I had hiked part of this trail years ago, it passes right by the Grand Prismatic Spring, which is an amazing pool of water with every color of the rainbow. You really need to see it from the air to get the best view point, and from this trail you can climb a hill get a better viewpoint of it. As i didn't have a camera with me, i kept running past it. The trail is 4 miles long, and quite flat, but it really takes you away from the park roads. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if any wolves were chasing me down, but luckily i did not see any more on this day. You go through an area that was hit by forest fires in the past, so you see a lot of downed trees, with many new trees growing around them, it looks like a Christmas tree farm, but it is all natural. At one point i climbed this rise above a curving river, just as the sun came out. A perfect rainbow formed just behind the S curves of the river, with golden grass on either side. I really need to pack a baby camera with me on my runs to capture these amazing sites. It would have been a perfect shot. As i got to the end of the trail, where my Mom was supposed to pick me up, she was no where to be found. So rather than stopping in the cold to wait, i just kept running down the road. About another mile later she finally showed up, she had figured i would take longer than i did. It didn't matter at all to me, as it allowed me to continue my run in one of my favorite places in the United States.

Yellowstone Nat Park

So we finally arrived in Yellowstone. Last night we saw a moose while driving into Jackson Hole, and this morning we saw 2 wolves just outside the park. Not a bad start. But as soon as we entered yellowstone, it started snowing. we also found out that 2 sections of the road were closed, which meant we would have to travel about 150km one way to get to the best wildlife viewing sections of the park each day. So instead we stuck to the geyser basin. After checking out Old faithful and a few other geysers, on the first day, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone on the next i figured i had better get a run in at elevation.


Grey Wolf outside the Park


Old Faithful


Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

What's Next?

One question every endurance athlete knows well is the dreaded "What's Next?" It usually comes in the days following completion of a major race, such as an Ironman, a marathon or an adventure race. The feelings and emotions you feel after reaching such a big goal make it all worthwhile. I remember after my first Ironman race back in 1989, i felt invincible. Everything was possible! It was a high that lasted for months. But those feeling of accomplishment are often mixed with an emptiness. You have just reached something you dreamed about each and every night for the past year, and now its gone. What's Next?

Over the past 20 years, my "What's Next?" has usually been Ironman Canada. After completing it 8 time, i was ready for something different. It had got to the point where i knew i could finish another Ironman, and while it is still a huge challenge, it didn't scare me like it used to. I needed something bigger that would make me really have to change my life in order to complete it. I was really enjoying Mountain biking and Trail running, and have always wanted to try adventure racing race, so I started looking for something there. I signed up for the Test of Metal in June of 2009 ( see previous race report) partly as a personal test. I had been thinking about entering a Mountain biking stage race, such as La Ruta de Los Conquistadores, a 4 day stage race across Costa Rica, and wanted to see how i would do at that distance. But my results at the Test of Metal told me i was not quite ready for it yet. I signed up for a few Momar Adventure races to gain experience in that field, but the bigger races all required teams of like-minded racers. While i enjoy my crazy endurance events, i am not the fastest person out there, so finding teammates of the same ability can be challenging.

Sooooooooooooo, What's Next?

I am happy to announce I have registered for the Gore-Tex TransRockies Run , a six day trail running stage race across the Rockies of Colorado. I have signed up with my friend Gabi Moeller, another like minded endurance junkie facing the same question, What's Next? While neither of us are exceptional athletes, or as she calls them, "little genetic freaks", we both enjoy a challenge, and pushing ourselves to do the best we can with what we have. It will be a lot of hard work just getting to the start line, as I will need to change a lot of bad habits to get into the best shape of my life in order to compete. But i have finally found another challenge that scares me and motivates me as much as my first Ironman did. Wish me luck, as it's a long road ahead.

Welcome to my Blog - First Post!

So after years of following other photographers and athletes blogs, I have finally gotten around to starting my own. I never really felt like i had much to blog about, but this upcoming year is gearing up to be quite exciting. With the 2010 Winter Olympics coming to my hometown of Whistler, I know that photographically i will be shooting quite a bit, and this will be a great way to share some of my imagery. As an athlete, I have some big plans for next year, (more on that later), that i think are worth documenting. And next fall I am hoping to get back to Africa again. So hopefully more that just my Mom will enjoy reading this. Please feel free to leave any comments and suggestions, and let me know what you think.

Over the past few years, i have had some events and race reports that i wanted to share, but didn't really have a forum for it, so over the next month or so, i will post them here, and backdate them to the time when they occurred so they will show up below here.

Test of Metal Race Report

Race went pretty well, Lack of any warm up as bike was in line in the 4:!5-4:30 section, Started with road riding - and up the hills - i was still sore from trail running early in the week, so i could feel it here. Tried to draft As much as possible(it's legal in MTB racing) Once we got to the single track, we got bogged down pretty quick. Stopped n the trail fr minutes at a time - then when we did move- it was easier to walk instead of ride as we didn't go very far. Once moving it felt good though. On the flats in the big ring i was feeling fast. past alice lake we had a climb and another slight uphill. Again i put it in big ring and just pushed it. passed quite a few peeple surprisingly. Once we got to the loop at the top of the course we got bogged down again. Stopped for quite a while then walked in a line for most of the loop. Then another big hill climb. Apparently you can hike up once section or ride the switch backs. and the hike is quicker, but i did not know this and rde the climb. Once on top the flowing downhill was great - not too many people around so i did not have to pass or get passed much. on down to rollercoaster and back out to the pavement. Felt strong through out - the stops and walking bits caused by the congestion helped. Crossed over to the otherside then started to feel it. Through the feed zone - then up 9 mile hill more lik 8 km but it is tough. There were a crew handing our gels just before the top of Bonk hill - had to walk up this steepest part. i am usually getting paassed on these uphills, but i pretty much held my own on most of them, then when they flattened out i hammered in the big ring an passed more people. After thetop of Bonk hill - there is a few kms of downhill double track before another big climb, not as bad as the first but still had to walk up to the watertown. another downhill section - pushing the big ring_ and over the bridge then up the final hill. it narrows down here but is still fairy long. once at the top it is all downhill from here. Pushed pretty good - big ring, but it is quite a long downhill - seems like 10 km i can be fun, but my hands and arms were really sore from breaking - finally made the turn to powerhouse plunge, hands were dead here, and it is quite a ways to the start on this trail. at least a km then once on the plunge, i pretty much walked the whole way down - road a fell short sections, but i didn't feel strong on the hands so i took it safe. Once down back through the feed zone again, i cramped up behind my left knee. Just then Andre showed up on the side and asked if i wanted a push, so i said sure, got a nice little push for 20 m or so, and this allow the cramp to subside. at the top of the feed zone, i was handed a redbull - suger free , so i drank some of that. Off into crumpit woods, tried to ride the uphill switch backs but was getting tired so i did alot of hike a bike. this is a long stretch at the end, and lots of people were walking the uphills. it seems like it is about 10km through here, but probably more like 6km. once at the top there are still a few shorter up hills, but most of it is down. Finally we come out on the road, mostly downhill, with one small hill at the bluffs, but at this point it is nearly over. cross the road at the parking lot and onto the riding trail. wide gravel, tried to push it and stay in front of the guy behind me, but he sprinted past at the last corner, and beat me.


What would you do differently?:

Train more - dont do a hill workout trail run the week before - start closer up to try to get away from the log jams. If i get passed on the road, not a big deal, but once on the trail i can keep up the speed for the first half. Practice the plunge.

05:01:00 | 67 kms | 13.36 km/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
Official race time and distance - but my computer read only 62km and 4:43 - I have heard that others only seem to get around 62 km - so i think this is more correct. As for the time. with 1000 entrants, it took about 4 minutes to get over the start line, and there were a few spots where the single track got blocked up so we were stopp on the trail for a few minutes at a time.
Wind: None
Course: Lots of uphill - single track - flowing downhill - some pavement - 9 mile hill which is a grunt, and powerhouse plunge which some say is the most technical riding they have ever done.

Oliver Half Iron Triathlon Race Report

Pre-race routine:

stayed at Lakeside resort - Basically right in the middle of the transition area. highly recommended if doing this race. Camped there. Basically woke up at 6:00am grabbed a bagel and half a bottle of powerade. walked to transition, and dropped off my gear - got numbered then went back to camp. Had a banana and some water. used camp washroom with little line up. put wetsuit on and waded into water. After back from transition, realized i forgot gatorade on bike, but figured i wouldn't drink gatorade for first 15 mins i should be fine - not a problem. Forgot race belt and good sunglasses, but was able to borrow both items -thaks to Greg and Dusan!

Event warmup:

Wetsuit on but felt tight with race jersey on underneath. so went for short swim, go fully wet, then unzipped a bit and pulled suit up higher, did not really notice the jersey again.


Swim

Comments:

Did not do much swim training this year, so my form and endurance were lacking. had a rough start, lots of banging going on. started to the left side in mid pack. Once got into rythem was ok but never really felt strong. Thought about just getting through the swim, not really pushing too hard. so that may have been a mistake. But my time was only off by 2 minutes from last year

What would you do differently?:

with more training, i should be able to swim harder, and not just get through it.


T1

Comments:

Very long transition - at least a 500m run once wetsuit was off. carrying it well running barefoot to the transition. got to bike, put helmet on, sunglasses on, realized there was nothing else to do but noticed the portapottie right there and i really had to pee, so i ducked in quickly, came out and grabbed my bike and went. Except for the long distance, it seemed really fast, i looked at my watch and was surprised. almost like i was missing something. but because, i was wearing my jersey and shorts on underneath, and did not need to put on anything else, it was fast. Got to the start line barefoot, mounted my bike, but had problems getting my shoes on.
Tried to stay in the aero position lots but felt really tight in my right hamstring, adn my achilles heel was tightening up - shooting pain if i tried to strech it. it hurt less when i sat upright, so i di more upright riding, especially with the tail wind.

What would you do differently?:

putting the shoes on was an issue. the velcro tabs were not inserted so i had to do that well riding. so i would make sure they are inserted. perhaps add a safety pin at the end to ensure they don't slip out.
Train more in the areo position, work on stretching the legs and geting more comfortable in that position.


Bike

Comments:

Once again i was undertrained for the bike. my goal was 30kmh and was pretty close.very slow on up hills. need more hill work and lose some weight. Used new areo water botle on handle bars for water. Worked pretty good. i filled it with 1L i think, and emptyed it pretty quick. Started with only water no gatorade thinking i would pick some up at first ade station(since i forgot race morning) but forgot the ade station was after about 30minutes. and right at start of big hill. So i would have rather had a half empty bottle for the hill.
with the head wind, it was hard to take any nutrition in. i tried but realized i should have waited until the tailwind section. did this on second lap. much easier. I took 1 bottle of gatorade 250cal 1 gel at 100cal and 1 package of shot blocks at 200 cal for a total of 550 cals. not what i planned

What would you do differently?:

While i set my alarm for 30 min intervals for eating - it seemed to go off at bad time so i didn't really follow it. perhaps identifying feed zones based on the wind would work. i took the bloks 2 at a time to spread them out. and having them in my jersey pocket worked well. Should have ate more, if i had anothe bottle of powerade, that would have brought my total up to 800cal.


T2

Comments:

transition was fine, except i was not really racing. i decided to sit down to put on my shoes and socks, nd probably could have gone a bit faster. i spent some time cleaning up a bit withsome water etc.

What would you do differently?:

clean up while moving out. save some time.


Run

Comments:

going in i felt strongest about my run, but had my worst split of the day. i never really hurt like last year, i just didn't feel like i had as much energy or endurance. i think i settled for just a finish rather than a race. At one point after 5km i felt pain around my ankle and started to get worried i was causeing some damage. it went away when i walked so i walked abit then felt better but it would come back once i ran. after about 2km of this, i stopped and bent over to massage it a bit, and as i reached for the area hat hurt, my hand came across the timing chip. i removed it and immediately felt better. it was rubbing and causing the pain. i put it on the other leg, higher up and was good to go.
The first few kms i was feeling cramping come on a bit so i tried a salt tablet? from the ade station. it seemed to help as i didn't get the cramps after that.

What would you do differently?:

more endurance to allow me to run father with fewer walking breaks.


Post race

Warm down:

after race i grabbed some food and drink - then wnet and stood in the lake to cool down - felt good.cafter a while i made my way over to the pool for a shower and hot tub. everyone was comparing tan/burn lines, ad i had some bad ones. i put sunscreen on, but once again missed the backs of my shoulders blades, and for the first time i had a bad g string type burn line between my shorts and jersey on the back. no sunscreen at all here. also a bit of a burn on my chest as i unzipped my jersey for most of he run to cool down. zipped it up for most of the photos though!!!


What limited your ability to perform faster:

lack of training and the mind set that i just wanted to finish - just get through it rather than race it.


Event comments:

another great race - a few comments soch as the aid stations ran out of coke and gave me soggy pretzels. but otherwise the stations were great. Awards ceremony was late and dragged on, but this was mostly due to the Race Directors wife being taken to the hospital during the race, so he was concerned with her as well as she does most of the awards stuff. so it was all understandable. I hope she is felling better, as otherwise it is a great team they make and some great races they put on. The community involvement is great, and the fundraising efforts they do to give back to the volunteers are amazing.