Transrockies Stage 2 - 13.5 miles

Stage 2 of the Transrockies run was the one i was most looking forward to. Not because it was the shortest, even though they changed it from 10 miles up to 13.5miles, but because it went over Hope Pass at 12600 ft in elevation and i had never been that high before. This is the same pass that the runners in the Leadville 100 mile run go over twice. I almost never made it to the sarting line however.

Last night was a difficult night, i over hydrated so i had to get up 3 times throughout the night to use the outhouses. Unfortunately my shin/calf was so sore, it made it very difficult to sleep. Every time i got up, it was a challenge just to walk 100m, how was i ever going to run 22km in the morning. My thoughts that night ranged from there is no way i can run to i will start but might only make the first 3 km before the climb starts, to just see how it goes. At breakfast this morning i ran in to a couple i shared a table with the previous night and they asked me how the shin was and i told them how i felt. Immediately this woman at the next table got up and told me to sit down. She was one of the massage thereapists and she proceeded to give me a 10 minute massage right there at the breakfast table. Talk about service! It was hard to eat as she was digging deep into my flesh, but by the time she was finished i did feel a bit better.

We caught shuttle busses to the start which was about 20 miles from camp up a long dirt road. With 30 minutes to start and nothing to do, i decided to wait in the long outhouse lineup. I fugured i would have to go by the time i got to the front and sure enough the timing was perfect. Being the highest stage of the race, the organizers had a gear check to ensure everyone had a warm hat, jacket, space blanket and gloves. Once this was done we were off. The first 2 km or so was along the flat gravel road. My shin was still sore but i was able to hobble thru. They had an aid station right at the start of the climb, so i filled up on a few gummy bears and some gu and was off. the first few hundred meters or so was nice, through the forest and no climbing whatsoever, but once it hit it was relentless. While i am sure the frontrunners were running most o the way, back where i was we all settled into a long train of power hikers moving up the hill. We had about 4km in total to climb around 3600ft, and the first few kms were all in the forest. While i cold still feel my shin it was actually felling much better than i expected. I figured if it was ok on the climb the downhill would kill me, we shall see.





Once above the tree line the views were amazing. You could see runners way up ahead climbing the switchbacks all the way to the top. I really wanted to shoot a bunch of photos but abut halfway up my camera battery died $#@$#@$! Luckily i met up with 2 girls Beth and Michelle who seemed not too concerned with their time as they were stopped at a switch back shooting photos of each other, i offered to take a few for them and asked if they would take some of me as well which they did. Hopefully once they email them i can post these as well. While i am sure the elevation was a major factor in the climbing speed we were achieving. I never really felt the high altitude in any noticeable way. The climb felt just as tough as the grouse grind did back during the Summer solstice marathon last month. Luckily the weather held off. We were warned about the chance of lighting might cause us to be turned around before reaching the summit. It did get cold however. i had to put in my nice new Goretex windstopper jacket. Finally at the summit, there were a bunch of teams shooting picture of each other, i tried my camera again but no luck so i waited a few minutes for Beth and Michelle to arrive and was able to get a few more shots with them.

Once we started the downhill, i felt pretty good. From the top you could see a bunch of lakes laid out infront of you. The next aid station was by the first lake about 300 ft in elevation below. The trail here was mostly runable, but you didn't want to fall as you would tumble quite a ways. Surprisingly, running down, i could not feel the effects of the altitude at all, and the best part was my shin was not acting up either, the only pain i felt was from the fatigue of 45km of running in the past 24 hrs. They had told us before to only take what we needed at this second aid station as they had bring everything up by packmule. So when i arrived i only took a bit of water, but did not refill my backpack. Unfortunately this would come to haunt me later. As i continued downhill i was still feeling good, and was able to put Munny's downhill run training to good use. I was able to pass a bunch of people and nobody passed me. Once below the tree line, the trail really reminded me of home. The trees and roots were just like Whistler, in fact it felt like a very long descent down something like the flank trail. of all the different types of trail we had run so far this was the most like Whistler trails.

As i bottomed out on the decent we still had another 7km or so along the lake side to the finish. This was the extra distance they added on to bypass some swampy River crossings. I guess if i was felling better it would have been a nice addition, but by the time i had reached the bottom i was out of water. They really needed an aid station here. It was mostly flat with a few short climbs and went through some spectacular meadows. At one point we went through an old ghost town, that was once a resort on the lakeside. With about 2km left to go i was forced to walk most of the way as i was completely out of water, and feeling very exhausted. I kept looking over my should to see if any solo competitors were gaining on me but i really did not have anything left to give if they did. I was passed by most of the teams i passed on the decent, but made it across the finish line in around 4hrs20min. As soon as i crossed the line i bent over and could barely move. Cynthia from Goretex was there as she is at every finish to welcome the runners and hand you some water but i could not say anything when i took the water and sat down. I don't think i have felt like this after a race in a long time. I gave it all i had that day, and was happy to have finished.

After the race i had to catch a shuttle into leadville where we were camped that night, then find a way back to arrowhead to get my car. All of this took about 2 hours and i just made it back in time for my massage appointment. 30 Minutes with Val and i was feeling much better, but my shin was still quite sore. I was limping much more than the day before but i think i was getting used to the pain. I decided to get dinner on my own that night, and showed up at the awards at atound 6pm, All of the athletes were given a nice blanket from one of the sponsors, but unfortunately by the time i arrived they had ran out. I will make sure i am at dinner at 5pm tomorrow. After the awards i ha found out we had an offer on my house that is for sale so i had to find somewhere to print off the document and sign it and fax back. I spent the next few hours trying to deal this with and was luckily able to get it all completed thanks to the help of a few local businesses in Leadville.

Tommorrow is the longest stage, 24 miles with another 300ft of climbing. We shall see how my leg holds up.

Transrockies Stage 1 - 21 miles

So after about 8 months of dreaming about this race, it is finally here. I camped last night in the same campground that we are returning to tonight, so i did not have to move my tent. We got picked up at the gate at around 6:45 for the 10 minute trip to Buena Vista. They put out a great spread for breakfast but i was pretty happy with my standard race morning bagel and gatorade. The start was right down Main street, and they had closed off the entire street. I am sure for such a small town we were quite the sight. music was blaring and everyone was taking photos in front of the start banner, i took me three tries of getting someone to shoot me before i got a halfway decent photo.

As 9am approached we were given some last minute race instructions and the countdown began. Like i usually do when starting an Ironman i got a little choked up. but once the gun went off, it was go time. We had about a half mile roll out on pavement through town. they wanted to control the speed until we got over the Arkansas River as it had a narrow bridge, but once we crossed it the race was on. However starting near the back of the pack, we quickly got bunched up going up through the single track. This allowed me to catch my breath a bit as we walked many of the first sections of the climb due to the packing. After about 3 km we came out on a wider road and were able to spread out a bit more.

The heat and the elevation were starting to hit me pretty quick so i took a couple short walking breaks as we climbed the road. Just then i hear someone coming up behind me and he comments about my North Face backpack. I look over my shoulder and it is none other than Dean Karnzes. Ultra running legend and author of several books. His book 50 marathons in 50 days was the first book i read after signing up for this event, and here i am running shoulder to shoulder with him. Immediately all sense of fatigue left me. He was running with a different partner every day. His partners chosen via a contest Gortex had put on. From his book, i know he often enjoyed conversing with fellow runners during the race, and this was no exception. for almost 2 miles we ran together talking about racing and running stories. He is a great ambassador to the sport. After those 2 miles i was in need of another break so i thanked him and slowed down. needless to say that gave me a big boost in energy. Throughout the rest of the day i leaped frogged back and forth with him as he ran with his partner of the day.


The route for the first stage consisted of 3 aid stations, the first one at about 12km at the highest elevation for the day. On reaching the aid station, they had a full spread of all you could dream of. i picked up a few gels. grabbed some water and headed out. the next section was mostly downhill and i was surprised by how many people i was able to pass here. Good thing i didn't have Gabi tagging along to slow me down!!! ( Just kidding Gabi) The only downside to this downhill was the trail itself. It was basically an ATV trail so it was nice and wide, but it was very uneven. the sides each curved up and it was very difficult to find some flat footing. Kinda like running down a mini halfpipe. Also, the trail was mostly sand, so you had to constantly look for the firmest footing, at times you were sinking in a couple inches of sand like running on a beach.

I was feeling good for this middle section, but it was starting to heat up. I think it reached about 90'C and at 9000ft that can feel quite hot. At this point we were starting to spread out a bit so i put my ipod on and it was a saving grace. i was starting to feel exhausted from the heat and the elevation so my mind was wandering a bit, but on the ipod i had a Robin Williams comedy concert. nothing like a little laughter to cheer you up. the only problem was that when ever nobody heard me laughing out loud, they thought i was delirious or something.

The final 3 miles was along a very slight uphill grade, but with the heat this section was some oh the toughest. at one point i passed a fellow racer lying down on the side of the road, we offered to help but he said he was ok, just resting. but he did not look to good. Shortly after we past a first aid guy and told him about it. about 20 minutes later we saw him get carted away to the finish. The heat will do that.

Finally the finish came into view. i crossed n around 4hrs 40 minutes to place 21st in the mens division of the TR3. i grab some drinks at the finish line then headed down to the creek to soak the legs. I usually hate the cold water but this sure felt good. After a shuttle back to the camp and a quick shower i was able to get a nice massage. they charge $1 per minute which is quite reasonable. Unfortunately my super tight shins were really sore, and the massage therapist said she would like to really loosen in up but i would not be abe to walk the next day, so we made arrangements to do this after my third stage. At the awards ceremony they gave out a pair of Windstopper gloves to every body as well as all the top 3 in each category received a pair of Solomon Shoes and some other prizes. in all i think they gave away about 30 pairs of shoes, along with a bunch of other stuff.

After the awards, they showed a video, part of which is linked here, you can see me crossing the bridge at about 1:18. We all then had to climb the super steep hill up to the tent area when i hit the sack around 9pm. 5AM wake up call tomorrow. WIsh me luck.

Bryce Canyon ~TR-4

After Leaving Las Vegas, i traveled through Zion National park, which was quite spectacular and i will definitely stop on my way back, but i really wanted to make it to Bryce Canyon. At 8000ft in elevation, It would give me a great chance to get a higher elevation run in. Unfortunately it was cloudy that night so that eliminated my shooting that night. But i did get up early before sunrise (yes i was up at 4:45am for those that know me!) and was able to capture this footage. View at 720p for best video.



After shooting, and some breakfast, i geared up for a run through the canyon. If you have never been to Bryce Canyon, you have to put it on your list. The views are spectacular every where you look, and as you get down amongst the hoodoos, there is a surprise around every corner. I tried to run but kept having to stop to shoot so photos and video with my baby camera. ( My regular camera is a Nikon D3, and with my lenses, my backpack weights about 30lbs. But my Baby camera is a point and shoot waterproof crush proof camera that i take with me on my runs.) A few corners i literally was stopped in my tracks with the views. A few other corners i was stopped by horseback tours. The peakaboo trail is a 10km loop at the bottom of the canyon, and is accesible by horse back, so twice i was forced to the edge of the trail to let them pass, but otherwise this made for some amazing albiet hilly trail running.

Iron Knee Race Report

I was reminded of the start of the 2003 Hawaiian Ironman Race as i began the Run the North Shore's Iron Knee trail race last Sunday. Back in 2003, i happened to be in Hawaii the week of the race, so naturally i had to go watch the race live. Just as they started the countdown to the swim start, a pod of dolphins surfaced about 50 meters in front of the athletes. It was almost as if they were there to lead out the triathletes, appearing as if by magic. It could not have been choreographed any better.
Well, this past weekend, as the 500 athletes began the 22km trail run from Grouse mountain to Deep Cove, we were greeted a chorus of wolf howls as we did a lap of the Grouse Mountain parking lot to help spread out the field. The wolf pack live in captivity at the base of the skyride. I had seen them before but never had i heard them all howling together. The race was barely 15 seconds old and already i wanted to stop to enjoy the moment.

Of course there was no stopping, we had about 2 km of wide trail before we reached the single track. Unfortunately my HR monitor was picking up stray signals, as it was reading 230 bpm. So i just had to go on how i felt. Once we trail narrowed, we had some climbing to do. It was hard to pass in this section, so i just focused on trying to maintain my position. The trail was quite wet but my shoes seemed to provide the necessary traction for all of the bridge crossings and stairs we crossed. After about 5.5 km the first descent began, and for the next 8km it was almost all downhill. I had spent some time on the North shore but had never really traveled these trails much, so i was amazed at how much terrain there is here. After about 3.5 km , we eventually came out at Lynn Canyon and i expected the big hill climb of the day was about to begin, but instead it was another 2.8 km of flat running followed by another few km of descent. Finally at 12.3 km the Big climb began. I normally dread the hill climbs and this one was no different except for the fact that a team of volunteers from the Mountain Madness Running group had decorated the entire climb with inspirational signs. Every 10 feet or so they had a sheet of paper on the side of the trail with a racers name and either a joke or comment, or something funny to take your mind of the climb. I must say it sure helped. as we rounded a bend and saw the aid station i asked a fellow runner and we figured we were maybe half way up. but once we hit the aid station we were at the top. And what an aid station. They had everything you could possibly want. including a chocolate cake. and of course they had to carry it all up the same hill we just climbed.

Once at the top it was almost all downhill. I had run this downhill section back to the finish as part of a club fat ass event i did in December, so i knew my way back from here. But when i ran it in december there was snow patching on it. This time with all of the rain, it was like running down a creek bed. The amount of water flowing down the trail was crazy. there was no point trying anymore to step around the puddles as it was everywhere. THis however did not take away from the fun. As we reached deep cove, you could hear the Race announcer in the distance, so you knew you were near. but apparently sound can travel pretty far. we still had 2km to go, and the last 2 km has a whole bunch of up and down over a bunch of stairs.

In the end my time was about 2hr 41 min. not the fastest time, but i was not disappointed with it. It is a good eyeopener for the rest of the season as i have a trail marathon in 3 weeks over much of the same trails, and i know i need to really focus on my hill climbing.

Thanks to all the great volunteers and all the athletes out on the course.

Happy News Years!

So after catching up with some old friends in the city on New years eve. I took the starting line to my first ever Ultra Marathon. It was the Club Fat Ass 50km. I had my eye on this race for a few years and thought this would be a good year to give it a shot. I was not really ready to run the whole 50 km's but i thought i would see how far i could get. I have run a total of 9 marathons in my life, my first one was over 20 years ago, and all of the others have been as part of an Ironman race, so it is a bit different. (IE includes alot of walking.) And here i was lining up to run even farther, in the middle of winter no less. And for all of you out there that think i am crazy, one guy decided he wanted to run it twice for a total of 100km.

My plan was to have my Mom meet me at the half way point, and if i felt ok i would keep going. The route Started in Stanley park, basically following the seawall, but on trails up above the cliffs. It was interesting as i had never ran these trails. Once out of the park, it followed the seawall to burrard street bridge, then back down to the ocean, and followed the coast all the way to UBC. Here it followed the trails out to 41st and Camoson, where it turned around and went back the same way. The weather was wet and cold. It was about 6C and rained the entire time. On the way out everyone was trying to dodge the puddles but on the way back in it didn't really matter much. After my first 10km, i pretty much knew i was not going to make the whole 50km, so i thought 30 km would be a good run to bring in the new year. I figured i could turn around at 15km, make it back to the finish, and watch the winners come in. After a quick call to my Mom to let her know i was not going to make it to see her,(Thanks anyways Mom!) I made it all the way to Spanish Banks, and when the course took off into the trails of the endowment lands, i turned around. While on the way out there were a few people to run with, (a total of 106 started the race) but on the way back there was nobody. The rain still poured, the wind picked up at the top of the Bridge, but i was still enjoying my run. I made it back to the start just over 32km in around 3hr 40min. Not the fastest time, but it was the longest i had run outside of an ironman in 20 years, so i was happy. It really made me appreciate how good shape most of these trail runners are in.

The winner of the race was Dave Papineau. he set a new course record of around 3hr 50 mins. Dave and i lived at the old Kappa Sigma Fraternity house together back in our UBC days. I had not seen Dave for quite some time, but back when i knew him, i was the skinny fast guy and he was the big rugby player. My how times have changes. He told me how only a few years ago he got more serious about his running, and now he is winning races.

So maybe there is hope for me after all. 2010 is the year for me to get much more serious with my training. While i don't expect to win any races this year, i hope to do complete and compete in several big races. Next up... the Diez Vista 50km race on April 10th. This time i will be ready for the whole 50km.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.