Results and a write-up are now posted for the Club Fat Ass hosted 16th annual Vancouver New Year’s Day Fat Ass 50 Run and Freeze Your Fat Ass Swim. Despite winter conditions (and an overall lack of sleep) 78 people showed up and 37 ran the 50K. Following is an excerpt by Ian Jackson, full results can be viewed on the Fat Ass website .
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We live in interesting times. What an interesting day it was for our little Club resolution run. We were served-up a smorgasbord of winter conditions: snow, sleet, rain, wind, ice, slush, mud, puddles, all with a little blowdown thrown in for good measure. Given that the snow was deeper than at any time during the run’s history, let’s call the 2009 run "The Year of the Big Snow."

Snowed-in driveways, icy roads and hangovers aside, a near record number of fat asses made it to the start. We had representatives from as far away as Toronto, Prince George and Vernon including an enthusiastic mob of 18 from snowed-in suburban Coquitlam. Despite the frozen pens and wet sign-in sheets, we managed to start skating down the trails of Stanley Park promptly at 9. (Hey Vernon, where were ‘ya?)

Continue reading on the Club Fat Ass website …

It’s the new year and time to plan your 2009 training and racing scheduale. In a recent posting from Trifuel.com, triathlete coach Matt Russ offers steps for athletes to plan a successful racing year. He recommends dividing races into A, B, and C races in order to plan a calendar that won’t leave you overwhelmed…

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This is an excellent time of year to consider what you would like to accomplish athletically in the upcoming New Year. As with many things, planning is the key to accomplishment for your race season.

If you are a recreational athlete and your goal is simply to complete your events, then you only need to train one aspect of fitness; endurance. This entails planning enough time to slowly build your mileage to within about 10-15% of the distance of your goal race. Note that many overuse injuries are caused by too much mileage too quickly. Do not increase your duration more than 10% per week and take at least every fourth week as a rest and recovery week. During a rest and recovery week, you should cut back your mileage by at least 25%, reduce your overall training volume, and add in an extra rest or active recovery day. If you are a runner, take a day of non-impact cross-training in place of a run.

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The latest Get Out There Report from Get Out There Magazine is avalaible online . Among other things, the report includes 2-for-1 passes to the Vancouver and Calgary Outdoor Adventure Shows, the latest news and events listings for the month of January.

Registration begins tomorrow (January 1st) for two popular 2009 BC races. These events tend to sell out very quickly so it is best to register as soon as possible….

• Mind Over Mountain Adventure Races (MOMAR) - there are two MOMARs scheduled for 2009, May 23rd in Squamish and September 26th in Cumberland. MOMAR events are very popular and have sold out quickly in the past. For more information and to register visit the MOMAR website .
• Test of Metal Mountain Bike Race - this is the largest mountain bike race in Canada with over 800 riders participating each year. General registration begins 6pm January 1st and will sell out quickly. For race and registration information visit the Test of Metal website here .

Christopher Kelsall’s latest interview is with World Mountain Running Champion Jonathan Wyatt. Originally posted on the Flotrack website , Chris has given Trainharder.com permission to post his material (to check out Chris’s other interviews with athletes visit his blog ). Thanks Chris!

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Some things that exist in this universe we accept and expect just as they are, like the daily ebb and flow of ocean tides, the changing of the seasons and the proverbial pedestals of which we mount our heroes upon.

On that point, we can all agree that Pele is the finest football player in history, Gretzky the greatest in hockey and perhaps Jordan is to basketball what Woods is to golf. In mountain running Jonathan Wyatt is the world’s greatest, there simply is no disputing this fact.

Wyatt owns 7 WMRA World Mountain Running Association Championships with 5 consecutive wins, both of which are records themselves. He holds the New Zealand record for the half marathon and has competed in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and is a 9 time IAAF Worlds participant including 3 IAAF World Track and Field Championships. Like many Kiwis before him, he is a versatile runner, who owns impressive personal bests in distances from 800m to the marathon and every distance in between.

Some requirements for running at a high level are undeniably necessary: consistent training, natural talent, running a variety of paces. Great runners of track, cross-country and road all seem to spend years developing a large aerobic base; Jonathan says, “… in my case, a large endurance base over many years has given me the strength to maintain a relatively high tempo while running uphill.”

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Getting the modivation to exercise, smack in-between Christmas and New Years, can be challenging. But there are ways in which we can be active without beging active. In other words, forget that interval workout and try going for a hike instead. For more ideas, Mark Sisson, who blogs about fitness and nutrition on his blog, The Daily Apple , suggests 10 ways to stay active during the holidays. Check out his post here .