Average Adventure Addict

The last week has seen me run around like a chicken with no head - it has been insane. And, to boot, I was sick. Still, I got out for a couple of short (under 5km) jogs around my house but definately nothing to be proud of! Trail time: minimal. Couch time: huge. Oh well, kinda served me right running around at mach 3 trying to do everything and be everything. By Friday I was feeling tons better and was stoked to be able to honor my promise to volunteer at Day 0 of BC Bike Race in Shawnigan Lake. It was awesome to go back to Shawnigan (just moved from there in January so I do miss it sometimes!) and especially on a hot, sunny day.

I’ve got to admit, there was more to my volunteering than just the desire to be useful. I wanted to see how this race was run, to see if it really is worth the $2000 per person. At first glance, this event was totally worth it. After volunteering for 8 hrs, it was still worth every penny. The free swag would totally make it for me! For over an hour we packed 450 awesome wheelie Dakine luggage with custom white Synchros bars, boxes of protein bars, multi tools, TONS of clothing and treats! Right from the time I got there to the time I left, everyone had a big smile on their face. There was staff for everything and nothing was left undone.

After helping with set up we were given a killer bagged lunch (delicious cookies!) and started to organize the main check-in area. Kathy, the woman I was working under, was simply amazing, unflappable and highly organized. I would take part in any event this woman organized! There were a few very minor gliches but she handled everything with a big sincere smile on her face and honestly wanted all racers and non-racers to have the best time ever. One of the best things about the day was people watching. There were racers from all backgrounds and all ages: from super fit 25 year old pros to my favorite, a couple in their late 60’s who had only been mountain biking a short while. I’m cheering for them! So, the long and the short of it is, aside from the price tag, I want to do this race with Kitt next year!

In preparation for the race nest year, we went for our first single track ride of the year yesterday afternoon at Hartland in the searing heat. My skills are just shy of non-existant (I am missing this pair of male anatomy that makes mountain biking so much easier!) so Kitt was extremely patient with me (as always) and laid out a sweet little figure 8 track for me to ride over and over again till I mastered it. The first lap some of the obstacles looked gigantic and scared the crap out of me, but on the 2nd lap I could bump through them, and the 4th time was fine. After about 8 laps I felt confident enough to try everything at as much speed as I could manage, and VOILA, I am still alive to talk about it! After we mastered if frontwards, it was time to try it in reverse. I think the worst part was riding the loop backwards and seeing how tiny the obstacles really were and I felt rather foolish. I guess that’s how we learn though eh? My biggest joy was bumping over enough rocks and roots and struggling up rock faces to gain the confidence to not rip my feet out of my clipless pedals when it got a little hairy. I had a nasty crash 2 years ago because I did just that and landed with my left leg straight. Word of advice: Don’t do it!! Overall a great day, but I think I am still rehydrating!

Whoever and wherever you are Cooper, I am NOT a fan of your test! If you dont know the test that I am referring to, the Cooper’s Test is:
- a timed 1.5 mile run
- timed 50 meter sprint
- as many pushups as you can do in a minute
- as many situps in a minute
- bench press your own body weight
- standing jump (distance counts!)

I originally ran this test 5 months ago so I’ve had some time to train to improve my results before I ran it again yesterday.

ORIGINAL vs YESTERDAY’S
1.5 mile run: 11min 55 sec vs 10 min 55 sec
50m sprint: 8.4 sec vs 8.47 sec
bench press 145lbs: 0 vs 0
pull-ups: 0 vs 2 (very hard won too I must add!)
situps in 1 min: 47 vs 56
pushups in 1 min: 36 vs 50
standing jump: 152cm vs 180cm

Overall a big improvement! The best part about taking the test again was the HUGE difference in the run and that’s what I am most proud of. Last time I felt like I was red-lining it the whole 12 minutes and I hurt for a few days after. This time I felt comfortably uncomfortable (that works right?) the whole time. I actually thought I was going super slow and my time was around 15 minutes, so I was astounded to find out at the finish line that I had taken a whole minute off and recovered super quickly.

The days leading up to the test were some of my best anaerobic training to date.
MONDAY - rest day
TUESDAY - 2nd rest day (2 super early days for work and feeling a little run down)
WEDNESDAY - warm up, 4 sets of 50m of stair sprints, cool down, w/ Rosheen, total time of 25 minutes and super hard!
THURSDAY - (worked all night so had to run on treadmill at 2am) 15 min warm up (at 5 mph) and 3 sets of varied flat sprints: 30 sec at 9mph, 60 sec at 5.5mph, 30 sec at 10 mph, 60 sec at 5.5mph, 30 sec at 10.5 mph. Then 15 min jog cool down at 5.5 mph, 15 min walk/hike at 3.8 mph
FRIDAY - 40 min easy spin on Lochside trail on my mtn bike then rest
SATURDAY - Coopers Test
SUNDAY (Today!) - on the books: easy 10km run around Elk and Beaver Lake w/ Danielle and Rosheen

Now the countdown is on for the Shawnigan MOMAR! A little over a month away and training is hitting critical - sweet!!

Is summer really here? 4 days of sunshine in a row must be a new record! Yesterday was picture perfect conditions for the annual Victoria Firefighter Trail Race at Elk/Beaver Lake. The field was small, about 45 runners, but the energy was high and the prizes were AWESOME! It was about as good as you could get: local venue, inexpensive race fee ($18 without T shirt), free post race food and tons of great prizes! Everyone who raced got a prize (ranged from Frontrunners swag bags with jerseys or new shoes to gift cards for Blue Fox and The Keg) and my gift card to the Keg did not last more than about 6 hours… I need to do more races like this!

The morning started at 0830 with Danielle and Rosheen coming over to our house for juice and a muffin, (or in my case, turkey bacon as well!) After some food in our tummies, we made our way over to the start line at the Beaver Lake parking lot. Kitt was volunteering, us chickies were warming up. The kids 1km race was so cute (except for the one poor kid who got lost and ended up running a 10km lap instead!) Our race started shortly after with the route going counter clockwise and took a turn right into the hilly side trails before settling out onto the normal track at the lake’s edge by the boathouse. Poor Danielle, she’d never been around Elk Lake before (or done a 10km for that matter!) and I had promised her up and down that it was going to be pancake flat! I think she’s forgiven me though. As usual, Rosheen was off with the front pack and Danielle and I made our way in the middle. The first 4 km hurt (as it always seems to lately!) but soon we realized we were actually exceeding our goal of 5:20/km and keeping a 5 min/km pace (for us that’s fast!) and thought we could hang onto it for a while. Initially this was supposed to be a training run for me so I could pace Danielle on her first longer trail race but she was game and it became a race. The shady parts of the trail were the perfect temperature but the sunny sections were brutally hot! It was good incentive to finish as fast as possible and jump into the giant sprinkler they had set up at the finish line.

We played tag with another woman from km 5 to 8 but then passed her and tried to reel in another couple that stayed about 50m out of our reach till the end. In the last kilometer we found Rosheen running back to see us and then we knew we were close. Danielle (she’s gonna be a great runner and I am so proud of her!) and I stepped it up and managed to run hard for 500 m, sprint the last 100m to the line. Danielle and I crossed it together and then walked right into the glorious sprinkler!

Finish time? 56 min 15 sec for roughly 11 km. Not too bad!! 10 months ago my fastest 5km averaged 5:20/km and I was gutted when I finished. This time I was roughly 5:10/km, felt solid, maybe could have even done it a little faster, recovered super quick and felt like I could have done another slow lap. It’s all one step forward! I ran up the observatory on Saturday morning with Rosheen and felt nice and solid the whole way up. Much to my astonishment it took me 12 minutes - my fastest ever in 2006 was 14:30. I LOVE this getting fitter thing!!

Next on the race list? Mt Doug Gutbuster short course on Sunday July 6th!

*sigh* It’s true, I loath snakes! I seem to be fine with them when we are in pet stores or I see someone holding one, but when I’m running or riding and I come across them - plug your ears! There are only 2 times you’ll ever hear me squeal like a little girl: when I step on/ride over a snake or the time I was bit by a tiny terratorial reef fish that looked Dorey in Hawaii this past January.

Yesterday morning was our first big MOMAR oriented brick workout of the year and it started with Danielle, Rosheen and I leaving my house at 0830 in the warm sunshine headed to Mt Doug Park. It was the perfect opportunity for me to try out my new Salomon pack (LOVE it because you zip into it like a vest and have easy access pockets in the front for food and other necessities!) for an extended period of time and so far the review is: perfect! It fit like a piece of clothing with more than enough room for any and everything needed for a sprint AR. Anyways, we hit the trails from the Blenkinsop Rd side and started a wicked single track ascent into the sun. 40 minutes later, sweaty and grinning from ear to ear, we exited and headed for home.

We said good bye to Danielle and Rosheen and I hopped on our bikes for a spin out to Sidney on the Lochside Trail. As we approached Mt Newton X Rd the trail took a more rural turn with grass crowding it and branches across the path. I looked down in case I got a stick thru the spokes and started to make notes: stick, big stick, stick, snake, stick.. Aahhh!!! As I rolled over it the snake made a lunge at my foot and I gave a gargled scream and tore both of my feet out of my pedals and stuck them out to either side. Passings cyclists gave me the weirdest looks, but at least my feet were safe from the tiny garden snake that could possible try and touch my foot! Once we were about 50 feet past the ‘incident area’ it was safe for me to clip back in and the ride continued, my heart rate a little higher than it should have been for our speed.

Rosheen keeps a killer pace so before I knew it we were turning around (I kept a close eye on the ground in front of me when we passed thru snake land again!) and headed to Matticks Farm for a mid-ride caffine and fuel break. Soup and raspberry Italian soda down the hatch, rain jacket on (was getting very very chilly!) it was a nice easy spin back home. Rosheen and I said good bye at my driveway and it was straight into the shower to warm up! I spent the rest of the afternoon sipping a big mug of tea, watching favorite Brit-comms, checking under the couch for slithery things and napping. Aside from the snake? A perfect day!

Every year I make a list of athletic events that I would like to do. I think it’s pretty normal; it helps me focus and helps me fill up my daytimer so I look busy. The difference with this year? I’m actually knocking them all off and am injury free! (knock on wood)

2008 List:

April - Royal Roads Gutbuster, TC 10Km
May - Tzouhalem Gutbuster
June - Firefighter 10Km
July - Mt Doug Gutbuster, Shawnigan MOMAR
August - my wedding : )
September - Cumberland MOMAR
October - Shawnigan Lake 1/2 Marathon

2009 WISHLIST:

-All MOMARS (I am determined to try and win my catagory at least once in my lifetime!)
-All Gutbusters
-Race the Rockies Adventure race (will be my first 24hr race, gonna try a longer distance on for size!)
-Kusam Klimb
-Canadian Death Race Ultra
-Gearjammer Mountain Bike race
-Yeti snowshoe race
-Mill Bay 10Km

2010 WISHLIST:

-All MOMARS (really now, it’s all about the KILLER after party! It’s addictive!)
-All Gutbusters (they are just so accessible here on the island and so much fun!)
-Marathon des Sables (hence the reason for all the preplanning! Danielle and I intend to go in really really well prepared! the training has already started!)

I am always on the lookout for fun and crazy events to drag my sister to so this list will definately get longer! Sorry Danielle, just remember: you thought is was fun after we finished and ate some food!!