Early in the morning on Saturday June 2nd, 2012 The Mistletoe Project will be kicking off the
“Country Grocer Run For Dreams”

VICTORIA – The Help Fill A Dream Foundation announced today that the Victoria based Mistletoe Project is embarking on an awareness/fundraising project.

Starting at 5am on Saturday June 2^nd from the Royal Oak Country Grocer and aided by a support team captained by Erin Smith this awareness/fundraising project will see Donald Peterson run to the Chase River Country Grocer in Nanaimo in one shot. Over 100 kilometers in distance and heading directly up the Trans-Canada Highway; this epic adventure will be run in support of the Help Fill A Dream Foundation to raise awareness and funds for the organization.

Peterson is no stranger to ultra-distance running; he participated in the Gobi March in 2007, ran the 24 Hour Relay solo in 2008 and completed the Coastal Challenge in 2009.  He has also participated in numerous ultra-marathons.

Smith and Peterson are being supported in this endeavor by two key local sponsors. Their race kit, all their running supplies and the barbeque at the finish line are very generously being supplied by Country Grocer. CrossFit Nanaimo will be on board at the finish line to help out and will be running CrossFit Workouts (WODS) for donations to HFAD.

“We are very proud to support Erin and Donald’s fund raising events and know that they will do all that they can to raise money and awareness for The Help Fill A Dream Foundation. Help Fill A Dream is an immediately responsive charitable foundation. We inspire hope and provide help and happiness  to Vancouver Island children under the age of 19 with life-threatening conditions by fulfilling their dreams, improving their quality of life and assisting their families with care and financial support.” said Help Fill A Dream Foundation  Executive Director, Craig Smith.

The Mistletoe Project’s online donation page can be found at: http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=16435

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Media Contacts:
The Mistletoe Project – Donald Peterson: 250-882-2694
The Mistletoe Project – Erin Smith: 250-213-7054
Help Fill A Dream – Executive Director – Craig Smith: 250-382-3135
Country Grocer – Marketing Manager – Tammy Averill: 250-708-3902
CrossFit Nanaimo – Heather Bailey: 250-327-2374/info@nanaimocrossfit.ca
CrossFit Nanaimo – Katie Weisgerber: 250-327-2374/info@nanaimocrossfit.ca

For more information on:
Help Fill A Dream visit www.helpfilladream.com
Country Grocer visit www.countrygrocer.com
CrossFit Nanaimo visit www.nanaimocrossfit.ca
The Mistletoe Project visit www.themistletoeproject.ca
Donald Peterson visit www.trainharder.com/blogs/jarhead

There are some brilliant runs lined up over the next few months, I will be heading over to Squamish for some training/mini-vacation during the Loop the Lakes weekend and then a few days after that Seegs and I will be taking two different groups of MEC Victoria staff to run the Juan de Fuca trail on back to back days, a few more days after that I’ll be taking on a charity run for HFAD running from the Country Grocer in Royal Oak to the Country Grocer in Nanaimo, and then for what comes after that run I am absolutely…

STOKED!!!

From June 13th to 17th I’m heading to the mainland to assist Seegs with a multi-day trail running camp. I’ll be helping Seegs during 5 days of running excursions on forested singletrack to high alpine mountain passes, will get the opportunity to share some knowledge and passion for trail running plus I’ll be exploring, experiencing and enjoying the trails in the Whistler-Squamish area!!!

All the details below… or head to Squamish Whistler Trail Running CAMP

It was a gorgeous day and I had a decent run. Warmed up with a 6ish km run out to the start line, ran the race and then cooled down on the 6ish km run home.  The 7km went well – got it finished in 28:06 on legs that were not exactly fresh… I had gone out with a couple of the MEC boys for a 4+ hour run on Saturday on the trails around Gowlland Tod and I’m thinking the legs are still not quite 100% recovered from Badger – they don’t have any ‘pep’.

I’m hoping that I can get them tuned up for this weekend and then see if I can’t crank out a good time at the TC10K?

Registration only $15!

Be part of MEC Victoria’s first running event at the Lochside Legwarmer 7k Run and the Lochside Monsters 1k Kids’ Race. Held on the beautiful Lochside Trail, this 7k out-and-back race will be the perfect way to start your running season.

Prizes for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in both the men’s and women’s categories, as well as an amazing assortment of door prizes.

The race starts at 9:30 am, at Lochside ELementary School, located at 1145 Royal Oak Drive, Victoria. Sign up before Friday, April 20.  Free car parking and free secure bike parking.

Route map:

http://www.runningahead.com/maps/793236ee89f44e8d96ecbae59a9601bc?unit=km

• April 13th – The Free Run 5km
• April 22nd – The MEC Lochside Legwarmer 7km
• April 25th – MEC ODP training run at East Sooke Park
• April 29th – TC10K
• May 12th – Pace Packman for 2nd half of the Elk/Beaver Ultras 50-Mile
• May 27th – Loop the Lakes 21km
• May 29th – Run the Juan de Fuca Trail w/MEC ODP Crew #1
• May 30th – Run the Juan de Fuca Trail w/MEC ODP Crew #2
• June 2nd – The Country Grocer Run for Dreams (A charity run for HFAD from Victoria to Nanaimo up the TCH)
• Sometime in June/July/August – Run the Nootka Trail w/MEC ODP Crew
• Sometime in June/July/August – Run the West Coast Trail w/MEC ODP Crew

It felt great to get it done and I am very happy with the result even though I did make a few mistakes out there which cost us some time, caused some mental and emotional aggravation and made my belly not feel very well – good lessons were learned to carry forward for the next one.

We had an amazing one man crew, Mats, who took care of us very well. He met us at all the main aid stations, made Starbucks stops for us, found a laundry mat to dry our soaked clothes, took charge  and made decisions for us (me) when we (I) weren’t sure what we (I) wanted or needed anymore and most importantly… kept us moving forward.

Other than the occasional time when Packman or I would get a little ahead of the other we ran the whole race together and I can’t think of any better way to have finished my first 100 miler. We both had some ugly rough patches out there but really helped one another through them.

I loved sharing that journey with you Brother!

Just another Saturday run

At 7:00am on Friday March 30th Packman and I will be crossing the start line of the 2012 Badger Mountain Challenge 100 Mile Endurance Run – we will have 32 hours to ‘get’er‘ done.

The website describes the trail like this:
The course consists of footpaths, multi-use trails, dirt roads, and short stretches of pavement on and around Badger Mountain. The surface is a lot of rough jeep track with some nice single track and some challenging bushwhack areas. There are a few short road sections but good aid station and crew access.  There are several steep 800′-1000′ climbs and the elevation low is around 500′ and the high is 2000′. This region is unique in that there are very few native trees so a person can see for miles in all directions and it can be very windy on the ridges. Several sustained climbs make the cumulative elevation gain near 19,000′+. The course will be well marked with flagging and reflective tape and glow sticks at night

Our one man crew, Mats, will hopefully be posting some pictures and updates to Facebook so if we are “friends” you should be able to follow along there.

http://www.facebook.com/petersondw

I’m going to be employing one of Seegs favourite tools to help me get through the BMC100… “The Pain Box” and I stumbled upon the quote below which seems quite fitting:

“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
~ Kenji Miyazawa

If you’re feeling charitable please help me support the Help Fill A Dream Foundation by making a donation through our GivingPage - http://www.canadahelps.org/gp/16435

While I am seriously looking forward to a recovery week I’m still fending off the thoughts that I should be out doing more mileage and even longer runs…  It seems like I  always feel like more, longer, faster would be better but I’m trying to be very diligent at sticking to the plan I’ve laid out.

For my recovery week I’ll dial it down a bit, the plan is to cover around 100km over six training days, and then crank it back up for the final two week build block before my taper.

Train:
After not doing any real cross training for the past few months it didn’t take long for the Integrated Stability Training program that Cam Birtwell of Podium Sports Conditioning designed for me to really awaken some of those muscles that as a runner don’t get used very often – after just a couple of sessions I was frequently cursing out loud at Cam (who was not anywhere near where I was) while working my way through the circuit – I sure hope he can at least sense my cursing!

Eat:
I’ve stuck with the low carbohydrate/low sugar nutrition plan and my weight has dropped a bit more since my last post but seems to have settled during the last week or so in around the 180lbs range.

My long run nutrition is an ongoing experiment. Once the runs started pushing the four hour range the solid low carb fuels I was using just didn’t cut it anymore.

So… while I’m still using the more solid fuels like nuts, beef/bison jerky and my homemade ‘Long Run’ cookies I’ve also started using Clif Shot Bloks for fuel again and have added some calories into my hydration as well with some pure maltodextrin mixed in with my nuun. I’ve shied away from using energy gels but I do carry a couple ‘just in case’ – they are a great instant energy source that can salvage you from a bonk.

I don’t have any verifiable evidence but it feels like my body is using the ‘sugary carb’ type fuels much more efficiently – my energy levels on long runs has been superb.

I’m embarking for my next journey of discovery on March 30th and 31st when I’ll be down in Kennewick, WA as a Challenge By Choice and Podium Sports Conditioning athlete to compete in the Badger Mountain Challenge 100 Mile Endurance Run.

As much as these ultra runs are a very personal experience I also find them a great way to give back and often leverage their “crazy” quality as a way to bring awareness and fund-raise for charities that I have a passion for – “Extreme Fitness for Charity”

As a co-founder of The Mistletoe Project this year I’ll be focusing my charitable efforts on the Help Fill A Dream Foundation and will be running the Badger Mountain Challenge in support of them.

Help Fill A Dream is an immediately responsive charitable foundation that provides hope, help and happiness for Vancouver Island children under the age of 19 with life-threatening conditions by fulfilling their dreams, improving their quality of life and assisting their families with care and financial support.

You can Help Fill A Dream… we’ve got a GivingPage set up on CanadaHelps.org where you can make an online donation:

The Mistletoe Project Helps Fill Dreams

My plan was to be very strict with it for a full month and then see how things were looking. My strict month on the ketogenic diet is coming to an end but I’m not sure I’ll be ending the ‘experiment’ on January 31st. So far my energy levels have been excellent, I’m sleeping like a baby, and with the results that I’ve seen over the last 27 days I’m feeling like I’ll stay with the stricter diet and see where my weight loss levels out at.

Some people around me are asking why I’m on a diet as they didn’t think I was ‘fat’, or even particularly overweight, before I started but as hard as I try it’s just not easy attempting explain to someone that’s not into running and/or fitness as much as I am how the weight loss will make my running more efficient and just make me healthier overall.

The results of the diet have actually shocked me. I started the diet weighing somewhere in the 215lbs to 217lbs range and this morning stepped on the scale weighing 188lbs – that’s a 27lb weight loss in 27 days…  I guess I had some excess baggage to get rid of.