Run For Your Life

Run for your life:

Go Home, Where Else Would I Go...?

Well, uphill for one...The first part of the Go Home course winds it's way from sleepy Deep Cove at sealevel up to the Lookout Parking Lot off Mt. Seymour Road. A calf busting climb on the best of days.

I had started with the hope to be able to hang on to the slower ladies, but had to let them go once we reached Indian Arm Rd. I've been training a lot and have worked on my speed, but lately, there just isn't any "umph" in those legs.

The trails were beautiful. Bright yellow mushrooms sprouted in a few spots and gurgling creeks and clear waterfalls greeted me behind every corner. Kept my mind off the fact, that I would be arriving alone, wet and tired in back in Deep Cove with no car and no ride...Hm! Couldn't keep my mind off that one for long. I pondered running most of the course, but turning towards Lynn Canyon once back on the BP and calling my ride from there - if I would get stuck there, at least I would know which bus would get me home before freezing to death. Thought about running the whole course and dropping in on a good friend in Deep Cove while waiting for my ride. Nothing really appealed to me as the rain was falling harder and colder. My brand new test Club Fat Ass Wear technical shirt (boy do I like that new fabric) kept me cozy, but at the historic mushroom parking lot I decided to cut back to the BP in the hope of running into some of the faster runners. Bingo! After a nasty slow motion tumble on a downhill stretch I first greeted Ann, then Curb, then Dom and Cheryl. Things weren't as lonely anymore. Running down into Deep Cove a whole group of Fat Asses passed me on light feet.

After fuelling up at Honey's with mudrunner and Penny we headed home. That hot shower never felt that good.

Buy Nothing Day

Hey, that's an easy one! Buy Nothing Day. Who wants to be stuck in a stuffy store, Christmas tunes jingling in the background, cranky people whacking their shopping carts into you, stressed cashiers trying to be friendly (or trying hard not to be snarly). Go for a run during lunch or after work instead.

The Chili Dilemma (continued)

I went to shop for some of my chili ingredients today. Jackson accepted my challenge to concoct his own "authentic" chili. He found a rattlesnake meat supplier, but the rattlesnake got stopped at the border. I am not kidding. Instead of rattlesnake I got beef for Jackson, not the ground kind...apparently he is chopping the meat up to desired bite size pieces.

I had studied the lore of chili's over the last couple of days and went shopping with the thought in mind that I am going to create an "authentic" chili (no beans no ground meat) but use my bastard recipe (beans and ground meat) as a base to work from. Just before the checkout, I realized that I don't really give a darn about authenticity when it comes to chili. Sorry, Texans! Who gives you the right to claim the yummy chili as your own, exclude beans and ground meat? Back went the chunk of beef and with determination I paid for the ground beef.

Really, you chili snobs, what it comes down to is the taste...I have my secret ingredients at the ready. Let the battle of the chili's begin.

Oh, one last word. With all this purist talk about Texan chili's, I fear we are scaring off the vegans and vegetarian. Please do not feel intimidated and bring your vegetarian chili version before the judge. It's the taste that counts. Rules are there to be broken ;-)

Club Fat Ass Wear - A Sneak Preview

Excitement is in the air. I got my hands on the first mock-up ClubFatAssWear shirts. Vanessa has been busily designing the pattern, running the fabric and mock shirts through the oven at the screener, calculating shrinkage and driving patterns and fabric to and fro.

Today she dropped off a men's and a women's test shirt. I am wearing mine right now. The material feels luxurious, very soft. If you have read the newsletter, you'll know that the shirts are made from a environmentally friendly, non-toxic, anti-microbial material called Chitosante. So far, I am thrilled with the look and feel!

I love the colour...uh uh...this is secret territory. We have not disclosed the colours yet. We'll probably go for different colours for men and women's shirts, just because I was told men don't wear ... (oops, can't say more!).

Ean and I will be "testing" the shirts over the next few days for functionality and fit. I'll take mine for a run tomorrow. Ean will place particular emphasis on the no stink feature - so far so good. I'll run them through the washer and then test again.

The ClubFatAssWear shirts will be a very special edition and only available for members on record 1 January 2008 (that's when the order goes in). To make sure you'll get yours don't forget to register or renew your Club Fat Ass membership before the end of the year. As a special incentive to sign-up early, we will enter everybody registered by 1 November in a draw for a refund of their membership dues. Don't miss out!

Saturday Morning Runs

I can’t remember how many years Pat and I have been running together on Saturday mornings. It probably started with a marathon clinic after my son Erik was born 7 years ago.

The clinic day and time didn’t fit our schedules. Pat attends mass Sunday mornings and I would like to have my run done and over with by 10:00am to be able to spend the day with my family. The clinic was Sunday morning at 9:00am… needless to say, after the 18 week clinic and finishing the marathon (Pat’s first and my first AC - after children) we started meeting on our own terms, usually Saturday morning, as early as possible, depending on the daylight hours, the distance we were training for and our general energy level.
Locations vary. First we’d alternate between Stanley Park, Pacific Spirit Park, Southland and the beaches. Eventually, my family moved to the North Vancouver and now it seems we almost exclusively run on the rugged trails of the North Shore mountains.

Pat and I are slow runners. We have done a number of marathons and a few ultras, but we are end of the pack slowpokes taking in the scenery, stopping to look at a woodpecker, an owl, wildflowers, the rushing waters below a canyon bridge, helping lost hikers, collecting trash…you get the picture. Our runs are relaxing, no stress, no pressure. If one of us has a bad day, the other sticks with her and adjust the pace. We are however religious in keeping our planned runs. If we plan a run, you can count on us being there. Torrential rains, snow, ice, no sleep - it doesn’t matter. We are committed!

Over the years, I invited other slowpokes along. Often, they join us a few times, sometimes folks express the desire to run with us, but in the end other commitments get in the way and it is just Pat and I again.

Today, was an exceptional day. I had invited a new Club Fat Ass member, who felt she hadn’t trained enough to come out to our events. I also had mentioned time, distance and start location to my neighbour and another friend. It is always an open invitation to join Pat and me on our slow, peaceful runs and today 5 of us showed up to do the Night Run course. Definitely a record in numbers.

The morning dawned misty and moist, but the forecasted rain never materialized. The trails in Capilano Canyon were magical, fog hanging between the trees, rays of sunlight fighting their way through the canopy of the rain forest, coloured leaves floating down to the forest floor. The air smelled earthy and fresh.

The Night Run course is my favoured run, both for its distance and terrain. From my house it cuts west through residential neighborhoods and green ways to hook up with Capilano Park. Capilano Canyon always changes. Today, the water from the heavy rain we had a couple of days ago, was rushing over the rocks, making it difficult for the spawning salmon to fight their way up river. The trails parallels the canyon for a few kilometers, undulating, but steadily loosing altitude and eventually descending to the river bank. Down here the water flows quieter, slower. The river is wide and will empty into Burrard Inlet just a couple of km further south. My route, however, veers eastward, hooks up with another trail system and eventually follows Mosquito Creek north back to my house. A perfect loop for a perfect run and for perfect company on the trails today. I hope Pat, Michelle, Gabi and Louise enjoyed it as much as I did.

Want to join us? The invitation is always open.

My first blog Post

Finally being pushed over the edge and decided to start blogging. No idea what this will turn into and if I am going to keep it up…really no time for self centered posts…and not that philosophically inclined to write meaningful things about the mundane we encounter everyday. So, lets just wait and see where this will take us