Foolish Gerbil 6 Hour Run

Running in circles is not necessarily my kind of thing, but when the motley Fools posted the Flash Foolish Gerbil 6 Hour run, proposing a 10km loop 6h run in Pacific Spirit Park, it fit nicely into my plans to run a longish stretch on the Vancouver New Year's Day 50 course. Others seemed to think along the same line, as pre-event saw a flurry of online activity: Rick posted a map, old timers mused about the opportunity and newbies committed to join us for a loop or two.

The morning dawned crisp and clear, with amazing views of orange glowing Mount Baker on the eastern horizon as I was making my way over Lions Gate Bridge to the start in Pacific Spirit Park. Surprisingly, I was met by a large group of keener's already assembling at the park center... and I thought I could snooze a bit in the warm car before setting out. It was great to see so many new faces brave enough to join some more or less serious gerbils.

After greeting everybody and making sure we all had maps and course descriptions, Karl sent us off on the trails, with Gilles bringing in the rear, offering to stay with the slowest runner to make sure nobody got lost on the first loop. This was a kind offer, but not many took the opportunity and soon the group stretched out, everybody falling into their own pace in several little groups.

I headed out with Lorraine and Claudia, soon realizing that the pace was to brisk for me to maintain on a long run. But the conversation and company was good and I hung on until the quasi turnaround on Marine Drive and Camosun St. where Arthur caught up to us and I decided to slow down a bit. The last time I ran that route was during the Vancouver New Year's Day Fat Ass 50, when utterly undertrained, the slight incline up Salish trail seemed like Mount Everest. I was pleasantly surprised, how gentle the ascent appeared during the Foolish Gerbil. Connecting back to Salish trail proved difficult for the majority of runners unfamiliar with the route and not having taken up Gilles' kind offer, a number of them put in some extra distance. Arthur kept me on track, though, and after a little stretch running with Karl and John, we finished the first loop in just over an hour.

The second loop started at the same - way to fast for me - pace with Claudia and Jennifer, one of the new Fat Asses. After not getting lost the first time around, we somehow managed to include a little detour together with John. No harm done, though, and we soon were able to pick up the correct trail again. Approaching the powerline, I had to say good bye to my running buddies and knew that I wouldn't head out for a third loop, as my quads and calves were starting to tighten up.

I finished the the second loop in 2:16. Happy with my run and pace, I saw the Fools leaving for their 3rd loop and waited for Lorraine, Cynnimon, Rhonda et al to finish their run.

Hoping for a repeat plus one on December 6th during the Foolish Gerbil 12 hour run. See you there.

Talk about a weird run!

I had the weirdest run this afternoon.

It all started harmless enough. The sun was shining and I made the decision to go for a longer loop through Capilano Canyon, down Cap Pacific, along Bowser, MacKay Creek and then back home via Mosquito Creek. A modified Night Run loop with a few twists and turns thrown in to get my distance up. There were lots of people on the trails including a lost Japanese tourist, a semi lost group with small children, other Fat Asses (Paul, Action Jackson and Penny) and then the weird ones...

I was minding my own business, when coming around a corner on the CP, I passed two guys...one happily peeing against a tree. Walking distance to the next washroom maybe 1km. Come on guys. How urgent can it be??? And if it is urgent, is it too much to ask to scramble off the trail a bit to get out of sight?

Just as I was getting over the first incident, I come across the second guy also relieving himself. This time, I am out of the trails on an urban road, close to Maring Drive...we are talking busy here. There probably were about 10 store/restaurant locations within spitting (maybe I should say peeing) distance were one could have asked to use the facilities. Heck, there even is a public washroom in the adjacent park.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me - I usually do carry it around on my runs and I promise that I will take a photo of the next guy I see peeing in public on our busy urban trails. I bet there is a Flickr group just waiting for my submissions.

By now I am on the last 2km of my run. It's past lunchtime and my gut is growling. Eager to get home, I am shuffling up Mosquito Creek. A black shape hanging of a branch beside the trail catches my attention. It looks like a squirrel...no wait, it looks like a squirrel hung up by its hind legs, um, it looks like the fur of a skinned squirrel hung upside down by its hind legs.

I am not faint of heart and rather curious by nature. Debating who would detest squirrels so much to go to the trouble to catch and skin one...Action Jackson? Just kidding! I get closer to the black thing and start thinking that maybe I should start feeling sick...Well, what I saw was a squirrel alright, but it was alive and well and jumped away when I was so close I could have touched it with my outstretched hand (it was still looking rather weird and motionless).

I've seen a lot of squirrels trying a lot of antics (have you ever seen them trying to get to the food in a so called squirrel proofed bird feeder?), but I have never seen a squirrel hanging motionless, upside down in a tree. I swear it was napping ;-)

Next time I will bring my camera along for sure.

Second Annual T/J Chili Cook Off

For Action Jackson's 50th last year we organized the Nifty 50 Triathlon as a Club Fat Ass event. The third discipline was a chili cook off at our house - it was so much fun, that we decided to make it an annual event in a smaller setting.

Last night saw a group of friends and chili aficionados arrive in our kitchen, chili pots in their arms, tortillas, lime, cornbread and beer at the ready. Because of timing and space constraints we asked that all participants have their chili ready to be reheated. Electric Crockpots work great and my chili has been bubbling away since the night before.

Unlike last year, when we had 14 chili's and an even greater number of appetizers, side dishes and deserts - and ended up too stuffed to taste everything, we had 7 chili's and decided that we would taste the chili's one after the other. The rules were easy enough: Each taster scored each chili on it's own merrit on a scale from 1-10. 10 being the best score.

It's amazing how different the chili's all turned out. All were yummy, but my favorite was Rick's Hot'n Smokey Chili:

Hot'n Smokey Chili

2 lbs beef chuck, cut in 1/4" to 1/2" cubes
1 lbs pork shoulder, cut in 1/4" to 1/2" cubes

Marinade:
1 "star" star anise
1 - 3/4" to 1" long stick of cinnamon bark
1 dried chipotle pepper

1 tall tin Guinness beer
2 tablespoons Japanese sweet mirin
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
5-6 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 - 1" cubes fresh ginger root, finely grated
zest of one large naval orange, just get the surface rind, as little of the white pith below as possible
juice of one large naval orange
2 large fresh orange habanero peppers, finely minced
2 green onions, finely sliced
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander

Grind first three ingredients to fine powder with mortar & pestle.
Mix all marinade ingredients in large glass bowl and marinate meat in refrigerator for a few hours.

Chili:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 large sweet onion (like Walla-walla or Maui), chopped
Marinated meat, see above
Reserved marinade
1/2 cup Guinness beer

1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
4 large roasted sweet red peppers, peeled, seeds removed and pureed
2 tablespoons unsweetened dark chocolate, grated
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 tablespoons dark molasses
2 tablespoons chipotle-raspberry barbeque sauce
Sea salt and ground chipotle pepper to taste.

Fresh lime and chopped cilantro to garnish

Saute onion in cooking oil on medium heat in large cast iron skillet. Transfer to large dutch oven or non-stick pot when cooked to transluscent. Drain off marinade into large pot with onion and set to medium heat.

In same skillet, increase heat to medium-high and brown meat in small batches so to truly brown meat. (too much meat at once reduces skillet heat with liquid and "steams" the meat rather than browning it) Tranfer each batch of browned meat to the large pot as it is done. Work fast and in small batches to keep bottom of skillet from getting too burnt. When all meat has been browned and put into large pot, deglaze the hot skillet with Guinness, scraping bottom of skillet well. Pour liquid into large pot with meat.

Add remaining ingredients to large pot with meat and marinade. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to bubbling simmer. Partly cover with lid to keep temperature up but allow liquid to boil off and chili to thicken. Stir and taste occasionally. Add salt to taste. Add ground chipotle pepper to increase heat a little at a time, if a spicier chili is desired. This chili seems to start out quite bitter tasting, getting sweeter as it cooks. Simmer for about 3 hours until very thick and dark. Meat should be very tender and chili almost thick enough to stand a wooden spoon in.

Serve hot with a squeeze of fresh lime and sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro.

Rick tied for first place with Glenn's Bin 666.

The Cool North Shore

As some of you know Club Fat Ass had environmental friendliness on our schedule long before it was in the news. It's a good thing that sustainability is now part of our vocabulary and hopefully soon part of all our actions.

I realized how much of an early adopter of environmentally friendly living I was when I was invited by my neighbor JoAN to participate in the Cool North Shore.

Many of us know that climate change threatens the future health of the planet, our community and the future we’re leaving for our children. Figuring out how to respond to these concerns can be overwhelming and confusing. A diverse group of North Shore citizens called Legacy North Shore Society (), has decided we can do something powerful NOW to tackle climate change and work together to make a real difference.

They adapted the stimulating, simple and effective Low Carbon Diet model created by the Empowerment Institute (which has been used in hundreds of communities and organizations across the world) for the North Shore. They are partnering with local governments and BC Hydro to spread this across the entire North Shore over the coming year. This is a ground‐breaking opportunity for citizens and neighborhoods to make a concrete and satisfying difference on the North Shore.

Cool North Shore (which is part of Legacy North Shore) is all about building a low carbon community by engaging North Shore residents and organizations in taking action to measurably reduce our CO2 emissions.

Our first meeting was a couple of weeks ago. We were asked to come as a team. JoAn, who has been involved with Legacy North Shore, invited our neighborhood to form a team. Sandra, Heather (an almost around the corner neighbor) and myself responded. We carpooled to the Bella Candela restaurant, whose owner sponsored the evening (good pizza and salad, btw.) and settled down. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Soon after David, Bryan and Charles introduced themselves and the idea behind Cool North Shore, we were asked to switch tables. Oops, I thought I was operating in the safety of a team... After intros we were asked to reflect on our fears with regards to our environment. The tables were covered in blank sheets of paper and we jotted down our thoughts. Another switch, intros and more brainstorming on fears. After the next switch we were asked to look at our hopes. Luckily, my table mates were very hopeful that the increased visibility of the environmental issues facing us would translate into action and change on a personal, community and political level. I sometimes have my doubts...Another switch saw us looking at what we have done on a personal level to reduce our carbon foot print.

During the last part of the evening, we rejoined our original teams and were asked to plan ahead following a plan of action laid out by the Cool North Shore folks and the "Low Carbon Diet" publication. We committed to an immediate personal action. Mine is to reduce my weekly clothes dryer loads by setting up a clothesline. The other action items were in preparation for a team meeting that we scheduled among the 4 of us: Using the Low Carbon Diet booklet set a carbon reduction goal in pounds (the book was published in the US). Complete the carbon calculator at: and read chapters 1-16.

We were all pretty psyched at the end of the evening. I shall report in with further updates on Cool the North Shore and my personal action items. For now, I challenge you to take the carbon calculator at www.earthlab.com and ponder how you personally can reduce your carbon footprint.

Lastly, one of the next steps for our teams is to look at personal household reductions and then at involving our neighborhood and the community...I figure with Club Fat Ass I have a outdoor oriented, attentive community at my fingertips: if you are interested to participate in Cool North Shore, please let me know. They arranged a second meeting (like the one I attended) To register, please send your name and names of your fellow attendees (North Shore residents only), with their emails, by October 13 to: bryang@sfu.ca. Space is limited to 50 people (overflow will go to an early 2009 session).

The Omnivores Hundred

Check out this http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/

Here is what I've eaten from that list:

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results (this is were this

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
x 23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
x 35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
x 49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
x 55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
x 63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
x 66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (who can be sure ;-)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
x 76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (who can be sure...)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Python Man - or Duathlon Fat Ass style in Germany

Because of a sudden and persistent Achilles Tendon injury I have not been able to run for the last 2 month. Have gingerly tested the waters a few times, but since I did not want to make this another chronic injury, I did not push very hard (not difficult to do as it feels like the tendon is going to tear when I am running more than 10m).

This injury did not fit well into my plans of running lots in the wonderful beech forests in Germany during my summer visit. I tried to get not to frustrated and managed to get out on a mountain bike a fair bit. The plan also was to participate in the Phyton Man, a CFA style Duathlon consisting of 1.8km run - 14km mountain bike - 1.8km run. A few weeks ago I figured that I surely would be able to run 3.6km by then...well Phyton Man was held yesterday and I am still not able to run. Here is my report:

I heard about Phyton Man last year, when our friends from Falkenbach, Germany, visited us in Vancouver for a week. It sounded a lot like a CFA event, complete with colourful characters and a party to round things off. When I received an invite to this year's Phyton Man and realized the date coincided with my visit in Germany I committed to participate.

The start details arrived by email, but were a bit sketchy, as several different start time were circulating. Turns out, the organizers wanted to make sure that everybody arrived in time (unlike the previous year) and therefore "faked" an earlier start time. Needless to say, my sister, my husband and I arrived via a 15km bike ride, well in time. Opportunity to catch up with our friends, Armin, an accomplished Triathlete (turned Cyclist because of busted knees) and Andrea, also a long time Triathlete. We learned where the name originated...something about milking a Phyton - don't ask. Despite her snake phobia, Andrea had donned fake phyton skin shorts and Armin sported a boa around his belly.

The hosts had organized cake and coffee for before the start and the whole thing seemed quite relaxed, despite some pretty chiseled looking bodies showing up. The boxes of bottled Franziskaner Wheat Bear under a table on the porch indicated a long party after the event.

At 15:00h sharp the neighborhood boy - Falkenbach is a village of about 200 and Phyton Man seems to be the social event of the year - sent us off by banging a garbage can shut and waving a German flag. Armin had assured me, that he would walk together with me since he cannot run anymore...well, the competitive spirit must have gotten the better of him. I saw him sprinting away and soon found myself at my customary spot at the end of the pack. The road led steep uphill out of the village into rolling meadows and fruit orchards. A brief dogleg allowed me to see everybody briefly again, before they left me in the dust for good. I limped-ran my way to the transition zone and figured that I could close in on Andrea during the bike ride. Down a steep 2km road stretch and then onto a forest road, known as Lahn Hoehenweg. I "learned" running on that path a mere 36 years ago ;-). It contours the Lahn Valley and winds it's way steadily upwards through dense beech forest for about 5km.

My hopes to catch up to Andrea did not materialize. Her bike skills were better than her running. I pedalled for all my might trying not to brush the stinging nettle plants lining the path, but by the time I reached transition again, some participants were already finished with the second run leg. Off I went on a lonely walk to complete what I had started out to do. The opportunity to turn around earlier appeared for a split second, but I wasn't sure if the German Phyton Man rules allowed for custom courses like Club Fat Ass events. Everybody greeted me at the finish line before fleeing a sudden rain shower and congregating under a tent in Armin and Andrea's back yard.

Husband and sister had done well, in case your wonder. Old Back in Action Jackson was still nursing his half severed toe (read his KK blog to find out what happened) and I had fixed him up with a beater bike with hopes I could catch him ;-) Despite the handicap he toughed it out and finished way in front of me. Sis, also rides a beater bike, but her faster run securely put her into second last position.

The post event party beat all my expectations. More cake and coffee, bionade (a new fashion drink, surely to hit North America next year) and an awesome BBQ of Pork steaks and German sausages, accompanied by potluck dishes we had brought along. Only hiccup was the weather, which changed from hot to stormy and wet and the fact that I had mistakenly poured myself an alcohol free wheat beer (another new fashion - not sure if it will catch in North America, though). The evening was rounded of with live music by the local bluegrass band Foxchase. Photo are here.

Oatmeal Granola Bars

These are great granola bars to take along hiking. I vary the type of nuts and dried fruits I add:

2/3 cup (150 mL) butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) packed brown sugar (less is fine too)
1 egg
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) rolled oats
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dried apricots (or prunes, figs, etc)
1/2 cup (125 mL)chopped almonds (or walnuts, peanuts, etc)
1/2 cup (125 mL) dried cranberries
1/2 cup (125 mL) sweetened shredded coconut

Preparation: Grease small baking sheet. In large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together rolled oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and stir in apricots, almonds, cranberries (prunes work well too) and coconut. Fold into butter mixture. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake in centre of 180 C oven for 30 minutes. (165 C convection) Let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Cut into bars. Keeps in container or saran wrap for a week.

I think I originally saw this in a Canadian Living magazine.