2009 Fitness Goals

I've been rather timid announcing any athletic goals for 2009. After my injury streak from last year, I didn't want to jinx my training with any lofty aspirations...

But, I guess I should put my plans for 2009 down, it's so easy to loose track:

Goal #1: Vancouver New Years Day Fat Ass 50km, ideally beating my time from 2008 (please note, because of the adverse conditions we will experience for this event, I will give myself credit for partial completion)

Goal #2: Marathon under 4h. I would like to find a spring or fall marathon somewhere less than 1h drive from Vancouver.

Goal # 3: Increase my running pace. Speed workouts 1x a week

Goal # 4: Participating in following other events/races:

• Squamish Scrambler Snowshoe Run
• Capilano Canyon MardiGras Night Run
• Mountain Highway Madness (2 laps)
• XTC 50K
• Bill's Great Peak Ascent
• Capilano Canyon Midsummer Nite Night Run
• Go Deep or Go Home
• Sunshine in September
• M&M's
• Pure Satisfaction

Goal # 5: weight training in the gym 2x a week

A Tight Dilemma

Don't you love running during the balmy days of spring, summer or even those crisp, sunny days of fall?

Unfortunately, it's monsoon season on the wet coast. It's also getting cold. With a heavy heart, I have tucked my shorts into the back of the closet. Problem is, I don't like running in tights. I don't like the restrictive feeling and the heaviness when they get wet.

Well, the tights have been out for a while now and got some good miles in during the CFA fall events I was able to participate in. Poor Arthur got the brunt of my rant on my "old" tights during the M + M Fun Run. It was raining on and off and the fabric got so heavy, it stuck to my quads and drove me to distraction.

Now, I have to come clean here: my tights are a men's size S. As my running buddy, Caroline, pointed out, "What do you expect, they are men's tights". I bought them a few years ago at the MEC (I am a MEC kinda girl for most of my outdoor gear). All their women's tights were flared and I didn't even give them a glance - who wants wide cut pants for trail running? The men's S seemed to fit. They are what they call mid weight and they are great on dry days...but when it rains, they just get heavy and since the fabric doesn't have much stretch they feel restrictive. My old pair needed some repairs and last Christmas I got a back-up, this time in men's M. Again, they are great dry, but when wet they are even worse than the small ones, as they get so heavy, they slide off my hips.

Browsing through the MEC Fall/Winter catalogue, I noticed a pair of women's tights, midweight and narrow cut. Had MEC clued in (when I bought the men's S they were down to the last pair, probably not because a bunch of small men purchased them). Unfortunately, when I looked at them at the store and tried them on, they were not what I was looking for in a pair of tights for running in our wet, but mild winters. They were rather thick (better suited for snowshoe running) and the legs in both the L and M sizes were way to long on my average height frame. Reluctantly, I turned my attention to the wider cut styles and ended up buying a very nice looking pair of Dash Pants. The product info praises them as a great garment for those who aren't fond of tights (yeah, right) but want quick-drying mobility for warm-ups and running.

So far so good. I like the fit. They are not terribly low cut and have a wide, flat waist band with a inconspicuous drawstring cord. The cord needs to be tied together or a toggle as it disappears in the waist band during washing, but that's a minor nuisance. I expected the wider cut legs to be annoying and not very practical on the trails, but surprise, I actually like them and they haven't snagged on anything yet. I like the material. They are made of 100% polyester, in, as MEC puts it, a comfy flat face knit. Looks quite flattering, falls nicely and has a bit of stretch. It's also not too heavy, flimsy, shiny or slippery. Only beef I have so far, is that the fabric gets slightly clingy when you get sweaty. I like the extras. There are two flat, low-profile pockets and an internal mesh key pocket. I like the workmanship. When buying MEC gear I have come to expect good quality, and these pants so far are no exceptions. The seams don't look like they are going to come apart during washing. Speaking about washing... these pants are fast drying. Very convenient.

It remains to be seen how they perform on a long wet and muddy run. So far, I only wore them for shorter runs and the gym. I guess that's what they were designed for...hence the name - Dash pants

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.