Winter Blues

Now that I have committed to racing again it’s time to start some serious training.  I don’t get to be a “fair weather trainer” anymore, and that sucks.  That means I have to get out in some sub-zero temps to get my butt back in racing form.  Getting back into running shape isn’t fun during the best of times, it’s downright awful in the cold.  Add in some icy, muddy trails and an hour session takes a lot more out of you than it should.  I’ve also got a few tweaks in my legs from a pinched sciatic nerve suffered in late December that are sticking around longer than I would like and making the struggle that much worse.  The best I can do now is a couple of sorter slow runs a week.  Hopefully things pick up in March so I can be hitting full stride in April and get some serious Km's on my feet before my first race. 

I was hoping to get out on real ride today; it would be my first since November.  Unfortunately, we are experiencing -11C wind-chills and snow flurries.  The worst thing for me riding in the winter is cold hands and frozen feet.  I’ve almost been brought to tears on the bathroom floor as my toes unthaw from some rides in the past.  So I will stick it out inside today and try to get a decent leg workout in.  I am wishing I had an indoor trainer right now.  The 14-day trend isn’t looking too hot either, below average temperatures for 2 more weeks.  I guess I wil have to suck it up sooner or later!  On the brighter side of things, no pun intended, days are getting longer and riding after work will soon be an option.  

I’ve been logging all my training and find it really cool to see the hours add up.  I’m hoping to get my average per week up to 10-12 hours in April.  I’ve never really logged any of my training when racing before.  I’ve always went with what I felt I needed to do and what my body could handle.  Honestly I don’t think I put in half the hours of some people, but when it came time to race I was usually ready to go, feeling strong, and injury free.  However, I do know I had some weaknesses and plan to work on those a little harder this time around.

Check back soon for my next post on racing solo for the first time.  Cheers!  

Some Winter Inspiration

If you ever need a little extra motivation to get out there and train.....

It’s officially official

I registered for my first race since 2003 today!  Look for me as Team Booster Juice at the Frontier Adventure Racing – Adventure Challenge in Huntsville May 2^nd.

While racing is still a few months away, and we are still firmly entrenched in winter here there is not a whole lot going on.  I am trying to ramp up my training slowly but surely so I am ready to put in some serious miles when the weather is better.  Check the link the right “My Training Log” to see how I am progressing.  It’s a great site for logging hours, but sure is intimidating when you look at some of the hours those people are putting in!  Speaking of which, time for a little stretch before heading out in the cold for another run.  

Now, more on how this comeback came to be....

Once I decided needed to get back into some kind of race mode the next questions I had for myself was what kind of racing should I try this time?  The one thing I do know it that is wasn’t going to be Tri’s - I don’t swim and that is that!  So I thought maybe some local duathlons would be a good start, but that meant becoming a roadie and that follows a close second to swimming in my books.  Then I thought I could give mountain bike racing a try, maybe some 8 hr or 24 hr events, but I’m not a MTB racer and not sure I ever could be.  The one thing that always attracted me to adventure racing is that you didn’t have to focus on one discipline.  I’ve always said I would never be a top marathon runner, elite MTB racer or paddling champion, but add all these together, toss in a nice big section of Canadian wilderness and some serious sleep deprivation, and things can change drastically.    So in the end all those other ideas just didn’t seem to have the same allure as getting back into adventure racing.  So here I am.

I managed to find several races offering a solo category so this is what I am throwing on the potential AR schedule for 2009

May 2^nd – Frontier Adventure Racing, Adventure Challenge

August 15-16^th – Raid Pulse Endurance Stage Race

September 5^th – Logs, Rocks & Steel Multisport Race

September 26^th – Frontier Adventure Racing, Fall Classic

With limited other choices I wanted to try to fill my schedule with some other events to keep myself motivated and training hard.  I found a few 50km trail run races that intrigued me so I decided to give the idea of them a try.  Here are two that I think I may run:

The Sulphur Springs 50km Trail Run

The Creemore Vertical Challenge 50km Trail Run

I must admit that I just started getting back on my feet and running within the last two weeks.  Running is never really fun or enjoyable until you are in great shape and can hammer out the mileage.  I am far from being in that place now and will struggle though the slow painful runs in hopes things will improve.  My feet used to be one of my best assets while racing so I will see how my running plan develops over the next couple of months before I commit to trying on or two of these.

Of course this schedule could all change when my favourite race of all-time gets announced – The Raid the North Extreme (and by some miracle I manage to find a capable team and sponsorship).  RTNX is a true expedition style race that always involves significant amounts of my favourite discipline, hardcore bushwhacking!  This is the great equalizer for those of us that don’t live in the mountains, and therefore find it very difficult to compete in races involving serious mountains...and that’s just about every other big race out there.  A tough section of trekking with significant bushwhacking can put even some of the greatest racers to the test.  Luckily enough this is where we have excelled in the past resulting in many of our top finishes.

This year is the 10^th anniversary of the inaugural Raid the North Extreme and I think this would be a great place for a true comeback to the sport.

The Itch

So I have got the AR itch again and it’s pretty bad.  It all started with moving out of the Big Smoke to St. Catharines, and more importantly the Niagara Escarpment region.  Seeing the terrain, the wilderness (it’s all relative) and so many people out riding and running really got me back in the mood to be more active.  Out came the old race bike....now around 10 years old and in serious need of an overhaul, the old Schick Extreme III and PowerBar stickers barely visible under the dust.  Of course I didn’t want to ride alone so we went out and picked up a sweet ride for my wife Melissa - who has never done any mountain biking before. Now she has twice the bike as me and I am super jealous!  We got a few rides in the wet cold weather before hanging the up for the winter.  This was the start of the itch.

Like most athletes that experience success I feel you have to enjoy what you are doing.  Pushing yourself harder than you ever thought possible is hopeless unless you enjoy what you are doing....in some sort of sick and demented way.  This is why I got out of AR the first time - being 6 hours in to a 3-6 day race and wanting it to be over it no way to try to win a race.  So I called it quits.  I have to say that the desire to push myself to new limits is back, now I just have to prepare my much older (and a few pounds heavier) body to handle what my head wants to dish out.

I am way out of loop and AR it has changed quite a bit in the past 5 years.  It appears the true expedition style races are few and far between and have now been replaced by countless sprint style multiport races.  I find that sad as I believe expedition racing is adventure racing, while the others are mere imposters.  However, with that being said, I am nowhere near ready to commit the time and dollars it takes to compete in expedition races anymore.  So this time around it will more than likely be the short, sprint ARs and multisport races that will be filling my need for competition.    

The problem with these shorter races that I am not looking forward to is that they are truly fast.  I really have no idea what to expect in the way of speed for a 5-10 hour race, and I am not sure I am looking forward to finding out.  If I had the choice to choose gutting out 80-100 hours with some serious navigation or 5 hours redlining my heart rate I’d take the 100 hours every time.  Too bad I don’t have a choice this time around.

I am planning my comeback race to be the Frontier Adventure Racing – Adventure Challenge May 2^nd.  For more on the race check out http://far.on.ca/2009/Huntsville/index.php.  I will be racing this solo, another new thing to me and I must admit I am looking forward to it.  While we managed to do quite well with our teams in the past, it wasn’t without a whole lot of stress.  None of that to worry about now, it’s all on me.  Bring it on!

A Bit About Me

Following a lifetime of basketball that ended when I graduated university I decided to give adventure racing a shot – seems logical right? You can thank Mark Burnett and Eco-Challenge for that. Between 1998 and 2003 I pretty much became an adventure racing addict competing in races from 36 hours to 6 days. I raced across Canada, the US and even into Brazil and Switzerland. Highlights include multiple top finishes in Canada’s toughest race, the Raid the North Extreme, winning the Raid the North Series Championships and competing in the inaugural Discovery Channel Adventure Racing World Championships.

After 6 exhausting, stressful (but totally enjoyable) and very expensive years of racing my mind and body needed a break. That break ended in 2009 when I finally got the itch to get back into competition. This time things would be a little different, gone are the multi-day races and teams; I decided to come back and race in solo sprint style adventure and multisport races (toss in the odd trail race too) on a more local front...for now. Who knows where this next foray into things will take me.