First of all, sorry for the scattered posts, the blogs been a mess and I am finally caught up and liking the new template.I had to create new posts to have as the links in my menu bar, so that why you see the random entries below.I will be updating those moving forward so keep checking back to see the new pages.
So what’s new....
My Next Race
I’ll be racing the Iroquoia Trail Test 32km trail race August 22nd (that’s my birthday!).From what I have heard this is going to be a tough one.It follows sections of the Bruce trail with some very challenging terrain and a few river crossing or two, right up my alley.I’ve been trying to get my mileage on my feet back up there so I can be ready for it.It’s tough though because I can’t neglect my riding or paddling as September is a busy, busy month!
I'll get a new schedule up shortly.
New Blog - Gear Reviews!
I've had my eye on the new Salomon Speed Cross 2s for a while now, but didn’t think they were out in Canada yet.However, after chatting with a long-time AR friend and teammate (who's now a Salomon employee) I found out I was wrong and decided to head into Toronto to check out the new Salomon Store .It’s the first and only Salomon retail outlet in North America!Anyways, my friend was nice enough to say that if I dropped his name I should be entitled to a nice 25% savings on my purchase.Thanks again!...I’d say who it was but then everyone may be dropping his name trying to get a discount.
I did mange to pick up for pair of the Speed Cross 2s and to make along story short, I love this shoe!So much so that it made me want to write a review and tell everyone about it! Not that I have ever written a gear review before, but a while back I toyed with the idea of a gear review blog. The problem was I really didn't have that much new gear to review. Now that I have been back at it for a few months and racked up some good charges on my visa and made several trips to Running Free I decided it was time to get the gear reviews rolling.Check out my new blog - Multi-Sport Gear Reviews and be sure to follow along.I’ve added a review for the Nathan Trail Mix Belt I did for Running Free a while back as well as the Speed Cross 2....did I mention I love that shoe?
I've got some other news but I don’t want to make this post too long.More soon!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
2010 Schedule
Giants Rib Raid April 10 St. Catharines, ON 25Km Adventure Run
Check out some of the great footage captured by yours truely (and some other Team RaceDayRush members) this past racing season. For more videos be sure to hit www.racedayrush.com!
A shot of the team from the 2002 Raid the North Extreme - Yukon Territory made the packaging for Super Wool Socks. I didn't actually know this until this year when I picked-up these at the FAC Huntsville Race.
Other Photos from this race are also featured on the Frontier Adventure Sports and Training RTN-X Site here (See the Mountain Biking and Trekking Photos).
Article from Adventure Sports Magazine July 2003. Team Schick Extreme III featured after winning the Appalachian Extreme (Note: it's a large file so it takes a little longer than normal to load).
My Sponsors
Running Free is the best resource I've found for all my training and racing needs. I can either swing by one of their 5 locations to grab what I need, or order it online. Their service is second to none. They are also the founders of Team Running Free and support over 150 Canadian athletes as they pursue their racing goals. They also host a great forum including so you can keep up to date on the latest race and gear talk. Lastly, if you want a deal, you can save $5 off any order over $50 using my coupon here.
If you're tired of boring treadmill or spinning workouts you'll like what RaceDayRush.com has in store for you. Check out their great library of race videos from running, road cycling, mountain biking....and of course adventure racing to help you break the boredom of indoor training. Watch for their cameras at your next race in 2010.
If you are looking for some of the best eye wear for racing (..and golf, and relaxing, and just about anything else you may need glasses for) check out Rudy Project. They have an amazing line of glasses for just about every occasion. They also make some great helmets! Check out E-Rudy.com for some amazing deals going on right now!
Simon River Sports has been supporting adventure racers for over 10 years with some of the best paddles in the business. Add to that their amazing selection of kayaks for multisport racing and you have a pretty tough combination.
If this stuff is good enough for Lance, Alberto and cycling teams like BMC and Columbia/HTC I shouldn't really need to say much else....Check out their complete line of "Racing Nutrients" at www.firstendurance.com.
Sorry for the mess and changes here. I am just to find a new template with some extra features and it's not that easy! I also managed to not read some instructions fully (surprise surprise) and didn't save my old template before trying some other samples. Hopefully i can fix this relativity soon.
Well from the photo I am guessing you figured out how the race went....damn it feels good to be back in the winners circle!With almost 18 hours of driving, it was a long long weekend, but turned out to be well worth the drive.
The weekend started Friday morning, picking up the rental car for my wife and then hitting the road for the long haul to the Sault.Driving always takes longer than you think, especially with 2 lane highways and dozens of small towns that drop the speed limit to 50 on the Trans Canada Highway.A stop at the Barrie Running Free store slowed me down a little too.....guilty as charged...I can’t seem to drive by one of their stores without stopping in.If you need anything be sure to stop by one of their 5 locations or check their online store at www.runningfree.com.Don’t forget you can save $5 with my coupon code here http://tinyurl.com/jfcoupon.
I arrived at Searchmont Resort just before 6pm.After a quick hello to race director Geoff Langford and picking up my race gear I headed to our chalet to unload my car and get settled.I was feeling a bit antsy so I got geared up and decided to take a hike up the ski hill then out for a little ride on the bike to loosen up.I tried to check out a few trails around the back of the resort as I figured we would be using them during the start and/or finish.Then it was time for some dinner and watching the first mountain stage of the tour.
I was sharing the chalet with fellow solo racer and Sault Ste Marie local Jeremy Paquin.As it ends up we also met up with another competitor and my RaceDayRush “teammate” Adrian Makurat (2nd in last year's race).He was going to crash in his car but with a nasty storm approaching we all figured it would be better if he joined us inside for the night.
We were up at 6:15 or so in the morning for a quick breakfast and coffee before the maps were distributed at 7.Funny the three of us, sitting at a table, knowingly going to be gunning in out when the race starts, doing our maps together.It’s good though, the one thing about racing solo is that you don’t have a team to chat with about the maps course etc.So as solo’s it seems we are more open to working together, both before, and even during the race.The maps were confusing too....I guess there is a “topographic anomaly” that occurs exactly where we were located.Since the world is round (it really is!) and maps are flat there are some areas that are actually missing on the maps.This was one of those areas.To make it worse, the course was on the edge of two maps, and, the maps weren’t typical government issue maps; they were customized with some additional information and added color.I’m not really a big fan of that, the less trails (to get confused by) on a map the better.Needless to say plotting the points was a bit challenging and the 3 of use worked together figuring things out.
I was at a bit of a disadvantage here as well.Both of these guys raced last year, and the course covered some of the same ground and even had a few similar check points.Simple things like this make a huge difference when it’s crunch time....I would find out just how much about an hour into the race!
The race started with a “sprint” to the top of the Searchmont ski hill, then back down with a transition to bikes.Teams took many different routes up the various slopes, and some of the younger teams (kids) blasted up the hill pretty damn fast!Too fast almost as they kept on running right past the CP flagged.I was the first to punch and head back down with Jeremy right on my tail less a100m back.He transitioned a bit quicker than I did since i changed packs – I didn’t want to carry my full water bladder and SPOT in the first leg so I had another pack waiting.
Out on the bikes for about 10km or so to the next transition.Remember I was filming this for RaceDayRush.com so I had the camera mounted on my bars.As I was riding I got it going but wasn’t sure if it was recording....I didn’t fuss with it and tried to catch Jeremy.Turns out the camera was on but with it mounted on the bars it produced a very jumpy picture...we will see how it turns out soon.Anyways, about half way into the ride I caught Jeremy and we rode pretty close for the rest of the leg...but just not close enough!I passed Jeremy and punched a CP on the way to the transition that was located just across a river (they did the same river crossing last year).When I arrived at the river I saw a falls and immediately thought from the description the CP was above the falls.Stupidly, without much hesitation I head up and over the falls, crossed the river and planned on hitting a trail that lead upstream to the TA.
What followed was a complete mess and comedy of errors.After I crossed the river I jumped up the bank expecting to see a trail...no trail!So I was bushwhacking with my bike through some nasty stuff....camera still rolling on the handle bars....and getting caught on every branch and weed possible.I was getting pretty frustrated and didn’t see an end to this heading the way I was going.It’s amazing how fast things can go wrong with a stupid mistake or not thinking clearly or rushing.Anyways, I figured I went the wrong way and decided I needed to go back and downstream from where I crossed.The best way to do that was for me to head north to a road that should be leading back down to the CP.
I got to the TA with relative ease after making that decision....now for the bad news.I didn’t really know how much time I lost F’ing around, so I was interested to find out how bad I messed up.As I roll in Geoff, the race director has a good laugh......I ask the bad news.I was in about 20th out of only 25 or so teams, 25 minutes back.Not as bad as I thought it could have been.40 or so would have been my guess. So after a quick transition to my running gear I was off.
The next section involved what appeared to be a simple 'there and back' trek to a single CP about 4-5km each direction.I took off like a bat out of hell and started passing teams pretty quickly.There was a network of trails in the area to which we had a supplementary map for.It didn’t do us much good though because there are always more trials than shown on the map.I guess teams were getting confused and not having much luck finding the CP.I was surprised when after only about 20min or so I bumped into my roomies from the night before who were still heading towards the CP.Was I ever glad to see them!We chatted a bit and figured out where we needed to head to hit CP5.After a little bushwhacking we hit the trail leading to the CP, a few teams were on their way back beating us there by just a few minutes.Jeremy and I punched out passports and started the run back.We kept a pretty steady pace and were the first two racers back to the TA.After the mess I got myself in it was nice to b back in contention so quickly.
I transitioned quickly and headed out on my bike.After a few minutes I ran into Geoff who was just checking to ensure the CP flags were still in place.I think he must have done a double-take seeing me in the lead again.I waved as he drove by and kept pushing.After a couple easy CPs alone the bike route came the first advanced CP.You only need to get this if you want to do the advanced course and ensure you are ranked above other teams that don’t.The advanced CP A was located at the high-spot of a large hill on the edge of a huge cliff.Again, this CP was on last year’s race.To get there we had to navigate through a logging area and hit a logging road leading around the hill, drop our bikes and hike to the CP.As I was trying to figure out the roads in the area Jeremy and Adrian ride up.After a short discussion on my findings we decided to drop the bikes where we were and hike from there (and figure out where the road we need to find is after).
We had traveled about 20m uphill when we ran into the road in question.Good to know!Up we went, kind of hiking together, but kind of going at our own pace.I knew if I wanted to create some space between me and these guys this needed to be the time.The rest of the course left little room to make a move.I pushed hard up the hill and decided once I got the CP I would head to the closest section of road and run back to the bikes.I found the CP with no problem and bolted down the hill along a few skidder trails.I found out later that Jeremy missed the CP on his first pass and Adrian headed back the same way we took up the hill...this gave me the gap I needed!
Once on my bike I pushed hard to the TA.Finally a little downhill!!Getting to the TA first was key as making up significant time on a short paddle is pretty tough.I quickly transitioned to my paddling gear.A daunting 750m portage was waiting for me, and I wasn’t looking forward to it!Our rented boats were about 17t touring kayaks that would weight about 60lbs or so.Not the easiest to carry on your shoulder down an ATV trail.I made it about 250m before asking the camera man to stop taking pictures so I could drag the boat the rest of the way.These boats are pretty indestructible and the trail was pretty soft so I was still able to keep a good pace.
Once I started to paddle I wasn’t sure my little advantage was going to stick.I had no power, my arms were dead...I’m guessing from the 25min of dragging my bike through the bush!It was hard for me to keep a consistent pace and my legs/feet were cramping as I tried to brace and steer.To make things just that much more fun there was a wicked headwind blowing straight up the river.I almost think paddling upstream may have been faster in some places!I actually almost came to a few dead stops the wind was so strong.Needless to say the paddle wasn’t my favourite leg of this race.
The transition was a sight for sore eyes, but again the wind coming around the bend to it was the worst yet!I had to dig pretty hard just to move the last few 100m to the shore.My next challenge was to stand with my cramping legs and feet that were half asleep at this point.I managed not to fall over into the river and pulled my boat up the bank to the TA.I quickly punched my passport and off I went.I also have to thank a key volunteer who noticed I dropped my passport leaving the TA – THANK YOU!If I didn’t have that it would have all been over right then and there.
As I tried to run to the trails behind the resort and advanced CP B my back was killing me.I haven’t paddled much this summer (well just about not at all) and haven’t hit the gym as much as I should be.This was clearly evident now with my lower back screaming after only an hour or so of paddling.This will have to change before the end of August!I navigated my way through a few trails without issue and off I went to the finish line.
Damn it was a good feeling, especially after only an hour into the race I figured my chances of winning were all but over.Shortly after crossing the line I was greeted by Geoff with a nice bottle of Moet..ummm I mean Presidente sparking to celebrate.As you can see the photographers managed to get some great shots of the celebration.About 10 minutes after I finished came fellow RaceDayRush teammate Adrian finishing second overall....a 1-2 finish for Team RaceDayRush, nice!I even had a few sips of bubbly left for him.
Adrian looking classy after his 2nd place finish!
The video trailer by RaceDayRush is now up on the website here – www.racedayrush.com/train.We are trying to add a few still photos of Adrian and I in action since much of the race action wasn’t good enough to use.I guess the vibrations to the camera on the handlebars didn’t make for quality footage.Turns out the helmet cam would have been the better option, but it was busy at the 5 Peaks race at Rattlesnake Point.That video is also up on the RDR site, check it out!
Once again a special thanks to Shane at RaceDayRush and Geoff from FAST for the opportunity to get back out and racing again! Can't wait to do it again...and the next race is longer!!
Just under a week to go before I start the long drive up to Searchmont Resort north of Sault Ste Marie, ON.The last time I was there I was racing my last big race, the Eco-Challenge North American Qualifier.After starting the year racing with Canadian adventure racing legends Shick Extreme III (many of you may know them as Subaru Outback Canada from past Eco-Challenge coverage) I just didn't seem to have it anymore as the season progressed, Mentally I just wasn't there. In Searchmont we would end up racing against our former teammates and some other tough competition from Canada and the US.
We managed a 3rd place finish in what was a long, tough and mentally exhausting race.I only clearly remember two things from this race; a 160km kayaking leg along Lake Superior that ended with a night time “paddle” up a creek - it was absolutely brutal!The other thing I remember is not remembering at all....a section of the final bike leg still escapes me to this day.There are about 4 hours of that leg that were washed away with the heavy rains that night.I have no idea what happened, we were all exhausted and hallucinating in the worst way as we were trying to navigate in the pouring rain.Suddenly, we were at a trail junction and back on track.Lucky, but no fun at all!Here is a clip from the race I managed to track down on youtube.
Well, enough bad memories.I’m hoping my return to Searchmont is a much more positive experience.The terrain will be amazing and the field now has 21 teams, 5 of which are racing as solos.The solo category should be a good battle - the top two racers from last year will be returning, as well as a couple others with some decent AR experience.It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Looking back at my experience at the FAC in Huntsville there are two main things I need to concentrate on and I think I will be just fine.
Take care of myself – I didn’t eat or drink enough in the last race and it cost me in the second half of the race. I had no energy or power to finish strong. If I eat and drink as I should in this race I am sure I will be able to finish much stronger this time.
Don’t make stupid mistakes – Although I want races to be more rugged and have more off-trail navigation, this is what cost me in Huntsville. Being away from navigating for a long time, I just didn’t think clearly or pay attention to simple details on the map. This cost me almost an hour and plenty of energy I didn’t have to spare. With this in the back of my mind, I will be sure to pay more attention to route choices and navigation this coming weekend.
Now for a bit of the update on the RaceDayRush and Spot tracking mentioned earlier.It turns out the RDR helmet cam won’t be available for the race as it’s headed to a different event.I am not totally upset about this as my tiny head and bike helmets don’t work well together; add a camera and I may have lost my mind!Instead, I will have a nice wide angle HD camera mounted on the stem of my bike.This should get some great footage and eliminate the need for me to carry extra weight in my pack.I’m just hoping there aren’t any long hike-a-bike sections, as I am sure this set-up will be a bit awkward and not so light.Here is a shot of the set-up.
The Spot tracking in coming along and will be tracking myself along with one other solo racer.I will be sure to update you when I know how to follow the race.We have some programmers standing by to plot the finalized race course on the maps so you know where were going as you track us.There will also be on going updates via twitter, through Frontier, and I think they will let us have phones in the transition areas to tweet if we so feel like it.
I’m looking forward to get back to adventure racing and the filming and Spot tracking should make this race pretty cool.Overall, I’m feel much stronger than I was in May so let’s see if all my training can pay off and get me a victory..no ties this time!
