First WC Race of the Year!

This morning I got up earlier than normal to watch the men's 15km cross-country skiing skate event in Beitostoelen, Norway. Even at 5:30am, the body's cob webs quickly disappeared, energized by a steady stream of caffeine, and the excitement of the year's first World Cup.

No matter how ready you are, everybody's nerves get stretched for the first big test of the year - The athletes, the techs, the coaches and sponsors, all want a great performance right off the bat, to set the stage for a very important season...

I watched in anticipation as the Norwegian TV focused on the main players...The home team's superstars (Norwegians of course), Germans, Russians...and then, a glimpse of Kershaw at the start, a mention of Babikov as the camera zooms on him rounding a corner...As the race progresses, the only means of seeing how our boys were doing was to catch a quick glimpse of the results board at the bottom of the screen. As a racer approved an intermediate time split, his position was updated on the fly... Babikov's name appeared momentarily...a 19th position at the 6.4km mark...I slowly shake my head...not exactly what I (he) was hoping for. He would eventually finish 28th on the day +1:00 back of the Norwegian biathlete Hafsaad. Not bad, but not great.

Ivan Babikov was my star skier back in the X-C.com days - He joined my program in 2003 and I continued to support him for 4 years. He finally became a Canadian citizen in December 2007 which allowed him to graduate to the National Ski Team Program.

The race has barely finished and I'm firing tweets and texts to the techs and to the Salomon Racing Service team...I want to know more... How did he feel? How were the skis? What was the track like? It's funny when I think about this after the fact

I find it important to stay on top of news bites like this as it gives me fuel to provide back to the Nordic Team here in Canada. The info I collect will usually go back in the forms of a newsletter to retailers across the Country, or simply to other racers that ski on the same product. Good or bad, information is everything - and the more you have, the more you can learn from it, and use it to better the brand.

Despite the so-so start, I'm excited about the first race results. The season has started, and we are on the way...It only gets better from here! In February, I'll get my chance to be on the front lines and catch the action first hand as part of the Salomon Racing Service Team - working for the boys to ensure that they get the best boards possible...I can't wait.

Back to Business

Back on the grid...

There's never a good time for me to leave to go on vacation, so I simply have to take the time. Although I wish this trip could have lasted 6 months, it's nice to be back home to feel the cool mountain air. Sitting here drinking my cup of coffee, catching up on the bazillion emails that I either dismissed or put off until now, it's nice to reflect on a great 2 weeks down South.

Of the many highlights, here's a quick recap...

One fun wedding (no, not mine), over a 1,000kms travelled in a mini-van, tons of early mornings at great surf spots, releasing about 100 turtles to their new home, new amigos from around the world, lots of huevos mexicana, a few bottles of tequila consumed, lazy afternoons on the hammock, 3 more books off the shelf and countless laughs with great friends!


One of the many cabanas we stayed at - beachfront property for $10/night!

Joined some of the locals to release a few sea turtles - pretty funny watching all the kids get into it.

Normally we deal with the 'presence' of sharks in the water...this was the first time that I have ever been near crocs - a bit of a sketchy feeling...

Last evening in Troncones - A classic shot in front of Luis' cabana where I've spent tons of time looking out to sea...

Training: Adverse Weather

Tonight's run could have been categorized as miserable for some...It was cold, windy and the rain/sleet mix didn't help either. Sure I was a little cold, but instead of whining about it, or turning around, I just used added a few more hills and cranked up the pace - Turned out to be a super fun workout!

In 2001, Nike forked out a bit pocket change to make a movie of Lance Armstrong in his bid to win his 3rd Tour de France...The Road to Paris. If you haven't seen it, take the time, and watch it (regardless of what you think of Lance). There are some pretty cool insights into the world of racing.

One of the scenes that stuck with me was in the clip above - if you fast forward to the 7 to 8min mark - you catch up with Lance as he heads back down the hill for another 10km (down, and back up) of riding in nasty weather...Johan says: "That's what it takes to win the Tour".

For whatever reason, I find myself repeating this saying every time I train in shitty weather. "This is what it takes to win the Tour"... I usually follow that up with a big grin...

Get out there...

7 Summits: "Uphill Both Ways"

Uphill both ways...no joke!

Every once in a while I feel the urge to head out on a bit of a road trip. Although I do spend a lot of time on the road, this is different, because I get to choose where to go!

A few phone calls later and my plan was taking place...I would head SW to Rossland, BC and run the 7 Summits trail with Chris - After that, who knew...but most likely West and look for trouble...

Within a matter of hours, I was packed and ready to go. First stop: Rossland, BC.


The 7 Summits Trail has been on my 'must run' list for quite some time...Lile most thing, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. After an easy morning catching up with work, Chris and I planned out our strategy (not!) and headed up the road toward Nancy Green Pass where the 7 Summits Trail starts. Chris had obviously run (and biked) this trail quite a few times (since he lives there...) so I figured he'd let me know if I was ill prepared. I figured we'd be out there about 3+ hrs so I loaded up my 900ml water belt a few Honeystinger chews, some Sharkies and off we went. Despite knowing that it was going to be a hot one, this was the only hydration system I had anyways...besides, Chris had a 2L vestpack on - so I could poach off him if necessary (ha!).

Ill prepared or not, we set off at a good pace...

From Nancy Green Pass, you run up for a good 7km or so...a long steady grind that teases you with quick glimpses of amazing vistas. Eventually, you pop out on top of the ridge and that's where the fun begins - Wow!

Going up! Chris coming up the trail from Nancy Green Pass

Awesome single-track - great views of the 7 summits (and more) that you skirt around, including Old Glory (right)

A few stretch stops along the way to soak in the 'hippy moments' and gets the kinks out - of course!


The open ridge was super fun to run on - providing spectacular views of the surrounding mountain ranges

At about the 3/4 mark, both Chris and I were completely out of water - Go figure! With no creeks running at this time of the year, the only water available was in Rossland - which teased us by showing itself in between the peaks - far below down in the valley. But out of nowhere appeared this 'bucket' of fresh water, which was being filled by a natural stream through a long white PVC pipe coming straight out of the mountain - perfect timing - we couldn't have asked for anything better!


This water source appeared out of nowhere - There we were on top of a ridge and water was coming out of the mountain - 'They' must have known that we were suffering and getting a bit dry!

Moments later, Rob, our shuttle driver appeared from over the ridge - he had run up the trail backwards to join us for the latter part of the run back to his car. With refreshed bodies, full tanks of water, and a long fun downhill ahead of us, we cruised on...

Cruisin' down the final single-track descent to our shuttle pickup...Done and done!

The final downhill was wicked fun and came none too soon. Had the water not been there, I have no doubt that we would have made it down safely and without incident, but we certainly wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves in this final bit as much as we did. Chris and I raced down the hill, testing our legs and agility on the very technical descent all the way down near the border town of Paterson, well below Rossland - so much fun.

And that was it - An amazing 31km ridge run in around 3h15min - fantastic. Aside from the final descent, there was no shortage of climbing on this trail - giving the feeling of having climbed for a good 3/4 portion of this trail, yet we actually finished lower in altitude than our start up at Nancy Green Pass. The drive back however, was all uphill so if you were ever to complete the circuit (which I'm told a few mountain bikers have done), you could expect the loop to be mostly uphill...both ways.

The B.U.T.T Project - Revisited

Snow in the mountains this morning...Not quite sure how I feel about that just yet.

With TransRockies behind me and the trail running season coming to a close, it's now time to start thinking about winter and plan for the upcoming cross-country skiing season. With the Olympics just around the corner, it's going to be a nutty winter...

Although my mind may be thinking ahead, my body is still in trail running mode, and after a few weeks break to recover from TRR, I've been thinking of a few 'small' running projects that I'd like to tackle before the snow finally arrives.

Fall running in the mountains is amazing - definitely my favorite of the seasons. Last year, my partner in crime was (Head injury) Bob, who was trying to finish his book - Mountain Running in the Canadian Rockies. I'm not sure how many days we spent tracking mountain trails in the high alpine but every single one of them was a mind blowing adventure. With Bob's book completed and about to hit the street...I'm feeling a bit of 'Bob' withdrawal.

The final kilometres leading into Mt Assiniboine Lodge during a run with Bob last fall - a little chilly on this particular day...

About a month ago, a few of the local trail runners got together to tackle a fun project: the B.U.T.T (also check out these photos/reports from Mike). If you're familiar with the Rockies, you'll be able to picture this run (see above map for reference - thanks Mike!). This crew spread the fun over 5 days, running the route in this order:

Day 1: Galatea (parking lot on Hwy 40) to Buller (parking lot on Smith-Dorien hwy)

Day 2: Mt Shark to Assiniboine Lodge

Day 3: Assiniboine Lodge to Sunshine Parking lot

Day 4: Sunshine to Hawk Creek (via Healy pass, Whistling pass and Ball pass)

Day 5: Rockwall Trail - Floe Lake (parking hwy 93 South) to Paint Pots (near Marble Canyon)

This is a massive run, covering over 170km with something like 11 passes over 2,000m. With lots of terrain, and full on wilderness, it has 'adventure' written all over it.

So the big goal will be to revisit the B.U.T.T project, and cover the terrain in 2 days! I'm a little nervous at the daily distance, but very (very) excited...

Over the next week(s), I'm going to re-familiarize myself with a few of the sections to get an accurate time breakdown so I can plan my food/energy accordingly. Off the top of my head, I figure the route can be broken down into 2X 10-12hr days, not an easy feet considering I've never run more than 9hrs straight (Mt Shark to Sunshine Parking via Assiniboine - 65km - last year with Bob) - yikes! Weather will be another concern to keep in mind as the light snow on the mountains this morning reminds me that time is ticking...

So that's the plan, I've got a bit of running to do to get up to speed, but feeling confident I can get it done - But regardless of the outcome, I'm definitely going to enjoy my time in the mountains and soak in some amazing scenery before the snow flies for good.

Anyone up for an adventure?

The Next Chapter

I'm procrastinating again...

I'm staring at the 09/10 booking totals for nordic - I have to make sense of these figures, translate it in plain english and then put it all in an 'colourful' Power Point presentation for the sales meeting next week...sigh. I'd rather be running.

I thought that another coffee might help but it turns out I'm simply delaying the process even more - I've had too many cups so far...

Although the business side of my work is a bit obscur at times, I am genuinely interested in the nordic sales figures especially since they've been steadily improving every year - whereas if I were to be staring at alpine numbers...well...(Phil yawns...). Yep, I think you get the picture. It's actually cool to get the complete 'state of the sport' picture as it helps me to develop better marketing strategies too. Today is just one of those days where I'd rather be doing something else...

Thoughts on TR...

TransRockies Stage 1 - Panorama Mountain Village

This was my 4th and final year with TR Bike; for 3 of those years I was the Operations Manager, responsible for the main logistics of the event, essentially getting all the riders from the start to the finish. Year after year the event's success depended on the teamwork behind the scenes, and I think that this year's team managed to showcase one of the best ones yet. Although the entire team is to thank, I throw out a big high-five to the right hand man who helped me manage a flawless show - Thanks Houda.

Like me, Kevin has a bazillion things on the go (one of which is Operations for TR Run) and inevitably gets very tired by mid-August. This fact combined with his tendency to talk a lot (which comes in very handy when negotiating on the price of event equipment such as fencing for example), Kev becomes almost impossible to understand - it's sort of like a grumbling mumble. Throw in a bit of radio static and you've got yourself one interesting conversation to follow. It was always entertaining to watch a conversation between him and our Europeans partners...It's like he was speaking Mongolian to them...Either way, Kudos to Kevin for his hard work ethics and for letting me NOT return the favour in TR Run (only because it's such an easier event to organize! ;-) I'm going to miss the TR gongshow...

Taking one for the 'team' - Houda in action at the post TRR party...

As for TR Run, it was simply awesome. Gavin was super strong and turned out to be a great partner - almost too quiet at times (I had to tell him to "talk to me" so we wouldn't go backwards!). In the end, we ran well, leaving some in the tank for next year - if the opportunity arises again - Regardless, I'm looking forward to running with him again, even if it's rip up and down our local mountains.

Life's been a bit chaotic since my return...It's not a bad thing - I'm starting to realize that a certain level of chaos is...almost necessary for me. It's nice to put your feet up once in a while, but only for a little while.

Time to close the book on some things...and turn the page on others...

I'm looking forward to the fall.

Stage 6: Vail to Beaver Creek Resort

If I was a steak, I would be overcooked-

Today we finished our final stage of the 2009 TransRockies Run - Wow, what a week.

I'm thrilled to have completed the event with Gavin, who turned out to be a fantastic running partner. His calm demeanor, his fitness and patience helped me push through some of the toughest running I've done in a long time. If I hadn't faltered in stage 3 and 4, we coulda, shoulda, woulda placed on the podium but, this is the TRR and anything can happen over 6 days. Regardless, I'm happy that we finished a respectable 4th place on a competitive year, and look forward to coming back again next year, (yes, I'm still hooked) with more rest days under my belt in the 2 weeks leading into the event.

Stage 5 camp in Vail

The last day was a mix of highs and lows...With 6min down to 3rd, it was all of nothing and I psyched myself for a hard day. And it was.

At this point, I was willing to try anything to get my quads to recover - ' Game Ready' use a mix of cold and compression to help the legs recover. A neat concept...sure beats the cold creek soaks!

As soon as the gun blast signaled the start, the Two Joes (Adam and Aaron) set a hard pace up front - I knew right then that they were going for the win (and they did!). Gavin and I held on to the lead pack as long as possible, but we quickly realized that our fatigue level was too high. We eased off and tried to run conservatively, but continued to drop off the pace. From CP1 to CP2 we struggle both physically and mentally. With 1,400m of climbing, this stage hit us hard. There was no talking, no laughing, we were both on damage control - surviving...

At CP2 we took a few feeds of Coke and turned onto a long singletrack descent. Almost instantly we found ourselves revitalized ( or on a sugar rush) and pushed hard to make up some time. The downhill was crazy fast, super technical and overgrown with grass - you couldn't see the trail because of the high grass and had to hope no obstacles lay where your foot would land. I knew the section from the previous year and took the lead. Halfway down we caught and passed a team like they were standing still - a good feeling - we were cruising...

The track popped us out in Avon - We cruised through town and started the final climb up to Beaver Creek Resort. As we arrived upon CP3, I missed the curb, tripped and crashed hard on my right side...Gavin commented: "We just screamed down one of the most technical descents of the course and you crash on flat pavement??". I popped 3 Advils, chugged 4 Cokes and off I went. Both Gavin and I had run this last section a week ago so we knew what was left. Maybe it was the anticipation of the finish, or the adrenaline from the crash, but for the first time that day, I finally felt like I had some juice on the climb. With 3km to go, we came up on a very steep switchback section going up a ski run, up top, we spotted Team Salt Stick, the 5th ranked team that had started the day 11min back of us - Spotting them a few minutes up the course meant that we would hold our 4th place - sigh...

The last few kms were a blur, everything started to hurt all of a sudden...knees, toes, hips...we cruised down to the finish and crossed the line...it's over.

Let the recovery begin...

I'm in Denver now, about to board the plane back to YYC. My vision is a bit fuzzy, my feet hurt, my IT bands are irritating my knees, I've got crepitus on my left ankle tendon and that's just my body - Don't event get me started on work...I'm not looking forward to Monday...but that's all OK - why... because I'm smilling. I love TR and I can't wait for next year!