Playing Catch-Up-

It's been 2 weeks since my last post...What a blur! Where was I...

It's probably a little too late to ramble on about my Nipika Trail Run experience, so all I'm going to say is that "if you enjoy trail running PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR". Wow! Nipika defines the root of 'trail running'.

Next up is the topic of nagging injuries...What's up with that? I've been on damage control for 3 months now and frankly, I'm getting tired of it. Am I really that old and worn down? From the left ankle to the right ankle, to the right knee, and now to the left knee and inside right shin!!! What the shit- I guess it could be worse...

Despite the fact that my body is falling apart, and that I've been on the road (for work) for the past 2 weeks, I think I've managed to maintain a good level of training - But now it's time to start the 'real' training. It's not like I have much of a choice since TR-Run is only 9 weeks away!!!

Over the past few weeks, my travels have taken me from Canmore to Whistler (Salomon Sales Meeting) to Rossland (George & Leslie Grey's wedding) and back - a good mix of biz and play (always), but more importantly, I got the opportunity to squeeze in some amazing runs with some great athletes!

Running Comfortably Numb with Jen and Munro

Crossing over the ? river...7km in-

In Whistler I hooked up with Jen Segger and Munro Duncan, two Salomon Flight Crew teammates - Although we were stuck in meetings most days, Mr. Salomon was good enough to let us 'escape' for an afternoon run that included some of Whistler's best trails. Check out these mapping links thanks to my handy Nokia N82:

Whistler Run w/ Jen Segger

2010 Olympic Jump w/ Salomon Crew

After returning from Whistler, I jumped back into my physio, massage and stretching routine to ward off the knee pain as much as possible - It seemed to do the trick...But then I decided to pull a double shift after the Sibbald Flats 5 Peaks race, and ran up Cox Hill with my buddy Blaine Penny. The up was fine...but the down irritated my knee again...Arrrrgggghhhhhhh!

The final push to the top of Cox Hill

So back to physio and this time I set up an appoint to get new orthodics - Enough with these 'old man' injuries-

A few days on the road bike and off I went to Rossland, my future retirement home...I'm always amazed at the amount of trails in Rossland. The community has setup a great network of mountain biking (aka trail running) trails that weave their way up and down every single little valley/peak in the area. The 7 summits trail was one of my targets this past weekend, but unfortunately, the snow pack was still too deep to run it - some of the NST boys did make the trek before I got there but not without post-holing up to their hips for a few kms...There's a 25km race on part of the 7 summits trail on Sept 6-7 weekend...if I were you, I'd put it on your schedule!

The town of Rossland viewed from Casey Ridge

I was so excited in Rossland that I squeezed in a triple workout just because I could...Road bike in the morning with Jonas, a mountain bike with Kellie in the afternoon and a quick burn up the 'asshole' with Chris and Gmac in the eve...loved it! It's not hard to train in Rossland...I could see how I could get in trouble there very quickly!

Back to Canmore and Back to Reality...

I'm happy to say that although it's been a tough 2-3 week stint, I am now injury free (knock on wood)! Tonight I revisited the Highline Trail in an attempt to find the access point from Riders of Rohan - and once again I failed but with a bit more success than last fall. After a good 45min of bushwhacking and animal trail running, I actually 'stumbled' on the Highline Trail's 'loose end'. The trail building crew has done an absolutely fantastic job in building this trail and I can't wait until they can actually link it up to the top of Grassi. What a loop it will be.

Tater needed a break, so we stopped to enjoy the view!


No beavers here...most likely a Husqvarna 357XP!