A Walk in the Park

As the kiddies ready themselves for school and the long weekend signifies the end of play time, a few of us headed out for a last blast at some fun. Four of us piled into Kev's four wheel sleigh, the Outback, and made our way to Kelowna, my home town.
Saturday was an amazing day of road riding as we meandered through orchards, back roads, and golf courses. This time of year Kelowna is a dream. It's cool in the mornings, the smell of fall burning is in the air, fresh Macs are dangling off the trees tempting you to pluck one and run, and the occasional thunder storm rips through. At about 50k, that's exactly what was about to happen. We saw the storm clouds brewing and headed for home...dry clothes, tuna sandwiches, tea, and Kev's mom's cookies. A perfect end to a ride and a totally reasonable rationale for shortening the ride.

Sunday morning looked perfect. It was to be run day and what better place to go than Okanagan Mountain Park on the eastern shore of Okanagan Lake. It's just down the road. Although the morning was sunny, it was clear that a storm was mixing. On our way out we met up with a big black bear who was fixin' to relieve a local farmer of some fresh fruit. That wasn't too far from the trail head so we were left a bit unnerved. I think Linda said it best when she said, "okay, so nobody gets dropped today, okay?"
The trail up the grassy, yellow hillside was beautiful as dark clouds mounted on the west side of the lake. Our decent into Wild Horse Canyon was not steep, but sure long. We noticed the length on the way back as our little legs sucked up what little they could of the dry, Okanagan air. We did end up running through a short thunder storm, but nothing we couldn't handle. A brief stop under a log to keep dry was quickly remedied by the realization that we were getting wet anyway, and a "what the hell?, it's summer in the Okanagan". Duncan coaxed us out into the grass and we continued on through the burned out landscape of the 2003 fire.I wore the S Labs again, easily my favorite shoes these days, and they really performed well. Even in the soaking wet grasslands of Okanagan Mountain Park, the contagrip sole stuck like glue. I'm McLovin'em. I think the picture below really says it all...S Labs are a stand out shoe...and there's a hint of XA Pro 3D back there too.I tried to spare you the entire written story of the weekends run and created a little video. Hope you enjoy the video and that you're all out there playing hard, even though summer is officially over.


And a reminder, if you're interested in great Salomon gear for excellent prices, make sure you find time to get down to the showroom this weekend. Check out my previous blog for details.

Salomon Gear...Come and Get It!

11km around Buntzen Lake. "Oh, it's just an orientation jaunt", everyone was saying. "Not to worry, nobody will be running too quickly." Yeah right! 30 or so folks showed up. About 20 went up over Diez Vistas (the Enduro course), and the rest ran the lower loop (the sport course). I helped lead the lower loop and these people were clipping along pretty wicked fast. For an orientation run I'd say it was fast. It was more like people were trying to orient themselves to their competition on the 19th. Whatever it was, it was a highly successful day and I hope we'll try to make these things happen again next year too.

It made sense for people to try out the best of Salomon's trail shoes in a non-race environment and really get a feel for several products. It was so good to see some first time trail runners test out a proper trail shoe and compare it to their road shoe. I'd like to think Salomon helped turn some long time road runners into newbie trail runners.

Newbies or not, runners or not, Salomon will be selling off a heap of their 2009 and 2010 product this coming weekend. I visited the crew in the store last week and there's a pile of great pieces at crazy prices. I've attached the invite and directions below. Hope you get a chance to come out. If not, I hope it's because your running Loop the Lakes in Squamish. Hey, maybe shop Saturday and race Sunday?

2009/10 SALOMON FACTORY SAMPLE SALE

Ski Outerwear * Nordic Apparel * Athletic Apparel

Footwear * Packs * Gloves * Accessories * & More…

Limited Selection of Ski & Nordic Hardgoods

Winter & Summer Product

50% OFF EVERYTHING (TAX INCLUDED)

Saturday September 12^th 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Sunday September 13^th 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: 320 Harbour Ave, North Vancouver, B.C.

(Just off Main St. on Harbour Ave. beside Canadian Tire. See map below)

** Cash Only **All Sales Final **

Buntzen Lake Demo Day and 5 Peaks- Be there!

A week or so has gone by since my return from Asia and I am still in awe of this place. How great it has been to run the North Shore again. Trails I know, people I love to chat with, and can chat with (they don't speak Chinese that is). It's just a great feeling to be home. I think I've been out everyday. Love it.

The 5 peaks at Whistler went really well considering the low expectations I'd set for myself. I left the start line at the back of the second wave and spent an hour and 11 minutes picking people off. Mentally I think that strategy really works for me. It's far better than taking off quickly and getting passed for the rest of the race. That just hurts. I suffered as expected, and couldn't find the turn over, but again, I was happy with the finish considering my lack of training. Maybe it was my pre and post-race foot wear, the Salomon Relax shoes. They're quirky looking, like a clog and water sock hybrid, and they sure turn heads. Everybody asked about them and I kept telling them how comfy they are. Any race, short or long, it's nice to put on light, well-ventilated shoes once the pain is over. Check these things out at the next 5 Peaks event, we'll have them at the demo tent for sure.
Speaking of the next 5 Peaks event, the fifth and final race of the year will be happening at Buntzen Lake on September 19th. Of course Salomon will be there with the demo fleet, but why wait? This Sunday at 9 am we will be hosting an orientation run with 5 Peaks and Club Fat Ass. We will certainly have the demo fleet with us. I know many of you haven't wanted to try out our shoes on race day, probably a smart idea, so why not come out and try the pair you've been eyeing all season. We'll have the XT Wings, XT Hawks, Speed Cross 2, XA Pro 3D's, and the incredible, XT Wing S-Labs. Check out the link to Salomon Shoes. Duncan and I should be on site, at the south end of Buntzen Lake, by 8:30 and we'd love to see you out there.
Happy Trails to all.

Rice Run

Back in Canada and completely wasted. I feel like I just ran a two month ultra after China. It's hard work, traveling. We didn't spend more than two nights in any one place and therefore never really settled into a place enough to know it and run in it well. I've come to realize how much I appreciate my home trails of the North Shore. I know them so well and I take that for granted. Anyone who has traveled in a foreign place surely understands what I mean. When you're in a new place it's difficult to know where to run, where the trails are, what areas are safe, how far a trail goes, and so on. Never mind all that, how long your lungs will last in a place like Beijing. The pollution was so bad I felt hypoxic climbing up the stairs out of the subway station, so to convince myself to run was out of the question.
This is not to say I didn't run at all, but my regular routine was interrupted enough to make me nervous about tomorrow's 5 Peaks race in Whistler. Certainly it won't take me long to get back once I've recovered from the sinus infection I've been toting around for the last two weeks.

In my previous post I went on about the brilliance of Mongolia as it relates to trail running and I still stand by that. Unlike China, the terrain was wide open and predictable enough to run. I mean you could look across an open plain, below the bluest of skies, pick a route, and run for several hours without ever looking back. In China there are very few spaces that are open and uninterrupted enough to safely know where you're going. When I did find a place that was suitable however, off I went and wow, what an adventure. One such place was the beautiful rice paddies of Pin Yang, Guangxi province, in Southern China. For hundreds of years the local people of Pin Yang have lived in the mountains growing rice and corn reaching 800 meters up the hillsides.
We rose at 5:00 am to an obnoxious alarm and tip toed through a pitch black village of sleeping locals , glow bugs, and screeching roosters, under the light of a headlamp. Followed by a couple local dogs, probably somebodies dinner, we climbed the stone staircases for sun rise. As we crested the hill top it was obvious the sun would be crowded out by pollution and cloud cover. Nothing lost however, at least 15 kilometers of single track lay ahead before the next village. The trail was unmarked so we ran quite mindfully, leaving trail markers with pieces of garbage lying at the trails edge. An empty can of beer in the middle of a trail easily lit our way back. The trail was wet, and so were our shoes as we ran through rice paddies, up steep winding hills, and by old tomb sites, likely rice farmers of the past. After an hour or so of running we crested another valley top and looked down on an old and sleepy village. This was the real thing. No tourists, no Chinese sales people, no guest houses, nothing. It was the only genuine piece of old China we really saw. On that 3 hour adventure we saw only three people, farmers. We really felt alone up there and it was quite nice. Not many people can say they spent time alone in China, even for five minutes. In a country of 1.6 billion you're never alone.
From Pin Yang we spent some time biking around the Yulong River, near Yangshuo. It was again very busy, but nonetheless relaxing in comparison to Beijing and Shanghai. The Yulong area was picture perfect China and the ideal way to finish our trip to Asia.
I'm back at home now and I'm very grateful for the place I live. As I exited the airport two days ago I could smell the ocean. I could smell fresh air. I have never smelled the air like that. We're very lucky to live in Vancouver, on the ocean, near the mountains, under fresh air, among great people. I'm home and off to Whistler tomorrow morning. At least I'll suffer in a beautiful place before I kick the Beijing Lung.

Running for Mutton

It's been awhile since my last confession folks, but that's not my fault. For some reason the Chinese government feels that blogger.com, among others, such as Facebook, are a threat to national security and therefore I haven't been able to share my adventure with you. I'm in the very liberal, and cosmopolitan, capital of Mongolia, Ulaan Bataar, where blogging is allowed. Mind you, so is urinating in public and eating blow-torched marmot (it was pretty good, actually).
We arrived in Mongolia about 10 days ago and immediately headed out for some back country-yert adventure. The landscape here is phenomenal. There are very few trails of any kind, but for miles and miles you can run through open fields, over grassy mountains, and into larch-filled forests. It really is the trail runners dream. On the first day of the journey I became quite sick and couldn't really run too long, but as any addicted runner would do, I ran anyway...short though. With lungs full of goo and a nose full of snot I pushed through a run\walk above a 400 year old monastery in the middle of nowhere. The views were outstanding and the meal of mutton and potatoes that followed was fantastic.

It was a couple a days of driving and rest before arriving at Lake Khovsgol, just south of the Russian border, where I got my next run. The rest of my group had gone horesback riding and I did what I love most. RAN.

From there we had our longest driving day, but to the most perfect running location I've ever seen. We dropped a tent in the middle of a wide open field without a soul in sight. As the sun set I plotted a route up a steep ridge line and across the top of three peaks, and then back down the next gully. At 7 o'clock I woke up and set off through the grass and up a rocky ridgeline. The field was so big I had no idea it would take me 15 minutes just to reach the base of the gulley. I pushed up the hill slowly and when I hit the peak the view into the next valley was spectacular. I sat for a bit and waited for Lara to catch up and we ran across the three peaks. It was exactly what I had pictured running in Mongolia to be. If you look closely in the picture to the right you can see my tiny black Salomon jersey cruising down from the crest of the hill top.

We've just arrived back in Ulaan Bataar and I can guarantee you I won't be doing any running here. It's not really a runners city. There's no Seawall if you're wondering. It's mostly garbage, dirt, and pollution. Surrounded by mountains so maybe I'll do a day trip before leaving on Saturday.

I should be a touch out fo shape for my return, but I'm definitely planning to run the Whistler 5 peaks. Anyone else interested? Check it out: 5 peaks.

Among the Bamboo

Since my last post I have come a long way overland and made every effort possible to fly through the bamboo. Unfortunately, the bamboo was for running beneath, around, under, and through, but not for flying in. My dreams of being the Crouching Tiger may have to wait for China.
In my search since Fukuoka, I have run through busy city streets, along water ways, through old growth forests, and best of all, up mountains covered with temples. Literally covered in temples. The pathways meandered up steep rock staircases, in some cases between thousands of Torii. These are the orange arch ways, and they have something to do with safe passage. The entire country must be covered in a huge Torii, because I have felt nothing but safety, even on my 530 am runs through the streets and into the mountains.

Kyoto was the best for running, as I suspected. I ran about a 5 k run up over a mountain top, or big hill really, to a tiny village. After trying to rip the tail off of a newt, I turned around and ran 5 k back. My arrival back in Kurama meant a visit to the local onsen. It was my first visit to a public bath house, so I was nervous about ripping off my clothes and exposing my manhood to the Japanese community. Turns out they did not care and I could not have enjoyed a fresh hot spring bath anymore. What a terrific way to end a run.

This morning I awoke to a run in the blasting heat of Tokyo as I did a bit of a work out along the Sumida river. There were not many other runners, but the homeless folk were certainly entertained by my sweaty legs and forehead.

We are off to Beijing tomorrow and then Mongolia for early next week. The train is about a 30 hour ride so I guess there will be some time without a run. I think I can handle it.

Rubber, Rubber, and...Rubber

Interesting title, I know, but it kinda` fits with the journey I am on. No, it`s not a spiritual journey! Don`t be scared off. As some of you know, I am traveling in Japan, China, and Mongolia. Some of the concerns I had before departing were, where can I run? Will it be sufficient? and what if rabid, stray dogs and cats chase me? Put your mind at ease my friends. I am fine and the running has been better than I might have hoped for.

Japan has been an incredible place to enjoy a run even though it was 37 C upon arrival. A short flight to Okinawa and a ferry ride to Kume Jima brought me to my first run. It began at 7:30 am on the road and ended up in sugar cane fields. It`s amazing when you run in a new place, how you tend to forget about the time and any aches or pains. You just run.

Lara ran with me and we ended up on a gorgeous beach covered in hexagonal rock structures. It was so early, there wasn`t another soul to be seen.

Some dolphins followed our ferry back to Naha, the main island of Okinawa, where Mr. Miyagi is from, and where I had my next bout of running. It was 6:30 in the morning and I trotted through the streets, stopping at various vending machines to suck back enough water. After a 15 minute warm up I found myself running along a rubberized canal track...and it was marked in meters for people doing interval stuff. The pathway was packed. I had to dodge people at 6:45 in the morning. Who knew? Miles and miles of rubberized, marked track. It was perfect. Then in Fukuoka, on Kyushu, I found an entire lake surrounded with the stuff, so I definitely had to go out again for a morning run. It was a little slippery this time, but what a forgiving surface to try out barefoot running.

Put your hand up if you`ve ever heard of Vibram Five Fingers. Until I started my most recent book I hadn`t either. It`s essentially a sock with toes and rubberized soles. It was invented for sailors who spent a lot of time on deck. A long story short, I am recommending that every runner, or potential runner, read this book: Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. I mean it....this thing is a MUST read. It totally clarifies so many things, that so many people have instinctively felt for so long. Why we hate roads, why so many of us run with injuries and some of us don`t, and why little kids are such awesome runners (especially in barefeet - I mean seriously, what`s faster than barefeet?). This book was recommended to me by recent sub-24 hour Western States belt buckle recipient, Gary Robbins. He said he couldn`t put it down and I wondered if I could read it. Of course I was able to read it, but without pictures I wasn`t sure I could do it. By the way, incredible job at Western, Gary. Hope you`ll go back for more next year. Also, we`re still waiting for a race report. Dad Shmad...get on it.

This trip has brought us to the main island of Honshu, through Fukuoka, Hiroshima, and now Osaka. Tomorrow afternoon we`ll be in Kyoto, where I am told I`ll be able to trail run again. Although the health conscious Japanese love there rubberized urban trails, I`m itching to get onto some dirt and let the XT Wings do their job in the bamboo forest. I`m picturing something from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Maybe the wings are all I need to fly high in the bamboo.