Tested to breaking point

The theme for this blog entry is: Things I might be making up.

To start with, November in Vancouver, the wettest month in the world anywhere, EVER! I do not believe they has been a day when it has not at least rained once. I know, I know, I complained when I got here that it was too hot and that I had come to Vancouver for cooler weather but really this is just taking the aardvark.

Tuesday was a wet run with the club, and because of the weather and maintenance work around the seawall, the normal picturesque run was just running through back streets trying to avoid the worst puddles. I have to say at this point if it wasn't for the running club I don;t think I would have run at all this month. The company makes even the wettest, coldest run, fun to take part in. Also the a beers in the pub afterwards never hurts. The new game at the moments seems to be if we can get the barman and waitress to smile, neither is inclined to do this with any regularity.

Up until this month, Wednesday normally signalled the opportunity to climb up the Grouse Grind in the afternoon. I have a natty little card that records all my times for the ascents and also totals up the total distance climbed and tells you the equivalent mountain you have scaled, with Everest being the goal obviously. Now in all honesty I forget where abouts I am and I'm to lazy to go fetch my card which would let me access the info but I know I'm not quite at the peak of Everest yet. Now the snow has arrived on the mountain and the skiing is open. So after last weeks poor effort due to gale force winds and a snow storm I was ready to give it another shot. 3 more runs had been opened and even thought there was a lot of cloud around and yes it was raining I had faith that the slopes would be above the cloud and it would be glorious. I was wrong.

After getting all dressed up in my ski gear and putting my boots and skis out, I was making one last pass into the lounge (1 step from the kitchen) when I caught my toe against one of my ski boots. In my mind I had shattered every bone in my toe and several in nearby locations. The truth is probably more like I stubbed it and it bruised a bit. But at the time it hurt and certain curse words were uttered and I have no doubt that if any of my neighbours had heard I would now be looking for a new home. With a strapped up toe and with Skis over my shoulders I headed out the door and limped towards the skyTrain Station, as soon as I crossed the road though I realised I had forgotten my ski pass. 5 minutes later and more subversive muttering I was back under away again. 8 stops on the train, a SeaBus and a bus ride later I arrived with little fanfare at the base of the mountain. Another 5 minutes, a lot more whispered profanities and a few worried glances from parents later, I have changed from my shoes into my ski boots (which I have now taken a personnel dislike too) and I am standing at the front of the queue waiting for the SkyRide to take me to the skiing nirvana I know awaits. Only to be told by a far to chirpy girl that the mountain was now closed due to "Poor weather conditions".

ARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I found that when I got home, Martin had tried to warn me that the mountain had shut down but I was at that point hopping around holding my toe instead of checking messages. Bugger!

So with skiing now off the cards I decided not to waste the day entirely and I went in search of a doctors. No not for my toe, even I'm not that bad. for the last 7-8 weeks I have had a patch of irritated skiing on my left wrist and even after adhering to the two major rules of skin care:

Rule 1: If it is dry put something wet on it.

Rule 2: If it is wet put something dry on it.

Nothing had worked. So having paid about $200 in health care payments already, I decided to seek out a doctor and start seeing some of the benefits of that money. Luckily there is a doctor within 50 yards of my front door so I didn't have to travel far (which was a good thing or my toe my have fallen off, not sure but I'm just saying...) An hour and a bit later I'm in seen by the doctor and after my tale of bravery and resourcefulness at how I had been battling this ailment, she rolled her eyes and sent me home with some a tub of cream that "...should clear it up in a couple of days". The really annoying things is, it has.

Club night on Thursday saw the first clear nights run we have had in a while and we took full opportunity of it. Steve, Sarah and I had a great extended run around the creek and even picked up the pace a little at the end. Some how I looked a lot more exhausted than Steve but I'm sure that was just the light playing tricks, that all the black spots in front of my eyes. And to top of a good run we even took in a sneaky beer at the pub too, on a Thursday!

For a while now I have been offered the chance to have a go at finding out what my VO2 Max is. Quick explanation of what VO2 max is, the higher the number the better your muscles are at using the oxygen that you breath in. I have put this off for one reason or another but mainly because I was scared. The idea behind the test is that you run on a treadmill which increases in speed and incline until you can't run no more, while all the time being strapped up to some fancy gizmo's piloted my some genius looking people saying things like "hmmm" and "ahhhh". For a change I want bore you with all the details of my heroic exploits I will just say that I didn't get any where near the machine having to use an incline to tire me out I was done long before that, and that I set of numerous alarm bells on the machine, my heart was going a tad faster than maybe it should. I will however include the video I made of my heroic attempts instead. Ha not letting you get away with it that easily.

A big thank you to Sarah and Heather who administered the test and were very good at supporting me and making sure I didn't die. By the way my result showed I was pretty average for a runner, who knew?

After a nice long lie in on Saturday morning I decided to make use of the afternoon by heading to somewhere I saw on a run a while back and thought would be cool to look around, then completely forgot about it until I read an article this week saying it was getting shut down in March so I thought I better get myself in gear and visit promptly. I'm referring to the Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park. It is a dome shaped building (a little like Centre Parcs, Sherwood Forest, only smaller) which house some tropical birds and plant life. It is being closed due to the fact the dome needs repairing at a cost of a couple of million dollars. After visiting I can see why it need repairing. It was strangely enough raining outside and it was pretty much raining inside too, there a quite a few leaks in the joins that hold the dome shaped roof together. Even with the leaks it is a great little place to visit, and although it only take 30 minutes to take a quick walk around it has some beautiful species of plants and tress and also having budgies flying round your head and parrots sitting around chattering to you, it makes for a nice place to while away a wet afternoon.

And finally. Sunday morning saw me take my latest adventure into trail running. With my shoes still a little moist still from last week we headed up to Lynn Valley again, but this time to run along the creek and finishing at the Norvan Falls. Speculation again on my part but I think the name might originate from the fact they are in North Vancouver, I don't know, but it sounds plausible. For a nice change it started off dry and we had a nice run up to the start of the trails proper before the wetness set in. I have mentioned before about running along streams and over boulders etc... this took it to a new level today, all the recent rain had made large sections of the run pretty much under water. Sukhi just plain gave up trying to keep his feet dry and just waded through the swollen stream while John seemed to leap the whole damn thing and I lumberingly leaped from rock to rock, every now again submerging a foot or both. The views along the way and especially at the falls were well worth it. There is some amazing places tucked away in the back of beyond and that I'm very glad that I'm getting to see. As an added bonus to this weeks run Sukhi and I were given a brief and interesting history and botany lesson by John, who showed where the old tree logging railway tracks used to be, where slots had been cut into tress to help the loggers cut down trees higher up to make their life easier and also what must have been the highlight of the day, I got to taste a root (actually a rhizoid, I do listen) of a licorice fern, which probably not all that shockingly has the a taste of licorice, and also a little taste of dirt and root too.

Until next time...

Rain, Rain Go Away...

The weekend has come and gone and what have I got to show for it...wet shoes.

The nice sunny autumn days of Vancouver where I walked through the park while the sun shone through the golden leaves seem to have vanished. They have been replaced by rain and all those golden leaves are now slippery mush ready for me to slip on when my mind wanders as it tends to do.

Coming from the UK, I'm used to this type of weather, but for some reason the fantastic summer lulled me into a false sense of security and now I feel slightly betrayed. Actually all this is lies, I say this to justify my complete lack of exercises over the last few weeks, only getting out to run with the club.

I have signed up for the Los Angeles Marathon in March and next Monday hails the start of my training for it. It is a brand new point to point course running from the Dodgers Stadium in the hills, through Hollywood, Century City (think Die Hard), Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills and then finishes at the Santa Monica Pier. I'm hoping with this mainly down hill course I should be able to improve my time and edging towards a 3 hour marathon.

Back to the weekend. Saturday I decided to get some fresh air and go see a movie... what????Between my buildings door, the skytrain station and the cinema I was outside in the rain for a good 500 yards.

I went to see Pirate Radio, for those in Europe, The Boat that Rocked. Having been out in England some 6 months back I missed it then but normally enjoy Richard Curtis films so I thought now was as good as time as any.

The first thing to mention about the film was the difference in trailers. In the UK the films trailers had your usual comedy clips from the film showing the story of how they were getting round the Law and Government. In North America it concentrated far more on the one American character, even suggesting he was showing the Brits how it was done. Marketing you have to love it.

The film was enjoyable and Bill Nighy is always fun to watch. One problem that did emerge in the theatre was when the humour relied on regional knowledge. There were a few uncomfortable moments where I was laughing and the people round me were just looking like maybe I was on day release from a straight jacket.

With still some daylight to kill, I decided that Science world might be worth a gander. I go past it on the train a lot and have even run past/around it a few times but have never made it in. The building itself look very futuristic or it did at some point, think Epcot Centre but smaller and with lights all round it. It has to be said, it is mainly set out for kids with lots of hands on stuff to do, but... if you are willing to ignore the looks, whispers and scowls from narky parents adults can fully enjoy it too. With exhibits to test your flexibility (I'm average), your grip (erm, I've got a good grip for some reason), your brain waves (yeah, I think that one was broken) and the worsts one in my opinion, your fears (there were people walking round with fricking snakes!!!). It was fun but I really think it is best to do with a kid so at least you can pass it off as you are there for them, like Disney movies, you know what I mean.

Sunday started early with getting up in time so I could have breakfast and have chance for it to digest before my second attempt at trail running. Sukhi and John from PRR were kind enough to take me back out to the Baden Powell Trail to do what I presume is roughly the third quarter of a race known as the Knee Knacker. We started at Grouse Mountain and ran through to Lynn Valley Headwaters and then back again (the route should be visible through a link in the Garmin section on the right for those that are interested).

The first trail run I did was on a beautiful crisp morning with the sun coming through the trees. It couldn't have been more different on Sunday. The rain while not heavy was consistent and the temperature was cool to say the least, especially up in the mountains. We ran just below the snow line even crossing it at one point although I'm not sure 1/2 an inch of snow on either side of the trail counts. It was an amazing run, all the streams were up and you could here the waterfalls from quite a distance, my favourite part would have to be running over one bridge that was partial submerged due to the rise in water. I think Sukhi summed it up best my saying we had run the Baden Powell stream not trail.

Trail running is a very different art than road running and one I have yet to master in anyway. While my two guides were lithely leaping from rock to rock, gliding over roots and fallen branches, I was clomping around like the tyrannosaur in Jurassic Park. There was no fear of meeting any wildlife along the way, they had heard me from a long way away, and had time to finish what ever they were doing and amble away at a leisurely pace long before we got with in range. Oh well, something for me to work on.

The rest of Sunday past in napping, I did get up early, and doing a bit of food shopping. I did manage to get a whiteboard though where I have laid out my day to day activities so I don't keep forgetting to do them, you know, the small things like getting dressed (I'm not kidding). I did manage to get out to the buildings gym to have a quick run on the treadmill as I'm concerned that I have lost a fair amount of speed and fitness since completing Chicago back at the beginning of October. I was doing great until Jerry McQuire came on the T.V. and I had to stop.

Today has been basically about recovery, all the feet slapping from yesterday has left me a very sore back and calves. To see me this morning would have been like looking at in 50 years (I'm hopeful) I was sort of limping with an arched back and a blanket over my shoulders, It's got cold out side and I'm too cheap to turn the heating on. Thank you pharmaceutical companies for Ibuprofen!

And just for the record, I did get dressed today as per schedule :)