Life: Catching Up

It's been a long while since I last blogged about the things happening in my life. There have been ups and downs - mostly downs lately it seems. Thus, I haven't been particularly interested in being a downer, but I'll try to cover a few things at least in general here. If I find myself particularly talkative about any one subject I will expound on that in a separate blog.

Riding to work in the fall went relatively well with an average commute of 95 minutes each way. Some of the hills make it very challenging since I can't really ride the trike very well over the narrow dirt trail that is the less hilly option. The morning ride is particularly hard since I have a big hill to climb barely ten minutes into my ride. The trip home is downhill and then "flat" for a good while, so tackling the uphills is a lot easier.

I didn't ride over the winter. Two circumstances presented themselves that prevented it. The first was necessary repairs to the car that ate my tire budget. The second was the persistent snow and cold that was Calgary's winter this year. For all the years I've lived in Calgary I don't think I've ever experienced a winter quite like this one. So I'm relieved that I didn't spend money on tires and then didn't get any riding in. I did bring the trike inside and modify my cycle trainer for the 20" rear wheel, so I got some peddling in. Which bring me to the next thing that was a bummer over the winter.

My shoulder and back had been bothering me since 2009 when I partially dislocated a rib. It meant I had problems with some motions and lifting that were repetitive - mostly work and running. After a lot of massage and some physio that only brought temporary relief, I saw my family doctor in Edmonton the beginning of February and filed a progressive injury claim with the Workers Compensation Board. The claim was finally approve six weeks after seeing my GP, so now I am getting intensive physio treatment to help the rehab. Another 2 1/2 weeks of physio before I either get an extension on the treatment or released to do my own thing. I'm hoping things continue to go well on that front. I've been taking way too many muscle relaxants to be able to sleep at night, so I hope I can get off them and get back to running and cycling without worry about my back and shoulder.

The work situation has grown increasingly frustrating and disappointing since last fall. Needless to say this has been incredibly stressful and tiring. I've effectively committed myself to placing my health and well-being ahead of this situation with my reducing any "extra" work that doesn't apply directly to pickups, processing and disposal. A lot of this had to do with management, but there are immediate changes being made there. I'm certainly not holding my breath though.

I've been able to get in a steady scehedule of Flames of War games in since last fall. A friend and I have also been able to get back to work on a submission to Battlefront for a website PDF release. It will be nice to see that finished. I haven't got a lot more painting done, but it has progressed a bit. I also got a bunch of Paper Terrain sets for Christmas, so I have start work on those. Aerin found me some really good craft glue to put those together rather easier than my previos sets. Hopefully I can make more progress, but the return of spring means other demands will be made for my time.

I need to finish the baseboards this year. I will probably skip doing the stairs for one more year while I puzzle out how to finish them. A little landscaping will need to be done too, and I need to build a proper gate across the pad beside the garage to prevent pet escape and open the space a little. With the baseboards done I can also do a proper organization of the garage including making space for fireplace wood. The chimney sweep we had check the fireplace last summer was great about educating about all things fireplace, so this spring will see the arrival of a bunch of wood to cure over the summer for next fall and winter.

Ursa turned two years old last month! Has it been so long already? She continues to be the spoiled first child, so her trianing isn't what we'd like it some times. But we do love her to bits for all the joy she brings us. She did freak us out a bit last November, but you can check out Aerin's blog for those details. Here's the quick version: Xylitol (sugar substitute) and dogs do not mix. If she'd been a smaller dog she'd probably be dead. She's 120lbs/53.5kg now, and taller than both her parents. Did I mention we really love her? She's such a character.

I'm really looking forward to having a summer this year. Last year was pretty wet and coool. Much more camping and hiking are planned with some short backcountry trips to get Ursa introduced to the whole experience. We'll likely stick to the Kananaskis area mostly.

That's it for now. (I wish I could predict the same for snowfall, but it's not June yet.)

Life: New Year of Possibilities

So begins the 36th calendar year of my existence on this rock hurtling through the vaccum of space. I can't really say that this event holds anything special for me. It's just more of the same. I've had a few years practice with passing the time. I certainly don't like waking up the New Year's Day when Ursa wants some attention, food and a bathroom break way earlier than I'd like. But with the changing of the calendar comes a whole new year of challenges and dreams.

So first on the list is what to do with my running. I'm still not entirely happy with how this is going with continued back problems that don't seem to respond to anything with ongoing positive results. I am running, but not in any sort of volume I would consider truly useful to undertaking much more than a gimpy half-marathon distance if I raced this week. And yet I find myself desiring to lighten my wallet with race entries for a number of events.

I have currently decided I want to run the single lap of the Blackfoot 25km baby ultra since it is the only distance other than the 100km I have yet to run. Since I won't be running the 100km this year it seems a reasonable compromise. My other decision is to enter the Lost Soul 50km again given the disappointing lead up to the race due to the dislocated rib. My hope is that continued progress, however slow, will make for very different race this year.

The chance to run a couple ultras as part of a relay team has presented as a possible option. This is currently in the discussion and exploration phase. The Iron Horse and Sinister 7 are the two I'm most interested in. After some reflection I have no interest in the Canadian Death Race until I'm ready for a solo attempt. If this doesn't quite work out I have alternate plans to do more exploration of the trails in the Canadian Rockies this summer.

There are plenty of shorter trails to run, but I would also like to run some of the Glacier Trail and over Jonas Shoulder. There are some passes that I might be able to transit in a day too. A lot will depend on the kind of mileage I'm comfortable with by the time summer arrives. I'm not particularly interested in unsupported runs of more than 6 to 8 hours unless I think my body is up to it.

And speaking of the Canadian Rockies, there will certainly be more time spent there this year. Ursa will be pretty much finished growing this summer, so we will do some light trips into the backcountry. Car camping and a few overnight backpacking trips will begin the summer. Hopefully this will work out the kinks for a multi-night backpacking trip with Ursa by the end of the summer. Lots of day hiking is also on the menu. With Ursa being up for almost 3 hours of snowshoeing last weekend I think she will do just fine hiking around the mountains for more than a few hours.

And winter has not yet left us, so there is still snowshoeing to do. No doubt we will go out to Kananaskis a few more times before the snow starts to disappear. Some trips closer to home at Nosehill or Fish Creek will no doubt happen if the snow isn't all melted away by chinooks. I have little motivation to run on a cold weekend, but if the chance presents itself I will certainly head for the south side of the river on snowshoes or just shoes with appropriate ice gripping attachments. Either way me, Aerin and Ursa are still getting out lots between our walks and other activities.

Aerin and I are looking into buying a house this year. Who knows if this will actually happen, but we have started discussing our options. Wrangling a down payment and what we would actually spend the money on our the top two house conversations. We have little interest in buying something for the sake of buying since the cost of certain fixes or renos to make things liveable are not an option for us. We really would like to find something we can say we're still happy with ten years later.

We really enjoy our Friday night boardgames with our friends. It is by far one of our favourite events of the week. I am currently organizing a regular Flames of War league at The Sentry Box. I get to play some games, meet some new players, and generally have some good motivation to get things done with my terrain and miniatures. I'm so lucky and thankful that Aerin lets me play my games. We're both going to need to sit down with some paint again to move things along. Thanks for helping Sweetie!

That's all I can think of for now. I'm certain the year will whiz by in a blur of barely remembered details - 2009 certainly did.

Running: The Trail Ahead

My second summer of ultras came to an end with the cancellation of Lost Soul, and so it is time to reflect on what has been and plan for what will come.

Training for the Blackfoot 50-miler didn't get off to a great start with the severe allergies at the old job, and then the last three weeks of training were wiped out by a severe chest cold. I survived the race, but it was by no means the kind of performance I had hoped for at close to 12 hours.

Unfortunately after these disappointments it was difficult getting things back on track with my training. I did make it to the gym fairly regularly, and I was running home from work most days of the week. But upon reflection it seemed more struggle than joy on too many days.

Next it was off to Sinister 7, but inexperience lead me to overdo the pre-run snacking that lead to a lot of GI distress through leg 4. It also left me more than a little worn out, but I got the job done. After about an hour into leg 5 I was feeling better and the joy was back, and running leg 6 in the dark was great too. But after the race it seemed more struggle than joy again as I returned to preparing for Lost Soul in September.

I have never had much success with running in hot weather, and that became my nemesis during long runs in August. Long runs inevitably became shorter runs as I had problems of all sorts throughout the month. I started having foot problems. I had tried making some changes to my running mechanics, but they were not as effective as I'd have liked and changing back wasn't great either. I was still logging a lot of distance, but it felt ineffective and a burden.

The long weekend seems to have lead to injury after a bit of slipping during our descent from the snowed in North Kananaskis Pass. It really didn't manifest itself except for a couple non-consecutive days of intermittent soreness that ranged from annoying to painful, so I didn't concern myself with it and rested in preparation for Lost Soul. Of course Lost Soul was cancelled, and the replacement run on Monday turned into a very painful experience remeniscent of the pain I suffered after my fall into the puddle on the Canadian Death Race course the previous year.

So I haven't been running really at all the last month, nor have I been getting to the gym at all. Mostly I've been in my head wondering what I want (or need) to do about my running at this point. I never doubted I would continue to run, but I did need to consider what my goals would be and how to achieve them.

And this is what I've decided.

• I will take some time off from running until after we finish our move the beginning of November.


• In the mean time, I'm going back to the gym at least three days per week to work on strength, core and x-train on the bikes. I want to continue this through into the new year too.


• Commit myself to doing more stretching at home and replace my ineffective foam roller to help improve my biomechanics and reduce the tension in my leg muscles.


• Take next year off from racing and volunteer instead. I may still run Lost Soul next year (to check out the course as much as anything) because I have a guaranteed entry, but I don't have to make that decision until February.


• Focus on rebuilding my running base with more effective speed, hill and endurance workouts.


• Spend more days in the backcountry with some solo fast-packing trips. (Aerin is using all her available vacation days for her trip to China, so I will be ahead of her next summer.) This will also include bagging some more peaks.


• Attempt the Alberta Triple in 2010!

If you know what the Alberta Triple is, then you know I have big plans. If you don't, to complete the Alberta Triple I need to finish the Blackfoot 100K, Canadian Death Race (125K) and Lost Soul 100M that year.

To these ends I will formally plan more of my training and invest in some training aids. What I need most right now is a heart rate monitor, so I will start there.

So it's been a tough year to be running, but I'm looking to approach the coming year with renewed purpose and enjoyment.

Life: The End (of August) is Near!

The end of August has certainly snuck up on me. The car registration is due. Our last backcountry trip of 2008 is this long weekend. We bought ourselves a new bed that has to wait another week and a half to get delivered. And we found ourselves a new place to live in Calgary, but won't get to move in until the end of October at the latest.

The hot weekend weather for most of the month has made training runs on the weekend hard to take sometimes. About the only thing I could do that would make it tolerable was to slow right down to a fast walk. I also haven't been putting on as many miles leading up to Lost Soul since I have either been feeling very run down and tired, or I haven't had a particularly great time scheduling training runs with all the other stuff we've managed to do this month.

The next couple of nights are dedicated to tidying up before this weekend and getting the gear packed for another trip out to Kananaskis. The one thing that would appear to be lacking for this trip is the heat and snow pack. I don't know if this is pushing our luck, but we will drive out after work on Friday to pack 8km into Forks CG that night. The next day will be a little easier with the climb to Turbine Canyon, and then Monday will require us to hike out all the way. I am looking forward to a few good nights sleep though.

It would seem this weekend is to be about the best sleep I will get until the new bed arrives. We had our doubts about the bed surviving the move from Edmonton last year, but when test driving new beds turned into a purchase it was all too apparent how bad the bed had become. We are both eagerly awaiting the delivery day.

Last weekend was our practice move now that we found a new place here in Calgary. Aerin's Parental Units moved out of the house into a townhouse condo further west in Edmonton on Sunday. As one of the designated "strong, young men" I got to have all the fun with the heavy appliances. In the end things went pretty smoothly and we were done in about five hours. My back was kind of stiff, but it's been good since.

Which leads me to mention that I must be getting old since I managed to tweak my back somehow the weekend after the long weekend this month. I was cutting up styrene sheet for miniatures terrain when I stood up and had a bad muscle spasm in my back. It was the same spot where I had trouble last fall, but the dying bed has countered the exercising and stretching that would help it out more. So things are stable, and I hope getting better when my back gets better support from the new bed.

That's it for now. It's time to clean up and start packing. Cheers!

Gear: Lightweight Backpacking

If I had a callsign it would be "Gear Boy". Since I'm not a fighter pilot, it's my semi-official nickname. If you're unsure of why this is the case, I refer you back to the above title.

I spent two and a half years working in outdoor retail in Edmonton prior to moving on to other things here in Calgary. During that time I learned a lot more about the equipment I already owned, and a ton more the stuff I didn't own. I immersed myself in the knowledge imparted by the company reps and online resources. Not only was this an opportunity to help myself enjoy my outdoor adventures more, but also to help other people enjoy their experiences.

The single greatest thing I came away from this with is an appreciation for lightweight backpacking.

Have you read my post about our June trip to Kananaskis? Aerin and I carried about 60 pounds total of equipment, clothing, food and water for four days. I'm quite certain a few people we saw on the trail were individually carrying 40 pounds or more for shorter trips. It hurt to see some of the packs people had loaded up with gear for even single night stays at the Forks campground (7km in and 50m of elevation gain). If you look at my Kananaskis post below, you can see that Aerin's pack is relatively small compared to what you'd see most people carrying at a trailhead. Even my 80-litre pack fully loaded for this trip topped out at 35 pounds with water, nor did I have all kinds of extra gear hanging from it as I saw many others have - I actually had space to spare inside.

How does one accomplish this? The answer is pretty easy... money. It costs money to get the right kind of gear for lightweight backpacking. Even with employee discounts I spent a fair bit of my paycheque for many months on new gear. How do you know you're making the right kind of investment in gear with those dollars you allocate purchase your gear? Research. What does this gear do? How well does it do that job? Can it do more than one thing? What conditions do I need to have my gear perform? How much space does it take in my pack? And of course, how much does it weigh? These last two questions are ultimately what you are trying to minimize while maximizing on the others.

And I have only one thing to say about money. Great gear does not come cheap. Or at least very rarely. Rarely have I found something that was inexpensive that I believed did the job better than something more expensive.

Of course, you'll have to weigh the value of the above statement against your own experience with researching and comparison shopping - and you will comparison shop a lot - on the various gear you need for yourself, and then compare that against what your outdoor experience is like before and after your gear purchase.

As time goes on I share about some of the insights and gear I have discovered through my own experiences. Prepare to lighten your load.

Outdoors: June Kananaskis Adventure

[I just realized I wasn't paying attention to my dates. We were backpacking the end of June, so I've updated the post title. - S]

Aerin and I went backpacking for the first time this year the last weekend of June for 3 days. It was going to be 4 days (Monday to Tuesday), but we decided to cut things short.

The trip took us into Three Isle Lake in Kananaskis from the North Interlakes parking area. It was a very hot weekend, but at the same time a late spring melt and lots of prescipitation left lots of snow at altitude. This lead to an interesting long weekend in the backcountry.

On the way up we encountered a guy coming down the mountain for help. One of his group members had been struck in the left thigh by a basketball-sized chunk of rock. We didn't really see or heard anything of falling rock on the way up, but once we go to the campground it became a regular occcurence in the afternoon and evening to hear rock falls from the peak on the south side of the valley. The melting snow was all the rock needed for a quick trip down the mountain. The potential danger became more apparent when we came down the trail on Monday to find a very large rock in the middle of the path that wasn't there on Saturday.


Otherwise the often deep snow and blistering hot weather made for a fairly sedate weekend. The snow on the trails limited us to some very tiring hikes that Aerin was not feeling well enough to tackle with the beginnings of a cold and blisters, nor did the heat inspire us to move very quickly. So we enjoyed the solitude and scenario with a handful of other people and headed out early. We were glad we did because as we left some rather inclimate weather settled in for the next couple of days.

(Northover Ridge from Three Isle Lake)