It’s been a less than stellar week. I’ve been experiencing a lull in enthusiasm. Beware the Ides of the 90 Day Challenge, I guess! I’m half way to 90 days though, which sounds silly saying. This is more than a challenge with a fixed end date. It’s a lifestyle change. Right? That’s what I keep telling myself. To tear myself out of this temporary funk, I did what any self respecting fitness wannabe would do; I built a chin up bar in my garage and shaved my head. Not bald, but as close to my scalp as the lowest setting on the Barber’s clippers would allow.

Getting a little thin up top anyway.

Here’s my new chin up bar. It actually turned out great. I bought 3/4 inch pipe, 90 degree elbows, and a couple of floor flanges and bolted it all to a piece of 2×8.

A theme that’s been nagging at me lately is whether or not I’m too old for change. I already know that the answer is a resounding NO, but regardless, I can’t seem to shake it.  I’m 41 now. Not very old, I know. But as I consume more and more information regarding changing one’s life, such as books and blogs, it’s almost always targeted at those much younger than me.  It’s as if the universe has decided that if you’re over 40 you’re not worth helping, or don’t need inspiration. I argue it’s the exact opposite.

Great people have changed their lives for the better in their later years before.  Take for example the Wikipedia entry for Late Bloomer.

That’s it for now.  The weight continues to decrease.  168 lbs this morning.

Now go move.

OK, please forgive the blatant Star Wars episode IV title rip off, but I read a book this week called “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline and it renewed my interest in all things geeky that I enjoyed in the late 70′s and throughout the 1980s.  If you enjoyed video games, movies, early computers, role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons I highly recommend you pick it up.  Yes, I was and still am a geek.

But back to matters at hand.  Last week, I neglected to mention that we added two kittens to our family.  They are Scottish Fold/Himalayan mixed breed.  We thought we were getting a brother and sister set, but they turned out to be a male and male after their first vet check up.   My kids named them River (the flame point) and August (the seal point). The vet also discovered that they are both infected with Feline Coccidiosis, a lovely little parasite that tends to make otherwise healthy kittens poop everywhere.  They’re on meds now and should be all better in a week or so.  Here’s a picture of them now, at 7 weeks:

Following last week’s completion of my first 30 days, I have to admit, my enthusiasm was waning somewhat.  I wasn’t about to stop or give up, but I just wasn’t jumping out of bed in the morning and immediately getting things done like I had been the week before.   I let my meal planning lapse and was eating default, easy meals like bacon & eggs for dinner.  And I hadn’t been out to a market in a week either.  To get back on track, I grabbed one of my cookbooks (Everyday Paleo) and returned to a recipe I’d made a few weeks ago that rocked, Spice Rub Slow-Cooked Chicken.  And the best part was, I had all of the ingredients on hand.  At the same time, I picked out a recipe for the next day, Marvellous Meatballs.  All I needed for the latter was a mild Italian pork sausage and I was all set.

I learned something else about myself.  I require daily inspiration to maintain momentum.  It doesn’t matter if it comes from a book, a video, or whatever, but if I don’t get it, I slowly begin to coast and skimp on new habits.   I have so many things that I’m interested in, that it’s very easy for me to veer off track for days at a time.  I stumbled across the following video from Henry Rollins:

Watching this video makes me wonder, where is the same for the over 40 set?  Are we supposed to have everything figured out?  Is it not worth helping older people change their lives?  I honestly think there’s a huge void in the lifestyle design world for content targeted specifically at the over 40 crowd.  Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough.

It’s been a tough week for me.  I had a really poor run on Thursday, running my 10K route much, much slower than I had a week prior.  I had a couple of beer, which then turned into a couple more. Not tragic, but nonetheless, not the path I want to be on.  Time to recommit.

I threatened last week to change up how I write my updates and this post is the first follow through on that threat.  If the old way was better, please let me know.  But to be honest, I was getting bored listing meals.

I can’t believe 30 days is up.  It’s gone by much faster than I anticipated it would.  I’m extremely happy with my progress so far, as all I’ve really changed is my diet.  I’ve ran 3 or 4 times in 30 days and worked out very lightly a total of maybe 5 times.  So I think it’s fair to conclude that through diet changes alone, one can significantly and rapidly lose weight.  As of Day 30, I’m 171 lbs, that’s a total of 15 lbs lost in 30 days.

These final 8 days have been filled with lots of great food including bacon & eggs, a wicked pulled pork I made, and at least 5 steaks!  Needless to say, I’m enjoying eating these foods enormously.  The one negative is that I default to bacon and eggs whenever I’m lazy or too busy to prepare for the days meals in advance.  I’m working to optimize my planning so this doesn’t happen.

A pattern that I’ve discovered about myself is that I’m not much of a morning eater.  I prefer to wait until 10:00am or later before eating breakfast.  This allows me to wait until supper for my second meal of the day, or snack in the afternoon on nuts, berries, and tea.

My original goals for this 90 day challenge were as follows:

1. Have visible abdominal muscles.
2. Do 10 pull-ups.
3. Run 10K under 50 minutes.

I’ve yet to achieve any of these, but am moving in the right direction.  My 10K time has dropped from by about 7 minutes over 30 days to 1:03.  Still 13 minutes to go, but it’s amazing how much faster one can run when they’re not carrying excess weight.

I attempted CrossFit this week.  I signed up for the Elements classes at a local CrossFit gym by my house called CrossFitWaterloo.  At my first class, my instructor showed me how to do bodyweight squats, pulls ups (jumping), and push ups correctly.  I have no doubt that CrossFit is awesome and would burn fat and build muscle quickly, but I won’t be returning.  I’m just not a gym or group workout guy.  I’d rather workout alone, in my garage.  So be it, that’s who I am, so I’m going with it.

Now that 30 days is up and I’ve successfully lost 15 lbs it’s time to take things up a notch.  In the next 30 days I’ve got a few things I’d like to accomplish.  First, I don’t want to lose the momentum I’ve built up with respect to my diet, so I’m going to continue to work at optimizing my shopping and cooking routines.  I know that my butcher will accept orders via email and have them ready for pick up.  The local fish place does the same.

On May 26th the other author of this illustrious blog, Vince will be running the Sulphur Springs Trail 100-miler.  I’ll be pacing Vince through a 20KM leg sometime in the early morning hours.  So to be able to do this, I want to increase my mileage over the next 30 days, with at least 1 20KM run prior to pacing Vince.

And given my decision not to attend an organized CrossFit gym, I’ll be installing a pull up bar in my garage.

See you next week.

Week 3 Summary:

Really uneventful and quiet week.  My quick weight-loss seems to have plateaued somewhat this week.  I lost two more pounds but have been stuck at 175lbs for a last few days of the week.  I can’t say I’m terribly surprised, as I’ve been enjoying cooking so much that I’m certain my calorie count has been quite high.  Now, I know when eating real foods, you shouldn’t need to count calories.  But I’ve also been quite busy and didn’t dedicate as much time to exercise this week as I’d have liked to.  No matter, next week I’m going to attempt an actual Crossfit class and fully expect to get knocked on my ass by it.

NOTE:  I think I’ll change up the format of my posts next week.  I’m getting bored of simply regurgitating what I ate.   Not sure how it’ll turn out, but hopefully it’ll make things more fun for me as a writer, and you as a reader.  Or maybe I’ll panic while trying to write something different and revert to this format, who knows?

Week 3 Details:

Day 15 – I’m lazy, or I really, really love bacon and eggs because that’s what I had for breakfast again.  Granted, I had just fasted for 13 hours or so prior to having a blood test so simple and easy were the motivational factors determining breakfast today.  Mind you, lunch pretty much confirmed my laziness as I ate a can of salmon and some Nellie’s Apple Crisp.  Oh well, at least I managed to write out a list of meals for the week and shopping list for tomorrow morning.  Today has been extremely windy which has knocked the power out at least a dozen times.  When you work from home and the power goes out constantly you don’t exactly get much work done.  Damn wind!

Day 16 – Starting to develop a bit of a daily routine.  Still nowhere near optimized, but a routine no less.  First, I realized I’m not a big breakfast eater right after getting up.  I prefer a few cups of black coffee instead.  My hunger usually needs satisfying somewhere around 11am.  Because this is very near to the traditional lunch hour, I simply make breakfast at this point.  Something simple and fast, like bacon and eggs usually suffices.  Between getting the kids off to school and Trish heading off to work and my late breakfast, I have about 2 hours in which to plan.  If I haven’t already, I’ll use this time to plan out a weeks worth of dinners and itemize a shopping list.  On a future day, I’ll use this 2 hour window to complete the shopping.  That’s as far as my routine has developed so far.  Of course, everything is subject to change.

Something I found today that really resonated with me is this video by Danielle Laporte:

What really resonates with me is the idea of “You will figure it out!”.  Time and time again in my life I’ve neglected to start things I’ve been interested in pursuing for fear of not being knowledgeable enough to do it.  Sadly, it’s taken me 41 years of life to figure out that I’ve let my fear and stupidity hold me back from achieving things I want to achieve.  No longer!

I got moving again today and ran my 10K route that I ran 12 days ago in 1:08:45 but managed to run it today in 1:06:01.   Still a far cry from the 50 minutes I hope to achieve.

Day 17 – Very uneventful day today.  Given that I spend a lot of time behind a computer I thought I’d try something a little different.  So I set a timer on my computer for 1 hour and every time it alarmed, I did as many push-ups as I could.  I only managed to do this twice, as I began in the afternoon and then regular life took me out of my office to other things.  But for those two times, I managed 21 and then 17 push-ups before my arms gave out.  I wasn’t hungry for most of the day, so I simply snacked on Brazil nuts, a banana, and an apple.

Day 18 – It’s 20 Celsius outside, sunny, and I’m BBQ’ing on the back deck.  I would KILL for a beer right now.  But no, can’t have a beer for 30 days.  So water it is.  Anyway, yah me.  Made a pretty sweet BBQ sauce from scratch to put on some chicken for dinner.  I can’t seem to find the recipe online, but it’s from Paleo Comfort Foods.  I received Danielle Laporte’s book, ‘The Fire Starter Sessions‘ in the mail today and spent an hour reading the first 50 pages.  I have to say, it’s really resonating with me.  If you want to stop reaching for some future self and start living life now, I highly recommend it.

Day 19 – The kids are at home today due to a Professional Development day for their teachers.  I have to keep reminding myself to stop trying to make them do things and just let them be.  They’re great kids already, and having me hound them all day to go outside, or do something different is only going to create stress that nobody needs.   I managed to screw up a Cedar Plank Salmon recipe today by preparing the salmon as per a Jamaican Jerk Salmon recipe and not noticing until I was done.  I simply combined the two and made Jamaican Jerk Cedar Plank Salmon.  Unfortunately, I completely screwed up the BBQing part somehow.  Not sure what happened, as I followed the instructions but the fish just didn’t seem cooked enough.  I ate mine anyway though.

Day 20 –  Extreme hunger today.  I’m not sure why, because I’m eating a lot.  In fact, I feel like I may be eating too much, even though I’ve read that’s not really possible when eating purely proteins.  I ate 2 strip loin steaks today for dinner, which were amazing.  I also had to fight the desire to have a beer while watching the NHL play-offs in the evening.  Managed to get past it though, and am glad I did.

Day 21 – I can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks already.   I’m holding steady at 175lbs right now.  I’m not terribly surprised as I’ve not been pushing myself very hard to gain lean muscle.  A set of 10 push ups here and there isn’t going to cut it.  So next week I’m planning to swallow my fear and dive into Crossfit classes.  I don’t really care if I look stupid any more, so I can’t really fail.  Also, went to see The Hunger Games today with my son which we both enjoyed.  Of course, he read the book, and I haven’t.

As usual, I’ll provide you, my busy readers with a summary first in case you’d rather not read the dirty details of Week 2.

Week 2 Summary

At the end of 14 days, I’ve lost 9 pounds and have moved up a belt loop.  Still alcohol free and managed another successful week of eating only real foods.   However, I ate a lot of it.  For most of the week I was constantly hungry.  I’d tried to offset the hunger with coffee and water, which worked to a degree.  As expected, the hunger was for anything but real foods.  I survived though and things improved near the end of the week.  Miraculously, I attended an event at a bar and didn’t drink.  The people I was with were shocked, as I’ve always been the one ordering the first beer, not the first coffee.  I got a physical this week, the first in 10 years according to my doctor’s records.  Also had a Body Composition Test done using the very cool, BodPod at Totum Performance Fitness in Toronto and discovered I’m currently 33.5% bodyfat.  Read on for the details.

Week 2 Details:

Day 8 – Easter Monday.   Started the day off (again) with bacon and hard boiled eggs.  I really, really have to mix up the breakfast foods soon.  Felt physically good today although I noticed my patience level wasn’t very good.  As expected, I ate a plate of turkey and cranberry sauce for lunch and snacked on kiwi in the afternoon, as well as almonds while I got some work done.

Day 9 – Skipped the bacon today, but still had a couple of hard-boiled eggs.  Made a fantastic Halibut in Butter Sauce dinner for myself, as Trish and Lily had to rush out to a Sparks event (like Brownies/Girl Guides but for younger girls) so opted for lasagna that  I’d purchased for them at a local specialty grocer’s called Vincenzo’s.  The trip to Vincenzo’s actually turned out to be beneficial, as I managed to pick up some dates, coconut flakes, and almond butter for myself as well.  I also noted the large amount of oils available there, for future reference.  Here’s a pic of my Halibut, just to show off a little:

Day 10 – Attended an event to draft players for my son’s ball hockey league at a local bar today.  I managed to make it out alive having had a lone cup of coffee.  Made a wickedly awesome Spice Rub Slow-Cooked Chicken from Everyday Paleo.  I neglected to take a picture as I was to busy shoveling the chicken down my throat.

Day 11 – Visited the doctor today for a physical; the first in 10 years.  Got my tetanus shot updated and recorded a few measurements for future reference, listed below and also got a requisition for blood work including Total Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, Glucose, and C-Reactive Protein:

Measurements

• Blood Pressure – 118/66
• Weight – 178 lbs (7 pounds lost since starting this effort)
• Height – 166cm or 5’5.5″  (can I round up to 5’6″?)

<add a bit about the stomach muscle separation here>

Day 12 – BodPod Day.  Traveled into Toronto today with Vince for a BodPod appointment at Totum Performance.  Met with Tim Irvine who was very professional.  I highly recommend anyone looking for an accurate body composition test to visit.  For the cost of $60, it’s well worth it.  Oh, and they have a smoothie bar at Totum, so I grabbed a fruit smoothie with almond milk on the way out. Here’s what a BodPod looks like:

And here’s my assessment:

Finished the day with Apple Cinnamon Shallot Pork Chops.

Day 13 – Started my Saturday with a good helping of Bacon & Eggs.  Unbeknownst to be, we took the kids out for lunch at a local grill.  I was hoping for something on the menu I could eat.  There was salad, but I wasn’t in the mood, so opted for the Protein Breakfast which included 4 slices of bacon, 3 eggs, 3 sausage and 3 slices of ham.  So basically, I repeated breakfast.  The sausage and ham was suspect, so I didn’t eat it.  Decided to try a treat today and baked Caramel Pecan Bars, which first made the house smell awesome and second tasted fantastic.  For dinner, I got fancy and made Halibut en Papillote and completely messed it up.  It appeared cooked, but wasn’t even edible.  In my frustration, I raced out and picked up a couple of steaks.  A little Montreal Steak Spice and BBQ action and the balance was restored in the universe.

Day 14 – Planning to head in for blood testing tomorrow, so fasting is in order for at least 12 hours.  Yesterday was a high calorie day, so I could probably do without for a while.  Started fasting at 6:00pm, which isn’t really all that impressive.  Anyway, another week down and so far, things are going well.  Time to take the exercise up a notch this week.

Week 1 Summary:  If you only read this paragraph, I will not be offended.  The daily details will follow this paragraph for those interested.

Week 1 has been a resounding success.  I managed to completely avoid alcohol, ate Paleo meals exclusively, and dropped 6 lbs.  I ran twice, have started doing random sets of push-ups, built a Plyobox for my garage, and discovered that I cannot do even 1 clean pull-up.  The number one time sink thus far has been meal planning, sourcing ingredients, grocery shopping and cooking.  I expect this to improve as I learn to optimize each.  On the upside, I’ve discovered that I love to cook.  For the first 30-days of this 90-day effort I intend to eat exclusively Paleo recipes, and will afterwards  apply the Pareto Principle to my eating, depending on how my body responds.  I’m allowing myself to change whatever I need to change to get the results I want.  I will admit though that after a week of eating only real foods, I can already see improvements in aspects of my health.  As of Sunday, April 8th I’m down about 6 pounds.   The downside so far is I’ve been experiencing symptoms consistent with my body detoxing, such as fatigue and a wee bit of diarrhea.  As I begin week 2 I have to stress that the first week flew by.  Day 31(May 2nd) feels like it’s just around the corner already.  So if you’re considering undertaking a similar effort, you should start today.  It goes by faster than you think.  And if you want an easy to follow program, I recommend The Whole 30.

Week 1 Details:

Day 1 (Monday, April 2nd):  The first day wasn’t that hard for me.  I hard-boiled a bunch of eggs and ate a few with bacon. Turns out my daughter likes egg whites, so she ate a couple.  Salad and fruit for lunch.  I’m trying to keep breakfast and lunch as simple as possible for now.  First cooking attempt: successfully made Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs after searching the city for the last Spaghetti Squash available.  I loved this recipe, but my wife did not like the texture of the Squash very much.

Day 2 (Tuesday, April 3rd):  Got my ass out the door, ran about 2KM and attempted a pull-up (unsuccessfully).  I wish I had video of the latter for comedic relief.  Needless to say, it was very sad.  Started re-reading Rob Wolff’s, ‘Paleo Solution’ in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the what and why of this effort.  Realized I should probably get some “before” numbers in place in oder to track my progress.  Here are some  measurements I took prior to beginning for reference:

• Weight                              186 lbs
• Waist @ Bellybutton     41.5″
• Bicep Left                         12″
• Bicep Right                      12.5″
• Hips                                    39″
• Life Thigh                         21.5″
• Right Thigh                      21.5″

On the recommendation of a friend, I dropped into CrossFit Waterloo, a gym near my house.  The place looked really cool, and I’m considering enrolling in their 5 session beginner classes.  Haven’t completely decided whether I will yet, as I tend to do better on my own.  My food consisted of bacon and eggs again, skipped lunch, and made Garlic Ginger Chicken for dinner.  This recipe was really good.

Day 3 (Wednesday, April 4th):  After much apprehension and editing I posted my initial post in this series.  So far, the reception by friends and family has either been all positive, or non-existent.  To be honest, I expected a little more feedback.  Perhaps I’m doing something wrong technically with the blog feeds.  I should probably look into that.  Made Cinnamon Steak Skewers for dinner which were not as great as I’d hoped.

Day 4 (Thursday, April 5th):  Booked blood work and a BodPod appointment for next week to add to the before numbers.  Assembled a 24″/20″ plyobox for my garage using the awesome instructions from Mountain Athlete.   Unbelievably, similar plyoboxes sell from $129.99 on Amazon.  Really, really wanted to drink a beer while I was in my garage building my plyobox.  Pretty sure this was a combination of my habit of drinking beer in my garage and carb cravings.  Managed to get by it.  Made Herbed Chicken Skewers for dinner and they were awesome.  Here’s my plyobox in its current state.  I intend to cover the edges with duct tape, because everything is better with duct tape, and perhaps stencil something onto the jump surfaces.

Day 5 (Friday, April 6th):  Good Friday.  Not very hungry at breakfast, so just had coffee and two slices of bacon.  We travelled to visit my wife’s father today,  My wife, Trish was kind enough to think of my eating changes so cooked a whole chicken and packed some spinach salad.  We ate mid-afternoon, so by the time we’d travelled back home it was about 6pm and we weren’t hungry.  About an hour later, I was ready to eat anything I could find.  Being lazy, I fried 3 eggs.

Day 6 (Saturday, April 7th):  Today was filled with lots of running around.  My son had a hockey body checking camp from 8-10am, then we had to track down some shoes for him.   When I got home, I BBQ’d 2 burgers and covered them in fried eggs for lunch.  Watched an hour or so of the Master’s, then headed out the door to drop my son off at a birthday party while my wife dropped off our daughter at a birthday party as well.  Had a couple of squares of dark chocolate in the afternoon, which is quickly growing on me after initially not liking the taste of it.  BBQ’d Oktoberfest Sausage and veggies for dinner.  The sausage was from a local meat shop, Stemmler’s Meats and was really, really good.

Day 7 (Sunday, April 8th):  Easter Sunday.  Bacon and Eggs for breakfast.  I really need to make an effort to mix up the breakfast foods next week.  Headed out to the garage to do some kind of exericise and came up with the following:

• 3 x 20″ Plyobox Jumps
• 3 x 100 Skipping
• 3 x Stair Climb (3 stairs) carrying 45 lb water bottles in each hand

I know these exercises aren’t exactly perfect, but at least I’m doing something.  Here’s a shot of my water bottles on the stairs I use for climbing:

Trish made a fantastic turkey with cranberry sauce for dinner tonight.  She even made me roasted yams, instead of mashed potatoes.  She’s awesome.  The turkey turned out perfectly and I’ve got a large container full of leftover for lunch this week.   Spent the better part of Easter Sunday watching documentaries with my son.  On the agenda was Dogtown and Z-Boys, and Unsalted.   I’m a wannabe surfer, so I thought I’d see if I could convert Charlie into the same.  Perhaps it will trigger a holiday somewhere to learn to surf.  He loved both films.  Can’t wait to see if he likes Riding Giants and Step Into Liquid as well.

Also, I tried to use SlimKicker to track my efforts, but I found it to be too much of a time sink for me, so I deleted my account.

That’s it for Week 1.  Stay tuned and wish me luck for week 2.

I’m fat, sedentary, smoke occasionally, and drink way, way too much beer!  I’m not quite this guy, but I’m not that far off either:

It’s time to reboot this blog, my writing, my fitness, and my life and what better way than to potentially publicly humiliate myself.  And so begins “Monumental Effort in Real Time”!  Monumental Effort in Real Time will track and openly document on this blog personal achievement in Real Time over 90 days. Every 90 days a new Monumental Effort will begin.  The goal is to demonstrate to you that everyone is capable of extraordinary things.  We all have a bucket-list somewhere, whether it be written down or just some faint nagging voice that calls out occasionally to climb a mountain, build a house, or run a marathon.  We all dream about ticking off each item on the list sooner than later and breathing our last breath knowing that we’d lived the life of our choosing.  Vince and I hope to be able to document ourselves (and hopefully you) achieving our greatest potential and proving to ourselves and the world at large that if we can do it, anyone can.

So let’s get started!  For Monumental Effort in Real Time #1 I (Bill) am the subject.  If you’re anything like me you observe people who change their lives for the better, win races, climb mountains, get thin, get rich etc. etc. and you snicker to yourself, “you know, if I put my mind to it, I could do that “.  Then you shuffle off to the fridge for another beer and flip back to the game, or check Facebook, or have a nap.  But I believe you’re right.  I believe that if you set your mind to something, commit to a goal and work daily to move toward it, you will succeed.  Perhaps the end result won’t be the original goal you had in mind, but I have no doubt that the journey toward whatever end occurs will have changed you.  For better or worse remains to be seen.  It’s time to find out.

For the record, I’m 41 years old, 5’5″ tall, and approximately 185 pounds as of April 2, 2012.  I have a 34″ waist, for crying out loud!  For my height I’m probably about 30 pounds over weight.  I don’t want to be.  I’m pretty sure I have abdominal muscles, as I can walk upright but I haven’t seen them in 30 years or so.  So what do I hope to achieve in 90 days?

1. Have visible abdominal muscles.
2. Do 10 pull-ups.
3. Run 10K under 50 minutes.

As of Monday, April 2nd my belly is (conservatively) a beer-belly, I can do about 3/4s of a  pull up, and I haven’t ran in over 6 months.  My goal is to post weekly updates (at minimum, I may chime in more frequently if something particularly interesting occurs) here to motivate myself.  Feel free to taunt me to get off my ass and do more.

All of this insanity was triggered by a friend of mine changing his life.  His name is Dean Dwyer and he is Vince’s old roommate from decades ago.  We partied together many times in our 20s.  Dean changed his life! He did it, so why can’t I?  I strongly suggest anyone wishing to lose weight and get fit read Dean’s book, Make Shift Happen: Change How You Look By Changing How You Think.  I will be reading this book shortly, as soon as it arrives in the mail.  Dean went from being a disgruntled, pudgy, vegetarian school teacher to a superstar in the Paleo community, published author, and super fit dude.  I want that too, well, the super fit part anyway!  Here’s Dean’s before and after pic:

Read Dean’s story here: When Healthy Eating is Making You Fat

To get started, I’m planning to use Slim Kicker to track my progress.  It’s a pretty cool tool that adds a gamification element to fitness.  Time to Level Up.  I’ll post more about this app as I learn more by using it.

Time to go do a push up.  Warning, this is an effort in Real Time, so I have no idea what will happen, how, or when.  I’m going to start by adjusting my diet to eat only real foods (following Paleo Diet ideas), move around a lot more, and see what happens.  In the last 3 days, I’ve successfully not had a beer and eaten exclusively Paleo meals!  Stay tuned!

(So it’s been nearly two months since this race, I figure it’s about time I get this report posted!)

“Remember, finishing is winning.” – Chrissy Ferguson, AT 100 Co-Race Director

I clearly wasn’t a winner in 2010 when back spasms forced me to DNF (Did Not Finish) at mile 73 of the Arkansas Traveler 100-mile run. After surviving the nightmarish ride back to the finish line in the box of the pickup truck where I laid with a couple of other runners who had suffered the same fate as me, I promised myself I would return to the Ouachita National Forest in 2011 to take care of unfinished business.

Last year during the pre-race briefing, co-RD Chrissy Ferguson shared a story about the time she dropped out at Leadville 100. She kept her race bib on her fridge as a daily reminder of her failed attempt at completing the race. Chrissy returned to Colorado the following year to successfully reach the finish line.  That same year she also eventually completed the Grand Slam of ultra running. Remarkably, her husband Stan Ferguson, also completed the Slam and the couple became the first husband and wife duo to accomplish the feat in the same year. Their story was featured in the July-August 2010 issue of Marathon & Beyond.

(Note: The Grand Slam consists of officially finishing the following four 100-milers in the same year: Western States, Vermont, Leadville, and Wasatch. The races take place in a span of just under 4 months.)

So following Chrissy’s lead, I pinned my 2010 DNF Arkansas Traveler race bib on the cork board in my office and was forced to reflect about the race practically every day over the course of the next 12 months.

Minutes before the start of the race all the runners gathered for the final instructions where Chrissy proclaimed: “If you have any questions…too bad, it’s too late”!  And the starters pistol set us off on our journey.  The first aid station is at Brown’s Creek just past the 5-mile mark. I remembered this place from last year because of it served bacon. I planned ahead and had an extra Ziploc baggie on me in order to load it up with a few extra strips and eat later on. You can never, ever have too much bacon!

At the Flatside Pinnacle aid station near the 9-mile mark, I caught up to my friend Monica Scholz who invited me to join her. For the next 7 miles the course follows the Ouachita Trail, the only single track trail on the Arkansas Traveler course. Most of the course is run on gravel and old jeep or ATV roads. Monica suggested that we take it exceptionally slow on this trail section. She felt it was the “prettiest” section of the race and said far too many people don’t enjoy it enough and go too fast this early in the race. Dozens of runners passed us easily but Monica believed that we would catch them later in the race. Who was I to argue? This was after all Monica’s 113th race of 100-miles (or longer) and her 9th go-round here in Arkansas.

We chatted and chatted, zipped in and out of the aid stations and put miles and time behind us. In fact, the first time I remember even looking at my watch we were already nearly 6 hours into the race. Every year over 200 hundred volunteers help make the Arkansas Traveler a memorable experience. Many of the aid stations even have themes, complete with decorations and costumes. At 39 miles, this year the Club Flamingo aid station was transformed into a replica of a M.A.S.H. set. Many volunteers were wearing army fatigues and there was even the ugliest (and hairiest) Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan I’ve ever seen. Clad in a tight white nurse’s dress and wearing red lipstick was none other than aid station captain Paul “PT” Turner. This guy is hilarious and it is the second year in a row I see him in a dress. This disturbing image only further encouraged us be in and out of that station quickly.

RD's with PT and AT100 champs

Smith Mountain at 43 miles was a 70’s party and you could hear the music blaring from far away and there was a luau and invitations to get “leied” by volunteers in grass skirts at B.M. Road three miles later. Before we knew it, we had reached Powerline (48.2 miles) and the first medical weigh in checkpoint. We both had drop bags here so we elected to grab a dry long-sleeve shirt and our flashlights because it would be dark by the time we get back to this point on our return trip. At just under three minutes, this was our longest aid station stop of the entire race. The next time I looked at my watch was at the 50-mile mark. The first half of the race took us 12 hours and 16 minutes. Monica predicted a 26-hour finishing time for us.

I’ve known Monica for nearly ten years, joined her and others at countless “fun runs” she has hosted with Phil, captained an aid station with her father Dieter at the Sulphur Springs many times, yet these hours together on the AT100 course allowed me to get to know her even better. Not only is Monica a remarkable runner, she is a fascinating person in many aspects and has accomplished many other incredible athletic feats from cycling to scuba diving to sailing. On top of it all, she has many interesting courtroom stories as she is an accomplished lawyer. Monica, you should really write a book!

About an hour after the turnaround we finally crossed Phil. On very little training, Phil was attempting to finish his 5th AT100. In 2010 Phil completed seven 100-milers and crewed/paced Monica at several others. He is one tough dude! The miles kept passing by and the thought of not finishing never once occurred to me. I once heard an ultra runner say: “the key to running a 100-miler is not to let the highs get too high, nor the lows get too low”. We kept an even keel and plugged along. I especially did not want to spend much time at Smith Mountain at mile 73. This was where my race ended last year and the U-Haul trailer which I had lied down in was once again parked there.

We got to see a second sunrise (I’ve never finished a 100-miler in the dark yet!) and shortly after that Monica picked up the pace quite a bit. She wanted to finish in enough time to allow her to drive back to her hotel room, take a shower and return to see Phil finish. My swollen and blistered feet couldn’t keep up and Monica faded out of view. As much as I enjoyed Monica’s company for all those miles, I also enjoyed my time alone. It allowed me to reflect on the magnitude of this Monumental Effort. These events really force you to dig deep both mentally and physically. Monica helped keep the mood pleasant and the feet moving. Not a single runner passed us from the turn-around at mile 58 to the finish, yet we managed to leapfrog a few, including one poor guy who sat motionless in the middle of the road for nearly three hours with less than a mile to go as his crew and pacers waited patiently for him to find the strength to get up and slowly saunter to the finish.  He eventually got there to much applause!

AT100 finish line

I had not completed a 100-miler in over two years and I was starting to wonder whether I would ever be successful at running this distance again. As I ran as hard as I possibly could down one last hill and up another one along the final mile, I was filled with joy and relief. I hollered a few (very loud) “whoo-hooos”, along with many fist pumps as I crossed the finish line. Awaiting the runners and offering handshakes, hugs and congratulations were Chrissy and Stan. I can honestly say that I had never felt happier upon completing a race before.

During the entire run I carried with me the DNF bib from 2010. At the awards presentation I gave it to Chrissy as she handed me my finisher’s buckle. I told her I never wanted to see that bib again and she promptly destroyed it. With my confidence in running 100-milers restored, this week I submitted my application to the Western States Endurance Run lottery. The draw will be held on December 10th. Fingers are crossed!

Gotta run,

Vince

(Photos in this post are from: www.endurance buzz.com…check out this excellent site)

My future events: JFK 50-miler, November 19th; Honolulu Marathon, December 11th.

« The race really only has one hill. » – Teresa Taylor, Barr Camp caretaker and winner of the inaugural Sulphur Springs 100-miler in 2001

Pre-race:   A different kind of “Mile-High” club

Prior to the 2011 Pikes Peak Marathon, the last time I was outdoors at 14,000 feet above sea level I had just jumped out of a perfectly good airplane high above Australia’s Gold Coast.  Although nothing compares to the adrenaline rush of skydiving, this race’s unique qualities make it a must-do for marathoners and trail enthusiasts alike.

Freefalling Down Under

Billed as “America’s Ultimate Challenge” the iconic Pikes Peak Marathon is North America’s third oldest marathon and the very first to officially allow women.  A race steeped in history and run on a challenging one-of-a-kind mountainous course in a State I had yet to visit…I just had to check this out!

Registration for Pikes Peak opens some five months before the race and usually fills up pretty fast.  Although the qualifying standards aren’t unreasonably tough, race organizers are extremely particular about how the online registration form is completed.  In other words, you cannot use a qualifying time that is faster or slower than what is required for the start wave you are registering for.  If you accidently submit the wrong time, your application will be denied.

I was vacationing in the Dominican Republic on the day that registration opened.  I had set my iPad alarm to remind me to get online in time.  Unfortunately, I had miscalculated the time zone difference and when I logged onto the site what I thought was a few minutes early turned out to be almost an hour late.  I was surprised to see that the first wave (410 spots for runners with a qualifying time of 3:45 or faster) had already been filled and that the second wave (430 spots for runners with a qualifying time of 3:45 – 5:30) only had a handful of vacant spots remaining.  Luckily I had qualifying times for both waves, so I promptly found the link to the results for a marathon I had completed slower than 3:45 and submitted my application just under the wire.  Now all I had left to do was train!

Being a “flatlander” presents many challenges for runners looking to run alpine races.  I tried to include as many hills as possible in my training but nothing in Southern Ontario is remotely close to the climbing I’d be doing in Colorado.  Perennial Pikes Peak Marathonwinner Matt Carpenter suggests that runners who don’t have access to mountains should do some long runs (up to four hours) on a treadmill set at the highest incline.  I tried this tactic and could only manage a 2-hour uphill treadmill jaunt before my calves felt like they were about to explode. 

Climbing at Creemore

My spring race schedule included nearby events that featured hilly courses like the Creemore Vertical and Limberlost  Challenges from the Ontario Ultra Series.  Furthermore, the new course design at Mohican 50-miler turned out to be excellent preparation for Pikes Peak.  Although not necessarily mountainous, the terrain of Central Ohio offers endless miles of technical trails and a relentless number of hills.  The early summer heat and humidity only contributed to making that race a Monumental Effort of its own!

I arrived at the Denver airport on the Tuesday before the race.  I spent the first day and night sightseeing areas north of Denver (lunch in Boulder, dinner in Estes Park, and a tour of The Stanley Hotel – Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining) before heading back south towards Manitou Springs and the site of the race.  I had only been in the Rocky Mountain State for approximately 24-hours when I took the cog railway to the summit of Pikes Peak.  Although it was a bit pricey, the ride provided some fantastic vistas and our guide delivered a witty commentary about flora and fauna found on “America’s Mountain”.  At the top I snapped a few pictures and studied the view of the Barr Trail that zigzags its way down the mountain, the route I would be ascending on race day.  A few minutes later, the thin air (and perhaps a bit of anxiety) made me feel a bit light-headed and I even experienced some shortness of breath.  So I had to seek out a quiet corner in the restaurant to sit down and have something to eat and drink to gather myself.  If this was any indication of how I might react to the altitude during the race, I was in serious trouble.

Summit sign

The view from the summit

Part of my acclimatization plan was to spend some time on the mountain.  So on Thursday morning with my backpack loaded with gear and enough water for the next two days, I hiked the first six miles of the race course up to Barr Camp which sits at above 10,000 feet of elevation.  I had also booked a bunk at the camp where I would spend the night. 

My bunk at Barr Camp

Over the past few months I had read as much literature (and watched many videos) that I could about the Pikes Peak Marathon but hopefully this hike would not only help me get accustomed to the thin air, it would permit me to actually see the trail before the big day.  I resisted the urge to run and simply enjoyed the scenery.  I even took a couple of extended breaks during which I would pull out my copy of Harald Fricker’s book about the race to reread the chapter containing the detailed course description.  This turned out to be extremely valuable as it helped me plan my strategy for race day. 

I dropped off some of my gear at Barr Camp to lighten my load and continued my hike for an additional three miles (one more hour and just under 2,000 feet of climb) to A-Frame.  Now I had seen three quarters of the course.  I turned around here as I figured that the last section above the tree line would be a death march regardless if I had seen it or not before race day!  Besides, it was almost dinner time and I was famished. 

A-Frame

The staff at Barr Camp treated its patrons to a hearty spaghetti feast with some of the best garlic bread I have ever had.  After dinner about a half-dozen of us (including my new friends, the Andresen family from the Upper Peninsula region of Michigan) hung out in the cozy main cabin and exchanged running stories before hitting the pillow relatively early. 

Hanging out at Barr Camp

The next morning following another delicious meal (this one a scrumptious pancake breakfast) I gathered my belongings and hiked back down the mountain.  On my return trip I crossed dozens of volunteers who were making the trek to their respective spots on the mountain to set up an aid station and a campsite where they would be spending the next couple of days looking after runners.  I thanked many of them in advance. 

Like most marathons, Pikes Peak offered a race expo with its share of swag and discounted running apparel.  Here I had the pleasure of meeting ultra-running legend Marshall Ulrich who was promoting his book.  We had a short chat; I bought his book (hopefully a review will appear on M.E. at some point) and I decided not to linger at the expo too long.  I find there is too much nervous energy at these things which only heightens my own nervousness.  So I busted outta there!

Race weekend also features The Pikes Peak Ascent which takes place on the Saturday.  These runners race to the top of the mountain (a half-marathon) and are shuttled back down.  Pikes Veterans, those who have successfully completed the marathon in previous years, can also register for the “Double”…run the Ascent on Saturday followed by the Marathon on Sunday!  Absolute silliness!

Since parking would be limited due to the large number of Ascent participants, I opted to stay away on Saturday too.  All the excitement would be at the finish line on the summit anyway and I had absolutely no desire to spend the day up there!  So I ventured to an outlet mall only to be reminded of how much I hate shopping.  So back to my hotel room I went for a relaxing evening and another early bedtime.

The race:  The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah…

Before start

Although the registration has two different qualifying standards, all runners in the marathon depart at the same time.  The Ascent participants however have a staggered start for the two waves.  Minutes before the start, I picked a spot in about the middle of the pack and patiently waited for the sound of the start gun.  The race begins and ends in the quaint tourist town of Manitou Springs.  From where we were standing, runners can’t yet see the top of Pikes Peak.  The first sight of the summit will come at approximately the 3-mile mark.

Pikes Peak summit way off in the distance

3 miles up, Manitou Springs down below

Equipped with a better knowledge of the course thanks to my hike a couple of days ago, I dissected the ascent portion of the race into four 3-mile sections.  The first section has a short yet very steep road section followed by the first series of switchbacks (known as the W’s) on the Barr Trail.  In insight, I wish I had begun the race slightly closer to the front because there was a lot of congestion on this section.  Many race reports cautioned on starting conservatively, so the heavy traffic forced me to start slow, but I think I could have benefited from not being stuck in the conga line for so long.  However, I knew that the second 3-mile section wasn’t quite as steep as the W’s, had wider trails and even a few short down hills.  I did most of my passing on this section and before I knew it I had arrived at Barr Camp and approximately at the midway point of the climb.

The once quiet and serene oasis in the mountain was now quite the hustle and bustle of excitement.  The loudest cheerleader on the course was none other than Teresa, the ever-perky Barr Camp attendant.  Her voice was course, evidently from having cheered for all the Ascent participants the day before, yet she was out there again, manning the HAM radio and encouraging every single marathoner.  I topped off my water bottle, grabbed a handful of pretzels and continued on my way.

The third 3-mile section features the most technical part of the trail and another series of switchbacks.  These ones weren’t quite as steep as the W’s, but they were numerous and long.  Apparently there is a total of 15 of them, but I got confused when I tried to keep count.  It had taken me an hour to hike this section on Thursday, so I knew I could get to A-Frame a bit faster today.  It was on this section that you start passing runners who had evidently gone out too fast and were now suffering…and they were still a long way from the top.

Also on this section I got to see the lead runners bombing their way back down the mountain.  I still had a little over 4-miles to the summit but these amazing athletes were already cruising effortlessly towards the finish.  Doing some quick math I realized that they would be done the race before I even reached the summit.  Incredible!

Slow march above tree line

With A-Frame now behind me, I only had 3-miles before the turnaround.  But this section was unchartered territory for me.  The race’s website sums it up the best:  “There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000′ on Pikes Peak. They can’t!  Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners.  Above treeline most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step. It’s a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Adding insult to injury it might start to snow! Most runners are reduced to a slow march in the thin air.”

Surprisingly, I still felt pretty good on the final climb.  Sure I was sucking a bit of air, my hands were sore and swollen and my mind a little foggy, but I maintained a slow and steady pace.  I was still passing people, but now more and more runners were on their return and they get the right-of-way on the trail, so I was forced to stop often and allow down-bound runners to get by.

Happy to reach summit

I reached the top of Pikes Peak Mountain in 4:17:35.  Many of the reports that I had read suggested that the average runner should take their marathon time, add thirty minutes, and that will give a rough approximation of your ascent time.  Depending on the event, its course conditions and my training, my marathon times over the past couple of years has ranged between 3:30 and 4:20, so this formula seemed to be pretty accurate.

I did not waste any time refueling at the turnaround aid station.  There were a lot of spectators up there with friends and family meeting their runners, but I simply crossed the timing mat and headed out.  I had eaten a gel just before reaching the summit and I judged that I had enough water in my bottle to get me to the next aid station.  It was literally all downhill from here! 

Heading downhill

The 3-miles back to A-Frame zoomed by.  I was glad to be running and even happier that I wasn’t one of the poor souls still trekking upwards.  I even passed one runner who had decided to take a nap behind a rock.  I was extremely cautious on the technical trail to Barr Camp and as I approach that aid station I could still hear Teresa’s cheers.  Teresa informed me that she had gotten the news that her husband Neal had successfully completed Leadville-100 in a sub-24-hour time.  His best time on that course in 11 finishes!  Congratulations Neal!

I was having fun and running at a good pace.  I calculated that I had passed nearly 40 runners on the downhill portion.  Usually I’m the one being passed this late in a race.  As advertised, the unpredictable weather did not disappoint.  The sky clouded over and we got an interesting mix of rain, wind, and hail which forced me to pull on the jacket I was carrying in pack. I can’t imagine how brutal this weather must have been higher up on the mountain.  I believe some runners were also forced to turnaround before reaching the top because the conditions had gotten too dangerous…an unfortunate disqualification for them.

One mile to go!

Since 1998, the average finishing time for the Pikes Peak Marathon has been over 7 hours (7:10:52 for this year’s race).  With only a couple of miles to go, I realized that I could finish well under this time.  Even though the temperature had dropped and a slight drizzle was still falling, hundreds of enthusiastic fans lined the streets of Manitou Springs along the final mile of the course.  I crossed the finish line in 6:42:38. 

(Note:  Matt Carpenter won his 12^thPPM in a time of 3:48:08, nearly three hours ahead of me and he was this year’s only sub 4-hour finisher.  Matt also holds the mind-boggling course record of 3:16:39!)

Matt Carpenter, King of the Mountain

Post race:  Mr. Short-Term Memory

On this trip I was reminded of all the cool running events that happen in Colorado each year.  On this same weekend and only a few hours away, the Leadville 100-miler is also held.  Several years ago, the aforementioned M. Ulrich ran Leadville in under 24-hours, drove three hours to Manitou Springs in time to run the Pikes Peak Marathon.  Wowsers!  The Gore-Tex TransRockies stage race also takes place the week following Pikes Peak and this year another important sporting event that was happening in Colorado Springs on Monday was Stage 1 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.  I had already booked a room in Denver and was planning on seeing a baseball game at Coors Field, so I headed out of town bright and early Monday morning.  Later that day as I read the sports section of the Denver Post I realized that the top three finishers of the 2011 Tour de France (Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck & brother Frank) were all participating in this cycling event.  I guess I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of the best endurance athletes in the World in action.  Damn!

During my conversations with some Pikes Peak Veterans I was warned that the race has a funny way of calling runners back to the mountain year after year.  My intention was to run the race, check Colorado off my 50-States list, and start planning my next adventure.  Now that this race experience has simmered in my memory for almost a month, not only am I considering returning to Pikes Peak Marathon next summer, but the idea of doing “The Double” has also crept up in my mind.  What is wrong with me?

Monumental Effort has been quiet over the past few months as our respective busy lives have gotten in the way of our creativity.  We apologize for our silence.  Hopefully we will produce more material in the near future.  Better yet, if you have an inspiring story of determination and perseverance that you would like to share, please do so by clicking the “Submit your story” tab at the top of the page.  You can also comment below on this or any other post.

My next challenge:  Redemption at Arkansas Traveler 100…please stay tuned!

Gotta run,

Vince

« When your mind starts to wander, just return your focus to your breath. » André Grandbois, yoga instructor.

Exactly one year after doing the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim double-crossing of the Grand Canyon, two-thirds of the team reunited in Snoqualmie, Washington to run the Mt. Si Ultra. Due to injury, Wade was unable to join us, but Jackie was there, along with two other Vancouverites, Ryne Melcher and Kristin Ohm-Pedersen. Ryne (aka Rune) has run and won this event the past couple of years and holds a very impressive course record of 5:54:14 for 50-miles. He would not be lowering his time this year as a freak injury to his ribs (reportedly hurt while playing Wii tennis) forced him to run the shorter 50K event. Kristin was also entered in the 50K run whereas Jackie and I would test our mettle in the 50-miler.

I had never visited the Seattle area before so I was excited to run this race, check Washington off my 50-States list, and visit this area of the Puget Sound.

Sightseeing in Seattle

The race starts and finishes in the small town of Snoqualmie which rests in the heart of the Cascade Mountain Range about 25-miles east of Seattle. Surrounded by the snow capped Isaaquah Alps, 50-mile runners began their journey from a local elementary school promptly at 6:00AM. 50K runners would start two and a half hours later.

Mt. Si Ultra also offers a 59-mile relay option. There are 10 relay legs and runners on each team must run at least 2 sections. Seeing as there were nearly one hundred teams, this added greatly to the overall atmosphere of the run. Relay exchange points along the course had large boisterous crowds of spectators and runners awaiting their teammates. (Note: Last year, only one team had a faster time than Rune…wowsers!)

Relay exchange

The early miles of the race run through the quaint town before entering the trails. The race’s website describes the trails as “old railroad grade (which) offers a gentle elevation and is generally wide with some crushed rock, but usually is packed dirt and grass.” Moss-covered hemlock trees lined the trails and runners were also treated to spectacular views of many snow-capped mountains, ebbing waterfalls, and blissful rivers and streams.

Shortly after passing the first aid-station less than an hour into the race, the clouds opened up and the rain persisted for most of the day. This is after all the Pacific Northwest!

The race’s name is a bit deceiving since runners don’t actually run up Mt. Si. We actually only run past it (and sort of around it) on the different out-and-back sections. There was however one long and gradual uphill section between miles 25 and 36. What goes up must come down. After the turnaround, I was delighted to let gravity do its work and pull me back down to the final 4-mile flat section to the finish line.

On the early morning drive to the start of the race I had told Jackie that I felt my training had been adequate to grind through to the finish of the race, but I wasn’t sure if my speed was quite where I would like it to be. Although the rain soaked us to the core, I wasn’t about to let it dampen (pun intended) my spirit. Whenever I started thinking negatively, I tried to remind myself to practice what my yoga instructor had been preaching during his recent classes (see quote above). Also, to complement this meditative exercise, I spent most of the day singing (often out loud and to myself) and/or whistling my new favourite song, “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster The People.

“…better run, better run, out run my gun…”

So on this day I didn’t allow my lows to get too low or my highs too high. I took in the scenery and tried to maintain an even pace. In the end, I missed lowering my 50-mile personal best time by a mere 41 seconds. But that’s OK! It’s way too early in the season for PR’s!

As for the rest of the Canadian contingent, Ryne paced Kristin to her very first ultra win in a time of 4:37:12. Jackie cruised to a second place finish (5th overall) in 7:40:12 and lowered her 50-mile PR by over 90 minutes! We joked that the next time she takes an hour and a half off her time she’ll still be shy of Ann Trason’s World Record!

Kristin wins her fist ultra...more to come!

Jackie cruises to 2nd place finish

Two weeks after Mt. Si Ultra, I toed the line at the Jerseyville 100. This low-key “Fat Ass” event is hosted by Monica Scholz, Phil McColl and some of their friends and family. Eleven runners started and my intention was to run 50K and assess whether or not I’d push to 50-miles. Once again, the race began in the rain. I even ran the first 5K wearing an ugly yellow rain poncho. Although the rain didn’t last that long, the winds persisted throughout my run. After 50K I lost interest and packed it in. I tried to use the same tactics that kept the negative thoughts away in Snoqualmie, but this time to no avail. Someone once told me: “If you want to run 50-miles, you’ve got to WANT to run 50-miles!” The desire was simply not there on this particular day.

I’ve entered two races this month and both were wet ones. I guess if you run enough races, you are bound to get inclement weather. At this time of year in the past, I have had this misfortune at an extremely nasty Miwok 100K in 2009 and another slip-sliding muddy affair at Bull Run Run in 2006. But this April, with the exception of just a couple of days, I feel as though it has rained all month long. The April showers have been Monumental!

Bolinas Ridge aid station at Miwok 2009

How do you stay motivated on rainy days? Can you help me feel like Gene Kelly in this type of weather?  Please leave us a comment below.

Gotta run,

Vince