Running Stories

So, let's start at the beginning:

Great to see all the Fat Ass Club members at the Yeti Ascent today.  You guys rock!  From Deep Cove to the First Pump, on a really rainy day, now that's a challenge.  And Daniel was wearing his Fat Ass shirt..and shorts...good for you, Daniel! 

The day had its sadness too and when I heard how many racers responded, it made me glad to be part of this community of trail runners and snowshoers.

Since I can't contribute any progress or race reports - my Achilles is still on the mend and I am off running - I thought I share an email with you that I received over the weekend from a woman who wrote me late last year inquiring if Club Fat Ass offers beginner running clinics. I wrote her back, encouraging to join a clinic and offered to take her out for a run/walk. Never heard back until now. Here is what she shared:

If it isn't one injury, it's another. First, plantar fasciitis (where the meat on the bottom of your foot comes off the bone) then patella-femoral syndrome (a knee that clicks and pops and hurts whether you run on it or not.) Both are nasties that take a long time to heal...and as soon as I figured I'd licked the former, I get the latter.

The sweeper's function is to "sweep the trail" by collecting flagging, garbage and sometimes the participants during a race. We're there to make sure that no one gets lost and no gets left behind, to adminster first aid and encouragement if requested, (because there's nothing worse than having the sweeper pass you because you're not moving fast enough)

In many ways, the Yours Truly 50k is similar to Club Fat Ass events.

Following my last outing (New Years Day CFA-50) I figured I might be shelved forever or worse, tossed into a bag for a local charity to pick up. Luckily, I was simply laundered and shelved. I felt like a benched athlete. Hey… it wasn’t my fault the Fat Ass 50 hadn’t gone as planned, don’t take it out on me buddy. Then, things started to look up. 10 short days later I was pulled off the shelf and tossed into a big bag. This wasn’t a small gym bag it was a big rolling tote bag. We were going on a road trip! Yahoo, where we going, where we going??

The next I new I was being unloaded in a hotel room somewhere. My running buddy Garmin told me that he had checked with the satellites and we were now in southern California. Cool. I had only been down here once before and that was a couple of years ago. Oh man, was it ever good to see some sunshine after 25 or so days of rain back at home. Also, being a short sleeved shirt in Vancouver is a huge disadvantage. Cooler temps and lots of rain mean less play time. I seem to get shelved a lot. Wouldn’t it be nice to live down here all the time…

Michelle and I have taken to meet during the week for an evening training run. Great way for both of us to get our behinds out there and not find an excuse.

We are still recovering from the 50km on New Year's Day and I have been avoiding road running as much as possible to give my heels time to heal (pun intended). But where to do you run after dark if not on roads or illuminated paved bike paths?

The post race euphoria has gone by now and the tired muscles are slowly recovering...in fact I ventured out for my first post Vancouver New Year's Day 50km run this morning. Time to reflect on an epic day.

After an intense taper because of a pre Christmas stomach flu, I feared I forgot how to run, lost all my training and was in general sandbagging mode. The weather forecast of torrential rains and gale force winds did not raise my mood. 50km...what was I thinking?