Twas a Day for Reflection my Friends!

Ha! I made a funny! ...Shut up...i did so!

I ran around with a big mirror today and got these shots..

Again..keep yer dirty paws off them or you'll get a visit from the monkeys...

could be a couple o' god particles floating around here... =D

Where's the divider between water and air?!

ooooooh....aaaahhh!

Mmmhmm...

Let's face it.. you know you'll never be as good a photographer as i am... but you can dream. And you can look at my pics and slap yourself with a piece of cheese to assure yourself you aren't seeing things.

Yah... and don't even think about tryin' to steal them and sell them or i'll send a couple o monkeys around with hammers...

Er...soo...bit of an update perhaps..?

Alrighty then... let's not hang about. Moving right along...hitting the main points.... during the summer i buggered off down to Oregon for a bit of a toodle around. Loved Bend and Hood River.Wish I had a second home there.... wait a minute... I don't even have a first home.. screw it... start with the second one and worry about the first one later... second one would be a hell of a lot cheaper.

Anyway... it was great... cheap camping...perfect weather... amazing trails and scenery...good coffee

and great customer service in stores etc... something that doesn't happen here in I'm too good to work in retail and provide pleasant service Vancouver. Oh and cheap gas and no sales tax!! Hello!!

This run was pretty cool...on the way to Bend in a place called ... something rock.. plymouth rock? castle rock? thirty rock? ...whatever... it was nice.. but piping hot!

Then it was off to the Coast... but that was a bust. Spent all night trying to find an empty campsite on a foggy, cloudy, windy coast on a weekend. Nothing! Hotels were a rip off.

Over rated coast! To hell with

you.. we thumbed our noses at it and buggered off back to the sunshine in Hood River.

October -

4 day weekend so took off to Jasper to get away from the rain here in Vancouver. The Rockies were nice and crispy and sunny. Awesome trip except for the $65 or whatever it was Park Pass... holy crap!!

But I'd always wanted to run the Tonquin Valley and we got the perfect day for it. Sunny, enough frost to keep the ground hard in the morning. Though coming back it got muddy as hell (Not good for my brand new

Speed Cross!). Still... it was everything i thought it would be and more. Fantastic trail and scenery. We ran in and out in maybe 6 hours taking lots of stops and photos. Trail is all very run-able. About 40km. Did it on one water bottle ...hmmm... maybe drink a little more next time...

Which takes us to yesterday .... oooooh..really nice day in Vancouver. First bit of snow in November again. Sunny and frosty and fall/winter like. So we buggered off out for a noodle from grouse to deep cove. If only Vancouver had more days like this in late Fall/Winter. If only the average person could afford to live here and actually get ahead! But no..only non-resident Chinese can do that now.

Anyway..nice out. Got some pics. And now you'reall up to date. Coming soon... x-country..sticky buns at gunner shaw.. bit of cyclocross in north van.. new years xc in crescent park and off to orcas again in Feb.

Why?

Apparently this is how this dude trains for ultras. Personally, I think he should get a new coach. The gains, if any, over my spike training system would be marginal and he'd be able to spend a hell of a lot more time in that hammock...

Salomon Compression .. Euro style..

The skinny French dude in tighty whitey compression heads out for a third season..Follow him on the "Tube"

Duncan in Duncan

Spent the weekend on the Island and decided to try out some new terrain and a new race (for me): The Gutbuster is a series of trail races on the island much like the mainland's 5Peaks series.

Headed down to my namesake town for the Tzouhalem Gutbuster -- a 13k loop that started at the lovely Providence Farm and proceeded to kick our teeth in with a relentless, 6k wheezefest ascent of Mt Tzouhalem (roughly 30-35 minutes non-stop up for me... and pretty steep in places.. as in time to lick the ground with your tongue steep). The route follows the near ridge from left to farthest right on the hill in the picture and returns along the top (right to left) and back down through some nice, swooping singletrack to the farm.

Race was dominated by the Prairie Inn Harriers who cleaned up many of the top spots. However, I managed to eek out a 12th overall and 2nd in my age group.

Pippi managed a 2nd in hers too so there was cause for celebration all round with a visit to McDonald's for milkshakes on the fast food strip in Duncan!

Thanks to Frontrunners Victoria (Mark and Care) for putting on a great event ... even if Care did chick me :( .... i'm getting closer!

Results www.racedaytiming.ca

Runnin' with Chickens

Who can't laugh at chickens/roosters? Especially ones that are on island time. These ones waited til late afternoon before they started crowing! :-D Guess they had a few late nights..

Me n Pippi spent a couple of nights down on Orcas island. Stayed at a nice B&B that doubles as a farm so there were sheep, chickens, highland cows etc doodling around the property.

The great thing about off season is not many people. We had an entire converted farmhouse to ourselves the whole time! A lady would show up in the morning to make us breakfast and that was it!! Great place too ..highly recommend it ... the Turtleback Inn.

If you haven't run or mountain biked over there you should make the trip. The trails are challenging but smooth. We lucked out with a sunny day and ran a 25k or so loop up and over Mt. Constitution. The pics speak for themselves about the trails and scenery in this area. Enjoy.