Thursday, March 29, 2012

Restin' n' Runnin'

This is the fifth day in row I haven't run at all, not even to catch a bus, and it's tough. One of my colleagues has been out at lunch three times this week and each time it seems he's even more elated than the last - probably just to rub it in. Either way, I'm jealous but I also know this down time is good for me as a new season begins next week.

The absolute truth of it is that I started my running rest the moment I crossed the finish line at Dirty Duo on March 10th. That was a tough day and I'd been training sluggishly hard since Orcas on February 6th. I just hadn't been able to get a rhythm or an up day for weeks and it carried itself into the Duo. I'm pretty sure my legs went lactic on the word "GO!" before I plowed up that driveway out of Jaycee House. Dragging myself around that course just fast enough to stay with Pricey was all I had. I mean look at that finish face (2:25). In hindsight I could have backed off, let Pricey annihilate me, and let my riding partner get us the win, but that just isn't me. I even tried to tell Pricey I was fine and feeling great at one point. There was no way I wanted him knowing I was in hell. Regardless of how I was feeling, he pushed and pulled the whole way and showed me the beginnings of a what promises to be a very strong season for him. I'm looking forward to some tete-a-tete at the Squamish 50 in August. Anyway, under great pressure, myself and Arthur Gaillott took the relay win in 4:03.



A couple days following Dirty Duo my family and I made our way down to California where I took on an extremely laissez-faire approach to my running even though I was scheduled to race again on March 25th before I put my feet up entirely. I ate well and was sure to enjoy some beer or wine daily; sometimes both. It works in Europe I think. The trails in the Palm Desert area were precisely what I needed. They were less steep and seemed to have a vacation type relaxation to them. The air was dry, the temperature a bit warmer, and I walked the bigger hills and ran some very short runs. One run was 28 minutes long and I was completely okay with it. I couldn't wait to get in the car and hit the Jamba Juice. Most of the trails were in canyons and wound between cactus stands and all had scenic snowy backdrops. It had been cold and snowed above 4000 feet. Painted Canyon to the South may have been the most brilliant. The first part took us through fissures in the earth that were just wider than shoulder width and spat us out at the top of a wide open plain covered in cactus and other dry scrub. Most other runs became mostly hikes and were gorgeous.Before I knew it the 25th had come and we were back in Irvine ready to race the Into the Wild half marathon-ish. At the sound of my 5:25 alarm I immediately regretted my last few weeks of running. On one hand my mind was telling me I wasn't ready for this and on the other I was being convinced that I needed to relax and enjoy the ride. Going with the latter we cruised out to Irvine Regional Park in almost no traffic - I guess Irvinites are all in church at 6:30 because you seldom cruise through any traffic in that part of California. Pulled up my Zoots, tightened up the Speed Cross and there I was at the start line of a course and field of which I was completely ignorant. Within minutes of GO! I was in 5th place. I could see the leader and wondered if I belonged there. The pace felt right and did so for at least four miles at which point I moved into third position. I felt good on the hills but definitely fought them. The dry air seemed to get me when my lungs got demanding. The trail consistently climbed up and then went all the way back down. Not like Knee Knacker up and down but like a loop up and down. After a long climb we'd unknowingly go all the way back to the bottom and then turn up another climb to do it all again. The terrain was beautiful though and I never would have run those trails without this race. Northern slopes were green and covered while southern exposure made for dry, sandy conditions. The last mile was flat, asphalt and was the toughest mile - and I think where the "-ish" comes in. The course was billed as "Half marathon-ish" and various GPS's determined it to be 13.75 miles. I'm thinking that last mile was closer to two because I was in a world of hurt before my 5th place finish in 1:47.

So, since finishing Into the Wild at 9:17am on Saturday I haven't run a speck and I plan to keep it that way until next Monday, April 2nd. I'd rather take voluntary rest when my body asks for it over medically ordered rest. Excited to get back out there, but loving the time out.

Monday, March 5, 2012

2012 Knee Knacker Lottery Results for Non-Facebookers

Preamble by Enzo Federico, one of eight founding fathers and the official statistician of the Knee Knacker.
Welcome to the 2012 Knee Knacker Lottery Results - for the first time ever on Facebook! Here are some stats to start with
- 393 entrants
- 262 to be selected - with attrition of 24% will put ~200 runners on start line
- odds of getting in - 262/393 = 66.7%
Here are the preliminary results. Official results will be posted at here later tonight. If your name is here, the hardest part of the race is done. Congratulations and happy training.


Adams, Ron
Ashdown, Dean
Bremner, Terry
Brown, David
Campbell, Adam (GO SALOMON!)
Chore, Russ
Dagg, Jess
Dalby, Bernie
Ewart, Hilary
Findlay, Peter
Fleming, Jon
Galloway, Scott
Gildersleeve, Nicola
Grosser, Gottfried
Jackson, Ean
Jensen, Patricia
MacLeod, Kenneth
Malaviarachchi, Pat
Nelson-Lee, Andrea
Nicholl, Ron
Ó Maol Chonaire, Ryan
O'Hara, Sean
Ray, Derek
Trigg, Kelsy
Trigg, Jeff
Villeneuve, Phil (GO SALOMON!)
Wakelin, Keith
Wakelin, Neil
Wardas, Michael
Yerxa, Deavah
After 30 guaranteed entrants, we are left with
- 363 names into the lottery
- 232 spots left
- odds of getting in - 232/363 = 63.9%
First 10...
Ruljancich, Shane
Forbes, Michael
Ostrem, David
Strajt, Dave
Collett, Anthony
Mang, Cameron
Macdowall, Charlie
Holland, Brad
Egyed, Dayna
Skeans, John

Next 10...
Uebbing, Robert
Ezzat, Allison
Hannam, Laddie
Broadworth, Greg
Lori, Wong
Gignac, Benoit
Coo, Duncan
Kindrachuk, Judy
Katzman, Ran
Zuzelj, Kristijan
Next 10...
Thompson, Alan
Marks, Leah
So, Richard
Horak, Stuart
Elwes, James
Chu, Benji
Wilson, Christopher
O'Grady, Kathryn
Mciver, Ian
Baber, Colette
Next 10...
Lea, Alexandra
Grist, Mark
Shaw, Bob
Yalcin, Tuba
Cameron, Glenn
Kennett, Jennifer
Anderson, David
Freeland, Colin
Poudenx, Pascal
Donnelly, Erin
Next 10...
Ramsdale, Christie
Vink, Janet
Myer, Jordan
Eng, Ken
Pollard, Lara
Bridges, Mary
Merriman, Scott
Chng, Nick
Deckert, David
Breakey, Charlie
Ervin, Ryan
Rucker, Magdalena
Barringer, Joshua
Stafl, Erik
Xiang, Momo
Wakelin, Kevin
Woll, Karl
John, Barron
Sandell, Andreas
Martin, Paul
Next 10...
Richardson, Laurel
Grove, Paul
Chan, Dan
Adams, Bryce
Ramirez, Dominique
Watts, Terri
Curb, Ivanic
Legrand, Marieve
McIntosh, Andrew
Zamany, Jaleh
Next 10...
Cole, Tim
Young, Justin
Tremblay, Jennifer
Boland, Grant
Sullivan, Judy
Boulton, Chris
Kopec, Kristin
Mahoney, Jon
Bonter, Astrid
Berman, Tracy
Next 10...
Perkins, Graham
Telford, John
Cosman, Bard
Flatt, Alexandra
Thompson, Matt
Ahlsten, Airi
Hetherington, Ian
Riddell, Scott
O'Kiely, Lishe
Boyer, Dory
Next 10...
Mullin, Andrew
Jackson, Michelle
Skrivanos, Pano
Labriola, Jody
Oxenham, Haley
Ellis, Brian
Hache, Serge
Waters, Philip
Gomez, Pablo
McMinn, Amber
Ortiz, Anita
Lambert, Claire
Dario, Herrera
Watts, Dustin
Sokhansanj, Banafsheh
Leigh, Jamie
Trigg, Brad
Adams, Kyla
Kennett, Don
Legg, Ken
Next 10...
Conklin, Marnie
Repta, Wade
Lee, Peter
Cagampan, J
Jacques, Niki
Keir, Doug
Lanari, Ann
Chilibeck, BarryChilibe
Woodside, Alicia
Harman, Al
Next 10...
Arikado, Rick
Benn, Chris
Clarke, James
Rempel, Garth
Taylor, Lara
Hong, Francine
Butler, Amanda
Comley, Murray
Russell, Steve
Liljefors, Sarah
Next 10...
Heiliger, Mike
Hughes, Barbara
Glowacki, Jessica
Roberge, Michel
Bunn, Alan
Young, Marc
Jordan, Alana
Albrecher, August
Bobick, Michael
Sorban, Imre
Next 10...
Wheelan, Emily
Reid, James
Chan, Ho-ming
Yeates, Lindy
Wotherpoon, Scott
Williams, Stephen
Mackenzie, Kim
Katzman, Gili
Moore, Lisa
Richardson, Kathy
Next 10...
Crane, Lisa
Mazzia, Katie
Matthews, Devin
Sharman, Killaine
Lucas, Thomas
Mann, Vicki
Moric, Christine
Wasylishen, Clinton
Cubbon, Paul
Robbins, Gary
Next 10...
Graham, David
Walker, Johnny
Olsen, Errol
Fleming, Shirley
Parker, Philip
Beckley, Dave
Whitworth, Dave
Hightower, John
Parker, David
Gencay, Ramo
Next 10...
Alexis, Guigue
Handford, Moira-Ann
Hughes, Brian
Healey, Andy
Schutz, Brandee
Donnelly, Michaela
Cook, Barbara
Kok, Roy
Barrett, Nathan
Anderson, Meghan
Next 10...
Parslow, Stephen
Miller, Colin
Johnson, Kimberly
McNamara, Michael
Muir, Jackie
Frewin, Cindy
Lehmann, Stefan
Forrestal, Maureen
Preston, Sheryl
Witham, Tara
Next 10...
Schmitz, Marc
Levant, David
Karl, Jensen
Chore, Christine
Crowe, Brad
Dickinson, Kendell
Polizzi, Lisa
Langhjelm, Eric
Yao, Molly
Bjorklund, Per
Next 10...
Perkins, Joel
Eastcott, Linda
Muir, Justin
Railton, Scotty
Manzer, Karl
Casey, Andrew
Tessmann, Carl
Howe, Tammy
Kilpatrick, Dan
Stirling, Jamie
Next 10...
Spence, Brooke
De Abreu, Brad
Altman, Rhonda
Brown, Sasha
Boness, Clive
Parmentier, Mario
Connaughton, Shauna
Ambrose, Neil
Kamachi, Susan
Michalak, Chris
Next 10...
Woods, Pat
Kopec, Michael
Pawa, Sukhi
Moro, Darcel
Olineck, Kurtis
Hughes, Michael
Albert, Esley
Lee, Baldwin
Griffiths, James
Haas, Andrew
Next 10...
Kuiack, Mike
Marciniak, Leslie