My Backyard

First off, I would like to start with a commercial that I've recently seen.

For some reason or another, people seem to think that if they were to win the lottery, all of their time would be spent outdoors, doing stuff that only "rich" people can do.

African Safari for 2, probably $5k to $10k, all flights and tours included. Pricey trip, but it's not out of reach for the regular working Joe, such as myself. If you plan to save for a trip like that, it can be done.

Jumping off a cliff into the water, free. There are places all around that we can do that. It doesn't take millions of dollars to "finally" do that.

Helicopter tour of mountains and volcanoes, $150/hour. If you live in Hawaii, you are lucky and don't have to travel far to see volcanoes (just look down, really). But if you live in western Canada, you can hire a helicopter for $150 for a 1 hour sightseeing tour of sights that are just as fantastic. You may not see volcanoes, but you can see things that are just as beautiful, if not more. (Moraine Lake, for example).

So the world instantly becomes your playground and backyard if you win the lottery. Well, I disagree. People need to realize at just how accessible these places are nowadays. You don't need to be filthy stinkin rich to do outdoor stuff. You don't even need much money at all. Just enough for gas, some beef jerkey and a sweet potato, and you can live like a millionaire everyday.

Sweet potatoes, ready for boiling. Mash up, and eat after working out. Endurace food to the max. Your muscles will dig it.

Here is my backyard. I went for run this morning up Moose Mountain. I had done this run before, but this is the first time this year. It was pretty wet, and there were some pretty snowy/icy patches. I had to be at work no later than 8:30, so I only made the first summit, but that's ok. I slogged up to the first summit as fast as I could, and going down was a blast. I kept telling myself this is "faaaaaaaaaantastic!!!", "I love this" and "woooooooeeeeeeeeeee" the whole way back.

GPS data can be found here.

View from the first summit, looking West towards the ranger station. I needed about an extra 1/2 hour total to make it there, but I did not have enough time today.

Looking south, down my beloved Rockies.

Looking north. It was so beautiful this morning, I could have stayed there all day.

I am currently training for some upcoming races. Some of the races I don't plan on completing (although I will if I can), I am just entering in them for a motivational carrot to be dangled in front of me. As the first picture shows, I have learned the value of using sweet potatoes as a recovery fuel after workouts, especially after runs. I don't know why they are more advantageous than regular white or red potatoes, but they break down quickly into glucose and replenish depleted reserves in your muscles. So that works very well for me.

I have also confirmed that I am indeed gluten intolerant. Not celiac, but if I wheat on an empty stomach, I'm done. So a paleo approach to nutrition is going a long way in my training. People say it is 60% nutrition, 40% exercise. Well I believe that a good routine is 100% of both.

And lastly, I am back at blogging. It's been on hiatus lately for no reason other than just not blogging at all. I can see from my site tracker ticker that I've reached 11,000 views on this blog, so that's totally awesome! Lat time I blogged, it was around 9,000. That's awesome (reiterated).

:-)

2012 Iron Legs 50 Miler

Yesterday was the Iron Legs 50 Miler race in Kananaskis Country. I want to draw inspiration for my running since my motivation has been low lately, and I also wanted to help out. So I signed up as a volunteer for the race. I was needed as a course marshall (directing racers on the right path) and also asked to take photos of the race. So I borrowed my work's super-awesome Canon DSLR, packed my gear, and headed up to Jumpingpound Summit.

First off, the race itself is an 81km footrace in Kananaskis. This is 4th year that is has happened, and the race itself was sold out (again). It started at 6am, and racers were expected to take anywhere from 9-20 hours to complete. I believe the fastest time posted was 8:41, which is incredible considering the elevations, technical trail and distance. I was in place at 9:30 at the 35 km mark when the first racers came through.

Here are some photos of the race. All of these photos (and more) are available for download at full resolution here. I took photos of every single racer who came by Jumpingpound Summit.

The views from the top are stunning! This is Mt. Yamnuska to the north. 

Jumpingpound Summit was the highest elevation of the race. However, racers had to descend and then reascend Cox Hill, about 8km further down the trail. No small feat. You can see the trail on the left ascending the ridge.

A closer view of Cox Hill. The trail is easily visible. 

Looking south towards Forget-Me-Not ridge, I believe.

To the south was Nihahi Ridge, with Outlaw Peak, Cornwall and Glasgow behind.

Banded Peak!

At 9:30, we saw the first racer ascending to Jumpinpound Summit.

Looking north along the trail, you can see little white specks that are the racers.

Racers had to check in at the summit of Jumpinpound Mountain, and then come back down and head north. I was making sure they followed the path.

Looking down the Jumpinpound summit trail. Mt. Bogart and Canyon creek are off in the distance. P.S., that's where the racers were coming from.

It was great to see so many people out racing.

The grind to the summit. Most people said things like: "Sure... take my photo when I'm walking!" I said I would make them look glorious.

A chipmunk came and visited me. That's the only wildlife that I saw while out there.

From the summit, I could see the town of Cochrane to the north. Yay home!

As the running field narrowed out, I had a little bit of time to take some photos.

Your truly!

The sweeps came through at 2:30. They had their dog with them, and they were hot on the heels of the final racer! 

I was trying to capture the immensity of the race.

Or maybe I was trying to capture the solitude of such a long race.

Or maybe I was just trying to capture the stunning scenery...

All I can say is that the views were incredible. It was a great day to be outside and a wonderful event to be a part of.

It really was a treat to be stationed up there. The views were so beautiful.

The view from the top, capturing Black Rock Mountain to the north.

Another picture of Cox Hill. Bragg Creek would be way off to the right. 

Looking again at Mt. Bogart and Canyon Creek. On Powderface Road, at the base of this mountain is a memorial for a WWII trainer aircraft that crashed in the area.

The Ranger Station high atop Moose Mountain.

The race was truly inspiring. I took a photo of each racer as he/she ran by, with hopes that every photo would end up on the Iron Legs website. It was great to get involved with a community that I so closely can identify with, and it was so nice to see people out enjoying this small piece of heaven that is Kananaskis. I am truly inspired by all of the racers who participated and ran this race. I hope to be one of them next year, or in the coming years!

:-)

Horse Creek Bike Loop, in "Winter"

This didn't happen too long ago, and it was great to get out on my bike during the so-called winter we are experiencing in Alberta. I did this loop in summer, so it was much greener, but this was good enough, considering it was February. GPS data can be found here.

This didn't happen too long, and we haven't had much snow this winter anyways. I'm expecting it to all come down in March...

Of course I'm grinning! I'm biking in February! And I was in shorts. And I wearing my special events bandana. I've had it for 13 years this year, and it's been with me many places. MANY places...

It's such an awesome ride! I only saw two other bikers out. I thought for sure that I would have seen more.

I'm trying to get some cool perspective, like that of my hub's view, sort of, I think...

This is beautifully green in summer, but it certainly held its charm in winter.

The nice thing about this loop, is that once you finish Grand Valley Road, if you are riding the loop clockwise, the ride back down Horse Creek is pretty much all downhill right to highway 1A. 

Another great thing about this ride is the serious lack of traffic! I'm not a fan of riding on the shoulder of the road, but there is so few people and cars on this ride that you can wander all over the pavement! Be careful, of course.

More wheel hub perspective. I ride singe speed, but I think I was easily able to get up to 50km/h on the downhills.

Horses! Of course, it is Horse Creek Road...

Towards the end of the ride, the weather got a little colder. But I was close enough to home that it didn't bother me. 

I was truly lucky to be out on this ride. It was a gem in this winter season we've been having here in Alberta. As I write this, a few weeks after this ride, it is snowing a bit colder than when I rode, but you won't hear me complaining. Not one bit.

:-)