March 2012
3 posts
AtB 2012 Recap
Keith and I ran the Around the Bay Road Race earlier today and we had a great time. As with past years, the first 20k just slipped by, and again this year, I got into trouble in the hills. I don’t know if I was overheating or having tummy issues or both, but my stomach got into knots and I felt super, super hot. Keith and I parted ways at the 22.5k mark, I just needed some time to get my...
Around the Bay - 2012
Tomorrow, my brother Keith and I will be running the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, Ontario. This is a 30k road race and is the oldest in North America (older than Boston!).
No big goals this year - just a fun run with my little brother. It should be a fairly warm spring day (7-15 degrees celcius) so I’ve decided to simply wear shorts and a Sugoi cycling jersey. I like having pockets...
A Retirement Speech
Long time no post.
To bring everyone up to speed, after working up to 60k long runs prepping for the Great Canadian Run, I wrecked my foot bad late last July and spent about 3 months hobbling around in recovery, riding my bike and feeling sorry for myself.
Fast forward to December, my brother dared me to run the Peterborough Half-marathon with him, and I accepted on the basis that he ran the...
Making a difference
Its said that athletes like to “suffer”. That victory isn’t attainable without pain.
Its a choice we make to achieve what we want. But what about those of us that suffer without getting that choice? What about those of us that have heard the words “You have cancer”, or worse “Your child has cancer”.
Every year, thousands of Canadian families hear those...
February 2011
2 posts
Thanks Sugoi!
It was awesome to hear from Sugoi this morning that they’ve re-accepted me for their brand ambassador program. Their support really makes it a lot easier to do a lot of the crazy things I do and I really appreciate their help, support and amazing gear these past few years.
For example, look back a couple of posts and check out that sweet jacket I’m wearing on my -20c run a couple of...
“Congratulations! Your SUGOI Brand Champions membership renewal has been...”
January 2011
3 posts
Long time no post!
Hello again internets!
Its been a while since I’ve posted. Plans are still coming together for 2012. In the meantime, I’ve started making my physical preparations. Getting used to the drills on the trainer, but still mainly laying down base with some pretty solid running. Up to 40+km/ week and my pace and fitness is improving by leaps and bounds. Also doing a lot of strength training...
“Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to...”
– Claude A. Helvetius
October 2010
1 post
December 2009
3 posts
“It is our birthright to go from success to success, from glory to glory. We all...”
– Jimmy Cliff
“It only takes about 12 weeks or so to fully build anaerobic fitness. This is the...”
– Joe Friel
Sweat Rate Test Protocol
If you don’t stay properly hydrated on a long ride, then you won’t likely get to finish the ride. Even if you do finish, you will feel terrible and won’t perform to your maximum potential.
Proper hydration is simple - just take in enough liquid nutrition to replace the water and minerals that you lose through your sweat. There are two keys to meeting this goal.
First, you...
October 2009
18 posts
Top Ten Toughest Endurance Races
According to National Geographic, the Furnace Creek 508 is the 8th toughest endurance event in the world. Wish I’d known that before I signed up :-)
10. Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
9. World Bog Snorkeling Championships
8. Furnace Creek 508
7. Arrowhead 135-mile Winter Ultramarathon
6. Manhattan Island Marathon Swim
5. Barkley Marathon
4. Extreme Winter Ultra Marathon
3....
The Official 2009 Furnace Creek 508 Recap
(excerpted from the AdventureCorps email newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.)
The race began with the traditional CHP escort followed by excellent tailwinds as the racers sped north through the Mojave Desert. A full moon would rise that evening. On Saturday, the high was 82 degrees, but that would rise to 90 degrees at night in Death Valley.
Turning east onto Towne Pass, the...
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man...”
– Teddy Roosevelt
The Toughest 48 Hours In Sport
39 hours and 41 minutes after leaving Santa Clarita, I arrived in Twentynine Palms.
There’s only one word that can adequately, and without hyperbole, describe this race.
Epic.
I will post a more thoughtful summary after I’ve had a chance to collect my thoughts, but here are some glimpses into what makes this race great.
- Death Valley is hot. Mojave is hot. And I mean hot. Really...
“Absolutely brutal head winds, the fiercest in the history of the event, are...”
– AdventureCorps realtime race report from the Furnace Creek 508, October 3, 2009
Just Outside Baker
9 miles til Baker and Ross looks terrific. Still a bit of a headwind but nothing compared to this morning (or worse) last night. He’s on a steady 20MPH pace on the flat and shows no material sign of fatigue.
(Tom McDonald)
Backlog Of Posts
No connectivity for hundreds of miles so I’ve been making mock posts. Rather than risk losing the connection again I’m going to paste them all here now… we can make it pretty later. BTW, we’re 15 miles outside of Baker as of now.
...
Listen
Chocolate On The Inside
If I didn’t know any better I’d think Ross and Larry planned what just happened. When Ross was giving us final prep instructions he stressed that we take lots of pictures. Need to make sure we capture memorable events like food prep, perhaps the blender top blows off while Larry is making a smoothie or some such thing.
Well, we didn’t use the blender to make the...
42 Miles in
Signal will be going away soon so wanted to get this in. Ross is in great spirits and much more relaxed than the start of the race. The leaders have spread themselves out a bit which is nice because there are fewer cyclists for us to worry about as the roads begin to twist more.
Ross has a decent climb coming up. It’s beginning to warm up: 70 degrees.
(Tom McDonald)
First transition
Ross dropped two bottles and picked up two fresh ones, one each from Matt and Larry. We drove ahead toward the bottom of a hill. Those folks are *bookin*. Had to be doing 50mph.
(Tom McDonald)
A dedication
Tomorrow I race.
Its been a long time coming and now that time is here. Tomorrow morning at 7am PST, I will turn the pedals on my bike and start an adventure of over 500 miles.
The Furnace Creek 508 Invitational is an ultracycling event like no other. Each year cyclists gather in southern California to start this inimitable race. The course winds its way through some of the most adverse...
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature,...”
– Helen Keller
Watching the Race
The Furnace Creek 508 won’t be broadcast on network TV, but there will be a few ways that you can follow my progress on the web.
First, stay tuned to this blog. We will be posting audio, video and photo updates from the race as often as we can.
Second, follow me on twitter.
Third, check out the AdventureCorps Furnace Creek 508 Webcast.
Finally, watch my time splits.
Demystifying the Queen stage and dinner by the...
Yesterday, we drove 400 miles of the race course and took some time out to climb and descend Towne Pass - the “queen stage” of the Furnace Creek 508 Invitational.
We arrived at the base of the climb, a 16 kilometer behemoth, in the high heat of the day in the middle of a brief dust storm. Temperature was approximately 40 degrees celcius on the tarmac, with winds gusting between 40...
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning...”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower
September 2009
11 posts
A few thoughts before I leave...
The Furnace Creek 508 Invitational ultra cycling race is in less than 7 days.
Tomorrow morning, I will get on a plane with my bicycles, gear and the knowledge that I’ve done what I can take fully prepare for this awesome event.
How awesome is it you ask?
Well, for one, this will be the longest ride I’ve ever done - by a full 6 miles. My ride across Ontario in May was just over...
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
AdventureCORPS Presents :: Individual Time Data... →
AdventureCorps, the organization behind the Furnace Creek 508, will be posting race updates throughout the day, into the night and through to the finish. Bookmark this link to see how I’m doing from station-to-station. We will also be updating this blog as often as we can with pictures and posts from the road.
6 tags
Preparation, Hard Work and Packing...
I spent most of the entire weekend doing one of three things - sleeping, eating and getting prepped for the 508.
Both of the bikes are in the shop now. The C0 needs a new saddle - not surprised, this one has at least 10,000 kilometers on it. The A0 will get a new chain and cassette and the alloy bars will get swapped out for my carbon bars. Both bikes will get tuned up, lubed and looked over with...
8 tags
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and...”
– Colin Powell
7 tags
Getting the bicycles ready to race
Tomorrow is a big day at Ultrarider HQ.
I need to get up first thing and clean-up the bikes and get them down to the bike shop for final inspection and packing. Each of the bicycles needs cleaning, tuning and most likely repairing. I would normally break down and pack my own bikes, but I think it will be a bit easier this time around to get them professionally done.
I am taking two bikes with me...
6 tags
“Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will...”
– Sir Winston Churchill
The Final Strokes
It took a while, but I finally feel like I’m ready for the 508.
It wasn’t really until the last week of August that I felt like I had recovered well enough from my crash in June, and trained hard enough to make up for it, to the point that I was comfortable thinking about competing.
Now, after a few awesome weeks in the saddle, I’m ready to go out and do some damage.
I booked...
“There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate...”
– Robert Heinlein
August 2009
1 post
July 2009
5 posts
“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca
AdventureCORPS Presents the 2009 Furnace Creek 508... →
Coolio - AdventureCORPS, the folks that put on the Furnace Creek 508, have updated their entry roster. Not only is my name now officially engraved on their website, but this officially means that they’ve approved my “totem” for the race. Instead of race numbers, the racers apply for animal totems to identify them. I asked for, and received, “Gray Wolf”. I’ll...
UltraRider Live
The Ultrarider mall tour starts today. I’ll be on the trainer at parasuco at sqaure one between 12-6 today and 12-4 tomorrow.
Stayed tuned for more coverage of this exciting event! :)
“When you believe in things that you don’t understand,
Then you suffer,...”
– Steve Wonder, “Superstition”
June 2009
8 posts
Congratulations to Dallas Morris
Dallas Morris is this years *only* solo finisher in the Race Across the West. This Calgary native outlasted the entire field to be the only solo finisher in this years race.
Awesome work Dallas!
More on his spectacular effort can be found on the RAW blog.