Boxing Day Race

On Boxing Day, I ran my third Harold Webster 10 mile race in Hamilton, Ontario. It was the 87th time this race has been run. I decided to go out at my Sunday run pace which I knew would allow me to complete the race without burning myself out. It sucks running five miles hard only to find that you have to run the next five miles while suffering miserably. The course was familiar to me so I surged on the hills and opened up on the downhills. At mile eight, we were forced to run on a snow-laden road which was like running on a corduroy road, very slippery, undulating and rough. The final two miles were on city streets which flowed downwards to the finish in the city centre. It was a great race as I felt quite relaxed for most of the race while running briskly. At the finish line, I was pleased with my time of 1:14 for ten miles putting me in the top 100 out of 600 finishers.
1m -- 7.25 2m -- 7.08/14.33 3m -- 7.23/21.57 4m -- 7.22/29.19 5m 7.23/36.42 6m -- 7.38/44.20 7m -- 7.17/51.38 8m -- 8.11/59.50 9m 7.19/1.07.09 10m 7.14/1:14.23

Home for the holidays

Late last week, my holiday plans were uncertain. I had a couple of modes of transportation for getting home for the holidays. While surfing I was able to locate a cheap flight to Toronto at an incredibly low price. It bought the ticket as quickly as I could. The past couple of days at my folks place have been relaxing and given me chance to get some much needed rest. I've read two books over the last little while. The first, "Cold Mountain," by Charles Frazier and the other is "Replay," by Ken Grimwood. Both books are a good read. I am glad that I had a chance to read "Cold Mountain" as it answered many questions that remained unanswered when I saw the movie. Jason's father gave me a list of recommended books to read over the holidays and "Cold Mountain" and "Replay" were highly recommended.

Yesterday, I decided to check some of my local geocaches and will head back to them over the next couple of days with a camera. There are some bouldering faces that I want to get Jason's opinion on as they could be climbable once the weather improves.

Salt

A quick weather update -- Ottawa set a new record over the weekend. We received one foot of snow over a 24 hour period. Now we return to the topic of the day, salt. Tonight, I went for a 48 minute run along the Rideau Canal and the path was in good shape. While getting dressed for the workout I noticed something, my shoe laces have become more stiff and white. The road salt in becoming infused in my laces which is making them stiff and hard to tie. I'll have to give my shoes a bath in a couple of days. Over the Christmas holidays,I'll be doing a 10 mile race in Hamilton which will be a good workout as I do my final preparation for my second Phoenix half-marathon in early January. The goal for this race is to better my time last year, 1:33.

Suggestor—Agreeor

On Friday night, I learned something new about the swing dancing roles. One of the teachers talked about the leader role and follower roles as suggestor and agreeors. The leader will suggest to the follower that they should do a dance move and the follower agrees/doesn’t agree that she wants to do the move. I had never heard the roles talked about this way. But it does make sense as a situation could arise when the leader suggests a move to the follower but for safety reason (risk of a collision with others) the follower might defer making the move. The rotation was fun as well as whenever we heard the Santa “ho-ho-ho” the follower would switch to a different leader. They added in a new dimension to the lesson which sucked a bit as we learned fewer moves. The instructions had to be explained in English and French which slowed things down a bit. One more week of dancing and then the 2007 season finishes.

Dashing through the snow...

This morning, I woke up to find that we had received four inches of snow overnight. Along with the snow can a brisk wind that was whipping up the snow creating white-out conditions. My plans of doing a 10 mile run along the canal quickly faded. It was time to cross-train. Today, would be a good day to finally go snowshoeing. I put on my goretex pants and add a couple of layers of clothing on top. The conditions were challenging as visibility was bad. Here is a picture of my snowshoes and snowlions in action. I snowshoed for about an hour along the Ottawa River until I reached Westboro beach before heading back. I took this picture on my way back. The way back was no easier than the way their as the wind and the snow had just about filled in my tracks making the trail hard to negotiate at times. Once back the mug of hot chocolate was a welcome sight.

Bouldering

Last night, I was back at the gym climbing working on my bouldering. I climbed the “red” route a couple of times to get my arms warmed up. While wondering around, the gym is still new to me, I discovered a couple of caves that were hidden away. I usually climb in the two gravel floor area and then migrate to the “X” platform room that I have talked about in blogs. The extra cave will give me some more challenges. The gym is having a bouldering fest all day tomorrow so I’ll stop in see what it is all about.

Ants and Pillows

The UOttawa fitness center is located in the basement of one of the large complexes. Tonight, as I was heading out for my run I had to walk upstairs counter to traffic flow. A massive herd of students/ants (so many) were heading down the stairs to write their final exam in the gym. They all looked worked up/agitated. It became clear quickly as they were clutching third year accounting textbooks. The conditions outside were equally as challenging, a fresh bed of 2" of snow had fallen over the afternoon and was still coming down quite hard. The main purpose of the run was to get some exercise with the hope of relieving a migraine that I have had for the past couple of days. Running in the snow was a unique experience as it felt as if I had pillows on my feet as the compression of the snow underfoot had a springy feeling to it. As the run progressed the conditions go worse and I cut back at the earliest chance (6.6km).

Snow

Late last weekend we had our first major snowstorm of the year. Over the course of 24 hours we received a foot of snow. I went around town wearing my Sorel Snowlion boots which can conquer even the toughest snow drifts. A couple of days later one of my favorite toys appeared on the scene. Every time I see it I get excited and recall my childhood days. The mystery toy is an industrial grade snowblower. Once the snow starts to accumulated on the curb and becomes a hazard out come the graders which move the snow into the middle of the road where a snowblower blows the snow into a passing dump truck. The snow is transport to a snow dump which sort of looks like this picture with the color inverted. The snow sits in huge mountain until in melts in the spring. One of these snow dumps is located near where I live so I usually take a moment to see how to has changed from day to day.

News

My rate of blogging has drop slightly recently but I hope to return to a more normal pace soon. I’ve been busy with school, work, my honour society and training. My next running race is coming up quickly on Boxing Day in Hamilton, Ontario. It will be the 86th edition of the Harold Webster 10 mile race. The race comes at a good time as the caloric expenditure of the race allows me to eat well during the holidays and not worry about gaining any weight. My plans for New Years aren’t settled but I’m hoping for something special this year. We will have to see. On another matter, I’m working on having an informal mentor. He is someone I have known for a couple of years and is mentoring a couple of other students and I am looking forward to his guidance and advice.

Small Victory

Tonight at the climbing gym, I did something I’ve wanted to do for a while, climb onto the platform which is a structure in the middle of one of the bouldering rooms. The room is circular and has an “X” shape climbing wall in the middle. When you climb the X or any of the walls it takes up to a platform on the next floor. I had been climbing the “red” route for a while and decided it was time to go over the edge. I used brute force at the end to pull myself onto the platform. My first victory can a little cost, a white chest as my black t-shirt rubbed on the floor of the platform. I was stoked and climbed the wall a couple of more times each with a little more flare. Hmm, this to find a new color marker…

Stamps and awesome workout

When I was growing up my father would sing a famous Flanders and Swann song called, "Mud, Mud Glorious mud." I did a quick google search and found this video. I guess you could ask what does this have to do with stamps. For the past little while I have been singing my own variation of the song, "Stamps, Stamps, Glorious Stamps." I recently volunteered to put stamps on membership cards for my honour society. Tonight, I finally finished after putting stamps on 700 envelopes. The chore started out with 300 envelopes but I volunteered to do some more. So, once I had put on a couple of hundred stamps I started to sing the song to keep my focus. It is a relief to get the chore finished.

Tonight, I had an awesome workout. The conditions were a crisp 15F/-9C with a windchill of 3F/-16C. It was the coldest conditions that I have run in this year. I was cold walking down to the canal. Once at the waters edge I started at a fast pace to warm myself up. After two miles I was starting to sweat. For the next five miles I was able to maintain a pace of 85% of my aerobic threshold. The workout felt great.

Snow...wet and not enough

Overnight, we got our first dose of snow (two inches). It came in the form of wet snow which melted during the day leaving wet slush. I was hoping for more as I'm eager to go skiing as well to start snowshoeing but this will likely have to wait until after Christmas.

Tonight, I had an awesome run, it was one of those "flow" experiences when you run very fast and smooth almost as if you are on auto-pilot. This was unexpected. Earlier in the day, I got my annual "flu" shot and was starting to feel under the weather. Things continued to feel iffy as I was heading down to meet the running group. Once we started out on the run at a brisk pace I quickly moved in the grove and was able to spend most of the workout running very fast which sort of felt effortless.

Badlands of Cheltenham

One of the many highlights of my recent trip to Toronto was a drive by of the Badlands of Cheltenham. On the drive up to the retreat the bus driver made a point of driving very slowly along the road to give us an amazing view of this geological phenomenon. She said that it was one of the main tourist attractions in the area. From the road they looked really cool. I’m hoping to convince my father at the end of the month or over the Christmas holidays that we should drive up and see the undulations first hand.

Youtube video of the badlands

Golden Key Leadership Retreat

On the weekend I headed down to Toronto for a leadership retreat associated with the Golden Key Honor Society. We met at Hart House on the University of Toronto campus and then took the bus up to the Hart House farm which is about an 45 minute drive north. I came representing the Ottawa chapter, and a couple of people came from Alberta with the majority of the people coming from Toronto. Over the weekend we went hiking, played capture the flag in the dark and did a couple of leadership exercises. Our first task was to split into two teams and come up with a team name and chant. My team was called “Mas cash” which was based on the first letter in our given name while the other team was called “the Wonka Nerds.” During one of our breaks we hiked around the property and explored the caves/cliffs as well as take some novel pictures (people arranged by height). We each took the Myers-Brigg personality test and determined our leadership styles. It was fun adventure and gave me a chance to network with people from different chapters.

(main photo gallery)

Virtual Reality Climbing

On Thursday night I went to, Virtual Reality, a climbing place very close to where I live and did an hour of bouldering. It was neat when I arrived as the guy asked why I had climbed sooner living so close to the place. They have a couple of bouldering caves some having padding on the floor and others with fresh gravel. They also have an area where you can boulder up the side of the wall and then climb onto a platform on the second floor. Some of the faces are marked with color tape (difficulty ratings) and there are others with different size mounts. The top-rope area is smaller than Earth Treks. It was a great night and I’m looking forward to my Thursday night bouldering expeditions.

Noonmark and Hopkins Peaks

Late on Friday night I got a call from Chris MacDonald to say that he was organizing a last-minute weekend hiking trip to the the Adirondacks. The plan was to climb Noonmark (3491 feet) and Hopkins (3150 feet). This would be my third hiking trip with Chris Mc this year so I knew what to expect. After catching my breath, I replied that I was eager to go. The plan was to meet at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. I headed over to the 24 hour grocery store to get some last minute supplies.

On Saturday morning, we met at John Galbraith's house and headed over to meet Kerry McDaniels at her house along the way out of town. Our next stop would be Lake Placid where we bought lunch for Saturday and Sunday. We registered at the Adirondack Loj and then drove south to Keene Valley to start our trek up Noonmark. Before heading out we registered at the sign out box a, b. As we started to climb the temperature started to drop. Ice crystals were visible in the soil and we would find ice at the summit. Along the way we had to climb a couple of neat ladders. I was the first to reach the summit which was cold and windy. I was under-dressed for the conditions having left my polar fleece jacket, gloves and hat in the car. Before we heading back down the trail we took a picture in the lee of the wind. It would take about 30 minutes before my hand warmed up. Chris Mc, Kerry and I were the first to reach the trailhead and I took a picture of the sunset while waiting for John to finish the hike. Once we were all together we headed into Lake Placid for a meal and headed back to the Loj.

I was up at 6:30 am on Sunday and had a quick shower. The cook would bang his breakfast gong at 7:15 am and I wanted to hit the shower before the masses did so. Breakfast took the form of all-you-can-eat pancakes and oatmeal which were a welcome sight. After checking out we headed back down into the Keene Valley to summit Hopkins. Along the trail I snapped a picture of myself while catching my breath. As I was getting closer I noticed a rock face off the trail and wondered if Jason would climb it if he was here or here. Chris Mc, Kerry and I had lunch on the summit of Hopkins and I showed Kerry how to sight a bearing with her compass. When the sun was out it was pleasant to sit out on the rocks and catch the rays. Once the food has settled in our stomach we started our reluctant slow descent back to the car. As the sun was setting we bid the Adirondacks goodbye and started our trek north.

Ts'yl-os (pronounced sigh-loss)

When I was growing up the premier of British Columbia announced that he was forming a new provincial park called Ts'yl-os. The newspaper gave the subscribers a chance to request a poster of hikers at Chilko Lake with the mountains in the background. I took up the offer and the poster is on the wall I pass by each morning. Ts'yl-os is located 250 km North of Vancouver. The url of the park is http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/ts.html. One of my goals over the next couple of years is to camp, and hike in Ts'yl-os park as well as to hike up one of the peaks.

Flow/Fartlek workout - awesome

Tonight, we did out usually 11km fartlek workout backwards and something amazing happened. While at the running room I peeled off my running tights and decided to run bare legged. We set out running along the bike path that runs next to the canal. The speed demons took off midway through the run. Somewhere along the way they took a wrong turn while I stuck to the normal course. They would eventually catch up to me near the end of the workout and surge by. This happened at Dow's Lake. I was running at a good clip at this point and knew that if I stopped then the workout would be over. I went flying by the speed demons who were catching their breath. They didn't take nicely to me surging by. Rather than slow down, I sped up, it would take them 1,500 meters to catch me. They would surge and I would respond with a burst of speed. We surge back and forth a couple of times. My final kilometer was done in 3:42 which works out to a 5:57 mile. I didn't know I had such running speed in my legs this late in the season. It was an amazing experience to be running this fast. It sort of felt like being a pronghorn whose top speed is 61 mph (98 km/h).

Rattle Me Bones 2007

This morning I violated my Sunday morning-sleep-in rule. I got up at 6:00 am to eat breakfast for the Rattle Me Bones 10km road race. As I was leaving I could see my breath in the cold morning air. I donned a pair of REI polar fleece gloves as the temperature was 0C/32F. Once the sun had risen it started to warm up a bit but it still would be a race in chilly conditions. This is the seventh time that I have done the race and it is always an interesting experience as this year was no exception. Due to logistical problems half the racers (250) started the race without timing chips. I decided to wear a short sleeve coolmax shirt and a pair of running tights. Much of the race was done against a biting cold wind which forced most folks to run faster than normal just to keep warm. At the finish line I was in 57th out 500 finishers and with a finishing time of 42.46
1km 4.04 | 2km 4.07 | 3km 4.19 | 4km 4.15 | 5km 4.20 (21.07) | 6km 4.16 | 7km 4.23 | 8km 4.15 | 9km 4:15 | 10 km 4:17

2007 Baltimore half-marathon

Short Version

1:35:23 on a hilly course
Improved my time by 101 seconds over 2006 race
Place 150/5044

Long Version

A little over a week ago I ran in my third Baltimore half-marathon and came away very pleased with my race. I improved my personal-best for the course by 101 seconds and finished in 150th place out of 5044 finishers. In the weeks leading up to race day I was unsure about my fitness level so I went into the race not knowing where I would finish. I flew down to Baltimore on Friday morning and Jason met me at the airport. We went over to the race expo and I picked up my race package. At the expo they had a cool exhibit for horseradish cheese (http://www.cabotcheese.com/f1.php?left=menu-ourproducts.html&right=/ourproducts.html) which had a mild taste. I headed back to the hotel to unpack and to lay out my racing gear for the morning. Later in the day, Jason, Emily and I went out for a carbo-loading meal at an Indian restaurant where I ate a humongous plate of rice. After the meal we went up to John Hopkins University to take in some swing dancing. I danced less than I would have like but I didn't want to stress the legs for the big race the next morning.

I was up early on Saturday at 5:30 am. I wanted to have my breakfast fully digested by race time. It took the form of a couple of bowls of Vector cereal, a handful of bananas and some strong tea. The original plan was to do my warmup run (5km/3.1 miles) starting from the hotel and ending at the start line. At the last minute, I changed my mind as the hotel was offering a shuttle that would take you close to the start line. This was a relief. I caught the 7:00 am shuttle and quickly located the bag-check area. I spent a little while chilling before I headed over to watch the start of the marathon(a) (b). Along the way I spotted Larry-the-lighthouse who was going to run the race as a lighthouse. Once the marathoners were on their way I headed back to bag-area and munched on a Clif bar. The spurt of energy would ensure that I was fully fueled for the race. At this point time seemed to speed up as soon it was forty-five minutes before race time. I ditched my sweats and warmed up over to the start. I waded through 4700 runners before I found an opening near the first corral. At 10:45 am the siren sounded and we were off with 13.1 miles to go. The course heads south slightly before heading in a westerly direction for a couple of miles. At around the three mile mark a familiar site came into view Patterson Park. We ran down one side of the park along the bottom and the up the hill on the other side. At this point the marathoners met up with the half-marathoners. A distinguishing feature of the marathoners was a "FULL" sticker on their singlets. As we ran further and further away from the harbor we gained elevation eventually reaching one of my favourite parts of the course, Clifton Park. Clifton Park is the former estate of John Hopkins and has an eight-sided gazebo [Clifton Gate House (1887) ] (http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/recnparks/popups/parks/clifton_park.htm) which is a relay point for the marathon.

Once past Clifton Park we ran on uncharted territory. For the past three years the bike path around Lake Montebello has been closed for construction. This year they re-introduced the mile-long loop back into the race course. This was another highlight of the race. The race does a 360 degree loop of the lake. I really enjoyed this part of the race. The next part of the course would take us along the edge of the John Hopkins University campus. I was getting close to the ten mile where my energy levels start to wane. I sucked on a caffeinated-Clif gel which gave me a surge of energy allowing me to surge by a large number of suffering participants. The final three miles are all downhill with exception of one hill that takes you over a multi-coloured bridge. Last year, this was the point where I was really suffering. This year I was able to run over the bridge with a fair amount of gusto. I did a couple of long surges over the next couple of miles. The goal was to get to the finish as quickly as possible before I ran out of energy. The final mile was fast and painful. It was also a fun mile as you run through the gates of Camden Yards, the home of the Orioles. The finish line was a welcome site. It would take me a couple hours to learn from the web that I had improved my time by 101 seconds over 2006. My third Baltimore half-marathon was a great success and I am looking forward to my forth in 2008.

Sweating in software

While out for my run along the canal (39F and rain) tonight I decided to let my mind wander and started to laugh about something that happened a couple of years ago at work. I was working with a new employee on a piece of software and English was his second language. This program contained a lot counters for counting things. He decided that he would spell the word count as cunt. Every time there was a count in the program he would use cunt. It made reading his program a tiny bit fun. I had mentioned that perhaps he should use another word as in English it is not a nice word. He was adamant that the word was fine with him. It got changed in the production version of the program only after we had a code review session and someone explained what the word meant.

Bouldering and climbing

Over the past couple of days, I have climbed twice and bouldered once. My first climbing attempt was made in Rocks State Park which about an hour's drive north of Baltimore. Jason, Dave, Emily and I arrived at the climbing site mid-afternoon which allowed each of us to get in at least one climb. There was a bit of excitement on the way to the area as Dave's water bottle went ajar and formed a leak in the bottom but was still usable. Before we could start climbing Jason climbed up to adjust the location of the top rope. (p1, p2, p3) Once the rope was in place, Emily was the first to climb. Jason gave the climb a 5.6 rating. Dave was the next to climb. As the sun was starting to set, I attempted to climb the rock face but got stuck at an outcrop which I couldn't climb over. The rock face will have to wait until next time.

On Tuesday night we went over to EarthTreks and I completed my first bouldering problem which was the "intro" problem. I tried a slightly more advanced "red" problem and nearly finished it. But since I failed to touch the final mount with both hands the climb was invalid. I spent the remainder of my bouldering working on the beginner problem trying to pause between each stage. Later in the evening, I top-rope climbed four/five problems that got successively more challenging. Having readily available chalk and my new climbing shoes were a great help in climbing a couple of 5.4 and 5.5s (I think).

Two more days..and one more run...Sugarstomp

Tonight, I will do my final run before my Baltimore half-marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday. It should be a fun and low pressure workout as there is very little I can do to improve my fitness before the race. All of my training for the past couple of months have been focused towards running well in my third Baltimore race. Once the race is behind me I'm going to head over to the climbing gym on Thursday night and start doing some bouldering problems. The climbing should strengthen my core. I would have gone to the climbing gym sooner but didn't want to run the risk of injuring my legs.

One swing dance tune that I like is the Sugar foot stomp. I have in one my ipod performed by a couple of artists but still looking for a version performed by Bert Firman. There is a really good youtube video of Burt's orchestra playing the tune. I think that it is the best version of the stomp that I have ever listened too.

100th post, Columbus Day, 1 week to go

This is my 100th blog post in blogger. A quick thanks to Jason for suggesting that I give blogger another try as a blogging tool. I'm blogging at my parent's place near Niagara Falls celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Today, G, my dad and I went geocaching before we headed over to my sister's place the large family Thanksgiving dinner. I'll post pictures of the weekend when I am back in Ottawa. I am really looking forward to next weekend as I'll be heading to Baltimore to run in my third Baltimore half-marathon and to help Jason renovate his new house.

Another good workout...

The weather in Ottawa has been unseasonable warm during the day we are still get high 70s which is great for training. The warm conditions are good preparation for the half-marathon. Tonight's workout along the canal took the form of a four mile warmup and 3x 2 miles on 30 seconds rest. Afterwards, we did 8 x 1 minute hard running followed by 1 minute of recovery jogging. My legs feel warm and fuzzy which means they have had a good workout. Race day: 10 days away and counting.

11 days to go

In eleven days, I will be in Baltimore running in my third Baltimore half-marathon. It is said that the course is for the "strong" and not necessarily the "fast" as the course is hilly. Yesterday, I went for my second last long run which was a solid 10 mile effort. On Friday, I'll run 12 miles and attempt to simulate the race conditions. This coming weekend is Columbus holiday weekend which gives me a chance to carbo-load on turkey, pumpkin pie, potatoes and gravy. I am really looking forward to the race and the couple of days afterwards. Earlier in the week, I received my race information package and today, I got a call from the race organizer wishing me the best of luck for my race which was sweet.

Boilermaker Jazz Band

When I was in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago I listened to and swing danced to the Boilermaker Jazz Band. Jason gave me a couple of there tunes to check out. Once back home I went over to iTunes to see if any of BJB's music was available and I discovered that I really like "St. Phillip Street Breakdown", "Down By the Riverside" and "Home Sweet Home." Some of these tunes I can dance to at the same time I am eager to expand my dancing repertoire.

East Dix, South Dix, Hough Peaks

On the July long weekend I did an Adirondacks hike with OHOC. As a group we hiked up Mt. Marcy at 5344 feet making it the tallest peak in the Adirondacks. I spent much of the time hiking with Kevin Woodley as were of comparable strengths. On the second day I climbed Table Top at 4427 feet and Phelps at 4161 feet. Kevin climbed Colden at 4714 feet. While catching up on email at the Atlanta airport I received a email from Chris McDonald one of the leaders of the July trip to see if I wanted to climb a couple of more peaks. I shot back a quick email to say I was eager to climb a couple of peaks in the Keene Valley. Over the next couple of days we worked out the details of who would bring what gear. On Friday morning we started our journey to Lake Placid. We stopped in at EMS to rent a bear barrel which is now a requirement for overnight hiking. While waiting for ChrisMc and Kevin to sort out the barrel details I took a picture of Mirror Lake and called Jason to wish him a happy birthday on Saturday. Our next stop was to buy some last minute provisions. We would drive by the Heart Lake –Adirondack Loj access road and head south for about ten miles. Since our hiking would be done on herd path or unmarked trails we stopped in at the Mountaineer store to get some tips.

Once at the trailhead we loaded up Nalgene bottles and mounted our packs. (N44 06.729 W073 42.459) The first part of the trail was easy going until we missed a fork in the trail. After searching for a while we walked across the river and found the trail continued on the other side. The guide book said to take note of the Rock of Gibraltar so I stopped and had a couple of picture of me next to it. We would like for the three hours running the risk of setting up camp in the dark as sunset was at 7:00 pm. Much our time was spent hiking on either side of the Bouqeut River and constantly looking for the next carron. We soon left the river and started our climb. As the sun was setting the trail came to a sudden end. There was some discussion was to where we were. We had missed a campsite that we were going to use a reference point. We quickly set up our tents and ate store-bought subs for supper. The debate about our location continued and we decided to talk about it in the morning.

We were all up at 6:30. After a hot breakfast of oatmeal and tea we packed our gear. The access to East Dix (4026 feet) is via a rock slide that is about 800 yards long. Water dribbles down the slide and gave us a couple of pools in which pump water. ChrisMc was absolutely certain we had made a mistake somewhere along the hike. Gazing up at the slide it appears to be to short. We hiked down for 30 minutes and met up with the river again. I fired up the GPS and set the coordinates to UTM, ChrisMc pulled his compass and map and we studied the map. After checking and rechecking we were quite sure of where we were on the map. ChrisMc had underestimated the distance we had hiked (7.5 km/4.66 m). We decided to chance it and head back up to the slide. Once back at the slide we loaded up our daypack (REI UL Flash pack + 100 oz camelback + Nalgene bottle) with the gear and lunch we would need for the remainder of the days. It was at this point I got to know my colors a little better. Dark brown/black on rock is quite slippery while gray and white surface give you good purchase. Each of us took a different route and eventually reached the sub-summit at which point we met a well used trail. We hiked for a while before reaching the summit of East Dix (4026 feet) (N44 03.990 W073 45.413). We took a couple of pictures (solo, group) and then hiked over to South Dix along a well traveled path for about a mile. The hike to South Dix was filled with many switch backs which makes it hard to build any hiking speed. Along the way we hiked through an area where they had a blow down a couple of years ago. We stopped for lunch at the summit of South Dix (4068) (N44 03.587 W073 46.485) (pic 1) Lunch took the form of bagels, packaged tuna, carrots and fig newtons.

After lunch we started our descent into the valley that separated South Dix from Hough. We met two girls at the campsite midway that had climbed three of the four peaks that we had hoped to climb. They looked tired and beat up. There hike had started at 7:30 am from Elk Lake in the south. Over the next hour we would gain 400 feet and a rapid rate. There was a cool part of the climb I really liked. You had to take your pack off and slide sideways between two rock faces and climb up 25 feet. Once on top you could feel the full force of the wind. It was cold. We would climb for another 20 minutes before reaching the summit, a large rock (4409 feet) (N44 04.172 W073 46.667) I was forced to take off my hat as it the wind was whipping. At this point we decided not to attempt a climb of Macomb as we were short for time and it would be easily accessed from Elk Lake. Retracing our steps we hiked from Hough, to South Dix to East Dix. Before starting our descent of the slide we stopped for a Clif bar to rejuvenate. I was running low on water. I had drunk my camelback and half a nalgene bottle. Over in the distance there was some ominous black cloud. It looked like rain or snow. Just as we were starting our descent the cloud opened and it started to pore. ChrisMc and I sat underneath an overhang and waited out the rain. After clearing the sub-summit we each took a different route down to the base. I opted to head into the bush as soon as it was available. Trudging on brush gives you good traction as you hike down. This worked for a while until I mis-stepped a slipped on a black rock. I rolled as I was going down and landed on my bum and left pelvic. At a quick check over, I headed down the slide at a snails pace. Once back at camp I make some hot tea and munched on fig newtons. We were all relieved for a hot drink and something to stop the hunger pangs. Kevin and I cooked dinner which was combined three chili, bean and curry dishes. After dinner, I cut down a small maple and spruce tree. It was great to sit around the fire and reminisce about the day’s hike.

We were up at 7:30 to find that the weather had changed at it was a cool 40F. The hot tea and oatmeal were what was needed to warm us up. Once we were packed up we headed down the trail and were able to make good headway. I had set the GPS to count down the miles-to-the-car as reference marker and watched the distance diminish quickly. Before reaching the car we stop at a swimming hole and had a brisk swim. Once back at the car we changed into our street clothes and took a final picture. We stopped in at Keene Valley for a late breakfast.

Weekend in review - part 2

On Friday morning we headed over to Jason’s place and spent much of the day framing the front window and wall. It was a fiddly task as we had to work around the heating ventilator. We built the wall on the floor and hoisted it up into position. I learned that sometimes you have to use strong tools for a simple task. The top of the wall was a tight fit with the ceiling. I thought we could use a hammer to force the wall in place. Jason retrieved a mini-sledge hammer and it took some forceful blows before the wall was flush. Once it was installed it looked great. Late in the afternoon, we headed north up to Timonium where we did some bouldering and climbing at EarthTreks. Jason convinced me to try climbing shoes and I was quickly convinced that they are an essential like you harness. I climbed my first bouldering problem which is something I want to do more of. Jason’s parents came and we spent the evening climbing. With 30 minutes to spare, we headed over to REI to get some outdoor gear. I bought another mug, a long sleeve REI jersey and an expedition-weight top. We headed to Qdoba for supper and had a filling burrito. Our next stop was back to Jason place to chill. I saw my first episode of Survivorman and enjoyed a relaxing beer. Jason uploaded ring tones to my Razr (Thanks). I was getting tired of having the Mexican national anthem as a ringtone. Jason Mraz, “Did you get my message” is the current favorite.

On Saturday we headed over to Jason’s place and hung some tracks in the bathroom. In the afternoon we headed over to the Patterson Theatre to watch some swing dance lessons. Nina is an exceptional teacher. We had pizza at Dorry and Sommers house. The evening was spent swing dancing at the Patterson Theatre with a live band (Boilermaker). I danced with a variety of people some better and worse than me.

Sunday was a more relaxing day as we got together at Claddagh for brunch. I had scrapple for the first time. It sort of looks like finely ground hamburger and has a pleasant taste. We headed over to Patterson Park for outdoor swing dancing. Jason brought along his slackline and I gave it a try. It is harder than it appears. I danced a couple of times with Sommer and she gave me some pointers for my rock step. Late in the afternoon we headed north to the Gunpowder Central trails. While hiking on the trail we were keeping our eyes peeled for poison ivy. I thought I saw a patch at one point but the stem was not thick enough. Midway along the trail found a rock overhang and Jason tried his hand to bouldering it and found that wearing his five fingers helped him get a better purchase. I changed into my five fingers and noticed how cool and light they are. We headed down to the Gunpowder River and waded into the river to see how they hold up when wet. It is liberating experience wearing them in the water. We took some pictures mid-stream. As time was running short we hiked back to the car in our five fingers. Somewhere along the trail Jason met some poison ivy which would take a couple of days to develop. Our next stop was Jason’s parents place for supper. After supper we transferred files between our laptops.

Climbing Shoes – Five Ten – Spire

Last week, I went bouldering and climbing at Earth Treks in Timonium. As we were chilling Jason talked about how good climbing feels when you have proper climbing shoes. I was skeptical but rented a pair to see what they were like. As well, climbing in sneakers is not cool!! I was quickly convinced that how could I not be climbing in climbing shoes. I had fun trying my first bouldering problem. My climbing started out rough but got better as the session progressed. It was weird that even with a lot of chalk my hands wouldn’t stop perspiring. It could be, I hadn't climbed in a while, seeing a tall climbing wall that scared me or a low energy balance. While at MEC today I bought a pair of Five Ten Spire climbing shoes. There is a climbing gym close to where I live, Vertical Reality so I’ll head over to see if I can do more bouldering.

A week in review - Orioles and Stoli Doli's

Last week I had a really great and fun week in Baltimore. On Wednesday, I flew from Ottawa to Chicago and then to Baltimore. Jason met me at the airport and dropped me back at the hotel. After a quick shower I walked into Canton to buy some sugar, fig newtons, and pretzel goldfish at Safeway. I headed over to Starbucks to grab some tea and spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing at the Canton harbor. I met Jason at his office and saw the Apple iPhone for the first time. Next, we headed over to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles play the LA Angels. It was not a good night for the Orioles. They committed four errors in the first 30 minutes which put them at a disadvantage for the rest of the game. We had really great seats for watching the game as well as catching fly balls. Early on in the game Jason caught a ball. We snacked on goldfish and had pulled pork and really great sauerkraut. The game went to the full nine inning and the Orioles lost 18-6. The game attendance was 15,136. On the way back to the car we took some pictures 1 2 3 4.

On Thursday morning, after a quick breakfast and we headed over to Jason's new house. We spent most of the day framing the ceiling in one of the bedrooms. Jason’s mom helped us position the 2x4s. I took a picture of a sign that Jason has leading from his basement which I took note after hitting my head on the way up. I was really happy to celebrate a special day in Baltimore with Jason.

In the evening, Em, Jason and I headed to the Capital Grille to celebrate all our birthdays which are close together. I had my first Stoli Doli which I enjoyed drinking. The fruity pineapple taste prepares you for the slight burn you get from the vodka. I heeded Jason’s advice and enjoyed it over the course of the meal.

Stoli Doli

Over the next couple of days, I will experience something that I have been curious about for a little while and that is, what does a Stoli Doli's taste like. Jason talked about them in a post a little while ago and that sort of sparked my curiosity. I'll consume the Stoli Doli on a special occasion which will make it even more memorable. I'm sure that I'll post a blog describing the experience.

AP joint trip report

Day 1 Saturday August 25 2007

Left QR @1100 and stopped at Sobey's for Q-cards, bananas and pop. Bought gas at Beamsville service station. Took the ETR 407 as far as we could then forced onto Highway 401. Took 410 back to ETR and thence onward. The traffic on highway 401 was exasperating. Uneventful trip to Huntsville and stopped at McDonalds for a late lunch. Arrived at the Portage Store at 4:30pm. The forecast was 70% chance of rain and at the Portage Store it did not disappoint. The rain came down as a deluge. While picking up the permit, the old biddy said, "I guess you folks didn't pay the sunshine premium." The Portage Store has a noteworthy change, they now have an outside area for canoe rental. Also, we saw Hispanics with Maid of the Mist blue slickers. Solo paddled the canoe with Sveti back to the car. Under the special wet mist of Algonquin, we loaded the canoe and headed north. The Joe Lake portage was virtually deserted. A few people we saw looked like drowned rats. As we continued the mist turned into rain and it began penetrate past our rain gear. A decision was made to take the first available campsite on Joe Lake. This was the site that Ryan's church group had used last year and in short, it is not to be recommended. It was lacking in the most important essentials, no flat tent space and not a single tree branch on which to hoist the food pack. We arrived at the site at 6:30 pm. After the tent was up it started to rain more intensely and it started to grow dark. To boost morale we drank hot chocolate. The conditions grew worse by the minute. A number of attempts to light the fire proved futile. We hoisted one end of the canoe into a notch of a tree and ate steak sandwiches under the suspended canoe by the light of the candle lamp. Most romantic, but we were more concerned about keeping dry. CM's new stove proved its mettle. Another attempt was made to start the fire but we gave up after burning all available paper. Around 9 pm we went into the tent. To our surprise, we were not alone. There was something small running around the tent and climbing up the walls. It was only when we shone with the light of the candle that we saw that a small mouse had entered the tent. After several attempts the critter was evicted.

Day 2 Sunday August 26 2007

Up @7:15 and spent a little while packing the sleeping bags and thermarest. The rain had stopped but it was overcast. Our attempt to secure the food pack from the local furry residences was unsuccessful as the evidence was clear. A line of milk powder dripped down the trunk of the tree. Our pack had been attacked by red squirrels! It was with some relief that the rucksack was undamaged and the food loss was minimal. Once again, we lit the stove and ate hot oatmeal and tea. With an ambitious day ahead we quickly mounted the canoe and started our trek north. Before lunch we had covered two of the eight portages between Big Joe Lake and Baby Joe Lake. Burnt Island Lake was a little choppy but with a little persistence we were able to reach the north end just in time for lunch hour. For lunch we had bagels, cheese and raisins all the while looking on the shimmering waters of the lake. As we were finishing lunch a couple of university students asked to borrow our park map and to take digital pictures of the campsites on Happy Isle, Merchant and Lake Opeongo. There map had blown away. Most of the afternoon was spent in the Otterslide family of lakes and portages. We arrived at the first Big Trout Lake campsite, the Smeyers campsite, at 5:30 pm. Once again we drank hot peach-flavoured ice tea upon our arrival. DM and SR setup the tent while CM cut down a tree. For supper we ate boiled carrots and yellow beans as starters and two boxes of Kraft Macroni and cheese for the main meal. For the record Kraft dinner prepared without milk is edible and somewhat palatable. This time we made doubly sure that the pack was suspended from the trees. When the coals reduced to embers we headed into the tent.

Day 3 Monday August 27 2007

The day started an hour earlier which helped combat the threat of strong winds that might be encountered on Big Trout and White Lakes. Our day started at 6:15 am. Breakfast took the form of hot oatmeal and hot ice tea. We were on the lake by 8:00 am. The lake was graced by smoky mist that hung above a glass-like surface. We were able to cross over the two bays before starting our southerly paddle down White Trout Lake. As we were passing the "Falcon cliffs" across from the log cabin homestead an osprey fly over the canoe. Once again we had favorable winds on White Trout Lake. We stopped for a Clif Bar break at the Island campsite near the entrance to Grassy Bay. One of the interesting aspects of the Grassy Bay paddle is the meanders grow ever shorter until you reach the Hawkins portage. At which point, the route starts to become less visible and one must rely more on intuition. They have a mini-portage direction sign hammered on a tree along the route. Of note, the reedy portions of the route is becoming smaller each year. To out surprise, the "Miss Mabel" beaver dam is visibly reduced and now can be surmounted without difficulty. The McIntosh Creek portage was a hive of activity. CM quickly recognized that two guys double-portaging a mountain of high quality gear that was adorned with decals from Burton snowboards and Ron Jon's surf shop in Hawaii. The McIntosh island campsite was occupied and we opted to use the center of the three inline sites that point to the channel that leads to Ink Lake. We arrived at 12:30 pm and had a quick hot chocolate and a swim and then spent the afternoon relaxing. Of course, a oversize red pine had to be dealt with as this provided with more than enough wood for the day. As supper was constrained by the lack of powdered milk we combined the two Kraft dinners together with an added a can of Hunt's tomato sauce. That evening a beaver swam within ten meters of the shoreline.

Day 4 Tuesday August 28 2007

We were up by 6:30 am and packed and away by 8:30 am. CM took the stern of the canoe and Svety in the bow. DM decided to assume the raj position and was guided through the twisting creek that led to Ink Lake. In ways, this is the highlight of the trip as this area is a tamarack swamp and contains many species that are unique to Algonquin Park. As we were completely rested we were able to appreciate the unusual surroundings. The McIntosh portage (2320 meters) was quickly disposed of. With light packs it was more like a walk in the woods. Tom Thomson, Little Doe, Fawn, Tepee and Joe Lake were traversed against a moderate head wind. The Joe Lake portage was a hive of activity with people coming and going. One group just did not fit into the canoeing mold. They had rented a cottage at the Canoe Lake entrance and paddled in for some sightseeing. Even against a constant headwind the paddle across Canoe Lake proceeded at 5.5 km/hr. This is compared with the average in the Tom Thomson lakes of 6.5 km/hr. The trip was rounded off with a trip to the visitor's center for lunch.

As a final note: the little foot stool equipped with a carabiner was a perfect solution for seating the middle paddler. A life jacket between the points of the yoke made this position completely comfortable. The other innovation was the candle lantern which we used to cook the steaks under the canoe in the rain. The third item was the MSR isobutane lightweight stove. This allowed for hot oatmeal and tea for breakfast.

Canoeing distance:
59 km or 36.6 miles

Portaging distance:
7.5 km or 4.66 miles

Labor day weekend

My Labor day weekend was a little different this year. Normally, I would head down to my folks place or be in Algonquin Park canoeing. This year I got the canoeing done a couple of days early so I headed back to Ottawa. Scott and his family were in town for the weekend so we hooked up for our usual run. We are both training for a half-marathon but at different intensities and so we went for a 1:40 run at my race pace which left me feeling sore for a couple of days. Midway through the workout I got a wicked blister on the bottom of my foot but was able to put a layer of 3M micropore tape on it afterwards but it was painful for a couple of days. We both enjoyed the run as it gave us a chance to catch on what is happening in our various lives and with our families. Afterwards, we had a BBQ at his sister's place. Scott's sister works for the same company that I do but we work in different part of the city.

My interval workout tonight was a challenging one. It took the form of 6*1km on 30s rest. I had been chugging coffee for much of the day which left me a little dehydrated at workout time. (4.01/4.11/4.02/4.13/4.16) I was nominally pleased with the workout but wished that I had run faster but then is always the next workout on the horizon.

Five fingers and the first mile

Today, I walked my first mile outside wearing my Five Fingers "surge" sandals. It was a nice day outside so I walked over to the pool for my swim workout. I tried to spend a much time walking on the grass as possible. I know from my running that the worst surface for running on is cement and then as asphalt, which is a little better. The sandals felt light, cool and very comfortable. One thing I had to do is actively keep my toes pointing slightly upwards. Jason has been wearing them recently and was finally able to get them to work for him as they are a fun shoe to wear. The plan is to gradually increase my wear time so that I give my muscles a chance to grow and adapt.

This raises a good question, could I see myself running a 5km or 10km in my five fingers, the answer is maybe. When you run twice your body weight is placed on each foot for a moment while you go through a running stride. I've had a fair number of tibia stress fractures in my running career so a little reluctant to be risky but we will see.

Jason talked about hiking in his Five Fingers which I think would be an interesting experience as you wouldn't need to carry socks which would lighten the load. I hope that we can do something like this in the future.

Ap in brief

I'm back from a multi-day canoeing, camping and portaging trip to Algonquin Park. This is a quick summary as I'll post a longer blog in a couple of days. The trip went well and started with rain and ended with a couple of days of bright sunshine. The rain on the first night forced us to cook steak sandwiches under a suspended canoe using my new stove. Our food bag was attacked by something and the attacker got covered by powdered milk with no damage to the backpack. On our first night, we had the fun experience of evicting a mouse that took refuge from the rain as we were heading to bed. The rest of the trek was uneventful as the warm sunny weather made paddling on the lakes effortlessly. We also what discovered what really killed the famous artist Tom Thomson.

Photo gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Algonquin_Park2007

Ap here we come...

In about an hour my father, Bulgaria and I will head north to Algonquin Park for a three night canoe trip. Our goal today is to camp on Burnt Island Lake and Big Trout tomorrow. The final night we will camp on McIntosh Lake and do a 2500 yard portage which will take us in Little Doe/Fawn. (route map) The weather is a little spotty with the possibility of rain on the first day but temperatures in the 80s for the rest of the days. We spent $60 on groceries so there should be plenty of food. I bought 24 Clifbars for added energy boost while paddling. Back to the final packing...

People Watching at the train station

Today, I took the train to Toronto on the way to my folk's place and had some time to kill while waiting for the next train. I decided to pass the time by doing some people watching. Off in one corner were two women with two kids. The youngest was wearing a harness which was attached to her mother by a long stretch cord. The energetic daughter could pull all she wanted by was constrained by the stretch cord. This kid was a bundle of energy. I started to wonder about the durability of the stretch cord as it getting a real beating. I came up with some estimates as to how long it would last and surmised as to what might happen at a critical moment. I didn't have to wait long. Just as she was darting towards a sofa, it happened and she fly into the sofa. Mom wasn't too surprised as she opened her purse and started to unravel a new stretch cord. Happily, the daughter got up and started to pull away as she was attached to a new cord. I started to wonder how many stretch cords the mother might have in reserve but they were calling my train at this point.

Sore and tired

Tonight, I did another hard interval workout which took the form of a 25 minute warmup and then five-1000 meter intervals on 30 seconds rest. (3:53 / 4:07 / 4:01 / 4:12 / 4:06) I was happy with the workout as my times were consistent. After the intervals, I did a 20 minute cooldown run along the canal. The workout will have the effect of make me stronger for my Baltimore half-marathon which at last count is seven weeks away. In September, I am going to have to increase my running volume as I get closer to the race day. I'll start off September with a half-marathon which will give me a good benchmark for my fitness level.

The Baltimore race weekend was a lot of fun last year and I hope that I have learned my lessson about eating at the Lexington Market as the after effects of the food poisoning made for a challenging evening. I am really looking forward to race weekend and hope that we can do some of what we did last year and hopefully a little bit more as it was a lot of fun.

Where’s the tent?

I was talking with my father the other night and we trying to figure out who has what camping gear. I have some of it in Ottawa and my father has the rest at my folk’s place. The topic of the tent came up. My father could only find the tent poles and not fly or the tent body. I scoured my place and couldn’t find the tent. This was odd. My father checked the garage again and discovered that he had done too good a job when putting away the gear from our last adventure. The tent was in a box labeled Christmas decorations. I'll head over to MEC at lunch hour to buy another thermarest mattress and an awl but very slowly the chores are getting finished. The weather looks a little spotty with some rain to start off the time with hot sunny conditions for the remainder of the weekend.

Algonquin Park #1

This coming weekend I am going to do something that I haven't done for two years and that is, go canoeing, camping and portaging in Algonquin Park. It is sort of a tradition for my father and I to do a canoeing trip just before school starts. Health reasons prevented us from going for the past two years. This year we will do the standard trip which will take from Canoe Lake in the south up to Burnt Island, Big Trout and then back by McIntosh Lake. (the route) We will have one of my father's international chemist from Bulgaria with us this year. I'll spend the next couple of days visiting MEC buying last minute gear before I head south to my parent's place. The goal is to have four days and three nights in the park. A couple of days ago, I made the online park reservation and still have to reserve a 17' superlite canoe. This year we will try out my new superlight stove to do some cooking otherwise most of our food will be prepared over a fire. I am looking for using my turtle algonquin guide paddle which hopes to redeem itself from it misadventure in the Ottawa River earlier this year. One day in the future, I hope to take JL either hiking or canoeing in Algonquin Park. Dang, time to go find the tent....Pack on...

Workouts

Today, I started my final set of interval workouts. These workouts are designed to simulate race-pace conditions as you only have 30 seconds between each interval. The way Phil, the coach, described it you do an interval say your prayers and do the next one. The workout was over quickly as we only did four. The goal next week is to do five on the same time that we did four this week. I'm going to be starting up my long Sunday runs shortly 10 miles and higher as I prepare to run my third Baltimore half-marathon in October. The race is coming up quickly as it is only eight weeks away.

The White Jacket

During my stay at Kemptville College on the weekend I took some time out to explore the campus and stumbled on something that brought by memories of my grade 5 exchange trip. At the time we were living in the city and the concept of farms and agriculture were foreign to me. To give the city kids a glimpse into life on the farm we would spend a week living with our exchange partner and working on their farm while going to school. In exchange they would spend a week living with us in the city. My mother had bought me some new clothes for the trip which included a white sports jacket. At the time I didn’t know that white is not a color that you should where around the farm. My exchange partner was Stephen Stringer from Shelburne, Ontario. One of the first things we did when I arrived was to take a tour of the farm using his tractor. We checked out the disc, plough, barn, the seeder, the wheat field, the corn field, the silo at which point it was time to refuel the tractor. I unhitched the nozzle of the diesel pump, which was slippery, and attempted to put in the tank but missed. The diesel fuel spilled down the front of my white jacket. What to do? Stephen didn’t want his parents to find out what happened. We tried to wash the diesel fuel out of the jacket but too no avail. The jacket still stank. His parents knew something was up but we just made excuses. What to do? We came up with the idea to bury it. On the weekend, we headed into the back forty and buried my jacket. As I write this I’m not sure if my mother ever found out about why I came home jacketless. So, when I was walking by the diesel tank and pump it reminded me of my ill-fated white jacket.

Sore for a good cause

As I type this entry my legs and bum are a little sore and tired. Yesterday, I cycled 90km/56 miles as part of the MS-Bike tour which took me and 600 other cyclists from Ottawa to Kemptville. We stayed overnight at Kemptville College and cycled back today. Over the two days of cycling we covered close to 160km/100 miles. I was able to locate a couple of new geocaches that were placed recently. Rather than stays in the dorms, I decided to camp and was able to use my solo tent which worked out great as they don't have sufficient dorm space for all cyclists. In a couple of days, I'll post a story about one of my first experiences with diesel fuel. While touring the campus I saw something that brought back memories of a misadventures in the occurred when I was in Grade 5.

Research finished. Hooray!

A couple of entries ago I talked about the research study that I was taking part in at UOttawa. The project was to analyze the thermal stress that a miner would experience during the course of a normal day. As the mines get deeper and deeper in the ground the conditions get hotter and hotter. The research involved three exercise sessions at 25C/77F, 30C/86F and 40C/104F. In all cases the humidity was at 20% so sweat would evaporate. Each session had three parts, the setup, the exercise and the unpacking. All of the exercise sessions were done on a recumbent bicycle in a calorimeter which is a highly climate controlled environment. Getting ready for each session took about 20 minutes. I had four skin temperature sensors on my back and legs. Internally, I had a tympanic (ear), esophageal (nose/throat) and a third one somewhere else. On my back I had a sweat capsule that would measure my sweat rate. Around my chest I had a heart monitor strap and a blood pressure cuff on my arm. On my other arm I had a blood flow sensor that would measure blood flow by shining a laser beam into one of my blood vessels. Finally, I wore a mask that would monitor my breathing rate, oxygen-carbon dioxide ratio and bunch of other breathing measures. One I was all connected up I would spend an hour in the chamber doing nothing. It was a good time to catch up on babble. I would take blood pressure and heart rate measures every 15 minutes. At the end of the hour I would cycle for 90 minutes at a low resistance. The resistance would simulate the energy expenditure that a miner would experience during an average work day. At the end of the cycle, I would take heart rate and blood pressures measurement every five minutes for 30 minutes. Once the cycling was over I would sit for an hour and play babble again. The final part was doing a maximal blood flow measure. The theory is that as you sweat your body reduces blood flow to the core and sends more blood to the skin for heat radiation and sweating/evaporation. The blood flow meter would track the blood flow rate over the course of the 3.5 hours. The final part was unhooking and removing all the sensors at the end of the session. In the sessions at 25C and 30C I was exothermic as I was heating up the chamber by cycling. When cycling at 40C I was endothermic as the chamber was heating me up as it was a couple of degrees warmer than my body temperature. In all the sessions my heart rate and blood pressure were slightly elevated and the only time I sweated was when cycling at 40C. I had initially that that working out at 40C would be a challenge but under a low humidity was quite pleasant. The researcher will be sending me a summary of the results in a couple of days so I will post the findings.

Philadelphia

As I type this entry I am looking out the window at a banner that says Philadelphia Airport. My flight back to Ottawa was been delayed for about two hours so I decided to fire up the laptop and catch up on the happenings of the day. The conference was a lot of fun. Yesterday, I went to Turner field for a Atlanta Braves game and it was a great chance to chat with some of the delegates from Australia and New Zealand. The Braves won which was a bonus. The toga party went well as the blue material that I bought for my toga worked out well. One of the neat things I did was to meet Jack Canfield. He was a keynote speaker at one of the sessions and wrote the "Chicken Soup for the Sole" books. I bought one of his books and he autographed it for me. I explored the olympic park that was built in connection with the 1996 Olympics. I was able to find a couple of geocaches which was fun to do. One of the interesting things that happened occurred when I was walking through a black neighborhood on the way back from the Martin Luther King Museum. I was passing a group of black guys and they wanted to know what a "white boy" was doing in their neighborhood. I kept on soldiering down the street. The flight has been delayed again so back to surfing.

Relief...Ah!

I got the relief was looking for this morning. The airport shuttle dropped off my bag at 600 am. This was really good news as I didn't want to skip a couple of sessions as I was wearing shorts.

Delayed Baggage

As I type this entry I am looking out on the setting sun in downtown Atlanta, GA where I am attending my second honor society conference. Last year, I attended the conference in Phoenix, AZ. My flight from Ottawa to Dulles/Washington and then onto Atlanta went by really quickly. So quickly that my bags are still somewhere in Washington waiting for shipment south. I hope it eventually turns up as I don't want to miss the toga party!

There are 25 students in the Canadian delegation. I know about half of them from the conference last year and other meetings that we have had during the past year. During a break in the sessions I stopped in at REI to pickup an order that I had sent to the Atlanta store. I was pressed for time so I grabbed the order and headed back to the hotel. Drats, I didn't get a chance to the explore the store. The opening session of the conference was a blast as it celebrated the 30th anniversary of the honor society. The weather has been in the high 90s and it is humid.

Scavenger David Morrell

Last night I finished reading another good book. It is David Morrell’s “Scavenger.” The book came on the market in March and I was waiting for it come out in paperback but after reading the inside corner again I bought the book and couldn’t put it down. Scavenger builds on many of the happening of his previous novel, “Creepers” and continues where it left off. I like David Morrell as he is an author with the ability to say and express a great many things with few words. He relies on your imagination to flush out the details. The book contains reference to GPS, geocaching and letter-boxing which I thought were cool. Early on in the book I figured out the central theme and enjoyed watching the way he has the characters perform their roles. It was a good book and I recommend it highly.

A toga update

Last weekend, I headed back to my parent’s place to put in the final vinyl window inserts. It was a good feeling as all of the windows have now been replaced and the task is complete. I stopped by Fabricland to buy some material for my toga. I started looking at material on the rack and realized that four yards of anything could be expensive. I talked to the sale associate and she suggested I look at the one-dollar table but none of the colors were suitable. We went next to the half-off table and I found a blue-gray material that was the end of the line. I was relieved when there was just enough to make my toga. I am glad that I decided not to wear purple as I don’t want to look like a clone among 300 other students. I was debating whether I need some props like a sword, a clasp, or a laurel wreath but decided I just want to be an ordinary roman wearing a toga. The one thing I bought was a package of safety pins as they will come in handy keeping things together as I want to avoid an embarrassing moment. I’ll post pictures of Julius Caesar Chris once I am back from the conference.

Live Free, Die Hard 4

Last week, I watch the latest Bruce Willis movie, “Live Free and Die Hard.” I enjoyed the movie as the some of the special effects were wicked. I knew that some of film was shot in Baltimore but decided to give myself a challenge to see if I could locate any of the areas. The ending has a couple of port scenes which I think were filmed at Dundalk. The traffic jam scene was filmed at Mount Vernon. The cinematographer worked hard to avoid showing the top of the monument. I could see why they selected the location as you could have cameras posted at all four corners of the square and effectively control the action. The fighter jet scene and the truck rig on the freeway and the tunnel footage I think were the best for special effects. It was a good movie.

A relief...

It is a big relief. I finished the final Harry Potter book late today. It was a hard and challenging book to read as I found it so dark. I could feel the book pulling down which was kind of weird. I'm not sure if I would want my kids to read the book until they would be a little older.

Toga

In a couple of weeks, I head south to Atlanta, Georgia for a conference with some of my student peers. I attended the same conference in Phoenix, Arizona last year and had a great time. I enjoyed the conference proceedings but one of the things that brought me back this year was the CEO Boot camp. The boot camp was two hours of high octane exercises, stretching and seeing how could do more of a certain exercise than the conference CEO. The exercises were made a little more challenging as it started at 600AM. This year they had added something new which has started to get me excited. For one of the sessions you have to wear a toga. I have never worn a toga. My initial thought was to just buy a white bed sheet and dress like Charlton Heston in Ben Hur or Julius Caesar. But I did a quick google search and found a site called http://www.howtomakeatoga.info. The site strongly recommends not using a bed sheet but to go to a fabric store and buy four yards of whatever material meets your fancy. I was talking to some friends and they suggested that I not buy purple. Purple is the royal color and it is what most folks would wear. I let my imagination run wild for a while and thought about blue pinstripes or something in blue at least. I could go with a red and white combination but those colors don’t usually work for me. To add a bit of authenticity I’ll wear my five fingers as the Romans always wore minimal footwear. As I write this I still can’t see myself wearing a toga but there is always a first time and it should be a blast. I’ll be one of 300 students all wearing multi-colored togas.

HP

I stayed up last Friday night until the magic hour with 1500 people at the largest bookstore in town. The line was so long that it took me 30 minutes just to get my hands on the book. While waiting for midnight to roll around I skimmed about of books on Vista security and thought about how secure I was not make my laptop. Once I had the book I headed over to the 24 hour grocery store to buy a quick snack of rice pudding and started to read the book slowly. I hit the sack at 3:00AM by which time I was really tired. Yesterday, I continued to read the book a work through the first 100 pages. Not much has really happened to this point which is nice as there are 600 pages more to read.

I sent out two geocaches recently and they are being found. I went for a 7 mile run this morning along the Ottawa River which felt good after being stationary yesterday. My Wednesday night intervals with the Running Room are going well and I'll post an update later in the week.

Books - The Assault of Reason

In the reading department this has been a good summer for me. I started off by discovering the author, CJ Box. After reading his most recent book I got hooked and borrowed all his other books from the library and read them. I next discovered Barry Eisler's John Rain series of books. I bought his most recent books and again borrowed all of his other books from the library. For both of these authors, I could start reading one of there books and have it finished a couple of days later. George Tenet's book, "At the Center of the Storm" is a book that is taking longer to read that I would have thought. I read a chapter and then think and reflect on what he says about his days working for the CIA. Last night, I finished my favorite book of the summer, Al Gore's, "The Assault of Reason." This is a book that I'll most likely read a more couple of times in the future. I'll quote from the inside jacket of the book, "A visionary analysis of how the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism and blind faith has combined with the degradation of the public sphere to create an environment dangerously hostile to reason."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

On Friday, at the stroke of midnight I and a lot of other Harry Potter fans will have there chance to read the final Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Once again, I’ll stay up until midnight and go to the bookstore and watch the clock move ever close to the magic hour. The bookstore has WiFi so I can surf and try to score a couple of more babble points while waiting for the book to become available. At that point, I will constrain myself to read only a couple of pages per sitting as I fear that if I don’t, the book will be read over the course of the weekend. There are already leaked copies of the book available for viewing on the web. Did I take a look? Yes, I only looked at the table of contents which doesn’t reveal much. I’m comfortable waiting to until Friday midnight to experience the final book as what is a couple of extra days after waiting a couple of years.

I hate Urtica dioica...

While geocaching yesterday I ran into some urtica dioca. It is weed that I don't like interacting with as it always leaves me itching. Urtica dioca is commonly known as stinging nettle. My aversion to stinging nettles is sort of like Jason's to poison ivy. The cache was 40 yards away and the only way to get it was through a patch of stinging nettle. My first brush with the nettles was not fun. I jumped into a stream up to my knees and washed away the irritant. I wasn't too concerned about the water quality of the stream. I jumped up on shore and through another patch and found the cache nearby. It was back again into the stream to wash my legs again. Once home I washed my legs with Hibiclens and then with betadine. I thought I had nipped the problem in the bud. A couple of hours later I tried hand sanitizer with a moisturizer. In the wee hours of the morning I tried a 3M skin cream. I stopped by the drug store this morning on the way to the office and found relief and it felt good. It came in the form of polysporin. I coated my legs in the stuff and felt normal again. Ever couple of hours I would lather on some more of the cream. The cream is yucky as it sort of like wearing dried glue on your legs but it is given me relief. Next time I see a geocache surrounded by stinging nettles I may take a pass until I'm wearing pants.

Death Package

This morning I did a 5km road race in the borough of the city that I live. The community paper had been advertising the race for the past month. The race went through the local street and the course was in the shape of a dogbone. A couple of my friends at the Running Room were on the start line with me. The race went well and I finished in a time just over 20 minutes which is good for me as it is the shortest distance that I have raced this year. As well, the race gave a chance to break in my new pair of sneakers. The race draw prize was one of the more interesting parts of the race. The first draw prize was a death package. At first thought it sounds rather bad. A local road race promoting death. One of the sponsors was a local law firm and they were offering powers of attorney and wills for a couple which was sort of neat.

Geocaching adventure...

Yesterday, I did my first research session in 30C/86F conditions. The training sessions are four hours long and once outfitted you feel like a test pilot as you have a variety of sensors inside and outside your body, all measuring how you are reacting to the heat. In a future post, I will describe in detail what happened and will happen at my two sessions next week. The next sessions will be at 95F and 104F. It is fun training in the heat but the only bummer is that you don't get a tan.

While geocaching yesterday, I made a data entry error that put me on the wrong side of the Ottawa River, on the north, Quebec side. When I got to the apparent cache site all I could see is a large patch of poison ivy. Would a geocacher put a cache in the middle of a patch of poison ivy. I double checked my coordinates and had entered 24 rather than 23. The correct coordinates put me back on the south, Ontario, side of the Ottawa River. The cache was a little nasty as they had magnetically attached the first waypoint inside a metal culvert leading underneath a sidewalk. You had to reach elbow deep inside the pipe to fetch the metal canister to get the next set of coordinates. The final cache was hidden inside an old willow tree that was apparently surrounded by poison ivy but I think that the folks at the cache before me didn't know what PI looks like. While leaving the cache I spotted a red fox which was cool. It looked like a super sized cat and was on the prowl for dinner.

VO2 test – cycling

Later this week we will start the formal part of the research. Today, we did a VO2 max test on bicycle to gauge my physical fitness. They were pleased last week by my low resting heart rate (42). The setup for test is, you wear a heart rate monitor on your chest, have a nose clips on your nose and breath through a tube hocked up to a machine providing air that analysis your oxygen to carbon dioxide concentration. It also measure things like the number of breaths per minute and a boat load of other measures. Once you are hooked up to the gear you start cycling for two minutes at a certain resistance (measured in watts) and then they increase the resistance by 40 watts. Each stage is two minutes long and the resistance is raised by 40 watts. The starting resistance was 40 watts. I was able to hold on for six stages before I shut down. My calfs and quads were burning by this point. The researchers decided to stop it as I was ready to go to the next stage. In the end, I have a VO2 rating of 50 which is a little lower than my running VO2 which means that I am in good shape.

Research July 2007 - 1

A little while back I heard through a friend that the UOttawa Human Kinetics department was seeking fit individuals for research projects. I have participated in two research projects in the past and so was eager to do another one. The research project involves measuring a person's body-thermal response when working in hotter and hotter conditions. The formal part of the research involves cycling for a fixed period of time under progressive hotter conditions while hooked up to a variety of internal and external measuring devices. Today, I was suppose to do a VO2 test but postponed it a couple of days to allow my legs to recover from the hiking. Instead, we measured my height, weight, blood pressure (normal), heart rate (low) and got wet. The getting wet part is cool as I had done this a couple of times, it is not what you think. The goal was to figure out what was my percent body fat. There are a couple of way of measuring body fat. The most common and least accurate is using skin fold method. The technique which gives a better estimate is known as hydrostatic weighting. The gold standard is something called the DEXA scan. In the past, I have done all three tests. For the current project, we did the hydrostatic weighting which involves getting into a tank of water and sweeping the bubbles off your body. The next part is to sit on a platform under water and blow out all the air from your lungs. You sit on the platform for a couple of seconds and they measure your in-the-water weight. We did a couple of hydrostatic measuring sessions until we got similar results. Early next week, we will do the VO2 test on a bicycle and then later in the week, we will do the first test session. Each test sessions will be under hotter conditions. Most of the protocols that we will use are things I have done in the past so much of it is familiar which is great. In future entries, I'll describe what happens at various sessions.