Don't forget to enter the MitoCanada run on May 1 in Canmore. Link to the entry here:
http://www.active.com/running/canmore-ab/mitocanada-canmore-5-and-10-km-fun-run-walk-2011
Let's make this one of the premier races in the area!
Also, keep an eye out for the start of the 5k summer race series. The plan is to have them on the first Wednesday of every month, leading up to Chicago (six in the series). The first one is planned for April 6. Time to get some speed...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
MitoCanada Inspiring Success at the Canadian Birkebeiner (February 12, 2011)
By Blaine Penny
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| Kirk and Blaine at the start. (Photo by Marg Fedyma) |
I am a big believer that you definitely give a little more when competing for something bigger than just an individual result.
Just getting to the start of the Birkie seemed like a feat in itself. The week leading up to the event was a long week for all 3 of us (Brendan, Kirk and I) topped off by a late Friday evening drive to get to Edmonton (due to a Charity Gala I attended to promote MitoCanada as part of a Michael Bernard Fitzgerald concert at McEwen Hall). We arrived after midnight and checked into our “Express” hotel. Totally bagged, we all just wanted to sleep in the next morning and drink copious amounts of coffee. Racing was so far from our minds.
With a 6 am wake-up, quick breakfast at the hotel, we were off to the start line to try and figure out the grip wax for the day.
The temperature was +2 degrees in the morning with a predicted high of +6, which meant it was going to be a beautiful warm day to ski, but tough waxing and likely KLISTER. For those who have experienced xc skiing with klister, you know it can be fantastic, but also hit and miss when skiing a long course with variable condition and temperatures (like the 55 km Birkie.) After talking to a few people who were wax testing and helping wax skis, a purple Swix klister was the goods.
As if skiing 55 km wasn’t enough, the Birkie tradition was to replicate the great feat during the civil war of 1206 where 2 Birkebeiner Warriors skied the young 12 lb Norwegian Prince to safety. http://www.canadianbirkie.com/birkie-legend Yes, our version is a backpack with 12lbs!
GO! Kirk and I started in the front row to avoid the start line carnage and quickly settled into a nice groove of double poling across the lake in the beautiful sunshine. Before we knew it, we were a few kilometers in and as we skied through the opening for an 8’ high elk fence gate, I thought to myself that it was a whole lot easier to have the gate open than to have to jump it like last year. (Someone forgot to open the gate last year – serious carnage with 1,000 skiers hucking their skis and poles over the fence and then climbing over after them!)
Our wax was working pretty well, and the conditions were nice and fast with a rock solid track. As good as I have seen for Birkie grooming and conditions overall.
At about the 5 km mark, I looked around and was surprised to see that we were skiing along in about 4th or 5th spot (with over 1,400 skiers in the event), and many who chose the Birkie Lite (sans 12 lb pack). Most of the younger competitive skiers tend to do the Birkie Lite, so I was quite surprised to not see more skiers around us – or maybe we started too fast.
In a long ski like the Birkie, there is definitely an advantage to skiing in a group and getting a bit of a draft to rest. Kirk and I were leading a group of 4 and at about 20 km the other 2 skiers fell off. We decided to just keep it steady and no t push too hard in fear of bowing up.
It was pretty uneventful for the next 20 km and then our wax started to slip quite a bit. Fortunately we could muscle our way up and over the hills and it didn’t slow us too much. With 5 kilometers to go we decided to ski it in together and give one last push to make sure no one overtook us. I spent most of the last 5 km reflecting on my son Evan who has Mitochondrial Disease and is a quadriplegic, and so many others who are suffering like him. I felt so alive, happy, sad and fortunate to have the option to be able to do things like this. We crossed the finish line together to win the Birkebeiner, pumping our hands in the air and feeling proud of our ski and for MitoCanada.
The MitoCanada racing suits did garner some attention and I was approached after the race by a researcher from UofA who researches mitochondria and was asking what we were all about. Very cool!
My friend Brendan came up with the great idea of ordering MitoCanada racing suits for the WMC, and soliciting corporate sponsors to put their logos on the suits. In no time we raised $5K and had the suits designed and ordered. Unfortunately it has taken the vendor longer than anticipated to deliver and the bulk of the order is just clearing customs as we speak. However a few suits did make it through and were debuted in the Canadian Birkebeiner last weekend in Edmonton.
Monday, February 7, 2011
A Living Legend
Two clips of my former coach talking about the British Milers Club that he founded in the '60s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koHkgVzyxTg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAS_WNMyb4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koHkgVzyxTg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAS_WNMyb4
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Chicago Registration Now Open!
Harriers from around the world crowded round their computers at midnight MST last night to be among the first to enter the Chicago marathon next October. This is going to be quite the trip and you will not want to miss out on it. Register here:
http://www.chicagomarathon.com/CMS400Min/chicago_marathon/runner_information/index.aspx?id=500
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A Call to Arms...
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his sweat with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in Calgary now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That ran with us upon Chicago day.
Chicago Marathon. Sunday October 9, 2011. Be there...
For he to-day that sheds his sweat with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in Calgary now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That ran with us upon Chicago day.
Chicago Marathon. Sunday October 9, 2011. Be there...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Bow Corridor XC Ski Race (Canmore) – BVH Takes the Season Opener (Master’s) Classic Style Sprint Relay
By: Blaine Penny
Running provides good endurance and fitness, but racing fast on cross-country skis requires a lot of upper body strength and speed on top of that. I am definitely lacking the strength and the speed and was quickly reminded of that today. Kirk on the other hand had managed some good strength training through the fall, but was lacking the endurance. Together, we made a decent team to muster through this.
After a week of fine-tuning the nutrition over the Christmas holidays through eating copious amounts of turkey and chocolate, a few too many beers and wine, I was feeling like I had the energy to toe the line and light the afterburners. (You sense the sarcasm I assume). With Kirk having a history of pretty much never losing a sprint finish in his olden ski racing days, we decided he would anchor and I would start. We registered in the Master’s category (30 years +) to avoid being embarrassed by the young guns in the open men category.
The 1 km loop consisted of a climb off the start, downhill, then slight up, down again to the stadium and slight up to the finish. There were approximately 20 to 25 teams and I bravely started in one of the front lanes. We blasted off the start and I went as hard as I could and realized I was out in front – now the hard part was holding it. About a minute later it hit me and I was a flailing carcass of lactic acid. A couple times I got tangled up in myself and missed a few strides, but luckily didn’t fall. I managed to double pole as hard as I could to complete the first lap, but was overtaken by one other skier in the last few meters as I tagged Kirk. As I came into the tag zone Kirk started accelerating as I ran out of gas and had to ask him to stop so I could tag him. Ouch! Not bad I thought, but I was seriously hurting and already felt like I had burned a hole in my lungs.
Kirk started cautiously on his first lap and then decided to light it up when he got to the first hill and overtook the lead skier (Charles – another east coaster from days past). By the time Kirk finished his lap he had a good gap. We kept building on the gap throughout the rest of the race and managed to win by about 45 seconds. Not bad for a couple of old school ski dads I guess.
The only downer on the day was the unfortunate incident of a skier who went down on one of the down hills. Apparently he was unconscious for 5 min and was rushed off to the hospital. I sure hope he is OK. Not what you expect in an old guy masters race, but you actually get going pretty fast on some of the down hills and a fall can actually do some serious damage.
We had a quick look at the posted results and our time of 16:44 for 6 kms, which would have put us about 15th in the open men category, just a mere 1 min behind some Olympians who raced in Vancouver last year. Most of our Canadian National Team were skiing the race and it was pretty cool to watch those guys go. Carl and Brendan came in the bottom 3rd of the pack after making up some ground on the last few laps with a solid finish.
I know the BVH is mainly a running club – unofficial of course – but one of my goals is to get a few folks out for some of the local xc ski races for some cross training. Here’s a list of a few great local races for anyone interested in challenging yourself on the skinny boards:
- Bow Corridor Regional Race (Jan 8): Canada Olympic Park 9 km Skate Race - http://www.bcrr.ca/league.php?scriptName=LEAGUEINFO&leagueID=9899&leagueInfoID=70157
- Canmore Ski Fest (March 26&27): 12/24 Hour Ski Challenge – solo or relay teams. It would be great to see a BVH / MitoCanada relay team entered. I am going to give the solo a go and would love to have some pacing from anyone interested. http://www.canmoreskifest.com/
- Cookie Race (Feb 26): a.k.a. Kananaskis Ski Marathon http://www.foothillsnordic.ca/main.php?p=5
- Canadian Birkibeiner (Feb 12): Edmonton, AB http://www.canadianbirkie.com/
Matt had the idea last year to ski all the trials in PLPP, which has now turned into an annual 100 km ski tour it appears. If anyone is interested in joining us on Jan 2 for the 2nd annual tour, email me at blaine.penny@worleyparsons.com or check out the Facebook page Tony Smith of SMITH EVENTS has set up http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112550458813312
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sacramento Marathon Race Report
by Duncan Marsden
Sunday, December 5 was the California International Marathon in Sacramento so while Blaine was pounding the pavement in Vegas, I headed slightly further west to take on what was billed as "the fastest marathon in the West". I had heard a lot about the net downhill of the course in the Sacramento Marathon so I was keen to see if I could put this to good effect.
I headed down to San Francisco with my family on the Friday before the marathon and then we drove to Sacramento. We stayed in the host hotel which was right next door to the Expo and only a few blocks from the finish line. I always wonder what the hotel staff think when they host these events; in the days leading up to the marathon the bars are full of people drinking water and the restaurants are full of twitchy racehorse type personalities who want "a double portion of plain brown rice, no sauce". Everyone has their foibles! And on race day, reception is filled at 4 AM with skinny people trying to eat their own weight in porridge, bagels and energy bars.
The Sacramento Marathon is a point-to-point course, so you need to take a bus to the start. It takes about an hour and was a chance to me to catch up on sleep. The race prides itself in having more portaloos per person then any other race and I've never seen so many people taking pictures of toilets before - there really were hundreds!
I got off the bus in the dark but very quickly it became light and was the perfect day for marathon running; cool, no wind and no rain. After a few strides and a little bit of stretching, we were off. I was pretty near the front but I was determined to take it easy in the first few miles, particularly as the first one was downhill and could lead to too fast a pace from the outset. I put myself in with a group of lead women for the first mile and wondered if I should stay with them, given that they were likely to pace the race far better than I was, but I decided that the pace was slightly too slow and pushed off, running the first 6 miles at an average of 5.45 per mile. Right on pace for my 2.30 goal. Miles 6 to 14 were definitely hilly. It's true that there is a net downhill on this course, but it is by no means downhill the whole way - the first half is undulating (albeit with more down than up, but there is definitely some "up"). The pace dropped a little bit at this hilly stage but I was not concerned and I wanted to make sure though I got to about mile 16 or 17 feeling good, so that I could push on from there. I went through the half in about 80th place and was 76.38.
Around mile 14, I heard some footsteps catching up with me at a serious rate of knots and I turned to see the two lead women, ready to pass. It was clear that they were going at a good pace and I thought that it was the ideal opportunity to run with someone for the second half so I upped my pace to match theirs. I didn't feel right tucking in behind these two women and so I lead the two of them in their battle. It was really interesting to watch the race unfold and the miles dropped to about 5.30 per mile. They must have thought it was a little bit weird because they called me up 14 and then I stayed with them right to the finish - it was almost like I had been planted there as a pacemaker for them! The lead woman dropped second place at about mile 18 and then the two of us ran the rest of the way home together. It was really good running with her although I didn't get another cheer the entire race - everyone was cheering for her! We kept running in the 5.30s until about mile 23 and then we both slowed to 5.50s. During this time we must have passed about 30 guys - some looking really tired, obviously having gone off too quickly, but they all cheered us on. I'm pretty sure they all thought I was her pacemaker too.
I headed down to San Francisco with my family on the Friday before the marathon and then we drove to Sacramento. We stayed in the host hotel which was right next door to the Expo and only a few blocks from the finish line. I always wonder what the hotel staff think when they host these events; in the days leading up to the marathon the bars are full of people drinking water and the restaurants are full of twitchy racehorse type personalities who want "a double portion of plain brown rice, no sauce". Everyone has their foibles! And on race day, reception is filled at 4 AM with skinny people trying to eat their own weight in porridge, bagels and energy bars.
The Sacramento Marathon is a point-to-point course, so you need to take a bus to the start. It takes about an hour and was a chance to me to catch up on sleep. The race prides itself in having more portaloos per person then any other race and I've never seen so many people taking pictures of toilets before - there really were hundreds!
I got off the bus in the dark but very quickly it became light and was the perfect day for marathon running; cool, no wind and no rain. After a few strides and a little bit of stretching, we were off. I was pretty near the front but I was determined to take it easy in the first few miles, particularly as the first one was downhill and could lead to too fast a pace from the outset. I put myself in with a group of lead women for the first mile and wondered if I should stay with them, given that they were likely to pace the race far better than I was, but I decided that the pace was slightly too slow and pushed off, running the first 6 miles at an average of 5.45 per mile. Right on pace for my 2.30 goal. Miles 6 to 14 were definitely hilly. It's true that there is a net downhill on this course, but it is by no means downhill the whole way - the first half is undulating (albeit with more down than up, but there is definitely some "up"). The pace dropped a little bit at this hilly stage but I was not concerned and I wanted to make sure though I got to about mile 16 or 17 feeling good, so that I could push on from there. I went through the half in about 80th place and was 76.38.
Around mile 14, I heard some footsteps catching up with me at a serious rate of knots and I turned to see the two lead women, ready to pass. It was clear that they were going at a good pace and I thought that it was the ideal opportunity to run with someone for the second half so I upped my pace to match theirs. I didn't feel right tucking in behind these two women and so I lead the two of them in their battle. It was really interesting to watch the race unfold and the miles dropped to about 5.30 per mile. They must have thought it was a little bit weird because they called me up 14 and then I stayed with them right to the finish - it was almost like I had been planted there as a pacemaker for them! The lead woman dropped second place at about mile 18 and then the two of us ran the rest of the way home together. It was really good running with her although I didn't get another cheer the entire race - everyone was cheering for her! We kept running in the 5.30s until about mile 23 and then we both slowed to 5.50s. During this time we must have passed about 30 guys - some looking really tired, obviously having gone off too quickly, but they all cheered us on. I'm pretty sure they all thought I was her pacemaker too.
I finished in 2:32.09 which was good for 35th place. A negative split and I'd passed at least 30-40 people in the second half. No-one overtook me in the whole race.
As I crossed the line, my initial reaction was disappointment. I had wanted to hit sub-2.31 so that I would achieve sub-elite status for the Chicago Marathon next year and I had missed it by 69 seconds. Worse still, it meant I had to run another marathon in spring! However, you can't be disappointed with a personal best and I had run 1 min and 50 seconds quicker than I had previously, so all in all I was pleased. I'm no longer scared of 5.45 mining and I'm hopeful that 2011 has a sub 2.30 marathon in its plans for me!
All in all, a good, well organised marathon and worth doing. Now I can kick back and enjoy getting fat to Christmas..!
As I crossed the line, my initial reaction was disappointment. I had wanted to hit sub-2.31 so that I would achieve sub-elite status for the Chicago Marathon next year and I had missed it by 69 seconds. Worse still, it meant I had to run another marathon in spring! However, you can't be disappointed with a personal best and I had run 1 min and 50 seconds quicker than I had previously, so all in all I was pleased. I'm no longer scared of 5.45 mining and I'm hopeful that 2011 has a sub 2.30 marathon in its plans for me!
All in all, a good, well organised marathon and worth doing. Now I can kick back and enjoy getting fat to Christmas..!
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