kwollity

I recapped my 2011 running season the other day. Here’s looking ahead to 2012; the races I hope to do and some goals I have.

(Some dates aren’t official yet and I’ve guesstimated)

Dirty Duo 25km – March 10
Distance: 25km
Previous time: 2:46:26 (2011)
2012 goal: Just to beat 2011′s time

5 Peaks Trail: Golden Ears – April 21
Distance: 14km
Previous time: 1:12:21 (2011)
2012 goal: I’ll take it easy as I’ll be tapering for the Van Marathon
Notes: This was original scheduled as April 28 (1 week before the Van Marathon) so I was going to pass on it this year. But I think 2 weeks should be ample time to recover for the marathon, so count me in.

Vancouver Marathon – May 6
Distance: 42.2km
Previous time: 4:14 (2010), 3:29:56 (2011)
2012 goal: 3h 05min
Notes:  In 2011 I shaved 45 minutes off my marathon time. This year I plan to shave off another 25. Sounds crazy, but I want to give Boston a shot.

North Shore Triathlon – May 21
Distance: Sprint (~26km)
Previous time: 1:36:02 (2011)
2012 goal: To get out of the pool in under 20 minutes (ie, 10 minutes faster than last year!)
Notes: I did my first Tri last year and nearly drowned on a simple little swim – this year I’ll focus some training on swimming!

5 Peaks Trail: Squamish – June 9
Distance:  TBA
Previous time:  N/A
2012 goal: N/A

North Shore Knee Knackering Trail Run – July 14
Distance: 48km (“The race as a whole has some 16,000 feet of vertical climb and descent.”)
Previous time: n/a
2012 goal: To finish in one piece
Notes: This would be my first foray into the ultra distance. There is a lottery however as only a limited field is allowed to run each year. This one’s a bucket list item.

Seek the Peak – July 14
Distance: 16km
Previous time: 2h 45min (2009), 2h 17min (2010), 1:50:59 (2011)
2012 goal:  Sub 1:50
Notes: In 2009 this was the first race I ever ran (with no training). Super fun race from Ambleside to the peak of Grouse.

5 Peaks Trail: Cypress – Jul 21
Distance: TBA
Previous time:  n/a
2012 goal:  n/a

Squamish 50 – Aug 11
Distance: 50 miles
Previous Time: n/a
Goal: To finish
Notes: I most likely will not do this – but I really want to run an ultra in 2011. If I don’t get into the Knee Knacker again I may consider this – but the distance is probably too killer for my first ultra.

5 Peaks Trail: Whistler – Aug 25
Distance: 10.6km
Previous time: 1:15:29 (2011)
2012 goal: To beat last year’s time (assuming same course)

Vancouver Triathlon – Sep 2
Distance: Olympic
Previous time: n/a
2012 goal: To complete an Olympic distance triathlon
Notes: Hopefully I’ll have learned how to swim well enough to tackle an ocean swim before this race.

Coho – Sep 8
Distance: 14km
Previous time: 1hr 05min (2010), 1:01:52 (2011)
2012 goal: Under 1hr

5 Peaks: Buntzen Lake – Sep 29
Distance: 15.5km
Previous time: 1hr 28min (2010), 1:17:53 (2011)
2012 goal: 1hr 15min

Okanagan Half Marathon – Oct 7
Distance: 21.1km (Possibly will do the 42.2)
Previous time: 2hr 08min (2009), 1hr 41min (2010), 1:37:15 (2011)
2012 goal: 1hr 30min
Notes: If I fail to qualify for Boston in May, I may re-prioritize some other races and ramp up to give it another shot here instead of running the half.

Hallow’s Eve Trail – Oct 21
Distance: 21.1km
Previous time: 2h 10min (2010), 2:08:01 (2011)
2012 goal: 2hr

Phantom Trail – Nov 13
Distance: 24km
Previous time: n/a
2012 goal: n/a
Notes:  I’ll see how the body feels this late in the season. Tentative race.

So we’ll see. Will I be able to do every race? Probably not. Will I reach every one on my goals? Probably not. But I sure am stoked to give it my best shot!

My running season for 2011 ended in October with the Hallow’s Eve Trail race.

It was my second full year of running, and I saw a lot of improvement. Race reports for all my events are available on the post of my 2011 Race schedule.

My highlights were:

• Beating my goal of a 3:30 marathon (and knocking ~45 minutes off my previous best time)
• Completing my first triathlon (and embarrassing myself by having to backstroke to stay afloat on a sprint swim)
• Completing a total of 12 races and setting a PB on each course I had run previously
• Coming second for my age group in the 5 Peaks series (enduro)
• Running a total of over 1,600km in 146 hours of training

.

In the end I raced every event I had set out at the beginning of the year with the exception of the Phatom 25k Trail race in November (and the Knee Knacker because I wasn’t selected in the lottery). By the time I completed the Hallows Eve trail race my knees were getting continually sore. The week after the race I was running the 13km trek home from work and I didn’t have any gas in the tank. My body needed a break.

I took 3 full weeks off of zero running and consumed many, many carbs (see: IPA). I’m now doing some base-building as I ramp up for the 2012 Van Marathon which will be my ‘A’ race for the year.

I have some more ambitious goals for next year (including running a BQ) and I’m looking at all the races I want to run. I’ll be posting my schedule soon.

I find myself wondering when I’ll get bored of running. Or at least tired of running so much as is required to continually improve. So far I haven’t found the answer. 2011 was a great year and I’m proud of how far I’ve come a runner. I’m looking forward to getting better still.

Show-boating and excessive celebrations are a great part of pro sports. A well executed high-step into the endzone is a nice slap in the face to your opponent. Sometimes, however, an early celebration can backfire.

I’ve previously posted a nice list of awesome sports celebrations, but after this beauty from Craig Smith last week, I decided to put together a quick list of show-boating fails:

- Craig Smith tries to roof the puck into an empty net…. the puck ends up in the stands. As in over the mesh-netting behind the goal, and in.to.the.stands.

- The first show-boat fail that came to my mind is Desean Jackson, with not 1, but 2 beauties:

- Soccer goalie starts celebrating a bit too early:

- Cycling show-boat fail. This one is so painful to watch:

- Leon Lett in Superbowl XXVII. Vintage stuff:

- I previously posted about this one as well:

- And the ultimate in early-celebration fail – having the entire college band on the field before the game is over:

photo credit: sickmouthy

Since I moved this month and was also out of town a fair bit I decided to make this month’s challenge super easy: to learn a new word everyday. All it involved was getting a daily email from dictionary.com.

1. Substrate – A Substratum – something that is spread or laid under something else; a stratum or layer lying under another.
2. Darkle – To grow dark, gloomy, etc.
3. Nebulize – To become vague, or indistinct
4. Braird – To sprout; appear above the ground.
5. Paralipsis – The suggestion, by deliberately brief treatment of a topic, that much of significance is being omitted, as in “not to mention other faults.”
6. Gammon – To deceive.
7. Aplomb – Assurance of manner or of action; self-possession; confidence; coolness
8. Inculcate – To teach and impress by frequent repetition or instruction.
9. Chichi – Affectedly trendy.
10. Bellwether – A leader of a movement or activity; also, a leading indicator of future trends.
11. Elegiac – Relating to the mourning or remembering of the dead.
12. Dilatory – Tending to put off what ought to be done at once; given to procrastination.
13. Panache – Dash or flamboyance in manner or style.
14. Fey – Possessing or displaying a strange and otherworldly aspect or quality; magical or fairylike; elfin.
15. Bacchanalia – A riotous, boisterous, or drunken festivity; a revel
16. Punctilious – Strictly attentive to the details of form in action or conduct; precise; exact in the smallest particulars.
17. Postprandial – Happening or done after a meal.
18. Pleonasm – The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, “I saw it with my own eyes.”
19. Acme – The highest point of something; the highest level or degree attainable.
20. Irrefragable – Impossible to refute; incontestable; undeniable; as, an irrefragable argument; irrefragable evidence.
21. Rapine – The act of plundering; the seizing and carrying away of another’s property by force.
22. Copacetic - Very satisfactory; fine.
23. Lionize - To treat or regard as an object of great interest or importance.
24. Tchotchke – A trinket, a knickknack.
25. Sapid - Having taste or flavor, especially having a strong pleasant flavor
26. Gadabout - Someone who roams about in search of amusement or social activity.
27. Portend - To indicate (events, misfortunes, etc.) as in future; to foreshadow; to bode.
28. Woolgathering - Indulgence in idle daydreaming.
29. Votary - One who is devoted, given, or addicted to some particular pursuit, subject, study, or way of life.

And it looks like a missed a day somewhere? Oops

photo credit: fredericknoronha

Last month I posted how I decided to take on a series of small 1 month challenges. I’ve decided to do a monthly recap of each challenge to reflect on how it went, and to look ahead at the next month’s challenge.

For August my challenge was to play the guitar for 15 minutes every day.

A number of years back I got a guitar for Christmas, took a handful of lessons and learned a few riffs. But, since my son was born the guitar has been sitting under the bed. I’ve wanted to learn to play for a while (its also a bucket list item) so this seemed like a good challenge.

At first everything was going great. I was getting the calluses on my fingers back, and slowly remembering how to pick a few of the old songs I knew (or portions of songs). My son also took a great interest in the guitar, and I discovered something awesome. I could now play children’s songs like Old McDonald’s Farm and not feel like a total dork. Instead of playing kids songs because they are my skill level, I could now justify (in my own head) that I was playing kids songs for my kid.

12 days into the month, however, my son got his hands on my guitar while I was at work and tightened a few strings. That night as I strummed the first chord the bottom string snapped from the pressure.

Being a total newb, I don’t know how to replace strings, and upon trying to do so on my own, managed to make all the strings vibrate off the first fret (don’t ask how) and also snap the replacement string.

So I waited a few weeks until my girlfriend’s Dad was able to come over and kindly fix it up.

And that’s where I am…. The challenge was kind of a bust, but it worked to rekindle my desire to learn guitar. I’m going to make more of an effort to play (even if its the Itsy Bitsy Spider for my son).

September’s challenge:

Since I just spent the last few days moving and still need to unpack, and I’ll also be in PEI for a week, I decided to make this month’s challenge the easiest from my list; learn a new word every day.

My phone has a Dictionary.com widget that nicely displays a ‘word of the day’. This one will be kind of boring relative to the other challenges, but I’m already having fun with it. My stepmother was talking about how fast the lettuce in her backyard grows and I was able to say ‘oh, so it doesn’t take long to braird‘?

photo credit: Wa-J

The retirement of Steve Jobs has been major news over the last few days, but a few weeks ago the world lost another great business leader in Ray Anderson. ‘Lost’ in the greater meaning of the word.

Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc passed away on August 8 after battling cancer.

I remember being a business student at SFU watching the documentary The Corporation. In that movie Ray Anderson is interviewed and he details how he became awakened to the massive impact corporations have on the environment. This is the clip from the movie:

After watching this I remember being curious enough to grab myself a copy of The Ecology of Commerce. As a business student I was inspired by a leader who would be so willing to so fully embrace a complete paradigm shift in the way he allowed his company to continue to operate. Ultimately, not only did Ray Anderson make a dramatic course change at Interface, but he did all of it while showing sustainability is good for the bottom line of the company. And we’re not talking about a mom and pop operation, but a company where a rise or fall in a few percentage points of revenues represents millions of dollars.

The Ecology of Commerce, as it did for Ray Anderson, had an immediate impact on me. I began reading all the books written by Hawken as well as other authors on environmental issues. I wanted to learn more on the subject and signed up for the Net Impact group on campus. Net Impact’s goal is to ‘inspire the SFU and larger community to embrace Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility and sustainable development values.’ While the group never really got off the ground that year, I ended up quitting my job at the bank I was working at, and through a friend in that group I ended getting a job with a small start-up software company downtown Vancouver. The company made software to help organizations to visualize and track goals around the Triple Bottom Line. As a business student it was great for me, as I learned just how hard it is to get a company off the ground with very limited resources. Doing sales for a small start-up was dramatically different than customer service for an almost 200 year old multinational. We also go to work with leading companies, municipalities and non-profits on the forefront of tackling environmental issues, and I learned a lot about business and the environment, which was my goal.

While today I’m no longer working in the field of environmental issues, I would definitely be somewhere different in life if not for having been inspired by Ray Anderson.

Below is a terrific talk he gave for TED, a must watch.

“At his carpet company, Interface, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional “take / make / waste” industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares his powerful vision for sustainable commerce.”

There is also a nice article here which summarizes his great work in environmentalism.

Anderson was one of the most vocal proponents of environmentalism’s role in business. He founded Interface, a producer of free-lay carpet tiles, in 1973, and it grew to be a $1 billion company and the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet.

Anderson set a seemingly radical goal for the firm: “Mission Zero,” a commitment to eliminate any environmental impacts by the year 2020. Shortly before his death, he estimated that the company was more than halfway towards this vision. Interface says that in the past 17 years, it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent, fossil fuel consumption by 60 percent, waste to landfill by 82 percent and water use by 82 percent, while avoiding over $450 million in costs, increasing sales by 63 percent and more than doubling earnings.

After watching the above TED talk by Matt Cutts (Google Engineer) I decided to follow the advice offered and take on a series of 1 month challenges.The video is only 3 minutes and worth the watch.

The idea is that each month you set up a challenge for yourself, and do your best to meet that challenge for the month. These aren’t huge, earth shattering challenges (although they can be) but rather small, simple things that you’ve never tried before, or would improve your life in some way.

My first month was simple enough. My challenge was to run to work and back 1 day each week (although I think doing something only 4 times over the month may be bending the rules a bit). Luckily, my office building has a shower so I don’t scare away my coworkers. After having done this for a month, I’ve decided to continue with this routine of running to work once a week. It’s a great way to get some extra training into my schedule, and forces myself to do a ‘two-a-day’, even if I’m tired at the end of the day (otherwise, how am I getting home?). I look forward to the days where I run to work in the morning, and am glad I’ve started this ritual.

So with a successful first month behind me, here are some of challenges I plan to tackle:

- Play the guitar for 15 minutes every day (August)
- Eat only vegetarian
- Eat only vegan
- No TV
- No caffeine
- No alcohol
- Write down 1 idea per day on how I can earn extra income (October 2011)
- Spend 1 month getting a side-business off the ground (from the above list).
- Take a photo each day
- Run 300km over the month (an average of 10km per day, every day)
- Write 30 thank you letters (an idea I got from this book)
- Learn a new word every day (September 2011)
- Become more optimistic (Before going to bed each day, write down 5 reasons why my day was awesome)

By brainstorming and borrowing some ideas from a Google search, in about 10 minutes I had this list which will last me more than 1 year.

The key to these little challenges is that they force you to expose yourself to something new. It may be something you keep doing (like me with running to work), or something you can’t wait to end (I can’t imagine I will enjoy being vegan for a month). The whole point is to step outside that comfort zone and try something new.

15 years after his death, great American astronomer Carl Sagan weighs in on the final shuttle launch in an awesome video from the Sagan Series.

photo credit: howe2skate72

OK, our beloved team is on a 2 game slump, but here’s something to make you laugh:

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar. After a while, one guy looks at the other and says, ‘I can’t help but think, from listening to you, that you’re from Sweden.’

The other guy responds proudly, ‘Yes, that I am!’

The first guy says, ‘So am I! And where about from Sweden might you be’?

The other guy answers, ‘I’m from Stockholm, I am.’

The first guy responds, ‘So am I!’

‘Sure and begorra. And what street did you live on in Stockholm The other guy says, ‘A lovely little area it was. I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town.’

The first guy says, ‘Faith and it’s a small world. So did I! So did I! And to what school would you have been going’?

The other guy answers, ‘Well now, I went to St. Mary’s, of course.’

The first guy gets really excited and says, ‘And so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate’?

The other guy answers, ‘Well, now, let’s see. I graduated in 1984.’

The first guy exclaims, ‘The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it? I graduated from St. Mary’s in 1984 my own self!’

About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits down and orders a beer.

Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking his head and mutters, ‘It’s going to be a long night tonight.’

Vicky asks, ‘Why do you say that, Brian’?

‘The Sedin twins are pissed again.’

And this has to be my favorite fan video yet: