New Site Up & Running - www.canmoremd.com

I've upgraded and will now be posting pics/reports etc over at:

www. canmoremd.com

Please visit me there!

Minnewanka

First sign of spring and a big block a month out from Transvulcania for me. 102km over 4 days, culminating in a dash along the shoreline trail at Minnewanka. Stellar day, shorts and vest weather.

March 2014 stats

A decent month. March stats 9000m climbing, a couple of hundred miles on the feet, which isn't too bad considering the weather has kept the trails in difficult shape.

Monthly Stats - February 2014

February 2014 stats. Will be ramping up a bit in March in preparation for the Transvulcania 83km ultra May 10.

Monthly Stats - January 2014

Decided I'll post monthly data for the year at the end of each month.

All my data is recorded on the Suunto Ambit 2, an indispensable piece of kit for ultra runners. There's a great review of this watch here - http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/04/suunto-ambit2-review.html

And of course www.suunto.com has all the specs etc. and some neat videos highlighting the watch technology.

Here's January 2014. Not a huge month, but the weather was not cooperating for quite a bit of the month.

2014 Race Schedule

Well, here goes!



May - Transvulcania - 83km on the Island of La Palma, Canary Islands

http://www.transvulcania.com/index.php/en/

May - Blackfoot Ultra 100km, Edmonton (I hope! I'm on the wait list right now)

http://www.blackfootultra.com

June - Transrockies - Rundle's Revenge, 50km, Canmore

http://transrockies.com/rundles-revenge/

July - Trailstoke 60km, Revelstoke, BC

http://trailstoke.5peaks.com

August - Cascade Crest 100 miler, Washington, USA

http://www.cascadecrest100.com

After this, who knows!

Recovery Tactics

The best athletes in the world all know how to train like champions. They also know how to recover like champions. They are experts at working hard, pushing themselves to the limit in hard training sessions, but they also have their recovery down to a fine art. I think this is something we can all learn from, and I think it's something often neglected by the weekend warrior. The amateur athlete may be pushing himself hard in his ski or run intervals, or maxing out during his hill workouts, but is he optimising his training by paying attention to recovery with such focus and effort? And really that’s what it comes down to. Don’t dilute your training with mediocre recovery strategies. Our workouts break down our tissues, our recovery rebuilds us, and rebuilds us stronger.

Here are three simple things you can do to optimise your recovery, and obtain the maximum benefit from your workouts.

The recovery drink. We talk about the 20 minute window. This is the immediate post-workout period when our muscles are primed to replenish their glycogen stores. The effect diminishes with time. Studies show that consumption of a carbohydrate containing beverage in the first 20 minutes after a hard session ends is ideal. The addition of protein to that recovery drink seems to improve muscle glycogen uptake. 1-1.2g of carbs per kg body weight, plus 15-25g protein seems the ideal mix for adults.

Sleep. Sleep has been shown to be an absolute predictor of human performance. The more sleep we get, the better our performance. A night of bad sleep isn't a big deal, but chronic poor sleep habits and patterns will ruin our recovery. What about pre race jitters - well fortunately poor sleep due to nerves the night before an important race doesn’t seem to matter much, but in general we need to maximise our rest. What do elite kenyan runners do every afternoon? They take to their beds and nap. During sleep our muscles rebuild and our nervous sytem recuperates. If you can take a nap, I highly recommend it!

Nutrition. Of course nutrition plays a huge part in our ability to be the best athlete we can be. We need to really question what we put into our bodies. The average American consumes over 44 gallons of soda per year! We should ensure we consume large amounts of fresh nutrient dense produce, and we should drink water primarily during the day. Stay as close to the source as possible. The more processed a food is, the more you should avoid it; and stay away from alcohol to maximise your recovery. Getting drunk may negate as much as 2 weeks of training effect according to John Underwood at http://www.lifeofanathlete.us

There are a lot of other strategies utilized by elite athletes, some proven, some not; strategies such as compression-wear, ice baths and regular massage may help in recovery. I use compression products from Compressport and find them the best on the market  - http://compressport.ca

These things may make a small difference to the high end athlete - the difference between first and second place, but for the average amateur, perfecting the sleep routine, optimising daily and post workout nutrition are the simple and most important things that will ensure you get the most from your workouts.


(this article is modified from a piece I wrote for SkiTrax magazine)

Trail shoes - Altra Zero Drop Lone Peak

An awesome looking new show I picked up at Gord's. The Altra Zero Drop Lone Peak. 

Super comfy zero drop shoe on first impressions. And it has some neat features. I'll post a review in a few weeks. 

New tools - the ithlete app and the Viiiiva HRM

I always like to dabble with gadgets! Those who know me know how I love my Suunto Ambit 2, to monitor my mileage, ascent, average HR etc.

 My new favourite tool, however, is a great little app called iThlete. Its a monitoring tool that measures a physiological variable called HRV or heart rate variability. You need an iPhone or Android phone, the $10 app, and a compatible HRM (of which there are a few). Fortunately I have a great little blue tooth HRM called the ViiiiVa from 4iiii. It allows my iPhone to connect directly to the strap on my chest. It interacts efficiently with the phone - and will work with such apps as Strava, MapMyRun etc.

Heart rate variability is a measure of the small variations in time between heart beats.

You may have noticed that your heart rate subtly increases with a deep breath in, and slows when breathing out. If there is a large change, the HRV is high, and if there is very little change, you have a low HRV. Simple!

 Physiologists have shown that the HRV is a pretty good indicator of how rested, how fatigued, or even over-trained an athlete is. The tool is being used by coaches and athletes to assess readiness for hard workouts, and to assess when a rest day is a better idea.

 The iThlete app takes 1 minute each morning to assess my HRV. A numerical value is presented along with a green light (good to go), amber light (train easy) or red light (time to take a day off) indicator.

http://youtu.be/7Zo3svwkW7c

I'm finding it to be a great little tool, with sometimes surprising results. A couple of weeks back I got the green light to go, despite waking up feeling pretty sore and fatigued. Once I got out there, in fact, I ended up having a great training session, and feeling good. Without the HRV, I'd likely have taken a rest day.

2 days ago my HRV reading was down, with amber values, despite feeling pretty good. Sure enough, 24 hrs later I had a sore throat, and was feeling pretty crappy. I had taken a rest day due to the HRV, which turns out to have been a great plan, given the mild sickness. I will wait until I see my HRV bounce back, before resuming training.

So there we go - a nice little app available on the app store if you're in the Apple eco-system; and the Viiiiva HR strap is a great addition if you own a bluetooth compatible phone.

Check out these products at:

http://4iiii.com/product-viiiiva/
http://myithlete.com

More info on HRV here:

http://myithlete.com/the-science-behind-hrv.html#.UwbqlHmKBBU

Theme from Into The Mind

Silver Springs XC race

Something to aspire to...

Post by Summits of my life.

Wow, just wow!

Yesterday was a biggish day. 2.5 hours snowshoeing followed by a 1:45 quick dash around the G8 in the evening - breaking trail through the fresh snow. 

I downloaded a new app to my Suunto Ambit - it displays the zone you're working in based on HR values - and set off on a leisurely zone 1-2 recovery plod.

The views this morning were incredible.

Snowshoe time! Reid's Ridge

Well it's Monday again and with winter here in full force Saira and I headed up to Spray lakes. As the avalanche risk is high in the Alpine after the weekend's snow, some careful and sensible decision making was needed when choosing a route. Reid's Ridge on Sparrowhawk Mountain seemed a great choice, and as always, the mountains delivered a stellar morning. Some pics below.

Tendon Injuries - an article I published in Ski Trax Magazine

I realise this is a running blog, but runners are often afflicted with tendon injuries, most notably in the achilles or patellar tendons. Below is a basic article that was published in Ski Trax magazine. In fact, you will find my regular column in Ski Trax throughout the winter season. Enjoy!

Tendon Injuries

Like many things in medicine, tendon injuries cover a broad spectrum of severity ranging from mild strain type injuries to complete tendon failure and ruptures. In the past, treatment of such injuries has consisted of rest, ice and anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications, but in the last few years there have been new developments in the treatment of these common injuries.

In basic terms, tendons are thick, fibrous sinewy structures that connect muscles to bones. Tendons are comprised primarily of dense collagen fibres. When a muscle contracts the tendon acts to move the bone at the other end, across one or more joints. We refer to tendon pathology as a tendinopathy or tendinosis. The term tendinitis is being used less, as we now know that there is actually little in the way of inflammation in most tendon problems.

When a tendon is stressed beyond it's tensile limit, micro-tearing may occur within the structure of the tendon. There is swelling, acute pain, and the tendon may feel creaky to touch. In the first few days there is certainly inflammation, and icing and anti-inflammatory medications can provide relief, but but we now know that this inflammation is likely a beneficial process, leadingl to recovery, and over zealous use of NSAID medications can actually be detrimental to healing. I recommend NSAIDs for a few days only, with rest and regular icing. After this initial period, however, a program of gradual tendon loading seems to produce the best results. A physical therapist will typically prescribe a program of gradual eccentric loading, to 'stress' the tendon in a controlled fashion to stimulate blood flow, new collagen production, and healing. Of course, more severe injuries such as complete ruptures, require prolonged immobilization, and even surgery.

Recent research has focused on the management of more chronic tendon pain. It seems that often the healing gets 'stalled', once the initial inflammation subsides. Irritating these tendons, increasing the blood flow in the damaged area, and trying to increase the inflammation can kickstart healing. Nitroglycerin patches, typically used to treat heart problems, applied to the skin overlying the injury causes blood vessel dilation, increased blood flow and stimulates new collagen production. Vigorous massage across an injury (cross-frictions) has similar effects. Physical therapists may dry-needle injuries or use a form of deep acupuncture (IMS), in an attempt to inflame the tendon and start the healing process. More recently, injections of either dextrose (prolotherapy), or a patient's own growth factors in the form of platelet rich plasma (PRP) has shown promise. 

As always, it is best to consult a professional with experience in treating the specific injury.

Mt Bourgeau

It's Monday again - Monday Fun Day as we saw in our household - the long range forecast isn't looking good, so this might be the last warm day for trail running round here. Today's adventure was a jaunt/run/hike up Bourgeau - been on the bucket list for a while. And it didn't disappoint - mostly runnable the whole way too which is a bonus!

Enjoy the photos.

Wasootch Ridge

Winter is here! No doubt about that. After a run in shorts up Mt Bourgeau last Monday, it was a bit of a shock to have full on winter conditions on Wasootch. Breaking trail the whole way was a good workout, however, and the views speak for themselves. Great day, and a stunning route. Need to go back though and bag the summit - will take an ice tool for that though!

Here's a link to a 360 panorama I took:

http://360.io/NCJfTL

The final summit is the pointy peak just right of centre 

Saira cranking

The Grand Teton - Owen Spalding route 5.4

I'm a bit late posting this one, but anyways!

Since watching Kilian and Tony all over the interwebs blasting up the Owen Spalding route (5.4) last summer, this one has been on my radar, not least since I've always admired the Grand as a beautiful peak, and have a pic of it hanging in my office.

We decided to make a trip of it before Leadville, and the high camp at over 10,000ft on the moraines provided perfect acclimatization. And what a spot to camp - just incredible, and a huge adventure for Saira, myself and the boys. I did a recce of the route on our first day, run/scrambling up to the upper saddle. I have to say the upper section was looking a bit intimidating at first sight, but the next day I was able to make it up to the summit alone, without too much difficulty. I would say 5.4 is a push, as the route is mostly a hard scramble, but the exposure is HUGE!!

Crux - definitely the belly roll. The initial chimney after the crawl is easy, but a slip here would be costly. The summit is really quite incredible, and it was cool to arrive up top in the sun in a pair of shorts, with a handheld bottle, and be greeted with some odd (disdainful?) looks from the mountain guides and their clients, who'd taken half a day to get there.

I think I was back at camp in under 3 hours for the round trip, at a relatively relaxed pace. Next time, I'll go for the car to summit to car push. Looking forward to that one!

For anyone interested in this route, by far the best resource I came across was

http://www.wyomingwhiskey.org

You'll find great route descriptions and photos, some videos and current conditions. Enjoy some of my photos below.

Approach up the zig zags

Stellar camp on the moraines below the lower saddle (centre top)

It looks rough, but we had super comfy, flat platforms for our tents
And check out my 360 here: http://360.io/QtHe4h

View down from the lower saddle

Heading up from the lower saddle on my evening recce 

The chockstone Chimney. The Eye of the Needle is up and right 

This is where the real climbing starts. The route essentially heads across the obvious ledge, leftwards

The Belly Roll, and the crux in my opinion. Big exposure below!

If you fall, it's a long way down

The crawl - an easy but exposed hand traverse

I took this pic from the Crawl on the way down

Summit view - and check this out! http://360.io/kt7CPv

Back at camp

Saira, brewing up!

Our lower camp in the meadows below Middle Teton

Bert enjoying the evening sun below Middle Teton

Definitely an adventure for the boys!