Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #10

Trail Bits & Other Bits of News

1. Last reminder
The Bastion Running Club Cedar 12k is on Sunday February 13th. Please contact Darrell Orosz at janddorosz@shaw.ca if you can volunteer?

2. NALT is Boardwalk Building in Linley Valley Friday February 11th and Saturday February 12th 10am-4pm - Get out your hammers, your rubber boots & come on down to Linley Valley and help to cover up the mud!! NALT is in need of a building team, and need people who know how to build boardwalks; those with a sense of direction and discretion will be welcomed with open arms. If you are interested and have a couple of hours you can spare. Contact Carra Simpson, Nanaimo Area Land Trust, volunteer coordinator at carra@nalt.bc.ca or 618-1940.

3. First GutBuster of 2005 is coming up soon, only 7 more Saturdays. The Stewart Mountain 15k & 8k is Saturday, March 12th 10:00 am. The race starts and finishes in Thetis Lake Park outside of Victoria. A fun 15km or 8 km course with gravel, puddles, branches, rocks and streams - but most of the course is very runnable wilderness trail. Not as much elevation gain as the other GutBusters but don't let that fool you. If you are interested in coming down with us, let me know and I will keep you informed in regards to car pooling and a couple of longer training runs that we are planning.

4. Energy Bars – If you have a questionnaire for Alex, bring it to this weekends run.

5. This weeks run: This week we will be running the Westwood Ridge Valley Trail or the Saddle as it is also known. This is the trail system that runs in behind the Westwood Ridges, not on top of the ridges. If you have a SDM (speed distance monitor) GPS or some other sort of measuring device, can you please bring it with you? I need help in getting a rough measurement of this section of trail as it will be part of the Westwood Lake GutBuster Half Marathon course that is taking place on July 9th. Meet at Westwood Lake parking lot 7:30 am………. As you can tell I have returned to the basics in regards to the trail runs. It was becoming too large of a chore for me to try and take into consideration all the email comments I was receiving. Therefore we will do what we use to do…..run the trails…..the fast ones will go faster and the slow ones will go slower….simple!

Also of note:
Don’t ever let them tell you that abdominal work outs are a breeze. I showed up for last Thursday’s 6:30 am workout with Sean Lunny, one week behind the rest of the gang due to illness, but still ready to go. How bad could it be? Little did I know how bad it could be or what I was walking into. First thing, 30 push ups. For one hour we worked and worked, flexed and stretched, no breaks, just good hard work. I had to sneak off to the washroom, just so I could wipe off the sweat and catch my breath. For the next three days I thought I had the flu due to the lingering muscle cramps in my stomach from the workout. I kept feeling I was going to be sick. But here it is Tuesday night I have done my homework every night and I am anxiously looking forward to the next Thursday morning workout. The pain or the flu which ever it was has gone and I feel great. Apparently I am now on the road to being a better runner. Core Strength is what it is all about. That’s what they tell me. Anyways, next time you hear that Sean Lunny is putting on a core Strength Training Session, register and take it. Hard work? Sure it is, but only after one week of following the routine I can feel a difference….either that or I really had the flu.

I am in awe of all of you who make it look so easy.

Take care,

Dan