Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #16

What a weekend!

Friday morning was so warm that at 10:00AM we ran the power lines with our shirts off – summer like conditions, then less than 24 hours later we were back in to full winter conditions with high wind warnings and heavy rainfall warnings, ah Nanaimo at its best. There were about 12 of us that set out for what was suppose to be an hour and 20 min run of the Foothills; we actually did it in just over one hour. I guess the training is starting to pay off. We had guest runners from Vancouver, Coquitlam and San Francisco that joined us for what turned out to be a really nice run. A Good pace run with lots of water and no snow or ice. Meanwhile our less fortunate brethren were out on the E & N Trail Way slogging away at a 2 hr & 15 minute training run. All this was followed up 24 hours later with a visit from the Easter Bunny at my house…..Chocolate, Ya.

Runners of Compassion – Hey, don’t forget that your membership dues are now payable. $10.00 each or $25.00 for a family. I have attached a membership form. Please fill it out when handing in your dues, we want to double check addresses, emails, etc.

This week’s run – will be a return to the Humility Abyss - 7:00 AM, 80 minutes. The reason for returning to this area so soon is that logging will be starting in this area any day now. So, if you having been waiting to run the Abyss, don’t wait any longer, come out and run it before it is lost. Meet under the power lines on Harewood Mines Road at 7:00am. The marathon training schedule is 2hr & 30min in the am and 30 min in the pm. I will be running in from Morrell starting at 6:45 am. This will give us a 2:00 hour run and then you can do an hour later in the day. All the rest of you can be ready to go at 7:00 AM Sharp. Let me know if you want to start from Morell.
I will be trying to keep the Saturday run in the 60-80 minute range for the main group and will add on earlier pieces for those wanting to run longer.

Adventure Race Training – Sean is offering an Adventure Race Clinic for people interested in doing a Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race. The next clinic starts April 9th and will run each Saturday from 8-10am and will get people ready for the MOMAR in Ucluelet May 14th. It will cover mountain biking, kayaking, trail running, orienteering, transitions, what to eat, what to wear, basically everything people will need to know in order to be able to complete a MOMAR. The cost is $199 and includes the kayak lesson and rental and 50% of the MOMAR race of their choice. If you are interested contact Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca . This is a hell of a deal!

Energy Bar – Alex and her crew at Carrot on the Run have developed an ‘Energy bar’ which they will be retailing for $ 2.00 each, including GST. Alex and her partner have very graciously offered to donate .50 from each bar that is sold to ROC. The bars actually feature the ROC logo on the label. The first order that Alex received was for 200 bars for the master swimming event taking place in Nanaimo. The ingredients are Corn syrup, Natural peanut butter, oats, brown sugar, non-hydrogenated margarine, Dates, peanuts, Bernard Callebaut Chocolate, Raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, rice crispies, coconut, sesame seeds and vanilla. They are very yummy. Maybe if we talk real nice to Alex she will bring a sample for us to taste at the next run? HINT, HINT. So if you are looking for a great snack for your lunch, the kids lunch, or an after run snack, drop by Carrot on the Run, located by Romeos and Island natural and pick up a bar or two.

Notice of Road Trip – Running the Cowichan River Trail. Depending if we are having the ROC Car Rally or not, we might try for the 23rd of April. Does that work for those of you that want to come down? Let me know.

If you think you can win, you have won. Faith is necessary to victory.

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #15

Trail Bits
Happy Easter

It was nice to see the new faces out for the run at Humility Abyss last weekend. The timing of having the two groups starting out in different spots and meeting up on Harewood Mines Road worked out great and we all got in the required times. Thanks to those of you that took turns sweeping at the back of the pack. It is appreciated.

1. This week’s run – will be a run of the Lantzville Foothills. 7:00 AM……..This run is about an Hour and 15 minutes in length. Meet at the yellow gate on Harwood Road in Lantzville. This is located at the end of Ware Road. If you need clearer directions email me and I will send them to you. For those of us needing to run 2hr & 15 min, you can always join me and do another hour later in the day at Westwood…email me.

2. Is Two Hours too much? Now that a lot of us are well into marathon training mode the runs will occasionally get longer. If the thought of running off road for an hour and a half or more is too much for you, but you are still wanting to get out and run trails (other than the Westwood loop) drop me a note and I will see if I can hook up a bunch of you together to run. Let me know if you are able to lead this group.

3. ABS Class –The April 14th morning class is now full. Sean is also offering an evening session on Thursday nights. Email Sean if you are interested at seanlunny@shaw.ca

Denise Miller an ROC member is also offering an abs work out through Nanaimo Parks and Recreation. “This will challenge and condition muscles below the belt. You will ABsolutely love the 1/2 hour dedicated to abs and the lower back (core). A beneficial and relaxing stretch will wrap up the class." …says Denise. Tues Apr 5 - May 24 5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. $44/8 sessions contact. Denise at denisemariemiller@hotmail.com

4. Runners of Compassion – Hey, don’t forget that your membership dues are now payable. $10.00 each or $25.00 for a family.

5. Tammy Phye who is also a member of ROC is offering the following workshops if you are interested, contact Tammy at Lifestyle-Harmony@telus.net
a) Intro Talk About Energy and healing - It will be at my studio, 1948 Quadra Ave, the evening is by donation and will be experiential. You will have the opportunity to feel energy, how we can use it in our daily living to make life a little easier. Learn how everyone has the ability to be a healer.
b) Prana Yoga & Meditation -This will be a great class, especially if you ever thought about trying either yoga or mediation and haven't. You will learn to relax, and enjoy, working with your comfort level. We will be learning techniques for creating flow in our body and our life. You will begin to feel more relaxed yet alert. A variety of mediation styles will be taught so that you will find the ones that work best for you. If you have been a fence sitter come one and try it, you may enjoy it! I encourage all adult ages, shapes and sizes to come have some fun and learn something new. For more information contact me 754-3930.
c) Pranic Healing Workshop Learn more about working with energy and how we can incorporate it into daily living. How we can stop the energy drains, how we can re-energize ourselves. Learn about chakras and how they interconnect with the physical body and our life and how to balance them. Learn to do emergency healings for things like cuts, headaches, muscle pain, indigestion, and insomnia. Learn breathing and mediation techniques, plus much more. For more information contact me 754-3930.

Notice of Road Trip – Running the Cowichan River Trail. We would drop some vehicles in Duncan at Dave’s shop and then drive up to Skutz Falls and run back to Dave’s shop along the river trail. The section we will run will take us just over two hours. Please notice that we are heading down stream, not up stream, that is for things that spawn. The Cowichan River Trail follows the river the whole way, it is a beautiful run with amazing river views if you have never done it……
˜
All things are difficult before they are easy
English proverb

Core Strength

ABS Class –Sean Lunny is going to be offering another ABS & Stretching class starting April 14th. This one is 3 weeks longer than the last. Oh Joy!
Limit is 20 people. Time is 6:30 am. Location is Frontrunners, The cost is $25.00 for the 9 weeks left leading up to the Port Angeles Marathon. If you are interested please contact Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca you will be amazed at the difference that it makes to your running when your core is in shape, just ask anyone who has taken the clinic. Don’t be afraid of the pain, the pain does go away eventually. It’s one of those Hurts So Good, kind of things.
Sean is also available to do an evening session on Thursday nights if there is enough interest. The class fills very quickly so don’t delay.

New Pictures on Gallery

I have been posting a bunch of photos on the Gallery over the past few weeks. Gutbuster last week (with another 5 podium/post race shots added today) and 95 pictures from the Nova NORBA MTB race from last weekend.

Ross Report from Comox

Dear Sluggies

Amid a light March rain on the first day of spring, a tragedy unfolded at the Comox Half Marathon as intrepid running reporter Ross suffered a major fatal heart attack at the 20 3/4 kilometer mark. Upon being told how close to the food line he was, Ross' dying words were …"Bugger". Some blame the mishap on fellow runner Teri who was supposed to be running shotgun for Ross. Instead, the (rhymes with pitch) dropped him at the 18 K mark. As per his last requests, Ross was stuffed with wild herbs and spices, basted in a pre- heated oven for 45 minutes and served on baguettes with gorgonzola, carmelized onions, and fig jam.

Despite this unfortunate note, the day was great for everyone else. With nice, cool weather for racing, 26 Bastion runners crossed the finish line with impressive times. Dave Matte, Shalene Carlson, Caroline Bernard, and Julie Benson crushed all competition. Eight more runners placed in the top ten, led by Stefen and John against a tough field. Dominique cruised under his projected time. Our brethren in ROC were represented also with four runners. Ken and Kari skipped along the whole way through.

The food was great too. You could have chicken soup, chili, or minestrone, doughnuts, cookies, yoghurt, coffee and hot chocolate. There were even raw vegetables but we just pushed them aside.

Next Race Sooke River 10 K.

Full results can be located on www.pih.bc.ca

Notes from Dan the Trail Buy #14

Trail Bits

1. A Great showing by all the Nanaimo runners at the Stewart Mt. GutBuster on Saturday. 4 out of the top ten were from Nanaimo. It looks like about 16 runners from here went down for the race. Amazing times and efforts were turned in by all that went down. Apparently some crazy fools even did the double and ran in the Bazan Bay 5km Race the next day. A total of 882 runners showed up for the Bazan Bay race, unbelievable. Those of us that stayed here ran the trails in behind the ridge for 90 minutes and ran a new route which featured more big views, lots of twists and turns and some great downhill. We will be doing this “new” route again as a two hour run in the next few weeks.

2. Notice of Road Trip – I have been speaking with Super Dave Kuhawly in Duncan about running the Cowichan River Trail. We would drop some vehicles in Duncan at Dave’s shop and then drive up to Skutz Falls and run back to Dave’s shop along the river trail. The section we will run will take us just over two hours. Please notice that we are heading down stream, not up stream, that is for things that spawn. The Cowichan River Trail follows the river the whole way, it is a beautiful run with amazing river views if you have never done it……
Date to be decided, but watch for it coming in mid April.

3. This week’s run – For those of you not going to Comox, but wanting to get in a two hour run, there will be a run of Humility Abyss starting from the Morrell Nature Sanctuary parking lot starting at 7:00 am. 2:00 hours in length. The entrance to the parking lot is off of Nanaimo Lakes Rd, right after the over pass. If you decide to come along, please remember to bring water and some sort of Gel, Gu, or whatever it is that you choose to replenish your body with (whiskey, beer, Starbucks coffee) . Two hours is too long to go without reloading the body. The route will be through Morrell, out to the power lines, a loop of Humility Abyss and back to the parking lot.

If you want to have a bit shorter run (1hr and 20 minutes), you can meet up with us at the start of the Humility Abyss on Harewood Mines Road where we normally run in from. We should be able to meet you there by no later than 7:10am – 7:15am.

4. Is Two Hours too much? Now that a lot of us are well into marathon training mode the runs will occasionally get longer. If the thought of running off road for an hour and a half or more is too much for you, but you are still wanting to get out and run trails (other than the Westwood loop) drop me a note and I will see if I can hook up a bunch of you together to run. Let me know if you are able to lead this group.

5. ABS Class –Sean Lunny is going to be offering another ABS & Stretching class starting April 14th. This one is 3 weeks longer. Oh Joy! Limit is 20 people. Time is 6:30 am. The cost is $25.00 for the 9 weeks left leading up to the Port Angeles Marathon. If you are interested please contact Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca you will be amazed at the difference that it makes to your running when your core is in shape, just ask anyone who has taken the clinic. Don’t be afraid of the pain, the pain does go away eventually. It’s one of those Hurts So Good, kind of things. Sean is also available to do an evening session on Thursday nights if there is enough interest.

6. Runners of Compassion – Hey, don’t forget that your membership dues are now payable. $10.00 each or $25.00 for a family.
· The weekly email that I send you is also available on the Frontrunners Blog at http://frontrunners.blogspot.com
· I am hoping in the near future to be able to post this directly onto the ROC Website each week and avoid having to bug you with an email each week.
· We are also going to look at having a spot on the ROC Website where you can post a question or inquiry that can get directed to the proper person for answering.

7. Saturday Morning Biking The start time is now 7:15 AM…..The ride will be 1 to 1 1/2 hours and will probably follow the Parkway and E&N trails. The bike group will meet back for coffee at Starbucks with the rest of the group.

8. Cedar 12k Volunteer Appreciation: Bastion Running Club is holding a volunteer appreciation party for any of you that volunteered at the Cedar race. The function is 8:00pm, March 18th at where, else but the Howard Johnson Hotel. In the room above the restaurant. Email Steve Gagliano if you are attending. gaglianos@shaw.ca

You’ve got to get up each morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. George Horace Lorimer

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #13

Trail Bits
New 7:00 AM Start time

1. I have attached some photos of Hornby Island that Dale took while we were there (I will post them on the frontrunners gallary). The day was amazing, we started out with a brilliant sunrise and followed it up with an amazing run along the bluffs, cliffs and beaches of Hornby. We ran by eagles (at least 50), sea lions( too many to count), seals and cormorants. The herring run was in full force right along side the trail and the whole food chain was in operation. Even us, we had a great breakfast at Jan’s café. We left on our mini vacation from Chapters at 6:30 am and were back having a coffee at Chapters at 1:45pm.


2. This week’s run – For those of you not going to Victoria to race, there will be a trail run starting at from Westwood Lake at 7:00 am. 1:30 in length. A nice easy run of Morrell and the lake trail or the saddle. Your call.

3. Runners of Compassion - The website has now been updated, please check it out at www.runnersofcompassionnanaimo.com new social events, news letter, etc.
The on line registration is now up and running for the Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon and 10K Road Race. Register early and save money.

4. The Tuesday afternoon trail run, 4:00pm, Westwood Lake. One Hour Maximum, A steady, easier pace run, with few stops.

5. Saturday Morning Biking The start time is now 7:15 AM…..The ride will be 1 to 1 1/2 hours and will probably follow the Parkway and E&N trails. The bike group will meet back for coffee at Starbucks with the rest of the group.

6. The Stewart Mountain 15k & 8k GutBuster is Saturday, March 12th 10:00 am. People will be leaving from Tim Horton’s, Southgate Centre at 7:45 am if you are interested in car pooling. This will get you to Thetis Lake by 9:00 am? Due to my wife being away and my needing to fill my role as dad I will not be able to attend with you….sorry. Good luck to al of you in Victoria.

7. Cedar 12k Volunteer Appreciation: Bastion Running Club is holding a volunteer appreciation party for any of you that volunteered at the Cedar race. The function is 8:00pm, March 18th at where, else but the Howard Johnson. Email Steve Gagliano if you are attending. gaglianos@shaw.ca

If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can’t accomplish it.
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through…Rosalyn Carter

Sugoi Rep. At March 8th Clinic

Our Tuesday, March 8th drop in clinic will be visited by James Precious our Sugoi Representative. If you have any questions or comments for him be sure to come to our clinic.

Bastion A.G.M. and Social Night

The long anticipated Bastion Running Club Annual General meeting will be held on Friday, March 18th at 6:30pm. The AGM will be followed by a social event at 8pm where we will also recognize all the volunteers from the Cedar 12k race. If you know of any volunteers who are not members of our club, please pass along this information and have them RSVP myself at gaglianos@shaw.ca no later than Thursday, March 10th. We need to advise the Howard Johnson Hotel of the numbers attending. Speaking of the hotel, the AGM will be held at the private dining room located next to the Millstone Restaurant, The social event will take place upstairs from this location at Hemingways. Everyone attending will receive one complimentary drink i.e. beer, wine, cider or highball. Hot and cold appys will also be served. Thanks to Jennifer Frost and Dan Brady from the Howard Johnson Hotel for helping us out!

Hope to see you all there and don't forget to respond to your prez by the 10th!

Steve Gagliano

Note from Dan the Trail Guy #12

Trail Bits and News Bits

New 7:00 AM Start time A Great run of the Duomont trails was had by all on Saturday. Theturnout was surprisingly good considering that a large number of theSaturday morning gang is now involved in Marathon and Half Marathontraining and was off pounding the pavement...they will be back.

1. Hornby Island - We are set to LEAVE (not arrive) at 6:30 am fromChapters on Saturday morning. We will figure out the car pooling then.Make sure you bring enough cash money for your share of gas, ferry,coffee and snacks or lunch afterwards. There are places on the Islandthat don't take Debit Cards so be prepared. It looks like there isn'tgoing to be rain on Saturday, but bring a change of clothes, socks andshoes just in case. It looks like there will be about 20 of us going.Could you please email me if you are planning on coming..Thanks.

2. This week's run - For those of you not coming to Hornby, the runwill be from Westwood Lake at 7:00 am. ONE HOUR

3. Length of the Saturday Runs- I have been asked if I can try andalternate the length of the Saturday Trail runs in order to try andaccommodate the people taking part in the marathon training. I will giveit a try; we will do a shorter run (1 hour) one weekend and then alonger run the next weekend. We can decide how long to make the long runwhen we get together next.Some of us will be doing a large portion (not all) of our marathontraining runs on the trails, so we will be starting to head out onlonger and longer trail runs as the training progresses. I don't expectthat the group will want to head out on two and three hour runs, so Iwill arrange other leaders to take the main group out. We will all meetand start at the same time; some of us will just run a little longer. Iwill let you know how far we will be running in case you want to comealong.

4. New things to do -* The Tuesday afternoon trail runs are now back. Tuesdayafternoon, 4:00pm, Westwood Lake. One Hour Maximum, A steady, easierpace run, with few stops, but there definitely could be some hill workinvolved, depending on where we go each week.* Saturday Morning Bike Rides. A group will be meeting atChapters Starbucks: 7:30 am to bike since they are injured and can notrun. The ride will be 1 to 11/2 hour and probably follow the Parkway andE&N trails. The bike group will meet back for coffee at Starbucks withthe rest of the group.

5. First GutBuster of 2005 is coming up soon, only 2 moreSaturdays. The Stewart Mountain 15k & 8k is Saturday, March 12th 10:00am. We will be leaving from Tim Horton's, Southgate Centre at 7:45 am.This will get us to Thetis Lake by 9:00 am. Is that okay with all ofyou?

6. Mark July 9th on your calendar, that is the date of the veryfirst GutBuster Half Marathon Trail Race.

Remember..."Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out howfar they can go."..T.S. Elliot