Old Snow: the ultimate cross trainer

For many people bad weather and conditions (especially snow and ice) are a reason not to run. For me, bad conditions are an added bonus.

Things do get trickier when the white stuff turns grey, gets trampled, melts a bit and refreezes into uneven, unpredictable ice.

There is no way to work on speed on this stuff, and its plain dangerous to get too tired. So I work on other things; like staying loose and well-balanced, like awareness of my stride, my joints, my centre of balance.

Tonight for example was a fun run in some four-day old snow. The first 400 or 500m were easy enough, a bit of cleared sidewalk, a quick dash through untouched snow in the small park on the corner, another long stretch of mostly clear sidewalk. All clear enough for me to warm up with ease, but nothing so easy that I was tempted to overdo it.

The first step-up in intensity was actually a lot of quick steps down. The long steep switchbacky trail down to the park. The trick here was lots and lots of fast little steps. Relax forward down the hill and go lightly and fast.

I took a deep breath and relaxed a bit on the flat trail leading into the park. And then really stretched out the legs. The snow here was also pretty much untouched and about 8 inches deep. Great incentive to lift the feet high and spring in long strides. Reached out with a pointed toe, flexed into the landing and then stretched out another long stride.

Then came another easy stretch of semi-clear pavement until we reached the river trail. This is so popular that the heavy traffic had trampled the snow into serioulsy treacherous ice. I tried to glide over the surface, keeping the upper body and even the upper leg quite still, mostly using ankle and lower leg to take tiny baby steps for a couple k.

Finally a rest on the acces road and beforeand it got dark and I turned into the ridge trail through the woods. It wonderful balance training as I let my feet feel the trail my eyes couldnt see. I had to keep my weight utterly centred at all times as I never knew which way the trail would slant, which way my foot was going to hit the uneven ice and snow.

I took this part of the run super slow, focusing not so much on speed or endurance, but just overall mobility, staying loose, and staying healthy.

Finally out of the woods I cooled down on the sidewalk for less than a k.

Just one example how we can adapt to prevailling conditions and widen our training possibilities. That's the essence of cross-training. Dont let the weather trap you indoors. Cross train.

Q: Why? A: You got a better idea? Hendri Coetzee, a South African kayaker, left a damn good answer behind

Some  questions have no answers. Why are we here? What are we supposed to be doing with our time on the big blue 'Quilt? Sometimes I kinda glimpse the answer and then it slips away tantalizingly...

When I was writing for the paper in Digby and Alberton I at least felt like I was using my parcel of god given talents to their max.

Im a real good listener, I have a pretty strong BS radar in that I have to understand things - I have so much imagination, I always ask too many questions - and I enjoy the puzzle of language so much that sitting and struggling with copy til it works and is clear and simple is no chore for me at all.

I wasnt as fast at the writing as I wanted to be, but maybe with just a little more practice...

I always felt though that that was only part of why I am here. There  was also this insatiable wanderlust - this need to explore, to see what is around the next corner. Don't get me wrong: I dont really need to be outside Nova Scotia to feel like Im wandering - there is so much to see there - so many unexplored out-of-the-way little corners there.

On top of it all, and perhaps most important of all, I feel a certain pressure to be the best person I can be - not so much for me and whatever rewards being the best might bring me; but to show people something. Show them what is possible. To entertain them along their way. To make them smile. To lighten their load. I dont know.

I just know I dont want to waste ... waste what? ..opportunities, chances, blessings. I want to do all Im capable of and more.

Why am I writing this? Cause Ive been reading a few of the last blog posts of Hendri Coetzee (wikipedia). The South African kayaker and explorer died in early December this year when a crocodile pulled him from his kayak on the Lukuga River in Congo. (report on Outside.com)

I might never have heard of the guy otherwise but his blog postings offer some interesting insight into why people do stuff like kayak down crocodile infested African rivers. Lots of people might reflexively say it is silly or worse, they might just shrug and figure it was his own business, it doesnt really have anything to do with them.

I take it however as an invitation to think about just what am I doing here. I dont have any desire to be killed by a croc - but there are risks Id take and do take every day.

Start with this small example. I love to run, to move outside - even when the paths are covered in ice and snow, even when I risk a serious fall and sprain or break. Still I go. Cause the risk is worth it.

Crazier: I love to take part in a Polar Bear Swim. Cold shock, hypothermia, all of it worth it. To live. To not hide in shelter somewhere and wish I had pushed myself just a little farther.

I am no extreme athlete. But I fully understand the drive to want to be all you can be. To push the perceived borders of what is possible.

When does standing up and trying cross the line into crazy? For me, the guy who spends all day on the couch saying "Im comfy" - that's the crazy guy.

For this post, Ill let Coetzee have the last word. He wrote a post on his blog in October this year explaining his "why". I recommend the whole post for his great storytelling but here's a quick slice:

My current view on the matter is that the issue of motivation is indeed beyond words or even petty needs. When we surrender to the unknown, faced with the magnitude of the powers that lies ahead, it forces the realization of how insignificant this body is compared to the forces that lie in our path.

Someone recently pointed out to me that our greatest moments are the ones where we lose ourselves. Moments when we become not only more, but become everything. I have breathed in life in its purest form a few second here and there and all I want is more of it.

Amen brother!

Dont put pressure on the run

THOUGHTS FROM A RUN ROUND ÜBERRUHR

I was a bit cranky this morning. In a foul mood. Angry when I left the house to run. And a part of me thought, Ill run it out. Ill show this anger. Ill run it into the ground.

Luckily though I was instantly hit by another thought: dont put too much pressure on the run.

***********

Id almost say I am addicted to running but Im not so much addicted to the running as to the good feelings it gives me.

For me, the big charge really hits after a run - Im stoked and bubbly - I often suddenly break into dance or song or both. And I feel pretty darn good about myself because I have run, because I have kept the deal I made with myself. I love recording my run in the log.

I look forward to my morning run the way I used to look forward to that first morning coffee. When I go to bed at night, Im happy cause I know in the morning I can run again.

Some days I come to my run feeling like I need it. Those are the days Im really careful. Sure running helps me deal with shit, helps me clear my head, helps me figure stuff out.

But it cant fix everything. When Ive got some heavy stuff going on, there is often a temptation to go out and run like a maniac, with some 80's anthem rock, and just give'r, just work out all that crap.

For me though it doesnt work that way. Thats a good way for me to overwork myself, to hurt myself, to go too far and too hard. That's a good way to not enjoy the run. A good way to ruin it all.

********************************

This morning instead of going nuts out there, I just let go of all that crap before I started. It was easy cause I was aware I had something more important to do. I had some running to do.

Instead of being angry, it was more fun for me to focus on how sweet the fresh air tasted, how great the snow (or other times the sun or the rain) felt on my face, how strong my legs were, how softly my feet caught me.

I prefered to focus on my shoulders relaxing, my arms, my hands, my fingers. Rather than steaming and sulking, I held my head up and I stretched out my limbs and I ran.

I dont run from or because of or for my problems. I run despite them. I dont put pressure on my run. I dont ask it to work miracles. I just go and do it.

A morning run round Überruhr

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nothing exciting in this video - i was just trying to capture the snow spraying up from my feet as i run - my point and shoot is a little too slow to capture it all

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Once upon a time on Cape Split

an easy walk to the middle of the bay

Cape Split, an easy walk to the middle of the ocean

Cape Split is one of the coolest hikes in Nova Scotia, but it will soon be a little less cool.

My son and I hiked out to the point last summer along with a steady stream of day hikers. It’s actually an easy walk for anyone in moderate physical shape: not much elevation change, a clear trail and it’s a manageable distance.

A couple hours of easy strolling brings you to a incredible location, seemingly in the middle of the ocean; Cape Split is a narrow peninsula sticking 7km out into the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Minas Basin.

Cape Split sticks right out in the middle of the Bay of Fundy

The view from the open meadows at the end of the cape is stunning – not only does the point afford a great view of the surrounding shores, but there’s also an almost 360° view of the swirling tides – more water flows by this point every day than the output of all the freshwater rivers in the world combined.

Just below the meadows is a split rock formation which gives the cape its name and which sends the tide swirling and splashing round the point, forming wild ranks of standing waves.

It is fascinating to watch the tides and the seabirds from up here. But after a bit, you start wondering how to get to the beach. Even today, not a big majority of visitors find the way to the water. There are at least two paths down to the shore, one on the north and one on the south, but there is no easy way.

Looking down the beach to the split rocks below the Cape

Jony and I only found the way to the south beach thanks to a geocache hidden there at N45° 19.689 W64° 29.321 . The easiest way there is to take the main path to the end of the cape and then follow it as it wraps around the cape and heads back east on the southside of the cape.

Eventually you’ll find a path heading downwards and a series of ropes leading to the beach. It’s like entering another world down there, surrounded on all sides by cliffs, rocks and the waves.

There is an established campsite up on the the rocks at the far end of the beach.

We hurried to the far end of the beach and around some rocks for a quick peek west to the cape and the split rocks. I hear it is possible to hoof it all the way round the cape from here but only if you time it just right.

We weren’t that ambitious at all. We set up our tent on an established campsite on a small plateau at the east end of the beach. We spent a few hours just watching the waves smash against the rocks and fell asleep after a spectacular sunset.

This kind of trip will no longer be possible once the province begins developing the park. The paths to the shores will be closed. In the words of the province’s preliminary management plan:

Shoreline access will not be provided or encouraged.

and later:

Public access to the shoreline will not be provided for safety reasons.

Sunset from Cape Split

Suddenly the shoreline is dangerous. Okay true, the paths to the beach would require a lot of money – stairways would have to installed, and people could surely get in trouble if they didn’t pay attention to the tides.

But that is true around the whole province. Cape Chignecto Provincial Park directly across the bay has stairs to equally dangerous shores.

I don’t know Cape Split well enough to really complain about this decision, and Im too far away these days to do anything about it anyway.

But I am really happy Jony and I made that trip when we did. In the future it won’t be possible.

Below is our geocache log from our find on the beach:

Relaxing on the Beach (Cape Split) (GCY4JN)

thanks for showing us the way to the beach!! a great cache
a perfect answer to the question “why do we geocache?”

jony and i arrived with just enough time to go around the point at the north end of the cove and take a quick peek towards the rock formation at the cape
and get back fast
two hours after low tide the waves were smashing against the point at the end of the cove closing us in on the beach

quick find – the coordis were dead on and the cache was lieing in the open
covered it up just a bit

jony and i slept above the beach – windy but with a big fire at the lower firepit, it was toasty
fell asleep to the crashing of the waves

T4TC
“D

Directions to the park: From Highway 101, take Exit 11 to route 358 and drive north to Scott’s Bay. Watch for signs for Cape Split.

A morning run is something done (fotos and thoughts from a snowy morning run)

One of the best things about a morning run is, right away first thing, you've done something: something for you, for your health, for your sanity, something towards your goals.

But above all, you've done something. This is not an another normal day, with nothing new, just getting up, coffee, work, commute, TV, sleep. This day you did something: you ran.

You set the goal and overcame every obstacle: you shook off laziness, you declined to make excuses, you out-planned the time crunches and you smiled at sabotage attempts, thanking them for testing and proving your resolve once again.

You did it, plain and simple: you ran.

I've really been feeling that lately with my morning runs. It makes me happy just to think I can record the run in my log.

This week its been around -9 and windy. And we've had just enough white stuff to make it interesting.

Non-runners cant imagine it. They think it's nuts. Which perversley makes running even more attractive for me. I get a charge out of mentioning my run in passing. Just to watch the reaction on people's faces. The truth is though, it's easier for me to run in conditions like this.

The snow means I can see better in the dark and it makes the footfalls softer and somehow it just makes things more fun and interesting.

The cold is no problem at all - nothing different than skiing or tobagganing for that matter - and in fact it makes the clothing choices a little simpler. I dress warm.

I dont really know if I've ever experienced a runner's high, but this morning I felt a sunrise high. I was so happy to be out there watching that gorgeous purpley orange spread from the horizon and paint the white fields and the dark winding river.

See the full gallery on posterous

A morning run is something done. Be grateful for yet another out-of-the ordinary day.

What do I miss about Nova Scotia?

I get asked a lot if I miss Canada. I usually avoid the question by answering that Germany is great place too; it's just not Canada I say.

I don't know quite how to explain it to people. And I think when I'm here in Germany maybe I forget anyway. Maybe I dont know when Im here.

Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia I know, is a simple place. Simple, rough, rugged and by times damn uncomfortable. But wild, untouched and so simple. Just simply gorgeous. Maybe magical if you knows where to look.

Jony, now that Jony, he knows where to look...

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