100% Point Grey TFC

Delorean Monster Truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I started this post a few days ago, but started getting bored and it was kind of dry.  Then I got distracted by the interweb.  But you can only read so much about Lance Armstrong and then that gets boring too.  That's when I got way off topic and started educating myself on the history of monster trucks.  I figure that could someday be a plausible dinner party conversation and for lack of sounding stupid I thought it best I know something.  People can only talk about politics and religion... or running... for so long before you need to spice it up a little.  All you really need to know is a guy named Chandler started it all with Bigfoot.  I've actually been to a monster truck show.  Have you?  It was entertaining.  Good for 10 year old kids because they get to watch trucks.  Good for 20 year old kids because they get to watch fights.  

I'm part of a track club, a pretty bad ass track club.  We're called Point Grey TFC.  Who are we you ask?  Let me fill you in.

Point Grey started a couple years ago as an outlet for graduating University of British Columbia athletes and other graduates or senior level athletes from elsewhere.  As many of you have likely seen and noticed in your hometown or respective running communities, lots of athletes quit competing after their university career is over.  And truthfully, this is a real shame.  Marek, the head coach at UBC, for years had been looking to create an affiliate program, but this required some help from other individuals who were willing to make this come true.  All the Vancouver based powerhouses had essentially vanished and it was time to bring one back.

Three years ago, the timing finally worked for Marek.  I got back into the running scene and was looking to train so I could uphold a promise I made to a group of guys for a road relay.  Last thing I wanted to do was show up unfit.   I agreed to fill in all the required paper work and do all the administrative type junk and before you know it we were actually official and had about 5 members!!!

Fast forward three years to now and were actually kind of legitimate.  We have nearly 30 athletes, most of us in our post university years, and a few university athletes who train with PGTFC in the summer (non-university) season.  We have two stellar coaches, Marek Jedrzejek and Richard Lee, and have began developing relationships with business's and supportive groups within the community. 

See that was boring to write which I why I started Googling monster trucks.

We're a no-thrills track club.  We don't offer much, can't support much, and don't have much. This is fair for a baby club with dirt cheap memberships and cash-poor members in their 20's.  But we have goals, and desires, and the will to make ourselves more prominent and established.  What we lack in existing infrastructure we make up for with young resourceful individuals, ingenuity, and passion for the sport. 

Princess worked on this for a long time.  He did a nice job.

I've read a lot of blogs and message boards with people sharing their thoughts on what it takes to make running "better" in Canada.  In my opinion, (and I may be wrong here in the minds of many) what you need first and foremost is a group of people who want to succeed and are willing to do the work required.  Our club is exactly that.  We're not expecting people (or governing athletic agencies) to open up their wallets and blindly support us.  We have to do the grunt work first, and that's more then just running fast.  We have to promote ourselves, physically approach local businesses, and show that were an important part of the community.  Maybe someday we will grow to a point where we can and do receive outside support and some of the small day to day burdens can be lifted allowing us to train a little more and a little harder. 

A lot of people use the Speed River example.  Speed River Track Clubs aren't going to magically pop up all around the country.  But they can exist.  Lots of them can exist.  It just means our club, and your club too, are going to have to work hard to make it happen.  And the good thing is that there are lots of groups out there trying to make it work.  We want to be a high performance club.  It may not happen in my running career, but maybe with the right attitude and drive, we someday can be the Speed River of the West Coast... but of course we'll be called Point Grey TFC!!!

10% intro, 90% squirrel

This blog was originally supposed to be an internal club type blog.  I've been chasing after Dr. Ben to add it to our Point Grey TFC website for sometime now.  Instead, he simply went outside the club and made it a bit more public then I wanted.  In reality this probably won't make much of a difference.  I might have to be a bit more "PG" and some of the jokes and pointless things I like to joke about would and will only make sense to Point Grey TFCer's.  That said, check out our website.  You'll have to Google search Point Grey TFC to find us.  I actually have no idea what our website address is and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I can tell you its a Runnerspace page and its not that hard to find.  Dr. Ben does a pretty good job looking after it.  Not too sure how much time he'll have in the future to keep it up to date as he has to perform open heart surgery in September, brain surgery in October and will perform his first prostate exam in November (see, these are the inside jokes we like to make).

Fat Squirrel - The Joy of Cooking has squirrel recipes

On to better things.  I don't like to run with music or any of that non-sense and I put in a lot of solo miles, so the only thing left to do is observe the world around me.  One thing that I always notice are squirrels, and lots of squirrels.  I actually kind of like squirrels.  Essentially, they are fluffy rats but much more entertaining.  Squirrels are always a little jumpy.  Have you ever seen a squirrel walk around?  Nope.  They always bounce around and seem to be scared of everything including blades of grass and falling leaves.  They are suspicious little creatures.  It’s weird too, because they’re often on their own, like me on so many of my runs!  You don't see squirrels in large groups or in "family units."  Raccoons work as a team to take down the garbage can and when trapping my mom in the garage (really funny story).  Eagles live together and look after their eaglets.  Even skunks hang out in groups to create twice the stink (once I even got held hostage by a few skunks on a 5am morning run).   The only time you see squirrels together is when they chase after each other.  And this is where my real question lies.  What is this chasing all about?  I think its squirrel foreplay, pre freaky activity.  And obviously squirrels do get it on at some point.  They must mate, but at the same time I feel like I’ve never seen a juvenile or baby squirrel.  They are all look like “adults” being roughly the same size, some being a little fatter then others.   All of this led me to googling squirrels.  Turns out there are several different types and sub species or something like that and they all have slightly different nesting and foraging habits.  But here is the craziest part.  Squirrels can live up to 12.5 years!!.  That means I’ve probably been running past some of the same squirrels for my entire running career.  In fact I’ve probably ran by multiple generations of the same squirrel lineage.

So that is what I do when I run.  I think about stupid stuff like squirrels and whether or not two squirrels chasing each other is squirrel foreplay.  What else are you supposed to think about for 90 minute runs every day? 

97% recyclable, 3% hairy

I'm knocking off those birthday resolutions at an outstanding pace.  Actually, I'm not really, all I've done so far is shaved my face.  But that was a big deal to me.  I grew quite attached to the twelve week beard.  It was a part of me.  In fact, I was feeling lonely and naked without it over the past couple of days, and I think I look funny now.  I needed something to remember the beard by, so I wrote a poem. recyclable 

Oh Beard

Oh beard, how I loved you so

Full of curls and bushiness

You were my facial fro

Bear Bare Grills

Oh beard, how I miss you now

Cold and naked, my face doth not glow

Unrecognizable to myself, the mirror so hollow

Oh beard, how my manliness has been shamed

But a boy I am again

To be ID’d for not being of age

Oh beard, will you come back again?

Only now does stubble remain

Twelve weeks to look the same

Oh beard, how I loved you so

The good thing about shaving the beard off is that I look skinny now.  And by skinny I mean fit.  And by fit I mean the legs are coming back nicely and the running for the past couple weeks has been solid.  Back to back mid 80 mile weeks so I'll ramp it up a little this week.  Last week saw a couple workouts, nothing too fancy.  I ran a 5 X 1000m workout on Tuesday in Pemberton.  Pemberton is mostly awesome (I like small towns), but it was also 35 degrees out with 95% humidity.  Reminded me of being in Trinidad back in March.  I didn't know I could sweat that much.  It was to the point where my trainers were completely soaked and squeaking away for the final couple miles.  Its funny too, because I don't mind running in the heat (anything over 20 degrees by Vancouverite standards).  I think the heat makes a person more responsible.  You pay the price on a run if your not properly hydrated going into it and if you don't go through all the right recovery motions after your screwed on the next run.  In the winter or during cooler parts of the year you can get away with a bit more.  So the heat helps establish good routines which is one of those things you need to have to be a damn good runner apparently. 

94% junk, 6% radical

This is the birthday blog, so automatically it has a little less garbage. 

I couldn't give a rats ass about birthdays because it's really nothing more then another day in the year.  However, they have one valuable aspect in my opinion.  I use this one particular day every year to make up some pretty bad and relatively unachievable resolutions.  (Last years was to shave more often and I haven't had a shave in 10 weeks).  I most definitely prefer using the birthday over New Years because while both days are absolutely pointless (lets face it, the only thing that changes is a digit or two) the birthday is at least a bit more personal.  This years resolutions include; once again, shaving on a regular basis, meeting a nice girl and going on a few dates (which should hopefully encourage me to shave more often), and running my ass off more then last year.  Lets expand on the running thing.

The nice thing about a summer birthday is that it falls between seasons (track and cross country) so its an ideal time to plan fall training and think about what changes you want to make in the program. Mileage will be staying constant in the mid 90 a week range, but intensity will go up this year.  Also, there will be more focus on core, strength, and off season speed.  To achieve such goals, others things will have to be sacrificed, like working.  But work is overrated and kind of boring most of the time and if I don't have to do it I'm not going to. Visa bill?  Who cares!!!. But lets all be honest here, if you want to get fast you have to put some serious effort into it.  I keep wanting to add running specifics but it seems so boring. 

I'm getting a bit grumpy because I had a bunch of nonsense that I wanted to blab on about and now I can't remember what any of it was.  This is what happens when you go to an afternoon baseball game in the sun and heat and drink a lot of beer.  You forget stuff, especially the important stuff.  I'm tired enough and so not interested in typing right now and apparently the best word I can come up with is "stuff." I'm pathetic.  Another birthday goal - be less pathetic.  And maybe be funnier.  No point in doing a blog thing if I'm not funny.