Category: Uncategorized

Happy Saturday from Fitspeek. We are trying  a new approach for this week it’s Fitspeek on the Fly.

Today’s segment is the roundtable. We catch up with KWs Vegas adventure, hear from Intern Elise, and get the dirt on the Provincial Cyclocross Championships in Abbotsford

From growing up on a farm that raised bison, near Vermilion, Alberta, to riding with “the boys” in Phoenix Velo, to the Go Pink/Cogeas cycling team in Italy, Alison Jackson has shown what happens at the confluence of ambition, talent, and grit.

In this Fitspeek Express interview, we hear about Alison’s journey in becoming a professional athlete, challenges she faces as a professional cyclist living in Italy, her Olympic ambitions, and her passion for pastries from Duft & Co.

Just a reminder of our Tri*Joy Try For Fifty promotion. You get a one on one consultation with a Tri*Joy coach, a monthly training program, and a weekly consultation for fifty dollars. kknnheinze@yahoo.com

Fitspeek 21 features results from the recent running races in Mission and Boundary Bay, Bryan Wilkinson from Tri*Joy stops by for a chat on off-season nutrition and training, and we have episode four of Planet Mikey. This week has 21 minutes of Fitspeek fun. Hear it by pressing play below

And remember to check out Bryan Wilkinson’s Facebook Page to support his Movember Challenge.https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=bryan%20wilkinson

Would you by a used car from this man? Probably not! But you would be well-advised to give a listen to this Fitspeek interview with him. We hear about his transition from a Rugby Player in Australia to a Triathlete in Agassiz.  Bryan also has some great advice on off-season training and nutrition. He also answers the question, “What’s  with the ‘stache?”

 Walking up another mountain – the gravel doesn’t flow.

Kicks me in the balls and head – and those who see they know.

The grade it grinds, my soul my mind – so mindlessly I toil.

Buoyed up by my selfless crew – their energy on boil.

Some pizza here, some Red Bull there – somehow the miles pass.

Gotta make the finish line – fo’ I run out of gas. 

As usual, it has been awhile since my last Ultra piece. This one starts, just as the second day is wrapping up. Because the seat on my Scott Foil was set too low, I buggered up my right knee. Because I waited too long to sign up for my post-bike massage, I waited two hours to eat anything of substance of my 275 K bike ride on day two. I post-race bonked. All this crap before I attempt to do the longest run of my life. Just freakin’ wonderful!

Once arriving at the Sandman Inn, my crew proved how selfless and well-organized they were. It was almost like a military operation and even though I was feeling like crap, I marveled at their energy level in preparing all my stuff for the next day. All I had to do was whimper in bed. Since my post-race meal had happened so long after I had finished, there was some discussion as to whether or not it would be a good idea if I attended the breakfast the following day. After some texting, or phone calls, or whatever (my mind pretty hazy by then) we decided to skip the breakfast and get an extra thirty or forty minutes of sleep. Since I already had a fridge full of leftovers because I could not finish my supper, this proved to be a wise decision.

The longer I laid in bed dreading the next day, the better my body and spirit began to feel. Pretty strange, eh? One of the reasons that I signed up for this adventure is that I wanted to push myself and find out things about myself and that was certainly happening, at ten at night in a motel in Princeton. From about 10 to 2 I couldn’t sleep too well, so I made the best of it by guzzling water. My appetite even improved, so I managed to finish off a lot of the leftovers from supper. Drinking so much water, naturally meant quite a few trips to the bathroom. To me, this was a good thing as I had a chance to see if my injured knee was doing. I would run on the spot to see what my range of motion was like. Happily, my knee was improving. Around 2:30 or so, I finally fell asleep.

Day 3: Part B – Showtime!

Since we decided to skip the athlete’s breakfast I had an extra forty minutes or so to sleep in. This was a great idea since I didn’t sleep much and I already had some food in the fridge. After having half of a BLT sandwich and some day old fries (yummy) we packed the vehicles for the last day of the expedition. I was very pleased as I jumped into the truck, my injured knee was feeling quite good. We arrived at the run start line very early and had some time to get a short nap in the truck and snap some pictures. Again, I also had to do the usual medical check-in which involved getting weighed, among with my blood pressure and pulse being checked. The nurse told me that my weight and pulse was fine but my blood pressure was quite low. She was going to be keeping an extra close eye on me today. I thought to myself, “she is going to have a VERY long day then” as I anticipated using every minute of the twelve hours we had to run the double marathon.

After the usual pre-race briefing and pictures the gun went off and I started the longest run of my life. I suppressed the many thoughts and feelings that I had including: would my knee be ok? Would my stomach be ok? Would my feet turn to hamburger? Would I be a prick to my crew? Would I be last?

It didn’t take long for one of those fears to be realized. About five minutes into the race, I was in last place. “Whatever,” I thought to myself, “just run your numbers, eat your food, be nice to your crew, and you will finish this thing.” As it turned out I would have another competitor either just ahead of me or behind me for the next eleven hours.

As I have mentioned many, many, times in this race report the main thing that enabled me to finish this who expedition was my crew and day three was perhaps the best example of that. Today was really just a very well-catered hike. A long hike, but nothing really “other-worldly.” Our plan was for me to “run” for the first hour or so by myself to see how I was recovering from the first two days. After that our plan was to have one of our crew members run with me for about an hour or so. In addition to having run pacers, my crew supplied with me a never – ending supply of food and drinks. I had F2C Hydra-Endurance, Glyco-Endurance, Electro-Endurance, Coke, Red Bull, Green Tea, water, Gu Gels, perogies, chocolate bars, and Clif Bars. To make the run more comfortable I had a choice of five different running shoes, four pairs of spare socks, three pairs of extra running shorts, three extra running shirts, a foot bath, and finally, a yoga mat with a foam roller. If I was to not finish, it wouldn’t be because of a lack of food or from being uncomfortable.

The Abbotsford Trail Runners recently held their first ever trail race, the 25 KM, 1500 ft. of climbing Valley Vertikiller. 

North Vancouver’s Jessica Thompson, thought it would be the idea way to begin her career as a trail run racer. In this interview Fitspeek’s Kevin Heinze speaks with Jessica about the training, her race day experiences, and elephants.

It’s our first birthday at Fitspeek, and to celebrate we have assembled a cast of dozens to inspire and entertain you. Mikey Ross will be telling us about the year that he did two Ironman races. Zack Neufeld will be telling us about how to embrace the pain in his Between The Ears segment, and Leigh Ann Parker Vanderlinde stops by for a feature interview and also helps Kevin Watt with his Instagram Shout Outs. Hear it all by pressing play below!

From going down the slopes at age three in the Okanagan to leading her infamous (?) spin sessions at the Mission Leisure Centre to going down the finish chute at this year’s Ironman 70.3 Triathlon World Championships, Leigh-Ann Parker~Vanderlinde has made athletics a part of her life.  In this Fitspeek Express Interview (as a prelude to our Fitspeek 20 extravaganza) we chat with Lazer about her progression as an athlete and how parents can be the best role model…..ever! for their children. Press play below to be Lazered

Well, you’d know if you heard Zack’s race results on Fitspeek 19. But, if you forgot, or didn’t hear all of these folks did the Okanagan Marathon back on Thanksgiving Day. All finished! In this race report, we hear how Rio Glowasky did on her very first marathon.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

I’ve been asked by fellow athletes and friends over the past few months: why run, why race, and why invest time and money doing it.  After contemplating these questions over several miles in the sunny days of summer and fall, I now have an answer.  I run because it gives me joy and I have fun doing it, I race because it keeps me accountable, and I invest because there aren’t many other things I’d rather be doing.

I accomplished my 2017 running goals this thankful October 8^th.  I can and can’t believe I did it.  I bettered my 1/2 marathon time, I broke a sub 60min/10km, and I ran a marathon with consistent training, no injuries, and discipline. 

In May I competed in the Scotiabank Half Marathon in Calgary and bettered my time by 4 mins from 7 months prior in 2016.  Although that was already an improvement and technically a check off the goal list, most of my training is done after the snow has melted after May.  So on Labour Day weekend, I decided to participate in the Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon to gauge improvement from spring to fall.  It also sounded fun with a wine tasting after the finish line and was advertised as a relatively fast and scenic course with a total elevation change of 536 feet and net loss of 422 feet.  In reality it was the toughest one I have done yet with hilly winery roads and a relatively warm morning. 

What I took away from this race however was how good I felt.  First, when I looked at my watch to see that I had ran 3.1mi in 27mins, and just a few years before I couldn’t run that distance under 31mins.  Second, when I had maintained my pace, and at 6.2mi I was under 60mins which was a goal in itself this year, let alone racing that speed in a 13.1mi race.  And third, when I finished with a 2:07.46, 7 mins faster than the one ran in May.  After 4 Half Marathon races in 15 months, I incrementally improved my divisional place 2 weeks later.

I participated in my third consecutive Melissa’s Road Race in Calgary.  Another hilly 10km race up and down Tunnel Mountain. I have often questioned why I do it and I decided half way in the summer to register again, as running up hills continue to be one of my biggest challenges and I wanted to keep myself accountable to hill train.  Although I had accomplished my goal of running a sub 60min 10km in the spring, this would be the only race I would do year after year yielding a fairly accurate measurement of improvement.  I also learned a few things.  I learned the course from the two prior years, and knew now when to take my gels and how I needed to pace myself.  This year I learned that I should take back up race clothes as I dressed for weather a few degrees cooler and regretted not having an option to dress down.   I did have the most fun this time however feeling good enough to do a little dance when starting the decent after the last incline, and improved my divisional place from 42% the year prior to 88%.  Wow… 88% percent of Females 30-39 finished after me… no kidding I felt like dancing!

I talked to several people about ending the race year with a Marathon and again spent many miles thinking about it.  I heard other people’s stories of doing one, or intending to do one, or why some would never do another one.  My respect for marathoners has grown over the years as I have cheered them on.  I looked forward to completing my own for most of the year.  I now know the feeling behind those faces of smiles and grimaces… only 26.2mi can create them. 

I was also given a lot of advice in order to be successful at the BMO Okanagan Marathon.  I was told not to do anything new a few weeks prior that could create injury.  I was anxious to get back to yoga after a few months away from the studio and said to myself… I’ll just take it easy.  I over stretched a knee and felt it ache for a good third of the marathon.  I learned to listen to the experienced. 

I was told that I should be able to rely on what the aid stations have.  I packed a backpack full of gels and 2 liters of fluid and didn’t use 2/3 of it.  I learned that aid stations are hard to rely on when they are generally unreliable, but that it can still offer most of what you probably need.

I was told, finish it without hurting yourself.  So I tapered early, did some shorter runs, and even a swim to limit impact before the race.  After mile 15 I said to myself, how can you not hurt doing a marathon?  48 hours after the race however, my stiff peg legs were gone and I recovered quicker and better than a lot of races I had done this year.  I learned to be responsible.

I was told that pacing was key, this wasn’t a half!  In August I decided that finishing the marathon in 5 hours would be a realistic challenge.  I ran mile over mile consistently, not deviating more than 40 seconds per mile with an average pace of 11:21min/miles.  I finished with a chip time of 5:00:12, smiling and proud.  I learned to pick a pace, stick with it, and if you still have anything left, you’ll need and appreciate it in the last 6 miles.

I’ve started to contemplate my running goals for 2018.  What’s next?  While I have some ideas, I think it will take a few frosty outside runs to solidify.  For now, I am thankful for my continued discipline to run when I have wanted to socialize and patio.  I am thankful for the connections I have made through talking and participating in the sport.  I am thankful for the improvement and achievements I obtained.  AND I think to myself…. What a Wonderful World.

Coming up on Saturday October 21st at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford is the 10th annual Cares Run.

Fitspeek host Kevin Heinze gets more details about the Cares organization and about the run in this Fitspeek Express Interview.