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As I wrote in one of my very first posts here at Fitspeek.com, as much as I enjoy training intently and racing to win during  the “on-season” I equally relish the pure joy of just being active and doing cool stuff with cool people in the “dark-season.”

I had a chance to do that last week in my basement, as I led a small group of athletes from the Abbotsford Triathlon Club (www.abbytriclub.com) in a “softly-structured” bike workout. The workout itself was a bit of a no-brainer, with very few tempo fluctuations, so we could focus on the important stuff, which was chatting! A rainy afternoon spinning on a trainer with friends so we could all burn enough calories for the Saturday night festivities was the order of the day – and it was mission accomplished!

This weekend, intensity and purpose took another back seat to joy, wonderment, and adventure. My wife and I found ourselves at the foot of the Newport Bridge, jacked up on caffeine and perilously close to the Rogue World Headquarters.

Delayed gratification won out and it was only after 90 minutes of non-structured walk/run/climb/scramble/repeat, that we rewarded ourselves with some lovely recovery refreshments. This sort of workout would not have happened during the “serious-training” phase in the months of April-September where specific heart rate and distance targets are to be met for peak race performance.

In the end, it was clearly an surplus abundance of calories for the amount of exercise we did but a big W in the column of life and relationship experiences. Share they joy!

The Fitspeek blogspot and podcast have been running for two months now. In that time, I have had a chance to meet some interesting people, hear their stories, and learn a whole wack of new skills!

Coming on board as of late are Kevin Watt from Maple Ridge and Bryan Wilkinson from the Agassiz area. Kevin Watt is the podcast’s co-host and social media guy, responsible for the development of the Fitspeek Instagram feed. Bryan is currently our Hope and Chilliwack correspondent. He will be bringing us updates on fitness, wellness, and endurance sports events in his area.  One of days you are going to hear his voice!

We are also brainstorming for other podcast segments.  The next two months are going to be exciting.

While many of us endurance athletes have done many amazing feats, it’s even better when you can share your experience with others, and better still when you can make a real difference while doing it. For decades that’s what the Terry Fox run was all about. Now Terry’s brother Darrell Fox is breaking new ground and including cycling as part of raising money for cancer research. The feature interview in this week’s podcast features Darrell Fox, along with the others from the Fraser Valley’s Cahilty Racing Team. They explain their motivations and stories regarding the Terry Fox 360 Ride that was held in September. That interview, along with our weekly race report, upcoming event schedule, and fit tip of the week, rolls right into your ears by pressing PLAY right below here!

Been busy in the burrow/studio editing my brains out to get things sorted out for all of the interviews and segments for the podcast. Just when you think you know a thing or two about Audacity software – poof – a third of your podcast disappears! Thank goodness for backing up work. The new podcast featuring the story of the Terry Fox 360 ride should be hitting Fitspeek later today.

On a rainy Saturday in September, 25 brave and accomplished cyclists from the Lower Mainland left Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops for the second annual Terry Fox 360 Ride. On the links below, we have interviews with some of the 25 riders. We will find out what their motivations were for doing the ride and some of the experiences they had along the 360 kilometre route. Happy listening!

The first guest is Yarrow’s PL Meindertsma.

The second guest is Terry Fox’s brother Darrell.

The third guest is Cahilty racing’s c0-founder Mike Rauch.

The fourth guest is Liv Cycling Ambassador Crystal Lambert.

The fifth guest is the unbreakable Simon Blythe.

The sixth guest is Langley’s Doug Bartel.

The seventh guest is Valley Cross organiser Matt Scott.

The eighth guest is Prospera Valley GranFondo board member Kevin Watt.

As we segue from fall into the “Dark-Season” here in the Fraser Valley, a lot of folks are scaling back their training routines. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but rather than totally becoming an NFL couch potato why not use this off season to try something new?

On this week’s podcast, co-host Kevin Watt & I chat with Matt Scott with Valley Cross. He will explain what the sport is all about and let us know about his upcoming cycle cross races. You can register for the Mill Lake race taking place on November 20th by following this link http://www.valleycross.ca

As well, we have our race round-up, events calendar, and fit tip of the week. 20 minutes of pure Fraser Valley Fitspeek is ready for you to listen to below.

If you can ride a road bike or mountain bike and jog a little bit you can probably do a cycle-cross race. I did my 1st one last year and it was a whole lot of fun. It is sort of a combination of mountain biking and cross country running. There is a bit more to it than that and that’s why we interviewed Matt Scott, the brains and heart behind the Valley Cross Series. They now feature races at Cultus Lake and in Abbotsford. Matt will elaborate on the sport and on details for his upcoming events.

If you have never done a cyclo-cross race before, give the interview a listen.

After being inspired by Matt, make sure to visit the Valley Cross website to register and to get more details.http://www.valleycross.ca

And YES!! there will be food trucks and fat bikes!

Just finished the ninth annual Abbotsford Care Run held just before the rain began to fall at Rotary Stadium. Even though the numbers were a bit down this year, the on-course support was exceptional. For the two-lap ten kilometre course there were six aid stations, so you were never far from water. Another aspect of the run course that I think that other race organizers could learn from Irene Henrichs and her support crew was course markings. As you know, if you have your race brain on, you are not thinking too much. This morning’s course was super well-marked. I do not think I ran for more than maybe sixty seconds without seeing some kind of course markings, be they balloons, volunteers, mile markers, or aid stations. Congratulations to Cares Counseling and Restoration Services as well as all the participants in the event. We will have the race results coming up on our next podcast.

After a few weeks of learning the ropes, our 1st podcast is ready. This week’s program features a look at some of the race results from the past month, a repeat of the Cares Run interview with Irene Heinrichs, our fit tip of the week, as well as a look ahead at some health and fitness events in our area. Happy listening!

If you are enjoying your off-season and are looking for a low-key event to introduce your friends or family to the intensity and challenges of a running race, or you are NOT in the off-season and want to test your current level of fitness, the Cares Run for mental heath in Abbotsford would be a great opportunity for you.

The run is taking place at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford on Saturday October 15th at 9 AM. It features 1K, 5K, and 10K distances.

I had a chance to speak with Cares Run organisers Irene Heinrichs and Lesley Shebib about the history and purpose of the run. You can hear the interview below and you can get more information by following this link http://www.cares.ca/viewcategory/25