kinthelt's Journal

Manitoba Marathon
Ran & finished the Manitoba Marathon yesterday. It was a hot race. At 7am, the temperature was 23 degrees Celsius, and it just got hotter from there. The official temperature hit 29 degrees, but when you're on the pavement it feels much hotter.

Needless to say, I don't think anybody got a personal best time during the race. I was about 10 minutes slower than I was last year. But despite my worse time, I moved up 100 places overall. So maybe all my training wasn't wasted. Kind of disappointing that I could not run the 4 hour race I was gearing up for. But the important thing was that I finished. Many people didn't. I did not see a single idle EMS crew.

I supposed I have to be satisfied that I survived the race; simply finishing it, rather than attaining a specific time.

Now I'm going to be have to enter another marathon later in the year to make my training pay off. :)

My First Triathlon
Ran my first triathlon yesterday. It was a try-a-tri, so was about half the distance of a real "sprint" triathlon. 300m swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run.

Turns out the only part of the tri that I had problems with was the swim. The water was a chilly 13.5C, which saps your energy pretty quick. So after about 1 minute in the water, my arms and legs (along with my head, the only parts of my body not covered by wetsuit) felt like lead bricks. It was kind of strange feeling tired so quickly. Especially when I used to swim a few kilometres every night, albeit 15 years ago. Even getting out of the lake proved to be a challenge, as my legs did not want to move.

Once out of the lake, my limbs began to warm up. I was 2nd out of the transition area, and passed the leader soon after. From there on, I was all by myself the rest of the race. The bike proved to be interesting, as we had to pedal uphill against the wind. Fortunately, my newly installed aerobars were of tremendous help in cutting through the wind.

The run portion was nothing special to write home about. Mostly gravel. A few very small hills. An out & back. After I finished, I was surprised to learn that I was the first person to cross the finish line. The other triathlon distances which had started before us, were still out on the course. So I figure that in the worst case scenario, I'm no slower than half the speed of the winner of the sprint distance. :)

Won a free pair of sunglasses.

Running and such
The baseball cap is awesome! The only complaint I can have about it, is that my heads warms up a lot when I wear it. Keeps the sun out of my eyes, though. If I hose the cap down before putting it on my head, it can cool me off.

I decided to suck it up and keep wearing the camel back. The chafing wasn't so bad by the end of my long runs. Guess I must have back callouses.

I'm in the middle of my taper now. Doing my Tuesday runs at marathon pace, and my Saturday runs are shortening up substantially. I really enjoyed last week, a rest week. The Manitoba Marathon is approaching soon, only 3 more weeks!

On a related note, I'm probably going to enter into a triathlon this Sunday. No, I haven't tried to swim fast since I was in junior high. It will be interesting to see how I feel in the water.

Long runs
Almost time for my long run again. I need a battle plan.

Last week, my water backpack worked great. However, it left my shoulders very sore for a few days later. There was a bit of chafing, but I think that is unavoidable no matter what I do. I didn't go through anywhere near as much water as I thought I would. So this time I won't need to make a pitstop at my mother-in-law's house to refill it.

I will have to remember to put on sunscreen beforehand. I forgot last week, and received a wonderful tan (no burn!) as a reward. I won't be so lucky a second time. I also received a running baseball cap as a finishing prize in the WPS Half Marathon this year, which I will wear on all my long runs from now on.

I'm debating getting a new pair of running shoes, too. My current pair are starting to look a lot like my old worn-out pair. I've put a lot of miles in them recently so I think all of the cushion is worn out. The bottom of my feet are starting to get quite sore after my longer runs. That's it, I just convinced myself. I'm going to Running Room after work today and getting a new pair.

Random ramblings
Weather here has been cool. I know a lot of people have been complaining, but it's been great for my long runs. I can run in mid-afternoon without worrying about getting too hot.

The wind on the other hand, is an entirely different issue. I know there are some places on the coast where 50kph winds are normal. But here, they are strong. I headed out to Bird's Hill P.P. last Sunday to see if the modifications I made to my bike help me out any. The results are inconclusive due to the strong winds that seem to always blow against you. If I was able to cut down through the wind more, I probably would have been able to see a difference. Hmmmmmm, maybe drop bars?

On a related note to biking, I've officially had it with running my long runs without any food. From now on, I'm bringing Gu along. I've tried a few other gels and things like that, but the Chocolate Outrage Gu seems to please me the most. Maybe I won't hit the wall at mile 16 and get the worse hunger in the world. It's really odd that you get so hungry so fast. I start looking at the twigs, leaves, and moss on the ground, wondering if any of them are edible. Keep hoping to find some Happy Meal(c) that somebody bought, decided not to eat, and left on the ground for the next hungry runner to joyously partake in.

1000th mile
I ran my 1000th mile today. Feels good to see a big number like that pass by, even if it is only symbolic and has no real meaning.

Inflation

Does anybody else see the problem in the US government buying its own debt? I fail to see the difference between this and printing money.

While inflation may not be crazy right now; indeed, deflation is the biggest worry. The US dollar is the reserve currency of the world and any hyperinflationary pressures on it would most likely prove disastrous in the medium term.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Thunder Bay ice climbing
I have now been to Thunder Bay twice in the past month. Both times ice climbing. All I can say is "wow"!

I've always enjoyed ice climbing, and Thunder Bay just brings it to a completely new level. My only regret is that I hadn't made the journey earlier. The season is almost over, and I doubt I'll get another weekend in before the ice gets too sketchy.

For some reason, ice climbing doesn't hurt my fingers as much as rock climbing does. Probably the lack of opening/closing my grip when I'm holding ice axes. This is good. I'm afraid that I have very few days of rock climbing ahead of me, as my fingers hurt way too much.

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Been trying to think what I'd do when I couldn't climb anymore. Fortunately, it seems as those days have been pushed back a bit. At least when it comes to ice. I finally have motivation again to get back into shape.

Where do you invest?

It is now "common knowledge" that we are in a recession. But this does not mean you should stop saving for your retirement (or financial independence in modern parlance). But where should you put your money?

If your goal is to get the best return possible on your investment, then good luck. The only ways to do that are to either get lucky or own a crystal ball. There are a few strategies that should net a positive return yet are most likely not spectacular.

Bonds are tried, tested, and true. I'm not talking about Canada Savings Bonds, which are actually a form of cash, but in Government of Canada bonds and provincials. The danger here is that yields are already low. So if you decide to sell your holdings when yields rise, you will probably take a loss. The solution to this is to hold until maturity.

Another strategy is to buy equities in areas that traditionally do better than the market during an economic downturn. Discount retailers become more attractive when people need to save pennies. Grocery stores (consumer staples in general) should do fine as people still need to eat. Auto sales have stalled, causing the average age of cars on the road to increase, meaning auto repair should be making more money than in the past.

Lastly, you could just use the same strategy I'm using: Buy the market. Yep, I'm talking about buying index funds to spread your money around. I'm still youngish and can take a bit of volatility. No need to withdraw anytime soon, so I can afford to take a loss now if it means I will win in the end. No sense in trying to time the market bottom, use dollar cost averaging.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Words

Why are words like "dissemination" and "insemination" not antonyms?

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Things looking down

I'm finding it's hard to stay upbeat these days.

My training does not seem to be having the right effect. Instead of losing weight, I have been putting it on. My cardio is nowhere near what I would like it to be.

Also, due to a mystery condition, my fingers swell up after I climb. So I haven't been climbing recently either. Doctor's appointment is in three weeks. I hope it isn't a cartilage injury, because that would suck. They don't really ever go away.

And lastly, and probably what is affecting me the most, is my sterility. I notice that it seems to be a taboo that nobody wants to talk about. Any time I try and bring it up, people quickly try and change the subject. Either that or give the "you never know, miracles can happen" pep talk. Too bad I'm too much of a realist to be bullshitted by that. Even a 1% chance per coitus would mean we should expect 99 months (8 years, 3 months). The variance on the distribution is depressing, so I won't even go into that.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Infertility

I never realized before just how much I was looking forward to having kids. Now those hopes have been shattered.

Yesterday, Christine and I received a phone call from our fertility doctor. The only way we have a reasonable chance of having a baby is through in vitro fertilization.

We have not come to any conclusions about whether or not we will undergo the procedure. We both understand that it is taxing physically and emotionally. All for a 35% chance of getting pregnant.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Test complete!
My cold-weather sleeping bag is more than adequate. Even without the insulation of a quinzhee, I was nice and toasty. Unfortunately, my video really sucked so I won't be posting anything.

My next step is to do an over-nighter snowshoeing trip sometime this winter. I'm probably going to just pick a random lake in the Whiteshell and bushwhack to it. Nice and remote, and hopefully no snowmobiles.

On a completely unrelated note, it looks like the ice tower is going to open soon. I want to help out with the watering, but all the times for the shifts are at odd hours that don't jive with my work schedule. Maybe I'll be able to help out in other ways. I've been meaning to get more active in the St. Boniface section of the ACC.

Winter camping
It's the time of year again!

As with last year, I am going to run an experiment in my back yard. In lieu of the massive quantities of snow required to make a quinzhee, I am going to sleep with only items I would bring on a snowshoe trip.

That means, no snow shovel. I will have to use a snowshoe to shovel snow to protect myself from wind. I have a tarp to use as a roof, and I will sleep inside my bivy sack instead of a tent. My trusty -20C sleeping bag is technically under-rated for the temperatures we've been experiencing. We'll see how things go. I will record my experience on video to be posted on YouTube.

Training
Marathon training has begun. I'm back to running around 20 miles a week. Soon to increase the distance significantly. I'm also running much faster than I used to.

My climbing has been suffering as of late. Every time I go climbing, my fingers hurt. A *lot*. The next day, I can usually not bend my middle and ring fingers very much. This worries me. I hope this isn't a permanent condition.

In other news, I received my pamphlet on the Superior Hiking Trail. I have 5 days of vacation time that I have not allocated yet next summer. If I include both weekends, that gives me 9 days. Subtract two days for travel there and back, and I end up with 7 days to do the entire hike. With 235 miles of trail to hike, that give me roughly 33.5 miles each day. 14 hours of hiking each gives me a pace of 2.4 mph. Easily doable. But I think I should first try and hike the Mantario in a day, since the Mantario's 66km is only slightly longer than the distance I plan to travel each day on the SHT.

Goal #4
I almost forgot to mention that I accomplished goal #4 in September.

My adventure racing team placed 4th in the co-ed category. Not bad at all, considering the high level of competition this year. If everything goes as planned, I should be in freakishly good shape next year.

My goals for next year will be more or less the same as this year. The one difference is that instead of hiking the Mantario trail, I'm going to hike the Superior trail. I'll probably have to take some time off work to pull that one off.

Marathon Reflections
I just had a flashback to the Manitoba Marathon. One of the things I can't understand is why do people cheer the runners on about 4 miles into the race, by saying "Almost there"?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for cheering people on. The best form of cheering I've experienced was a group of Taiko drummers at the halfway point. But telling people blatant lies is detrimental at best.

Michael Phelps Fact
Michael Phelps is the only person to have defeated Chuck Norris in hand-to-hand combat.

Goal #3 accomplished (sorta)
Just two days before starting my Mantario yo-yo, a friend came forward and said he had nothing to do this weekend and he wanted to join me on my hike. The thing is, he did not want to yo-yo the trail, but only hike it one way. I was cool with this.

So, after a good start on Friday evening from the south trailhead, we made the Marion lake campsite just as the mosquitos were coming out. After a night of hardly sleeping from the incessant buzzing, we headed off at 7:30 and made the north trailhead at 9:00. This means we spent a grand total of 28 hours on the trail to hike it one way.

Unfortunately, my feet were in no condition to turn around and hike it back. So I had to bail. Still, I feel like I accomplished something. Now I know that it should be possible to hike the trail straight through in one big push. A really light bag (no sleeping bag, tent, etc.) and an alpine start, and I should be able to do it in less than 20 hours.

I can put that down on my list for next year.

Ultralight backpacking
Here's a list of the gear I'm taking on my backpacking weekend:

MEC Alpinelight 45 backpack
MEC Merlin -3C sleeping bag
Integral Designs South Col bivy sack
Integral Designs Siltarp/poncho
yellow foam pad
home-made pop can stove
cooking pot
pop bottle half-filled with methanol
pair of convertible soft-shell pants
quickdry shirt
fleece sweater
2 pairs of underwear
2 pairs of socks
Tilley hat
Vasque trail running shoes
small pocket knife
bug juice
sunscreen
map
compass
Nalgene 1L water bottle
20 Aquatab water purification tablets
roll of athletic tape
Canon SD1000 camera (my luxury item)
food

Total weight (food + water included): 22 pounds

Advertisement