Serenity Soon.

This is a picture of Lake Colden ADK, that we took last season.

Having Fridays or Mondays off are the perfect time to take advantage of road trips, multi-day hikes, skiing, or day trips for snowshoeing and visiting family and friends at the end of the day. We had planned hiking trip to bag another peak on our mission to become ADK 46ers, but with training for our races in May the running we had to do over the weekend took precedence.

We did get a chance to visit my folks Thursday night for some excellent food, a little drink and, as always, great company. We had a great time and I was pleasantly surprised when I received a black 8gig Nano from my parents for graduation. I previously used out my Iriver mp3 player to the point that play button only works when it chooses to. I am anxious to start adding a ton of great tunes to it. Thanks again.

Deciding against the Friday hike allowed us to leave early and make it back to Ottawa and complete our required 7km relaxing run. This run was to prepare us for our long run of the week that was to be done on Saturday. Slow paced runs remove the lactic acid from your muscles allowing your legs to properly heal and be prepared for what is coming.

And what was coming exactly? For me Saturday entailed a 13KM run at a 5:00 to 5:10KM/h pace in preparation for the 10K. I averaged 5:04 and finished with a 1 hour and 6 min. I am extremely pleased with this out come and being 10 weeks away from the race I can see that my pace will only get better. I have a new goal and set my training for a 44 minute 10K. My pace has been increased dramatically and the training program is rather rigorous. Every week entails two 8km runs at a 4:45 to 5:00 min/km. One hill training day with 6 hills increasing by one hill every week up to a 10hills in a few weeks.

On hill days there is a 3km warm up and 3km cool down run with the hills consisting of about another km in the middle. And to finish off the week there are the long runs. Every week it increases, so from week one there is a 10km, 13 (two weeks back to back), 16, 17, 19 and finishing a week or so before the race, a half marathon (21km) at a slow pace. This of course on top of my cross training days and 4 to 5 days of weight training per week.

Having the proper training program, eating habits, rest and determination to complete your goals is all you need. The hard work depends on you. Remember; tomorrow is just an excuse away.

Although our primary focus is on our individual races, we are also beginning to consider our summer activities; hiking and mountain biking. Attempting to complete our ADK 46ers this summer is top on the list. We look forward to day trips and multi-day weekend backcountry trips. They will provide us a full summer surrounded by trees, lakes and mountains and best of all, we will be together nowhere near civilization. The added bonus is that it will give us the extra hiking and elevation training we need for our September trek in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps.

Mountain biking took a back seat last summer with injuries and having a brand new car with no rack. So with the season coming, the search is on for a new or used rack. Thule and Yakima roof racks are awesome but only if you own your vehicle or plan on keeping it after your lease is over. The racks are specific to car make and model and if we change our car (which is the plan) in 3 years, the rack will most likely not fit the next one. So a rear mounted rack is what we are looking for. I would have never trusted these racks until we completed our 38hour road trip to Moab, Utah. Two bikes hung off the rear for over 7200kms roundtrip.

Oh well now to shop for some gear and dream about all those days in the backcountry…and I had to post the pic below. Its of a snowboarder who slept at the front of the line at the Taos ski resort, when they announced they were open to snoboarders. I don't care if you ski, tele, board or whatever this is hardcore...good on ya!