Dave Adlard and my masochistic friends from Team Adventure Sports Week are seriously talking about doing this
… 120 hours of glorious suffering in the Mojave desert outside of Vegas, Sept 18 – 25ish…
How can I stop them?
running Wonderland, July 26-29th
That’s the plan.
Trail run the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Ranier in Washington State.
90mi (145km)
Wish us luck.
Dr. Jeni … Dr. Rick … and Dr. Dave.
What do you think? … Three days, two short nights?
Adventure Sports Week LOOMS
I’m looking forward to the second annual ASW. Will you be there?
2010 Dates June 4-13
Each June in Northern Idaho, Adventure Sports Week offers 10 days of racing, training, clinics, gear demos and more. ASW features triathlons, mountain biking, trail running, adventure racing, open water kayaking and swimming.
Our venue is located on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille at Farragut State Park.
• Venue
Adventure Sports Week June 4-13, 2010
by site editor Rick McCharles
Each June in Northern Idaho, Adventure Sports Week offers 10 days of racing, training, clinics, gear demos and more. ASW features triathlons, mountain biking, trail running, adventure racing, open water kayaking and swimming.
2009 was our inaugural year and we’re gearing up for 2010. One of the best new adventure sport races in the U.S.A.
details and registration is available at www.adventuresportsweek.com
What do rollercoasters, a great rappel, fantastic scenery, a first class event and “10-24-1” have in common?
Hosted at beautiful Farragut State Park in Bayview, Idaho (just north of Coeur d Alene), ASW 2010 is promising to be one of the top festivals in the USA this year.
• official event home page
• Team Adventure Sports Week blog
Grizzly Man Adventure Race
Shout out to my Adventure Racing team, prepping for the Griz next weekend.
Good Luck Team Adventure Sports Week.
The GrizzlyMan Adventure Race is a USARA sanctioned sprint level adventure race that takes place every April in Western Montana.
In order to do well (or even finish), racers will need to be proficient in a variety of outdoor disciplines (i.e. mountain biking, trail running, paddling, map reading and navigation).
Racers will be given a map/passport for the course and will be required to travel to certain checkpoints plotted on the map. By using what will be supplied at each checkpoint, racers will mark a designated spot on their map/passport to prove that they visited each location. This map/passport will then be turned in to race officials upon completion of the course. Finish time as well as proper checkpoint completion will determine ranking and success. …
official website – Grizzly Man Race
What’s my excuse for not being there, this time?
the thorny truth about Baja – goathead
This evil is cursed in many parts of the world, by many names: puncturevine, caltrop, cathead, yellow vine, goathead, burra gokharu and bindii.
Wikipedia – Tribulus terrestris
Here’s me before meeting goathead. Happy.
And here’s my ride with at least a dozen thorns in each tire.
I was 16km out of Loreto, Baja on a coastal adventure. Happily, a taxi van was parked right where I punctured.
Cyclists hate these thorns. One guy recommends:
• thick tires with an anti-puncture strip.
• thorn resistant tire liners
• thorn resistant tubes
• slime
… I’m thinking I’ll drink beer by the pool.
JakPak = jacket, sleeping bag, tent combo
My Adventure Racing captain, Dave Adlard, wants me to test a DEMO model of this new product.
JakPak™, the world’s first all-in-one waterproof jacket, sleeping bag and tent, …
JakPak – Our Story
Looks very cool. I’m IN.
The specs aren’t definitive. But I’ve seen cited on other blogs an approximate weight of 2lbs. At that I’d carry it as survival gear even on day hikes.
Available late Spring 2010. Guesstimated price, $250.
Copper Canyon Ultramarathon documentary
Often called the “greatest runners in the world”, Mexico’s Raramuri Indians currently wear these sandals handmade from rubber tires.
They are much studied by researchers of the Running Barefoot or In Minimal Footwear movement.
Living in Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountain range, the Raramuri Indians are some of the best long distance runners in the world, but how far can they run in the face of problems like environmental damage, loss of native lands, and the drug war? An American ultra marathon runner known as Caballo Blanco is fighting to help the Raramuri preserve their culture and tradition of long distance running. The Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon is the result.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
are running shoes ruining your feet?
UPDATE: Tony Rix recommends Vibram’s latest model, the KSO Trek. (see the comments)
That’s one of the themes of a fantastic book I’ve just finished:
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
I’m convinced that author Christopher McDougall is on to something.
For specifics, check this article: The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money?
His theory is that we evolved running barefoot. And became the dominant species on the planet because of that advantage.
Running barefoot … an advantage?
It seems counter intuitive. Yet the case laid out in his book seems irrefutable.
Shoe companies, especially Nike, seeking mad profits, have convinced us to buy technology that changes our natural technique.
In recent years I’ve been hiking and trail running in one of the cheapest pairs of shoes made by New Balance. I bought them because of bunions. Perhaps, by luck, this soft, flat-soled shoe is what I need.
I’m tempted to try hiking in Vibram Fivefingers. That’s what the author is using now for distance running.
… That might be going too far.
Instead, I’ll pull out my old sandals. I’ve hiked in those before, very comfortably. Those feel like “bare feet”, but keep the pebbles and grit out.
Leave a comment if you’ve experimented with tossing your hiking boots in the closet. And getting back to something more natural.
book review – Born to Run
On the insistence of my Adventure Racing buddy, Dave Adlard, I bought a book.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
A fantastic read, even for non-runners. The author, Christopher McDougall, (video) is a master story teller. I was gripped by this true life story.
Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. …
It’s available on Audible.com, as well as in a Kindle edition.
Get it!
Christopher Mcdougall reminds me of Jon Krakauer, another magazine scribe turned author.
Born to Run is as engaging as anything by Krakauer.
The culminating Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen is set in Mexico’s Copper Canyon. I visited as a tourist in 1999. Fantastic.
I’ve long planned to return for some serious hiking there. Unfortunately, as the book describes vividly, it’s very dangerous today as the Canyons are home to big marijuana plantations. You might get shot.
besthike.com 