Dave’s birthday present …

Because of his new philosophy of voluntary imposed simplicity, I thought I’d get something for Dave that combines his love of Adventurexercise with his passion for household chores.

Great Snow Training to “welcome” Winter…

Hi ho!

December 27th… after a marvelous fall, it’s been snowing for 10 straight days… 5 feet… help! Glub, glub… record 24 hour snowfall, record 5 day… send St. Bernard!

Yup. After no snow until basically 10 days ago, I’m rapidly running out of room to pile the snow. At least until today, it had been cold enough that the snow was dry and light. Today, it warmed up a bit, and now, we have HEAVY, wet snow (and LOTS of it!), black ice, and an all-around mess. Now, I like snow as much (probably more) than the next guy, but this is getting ridiculous!

Even so, we’ve managed to get in some cool, original, tough workouts.

I’ve been getting in quite a few six mile runs, trying to rehab the hip, but it had all been on roads, so not too adventurous. On the 23rd, I had to go downtown to take some pictures while running for a big article that came out in the Coeur d’ Alene Press today (the 27th), and called to Keith to join me for some training… (very nice article on Adventure Week 2009, BTW)

We decided to run around the college and then try Tubbs Hill, which, we found was between 6 & 18 inches deep. Let me tell you, THAT was a workout! Two miles of rolling, uppity, rough trail is hard enough, but add in the snow, and it’s a K.A.W!

After that, our Durango promptly broke down in the Rite Aid parking lot, so I got to run over to Derek’s to pick up Fritz and Becky’s truck, which has been a lifesaver.

Later that evening, Jeni came out, and the morning of the 24th, we went snow biking.

One of my biggest worries with winter’s arrival was losing all of the progress I had made on cycling over the past year, but now I know that’s not going to happen.

We set out about 8:45 a.m., temp about 14 (yes, it sounds cold, but it’s actually a great temperature to workout in! Trust me!) and headed for the mountain. Now, this is the mountain that’s a pretty stiff workout when dry, and when we arrived, it was blocked off for all vehicles except snowmobiles, and covered with several inches of snow all the way up the cuddly little 15 degree grade. Imagine riding in thick, soft sand. Cold, white, slippery sand… uphill.

Oh, and my back brake was frozen, as were my gears, and I was stuck in whatever I was in.

We made it exactly 1.1 miles up the hill in 25 minutes, and I’m pretty impressed with us! To steal a quote, “it was as intense a workout as you can imagine, going 2.5 miles per hour!”

This was just plain hard work. Tough, slippery, rutty… fun, huh?

The way down was also a bit of a rush. Jeni discovered the right technique: She put her feet down and actually glissaded/skied her bike down, while I tried to keep my feet on the peddles. She kicked my butt.

The only negative after that (besides the fact that it started snowing again) was that I was hopelessly stuck in mountain climbing gear the 3.6 mile mostly flat/downhill ride home. I was able to keep my revolutions up to a sizzling 724/minute, while topping my speed out at about 4 mph…  not fun, but I didn’t have to pee bad enough to unthaw my gears!

On the 26th, to celebrate my birthday, Lisa and I did a nice 2 mile run/walk, as we always do, and then I ran the Loop. After that, we headed into Spokane to meet Jeni.

We parked along the Bloomsdaycourse at Spokane Falls Community college, and after narrowly missed being run over by a trash truck heading down the hill, we did Doomsday Hill three times in a row, with part of the second leg in the waist deep snow along the side.

We headed back for the college, but took the wrong turn into the parking lot, and ended up at the bottom of a hundred yard high, 60 degree angle hill, crotch deep in snow (on me… mid torso on Jen!) from our car.

In true Adventure Racing fashion, we started up the hill, slogging/tromping (we’re still searching for the correct word here) up the big, steep, snowy hill.

All in all, just a really fun, tough couple of workouts, and something we’re looking to repeat! We showered, headed for town, and I got to do some birthday shopping at REI and B&N (yay my new Jetboil!) and then race back home.

For New Years, I think we’ll snowbikeup the mountain as far as we can go, take our snowshoes and tromp to the top, and make lunch with our Jetboils on the top of the mountain.

 

I’m also looking to try out my new/old cross country skis. After twenty years, I’m kind of looking forward to it. I used to be a “real” skier, so hoping it comes back, It’s great exercise!

I’ve been thinking about hosting a winter race next winter; possibly a winter triathlon with snow shoes, mtn. bike and run, or a “Quadathlon,” adding CC skiing… sounds kind of fun. What do you think?

Despite my complaining, I’ve really enjoyed getting out in the snow so far, and look forward to a bunch more good workouts, using the white stuff as the main resistance.

Hope everyone is keeping their training up, and Lisa and I are really looking forward to seeing you all at New Years, or shortly after.

Blessings!

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Ho, ho, ho…

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you all had a peaceful, happy and healthy Christmas and DBD day… (Dave’s Birthday Day). Yes, there’s nothing like having your birthday on December 26 when you’re a kid, but I must say, Lisa makes a marvelous effort to make my birthday special, and with all of the sales post Christmas, I’ve had some wonderful days.

This year, I received an REI gift card from my parents-in-law, and a Barnes and Noble card and some birthday cash from the Grandparents, so had a marvelous day hunting for exactly the correct loot… I ended up with the Jetboil combo with large pot, a cycling neon jacket/vest from REI, and a handful of terrific books from B&N.

We actually discussed NOT buying any real gifts prior, and just going out together the day after and enjoying the day… hmm… Speaking of Lisa, she and neo-baby are doing well. Hopefully, we’ll know the gender within a week or two, so you’ll know what color baby Salomans to buy!

Our Christmas was really delightful. With the economy taking its toll this year, we decided as a family to really cut back on gift giving, and instead concentrated on having a quality day, with a few smaller, simpler, heartfelt gifts. Let me tell ya, as a chronic gift giver, it was a struggle at first, but I was able to find some terrific sales, put more thought into what folks might like, did some baking, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The leadup was relaxed, and the actual Christmas Day experience was sweet. I cooked dinner for the clan, and we really just enjoyed each other’s company.

Derek’s gift to the family was to set up a family website/sharing site on “facefeed” where we automatically can stay in touch with what we’re all doing, and by the afternoon, the folks in Seattle were viewing our photos, and vice versa. It was great!

In all, a different, much appreciated, special holiday!

We are very excited, as several FARTS including Andy, Morg, Kelley, Jeni, neo-FART Zeb and hopefully Jeremy, Sheena (?) and Peggy will be here for New Years, and boy, do I have plans!

We’d also like to welcome Corey and Michelle Hustein to our group; They are both XTERRA/Ironmen athletes, newly arrived to CDA from California, and are going to be hugely involved in Adventure Week 2009.

Thank you all for your love and support, and blessings to you and yours as we head into a very exciting 2009!

A couple of weeks training, and winter’s arrival

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted… we’ve been busy getting Adventure Week 2009 going, and boy, has it been going!

Things are really underway, and we hope to have the online registration up within the next day or so, and the facilities are really shaping up.

We’ve had some great news with the addition of Ian Adamson to the list of stars who will be competing at Adventure Week 2009. Ian, while not exactly coming out of retirement, is quite excited about coming and “bouncing around in the wilderness” with us for a few days!”

We are now up to twenty races, with the addition of the Duathlon -the “Dual-X” – which will be held in conjunction with the XTERRA.

Training over the past couple of weeks has been trying, at best. I think I mentioned how I ran into a tree a couple of months ago, skewering myself right on the hip flexor? Well, three weeks ago, I went out for an 18 mile run, which actually went very well, except that my hip flexor was sore afterwards. On the Monday following, I did a 12 mile loop, and at the 10 mile mark, my leg fell off. My hip flexor seized up so bad I couldn’t run or lift my leg more than about 6 inches.

Surprisingly, it didn’t really hurt to walk, but I was forced to walk about a mile and a half before I could stagger in the last 1/2 mile. After that, it’s been touch and go. I’ve only been able to run a couple of times a week, and never pain free. Going up hill is the worst, which, where I live, makes it a bit difficult, since we live on the top of the hill.

Oh well… it seems to be getting slowly better, but I can’t do much more than 7 or 8 miles.

I was able to ride up until a week ago (December 13) when winter finally showed up for real… we had a good 10 or 12 inches that first weekend, and the temps dropped into the teens and even lower, bottoming out at zero. Not too bad, really, but this past Thursday, the main event happened! Since then we’ve received over four feet of snow. We had more than three feet in the first twenty four hours, which was a record.

The only good news was that it was so cold, the snow was pretty light, so shovelling wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

I did get in a couple of nice runs in the sunny, cold days, and it was really quite pretty with all the snow.

Shoveling is good hard work, as is chopping wood, so that’s been helping. I miss being on the bike, but hope to try some snow biking this week. I also dug out my old cross country skis, and while I may need some new boots (feet having grown) I’m looking forward to getting out at the park.

I don’t know if you saw it, but Vince from Aquan Sports has organized a really cool ocean kayaking trip to Baja, where you get basically everything included for $599 I believe… all you need is a carryon and a paddle, and they take care of the rest for five days! Wish I could make it! If you’re interested, please let Vince know.

We’re really starting to get fired up about next June, and will be looking for some help in the months leading up… please let Dave know if you want to be a part of this special event, and what you’re willing and able to do!

Thanks to all, and I wish you all blessings, peace, happiness and joy this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

DA

Ian Adamson to join Team FART

… well.

At least he’s coming to our BIG EVENT in Idaho in June.

Ian Adamson, Adventure Racing’s Most successful-ever racer, will participate at Adventure Week 2009!

Press Release #2 is posted on that site too. Download it to your computer.

Sheena’s first Marathon

In California last weekend.

I can neither confirm not deny whether or not she won her division.

Talking to the Legends about Adventure Week 2009!

For someone who is a “people person,” today was a pretty good day from the Adventure Celebrity point of view…

As you probably know, we have been working pretty hard on getting Adventure Week 2009 set up, and a major part of that is getting some of the best teams and racers in the world to come and participate.

I’ve been in contact with several of the true legends of Adventure Racing and outdoor sports in general by email, but today, i got to spend almost 30 minutes talking Adventure racing in general, and Adventure Week in specific with Mike Kloser, captain of team Nike, and currently the world’s best racer, and I have a phone conference set up tomorrow with Ian Adamson, likely the world’s most successful racer ever!

Both are major idols of mine, and it was a real pleasure to talk to Mike! He was down to earth, funny, and a real gentleman, and best of all, he wants to come and race at Adventure Week 2009!

Yes, at this point, it looks like we’ll have Mike Klosr and Team Nike, Robyn Benincasa, Michael Tobin, Thomas Bastis, and quite possibly Dean Karnazes (winner of the “4 Deserts” Overall title, BTW… congrats, Karno! What an accomplishment!) and Ian Adamson! What a field!!

We are also holding on to the edge of our seats about some other BIG news, and will let you know as soon as we hear…

Stay tuned!

Adventure Week 2009 has a venue!

Well, unofficially, we’ve had a venue for a while, but as of yesterday, it’s official! We had a 4 hour meeting with Ranger Randall, the head of Farragut State Park, just north of Coeur d’Alene, and went over the entire June 5 – 14 Adventure Week 2009 schedule, event by event, and have almost all the kinks worked out!

It was a great meeting, and we were able to address lots of the details needed to run as complex as Adventure Week! It’s the little stuff like parking, proctors, sanitation and trash, marshalls, signage etc that make the event a success, and we’ve got a really good handle on ’em!

We actually sat down and drew out the maps of all the races, plotted paths, traffic flow etc. We might be out with the rangers and actually create a new path that will join two major park routes, and the result will be a much smoother transistion for a couple of the races.

We did decide on doing a “lap” race for the Deepwater Trail run, which will make the logistics easier with the aid stations and for the corporate relays.

The XTERRA-Farragut course and the ‘Mad Dash” Mountain Bike race courses are fast and fun, and the Adventure Race courses are “robust,” and should provide some exciting, challenging racing!

Anyway, we’ll have more over the next couple of weeks, but for now, we are really cruising!

Hope you’ll all join us! Check out www.adventureweek2009.com for more information on what is shaping up to be one of the country’s best outdoor festivals!