We had a hearty turnout for the workout tonight!  Awesome to see so many people show up considering it was on the road.  LOL

I try to use a diversity of locations within my clinics so that you all have different places to go back to and can duplicate a workout or simply have familiarity in returning to.  I hope Bankhead School will be a handy place for a lot of people to head back to down the road. 

The workout was a warm up over to Knox mountain and I then a set of hill repeats before finishing with a tempo paced run back to the school. The efforts out there tonight were really solid.  You guys looked strong and steady with each repeat.  I could see a lot improvements from when the clinic started 6 weeks ago which is awesome. 

The energy was also on fire tonight!  You all  made it look easy, as you crested the hill and ran right up to me for a friendly high-five.  Was it the quote cards you pulled before your workout?  Did it slow down our thoughts so you could focus or simply lift your spirits before you set out?  Either way, I was a proud coach at the top of the hill with my cow bell coaching you all on...

Hope you all had a good stretch and did some body rolling at home after the session tonight.

Have fun at the Greenway Phase II this weekend.  Don't forget I am away!  I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.

Coach R

Meet your Maker is a solo 50 mile race or team relay that takes place in beautiful Whistler, BC on September 7th. 

In 2014, PACE will be hitting the road for a road trip to participate in this epic event and hang out in beautiful Whistler with fellow PACE peeps.  The summer & fall trail running clinic will focus specifically on preparation for this event.

The main reason I chose this event is because I know how athletes on the PACE scene like to have fun.  This 50 mile relay course supports teams of up to 7 people, allowing a variety of people with different endurance levels to make up a team.  It gives you the option to run it as a team of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.  You can split legs up as you wish and then cheer on your fellow team mates when you're not running. 

It also supports those on the PACE scene who want to test their limits with the solo category.

PACE will be giving away prizes for the team who comes up with the best team name using "PACE" in the title.   

So what are you waiting for?  Registration is open!  Start building your PACE teams today and let's start planning the road trip! - COACH R

Total Distance: 86.04 km (53.46 miles)

Elevation Gain: 3736 m
Elevation Loss: 3736 m
Highest Elevation: 1913.6 m
Lowest Elevation: 597.1 m

Leg 1 -Start to Wedgemount Parking Lot
Distance: 10.26 km | Elevation Gain: 223.9 m | Elevation Loss: 296.5 m

This section features a nice open, flat stretch (relatively speaking!) that takes runners from the start at Rebagliati Park, through Lost Lake Park, to the Green Lake Loop trail and on to the Wedgemount Parking Lot area – a perfect warm-up leg.  READ MORE

Leg 2 – Wedgemount Parking Lot to Base 2
Distance: 21.12 km | Elevation Gain: 821.3 m | Elevation Loss: 654.2 m

The majority of this leg is run on the world renowned mountain biking trail known as Comfortably Numb. Recognized by the IMBA as a renowned “epic ride” due to its quantity and quality of technically demanding terrain, Comfortably Numb follows undulating singletrack through beautiful old growth forest.  READ MORE

Leg 3 – Base 2 to Peak-to-Peak
Distance: 10.36 km | Elevation Gain: 1153.1 m | Elevation Loss: 92.7 m

 No easy way to say this…this leg is all about the climb! With increasingly impressive mountain sights as the runners ascend, this section is guaranteed to be the most enjoyable 1000+m gain in elevation ever experienced!  READ MORE

Leg 4 – Peak-to-Peak to Whistler Creekside
Distance: 7.86 km | Elevation Gain: 0.8 m | Elevation Loss: 1113.8 m

What goes up must come down! Upon arriving on Whistler Mountain, via the Peak-to-Peak gondola, runners will begin their descent down to Whistler Creekside.  READ MORE

Leg 5 – Whistler Creekside to Function Junction
Distance: 11.89 km | Elevation Gain: 408.9 m | Elevation Loss: 499.4 m

This section begins with a singletrack climb up to and beyond the exclusive neighborhood of Kadenwood. Once past Kadenwood, elevation gain eases off as runners traverse the lower flanks of Whistler Mountain... READ MORE

Leg 6 – Function Junction to Rainbow Trail Parking Lot
Distance: 9.65 km | Elevation Gain: 485.9 m | Elevation Loss: 419.3 m

This section starts in Function Junction and accesses the Flank Trail which traverses the southeast slope of Sproatt Mountain finishing at the Rainbow Trailhead.  READ MORE

Leg 7 – Rainbow Trail Parking Lot to Finish
Distance: 10.44 km | Elevation Gain: 185.1 m | Elevation Loss: 182.2 m

This final stretch from Whistler`s Westside back to Rebagliati Park continues to include some impressive singletrack.  READ MORE

If the hill repeats didn't fatigue athletes legs last night, the dryland portion afterwards certainly would have.  Our sponsor, True Outdoors, opened their doors so we had a warm place to hang out and do some strength training after our run.

As training mileage increases, introduce speed work or if you're new to strength training, you will no doubt be pushing farther or harder than you have ever gone before. Additionally,
you may be presenting your body with the associated post workout pain, known  as Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Experts say that the pain occurs between 12 to 48 hours after a workout. However, the pain can be reduced and doesn’t have to be a part of your training ritual. 

DOMS is thought to be the microscopic tearing of muscle fiber caused primarily by eccentric muscle contraction during exercise coupled with the increase in muscle temperature. 
The result is muscle soreness, reduced strength and range of motion.

Consider the following methods to alleviate the symptoms:
 

• Time - The pain will go away within a week. Any longer may be a sign of something more serious. If this occurs, consult your physician.
• Perform a short warm up and cool down period.
• Keep moving - Low impact exercises throughout the rest of the day will increase the blood flow to the areas to reduce the soreness and improve healing.
• Perform some easy stretching after exercise.
• Avoid making significant increases in the intensity of your workouts over a short period of time.
• Ice Bath - Hard to think about, especially with the colder weather upon us, but spending 5-15 minutes in a cool bath or even the lake will decrease the swelling. Try it after the run.
• Massage - Give yourself a gentle rub to the affected areas routinely for several minutes throughout the day or make an appointment with a practitioner. 
• Utilize non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications to decrease soreness.
• Keep on Charging! Continued training will develop your strength and reduce DOMS.

Coach R

I am so excited and proud to bring you the 2014 Mountain Running Camp options with P.A.C.E. Sports Fitness.

Registration is now open and just in time for Christmas ;)  Do you have a mountain lover and running fanatic in your household?  Nothing says love more than the gift of the mountains...

Rossland BC, Lake Louise AB & Revelstoke BC are the 2014 holiday destinations.  Please read through the website for full details and information on each camp.  If you have any questions, please email me.  Mountain Running Camp gift-certificates can be purchased by choosing the deposit amount for the designated camp online and followed up with an email so I can personalize your gift.

We will gain fitness, knowledge, build confidence and make new friends and memories through our epic mountain adventures.  Hope to see you in one of our camps in the new year!

Coach R

Good ol' bread & butter workout on the PACE scene today.  Runners practiced their pacing and tested their fitness with a 1-3 loop course through the upper mission.  Runners had a map and I went out and marked a section of the trail that linked Canyon Falls to Kuipers.  A good mix of road & trail - this loop has a wide variety of terrain.  It is also a great loop for my athletes to come back and visit and use as a time trial or a route to revisit in the winter as it doesn't get TOO much snow.  AWESOME PEOPLE.  AWESOME EFFORTS.  AWESOME DAY. 

NEW this year - an awards ceremony & fun Christmas  theme.
 
Beautiful setting at Myra Canyon Ranch on June Springs Road.

Full details on our events page.

Over the past 4 weeks I have been out on the Autumn & Spring rush race courses as much as I can to hone in the best routes possible for the 2014 events.

Autumn Rush is going to take a step forward in terms of a new staging area which will allow ALL the runners to run Angel Springs trails and we have scouted new trails in the area that are sure to allow runners to experience plenty of suffering and approx. 90% single track!

Spring Rush is coming together better than I ever imagined.  I ran the22k course with some friends the last few weekends and it has to seriously be one of the nicest areas in all of Kelowna to run.  We are privileged to be the first to host an event in this regional park and I have designed a course that is relentless but offers epic views from start to finish and is 95% single track.

I want to have race courses that locals are proud and challenged to run and visitors feel like it is worth travelling to partake in.  I think both of these courses do more than that and I look forward to people building fitness and making memories with the Rush Series in 2014.

I am very excited to welcome Nathan Karsgaard to the P.A.C.E. Team for the 2014 season.  We are so grateful to see so much growth on the PACE scene with more and more people getting involved in our clinics that we wanted to add another gem to our team to support this growth.

Nathan is a super swell guy.  He has a delightful personality, is hard working and trail running has really become a huge part of his life over the last few years.

Learn more about Nathan on the TEAM page on the PACE website and watch for Nathan to be out leading PACE groups in the new year!

Congratulations to Richard who ran the Moab Trail Half Marathon last month.  Sounds like a pretty cool event!!  Click Here to read his race report.

Today PACERs trained at beautiful Smith Creek in West Kelowna.  There were quite a few people who had never ran here before or who hadn't ran in this location for a few years.  Regardless, this trail will leave your legs a tad shreadded as it gradually climbs and climbs and climbs and climbs and climbs and climbs and then gradually descends, descends, descends, descends.  You get the picture.

I had the pleasure of leading the 15k A group this morning with fellow PACE leader Jamie Arnett.  Our group had their groove on as we pressed our way up to "Groovy Love" and then zoomed on back down.  We hit some snow in the last few km's which was fun.   My group showed little signs of fatigue, despite me trying to push them on both the up and down hill.  I was impressed with everyone's positive attitude out there as I know at times it was a grunt for some of you and you had to dig deep to push on.   It was pretty darn awesome! 

There were a total of 4 different groups that headed out this morning.  Reports from all the leaders were that people worked hard and kept the run steady.   More photos and postings from the leaders on the PACE Facebook Page.  Solid work out for the ol' lamb chops by all!  A workout like this one will certainly benefit from some extra stretching and foam rolling!  Now go have a nap... ;)

Happy Remembrance Day weekend!

You're invited to a special event!  TransRockies Run & PACE Mountain Running Camps Information Night.  

Pizza & Drinks will be served | BONUS:  10% off all items in store plus win a FREE
RUN3 entry ($900.00)

Date:               Thursday, December 12th, 2013
Location:        True Outdoors – 100-2340 Highway 97 North, Kelowna, BC
Time:               6:00-7:30pm

Limited to the first 75 people who RSVP.  Full details found here.

Days are getting shorter.  Weather is getting cooler.  Motivation to run outside is dropping... well for some people perhaps.  But not those in the PACE winter trail running clinic!  Tonight's workout included a nice 2km warm up on the trails around Kuipers, followed by some tempo training which lead into a hearty hill workout and finished with a steady, easy cool down and group stretch.  It was awesome to see athletes pushing each other on the hill repeats and working so hard.   Focus on good hill technique paid off and runners looked strong and fluid in their motions.  Headlamps filled up the trail scene and illuminated more than light - there was tons of energy out there too!  High fives and kudos team!!  Looking forward to making some miles at Smith Creek on Sunday. 

Comments about the workout tonight welcome.  Can you summarize in three words or less?

It was such a close contest between the Spelling Bee & the Sumo Wrestler... I decided that they each deserve to win!

I will bring your tea to the run tonight gals.  Congrat's and thanks again to everyone who participated in dressing up and in the contest.

Here are the photos from the brave souls who dressed up for he run on Sunday.  To place you vote, comment below with what costume you're picking and I will tally it up at the end of the day.  Votes closed after 8pm.

1.  Bumble Bee
2.  Hawaii Five O
3.  Bunny
4.  Colorful Skeleton
5.  Egg-Bert
6.  Sumo Wrestler
7.  70's Hippy
8.  Rock Star
9.  Creepy dude with his hydration hose up his nose

If you are participating in the current trail running clinic, please check your inbox for the newsletter sent out sharing changes made to the run tomorrow. 

Also don't forget to turn your clocks BACK 1hr tonight so you arrive at the run on time ;)

Coach R

Good luck to Richard Bugera who is racing the Moab Trail Marathon today. 

This course looks amazing!  Running along the rim-tops of deep canyons with spectacular vistas every direction.

The terrain changes frequently to keep the miles clicking and includes narrow single-track, rugged jeep trails, sandy washes, ‘Moab-style slickrock’, a short section of dirt road, a few sections of no-track, a very old mining trail and a couple sections of fixed line traverse. Views will take your breath away, and include the spectacular red rocks of “Behind the Rocks Wilderness” and “Amasa Back” area, also view the sheer vertical walls of Pritchett, Hunter and Kane Creek Canyons and views into Canyonlands National Park.

Photo Credit:  Trail Porn / Byron Powell