Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer

Welcome to my holiday book review....  Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.

I have meant to read this book for YEARS.  Maybe I am the only one who hasn't read it?  Well, if you've been putting it off or haven't heard of it, I suggest you head down to the bookstore ASAP.  

WOW! is all I can say...  Well, that and, "I'm never going to climb Mt. Everest!"

To enjoy this book you probably need to be interested in at least one of the following:  mountaineering, huge challenges, teamwork under pressure, pushing the limits, survival, heroism, tragedy, nature, endurance...  I would say a love of, or understanding of mountaineering is completely unnecessary to get into it though.

One warning...  if your lifelong dream is to climb Mt. Everest you may not want to read this. Keep the dream alive and don't scare the @#$%! out of yourself...

As mentioned, any thoughts I have ever entertained (none really) of climbing Everest are hereby shelved.  In fact, I have instructed Sacha not to allow me to ever consider the idea.  The book is at times terrifying...  imagining the ordeal was quite enough thank you!

It's been a while since I reviewed a book (like maybe 20 years), so bear with me as I get around to describing why this book is so good...

1.  Man against nature is a compelling storyline (for me).  A man (or woman's) car, house, job, clothes, bank account comes to mean exactly ZERO when he or she may die on the side of a mountain.  (OK, well maybe the clothes will matter...)

2.  Critical decision making and teamwork became interesting elements of the unfolding disaster.  Krakauer does a great job of allowing the reader into the minds of the key figures. 

3.  Everest - I learnt an amazing amount about the mountain.  We've all heard of it but to hear how it is tackled by a modern expedition (and what can go wrong!!) is super-interesting.  NOTE:  If there is a photo edition - buy it....  My copy had a paltry handful of black and white photos.

All told, this is a fascinating, sickening, heartbreaking account of an adventure that went seriously off the tracks.  It is amazing and horrifying to put yourself into the crampons of the people who lived and died during this expedition....

This book gets my highest rating - two thumbs up, five stars, a gold statuette....  

Rating:  * * * * *

Next Read:  The Kite Runner (whenever Sacha finishes it...)

Aloha from Kauai...

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Aloha!

Kauai - also known as the Garden Island - is a damn fine place as far as I can tell.

So far, we are having a blast.  The pace is super slow here - just what we need.  The beaches are really quiet even though it is Spring Break.  I think next week they will be deserted.

We have fallen into a quick routine which is basically AM=Beach, PM=Pool, 5=Dinner, 7:30=Kid's in bed.  Sacha and I spell each other off for some exercise - being late in her pregnancy, her exercise is walking (at a jogging pace - seriously - it's weird...)  I had my first run today (about 5 miles)...  my back was OK, though I didn't push it too much.  It seems that running does not upset the same muscle as skiing.  Luggage lifting on the other hand was excruciating...  though, when one's wife is 8 months pregnant it is best not to complain about lifting luggage (or anything else.)  

My current mini-goal is to set a personal record (PR) at the Sun Run.  My best time there was two years ago: 45:24.  I didn't run it last year.  I know I am more fit now though I haven't been running as much (due to all the skiing.)  I have time to dial it in before April 20th though.

I will have many great photos (now that I have found my camera lens which was missing for two days...)  In the meantime I have only this snapshot.

 

Mattias and Aia - (if not for Mattias I would be the whitest man on the island - but he got his genes from me, so I suppose I am ultimately to blame on both accounts.)

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Nationals Wrap & Race Report #4

Let's get the race report out of the way first...

In summary: I skied 5 of the 15 km and then decided to rest my back.  About 3 or 4 km into the race it was clear to me that this was going to be a torturous event on my back.  As I completed the first lap I weighed my options:

1.  Try to complete the final 10km in pain.

2.  Call it a day.  Live to fight (walk) another day.

The choice was fairly clear to me... I didn't feel I had much to prove by fighting this injury.

I had seriously considered not starting the race since I felt like 15km with a recently injured back was a tall order.  In the end, I think it was my success at the sprint on Friday that convinced me to give it a shot.

This one isn't eating me up...  I had an awesome week.

So onto Nationals Wrap-Up

4 Events

1 Silver Medal

1 Bronze Medal

2 Good Races

2 Not Good Races

In the end I outperformed my expectations.  I feel that to come away with two medals after 3.5 months of skiing is a great accomplishment and one that I am very proud of.

I'd like to take a moment to thank George and Kathy for all of their wax work.  My teammates and fellow competitors for showing up every day and pushing hard.  Yoshihiro Nitta for showing me how far I have to go!  Tony for helping me get to two Nationals podiums in record time.  My sponsors:  Innovative Fitness for keeping me in shape and ready to rock, Rudy Project for their superior eyewear used in every race, Team DHL for supporting our team and the Momentum Foundation for helping me to reach another goal.

I feel as though I am on track or ahead of pace to reach my 2010 Paralympics goal.  At this event I hoped to establish myself as a contender for a spot on the National Team (qualification races are in December).  I feel that I succeeded in that goal.  

The downside of the week was obviously the injury and the two races that were sacrificed due to it.  This is a case of "#%!@ happens"...  Or, as Robin McKeever so succinctly put it, "You will have to learn not to fall."

Crashing is part of the sport - I crashed.  No, need to break out the violin.  There is little doubt that as my skills improve I will be less likely to eat snow...

So, with that I close the door on my first season as a Nordic Racer.  I will probably find the energy and time to give a season report at some stage...  but for now I am looking forward.

On the horizon (in the order they will arrive):

- Holiday - Kauai for 2 weeks starting tomorrow!

- Triathlon training - starting as soon as the back is ready (maybe 4 or 5 days for running and cycling, hopefully earlier for swimming.)

- April 20 - Sun Run

- May 11 - Cultus Lake Triathlon

- May 23 - Baby #3 is due!!!

- June 7 - Triathlon World Championships

Some photos from the week...

                           On the podium at the Banquet - Silver Medal in the Sprint Race

                           Yoshihiro Nitta (the Bullet Train) - Winner of all 4 races this week.

The Canadian Medallists in the Sprint - Mark Arendz (middle), Myself (right) and Alexei Novikov

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Nationals - Race Report #3

Today was a good day.  I had a good feeling about this race ever since I saw it on the Race Notice.  Nordic Sprints are very cool... if you ever get the chance to watch a high level sprint like the one today you should make the time to check it out.... (there's a pretty good one coming in Feb. 2010...)  Today we witnessed several Olympic gold medallists, several World Champions and many stars of the x-c world in the most exciting event of the week.

My approach to today's race was simple - apply copious A535 to my lower back, warm-up as much as possible to loosen the muscles... then grit my teeth and ignore the pain for 1200 metres.  I was a bit worried that under the extra strain of a sprint it might hurt way more, but in fact I think the adrenaline of the sprint format helped a lot.

The qualification round is a time-trial from which the top four move on to the final.  (The format changed from what I described yesterday because one skier from our category didn't start the race.) 

9:03:15 - Starting Gate.  I started 7th and despite my sore back I felt pretty positive.  I enjoy the all-out nature of these sprints.  When I got the green light I put the hammer down and went as hard as I could from start to finish.  My back cooperated through the 4 minute effort - I felt it the whole way but I doubt it slowed me down too much.  I was pretty excited to qualify for the final with the day's 3rd fastest time.

The final was set for 12:30pm and I approached it exactly the same way as I did the morning race...  The final is far more exciting as racers take to the course together and the first to the line wins.  To achieve fairness across the Para-Nordic category the organizers employ a "Hunter" start.  This is too complex to go into, but essentially racers start at slightly different times (but within a few seconds of each other) to take into account different "disabilities" - this allows a "first to the line wins" scenario.

So, we headed off together and it wasn't long before all of us Canadians were admiring the caboose of the Bullet Train (Nitta - took home the win - again).

When the dust settled I had third place - 2nd place Canadian = silver medal!  "Not too shabby" I thought to myself as I wheezed loudly at the finish line.

Lessons:  

- Pay attention to attitude and routines on those days when you have a "good feeling" - try to re-create the same feelings and routines on days that don't set up as well from the outset.

- Sometimes injuries only require a straw to overcome (i.e. suck it up.)  Just hope that it isn't the straw that breaks the camel's back though....  I was lucky today (and I did use a bit more than a straw... 2 massages, 2 hours of hot tub, 1 hour of hot bath, 1 tube of A535...)

Next Race:  Sunday - 15km Classic, Mass Start.  This one could be tough...  to "suck it up" for 4 minutes is one thing - 15km is quite another.

Thanks for reading...  I don't have any shots yet from the podium or the race - I hope to soon.  So, instead I'll leave you with one that is way better.

Quatchi: $26.95

Sumi:  $26.95

Miga:  $26.95

Seeing your children obsessed with the Olympics (well, at least the mascots):  Priceless

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Perspective

                                             Aia on the playground near the Marketplace

The hot tub at the Marquise is under a wild glass dome...  pretty bright when the sun comes out...

                                        Mattias preparing for the 2026 Olympics.

Aside from the trials and tribulations of racing - we have been having a pretty fun family time here in Whistler.

Today Mattias and Aia were in ski school...  Sacha and I got them out the door in their ski outfits with limited fuss this morning - (high-fives all round!)

After dropping them off we enjoyed a relaxing breakfast before I saw Mary-Beth for some back repair.  Post-massage, we snooped on the kids skiing - we hid behind signs so that Aia wouldn't spot us and decide to cry.  She was ripping up a 20 foot stretch of almost flat snow - she couldn't have looked cuter with her homemade bunny ears on her helmet.

Mattias, meanwhile was carving turns through the gates on the Level II slope....  By carving I mean snowplowing - but he has improved a LOT and Sacha and I were beaming with pride.

After skiing we took them to the pool and hot tub to rest all of our aching muscles.  They had a blast and forced me to do a lot of moving around - I think kids are as effective as physiotherapists.  They are relentless and they wear you down - you can't say 'no' to them because they don't really care about your sore back...  they care about you swimming with them.

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Mama said there'd be days like these... Nationals - Race Report #2

Well the relative glory of Tuesday's bronze medal was tempered by an unsuccessful outing yesterday...

As previously mentioned, yesterday's race was a 7.5km skate race.  Our category drew a late start (1:15pm) which was a bit different...  I am used to racing in the morning.  I liked it actually...

The conditions were challenging - snow was falling fairly heavily all day so the course was very soft.  The light was very flat and the course was strewn with sitzmarks (a jaunty x-c term for an ass-shaped divot in the snow caused by a wipe-out.)

This sounds like a list of excuses just waiting to be trotted out... in fact these things didn't bother me too much and had little to do with my eventual undoing...

The race was 2 x 3.75km laps...  I had completed one lap before my troubles began.  Things were going fairly well I figured...  I had only been passed by one skier (the bullet train known as Nitta from the Land of the Rising Sun - he went on to win this race as well.)  I felt decent...  was working hard but had gas left in the tank.  

So, enough suspense... my crash was of the low velocity variety, but would have received high marks for awkwardness.  It occurred in the stadium - the flattest, easiest and, coincidentally, most public, part of the course.  I don't know why I dumped it there....  I must have hit a hole in the snow, or caught an edge or something.  I rose from the snow ASAP (as you do when you eat it in front of 100s of people...) and headed out of the stadium towards the next hill on the course...  once the adrenaline of the wipeout (and the embarrassment) subsided I was faced with the steepest and longest hill on the course.  Unfortunately, I also found myself fighting a fairly large dose of pain from my back.  I had twisted quite awkwardly during my faceplant...  and now climbing the hill was proving to be almost impossible.  I stopped a couple of times (much to the chagrin of several spectators on the side of the course) and tried to restart, but I was making almost no progress on this hill.  Ultimately, I elected to stop.  DNF.

I proceeded tentatively to the medical tent where I was diagnosed with a pulled/strained spinal erector muscle.  I was fairly relieved that it wasn't a slipped disc or pinched nerve or some such terrible sounding back ailment (I have no experience with back trouble so I was significantly worried.)

Race diagnosis = disappointing.  I have failed to finish a race one time before...  that time I passed out from heat exhaustion so the decision was out of my hands.  This time I decided to quit.  Choosing to quit is a different animal... one that lives with you for a while.  Unfortunately, this pain may live with me for a while as well.

Race Lessons:

- Some days you will fail.  Remember how much you hate it and channel it towards kicking ass the next time.

- Turn the page.  Like an NHL goalie that lets in a bad goal - forget about it or get ready to watch another one go in.

So, with this sage advice in mind:

- tomorrow's race is a 1200 metre Sprint - a time trial first thing in the morning, seeding, a semi-final, and a final (if all goes well.)  This is actually the event I have been looking forward to the most for the week - it is exciting - first to the line wins (no interval start).

Whether I can perform tomorrow will be the question.... my back still hurts.  I got an initial treatment in the medical trailer from Mikhail (an RMT associated with our Para-Nordic Team) which calmed the spasms and gave me some relief.  Today I had a 60 minute massage from Mary-Beth at Peak Performance in Whistler - she really concentrated on the area and loosened it up quite a bit.  I have spent significant time in the hot tub and have also spent about 30 hours with my fingers crossed.

If it hurts too much I won't make it to the semi-final so I don't think there is a big risk.  If it goes well I will still only have to ski 3 x 1200m.

Wish me luck - hopefully tomorrow's post will be a little more fun.  

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Nationals - Race Report #1

Today was a 5km, Interval Start, Classic Race.

Knowing that many readers may not know what all that means, I provide the following mini-glossary:

- 5km... this is a dist... just kidding...

- Interval Start - Skiers start every 15 or 30 seconds instead of all at once (Mass Start)

- Classic Technique - This is the older form of x-c skiing - looks kind of like an elongated gliding run....  Skiers use skis with a "grip zone" under the boot to allow "grip" to go uphill.  The "grip zone" is waxed differently to grip instead of glide...

Going in I felt pretty good...  No aches and pains, ready to go.  So, after a couple of warm-up loops I entered the starting pen.  A few minutes later I toed the line and headed off...

Two laps of 2.5km.  The first lap felt a lot better than the second...  I am definitely not negative splitting these courses yet.  I found I had some grip difficulties but was able to handle the uphills using a herringbone run.  I had good power on the flats using my double poling and kick-double-poling techniques...  I only got passed by one skier (a Japanese skier named Nitta - the eventual winner and the second ranked skier on the IPC World Cup circuit), and I passed several.

The second lap proved a bit more challenging as I started to have a lot of moisture build-up inside my leg's socket - the warm weather and high humidity I figure...  Also I was getting tired.  I am still blown away by how fatiguing a 5km ski race can be - I am used to thinking of 5km as next to nothing - but it can definitely leave you absolutely exhausted.

The main challenge on this course is the fast winding downhill sections...  it is easy to lose control on these.  Fortunately, I managed to remain upright despite my best efforts to fall (it was close).

At the end of the day I placed 3rd.  Bronze medal baby...  I'll take it.  To be honest I really didn't know where I'd end up against all these guys - I have never raced in a field this big (not sure exactly how many there were, but around 14 0r 15 Para-Nordic racers.)  

Lessons learned:  

- Take it easy in treacherous corners - falling takes a lot longer than slowing down

- Be ready for sweat in the socket - even when temp is low

Tomorrow's race is a 7.5km, Interval Start, Free technique (this means skate skiing).

                     That's me on the podium - check out the sweet medal - nicest I've ever seen...

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