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Very important disclaimer

Please be advised that the contents of this blog are opinions only (my opinion, the opinions of my family and the opinions of anyone else directly or indirectly involed in this blog). This is not an accredited training blog, nor is it an accredited anything blog. If you (and you) do anything that this blog says, or don't do anything that this site says not to do, and you get injured, sick or killed, you cannot blame me or my family or blame anyone else directly or indirectly involved in this blog. By reading anything on this blog (including this message) you are saying that you are a person who makes thier own choices in life and does not hold the writer of this blog, the writers family or any one else that may be directly or indirectly involved in the production or writing of this blog, responsible for your stupid and irresponsible behaviors, injuries, sicknesses or deaths. With that said, please enjoy my fun blog.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Lacrosse Quest 24, World Record Attempt, April 27th-28th in Calgary

My good friend Martin Parnell ran 250 marathons in 1 calendar year in 2010. Do you remember that? Well on that quest, he raised $320,000.00 for the charity Right-to-Play. Many really big sports names lend themselves to this charity and now there is one more.

Me!

I am in charge of Martin’s social media marketing for his future quests. What future quests you must be asking? Well I'll tell you.

Martin decided, instead of stopping at the end of MQ250, that it would be cool to raise $1,000,000.00. He decided on completing a bunch more quests. In fact, including the Marathon Quest, he will complete 10 quests in 5 years. So far he has completed 2. The big year of running and the World Record breaking Netball Quest 61. Yeah, he and a group of Alberta Netball players played Netball for 61 straight hours last year. crazy I know.

The next quest and the first one that I am involved with, is the Lacrosse Quest 24. Martin and 45 other players will play Lacrosse for 24 straight hours to set the NEW Guinness World record for longest Lacrosse game! Fun hey? I’ll be there, not playing but live social media-ing the event for the duration.

We have a need for more players as 46 players must stay in the gym for the entire 24 hours. There will be a need for volunteers for scorekeeping and some other admin things that Guinness requires. Join us for an hour or a day!

I have set up the facebook page already with some initial info and the link to the main sponsor Hotbox Lacrosse. I love it if you’d like the page to show support for Martin and his noble quests. We will sort of abandon the page once the quest is over and all the money is counted, as we will move on to a NEW page for the next quest.

What do you think? Fun stuff? Also, as a personal aside, I am hoping to gain some running mojo by osmosis just by hanging around superhero running man Martin.

So, if you find this page by searching for Calgary Lacrosse, or Lacrosse Calgary or any other Lacrosse search, please take a look at the event and please lend a hand or a stick to this amazing quest.

It’s for the kids after all!

Hotbox poster for printer

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Do you know what your effect on others is?

It’s probably WAY greater than you think it is. Just think about it, of all the conversations you had with your friends or spouse about the people in your life, they are having conversations about you.

As a internet writer, I shall call myself a web logger, or blogger as I like to say (think it’ll catch on?), I am putting myself out into the world on a regular basis. There are things I have shared with the internet that I probably couldn’t have said in person to anyone. It’s weird. But usually once I put it out there, the good that comes back from it quickly erases any anxiety I had over the topic to begin with.

Today I got a really great call from a guy I hadn’t heard from in 20 years. In fact we weren’t really buddies back in school, but we knew other, and had mutual friends and were pretty much friendly whenever we were at the same places. I knew his sister a bit better.

I forgot to ask how he found my ‘blog’ (again, catchy hey?), but whatever way, it’s cool as he spent some time reading it and decided to call me. Turns out we have a lot in common and I am looking forward to having a lunch with him in the near future.

The other thing this blog gives me is direction. I can write about something that is puzzling me, or something I want to do, and just by writing it down, it seems to solidify the idea or provides a solution.

That’s pretty much all. Just never underestimate the effect you have on others, you are more important and influential to the people in your life than you can probably imagine.

 

 

This picture is unrelated to the topic of this web log. I just like it.

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Facebook page didn’t go away. So it’s back. And I’m sore.

I was looking at the Facebook pages I am administrator for and noticed that Barefoot Neil Z wasn’t deleted like I thought. So I republished it. I have lots of cool racing and workout stuff happening, so I figgered i’d bring it back.

Welcome back to FaceBook to me Barefoot Neil Z !

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Also, I have completed 7 TKO workouts in the last 15 days now. The following illustration shows where I am sore or in pain.  Only the parts of the avatar that are circled are affected.

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Seeya.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

I’m a writer!

or so I read in Impact Magazine. I am once again humbled to be included in such a distinguished group of athletes.

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I was again selected to test a shoe.(link goes straight to shoe review pages) This time it was for the very popular Running issue. Last time it was the Trail Running issue. This time I got to test the (then) not yet released Vibram Spyridon LS trail specific running shoe. Here is what I had to say about it. (in 140 words or less)

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I wear this very comfortable shoe to the gym 3 days a week right now and whenever I run, they are on my feet. I have 7 other pairs of minimal shoes to choose from and they barely get a glance anymore. I use my VivoBarefoot Neo Trails whenever I’m running or hiking in deeper snow, but other than that, the rest of them stay in the closet.

Thanks again to the Team over at Impact Magazine, you guys and gals are the best. You can read the entire magazine online now, as well, if you are in Western Canada you can get it free at healthy store places.

Speaking of: Your Excuse is Invalid.

Read this and then go for a run. (seriously. read it.) Ron is a friend of mine and is one of the best people I know…

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Speaking of running a mountain trail race.

In late August I am going to conquer the Moose Mountain 29k Trail Race. As I drove out to Elbow Falls with my 4.80 year old son today I was reminded that I am pretty crazy to be attempting this race. (someone correct me if this is not moose mountain. I think it is tho.)

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As of this moment, I am looking at the race as a good 5 hour powerhike, but I am choosing to get myself in really good shape by then to be able to challenge the course properly. (and run it a little). Just a reminder; the turn around at the top of Moose Mountain is 3,000 feet higher than the start line. This pic is not mine. I’ll have my own pics this August. Apparently trees don’t grow at 8000’ above sea level.

I ran the 14.1kms of leg 4 at the K-100 relay last year in a slow 1:40 minutes, and it was about 900’ in elevation. On the highway. So, add 2,100’ in the same distance on varied terrain including swamps, creek fords and rocky singletrack and I am hoping a time factor of 2x the k-100 pace, minus a .5 factor for being in shape (which i was certianly NOT at the K-100 last year) which should bring me in in the 4-5 hour mark. I’ll know better with a few trial runs on the course this spring as well as by my leg at this years K-100.

Speaking of getting in shape.

I go to Pete Estabrooks TKO workout 3 times a week now. I have never experienced a more total and devastating effective workout in my life. It’s an hour+ of serious ass allover kicking that leaves me wasted and happy. There are no universal machines, fancy ab rollers, pully systems or TV’s. There are steps, heavy balls, punching bags, skipping ropes and a room full of mojo (including a real DJ on Wednesday evening classes)! 45-65 people show up each workout and Pete assigns each person an exercise and a person to follow. All you have to know is what you are doing and what the person in front of you is doing. There are no rest breaks and most of the stations are partnered so you are pretty much obligated to do the workout as you’ll let your partner down if you aren’t working correctly or keeping up. I’ll let this video speak for me. Pete is an evil genius btw.

Oh. You should come. If I can do it, you certainly can. First one is FREE!

Speaking of photography.

I still enjoy shooting pictures everywhere I go. Enjoy these shots from Andrew and my trip out to Elbow Falls today. Click-em to see them full size.

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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

All of a sudden I have a 2012 race schedule…

Run buddy Darren asked me if I wanted to run the Moose Mountain Trail Race. Sure, why not. The only reason I actually got in was someone posted on Facebook that the registration was open. I got in, then it was sold out. All 140 spots. I am going to do the 29k version.

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This race is Aug 25th.

I was then on facebook – again – and noticed a runner say “We’re in”. Naturally I was curious so I checked what all the hoopla was about. Lo and Behold it was Melissa's Road RaceOut in Banff. This one has a cap of 1500 runners for the 22k (of which I registered) and 2700 ish in the 10k. That’s a lot for Banff townsite. I’ve not run this one before, but we as a family are able to get out and enjoy more time away, I figure a weekend in Banff with a nice little run is perfect. It’s on Sept 22nd. this is an old profile and the route is subject to change, but it’s pretty darn hilly!

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I was graciously invited to be included in the K-100 relay again! Woot! So much fun. Again it will be a great time, but this year we will be spending the weekend out there. Also we received corporate sponsorship from Mayfield Toyota in Edmonton, so that means we get an automatic entry and don’t have to rely on the draw. This race has many more applications than capacity so anyone that doesn’t raise a certain amount of money for the HI-Hostels charity may not get in the race. Very disappointing for people. I wrote 2 days worth of stories last year from the event. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. and a little Part 1.5 interlude is here. It’s all about Joyce Jackie. Don’t drool at the pictures too much. This was the only race that I was counting on being in my calendar. So thanks to the team organizers for inviting me back. I am planning on being much faster this year.

This was the elevation profile of my 14k leg 4 from last year. As I stated in my race report from last year the uphills were pretty tough. Tough enough that the flats really felt like downhills. All good fun tho! The people at this race are amazing, great support from my team and other racers and spectators! I think this year i’ll be getting one of the 2 trail legs at the end of the race. Fine by me, as long as I don’t get legs 5 (straight uphill for 18k) or leg 6 (Seriously downhill for 9k).

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This K-100 race is on June 23.

This is one of my favourite race photos I have taken. This is Joanne who ran our Leg 1 for us.

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The one that I am REALLY excited about is a new race that is a point-to-point half  marathon event that will run from Black Diamond through amazing foothills scenery all the way to Millarville, where the Famous Farmer’s Market will be celebrating opening day for the season! We love the market and this area of the world and it’s a perfect opportunity to have Andrew and Traci at the finish line cheering me on, then enjoying natures bounty along with great entertainment. The Millarville Half Marathon will be a popular event to be sure! Did I tell you it was Point-to-point! Woo! Here is the MapMyRun route.

Now, how’s this for a pleasant elevation profile! I can get with that for sure!! This race is on June 16th, so only a week before K-100, but I am pretty sure I’ll be focused on a relaxing run while taking pics and videos as I go! Can’t wait!

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On top of these races I’m sure I'll get involved in others. I do love to race. I want to run the Harvest Half Marathon this year. I am the Facebook admin for the race and watching it being run last year instead of being in the race was kinda disheartening. I think Org will let me run it for free if I want. Free is good. This race is on Sept 29th this year. So 1 week after Melissa’s but it would for the pure enjoyment. Here is why I love this race so much, it’s my 2010 race report. It was pretty much the day I realized how much I loved running and the day I ran an entire 21.1k non stop for the first time. Also, here is why I love volunteering for the race. And here is my spectators report from last year’s race.

I also volunteer for the Calgary Marathon Org as well. This year the race is on a new route, so it will be interesting to see how it all comes together, but the committee is the best I have experienced so I have no doubt it will be an amazing event. This was my first half marathon back in 2009. My volunteer report from last here are here. Parts 1 and Part 2. This event is an amazing weekend, with a fantastic Race Expo. 8,000 racers can’t be wrong that’s for sure! Calgary Marathon is May 27th This year.

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May 31 2009 was my first (and fastest) Half Marathon at this race. I was a rookie, I was injured, I was full of bravado. I look back fondly on the race but I am much different person now. I now appreciate every step I take out there, looking at it as a blessing, enjoying the struggle and the triumph. I’m glad I was naive then. It gives me a real perspective to where I’ve been and where I can go again.

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The smile was delirium. I was in agony.

If I wasn’t so stupid in training and so injured after that race I may never have become Barefoot Neil (I am better person and runner since I started running barefoot. It kind of grounded me and taught me to appreciate each step)

What are you doing this year?

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Don’t worry. I am NOT a threat to you. Whoever you are…

This surprised me. I saw this in my blog stats today…

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I can save you the time. I would place in my age group, 2 out of 3 races, at my family reunion.