True victory

The duration of an athletic contest is only a few minutes, while the training for it may take many weeks of arduous work and continuous exercise of self-effort. The real value of sport is not the actual game played in the limelight of applause but the hours of dogged determination and self-discipline carried out alone, imposed and supervised by an exacting conscience. The applause soon dies away, the prize is left behind, but the character you build up is yours forever.


Anonymous

Desire

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare"

SUMMER SWEAT!

Summer Sweat!

Electrolytes come out of tubs, packages, and bottles in force, no longer are they only an edge reserved for long or hard runs.
Ironman logo-ed visors, runningcaps and trucker hats come out in force to protect our gray matter from the heat of the sun, while others' heads are naked, exposed to the sun, getting closer to blaech-blonde with every run.

The River's Trail. Moonscape. Kenna Cartwright. Peterson Creek.

All of these names inspire different emotions is each of us. Excitement, Anticipation. Dread. Memories of past runs, both achievements and failures.

Summer means you are no longer the only runner out at 5am in the morning, or at 9pm at night. There are others like you, and they are out in force. Babyjoggers, families, tennis shoes. All of these come with summer.

And after a long day awaits the reward for your efforts: be it your favorite chocolate bar, Blizzard, or Scoopz ice cream. Or maybe after a hot, sweaty run, it's cool of the river that awaits you.

One thing is for sure: summer is unlike any other season.

Enjoy it while you can, time is running out!

DP

BARE AS YOU DARE

I just want to talk about a great event that is coming up on June 20th.  There are two ladies from the Kamloops Ridge Runners that have signed up to walk 100km in Sept for the Kidney March.  They each have to raise $2200.00 to participate in this walk.  They walk 40km on one day then 40km the second day and 20km on the third day.  They are having an 8km run on Sunday June 20th at nine am at Riverside Park.    You can sign up that morning or come into the store and grab an entry form.  There are awards for the top three finishers in the age categories and lots of draw prizes and of course great FOOD.   There will also be a prize for the best (or least costume).   Wayne will be there with the Runners' Sole tent and as always will donate draw prizes.  If you're looking for something to do with the family on Father's Day come  for a little run and then refreshments.  If you have any questions give me a call at the store and I'll answer them for you.   Until then happy training for a healthy life.

Kathy 

Aquaman!

So, as Kathy menitoned, Pam and Ross were up from Vancouver for the "Fit Party" at the pool. Wow. What an eye-opening experience. It was really awesome to be able to swim in the wetsuits we talk about and sell (I hadn't had a previous opportunity). It was great to pick Ross's brain about technical information like Yamamoto 39 vs 45 rubbers, the Nanoskin SCS coating, and all of the technology that goes into a wetsuit. The best part though, by far, was being able to get into the wetsuit, and get into the water and swim.

Let me tell you, the three things that stood out to me were:
the lack of sweating and overheating. I'm swimming HARD, in an indoor pool, in 5mm of neoprene, and I felt absolutely no problem with getting hot inside the suit or getting sweaty.

The second thing was the flexibility of thge suit (in this case, the AquaSphere Icon). I'm not a small dude by any means, and I fit into a small. Read that again. Six foot, 182 pounds, in a SMALL! No, this won't work for everyone my size, as I have a strong background in SCUBA and freediving where wetsuits are required, so I was able to put it on using some tricks I've learned over the years. It took a couple minutes to get in, but a couple minutes on the beach saves a couple minutes in the water. I took the suit through everything :flip turns, backstroke, freestyle, and even butterfly. I have large shoulders. I felt zero resistance from the suit. Awesome.

The thrid thing about the suit was the economy of each stroke. What I mean by this is that for each pull of the arms, I would go significantly further than if in no suit. I had to adapt my stroke for longer pulls and less frequency, but once I did that, man, was I able to fly through the water without any resistance.

If anyone gets the chance, rent a suit and bring it to the lake, the pool, whatever. It will blow your mind.
DP

Time Goes By

Where have the last five months gone?  Hard to believe June is just about upon us!  I hope everyone is having a great spring and doing lots of running and biking.  Maybe if the weather warms up you will be swimming in the lake.   I'm finding it hard to get out there and bike as I had a bad crash last year and my heart just isn't into it yet this year.  It seemed like everytime I turned around I was hearing that someone crashed, got hurt or got hit by a vehicle.  I have been doing lots of swimming and walking and tonight at the pool we are having a Fit Party with Ross and Pam from Aqua Sphere.  It will be fun trying on different wetsuits and swim accessories.  I am looking forward to trying out some fins as quite a few people at the pool are wearing them.
  Hope that everyone is well and training is going as you planned.  Have a great summer.
Kathy

Simply Running

"The equipment from my 23.8 mile run this morning. Nike+iPod thought it was 23.1, but the Forerunner is definitely more accurate. I remember when all I needed to run was shoes, socks, shorts & a t-shirt. And maybe a watch"
(props to flickr user "jakerome")

Where has the love of running gone? Is technology, looking in-style, and the "bling" factor motivating us out the door?

Or is the love of pushing yourself, smelling the fresh air, exploring a new trail, and coming home with a sense of accomplishment getting you up in the morning.

Children run not for others sake, not for fame and glory, not for times, but for the pure joy of it, they run for themselves. They keep running until they are exhausted, and love every second.

Run like a child.