March of the Penguins

Keywords: Penguins, Ouch-ward Bound Relay

The Story: Facts of penguins meet feats of people. This past weekend I was invited to run in the Outward Bound Relay with The Penguins, an all-woman bay area team inspired by the endurance of Penguins as seen in the movie: March of the Penguins. (Hint: I should have read up on Penguins before I started this endeavor.) Penguins are so completely unassuming - they look as if they were a stuffed animal first, and then became a living animal later on. Their cuteness is somehow in contrast to their inherent endurance - their ability to continuously walk 75 miles at a time, over ice, in sub-anything temperatures in the dead of winter (read: 24 darkness). They do this in order to find the perfect rookery which in turn insures the survival of their species.

This brings me to the Outward Bound Relay experience. 9 of us Penguins, somewhat unassuming in our own right, took on the 170 mile journey from Idaho Springs to Glenwood Springs, CO, starting in the cover of darkness on Friday morning. We were quickly humbled by the high elevation, and challenging elevation gains and losses. Once we had a (very loose) grasp on that, it was the incessant rain (including a bout of snow), route finding in the darkness, and lack of sleep to contend with. Among us were several Outward Bound instructors, (a couple with adventure racing experience), and some accomplished runners including an All-American track athlete and a repeat marathoner. Even still I heard this phrase uttered by my teammates more than once: "that was the hardest thing I've ever done". During my first leg I ran a mile down hill, turned a corner and commenced a 4 mile uphill with a 1500ft elevation gain at over 9000ft. It took forever. At the top I was shaky, empty and in disbelief. I passed the baton for an even more challenging leg and said to my fellow Penguins: "this relay is no joke." In fact, this race was - quite frankly - insane. A frenzy of running punctuated by nausea, vomiting, pulled hamstrings, knee pain, near-tears, and hardened, almost appalled expressions of astonished pain. I saw this in my team and in the others.

The good news is that, like the real Penguins, we made it - we delivered ourselves to the finish line upright and with a sense of purpose. We took good care of each other along the way to insure our survival. We had a blast. The other good news is that I have 363 days to prepare for the next one.

I think Fort Minor summed it up well: "This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain, and 100% reason to remember the name..."

More on the March:
Penguins: http://www.raydoan.com/abouts/about03c.htm
Relay: http://www.outwardboundrelay.com/

Outward Bound Blog

Keywords: Outward Bound, Blog, Gear

The Story: I haven't been able to post in a while, even though the facts, feats and mysteries of life on earth continue to swirl around me. Beyond work, working out, playing with friends, and all the rest, I have a mistress called www.vry627.blogspot.com. Yes, that's right, I have another blog on the side. Please stop by and see the pictures and stories that went with my Outward Bound course. It was an amazing trip, and my best OBW trip yet. I hope to teach many, many more.

Come to think of it, I have another mistress yet. It's not officially launched yet, but I thought I'd find a better way for myself (and hopefully thousands of others) to sell their outdoor gear. Yeah, that's right, Ebay and Craigslist aren't cutting it. Will this? Please drop by to see my latest project: www.igearlist.com. Tell a friend.

Just to Recap:
http://vry627.blogspot.com/
http://www.igearlist.com/

Feat of "Jackie"

Keywords: CrossFit, "Jackie", 45 lb. bar of doom

The Story: CrossFit is like a scientifically engineered sucker-punch to your body. The varied exercises recruit more muscle fibers than standard gym based strength training. Unlike most standard tri-weekly gym routines, CrossFit is performed at exceedingly high intensities pushing on the anaerobic threshhold. It has been heralded by fire fighters, police, military, paddlers, adventure racers, and olympians for bringing them to new levels. It has also killed a few along the way.

Today I show up at my Wendesday morning CrossFit routine, after 4 weeks away, to find that we are going to do "Jackie" - a workout, like many CrossFit workouts, that is named after a hurricane. "Jackie" is 1000 meters of rowing, 50 thrusters with a 45 lb. bar, then 30 pull-ups. Oh, and that's timed. Here we go. I perform the 1000 meters as best I could, gliding the seat and trying to utilize my best form instead of using my legs and lungs. I'm stoked to finish in 3:57, a time that I would have been proud of as a 19 year-old. I am elated, but this diminishes quickly as I approach my nemesis, the 45#. I feel like a water skier who has just let go of the motor boat. I'm sinking slowly. This week alone I've taught a very challenging kayaking class, and then in a fit of stupidity, rode my mountain bike 69 miles over 7000 vertical feet. But, the bar seems to trump all of this. It's cold and heavy and lifeless. It's going to truely hurt me.

I start my thrusters, 5 and 6 at a time. Each one doesn't feel like an exercise, but a decision. I'm having to talk to myself. Out loud. "One more!" It comes down to my last 6 thrusters and images of the CrossFit mascot, Pukey the Clown, come to mind. I'm getting the irony now - the clown, puking, it's kind of like, "ha-ha you thought this was going to be fun and good, and now look! The funny clown is hurt - he's puking! Joke's on you!" Last one. I bring myself into a low squat and begin to press into my heels. Nothing is happening. I press my lungs down seemingly into my pelvis with my best trumpet cheeks-face and clinch everything I can. In a flash of pain, there's movement, then disbelief - I'm up - and done! Except for the small matter of 30 pull-ups, of which I can do exactly 2.5. Fortunately, in this instance I'm allowed a plywood box to do jumpers from, and I finish off "Jackie" in 19:20. Today, if only briefly, I am my own hero, and it is not even 7am.

At Your Own Risk:
http://www.crossfit.com/

Wardenclyffe Wireless

Keywords: Tesla, Wireless, Energy

The Story: We have come to think of energy transmission almost exclusively in terms of wires. Sure we have cell phones, but we still have to stop and plug in the toaster. In the late 1800's Nikola Tessla, a man credited with ushering in the modern technological era, thought of energy quite differently than we do now. In addition to inventing AC current and the Tesla Coil, he had a vision (or obsession) for a wireless world. His goal was to create a system for wireless communications, and perhaps more importantly, wireless energy transmission. He put great efforts into devising a system to power ships at sea via stratospheric transmission of power. His idea was to pulse huge amounts of power into Earth, the enormous magnet that it is - and once the pulses built up - emit a massive voltage around the world via a tall antannae. The massive Wardenclyffe tower constructed in 1901 was designed by Tessla under the guise of wanting to transmit radio signals to europe; however, his intent was indeed to demonstrate wireless power transmission. Unfortunately, his investor, J.P. Morgan, was not wild about this idea. When he saw that the tower had no meter with which to charge people for the energy, he pulled the funding. There was a lot more money in coal, copper wire, and charging on the meter than there was global wireless energy. Yes, you have a fancy little cell phone, but perhaps the real technological advancement is the fact that you can be charged for using it.

Energize:
http://www.teslascience.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower

Liquid Courage in Gold Country

Keywords: Liquid Camp, HIV, Gold Country

The Story: I was no sooner recovered from my stint in Utah when I was again called to the river, this time to help out with the first day of Liquid, a kayak school for teens living with HIV and AIDS. Among the teens I met was one 15 year-old from the Bronx, I don't know whether to call him a boy, or a man, because he is caught between. He woke up at 12 am and took a taxi to the hospital where his pediatrition helped him get ready for the airplane ride. His horse-pill medications for the week are sorted into a pill box that looks like a cross between a chess board and a tackle box. 12 hours later, I greet him at the airport in SF and take him to the South Fork of the American River in the California foothills - to the heart of the "Gold Country". The foothills by now are covered in fuzzy dry grass - the whole place smells, looks and feels HOT. We cross the Highway 49 bridge and the river below us looks smooth and dark. The textures of the river against the foothills reminds me of a silk ribbon on a stuffed animal. As soon as we get to camp, Kelly, the founder of Liquid, turns the group around and we head to the water. He asks everyone to practice a wet exit - to turn their kayaks upside down, and extract themselves by popping their spray skirts and taking the kayak off like a pair of stiff pants. Many people find this to be a daunting and disorienting task.

So, here is our friend from the Bronx, now 3000 or so miles from home, sitting in a kayak, with his face tied up with apprehension. He's leaned over rigidly and gripping the coaming of his boat. He tells us nervously that he can't swim. He doesn't really know what kayaking is about, he has no relationship with this sport - I'm not sure he's ever seen a kayak. He tells us he's a basketball player. Besides that, we know that his life is sometimes a series of things he has no control over. Born infected with HIV, he has no control now whether he will lose a parent or another friend to AIDS, whether his meds will bring up his lunch again, or give him diahrea. Whether the next cold will turn into pneumia and put him in the hospital, or whether his meds will just stop working one day. Whether his classmates will treat him with respect, or like a pariah. After 20 minutes of sitting in this kayak, he wrestles his fear to the mat - he takes a deep breath and gingerly rolls his boat over. He frantically pounds the sides of his boat with his fists, and then his hands disappear to release his spray skirt. He eases out of the boat, and pops up gasping, sputtering, and rubbing his face. The group erupts in applause. It is a small, but powerful victory - who's in control now?

Thus another kayaker has been born in the Gold Country. Another kayaker who will learn to control his own boat, in order to navigate the rapids and rocks. A feat of sheer will and bravery. Now I have to ask you, my friends, when was the last time you started the day at home and ended the day so far away and doing something so new to you -that you couldn't even begin to really describe it? When was the last time you sat in fear and then, the next moment, simply took control of it? Where is your Gold Country?

Donate or Emulate:
http://www.liquidcamp.com/

A River Runs Over It

Keywords: Split Mountain, Green River, Geology

The Story: The Green River runs from the Continental Divide outside of Pinedale, WY and joins the Colorado River in Utah. In between, it gains quite a bit of confidence. Below Flaming Gorge Dam, the Green River goes through the Gates of Lodore, Whirlpool Canyon and then Split Mountain. I think the National Park Service describes this section best: "...with seeming disregard of regional features, the Green River crosses the Uinta Mountains, the Uinta Basin, and the Tavaputs Plateaus, and its tributaries pass through, instead of around, rock domes...." Split Mountain is one example of this head strong Green River - paradoxically, the river cuts right through the mountain instead of going around it. Like a hot knife to butter, the river stayed it's course as the mountain came up from underneath it. The result is spectacular. As is the canyon - a magical place where recreation meets ancient history - you can raft through the 1500 ft. canyon comprised of Jurassic era rock, complete with fossils. This tiny picture does not do it justice, you must see it yourself to believe it. (By the way, when there are no new posts next week, this is where I will be.)

Read more:
http://www.durangobill.com/Lodore.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/colorado/chap2.htm

The "Bunion Derby" of 1928

Keywords: Bunion, Run Across America, Ultra Running

The Story: Long before endurance sports and ultra running (running distances longer than the standard marathon) became popular, there was "The Great American Foot Race" a.k.a. the "Bunion Derby". Now this is my kind of race. Yes, this is partly because I have bunions, but mostly because it was so progressive, outlandish, and extreme for it's day. There were no Nike sponsorships (or shoes!) back then, no Dean Karnazes to champion the sport, and no Chris Carmichael to train athletes. There was just this: a foot race across America, and a group of folks daring enough to try it. On March 4, 1928 199 runners left Ascot Speedway in Los Angeles, and over two months later, on May 26th, 55 runners arrived in Madison Square Garden. While averaging 40 miles per day, the daily runs ranged from 17 miles to approximately 75 miles. Incredible! The winner was 19 year old Oaklahoma native Andy Payne; however the age range of the runners was between 16 and 63. Thankfully, the top 10 runners received a monetary prize for this extreme effort. Andy used his money to buy his parents a house, and himself a car and some land. After that, he never ran again. As for the bunions? The race was aptly named by the press. Repetitive pounding on the feet, coupled with poor biomechanics can cause the bones of the feet to rearrange a bit as seen in this picture. (Nothing a little prize money wouldn't cover.)

Read more:
http://www.itvs.org/footrace/index.htm