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This was supposed to be my last training run before Miwok 100k. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

All I really wanted was a nice long run somewhere in the 10-11 hour range to properly prepare my body for all the stresses and discomforts of a 100k event. I figured since I was still in recovery mode from Diez Vista 50k last Saturday and that I had ran 16 miles of road the day after, my legs would be really dead.

Having been born at Lions Gate Hospital and having lived on the North Shore for all of my life it could be easy to take this place for granted. But I don't. I often hear of people complaining about the rain, the cold, the expense etc. I guess complainers are just complainers and I grew up in a family where complaining is a no no. (Unless of course you are standing in a gondola line up on a certain north shore mountain). My only complaint about today is that it's ending.

I truly prefer to keep things upbeat and positive, but every now and then something happens that ticks me off so much I feel compelled to tell the world about it.

It happened to me today, in fact. Yup, 17 years down a rat-hole.

You see, I moved to British Columbia 17 years ago. My first home: Whistler, BC. It was a lifestyle choice... go to the biggest and best and ski 'till the snow is all gone.

Today was an epic day. But it started out on thin ice. Wader called late last night with a very tempting offer: "Tomorrow morning. I'll be at your place at 7:00 am. We're going back-country skiing at Cypress."

I immediately fell into the morass of analysis paralysis.

The cons: It's going to be icy. My ribs are broken. Wader will kick my ass. I don't know how to use the gear. I'll have to get up early. I'm out of shape. I'll get further behind at work. I just about froze in the fog up on Grouse last night, so I'll freeze for sure tomorrow morning. I'll fall down a tree well and die a cold, slow and miserable death.

The pros: I love Wader and I've not seen him in a while. I really, really want to try back-country skiing now that I've got the basic gear. It might have snowed on Cypress last night. I have to chat with Wader about the Western States 100-mile run soon anyway, so going back-country skiing with him is wayyyy cheaper than going drinking with him. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow. I can work in the afternoon and all night. What if I get hit by a bus tomorrow morning, anyway?

Well it is time when I realize that I should start training in earnest. Have a bit of a knee issue but it seems to be coming along (with lots of icing). But I am sure like a lot of you my biggest issue is the constant balancing act of finding the balance between family/career/training. Any suggestions or examples of how you deal with it? Pat Whose waistline has increased over the winter...

First it was my calf. For some reason, in late January when I was in fact feeling strong like bull, something in my calf muscle went "boing!" and that was that. Every time I went for a run of more than 15 minutes, I could feel my muscle tear again, ripping kind of like a piece of paper under my skin.

Carlos did steal my thunder but yeah, I ran Diez Vista 50K on Saturday after a 3 year absence. The last time I ran this I made numerous mental mistakes and gutted out a 7:53 in 2005. This time I only made one mistake (new shoes) but I finished with a 6:36:12 (race results are up by the way), so a 77 minute PR!

Great run by all the CFA troupe, I remixed the movie so that it plays smoother. Appologies for the heavy breathing and "body" noises.. Hahahahaha!