LIFE IN NORTH VAN

Brilliant weekend down in Washington. The weather was amazing - it's incredible how different the climate is on the other side of a big range of mountains. Blue skies and very warm, quite a surprise. Before we got there we had to travel down of course, and that meant getting across the border. I don't know what it is about the guards at the US border, but they are the surliest bunch of gets you've ever met (oh hang on, that's it). We had a woman who looked like she could kick the arse of the UFC champ, and she made me feel like every question she asked me had some hidden agenda behind it. ALL I WANT TO DO IS VISIT, DO MY RACE, THEN COME HOME. HONEST. We got in eventually.

The race was epic and as usual nearly killed me. It started at 08:30 and the temperature in the valley was cool so I had a long sleeve top on and a short sleeve on top of that. I was wearing my running backpack with 1.5 litres of Gatorade and a bunch of gels in the pocket. After about 4 miles it was getting really warm so I figured I'd lose a layer before I overheated. I had a pace going and didn't want to stop and have people flooding past me, so I figured I could do it while I was running. I even figured that I could take my top layer off without taking my backpack off. So I pulled my T up, then pulled it back and over my head. Then I almost dislocated my right shoulder trying to get my arm through something. The plan was good, I just hadn't thought it through. So I pulled it back down, took the backpack off and held it in my left hand - still running - then stripped both layers off. Can you imagine what the runners behind me were thinking? I know what I would've been thinking and the word TOSSER is in there. Anyway I eventually got my short sleeve T back on and the backpack back on and strapped on, and only one runner passed me. Result! The next couple of miles were fairly uneventful. Smoothish trails through trees, along lakes, steady climbs. Then we hit a road section for about 2 miles which I absolutely hated. Hard on the feet/knees and hot as hell as the sun was right up and we were out of the trees. At about 14 miles I stepped on a stone with left foot and I thought a red hot nail had gone through it. The pain was flippin excruciating. I've had a sensitive patch on the ball of my left foot for a couple of weeks, but it's never bothered me much, I just thought I'd bruised it on a training run. Holy crap, this hurt so much I amost fell over. I actually thought seriously that my race was over. Then I thought I'd give it a go and see how it held up to the next aid station. If it was too bad I could get a lift to the finish. And it was ok-ish, so long as I avoided any stones. I had to do a couple of very steep climbs and descents where the pressure on the ball of my foot made it uncomfortable but at least I could finish the race. At about 18 miles I started to get little stabs of cramp but I just ran through them. It started in my quads just above my knees, then moved to my hamstrings, then to my calves. Luckily they just stayed as stabs and not the full blown thing. I'll put that down to the heat and reaching the longest bit of running I've done for some time. I crossed the line in 3hrs 37mins which put me in 57th out of 132 finishers so not too bad. Actually I'm dead chuffed cos I lost a load of places when my foot exploded, and the cramps slowed me down, and the general beating that 22 miles on the trail hands out also slowed me down. My legs are sore and stiff today, but that'll pass. I'll leave it till the end of the week before I go back out for a run. I'll have to get my foot checked out though - you don't ignore pain like that.

The journey back through the Cascade mountains was ridiculously gorgeous. I tried to load these photos onto Flickr but I've hit the limit with a free account so this poxy MS blog won't do them justice but never mind.

Friday was very cool. I got uo to the top of the mountain and picked up the Dodge pickup. This thing must have a 250 litre engine in it and it's higher than a monster truck. My job was to drive to a park at the Canada/US border and get a load of our picnic table planks planed. Sweet. So I loaded the thing up with 25 big stonkin planks and headed out down Highway 1. Beautiful day, big truck, full tank of gas, not much traffic on the highway. The park is really nice, just next to the ocean at the border. And the planer is a top piece of kit. Feed a plank in one end and it comes out the other minus a couple of mill and shavings everywhere. It took about 40 minutes and then I was back on the highway. Once I'd unloaded the planks I had to go down onto the snowshoe trails and bring some of the poles in. On my way there I met up with the snowcat driver who offered to take me all the way round in the cat. Sweet with knobs on! I've always wanted a ride in the cat so that finished off a very good day. When I got home Linda suggested that - as Joe was at the movies with his buddies - we get changed and go to the pub for a beer and a plate of nachos. It was one of those days that just kept getting better.

Today has been gorgeous in the Cove. Blue skies, warm temperature, and a Capsize Recovery course with 4 people on it. We all had dry suits on as the water is still ffffffffffffffffflippin freezin. My first time in a dry suit and I'm impressed. I'm used to the warmth of my wetsuit so I felt that difference, but they're a hell of a lot easier to get on and off - and you stay dry! Except for my head which gave me hellish brainfreeze when I was showing off and doing a roll. That'll learn me.

After the course I did a 3 hour Explorer tour, with just one guy. Who happens to be the most interesting guy I've met. He's called Pat and he's a pilot for FedEx. He's from Memphis and is on a stopover in Vancouver. He also plays guitar and gigs with people like Jimmy Johnson (American bluesman), Chris Difford (ex-Squeeze), Marty Pellow (ex Wet Wet Wet) and others. He played at the Albert Hall for that teenage cancer thing that Roger Daltrey organised. And he's been kayaking for years. His FedEx job finances his guitar playing job. This guy had some awesome stories, and paddled like a demon. We basically did the 5 hour tour route in 3 hours. Top day.