Blog revival inspired by John Lovie Sr.

When you're a kid, especially a teen, there are so many things that influence you. Obviously your family plays a huge role. But if you're lucky enough like I was, you might have two families that you're very close to. For me my second family was hugely important in my life. The family led by John Lovie Sr.

John's daughter Alison and I became close friends in junior high school. I spent as much time at the Lovie household as I did at my own. John and Janice became my adopted parents. Please don't misinterpret this, there was nothing wrong with my own parents, I was just lucky enough to have a second very loving family take me into their lives and show me many ways to live that were different from my own home. I'm sure that Alison would say the same about my parents, particularly my Mom, since we were either at her house or mine for 5 years straight.

The Lovies taught me to play hockey and helped me find my athleticism.

They taught me that I was loved beyond the expected love of my biological family.

They taught me how to navigate on a road trip. I still love road trips.

They taught me to sing out loud even though I'm a terrible singer.

They let me sleep on the floor under their dining room table when I needed a place to crash and there were no beds to be had. I had free access to their house and their kitchen. Those of you who know me, know how much I eat and can understand that this is a big deal.

The Lovies taught me to say "I love you" openly as you never know what might happen. Perhaps you'll never get a chance to say it again.

John Lovie Senior passed away and I didn't manage to get back to Edmonton to say, "I love you", one more time. I hope you know it.

We'll miss you.

I've revived this blog for 2 reasons. To express my feelings about John's passing and to get the habit going so I can blog about my upcoming race. TransPortugal 2013. I dedicate the greatest race of my life to the memories of my 2 dads, Ronald James Nobbs and John Lovie Sr.

"Well, that depends."

There's been something on my mind lately. Why is it that we all believe ourselves to be unique individuals and yet as a race, humans readily buy into ideas that are marketed as the one right solution? Why do we jump on the band wagon so quickly? Why is it so hard for us to step back, take a deep breath and problem solve our way to the right answer for us as an individual instead of just grasping onto the latest trend?

I had a strained conversation with a client this week that had me thinking about this. He asked me what seems to be a simple question, "What is the better way to train, aerobically or anaerobically?"

My answer was, "Well, that depends." Then I asked him what his goals were. His answer was to be fit. Then I said, "What does fit mean to you? What is your specific fitness goal?" He didn't have an answer for me. He wanted me to give him the one right answer. What I told him was that there is no one right answer. There is only knowledge to draw from and to help us find our way but only if we know what our goal is.

In my experience, that is precisely what most people do not want to hear. And I wonder why that is. Is it that people don't want to have to ask themselves the questions they need to to define their goals? How can you find the right path if you don't know what the desired destination is? If one person wants to go to Alaska and another to Europe, it makes absolutely no sense that they would follow the same path to their destinations.

So if we're willing to accept that each of us is different, how can we expect simple answers to our questions? There is no black and white, only shades of grey. Why are people so uncomfortable with grey?

Strong Chicks Workout Sept. 29

I'm in the middle of my fall push to get people on some strength training and injury prevention. This is the perfect time of year to do it.

As part of this plan, I will be posting examples of overviews of some workouts we do do in my Strong Chicks Strength and Conditioning class on my blog if you're interested in seeing what we've been up to.

The goal of these classes is to get in a whole body workout in one hour. We use body weight based exercises including some plyometrics, some light weights, kettle bells and resistance bands. I try to change it up frequently in terms of the types of exercises we do and the speed we do them. Usually we use a circuit format to minimize down time between exercises.

All of my classes emphasize functional strength, core strength and balance work. Not only will the exercise help people perform better in their chosen sport but it works as great injury prevention.

Here's what we did last Thursday night:

• Medicine ball warm-up
• Dynamic warm-up to prep for running
• 6 times through very short (around 10 sec) hard fast running drills
• Running against band resistance and band resisted biceps
• Pull-up (assisted), partial body weight push-up using exercise ball, squats
• Beginner kipping pull-up, Bosu push-ups, glutes!!
• A whole bunch of different core exercises and triceps using the Bosu ball and medicine balls.

Classes are Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm. I keep the class size very small (5 maximum) so that I have time to help people with form and adjust the exercises according to a participant's ability. As such, I cannot take no notice drop-ins. If you'd like to attend class, please contact me directly to confirm that I have room on the night you wish to attend.

The cost is $15 per class but a discount is available if you turn out to be a regular and wish to pay for several classes in advance.

Have fun and play hard. Life is too short to do it any other way.

Cassie

Reflecting on near disaster

High Cascades 100 was the hardest thing I've ever done. Harder than Ironman, in my opinion. Mostly because this race took me longer (by 4 hours than my slowest IM finish) and you don't have the benefit of changing activities to break things up. I registered for this race knowing that it would be a true test of my limits. I wasn't sure I could finish 100 miles on a mountain bike. Of course, the biggest challenges present the greatest learning opportunities.

The race started from Wanoga Snow Park outside of Bend OR at 5:45 am. The race was presented as a 100 miler but in the previous 2 years it had been closer to 98 miles. This year we were told that it would it would be 103 miles with 14 000 feet of climbing. It turned out to be 108. It doesn't seem like much, 5 miles, but those 5 miles turned out to be very significant.

I won't bore you with excessive details of the race. Suffice to say that there were a lot of ups and downs. Moments when I was miserable enough to cry, and moments when I giggled with delight as I floated down beautiful single track, swooping on banked corners and easily gliding over drops and log overs. Then I came to mile 75.

The Swampy aid station was the first time cut off. I had just struggled through several miles of climbing with nothing in the tank, a back that was so sore I couldn't climb more that 50% of the time, even on the low grade hills. I made it to Swampy with 30 min to spare, but based on my last few miles, there was no way I was going to make it to the finish line in the light. Tom was there and with his encouragement I continued on to the next aid station, in spite of the fact that I had already been in the saddle for 11:30.

I made the next aid station cut off by less than 10 min. I was in decent shape, still feeling like I had no power but I knew that I had the endurance to make it home. After all, I expected it to only take 2 hours, I was already at mile 87. Unfortunately, I didn't know that I had another 21 miles (the course was longer than advertised) including a huge climb.

2 hours passed, dusk came and I hit 100 miles. I still had to find my way back to the finish in the dark. It turns out, I wasn't alone, there were 14 other riders still out there. I was very happy that I had the foresight to put a headlamp in my pack. It was still a nerve racking hour trying make my way back without overshooting my headlamp, trying to stay alert for course arrows.

When I crossed the finish line. Tom was anxiously awaiting me. He didn't know I had a light and was very worried. I got a big hug from Tom and congratulations from several people. The best was from Justin who manned the last aid station. I can't quote him exactly but it was something to the effect of good job, you probably hate me a little right now. All I could do was stare at him in disbelief. Yes, I did hate him at that moment, 16 hours and 13 min after I had started this crazy adventure. But, in reality, I love Justin. He's worked at several events that I've attended and he does a fantastic job. But sometimes, you have to hate someone when they push you to your edge and he certainly did that.

So here we are 3 days later. I'm still fatigued but not really in pain. This is a vast improvement over my inability to bend over the day after the race. I can stand up for longer than 10 min at a time. I can stay awake for more than 2 hours and I'm not waking suddenly from dreams of falling off my bike. The numb spot on the base of my neck is almost gone, my hands have stopped cramping and I am ready to get back on my bike.

After I've done something like this I always get asked if I had fun. No, I can't really say that it was fun, but there is nothing like pushing yourself to your limit to help discover who you are. That is priceless.

Happy riding.
Cassie

Almost 1/3 of the way

Right now I am composing this email from the car. I am with my massage teammates as we are heading back to H2otel for the end of stage 3. It's been very hard work so far. I am tired.

The Race, Day 1:

The first day was wet and very muddy. Kate, a Canadian-Norwegian was bitten badly by a large dog but still managed to come in 4th overall. There are some very fast women here this year.

Tom had a tough first day. No major problems but lots of little issues that added up to a frustrating day that was slower than he had hoped for. Three mud was horrible and in spite of being very tired he had to do a loot of work on his bike. On the up side, the route was beautiful, the day not too hot and our hotel was a lovely stone B&B in a farm setting. Homemade everything for breakfast including yogurt. It reminded me of my grandma.

The massage area was chaos the first night. We all did our best, but it was tough. All of us working until 11 pm at least. I did 12 massages. This will be my own endurance event of sorts.

Day 2:

Riders were already starting to show signs of fatigue. Kate had another great day in spite of her dog bite. A lady in an older age group is also doing very well, Anne Van de Broeke. In this race people start at different times depending on statistics related to gender and age. This means that Anne starts earlier than anyone else. But whoever crosses the finish first winds the stage regardless of how they started. It makes it very exciting because it is quite possible for a woman to win a stage and the young boys all have to chase her down.

Tom had a great day. He felt good, rode all the technical parts well and finished much better than the previous day.

I got worked. 13 massages and couldn't fall asleep until 1am. Back up again at 7 the next morning to eat and head out to the first check point for today.

Day 3:

Anne and Kate came through the first check point first as expected. I became worried when Tom did not come through with his group. It got later and still no Tom. Finally Tom's brother Rich, came through and let me know that Tom had a flat. Not good, but better than an injury. When Tom came through he let me know that he had already had many adventures I will get more of the story later.

Off to the fancy hotel. If we get there soon enough I will get to swim. By the time any one at home reads this, I will be elbow deep in massages.

To be continued...

Cassie

Day 7 - Athena

Tom booked us two nights at the fancy hotel. We arranged to rent a bike for me. After breakfast, we picked up Athena, a very heavy Specialized Hard Rock with mechanical disc brakes.

Tom and I rode for a total of about 4 hours, climbing climbing climbing. Much of it very steep and rocky. At one point we came across a large herd if goats. As we got closer two HUGE dogs jumped up from their nap and started barking. There was one older dog and a younger dog. Three older dog got a good look at us, figured out we were no threat, laid down and got back to his serious business of napping. The other dog marked at us for at least another 45 min. What amazed us was that they were out there, guarding the goats without any human in sight!!

We finished the day with some splashing about in the pools, indulging under the massaging waterfalls then an excellent dinner.

One more night in the fancy hotel. Then slowly driving upheading up to race.

Cassie

Day 6 - The Short Cut

We woke up in Batalha to the sound of church bells outside our window. The little abbey next door made quite a racket. Tom and I decided it had "little church syndrome" and who wouldn't with The Cathedral across the way.

We were the first in The Cathedral that morning, pleasantly surprised to have it nearly to ourselves and with free entry since it was Revolution Day. I do not have words that can describe our experience adequately. Awe inspiring grand spaces. Stone ceilings so high they seemed impossible. Does gravity not have the same effect in these places? Brilliant stained glass casting bright butterflies and stripes of light on the walls and the floor. Stone carvings so delicate, how did the stone not fracture? All of this done with technology that is more than 500 years old!

Try to imagine what life would be like to live as a worker during the construction. You'd be born into your job and die before it's completion.

We left Batalha to head to the mountains. On the way, stopping at a Roman ruins site. Awe inspiring in a different way. Walking on stones, worn deep by people who walked there as many as 2000 years ago. Coming from North America, it's hard to grasp.

We decided to stick to larger roads to get to our fancy hotel in the mountains sooner rather than later. This is not really in keeping with our road trip style, we usually much prefer to get off the beaten path. As we got closer to the mountains, l asked Tom if he'd like to take a "short cut". He looked at me skeptically and asked if I was sure I could navigate us through it, especially given our somewhat serpentine route the day previous. I was confident, so off the beaten path we went.

Now, before I go further I feel a need to defend my decision. Everyone told me that there are no real mountains in Portugal and the roads on the map looked pretty straight. Well, l am here to say that there are serious mountains in Portugal, they may not be tall but they are really steep and the roads look straight on the map because they wind so tightly it would be impossible to map it. Instead they just draw a line in the right general direction. Add this to the fact that there are a million little towns to get turned around in, built in impossible ravines with seriously inadequate signage and you have a recipe for disaster.

I will save you the gory details but in summary:
An extra 2.5 hours traveling time
Roads with grades up to 16%
25% of these roads single lane
Traveling speeds often as low as 25km/hr
1 goat herder complete with herd in the road
Sheer drop offs with no guard rail
The most beautiful villages I have ever seen

We arrived at the fancy H2otel later than planned but much richer for the journey.

Cassie