Challenge By Choice Performance Training

Rippin' Young Guns

2012-02-27T14:51:00.002-08:00

So cool when your strength and conditioning coach gets to actually be there on the mountain to see you take first place! Today at Grouse, Maja Wooley took first place at the Tyee Championship and coach Alicia was there. This is one of the most rewarding feelings as a coach, when you get to witness first hand goals being achieved. I'm really proud of Maja and all our young guns. They are working hard and their efforts are paying off!

Next semester of Young Guns (ages 10-14) starts in March. WED is full but there is some space left on THURS. Let me know if you have kids who are keen to attend.

Winter Racing

2012-02-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

I'm having a heck of a time keeping up with everyone at CBC. So many people have been off racing on the weekends. Hard to tell who is still in full ski mode and those who are already ripping on the bike. I know lots of people are run focused now and are cursing at the new fallen snow. Either way, people are out there, getting it done and we think it's AWESOME. Keep us informed so we can post about it. Your actions inspire others so just remember that.

Our Young Guns have been working extremely hard with Aleisha for the past few months. Watching these kids progress over the past 4+ months has been so cool. We are seeing top finishes from many of them on the ski front including Kasper Wooley who had an amazing 1st place finish day #1 at the BC Winter Games. Mikayla Martin is winning nearly every race she enters and we are all following along in the newspaper each week. Congrats to all the Young Guns.

The Payak Loppet was this past weekend and JF was up there cheering! He reports back as it being "awesome." I don't know everyone's results yet but congrats to B, Rua Reed and Richard Savage who I know for sure were out there hammering hard.

Last weekend was the "First 1/2" half marathon in the city. Di Adams, Sheena Harris and Ciara McCoughlin all had great runs.

Those who ride compu trainer know that Carena Dean, one of our amazing multi-sport endurance athletes has been prepping all winter for the 1000km+ bike ride in Nepal called the Yak Attack. She has now left and we are wishing her all the best on this awesome race course!

Meanwhile down in the USA, two of my Californian athletes just ripped up the 4 day adventure race course in Ecuador, finishing a solid second. The team only missed 1st by a few hours. Congrats Kyle and Marco. You guys are legends.

I've written about my Hong Kong 100km experience on my own blog. You can also join my new "athlete page" JEN SEGGER on FB to keep current on my adventures.

This week starts the Loop the Lakes Clinics! 26 people signed up and I can't wait to get coaching again on the trail and get everyone ready. We have all levels coming out, setting goals and ready for 3 months of quality training.

While I have your attention, please note the new MARCH calendar. A few more changes will happen in April as it all has to do with coaches switching around to cover different classes as we enter into trail running season and as outdoor riding starts next month. We have lots of mountain biking programs about to start in April too - keep posted!

Mid Month Update

2012-02-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

Hola from Hong Kong folks! I'm just getting set to race in my first 100km run of 2012. I'm very excited to get on the course and experience some trail madness. I appreciate all the emails that are coming in to wish me luck, it feels great to know I have the CBC community behind me.

In the mean time, a few quick updates:

Feb 16th - would you believe it! CBC has been opened for 1 year. Thankyou to all of you who have made it possible for us to be rocking and rolling as a first year business. We are stoked about the future of where things are going. Being that I am away, we couldn't plan an official CBC Birthday party but we will look to do something soon!

Trail Clinics get underway in 2 weeks time. This is the only trail coaching that I will be doing this year so if you are keen to learn and train with purpose, I highly recommend you check it out. We are near capacity but I think there is always room to squeeze a few more in.

The winter race series up in the lab continue onwards and we are so excited to see that Dwayne Kress just rode his way in last week's King Of the Mountain Stage to 1st place overall. So awesome. Full results can be found HERE on last weeks stage.

And lastly, you can expect to see some MARCH calendar changes coming. This is due to the addition of trail running classes to the schedule and the shifting about of the inside program. I will have MARCH up soon. We also have a few classes that are just not busy so those will be disappearing for awhile. As always, please try to be consistent with your sign in and sign out activity, remembering the 8pm cancellation rule the night before and the 4hr withdrawl rule for all other class times.

THANKS - onwards and upwards!

Dwaye and Rua ROCKING the race series

2012-02-11T22:27:00.001-08:00

Coach Mike and I get so pumped up for the arrival of Wednesday evening results from the past week of the winter race series. Race #5 (Plateau's and Climbs) had CBC athletes posting top scores in comparison to all the other ride facilities who are taking place. Congrats to Dwayne Kress who's super powers put him 2nd overall and to Rua Reid who finished 3rd amongst all the female riders. We've also gotta say that its tonnes of fun watching the regular 6pm crew of Larry Klein, John Cameron, Stew Kerr, Mark Sutherland and Greg Pitt ride each week, we think they are in it for the beers that follow the hard work :)

Here is Peak Performance's re-cap of the week. We'll see how CBC riders stacked up this week in the King of the Mountains stage.

Stage 5 marked the first and only Plateaus and Climbs course for the Winter Series racing. The course featured a series of steep climbs followed with prolonged sections of flats that offered very little opportunity for recovery. However riders were rewarded with a few downhill rest periods, and these were well deserved after negotiating the steepest gradients of the series so far. Before we get into the results, we have added a new feature to our website so you guys can check out the course profiles before you race. Follow the link below and click “Read More” under the ‘Winter Racing Series’. The course profiles are available by clicking on the Stage Descriptions. http://www.peakcentrevancouver.ca/burnaby/burnaby-classes-clinics/

Onto the racing, and again what a week it was. In Men’s A, Peak Ottawa superstar Alexandre Gagnon shredded the tough course this week, averaging over 300 watts while being one of the lighter guys in the competition. Alex separated himself from the rest by almost a minute, finishing in a time of 34:18.5. Second and third place was more of a battle between Squamish and Minnesota. With less than four seconds to separate the two riders, it was Dwayne Kress from Challenge by Choice Squamish that got the better of Sam Janicki from Tri-Fitness Minnesota, as they finished in 35:10.6 and 35:14.0 respectively. Seven of the Men’s A riders were separated by less than a minute this week, showing how competitive and variable the points can be from week to week. Alexandre further extends his overall lead by a margin of 17 points over Sam Janicki, with Peak Vancouver’s Roger Lee maintaining a closely contested third spot.

Women’s A showed just how strong they are again this week, with the top three ladies putting in times that would score them big points in Men’s B! The battle for the top continues as this week it was Kelly Knowles from Peak Ottawa nudging herself to the win over Peak Vancouver’s Alison Wood. The times were close, but Kelly found the legs to go seven seconds faster than Alison finishing in 38:19.4. The fierce battle between Kelly and Alison continues as Kelly’s win puts her back at the top of the GC standings, only one point ahead of Alison. Finding podium form once again was Challenge by Choice Squamish rider Rua Reid, who took third place and is really starting to impress. Rua went sub 39 minutes as well as the rest of the podium, finishing in 38:55.5.

Following on from Rua’s great performance was fellow Challenge by Choice Squamish rider Renee Brickner. Renee was the one to beat in the Women’s B race this week, winning the stage and taking 20 points in the GC standings. Renee’s finish time was 41:02.3. Coming in second this week, and doing Peak Vancouver proud was Grace Menning. Grace managed to hold off last week’s winner Emily Flynn as she rode to a time of 42:06.1. A further 15 seconds behind was Peak Ottawa rider Emily Flynn, who scores another podium for the season with a time of 42:21.1. Emily maintains her 10 point lead at the top of the Woman’s B overall standings, whilst Grace Menning jumps into the second spot, only two points from Peak Burlington’s hot shot Melanie Shields who lies in third.

The rest of Men’s B did indeed step it up as requested, and the rider who took the biggest leap was SBR Coaching Wisconsin rider Bill Martin. It is rumored that Bill took a rest day prior to the race this week, and his tactics paid off as he took the stage win in style, finishing in a time of 37:04.1. This was enough to earn him a 20 second gap over last week’s winner Shawn McCleery from Peak Ottawa. Shawn did himself justice coming in second place in 31:24.7. Close on Shawn’s wheel was Peak Vancouver’s John Forsyth, a previous stage winner himself. John took well to the tough course and finished a mere six seconds behind second place, with a time of 37:30.6. In the overall standings all three podium riders are only separated by 10 points! Shawn McCleery retains the top for another week, six points ahead of John Forsyth, who is another four points in front of Peak Vancouver’s Alex Willis. Alex did manage to win some accolades with this week’s Golden Bucket award – nice to see you duffer buddy!

Here is the link with the full results of the stage: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhXrz7isgo7NdDg2LWZrNS01dmlwMTZocE9vR3MxQXc&hl=en_US#gid=1

Grand 2 Grand Ultra

2012-02-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

Holy Smokes! If you want to participate in what I think will be one of the coolest stage races ever, check out this new race that just launched a few days ago: the Grand 2 Grand Ultra!

Website: www.g2gultra.com

Plenty of time to get trained up and ready. I'm sitting on the board of advisors for this event and will be down there during the competition. Check out the training side of the site soon too where I will be posting the need to know's about participating in this type of endurance event so that you enjoy your experience!

And........up until the end of February, they are offering 30% off registration which is a huge savings! Give it some thought and if you are keen to go, let me know! Note, the race will have a true international flavor with only 10 people per country allowed. There is a team category as well.

I will be down at the race but won't be able to run it this year! I'll be there cheering for everyone who takes on this epic!

8pm Cancellation Rule

2012-02-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

New rule in effect folks as of February 1st. In order to ensure that we see 10 people at those 6am classes, the new time to withdraw is at 8pm the night prior.
If you hold a 10x pass and withdraw post 8pm, your card will be debited as a visit. If you are a monthly membership person, it's the 3 strikes and your out.

So please.......this is intended to help everyone one as a whole community! We see constant wait lists of 3 deep for the 6am classes and we want to see 10 people there each morning of the week. Please consider carefully when booking into classes if you are selecting a time that works with your lifestyle!

Cheers - happy training - thanks for your understanding.

CBC athletes all over the podium!

2012-02-01T22:10:00.000-08:00

The winter race series continues up in the Lab. CBC athletes are representing Squamish well, showing that crazy awesome athletes live and train here. As the weeks go on, Mike and I find ourselves so keen to see how the riders stacked up against North American competition. Dang...super impressive thus far. Here is the report from Race Series #4 - Net downhill (sprint)

Final Results here!

Stage four of the Winter Racing Series took us to the first ‘Net Downhill’ course. Although the finish was indeed lower than the start and there were long portions of downhill gradient, this stage was a tough one to keep up the high watts, bringing out the best in riders' physical and mental ability. To cap off this stage, it was round two of the sprint points, where riders show us who has the most power with points awarded for the highest power to weight sprint (Watts/Kg).

The overall winner of the week was Tri Fitness Minnesota’s finest, and Stage 1 winner, Sam Janicki. After two stages without a win, Sam came back strong this week, laying down some huge watts and achieving the only sub-39 minute time with a zippy 38:35.2. Sam’s time was almost 40 seconds faster than SBR Coaching Wisconsin’s big gun, Kory Seder who was the second fastest rider this week. Kory used his tree trunk legs to secure the silver finishing in 39:13.4. Rounding off the podium, making it four in a row, was Peak Centre Ottawa’s superstar Alexandre Gagnon. Alexandre showed he has more than just climbing strings to his bow, taking 15 points to the overall standings after finishing in 39:16.2, a mere three seconds behind Kory. Alexandre remains the leader of the overall standings, whilst Sam’s stage win takes him back above Roger Lee from Peak Vancouver who occupy the second and third spots.

The Women’s podium was a mix of familiar and new faces this week. Usual suspect Kelly Knowles from Peak Ottawa placed third this week, maintaining her 100% podium record for the season. Kelly once again showed her strengths with a finish time of 44:02.4. After coming in fifth last week, Challenge by Choice Squamish rider Rua Reid stamped her mark on the competition with a second place finish this week, coming in 13 seconds in front of Kelly, finishing in 43:49.3. Taking the illusive Women’s A win this week was Peak Vancouver’s superstar lady, Alison Wood, securing her second consecutive win. Alison went over a minute faster than her competition, finishing in a time of 42:34.8. This win for Alison gives her the lead in the overall standings by two points over Kelly Knowles, while Carol Deavy from Peak Ottawa still hangs on to the third spot.

The top dog in Men's B this week was Shawn McCleery from Peak Ottawa for the third time this season. The only time Shawn has not won a stage was when he didn’t race, so come on Men’s B lets step it up! Shawn finished in a respectable time of 41:28.7 which was only five seconds quicker than his Ottawa teammate Mark Parsons who finished in 41:33.2. Rounding off the Men’s B podium and maintaining the tight racing was Ben Eksteen from Challenge by Choice Squamish. Ben came in another four seconds back from Mark, finishing in 41:37.6. The overall podium for Men’s B could not be much tighter as the top three are all separated by four points. Shawn’s win puts him at the top, but Peak Vancouver’s Alex Willis is hot on his tail only one point behind, followed by Peak Vancouver’s John Forsyth a futher three behind!

In the second week of Women’s B racing, we have a completely different look to the podium. Coming in third place for stage four was Tri Fitness Minnesota rider Jane Deppert, who had the ride of her life this week to finish in a time of 47:03.8. Just over 20 seconds ahead was Renee Brickner from Challenge by Choice Squamish. Renee finished in a time of 46:41.5 which was only 16 seconds off of the top spot, which went to Emily Flynn from Peak Ottawa this week. Emily did Ottawa proud with a time of 46:25.8 and took the full 20 points into the overall standings. This result actually boosts Emily to second place in the GC standings, but it is still Melanie Shields from Peak Burlington who keeps the top spot by a margin of three points. Occupying the final place on the Women’s B overall podium is Jessica Yurchich from SBR Coaching Wisconsin.

Stage four also provided riders with their second chance at sprint points for this seasons racing. The lady with the most power this week was Summer Ohlendorf from SBR Coaching Wisconsin with a huge 7.99 Watts/Kg sprint. Second place was Carol Deavy from Peak Ottawa who managed to max out at 7.70 Watts/Kg, and Carena Dean from Challenge by Choice Squamish came in third with a max sprint of 7.46 Watts/Kg. The men’s contest was as close as can be, as we had two Peak Centre riders sharing the exact same power legs this week. Alex Willis from Vancouver and Alexandre Gagnon from Ottawa both hit a gigantic 12.53 Watts/Kg sprint and took 20 points a piece into the overall standings. Taking the third spot was Warren Sheridan from Peak Burlington who maxed out at 11.70 Watts/Kg, another impressive sprint!

Fitness Testing

2012-01-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

You've asked for it so we are going to make it happen. Please note on the schedule that on Saturday, 11th we have cancelled the 9am C3 class and re-placed it with CBC Fitness Test session.

Waz going to happen you ask? JF and I will take you through a standard of several short workouts that will identify where you are currently at today, looking at "fitness" as a whole (strength, power, flexibility, speed, endurance etc.) We will record your scores, purely for your own analysis and 3 months down the road, we will run the same exact same series of test protocol. Testing is a great way to set personal goals, see where your strengths and weaknesses are at and to identify where you might focus your efforts at in the months ahead. Testing provides a standard to measure against.

Fear not! All the movements and tests that we will do are already everything that you do at CBC. There is nothing to get stressed and worried about. For example - you all know how to do 1min worth of box jumping! And no, I promise already no Beep Test :)

So, sign in online as normal! Come have a great test session and/or just come get a great workout! Set yourself some goals for the months ahead.

Winter Race Series Underway

2012-01-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

We are entering week #3 here on the participation in the Winter Race Series upstairs in the lab. Along with 6 other facilities from across North America, there is over 150 people riding the weekly courses, working hard to keep their fitness level up through the dreary winter months. Coach Mike has the "race profile" of the week rolling on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings. You can join in anytime with a valid compu trainer pass.

I've gotta mention that last week Dwayne Kress put the hammer down during last week's race, putting CBC on the board with a top 3 performance overall for men! We are counting on him to be up there each week with a top standing. While we are competing against the other facilities, we also have our own internal "fun" competition going with prizing at the end of the 12 week series. Sign up now, it's a tonne of fun and you will work just a little harder then normal. March will be here soon and we will all be back out riding.

Re-cap below of what happened in the race stage last week as put together by Peak Performance Vancouver:

Peak Centre Winter Racing Series 2012
Winter Stage 3 Report – Original Time Trial

Stage 3 drew 128 fearless riders to the start line this week and cement us in the triple figures for a second consecutive week, so let’s start with a huge thanks to all riders! This week’s stage was the first Original Time Trial of the season allowing riders to lay it all down and set a benchmark time to beat when Stage 8 and 12 come along and we head back to this course. The Original TT never lets us down, bringing out the best in people and facilitating some fantastic racing! The 22.53km course is all about getting in the zone, ignoring the lactate scream from the legs, and powering straight through. With moderate grades and only a couple of short downhill breaks, there is no chance to step off the gas.

While no records were broken this time, there were some fantastic results as this week’s Mens podium consisted of the only three riders that went sub 38 minutes! Coming in third with a time of 37:48.3 was Challenge By Choice Squamish rider Dwayne Kress, marking his first appearance to this season with a podium spot. Coming in just over 20 seconds ahead was SBR Coaching Wisconsin powerhouse Kory Seder, with a time of 37:26.2. Kory reports he is recovering from the Black Plague so expect him to be making a run at the GC! Taking the win for the second week in a row was Alexandre Gagnon from the Peak Centre Ottawa. Showing he is not just a climber, Alexandre extends his lead at the top of Men’s A with a time of 37:19.7. Roger Lee from the Peak Centre Vancouver and Sam Janicki from Tri-Fitness Minnesota swap around to claim 2nd and 3rd in the Men’s A overall standings. A noteworthy mention goes out to Marcel Lavoie and Darrin Grace from the Ottawa Peak Centre, as their times earned them a promotion to the Men’s A category.

The Women’s competition has also undergone a makeover. With now over 50 ladies competing we have created an A and B category. A-status was defined by any time under 45 minutes in the time trial, and the newly formed category contains 9 riders currently. If you'd like to compete in the "A" Cat just drop us a line and we'll move you in. The fastest woman of the week was Peak Vancouver’s Alison Wood. It took her a few stages but she finally got the edge on her main rival Kelly Knowles from the Peak Ottawa, who in finished second this week. Their times were 40:53.4 and 41:35.0 respectively. Rounding off the first Women’s A podium was Ali Wilson from the Peak Centre Ottawa with another great time of 43:02. Kelly maintains a three point lead over Alison at the top of the GC, with Carol Deavy from Ottawa still occupying the bronze position, a further 12 points back.

After Marcel’s and Darrin’s promotions, the Men’s B stage and overall standings were to undergo a change this week. The new podium was an all Peak Centre affair; maybe we have a slight ‘home course’ advantage over our new affiliates since we have been racing this course for 8 years! Last week’s winner John Forsyth from the Peak Centre Vancouver rode to another podium finish placing third, with a time of 40:50.2. Peak Centre Vancouver’s intern Alex Willis got the better of John by 26 seconds and took the silver spot after finishing in a time of 40:24.0. After a week off, Shawn McCleery from the Peak Centre Ottawa took the win in Men’s B with a time just 16 seconds short of promotion at 40:16.7. This win boosted Shawn back onto the overall podium, occupying the third spot, nine points behind Alex Willis in second, who is only one lonely point behind John Forsyth. A special mention goes to Bob McLaren who, on the way to a 3yr PB on the TT, earned this week's Golden Bucket Award with a sprint finish that shook loose his competitors and his lunch... We love the intensity Bob!

Women’s B gets off to a bang with close racing right out of the gate, with the top three ladies being separated by only eight seconds. Michelle Newton from the Peak Centre Vancouver took the win in a time of 45:14.2, with another Vancouver rider Nancy Austin finishing just behind in 45:18.7 to take the second spot. Rounding off the podium was Peak Centre Ottawa rider Laurel Johnson who just edged out a strong ride from Melanie Shields of Burlington by less than three seconds. Laurel finished in a time of 45:22.6. Melanie Shields from the Peak Centre Burlington, Jessica Yurchcich from SBR Coaching Wisconsin, and Emily Flynn from the Peak Centre Ottawa make up your Women’s B podium in that order, with it all to play for over the coming weeks racing!

Here is the link with the full results of the stage: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhXrz7isgo7NdDg2LWZrNS01dmlwMTZocE9vR3MxQXc&hl=en_US#gid=1

Next week it is ‘big guys' to the front with our first Net Downhill course of the Winter Season. Rest assured that "Net Downhill" does not mean "Downhill" so there will be plenty to challenge you next week. Maybe we'll see some new faces at the top!

Kongrats Kasper!

2012-01-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Late last Fall, we launched the C3 Young Guns program as an opportunity to provide some of the younger athletes in our community to take advantage of access to coaching via strength and conditioning. I must say, the talent has been impressive, not to mention the strong work ethic that these kids bring to training each week!

This past weekend, 2 of our athletes made their way for a ski competition at Mt. Washington. Super proud of both Kasper and Kai who had top results after some tough days of competition. I can't wait to be apart of their ongoing training and watch them continue to excel as athletes. You guys rock! You inspire us all. Keep setting goals and chasing after them! AWESOME to see.
Results here: http://bcalpine.com/news/article/?2296

2 Things U Need to Know

2012-01-10T15:56:00.000-08:00

No wait, make that 4.

Firstly - CONGRATS - in exactly 1 week, we have met our goal for "Theo's Basecamp"!!! Incredible CBC folks - I'm very proud to announce that we will be donating $525 this week to the Lazaridis Family and 50 pairs of shoes are now on their way to Squamish Elementary Cross Country Running program - YEAH!!!!! Salomon got excited and are topping off shoe pile with the rest of their 2011 demo fleet of Crossmax shoe. Thankyou everyone who contributed and to those peeps who also made further financial contributions just because :) The below picture was taken only 3 days after the launch! It went on to take over the whole front entrance way!

Secondly - one of our CBC members just had this great article appear on the Doglotion website and I think its awesome! Jasmin Dobson has been training with us for a few months and she has some incredible goals! You gotta see the pics in this article - if that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what does. Awesome Jasmin - ROCKSTAR!

Thirdly - the sweet CBC toques have now arrived. All kinds of funky colors and super comfortable, take one home for $20 cash.

And lastly - come ride with us up in the lab - the fun WINTER RACE SERIES has now started! Join anytime!

Tofino Camp - Registration now OPEN

2012-01-07T21:19:00.001-08:00

Don't miss out on the 3rd annual WOMAN'S Running, Conditioning & Wellness Camp on the stunning beaches of Tofino, BC. While I'm currently finalizing the details and looking at adding some new features to the camp, registration is now OPEN!
The maximum number of ladies that can attend is 16. This year we will be staying at the 4 star - Long Beach Lodge Resort on Cox Bay in cozy cabins. Yoga will be incorporated into our daily routine and SUP will once again be offered on the quiet inside waters. There will be 2 runs a day including a newly added beach headlamp run! You don't want to miss out on the evening beach campfires, the west coast salmon bbq and the opportunity to have a great weekend away with other awesome woman. The energy is positive, it's all about a great time, learning, playing, training and some get-away time. Take 10% off the price of registration if you sign up with a friend. To reserve your spot, email Jen and send in your $300 deposit made payable to "JLS Training Systems". This camp will once again sell out, don't delay! Visit the website under ROAD TRIPS for all the details.

The SHOE Project for Theo's Basecamp

2011-12-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

The SHOE Project for Theo's Basecamp

Make a difference, make an impact!

For the months of January and February, bring in a pair of your old running shoes (or new ones if you want!!!) and CBC will donate $10 to Theo's Basecamp.

What is Theo's Basecamp?
Support and fundraising initiative for the Lazaridis Family (an amazing Squamish family) as they help little 2 year old Theo in his fight against Leukemia.

On December 20th, 2011 2-year old Theo Lazaridis – bright-eyed son of Laura and Tasso, and little brother to big sister Eden - was diagnosed with leukemia. A facebook page was created by friends as a way to help support Theo and his family, organize fundraising events, and keep the Lazaridis family in our thoughts. For the next 6 months, the Lazaridis family will be relocated from their home in Squamish to Children’s Hospital in Vancouver to receive Theo’s treatment. This will undoubtedly cause both emotional and financial strain to the family. As a group, let’s do whatever we can to support them as they start the journey to beating Theo’s cancer.

I have personally known Tasso and Laura since moving to the Sea to Sky Corridor over 10 years ago. Back in the early days of Challenge by Choice, Laura was training with the early morning group of ladies. Their story breaks my heart and I want to do something to help them through this time. Please visit the FACEBOOK page "Theo's Basecamp" to learn more.

Why the Shoes and where are they going?
There is a group of young runners here in Squamish who are apart of the Squamish Elementary cross country running club. Coached by their principal Margaret Paxton, I've had a great update on the progress of these runners and I'm thrilled that children are being exposed to the joy of the trails and are so eager to participate at such a young age. Shoes however, are not cheap and there are many children who are in desperate need of a pair of runners just so they can participate. Challenge by Choice wants to support this program in 2012 so here is our first initiative to make a positive impact! Please bring in your old/used or new shoes to CBC. We will have a box ready to collect them. We will instantly take $10 from the till and put it into "Theo's Jar"!

Our Goal at Challenge by Choice?
We hope to raise $500 (that's only 50 pairs of shoes)in the month of January! The sooner the better so that CBC can send our $500 onto the family.

For any non CBC folks, we still welcome your shoes and your contribution to Theo's Jar.
We will cap at 70 pairs of shoes regardless as that may be all that program needs right now. We are only looking for adult sized running shoes!!!

The shoe box will be set up and ready for your items next week! Bring 'em on in! I will keep you posted as to the progress! How fast can we meet that $500?

The Fat Burning Myth

2011-12-29T15:37:00.000-08:00

Had to share this one - time to get rid of some old thoughts as we enter into 2012. Once again, Joe Friel is my go-to person for this. Visit his BLOG to learn more on this topic! Remember folks, diet is the other part of the equation! I've recently been reading an awesome book recommended by my mom entitled "Wheat Belly" and it's unbelievable!!! I highly recommend. I will be sharing some info with you in the weeks ahead!

Have you set your 2012 goals yet? I'm doing mine right now!

2012 Happenings

2011-12-14T09:45:00.000-08:00

We've been busy planning out the schedule for January along with some new classes and opportunities for training. Here is a quick run down of what ya need to know:

1) C2 Class for "new mom's & extra focus" ladies
This is a 4 week set happening at 10:30am on Tuesday's and Friday's. It will be co-taught by physio and coach Maggie Philips and myself. There are a few spaces still open. Check out all the details under CLASSES.

2) C3 Young Guns (ages 10-14)
After 2 months of training some of Squamish's extremely talented youth and having a great time in the process, dry land conditioning will resume once again. Skier cross world champion Aleisha Cline will be teaching these classes. Check out the details on coach Alicia here.
Mixed sport co-ed athletes will be on Wednesdays 3:30pm - 4:30pm and we will look to add another weekly session if demand exists. Figure Skating athletes will have the Thursday time slot. Interested coaches who want a time slot for their sport specific athletes should contact Jen ASAP to reserve. Check out the details under CLASSES.

3) Bring your WINDTRAINER to spin class
New option now for anyone who owns their own windtrainer to come to spin class and train on their own bike. Special pricing now exists for this option. See the MEMBERSHIPS page for the details. Escape the boredom of in-house/basement training - your hour will fly by my quicker while you have a quality and focused workout.

4) Winter Race Series
All the details are now up on the website under BIKE for cycling upstairs on the 6 person multi-rider compu trainer. We have a cool new ride series happening starting in January in combination with Peak Performance out of Vancouver and 6 other facilities throughout North America. Book your spot now for the entire 12 week set. All facilities will be riding the same course profile each week, see how you rank up against cyclists down in the USA. Keep it fun, we also will be giving out female and male prizes throughout the series and for the overall winners from CBC! Reserve now.
Note - 2 time slots during the week will be regular coached rides and not part of the race series (Monday 6pm ladies and Saturday 7am endurance)

What else??
We are now at FULL capacity and have a wait-list started for new folks to join!! I've been a bit stunned that we hit this mark at only 9 months after opening our doors! WOW. Thankyou all for building the CBC community. If you are wanting to join us for your strength and conditioning, please email jf@challengebychoice.ca to be put on the January skills class list and he will get you rolling in the new year. We are adding more classes so we can accommodate more folks!!!

THANKYOU!
We can see that big efforts are being made to adhere to the cancellation policy and we appreciate that! Remember, keep planning in advance and aim for the consistency factor!

Happy Holidays everyone!! Enjoy some outdoor play with your family and friends in the weeks ahead!

CORE Class with Reach Physio this Sunday!

2011-11-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

This a message from Sue Shalanski, physiotherapist:

Maggie, Emily & I had a great time doing the Movement Assessment night on November 14th. After looking over the results, we sat down and discussed commonalities in the group with your coach, Jen. As a whole, besides a few overly tight muscle groups, things looked pretty good...except in the "deep core muscle" category...

Now, before you roll your eyes and say "oh, a physiotherapist harping on about core muscles AGAIN", I'd like the opportunity to explain the science behind the deep core muscle system a bit more so that there is a better understanding of why athletes (recreational or other) should care about this, especially when you are pain free and feeling strong.

In order to help facilitate learning and spread the word, I'd like to invite you to a FREE educational and practical class on the small muscles of the low back & abdomen (aka multifidus and transversus abdominus). Learn what these muscles do and how to locate them. Reconnect to them with simple but precise exercises to protect your lower back, pelvis and hips from pain, wear-out or overload and create a more ideal foundation for exercising. We will also go over a bit of body rolling using rollers and fascial release balls to loosen up tight areas.

During the class, you'll also get a chance to observe the deep core muscles in action (or not) on our ultrasound that produces live images of your muscles! Because these muscles are deep and don't produce much motion, it is difficult to determine if they are working on not and ultrasound assists in figuring that out.

Wear comfy clothes. The class is about 20 minutes of lecture followed by some easy mat exercises.

The class is being held this Sunday, November 27th from 5:45 til 7pm at CBC studio.

Why should you come to this class?

If you've had previous low back or pelvis pain and would like to reduce the chances of a re-occurence

If you like learning about the body

If you currently have some low back pain and/or stiffness and wonder what you could do to help yourself

If you've been taught these exercises by a health care professional and want to be sure you are doing them correctly

Must pre-register by Saturday through CBC.
Minimum 5 participants, maximum 10 people.

On the start line....

2011-11-22T11:19:00.001-08:00

Hard to keep up with everyone as people sneak off to various races still, showing us all that here on the west coast, trail running at lower elevations is indeed possible almost year round.

2 weekends ago now, Christine Bennett, Tammy Van Hierden and Tammy Shore all raced at the Phantom Run. Ranging from 12km to 24km distances, the ladies all did great! Good on you for braving the cold rain that day.

Last weekend, John Redpath raced his final event of the year too at a 10km in Vancouver. I sat on the edge of my seat on Sunday waiting for John to text me to see if he finally broke his 40minute barrier. I'm so pleased to report that HE DID!!!! Way to go John - congrats on a huge running season for you! Enjoy the winter off, see you in the gym for your strength now :)

I suppose it was a few weeks ago now but I raced in the Whistler 50 miler as a mileage race for the upcoming Honolulu Marathon. I wrote about my experience on my personal blog via www.jensegger.com

Lots of people have now transitioned into winter training mode. Keep the stories coming about how great the powder was on the hill! The compu trainers are getting super busy as outdoor riding season really may have come to an end this time.

Thanks again everyone for helping with the 4hr cancellation window. Things are running much smoother around here now!

Have a great week, get some fresh turns in!

Bob

2011-11-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

JF and I have a few clients that we are preparing for upcoming fire fighting physical tests. This has been really fun for us as coaches and so we took it the next step the other day and made ourselves "Bob the dummy" so our clients could practice their 190lbs body drag. The studio at CBC has worked out as a great place to train for this exam with the stairs, ropes etc and we've been able to mimic pretty much all the skills that an athlete needs to demonstrate. Here is a picture of Bob as you will likely see him kicking around the gym!

"Make your own tracks"
Words from coach JF, translated by Jen

Last Friday I escaped to the Gargoyles in Garibaldi Park for some fresh early season ski turns......

Being out there, feeling alive, surrounded by the mountains, the mind gets a chance to think freely. While I toured up to my highest point, heart pumping and working hard, I started to ask myself "why do I do what I do."

Why do I exert my body to the max and push so hard during workouts?
Why do I drip my disgusting sweat all over the floors at CBC time and time again?
Why do I get up at 6am, even on my my non teaching days, just to go out and run when its still dark and pouring rain?
Why do I find scraped, bloody and cut up hands from a good session on the rock to be addictive?

I guess......some of us train hard so that we can pin a race number on and make it to the finish line. Some of use training as a tool for dealing with stress as just the day to day busyness of hectic lives can eat away at us. For some, maybe you are just striving to get faster, stronger, loose a few pounds and feel healthy. And then there are those who need the energy and strength to chase around their 2 year old's.

Whatever your reasons are for showing up to class each day, remember to ask yourself on a regular basis, "what are my goals, and why am I here today?" Have that focus as you put your shoes on and start your warm-up. Ask your self what are my goals? What are the mountains in my life that I want to overcome!

For me, each time I ski a sick line in waist deep powder, I think back to why I do wall balls and the love/hate relationship I have with them. It keeps me squatting and throwing!

Talk to us, we are here to help you reach your goals! JF

The Motley Crew head to Whales

2011-11-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

So proud of this group of Vancouverites! Two of them (Lishe O'Kiely and Hilary Ewart) are long time CBC athletes and over the past few years, I have watched them tackle Knee Knacker's, Fat Dog's and Diez Vista's, just to name a few. In their training logs, they've always referred to "their running group" and I know that they go out and tackle these epic long weekend adventures together. They return on Sunday update emails to me with stories of laughter, bloody knees and runs that went way longer then expected. Their stories make me laugh, I know that they've have a good time. They run because they love the trails.This crew is headed to Whales next week to take on a 3 day running race! I cant' wait to watch it unfold and I wish the "motley crew" the best trip, adventure and time on the trails ever. Goodluck to you guys. Congrats on all your hard work. Enjoy every step you take over there. We are cheering for you!

Why train?

2011-10-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

Friday morning blog time! I think I'm just procrastinating putting my runners on, hoping that this cold monsoon will go away. Either way, there are a few congrats in order and an email from my inbox that I wanted to share.

The racing season continues on and actually here on the coast, I don't think it ever really turns off. Last weekend, Jenni Chancey and Darren Ashbey drove down to Hood River, OR to race, both of them tackling a new distance for the first time. Jenni had a good summer of triathlon racing despite a nasty bike crash that sidelined her for a few days. She's now spending the winter on her running performance and so I was very pleased when she took on the Hood River Marathon and ran her first marathon!!! Pretty impressive sub 4hr finish time considering she was bed ridden the week before and puked twice while running. Hats off Jenni for grinding it out and getting it done. Her partner Darren raced his 2nd race ever (the first being Loop the Lakes in September) and with only another 4 weeks of structured training under his belt, he ran a 1:45 1/2 marathon - NICE!!! Natural talent? ya, I'd say so! Congrats you two.The annual Hallowe's Eve Trail Marathon was on Sunday and a few CBC'ers were down on the North Shore for it. John Redpath ran it as a "fun day on the trails", taking a break from his structured road work. Congrats to Tammy Van Hierden, Barb Wilkins and Sarah Dixon who, as always, seem to have the most incredible time out there, despite trail conditions, weather and the challenge of rugged inclines and descents.

Next weekend is the Whistler 50 miler ultra and relay - who's doing it? I either better be out there cheering or get my runners on!

And lastly, Meghan Thompson, local adventure racer, female rescue diver and an all around bad ass rockstar for lack of better words, sent in this email. She brings a hard work ethic with her to every workout, embraces the challenge, makes no excuses and just gets the job done! She's even embraced the 6am start-time which I never thought was going to happen :)

"...I wanted to say thanks for the past couple weeks and tell you how much I'm enjoying the gym and the classes. While the 6am class always seems like a masochistic choice at 6.05am, by 7am I'm pretty happy that I dragged myself outta bed! Plus I feel like any other fitness I do during the day is bonus and just for fun, cause I've already gotten my ass kicked in the morning. Although I am sore pretty much every day, I can feel myself getting stronger. I just came back from a bike ride in the sun, and wanted to tell you guys a story which made me smile. I decided to go ride the plunge and the new trail, somewhere out there. While this was perhaps not the smartest idea considering a) my legs and butt seriously hurt from this am and the idea of climbing up to there was not the most appealing b) i knew the plunge was probably going to be wet and c) I still have the getto stock 'wisconsin' tires on my bike with no tread. Needless to say, I rode the DH part terribly, crashed huge and have a wicked bruise and sore knee to prove it. Not the point of my story. I rode up the nasty little climb up to the top of the plunge and remembered thinking "huh, that wasn't so bad". I rode the road section after the plunge towards hoods and the woods (which I normally HATE because of that steep little pitch) and thought "thats not as steep as I remember. Maybe these xc riders are telling the truth about angles of bikes and how this one climbs well". I got to the top of the trail and wasn't sucking wind, made it the whole way and was generally feeling pretty good (I won't tell you the rest of the DH part because, although I didn't crash, it was still a pretty terrible DH day for me!). I got back on the trail and was riding home. I was heading over the bridge by the university and had to climb up that little steep nasty pitch. I struggled to the top, just barely cranking around in a circle. "That sucked...I really need to work more on those muscles". Then I looked down. I was in my middle ring, not my small ring as I thought!! I rode all the rest of the hills home cranking in my middle ring, just cause I could! So, the point is, even though I have only been at the gym for just over 2 weeks I have already noticed a difference! Yes, I secretly curse you when you hand me a bigger medicine ball, or make me do burpees or force me off my knees with pushups, but it doesn't last long. I was smiling pretty big when I realized how big of a difference its made in my riding and overall strength!"

This is why we coach and why we apply the methodology that we do to the programming. We want to see you take your workouts with us and see improvement in other areas of your life. We don't strive to make you the king or queen of box jumps or pull-ups but rather, we want you to excel in sport and in life and in overall well being to the best of your own personal potential! Keep that in mind everytime you come to the gym. There is a reason "why" we are doing things a certain way, a method to our madness!

Have a great weekend!

Riding Indoors

2011-10-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

It's hit and miss weather now. The compu trainers are getting busy. Everyone is determined to maintain their cycling fitness through the winter months!

Some drop-in spaces still available for WED 7:30pm, Friday 6pm and Saturday 7am ride times!!!

Celebrate this Saturday

2011-10-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

We are excited to be celebrating 6 months of YOU here at the gym this coming Saturday! Sign in for the series of "short and sweet" workouts as per usual and the credit will be reversed to your pass! Please note: we have cancelled the Group Skills Series and hope to replace that with another Spin Class!
See you this weekend and don't forget, we have fun "Young Guns C3 Class" for kids ages 10-14! Please email registration through ME for this one (jen@challengebychoice.ca)
In November we will be launching the new youth training programs! Info on that now available on the website and here soon!

Thanks for helping JF and I build a great community!

The day after.......

2011-10-12T12:37:00.001-07:00

Mary Betts continues to keep me informed of her recovery from her recent bike accident at the Furnace Creek 508 event on the weekend. See below for the picture taken as soon as she arrived at the hospital and this one, taken 2 days later!

CBC is wishing you the fastest recovery ever. So thankful that this accident wasn't way worse! You are a rockstar Mary - ONWARDS!!!!! I know you are starting to set 2012 goals now, I commend you for your ability to put this race behind you and look forward to the bright future!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

CBC (in conjunction with the entire Tumblewoods building) will be celebrating a grand opening on Saturday, Oct 22nd. Mountain FM will be live on location. For JF and I, this is more of an appreciation to all of you who have helped to build the great community of people that we have coming to train at the gym! Full details coming out very soon but there will be lots of "short and sweet" FREE classes for you to choose from. We will have some spin sessions going to, those can be attended by new folks who are thinking of joining and want to experience CBC training. There will also be a group Skills Class offered at a discount so if you have friends who are needing to get that learning session done, this would be a great day to have them come in!

Coaches Corner

2011-10-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

There is no denying it now. Fall is here, summer has officially left us behind here on the west coast. I'm envious of those folks out East who are enjoying 27+C this weekend. Rrrrrrr, send it our way. Anyways, the races continue on, rain or shine, we get after it. Here is what went down in the CBC world these past 2 weekends.

Congrats to Alison Abell on her run at the Frosty 27km trail race in Manning Park last weekend. Alison was stoked on her bottle of wine for winning first place female in the women's 40-44 category. Her pictures looked stunning!

Cathy Jensen and Meghan Thompson went down to Oregon to race team of 4 co-ed (KiaKaha) at the Best Around Bend 24hr race. Sounded like a crazy race of not sure who was winning despite a very long race course that only a few teams finished. Have a read online from the Pique paper.

It was marathon Sunday yesterday and I was eagerly awaiting to hear from a few runners. Congrats to Di Adams and Val Haines, both completed their first ever marathon at the Victoria race! I've been apart of their journey's towards this goal from start to finish and it has been extremely rewarding for me as their coach to work through a very steep learning curve with them both. Di tells me she is ready for another - sweeeeeeet! John Redpath no longer has to run another 1/2 marathon - he met his own personal goal finally of a sub 1hr30min race. I was over the moon when he emailed in to report the good news, icing on the cake that he bested his time by over 7mins while earning the sub 1hr30min goal! Right on John! It was those tough criss cross workouts over the past few weeks that you pushed through - I know they w

ere so hard mentally but I believe in them 100%.

My long time athlete and soon to be Squamish resident Mary Betts was down at the Furnace Creek 508 - a 508 mile bike race in the middle of California. This was part 2 of Mary's goal for achieving the Death Valley Cup. In July, I accompanied her down to Badwater where she tackled one of the hardest foot races in the world by running 135miles non-stop through the heat of the desert in the middle of summer, all on paved roads. Mary does not skip a minute of training, her work ethic is extremely motivating and inspiring to all those who area aware of the goals that she goes after. She had a great performance at Badwater and then we re-focused her training these past few months to prep for the 508. Again, Mary applied herself to preparation for this race and I knew she was going to do amazing. However, Townes Pass descent had a different plan for Mary and while I don't have the full details yet, Mary's race came to an end with a huge bike crash that took her to the hospital! She is in great spirits, telling me the injuries look worse then they are. Thankfully, nothing too serious happened. I know Mary will be back to it all soon and I wish her the fastest recovery and healing ever!! MARY I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!

After the Rubble Creek race, which was never really planned, I've continued to check off the last 2 "must do" runs each year on my list. Jenni Chancey and I got Singing Pass/Musical Bumps in the day before the snow hit the Whistler alpine and then this past Saturday, my brother in law Todd Howard and I hit the Juan de Fuca trail on Vancouver Island. Full details on these adventures are posted here on my BLOG.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Classes are on as normal. Studio life is getting busy. Friendly reminder to be considerate of reserving space in class and then cancelling. JF and I follow class numbers all day long. We really encourage people to try their best to get on a regular schedule with the times they want to attend. Nothing worse then seeing a class sit full with a 2 person wait list only to have 6 people show up that morning!!! THANKS for your attention to this.

Eat turkey (aim for organic), go play in the rain and enjoy some family time! See you this week :)

Rubble Creeking and MOMARing!

2011-09-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Boom! Another weekend, another few days of success for many people. September is just an incredible month to race and get out and play! I've been seeing many of you inspire and instill confidence in each other to push a few personal boundaries! It still blows me away to think about how many 1st time racers hit Loop the Lakes last weekend. Awesome.

As for this weekend, here is the re-cap:

Over on Vancouver Island, Cathy Jensen raced on a team of 4 co-ed at the MOMAR Cumberland event. She texted in post race to report a 1st place finish for the team in their category and 9th overall. Stellar performance! They must have stolen all the sunshine because that sure wasn't the case for those of us who raced today here at home.

The annual Rubble Creek 25km race (Cheakamus Lake trailhead to the base of Black Tusk finishing with a descent down to the Garibaldi Lakes trailhead) was today! Not sure we could have got worse weather conditions if we'd asked for them. Through the night, Squamish got hit by a full throttle wind storm. I woke up every hour or so to hear the trees brushing against the house and rain thundering down. Power was out this morning at 5:30am as well! Anyways, like it or not, it was time to run. After the 10+km climb up to the summit/plateau of Black Tusk, the rain was sideways and the snow started! It was cold as we crossed the flats!!!! Combine that with a freezing cold river crossing, yikes, you just had to move!!! The last 8km to the finish line was sheltered so instead of focusing on how cold you were, you just prayed that your quads would embrace the impact!

Congrats to the Rubble runners:
Jeff Fielding - father of 4 who somehow has squeezed his assigned workouts in over the past few months. I was the proudest coach today when I got to see him cross the finish line! Congrats Jeff on all your hard work and dedication to this goal!
John Redpath had a really good day out there as well. We'd run it for the first time a few weeks ago so that mentally was good for John. Despite taking time to go away on a SUP expedition with Mountain Surf Adventures earlier this month, John showed me once again the incredible gains of speed and power that he has made.
Trail running sisters Carolyn and Erin Donnelly trained with CBC this summer and I've watched them continue to excel. No matter what, these ladies run hard and always with a smile!! So awesome.
New to CBC as of this past week, Paola Chadwick! Paola had a solid run and it was great to introduce her to the world of freezing cold ice baths in the river post race!!
Lastly - I regained some feeling in my feet at the 18km mark to catch up to 2 ladies and run my way to 1st place. I've re-capped that experience on my athlete blog!

Congrats to everyone who tackled it today. Very tough running conditions but somehow, we all seem to finish with a smile!

ONWARDS......things at CBC are getting busy - see you this week in class!

Gran Fondo-ing Congrats

2011-09-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Lots of people tackled the 2nd year of Grand Fondo over a week ago and it looks like CBC and our Squamish Women's Cycling Club was well represented! Awesome to see. I've been enjoying getting everyone's race stories in including those who were out to hammer and those who were enjoying long extended breaks at all the aid stations. Regardless, the Gran Fondo is meant to be a good time and with the sun out that day, it was destined to be a good ride! Congrats to you all!PS - don't forget that Compu Trainer is starting in October! Don't let all that bike fitness fizzle now. Transfer inside and make the winter count. Great time to focus on speed and power output! Details now on website.I'm sure I've missed some folks so please let me know if I did - there was 7,000 names to sort through between

Volker Schneider
Megan Rose
Julie Miller
Manouane Deschenes
Donna Hutchinson
Caroline Falconer
Kim Stegeman Lowe
Pete Fritz
Christy Allan
Mike McCarney
Gregg Van Hierden
Julie Morris
Carin Strydom
Di Adams
Janna Luck
Carla Wilkie
Tina Currie

Need new gear?

2011-09-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

Don't miss out on the annual Salomon Sample Sale happening down in Vancouver Friday through the weekend!!! See you there!

GRETEL

2011-09-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

"Girl you've made us all so proud! I've watched you prepare for this epic race for 1/2 a year and you didn't just do it, you CRUSHED it!!! Congrats from the bottom of my heart!"

Folks, many of you got to know Gretel over the time that she has spent with us since CBC opened the doors back in March. She left us 2 weeks ago to head to one of the most epic trail ultra's in the world - the UTMB. She now continues on home to Oz for the next chapter of her life! We wish her all the best and thank her for the endless energy and positive, great natured gal that she is!!

Follow the link to her BLOG and check out all the amazing pictures of her race - over the top inspiring!!
http://margarethafortmann.blogspot.com/2011/08/2011-ultra-trail-du-mont-blanc.html

ONWARDS Gretel ONWARDS!

Excellence (REPEAT)

2011-08-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

This just arrived in my mail box this morning from Joe Friel - a great coach that I religiously follow and try to learn from. It was funny timing as I was just asked yesterday as to what it is that I think makes a great athlete. I think there are some very true and valid points made in this!

Joe writes.......

Excellence is not for everyone. It’s far too difficult for the great majority of those who participate in sport. In fact, those who seek excellence are often ridiculed because they are different from their peers. And so it isn’t easy to seek excellence either. Humans are social animals; we don’t like being outcasts. It’s much easier to go along with the crowd than to stand out in a crowd. But there are athletes who pull it off, and with great aplomb. Have you ever noticed how young, pro athletes often try to give the impression that nothing about their training or dedication to the sport is unusual? They’ve learned to give the appearance of being “just like everyone else,” even though their performance in competition tells us otherwise. Going out of their way to be laid-back is how they cope with the dilemma and help prevent others from branding them as strange. And that’s a good strategy which I would recommend to anyone who truly seeks excellence: Try not to give the air of someone who is seeking excellence. Appear ordinary in every way you can.

What brought all of this up was a question someone asked me over dinner tonight. We were at a surprise party for an athlete I coach who had just won his age category at his state’s time trial championship. It was clear to my dinner-table neighbor that this state champ had altered his course in the past year and was becoming excellent at cycling. So my new friend wanted to know what I looked for in a person who wanted to hire me as a coach. How would I know if a person could be successful? I started to tell him all of what follows but we were interrupted by party goings-on. Here’s the long list of what I think are the best predictors of excellence in sport, in their order of importance, in case he gets a chance to read this post.

• Motivation. This one is more important than all of the others combined. If the athlete isn’t motivated excellence is highly unlikely. In fact, the other predictors won’t even exist without motivation. This goes well beyond giving lip service to goals. The truly motivated athlete is on a mission and has a hard time keeping himself or herself in check. This person really needs a coach to pull on the reins to prevent overtraining, injury, illness and burnout. If the coach has to use a whip then it’s a losing cause no matter how talented the athlete is. The coach will never give the athlete motivation. It must come from within. When I’m interviewing athletes I ask lots of questions to find out how truly motivated they are. For example, I ask how often they train with other athletes versus alone. The low-motivation athlete will need companionship frequently. If you are motivated then all of the following predictors of excellence will fall into place eventually.

• Discipline. This is very simple. The disciplined athlete will make daily sacrifices and make due with hardships in order to excel. This person doesn’t miss workouts short of a disaster. Weather is an insignificant factor. The disciplined athlete knows that the small stuff is important. He or she doesn’t get sloppy with diet, recovery, equipment or anything else that has to do with goals. Discipline is not easy. Others can accept motivation, but they have a hard time dealing with people who are disciplined. You’ve got to make light of or even hide your discipline is you want to be accepted by your peers. Good luck here.

• Confidence. Some people seem to live life completely with an unwavering belief in themselves and their actions. These folks are indeed rare. I’ve met very few athletes who didn’t have some concerns about how well suited they were for whatever the task at hand may be. There’s a sliding scale of confidence. Most of us are somewhere in the middle. To move closer to the high-confidence end all we typically need is some success. Success breeds confidence. While it’s hard to come by you can create your own. For the athletes I’ve coached whose confidence was decidedly on the low end I’ve suggested a daily confidence-booster. When they go to bed and after the lights are out, I tell them to go back in their memories and find anything in their day’s workout or related activities that was successful at any level. This could be a very small success such as feeling strong going up a certain hill during the workout today, or eating fruit instead of a cookie for a snack. I tell them to then relive that small success over and over until they fall asleep. Occasionally there are big successes. These become “anchors” which they relive often and store away in a vault to be pulled out whenever they feel low confidence coming on, like at the starting line of a race. Thinking of one’s successes breeds success. Success breeds confidence.

• Focus. This could also be called purpose; the athlete knows where he or she wants to go in the sport. Daily training is a purposeful activity that will lead to excellence. Each workout (and accompanying recovery) is a small building block that eventually results in excellence. But you have to take it one step at a time, which brings us to the last predictor, patience.

• Patience. According to Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Outliers it takes about 10,000 hours for a person to become a master of anything. I had never tried to quantify it in terms of hours, but experience told me that performing at the highest level in sport takes something on the order of 10 years of serious training regardless of when you started in life. So I think Gladwell is probably right. There are certainly exceptions, or at least it appears that way on the surface. But when an athlete comes along who seems to go to the top right away we often find on closer examination that he or she had been developing outside of the recognized success pathways. Patience also has another level that goes beyond this long-term approach to success. This is a more immediate, daily component associated with the ability to pace appropriately early in workouts and races. Athletes who seem unable to learn this skill are less likely to be successful than those who master it.

Notice that I didn’t say anything about innate talent, physiology, skills, or even experience in the sport. All of these things can be developed and learned if the other predictors are there. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t have the capacity to develop each of these mental abilities. As mentioned earlier, the challenge for most of us in seeking excellence is learning how to do it without appearing to be doing so. Watch how most of the pros do it and try to emulate their apparently laissez-faire attitude. Good examples are Chrissie Wellington in triathlon and David Zabriskie in road cycling. In their own unique ways they give the impression of being unconcerned about excellence. But no one achieves their levels of accomplishment without being highly motivated, disciplined, focused and patient.

More Proud Moments

2011-08-24T21:18:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness people, we have athletes all over rocking it on the race scene and I'm just so proud to play a small part in people's journeys. We've also got some people crushing workouts in class, I'm seeing some huge improvements in pull-ups to say the least! And.....we have lots of folks out training hard for the upcoming Grand Fondo - I see so many of you on the highway putting in miles, doing those hill climbs! Keep it Up!!!!!!

Today I've got to name another 3 people who deserve a full on CONGRATS:

CBC Colorado athlete Tina Lews just finished 5th female at the Leadville 100miler this past weekend! To make it that much more sweet, she shaved off over 8hrs from her time last year - SO AWESOME!!! This girl is on a war path and with her dedication to training, the sky is the limit.

Jess Glowacki from Vancouver (but some of you have seen her up here at CBC on the Compu Trainer) just tackled her first ever 3 day staged ultra - The Trans Rockies! Jess has overcome some huge injuries and so to see her race in this event is just incredible! Jess finished a solid 17th out of 40+ females - RIGHT ON!!! One of the toughest things for racing at the TR is the altitude, especially for us coming from sea level. I have a feeling Jess is going to head back to this race next year - I hope to join her :)

Lastly, our local rockstar John Redpath is getting stronger by the minute! John just finished 9th in his age category out of 42 men and 26th runner overall! John you are a pleasure to coach and you still have some great goals ahead!
And don't forget - Loop the Lakes is just around the corner and I hope you will be there for this great fundraiser - SEPTEMBER 18th
8km, 15km and a 1km Kids Race
(go to the CBC website and click on RUN for all the details. Be sure to join the FB page as well)

Xterra Whistler

2011-08-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

The awesome folks who are putting on the Xterra Whistler event for the 2nd year in a row have kindly offered all CBC athletes a discount on entry! So awesome! Being that this event is so close to home, it's a great opportunity to try an off-road triathlon! The event also has a duathlon and a trail run. Lots of options to choose from! Be sure to check out their website at www.xterracanada.ca If you want to register, please email ME and I will send you the promo code!
Race date is September 4th!!!!

Thanks Xterra - we hope to have some of our crew on your start line!

MSG

2011-08-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the word "MSG" before and don't associate it with being good for the body. Shockingly though, it's in way more then we'd ever think AND it's hidden using a different name. Your best bet to avoid it - shop the perimeter of the grocery stores, eat as raw, natural and local as you can, choose your "meals + snacks out" with caution - KNOW where your food is coming from and what it's made of! - Happy Sunday - Jen.This could explain the reason why you can't go without a Tim Horton's coffee, you can't stop eating those snacks or you can't lose that weight! It's definitely given me something to think about and maybe throw out a few things!!!

Here's an interesting article that warrants a read. We will be extra vigilant in checking labels from now on. The content of this article has links to substantiate its claims - Scary stuff!

MSG (a slow poison) Very interesting

The food additive MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutamate) is a slow poison. MSG hides behind 25 or more names, such as "Natural Flavoring." MSG is even in your favorite coffee from Tim Horton's and Starbucks coffee shops!

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, and so did a friend of mine, John Erb. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario , Canada , and spent years working for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called The Slow Poisoning of America

In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so scientists have to create them. They make these creatures morbidly obese by injecting them with MSG when they are first born.

The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and perhaps humans) to become obese. They even have a name for the fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats."

When I heard this, I was shocked. I went into my kitchen and checked the cup-boards and the refrigerator. MSG was in everything -- the Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen,Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, and Kraft salad dressings, especially the "healthy low-fat" ones.

READ ON.................

Do what you love!

2011-08-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

Both JF and I have made conscious decisions in our lives to fill our days with the things that we love doing. Life is too short to drag your feet around daily spending time on things that don't make you happy. This is one of the reasons for opening up CBC, I love coaching and I love seeing the community that has been built! I also love racing, pushing my limits and testing myself physically and mentally. When JF sent me this picture of him last week out guiding, I knew that the mountains were his "other happy place." He has found balance in his life between coaching and guiding! Moral of this blog - have you found your happy place?

Adventure Racing - An Indepth Look

2011-08-08T12:29:00.001-07:00

Congrats to Team Honey Badger on taking on their first multi-day expedition adventure race (5+days, 500+km). They have kindly shared a great account of their race experience. So....grab a coffee and have a read!!! Really proud of you Team Honey Badger. R+R is now well earned and deserved!Short story – we did a 6 day adventure race in the Western Kootenay mountains near Nelson BC. It took a lot of training and time and money. It was harder than anything any of us had ever done. It took us through beautiful mountain terrain and ugly brush filled mountain valleys. We raced for 120 hours and averaged 2 hours of sleep per day. We went from super hot heat exhaustion to freezing cold hypothermia, often in the same day. We slept on rocks, stepped on nails, crossed freezing mountain streams and high mountain passes. We saw amazing mountain lakes, friendly deer, ghost towns, and hallucinated things that weren't even there. We threw up, we lost our ability to walk in a straight line, we got hysterical, we stopped eating and drinking. And we raced as long and as hard as was possible until we couldn't go further anymore. Despite not getting to finish the race course in it's entirety we feel very proud of what we accomplished and consider our race a huge success (only 3 teams out of 30 managed to finish the full course) And in the end we developed a much better appreciation for what is possible when you put your mind to it. And at the same time became even closer as friends.

This is the full story:
I've known Dan, Rochelle, and Kyle for 4 or 5 years now and during this time we've become really close friends - in no small part due to the numerous outdoor adventures we've shared as we biked, kayaked, skied, and hiked around the wilderness of British Columbia. And during these trips I've often told stories of past adventures I've had when competing in adventure races in the late 90's. I remember during a day hike just outside of Victoria telling Dan about how we would hike through the woods only sleeping one hour a night for days on end. He didn't believe that this was possible but at the same time I could tell he was intrigued. On that same hike I told him that I'd always wanted to do the West Coast Trail in a day and convinced him that this was something we should do. Four years after that hike we find ourselves recovering from what has been labeled one of the hardest full length adventure races ever held in Canada. This will help explain a bit about how it all went down.

For those of you unfamiliar with adventure racing it's akin to a giant obstacle course laid out of a huge swath of wilderness. Just prior to the beginning of the event the organizers of the race hand out a stack of topographical maps and a set of instructions. Teams have to plot onto these maps the coordinates of checkpoints which are spots along the course which all teams must pass through. The areas between checkpoints are generally unpopulated and untracked areas and teams are free to choose whichever route they think is the fastest between these points. Certain sections are designated as hiking, mountain biking, or paddling. The race organization moves bins of gear and food ahead of the racing teams and deposits them at predetermined "transition areas" where racers can change clothes, grab more food from their bin, and pick up any equipment they need for the next section (and drop off any equipment they no longer need). All navigation through the course is done by the team. The race clock never stops and teams have to determine amongst themselves when and how long they will rest for.

Adventure racing started back in the late 80s in New Zealand and came to some prominence in the 90s when a race called Eco-Challenge became a minor television success (the race director of this event then started the TV show Survivor - kicking off the reality TV craze). Adventure racing in Canada has been - and will likely always be - a fringe sport. This is due to many factors – the fact that there isn't that many people willing or desiring to put themselves through this level of discomfort is probably the primary limiting factor in adventure racing becoming a popular sport like triathlons. The time and cost commitments to doing a full length adventure race also limits the number of people willing to participate in this sport. But for those who seek to determine the limits of their physical and mental endurance there is no other sport that provides a better opportunity than adventure racing.

(Of note - there is a subset of adventure racing that is popular and thriving in Canada and that is the one day or "sprint" adventure race. These events are akin to offroad triathlons except the swimming is replaced with paddling and the course involves some basic navigating. These races are a lot of fun and a great entry point to adventure racing but they often do not lead you far away from civilization nor do they have any element of overnight racing or sleep deprivation which are two defining features of true expedition style adventure races)

In the fall of 2010 as we we're discussing our summer plans we began to discuss whether or not we should enter this race. It's been four years since there has been a full 6-7 day long adventure race held in Canada and here was one being scheduled in our own home province. I think I had told enough war stories from my racing days that the rest of the team was either tired of hearing them or wanted to experience some of what I was talking about. This is part of the appeal of adventure racing - heading out into the unknown to see what it feels like.

We spent the winter months doing a mix of training under the guidance of our coach Jen Segger - an accomplished adventure racer and ultramarathon runner from Squamish. She developed a monthly training schedule to keep up on track and was extremely helpful in answering questions about equipment and race preparation. We certainly owe a lot of our race performance to her helpful guidance. As we moved into spring we started doing 24 hour long training sessions to test out gear and get a feel for overnight racing. A few of our long training sessions even involved a bit of suffering which at the time may have seemed to be bordering on unrealistic...we would soon discover that we never came close to simulating what we would face out on the race course.

After buying what seemed like a lifetime's worth of food and equipment we headed up to Nelson BC to spend the last 3 days prior to the race organizing and repacking gear and getting our race maps. We spent many hours plotting our course and making our route choices based on the info provided.

The days leading up to a race are always a flurry of activity with lots of pre-race jitters and anxiety and it's always a relief to finally be standing on the start line. After a night of "sleeping" in a tent at a campground in Kaslo the racers were bussed to Meadow Creek and at 10am on Sunday the race gun went off. Six days of nonstop racing had begun.

The first section was on bikes and with 30 teams of 4 all trying to pedal up this very, very steep dry dusty logging road it was a little bit of madness. I knew that very soon we would be out on the course on our own and we wouldn't be surrounded by so many other teams but these first few hours were spent redlining our heart rates and cooking under the blazing sun. It's not ideal to be working this hard off the start line but it's hard not to when all 30 other teams are pushing hard. We got to checkpoint one near the top of the mountain in about 3 hours and in 17th place.

The next section was on foot and would involve dropping down south into a valley, following a stream up into a mountain pass, hiking over than pass to checkpoint 2 at the top, and then down the backside of the mountain to checkpoint 3 at Retallack ski lodge. We chose a route involving trails and roads to get us down into the valley. Unfortunately this route, chosen by us and many other teams, did not pan out to be the quickest way down. We reached the river late in the day passing a number of teams in the process and proceeded to make our way upstream as night started to fall. It would be a long night of bushwacking through very thick vegetation and up and over cliffs.

By morning we had moved 3/4 of the way up the valley but the vegetation was still so think that sometimes it felt like you were swimming through it, using your arms to pull yourself forward while your feet were barely touching the ground. Ask Dan about how easy it is to get through a wall of slide alder :)

By early afternoon we had summited the mountain pass and got to checkpoint 2 still in around 17th place. We slid down the snow on the other side amongst numerous other teams just as they skies started to open up on us. After many hours of descending on trails, off trails, and then on roads we made it down to Retallack around 5pm. This physically and mentally was the low point of the race for me. The heat of the past few days coupled with the level or exertion had taken its toll. I felt weak and nauseous and unable to move without difficulty. We had only slept 20min the night before which was spent shivering on the wet ground. I'm terribly allergic to alder trees so spending 27 hours wading through the stuff had turned me into a head to toe allergic reaction. I never considered quitting but I had decided at that point that after this race I wasn't doing another one of these in my life. I just figured that despite my desire to do adventure races perhaps my body wasn't cut out for them.

Fortunately for me my teammates at this time were feeling much better and they helped me through the transition and off we went on our bikes. Dan towed me up the hill for a bit and I took in some food and some caffeine. As night fell I began to rally and was soon feeling 100%. It was, for me, the most remarkable recovery of my racing career. To go from feeling like I was dying to feeling super energetic was a huge relief to me. Everyone has their low points in races both mentally and physically and this was mine - I had a great team so with their help I was able to get back into race mode.

We spent most of night #2 (Monday night) pushing our bikes through snow up a very steep mountain pass in the pouring rain. It's fairly easy to stay warm when you are working that hard - the tricky part is to stay warm when you crest the mountain pass and start descending the other side. Once we got out of the snow we were riding down a switchbacked road at high speed. Hands and feet were starting to literally freeze and working the brakes on your bike became more and more difficult due to the heat robbing metal of the break levers. At the bottom of this mountain we passed through a old mining ghost town called Cody and when we saw an old wooden structure built into the side of a hill we decided we better make good use of this roof and get out of the rain to warm up. I tried to make a fire and while collecting wood I stepped on a board with a nail in it and punctured my foot - not recommended when you still have over 100 hours of racing left. This building had a sloping mound of dirt on which we laid down a tarp and tried to sleep. Although the roof of this building was solid the floor left a lot to be desired. Dan and Kyle were on the outside at first and kept sliding off this mound leaving them exposed to the cold. After 1.5 hours of sleep it was still raining and so we decided to move Kyle and Dan into the middle and sleep a little longer to see if the rain would stop. After 3 hours of sleep (our first real sleep in 44 hours) we got up and continued to bike ride. A 15km climb on a fire road warmed us up for the 4 hours it took us to get up to the top to the start of the Wakefield trail, a well known singletrack descent in the area. It would have been a great trail if it were a) not 8am in the morning b) not raining out c) we weren't so tired from the previous 48 hours of racing and d) if some trail crews had been through to trim all the deadfall. We had lots of wipeouts on this section and as experienced mountainbikers it was more frustrating than fun to see how good this section could have been.

Eventually we finished on a road and rolled into the town of Silverton. I always bring a VISA when I race so when I saw we were in a town I suggested we grab a coffee to go. But once we got inside the cafe and saw what was being offered we soon found ourselves and another team sitting down to bowls of steaming hot cuban chicken stew and hot espresso drinks. Revitalized and with the sun out and blue skies above us we were ready to get back to racing. Next up was the canoe.

Despite this canoe section being on the short side and it being a nice sunny day we still have some adventure thrown into the mix. First off was our paddles - we had purchased 3 used paddles from the race organizers for super cheap - turns out they weren't in the best shape and had been "repaired" prior to the race. This repair job was done poorly and our team engineer Kyle had to go to work to make these paddles function properly. On top of that Dan and Rochelle had been given what was supposed to be a great new canoe. It wasn't until we were well into the paddle and they were having trouble keeping their boat straight that I realised that their "new" boat was a new whitewater canoe - the last kind of canoe you would want on an open lake. I kept this discovery to myself and Dan and Rochelle somehow managed to paddle this tub for the 4-5 hours it took to get across this lake.

It was now day 3, Tuesday afternoon, as we paddled into CP 7 and the transition to the longest trekking section. We knew from looking at the maps that this section was going to be big, beautiful, and time consuming. As we were preparing for this section we began to here rumours from teams that had already dropped out that the lead teams had taken up to 40 hours to do this section. These were the same teams that did the first section in 12 or so hours, a section which took us over double that. We took this warning seriously and began to pack extra clothing and food and supplies for what promised to be an epic section, the defining section of the race. I was and still am very proud of my team for at no point did anyone question whether or not we should be heading into this section. Many teams had dropped out, many teams had started this section only to be turned back and return to this checkpoint. That was never considered or entertained. We, along with about 6-7 other teams headed out onto the trail leading into Valhalla park as dusk slowly began to settle.

Three hours of trail hiking took us to a beach and which point we turned west and began climbing a trail that followed a stream coming down from the alpine. Although the trail was decent it was steep and it was hard going physically. I was hoping others felt as tired as I did so we could stop for a rest but fortunately they didn't so I was forced to keep moving. We stopped in the middle of the night and took up shelter by a lake for a couple hours of sleep which did wonders for my energy levels.

The next morning we got ourselves to the eastern lakeshore of Beatrice Lake, an unimposing 6k long lake that in some ways would be our undoing that day. There were no trails around this lake and no shore upon which to travel due to the high water levels from the huge snowpack from this winter. We chose the southern route and soon met a wall of vegetation which reduced our travel speed to 0.5km per hour. No satisfied with this frustrating terrain we moved further and further south up the side of a mountain to see if we could get into some clearer terrain. We soon met cliffs that we could not get over and were forced to travel sidehill through areas of open scree mixed with thick brush. Numerous attempts to gain higher altitude were thwarted and it seems like every time we got an open view downhill Beatrice Lake was still right there like we hadn't moved in 6 hours.

Hours later we got ourselves into an alpine bowl filled with scree and managed to find a route to the ridge line. We then took this ridge to a high point we named Knobbie Knobberson to get a better look at what was ahead for us. Up high we could see into the next valley south of us and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Full 360 degree views of Valhalla Park in an area that few people would ever venture to go. From up high we could now see Waterfall Wall, an intimidating feature that we either had to climb or find a way around. With daylight fading we made a decision to see if we could travel far enough up high to get to a point where we could ascertain if there was in fact a high entrance to the plateau above the waterfall. We pushed hard and got to where we wanted to be before sunrise to have a look but no luck, there was no easy route to the plateau. With daylight fading our goal now was to drop down to the lake at the base of waterfall wall and get some rest there. Unfortunately the further down this wall we went the steeper it got. We were in panic mode trying to get down before it got too dark. Dan was burning 1000's of calories a minute trying to find the route but we ran out of time (and energy) and determined we were cliffed out. We hiked back up hill to find a great spot to spend the night and had a good meal and cleanup (washing your face with soap in an adventure race is equivalent to a weekend at the spa in real life). We then settled in for what has to be the best sleep I've ever had in a race (helps when your packhorse Kyle brings a full tent and I've brought a tiny miniature stove with which you can heat up a single cup of water for mister noodle and coffee.

At dawn we moved back out onto the same slope we were cliffed out on the night before and had a little route finding meeting. We were staring at waterfall wall below us and Knife Edge mountain above us. The ever present question remained - up or down. We could go up and scramble over or around knife edge and maybe still gain the high plateau. Or we could try to find a way down to the lake and then climb up waterfall wall. We decided to go down and in the end that saved us. In adventure racing route choice is paramount and skill and map reading will take you far - but luck plays a roll in it as well. Sometimes you get lucky and the route you chose was the easiest - sometimes you get unlucky and have slow going or even have to turn around and try another way. This decision worked out for us as we would later be able to see, from the plateau, that the high route was completely impassable and we would have spent a lot of time and energy only to have been turned back had we tried to go that way.

We made our way down to the lake and around to Waterfall Wall. What we had been dreading the whole trek turned out to be one of the highlights of the whole section. Some steep scrambling through thick brush got us up into the trees bordering the waterfalls . A couple of us even took the opportunity to spend some time reflecting on our life choices as we crossed the open rock faces leading up the wall.

Once we crested the top we had finally made the alpine. Although the ground was snow covered we were able to make quick time in this section as we headed west at what was 3km an hour - six times the speed we had been traveling below the waterfall. At this point in the race we knew our spot tracker was malfunctioning (a number of teams had similar issues) and so we broke out our radio (usually reserved for emergencies) simply to tell race management that we were ok and still proceeding on foot to CP8. Given how long this section was taking us we were convinced that we were the last team out here by a day and that, since our tracker wasn't working, that the race team must be panicking now knowing where we were. The helicopters buzzing by overhead were also concerning. Turns out they were heading out to check on other teams in the same section, teams that were trying to take the high route past the waterfall.

We got to CP8 at Icefall lodge in the later afternoon of Thursday (day #5) only to find out that we had passed 2 teams since CP7 and that a few teams had left there in the hours preceding our arrival, including one team that went in the wrong direction after leaving and would later require rescue. We spent close to 2 hours at this lodge drying out our clothes in the sun (we had a long night at altitude ahead of us) and eating some delicious soup and pasta (our food was running low) provided to all the teams who got to here. At 6pm we left and headed up to the high alpine to summit Urd pass. From here we dropped down into a an amphitheater of alpine lakes and skirted around them getting to the base of a 8500 foot mountain pass just as the sun went down. We spent the next 1-2 hours climbing up steep snow to crest the top and over the backside. I wish we had photos of this terrain but they wouldn't do it justice even if we did. Being up that high on a snow slope in the middle of the night and shining our lights on the mountains and terrain around us was something I won't ever forget

Dropping over the backside we came to what would be the trickiest navigation section of the race for me. We had to drop down multiple levels of alpine terrain to find a small set of lakes upon which CP9 was located. Despite having to check the map every couple minutes I was confident that we were on track. We got down to the plateau where the CP was supposed to be but due to the high level of water I struggled to make sense of where the lakes were on the map and where this checkpoint was.

Normally in good adventure races the goal is to navigate to the vicinity of the checkpoint at which point it should be obvious where it is (visible during the day, glowsticks marking it at night). The true navigation takes place between checkpoints - not in trying to find a needle in a haystack. The race organizers of this race are proponents of this style and do not try to hide their checkpoints. Unfortunately the volunteers at this particular checkpoint did not have any contact with race organizers for so long that they did not know if and when teams would be coming through so they had abandoned this checkpoint and simply left a sign. I don't blame them, I would have done the same but it made finding this checkpoint very frustrating, especially after working so hard to get us into the right area. We found the little piece of paper marking the checkpoint, took a photo of it to prove we were there, and moved on.

We then got onto a trail descending down 5 k to a fire road. We stopped for a quick 20 min powernap but it was too cold to get any real rest. By dawn we were feeling pretty cooked and once we hit the road we stopped for what was going to be a 30 min sleep. When the alarm went off I told Kyle to hit the snooze (reset it for another 30). We were all freezing cold due to having soaking wet feet and sock (from walking in snow for 24 hours) and wet clothes. We made a quick cup of coffee on the mini stove and set off on a 20 kilometre downhill "deathmarch" on a dirt road. Our waterlogged feet soon began to protest to the beating this road was delivering and it was only through the foresight of remembering to bring along our ipods that we were able to survive the pain of this 4-5 hour slog.

Halfway down the trail a truck stopped us and inside were a race volunteer and a racer who had dropped out and began volunteering. They told us at this point that the race organization had began to disintegrate due to a lack of volunteers and a lack of communication with the checkpoints. The told us that they had traveled up the road from CP 10 where the staff there had not heard from the organizers in close to 48 hours. This was a bit discouraging as we weren't sure what this would mean for us. We were offered a ride down the remaining 10k but declined as we wanted to continue racing clean. Again I'm super proud of the fact our team never came close to accepting the tempting offer of a ride which would have led to a lot less pain. We spent the next 1-2 hours putting one foot in front of the other and made it to CP 10 around noon on Friday. This was a lovely little campsite on a lake and our gear bins were there allowing us the chance to change clothes and eat some food (for the heavier eaters on our team the last 24 hours were spent ruthlessly rationing food)

Since the volunteers and CP staff here had no idea what was going on out on the course in front of us they could not guarantee that any of the next few checkpoints would be manned nor did they know if they race could provide a way for us to skip some of the next section and move up the course closer to the finish. They said there would not be anyone available to move our gear bins to the next transition. We spent the next few hours cleaning up in the lake and resting, awaiting word and the arrival of other teams coming out of the Valhalla section. I drank 6 cans of coke and ate 4 mister noodles and was still hungry and thirsty. Eventually 3 other teams arrived and we still had no word on what was happening (nor did the gracious and helpful race volunteers at our CP - we felt bad for them as they wanted to help us all out but did not have the ability). Eventually they managed to direct a van with a bike rack to come extract the 4 teams who had made it through Valhalla (we were the 13th team to make it to CP 10 out of 30). It was now evening of Friday and the van drove us back to Red Mountain Resort. There we heard stories of other teams who had suffered worse than we did from the lack of race organization. Teams that had made it through Valhalla earlier or skipped it found themselves at transition areas only to find out their bins were not there. This is unacceptable in adventure races as teams are dependent on their bins being there not only to provide gear for the next section but to provide food, warm clothing, and sometimes shelter. We as a team were fortunate that up until Friday at noon our race wasn't impacted by poor logistics of the organizers (except for having to spend longer looking for CP9 which should have been a manned checkpoint with glowsticks).

The majority of people will never want to do an adventure race. And those that haven't will likely find it hard to believe that a) someone would pay to do this and b) someone would do a race where only 10% of teams entering actually finish. It's easy to look at this as say we spent all this time and money and energy and went through all this pain and suffering and in the end didn't get to finish the course. The truth is in any given adventure race usually only about 50% of the teams do make it through. Even the best teams in the world drop out of races or run out of time. Yet they keep coming back for more - you have to ask yourself why. Why would they come back if they don't always finish - isn't that extremely unsatisfying? It doesn't make sense - until you actually do it. You learn that your preconceived notions of what you were capable of were so far off the mark. You see that there is nothing special about these people who do these races and go for days and days on no sleep through some of the most difficult terrain possible – nothing special except for their undying determination to move forward despite the discomfort. And that is the truth about adventure racing – the finish line is the goal but not obtaining that goal does not equate failure. Just because you don't get 100% on an exam doesn't mean you failed. This race is being heralded as one of the toughest expedition races to ever be held in Canada (and our races are always tougher than those in the states due to our more open parks). For us to make it through that far and beat as many teams as we did (most of whom were very experienced teams) is a huge success given the race course we faced.

We spent Friday night eating ourselves silly and slept all day Saturday. Saturday night was the post race party where we could trade stories and enjoy some food with our fellow racers. Some of the best stories included the one about a racer on another team who go so sleep deprived he began acting and sounding like a chicken :)

In summary - we pushed ourselves well past our previously held limits and we did it in what has to be the most unknown and underrated parks in this province. We shared a lot of laughs and a lot of suffering and when one of us was feeling down the others stepped up to prop that person up. Our team had it's highs and lows (as often as every hour) but no one ever complained or whined or said anything to lower the morale of the team - I've never raced on a team that stayed so positive. Other teams would sometimes stop us to complain about the race course - we would listen, nod our heads, and then move on. Rochelle, Kyle, and Dan had never done a true overnight adventure race like this but you wouldn't have know it from their performance. We were racing against some strong and very experienced teams and yet we were the 13th team to make it through Valhalla. This just shows that it's not just your athletic resume or your previous experience that leads to success in adventure racing so much as it is your team members and your attitudes.

All in all I am extremely proud of the race we had and feel incredibly fortunate to have gotten to share something like this with three great friends. We'll probably go back to regular normal outdoor recreation at this point but at least now we have our own war stories to share. Just please don't think it weird that when we walk past a fire hydrant a smile crosses our face. -Ben

Onwards + Upwards - Ya'll R Rocking

2011-08-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

The most challenging thing these days seems to be keeping up with everyone's adventures. Hard to believe that it is August but thankfully summer did just arrive. As you know, I encourage full playtime outside and JF and I look forward to seeing so many of you back inside in September. In the mean time, 2 weekends have passed us by and a few congrats are in order:

(John @ the Telly 10miler)
Squamish 10km
Di Adams - sets herself a new PB in a time 52:59
John Redpath - our mountain running machine ran a new PB of 41:22, finishing 4th in his age. The weekend before that, John also ran the Telly 10miler with a time of 1:07 - SOLID!

Raid the North Extreme 6 day Adventure Race
Congrats to San Francisco boys Kyle Peter and Brian Schmitz (Team Technu)on their 5th place finish at the race. Only 5 teams finished the entire, full length course! Awesome.
Cathy Jensen stepped in very last minute to fill the female role on team Kia Kaha and the team persevered through on a modified short course!
Team Honey Badger - a team of new rookies to expedition adventure racing were also put onto the modified short course and despite missing a cut-off due to some un-forseen things, this team pushed hard, exemplifing to all the true meaning of team work!!! Really proud you team Honey Badger and I can't wait to see what you guys do as the years roll on! Experience is everything!

Molokai2Ohahu
Norm Hann and Bodie Shandro took on the big waters of the Hawaiin channel, racing the SUP on the 32mile crossing from Molokai to Ohahu. The team finished 10th in the 2 person division, completing the crossing in just under 6hrs and were stoked on their experience. I know Norm is for sure going back and I hope to be in the boat crewing for this one next year!
(Norm + Bodi - finish line after crossing the Hawaiin channel)
White River 50miler
Gretel Fortmann, our running Ozzie, headed down to experience this legendary 50miler ultra in Washington as a training run. She is now only a few weeks out of her big A race of the year - the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc in Europe (170km's.) Gretel won her age division and finished 9th overall female. Considering this was training - she rocked it! Gretel we are going to miss you when you leave us next week!

Ultraman Canada
And lastly, I just finished up my last race of the year too (well for a while anyways) at the Ultraman Canada. My race report with some photo's is now up! Thanks to JF for being there on team Segger and crewing like a mad man!
http://challenge-by-choice.blogspot.com/ (Mary Betts paces Jen during day #3, 84km run)

Kits Challenge Swim
Kathryn Fox just swam her way to first place at the Kits 1.5km swim this weekend down in Vancouver! This race took her just over 22minutes, she has been doing several open water swims this summer - super cool!

Tenderfoot Trail Race
John Redpath who just can't seem to get enough racing in, did a last minute registration on Saturday and took on the 28km division at the Tenderfoot Trail Race! John came in 5th overall and 2nd in his category! Considering this was a "training run" - SOLID!

Sooke 1/2 Ironman
Triathlete Jenni Chancey headed over to Victoria to race in her first 1/2 Ironman. Jenni was supposed to have done the Vancouver one back in June but after a bike crash, her race has to get postponed. Jenni finished 2nd in her age group and 9th female overall today!!!! AND....might I add, Jenni just threw down one of the FASTEST swims of the day overall! From what I can see - its the women's BEST swim time and 11th overall!! HOLY CRAP!!! ROCKSTAR!!! Congrats Jenni!

LASTLY.............
1) If I missed anyone's races OR great epic adventures, please send in details with pictures!
2) If you did just race, get your race # plate in - the wall is starting to fill!

Who's Been Where!

2011-07-23T17:37:00.001-07:00

Last weekend as I made my way home from Sinister 7, I met up with JF and his wife B in Kelowna. It was the weekend of the Grand Fondo and JF and I were stoked to check out the 115km race course as summer had arrived in the okanagan, apparently bypassing Squamish.Here is us at the start line that morning. Awesome course. Put it on your to-do list for 2012 in addition to the upcoming Whistler Fondo. Enjoyed a great day on the road bikes, not taking it too seriously by any means! We both finished as #106 and 107 out of 1200 riders. Jen was top 3 in age category and 4th female overall.

JF and B stayed onwards so that B could take on the Dirty Foot 21km trail race in Vernon the next day. B just raced the Squamish triathlon the other day and has been coming out regularily to the Tuesday night trail run sessions as I gotta say, her ability to climb and descend has drastically improved! Congrats B on a 3rd place female finish at the race, only 7 minutes behind the winning female!

John Redpath took on the Summerfast 10km race, finishing 20th in a very competitive men's field. John set a new PB for himself at the race and I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing what he does at this weekend's Tely 10miler race.

Down in the USA, CBC young gun athlete Ryan Ognibene has been throwing down hard on the 12hr adventure racing scene. He recently just finished 1st at both of his races on back to back weekends! Go Tina Plumb

Today was the Gear Jammer and while results are not in, I managed to get on the course to cheer for the riders. Awesome to see all the locals out for this one! Results coming soon. Coach JF rips it up below.

We also have several athletes about to start a HUGE 600km adventure race in Nelson, BC tomorrow called RAID THE NORTH EXTREME. The race will be happening all week long and we are cheering on CBC athletes:
Cathy Jensen (1st long distance race) on team Kia Kaha
Sally Heath (from Ontario but training with me for a long time) on team Adrenalin Rush
Kyle Peter and Brian Schmitz (my 2 San Francisco speedsters) who are racing on team Technu
Don Wong, Ben McInnis, Kyle Suave and Richelle Stokes on Team Honey Badger - all first time expedition racers who have been so dedicated to their training program as a team!
Lastly - my team DART nuun SportMulti is there and they are looking for a 1st place and a spot at World Champs this year - naturally, I wish I was there but because I have Ultraman next weekend, this one was out for me!
Follow the race LIVE starting Sunday:
http://www.raidthenorth.com/RTNx/2011/livecoverage.php

Skills Moutain Biking - Last ones for the year!

2011-07-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

If you are still looking to brush up, improve or just get started on your mountain bike, JF will be coaching the last of the summer series ride camps. Seeing as summer has only just arrived today, we hope that you will be able to ride in great weather late into the Fall. Email jf@challengebychoice.ca to sign up and for any further details! Don't forget, if you have already taken a bike course with us, you get 15% off for signing up again! Six riders per clinic, 4 minim to make the course happen! Visit BIKE for all the details.

Level 1:
August 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
4 sessions (Tuesday nights)
6pm - 7:15pm
$100 + HST

Level 2:
August 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
4 sessions (Tuesday nights)
7:30pm - 8:45pm
$100 + HST

Level 3:
August 10th + 24th
2 sessions (Wednesday nights)
6:30pm - 8:30pm
$100 + HST

Keeping up with the Crew

2011-07-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing but awesomeness from the CBC crew everywhere this past weekend. Both myself and JF were busy with athletes, trying to keep up with where everyone was at. Then there were those who were busy putting on races, crewing for family members or just out throwing down awesome play weekends. We are still trying to chase down results but here is what I gotta on this fine Thursday morning:Squamish Triathlon:
Volker Schneider: 1st (40-44)
Jenni Chancey 3rd (25-29)
Birgitte Marthinsen 3rd (35-39)
Linda Glenday 4th (40-44)
Erica Rigik 4th (40-44)

Knee Knacker 30mile Trail Race:
Cathy Jensen - (W - 39) 14th (7:12)
Lishe O'Kiely - (50-59) 11th (9:02)
Hilary Eward - (40-49) 25th (9:50)

Sinister 7 - 148km Ultra
ME - coach Jen - 1st place, new course record!

Congrats to Mary Betts (soon to be living full time in Squamish, BC) on her amazing finish at the Badwater 135mile in Death Valley, California. It was a true honor and priveldge as a friend and as your coach to be there with you!

In addition, lots of people tackled Sinister 7 and the Squamish Tri in the various relay categories. Great way to really enjoy the event and cheer each other on, congrats to you all.

Next up folks, there are LOTS of people headed to the big Raid the North Extreme 600km adventure race in Nelson next weekend, while others are doing final prep for the Gear Jammer, 5 Peak Races and Fat Dog Ultra. Some of us will find ourselves on the Kelowna Grand Fondo line up as well. Ummm what else?? Fill me in, this is an EPIC summer!

JULY Women's Mountain Bike Skills Clinic

2011-06-29T21:46:00.001-07:00

Ladies!

After 2 successful months of mountain biking skills with JF, we are rolling again for August. Limited spaces available so email Jen right away to reserve your spot.
All the details for "which" level you are, go to the CBC website and click on BIKE.

LEVEL 1
Tuesday's (4 sessions)
6pm - 7:15pm
July 5th, 12th, 19th + 26th
$100 + HST

LEVEL 2
Tuesday's (4 sessions)
7:30pm - 8:45pm
July 5th, 12th, 19th + 26th
$100 + HST

LEVEL 3
Wednesday's (2 sessions, 2 hours each)
6:30pm - 8:30pm
July 6th + 20th
$100 + HST

See you on the trails!!!!

Insight into the 100miler

2011-06-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you a race report that I just got today from one of my Washington athletes, Jerry Peters. For the past 6 months, I've watched Jerry train with complete dedication as he prepared himself for last weekend's 100miler Ultra at Western States. The following account is a great description, play by play by what goes on out there, the highs, the lows and the stress on the body. This was Jerry's first 100 and I sat on the edge of my seat last Saturday watching via the live web updates as he progressed further and banged off each mile until finally, I got word that he crossed that long awaited finish line! Right on Jerry, you've inspired me more then I can express! Congrats on a great performance and your dedication to your own personal goal from start to finish!

Western States 100 - June 25, 2011

High Country
We were off with the shotgun at 5am for the 2000' climb up Escarpment. The sun broke near the top and energy in the field was high. After crossing the summit, we were in for 12 miles of snow and a 2000' descent so it was pretty slow going. Looking back, the snow was a good thing for pacing as it really wasnt an option to go too hard given the sketchy footing. Despite some pretty good lugs in my Montrail Sabino's, I slipped and fell five times in this section. (With that said, I think I expended less effort in this section than those with the 'minimalist' shoes - especially the guy ahead of me that slipped on a steep side hill and lost his water bottle as it glissaded down the slope). The snow section ended with two river crossings, with numbingly cold mountain water rushing at knee height.

Once we got out of the snow, I changed into some dry socks (mile 20) and tried to settle in within my limits and stay on top of my nutrition and hydration. Those were the easy miles and included a beautiful section of soft single track along the French Meadow reservior. After French Meadow, the trail turned up to Dusty Corners (mile 31) and I felt the first heat of the day. I was thinking about my sodium levels as I peeled my arm warmers and took in three S-Caps plus a salted potato at Dusty Corners. It was too much. I hit my first low point around mile 32 due to my first stomach issues and a call from mother nature. My pace dropped off and I gave up several places between miles 30-40. As I tried to get my sodium and hydration back in balance, I was a little concerned that I took the first 30 miles too quickly and resolved again to stay within myself. I was struggling in this section and eventually stopped along the trail around mile 38 to take a gel and pull myself together again. The break helped me get back on top of things and I was feeling pretty good again coming into the Last Chance aid station at mile 42.

Canyons
Miles 42-55 took us through the canyons with 2 descents and 2 ascents of close to 2000' each. The descents were real quad blasters and the ascents were steep. This was clearly the toughest section of trail and I was thankful that I was past my earlier low point. I came through the canyons reasonably well. The terrain is pretty similar to the big climbs/descents on Cougar/Squak/Tiger, as well as the Kalalau trail, and it was encouraging to know that I've done many similar climbs/descents in training. With that said, I didn't eat enough coming up to Michigan Bluff (mile 55) and I was at a second low point when I came into the aid station, and the first crew access point. My weight was down 3.5 lbs at the weigh in. Steph and Norm took great care of me at Michigan Bluff, helping me cool down with ice, while changing again into a dry pair of socks. I was irritable and lingered a bit in the chair, and moved out again after about 5 minutes at Steph's direction. My quads were burning and my stomach was off as I started out to Foresthill. I moved slowly while I took in calories and eventually came back around as I dropped into Volcano Canyon (cursing another steep descent).

Foresthill to River Crossing
I met Jim at Bath Road (mile 60). Though I didn't feel like talking much, it was a mental relief to have Jim with me and I felt good coming into Foresthill (major aid station and second crew stop). My weight was back to 156 at this weigh in. Jim and I left Mom, Dad, Norm and Steph at Foresthill around 5:15pm. We had around 3:45 hrs of usable daylight left and set a goal to get to the Rucky Chucky river crossing (mile 78) before dark. This section included some steep technical descents and also some very nice undulating single track along the American River. I know this section of trail was beautiful as the sun set on the hillside across the river, but I wasn't able to take it all in at that point. My stomach was pretty delicate and I was having some difficulty staying on top of my nutrition. As an aside, Stinger Waffles are the best power food. When your stomach is wrecked, it can be tough to swallow a gel. Nibbling on a (200 cal) waffle is much more palatable. Jim gave me great beta along the trail, noting mileage, pace and what to expect on the trail ahead. He ran through mental calculations of how many minutes to the next aid station(s), the river crossing and also calculated that I could do 20 minute miles to the finish and still come in under 24hrs. The silver buckle was within reach. We clicked off the last 4-5 miles to Rucky Chucky and made the river crossing around 8:45pm. Thanks to Norm and my Dad getting down to Rucky Chucky - Near with the headlamps. Due to issues with the shuttle, Norm actually ran the steep 2 mile trail to get there in time.

River Crossing to Finish
Steph met us half way up the hill to Green Gate (mile 80) and I was feeling very good at this point physically and mentally, as the finish was only 20 miles away. We power hiked the climb (passing another runner puking on the side of the road), picked up some food from my mom and skipped the aid station. (Thanks to my mom for hiking down to Green Gate with my drop bag and for meeting Jim here). The trail was technical from this point and we were moving more slowly with headlamps. I quickly dropped from the high at Green Gate to the lowest point of the race. My pace dropped off and my stomach started to sour again around mile 83. Power food wasn't appealing to me and I thought it would be better to make it to Auburn Lakes Trail (mile 85) for some real food nutrition. Bad idea. I came into ALT on empty. I knew I needed to eat, but nothing was appealing due to my nausea. Steph and the aid station crew were great and got two cups of ginger ale and some chicken broth into me. I took another dose of tums and some pepto. We took a couple of PB&J sandwiches and a chunk of potato for the road and walked out of the aid station. I remember one aid station attendant looking at me with some concern. As we walked out, I got chilled due to low blood sugar levels and Steph helped me put on arm warmers and a warm hat. Steph firmly told me that I was going to eat and then start running again. I didnt have a choice and eventually choked down the two sandwiches and another waffle and came around again. No more low points from there. From there on, Steph kept me eating on the trail (Gu Chomps, gels) every 20 minutes or so. I also put down potatoes and chicken broth at Brown's Bar and Hwy 49. The food actually tasted good again.

I was 'smelling the barn' once I came around again after ALT (mile 85). Steph and I set an objective to get in under 22hrs. I felt like I was moving reasonably well, but with my blown quads I stumbled several times between miles 85 and the finish as I caught my toes on rocks. I tripped once and went down, thankfully without consequence. The 'Petzl Ultra' headlamp was terrific for lighting the trail and it felt like a huge advantage as we passed by other runners moving along with smaller lights. After Hwy 49 (mile 93.5), we clipped across a meadow along a wide buffed single track under the clear sky and stars. We took the descent to No Hands Bridge and ended up passing 4-5 runners in this section. Big mental boost. Steph kept me eating and we powered up to Robie Point on fading headlamp batteries - which provided additional motivation for getting to the street lights quickly. (Steph dispelled the headlamp worries by telling me that we'd use her iPhone light if needed, though neither of us wanted to use that option). Roadside spectators near Robie Point rang a gong as we approached mile 99 and provided another boost. We picked up the tempo for the last stretch to the track. What an exhilarating feeling to enter the stadium. 21hrs 22 minutes, 100.2 miles, 18,000' of climbing, 22,000' of descent, 60th place overall out of 404 starters.

Prior to crossing the finish line, I dropped down for one burpee - it felt like the right thing to do to conclude the journey, which really started in January. Training for Western States was the most intensive training cycle I've undertaken. My weekday workouts often included a strength circuit workout (burpees, jump rope, box jumps, pull ups, sprints up the alley) which I would put in after my run or ride. I credit the intensive efforts, put in after I was already tired, for both the physical and mental stamina to persevere to the end. Huge thanks to my coach Jen Segger for providing the direction. I couldn't have been more prepared.

Huge thanks as well to my crew: Norm, Mom and Dad. I had everything I needed, when I needed it, thanks to their effort to reach the remote stations. Thanks to my Seattle based crew, Bev, who not only took care of Duke and the crew/pacer logistics at home, but also memorialized the effort on the sidepanel of my car. Last but not least, thanks to Jim and Steph, my pacers. You saw me at my lows and steered me through to the end with your unrelenting positive energy.

Why run 100 miles?
People ask me why. I dont have a great answer. Why run a half marathon or marathon? Why summit Rainier? Why bike from Seattle to Portland? Why compete in anything? I think we're not meant to sit idle. I think there is a siren call to take on physical, mental, and logistical challenges. Goals that might be beyond reach and make you nervous just thinking about them. What an immensely satisfying feeling to dedicate yourself to an objective and see it through to the end!

MONDAY!!!

2011-06-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Writing a blog on Monday morning is starting to become a frequent event around here. Once again, it was a full on weekend for CBC family members everywhere. I too was racing yesterday and as I frantically drove home from Kelowna, I kept hitting re-fresh on the iphone so I could see the updates, results and stories come in! You are all such an inspiration to me and to others. I know that everyone has their own individual goals when they step up to a start line, sometimes you achieve them and sometimes, it's just not going to be your day every time. However, perseverance goes a long way so make sure you congratulate yourself on that! Ok, here is what went down this weekend:
On the global update, 2 long time CBC athletes, Kyle Peter and Brian Schmitz who race for Team Technu Extreme out of the USA finished first at the 24hr E-Fix adventure race this weekend. The guys are now in their last few weeks of prep for the 700km long Raid the North Extreme at the end of July.

Ultra runner Jerry Peters out of Seattle, WA put in a great showing at Western States, finishing in the top 50 for men at this prestigious 100miler. Jerry has been working his tail off to prepare for this and it was awesome to watch him through the live updates on Saturday!

Out on the coast, SUP master Norm Hann took part on the Bowen Island 32km race. Hard to believe but it only took him 3:45 to paddle around the Island on his standup board. Norm tells me that the currents and winds were not always in his favor! Nice job on finishing 1st.
I don't seem to be able to get enough of racing these days so once again, I made the trip back to Kelowna to race at the 50km Scorched Sole. I was in need of distance and heat and I got both. The course turned out to be longer then 50km (more like 60km) and so after 7hrs of running, I finished 1st place for women, 2nd over-all (only 6mins behind the winning male.) Thanks to a a great tape job, my ankle held which I was very pleased about. Next stop - the Sinister 7 ultra 140km run in 2 weeks time. Congrats as well to CBC Vancouver athlete Jess Glowacki on her 3rd place finish in the women's 30-35 age group category for the race! Not an easy day of running but you persevered on like a trooper! This will without a doubt be a huge asset to have as we prepare you for TransRockies 3 day Ultra in August!
And lastly, one of the BEST trail races happened this past weekend in Whistler and we were well represented with CBC athletes present at the Comfortably Numb 25km event. Congrats to everyone that took part:Volker Schneider 2:21
Erin Donnelly 2:45
Carolyn Donnelly 2:51
Cathy Jensen 2:47
Jenni Chancey 2:53
Gretel Fortman 3:13
Nicola Gildersleeve 3:15
Alison Abell 3:25
Tammy Van Hierden 3:46
Di Adams 3:53
Birgette Mathinsen 2:37

(note, Nicola and Gretel ran the double - they started at 6am from the finish line and ran the trail backwards, arriving just in time to the start line in order to join the race to run back - right on girls!!!!)
Thanks to Coach JF for taking some photos of the Comfortably Numb race!

Test of Metal ROCKSTARS

2011-06-20T22:03:00.001-07:00

The Test is always one of the most fun weekends here in town. It has become such a community event that I was super sad to miss it once again this year. As it turns out, the Summer Soltice weekend is always busy for races around the province and in the USA. I'm playing Monday evening catch-up and wanted to share the huge successes that were had this weekend by members of the CBC family:

Test of Metal:
Nicola Gildersleeve -(5:23) your coach just got a bike, learned to ride and tackled the race!
Meghan Kobitzsch (5:00)
Grace McLeod (4:12)
Kim Stegeman-Lowe (4:43)
Tonya Motyka (4:47)
Manouane Deschenes (4:10)
Andrew Clegg (3:37)
JF Plouffe (3:48) rode it out with a broken bike!
Brian Heslop (3:54)
Jeff Heslop (4:00)
Kevin Hodder (3:21)
Ollie Flaser (4:17)
Mike McCarney (4:10)
Megan Rose (3:21)

Sorry if I missed anyone as I scrolled through results! Also - keep this in mind - we are currently getting the GPS data files all sorted out so that by this coming winter, you will be able to ride the TOM course (amongt others like the Grand Fondo's) on the compu trainer! This is going to be huge for your cycling through the winter!

Also - this weekend, Tina Lewis down in Colorado just took 1st place at the San Juan Solstice 50miler. This was one of her A races of the season and I'm so proud of her! Next stop - the Leadville 100.

In the Stand Up Paddleboard world of racing, Norm Hann was away at the Kalavida Classic in Vernon racing at the 2 day SUP race. Sprints were on Saturday followed by the 10miler downwinder on Sunday. Norm was crowned the "King of Kalamalka" after his 2 great days of racing - NICE JOB and great prep as you head to Molokai in 6 weeks time!

And finally, yes me, your coach, hit another race too this weekend. My travels took me to Quebec this time where I tackled the Ultimate XC 58km trail race. Happy to report a 1st place finish but unfortunately, I didn't have the race that I was hoping for. Will have my full blog and race report up soon but I do want to thank everyone for all their encouraging and congrats emails!

ONWARDS everyone!!! Lots of more training to be done and goals to be set! I know that lots of you cyclists now have Grand Fondo on your mind!

2nd Annual Tofino Camp a HUGE SUCCESS!

2011-06-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, 16 fabulous women from as far East as Grand Praire, AB and as far South as San Antonio, Texas made their way out to what I consider to be one of the most magical and beautiful places in the world. Once again, to my surprise, Tofino did not disappoint as we enjoyed sunny skies for the entire 3 days.
We met at the T junction and headed straight to Ucluelet's Wild Spirit Trail on Friday. Some ladies took on the 8km while others enjoyed a round trip 14km trail. After checking in at our luxury accommodations (Pacific Sands Resort) right on Cox Bay, the evening as spent cheering for the Canucks, learning from our nutritonalist Jessalyn, eating a yummy BBQ dinner and then cooking s'mores around the beach campfire!
Saturday morning began with a "coffee walk" down the beach and back. After breakfast, Jessalyn gave a sports nutrition talk focused on eating for athletic success! It was then time for some SUP sessions with Norm down at Grice Bay and run technique with coach Jen on Chestermans. We enjoyed a delicious salmon BBQ that night with some fish caught by Norm up in Haida Gwaii and then watched the newly released Killian's Quest DVD on salomon athlete Killian Jornet's record attempt on Kilimanjaro. How could we not relax around the campfire once again that evening when the stars were out?
Not sure where the days went but Sunday came and went so fast. After the morning's coffee walk, the ladies had a beach strength session (you know, just a little squat tabata, sand sprints, push-ups, log step-ups, army crawls etc.) We wrapped up camp with a yoga session at he Elements studio before most ladies made their way back to the ferry. Our Albertan's stayed an extra day to really enjoy Canada's true west coast.
It was yet another great weekend of fitness, self challenges, laughing and forming new friendships, . Thankyou to all the ladies for coming out to enjoy, relax, train and learn. I've already got ideas for next year's camp, you can guarantee a few new twists for sure! Details will be out later this year. If you missed camp this year, be sure to contact Jen to be put on the "interested" list so as to not miss out, the camp will once again cap at 16 ladies!

ONWARDS! Ladies you all rock!

"AWESOME"

2011-06-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Congrats to all ya'll

2011-06-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

Another busy weekend on the race front! As I drove to Oliver on Saturday morning, it was great to get all the texts coming in from everyone to update me on how the Whistler 1/2 marathon went. So proud of everyone, some new personal bests were reached and NOT one single person said they didn't have a good time! Here is a re-cap and CONGRATS to all of you:

Kevin Hodder 1:26
Jenni Chancey 1:42
Liz Brownlie 1:46
Christy Allen 1:47
Julie Morris 1:47
Heather Abernethy 1:48
Di Adams 1:54
Valerie Haines 2:02
Christine Bennett 2:06
Shannon McLeod 1:55

Meanwhile in the interior of BC, the weather was even more hot as a few of us hit other races. John Redpath tackled the North Face Dirty Feet Race in Kelowna and ran a 2:30 trail marathon.

Volker Schneider and I were at the Oliver 1/2 Ironman. It was a true moment of coaching glory for me to be out on the race course with Volker and to see him on the run course as I headed in the other direction. He has trained with discipline and focus over the past few months as we've worked around his busy work schedule. Despite a rough swim, Volker put down the hammer on the bike and had a top bike split time on the 90km leg. He finished 6th in a very competitive mens 40-44 category of 90 guys! Awesome work.

I also hit the Oliver 1/2, doing my first ever triathlon! What a learning experience it was for me! I used the race as training after putting in a solid week of volume. An A race for me (the Ultimate XC ultra) is just 2 weeks away so it wasn't possible to taper for this one. More so, I just wanted a day of intensity in a warm place. I got this. It was great for me to connect and put some time on "La Porsha" - aka, my new Cannondale Slice bike as I prepare for Ultraman at end of August. My swim was a disaster as I've never been in the water with 350 other people. Once I got control of myself, I managed to complete the distance, but yikes, that wasn't fun at all. I had a solid bike and run, only minutes off of the top pro women but due to a poor swim, there wasn't much I could do. Full write up on my blog at www.jensegger.com

Onwards everyone!!!! Don't forget, this Tuesday, Adam Hart is presenting at CBC so make sure you sign in online! And the Chief Hikes on Thursday morning are a great power workout!!! We've been having a good time!

Hey MOMS!

2011-06-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

CBC is proud to host REACH Physio for a monthly CORE RESTORATION AFTER PREGNANCY workshop! The first workshop in this series will be on Monday, June 13th at 7:30pm. Pre-registration is necessary either through CBC or through REACH Physio at 604-815-9864. The cost is $30 and is payable at the door!

Hey Moms!

Want to learn your core muscles after pregnancy so that you can stay active, healthy & leak-free for good? Come to an informative workshop that will introduce some of the concepts and skills needed to regain the ideal function or your lower back, pelvis.

Learning these things NOW could prevent future lower back pain, pelivs pain, uterine prolapse and bladder issues LATER, even if you are currently symptom free!

Taught by local physiotherapists!

Tell your mom friends about it!

While geared towards new moms with babies 8 weeks, moms with kids up to 18 years old (or older) are welcome !

Power of Food Workshop - TUESDAY

2011-06-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

CBC is pleased to host a FREE workshop this coming Tuesday with Power of Food's Adam Hart! This is a GREAT opportunity to learn from someone in the wellness world who takes a very fresh and vibrant approach to eating and food. Adam coaches people on lifestyle eating, not diets and fads. Adam is at the forefront when it comes to whole foods eating!

JOIN THE WORKSHOP:
- sign in online (Tuesday 7th at 8pm via the SCHEDULE page so that we know how many people will be coming!) note: this will NOT deduct from your pass!
- this is an informal workshop, feel free to bring a lawn chair with you as well, the studio only has limited balls, boxes and benches to sit on!
- come learn! Remember, physical workouts are only 1/2 of the wellness/fitness/athletic picture, your nutrition is the other 1/2
Are you tired of being tired all the time or looking for ways to enhance your athletic results?

Would you like this to be easy to achieve without changing anything in your diet or lifestyle?

If so, you will not want to miss this rare opportunity to see local celeb Adam Hart LIVE for a complimentary presentation on the Power of Food.

Join Adam at the CBC studio, Tue, June 7th at 8pm for an exciting hour full of fresh & vibrant ways to live each day abundantly energized.

Meet Nicola

2011-05-31T10:36:00.000-07:00

Many of you already know our other female coach here at CBC. You've either take a C3 class or been out on the trails running with her! Nic bring with her a wealth of knowledge and insight into training protocols and current methodology. She is currently taking on new 1:1 clients so feel free to drop her an email at nicola@challengebychoice.ca to book your private training session with her for the summer! We are lucky that she is now taking on clients here in Squamish as well as in Vancouver. Nicola was born and raised in North Vancouver but recently moved to Squamish to live, eat and breathe the adventure lifestyle. Nicola has been an athlete all her life. She grew up playing competitive team sports and went on to play Varsity Basketball for Capilano College and later ran cross country and track and field for U.B.C.

Her love for endurance sports, specifically running, started when she ran her first marathon in 2005. Since then Nicola has continued to compete competitively in ultra distance events ranging from 50km to 100 miles. She looks forward to spending more time exploring the outdoors with some new found passions, Mountain Biking, ski touring, and Climbing.

Nicola holds a Human Kinetics degree from UBC, is a Can-Fit-Pro certified personal trainer, and has her level 1 F.a.C.T certification. She has experience working with a wide variety of clientele (rehab, athlete, seniors etc) in a 1-on-1 basis as well as group fitness. Her positive and contagious energy make her not only great to work with but an awesome training coach.

Tis The Season of Racing

2011-05-30T11:06:00.001-07:00

All day long on Sunday, race reports, emails and training logs were updated from the extended CBC family as lots of my athletes took to various race courses all around the globe. Here is the gist of what happened this weekend- congrats to everyone. And can I just say that my role as Coach Jen is a stressful one, I'm now on the edge of my seat all weekend as people travel to their races. I get so excited to hear how everyone did and what happened! I have to remember to stay calm as this is just the beginning of all these races, summer has only just started!

Race Re-Caps:

Tina Lewis - 3rd place down at the 50km Sage Burner in Colorado. Tina is going to be so ready for Leadville in August!

Sally Heath - took 30mins off her PB time at the Sulpher Springs 50km in Ontario. AWESOME.

Kevin Hodder - stellar performance at the Nimby 50 mountain bike race up in Pemberton. Perfect training as we do our final prep for the Test.

Christine Reid - 5th place overall at the Blackfoot 100km in Edmonton! Great data we can pull from that race to dial her training in for The Canadian Death Race at end of July.

Jess Glowacki - awesome day of running at the Iron Knee 25km down in Vancouver. Jess is just returning to running after a series of injuries brought her to a hault. Welcome back to the trails Jess!

And speaking of the Iron Knee race, Squamish trail runners Ciara McLoughlin, Tammy Van Hierden and Shannon McLeod all tackled the race as well. We are just waiting for the results to come in.

John Redpath set a new PB at the Run for Water 1/2 marathon in Abbotsford and Sarah Dixon had a great race too! Sarah will be joining the Tofino Camp for ladies next weekend for the 2nd year in a row!

Adventure Racing Team Public Enemy out of Vancouver took 2nd place (co-ed team of 4) at the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race in Burnaby! Looking strong guys as the final few months before Raid the North Extreme draws nearer.

Norm Hann - 1st place SUP race in Vernon - preparations well on track for Molokai in 2 months time.

Kyle Peter and my team (nuun Sport Multi) for taking 7th place at the Apex Expedition Adventure Race in Switzerland this weekend. Congrats guys - was awesome to follow you through the 400km+ course these past few days.

And lastly - I couldn't go a weekend without racing either. Because I wasn't the RD for the MOMAR Squamish course this year, it meant that I could go and enjoy the new course in Burnaby. I joined up with Geoff Langford on a fun team of 4 we called team "Atmosphere/Raid the North/Challenge by Choice." I promised the guys that it would be for fun and then competitive Jen would not show. Ummm, ooops, that didn't last so long and near the end I had to let loose a bit and drive the guys to the finish line!!! It was a great day of play and we finished 1st in the co-ed team of 4 category.

NEXT WEEKEND:
We've got CBC athletes headed to the Oliver 1/2 Ironman, the Whistler 1/2 marathon and a few other events. AWESOME!!!! Make your last few days of prep count!

Got Goals? Share Them!

2011-05-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

This blog is a shout out to 2 CBC members, Di and Val. These ladies approached me 1.5 months ago as they wanted to become better trail runners! I happily took them on, meeting with them consistently 1x a week and tackling a wide variety of Squamish terrain. We've been really working on their technical skills and tonight, I wanted to say a HUGE congrats to the both of them and their morning rip down The Plunge! Ladies - what a pleasure for me to watch you improve week by week on your trail running as I watch your confidence soar! You have inspired me and so many others. From roadies to trail runners, look at you now!On that note of goal setting, you know that my theory on training is to "train your weakness." So, with that in mind and Ultraman now 2 months away, its time for me to face the water and get my arse to the lake. Tonight marked training day #1 - thanks to CBC member Jenni Chancey for being my support network in the lake tonight, giving me confidence and encouraging me! Can't wait to hit it again - boy do we ever live in a cool place! It just took a few seconds of floating like a popsicle in the middle of Alice tonight, looking at the snow covered mountains to be reminded how awesome Squamish is and how lucky I am to call this my training ground!Onwards everyone ........onwards towards YOUR goals!

Gluten Free Museli Scones

2011-05-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

I've set some personal goals for myself recently when it comes to nutrition. I'm now 1.5 weeks into a new game plan and have been experimenting with some great recipes in the kitchen to keep things interesting, keep me well fueled for 1-4 workouts a day, aid in recovery and of course, provide my body with constant nutrients!This recipe came from my fellow Salomon team mate out of the USA, Devon Crosby Helms. Through her biz, Fast Foodies, Devon is working with me on my goals. Thanks for this recipe, super yummy and got my day off to a crazy great start today!

Remember folks - exercise is only 1/2 of the equation - nutrition (and mind set) is the other!

Gluten Free Museli Scones

2 Cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup pistachios (although note, I used Manitoba Harvest Hemp seeds instead)
1 Large egg
2 tbsp agave nectar

In a large bowl combine almond flour, baking soda and cranberries. Stir in all the nuts and seeds. In a smaller bowl, combine egg and agave. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and then use your hands to form the dough. Evenly separate the dough into 14 to 16 even chunks. In your hand, shape them into rectangles about 3/4 inch thick! Bake at 350 degrees. I greased the pan with coconut butter first! Bake for 10-12mins.

Let me know how yours turns out!!!

The Road to Molokai

2011-05-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

CBC is really excited to be working with Norm Hann and his race partner Bodie Shandro (out of Kamloops) as they prepare for their upcoming race this summer - Molokai 2 Oahu.
Molokai is a 32 mile SUP race done either solo or in teams of 2. Norm has been talking about doing this race for awhile now and its been great to be apart of his journey as he trains and prepares for it. The C3 classes at CBC have provided his strength base and he has been back on his board now for several months with intervals at Alice Lake and longer paddles on Howe Sound.

"LOCAL STAND UP PADDLE SURFERS BODIE SHANDRO OF SUN PEAKS, AND
NORM HANN OF SQUAMISH WILL JOIN THE WORLDS MOST RESPECTED
WATERMEN AND WOMEN IN THE EPIC 32 MILE CHANNEL CROSSING FROM
MOLOKAI TO OAHU TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR ONE OF
CANADA’S MOST PRISITINE COASTLINES ALONG THE GREAT BEAR
RAINFOREST."

May 1, 2011, (Vancouver, British Columbia) The Ka’iwi Channel, also known as the “channel of bones”, aka Molokai Channel, has a centuries old reputation for being one of the most treacherous bodies of water in the world. Ka’iwi has claimed the lives of many, from ancient canoe fleets, to fisherman and watermen including the tragic loss of Hawaiian big-wave surfer Eddie Aikau.

On July 31st, 2011, Norm Hann and Bodie Shandro of British Columbia aspire to add
their names to the list of those watermen and women that have successfully crossed the
channel in the 15th Annual Molokai 2 Oahu Race. Unofficially recognized as the
“World Championships” of paddleboarding, stand up paddle boarding is a relatively new
category in the elite race. Hann and Shandro will be competing in the 2-man division.
Both men are considered “Canadian pioneers” in the sport of stand up paddleboarding,
and are proud of their surf roots. Considered race veterans, adventurers and highly
regarded certified SUP instructors, Hann owns and operates Mountain Surf Adventures,
www.mountainsurfadventures.com and Shandro, Paddle Surf Fitness,
www.paddlesurfit.com.

Join them in the race of their lives by pledging in support of the Stand Up for Great Bear organization. Standup4Greatbear is committed to promoting awareness and understanding of the significance of the Great Bear Rainforest. Partial proceeds raised will also be shared with Hawaii’s Na Kama Kai Organization. Na Kama Kai’s mission is to empower youth by
creating, conducting and supporting ocean-based programs, specifically targeting ocean awareness & safety in order to increase the capacity of youth in the community through cultural
& environmental education.

Wishing Norm and Bodie 2 solid months of training ahead still before they head over to compete in this race.

Run Technique Workshop

2011-05-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

BAREFOOT X NATURE

With everyone out running now, road or trail and an overwhelming amount of emails asking when I would be able to actually "teach you how to run properly," the time has now come. I have been waiting for the grass to dry out a bit as I use the field extensively for teaching run technique. In this workshop I call BAREFOOT X NATURE, you will learn how to run, how to prevent injury and how to run again if you already have had some injuries. In other words, this clinic is for everyone!!!! Please note, we don't run mileage in this workshop so your current fitness level and speed is totally irrelevant.

SUMMER DATES:
CLINIC #1:
2 x 1hr Sessions
1st Class: Wednesday, June 15th 6:30pm
2nd Class: Wednesday, June 22nd 6:30pm

CLINIC #2:
2 x 1hr Sessions:
1st Class: Monday, June 27th 6:30pm
2nd Class: Monday, July 4th 6:30pm

Cost: $50 + HST
Location: Don Ross Track
Pre-Registration Required! 12 spots available per Clinic.

The focus of this clinic is to re-look at HOW you run, your technique, stride and efficiency. By learning the correct way in which to move, you CAN and WILL avoid injury, enjoy running, get faster and have it be apart of your life for many years. These classes will re-teach the fundamental principals by taking you through a series of progressive drills. We will not be running huge distances during these classes. You will be introduced to the BAREFOOT method as the clinic will focus on eliminating the heel strike from your form and implementing a midfoot/forefoot stride.  Runners of ALL levels can benefit from participating in this clinic, from the first time 5km runner to the seasoned marathoner. Learn to run safely and properly and get 2011 off on the right foot.

Have you suffered from plantar fascitis? Achilles issues? ITB pain or shin splints? These classes will change the way in which you view running as you gain an understanding of how to run properly.

Are you wanting to get faster this year? Set a new personal best or tackle a new race? Wonder why despite running many miles week after week, you are stuck in a rut? Chances are that your running technique is holding you back from efficient and effective running.    

Are you new to running or looking to make it apart of your everyday routine? By developing the fundamentals of running right from the start, you can. Very few people can actually explain and teach the difference between "running" and "running with technique and proper form." After learning and applying your new found knowledge you will be a transformed runner!

NOTE: this clinic is open to both members and non CBC members!!!
All classes taught by professional athlete and coach, Jen Segger.

Want to race in France for FREE??

2011-05-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Then read on......

Salomon is hosting this awesome contest! I highly recommend entering!

Salomon is partnering with Canadian Running magazine to send one lucky winner to go on an exciting trail-running venture in the French Pyrenees, from June 29 to July 3, 2011. The grand prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to participate in the Kilian’s Classik, a two-day trail-running event in Font Romeu, France!

Canadian Running Magazine FB Page:

Kilian's Classik Contest FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SalomonCanadian-Running-Magazine-Kilians-Classik-Contest/200615583315561

Kilian's Classik Information - Francais: http://www.traildefontromeu.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=54

Kilian's Classic Event Info - English: http://www.traildefontromeu.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161&Itemid=178

Contest Details:

To enter, post a photo of yourself at your favourite trail on the Salomon/Canadian Running contest Facebook page. Include a written submission (about 150 words), telling us how the trail fits into to your lifestyle and training routine. Explain why you want to participate in the Kilian’s Classik. Post a short version on the Facebook wall, and send the full version (about 150 words) to mihira@runningmagazine.ca by email.

Alternatively, you can post a one-minute video of yourself at your favourite trail, explaining why the trail is important to you and why we should choose you for the grand prize. After posting on Facebook, send an email to mihira@runningmagazine.ca for confirmation, as soon as possible. The deadline is June 7. In addition to the grand prize, there will also be two honourable-mention prizes of Salomon apparel and shoes. Winners will be announced on Canadian Running’s Facebook page and the Contest page on June 10.

Rules:

1) You must be at least 18 years old and have a valid Canadian Passport

2) You must be available for the trip, leaving June 29 and returning July 3, 2011.

3) Contest closes on June 7

4) Representatives from Canadian Running and Salomon will select the winners, announcing them by June 10.

Kilian’s Classik features a 5K uphill race and 5K downhill race on July 2, followed by a choice of a 25K or 45K trail race on July 3. It takes place in the picturesque area in the Pyrenees, where Kilian Jornet, one of the world’s top trail runners and a member of Team Salomon, grew up.

Meet JF

2011-05-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

The King of High 5's is rocking things at CBC these days. I am so fortunate to have him as an instructor and coach. The enthusiasm that he brings every single day to the studio is awesome! Coach JF is currently taking on 1:1 personal training clients! Email him directly if you are in need of some private coaching, training and conditioning sessions! jf@challengebychoice.ca

A little bit about JF:

Jean Francois (JF) Plouffe has more than 20 years of experience in the guiding/instructing industry and is a certified trainer from the American Certification of Sport Medicine (ACSM).

Passionate about the outdoors, health, fitness and his family, JF brings a wealth of experience and certifications to instruct and lead climbing, mountain biking, white water canoeing/ kayaking, snowboarding, diving, advanced wilderness first aid and leading multi day expeditions on the international scale.

As a motivation speaker and teambuilding facilitator, JF shares his adventures and experiences with the hopes of building a better community for us all to be apart of.

As a business direction, Jean-Francois Co-founded in 2006 The Core Climbing and Fitness Center in Whistler. He has operated a kayaking and diving business in Hawaii and taught for the Outdoor Education Group in Australia.

JF is currently coaching and working with a wide diversity of athletes ranging from climbers and mountain bikers to rehabilitation and life style. If you see him with his son on the trails or at the CBC studio, be ready to High Five!

1st Women Road Ride Night

2011-05-10T17:55:00.001-07:00

Last week, CBC and Corsa Cycles launched the 1st of 4 weeks "Intro to Road Riding" Clinic. With 13 ladies in attendance (and more emailing us every day to join), the club is off to a great start. Dave reviewed how to change a tire and then Mike took the group through pace line riding. Despite the rain, we managed a cruisy 25min ride to test out some new knowledge. It was awesome to see everyone's confidence grow in just one short clinic. We have a great group of female riders, the challenge is just getting everyone comfortable with how to ride group style!!
This Thursday, the ladies are very lucky to have guest coach Paul Kindree in. He is a GREAT source of knowledge, anyone who gets the opportunity to learn from Coach Kindree will benefit so much! Enjoy!

Other Bits of News:

1) Our Women's Mountain Bike Clinics have been a huge hit, so much, that we will start a whole new set in June. Please email jen to get added to the interest list. Spaces will fill fast. There will be a Beginner and Intermediate session once again.

2) We are just starting to prepare for our summer schedule. So, as we look at what classes are popular and which time slots are not, there will likely be some changing about. Please do sign in early to your classes so that we can see if there is demand or not for it.

3) Both JF and Nicola are currently taking on new 1:1 clients who want private training. Please don't hesitate to email us to book. Full bio's and their specialization are coming soon.

4) Coach Jen has several new openings for teaching private 1:1 trail run technique and performance coaching sessions. Limited space available. Please email directly.

Busy Race Weekend

2011-05-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

What a great weekend to be out playing and racing in the sun which was the case for lots of CBC athletes this past Saturday and Sunday.

Congrats to our marathon racers Volker Schneider and Shannon McLeod. Volker ran an impressive 3:03 and I am so excited to see what he is going to lay on the table come Oliver 1/2 Ironman time. Shannon does everything with a smile on her face and this marathon was no different - nice work on your 4:07 and I love the FB picture that you posted. Robin Oneill took part in the 1/2 Marathon and finished as 18th female out of 4000 runners- daaaammmn girl!

Down in Washington, both myself and one of my ultra athletes attended the Capitol Peaks Ultra south of Seattle. Jerry Peters is prepping for Western States this year so we used the 50miler to get some good data - he finished 7th overall and broke his 8hr goal with a time of 7:53 - SWEET!!! I raced in the 55km and finished 1st female, breaking the womens course record by just over 10mins and ended up 2nd place overall against the guys. My full race report is now updated at www.jensegger.com BLOG.

Cathy Jensen and Jenni Chancey teamed up to race the Suburban Rush adventure race in Port Moody. I'm still awaiting to hear how they went. However, owner of the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race and of my newest clients, Bryan Tasaka and his race partner Aimee Dunn finished 7th out of 50 co-ed teams. Really stoked for Bryan - he spends so much time putting on races and events that this is the first time that he has actually applied himself to a consistent training plan - his hard work has totally paid off!

Junior Team Squamish rider Kristin Dryas placed 3rd at the Sunshine Coast Mountain Bike race yesterday as well. I just started working with Kristin and this is one gifted female cyclist with some huge goals ahead. She is a pleasure to coach. Despite being super ill all week, Kristin rallies to the start line and got'er done. Nice work girl!

Also - my Canadian Ski Mountaineering athlete Alex Wigley finished up his official race season a few weeks ago and has now focused on some of his own personal "bucket list epics." Check out his latest adventure - SO awesome.

Nice work everyone!!! I know next weekend we will see more CBC athletes on the Tenderfoot trail run start line - race season is just getting going!

Wednesday morning Inspiration

2011-04-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

One of my Salomon team mates, Killian Jornet, is at the top of his game right now! He is a pleasure to follow in the racing world and on his own adventures. He lives and breathes the outdoors and just so happens to be a super man athlete! Killian will be in Australia next week with me (Team Salomon)when we head there for The North Face 100km run.

Enjoy this little Wednesday video clip and see you inside for a C3 class or Compu tonight!

MAY is the month of the BIKE

2011-04-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER weekend everyone! We've got some great classes planned for this Friday (I guess you can't break tradition from what I've always done for people who Easter workouts) as well as for Monday! Saturday and Sunday we are closed - weather looks great - enjoy our beautiful playground.
And speaking of sunny days, we are getting most excited to launch several coached outdoor programs in May. Here is what is happening:

Womens Cycling Club STARTS

ROAD RIDING INTRO CLINIC
4 weeks/$60 + HST
Thursdays @ 6pm
May 5th - 26th
Gain confidence and improve your cycling skills on this weekly women's only ride! Our coaches will be teaching you the "rules" and fundamentals related to group road riding in a fun, friendly and non-competitive environment. We aim to get each cyclist comfortable riding in a pack and knowledgeable about how to do it safely!
This 4 week session is supported by Corsa Cycles. We will be meeting at Corsa for our first ride on May 5th and upon return to the shop, Dave will be teaching a "how to change a flat" session for anyone interested!
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: email jen@challengebychoice.ca to sign up!

LADIES CYCLING CLUB
As soon as the Intro Clinic wraps up, we will begin with the launch of the this new club! Communities everywhere have been building fabulous road cycling clubs just for women and we figure its time that Squamish has one too. Cyclists of all levels welcome to join.
There will be a 1x membership fee that will be good from June through Septemeber. Weekly rides will have a coach so as you continue riding through the summer, will continue gaining confidence, fitness, knowledge and heck, meet a whole tone of women in the process.
Details coming soon - please email jen@challengebychoice.ca to be added to the "Interested List". Oh, and if you have great ideas for the creation of the club's cycling jerseys, please let Jen know.
This club is already supported by Corsa Cycles and Republic Bikes - both bikes shops are stoked to see the beginnings of this new club!
Regular Thursday night rides will begin June 2nd @ 6pm.

Women's Moutain Biking Skills Clinic
Coach JF will be teaching this 4 week clinic geared to get your technical skills and confidence up as introduce you to the awesome trails that we have here. Guaranteed your ability to ride will improve. We are nearly sold out on this but a few spots remain. The class ratio is 1:6 to allow for optimal learning.
Tuesday 6pm - BEGINNER
Tuesday 7:30pm - INTERMEDIATE
4 session/ $80 +HST
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: email jen@challengebychoice.ca to reserve your spot. We can help you decide which session will be best for you based on your current skill level!

Women's Compu Trainer Class
We are offering yet another 6 week set, back by popular demand. We will focus on developing and improving your cadence and power output through fun, interactive and performance based training on the CompuTrainer.
6 session/$90 + HST
May 3rd - June 7th
Monday's 6pm (6 spots - FULL)
Monday's 7:30pm (6 spots - 3 spots OPEN)

Coach Jen on AR Radio

2011-04-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I did an interview for AR radio - here it is:

http://www.adventureracer.ca/Adventure_Racer/Podcast/Entries/2011/4/5_AR_Radio_Episode_14_-_Jen_Segger.html

In it I share some of my thoughts on training, nutrition, run technique and preparing for endurance events. Hope you enjoy!

On another note, lots of CBC athletes were on the start line of various races this weekend. Congrats to all the Sun Run 10km folks and to my Colorado athlete Tina Lewis who hit up the Zane Grey 50miler down in Fruita and took 4th in a competitive women's field.

Also - I'm getting lots of requests for Test of Metal and Gear Jammer training programs right now. Don't wait too long to get going as we are 2 months away now from race date!

See everyone for some sunny workouts this week!

Thank You

2011-04-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

On this awesome sunny Thursday, I just wanted to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has chosen CBC as their place to train, be challenged and find support for all their health, wellness, fitness and athletic goals. We have had our doors open for just over 6 weeks and its been fabulous. The word of mouth about what we do, how we conduct ourselves and how we operate continues to spread and its been a dream come true for me to watch the CBC community grow.

Today I was finally able to hit my first C3 class. We had the bay doors open and Nicola led a fabulous and tough class. Despite my 2hr run earlier in the morning, I was so motivated to push onwards because everyone else in the class was working to 100% individual effort as well. I've been missing the strength component of my own training and decided last week that I had to re-set this goal and make the time to have either JF or Nicola train me. Yes, even us trainers need the watchful eye of another person, the encouragement from the group and positive environment from the class. It's important to me to practice what I preach, ie - Train your Weakness - and this is exactly what I plan to do. I have 5 weeks left until my next 100km race in Oz and I want to be the best hill climber that I can be so....I better work hard.

It has been a positive compliment to our programming to have so many other health professionals in town choose our facility to train at. We've got some top notch chiro's, physio's and massage practitioners attending classes which is so awesome. They are able to experience first hand the training method that I apply - quality first and foremost paired with training protocols that directly relate to getting you ready to tackle the outdoor environment. You will be challenged each and every class but in a supportive environment where each client works within their scope.

Lastly - the new SQUAMISH TRAIL RUNNING CLUB is up and going. We meet Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. All the details are on the CBC website under "Trail Run" and the new Facebook page has been created.

Oh and this weekend is the first Twoonie Race of the year - Sunday at 4pm. See the SORCA website for all the details. See ya'll there this weekend.

Coach Jen

Why you don't see any machines at CBC

2011-03-31T17:18:00.001-07:00

Have a read and understand why we train you the way we do during your C3 classes.
NO MACHINES!
http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/2011/03/functional-training-that-gets-results.html

And just a friendly reminder to everyone:
Please, if you can't make a class, remember to cancel yourself out! We are running into a bit of a problem with some of the early classes that have at least a 2 person wait list on them. I'm trying to encourage a 10pm cancellation time. So in other words, if you are not going to make it to your 6am class, please try to cancel out by 10pm the night before so that at least the next in line gets the email and knows to set their alarm for the morning! Appreciate your help with this, trying to encourage common courtesy rules right from the start!!!

Lactate Testing - know and understand your training heart rate zones.
For the month of April, we are offering 10% of testing up in the lab. Bike and run test available. Email jen@challengebychoice.ca to book your time!

Lastly - get out and enjoy the trails! They are in great shape. Trail classes start next week as well, see schedule for details.

Trail Running Group - starts next week!

2011-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we have gone this many years in Squamish and there hasn't been a trail running group started! AHHHH. Its been my dream for a long time now to get a consistent group of people together to hit the trails. I know that SO many people love running the dirt but are hesitant to go out on their own or simply, just want a bit more instruction on how to become a good trail runner. I've been waiting for what seems like forever to see this snow disappear so that we can hit the woods running once again and it looks like next week will be the time to kick things off.
Let me take this opportunity to welcome you officially to the brand new:
Squampton Trail Running Club

I've now posted all the details to the CBC website, just click on TRAIL RUN. Current clients at CBC can hit these sessions and receive coaching while new folks who just want to join regular and ongoing run clinics can become members and just run.

Nicola and I will be coaching these session. Tuesday's we will work to develop your speed and power on the trails, make you a better hill climber, develop your confidence to descent, improve your agility on technical trails and just give you that extra little push that is sometimes hard to do on your own. Saturday mornings are focused on endurance, settle into that steady pace and over the weeks we will continue to increase distance and time on the trails.

Runners of ALL levels welcome. It's time to embrace the Squampton playground and get off the road.

Perhaps you are gearing up to hit some of the 5 Peaks Trail Races this year or maybe even Comfortably Numb 25km up in Whistler at the end of June? CBC will be putting together relay teams to tackle STORMY and the WHISTLER RELAY as well. If 50miles is not your thing, how about a 12km leg? Maybe you don't want to race at all, you just want to enjoy some group workouts and improve on your own skill. Speaking from experience, trail running will develop incredible leg power that can be applied to road running as well. One thing is for certain, it's time we have a trail running group here that meets on a consistent basis where the primary reason above all else is to enjoy our awesome network of trails in a fun and positive atmosphere.

I'm proud to announce that Salomon, a leader in the trail running world, has come on board as the official Club sponsor. More details on their involvement coming soon. If you've got a business that would like to come on board as a sponsor, please let me know.

Look no further now to find a partner to run with on the trails. There are LOADS of people here who love the trails, lets start to hit it together. I hope that the creation of this group will also do the following:
- Support one another through camaraderie at races and races. We will get some Squampton Trail Runner shirts done up and sport them with pride in the months ahead!
- Encourage more runners to experience trail running - spread the word
- Help each participant to become a more efficient and stronger runner

I look forward to seeing you on the trails, April 5th is our FIRST session, meeting up at Alice Lake so please be sure to get your membership sorted BEFORE then.

Skill Series Update

2011-03-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday to everyone, enjoy your classes today and tomorrow with JF. I think he has something special planned for your C3 workouts.

Quick update: we have now changed the structure to getting people started on the Skill Series. Instead of taking the 3 different 1hour classes, we have now combined your Skills Class to be 1 x 2hr class. We then invite you to attend your choice of a spin session OR an indoor ride up in the Lab on the Compu Trainer. We hope this works better for people's schedules as we know that lots of you are keen to get going in the C3 strength and endurance classes.

Remember: you only need to take a Skills Class if you plan to hit the C3 workouts. If you just want to Spin, Run, CompuTrainer, Paddleboard etc with us, no need to take the class.

Over and out from California - time for Coach Jen to run a hundred miles @ Coyote 2 Moons! I'll see everyone on Monday evening, just in time for men's class and the start of our women's indoor cycling series.

Women's Compu Trainer SELLS OUT

2011-03-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

Point proven. We have a ton of women in this town who love to ride. Several have signed up for Grand Fondo, the TOM or Squamish Tri already. With that in mind, I sent out an email and posted to FB the launch of a women's only Compu Trainer spring series, 6 weeks of base training indoors. It sold out within hours and so we added a second evening on Wednesdays. That only took another day to fill. Point of this blog post, I've now added a 3rd evening as there are still options for riders who want to hit some quality indoor ride time:

MONDAYS 6:15pm - 7:30pm (ladies session) SOLD OUT
WEDNESDAY 6:15pm - 7:30pm (ladies session) SOLD OUT
MONDAYS 7:30pm - 8:45pm (ladies session) 4 spots open

In addition, every week, there is a Wednesday night, 7:30pm ride. This is open to men and women of all levels. Spaces can be reserved online, you just need to stop by to purchase a 1, 5 or 10x CompuTrainer pass. Once you have that done, you are good to sign up for classes as you wish. This applies to any CompuTrainer class that is not sold as a set.

We are very open to what times you'd like to see Compu Trainer rides at. We are offering a Saturday morning ride time too, just in case you want to get your workout done early. Feedback always open.

Email to reserve your spot in the women's 6 week Spring Ride Series.

Picture Above? ATP athlete Barb Sweeney and CBC athlete Mary Betts hit the Compu Trainer last week and rode a good 2hours of the Ironman Canada course as we looked at watts and cadence. Both these ladies came to Costa Rica with TEAM CANADA to race the 6 day TCC Coastal Challenge 250km staged run. This year Mary is taking part in the Badwater 135 run followed by Furnace Creek 508 bike race.

Busy Race Weekend

2011-03-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

I realized on Saturday morning as I drove down to the North Shore that there was a heck of a lot of CBC athletes hitting the race course that morning. Despite the rain that never stopped all weekend on the west coast, I'm pretty sure that a few folks found sunshine down south. Most of us are still working through the base building months, focused on developing strong aerobic energy systems to support higher intensity workloads in the near future. Regardless, pre-season race can do wonders and its always a great gauge just to see where you are at fitness wise, how you recover and then to take the strengths and weaknesses from that event and apply into the next block of training. Here is how the weekend played out:

CBC United States based athletes Kyle Peter and Brian Schmitz hit the Georgia 24hr adventure race and finished 2nd place, completing the full race course in just over 18hours. Both these guys (along with 2 of my team mates from nuun-Sport Multi are) preparing for an epic 4 day adventure race in Switzerland very soon.

In Colorado, Tina Lewis put down a great 50km race in Colorado, finish 3rd in the women's division. Used as training, she has the Zane Grey 50miler next month down south and I'm very excited to see how she does.

Lots of CBC Squamish based athletes took part in the Dirty Duo on the North Shore Vancouver trails. Awesomeness goes out to Hilary Ewart for completing her first ever 50km! She did fabulous, confidence growing now that the first "big one" is out of the way. Lishe OKiely also had a great race, finishing 10th and well on her way to having a great race at the upcoming Diez Vista next weekend. Gretel Fortmann, Shannon McLeod and myself both hit the 25km course. Gretel finished 12th, Shannon 31st and I took 2nd, loosing by 45seconds to the first place female. I will be posting a blog on my personal experience at www.jensegger.com New coach to CBC Nicola Gildersleeve, a top trail runner from Vancouver but now Squamish based, finished 8th, telling me post race that she just didn't have it that day. It's a great comment to make because it's so true, sometimes the pieces just don't fall together and it takes a lot of confidence to recognize that, hold back and hence, perhaps just enjoy a day on the trails, not being in race mode. Megan Rose finished 1st in the women's 30km bike. Full race results found here.

Congrats to everyone on gettin'er done this weekend. Adventure onwards........

Indoor Cycling JUST for the ladies

2011-03-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

Starting Monday March 21st, there will be a 6 week base building clinic for women who are looking to put some time on the bike pre season and experience what this "indoor Compu Trainer thing" is all about. There are only 6 spots available and pre-registration for the 6 week set is necessary. The ride starts at 6:15 and ends at 7:30pm. Good times with the ladies, all levels welcome, email to reserve your spot and find out more!

CBC's most promising athlete!

2011-03-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Under the guidance of his dad (JF, new CBC coach) Kaleo is getting a head start on his training! Can't wait to see what he is doing 10 years from now.

The CompuTrainer Lab - only 1 of 3 in BC

2011-02-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

I feel really fortunate to be able to have brought a 6 multi-rider CompuTrainer set up here to Squamish so that cyclists of ALL levels could have access to quality training during the winter months. Kevin from Faster Coaching came up on Friday night to help me sort out a few little issues that I was having and he told me that only 2 other labs like this are currently in BC. Pretty cool. I know that they are popular all over the USA, some with set-ups that allow for up to 10 riders at a time. What multi riders systems allow can do is critical for improvement. We can control the environment in which you train via cadence, watts, terrain selection, intensity, heart rate etc and work on specific parts of your training while being in an interactive group setting having a good time.

Lots of people have a windtrainer at home and some people even have a single rider Compu Trainer. However, when you get 6 people together (regardless of their fitness levels), everyone can ride together and have a quality workout without the boredom factor of riding at home in the basement, on your own.

If you book in for a private ride session, you can utilize the SpinScan option which breaks down the pedal stroke and helps us find the weak parts in each rotation. We can see the "dead" places as your move your foot in a 360 degree motion. From that, we can start to focus on improvements in both pedal stroke efficiency and power. In return you get faster. In addition, we can set you up to ride against a pacer. We can set your pacer to ride the entire time at any given wattage (ie 160) and that will help you determine your pace, where you fall off in terms of consistency, where you fade and where you are strong. It's amazing technology. If your coach has assigned you a specific focus workout (ie - long hills seated while maintaining a given cadence and pushing a certain watt) we can give you exactly that too.

Here at the lab, you will be able to ride virtually any race course you can think of and we are currently getting data profiles done for some of our local events (ie - the TOM, Grand Fondo) etc.
Yesterday, I rode the first 30km of the Ironman Canada course and today, I'm going to check out the bike secion of the New York City Triathlon course. There are options for riding the Athens Olympic courses, 10 mile time trials, the Californian Race Series, Xterra courses, hills in the Tour de France, the list goes on and on! We can run power output tests, crits, hill reps set to a certain grade, short hill repeats, long hill climbs and descending intervals etc etc.

Private session and group rides available. For solo rides, just email us to book your time, mornings, days or nights. Group rides are currently scheduled but if you want to come in and ride any other time then listed, just email and we will sort you out.

Anyways, stop by and come see the lab for yourself. Any first timer can do their first session for $10. If you are a triathlete, you can do your entire brick workout right there. Bike first then hop on the treadmill instantly. If you need to ride and have plans to better your cycling this year, winter is the time to do it and develop that strong base.

See you on the Compu!

OPEN

2011-02-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

There were times when I never thought (or dreamed really) that I would finally get to say that my new studio in Squamish is finally now OPEN! I returned from Costa Rica early on Tuesday morning where I was both racing and coaching and bright and early this past Wednesday, the first classes took place! These past 3 days have been a bit of a blur but it has been extremely exciting. I lost my voice so teaching 6 classes a day was a bit of a struggle but I seem to be on the mend now and am eager for the week ahead.

I'd like to extend a warm thanks to everyone for all their help to get me and the CBC studio to where it is now. You can't tackle these kind of projects alone and I'm so grateful for the support, encouragement, helping hands, suggestions etc along the way.

So where are we at now???

Classes are now in full swing. I am doing my best and will continue to focus on offering times and classes based on what people want. Always drop me a friendly email with suggestions. The full schedule can be viewed via the SCHEDULE page of the website and upcoming weeks can be seen. Both JF and Nicola will be teaching classes so you will see them being integrated soon.

Stop by the studio to fill out your forms and purchase your pass. Best times to come in are right after a class has finished or during the day. Soon the phones will be working so you can always call to see if we are here. We are never too far and may have stepped out to run errands. OPEN GYM times are a great time to come in as well to sort things out. Just have a look at the schedule. Also, I frequently post quick updates on the Challenge By Choice FACEBOOK page so if you are a FB user, keep your eyes there.

It's been great to see all these new faces appear and become members of the CBC community. The first step for most people is to take the 3 skill series classes. If you are just wanting to do spin or compu trainer, no skill series are needed. If you are a cyclist and are doing any local events this summer (ie - the TEST, Grand Fondo's, Gear Jammer) don't put your winter base training off. You've gotta come check out the Compu Trainer Lab. Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings are a great night to come ride and add some intensity. Why ride alone in your basement when you can receive performance oriented workouts on an indoor group ride on your own bike.

In March, you will start to see the addition of the following classes and workouts to the schedule:

Run Technique

Trail Run

Speed, Power + Intensity Run Classes

(note - these are all included in group class passes and memberships.)

The only way to become a faster and more efficient runner is to train correctly and to practice!!

What else? what else? Lots to fill you in on and frequent blog posts are coming! Enjoy the sunshine today!

Signing in for Classes

2011-01-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, lots of passes have been purchased so here is the deal for starting to sign in for classes for the time being:

Step 1: stop by studio in evening to fill out forms and purchase the pass of your choice
Step 2: set up your account through the SCHEDULE page on Mind/Body
Step 3: once paid and forms are done, we will activate your pass
Step 4: Sign in for classes. Please make sure that when you start to register and sign in for classes, you don't do so unless you are 100% sure that you can make that class. If for some reason you do reserve a spot and then realize that no you can't attend, log in and de-register yourself, allowing someone else to take that spot. There is usually a 2 person wait list. We already know that the 6am women classes are going to be very popular. So lets start off on the common courtesy policy and think about your fellow CBC community members.

C3 Classes + Spin = registration for classes always opens 2 weeks prior to the class start date.

Skill Series = these open 1 month in advance so if you are new to CBC, you can sign up for these classes at anytime. There are lots of Skill Series being offered over the next 1.5 months and remember, you can do your Skill Series in ANY ORDER. You just need to have a completed a #1, #2 and a #3 class. Once you have done that, you can purchase an type of C3 pass and begin attending all regular classes.

Compu Trainer= these classes can be signed in for 2 weeks in advance and up to 30mins before the start time. The WEDNESDAY night race series starts on Feb 16th. Remember racers of all levels can ride together at the same time. Compu is the best way to make use of the winter months. We will likely start the first week with a 45min rolling hill type course.

Open Gym = these can be signed in for 2 weeks in advance and up to 30mins before the start time. Open gym is a good time to spin on your own, do a row workout or hit a strength workout as posted to the board. Each session allows for 1hr and if you need more time and its available after that, you can stay.

Jen in Costa, Compu Rides Continue, Personal Training Available

2011-01-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

Hey CBC crew! Quick update for everyone on a few important things:

1) As mentioned, Nicola will be at the studio for the next 2 weeks (Mon, Tues and Thursday's) from 6pm - 9pm so that you can complete forms, do payments (cheque, cash or email transfer for now). There are also Compu Trainer rides each of those nights starting at 7pm. Reserve your spot through nicola@challengebychoice.ca and/or if you want to start any 1:1 sessions.

2) Getting asked the question of "I have my pass, why can't I sign into classes yet."
Answer: You will be able to start signing in 2 weeks in advance to all C3 classes and spin. So, with studio launching on Feb 16th, that will be around Feb 2nd or so.
You will be able to sign in 30 days in advance to all the Skill Series. I am still programming more of these into the first few weeks of opening as we are getting an overwhelming response. You can take the Skill Series in any order if necessary. I am trying to schedule them for both mornings and nights.
Remember, in order to sign in and have your membership active, we must have all 3 forms and payment completed.

3) I am currently away in Costa Rica now coaching a group of athletes from all over Canada. We are here for a 6 day, staged, 250km running race. I will be updating my other blog (through www.jensegger.com) on a daily basis to keep you all in the loop of the adventures down here. Some of the Team Canada members have been training with me for over 8 months to prepare for this once in a lifetime experience. I will also be racing, looking forward to seeing the Costa Rican coastline as we run each day. Email will be very limited from Saturday night onwards so please direct any immediate questions to Nicola and if you do send them to me, there just might be a delay in response.

Counting down the days till we launch and open the doors!
Jen

The deal with Fats

2011-01-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Have a read of this article published recently on UltraRUNNING Online. Pretty interesting. Not that we are all endurance athletes but this will give you a pretty clear understanding as to why the good fats are so important in our everyday diets. You hear me talking about Udo's Oil all the time (and I know that so many of you are taking it now) and this article aids in that understanding. Training lots? Gotta get the fats in. Have a read:

www.ultrarunning.com/ultra/9/9_2/fats-in-the-endurance-wor.shtml

Great to see lots of the CBC regulars as well as many new folks in at the studio tonight! Thursday night is the next "drop-by" from 6pm - 9pm as well as a Compu Ride at 7pm (email nicola@challengebychoice.ca to reserve your spot - $10 cash). I'm off to Costa Rica for a few weeks to race and to coach some of my CBC athletes who have been training super hard to prepare for this 6 day staged run. All the details will be posted at www.jensegger.com so you can track it live. When I get back, the studio will be ready to go and all the last details of building should be done! Email limited for me personally over the next few weeks so best to contact Nicola if you need urgent response!

Come and Visit!

2011-01-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

Well, we are getting there! The studio is taking shape.
For the next 3 weeks, the studio will be open (as per the schedule below) for you to come in and sign waivers, purchase membership and check things out. There are also Compu Trainer rides those evenings for $10 by pre-sign up so that we can run the software and you can experience indoor cycling at its finest.
So, stop by, get sorted and we will be under way on FEBRUARY 16th for sure with the full schedule, everything happening, lots of classes!
In order to be able to start signing in for classes etc, you must have purchased your membership. Once again, your "month" doesn't activate until the first time you attend a class.

SCHEDULE for the following 3 weeks:
MON - 6pm to 9pm
TUES - 6pm to 9pm
THURS - 6pm t9 9pm

CompuTrainer Rides for $10
Each of the above nights from 7pm - 8:30pm
Email jen@challengebychoice.ca or nicola@challengebychoice.ca to reserve your spot.

Personal Training + Testing
Nicola will be available for the next 3 weeks to do personal trainings and any testing in the lab (bike or run). Just email her nicola@challengebychoice.ca to set up an appointment.

Please excuse the mess as we are still in cleaning mode :) Any questions can always be directed to Nicola while I am away. See you soon!

1st Compu Trainer Session

2011-01-19T13:32:00.001-08:00

Thanks Mike + Dwayne for being my testers up in the new LAB. Can't wait until we get 6 riders up there training. Cheers to great winter sessions on the bike, riders of ALL levels welcome!

Step by Step

2011-01-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

The last few days have seen good progression at the studio! We've got all the equipment there now, the bikes arrived and got set up, the treadmill got fork lifted up to the 2nd floor and late last night, Kevin and Sue from Faster Coaching (Whiterock) came up to set up the CompuTrainers! Mike and Dwayne came by for a late night ride session so that we could test software and make sure everything was hooked up correctly. It was awesome to see my dream of having "The Lab" start to come to life. Deron and Norm have been beyond helpful, I can't imagine having to do all this on my own. It's a bit overwhelming to say the least. I hope that by later tonight, the bathroom will be fully installed so that the water can get turned on sooner then later. There is so much dust in the place that the days ahead are going to be nothing but cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning!

Walls Painted, Floor Down

2011-01-16T22:14:00.000-08:00

Hey folks! Happy Sunday night.
Quick update here on progression. Things are moving along now which is great. This week we will be inside our new space setting up. Lots to still do but we are getting there. Very soon, you will be able to come in to get your memberships and check everything out. Can't thank you enough for your patience. In the mean time, visit the SCHEDULE page and start your Mind/Body account. That will make the sign up process smoother. Also, I'm starting to get lots of emails about the Women's Running + Conditioning Camp. The new details are now posted to website under Events and you can email me directly for the registration form.
Keep you in the loop!

Todays Tips and Thoughts

2011-01-04T16:05:00.001-08:00

One of my new years resolutions is to read more. Might sound funny but honestly, I find myself tied to the computer 24/7 coaching/updating/researching/emailing etc that come any extra free time, I'm usually just ready to close my eyes and not pick up my bedside novel. In saying that though, the reading I do directly relates to both my work and my passion - topics related to strength, endurance, running, biking, workouts, nutrition, injuries, races, recovery and on and on and on. See a pattern here? I make a habit of reading on a regular basis various websites and blogs that shed light and knowledge on the various avenues of sport and conditioning. There is a great deal of crap and misleading information out there so I try very hard to stick to creditable writers, coaches and researchers. My athletes keep me on my toes with questions which is great because if I don't have the answer, it forces further learning on my part which I really enjoy!

I've been fortunate as well to have some great mentor coaches in my life as well. From my beginning days as an athlete, I was inspired by my Whistler coach, Val Burke. She took me on as a young buck who loved to over train. She introduced me to the world of strength training and preparing for endurance events in smart way. Today Val lives and works out of New Zealand with various high performance national teams. My good friend and coach Ray Zahab has continued to teach me a thing or two about endurance as well (ummmm not to many people have accomplished what he has and maintained being injury free.) I passed my training over to Ray in prep for Badwater and learned so much along the way. No injuries in training, no injuries during the 135mile road race. Sweeet. More recently now tooo, I have been learning loads through my involvement with FaCT education and mentorship under Dr. Andrew Sellars. All these people continue to influence how I coach, what I pass on and how I prepare people (and myself) for their own athletic journeys. That must be why I love what I do and why I decided to move forward with opening up my own training studio - it's exciting work that keeps me motivated, engaged and constantly challenged. In other words - can't wait to open the doors and work with everyone!!!!

Interesting blog posting yesterday from Joe Friel who's work I follow regularly. Lots of athletes email in asking about this: How do I become a better fat burner. Read his posting to learn more as well as scroll down to read up on some other great topics he wrote about in 2010 that were widely read including foot strike when running, cleat position on the bike, core strength, lactate testing etc. Lots of good info if you got a few spare minutes. I will continue to share Joe's work regularily here on my blog when I come across interesting info that I think you might like!

Last note for today - SORRY for the delay in opening!!! It will not be the 10th as hoped but I will continue to keep you in the loop as per the last email that went out!

CBC Welcomes New Training Coach

2010-12-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to announce the addition of Nicola Gildersleeve to the CBC training studio. I was super excited when she told me that they were moving from North Vancouver to Squamish. Nicola is a top coach, an amazing athlete and just a wonderful person to be around. She has a huge variety of skills and knowledge to share with all of us. Nicola will be taking the lead role with 1:1 personal training, athlete testing and of course coaching in the C3 series. She understands performance training so you can expect tough and challenging workouts delivered with the same style I teach with :)Cheers to a great 2011 everyone - Happy New YEAR!

Opening Date

2010-12-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

Things are now moving along swiftly at the studio and it looks like the first day of classes will be January 10th! YEAH.
The new website will go live today so I hope you enjoy looking through it and get a good sense of what classes and training opportunities will be offered.
We will be in setting up the studio the first week of January so you are welcome to come by, say hello, get your membership, ask questions etc. Once you have your membership you will be able to create your own login profile on Mind/Body and schedule yourself for classes. All the details coming.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Cyclists get Ready!

2010-12-10T13:44:00.001-08:00

You've been hearing about it, and wondering about it but still not sure what the Compu Trainer Spin Lab at the new studio is all about? Read on........

I've always felt like there has been a missing link here in Squamish when it comes to preparing and training for bike season. While we have a world class outdoor playground that many of us enjoy all summer and fall and we sign up to take part in all these great races (from the Test, to the Gear Jammer to the Squamish Tri and the Grand Fondo) we HAVEN'T had a place that offers quality and purposeful indoor winter riding training. I know many of us transition onto the ski's once the snow flies but believe it or not, LOTS of us still sit at home and put in some hours on our wind trainers with the hopes of getting back outdoors in the spring time with some power in the legs.

It's been my dream to offer a place where cyclists of all levels can meet up and train together, especially during these dreary winter months. Coming to the studio in the upstairs lab is a brand new 6 person multi-rider CompuTrainer system. Let me explain how it works:

- Up to 6 riders at time bring their own bikes and set them up on a special wind trainer system.

- Each bike has a wattage meter that attached into a computer system and then onto a big

screen TV

- from there, all 6 riders can ride/race/compete/train on a set course (ie - time trials, ironman courses, hill repeats, etc etc etc) in REAL TIME!!!

- the images are projected onto the screen so all 6 riders can see the distance, wattage, pace, heart rate etc. that they individually are doing compared to that of the other riders

- oh and side note, got a GREAT new sound system going in so the tunes will be cranking!

This is the only multi-rider set-up in the area and if dem

and increases for it, we can grow the set-up to accommodate up to 10 riders in the future. Indoor riding in a group with a focus is not only much more fun, but more conducive to having a quality training session.

Get STOKED - there will be a weekly Winter Race Series happening too on Wednesday nights starting at 4pm and going on until 9pm. Six new riders will take to the bikes on the hour. These will be high intensity races lasting about 45mins with each week featuring a different course. It's kinda like the Toonie Race, but indoors. Make your off season count!

And want some individual time on the CompuTrainer? Cyclists will be able to book private CompuTrainer times and utilize the Spin Scan Pedal Stroke Analyzer - use this system to analyze the flat or dead spots in your pedal stroke and work to apply equal power from both the right and the left leg. Pretty cool!

And fear not if the CompuTrainer is not what you need. Downstairs in the studio will have 8 of the Lemond Revmaster Pro Spin Bikes. There will be coached indoor spin classes and the bikes will be available for your use during all OPEN GYM hours.

All the details coming soon......sit tight!

Not long now......

2010-12-09T21:12:00.001-08:00

It's funny how word spreads around! We are now just weeks away from opening and I can't believe the number of emails that I get in daily asking for when the doors will be open. All I can say is soon! Tentatively, and I say this with caution, I am aiming for January 3rd!

I believe the dry walling is about to start (if it didn't already) as my electrician and sound system guy just finished doing all their work. I have a really simple build out so fingers crossed that we can start rolling as soon as we enter into 2011.

The new website will be launching any day at www.challengebychoice.ca Please note that my old site (and for those people still wanting to book their virtual coaching start dates) is now at www.jensegger.com

All my equipment has arrived and I am so excited to break it out and start using it!

If I don't have you on my email out list, please make sure you contact me so that you are in the know. Also - make sure you join the Challenge By Choice FACEBOOK page for all updates!

Keep you posted.........

Equipment is arriving!

2010-11-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Its been months of planning, organizing, ordering, debating, thinking, asking, writing, calling and emailing about all the things related to opening up a new performance training facility! It has been quite the learning experience really, with many frustrating moments mixed in with all the excitement. However, happy to report that the equipment is starting to arrive! Friday afternoon all the rowing erg's got dropped off along with some beautiful new barbells. All the Lemond Spin bikes are waiting in Vancouver with the treadmill and I expect the remainder of the equipment to arrive this week.

I'm busy finishing up the content for the new website and learning the back end scheduling system that I think once I master it, life will be much easier. In the mean time, there is still a ladies morning class working hard outside as they eagerly await the new studio doors to open.

I will be starting to email out January's programs and classes next month so make sure you email me at jen@challengebychoice.ca to get on that email list! Classes get underway right away in the new year!

Counting Down the Days....

2010-11-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

It's busy times here as we prepare to open up the new studio. Day by day, things are happening on site and I think it's only a matter of weeks now. Until the new website launches, this BLOG will have all the updates as well as on the FACEBOOK page so make sure you are a member. Here are a few of the classes and services that will soon be available:

C3 Strength + Endurance Classes

(ladies, guys and co-ed)

6 person multi rider Computrainer (indoors on your own bike)

Winter Race Series (on the compu-trainer)

Spin studio on the Lemond Revmaster Pro (state of the art spin bikes)

Run Clinics (technique, barefoot and trail development)

Junior Development Cycling Team (coached)

Challenge By Choice Racing Team (for athletes of all levels)

Lactate Testing, Coaching + Personal Training

Studio Coming Soon.....

2010-10-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone! We are getting very excited about the future opening of Squamish's newest high performance training studio. Everything is in the works as we wait for the final completion of the Tumblewoods Building. Our new website will be launching soon too so please keep checking here on the BLOG for all updates and happenings!

I look forward to training you in the new facility. My goal is to make you as fit and strong as possible inside so that you can directly apply your functional fitness to the outdoor playground. I specialize in endurance training systems and strength and power development. From general fitness seekers to the weekend warrior to high performance athletes, a wide variety of program and coaching services will be offered to help you achieve your goals!

All the details coming soon.......GET READY!

Jen Segger

Founder + Head Coach