Life is good!

Things on the west coast are starting to come together! I have just accepted a job with the City of Vancouver running the fitness and sports programming and managing a community fitness centre in the west end. It sounds like a great opportunity both now and into the future...I'll be glad to get back to work!

I'm also making some contacts within the tri scene and have already started working with a couple of clients, hopefully more to come!

I took the picture above while riding on Sunday, I'm really enjoying finding my way around by bike, the riding around here is great. There's a little more traffic than I'm used to but the scenery is beautiful and I can ride hills, mountains or flats depending on which direction I head.

The sun's still shining in Van City and so far I (we) love it! The true test will come over the next few (8) months when the rainy winter rolls around, right now though life is good!

Cheers, IY

RACING!!

After a summer in which I encountered many life experiences/stressors I finally got a chance to pin a number on this past weekend!

I lined up for the first BC Cup Cyclocross race of the year in Delta on Saturday in the Men's B category. Cross is a bit more relaxed regarding categories and I had thought about racing with the A's but considering 1) I am out of shape and 2) this was my first real CX race I decided to race with the Killa B's!

I went out for a pre ride and quickly found this course to be much more like a mountain bike course than a typical 'cross course. After a nice open grassy section with 2 sets of barriers and a couple of switchbacks we were into some pretty gnarly single track (for a cross bike) with big roots, rocks and logs and lots of tight turns. This was followed by a short, open climb and then we were back into some more swoopy hard pack single track before hitting the meadow again.

Tire pressure is always a hot topic at a 'cross race and today would be no different. I'm still running clinchers (waiting for the tubulars in the mail!) so ran about 45psi in both front and rear tires.

Turns out I probably was running too low for that type of terrain and after a good start and what I thought was a pretty clean ride through the rocky bits, I got a pinch flat going into the second single track section on the first lap while in the lead.

I shouldered my bike, tried to keep out the way and jogged to the start finish area. Not wanting to waste the day I asked an official for a start with the "A" race, assuring him that if I was embarrassing myself or endangering the other racers, I would withdraw to fight another day.

The nice man let me race and I was actually doing OK for the first :40 minutes or so, riding in the top 10, suffering like a dog and loving every minute of it!

The last :20 minutes were a bit ugly and my legs couldn't keep up with my heart. My core and arms were getting pretty worked too but all that will come as my fitness gets better.

Cyclocross is probably the best type of racing for me right now. After a few months with too much on my mind it was nice to clear that all away and just GO! I enjoyed the nerves prior to the start and the numbness in my body as the fatigue took over and the satisfaction of crossing the line (without embarrassing myslef!)

In the end, the official told me I rode well and that I should stay with the A's for the rest of the season...guess I'd better get out for some intervals!

Back in the saddle,
IY

Update time

It's been a while since I've been able to sit down at a computer for an extended period of time, thus the lack of updates.

E and I arrived in Van safe and sound and were just getting settled in when I got a phone call to come back to Ontario as my Dad had taken a bad turn and things weren't looking good. We knew it was coming but I'm the type who doesn't deal with these things until it's absolutely neccessary.

I arrived to find my Dad a VERY sick yet peaceful man, he seemed ready to give up his fight; it looked like it may be hours or at the most a couple of days. Never underestimate a strong (or stubborn) heart and soul, here we are a week later and while very weak, he is still alert and relatively comfortable. He will spend the rest of his days in palliative care but at this point no one really knows how long it will be.

At Dad's request, we are heading back to Vancouver in a couple of days-it doesn't yet feel like home but it will. It's a great city and we can't wait to explore it. I've also got a shiny new cyclocross bike (see above) that I can't wait to make less shiny in the rain and muck of the Wet Coast!

Cheers, Ian

Quick Update from Swift Current, SK

With Uncle Neil providing a great Canadian soundtrack, we've almost made our way through the Prairies. Tomorrow we'll hit the Rocky Mountains and from there it's all down hill to Van City.
The trip has been good, Ontario was BIG, the North Shore of Lake Superior was BEAUTIFUL and the Prairies have been...OK :0)

Some other quick updates for those concerned: the house is SOLD, the dogs have been great and E and I are enjoying ourselves! Oh yeah, and I turned the big 3-0 today!

Will check back in from our new home on the West Coast!

Cheers, IY

Buy Me!!!!

1 Man, 1 Bike

It's a sad and empty day in the Young household today. For the first time in a long time I own only one bike!

I'm trying to simplify this move as much as possible so I've unloaded a lot of the extras. A bunch of little parts that have been sitting in my tool box, some extra wheels and rims - all gone. My cyclocross and single speed MTB - gone. My road bike (as of last night) - gone.

I'm not sure how much space we'll have in Van but rest assured, once we get there and figure out where we're gonna put our stuff the collection will begin again. Until then, the Seduza is the only arrow in my quiver, lucky for me it's the deadliest one!

The Anti Race Report - Riding to Conquer Cancer

Some numbers:
2850 riders
211km ridden
$14, 000, 000 towards conquering cancer in our lifetime.

Thanks to the donations of a great group of friends, family, and even strangers I was privileged to clip in this weekend and ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls with ~2850 cyclists.

To sum it up, it was a pretty special weekend to spend on two wheels. This was the first charity ride I've ever participated in. I picked a good one - it turns out this was BY FAR the most successful fundraising ride ever held in Canada!

Usually I spend my time on the bike thinking about the next interval, the next training session or the next race. My goal for this ride was to simply enjoy the people, their stories and their celebrations. The commitment to ride 200+km over two days is huge for many, couple that with the commitment to raise a minimum of $2500 each and it became quite clear how important it was for people to be involved in the event. I thought about my Dad and how his illness makes this important for me. The $14 million we raised won't help him but he has provided me with a close personal connection to cancer and in his honour I asked people to donate to the cause.

I was able to gather more than enough to ensure my spot on the start line in Toronto and I'm glad to say I accomplished my goal! I enjoyed the ride, didn't worry about pace, power or perceived exertion and was challenged spiritually if not physically.

Again, thanks to all who contributed your hard earned $$ to the ride, I thought of you often throughout the ride and was humbled by your generosity. Thanks to my dad for my "story" and thanks to Steve Bauer (Canadian cycling legend) for stringing our front group out at 55kph with 10km to go....just to give us hammer heads a chance to throw down, that was pretty cool too!!

Making excuses

Mike E just recently posted that blogs were for making excuses, it's funny because it's true. That being said, here goes my excuse filled Muskoka race report!

After spending a week in Vancouver scouting apartments, meeting with prospective employers and getting familiar with our new city I lined up Sunday morning to race the Muskoka Long Course Triathlon (2km/55km/15km)

I flew into YYZ Saturday night around 8:00 and drove straight to the race site, arriving around 11:00. This race hasn't been on my mind as much as it has in previous years and as such I failed to book a hotel room, I decided to bunk up in my car for the night right outside of transition.

I woke up at dawn after a long night feeling OK but not yet in the "racy" state of mind that usually gets me up and at 'em. Upon seeing the familiar faces of the competition, drinking some coffee and a little warm-up things came around and the competitve sensations started to surface.

I got off to a solid start on the swim, distanced myself from the rest of my wave to make sure no one got on my feet then put 'er in cruise control and kept it steady. The swim felt OK actually, it's amazing how a deep background coupled with a great wetsuit can make up for a lack of fitness in the swim!

Onto the bike and the plan was to ease into the ride and see how percieved exertion lined up with my power. The first 15km were uncomfortable. I hadn't been on a bike in over 1.5 weeks and had only been on my TT bike twice since Triple-T. I finally settled in and started to feel more in tune with the bike. This lasted 10km until I downshifted (possibly too hard) on a hill and messed up my front derailleur. I still don't know exactly what happened but when I tried to shift back into the big ring, the teeth of the ring were blocked by the back end of the derailleur cage. I got off, tried to fix it then realized I'd lose more time mokeying with it than I would by riding the rest of the way in my small ring. So off I went, I spent the much of the remaining 30km spinning at 110-120rpms or coasting. I mentally checked out a bit and at that point decided to finish the bike as best I could and mail the run in as an easy training day.

I was glad to get off the bike and get my running shoes on. Any thoughts of mailing it in were replaced with the flow of those competitive juices. Just going through transition it felt like a race all of a sudden. Again, the plan was to start out easy. I wanted to get through some of the steeper hills in town and get out onto the longer stretches of road before picking things up and that's just what I did. I ran very well (for me) for 10km. A lack of training crept up on me with 2km to go but at that point you just HTFU and get across the line.

So yeah, there are a few excuses in there. I was jet-lagged, my bike broke, I'm not as fit as I had hoped. Blah, blah, blah!!! Everyone deals with their own set backs in their preparation and execution. If they haven't they will and if they have it'll happen again.

At one point in the race I was feeling exceptionally sorry for myself, I was upset because I wasn't able to ride or run as fast as I had hoped. Then I thought about my Dad, it was Father's Day and he is spending it laying on the couch sick and weak as chemotherapy drugs course through his body. All of a sudden my excuses seemed very insignificant and I decided that the faster I finished the faster I'd be able to hit the road and visit my Dad. I knew he'd ask me how the race went and I wanted to be able to tell him the truth: that I gave it my best shot on the day.

This triathlon season hasn't been what I had hoped. The good news is that it has been my choice. I'm not sick or injured, I'm just busy. I'm moving to a beautiful part of the country on a great adventure with E. Ironman will still be there next year and I'll be ready. In the mean time I'll keep plugging away at the shorter stuff and I'll try not to make excuses.

Cheers, IY

Triple - T...what a way to spend a weekend!

Wow, I certainly underestimated how hard it would be to do 4 triathlons in 3 days.

I knew it would be a tough weekend but I had no comprehension of how I would feel waking up on Sunday morning with another 5 hours of givin 'er in the swim, bike and run staring me square in the face. To sum it up, I felt like crap.

The thing is, training for Ironman, I've done weekends where my volume has been significantly higher than that of Triple - T, I guess doing it at race pace makes a difference - actually it makes a HUGE difference.

It was a long weekend and if I wasn't still so tired it could be a long report, I'll keep it brief:

Friday - cold, short, rainy, I tasted blood, 1 race down.

Saturday am - cold, bike was HILLY, rode with Gordo, got dropped like a bag 'o hammers by Gordo on the run, all in all, it was a pretty decent race for me.

Saturday pm - Bike was HILLY, saw a guy waving a HUGE confederate flag yelling "I'm gonna get you", got off the bike into my wetsuit, proceeded to almost drown due to cramps in legs (no joke), barely made it to the run course, hobbled for 2 miles before my legs learned to move again, finished tired and sore, never want to do a Bike, Swim, Run format again...until the next time I do TTT

Sunday am - woke up and felt awful, forced down some breakfast, sulked all the way to transition, started anyway and started to feel OK, bike was HILLY, rode with Gordo again, got a flat tire, started the run well, weekend + sub-par fitness took it's toll around mile 7, shuffled home, FINISHED!

So yeah, it was a hard weekend but it was different and fun (with the exception of a few choice miles on the run Saturday and Sunday). I drove down with Mike C from Sudbury and Dave B from Parry Sound, they raced as a team - which I would definately do if I were to enter TTT again. Fefe posted on slowtwitch that she had some openings in her cabin, so we took her up on it and ended up having a great time with lots of laughs. That's really what TTT (and all triathlon, really) is about - everyone is in this craziness together so you just go out and do it, hopefully with a smile on your face and some words of encouragement for your fellow TTT'ers....or you could be a grump like me and walk around like the picture above.

Next up is Muskoka, should be a cake walk compared to this!

King of the Hill, Donkey of the Peleton

I had a pretty interesting day at the Niagara Classic road race yesterday. I raced Cat. 3 again, our race was 7 loops of 12.3km - each lap finishing up a legendary bump in the road called Saylor's Hill a 400m or so power climb at around 12% grade.

The first lap I hung around in the first 1/3 of the pack until the "climb" where I moved up to the front. I wanted to see who was strong so I pushed the pace over the top and stayed on the gas for a while. Looking around, it looked like there were about 10 guys who had the horsepower to get into a selection should something occur - these were the guys to watch.

So I stayed near the front for a while and attacked a few times trying to get something to stick but the boys couldn't/didn't want to get organized. After the 3rd time up Saylor's and a few more attacks (my NP for the 1st hour was 358W) I attacked and somehow got away alone. That was not my plan...after I got about :10 I dialed it back to about 80% and figured that a few guys would try to bridge and that would be it. Well no one came and when I looked back and my gap had grown to around :30 so I decided to try to make a go from there. I kept on the gas and extended my gap to 2:00 over the course of the next couple laps. Approaching the 6th time up the climb however it was as if all of a sudden the effort of the past 2 hours had just made itself known to my legs. I lost ~:50 seconds to the pack on that 400m stretch of road and still had 12km to ride...this was gonna be ugly. Long story short, ove the course of those 12km, I went from 1:10 in front to off the back.

Despite an embarassingly anti-climactic end to my race, I did end up taking the "King of the Mountain/Hill" prize which covered my entry fee, I was the most active and aggressive and really the only one that seemed concerned with making the race interesting. I know I'm not going to win in a 400m sprint up a 12% grade, but I do know that I can grind these dudes down on the flats, rollers and headwinds so that's where I tried to win....oh well! Onto the Triple-T this weekend where hopefully those hours spent off the front yesterday will be put to good use sandwiched between a swim and a run...over and over and over again!

Go West, Young Man!

In a few short months, this is where we are going to be living, working and playing! EWY has accepted a wicked gig with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic organizing committee so we're taking the big step and moving across the country.

Lots still up in the air (ie. a job for me, a place to live that will allow our two pooches, you know just the small details!) but we are very excited for the change of scenery and to finally live together full time.

On a training front, I'm trying to squeeze the workouts in amongst work, getting our house on the market and job hunting but I feel like I'm hitting the main sessions pretty well and skipping the filler aka swimming ;)

The big or actually the first test will be in a little over a week at the DeSoto American Triple-T. It's a stage race consisting of 4 races in 3 days, culminating with a Half Ironman in what is rumoured to be VERY tough terrain on Sunday morning. Looks to be some good AG talent in the mix so it'll be fun to see how I stack up...or if I survive.

I've also got one more bike race this weekend in basically my backyard. The Niagra Classic hosted by the local cycling club runs Sunday. The weather forecast is calling for 30km/h winds and rain, should be epic!

Anyway, that's the BIG news for this update!

Oh, and I don't really know who reads this so if you're someone close to us who is offended to find out that we're moving across the country by reading my blog I'm sorry but you should call us more often...Mom

On the box

I came close to the "W" yesterday but settled for 2nd in the Cat. 3 race (aka " 2nd tallest midget in the circus") at the first Ontario Cup road race of the season. First time ever in a bike race on the podium - they made us raise hands like that...weird!

Anyway for those of you dying to find out how it played out...there was a break of 4 dudes 1:45 up the road with one lap to go. In the first few km of the last lap it looked like the break had disintegrated as a couple of guys were coming back - we had heard there was still one guy holding the gap.

In any case, the front of the race was still 1:45 up and no one seemed overly concerned with catching him for the win so I attacked into a stiff headwind with 15km to go and had a couple of guys follow me. I let them take a couple of turns and it became obvious that they weren't going to be able to help my cause a great deal so I punched it again up a sharp little hill and in doing so ended up alone for the chase with a :30-:45 gap on the bunch.

After about 8km of rolling hills I could finally get a good idea of where the lead was and that I was closing on him. With just over 4km to go we made a final right hand turn and I timed the gap at :40. We had a nice tailwind on this last stretch so deep down I knew it would be next to impossible to close the gap - everyone is good in a tailwind! But I put 'er in the "11" anyway, put my head down and suffered to the line...down :21. I ran out of real estate but kudos to the dude who held on after dangling out front for a good while. Despite (or maybe because of) his pink, purple and blue pastel coloured cycling kit - he toughed it out for the top step.

This bike racing is fun, always new lessons to be learned. It's keeping me busy and fit while we wait for the ice to thaw on the lakes and the start of the real season of racing!

I'm a triathlete again!!

Let's keep it that way!

I've run twice since Wednesday without pain or inflammation in my tibialis posterior tendon so I hope that injury is behind me. I'll have to be careful over the next few weeks to ramp up the mileage wisely but I think I should be good to go!

Other good news is the result of a CP20 test that I did last night. A CP20 is basically 20 minutes as hard as you can go. We'll use these numbers to measure improvement in bike fitness throughout the year and make sure we're heading in the right direction...so far, so good, I seem to be on track with the bike anyway.

I guess I should also talk about swimming (gotta keep out front of my boys Mikey and J-Mo for part of the race anyway) It's going well - I'm never going to set any PB's in training or racing considering I did those when I was swimming 9-10 workouts a week, but I feel good in the H2O. I swim, on average 3 times/week and I try to do some quality in every session. I don't need the real easy technique work or the junk miles in the pool...get in, do the work and get out and hopefully we'll see more of the swim primes like the picture above from St. Croix - man I'm gonna miss kicking Chris McCormack and Craig Alexander's ass this year...in the swim ;)

Cheers, Ian

Put on your Game Face!

OK, maybe I need to work on my game face (I'm the dork sitting 3rd wheel, smiling like an idiot as these other dudes look to be digging into their suitcases of courage). This picture was taken a few laps into the Niagara Classic last spring at the top of the infamous Saylor's Hill...a few more times up and I assure you the poop-eating grin was wiped away!

In any case my competitive season for 2008 is under way, so I put this up to remind me how much I love to race!

I'm still not running - hopefully this week - so I'm spending some solid time in the saddle. I'm also doing a bit of bike racing to keep things interesting and get the competitive juices flowing.

It started this past weekend with a cool race called the Tour of Pelham. The course was a good excuse to get the cyclocross bike out for a spin: a mix of paved road, dirt road, single track, un-improved farm paths and rutted-out mud chutes. As Coach KP said "sounds very 'Belgian'!" While it was no Ronde van Vlaanderen at only 35km in length - it did hurt and it was FUN!

A teammate from my new road/CX team got away very early in the race so I covered moves and made sure his solo breakaway was secure. Once the race was established, I took off from our chase group of 6 on a tough stretch of soft cordouroy gravel road and TT'd home for 2nd place.

This weekend I'm back on skinny tires with 2 road races. I'll race Cat. 3 and hope for atleast a hard workout on what are two pretty tough courses. I'm feeling strong on the bike but the funny thing about road racing is that doesn't always mean you'll do well...unless you're REALLY strong...we'll see!

I'll keep you posted after this weekend, in the mean time, wish me luck with my first run in 3.5 weeks on Wednesday!

2 Weeks, no running...

and no end in sight. :(
I've got a nasty case of posterior tib. tendonitis and have really no idea how it got so bad so quickly.
My mileage was reasonable, stride was feeling fluid and light but all of a sudden I can't walk let alone run.
We think it may have been a longish run on a hard surface with bits of ice and snow scattered around that really triggered it (thus the subtle message to winter above).

I tried to manage it and run easy for a couple of days but two weeks ago I had to walk/limp home 5km...I haven't even thought about running a step since then.
It is still pretty inflamed and I often can't walk properly but I'm hoping with another week or two I'll see some progress.
I'll keep you posted (both of you), in the mean time I'll hammer the bike and try to keep some semblance of running form by taking part in possibly the most embarrassing activity for a former swimmer - AQUA JOGGING!!

The Ride to Conquer Cancer...Half Way!

For one weekend in June, I plan to finally ride my bike for someone other than myself. I ride my bike pretty much every day, I always do it for me. Whether it's training, racing or commuting, I ride because I take pleasure in it, I get something positive out of it physically and mentally.

My Dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer this past August.
I found out about the Ride to Conquer Cancer in the Fall and decided to enter and ride for my Dad. 200km of riding in a weekend isn't much for me (actually I'll probably hafta put in some extra miles and a run after Day 1) but by entering I committed to raising at least $2500 for the Princess Margaret Hospital's Cancer Institute, that's my challenge.

In addition to the usual training updates and the odd rant, I'm gonna start to post about my progress in the fundraising department as well. I've been inspired by the donations thus far and I know those who have donated are eager to track my progress.

Thanks to the generous support of friends and family (and friends of friends and family!!) I am more than half way to my goal. It truly shows that reach and impact of this disease - it is personal to so many people.

Until June 21, 2008 I'm going to keep working. Riding will continue to be something I do for me but I constantly keep in mind my Dad's fight. For that reason I'll keep pestering folks in the fundraising department. If you'd like to help, click on the link:
www.conquercancer.ca/goto/ianyoung

50cm!!!

For all you math majors...that's half a meter...I'm not sure how many feet that is in American, likely close to 2. In any case, we're supposed to get hammered once again with a huge snowfall tonight and tomorrow.
So the SCCC group jams that I usually count on for long, hard miles in the saddle are yet again replaced with mind (and taint) numbing sessions on the trainer.

Apart from winter's refusal to make way for spring, the training is going OK. A 20 minute critical power test on the trainer shoes my FTP to be in the neighborhood of 325W. I'm pretty confident that an outdoor test will yield higher numbers but I'm content with where we're starting out the 2008 campaign

Running frequency is up to 6/week and my stride feels like it's coming together. Still most runs are easy-steady around 4:20-4:30 pace but they feel good and they feel easy.

Swimming is still a bit of an issue with some rib problems but I'm getting a few easy swims in every week and getting some feel. The swim fitness will come pretty quick assuming everything else is firing!

Now, it's time to sit back and see what mother nature has in store for us...I swear this better be the last of it. Seriously, how full of shit was Al Gore this global warming thing? :)

Until next time, keep fit and have fun!

Whoa, it's been a while...but it's still winter

And it's still fucking cold and gray and cold.
While it's not a big surprise to still be dressing in countless layers of clothing to go for a ride or run in late February, I always get pretty tired of it this time of year.
It doesn't help to read and hear about friends heading to Tucson or South Carolina for a couple of weeks of great training in nice weather.
And just when I'm on the brink of S.A.D. (look it up) I slip on some ice last Tuesday while running and I've done some damage to my ribs/intercostal muscles. I haven't gone for an X-ray yet, mainly because I don't think there's anything you can do for cracked/broken ribs anyway.
I've still been able to train, the riding feels fine, running hurts (but that didn't stop me from entering a 1/2 marathon on Sunday...bad decision that I'd rather not talk about!) and swimming hurts - just annoying, persistent pain but it effects my stride and stroke if I don't take it easy.

Until next time, I'll be toiling away on the trainer or trudging through slush and snow, longing for the days when I'm suffering like a dog in the heat and humidity that is hopefully around the corner.

"You must be dedicated...

...to be running out in this cold weather" was a comment made to me today as I was out on a great little :50 run at lunch.
We've had a bout of warmer weather in my neck of the woods over the last week or so, today was the first day in about a week that was below 0*C (-1), I thought it was a great day to be out. Not like somedays when I really struggle to get outside, today was a no-brainer; probably about 10-12*C above my "treadmill temperature threshold."
I started to think about her comment and her perspective as I continued my run. This was just one little run on what I thought was a great day to be outside. From her tone of voice I gather she thought what I was doing was crazy, if it was up to me, I'd be out for a much longer run or a nice bike ride; different perspective. I (along with MANY other athletes) am not only willing to train despite a bit of snow in the air and a cool breeze, I enjoy it.
But she was right: "you must be dedicated." Today it was easy. I don't imagine I'll be racing that woman this summer, so doing something that she (and honestly most people) thought was crazy is no big deal. At some point between now and the 2008 triathlon season I'm gonna hafta do things that really do take dedication, things that my competition not to mention the lady on the street are unwilling to do.
Today I'm enjoying the easy, no-brainer days. I wanted to blog this so I'd remember that comment during the workouts that aren't so easy, the workouts that will hopefully set me apart.

Beautifully Ugly

Probably best describes my first swim "workout" since October, I loved every second of it but I bet it was U-G-L-Y to watch.

After spending my formative years fixated on the black line, starting set after endless set 'on the top' I go through periods where the last thing I want to do is pull on my speedo and go for a dip.
I've tried to force myself back in but I always end up hating it. I've now learned to let it go a bit, that it's OK to not swim. If I don't feel like swimming I do something else, for the past 2-3 months I haven't felt like it, I also haven't stressed about it. Sure, it's a nice luxury to have as a strong swimming triathlete but today I felt like swimming so I swam.

It was good to be back, I sucked, but it was a good suck. The sound of the water rushing past my head and was calmingly familiar, I guess I'm still a swimmer after all....even though 2001 me would laugh his ass off at the pace times 2008 me is using.

Happy New Year!

With the exception of a few 'ZEROES' over the past few weeks to do the holiday rounds, training has been rolling along OK. The volume is pretty low but I've been trying to get some quality/intensity in most days.
On the competition front (if you can call it competition), I ran my first beer mile just before X-mas and man did I under estimate the difficulty of that event! A beer mile consists of 4 beers, 4 laps of a 400m track, alternating beer/lap. I came out on top of our little group and finished in 7:40. We had about 6" of wet snow to run through so I think I can get close to 7:00 with a faster track. Regardless, it was a fun event, I think there's video footage floating around out there. I'll see if I can get my hands on it and post it here.

Keep fit and have fun,
Ian