January 2007 Entry
Posted February 2, 2006

 

Over the holidays we received some great news.  During the fall, a couple of our friends heard that my wife and I were about to refinance our house in order to purchase a physiotherapy vest for our son Jack.  This vest helps people with Cystic Fibrosis (who can afford it) to use to clear mucus out of their lungs.  They took it upon themselves instead to start a campaign to raise the $20,000 that the vest cost.  So they rallied friends, family and our church to raise the money!   So here is my son Jack proudly showing off his new vest. 

 

 

January in western Canada began with a real cold spell forcing this runner indoors to the treadmill.  I was able to keep up my Km’s but as I said earlier – it was a real head game to stay on it.  Because of the cold, my strength training went up a bit.   Usually once a week with my trainer and at least twice more into the local gym. I also found myself doing many of the exercises at home while my wife had her turn on the treadmill – I would do some strength work, I don’t want my ankles to end up like Hamish’s! (Atacama Journal) 

 

I purchased the 2006 Sahara Race footage from RTP, which I highly encourage any newbies such as myself to do.  First thing coming out of my mouth was “What have I gotten myself into?”  It quickly turned into, “I can’t wait to do this!”  This is a great training tool.  You can see what other participants used for gear, how it faired throughout the race, what kind of food seemed to be popular, what people didn’t bring that they should have (gaiters – who doesn’t bring gaiters?  See the DVD).

 

I also purchased my compass, whistle, knife, secondary light and the smart tube to try out.  I like the concept of the smart tube.  Watching the 2006 race, I watched competitors have to pull a lot of their top layer of pack out so that they could fill their bladder or pour water into their own water bottles.  A few racers simply took the water bottles given to them and through them into their packs pockets.  The smart tube allows you to use the same bottle given to you and simply tighten the cap on with the convenience of a camel pack type system.  I’m using a Salomon Raid 30 pack, which I like for the most part.  The only thing I don’t like about it is that the side carrying pouches that I would use to store bottles are just out of reach with the pack on – unless you have double jointed shoulders, which I do not!  So the smart tube solves this problem.  I may purchase another so that I can have each bottle accessible without spending too much time and effort stopping to switch over. 

 

I am very fortunate to be sponsored by a local running store called the TechShop as I have mentioned before.  They have generously given me shoes to train and race in.  I’m currently using the Brooks Trance 5 shoes, which are feeling great.  They are for mild to extreme pronators and because of this they have some built in stability that I think will be a plus in the uneven terrain.  They also have heal and toe plastic molding that may come in handy through some of the rocky parts of the race that seemed to tear up some peoples shoes last year.  I found that I wasted $15 on a pair of socks because the Nike socks that I bought (which are great socks – don’t get me wrong!) which seemed to be made out of similar material that the inside of my shoes are made of.  The result is that my feet are slipping all around inside regardless of how tight I tied them (and I like them loose) and resulting in hotspots.  So right now I’m pretty happy with Injinji socks and my trusty Wright Socks.

 

I’m looking forward to ordering the RTP gaiters – they look pretty good.  On the DVD there were people pulling socks over their shoes, duct tape and anything they could find to keep the sand out – one guy, the same guy who showed up without gaiters, resorted to running in his socks. 

 

Together with The Techshop and Achieve Personal Training we’re using our collective media contacts to get the word out about the race and why I am running it.  So my ugly mug will be interviewed and pictured as much as I can to raise awareness about CF.

 

 

 

December 2006 Entry
Posted December 20, 2006

November was a good month for strength training.  However, it was unseasonably cold here even for November in western Canada getting down to almost minus 30, a far cry from where I’ll be next October.  I run on the treadmill but I get bored very easily and find it a mental game to stay on.   My son was also in for minor surgery and had a nasty cold that required us to increase his physiotherapy from his normal 3 sessions a day to 4 and even 5 per day – each session taking up to 45 minutes. 

As I am trying to raise funds for finding a cure or control to Cystic Fibrosis, I have been trying to secure sponsorship to cover the costs of the logistics of the event itself (flight, registration and equipment).  With these out of the way, I can then begin to raise funds without people questioning if any money is going towards race expenses.   A friend of mine who has a local business has sponsored my air travel (Specialized Stair & Rail), another the registration (Stephenson & Associates) and now a local running store called The TechShop (www.thetechshop.ca) has come on board to outfit me in Brooks training and race shoes and clothing.  I am very greatful to each one of these generous sponsors. 

My trainers Shaif and Carlee continue to mold me into the dessert crossing machine that I need to be.  I always kid Carlee that she looks guilty in the exercises that she inflicts on me.  I am enjoying these times and finding the directed training very beneficial.  Each session continues to get a little harder but my body is responding nicely.  I try to duplicate each personal training session at least once again throughout the week.  Here’s was my last session.

Warm up – treadmill 7.8 at 1.5 incline 10 minutes

50 x 2 arm extensions 20 lbs

100 arm extensions pulley 50 lbs

100 row pulls

100 leg crunch holding ball

100 jumps holding ball with ankle weights

50 x2 cross leg lifts with ankle lifts

3 min on bike level 17

25 – ab kick down

50 – sit up and throw ball

15x2 side sit up

50 – bicycle sit up

30 – slow bicycle sit up

50 – sit up left/right/middle sit up

I’m still running about 50 km a week and looking to pick up my long run as we head into the new year. 

So far the bigger races that I’m looking at to participate in are:

May - The Blackfoot Ultra 50km/75km/100km – we’ll see which one it will be

July – The Powder Face Rocky Mountain single track marathon

August – Edmonton ING Marathon

September – Lost Soul 50km/100km – most likely the 50km

There are also a few shorter races in and around our city that I may participate in but most of them do not begin until the spring. 

Wish you and yours a very merry Christmas!

 

 

November 2006 Entry
Posted November 15, 2006

 

Well, I guess first things first.  My name is Blain Davis, I’m 35 years old.  I’m married to my beautiful wife Kristin and together we have two boys, Evan age 5 and Jack age 3.  I’ve been a fairly active guy throughout my years playing organized sports such as hockey, football (soccer) and rugby.  However, I’ve always thrived on the one on one or lone sports such as mountain biking, wrestling, squash, snowboarding and more recently running. 

 

I am a pastor at Baptist (protestant) church.  Judging from the profiles of past competitors, I may be the first.  I guess I’m not the typical pastor type of guy from the responses I get from people when they find out what I do, “You’re what?  I would have never have guessed!”  I haven’t figured out if this is a compliment or not just yet. 

 

Why am I running this race?  Well, I guess I’m a bit of wonderer.  When I have seen things done that have struck me as a challenge in the past, my response has usually been “I can do that!”  Most of the time this is correct – I can do it but my body has often paid the price for these adventures. 

 

The second reason is a more serious one.  My youngest son Jack has a disease called Cystic Fibrosis (CF).  CF is a genetic disease that causes the cells in his body to not regulate salt very well.  The result is very thick mucus in his lungs, which provide environments for infections to occur.  His digestive system is also affected because his pancreas is also clogged and unable to secrete enough enzymes to digest his food.  Jack then has to receive 3 physiotherapy sessions a day to help him work out the mucus in his lungs and take many enzyme pills with his meals to help him digest his meals.  The unfortunate result of CF is eventual death but the outlook gets better and better with each passing year.  The median age for people who live with it is now 35.  Only 10 years ago it was closer to 25, 20 years ago 10-15 years of age.  Researchers know the specific problem unlike many other diseases so a great deal of research is optimistically focused on finding a cure. 

 

So I run for Jack, for his brother Evan to have a brother when he’s older, for my wife, for me and to raise research money to help find a cure or a control for this disease. 

 

I came off my first marathon in August of this past year.  I did well for my first attempt but it was a reality check in terms off preparing my body for the strain of long distant running and even more the reality of what long distance running can do to your body if you are not physically 100% prepared.

 

With that said, I have been very fortunate to have found an excellent trainer Shaif Jetha owner of Achieve Personal Training (together with one of his coaches Carlee).  Together, our goal is to get my body physically prepared for the strain to come.  We have a year to prepare and I’m already seeing huge results even after only a month of training with them. 

 

At the moment we’re focusing on core training to build up strong lean muscle to strengthen my skeletal structure.  Although each session is different, today’s session was the following:

 

10 minute warm up on the treadmill 7.8 – 1.5 incline

100 – squats with ball

100 – calf raises 180 pounds

100 – “runners” (running in one place bringing your trail knee just above the ground)

8 minutes on bike keeping 100 RPM’s

100 – arm extensions 60 pounds

100 – arm curls (each arm) standing on one foot

100 – push up (feet on ball with your hands on benches)

100 – V sit ups with ball

 

I try to repeat whatever routine they give me 2 more times in between weekly sessions.  My running is more relaxed right now seeing that we’re beginning winter here with 10 km three times a week and 20 km as my long run. 

 

As we head into spring next year, we’ll then up the running in preparation of about 3 marathons planned and at least one 50km plus run to get me ready.