Crashed Ice 2013

Its been a while since I last posted, but as I've explained before, that means I've been busy going on adventures! The one I'll be talking about today wasn't adventurous for me (I was a spectator), but for the competitors, it certainly was.

I wrote about crashed ice last year, and it was similarly a very busy weekend in St. Paul. In addition to Crashed Ice, there was a parade and some winter carnival festivities going on downtown. I was happy to hear that Red Bull would be putting the event on again, as it is really a unique event drawing many people to visit the twin cities.

The course was a little longer this year, but the idea was still the same: try to stay up on your skates, and if you fall, don't give up as someone else may fall ahead of you. That is probably over simplifying it, but if you ask any of the daredevil participants, they would likely give you a pretty similar take. The fact that falling could happen to anyone at anytime added to the excitement, and suspense of watching the racers fly by along the track.

If you want a taste of what Crashed Ice is all about, check out the youtube video below.

It was definitely a fun event to watch and I hope to see it back in Minnesota again next year!

   

2012 in review

2013 has come and it is time now to reflect on what a year 2012 has been! I haven't been too active in blogging, but I've been very busy going on adventures.

In the beginning of the year, there wasn't much of any snow in the twin cities, making it a uniquely non-wintery winter (if that makes any sense). It was nice for running, but I didn't feel right not using  my snowshoes all winter. I did get to go ice climbing in Sandstone, MN in February, which was really fun, and also attended the Red Bull Crashed Ice event in St. Paul in January, making for two solid "Winter" activities. I also traveled to Hawaii in February, where I did some hiking, some surfing (this one was a big goal of mine), made it to the state high point, and enjoyed the weather.

In March I left town again, heading out east to Connecticut for work. I used this trip to visit a friend in Boston and go to the highest point in Rhode Island. It has been my only "solo" highpoint to date. In April, I went camping a couple times, once at Willow River state park, and the other time at Lake Maria State Park. Both were fun experiences.

In May, I climbed outside a couple of times. Once at Interstate state park, and another time at Devil's Lake State Park. Both were great experiences. I also camped near Devil's Lake State Park, so my friends and I spent a couple days in the area. I also ran in a 1 mile race, finishing in pain from a really dry throat. It was getting warmer out, so I used my bike a few times as well. In June, I did some more camping, this time at Lake Wissota State Park. It was a great chance to visit Chippewa Falls, WI. I also did some more climbing, visiting Blue Mounds State Park and Palisades State Park (both good places to climb). I also checked out a Twins game on a beautiful afternoon.

In July I did some hiking and canoeing at Lebanon hills regional park in Eagan (a St. Paul suburb), and some kayaking in Northern WI. The kayaking trip was fun as it was a group of a dozen or so friends from high school. In August I went on a road trip to Glacier National Park and Banff National Park, and then back through Canada. It was a great trip with many highlights. This trip consumed about 10 days of the month, so I was pretty busy for the rest of the month, but did attend a Saint Paul Saints game and climb at Interstate in August as well.

In September, one of the adventures was camping and kayaking in Wild River State Park, which being about an hour away from the twin cities, made for a quick getaway. I continued running and ran a 5k race with a time of 18:06, within 20 seconds of my PR. In October I went on a trip to Great river bluffs state park, a park near Winona with great views. I also cheered on participants of the Monster Dash, a popular 10 mile and half-marathon race.

In November, I went on a much-anticipated trip to Haiti. It was a great experience. I was happy to learn about their culture and help some kids. It was definitely one of the highlights of the year. I also ran a thanksgiving day 5k to keep November an active month! December seemed to go so fast with all of the parties, but I still made some time to run, climb, and even went camping at Afton State Park!

2012 was a great year filled with many adventures. I can only hope to continue the trend in 2013!

Training for Marathon #2

A marathon is a great goal. It is something you have to train for, it isn't easy, and you feel great when you finish. Many people see a marathon as a "bucket list" item, something they only need to do once. Others do multiple marathons. Of those that do more than one, there are many reasons. Some people just love the challenge. Some want to run different courses. Others might just have nothing else to do. I am currently planning on doing a second marathon, and the goal is to PR on a new course.

A little over 5 years ago, I ran the Twin Cities Marathon. I finished in a respectable 3:25, but didn't quite hit my goals, and saw some clear room for improvement if I ever were to run another marathon. I told myself that I wouldn't, though, as the training really did a number on me, as I went to physical therapy several months later with a knee/hip issue that pretty much prevented me from doing any tough runs in 2009. After a while I thought maybe I would do one if someone close to me wanted help training. Then I had a pretty successful running season in 2011 and 2012, with 5k wins and a 10 mile PR in 2011.

Fast forward to December 2012, and I've continued to run often, and have had some strong 6-10 mile runs in recent weeks. The marathon I plan to run is in June 2013, so I have a long time to train, but I want to be comfortable with a 12 mile run prior to my "real" training, which will likely begin in February.

I will probably use a similar training program as the last time, but I hope to run fewer miles, so I may substitute some runs for group fitness classes and cardio workouts. I am hoping this keeps me from injuring myself. Since I know I can finish a marathon, there is a mental game that will be played as well. In 2008, I hit a pretty big wall right around mile 21-22. I finished, but the last 5 miles of the race (minus the 1/4 mile to the finish) were really slow.

I'm looking forward to the challenge, and I'll keep everyone posted on how the training goes. Happy holidays! 

Visiting Haiti

Recently I was fortunate enough to go on a trip with 11 others to Pwoje Espwa, a children's refuge near Les Cayes, Haiti. We spent six days there, which was a great learning experience for me. We helped paint a couple of homes that young boys were staying in, had a mini track and field meet, played soccer, and brought down over 1000 pound of useful supplies to help the village.

We arrived in Port au Prince and rode in a large van, where I got to really see the hustle and bustle of the city. The road was rather chaotic, with street vendors knocking on the car window while trying to sell muffins and drinks. The rules of the road were new to me: honk if you are passing, honk if people are walking too close, and honk for a long time if you don't think someone sees you. There were many motorcycles weaving in between cars as well, so it was really an action-packed ride. This was so exciting that I actually threw up after a couple of hours (fortunately I was able to give warning and hop out of the van to take care of business). We arrived at Pwoje Espwa a few hours later, where we unpacked some of our things and took a breather.

Over the next few days, we had lots of interaction with the kids who live in the village, and a few that live in the surrounding community that hang out in the area. So many of them were really happy and I had a lot of fun playing with them. We played baseball, soccer, and ran some races with some of the kids (in total something like 600 kids live on the premises). There are older boys (and a few girls) living there too, and it was interesting to hear some of their interests. Many of them were interested in music and dance, and it was very entertaining seeing them perform. Some of the kids (ok they are around 20 years old, so I should probably say young men) have a group that performed for us. They have a youtube video (see below)which they had help from a local studio to produce. I think its really good, so check it out!

Of course, not everything we saw was so positive. While it is believed that the country has made some progress since the devastating earthquake in 2010, there is still a lot of work to be done. Sanitation is nothing like you would expect in the US. Many roads are in really poor shape, and of course, housing for many is quite minimal.

I did see first hand, though, that there are a lot of kids with hope and desire to make positive impacts in Haiti. They have goals to become doctors, businesspeople, wood-workers, welders, and many other great things. It was really the best part of being down there.

We left Les Cayes on one of the days to go to a beach community about an hour away called Port Salut. This town has a beautiful beach, not so different from other places in the caribbean. While it wasn't too busy, it did show me that Haiti does have some potential to attract more tourists.

Visiting Haiti was a great experience for me and everyone who went on the trip. If you or anyone you know is thinking about doing a mission trip to Haiti, I definitely reccommend it. Pwoje Espwa was a great place to stay and I think they are really doing excellent work.  

Great River Bluffs State Park (MN)

I recently got the chance to visit Great River Bluffs State Park, which is located just south of Winona. I camped at the park with a few friends (and one dog). We all had a pretty good time, seeing some great fall colors and wonderful views of the Mississippi river. It was a cold weekend, though, so having the appropriate clothing made the trip comfortable.

We arrived in the early afternoon on a Saturday and set up our tent right away. The dog being just a puppy, we tied his leash to a picnic table (park rules, and for our own sanity). We set up the sleeping arrangements so we wouldn't have to in the cold night, and had some lunch.

After that, we went on a short hike to check out some of the views. The first overlook we went to was about a quarter mile from our campsite, named "The Hill of many Timbers". It is the southern-most overlook in the park. Next, we went to the "East Overlook", which is about a half mile from the Hill of Many Timbers. Both of these overlooks provided nice views. The Hill of Many Timbers primary views were of the hills in Minnesota and some of the park roads. The East Overlook had views of the Mississippi river and of Wisconsin in the distance.

After checking out those views, we decided to head back to camp and get some dinner going. We made hobo hot dish this time around and had some chips as well. We got a solid fire going, though we were careful that it didn't get too big as it had been a really dry season and didn't want the fire to spread. We put the fire out and went to sleep, the puppy joining us in the tent. It was a little under 30, which was a bit cold for this dog, but he stayed warm by sneaking himself in betweeen two of us.

The next day we walked over to the North and South Overlooks, which are a little over a mile from the campground, but only .2 miles from eachother. The trail over there runs through the woods, and there is an minor overlook on the way there as well. These overlooks both had great views of the Mississippi and Wisconsin as well, and made for a rewarding hike. We didn't make our way over to the other overlooks, which include "King's Bluff", as the puppy was a little too tired. We still had a good time, though, and having a sleeping dog on the way home is better than having a dog with energy in the car!

Visiting Banff National Park

After visiting Glacier National Park in Montana (see my previous post), my friends and I headed north into British Columbia. We stayed a night in a small campground just across the border and took off early in the morning. It didn't take long for our drive to get scenic that day.

We entered Kootenay National park (still in British Columbia) and drove though seeing beautiful scenery. In addition to the mountains, we also came across a group of bighorn sheep. We made a few stops in the park to take pictures, but our goal was to get to Banff National park, so we moved on.

We entered Banff (Alberta), and headed up to Lake Louise. Lake Louise has an iconic view from the large hotel. The lake is an almost unreal blue and then there are the mountains and (Victoria) glacier in the background. Just stunning. Not far away is Moraine lake, home of the ten peaks. This was pretty. I remember seeing this view as a background for an old phone. To see it in person was really quite impressive.

We took tons of pictures during our time at Lake Louise and Moraine lake before heading south to Banff, the town. We went shopping and ate in town that night, before spending the night in a campground. Again, we woke up early, this time to go mountain biking. We didn't hit up any really crazy terrain, but we had fun making our way around town on our rented bikes. I did tear a shirt, though, so I suppose I can brag about that!

Banff was so beautiful that I would love to go back some day. Not sure when that will be, but it will remain on my list.

Backpacking in Glacier National Park

A few weeks ago I went on a road trip with a few friends. Our first big destination was Glacier National Park. We arrived in St. Mary, Montana in the late evening after driving from Bismarck, North Dakota. We got a campsite, grabbed some dinner, and went to bed early with the intention of getting up early enough to get a permit with some solid campsites for our backpacking trip starting the next day.

We succeeded in getting up early and tearing down our camp quickly, and made our way to the Two medicine ranger station a few minutes before they opened up. We were the first in line, but barely. We got into the station and I came with a few of the ideas that I had in mind for trips. I already had some knowledge of what could be available, as the park has a website showing which sites are available which nights, but i didn't know if when i looked at the site was the most up to date as possible. Fortunately, I was able to figure out a route that seemed to make sense. $60 later ($5 per person per night) and we were off!

Our first day consisted of us heading out of the Two Medicine Ranger station and ending at the Upper Park Creek campground. This wasn't easy. We ascended about 2500 feet to the summit of "Chief Lodgepole peak", and descended about 2800 feet to our campground, 11.7 miles from our start. We arrived at the campground tired and thirsty. We were also weary of what we would have to do in two days: cross two medicine pass again to get back! We had a good dinner (a friend packed some Mountain House Lasagna) and enjoyed our company around the campfire.

On the Second day, we made a decision to do a day hike to Lake Isabel, about 2.5 miles from Upper Park Creek. Our permit actually had us staying there overnight, but by not staying there, we saved ourselves for the next day, where we would have to hike to Upper Two Medicine Campground, which was already a 12 mile hike from Upper Park Creek. If we were to have gone from Lake Isabel, it would have been closer to 15 miles! Lake Isabel was a nice looking alpine lake, with good fishing according to some of the people we ran into. We went for a swim and hiked back to Upper Park Creek Campground before dinner.

On the third day, we had our big hike: back over two medicine pass and over to Upper Two Medicine Campground. We woke up early, made sure we had plenty of water, and got off to a strong start. We took several short breaks on our way up the pass, many of which included picking huckleberries. Once we got to the top of Chief Lodgepole again, we took a long break to celebrate the finish of the toughest part of our hike. We made good progress down to Twin Falls, where we took another long break. By this time, we were pretty close to our destination, Upper Two Medicine Campground.

Upper Two Medicine Camp was very scenic, and shortly after having dinner we saw two moose. This was a great place to stay, though campfires weren't allowed, so we didn't end up staying up too late.

On the Final day of our trip, we left Upper Two Medicine and made our way back to Two Medicine Campground/Ranger station. This was about 5 miles, and not too tough of terrain. When we arrived at the campground, we washed our faces, put our packs in the car, and picked up some goodies at the gift shop.

It was a great hike, totaling about 34 miles through a beautiful place. We left in need of showers, but in awe of the scenery.