Where I am at....

I am on a bit of a do what I feel like training program at the moment & I must say, I enjoy the freedom that it allows. I am still running quite a bit some days and then not so much others. I am also getting in the gym and having fun making up workouts, riding the bike a bit more, going to the climbing gym & doing the odd bit of yoga.
I guess the fact is is that I am an active person and I just enjoy the feeling of moving, but the mental break from structured running is a worthwhile endeavour. Some people really need to take full breaks from activity at the end of their seasons & perhaps I should be better at doing this as well, but I just enjoy getting out there and going after it too much to fully commit to doing it, so instead my "off-season" is a tad more intuitive and impulsive, jumping on whatever exercise train I feel like getting on.

Last weekend Lauren and I went to Tofino for 3 days. We had a great storm roll in when we were there, so we experienced the storms and storm watching that the area is so well known for. I got in some runs on the beach, desperately looking for a trail head to jump on and explore the area. Lauren and I also went for a great hike, trying to find a downed plane from the 1940s, the Canso Crash Site, a great trek if you are in the area, but mostly we enjoyed good food and enjoyed being at the end of the road.

I have also used this time to get to know some of my sponsors a bit better. On Monday I went to the Vancouver head office of Arc'teryx and spent the day chatting with product designers, marketing team and sales crew and visiting the factory, talking to the interesting, smart, quirky, innovative, fun and passionate people that work there. Once again, I am amazed at just how labour intensive the process is and just how knowledgeable the crew there are. The gear is kick ass for a reason, people put a lot of thought, time, work, testing and time in the field to make a killer product.

I spent the day with Jason Kruk (alpine climber) and Eric Hjorleifson (big mountain skier)& learned more about them and how they play in the mountains. They are both totally psyched on their sports and their enthusiasm for mountain play is infectious. I wish I had half their mountain experiences. We were tagging along with industry insiders and I got to learn much more about the media and business side of the industry. We started the day off with a wet and rainy run and the day ended with a fashion show launching the 2011 season gear and we followed this up with a bit of a party. Insider tip from the catwalk--along with some highly technical gear, expect some new colours in the line up & some very clean lines in the clothes (if you don't know what I mean by this, well that is because I am no fashion editor). Mike Rogge from Powder magazine has some good pics of the day.