Summer is Marathons season..

Lifestyle Relationships
1

I joined a group of athletes who run marathons on mountain trails around vancouver during the course of summer. The series is called ‘Mountain Madness’, and i think it has total of 18 marathons until september. You run each thursday evening. Basically, you cover most of the mountains in the North Shore area of Vancouver during the course of summer, which lies in a seventy five mile radius. The series is great, because, for some of the marathons, you just run through the core downtown district, and into town. So, you get hybrid of everything. The trails range between 9 - 16 kilometers in distance.

The series kicked off today, with the first marathon, which took us on a tight loop of a mountain in North Vancouver called Mount Seymour. I think it was a little over 8 k. We ran up for about half the way, and then took a circle which brought us down to the base.

We all hooked up at the base, paid dues for the race signed up, and then broke into groups depending upon the skills level. I think there were total of twenty people. During the course of the race, we took very short breaks just to regroup, and then just kept running. It was great to run with some of the well conditioned folks. Eventhough, I am not new to running on mountain trails, but this was a new route for me. Since, mountain trails are continuously going up and down, and have all sorts of things like roots, rocks, planks and logs for crossing creeks, therefore, it’s quite challenging, and strenuous on cardio and knees. But, once you break through the initial phase and get warmed up, then it’s almost like any other run. As much as I love running in the cold rains of Vancouver, it was still a little too wet, but it took us through some spectacular wooded forests.The organizers did a great job for picking this trail, and i am psyched since it’s only the first one..

Next week we run a route which can be very well called as ‘sea to sky’:a sixteen kilometers run, which starts from teh shores of west vancouver, and goes all the way up to the second peak of Grouse Mountain: The Peak of Vancouver… It’s not part of the series but a different marathon, which we had planned to participate couple of weeks ago, but with little time to train… :rotato:..i think we’ll be arite..

if you want to join, i will send you the schedule and listings…

2

Sounds great Outlaw. I used to have a Running Club at my old gym and it was always fully booked. Might have to set something up again now that you've inspired me.

3

that is sooo inspiring… good for u :k:

4

shanz, that's so cool...you should definitely do it..it's just so much fun, and so doable.....and it does not take long to develop a good group, and schedule...you know, what really pushed me to train hard this year was stress from work..I wouldn't have been able to balance long hours and demanding schedule, if it wasn't for dedicating few hours just for tough phsyical training, and outdoors, each day, and it has definitely relaxed me a lot. And it has allowed me to be in a great shape for other activities such as climbing and mountain biking...

5

physical exercise is such a good thing. It makes u so much happier and relaxed (not to mention a good nights sleep)

i wish i could run.. but i prefer bush walking or speed walking.

6

yeah it does definitely..but sadzz, not being in good shape is usually a myth...you could just start running at a very basic level, and pick it up from there.. and that's what i always tell others. it does not take much, apart from being motivated, and tying up your sneakers :)

7

im such a hopeless runner.. i remember once i ran 3k and i was so proud of my self.. im so unfit when it comes to running

im gonna have to take it up soon inshallah.. my gym instructor was saying how running outside was much more effective than on a treadmill

i aint allowed to do any exercise for a week or two i think.. cant wait to get back into it

8

man outlaw, why do u even bother posting… most of the desis would rather have an electric wheelchair to go grab a drink from the kitchen.(the manual requires them to burn precious calories). :stuck_out_tongue: I am surprised ur into it. You make all the rest of us desis in the world proud! :k:

9

outlaw bhaijaan, why don't you come down my side for a triathlon. We have one in July that is 2 mile swim, 56 mile bike & then 14 mile run! I will only swim, you can do the rest!

10

kaka yaar, i am sure there are lots of good desi athletes, we just don't hear about them, nonetheless, I am honored :)

ahmad, yeah you will have to take care of the swimming part. I am not really into swimming long stretches..but biking and running, i think i should be able to :D...we were joking around after the race yesterday, and i suggested that it would be great to have someone represent Pakistan in the Eco Challenge..alas, that's one thing which requires a participant to be a super human in every category..