Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Newsflash:

• I need a School to run at on Thursday Feb 4th. Can anyone help?

Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #023
• Date: Monday Feb 1st 2010
• Course: Cochrane Foothills Marathon
• Run time: 5hrs 50min 53sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 93 BPM
• Temperature C: -11C
• Distance covered to date: 970.6km (602.6m)
• Another Ultra run today: Arrowhead 135m, Inter Falls, MN, USA
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Fort Nelson, BC, Canada
• Total number of runners: 3

Runner Frank and I headed off spot on 8.30am. What a difference a day makes. It had warmed up to -11C and the wind was minimal. I like February. At 9.00am the cell rang and it was Hal and CJ from XL 103 FM. We had a chat about how things were going and they said they'd keep track of me during the year. Frank's wife picked him up at the 8km mark and I continued up Grand Valley Road.  As I was approaching the 1 1/2 hr mark a black pickup truck pulled up ahead of me and the air suddenly went very cold. I walked up to the truck door and the driver asked if I wanted a lift. Who was this man trying to tempt me to give up the Quest? he said his name was Randy and he was rebuilding an old homestead in the Wild Cat hills. I politely thanked him and said that I was fine. Later runner Kathy joined me on the run and I told her about my experience. She said that she had never heard of an old homestead in the hills or a man called Randy.

Meanwhile, my Avatar "Marathon Martin" is doing well. He made it to Regina on his virtual route to Boston and is none the worse for wear. He's survived the bitter temperatures well, probably because he's sandwiched between two sheets of plastic. A photographer snapped him leaving Regina (see Flickr gallery), next stop Winnipeg.

Llama and Alpaca Humour

• Q. What is a Llamas favourite movie
• A. Llamadeus

Quote of the Day

"Why couldn't Pheidippides have died at mile 20?"

T-shirt

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Newsflash:

• I need a School to run at on Thursday Feb 4th. Can anyone help?

Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #024
• Date: Tuesday Feb 2nd 2010
• Course: Cochrane Foothills Marathon (in reverse)
• Run time: 5hrs 56min 09sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 92 BPM
• Temperature C: -13C
• Distance covered to date: 1012.8km (628.8m)
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: San Francisco, Cal, USA
• Total number of runners: 3

Today was the Cochrane Foothills Marathon course in reverse. My heels were a little sore this morning, so I took it easy going up Horse Creek Road and made the 21.1 km mark in 3 hours. The wind was from the North so it was plain sailing on the return journey. Runners Frank and Sandy joined me at 31km and,  as we cruised down Grand Valley Road, we chatted about my meeting with Randy and the ruined homestead in the Wild Cat Hills. Frank said he had never heard of it but suggested I follow up with Kevin, who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the area.

I don't listen to an ipod but if I did these are the five running songs I'd listen to:

• 1. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
• 2. Run around Sue - Dion and the Belmonts
• 3. Run Run - Slade
• 4. Running on Empty - Jackson Browne
• 5. Rabbit Run - Eminem

and my five walking songs would be:

• 1. Walk the line - Johnny Cash
• 2. Walk of Life - Dire Straits
• 3. Walk like an Egyptian - The Bangles
• 4. If I could Walk (500 miles) - The Proclaimers
• 5. Walking on the Moon - The Police

If anyone has other Run / Walk songs that I could add to my playlist please forward them.

Llama and Alpaca Humour

There is no joke today. I must apologise to Dan Gossman for not giving him credit on yesterday's joke:

Q. What is a Llamas favourite movie A. Llamadeus.

This is an excellent joke, so give credit where's credits due. Nice one Dan!

Quote of the day

"If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience life, run a marathon."

Emil Zatopek, three-time Olympic gold medalist.

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Newsflash:

• Track Martin as he completes a TOTALLY NEW ROUTE !!!!
• Thursday Feb 4th 8.30am to 2.30pm.
• Where will he go ??????
  
• Check it out on the "Trakkers" (See Home page)

Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #025
• Date: Wednesday Feb 3rd 2010
• Course: Cochrane Foothills Marathon
• Run time: 5hrs 53min 19sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 94 BPM
• Temperature C: -9C
• Distance covered to date: 1055.0km (655.0m)
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
• Total number of runners: 4

Big day today. I've just completed marathon #025, 10% of the total number I need to do in 2010. Runner Cyrus dropped in at 8.15am, and he planned to run half the route with me today. Cyrus is from Vancouver and is helping with a Right To Play fund raiser that's being planned before the Vancouver Marathon, on May 2nd. At 8.45am, Reporter Kevin Green from CTV dropped by and we had a chat about how things were going. We all headed up to the start line and Kevin took a bunch of shots of Cyrus and I trundling down the 1A. The morning was incredibly foggy and it didn't lift until we were 1 1/2 hrs into the marathon.

At the 14km mark, Tom Healy came along and picked up Cyrus. Tom and I set up KIDS-U-CAN last April. KIDS-U-CAN is a loose-knit group of people who do sporting events (running, triathlon,cycling) and fund raise for Right To Play. Last year it raised over $10,000 and this year will be fund raising for Marathon Quest 250 and its target of $250,000. Runner Frank joined us at km 32 and we shot a short video for the KIDS-U-CAN website, set up by Tom.

No school tomorrow, so I've come up with Plan B. Follow me on the "Trakkers" and all will be revealed.

Martin's Play List

I've had a tremendous response to my request for more Running / Walking songs. I will be hightlighting a number of them in up coming blogs.

• Running - No Doubt (Anne Landry)
• Long may you Run - Neil Young (Wayne Benz)

Fable of the Day

"The confident Hare took off at top speed, lollopped along, feeling pleased with its own brilliance and stopped for a nap. The determined Tortoise kept patiently padding and plodding along without any pause, until quietly it waddled past the sleeping Hare." (Go, Tortoise, Go!)

Aesop, 600BC

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Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #026
• Date: Thursday Feb 4th 2010
• Course: Tour de Cochrane
• Run time: 5hrs 52min 42sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 99 BPM
• Temperature C: -16C
• Distance covered to date: 1097.2km (681.2m)
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Minot, North Dakota, USA
• Total number of runners: 1

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a school for today, so I had to go with Plan B: run anywhere. I left the house at my usual time 8.30am and headed west along the Bow river, then north into a housing development that's been shut down. Fortunately, all the roads are in place, so I made tracks through the empty lots, no vehicles to worry about. It was then east towards Cochane before veering north onto the trail leading Dr Fosters place. This is one of my favourite routes as it weaves through a valley and the trail is along a creek, lots of dipsy doddling. I decided that today I would head home for a chocolate milk and a cookie at the half way point.

For the second half of the marathon I thought I'd cross the river and do the Crawford ranch loop. I crossed the Bow and headed towards the trail but as I approached the bridge that crossed Jumping Pound Creek I saw a man and his dog walking up the frozen creek. Now wouldn't that make a great run. I dropped down onto the ice and said hi, It was Len and his dog Scotty. I had always fancied running up this creek in winter and now was the perfect opportunity. The footing was pretty good, just the odd crack and snap, and I made it 2km up stream. I thought that this would make a perfect training route for a race I have in March. It's the Cold Foot Classic part of the Rock and Ice Ultra, a 44km snowshoe race on the lakes in Yellowknife, NWT. Next week, on Tuesday Feb 9th, the Jumping Pound Showshoe Marathon, everyone welcome.

Llama and Alpaca Humour

This is a classic. It's from Nycole Sanborn, Jillian's mum (blog Jan 11th)

"Have you heard this before? My Dad taught it to me when I was a kid as a way to remember how to spell Llama:

A one-L Lama, he's a priest,
A two-L Llama, he's a beast,
But I bet your mama's pink pyjamas,
There's no such thing as a 3-L Lama."

Martin's Play List

The songs are pouring in. Here's a sampling:

Running:

• Run with the wolves-The Prodigy (Calum Carpenter)
• Running- Jully Black (Jody DiCastri)

Walking:

• Walk on the wild side-Lou Reed (Sue Carpenter-Parnell)
• These boots are made for walking- Nancy Sinatra (Michele Broadhurst)

Quote of the Day

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

Steve Prefontaine

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Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #027
• Date: Sunday Feb 7th 2010
• Course: Cochrane Foothills Marathon
• Run time: 5hrs 42min 39sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 97 BPM
• Temperature C: -18C
• Distance covered to date: 1139.4km (707.4m)
• Another Marathon run today: Surf City, USA
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
• Total number of runners: 13
• Celebrity Runners: 3 (Knights of the Round Table)

A cold, foggy and frosty morning greeted me as I left the house for marathon #027. I could see figures in the mist at the start line and was met by Runners Kevin, Kathy and Roy. We started off at a slow pace and had to keep our eyes peeled for cars coming towards us. At the 18km we were joined by Runners JoAnne and John, and at the 26km by Runners Janice, Lana and Annie. As I swept down the hill towards the 32km mark, a strange thing happened, I could hear horses galloping. Then out of the mist came Sir Pamalot, Sir Danalot and Sir Frankalot, all three of them banging coconut shells together and dressed in full knights' regalia. What a sight!. For the final 6km Runner Brian joined us, as we broke the tape at the finish.

I had discussed the incident of Randy and the ruined homestead with my good friend Kevin and he had suggested I check out "The History of Cochrane and Area" by the well known local historian Ivor Penn. I went to the library and found three copies but to my amazement, when I looked for the section on the Wild Cat Hills, they had all been cut out. I had only one choice, I went on ebay and bought a first edition of the book. That night as I sat in my rocking chair and enjoyed a cup of tea and a chocloate digestive I started to read  the incredible story of Dr Randolph Randolph and the Wild Cat Hills.

Martin Play List

More songs to Run to:

• Running up the Hill - Kate Bush (Michele Broadhurst)
• Runaway - Run DMC and Aerosmith (Calum Carpenter)

More songs to Walk to:

• Walkin' Blues - Eric Clapton (Anne Landry)
• Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves (Sue Carpenter-Parnell)

Quote of the Day

"Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative."

Steve Prefontaine

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Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #028
• Date: Monday Feb 8th 2010
• Course: Cochrane Foothills Marathon (reverse)
• Run time: 6hrs 14min 08sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 97 BPM
• Temperature C: -11C (S wind 11km)
• Distance covered to date: 1181.6km (733.6m)
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Hay River, NWT, Canada
• Total number of runners: 2

Today was a rubbish marathon. It started off well with Runner Adam joining me for the first 6km. I had decided to change things up and do the reverse Cochrane Foothills Marathon course. The wind was behind me which meant a head wind on the way back, not the best of situations. Things were OK up until the half way point, then I felt a slight tweak in my right hamstring. I'd had this before and planned to run it out. At 32km, things took a turn for the worse when I felt a pain at the bottom of my lft shin. By km 36 I had decided to walk the last 6km, rather than aggravating it. The wind was in my face and by the time I got home I was frozen. I was not a happy camper. Time for a hot tub, Advil and some "Magic" cream (20% Ibuprofen and 1% Hydrocortisone).

Dr. Randolph Randolph and the Wild Cat Hills Part II: In the early 1960s, Dr. Randolph Randolph had arrived, with his son Randolph Jr., in the village of Cochrane, Alberta. Nobody knew where he was from, but he bought a piece of land deep in the Wild Kitten Hills, as they were known back then, and started to build his veterinary clinic. The townsfolk soon came to trust him as, over several Springtimes, he delivered calfves and crias. Eyebrows were raised when he received a shipment of wooden crates from Transylvania, but then he was known to be a little eccentric. In 1967, he became some what of a local celebrity. He had supplied animals for the movie "Dr. Doolittle", including the world famous "Pushmi-Pullyu", the two headed Llama. The townsfolk thought that animal experimentation was a little creepy but, if it was for the Film Industry, then it must be OK. That summer, the owner of the Cochrane Picture House, Mr. Mo  Vie, opened his doors to the good Dr. and the townsfolk in order to enjoy the premier of "Dr. Dolittle". Life was good for Dr. Randolph Randolph.

Quote of the Day

"You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back."

Steve Prefontaine

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Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #029
• Date: Tuesday Feb 9th 2010
• Course: Jumping Pound Creek Snowshoe Marathon course
• Run time: 6hrs 14min 08sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 96 BPM
• Temperature C: -14C
• Distance covered to date: 1223.8km (759.8m)
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• Total number of runners: 1

Today, I headed back to Jumping Pound Creek, to run my first snowshoe marathon of the year. Last year, in late March, I competed in the Cold Foot Classic one day snowshoe / ski ultra. The Rock and Ice Ultra is held in Yellowknife, NWT and the Cold Foot is one of three events, the other two being a 3 day and a 6 day race. I was fortunate enough to win the snowshoe section of the race and I plan to defend my title this year on March 20th.

This morning, I felt great for 32km, the sun was shining and other than a few creaks and pops, the footing was fine. With 10km to go my shin started to play up again and I decided that the best plan was to walk it out. I was suprised to see that my elevation gain during the marathon was 1,234ft.

Dr. Randolph Randolph and the Wild Cat Hills Part III: Rumours started to circulate in early 1969 that Dr. Randolph Randolph was carring out diabolical animal experiments that were not even acceptable to the film industry. Word had it that he had crossed a Bee with an Eagle (Beagle!), a Goat with a Duck (Guck!) and the most despicable of all a Rabbit with a Wolf (what on earth would that produce?). One evening in late June, the townsfolk had a meeting and they decided to take action. At midnight, a group with torches blazing, headed up to veterinary clinic and burned the building to the ground. Next morning, several of them came back to the charred ruins but, there was no sign of Dr. Randolph Randolph, Randolph Jr. or any of the grotesque creatures. Over the years a number of strange tracks had been spotted in the area but the Randolph family were never of heard again..................until now!

Quote of the Day

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."

Steve Prefontaine

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Below are the Latest Marathon stats:

• Marathon: #030
• Date: Wednessday Feb 10th 2010
• Course: Marion Carson School, Calgary
• Run time: 6hrs 40min 16sec (See Garmin Connect)
• Aver. Heart Rate: 89 BPM
• Temperature C: -8C
• Distance covered to date: 1266.0km (786.0m)
• Equivalent Flight distance, Calgary to: Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
• Total number of runners: 2

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Today I ran at Marion Carson School in Calgary. Teacher Dan drove me over and I started running at 8.15am. The plan was to run until 2.45pm and then have an assembly with the children, before doing a 1km "Winter Walk" with them. I had had a bit of a sleepless night, wondering how my left shin would hold up during the marathon. Yesterday I had to walk the last 7km of the snowshoe marathon because of the pain.

Things went pretty well for 27km, Runner Gerry joined me for a couple of hours, and the shin pain seemed under control. Every 3hrs I popped two Advil, but at 11.45am I realised that I could walk the rest of the marathon and make it for 2.45pm. I did this and walked into assembly at 2.47pm, having completed 41.2 Km. Vice-Principal Harley got the kids warmed up with "If I could walk 500 miles" by the Proclaimers and then I chatted with them about what I was trying to do for Right To Play. We walked the last 1km around the playground and then it was time for home. Teacher Dan picked me up and we stopped off at his place. Nurse Pam looked at my leg and said it was either shin splints or a stress fracture. This evening, I booked in to see my family doctor at 10.10am tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Martin's Play List

Running:

• Running with the Devil - Van Halen (Lisa Benz)
• Runaway- The Corrs (Calum Carpenter)

Walking:

• Walking on thin ice - Yoko Ono (Peter Cross)
• Walk like you don't mind - Blue Rodeo (Anne Landry)

Quote of the Day

"Life's battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man,
But sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can."

Steve Prefontaine

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Tales from the Couch

Big day of medical tests and procedures. It stared off at 8.00am with my bi-weekly blood tests. Checks are made on Hemoglobin, Hematocrit and  Platelet Count to name but a few. At 10.10am I had to see my family doctor Dr. Hanlon about the pain in my shin. After my run at Marion Carson School yesterday my left shin was killing me, I probably shouldn't have done the marathon but it's hard to say no to the kids, anyway what's done is done. Dr. Hanlon checked out the shin and booked me in for an "Isotope Bone Scan" next Tuesday, then we'll discuss the results on Thursday. With this in mind I decided that the best course of action would be to take a break until I hear what the verdict is. I have a few spare days in the bank so it's a good time to use some of them now.

This afternoon it was an Echo EKG. This is a detailed look at the heart to check that the valves and chambers are all in good working order. By the time I got home I was ready for a cup of tea and a chocolate digestive. I was looking for non-medical remedes for the shin when I spotted in the Calgary Hearld an article on Lindsey Vonn, USA downhill skier. She's had a problem with her shin and is using cheese to reduce the swelling. I suggested to Sue that maybe a slab of Stilton duct taped to the leg might do the trick but she was not impressed. I googled "Llama cheese" and got "a wheel of creamy Llama cheese looks like Brie but has a chalky texture". I have posted a picture of llama cheese on my Flickr gallery.

Dr. Randolph Randolph's book of Animal Jokes

In the charred ruins of the veterinarian clinic a box was found. In the box was an unfinished manuscript of animal jokes from the disturbed mind of Dr.RR. If you would like to contribute a joke or two before the book is published please send them in. This excellent contribution was received yesterday.

Two animals met each other in the forrest.
Asks the first animal: "What kind of creature are you?"
Answers the second animal: "I'm a wolfdog."
"What is a wolf dog?"
"Well, my daddy is a wolf, and my mommy is a dog, so I'm half wolf, half dog, a wolfdog. And what kind of animal are you?"
"I'm a dragonfly."
"You're kidding..." (Lisa Benz)

Quote of the Day

"Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started."

Steve Prefontaine

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Tales for the Couch

Today was meant to be Marathon #031 but instead, I read the newspaper in bed. Lots of news about the Olympics. One article caught my eye with the headline "Germans deny magnet claims". Apparently there is a suspicion that the German skeleton sled have magnetic components. I suggest that we keep an eye on the German coach to see if he's holding a sheet of metal at the end of the course. The morning was spent icing the shin and catching up with emails. At noon, Reporter Heather and Cameraman Danny, from Global TV, came by and wanted to chat about how things were going. It was a bit of a sad story but there's no point in crying over spilt milk.

Meanwhile, Avatar "Marathon Martin" is 1266km away on his virtual trip across Canada. He's presently in Portage la Prairie, a town of 12,000 people in the Central Plains region of Manitoba. Avatar "Marathon Martin" is going to be there for at least a week so he will be sending back reports from the town. His first installment follows: Portage la Prairie is located approximately 70 kilometres (45 miles) west of Winnipeg and sits on the Assinboine River, which flooded the town persistently until a ditch north to Lake Manitoba (the Assiniboine River floodway) was built to divert the flood waters.The name is derived from the French word portage, which means to carry a canoe overland between waterways. In this case the "portage" was between the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba, over la prairie. According to Environment Canada, Portage la Prairie has the most sunny days in Canada.

Dr.Randolph Randolph's book of Animal Jokes

• Q. What did the Poddle say to the Chiwawa?
• A. You look a little ruff !!!!!

Anon

Quote of the Day

"Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage."

George Patton

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Tales from the Couch

Valentine's day, a day of love, romance and running marathons, but not for me (running marathons that is). Runners Kevin, Kathy and Roy planned an 8.30am start to do the Cochrane Foothills Marathon course. Sue and I decided that we would hook up with the runners at around 1.00pm and give them a little surprise. After breakfast we settled into the couch to watch some morning events at the Vancouver Olympics. We followed the hightlights of the womens' moguls final but couldn't figure out why, at the podium presentation, they were giving them cabbages (or "Broccoli Bouquets" as Runner Annie calls them) instead of medals. Apprarently, the medal ceremony takes place the next day in Vancouver. At 12.45pm we headed up Horse Creek Road and found the gang. There, we presented each of them with a Valentine's chocolate heart (50 cals).

Over the weekend Teacher Linda dropped by and gave me a package of letters from her students at Mitford Middle School in Cochane. Linda's children are huge supporters of MQ 250. The letters are brilliant and I plan to answer each one. Some of the questions and comments include:

• Are you tired? you must be like bionic man to be able to run every day (Dace)
• I think it's neat that you blow your bear whistle to keep safe (Nicholas)
• Why did that little girl give you $300 for that race? (Giona)
• I especially like the picture of Two-Tone, the Llama (Hillary)
• I hope you run around Morley and pass my house (Shyles)
• You remind me of Jack Frost because you keep running and you can get snowed on (Vincent)
• When running think warm happy thoughts (Eric)

Great stuff.

Dr. Randolph Randolph's Book of Animal Jokes

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupting c........

MOOOOOOOOO!

Jennifer Williatte-Battet (A joke her kids tell ALL the time)
Cape Breton, NS

Quote of the Day

"Vision without action is a daydream.  Action without vision is a nightmare."

Japanese Proverb

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Tales from the Couch

This morning,at the crack of dawn, Sue and I headed out (7.45am) and drove to the Bow Water Canoe Club-House on the the east side of Calgary. This was the start and finish point for the Frozen Ass 50km Ultra. This race is the first of eight ultra events included in the Alberta Ultra Series. The other ultras are Ironhorse, Blackfoot, Fast Trax, Sinister 7, Canadian Death Race, Kananaskis Iron Legs and Lost Souls. The Ultras range from 50km to 100miles and there's something for every one. Each ultra has it's own race organization but Gord, of Gord's Running Store, keeps track of everyone's results, allocates points and gives out the prizes at the Lost Souls breakfast banquet, the final event of the year. Over the last couple of years I completed a number of the ultras, explored country I would never otherwise have seen and met some great people including Andy, Alan, Hiro, Dan, Chuck, Logan, Darcy and Neil.

Avatar "Marathon Martin", on his virtual trip across Canada, has settled into his new surrondings in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He found a lovely B&B called "Little House on the Portage la Prairie" with excellent weekly rates. Over the weekend he checked out some of the local attractions and here is his report: One of the main attractions in Portage la Prairie is the world's largest Coca Cola can. It was constructed from an old water tower and is now located beside the local Canadian Tire and Westpark School. As well as a Potato Festival each summer, it is the world's strawberry capital and North American potato processing capital. During his stay Avatar "MM" will be compiling in-depth reports on, where to eat, the sport scene, local economy and the military, to name but a few.

Martins Play List

• Run to You - Bryan Adams (Anne landry)
• Band on the Run - Wings (Sue Carpenter-Parnell)
• Ready to Rrun - Dixie Chicks (Lisa Benz)
• The Runner - Manfred Mann (Michele Broadhurst)

Quote of the Day

"Man imposes his own limitations. Don't set any."

Anthony Bailey

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Tales from the Couch

If it's Tuesday, then it's Isotope Bone Scan day. I arrived at the Professional Medical Building at Market Mall, on the west side of Calgary, at 12.15pm. At the help desk the receptionist stamped my requisition "Nuclear Imaging" and sent me to "Room 320". As I waited to be called, I noted that, on the bottom of the requisition, it stated "You're in Good Hands!" I felt reasurred. Then I glanced over to the list of MD's, half way down the column was Dr. Risk. Oh dear. Radiography Technician Wendy called me in. She said that I would have an injection and then I should come back at 3.30pm for the scan. I explained to her that I had felt the pain in my left shin when I ran a marathon last Wednesday, I then added that I had run 29 others before that. When I returned at 3.30pm Radiography Technician Wendy informed me that, based on running 30 marathons in 41 days, they had decided to scan my whole body (and brain!!!). Results on Thursday.

Keep your eyes peeled for a new "Running" movie called "The Robber", based on the book "On the run" by Martin Prinz. This is a film telling the remarkable, true story of a champion marathon runner turned serial bank robber. "The Robber" is based on the short life of Johann Rettenberger, better known as Pump Gun Ronnie, who during his rash of heists in the 1980s was the most wanted man in Austria. He won his moniker for his weapon of choice and the Ronald Reagan mask he wore to disguise himself during the hold-ups. An adrenaline addict, Rettenberger was known to hit two or three banks in a day, eluding police with extraordinary speed on foot until he could hop into his getaway car. All the while, he maintained a gruelling training schedule, constantly recording his performance and pulse to achieve new levels of stamina. At one point, he was named "Austria's fastest man" for his racing time. The final manhunt to capture him sparked the biggest police operation in Austrian post-war history. To all Marathon and Ultra runners, stick to your day jobs.

Llama Facts (this is no joke)

Hair from the undercoat is used to make clothing and finer fabrics while hair from the outercoat is used for rugs, wall hangings and rope. The fibres come in a variety of colours: white, grey, brown, reddish brown, dark brown and black.

Research Assistant Level II Karen Lopushinsky

Quote of the Day

"Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another; it is the only means"

Albert Einstein

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Tales from the Couch

One of the main events that influenced me to fund raise for Right To Play and attempt MQ 250 was a cycle trip I took across Africa five years ago. We left Cairo, Egypt on January 15th and arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on May 15th. The trip featured 100 cycling days or stages, averaging 115 km (72 miles) each day, broken up by 18 rest days and 2 days of travel for a total of 120 days in Africa. On every cycling day, Tour d'Afrique's support trucks collected our equipment and traveled ahead to set up camp.Traveling through 10 countries in all, we cycled along the Nile past ancient temples, across the rugged biblical landscape of Ethiopia's Simian Mountains, and through game reserves teeming with wildlife. After crossing the Equator in Kenya, we pedaled past legendary Mount Kilimanjaro, to Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, and along the edges of the magnificent Kalahari and Namib deserts, en route to the finish line in Cape Town.

I thought I'd check out my blog from February 17th 2005. We had just crossed into Ethiopia:

• Day 34, Thursday
• Daily stats:  96km(total), 4hr 36min, temp 49C, 2752km to date
• Bike: Went well, me no

The night was hot and loud. It doesn't cool down and during the night there were dogs, donkeys, chicken and other assorted animals making a racket. I start off and it's getting hotter and hotter. The land is becoming mountainous and is similar to Arizona. By 11.00am I've drunk my 3L in my Camelbak and the 2L in my bottles and still no lunch truck! I finally see it and that's enough for me for today. At camp, thunder clouds roll in and we get a show of heat lighting. Then the rain comes, huge drops, the first in five weeks but still it's hot.

Llama Facts (This is no Joke)

Llamas don't have eyelashes but their cousin the alpaca does

Research Assistant Level II Karen

Quote of the Day

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give"

Sir Winston Churchill

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Tales from the Couch

Today was the big day. I had my appointment with my family doctor, Dr. Hanlon at high noon and all would be revealed. I have been getting lots of advice and medical tips from fellow runners, triathletes and the local cheese shop. Several treatments have been put forward including Physiotherapy, Massage Therapy, Graston Technique and Cheese Therapy. I can not totally discount Cheese Therapy as Lindsey Vonn, USA, who is an advocate of this remedy, did win the Women's downhill at Whistler. The technique that I find most fascinating is Graston. Here is Wikipedia's explanation of it: Graston Technique is a therapeutic method for diagnosing and treating disorders of the skeletal muscles and related connective tissue. The method employs a collection of six stainless steel tools of particular shape and size, which are used by practitioners to palpate patients' bodies in order to detect and resolve adhesions in the muscles and tendons. It doesn't sound like much fun and according to my running buddies it's not.

I met with Dr. Hanlon and we started by discussing the results of my latest blood work. My Creatine Kinase levels are elevated, which indicates muscle breakdown. Dr Hanlon noted that this was to be expected based on the volume of running I've been doing. My Cholesterol levels are very low indicating that the muscles are chewing up all the fat that's thrown at them (my words not Dr. Hanlon's). Next was the results of the Echocardiogram. From all the tests the heart appears to be "Tickety-Boo" (medical term). Finally the bone scan.....................NOOOO, the results had not been faxed over. Court adjourned until Monday.

Llama Facts (This is no Joke)

A full grown Llama can measure up to 6 feet tall (top of their head) and weigh up to 450 lbs.

Research Assistant Level II Karen

Quote of the Day

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there".

Robert M. Pirsig

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Tales from the Couch

We all love numbers and we love playing with them. So here goes, a look at the first 30 marathons from Jan 1st to Feb 10th 2010:

• Distance - 1266.0km (786.0 mls)
• Equivalent - Running fom Calgary to Vancouver then to Seattle
• Steps - 1,592,190
• Calories burned - 102,762  (29.4 lbs in weight)
• Donuts burned - 826.17 (chocolate dip)
• Time running - 177hrs 02min 31sec
• Continuous running time - 7.4 days
• Average speed - 7.2 km / hour (4.5 miles / hour)
• Average heart rate - 100 beats per minute
• Hand warmers used - 20 pairs
• Elevation gained - 45,468 ft (8.6 miles)
• Everest height - 29,029 ft
• Around the world - 3%

So, today was my first  physio session with Physiotherapist Serge. Serge has been helping me me from Day 1. We did a baseline VO2 max test, before the New Year, which established my endurance level. We also carried out a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) test to establish my calorie requirements while doing the marathons. This came out to 5,000 calories a day which basically means that when I'm not running I'm eating. He started off the session with the "Tuning Fork", this was to see if it was a stress fracture. There was no sharp pain in the shin, so that was positive. He moved to the ultrasound and then I did some stretches. The hot / cold leg bath was next and we finished off with electrode stimulus to the muscle along the side of the shin. Felt pretty good after. Monday is the bone scan results and I'll have a couple more physio sessions during the week.

Llama Facts (This is no Joke)

-  Llamas don't normally spit like camels, unless they have been bottle fed or over-socialized. Llamas are very social, curious and intelligent animals.

Research Assistant Level II Karen

Quote of the Day

"Take rest. A field that has rested gives a beautiful crop"

Ovid

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Tales from the Couch

I went to my doctor's appointment at 8.30am, this morning, and at 8.32am I had the results....it's a stress fracture to the left shin. Not good. But, not as surprising as the results of a bone scan a running friend of mine had. He wrote "I thought I had a stress fracture in my foot in 2003 and got a bone scan.  My foot turned out fine, but the scan showed that I only have 1 kidney." That's a shocker. After I left the doctor's office I kicked the tyre of my car, not a good idea when you have a stress fracture in your shin. There was only one thing for it, go for a full English breakfast at Norma's Cafe. A good feed of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatos, hash browns, toast and coffee certainly helped.

I've had great support over the last few days and I recieved this email from Ultra Runner Ray Zahab this afternoon.

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Dr. Hanlon had wanted to see me today at 8.40am to talk about a rehab plan for the stress fracture. However, the first thing he did was check the leg. He received the full report last night and felt there might be a possible discrepancy between the findings and reality. The report indicated that the stress fracture was in the "mid left Tibia", he tested this area on the shin but there was no pain. The pain was actually lower down towards the ankle on the left side of the shin. He had carried out a lot of background work and wanted me to see Dr. Kelly Brett for a 2nd opinion. Dr. Brett operates out of the Sports Medicine Clinic at the University of Calgary and has performed physician duties for the Calgary Flames and the Canadian Men's National Hockey Team.

I arrived at the Clinic at 2.30pm and was shown into his office at 2.45pm, right on time. His assistant checked my leg and asked me a bunch of questions then Dr. Brett came in. He had looked at the CD of the bone scan, that I had brought along, and agreed that there was definatelty bone activity along the skin. A stress fracture, probably not. He said that with all the activity in the last month and a half it was not surprising that the shins were lit up like "christmas trees" on the scan (my words, not his). He felt the issue was more a repetative strain injury to the muscle along the side of the shin. The course of action? figure out away to work around it. Time to crank up the Google search engine. I'm open to ideas. Maybe I should give Dr. Randolph Randolph a call!

Llama Facts (This is no Joke)

Llama's eyes can look in different directions independently from one another and can see far distances.

Research Assistant Level II Karen

Quote of the Day

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle when the sun comes up you'd better be running".

Anon

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Tales from the Couch

This whole quest is about helping kids. Kids around the world and kids in North America. As I cycled across Africa 5 years ago, I couldn't believe the enthusiasm the children had every time I entered a village or town. They'd cheer, shout and wave. They'd run after my bike, and if I was going too slow they'd push. In one town in Zambia a group of us had ridden all day and we pulled over on to grass verge by a round-a-bout. As we were resting on the grass, a young fellow, around 10-11, came up and started playing a home made banjo. It was all wood including the tuning pins. He was amazing. After he'd finished we thanked him and asked him his name, he said it was Laslo Badd. We offered him some money for his playing but he said he'd like an ice cream so we all went off and enjoyed a cone each. I've loaded a photo of Laslo on Flickr and I tried to load a short video, but no luck. I'll ask my website guru, Jeffrey, if he can load it onto the home page.

The enthusiasm these kids have can go in three directions: it can be stamped out, go for good or go for bad. Right To Play, through their programs, based on sport and physical activity, channels the kids natural enthusiasm into learnings. Learning about working together, self esteem, leadership and many other key life skills. Every $50 gives one child a Right To Play program for one year. The $250,000 I'm attempting to raise will help 5,000 kids and put them on the right path.

• If you've donated, thank you.
• If you're thinking of donating then go to www.marathonquest250.com and hit "Donate Now" or text donate $5 through 45678 "JOY".
• If you haven't thought of donating, then now's the time.

The kids deserve a break.

Quote of the Day

"I was taught that it is not enough just to live my life. I was placed on this planet to make a difference in the lives of others"

Edward J Silver Jr., Maryland Teacher of the Year

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Tales from the Couch

This morning, it was off to the Hamptons School in Calgary's North West. Due to my injury I wasn't going to run, but the plan was to walk with the kids around the parking lot after assembly. I was met in the office by Admin Assistant Lynda who introduced me to Teacher Shannon, who had organised the day and Principal Barbara. I chatted with Facility Manager Chico, he had started running six months ago and with the help of the Running Room was going to do the Policeman's Half in April. We headed down to the gym and, when all the kindergartens to grade 3's were quiet, Principal Barbara introduced a new 3 part, healty living, program to them. The first part is "Be Active" and with a poster came a bronze medal, the kids loved that. She continued, that if they completed all three parts then they would get Silver and Gold medals. This went down very well.

Teacher Shannon introduced me and I explained what I was trying to do. This school has been working with Right To Play and last year they fundraised $5,000, incredible for a group of 180, six to twelve year olds. I informed them that I couldn't run today but that I hoped to start walking marathons next week. They had lots of good questions including "How fast can you run a marathon?", "What happens if you have no water or food when you do a marathon?" and "How much have you raised so far for Right To Play". We then all headed out into the sunshine and enjoyed walking several laps around the car park. Principal Barbara invited me back in the fall to do a marathon with the kids which will be great. As I was leaving one of the students, Rachel,  came up and gave me $5 to help the "Other Children". Thanks Rachel.

Llama Facts (This is no Joke)

Llamas are 'communal poopers' - they all use the same location. Their droppings look like black jelly beans.

Research Assistant Level II Karen

Quote of the Day

"Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives any challenge or any occupation, no matter how frightening or difficult, a new meaning. Without enthusiasm you are doomed to life of mediocrity but with it you can accomplish miracles."

Og Mandino

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Tales from the Couch

Two weeks ago a group of students at Mitford Middle School sent me letters asking about Marathon Quest 250. The questions ranged from " Do you like getting up in the morning to run?" (Sometimes, when it's not freezing) to "Which is your favourite Llama?" (Two-Tone). Today I headed over to the class to give them letters I had written in response and present "Certificates of Participation" to each child. When I arrived they were all sitting around a long table with Teacher Lynda at the head. She had a 4-litre jug of chocolate milk and a box of chocolate digestive biscuits...A Breakfast of Champions. After the snack I showed them my hydration pack and signed autographs. They showed me stories they had written about the Llama's and art work they completed on MQ 250. We all then went outside and, as I took a leisurely stroll, they dashed around the parking lot. I plan to return on May 20th to do a marathon at the school.

In the afternoon I had two appointments, both tests, but in different ways. The first was to establish Bone Density. I went to the clinic at Market Mall, lay on a bed and was scanned. No problem. The second was with Dr. Greg who runs Proactive Health, chiropractic and massage performance centre. Five years ago, a different practitioner, had given me "The Massage from Hell". I was not happy. People had said good things about Dr. Greg but I was pretty nervous. We chatted for a bit and he explained what he was going to do. Time for a leap of faith. I said go ahead. He performed some active release and graston on the muscles along the left shin; there was some pain but I didn't cry. He also worked on the inflexibility in my left ankle. Result..... the shin felt better than when I walked in. Looks like I give a "Walking Marathon" a shot on Monday.

Llama Facts (This is no Joke)

Llama's have 3 stomach chambers.

Research Assistant Level II Karen

Quote of the Day

"A teacher's constant task is to take a roomful of live wires and see to it that they're grounded"

E.C. McKenzie

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