Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th

• Location: South Fish Creek Recreational Centre

• RTP Fund raising target: $50,000

Just over a week ago, I picked up a new pair of Brooks Pure Connect running shoes. These fall within the "Barefoot" category and Chris at IMPACT magazine had asked if I was interested in testing a pair, for their future Running edition. I was surprised at their weight, or lack of. The box they came in was heavier than the shoes.

The runners I've been using weigh 2 lbs a pair and have the cushioning of a Lazy Boy. The key element I look for in a shoe is comfort. In 2010 I had used shoes from nine different manufactures and 19 different models. When anyone asks what kind of shoe I use I just say 11 neutral. So, holding these featherweights, I wondered what I had let myself in for.

I've been keeping up-to-date on the "Barefoot running" phenomenon. Like millions of other people, I've read "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. He does a great job telling the story of the Tarahumara Indians, a race of people who live in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. The terrain is savage and they only wear thin leather sandals, but are able to run incredible distances. On the pathways in Calgary, I see a number of runners wearing Vibram's five-fingers or minimalist shoes. To be honest, the closest I've come to barefoot running is at night when I put on my Winnie the Pooh slipper socks.

I took the shoes home and showed Sue. The first thing she said was how she loved the colour. She called them "Corn Flower Blue" and I must admit they are pretty striking. Chris had asked me to test them for a week so I thought I'd better have a plan. The main thing was not to get injured so I started with a 5km easy treadmill run. The shoes fit like a glove but with plenty of room in the toe box. Getting on the treadmill I stared running with my normal gait. It was weird. There's no heel so I was up on the balls of my foot. Afterwards, I was a little sore, but no permanent damage.

The next run was on Saturday morning with members of the Cochrane Red Rock Runners and Tri Club. As we waited to get going I got a number of comments about the colour of the shoes. Definitely a hit. This time I ran 8km on pavement and some gravel pathways. Again some soreness. I still haven't figured out the correct gait for these shoes.

On Sunday I got back on the treadmill and ran 10km. Things started to feel better. I changed my stride to more of a midsole landing and I felt a lot more comfortable. On Tuesday I ran 14km on the pathways in Calgary and really enjoyed the lightness of the shoe.

The final test was on Thursday. A group of us got together for a night run and we headed out on the Cochrane Pathways. I veered off and ran some single track, along the river. I caught a root and a couple of boulders. These shoes don't offer a lot of protection for the toes or for ankle rollovers but I came back no worse for wear.

In summary. Well, it was a huge learning experience for me. The shoes were a perfect fit with no pressure points. The heel area had excellent support while there was ample room in the toe box. The shoes performed well on pavement, gravel and single track trail.

Am I a convert to "Barefoot running"? Well let's just say I'm taking it one step at a time.

Quote of the Day

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brooks Pure Connect: Ready for the off.

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $450

A week ago Sue and I headed up to Edmonton. I had an appointment with Michael Jorgensen of Myth Merchant Films. Michael had been one of the producers I had made a pitch to at the Alberta Write Stuff Workshop. He talked about his current project, a documentary about a man going back to Vietnam. We talked about Marathon Quest 250 and Quest for Kids. Michael then introduced his "Story" equation.

Story = Strong Character + Active Quest / High Stakes X2

He noted that Marathon Quest 250 has a strong character, the Quest was now completed and the stakes were physical damage and trying to hit the fundraising target.

Looking at Quest for Kids. He said that it has a strong character; Quests are on going, there is a physical challenge and there is a need to have the funds focused on a specific group or groups.

We then discussed the "The 10th Quest". We kicked around a number of ideas like run the seven deserts on the seven continents. I brought up the idea of running around the coast of Great Britain in 2014. Michael suggested we tie it into a significant event in 2014 that links a great explorer. There has to be a time component and the funds raised must be linked to a specific town or village in Africa.

The idea would be to rekindle the British spirit of perseverance, effort, and sacrifice. Terryanne, my mother-in-law, calls me "The Brit with Grit". I think it should be a cross between Sir Edmund Hilary and Karl Pilkington.

Sue came up with the idea of running from Cairo to the village I played table tennis at in Ethiopia.

The Saturday morning runners came up with the idea of running across the Sahara on snowshoes.

If anyone's got a crazy idea for "The 10th Quest" please send it along.

Quote of the Day

"Every noble work is at first impossible."

Thomas Carlyle

What will be "The 10th Quest"?

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $695

Last Saturday night Sue and I went to our first ever Lacrosse game , the Calgary Roughnecks vs the Edmonton Rush. There we met Scott Cable. Scott was on the Netball Quest 61 team that, in September 2011, set a new Guinness World Record for the longest marathon of netball played. I had chatted with Scott during the 61 hours we had been on the court and he had told me about his love of Lacrosse.

Scott and his brother Shawn run a company "Hotbox Lacrosse" which sells lacrosse apparel and he said that they would be interested in working with me on a Guinness World Record for the longest indoor Lacrosse Game. In the fall of 2011, I contacted Guinness in London and found out that there had never been an indoor record set and that we would have to play a minimum of 24 hours to set the record. I had told Scott that I had never played Lacrosse but I would be willing to learn.

But before I play a game I want to know the history of the sport. Scott has a video on his website and this is what I learned.

Modern day lacrosse descends from and resembles games played by various native America communities. These include games called dehuntshigwa'es in Onondaga ("men hit a rounded object"), da-nah-wah'uwsdi in Eastern Cherokee ("little war"), Tewaarathon in Mohawk language ("little brother of war"), baaga`adowe in Ojibwe ("bump hips") and kabocha-toli in Choctow language ("stick-ball").

Lacrosse is one of the oldest team sports in North America. There is evidence that a version of lacrosse originated in Mesoamerica or Canada early as the 17th century. Native American lacrosse was played throughout modern Canada but was most popular around the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic seaboard and American South.

Traditional lacrosse games were sometimes major events that could last several days. As many as 100 to 1,000 men from opposing villages or tribes would participate. The games were played in open plains located between the two villages, and the goals could range from 500 yards (460 m) to several miles apart.

Rules for these games were decided on the day before. Generally there was no out-of-bounds, and the ball could not be touched with the hands. The goals would be selected as large rocks or trees; in later years wooden posts were used. Playing time was often from sun up until sun down.

The game began with the ball being tossed into the air and the two sides rushing to catch it. Because of the large number of players involved, these games generally tended to involve a huge mob of players swarming the ball and slowly moving across the field. Passing the ball was thought of as a trick, and it was seen as cowardly to dodge an opponent.

The medicine men acted as coaches, and the women of the tribe were usually limited to serving refreshments to the players (There was also a women's version of lacrosse called amtahcha, which used much shorter sticks with larger heads).

Lacrosse traditionally had many different purposes. Some games were played to settle inter-tribal disputes. This function was essential to keeping the Six Nations of the Iroquois together. Lacrosse was also played to toughen young warriors for combat, for recreation, as part of festivals, and for the bets involved. Finally, lacrosse was played for religious reasons: "for the pleasure of the Creator" and to collectively pray for something.

In future Blogs I'll talk about Lacrosse Quest 24 and my up coming, week long, "Lacrosse Boot Camp" at Springbank School. Oh, Calgary beat Edmonton 12 -8.

Quote of the Day

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Wayne Gretzky

Great action at the Calgary Roughnecks vs Edmonton Rush game on Saturday

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Next Event:

Lacrosse Quest 24

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT

• Start: 7.00pm Friday May 4th 2012

• Finish: 7.00pm Saturday May 5th 2012

• Location:South Fish Creek Recreational Centre, Calgary

• RTP Fundraising Target: $50,000

• RTP Fundraising Actual: $805

I'm afraid of three things, the Black Widow spider, Giant Killer jelly fish and English grammar. I remember many moons ago sitting at a wooden desk, in grade 3, as the teacher slowly marched up and down the classroom reading out the daily list of twenty spelling words.

Fast forward to the 1980's and the invention of spell check for PC's. I thought my dreams had been answered; however, things are never that straight forward. Check out the poem below:

Eye have a spelling chequer,
It came with my Pea Sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss Steaks I can knot sea.

Eye strike the quays and type a whirred
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am write oar wrong
It tells me straight a weigh.

Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your shore real glad two no.
Its vary polished in its weigh.
My chequer tolled me sew.

A chequer is a bless thing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right all stiles of righting,
And aides me when eye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The chequer pours o'er every word
Two cheque sum spelling rule.

My spell checker shows no problem with the contents but clearly its rubbish (but fun).

Last fall, I signed up as a Substitute Resource Assistant for the Rocky View Schools Division. I've been in a number of times to help out and in mid February I received a call from a local Cochrane School. I've very much enjoyed working with the kids and giving help wherever possible. I have no problems with quadratic equations, the periodic table or the history of the First World War, however I ran into trouble with a Grade 4 English class.

The teacher asked me to mark a punctuation exercise: linking adverbs to verbs. Cold beads of sweat started to form on my forehead and my heart rate hit 160. Fortunately, the teacher had marked several pages so I managed to figure out the rest of the answers. That was a close call.

Then a week ago, I received the edited manuscript of "Marathon Quest" from  Meaghan Craven. Meaghan has been retained, as editor, by Rocky Mountain Books and I have been working closely with her for the past two months. There's still lots of work to do on the document but luckily, I have my "Grammar Queen", Sue. She helps me sort out my colon from semi-colon and limits my run-on sentences.

I've now decided to take control of the situation. This morning, I ordered Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. This is a non-fiction book written by Lynne Truss the former host of the BBC Radio 4's Cutting a Dash programme. In the book, published in 2003, Truss bemoans the state of punctuation in the United Kingdom and the United States and describes how rules are being relaxed in today's society. Her goal is to remind readers of the importance of punctuation in the English Language by mixing humour and instruction.

The title of the book is an amphibology - a verbal fallacy arising from an ambiguous grammatical construction-and derived from a joke on bad punctuation:

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

It just goes to show that you can teach an old Panda new tricks.

Joke of the Day

• Q: Why did the Panda like "The Artist"
• A: Because it was in Black and White!

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

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