tral

Facing up te
Biking over mental, =
monetary obstacles

Catharine Warning, owner of Peak
Nucerition of the North Shore Ine. is abaut
ta embark with a group of frtends on a
training shedule co help them gear up for
the punithing Sea2Summit adventure
race which takes place Sept. 9 and 10.

‘Lhe event, which begins in Deep Cove ,
coxers 160 ky throinyh six stages of ocean
kayaking, hiking and mountain btking to
the finish line in Winstler.

Every month taneil the race, Warning
will give News readers a little insight into
the rigours of training for the nontenen-
tal race.

ONCE I knew what 'd gotten

‘miyself into — or I thought T
knew what I'd gotten myself
into -— it was time to sit down
and put together a plan.

How do you take an accountant, a
fireman, a software geek and a vitamin
girl and tm them into an adventure

“racing team? (Not-to mention the phar-
macy rep and wine marketer on che
support team.) . : .;

“<The first step was to build a sound nutritional foundation.

. This was no easy task given the dietary mainstays for some of the
- team members. Chicken wings, potato chips, beer and chocolate
chip ice cream don’t exactly set the stage for tackling your first

adventure race!
:- -.. The process boiled down to getting everybody onto a high

: protein, moderate carb dict that included plenty of vitamins,
minerals and sport supplements for the long months of taining

_ ahead.» :

Next we moved on to ny first personal challenge — getting
comfortable on a mountain bike.
_ As the team progressed to two to tirce rides per week I start-
ed to feel more confident on the trails. That new-found confi-
“dence was shaken by an intimate encounter with some unforgiv-

‘ing obstacles — face first. |
23 Me's amazing the speed at which one can go from an exciting
run down a challenging hill to becoming an acrobat flipping over
handle Lars, The performance wouldn't have gotten me a “10”
from the judges, though! ... ;

‘Through my initial weeks of training I tried to keep thinking
bout all the oid adages like “No pain, no gain,” and “Nothing
ventured nothing gained.” I realized there would be more than a
few bumps and. bruises for the Peak Nutrition Team on the road

to the race. a

In addition to the physical challenges ahead of us, we've corne
to realize that there will he equal parts of mental and financial
chalicnges encountered Whun tainting ac this level.’ The first

came very. apparent on a recént ride up Mount Seymour.
7*The key word here is “up.”
The problem with “mountain biking” is chat it always
involves a mountain! Somchow, you have to get to the top and
?ve discovered that you're actually expected to ride there. Yep ...
no elevators or chairlifts here. This is where you add in the men-
tal part of the equation. Climbing and endiess, bumpy trails up a’
‘Mountain that seemed from the parking lot, to be a reasonable -
ndeavour, can offen turn out to feel like an attempted summit .
Everest. Loften find I have.to draw deep into my mental
reserves and rely’on the support of the team to get to the top.

‘Through training with the team Pve observed thar you can not
only overcome. physical obstacles but also those mental chal-
lenges that might. have seemed too daunting to tackle alone.

So now that I’ve painted a picture of all the pasitives associat-

d with our raining to date, fet me quickly outline the third

Des Lauriers.

ae,

NEWS phote Paul McGrath

THE Peak Nutrition team, clockwise from tower-right: Tim Des Lauriers
(seated), Catharine Warning, Nicole St. Jacques, Mike Adams and Sue

main challenge faced by all racers — the financial one.
When one tackles a mountain, neither you nor your bike
s unscathed. It’s a tough environment for both people and
equipment and inevitably something has to give.

One of my teammates experienced this first hand recently. To
protect the innocent we shall call him Mike. On a piece of t
nical downhill “trail” only a mountain goat could appreciate, the
process of gravity, momentum and an immovable object, namely
the mountaza, conspired to turn Mike's bike into a work of mod-
em art.

Anybody familiar with Murphy’s Law will tell you that this
will only happer: at the furthest possible point from the parking
lot. As a result of this you get to experience the long-standing
mountain bike tradition of the
“hike and bike” — the long
march home dragging whatev- -
er piece of your bike you can
salvage. This special ume is
often spent rationalizing your
intent on upgrading the gear
you need to replace. After all if
you'd had better gear it
wouldn't have failed in the first
place. Ask any bike repair tech-
nician on the North Shore —
they'll agree wholeheartedly!

So in summary, that’s 3
brief snapshot of the chal-
lenges we’ve encountered to
date. It all-begs the question:

Can a group of ordinary peo-
ple take on an extraordinary
challenge like the Sea2Summit
and succeed? Only time will
tell. In the meantime our
training. will continue. ;

Tune in next time for some
soggy notes from the sea
where PH tell you how to turn
a kayak into a submarine and
experience a whitewater spin
cycle on one of B.C.’s won--

drous rivers!

3 4 speaker AM/FR stereo cassette ® ° Select 4x4 ¢ ‘24-hour roadside assistance
i ladder-box frame » power steering * power door locks ¢ power windows * power mirrors
" 155 hp ¢ city: 22.31/109km (23mpg)* © highway: 9.7L/1c0 km (29 mpg)* :

‘

Sunday, June 18, 2000 — North Shore News = 37°

SCHOOL: Scatinel
GRADE: !2
> Senior tennis
ngles /mix
doubles
COACHES: Rika Luttin
and Dave Weber
THE SCOOP: Janis
cane within a wit of being
named top female at the
B.C. “AAA” tournament
for the third year despite a
heetic schedule. After dri-
ving to Penticton the day
before competition,. she
won her sets on opening
day, flew back to
Vancouver to be a finalist
at othe «Women of
Distinction awards
evening, then — drove
overnight to the
Okanagan in time for
more wins. She lost once
— only her second loss in
five years at the provincial
tourney — bur Sentincl
did take the team title.

‘+

(49)

NAME: James Healey
SCHOOL: St. Thomas
Aquinas

GRADE: 12

SPORT: Seniar track and
field

EVENT: Race’

COACH: Steve

THE SCOOP: — James
recorded othe = North
Shore’s fastest-ever 1,500
metre racewalk time
(6:58.27) at the B.C.
championships, — taking
third in a rare (for race-"
walking} photo finish
with the silver medallist.
James’ time would have
won 1) of the previous
17 .years of provincial
finals. Having also placed
third ar fast year’s cham- °
pionships and cighth the
year betore, he is the only
North Shore competitor
to have placed in the top
eight in any boys event
for each of the past three
scasons.

oes SON Selections are made by the North
Shore Secondary Scheoois' Athletic
Association based on ontstanding
performances in school competition.