A Cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder

The doctor prescribed me with a weekly supply of Myo XP to cure my seasonal affective disorder. So far I have to say that it has been working wonderfully. I have been supplementing my prescription with the occasional trainer session which has helped me out quite a bit. However, I find myself being drawn to the mountains and constantly checking the ski reports. La Nina is coming, and I cannot wait. In the meantime, I am forced to debate whether tromping around in the mud, in the dark and in the rain is really worth it to get some trail time, but it’s the only adventurous option that I have. Given the conditions, I think it is pretty much the end of mountain biking season here in the PNW.  The lower elevation trails will remain snow free, but mud conditions will continue to get worse as the rain continues to fall over the next couple of months. 

Where I do work

My adventurous activities for the winter include resort skiing, snowshoeing, winter trail running and winter camping. I’d like to throw in some mountaineering and backcountry skiing, but I really don’t have the training or the gear for that right now. I am also in the process of considering buying some more gear: new pair of skis, MHW Trango 3.1 4-season tent, road bike, or a GoPro Helmet Hero HD camera. As of right now, I am leaning towards the tent because I think it will get the most amount of use in the current season and seasons beyond. I want new skis, but I don’t know much about skis so I’d like to demo a much before making my decision. Plus, I’d like to have a good backcountry setup in the future so I’d like to have skis that function well both in the backcountry and the resort, as well as, in the pow and in icy conditions. I assume my super ski and AT bindings will be expensive so I cant really afford that right now and don’t want to have to buy one set of resort skis and one set of backcountry ski. I’ll just wait and buy one super set. And the road bike wont be usable until late March at best so Ill have time to save up more money by then anyway.

That is what’s going on for me right now. I’m hoping to do some Thanksgiving skimboarding next week but I’ll have to fix my board or buy a new one or maybe adam will let me use his. Keep a lookout for those photos coming up.

UNT 

Bryan

Dark Side of the Lense

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

I've been posting a lot of videos recently so bare with me but I think that these films will impress and inspire the 6 people who actually follow my blog. Hopefully Adam and I will have some of our own footage up here soon so keep a lookout for that.

UNT

Bryan

Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home" - NEW street trials riding short film

It's That Time of Year Again - Banff Mountain Film Festival

Daylight Saving = Seasonal Affective Disorder

Well it’s official. It is now dark even before I leave the office. To me, it now seems like I spend all day indoors. The remainder of the year will be spent working out in the dark by headlamp or training in doors. The darkness, combined with the wet weather, makes it very had to stay motivated to train. Not that I am training for anything in particular, just maintaining the fitness I do have will be the main goal of the winter season. I am thinking about doing some races in January and February: One 10k trail race with my sister Megan in late Jan., maybe the Orcas Island 25k, definitely the Peterson Ridge Rumble 40M, which is in April I believe, and maybe just maybe White River 50M during the summer. But time will tell.

In order to stay in shape, I am contemplating joining my parent’s gym membership at the Sunset Athletic Club in order to supplement my trail running and stationary bike workouts with swimming and rock climbing. Maybe develop some upper body muscle, I’m sure Kerrie would like that ;). Got to get some more details on that before I decide though. The club is right across the street from Columbia so it would be extremely easy to get too. Plus I can play some hoops as well.

This weekend I am hoping to do the Elk-King Mtn Traverse if the weather holds off. There is a chance of snow so that would make route finding very difficult given the already overgrown trail. The traverse is only 10M but the large elevation gain, weather, remoteness, and overgrown trail makes this a potentially sketchy run so I’m hoping I can enlist Adam as my partner, but he will most likely have to work now that Apple has started its holiday schedule.

UNT

Bryan

Miller Hallow Challenge

Yesterday, I wanted to try out a pair of the shoes that I am wear testing. I went with the lightweight racing flats because they performed very well the previous day on a short trail run on Nature and Hemlock trail in Forest Park. My goal was to run some good hills and try out Forest Height’s residential trail network. I think they call the whole network of trails, Miller Hallow Trail. I have driven by them many times, but never actually been on them. I also wanted to try out some new GPS apps for my iPhone to see which ones work the best. The previous day I went with MapMyFitness App, but yesterday I tried out Everytrail. Here is a profile of the run. The last climb up to the top of Miller Hallow trail was brutal, basically a giant staircase. This will be a good training run close to home where I can get some serious hills.

Miller Hallow challenge

I got free tickets to the ski and snowboard expo tonight so Adam and I will be heading over there tonight. We will do our best to resist the urge to buy new skis, but gotta bring the check book just in case J. Also, heading to Eugene on Saturday for the UO vs UW football game. Go Ducks! Trying to convince my father to come mountain biking with me Sunday morning after the game so we can hit up the end of the McKenzie River Trail. If not, I’ll bring my trail shoes and do a run up Ridge trail on the outskirts of Eugene.

UNT

Bryan

A Little Update

Havent posted anything in the last fews days bc I havent really done anything athletic in the last few days. I need some sort of project that I can do even when the where is bad. I have found a few for when the weather clears up. One goal is the 40 mile trail around the Portland Metropolitan area. It would be a road biking mission, but I would need to increase my road biking fitness a little before attempting that. With the weather bad for the foreseeable future, training for this, on a trainer, does not seem that appealing. My other mission is to find the perfect rain wear attire. I have more jacket than one person will ever need, but somehow I cant find a rain jacket that will keep me dry from the rain, will breath well enough so my perspiration doesnt soak me, and is lightweight enough to actually be comfortable to run in. There has to be something out there, but before buying another coat, I am going to try some of the jackets that I do have and comment on how each one performs in hopes of finding a suitable jacket that I already own. Even looking out into the market place for a potential jacket, I havent been very impressed with the options. Many companies advertise or market their jackets as waterproof, breathable but in my experience, most fall short.

In other news, I have been very pleased with my new wet, muddy weather trail running solutions for the lower half of my body. I recently purchased a pair of Montrail's Mountain Masochist's GTX shoes and paired them with MHW's Seta Trail gaitor. This combination has proved to be extremely waterproof and comfortable. Yes, I get very muddy and wet but my feet stay perfectly dry. I'll try and post a picture of this set up soon. Also, I recently purchased a pair of MHW 3/4 Power Tights for running, mtbing and skiing. I wore them recently on a cold, wet trail run and they kept me nice and dry, without overheating. These will be nice for days when my full tights are too warm, but shorts are too cold. While the tights are not the most flattering addition to my wardrobe, many comments from family and gf questioning my manlyhood, I find them to be quite comfortable so you all can shove it lol.

In other other news, I am wear testing a few pairs of trail runners from Columbia and Montrail, and while I cannot tell you the name or what kind of shoe it is, I will be able to comment on some things that I like and dislike about them. Unfortunately, no photos will be posted, but they look and feel pretty sweet so far.

That's all I got and here is a photo Joel man took while in Sun Valley,

UNT

Bryan