Le Blog du Rob #106: Joining up with BCEP

Blog #106

Oh man, I have some exciting news. Well, at least I find it to be exciting. You may be indifferent to the whole thing, but I’m right stoked. What I’m talking about here is the formation of a sexy new training group out here in Vancouver.

The British Columbia Endurance Project (BCEP), headed up by Coach Rich Lee and currently consisting of 9 athletes, is up and running (pun win). I have a feeling that things are going to get speedy out here folks.

I moved out to Vancouver for several reasons; I really dig the fact that for five dollars I can get enough sushi to feed a family of four (or one distance runner in the midst of a 240K week). I love the security knowing that I am never more than 100 metres away from a coffee shop, and I greatly appreciate the fact that there is a never-ending parade of cute girls walking around in yoga pants. But the biggest reason as to why I made the westward move was because, in my opinion, this city provides the best training grounds in our country; amazing trails, temperate climate and all the resources that an athlete could ever need. We even have the world’s largest ice bath right outside our door! It’s ideal!

The only thing that it was lacking was a focused, cohesive “elite” group. There was plenty of fast people in town, but everyone was in their own groups doing their own thing. Dylan Wykes, was a big reason why I came out here. I wanted to train with that guy, but when I got here he had jetted off to Ottawa for a year. It was lame.

Things have changed though, folks. First off, we got DW back. Vancouver also picked up a low stick when Kelly Wiebe moved out here this summer. The scene is also benefitting from the fact that Luc Bruchet decided to get fast and Rich Mosely has come out of his semi-retirement. We also have Gant and Friesen who are pretty darn good once they get of their road bikes. It’s all so exciting.

Huge thanks to Rich Lee for inviting me to join the group even though I’m coached by Pete. I can’t wait to work with these guys. I’m looking forward to chasing these guys all over the roads and trails. If there was one thing that I have been lacking in my training over the past 18 months it has most certainly been training partners. I have had lots of long, lonely workouts. No more man, no more!

Huge amounts of credit to the folks at BC Athletics for organizing this initiative. Also massive thanks to Viasport for funding this stuff. A lot of people put in a lot of hard work to help this vision come to fruition. Good stuff team.

You wanna know what else is exciting? Cross-country. Cross-country is exciting. Nationals XC is coming up in a couple weeks. For many of us cross-country was our first foray into the awesomeness that is long-distance running. Remember being out there as a punk kid? Just running around those fields without a care in the world, having the time of our lives. Cross-country running is a beautiful thing, man.

Vancouver is hosting the Canadian national cross-country championships on Nov. 30th. Despite the fact that I don’t own a pair of spikes, and I am not particularly fit, I couldn’t resist the temptation. I’m going to race that sucker. It’s just too much fun. I’m excited to lace em’ up and haul ass around Jericho Beach.

Okay, so I should probably go train or something. Have a great week everyone!

-rob-