Introduction for BigBearRunning

Before my transformation.

My name is Steve Bowling and I am a beginner trail runner pushing boundaries; and now, pushing myself harder and further has not only become something that I do, it's become a way of life.

To begin this epic tail, we need to backup 3 years to a day in January 2015 when I looked in the mirror and though to myself "what have you done?" I couldn't believe I had let myself go that far, I stepped on the scale and it read "err." I pushed on the counter a bit and the scale fluttered back into a readable range of 330.  My fast food, fast pace life had finally got the best of me and I thought to myself now is the time. Now, there are a couple things I should clarify, my weight has gone up and down a lot over my life with times of working out where I could take myself down to a just above average size and then usually fall back into the beer and pizza phase and put most of it back on. I was always active, but my poor diet usually got the best of me. I have always been big, I probably never had a BF % under 25 even when working out, but it never bothered me much, until now that is....

My first 10km

I was done, now was the time. I've always known the basics to proper diet, but usually ignored them for the most part because, lets face it, pizza is delicious!  The first steps were small, switching to eating 6 times a day,  healthy foods, going to the gym, doing lots of cardio and before you know it the first 30lbs had fallen off [more on this in a future post]. I was starting to get positive comments from people and this inspired me to continue, so I downloaded a calorie counting program. Next thing you know I was down around 245lbs which is where my running career really started, with my little sister and her husband (Leap Frog and Little Fox) convincing me that I should train and run the Vancouver Sun Run.

I went down to the running store and got myself some runners and some shorts and a shirt and started trying to run. It was pretty hard at first with my longest run at about 2- 4 km, but I had signed up for the race and I was determined to do it. Somehow I kept pushing on until next thing you know I was running 10 km runs. I went down to Vancouver and had a great weekend and ran my first race. It was such a fun time I wanted to go further so I signed up for the Kelowna half marathon at thanksgiving, finishing that at just short of 2 hrs. I was feeling pretty happy with myself for how far I had come. Little did I know that my life was about the change...... forever......

My first half

Now this would be the time that I was told about trail running. It was described as a beautiful scenic way to run, being just like running on the road but through nice mountain trails around a lake. With a description like that and a love for the great outdoors who could say no? So we all signed up for the Around the Lake Give'r Take 30 km at Cultus Lake. This was going to be the longest distance I had ever gone in my life and further than I had ever envisioned myself coming - but here we were.

After my first trail race

Race day was a cold wet morning, I was wearing street running shoes, regular shorts and a running shirt. With a borrowed race pack stuffed with all kinds of bars and candies that had come from my sister's running stash, I had no idea what to expect. All I could think about was the nice mountain trails and how fun it was going to be. As the race started everyone sort of funneled through the chute and the park and out onto the road, thinning out before the trail head. I felt good and had a good pace, until the first climb that is. I watched people pulling themselves up the first section using trees and branches as the trail was wet and muddy. The first hill seemed to go on for miles. My body was sore as I wasn't used to any kind of real elevation change yet, my running shoes had horrible traction in the mud and I was slipping and falling all over the place, thinking to myself what have I gotten myself into? Somehow I managed to push on and make my way to the backside of the lake where there was a well stocked aid station with lots of delicious food. My legs ached by now, my feet were cold and wet and it was starting to rain. I grabbed some yummy candies and headed on up the next climb, which also seemed to drag on forever. By now the pain had started coming into my core which also was not used to this kind of torture. I climbed and climbed and climbed wondering whether my heart was was going to give up first or my legs. I was grumpy, I thought "this is nothing like the description, why would my sister tell me this was a good idea?" I marched on, pushing up the hill I finally saw a man at the top. He started clapping and cheering and as I crested the hill there was a table with a whole bunch of mini cups filled with beer. The volunteers told me that I was at the top of the last climb and it was all downhill from here. Every part of me was sore, I had nothing left. I drank a couple oz of beer and continued down the trail. I somehow managed to get down to the beach and cross the finish line where my sister laughed and said "Sorry, I forgot how hilly this course was". At the time I was not amused, but looking back now I see the humor in it.

Hiking the Chief

I went down to the store shortly after and bought a pair of trail shoes and started finding trails to run. I wanted to run all the trails and all the mountains. Somehow out of this crazy race experience I had found a true appreciation for the sport of trail running. I found myself googling course profiles and picking races that looked fun. I went on to complete a marathon distance trail race (Wandering Moose), a couple half marathons (Hallow's Eve, Phantom) and 27 km trail races (Dirty Duo,and brigade), a 50km trail race (Kal Park 50) and most recently, my first 50 mile trail race (Tenderfoot Boogie). I'm currently training for the FatDog 70 miler in August.

Chris (LittleFox) and Jenna (LeapFrog) have been my inspiration through all of this, helping with gear, food, training plans, and trail tips and tricks. They have probably forever changed my life, and now I have been added to their trail running blog! I look forward to sharing all my race reports and gear reviews so hopefully everyone can run their best run!


-BigBearRunning

Introduction for J.B.Running

Hello and welcome to everyone's new favorite trail running blog, The Trail Effect!
If you're interested in running, or any sort of outdoor adventure, you've come to the right place. We hope to bring you along on our running, hiking, backpacking (and anything else you can think of) adventures, and provide inspiration and ideas for adventures of your own!

Developing new Kayaking techniques in the Broken Islands

Let's start a few years back. I grew up in the relatively small city of Penticton, B.C. If you asked me to name three things I couldn't live without, I probably would have said sports, the great outdoors, and math. Not including my wonderful family of course, that's a given. And food and water I suppose, for those of you thinking too literally. Now before you think I'm too weird, let me explain.
1. I always have and always will play any sport, anytime. I am a team player, and I love the atmosphere and support of having a team around me.
2. Do not put me inside for long periods of time. It's like caging a rabid animal. I need the outdoors. I love the outdoors. For a long time, I thought it would be incredible to go back to when we had no houses and just live off the land.
3. Math. I love it. Science. I love it. And I'm not afraid to admit it.

It was a combination of these three things that led me to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Here I was able to do something I never thought possible, combine all the things I loved into one incredible career path, Geological Engineering. It was during my time at UBC, where I spent copious amount of time sitting with my nose in a book, that I discovered a new love. Running. There is no better way to escape thousands of seemingly useless mathematical equations  than to just get out and run. As far and as fast as you can.

If I am to be completely honest with you, I would have to share my ulterior motive for running.
Before I left for university I met my boyfriend of 5 years. He was training for his first Ironman at only 18 years old. Of course, with Penticton being the former home of Ironman Canada, it's hard to escape the crazy people. I can't quite begin to explain his level of insanity, but I'm sure as you start to read this blog you'll understand.

I started to run because he ran. I started to bike because he biked, and I started to do triathlons... well, you get the idea. He is incredibly inspiring, and without him I wouldn't be the runner I am today. I hope you can learn from this blog what I've learned from him. You can do it. You just have to believe you can.
When we first started to go running together, I would get frustrated. I guess you could say I'm a tad competitive, and although I wasn't the best at every sport I played, I always enjoyed winning.
It was difficult to run with someone who could run laps around me. I couldn't help but feel a little insecure. But it was never about how far, or how fast I could run. It was about getting outside and enjoying it, and just running and smiling and being free.
I can't tell you how many runs I gave up on, how many times I burst into tears because I was too slow, or too weak, or just not feeling well. If you told me that by 23 years old I would have run two marathons, I would have laughed in your face and said I'm not crazy.
But I will admit that right now. I am crazy. UltraChris taught be how to be crazy. And I'm sure there will be many more crazy adventures to come.

So I hope you'll start reading our blog, whether you're an experienced runner like Chris, or you're just discovering the great wide world of trail running, like me.
Join us as we take on the trails!

-J.B.Running
FYHP - Find your happy pace :)

Introduction for UltraChris

Welcome to The Trail Effect! A dedication to the wonderful world of running, with the added fun of hiking, snowshoeing and backpacking adventures!

30 miles into this year's FatDog 120 mile
trail race in Manning Park BC.

My name's Chris and I'm an addict - a running addict. I currently live in Vancouver BC, I'm 22 years old and I just recently graduated from The University of British Columbia. This year I'm working as a research assistant in a biomechanics lab at the university, putting my science degree to good use. My work mostly involves motion and gait analysis for people with osteoarthritis, stroke, patellofemoral pain or hip impingement. It's definitely one of the coolest jobs since we use pretty much the same system as game designers like EA sports, and the result is a useful treatment for that condition.

As for running, I've been doing it competitively since I was in elementary - almost two-thirds of my life! That sounds kind of scary when I say it that way... Nonetheless, I'm still enjoying it as much as ever, if not more! I ran my first marathon in 2008 in preparation for my first Ironman Canada race in 2009. I ended up being the youngest to do it (Ironman) that year and ended doing fairly well so I came back to do it in 2011. After IMC, I started really getting into running and trail running specifically. Starting with the Phantom 19km Trail Race in 2011, I progressed to the DirtyDuo 50km in 2012 and have since completed the 2013 Vancouver100 and 2013 FatDog 120mile Trail Race. Without a doubt, my favourite part of running trails is the freedom I feel while doing it. I'm able to truly get lost in the beauty of the surroundings as well as my own thoughts. Plus I get to see so many interesting places and meet tons of fantastic people.

In the coming weeks I hope to post a couple of long-overdue race reports for FatDog and Around the Lake Give'r Take as well last weekend's Phantom race. I'll also likely be posting a review of some Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultra's that I got as a result of a draw prize at the Phantom race. Over the coming year I hope to detail my training, specifically for FatDog 2014. If you ever have an idea or suggestion for a post please feel free to comment either here or on our Facebook page.

-UltraChris