Random Stuff
Mountains, skiing, climbing
I love the outdoors, especially mountains. I have been downhill skiing since I was a few years old, and I still love it! Since I moved to Alberta, I try to spend as much time as I can in the Canadian Rockies, either backcountry skiing, resort skiing, scrambling, rock climbing, trail running, or what not. As long as it's in the mountains, I'm in! :-) Here's a few links about mountains, skiing and climbing.
- the alpine club of canada: canada's national mountain organization
- avalanche.ca: canadian avalanche center
- snow-forecast.com: skiing weather forecast and snow reports
- snow-reports.ca: snow reports from the canadian rockies
- association of canadian mountain guides
- biglines.com: snowriding community
- kicking horse ski resort
- revelstoke mountain resort
- gripped: canadian climbing magazine
Running
I started running in spring 2008, after the ACL reconstruction surgery that I had on my right knee following a ski accident. I started jogging as part of my rehab, and Alexandra (my wife) registered for a half-marathon so I went running with her, and I loved it so much that I haven't stopped running since!
I ran my first marathon in May 2009; it was slow, it was painful, but crossing the finish line was one of the most powerful moments I've had! Since then, I ran many more races, and got a little faster! What I love the most is to combine my two passions; running and mountains. While I enjoy road running, I much prefer trail running, especially mountain running. In 2012 I decided to go beyond marathon distance, and ran my first ultras. And I finished the Canadian Death Race! This was another very powerful moment in my life...
My running goals for 2013: finish Sinister 7, finish and (hopefully) run decent times at Blackfoot Ultra, Squamish 50, Grizzly Ultra, and perhaps a sub-3 marathon and sub-1:25 half... Looks like it will be a fun year! :-)
Here is a list of my race results so far.
2013
| Date | Race | Distance | Time | Pace (/km) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/25 | Blackfoot Ultra | 100 km | 9:38:47 | 5:48 | 1 |
| 05/11 | 5 Peaks Terwillegar trail run | 16 km | 1:11:26 | 4:28 | 6 |
| 04/14 | St Albert 10 miler | 10 miles | 1:00:57 | 3:48 | 18 |
| 01/05 | Fat Ass 50K - Edmonton | 50 km | 4:41:00 | 5:38 | 2 |
2012
| Date | Race | Distance | Time | Pace (/km) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/30 | Resolution Run - Montreal | 5 km | 20:01 | 4:00 | 1 |
| 10/17 | McNamara Fall Cross Country Series (#7 - Hawrelak Park) | 5.7 km | 20:33 | 3:37 | 19 |
| 10/07 | Grizzly Ultra - Canmore | 50 km | 4:37:03 | 5:32 | 6 |
| 09/26 | McNamara Fall Cross Country Series (#4 - Kinsmen Park) | 5.4 km | 24:04 | 4:28 | 24 |
| 09/22 | 5 peaks Devon trail run | 21.3 km | 1:42:42 | 4:49 | 1 |
| 09/12 | McNamara Fall Cross Country Series (#2 - Emily Murphy Park) | 8 km | 30:52 | 3:52 | 20 |
| 09/05 | McNamara Fall Cross Country Series (#1 - Hawrelak Park) | 5 km | 19:14 | 3:51 | 18 |
| 08/25 | 5 peaks Chickakoo Lake trail run | 15 km | 1:03:14 | 4:13 | 8 |
| 08/04 | Canadian Death Race | 125 km | 17:36:37 | 8:27 | 12 |
| 05/26 | Blackfoot Ultra | 50 miles | 7:31:00 | 5:36 | 2 |
| 05/06 | Run Wild Marathon | Marathon | 3:05:46 | 4:24 | 3 |
| 04/15 | MEC 10k Classic race - Edmonton | 10.8 km | 43:38 | 4:02 | 5 |
| 02/20 | Frozen Ass Fifty | 54 km | 4:29:26 | 4:59 | 5 |
| 01/07 | Fat Ass 50K - Edmonton | 50 km | ~5:10 |
2011
| Date | Race | Distance | Time | Pace (/km) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/30 | Resolution Run - Montreal | 5 km | 20:14 | 4:03 | 2 |
| 10/22 | Kathy's run for pancreatic cancer | 10 km | 39:27 | 3:57 | 2 |
| 08/21 | Edmonton Marathon | Marathon | DNF | ||
| 07/16 | Skyline Trail solo - Jasper | 46 km | ~6:00 | ||
| 06/18 | Eddie's Big Run | Half-marathon | 1:29:11 | 4:14 | 1 |
| 05/15 | Run Wild Marathon | Marathon | 3:28:32 | 4:57 | 10 |
| 04/17 | St Albert 10 miler | 10 miles | 1:10:23 | 4:22 | 65 |
| 02/13 | Hypothermic Half-Marathon #2 - Edmonton | Half-marathon | 1:38:30 | 4:40 | 5 |
2010
| Date | Race | Distance | Time | Pace (/km) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/22 | Edmonton Marathon | Marathon | 3:50:09 | 5:27 | 179 |
| 02/28 | Hypothermic Half-Marathon #2 - Edmonton | Half-marathon | 1:47:24 | 5:05 | 30 |
2009
| Date | Race | Distance | Time | Pace (/km) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/18 | Fall Classic Road Race | 10 miles | 1:21:22 | 5:03 | 77 |
| 05/24 | Ottawa Marathon | Marathon | 4:20:27 | 6:10 | 2160 |
2008
| Date | Race | Distance | Time | Pace (/km) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/14 | Demi-marathon de Montréal | Half-marathon | 2:17:45 | 6:32 | 2559 |
And a few links about running:
- born to run: great book!
- trail running canada
- alberta ultra series
- fast trax ski & run shop
- ultrarunning magazine
Politics and Alternative Medias
As for politics, if I have to describe my views, I guess I would say that I'm an anti-authoritarian leftist, with anarchist tendencies, whatever that means... Let me not spend too much time talking about politics here (I spend already enough time discussing politics with friends!), and simply point out a few interesting links!
- peoples' global action: global anti-capitalist network
- zombie (zone ouverte de mobilisation pour briser les injustices et exclusions): espace libre de discussion et de mise en commun d'informations et d'idées afin de contrer la désinformation, promouvoir la pensée critique et encourager l'action constructive
- znet: the spirit of resistance lives
- global indymedia network: indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth
- fair (fairness and accuracy in reporting): american media watch group that has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986
- common dreams: breaking news and views for the progressive community
- infoshop.org: anarchist infospace
- the commoner: a web journal for other values
- anarchy archives: an online research center on the history and theory of anarchism
Some of my own stuff on the web
These are old link about some of my own stuff available on the web, but they haven't been updated for a while unfortunately. Too busy running and enjoying the outdoors!
- vert l'horizon on blogspot: our blog (pretty much dead)
- vert l'horizon on picasaweb: various photo albums
- my publications on zombie: list of my writings on politics and philosophy on the alternative media ZOMBIE (mostly in French)
