A couple of people have asked what the bait was. Kate, I think, is a little overwhelmed by all of the plush, colourful, noisemaking toys that she sees every day. She prefers muted with a touch of flash. Her favourite objects right now are the computer mouse, my black watch and my cameras. The bait was the camera with which the video was shot. That's not an inept videographer swinging the camera around at the and - that's Kate!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Update
Been a while since I posted anything on here. There are some new photos on smugmug of baby Kate (http://kclaus.smugmug.com/).
It's been a fun-filled couple of weeks. A while back, I took Nate out on a nighttime hike up Violet hill (the "mountain" behind our house). It's been a while since I've been out at night and I had forgotten about the cool vistas available up there at night. We had some encounters with elusive Hong Kong wildlife as well. Saw some funky glow worms, a cool green tree frog, and on the way down, nearly stepped on a banded krait. 
From Wikipedia: "Fortunately, since kraits are nocturnal (!) they seldom encounter humans during daylight hours so bites are rare. Nonetheless, any bite from a krait is potentially life-threatening and must therefore be regarded as a medical emergency." Exciting stuff.
Karen and I ditched the kids for the holiday on October 1st to go on our first junk trip in a long while. Mike from work was having a birthday - so lots of West Island people. Played bum off on the beach. Basically akin to all of the juvenile games where there is potential to inflict pain on your friends. It involved juggling a soccer ball. When you mess up 3 times, you have to bend over and let the other guys kick the soccer ball at your ass from 10 meters. Good times!
I helped to run an AYP trip last weekend. There was yet another typhoon threatening. The typhoon did end up petering out, but dumped plenty of rain on us Friday night. I spent the night dodging the drips from the ceiling of my tent. Saturday, I came down with some kind of illness on the walk. Bad stomach cramps. Managed to make it home just in time to toss my cookies.
Another development since my last post is that I'm all set to take part in Trailwalker again. I've spent the last 3 weekends training, including a very wet 35km run on Sunday, the day after hugging the toilet bowl. Not a great weekend in all.
Hope yours was better!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
jumper action
Kate's getting the hang of the jumper.
I think some of the screeching in the next video is Nate.
Friday, September 5, 2008
"Did you put her on the rug?"
Karen asks, accusingly. Kate performed her first double roll off of her Ikea play-gym-thing. Oh God, she's mobile.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
A rare sight in Hong Kong
The full moon last week. We had a few nights in a row of very clear skies, where we saw moon, stars, shooting stars (!) and a satellite (!!). This may never again happen in Hong Kong. The shooting stars must have been the tail end of the annual Perseid meteor shower. These photos were taken from the balcony:
I think my dirty lens produced this perfect image of the moon in the lower right-hand corner.
I think my dirty lens produced this perfect image of the moon in the lower right-hand corner.
On second thought...
Typhoon Nuri packed a bit of a punch. We had 4 or 5 hours of southerly 80km/hr winds that forced water through all of the tiny gaps in window sills, balcondy doors and bedroom windows. At one point, the power strip that feeds power to the TV and stereo was sitting in a puddle of water on the living room floor. That can't be good.
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Down on the beach, the shark net was ripped free from some of it's mooring lines. There were some huge waves last night around midnight, as we were going to bed.
Here's where the net used to be:
Here's where it is now:
And a shot from our old apartment:
I guess that would be considered a direct hit
but Typhoon Nuri has been a little disappointing. Some places in Hong Kong were getting 100km wind, but we've been sheltered by the hills behind us and haven't seen much at all. The wind has now changed direction and we're getting some wind.
Got out of school on the first teaching day of the school year, though. So I've got that going for me.
And in case you need reminding of that last reference:
Got out of school on the first teaching day of the school year, though. So I've got that going for me.
And in case you need reminding of that last reference:Monday, August 11, 2008
Kate tells us all about it
Kate has been very vocal, lately, and has figured out how to grab things and shove them in her face. Pretty entertaining, if you are related to her. If you're not, then not so much.
Forgive the video quality. We're not that fancy around here.
Forgive the video quality. We're not that fancy around here.
Monday, August 4, 2008
White River 50 Race Report - July 26, 2008
I’d been eyeing up this race for a few years, as it always falls around the time that my family travel to Washington State for holiday. This year, I made a conscious effort at training for it. I studiously pored over available training plans on the internet. I compiled the best bits of a couple of plans, printed it out, and followed it for exactly one week.
With a month to go to the race, I had a hard decision to make. The training had been going OK, but I didn’t feel that I had put in sufficient mileage. I had worked up to about 50 miles per week, the bulk coming in one or two long (3+ hour) runs at the weekend. I was feeling relatively good, so I took the plunge and registered. Then I got sick with a 103 degree fever that knocked me on my ass for the better part of a week. Great timing.
I crammed a couple more long runs in after the illness, and then it was on the plane. My brother Brad met me at the airport in Seattle, and we drove down to preview the race course outside of Enumclaw Washington and near Mt. Rainier National Park. The course consists of two loops of roughly equal difficulty – 27 and 23 miles. Each loop has one massive climb and its complementary knee-bashing downhill. The total elevation gain for the course is about 9000 feet (2745 m), with a maximum elevation of about 5600 feet (1700 m). My plan was to do the first loop of the course for practice, but I was having second thoughts. That seemed like too much mileage the weekend before the race. So instead, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at what I was in for on the second half of the course. I would do the 10 mile uphill section and the final, rolling 6.5 miles.
The weather was fantastic, temperatures around 50 (10 C) degrees in the morning with beautiful dry air. After my summer training in Hong Kong, it seemed like it took much less effort to propel myself up the hill. I was breathing easy; my heart rate was 10-15 beats lower than in Hong Kong. The wildflowers and views of Mt. Rainier were more than enough reward for the effort. The end of the climb is called Sun Top. Heavy snowfall in the winter months meant that there were still small patches of snow around at the end of July. My brother met me there and we chatted with a guy manning the fire lookout hut at the top.
We drove down to the start of the final 6.5 mile section along the river. I had been warned that the rocks and roots on this stretch would be a challenge, so I wanted to see it first-hand and before mile 43 of the following Saturday’s race. It had everything promised – tricky footing, steep climbs – and even some sand to test the wits of exhausted runners.
Race weekend approached, and we travelled down to the packet pickup and pre-race pasta dinner on Friday night. I gawked at the faces I had seen in ultra photos on the internet. Since this race is the US National Championship 50 mile trail race, many of the big names in US ultra running were there. A few years earlier, I ran in the Delaware Marathon – a tiny race where a guy named Michael Wardian was the winner by 30 minutes or so. He had since gone on to run the US Olympic marathon trials and had become the National Champion over the 50 and 100 km distances and was looking to add 50 miles to his CV. I stuffed myself to the bursting point with spaghetti and garlic bread and we headed down to our campsite to get a little bit of sleep.
I was up at 5:00 AM with my re-heated Starbucks coffee picked up the night before. The sky was bright and the temperature was about the same as the previous weekend – it would be a great day for racing. Although the race start was only a 2 mile drive from our campsite, we managed to arrive just 10 minutes before the start. I didn’t have time to warm up – I just had to stay warm and wait for the gun.
The first section of the course was a 4 mile, mostly flat section along a trail that paralleled the highway. I was probably in the top 50 out of 238 starters at this point, trying not to go out too fast, but feeling comfortable. I reached the first aid station in 32 minutes and didn’t recognize it for what it was. I had expected to get there in about 40 minutes. I ran right through without picking up any gels or extra water – a very rookie mistake.
Shortly after the aid station, I passed a port-a-john and decided to take the opportunity for a necessary purge. This allowed a further 50 people or so to pass me and I found myself in a huge slow pack walking up the first climb of the day. I decided that this was probably a good thing. It would keep me from burning too much energy at the beginning of a very long race. I felt great and passed a few people heading into the second aid station at mile 12. The trail gradient made it possible to run much of this uphill section. At the aid station, I managed to beg one Gu gel off of a volunteer and to fill my water bottles. Some very dedicated volunteers had trekked in 2.5 gallon jugs of water from Corral Pass, 5 miles away.
The next 5 miles to Corral Pass were an out-and-back section with more uphill to the top of the ridge and then about 3 miles of running with fantastic views of Mt. Rainier. Some of the leading runners passed me heading the opposite direction soon after the aid station – they were flying. I had made up some ground, but there were still probably 75 to 100 runners ahead of me, and I saw all of them. The aid station was full of cheering spectators and volunteers and really gave me a boost. My brother helped to fill water bottles and I helped myself to the melon, sandwiches, chips and salted potatoes.
The next section retraced the last 5 miles. I had filled both water bottles and stocked up on gels and salt capsules at Corral Pass intending to race through the next, limited, aid station without stopping. I ran with a couple of guys on the downhill chatting about strategies and fueling when one of the guys did a somersault off of the trail. He seemed to be OK and got up with a little assistance. About 5 minutes later, he did the same thing again. I made it back to the start/finish area in 5:06 and without incident, although I was beginning to feel the IT Band in my right knee – not a good sign at the halfway point. 27 miles down – 23 to go.
Again, I fueled up on melon and all things salty, refilled my water bottles with Gu20 and headed up the trail. This was the beginning of the second climb and I was glad that I knew what to expect. The temperatures were warming up to around 65 degrees (18 C) and I ditched my long-sleeved top. I traded places with a couple of guys and passed a few more runners. I was feeling great on the uphill, running most of it. The knee didn’t bother me at all on the climb. There is a false summit at the top of the hill, dropping over 600 feet before making the last climb up to the Mile 37 aid station at Sun Top. It would have been demoralizing, had I not seen it before. I grabbed one last bite to eat at the top and a couple of gels and began the long descent of Sun Top Road.
The only section of the course that is not single-track trail was probably the toughest for me, mentally. The incessant pounding down the gravel surface began to affect the left knee as well as the right. I was hoping to fly down this section, but instead, slowed to a crawl on the last couple of miles to the last aid station. The never-ending road finally ended and I met up with my brother who again handed me a full water bottle and a couple of gels before the last section.
Again, I was glad to have previewed this section of the course. I think it would have been much tougher, had I not seen it before. Although the trail parallels the river, there is a net elevation gain of 700 feet (225 m) over the 6.5 miles, through short ups and downs. At this point, the knees were screaming on the both the ups and the downs. I passed a few more runners in spite of my laborious pace.
The finish came into view and I was greeted like I had just won the race – a great way to end my first 50 miler. I was very happy with my 9:21:15 (56th out of 202 finishers). Michael Wardian ran the 4th fastest time ever on the course to win in 6:52 – amazing. The top woman, Susannah Beck, finished just 40 minutes later in 7:32. We hung around at the finish for about an hour, soaking it all in and then jumped in the car for the 3 hour drive back to the San Juan Islands and to friends and family.
The race went about as well as could be expected for me, I think. I have to wonder what would have happened without the toilet break at mile 4 and getting stuck behind all of those slower runners. I have a feeling I would have burned myself out and not been able to finish as strongly – but who knows. I finished upright and in fairly good shape, and might even try another one of these someday.
With a month to go to the race, I had a hard decision to make. The training had been going OK, but I didn’t feel that I had put in sufficient mileage. I had worked up to about 50 miles per week, the bulk coming in one or two long (3+ hour) runs at the weekend. I was feeling relatively good, so I took the plunge and registered. Then I got sick with a 103 degree fever that knocked me on my ass for the better part of a week. Great timing.
I crammed a couple more long runs in after the illness, and then it was on the plane. My brother Brad met me at the airport in Seattle, and we drove down to preview the race course outside of Enumclaw Washington and near Mt. Rainier National Park. The course consists of two loops of roughly equal difficulty – 27 and 23 miles. Each loop has one massive climb and its complementary knee-bashing downhill. The total elevation gain for the course is about 9000 feet (2745 m), with a maximum elevation of about 5600 feet (1700 m). My plan was to do the first loop of the course for practice, but I was having second thoughts. That seemed like too much mileage the weekend before the race. So instead, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at what I was in for on the second half of the course. I would do the 10 mile uphill section and the final, rolling 6.5 miles.
The weather was fantastic, temperatures around 50 (10 C) degrees in the morning with beautiful dry air. After my summer training in Hong Kong, it seemed like it took much less effort to propel myself up the hill. I was breathing easy; my heart rate was 10-15 beats lower than in Hong Kong. The wildflowers and views of Mt. Rainier were more than enough reward for the effort. The end of the climb is called Sun Top. Heavy snowfall in the winter months meant that there were still small patches of snow around at the end of July. My brother met me there and we chatted with a guy manning the fire lookout hut at the top.We drove down to the start of the final 6.5 mile section along the river. I had been warned that the rocks and roots on this stretch would be a challenge, so I wanted to see it first-hand and before mile 43 of the following Saturday’s race. It had everything promised – tricky footing, steep climbs – and even some sand to test the wits of exhausted runners.
Race weekend approached, and we travelled down to the packet pickup and pre-race pasta dinner on Friday night. I gawked at the faces I had seen in ultra photos on the internet. Since this race is the US National Championship 50 mile trail race, many of the big names in US ultra running were there. A few years earlier, I ran in the Delaware Marathon – a tiny race where a guy named Michael Wardian was the winner by 30 minutes or so. He had since gone on to run the US Olympic marathon trials and had become the National Champion over the 50 and 100 km distances and was looking to add 50 miles to his CV. I stuffed myself to the bursting point with spaghetti and garlic bread and we headed down to our campsite to get a little bit of sleep.
I was up at 5:00 AM with my re-heated Starbucks coffee picked up the night before. The sky was bright and the temperature was about the same as the previous weekend – it would be a great day for racing. Although the race start was only a 2 mile drive from our campsite, we managed to arrive just 10 minutes before the start. I didn’t have time to warm up – I just had to stay warm and wait for the gun.
The first section of the course was a 4 mile, mostly flat section along a trail that paralleled the highway. I was probably in the top 50 out of 238 starters at this point, trying not to go out too fast, but feeling comfortable. I reached the first aid station in 32 minutes and didn’t recognize it for what it was. I had expected to get there in about 40 minutes. I ran right through without picking up any gels or extra water – a very rookie mistake.
Shortly after the aid station, I passed a port-a-john and decided to take the opportunity for a necessary purge. This allowed a further 50 people or so to pass me and I found myself in a huge slow pack walking up the first climb of the day. I decided that this was probably a good thing. It would keep me from burning too much energy at the beginning of a very long race. I felt great and passed a few people heading into the second aid station at mile 12. The trail gradient made it possible to run much of this uphill section. At the aid station, I managed to beg one Gu gel off of a volunteer and to fill my water bottles. Some very dedicated volunteers had trekked in 2.5 gallon jugs of water from Corral Pass, 5 miles away.
The next 5 miles to Corral Pass were an out-and-back section with more uphill to the top of the ridge and then about 3 miles of running with fantastic views of Mt. Rainier. Some of the leading runners passed me heading the opposite direction soon after the aid station – they were flying. I had made up some ground, but there were still probably 75 to 100 runners ahead of me, and I saw all of them. The aid station was full of cheering spectators and volunteers and really gave me a boost. My brother helped to fill water bottles and I helped myself to the melon, sandwiches, chips and salted potatoes.
The next section retraced the last 5 miles. I had filled both water bottles and stocked up on gels and salt capsules at Corral Pass intending to race through the next, limited, aid station without stopping. I ran with a couple of guys on the downhill chatting about strategies and fueling when one of the guys did a somersault off of the trail. He seemed to be OK and got up with a little assistance. About 5 minutes later, he did the same thing again. I made it back to the start/finish area in 5:06 and without incident, although I was beginning to feel the IT Band in my right knee – not a good sign at the halfway point. 27 miles down – 23 to go.
Again, I fueled up on melon and all things salty, refilled my water bottles with Gu20 and headed up the trail. This was the beginning of the second climb and I was glad that I knew what to expect. The temperatures were warming up to around 65 degrees (18 C) and I ditched my long-sleeved top. I traded places with a couple of guys and passed a few more runners. I was feeling great on the uphill, running most of it. The knee didn’t bother me at all on the climb. There is a false summit at the top of the hill, dropping over 600 feet before making the last climb up to the Mile 37 aid station at Sun Top. It would have been demoralizing, had I not seen it before. I grabbed one last bite to eat at the top and a couple of gels and began the long descent of Sun Top Road.
The only section of the course that is not single-track trail was probably the toughest for me, mentally. The incessant pounding down the gravel surface began to affect the left knee as well as the right. I was hoping to fly down this section, but instead, slowed to a crawl on the last couple of miles to the last aid station. The never-ending road finally ended and I met up with my brother who again handed me a full water bottle and a couple of gels before the last section.Again, I was glad to have previewed this section of the course. I think it would have been much tougher, had I not seen it before. Although the trail parallels the river, there is a net elevation gain of 700 feet (225 m) over the 6.5 miles, through short ups and downs. At this point, the knees were screaming on the both the ups and the downs. I passed a few more runners in spite of my laborious pace.
The finish came into view and I was greeted like I had just won the race – a great way to end my first 50 miler. I was very happy with my 9:21:15 (56th out of 202 finishers). Michael Wardian ran the 4th fastest time ever on the course to win in 6:52 – amazing. The top woman, Susannah Beck, finished just 40 minutes later in 7:32. We hung around at the finish for about an hour, soaking it all in and then jumped in the car for the 3 hour drive back to the San Juan Islands and to friends and family.
The race went about as well as could be expected for me, I think. I have to wonder what would have happened without the toilet break at mile 4 and getting stuck behind all of those slower runners. I have a feeling I would have burned myself out and not been able to finish as strongly – but who knows. I finished upright and in fairly good shape, and might even try another one of these someday.
I am not a blogger
.JPG)
I thought I'd give this thing a try and hoped to update it maybe once a week. Obviously, 3 months after my last post, I haven't done a great job.
Katherine Olivia Claus was born on May 7th, weighing in at 9lbs 6oz.
I finished my first year of teaching at West Island School.
We traveled to the US to visit family and I completed the White River 50 Miler.
That's the update.
Katherine Olivia Claus was born on May 7th, weighing in at 9lbs 6oz.
I finished my first year of teaching at West Island School.
We traveled to the US to visit family and I completed the White River 50 Miler.
That's the update.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Still Pregnant
Karen is still pregnant. We both thought she would have popped this thing out by now. Nate was 5 weeks early, so we're +4 weeks from the day where we started saying "could be any day now", yet still one week away from the due date.
Haven't said much on names lately. I like Katherine for a girl. Also liked Kieran for a boy. Karen's not too crazy about either one, I think. We're going to have to meet this one before we decide.
This 50 mile training plan is a bit ridiculous. I ran 30km on Saturday, starting in Repulse Bay, via Black's Link to the Peak on the Hong Kong Trail. I ran the Action Asia Sprint Race in Discovery Bay on Sunday. Only 12 km, but 800 meters of climbing. I was pretty happy with a 15th overall (3rd in 54-39 cat.), especially with a big effort on Saturday. I won a women's GoLite top. Printed on the prize envelope was "Give it to your girlfriend."
So I was feeling pretty good about the mileage I put in over the weekend, and then checked the plan. While I am currently on the right training load, more or less, I'm a little put off by the middle of this plan, which has me doing 4-hr (Sat) and 5-hr (Sun)runs back to back on consecutive weekends. Still a few weeks away, but a few light years from where I am at the moment.
And we're about to have a baby...
Haven't said much on names lately. I like Katherine for a girl. Also liked Kieran for a boy. Karen's not too crazy about either one, I think. We're going to have to meet this one before we decide.
This 50 mile training plan is a bit ridiculous. I ran 30km on Saturday, starting in Repulse Bay, via Black's Link to the Peak on the Hong Kong Trail. I ran the Action Asia Sprint Race in Discovery Bay on Sunday. Only 12 km, but 800 meters of climbing. I was pretty happy with a 15th overall (3rd in 54-39 cat.), especially with a big effort on Saturday. I won a women's GoLite top. Printed on the prize envelope was "Give it to your girlfriend."
So I was feeling pretty good about the mileage I put in over the weekend, and then checked the plan. While I am currently on the right training load, more or less, I'm a little put off by the middle of this plan, which has me doing 4-hr (Sat) and 5-hr (Sun)runs back to back on consecutive weekends. Still a few weeks away, but a few light years from where I am at the moment.
And we're about to have a baby...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
What's Harder?
Running a 50 mile race or giving birth? These are the things being contemplated in our house, of late. Karen being 8.5 months pregnant leads naturally to discussion of the latter. My obsessive-compulsive running bent gives rise to the former.
I've been thinking of running this 50 mile race (White River 50) for a few years now. The training hasn't really come together, yet. Maybe this is the year. So I'm one week in to the plan. Back to back 2:25 and 1:40 runs over Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
A close call with Typhoon Neogiri made Saturday's run most enjoyable - seriously. The rain on the ridges hurt (blowing sideways at 50 mph), but the mudpuddles made it all worth while. I dragged my buddy Philippe up and down more hills than he's used to, and he had me sprinting the flats. Run stats: 21km with 745 m of climbing.
Sunday went out for a slow slog up the hill. Yesterdays saturation made for a very hot very humid day today - also could have something to do with the fact that I left the house at 12:30. Lots of little niggling pains accumulated this week from playing football (soccer) Wednesday and from yesterday's run. Run stats: 17km with 350m vertical.
Karen is being a good sport putting up with this brand new neurosis. She is definitely fed up with being pregnant, and every day we wake up wondering if today is the day. Well, maybe tomorrow will be the day.
I've been thinking of running this 50 mile race (White River 50) for a few years now. The training hasn't really come together, yet. Maybe this is the year. So I'm one week in to the plan. Back to back 2:25 and 1:40 runs over Saturday and Sunday this weekend.
A close call with Typhoon Neogiri made Saturday's run most enjoyable - seriously. The rain on the ridges hurt (blowing sideways at 50 mph), but the mudpuddles made it all worth while. I dragged my buddy Philippe up and down more hills than he's used to, and he had me sprinting the flats. Run stats: 21km with 745 m of climbing.
Sunday went out for a slow slog up the hill. Yesterdays saturation made for a very hot very humid day today - also could have something to do with the fact that I left the house at 12:30. Lots of little niggling pains accumulated this week from playing football (soccer) Wednesday and from yesterday's run. Run stats: 17km with 350m vertical.
Karen is being a good sport putting up with this brand new neurosis. She is definitely fed up with being pregnant, and every day we wake up wondering if today is the day. Well, maybe tomorrow will be the day.
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