markc7

I've done my share of extreme endurance events so maybe I can chime in here. I think that with a huge amount of planning and training this would be doable. Physically training won't be a big deal; on extremely long expedition like this lots of people suggest that you basically "train as you go". For example, hikers walking the Appalachian Trail often start off with minimal training and walk 8 miles per day, and 2000 miles later are capable of much longer daily mileage. The same thing would be possible on a long bike ride. So don't worry too much about physical side of things (unless for some reason you plan to start somewhere that requires you to cover huge mileage right off the bat). Having said that, you will still need to spend hours and hours on the bike before your trip. You'll have to figure out exactly what your body needs nutrition-wise. What kind of bike suits your needs. What to carry and what to leave behind. How to fix anything that might go wrong with your bike. What ratio of rest days : biking days your body can handle. Etc etc. There are lots of organized long distance bike rides that'll give you the chance to figure this stuff out in a fairly safe way. Even more important is mental preparation. Within a few days into your trip, you will be able to come up with dozens of reasons to quit. To keep going you'll need to exercise an amount of willpower that you may not be able to comprehend unless you've done something like this before. When you start to ask yourself "Why am I doing this" you will need to have a really good response. Good luck with your plans and I hope that you try this trip. It sounds like a ton of fun. Make sure you are as prepared as possible, so that you have the greatest chance of success.

I agree that fake meats are good for making veganism more acceptable to non-vegans. Even in the 3 years that I've been vegan, I've seen a noticeable increase in the number of omni-substitutes available. I can't imagine what it would have been like to go vegan 20 years ago when none of these things were around. But I agree that the more realistic ones can be a bit odd to eat. I tried a vegan drumstick a couple years ago; it even had a fake bone in it!

I've heard about this one, it sounds very interesting. I hope it comes to town.

Impressive! This is turning out to be a hell of a year for gamers.

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

Haven't heard of that one specifically. Though we have something called an "Urban Challenge" here. I think it's more of a reality show kinda thing though; fear factor/amazing race kinda crap. But that would be cool if there were real urban races.

Congrats! Amazing job.

Cool, a buddy of mine did that as well. 124 miles is a hell of a long way in 24 hours. Feet look pretty nasty but it goes with the territory. Congrats to him on the fundraising.

I'm visiting my brother this week, and he's got a WiiFit. Can't wait to give it a try! I probably won't do so well on the balance or yoga games, though.

Holy hell that sounds good! I think I need to go to the store...

Lena and thedanisays are neck and neck. Great job everyone!

Gahh, I can't believe I missed this contest! I voted for Octo, but you guys all look great.

Thanks for the welcome back, guys. Sorry I left you wondering. It was a lousy situation all around but I'm hoping to be around a fair bit this summer. It was pretty unbelievable to me when I first started running. Many of the physical limits that we put on ourselves are mental. it's a cool feeling to challenge those limits in yourself and to help others to questions their's. I don't know about that, but thanks anyways!

Oreo cookies! I can eat a whole damn bag of them at one sitting. Veggies burgers - Although this would break the bank before I would put on weight from them Tater tots - Go find your own! Potato chips - I kicked these to the curb for five months, now I have a bag every now and then, Pancakes - I stopped eating these for a long time and I don't miss them, but when I do eat them I eat lots. Olives - By the jar. Yeah.

I was about to say this as well. I love the pump I get from drop sets on tricep extensions especially.

Hi VBBF, Well, I'm back. It's been months since I've posted or checked in on the forums regularly. There have been some big changes in my life. Hopefully I am through the worst of it. Last summer a relationship with a very close friend of mine became increasingly complex. Although I knew what I wanted and what I needed to do with respect to our friendship, I made some bad decisions and ended up cutting off contact with her, as well as much of the online vegan community that I was a part of. The major reason that I did that was to try to preserve a long term relationship that I was in. Although others saw it, I didn't realize that that relationship was beyond repair. Things in that relationship became worse and worse throughout the winter, and I eventually left just a few weeks ago. I am now planning to move to south western Ontario in the next couple of months, which will be a nice change of scenery but will be tough. Throughout all this, I have still been running, albeit less than usual. I haven't been in the gym in ages, except for taper and recovery biking. I have done two ultramarathons so far this year, with three or four more planned for the rest of 2008 (ambitious, I know). If you're interested, I've posted race reports here and here. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things around here. I've missed these forums, especially reading about other people's progress. Maybe I'll even get inspired to get back to lifting weights. We'll see. markc7

Ok, I ammend my post to say that only sprinters and very short middle distance runners would ever use stuff like that. No serious long distance runner would ever use bungee cords or parachutes.

Bungee cords and parachutes might be used by sprinters, but no distance runner would ever use that stuff. The only real resistance for runners is hill training.

Hmm, not sure about some of the facts here. German wine cannot legally use Isinglass, so those are always safe bets (and cheap and good too!). Apart from german wines, virtually all wines of any quality have either Isinglass or some egg ingredient. Your best bet for wines is to make your own using Sparkaloid (an agar product) as the clarifying agent.

Bandits are rightfully very frowned upon by race organizers and other racers. If you bandit, you are stealing resources from people who paid for them, simple as that. Also, if you hurt yourself during the run you haven't filled out a waiver form and potentially open up the race director to legal action. Alot of hard work goes into putting on a race, and by stealing the race you're making a statement that you don't think that work has any value.

I can't wait for the movie. Sad news today, though: http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/heath.ledger.dead.2.635530.html

Welcome!

Absolutely true. I'm on two mailing lists and a message board for the ultramarathon community. If someone read the stuff that's said in those discussions, they would think all ultrarunners are tightly wound, mean-spirited, total asshats. In real life, I've never met a more relaxed, supportive, or friendly community.

!! I used to watch this as a kid. I guess there are going to be alot of new reality shows this winter because of the writer's strike. I'm sure most of them will stink, but I can't wait to watch Gladiators again. Check it out: http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/

I was going to say the same thing. Great improvement in the arms!