I remember

Life is a fairy tale. Even if it sometimes doesn't look and feel like that. The key is to celebrate what we have.

Life was a fairy tale for me in 2010. When I think about last 365 days, I remember good things.

I remember that I wasn't sick in 2010 (until today, what an irony :))

I remember that I wasn't hungry in 2010.

I remember that I wasn't thirsty in 2010.

My life wasn't in danger.

I remember how I was in awe when Burj Khalifa was open.

I remember my invocation after Haiti earthquake.

I remember how I remembered Sarajevo Olympics during Vancouver olympics.

I remember how I celebrated Alexander Bilodeau's gold.

I remember how I celebreted Ivica Kostelic's 2 silvers.

I remember my visit to Washington D.C.when I spent great time with my childhood friend Dasho.

I remember attending "The Wall" concert, when Roger Waters reminded us that beside us, the world is still indeed very much divided.

I remember feeling incredibly immersed into sounds while listening the second solo in "Comfortably Numb".

I remember how my investments worked in 2010.

Education, family and friends didn't lose any value in 2010.

I remember that moment when I was boarding Airbus 380 and thinking how "we built this airplane".

I remember how I felt when I entered Cape Town Stadium.

I remember a Greek waiter in Athens' restaurant who was saying how they would "kill rich bastards".

I was happy I wasn't a rich bastard.

I remember blue waters of Aegean Sea.

I remember blue waters of lake Como.

I remember stinky waters of Venice.

I remember blue skies of Alberta.

I remember white snow of Alberta.

I remember cathedral's of Vatican.

I remember Rome transit.

I remember Milano shopping.

I remember Kuenzelsau serenity.

I remember Sarajevo.

I remember how something in my left clavicle snapped when I was returning high backend on August 11th.

I remember how happy I was on my "back to tennis" day.

I remember pain when runing hills.

I remember that pain when running hills was actually weakness leaving the body.

Ski racing and running racing was great.

I remember great tennis with Jack.

I remember how I felt when Howard said he was moving to the Caribbean.

I remember how my heart felt when I saw Sweet Sugar on Stuttgart airport.

I remember how I always feel when I see my auntie. I feel saved.

I remember how full of joy I was when playing with my friend's Mladen son Filip.

I remember how I felt when I was together with more than 1 of my cousins at the same time after 20 years.

I remember how great was my birthday.

I remember how great was Ada's birthday.

I remember Gyula's and Tammy's generosity.

I remember Gyula's big birthday.

I remember night out with Chris after 3 and half years.

I remember how lucky we were as Greece strikes didn't affect us.

I remember how lucky we were as Eyjafjallajökull didn't affect us.

I remember how lucky we were as Igor, Danielle, Earl, Julia and Karl didn't hit us.

I remember how I felt when I got my CC and my CL.

I was lucky not to live in Gulf of Mexico.

I was smart not to clash with IDF.

I was lucky not to live in PakistKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

I remember defeating Mr.Bond in 4th annual football game.

I remember how Mr.Bond (and myself) was thankful for his education after 8 hours of bartending.

I remember how good time I had when I was making my 4 movies (Garneau, Gyula, Suad-Jure and Dasho).

I remember how happy I was when I learned about J-20.

I remember great conversations with Scott.

I remember having great breakfast with Fearless Leader, Binas Boy and Mr.TPL.

I remember how great feeling is to use electrical instead of gasoline engine.

I remember how I felt when I mentioned Josephine that I need her help to get a ring.

I remember how I felt before I proposed to Sweet Sugar.

I remember how I felt when I proposed to Sweet Sugar.

I remember how I felt after I proposed to Sweet Sugar.

I remember my Rickard's Red pint of beer on 2347 m above sea level in Eagle's Eye restaurant on Christmas Day.

I remember our Christmas 2010 and I am looking forward to 2011.

The best thing of all is that we did it all on our own way. We plan to continue it.

Happy New Year!!

Happy and sad

In many cases we don't control our lives. The sooner we realize that, the better for us. Sometimes things that are decided without our influence are good for us. Sometimes they are not good.

There was one thing that was decided for me and 4 million others, and as you can guess it, it was decided by politicians.

What I've learned at young age was that beside other things, it is politics that shapes our lives, wanted we that or not. My life was shaped by Dayton accord that was signed 15 years ago. This agreement brought peace to my home country, and allowed me to have more choice in regards to my life.

Majority of people don't know anything about Dayton accord - I could say that they are ignorant and foolish, but on the other hand, who has time today to worry about world politics anyway?

What matters is that people who were affected by this political agreement understand its value.

In nutshell, this accord stopped the war, divided the country and legalized genocide. Only good thing that came from it was the end of cataclysmic events that made even Leningrad siege short.

However, for me, this accord was the most important event of my life that I didn't control. It was signed far away from my home, in some foreign country that I only knew from movies and books.

There was this agreement that was signed on this very day 15 years ago, and there was this American diplomat who orchestrated whole event. This American Diplomat was Richard Holbrooke.

Mr. Holbrooke was remembered for engineering the end of the 1992-1995 Bosnia war — Europe's bloodiest conflict since the Second World War. He was instrumental in bringing peace to Bosnia. An unjust peace, but still a peace.

This peace helped me to feel "normal" life, to live normally, to get my education, to live without fear, to see sunrises and sunsets, and many other things. One of these things is this blog.

If there were no Mr. Holbrooke, I might have not been here at this moment. I know it is almost impossible to speculate, about "what if", but I know for sure that this man helped me indirectly through his politics.

I also know that politicians are not welcomed and valued because of all the valid reasons we experience and know today, but I know that Mr.Holbrooke helped me get my life.

It is so strange how strangers help us, and they don't know anything about it.

What is amazing is that Mr. Holbrooke died yesterday, one day short of celebrating his biggest diplomatic success - 15 years since Dayton accord.

It has been somehow bittersweet feeling today - when I am thinking about peace that I have gotten and when I am thinking about last 15 years, I am very happy.

When I think about Richard Holbrooke and his passing I am very sad.

It is amazing how all of us are connected in this world, and this was proven with my connection with Richard Holbrooke.

Declaration to incite violence

Dr. Thomas Flanagan, is a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He is a professor at University of Calgary.

On Nov. 30, 2010, 6:10pm EST, he made an appearance during a discussion panel on CBC news, during which he called for the assassination of Wikileaks director Julian Assange. Despite being given the opportunity to retract the statement, he charged ahead and stated that U.S. President Obama should 'put out a contract' on Assange, or 'use a drone'.

Dr. Flanagan has made it abundantly clear that "taking out a contract" on someone is OK by his moral standards.

I don't agree with his remarks.

I also believe that there will be darkness in this world if people like this are allowed to spread their dangerous ideologies.We have to fight them, and we have to bring the light, for new generations sake.

This is what I wrote to the "professor" Tom Flanagan, after I saw what he said on national TV.

Dear Professor,

I just saw on TV and YouTube what you said about Mr. Assange being assassinated. I also saw you took it back.

However, you called for the assassination of a journalist, on a major TV station, and there is nothing that you could do to convince me and thousand of others that you really wouldn't do it. I am actually sure you would do it, if you had enough power to do it.

Your ideology is very dangerous and hurtful. This very ideology has hurt Canadian positions in the world and made our country second rated.

Who do you think you are? This rhetorics belongs to the darkest period of our time, and you resemble Reinhard Heydrich.

Still, thank you for revealing what you really think about transparency, government abuse and freedom.

I advise you to take into account that there will be (and already are) thousands (and millions) of others who will continue what Mr. Assange started.

Are you going to assassinate them all?

regards,

Boris Bokov

How desperately low public discourse in Canada has sunk these days that this violent, authoritarian mode of thought is taken seriously.

What's next for those promulgating these monstrous ideas? Domestic paramilitary hit teams fighting crime the Guatemalan way? Predator drones over the ghettos? Death camps for dissenters? These are all consistent with the dubious philosophy of Flanagan and his ilk.

We have to fight for our survival.

Pitch Black Banff Winterstart

Beside the Death Race I only did one other race in which conditions are equal to the feeling that was produced by the movie "Pitch Black". If you are a science fiction lover, you probably remember this Vin Diesel flick in wich you don't want to spend even 1 second in dark.

The Death Race wasn't that hard, as somehow, there was always moonlight when I was doing night legs - perhaps I was just lucky.

However, this year's Banff Winterstart night race was a real 'Pitch Black' race. The race was an incredible adventure. It is freaking BLACK out once you leave the townsite of Banff (about 500 meters into the race and then it’s all by feel). I didn't have a headlamp, or any other light, so for me and many others, it was a real adventure to see where we were running. It was snowing at the top of the Tunnel Mountain hill, but only raining at the bottom. I also couldn't follow runners in front of me, as I wasn't able to see them!

I needed more than 35 minutes (and that was super sloooow) to conquer 8 km of Banff Winterstart course. I didn't feel confident before the race as I've been training last month with 'not right' right hip and right leg adductor muscles.

I did my 'warm up' on Tunnel Mountain, by doing a long loop, going around Banff Centre, where there were thousands of cars - I guess people were visiting the November festival. I was thinking, do they really need to come here by a car?

During the climb to the top, everything in my right hip felt wrong, as I was trying to warm it up. It was finally OK, once I was back, but then I was hungry, so I had to have some pasta.

This was not a real warm up for the race - I had to see how my hip would behave, so that I could get back some confidence.

Real warm up came around 6:30 PM when we headed to Banff Caribou Lodge, where was the start. Sweet Sugar was my 'labour' as always when I do my racing, as she was carrying dry clothes that I need after the race.

I felt better, and I felt warm, and I didn't feel my demanding hip. I stretched and I made sure my hip was ready for sprinting in the dark.

The race course is not too hard, except that total ascent is 160 meters, and majority of that comes after 2.5 km. So, you run uphill approximately for 1.5 km. And you do it in complete dark. Well, you do the whole race in complete blackness. I almost bumped into couple of runners who struggled running up the hill - they wore dark clothes, and there was no way to see them.

You should also be careful not to cross the median on the right hand side, as there was the end of asphalt, and beginning of a ditch. Some people 'got ditched'.

I felt great first 2.5 km, did it in less then 10 min, and then I was able to push through first half of the hill, but then somehow I started to fade. Good thing was that I didn't feel much pain in my right hip. I warmed up properly. Couple of people passed me on big curve on Tunnel Mountain, and one of them had at least 5 or 6 light bulbs on him, he looked like a Christmas tree! I decided to follow him, as he was giving me very much needed light.

Good thing was that there were no monsters. There was no Vin Diesel as well.

My descent was fast - I let gravity works for me, and pretty soon, I was at the bottom of Tunnel Mountain, and only had 2.5 km left.

Usually, when racing, I can push last 2 km, and I thought I could do it again, but somehow, I couldn't maintain my heart rate at level I wanted to. I had to slow down, as I felt I was running out of steam. That felt strange, as this was very short race, and I was already flat!

It was raining now considerably and strong head wind was working against my time (and everyone else time). I even felt that my bare knees were getting cold.

Couple of runners passed me, but I kept very close to them, as I was preparing for the last push, and that came some 200 m before the finish line. I was only able to pass one of them - others were pushing just fast as me.

When I finished the race, I felt relieved as after every race in the past. I felt good - it felt good, my pace, my heart, my lungs, my legs. Even my hip was OK, and both adductors were OK.

I was tired, I was wet, I was hot, and I was happy that I 'survived' in these Pitch Black conditions. I was happy that Sweet Sugar was happy as well.

Richard B. Riddick would be proud of me.

There should only be running

My running season didn't turn exactly how I wanted. Actually, there was no running season for me.

I had problems with my adductor(s) in spring, and I even did couple of x-country races in April, but I simply quit it in May. There was too much pain that I couldn't tolerate anymore. Physiotherapy helped a bit, but it didn't made me to be a "man of steel" who could normally train and do meaningful racing.

This means that I didn't do half marathons I wanted to do. I didn't do Vancouver half and I didn't do Tromso half marathon.

I spent summer in Europe and some of it in South Africa, watching two World Cup games, and during this period I didn't run. I didn't run at all. Uh, and I wanted to go for a run so many times. I had to be disciplined, to allow my injury to heal.

When I came back to North America I started running again. It has been slow and painful process. My first run was 18 minutes long. My second run was 25 minutes long, and the third one 32 minutes. I had couple of "comebacks" in the past but this one was the hardest one.

I somehow lost my confidence, and I've struggled ever since. I have not been able to find "my swing" again, and no matter what I was doing, intervals, tempo runs, long runs, hills....I felt uncomfortable.

Good thing is that I was surprisingly fast on some of my runs. That was actually a boost I needed. It pushed me to run again next day and forget about that pain.

When I was hitting the wall during some of the runs I was thinking how my friend Ryan Hall would tell me in the past:"Pain is only a weakness, leaving our body". I would try to think that way and convince myself that pain was weakness.

I wish Ryan was running with me, as that would certainly help me experience less pain. He learned about that pain-weakness relationship from his favourite cyclist - Lance Armstrong.

I only did one x-country race in autumn series - the third one. I felt I was not ready to do first two races, and I just didn't do them. I actually was not sure if I was ready or not. I could've go and do them, but actually I somehow chickened out.

I was afraid of pain - especially pain I feel while going uphill. Or was it pain I feel when I am sprinting downhill? When my heart rate is going up instead of going down?

I convinced myself to do the third race, and that's the hardest one. It consists of 3 laps, and each lap starts with a huge hill. Immediately, your heart rate gets to the maximum, and once you are on the top of the hill, you feel heavy and exhausted, and you need more air. Mentally, you know you have to come back here twice and conquer the hill.

That makes brain to be in pain.

I fell apart on the third hill. Well, I did first third of it, and then I just walked up. I was done. I was wasted. I was flat.

At the end I was 1:08 slower than last year. I must say I was surprised by that - I thought I would be much slower.

By now I forgot about all that pain. My September training was not bad, and was not great. I guess I just managed it. It was fun to get out and train, but again, pain would come and then questions were asked. Can I do it? How far I can go wit this pace? Is this pace too fast? Should I slow down?......

If I want to enjoy racing again, I have to get back my confidence and belief in myself. There should not be questions asked. There should only be running and listening to your body.

Strawberry

When I was little I thought I was allergic to strawberries. My symptoms would always start in second half of June, and they would last for a month. I was convinced that the culprit were strawberries - every time after I ate them, my eyes were itchy, my throat was sore, I had a running nose and I was sneezing. I was deprived of this tasty fruit for a while, until I did allergy test, that actually revealed that I was allergic to grass and 3 types of trees, during its blossoming period.

I was happy that I could eat strawberries now, and I did - I ate them a lot, especially the wild ones.

That's how strawberries became significant fruit for me.

Later, strawberries became significant again, in a form of one chair lift at one skiing hill. People who've skied Banff's Sunshine Village will know that I am talking about Strawberry chair lift.

I personally didn't like this chair lift. It was slow, it didn't gain any sufficient altitude for my taste, it didn't offer any steep terrain, it wasn't comfortable, it would always stop and make you waste your time...There were so many things that I didn't like about it.

I liked though, the fact that I could go to Strawberry and get some rest, as its ride was very long, and the hill below it was not demanding. My leg muscles were always thanking me after I chose to go to Strawberry lift.

Strawberry chair lift was a place where I took Yanna first or second time to ski. It was her favorite chair lift.

Its green runs, wide open area and blue "Strawberry Face" enabled her (and countless others) to ski without fear, and to feel safe and comfortable. For people who started learning any new sport activity, and especially if that was skiing, this feeling must be very much known.

Yanna always called Strawberry, "My Strawberry", and liked to go back. Even after she lost her ski once, when somehow her leg got stuck while boarding the lift.

I learned how to enjoy Strawberry, more and more with years passing. As I was becoming less hard core skier, and more of content skier, I realized that Strawberry lift was giving me something that all other chair lifts were not.

Strawberry was retro, Strawberry was old, and that meant that Strawberry owned a piece of Sunshine and Alberta's skiing history. I thought about skiers who skied on Strawberry lift in 1970, 1980, 1990....Perhaps many of them were not alive anymore.

They would come to ski here, sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy, sometimes upset, sometimes with big smiles on their faces. They didn't know at that moment that their beloved or be-hated Strawberry will not be standing there one day. They also didn't know that all reasons that they were upset or happy about, won't be relevant one day. I am sure that wise ones were enjoying their Strawberry triple chair lift unconditionally.

Strawberry was aging, and somehow, it has offered its 'experience' and wisdom, that we, as people unfortunately rarely demonstrate during our aging process. Somebody might ask, how some piece of metal can offer experience and wisdom - well, it cannot directly, but it can trigger those feelings in us, when we think about people who passed through its chairs and ski runs. Their accumulated knowledge and values they propagated, can only reminds us how important is to enjoy every minute during 24 hour period.

Just couple of days ago I took my last ride ever on "old" Strawberry. On the last day of season, during Slush Cup, I boarded this piece of history, took couple of pictures, and stored these memories into my memory bank.

When new season starts in November, there will be "New" Strawberry chair lift on Strawberry Face.

On Jan. 7, 2010, Sunshine received federal approval to replace the Strawberry lift with a new lift being used at Whistler Blackcomb for the 2010 Games. The installation has begun in April, and the lift will be in operation for the 2010-'11 snow season. The Doppelmayr CTEC detachable quad will carry 1,800 skiers/snowboarders per hour, with a ride time of only 2.7 minutes. It will provide a second high-speed option on Mount Standish, home to the Sunshine's area's halfpipe.

I am looking forward to new Strawberry, as it will have an Olympic legacy built in - it was used to shuttle Olympic and Paralympic spectators during February’s Games in Vancouver.

At the same time I will miss old Strawberry.

Adductor brevis and Adductor longus

During 2007 St.Patrick's 10 km race I was flying over icy course - 40% of the course was pure ice. Snow would melt during the day and freeze during the night, so in the morning, this nature generated ice rink was in a perfect shape. What I didn't know was that during the race, I was compensating to keep my balance using my adductor muscles. I also didn't know that these micro moves could actually tear muscle fiber.

I only felt pain in my groin area 2 weeks after the race. I tried to do my usual training run, but there was too much pain. I experienced my first big adductor muscles strain.

It took more than a year to recover properly - I tried running in October 2007, but without success. I had to stop my running completely, and in the meantime to work on numerous strengthening exercises.

My physiotherapist Glenda told me that it would take "a while" to recover. I already wrote about that in one of my posts from 2008.

I only started running outdoors in July 2008. That was the first time when I didn't feel any pain. It felt great to be back to my x-country routine, and to experience elements of outdoor running. I was very happy about it.

Ever since that injury, I've never been able to get back to my best running. It took a while to get back to routine, to build strength and endurance, and it took me long time to start enjoying racing again.

There is no need to mention that I've been considerably slower than before the injury. I've slowed down 7-10 %, and as it might look as a fraction of time, it is frustrating to realize that all training resulted with struggling and being so slow.

This happened to my right leg. At that time I hoped that it will never happen again.

Unfortunately, it did happen again. It was not Murphy's Law, this time it was a culmination and result of other injuries that I didn't pay close attention to.

I injured my left leg.

I crashed in November 2009 while mountain biking, by miscalculating a ramp - I went over my head, did a salto or somersault. As I am not build for such acrobatic moves I crashed heavily. I could hear how my lower back muscles 'snapped', contracted, protecting my spine from even worse injury. Well, I got up, stretched a bit and continued my bike ride. I pretended to be tough.

Next day my lower back was....let's say... not in good shape. I kept stretching it, icing it, but I didn't go see Glenda. I thought it will heal itself. I even went to Bikram yoga, as in the past, it would help me to fix my back ailments.

I also kept running throughout the winter. While running, my back didn't bother me, but I noticed that my left hip and gluteal muscles were getting very tight. This was painful when I was doing my long runs. However, the pain would diminish after I was done with my workout.

During one of 'famous' long runs, I felt a bit of pain in my left groin area, where adductor muscles enable your leg to move. I didn't pay attention to that.

I wish I did.

This time I screwed up my left groin area adductor muscle(s). "Adductor Longus" was a mean culprit. Adductor Brevis was involved as well.

However, I kept running, as I was focused on my goal - Midnight Sun Half Marathon in Tromso, Norway, in June.

In February, there was much more pain, and I was able to do only 65% of my planned training. I did go to see Glenda, but she took some time off, so Andrew took care of my injury.

He started with my lower back, and it took 4 weeks to experience better feeling there (no pain). Then, he moved to the hip area - it took another4 weeks to fix that.

I continued running (beside that I did all of my skiing, including master racing), but I did only 40% of my training.

At the end of April, I knew I won't be able to do my planned half-marathon in June/July. However, I was still able to do some shorter races, again St.Patrick's day, and all X-country races. And I did them.

I wish I didn't do them. It would've probably helped me to start healing process earlier, and by now, to start some training.

So, I kept running. I did a race every week, and then I would run twice between races. In the meantime I would go to therapy.

It was interesting that I was faster on every race I did this year. I would feel pain only after 7, 8 km, so during shorter races, there was no pain.

Every time Andrew asked me was it getting better, and my answer was that: "It was not". He was puzzled. I thought that it would heal itself, with Andrew's help.

But it didn't.

I stopped running last Monday. Completely. I won't run until May 17th,when I will take my corporate challenge team for a training run. It will be a good test to see if there is a pain.

I am hoping that this injury is not that severe as one from 2007. I was still able to push hard and to race, to be competitive, and that's different than 3 years ago.

I will probably take an extended break until August. I want to give it sufficient time to heal.

Who does the injury?

Some things are so effortless. When I think about it, I have a nice image of it - a sailboat. When a sailboat has a decent wind in its sail, it glides along so effortlessly that the skipper and other boatmen has nothing to do but steer. The skipper makes no effort; he doesn't push the boat.

Same image should apply when we want to change something - it actually only happens when change comes about through awareness, through understanding. It feels as we are sailing....

I was going through some of my old notes and I found some quotations that go well with what I've been saying above.

"There is nothing so cruel as nature. In the whole universe there is no escape from it, and yet it is not nature that does the injury, but the person's own heart". Does this make sense? It isn't nature that does the injury but the person's own heart.

There is a story of Alma, who fell of the tree and got a good bump. They asked: "Did the fall hurt you, Alma?" And she said, "No, it was the stop that hurt, not the fall". When you cut water, the water doesn't get hurt; when you cut something solid, it breaks.

We've got solid attitudes inside us; we've got solid illusions inside us; that's what bumps against nature, that's where we get hurt, that's where the pain comes from.

This story comes from an Oriental sage, and I don't know which one. It really doesn't matter who is the author. What is said is what matters.

"If the eye is unobstructed, it results in sight; if the ear is unobstructed, the result is hearing; if the nose is unobstructed, the result is a sense of smell; if the mouth is unobstructed, the result is a sense of taste; if the mind is unobstructed, the result is wisdom".

Wisdom occurs when we drop barriers we have erected through our concepts and conditioning. Wisdom is not something acquired; wisdom is not experience; wisdom is not applying yesterday's illusions to today's problems. As somebody said to me while I was studying for my degree: "Frequently, in the life of an architect, thirty years' experience is one year's experience repeated thirty times".

You get the same solutions to fall back on: This is the way how to deal with the alcoholic; this is the way to deal with homeless; this is the way to deal with children; this is the way to deal with a divorcée. But that is not wisdom.

Wisdom is to be sensitive to this situation, to this person, uninfluenced by any carryover from the past, without residue from the experience of the past. This is quite unlike what most people are accustomed to thinking. I would add another sentence to the ones I've read: "If the heart is unobstructed, the result is love".

And this is another dimension. There is nothing that can be said, really about love. We can only speak of nonlove. We can only speak of addictions. But of love itself nothing may be said explicitly.

5 per hour

I thought that I wouldn't do this year Mountain Smoker. I put it on my 2010 list of races only because I felt healthy when I was making the list. I knew that I wouldn't do it 99%.

The race was supposed to be on January 30th, and then, it got cancelled. When that happened, I was sure I wouldn't be doing it. 99% became 100%.

I was healthy, but I was not confident that I could do it.

Then it turned out it was not cancelled - it was actually postponed to March 20th. And then, my 100% of not doing it started becoming smaller.

Right now I am at 50%.

What is the Mountain Smoker?

The Mountain Smoker is an endurance race where competitors ski Norquay’s Lone Pine run as many times as they can in three hours. The actual race will start on Saturday March 20th at 12:00 midday. Competitors will start according to the time that they record in the Preliminary qualifier.

Qualifying runs are the morning of Saturday March 20th, 2010 between 9am and 11:30am. The timing of two qualifying runs will determine what order racers will go in. Racers who are unable to make it for the qualifiers, will start at the back of the group.

The race will be held on Saturday March 20th 2010 from 12pm to 3pm.

I've been thinking what will make me do the Mountain Smoker again. Last time I did it in 2008, and last year I was out of shape for such a race.

One of the reasons to do it this year is money that I will collect from my 'sponsors'. Each one of them will pledge a certain amount for each run I do on Saturday. The money raised will be going to help fund the purchase of new toys for the Banff Child Care Center.

Another reason is Eddie Hunter. He is 84, and he still does the Mountain Smoker. Eddie was one of the first people to ride the lift 1948 when it officially opened as a single chair. "The lift" is North American char lift that takes you to the top of Mt.Norquay.

The biggest reason is the simplest - the race is there. It is there to be done, to be raced. Many people ask me "why are you doing it?". And I say, "Why not?".

I will do my qualifying races, and then I will decide if I will compete. I still have to feel it, that I want to go. I know my legs will be burning and crying during each 1,300 vertical feet run. The record was set in 1981 when Bob Rankin did 22 runs in 3 hrs. Elevation he conquered that day was equal to Mt.Everest.

I did 17 runs two years ago. I will be happy to do 15 this year. It means I have to do 5 per hour.

Bizzare, bloody and painful

It is the second week of Vancouver Olympics. Many things are known, many Olympic champions have been crowned. As always, and as on any other Olympics there have been stories that will be remembered by sport fans.

However, it is hard to remember any Olympic games, either winter or summer, with so many controversies.

It all started with a death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, even before the Olympics were officially opened. It continued with problems during opening ceremony when a malfunctioning hydraulic left Catriona Le May Doan holding a torch with nothing to light, looking very unimpressed. O Canada.

Vancouver rain, falling heavily, was threatening to washout that little snow that was left on Cypress.

Technical difficulties continued at speed skating oval. After two consecutive days of problems with the Richmond Oval 2010 Olympia re-surfacing machines, including an embarrassing hour-and-a-half interruption of Tuesday’s men’s 500-metre final, a Zamboni was transported from the Calgary Olympic Oval to ensure that no further glitches occur.

The protesters were fighting with the police, encircling seat organizers. At the concert, twenty people were injured after security fence relented, and on the opening ceremony, one mentally ill man made his way all to the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with a pass that he made at home :)

Scotty Lago, winner of the bronze medal in the men's halfpipe snowboarding event, "voluntarily" left the Winter Olympics Friday after risqué photos of a woman kissing and biting the medal surfaced in the media.

There have been numerous crashes on "track of death" at Whistler's sliding centre.

There have been spectacular crashes on Whistler's downhill course, in particular Anja Paerson and Patrik Jaerbyn.

There was a sad story about Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette whose mom died 2 days before her short program (she actually just placed 3rd in her short program, and that is incredible....).

There have been all 4th and 5th places by Canadian athletes, and 3 skiing medals for Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal.

There was a lynx on downhill course.

Julia Mancuso had a wild party while celebrating her silver medals.

Two TV commentators crossed the line during men's figure skating, while commenting on "gay" look of Johnny Weir.

In the Olympic village, the story that has been circulating was that bob sleigh racers did not eat breakfast because they knew they would soon have to race. Two Swiss teams announced withdrawal from the competition, and actually all athletes on the track of death are nervous.

Today, there was another big story, from skating oval in Richmond.

Lee Seung-Hoon of South Korea claimed gold in the men's 10,000m speed skating after heartbreak for Dutchman Sven Kramer who was disqualified for a lane violation.

Kramer, the 5,000m gold medallist, and one of my "stars" of these games, appeared well on course for his second gold of the Games but was wrongly directed by his coach to make a crossover from the outer to the inner lane eight laps from the end of a powerful run.

Kramer continued racing and raised his arms in the air in celebration as he crossed the line more than four seconds up on the South Korean who had set an Olympic record.

Kramer continued racing and raised his arms in the air in celebration as he crossed the line more than four seconds up on the South Korean who had set an Olympic record.

But the Dutch coaches - and Lee himself - knew that disqualification was to follow. An angry Kramer threw his glasses into the infield when told of the blunder.

I don't know how Kramer felt except that he said that he "was furious". I also don't know how his coach Gerard Kemkers felt except that he said that "it was the worst moment of his career".

Good thing is that this was sport, and that nobody died. Certainly this was expensive mistake, but Kramer will recover and I am sure win another medal in team pursuit this week. He will also be ready for Sochi 2014. He is only 23.

All of this makes these Olympics irresistible and exciting.

At least we will not compete on the track of death.

Frederick and Alexandre

It is possible to learn every day, from each situation - certainly only if you want it. People say that we usually learn from our mistakes, or our shortcomings, and that is generally true. However, we can learn from the best situations, from sweet events, when everything is great for us.

I witnessed today, on Valentine's day, the first Canadian gold medal on winter Olympics, won on home soil. The best Canadians did, was silver (5) in Montreal 1976, and silver (2) again in Calgary 1988. In Vancouver, everybody has been waiting for the first gold.

I expected Manny Osborne - Paradise or Robby Dixon to win men's downhill, but mother nature didn't allow ski daredevils to do their race. I expected Alberta's Jenn Heil to win last night, and she won the silver. Couldn't expect gold medals from biathlon or luge racers, nobody really did.

I knew there was another chance on Cypress today. Super strong free style Canadian team was a great contender, but it is not a team that would win the gold - it had to be one person to win it. That person had to survive all the pressure and even more, to beat the best of the best, defending Olympic champion, who is from Canada, but chose to compete for Australia.

I must say I was skeptical.

When Alexandre Bilodeau finished his 24 seconds of his final run, there was this feeling that something big could happen. And when judges decided that he was in front of defending Olympic champion, it was so hard to wait for the last racer, who was leading after qualifying race. Guilbaut Colas failed in his attempt to dethrone Alexandre, and that meant that Canada won its first gold!!!!

Audience and all fans went nuts - there was so much energy and instant celebration. I can only imagine how was on Robson square.

There was this warm feeling, and happiness - as K2 was conquered. All dreams and wishes became true. I am not a stranger to similar events, but this was super special. When you throw yourself down, on this super steep slope full of moguls, and you have to keep your rhythm, and control your speed, and when you have to execute two demanding and technical jumps, and all of this in less than 24 seconds - you have to be very special person.

I remember how in preparation for this Olympics, and even before, Alexandre would always talk about his family and his older brother, Frederick. He said how his brother has always inspired him, every day, and how he has learned so much from his brother. This wouldn't be unusual or strange, as we get inspired by our family, but in this case, this fantastic bond between brothers, inspires even more, and should teach us so much.

Frederick has cerebral palsy, and has been living with this disease for many years. People who suffer from it eventually lose their motor abilities. Alexandre would say how his brother "still walks", even though he was not supposed to. He also said how his "brother inspired him when he didn't feel that he wanted to go training. How could you quit and not to do it when you are given so much, when you can walk?"

It is true that people take so much for granted. They are lazy and spoiled. They even fail to get up from their couches. So many of them are useless, as they haven't used any muscles...People complain every day, they are never tired of complaining. They don't understand how many chances they have every day.

Hopefully they will learn something from Frederick and Alexandre.

This was another special, emotional day in Vancouver. Gold finally came home.

What a day

I'm back, after watching the Vancouver Opening Ceremony. I enjoyed it very much. One of top 3 shows I've ever seen...Below are my notes from the last third of the ceremony.

8:17 p.m. The head of VANOC, John Furlong, is now addressing the athletes, also invoking Nodar Kumaritashvili... Now, a reference to "the longest torch relay in Olympic history"... Lots of Canadian pride...

8:26 p.m. IOC head Jacques Rogge delivers his thanks to Canadian and provincial officials and many others, including "thousands of volunteers"... Now he's speaking French.

8:30 p.m Rogge annoints Governor General Michaelle Jean to declare the Games open.

8:31 P.M Governor General of Canada, Michelle Jean is declaring the Games open...First on French and then on English....

8:32 p.m. Oh. My. God. k.d. Lang is performing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." People are in tears, I am in tears, and there is only one other person in the world who would understand why. I feel very alone right now.

8:38 p.m This was breathtakingly emotional considering the events of the day.

8:39 p.m. Eight Canadian legends are carrying in the Olympic flag: Terry Fox's mother Betty Fox, actor Donald Sutherland, race car driver Jacques Villeneuve, Olympic champion figure skater Barbara Ann Scott, singer Anne Murray, Senator Romeo Dallaire, great Bobby Orr, and astronaut Julie Payette... The Olympic hymn, which I always thought was absolutely beautiful, is sung by an opera singer whose name escapes me but who has the biggest hair I have ever seen...

8:46 p.m. One minute of silence in memory of Nodar Kumaritashvili. and the Canadian and Olympic flags are flying at half mast...

8:48 p.m. The Olympic oaths are taken on behalf of the athletes (in English - Haley Wickenheise, the best woman hockey player in the world) and the officials (in French)...

8:51 p.m. I'm thinking Wayne Gretzky will end up lighting the cauldron because he hasn't been seen at all yet. I was thinking that the coolest flame lighting ever was the Li Ning performance in Beijing 2008... Paralympian Rick Hansen brings the torch into the stadium. It's mounted on the side of his wheelchair... He hands off to Olympic medalist Catriona LeMay Doan... to NBA All-Star Steve Nash... to Olympic champion skier Nancy Greene... and there's Gretzky. There appears to be some mechanical difficulty preventing one of the four structures from operating. They are proceeding with the other three, an unfortunate but ultimately minor glitch in an otherwise flawless ceremony... Nash, Greene and Gretzky light a cauldron emerging from the floor. A malfunction leaves Le May Doan’s portion of the structure inoperable. Now Gretzky is leaving the stadium to light a cauldron outside that will be visible from around the city...

9:09 p.m. We can see on screens, Gretzky and the torch are in the back of a truck being driven through the streets of Vancouver.

9:14 p.m. He's lighting a replica of the one inside the stadium, with all four towers functioning. That's the one everyone will be able to see.

9:15 - midnight. Beer.

12:40 a.m. What a day. Tonight's show presented the world everything that Canada is about. It felt so good to see that.

It was so hard to watch unlucky Nodar Kumaritashvili's crash.... I hope something like that will never happen again.

And tomorrow, if weather permits (but considering all the rain tonight, and what's predicted for tomorrow, I doubt it), I will cheer for Canadian Cowboys. And for Jenn.

Let the games begin

I am very excited about XXI Winter Olympic Games. It is only a second time in my life that country where I live is organizing such an event.

My first Olympic games were in 1984, when I actually worked and earned first money. I still remember my mother's surprised face when a postman came to our house to give me a cheque.

I remember how Sarajevo was lacking snow and how warm weather threatened the games. And then, just on time, big snow storm blanketed the city and surrounding mountains. We got lucky.

Somehow, history is (almost) repeating itself. I am not working in Vancouver, but I will be a spectator. Some venues are lacking snow. Weather is (has been) just bad. It is raining in the city, and more rain is coming. It is too warm. It is Vancouver super humid. It is green. It is foggy in Whistler - on Thursday men were able to finish their training downhill run, but women were not that lucky. There is a big possibility that Saturday's men's downhill will be postponed. And that will be ok - I remember, in Sarajevo, during XIV Olympic games, the same race was postponed for a week.

I gave a speech today in my Toastmasters 'reverse' meeting. As whole meeting was run backwards (evaluations first, speeches, table topics, business meeting), my speech was also organized in same manner. I announced the biggest stars of Vancouver games.

Below is my list (as my speech was limited to 7 minutes, I was not able to cover everything):

Alpine skiing - Men: Bode Miller

Women: Maria Reisch

(My first choice was Lindsey Vonn, but she arrived injured to Vancouver.....I thought even, I would call it "Vonn-couver" games)

Biathlon - Men: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen

Women: Helena Jonsson

Bob Sleigh - Men: Andre Lange

Figure skating - Men: Patrick Chan

Women: Kim-Yu Na

Snowboarding - Shaun White

Ski jumping - Gregor Schlierenzauer

Cross country skiing - Petter Northug

Free style skiing - Jennifer Heil

Curling - Kevin Martin and Chinese women's team

Hockey - Sidney Crosby

Long track speed skating - Sven Kramer

Short track speed skating - Apolo Ohno

My biggest wishes: In hockey, Canada will beat Russia in the final. Robbie Dixon will win men's downhill. Pierre Lueders will win one medal. Ivica Kostelic will win either men's slalom or combined.

It is February 12th - the biggest day for Vancouver arrived. Let's hope that there will be less rain than predicted.

I am looking forward to the opening ceremony and packed BC Place.

2010 Plans

As I am officially healthy (finally), I've decided what races I will do in 2010. It is a mix of skiing and running races.

My race schedule will look like:

January 30th - The Mountain Smoker - Banff, AB

February 14th - Hypothermic Half Marathon - Edmonton, AB

February 24th - Masters Race Series - Banff, AB

March 14th - St. Patrick's Day 10 km - Calgary, AB

March 27th - Bruno Engler Giant Slalom - Banff, AB

April 24th - Golden Ears 5 Peaks - Maple Ridge, BC

May 1st - Big Run 10 km- Calgary, AB

May 22nd - Canada Olympic Park 5 Peaks - Calgary, AB

June 27th - Scotia Bank Half Marathon - Vancouver, BC

There will also be 5 X-country races in April and May.

I am excited about New Year and new prospects in 2010. It feels great not to feel any pain during practice. My training in this year will be guided by triple Death Race winner Jack Cook, as he prepared my training program.