Listen to the Bees!

A few days ago I watched a documentary about bees and colony collapse disorder called Vanishing of the Bees. It is a great documentary about some of the recent problems that bees have been experiencing, and as someone with experience as a bee keeper I was especially interested.

With some of my bees

Bees are an indicator species because they are especially vulnerable to small changes in their environment. In addition, more than 1/3 of our food is pollinated by bees and they contribute 10's of billions of dollars to the agricultural industry in the USA alone. A decline in the bee population can and will be felt up and down the food chain.

Right now bees are in decline around the world, and scientists don't know why. Some of the main culprits for the so called colony collapse disorder include over feeding and poor nutritional quality in the commercial feed large scale bee keepers feed their bees, Queen supplementation and replacement some large bee keeping operations undertake to increase hive production, and the mono culture agricultural system that currently dominates world food production.

A brood box on my hive

This information is interesting and provides a scary outlook for the future of bees and our food system, but it should not altogether be unexpected. When I look at those three possible root causes of colony collapse disorder I can see parallels to human life and athletic training. (And I know what you are thinking - you can connect any two random ideas if you try hard enough, but just hear me out)

Colony collapse disorder cause one - over feeding/poor nutrition. Without proper nutrition humans are shortening their lives and becoming susceptible to diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and more. In the athletic world poor nutrition can hinder performance and or recovery. Without proper nutrition humans - and bees - become weaker over time.

Colony collapse disorder cause two - Queen supplementation and forced over production. By neglecting recovery or forcing our bodies to adapt to training too quickly we can sometimes see short term gains, but in the long run we almost always bottom out. Our bodies fail to continue to perform at the level we desire and force us to rest and recover. This is classic over training. Bees too many be experiencing this after generations of breading to produce more honey, faster pollination, and faster colony expansion is their "over training" catching up with them?

Colony collapse disorder cause three - mono culture food systems. When we get into a rut with our training our bodies take notice. They adapt to running that one favorite loop really well, but are not always fit to take on the challenge of other roads or trails or even different weather conditions. This is part of the benefit of mixing in new stresses to your training. You keep the body adapting to new situations and progressing. Like wise, bees may be suffering from a mono culture slump due to the human system of producing lots of the same kinds of food in close geographic relation to each other. Although this might be efficient for an "industrial food complex", this is not good for the environment. It makes it easy for pests and diseases to wipe out entire crops (think Irish potato famine!)and makes important pollinators, like bees, unable to quickly adapt to new threats. Don't fall into the mono culture training rut!

Bees getting ready to move into their new home

I hope that when thinking about the complex issue of colony collapse disorder in terms of these three basic principals you might be able to understand the issue more clearly and avoid some common pit falls of endurance training.

Happy training, and next time you see a bee out on a pollen finding mission give it a little thanks. or better yet, join me in becoming a bee keeper/steward of our food system!

Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Death Valley Vacation

Recently, I had the chance to take a great trip out to California and do some camping and training in Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Death Valley National Parks, and Manizilla National Historical Site. The trip was a great opportunity to see some really unique parks with an extreme range of environments and eco systems.

Inside a burn scar on the Michigan Tree

The first night in Sequoia/Kings Canyon national parks my travel partner and I arrived to almost 4 feet of snow on the ground! It was a real shock to go on a spring trip to a place with more snow then Minnesota. We snowshoed around the Grant Grove, the largest concentration of old growth of Sequoia trees in the world. We were able to get up close to some of the largest trees in the world including the Grant Tree, the third largest living thing on earth!

The tent set up in a Sequoia grove the morning after the snow storm

My first night camping in Kings Canyon National Park a snow storm came through and dumped 15 inches of heavy wet snow in the Sierra Nevada Mts. It was cool to wake up to that much snow on the ground - and the top of the tent. My REI Arete 2 Mountaineering tent held up great.

Death Valley National Park

Next we drove a few hours east to Death Valley National Park, home to Badwater Basin the lowest point in the western hemisphere at -282 feet. The 90 degree heat and below sea level desert basin was a real contrast to the snow drifts, Sequoias, and 9000 feet elevation of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. The park is ringed by mountains and has really cool sand dunes, salt flats, and salt water creeks the provide a home to some very hearty plants and animals.

A Salt Flat In Death Valley

While on the trip I was able to do some long workouts in the parks I visited. I did a long (and tough) snowshoe workout in Kings Canyon and also did several runs on the Badwater Ultra Marathon course. A few weeks ago I would not have said that I have any interest in running Badwater (a race from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in July!) but after seeing the course and the national park I can see how it would be an alluring challenge. During my workouts I also tested a new energy gel called Ignite. The difference between this gel and others is the source of the simple sugar. In Ignite these simple sugars come from fig paste. The taste is good, slightly sweet but not overwhelming. The texture is very similar to the center of a fig newton, slightly gritty. I liked the consistency and taste and found that it worked well for delivering and keeping my energy level consistent.

At Badwater Basin, -282 feet. The lowest point in the western hemisphere.

Think gas prices are high? Try almost $6 a gallon in Death Vally National Park!

Recent Happenings

Recently, preparations and training for the upcoming ultra season have really picked up. My training has been solid with many great threshold workouts and some solid weekend long runs. My weekly volume has continued to climb hitting 19 hours, my highest so far this year. I have been connecting with lots of training partners for workouts too. I have been training with Dave H, Dave S, Tony, Eric, Craig, and of course Sundari recently. I have really enjoyed having other people to train with and to push each other.

This past week, Feb 27 through March 4, was my 19 hour training week with 6:30 of that volume coming in my back to back weekend workouts. I also did a cross training workout as well as some strength and a threshold workout with 15 minute reps. So far my build up is looking good and I am feeling great. My resting heart rate is showing that I am recovering well and getting even more fit.

I have been having lots of adventures in other areas of my life as well. A few weeks ago the Duluth Running Company had their 2011 team party across the bridge at the Thirsty Pagan. It was a great chance to meet up with lots of team members that I don't see very often. I was also honored to be named the 2011 Duluth Running Company Team Runner of the Year and Team Points Champion. It was a great cap to one of my best ultra seasons yet and the celebration with the team.

Some of the DRC team at the 2011 team party

Another bit of excitement came with the snow that we received this past week. I got a 4 season tent (the REI Arete 2) back in December of last year, and with no snow was not all that motivated to test it out. But the blizzard provided a great opportunity to see how it performed in snow, cold, and high winds.

My 4 Season Tent

I was really happy with the way it performed. The first night I noticed some dampness on my sleeping bag and some condensation on the upper inside walls near the top vent. The following night I changed the position of the vent and unzipped part of the side door vent and woke up to almost no condensation. The tent was really warm, even becoming too hot for my zero degree bag, and it felt rock solid under the weight of the fresh snow and the high wind gusts. The floor stood up to Sundari's nails and it was a flash to set up - even the first time in high winds and blowing snow/blizzard conditions. If you are in the market for a good all season tent the REI Arete 2 is a good option.

Under The Fresh Snow

Keep on keeping on, and have a great week!