Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Before the Race

I definitely didn't follow my usual pre-race (or even pre-long run) routine over the weekend. On Saturday I had the opportunity to join Juliana and a few of our friends at the Banff Mountain Film Fest. We noshed on vegetarian cuisine at Fresh before heading to the theatre.



It is certainly not my usual fare, but there were several healthy and delicious options. I decided on an "immune-booster" smoothie, a vegetarian burger with sweet potato fries, as well as a spring roll and quinoa onion ring which were shared by the table. Everything was delicious!







The Film Festival was in Toronto for three days, with various short films being featured each day. We were treated to the following, ranging in length from 8 minutes to 51 minutes:

Dream Result *a favourite*

A group of top athletes (extreme kayaking) and friends are driven by passion to explore the limits of possibility. Expeditions to Norway and a quest for waterfalls throughout Argentina and the US are all part of the program in Dream Result so hang on for the ride!

As It Happens

Renan Ozturk and Corey Richards "go rogue" and file video dispatches from their attempt at the first ascent of Nepal's 6,000 meter Tawoche Himal. The film takes these individual pieces and ties them together in one well-made story that lets a challenging trip unfold as it happens.

Tibet: Murder in the Snow

In an incident that shocked the world, a teenage Tibetan nun, Kelsang Namtso, was killed when Chinese border police opened fire on a group of pilgrims as they fled Tibet over the infamous Nangpa Pass. The shooting was witnessed by many international mountain climbers, some of whom videotaped or photographed the events and also helped rescue survivors. Tibet: Murder in the Snow is the story from their perspective.

Khumbu Climbing School

Through this beautifully crafted film, we learn how the Khumbu Climbing School has contributed to the safety of Nepali climbers, Sherpas and high-altitude support workers as they learn proper techniques for knot-tying, belaying, and ice climbing from world-class mountaineers. In Khumbu Climbing School, it's apparent that the school provides more than just training as one experienced Sherpa says: "I always felt like a yak, even though I had been to the summit of Mount Everest. Now, I'm a climber."

Eastern Rises *another favourite*

The Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East may as well be the end of the earth. Its enormously wild landscape is swarming with bugs and bears and threaded with rivers full of massive mouse-eating trout. In the stunning film Eastern Rises, fishing is poetry; Bigfoot lurks in the fog, and fishermen risk life and limb in decommissioned Cold War helicopters to explore rivers that have never been fished before.

Life Cycles

Filmed in Ultra HD, Life Cycles provides some of the most visually stunning images the mountain sports world has ever seen. It¿s a beautiful celebration of the bicycle, and is sure to amaze anyone who has ever ridden one.

The films were fantastic and led to some great conversation during intermission and on the car ride home. I really enjoyed the variety and definitely recommend the event if you have an opportunity to attend. Click here to learn more!



It was a fun night, but a late one. I finally tucked myself in at about 12:30AM. Yikes!

Race report up next...

22 comments:

kristen said...

I've both picked up lunch to-go and sat in for lunch at Fresh in Toronto (which is weird that I've been twice because I think I've only been to Toronto 3 times...) and had great food both times. I just like looking at their menu for recipe ideas :)

Some of those movies look really interesting!

fancy nancy said...

Late night lady!! I would totally eat more like that if someone made it for me! It all sounds so good...especially those onion rings!

Laura said...

Tease on the race report..
I have never been to Fresh but it sounds awesome as does the festival..

Anonymous said...

hurry with the race report! hahahhah

sounds like a fun weekend. i have never been to a film festival. and ur food sounds delicious!

Anonymous said...

LOL - leave us hanging why don't ya!! :) Sounds like film festival was a fun one! I've always wanted to go to one.

Emily said...

seriously, race report now! quinoa onion rings sound to die for.

Denise said...

quinoa onion rings?? sounds interesting!! looking forward to the race report!

Runners Fuel said...

The restraunt sounds great and so does the film festival!

Amy said...

I was a regular at Fresh when I lived in Toronto! Yum! You just reminded me I got their cookbook for Christmas and haven't used it yet! Films sound interesting!

Jessie said...

What an awesome event!

Katie said...

Sounds nice, but I'd have so much trouble with being out that late! I have 3.5 year old and a 7 month old, so I find myself dozing off at 8:30 sometimes!

Gotta Run..... said...

I would be dead if I did something like this during the week. I gave up a Prince concert last night all because I did not want to suck butt all day today.

I know... I am lame :)

Janice {Run Far} said...

mmm, sweet potato fries are my fave.

Char said...

Sounds like a great way to spend an evening out. Probably not what I'd do before an event - but I'm old and need my sleep :)

ajh said...

Yawn. I hope you didn't have to get up too early but a fun evening is totally worth it.

RunToTheFinish said...

new balance is a client of mine and I have always heard them talk about banff. it sounded fun before but your descriptions make it sound even better!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

Wow 12:30 is late! That food sounds amazing though. I've never even heard of quinoa onion rings?!

yumke said...

Rice bowls at Fresh are pretty good if not a little salty.

Your training looks great, you only needed 2K for the 100K! (glad you didn't feel like you had to put in the extra miles).

Nicole said...

Dang you were up super late! :) FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

N.D. said...

that menu looks amazing!!

Richelle said...

Looks like fun! The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival takes place at the end of April and into early May. Mark and I usually see a couple films.

macnic said...

i LOVE fresh. MMM, have to head there again soon.