EDITOR AUDREY MCKINNON

THE DAILY VOICE, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 28, 2012 )

By SAM REYNOLDS

e art of outdoors running in winter presents it’s own set of challenges in the near frigid tem- peratures in Vancouver.

Despite others being clad in scarves, layers and insulated boots, many Van- couverites still hit the streets to run.

Dashing across the Cambie corridor at 7" Avenue in her running gear, one runner said she would normally re- move one more layer for a cold run.

“T love it. It’s so refreshing,” said Ewa Smith who runs 4 km every day except Sundays and never indoors.

Rand Clement, from Kitsilano’s run- ning retailer The Right Shoe, said in an email that the key to being prepared

for the winter elements while on a run is all about how a person dresses.

“Check the temperature before you run to gauge the amount of clothing to wear,” Clement said. “As you get more experience with this you will develop certain outfits for certain temperature ranges.”

“Make sure you are utilizing wicking fabrics to insure that the clothing layer against your skin stays as dry as possi- ble so your body can regulate tempera- ture properly,” he said.

Clement also advised potential win- ter runners to dress in layers, but warned that too much clothing can drag a person down.

While winter runners in Vancouver are more likely to battle rain rather

AUDREY MCKINNON photo Ewa Smith stands outside the Running Room on Cambie Street in her warm selection of athletic garb on Tuesday. Smith is one of many Vancouverites who wouldn't trade the “refreshing” chill outdoors for an indoor run.

Cool running in the cold

Wintertime jogging in Vancouver 1s not for the fairweather athlete

than ice and snow, for the rare days when the city is a winter wonderland, Clement advises runners to add a spike to their step.

He said using spiked shoes makes running in icy conditions safer.

The frigid cold, or endless rain, aren’t the only hostile elements that winter runners must deal with—they also have to contend with shortened daylight hours.

Jerry Kroll, the organizer of Vancou- ver’s largest social running group Van Run, thinks the best thing a winter run- ner can have isn’t necessarily a specific piece of equipment—but friends.

“They'll be the ones encouraging you to go out when the weather is aw- ful,” he said.

WINTER attire

1 Spiked shoes for traction in ice and snow.

2 Wicking fabrics to regulate tempera- ture and keep skin dry.

3 Minimal layers

to keep from overheating.

4 Loyal running

friends.

Shoo fly, get your own pile of compost

With Van- couver residents choosing to com- post more, people have options when try- ing to keep little pests at bay

By RICHARD HODGES

don’t want to meet blowflies or other

pests—freeze and keep your com- post vegetarian.

The City of Vancouver is promoting composting as part of their plan to be- come the world’s greenest city. Since the city is already one of North Ameri- ca’s densest, with many residents liv- ing in 750 square foot apartments with- out balconies, that means composting indoors.

Rana Sarfraz, UBC research scien- tist in the department of zoology, has simple solutions to keeping pests away from your rotting food.

It begins with keeping meat prod-

[: you want to compost indoors but

ucts out of the pile.

“If you encounter blowflies, your best bet is to immediately remove any meat products,” Sarfraz said.

Sarfraz also advises to watch the wa- ter levels in your composting.

“Make sure that it’s not too wet or too dry,” Sarfraz said. “Otherwise you attract ants as well as flies.”

Randy Helter runs a food scrap drop spot at the West End Community Cen- tre that allows residents to recycle their organics instead of tossing them in the garbage.

“Spending $10 on a proper container is a great investment and store it out- side if you can,” Helter said. “Also, you can keep your compost in an ice cream container and store it in the freezer.”

RICHARD HODGES photo To fruitflies, this looks very tasty.

Endless savings for the

season

Only 30 student discount cards have been nabbed so far; with more available, savings are within reach

By JANA MINOR

ments, and designer clothes don’t

normally describe the student life- style, but scoring sweet deals on them may be as easy as going to your stu- dents’ union office to get a student dis- count card.

With the holidays approaching, stu- dents are starting to think about Christmas gifts and travel expenses --and how to save money on both.

The discount card available at the Langara Students’ Union costs only $4.26 and claims to offer massive sav- ings on restaurants, travel, clothing and entertainment from over 450 stores, both online and offline.

“The card is such a good deal, but no- body knows about it,” said Gurbax Leelh of the LSU, which is offering the card to students for the first time this year.

Leelh says the students’ union at Vancouver Community College sells the same card for $22. So far only about 30 students have purchased the card from the LSU this semester.

The card offers discounts on Expedia and Travelocity of 50 per cent off, but only for hotels, not flights.

The Delta hotel in Whistler is offer- ing cardholders a deal on one bedroom suites at $128 per night, which sleep four.

Divided up, it works out to $77 per person for a ski weekend close to vil- lage restaurants and nightlife. Normal- ly, that would cost $189 per night.

If you’re in the market for a relaxing massage after a stressful exam week, the card saves you $50 off any 90 minute treatment at the Sabai Thai Spa, mak- ing it about $85.

While the discount card promises “no limits on use,” the spa stipulates the discount is for first-time visits only. However, operators of the spa confirm that students can also give the treat- ment as a gift to someone else if pre- ferred, simply call the spa to make ar- rangements in advance.

As for other beauty treatments, just flash the card at Pure Nail Spa and get 20 per cent off a manicure to resusci- tate those poor finger nails after a se- mester’s worth of nervous nibbling.

For gifts, the card gets you 90 per cent off select books at Chapters -- but emphasis on the “select.” Most books in this category seem to be cookbooks and anything ever written by J.R.R. Tolkien.

If you’re in the market for The Hob- bit, lucky you, but if not, the card only gets you 35 per cent off regular titles online. If you jump on it, you can get a gift subscription to Maclean’s, SportsNet, or Flare magazine for $10, but that deal expires this Friday.

If you’re no stranger to the Seattle Premium Outlets, show the card at the information booth in the outlet food court and get a coupon book that prom- ises hundreds of dollars off designer threads. The only snag is, you have to go there to get it.

Le ski weekends, spa_treat-