Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Fabulous Prizes just waiting to be won.... My almost, kinda great giveaway!!



Fabulous Prizes just waiting to be won.... My almost, kinda great giveaway
Okay in the interest of creating some good Karma for myself for my upcoming 100 miler I have decided to give some Crap .. I mean cool stuff away. Of course this begs the question, if you do something too try and get good Karma on purpose does this actually give you bad Karma? Hmmmm ... Metaphysics was never my thing. Where the heck is Yoda when you need him?

I also read somewhere that its good to give some possessions away before a long difficult trip. Some sort of ancient custom. I read it in a book or maybe saw it in a movie so its got to be true. I was thinking nobody would want a pair of my old running socks so you get some new stuff instead.

Okay here are the rules if you want to win.

1. You must be a follower of my blog, you know under the follower part of this blog or via facebook networkblogs. Its easy people just press the freaking button.

2. Leave a comment that you want some of this crap. Hell leave a comment even if you don't.

3. Post a link on your blog or facebook tag line to this contest will get you a second entry and who doesn't want that. Remember to tell me in your comment that you did this. I am not a psychic I just pretend to be one to get people to give me their money.

If you are a better runner then me or you are better looking then me you will be disqualified from this contest. Okay not really I mean if I did that there would only be like 2 people entered. No I am not going to give you their names.

Winners will be randomly selected by my cat on Sunday after Sulphur Springs. Sunday definitely Sunday. Winners announced on Monday May 31 by me. My cat still has not learned how to type.

What can ya get.

Running Prize

Black Diamond Gizmo Headlamp

Non Running prize

Family Guy DVD

No I have not watched it and put it back in its box. It is still sealed in cellophane, honest.

Enter away people.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Pacing the Mississauga Marathon .. Training done tapering for Sulphur Springs 100 miler



Mississauga Marathon
This time it was a much different marathon for me as I was not race and not training (okay a little) but for me the main focus was pacing my better half to a new marathon PB, hopefully.

I have to say I was somewhat nervous about this but I was also looking forward to it. I don't get to run with Kim very often so that was going to be fun. I have paced Kim in shorter races but this would be for a very long time and also at a slower pace.

Kim ended up running great and PBed by 39 minutes finishing in 5:21. It was not easy as she hit the wall in the early 30ks but toughed it out. I also learned that trying to run slower then your body wants to go is much more difficult then you might think.

Training done into the taper
With Mississauga done I managed to come through the hardest part of my training for Sulphur Springs which included 2 marathons and 2 50k trail races over the last 6 weeks. No major injures as far as I can tell.

I began a slight taper last week dropping my mileage down to 100k. This week I scaled back to around 75k and next week will do two very short runs just to keep the legs moving.

Everything seems to be lining up well for the 100 miler. I am really not sure what to expect from my body on race day as I have never attempted anything this long before but I guess I will find out soon enough.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Pick Your Poison 50k Race Report



Pick Your Poison 50k Race Report

Here is the full race report from the Pick Your Poison 50k last week. I have been moving in slow motion on this one so sorry about that, but hey I ain't Superman. Maybe the Hulk, with that greenness and anger issues, but with no ability to jump really far or throw cars around. I can, however, smash stuff wearing ripped jeans and being shirtless.

The race took place on May 1st on the side of a ski hill just north of Barrie, Ontario. Yes that's what I said, on the side of a ski hill. You know how you talk to your road running buddies and you discuss how flat the course is or how fast it is or that it has a couple of hills. Well one thing I learned about ultra trail running is that it's not only assumed, but expected that you are going to be running up and down hills... ALOT.

This course did not disappoint, in fact the first thing I saw as I arrived at the race was those telltale little red flags snaking up the side of hill and crossing underneath the ski lift. Oh what fun we were about to have.

Prerace
Fellow ultra runner JD gave Kim and I ride up to the race. We ended up paying our way in beer which is always nice and got there in plenty of time. The weather was very cool and there were thunderstorms in the forecast for the morning. We picked up our race kits which included a water bottle (can never have too many) and a jar of fresh locally made honey. Got our stuff ready in a cooler at the start line and milled about. Both JD and I were running the 50k, although JD said he was going to take it pretty easy. Kim was running the 25k. I planned to run this one fairly hard with no race planned for the next couple of weeks.

The course was a 12.5km loop so I would be circling around it 4 times. I actually like this type of course when its a race I have not done before. I know where I am going and what to expect by the third loop and my chances of getting lost diminish somewhat, not totally, but somewhat. Honestly I could get lost in a phone booth. Everyone lined up at the start and we were off.

Race
I had a plan, it was simple, stay with a few other runners that were a bit faster than me and use them to push myself hard. So simple, so very very simple. So didn't happen. This race had 12.5k, 25k and 50k distances. Right off the start I had trouble figuring out who was running what. In the first 200 meters we were already climbing up a decent hill. Oh and I felt terrible, really really terrible. I am not sure why, but I was having a hell of a time getting the legs going. I mentally began to fret about this which made it even worse. Arrrrggggg!!

At the 1km mark we were into tight single track trail. Everything slowed a little and I found myself going slower than I wanted, but unable to pass. The trail was pretty tough so I didn't mind biding my time. The first 4k or so was a great deal of up and down and very technical trail. Wow this was a lot harder course then I had anticipated. The trail criss-crossed between numerous ski runs, I started to wonder just how many different ways I could run up and down the side of one big hill.

Then, just like that, we were out onto flat logging type roads. This was great as it allowed me to stretch out the legs. The roads were mixed in with more single track trail, but it was all fairly flat so very runnable. Then at around 8k we were back into the woods and climbing a super big hill.

Somewhere just around this hill I was passed by Brian who I had meet and ran with for a while at the Waterloo Marathon. I decided since he is a faster runner I would at least try and keep him in sight.
The last 4k were back into mostly tough technical trail which include a lot of running along the side of hills. Not up and down, but along the side of which can be very hard on the legs. At around 12k you pop out of the woods find yourself on the top of the ski hill with a short steep run back down to the start/finish. Just as I came out of the woods and crested the hill I saw a huge bolt of lightning off in the distance. Oh crud, here comes the rain.

Lap 2 went much like lap 1, okay not really. I had just started the loop when the rain started to come down and man did it pour. Can't really say much more about this than it rained really hard. I ran this loop a little slower than the first, but was feeling good and in a groove. I also played a lot of swap race positions with Brian. He would be ahead, then I would, then he would pass me again. Because of how the course was set up it was hard to see runners that were more then a couple of hundred meters ahead of you, so you were never too sure how close or far other runners were from you. That can be a great incentive to run harder.

Lap 3 I was starting to tire. I was wet, but it had stopped raining. The technical trail areas were very slippery at this point. I tried to focus on not wiping out which is not easy for a klutz like me. My trail shoes don't have an aggressive tread, but were some help. You could clearly see along the trail where others had left skid marks from not being able to get traction. This lap was slower mostly due to the conditions. I saw Kim about 11k into this loop and she was almost done. I passed a few runners along here, but was passed by Brian. I didn't see him again until the finish.

Lap 4 almost done so I tried to pick it up some. Passed a couple of other runners. Didn't get passed by anyone so was able to hold my position for the rest of the race. Trail was better on lap 4 than the previous lap as it had dried out some so was not as treacherous. At the 9k mark I could see that there was another runner about 300 meters behind me and he looked like he was coming fast. Damn I had to run harder. I picked it up some more, but the legs were burning. Why do you hate me legs, why? As I crested the top of the ski hill for the last time I found that I had some fuel left in the tank so I booted it (or maybe shuffled) down the hill and to the finish.

Post race
Kim was waiting at the finish for me. I was happy to be done but also felt good about this race. I eventually got changed and then scoffed down post race burgers and pasta salad. We also got really cool post race socks (just what I needed!! how did they know?). Ended up in 14th place with a time of 5:26:37 which was a 11 minute PB.

I loved this course and the race director did a great job. Nothing to complain about really except there were no potatoes at the aid stations. I love potatoes. I will definitely run this race again next year.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Pick Your Poison 50k Race Results ... Sporting Life 10K Report ... April Training Recap


Here are the results from the Pick Your Poison 50k trail race held on Saturday May 1st. I had a really great time at this race and will post a more in-depth race report later in the week. I ran well and it was an awesome adventure.

Distance: 50k

Place: 14 / 58

Time: 5:26:37

Special thanks to JD for giving Kim and I a ride out to the race.

I followed that the next day running the Sporting Life 10k in Toronto. I didn't race this (I like to think I learned something from the back to back 5k fiasco in March). I ran it easy and paced Kim to a 10k PB. She ran great considering she did 25k at PYP the day before finishing in 58:31 which was a 5:30 PB.

On a negative note we passed a guy who was down in the middle of the road right in front of the Eaton Center. A number of emergency people were working frantically on him. As we passed by I could see that they were giving him CPR. That is a very bad sign as it tends to mean that there in no pulse. Didn't hear anything about it after the race so hopefully the guy is okay.

During the run I also saw fellow blogger Mel (okay she saw me to be honest) at around the 5k mark. She looked like she was running pretty well. Sorry that I was not able to chat more but I had to keep cracking the whip on Kim . I also ran into blogger Boris in the food area after the race. We have crossed each others paths a number of times recently. Its always kind of cool to see people you only know via the blogosphere. Its also weird to realize that people actually read this crap. When my psychiatrist first told me to start writing this blog I didn't think anyone would read it. Okay I just made that up I don't have a psychiatrist although I am not sure if that's because I am not crazy or so crazy that I don't know that I am crazy.

Along those lines I also want to give a mini apology here to a girl I saw on the trail during PYP. I was passing her on my last loop and she asked me if I was Chris and said she read my blog. Sorry I didn't get your name I was a little loopy and in full pain management mode at that point. Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.

April Training Recap.

After a tough month of March where I really struggled with my mental focus and tired legs things went excellent in April. I ran the most miles I have ever run in a week and a month. I got my mileage built up to a good level and now feel like I am about as ready as I could be for my first 100 miler coming at the end of May. Although I enjoy road running I am very happy to be back on the trails 3 times a week. Here are the numbers.

Total Monthly Mileage: 295 miles

Most Miles in a week: 78 miles

Number of races: 3 (8k, 53k and a Marathon)

Days run in April: 29

Longest run: 53k

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