Suck It Up .... Rantings of a Runner on the Edge

2012 It's Deja vu all over again

2012-01-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

So here we are already half way through the month of January and I am finally getting around to blogging again. I should be taking stock of last years goals etc. but I kind of missed that window. Maybe subject matter for a later day? Who knows, guess we will see.

I been pretty busy at home taking care of the important stuff. You know, watching TV, playing PS3, drinking beer. I believe I am currently in first place in the Slackathon World Championships. Okay maybe thats a slight exaggeration as I have been doing some training as well.

Everything old is new again
After I changed my approach to training last year with mixed results I have decided to go Back to the Future. That means back to less focus on high mileage and more focus on quality workouts. Okay just so we don't get too confused that doesn't mean low mileage but I am going to try and find a happy medium between the big miles and tough workouts.

That change for me means a refocus on road racing for the first 4 months of the year. I haven't run a marathon in racing mode for almost 2 years so I figure its time to do one hard. Looks like it will be either Vancouver or Toronto which are on the same weekend, May 6th, so deciding which one can wait. It will be crush or be crushed as I try to bare down and get a Boston Qualifier.

Dont worry I will head back to trails on May 7th as I plan on doing a number of shorter ultras in preparation for a late spring 100 miler and then building up for the big race next year at Leadville. So far my tentative schedule is as follows although I expect I will add a few more short 5 and 10k races as speed workouts in April.

Jan 29 Robbie Burns 8k
March 4 Chilly HM
March 14 Achilles 5k
March 25 ATB 30k
May 6 TO Mar
May 12 Seaton
May 26 Sulphur Springs
June 16 Mohican 100
July 7 Creemore 50k
July 14 Limberlost 56k
Aug 18 Leadville 100

Once again I am teaching a Marathon Clinic for the Running Room although this time I am co-instructing in order to be able to spend the time needed with Longboat where I will be helping with some of the coaching.

Whitby Santas Back in Town 5k Race Report

2011-12-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Thats right you read that title right. No I did not forget the zero after the 5. Thats right I actually hit the road for a short, painful and hopefully semi fast 5k race. Okay so not really semi fast as I have not been training for races that require speed in a very long time. Lets call it hope to run fast enough to not feel embarrassed at the finish line.

Last week I got an email from JD saying he was going to go run a 5k race on Sunday Dec. 11th in Whitby and did I want to come. That email scared me. I am not in racing shape and I haven't run a race shorter then 30km in 11 months. That was an 8k at Robbie Burns last January that was a complete disaster for me. I finished with a massive side stitch and my running form was reduced to a bad impression of quasi moto. Good Times!

I had just started to do some hill sprints and intervals the week before and so I figured I better get on the race course and see just where my speed and fitness are at. I always use race results to set up my paces for the next training cycle so I was going to have to run something short soon anyway, you really cant use Ultra races to figure out pacing. Who knew?

Thing is short races when done right are really freaking painful and even worse when you haven't been embracing that type of hurting by running track or really fast intervals.

Sunday morning JD picked up Kim and I and we headed to Whitby. Its a fairly small race of just over 100 people but that is fine with me. Race conditions were going to be a little challenging as it was sunny but there was a nasty 30km wind coming off of the lake. Did a very short warm up and then lined up near the front with JD and we were off.

Right away it was straight into the wind and would stay like that for the first half of the out and back course. I ran faster then pace for a minute or 2 in order to get clear of any slower runners and then tried to settle in to something resembling an even pace but that was easier said then done. The wind made it hard going very early on.

At around the one K mark I could see that there was 5 or 6 runners ahead of me. My lungs were already on fire and I was working way to hard into the wind for the pace I was moving at. Unfortunately I was gaped with the next runner a fair distance ahead of me. Crap, I had forgotten how important race strategy is in the shorter races which was made even clearer by the guy that was right behind me and using me to do all the work. Not smart on my part. I considered trying to let him get ahead of me and using him but that is so counter intuitive and has its own dangers. Soon we were approaching the 2k mark. My lungs where screaming at me to stop the abuse. The guy behind me passed me and soon had gotten away but in my attempt to keep up with him I managed to pass 2 more people.

We hit the turn around and bang just like that there was no more wind in the face. I saw that JD was about 15 seconds behind me and looked like he was running well. Now with no wind resistance I was able to get back to a steady pace. I saw Kim going towards the turn around and she said I was in third place although I was pretty sure I was in fourth. I could see the next runner about 80 meters ahead of me so I tried to run a little harder to close the gap.

I remember being at 4k, my legs feeling great but my lungs not so much. Who the heck stole all the oxygen, I now remember in a very acute sensory way just how hard 5k races are but I am also remembering why I like them. Weird or what? With less then a k left I can see that the runner ahead of me has maybe padded his lead by another 2o meters or so. I will not catch him so now the game becomes run as hard as you can to get a good time and dont let anyone catch you.

A few minutes later I am across the finish line in a time of 21:10 good for 4th place overall. JD comes in 20 seconds later and Kim finishes soon after with a PB. A good day for all of us.

A few other things:
The course was not certified and appears to have been 4.9k.
I was about 12 - 14 seconds per k faster in the second half of the race when not fighting the wind.
I made some strategic mistakes which I will chalk up to not having raced short in a long time. I let myself become a wind breaker for another runner (he finished second well ahead of me). I also didn't focus on running the tangents in the first half of the race, yikes.

All in all a good day of running now its back to some regular hard quality runs with Longboat to start getting ready for the spring.

Leadville and back to training basics

2011-11-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

So if you are hoping to read my posting on my Rim to Rim to Rim ( R2R2R ) I am afraid that its not quite finished yet. That thing is getting written at a slower pace then I actually managed to do the run. It is coming before the end of the week. Honest.

Leadville
In the intermission for your entertainment pleasure or perhaps laughter or maybe horror I have already begun to line up my major runs for next year. After finishing the run at the Grand Canyon the group of us hung around at JDs condo and licked our wounds. Somehow while basking in our glory we all became somewhat delusional and in this state an idea was born. I am not saying it was a good idea or a bad idea but it was definitely a crazy idea. We all decided that we should run the Leadville 100 miler.

Its 2 weeks since the planting of that little gem of an idea was first brought up and now 4 of us flatlanders from Toronto have paid the money and are all signed up. The race isn't until next August so hopefully I will be back in shape by then. How the heck I am actually going to train for this one is still a work in progress. I live basically at sea level with not a mountain in sight. The race takes place between 9000 and 12,000 ft in Colorado at altitude. Should be a blast. Leadville here we come.

Back to Basics
So with the season finally over its back to basic training. Usually I take a few weeks to a month of low mileage in November but since my injury kind of forced me into 8 weeks of low to no mileage in August and September I have begun the rebuild already.

Last week I put together workout program for both Kim and I that will take us to the start of January. I would call it the base building before the marathon training begins program. It will be a mileage rebuild with lots of cross training thrown in until the miles get up there. I am currently carrying about 10 extra pounds (above racing weight) which the Gods of BEER decided to grace me with over my injury time. Stupid beer, who knew. The plan is to be rid of my extra passenger by Christmas. Its that or become a mall Santa.

Week 1 of training went okay. Lost a run due to a slight hamstring pull but still got close to 50 miles in. That said my longer Sunday run showed me in no uncertain terms that my legs are still not recovered from the Grand Canyon. It sucks when 22km feels like 50km but I expect things will get back to normal in another few weeks.

Hang in there R2R2R report is coming up.

Oil Creek Race Report

2011-11-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Oil Creek 100 mile race report

Road Trip Again
One thing that has been great this season despite my displeasure at my race results and injury problems has been the road trip. Last year I travelled to a couple of races with people but this year has been peppered with nearly one trip a month over the summer. No matter what ends up happening in the race the trips themselves are always fun, especially when you are in a car full of crazy Ultra Runners. Oil Creek would be no exception.

We picked the rental car early Friday morning, made a quick stop in Mississuaga to get Morgan and Steve, then we were headed to the US.

Drive and border crossing were quick an easy. I was actually suprised how close we are to Pennsylvia. We all knew this was going to be a tough race on a difficult course but everyone was pretty pumped up about it. Some stupid stuff about this will be great to "challenge" ourselves. So easy to say before you have been running for 20 or 30 hours.

I was more worried about this race then any all season. Really I should not have even been attempting it with my leg injury and a sever lack of training time. Stupid injury! It had already cost me at Burning River and I didnt register for any distance at Haliburton or Virgil Crest as I could not run at all. I would have dropped to a lower distance at Oil Creek but this is not allowed (which is fine). I decided long before race day that I would just run as much as I could as I had already paid the money. I hoped to finish but would be okay with getting in 50 miles or so.

We got to Titusville, PA early on Friday afternoon and hit the hotel, stored our stuff and then headed to race registration. Things started out great as both Steve and I won door prizes (free toe socks, sweet). No time to hang around though as it was a 5 am start time. I dont know if you have heard but 5 am is really early.

I slept great and we had breakfast in the room. Steve had the brillant idea of buying a coffee maker. This is bliss for a caffine addict like me. I really wish you could take in coffee intervenously. It would save so much time. Everything seemed to be going fine. We got to the race in plenty of time and Morgan showed me how he taped is leg up for the same injury that I have (he was doing it as a preventive measure). All taped up it was time to go.

Race
At 5 am we crossed the start line and head down the road and onto a paved pathway. This is about the only non trail part of the course that consists of running 3 50km loops and then an extra 7 mile spur at the end. The paved section was nice and flat so the three of us stuck together and tried to make sure we stayed slow. Weather is looking great, maybe 5 degrees at the start with tempatures in the mid 20's expected during the day. It was still pitch black out so headlamps were required and soon we were into the woods and on to single track trail.

Hey look what a suprise we are climbing up some steep hills from the second we hit the trail. Man I didnt see that coming at all. Its quite congested early on but we are in a decent position and keep it slow but steady.

The trail is tough and mostly single track and techincal. Lots of rocks and roots and tripping hazards with long climbs and shorter, not short but shorter, steep downhills.

I look down at my garmin to see that it has shut off. I curse loudly but nobody seems to notice. Maybe my running buddies are used to my foul mouth by now. I have been having a shut down / wont charge problem with my garmin for the last week and it now seems to be toast. I dont need it for distance or pace but do need it for time so that I can stay on my salt and food intake. Piece of crap. Okay thats not true I love my garmin just not the idea of having to buy another one.

We hit a long really nasty downhill with a slew of slippery rocks still wet from the dew and roll into the first aid station at 7ish miles. Its still dark but the station is lit up like main street at christmas time. The aid station is amazing (they all were) and we are quickly out and on trail again.

Just out of the aid station I see a sign announcing Switchback Hill (or mountain?). I dont need to guess what that means. We start climbing and we keep climbing for a great many switchbacks. Its no Pikes Peak but its no stroll in the park either. The course has 18,000 feet of climb over the 100 miles.

Coming out of the aid station I end up getting seperated from Morgan and Steve as someone is in between us. I have to wait a long time to get around the guy on the single track climb. We get to the top and start some steep downhill switchbacks He moves to let me by and I move past him but get slightly out of control on the downhill. I try to recover but catch a root and welcome the first face plant of the day. Hello ground, when I said I wanted to check out the trail I didnt mean this close up. I begin to feel some pain in the ankle at about 10 miles but it doesn't get bad and seems to disappear after about an hour or so.

This is how it always starts with the oohing and awing, the joking and laughing, the general merriment. I know it will not last and by sometime late it the day it will become about the pain, the blisters, the falls, the puking, and the darkness. Speaking of blisters I am already getting a nasty hot spot on the back of my heel. Strange as I dont think in all my years of running I have ever had a blister on my heel. I let Steve know I will have to deal with this at the next aid station as we cut through a field decorated with large wooden oil rigs.

We are at Aid station 2 in decent time already 15 miles into the race. A quick look at my foot, not to bad, no need to lance and drain anything, so I apply extra body glide and catch back up to the other guys. I suspect that the blister was caused by a bunched up sock and once I get running again all is fine.

I had started out cold but now at 9 AM its beginning to warm up. The trail is tough but nice and a lot of fun. My legs feel great. All is going well but its a hell of a long way between aid stations and is almost 9 miles from AS 2 to AS 3. Half way between the aid stations the guys start to pull away from me a little. I can see them just ahead but I am happy with my pace so just run along behind them. About a mile from aid station I lose touch with them and they are gone.

I pop out onto a dirt road and get in to AS3 just as the guys are headed out. I grab some food and head back into the woods again. Hey thats weird, its another big freaking hill climb. Half way up this giant hill in the middle of nowhere I look to my left to see a very old run down cemetery. Most graves look like they are well over 100 years old and lots of them are broken. Its a kind of oil drillers boot hill I guess. I wonder if it will be creepy running past it in the pitch dark later that night. I am not to worried as I figure by that time I will be too tired to give a crap.

I hit the 40km mark in 5:45 minutes. I had figured to be about 5:30 so a little slow but not bad. I am on the last 8 miles of the loop that will take me back to the start finish. The trail doesn't get any easier but I don't mind. My legs is holding and I am running and feeling really good. Before I know it I am coming out of the woods onto the road for the 1 mile museum loop where you run through a park that is the location for the oil creek museum. Just as I get into the loop I see Steve and Morgan about 400 meters away coming out of the loop. They are only about 5 minutes ahead of me so I figure I will see them at AS4 which is the start finish.

The loop is kind of cool, mostly grass surfaces and not technical (sweet). You run past a noisy old oil well that is still pumping as well as lots of other equipment then its across a bridge and onto the road. Here I encounter my only moment of confusion as far as course marking goes. There is a large sign on the side of the road. It says AS4 with an arrow pointed to the right which means I go across the road to the other side and down a paved path.

The sign is very clear but to the left I can see flags headed down another paved path and towards the woods. I actually have to stop for a second and thing about this as the trail runner in me is so used to following flags I actually think about going that way. I read the sign again and then go right, cross the road and start down the paved trail. Right away I see another sign pointing me down the trail so I am going the right way no problem. I also feel better as other runners going the opposite way coming back out from the Aid Station are passing me. I soon realize that I am on the same path I started the race on I just failed to recognize it in the daylight. That makes the flags going the wrong way at the turn make perfect sense now.

I come into the start finish 50km into the race at 7:15 just about right on pace. I change my socks and check my blister which is no longer an issue, grab some food from Kim and get ready to head back out. I don't see Steve and Morgan so I ask Kim when they left. She has not seen them at all. Oh Crap. Since they were ahead of me that can only mean one thing, they must have turned the wrong way at the sign (they did).

I head back out onto the course and a mile later I am into the woods climbing again. As I get to the top of the hill I guy stops me to ask if this is the way to AS4. He is going the wrong way as well so I let him know. Its a great day for running and I make good time to my second trip to AS1. I grab some food here. I am a little worried now. I have not been on my nutrition very well at all. Its kind of gotten away from me a little. I intake what I can and am back on the trail again.

Cue the first signs of trouble just after the top of switchback hill. I find my breathing a bit haggard and heavy. Due to past racing experiences I have come to recognize this as the first signs of a nutrition problem that will eventually become nausea. I down a gel and push through the next 7 miles to AS2.

I reach AS2 and Kim helps me try and get some solid food into my stomach. The initial tummy rumblings I had an hour earlier have now become full blown nausea. Its like I swallowed someones washing machine whole. Churn, churn, churn goes my stomach but I get some food into it. Does it help? Hell no!. Kim , like any good crew person, is pushing me to get going so I grab a couple of Rama Noodles and head back into the woods.

Like all of the aid stations as soon as you leave you are into another major climb. I walk the ascent and try my hardest to eat but my gut is doing backflips. Walk, eat, churn, walk, eat, churn, ARRGG! I finally make it to the top of the ridge line but the washing machine has gone from churning to spin cycle. Good god why do I do these things again.

I pop a ginger candy and start to run along the top of ridge. I am incredulous, I will not puke, screw you stomach. Its only seconds later I am bent over, hands on my knees, projectile vomit shooting out so hard that it could probably sandblast graffiti off of a brink wall. About 4 massive retches later I have just about cleared the system or so I thought. I runner passes by and asks if I am okay. I give him the thumbs up. Yeah buddy I am just great. Be careful you probably don't want to step in that giant puddle of ginger ale and noodles.

It is 8.8 miles from AS2 to AS3 and I spend every minute of it sick as a dog. The race has become a disastrous living hell. I need fluids but any eating or drinking is followed by an immediate clearing of stomach. I puke so many times I lose count but I am thinking it is at least 8 to 10 times that I am forced to make an unscheduled stop.

I finally pop out onto the dirt road just before AS3 and promptly puke one last time before I head into the aid station. Even in the dark they can see that I am in big trouble. The aid station people are fantastic though, they get me anything I want and hand me a chair to sit in. I am thinking that I may just drop here as I don't know how much longer I can continue in this state. I sit for 10 minutes and manage to get a banana and some crackers into me. I am starting to get a chill and someone at the station suggests that I move to sit in front of the fire. I know this is the kiss of death. Its drop or go so I manage to get up and head out. I take a package of crackers with me in hopes that I might be able to eat then on the trail.

Into the woods its a long uphill AGAIN!! I go past the old cemetery for the second time. It is not scary in the dark at all. I am to sick to be scared. I would actually relish a zombie attack at this point. If a zombie was chewing on my intestines I don't believe it would feel worse then they feel right now and it might be entertaining.

I crest cemetery hill and a really strange thing happens, like magic my stomach suddenly feels normal. Holy crap, I don't know how long it will stay this way but I will take it. I start to run again.

I run non stop (giant hills excluded) for the next 7 miles. I cant believe it. I pass a number of other runners along the trail. I feel pretty good again. I chalk it up to eating crackers like the ones I still clutch in my hand. I have been carrying them for nearly 2 hours. Mmmmhhhh, my Precious. I don't want to part with them but I am to afraid to eat them out of fear of a return trip to puke city.

I am now totally back and think I will be able to finish after all. I pop out of the woods and onto the museum mile loop. I am ten minutes from the start finish so I decide to toss the crackers. I make my checklist for the next aid station. I will change into warmer cloths, change my shoes, eat and be back out onto the trail quickly. I check the time and see that I will have more then 14 hours to run the last 60km, awesome. I make the turn onto the paved path and see 2 girls from Ontario headed the other way. They tell me that my wife is waiting at the aid station for me with soup.

All is good and stays that way for about another whole minute before the trouble begins. I go from great to gut wrenching nausea in less then 30 seconds. I am forced to stop running and start walking. Why did I toss those crackers? Why?

I slowly make it into AS4. I sit and Kim gets me soup as I update her on my condition. I begin to get the things that I need done at the speed of a giant sloth. I sit next to the heater trying to stay warm as the temperature has dropped to just above freezing which is fine when you are moving but not so great when you are sitting.

Kim is trying to get me to eat and get up and going but I am very resistant. I may not be at puke town yet but I am definitely pulling into the station. I have gotten it into my head that if I just sit for a few minutes and get some food in me I will feel fine again. Don't ask me why I think this. I should know that its wrong headed but in my brain dead state I am refusing to let go of this idea.

I tell Kim to give me the bottle of Pepto out of my drop bag. I take a big swig and then immediately empty the contents of my stomach again. Damn that sucks. Watch out for the sandblaster kids, its out of control. Everything that comes up is a lovely shade of bright pink, how festive.

I continue to get ready to go out. I have lots of time so there is no hurry. Then suddenly there is an EMS guy there. The aid station volunteers have called them due to my puking. What the hell.

Okay so some ultra explaining is in order I think. For those of you that read this blog and are not 100 mile runners, that means you 50kers, marathoners, 5kers and everyone in between, you know those of you that I like to call the sane people, throwing up violently might seem like a good reason to call the paramedics. Well as most 100 mile runners know it really isn't. I know that might be hard to grasp but the reality is that its a common non life threatening issue in the 100.

They ask me if I am okay and I say yes but they tell me that they have to do an assessment once they are called. It turns out the ladies at the aid station are not ultra people but are teachers from the school and kind of freaked out when I violently blew chunks. Not that I blame them as it must have been quite a sight for the uninitiated. To give you a comparison when I lost my lunch at the gate house during Sulphur Springs the guy at the aid station asked Kim if I was okay. She said “Yeah he's just puking”. To which the guy said “That should make him feel better”.

The EMS guy is soon join by a hospital worth of medical people. I expect Dr. House to show up any minute to diagnose this mystery illness. “Hes run for 18 hours and now he is throwing up, we can't explain it. Lets get the whole team on that, stat!” They try and take my vitals but have some difficulty so they ask me to come in the school where its warmer. I reluctantly go as minutes are ticking away.

It takes some time for them to get me accessed. They say that they are worried I might be starting to become hyperthermic (which I am definitely not) and suggest I go to the hospital. Ah, like no. I try to explain the best I can that I am just puking, I am not in serious distress or potential harm. I have run 18 Ultras and 6 different 100 milers. I am not feeling anything I have not felt before. It sucks being sick but its nothing new.

I ask them about my vitals and they tell me that they are right in line with what they should be. I am finally free to continue if I want. I look at the time I have lost, the way I feel which is terrible, and contemplate leaving the nice warm school for 13 more hours of running. I know that as soon as I get back out on the trail it will be back to battling my arch enemy the vomitnator again. Somewhere crouched down, hiding behind a rock he is waiting for me. It is a tough call but I decide to pack it in after 100km.

Post Race
This is definitely the hardest 100 course I have run so far. Its also one of the best races I have done. Hats off to the race director. I can not think of a single bad thing to say about this race, it was outstanding. I will be back again next year for sure.

Although I didn't finish I was not really that disappointed. I was badly under trained for this one due to injury and went in knowing that a full 100 miles was not likely to happen. The great course made the 100km that I did run well worth the trip. We will get this race done next year. You can count on it.

Next Up
Run report on R2R2R in the Grand Canyon

Oil Creek 100 this weekend

2011-10-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

So I am headed down to Titusville Pennsylvania this weekend with a couple of other Ontario runners to race in the Oil Creek 100 miler. I know that you are thinking, Hey I though you were injured? Well yeah I kind of am but the race is paid for and so I have decided to go and run it. This is probably a really dumb idea but I have a great many dumb ideas so its all good.

The plan is to hang in and or tough it out for as long as I can. I would love to switch down to a shorter distance but they don't allow this so I am stuck in the 100. Luckily this is actually the hardest, most technical race of the season for me with a paltry 18,000 feet of elevation gain. Good thing I am undertrained and injured or else I might be worried. Should be a great time. Poor Kim is forced again to sacrifice her long weekend on the alter of my ultra running insanity.

Injury Update
After a couple weeks of no running I have been able to get some workouts in. It looks like what I thought was originally an ankle issue is actually most likely shin splints. Its been a very strange couple of weeks. I feel fine, I run a few days, my leg hurts. I rest, I feel fine, I run a few days, my leg hurts. You get the picture. Even when I do run its short so I have been doing weight workouts and spin classes to try and keep some level of fitness.

This has been as much of a mental roller coaster as it has been physical. I feel great for a few days and start to think about upping my training only to be back in pain where I sulk and wonder if I will ever feel normal again. I have been bouncing between emotional highs and crashing, crushing lows like a 5 year old with a fist full of pixie sticks headed for their next sugar rush.

Oh before I forget spin classes really suck. Its like a room where time stands still. I can get a good workout but sorry it just sucks. I can run all day and never even think about how long I have been running but put me on that stupid bike and minutes become hours. Clearly these bikes are located in some kind of temporal time rift. Who would have ever guessed that the laws of the universe don't apply at the YMCA. Yesterday I biked for at least 30 minutes yet when I looked down at the time only 9 minutes had passed. GRRRR!

Look for the Oil Creek Race Report next week.

Pikes Peak Marathon Race Report

2011-09-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, actually just after I started running marathons, I did what most long distance runners do. I created my racing bucket list. If you haven't done this yet don't worry you will, its just one of those things runners end up doing. When I created this it included the usual suspects like Boston, New York and London but it also had some races that were off the beaten track. One of those races was the Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado. With a reputation as being the hardest marathon in North America no other sales pitch was required to have it make my list.

Two years ago when I began doing Ultra Marathons my bucket list ended up going through some major renovations. I began to care a lot less about running Boston (more about this in a later post) and New York. Western States and UTMB became the must do races however one thing didn't change and that was that Pikes Peak was still right on top of that list.

For those of you unfamiliar with this race its a 13 mile climb up a mountain and then 13 miles back down. That doesn't sound hard enough? Well then you have to take in to consideration that you start at 6000 ft and then climb 8000ft to the summit at 14,115 feet with more then 3 miles of it above the tree line. On top of that its mostly single track trail shared by both the runners going up and back down so collision potential is high.

Since I had never been to Colorado we decided to make this race into a week vacation and so I dragged both my wife Kim and my mother along to participate / observe my never ending quest to do really dumb things. I had managed to talk Kim into registering for the Ascent (13 miles up) which is run the day before the marathon. I mean how hard could it be?

Prerace
We flew in to Colorado Springs on Friday afternoon. A quick scan of the horizon revealed the monstrosity that we were suppose to run. How did we know which mountain was Pikes, thats easy we just looked for the highest one.

Kim at the Airport

A quick stop at our hotel and then we were off to the race kit pickup. Got our kits no problem but of course no shirt as you don't get a shirt until you finish. Damn didn't I pay for that already. How dare they make me earn it. Expo was pretty small and featured the only disappointing thing about the race. The official race jackets were sold out in my size. Damn dude what the hell. I had squirrel away the cash to grab one of these things. Oh well more beer money for me.

At this point I guess its got to be said. I am very worried about this race but have been trying not to show it. I know that Kim is going to have a hard time as she lost 6 critical weeks of training with an injury. I am also going to be in for a major beat down. My injured ankle is really bad. So bad that it hurts to walk on it. The week I have taken off has done nothing to help it in fact it feel worse then before the rest.

Before we leave the kit pickup I do what I have come to refer to as my "test run". I jog for about 15 meters. My ankle is excruciatingly painful. I can not believe that it hurts so much. I begin to suspect that there will be no race for me on Sunday.

Saturday Ascent
We head down to the start line to see Kim off. She looks pretty nervous but is up for giving the race a try.

After Kim heads out me and my mom head up to the summit via the train. Man its really high. I walk down past the finish line to try and get a better picture of runners coming up the mountain. I only climb down 50 meters or so but am sucking wind like theres no tomorrow. Crap what the heck have I gotten myself into. I have never been at altitude before and if walking feels like this running is going to be really hard.

We head back down the mountain to wait for Kim to finish. Unfortunately she ended up missing a cutoff by 2 minutes and DNFs. Its her first DNF and she is very upset by this (I know all about DNFing grief) but I am so proud of her for even trying given how difficult the course is and her injury issues. Read her blog account of her race HERE

Sunday Marathon
I get up at 5 AM and soon we are on the way to the start line. My ankle is hurting. I am not really sure I can even start the race but decide to give it a try. I know I will be slow and probably do more damage to myself but then I don't want the regret of not at least trying to run. I had expected to run the race in 6 - 6:30 depending on how much of a factor the altitude becomes. I am now going to be running just to make it under the 10 hour cut off. I need to get me that race shirt. Just before I walk to the start line I ask Kim to hang around for 20 minutes after the start just in case I cant run and drop out right away. Then its race time.

The first mile of Pikes Peak is on road and mostly uphill. I know this will be really hard on my ankle so I start out slow and look for something to distract my mind from the punishing pavement. I happen to glance over and notice a runner wearing a Mohican 100 race shirt so I ask him if he ran the 100. He tells me he ran 50 and we chat for a few minutes. It turns out that he is from Burlington, ON. I have somehow managed to find one of only 5 other Canadians running in this race. We talk some more and then I see see the trail head coming up so I speed up a little to get past people before it gets narrow.

Once you are in the woods the real fun begins as you hit the first set of switchbacks and start to climb. They seem to never end and soon I lose track of the number of switchbacks on the way to Bar Camp. Is it 12 or 16 or more, I cant say for sure but its a lot. The trail is not technical but its some of the steepest climbing we will do all day. My ankle hurts but taking it easy keeps the pain at a manageable level. I am in the middle of a long line of runners but slowly things start to thin out some.

Somewhere around the 4 mile mark the climbing temporarily comes to an end and we are treated to some nice flat trail running and even a couple of small downhills. Its a welcome break that lasts for the next couple of miles. I want to push some but its a no go with the lame foot. I have also started to feel the altitude and the lack of air is causing me to breath heavy. I wonder what it will be like higher up but try not to think to much about it.

Soon enough the climbing starts again as we move through the last mile before Bar Camp. As I turn a corner I look to my left and see a large doe less then 5 feet off the trail. It is chewing a mouthful of grass and staring at me with a who the hell are you look on its face. Its so close I could probably reach out and touch it. Five feet behind the doe is a much larger stag who seems very unimpressed. As I pass by the deer I pray they will not bolt and run me over. I also am thankful that it wasn't a bear.

I hit the aid station at Barr Camp, half way up the mountain, in 2 hours. I am happy with this given my situation. The weather has been great so far, warm, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. So far the trail has not been technical at all but a mile later this all changes. The higher up we go the rockier it gets and straight ahead running shifts to picking you lines and footing. Usually I love this stuff but not when I am gimpy. It makes for tough going. Its also becoming harder to get enough oxygen to my lungs, my chest feels like it is being squeezed in a bear hug. Come on lungs do your thing.

Somewhere before A-Frame the lead runner Matt Carpenter passes me going back down the mountain at roughly the speed of light. Its truly surreal. As far as I can tell he is 8 miles ahead of me already. I don't see another runner descending for a good 45 minutes.

The technical running causes me more pain and I am getting slower the higher up I climb. By the time I reach the A-Frame aid station I am beginning to struggle. I am well below the cut off times but still I feel the wheels could come off at any point in time. If I can just finish this race I swear to god that I will take time off and let my ankle heal properly. Is it just me or is making deals with god a really bad sign.

Within minutes of heading out of A-Frame the trees become short, stubby and increasingly farther apart. Soon I am passed the tree line and into the rocky part of the climb. At first this goes reasonably well or at least as well as it can go when there is no air to breath. At some point after 12,000 ft things begin to get really tough. I am moving slower then I ever though possible, the lack of oxygen is making even basic thinking a major chore and now runners are coming down at me a regular intervals. This makes the technical climbing even more of a challenge.

I ever so slowly make my way up the 16 golden stairs. There are no stairs instead there are switchbacks, the 16 switch backs of hell. I keep thinking I will be at the top soon but every time I look up I can see a winding column of people still climbing. The tempeture has started to cool and a nice cold wind is blowing into my face. I am just thinking about how nice it feels when I hear a race marshall yell out "Thats not a good wind, weathers coming in".

What? I look over my shoulder to see that the clear blue sky has been replaced with dark fast moving storm clouds. Oh crap! I make an effort to pick up my snails pace to a slow death march in hopes of getting off the summit before the storm hits. A couple of minutes before I get to the turn around a runner going the other way yells at me "It gets way easier once you turn around". I have my doubts about this. I am crashing in slow motion and cant imagine that easier is on the menu anytime soon.

I hit the summit in 4:48 turn around and head back down. Two things happen almost instantaneously, my ankle is now in severe pain and I can breath again. The bracing needed to go downhill is putting pressure on my ankle in such a way that it makes things worse, much worse. Yet now heading downhill instead of up I can breath almost normally.

As I attempt to run the 3 miles back to the tree line I can feel the temperature drop and then suddenly I am being showered with ice pellets. They are small but they hurt especially on my bare arms and shoulders. I think about putting on my jacket but don't want to take the time to get it out of my pack. I am racing (slowly) to get back under the tree line before there is any lightning. My leg is not letting me move fast however and everyone and their dog is passing me along here.

I struggle with this very technical portion. Not only do I have to pick my footing carefully but I also have to try and pick footing that prevents me from having to step down any significant drops onto my screaming ankle. This is really tough to do and makes for slow going. I make it to the stubby trees and then into the tree line just as the ice pellets let up and I hear the first crack of thunder.

Now I am beginning to think I might just make it to the end of this race. I have lots of time left to finish and before I know it I am out of the technical section. I pass two search and rescue people taking out a runner on horseback. He looks okay but he is not very happy. Seeing the horses makes me realize just how in the wild I actually am. Then I am coming into Barr Camp.

Its all straight ahead running from here with some very steep downhills but very little technical. I am able to get into a rhythm and begin to run better. I am still slow but thats okay. I see the 3 miles to finish sign and I still have 3 hours until the cut off. I know I will finish this unless my foot falls off. I slow down a little on purpose as I want to make sure I don't fall now and hurt myself more. I am also frustrated as I wind down the switchbacks. My legs feel great and so strong but I cant really use them. My strength is downhill running and I cant capitalize on it. It sucks but I just remind myself that I didn't think I would be running at all.

I head out of the trail and onto the road for the final stretch to the finish. Its downhill and road but I fight the urge to speed up. Somewhere in the back of my mind I have an image of my ankle finally giving out half a mile from the finish line and me attempting to crawl it in.

As I run along I look down at the road and see the word BEER drawn in large pink chalk letters with an arrow pointed towards some people on the sidelines. As I reach them they hand me a small cup of beer which I gladly accept. It is the best tasting beer I have ever had and by the time I down it I am almost at the finish line.

I end up crossing the finish line in 8:01:11.

Post Race
Kim and my mum are waiting at the finish line. With the exception of my ankle I feel great. I pick up my shirt and medal and then we go to the post run area. They have Mr. Sub sandwiches, brownies and beer which turns out to be an excellent combination.

I think I can honestly say that this was one of the best races I have ever run. Every single aspect of this race was outstanding from registration, to aid stations, to course, to post race. These guys really take care of their runners in what must be a logistical nightmare. I cant recommend this race enough. Oh and also its really freaking hard (this years winning time was 3:48).

So is this the hardest marathon in North America? I cant say for sure but I don't know how you could make a race harder then this. I will be doing this one again with the hope of being able to run on both legs next time, although I most probably will be doing the Double (Saturday Ascent, Sunday Marathon).

No Haliburton ... No Lean Horse ... No Fun ... Injury Update

2011-09-10T05:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I promised to post my race report on the Pikes Peak Marathon. Its coming, I am just really slow right now, kind of like in the race itself. In place of the regularly scheduled report is a bunch of other totally uninteresting claptrap. Maybe like me you have nothing better to do with your time and if so I highly encourage you to read on.

Injury has played a major story in the second half of this season. Its cost me time in races and definitely has helped a DNF or 2 along. Turns out that no matter how tough you are or think you are when your body will not work properly you are in for a rough go of it. After a very painful Pikes Peak (more about this in my next post) its become time to deal with this crap.

No Lean Horse
So that meant no Lean Horse in South Dakota for me. Did I make the smart decision and decide not to run this race? Oh course I didn't. Have you not read my blog before this? Have you not gotten a first hand look at my sometimes wonky "its only pain" mentality? Should I repost pictures of my destroyed feet or deer in the headlights expressions during other races?

You might then wonder how I ended up not running at Lean Horse. That answer is simple. They would not let me. Thats right kids I was not allow to register or run. So just how did that happen? Well it went something like this. With a never ending ankle problem and Pikes Peak the weekend before I decided to hold off registering until after I ran up the mountain. Even before I toed the line at Pikes it was painfully obvious that I was not going to run 100 miles at Lean Horse but maybe I could get in 50 miles or 50k.

After finishing Pikes in a state of perpetual limp I though my chances of running at Lean Horse were slim to none. That said we had a hotel booked in Hot Springs so I was still in TBD mode. As the week went on my ankle slowly felt better and by Friday morning a short (like 30 feet) test run was pain free. I knew if I ran any really distance it would start to hurt but screw it, seriously when the heck am I going to be in South Dakota again? I figured I could muscle through 50km on a flat course. I mean I made it 42km on a mountain the week before.

On friday morning we left Deadwood S.D. and headed down Hot Springs with a stop at Mount Rushmore along the way. I figured I would register at package pick up. Honestly I didn't anticipate a problem at all. I mean its not the NYC Marathon for gods sake, its a fairly small ultra. Well I was wrong.

At sometime around 5 or 6 oclock we arrived at the pick up area. I went in, found the person giving out the bibs and asked if I could register. She said she was not sure then asked another guy who informed me that online registration closed on Wednesday. Okay but do I look like I got a computer in my hands here? Seriously you could have knocked me over with a feather at that point. That sound that they heard was my jaw hitting the floor. I mean really is it that hard to take my money and issue me a bib? Really?

In fairness to the race, yes online registration was closed and I really don't know if there was anything on the website about no day before in person registration. Maybe there was. I couldn't find it but I was looking at the site on an Iphone. I have not been able to bring myself to go look again from home. I was pretty disappointed and to be honest just a tad bit bitter about the whole thing. Ultras are usually so accommodating if they haven't hit the cap and I was really caught off guard.

Its my fault that I didn't preregister but that doesn't make me feel any better or any less bitter. That didn't last long though. The next day we headed back to Deadwood for a huge classic car event. Live music, 20 - 30,000 people, restored muscle cars and 2 dollar beers in refillable glasses now what could be better then that.

Okay I lied I am still really %#&* bitter about this but in the end not running was probably a good thing given the continuing Ankle Saga.

A trip to the Doctor
Once home my ankle felt better, until I ran that is. Soon it was more ankle pain and time to head to the doctor because supposedly doctors know stuff. I am skeptical about this but was willing to try anything at this point. After the poking and prodding and xrays and scans there was a small glimmer of hope. No fracture (I was really worried it was a stress fracture), some tendonitis attributed to the injure and a suspected partial tendon / ligament tear.

That means rest should cure all. I can still run as much as the pain will allow.

No Haliburton

In an effort to get this thing healthy again I pulled the plug on running anything at Haliburton. I had though about a slow 50km or maybe pacing but I am trying to be smart. This sucks as I love running Haliburton, its exactly the kind of trail I enjoy running on most of all.

That said I have got to get healthy. The Oil Creek 100 miler is in 1 month and I am worried about being healthy for that. I am also very concerned that I will be sadly out of shape for what is by all accounts a tough 100. My mileage was low to near non existent in August as I recovered from Burning River and battled injury. I don't foresee running again for 4 -6 days and then I will be forced to keep the mileage low. I will try and do some biking / elliptical at the gym but its not the same.

Next up the Pikes Peak Marathon Race Report

Pikes Peak Marathon this weekend ... Injury update

2011-08-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning Kim and I will board a flight and head out to Colorado Springs for some Mountain Madness. On Saturday Kim will take on the Pikes Peak Ascent and then on Sunday I will run (I use that word lightly) the Pikes Peak Marathon.

I might have to pack some adult diapers because at this point I am on the verge of crapping in my pants. This seemed like a great idea when I first signed up. What an awesome idea, start at 6000 feet, climb 13 miles to 14,115 feet and then turn around and run back down. I mean how hard could that be there is only one uphill and one downhill on the entire course. So the one hill is the entire thing but I just ignored that part.

Then I ran Bear Mountain which is a speed bump compared to Pikes and that was kind of hard with no where near the sustained and constant elevation gain. Oh and just to make it all the more interesting there is that whole above the tree line, at altitude, 40 percent less oxygen thing that I will be experiencing for the first time. For those of you that dont live near Toronto that means my altitude training takes place at 100 ft. above sea level. There are no mountains here although I did lots of hill running. The closest thing I did to high altitude training was sitting in the cheap seats at the Skydome. I didnt even bother to go up to the top of the CN Tower.

So why did I pick this race. Am I crazy ... well yeah kind of but that wasn't it. I got it into my head that someday I wanted to run some of the more well know US 100 milers. Leadville and Wasatch are two that immediately come to mind but besides the running 100 miles they have another component that adds to the difficulty level for a flatland runner like me. They are run at high altitudes. Now I am not stupid (stop laughing), just crazy so I figured I would run something shorter at altitude first and see what that feels like. Running the shorter marathon distance seemed like just the ticket. Worse yet I have dragged Kim into this kamikaze mission as well.

At this point my biggest worry is not the climb its actually the 13 miles of downhill on shared single track trail with runners going in each direction. The downhill is always the running that beats the legs up badly and this downhill is going to be a quad buster for sure.

Injury Update
My run at Pikes Peak will be made even more difficult as I am currently nursing a bad ankle. As some of you already know I turned my ankle at the Limberlost 56km run a month ago. It gave me some issues at the Burning River 100 but felt okay a few days after. The next weekend I ran at Dirty Girls with a plan to put in 40 -80km but stopped at 40 when the ankle began to hurt. Last week it felt great even during some hard hill work but then on Saturday I aggravated it at Canada's Wonderland. Apparently it didn't like all the roller coasters and water park.

I was forced to shut my sunday run down after just 3km as a precaution. That is not good. Its feeling better but not healed yet. I will not run this week and hope that it feels better before Sunday. Just to be clear I could run right now but I want to get this thing as close to 100% as I can.

The original plan was then to run something at the Lean Horse in South Dakota the following weekend but right now the distance is up in the air. Whether I attempt 100, 50m or 50km will all depend on how the ankle fares this sunday.

Stay tuned.

Burning River 100 Miler Race Report

2011-08-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

So it's official. I hate Ohio. I am serious, Ohio sucks. Not the people of Ohio, they are actually very nice, just Ohio itself. The state motto should be changed to "Come to Ohio and be Roasted Alive" or maybe just "Ohio the State that Sucks". Okay enough complaining and now on to race report.

Prerace

We headed to Ohio Friday morning. Kim had rented a van and our small group of 6 (4 official racers) managed to meet up and head out of town before 9 am. The drive down to Akron was mostly uneventful but lots of fun. Traveling with a group of other Ultra Runners who by the very nature of their sport are a little bit off center (that is as nice as I can word it) is hilariously entertaining, inspiring and somewhat scare when you come to the realization that you actually fit in with these people. Its like you all have a date with the executioner but will pretend its just another normal day.

Nobody is willing to give anyone a break. For instance while we were stuck for an hour in line at the border one of our group needed a bathroom break badly. Unfortunately for him you cant get out of your car so he had to grin and bare it. Do you think anyone would give the guy a break. Hell no, for some reason the car conversations kept coming back to how others had been in similar situations, talk of rain showers and my personal favourite, Steve talking about installing sprinkler systems. Sweet.

Soon enough we were pulling into the hotel and checking in. Stayed at a great hotel right next to the finish line so making it back to your room after the race would not be an epic struggle. We all headed up together to race registration and the pasta meal which was actually decent. The race swag was a really nice hoodie. Awesome.

Later we head back to the room for a pre sleep beer. Since we were catching the bus at 3 am it was going to be a very early night for us. That was the plan. Unfortunately for me I went to bed at 9:30ish but could not sleep. If you have read my blogs before you might be aware that every so often I have bouts of insomnia. This has nothing to do with racing, I just have trouble sleeping for a few days then everything goes back to normal. Usually this doesn't coincide with a race but it has twice this year (at this race and at Bear Mountain). Unlike at Bear Mountain I had slept well the night before so was not that concerned. Then it was up at out to catch the bus to the start line. Sweet.

By the time the bus got to the start line I was feeling nervous but excited. I felt good physically and was raring to avenge my DNF at Mohican. My injured ankle felt okay and since this was a point to point course I would only see each rock, root and hill once. My little nagging internal voice that warns of impending danger was mostly silent but not totally mute. There was no long diatribe, no constant narration, just on little word. Hot.

Shhhhhh..... that was last time. I know I dont do well in the heat but I learned some lessons at Mohican and I was now used to the summer temperatures. This was going to be fine. How bad could it get.

The Race

Once the race started I stuck with a small group of Ontario runners early on. We had all planned on running around the same pace to start so it was not much of an issue. This group consisted of myself, Steve, JD, Stephan and Gailanne. The first 10 miles were all road which was mostly easy going. I really had to work hard to rein myself in here. It was not easy to stay slow and maybe I should have just opened it up a little faster but that is such a hard call. Its not wise to kill it early as you may pay for it later on. I felt good as we reached the polo fields aid station. I was hot already and it still wasn't 7 am. I would have to watch the heat closely.

The next section is mostly horse trail and tow path. It goes well, I feel good and am running just a little slower then the pace I wanted to but I am trying to take the heat into consideration. Somewhere along this next 9 mile stretch the group starts to break up. JD drops back and Gailanne disappears. I rumble into the Shadow Lake station at around 19 miles. All is good. Kim is there to give me bottle refills and more gels. My nutrition has been excellent so far. Steve and I take a little longer at the aid station then Stephan and by the time we head out he is already gone. It is scorching hot now but so far so good. I wonder how Ohio is not a desert waste land. It is so damn hot here.

Steve and I continue to run together for the next few hours. I dont see Kim during this time as one aid station has no crew access and for some reason she is not at the other one. No big deal as the aid stations are really good. I hit the 25 mile mark in 5:05. This is 20 minutes slower then expected but not to bad. I expected to lose some time adjusting for the heat. During this section Steve and I see a doe and two bucks all eyeing each other up. The bucks both have huge antlers. Looks like there is going to be a fight over a girl soon. We also see an ambulance and the police at a road crossing. Later on we hear that a runner got hit by a car. After the race JD would tell us that he ran with the guy later in the day. The runner that got hit went to the hospital then came back and reentered the race but eventually dropped. See JDs race report here.

Somewhere along here I have begun to struggle. The heat is becoming a big issue for me ...AGAIN. Steve is slowly beginning to pull away. I tell him to go and not to worry about it as we are all running our own race. I am just glad that we were able to run together for as long as we did. My ankle is also beginning to hurt. Although it felt okay going into the race this was not entirely unexpected and as long as it didnt turn my stride into a limp along I was not going to worry about it.

At around 29 miles I am back on unshaded road briefly and then onto a tow path along a river. It is long, gruelling and there is no shade and no way to get away from the baking sun. I am fading already what the hell. The 3-4 miles of tow path seems like it will never end. I am torn should I walk it to save energy and avoid heat exhaustion or run it to get back into cover sooner. I opt for something in the middle and by the time I hit the station rd. aid station I am hurting. I try and get in and out as quick as I can. There is an attempt to get some real food into me but I find it hard to even get down some water melon.

I am back on the trail. I walk some, run some and think about making it to the night and hopefully cooler temperatures. My race is not in jeopardy yet but hitting a dark patch this early is troubling. I have run enough of these to know I will bounce back if I hang in but thats easy to write and hard to do. What worries me the most is that usually the 25 to 50 mile mark is when I make good time and gain some insurance against the tough and slow night running. I am always slow during the night so I really need to put up a decent 50 mile time.

Somewhere around 35 miles JD catches up with me. He is looking like he is in good shape. We run together for a while and then I fall behind. I am incapable of pushing in the heat. I walk some and run as much as I can. Is time standing still, nope its just me barely moving, time is ticking away. I think my running has come to resemble Steve Austin in the Six Million Dollar Man. My legs and arms are moving but I am not going anywhere.

I finally arrive at the Ottawa aid station. Kim is there to help me. I change my shirt and shorts in an attempt to get something dry on and avoid the ineveitable chaffing that is bound to happen when you run soaking wet for hours and hours. JD is just leaving the aid station as I get redressed.

The next 9.5 miles are the hardest and slowest of the race for me. I am in full heat exhaustion mode before I get a mile in. I end up walking for a very long time. In the end my race is lost here although I dont know it yet. So many hills thats what I remember most, many hills and stairs what the hell is up with that, lots of stairs in the middle of the woods. A large number of people pass me during this section. As late afternoon becomes early evening the temperature begins to drop ever so slightly and I am able to start running again.

I arrive at Boston Store almost an hour and a half behind schedule. I am half way to the finish but have to spend more time trying to cool my core temp down. I know I need that time to run but if I dont cool down it wont matter anyway.

I have been doing the time math in my head for the last mile coming into Boston Special. Its not looking good. I tell Kim I am worried about the cutoffs. There are time cutoffs at every aid station. She tells me I have lots of time and not to worry about that at all. I know she is not saying that to pacify me but I also know that she is wrong. There are many things I do well during races and many things I dont do well but one of the things I am really good at is time math. I am able to take into account how I feel, what I am capable of and get a very accurate picture of things. It is clear to me that I am going to be right on the bubble later tonight.

I head out for the Boston Store loop with a hat full of ice. My legs are tight from sitting but once I get them going I run this section well. I pass a number of people that had left me for dead on the last section. I try to run hard here as I know I need to make up some time. I make great time but the hard running causes me more heat related problems.

Once I am back into Boston Store I know I must get out fast again or I will end up losing all the time I gained running hard. A quick head soaking and some food and I am up and off again. Not so fast Spiderman! The minute I stand up I am bowled over with a huge wave of nausea and light headedness. I am forced to sit down again before I face plant. It will take me another 10 minutes before I get control over the dizziness and am able to head out.

The next section to pine lane is gruelling. Some technical running over very root stew trails then some massive down hills with more &%$ stairs then up hill with more stairs. It is finally getting dark and cooling a little. By the time I hit the pine lane aid station it is night and I am really badly chaffed. I track down some Vaseline to try and protect my sensitive parts which are kind of feeling like peeled grapes at this point. I need to change again but there is no crew access here so I will have to wait until the next station.

Then its back the way I have just come as you run back along the same trail. That means another struggle with both up and down stairs. I really am not liking these stairs one little bit. Its cooler now but the chaffing is killing me. Maybe I should ditch the shorts and run naked. Will they DQ me for that? At some point the trail becomes road. I should be able to make some time here but my unit rubs every time I try to go fast. Oh my god that is painful. Finally after what seems like an eternity I reach Happy days.

It is not so happy for me. I am only 35 minute under the cutoff here. I change my shorts again grab some soup and head off. I really need to haul ass now. Lucky for me fear is a great motivator. Unlucky for me the next section is really tough. I run very hard here but the terrain is beautiful and the trails weave along and between huge rocks. In the dark my headlamp makes everything blend together. The rocks are dull white, the roots are dull white, the sand is dull white. I slam the crap out of my toes on rocks many many times in the next hour but I run fast anyway. Then its into relentless hills, lots of climbing. I pass 15 people between the 2 aid stations. There are lots of bushes rustling, coyotes howling and strange animal nosies that I am not familiar with. Does anyone know what Bigfoot sounds like? I finally see the hills from the sound of music. You know the hills in that stupid movie well these are exactly the same but I can assure you I do not have a shit eating grin on my face like Julie Andrews when I run up and down them.

In at Pine Hollow I discover I am 30 minutes ahead the cut off. I have not made up any time at all even though I hauled ass. At this aid station you do a short 3.3 mile loop before coming back to the station. I ask Kim what the cutoff is then what the distance and cutoff is a the following station. The answers are not good. I tell her I dont think I will make it to the next station but will try. Just as I am about to head out for the short loop I see JD coming in from running it. He is an hour ahead of me. I tell him I am racing the cutoffs. He looks shocked. He asks Kim when the cutoff to the next station is. He suddenly realizes that he really doesnt have as much time as he though.

I head out on the short loop. Its really hilly, I mean really hilly oh yeah and more stairs. What the hell! I run as fast as I can and emerge out of the woods in decent time. I am 25 minutes ahead of the cut off. The times seem to be getting more aggressive and the mental fatigue of chasing the cut offs is beginning to wear me down.

I get the rocks out of my shoes and then head back out. I am fairly sure that I will not make the aid station in time but I got to try. I have sworn to never pull out of a 100 mile race again. If I miss the cut off so be it.

I grind through this section but I am slow. My earlier panic running has worn me down to nothing. 4 miles into the section it becomes clear I will not make it in time. Once the reality sinks in every ache and pain in my body makes itself known. I slowly make my way over the last 2 miles to meet Kim at Cover Bridge.

They are waiting for me there. They know I am coming as Kim has been waiting as well. It sucks that I am not going to finish but I did all I could to stay in this thing. No shame in timing out but that is little comfort. JD is just leaving the aid station minutes after I arrive. He will manage to make it to the end.

Post race

Everyone in our group besides me manages to finish although much slower then anticipated. I decide that Ohio sucks. Will I ever complete a race in that state?

As far as the actual race goes I got nothing but good things to say about it. The organization and course was excellent. The aid stations and the volunteers were outstanding. The weather well what can you say. I will most likely return to this race in the future.

BTW out of a field of 315 there were only 150 finishers. Also in looking at the splits it appears that only 5 other runners went longer then me and didnt finish.

Limberlost Race Report ... Injury and Training update .. BR 100 next weekend

2011-07-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

Limberlost 56k race report

This is going to be a short race report because this ended up being a short one for me. I have begun to feel that if Charlie Brown was an ultra runner this is the kind of season he would be having. You know the kind where whatever could go wrong will go wrong. How did I become the hard luck peanuts character anyway when usually I share more in common with Snoopy.

We headed up to Limberlost on July 16th. I would run the 56km as a last long run / training run for the Burning River 100 miler. Kim was running 28km as she ramps up the distance for her upcoming Pikes Peak Accent. I ran this last year and really love the trails here. Challenging and somewhat technical but also really beautiful.

It was a nice sunny day, great weather although it would end up getting very hot. Before you knew it we were lined up and ready to go. My plan was simple I would run the first 14km loop moderately fast, loops two and three easy and the fourth loop hard to finish it off.

The first loop went well. The trails were as nice as I had remembered from the year before. I ended up running with Stephan M. for about 7 km then dropped off a little as he was moving just a bit to fast. My HR was higher then I wanted but not to bad and I ended up finish the loop in 1:35 minutes right on schedule. A quick refuelling and refilling of the bottles and I was back out again.

A couple of km into the loop I noticed my stomach was a little unsettled, not a big deal but it did give me a small eureka moment. I realized that my nutrition problems the last few races are more then likely caused by the ensure I was taking. I ran using ensure in long races last year but never in really hot conditions. I now believe that heat + ensure = stomach issues for me so if I am right this could really help at Burning River.

I was feeling good now, it was hot but manageable and I was cruising along totally oblivious just like the Titanic until wham, I steamed head long right into the iceberg. Running along one of the flattest non technical areas on the entire course I stepped on something (no idea what) and rolled my ankle over badly before hitting the ground face first. I got up quickly nothing seemed broken but my ankle was hurting. Not so bad I couldn't run at all on it but bad enough. For #&*% sakes!!

I ran along slowly for the next 6km trying to see if the ankle would numb up or the pain would recede but no luck. It was slowly getting worse. At 25km I knew that the writing was on the wall. I could run slowly and still finish the race. I had run fast early and even walking I could get in before the cut off. The only problem with that was my ankle would be far worse for wear. I decide to shut it down and ended up walking the 3k out to the start / finish line.

Man this sucked. I felt really good except for my ankle which was only kind of hurt. I decided to take some time, tape the ankle up and see how it felt. After I got it wrapped I headed back out for a third loop. It felt no better then before. I contemplated continuing but I had a lot of time to think about things as I walked out the last part of my second loop. This was suppose to be a training run. If I kept going there was a real good chance I would hurt myself more and it might end up costing me my goal race at Burning River. I decided to error on the side of caution ( wow I know how unlike me is that!) and shut it down for the day. I turned around and walked back to the start finish.

Kim had a really good race and seems to be over her heel injury. Way to finish it strong honey.

Training / Injury update

Its a week later and now I know I made the right choice. My ankle is still hurting some but is improving every day. I got about 35 miles of running in last week and it was only mildly sore. With almost no running this week during my taper I am hoping it is fully recovered by race day.

I am really looking forward to the Burning River 100 this coming weekend. After such a tough go of it at the Mohican a little redemption is hopefully on the menu. Its looking like its going to be a hot one but hell it is July so what can you do. We will head down Friday with 4 other Ontario runners so should be a blast. Misery loves company.

What does failure teach you anyway

2011-07-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks of decompressing (read sulking) from my DNF at the Mohican I thought I would try to figure out what I learned from that experience. This ended up being no easy task. You always hear that there is nothing that leads to future success better then past failures and the lessons learned there. Although I do agree with this for the most part I would argue that success leads to future success better then failure does. That said some things must be experienced to be truly appreciated. If that wasn't true I wouldn't run these 100 milers I would just read about them and watch some videos. Mission accomplished.

Optimist or Pessimist

I think what you take away from a race / performance like this depends on how you see the world. There are those that see the glass half full (what went right) and those that see the glass half empty (what went wrong). Then there are people like me who just see half a glass. I think that to give an honest evaluation you got to take the good with the bad so here is what I learned.

1) I really suck running in the heat.

I should have learned this lesson last year after Niagara and Creemore but the message seems not to have gotten through. I just don't run well in the heat at the start of summer. I seem to do okay once I adjust to the heat later in the summer but I suck during that adjustment time. I tend to melt down quicker then the Wicked Witch of the West in a thunderstorm. Luckily this is solvable so its sauna training next April for me no matter what race I am gearing up for.

2)Volume training works for me

All the many many miles that I put in over the winter actually did work for me. True I basically had no life but hey something has to be sacrificed on the alter of extreme stupidity so human sacrifice it was. The higher mileage did work for me just not in the way that I had anticipated. Logging the extra miles I expected to run my next 100 milers in a faster time as I would be able run stronger later in the race. Unfortunately I didn't actual run much faster due to stomach issues. Still I think that it will pay off speed wise in the near future when I don't end up spending a lot of time at aid stations puking.

What those many miles did do for me though was speed up my recovery from long races and protect me from injury. Last year I got injured in all 4 races that I ran that were over 100km. Nothing serious but still they caused breaks in training that I didn't really want or need. This year so far no problem and my legs have bounced back really quickly after races.

As an added bonus my wife still talks to me ..... sweet

3)Focus and proper prep is everything for me

My lack of focus going into the Mohican was probably the biggest mistake I made. After being so sick at Sulphur I think I got tentative on this one. Going into a race just looking to finish does not work for me and on the few occasions that I have tried this it has gone badly. I need to come out fairly hard and push early to get my head into the game because if I don't I never will find a groove. Even with races that are being used for training runs I try to run hard for a while early before pulling back. If I don't the run has and will become an epic disaster for me. I become a runners version of the Hindenburg, going down in a huge burst of flames.

My prep was okay for the race with the exception of one big mistake. I did not instruct my crew properly on what to do if I decided to DNF. After running five 100 milers and 24 hour events over the last year I had began to take it for granted that I would just push through no matter what. The thought that I might DNF never really even crossed my mind. Talk about arrogance especially for a guy that runs middle of the pack times but thats the truth. The idea that I might drop was never even a consideration until I decided to drop.

In my first few races Kim (and pacers if I had any) were told to not let me drop unless I required an ambulance. I told them to do everything possible to make me stay on the course until race officials pulled me. After a number of successful races I stopped giving these instructions so when I actually decided to drop I left Kim in a really bad position. She wasn't sure what she should do. By the way this in not a criticism of Kim at all. I blew it by not being clear on how the situation (which she had never been in) should be handled. She took me at my word that I had to stop running. Nobody should take me at my word, ever.

4)Nutrition whats that all about

Okay pretty simple, I had my nutrition down to a science. Then at Sulphur I had major stomach issues. At Mohican I stayed on my nutrition pretty good for most of the race but aid stations were problematic later in the day. I had stomach issues again but I think this was mostly due to heat exhaustion. It wasn't the same kind of nausea I had at Sulphur. I think my nutrition is solid but I guess I will find out for sure at Burning River.

I am also going to pick up a camelback with extra pockets so that if I run into another situation where I am not getting what I need for food from aid stations that I will be able to carry more of my own nutrition.

5)DNFing when you can still keep moving is bad

Should be self explanatory but really isn't. I had no idea that dropping would have the effect on me that it did. I was a second guessing, grumpy, pissed off, pain in the ass, miserable guy for weeks. I never want to feel like that again. In my only other DNF there was no issue for me, when 46 out of 49 runners have to drop due to insane weather you know that there was really no choice involved. This time it was a choice based on getting into a dark place and then convincing myself not to keep going as I wouldn't make the cutoff anyway. Now I do think that I probably wouldn't have made the cutoff but who can say for sure. If I had kept going even at a zombie shuffle pace and got pulled from the course I guess I would know and there would be no second guessing.

When I DNF again (and it will happen as thats just part of running ultras) I am going to be sure that there is no other choice.

Limberlost this weekend

Will be running 56km at Limberlost this weekend as a last really long run in getting ready for Burning River. I ran it last year and it was some of the nicest trail I have ever run on. It will be 4 times around the 14km loop for me. Going to run this with the same approach as PYP, loop 1 hard, loop 2 and 3 more laid back, loop 4 try to crank it up again. Should be a blast.

Mohican 100 Race Report - Meltdown in Ohio

2011-06-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

Well now, this race definitely didn't end up going as planned. It's the same old story with Ultra Marathons and especially with 100 mile races. You can train your ass off, plan out everything to a tee but in the end it often comes down to the day, the course, the adversity and the uncontrollable. This race feature all of these things and more.

I am going to try and stick with the facts in this report. You know the what, where, when, why stuff. Hopefully next week I will be able to do a follow up post digging deeper into the some of the things I learned from the race about myself and running hundreds. After all nothing teaches you more about success then the occasional failure.

Prerace

I had been looking forward to this race for months. This was my first non Canadian 100 mile race so I was totally stoked. I had lots of mileage under my belt and had run the 100 at Sulphur Springs 3 weeks earlier. You know what they say nothing gets you ready better for a 100 miler then running another 100 in "training". Okay maybe only I say that. My legs felt great and completely recovered.

A week before the race I began the ritualistic weather watch. At first things were looking really good but by Tuesday mild temperatures in Loudonville, Ohio had changed to hot and humid. Each day the predictions got worse and by Friday morning it was calling for 29C with humidity making it seem like 40C. I was thinking maybe I should pack oven mitts into my drop bag.

On Friday morning we picked up JD and headed down to the US. The drive was fine and uneventful. We got to the motel we were staying at and checked in. Nice little place, basic but decent which was fine by me. We dropped our stuff off and headed over to race registration.

Registration was quick and easy but the same can't be said for the pre race meal. We ended up standing in line for almost an hour to get fed which caused us to miss the first part of the pre race meeting. On a positive note there was free beer so at least we got to drink while we waited. Free beer is always awesome as far as I am concerned.

The next morning it was up bright and early. Steve B. had arrived late that night so he hooked up with us at 4 AM and we all headed out to the race start.

Originally I had planned to run this race with the same approach as all my other races. That meant start off running not to fast but right on the edge, push a little early on then settle in. By the time I got to race day I had reconsidered this approach. A bit of honesty here, I was worried about the weather / heat. You might even say I was becoming mentally obsessed about it. I really let it get inside my head which is awful stupid. I mean the weather is the weather and with out my Pinkie and the Brain weather controlling machine I was not going to be able to do anything about that anyway. At the same time I was worried about what had happened at Sulphur. It was a very rough race for me and I think that as JD mentions in his blog I was a little gun shy. I am after all not a big fan of barfing.

This was my first and maybe biggest mistake. I walked into this race and approached it to tentatively. Bad, Bad, Chris. At the time I called it being cautious but that was a lie I was telling myself. I can not run races and be tentative AT ALL. Some people can do this and it works for them. It never, ever works for me. Not ever. I have to run controlled but aggressive early or I never find my rhythm.

I decided to run with JD and Steve since I was going to take it easy early and was just running to finish. Steve who is a much faster runner then both of us was doing the same thing. I also thought this would be fun (which it was). The thought of not finishing never really entered my mind.

Race

Some video that JD shot on the run.

We lined up at the start and were off. Here all three of us made another crucial mistake. We lined up way to far back in the pack. The 50 and 100 milers all started at the same time and since we were planning to run easy early on we thought we place ourselves accordingly. Man were we wrong. Within 5 minutes we were into the woods on single track behind a massive traffic jam.

The going was slow on this 6 mile section. Lots of climbing so it would have been slow anyway but it was really slow at this point. It was becoming apparent very early that this was going to be a tough course. We climbed and climbed, some downhill and more climbing. Almost no flat running in this section of mostly single track trails. The trails were beautiful but difficult and the line ahead of us didnt allow for much running at pace when we did hit the few flats and downhills.

As we hit the first aid station it was already brutally humid and hot even though it was not 7 am yet. I was soaking wet and looked like someone that had just had shower with their cloths on. I dont think I have ever sweat as much as I did in this race.

A quick refill of the bottles and we were back on the course. Now 6 miles into the race we were finally getting a little bit of running room so we got on pace. Another decent section of the course which was almost all single track, some technical running, lots and lots of hills but a few more runnable sections then the last area.

It was hot but I felt good. The three of us joked, chatted and amused each other, great stuff. We gelled and took our salt tabs every hour like clockwork. Then we were into the second aid station. Man was it getting hot. I found a bucket of ice water with a sponge in it and soaked my head. The cold water was like a jolt of electricity zapping me back into the moment.

Onto the next 6 mile section (almost all the aid stations were about 6 miles apart on the 27 mile loop) which was a slower more difficult trail. The most beautiful but also the hardest to run this section included a slow decent down stone steps to the base of a waterfall, a tough technical run up and along an overgrown creek and a crazy climb straight up where you had to scale the hill by using the roots of trees like a ladder. Oh and dont forget those hills, lots and lots of hills.

At the covered bridge aid station we quickly refueled, filled the bottles and headed out into the next section of the course. Lots more single track but fewer hills this is probably the fastest part of the entire course. We initially made good time but about 4 miles out we ran into the back of a huge line of runners. There was not really anyway to pass people without expending huge amounts of energy so we joined in with the conga line of maybe 20 other runners and worked our way to the next aid station.

Its now mile 23 and even though its only around 10 am the heat is unbearable. The conga line arrives at the next aid station. I am overheating and seek out the ice cold water and sponge. A walk in freezer would also be great but I know thats not going to happen. I see the bucket but to my horror there is no ice in the water. It is only mildly cool and doesn't do the trick for me at all. We head back into the woods having managed to leapfrog over most of the conga line at the aid station. We are still all in good spirits, the loop is taking longer then expected but the course is tough.

The next section of the course turns out to be the hardest of all. The first 3 miles are okay and as we head towards the area called the private property section a runner heading back the other way gives us a dire warning. "Be careful and take it easy on that section" he says.

This section is brutal with as far as I can remember 6 major climbs and the same number of very steep downhills. Its relentless, slow and the only flat section is through a field where you are totally exposed to the sun. The heat is really taking a toll on me. My heart rate is very high for the effort I am expending. On some of the last hills my breathing is becoming shallow and hard.

We finish the loop, change our shirts, get a little food from Kim and head back out with 7 hours gone in the race. This is much slower then anticipated ( I was expecting maybe 6 hours for the loop) but still not a worry. My legs feel great, the breathing was a little bit of a worry but after refuelling I feel fine.

We move along at an okay pace our second time through this section. We are now into the afternoon and its scorching hot. I start to think that I might spontaneously combust, bursting into flames at any moment. We pass a runner sitting on the side of the trail who is totally out of it. Another runner is there checking to see if he is okay. We stop to see if there is anything we can do, there isn't so we move on.

I am seeing less and less runners on the course now. Some of the 50 milers might be done but still the herd is obviously being culled by the weather. Soon we are back to the water fall and root climb. I am fading, suffering a slow death. Its like being roasted slowly on a spit over an open fire. Roasted Chris basted with warm chocolate gels seems to be the special on the menu.

The three of us nearly run out of liquids on this leg even though we all carry 2 bottles. Finally we make the covered bridge and refuel. I am in big trouble now. I am still sweating but I have been panting like a dog for more then an hour. My breathing is quick and shallow. Nobody says anything but we all know what this means. Its heat exhaustion and the beginnings of hypothermia (which can lead to heatstroke).

We are back out on the trail for the next section. Its very runnable and we do okay but are slow. I am still panting, JD is beginning to getting dark and Steve is starting to worry about the time. I am desperately hoping for a bounce back. We make it into the aid station at around the 48 mile mark. Its about 5 o'clock and I know that the sun will go down soon and hopefully give me some relief. I am still sweating (a good sign) but am starting to feel nauseous. I have been looking forward to getting food at the aid station. I need solid food here. I am out of luck. There is only grazing food here. There are not even sandwiches made (which I cant eat any more of anyway). I get some melon into me but I know its not enough. JD wants a sandwich and we waste 10 minutes waiting for them to make him one.

Back on the trail for the 6 miles of the loop we try to make good time running all the flats and downhills. I am getting worse, starting to get dark and really suffering. Steve is pressing and I am having a hard time keeping up. JD is faltering as well. We all know that at the present pace and night coming cutoff times are starting to look like they might become an issue.

Steve tries hard to get us to bear down but its no use. I know I am only going to get slower. I might make it but then again I might not. Both JD and I tell Steve to go ahead as he is much stronger then us at this point. He doesnt want to do this and fights us on it. Finally I tell him that I can't live with him DNFing because I am to slow. He finally reluctantly agrees to go and soon JD and I are running alone.

The 2 miles of brutal hills on the loop nearly kill me. We decide that we will stop at the start finish for as long as needed to rebuild. This ends up taking us a long time but we both are at least able to get back out on the trail. We have 16 hours to run the 23 mile loop twice. Thats doable even at a slow pace but its going to be close. I need to get this loop done in 7:30 to be safe.

Its getting dark and is a little cooler. I feel okay and the panting has stopped as we head back into the woods. Strangely my legs feel great. The second we step back into the woods the humidity hits us like hammer in the face. Things go okay for the first hour. We run all the flats and downhills but it doesnt last. By hour 2 I am panting again and working hard to keep from puking. I feel sick in a totally different way then at Sulphur and a sure that the heat is to blame. I fight the urge to clear the decks because I don't want to lose the food I took in just an hour ago. We are forced to walk until the next aid station. I tell JD I am feeling better but now he is having problems. He is also worried there will be no real food at the next aid station. This is making everything really dark. I try to quell his fears.

We make the aid station and JD is right. There is nothing but 50k pick pick food and sandwiches. Nothing hot or substantial. I have never seen anything like this before. I had just got my nutrition sorted and now it will take another hit.

Now I don't want to whine to much about the lack of proper ultra food at most of the aid stations but this was a real problem. I am not a picky eater but I don't think that I should have to be worried about there being proper food at aid stations as a runner I have a lot to worry about already. 20 hours into this race I have seen no soup (expect from Kim), no potatoes, no solid hardy stuff like chicken, lasagne etc.. Now usually this is not a problem for me as I have crew but there was only crew access allowed at two points during the night. That means 12 miles between crew points. If you are not going to feed me then you should at least make it so my crew can. That said obviously some runners were able to deal with this so there you go.

We are back out on the trail. Somewhere at around 3 miles later I am so sick I am doing everything I can not to vomit. Oh shit suddenly I have a new problem. My sexy fun parts are burning like they have been lit on fire. From no chaffing to this is 2 seconds, what the hell. I can barely walk. I will have lube and fresh dry shorts once we get to Kim but that doesn't help me now. I have no choice so now I am forced to run / walk with my hands down my shorts protecting my tender part from rubbing.

I am in a really bad state physically. JD is bad of as well. As we get close to fire tower where Kim can meet and feed us we start to talk about dropping. It seems like a totally reasonable thing to do. It will be borderline whether we will make the first cutoff time at the end of this loop. I convince myself that I cant make it so why try. Yes kids my mind has become mush.

We see Kim and tell her that we are done. Soon we are back at the start line and officially DNFed.

Post Race

Less then 2 hours after I drop I begin to regret my decision. I think this will plague me for a long time to come.

Steve is able to finish and collect his belt buckle. Congrats man way to stick it out.

The course was really great, I mean really great and easily the hardest I have been on in my short ultra career. I hope they will either bulk up the aid stations they have, add more or both. I will run this again next year as I have not taken my defeat very well at all.

Sulphur Springs 100 race report

2011-06-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well it seems like it has taken me the better part of forever to finally get the race report for the Sulphur Springs 100 done, kind of like finishing the race itself. So if your so inclined and have time to kill read on.

Earlier this year I had decided that I wouldn't run 100 miles at Sulphur. Although I enjoyed running it last year I made plans to instead run the Mohican 100 on June 18th and figured that maybe running 2 different 100 milers only 3 weeks apart was pushing it. I would still run but maybe 50 miles or even 50k. Then came a really solid winter of training and like any runner who is dumb or crazy enough to entertain the thought of running these kind of distances I began to come up with ways to justify running both races.

Sulphur is hilly but not too technical, and a loop course so easy for Kim to crew. I know the course, many other runners that would be racing, and was in great shape. I was also thinking that this would be a good race to put up a solid time with the expectation that the 20km loop would be fast, pretty dry, and with any luck the weather would not be too hot.

The main goal of the race would be to run it as well as I could but more important to come out of it healthy and in decent shape to run the Mohican. As with most races I went in with 3 running goals. A goal - sub 24 (possible but not likely), B goal - sub 26 (should be very doable if I have no major issues), C goal - just finish (sometimes easier said then done).

Pre race

So a week before the race the hope for a nice dry, fast course were fading fast. It was muddy and with rain in the forecast all week there was little hope that it would dry out. Not much you can do about that but I was really concerned about my feet given how very muddy conditions at Haliburton had all but destroyed them last year. I was going to need my feet for Mohican so it was time to search out some good foot care advice from more experienced runners. Luckily I knew just who to ask.

I talked with Stephan and Kinga and got some great advice. Kinga told me to apply baby diaper cream with the highest zinc content I could find to my feet twice a day during the week as a preventive measure. Yeah I know it sounds kind of weird but I am up for anything that might help. She also kindly offered to tape my feet for me before the race, sweet.

On Monday I joined them and a few others for a 23k final longish run on the Bruce Trail before the race. Kinga taped my feet so I could test out how it felt. The run went well and the tape didn't bother me at all. I was a little worried as my knee was still sore from Bear Mountain but it held up well. It's always nice running on the Bruce trail, I particularly enjoyed the part of the woods that was totally flooded out requiring us to wade through a stretch of thigh high water. Good times, good times.

Friday came up quickly and we headed out to Ancaster for the prerace dinner and to pick up our race kits. The dinner was good and it was nice to get a chance to chat with some of the other 100 mile runners. After dinner Kinga taped my feet (thanks again Kinga!) and we headed back home. I was really glad we had decided not to camp, it was cold, wet with more rain coming overnight. Sure we would have to get up earlier to drive back out but I would rather give up extra sleep time to be warm and cozy in my own bed.

Saturday morning we headed out bright and early. Okay so not bright but early. It was still dark and by the time we hit Hamilton we were seriously fogged in. Even with the fog we made good time getting to the race. I was there in plenty of time to get ready, Kim was running the 25km which didn't start for a couple more hours. Soon we were lined up and it was time to go.

Race

Loop 1 - all systems go

Even though I had run this race last year there were some big changes to the course. The start had been moved due to increasing numbers of racers and the infamous "Gulch" had been removed. In its place was a very nasty downhill on dirt road. It was steep, winding and all around mean spirited. You get to run down it at the start of each 20km loop and then back up it at the end. For those of you counting along at home thats 8 times each way.

As we hit the bottom of the hill it was quickly into the woods where it became immediately apparent that I was going to be in for some muddy going. Splash, splash, splash, and its wet feet 5 minutes into the race. Sweet. Within the first 15 minutes or so the pack began to seperate out nicely and soon I found myself running along with Stephan M. He told me that he was expecting to run around 2:30 for the loop so I decided to stick with him for a while. Last year I had come out way to fast (running 2hr) and I really wanted to make sure I stayed at my planned paces early in the race. I had come in planning to run around 2:20 and staying comfortable so running with Stephan worked out nicely for me. Strangely enough I had run the first 25 miles of Haliburton with him last year.

We cruised along at a decent pace avoiding the mud as much as possible and I was able to use loop one to get a good read on the course conditions and changes from last year. It was muddy but not Seaton or even Haliburton muddy. Of course with 700 runners coming on to the trails for the shorter races in 2 hours the trails would be getting worse but so far it was okay.

We passed the gatehouse aid station going out at 3km and then came back through it at 9km. At some point around 7km I began to feel a hot spot on my heel. What the heck, already? I told Stephan that I might have to change my socks but less then a km later the hot spot was gone. Not sure what the heck that was about maybe just something in my shoe so in the end I didn't need to stop.

Soon we were on the second half of course. It was up the hill down the hill dodge the mud, repeat until we hit a low lying area at about 11km. This was a new part of the course which some other runners had been referring to as the blog / swap area. Well I got to say this part just sucked. It was long swamp grass and deep water and mud. No way around it you just had to plug through it and try to not hit the deepest parts if possible. Pick the wrong line and there is a good chance you would be digging out you shoe after it had been sucked right off your foot.

Once you got through this it was onto a logging road and then into the next aid station. I got a quick bottle refill and was soon back on the trail and into the lollipop loop. So far everything was great. I was fuelling properly, taking my salt tabs and felt good. We ended up making short work of the next 6km and then headed for the final hike up that stupid country road hill climb. As we got about half way up we saw the start of the 10km coming down. It was like a herd of elephants coming towards us. I also saw Kim stuck right in the middle of this pack of hundreds of runners. Although she was running the 25km she had the misfortune of finishing the first 5km spur and coming back through the start/finish at the exact moment the 10k started. As she passed us she looked like she was trying to avoid getting trampled by the faster shorter distance runners.

Then we were back through the start finish and ready for round 2.

Loop 2 - carefully keeping it in check

A quick stop to down an ensure and get a new water bottle and I was headed back down the hill. First lap came in at 2:17 so really good pacing for me. I was right where I wanted to be. So far so good. The course was not as bad as I had imagined it to be. The fog had cleared up and it was not too hot but I did find that it was very humid.

I ran the first 5 or 6k of this loop alone. I had thought that Stephan had gone back out just before me but didn't see him. At around 7km I saw Steve B. and Kinga about 100 meters ahead so I picked it up just a little to catch them and then spent the next hour or so running with them. Soon Stephan joined us, turns out he was behind me and before long we heading back up the road hill from hell again.

Once again my pacing was right on. I was expecting to run 2:30 and ran 2:28. I was well fuelled and feeling really good. I was blissfully unaware of the trouble that was waiting for me just a little ways down the trail.

Loop 3 - something wicked this way comes

Things are going really well. I am right on pace and feeling great. I run most of this loop alone. Most of the people I have been running with are now running ahead of me as I am very focused on staying on pace. The mud is a pain but has not cost me much time and not a huge amount of extra energy. That said by this time the trail has become much worse then earlier in the day. All the extra pairs of feet from the 50k, 25k and 10k races have made some parts of the trail into muddy messes.

I cruise along enjoying the midday sun and the run. I see a big ass deer in the middle of trail as I head along the side of the Orchard. It watches me approach but does not move. I begin to yell at it, "Look out, coming through". At first it ignores me but eventually it realizes I am not going away so it reluctantly walks off into the woods. As I pass it I look into the woods to see the deer looking back over its shoulder at me. It gives me a clear what the hell is your problem look as it watches me pass.

I pass the aid station at the start of the lollipop loop, right on pace. It is here that things start to go sideways. It starts with a little strange feeling in my stomach. Not a pain, just a little unsettled feeling. I think now thats kind of odd. Less then 2km later, as I climb the long steep hill that will take me out onto the ridge along the open fields, that little feeling becomes a small churning mass of trouble. I am starting to feel sick.

I spend the next 4k back to the start finish line trying to figure out what is happening. I have hydrated, fuelled, taken my salt, run my proper paces. I have done everything right up to now yet I am starting to get stomach problems. By the time I crest the evil country road hill my stomach is like a miniature butter churner.

Loop 4 - Oh dude what the hell

I manage to finish loop 3 in 2:40 minutes, 5 minutes slower then planned but most of that time was lost once my stomach started acting up. I sit and take a few extra minutes at the start finish in an attempt to deal with the issue. I get some soup into me, along with some ginger ale and pepto.

I also let Kim know I am having an issue. I just cant figure this out. I have my nutrition down pretty well at this point. I have only had stomach problems once before (oddly enough, last year at sulphur). I have never had problems this early in a race. Stomach issues at 55km, whats up with that?

I do what I can to deal with it and then head back out on the course. I keep it slow on purpose to allow my stomach a chance to settle down. At 9km at the gatehouse I get more soup from Kim. I dont know if my stomach is better or worse I just know that its not good. I am struggling yet my legs feel fresh, frustration begins to creep in. Over the next hour I see a number of other runners that are also struggling. I am coming to the realization that I most likely look as bad as they do. Oh Man not good.

Somewhere around the 17k mark (77km overall) I have my one and only bout of serious self doubt. How am I going to go another 50 miles if I am this nauseated. I slowly climb the road and hill that I have now nicknamed mount evil.

I end up finishing the loop in 3:08, about 15 minutes slower then planned.

Loop 5 - churning, churning, churning

In a planned effort to preserve my feet I change my shoes and socks. My feet are in good shape so far. I try to get some food into me but my stomach is rolling around like the Bering Sea on an episode of Deadliest Catch. JD is at the start finish (he is pacing someone later on). My shoes changed I want to get going but cant. I tell Kim and JD I am just going to sit and catch my breath. I have been sitting for more then ten minutes but my breathing is still rapid like I am still running. I put on a brave face but I am completely freaking out on the inside. I remember mentioning to JD that I cant believe how bad I feel. JD gives me some of his ginger candies. After 20 minutes I drag my ass out of the chair and stumble off down the hill.

I can remember very little about this loop. I know Kim met me at the gatehouse with some soup. I ran when my stomach would let me and walked when it wouldn't. Sometimes I would feel a little better but any major climbing would be followed by waves of nausea.

So just how bad was I? After the race both JD and Kim were thinking that by the way I looked at 80km that I would probably drop. Kim told me she was thinking up things to say to me to keep me going when I eventually told her that I was going to drop. Yikes.

This loop went slow. I was no longer thinking about paces or time. Running a decent time was all but out of the question now. I was now in put one foot in front of the other and keep going mode.

Loop 6 - All aboard the vomit express

I grabbed a seat and tried to regroup again. Any hope of bouncing back seemed lost. I felt worse at this point then at any other time of the race. The sun had just set. I wanted to eat but couldn't. Steve Blackburn had come out to pace me for the next 20km section of the race. I sat for a long time trying to get my body to a place where I might be able to eat but no way. I dont know how long I sat there but it was a long time. Finally I decided fuck it, this is not going to help me so might has well get moving. When I stood up a wave of nausea and dizziness nearly caused me to fall over (steve and someone else, JD maybe actually grabbed me before I fell). Then off we went.

I felt really bad as I began to think that my pacers may have come out for nothing. Steve and I made our decent down mount evil. Both of my calves had crapped up into small little baseballs of hatred and were not functioning. Luckily a big downhill is exactly what you need when that happens ( for those that dont get it thats called sarcasm). I told steve we would run when I could and walk when I had to.

I was still in good shape to finish as long as I kept moving even if I had to walk most of the way. Somewhere around 7km JD and his runner passed us looking good. Soon after we were into the gatehouse at 9km. I downed a couple of cokes and then I felt compelled to quickly walk away from the tented area where I proceed to put my hands on my knees and spent the next 10 minutes projectile vomiting.

Man it was nasty. Liquid coming out your nose is never much fun. This is really the first time I have cleared the decks in a 100 and I did not enjoy the experience at all. Worse of all it had to happen right next to the aid station. I guess thats just in keeping with me trying to create a spectacle where ever I go. One thing that was really clear to me by the volume of liquid that came out of my stomach was that I was not processing anything at this point. Not good at all.

I called to Steve to join me and headed back out. Someone said I should feel a lot better after that but it didnt seem that way to me. Maybe a little better but not much. Fifteen minutes and a couple more bouts of puking later we actually started to be able to run a little. At the next aid station I asked for something that would help with the stomach and the guy gave me some crackers (they did help). Also a super big thanks to some unknown runner that was at the aid station, I think he might have been in an earlier race but maybe he was in the 100. He gave me 3 ginger candies at the aid station which seemed to really help me over the next few hours so thanks man. I really need those.

We slowly finished out the loop. At one point we saw another guy lying along the side of the trail. Steve stopped to make sure he was okay. He said he was having stomach issues and was just trying to get it together. I think I might have grunt nodded to this as that was all I was really able to do at this point. Then we were back up mount evil and ready for loop 7.

Loop 7 - Go zombie Go

I once again had a long delay getting out of start finish area. I changed my muddy socks but not my shoes. I had a second pacer Ryan for the next 20km. I felt like crap but was now sure I would finish with only 40km to go. My legs were tired but not dead at all.

Down the hill and into the darkness we went. As we hit the first mud patch Ryan fell on his ass in the mud. He asked me not to tell anyone that less then one minute onto the trail he had wiped out. I told him there was no way I would mention that in my blog. Yeah right. In the guys defence he is not a trail runner and has most likely never run trail in the dark so dont feel too bad Ryan. After a little laugh we started our long oddesy around the loop.

I didnt feel good but wasnt puking so that was okay. Ryan did a great job keeping me moving and entertained when needed. I was super lucky to have such great people guiding me through the night. Before I knew it the sun was coming up and I was finishing loop 7, one more to go.

Loop 8 - The end is near

I was still a mess but I knew I would be finishing. A big thanks to Charlotte V. who all but forced me to take rice crackers from her at the aid station. I didnt want them but she would not take no for an answer. Good thing too as I think this ended up helping my stomach a lot.

I took a brief rest and then was off down the hill. Lots of time left before the cutoff. I had 6 hours to do 20km. I figured that I could manage that. My stomach had now settled just enough so that I could run consistently. Not fast but consistently. For the first time in 3 loops I was able to run all the flats, downhills and even some of the uphills. I kept it nice and slow in order to keep the barf monster at bay. No point pressing it as my goal had become just finishing a long time ago. I was also bonking really hard as I could not keep food down.

Around 4 hours later I was slowing walking up mount Evil for the final time. Then it was a quick jog around to the finish line and I was done.

Post Race

I have never been so happy to finish a race in my life. I tried to drink my traditional post run beer but couldnt even get that down.

I ended up finishing in 28:14:53 much slower then I expected but thats okay.

The Good

My feet came through the race in great shape. No blisters and no water damage.

Also my legs felt solid and strong the entire race. All that volume training didnt help much in the race due to my stomach but man did it pay off in the recovery. I was walking normal in 2 days, no injuries at all. Knee was not an issue. I am in great shape for the Mohican this coming weekend.

The Bad

I have no idea what happened with my nutrition. I spent a good part of last year getting it all figured out and now it seems like I am starting from scratch again. I think I am going to chalk it up to one of those things and not change much for the Mohican.

Next up Mohican 100, June 18th

Sulphur Springs 100, a change of shoes, knee update

2011-05-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Sulphur Springs

The Sulphur Spring 100 miler is this weekend. I would like to say I am nervous but honestly I think I have become too dumb to be nervous. I originally signed up for this 2 weeks ago during a short bout of insanity. I ran it last year and thought okay its a loop, its a semi fast course, not to technical and has been dry for the last few years. I am going to do this.

Well forget about dry, currently the course is muddy and looks like it will get worse before Saturday. Wet feet for 26ish hours, been there before and its not fun. Oh well what can you do. I will tape the feet on Friday and spend the next 4 days applying baby diaper rash cream to them twice a day ( yeah I know most of you are thinking what?). I am also thinking of ditching gels all together during the race and just using ensure instead and toying with the idea of running with one of my water bottles filled with coke instead of heed in the second half of the race.

I have the Mohican 100 in three weeks so not a great deal of recovery time but I was thinking that with my base I should be okay. Going to have to really be careful with the feet tho.

My knee seems to be okay. I had a good run of 22k in Milton on bruce trail monday and all seemed good. Really great place to run. The wading through near waist deep water and bog was great prep for this weekend. There was a small group of us so it was a lot of fun. Big thanks to Kinga and Stephan for giving me an invite to go out with them.

New Shoes

At the start of the season I also changed trail shoes. I moved away from Solomon and am now running in La Sportiva. Training in wildcats and racing in Crosslites. I cant believe how light the racing shoes feel. So far so good and am super happy with them.

A huge thanks to Derrick Spafford at Health and Adventure for taking the time to give me a great deal of insight into the different shoes. Thanks man.

That is all.

Toronto Marathon Race Report

2011-05-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Toronto Marathon Race Report

Okay so this race report is going to be shorter then my long drawn out usual reports. I am calling it a shorter report for a shorter race.... HA. Sunday May 15th was the Toronto Marathon. This race used to held in the fall until former mayor David Miller and his socialist cronies on the Toronto City Council decided to make the organizers bend over and grab there ankles in a disgusting display of attempted social engineering and the political favouritism. The Toronto Marathon had to move or more then likely it was going to be eliminated.

Crap, starting to rant and I don't want to get too into this issue at this time. I promise to do a much bigger post just on how these guys got screwed over in the next few weeks. That said they were put into a near impossible situation and handled it very well.

Prerace

Okay so originally I was planning on running this marathon as hard as possible (racing it) to put up a good time. Those plans changed however when I decided to run Bear Mountain. Just a word of advice, don't run a 50k race and a 50 miler during your taper time, you will be tired during the marathon.

So my new plan was to run hardish for 21km and then assess but with the plan to most likely slow it down some in the second half. I had been having an issue with my knee all week. Now this is a chronic structural injury so I know exactly what the deal is. In my early 30's I suffered a complete tear of my ACL. That means I no longer have the ligament that goes from the top of the shin area to under the knee cap (think the middle of your knee). There is no fixing it outside of major reconstructive surgery. Usually this is not a problem and running doesn't aggravate it but every now and then it rears its ugly head unexpectedly. The last time was at Dirty Girls in 2010. I would wear a protective sleeve and hoped for the best.

I woke up Sunday morning to crappy weather with more crappy weather forecasted for the rest of the morning. It was rain with 25 - 30 km winds and it was going to stay that way. I thought about staying in bed but I was going to have to run on Sunday anyway so might as well do it in the race.

I had planned to meet JD at the start line well before the race. Unfortunately I was traveling to the start line using the TTC (city transit) so the 45 minutes it should have took ended up taking more then an hour and a half. No I am not bitter about that at all. Seriously.

Got to the race with a whole 5 minutes to spare, lined up and we were off.

The Race

I really like the course for the most part. Its a fast course with little uphill and a good amount of downhill in the first half of the race. I got off to a good start, fell into a sub 5 minute pace early and cruised along. It rained, it drizzled, it rained but we were mostly sheltered from the wind and it was not to cold so all was good.

I crossed the 21km mat in 1:43 and was in really good shape, not tired, not bonking and I was surprised that my legs didn't feel heavy given my 50 miler a week before. My quads felt good, my glutes were a little sore and my HR was good and controlled. I though maybe I would keep up this pace for another 10km and then slow it down a little. That way I don't torch my legs completely and might still end up with a PB.

This idea was very short lived and by 22k I started to feel some knee pain. Within the next km or 2 my knee was hurting really badly. It was so bad in fact that I actually began to think I was going to have to drop out of the race. I just could not run on it. GRRRR.

I continued to hobble along. I was suddenly really slow.We were now on the Lakeshore a place where I have run many times. It was miserable with cold rain and wind. Somewhere around 28km JD caught up to me. He was running with the 3:40 bunny. I chatted with him a bit and told him to tell Kim that I would be later to the finish then projected. I honestly thought that I would have to start walking soon because of my knee.

Soon I was at the turn and headed back along the Lakeshore in the opposite direction. The wind and rain was in my face again. How is that possible, how can the wind be in your face going east and then going west. Stupid Lakeshore.

At 33km my knee started to feel less painful (maybe it went numb) and I was able to pick it back up. It was very frustrating, I felt good but could not run due to the knee. As the knee pain lessened I picked it up to a 5:30 pace and then just held it there. I could very easily go faster but I was really worried that if I did the knee would start to get really bad again. More important then any time I might put up in this race was getting healthy for my upcoming 100 milers so I kept it slow and steady.

Soon we were off the Lakeshore and tackling the slight uphill all the way to the finish. I started to pass a lot of people along here and soon saw Kim near the finish line.

Then I was done.

Post Race

Saw a lot of people that I knew just after the finish line who had come in just before me or just after. Lots of Longboaters and a number of runners that were taking my Running Room clinic. It is so cool to see people finish that you helped to train.

I wanted to wait around for the other clinic finishers but was starting to get cold and that can be trouble after a long race so Kim and I headed home. I got changed and then we headed over to Coach Rogers place for a little Longboat post race get together. Thanks for the burgers Roger! They went great with my giant beer.

Final time 3:47:23

Next up Sulphur Springs

North Face Endurance Challenge Bear Mountain 50 mile Race Report

2011-05-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

A few months ago after returning from our running vacation in Florida I began to look around for a few US races that looked interesting and more importantly challenging. I already had a couple of 100 milers planned for the summer so I wanted something shorter then that but falling into the pushing your limits category. In the end I settled on the Pikes Peak Marathon (coming in August) and the 50 mile trail run at Bear Mountain, NY which is part of the North Face Endurance Challenge series.

What attracted me to this race was that it was suppose to be very technical trail with a lot of elevation change. It was also close enough to drive to and fit in nicely with my build up towards my first 100 miler this year so I signed up. I had no illusions about this being a tough race but didn't anticipate what a monumental struggle this run would eventually become.

Some surfing around the net gave me some good insight into the race and put me in touch with Eric via his blog. He ran it last year and was going to run it again this time so we made plans to meet up before hand. I also found out another Canadian runner, Kendra, who i hadn't met but travels in the same Ontario trail running circles as I do was going so we got in contact as well. I was definitely anticipating fun.

Prerace -Omens of Doom?

Things start out badly long before the official start of the race. I had problems sleeping on both Wednesday and Thursday nights. Kim is driving so I figure I can get a nap on route to the Catskills. As we pack up the car on Friday morning. I sit my phone and the GPS on the top of the car to open the door. I grab the GPS and promptly forget about my phone until we hear it bounce across the ceiling of the car while we are doing 120km on the QEW. Bye Bye Iphone it was fun while it lasted. It becomes the first road kill sighting of the day. The worst part about this (even more then what a new phone will cost) is that I actually paused before I put my phone down and considered the fact that I could forget it there. Then I did. Ridiculous!

The 8 hour drive goes okay but takes 10 with delays at the border. We see a great deal of road kill after we cross the border including a coyote and at least 3 deer. Large black crows are dinning on many of these. Poe would tell me otherwise but I try not to read to much into this. I feel like I am stepping into a Stephen King novel. You are on a road trip, no phone, dead things abound, soon an old lady will start screaming craziness at you, nothing good is coming if you keep going.

Also Eric is not going to run the 50 miler as he was dealing with an injury but invites us to dinner at his place once we get into town. We get to the motel which is okay but overpriced and somewhat seedy. After checking in we head over to Eric's place.

The drive takes about 20 minutes and we go up and over the mountain. I don't know if the mountain we go up and over is Bear Mountain but I don't like the look of it at all. What have I gotten myself into here?

At Erics Place

Eric and his wife Tani are great. We have a fantastic dinner and talk Ultras for awhile. Once again thanks guys!! I get some good insight into the course. It really sucks that Eric isn't running but he is going run the 5k on Sunday with Tani and the kids. Before we know it we are headed back to the hotel to get some sleep before the big race.

All I need is 5 to 6 hours sleep, that all. I still run and function fine on 5 hours, no problem. Tick tock, tick tock. I can not sleep. The time slowly ticks by as I lay in bed wide awake. I am so tired but sleep doesn't come. I try not to look at the clock but its impossible not to as I watch potential sleeping time disappear and there is nothing I can do about it. The last time I remember seeing the clock it said 1:30 AM which gives me only 2 hours until I have to get up. This is going to be bad.

At 3:30 the alarm goes off and we are dressed and are out the door in a flash. I am exhausted and have not even run a step yet. We head over to the hotel that Kendra is staying at and pick her up to give her a ride to the start line. Somehow we find the start area without issue although it was more luck then good planning. There is no parking at the start line, you have to park at another area and then take the race provided shuttle to the start. Kim drops us off and will meet me at aid station 4 (no crew access at 2 or 3) in a few hours. That way Kim can sleep a bit longer incase we drive back to Toronto Saturday night. I should be fine until that point which is 20 miles into the race. I have my breakfast ensure , salt tabs and will just use race provided gels until then. That way I can just run with a hand held bottle and no fuel belt early on.

At the start

Kendra and I get to the starting area and pick up our race kits. It is time for the comedy of errors to begin. I realize that I have left my breakfast ensure on the floor of the car with Kim. Thats 360 calories that I am really going to need to avoid bonking. This is really, really not good. Running 50 miles with no breakfast is a Kamikaze mission. No choice tho I am just going to have to deal with it.

The Race - Up, Up and Away

The race starts and I head out with the other 200+ runners into the darkness. The sun will soon be up but headlamps are needed early on. You have to keep your headlamp for the first hour or risk being DQed, that means I will have to carry it for the first 20 miles or dump it at an aid station and never see it again. I run at what I feel is a decent pace. For the first few miles it is mostly double track some areas are tough with lots of large lose rocks but not really too bad. It is however almost all uphill, nothing too steep but continuously uphill. Then we are into much harder single track. It is light by the time I hit the first aid station at 4 miles. I feel okay about my race so far.

Anthony Wayne to Silvermine

This feeling doesn't end up lasting long. The next section is generally all uphill on single track and very technical trail. I am noticing a problem with my breathing and HR. My HR is much to high for easy pace and easy breathing I am currently doing. I know this is due to the lack of sleep and messed up nutrition. I have to trust my breathing / effort level or my HR. I go with effort level even though I know deep down that this is a mistake. Soon I will come to regret this choice. I am still running well by all outward appearances but am starting to worry. The trail is really technical but stunning with part of it circling a lake. I am still in good shape at the 9 mile mark. I see my first bloodied runner at this aid station while I get a gel. The reality that there is good potential for a face plant on this course is driven home even harder.

Silvermine to Arden Valley

I make my first navigation error here going off course but only about 100 meters or so. I had been watching a runner in front of me and missed a turn in the trail. Easy to do as the turn was not so much another trail as it was scaling straight up a 50 ft. rock face. Some parts required both hands to climb. Damn so its going to be one of those course is it. The running up to and on the top of this ridge is really tough. Its still mostly climbing, steep climbs, smaller steep downhills and more climbs. Somewhere right around 12 miles I turn my ankle on a downhill. Damn it, same ankle injury that has plagued me all year. It hurts but is manageable for now. I make the Arden Valley aid station and down a couple of gels and some coke.

Arden Valley to Lake Skannatai

Some more gels and its back on the course. More technical, yeah really you probably see a theme by now, with single track along swamps and streams. For awhile there is mostly normal climbing nothing too tough, but only for awhile. Navigation error #2 happens here and I end up a good km off course with about 10 other runners. We have missed a turn into another huge accent. More climbing where hands are needed. We are soon on the top of a mountain, its just rock face with occasional trees. The view is spectacular and near the edges a little scary.

The "trail" I use the word lightly here, goes across the top for some time. There is more scaling up rock faces and down the other side. I am liking this but am slowing down. I am having a real issue with the trail markings. The trail is marked by orange tape and in the bright sunlight it is hard to see from a distance as it blends in with the background. I find myself stopping numerous times in an effort to find the next marking. This is pissing me off. Sometimes the markings cant actually be seen from the previous marking. Not a big deal on a well defined trail but some of this trail is not well defined at all. This is my only real complaint about this race. Please use a better marker color. On other parts of the course where there were other markings for the marathon etc. those colors were easy to see. The 50 miler is hard enough already!

I am slowly approaching Bonkland which is not a place that I really want to go but it just keeps getting closer. Finally I am off the top of the mountain and into the downhills. I am rolling into full Bonk mode now. All I need to do is hang on until the next aid station, meet up with Kim and get my nutrition sorted back out properly. Then all will be well again. I hear people cheering in the valley below and I am soon into the aid station. Salvation.

Lake Skannatati to Camp Lanowa

I have spoken too soon. There is no salvation here. I stand at the aid station looking around. There is no Kim. Kim is MIA. Every curse word I know is bouncing around head like a indian rubber ball. I refill my bottle, down a few gels and put a couple in my pocket for later. I look around the parking lot again. Where the hell is she. I am not sure what to do now and my bonking is making clear thinking hard. I do the only thing I can do. I head back out onto the trail.

This leg is 7 miles and I know that I am going to soon be in big trouble. I have one water bottle and one salt tab. Instead of coming back from my bonk its only going to get worse. I was suppose to now be carrying 2 water bottles, gels and salt. One bottle is not going to properly hydrate me for this long section which is followed by another long section.

I try my best to be mad at Kim but really I am not. I am just mad. Kim has lots of crewing experience and for her not to be at the aid station means that something went very wrong. It doesn't help that I have no idea what that is. The whole run is going to shit.

I can remember very little about this section except that I just worked hard to keep myself moving forward. I know it was hard but in my state a walk to the convenience store down the street would have been an epic track. I am forced to ration my liquids by Kms as to not leave myself with nothing to drink later in the section. Good lets add dehydration to the bonking just to make it more interesting.

The trail is still beautiful but in a mocking and menacing way. It is relentless and punishing. For the first time in the race I realize that I am so slow and destroyed that not only will I not put up a decent time but I may not be able to make the cutoffs. Wow, this really boggles my mind. It forces me over into the darkside. I still have half the race, 25 miles to go and am totalled.

Somehow I eventually come out of the woods and into the next aid station. I am not really sure how this happened.

Camp Lanowa to Tiorati

Kim is at the aid station. She tells me that she (and many others) could not find the last aid station. She drove around for 2 hours looking for it. Later I would find out from someone who knows the course that the road to the station is semi hidden and there are not signs. If you didnt know it was there you could drive past it 20 times and not see it.

I refuel, get my other fuel belt and head out again. Camp Lanowa is a cutoff point and I am in with 50 minutes to spare. The next aid station is the last hard cutoff before the finish line. I have 2:30 to run the 6.5 miles. I see a faint glimmer of hope. Seeing Kim has also lifted my spirits.

Back out on the trail I am working a new plan. Run when I can, walk if I have to but take it easy and let the calories I have and am consuming bring me back from the edge. This section has a lot of runnable areas with not too many crazy climbs. A km after the aid station I see a woman coming back down the trail in the opposite direction. Her face is blood and her nose looks messed up, it is stark reminder of what can happen out here.

I run, I walk, I run. I am forced to walk a very runnable section which I should be able to crush adding to my frustration. That said something good is happening. I am starting to come back just a little. I begin running more and a bit stronger. A small pack of runners catch up with me and I fall in with them. The company is good and soon I am at the next aid station feeling almost human again.

Tiorati to Anthony Wayne

We are into the aid station 45 minutes before the cutoff. I feel a huge wait lifted. I am feeling better and now only have to make the 14 hour cutoff at the finish line. I feel that barring injury this should not be a big problem.

This section is good running and I run the early part with the same group of runners as the last section. After a while the pack begins to break up and I am on my own again. It was nice while it lasted but I don't mind being on my own. Negative land has now been left a long way back on the trail.

My garmin is now giving me a low battery warning. I don't care about pace but like to know my distance and overall time so I hope it holds out for awhile. I didn't bring a stop watch as I expect to not be at all worried about the final cutoff at the finish.

There is now a new menace on the course, Black Flies. When I am running its not an issue but on climbs the begin to swarm. I have bug spray on but it is only semi helpful. They were annoy but not too bad at this point.

Anthony Wayne to Queensboro Road

Kim is waiting here for me and helps me refuel. I have 10 miles left, lots of time and am feeling much better. Soon I am out of aid station and back into the woods. I catch up to one of the guys from the pack I was in earlier who is now running with a pacer. We trade positions a couple times and then I decide to settle in behind them for awhile.

This section starts out very runnable and I am feeling tired but okay. After a couple of miles I begin to think that the hard part might be over. How dumb am I? We hit the bottom of a hill and begin to climb. The climb goes on for at least 1km and is peppered with false summits, eventually it becomes so steep that hands are needed but finally we are on top of Pines Mt. .

Both me and the other runner are numb to this sort of thing by now but his pacer cant believe how hard it is. A short run along the top and then it is back down. By back down I mean almost straight down. The trail is so steep that one false step will send you hurling down the next half mile to the bottom. Thank goodness this comes at 44 miles with my quads completely shot otherwise I might have some trouble with this.

All three of us make to the bottom safely and soon we are into the next aid station.

Oh ya and those Black Flies are now huge swarms. They are in my ears, up my nose, in my eyes. I get some extra protein just by breathing as I swallow fly after fly. Some I can spit out, others I cant. I must have eaten at least 25 flies on the accent of Pine Mt. alone. This is not fun.

Queensboro Road to 1777

I refuel and head out. The guys I was running with seem to have disappeared. I figure they are somewhere up ahead and I will catch up. I am beginning to fade again but only have 5.3 miles left and the worst is behind me or so I think.

This section ends up being the hardest for me of the entire race. It is only 2.5 miles but seems to go on forever. First is a climb up a very rocky old empty river bed ( I think). At the top the trail winds sideways along a hillside causing you to do some bowlegged running. It starts along the top of the hill and slowly winds down to the bottom. Bet you can guess what comes next cant you.

You got it another long, steep, rocky climb up Timp Pass past a nice waterfall. It is exhausting and now I am beginning to get peripheral vision hallucinations. Out of the corner of my eye I keep seeing things that are not there. Stumps, trees and bushes begin to look like animals, people and houses. So I just stop turning to look. I hope that there is no actual bear or I may not see it before it eats me.

I crest the pass, its nice and runnable up here. I will make some time up now. That idea lasts for about a 100 meters until I come to the downhill section. I know what your thinking. Downhill thats great. Well yeah not so much.

The trail is wide and semi steep but it is a bed of rocks. Think of a gravel driveway, now imagine that the stones are all the size of baseballs. Some are stable others are loose and you cant tell until you step on them. You cant step between them as its all rock. The downhill goes on for at least a half mile.

I take this area very slow, maybe even slower then the previous uphills. My injured ankle is wonky and the bloody faced woman is in the forefront of my mind. I will finish this race but not if I end up a breaking something. Eric had warned me about this section the night before but it is worse then I had imagined. Some things just defy description.

Finally after a lifetime in purgatory I am into the last aid station.

1777 to Finish

I refuel at the aid station. They are asking me how I am doing so I lie and say great. I often wonder if you should be honest at aid stations or not. They can after all pull you from the race. I lie to error on the side of caution.

There are 2.8 miles left and the running is the easiest that I have seen since early in the morning. Its mostly double track, fire road and downhill. My garmin has died long ago so I have no idea how long the last section or this section is taking me but I run the entire way just in case the cutoff is close. Before I know it I am out of the woods and making my way across the finish line.

Post Race

Official time 13:18:51

Picked up my race swag and grabbed something to eat. Great swag for this race, tech shirt, arm warmers, hand held water bottle, second water bottle. Awesome.

Kendra ended up finishing making it to the finish with a good 4 minutes to spare before the cut off. Way to go Kendra!

We decided to grab a hotel room and not drive back that night. We thought we might go out for a nice dinner but by the time I had a shower we were both so beat that it ended up being a stay in pizza and beer night.

I loved this course and yes it was really hard. I will be running this race again that is for sure.

PYP - Pick Your Poison 50km Race Report

2011-05-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

PYP - Pick Your Poison 50k

After DNFing at Seaton I was itching to get back out on the trails and get that stench of shame well behind me. I am well versed at running away from a stink I have just created so this should be easy. Lucky for me I have a pile of races (maybe too many races) lined up over the next little while so I didn't have to wait long. After 2 more good weeks of training Pick Your Poison was quickly upon me. Time to kick some ass.

Okay actually more like time to run a 50k as a decent training run. At least that was the plan. Have a normal training week, do a one day taper and then run PYP. I wonder is one day off of running really a taper? I am going to say absolutely, definitely, maybe.

The plan was simple going into this one. Since the course is conveniently a 12.5 km loop that is run 4 times it makes it perfect to get some pacing and controlled running in. Also going through the start area each time makes it easy to get the nutritional stuff down in preparation for longer races later in the season. I planned to run loop 1 hard, loop 2 and 3 easyish, loop 4 semi hard to hard. With the 50 miler at Bear Mountain coming up the following weekend I would try not run stupid hard and kill myself. I figure that with mountain in the race name I should have at least partially rested legs. I ran PYP last year and really liked it so had some idea about the course although there were some changes, lots of changes as it turned out.

Prerace

We got up early on Saturday morning and grabbed a ride with JD up to the Horseshoe Valley. A quick check of the weather on Friday night called for sunny skies with a high of 18 and more importantly ZERO chance of precipitation. Is it possible? Could I actually get to race on dry trail for the first time this year. The weather earlier in the week had made me sceptical about any chance of dry trail. Rain, cold, thunderstorms, rain and then 80km winds on Thursday had lead to me taking an extra off day so I was taking the weather predictions with a grain of salt. Hey wait an extra day off means a 2 day taper, is 2 days off a taper?

We made the race site with lots of time to spare, picked up our swag and got changed. It was sunny, warm and we heard that the course was in great shape with very little mud. I did not however like the look of the snow that was still on the side of the ski hill that we would be running up, over, around and across. Usually snow + sun = mud but I was never really very good at math.

Pierre tries to tell us that hills are our friends

The Race

Loop 1 - lost in La Mancha

As soon as the race started I realized that the course was going to be a lot different then last year. Last year we had started to climb the ski hill right off the start which made for slow going and some bottle necking early in the race. This year instead we turned in the opposite direction and ran a nice long flat section on dirt roads. I came out as hard as I dared to try and get myself some running room early on.

There was no time to get used to the flat running however as soon we were headed up our first climb and into a short bit of technical single track in the woods. My cardio was feeling good as I got into pace and pushed it just a bit but I was having some discomfort in my ankles and shins. Nothing big but kind of annoying. I have had this before when I have run hard early without a good warm up. It goes away as I get loose but makes for an uncomfortable first few KMs.

Soon it was past the first aid station and back out onto another ski hill for more climbing, a small plateau, and then more climbing. I remembered this course as being hilly last year but the changes had definitely added more hills.

Back into the woods for some double and single track as we passed the halfway point of the loop. I felt really good now so I started to push harder and was passing other runners regularly. I had hoped to run somewhere around a 1 hour 15 minute loop and was right on schedule.

More double track and then up the giant hill next to the golf course. I remembered this hill from last year. I hated it last year. It kicked me around like an old tin can. This year I decided I only despised it. The hill was just as bad but now it seemed kind of familiar like an old friend you cant stand to look at.

Then it was some decent flat running in the woods along the edge of the golf course to the last aid station on the course. As planned I ran right through not stopping at all and a quick U turn had us headed back the other way on a trail that ran parallel to the one we were just on. For a good half km you could see the runners through the trees on the other trail headed towards the aid station. I had built a small but growing gap between myself and a big pack of runners behind me. As I hit a long downhill the trail opened up to a dirt road and I could see Morgan (who I didn't know by name yet) in front of me and Paul C. further up ahead. I concentrated on keeping them in sight and trying to slowly close the gap without running a totally stupid fast pace.

More uphill, downhill and single track it was all going so well and then as is sometimes, okay often, the case, Karblamo!! I had climbed up a wide almost road like hill, took the corner and headed down another hill. I could still see the other guys just ahead of me but they had stopped running. Oh Oh, worse then this two other runners were coming up the hill in the other direction. Crap thats not good. I looked and yes I could see markings going down the hill. Suddenly we were a group of runners having an impromptu meeting in the middle of the trail. It was like a meeting of the entire infield on the pitching mound. We all knew something was wrong but just were not sure what.

Did someone pull up trail markers? Did we just miss something? The general consciences was that we had already run this part of the course earlier so let the back tracking begin. Back up the hill and around the corner we saw where we had missed a turn going back into the woods. Crappppp, what the hell all the people I had worked so hard to get ahead of were now either ahead of me or right behind me. I had run about an extra KM and lost about 6 minutes. What a dummy or maybe thats dumbme in this case.

Side bar your Honour. In my defence the trail was as wide as a road and I was on the opposite side from the turn back into the woods. I was also watching runners ahead of me but may have missed the turn regardless. A sign (like in other places on the course) with an arrow might have been helpful. That said the trail was marked so kind of hard to put it on the RD. I know some other runners got discombobulated on parts of the course but I think it was decently marked for the most part.

Back on track I began to repass the same runners I had left in the rear view mirror earlier. I was pissed. I could not believe that I had missed that turn and gave away so much time. Let the mental games begin. I have done enough of these kind of races to know that crap happens and you got to just let it go and refocus or else thinking about mistakes will lead to more mistakes. Sure enough I ran right past another turn. ARRHHHGG!! Way to go Charlie Brown.

Okay this time no excuses the turn could not have been better marked, this one is totally on me. Great now I am passing 3 or 4 of the same people again for the 3rd time. Good Grief.

Out of the woods it was another climb up the back of a ski hill and then down the hill to the start finish. Stephan was on the crest of hill taking race photos and told me to smile. Sorry but that was not very likely, I am going to be interested in seeing my facial expressions in that photo cause I was pissed at myself big time.

Loop 2 - getting it in check

A quick stop to chug an ensure and grab a new water bottle and I was back onto the course. First loop and aid stop took 1:23 so when you factored in my lost time being lost I was right around 1:15. It was time to slow it down a little, stick with the plan and refocus.

This loop went really well. I mostly ran alone although I played a bit of leap frog with Morgan, Paul and another runner that I did not know. I just concentrated on staying relaxed and running an even effort for the lap. I didn't get lost, I didn't get hurt and I didn't fall down so mission accomplished. My ill temper at my lack on navigation skills soon was long in the past and I was really enjoying the run. The weather was great and it was some really nice trail. Not as much technical running as last year, more hills but still a decent course.

Before I knew it I was out of the woods on the last ski hill climb and then back into the start area for a quick refuelling stop and out I went again.

Loop 3 - This and that

Nothing to see here just keep it moving along. I ran about a 1:23 loop again for loop 2 so had executed the plan well. I wanted to keep this loop close to that if I could but was more interested in keeping my effort level the same.

The 25k runners were no longer on the course so anyone out there was in the 50k. Once again I was playing leapfrog with the same runners as the loop before. I was passed by 2 runners during this loop but also passed 2 others myself so I was happy with that. One thing I was not pleased with though were my legs which had begun to fatigue at around 30km, much to early as far as I was concerned. Not a big problem but still what the heck. I thought that heavy volume training is suppose to up your endurance. I mean I did give my legs a 2 day taper to get ready for this race.

Loop 4 - Get the lead out

Another quick refuel and back on the course. I asked Pierre and Stephan while I am chugging an ensure at the start line if I am in the middle of the pack. They tell me I am in the top quarter of the field. Back on the course I hit the first long flat section and can see 2 runners ahead of me. I had planned to run this loop semi hard to hard. I decide that don't want to lose ground to runners behind me so I will go hard.

I manage to pass the first of the two runners about 1km into the loop and have soon left him behind. It takes me another 2km of really hard running to catch the next guy. We have been trading places back and forth for the last 25km. I would like to pass him but he is moving well and my legs are slowing. We run together for the next couple of km. I am pushing hard but he gets away from me just before the big hill that I despise. Once on the hill I can see a second runner ahead of us. Looks like we still got some racing to do.

At the top of the hill I hit the flat trail section to the aid station. I want to push to catch the guys that are about 200 meters ahead of me but my legs don't want to turn over any faster. Looks like 2 days off really isn't a taper after all. Past the aid station and along the parallel trail I can see that there is nobody within a km behind me. With less then 4km left I am not likely to be caught by anyone.

I focus on the 2 runners in front of me but soon one of them has gotten away. I push as hard as possible but cant close on the other. I am sure he knows I am back here so I expect he is working really hard as well.

Into the last small wooded section. I have lost sight of everyone ahead of me. I am gassed but still working hard then 30 meters from coming out of the woods I am down. TIMBER!! I face plant really hard, one of the hardest falls I have ever had on a trail. I am not even sure what happened. My hat goes flying, my handheld water bottle bounces out of my grip from the impact of the ground. Damn what the heck. I hit the trail so hard I bounce and almost roll down the hillside. I pick myself back up and do a body check. Nothing seems to be broken, little knee scrap, no real damage except to my ego.

I stagger out of the woods and up the last hill still picking dirt out of my mouth and nose. Then a quick downhill and the race is done.

Post Race

I am pleased with how the race went overall. Great course, well organized, awesome swag with a cool shirt and socks. I found the course was slower this year then last due to the changes but still an awesome run. I vow to someday do a real taper. All and all a really fun day. Kim also had a good race. Race results are not posted yet but these should be right I think.

Unofficial results

time : 6:03:44

Place 13th out of +50 runners

Mutation is a good thing

2011-04-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

A Mutation occurs when a DNA gene is damaged or changed in such a way as to alter the genetic message carried by that gene

Mutation, I mean thats what we are all trying to do here, right? Sure we like shine it up and make it seem much prettier by calling it adaptation but lets get honest its just cellular mutation.

If your a newer runner or a more casual runner then you might not have even really thought about it. You are still in that I am going to get fit, get a little faster, live healthy stage of your running and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. You haven't joined the training circus under the freak tent yet and maybe you never will. I say runaway while you still can, runaway as fast and far as you possibly can and then keep running .... oh crap never mind.

For those of you that are already hopelessly trapped under the big top you understand, its all about the mutation. Once upon a time you ran just for fun but it wasn't enough for you was it. Going for a run became "training" which only lead to faster or longer running and better race times. We all know that then leads to more "training". Its the great circle of running.

As a casual runner have you ever really though about what you are actually doing. Maybe you look up to the better runners that you know and think I wish I could run like that. Well mutation is the key. The point of training is not to get stronger or faster or boost endurance these are not training goals. These are side effects of the mutation process. The actual point of training is to cause changes to your body at a cellular level. Thats right, its all about changing the actual make up of the mitochondrion and the cell itself.

The freaks under the "training" tent already know all this. We have read all the books by Nokes, Daniels and anyone else we could find. We are well aware of what we are doing. The fact is that for most of us we are upset that we were not born bigger genetic freaks. No matter how hard we "train" most of us will never run 2:15 marathons, 15 minute 5ks or 16 hour 100 milers. You have to have been really lucky in the genetic lottery for that kind of thing but that will not stop us from trying.

Over the course of the winter I had run easy, rebuilding my base and trying to get some zip back into my legs which I had destroyed during ultra season. With some bounce back I started more serious training upping the mileage and adding lots of hills and speed. There was some improvement but I was still not back to spring 2010 levels. I did not feel like I was in very good shape at all. Yeah I know how can you be running 120k a week and not be in shape. Well there is in shape and then there is in shape (racing shape?). Then I ran a decent ATB even though I didnt race full out. Something was happening.

Then Mutation

In the last few weeks I have seen a huge jump in my own mutation (adaptation) as my high volume of mileage has begin to cause visible changes in my fitness level and endurance. I began to think I might be plateaued forever with what seemed like little forward progress and then something wonderful happened. My easy runs became way too easy. I was running the same pace but my heart rate had dropped way to low. At first I though it must be a problem with my monitor or a weird anomaly but after 3 weeks I figured it must be real. A quick email consultation with coach Roger lead to a rejigging of my approach to the runs. I started running back at my proper / previous easy run HR and suddenly I was running much faster. Last years marathon pace has become my easy run speed. For someone like me that is running mainly ultras this will hopefully translate into some faster times this year.

Mutation, its a wonderful thing.

Watch out Pick Your Poison 50k trail race is coming up this weekend!!

Seaton 50 Mile Race Report - My First DNF Ever

2011-04-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Seaton 50 mile race report

It was bound to happen. If you run Ultras sooner or later your going to end up seeing those dreaded 3 letters, DNF, next to your name. At least if you are just a mere mortal like me. There comes a time when circumstances that you can not control, things like injury or weather, come into play and thats all she wrote. The running gods can be oh so cruel on any given day but did they have to save all there wraith for a single ass whipping? Yesterday was either a get all your pain for the season at once or a very bad omen of things to come. One of the 7 signs of the trail runners apocalypse.

Cancel that Pity Party

Okay before you get all bent out of shape you can just cancel that pity party. I don't need it. I feel absolutely no shame at this DNF at all. Zero. Zilch. Nota. If you were part of this 50 miler and are reading this you shouldn't feel bad either. Ran the 52k, same thing, don't feel bad, when the crap hits the fan almost everyone gets splattered by the debris.

Why don't I feel bad? Well the running conditions on what is a tough course to begin with were not optimal for running or walking although they were pretty good for falling, swearing and taking a bath or a mud facial. In the 50 miler 47 people toed the line. 3 people finish. Yes you read that right, 3 people finished. I wasn't one of them but I had 43 other people to keep me company. Lots of DNFing in the 52k as well but not sure how many as results are not posted yet.

How the hell did I end up not finishing, what mistakes did I make that I can change so that I dont have this happen again. The main and only culprit and cause of the not finishing was weather. Not much I can do about that. I am just not in good enough shape to control the weather yet but I am working on it. Now it is true that I didnt make a live sacrifice to the god of running Saturday morning but we were in a hurry and that puppy was just so cute.

If I could redo this race I would change nothing with one exception. I would switch to the 52k which had been my plan right up until Thursday. Other then that everything when wonderfully. I had fun for more then 6 hours, not so much for the other 2.

The weather was bad, Ted Bundy or Freddy Krugger bad and just plan Charles Manson crazy. How crazy bad? Just keep on reading.

Prerace

Almost a full week ago I decided that I would not run the 50 miler at Seaton. I have been training heavy mileage for the past month and a half and felt that at this point running 50 miles might hinder my training. The last thing I wanted was to not be able to train the following week as my target race is a 100 miler in 2 months. I had also signed up to do 50 miles at Bear Mountain in May so I figured it might all be too much. I would be run the 52k instead, definitely, definitely the 52k.

Then Wednesday arrived and my morning run felt really great, so great that I began to reconsider. Thursday on the trails for 18k and it was another feel good run. Screw it might as well just run long on Saturday. I saw the dire weather forecast for Saturday, 100 % chance of rain 25-35mm. For some reason this was less of a detour-ant and more of a challenge. No way was I going to let a little bad weather factor into my decision making process.

Saturday morning we were up at 4am. The weathernetwork said 100% chance of rain from 8am to 4pm non stop, high winds, and 4 degrees. I think that it should have said "Danger Crappy Alert" in big bold red letters because somehow I managed to ignore the message I should have been getting.

Kim and I picked up the Zip car and then JD just as it started to rain. We arrived in Pickering with lots of time to spare, got changed and headed out to the start line. Kim would be running 29k, JD was up for 52 and would not fall for my you should go longer spiel, I was stuck with 50 miles. As we stood waiting for the race to start the wind and rain began to pick up in intensity.

The Race

Right from the start I felt really good. It seemed like it was a much bigger start then last year with around 100 runners doing the longer distances ( the 29k started later). As we headed down a field and into the woods for some single track running people started to spread out a little. I have run this race twice before, the 26k version in 2009 and the 52k in 2010 so I have a good grip of most of the course with the exception of a few changes. Things tend to sort out soon after the river crossing and open up a little so no need to press it.

The race plan was simple, run by feel around training pace with the idea of maybe picking it up in the second half just to see where my fitness level was at. I was hoping to run just under 10 hours if all went okay.

We ran along the river bank and in less then 3km we were at the river crossing. The river is around 30-50 meters wide, about a foot deep and colder then an ex wife in divorce court. The steady rain was already making the water muddy so it was hard to see where to step amongst the large rocks beneath the surface. You had to take it nice and slow, hurrah!

Back onto the trail it was some decent forest running, a few big hills and some mud. The trail was actually in decent shape at this point and I made good time. Somewhere along here I began running with Alex who I had seen around at races before but hadn't met. We ran the next 7 or 8k together which made the time pass quickly and we kept a decent pace. As planned I blew through the aid stations as quick as possible on my way out to the 14.5k turn around. Soon I began to see other runners coming back the other way. I counted maybe 8 50 mile runners before I hit the turn around so I was in decent shape.

Then it was back the way I had come. The wind was picking up and was it actually raining harder? I think it was. The temperature had also seemed to drop maybe because of the wind. The next 7km went well but the trails were getting really muddy although you could still make decent time in most places. With 5km left to the end of the loop I started to see the 29k runners on their way out. My hands were starting to get really cold in my rain soaked gloves, I tried to take a gel but had a hard time convincing my fingers to fish one out of my fuel belt.

With the extra runners on the course I was beginning to see that the trail conditions were degrading quickly as the mud got deeper and slippery. Suddenly as I entered a flat low lying area it was like wow what is this. Where the trail had been there was now a small pond about 3 inches deep that had not been there before. No choice but to run right through it and then down the flowing river that ran out of the pond and down a good section of the trail. Man was that cold. Soon it was on to the next smaller pool of water and then the next. If the trail was like this I wondered what river crossing was like.

I didnt have to wonder long and after some sloppy mud running I was back into the river. The current had really picked up and it was up over my knees now, dark and very muddy. Soon I was back on the trail then out of the woods and around the schools track that marked the end of loop one and 29k.

So far so good. I came in 3 hours 20 minutes right on track for sub 10 hours. Only one more loop of 29k and then a shorter run out to the aid station and back for a last leg of 22k. My legs felt great but my hands were frozen. I downed an Ensure, loaded up on gels and then tried to get into my drop bag to change gloves. I knew it would be cold and raining so I had brought 4 pairs of gloves. Now just to get them... crap. My fingers would not work. It ended up taking me almost 5 minutes to get my bag unzipped, my gloves changed and my bag re zipped and into its protective plastic bag.

Loop 2 - Theres a trail under that there water

As I made my way back through the woods and into the river the rain seemed to let up. A large rock that had been well above the water line was now completely submerged. The current was really swift now. Back on the trail the mud is growing exponentially. My shoes and socks are full of mud that is balling up below my toes. It is mildly painful and really annoying. I know that its only going to get worse.

Most of the out portion of this lap is kind of a blurry mess, much like the trail. The rain became only a light drizzle for awhile and the wind died down some but that didnt help fix the never ending mud bog I was sloshing around in. On a long steep downhill of mud I watched another runner headed back in the opposite direction do a face plant. I ended up kind of mini skiing down the last part of the hill. The ponds at 4k were now deeper with the biggest taking on the features of a lake.

I saw Kim on her way back in just before I hit the 10k aid station. She told me that there was a huge tree down across the trail ahead so when I didnt see the next trail markers just go around the big fallen tree. Sure enough I came to a place where the trail just disappeared behind a massive downed tree. Soon I was detouring around a second fallen set of branches.

I was also beginning to wonder where the heck everyone was. I had not been passed by many 52k runners going back in and so far I had only seen Ken and Laurie out of the 50 milers headed back. Somewhere close to 2k from the turn around 3 other 50 mile runners passed me going back. The rain and wind picked up again and then I was at the aid station.

The volunteers asked me if I though there were more runners behind me as they hadn't seen very many in a long time. Man what the heck was going on. I turned around and headed back in. A quick check of the watch told me 45km done in just over 5 hours. I was right on pace even with the weather and lots of time left to finish. I figure even a slow walking pace will cover each 10k in 1hr 45 minutes meaning I will have lots of time to spare and thats walking. I can still run no problem. My legs felt great. I was still having fun, screw you weather network.

The trail is nothing but mud. The rain is pelting down and it is cold. I try to drink out of my water bottle. My hands are so frozen that I cant squeeze the water bottle with one hand hard enough to make anything come out. I had to use both hands. I am double fisting it, hilarious. I hit the next aid station which will be the turn around on my next loop. As I have made my way back I have only passed a handful of other runners going out. Where the heck did everyone go. I check my watch again I am 6 hours 15 minutes into the race with about 30k to go. With just under 6 hours to the cutoff I am thinking I am in great shape. 30k in 6 hours I can walk it that fast. I dont have to walk tho, my legs feel awesome, thank you high volume training. My hands are kind of screwed tho, damn.

More mud, so much mud, I try to think of anytime in my life I have seen trail this bad. I come up with nothing. I may live in Toronto now but I grew up on the East Coast where I spent lots of time in the woods. I cant ever remember seeing trail this bad. I plug on, screw you weather network.

Its coming undone

I hit the next aid station where Ken passes me going back out. He is a full 10k ahead of me. I grab some potatoes at the station. They have had to put everything into containers. Even though they are under a tent it is so windy that the hard rain is going sideways. The volunteers are great getting me anything I need. I wonder which is worse running in this crap or having to stand around manning the aid stations. Those volunteers are awesome. I ask them if many runners have dropped out. They say there are lots of DNFs and some 50 milers had switched to the 52k. Man you can do that? Oh well too late for me. I make a joke about it only being a little bit of rain or something along those lines. I wish I hadn't made this joke soon enough. Its probably not wise to poke the running gods with a sharp stick when they are throwing everything at you but the kitchen sink. To be honest I really didnt think it could get much worse boy was I wrong.

I head out my watch says 7 hours 5 minutes with 26k to cover I still got time but somehow I lost 10 to 15 minutes in the last section. Ro Ro Shaggy. No worries I will just pick it up.

The trail is not much of a trail anymore. Its just mud sinkholes and large deep pools of ice cold water. This has become a swampy bog run. There is no avoiding any of it and I got to make up time so I try to run straight through everything. I am working hard but going nowhere fast. The deep mud almost takes my shoes right off my feet in some places. The portion of trail that had become a pond and then a lake is now a good 6 to 12 inches deep. I wonder about the upcoming river crossing.

I turn a corner to head down a hill and see a critter on the trail. At first I think it might be a beaver but as I get closer I see its big rat like tail. Hello mister possum. He sees me and heads off running down the trail. I chase him for a good 100 meter before he scurries off into the bush. He has a good finishing kick and is moving faster then me. I have seen no runners coming back out. Has the race been cancelled?

Finally a km from the river I see Laurie headed back out. I ask her if everyone has dropped but cant really hear what she says her voice drown out by the howling wind as she races past me. I am in big trouble now and I know it. My hand are completely frozen and have become non functioning stubs. I cant eat, drink or take salt tabs without working hands.

I hit the river and it is bad and definitely dangerous. The water is well above my knees and very swift. The current is strong enough to push me sideways and the water is dark brown. There is no way to see the very rocky bottom. One false step and you will be down for sure. I wonder if that happens whether I will be able to get up or be swept away. I am a weak swimmer and don't do Triathlons due to my fear of drowning. This is not good.

Across the river I begin to run the last 2km into the turn around. Only three km ago I was very sure about finishing but not now. My watch says that by the time I reach the track it will have taken me 2 hours to run 10k and I have to run the same stretch two more times.

I might have just enough time to do it but maybe not. The trail will be even worse. If I lose a few more minutes I will not make it. I could try to make the aid station cut off just to see what happens but I have bigger problem. My hands are bad and I know I am quickly becoming a candidate for Hypothermia. I try to trick myself into not believing this but its no use I am border line there is no getting around it. I cant see 4 more hours of this without serious medical issues being the end result. Even then I most likely will miss the cut off.

I have come well prepared for this race and have a full change of dry clothes to run in but it will take at least 15 minutes to change and get warm. That is time that I just don't have. The race is over for me and I know it as I slowly make my way over the last km to the finish. As I leave the woods one runner passes me going back out. I don't think he has enough time but I hope he makes it (he does just making the cutoff).

Far ahead of me across the field I see another runner. Its Kim and she is just about to finish. She has been out there a really long time too. I circle the track to the finish line where she waits for me. I give the guy at the aid station my number and then we just stand there. I realize he is waiting for me to tell him what I am doing. I let him know I am DNFing, it is so surreal. In my mind I am thinking he wouldn't let me go back out anyway. Kim later tells that he told her I wouldn't have enough time to finish as they watched me circle the track. It was very cool that he at least allowed me to make the right choice for myself instead of yanking me right away.

Post race

I go into the school to warm up. Within minutes I am shivering uncontrollably even though I have wrapped myself in a space blanket I have brought from home. This goes on for more then 2o minutes. I dont have Hypothermia but I am really close. Kim is having the same problem and both of us have very blue lips.... not good.

Someone tells me that a couple of runners ended up going to the hospital (I dont know for sure tho). We finally warm up and eat some post race food. JD was able to finish his 52k (see his report here).

I am disappointed but not upset. I always imagined that I would be super pissed at DNFing but I feel okay about it. A look at the finish board tells me many didn't even get 2 laps in and I got an entire season still ahead of me.

Things I am pleased about. My fitness level is good right now. My endurance is much better then last year so the training is working. My legs where never an issue in this race. My feet are fine, no blisters at all. I had a little issue with the same ankle I injured in Haliburton last year. I thought it was completely healed but maybe not.

I have not and can not describe to you just how bad the course and weather conditions were out there. There are no words that I can write to do it justice. Its like trying to describe to sex to a virgin or empathy to a psychopath. Words fail to convey the truth about the experience itself.

For the most part I had fun in this race right up until the last hour or so. Race organizers and volunteers did a really good job under very tough circumstances. I will be back next year to seek my redemption.

Also sorry about the lack of pictures but Kims hands were to frozen to work the camera. If others post some I will try and put them in a future post.

Voluntary Commitment ...plans just keep on changing

2011-04-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

No I haven't agreed to be put into an Insane Asylum (opps I mean mental health facility) of my own free will. Even if maybe, or most probably, thats where I belong. When they finally come for me they will be forced to drag me out of here in a giant butterfly net because I have no intention of going quietly. No sir and I don't care if they do give you all the anti psychotics you can eat and free chocolate pudding every night.

I am not going. Can you imagine how many laps around a small rubber room it would take to complete a 100 miler. Running 24 hours on the track would be nothing compared to that. On the other hand the chances of getting attacked by a bear go way down.

Commitment Time

I have been really torn over what to do about racing this year. I am told that you cant run every race in the world in a single season. Also I keep hearing that you need to recover after races sometimes for WEEKS. Who makes up these rules anyway. The laws of physics and biology should not apply when it comes to running. I say ignore them! What you dont acknowledge cant hurt you.

Oh wait thats what I tried last year. I am going to try to do things a bit different this year. Please stop laughing I am trying to type this with a straight face.

So the last two months I have been training hard and racing very little. I decided to shelf the Peterbourgh HM, the Slainte and the Red Rock Marathon (all road races) instead cranking the training way up to get ready for Ultra season. I would love to run both road races and trail races but it really became clear that I cant do both effectively. Not when it comes to going really long.

Changes

So some of this season was already set in stone and still is. The Mohican 100, Pikes Peak and Rim2Rim2Rim are written in stone. I was still dithering about some spring races and build up to the Mohican. The big question was whether to race a marathon for a BQ or not. Running a marathon is one thing but racing it is another. If I race it for time it means a taper and recovery so I lose at least 4 weeks. Is Boston worth it? The answer for me is a resounding No.

That decided I figured time to commit to a racing plan. I will still run the Toronto Marathon (May 16th) but as a long training run. Instead I signed up for the 50 miler on May 7th at Bear Mountain. Its suppose to be really technical and hard. I like the sound of that. With the plan of running 53k at Seaton this coming weekend and 50k atPYP April 30th I should have lots of long trail runs in the bank before my first 100 this year. I will definitely be running something at Sulphur Springs at the end of May could be 50k or 50 miles or ?

Sulphur Mud Run

Speaking of Sulphur Springs I headed out to the race course with JD on Saturday afternoon to get a long trail run in. Thanks for driving JD. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great run. We managed to get somewhere around 36k in. The trail was still really muddy in places but it was still a great run. Loops are suppose to be 20km but with changes in the course we must have missed something because we ended up short on each loop.

Next up Seaton 53km trail race.

March Training, Last Weeks Training, OUSER Warmup

2011-04-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

This is what training for March looked like. It ended up being a very good month. The info is kind of boring but maybe there will be more excitement later in the blog, then again maybe not. Remember to cover your mouth when you yawn.

March Stats

Days run - 28

Days off - 3

X training - 8 weight workouts at the gym

Longest run - 40km

Highest mileage week - 100 miles (160km)

Total mileage - 596km or 370 miles

Races - 30km Around The Bay

If you are interested in what my training looks like you can click on the Attack Point bar graph on the right hand side of my blog. That will take you right to my running log at AttackPoint. Oh and that is also boring but in its own special way.

Last weeks training

After a good recovery week and 30km race it was back to normal training. Time to make the donuts. The week worked out well with me getting the mileage back up to 155km with a decent hill workout, tempo run and back to back long runs on the weekend. This is the first time I have ever done back to back long runs. I got to say it was kind of hard. Saturday it was trails at the OUSER warm up (more about that in a minute) for a 3 hour 15 minute run. Then Sunday it was time to take the Running Room Clinic out for a relaxing, hilly, 3 hour 24 minute run. Can you say time for a nap.

OUSER Spring warm up

The trails are coming, the trails are coming. Don't look now but here comes Ultra season. Kim and I headed up to Creemore with JD for the Ontario Ultra Series spring warm up. Pierre did a great job of setting up the course. It was hilly, it was snowy, it was tough. Talk about a fun time. Its the first time I did this event and will be back again next year. I managed to get a couple of loops of the course in before heading inside for pizza and beer. Even though a good part of the bruce trail was still under snow it was awesome running. It was also nice to see a lot of people that I have not seen since the end of last years ultra season.

Sorry no pics but you can go to westgreyrunners blog to see just how snowy it was.

I also got up to some racing shenanigans by floating the idea of running 100 miles at Burning River in July. Now there are 3 of us signed up with maybe more to join in. Let the games begin.

Around The Bay 30KM Race Report

2011-03-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the 118th running of Around The Bay in Hamilton and was my third time running this race in the last 4 years. I think that this might be my favourite road race even though it is held at a time of year that can be less then friendly when it comes to running and weather.

Just over a week ago I was running trails in shorts and actually thinking about what great weather there might be at ATB but man was I wrong. Mr. Weather showed back up on Wednesday for a last gasp (I hope) back alley beat down. We got your snow, wind and to top it off some nice super cold days. I am actually surprised we didn't see sleet, hail and frogs falling from the sky. I mean how much longer is this winter thing going to keep us in its death grip.

Saturday night came and a quick look at the weather the next morning claimed it would be a balmy -19 with the wind chill. Wonderful, Excellent, Outstanding, where some of the words that came out of my mouth. All other words that I uttered that evening are really not fit to print in this blog.

Prerace

Got up at 5:30 AM, bright and early, downed a large amount of coffee, rechecked weather, cursed under my breath some more and then Kim and I headed over to High Park. Longboat had rented a bus to take everyone to the race and soon we where headed for Hamilton with about 30 other club members.

We arrived at Copps Coliseum with about 45 minutes until race time and got changed. What is usually an easy decision for me became like a guest appearance on Lets Make A Deal. Do I go with warmer clothes based on the current chilly conditions and my plan to run only semi hard or do I go for whats behind Door #2. That means less clothes so I will be colder but it might warm up or I might run harder then expected. I could also trade in either by pretending to pull a hamstring and sit in Tim Hortons with a coffee for the next 4 hours. Tempting but in the end it was error on the side of cold, no shell just a long sleeve shirt and singlet.

Then it was outside and over to the so called corrals. This is the one and only complaint I have about this race. There are no proper corrals. As fellow Longboater Rob Campbell had mentioned to me on our way home this race has just kept growing but still no corrals. I think allowing people to seed themselves when you have 8000 to 10,000 runners can make a lot of traffic problems for people early in the race. I lined up close to the 2:30 pace bunny figuring this would be where the 2:20 to 2:30 people where. I could have moved farther up but I would have had to have gotten really pushy. I don't want be pushy and I really don't want to be a runner too far up in the field slowing down faster people behind me. Nobody wants to be a pylon out there.

My race plan is simple, run close to marathon pace for 15km then slow down slightly. This is not my spring goal race and I really dont want to kill the legs and not be able to train hard next week. That said I will reevaluate how much race pace I do based on how I feel.

The Race

The horn goes and we are off, sort of. I have miscalculated. It takes 2 minutes to cross the start mat. I pick up the pace, sort of. I am in a log jam of people and most of them are moving at a much slower pace then I want to be at. It takes more then 1.5km of bobbing and weaving to get up to a suitable running speed although the pack is still a little slow. I just go with it. I dont want to waste energy to gain a few seconds a KM.

I check my splits. The slow start has cost me 45 second. I regret not being pushy. No big deal as I had not planned to race full out. I feel surprisingly good, find a nice groove and just go with it. The first 8k fly by as the course makes its way across the downtown hamilton area. I have been passing people non stop and running a very consistent pace right in my target heart range. I begin to think about running the entire race at marathon pace but will see how it goes. I am not cold at all. I am really glad I didn't wear that shell.

We pass the 10km relay exchange point and head out along the lake. I still feel really good, my legs seem fine. I decide to commit to running the whole thing at pace, so much for the training run idea. Shouldn't have given away that 45 seconds at the start. I vow to be pushy at future races from now on.

Soon I am passing the 15km relay exchange area. I see a number of Longboats there who are running the relay. Its always nice to see friendly faces on the course and this gives me a small boost of energy for the bridge crossing. I hate that bridge. Its not long but the surface is metal grating. Its hard to run on and I have heard that people have taken bad spills here in past races. I am a plodding spazz with giant clown feet so my chances of face planting are higher then average. I make it across without any major malfunctions and run the next couple of kms into the wind. Its not really windy but still noticeable so I catch up to the tall guy in front of me and tuck in behind him. This works great for about a km but then he begins to slow. Everyone else close by is short and will be no help. Oh well it was fun while it lasted so I push past him.

At 19km we are into the start of the "rolling" hills. For those of you who have not run ATB the way the course is laid out is what makes it tough and also makes it fun. First there is the quirky 30k distance which can be hard to figure out when it comes to pacing. The bigger challenge is the hills. The first 19k of the race is nearly completely flat and can easily lead you to run way to fast early. Then come the hills from 19k to 26k which are rolling but substantial with a nice big hill right at 26k. From there its flat and then slightly down hill to the finish inside Copps.

I actually really like this part of the race but I train and run ALOT of hills. I keep a solid pace through this section running the uphills moderately hard and hammering the downhills which is one of my strong suits. I was tiring but still felt okay as I crested the last big hill and headed back towards the downtown. All that hill work in training really paid off (a tip of the hat to Roger and the super hilly Boston Special Sunday long runs he makes us do).

Into the last 3k of the race and I was having to work really hard but was still holding pace .... sweet. The Grim Reaper in front of the cemetery doesn't even bother to try and taunt me.

Then it was into Copps and across the finish line although not as smoothly as I would have liked. As I came through the underground area and turned to go out onto the arena floor my foot caught something, not sure if it was a seam or what but I stumbled, somehow didn't fall, and then sprinted across the finish line.

Chip time 2:26:50 (12 second PB)

Post Race

After the race I huge out with other club members and waited for everyone to come in. Kim also ran a PB even though she had to stop for a few minutes to deal with a pressing bathroom issue. Way to go Kim.

Training Update, First 100 mile week, Pikes Peak

2011-03-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Just a bit of a training update.

November, December and January were really good months as far as training went. My legs finally recovered from going overboard during Ultra season last year. Some would argue that ANY Ultra racing is going overboard while others will claim you cant go overboard at all. All I know is my legs were slow and tired by mid october. Well they seem to be back and I got a solid 1400 kms in during those 3 months of mainly base training (read easy running). That was capped off with 2 marathons in late January.

February was a much lighter volume month which can be best described as happening sort of accidentally on purpose. There was a week off during a planned vacation and then another week and a half of shorter runs due to a never ending head cold. Instead of getting my running shorts all in a knot over it I did something oddly unChris like. I just went with it. No fretting about missed runs, my growing belly or loss of cardio. Nope I just did what I could do. Still not sure how that happened tho but I have now convinced myself that the rest will actually be a good thing as my training for the Mohican 100 ramps up.

The start of March marked 16 weeks until the Mohican so it was time to start some real training which means getting that mileage up and making sure to get 3 quality runs in a week. I have a solid base but have lost a little speed with my VO2 max not being where it was at this time last year. That means lots of Tempo and Hills over the next few months and who doesnt like that.

Crap I am rambling again.

Mileage buildup

Okay so 3 weeks into my training things are looking good. My speed is coming back a little due to Coach Rogers somewhat brutally helpful Tempo workouts sometimes in really crappy weather and some awesome hill sprint repeats. I have also built my mileage up to the level that I hope to keep it at for this training cycle. Last week I ran my first 100 mile week (160km for all you fellow Canucks). I felt good but tired, no injuries but holy crap is that a lot of running. So many 2 a days. This week is recovery week which I am really going to enjoy.

Pikes Peak

I registered and my qualifications were confirmed for the Pikes Peak Marathon. I cant remember the last time I was so excited about a race. I know for some of you out west mountain running is not such a big deal but here in Toronto where the only mountains I see are on postcards its huge. With no mountain running experience I was a little leery of signing up for a 100 like Leadville so I figure a nice short marathon would be a great place to feel things out.... HA.

I also convinced (well maybe more like forced but in a nice way) Kim to sign up for the Ascent. She is nervous about it but I told her that its only 13 miles of climbing up the side of a mountain and 8000 feet of elevation change .... I mean seriously how hard could it be. Damn that actually does sound hard. Oppps

Melbourne Florida Marathon - race #2 of the Marathon Vacation

2011-03-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Okay so this race report is going to be pretty freaking dated but I promised to write it so here it is. Sorry for the delay but I am really busy (read really lazy) right now. Lucky for you because it is so late its going to be shorter then usual. Next week I should be getting back to posting regularly because I have got lots that I want to talk and complain about.

After the Miami Marathon we drove up to Orlando and hit the theme parks like the world was coming to an end. We managed to squeeze all the Disney parks in as well as both Universal Parks. What a blast!. Both Kim and I are thrill ride junkies (I know hard to believe) so the fun never stopped. No running AT ALL but we did about 13 hours of walking a day so the legs didnt exactly get a lot of rest.

On Saturday we drove 2 hours to Melbourne and picked up our race kits. Its a small race and it was really weird going from a huge expo at Miami to a tiny one at Melbourne but people were nice and we got everything picked up. No tech shirts but great running hats so that was cool because I badly needed a new hat. Then we drove back to Orlando to get in an afternoon of roller coasters.

Okay so this might be completely of topic but has to be mentioned. What the heck is up with serving sizes in Florida. I am not sure if its just Florida or other places in the US (didnt see it in NYC or LA) but it was kind of crazy. Servings were HUGE, it was INSANE. We ordered Nachos from the appetizer menu as a snack and this is the monstrosity that we were given. When I asked for Nachos I didnt mean all of them.

Sunday morning we got up at 4 am and drove back to Melbourne for the race. I planned to take it easy and run my normal long run pace. Kim wasn't sure how hard she was going to run. I think both of us were tired from all the running around during the week. I was feeling like I might have to take a vacation to recover from my vacation.

We found a place to park near the start line and changed into our racing stuff. It was just starting to get light out and it was overcast. I keep hearing a strange click, click, click of metal from behind me. I turned around to see what it was and saw the biggest Vulture I have ever seen walking along the steel roof of the building next to us and eyeing me up. It was big, ugly and looked hungry. Not exactly the kind of thing you want to see before running a marathon. Maybe the bird knew something that I didn't. Tried to get a picture but it was still to dark out.

We then made it to the start line and before you could say roadkill we were off.

The Race

The course was really flat and enjoyable but early on it was really congested with the HM and Marathon starting together. There were a couple thousand in the HM and only 300 in the Full. It was slow going for the first 3k until things got spread out and then it was fine. The course is decent with the HM running one loop that includes two long bridge crossings and the full doing the same course twice.

Things went well early but I realized very early on that this was going to be a tough run flat or not. It was overcast so no direct sun and in the mid 60s but man was it humid, I am guessing around 90-100 percent humidity. I was sweating buckets by the 6k marker.

The first loop sailed by quickly and as advertised it was flat except for the bridges. The first one had about a 300 meter uphill that was not to bad a grade but the second on was much longer and steeper and came around the 19k mark. I can remember cresting the hill the first time and thinking this is really going to hurt the next time I cross it.

Somewhere just after 22k I started running and talking with a guy from Jacksonville. He told me it was always humid like this. I was getting tired but having someone to run along with was cool. We only ended up running together for a few miles though as he actually ended up having to stop and walk because of leg craps. It was fun while it lasted but then I was on my own again and headed into the last and always painful 10k.

The heat was really getting to me by this time and since I was only suppose to be running this race for training I slowed down some more and then headed up over the bridge. As I had suspected it was much harder the second time and the few runners I could see where mostly walking it. Once I got to the top it was a quick 3k to the finish line where Kim was waiting for me.

Post race

I got some food into me and then wanted to get my post race beer but no luck. It seems all the beer was consumed by the HM people. GRRRR.

I finished in 3:57:51 which was okay. I ended up working harder then at Miami for a slower time but that was mainly because the conditions.

I think this was a pretty decent race for a smaller event but had one or two minor complains. The early aid stations were badly understaffed the first time around ( I ended up running right through one and had to come to a stop at another). I realize that is how it goes sometimes at smaller races so no big deal. The bigger thing is that they gave out water in harder plastic cups which you could not squeeze. This meant you either stopped running to drink or you ended up snorting Gatorade. I ended up with a lot of Gatorade up my nose during this race.

Miami Marathon - race #1 of the Marathon Vacation

2011-02-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

Kim and I left the (very) cold comfort of the Canadian winter and headed down to Florida on our belated honeymoon / vacation / running adventure. We caught a morning flight on Saturday January 29th for Miami and as it turns out we managed to get out of town at the right time as storms pounded Ontario and the Northeastern US. Cya later suckers! Sorry about that but I could not resist. BTW we are home now and I have been running in -20 degree weather so add me to the suckers list.

In a strange but true coincidence my friend and ultra buddy JD was flying out to Arizona the same morning so we actually met up on the other side of security for a drink before grabbing our flights.

The flight went well and was not only on time but got into Miami early. I had never been to Florida before but coming in for a landing everything seemed bright, sunny and kind of shiny. Also as the plane banked towards the airport we got a really good view of South Beach which was amazing. From the air its just a strip of sandy beach, blue green water and huge hotels ... amazing.

We got to our hotel which was right on beach and then walked 10 minutes over to the convention centre to pick up our race kits. The room was just okay but the location was great, right on the the Lincoln mall / walk and 2 minutes from the beach. We decided we would take the race provide morning shuttle and then stopped on our way back to the hotel for the biggest piece of pizza I have ever seen.

The next morning it was up at 3:30 (urrrggg) and off to the shuttle to the start line. The start was at the America Airline Centre and it was open for runners to hang out in. Weather for the day looked great, sunny with a high of 73.

Before long we were in our corals and ready to go. I got to say this was a huge event, very well run and planned with more then 20,000 in the half and at least 7000 in the full marathon. Then before you knew it we were off.

The Race / Run

It was still dark for the first 4 or 5k of the race as we followed the course from miami onto the causeway and into South Beach. I found myself going slow as there was a little bit of a bottleneck early on but after 15 minutes or so you were able to get some running room. Now this is my only bitch about the entire event and its not aimed at race organizers but at you my fellow marathon runners. Okay only some of you so please pay attention. I am begging you, seriously begging you. Please line up in the proper coral for your $#($# pace!!!! Sorry but its got to be said. Why oh why do people running 2:30 HM and 5 hour marathons or are walkers constantly feel the need to line up in the sub 4 hour corals. Can anyone explain this to me? Anyone? This event had well marked corals and they were checking bibs so why the heck am I passing walkers and people running 7 minute kms 1o minutes into the race. No big deal for me as I not racing for time but for someone that was this costs them time and energy.

Okay back to the good stuff. The course takes you across the causeway past 6 or 7 huge cruise ships at the docks and then into South Beach. I got to say I have never actually seen these floating hotels in real life. The closest I have gotten is reruns of the LoveBoat (Picard has got nothing on Capt. Stubing). At the same time we were running into the morning sunrise which made everything somewhat surreal.

A quick 4 miles through South beach including running right up ocean drive and then we were headed back over to Miami. I was running well at this point. It was warm but not too hot and I was sticking to my pacing plan. I keep my pace right at the top range of my easy run pace and had to constantly keep it in check as my legs tried to trick me into picking it up to race pace.

As we came back into Miami at mile 11 they had a huge cheering section set up which was really great as huge crowds were right on top of the runners. This really helped to reinvigorate me. I had begun to think how nice it would be if I was running the HM. At around mile 12 the course loops back towards the finish line which was very near the start and the Half Marathoners split off their day all but done.

I was still running well but it was getting hot. I had been occasionally gelling, was hydrated and had dropped a few salt tabs but the change in temperature from frosty Toronto was beginning to show. I could see salt crystallizing on my arms which is never a good sign and the miles seemed to be come longer and longer. At the 30k point my pace slowed a little but not to much, my quads were tiring but not really that badly. I reminded myself as I have often done in previous marathons a little piece of wisdom that fellow Longboater Rob Campbell once gave me. He said the slower you go the longer you end up being out on the course and the longer you prolong the pain. At the same time I also started my own little motivational mental chat. No its not one of those running world I am strong Blah Blah Blah chants. Mine actually goes along something like this .... 9k to finishing beer, 8.5k to finishing beer, 8k to finishing beer.

The last 6k of this race were tough as you looped out onto a road that extended out into the harbour and then back again. It was hot and there was no shade just baking asphalt and exhausted runners passing you headed back the other way. Then it was 3 more k in the downtown area before hitting a nice 800 meter hill just before the finish. Hey race director thanks for putting the only hill on the course 400 meters from the end. I expect they had a good laugh during the course planning meetings.

I hit the finish line in 3:52:27 which was not bad for a long run.

Post race

They had limitless free beer, rice and beans at the finish line. Hey aren't you glad you didnt have to share a room with me after that. I am gaseous at the best of times. I was able to find Kim at the finish no problem. She ran her HM well ... read about it here.

After getting some beer calories into me we caught the race shuttle back to the hotel and then hit the beach for a few hours. By mid afternoon my legs were feeling decent so we walked around for a while and then headed to Joes for Stone Crabs. They were expensive but really good and worth the 2 hour wait for a table (more beer here). Then it was back to the hotel as we were going to be up early to drive to Orlando and then eventually Melbourne for next weeks race.

If you get the chance run this race. I honestly cant think of a single thing that they didnt / dont do right at this race. Two giant thumbs up.

Next up Melbourne race report

Kims Blog .... Robbie Burns 8k report

2011-01-25T09:40:00.000-08:00

Kim's Blog

Ever wonder how exactly a normal well adjusted individual manages to not only put up with but actually encourage the crazy training and racing (stupidity) of someone who runs 100 milers. Well wonder no more, now you can read all about it. My better half has just started her blog where she will be talking about her own racing as well as crewing / babysitting / and kicking me in the ass. Hey did you notice how I managed to make her blog all about me? Thats the kind of crap she has to put up with around here.

Check it out and don't be afraid to become a follower. As you all know when you first start your blog it can be very lonely on the superhighway. Kim's Blog http://kmcpeake.blogspot.com/

Robbie Burns 8k Race Bitching I mean Report

Okay so I have decided to keep this brief because man I don't really want to talk about this thing at all. Remember in Rocky III when Mr. T beats the crap out of Rocky in the middle of the movie well that pretty much sums up my race day (and I was not Mr. T). I cant bring myself to revisit this thing in full color blow by blow descriptions so briefly here is the good and the bad.

The good - Longboat rented a bus again this year so we went down with the club. We had around 4o members running this year.

The bad - It was so cold outside that even with the heat cranked up on the bus it was freezing. I am talking see your breath freezing. I think I began having flash backs of the bus rides to junior highschool in Fredericton New Brunswick when I was a kid.

The good - Picked up race kit in a nice toasty school and got changed.

The bad - forgot my second layer I intended on bringing

The bad - during warm up realized my garmin was dead

The good - borrowed my friend Gregoires garmin. He decided not to race because of injury.

The good -started out slow and contained

The bad - finished slow and ugly

This was my 4th time running Robbie Burns and somewhat of a milestone race for me. It was 4 years ago that I ran Robbie Burns as my first officially timed road race. This was also my weakest effort. Before I get to much into that however I have to mention that I love this race. The Burlington Running Club know how to put on great races and they really make it about the runner. I have yet to run any race that they are in charge of that has not been excellent (unlike another racing organization that puts on races in Burlington who's name I shall not speak). I will be back at RB again next year. I mean its not their fault that I sucked in this race so badly.

Now I really would love to blame the cold, a lovely -27, for my poor showing but that would not be honest. I knew that I would be slower this year then last as I have been focused on base building and not doing very many hard runs. That means the speed is just not there but man I didnt think it would be this bad. How bad was it? I ran last years HM pace in an 8k and it nearly killed me. I was more then 2 minutes slower then last year. I went in figuring maybe a minute slower but more then 2, yikes. I was also blessed with a crippling side stitch for the last 1.5k which is a new one for me. I can count the number of times I have had a stitch in all my runs, ever, on one hand. I have to tell you its really hard to run fast when your in the fetal position.

This race also really drove home a point that I have been trying not to acknowledge but has become impossible to ignore. I can not train for long distance ultras and still expect to be able to run shorter road race distances at top speed. The reality is you just cant do both or at least I cant. Oh how I wish I was more of a genetic freak!

I have no plans to stop training for and running Ultras so that means that I am just going to have to accept that I will be slower on the road at least for now and that is going to be much easier said then done.

Kim had a great race taking almost a minute off of her 8k PB

I picture is worth a 1000 words, follow this link to see one unhappy camper. I think this captures my race perfectly

http://events.ryderphoto.ca/viewphoto/13830-568-13067871/1/

Oh ya final time for the 8k was 37:16

The Year of Adventure - 2011 Racing Plans

2011-01-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

This year I am designating the YEAR OF ADVENTURE with a focus on more US races including a few races that are on the must do list. The year is set up with a focus on road racing early in the spring before hitting ultras the rest of the year.

Racing Plans

Last year in the first half of the season I found that running marathons and 50ks as long runs in training worked really well for me. That means I plan to do some of that again this year. That will include marathons in Florida and Vegas as well the usual pile of OUSER races.

Here are the big races / runs I am hoping to hit this year as long as I am able physically, mentally and financially. For a full racing schedule check out race listings on the right side of my blog.

Jan 30 and Feb 6 - Miami marathon and Melbourne marathon

Basically two glorified long runs in Florida on consecutive Sundays. The bread of our holiday sandwich which will include a week of beaches and theme parks ...... mmmhhh theme parks.

March 5 - Red rock marathon in Las Vegas.

A weekend in Vegas, a Saturday morning running in the desert. For some strange reason this falls right into the middle of my hill training. Coincidence, I think not, time to pound those hills.

May 15 - Toronto Marathon

My target Marathon for the Spring. Really hoping to be able to grab a Boston Qualifier out of this one because after this race my year becomes all about the Ultra. I should have a realistic idea of my chances by looking at my Around the Bay time at the end of March. We shall see.

June 18 - Mohican 100 miler

After being spit on twice by the lottery gods and not getting into Western States or Massanutten 100 I spent a good deal of time pondering what 100 miler to do. So many great choices but decided to go with the Mohican as its close by so we can road trip there. Looks like JD is likely to be doing this one as well. Ahhh, shared pain.

July 30 - Burning River 100

back to Ohio for the Burning River 100 miler. This will be the first point to point 100 that I have ever attempted so should be fun.

August 20th - Pikes Peak Marathon

Start at 6000 feet, run 13.1 miles up to the peak at 14,000 feet, run back down 13.1 miles to where you started. How cool is that? Something tells me that this might be a tough one but I will get lots of mountain training here in Toronto .. HAAA.

Sept. 24 - Virgil Crest 100 miler

A quick trip across the border to New York State for my final 100 miler of the season. Its a UTMB qualifier (4 points) so I expect it to be tough going right from the start.

Late Oct. - Rim to Rim to Rim

Its off to the Grand Canyon with JD and others to run R2R2R. For those that dont know this is not a race but is a must do run. You run from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the bottom, across the canyon and up the other side to the other rim. Then you turn around and go back. Total distance is about 50 miles.

Nov 7th - NYC Marathon

The lottery gods surely you have spit on me enough this year already. We will be running NYC if I manage to somehow get my name pulled in the lottery. Kim got selected last year but deferred it so we could go together this year. After being rejected in the last 5 lotteries I have entered my number has to come sometime doesn't it?

Goals for 2011

2011-01-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

What to do about these damn goals. You would think this would be easy but as I learned last year some surprising things happen over the course of a year and that can make planning difficult. Who knows by June I may have given up this distance racing thing altogether and switched to endurance Yoga (seriously not a chance) or Jazzercise. Not that theres anything wrong with that.

General Goals

1. STAY HEALTHY - I did okay in this area last year but still lost weeks after 100 milers. I have begun be more careful and take extra down time when needed cause I am getting older and more brittle by the moment.

2. Specific Cross training - Back to the gym, the place I loath, for easy weights and ab / core work. Maybe some knitting as well. I have a number of areas of "interest" that need strengthening most importantly my repeatedly injured upper ankles.

3. Continue to build that base - Looking to get 5000k in this year barring injury.

4. Take a shot at my BQ - I got a spring marathon targeted for this. Not sure if I will get there or not but sure going to try. My biggest problem is running a marathon full out tends to screw with my ultra training.

5. Qualify for UTMB - Hope to get my race points in so that I can apply for Mont-Blanc in 2013. Ooopps, guess I should have mentioned that to the wife before posting it here.

6. Have fun- The biggest goal of all is to just train as hard as possible and run the best that I can while still having fun. Yes that horrible grimace on my face during races means I am having fun or I want to quit. Its one or the other.

Racing plan for next year coming up!

2010 year in review

2011-01-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

Year in Review

2010 ended up being a decent year of running for me and my most successful running season ever. At the end of 2009 I posted my 5 goals for 2010 (see the post here). Well unlike 2009 where I met all my running goals this didn't end up happening last year. I am disappointed in that? Hell No!

Like many things in life some of these goals were not met as my focus and yearly goals changed at some point along the way. Could I have made all of my goals if I had stayed the course and kept my focus on them. Maybe ( more then likely) but at some point on the way to the road racing finish line I took an abrupt left turn and found myself in middle of the woods, literally. So here are the last years goals, results and excuses. I mean reasons. Hey I could have always gone back edited my 2010 posted goals to match up with what I actually did but what fun would that be. It was tempting, very tempting.

Last Years Goals

1. Break 20 minutes in a 5k

Fail, kind of. It didn't happen and I really didn't even get close. I ran my last 5k in March taking 12 seconds off of my PB (21:03) but after that my focus changed and my short distance speed suffered.

2. Run my first 100 miler

Success. I ran my first 100, Sulphur Springs in May and then hit another 100 at Haliburton in the fall. I also ran 2 different 24 hour events, Dirty Girls and 24hrs on the Track.

3. Stay injury free

Success, kind of. I didn't suffer any major injuries but was plagued by smaller ones in the second half of the season. In each race that I ran longer then 100k I ended up with some kind of small injury that cost me a week or two of training each time. By my account I lost about 5 - 6 weeks of training due to injury.

4. Hit my Boston Qualifier

Fail. I didn't end up running a Marathon for time (race it) last year. My plan to attempt to run my qualifier in the fall got shelved as I was busy racing other distances.

5. Up my base mileage, shoot for 5000km year.

Semi Success. I upped my base mileage from just under 4000k in 2009 to 4500k in 2010. Not the 5000k I had hoped but as one of my running friends pointed out 5000k would be a 20% increase in one year. I will settle for the 10% increase for the year. I am happy with that considering the training time I lost due to injury.

So what changed from the start of last year to the start of this year to change my focus. In a word ULTRAS. What I discovered this year is that I like running long, really really long and if its on trails thats even better. After running two 50ks last spring and then a 100 miler in May it became clear that I was having way too much fun on the trails to focus on road running. I thought in June that I might be able to dance along the line somewhere in between the two worlds but by July I found myself in the running for the Ontario Ultra Cup and an age group award so I decided to go all in. I am slowish comparably to the top guys (and girls) so what I lack in speed I had to make up for in mileage. I got my Gump on and ended up placing second in my age group in the OUSER series.

Significant Mileage Totals for 2010

longest training run (not including races)- 32 miles
longest run (race) - 100 miles
most mileage run in a week - 135 miles
lowest mileage run in a week - 0 miles
most mileage in a month - 322 miles
lowest mileage in a month - 152 miles
Number of races in 2010 - 22

Number of Marathons + Ultra races -12 (2 Marathons, 6 50ks)

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2010
2808.5 Miles
or
4519.9 km

Significant Race Results for 2010
Set PBs in 5k, 8k, 10 miles, Half Marathon, 30k, 50k trail, 50k road, and 100 miler.

Second in Age group Slainte 5k

Second in Age group 24hr on the Track

Second in Age group Ontario Ultra Series (top 6 ultra race finishes)

Third Overall Men in Ontario Ultra Series (total for all races)

Coming up ..... 2011 goal and racing plan

The word for the day is NO!

2010-12-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Kids. This blog posting is brought to you by the word No and its close affiliate can’t. Side effects of this post may include crying, whining, bitching, loss of motivation and hair loss. Do not try to read this posting while operating heavy machinery.

NO – I did not get into Massanutten via the lottery; neither did JD so I will not be pacing either. On the brighter side I will put my name on the waiting list and have compiled a short list of late May / early June non lottery based Ultras that I am interested in. Will pick one sometime over the winter.

NO – There is no race report for the Egg Nog Jog. Running this race seemed doomed from the start. First friend (and ride) Gregoire could not go as he had to go to Paris France for a job interview. That’s a good thing although I am jealous that he keeps getting to go to Paris. Then we found out that Kim’s dad was able to come for a visit from out west that weekend. This is also a good thing as we don’t get to see him very often. So we shelved the race but had a much better time with family anyway. I would tell you all about it but is very hush hush.

NO – I didn’t get my full training miles in last week. I ended up too hung over after the Longboat Christmas party to run doubles on Thursday. Thanks to John and Toni for hosting again this year and to Roger for buying me extra beers, which was just what I needed. I find training in December very difficult but still managed to get 100k in last week. I will be happy with that.

NO – I didn’t win the lottery (the kind that they give you cash as a prize), I didn’t find a bag of money walking home and didn’t fart diamonds (I did fart however…. Lots). Opps to much information.

BAH HUMBUG

lottery whining... next .... lets try that again ... revising race history

2010-12-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

Okay so I am not going to whine about the lottery for Western States. I didn't get in and since JD didn't get in either I will not be pacing it. It was a long shot and I knew going in that it was not likely the first time around. No problem I will keep putting my name in every year until they get sick of seeing it and I get lucky enough to get my ticket pulled. Turns out that I am only luck in love not in lotteries.

As a fall back both JD and I have put our name into the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 lottery. The drawn is this coming weekend. I hear that its kind of hilly and rocky so just about perfect. I have much better odds of getting in and its a really damn good alternative to WS. I am also making a short list of non lottery alternatives for the spring. Suggestions? The one downfalls of this one is it will mess with my Toronto Marathon plans so if I do get in it will be an earlier marathon for me in the spring.

Last weeks training went really well as I built my long run up to 33km and got 113k in for the week. This week is a much needed and deserved mileage reduction week which works out perfectly with the Egg Nog Jog this weekend.

Speaking of which memory is such a fickle and funny thing. In my last blog I lamented on how I had a bad race at the Jog last year and had not planned to run it again. Strange because when I went back and read my race review from last year I said that "I would run this race again anytime". Weird... this is your brain .... this is your brain on running. Its a good thing I am writing this stuff down because it appears that I might be going senile already.

4000K in the bank ... Last Months Training, Egg Nog Jog coming up.

2010-12-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

I officially surpassed 4000k, 2500 miles for you non metric people last Sunday. That pushes me past my running totals for last year with still a month to go. Not as many miles as I had hoped but I lost some time due to injuries so I am very happy with it.

November ended up being a decent training month for me. That in spite of my super cement legs and crunchy ankle….. mmmm… crunchy. I slowly have been building my mileage back up from scratch and ended up getting in 400k for the month. More importantly I am finally starting to feel somewhat normal again with most of my easy runs starting to fall back into my regular pace. Not quite there yet but instead of one good run a week its becoming 3 or 4. I am looking forward to putting some harder workouts back into the mix in the coming weeks.

November was tough for me. Behaving myself is not one of my strong suits. I managed to not race in November. That’s right you heard me, NO racing in November. You have to go back to February 2009 to find the last month I went raceless. Don’t worry though that’s not going to last. Next weekend it will be off to Terra Cotta for the Egg Nog Jog. It will be hilly, it will be cold and we will race the ever popular 10.8 distance because as you all know 10k is just too damn short.

Last year after I finished this race I swore I would never run it again. We ran in horrible weather conditions and the course was, well lets just say it was challenging. Okay actually it was kind of the winter version of hell. You know the saying when hell freezes over? Well it did last year in Terra Cotta. Besides that it was a great race. I bitched and moaned about never doing it again but then in the end all it took was my friend Gregoire telling me he had registered and asking me if I was running it to “convince me” to sign up. Thanks Gregoire? I decided to spread the misery around by getting Kim to sign up as well. Should be a blast, I noticed its sold out again this year.

Ankle is still not right but slowly getting better. Its rarely an issue during runs but I do feel it when I get up over 25k if I am running a hilly route. So of course I have been sure to do all my long runs on the Boston Special route in order to get in as many hills as possible.

There is less then a month left of coaching the Running Room Marathon clinic at Rosedale. I will be hauling my ass over to the High Park Running Room to start doing a marathon clinic there at the end of January. With this location being right in my normal running hood I am going to be able to bring all kinds of torturous workouts and routes to these unsuspecting runners. Crap maybe I shouldn’t put that on my blog some of them might notice. Yeah that’s the ticket, don’t be afraid kiddies sign up now.

Tonight I will be headed out to High Park to run with Longboat as we start up the new training cycle. It’s the return of the every popular Frisky Fridays. I have a feeling this one is going hurt. I expect its going to involve some hard running and me with no fast twitch muscle fibers left after a season of ultra running.

I will be glued to my computer tomorrow morning watching to see if my name gets pulled from the lottery for Western States. I think the email they sent me said I have like a 1 in a gazillion chance. I have made a side deal with JD that I will pace him if he gets in and he will do the same for me. Keep those fingers crossed.

Muddy times ..... Training update .... Running Room clinics and coaching

2010-11-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

So this week Kim got some awesome pictures or maybe that's awful pictures depending on your point of view that another runner took of her at Haliburton. I remember that it was pretty muddy but had managed to blot it all until now. Anyway here is the photographic evidence and for fun now just pretend its pitch black running by headlamp in the middle of the night with only another 30 miles or so to get to the end of the 100 miler. Talk about fun times.

Last week I ended up pushing my weekly mileage to just over 100k. This week all is still going well and I should be close to 110. I managed to get in 30k last Sunday and my legs felt decent afterwords. Then on Tuesday I went out for 14k easy and could have thrown myself a party once I got done. For the first time in months my easy run felt really easy at my normal pace instead of tired at a slower then normal pace. Could my legs actually be starting to feel normal again? Could it be? I am not going to say yes just yet but all the signs are encouraging.

I have been coaching a marathon clinic at the running room and we are just heading into week 10. It has been interesting to say the least. I have mostly enjoyed it but the clinic is very small and so sometimes there are not very many people to actually coach. Hey did you hear that tumbleweed roll by? No sorry I couldn't hear it over the chirping of the crickets. Of the people that are out regularly there are some good runners and they all are a lot of fun. Some of them even listen to me and think I have a clue about what I am talking about. That is cool, scary and hilarious all at the same time. The clinic ends in January (that's why its small with it being off season, honest its not because of me I swear). Currently I dont have another clinic in the spring as they have a regular marathon coach as opposed to me the irregular coach. Hopefully something will come up tho but if not I will just focus more on Longboat.

This weekend I also start my first classes to begin working towards my National Coaching Certification. Once I get certified they will have to listen to me Mummhahaa!!

Oh ya I did end up throwing my name into the lottery for Western States. With only a 1 in 5 chance of getting in I figure it could take a few years.

Training is a pain the the _________ !

2010-11-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Back to normal training and as we all know training can be a real pain in the ______ ! No not in the ass, as much as some of you want me to say that. In fact I love a nice consistent training schedule. Training has almost never lead to a pain the ass or felt like a pain in the ass unless you count the one time I slipped on ice and landed on my rear. Now that was some pain.

Unfortunately training can lead to pain in just about every other part of the body. Oh my aching back, quad, neck, finger, ear, nose hair are just some of the normal background noise you might hear in our household and thats with Kim not saying anything at all.

On the bright side my feet are getting back to normal and I have begun to rebuild my base while at the same time desperately attempting to not sign up for any races. Its been hard but I managed to take a pass on horror hill and the Hamilton Marathon. I also didn't sign up for the 100 miler at Creemore next week although I desperately wanted to and decided not to run the cross country provincials this coming weekend. I did register for Robbie Burns at the end of January and Around the Bay at the end of March.

Training is going well and I am quickly getting back to 100k weeks. That said its been almost all easy running, tempo and speed work will come soon enough. I am still suffering with a sore ankle that seems to be taking forever to heal. Doesn't seem to get better or worse whether I run or not. Think I will give it a few more weeks and then if its still gimpy I will be forced to see the dreaded doctor.

Should I jump into the lottery for Western States or not. That is really the big question thats on my mind lately.

Vulture Bait 50k race report .... OUSER final standings

2010-10-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

The Vulture Bait 50K on October 16^th in London Ontario is the last of the OUSER races this year. It also spelled my last Ultra for the season. Usually I give a long drawn out blow by blow race report but this time I decided to keep it brief.

Why? Because I am one tired out Ultra runner right now. Even a week or more later I am still too tired to write for pages and pages. Did you buy that? Yeah didnt think so. Okay I am tired but thought I would keep this short because of how the race unfolded for me. I killed my feet, my ankle and my legs at Haliburton and Ottawa. They had not recovered for Vulture Bait (they still havent recovered). My thinking going into the race was just to put in the Kms and enjoy the trail. That plan made total sense until I got to the race and started to hear about how fast a course it was. I began to think that maybe I would run it hard. I could run it hard, that would be okay.

We got to the race early Saturday morning a nd picked up our race kits. Kim was running as well but was “only” doing 25k. Thats amazing seeing how she had run the Chicago Marathon only 6 days earlier. See that craziness is contagious, Kim seems to have caught some of mine. We also ran into Kinga and Stephan who had been kind enough to pick up my Run for the Toad race kit (I DSNed that one), once again thanks guys.

Before you knew it we were at the starting line and off we went. It was a nearly perfect day for running and right away I started to toy with the idea of running this thing hard. That lasted for exactly 11km. My mind was willing but my body was not and as I chugged along the trails I began to question who had poured cement into my shoes. Man my feet and legs were so heavy, unbelievable really. I decided I would except this and just enjoy the run.

This course is very fast (not for me on this day though) and the 50k is made up by running the 25k loop twice. The rest of the first 25k went much as expected from this point on with the exception of my feet really starting to hurt due to the damaged and lack of skin caused by previous races and a RIVER CROSSING. Thats right a river crossing because wet feet are just what I needed at that point in time. By the time I made it to the end of the first loop my feet were &*$#ed. I was forced to sit and deal with them at this point. Time to make the donuts. I lost about 8 minutes or so as I popped a couple blisters, applied some second skin and change into dry socks. Then it was off again.

Second loop went much like the first as I ran alone for the first 5k until finally catching up to Maryka. I had run about 20k with her at Haliburton so I figured I could make her really sick of me by running with her for the rest of the loop. I hopefully didn't drive her too crazy as we made our way around the course. I know that I was making her nervous though as she ran in front and during the last 10k or so I must have stumbled on roots at least 5 times. Somehow I managed not to fall once on the loop, don't have any idea how that happened. We managed to pass a number of people in the last hour of the race and before long we were headed into the finish line. I ended up coming in a little under 6 hrs, Kim on the other hand killed her race doing 25k in 4hrs which is a trail PR for her. If not for wonky marathon legs she would have been much faster.

OUSER AWARDS

With the official end of the ultra season the Ontario ultra series gave out there end of year awards. I managed to hang on to 2^nd place in my age category (40-49) which is based on the points from you top 6 races. I also ended up 3^rd male overall for total points. I got a cool plaque for the age group and nothing for 3^rd overall cause lets be honest people third overall is really just the second overall loser HA. Man that sounded kind of harsh when it was not meant to be at all. See the final standings here.

I also was one of around 15 runners to get the Norm Patenaude Award which is given to runners that complete 7 or more ultras in the series. I ended up running 11 out of 12.

Also want to give a big congratulations to Ken Moon who won the Ultra Cup for most overall points by a male and Laurie McGrath who won the female division for like the millionth year in a row. Okay maybe its only 7 times in a row but still.

I am planning on spending the next month recovering and building my base back again. Time to catch up on some sleep.

Ottawa 24 hours on the track race report

2010-10-17T05:48:00.000-07:00

September 24th / 25th was the Sri Chinmoy 24 hour race around the track. It took place in Ottawa on a really great track at the Louis Riel Dome. The track was a standard 400 meter indoor track so no worries about heat, rain, mud, uphills, downhills, bears, sleet or snow for this race.

I really had no idea of what to expect when it came to this race. I have done a number of races this year where I was on the course for 24 hours or longer but they were all trail races. This was to be something completely different as I attempted to run around in circles (literally) for a full day. As a track Ultra virgin I when into this race feeling good about the physical effort that would be required but nervous about the mental challenge that running the same 400 meters again and again might present. I got to say in the end I was pretty clueless.

Prerace
As those of you that follow this blog know I ran the 100 miler at Haliburton just 2 weeks before this race. In the process I completely demolished my feet as well as straining my left ankle. As I got ready to head to Ottawa both of those conditions had improved but not healed completely. My ankle was still a little tender and my feet while not blistered were still a little raw in places. To be honest 2 days before this race I was still not sure I would be healthy enough to go but by Friday morning I decided to give it a shot.

The plan was to try and run 160km so that is how I would pace the race however I would be happy with 140+. The real factor would be how my feet held up, if they were an issue then all bets would be off.

For most distance races like this Kim and I will take the day before off so that we can drive up, get accommodations and relax but for Ottawa we just couldn’t. That meant that we would not be able to start the 5 hour drive until Friday evening and even then it would be in Toronto evening traffic which is not exactly fun or fast. By the time we go home, packed up the car and got out on the road it was already 8pm.

The drive up went well but slow and we didn’t get into Ottawa until close to 2 AM. Both of us were struggling to stay awake and so when we pulled into the parking lot of the Dome we decided that with less then 6 hours before the start of the race there was little point in getting a room that we would use for 4 hours or so. We opted instead to just sleep in the car. We had a tent but it seemed like way to much effort to set it up.

After a very restful (HA .. as if) sleep we slithered out of the car around 7 AM. Hmmm that’s strange there were still no other cars here. Kim had been told that the Dome would be open at 6 AM. It was after some map consultation that we realized that we were at the wrong dome and that the actual place we were supposed to be was a bit further down the road. In our very sleepy state the night before we had just figured that there could only be one dome on the same road. Man talk about being a dummy. We headed farther down the road and found the actual race venue around the next corner.

We spent the next little while drinking coffee and setting up our tent and chair. The track looked great but I discovered it also looked bigger when its inside. Soon each runner meet their official counter, we had some final directions, a group photo and it was time to race.

The race
Not much to report from early on in the race. I tried to make sure my pace was the proper speed for a 160km run. I found that I had to really work on staying slow. I also just kept a very close eye on my hydration, salt intake and food. It was easy to loss track of this as you circled around and around. The first 50k went really well and I was right on pace and feeling good at that point. The mental fatigue I had expected just was not there as I found myself chatting to different people as I went along. Some people were really flying out around the track as there were a lot of really good runners. Laurie McGrath lapped me so many times that we practically had an ongoing conversation.

Kim stayed up until this point and then left to go do a long run on the canals in downtown Ottawa as I continued to circle. I managed to hit the 80km / 50 mile mark at just over 10 hours which was again right on pace. I felt okay but was begin to have issues with my feet. The areas that had been in the process of healing from Haliburton were now beginning to blister. I took 10 minutes at just after 50 miles to lance and drain a number of growing blisters and apply some newskin.

It was also at this point that I made my first appearance on the leader board in 7th place (men) and by 85km had moved to 6th and I was still running well even with my blisters. Unfortunately somewhere just before I hit 90km I began to feel pain in my previously injured ankle. Not bad pain but it was there. Now as everyone that runs long distances knows the best thing to do when you have pain is to run through, it so I did.

The blisters continued their growth over the next 10km despite repeatedly stabbing them with sharp pins while at the same time the small pain in my ankle continued to grow. I hit 100 km in 13 hrs, still right on pace for 160 but now I was aware that I was slowly heading into deep trouble. Soon after this point my ankle became incredibly painful and by hour 14 I was no longer able to run. Any type of pressure greater then a ginger walk became impossible. Continuing to run no longer became a mental challenge. It became a physical impossibility.

At that point I did what every good runner does. No I didn’t quit. No I didn’t cry, okay at least not where others could see me. I started walking and I keep walking. I walked slowly, very very slowly as that was all my ankle would allow but I walked. I figured I am here on the track and it’s the middle of the night so what the heck else was there to do. It was frustrating but round and round I walked that damn track and my blisters continued to grow. They grew so big that I should have given each of them their own name before they demanded it. How big does a blister have to get before it becomes self aware? The more I stabbed and drained them the bigger they got. It was like they were mocking me. No matter though, I keep on going at somewhere around the pace of a dung beetle. Somehow I kept this up until 6:30 am and then my feet would go no farther so I called it a day. Maybe I could have continued for the last hour and a half but I was so slow that I may have only gotten around the track 3 or 4 laps in the time left. There will be no pictures of my feet in this blog posting. I didn’t take any as I found my feet actually too scary to look at.

Post race
Total distance 128km
Place 22/41
2nd mens 40 – 45

After the race they served us up a pretty good breakfast although it was vegetarian (I knew that going in). Then they gave out the awards. Everyone got a photo of themselves running (sorry I cant post it as I haven’t scanned it into the computer), a certificate with their mileage on it and a finishing metal. I also managed to pick 2nd place in my age category.

I actually really liked this race / type of race. It would have been a lot better if I had not been injured but hey that’s the breaks when it comes to running. I didn’t find it a bigger mental challenge then other long races like 100 milers but somewhat different. On the track there is no place to hide.

I will definitely be doing another one of these races in the very near future.

Next up for me is the Vulture Bait 50km on Saturday October 16th.

I designate this week the official week of Crappy

2010-10-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

This has been a trying week when it comes to running. For those of you waiting for my race report for 24hrs on the track in Ottawa its coming soon. I am almost finished it but as part of Official Week Of Crappy my computer that it is on will not start and has been sent off to be fixed.... GRRR

I have not been able to train since Ottawa due to blister issues (that have healed) and a reoccurrence of my Haliburton ankle injury, which is getting better but still tender. This is particularly annoying as I am teaching a marathon clinic at the Running Room and cant run with the kiddies. Going to give it another try tonight and see how it goes. Because I haven’t been training it means that my racing season is just about over. I plan to run 50k at Vulture Bait in a week and a half and may still run the Hamilton marathon but these will really be treated as training runs as I start to rebuild my mileage. At this point I just don’t have a fast marathon in my legs so its time to regroup and get to some serious training. Stupid injury ... GRRRRRRR

I was forced due to the ankle issues to DNS (did not start) at the Run for the Toad last Saturday. I really wanted to run this race this year. I could not get in last year because it sold out so early so I registered in April .......GRRRRRRRR

Both Kim and I got our rejection letters from the London Marathon Lottery on Monday. No spring holiday in England for us........ GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Kim is off on Friday for a road trip with other Longboaters to the Chicago Marathon. I am unable to go for a number of reasons even though I am registered. She will have an awesome time running Chicago. I will grow some scruff, drink Jack Daniels straight from the bottle and mumble incisively under my breath..... GRRRRRRRR

Happy Official Week of Crappy everyone and don’t worry the Official week of Awesomeo is just around the corner.

2010 Haliburton 100 miler Race Report

2010-09-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

I had been looking forward to this race for almost a year. Last year I ran the Haliburton 50 miler and really fell in love with the course. It was tough, somewhat technical but with lots of runnable sections, dry (no river crossings) and beautiful. At the end of my race last year I sat at the finish line and watched the 100 mile runners come in, turn around and head right back out to do the 50 mile course a second time. My legs were sore, I was really tired but as I sat sipping a nice cold beer I thought “I can do that” or maybe it was “I want to do that”. Either way I decided right then and there that I would be running the full Monty next time. Now race weekend was finally here.

Got to be honest here. I was really worried about this race for a number of reasons. I had been nursing a knee injury since Dirty Girls which had prevented me from doing much training. I am in okay shape but was in better shape for Sulphur Springs and this course was going to be tougher. If the knee flared back up I could be in for a very rough day.

Prerace
Kim picked up our rental car Friday morning and after making a quick stop to pick up fellow runner JD we headed off from Toronto for Haliburton. The drive up went quickly although I think both JD and I were excited and nervous about the upcoming 100 miler. JD had some pacers joining him for the night running. Kim was running the 26k race on Saturday morning and then crewing me for the rest of my race. Unlike Sulphur I had no pacers for this one but was not that worried about it. Just knowing Kim would be at each aid station was a great comfort.

We got to the race site without incident and saw that lots of other runners were already checking in. We were sharing a cabin with some other runners right at the start line. This ended up working out really well as we where able to get a good night's sleep and avoid having to camp out in 6 degree weather.

Once we got settled we went and picked up our race kits. You had to get weighed in, have rested pulse checked and pinched tested for hydration. This went really bad for me. Somehow I was 5 pounds heavier then the day before (what the hell), my rested HR was 76 ( should be 50 normally) and according to the nurse I was a bit dehydrated (not according to the color of my pee). Just so we are all clear here I am fat, out of shape and dehydrated. If I wasn't worried about this race before I was now.

Then it was off for the prerace dinner followed by a course update and instructions. Dinner was good but the instructions turned out to be ….. ahhh ….. informative. Seems a beaver had built a dam and rerouted a stream so that it was now flowing down part of the course, awesome. I seem to remember the directions being something like you're going to come to a place on the course where you're going to think that this can't be right, I must be off the trail. When you get to this point you just follow the flags because your still actually on course. Crap what does that mean?! This was followed by a warning that all the rain had left the course very muddy. Man so much for dry feet.

We headed back to the cabin where I ate some chocolate chip cookies (I am fat already so what does it matter) and then went to bed. I got an excellent sleep and when I awoke to hot coffee and a warm living room I was very glad to not be in a tent. As we all got our gear ready there was a lot of talk about how fast to go out, etc. I just kept telling myself stick to the race plan don't be changing anything now. We all took our time getting dressed and then headed out to the start line. Time to get down to business.

The Race
1 - 40k Just getting it going
The race started and we all headed out in the dark. The first 6k is on gravel road and even though it's dark you can still run it without a headlamp. I hooked up with Stephan Miklos who was planning on running the same pace that I was so I decided to stick with him for a while. Soon we were off the road and into the woods. It was light out by this point and although the race had started in cold temperature (I had gloves on for gosh sakes) it was already a bit warmer and really good running weather.

As we circled the very tough section of the course know as the Normac trail it became clear early that the course conditions were going to be difficult. At many points we hit deep mud and what I can only describe as a swampish mess (ha swampish …. I just made up a new word). You did your best to dance around the crap which was semi-successful but I already was wondering how much dancing I would be doing after running for 15 hours.

The first part of the race seemed to fly by. The course was very tough and by the time we hit the beaver dam at around 20k my feet were already wet. The beaver dam pond overflow ended any thought of keeping dry at all as there was no choice but to run through the ankle deep mud and water. Yuck.

Stephan and I continued to run together and it was nice to have some trail company. I felt really good aside from being wet. I was gelling and taking my salt tabs as well as hydrating regularly so no problem there. I had not gone out too fast so that was good. Even more encouraging was that my knee was no problem so far. I had worn a brace as a precaution and it seemed to be doing the trick.

Before I knew it we were at the 40k turn around. Time to this point was 5:10 just about right on pace for a hopeful 26hr race.

40 - 80k Slight bump in road
I got some food into me, downed an ensure and then headed back in the direction I had come. Stephan had been quicker at the aid station and had headed out faster then me. I got back into running mode and headed off into the woods. I saw JD coming the other way. He was around 2k behind me and looked strong. Things seemed to be going well. Its funny how fast that can change.

I can't tell you actually when but at some point between 40 and 50k my left ankle started to bother me. Hey that's new, no history of that at all. It was annoying but manageable but I began to have another problem. For some reason I began to get a very negative narrative running in my head. I went over to the darkside. All aboard , TOOT TOOT next stop Negativeland soon to be followed by Icantdoitville. This was really strange I mean you expect to have some mental battles but not this early in the race and not when you are still feeling semi strong.

I decided the best way to deal with this was to just keep going and not worry about pace or distance at all. Just keep working it. Man I had forgotten just how hard this trail was. I got to say that it is easily the hardest trail on the OUSER race circuit. Good thing there were some very runnable sections. Oh ya did I forget to mention the mud. Much to my chagrin some of the more runnable sections were now dotted with muddy shoe sucking bogs. At one point I stepped on what looked like a semi solid place and my leg sank up to the top of the calf.

I ran this next 40k alone only occasionally being passed or passing someone. My legs were still feeling okay but I had begun to notice that my wet muddy feet were beginning to bother me somewhat. I don't often have foot issues and I might have changed my shoes if not for the fact that my spare pair were at the 40k mark and I was running in the opposite direction. My feet would become a running theme for the rest of this race.

On a lighter note I attempted to take the last salt tab that I had in my fuel belt. First I dropped it in the mud but once I picked it up and wiped it off it looked fine to me. Talk about your 5 second rule. Then in my attempt to swallow the tab it ended up going down sideways and sticking in my throat. No worries I puked that sucker right back up. Hurray something new, my first time vomiting on the trail. I am no longer a puke virgin. No I didn't pick the salt tab back up and try to take it again, lets get real. Okay maybe I did think about it for a minute but I was kind of delusional by this point in the race.

At some point during this section I came out of my mental funk but my pace was suffering. I made the 80k mark in 11:48, 30 minutes slower then planned but so it goes. Not great but not a disaster.

80-120k Second time out, the big struggle
It's just after 6 pm as I came into aid station 2 and was greeted by some familiar faces. Kim was there with hot soup waiting. Allistair M. was also there hanging out as he was pacing someone. I felt okay but my feet hurt. I grabbed my headlamp and headed back out. Kim would be moving from aid station to aid station as I moved along the course to provide support and her awesome sweet potato soup. It was so nice to see friendly faces and it picked me up for a while.

I would like to say that carried me through the night but soon I was back in the woods and the real struggle began. My ankle was a problem but my feet were deteriorating fast. It was dark, it was muddy and I was alone. I focused on just getting to the next aid station. I was making a running motion but was going very slow as my feet were screaming at me with every step. In the dark there was no way to avoid the mud and water. I began to wonder if I could make it. I was going so damn slow.

Runners began to passing me. I passed nobody. At aid station 3 Kim told me that Steve had dropped. That kind of scared me. Out of the people sharing our cabin he was easily the strongest runner. I just tried to keep going, up the hill, down the hill, through the mud, through the mud, through the mud, up the hill. Damn. I also began to hear a lot about bear sightings. It seems that many runners had some run in with bears on the trail. Nobody had been eaten yet. Not good, that meant the bear might still be out there and might still be hungry.

I was beginning to see other runners coming back the other way some looked strong while others were struggling just like I was, of course they were well ahead of me. At around 118k JD and his pacer caught up to me and passed me. I told JD that my feet were really bad and that I didn't know if I was going to have enough time to make it before the 30hr cut off. He told me that I had lots of time and not to drop that I could make it. To see what JD really thought check out his blogging about his race including our encounter here.

I spent the next 2k doing the math and rolled into the 120 mark at 20:45.

120k – 160k How much pain can you take?
Kim was waiting for me at the turnaround. I told her that I was in really bad shape and that I didn't think I could make. I knew how slow I was because of the feet and if I got any slower I would not make the cutoff. She was great and encouraged me to continue. I had some soup, considered changing shoes but honestly I figured I might not be able to get my swollen feet back into a pair of shoes. I told her that I would run until it got light out and re-assess. I though how crappy I would feel if I ran 98 miles and then missed the time cutoff. Time was going to be the overriding factor now. This was something that I never expected at all. Zombie shuffling while on the bubble is a scary proposition.

The run from the aid station 7 to aid station 6 was 10k. I ran it alone trying my best to keep some kind of faster then staggering pace. I could see a couple just ahead of me and they were walking. I was running (?? sort of ??) yet I was not making any ground on them. There was some really runnable areas in this 10k but not so much for me. I finally caught and passed the people just in front of me. He had stopped for a bathroom break, she didn't look impressed at all (note I don't think they finished). I made some kind of little joke about them walking faster then I was running. She gave me the dead pan face so I got the hell on down the trail. For a minute or 2 I almost ran fast.

I got to aid station 6 in an acceptable amount of time leaving me 7 hours to go the last 30k. Kim was waiting for me there and I was a bit snippy towards her I think. I was getting kind of grumpy. There were also another 5 runners at the aid station including JD. I chugged an ensure and then JD asked if anyone was heading out. I said me and so we started to leave but just as we did Derrick Spafford showed up so JD said he would catch up and I headed out. I didn't mind as I knew JD would be moving faster then me. Well wouldn't you know it. In my haze I ran right past the turn into the woods and ran an extra 200 meters down the road. Damn dude what the heck. I headed back and could see other runners going into the woods. I was so embarrassed that I was able to actually run fast enough to catch up to them.

Suddenly I went from a lone wolf to part of a merry band of 6 runners. This group included JD, Maryka and her pacer, Scott and Dale. We were not a very fast group but we were a very determined bunch. Somehow I was able to keep up with them as they all struggled along. Its crazy but shared misery can be very inspiring. I knew if I dropped out of this group before we made daybreak I would be toast so I just focused on staying with them. Soon we were at aid station 5 where Kim seemed very happy to see me running with other people.

A quick transition at the aid station and then we were back into one of the toughest parts of the trail. At the beaver lake / dam all attempts to avoid the mud went in vain, its not like my feet could possibly get any wetter anyway. As we neared aid station 4 the sun finally came up and we were done with the night running. Before long our little group began to break up and spread out. I came into aid station 4 just as some of the others were leaving. Kim helped me get in and out of there quickly and with 15km left I now began to actually believe that I might make it.

I made slow time to aid station 2 but now with 11km left I was almost done. The good thing was the last 6km is all road. The bad is that I still had to run the toughest part of the race, 5k on the Normac trail. I left the aid station telling Kim to meet me at aid station 3 and headed up the road and into the woods. All the people I had been running with were now out of sight and it took me forever to run the half km to the trail head.

Then something really weird happened. I got really really pissed off. I was mad at my race, mad at the trail and furious at my feet. I was actually yelling at myself out loud at one point. I think I might have gone just a bit crazy. I was yelling things at my feet like “come on you loser”, “smarten the hell up you $%*#”, etc. (insert curse words that you deem appropriate).

Then I started running really fast, faster then I had run in at least 20 hours. It was crazy stuff, I caught up to and passed Maryka and her pacer. I think they figured I had totally lost it. I just hammered up and down the hills of the Normac like some crazed rabid furry forest creature. I was picking up time and then what the hell, suddenly I had to do what bears do in the woods, immediately. Damn and I was making such good time. I ran off the trail and tried not to think about the bear sightings on the Normac. Last think you want to have to do is fight a bear with your pants down.

Then it was back on the trail and out onto the road. I was still super angry and as I passed aid station 3 I just yelled at Kim to meet me at the finish I was not stopping for anything.

The mind is one powerful and nutty thing. I was somehow running fast on the road, somewhere very close to marathon pace. Note to self remember to get angry more often. I was able to hold a quick pace for the next 5km only slowing down in the final kilometer. Final I could see the finish line. I don't think I have ever been so glad to see the finish, I actually started to get choked up. Then I was done.

Post race
Final time was 29:07:30.
Place 27 / 53

I was much slower then I expected but I really don't care. This is by far the hardest race I have ever run and even now don't know how I managed to finish. My feet were destroyed. Below is a picture of my shoes because I felt that pictures of my feet might be to much for some readers.

Morbidly curious about my feet. Go here to see the pics.

Picked up my second hundred mile belt buckle which somehow made it all seem worth while.

Once again Helen Malmberg put on an excellent race this year. I cant recommend this race enough. I have also decided that I no longer buy the beaver dam story. I am thinking maybe race organizers built the dam themselves in an effort to make this race even harder. If they didn't then I expect they may have flown the beavers in and set them about there business. I sense a dam conspiracy here.

24 hours on the track this weekend

2010-09-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

Briefly against all my better judgment or lack there of I am heading off later today to Ottawa to run the Sri Chinmoy 24 hr Transcendence race. This will be 24 hours of running on a 400 meter indoor track. I think this may officially push me into the Your Crazy category. I am kind of worried about this one.

The good thing is there will be no mud, hills, bears, beaver dams, rain or running in the dark. The bad thing is although my legs feel good 2 weeks after the Haliburton 100 miler my feet are still tender from the beating they took there. I expect may blister problems on this one.

Poor Kim, I am dragging her all the way to Ottawa. I get to run, she gets to spend her weekend watching me kill myself. Man what a trooper. I am hoping for 160k on this one but it will all come down to how my feet hold up.

Oh ya I should have the Haliburton race report up later today. Its very long and brooding (big surprise).

Good luck to everyone at Scotia this weekend!

Dirty Girls 24 HR Race Report -My 1 year Ultra Anniversary

2010-09-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

This was my second year running the dirty girls trail race and marked one year since my first official Ultra race. Last year I ran the 6 hour event where I somehow managed to get in 50km. This year the plan called for running the 24 hour event in preparation for the Haliburton 100 miler in September. My hope was to get in about 140k but more importantly to fix the issues that plagued me during my first 100 miler at Sulphur. The plan was to make sure I figured out my nutrition and to stick to my early charted paces instead of running to hard early.

We headed up to the race site in Mansfield on Saturday morning with are friend Gregoire who was running the 30k as his first official trail race. Welcome to the darkside Gregoire. Kim was also running the 6hr race with plans to do around 30k. Weather was great but called for the possibility of rain early Sunday morning.

I was already familiar with the course from last year. It consists of a 10k loop made up of single and double track trail with some challenging technical areas. I actually really like this course as it suits my running style. This year the course had a few minor changes from last year and one really big one. The course was going to be run backwards. No we didnt run backwards we ran the course in the opposite direction from previous years although at some points I began to feel like I was running backwards.

The Race

Things started out well as the 6, 12, and 24hr runners headed out across open field. I felt like I was going so slow as others started to stretch out the pack. I just keep thinking about Sulphur and tried to keep it in check. For some reason my garmin didnt seem to be working as I could see pace and time but distance seemed to be not working. I was a good km into the race and it still said 46 in that damn box. What the heck. I had hoped to run some early with JD but had lost him in the crowd at the start so that wasn't going to happen (strangely I didnt see him the entire race). Soon we where into the hills, I had forgotten about them.. .how strange.

As I made my way up a short gravel road at the 3k mark I could see another part of the course which looped around and then goes back into the woods. There were a number of runners that are usually around my pace running together on this part of the course and they were actually already far ahead of me. I decided to time myself from the spot I was at to the spot where I had seen them. After taking all the twists and turns through the woods and then back around a discovered that I was a full 6 minutes behind them. Was I going that slow? Should I speed up? The little voice said stay with the plan cause changing it last time didnt work out at all. I would make it my mission to listen to the little voice this time no matter what.

I checked my Garmin again, still it didnt seem to be giving me the right distance data. What the heck. I looked closer. Oh crap, somehow I had switched menu set and was looking at the wrong info. I couple of clicks and I soon had the proper distance showing. Man talk about stupid. This is what happens when I drink less then 3 coffees in the morning.

Soon I was running by the 5k aid station that was being manned by Stephan and Kinga Miklos. I stopped for a Heed bottle refill and then was back on the trail. Soon I had hooked up with Rick who I had been talking with at Creemore (he had suffered as much or more then me there). He was running one of the shorter races. We ran the rest of the loop together and soon I was back at the start / finish line. First lap was 1:15 which was 5 minutes slower then planned but that was fine with me. I really wanted to not be too fast early on.

The next few laps when really well. I ran most of the next 50km alone with the exception of running a half loop with Paul Chenery who I was just behind in the OUSER standing and who I hadn't gotten a chance to run with before (mainly because the guy is usually way ahead of me in races). I keep my refueling on course and keep my aid station stops quick. I was also right on pace and felt very strong as I headed out for loop 7.

Well as they say nothing lasts forever especially when your running for an entire day. Sometime during the early part of loop 7 as I cruised along a nice flat section of trail I felt a sharp pain in my right knee. It disappeared for a few seconds only to return in as a throbbing ache that was soon to become my constant trail companion. For those of you not familiar with my right knee its my bad knee (the one with no ACL). It hasnt been an issue for a long time but does occasionally show up to cause me problems, usually when I am least expecting it.

The knee continued to become more and more of a problem over the course of the loop and I knew this was not good. By the time I got to end of the loop it was very sore but with 80km already run I really wanted to get my belt buckle (you needed to run 120k). I let Kim know about my knee as she fed me homemade sweet potato soup. I had been smart enough to bring my knee brace with me so I threw that on and headed back out.

The plan now had to be changed. I would no longer worry about pace and conscientiously slowed down a far amount. Now the rest of the night would be about getting in my final 40 k run while doing as little damage to my already sore knee as possible. I tried to keep in mind that I had the Haliburton 100 miler coming up in 3 weeks and if I was not recovered I would not be running it.

To be honest it soon became easy to go slow and after another 20k I may not have been able to go any faster on my run / limp even if I had wanted to. The uphills and flats were okay but the downhills were completely trashing me. On the positive side I did have plenty of time to get my Ks in even while I was doing the inch worm which is officially slower then the zombie shuffle.

The night running went slowly by and I made prolonged stops at the start/finish and 5k aid stations. Sometime just before dawn I saw what looked like reflective tape on someones camel back. It was so strange because as I grew closer I realized the runner didnt appear to be moving at all. Final when I got within 10 meters I realized that it wasnt a runner at all but the eyes of on of the biggest deer I have ever seen in my life. The deer shot me a look, of disgust as far as I could tell, and then bounded off the trail and into the woods.

By the time the sun came up I was tired as hell and on my last loop. I was so glad to see the light after spending almost 10 hrs running alone in the dark. I ended up hitting 120k at the 22:30 mark and grabbed something to eat from Kim. I sat in a chair at our little finish area pit stop and tried to decide if I wanted to go back out. I didnt think I could get a full loop in but they counted part loops and I figured many people may have stopped as soon as they reached belt buckle status. I really didnt want to go back into the damn woods so I sat for 10 minutes thinking about it.

Just when I had almost decided to say screw it the skies opened up and it began to pour rain. I pulled my rain poncho on but the water kept flowing down the back of the chair, pooling on the seat and soaking my ass. I figured that does it and headed back out onto the course to put in another 2.5k. Not much running here just a slow walk in the torrential downpour. Come on who doesn't like a long walk in the rain. I will tell you who, that would be me. Then the race was done.

Post Race
I got my belt buckle and ended up finishing 10/39. Total distance run was 122.5km. Also got a random door prize of a subscription to trail running magazine (thanks Diane).. Good thing too as my subscription had almost run out. Now if I just learn how to read I can do more with it then just look at the pretty pictures.

Lots of good and bad in this one but overall positive. I seemed to have figured out my calorie intake and eating issues. That meant gels early then a combination of ensure, sweet potato soup, potatoes and strawberries. Also lots of salt tabs and heed / eload for as long as I can take it. Oh ya and dont forget the many cups of coke. I also seemed to get my pacing in check until I got hurt. On a down note the knee issue was a surprise and I was somewhat disappointed that I didnt get in my minimum of 140k done. I think I would have if not for slowing to preserve the leg but that makes it no less aggravating.

Lastly I am officially a Spazz. In the first 8 loops I stubbed my toe on the same small tree trunk 7 times. Seriously I kid you not, 7 times, and the one time I avoided it I was so distracted thinking about how I avoided it that I tripped over another rock 10 seconds later. Once again its never smart to have a party / celebration in your head while your running trail.

Once again this year Diane put on a great race. Dirty Girls was one of my favorite races last year and will rank right up near the top again this time. Great trail, great organization and a buckle to boot what more can you ask for. Finally just for the recorded the reversal of the direction that the course was run from previous years definitely made this race much harder then the year before. Its funny how just running a trail the other way can change it so much but there ya go.

Rain Delay almost over time to get blogging

2010-09-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wow have I ever gotten behind in my blogging and race reports. Honestly its not my fault, there was nothing I could do. It's the marshals fault, they don't give you computer access in the witness protection program. Okay so maybe I wasn't in the program, maybe I was just trying to avoid Mr. T.. I heard that he was looking for me after all the mean things I said about him.

Actually I have been away from the blogging for the last month due to more “real” life issues. First off there was the whole getting married to Kim, wedding in Halifax which was great fun but kept us both very busy. At the same time I was forced to make a change in the career department which just added to the chaos. Added to that were 3 ultras and well you get the picture.

Don't worry now I am back like that chatty ultra runner that gets behind you on the trail and just will not shut up. Oh crap that really is me. I should be able to catch things up here over the next week.

Watch for my Dirty Girls 24 hr race report to be posted later today or tomorrow. I also should have my Haliburton 100 miler report up next Monday. After that its all up in the air.

I am still debating on whether to run the 24hrs on the track in Ottawa on September 24th. Would like to do this one but it will probably come down to whether I can find a ride and make things work logistically.

Oh ya. Happy belated Birthday Kimmie!!

Limberlost 56K Race Report - a little redemption

2010-08-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

“Oh Limberlost race report where Art tho?”
I promised JD that I would be quicker with this report than the last one. After he dropped Kim and I off from the race I am pretty sure he yelled out the car window “ Don’t take a month with this blog”. Well it hasn’t been a month but it must be getting close so here goes (by the way JD is always great getting his posts up quickly, see his report here).

Prerace
We got up bright and early on July 17th to get ready to head out to the Limberlost trail race. That’s right another 3:45 wake up call all in the name of fitness and self induced pain. I was bright eyed and bushy tailed while Kim looked a little tired to me. My sleeping schedule the last few weeks has been pretty messed up so this was almost a normal wake up time for me, not so much for Kim.

JD showed up to pick us up just before 4:30 for the 3 hour drive up towards Huntsville. Thanks for the ride JD! I think both of us were pretty nervous about this race after we both put in such bad performances at Creemore. I know that I was kind of freaking out over my sudden rash of poor racing performances. We made great time and arrived at the race nice and early. The race was easy to find but we still got slightly lost as our GPS sent us past the race and down a logging road, around a big loop, back to where we started and then recalculated to send us down the proper road. It was really strange, technology rules, sort of. After arriving we spent the next half hour chatting with other racers. Both JD and I were doing 56k, which was 4 loops of the 14km course while Kim was running the 28km race.

Race
Things began well off the starting line with a 400 meter run down a gravel road and then right into the trails. It was very hectic going for the first few KM with the 14, 28 and 56k runners all starting together and us ending up on single track trails very early on. I didn’t mind that much and used it to try and keep my pace in check although I always worry about this kind of crowding on the trail. It becomes very easy to catch a root or roll an ankle when you can’t see the trail directly in front of you.

The trail was really nice and well maintained but even early it seemed to be ever changing. I wondered if the course would be tough and found out soon enough. Right around 2k we hit the first really big hill which was a tough climb followed by a great deal of technical trail along the side of a lake. It rolled up and down as it snaked along the lakeside.

I have to say this course was beautiful, maybe the nicest trails I have ever run on but also deceptively tough. I have tried to figure out just what made it tough and I think that what it comes down to is that you just never seem to have anywhere on the course that you can make up time. In most races, especially loop courses once you know the course you know there are areas that you can conserve and other areas where you can really open it up and make up some time. With the exception of the brief road section at the start / end of the loop there was just nowhere like this. I found myself working hard almost all the time.

It was very hot in the early going and by 5k I was soaked. The course had great tree cover so you where not in directly sunlight very often but it was still hot with the humidity a whooping 97% at race time. There was a stiff wind occasionally but it was of little benefit.

The first loop went really well and somewhere around 6k I hooked up with Stephan M. who was running around my pace so I decided to stick with him for awhile. I hydrated and gelled as planned and as we came into the end of the first loop I was feeling really good.

Loop 2 – Here comes those aching feelings
We both headed out for the second loop together I tried to not torment Stephan too much with my ramblings. All seemed to be going good and I was on pace. My past race problems where briefly forgotten but not for long. Somewhere around 20k I began to slip. My legs were suddenly very heavy and I could really feel the heat. How could I be feeling tired this early? Oh wait I know maybe it has something to do with my stupidity (doesn’t it always). What stupidity you ask? Come on you know your asking. Well that would be the running the 10 miler Acura road race full out the weekend before. Hey what can I tell you I sometimes believe the laws of physics and the rules of recovery just don’t or at least shouldn’t apply to me. Yeah I know they always do but I keep forgetting. That’s what happens when you get old you conveniently forget important things that might save you from yourself.

I made a conscience decision to let Stephan, who was running well, go and try and adjust my pace. Even though I know why I was slowing some because of the last few races and the Creemore implosion I was getting paranoid about my race judgment or lack of it. I ran the rest of this loop conservatively but still felt okay about it.

Loop 3 – Grin and Bear it
I headed out for loop 3 slow and just got slower and slower. It was hot and I was struggling physically but even worse I was struggling mentally big time. I remember thinking oh no I am slowly headed towards another crash and burn, what the hell. I can remember going up the big hill 2km into the loop and thinking my god I have another 26km still to run, how is that possible. At 8km I spent a good deal of time thinking about what I would call this blog entry. Titles such as “How I became a 5k race fanatic” and the more simple but direct “Suckage” came to mind. My favorite though has to be “Lost: my race mojo, somewhere on the trail at Sulphur Springs. If found please return, reward offered no questions asked.”

This loop was a struggle and I was passed by a number of runners. Right around the 7km mark a guy passed me and soon was about 50 meters ahead. I watched as he crested the rise of a small hill just ahead of me and then something very strange happened, he came running back down the hill towards me. I began to think that’s odd, the guy is going the wrong way until he got close to me and then said that thing you never really want to hear, “BEAR!”.

What? Really, oh crap. He told me there was a bear on the trail right over the rise. It was so strange and somewhat surreal, a kind of okay what now moment. On the one hand I really wanted to see the bear, on the other hand I really wanted to not get eaten like a runner sandwich. I also figured I would be too tired to run away with any kind of speed at all. We decided to give the bear a minute or two to move on so we waited and then headed back up the hill. The bear was gone. I got to say I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to see it lumbering back into the woods. As I made my way around the rest of the loop I wondered if the bear would reappear during loop 4 to carry me off into the woods never to be seen again like those kids in the Blair Witch Project (it’s a true story don’t you know).

With 2km left in the loop a guy and girl passed me. I don’t know why but this really pissed me off. It really had nothing to do with them but getting passed here really irked me.

I finished loop 3 feeling tired, grumpy and wishing I could drink the beer in our cooler right then and there. My loop time was really slow. Kim was at the turnaround having finished her race and I had to sit down and try to empty the crap out of my shoes. They were full of all kinds of debris and I lost about 3 to 5 minutes here. No more running without gaiters.

Loop 4 – Redemption?
I headed out for this loop with the objective to just run as well as I could, enjoy it and finish. I ran along through a trail that I was now very familiar with. Once again I can't even begin to convey to you just how gorgeous this course was. I was running alone, nobody in sight ahead or behind. It was up the big hill again and then along the lake for the last time. At some point I realized that I felt really good and was, do I dare say it, running well. I remember thinking okay just go with it don’t question it and so I did.

As I ran through what I now called the "bear zone" I heard cracking branches behind me on the trail... Oh no. I looked back but there was no bear in site, instead I watched as a large dead tree branch fell from the sky and smashed into the trail 20 meters behind me. Wow that was close, this part of the trail is kind of scary. I pondered this as I keep my eyes peeled for large furry creatures. Then I heard cracking again but this time it was right in front of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and just in time as another huge dead branch fell 5 meters in front of me and shattered into many peices. If I had not stopped I would have took that one right in the head. Ah the forest is such a fickle place. Don't worry though I have a very hard head.

The KMs clicked by and I felt better than I had in 3 or 4 hours. At the 8k point I passed someone and then caught someone else. At the 9.5k aid station I caught up to the guy that had seen the bear and we left the station together.

I was still feeling good and it was freaking me out. This is how things had been early in the season for me (minus my crappy loop 3). In April and May I had been running well early and finishing very strong. Could I have rediscovered my Mojo? I made a decision here to just let loose for the last part of the race and run with reckless abandon. I quickly dropped the runner I was with and before long had passed another. With a couple km left I could hear people up ahead and soon I saw them. It was the couple that had passed me last loop and left me in a very grumpy mood. Now they had done nothing wrong and actually seemed like nice people but I decided that I would make them the bane of my existence. I would catch them and crush them. So I did, quickly catching them and leaving them behind. I used the thought of them maybe catching me like a cattle prod in the ass and ran the last few KMs at a very painful pace. Then I was done.

Postrace
There was some good and bad here but mostly good so lets start with the bad. My time was slow relatively speaking. I was maybe 30 minutes slower then I should have been but it is what it is. It's amazing how tentative you can get when you are wallowing in self doubt. Also once again I didn’t run well in the heat.
The good far outweighs the bad. I believe I have pulled my sorry ass out of the funk I have been running in and that makes me happy. My time was slow but I ran really well late in the race.

The event itself was awesome with difficult but amazing trails that were well marked and diverse. The organization was top notch from the prerace registration to the aid stations to the post race food. The only thing they might want to think about changing is staggering the starts for the different races and also maybe add a 50 miler. Also some kind of finisher medal or token would be cool as I like shiny metal. This race will definitely be on my calendar next year.

Next up Dirty Girls 24hr trail race this coming weekend.

The Creemore Vertical Challenge 50k race report - A crash and burn of spectacular proportions

2010-07-16T03:29:00.000-07:00

Well here it is. I am finally getting around to writing up the race report for the Creemore Vertical Challenge 50k that took place on July 3rd. It seems like this race was a very long time ago now, but the memory of it is quite literally burned into my brain forever. I would like to tell you that it took me so long to write this because I am really busy (which is true) or that I was not sure what to write here (kind of true),but that would honestly be a lie. The reality is I was not anxious to put any of this down on paper. Nobody likes to write about how they suck. Nobody wants other people to read about how they suck. Then again I run Ultra Marathons so at some level I must enjoy some aspect of beating myself up unnecessarily.

Before we begin my tale of the horror and woe we might as well get the good stuff out of the way. This is a great race, just not for me on this particular day. The organization and race director are outstanding, really could not have been better. I never got lost once which is saying something for a guy that can become confused in his own front yard. Once you complete the race there is a nice river to sit in while you enjoy your race provided beer and pizza. The swag included an excellent technical shirt and a hand painted clay metal if you managed to finish. I highly recommend this race, but sign up early as its capped at 200 people.

Okay so on with the show.

Prerace
We rented the trusty zip car once again and picked up fellow runner and Blogger JD before heading out of Toronto and towards Barrie. The forecast called for a sunny conditions with temperatures climbing above 30 later in the day so we knew it was going to get hot. JD and I were running the 50k while Kim was “only” running the 25. We made it to the race with lots of time to spare so we set up our base camp and got ready to roll.

The course is a 25k loop that is run twice and consists of a lot of country / gravel roads with fields and trails mixed in. In talking with JD and others who had run this race before I was well aware of what to expect terrain wise. I also knew that this would be a very hilly run after all it is called the vertical challenge. You would think that would have prepared me for what was to come, but knowing and doing are two very different things.

THE RACE (also know in our house as chris's personal 50k fiasco)
Everyone got lined up to go and, at the firing of the race directors shotgun, we were off. The plan for me was simple and basic. Run a more conservative pace for the first lap and then crank it up for the second. The first few K are run on mostly single track trail along the river which helped me keep my pacing in check. By the time we hit the first road section I found myself running along with a number of other runners that I have seen at other ultras and I know are close to my pace. It was warming up, but still not to bad as we cruised through rolling hills and then over a beaver dam and back into the woods. At this point I felt really good and was confident that I was going to have a good day.

Soon it was back out onto the road and up a massively long hill which my garmin said was 2.2k, yikes.

I still felt great as I flipped positions back and forth with a small group of other runners for the next few km. Just after the 10k mark I ended up hooking up with another runner, whose name I do not know, but who was running the same pace so I spent a good portion of this loop running with him.

It was getting hot by 15k, really noticeably hot, and I was becoming aware of the fact that the majority of the course had no tree cover and no shade. I wasn't worried too much as I had been very diligent at hydrating, gelling and taking my salt caps.

The first loop went by fast and I ran it really well as far as I can remember, but holy crap were there a lot hills. I had been told that we go up and down the escarpment twice a loop but, this can't be right. My calculations say its more like 4 times up, 4 times down each loop not including the “little” rollers.

I cruised into the start / finish line at the end of my first loop in 2:30 which was right on pace and feeling great. This was not to last.

You know when you are watching a horror movie and an unsuspecting teen who is alone in the house or in the empty school locker room / shower area hears that noise. You know that distant noise from the basement where for some unknown reason the lights no longer work. You know that teenager that heads down those stairs even though 3 of their very close friends have all been horribly killed and dismembered by some unknown psychopath and yet still suspects nothing.

That was me as I headed out for my second loop totally oblivious to the dangers that were lurking around at the bottom of those stairs. “Hello is there anyone down there? This isn't funny guys.”

I headed out and the first couple of Ks went fine as I sailed through the single track trail and back out onto the road. Soon I was back on the first long stretch of road and it was here that the trouble began. It was really hot, when did it get so hot? A small group of runners that I had been battling back and forth with began to pull away from me. Not one or two of them, but all of them and it wasn't because they were suddenly getting faster. I was starting to slow, but was still okay. Unfortunately that didn't last for long. By the time I had reached the top of the really long hill I had previously visited only a few hours ago I was struggling and in big trouble.

I spent the next few K pushing and trying to make sense of my condition. Yeah I know it's hot but PLEASE. How can I be falling apart at only 32k? I eat 32k for breakfast. From here on out it became a slugfest. I just got slower and slower with every stride. Just before 40k Stephan M. caught up to me and he seemed to be running well. He told me that he had gotten his second wind and was going to try and ride it out. I managed to run with him for 300 or 400 hundred meters and I know that he was trying to get me to latch on so I could get back on track (thanks Stephan it was very much appreciated) but it was not to be. I knew I was crumbling and didn't want to slow him down so told him I was walking the next uphill and to go on without me.

Oh boy the next uphill was just nasty. The sun beat down, there was no shade and the 800 meter trek was steep trail that was semi washed out in many places. A number of runners passed me as I slowly dragged my ass up the incline. Even worse was it was one of those hills that you think you can see the top of, but then when you get further up it, there is just more hill and when you get closer to that rise there is just more hill. By the time I got to the top I was officially Bonking. I was having trouble running even the flats and it was pissing me off. My legs actually were doing fine, but my heart rate was red lined and I was barely moving. I was badly overheating. I began to consider something that I had never considered before, I began to seriously think about packing it in at the next aid station. I really was not sure that I could actually finish this race.

More people passed me as I made my way along what seemed like a never ending, unshaded, country road that was baking in the sun. Up ahead I could see the heat shimmering off of the road. I was no longer racing, I was just trying to survive. This was so frustrating as I had been running really well earlier in the day and I have found myself usually running my best in the last 10k of 50k races.

As I came into the aid station with 8k to go I saw JD running with Kinga heading out in the direction I had just come probably an hour behind me. JD looked like I felt and I wondered if he would be able to finish the race. I knew I must look bad as well. JD told me later that I didn't have my usual look of focus and intensity that he has seen in the past. See what he had to say about our encounter and his race here.

The last 8k are a complete blur of stumbling along and trying not to quit. I didn't want to walk I wanted to crawl under a small shrub or into a gopher hole and just disappear. I was passed by just about everyone and I didn't care (YIKES). Nothing could make me move faster. The roads were hot, but crossing the fields were even hotter as the long grass just bounced the heat right back into your face. I no longer wanted to quit the race. I was now feeling that quitting running long distance might be a better choice. Why the hell do I run these things... ridiculous.

Then I was finally at the finish line where I had to sit down immediately before gravity helped me find the ground with my face. I sat there and tried to rehydrate as both my calves began to cramp severely. Later we moved to another shady spot away from most people so that if I was unable to control my incredible urge to puke that I could be less of a sideshow.

Post Race
I ran a time of 6:08 which is officially my worst 50k time EVER. I spent the next couple of days trying to figure out what happened. Yes it was hot, but it was hot for everyone and although most people's times were slower, they were not that much slower. I did all the little things right and executed right. I have had bad races before, but I have always been able to easily identify what the problem was (I was out too fast or didn't hydrate, etc.). That just was not the case this time. I don't know, maybe I just have forgotten how to run.

On a brighter note Kim ran a great 25k race so at least someone was happy.

Am I going to stop running these crazy ultra races? Not a chance. Will I do this race again? Yeah most likely next year. This Saturday we will be in Huntsville for the Limberlost Challenge 56k. I guess I will get a chance to see if I suck, have forgotten how to run or was just having a bad day. Hey do you think that its too late to switch to the 14k?