Mohican 100 Race Report - Meltdown in Ohio

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

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

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

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

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

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