2012 It's Deja vu all over again

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

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

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

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

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

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

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