Seaton Mud Puppies 52Km

I could lie to you and say that I didn't enjoy yesterday's race. Sure, it was 4C (40F), with howling winds bringing down branches and trees on the course, sideways pissin' rain, mud everywhere except in the ice cold lakes and rivers that grew at every laps, sucking the life out of our feet. Still, I found myself enjoying the race.

All week I'd been looking at the long range forecasts. When I first saw that they called for 25mm of rain on Saturday, I wasn't worried. It'll shift to Sunday, I told myself. Poor stupid bastard. All that changed was the probability of rain, moving from 80% to 100%, the amount of rain going up to 40mm and finally the wind speeds kept creeping up. When I went to bed on Friday, the windows in my bedroom were shaking and I knew the race would be interesting.

Kim and Chris picked me up at 5:45 AM and we got there with plenty of time. It was exciting to see all the people we hadn't seen since last year. Derrick and Sarah were there also, as well as David. We didn't have much time to talk but it was nice to see them. The rain started as we got our bibs. The wind was already blowing. I look around and I see people looking ridiculously under-dressed. I guess they plan to run hard. Still, it's friggin' freezin' out there.

We all huddled under trees near the start. A bit after 7AM, after some words that I missed completely, someone said GO and we started running. My race plan was simple: go slow. My time last year was around 6:40 and I wanted to go slower than that (that turned out not to be a problem). I felt like I was barely ready to tackle a 50k race. I just haven't built up much mileage yet other than last weekend's 2 loops at Sulphur and that might actually play against me because I just finished my biggest week of training yet this year. My legs are a bit tired. So this is a training run for me.

I start running with Adi and Steve at a pretty conservative pace. Immediately, we're too hot and we're questioning our clothing selections. The trails are in fair shape. It's raining, but not too hard. We get our feet a bit wet before the river crossing but not too much. The river is about 25 meters, I would say. The current is pretty strong, with lot's of rounds rocks and the footing is questionable. I would be surprised if it's temperature was much above 5C. By the time I got to the other side, my feet were in pain! Holy shit! I wouldn't want to fall in that!

The first aid station is pretty far, almost an hour of running. By the time we get there, the rain is really coming down and I'm definitely not too hot anymore. I could find my wind-breaker gloves last night and now my liner gloves are just soaked. My hands are a bit cold. I'm wearing a merino wool base and a waterproof shell. I'm not warm but somehow my base is totally wet. I grab a potato wedge and we go. I'm feeling pretty damn good for some reason.

Before I can even think about it, we're at the next aid station.  I'm trying to remember that section but it seems like nothing. The rain was really coming down. Adi was running a bit behind with Diane and Steve is starting to get worried that he's falling too far behind. He's running the 50 miles and the way things are going, this first loop is going to take us close to 4 hours. The time limit is 12 hours so that's a bit close. Me, I know I can't keep up with him but I could pick it up a bit. The rain is still falling sideways, hard, specially when you get to the more exposed portions of the course.

We get to the turnaround, 14.5km really quick. The rain seems to stop for a while but it doesn't last. A few minutes later, Steve picks it up and disappears. I slowly pull ahead of the girls. The course seems totally changed. There's water and mud everywhere. On the way out, I remember battling the rain and wind but now the course is just a mess. Sections that were dry are now rivers and lakes. Uphills and downhills are covered in mud. Anyone in road shoes must be planning their trail shoe purchase right now. The run back is a blur. At some point I start meeting the 29K runners, who started at 9AM. They didn't get to enjoy any of the dryer course. I'm running by myself and I'm enjoying the run.

As I get closer to the big river crossing, there are a number times where you have to cross major water features that freeze your feet to the bone, so when I get to the river, my feet are already frozen. The river seems awful high now, and you can't see the bottom at all. I start crossing, almost trip but recover and just as I think my feet are about to fall off I reach the other side. The pain increases for a few seconds, I swear like a trucker, and then it subsides and I start running.

The conditions are now bordering on ridiculous. My hands are a bit of an issue. Should I change my gloves? They're in the car so that means 5 or 10 minutes and how long are they going to stay dry really? Despite the gaiters, finer particles of mud accumulate on the insole of my shoes and create little uncomfortable bumps under my feet. Should I attempt to clean my feet? How long is that going to last?  I get to the start/finish and it's a sad sight. People are dropping like flies. I consider it but other than being a bit cold I don't really have a reason to drop so I refill, take a piece of banana and get out of there before I change my mind.

29 km done, 23 to go. I turned around at exactly 4 hours. Holy shit, this is going to be a long one. I press the "lap" button on my watch but actually that was the "stop" button but I don't notice.  Jeez my hands are cold. I have a handheld bottle, so I start keeping the other hand inside my sleeve to keep it out of the wind. It works well, but the hand holding the bottle gets cold really fast. I loosen the strap as much as I can, pull my sleeve over my hand and stuff the whole thing into the hand slot. That's better. Not perfect but better. I get to the river. Is it my imagination or it's even bigger? I cross. Fuck it's cold. A few minutes from there, as I get to the bottom of a switchback turn, I see Hans jumping over the logs that were put there to prevent people from taking a wrong turn and start running down on the wrong trail. What's his name??? "BUDDY, HEY BUDDY!!!" He stops and sees me. I tell him he's going the wrong way and he gets back on the trail. I hear he's not the only one who made that mistake.

I now have a sharp pain somewhere in my pelvic area. It makes my running a bit painful. I'm also experiencing a bit of a low point. Despite the apparent impossibility, the course keeps getting worse. Doesn't the water drain anywhere? Wait, yes, it drains on the friggin' course! The trail is completely trashed. Thank God, on this loop I only need to go up to aid station 2. At the speed I'm going, that shorter loop is going to take me 4 hours as well!

My ass (aka pelvic area) is killing me. That's now all I can think about. That and my freezing hands. Do I have a stress fracture of the pelvis? The pain doesn't seem to be on the foot strike. I the sensory deprived bubble in which I run, all I can think of is my ass (well, the pain), my hands, the mud build up under my toes and the water and mud that keeps accumulating on the course. Why didn't I bring some Tylenol? After what seems like forever, I reach aid station 1. I tried to look at the time but noticed I had stopped the timer instead of lapping it. I grab a cup of e-load to save what I have in my bottle and scoot.

On the first loop, this section passed so fast that I can't even remember it. This time, it's taking forever. St least, my pelvic fracture seems to be on the mend. Now I'm just tired. After a while, I see Kim who's on the return leg of her 29K. I ask her how far the aid station is and she says about 10-15 minutes. Gulp, I thought it was closer. I'm still enjoying the race, but the conditions are indeed a bit harsh and I can't say that I'll be sorry to be done. I get to the aid station and I'm a bit surprised that I haven't seen any of the guys coming back from the 50M turnaround. Given that I'm thinking I will finish in 8 hours total, I don't see how any of them plan on finishing the 50 miles in less than 12 hours.

At the aid station, I get a cup of warm chicken broth and it feels fantastic. I refill for the last time and get out of Dodge. Let's get this done. Two hours to go. I'm running better now. The pain in my ass is all but gone. That's good because even though it sees impossible, the course if even worse. I don't even want to talk about it anymore. I run by myself although chick number 129 is hanging back somewhere and sometimes gets close enough for us to exchange a few words. I get in a zone where all that exists is my cold hands, my painful feet, my shrunken dick and the ridiculous course. Except for a few exceptionally nasty lakes, I run straight through. A few times, it takes longer to get your feet our of the water than to cross the river. And then there's another one just as large. I really hurt.

After a unknown amount of time, I get at the river at the same time as chick 129 and some other runner. There's nobody minding the crossing so we wait until everyone is safely across before moving on. The river is huge now and I wouldn't want to do the crossing by myself. I'm feeling pretty good so I decide to push on to the finish. I get into a good pace and lose the two other runners. I pass a couple of people and eventually I see the power lines. Alleluhia! I see the grass, I RUN up the fucking hill, run around the track and I'm done!

The shower feels SO hot I'm wondering if I'm going to get blisters. Fantastic! My feet are fine. NO blister or anything. I grab some food and wait for the others. I'm pretty sure they're going to drop because there's no way they can finish in time. That's what happens. We shoot the shit for an hour or so and head home.

This was one for the books.

Ramping Up

After what felt like a slow start, I’m finally starting to feel like a runner again. My training is going according to plan and that plan has me peaking just in time for Mohican. This means that all other races before that will need to be sacrificed and run as training run. This includes Mud Puppies  (52k) this coming weekend, Pick Your Poison (50k) two weeks later and I’m considering running the 50k at Sulphur Springs, although it might be a bit too close to Mohican. Ideally, I would like to find something in early May. I’m on the waiting list for the Bear Mountain 50 Miler, after waiting one day too long to sign up.

Muddy Trails at Sulphur Springs

Last weekend, I drove up to Ancaster with Chris and we did a couple of loop of what we think is the new Sulphur Springs course, although we seem to be missing a couple of km. The hill at the start/finish is just ridiculous, basically impossible to run up by mere mortals. Give it a few loops, and it might also be difficult to run down! What a quad buster! The course was really wet and muddy but we had a good time. There was a lot of horse tracks (and horse shit). They really tore up the trails. That Saturday was the nicest day yet this Spring and we really took advantage of it. According to my Garmin, we ran somewhere around 36km in about 5h15min. All numbers are approximate because of operator errors at various points during the day.

This week is going well, my legs are feeling good. My fitness seems fine. My right ankle/Achilles are holding up. The only clouds on the horizon are (literally) the Saturday forecast, with really nasty weather being predicted. Mud Puppies will hold up to its name. I just hope that the river can be crossed without getting my balls frozen by the frigid water. That should be fun.

This brings me to my closing topic. Fun. For the last 10 days, I’ve really been enjoying my running. If I’m truly honest, last year was difficult for me. I don’t know why, but after Susitna I had a hard time getting back into my training. I went through the motions, I had some good days, but with the exception of Limberlost, I didn’t have much fun. Some of them were good, but few were great. Lately, I’ve been feeling a difference when I train. I feel more connected to my running. I feel like I’m flowing better. An hour run feels like a short run again, not something to get over with.

If only it could get warmer out there...

Racing Season!

Last weekend was the OUS Spring Warmup run up near Creemore. Pierre did a great job of organizing the run. The course was very snowy and hilly but who cares? The racing season is here! Of course, everyone else is in great shape and I’m just plugging along trying to ramp up, wondering how on earth I’m going to run 52K at Seaton in less than two weeks but still it was great to see everyone else and plan the next season. I ended up running a bit less than I’d hoped, only a bit over 25k, but it took me about 3h30. What can I say? It was really hard! My ankle was really burning so I decided to stop after the second loop. No point in overdoing it.Last thing I need right now is to be forced to take a break.

Of course, one gets a little over-excited discussing the summer with other unbalanced runners, with the result that I am now signed up for the Burning River 100 miler on July 30th with Chris Mcpeake, Steve Beach and possibly others. That’s only 6 weeks after Mohican. What have I done? The logic behind it is that we want to run R2R2R in early October so I don’t think I should be running the 100 miler at Haliburton.  With Burning River in my pocket, that shouldn’t be an issue. Plus, as Chris mentioned, between Mohican and Burning River we have plenty of points for UTMB... Not that I’m going to do anything about it. Well, then again...

So Mud Puppies 52K on the 16th, followed by Pick your Poison 50k on the 30th. April is going to be se-weet!

I am a whimp

This post is to out myself as a wannabe runner, a whimp and a looser.

Following last weeks amazing weather, I collapsed mentally when we suddenly got over 6 inches of fresh snow on Wednesday. I did not run that day. Yesterday, I ran 14km in the slush wearing my trail shoes even though I ran in the city. It wasn't horrible, but it sure wasn't great. Today, it's sunny but below freezing with some wind. I tried to go out but I could not do it. I went outside and came back in, swearing like a sailor.

I'm exposed as the fraud that I am. Fair weather runner.

The worst thing is, I don't have any booze in the house and I don't want to go out. 'Cause it's focking freezing. The humanity...

Spring Planning

I'm on week 2 of my return to running. Last week I finally got the "all clear" from the doctor, confirming that the nodule they removed was not cancerous so I get to keep the other half of my thyroid. That's excellent news indeed. Scar doesn't look too bad. My energy level seems about right for someone who only thinks he's in shape. I wore my HR monitor on a few runs, and I now know better.

I decided not to go for the safety pin look. 

On Tuesday, I pulled my name from the Massanutten waiting list. There's just no way I can be ready to run a 100 miler by mid-May, let alone a hard one like that. This gives me 13 weeks to get ready for Mohican, which should be doable. Last week I ran 50% of my pre-break weekly volume, this week I will run 75% and next week I actually start training. I signed up for the 52K distance at Seaton last week. My plan there is to run SLOWER than last year. I will also run PYP a few weeks later although I haven't signed up yet. My big unknown this Spring is what to do about Sulphur Springs. It's only a few weeks before Mohican so I don't want to run the 50 miler, where I might be tempted to run too fast. The two options I'm looking at are running the 50k or pacing someone. If you need a pacer let me know.

The rest of the Summer is wide open. I'm probably going to run most of the OUS races, with a few exceptions. I'm still unclear about Haliburton. I wouldn't mind running the 100M but I'm still planning to run the r2r2r at the Grand Canyon in the Fall and I'm not sure I can do both. There's time, so I'll keep puzzling about this.

The weather has suddenly taken a turn for the better and running is much more fun.

It's running season!

Back on the Road

Got my stitches taken out on Tuesday. The incision was still quite swollen and tender so I didn't go out yesterday but today I decided to go out for an easy 30 minute. It felt good despite the cold. I felt as I would expect after 2 weeks without running, half of which was under the effects of pretty good drugs painkillers. I did feel some pain but it was ok. My energy level was good. My only problem right now is that I sleep like shit. Ever since I stopped the medication, I keep waking up very tensed until finally it gets better around 3am. I'm not sure if this is a side-effect of the operation or maybe just because I went to bed medicated for close to a week. This will hopefully subside over the next few days.

Any-hoot, I'm running!

Intermission

This is definitely not a running entry, but as I use this Blog mere like a personal journal, I decided to make write a little something about my experience before the memories evaporate.

Background: About 5 years ago, I went for an ultrasound of my neck because of a sore throuat. They never did find anything related to the sore throat, but they did find a nodule that was large egough to need follow up. A large proportion of the population has nodules, but mine was 1.1 cm and doctors like to follow those larger than 1.0 cm. This basically means an annual ultrasound. Because mine kept getting slightly larger every year, this also meant a biopsy pretty much every year except that the last 3 they did were inconclusive. My Doctor felt that we should take the nodule out. I took quite a long time to think about it. I don't feel any effect. If I hadn't gone for some other reason, that nodule would probably have gone undetected. On the other hand, going for a ultrasound/biopsy every year is a pain in the ass. Waiting in the doctor's office to get the result, you always feel nervous.

You would think that they would only tqke the nodule out, but in fact they take half of the thyroid out. That gave me pause. What about my energy levels? Can I run 100 miles with half a thyroid? I was assured that I could. I met the surgeon at Sunnybrook Hospital last Fall. The surgeon explained the risks and the procedure. They take half out, they test it and if they find it to be cancerous, they take the other half out a few weeks later. I was bombarded with numbers. My understanding is that the chances of the nodule being cancerous are pretty small, in the 1 to 5% range but the fact of the matter is that it either is or it isn't. The only risk that struck me about the surgery was that my voice could change.

The surgeon tells me I can get the operation done within a few weeks. What happened to our famous Canadian wait lists? Fuck, I was thinking more about late Winter or Spring not a week before Chrismas. I chickened out and to make a long story short, I met with the surgeon again in January and the surgery was scheduled for last Wednesday, February 23rd.

So here I am, 6:25AM waiting for the surgery office to open. This is my first brush (that I can remember) with big medicine. I had my tonsils taken out when I was 6. I had a vasectomy when I was 33. That's it. I had tests and probing, but nothing like this although this is only a day surgery. I'm going home this afternoon. Other people are showing up. They open the office, we check in and wait a bit. Over the next few hours, I will be asked my name, date of birth and procedure at least 10 times. Two names are called, including mine and me and this women are brought to little "rooms" where we change into our hospital gowns. We are asked to put all our personal effects in clear garbage bags, they stuff the bags in a personal locker and we go back to the waiting room. Adter maybe 10 minutes, I'm taken to what is best described as the speed dating area. We, patients, sit in numbered sections and around us stand a number of surgeons, anesthegiologists and interns. A few pople come to me and ask the usual questions. At some point, they start asking me about my shoulder. Wrong patient. Disturbing. The clockis ticking. I look around at other people. We exchange quick glances, but everyone is wrapped up in their own bubble. Then, a nurse shows up and it's time.
I enter the operating room. They ask me for my name, my date of birth and they ask me to describe what operation I'm about to have. There's a cross-shaped bed where I lay down. My arms are strapped to the arm's of the cross. They stick a needle in my left hand. The guy is obviously in training cause I can feelthe needle poking around, looking for something. I'm so tensed that I don't feel any pain. The other doctor takes over and fixes the needle. They put a mask on my mouth and nose and tell me to breathe. Then they tell me that I'm going to go to sleep. I'm about to say something...

Darkness. I hear: "Do you feel any pain?". I swallow and it hurst a bit so I say yes. Flashes, voices. Feeling of the bed being moved. "Do you feel any pain?". Sure. Didn't they just ask? Wonder how long it's been since they asked? Feels like 10 minutes. I open my eyes and see that it's past 12. Wow. They give me two blue pills and I take them. Swallowing is a bit hard. I fade in and out. My wife is supposed to pick me up at 3PM. I actually hear the nurse talking to her on the phone around 2:30 and she tells her to come a bit later, around 4 or 4:30. Good, cause I'm not standing up right now. Slowly, the world stops spinning, then I get up for a leak. The surgeon comes and says everything went great. She gives me a few prescription. It's funny how when I was at the hospital they gave me strong pain meds but they send you home with Tylenol-3. No worries, I expected that. A bit after 4PM, My wife calls the desk, I get dressed, I ask for a painkiller so I don't have to rush to the pharmacy and we drive home.

All in all, things went pretty smoothly. Everyone was nice and efficient. My only negative experience was with pain management after I leave for home.

Doctors are weird. Faced with an operation where you know they will cut you open and take a chunk out, we, as patients, are worried about pain. When I was 17, I got my wisdom teeth taken out (all of them at once), and the dentist sent me home with a prescription for Tylenol-3. What an asshole. That did absolutely nothing. My parents had to scramble to find a doctor to get me something a bit more potent. I was really worried about the pain. I explained my worries about Tylenol 3 and nobody gave a shit. They asked if I was allergic, I said no, and that was it. All is fine in the hospital, but once they sent me home you're on your own. Talking to the nurse and Doctor, if you try to talk about it, you're left feeling like a fucking drug addict trying to score drugs. "Call us if there's too much pain." Yeah, right. I wonder if they would send someone from their family home with Tylenol-3. All I needed was peace of mind.

So, no running for a few more days, until I get my stiches out on Tuesday.I'm told the scar will be pretty small and will fade over time. I keep thinking about the movie Highlander. The bad guy had this huge scar around his neck with safety pins as decorations. Hopefully, it will look a bit better.