Where's The Heat?

Last Saturday was the first day I ran in any kind of warm weather this year. I thought I was going to croak. This makes me worried because my next race, Mohican 100, can be pretty hot and I have a troubled history when it comes to running in the heat. With only 3 weeks to go, I might have to find me a sauna or something. Maybe the weather is as cold there as it is here.

Training was sluggish this week and not just because of the heat on Saturday. I ran the Toronto marathon a bit harder than I planned and it made my training this week feel like I had no energy. The last couple of runs have been better but I got a bit worried. Did the surgery really have no effect? Anyway, I'm going to go for blood tests to make sure my hormone levels are all good.

This weekend is Sulphur Springs and I won't be racing it. I decided that running a 50 miler 3 weeks before Mohican would be counter productive so I will be pacing my new friend Russell. I will be running the last 3 loops with him, probably starting at around 9PM until the finish. I guess I could have singed up for the 50K but this way, I help someone, there's no temptation to run too fast and the distance is just about perfect, especially at the speed I will be running. It's Russell's first 100 miler and his stated goal is to finish within the 30 hours so I don't expect a mad pace.

After this weekend, I will not be racing until 3 weeks later at Mohican, so I'll keep my running volume fairly reasonable. This year is incredibly busy at work, so it's very hard to find the time for longer runs during the week. I'm going to go for a low volume taper and I should be in top shape for my race. If it's not too hot...

Toronto GoodLife Fitness Marathon 2011

Short one. Yesterday was the first Spring Edition of the Toronto Marathon. For those of you not familiar with Toronto, we've had two marathons here for a few years. For some reason that are unclear to me, the newer Scotia Marathon decided to hold its race only 3 weeks before the older Toronto Marathon, which seems to me like a shitty thing to do. With more money (Scotia bank is the main sponsor) and the most boring course ever (but flat as a pancake), Scotia finally succeeded in forcing GoodLife to move to the Spring. I don't care who's right, I just like the GoodLife course better.

Anyhoot, last week I decided to sign up for GoodLife which was held yesterday. I signed up before looking at the weather forecasts. That's just as well cause I probably wouldn't have run yesterday. I was supposed to meet Chris before the start but I believe he just made it in time.

There was a light drizzle at the start and around 10C (50F), but the wind wasn't so bad. Other than a fairly long-ish hill about 3km from the start, the first half of the course is a net down hill from Northern suburbia (also known as North York). We ran down Yonge st and then, after a little detour toward Casa Loma, to the Bayview extension. This took us to about 18km and pretty much Lake level. My plan was to run in around 3:45 and when I got to the intersection of the Bayview Extension I found myself running with the 3:40 pace group, led by Dave The Beaches Runner. Despite an earlier traumatic experience with a pace group, I decided to stick around. Not like I had anywhere to go.

I was wearing a thin Merino base with a singlet over top and I was getting warm but I could hear the wind in the trees around us and I knew it would be cooler on the Lake shore so I decided to keep the base layer. I felt surprisingly good. At around 28km I saw Chris ahead of me, obviously in trouble since I was catching up. He had been worried about his knee all week, after running the 50 miler at Bear Mountain last weekend. I picked it up a bit and caught up with him. He confirmed that his knee was not doing well. I waited for the pace group to catch up and I ran on with them.

The pacer was really good. We held a very even pace, running at around 4:55 to 5:05/km and we walked briefly while drinking at the aid stations. I had a gel every hour, replacing Gatorade with water at that aid station. I felt strong until km 38. The CN tower still looked so friggin' far, I stepped in a huge puddle, I got elbowed in the teeth by someone who stopped cold right in front of said puddle, the wind was blowing in our face and our pacer, for some unknown reason, picked up the pace to 4:40 to 4:45/km. For a moment there, I wondered if I was going to be able to stick around. More accurately, I wondered why I should. The pacer was obviously demented.

Running too fast, all of a sudden, THE LEFT TURN! After that, it's straight up to the finish. This is sweet and sour. Sweet: we're about 3km from the finish. Sour: it's almost all uphill. Anyway, I push on and run slightly ahead of the pace group. With around 1 km to go, a girl who was running with the group catches up and we pull each other toward the finish. We finally cross the finish under 3:39:46, gun time. My chip time is 3:38:59.

That was a sweet race. I did better than planned. I never got bored. I was sufficiently prepared. I didn't bonk. And finally, it also reminded me that there is such a thing as having fun in a marathon.

One Step Back

After running Pick Your Poison on a slightly injured left calf, I decided to give it a rest last week. Even walking on it on Sunday and Monday was a pick painful, so I didn't run on it until Friday and then only for 7 or 8 km. I was afraid that without a break, that injury would linger until Mohican and haunt me for the entire race.

Taking a week off 6 or 7 weeks before a 100 miler is mentally difficult. I knew I was doing the right thing, but I know that my mileage hasn't been as high as it should have been. On the other hand, the last two races have been pretty hard and I've stretched them out to over 7 hours so I do have decent time-on-my-feet.

I had planned to run on Saturday and Sunday, but I had to be a bit careful, this being Mother's day weekend and all. A bunch of people were going to Sulphur Springs for a few loops on Saturday morning, but the idea was not well received and a scrapped that plan. Just as I was about ready to go out on Saturday, I got a call from my 17 year old daughter that the car she had been riding in coming back from London had been in an accident on the 403 somewhere near Hamilton. She was OK but shaken. My wife and I jumped in the car and picked her up there. Other than biting her tongue and a stiff neck, she's fine but it was a close call. Highway accidents scare the shit out of me. So, no running on Saturday.

I did go out on Sunday for a short 20 km run on the bike path. A problem I've been having lately is that I don't have road shoes that I like. I have a pair of Brooks Green Silence, but they are a bit oversized and I ran with them all winter wearing thick wool socks and now my feet slide all over the place in them and I get hot spots after 10k or so. I ran with them on Sunday and nearly got blisters. Unacceptable. I also have some Adidas Adizero model but they hurt the outside of my foot after an hour or so. I've been hacking at the insole but it's still a work in progress.

The shoe issue is a problem because I've signed up for the Toronto Marathon this Sunday and I don't want to wreck my feet so yesterday I went to the Nike store and bought a pair of Nike Lunarglide+2. I've trained in the Lunarglides last Winter and I ran the Sedona marathon in them so I'm pretty sure I'll be OK. I decided to run Toronto because there's a weird 4 week hole in the OUSER race schedule and it's always nice to have support for a long run. I plan on running pretty slow and finish in around 4 hours. 

Finally, I found someone to pace at Sulphur Springs so I'll be running the last 3 loops (60km) with Russell. That's perfect. This will be my last long run before Mohican and then I'll start tapering over the following 3 weeks.

That's it for now.

Pick Your Poison 2011

First, a non-running event that touched my family. On Sunday, we had to put our 17 year old cat Babe to sleep because of a sudden (and severe) health issue. Although I knew it would be hard on the kids who basically grew up with him, my wife and I were surprised by how hard it was to let him go. It was a heart wrenching experience. Now our house, that used to be alive even when we were out,  feels hollow and empty when we enter. I always think I see him out of the corner of my eye and my heart sinks when I remember that he's gone. I miss you Babe.

I ran PYP for the first time last year and I thought I knew what to expect. I knew the course had changed from an email that Pierre had sent on the ous-l mailing list stating that "annoying flat part in the middle is now more hills". Somehow, it didn't register.

It was a beautiful day with pretty much perfect conditions. The course was in great shape with very little snow and water on the ground, a welcome relief after Seaton. I got lost a couple of time, once early in the race after wrong directions were given to a group I was running in and another time after I pretty much jumped over a marked log placed there to prevent idiots like me from running down that way. 

My main goal for this race was to eat more calories. In a great many races last year and then again at Seaton, I've been bonking at around 30km and I've decided to increase my caloric intake by taking an extra 200 calories an hour. Another important goal was to run slow enough so I wouldn't set myself back. Earlier in the week I had pulled something in my left lower calf and I still had some pain there. I almost didn't do the race but I decided to at least start and take it from there. I really need the mileage. It turned out that the pain didn't get any worse. I didn't take any Tylenol until the very last loop, and even then it was more about my right ankle than the calf.

The new course was indeed harder, but I managed to run a really even pace. I never bonked and the last loop actually felt like my most solid one. I did have my first cramp ever going up one of those hills. Didn't last long but man does it hurt. I'd had cramps after races but never during an event. I think that I was somehow protecting that left calf and working some muscle group more than usual. Anyway, by the time I got to the top I was fine and it didn't happen again.

I ran the last two loops by myself and really enjoyed it. As I said, I applied just a bit of pressure on the last loop, keeping in mind that my leg was a bit iffy. The last uphills came just at the right time and I finished in 7h05min, about 45 minutes over last year although I felt I ran at about the same effort level. I guess there WERE more hills. I believe my ranking is actually better than last year although I'm not sure about the total number of runners. There were definitely more DNF this year.

Really nice race, well organized, fun to run. Thanks you Adam (RD) and volunteers!

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!