And Here We Go.....

Well, 6 months from this week is Leadville.  4 months from now is Mohican.  Nuff said.  I've been easing into things, adding more trails, more weight sessions, eating better, but time to take it up a notch.

Saturday I had a great run, 20km in hilly slush.  I went to Rouge Valley, but it was a snow/rain mix of crappiness.  I'm still not used to the Rouge, I never seem to know which way I'm going.  I was attempting to run north, which went well for a bit, but after 4km I wound up back where I started!  Awesome.  So off I went again, this time managing to head in the right direction.  Very slow, very wet and some parts icy.  The farther north I went away from the lake, the more it turned to snow instead of rain.

The fartherst point north I reached, I had to cut across someone's property to try and find a trail.  This was a bad move, halfway across their property I suddenly heard a deep loud barking!  I didn't even look, I just turned around and sprinted back, then across the field beside the property (still hearing barking behind me), then through the edge of the woods to a schoolyard I'd passed earlier.  It had a fence with a gate, so I waited at the gate figuring if the dog was nuts enough to still be chasing me (now over 100 yards away from their property), then I'd close the gate and stay in the schoolyard.  Well I waited a few seconds and didn't hear anything so I figured I was ok.  I got impatient and re-entered the woods to head back south along the trail, the opposite way from the area of tresspassation (I just made that word up).  Right away, I heard the dog barking RIGHT behind me!!  WTF!?! I took off like a guy being chased by a dog in the woods, I went flying down the steep trail, actually hoping the dog might wipe out trying to chase me.  I just kept sprinting like mad for a few minutes, I'd gone off the trail and made my own now, but eventually I couldn't hear the barking anymore. Great workout!  On the way through this area earlier, I had noticed large dog foorprints in the snow, but there were no people prints to be found.  Now I knew why, this hellhound must roam these woods eating people and covering their footprints.

Run went great, but due to getting lost and purposely heading off the main path in search of hillier trails, it was very slow taking almost 3hrs to do 20km.  I managed to stay upright until the 19.2km mark, I slipped on my ass and back, sliding down a muddy hill.

Now back to the Joker, time to get to work.  My first race is looking like Pick Your Poison, a 50km up near Orillia at the end of April so just over 2 months away.  I did this one last year, but signed up a few days before the race without training so I'll do better this year.  Lots of hills, good.

I also bought some 10lb weights to start hauling up and down the stairs.  I'm going to skip right past the 5lb and just get right to it.

6 months and counting!!!!

2012 Plans and Leadville

Well, now that's it's Jan 1st....wait...I mean Feb 13th, I should start laying out my plan for the year.  It basically revolves around Leadville 100, The Race Across the Sky. 

Back in December, I was tinkering with my plans for 2012 trying to decide what to do.  Last year I didn't make plans until the spring and by then all of the races I looked at were sold out.  This year I have bigger plans, so I knew I had to get on it by Jan 1st.  I had enough qualifying points for UTMB in France, but I thought I should get an altitude race under my belt first, plus this would be a huge expense.... maybe next year.  The thought of Hardrock briefly crossed my mind, but it's a little over my head (not that that would stop me).  Then I noticed the lottery and registration closed in early December, so that was out of the picture.  Back in November I put my name in the lottery for Western States, but didn't get in.  So 2 other races on my list are Leadville and the Canadian Death Race.  CDR is only 125km, but it's got some altitude and is a tough race.  The problem is, it's a logistical nightmare.  It's in a small town about 6hrs west of Edmonton, with all hotels already sold out (there's something like 1300 runners, and like 3 hotels).  Leadville is about 2.5hrs west of Denver, has something like 300 runners, plus this is way higher on my list anyway, so we have a winner!

Here's weird part:  Once I made my decision, the first thing I did when I got up on Jan 1st was sign up for Leadville.  Actually, first I peed, then signed up for Leadville.  I might have had breakfast first too.  Well, sometime on Jan 1st, relativily early, I signed up for Leadville.  I had emailed a bunch of hotels in the weeks prior, so I'd know if there was even any space to book a room as everything seemed sold out.  On Jan 3rd, I called a B&B that had room and grabbed one.  I wanted to print up a logo for Leadville as a motivational reminder, so I went to Google images to look for one.  When I saw a Leadville logo and clicked on it, I was taken to a blog, which turned out to be Chris' blog!  Chris was one of the runners I went to Oil Creek with in Oct.  I checked his blog to see why he had a Leadville logo, turns out he, Steve, JD and others had all signed up for Leadville back in Nov!  This was great, I was totally planning to go alone and now these guys would be going too.  I emailed Chris to let him know that I was going and where I was staying.  Then a few minutes later JD sends Chris an email to say he just got a call from a hotel they were waitisted at and they were now confirmed, it's 1 block from where I'm staying.  A weird series of events; I went from going to Leadville by myself staying at a B&B to now having a bunch of others I know there, 1 block away.  In addition to Chris, Steve and JD, also going will be Carlos and Kendra.  I haven't met them but I'm sure we'll recognize each other from the OUS races. By Jan 5th, the race had sold out.

 LEADVILLE 100 Trail Race:


Leadville has always been at the back of my mind since I got into running.  Before I'd even run a 50 mile race, I read the book 'Born to Run', and in the mille of the book there's a recount of running Leadville and I was smitten.  This is a race with lots of history going back to the beginning of modern ultrarunning (notice I threw in 'modern', I'm sure people ran great distances to escape sabre tooth tigers and invading aliens thousands of years ago). It's starts at 10,200 feet in the town of Leadville Colorado, drops down to a low point of 9,200 feet before climbing up to 13,600 feet.  It's an out-and-back course, so once you're done the first 50 miles, you get to do it all again in the dark!




THE PLAN:

Oh shit. I need a plan.  Basically, I'll likely run a 50 miler at either Seaton or Sulpher in May, then Mohican 100 in June, then I'll have 2 months to recover for Leadville in August.  I thought Chris, Steve and JD would be running Mohican 100 also, as some of them have some unfinished business there from last year, but they have switched to Laurel Highlands 70 mile instead.  Doing Laurel would be the smarter choice, so I'll make the dumber choice.  Laurel is 1 week earlier, so it's an extra week to recover, plus it's 70 miles as opposed to 100 miles.  Mohican is hilly and I'm told can get very hot (as it did last year).  My son's birthday is the weekend of Laurel, so no choice here.  I am a little worried about recovering enough or getting injured, but really I could trip off a curb and get hit by a rickshaw tomorrow, so I'm not going to worry about the race or rickshaws.  I'll also do the usual Ontario Ultra Series races, mostly 50kms, during this time.

TRAINING:

Better start!  6 months sounds like a long way off, but Mohican is only 4 months.  Unlike Oil Creek last year which I was grossly undertrained for, I plan to be in top shape for Leadville.  If not, this race will kick my ass and I won't finish.  I'll revert back to my HURT training, lots of hills and stairs, weight training and maybe a little running here and there.

Running:
As usual, my schedule makes any high mileage plan a challenge, so my shorter runs will be much more intense to make up for the lack of mileage.  I'll stick to mostly trails with lots of hills.  I'll need to get some interval and tempo runs in to increase my V02 max, as this is really the only way to prepare for running at altitude when I'm at sea level.

Stairs:
The race reports and blogs I've read on Leadville have me dreading the big climb up Hope Pass, lots of stairs are in order.  I'll do like I did for HURT, I'll progress to carrying weights up and down the stairs with me.

Strength Training:
I'll step this up big time.  Basically 2 upper body sessions per week, 1 leg session (or 2 if I missed any stair workouts).  Core gets thown into both workouts.  Untracked will be lots of pushups, pullups, squats and crunches thrown in during spare time.

Cross Training:
Lots of stationary bike when I have the kids, I'll start using the pool at the gym, mountainbiking once the snow melts, hiking, and soccer starts in May.

NEPA (non excersise physical activity):
Do everything the hard way.  Take the stairs, lots of time on my feet, stay active.  My daughter hasn't walked up the stairs recently, she just stands at the bottom and says 'Leadville', then I carry her up.  She turns 8 this week, keeps getting heavier!

Nutrition:
I had a combo at Harvey's the other day, consisted of a grilled chicken burger on whole wheat bun, salad as the side and apple juice to drink.  Need I say more? A little while back I started to look into superfoods, this was more in an effort to just eat even better than I already do, mainly for health reasons.  Each day is filled with lots of fruit and veggies, lean meat, green tea, healthy nuts, Acai juice, fish oil, flax oil and a multivitamin.  I've even stopped drinking diet soda, because really what the hell is aspartame anyway?  Lots of juice and water instead. As usual, protien shakes after each workout or run. I don't plan to be carrying ANY extra weight up and down the mountiains in Colorado if I don't have to.

Motivation:
Not a problem, I'm super excited to do this race.  I just finished re-reading 'Born to Run', now I want to do this race more than ever.  My kids know all about it and are excited too.  They have been trained to just say 'Leadville' whenever they think I'm being lazy.  I've printed Leadville logos for the fridge and at work.  I've got a Leadville course map on the wall at work along with an elevation chart.  I've also printed a huge 4ft high course map which I hung in my living room, my girlfriend is not impressed with my decorating taste.

LET'S BOOGIE!!:
Well, let's do this!  I know when I trained for HURT, I was SO focused and determined that I was mentally done a few weeks before the race.  That was only for a few months, so I'll have to be careful not to burn out as I've still got 6 months to go.  I'll enjoy it, get some runs in with the other runners.  It will be nice to chat about training for the same race, never done it before alongside other runners, should be interesting but also we can motivate each other.

My main concerns that I'll keep researching more are running at altitude, the water crossings, and the drastic temperature changes.  I'll chat with others about it to get their perspective.

Take care,

Morgan

Bahamas Marathon

Working in the travel industry, sometimes there are fam trips (familiarization trips, now you've made me type the whole thing), which are cheap tours for travel industry people to go on and pretend to be interested in a destination to get a cheap trip.  Recently, I pretended to be interested in the Bahamas!  For any of the organizers reading this, I'm kidding of course.  I'm very interested in Bermuda.... I mean Bahamas....

A few months ago, a fam trip came up which included a trip to the Bahamas and entry to the Bahamas Marathon.  I actually saw this last year, but H.U.R.T. 100 is the same weekend so I was a little busy.  This year, it fit into my schedule.  When I signed up back in October, I thought this would be a good opportunity to re-learn how to run fast again.  I haven't done an actual road marathon since Boston almost 2 years ago.  Doing ultramarathons since then has been at a much slower pace, so I thought I'll do some speedwork for a few months and nail this thing, then I'll start the season with a new found speed to go with my endurance... Well, that plan went in the crapper.

It started off fine enough in November, I was picking up the pace on my runs and planning to do much more, but then disaster struck.  Well not really, I was just being lazy and not putting the effort in.  It was still on my to-do list though, but then I got a wicked sinus infection for the first 3 weeks of December and I couldn't run, felt like crap the whole time.  Then along came Christmas and holidays..... the sun was in my eyes.... the dog ate my homework..... I'm on my period..... etc.  How many excuses am I allowed to use?  It's my own fault, I just couldn't get myself up for this one, plus I was still enjoying my break after Oil Creek 100 in October. So, then along came January.  I'd run a little here and there through Dec and Jan, but only about 10k per week!  I am indeed the King of Training Wrong...

Snow's a Comin', Let's Get Outta Here...
I went to the airport Thursday morning to meet the group.  I relaxed in a chair and started re-read 'Born to Run', the book I'd read almost 2 yrs ago before doing my first 50 miler.  I have a big race coming up in August, there's a portion of this book where they're running it also, so I thought I'd read it again now that I'm signed up, more on that later.

At the gate I met our organizer Annie and the 13 other runners.  Annie said to me 'So you're our marathoner'.... Huh? It turned out I was the only one running the marathon!  Most of the others were doing a 5k, I guess they really did want a cheap trip!  Why didn't I think of that?  Annie was running a half marathon, plus Diane was walking the half, the others were doing 5k.  One of the 5k runners (Sue) convinced 3 more runners to get together and do the marathon as a relay instead.  Jose, Carole and Danielle all agreed so Annie would contact the race organizers and have them switched to the relay instead later.  Annie handed out our race shirts, we were sponsoring Yellowbird to raise money for a school in Exuma, Bahamas.  They were bright yellow cotton shir.... wait, cotton?  Better remember to put band-aids over my nipples before the race...

Flight was great, had an empty seat beside me and I slept the whole way.  First time on Westjet, they were very friendly and I have no complaints.  Except for no free beer.  And $5.99 to watch a movie.  And no free food.  Ahhh, those are more like observations, not complaints. I actually just wanted to sleep anyway.

Pre-Race Nutrition and Training:
Leading up to the race, nutrition consisted of beer.  Training consisted of getting up to go order a beer if there wasn't anyone else around to do it.  Oh yeah, I'm gonna rock this race.  We stayed at the Sheraton, had a nice dinner hosted by the hotel on Thursday night.  I hit the casino later on, I left after raking in about $15.  Friday, we flew to Great Exuma for the day to visit Sandals.  We were supposed to do an island tour, but that was cancelled so we arranged to go snorkelling instead.  Had a blast, great weather, lots of drinks (sticking to my pre-race nutrition plan).  We flew back to Nassau that evening, then that night a bunch of us went out to Senor Frogs' for late dinner and dancing (I still don't know what the Dougie is).  Got right back on the nutrition plan, ordering beers by the bucket!

Saturday, we went to visit Atlantis for breakfast and a tour.  I slept in while the 5k suckers had to be in the lobby by 5am for a ride to their race!  Wait, that will be me on Sunday...  Turns out they messed up the start time and went an hour early!  Atlantis was huge, the tour took us over 2 days (2hrs, felt like 2 days).  Apparently they cut it short, it was even longer last year. One girl got to skip out because she was going scuba diving... I always knew if I'd learned to scuba dive it would come in handy someday, dammit!

Saturday night we had a dinner hosted by the Hilton.  Normally I'd be happy to have a buffet meal the night before a race, but it was seafood night!  I didn't want to eat anything funky and have stomach issues in the morning, so I stuck to some noodles... and beer.  Normally I don't have any alcohol the night before a race, but this thing was shot anyway, so what the hell.  Only had a few.

When we got back to the hotel at about 10pm, I still hadn't got around to getting any food for breakfast in the morning.  Gotta have my Mr. Noodles!  Jose needed something too, so we took take a taxi to the nearest grocery store.  $20 round trip (Jose talked her down from $25), so we each paid 10 bucks and I got my 59 cent Mr. Noodles....

Back in my room by 1030pm to get a decent sleep before the race, but I couldn't sleep.  I haven't had a full work week since before Christmas, I'm still used to going to bed late so I was messed up.  Finally turned off the TV at 1230am, then dozed off a bit after that...

Race Day!
Up at 3:45am after a 3hr nap, good plan.  Had a coffee, granola bar and banana, then ate my Mr. Noodles while sitting in the tub soaking my legs in hot water to loosen them up.  Got dressed and taped up my shins, not even sure if I need to anymore but it helps keep the calf cramps at bay longer.  Met in the lobby at 5am for our ride to the start.  Annie and Diane were doing the half, plus Sue and Carole who were doing the first 2 legs of the relay all jumped on the bus.  There were a lot of other runners in the lobby waiting for a shuttle, but our group had our own private driver Bubba all weekend (picture what you think a guy named Bubba would look like, and you're correct). Ok, so we're at the start by 5:15am, I think we left early enough to avoid any Bahamian traffic jams.  It was a little chilly, so we hung out in the lobby of the Hilton a few blocks away to stay warm.  Just before 6am, we headed over to the start.

Now that I'm about to start a marathon, let's just recap what's going on here:  I haven't trained since, well, October really.  I haven't run a road race since last June.  I'm wearing new shoes I haven't worn in yet.  I'm carrying some extra 'body insulation' from my lazy winter, not really necessary in the Bahamas!  I've been hitting the beers way too much over the last few days, including last night.  I slept 3 hrs last night.  What am I even doing here?...  Oh yeah, it was a cheap trip.

And We're Off!
6am, go!  I just kept a steady pace in the crowd for the first while.  We start downtown, then head over a bridge to Paradise island, then back across another bridge.  We then head east for a bit, before turning back west, passing though downtown and then following the north shore heading westward.  I passed by one of our relay runners Carole, she was waiting for Sue to arrive so she could go.  There were barely any aid stations for the first while, but really they weren't needed yet.  I wore my smaller belt with 2 small bottles filled with Eload, also brought along Powerbar gels, some Clif Shot Blocks and as usual my salt and electrolyte pills.  Without training, cramping up would be inevitable but I was doing everything I could to delay it.  Flat ground or explosive movements seem to set off my calf cramps.  I can run a hilly course for 35hrs without cramping, but can't get through a 1.5hr soccer game without them seizing up.  Or a marathon for that matter!  I was feeling pretty good at this point....

The sun came up behind us just after we left downtown.  It was a beautiful morning running beside the ocean.  We had a big wind pushing us from behind, this was not going to be fun on the way back!  My quads were already getting sore and I still had a few hours to go.  A little while later I passed by Danielle, she was waiting for Carole to arrive.  The long, straight, flat runs were getting to me, I'm so used to twisting and turning trails.  I'm also used to chatting with fellow runners and knowing the aid station people, marathons are different as it's basically a huge group of people running in silence.  So, I started to liven things up a bit, I'd say hello to runners I passed, or I'd give words of encouragement to people who passed me.  I started saying good morning to spectators, they always seemed to be caught off guard and surprised. "Look, they can talk!" 

I got to the halfway point at 1hr 45min, this is right about where I thought I'd be.  Heading out toward the turnaround, I passed the final relay runner Jose, then passed him again after we turned around.  This meant I had about 12k to the finish, I'll just keep plugging along.   Shortly after that I passed Danielle heading the other way, she was looking strong on her way to Jose.  My pace had slowed a bit, now I noticed I was really getting hungry.  I'm used to the aid stations at ultras which are stocked with lots of solid food, but here there was just some gels!  I hadn't though of this ahead of time, otherwise I would have packed some munchies.  The closest thing I had to food was a pack of Clif Shot Blocks (basically big square gummie bears), so I ate that but it didn't help.

Things were starting to go downhill now (not literally, I wish).  Headwind was strong, flat roads went on forever and I was really hungry. My forearms had cramped up and legs were twitching getting ready to cramp.  Food would reeeeealy help right now.  If I see a kid on the side eating a candy bar, I'm taking it. I put my head down to avoid looking way, way down the road and just kept going.  This wasn't a problem, I've been though mental challenges on a run a thousand times tougher than this, but I just wasn't enjoying myself.

Cheer Up Dummy
Then, I looked up and saw the light blue ocean beside me and I put things in perspective.  I'm in the friggin' Bahamas! It's a beautiful day, sun is shining, there's no snow.  I get to go for a leisurely run along the shore.  The people at all of the aid stations were so friendly and supportive, they made it a great atmosphere.  I've tanked the race before it began, so there's no pressure here, just have fun.  Well, at least keep it under 4hrs dumbass, this ain't a birdwatching stroll.

 

I enjoyed the rest of the race, taking in the ocean scenery.  I'd been cramp-free thus far, but that's only because I slowed down and was being careful not to exert myself.  This can be frustrating, I'm full of energy and not breathing hard, but my legs won't function if I pick up the pace.  Lesson learned.  Kids: Stay in school, don't do drugs and train a bit before doing a marathon.

Well, That's Done

As I neared the finish, I though I'd pick up the pace with a few hundred meters to go and.... d'oh!....Both calves cramped up!  I had to stop and stretch them for a minute to get them moving again.  Ok, let's just trot to the finish then.  I rounded the last corner and and just kept a slow pace to the finish.  I always do a full out sprint for the last 100 metres or so, but not gonna happen this day.  I was busy waving back to my fellow Yellowbird supports, I didn't even notice passing a guy with about 50 metres to go, apparently he did because he turned it on and shot past me right before the finish.  Glad to help, buddy... I finished in 3hrs 52min, under my self imposed 4hr cutoff.  Not exactly scorching, but I'll take it...

The finish is at a beach, there was lots of food and a great atmosphere.  My quads were done, they'd been sore as heck for the last 3hrs or so.  I sat down at a picnic table with some munchies.  Another runner from our 5k group, Norm, was there for support and he supported my very well by getting me a couple beers.  Might as well stick with the nutrition plan from the last few days.  I was in pretty good shape, it was just my quads that were really sore.  New shoes turned out to work fine, zero blisters.  The cotton shirt was not good, my nipples were borderline bleeding (and have since scabbed over), plus I had some cuts around my neck from the stitching inside the collar.  If I do this again, I go shirtless and write Yellowbird on my chest with a marker...

Jose and I at the finish

A little while later Jose showed up, the last runner on the relay team.  He came motoring in, he'd never run 12k before and it was easier than he thought!  Or he's in better shape than he knows.  He hits the weights and just runs a little on the side, I was happy for him to do so well and enjoy it.  A bit after that Diane came in from walking the half.  Annie was already there, she placed 2nd in her age category for the half!  We then took pictures of everyone together, including in the ocean, then found Bubba and headed back to our hotel.

What To Do After a Marathon?
Go on another hotel site inspection of course!  We got back to the Sheraton just before 11:30am, we had to be back in the lobby at 12:30 to walk to another hotel for a tour and lunch!  It was Breezes which is just down the street, not a problem but my quads were not very happy.  Hotel was nice, great location and great beach.  This is actually where the fam stayed last year.  The tour was quick, then it was time for a very welcome buffet lunch!  Plus more beer. 

That afternoon, it was time relax.  Some of us walked along the beach on the way back, the sand felt nicer than walking on any more concrete!  A few of us spent the afternoon with drinks by the pool, followed by drinks on the beach.  I didn't leave time for a nap, I had to go change as we were off to visit another hotel for.... wait for it..... a site inspection!  This one was welcome, it was at Sandals Royal Bahamian, a beautiful property and not too big so tour was brief.  We then sat down for a great dinner on a covered patio.  After dinner, they said we were welcome to spend the evening at Sandals and enjoy ourselves.  A few of us went to the piano bar for awhile.  Let me tell you, if you've never got hammered and joined in on some tunes at a piano bar, I highly recommend it!  From what I recall, my singing was spot on... Jose on the other hand.... I don't even know how to describe the sounds he was making, I think he was trying to bring back the Fat Boys.

We seranaded all of the Sandals guests until midnight when the piano bar closed.  What was that? Another bar on the property is open until 3am?  On we go...  We ordered more food and many beers.  We had a great time joking with staff all night, maybe they found it refreshing to have a fun drunk group around instead of just couples (who were all in bed by midnight, we may have kept them up though).  Eventually, even the staff left.  We attempted to leave the property with our beverages at 3am, but the guard at the gate stopped us, busted! Then he said 'Let me put those in plastic cups for you!'  Great!  We then wandered back down the street to our hotel.  Our Bubba back to the airport was at 1030am the next morning, thank goodness got to sleep in.

Trip was great, company was great, got to meet a lot of good people and had a great time.  The fam was very well organized, good job Annie!  Bahamas was beautiful, I plan to go back again and see more of the island and less hotels next time.  Lots of new hotels popping up soon, lots of development going on...

Next?
Glad I got that out of the way, you won't find me on a road again anytime soon! I'll do another post shortly with my plans for 2012, but it basically revolves around Leadville 100 Mile Trail Race, aka 'The Race Across the Sky'.  It's in the Colorado Rockies, starts at an elevation of 10,200 feet.  It's not until August, so until then I'll do the usual Ontario Ultra Series races and fit another 100 miler in before then to get ready, likely Mohican 100 in June.

To all of my fellow runners from the Bahamas, good job! It was great to meet you all, I hope you all enjoyed yourself as much as I did!

Take Care,

Morgan

Oil Creek 100 Mile

Well, I wanted a challenge to get myself motivated, I got what I asked for. I was really not sure how this race would go. I was averaging 31km per week for the last 2 months, pathetic. Mentally, I was ready to go. Physically, I still felt great dispite my lack of training, but I was worried about how my legs would react to 100 miles with so little training.

On Friday, carpooled down to Titusville Pennsylvania with Chris, Steve and Chris' wife Kim who drove. I was up too late getting stuff ready and only slept 4hrs Thursday night. I figured I'd sleep in the car, but we chatted most of the way so I nodded off for maybe half an hour. Got to Titusville early afternoon and headed over to check out Titusville Middle School. This is the start/finish, also serves as aid station 4 and this is where we'll be coming back that night to pickup our race kits and have pre-race pasta dinner.

We hit a grocery store where I grabbed some breakfast for the morning and food for the race, then they dropped me at my motel, they were staying at a hotel just south of town. My motel was the Caboose Motel, which isn't a motel at all, it's about 20 cabooses lined up in 2 rows of 10 and my room is a caboose! You walk up some steps to the end of your caboose, then go in and it just looks like a long, thin motel room. I flopped on the bed and went right to sleep for an hour. After my nap, they picked me up and we headed to the pre-race dinner and kit pick-up.

Back at my caboose by 7:30pm or so, then brilliantly decided to relax and flip channels for a few hours before I got ready. Idiot. After I got my clothes, food and drop bags ready, I was in bed at 11pm. Where the hell did the last 3 and a half hours go? Oh well, I didn't need to get up until 3am...

Race Day:

Up at 3am, another night with 4hrs sleep. Nice. Had coffee (disgusting, apparently cabooses have horrible coffee), a muffin, banana, Mr. Noodles and part of a cinnimon bun. Kim and the 2 goofs were supposed to pick me up at 4:25am, but didn't get me until 4:35. Only 10 minutes later but race starts at 5am, so I was contemplating whether to start walking when they showed up. Titusville Middle School was only a few blocks away, so we were there quick. I handed in my drop bags, taped up my shins (I'm scared to run without kineso tape after last year's shin trouble), gave Chris some tape to help his ailing shin and we were good to go. We got up to walk to the starting line, as we approached people were running away from it! We looked at each other and said "I guess it started!" We were off!

The Course:

Out of the two 100 mile races I've done, this course definietly ranks in the top 2. Great scenery, lots of historical crap to do with oil everywhere. Very hilly, total elevation change is over 17,000 feet. Doing HURT first put this in perspective though (26,000 feet there).

The course is basically a short run along a bike path for just over a mile, then a huge loop on trails from the north end of Oil Creek State Park to the south end and back, then to the bike path and back to the start finish, the entire loop totals 50km. You do this loop 3 times, then loop 4 is the 'heading home loop' and is only 7.7 miles to bring the total to 100 miles. Each 50km loop has 4 aid stations: Aid Station 1 is just under 8 miles from the start, then Aid Station 2 is at the bottom of the park (about halfway through the loop), then Aid Station 3 is on the way back and then the start/finish is Aid Station 4. There are also numerous un-manned water stops along the way.



LOOP 1:

The 100 mile runners were off at 5am, the 100km runners would be behind us at 6am and the 50k people at at 7am. The start is dark for 2 hrs so we've all got our lights out. Except for Steve, he just had some dinky kids flashlight or something because he thought it would be light out by 5:05. The start is along a mind-numbing paved bike path for just over a mile, then we cross a road and head off into the trails (this spot would turn out to be VERY important later). For the first while it's just a long line of crazy people along thin trails, there's nowhere to pass and it's too dark and hilly to try. After we get to Aid Station 1, it started to thin out. I'm still clueless at pacing, I prefer to go out harder and then hang on as I fade. I was still running with Chris and Steve, they told me our pace was too fast. I broke away after awhile, but took my time at Aid Station 2 and waited for them to show up. I got a few extra minutes rest doing this, then we headed out together, now going north on our way back.

I started to go ahead again, I was just running at a pace that felt natural. I ended up running beside a guy and chatting about other races, turns out he is the race director for McNaughton, a race that I've been thinking about for next year (150 miles!). Soon Chris and Steve caught up, they must have been moving. We ran together for a bit, but Chris was starting to have shin and ankle issues so he started to drop back. He gradually dropped back, but little did we know we wouldn't be running with him again. Steve and I ran together to Aid Station 3, then headed on our way toward the start/finish Aid Station 4…at least that's what we thought.

Two Idiots in the Woods:

Near the end of the loop, we headed across a bridge and a volunteer took down our bib numbers and said it's just over a mile to the start/finish. We ran across the bridge, then turned left and headed up a bike path and turned onto the marked trails. We had estimated it would take us 7hrs to finish loop 1, but now we were just over that. We were gunning it up and down hills thinking the start/finish Aid Station 4 must be soon. Whenever we hit a downhill, I'd think this must be it and I'd pick up the pace with Steve doing the same, we were running our asses off and not getting anywhere. We revised our loop estimate to be 7.5hrs.... then 8hrs.... then WTF? What the hell was going on here? We came to a bridge and a kid on the bridge said "Only 600 yards to go!" I assumed he meant 600 yards until we're out of the woods and near the school and start/finish. Then Steve noticed we were running past these 'walk of fame' stars with past runners' names on them, the same stars we'd run past at about 7am that morning. Did they move them? Then we saw the most beautiful and ugly site....Aid Station 1.

I Wanted a Challenge, Be Careful What You Wish For:

The Aid Station workers were as confused as we were in trying to figure out what just happened. Now that it's over, I'll tell you what the hell happened: When we crossed the bridge and the girl told us it's just over a mile to the start/finish, we were engaged in a deep conversation bitching about our ex-wives, didn't even look at the sign telling us to turn right and we turned left instead, starting the loop again without checking in at the start finish! Steve looked like he was about to shit his pants, he was pissed. My first thought was 'Are we done? Did we come all this way and train all this time (well not really) just to be forced to quit because of a stupid mistake so early in the race?'. I though about the time, we'd have to move but we had to try.

I had one of the voluteers get me a map so we could figure out where we were and what we had to do next, Steve was too flustered to understand what they were telling us, he just wanted to get going. They showed us a paved bike path on the other side of the aid station that headed back to the school, so that was our only choice.

It was now 1:30pm, this friggin loop has taken us 8.5hrs and it's not over. So far, we went approx 6 miles the wrong way, now we were running along this 4 mile paved bike path to get back on track. It sucked running so far in trail shoes on the hard flat asphalt. The entire run had a slight uphill, made you feel more tired than you should. Steve was having some doubts, I tried to convince him by imagining how great it would be if we could pull this off. I told him if we finish, it will be 110 miles (177km), it will be the longest run of our lives! That was enough to keep me going. We plodded along this stupid path for an hour. Eventually, the path comes out at the bridge, and we see where we went wrong. The good news is, the path we're already on is the same friggin mind-numbing path that goes back to the start/finish, so we passed by the exact spot where we went the wrong way thus re-entering the course exactly where we left it. Going by the rules, this keeps everything on the up and up. Steve said he didn't give a fuck.

We finally got back to the start/finish Aid Station 4 at 2:30pm, loop 1 took 9.5 hrs. Oops.


LOOP 2:

Steve and I started off loop 2 at 2:45pm, it was now very hot running along the mind-numbing bike path to get to the trail. Chris had come and gone a long time ago and was way ahead of us on loop 2. When we got to Aid Station 1, they gave us a big cheer, 'You made it back!' I heard some one shout. It was now 4:30pm, 3 hours after we accidentally showed up earlier. We then climbed the huge hill leading out of AS1, but now Steve wasn't feeling so well. We had really zapped ourselves earlier running so hard to an imaginary start/finish, then run hard again to get back on track. The heat was getting to him, he was retaining WAY to much water. He showed me his hands and they had ballooned up from the water retention, looked like clown hands! If his hands get that big, I wonder what that does to his penis? I gave him some salt pills, this seemed to bring the bloating down, he was now capable of dialing a phone again. He told me to run ahead, but I said I'd stick with him as it would be nice to stay together for the long night run. It was at this point that he mentioned the dreaded letters DNF, he was thinking about dropping. Once these thoughts cross you mind, it's hard to get back. He stuck it out until the bottom of the park at Aid Station 2. He just wasn't feeling great and the loss of 2.5hrs had thrown him off. I asked him if he was sure, but he was. It was just about to get dark, this meant I'd have to run through the night alone. Steve hitched a ride with a bunch of other DNFs in an ambulance back to the school.

Here I Go, Again On My Own…

I grabbed my lights and headed up the hill out of AS3 at 6:50pm (13hrs 50min now). Heading north on the way back was a few miles longer than the way there, plus there's a bunch of muddy spots that I had to creep around the edges of to avoid soaked feet. It got dark at 7pm, so this also slowed thing down. The first few miles are actually fairly smooth and good for running, but I was tired and sore so wasn't moving very quickly. By the time I got back to the start finish Aid Station number 4, it was almost midnight. Loop 2 took me 9hrs, yikes. Doing the math, I should be even more tired on the next loop, so I figured 10 to 10.5hrs. 10.5hrs would bring me back to the start finish at around 10:30am, leaving me 2.5hrs before the 32hr cutoff to do the final loop 4 which is 7.7 miles (assuming I'm not too exhausted). I had been told loop 4 takes approx 2.5hrs, so this would be cutting it close!

When I got to AS4 just before midnight (almost 19hrs in), Chris, Steve and Kim were all there. I was happy see Chris was there, I wasn't sure if he pulled out after he dropped back earlier, but he gutted it out and was finished loop 2. Chris was now keeled over puking in the chair beside me, awesome. He was trying to aim it on a 1 foot wide strip of grass, but he was failing miserably and it was getting everywhere. Paramedics came over to assess him, they asked if he'd had anything to drink, I said "Well yeah, he's hammered!". He had already been vomiting on the course previously, so he was in rough shape. Ankle and shin problems didn't help, but the stomach issues were his demise. He was considering going back out, but wisely didn't. Steve was great, he was making sure I was ok and he and Kim were getting me whatever I needed. I was feeling pretty good, now 116km done including our little side-trip. I was so stiff I could barely move when I stood up, but I knew I'd loosen up once I started moving. I had some food and coffee, then headed out for loop 3, while the 3 of them went to a hotel for the night. Bastards!


LOOP 3:

Steve walked me out of the aid station with lots of encouragement, he was pulling for me. We guessed I should be back from this loop at 10 or 1030am, he said he'd be there at 10am and run the final 7 mile loop 4 with me. I headed out at 12:10am (19hrs 10min). I was feeling pretty good once I loosened up, but I couldn't move very quickly. Instead of trying to move fast, I changed my stride and took short quick steps and kept a steady pace. Eventually, this was a little TOO steady, I kept nodding off! The 4hrs of sleep each of the last 2 nights was finally catching up with me. At first I would just lose focus a little and my eyes would drift shut, but then it got worse. Numerous times I'd start to drift off and wander off the trail, this was actually getting dangerous. I was very happy to see Aid Station 1! I had a large coffee and a handful of chocolate covered expresso beans. I also put some beans in a cup to bring so I could pop them along the way.

The caffine woke me up, I was more alert on the run to Aid Station 2. I passed by 2 girls I knew, when they asked how I was doing I said ok but told them I got lost earlier. They said 'We know, we heard all about it, you're famous now!'. Great, word of my detour had spread, now I'd really have to finish! I was keeping the same slow steady pace, it felt great. Problem is, I didn't realize how slow and steady it was, I came into Aid Station 2 at 4:30am (23hrs 30min). This meant I took 4hrs 20min to get here (loop 1 it took 3hrs 15min, loop 2 took 3hrs 30min). I was almost an hour slower than on the last loop. Not a big deal, I'd still have plenty of time to make my way back, as long I'm back by 10:30 or 11am, I've have 2hrs to run the final 7 mile loop. I was still tired so I threw back a Starbucks Double Expresso (we'd grabbed these at the store earlier, they come in a can, fantastic), also had a regular coffee and more expresso beans. That should keep me awake! Then, as I was sitting there enjoying some soup, I overheard someone talking about cutoff times at the aid stations….

Panic Mode!

Cutoff times? What the hell were they talking about? They told me the cutoff time at the final Aid Station 4 is 10:32am. Oh shit. I didn't hear what the cutoff time was at Aid Station 3, I was busy getting my shit together to get the hell out of there. The way back always seemed to take longer than expected, wasn't sure why. I darted out of there at 4:40am and headed up the steep hill to the top of the ridge. I was freaking out a little, I thought they said the cutoff at AS3 is 7 or 730am, I wasn't sure. When I got to the top of the ridge, I took off like a madman. The trail between AS2 and AS3 has lots of smooth rolling spots, I broke into a fast run and just kept going. It was a mix of the adrenaline, double expresso, the energy I'd saved running like a turtle on the last leg and most of all PANIC, but I kept up a road racing pace, definitly under 5min kms. Slight uphills which we walked earlier, I would run right over them. Muddy bogs, I sprinted right though them without braking stride. People who were plodding along would hear me coming , step aside and cheer me on as I flew past! I had anticipated wiping out for sure at some point as this was all in the dark, but I managed to remain upright. This was actually fun, I suddenly had so much energy! I got to the Aid Station 3 and asked them what the cutoff time is, they said 7:55am. I checked my watch, it was only 6:45am! This leg only took me 2hrs 05min, earlier loops were 3hrs! Ok, so I completely over estimated the cutoff time, but this was great, I have more time now. I kept up a respectable pace between AS3 and AS4, definitly quicker than the last loop. When I got near AS4, my feet were throbbing, I couldn't wait to get off of them. The asphalt bike path for a mile at the end was not helping.

As I approached the start/finish Aid Station 4, I realized I was way earlier than expected. I wasn't sure if they'd be there to greet me and if Steve would be there to run with me for loop 4. I figured if they're not there yet, I'll take my time at the aid station, then just go. We had guessed 10 to 10.5hrs, I arrived at 9:17am, did the loop in 9hrs 07min! I'll have to use panic mode more often! As I approached the aid station, I was happy to see Steve, Chris and Kim all there waiting, thank goodness they showed up early, just in case.


LOOP 4:

So now I'm sitting there having some food and more coffee, giving my throbbing feet a break. Because of my detour, I've now run 103 miles, but it's not official unless I get off my ass and run another 7 mile loop! Arg… Steve was pumped, he was so happy and excited for me he wanted to get going (a good nights sleep in a bed will have that effect!). He was jumping up and down "Lets go, lets go!". I loaded up on food, slowly stood up, stiff as a board. It's now 9:30am (28hrs 30min, should have been done by now!), so I've got 3.5hrs for this mini-loop, no problem. This loop would just be some good conversation and a fun light run, mentally I was already done. Steve and I headed out walking and eating while I loosened up, but I was feeling pretty good so we broke into a run. I told Steve I wasn't planning to take forever and walk, I was going to run this loop out as much as possible. One refreshing part of this loop was we'd be on some new trails we hadn't run on the other loops, but what we didn't know was this would include the biggest hill on the course! The hill was actually fine, the descent after the hill did a number on my quads. The temperature was climbing now too, but I knew it was almost over so it didn't matter.

After that we ran across the bridge, then back to the friggin mind-numbing bike path for the final time! I was trying to run on the grass at the sides of the path where I could, the asphalt was really causing my feet to throb. We did a walk/run the rest of the way along the path. After the path, we rounded the corner to the school and saw the finish line! We ran at a decent pace, but with 100 yards left I told Steve I'm gonna go, then I broke into a full out sprint to the finish, with what was left of the crowd cheering me on! What a feeling, it's these moments we run for. Last 7.7 mile loop took 2hrs 09min, total run time officially 30hrs 39min 18sec. The race director Tom gave me my finisher's buckle, I told him I'd done 110 miles and explained what happened. He apologized but I said no, it was completely our fault, the course was actuially marked VERY well (ok, that one sign could have been bigger maybe). He did say I had the best finish of anyone!



So That Was My Weekend…

So without the detour, I should have finished more like 28hrs, possibly under. Didn't matter, I was the only one to run 110 miles (as far as I know) the longest run of my life (so far!). I was also the only Canadian finisher, although I think only 6 showed up, a few more were entered but didn't show. Although Steve and Chris DNFed, this was probably a good thing as they're both off to the Grand Canyon in 2 weeks for Rim to Rim to Rim, better to DNF here than there. Chris ran 2 loops (100km), Steve ran 1.5 loops (73km), plus our detour (16km), plus he came out for loop 4 (12km), so his total was just over 100km also. That's plenty of running on a hilly course 2 weeks before R2R2R. The winner finished in 18hrs! He's from Boulder Colorado. I think all runners from Colorado or BC should be banned, it's like steroids! Good for him though...

Steve, Chris and Kim were great, so supportive. Steve and I had lots of great conversations to make the hours go by, that was great as I'm used to running alone. What's next for me? No idea. This gives me enough points to qualify for Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc in France next year (well it's in France, Switzerland and Italy). I've never run at altitude, so this intreagues me. Also considering Canadian Death Race, McNaughton 150, and I'll throw my name in the lottery for Western States. I'm more than pleased with my performance on 31km per week. Obviously I carried over training from earlier in the summer, but I was far from peak form for this. This is very encouraging. I'll decide on a big race for next year, then train properly this time!

As usual, I didn't take pics, here's a link to one from the website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeann-charlie/6228329908/in/set-72157627732053805

Here's the results page.  114 starters, 57 finishers and 57 DNFs.  I came in 43rd, without the detour would have been 31st:

http://smileymiles.com/2011/RES%2011%20OIL%20CREEK%20ULTRA%20100%20MILE%20OA.HTM
Take Care,

Morgan

I May Be In Deep Sh....

So training hasn't been quite up to snuff.  If fact I'm WAY undertrained and the race is in 5 days.  Just haven't been able to fit runs in, something always comes up (insert excuse here).  Here's my weekly mileage getting ready for HURT 100 compared to Oil Creek 100 leading up to each race:

Week #: HURT - Oil Creek
Week 9:   81 - 11
Week 8:   70 - 76
Week 7:   92 - 13
Week 6:   90 - 35
Week 5:   119 - 32
Week 4:   10 - 47
Week 3:   110 - 40
Week 2:   30 - 27
Total:      602 - 281

So in the last 8 weeks, I've averaged 31km per week.  Yikes.  Getting ready for HURT, I averaged 75km per week, not to mention all the stairs and way more strength training.  75km per week is low by most standards, 31km per week is just stupid.  Oh well, doing things the easy way just wouldn't be me.  I really have no idea how this is going to go.  Granted I did run races every few weeks in the summer, and I felt fine after 120km at DG two months ago, but I haven't done much since.  I did do a 50km race in week 8, hence the only week with decent numbers.  I really should get a treadmill so I can run when I have the kids.

My 9yr old son joined the cross country team last week, so we can get some little runs in here and there together now.  They have a loop they do, he said most kids struggled with 1 loop, he did 5!  The coach made him stop and take a drink after loop 4, only a few older kids ran farther.  The coach told all of the other teachers about it, so proud!

Back to my impending torture, I'll be hitching a ride down with some other runners, got a hotel near the start (5am).  Not sure what time we'll be back Sunday, hopefully in time for some Thanksgiving turkey!  I'll just be happy to finish this one.  Mentally, I'm ready to push through the expected pain and exhaustion, my biggest worry is injuring myself because my legs aren't used to the mileage.  I figure if I can finish this with such crappy-ass training, it'll be a big confidence booster for future races, where I'll train properly and try to do well instead of just finish.  We'll see!

Mo

And the Winner is......

Oil Creek!

Grindstone was just too far to go in a weekend, plus the 5pm start time is real turn off.  I've heard the course at Oil Creek is great, so here we go!  I also emailed the organizers at Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc to ask why there are so few qualifing courses, they said they're adding races to the list all the time so I can send them the race details for Oil Creek if I'd like to request it to be added.  UTMB is still a bit of a dream, just thought I'd check though.

Haven't posted in awhile, did 2 races since last post so here are quick descriptions:

The Limberlost Challenge 56km - July 16th, 2011:
I was excited to do this race, heard good things about it when I missed it last year.  It's a 14km loop done 4 times, pretty hilly trial and a slow course.  I camped in Algonquin just under an hour's drive from the start.  This is the first time I've camped before a race, I really prefer to get ready at home or in a hotel room.  I was planning to take it easy the day before, wound up kayaking for almost 4hrs!  Didn't use my legs, still used too much energy though.

It got pretty hot for this race, I stopped to dunk my head in the lake a few times.  I can still feel I'm not up to the level I want to be, pretty sloggish near the end.  Finished in 7hrs 23min, not bad but a bit slower than I'd like.

Course was beautiful, rolling soft trails around some lakes, great scenery.  They're now trying to gauge intrest to see if people would want to do a longer race here next year, sounds good to me.

Dirty Girls 24hrs - Aug 6th, 2011:
Last year, this was my first race ever running at night, did 130km so I was hoping to beat that this year.  The night before the race, I waited way too long to get ready and got less than 4hrs sleep.  Not a good idea before a 24hr race.  Race starts at 8am, so I got there 30min before to set up my chair, drop bag and cooler.  It's a 10km loop in the woods, so I'd pass by my stuff every loop and grab whatever I needed.

Race started out well, despite some afternoon heat and humidity, I'd run 100km by midnight.  The next loop was slower, I wasn't feeling well and was very light-headed.  On top of this, the worst part was my burning ass.  All day I'd keep 1 bottle of water handy just to soak my head and neck when I got hot, this cooled my off but I didn't realize it also ran down and kept my shorts drenched all day.  I now had horrible chafing in bad private places that was making it excruitating to run.  After the next loop which was a little slower, it was now 230am and I'd been running for 18.5hrs, I decided I was just going to get to 120km.  Most runners at this event stop at 120km, that's the distance you need to earn a buckle award.  I didn't want to stop until at least 130km (same as last year), but my ass was killing me and getting worse.  So I now had 5.5hrs to get 10 more kms.  I sat in my chair and nodded off for 45 minutes.  When I woke up and started to go again, my legs felt GREAT after the rest, but my chafing was worse than ever so I just grinded out a horrible 10k and them went to sleep in my car until the 8am finish!  Vaseline really doesn't work well, time to try so alternatives...

Had a great time, I really like this race and plan to be back.  I think my official time was just over 21.5hrs.

Only 2 months to Oil Creek, time to step up the training for a montha and a half or so!  Might do Iroquois Trail Test 50km in 2 weeks, not sure yet.  If not, Oil Creek will be my next race.

Take care,

Mo

It's Go Time!

Ok, officially back in training.  For what you say?  Still not sure.  I'm tinkering with the idea of doing UTMB next August, it's a 100 miler around Mont Blanc going through France, Switzerland and Germany.  I need 5 qualifying points on 2011 in order to register.  Doing HURT gave me 4 points, so I just need one more but it's surprisingly hard to find a race around here that qualifies.  If I'd planned this better I could have found one earlier, but that's just not like me to plan ahead! I'm waiting for an email back from the organizers regarding a question I had about the qualifying races.  Anyhoo, I'm trying to decide between two 100 mile races on Oct 9th this year. One is a qualifier for UTMB, the other isn't.  There are pros and cons to both, but soon one of them will be full so I'd better decide soon.

Grindstone 100: In the hills of Virginia, very hilly course, almost as much elevation as HURT.
Pros: Very hilly, I love this shit; qualifier for UTMB; such a challenging course and being a qualifier will both keep me motivated.
Cons:  Very hilly, only 3 months to get ready; 10hr drive, so an extra day off work Thursday and still cramming for time, drive back will suck on Sunday after the race, need to be back for Thanksgiving on Monday; start time is 5pm Friday night, so it's basically running through 2 nights and 1 day; double the price of Oil Creek, plus one of the requirements is I have to volunteer at another race for 8hrs as part of the registration.

Oil Creek 100: Located in Pennsylvania, hilly tough course but not nearly as hilly as Grindstone.
Pros: Hilly but not too hilly, so will be tough but no madness; only 3.5hr drive, so could leave Friday morning and drive back Sunday afternoon no problem; starts Saturday morning instead of Friday night.
Cons: Not a qualifier for UTMB; will struggle for motivation with it not being a qualifier and not being the same challenge as Grindstone (yes I'm an idiot, it is still a hilly 100 mile race).

I'm leaning toward Oil Creek, but it will sell out soon so I'd better make up my mind.  Either way, training starts today!

Here's where I currently am: I ran Creemore Vertical Challenge 50km the weekend before last.  I'm still knowhere near the shape I was in last year at this time, I finished about half and hour longer at 5hrs 37min.  I didn't feel too bad, at least I felt better than I did at Niagara 50km 2 weeks before that, so I'm getting better.  Training has been poor, but that all changes today.  This weekend I'm doing Limberlost 56km, I missed the inaugural event last year so I'm really looking forward to it.  3 weeks after that, I'm doing Dirty Girls 24hrs again, I had a blast doing it last year.

In order to get my mileage up, I got a membership at a gym next to my office.  It has a gym and a pool, but I really only wanted it for the showers so I could run at lunch without stinking the office up.  I've started using it a few times a week.  I work at the office almost exclusively now, so the gym is necessary to get runs in like I used to on lunches working from home.  My workouts with weights and using stationary bike has been pretty much non existent, so that changes now too.  I've got kids 50% of the time, so those mornings are now for stationary bike or weights, not just sleeping in.  This means I have my kids every other weekend, so I'll plan around that as I can't run long those weekends. Still playing soccer once a week, although sometimes it conflicts with my son's games and I'd rather watch him than play myself.

Bought new trail shoes last week, same Montrail Mountain Masochists that I wore for HURT.  I'd better wear these in quick before the 24hr race in 5 weeks.  Got up and ran trails this morning, then went out at lunch for another run.  I haven't tracked my mileage since HURT in January.   Prior to that, I'd tracked every single run since I started running in October of 2007.  Suppose I should start again to stay on top of things.

Well, I'll decide in the next while which race to do.  Until then, I'll keep training with that date in mind, it's less than 3 months already!

Mo