The North Face Bear Mountain 50 Mile

WTF, was not really prepared for this.  As soon as this was over, I swore I'd never run it again, but then again in the middle of most races I swear off running forever, so I'm already coming around now that I don't have pregnant woman feet anymore.  Had an awesome weekend, this was a road trip with Steve, JD and Carlos, all great guys who were fun to hang out with.  Might have to make this an annual getaway!

After Pick Your Poison last weekend, I took the week off and didn't do a single thing even close to exercise.  50km up and down ski hills is not advisable a week before a bigger race, but this blog has it's title for a reason.  I knew my legs would be affected, just wasn't sure to what extent.


Road Trip!
I was the last to be picked up, just before 10am on Friday.  I had just finished packing and was going over my list when the doorbell rang, good timing.  I was up late doing work the night before, then had to take the kids to school so in the end slept about 4hrs.  No problem, I figured I'd sleep in the car during the 8hr drive...

Got there just before dinner, only slept about 20 or 30 minutes, we were chatting the whole way.  We checked in at the hotel, then drove to the area near the course to find out where the shuttle buses depart from, also to get a glimpse of what we were in for.

Hmmmmm....

A few hills it would seem.  Beautiful country, really enjoyed the scenery.  Next we hit Walmart to grab some food for breakfast.  Our hotel didn't have coffee makers, Steve wanted to buy one but instead we grabbed Starbucks cans. We then went to Applebees for dinner, it was close and there wasn't much else around.  Filled up on pasta.  Steve really wanted to start celebrating with beer, maaaaaaybe we should run the race first.  Somehow the 4 of us ended up ordering different fruit flavoured lemonades instead.  I think Steve lost a bit of his manliness right there...

Back to the hotel, got our stuff ready for the morning.  In bed by about 1030pm, the lack of sleep the night before knocked me right out, which was a good thing as my alarm was set for 2:15am...

Race Day!

2:15am. WTF am I doing here... We're leaving at 3:30am to get the shuttle, I need that long to make sure I've 'dispensed any excess cargo' if you know what I mean.  I had a bagel, banana and my usual Mr. Noodles.

Out the door at 3:30am to meet the shuttle, which took us to the start finish.  Great set up here, this is obviously sponsored!  Lots of breakfast options, I had more bagel, banana, oranges and coffee.  We dropped off our bags and hung out waiting for the 5am start.  I wore a crappy plaid shirt for warmth that I could throw out when the race starts, my girlfirend will be happy.  We all headed toward the start line and wished each other luck.  Carlos headed closer to the front, I was back a bit then Steve and JD hung back farther.

And We're Off...

5am start is in the dark, so you need a light.  Problem is, it will be light out in 45min and we don't reach our drop bags for another 6hrs or so at mile 27 to drop our lights off, so I brought my smaller headlamp and just carried it in my hand for light, then when the sun comes up I can just clip it to my belt, plan worked great.

As soon as the race started we turned up a hill where the trail was covered in loose rocks of various sizes.  This part sucked, it was dark and we were all still crammed together so you couldn't see what was coming up to step on with so many people in front of you.  Eventually, the crowd thinned out but the rocky madness wouldn't end!  Whenever we had some dirt trial, it didn't last long and it was back to rocks.  Sun came up soon, that made it a bit easier to see the deadly rocks, but we still had to step on them!

I was feeling pretty good...too good in fact.  I started passing people and picking up the pace.  I'm an idiot, I forgot what 50 miles feels like and I wasn't even thinking about it, I just kept gunning it.  For the next 2 hrs or so, I kept passing people and running hard.  Then, reality caught up with me...

Ok, This Sucks

At 10 or 15 miles in, I was spent.  I'm not trained enough right now to run this hard, plus last week's race can't be helping.  My toes kept cramping up and my calves were twitching on the verge of cramping too. I tried not to focus on  the fact that I had at least 35 miles to go, but at this point I was not enjoying myself at all.  Friggin rocks.  Everywhere.  Big rocks, little rocks, dry rocks, wet rocks, loose rocks, sharp rocks, everywhere frigging rocks!  WTF!  W......T.......F!!!!!!! (That's the best I can do to relay my attitude at that point).  The hills, climbs and decents were plenty, but these didn't bother me, just the unrunnable rocks.

I was really down in the dumps for a bit here, which is unlike me.  I was exhausted, cramping, then at the 20 mile aid station I felt nauseous.  Never been nauceous during a race before, not used to this, unlike some fellow runners (Chris!).  I had some food here and chicken broth, my stomach settled down over the next little while.  I decided the best way to get this crap over with was to keep moving and get this crap over with.  My pace had been slow for quite some time now, I was wondering if Steve and JD would catch up soon.  I just kept going at a slow pace, this part felt like forever.

Here's why music and heaphones are not condoned at races:  A woman caught up to me and as she passed, I gave her a customary "How ya doin'?".... Met with silence, I noticed she had headphones on and didn't hear a word.  Just after that we were approaching a road, there was a volunteer waiting at the road and he shouted to us "Please wait for the car to pass".... Uh oh.  The woman was 20 metres or so ahead of me and not slowing down, so I yelled to the volunteer "SHE'S GOT HEADPHONES ON!".  She was looking down at her feet due to the rocks and didn't see the voluteer or the car.  Just as she reached the road and looked up, the car slammed on the brakes and she jumped to the side, clearly startled.  The car waited while she went on her merry way.  Jackass.  I'm not against wearing headphones, but if you can't hear people yelling at you, turn it the fuck down.  I waited and let the car go, then I too went on my merry way. 

After some extended climbing, we come across some vast rocks, reminded me of Muskoka and the Canadian Sheild.  Some were so big to cross, we couldn't find the orange ribbons indicating which way to go next as there's no trail once you're on each rock.  I was with another runner, so we helped each other look for the ribbons at a few points here.  I started to run ahead a bit after this, then he shouted from behind me, "Are you from Ontario?"... How the hell did he know that?  I waited for him and said yes, I was, why? He said, "I think this is your driver's licence".  Yikes!  I'd brought my driver's license along this morning in case I needed ID for the packet pick-up.  Like anybody is going to show up at 4am and falsely impersonate someone so they can run 50 miles... Don't know what I was thinking there.  It fell out of my pouch on my belt, I moved it to a zippered pocket on my shorts. 

Well, I guess everything happens for a reason.  We ran together for the next hour, and I completely forgot about how crappy I was feeling.  His name was Stanley, he's a Washington Capitals fan so we chatted about hockey and sports.  He paced a buddy at Leadville, so we chatted about that for awhile too.  His friend who ran Leadville would be at the finish, I told him I'd like to talk to him after.

I was feeling good now, Stanley could tell so he told me to go ahead, which I did.  I picked up the pace a little, feeling a bit better and not too far from the halfway point.  I then realized I hadn't pissed yet during the race, now 5 hours in.  This says how hard I was having to work, I usually go more frequently than that but it hadn't even crossed my mind yet.  I let out a stream of what looked like orange juice (I was way dehydrated), then pushed on to the 27.7 mile aid station, just over halfway.

27.7 and Counting

I sat down in an empty chair here.  I was handed my drop bag (they couldn't locate some other guy's bag, he was pissed) so I downed a few cups of fruit cocktail I'd brought.  I also tried a 5 Hour Energy drink, well I only drank half so I guess it's a 2.5 Hour Energy drink.  I've never had one before so I didn't want to drink the whole thing in case there were any side-effects for me.  I felt nothing, probably should have had the whole thing.  I ate some food here and took my time.  I was waiting for the 1 potapotty to be free so I could lube up some private regions, but it was never free so I just turned my back to everyone and went to town down there.  I took a staggering 13 minutes here (not lubing, just in general), but it felt good to rest up.  The last few hours had been a grind, I was fine taking my jolly time here.

I started down the hill out of the aid station, then picked up the pace and I was off to find more rocks.  The way way back still has many ups and downs, but more downs.  Still, more rocky creekbeds, mud, even sharp decents that needed to be climbed down.  At one point we came out to a road that went uphill, I started to run up until I realized it went on forever.  This was the only point that blackflies were noticable, the rest of the time they were fine.  One guy I met had a fly stuck in his eye.  I could see it right there but he couldn't get it out!  He was spashing water in it in vain...

They way back wasn't so bad mentally because I knew every step was closer to the finish.  Some of the decents we dangerous and crazy, but it was fun.  Still not enjoying the rocky rough footing, but I was more used to it now.  Stanley passed by me at some point, he had a pacer join him at 27.7, the brother of the Leadville dude I'd chat with later.  He was moving pretty good, looked strong.

When I got to the 40 mile aid station, had more food and downed the rest of my 5 Hour Energy drink.  Still no effect.  I picked up the pace, knowing it was the last 10 miles of this rocky madness.  I will say I ran pretty well after each time I took the 5 Hour Energy.  Not sure if it was the drink of or not, but I seemed to be in good spirits both times, maybe just coincidence.

Under 12 Hours?

I had no time goal going into this race, but partway through I'd decided I wanted to keep it under 12 hours.  After mile 40, I figured if I could get to the next aid station in under an hour I'd have a shot.  Next station is at 44.4, approx 7 kilometres.  One hour to do 7 kms?  No problem, let's go.... Then, and hour later.....WTF?  Still not there!  Where the hell is this aid station?  Took about an hour and 10 minutes to do 7 friggin kms....Yikes.  So at 44.4, I decided to keep plugging along but I really wasn't sure if I had time.  There was no way to know, it all depended whether each stretch had smoother sections or more rocky sections.  I just figured at this point if I go over, I'll just keep it as close as I can to 12 hrs.

When I got to the final aid station, it's only 2.8 miles to the finish.  I was still borderline on time, but my competitive nature kicked in, fuck it I'll give it a try.  I ran all the way up the hill out of the station, then decided to keep going and I picked up the pace big time.  I sprinted the downhills and flats, and ran every uphill.  On rocky downhills that I would normally have been tentative on, I sprinted and tried not to focus on my sore feet, I knew it wouldn't be for long.  People were stepping out of my way when they heard me coming and cheering me on (this was just like my energy burst on the final loop at Oil Creek, but that was due to double espressos and chocolate covered espresso beans).  I started passing all of the people who'd passed me in the last hour or so, they were all hiking up the hills while I ran past like a madman.  I passed Stanley on one of the final climbs, he yelled out a cheer for me as I passed.

Then a spectator I was passing said 'Half a mile to go'.  I asked him if he was sure, he said yes so I kept up the pace right to the finish.  It was great to come out of the trails and see the finish area, I just wanted to sit down and have some food and beer!

Finally....

Carlos was waiting at the finish to congratulate me, that bastard finished it over 2 hrs ago... I miscalculated the time near the end, finished in 11hrs 53 minutes, I didn't cut it as close as I'd thought, but I had no idea how long it was going to take.  If I hadn't gone hard near the end, I would have been over 12 hours.  But really, who cares?  I didn't have a time to compare it to having never done this before.

I hung out with Carlos and waited for Steve and JD.  Had beer and some food, good food.  I was hoping to meet Dean Karnazes who made an appearance, but unless you're as fast as Carlos you don't get to see him.  He was there for about an hour, handing out medals to the winners and did a run with the kids.

Good swag bag, they gave a nice tech shirt with minimal logos for a change, some nice black arm sleeves and 2 bottles, one with hand held strap.

Eventually Steve and JD came in.  They wanted to beat Chris' time of 13hrs 18 minutes from last year.....They came in at 13:17!!  A friggin minute! Hilarious.... I'm sure Chris will be back next year for revenge...

We all had food and then caught the shuttle back to the car and then hotel to shower.  Then, back to Applebees so we can celebrate properly with beer instead of lemonade.  Next morning we were all up early, our internal clocks were messed up, we were on the road just after 8am, took just over 7hrs to get home...

So, That's That

Had a great weekend.  Turning this into a road trip was awesome, company was great and we all had fun.  As far as the race goes, as soon as it was over we all said never again. The course layout and hills were fantastic, country and views were beautiful, but rocks were just crazy-stupid-insane-fucked. But, as I sit here and type this a week later, hmmmm.... I do like a challenge, I'm drawn to that extra-level of difficulty that a course like this offers..... Ahh crap.  At least my feet have a year to heal.

I was sore after this race, but my Montrail Mountain Masochists were great, almost no blisters, even after the rock madness.  I had very minimal ass chafing (usually my downfall).  It hit me a few weeks ago that I shouldn't be wearing cotton underwear (duh), it just stays soaked the whole race, so I just wore compression shorts without underwear.  This really helped the chafing in the rear, but presented new problems in the front that we won't get into.

New Solomon calf sleeves worked great, but the rubbing actually left cuts on my shins.  Not a problem, but add another 50 miles and it might be.

Now I've got 5 more weeks until Mohican 100 Mile.  I've been resting this past week, so now I'll go hard for 4 weeks and rest for the final week.  I may have guilted Steve into coming with me as a pacer, he feels bad that they were all going to do Mohican but then everyone changed their mind to do Laurel Highlands 70 mile instead, but I'd already signed up for Mohican.  We'll see.

Here are the links to pics.  You can get a taste of the rocks, but it gets much worse than these pics will let on.  My number was 217, Steve was 17 and JD was 21 so due to the similar digits they put some of Steve's pics under mine, and mine under JDs.  Weird coincidence with 300 people...

Morgan - bib 217

Steve - bib 17

JD - bib 21

Carlos - bib 255

http://orders.racephotonetwork.com/QPPlus/SearchBibNumber.aspx?_AccountNumber=67384&EventID=1101618

Time to get ready for Mohican, I haven't even been thinking about it as I'm so focused on Leadville, I should probably focus on this for the next month...

Take care,

Morgan

Pick Your Poison

Well, not a whole lot to tell.  Got up really early, drove up to Horseshoe Valley, ran 50km of trail and up and down ski hills, drove home.  Here's a few details:

Wasn't planning to run very hard, Bear Mountain 50 mile is the following weekend so I'll save myself for that beast.  I ended up running the entire race start to finish with Chris.  Chris isn't running Bear this year, but he wasn't planning to go hard either so this worked out well..... or it would have if we stuck to the plan.

Started off at a decent pace, first few loops were easy, started to get tired on the 4th and final loop.  Chris said he was getting fatigued, as was I, but then he kept up a strong pace.  I said 'I thought you were fatigued?', he said he was but he didn't want the guy behind us to catch us.  I said 'That's called racing!'.  I think Chris has a problem.  Oh well, we kept up the pace and left Mr. Anonymous behind.  I would stop and eat at aid stations, Chris stuck to gels and kept running so I'd have to continually sprint to catch up if I stopped to grab food.  Great workout...

Finished about 40min faster than last year in 5hr 31min.  Loops were pretty consistant:
Loop 1: 1hr 18min
Loop 2: 1hr 21min
Loop 3: 1hr 25min
Loop 4: 1hr 26min

Went harder than we should have, I was pretty beat afterwards due to my usual lack of training, but this was also the first race of the season.  A smarter person would have hung back with Steve, he's running Bear with me the next weekend, he took his time and finished about an hour later in 6hr 30min or so.

Chris and Myself Post Race

Post race was fun, nice to see everyone for the first time this year.  Great meal served in a chalet, Steve brought beer to make it even better.  This race is always fun, great way to start the season.  Next up, Bear Mountain....

Morgan

Almost Ready!

Just a week and a half until Pick Your Poison 50km, looking forward to it!  Training has been going well, I feel great.  I still struggle to get enough runs in, but I've compensated by going hard and doing stupid things while training: Wearing a 20lb weighted vest around the house doing sporatic exercises (haven't run in it yet), carrying my dumbells on runs, doing crazy exercises in odd places (you'd be surprised what you can do at your desk).

This morning I did the stairs for 25min with my 2 ten pound dumbells, it's getting much easier than it used to be.  I remember the first time a few months ago when I did this, I had problems just moving across the 500 metres to get to the stairs!  It's not running with the weight, it's my arms trying to hold up the weight.  I thought I might have to start putting them in a backpack to get there.  This morning, it was no problem running to and from the stairs with the weights at all.  After 25min on the stairs, I ran back to drop off the weights, then ran another 5km feeling light as a feather!  Dropping 20lbs instantly does wonders for you!

Last Saturday was the real kicker.  I headed out to Sulpher to get a few loops in, I figured 40km if I was feeling up to it.  I was curious to see how I'd feel on a long run with my 4lb dumbells. I ran the first 20km loop with them in 2h 10min, decent time on a trail with hills carrying weights.  I grabbed some food from the car and decided I felt ok, so I brought them out with me for loop 2.  There's a few spots where you run past the same point, I figured if it was too much then I'd just drop them and pick them up later.  After about 30km, my arms weren't doing too bad but my knees were getting sore and my legs were tired (I usually bring Powerbar Gels and Electrolite pills for long runs, I'm haven't organized my shit this year and couldn't find either of them!).  It was getting tough to run, but I stuck with it.  Finished 40km with the weights in 4h 45min, I was exhausted by the end... Glad I did it though.  Previously, the longest I'd carried the weights was 13km, this day I did an additional 27km.

Carrying the weights plays with my mind a little.  I do feel lighter now when I run without them, my body is getting used to running 8lbs heavier.  I was worried that running with them too often might mess up my form, but my form sucked anyway so it might actually be helping.  It keeps me running at a slightly slower pace, so it stops me from taking big strides and landing on my heel.  Also does great for my posterior chain (aka my ass), my lower back and hammies have to work a little harder to compensate for the weight I'm holding in front of me.  I could put 8lbs in a pack or use a vest instead, but I really prefer the challenge and extra work of using my arms, great workout.

So, things are going well.  A week and half to 50km of the hills of PYP, then a week later the 50 miles of hills at Bear Mountain.  I really should take it easy at PYP and save myself for Bear, but it's always hard to do the when the race starts!  Maybe some fellow runners will knock some sense into me.  Or I bring the weights!  No, I think they'll sit this one out...

Take Care,

Morgan

Back to Running

Finally ran last night after exactly 3 weeks with no running.  I was free last Saturday to run, but antibiotics were just starting to kick in and I didn't feel up to it.  I feel fine now, so last night I headed out for a very hilly run with my two 4lb dumbells to make it a little tougher.  I felt great after 3 weeks off!  Some sore muscles and arms weren't used to the weights anymore, but after a few days it should all be fine.  Time to step it up, less than 4 weeks to Pick Your Poison 50k and 5 until Bear Mountain 50 mile.

Being off for 3 weeks does have it's positive takeaways (everything does actually).  It reminded me not to take being healthy for granted and to stay off my ass.  It gave me time to reflect on training and how I'm doing things:

Short Runs: I haven't been doing fast road runs, been focusing on hilly trail runs with weights, stairs, or both.  Maybe too much? There will be long flat or long incline/decline sections at Leadville, but my runs have been focusing on gnarly, hilly trail and stairs.  I've been carrying dumbells on the trials, which adds to the difficulty and is much more taxing, but it does make the runs much slower.  These are great, but maybe I should add in some more road or flat faster runs also.

Long Runs: What long runs?  It's hard for me to fit them in, but I'll need to get creative and make sure to get more in going forward.

Nutrition: This is back on track.  During my break, I attended a conference which meant 3 buffet meals a day, plus a drinkfest each night, not good.  That was temporary, but I was also letting my regular nutriton slide, but I put a stop to that a week ago.  No extra pounds will be coming with me to Colorado! In fact no extra pounds will be coming with me anywhere soon....

Strength Training: This had been going great pre-break, during my 3 weeks of stupidity I did none.  Back at it now, but I need to focus more on running.  There have been times during lunch at work when I'd hit the gym instead of running, I'll be more concious to run instead and do strength training at home with kids when I can't run.  I bought a 20lb weighted vest the other day, I've been wearing it around the house while doing my usual pushups and squats, my kids think I'm nuts.  They're usually right.  I told my daughter I'm going to pick her up from school wearing the vest to embarass her, I think I scared her!

Races:
I looked into switching dates around so that I could do a 50 mile race in Ontario in May (either Seaton on May 12 or Sulpher on May 26), but my ex wasn't able to switch weekends with me due to her work functions.  This meant the only option for me to do a 50 mile race would be Bear Mountain on May 5th.  The actual race at Bear Mountain would be my pick out of the 3, but the timing is bad (1 week after Pick your Poison) and location is in the Catskills in NY, an 8hr drive which means a hotel and a day off work.  No choice, so Bear Mountain it is.  I signed up for it the other day, should be a fun trip as a few of us are going now.  JD, Carlos, Steve and I have signed up for the adventure, still waiting on Chris to decide and possibly Kendra.  Should be fun!

Not sure what to do about Pick Your Poison on Apr 28th yet.  It's a hilly course, which is great, but being 1 week before Bear means I'll need to decide what distance to do.  A smart person would opt for the 25k, so I'll likely do 50k and not run it too hard.  Last year I signed up 3 days in advance, so I'll worry about it later.

Current Plan:
So, current plan is basically train as hard as I can right up until about 2 days prior to PYP, then take it easy during the week between the races, then go hard at Bear Mountain.  With Bear being right at the beginning of May and no other races fitting into my schedule, I'll have 6 weeks until Mohican 100 on June 16th.  Plenty o' time to rest, go hard for a few weeks and rest again before 100.  So I guess everything is on track for now...

Morgan

Ooops.... Forgot I'm in Training!

Well, I'd planned to take a down week, that has somehow turned into 2 weeks of nothing!  2 weeks ago, I had my kids for the last few days of March Break and couldn't run.  No biggie, I went hard leading up to it and had planned a mini-break/recovery week.  After March Break, I had a business trip to Cancun for a few days with NO free time.  I brought my running gear along, never left my suitcase.  3 days of buffet meals, no exercise.  The one window of free time we had, my boss decides to have a meeting!  It was a meeing over beers in the Mexico sun, so I wasn't complaining.  When I got home, I then had the kids for the next 4 days, so again, no running!

I finally had some time Sunday evening, I had planned to head to Sulpher, but mid-day I felt slugginsh during a hike with my kids.  We headed to the trails where I trained for HURT, I showed the kids the Stairway to Hell, the old steps I used to run up and down.

My Kids Getting Ready for H.U.R.T. in 2022?

Anyway, I felt crappy so I decided I'd just run in Erindale Park and skip the drive all the way to Ancaster.  Then a little while later when I dropped off the kids I felt even worse, now I'd decided I'll skip the run entirely and go for a bike ride instead.  By the time I got back home, I was full on sick and I flopped on my bed and fell right to sleep at 5pm.  Sick on Monday, stayed home from work, it's now Tuesday night and I'm still recovering but feeling pretty crappy.  It's now been 2 full weeks with no runs, or exercise at all really.  No exactly the plan.

I'll try to get back to it tomorrow.  I've got the kids next few days, but I'll get some lunch runs in and get back to am and pm workouts.  In my current condition I really don't feel up to it, hopefully tomorrow I can get back to it.

On to my next problem, upcoming races (which I don't feel ready for btw). Pick Your Poison 50km is 4 and a half weeks away.  Sounds good, but I had hoped to do Seaton 50 mile 2 weeks after that, but due to scheduling looks like if I want to do a 50 mile in May, it will have to be the much tougher Bear Mountain.  2 problems here: It's 1 week after PYP, so I need to decide whether to skip PYP (which I was really looking forward to), or take it easy and do it with a back to back weekend of Bear Mountain right after it.  The other deterrent is Bear Mountain is in Southeast NY State, 7 to 8hr drive away, which means a day off work, over night at hotel, blah, blah.  Seaton would have been in Pickering 45 minutes away, could sleep in my own bed!  So, no idea what I want to do now, but Bear Mountain will sell out soon so I need to make a decision.  Ugh.

In the meantime, I better get back on the horse, already put on a few pounds in the last 2 weeks of nothingness.

Still winter....

Well, got some good training in last week.  Started bringing 2 x 10lb weights with me to climb the stairs, did 20 minutes and almost passed out.  Awesome.  Got a good upper body workout in, got a good medium distance run on Wed night (15k) and a longer run on Sunday (33k).

Went out to Sulpher Springs on Sunday.  It was all packed snow, but in the sunny areas it was a slush/mud mix.  The shady areas were usually icy.  I did the first 20k loop pretty hard, just over 2 hrs which is decent in these conditions.  After that I was drenched with sweat and freezing!  At the car I switched my wet shirts, hat and gloves for fresh clothing.  I normally don't sweat that much in the winter by I ran hard.

I had planned to do another 20k loop, but I already arrived later than planned and I was heading up to Guelph right after the run to visit friends so I cut the 2nd loop short to 13k.  I took my time and enjoyed it, stopped to take some pics of the local wildlife.

Look behind you!

I went up and down JT hill 4 times, it was pretty much all ice.  I'd have to grab trees on the way up and down to stay upright.  On one of the descents, I slipped an fell back but landed with my hands behind me and slid, so the next time I did it on purpose.  When I got to the iciest part, I squatted down with my hands behind me and slid down the hill, much safer than running down an ice hill!  All in all, a good fun run.

Yesterday, I weighed myself for the first time in about 2 yrs, not sure why.  I can tell just by my belt size that I've been carrying some extra insulation, but I was at 175!  Last time I weighed myself (summer 2010) I was 165.  I'll get to work and plan to be 165 at the most for Leadville.  Carrying and extra 10lb for 100 miles in the mountains would not be smart.  I won't wait for Leadville, I'll take care of this right away.  So what did I do yesterday to get started?  I took the day off of course and relaxed!  I had planned to hit the gym at lunch but work got in the way.  Then I planned to go for a light run in the evening, took a nap on the couch instead.  Ok, start today!  Work got in the way at lunch again, but I did hit the stairs this morning.  I felt much better on the stairs, not even close to passing out!  Running with the weights to and from the stairs was noticably easier too.  Did 20 minutes again, but it went by fast, I'll increase the time soon.

I'm away on business Wednesday to Friday this week in Vancouver.  I though I'd give the Grouse Grind a try, but then I remembered it's winter!  I'm told it's closed, but forcast is rain the next few days and wouldn't be that enjoyable.  I don't have much free time, so getting a run in is unlikely anyway.  This will be a low mileage week, but I did 73km last week (compared to my usual 15k lately), so no biggie.  I'll fit a long run in next weekend.

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!!!!