Running: Lost Soul Ultra Report

The short version: CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN.

We arrived in Lethbridge on Friday afternoon with lots of time to pickup my race package (which included a very nice jacket) and check into the hotel before dinner. We found a local Boston Pizza for pasta to do the carb loading thing.

On our way back to the hotel it began to rain heavily with lots of wind on top of it. (It is Lethbridge after all.) I was certainly glad not to be running in it, but I couldn't help but feel badly for the 100km and 100 mile racers currently outside.

Back at the hotel I did the last minute obsessing about the gear and had everything ready to go before Aerin and I hit the hot tube for a soak. At this point it was still raining a little outside, and I was hoping it would let up long enough to save the course from being too muddy. We met another couple that was there for the 50km race, so we talked about running and traded war stories.

It was time for bed about 9PM, but little did we know as we drifted off that they were already shutting down the race due to the rain. The clay gets very slippery, so they decided that it was too dangerous to continue to let the racers go through the night. Of course it wasn't until 6:30am at the race meeting that I learned my 5am wakeup to get ready was in vain.

Needless to say I was disappointed and more than a little grumpy about not getting to run my race, but in the end it would seem to be somewhat fortuetous since I'd be having an odd occasional pain in my left knee. After trying to get a couple more hours of sleep, Aerin and I spent the day relaxing. We visited the Japanese garden, did some pillow shopping since the old one didn't do well on the new mattress, caught a movie, and generally took it easy.

The movie we saw was Kung Fu Panda, and we both enjoyed it enough to put it onto our DVD wishlist. Watching the movie reminded me of an article I'd read in the paper when the movie was first released. Why do they shell out a lot of money for big name actors to voice characters other than the name recognition when it comes time to promote the film? They certainly won't help the movie if it just stinks to begin with. But now I'm straying off topic...

So in the end, we stayed for the breakfast on Sunday morning to collect my Rock with no time, have some food and trade a few stories again before heading home.

Running: Sinister 7 Post-Race

I can still walk. The legs are little stiff and sore, but that will fade soon enough. The official times aren't in yet, but overall I completed legs 4, 5 and 6 in ~10:20 and a team finish of ~18:20.

My teammate John headed out for the first two of three legs at 9am. It was just over 3 hours before he came into the transition between leg 2 and 3. The next leg was about 29km in an out-and-back loop which he completed in about 3:36. And off I went for my three legs.

Leg 4 is the longest at 31.5km, but I think it's actually a little longer since I managed to stop my Garmin for a bit. I do not like running in the heat, but there was a stiff headwind for most of the way to help cool things. Unfortunately on this leg I never really got settled into my running. My stomach was queasy the entire leg, and I was having problems with cramping in my legs. I could run or I could hydrate. In the end I did a little of both, and I got into the transition area feeling less than stellar. I wasn't in a rush to get going again, so I changed my socks and shoes, drank down a bunch of water, and talked to the medics to make sure I wasn't doing something I shouldn't be. By this time the sun was going behind the mountains and trees, so things were cooling off. I rested for a bit and then headed out for the next leg.

Leg 5 was supposed to be 17km, but more on that later. I took off with as fast a walk I could manage with my poles to help push me along. I must have managed to stop my Garmin again when I was at the transition, so I got it going again after what I figured was a mile. My stomach was still being a problem, but my legs were feeling better. I tried running a little every now and again until my stomach started complaining, and then I would slow again. I arrived at the beginning of the long climb to the ridge. Thankfully my stomach settled and I began the long climb.

I would not have liked to do this climb in wet or muddy conditions. The trail is very steep in places, and traction was bad enough on some spots with just a little loose rock. Even as a quad ATV trail I would have to say it's less than desirable. As I got close to the top of the ridge I heard what I thought were the dinner (bear) bells of the one person to pass me on the climb going along the ridgeline to the south. When I got to the top myself, I stopped unsure of the direction to take, but I did find a sign pointing me downhill. There were a couple of spots where things switched from up to down on the ascent and vice versa on the descent, but overall it was steady going. At one point I looked at my Garmin and began to wonder where the heck the transition point was. It was another 20 minutes and 3 km before I got there. It was also where I confirmed for certain that I hadn't been hearing things. The gal that had passed me on the way up had gone the wrong way - I had beaten her to the transition. Time on this leg was ~3:45 (I think) including my transition times.

I changed into my warmer shirt, changed my pack again, and took off with my big chocolate chip cookie. I was feeling much better now. The weather was cool, I was headed downhill, it was dark, and I was alone except for my chocolate chip cookie. Leg 6 was definitely my happy leg. I did a fair big of running, but the route wasn't always clear. I finally realized that some of this leg mirrored the end of leg 4, and I was not happy. There was one very steep climb up and down from a creek bed that wasn't any more fun to do in the dark. In the end I rolled into the transition after about ~2:20. It was about 1:30am, and I was happy to be done.

I had a lot of fun. It was a great experience with lots of lessons learned. (I'll talk more about those another time.) I will be back next year.

Running: Blackfoot Ultra Race Report

This was my post-race report that I posted on the Running Mania forum with some tweaks.

For those that are happy with the short version... 11:38

For those interested in more details, read on... (mostly [short] form from here on in)

Considering that I was really only physically able (severe allergies to that point with the old job) to start any serious training in March, and then have my last three weeks of training wiped by a chest cold, I really didn't know what I was going to accomplish at Blackfoot.

Aerin and I got up and going about 4:30. Taping my feet took a little longer than I'd hoped, so we got to Islet Lake about 6:15. A visit to the washroom, change into running shoes, throw on the pack and away I go for my out and back 5km to start. The plan was to walk everything uphill and evaluate as I went whether another loop would happen. I paused to stretch at every aid station and regularly along the course when my legs felt like they needed it.

I started out pretty slow, just trying to get warmed up and a feel for where my body was at. I haven't played with the watch or Garmin for proper split times, but I did the first 5km in about 38 minutes with an additional stop to get the tummy settled in.

My first lap went well enough. It was nothing spectacularly fast. I ran with another guy from Calgary until the Central Alleyway aid station. I stuck to the plan, and I got back into the start/finish area for my first transition with a little soreness in about 3:15. I had some eats and headed out again.

The second lap was slower than the first of course. I was getting a little more soreness in the legs, but I kept to the plan and kept moving. I was doing well running the "level" parts and the downhills until Central staging area when I seriously hit the wall. I just plain ran out of gas. I gobbled a bunch of food at the aid station, kept popping my gels and shot blox, but I really didn't recover my energy until the start/finish area transition again. Second lap about 3:50.

At that point it was just time to keep moving, even if it was just walking. Actually it was more like marching in every sense. I fell into what Size5 calls my "military pace". My legs were sore, but I kept them moving at a good clip. Fighting gravity on the downhills was too much work not to run, so I basically ran/sprinted at whatever pace didn't hurt for those short interevals. But in the end it worked. My last lap was over in 4:05.

After it was all said and done, I apparently won my age category. I'm not certain of this since since there was supposedly someone else ahead of me on the finish board, but the RD called my name yesterday at the presentations. Sunday morning I could bend over to pickup a spoon. (Sorry, no pics S5 ) I have a few blisters, and I will apparently lose the nail on the second toe of my left foot as is now becoming tradition post Blackfoot.

All that for an 11:38 finish. Next year...

I won my age category because I was the only 34 & under male running this year. The other person that beat me in was female. Yes, I got beat by a girl...