Running: The Trail Ahead

My second summer of ultras came to an end with the cancellation of Lost Soul, and so it is time to reflect on what has been and plan for what will come.

Training for the Blackfoot 50-miler didn't get off to a great start with the severe allergies at the old job, and then the last three weeks of training were wiped out by a severe chest cold. I survived the race, but it was by no means the kind of performance I had hoped for at close to 12 hours.

Unfortunately after these disappointments it was difficult getting things back on track with my training. I did make it to the gym fairly regularly, and I was running home from work most days of the week. But upon reflection it seemed more struggle than joy on too many days.

Next it was off to Sinister 7, but inexperience lead me to overdo the pre-run snacking that lead to a lot of GI distress through leg 4. It also left me more than a little worn out, but I got the job done. After about an hour into leg 5 I was feeling better and the joy was back, and running leg 6 in the dark was great too. But after the race it seemed more struggle than joy again as I returned to preparing for Lost Soul in September.

I have never had much success with running in hot weather, and that became my nemesis during long runs in August. Long runs inevitably became shorter runs as I had problems of all sorts throughout the month. I started having foot problems. I had tried making some changes to my running mechanics, but they were not as effective as I'd have liked and changing back wasn't great either. I was still logging a lot of distance, but it felt ineffective and a burden.

The long weekend seems to have lead to injury after a bit of slipping during our descent from the snowed in North Kananaskis Pass. It really didn't manifest itself except for a couple non-consecutive days of intermittent soreness that ranged from annoying to painful, so I didn't concern myself with it and rested in preparation for Lost Soul. Of course Lost Soul was cancelled, and the replacement run on Monday turned into a very painful experience remeniscent of the pain I suffered after my fall into the puddle on the Canadian Death Race course the previous year.

So I haven't been running really at all the last month, nor have I been getting to the gym at all. Mostly I've been in my head wondering what I want (or need) to do about my running at this point. I never doubted I would continue to run, but I did need to consider what my goals would be and how to achieve them.

And this is what I've decided.

• I will take some time off from running until after we finish our move the beginning of November.


• In the mean time, I'm going back to the gym at least three days per week to work on strength, core and x-train on the bikes. I want to continue this through into the new year too.


• Commit myself to doing more stretching at home and replace my ineffective foam roller to help improve my biomechanics and reduce the tension in my leg muscles.


• Take next year off from racing and volunteer instead. I may still run Lost Soul next year (to check out the course as much as anything) because I have a guaranteed entry, but I don't have to make that decision until February.


• Focus on rebuilding my running base with more effective speed, hill and endurance workouts.


• Spend more days in the backcountry with some solo fast-packing trips. (Aerin is using all her available vacation days for her trip to China, so I will be ahead of her next summer.) This will also include bagging some more peaks.


• Attempt the Alberta Triple in 2010!

If you know what the Alberta Triple is, then you know I have big plans. If you don't, to complete the Alberta Triple I need to finish the Blackfoot 100K, Canadian Death Race (125K) and Lost Soul 100M that year.

To these ends I will formally plan more of my training and invest in some training aids. What I need most right now is a heart rate monitor, so I will start there.

So it's been a tough year to be running, but I'm looking to approach the coming year with renewed purpose and enjoyment.

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: Sinister 7 Update

Well it looks like it'll be warm in the mountains for the race this weekend - hotter than I'd like anyway. The hotter it is the harder it is to keep hydrated and moving quickly. I'd prefer mid-teens and overcast, but it looks more like mid-twenties and sunny.

If you're interested in how things are going, you can get race updates by following the link on this page. I'm on Team "Two Fun Guys", and running legs 4, 5 and 6.

Ciao!

Running: Sinister 7

I run a lot, and I love running on trails. Since I began running in April 2006, I have completed the 50km (2007) and 50-mile (2008) Blackfoot Ultra. (For those unfamiliar with running these races are called ultras because the distance is great than a regular marathon of 42.2km or 26 miles.) I have also completed leg 3 and 4 (58km) of the Canadian Death Race as part of a relay team. I did run a half-marathon road race for kicks and training in the fall of 2006, but I much prefer trail races.

This coming weekend is the first running of the Sinister 7 ultra trail race. It is a 135km course in the Crowsnest Pass area in Alberta. The race is run solo or as part of a relay team. I am part of a two man team called "Two Fun Guys". I am running legs 4, 5 and 6 for a total of about 62km. I'm not quite so fast as my relay partner, so I will be done in about 8 hours.

This is a new ultra trail race for Alberta. I had been living in Edmonton, AB until last summer, so I'm looking forward to getting into a new area of the mountains to run. The late spring has meant that running in the mountains has been delayed since I'm not a huge fan of post holing in thigh deep snow. There's been a lot of warm weather in the Crowsnest area lately, so I'm hoping things won't be too slippy or muddy for the run.

I'm feeling much more relaxed going into this race. Prior to the Blackfoot ultra I had picked up a bad chest cold that wiped out my plans for completing my last four weeks of training. This left me pretty freaked out about my prospects of even finishing. I haven't gotten in as many long runs between Blackfoot and Sinister 7, but I'm much more confident in my ability to finish the distance strongly going into this race than I was leading up to Blackfoot.

Back to work!