2010 Army 1/2 Marathon

This last Sunday the 3rd annual Canadian Army 5k and 1/2 Marathon races were held in Ottawa. The first year the race was held a couple of weeks after my 2nd 50km at Haliburton, so Kim and I took the conservative route and just ran the 5k race. Last year I was coming off my stress fracture and recovered off my Spafford pacing duties fairly well so we both competed in the 1/2 marathon, Kim running her 1/2 PB and me running a respectable 1:35.

This year it was a different beast. Kim registered to run it as a pre-NYC race and I bowed out because it was a week after Haliburton and I figured there is no way I could run even 5km a week later. Friday evening I did my first post Haliburton run with Kim and Strider, just an easy 20min. The first 10 mins were great, but after that my energy completely faded and my left Achilles flared up (damn shoes, different story). Saturday morning we went to pick up Kim's race kit and I must say I got caught up in the race fever. Kim was running this as a NYC practice race now, the injured soldiers, the beautiful day..so at the last minute I did something I have never done before and registered for the race.

Race day was perfect and Kim and I made it to the start as planned with about 2 minutes to spare. The plan was for Kim to run a 5:30/km for the first 10km and then run an 5:10'sh for the last 11km. Well, we started out behind the 1:50 pace bunny (thanks James) and Kim was feeling comfortable so we went with it. The race course was beautiful, winding down Sussex drive and through Rockcliffe for the first 1/2. Kim ran well right behind the 1:50 bunny, but faded a bit after about 8km, still we kept pretty even pacing and finished in 1:51:27. (we measure the course as 21.38 so pretty well a 1:50 for 21.1 :) ). It was a good practice for NYC and we worked out some good hydration and nutrition strategies. Well done sweetie.

Energy wise I felt good throughout the race, but my left Achilles was really getting annoyed with me and my right hip was tender, so still have some TLC and rehab to get through after Haliburton. Looking forward to a couple of weeks now of rolling, sticking and stretching. It felt good to run a nice steady 1/2 marathon though, and gives me a lot to build on for an fun NYC Marathon.

Haliburton 50mile Race Report – 2010

Run 50miles? Run for 10 hours? Sounds crazy when you say it, but that is what I did last weekend and loved every second of it. The Haliburton Forest 50 mile was my "A" race of the year and it was my first attempt at the distance. I was a little nervous about the distance, but knew I had done the training and all I really needed to do was run a smart race and things would fall into place.

Preamble

Kim and I arrived at the Base Camp around 3:00pm Friday and got our tent and gear set up fairly quickly and settle in for a glass of wine and some snacks. It was our first time camping in more than 15 years.

Race morning arrived early (4:30), but we had slept reasonably well and felt ready to tackle the day. Pre-Race seemed a little rushed, but we made it for the walk to the start line right on time. Just as we started walking, we were asked if this was the way to the start line by a surprise guest - Derrick - who even though was not running had driven up to cheer, coach, crew, and pace. NOW I knew it was going to be a great day.

The Race (course map)

Start -> Normac Loop -> AS#2 (0-11)

This is really just a warmup. You start in the dark so most people are running with some sort of lamp. This is the most social part of the race as people shake out their legs and get into the groove for the day. From the start I was on top of my nutrition taking my first Gel at just 20min, and continuing to consume calories every 20min, and drinking, this was the plan for the day and I was determined to stay on schedule no mater how or where I was. I controlled my pace well and settled in to what I felt would be the rhythm for the day.

Coming into AS#2 I was met by the smiling faces of Derrick and Kim (my crew, support, paparazzi) for the day.

Swtiched my Nathan Speed 2 Belt for my UD Handheld, restocked with a couple of Gels and headed onward

AS#2 - AS#3 (11-15)

I find on the way out Normac Trail is really just a warmup, not too technical and tough, just gets you into the groove. Poachers trail is where the fun really begins. This really is my favourite part of the course. Deep woods, nice climbs, and technical enough to be challenging without being stupid. Not much to say about this section. There was some nice mud, but after Wakely I was ready for anything muddy and wet.

Kim was ready for me as AS#3 (as she was the whole day at every station-she rocked!) and I switched back to my Speed belt and chowed down some PB and J

AS#4 - AS#5 (15-24)

Both heading out and on the return this is the toughest section. It is a long way to the next aid station and there are some nasty climbs and technical sections you have to negotiate. Add to that the endless mud and beaver created stream and you have a challenging 9km run. I did negotiate Bens and Krista trail fairly uneventfully but as it always does it took a little wind out of my sail. I kept up with nutrition and hydration, and actually took an extra S!Cap just to be sure. It felt good to get to AS#5 and know that I had 16km left till the turn.

AS#5 - AS#6 (24-30)

Started heading into new territory now, trails I had never run (well in the light at least), so it was all new fun. After 25km and almost 3 hours of running I wouldn't say I was feeling fresh, but I was getting into the Ultra Groove. The first half of this section turned out to be quite technical with a couple of good little climbs then the "corduroy road" (buried logs) followed by a nice run out on a dirt/logging road. It was here that I finally caught up to and ran with Johnny into AS#6 (it was great to have company).

At AS#6 I had my only drop bag. In it I had a shirt change and my Nathan Hydration Pack. Thinking was that if Kim had difficulty finding either this or AS#7 at the turn, I would have enough water and nutrition to get me to the turn and back. I took a little time at AS#6 to change and have some sweet potato with yummy salt before heading out.

AS#6 - AS#7 (30-40)

Johnny had been quicker out of AS#6 and as such I was running by myself again. This section began with a nice trail section for a couple of kms before coming out onto sandy road. To be honest at this point I was starting to tire a bit. 20 miles done and another 30 to go. My achilles felt stiff, but nothing to serious and I had a strange stiffness on the outside of my right knee, aside from that I was ticking along. I was feeling the extra weight of the 1.5litres of water I had just strapped to my back and was starting to wonder the decision to switch. After a while I could see Johnny in ahead of me, and by the time we came off East Road on onto King James I had finally caught him again. This last 5kms to the turn was tough. Long climbs and descents, rollers and some pretty nasty mud. John and I chatted and cursed together. It was great to finally run into runners returning as it meant we were getting nearer to the turn. Both my hips were starting to ache a bit and I decided that if Kim had made it to AS#7 I was dropping the hydration pack and going back to my waist pack. Strange that I have trained with the Hydration pack all summer, but I was just not feeling it on the day. Kim was there, so off came the pack

After arriving at the AS#7 we still had a .5km out (to the turn) and back spur to do. Without my pack I felt light as air and it wasn't as mentally painful as it could have been. Returning back to AS#7 my wonderful Crew (aka Kim) had everything ready.

Hitting the turn +.5km coming back to AS#7 was a huge mental lift for me. True I had run almost a marathon, and still had almost a marathon to run, but I was on the return and from here I could count down to the finish. I knew the trails, I new the aid stations, and now it was just a matter of doing the work. It was starting to warm up so I opted at this point to loose my shirt, the less I had annoying me the better.

AS#7 - AS#6 (40-50)

Johnny had headed out again before me, but it didn't take long for me catch him. We slugged it out through the muck and hills until I pulled ahead and never ran with him again. I felt a little bad when I realized he was no longer with me, but everyone needs to run their own race and I knew he was dealing with what he needed to. I was really starting to feel the downhills as my hip flexors started to bark at me, so I was running the downhills a little cautiously and was quite happy to be back on the sand road. Here I started to try and open up the pace a bit and run a little faster. I was tired, but stretching the legs with a little longer turnover felt great. Off the sand road, back onto a short trail section and out to AS#6. Yeah! 50km done, the countdown had begun

AS#6 - AS#5 (50-56)

Okay, so this I had run last year when I paced Derrick. It was nice to run on the logging road again for a short while to stretch out the legs some more, hit the trail and kept focused on looking for the turn-around sign for the 50km folks. Once at the sign I knew I would have just 25km to the finish. Finally I came across the sign and my watch said I had been running for 6:20, 10 minutes ahead of where I had hoped to be. Out of the woods and another km into AS#5, at exactly 6:30.

AS#5 - AS#4 (56-65)

Well I can't say the wheels fell off at this point, but damn it took a long time to get to AS#4. I didn't feel that tired, walked the uphills, but still ran most of the flats and slow jogged the downs, but I think it ended up taking me almost 1:30 to cover the 9km. I is one of the best feelings to come out of Bens and do that little jog downhill to AS#4. Both Kim and Derrick were there smiling and as tired as I was at this point it was a huge lift to see them and know I had survived the toughest section and only had 15km to go.

AS#4 - AS#2 (65-69)

Back on to my favourite trail. Seemed a lot tougher heading back for some reason, more because of some of the wicked steep downhills than anything else. This section ends with a run across some planks of wood, so once you hit them you know you're almost out of the woods (in more ways than one).

AS#2 - AS#3 (69-74.5)

This is one toughest sections mentally on the course, whether you are doing the 50km, 50m, or 100m having to run up the road and turn on to Normac for the final loop, rather than to the finish is always hard. I adopted the suck-it-up attitude and when I had to make the turn said out loud - "okay let's get it done!" Normac was as it always is, a slug fest. One day I'll run this trail on a return, but not today. It was a run-walk-run-walk and push to that last ugly downhill to when you finally come out on to the road for the final 6.5km run to the finish. I still had my mental on and was looking forward to the road to see of I could actually run the rest of the way to the finish. My last 2, 50km races here this has always totally beaten me up, but today I was feeling like I had the power to run it home. I climbed the first little hill and then started running. Not fast but the turnover was there. I had decided a while before that running was faster than walking and if I could, no matter what I would will myself to run and get this finished as quickly as possible. Once again seeing AS#3 and Kim waiting for me was such a great feeling. The end was soon in sight and the job would be done.

AS#3 - AS#2 (74.5-78)

My plan was to run with my handheld until AS#2 and then drop it and push to the finish, but first I had 3.5km of nasty road to get through. Kim pulled up beside me in the car to cheer me and I told her when I get to the finish I wanted my Northface Fleece, Gatorade(lesson from Wakely), and two Tylenol, I was hurting. I managed to run the whole distance, except for one hill that I just HAD to walk up. Drank almost my full bottle of water before AS#2.

AS#2 - AS#1(finish) (78-80)

So this was it 9:46 into the race, just under 2km to go and I now had a goal - break 10 hours. Before this I refused to set a goal other than to finish, but now I figured I really couldn't screw too much up, one thing stood in my way, the hill coming up to the final turn. Anyone who has run this race knows how tough this hill is especially after running up it the first time to loop into Normac. I refused to walk any of it. I focused on form and tempo and remembered those up hill repeats and just climbed the bastard; made it to the top turned the corner for home and there is a one little climb left - damn you! Still made it to the top, running, and then it was the final stretch home. I picked up the pace as best I could, and hammered. I have no idea how fast I was running, but it felt like I was flying, problem was the finish line didn't seem to get any closer for a long time. 9:53 - come on, come on. There is the finish line - run HARD. Cross the line screaming feeling amazingly good. In my last 2 50kms I have felt like I crawled over this finish line, today after 50miles I flew over it. What a great feeling.

Post race and conclusion

I ran this race smarter than any I have ever run. I ate/consumed calories every 20mins (Gels, Bars, PB+J, Chia/Honey, AS food) drank nothing but water (but a lot), S!caps every hour + 1. Never pushed the pace until the end. Ran in my LaSportiva Raptors and had zero foot issued, even with the mud and water. It was a perfect race, and I loved the distance. Plan now is to run a few more 50mile races maybe 100km over the next two years and then come back to Haliburton in 2012 to take on the 100mile (looking for pacers already).

Special thanks and love to Kimberley who did an amazing job at not only crewing and supporting me perfectly through the day, but also took all the pictures, so I would have a wonderful photo diary of the day. Also, Derrick who trained me, coached me, listened to my whines, and then made the trek to show his support to all the runners. You both were critical in the way the day turned out.

Passed the Test and Ran some more.

Three weeks now to Haliburton and I am right where I need to be, I think! This past week I did have a scare with my achilles flaring up, which hasn't happened in almost 6 months. Still not sure what caused it, but with some timely Graston and Zanagen it seems to be under control.

This past weekend was a huge training weekend, probably the biggest I have ever put in. Saturday I participated in the Final test that is the IROQUOIA TRAIL TEST. Plan for this was to run it as a easy training run to focus on Hydration and Nutrition for Haliburton in a race environment. Even though my time doesn't reflect it, I truly ran well within myself up until maybe the last 4km where I decided to kick up the pace a bit. I finished feeling like I had so much left in the tank, and after the miserable end to Wakely got a real positive boost from the race. Kim did another amazing job at picture taking, including putting together quite the montage of my finish.

After ITT, Kim and I had to hustle it back to pick up Strider, so the drive was a little painful as the Glutes and TFL were wanting a little stretching and to not be sat on so much. Sunday morning I met up with Heather and Brian at the Cataraqui trail/Chaffey's locks road intersection. I ran with Brian for an out and back 32km. Beautiful trail and prefect for my tired legs. We ran the return 16km, 3min faster than the out, and ran it non-stop. For me this was a great survival run, where you pick that pace that you feel you can hold forever and keep going. I felt no worse at the end of the run that I did at the beginning, which is huge.

The week ended with 11:45 of training. Well over a hour longer than I have ever done. Feeling a little tired and sore today, but non the worse for wear everything considering. So now is the time to be really smart, lots of TLC and make sure not to screw anything up. 50 miles is less than 21 days away

No more yucky taste

After suffering through the awful taste of purification tablets at Wakely, and knowing that as I head towards 100 miles I'll need a little more water, I purchased one of these

Logic being that not only could we use this for water on runs, but also when we are travelling so we don't get runs from water.

Recovery is going well from Wakely. Only sore spot is the top of my left ankle for some reason, but I have an appointment with my Steve at In Balance Chiropractic at lunch today so that should all be resolved.

6 Weeks till Haliburton - Yikes!

Damn Wakely Dam 2010 Race Report

The title on my blog says “Training to find the edge”. This phrase was coined from a comment a friend of mine made on my race report from Moab. It stuck with me because I believe it defines us runners. We are always training to best our last performance, whether it is time, distance, terrain, or environmental conditions, always challenging ourselves. Then there are the times when you push yourself to that limit you didn’t even know you had in you and you go beyond. It is then that you find that new edge, that new barrier, and in doing so, learn so much about yourself.

My goal for this fall is to compete and complete my first 50mile race. So, to prepare for this, Derrick recommended racing the Damn Wakely Dam Ultra. To quickly summarize this race, it is a point-to-point, self supported, 32.5mile trail race through some of the wildest parts of the Adirondack Park. There is a very limited field which is made even smaller by the fact that previous years participants have first rights to registration. I put my name into the lottery and was fortunate to be one of the chosen few.

Training went well and I was pretty confident in my fitness going into the race. I had, or thought that I had, a pretty good handle on my gear and nutrition – with no support on the course, there was no backup if anything went wrong.

Kim and I drove into Piseco, NY late Friday afternoon in an absolute downpour. If there were any chances of the trail being dry, they were washed away by the rain that fell that afternoon. The one positive was that for now the temperature had dropped, but still they were calling for a high of 90F (32C) for Saturday.

Pre-race meet up and activities went perfectly -> handing out of race numbers, group photo, quick briefing by RDJim, (including the announcement that it would be the last year, for him holding this event, so sad), and final march to the starting line/trail head. After a short time gathering around, we were off into the great unknown ahead.

First impressions right from the start - this trail feels old, seldom travelled, but not over grown, a very special place. Second impressions - damn that IS shoe sucking mud, watch out for that rock/root/fallen tree, does this trail not go in a straight line, EVER! If you were to try to picture the perfect dense wooded, technical trail, this would be it.

Things ticked along nicely for the first 4 miles, I kept my pace under control, not being pulled by the rabbits and just did the work. I drank when I was supposed to, fuelled with Gels, re-filled one of my bottles at the first stream and everything was ticking along nicely. It did start to dawn on me at this point just how unrelenting the trail was; there were no breaks, no time to cruise and relax or get into any sort of rhythm as it was constantly changing trail and terrain.
Every time I thought that I could finally get into any sort of steady pace, there was another mud pit to tip toe through, or tree to climb over, or stream to cross, or (as Sara described them) slippery-like-no-other-surface-on-Planet-Earth boardwalks. But, it was all part of the game, so on I pressed.

I arrived at the half-way point feeling pretty good, but getting tired from the obstacle course I had been running for the last 3+ hours. I had been having some minor stomach issues for the last hour, but nothing too bad and with some candied ginger I had been able to keep it under control, but I was slowly losing that battle. The combination of the Gels, Blocks, and Water Purification Tabs was starting to take its’ toll. I pressed on, anticipating the final 3rd of the course where it supposedly became more runnable.

When I hit what I thought was the start of the last 3rd I was actually able to run for a stretch of about 200m until I hit was must have been the 40th mud patch and was forced back to the same old pace. So I wouldn't say the wheels fell off at this point, but the tire was definitely leaking. I was starting to feel that if I kept drinking any more purified eLoad or chewing another block that I would be sick so I decided to keep things under control by sticking with the water in my hydration pack and gels. Then, on a nice steady downhill it hit me, my hamstrings were starting to cramp a little – crap I had not kept up on my S!Caps, stupid! Reached into my little pocket, and they were gone – must have fallen out on the course. Just thought at this point, I’m screwed. My tire was leaking and I lost my patch kit. As it was hot, I was sweating like crazyand I had two hours to go with nothing but water and a couple of gels, it was time to go into survival mode. I slowed my pace a little, started walking when I felt a cramp coming on, drank what I had and kept moving forward. What I found amazingly encouraging was that after over 5 hours on the course, even with all this I was feeling pretty good. Sure I was bonking and cramping, but mentally still so much in the game. I knew what I had to do to get to the finish and just did it. There was never the thought of wanting to quit, or second guessing being out here, the mind was telling the body what to do and would not accept any excuses.

The relief that I thought I would feel exiting the trail on the road for the final 1.5 mile just did not happen. I was in a zone of pushing the body to the finish and until I crossed that damn dam, I would not relax. Finally there it was, finished in 6:34 of muddy, sweaty hell.

I stripped off my belt, pack, and shirt. While I had stopped running, I still couldn’t catch my breath. I was walking around is a semi-haze trying to recover but couldn’t. Walked into the lake to cool off, but I still felt out of breath like I was still running on the course, this was new! Finally sitting down it hit me – Gatorade – I need to get electrolytes. Finally after a couple of bottles, my breathing relaxed and my fog lifted. First time I have ever been that depleted, and you know you are when your ab muscles are cramping.

The race was tough, but fair and I would love the have the chance to come back to run it again, and give it a good smack down. This was an amazing event that I feel honored to be included in. On the back of this years shirt is the name of every person who had run the Wakely Dam, and there are only 250 names for the 10 years. This shows in the days of 25,000+ entrants in the big road marathon, what a small and unique this race is, and how few have had the joy to run the Northville Placid Trail.

The edge found at Wakely is one I have to be learn to be careful with; if you learn to mentally push through a physical limitation you also have to learn to take those physical cues and know what they mean. In hindsight, I was getting dangerously close to something more physically serious at the end. I wish I could report more on the trail; what this section was like, this lake, stream crossing, climb, descent, points of interest, but to be honest I don’t really remember. I was so focused on not falling on my face or doing something stupid that all I was thinking about was getting to the finish.

Finally the thanks – Kimberley my pre-race, post-race, life-long crew chief, none of this would be worth it or possible without you. Derrick, you trained me well, I hope I didn’t disappoint. And RDJim for inviting me to the dance, it was a great ride

Oh and Kimberley is also my official race photographer and her skills are really improving. HERE is a link to the pictures from the race

Final results were 32.5miles, 6:34, 11th overall

Cheers,
David

Wakely Dam - T minus 8 days

I am into the home stretch now before the Wakely Dam Ultra on July 24th. Training has gone very well and I think I am in a good place and good shape to tackle this race. Derrick has lead me through some solid weeks of training, and I have managed to remain, for the most part, injury free. My weight is down almost 10lbs since Boston and I feel I have done as much as I could in preparation for this race.

Seeing Wakely is a self supported race, dialing in equipment, nutrition, and hydration has been one of the puzzles. Without any aid stations or support of any kind there is a fine line between having too much and too little, especially with the heat and humidity of the summer we are having. All the training in the world will do you no good if you become dehydrated or start cramping with 10km to go, it is a long walk to the finish.

So from Bottom to Top here is a list of the gear that I hope will get me to the finish.

• LaSportiva Crosslites - I was originally going to run in the Raptors but I am hoping to run this race fairly hard and the Crosslites are a good choice for both speed and support.
• Darn Tough Merino Wool Socks - Light, solid fit, breathable and wool. A great thing to have between you and your shoe
• Sugoi 42k Short - I usually race in a longer short, but after last weekends long run where my shorts got soaked from the sweat after a couple of hours, I decided I wanted something a little more minimal. These are really as close as you can get to wearing nothing :)
• LaSportiva/SHA Tech Tee - Light & thin and very simplistic, and I have to support the guy who got me here.
• Headsweat Go Hat - I usually prefer running with a buff, but this summer I have found a great relationship with this hat, and it helps to keep the deer flies away. Note, must be worn backwards, of course.
• Nathan HPL#008 - 1.5 liters of water, hoping this is all I'll need for just water. Great fit, and since I was training with a pack for most of my snowshoeing last winter, this was an easy transition, it has in effect become part of me.
• Nathan Speed 2 Belt - The second part of the hydration, this will be for my electrolytes. Plan is to refill and sterilize these along the way and use for mixing my electrolyte drink. I am figuring I will need to refill each bottle twice.
• EFS Liquid Shot - Made by First Endurance, I have been very pleased in training with this product, and I am really liking the Shot bottle and not having to deal with little packages. That said I will still have a couple of my Gu Vanilla as backup.
• Gu Chomps - a new product I started with this year as a supplement to Gels. Easy to chew and don't stick to my teeth.
• eLoad - My "go to" electrolyte drink for the last 3 years. If it ain't broke!
• S!Caps - A great electrolyte companion to eLoad and Gels, really important with these hot and humid days we have been having. 1 an hour does you good.
• Guayaki Energy Shot - None of the supplements I am using contain caffeine and I was looking for a little pick-me-up. I have been very impressed with the Guayaki products and the energy shots give you a nice perk up without the caffeine buzz or crash.
• Candied Ginger - another new addition, a small piece of this when your stomach seems to be turning on you seems to do wonders for settling everything down.

Tomorrow will be my last run of any significance, just an easy 1:30, but will be running fully equipped to make sure I have everything in it's place and every place has a thing.

Weekend Activities & Festivities

Training for Wakely is ticking along quite well. Last week was really encouraging coming off an almost 4 hour run on the Saturday, I seemed to recover well and hit my workouts for the week. This past weekend was a little of a push with two races on Saturday and a 3 hour run Sunday.

Yup 2 races, one day. Smart? I'll let you know in a couple of days.

Saturday A.M. - Jog the Bog.

This was a small key local fun race organized by a guy (James) on Running Mania. About 20 people showed up for the event, and it was a great opportunity for Strider to run his first race. We ended up coming in 3rd and he beat me by a nose.

More Pictures Here

Saturday P.M. - Kilt Run (Perth)

I had mentioned back in January that Kim and I had registered for this event. It was an attempt at setting the world record for the largest number of participants wearing Kilts, and by the turn out they were more than successful. Our plan was to run a fairly relaxed run, but once the gun (and it was quite the loud gun) went off, Kim was in full race mode. We had a great time and with a strong finishing push Kim secured 2nd in her age group (which unfortunately we did not find out about till we got home) and like Strider, beat me by a nose. Just wasn't my day.

More Pics Here

Sunday A.M.

3 hour run on the Gatineau Trails. My left calf is quite stiff from running in my Vibrams at the Bog Jog, but even though I was dead tired Saturday night I got through the 3 hours feeling fairly strong. Really noticing some good strength coming back in my downhills.

Sunday Afternoon.

England was eliminated from the World Cup by Germany. As disappointing as this is, England has not had the best tournament and Germany was the much better team. I'll continue to watch and root for Germany, but starting this Saturday is the Tour de France, so I may be a little distracted.

Sunday P.M.

Taking a note from Derrick's post about Sweet Tater Pepper I just had to give them a try. My version was; I microwaved the sweet potatoes, scooped out the inners into a bowl. Added Garlic, diced up hot peppers, shredded cheese, cinnamon, salt and pepper, mashed and mixed it all together and stuffed into Sweet Peppers. Grilled on top rack of the BBQ for about 25mins. Awesomely delicious. Nice Cab/Merlot on the side.

Heading into a hard week of training as things start to peak before taper. Feeling good about things, and the only real niggle it the silly tight left calf.