Training Log Archive: Anvil

Event: Sulphur Springs 10K 25K 50K 50M 100M
 

Easy warm up beforehand. A bit of the alphabet stuff for good measure.

Sulphur Springs 20k, part of the dontgetlost.ca 100 mile relay team.
I planned to run a similar race as the boxing day 10 miler which went really well; comfortable tempo pace for the first half, then balls to the wall for the second. Unfortunately it didn't got that way.
I felt good for the first 5k, keeping the HR in the zone I planned. Was going faster than planned due to the net downhill of this section, but I figured as long as I stayed in this zone it would be OK. Was feeling the heat as soon as I'd come out from the cover of the forest - the orchard field was basically a sauna with the evaporation.
Then, as soon as I cross Burlington Bridge at 5.5km, it instantly falls apart - my HR shoots up and I'm struggling to find any sort of pace and rhythm. It stays this way until the aid station at 12k. I have a gel and a cup of ginger ale and begin the final loop of the Headwaters trail.
Then the second wind kicks in strong! I don't know if it was the gel, the liquid or the short rest, but everything suddenly falls back into place and I can kick it back up again. Realise as I'm running Farmers Field that the advertised distance is short and I should make it back in my maximum 'acceptable' time of 90 minutes. A stitch kicks in on the in the last section, but at this point, I'm not slowing down to abate it - you know, since it's time to be eating stuff and not being made of other stuff. Happy to get it done and there to be a esky of beer in the tent

I'm not sure of the early bonk culprit. Most likely is the pre-race eating fail - we ended up ahead of schedule and I was still feeling full an hour before the race, so skipped the banana and gel combo, I then felt hungry with 10 minutes to go - but couldn't do anything about it by then.
It may have also been the heat/humidity or simply starting too fast. I was far too concerned with pace and km splits to begin with - I should know better to forget about that crap in a trail race.

Still, was good to be part of a team that smashed the existing record and was also an eye opening experience to witness my first ultra race. After today, I never plan on running one - very unusual subset of running.

C • They use ultra runners as e... 5

TNT with Greta, turbo, Duane and Robin (listed in order of importance).
Long warm up all the way up Brucie. 20 mins of reps up 4 minute hill. Unsurprisingly got through 5 ascents, then straight back down to Chedoke via the Radial Trail. Feeling pretty flat - the legs didn't have much left in them by the final rep.
Warm and humid, but not as bad as I was expecting. You can almost hear the bugs percolating though.

C • 4 min hill? 7

C • SS 100 miler 4

Could feel yesterdays ARK sessions in my hips and butt.

Easy cruise trying to pick up all the new trails round Iroquois.
There's a lot of them and in some places, quite a complex network.

Putting out flags, pin flags and collecting them again for ARK. Count 50%.

Taking 2 x ARK core sessions in the 2nd hour.
Some of the kids are so lazy, even telling them they are as weak as Americans wouldn't motivate them.

C • Weak as Americans! 1

TNT. Just me, Adreanne and some guy called the Griz.
8x3min/1min with a little more rest in the middle. 4 up, 4 down.
Warm(ish) out, but feeling OK. Felt like it took me a long time to really get going - somewhere around the 4th interval.
Mark was definitely keeping me on my toes tonight - I suspect lots of secret training.

Back home, in the backyard. Sunny. Awesome.

I think I'm going to write some sort of script to hide an AP discussion thread with more than 100 responses.
Just wasted 15 minutes reading the Trail-O thread. That mother has gone to places equally ugly and pointless.

C • Script 3

Usual MNT. Headwaters educational loop.
Super warm and humid to start, then the rains came through and cooled it down nicely. Nice evening.

:/

C • I ran you that hard eh? 2