Training Log Archive: Bash

Ouch!!!!

We're lucky to know a number of talented trail ultrarunners; I'm jealous of the beautiful places they visit and I love hearing their stories. (Although I'm still freaked out by the one where Mrs. Gally went blind when her corneas froze!) I've been talking about ultrarunning forever but so far it's been too much talking and not enough running. Today I finally tried a trail race longer than a marathon. For those who didn't know me two years ago, my one and only road marathon went really, *really* badly. However, with the optimism typical of endurance athletes, I thought that running on uneven terrain and adding an extra 7.8 km might be just the ticket. So I signed up for the Run for the Toad 50 km.

As a multi-sport athlete, I never do a great job of preparing for single sport events. On the days when serious runners would be doing hill intervals, I am paddling or bumping over logs on my mountain bike - and that's how it should be. But I had great intentions of building up my long runs to 35-40 km before running my first 50K. I did the Creemore Vertical Challenge 25K in early July to kick things off. Then along came an unexpected - and welcome - opportunity to do Untamed New England, which effectively wiped out August with all the tapering, packing, racing and recovery. Then I did Logs Rocks and Steel on Labour Day just to make sure there was no chance of getting back into a training rhythm. It's easy to understand why 140 people paid for the Toad 50K but only 100 actually showed up to run it yesterday.

One of the things I like about single sport events vs. adventure racing is how much easier it is to pack. So it was a forehead-slapping moment when I realized (about an hour from home) that I'd left my carefully-prepared Camelbak bladders and eLoad behind. A real ultrarunner wouldn't carry a hydration bladder, of course, but that's how I trained and I was planning to use two packs with bladders - one for each 25K. I would get food at the aid stations. Luckily, Kirikou took our emergency call and directed us to a cycling shop in Cambridge for a last-minute purchase. Argghh.

Several of our friends were also doing Run for the Toad and a big part of the fun was hanging out with them and their families. My parents live nearby and it was cool to have them there for a couple of hours. With the marching bagpipe band, national anthem, flag raising for Canada & U.S., and speeches from local dignitaries, this was a little flashier than my usual events. Mom and Dad had fun.



Hansel's family was there too.



And Gazelle's family. (New baby Kyle was there but isn't in this photo.)



Andrew was cheering on Funderstorm.



'Bent hung out at the aid station we passed at kms 6 and 9, supporting Gazelle with a detailed list of instructions and occasionally handing me cookies. He started helping the volunteers pour drinks too, since he hates sitting still - but he respected his doctor's orders to sit with his leg up at times.



Alas, we have no pics of Bender or Trav, who both went so fast in the 25K that it was physically impossible to photograph them, according to 'Bent. Trav ran it in Five Fingers! At the opening ceremonies, he told me, "50K is just a decision." Those were wise words that came back to me.

Hansel looked great out there. He finished the 50K in 3rd overall (2nd male) in a speedy time of 4 hrs 2 min!!! The overall winner (by 18 minutes!) was Ellie Greenwood.



Gazelle looked great out there too. He was 9th overall in 4:29. So nice to see him racing in Canada before he and Gazette head back to Tajikistan.



The photos show me landing hard on my heels in spite of best intentions to improve my running form. Clearly, it's time to get the Five Fingers out again. In this pic, I've got my arm warmers rolled down ready to pass to 'Bent.



So... what was it like to run 50K for the first time? At the beginning, it was very, very easy. I'd hoped for a negative split but I realized early on that I wouldn't achieve it. I'd underestimated the "power of the pacer". During the first lap, I fell into the rhythm of the runners around me. It didn't feel like I was even breathing hard but I could see that my pace was much faster than planned. I thought about consciously slowing down but I was feeling so good that I couldn't bring myself to do it. When I finished my first lap (of four) in 1 hr 16 min, I knew that I wouldn't come close to a negative split.

The 2nd lap was the same - 83 seconds longer but it included a break in the campground washroom. (Sinks, soap and flush toilets during a race - luxury!) In addition to the positive effect of having pacers around me, there was no feeling of pressure because 90% of the people in the race were doing the 25K distance, so I didn't care what anyone else was doing. As directed by Dee, I speed-walked up half a dozen of the steeper hills and if someone was running the same hill, I knew they were probably on the final lap of their 25K, so there was no anxiety.

Bender was waiting for me after my 2nd lap and ran a short distance with me to find out how I was doing and update me on his awesome 25K race (1:51!). So nice to see a friendly face. It was also great to see Charlotte V and Gary B at the nearby aid station - and also Kinga and Stephan M at the next aid station. I switched packs and headed out for the 3rd lap.

Omigod... the 3rd lap. This was by far the hardest lap from a mental and physical perspective. There was still a looooong way to go and it was lonely out there. The 25K runners were mostly done and the 50K runners were spread out. I passed a lot of 25K walkers but it was rare to see another runner so I had to monitor pace with my Forerunner to make sure I was on track. A couple of things had started in the 2nd lap that became steadily worse in the 3rd lap. First one hip flexor and then the other began to hurt. Then the pain/stiffness radiated from my hips down the sides of my thighs, then it converted to pure quad pain. Ouch.

The other factor - which was tough but favoured me and our adventure racing friends - was the constant cold rain. By the end of the 2nd lap, there were hills where the mud was so slippery that I hauled myself up along the edge of the trail by grabbing goldenrod and saplings. Going downhill required spastic, ankle-protecting, full-body dance moves. Much of the Toad trail is off-camber, and with 5-10 cm of goopy mud on its surface, people were falling or sliding right off the trail even in "flat" sections. This required slower, more cautious running but it also helped me gain time on runners who don't orienteer or adventure race, so I can't complain.

My 3rd lap was 6 minutes slower than the 1st lap. Not good for a negative split but it could have been a lot worse. Bender was there to cheer again - thank you! I'd been following a woman for the final km of the 3rd lap, and as we headed out for our 4th and final lap, the announcer called out her name. I was simultaneously thrilled and disappointed to recognize the name of the 3rd place Masters Woman from the 2009 race. The "thrilled" part is self-explanatory. The "disappointed" part is because I thought she looked under 40 from behind, i.e. not in my category. I pulled up alongside her and she turned, smiled and said, "Well, *now* things start to get interesting!" She pulled into the aid station but I didn't need to because of my hydration pack (woo hoo!)

For the entire 4th lap, I imagined that she was right on my tail. The spectre of an invisible competitor is very powerful! I ran up a few hills that I'd walked in the first 3 laps - because Dee said I could. ;-) The final lap was much easier mentally. At every kilometer marker, I counted down the number of kilometers left. "No problem - anyone can run 6K!" I wondered when I would hit the 22-mile "wall" people talk about in road marathons. By the time I worked through the calculation, I realized that I'd passed it 6 km earlier. Yay. At the 42.2 km mark, I'd shaved 21 minutes off my road marathon time. (I hit my personal wall at 17 miles in that event.) I passed a few men on this final lap because they were run-walking or taking the mud more cautiously. I was a little kamikaze in the mud but I was hurting pretty badly so did my best to stay upright.

I pushed hard in the last couple of kilometers and was *very* happy to cross the finish line in 5:21. Funderstorm said she crossed the finish line feeling like she could keep going. I'm impressed because I just felt really, really, really glad to be done.



Check out those muddy legs!



Funderstorm had the best smile as she got her finisher's medal and recorded her 2010 PB in very tough conditions!



Conditions slowed the race down this year and I was lucky to place 3rd of 22 Masters women (8th/35 women). The two women who finished ahead of me were in a completely different league - 40 minutes faster! Renowned ultrarunner Laurie McGrath was 1st and Robin Todd, who recently ran a 3:21 marathon, was 2nd. The woman I'd passed at the start of the final lap finished 13 minutes behind me and claimed 4th place.

So... I will donate $50 to Myeloma Canada after beating my 5:40 target. I had no idea what to expect at my first 50K - obviously! I'm not sure if 50 km is my distance though because it hurts soooo much now! Who knew that every muscle in your body is involved in running?! On the other hand, I felt relatively stronger compared to other racers in the second half of the race. My final lap was faster than the final lap of a third of the people who finished ahead of me. So maybe I will just have to suck it up and get better at suffering because I know I can't be competitive at shorter distances. My longest training run was only 27 km so it's entirely possible that proper preparation would have eased the pain somewhat.

I didn't come close to the negative split I was aiming for but it could have been worse. The difference between my slowest and fastest laps was 8.5 minutes. Of the 30 people who beat me, all but three of them had a bigger difference between their slowest and fastest laps, so my consistency was OK. Interestingly, those three people were women - Ellie and the two Masters Women who finished ahead of me.

I have a new theory about the negative split concept. I think in a long race, it is less about time and more about perceived effort. I didn't push in the 1st lap and I pushed hard in the last lap. However, my body couldn't achieve the same pace for the same effort as the day went on. What seemed to matter was that I saved enough energy to run up a few hills in the 4th lap and I felt strong even though I was going more slowly. Or maybe I'm just making this stuff up so I'll feel better about totally blowing it! :-)

Anyway, it was a fun learning experience and it was great to see all our friends do so well. Thanks to 'Bent for standing in the chilly rain and cheering and taking photos and handing me snacks. Next time I hope he's out there running too!

Goals for Saturday's Run for the Toad 50 km trail race:

1) This is my first 50K so I'll be satisfied just to finish. Some people's bodies are cut out for ultrarunning and some are not; I don't know which type I am. My longest run in recent months has been 27K but I'm confident that my AR experience will help me run, walk or crawl 50K, barring illness or injury. I'll be surprised and disappointed if I don't finish but I won't be surprised if I learn that my body doesn't respond well to long running races. I hope it does since there are so many awesome trail ultrarunning races around the planet.

2) Negative split for first and second 25K. Very few people did this in last year's Toad; most runners were *way* longer on the 2nd half. I'll consciously try to go out easier at the start and see what happens.

3) Break 6 hrs. In last year's Toad, that would put me right in the middle of the Masters Women (40+) and mid-pack in the race overall. That's a 7:12 min/km pace and if I'm able to keep running most of the time, that should be quite do-able. If I start hurting and have to walk a lot, this goal would quickly become impossible.

4) If I finish under 5 hrs 40 min (6:48 min/km), I'll be super-happy. Last year that would have put me in the top third of Masters Women - and these races don't attract many newbies. I don't think it will happen but if it does, I'll donate $50 to Myeloma Canada - and apparently so will 'Bent and Bender. Thanks, guys!

5) I am expecting to see Bender, Hansel and Gazelle all finished and cheering loudly as I head out for my 4th lap! Bender had better be there at the start of Lap #3 too. ;-)

Nope, didn't think I'd totally escape poison ivy after diving into it arm-first on Sunday - but it's only two bumps on my inner wrist, the body part that hit the ground first. Lucky.

Caledon Navigators training night @ Albion Hills. BulletDog came along to help.

Speight's Coast to Coast requires Grade 2 Kayak Certification. I feel comfortable paddling Class 2 and probably could have found someone to sign off on the checklist of things I'm supposed to know or demonstrate. However, it's been a long time since my last formal whitewater training so I figured this was a great opportunity for a refresher on safety, rescue skills, river reading, etc. I'm glad I did it; it was a good reminder that I mostly just go downstream in fairly easy whitewater so I don't practise a wide range of moving water paddling and rescue skills - and I should.

I didn't want to drive a long way and luckily I could still get instruction on the Grand River in Elora at this time of year. It's beautiful down in the Gorge!



Here's the put-in.





My instructor was Kevin Sampson, owner of Adventure High in Grand Manan, who is working with Equinox Adventures in Ontario this month. He spends 3 months a year guiding kayakers in Antarctica and was the first to paddle over the big falls at Fort Coulonge that adventure racers saw in the events near Esprit Rafting. (Mr. & Mrs. Gally, I learned about this when I was telling him your story about almost going over.) So hanging out with me in the Elora Gorge was definitely slumming but he was very nice about it. Note the awesome whitewater in the background.





It was weird paddling a short whitewater boat that turned 360 degrees if I sneezed, although I think I could learn to love it. I know Urthbuoy would assure me of this. I managed to do an unintentional wet exit in totally flat water! I was practising leans and it turns out that the initial and final stability aren't quite the same as our boats - oops.





Here's the class 2 rapid where I practised defensive swimming. I was having so much fun that I almost forgot to make my way over to the eddy. My drysuit with polypro long underwear was the perfect outfit for today. I felt toasty in the river but didn't overheat. Luxury!



Someone must have opened a dam because the water started rising late in the morning.



We'd planned to do more paddling in the afternoon but didn't get far after lunch. It wasn't clear whether we'd be able to get back upstream with the water continuing to rise. This section becomes Class 4 at high water levels and there are only a few places where you can get up the cliffs. So we called it a day before it became *too* much of an adventure.

Easy trail run in Palgrave East and West. Toad Taper.

Looks like I dodged the poison ivy bullet after Sunday's Superman dive into a patch of the stuff. Phew.

The nice people at the Coast to Coast World Multi-sport Championship have sent me an excellent-looking training program designed by Steve Gurney that I was supposed to have started on Aug. 16.

So today I am setting a new record by neglecting both the Run for the Toad training program (8K run) and the C2C training program (50 min marathon-pace run with hills + 70 min kayak "wind-ups" - paddling repeats where your pace steadily increases until you reach some landmark).

I've never been good at following formal training programs. I love the fact that training for AR gives me the excuse to do fun stuff outdoors most days, sometimes sharing the experience with like-minded friends. If it's too wet to bike on the trails, then I'd rather go for a trail run than bike in the basement.

But I think I might try to follow the C2C program to some extent. I'm going to make room on the schedule for skiing, snowshoeing, yoga and strength training, none of which appear to be part of the program. I've also got some orienteering races, Wilderness Traverse course testing missions and Raid The Hammer on the calendar.

Hmm, sounds like I'm not going to follow the training program at all! Well, I'll try to approximate it. Next week is a "recovery and test" week. After my 50K race this Saturday, I'm all over the "recovery" idea. The "test" part will be interesting - it involves kayak and running time trials. For me, that will be Square One. Should be fun.

Tapering for Saturday's 50K trail race and fighting the first symptoms of a cold. Bad timing.