Training Log Archive: Bash

Ankle still sore - will see Thumbs-of-Death tomorrow. I reviewed the results from last year's North Face Endurance Challenge 50-mile Championship in San Francisco. The 2010 field was "arguably the most competitive ever for a trail 50 miler". With $10,000 each for the male and female winners along with other cash prizes, this event attracts top international runners.

Knowing that the field was more talented than average, it's daunting to see that only about half the racers finished under 12 hours. An additional 14% of starters completed their run in each of the 13th and 14th hours. (That's the time limit.) Almost 20% DNF'ed and/or missed time cut-offs. Median time for female official finishers was 11.5 hours.

On the registration form, we were asked to estimate our finish time. It was a few months ago, and I took a wild guess of 12.5 hours, 90 minutes under the 14 hour time limit. It was before I got injured, before I knew the race was 51.2 miles and before I looked at last year's results. Now I'm guessing 13.25-13.5 hours - or a DNF if the ankle is too painful. That's pretty close to the cut-off so it's going to be one of those races where I do a lot of math!

They are supposed to give us info on how spectators can follow our progress realtime, probably through Facebook. I'll post info here so you can help me do the math if you'd like!

C3 multi-sport club year-end banquet tonight. The spellbinding keynote speaker was Captain William Fielding, the first Canadian pilot since World War II to be shot down in combat. He's on the left.

It happened last year in Afghanistan. After landing the badly damaged, flaming Chinook helicopter as softly as possible in a field while still being shot at, he and the co-pilot were the last of the 20 people onboard to exit (because that's what captains do). Every moment they waited, he thought the burning aircraft might explode.

Once they were outside in the flat open country, the enemy could see them better and shoot at them more accurately. Next came lots of running, ducking behind mud walls, diving into ditches and firing by both sides. They all made it to safety about 20 minutes later after they encountered armoured Canadian vehicles coming to their aid, but he is not permitted to tell the full story of what happened in between.

After his tour of duty was over, docs at home discovered serious problems that the military docs had missed including broken vertebrae, a tumour along his spine that grew from scar tissue, a torn ACL and brain trauma, not to mention post-traumatic stress disorder. For awhile, he lost vision and hearing on one side but it came back, and now he can fly again. So he's able to work but his life will never be the same. He has strong reactions in certain situations, e.g. when he smells smoke or hears loud noises. He used to love to run but he can't now because of his back.

It was a noisy, boisterous crowd with many calls for silence throughout the evening as awards were presented and speeches given. But while this guy spoke, you could hear a pin drop. I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking about how easy my life is in comparison. And thinking how silly it seems to label a tough uphill run - or almost anything I do - as a "mental challenge" when this guy can't even hear a kid screaming in the grocery store without jumping out of his skin.

Fascinating and disturbing. It left me with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and sympathy for the people who serve our country.

Here's the full story if anyone is interested in more details.

Easy trail run to tire out the pooches before picking 'Bent up from the GO Bus after his birthday weekend playdate with the Fast Boyz. Tried out a new way of taping my ankle that wasn't as annoying.

My foot hurt like crazy last night while walking in the city. Thursday night's yoga balance poses didn't feel good and may have strained something that was partially healed. So I'm going to stop running for the final week before the race. At this stage, my fitness is what it is, and the best thing I could do to prepare for the race is give my body some healing time.

Obviously, now that I realize how much worse this sprain was compared to others I've had, I should have taken off a week or two right after it happened. I just hope I'm not being stupid by doing the race. Or if I am, I hope I recognize it and stop before I wreck myself. Fortunately, my pacer is a physiotherapist and ultrarunner (M&M) so I am in the best possible hands.

The 4 p.m. deadline has passed, so it's official... 'Bent has $1,696 in donations which puts him first on the 61-member "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" Movember team. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

He just received an e-mail saying that the top three guys will have their moustaches judged by Ron MacLean and Olivia Chow. Moustaches can be improved using products like waxes or gels, but colouring and artificial extensions are banned. We need a good moustache stylist - someone with experience in problem moustaches. It will be fun (for me) to experiment. 'Bent is not looking forward to it quite as much. It's not easy being a prospective TV star.

With today's 4 p.m. deadline fast approaching, 'Bent is positioned well to be the top fundraiser for the "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" Movember team. He's leading $1,556 to $1,160 - although someone may be holding back a last-minute surge. Unfortunately, the top three guys will be judged based on the quality of their moustache before the producers decide who will be flown to Halifax for the TV show. I dunno - we aren't sure 'Bent's moustache could win a beauty contest. We'll keep you posted.

Thanks to all the folks who have supported his campaign to fight prostate cancer. Last-minute donations are welcome at:
<http://ca.movember.com/mospace/1149766>

'Bent will reciprocate donations to fellow Mo Brothers - just let him know. The national campaign doesn't end today, only the "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" team competition.

Hand Bike For Sale... 2-Time Silver Medal Paralympian Regains Use of Legs after Bike Crash and is now aiming for the 2016 Olympics. Can you imagine!
<http://runningmagazine.ca/2011/11/sections/news/pa...>

Hard Core Live with Caron

As a result of all his kneehab, 'Bent has become a yoga machine. Still no flexibility, of course - that would be asking for a miracle!

Discovery of the Week for post-run recovery:

Dark Chocolate 1% Milk. With the same fat, 2 g more protein and 5 mg more Iron than regular 1% Chocolate Milk. (Yeah OK, a few more carbs...) Some days the universe is on my side.

Since my ankle sprain six weeks ago, I've been gradually upping the ante in different ways:
- no runs, short runs, long runs
- flat roads, hilly roads, smooth trails, technical trails, off-trail
- ankle brace, ankle tape, no ankle support

I've made it up to "long runs on technical trails without ankle support" and "long runs off-trail with ankle brace". Today I stretched the limits with two more variables:
- BazingaDog hauling on the leash while I ran on technical trails without ankle support. A little scary at times! There were numerous puppy stops for sniffing and territory marking; I paused the Garmin for the longer ones. In between, the pace was higher than I usually run.
- A thin layer of ice on north-facing and shaded trails. This was not planned. I should have worn my spikes. BazingaDog certainly did.

This was a momentous occasion - a cross-country run to 'Bent's dental office for an appointment, returning by a circuitous route. An old dental crown shattered only days before I am going to fly out of the country. The Royal College of Dental Surgeons granted 'Bent written permission to do an emergency temporary crown. If he were to do a permanent crown, however, the provincial government would consider that to be sexual abuse because we are married. Grrrr.

I'm still waiting and hoping for that law to be changed back, and there seems to be a good chance that it will be. I haven't found another dentist since the government took away my freedom to choose to be treated by the only dentist in town. 'Bent noticed a couple of obvious cavities but he isn't permitted to fix them, so apparently I can't keep waiting for the legislative wrangling to finish. :(

Little Logie made his first shopping trip to the Salomon Store today.



Motherhood suits Dee.

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour... Every year, seeing the trailer makes me want to paddle the Amazon, trek across Antarctica and climb a Himalaya. Before lunch.

BulletDog and I headed into Palgrave West on a chilly day. No ankle brace and no ankle tape for the first time in over 5 weeks. Livin' on the edge! I had to be very careful with my foot placement but this felt better than running with any kind of ankle constraint.

It's a tough call... I was planning to tape my ankle for the race but I have to weigh the risk of turning my ankle vs. the risk of pain over 50 miles from running with a repetitive, unnatural, constrained gait.

Warm-up followed by 6 hills (3 Raspberries, 3 Hawks) then cooldown on the way home. I feel strong on these shorter runs so I guess the painfully slow long runs have had some benefits. Although BulletDog doesn't always get the point of intervals, she was great today and even anticipated my turn-around points sometimes.

While watching The Daily Show.

At tonight's AGM, the Caledon Navigators orienteering club voted to dissolve by the end of 2011. To everything there is a season.

Wilderness Traverse is confirmed for Aug. 18-19, 2012. Website is being updated. Getawaystix will send an e-newsletter soon. (Write Bob AT WildernessTraverse DOT ca if you're not on the list.) Hope to see you there!

So... I printed the Participant Guide to do detailed planning for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50-miler - aid station locations, food/drink types provided, time cut-offs, gear bag locations, what I plan to pack in the bags within a 10 lb limit, etc.

I knew organizers had to revise the course last month due to major trail repairs so maybe this is a recent change, but maybe I'd never really focused on the final line of the Pace Chart:

Finish - 51.2 miles

Excuse me??!? The TNF 50-mile Championship is 51.2 miles? This revelation of an extra 2K of mountain running was surprisingly distressing, given that I'd already proven my foolishness by signing up for 50 miles. The time cut-offs remain the same so I guess I'll have to sprint that last 2K. Ha!