Easy recovery ride giving Chief and his friend the almost-full tour of Palgrave including the brand new single track. My legs were a bit feeble, and *both* knees were a bit sore on the steeper climbs, but too gorgeous out to stay on the couch.
Running4:39:59 50.0 km (5:36 / km) +626m5:16 / km ahr:173 max:225 shoes: Salomon FellCross
Run for the Toad 50K.
Almost exactly 2 years after I watched from the sidelines, fresh out of meniscus surgery while Bash and others raced the Toad, it was my turn.
I hadn't gotten any training runs longer than about 3 hours, and all the longer runs were at a pretty easy pace, but I had some good race results at shorter distances so far this year. Longest running race since surgery was 20K.
Unfortunately I had a case of the other kind of runs the AM of the race, and carefully scoped out all the washrooms on course. Also decided to start with a hydration pack instead of waist belt as I was running on empty.
Bash had a plan for me to run a 4:30, with strict HR and pace limits on the first lap. She'd warned me that lap 3 of 4 is the killer.
Lap 1- went out right on plan, taking it quite easy and walking some steep hills. Near the end of the lap the HRM went on the fritz, giving me HR of 200+ on a moderate downhill while I could still chat. 1:05
Lap 2- feeling really good, so let the legs go free a bit. Ignored the wonky HRM, just kept it below 25K race effort. Dropped the folks I had been pacing with for lap 1- averaged 5 min/km, got decent food in too. 1:02
Lap 3- Changed to my second pack. Still feeling pretty good, but the legs started to get a bit heavy in the last few km. Still time in the bank for a good finish! 1:07
Lap 4- Hmm, stomach feels a bit odd. Need to burp? No, WTF, dry heaves. Time for my Tums. Crap, they're in the waist pack! Oh oh, gut feeling a bit dicey South of the equator too. Time to walk more hills. Visited a couple of washrooms, but no dice. More dry heaves. Aid station- tried to get some food down, but could only face some flat coke and 2 potato chips. Tempted to quit. Walked more hills. Legs starting to go, probably from no fuel. Few more stops, and only doing the old man ultra shuffle. Surprisingly still lapping a lot of 50K folks, but got passed by another 50K runner on lap 4. If I picked up the pace, back came the heaves. Forced the legs into a bit faster trot for the final km or so. Trashed. 1:24
Finished like a zombie, according to Bash, and staggered off to the massage tent, mainly to have a comfy bed to lie on. It took me an hour to be able to get some soup down, and a drink, but after a couple of bites I had to pass on the excellent Toad meal.
When we looked up the results, we were shocked to see that I was actually 13th overall, and 3rd in my age group. Not an easy group, the winner was sub-4hr and 3rd overall. It looks like I wasn't the only one to fade, but few runners had a faster second lap so most faded throughout.
Bash had a great race, and despite one of her fastest 25Ks didn't even seem winded. Tiny and Ms Tiny both ran like clockwork, with very even splits. Ms Tiny is back up to speed and looking good.
Maybe I went out too hard on the second lap and should have kept the pace down until lap 3. Maybe it was my gut that wasn't great to start.
Either way, glad to be on the podium after a suffer-fest. Second in my age group and 10th overall would have been reasonable if I wasn't sick, but not a chance at first in my age group- Steve is a machine.
Some notes to remember-
I feel like four 1:10s would have been a walk in the park, yet my crash-and-burn really kicked my butt. Wish my HRM had been working better- I clearly can't judge what pace on lap 2 will leave anything for lap 4, at least not with bad gut issues. Also need to do longer training runs at speed if I plan to aim for the podium.
Ran the Mizzy Lake loop with Bash- slow and cautious on the slippery roots, but a bit of tempo on the final rail trail. Bash was quick there, even with her gimpy ankle.
Beautiful run on the Centennial Ridges trail in Algonquin. Great views, nice trail. Unfortunately Bash caught her foot on a root and sprained her ankle, rocking the pristine woods with profanity. Had to take it carefully after that.
Time for night commuting. Double-collared BZ dog but he was excellent, even when a deer froze in the Bentblaster V5 headlight and they had a stare down.
Note- the V5 has less lumens in theory, but a nicer tint and narrower beam. I like it!
Run down from my Mom's place to get the Bashmobile back from the dealer in Toronto. Running on flat paved trails feels downhill all the time for some reason.
Orienteering race 1:13:28 [4] 9.04 km (8:08 / km) +105m7:41 / km shoes: Salomon FellCross
Turkey Trot Long Albion Hills
Perfect day. I was running well but not spiking much. Bash started 1 min ahead of me, and we leapfrogged a bit between 3-7. 8-9 was a long running leg which I hammered at 3:45-4:10 pace, but lost almost 5 min looking for the control.
Bash and I both won our categories, but once again I need to wear the "My wife beats me" shirt, as she got me by just under a minute on the same course.
Andre was kind enough to run M35-45, or he would have won.
Great SMT with the Harps, Trav, KatieMac, SuperTurboHammer (Great team name), and the Vizslae. Legs felt good once warmed up, Hammer had a solid hour, Trav's running well, but King of Artiban goes to Harps despite his claimed residual Scottish after-effects.
Strength (Lumberjack) 20:00 [2]
(45 min) Hauling and splitting another couple of loads. Some tough knotty logs in there.
What a different dog today- we even had a deer run by and he was no problem. Dunno what got into him last time, but I had him on his car harness, which obviously lets him pull more. He was a fine commuting companion today.
Didn't haul me off even with 3 suicide squirrels. Much better pooch today.
Nice cool ride with Bazingadog around Charlevoix and to work.
The lad hauled forward for the first bit, then dragged back near the end. Can't wait until I can let him gallop along off-leash.
Cycling30:00 [1]
Commute- fail. Suicide Squirrel decided to dash right across beside us, and Bazingadog hauled me off my bike into a neighbour's yard. A while after I disentangled us, my chain broke on a steep uphill. Impossible to fix it tethered to a frustrated BZdog, so I pushed/scootered it home.
Sat in the ski today (on dry land with lots of kayak pads), and *finally* got the pedals right for paddling with shoes.
Man, my hip flexors are sore just sitting there in that position.
Adventure Racing race 6:56:05 83.03 km (5:01 / km) +303m4:55 / km ahr:160 max:181
Logs, Rocks and Steel.
For our anniversary, Bash and I decided to do this one solo. Listening to the rain pound down the night before we were wondering if we could get lost on the way and end up at a nice resort....
Mission for this race- don't cramp up on the bike. It's been a big problem all year.
Paddle:
Bash had kindly let me use the V8 ski. We started in the rain, and Frankenjack took off like a jetski. I was at the front of the pack of mere humans following, with Bash, LD and FB, but wasn't comfortable in the ski. Paddling with shoes I felt jammed in the cockpit, and my HR and breathing were oddly too high for the effort, HR in the high 170s. I could feel my hip flexors on the verge of cramping up too, so I couldn't use my core well. The portages were a gong show- the ski's hard to portage when dry, but in the rain it was awful, slipping and sliding off my shoulder and landing on my head. The rudder pin slipped out too, jamming it to one side for the next paddle. I got out to fix the pedals, and got them too loose instead.
My HR was well above the plan so I backed it off for the rest of the paddle. FB and LosDobos's marathon canoe took off, and I was chasing Bash along with guys in sea kayaks and canoes. I need to get a shirt that says "My wife beats me with a paddle". Slow performance for a fast boat but I held the cramping off.
Bike- The plan was to cruise 1 step below race pace for the first half, and I really enjoyed the riding. The 'bent bike loves this totally rideable rock! I came upon FB with a flat and gave him my pump, just as Coach LD caught up. We had a great time riding much of the singletrack together, and passed a couple of teams. Trail was well marked- thanks DD! On the back haIf I could put the hammer down, especially on the roads. No cramping!!!!
Just caught Team Dobos at the T/A.
Run- Felt solid. Saw FJ just after the water crossing, with Batty's team in hot pursuit. Bit of a hesitation when the frequent trail markings suddenly disappeared for half a km, and I ran back to doublecheck. Winds picked up and rain started just dumping down sideways. Legs were going fast on the rock, and I ran down a team ahead of me, moving into 4th overall. Couldn't reel in the #2 solo ahead of me though. Great to see Harps and Will at the aid station, hanging on to their canopy in the howling wind and still able to pass me a coke.
I ended up 3rd solo, and 1st Masters by over 45 min.
Bash was 1st female overall! Nice to both win on our anniversary.
FJ won overall, but only by a minute over Batty's team.
Thoroughly enjoyed this race. I think the cramping comes from going out the gate too hard- this year it's taking me longer to settle in (Mentally? Physically?) and maybe racing with fast teammates has caused me to stay anaerobic too long and then cramp up.
Big thanks to Bob and volunteers out there in the storm.
Out with Bash and Goose's entire flock for a paddle around Island lake and a picnic. I started in Goose Sr's canoe, then into Bash's Jake, then tried Coach LD's DR dart, then did some quick sprints in the V8 ski.
Yet another perfect day to cap off a great weekend with great friends, activities and food.
Running3:27:16 29.52 km (7:01 / km) +776m6:12 / km ahr:154 max:182 shoes: Brooks True Grit Red
Hockley loop with Bash, Funderstorm and Myka.
I did some extra loops and out-and-backs, and some extra hill intervals on the steepest bits. It worked out pretty well, and we all got a decent run.
Nice day to be out, and a good lunch at the Black Birch where we were joined by Eco and EcoDog.