Creemore Vertical Challange, 25K

Just finished the CVC and wanted to get to the Blog while it was still fresh in my mind. It was a tough race, I knew would be but I can honestly say I did as well as I could today! I would have to say that I brought my "A-" race to the table today. For me its not so much where I finish as did I give it my 100% effort , to that I say yes!

Couldn't sleep last night , worked Eves and got home a little after 10:00 pm , in bed by 11:00 but I slept really , really light. Had three alarms set for 04:30 am and didn't need a single one as I was up at 04:00. Did my usual morning race routine, Pot of Coffee, English Muffin with Jam, Oatmeal and OJ. After eating I hit the hot tub at 04:35. The sky was just starting to get light , I saw the International Space Station fly by , thought to myself how unfortunate that the guys on board couldn't join me running today! Also saw an Iridium Flare ... very cool! Anyway it was out of the tub at 05:30 , got dressed and was heading out the drive at 05:45 . Drive temp was 7C , pretty cool for a July morning ! Drove with the windows down , heat and tunes cranked ( another on the way to the race tradition) . Watched the Sun come up just before Markdale and there was lots of misty fog!

Arrived in Creemore at around 07:00. Folks were starting to trickle in. Got talking with some guys that pulled up beside me, from Thunder Bay and NJ! The one fellow just had heart surgery 5 weeks prior. Another fellow from Fla joined us and was asking about the course! Met up with Pat Burke from Hillsburgh , last saw him in May at the Trillium 10K . He was doing the 50 K event this year. Had an interesting chat about how he got to the 50K distance and about motivating our children to run. Picked up the race kit , got ready .... more chatting and then line up for the washroom. There was only 2 Outhouses , they should double that ....very long line !

The race started with a shotgun blast ....very loud . We knew it was coming but it really startled everyone. So off we went 100+ folks single file along side the river! I was in the middle of the crowd and was quiet surprised at the 5:30 pace ! There was a couple of guys in front of me that started cracking jokes after the first couple of Ks... had everyone laughing! First few Ks were relatively flat then the climb began ! At the 2.7K mark there was the first of many hills. From 2.7K to 6.4K there was a 60m climb , managed to jog up this one this one! At 6.4 K there was a sign "Hill One" I found a ton of humor in that after a 60m climb.....that's a hill in my books! So Hill 1 was from 6.4K to 8.2K and rose 122m... guess that's a hill. I managed OK up Hill 1 , walked a couple of hundred meters while I did a Gel at 45 min. From 8.3K to 11.1K there was a couple of 40m up and downs .. manged OK! At the top of the escarpment you could see out over Georgian Bay , Wasga Beach over to Horse Show Valley. I almost missed it because I was so focused on the run!!!! 11.2K to 13.6 was a great down hill , pretty steep in parts but I was able to fly, managed a 4 min or less pace ! At 14K the second climb began , at the 14.9K mark there was a really steep section, the sign said "O2 Hill" they weren't kidding! Walked from 14.9K to 15.3K , very steep hill ...Jelled again , and recovered the heart rate a bit by the top. 15.4 to 17.1 were relatively flat , managed around a 5:20 pace until and then a 17.2K another steep hill began , from 17.2K to 17.7K there was a gain of 60m , walked this section . 17.8K to 20.2K there wasn't too many hills, ran along the top of the escarpment again, managed an average 5:30 pace. Not sure about 20.2K to 21.1 ... starting to get delirious! At 21.1K there was a great down hill that I managed to pick up the pace at a 4:30 until 22.9K. I was starting to think maybe, just maybe 2:30 finish! However at 22.9 K we entered "The Valley" , so much for a 2:30 ... ran through a swamp , used a rope to negotiate up a cliff and down a cliff. Last couple of K were Hell but I managed to muddle though the obstacles and finish with a time of 2:38:50.

After the race I recovered with water and sat in the shade for about 10 min. When I got up I started seeing stars and things started to go black and I was having a tough time standing upright. I sat back down and grabbed a couple of glasses of Heed , then some Watermelon., waited 10 min then I was OK. I didn't thinks I was overheating, temps were reasonable... not sure what the trouble was. When I was a little more stable on my feet I made my way to the Beer Tent then grabbed a piece of Pizza and sat in the shade. After the Pizza and Beer were gone I did it again . When I was done eating I sat in the river for a few minutes with yet another Beer... I am liking the Beer thing! The awards were cool , even got some swag... a 26 serving bottle of Hammer Gel!

Ron