October 2012 Totals

Sept 306.5 km

YTD 2970.1 km 

Two races  this past month ,  Vulture Bait 50K and Horror Hill 6 Hour.

100 Minutes

Slept lousy after my first mid yesterday.    Up way to early and was either lay back down before work or come in early and run so I ran.  I ran for 100 minutes,  first 90 minutes at a sorta speedy 5:30 pace followed by a 10 minute cool down logging a total of 17.7K.

100%

60 hours after running HH I did my recovery run.   I would be hard pressed to call it that because I am 100% and ready to run another Ultra today.  Even my right foot was pain free and has been since Saturdays race.    I logged another short 5K and slow 6:00 pace this morning at 02:00 am on my early lunch break.  Working mids through Monday so its mostly if not completely going to be indoors on the treadmill.  

Horror Hill 6 Hour Trail Race- Oct. 28, 2012

 3rd Ultra in the past 4 weeks is in the books.   Did the Horror Hill 6 Hour Trail race yesterday.  Way back in 2007 I did the HH 15K road race.  I remember at the time thinking that the folks running around a 2.5K loop for 6 hours were not playing with a full deck.  Fast forward 5 years and add one more Ultra nut to the loop ...me!

 The week before the race I was pleasantly surprised that Grant  ( local running friend ) who had been injured for the first half of the year had signed up for the 6 hour race.   I was happy to have someone to ride with but a little concerned that Grant had bit off a little more then he should at this point in his recovery.  We headed out from his house at 06:00 am and arrived at the race at around 07:30 well before the 09:00 am start which meant a prime parking spot right on the course.  Now the day was all about the weather.  We were expecting temps around 6-7C with lots of rain and a bit of wind.   I saw this as a really good opportunity to try to get comfortable in less then perfect conditions.  I started out with my "thermal" long sleeve compression shirt, shell,  shorts, gloves, compression toque, ball cap, Injinjji Toes socks and my Saucony Xodus Gor-Tex shoes.

 I wasn't into the race at the 09:00am start.   It was raining and I  had allot of trepidation about the conditions over the next 6 hours.   There was lots of chatter on the course as to how the conditions would deteriorate as the race progressed.  The only equipment change I made early on was loosing the compression cap leaving the Ball Cap on protecting me from the constant rain.    In the early stages I was also contemplating whether 50K would be possible in the allotted time.  Passed the 10K mark with the clock showing 1:11:04  .  Doing the math it meant I had to maintain pace over the next 5 hours  which seemed highly unlikely as the course was becoming quite slick.    I started gelling and taking my "S Caps" and more or less did so through the next 5 hours.    Passing 20K the clock read 2:18:47 .   I had picked up the pace a bit but I was not enjoying being out in the rain and the cold and was not all that comfortable with nearly 4 hours remaining.   This was also the point in the race that things started to turn around for me.  Conditions continued to worsen but I was able to pick up the pace passing 30K at 3:26:57.   My thoughts often turned to my upcoming Creemore 100 miler Dec 1/2.  If its going to be above freezing and wet the conditions in Dec would be very close to what I was running in today.   I hoped that Creemore weather would be below freezing giving me an opportunity to be allot more dryer.   I don't have any running stuff that is truly waterproof.  The thermal compression shirt with the shell was all about keeping the warm wet in and the cold wet out and I was wet to the bone!    The Gortex Xodus Shoes were performing amazingly.  First they had fantastic traction ,  my feet were comfortable .... no pain at all and wearing the toe socks made a huge difference.  Now the feet were anything but dry and I continue to be dismayed that they advertise " guaranteed to keep you dry".  There is no shoe ever made that would keep my feet dry in the conditions I was running in.   Passing 30K is  when I really find out what kind of day its going to be.   Other then a bit of muscle pain I was feeling good and still moving along at a consistent pace.  This was also the point of the race where I started to catch up and even loop people that were way out in front of me.   Passed the 40K mark in 4:36:48.  Doing the math I realized that I was still holding pace in spite of the ever worsening conditions.  I also realized that unless I blew up 50K was in the bag and I was also thinking about how far beyond that point I would be able to go before the 6hour mark.   I was surprised at how comfortable I was ,  it was 6-7C ,  rain ,  wind ,  muck.muck.muck and more muck.  I was soaked but comfortably warm ,  my feet felt great and I was motivated!   So I kept pushing and crossed the 50K mark in 5:46:35.  I was amazed at the fact that I didn't fall off pace and was over a minutes faster then the first 10K of the day!   Legged it out for another 13min25 sec adding another 1.7K to my total before the 6 hour horn blew. 

 I was thrilled with how the day went ,  buy far my most solid Ultra of 2012.   I quickly washed the mud off ,  put all my mucky wet stuff into a garbage bag and then changed into a few layers of dry clothes.   Beer and Chilly were next ...mmmm so good! 

 It was a small race with 35 starting the 6 hour event ,  9 in my age group 50+.   I figured that with the day I had I would probably be in line for an AG award.  To my pleasant surprise I ends up being first in the 50+ category.  I was thrilled as I had never one an AG category before.   Overall I placed 8th out of 35 participants and I was 7th out of 25 men.  This was  the second 6 hour Trail Ulta  I have done and a PB by 4.2K. 

 I walk away from this race confident that I can face the elements in Creemore and successfully complete  the 100 mile winter run.  




Splits ...
1: 17:27 17:27
2: 17:54 35:21
3: 17:37 52:57
4: 18:07 1:11:04   10K
5: 16:48 1:27:51
6: 17:37 1:45:28
7: 16:25 2:01:52
8: 16:55 2:18:47   20K
9: 17:12 2:35:58
10: 16:47 2:52:44
11: 17:32 3:10:16
12: 16:41 3:26:57   30K
13: 16:38 3:43:34
14: 17:35 4:01:08
15: 18:07 4:19:14
16: 17:35 4:36:48  40K
17: 17:16 4:54:04
18: 17:55 5:11:58
19: 17:22 5:29:19
20: 17:17 5:46:35  50K
21 made it another 1.7 k before the 6hour mark

Until Saturday

 5K logged tonight at lunch , last one before Saturdays HH 6 Hour Race.    Its going to be wet ,  very wet  with temps between 6 and 7C.  I am going to lay out my gear tomorrow.  Most likely shorts but I will pack tights.  I expect to get wet but its going to be a matter of keeping the inner wet warm and the outer cold wet away.  I have lots of the gear to do just that.   I am more likely to over dress and be to hot then under-dress and be too cool.   I am glad I will be facing the elements ,  a perfect little outing to help prepare for the Creemore  100 miler Dec 1.

2nd Run

For the 2nd consecutive day I have done 2 Runs.  5K at an avg 6:00 pace this eve on the treadmill at work.

5K tomorrow,  rest Friday then Horror Hill 6 Hour on Saturday.

Trail Wednesday

Hit the trail again today logging 11.5K about 30 sec/k faster then yesterday.    I felt allot more rested then yesterday and didn't take nearly as long to get out the door.   Still ticked about the "Gortex" shoes.   I was going to take them out again today but they are still wet ... and so are the socks.   Today it was 10C ,  overcast with a light breeze.  Wore the long sleeve tech T ,  shorts  , ball cap , gloves and my new Adidas Super Nova shoes.    It was only  couple of Ks in when I tied off the Shell and remained reasonably comfortable for the remainder of the Run.

2nd Run

5K at a 6:00 pace at lunch today.

Soggy Trail

 Wet, overcast and 10C with a bit of a breeze today.   Hit the trail excited to give the Saucony Exodus Gortex and spin under wet conditions.  Unfortunately the shoes fell well short of my expectation because my feet were soaking wet!!!!!!  I really like the Exodus ,  very good addition to the running inventory but its obvious that this whole Gortex thing is a little overblown!  So wet feet and all I logged 11.3K at an avg 7:35 pace on the trail today.

Late Run

Almost didn't run today but I managed to get on the Treadmill at 10pm  logging  a 5K at a 6:00 pace.

Brant Tract Run - Video

Saugeen Tri Club - Brant Tract Fun Run - Oct 21, 2012

The Saugeen Tri Club got together today for an informal Run/Bike on the  brant-tract .   I wanted to do a 3-4 hour run and was planning on heading put a couple of hours before the 12:30 start but it was a cool,  cloudy , wet morning with the Sun scheduled to make an appearance in the afternoon.  Started off running in the opposite direction so I could shoot video of everyone.   Ran for 2 hours then  took a break for a Burger and a Beer.   An hour or so later I headed out with Anneelizabeth to clean up the course logging another hour or so.   The Garmin recorded 3hrs6min on my feet covering 22.11K.  The trails are fantastic,  the weather was great and there was a really good bunch that turned out for this impromptu event. 

Run to Work

20.4K @ 5:50 pace today.  Had the Corolla's front bearings replaced this week and ended up with 2 vehicles at work.   So I decided to go fetch the Durango and ran from home to work this afternoon.   6C at the start and 9C when done with overcast some light misty rain and a stiff breeze from the West.  It was Shorts,  Mazuno Thermo,  Hat, Gloves and I was comfortable to slightly warm.   Took my new Saucony Exodus Shoes for the first longer run.  The Gortex Uppers kept my feet dry and toasty.  A pleasant surprise was not feeling gravel under foot ...very sturdy sole!    I think these shoes are really going to be great through the Winter. 

Lunch Run

Fifth and final lunch run of the work week.  Yet another 5K done at a lumbering 6:00 pace.

Saturday 10-20 local Ks ,  out the door and where I go who knows!   Sunday 3-4 hours at the Brant Tract starting around 10:00 am.  

Lunch Run

5K the usual way at lunch today.

2 Runs Today

5K the usual way at lunch today

Flesherton Run Clinic tonight , 4.8K logged  half trail and half road.  Wore my new Saucony Exodus with Gortex Uppers   ... they were hot!  

Lunch Run

5K at a 6:00 pace today at lunch.

Recovery Run

I am pretty hard pressed to  call today's lunch run a "recovery run" when nothing hurts.    I could have run yesterday but I had too many "get ready for winter" things to do. Logged 5K at a  6:00 pace today at lunch.

Vulture Bait 50K - Saturday October 15, 2012

Wrapped up the OUS 2012 series yesterday doing the Vulture Bait 50K Ultra.

 The big fuss before the race was all about the weather.   The forecast was for a dry start around freezing and then warming up to around 10C and getting wet towards 2pm.   I had cold forearms at the Toad a couple of weeks ago and wanted to avoid a repeat so I opted for my Mazuno Breath Right Thermal long sleeve shirt / shorts / running cap / gloves.  I went back a read previous blogs and felt reasonably confident that I had the clothes correct but I was afraid that I may be too hot in the later stages of the race.    Once gain I decided on the Ultraspire pack and I made sure I had more Gels that I was going to need.

 Race morning started at 4:45 am.  Woke up to my alarm after a really deep sleep which is rather unusual  the night before!  Couldn't find my Wallet heading out the door,  panicked a bit but came to the conclusion that I had misplaced it in the car or somewhere in the house.  This was  stress that I didn't need.     AT 05:30 am I got gas in Hanover,  picked up Anne Elizabeth then it was  Tims for breakfast.  The 2 hour drive to London  seemed rather short ...lots of run talk with Anne.    Arrived at the race before 08:00 am,  took care of business then  picked up the race kit and headed back to the car to get ready.

  The race start was uneventful.   I headed out on the first of 2 25K loops with a simple race plan that was to run as many 6:00Ks as possible trying to finish in just under 5 hours.    It didn't take long before I remembered just how fast this trail race is.  There are lots of flat straight sections where you could comfortably open up and bank a little time.   5K in I was thinking I would aim for some where around 2hrs25  for the first loop!     Gelled on schedule at 45 minutes then on the hour I did an S cap followed by another Gel at 90 minutes.  Did a second S cap at 2 hours and my third gel just before I finished the first loop at 2hrs15mins.   Passed by the clock completing the first loop in around 2hrs28mins,  a little slower then I wanted but I felt confident that I still could finish around the 5 hour mark. Heading out for loop 2  I was starting to feel a little bit tired bit was still moving well.  I need some more calories and started Gelling every 30 minutes .... 2hrs45min, 3hrs15min, 3hrs45min and the last one a 4hrs15min taking an S Cap at the 3 and 4 hour mark.   Temperatures had increased to the middle to high single digits  at around 30K I noticed that I was getting a bit warm.  The wind had picked up and there was a little rain that helped to cool me,  I would say that I was comfortably warm.    30-40K I was watching my avg pace tick up a second or so every couple of Ks.  I was slowing down and was really trying to keep it close to a 6:00 pace but it was getting more difficult.  Just past 40K I tripped on a root and went down and rolled on my right shoulder and ended up back on my feet and caught another root almost falling again.    It took a bit out of me but I set my focus back on what I was trying to do.  With 10K to go the avg pace had crept up to 6:06 and I was beginning to see my sub 5 hour goal  become unattainable however I felt confident that  I  could PB my previous best VB of 5:13:38.    I was now thinking 5hrs3min  and I was quite satisfied with that goal so I pushed hard to running as many 6:00 Ks as I possibly could.   I kept a pretty close eye on the Garmin redoing  the math every K that ticked by.   With 5K to go I noticed that the legs were really starting to hurt but I was still moving along well and was no longer seeing the avg pace increase.  I continued to push hard to the end.

 I finished in 5hrs5min34sec logging an average pace of 6min7sec / km  good for 25th out of the 79 finishers,   18th of 51 men and 4th in my AG.   The overall winner was in my AG so I  received a 3rd in my AG  the first podium finish in a OUS event!    This was  the fastest 50K Trail Ultra I have ever done.  My previous best time for this distance was a VB in 2009  5hrs13min38 seconds so this was a PB by 8min4sec.  I am looking forward to doing the one again next year with a sub 5hr goal as the objective.

New Kicks

 Tried out the Saucony Exodus Gore-Tex on the treadmill at lunch.   A very solid shoe with lots of protection under foot and I suspect amazing traction!   Shoes are funny when you tale them off creating suction sound.   For sure they don't breath much and I notice that the feet were a little warmer. The label claims " Guaranteed to keep you dry" ... yeah right!    I expect that they will rock in wet snow,  light to moderate rain  and heavy dew.  I suspect they will not be the shoe to wear during downpours or river crossing.  The idea of water getting in but have no where to go is not so pleasant.     Like anything else new in the running Arsenal some things work and some things don't  .... the jury is out on the shoes.   One thing for sure  its not what I will be wearing at VB on Saturday.

 Logged a 5K run at a 5:00 pace today with the new shoes.

Flesherton Run Clinic

 Karen from Active Soles brought a huge inventory of clothing and shoes to the run clinic last night. I ended up with a new pair of Saucony Xodus 3.0  with the Gore-Tex uppers.   They should be a good addition to my current Mazuno Ascends and Adidas Super Nova Trail Shoes.   I also picked up Mazuno Breath Thermo Tights  and a couple of dozen GU gels.  

 In spite of the nasty weather there were some takers to run the Grey Highlands track with me.   Logged a short but enthusiastic 3.9Ks.

Lunch Run

5K at a 6:00 pace today at lunch,  run clinic tonight, VB on Sat.

Lunch Run

Working today ,  logged 5K at 6:00 pace today at lunch.   5 days until VB.  Weather looks great 1C low rising to 12C with Sun ... typical weather for this race.

Sunday Trail

11.5K on the trail today , not quite as far as I would have liked to have gone but any day I can log 1.5 hours or so on the trail is a good one!     Bumped into a few folks on the trail today.  First time I thought I had found someones lost dog but I managed to track down the owner not to far away.  Bumped into another couple deep in the woods who said I was the second runner they had bumped into today.    I work tomorrow and with it being 6 days to VB I will gear it back to my "5K Lunch Runs" plus the Run Clinic on Wed.    

Trail today

Temps in the mid single digits ,  wind, rain, and even ice pellets  today.   Tried not to overdress and was reasonable successful.  Headed out with Shorts, Thermal Compression Long Sleeve  Tech T, Shell, Gloves and a Hat.   1K in the hat came off,  2K in the Shell came off,  on and off throughout the run the running ball cap was on and off when it was raining hard or if I was getting bombarded with ice pellets.     First hill repeat around 7K made me cough a bit ....still on the tail end of a head cold that felt like it was settling in my lungs,  just a bit.    Hig winds with 4K to go made me put the Shell back on.     All and all I was reasonably comfortable to slightly chilled to a little to warm.     Managed to log 15.4K +/-680m at an avg 7:06 pace.   Will repeat the run tomorrow stretching it out a couple of more Ks.  

Back at it after giving in to a cold!

First outdoor run in Oct logged today.  Temps in the low teens ,  overcast and breezy made it feel a bit cool at the start but I quickly became comfortable logging 11.2Ks at an avg 7:15 pace.   I came down with a cold bug Mon Eve,  Tues it was the sore throat followed by the runny nose Tues Eve.  After a sleepless night I called in sick on Wed and more or less rested.  Yesterday I was feeling better but didn't want to push it so today was my first run.     Felt pretty good but I didn't want to push it any further.   With VB in a week I want to do another 2 trail runs Sat/Sun in the mid to high teen Ks.    My right foot was bothering me a bit today.  I wore my new much stiffer Super Novas but I think they are causing me more grief then the Mazunos.  I will give the softer shoes a try tomorrow.

Lunch Run

Wasn't sure if I should run as I am feeling like I am fighting off a cold bug but I ran at lunch anyway and I am happy that I did.    Logged another easy 5K at a 6:00 pace.   Pretty much 100% recovered from Saturdays Toad  Race which is a surprise   Running lots of downhills fast I fully expected allot of Quad pain but it never materialized...must be doing something right.

Look what I am doing!

TheGrandFinale
Saturday December 1, 2012
 
Start Time: 08:00 a.m.
Start Location:  Pierre & Lee Anneʼs
   Nottawasage Concession 3 and 6/7 Sideroad, just south of Creemore
Course: 15 Loops of 10.6 km + a 2.6 km spur (161.6 km total)
40% trail, 60% country roads
Course Description:
Follow the 3rd line north into Creemore, then west via side streets.  Cross the main street and turn south at Collingwood St.,
climbing the base of the Niagara Escarpment before turning east onto a private trail.  The trail travels east, then south and
exits onto 3rd line, still going south.  Turn east onto Concession 3/4, then north on Airport Road to the Ganaraska Trail.
Follow the Ganaraska Trail west to the start/finish.  Repeat 15 times.
Note:  There will be vehicular traffic on the roads.  Run with safety in mind!
 
Timing: Loops with time written on a progress board
Race Director: Jodi Langley  jodilangley3029@gmail.com
Time Limit:  30 hours. Pacers are welcome to join after sundown
Entry Limit: The run will be capped at 30 entries
Note: Online registration is reserved for those who wish to complete the full 100 miles.  Those wanting to come out and
join in the fun and run any other distance are encouraged to do so.
Fees:  FREE!  Jodiʼs early Christmas gift to you!
 
Facilties: Washrooms at start/finish.  No showers! You can enjoy your stink until you get home!
Aid Stations: Start/Finish and at 5.6 km.  Drop bags if you desire will be placed at the 5.6 km station
Awards:  A belt buckle will be awarded to those who complete the 100 miles within the 30 hour time limit
Prizes:  Of course!
Post Race:  A pot luck celebration will take place st the start/finish event site
Supporting:  You!  You are responsible for every aspect of this race, including, but not limited to insurance, adequate
training, nutrition, clothing and safety.
Volunteers:  Yes please!  Email Jodi at jodilangley3029@gmail.com with times of availability

Recovery Run

Feeling pretty good after Saturdays Toad just a little muscle pain.  Skipped running yesterday and did a 5K recovery run today at lunch.  Just signed up for the Creemore 100 mile challenge in December.  It was a great opportunity not to be passed on .  I have never gone Ultra long in the cold before.