Sunday, August 9, 2015

Creemore Vertical Challenge 50 km - August 9, 2015









8th consecutive CVC 50K is in the books.     SO far the score is Creemore 7,  Ron 1 ...YIKES.  I only felt like I more or less ran this race as well as I could once logging a 5:46:49 way back in  2009 .














 It was much cooler this year and I really thought that I may be able to get it in around 6 hours  or just beat last years time  of 6:26.   Decided early on to more or less run some of the longer more gentle hills.  Logged a 10 min K doing that up "hill one" ... more of a fast walk time but it was a very slow run with really short strides and a higher cadence.   It made the hills easy and the HR and Breathing were still very much under control.    Ran all the way up to the base of "O2" then walked up with ease on the first lap.     I was gelling every hour and taking 250ml of water between aid stations.   Wrapped up the first loop felling great ,  really great ,  too great and there was a reason because I tripped the clock at 3hrs9mins ..... I was hoping to be Sub 3hrs  coming in around 2hrs 50min if I hopped to bring it in around 6 hours.   Heading out I decided to "pick it up" a bit and that is what I did.   I did the same run up "Hill 1" and to the base of "O2" getting through 40K in 5hrs4min.     I knew at this point that the sub 6hrs wasn't going to happen but I really felt that I had a crack and a 6hrs20min time if I could make it up O2 in one piece.    It didn't take very long before things started to go south!   Heading up "02" I started to feel dizzy and was seeing stars ... this is familiar to me and something that has happened more then once on this hill.    I slowed down as much as I could but I could not  continue moving uphill without passing out so I had no choice but to sit down.   10 minutes later I was able to continue up the hill but I knew the last 10K was going to suck!       The pace chart below tells the story of my day ....





I did manage to start moving again although it was allot slower.    Heading down `Hill 1`I managed to muster up a 7:21 km but that was the fastest of the final 10K`s.      Heading back to the start finish  there is a couple of small gully's that are quite steep.  I had a feeling that it was goning to be lights out again and I was correct .  Even though I was a half K from the finish I had to sit down and take a break or I would have passed out.

So I tripped the mat at 6hrs54mins happy yo finish ,  glad I was able to do it but dissapointed that I didn't manage things better.  

 The root cause of my problems was not getting enough hydration ... gels and electrolytes were good but I should have doubled up the water.   With thicker blood and the later stages of the run when I slowed down blood was pooling in my lower body and I wasn't getting enough to my brain.    If it wasn't  for the monster climbs and I could have kept going the affects of the dehydration would not have been felt until I stopped.   In retrospect I should not have tried to pick it up heading out on the second loop and I should have doubled up my fluids.  




8 comments:

Pascale said...

Hi West Grey Runner!

First, «Bravo» for your race! A so beautiful course. (I was on the 50k like you.)

I can read that your legs are ok now. Good!

Can a take for my blog the image of the race elevation? My watch don't give me that info (i'm new in the ultra trail world...).

Thanks! :)

West Grey Runner said...

Yes its quite the elevation profile Pascale and please use anything you find on the blog , it all in the public domain.

Ron aka "West Grey Runner"

Pascale said...

Ok. Thanks again!

Robin said...

Glad you finished! That's scary stuff, regardless of the reason, so glad you are ok! Knowing the cause though, is half the battle. Congrats on #8!

Pascale said...

...or maybe just accumulated tiredness? Or both? Anyway, when I say «you're legs are ok», I mean that you are good enough to go back running. But you did it saturday and congrats again!

West Grey Runner said...

Its not scary , kind of neat really is a 60's Psychedelic sort of way! Things that I experience and are familiar with I don't worry about too much. Its the new things that get me going....

Carl Wright said...

Great race recap. For myself, this was my 1st ever trail run event, so I opted for the 25k.

My experience was quite positive, and have decided to "attempt" the 50k next year (I'll be 58 years old next year).

After reading your post, I realize this is something I will really need to prepared for.

Thank you for your honesty in your post. So much respect for that. :)

~Carl~

http://theoldfellowgoesrunning.com/2015/08/13/the-race-that-broke-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1918

Carl Wright said...

Great race recap. For myself, this was my 1st ever trail run event, so I opted for the 25k.

My experience was quite positive, and have decided to "attempt" the 50k next year (I'll be 58 years old next year).

After reading your post, I realize this is something I will really need to prepared for.

Thank you for your honesty in your post. So much respect for that. :)

~Carl~

http://theoldfellowgoesrunning.com/2015/08/13/the-race-that-broke-me/comment-page-1/#comment-1918