Pop goes the legs!

 First run since Endur that I felt like I had a little pop in the legs again.   I took it outside again on my meal break logging a 5 km run looping APK. 

Treadmill

 3 km walk on the treadmill tonight on a late meal break ...it as nice! 

Two Run Tuesday

 5 km looping APK on my break this evening.   The sun was just setting and the temperatures were very comfortable a really nice evening. 

Weigh in 177 lbs ... slowly coming down. 

Tuesday Trail

 Didn't run through the weekend was busy at first then I was fighting off a bug all better now!   Logged a wee bit of trail with Dax late this morning logging 4 laps good for 4 km.  

Friday Eve

 5 km on my meal break looping APK with Brad again this evening. 

Lunch Run

 Another 5K looping APK with Brad this evening. 

Back to work!

 5km looping APK on my meal break this eve.  Brad was along for the ride ... it was a nice evening and pace to chat away. 

Endur Stage 7 - Full Marathon - Rim Park Waterloo

  Stage 7 is in the books and so is another Endur Ultimate... I have already registered for 2023! 

  First a foremost it was a very early morning with the alarm set for 3:45 am planning a 4:15 am departure with a 6:00 am race start.    Went to be at 7:30 pm ,  asleep by 08:30 is only to be woke up by the neighbor's fireworks at 09:15,  yeah!   Had a restless sleep and woke up at 3:00 am and hit the ground running.   I was able to fit in 30 minutes in the hot tub with a coffee and made a bagel and another coffee to go and was on the road as planned. 

 In the past I started at 07:30 with a planned 4h12m finish.  This time instead of a 6:00 pace I planned a nice 7:00 / km run something I as sure I could sustain over the  42.2 km and not ever feel like the wheels were falling off.   The weather was perfect especially after melting there the week earlier running the 1/2 on the same course.   Didn't do much in the way of hydration or fuel until I was a couple of hours into the day when it started to get a bit warmer I moved to 700 ml water + a Gel / hour for the last few hours of the race.    I did what I wanted to and finished the day with pretty even splits and an overall 6:55 pace and a slightly negative split. 

8.5 km Splits 

1:00:57

57:46

57:13

57:50

58:21

  

 Tripped the clock at 4h52m7s ,  in 2017 it was 4:18:37, in 2018 it was 4:30:01 and in 2019 it was 4:31:25. Albeit my slowest Endur Marathon it was by far my most disciplined Endur 42.2 and I am quiet pleased with the results.     

 Its been a few years since I have done this sorts of volume or picked up the pace a bit.   The last time I felt this enabled was in 2019.   If someone asked me to run a Marathon tomorrow I would ask what time and where.  I do have to work on my pace for next year and will plan the race calendar a wee bit better doing a 70 km Ultra the week before Endur wasn't a great idea.   I will still do all the Ultras April through June  but change gears in July picking up a road race or two as well as the pace.   

Garmin Data 

Splits 

Endur Stage 6 - 10 km Track Run

 Stage 6 is in the books I was aiming for a sub 1 hour or 6:00 pace and came in at 58: 56 a 5:54 pace.   Garmin had me fooled I thought was sub 57:00 but if your moving between lanes or running anything but the inside your going allot further then 10 km.  I was a little gun shy after logging an extra lap yesterday... no big deal.  

Result 

Ronald Irwin

0:58:56

2 km splits 

12:09

11:48

12:08

11:41

11:10

2K splits are inline with how I was running.   Watching my 1K splits I thought I was Sub 6 on all laps ...it averaged out that way. 

Endur Stage 5 - 25.6 KM Technical Trail Run - Baden Hills

It was better today on the trails logged an extra lap coming in at  28.1 km instead of the advertised 25.6 km.  Its a 2.56 K loop done 10 times.   The timers missed one of my laps and when I was done they told me I had to do one more so it seemed like a good idea to keep going then show the data later.  GPS came in around 23 km after 10 laps but its one of those twisty turney courses all under tree cover so GPS is so so at best.  Lloyd goes to great lengths to measure the courses accurately.   It was no big deal doing an extra lap the course was fantastic with some pretty challenging elevation.   

Ronald Irwin

3:41:56

M

25

61

Ultimate

8:40

Durham

So I had a solid run the splits were not posted yet but there was only a small fade.  One of my fastest laps was probably the 11th with the adrenalin pumping LOL. 

There was some pretty decent elevation +/- 1,126 meters 

Did the whole last lap in zone 5 otherwise HR was pretty decent.

Two more stages to go ,  10 km on a high school track tomorrow then a full Marathon at Rim Park on Sunday.  

Endur Stage 4 - 10 Mile Hill Run

 Stage 4 is in the books not my best day but I got it done.   Dog got sprayed by a skunk around 2am so that was a couple of hours of fun in the wee morning hours.  Had some GI issues and just couldn't shake that tired feeling even a large Timmy's Dark Roast enroute didn't help.    So I plodded along at a slightly faster pace then the Shades 30 km the day before.  

Tomorrow is the technical trail run ...25ish kms.   I feel pretty darn good this morning a little tired after last evenings effort but the legs and body are great.  

Endur Stage 3 - 30 km Cross Country Run - Shades Mills, Caimbridge

 Stage 3 today, a 30 km trail run.  I was aiming for a 7:30 pace but ended up at 7:10 … didn't do the math very well!

     

Ronald Irwin

3:34:58

M

23

61

Ultimate

7:10

5 km splits tell the story ...

35:13

35:51

35:59

36:45

36:08

35:02

Last lap was the fastest a tiny fade in laps 4 and 5 but overall pretty consistent.  Heart rate was way way better high 120's first few laps then pushing into the low 140's from time to time in the last few laps.   Legs were stiff at times probably a lactic acid buildup not enough  to slow me down or cause discomfort it was just a little different but that's probably a result of not doing speed work.  The weather was really good, overcast , 20C ish +/- and a bit of a breeze.  I wore my go to camp vest again today but opted for a shirt under due to chaffing concerns.  Had a fun finish with Chris Ladubec ,   he caught up with me with less then a 1/2 K to go.  I asked him if he wanted to sprint to the finish and suggested we cross the finish at the same time ... we tied LOL.   It was a fun finish!     

Screwed up my Garmin data forgetting to turn it off at the end.  I grabbed the HR info from the Fitbit ...

Endur Stage 2 - 15 km Time Trail - Cambridge

 Had a better  run today ,  a wee bit more in control and I got the result I was aiming for a 6:00 pace ...

Ronald Irwin

1:29:59

M

21

61

Ultimate

6:00

It wasn't easy but not too hard either it as still pretty warm but no sun and a little breeze + not running a 21.1 made the difference.   I didn't specifically train for Endur so running faster is a wee bit foreign to me until this event.  

My average cadence was up 11 spm and my stride length increased 50 cm.   Its probably a result of not fading like I did in the half yesterday.    I wore a fanny pack with 250ml of water but never reached for it.  I only drank once on the way out but I did dump water on my head 5 or 6 times just trying to keep the temps under control.  It felt allot better today but it was still a pretty good effort I didn't leave allot out there.   Tomorrow its the 30 km cross country run at Shades Mills. 

Endur Stage 1 - 1/2 Marathon - RIM park Waterloo

 Its back , the Endur Ultimate 7 races in 8 days starts with a half and ends with a  full.

There was a new course this year the RD wasnt able to obtain  permits to run on the road so we ended up on a 7km paved trail that we looped 3 times.  It was a nice course not much elevation the story of the day was the heat and my heart rate.    It was 23C at race start that ended up pushing 30C very fast + humidity.    A realistic goal time was somewhere around 2h15m however the heat and pace pushed the heart rate up into no mans land so I had o real it in or pay the price. 

So I ended up being about 10 minutes over my goal time which still gave me 20 minutes until the cutoff and made my average pace a little under 7:00 minutes...overall an OK day!   

There was no big feast of food afterwards so aside from a 30 min sit down at the finish + 2 Molson Excel Beers ( They were very good ).  There was a group getting together at Lloyds but I opted to head home instead grabbing a Big Mac meal enroute.    Tomorrow its a 15 km time trial I am expecting between a 6:00 and 6:30 pace ... maybe! 

Trail Friday

 5 laps /4.8 km plus hammock time yesterday afternoon on the backyard trail ... super hot/humid but I liked it. 

Trail Monday

 4.8 km + hammock session last eve.   First run since going long on Saturday … wasn't too bad!   

Talley in the Valley Ultra - Saturday July 30, 2022

 I was registered for the 24 hour event but had no intention of going much past midnight with Endur looming a week later.   I did however log my longest run since before covid logging 70 km in a little over 13 hours.   Didn't use any gels relying on the Aid Station + Beer/Pizza/Yogurt/Chipnuts that I brought from home.   I set up my chair at the start finish and it made for allot of fun talking ot everyone and being in the middle of the race excitement.  First 5 , 7 km  laps / 35 km went really well all under and hour each lap.    I had been getting water at the AS but decided to use the tap 2 km into the race for teh rmainder of the day ... it was cold and tasted good.  Laps 6 through 10 were complete with sticking my head under the tap to cool down.   Did I mention it was hot.   Took a good break before starting laps 6,7 and 9 cooling down and eating.... about 20 minutes each time.   Getting to towards the eve and laps 8 and 9  I was moving well again after cooling down and getting some food in.   The last lap was done as it was getting dark and required a head light for lap.   I was thinking another 2 laps after 10 but I figured if I calll it a day after 70 km I could be home, showered, fed and in bed by 1:00 am.   It was cool going 20 km past the 50 km mark.  Its been years since I did that and i was successful continuing on.   Perhaps the next 24 hour event will not be close to another big race and I can go longer...love the format! 

Wed July 27

 4.8 km on the backyard trail then a hammock session getting ready for Talley now!