Friday, July 29, 2016
Friday Lunch
Intended on some trial yesterday after work but I got busy. Did a little 5Ker the usual way on my meal break today. Lots of pop in the legs after a rest day yesterday.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Tuesday Lunch
Did my first run after DG yesterday logging a little 5Ker on my meal break. Took 2Ks to get up to the 5:00 pace. felling alomost full recovered with the exception of some foot pain...mainly blisters. The left little toe is bright red the body is in full infection fighting mode. Weighed in and have gone from 163 lbs last week to 168 lbs this week. Nothing like 18 hours of running to help put on a couple of pounds. Sometimes after going long and dehydrating I retain water but thats not the case this time. I nailed the hydration thing at the DG 24. Other then some nasty blisters the only GI issue was a bit of indigestion probably something to do with all the cramming of different and sometimes usual food.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Dirty Girls 24 Hour - Saturday July 23, 2016
Dirty Girls is a special event for me. Way back in 2008 it was my first Marathon and first Ultra Marathon all in the same day. It was my first time experiencing pain like no other ... even my hair hurt. Fast forward to 2016 and its still a race I hold close to the heart. Form the RD Di to the dear running friends its a special race. Sadly rumour has it that this is the last running of this event. Races come and go with RDs but this one will be truly missed.
There has been allot going on in my life recently and last week was no exception. I wasn't really sure of what my race plan was and was toying with the idea of doing a 12 hour day run. Prep for the race as a last minute afterthought ... oh yeah I am going to go run for 24 hours best I put a few things together. I kind of planned for the night just in case I was having a good day , kind of had enough calories and kind of had everything I needed to go long. Usually planning for this starts days in advance , this time it was hours.
Had the best nights sleep in over a week and woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed on Saturday morning. Treated myself to a Tims breakfast enroute and arrived 20 minutes before race time ... unusual for me as I am usually an hour early. No worries , no cares it was just a matter of pulling out the chair and cooler and picking up and pinning on my race bib...boom I was off and running.
Took off in my Hoakas , Race Bib, Shorts and a Hand Held ... love the simplicity. The hand held would be a godsend. I haven't used one in a long long time but on this day it was perfect. Aid station every 4K , 500ml of water every 4K ...simple. So simple was the theme of the day...keep it simple and enjoy the forest , enjoy the heat , enjoy the my fellow runners just enjoy and keep it simple. As I ran I developed a plan based on how I felt ... it was simple. I ran and I ran passing 48 km feeling great and surprisingly in 6 position out of 30 men! There was a small part of me that wanted to keep going at that moment but thats not why I do it but it is fun to compete sometime. So at 4:16 pm I told the starter that I was going to be off course for a few hours. I drove home , an hours trip , let my dog out , had dinner , showered , caught up on my email so on and so forth making it back close to 8pm to cheer on the start of the 12 hour night race. Made it back on the course around 8:30 and I ran and I ran and I ran again ... no music just me , I didn't talk I was alone in my head. My head had allot in it ...not bad just lots of time to think and figure things out. I had a particular moment of Zen when I realised that I had just ran through one of the toughest 2K of the course but had absolutely no recollection of doing so. I was in such deep thought that I totally disconnected my mind from my body it was like I was physically transported through space. You could never consciously choose to have such a thing happen ....it just happens and it was amazingly cool. I stopped for a break at 12:30 am , grabbed a sleeping bag from my car and had a bite of food and a beer in my zero gravity chair. It was really cool wrapped up so toasty and warm just listening to the conversations. Again I found myself in another time warp ...12:30 am turned in 3:00 am. I have no recollection of falling asleep just the constant drone of warm conversation. The night air was cool and I was still shirtless. It took awhile to formulate a plan to make a dash to the car for a shirt without freezing. Once again I hit the trail , alone in the night and alone in my thoughts. My energy levels were drained , I was 72K in and about to trip the 50 mile mark, this was where I finished last year but I knew I was going to go longer but how long .... 1 ,2 3 more laps did I have it in me. Vertical Pierre better know as the Creemore RD had a secret weapon at the 4K aid station ...Maple Syrup. Had a shot in my coffee , two shots straight up and the stuff worked like rocket fuel...repeat, repeat and done. Finished the last lap at about the speed of the first lap feeling amazing , simply amazing.
Logged a 104km run spending about 18 hours on the course satisfied and content ready for a good ,meal and a bed.
God I love this shit ...ultra forever baby, ultra forever!
There has been allot going on in my life recently and last week was no exception. I wasn't really sure of what my race plan was and was toying with the idea of doing a 12 hour day run. Prep for the race as a last minute afterthought ... oh yeah I am going to go run for 24 hours best I put a few things together. I kind of planned for the night just in case I was having a good day , kind of had enough calories and kind of had everything I needed to go long. Usually planning for this starts days in advance , this time it was hours.
Had the best nights sleep in over a week and woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed on Saturday morning. Treated myself to a Tims breakfast enroute and arrived 20 minutes before race time ... unusual for me as I am usually an hour early. No worries , no cares it was just a matter of pulling out the chair and cooler and picking up and pinning on my race bib...boom I was off and running.
Took off in my Hoakas , Race Bib, Shorts and a Hand Held ... love the simplicity. The hand held would be a godsend. I haven't used one in a long long time but on this day it was perfect. Aid station every 4K , 500ml of water every 4K ...simple. So simple was the theme of the day...keep it simple and enjoy the forest , enjoy the heat , enjoy the my fellow runners just enjoy and keep it simple. As I ran I developed a plan based on how I felt ... it was simple. I ran and I ran passing 48 km feeling great and surprisingly in 6 position out of 30 men! There was a small part of me that wanted to keep going at that moment but thats not why I do it but it is fun to compete sometime. So at 4:16 pm I told the starter that I was going to be off course for a few hours. I drove home , an hours trip , let my dog out , had dinner , showered , caught up on my email so on and so forth making it back close to 8pm to cheer on the start of the 12 hour night race. Made it back on the course around 8:30 and I ran and I ran and I ran again ... no music just me , I didn't talk I was alone in my head. My head had allot in it ...not bad just lots of time to think and figure things out. I had a particular moment of Zen when I realised that I had just ran through one of the toughest 2K of the course but had absolutely no recollection of doing so. I was in such deep thought that I totally disconnected my mind from my body it was like I was physically transported through space. You could never consciously choose to have such a thing happen ....it just happens and it was amazingly cool. I stopped for a break at 12:30 am , grabbed a sleeping bag from my car and had a bite of food and a beer in my zero gravity chair. It was really cool wrapped up so toasty and warm just listening to the conversations. Again I found myself in another time warp ...12:30 am turned in 3:00 am. I have no recollection of falling asleep just the constant drone of warm conversation. The night air was cool and I was still shirtless. It took awhile to formulate a plan to make a dash to the car for a shirt without freezing. Once again I hit the trail , alone in the night and alone in my thoughts. My energy levels were drained , I was 72K in and about to trip the 50 mile mark, this was where I finished last year but I knew I was going to go longer but how long .... 1 ,2 3 more laps did I have it in me. Vertical Pierre better know as the Creemore RD had a secret weapon at the 4K aid station ...Maple Syrup. Had a shot in my coffee , two shots straight up and the stuff worked like rocket fuel...repeat, repeat and done. Finished the last lap at about the speed of the first lap feeling amazing , simply amazing.
Logged a 104km run spending about 18 hours on the course satisfied and content ready for a good ,meal and a bed.
God I love this shit ...ultra forever baby, ultra forever!
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Lunch Wedesnday
5K run on my meal break today. Yesterday was a " reset" did everything but reset so I am beat today. The run at lunch was golden because it really woke me up! Still not gaining any weight... now 163 lbs. I am eating normal but have cut out a ton of empty calories.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Sunday @ Work
Long meal break working 12's today. 10K done on the treadmill @ 5:00 pace with 4:45 0.2K fartleks starting at the 4K mark then every K. When I was done I did a 20 min upper body weight routine before heading back to the workstation!
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Back to work
10K back to work treadmill lunch run today. It was OK but I really missed the trail and I really missed all my trail companions this week.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Epping Lookout to Walters Falls
37.2 melting Ks done with Steph and Lori yesterday. Steph and I crossed paths at the LLC Saturday and she told me that her and a group were running the Bruce Trail through Grey this week. Invited myself along and was super glad that I did. Had a blast running with the ladies inspite of the 32C heat and a humidex in the 40's we managed very well. As a matter of fact the heat didn't come into play much. Really enjoyed the cooling breaks when ever we came across a stream. Hope to head out later in the day hooking hop with the group in the Bayview area.
There were some great pictures posted to FB and I will post them here when I am not blogging from my iPad.
There were some great pictures posted to FB and I will post them here when I am not blogging from my iPad.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
LLC recovery run
5.5 very warm Ks logged on the backyard trail this morning. Suffered some doms mostly quad pain so I was feeling it again. Joining a group running the Bruce Trail tomorrow...suppose to be 50K but with the heat I may just hook up with them and do a little less...depends!
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Limberlost Challenge - July 9, 2016
Normally I would describe this course as deceptively grueling. This year it was just plain grueling!
Travel to Huntsville takes 3 hours and with an 8am start it made for a rather early morning, Patrick Rose was running the race this year and stayed over after work Friday Evening. After a 3 hour sleep I got up ahalf hour ahead of my alarm at 2:30 am. Got Patrick out of bed at 3am for Coffee and an hour in the Hot Tub prior to our 4am departure. We stopped in Orillia at Tims for breakfast then arrived at the race around 7am as planned. It had been raining and was raining quite heavily when we arrived and I had a pretty good idea that it was going to be a wet and muddy day.
52 Men and 30 Woman lined up in the rain for the 8am start. Pre-race announcements were Mud, Mud and more Mud! The 56K course consists of a 14K loop done 4 times.
Loop 1 - Hung out on the first loop with Patrick, Liz, Ron and Jenn. It was an easy comfortable pace with lots of great conversation and we were all having fun. The mud wasn't too bad but we were the first of hundreds that would traverse the course and I had a pretty good idea that that would change. Finished the loop in 2 hrs13min40sec satisfied with the result but nonworking it was going to be a long day!
Loop 2- As expected the mud got deeper and more prevalent and the rain continued. I was wearing shorts , tech T with an on again off again ball cap and was pretty comfortable to slightly chilled when it was raining hard. My insurance was a water proof shell in my backpack wanting to be prepared in case I fell off pace if something happened. I blasted off at the first aide station on the 2nd loop leaving Patrick and friends behind. Started drinking more water and bringing i Gummy Worms, Pretzels and Potatoes. Met up with Adi who commented on how myself and Kim should be the running ambassador for the OutRace series because we were always smiling and having fun...a very nice compliment. Ran most of the 2nd half of the loop on my own occasionally exchanging pleasantry's with others that I came across on the course. Finished the loop in 2hrs13min49 seconds 9 seconds slower then loop 1.
Loop 3- The rain actually let up a little on this loop and things started to improve ever so slightly or at least they didn't get any worse. Continued to gel , eat and drink like loop 2. Noticed some nasty chafing that from the wet shorts rubbing on my skin. Used body glide like I normally do so the important parts were well protected but the worst part was the material that cover the top of the leg was really causing some problems ...should have used body glide to my Knee! Made a new running friend on this loop Steph Bales . Great conversation made the time go by and helped to get through the ever worsening conditions. Finished the loop in 2hrs22min18sec.
Loop 4- I was a little concerned about the cutoff but was relieved heading out that I had ample time to complete the race. Ran most of this loop by myself passing a few along the way. The rain came back and it was relentless. There was so much water and so much muck that the course was hard to recognize. This by far was the nastiest loop. I wiped out and rolled ankles so many times throughout the day that I lost count. In spite of the misery that was the course I relished the fact that I was getting it done. Every meter was one mercer that I didn`t have to do again. Finished the final loop super glad to be done in 2hrs30min6sec.
Finished the race in 36th position out of the 89 folks that started. I was 28th out of 52 men and 4th out of 8 in my age group.
Heading out on loop 1 with Lizzy
Interesting race stats ...
Travel to Huntsville takes 3 hours and with an 8am start it made for a rather early morning, Patrick Rose was running the race this year and stayed over after work Friday Evening. After a 3 hour sleep I got up ahalf hour ahead of my alarm at 2:30 am. Got Patrick out of bed at 3am for Coffee and an hour in the Hot Tub prior to our 4am departure. We stopped in Orillia at Tims for breakfast then arrived at the race around 7am as planned. It had been raining and was raining quite heavily when we arrived and I had a pretty good idea that it was going to be a wet and muddy day.
52 Men and 30 Woman lined up in the rain for the 8am start. Pre-race announcements were Mud, Mud and more Mud! The 56K course consists of a 14K loop done 4 times.
Loop 1 - Hung out on the first loop with Patrick, Liz, Ron and Jenn. It was an easy comfortable pace with lots of great conversation and we were all having fun. The mud wasn't too bad but we were the first of hundreds that would traverse the course and I had a pretty good idea that that would change. Finished the loop in 2 hrs13min40sec satisfied with the result but nonworking it was going to be a long day!
Loop 2- As expected the mud got deeper and more prevalent and the rain continued. I was wearing shorts , tech T with an on again off again ball cap and was pretty comfortable to slightly chilled when it was raining hard. My insurance was a water proof shell in my backpack wanting to be prepared in case I fell off pace if something happened. I blasted off at the first aide station on the 2nd loop leaving Patrick and friends behind. Started drinking more water and bringing i Gummy Worms, Pretzels and Potatoes. Met up with Adi who commented on how myself and Kim should be the running ambassador for the OutRace series because we were always smiling and having fun...a very nice compliment. Ran most of the 2nd half of the loop on my own occasionally exchanging pleasantry's with others that I came across on the course. Finished the loop in 2hrs13min49 seconds 9 seconds slower then loop 1.
Loop 3- The rain actually let up a little on this loop and things started to improve ever so slightly or at least they didn't get any worse. Continued to gel , eat and drink like loop 2. Noticed some nasty chafing that from the wet shorts rubbing on my skin. Used body glide like I normally do so the important parts were well protected but the worst part was the material that cover the top of the leg was really causing some problems ...should have used body glide to my Knee! Made a new running friend on this loop Steph Bales . Great conversation made the time go by and helped to get through the ever worsening conditions. Finished the loop in 2hrs22min18sec.
Loop 4- I was a little concerned about the cutoff but was relieved heading out that I had ample time to complete the race. Ran most of this loop by myself passing a few along the way. The rain came back and it was relentless. There was so much water and so much muck that the course was hard to recognize. This by far was the nastiest loop. I wiped out and rolled ankles so many times throughout the day that I lost count. In spite of the misery that was the course I relished the fact that I was getting it done. Every meter was one mercer that I didn`t have to do again. Finished the final loop super glad to be done in 2hrs30min6sec.
Finished the race in 36th position out of the 89 folks that started. I was 28th out of 52 men and 4th out of 8 in my age group.
Interesting race stats ...
LIMBERLOST CHALLENGE 2016
| Event Date : 09-07-2016 | Event Location : Huntsville Ontario | ||
| Event Type : Running | Event Description : 56 K | ||
| Total Entrants : 82 | Total Finishers : 54 | ||
| Male Entries : 52 | Male Finishers : 37 | ||
| Female Entries : 30 | Female Finishers : 17 | ||
| Unknown Entries : 0 | Unknown Finishers : 0 | ||
Friday, July 8, 2016
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
To busy to blog....
Catch up time 11K Kayak and 10K Run done Sunday at Sauble.
5K backyard trail run done yesterday.
5K backyard trail run done yesterday.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Lions Head Saturday
Great day spent was some amazing friends in a magical place we call Lions Head.
In the morning we headed out for a little Kayak. It was pretty choppy with a stiff breeze but I really enjoyed the ride. Logged 4.2 k on the water ...
After the Kayak we had lunch on the beach BBQ Burgers , Hot Dogs and all the trappings.
After lunch Patrick and I headed out on the Bruce Trail logging an 11Ker with some of the most beautiful vistas I have ever had an opportunity to experience. It only 90 minutes from my home so I already have plans to explore the area allot more very soon.
There is still allot of stupid shit going on in my life. No matter how hard I try to distance myself from the drama it just keeps landing on more doorstep .... maybe a day at the beach today will help!
In the morning we headed out for a little Kayak. It was pretty choppy with a stiff breeze but I really enjoyed the ride. Logged 4.2 k on the water ...
After the Kayak we had lunch on the beach BBQ Burgers , Hot Dogs and all the trappings.
After lunch Patrick and I headed out on the Bruce Trail logging an 11Ker with some of the most beautiful vistas I have ever had an opportunity to experience. It only 90 minutes from my home so I already have plans to explore the area allot more very soon.
There is still allot of stupid shit going on in my life. No matter how hard I try to distance myself from the drama it just keeps landing on more doorstep .... maybe a day at the beach today will help!