Conquer the Canuck 50k - DFL

By .2 seconds gun time, .5 seconds chip time.

Yup, DFL.  Worst result EVER.  Not that I'm blazingly fast, but not generally that slow.

But I had a great time - I can't say enough good things about this race, the organizers, the volunteers, the course...it was a blast.  I'll definitely be back.

Mom was crewing for this one and I was glad she was there.  She really helped me out.

We got there super early - they were still setting up!   It was buggy so I quickly put on sunscreen then got all bug-sprayed up, then was fine from bites for the rest of the day.  Picaridin for the win!

The race had good swag - instead of a tshirt, a beach towel!  Not to mention finishers got a medal AND a bottle of wine.  Pretty nice!

Shortly before 8am, the race start time, we gathered for pre-race announcements, then Tony's niece sang O Canada (so nice) and we stood around before we realized it was after 8am and that we should start running - so the race started.  Heh.

I started off the first of six loops on my own, but caught and ran with Kristin for much of the first and second loops.  It was her first ultra and I believe her first trail race, but she was doing great - and the trails at Shade's Mills aren't really technical, so it was a good intro I think.  Super pretty trails though, and, unsurprisingly, shady (and thank goodness with that heat!).

On the second loop, I knew I was going to get more water after the loop, and I had to - as K would say - get down to race weight.  The portapotties were on a gravel section about 700m out from the start/finish, and when I saw them, I got so excited I got distracted, tripped, and went down hard.

Like, swelling on shoulder/chewed up palms/effed up knee hard.

I visited the portapotties (priorities) and by the time I was done my knee was covered in blood.  There was a good size chunk of skin that had been pulled back.  Eww!  I finished the loop, feeling sore, swapped out my bladder, grabbed more Endurance Tap (took three per loop) and headed out again with Kristen.

My knee HURT.  Every step was painful from the impact.  I realized I was going to have to walk more than I would be doing otherwise, and as I didn't want to hold Kristen back unnecessarily, I told her to go ahead.  I ran/walked the rest of the loop by myself, and got down to race weight AGAIN at the portapotties.

Looking down heading in to the last aid station I was like 'Man is my knee STILL bleeding?  Why hasn't this clotted???' so before I passed the start/finish mats I visited the paramedics and had my knee cleaned out - no need for stitches, but it took awhile to clean it and part of that was ouchie.

But I got up, feeling VERY discouraged.  Geez.  Not only is the knee hurting enough that I can't really run - and I had been feeling great and running at an easy pace - but I just spent all this time in medical and it hurts and oww oww oww.

I wanted to quit, though I hadn't verbalized that, but Mom just assumed I was going back out, so I went back out (she told me later she could sense I might want to quit, and that she was going to tell me to get four loops in at least).  Once I got out there, I thought 'Well if I do four loops I may as well do all six' so I ran/walked for a little bit until I met Maryka (apparently my dogs are internet famous!  She knew all about them from our mutual friend Kelly, aww).  Shortly afterwards I caught Virgil, who was walking, and fell in with him.

I thought, 'I'll see how fast he runs when we get to the top of this hill' and when we did, we kept walking.  Part of me thought I should take off and run, the other part of me was relieved that my knee hurt that much less walking than running so I kept it up.

Virgil and I had never met before but soon bonded over outdoor sports and endurance activities.  We walked the rest of the loop together and at the end of the loop, we saw the arch with balloons and joked that it looked like a wedding arch - so we held hands and ran under it, to the appreciation of the crowd (but the photographer wasn't there!!!!  Boo!).

Virgil headed out on the fifth loop and I swapped out bladders, so I had to run to catch him.  Once I did, we walked the rest of the loop together, until, after passing through the last aid station and giving K and Tanker sweaty hugs, I said 'I really think we need to run or we won't make the cut offs (I think we had like 90 minutes left in the 8 hour cut off)'.  So we ran the rest of the loop, I grabbed one more gel from Mom (hadn't eaten a lot the last loop), and then we jogged off in the heat.  We did take some walk breaks, and I was trying to do the math in my head, but was VERY worried about making it before the cut off.  We hit the last aid station, and K said 'You've got 15 minutes!  You're good!  Go!' so we ran off and may have had one last walk break (my fault) before hitting the finish in I believe 7:52 and change - and because Virgil was milliseconds ahead of me, I got to be DFL.

Which is okay.

I had so much fun!

Okay, I wish I hadn't fallen and screwed up my knee, which continued to bleed for a few days afterwards.  I had to visit the hospital Saturday night for a second cleaning and tetanus shot.

But I got to meet Kristen, and Virgil, who is a super cool guy, and make a new friend.  On a day where things didn't go as planned, I'll take that.

I was stopped for over 25 minutes based on Garmin data.  I'd say I spent about 5 minutes in transition, MAYBE.  Mom was pretty quick.  Losing time is what a visit to the medics will get you :)   

Food:

I used Endurance Tap gels, and brought solid food (dried figs and PB&J ricewiches from Feed Zone Portables).  Had a S!Cap every 60 minutes.

The only time I ate a ricewich was 20-30 minutes before the race.  I felt full most of the time which made solid food - which I really SHOULD practice with - unappetizing.  Plus between that and actually eating breakfast for once (oatmeal with hemp hearts) - well, I blame that on my two visits to get down to race weight.  COULD have been a coincidence, but yeah.

Left the race feeling sad about my weight - but wah wah wah pull up your big girl pants.  Hopefully Limberlost is a better showing.

...though watch, I'll be DFL there too.

Recovered well - amazing what walking two loops will do (my AHR was 65%!  Unheard of in a race!!!!!}).  I did have a post-race massage provided by the organizers and bled on the table - eww - the massage therapist said she figured I would and that they would sterilize the table.  I hadn't thought I would, so I felt terrible.

Sunday I walked around, in pain due to my knee, and Monday I went for another massage (with April) (all gauzed up) so I did NOT bleed on the table.  By Tuesday I was running again, albeit with pain, which I still have, over a week later.  But it is improving. 

DontGetLost Raid the Rib - Orienteering Race Report

Better late than never, right?

Sarah and I had such a great time at our first DontGetLost race that we decided to try to do Raid the Rib in Niagara over Easter weekend.  But it was teams of three!  What's Team Husky (named after our dogs, not 'cause we're husky) to do?  Convince Toby to do his first orienteering race!!!!

We signed up for the full Raid, or 5 hours.  How bad could it be?

Two weeks out, Toby and I went to Ball's Falls, where the race was held, to scout out the Bruce Trail.  We completely guessed on direction, and then I went the wrong way anyways (how's that for a good omen?) but it ended up just as well as we went the right way for what the race covered.

We ran 17.1k that day, in a true mud-fest that made getting up hills (and there were hills) extremely difficult, plus we ended up bushwhacking unnecessarily long to cross one river that was kind of deep at the trail.  We had a blast!

Race day arrived.  We met up with Sarah, went over the maps (which you only get on race day) and discussed which optional checkpoints we would try to hit for points.

Room with a View was the first checkpoint we aimed for, and we came up with a "clever" shortcut that involved bushwhacking then reaching some faint trails to join up with a more established trail to hit checkpoint 1.

The race was point-to-point, so we took a bus ride to a Scout Camp near Short Hills Provincial Park for the start - and there was a relay to start the race!  Up a steep hill and down a steeper one - going down was scary, and I was passed by faster people so couldn't take the line I wanted so basically control falled down the entire thing, jumping over trees and praying to a god I don't believe in that I would make it down in one piece.  Each team member went in waves - Toby started, I was second, Sarah third.

We finished that and took off to find Room with a View - which, thanks to Toby's eagle eyes, went pretty smoothly! 

Where we went wrong was with our "clever" short cut.  We quickly found animal paths and followed them through brambles and thorns, picking them out of our arms and bleeding from our legs  (Toby and I were in shorts - it was going up to 20C! - not a great idea for orienteering, but - I used to play rugby, and you're not doing it right unless there's blood).  Sarah, who was more appropriately attired, fared better, but still got scratched on her calves over the course of the race - and muddy! 

At some point, after awhile of wandering around in the bush, we decided to give up on our clever short cut.  We made it back to the Scout Camp but were turned around and in looking for checkpoint 1 headed towards an area of optional checkpoints that we weren't planning on doing called the Canada 150.  Not where we wanted to be.  We headed back, then ended up going towards another point of the Canada 150.  Luckily we saw April, Mel, and Dawn and realized we were going the wrong way.  We started following some of the Canada 150ers, and found checkpoint 1.

We were at least an hour behind time.

And still fairly turned around.  Looking for checkpoint 2 we kept being unsure of where we were (Sarah and Toby were very good at sorting us out) - but eventually we found it.  We spent a very long time confused of directions before we started hitting checkpoints.

But by then the damage was done.  We hit checkpoint 5 and the aid station and assessed - we didn't have time to do the optional relay near there.  It was funny, Toby had a deep scratch on the inside of one of his knees that had bled down both legs.  He looked amazing!  The aid station ladies seemed concerned, but Toby, also a former rugby player, handled it in proper fashion - which is to say he ignored it!

We then headed towards a section where there were three checkpoints, but six possible locations - and you needed to hit the checkpoints in order.  We started looking for them, to no luck - and I said 'Honestly guys, we're not going to finish in the time limit (you lose points being over) and I think we need to take the points deduction for missing checkpoints and just get going - in the end, we found the last checkpoint there.

Saw Wanda's team, and followed them crossing a river above a waterfall - fun!  We then climbed the bank on the other side on the steepest, muddiest part there was.  Oops.

But we were hitting checkpoints better now.

Saw April, Mel and Dawn - how did they get behind us?  They're fast!  But they had gotten lost looking for checkpoint 2, then been hitting optional checkpoints.

By this point we were back on the section of the Bruce that Toby and I had run before, and were approaching the end.  We were also tight for time.  We tried to pick it up but along 20 Mile Creek or whatever it is there were just some really technical parts that are difficult to run.  And then the STAIRS.  Heh.  It's a brutal climb.  I gapped Toby :)  #chicked

We hit the last two checkpoints, then ran it in, about 5 minutes under time.

Muddy and happy!  It was fun!

Though, we were penalized 20 minutes over 5 hours (I assume that's why our finish time was 5:20) and finished with 0 points.  (We weren't the only team to do so)  We ran just under 20k - well, 'ran' - some parts running, some parts hiking/bushwhacking, some parts standing around trying to figure out where we were!

Next time, I want to help out with navigation - I left it to Sarah and Toby, but I should help out too.  I understand how to navigate, so there's no reason I can't do it.

All in all it was a great time and as Toby's scars fade we're hoping to convince him to run Raid the Hammer with us in November - he had fun, and the next day was already talking about things to do differently 'next time'.  Too early to register for it yet though! 

Dion Ganaraska Snowshoe Race 2017

Well, it's been an interesting few months.

Some...news...in early December triggered dormant (dormant?) PTSD and I was off work for about 6 or 7 weeks.  I had a lot of healing in that time, but struggled to leave the house, and had panic attacks a lot, so running was not - ideal.

Sara, my amazing coach, was super understanding, and extremely flexible in adjusting training, but even still, some weeks it felt like nothing was happening.  But I started to be able to get out more and more, even if it were just for walks with the dogs (I still miss Thursday morning walks with April and Bailey!).

I went back to work on February 1st and by February 4th was on vacation for 10 days (we'd paid for it) - a cabin near Algonquin Provincial Park for 9 days and then some family medical stuff one day.  We snowshoed while up there but it was not the crazy workout schedule I would've hoped - a few runs, in addition to snowshoes, some in white outs (compare to Toronto which had no snow).

We got back on the 12th.  On the 19th, we went out to north of Port Hope (northeast of Toronto) for the Dion Ganaraska 8km snowshoe race.  It was hot - unseasonably - I think it got up to 15C.  I was hanging out before the race and ran in a tshirt.

The race was easy and quick to get to from Toronto.  The parking lot was a sheet of ice but we could see lots of snow in the woods, despite it being soft from the heat.  I picked up my race kit and chatted with a man who was getting into triathlons who was running his first snowshoe race.  I said 'Just pace yourself - snowshoe running is more difficult than trail running which is more difficult than road running.'  Actually, that's not an exact quote, but I told him to pace himself.

Went outside to hang with Toby and the dogs and to put my race bib on my tshirt, which was the Dirty Girls tshirt, and ended up speaking to a racer who'd run it as well, and we said what a shame it was that it wasn't happening anymore.  He was a really nice guy, but I didn't get his name.  We talked with him after the race as well (before I cooled down).

Did pre-race toilet stuff, hung out, did a warm up snowshoe (the roads being icy, though I used microspikes and cooled down on the road) then got back to the race start with 10-15 minutes before race time.  Ran the warm up a bit hard, I have trouble gauging pace snowshoe running, plus it takes me awhile to warm up, so I figured - ran hard and warm up faster!  Maybe not!

My legs were fine, but quickly into the race my heart rate spiked back up, not all because of the hard warm up but I think in part because of it.  I think I seeded myself okay.  Passed people on the first 'hill', then didn't really get passed until 1-1.5k in by some people that had clearly not seeded themselves well.

One lady passed me, and I was torn between being like 'Dammit' and 'Well, she's thin'.  I kept her within sight though, of varying distances, but didn't want her getting away entirely.

The race course is a lollipop, with a 2km out, 4km loop, 2km back, and one big hill, somewhere between 3-4k if my memory serves.  Before the big hill me and thin lady had passed a struggling woman who must've gone out too hard, and the rest of the race I was haunted by the thought that she was coming from behind.

Sara had said to push the flats and downhills and recover on the uphills - did so-so at this.  There was one decently long flat section and I realized 'Holy you're running slow'.  But that helped me refocus.  Got to the top of the big hill and pushed pace, kept with thin girl (not too close) and enjoyed myself, though the race course folded a bit and I was like 'I hear voices!  Oh god how close are they!!!!!'  I knew all the up going out though, we'd get to go back down, and on the back half of the course I was closing on thin girl (oddly I'd close the gap on the uphills...go figure, the fat chick being fast on the ups) when she fell.  I caught her, checked in with her, she was okay, so we ran together for awhile but it was pushing pace for me so I slowed and walked some.  Before that though we did see an awesome paramedic directing traffic at one of the trail intersections!

One other woman caught us - I ran with her for a bit, but was gassing some - I was still running, for the most part, just tired.  She went ahead.

Up the final hill (I may have walked) and then across the field to the finish!  I ran across the field and like a jerk caught thin girl and passed her in what passes for the finisher's chute in a 44 person race.  #jerk  I'm pretty sure she was there with a triathlon club though so she should be used to jerks (I kid!  I'm married to a triathlete!  Seriously great people).

I finished the 8k in 1:14:36, 21/44 racers, and 11/31 women.  Which is MOP for the field, kind of FOP for women - not bad for 20lbs above normal BMI!!!!!!!!!  And for having PTSD screw with training!

The racers I met that day were all such lovely people, I really enjoyed myself, and race directors Erin and Joe did an amazing job marking the course - there was no question where you were going - just a solid race all round.  Good swag, great race series, so much fun.  Everyone was saying this is the hardest race in the series, though I've only done Frontenac and Frozen Ass (may it RIP) before, but yeah - it was harder than both of those.

High recommended!!!!  Thanks again to Sara at Health and Adventure for being such a great coach and for prepping me so well in spite of myself!  Used my Dion snowshoes which I've had for...4 years now?  And am as in love with now as the first day I had them.

Dirty Girls Six Hour Run

Well, here's the race report.

I was really wondering how this race would go.  Forecast of 40C with humidity, forecast of sandy, technical trails with some hills, forecast of 'I haven't run further than 25k in a year and that was two months ago...'.

As I said in my preview, what could go wrong?

I'm the master of race prep, shall we say.

The race started at 8am, which was nice as I didn't have to get up until 5am.  After checking that April and Mel got their car started, I picked up some ice for the cooler (need cool Gatorade and beer!!!) and hit the road.

Got to Mansfield Outdoor Centre, picked up my race kit, saw April and Mel, found Tanker and K and got my chair set up with them, Robin B was there too, whoo hoo!  Relaxed, then went and found Joe who was running the 24 hours and hey!  Francesco is here!  He was running the nighttime 12 hours in prep for a fat ass 100 miler later this year.

I started at the back and FINALLY got to meet Robin W.  Joe and I ran together, though he got a bit ahead of me on the first 8k loop.  I caught up to him and we ran the second and third loops together.  I slowed down a bit but it was fun to run with Joe, and I was hurting - that's what I get for running while overweight and undertrained, oof, everything hurts.

Going into the race I had said 'I have to run at least 32k' but by mid-way through the second loop I was like 'Oww, maybe I'll call it at 3 loops' and then I said 'Don't be an idiot!'  I just kept plugging away, ran behind Joe for the 2nd loop and part of the third before I took the lead.  A tree fell on one of our loops and perhaps it was because we were there to hear but believe me, when a tree falls in the forest, it's loud.

Ran with Kelly B and Kelly W for a bit, which was really nice.  Always great to see them.

On the...third? loop Mel and April both lapped me, at different times, looking good.  By the time the fourth loop started I knew I'd finishing at least that.  I tried to pay attention to how long it took me to get to the 2k marker as I thought I'd probably have time to do a part loop...it felt like it took bloody forever!  I swear, that two k is ridiculously long.  The first 4k of the course felt way longer then the second 4k, go figure.

At some point I accidentally dropped Joe.  I'd figured if I was going a bit slower running with him that's okay because we're running buddies and I would be pacing him at Haliburton, so good practice.  I may not be good pacer material, because I looked behind me, and was like 'He'll catch me' but he never did, he was gone.  Oops.

My stomach was upset, I stopped after the first loop and otherwise held it until the end of the fourth loop.  I thought 'Do I have time to go out for another 2k to get to 34k on the race?' but math is not my strong suit while running and decided I didn't, I felt like I was moving really slowly.

So I stopped at 5:23:06, 32k.

Of course, looking at my Garmin data after, I had a huge amount of time to get to 34k.  Sigh.  I shouldn't talk myself out of these things.

Oh well.

It's funny, I was all proud of myself for only getting lapped by Mel (who was also running the 6 hour) once but she ran 52k so she obviously lapped me twice and we just didn't notice each other.

I thought I'd missed Joe going back out when I was otherwise occupied in the toilet, but after a long time wandered back towards the start/finish and saw him by his tent sitting in a chair - he was done, after 32k (though he never crossed the mat so he's only credited with 24k).  Talked with him for a bit, to Mel, cheered on April and K running the 12 hour, hung out with Tanker and drank beer in the sun - it was a great time!  Robin had a strong 6 hours, she got to 40k, very impressive.

I think - THINK - I was 29/41 starters.  Not a strong showing, but given how little I've been running and how heavy I am - I'll take it.  No complaints here.  I had a GREAT time - such a fun course, lots of sharp turns, stumps, a couple of nice long hills (one that just went on forever....).  The rumour is 2016 is Dirty Girls' last year which is sad if true.  The volunteers and aid stations were amazing - this is a really great race and course.

One change this did make to my season - obviously Joe is not prepped to run 100 miles at Haliburton.  So instead of volunteering during the day and pacing at night at Haliburton, I'm running the 50k (what could go wrong hahahaha I predict my slowest-ever 50k), and then volunteering overnight.  Looking forward to it, should be fun!

Sulphur Springs 25k and 100 Mile Crewing

Well.  This was a hot weekend.  The weather got up to ~33C, 38C with humidity on Saturday.

We knew going in it would be a tough ask.  I was there to crew for Joe, but he was saying that he wanted to practice self-reliance, so I wasn't going to have much to do.  So I registered for the 25k so that I'd have something to do, and to motivate me to run some more.

Neither Joe or I had great training going into this, but at least I was only running 25k!  Joe was running 100 miles!

Looking at my Garmin Connect, since April 1st (the race was May 28) I had run 11 times, all 5ks except for one 14k in April and one 14.79k the Sunday before the race on the Sulphur course to check that I'd actually be able to complete the 25k.  It went well, if slow, so I was set.

I got to bed later than I wanted Friday night (after 9:30) for a 3:30 wake up - I was at Joe's before 4 am and we hit the road for Ancaster.  They were paving the QEW and we ended up behind a truck going 40k/hour!  But eventually that cleared.

I may not have slept much, but I slept more than Joe, who went to bed at 11 and got up at 3 am!  Yikes!  He said he slept well though.

We got to the race site and Joe got set up in the 100 miler tent:

Before I knew it it was 6 am and the 50 mile and 100 mile start had happened - memories of 2013!

Mom came out for the 25k race which started at 7:30 am along with the 50k.  It was really nice to have her support.  Kelly B was running the 25k too and Kelly W and Barb were running the 50k.  I also saw Gord before his 50 miler start.  Don was there with Kelly W as well so it was great to see him.

And I ran into Margaret from work, who was running the 25k for the second year in a row!  We would see each other on course and high five, it was really nice, and it was great to see Kelly B on course too.

The first part of the 25k went fine, faster than expected, though I was fairly comfortable.  I was eating and taking an S!Cap every 3k, so a bit over 30 minutes, but close enough I figured.  I don't think I was drinking enough though, I drank to thirst but in those sorts of temps with that sweat rate I needed to do more.

Heading out onto the 20k loop after the initial 5k spur I ran with Jessica for a bit, this was her first trail race.  I said it was a good first one as Sulphur isn't that technical, she found technical - just imagine what she'd think of some other courses!!!!  She was very nice.  After she went ahead I ran with Cynthia for a bit who was also a lovely lady.  Saw Gord who was lapping me on his 50 miler!

The trail was really well marked, this was Tim and Andrea's first years as race directors and they did a great job.  Was really impressed with it.  Unlike when I ran the 50k in 2014 the race marshals were at the initial turn (in 2014 we all hemmed and hawed).  They'd also put up reflective strips for night running for the 100 milers which was really really smart.

I had to pee at 6k, so I figured I was well hydrated, though I felt a bit nauseous.  In retrospect, I wasn't drinking enough, as eventually I began to feel very chilled and shivery - I immediately took another S!Cap and drank some more, but.  I probably drank just over 2L - MAYBE 2.5L by the time I took water from course - which for the race in that heat I don't think was enough.  I was soaked through with sweat.

I could feel my glutes get bother-y.  Something about this course does it for me.  I really need to work on strengthening my glutes if I'm going to run 100 miles here next year.  I slowed down some because of this and even walked some downhills!

Heading back out of the Gatehouse onto the road section I heard my name from the course marshall and hey!  It's Byron!  Nice!  Eventually got to the Headwaters lollipop loop (after stopping to go the washroom but not pee at the 12k aid station...wth, I'd already pooped twice that day) and tried to keep the pace easy - walked lots because of my glute, I was just waiting for my IT band to go - but I did end up running a fair bit of the downhill.

I wasn't too worried about pace.  After last Sunday I'd hoped my fat out of shape ass could do it in 3.5 hours, but with the heat, I figured anything under 4 hours I'd be happy with.  But I knew I wasn't going to be close to 3.5 hours after all, so - I relaxed.  Heading off the lollipop I saw Joe heading the other way on his second loop for the 100 miler and was happy to see him pacing conservatively - gave him a big high five.

Back up Martin Road and the evil hill and I was done!  Nice to have some more water and get changed.  I was 3:33:46 final time.  Oh well.  If I were thinner I'd be upset with that time, but I'm not, so given that and the heat and how little I trained I'll take it.

Mom headed out, I cheered in Margaret and chatted with Kelly B and her, then went over to the shade by the start/finish and hung out with Helen, Don, and Veronique.  Helen was dogsitting so brought Teddy - so cute!  Byron was there too and eventually after their run so were April and Mel, so we all hung out and had a great time.

Helen and I even saw a fox when we took Teddy for a little walk down the hill onto the course to look for people.  We got to cheer in the runners which was great.

Joe came in from his second loop (40k) in 5:50 which was behind pace but I told him in the heat not to worry about it.  He was still running good.  He took just over 4 hours for his third loop, so slowed down a lot.

I went to see him and he wanted to DNF (quit).  I convinced him to rest, then he said he wanted to lie down.  April, Mel and Byron all said not to let him sleep more than 15 minutes, so I then woke him up, and told him he needed to get going or he was in danger of timing out.  Joe said he wanted to sleep for another 30 minutes and he'd just time out.  I discussed it with him but he was adamant.

Went to back to April, Mel and Byron who said 'No, you have to get him moving!' But what am I supposed to do.  So I went back and told him April and Mel thought he should get up and get going, and THEN he did.  Ha!  The magic words!

As it turns out, he took 3 hours to do the next loop - 2 hours of running and 1 hour of sleeping on the trail.  Not the best pacing unfortunately.  But he came in charged up and said he felt great, that he was back.  Yay!

He did the next loop in over 4 hours - he ran the first 10k in about an hour, then slowly walked the rest.  When he came in for 100k it was 17 hours 48 minutes on the clock, and he said he was done.  I said 'No, you have time, you just have to keep steady and you've got this, get back out there!' and he said he was exhausted, had terrible chafing (which was raw and which he'd put duct tape over, oh oww oww oww) plus he has a 24 hour treadmill run in 3 weeks that he's raised money for.  So, because of the chafing, and because he had committed to other people for the 24 hour run, I let him DNF.  Feel bad about it, but the chafing seemed pretty awful and he was in a lot of pain.

Goodbye Sulphur....

Joe was both philosophical and down.  I'm supposed to pace him at the Haliburton 100 and he said he didn't want to run it.  I told him he should wait a week or two before making any decisions, and see Sulphur as a long training run for the 24 hour run and Hali.  Speaking to Joe today, he's back on track for Hali and in a better frame of mind.  He's going to recommit to his training.

Perhaps the most incredible thing of the day was that the 100 mile record got broken, in 38C heat - 15:33:34.  Here's a video of the winner coming in so fast I could barely catch him!

MEC Burlington Race 1 - Dundas Valley Conservation Area

Here comes my usual 'short' race report.  LOL.

I got some upsetting news on Friday afternoon so dinner out with my friend Cindy went late as discussed and had a few pints.  Good night though.  Good race prep?  Well, it was an 11.5k race, so I figured I'd be fine.

Toby's alarm went off at 5:30 because even though he wasn't working (at MEC Toronto), he had an early ride.  I was going to get up, but decided to sleep in a bit - Mom said she would come sometime 'before 7' so I figured I had time to get up, get dressed, and take the d-o-gs out.  At 6:14, she called to say she was at Dupont and Spadina - uh oh!  She got to our place while I was still out with the dogs, who were thrilled to see her.  From Davisville to High Park in 21 minutes.  If you know Toronto, that's impressive.

I decided to change my clothes based on taking the dogs out, so I went with a tshirt rather than a tank, and by the time I'd fed everyone etc we left about 6:45 I think.

The race was well organized - I picked up my bib, we did beat the timing chips but they got there soon and were sent up quickly.

We had time to relax and went into the trail centre, when I ran into Tim who I've run 40k training runs on the Sulphur Springs course in Dundas Valley, it was great to see him, he was sweeping that day.  He said 'I hope you're doing the long race!' and I assured him I was.  Heh.

Then I went for a 750m warm up run, and it was close to race time.

The instructions weren't what I expected - I'd looked at the race maps before hand and thought we were doing the top bit first.  So I got slightly confused but figured I'd just follow the people in front of me.

But it was very nice to run in a part of Dundas Valley that wasn't the same as the Sulphur Springs course.  A few familiar trails, but lots of new trails too.  That was really nice.

My pacing was weird for this race - I felt good at the start and went hard except on the hills, but that wore me out as I haven't been running as much as I should be #fatandoutofshape  I started off running the hills but when we got to the crossover of what I think is Sulphur Creek it was steep enough that everyone in front of me walked so I did too.  After that, I just started walking hills.  I mean, I do in ultras, but I'm a bit embarrassed that I did in such a short race.  EVERYBODY ELSE WAS!!!  If everybody jumped off a bridge, would you too?  The answer may be yes.

The aid station was around 3, 4k in.  This is my only suggestion for the race.  Move it to close to the the parking lot off Sulphur Springs Road or by the Hermitage, which is accessible by car to bring the supplies in.  Further into the race, more the middle, and - this race, the aid station was set up in front of a turn into another trail, so people didn't see it and ran past.  I didn't got too far past as the leaders were coming back, but you literally had to go around the aid station to get onto the trail.  The aid station volunteer didn't point out the turn either.

I had stopped at the aid station for a drink - in small races, I don't feel right running with water and chucking my cup later so that the few volunteers have to pick them up - but it would make more sense to position the recycling/garbage after the aid station, not before.

So those are my aid station comments.

It was a beautiful day.  I was running hard, mostly, but slowing - Mom saw me turn onto Deer Run but I didn't see her, though I looked - I saw her leaving it and said hi.

By then I was mostly around the same runners, but the little problem I have when I run too hard (it never happens when I do tempos though, for some weird reason, just in races) reared it's head...leakage.  I would bomb down the hills and leak leak leak.  AUGH!  I just decided to go with it.  Road2Hope I walked for a bit to try to stop it, here I was like 'Forget it, it's not that bad'.

The thing is, I peed before the race, didn't drink a huge amount of water, and didn't particularly FEEL like I had to pee.  I apparently just when I run at 91% of max HR (or higher...that was my average for this race, yes I'm on a med that can raise HR, but still) my pelvic floor muscles forget their function.

Anyways, leaking aside, I had a great time.  Dundas Valley does not boast the most technical trails out there, but it's still really pretty, I like running there.  And it is hilly - I forgot how hilly it is.

So, shortest race I've done in years, but I had a blast.  I'm feeling good about my decision to step away from ultras for a bit - I've got backpacking trips planned, next race is Sulphur Springs in Dundas Valley (again) where I'm only doing the 25k.  Bit nervous for that now!

By the numbers:

Distance;  11.5k
Time:  1:17:57
Pace per km: 6:47
Elevation Gain, as per 920 (available at MEC!):  256m (over 11.5k!  No wonder I was tired)
Average HR:  91% of max
Maximum HR:  95% of max
Place: 70/103 (so front of back of the pack, which is fairly typical for me)

Yes, so the numbers show I'm out of shape.

Sunday Neb and I did a 24.46k hike in Hockley Valley (1,021m elevation gain) and I think that I am going to change up footwear for our backpacking trips, so will need to visit MEC sometime soon.

MEC did a great job putting on a grassroots race - it was nice, no bells and whistles, but post-race food, water, chip timed, bibs - I don't need another medal that I'm just going to stick in a drawer or a shirt that I probably won't wear.  The MEC race was about what races should be about - RUNNING.

Great job by the organizers and volunteers, many thanks to them.

A couple of shots of Neb hiking on Sunday, because who doesn't love pictures of dogs?

Dion Frontenac Snowshoe Race

It was a lovely weekend in Kingston and Frontenac Provincial Park north of the city.

I've been struggling to regain my fitness after Road2Hope...who knew a few weeks off would mean a huge drop off in pace and a big spike in HR.  I'm still struggling to understand this.  Just running a lot slower...sigh.  Got to get the weight back down too.  I like food way too much.

We left for Kingston on Saturday and returned Sunday, so there was no need for a housesitter for the cats and Eco.  The dogs came with us.  The race was Sunday morning.

That said, this isn't an 'A' race, so there was no interruption in training.  We got up early Saturday morning and ran 22k which at the pace we ran it at was 85% of MHR for me (!!!!!!) so it was actually a 22k tempo run.

Which is weird, because our actual tempo runs are faster with lower HRs (yes, I need to run them faster, but I'm huffing and puffing on those...not on Saturday, I could talk).  I traditionally have a higher HR in the morning, possibly because I'm dehydrated, but STILL.

Anyways, it was a good 22k run, and worked my legs.

We then drove to Frontenac Provincial Park, stopping once (legs were stiffening, just what I need for a race the next morning).  We got there and bumped into Derrick and Sara, who were dropping off supplies and heading out to mark the course.  We managed to get Derrick his box o' beer (I owed him one...fun to gather, though getting the Junction Stationmaster Stout in bottles was difficult as the brewery was always out and it's not available in the LCBO, but eventually, I prevailed).

We then did a short snowshoe hike on trails I've never done in Frontenac because they're so short - Doe Lake and Arab Lake Gorge.  Both were nice trails, though Arab Lake Gorge was a little boardwalk-y at the start for my taste.  We met a couple using snowshoes for the first time on Doe Lake and told them about the race...you never know, maybe next year they'll come out and run it!

Then we headed off to the motel, checked in, got the dogs set up in their comfy crates (you're not supposed to leave dogs unattended) and then headed to downtown Kingston to pick up Kelly and go meet our friend Rob who is doing his masters at Queens.  We went to a nice pub with great food specializing in craft beer, recommended by Keith (and seconded by a guy at Junction Brewery who used to work there).  Nice evening.

Sunday morning we woke up, took the dogs out, then went out to pack the car and discovered that some fucktard who must've parked drunk decided to start a third row behind our car and blocked us in.  GREAT.  The race is in an hour and a half and it's at least a 30 minute drive to the park.

We go in.  License plate not registered.  Must be a friend of a guest.  We ask them to get it towed - meanwhile, I'm freaking out - how long will THAT take?  OMG I'm going to miss the race.  Then I said 'What about the car properly parked in front of us?' so the office called that guest, who came down and moved their car (THANK YOU!!!!!!).

I've never been tempted to key someone's car before.  But I was.  I didn't, but I was.

We got to the park about 9:20...ran in to check in, pee, and then I decided that maybe just maybe I had time to do a short warm up with Neb - just under 10 minutes.  The only thing that did was remind me that my legs were sore and not happy with me....greeeeeat.

Oh well.

The race started, and I ran with Kelly for just over the first 3.5k.  It was nice to run with her, but she was stronger that day and eventually left me behind.  I passed one girl who would run faster than me, but then walk, and eventually stopped seeing her.  At about 4k my legs stopped hurting and I settled into a nice, albeit slow, rhythm, and just enjoyed the day on the Corridor Trail.  That was my favourite part of the race, for sure.  It was just nice to be running by myself feeling good.  There was nobody around me so I decided I wasn't going to race to catch people who knows how far ahead and I wasn't going to race to stave off an attack from the rear.  I was just going to enjoy running by myself.
Too soon, the race was over.  I wish the whole race was like the last 2.5k!  Oh well.  Maybe a longer warm up next time, heh.  And no 22k tempo runs the day before.

I finished 38/61.  Definitely not my best showing, but for my level of fitness and fat I'll take it.  BOMOP, but not BOP (barely hahahaha) so hey.  Dion Brighton will hopefully be a better race for me.

Then Toby and I took the dogs for a snowshoe hike along West Arkon, running into Sara who was heading out to run to de-mark the course - and I will pause to note this - the course was amazingly marked.  Not only do Derrick (and Sara!) put on a great race, but they did an amazing job of marking everything.  Totally well done - thanks guys!

We enjoyed the hike but SOMEONE cut a pad so when we stopped at the 4k mark for some water we realized the snow looked like a bloodbath.  No limping, but rather than doing the 11k loop we did an out and back.  We also weren't sure how Luc's arthritis would take 11k (he limped for a day and a half after a hilly 14k hike at the start of the month, though we've taken steps to better manage his arthritis now).  Anyways, no arthritis flare ups with 8k, so that was a positive thing.  Goooo Luc!

We were a bit late getting back to Toronto but it was worth it to have a hike after the race.  A great weekend all around.

Road2Hope Half Marathon Race Report

So I didn't have the best training going into this.  Everything was going great until about a month before the race, other than a few missed tempo runs :whistles:

Then I wore 3" heels to work, after a summer of wearing 2" heels, and my ankle/posterior tibial tendon went NUTS again.  So I couldn't run.  Thanks Neb - tear some ligaments in my ankle, give me arthritis and osteophytes, and leave me with a weird tendon!  Great!  As an aside, the sports medicine doctor is sending me for a MRI.

Anyways, I finally got in one last long run (20k) which went terribly I guess.  My tendon was slightly tender, my left hip got pissed off, and my heart rate was jacked.  I revised the plan from PB to just over 2 hours, with an atheist prayer for sub-2 just for respectability.

Finally, some personal upheavals left me too upset to run, followed by our rabbit Eco getting cancer (invasive subcutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma as per the biopsy) and having surgery - all very quickly.  Good news is Eco should be fine.  So, I didn't run for 8 days prior to the race, and my last run had been shorter than planned.

Nothing like a good taper, right?

Add to that diet fatigue has set in so I've been holding around the same weight for a while (overweight on our scale, not overweight on the doctor's scale, but still, fat for a runner).

Saturday before the race we drove out to Hamilton in the snow to pick up our race kits...uh oh.  Brrr.  Then we went and ran some errands, went over to Joe's for lunch to celebrate him doing the Atacama Desert Stage Race, went home, took the dogs for a walk, then over to Mom's to celebrate Jaene, my SIL's, birthday.

So beer and wine was consumed.  Plus a shocking amount of food...seriously.  And it was a busy day, a bit later night then we would've liked given that we decided to get up at 4:45 am to make sure we got to the finish and found parking and got on a bus to go to the start (Road2Hope is a point-to-point course).  Also we forgot to get fuel for the car so had to do that on the way home from Mom's.

So we were all set for a great race!  Hahahahahaha

Everything went smoothly race morning though after taking the dogs out in the morning I opted for a warmer top (I tend to get hot easily while running).

Had a banana for breakfast, perfect for a half-marathon.

Waited around at the start, tried to coax a reluctant BM (after all I ate yesterday?  I know you're in there!).  Finally had to pee again but the line ups for the indoor washrooms and port-a-potties were long so I decided to just hold it (sigh).

We lined up just in front of the 2:15 pace bunny, not because that's what we wanted to run, but because that's where we could sandwich ourselves in without getting stuck at the back.

And the race started!

Everything felt SO much better than it did in the last long run.  Pace slightly faster and felt more comfortable.  I began to entertain that sub-2 might in fact be possible.

We hit Red Hill Parkway and enjoyed the downhill running after the flat.  Toby mentioned he had some bother-y leg stuff, but said we were fine at our pace.  (Toby kindly offered to pace me).

Off of the Parkway we went onto a gravel path, with rollers - which were fine, we train hills, but since I'd read that the race was all downhill and I was like 'WHAT IS THIS????!!!?'  Heh.  We passed a lot of people in this section who had gone out too hard.

Finally down to the flat out and back, which was brutal - I really had to pee, and was running hard, which in ladies is not always a good combination (maybe guys too, I dunno, but I was a little leaky).  Toby's IT band was really bothering him, so he said that if he had to slow down just to go, but he kept it up.  A few k out we walked for about 20 metres, which was probably dumb, as the 2 hr pace bunny paced us (we'd past him ages ago).  Started running again and I was like 'I'll be damned if that fucking pace bunny finishes ahead of me!'

We caught and passed the bunny.  I lost track of where Toby was at this point, as I was hammering along trying not to die.  Finally rounded the final corner and saw the finish - was going all out (which for fat pathetic me is a 4:21min/k) at 97% of max heart rate - ouch.  Hit the first mat and my legs just went out from the effort - I hit the deck.  I was like 'oh shit!  Which of the two mats is the final timing mat?' and stumbled up and over to the other mat, stopped my Garmin and was like shit shit shit shit shit.  Quickly grabbed by 2 volunteers who I told I was fine, and they said 'No, you have to go to the medical tent'.  But I knew I'd gone sub-2, so go me!

I heard the announcer saying they were shutting part of the race when I fell, which I didn't understand, because I just fell and got back up - not that big of a deal - but as it turns out, a man in back of me had a heart attack.  When Toby got there, they'd shut the course and were doing chest compressions - an ambulance took him away.  Eventually they let the runners around the barriers, but Toby said some woman who was going for sub-2 cried because she wasn't going to get it.  Yeah, some guy is basically dead and you're crying about your fucking time?  PRIORITIES.  Jebus.

They took me to the med tent and I was all upset and kept saying 'I have to find my husband' but because of the effort I was slightly woozy.  They grabbed some gauze and put it on me, grabbed a blanket, told me I had to take my jacket off (but I don't have anything underneath!  It's a shirt/jacket).  They got me a weird-fabric jacket that all finishers got but I missed (though I made sure I got my medal on the way to the tent, I don't know why, I stick all my medals in drawers).

Anyways, so I was bleeding from the chin quite a bit, which I didn't realize.  They said the wound needed cleaning and stitches, but that they couldn't do that there.  It took them forever to put on the butterfly bandages, gauze and tape - which wouldn't stick because I was sweating - and then I had to sit there.  Eventually I convinced one of the nice nurses to go look for Toby, but in the thousands of people, she couldn't find him (I told her he was also wearing a Sydenham Fall Trail Run buff...represent Spafford Health and Adventure).  She offered to send him a text, after agreeing I could go on my own, so I said I would meet him at the car.

There are multiple parking lots, so I got lost, but found another lady who was lost, and we walked together, running into Toby who was also looking for the car (where his phone was) who was pissed I hadn't waited for him.  I was like 'Umm...my chin is covered in gauze goof, I was in medical'.  We all walked and found the right parking lot together, the lady had done Run for the Toad and recommended it, she lives in Brantford so I told her she should check out Sulphur Springs.

I didn't bring my wallet, so we went home, changed shirts, and then went to the hospital.

The sad thing:  I tore a hole in the knee of my new tights :(

Got seen, the doctor was impressed at the depth of the wound, cleaned, stitches (appears to be 5 well-spaced stitches - I wasn't expecting them to be so far apart).

Now we are home having beer.  Yum!

In final round up - we each took two gels, no water, so had gels at water stations and were somewhat stuck for WHEN we took them then - 5k and 14k.

Final chip time:  1:58:27.  My PB is a 1:58:05.  Sigh.  Maybe if I hadn't done the short walk, maybe the second timing mat at the finish is THE mat - but it's fine.  I went sub-2 on meh training while chubby, so I'm happy.  I gave it my all and left nothing on the course.  I can't complain.  Next up is Chilly and I will be thinner and have more base and fucking DEMOLISH my PB!

Road2Hope is a great race, even though I was embarrassing at the end and fell like a loser.  I guess that's what running at near max feels like.

I'd do it again, but we were lucky with the weather - I'd hate to do this race in early November if it were raining.  But we lucked out with a sunny day, if cold at the start.

Worst. Pacer. Ever. Around The Bay 30k

OK, so this should be a short report.  (Ha!  I may have to be succinct at work, but this is my blooooog, I can ramble on as much as I’d like…poor you, reader, poor you.)

Training:
Well, as you may or may not know, I tore the ligaments in my ankle in early November.  Started running again, on the DREADMILL, in late December.

My early enthusiasm quickly waned.  I still went and worked out, but man is the dreadmill b-o-r-i-n-g.  However, Hali 100, so.  But!  Then!  Bipolar strikes!  This had been building since December, but by mid-January-mid-February I was a big delusional mess, which does not lend itself to training.  I ran maybe…once a week?  Short.  And not at the gym, because, crazy.

By early March I had run a couple of times, but still wasn’t up to regular running.  2 weeks out, the furthest I’d run since Hali 2013 was 12k, and that was only twice over all those months.  Then I ran a couple of 11ks (plantar popped up) and a 15k (wearing orthotics, which I hadn’t worn in AGES, to help with the plantar – hello horrible blister on my arch, several layers of missing skin).  So, yeah.  I ran 30k the Sunday before Around the Bay – 20k in the morning, 10 at night.  Then rested the world’s worst blister.

So, on that stellar training, I was ready to run.  Heh.

I was going to pace Joe, a running buddy who is pacing me at Hali 100 this year, as he ran from Toronto to Hamilton overnight to get to the race.  This did not go to plan.

We were at the start with K, who was planning to go for sub-3 (and she killed it!), nice to see her, but we weren’t fated to run together.  We saw Rick about 2k in or so, as he was working his way through the crowd.  At 3k, Joe felt the call of nature and decided to duck behind a building.  I was going to stop, but he said to keep going, he’d find me.  We’d been solidly on pace for a 3:15, which was faster than what Joe had been planning to do, but I figured, go with it for as long as it felt good.  

He did not, however, find me.  I ran slow so he could catch up, but nope.  I stopped, and waited for a few minutes, scanning the crowd.  Nope.

So I decided to keep running, alternating strategies of ‘run slow, in case Joe is behind you’ with ‘run normal, what if Joe is ahead’.  This is a surprisingly ineffective way to run.

At 10k I was overcome with guilt – what sort of horrible pacer was I?  Joe was tired, I’m supposed to be keeping him company, and here I am, running along.  So I stopped, for well over 5 minutes, and watched runners go by.  We were on a ramp, so I had a good vantage – still didn’t see Joe.

I did see Helen (Hali race director) run by, wondering what I was doing.  After several minutes, I decided to go, and I booted it along (the 3:30 pace bunny had long since passed me, which was quite irksome).  I passed people back, quickly rather than gradually, getting all pooped out and worrying in the process – what if Joe was still behind me?  What if he was in front, that he’d passed me while I grabbed some water?

Eventually I settled into a slow pace, figuring this was just another training day – I estimated I’d been stopped for 8-10 minutes looking for Joe, and I just wasn’t going to make that up – and this isn’t a goal race, so hey.

Hit North Shore – I was a bit nervous, since my hill training has been zero – there is one hill to/from the waterfront, which is where I’ve been running.  But I was fine on the hills.

Ambled along (wracked with ‘worst.pacer.ever’ guilt) – hit Copps Coliseum, or whatever they’re calling it now – it’s COPPS DAMMIT – finished in 3:23 (sigh), for my worst finish out of 3 ATB’s…but not that much worse than when I ran it with a stress fracture, so that’s something, I guess.

Had to call Toby, found each other and discovered Joe had finished about 10 minutes ahead of me.  So, if I hadn’t stopped to look for him, we probably would’ve found each other, or finished together anyways.

Such is life – it’s a bit of a bummer, because I neither paced nor ran my own race, but it was still a good training day, beautiful weather (who knew you could get sunburnt in March).  And it was fun to run with Joe for at least a bit of the way, I enjoyed the day. 

See?  Short-ish report!

Haliburton Forest 50k Race Report

I was originally supposed to run my second 50 miler at Haliburton Forest, which was my 'A' race this season.

 

Things were going well - I ran the 50 miler at Sulphur Springs, then after my IT band calmed back down, was back into running.

 

Then I got sick. I had a terrible migraine, for a week and a half, and as a result missed Limberlost 42k and the Haliburton training run the next day. What followed was a bout of intense depression (though I've since learnt there is possibly a link between migraines and depression/bipolar). It was terrible. They say running is supposed to help your mood, but running just made me feel like I was suffocating, drowning, and short easy runs became more difficult than the 50 miler at Sulphur. The pain I experienced from the depression was worse than the pain of an extremely inflammed IT band for 57k. It was awful.

 

So I missed a lot of running. I just couldn't face getting out there. And when I did get out, the runs were short. I needed them to be over quickly, to end the pain, though usually I just ended up curled up on the couch in a ball or crying.

 

Toby became exasperated. He was worried. I know it's frustrating to watch someone you love hurt and not be able to help them.

 

Luckily I recognized quickly that this would be a bad depressive episode, and got in to see my pdoc quickly. We started on an anti-depressant, which was a bit nerve-wracking - being on an anti-depressant was how I was first diagnosed bipolar, but at the time that was all I was on and I'm now on other medications, plus I was put on an anti-depressant which is not as bad for triggering mania.

 

While it made me nauseous, eventually I started to come around. And run again.

 

But I didn't feel like my training was there for 50 miles at Haliburton. I firmly believe Haliburton is a far more difficult course than Sulphur - I'm not sure how different the elevation gain/loss is, but Haliburton is far, far more technical.

 

So I dropped down to the 50k. I knew I had the fitness to PB (my previous best, in 2012, was a 7:49, and that was in a rain/mud fest and with serious gut issues that had me stopping to go to the bathroom constantly. (Regular readers of my blog may notice I have gut issues when I run - NINE bathroom breaks at Sulphur, oh yeah.)

 

It pissed me off. A lot.

 

As we got closer to the race, runs started to go better. I toyed with the idea of asking Helen if I could switch back up to the 50 miler. But I truly believed my long runs hadn't been there. I knew I could complete the 50 miles, but I wanted to run it strong, and I wasn't sure I could do that. Most importantly, my head wasn't there.

 

So 50k it was.

 

This year we stayed at the Forest and brought the dogs, which was really nice. One day I'll convince Toby to camp (okay, maybe that will never happen), but the cabins were nice. Kind of like apartments. We had an easy drive up, stopping at Webers for a veggie burger (me), a hot dog (Toby) and a free hamburger courtesy of Cottage Life (Luc and Neb). Personally I think Webers is overpriced for what it is, but the veggie burger and hamburger were both free, and we could eat at the picnic tables with the dogs, which is worth something.

 

We got to the Forest, picked up my race kit and chatted with Helen a bit. Went to check in for the cabin - we were a bit early, but since we were staying in smaller accomodations they were ready so we got unpacked (travelling with dogs means taking a whackload of stuff!).

 

Then we took the dogs for a walk to Aid Station 2 (well just past it actually). Originally the plan was for Toby and the dogs to drive out to Aid Station 5, which is near the turnaround, to see me on course, but heavy flooding in the spring meant some of the Forest roads were in bad shape and there was no crew access to Aid Station 5.

 

Since you go through Aid Station 2 twice on the way back (you go through it, then loop around on Normac Trail around a lake, to road, back to Aid Station 2 again), I thought it would make sense for Toby to walk out with the dogs there and he could watch the racers come through and see me - since the loop around the lake is at least 10k, he'd have plenty of time to walk the ~2k back to the finish line to see me finish.

 

Race day dawned early (too early to be bright). I've been basically a walking bar of fibre in an attempt to regulate my gut issues - you should see how much fibre I eat, plus I take supplements - but I got up at 3:30 to eat to give plenty of time for digestion, then went back to bed. In the past I would've had oatmeal, but I decided to eat a regular breakfast - greek yogurt and blueberries. I was going to eat a banana but felt too sleepy. Was back in bed 5 minutes later, and rested until 4:45, when I got up to walk the dogs quickly and start putting stuff together and relaxing. It was nice, since we were basically at the start line.

 

I took a preventative Immodium at the start of the race, and just after the turnaround, and not a single stirring. YEAH!!!! I'm not even sure the Immodium was necessary, as my stomach has been pretty good lately, but I wasn't taking any chances.

 

The race starts in the dark, on forest road. Some people don't use headlamps, but they are crazy IMO. Headlamps weigh next to nothing and just make things easier. Plus if it is still a bit dark when you get to Normac you can give yourself some extra light to see rocks and roots.

 

I had a plan for my PB - move at a decent clip on the road section, at a slower but decent effort for the trail section, and then pick it up again for the road section on the way back.

 

The road section on the way out was a bit faster than I'd planned, but I was running easy and chatting with people, so it worked. I was pleased with my pace as well on Normac, and on the trails at first.

 

Eventually, what with the drizzle and cloud cover and wet leaves, my Garmin Fenix started cutting in and out. It's the first time it's done that, but it was annoying, because some kilometers were faster and some were long (one k was measured as 29 minutes LOL). The real problem is when it eventually cut out and didn't immediately pick up again, the screen just read that the satellite signal had been lost, and I wasn't sure how to turn that off so I could see the time and get my reminders to drink. I was flying blind, for a bit, until I figured it out. I was too busy running to problem solve, I guess, but I got there eventually. I was cursing it though and wishing I'd used the 310xt.

 

I hit the 50k turnaround in around 2:57. I hadn't stopped at any aid stations on the way out, but stopped on the way back for some straight water (was drinking Infinit) and orange slices.

 

I was running a bit slower, and walking a bit more. It felt like the hills on the way back were longer, while the ones on the way out were steeper, so it meant more walking. I suspect that this may not be the case and that was simply a function of me being tired, but we'll go with that.

 

There is about 10k between Aid Stations 4 and 5. It seemed to go on forever. And it's hilly and technical. Came through it fine - one poor soul managed to break either his ankle or lower leg in there though, and had to be extracted to the nearest road. Yikes. It happened after I'd gone through though. Poor guy.

 

Anyways, eventually I got to Aid Station 4 - yay! I'd been seeing some of the 26k runners heading out, but none caught me on the way back.

 

I saw Toby and the dogs at Aid Station 2 (you go through it twice, as I mentioned, so you actually hit it on the way back before Aid Station 3). The dogs seemed totally unexcited to see me, which was a bit insulting - yeah thanks guys, see if I care about seeing you next time I come home from work! Geez!

 

I was stopped for longer at Aid Station 2, as I wanted to fill my handheld that had Infinit powder in it up with water - I had to get Toby to open it since my hands were sweaty - and then - yikes - there must've been water in the handheld when I filled it that morning, just enough damp to congeal the powder at the mouth so that I had to push it all in and then have gross sticky fingers. I was highly dubious about shaking up the congealed powder - I think it was fine, but as it turned out my bladder lasted me the race.

 

I did a good job running up the long hill to Normac, and ran well on Normac. After Normac on the road section I wasn't quite as fast as I'd hoped, though I also slowed down and gave directions to two 26k runners who had gone the wrong way - they were both really pissed off. Whatever. No thanks, oh well.

 

I finished so-so. I didn't really run up the long hill - I figured I wasn't going to get 6:15, so why bother (nice mental toughness there me) but at the top I was like 'Oh man I gotta boot it to hit 6:20' so I started running again, 'fast'.

 

Crossed the finish line with a time of 6:18:31 (preliminary results just posted to OUSer).

 

OMG! PB by over an hour and a half! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And even better, I was 20th overall and 7th woman.

 

I know, I know, big deal, but I'm usually BOP. I worked hard this year dammit! Set a new (non-race) 5k PB (smashed it, actually), did my first 50 miler, set a new 50k PB....

 

(Plus an unsupported 50k that was at the time a 50k PB and a marathon the weekend after which sadly was not a PB, but hey.)

 

Only one 50k runner passed me from the turnaround, and he was a guy (he was actually the only person period; none of the 26k runners caught me either).

 

It was really nice to be able to hang around the finish line and cheer in other runners, and cheer out friends and other people doing the 100 miles going back out for their second lap. And have a beer or two or three :) (Though no public drinking!) We hung out with Derrick for a bit, and lent our shower to Sara when she finished - 4th woman in the 50 miler, whoo hoo! - and then we all hung out to cheer Kelly over the line for her first 50 miler - Kelly did awesome!

 

Then Kelly, Toby and I went for dinner in town.

 

When we got back, I was pretty tired - but it was good to have eaten. I hadn't eaten much all day and was quite cold, until I had some pasta, when suddenly I became toasty warm. Duh.

 

The next morning we got updates on Joe, a friend who was running the 100 miles, and had breakfast - we just missed Stephen, another friend, finishing his 100 miler by 10 minutes - way to go Stephen! We had a great time chatting to people and watching as the dogs got lots of attention, and Joe came in for a strong finish at the 100 miles - YAY!!!!!! Way to go Joe! Was so cool to see him finish.

 

Very inspired by the race. I knew after Sulphur that I would do 100 miles in 2014, but it's definitely going to be Hali and I'm already putting together a team - Joe is in to help and to have someone with that 100 mile experience - totally invaluable.

 

All in all, a great weekend. The dogs were great, the race was great, the weather was pretty good - light rain off and on on race day, nice on Friday and Sunday. I love Haliburton - it's the best trail race in Ontario, I think - all the volunteers are AWESOME, the race organization is AWESOME, and the runners are AWESOME. It really is something special.

 

Gear:

-compression shorts. Forget the brand and am too lazy to go look.

-k tape on my IT bands and hip bursitis (thanks Andrew!)

-lucky socks (I'm a terrible atheist) - PYP finisher's socks

-MEC merino t-shirt - bad choice, last year it fit tighter b/c I was bigger, now it's looser and I chafed like a mofo on my arms and armpits.

-Inov-8 shoes - only half a size up, I debated whether to wear these or the Salomon Speedcross 3 which are a full size up but the Salomon's I don't like in slippery weather on rocks and logs and it was calling for rain. My toes felt a bit banged though. Some tiny blisters on the ends of my long toes.

-Wet Platinum personal lubricant on my feet. Body Glide is for suckers.

-Moving Comfort bra. Worked well, but chafed around armpits. Must lose fat to combat this.

-UltrAspire Surge pack with 2L hydration bladder and Nathan handheld attached to the pack for most of the run empty save Infinit powder

-Sugoi hat

-headlamp

-running gaiters to keep stuff out

Nutrition

-S!Caps (electrolytes) every hour, roughly, except at 6hrs I didn't bother

-Infinit - ~330 cal/600mL, took in just under 2L. Not a lot of calories, but nervous about my tummy. 5 sips every 15 minutes, compared to 10 sips every 15 minutes for the 50 miler at Sulphur

-Water from course

-3 orange slices

Sulphur Springs Race Report - 50 Miler

Where to start, where to start....

This will be a long entry, but I'm at a loss for where to begin.  Well, I guess, in the lead up - I was SO nervous!  My first 50 miler!  Damn that's far!  Not 100 miles far, but still - far!

I wasn't sure how to pace, or if I should even worry about pacing, and I'd read every race report known to man about Sulphur Springs, pretty well every distance that is run there - read and reread the participants guide - I mean, it was kind of sad.

A few weeks out, I had a shake down massage, which appeared to have exposed an underlying imbalance, because I developed a groin pain that took a week to go away and which freaked me out completely.  But then it went away - however, I believe it played a role on race day - stay tuned!

A little more than a week out, I started rolling my IT bands.  I don't think I've had IT band issues for at least a year and a half, but an ounce of preventation and all that, I wanted them to be as loose as possible.  Ha.

Race day we woke up at 3:20 - got dressed, got the water jug filled, final packing, took the dogs out (they stayed at home and Steve came to take them out in the afternoon), had breakfast - left the house about 4 am to get to the race start for about 5, so that we'd get a prime set up spot for crewing.  And parking.  Both were accomplished.  It was a cold morning - about 5C maybe?  The car thermometer dropped to 4C at one point.  I wore tights over my shorts and a down jacket while waiting for the race start.

Picked up my race kit - great swag!  T-shirt - women's specific! - a hat, and a handheld bottle - and set up the crew station just in front of the timing mats.

Before the race, we saw Helen (race director of the best race ever, Haliburton, and an all-round great lady!) and Joe, who stayed at the same bed and breakfast for Haliburton as us last year - Joe was running the 50k today as he had a family thing to go to afterwards - he introduced me to Scott, who is going to the Adirondacks on the same running trip in June, so it was nice to put a face to the name.  Mom came - wow, early wake up for her - awesome.  I had some Clif Shot Bloks and G2, and before I knew it I was lubing up my feet and pulling on my wind jacket for the start.

Sulphur is loops of just over 20k, so I was doing 4 loops for a distance of 80.5k.  The race started at 6 am.

Lap 1 - 2:20:06
I tried to keep this lap easy, and pay attention to the course, which was harder to do than you would think, because people were still grouped together and it was easy to just watch the runner ahead.  However, the course was well marked so I didn't need to worry, and I was fairly familiar with the course anyways.  I settled into running the flats and downhills and walking the ups, a common strategy in long races to preserve energy.  I stopped to pee at the 9k aid station, but that was my only stop for the lap - I'd been running with Leanne, a lovely lady who is one of the race directors of Creemore, but from that break ran mostly by myself.  I came in to the 'transition' (Toby and Mom) with 2:16 on the clock (all lap times above include time in transition), went to the washroom (thank you inconsistent gut!), changed my bladder for one with more Infinit, quickly chatted, and headed out.  I clearly remember mentioning that my left leg (the same leg with the groin pain that was gone this day, but previously had been bothering me) was a bit sore.

Lap 2 - 2:30:20
By 3k in, my 'left leg feels a bit sore' had changed to 'holy shit my left IT band is going fucking nuts'.  Not a good sign.  Ever run 57.5k on an IT band screaming at you?  Well, until Saturday I hadn't, but I wasn't sure how possible it was.  I had exactly two extra strength Advils, and I hadn't planned on breaking them out that early in the race, if at all, but by 3 hours I decided it was necessary.  I have no idea whether the Advil helped - the pain didn't get better, but maybe it would've been even worse if I hadn't taken it?  Either way, I knew I was fucked.  Completely fucked.  I tried not to slow down, I felt great aside from the IT band (and why was my IT band bothering me?  I don't even REMEMBER the last time I had IT band problems, and I preventative rolled to make sure it was loose).  All bathroom breaks from this point on were thanks to my gut, and I had another stop at 9k, and when I rolled into the transition area.  I also had a piece of ginger at this point - I wouldn't say I felt nauseous, but I thought why not.  Switched my bladder for some more Infinit, had half a package of Clif Shot Blocks, some G2, and went on my way.

Oh yes, and I was taking S!Caps (electrolytes) at every hour, religiously.

Lap 3 - 2:43:39
I was very worried about my IT band at this point - I was trying to stretch it - but I knew Gary was coming to pace me, and I was damned if I was going to waste his time.  I had been a lot faster through laps 1 and 2 then I had expected, but I knew I would start to slow down.  Toby was worried about me finishing lap 3 before Gary got there, but I knew there was no way that was going to happen, even if natural slow down and the IT band hadn't been an issue.  A lot of this lap was running in pain.  At this point, I was starting to see more 50k runners, who would say they were 'only' doing the 50k - there's no only about it, 50k is far!  When it comes to that, I was 'only' doing the 50 miler!  Not the 100 miler!  But 50 miles is still damn far, so.

I saw a few deer this loop, and a baby raccoon crying - I stopped for a bit to watch it, worried - another runner passed me, I don't know what they thought I was doing - but eventually I realized I couldn't do anything for it and I was just wasting time staring at it and potentially keeping Momma away.  It wasn't there on the 4th lap so either Momma came back for it or a hawk or coyote got it.  I rolled into the 9k aid station, stopping for my bathroom break (sigh).  Saw some people I'd been running around during the first lap, but with the IT band pain, was concentrated on feeling miserable and didn't say anything.  We passed each other a few times, but nothing from them either so I assume we were all feeling about the same at that point.

Aside from the IT band pain, I was starting to get more tired, but still feeling pretty good and strong.  I did 50k in under 6:30 (I'm not sure exactly what it was but I know it was under that, I wasn't paying a lot of attention at the time but at 6:30 I looked down and realized I was over 50k), smashing my PB (okay, it wasn't a 50k race, so it doesn't count, but still.  Sulphur isn't technical and it shows in the times, I think, though it is quite hilly - there are some brutal hills there to trash your legs!).

I took my second Advil at 7 hrs.  Didn't make any difference that I could see.

Rolled into 'transition' and while Mom had to go to party, Gill (Toby's mom) was there - an awesome surprise - and Gary waiting to pace me.  Went to the bathroom (again).  Was very happy to see Gary!

Lap 4 - 3:07:27
Started off feeling good, aside from the IT band, which was going completely fucking crazy.  I'd been stretching it through loop 3, and stretched it in transition, but holy.  Still, was running - albeit slowly - for the first part of the loop.  Gary was a great pacer, nice easy conversation and a great cheerleader.  Just before the 3k aid station, we caught a girl I'd been trading places with during the race, and she was running with a pacer too, and then at the 3k aid station I stopped to - you guessed it - go to the bathroom!  WTH!!!!!  We caught the girl and her pacer again shortly after the aid station, and ran with them for a while, chatting about adventure racing and triathlons.  She wanted to walk for awhile, and while I was in pain, and not going fast, we left them.  Back into the 9k aid station, and yes, a bathroom break - Gary got some chips, and we headed out.  My IT band started to lock up more, and I would cry out and have to stop, but I think I kept it fairly under control.  Still, I was starting to walk more, and it wasn't all the IT band, though it wasn't helping.  I was starting to get excited to see a hill because it was an excuse to walk.  At the start of the loop, I said to Gary, I think sub-11 is possible, even if we are really slow, but I was really hoping that maybe we could hit 10:30.  However, sometime around the 9k aid station and my second bathroom break of the loop I doubted that would happen, particularly as I could tell I was slowing down.

I was slowing down a lot.  Walking all over the place.  Gary kept saying '80k!  That's AMAZING!' and at one point noted he was more excited than I was :)  I was too tired to be excited!  I was, but.  I was tired.  We got to the 12k (72k in) aid station and I decided to stop for another bathroom break.  Gary was eying the cookies - we went back through this aid station at around 79k, so he promised himself a cookie then.

We headed out on the I guess western part of the course, though Hamilton always screws me up directionally because the lake is on the wrong side - but towards the infamous 3 Sisters (3 hills, duh!  Big ones!).  I had taken some ginger ale at the aid station - I'd finally had some immodium at the 9k aid station, but thought the ginger ale might settle things some more, though that's not really for that kind of stomach upset - but anyways.  It was quite carbonated, and I'm not sure it really went down right, because shortly after we saw Helen heading towards the finish of her race, I said to Gary, 'I think I'm going to throw up' and I puked, and puked, and puked some more.  Toby always says there's nobody who pukes more loudly than me, and I think Gary would back him up.  I don't just puke, I heave and I retch.  There was a lot of fluid in me.  I don't think this was an electrolyte issue, as the Infinit has some electrolytes and I was taking the S!Caps every hour, and it wasn't that hot.  Once I was done puking I didn't immediately take in more nutrition, for probably obvious reasons, and we started walking - I was really tired, and also wanted to settle my stomach and wasn't sure about running for that.  Eventually we were joined by a lovely man, who was super chatty, which was nice at first but after awhile I wanted to scream - which I feel bad about, he was super nice, but it just seemed like so much effort to listen to him talk.  I don't know why, I mean, Gary and I were talking, but this guy just talked and talked and talked.  He was interesting, I think it was me, not him.  Anyways, we started running again, but he was a bit faster and we were in a long downhill section and my quads were screaming at this point, so we walked a bit again.  I was taking nutrition again at this point, but not quite as much - still, every 15 minutes I was sipping on Infinit, so I wasn't bonking or anything.  We got to the last aid station, I had some water, Gary had a cookie (he joke he gained weight on the run), and we started walking up the road towards the monster evil hill and the finish line.  Once at the top of Mount Doom I ran it in, for a 10:41:32 finish.

After
Holy damn.  Running 50ks does not prepare you for how sore you will feel after a 50 miler.  Not even close.  Toby helped stretch me, and then of course I went to the bathroom.  (HA!)

But I was thrilled - I figured I would be 11 or 12 hours on the course, so to do it in 10:41:32 - I rock!!!!!!  So happy!  Yeah, I'm a slow runner, but who gives a fuck!  I'm not the slowest (not that there's anything wrong with that either).

Gary was an awesome pacer.  I'm so glad he was able to come out, he was the perfect friend to talk me through the loop, cheerlead me along, and not freak out about me puking (he has a baby at home and joked that normally he gets puked ON).  Toby was an awesome crew, and my number one supporter!  Derrick did a great job getting me prepared, and friends and family supporting me on the day of both there and from afar were huge.  

There's really no words to explain how bad and inflammed my IT band was.  None.  We headed home, and honestly I ate two bites and couldn't even finish my post-race beer.  I have trouble taking in food after long efforts, but the beer??!!!!  That's just wrong!

Everything hurt - my quads, holy shit, sitting down, getting up, walking - Toby called me the old crone through Sunday - and my IT band.  Hot damn.  Not to mention my upper arms and my rib cage from breathing heavily for that long - I've never had THAT get sore before - anyways, nothing prepared me for how sore I was.  It was a real shock.  Did the ice bath, warm bath, by the next day Toby was massaging my quads ('masses of knots') - my left leg (IT band leg) was worse and I cried a bit though tried to act like I wasn't.  Toby was a huge help though, despite calling me an old crone.

Two days after the race (today), I went for an official massage - I'm getting around a lot better already, and had rolled out my IT bands and quads as well - the quads feel way better too post-massage, and I got some ultrasound on my IT band and kinesio tape but on. so hopefully that does the trick.

Moral of the story - I don't recommend running 57k on a really fucked up IT band.  But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  And, I rock!  I need to work out the gut stuff - which may be med related - but I am going to play around with nutrition strategies too, though I've been through several already.  We'll see.  Maybe I just need to take immodium at the start, before things get upset, instead of waiting until they've been upset for awhile.

But 50 miles!  10:41:32!  Now that I am not so tired, I am SO happy!  When the pics get posted I will try to add some here! 

Toronto Marathon - May 5, 2013

This will be a quick race report I think.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this - it's been a long time since I've done any major run on a road!  Some mid-length runs, but nothing that long.  I wasn't sure what I could expect, pace-wise, and I failed to factor in my 50k (Derrick says he's measured the Frontenac Perimeter closer to 50k than 47k) the weekend before the race.

I have been having some digestive issues, as I think I've alluded to, so I decided to drink my nutrition pre-race.  I woke up at 4:45 am to drink a bottle of Infinit (~330cal), to give me time to pee it out before the race start - as I joked to Toby, my A goal for this race was to do the distance without stopping to use the bathroom.

I also had a bit of a Stinger Waffle.  Not all of it, but I'm guessing I approached 400cal pre-race.  We got to the race start (point to point) nice and early and chilled out before the 7:30 am start time.

I wanted to run between a 4:15-4:30, but preferably 4:15, so I lined up accordingly.  The start wasn't too busy - the marathon starts an hour before the half, and it is a small race, though still huge by the standards of most trail races I do.

I kept wanting to look for ribbons blazing the trail.  None.  But always around tonnes of runners, and they use pylons to mark the course!  Fancy!  Man it has been a long time since I've done a road race!

The first 10k were a bit faster than planned, but I felt comfortable - fueling well, heart rate comfortable, running easy.  I saw my mom at about 10k, which was really nice.  By 20k, my legs started to HURT.  I couldn't figure it out - why would my legs hurt so much, after only 20k, and I wasn't running that fast.

I started to slow.

I figured out, after a while, why my legs hurt so damn much.  a)I don't have road legs, for lack of a better term; and b)I ran 50k the weekend before.

Tapers apparently do serve a purpose.  Because running further than a marathon the weekend before is NOT ideal race prep.  Of course, the point wasn't to race this, but to use it as a long training run and practice nutrition etc.

By the time we were getting into downtown (around St. Lawrence Market), a fire engine came blaring up and two firefighters rushed out ahead of me over to a runner on the ground with a crowd around him - I assume heat, or dehydration, because the crowd had poured water on him.  As I was running past, another runner started to collapse but there were three people there catching him and firefighters 2 metres away so I didn't stop as I didn't see what I could do to help.

It was hot, but I'm not sure it was THAT hot.  Maybe 22, 23C?  I think though nobody is acclimatized to the heat.

I saw Toby as I hit the lakeshore path for the out and back that goes past the start, at around 27.5k.  He ran with me a short distance and I told him my legs were really hurting.  It didn't help that my GPS went wonky running through the downtown office towers, so it was measuring long.

Anyways, I took a few walk breaks, but mostly I just ran slow.  A pain, because I'd planned to run non-stop.  However, I kept going.  So I suck, what are you going to do.

Around 36k, I had a resurgence of energy - an ass in a Mercedes on Lakeshore pulled into the runner's lane through the traffic cones, and started arguing with a race volunteer.  He pulled back into the traffic lane, and all of us runners yelled at him as we went past and hit his car.  I love being a jerk, I try not to be lately, but everyone else was so I was like 'YEAH!  I DON'T LIKE YOU JERKFACE ASS!'  It was just the pick-me-up I needed.

There were a few people who I'd seen throughout the race, who eventually I dropped on the final section, which was satisfying.  I knew - had for a while - that 4:15 and a PB was way out the window, but I figured I'd be around 4:30.

In the end, I finished in 4:31:05.  I saw Mom and Toby and a lady from work running to the finish.  And then I got the world's most ridiculously large medal.  Ironman medals aren't that big.  It's hilarious.

Overall, this was a great race.  Wonderful crowd support, pretty good aid stations (one at around 37k had run out of cups, but otherwise), and a really nice course through Toronto from the north end down to and along the lake.  I'd definitely run this one again.

I need to figure out nutrition though.  I took in 450-500cal throughout the race, which is fine for a marathon, but won't cut it for Sulphur and the 50 miler.  I need to up my nutrition, so I am going to figure out how much I am taking in for X sips and then calculate how much I need to be sipping and how often.  (I used my hydration pack again, so I can't SEE what I'm taking in.)

2013 Dion Frozen Ass Snowshoe Race Report

It was a fun day.  Not a fast day, not a day that went as planned, but a fun day.

As my shins were bothering me, I had the best snowshoe sherpa EVER (Toby!) work on my legs before the race, so everything was feeling in tip-top shape race day. 

We woke up about 6 am Sunday morning for the race, I got dressed, got the dogs out the door, and then made up some travel oatmeal and yogourt to eat while we drove.  The drive went pretty smoothly - one stop for coffee (Toby can't function without it, yech on my part) and then we got to Trenton and found our way to the Batawa Ski Hill.  It had snowed in Toronto, and I wanted to make sure we'd get there in good time, but it hadn't snowed east of the city and we got out there in great time.  I think we were the first ones there! 

Toby brought out his fancy pants camera and helped me set up the Go Pro which I wore on the chest harness to make a video which if I can work it I will link to here. 

Since the race is part of the Dion Eastern Ontario Snowshoe Race series, we got a Dion beer glass with the race entry (which is awesome, now I have two) as well as some Clif products, who are another sponsor of the series. 

The race started down the road near the power lines.  After some race instructions, which I did not hear over the crunching of people walking on snowshoes towards the race director (more on this later), we got started.  There was a 4k race and an 8k race.  I was doing the 8k.

I know the race was likely to be short, as Coach Derrick's wife Sara who was running and had done the race previously told me it felt short.  The race started on the hydro lines before entering snowmobile trails.  Fairly soon we hit the 4k turnaround - I had passed the one guy I was pacing off of, and traded places with another runner who had passed me again and was running not too far ahead.

Then we got to a spot on the trail where there was a small tree down across the trail and the red marking tape on it.

Apparently the race director had said 'turn left at the tree'.  This was probably said while everyone was crunching, because I didn't hear it.  And it was a hard left, leaving the snowmobile trail and going onto smaller less defined trail.  The girl ahead of me went straight, and even though I felt some disquiet - why was the tree taped?  Were we supposed to turn?  Or was it taped so that people would see it? - I followed her. 

I then spent a fair bit of time wondering if we were on the right trail, and when we would start seeing the leaders coming back.  I wondered if the girl in front was looking to see if she could see snowshoe tracks on the trail. 

Eventually I passed her, and couldn't really see any.  As I was deciding that in fact there were none, we came to a spot where there was an intersection and no flagging tape.  There had been flagging tape, old compared to the course flagging tape, but still flagging tape.  So the girl and I consulted and decided to go back.  At this point I was certain the tree was flagged so that you didn't go straight.  Sure enough we got back to the tree and saw the front-runners coming down the big hill.  I have to admit, I walked up the hill - I figured I had added at least a kilometre onto the course, and wasn't racing anyone other than the other girl who went off course, and she was now behind me.  I saw Sara on her way down, and started running again once I got to the top.  Heading towards the turn around I saw the guy I'd passed ages ago and he said I was almost at the turnaround (which I got to and realized that the course was definitely short).  I headed back up another good-sized hill and saw the other girl heading towards the turnaround.

I was ahead of her, but I wanted to beat her - totally MY fault I went off course, my responsibility to know the course, and my dumb for following another racer - but I still wanted to beat her.  So when I got to the start of the hill I tried to run at a good pace and heading down the big hill I figured I had an advantage with my Dion snowshoes and good cleats (she was wearing the Northern Lite running snowshoes, and I have Northern Lites for backpacking and the cleats suck on the descents, one reason why I went with the Dions). 

At the Dion Frontenac Snowshoe Race, I got passed in the last 50 metres or so,  and wanted to avoid this happening, so when I got to the flatter section (some slight rolling hills, I suppose, but mostly going down) I tried to stay consistent and speed up a bit.  I crossed the road and headed back into the powerlines and knew I was almost done.  In the end, I put quite a bit of distance on the girl and came in ahead very comfortably. 

My Garmin showed 8.28k.  I played the track in Garmin Connect and going off course for the additional out and back added on 1.2k.  I finished in 1:02, so not fast, but I'm still good with it.

I realized I need to learn how to pace a snowshoe race.  Obviously I need to do more snowshoe running.  I can run a lot faster not on snowshoes (duh) but since snowshoe running is so much harder I think I pace myself easier than I need to.  That said, my legs were tired biking the next day, but not terribly so.  I just hadn't expected them to be at all.

One positive - when I ran the Frontenac race, which was shorter, my core was tired at the end (cardio and legs fine).  This time, my core was fine - I've been doing some easy core work 3X/week and it looks like it is paying off.  

Coming in at the finish:

Despite going off course, I had a great time.  I got to see Derrick and Sara, which was nice, and picked up some new UltrAspire product from Derrick as well as borrowing a Joe Strummer book, which is a good read so far.