Killarney Glamping Backpacking Weekend

I don't even know how to start this blog.

I've been struggling terribly with depression.  Right now I'm working part time, which is helpful, as it gives me time to write and to work on therapy goals, which include my behavioural activations - running twice a week and hiking on the weekends.

So, I didn't cancel my girls glamping backpacking weekend with Steph in Killarney Provincial Park on the La Cloche Silhouette Trail.

It was weird though - I found myself smiling at things, because I knew that was what I was supposed to smile at, and even kind of laughing, for the same reasons.  But while I did it, it hurt, inside, this unbearable pain.

With all that said, I enjoyed myself as much as was possible.  I'm still in there, somewhere.

Anyways.  We left Toronto about 2pm and after enduring terrible traffic to get to Barrie, had one stop in Parry Sound to switch drivers (I'm trying to avoid caffeine now that I'm taking lithium again, as it affects levels, but highway driving makes me sleepy).

It was funny, we were at the edge of a storm most of the drive up and at one point Steph commented that it looked really dark behind us.  I was like 'Uhhh...the window is tinted'.  Reminds me of before I got use to the tint.

We had a fire - after the excitement of the dry wood at Finlayson Point, I was looking forward to seeing how well the wood at Killarney burned.

Let's just say it was typical Ontario Parks wood.  We did have a fire for a bit though, then went to bed.

I tried out my new Double Z sleeping pad from Big Agnes - it does not self-inflate, regardless of what the MEC employee told me (tsk tsk) but it is so comfortable I think I will love it for shoulder season camping.  I was just too excited not to bring it.

The next morning we got up and slowly packed up camp - got a few pictures too.  Spiderwebs galore!

We hit the trail about 9:15, and just kept an easy pace.  It's been years since Steph has backpacked and she's injured, so we kept it easy, plus there was a heat warning (30C before humidity, and it was HUMID), and we had Luc who doesn't do well in heat.

We stopped every 30 minutes to give the dogs water, plus let them drink from streams.  Luc was panting, but unlike in Temagami it was normal hot dog panting, not scary sounding.

At Acid Lake we stopped for a snack and to give Luc a rest, though I'm not sure he needed one.  Hey.  Senior dogs.  You've got to spoil them.

I was taking electrolyte tabs (S Caps from Spafford Health and Adventure - BEST electrolyte replacer out there!!!!) to help as if you get too dehydrated while taking lithium you can accidentally go toxic - I had that happen at a short trail race before once, I was blind for half an hour.  Super freaky stuff.  We also got more water at this stop.

With our break over, we headed off for the slightly-less than half remaining of our 7k day.  We hit the long rocky downhill that Steph was dreading heading up on Sunday.

We got into camp at about 12:30 - and the firepit was still smouldering from whatever asshat had been there that morning and not put out their fire!!!!!!!!!  WHAT THE!!!!!!!!  Totally disgusting.

We stayed at H5 on Cave Lake - it's a nice big site, though not overburdened with a ton of tent sites.

As you can see, I used my Integral Designs Silwing tarp (available at MEC).  I was letting Steph use my favourite Tarptent, the Double Rainbow, and brought along the the Rainshadow 2, for me and the dogs.  Which I haven't used in years.  I remembered that instead of the poles that come with the tent to prop up the front, you can use hiking poles, which I like better.  And Steph was using hiking poles.
So I didn't bring the poles (or the stakes, but that's what dog made sticks for).  However, I forgot that one of the poles of the Rainshadow is for the rear and props up that end of the tent.

Sigh.

It's funny because last time I stayed at H5 we had an injured dog (Neb) so stopped early and discovered that I'd forgotten the poles to a tent (an old tent - the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL3, which I got at MEC.  I don't think they make it anymore though).  So something about H5 makes me forget tent poles.

The Rainshadow was still usable - basically just a tarp with a very low back end.  But I decided, after an enjoyable swim and lie in the sun - to put up the Silwing.  I had the tyvek groundsheet to put all my gear on.

So see?  Paranoia into always bringing tarps in case of rain pay off!  Plus I'd been thinking of using the Silwing more in November for the trips so to use it in good weather was good, I've had it on trips before, but never with dogs.

Relevant because I woke up Sunday morning and thought 'Huh, the tarp is awfully low' - the dogs were on tie outs and Luc knocked over the hiking pole I had on one of the wings - so I had to fix it.  I'm not sure how well tarps work with dogs, unless you have the perfect site with perfectly located trees so that you don't need a hiking pole - I think I may go back to using the Double Rainbow for my November trips.

But enough about tarps and tents.

After our run and sun, we broke into the wine.

Steph went classy and drank hers from a sierra cup.  But look at me, bringing a cup on a backpacking trip!  You know it's glamping when.

We cooked dinner on my new stove, which I brought along because I couldn't wait to try it out - 73g, the Soto Micro Regulator stove.  It boils SO fast - faster than the Jetboil I think!  It's no alcohol stove, but wonderfully light and easy to use.  Thanks to Brian at MEC Toronto for the recommendation.  I also got it for shoulder season trips.  But think I'll use it other times.

We had a vegan dinner that was super good - cappellini pasta (quick cook), black bean soup mix as sauce with some nutritional yeast and hemp hearts.  We brought veggies too but forgot them - oops!

We had a small fire, hung out talking, then headed to bed.

Neb had started limping sometime Saturday afternoon/evening, but we couldn't see anything wrong with his pads or leg when palpitated/examined.  We thought maybe he had his leg fall asleep or got stung.

Sunday morning he was still limping, until he saw a squirrel and ran after it without limping and never limped again.  What a faker!

We had a quick breakfast, headed out and hiked out a bit faster than we came in, despite the big uphill that Steph was worried about.

It was still hot, so it was good to get an early start on the day.  I woke up at 6:15 thanks to the one mosquito on the lake (sheesh) and it was HOT.  I slept in shorts and a tank but I was sweaty.

We stopped at French River on the way home and had lunch.  Steph had never been before!  My goodness, it is iconic.  We ate outside with the dogs of course, and chatted with a little girl who came over and asked if she could say hi to the dogs - she had dogs herself and was SO good with them, you could tell she really knew dogs.  It was a pleasure to see.  Neb kissed her.

Temagami Camping Weekend

Another non-running post.  I'm feeling meh about running lately, but very motivated about hiking/backpacking/camping again.

This was Toby and I's first camping trip of the year.  Despite working at MEC, he will only car camp (on a queen-sized air mattress).  But, he works in cycling, and they're all big bike snobs (I kid!  They're not snobs at all!  But they're big bike dweebs...total dweebs).

I had fun on Instagram with the #mecstaffer hashtag though.

Anywho.  We were camping Friday-Monday.  We were going to leave early Friday to get ahead of the long weekend traffic, but Toby got asked to a conference call for his other job, at 10, so we didn't actually leave Toronto until 11:30.  We hit the worst of the long weekend traffic.  It took us close to 2 hours to get through Barrie, though we did stop to get some lunch, quickly...quick lunch.  So even still.  Barrie should take 45-60 minutes!  Once we got north of Barrie traffic cleared, but still, it took over 6 hrs to get to Temagami, our camping destination being Finlayson Point, where I've stayed a few times before for trips and other hiking stuff.

The forecast weekend was sporadic rain and thundershowers, not so much!

We set up camp:

In all their glory you see our Big Agnes Big House 6 tent that we got from MEC (before Toby worked there!  I love Big Agnes and didn't want some crappy Coleman car camping tent...this fits our queen sized air mattress AND you can stand in it.  Toby doesn't like camping in my UL backpacking gear).  Also the MEC Hootenay Screenhouse which we got as a wedding shower present (along with a MEC double sleeping bag so we can cuddle at night....awww).

It wasn't buggy, but it did rain - a LOT - and while we had our crappy tire tarp to sit under, it was nice to have a dry area to cook in.  Though rain did get in through the screens a bit, the middle stayed dry, much to my shock.  I was very impressed.  Be sure to stake it out properly, we didn't at first as the campsite was a lot of gravel and that's a pain, but when the wind started to move it we decided it was worth the effort.

Friday night we managed to have a campfire, despite bits of rain and thundershowers - and man, the wood at Finlayson Point is so much better than most Ontario Parks wood - it's actually dry!  Lighting fires has never been easier.  We had a lot of fires over the weekend.

Saturday we slept until about 9, had a quick breakfast, then headed out along Roosevelt Road to Friday Lake and the Ottawa Temiskaming Highland Trail.  After nearly bottoming out the car on the way there (one loud bang - we actually stopped to make sure all the fluids were not coming out the bottom of the car), we finally arrived!

It was as advertised.  I've day hiked a few sections of the OTHT before, and know it's rugged, but this was the most overgrown I'd seen it:

If you look closely you can see Toby.  You could see the footpath, if you looked down, and this truly was the trail - we weren't off trail, I swear - it was just really overgrown.

Eventually it got better:

We did a bit of climbing but didn't go as far as planned as Luc the dog really showed his age this weekend.  :(

In the end it was just a 6k out and back...this is a dog that has done continuous 60k hike and done the La Cloche Silhouette Trail in Killarney in 2 days!  But he was younger then, and we think his laryngeal paralysis has gotten worse.

We found a nice place on Friday Lake to stop for a snack and water:

We got back to our car, headed out, and got into camp just before it started to rain and thunder.  So, it ended up being perfect timing.

Eventually the storms cleared and we took the dogs for a walk to the dog beach, where I made Neb swim in Lake Temagami.  Between that and being wet and cold from the rain, despite it being August, he developed a mild case of limp tail/cold water tail that didn't resolve until the Monday.  Weird to see him with his tail down.  He really is the worst husky ever.

It stormed off and on but I got a swim in at the beach across from out campsite:

I missed the campsites at Haliburton Forest where you have your own private beach.  Still, this was nice, and close by, one reason why I chose it.

Checked the weather forecast for Sunday - the 5-10mm of rain had changed to 20-30mm and I'd say it was at least 30mm - it rained pretty hard ALL day long until the late afternoon.

This is where I have something bad to admit.  While I packed my Marmot Precip jacket, I did not pack the pants, because I am an idiot.  The jacket is too big for me, deliberately, as I take it as a shell winter camping and need it to fit over my michelin man down jacket, so it hangs down quite far.  With my shortest pair of shorts, I was covered, but I was cold and wanted PANTS dammit.  I had pants, but who wants wet pants?  Neither one of us was super enthused to hike (I'll admit it) and I wanted to visit the Highway Book Shop, in Cobalt, which is a staple of my visits to the region.  But clearly I haven't been up in a while since we got up there only to discover it was CLOSED!  Since 2011!  Damn!

Anyways we headed off to the Temagami LCBO and grocery store and in search of some rain pants for me.  No rain pants to be found in Temagami, and the grocery store was closed (ummm....what?) but we hit the LCBO.  Toby was pshawing my vegan pasta option and wanted a steak, so we ended up near Marten River at the little grocery store/general store/LCBO there where he got a steak and I got rain pants, the crappy kind with suspenders that I tore within an hour.  Of course, by then it had warmed up.  Eventually it stopped raining, so we pulled out the wood and started a fire:

We had a lot of great nights around the fire this trip, and cooked over it all but one night when we had risotto (with red wine...we're not savages).

Slept in a bit Monday, but got up and ate and broke camp relatively quickly, though of course since it had rained overnight everything was wet.  Then we headed to the Temagami Fire Tower and White Bear Forest trails for a quick hike.

We hiked the White Bear Trail, named after one of the local Teme-Augama Anishnaabe who helped preserve the area from 'development'.  There was some old growth pines on this trail which I was excited to check out:

It was a lovely if short hike (from the parking lot about 3k, the trail itself is shorter).  But, Luc was really panting, probably due to the laryngeal paralysis.  Toby was ahead of me and Luc was behind me and Toby could hear him.  We stopped every km to give him water, which is CRAZY.  It wasn't particularly hot at that time of the morning.  Poor guy.

We also found a lump on his jaw this weekend.  But he goes in for his annual on Friday so we'll have it looked at then.

After a lunch in Temagami, we headed down the road, and despite the holiday Monday traffic, made it home in 5 hours!  Much better.  Still slower than normal, but much better.  I blame Barrie.  When in doubt, blame Barrie.

That's the trip.  Next up is a girl's easy backpacking trip to Killarney, where I'm bringing Neb and hoping to bring Luc if it's not too hot.  We'll see.  I think Steph will be okay with us stopping to rest Luc, she has a dog herself and gets it.

May Frontenac Weekend

Not a running weekend, but...I can blog about hiking and backpacking if I want to.  MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ahem.

So, Neb and I got up bright and early (5 am) Saturday morning to get to Frontenac for the park open at 8:30.

My pack weighed 9kg, or for those who don't like metric (AND WHY NOT!) 19.8lbs.  That's with food and water, so it's not as bad as you'd think.  2L of water in Nalgenes.

This trip I decided to try to ZPacks Hexamid with Neb, which I've used plenty before, but not with the dog.  I figured he'd be good in it.

We started off with a plan to do the southern perimeter of the park, head to the north side of Big Salmon, meander over to the Bufflehead trail, then end up at our campsite at cluster 7.  ~34.5k.

About 5, 6k in, I was like 'hmmm...it is very hot' (over 20C).  I was wearing pants tucked into socks (there are TICKS in Frontenac, and I will die if I get a tick, though I brought my tick lasso recently purchased from MEC, and Neb wears Advantix which is a tick repellent), so I was sweating like nobody's business, and Neb, true to Husky form, was slowing down - first hot hike of the season (why is that dog not better at camping in the winter....sheesh).

At 7.8kish, we got to a nice pond - we were past Flagpole Hill - and I thought - what am I in a big rush for?  I was worried about our speed, which had averaged 4.9k/hr moving for the first hour, but then I wanted to be good to Neb so I slowed down for him.  I'm not running ultras this year as a stress management technique, and here I am stressing out about pace and not enjoying just being out in the woods.  What the hell, me?  So I sat down, let Neb walk around in the water, we had something to drink, to eat, got more water, and I looked at the map.  Decided to turn around and head to Cedar Trail, which we did, over to Dedication (both new trails for me, yay) to West Arkon to Bufflehead to East Arkon to the campsite.  Got in, had a big drink (I was dehydrated) and got Neb up on his tie out.  He of course immediately went to the fire pit to eat charcoal.

Let me first say the day.  The sun was BEAUTIFUL.  The flowers - beautiful.  And you could see the trilliums come out over the course of the day.  I love spring.  And it was amazing to see the forest floor carpeted in small flowers (I'm not good with plant identification sadly, but they were really pretty).

However - and here, let me say - I have NEVER had trouble setting up the Hexamid before.  It's a tarp, with netting, and you use a hiking pole to put it up.  It's not rocket science, it's a tarp.

But for whatever reason - I could not get the damn thing up right.  The net wouldn't zip close, then I got it closed, but it was all awkward, and the beak wasn't taut, and after 20 minutes I was like 'WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!' and said 'no shelter - fuck it' and packed up, took poor Neb, and hiked out to the car for ~30k on the day.  Decided to stay at the Motel 6 in Kingston (hey they take dogs, don't judge) and managed to hit up the Sydenham LCBO 3 minutes before it closed so had beer for the night.

Derrick saw I was there and was like 'Dude!  You should've told me!' so we made plans for me to have breakfast at their place Sunday.

I had some serious heat rash - still do around my ankles.  Stupid pants and socks.  Stupid ticks.  Enjoyed a quite night with actual TV (how boring TV is...nothing I wanted to watch).

Sunday got up, went to Derrick and Sara's, had breakfast - it was LOVELY to see them and the dogs, and enjoy Sara's delicious homemade granola with almond milk...yum yum yum.  Great folk.  Hadn't seen them since the snowshoe race - gooo Frontenac!

I was going to hike Little or Big Salmon, but then driving to the park I thought - you know what, I haven't spent as much time in the north end of the park - so I drove to Kingsford Dam and we did Tetsmine Loop (I snagged some mica for Jaene).  Was going to do a bit more but a blister on my heel got shirty (I'm not used to wearing hiking boots versus trail runners) and Neb was doing okay but I thought he was a bit tired.

We saw deer, a snapping turtle, birds, and a CHIPMUNK WITH A FROG IN IT'S MOUTH.  I wasn't believing what I was seeing so I stopped and stared - Neb didn't notice it, and the chipmunk wasn't scared - it was probably all 'yeah I'm badass I just killed a frog SUCK IT'.  I googled when I got home, and chipmunks are omnivores known to  kill small frogs.  So there you are.  I learned something today, and I think that's super cool I got to see that.

So all in all, it sucked that I'm a loser about putting up the Hexamid (was planning on the Tarptent next weekend at Killarney, and you'd better believe that's what I'm using), but it was a great weekend of hiking and seeing cool people.  So it all worked out.  Drive back was boring but good.

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.

Seaton Trail Race Volunteer Report

So, the fastpacking - the 'no long term damage' one?

Yeah.  Two weeks off.  I let the IT band calm down and two days later the medial side of my ankle swelled up - probable deltoid irritation from where I damaged it in November tearing the ligaments on the lateral side.

Beautiful.

I stayed off it as much as possible, only doing strength workouts - sure, this is AWESOME for the Sulphur 50 miler (now two weeks away) but I was also supposed to run the Seaton Soaker today - the Seaton Trail Race.

So I was trying to make it so that a)it wasn't swollen; and b)I could take a step without pain.

The swelling is pretty well gone but walking is STILL painful, though much improved.  The lateral side of my ankle is now painful, I think everything has gotten stiff though why my lateral side should get painful over a week into the medial pain is beyond me.  Fuck my ankle.

Anyways, I decided that running Seaton would be a bad idea.  And god knows, I'm ALL about #illadvised, but I'm trying to stay healthy for Haliburton and that means staying healthy for Sulphur.  So.

I volunteered!

It was lots of fun.  I helped unload food at the school in the morning, then headed to the Forestream aid station and made some PB&J sandwiches and cut some fruit.  Met Merle and his son Will, and a bunch of other lovely volunteers.  Leeanne had asked if I could help direct runners where the course takes a sharp turn off the road back onto trail, so this actually meant I was away from the aid station for most of the day - out of sight of it actually - but I had come prepared with a camp chair and it was a beautiful sunny day.

Once the first runners started coming through, I headed to my spot, and directed and cheered.  There were a few people who wouldn't have noticed the turn, and one guy I had to chase after despite repeating 'to your right' so it was probably a good thing I was there.

Once most of the runners had come back through on their way to the start/finish or turnaround for the 50k, I headed back to the aid station and stayed there until the 50kers came back, and then I went back to my spot.  Everyone knew the turn by then, but I got to cheer people on and of course trail runners are lovely, so it was fun.

And sun-shiney.

I also managed NOT to get burnt, so there Toby, I don't ALWAYS get burnt!  60 SPF, I probably blocked all that good vitamin D...

So that's where things stand.  A fun day, and I am planning on trying a run on the rail trail tomorrow, but geez.  Crossing fingers for Sulphur!