Frontenac Fastpack...sort of

So for my third and fourth trail runs since being cleared to run trails following the torn ligaments, I decided to go fastpacking in Frontenac!  32k, 22k.  Sure, that might be a bad idea, to a NORMAL person, but what could go wrong?

I'd run 40k on the Sulphur Springs course in Dundas Valley Conservation Area the week before, and my IT band got angry - this is my STRONG glute side, though the side of injured ankle.  Anyways, I rehabbed it, and it seemed to be okay.

Perhaps though, running with a backpack was not the wisest idea.

Baseweight: 11 lbs.  Hey, a girl who gets cold easily needs her -7C sleeping quilt, down pants, down jacket, and rain pants and jacket given that it was calling for rain.  Add a hat, gloves, Kobo (I was soloing!  Need something to do in camp), camera, saw, and, for the making of many hot meals, the Jetboil (fuck the alcohol stove) - it was a 'light' trip.  Hahahaha.  With food and water, 14.8 lbs.  I carried heavy running snacks, rather than powder, not sure I'd do that again but I thought I could practice solid eating.

Drove up to the park Saturday morning, got there as it opened.  So many of the sites were already taken!  I couldn't stay where I'd planned.  Oh well.

Got onto the trails and into the southern section of the park...parts of the trails were good, parts muddy:

But hey, spring trail running is supposed to be muddy, am I right?

I was using poles for this, which is new for me.  I hiked a bit with them this winter, after tearing the ligaments in my ankle, but this is the first time I'd used them without gloves and oww blisters.  My delicate skinned hands.  Oh well.

But, I ran up hills without realizing I was doing it - I was just bopping along, going slow, but not giving a shit about time, just enjoying being out there, the scenery, and focusing on having a great day.

It was overcast, but the rain held off and I was just in total peace, alone on the trails.  I have been practicing positive self-talk and while I think in the past I would have been going 'You're slow!  You suck!' all I could think was 'What a beautiful day!  I'm really enjoying this!'

My IT band popped up again, and shortly afterwards I noticed my ankle fatiguing - the two were related, I've no doubt.  I decided to keep going, and reassess.  I started to walk, to try to help the IT band - practice power hiking!  Man I suck at power hiking!  Maybe it was just the IT band :)

I didn't decide to pull the plug on the trip til 3k from the car - I could've headed north towards my campsite (I'd done a big loop of the southern half of the park), but my IT band was becoming more and more inflammed and I have Sulphur coming up, and I want to be healthy for it so that it is good practice for Haliburton, and we're in Algonquin next weekend to do my last long run before Sulphur, so, eyes on the prize.  It sucked, but was the right decision - I don't feel bad about it, I have so much to look forward to.

So all in all a great day of training, and a chance to fool around with gear and practice carrying heavier weights.  Just maybe not a good idea at this point in my rehab.  Really happy with the pack, need to attach the bottles to the front but I was worried they'd swing, however it would make access a lot easier.
And that is the fastpack...it was a day of fastpacking, just not an overnight trip.

Weighty Thoughts

I am a fat runner.

That's right.  Fat.

For a while, last year, after being off Seroquel for a while and on Saphris, I was normal, though as ultrarunners go, monsterous.

Right now?  After tearing the ligaments in my ankle and going delusional, I gained about 20lbs.  Which put me in the 'fat' thing again.

And I'm torn.

Running is easier lighter, and it's free speed.  For that reason, I want to drop weight.

But I hate that there are some runners who will always look at me sideways.  Who will think I'm new to running, when I might have more experience than them.

Maybe that doesn't matter.  Maybe that's my own insecurities.

But I read running blogs, where people talk about butterballs.

Toby has a well-regarded ultrarunner tell him at Sulphur, after meeting me (at the high end of normal, fat for a runner) that what he 'likes about these races is no fat chicks'.  And then, when a bigger woman walks by, says 'Well mostly'.

People always say triathletes are assholes.  That's not true.  Triathletes may be type-A, but they're honest about themselves.  Trail and ultrarunners are the liars who think they're all friendly open granola crunchers...when really they're just as much about type-A douchebaggery as a triathlete.

Sometimes, I say, give me a triathlete any day.  Don't get me wrong, I know lots of great trail runners, but I dislike being an outsider based on my looks.

Even if I lose the weight, to me, I'll always be a fat chick.

AND FOR THE RECORD...

...when I finished 7th woman at Haliburton 50k last year, I stood at the finish line and watched runners thinner than me (remember, thin=free speed) finish after me and it felt so good.  I may be fat, but they're lacking something that can't be made up.  At least I can go on a diet.