Night time running / december thoughts

This week I only ran four days what with that whole christmas thing. Having to travel further for christmas visiting made me feel much less inclined to spend time running instead of visiting. But with four runs, I still managed to get 13 hours of running in. Thursday I had a nice easy run after work, nice clear sky with an almost full moon shining off the snow that fell earlier in the day; it left me wanting to run again at night and the weather forecast had predicted similar weather for friday night. So friday after work, and a quick dinner, I headed out for a long run. I ran 4.5 hours starting at 6:30 pm. Except the weather was not as I'd hoped. 4.5 hours of heavy wet snow fall, with totally not clear skies. And I had run to a park that was close to the city, so it wasn't exactly the feeling of wilderness at night I had envisioned. The heavy light from the truck scales, other highway lights, oil tanker flood lights, pulp mill flood lights, and lights from the prison were constabtly present. It actually felt brighter running at night with all the lights, than it does running in the day, a weird red haze hung over the night. There was some trails in the park that were nicely packed, so of course I strayed from those rather quickly and spent the bulk of the run breaking fresh tracks in about a foot of snow most of the way, and hitting some steep climbs. By halfway through the run, I was beat, such a tough run. So glad I did it, I think I'll make friday night after work exhausted long runs a little more of a habit; except maybe I'll be more selective of my scenery and not run in my least favourite park just because of wanting to stick to familiar trails.
Saturday, I ran an easy two hours. And then sunday ran 5.25 hours in Kal park. this time in kal park we explored more of the high rim trail. It was super fun, yeah there was heavy snow, but the trail as enough tree cover in most spots that it was manageable. I felt real tough around hour four,  think the speed of our descent of the downhills and banging out 4:30 min km's in the snow prob led to that, but I'm happy that after 13 hours in 4 days, I feel good at the end of it.

Month	Run Km	Run hrs	elevgain (km)
Jan	322.00	32.84	9.42
Feb	342.74	35.68	7.23
Mar	261.67	29.25	6.73
Apr	394.06	43.35	8.58
May	240.14	30.38	6.92
Jun	326.94	39.50	11.28
Jul	310.25	42.63	10.82
Aug	174.20	35.60	7.45
Sep	140.09	15.50	4.07
Oct	192.94	19.75	6.07
Nov	285.29	31.37	8.46
Dec	336.65	42.88	11.42

In december I ran the second most hours in a month for the year, and the most elevation gain per month in the year. And I took a whole week off. I feel like I'm doing good sticking to my training plan. If I end up registering for the planned race in march, I think I'm doing good to set myself up for success there.

Dec 18: thoughts on running and the soul

Last week I only ran four times, was supposed to run 5 (of course I was, that's the plan every week) but helping out a friend one day and an evening of wings, beer, and strippers cut me down a bit.

I still managed to get in just under 12 hours of 'running' 2,608 metres elev gain. On saturday I joined a friend for a run in Kal Park in Vernon. There was lots of snow, thick stuff, my ice grips kept falling off so it was tough. About three hours into the run I felt a little rough, but it passed. We made it to the High Rim trail head, which is nice because  running that trail end to end is a dream run for next year to fit in. We finished our run at about 48 km, so just because we did a couple km of roads as well to hit 50 on the day. We ended up running 50 km in super tough conditions in just under 6 hours. This was a tougher run than the 54 km ultra I did in September, which I ran injured. I had some rough moments in the middle, but it's super good to feel like I"m finally getting to feeling recovered from my Fat Dog issues. Only took four months to get there, feels good to feel like I"m getting there, and only serves to make me want to push harder to finish a 100 mile race.

I was also thinking, I might stop racing with a watch/gps or anything like that. I'm fully confident that I will never be in trouble with finishing times as long as I continue to train consistently. If the goal of the race is to run by the feel of my heart and to run so hard I need to dig into my soul to go as hard as I feel I'm capable, I don't feel those are metrics that a watch can help me with.... and yet I shall continue to train with a gps and record my distance/elev gain/heart rate/time.

Plato discusses in "the republic' his idea of a tripartite soul. He states that the three parts are the appetitive, rational, and spirited.

Appetitive: "The appetitive aspect of soul is the one that is responsible for the base desires within people. It is responsible for the simple cravings needed to stay alive, such as thirst and hunger, and also for unnecessary cravings such as sexual excess or the desire to over-consume at meal time. The desires for necessary things (such as food and drink) should be restricted by the other parts of the soul, while unlawful desires should be restricted completely by the other aspects of soul"

Rational: "he rational soul (mind or intellect) is the thinking portion within each of us (Logiston, from Logos), which discerns what is real and not merely apparent, judges what is true and what is false, and wisely makes the rational decisions in accordance with which human life is most properly lived."

Spirited: "The spirited, or thumetic, soul (thymos) is the source of the desires that love honor and victory. In the just soul, spirit acts as the enforcer of the rational soul, ensuring that the dictates of reason are followed. Emotions such as anger and indignation are the result of the frustration of the spirit."

Would a runner be better served in their 100 miler training program if the program also asks them to read material such that they learn about their soul? At some point during your 100 mile run you will surely be faced with soul searching moments; would reading about ideas of the soul help you be ready for this?

Paradigm shifting

When I started running back in 2006 it was nothing more than a way to distract myself between doing schoolwork or classes at university. At some point I decided to track the distance of my runs. The reasons for doing so have varied from motivating myself, to tracking my progress, to just simply recording my data knowing that I would be able to use it some time later in a retro analysis of my training, to keeping myself on track with my training plan.

In 2006 I logged a total of 603 km's. I was so excited to surpass 500 kilometres, and it felt so important that I wanted to brag about it. 2007 and 2008 saw me not even hit 500 kilometres, but I hit 500 again in 2009 and that felt pretty cool and I thought I was sooooooo awesome. In 2010 I committed to running the death race and for the year I ran over 2000 kilometres, well holy crap I thought  I was so cool, all worrying about the numbers and all that. 2011 was the same total distance as the year before, but felt much different as there was other more important things happening, but still  I focused on the numbers. Right now for the year I've run 3149 km (1957 miles) (I know this because I have a super fun spreadsheet that automatically adds each days numbers up). I find it so amusing how little I want to celebrate reaching this milestone of 2000 miles. Previously I would have been wanting to tell anyone I could that I've done this many miles in the year. But somewhere along the line during the year, as I've worked to make running 4-6 times a week a strong habit, the numbers lost meaning. I have a plan laid out on my tracking spreadsheet, but it's not in distance, it's in minutes. Just getting out there, good enough, whatever you do is whatever you do. And whatever happens during those runs is whatever happens.

Also... here's a silly chart, because I like charts. 

 

Weeks ending Dec 9

Nov 26 - Dec 9

Nov 26 - Dec 2

Ran 68.2 km in 8 hrs 26 minutes with 2600 metre elev gain. Only ran four days, felt sick one day so I didn't run that day. My long run was nice exploring tonnes of local areas. And sunday a friend showed me more trails and more shortcuts to connect other trails and such. Ran into a cattle farmer as we were running on his property, chatted with him, and he was okay about us running there, so that was cool. Lesson learned; barbwire fences are meant to be climbed over and no trespassing signs are just there to cover legalities.

^^^^ That was my run on the Saturday. Shaky camerawork and all.

Long run was four hours.

Dec 3 - Dec 9

Ran 81.8 km in 9 hrs 25 minutes with 2913 metre elev gain. Ran five days, monday was a rest day, tuesday I ran 7 km with 90 minutes of basketball sandwiched in the middle, my rest day on friday was actually 90 minutes of ice hockey late at night which made my 5.25 hour run sunday a little harder. Saturday I couldn't find the park I was looking for, drove 30 km on some snow covered dirt road. Ended up just parking at the highway and ran 18 km up a snow covered forestry road to a beautiful summit. Total exercise time was 12.5 hours. Tired.

Thoughts on 2012; Goals for 2013

It seems to be the time of year where I should be looking back and analyzing. Have to do it now as the world's going to end on December 21st and all that. And considering I'm already 6 weeks in on my 23 week plan leading up to my next race it seems like a good time to make some goals for next year. Well, it would be better to say that I am cementing in print my plans for next year as I feel these goals were made upon my inability to attain goals in 2012.

Here''s to looking at 2012:

My race results:

March 10: Dirty Duo 50 km; 5:08:43
April 1: Okanagan College half marathon (road); 1:28:52
May 12: Elk/Beaver 100 km; DNF at 50 km; 4:29:16
June 23: Scorched Sole 50 mile; 9:48:50
July 7: Sinister 7 148 km; DNF at 87 km; 13:30:00
July 15: Midsummer 8 km (road); 32:05
July 28: White River 50 mile; 9:31:37
August 18: Fat Dog 120 mile; DNF at 75 miles; 25:25:00
September 2: Walk in the Park 54 km; 6:37:00
September 23: Dirty Feet Trail 21 km; 1:59:30
September 30: Kenna quarter XC 10.6 km; 53:02
October 21: Larrry Nicholas XC 9 km; 39:55
October 30: Kal Park XC 9.5 km; 44:08

13 races, and only one that I feel like I am able to say I ran my best on that day, the road half marathon. Look at it simply I should be rather disapointed, I fancy myself a trail runner, an ultra runner and I don't have one ultra race from 2012 that I feel represents my athletic potential. However, even though at the end of 2011 I expressed certain goals and probably other times since I probably expressed time-specific goals for races, that really wasn't the main goal. Running was very much secondary to mental pursuits for the year. As you  can read here and here and I think I came to understanding on what sort of races I need here In 2011 I wasn't able to run as much during the summer while working, this year I fixed that and learned how to make running a habit even while busy. Realistically, I failed in finishing my big races because my mental goals were to learn to relax (very much simplifying) which is contradictory to the mental processes required to fight through a tough race and my main focus was often elsewhere, and as well I was often to busy doing silly running things having fun that negatively impacted my ability to run my best race.

OC half marathon: Why did I do good? Unlike the rest of the year I didn't jam too much into the build up of that race. And the fact that I had a friendly bet with a couple friends on who would finish first amongst us. I finished 15th, and they finished 12th and 13th. We all dropped at least 8 minutes from our previous best times at that distance, it was a rousing super fun success.

Elk/beaver: wrote about it here Was bored out of my mind during the race, didn't feel like doing it. Although leading up to the race I was doing some fantastic running at home.

Scorched sole: wrote about it here Ran the race intending it to be a good final long run before sinister 7. In retrospect I think this was a bad idea. I feel like this race was good in the sense that I feel good that I could run a sub 10 hour 50 mile trail run, without feeling like I pushed too hard which is neat, but I feel like having said that I definitely can't say this represents what I was fully capable on that day as I was holding back, and to top all that off I feel like it affected my race at sinister. But still, it was a super fun day with great folks and I'm glad I did it.

Sinister 7: wrote about it here and here It was hot and hard. The trails weren't as enjoyable as I'd hoped, and when it came down to it even though I feel I could have finished within the cutoff time, but didn't feel like putting myself through the pain and hurt that would be needed to get there. Perhaps I wasn't trained well enough,  perhaps I didn't train in such a way to build my mental fortitude, or perhaps I just wasn't in the state of mind needed to finish. Again, don't feel like this race result showed my athletic potential.

midsummer 8 km race: it was amusing. I was 5 seconds off my pre race arbitrary goal of running 4 min/km pace the whole race. Finished 15th after encouraging a young kid to kick my ass the last 1/2 km. this race was only a week after sinister, so again, even though I felt pleased with the race, I don't feel like it represents me athletically.

white river: the week before white river I did 10 hours of running and 6 hour of biking. The running included summiting two local mountains, two speed work sessions, and the bike was all at tempo. Wrote about the race here during the race I had trouble mentally with pushing through, just looked at it as a fun run out for the day. Again, don't feel as though it represented my athletic ability.

fat dog: wrote about it here How did I mess this race up? The time between white river and fat dog was spent travelling through the usa living on a bus while doing it. Didn't run once between the two races. I think that's taking tapering too far, and I think it may have helped lead to the injury I got during the race itself. Deciding while staring out at the grand canyon that you want to change your plans, isn't enough to make it a workable plan. Again, don't think this represents my athletic ability.

walk in the park: wrote about it here What went wrong? Well I was injured during the race and I shouldn't have run it. I lived off painkillers during the race, and I wonder if the passing of a family member the day before affected my mindframe. Again, definitely not wanting this to be considered a representation of my athletic potential.

the rest: slowly recover my fitness.

Goals for 2012 as written here

1. Finish degree.
2. Kick as much ass as possible in the running races I have planned, and the ones I register in.
3. Never drink so much that I get drunk. (This one may or may not get changed to something along the lines of 'only drink to the point of drunkeness on nights before days off work, that are also rest days from runs and limited to once a month) we shall see.
4. Volunteer at some races.
5. Have another year that is drug free.
6. Buy a piano.
7. Be more diligant in my 'daily practise'
8. Do some other stuff.
9. ________________________
10. ________________________

Hmm: Let's see

1. Check. Done! And I got a job that uses my degree too, started October 1st. Had to move to a new town, and I think it's going good.
2. Ha. Not so much. This seems to be one of the goals that wasn't properly fleshed out, because other things in life took precedence.
3. This didn't happen, but I'm okay with that. I was probably drunk a handful of times (that takes only two drinks haha), and other than that maybe had less than a handful of drinks. I wasn't rude while drunk, didn't get into trouble, and never drank out of anger.
4. Yep. And I crewed for friends at an ultra for the first time, that was good.
5. Yup. Not once, win.
6. Ha, no. And I definitely won't any time soon. Student loans will be the death of my financial leasure.
7. This goal probably only made it on their after reading this which seemed like a good idea. Yes, I read books like my AA books and my school books regularly, but not daily. Yes, I pray, but not daily. And yes I make an effort to be a good person, but I am not as diligent as I intended with that goal.
8. I guess so. I quit my crappy job cooking and went on my first holiday in years. Probably didn't make the best financial choices with that as being unemployed for 3 months hit hard financially. And I made the decision to use my degree look for a job, which wasn't a simple life decision as I truly was pondering being an unemployed wandering nomad. So I feel like making that mental shift was no small feat. "Why bother?" has always been a question that haunts. I still don't have the answer, but I've decided to try and be a productive member of society, just because. And when I figure out why, I'll be in a much better positiont to do something about it than if I hadn't tried up to that point. And I might as well run in the mean time.

How about some running stats?

2010:
 Ran 2.045 km and biked 1,243 km
2011:
Ran 2,043 km and biked 488 km
2012: (estimating Dec totals based on training plan)
Ran 3,300 and biked 860 km.

At the beginning of the year I started running in a group clinic. This clinic was twice a week, and the reason I signed up was because the previous year I had lots of struggles running through the summer while working full time. I needed to engage myself with others and be forced to plan my run to try and make a habit of running even while busy. If I wasn't sick or injured or on holidays I never ran less than four times per week. Through this group I met some wonderful people, made some great friends, and learned to be way more consistent in my running. This was very good.

Was I mentally in the right place to attempt to run the long races? I'm not sure, I made a distinct effort to be less aggressive and more passive, perhaps taking this too far. I feel this affected my races. And my goal was just to have fun, which when it comes down to it when the going gets tough it makes it easier to drop in a race, which I did.

Was I fit enough to run in the long races I attempted? I think so. I think maybe I really haven't been doing this running thing long enough to attempt these sorts of races. October 2008 I ran my first road marathon. I weight 180 pounds, and was horribly unhappy in a crappy relationship. I finished that race in five hours and 15 minutes (5:14:49). When I was a youth I was never any sort of elite athlete. Yeah I played hockey as a kid, never played on the rep team as my parents said it was to expensive if I made the team, I was a house league goon and past the age of 13 it was only ever about messing around with friends. Sure I played baseball for awhile, even made a few select teams. But my angst ridden years from 13 - (two years ago) where more interested in destroying my body than with athletics. I've only being doing good running since 2009. That's only four years, maybe my excitement for enjoying this sport has got the best of my realistic analysis of my abilities. Having said that, goals for 2013 will still be big.

Overall it was a pretty fantastic year. I may not have had a great year of races, but I had a great year of running. I have become much more consistent in my training. I am a much stronger and faster runner than before. And outside of running it wasn't so bad either.

Race goals for 2013:
- Finish a 100 mile race. This is the main focus, and the big goal. No time goal, although if I'm successful in finishing, I'll probably end up with a decent time.
- Run so hard in my one planned 50 mile race that I feel completely destroyed after, like I've dug down into the recesses of  my mind and used every mental resource possible and left my soul empty as a result. Just giving it absolutely everything.

Specific race plan:
- 100 mile trail race in late march in southeast washington state (although I won't register until mid January as I want to be sure I'm able to get in proper training during the winter months) and if I don't end up registering for this I may alter this to be an April/May/June race instead. But I want to do this race
- 50 mile scorched sole trail race in Kelowna, late July. The race is back at Little White mountain for 2013, it's going to be awesome.
- 100 mile trail race in early September. I have my eye on dong a race in Lethbridge. Won't register until May as I've been told that the 100 miler doesn't fill up.

How am I going to be successful in 2013 as opposed to 2012? Well, I feel like I've transitioned from having an attitude of carefree goals in running that are loosely defined to having fun and being more consistent to having a drive to finish a task that baffled me last year, and to do all that is required to get that. Also, one more year of good running under my belt will surely help. Specifically, I have made a plan leading up to the first race that I think is good. I will train smarter. Run slower during my long runs, having more variety during the rest of my weekly runs, doing my best to train on trails that resemble the race conditions of the next race. I will only race in three races in 2013. Everything will build to these races, and I will do nothing that varies excessively from the training plan. I want to have races that I can say "this is my best, this was as good as I could do, I put my entire soul and body into that day". If I need to get a fix of mingling with other ultra folk beyond that, I shall volunteer at other local events. I will train harder, so that I may build my mental strength. I will run longer weekly long runs so that I may endeavour to have more possibilities during training to come into hard mental spots, so that I may have more opportunities to prepare for the dark spots that may (will) come during a long race. I will do a better job doing pre-race mental prep for my races.

I have prepared a plan for the remainder of the year, and for the time building up to the next race. The focus is not on distance (although surely I'll end up running a long way) but on duration and effort.

2012 Log and Plan

2013 Log and Plan

Goals in list form:

1. Finish a 100 mile trail race;
1b. Finish in a time under 24 hours.
2. Kick ass at the 50 mile scorched sole race.
2b. Knowing the approximate route, kick ass is hoping for under 8.5 hours.
3. Volunteer at other ultras.
4. Crew for a friend at an ultra at least once.
5. Volunteer at other local races.
6. Stay at my job, be a diligent Monday to Friday automoton worker. Play the game of being a 'productive member of society"
7. Don't do drugs ever.
8. Drinking: if I drink, I shall never drink while angry. And if I drink, I shall never do anything illegal or say anything reprehensible. And I shall never get drunk more than 10 times in the year (very realistic), and I shall never put myself in an environment where I am not fully comfortable with the alcohol level.
9. Figure out something or somewhere to fit some sort of volunteering that doesn't revolve around running into my time.
10. Pray, be thankful, and always remember that if I am to hope for others to treat me well, I must always treat others well, and that if I have any hope that people will do right by me I must always unquestioningly do well of others no matter the situation. Being positive is the only way to try and live, and I shall try do so, for no other reason that I don't know why I've managed to make it to this point without self destructing, so I might as well try and be better. There must be a reason I'm still here.

Week ending nov 25: SNOW!

Week ending Nov 25: rest week; plan 6 hours

This wasn't the first snow runs of the year, but last week I only had one and then it was muddy and melted by the weekend, and this week is was pretty much all snow.

Mon: no run

Tue: 9.8 km; 55 minutes; 366 metres elevation gain. Half trail and half road. Ran up to peterson creek park and ran down tom moore trail then did some exploring on the neighbourhoods roads. I like running down  tom moore trail, not super steep but steep enough to run fast and hard and winding and then you hit the cliffside and it feels a little dangerous.

Wed: not sure why; but I felt really shitty all day and didn't feel like running. So I was lazy. It's amazing how I can easily rationalise taking an extra rest day on easy weeks.

Thur: 8.6 km; 54 minutes; 325 metre elev gain. Kenna cartwright group run.

Fri: no run

Sat: 15.3 km, 114 minutes; 576 metre elev gain. Running in pineview valley and sugarloaf mountain with c. C showed me some areas I hadn't been to, I can connect enough areas to get in at least a 3 hour loop within city limits. Lots of snow, a little difficult in spots as there was a sheet of ice in many spots under the powder. The area around my house seems to be covered in fog a lot in the mornings, it's quite surreal.

Sun: 20.1 km; 136 minutes; 640 metre elev gain. Pretty much the same run, except added in a bit of a loop in cattle grazing land. I did the exact same run as the day before, but by myself just to see if I could remember where we went and imprint it in memory. Being able to follow our footprints in the snow helped, except that was difficult in some well travelled areas.

Week ending Nov 18;

Week ending Nov 18


Mon: rest day

Tues: 81 minutes; 200 metre elevation gain; 14.76 km. Ran on the roads because I didn’t feel like dealing with the snow yet. I’m fairly impressed with how many people here actually clear the snow off their sidewalk; I had very little ice to deal with.

Wed: 104 minutes; 450 metre elevation gain; 13.44 km. Peterson creek trails with c. A little slippery in the snow in some spots but nice enough. I still need to get new winter grips though.

Thu: 48 minutes; 200 metre elevation gain; 9.35 km. Road loop. Ran to a local running store to ask about running groups, but they were closed. I’ll probably not remember to get back there for a couple weeks.

Fri: no run; but 90 minutes of hockey. I am sore in places I don’t remember having muscles. I hadn’t played in at least ten years. Played 90 minutes with only 3 subs. I hope as I go more often that I don’t hurt so much.

Sat: 264 minutes; 1000 metre elevation gain; 36.4 km. I tried to connect a few different parks together with sections of road running in between. I ended up doing a little more roads than hoped for, but that was ok because the trails I hit were either slushy snow or slick mud, I bailed once and got covered in mud, it was pretty funny.

Sun: 126 minutes; 507 metre elevation gain; 16.11 km. Running in trails near work with j. Ran to meet at the trailhead to get extra distance in, the trails were much slower going for j, but that was fine as I felt like ass. Definitely still feeling it from hockey, and probably a little bit to do with it being my longest week of running since august.

Weekly totals:

Plan: 11 hours

Actual: 10 hours 23 minutes, plus 1.5 hours hockey.

Distance: 90.06 km

Elevation gain: 2,357 metre (not sure, guessed on first four runs)

Now that I’m having to start paying back student loans it got me thinking about money. How much is it worth to spend money on entering a race and travelling to that race and hotel and all that? Are the benefits worth the cost. Am I able to reap enough benefits from just doing training without travelling, or is there extra benefit from travelling to a race.

I’m also thinking about how to get training time in. I work Monday to Friday 8 – 5, and have trouble thinking about how I could ever get more than 16 hours of training time in a week and still get in other things I need to do.

Week ending Nov 11

Week ending nov 11


Note: I’ve decided that when possible i’m going to write about each day, right after that days run. So weekly entries may read a little differently.

Mon: rest day

Tue: 11.81 km, 80 minutes, 500 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 137 bpm (15% zone 2, 60% zone 3, 25% zone 4); running Peterson creek with c, fairly easy pace run except for the start where I was running fairly fast down the Cliffside trails. I’ve run enough in the Peterson creek trails that I’m comfortable enough to run at tempo at night.

Wed: 19.13 km, 99 minutes, 450 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 153 bpm (7% zone 3, 91& zone 4); road running loop. Uphill to Aberdeen, down pacific and Columbia downtown, then home via 1st and summit. Felt like I was pushing hard once I starting going downhill, after a fairly hard warmup. A couple years ago there was no way I would have been able to do a run like this with as much constant hills without having to pansy out and walk. Now, it’s just another Wednesday run. I like.

Thur: 0 km. Intended on running for an hour. But apparently my Wednesday run was tougher on me than I thought. Took a 15 minute cat nap during lunch at work, interesting thing about changing jobs is that I don’t think I’m fully adjusted to my new schedule. When I would work at 2 pm if I had run too hard in the day before work, or too hard after work, I could just sleep as long as my body needed, and now working at 8 am if I run too hard that day, I can’t make it up by sleeping in, and it’..... seemed to have lost what I typed at the end when I saved, not sure where I was going there.

Fri: rest day

Sat: 30.3 km, 199 minutes, 864 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 142 bpm. Running in Penticton, from downtown up carmi rd to the trails and back and then a loop around the flats. Running in snow for the first time this year; I think I’m going to get a pass to the gym at home which has lots of cardio equipment, a full size indoor track and a swimming pool. Then I’ll run indoors for two or three times per week over the winter.

Sun: 15.96 km, 93 minutes, 250 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 143 bpm. In Penticton, ran the kvr to naramata, back via the road and munson mountain then the trails near the marina with mom’s dog.



Weekly totals:

Plan: 9.5 hours

Actual:

Time: 7 hours 50 minutes

Distance: 77.2 km

Elev gain: 2,068 metre.



Didn’t hit the time I wanted, that was difficult as I was away for the weekend, and was busier than I expected. And I missed a run on Thursday, due to running too hard the day before. I think with that I will make sure to run a max of 1.5 hours or 15 km on a work day, then I won’t wear myself out.

Week ending Nov 4

Week ending Nov 4

Mon: rest day

Tue:

-          Run to TCC: 3.44 km, 69 m up and 149 m down, 17:54

-          1 hour basketball. Can’t shoot, can’t jump, short, good thing I can outrun everyone from work

-          Run home from TCC: 3.86 km, 162 metre up, 96 metre down, 25:18

Wed: 13.74 km, 430 metre elev gain, 90 minutes, avg heart rate 141 with c in Peterson crk trails.

Thu: 9.19 km, 188 metre elev gain, 53 minutes. Summit/notre dame road loop. Mixed up the tempo after warming up. From 4:00 min/km – 5:30 min/km.

Fri: off

Sat: 22.64 km, 145 minutes, 620 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 148 bpm (33% zone 3, 64% zone 4); ran the trails behind pacific way school, got completely lost ended up running through some cattle pastures and jumping a few barbed wire fences to get to the highway before I could find my way back to where I knew I was. I realised an advantage to running in an area where there are so few trees. When you can see a peak you want to summit, and can’t find any trails, you can just run up the side of the mountain without worrying about what’s between you and the peak.

Sun: 12.8 km, 89 minutes, 574 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 146 bpm (43% zone 3, 53% zone 4); running in kenna Cartwright trails. I’ve almost started enjoying running in massive fog. When you’re at the top of a peak, and can’t see the city because it’s covered in fog, but can see the next peak on the other side of the city, it almost feels like you’re not in the city.

 

Weekly Totals

Plan: 8 hours running

Actual:

Time: 7 hours + 1 hour hard running playing basketball

Distance: 65.67 km

Elev gain: 2,020 metres

 

The feeling of ‘needing to run’ has passed, glad that’s over with.

 

Week ending Oct 28; A tough slog

Week ending Oct 28


Mon: 11.89 km, 65 minutes, 353 metre elev gain. Ran downtown to the back and back. Uphill on the roads on the way back. Pretty nice climb.

Tue: 8.77 km, 57 minutes, 179 metre elev gain. Running in kenna with the trail group. Good run, checked out some trails I hadn’t seen before. Almost bailed as I was staring out across the river at a bit of scenery I hadn’t seen before.

Wed: 12.55 km, 70 minutes, 270 metre elev gain. Ran down to the university, ran around there and back on roads to check out some of the neighbourhood.

Thur: 11.52 km, 71 minutes, 357 metre elev gain. Running in lac du bois with the trail group. A nice large park, could easily get lost in there doing longs. Just meadows and grasslands and hills, no trees. Very strange.

Friday: no run, cleaning

Sat: no run, moving

Sunday: Raced the Kal Park 9.5 km xc. 44 min 08 sec. 325 metre elev gain. Only a minute faster than 2 years ago. Huh.

Totals: 6 hr 15 minutes. 55.23 km. 1,484 metre elev gain.

On Saturday night I went to a presentation of some mountain adventure type videos. Long story short, it all got me thinking about why I run. And even though I have had a super enjoyable fun year of running, I was thinking about some of the reasons I do what I do. I started out running ultras in 2010, a major reason was to distract myself from other vices. It’s always been a struggle to stay away from past habits, and running has been more about replacing one addiction for another. I think I race too much because I’m chasing after a high, and keep looking for it in a race. Saturday, while driving home, I was thinking just how fun it would be after chasing the high I look for in a race to pop some pills or jam a needle in my arm and make that high better. So all of a sudden I feel like I ‘need’ to run again, and swiftly I’ve gone from having fun running, to needing a strict regimented routine of running for other reasons. Hopefully it will pass sooner than later.

Planning

I'm going to wait to sign up for the 100 mile race until january. But I've already laid out my plan. I have 22 weeks until race day. I figure on a weekly basis I will have a schedule that looks something like this.

Mon: off
Tues: 75 minutes
Wed: 75 minutes
Thurs: 90 minutes (4 hours somewhere between these three days)
Fri: rest
Saturday: long run
Sunday: long run

Starting next week I will do two three week builds, ffollowed by rest weeks, then 2 easy weeks around christmas, a rest week, a three week build, rest week, 2 weeks build, rest week, three week build, taper, then race. Before christmas I will build to weeks of 11 hours and 12 hours at the end of the three week builds. And after christmas, the builds will peak at 14, 15, and 16 hours. I seem to be able to get a fair bit og climbing in running here, which is nice. Unfortunately no real long sustained climbs or very much technical stuff. I might end up on the treadmill for some runs if it gets too cold in the winter.

2012 Training log with plan to end of year

2013 Training Log with plan

I've decided that even though I think I know what I want to do in terms of races after the 100 miler, I will wait to register until after the race. None of the races I want to do will sell out anyway.

I calculated the average hours per day of running in the plan I made up, and it comes out to 1.4 hours per day. So far this year (if you exclude the time I took off in august) I've averaged 1.3 hours per day of running. So I think this isn't too much of a step up, and very doable. I don't intend to do much speed work at all, perhaps only when certain fast runners show up on weekly local runs and I get excited. Other than that, train and get the body and mind used to the pain I will expect during race day.

Maybe I also need to do some long overnight runs after work on friday as well, get my head around the whole running while hallucinating during a race concept.

I will race Sunday in a local 10 km cross country race. After that it will be 152 days until the 100 mile race. I will not race once in between these two races, I will be singularly focused in my training with this race in mind.

2013 Race plans

Been thinking about races for next year.

Brief running goals:
- finish a 100 miler
- have fun doing other stuff
- get better results in races so I feel I've reached my athletic potential
- not race too close together; allow recovery between races

Non running related considerations:
- I want to spend less money on races
- now that I'm done school and working, I have less time to travel to a race
- do mostly local races that I can get to by driving after work on friday, race saturday and be home perhaps even saturday night or sunday morning at the latest.

100 miler options.
- considering the Badger Mountain Challenge in Richland, Wa. It's late march, only 8 hours away by drive, cheaper than some other 100 milers
- fat dog 120 mile; only a 3 hour drive (it's in mid summer and I would rather do one early in the year or late in the year)
- lost soul in lethbridge. in september, a little too far away.

Possible race calendar.

- March 29: Badger Mountain Challenge 100 mile race. Richland, Wa
- May 5: Dirty Feet Kal Park 50 km. Vernon, BC
- June 29: Scorched Sole 50 mile. Kelowna, BC
- Sep 1: Walk in the Park 54 km. Kamloops, BC
- Sep 14: Frosty Mountain 50 km. Manning Park, BC

other options

- Aug 17: Fat Dog: 120 mile, 115 km, 50 mile, 50 km. Manning Park
- Sep 8: Dirty Feet Sun Peaks Ultra. Kamloops, BC
- Sep 8: Lost Soul ultra. Lethbridge, AB
- Sep 14: Steve King 100 km. Princeto to Summerland, BC

I think the 5 race calendar seems like a good plan. Easy on the budget, easy on the ambition. Gives me time to train proper for each event, and relax time in between the different races to do random adventures around home. I think this could be a good calendar. I will wait until January to register for the badger mountain race based on work/running considerations at the time. The rest are all races I could do without having to worry about taking time off.

Week ending sept 23

Sept 17 - Sept 23

Monday: easy 6.6 km road bike; followed by 15 minutes of weights

tuesday: -

wednesday: 16.1 km road bike; followed by 5 minutes of weights

thursday: trail run, 14.3 km with 431 metre elev gain. First run in 14 days. My toes that are missing toenails felt so bad after, and in the two weeks since my run I had lost most of the callouses on my feet, really felt so awkward.

friday: 17.1 km road bike

saturday: -

sunday: 21.1 km trail race. Ran in the dirty feet race at kenna cartwright park. Good race, I'd yet to do a run in the dirty feet series, and it was good. Well marked trails, enough aid stations, good food after, draw prizes, good people.

My legs are still feeling a little dead, I pushed a little hard at the beginning of the race, and didn't have anything left in the end and my legs felt like lead. But in general I'm finally feeling recovered from fat dog enough to exercise five days a week.

Start a ne job on the first, moving before then. October will be erratic in terms of lifestyle/exercise. Hopefully by november I have a rythm set up.

Steve King Classic

Originally I had planned on running the first ever Steve King Classic 100 km race. But my pain was still lingering from the fat dog attempt a month prior, and the witp race was too painful to make me think I had any chance of having a comfortable day.

So instead I ended up being the race day crew for two runners! It was fantastic. Being on the other side of the crew in an ultra as so much fun. Crewing for two runners who were running at different paces was a but of work, but so worth it seeing the joy in their faces after accomplishing so much in their days.

The race was very well done, and a beautiful course. I would definitely recomend the race.

Week ending sept 9

After the WITP in kamloops (54 km) I had to go straight to Penticton for some visiting. Spent three days, it was stressful. I came home and did a run on the 6th, which was slow and excessively painful with massive tightness in my calves. The next day I woke up with a horrible head cold which is just now starting to go away.

What a surprise, beaten up body that hasn't been allowed to recover, plus mental stress, leads to getting sick. This seems like a good time for a rest. My leg muscles still aren't healed from fat dog, they're getting better but there is still tightness behind my knees.

I was planning on doing this later in the year, and maybe not as long as I will,  but I intend on not running again for the rest of september. I will bike still, probably not very many long rides though. Also, I will use this downtime to start a weights routine as well. I've been inspired to start the 100 pushup challenge, which is simply a matter of giving yourself a hundred days to be able to do 100 pushups in a row. Between that, and adding other simple freeweights I have at home should be a good start to build a habit. I want to add more depth to my athleticism, and the winter seems to be a good time to get that done.

Racing while not yet recovered: so painful.

Sunday (the 2nd) I did the 54 km walk in the park ultra in kamloops. The course is an 18 km loop, 3 times, with a total elevation gain of 1,842 metres (6,043 feet). Just two weeks ago I had done 25.5 hours of running in my attempt at the fat dog.

As the title says, racing before you're recovered does not work well. This is the first time that I've done the same course in any race and not improved in the last three years, in fact it's the slowest of the three times I"ve done this race. I was in pain right from the start. At the end of the second lap I took my first ibuprofen, and the third lap was filled with ibuprofen. The drugs made me feel like I was flying, but going so slow.

But still, a super day with super people was had.

I was also quite distracted that day. Alzheimers was on my mind. I hope I die before I get it, and I hope the pattern of it being a women's disease in my genetic tree stays true for my generation. Awful disease.

I've come up with some long term goals

Over the last two months I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about running; why I run, how I want to run, how I feel about racing; and I've run two 50 mile races, attempted a 148 km race and attempted a 120 mile race and done some fun running at home.

I think I've come up with some answers, at least ones that are good enough to amp up my motivation. Come to some understandings of why I run, what types of running I like to do, and what types of races I want to do, and what I need from a race to be able to enjoy it.

For now until the rest of the year I have two more races that I've signed up for. A 54 km race in Kamloops that I've done the last two years. I feel like I should be good to go do that race, but definitely won't push hard, it will just be a fun day out. I should be ready to do it, I'm feeling loose in my legs and a week of camping between here and there should keep me relaxed. Two weeks after that is a 100 km road race that I'm  going to do. I intend on racing this, I have a crew and it should be interesting. After that, no more ultras for the rest of the year.

So. A few major thoughts.
- I like to run, preferring epic mountains, with beautiful scenery, and amazing single track trails.
- I would prefer this first statement, and be going for harder races with only finishing as the goal as opposed to other runners I know who seem to thrive on competition and chasing after times.
- Flat courses are boring, and I never intend on running one again. Other than road races which I may do on short races. Because there are certin aspects of road racing I find fun.
- I need to research races better; sinister was boring and unstimulating to me because of its constant fire road / atv trail / quad trails and very little trees.
- I really don't feel like being a guinea pig in a races formative years as they work out the kinks.
- I am very spontaneous in my running, and enjoy random challenges.
- I want to finish a 100 mile race (i've got it, I've found the place inside to be to drive myself)
- I want to run hard 100 mile races

So how to combine all these things? I know I"m very spontaneous and don't want structure, but I do know that I will always struggle with motivation to race, but desperately want to finish super hard 100 mile races. I think if I only plan to run two maybe three ultras per year I can do all this. By racing less ultras in a year I will be better prepared, as this year I felt like too many races close to each without proper lead preperation cost me in some races. And by racing less I will be able to afford myself chunks of time during the year where I can just explore and run in my hometown; perhaps lots of little runs, perhaps epic local adventures. Also, I need to spend more time giving back to the running community and so racing less should give me this opportunity as well. Tempering my racing enthusiasm should yield rewards in many facets of running.

So where to go from all that? Long term goal, I want to finish a super hard 100 mile race, perhaps hardrock or the 120 mile fat dog. lots of little things to do to get there, and I shouldn't be trying to hit that goal in a year or two. Steps should be taken along the way. For example; other 100 mile races should be done to get ready for the hard ones, and hardrock requires certain qualifiers. One of the hardrock qualifiers is Western states, so I might as well apply every year for that, meaning another step must be taken, running qualifiers for western states. Also, I want to get faster, if I can maintain a faster speed at a comfortable pace I can finish longer races easier. So, speedowrk. Also, I want to put on muscle mass, I feel like the more muscle I have the better they last during endurance races, so, let's put on some muscle. I also need to do a better job running trails/ascents/descents to match the types of conditions in my goal races.

Main goal:
- Kick ass and finish Hardrock 100 mile and/or Fat Dog 120 mile ultra

Small goals to get there
- run qualifying races: Western states

Goals to get there
- run qualifying races for that

Little details to get there
- pick my races better: don't run races in the summer. Perhaps 50 mile WS qualifiers before June, and 100 mile ultras after August (other than if I get into certain key races).
- do more speedwork
- do more climbing
- more quality running
- with no races booked in summer there is some room for epic adventures of my own
- also, winter/spring can be used for epic/random adventures on my own

Right now: after I finish the 100 km road race September 15: I shall make sure I'm rested for a week or two, then go into a reduced volume maintenance program. With major speedwork and muscle building thrown in.

And go! :)

not quite a fat dog yet

At some point during my travels I decided I wanted to come back and give the Fat Dog 120 mile race a whirl. I figured I would rather challenge myself with an epic distance and epic mountain climbs than do race I knew I could complete.

Here is the elevation profile.

100 miles and 28,000 feet elevation gain.

Well; the short story is that I couldn't quite do it. I made it to the 120 km mark. I only went up and down the first three mountains, about 22,000 feet elev gain.

The weather gods are not on my side this year. At sinister it was 39 celsius, and apparently at fat dog it was hitting 30 degrees by 9 am and hit a max of 37 celsius. But I thought I was dealing with it well. I was taking gels regularly, intaking proper amounts of water/gatorade and salts, and my stomach was dealing with the solid food that I was putting in. My sweat/pee functions was good. And I even felt like my body temperature was all that high (well until midday hit, then I started to have issues).

The race started at 4 am in Keremeos, and finishes in Manning park. There was a shuttle bus offered that took you from Manning (assuming you were staying there) to the start line in Keremeos the night before. I hadn't planned far enough in advance to book a room in keremeos, so my plan was to sleep in my car in keremeos after the pre race meeting friday night. Turns out I slept in the hall after the meeting on a pallet. Ha. It was suprisingy comfortable, other than waking up in the middle of the night with a disturbing sensatioon that a bat had landed on me.

Morning of the race we took a school bus that left the hall at 3 am to the start line, arriving there at around 3:45 for the 4 am start. At the sound of a bear clapper 30 crazies started. I should backtrack a bit. The night before I had gone to dinner with a couple experienced runners from Washington state that were volunteering, many times over dinner I got told to go slow, no slower, no slower, you must pace yourself for an epic hard race and the distance. 42 hours time limit, plan for it. And I knew there were a few very expereinced 100 milers in the field, so I figured I wasn't going to go too far away from them.

The start of the race was a rather steep climb in the dark. I attached myself to the heels of a runner that this year had finished his second hardrock. We did a goood pace, good hike pace on the uphills and decent jog on the downhills. The first mountain ascent gave us the sunrise with a perfect view of the mountains around us. At the 31 km mark (which was at the bottom of the first mountain) there was a suggested time of 5 hours. Me and Larry arrived around 4:55 hours. At this point I was feeling great, highs of being at the top of an alpine mountain condition, and running down some nice hiills, felt like my body was holding up good, not too hot yet as we had a decent amount of shade.

Well, at the 31 km aid station is where the heat started. We ran a short ways along a foretsry road in the heat, and then started the ascent up mountain #2 in a very steap open trail. This was slow going. A very hot 5-8 kms later we had gotten back into shadier trails, running along lakes. But that passed and we were back into the open, nearing the peack of the next mountain. There was an 11 hour cutoff time at km 69, which was after a river crossing after going back down the second mountain. Climbing up the second mountain near the top, I was with three other runners and we were quite aware that we would not be hitting this cutoff time. It was far too agreesive. Nonetheless as we came down the awesome singletrack that was ont the side of the mountain face coming down we had to pick up the pace. This was lost a bit as one of the aid stations was moved further along for some reason or another. We had picked up another runner just before this, of the five I was with I was the only one not run out of water (even having shared some of it) hitting the aid station about 6 km before the river crossing at the very low point of the course. At this aid station, we were informed that the race directors were aware of the cut off time being missed by many (turns out had they kept the 11 hour cut off time they would have cut all but 5 runners) the cutoff time was seemingly randomly based off of the previous winners time, plus two hours. At the river crossing we were informed the cutoff had been extended an hour, we still had to book it to make it. Myself and about four other runners came in together, having ran way too fast for the last 4 km to the next aid station, and exerting ourselves too much the 3 km before the river. Turns out 10 runners came through between 3 pm and 4 pm (the extra hour) and they even let 5 more runners in before 5 pm. I wish they hadn't been so indecisive with this, I really felt like I had to push too much to hit this cut off time. I ran 36% of the course distance and about 45% of the elevation gain in about 28% of the total 42 hour cutoff time.

At the aid station at 69 km a fair amount of time was spent getting ready to move on. Shoe change, night time equipment was picked up, and away we went up the next mountain. I was a couple minutes behind a group of 5 runners. They kept jogging the flats. But I felt a little overstretched from trying to hit the last cutoff, so was planning on just power walking for awhile, turned on the music for the first time in the day and eventually I caught up to the group ahead. However, the muscles (perhaps tendons) behind my knees were starting to get tight. About halfway up the third mountain there was a descent, the runners ahead of me started to run, and I just didn't have it in me, the pain in the knees was rough. So I just kept power walking hoping it would go away. I never caught those runners again, but that was ok. Ascending the mountain was another scenic gem just like the last two. So many switchbacks on this one, seemed eternal. But getting to the top it was a beautiful view, canyons straight down on the other side, wonderful cool winds. A couple km's of easy going until the aid station at 88 km at the top of the third mountain. Wonderful folks, had a quesadilla made for me, some nice conversation and away I went. The sunset was watched at the top, and it was a blessed moment. However, just after heading out my legs started to go to shit, specifically now both legs were overly tight behind the knees. And this coincided with the arrival of night time. My first major mental hurdle came. And the low hit hard.

In my head at this point for some reason I thought it was downhill until the next aid station at 102 km. But I was wrong, and realized this very soon. Another mental low, just kept getting lower. As I was feeling like ass of course I stumbled and slightly rolled my ankle. I swore for the first time about 18 hours into the day. When I thought I was at about 95 km, I saw a sign saying 9 km to the next lake (which was where the next aid was) I was now getting further into a mental hole, only this far? I had been passed by several runners, but somehow picked it up and was at least powerwalking the uphills and even jogging the minor downhills. I finally made it to the 102 km aid station, considering dropping. Except there was no way to drop as the guys that were running this aid station only got there by hiking the 18 km up the mountain from the spot where our mext aid station was located. So no choice but to keep going.

I thought to myself that I would at least do my best to the next aid station and see how I felt. Perhaps even feeling recuperated enough to carry on past 120 km. From 102 km it was downhill. The type of trail that has been cut into the side of the mountain, narrow, but wide enough to feel like youi can run, with a steep drop going down the one side of the mountain. Well, my new mental high lasted maybe 10 km. for a 1 km stretch I slipped and stumbled, my legs gave out a bit and I slipped down the mountainside feeling as though I barely caught myself on the way down. I felt so unsafe. THis stumbling happened ten times. FUCK! I was actually feeling scared. What to do? instant low, I felt so mentally out of it. I couldn't even feel the pain in my posterior knee muscles, all I could think of was how am I going to get safely down this trail. So I stopped and sat there. I took my good headlight off, put my junk back up on, sat down and took off my pack and belt and waited. I was mentally prepared to wait until daylight so I could get out safely. However, eventually the next runner came along and I went along with him. I figured at least with someone else I would be safe. By this time I knew there was no other option but dropping when I got to the next aid station. The runner I was with was still holding onto the idea of finishing, but he was going slow. It took us four and a alf hours to go down the 18 km to the next aid station. In the meantime I picked the brain of Jefferey about his motivation to finish, and what gets him through the lows. Some good chats. Eventually we got to the aid station, and I dropped out.

In the end I ran 120 km in 25:25, and did approximately 22,000 ft elev gain, climbing up and down three of the most difficult climbs I've done. the fellow I ran with for a fair bit who has done hardrock said the course was harder than hardrock. I was on my feet continuously for the longest time ever for me, and this is the greatest amount of elevation gain I've ever done, and 5 km shy of my longest run in distance ever. I ran up and down three mountains; watching the sunrise on the first, and the sunset on the third, with so much amazing scenery in between. I am so glad I chose to come take on this course, the greater the challenge the better.

Six days later and I am still a little tight behind my knees, but am capable of comfortably walking. I've biked the last two days for 21 km and 31 km respectively. I could barely walk for three days after the race though. For the first time in three years of trail running I had blisters at the end of a race; one one each heal, the three smallest toes on each foot had blisters, the second largest toe on my left foor had a massive blood blister underthe nail (probably oing to lose it) and my big toe on my right foot is completely black.

I defintely feel like I've come out of this adventure having found the place to tap into in terms of motivatioon to finish/race. So quite pleased with that.

All in all; I am amaxingly blessed to live a life where I have the ability to pursue these sorts of acitivities where I can challenge myself and learn through them.

running thoughts; from my travels

I would write in my phone random thoughts about stuff while travelling. Lots of time to think while you're living on a bus for a few weeks. Here are some of my  thoughts. Just feel like writing them to ppnder them later.

- I need to plan less in terms of races. Reason is that because I still haven't nailed down my race motivation, I'm very apt to change my mind in terms of what races I want to do. So I should just plan less races and follow my whims for registration
- I like to run. A very simple statement, perhaps complicated meaning for more than running. I value being outside, and I value using exercise/running as a tool for personal growth more than I value the 'race' itself, although I very much enjoy the race day experiemce, I just am capable of recognizing that I have yet to find the thing to tap into that motivates me to truly race properly.
- The immenseness of the grand canyon somehow made me want to skip doing a 50 km race, and come home to do a 120 mile trail race that I knew would be in the mose scenic mountains on awesome single track trails. An interesting revelation that reveals a bit of my preferences I suppose.

no other real interesting quotes.

I found myself coming to terms with my inability to stick with a solid plan; I suppose that is more related to my increasing frustration through this years races of not feeling as though I have had a race result that reflects my athletic ability, or anywhere near it as far as I feel. I've had a fantastic year in terms of running; great people, great places, great improvements.

I spent a lot of time thinking about why race? And have even asked people several times during races something along the lines of "when you are mentally down during an ultra, what motivates you through" - no one really ever had a solid answer, usually just my desire outweighs the cost. I didnn't quite get it, so far this year I wasn't able to get to that point, that is until after I ended my day during fat dog. But more on that later.

So in the end, what are the answers I got for myself about running?

- I really like to run.
- Epic distances and epic mountains are definitely preferred over any sort of accolades, although sometimes its easier to hit those epics through racing.
- I really like to challenge myself through running. Challenges that transcend just the physicality of running.
- I am thankful to be so blessed to be able to live in a place where I have such free time and ability to pursue such lofty ambitions, and to be granted the ability to challenge myself through these sorts of crazy adventures. Always learning, and wanting to push further.

White river;

It's been a while since I ran teh white river 50 race, so not much to say this late.

First, pictures for posterity.

(photo credit  from Glenn Tachiyama; http://www.pbase.com/gtach/wr2012 )

the race is just perfect. Amazing scenery with Mt Rainier as the backdrop (as seen in the first picture). The trails were great and well marked. Aid stations were amazing with great people running them and fantastic food at them, nothing was missing. Organization was wonderful. All in all, a great race which left nothing to be desired, I would definitely recomend the race.

In terms of my race; again I struggled with motivation and didn't have the mental umph to push through the pain to dig down for a great race day performance. but maybe I also didn't really ahve ths physical strength as the week prior had 16 hours of exercise in it, as I gave in to the urge of bagging every summit in town. But, I had a nice day out on the trails, ran my fastest 50 mile race in what may be the toughest conditions. I can tell I'm improving athletically when I run faster races, even though I feel pieces are still missing, so that's nice.

At the end of this race I found myself again faced with the question of 'why' to which I spent a fair bit of time thinking about in the following weeks. Why run? What types of races? How do I even want races to fit into my running? I had a nice nine and a half hours to think during this race, I answered no questions, but I better elucidated the questions I wanted to figure out answers to.

see ya

Leaving on Friday morning for 5 weeks.

My trip will include the White River 50 mile race in Crystal Mountain, Wa (near seattle), the Corner Canyon Ultra 50 km in Draper, Ut (near Salt Lake City), the Tamalpa HEadlands 50 km in Muir Beach, Ca (near San Francisco), and the Walk in the Park 54 km in Kamloops, BC

Week ending July 22 (taper?)

July 16 - July 22

Monday july 16: no run

Tuesday july 17: hiked bear creek; about 5 km's. We went up the trail on the one side and then decided to swim in a deep area of the creek, which was then followed up with the brilliant decision to come back down the creek. Only problem was that we both had forgotten just how big the waterfalls were. Further to the top of the creek was the smallest (about 5 metres high) and right below that was the bigger (about 30 metres high). We actually stood talking about trying to get down the smaller for ten minutes, not knowing how much bigger the larger was. I'm quite glad I won the discussion and we turned back... only to try and scale the cliff face instead of just going back teh way we came, that was probably equally as scary as we had wet running shoes on, and there was crap for handholds on the rock climb.

wednesday july 17::

am: 42.3 km road bike around town in 96 minutes

pm1: 8.1 km mountain bike on the greenway to meet up with the pace group

pm2: 10.9 km trail run in 62 minutes. Pace workout; 10 minute warmup, then did sprint pyramids, then cool down.

pm3: 9.5 km mountain bike home from pace run

thursday july 18: rest day: I had intened on running Little White mtn, but wednesday kicked my ass a bit, and it was way too hot out.

friday july 19: Little White! I parked my car at the parking lot near the top of little white fsr and biked to the bellevue trestle, then hiked/ran to top of little white, a little bit along the ridge and back, then biked back to my car. It was cool and cloudy, so great for running. There was still a little bit of snow at the top, so on the way up it was still a little mosquito infested, but thats alright. One of my favourite runs. Biked 13.6 km, ran 22.5 km with 1,116 metre elev gain.

The summit of Little White

A few shots of the valley from the top of Little White

Bellevue Trestle

the cliff face at Little White; lunch on top!

One of the two big reasons I'm no longer comfortable driving on the KVR

Saturday July 21: Okanagan Mountain Summit run with pace. Ran the divide lake trail to the summit and back. Another beautiful day. I tested perogies as a on the run food this day, seemed to work. Ran 28.2 km with 1,562 metre elev gain.

At the top of Ok Mtn beside Divide Lake

after running I stopped at the bike shop to pick up my road bike; so I couldn't resist going for a quick 14.2 km ride through the hills near home.

Sunday july 22: biked 15.9 km to knox mountain (uphill), then a short 4 km run to test out new shoes (mountain masochists, I like!) and then rode 12.6 km home (down).

Weekly totals:

Bike: 116.2 km

Run: 70.6 km with 3,127 metre elev gain

Total time: 14 hours 55 minutes.

Next week I'm going a 50 mile race, didn't really do much of a taper, but I didn't work this week so I guess I got more rest day. Overall, a fantastic week. I hit the summit of three of the local mountains and it was good.

Sinister race thoughts and photos

I don't know where to really start with this race. So  a few photos will start I guess.

Around 5 km

Around 12 km

Same shot, just after I passed through.

Around 35 km.

This is going to be a horrible race report. I don't feel like breaking down the race blow by blow, describing every intricate detail of what went down.

A few key things. I had a good day, running with old friends and new friends. I had a fantastic little holiday with family who came out to support me on my endeavour. I ended up dropping out of the 148 km race at 87 km. The day was super hot, reaching a high of 39 degrees celsius (103 F). I did start the race at what I thought was a slow enough speed to last. Around 34 km I got my first signs of trouble, with tightness coming and going in my legs, and stomach issues beginning. Even though the race was in the mountains, there was no shade, no clouds, and very little trees to block the sun. By 50 km in I was having real issues with my stomach, just felt horrible. Leaving the transition area heading up the hill at the beginning of leg 4 (around 67 km) I started to feel faint, and didn't make it up the hill well at all. By 70 km I was feeling like a real tonne of ass, the heat felt like it was destroying me. At 73 km, there was a river crossing, the runner I was with suggested taking the shoes off and walking through to keep dry as there was 15 km to go until the next crew spot and change of shoes. I sat down at the water station 100 metre later and when I tried to get up and was lightheaded, dizzy and fell back down into the chair. I didn't go on from that point until I could stand up without feeling faint; that took 30 minutes. When I kept going I decided to go to the next water station and re-asses, I felt basically the same, except worse. I was feeling off feelings in my toes and fingers, I hadn't peed in 11 hours, and as well as the light headedness I was feeling funny in the chest (maybe I was having asthma issues due to the elevation).

I decided to drop out at 87 km around 13.5 hours. I was well within the cut off times, but didn't feel moving on was the safest choice. I could possibly have walked it out to the finish and still beat the cut-off time. But finishing is not worth the possible risk. I knew the next leg included lots of deep water, and with the lightheadedness that wouldn't go away I didn't feel like risking falling in a deep puddle, or something worse. I'm totally ok with dropping. Running myself into possibly risky situations isn't worth the risk, just for the reward of being able to say I am a finisher, the risk vs reward ratio tipped in the favour of risk on that day. I enjoy running more than I used to, and seem to be less willing to destroy myself. So that was that.

Thinking more deeply about my DNF though, I think if I were in another race of that distance and feeling the same I will have learned from this and make a different choice. I came into the water station where I ended up dropping out at 87 km at 13 hours. Total cut-off time for the race was 27 hours for 148 km. To finish the race from that under the cut-off time I would have had to do the remaining 61 km in 14 hours, that's a pace of 13:45 min/km (22 min/mile) which is very doable in itself, as long as you can get your head past your current pain state. Also, the cutoff time for that leg was 18 hours for 99 km. I had to go 12 more km in 5 hours. Very doable.

Now here''s the thing; almost immediately (around 13.5 hours) after getting into the car of the volunteer who drove me from where I dropped to the arena, I started to feel better. Part of that was probably me mentally letting go of stress, but maybe I just needed a rest. And within a couple hours I felt tonnes better already. Maybe all I needed was a major rest, and some wicked food in me to be able to ramp it up. What if I had rested at the spot I had dropped for two hours and then kept going. Even with that much I could probably had run the remaining 61 km in under 12 hours. Or what if I had struggled two the next transition area where my crew was waiting, and then rested under the comfort of family and food. Maybe after that I could have even picked up the pace a bit and pushed on faster. So maybe, having pushed hard enough to work myself a buffer under the cut off times, I should have used thta buffer up to try and recover before dropping.

I think I may have just talked myself into doing this race again next year, wrong decisions that are fixable. I don't regret my decision to drop at all. But I think I have definitely learned something from it. After all, I have only been doing this whole ultra thing since 2010, and this was only my third attempt to run further than 100 km. Growing pains I guess.

Write out the thoughts of the race, and talk yourself into a bit of unfinished business.

Happy sighs.

And I'm a week away from a 5 week vacation. !!!!