"March" Long Run

I don't know why I feel embarrassed to consider 15K a long run.  I'm busy in March; work and maple syrup taking an average of 81.6 hours out of the 168 hour week.  Then there is pottery - I just made 156 medals for the YMCA Strong Kids campaign.  Of more significance, making maple syrup requires tangible physical effort.  Driving a laptop at work is nothing, but snowshoeing in deep snow for 2 - 3 days per week is tough!  Before this sounds any more like whining, let's just say that getting in a 15K run this morning was wonderful.  It is -7 this Saturday morning.  The sap is not running so I am!

I am surprisingly tired, but then again, the first hill (Collingwood street - the top part of which is Hill #1 on the CVC course) was 4K long, then I ran the big hill on the CKD (Copper Kettle Dash) 10K course.  The hill on SR 6/7 is about 1.5K long.  Then I was tired!  Lee Anne ran with me, but of course she is currently adding 25K to today's run to make it 40K, as she only ran 40K yesterday.  She is worried that she won't do well at Pick Your Poison 50K...  I've given up trying to convince her that 150K per week is an adequate base for a 50K race!

Although tired after 15K, my knees and back did not bother much at all today.  This is heartening and I hope it will translate into an injury-free ramp-up in April and May.  I will of course do nothing stupid during the ramp up, like increase my long run by 5K per week...  Yeah, I know.  We are our own worst enemies.

I am also surprised at how much I am looking forward to the Spring Warm-up.  There are 2 aspects of the event that appeal to me.  1.  It is more social than race.  This means that the super-human runners will actually let me run ahead of them, for a few meters during the first loop.  I remember once thinking "I'm ahead of Jim Morrison"!  And I'm not talking about the dead Jim Morrison!  The last time I could keep up to Live Jim in a 50K race was circa 2005.  2.  The SW is akin to a gathering after a long, dark, cold winter.  The Ontario ultra community is actually quite small and if you attend 2 or more races, due to the duration of the races, you tend to make many friends.  The SW is a wonderful chance to catch up with those runners you haven't seen since last year's races.

While writing, it has warmed up to -3.  It is unusual to have some free time in mid-March, drink a coffee and update the blog.  I need to clean the evaporator, but will defer that tasks to tomorrow, as it is supposed to be a bit warmer.  I need to immerse my hands in cold water for an hour or two, in order to clean the evap.  If anyone is interested in seeing the evaporator in action, please email me.  First I need sap (really?) which requires 1 - 2 days with a high of +3 to +8 and a low of -3 to -8 prior to starting the evaporator.  The sugar shack is near Singhamton (south of Blue Mountain) and please note!  There is a 1K walk through snow from the road to the shack.  The essentials (hot rum and syrup) will be provided...

Well, time to replenish the wood supply on the deck.

OAO