The current OUTRace Ultra series leader Stephen Bridson lives about 10 minutes up the road. "Up", in Creemore parlance is north. Towards Stayner. Fortunately, Stephen does not live in Stayner because although Stayner is much larger than Creemore, for some intangible reason, Creemorites look down on Stayner. Not quite the Dog River / Wullerton situation, but although Creemore is tiny, it has flair, panache and some other descriptor I have never understood... Never jokingly suggest that Creemore is a suburb of Stayner.
It makes sense for Lee Anne, Stephen and I to car-pool to a race in Ottawa. It is a long drive and the fuel savings alone make taking only one car worth it. Stephen was second place in the 24 hour race with a distance of about 168K (I think) while Lee Anne was first female in the 12 hour with just over 80K. Almost everyone had trouble with the heat. It was supposed to be a high of 24C, but I'm sure it reached closer to 27, not factoring in the humidity. Many people were suffering during the afternoon, with no cloud cover or shade. I claimed to those far and near that the reason I was faring badly was because my knees were not happy running on the asphalt, which is quite true. They are causing me much grief today, but the main reason for my less than exemplary distance is that I was under trained. Since Conquer the Canuck, I have had severe difficulty running long. My 28K DNF at Limberlost was the only run over 20K in the past 7 weeks. Apparently, running 5 ultras in 7 weeks causes some longer term issues!
I managed a measly 50K in 12 hours. Actually, I took a break after reaching the ultra distance (about 43K) in a tortoise-slow 9.5 hours, then walked 4 laps to peg the 50K. Laps were 1.8793K, which was a long enough distance to avoid getting nauseous going around in circles, but a good distance for reaching the aid station at short intervals.
I am simply not recovered yet. As mentioned above, walking is painful today, although if you run for 10+ hours, then drive the next day for 6+ hours, conceivably, you will be stiff and sore... But I would like to have a word with the recovery gods. I'm interested in their time table for my recovery. I am not overly pleased with how long this is taking. I want results, damnit.
The race actually went smoothly, which is probably to be expected given that I never opened it up. I gelled every 3 laps (about every 5.6379K) and carried a bottle with Nuun on my waist belt. I actually stayed with Lee Anne for the first 8 hours. I think this was more because Lee Anne was struggling early in the day, than my running faster than normal. At one point I caught up to Lee Anne and mentioned that she should not take so many walking breaks. Her reply was that she was struggling. I paused for a few seconds before replying because I think the last time Lee Anne declared she was struggling, was during her first marathon in 2000... I immediately changed gears and told her to start taking more walking breaks. It was noticeably hot.
My knees and general condition simply deteriorated over the first 6 hours. I added walking breaks early (only 3 hours in) as I expected to be in trouble due to my lack of conditioning. Although others were complaining of stomach issues, I fared relatively well, for such a hot day. A significant exception to the lower mileage covered by most of the runners was Paul Chenery, who broke the 60-64 men's 24 hour Canadian record. While most had at least one low point during the afternoon or early evening, Paul was more like a metronome - churning out the laps like clockwork. Well done Paul!
I now have a large break, as we will be walking the Coast to Coast trail in England in August and September, returning a bit too late to make it to Haliburton. The C2C walk starts in St. Bees on England's west coast and finishes in Robin Hood's Bay, about 309K later.
Have fun at Hali and I hope to see you at Horror Trail.
Cheers!
Monday, July 31, 2017
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Limberlost DNF - Oops! Race Report
With 4 weeks off I figured 56K would be less of an ordeal than the pathetic 3 ultras I ran in late May and June. If I ever make predictions about the stock market, make sure you invest heavily in the opposite direction...
Although wet, with a healthy sprinkling of mud, The Limberlost Challenge was a hoot, with perfect running weather and wonderful trails. TLC requires considerable effort to maintain any semblance of a race pace. Look at the results and you will note most runners seem to be taking their sweet time. Knowing the course fairly well, I figured that 2 hours for the first 14K loop would be about right. I was hoping to get 42K in at about the 6.5 hour mark, then slug it out with the mud for a circa 10 hour finish.
The first loop went well, with no apparent issues and completed in 2:01. Loop 2 started well and I was confident I could keep somewhere near my schedule. Yes, the course required a lot of effort, but I did not start too fast, was hydrating well and had no issues with nutrition. A common theme during my training runs after Conquer the Canuck 50K, which I ran 4 week prior to TLC, was the gas tank would drop from half full to empty very quickly. If the training runs were getting marginally better over the 4 weeks, it was never an obvious improvement. At 20K, about halfway through loop 2, I changed from running well to barely being able to run. Oh oh. In most 50K's, my energy level drops progressively from about 30K to 45K, at which point I am struggling. But struggling for 5K is normal and acceptable. Struggling for 36K on a rugged trail is another matter.
The good news is that I experienced no cramping or knee problems. My back fired a few shots across the prow, but all in all I was running without appreciable pain. Or energy. By the end of the second loop I had nothing left. It took me 4.5 hours to run the first 28K. Walking for another 28K and chasing the cut-off's seemed a bit too masochistic, even for me. Although the trail was a treat, I was not prepared to endure another 6 hours and possibly face a DNF.
I plan to run in 3 more OUTRace ultras this year and if all goes well, I can still achieve the Norm Patenaude award. But there is no more room for error. I guess the concept of the NP award is that it is tough. Most people cannot make it to all the races and many things can go wrong in an ultra. Although it looks easy on paper, I am finding out it is not easy in any respect.
Lee Anne and I have the Ottawa 12 hour is in 3 weeks. At the risk of sounding complacent, I expect this race to be one of the least difficult. The original plan, back in April, was that I would be well rested for Ottawa, with a few 50K's and a 56K under my belt. I would try for 80K during the 12 hours. On paper (of course I never learn, haven't you read any of my posts?) it should be possible, even simple, as I ran 80K at Haliburton, a much tougher course, in 12:35. 80K is still my A goal, but with the way my running is going, I will be happy with 43K.
Cheers!
Although wet, with a healthy sprinkling of mud, The Limberlost Challenge was a hoot, with perfect running weather and wonderful trails. TLC requires considerable effort to maintain any semblance of a race pace. Look at the results and you will note most runners seem to be taking their sweet time. Knowing the course fairly well, I figured that 2 hours for the first 14K loop would be about right. I was hoping to get 42K in at about the 6.5 hour mark, then slug it out with the mud for a circa 10 hour finish.
The first loop went well, with no apparent issues and completed in 2:01. Loop 2 started well and I was confident I could keep somewhere near my schedule. Yes, the course required a lot of effort, but I did not start too fast, was hydrating well and had no issues with nutrition. A common theme during my training runs after Conquer the Canuck 50K, which I ran 4 week prior to TLC, was the gas tank would drop from half full to empty very quickly. If the training runs were getting marginally better over the 4 weeks, it was never an obvious improvement. At 20K, about halfway through loop 2, I changed from running well to barely being able to run. Oh oh. In most 50K's, my energy level drops progressively from about 30K to 45K, at which point I am struggling. But struggling for 5K is normal and acceptable. Struggling for 36K on a rugged trail is another matter.
The good news is that I experienced no cramping or knee problems. My back fired a few shots across the prow, but all in all I was running without appreciable pain. Or energy. By the end of the second loop I had nothing left. It took me 4.5 hours to run the first 28K. Walking for another 28K and chasing the cut-off's seemed a bit too masochistic, even for me. Although the trail was a treat, I was not prepared to endure another 6 hours and possibly face a DNF.
I plan to run in 3 more OUTRace ultras this year and if all goes well, I can still achieve the Norm Patenaude award. But there is no more room for error. I guess the concept of the NP award is that it is tough. Most people cannot make it to all the races and many things can go wrong in an ultra. Although it looks easy on paper, I am finding out it is not easy in any respect.
Lee Anne and I have the Ottawa 12 hour is in 3 weeks. At the risk of sounding complacent, I expect this race to be one of the least difficult. The original plan, back in April, was that I would be well rested for Ottawa, with a few 50K's and a 56K under my belt. I would try for 80K during the 12 hours. On paper (of course I never learn, haven't you read any of my posts?) it should be possible, even simple, as I ran 80K at Haliburton, a much tougher course, in 12:35. 80K is still my A goal, but with the way my running is going, I will be happy with 43K.
Cheers!
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