Training Log Archive: bensmith

Kits, Burrard, seawall and Stanley Park. Nice and easy.

Gleneagles to Black Mountain and back. Up via an unofficial trail to Whyte Lake, then Baden Powell. Down via ski hills and sentier transcanadien.

This was a really good, varied route. I like that the lower slopes have flat sections, rather than the usual North Shore peak trail routechoice of up-up-up. Pretty relentless climb from ~600m up, but broken up with some boulder fields to keep you on your toes.

From Eagle Bluffs to the peak was really busy. I'd hate to be there on a day when there was actually a view...

The ski runs seem way steeper when running compared to on skis. I went to the top of Raven Ridge and down a short black run, and had to zig-zag for the most part. The green runs still seemed tough on the legs too!

99.9% of the snow is gone now. But the white snow was just replaced by white fog. Despite being warm and humid at the base, I was pretty close to putting on a jacket once I'd got to the chalet. Also better vision with my glasses in my hand than on my face for ~5km!

Trans Canada Trail was very impressively marked. Started off with a few km of rough 4x4 type trail, then popped back into the forest for some technical stuff. Final few km were on flat wide trails. Seems a shame that I was the only person on it given how much effort was put into marking it!

I'm constantly amazed by just how much slower I run when I get on even a mildly technical trail. My fastest km was the very last one, which was on solid flat stuff (4:40 pace). Even when I pushed a little hard on the downhill on the 4x4 track I was barely at 5:00 pace. Regular trail pace seems more like 7:00. Maybe I'll do better at judging how long these runs are going to take in the future...

Nutrition-wise, I just used tailwind. Did 200 calories per 750ml water bottle (so quite weak). Carried 2 bottles, and refilled 1 at the chalet. Seemed about right, given I wasn't pushing too hard. Didn't get hungry.

Easy run through Pacific Spirit.

GVOC's first SuperWET, organised by Leif in Stanley Park.

It was a great success, with over 100 people. Summer events on Wednesdays are definitely more popular than weekends, when everyone is too busy.

It took me way too long to realise that I should be ignoring the small trails in the woods, and using compass and big trees instead. Also had a few stupid lapses of concentration that cost me time.

I ran exactly 3km to the first control. Awesome leg!

Warm up

5 x 4 minutes, with 1 minute rest. 4min/km when moving.

Warm down