Training Log Archive: Bash

Event: Sulphur Springs Trail Run
 

Sulphur Springs 50 miler - 4 loops of a hilly 20 km course.

We couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions. It was 4C when we started racing at 6 a.m., then it warmed up to the mid-teens as the day went on. The sun shone all day and the trails were almost entirely dry. Thanks to a good night's sleep at the Hottage, I was able to leave for the race just 50 minutes before its 6 a.m. start, so this was as civilized as any ultra I've done.

On one hand, I'm happy with this race because I bettered my 50-mile PB by over an hour and qualified for Western States. However, I'm not happy with how it played out.



I felt great at the start and ran the first lap steadily but without pushing hard. I was amazed to see 2:15 on the clock after the 20K lap - much better than expected, given how relaxed I felt. But the downward spiral began when a muscle in my left shin started hurting around the 30-35 km mark. It eventually radiated upward and inflamed my knee by the time I finished. For the rest of the race, I worried about whether it was something serious and I was stupid to continue. What if I missed out on UTMB because of this?

I polled my brain for everything I've ever googled about shins - and believe me, I have googled a *lot* since I had a slightly different shin issue at the end of the Oil Creek 100K. I considered dropping out but semi-convinced myself that it wasn't serious, even though the niggling worry never went away so I couldn't bring myself to push through the pain. I altered my running gait to a slow, awkward trot that made it hurt less.



I've finished strong in other ultras but in this one, I just faded away. My laps were 2:15, 2:31, 2:44 and 3:11. To be fair, I took it easy on my body in the last lap since I just wanted to do what was needed to break 11 hours and qualify for WS100 - but still, that is a very wide range of lap times. It had nothing to do with cardio or even leg strength. My quads/hammies feel quite good today. It feels like maybe my longtime gimpy ankle is misaligned and causing some imbalance that starts in my left foot and adds up over the hours. This didn't happen during our long mountain treks in Argentina so it's running-specific, and it didn't happen in the Death Race so it's relatively new. Hmm. I need to figure this out quickly, and Carbon has already given me a couple of good leads.



Other than that, things went fairly well. I saw lots of friends on the course and said quick hellos. I Leukotaped all the right places so there were no blisters or chafing. My clothing, pack and shoes worked well. I ate and drank enough. The hills didn't seem particularly big after training in the Hockley Valley. The only other negative was the frequency of portapotty visits - grrr.

The 50 milers are allowed pacers on their final lap so I invited 'Bent to join me so he wouldn't have to sit around all day. Too bad the pace was so slow by then that it was more of a power hike. At least he had time to take a few pics so I could show the course in my race report.



Congratulations to friends who had great races at various distances, and a big shout out to JohnnyM who placed 3rd overall in the 100-miler in spite of a knee twinge that knocked him out of contention for the win.

Special congratulations to the two Dontgetlost 100-mile relay teams who set out to break their record from last year (11:48). They both succeeded after an all-day tight battle between some truly amazing runners. The new record is 11:24. See Trav's log for details on the team members and run times, and check out Bender's impressive relay progress board below.





Here is Frankenjack demonstrating the forward lean.



And here are JP and Bender doing a speedy transition.



Time/distance adjusted since I accidentally turned off GPS briefly.

Snow this morning. Perfect weather for 'Bent and Mrs. Gally's excellent adventure.

Great article on using your compass by multiple World Orienteering Champion Thierry Georgiou.
"How many times I have been writing "compass!" in my own race’s analysis, meaning that I had to put more focus on it. I would still say that around 60% of my mistakes are due to inefficient use of my compass."

This applies to adventure racing too!

Short version: Continuing to take it easy before Saturday's 50-miler.

Long, overly detailed version: Just reviewing the info for the Sulphur Springs ultra. The 50-mile awards are scheduled to happen 2.5 hours before my earliest possible finish, hahaha. :) I can take solace in the fact that I won't be the only one missing them, given that last year's female winner finished only 8 minutes before the awards took place.

For the next few months, everything needs to be done with UTMB in mind so I want to approach Sulphur as a long training run with the added benefits of good motivation, friends in attendance, and aid stations every 5K. The reason it's important to do it as a training run is that I don't plan to do a race-style recovery; I need to get back to regular training next week. Only 3 months till UTMB - yikes.

There are still some goals, as there are for every training run. The #1 concern is finding out whether my training has been sufficient. I haven't done anything like a traditional 50-mile training program, and I don't feel as prepared for an ultra as I did last spring. While there was snow, I focused on winter sports and ran very little - just over 12 hours of running in the first 3 months of the year. I did another 15 hours of orienteering, some of which was running, and then there's the whole matter of that 5-day non-stop adventure race eight weeks ago. Maybe it helped; maybe not.

So... if I fail miserably, it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out one of the reasons why. But I'm cautiously optimistic that a non-standard training program works better for me, even though I wouldn't recommend it to others.

I'll be using/wearing a lot of gear that I plan to take to UTMB depending on how it works so that's another purpose for the day.

As for time goals, those are risky to think about when it's supposed to be a training run. But hey, I'm human so of course there are some. I just need to resist the urge to push to make them happen. I'm supposed to listen to my body and refer to my watch once in awhile for interest only. Here are the time goals:

1) 50-mile PB - OK, I'll admit that I'll be disappointed if this doesn't happen. I've only done two 50-milers, and they were both UTMB qualifiers with a lot of elevation gain. Time to beat: 11:47:57. Last year's time at the Sulphur 50K: 5:52:55 (unofficial since I didn't cross the mat because I'd done a loop out of order).

2) Beat the winning Dontgetlost 100-mile relay squad - Last year Trav assembled a crack team of runners, including 'Bent, who set a relay course record. This year Trav has organized two teams who will compete against each other in their attempt to set a new record. Their current record: 11:48:24, just 27 seconds slower than my 50-mile PB. Yes, my goal is to run half as fast as them. Talk about reaching for the stars! :)

3) Break 11 hours - This is one of those nice round number goals that exist for every distance. In this case, it would qualify me for the 2014 Western States Endurance Run lottery where I'd get two tickets since it would be my 2nd attempt. Finishing UTMB is another way to qualify for the lottery so there isn't much pressure. I'll go out on a limb and say this should be possible.

There are no age category awards so the only goals are time goals. I'll be hours behind the podium.

And now back to pre-race rest, food and drink. Some people hate the taper but I love it - although not as much as I enjoy the post-race hot fudge sundae.

What is the world coming to? Guess who's giving advice to ultrarunners!

Thanks to Haliburton 100 winner JohnnyM for suggesting that I adapt one of my AP log entries for wider consumption, and for making final tweaks and posting it on the Salomon Running blog. I'm sure Kilian will be calling me up soon for a training run and beer so we can share our ideas on the sport. ;)

BazingaDog and I did a little tour of Palgrave West in warm rain. I'm not doing too much this week because of the Sulphur 50-miler on Saturday so I tested the Suunto Ambit heart rate monitor to make this interesting. The strap is very comfortable - maybe the nicest HRM strap I've ever had. Only one complaint... I can't figure out how to undo it so I had to slide it off over my feet! I probably just need to twist it a little harder but it feels like I might break something.

I've been slowly working my way through the new Maffetone book which talks a lot about aerobic training with a relatively low HR. I'm not a total convert but some of his ideas make sense to me, and they certainly fit with my type of running so I'll likely give it a try at some point - probably not too much before UTMB though.

First trip of the year to Island Lake on a sunny day with a good breeze. 'Bent and I took turns in the boats. I started with the JKK Eclipse kayak and switched to the Epic V8 surfski about halfway through. The strange thing is that 'Bent and I both went faster after we switched boats, and we felt more comfortable too. Maybe we made the wrong boat choice for Storm where I offered him the surfski to be nice!

The only problem is that the surfski is hard for one person to carry when it's slippery and wet since there isn't anything to hang onto near its centre of balance. We spent awhile thinking of possible solutions that wouldn't risk chafing the paddler. 'Bent came up with the idea of a little piece of carpet grip pad.

With a clear view of the sky, the Ambit measured this loop at the same distance the Garmin usually gives me. Good!

Big excitement... The long-awaited bridge across Island Lake is nearly done - although several friendly workers were still drilling and pounding in nails as we crossed today. The Vicki Barron Lakeside Trail is eventually intended to be a loop around the lake, more or less, but there is private land at the northeast end so they had to build a 600 meter long bridge/boardwalk that hops across two islands to get from shore to shore, cutting off the part of the lake where the trail can't go. It really is an impressive undertaking, and it even appears to be wheelchair/stroller accessible. This is the first segment leading to the first island.



The final stretch of trail will be along the western boundary of the conservation area. The current trail led us to a parking lot on Hockley Road, which would have been way too much road running to make the loop. We retraced our steps until we got close to the lake, then ran along a rough, muddy trail and crossed a field that led us into the cemetery. I think Coach LD did some exploring in this area recently as well. We ran out to Hwy 10 and followed it until we caught the trail again. That part wasn't so pleasant but the rest was great - a nice addition to a place we've visited a lot. Looking at the satellite map of our route, it appears that we could shorten the road run with further exploration.

The only down side is that I don't know if I'd feel safe running alone there when I come paddling by myself. It's funny because I run alone in the woods all the time in every season but there's something about a remote, wooded trail in the middle of a city that gives it a different feel.