This time tomorrow i'll be almost 3 hours into the race....seems like i've been talking about it for weeks and now it's finally here! Powderface42!! The forecast looks good and I'm thankful it's not going to be a crazy hot day like it has been out there in the past! Looks like they're calling for sun/cloud and a high of 23 with showers in the afternoon. It takes a while to warm up out there too so I expect i'll be finished long before it even reaches that temperature. It's going to be ideal for me!
The entire race, including the half marathon, is capped at 150 people. I have no real idea who'll be there and how many people are actually doing the marathon. Usually there's tons more doing the half. I know one other guy doing the 42 and two from the blogging world I look forward to meeting...Mike from Banff...and Phil from Canmore (who's also doing Transrockies!).
I have absolutely no idea how long it's going to take me or what to expect...i've never run these trails before...although that seems to be the case in every trail race i've done this year! In a way I kind of like not knowing what to expect! From the profile, it looks like it's going to be harder than the Scorched Sole 50km I did a month ago with a lot more ups and downs and it might even take me a bit longer. I'm not sure but it's going to be an interesting day! I never really seem to have a race plan going into any race that I'm doing...regardless if it's on the road or trail...I kind of just go with the flow and how i'm feeling and see what happens from there.
For the past couple of weeks i've been having issues with one of my toes...the one that's next to my big toe. I keep getting a blister on the side and top of the toe after each run but I have no idea what's causing it...it's not even my longest toe! As a result I finally lost the toenail this week - now it matches my other foot as I lost the same toenail on my other foot about a month ago which was a result of running Boston way back. Bizarre. Anyhow, the toe is still annoying me and I could feel it last night during an easy 8km run that I did to loosen up. I'm not sure if I should tape it for tomorrow or just rub bodyglide all around it and hope for the best. Other than that, my legs are feeling pretty good and I seem to be recovered from last weekend's insanity
Yesterday was our stampede team building party with work and since I wasn't drinking it was a pretty funny perspective to sit there as my co-workers got increasingly drunk around me. Some of them made it to work today...some did not lol. It's funny the pressure you get from your co-workers to drink...how many times did I get asked why I wasn't drinking? They know I run and when I say I have a race then they're cool with that...guess that's a good enough excuse around here! Wahoo!
So that's all I got. I'm feeling ready and I'll let you know how it goes :) It's going to be a fun day!
Deb
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
I missed the memo...
...for some reason after 3 years of living here I still haven't clued into the fact that Stampede week in Calgary also means dress like a cowboy/Daisy Duke at work (and this is no conservative Daisy Duke look either people)...seriously, this is no joke...people are nuts in this city...wellll woopity doo! I don't do that. Bah Humbug! I'm actually shocked at the amount of people living here that actually own cowboy boots. By the amount I saw today on the streets I'd say 1 in 2 people in this city own em! Here's what I will do to celebrate Stampede...I will take advantage of not having to dress up for work this week and I will wear jeans each day...but that is as far as it goes!
And now onto more important things...
This was a tough weekend of running for me...both mentally and physically. I'm glad I got through it as they say that kind of stuff makes you stronger...but really...who are "they"?...and does it really? I dunno but I hope so...i'm completely bagged from this weekend.
The weatherman forecasted heat for Vernon this weekend...and that's what we got. It was a blazin hot one from the moment I arrived on thursday evening till the time I left yesterday afternoon.
Friday's run was to be an evening run as my brother was working and then had a friend visiting in the afternoon. We had a fun afternoon with a walk to the beach for a swim. Logan must have been pretty hot as I've never seen him swim so far out from shore before.
By the time we started our run in Kal Park it was almost 7pm. It was still 30 degrees and I could feel it, despite the shade we were in during much of the run. I didn't feel good from the very beginning...my legs just felt like lead and I could not lift them for the life of me. On one particularly hard climb we were on I finally had to stop for a break and I got swarmed by mosquitoes...and when I get bit, they turn into giant welts...my arms and back probably have at least 30 bites...not cool at all.
I finally started to feel a little better once the really tough climbs were over and we got to do some fun downhill singletrack stuff! We get to about 1km to go and stop dead in our tracks as a rattle snake is on the side of the trail rattling and hissing away...and looking pretty pissed. He wouldn't even budge when Steve started throwing stuff at it. Steve ended up just trotting by which it didn't look to happy with and I followed suit wondering how far those things can lunge at you? Luckily it was all talk and no action :) That was my first time seeing a rattler!
We finished 17km with some pretty sore muscles. I'm not used to feeling sore after a shorter run like that but the heat definitely messed with me for sure. All I have to say is how much I love my compression socks lately. My legs feel like a million bucks putting those on after a run!
Saturday started with 2+ hours infront of the tv watching the first day of the Tour de France. Damn is that ever addicting. We wanted to leave for our run by 10am but Day 1 was close to finishing so we ended up delaying our run till around 11am. It was already 25C degrees by this point...our own fault but hey, you've gotta get used to running in heat too...you never know what race day will be like right?
The first half of this run again started out really tough for me yet my brother was a rockstar...i am not used to running in heat and the climbing in the beginning was so tough. I felt guilty that I was having such a hard day and kept apologizing but i've got to learn to stop doing that. We're both going to have tough days at Transrockies and have just got to deal with it and not let it get you down mentally as well. He's very good at keeping optimistic and motivating me along though when i'm having a tough time which i'm pretty thankful for.
We knew there was a lake up there that we were going to cool off in and when I needed it most is when it showed up at around the 18km mark. Wahoo! It was fabulous and we felt frigging amazing after that! The rest of the run up to the 32km mark was pretty decent and there was a river that flowed all the way down so we got to stop lots to dunk our heads. I was pretty thankful for that!
At 32km we were out of the trees and back down to the road for the rest of the way home. Steve had used up all of his 3L of nuun he brought with him so we made a stop at Esso and asked if they had a sink we could use to fill up our hydration bladder. After having to explain what we needed it for the lady agreed! I thought it was fairly obvious why we needed water but apparently not!
Back out on the road...not fun...it was 35 degrees in the shade...but we had no shade! Ugh! According to Google Earth we measured that it would be 10km to get home from here...this was not the case. A little bit further and we see a sign that says "Vernon 13km"...I was like WTF?!? That's going to be over 50km!! Finally at about 36km we decided to call Kira to come get us and she arrived when we were getting close to 40km. I'd had it...that was enough for sure!! This was a long hard day and a blizzard has never tasted so good to me as the one I had that night :)
Sunday was a relaxing morning of watching Day 2 of the Tour, cherry picking in the backyard, and the end of a super exciting Wimbledon final!! I was also happy to get to go to Kira's babyshower before the long drive back to Calgary...i'll be Aunt Deb in less than a month! :)
The rest of the week will be fairly easy running as I do a mini taper before race day on saturday! Wish me luck!
Deb
And now onto more important things...
This was a tough weekend of running for me...both mentally and physically. I'm glad I got through it as they say that kind of stuff makes you stronger...but really...who are "they"?...and does it really? I dunno but I hope so...i'm completely bagged from this weekend.
The weatherman forecasted heat for Vernon this weekend...and that's what we got. It was a blazin hot one from the moment I arrived on thursday evening till the time I left yesterday afternoon.
Friday's run was to be an evening run as my brother was working and then had a friend visiting in the afternoon. We had a fun afternoon with a walk to the beach for a swim. Logan must have been pretty hot as I've never seen him swim so far out from shore before.
By the time we started our run in Kal Park it was almost 7pm. It was still 30 degrees and I could feel it, despite the shade we were in during much of the run. I didn't feel good from the very beginning...my legs just felt like lead and I could not lift them for the life of me. On one particularly hard climb we were on I finally had to stop for a break and I got swarmed by mosquitoes...and when I get bit, they turn into giant welts...my arms and back probably have at least 30 bites...not cool at all.
I finally started to feel a little better once the really tough climbs were over and we got to do some fun downhill singletrack stuff! We get to about 1km to go and stop dead in our tracks as a rattle snake is on the side of the trail rattling and hissing away...and looking pretty pissed. He wouldn't even budge when Steve started throwing stuff at it. Steve ended up just trotting by which it didn't look to happy with and I followed suit wondering how far those things can lunge at you? Luckily it was all talk and no action :) That was my first time seeing a rattler!
We finished 17km with some pretty sore muscles. I'm not used to feeling sore after a shorter run like that but the heat definitely messed with me for sure. All I have to say is how much I love my compression socks lately. My legs feel like a million bucks putting those on after a run!
Saturday started with 2+ hours infront of the tv watching the first day of the Tour de France. Damn is that ever addicting. We wanted to leave for our run by 10am but Day 1 was close to finishing so we ended up delaying our run till around 11am. It was already 25C degrees by this point...our own fault but hey, you've gotta get used to running in heat too...you never know what race day will be like right?
The first half of this run again started out really tough for me yet my brother was a rockstar...i am not used to running in heat and the climbing in the beginning was so tough. I felt guilty that I was having such a hard day and kept apologizing but i've got to learn to stop doing that. We're both going to have tough days at Transrockies and have just got to deal with it and not let it get you down mentally as well. He's very good at keeping optimistic and motivating me along though when i'm having a tough time which i'm pretty thankful for.
We knew there was a lake up there that we were going to cool off in and when I needed it most is when it showed up at around the 18km mark. Wahoo! It was fabulous and we felt frigging amazing after that! The rest of the run up to the 32km mark was pretty decent and there was a river that flowed all the way down so we got to stop lots to dunk our heads. I was pretty thankful for that!
At 32km we were out of the trees and back down to the road for the rest of the way home. Steve had used up all of his 3L of nuun he brought with him so we made a stop at Esso and asked if they had a sink we could use to fill up our hydration bladder. After having to explain what we needed it for the lady agreed! I thought it was fairly obvious why we needed water but apparently not!
Back out on the road...not fun...it was 35 degrees in the shade...but we had no shade! Ugh! According to Google Earth we measured that it would be 10km to get home from here...this was not the case. A little bit further and we see a sign that says "Vernon 13km"...I was like WTF?!? That's going to be over 50km!! Finally at about 36km we decided to call Kira to come get us and she arrived when we were getting close to 40km. I'd had it...that was enough for sure!! This was a long hard day and a blizzard has never tasted so good to me as the one I had that night :)
Sunday was a relaxing morning of watching Day 2 of the Tour, cherry picking in the backyard, and the end of a super exciting Wimbledon final!! I was also happy to get to go to Kira's babyshower before the long drive back to Calgary...i'll be Aunt Deb in less than a month! :)
The rest of the week will be fairly easy running as I do a mini taper before race day on saturday! Wish me luck!
Deb
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Canada Day Atop the Moose
Yesterday I decided to finally join the Trail Trash runners for a group run up Moose Mountain. For whatever reason I've never been able to make any of the trail runs till now so it was a nice change! When I awoke at 6am to find a beautiful sunny day out there, my immediate thoughts of rolling over and going back to sleep disappeared. Plus I promised Logan the night before we were going on a fun trail run where a bunch of other dogs would be too!! We met at the carpool lot in Calgary at 7:30am for the drive out to Kananaskis and met some others at Moose Mountain trailhead to find 12 people and 5 other dogs. Awesome!
A little info on Moose Mountain....it is the most easterly Rocky Mountain near Calgary...and it takes its name from its profile on the horizon that looks like a moose resting. It's an out and back route...15km round trip...7.5km to the top at 7995 ft where there is a fire lookout and helicopter landing pad. I'm still pretty lame when it comes to stopping and taking pictures on a run so here are some that Hugh took yesterday!
A little info on Moose Mountain....it is the most easterly Rocky Mountain near Calgary...and it takes its name from its profile on the horizon that looks like a moose resting. It's an out and back route...15km round trip...7.5km to the top at 7995 ft where there is a fire lookout and helicopter landing pad. I'm still pretty lame when it comes to stopping and taking pictures on a run so here are some that Hugh took yesterday!
Beautiful morning!!
This is where we came from....
Here's some steeper stuff on the way up...look closely and you can see my white hat towards the top left...in close pursuit are Alan in red and one of the dogs (Logan by the way left me in the beginning to run with the 2 fast guys in the group! He prefers boys :) He would have gotten to the top before me but I had to call him back and put him onleash...it's quite dangerous up there and on leash dog signs are everywhere as you approach the fire lookout.)
Me and Logan chilling out on the Heli pad and having a snack :) 
Me, Karen and Logan on our way back down with Moose in the distance.
Me and Charlie on the way back...Logan is tired and is falling behind!
Besides the great company, an added bonus to running with this group is that everyone brings some kind of awesome treat to have back at the trailhead for a little tailgate party :) Now that's my kind of run and a great incentive for me to run with these guys more often! haha :) When we got back home Logan and I enjoyed a huge nap and then got ready to head over to a friend's house for a BBQ.
Unfortunately Logan was suffering majorly bad gas for the entire evening and totally stunk out James' apartment. I tried to explain this is what happens to him (and sometimes myself haha) after (or during) a run. Honestly, it was the worst gas that has ever come from him and it was pretty much flowing in 10 min intervals...Logan totally knows how to clear a room...even James' dog Chance left a couple of times lol.
Anyways, that was my Canada Day...it was a gooder! I'm on my way to Vernon again this afternoon for the weekend for some running with Steve. Can't wait! It's going to be tougher this weekend because it'll be my first experience this year running in some much hotter temps than i'm used to...forecast says 33C.
Have a great weekend!
Deb
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
What? Last day of June?
Seriously, where did June go? This summer is flying by and I feel like I've still got a lot of work to do before Transrockies! Training is coming along very nicely though and after this weekend past I'm definitely starting to feel more confident and more excited for Transrockies. I think I was a little worried that my hill climbing skillz were going to be pathetic and overall I wouldn't be able to keep up with my rockstar partner. Luckily this wasn't the case and I really surprised myself!
Steve and I got in 3 good long and semi-long trail runs on the weekend that all included some pretty tough climbs. I have to say I definitely left Vernon feeling stronger than when I got there! I'm heading back out to Vernon on thursday for another weekend of training runs and then i'll do somewhat of a taper next week before Powderface 42 the following Saturday. I'm getting super pumped for that race! The race is sold out but Steve is looking for a bib for it so if anyone knows of one for sale for the 42 let me know!
I'm a little beat out from the weekend and the long drive back home so I decided to take yesterday and today completely off. It's hard to make yourself do that sometimes but I'm definitely starting to get better at listening to my body. Tomorrow is Canada Day and I'm trying to figure out what i'd like to do on my day off from work!! I'd like to sleep in a bit...unfortunately for me, sleeping in means till about 7am! I'm so not a morning person yet I still wake up super early on days off...argh! I'd love to get a big hike in somewhere...haven't been out hiking in a couple of weeks.
I left my camera in Calgary this weekend so didn't get any trail running pics...but i'll leave you with this pic...check out the black bear trying to look in the windows of my parents trailer when they were in a campground in Eastport, Newfoundland. Pretty funny :)
Steve and I got in 3 good long and semi-long trail runs on the weekend that all included some pretty tough climbs. I have to say I definitely left Vernon feeling stronger than when I got there! I'm heading back out to Vernon on thursday for another weekend of training runs and then i'll do somewhat of a taper next week before Powderface 42 the following Saturday. I'm getting super pumped for that race! The race is sold out but Steve is looking for a bib for it so if anyone knows of one for sale for the 42 let me know!
I'm a little beat out from the weekend and the long drive back home so I decided to take yesterday and today completely off. It's hard to make yourself do that sometimes but I'm definitely starting to get better at listening to my body. Tomorrow is Canada Day and I'm trying to figure out what i'd like to do on my day off from work!! I'd like to sleep in a bit...unfortunately for me, sleeping in means till about 7am! I'm so not a morning person yet I still wake up super early on days off...argh! I'd love to get a big hike in somewhere...haven't been out hiking in a couple of weeks.
I left my camera in Calgary this weekend so didn't get any trail running pics...but i'll leave you with this pic...check out the black bear trying to look in the windows of my parents trailer when they were in a campground in Eastport, Newfoundland. Pretty funny :)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Running is my multivitamin
I borrowed the title of my post from Kelly Roe's blog...thanks Kelly...it's a great one and definitely applies to me huge :) Kelly and her boyfriend are also teaming up for Transrockies and I'm super excited to meet them as well!!
I'm currently at my brother's place in Vernon. I love it here, what a great town! I left Calgary yesterday a little after 4 and got here a little after 10 Calgary time (9 BC time)...it takes pretty much exactly 6 hours. I'm pretty excited to be getting in some good running with my brother...my TR partner. Steve and Kira are both at work today so i'm going to just chill out and wander around Vernon.
Oh and guess who now lives in Vernon...and who my brother and wife had over for dinner a short while ago...Aaron Heidt! This guy came 3rd OVERALL in the Vancouver Marathon in a sick time...something like 2:36 I believe? He's a top Canadian ultrarunner and is on Team Montrail Canada! And of course...also competing in Transrockies. Holy crap...there are going to be some fast ass people at this race in 2 short months. Clearly they are not our competition...I mean we just want to have fun and finish the bloody thing. I am so excited to be going to a race where I get to meet these people, run "with" them and hang out with them for 6 days. It's going to be incredible.
This spring/summer so far has been the most exciting and fun racing season I've ever had...and it only gets better from here on! Running at Boston was amazing and I will be back next year and any year after that if I continue to requalify. I still love road racing and I don't think that experience at Boston will ever get old for me. But trail running/racing is still very new to me and boy am I hooked. After my first 50km 3 weeks ago I said to myself I can not picture running anything longer than that...and already I'm looking for 50 mile and 100km races I can do next year. Funny how that happens...I ran my first marathon in 2005 thinking at the end that I didn't know if I'd ever do that again...and now I can't seem to get enough! :)
Gary Robbins (from Newfoundland I might proudly add - living in Vancouver) is also one of the top Canadian ultrarunners and is racing in the very impressive Western States 100 mile race tomorrow...100 miles people!! That is so exciting and I find him and his blog super inspiring and motivating. I just know he's going to rock it!
Good luck to everybody racing this weekend. I'll be training my butt off as I get ready for Powderface 42 in 2 very short weeks. Surprisingly I'm feeling nervous for this one...but very excited. I love what I do :) For those of us training...work hard and enjoy it...we've so lucky to get to do what we love every day!
I'm currently at my brother's place in Vernon. I love it here, what a great town! I left Calgary yesterday a little after 4 and got here a little after 10 Calgary time (9 BC time)...it takes pretty much exactly 6 hours. I'm pretty excited to be getting in some good running with my brother...my TR partner. Steve and Kira are both at work today so i'm going to just chill out and wander around Vernon.
Oh and guess who now lives in Vernon...and who my brother and wife had over for dinner a short while ago...Aaron Heidt! This guy came 3rd OVERALL in the Vancouver Marathon in a sick time...something like 2:36 I believe? He's a top Canadian ultrarunner and is on Team Montrail Canada! And of course...also competing in Transrockies. Holy crap...there are going to be some fast ass people at this race in 2 short months. Clearly they are not our competition...I mean we just want to have fun and finish the bloody thing. I am so excited to be going to a race where I get to meet these people, run "with" them and hang out with them for 6 days. It's going to be incredible.
This spring/summer so far has been the most exciting and fun racing season I've ever had...and it only gets better from here on! Running at Boston was amazing and I will be back next year and any year after that if I continue to requalify. I still love road racing and I don't think that experience at Boston will ever get old for me. But trail running/racing is still very new to me and boy am I hooked. After my first 50km 3 weeks ago I said to myself I can not picture running anything longer than that...and already I'm looking for 50 mile and 100km races I can do next year. Funny how that happens...I ran my first marathon in 2005 thinking at the end that I didn't know if I'd ever do that again...and now I can't seem to get enough! :)
Gary Robbins (from Newfoundland I might proudly add - living in Vancouver) is also one of the top Canadian ultrarunners and is racing in the very impressive Western States 100 mile race tomorrow...100 miles people!! That is so exciting and I find him and his blog super inspiring and motivating. I just know he's going to rock it!
Good luck to everybody racing this weekend. I'll be training my butt off as I get ready for Powderface 42 in 2 very short weeks. Surprisingly I'm feeling nervous for this one...but very excited. I love what I do :) For those of us training...work hard and enjoy it...we've so lucky to get to do what we love every day!
Monday, June 22, 2009
K-100 Race Report
Well this was my first year participating in the K-100 and I must say that it was a blast! My team was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year! The official results aren't in so I'm not sure how we did overall or how I did overall for my leg but i'll let you know soon enough!
We all had to predict how long we thought it would take us to do each leg so we'd know when to be at each leg to meet our runner coming in. The first 2 guys ran well under their predicted time so by the time Leg 5 came around I ended up starting 20 mins earlier than planned. Luckily I was ready to go...a bunch of kind runners had let me infront of them at the portaloo cuz in casual conversation I was like "yeah i'm gonna seriously bust if I don't pee soon" LOL. I wasn't lying...I drank tons on the drive to Kananaskis!!
This one guy infront of me in line gives me this look up and down and then he's like "so you're doing leg 5?" and i'm like 'YUP'! He proceeds to ask me if i've ever done it before and I give an enthusiastic 'NOPE' and he continues with yeah...there's so many hills, then it flattens, then there's another crazy hill and then at the very end it goes on forever up this one hill blah blah blah...the whole time i'm giving him this fake grin and ask that's cool, how many times have you done Leg 5? ohhhh 6 or 7 he says. I'm like that's awesome, way to go...giving him the pat on the back he feels he deserves I guess...as much as I loved our conversation it's my turn to pee (jackass)....later!
Anyhow, shortly after I meet up with our team leader Garrath and he says Jen (our leg 4) has just passed the 1 mile to go mark and is getting close! I cross the highway to get in the shoot to meet her. She gets there waaay quicker than I anticipated, gives me a high 5 and then i'm off!
I started out feeling very good and sticking with 5 min kms...I didn't want to go out too hard and then die when I hit the hills. I have to say I didn't find the first 10km to be too bad at all...i thought, wow this is it? This is nothing! Although really I think it was hilly and I was just feeling good from training hills lately! My biggest mistake in the entire race was taking the gatorade that was given to me early on. Our crew had water or gatorade every couple of kms...and while I only ever drink nuun...I wanted something other than water...I take the gatorade and it immediately gives me the worst stomach cramping i've ever had...I thought to myself...you idiot, this is why they say don't try anything new on race day. But i've never ever had this problem from anything i've drank or eaten so I was shocked.
Regardless of that, our crew was kick ass...they showed up every couple of kilometres...would slow down as they drove past to yell at me and blast some sweet tunes to pump me up. I couldn't help laughing everytime they drove by! Here's me giving Garrath my half smile/half this sucks face...i'm hurting, i can't fake that i'm not for the camera :) That sweet VW van in the background is our crew/team supporting us the whole way!
Luckily it helped huge. The hills were getting worse too! Finally I get to I think about 2km to go...this is the bitch of all hills and as I saw the cars off in the distance still going up this endless hill I just thought uh oh...this could be trouble!
I see this guy in the distance...spandex clad...it looks like a triathlete to me...you know, they love their spandex (and no I'm not making fun...they do!!)...I begin to wonder if it's my new friend Trevor...I just started reading his blog through Cam's blog and found out we were both doing Leg 5! I'd never met him in person but kind of knew what he looked like and decided I wanted to try and catch up and see if it was him!!! I get closer and yup, it was definitely a triathlete (again...spandex, hello!)...I start to pass him on the left...look over and say...
"Hey, it's Deb!"
He laughs and responds with "see I knew you were going to kick my ass!" LOL. I tell him i'm dying...which in fact was true! I actually stopped on this hill twice to catch my breath and the second time I stopped I looked back as I had visions of him just blowing by me at this point. He's close so I start going again as my garmin tells me the end is near! Finally I get to the top of the hill...there's a little bit of a flat and a downhill and then I can see the finish! I gunned it, high fived our Leg 6 runner Laura, and finished with my garmin reading 17.6km at 1:28:37. I was super happy with that and my 5:03 min/km average.
Trevor and I caught up at the end of our leg...very cool to meet someone in person from the blogging world! I've also been told that the next time I pass him in a race (which I seriously doubt will happen again - this dude is a faaaasst runner/ironman)...i'm allowed to slap him on the butt as I go by just like Cam does :)
So yeah it was a super fun day...even moreso after my leg was finished and I got to cheer on everyone else for the rest of the day and enjoy some beer! Beer has never tasted so good to me as it did shortly after that race! Yum! There was a bbq after the entire race was over...and while I have to admit they weren't the best burgers I've ever had...kind of McDonald's like but worse...I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will pretty much eat anything put infront of me after a race! Here's a pic at the post-race bbq of Laura (Leg 6), Carmello (Leg 5 on another team), and me enjoying our beer :) and waiting in line for our dirty burgers!
What's on the schedule next? My next 2 weekends in a row are long ones...so i'm off to Vernon for both of them to train with my brother...multi lonnnng hilly days in preps for Transrockies. This will also help huge in my preparation for the Powderface trail marathon in 3 weeks! Wahoo!
Hope you guys are having a great monday! I wasn't sore at all from saturday's race but was wiped out yesterday and decided against my long run. I needed some extra rest and enjoyed a very lazy sunday indeed! My body was pretty happy with me :) Today's 10km at lunch felt great and it actually turned into a Tempo run! I love those days! :)
We all had to predict how long we thought it would take us to do each leg so we'd know when to be at each leg to meet our runner coming in. The first 2 guys ran well under their predicted time so by the time Leg 5 came around I ended up starting 20 mins earlier than planned. Luckily I was ready to go...a bunch of kind runners had let me infront of them at the portaloo cuz in casual conversation I was like "yeah i'm gonna seriously bust if I don't pee soon" LOL. I wasn't lying...I drank tons on the drive to Kananaskis!!
This one guy infront of me in line gives me this look up and down and then he's like "so you're doing leg 5?" and i'm like 'YUP'! He proceeds to ask me if i've ever done it before and I give an enthusiastic 'NOPE' and he continues with yeah...there's so many hills, then it flattens, then there's another crazy hill and then at the very end it goes on forever up this one hill blah blah blah...the whole time i'm giving him this fake grin and ask that's cool, how many times have you done Leg 5? ohhhh 6 or 7 he says. I'm like that's awesome, way to go...giving him the pat on the back he feels he deserves I guess...as much as I loved our conversation it's my turn to pee (jackass)....later!
Anyhow, shortly after I meet up with our team leader Garrath and he says Jen (our leg 4) has just passed the 1 mile to go mark and is getting close! I cross the highway to get in the shoot to meet her. She gets there waaay quicker than I anticipated, gives me a high 5 and then i'm off!
I started out feeling very good and sticking with 5 min kms...I didn't want to go out too hard and then die when I hit the hills. I have to say I didn't find the first 10km to be too bad at all...i thought, wow this is it? This is nothing! Although really I think it was hilly and I was just feeling good from training hills lately! My biggest mistake in the entire race was taking the gatorade that was given to me early on. Our crew had water or gatorade every couple of kms...and while I only ever drink nuun...I wanted something other than water...I take the gatorade and it immediately gives me the worst stomach cramping i've ever had...I thought to myself...you idiot, this is why they say don't try anything new on race day. But i've never ever had this problem from anything i've drank or eaten so I was shocked.
Regardless of that, our crew was kick ass...they showed up every couple of kilometres...would slow down as they drove past to yell at me and blast some sweet tunes to pump me up. I couldn't help laughing everytime they drove by! Here's me giving Garrath my half smile/half this sucks face...i'm hurting, i can't fake that i'm not for the camera :) That sweet VW van in the background is our crew/team supporting us the whole way!
My stomach was in such pain that I couldn't even think about eating the gel I brought with me that I wanted around the 9km mark. Finally by 12km I was fading and forced down a gel that i'm still holding onto in this pic...sometimes it takes me a while to get through a whole gel!
Luckily it helped huge. The hills were getting worse too! Finally I get to I think about 2km to go...this is the bitch of all hills and as I saw the cars off in the distance still going up this endless hill I just thought uh oh...this could be trouble! I see this guy in the distance...spandex clad...it looks like a triathlete to me...you know, they love their spandex (and no I'm not making fun...they do!!)...I begin to wonder if it's my new friend Trevor...I just started reading his blog through Cam's blog and found out we were both doing Leg 5! I'd never met him in person but kind of knew what he looked like and decided I wanted to try and catch up and see if it was him!!! I get closer and yup, it was definitely a triathlete (again...spandex, hello!)...I start to pass him on the left...look over and say..."is that Trevor?"
"Yup"
"Hey, it's Deb!"
He laughs and responds with "see I knew you were going to kick my ass!" LOL. I tell him i'm dying...which in fact was true! I actually stopped on this hill twice to catch my breath and the second time I stopped I looked back as I had visions of him just blowing by me at this point. He's close so I start going again as my garmin tells me the end is near! Finally I get to the top of the hill...there's a little bit of a flat and a downhill and then I can see the finish! I gunned it, high fived our Leg 6 runner Laura, and finished with my garmin reading 17.6km at 1:28:37. I was super happy with that and my 5:03 min/km average.
Trevor and I caught up at the end of our leg...very cool to meet someone in person from the blogging world! I've also been told that the next time I pass him in a race (which I seriously doubt will happen again - this dude is a faaaasst runner/ironman)...i'm allowed to slap him on the butt as I go by just like Cam does :)
So yeah it was a super fun day...even moreso after my leg was finished and I got to cheer on everyone else for the rest of the day and enjoy some beer! Beer has never tasted so good to me as it did shortly after that race! Yum! There was a bbq after the entire race was over...and while I have to admit they weren't the best burgers I've ever had...kind of McDonald's like but worse...I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will pretty much eat anything put infront of me after a race! Here's a pic at the post-race bbq of Laura (Leg 6), Carmello (Leg 5 on another team), and me enjoying our beer :) and waiting in line for our dirty burgers!
What's on the schedule next? My next 2 weekends in a row are long ones...so i'm off to Vernon for both of them to train with my brother...multi lonnnng hilly days in preps for Transrockies. This will also help huge in my preparation for the Powderface trail marathon in 3 weeks! Wahoo!
Hope you guys are having a great monday! I wasn't sore at all from saturday's race but was wiped out yesterday and decided against my long run. I needed some extra rest and enjoyed a very lazy sunday indeed! My body was pretty happy with me :) Today's 10km at lunch felt great and it actually turned into a Tempo run! I love those days! :)
Friday, June 19, 2009
K-100 tomorrow
Tomorrow is my first road race since Boston 2 months ago. I've been busy enjoying the trail running/racing way too much! :) Anyhow, it's the K-100 - Kananaskis 100 mile relay. It should be fun as i've wanted to do this since I moved to Calgary 3 years ago but never found a team! Friends I've met through the running room, including the guys I went to Boston with this year asked me if i'd like to join them as they had 9 confirmed people and needed one more person to make up the 10 legs of the race. We're sponsored by the running room so our team name is plain and simple - Eau Claire Running Room :)
I quickly jumped onboard and asked if it was possible to do the leg that was hilliest (just because I need to train train train on hills to help me with my other races this summer!). Ha...like I had to fight with anyone for that leg...i think they were pumped that I was the only one jumping at the chance to do Leg 5! The description specifically says "this is the toughest leg of the relay"...hmm...maybe i should have actually looked at the legs in advance before asking for this? Ha ha. Nah, it'll be fine :)
Here are the stats of my leg...looks pretty fun no?
LEG FIVE
START: 0.5 km south of Mist Creek at the Pickle Jar Recreation Area
DISTANCE: 17.6 km
DIFFICULTY RATING: 10
FASTEST RECORDED TIME IN 2006: 1:04.07
PACE: 5:52 per mile
DESCRIPTION: This is the toughest leg of the relay. It's hilly with a number of segments at a 7% grade. The runner will gain 450m over the length of this route; 250m are packed into 6.8 km. The runner will be truly tested on Canada's highest engineered road. The road peaks at Highwood pass, 2206m above sea level. The surface is new asphalt. Watch for wildlife.
Anyhow, all the running i've been doing for transrockies has made me feel pretty strong so I feel prepared but I'm also hoping this profile is just exaggerated and it really isn't as bad as it looks!
I've also forgotton how hard road running is on your body as i've been mostly doing the trail thing. So while I keep saying I'm not going to kill myself in this relay so it doesn't take me a couple of weeks to recover (as Powderface 42 is in 3 weeks from tomorrow)...i'm super competitive and i'm sure i'll give it everything I have. I really need to get in the planned 32km run on sunday with the Trail Trash group from Calgary so i'm hoping i'm good to go for that too!
So I think I left you last night saying I was heading to Nose Hill for a run with Logan. We got in 9.5km...fun and uneventful till about the last km. I decided to run down this little valley so I could come back up and get a good hill in at the end of my run. We turn around to go up and Logan sees something and runs up this little enbankment into the trees...I hear a racket and turn around to him and a coyote getting into it. Damn those effin coyotes do they ever piss me off. I ran back towards him and yell for Logan to come and he actually listens to me right away which shocked me as if there is other wildlife around he usually ends up following/chasing it and completely ignoring me. I don't think he really knew what it was...some kind of crazy wild dog maybe?
Anyhow, he ran up to me and I quickly nabbed him on the leash and we took off. That coyote followed us all the way back up out of the valley to the top of Nose Hill. I've heard of this happening at Nose Hill before but often there are multiple coyotes ganging up on the dog. Or they'll send out a scout and it ends up bringing the dog back and that's when they all pounce!
I'm greatful that Logan is a big boy at 85lbs as this wasn't a scrawny little thing like most people thing they are. Over the winter we were up there and saw 3 giant ones staring at us from the distance...they were huge (and needless to say I got freaked and we took off back to the car then too haha).
So that was my little adventure...funny how all I ever worry about are bears and I go for a run in the park within Calgary and I've got to worry about those little buggers.
K well that's it! I'm going to relax tonight and get ready for tomorrow! Wish me and my team luck and i'll let you know how it goes :)
Deb
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