AWESOME Training Weekend

I had such an awesome training weekend. Here's how it broke down:

Standing: 6 hours
Shopping: 4 hours
Walking: 20 minutes
Running: 0 hours
Biking: 0 hours
Kayaking: 0 hours
Watching the 1999 Eco-challenge Argentina: 4 hours
Dreaming of big expedition races: 3 hours
Meet Director for an orienteering event: 8 hours

Ok, so maybe I did jack all. I was actually planning on getting in a long run on Saturday and Sunday but last Wednesday, after a hilly interval session on Tuesday, my soleus had flared up for some reason. I ran into work on Wednesday, hit up the gym at lunch, and then in the afternoon, my left upper calf (I believe it is the soleus) was pretty swelled and not feeling too great. I have no idea how it became inflamed. It was like a wound that you get after a mountain bike ride and you think, 'now how the hell did I get that?' At the time it's nothing but after, the little tweak that happened starts to hurt. Anyway, it wasn't too bad so I took a nice 20 km run home. The next morning, my calf was even worse. The problem was, I had planned on another running commute that would put another 30km on it. While I should have listened to my calf,

'come on Todd, leave me alone, don't you love me?',

I decided to stick to my original plan. My calf wasn't too happy. The run to work was ok, but coming back was just barable. It was one of those times where you know you just made the wrong decision. I usually really listen to my body well but this time I didn't, and I paid the price by being set back further in the end.

So, other than a commute on my bike on Friday, I took the last two days off to let my calf heel and will start running again tomorrow. I probably could have gone out today but with the orienteering event taking up much of my time, and frankly not being very motivated, I decided to not go out by not making a decision.

My calf feels fine now and it was just one of those times where I did something that my body didn't like, it hurt for a bit, and now it's fine. Funny how these things happen.

TNO

Oh, and a big congrats to Lina Augaitis on taking 3rd place down at the Baja Travesia! Nice work!

Dart/NUUN and Dart/NUUN - NW Kayaks Win Baja Travesia

Congratulations to the two Dart/NUUN teams who just won the 2008 Baja Travesia expedition race that takes racers from San Felipe to Ensenada Mexico.
Check out the race coverage here.

After a lead by Dart/NUUN - NW Kayaks, Dart/NUUN made a strong surge to catch them on the final trekking section. As both teams were sleep deprived and tired, they decided to work together and finish the race united. Due to strong winds and weather, the final paddle once again turned sour with both teams being pummeled in the surf as they were trying to exit for the final stage of the race in their sit-on top kayaks. Turning back, the race directors decided to cut the final paddle out and turn the last stage into a beach run which both Dart teams were more than happy to do rather than face the waves again. A couple of hours on the beach and they could finially relax at the finish line.

Looks like third place is still up for grabs though with Lina Augaitis of Yoga Slackers currently looking at clinching this spot. Good luck Lina and keep pushing!!!

TNO

Good Training Weekend

This past weekend, I hooked up with my racing partner Gary Robbins for some good times on the road bike and on the trails. As Friday was a holiday, I headed up to the ferry on the road bike, took the ferry across, and then headed up to North Van from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. It's a good thing I checked out my route beforehand as I found out the day before I left that you cannot go through the George-Massey tunnel. There is a free shuttle that does transport cyclists from one side to the other but.... it doesn't operate until April. My other option at this crossing was to pay a two zone fare and take the bus. I just couldn't do it so opted for the longer route over the Alex-Fraser bridge and eventually the Second Narrows bridge into North Van. Everything looked so easy on the map...

Leaving the terminal, I was ahead of all the ferry traffic (cyclists are the first ones off :) ) when not two kilometers from the boat... pppffftttttt. I flatted on one of the many sharp pieces of gravel littering the shoulder. The wind was blowing hard so I layered up, fixed the flat, and was off again in no time. Then came the wind again. It was one of those days where you just can't seem to find the right balance in the layers either. One minute it was cold with a blistering wind, and the next it was calm with a hot sun. After a couple of stops to change up the layers, I eventually settled on a minimal layer and endured the wind when it hit me.

The ride was going well until I got on the Alex Fraser bridge. Because you can't ride on the road, you have to find your way onto the side bike path and then continue on the other side through a convoluted network of turns to navigate your way to the next bridge to get off Annacis Island. Then there were no signs. I even had a map but if your not driving a car and need to find the next bike route, sometimes you were just screwed if you hadn't done it before. It didn't take that long to figure things out but it did get frustating.

I think I started cursing how much I hate Vancouver pretty early in the ride when I was almost run off the road by a big Ford F150. Then came many more incidents where if I wasn't cautious in my riding, I might be typing this from a hospital bed.

In 2 1/2 hours of riding, I had more close calls with cars then I have had living in Victoria for the last 3 1/2 years! Yeah Vancouver!

I did arrive at North Shore Athletics in one piece and then headed up to Squamish with Gary. The next day, after procrastinating leaving on our bikes and where to go, I made the call that I wanted to go up to Whistler. It had been a route that I have wanted to do for a long time and even though the weather was not the greatest, we decided to give it a go and turn back if things turned sour. We had some full on headwind almost the whole way up to Whistler but knew that the way back would be worth it (mostly downhill with the wind at our backs!). It was also much better having someone to ride with as we traded off pulling frequently which made the wind more bareable. The ride up was scenic, not too busy, and quite enjoyable. Lots of climbs but none of them too steep that would make you curse. :)

After a good stop in Whistler for some sushi, we headed back at a much faster pace and pushed each other much harder. It was a sweet return and a great day on the bike!

That night, we went to 'The Best of the Vancouver Mountain Film Festival' which had some good videos but was a little too much climbing focused for my taste. Enjoyable nonetheless.

The next day, we hooked up with some of the Montrail Trail Running Team, did a 2 1/2 run in the Lynn Valley, and then I hopped back on the road bike to return home. Here I learned to not bike on the Trans Canada highway on the North Shore (at least the section I was on anyway). I got on (no warning signs for bikes), had no shoulder to ride on and thus had to impede on the right lane, and shortly therafter I'm screeming down a steep section of road hitting 70km/hour into a strong headwind that starts shaking my bike as traffic speeds by in the fast lane at 120km/hour and I have a bus on my ass that's getting pissed. Not the best way to start out my ride.

Navigating the return trip on the bike was much better as I now knew the route and didn't end up cursing Vancouver as much. Of course, once I got to River Road, now I had a full South wind in my face! Strong too. I was cruising along at 32-35 km/hour and suddenly I'm doing 24 km/hour for the same effort. It was definitely a weekend of wind. Getting off the ferry was the worst of all. It was blowing so hard that I was being moved all around the shoulder of the road while I was being pounded by sleet! Some crazy weather but well worth putting up with it.
Hope you enjoyed the long weekend.

TNO

Chuckanut 50km Race Report

Running downhill is just not my thing. To clarify, I like running downhill on trails; no, I love running downhill on trails. However, when you give me over 5km of old logging road to fly down, after I've already been running for 35km, I know that by the bottom I'm going to be shot. I had studied the race course prior to the event, but was unaware that this long downhill was all going to be on an old road with no built-up, squishy orgainic matter to soften the blows and no twists and turns and variety to make it a little easier on the body. I knew that braking on the downhill was only going to put more strain on the quads so I only had one option... open it up and get down as quickly as possible knowing that the last 10km of the course was going to be painful. It was.

This was the 16th annual Chuckanut 50km ultra trail run held in Bellingham, Washington. It was my first ultra and I had several goals leading into the race:
1. finish
2. finish well
3. race smart (don't blow up)

Now, all of these kind of go together. Of course I wanted to finish but I wanted to put in my best performance for my first race. In order to do this, I needed to race conservatively, listen to my body, and race my own race. This last point 'racing your own race' is probably one of the most important aspects of ultrarunning and I have been told this many times by different people. It sounds so easy but it is also so easy to let others dictate your speed and stray you away from your race strategy; this inevitibly leads to point number three (blow up). I studied the course map previous to the event and planned out my nutrition for the event, along with how hard to go in certain sections of the course. This helped out a lot as I knew where the climbs and decents were located and was prepared for each of them. Below is the official course map (click to make larger).


While the course is a 'trail run', it does contain several sections of fire road and includes approximately 10km of old rail bed which is the out-and-back for the course (10km out, lots of trails, 10km back). I decided that the first 10km was going to be the most conservative part of the course for me so that I could get the legs nice and warm, relax into it, and then start to push as we hit the first climb.
I travelled down to the event with my race partner Gary Robbins who is coming off of a calf injury and wasn't sure on what kind of performance he'd be able to put in as he hadn't been running much. Basically, if anything started to hurt, he was going to drop out. I must say that I was concerned with him racing and re-injuring himself but completely understood why he had to do it (his motivation was waining, not running was killing him, and he needed a boost to mentally give him a lift). So, as the race started, I caught up with him and we held together for the run out to the climb. While he was breathing pretty hard and fell back on me a bit, he seemed to be doing alright and I knew that by the time we hit the climb, he would be all over it.
I can really see how easily it can be to lose your game plan. Here Gary and I were running back around 35th place but just absolutely knew that we were stronger than the people passing us were. We just let them go and stuck to our pace knowing that this would pay off in the long term. It did.
Let me tell you. Picking people off all race long is not only uplifting but extremely satisfying!
We hit the climb and like I knew, Gary was off running and power hiking up the climb with authority. I was doing quite well myself picking off many runners that so easily passed us on the way out. The trails here were amazing! Really sweet single track, lots of squishy ground with mud (but not too much), and lots of roots and rocks. This terrain definitely separates the roadies from the trail runners! The top of the climb ended at a lake. A short perimeter run and we were soon heading down again on a super fast muddy and twisty single track. It was awesome! I ran so fast down this section that I was passing people like they were standing still. Seems like Gary had the same experience as well with one racer whom he passed, caught up to him again and noted that he had never seen anyone run downhill as fast as he did! That's what you get when Squamish is your training ground!

I was feeling pretty good out of the first aid station which led into a long fire road climb up to the peak of Chuckanut mountain. I could see Gary up the road not too far ahead and actually made up a bit of time on him and picked off several runners who couldn't keep up to him. At the peak of the climb was our drop bag and the aid station where I quickly filled up my bottles with some Carbo-Pro 1200 and was then running the Chuckanut ridge. This trail was great. Lots of technical sections and great views; everything you'd want in a good trail. I knew that the long climb up was going to hurt (and it did) so I stuck with my plan and started to approach the uphills on the trail conservatively with lots of power hiking. I also knew that there was still lots of racecourse left and I wanted to finish strong.
Of note on the race course were little signs that told you what was coming up. Some of these were typical (danger, steep) but others were little motivational signs for the runners. My favorites that I can remeber were 'Mud isn't that bad' and 'you are light and swift'. The latter sign was great as I was starting to hurt on the ridge climbs and when I saw this sign, I immediately laughed and I totally perked up. Thanks!
I ran the ridge mostly by myself but once we came down for a long undulating but mostly uphill section, I could see a string of runners that I slowly but surely picked off one-by-one. Many would try to hold-on longer than they should have (racing my race instead of their own) would crack, and suddenly be gone after being right on my heals. I caught up with Devin Crowsby-Helms (the top place female), exchanged a few words, but when she dropped me on Chin Scrapper (a long muddy downhill), I knew I was around where I should be. I hit the last climb to the peak, put on a push, and passed Devon and a couple other runners who seemed to have significantly slowed. I knew that this was the last climb of the race and didn't want to leave much left as I knew it was all downhill from the top.
This brings me to the downhill. I don't think I've ever ran a road downhill section that was that long before. About halfway down, I heard someone coming behind me. I think this sped me up even more and was able to hold on to my spot to the bottom and last aid station. I didn't actually see who was behind me until the bottom. It was Devon. We both left the aid station at the same time and agreed to run in the last 10km together. We were both hurting but I was definitely in worse shape.
For the next 5km, all I could think about was how much my legs hurt.
The downhill did a number on me and while my plan was to run the last section hard, there was just no way I could push it. I made it clear that I was hurting and that I would try to run with her but to take off if I couldn't keep up. I usually have very good mind control but after 40km, my body so wanted to stop that it wouldn't leave me alone. If I was by myself, I may have stopped running and put in some walking. I was so glad to have someone to keep me going and I know Devon did as well. She did a great job at trying to keep my mind off the pain.
During the run in, we managed to keep a good pace but caught no other racers and had no racers following. You could see far in the distance at times but even after shoulder checking, we both kept thinking that we would hear footsteps behind us. Devon in particular, was sure that the 2nd place female was right behind her and there was no way that she was going to lose this race.
As we approached the finish area I made it clear that I wasn't going to out sprint her to the line as I definitely needed the help more than she did. "No" she said, "we'll finish together". I thought it was pretty classy coming from the US 100km team member so we pushed together and crossed the line together.
I had no idea what my place was and was pretty shattered. After a post race flushing by a free massage service, I met up with Gary who had a strong race and finished 10th overall after a last battle in the last 500m of the race. Congrats! And me? I had pulled 16th place overall with a time of 4:40:28.5. Because of chip timing, I ended up ranking ahead of Devon since I crossed the start line after her (sorry!).
Chuckanut was a perfect event for my first ultra. I had a solid race, finished, finished well, and raced smart by sticking with my game plan. The event was put on without a hitch, had awesome volunteers, and was just a great race overall. Definitely signing up for this one next year.

Nutrition:
I raced Chuckanut foodless with no breakfast. I would have liked to have something like a bowl of cereral in the morning but we woke up on the later side of things and I didn't want any solid food that close to race time. I had 1 gel and two thermolytes just before the race, used ~700 calories of Carbo-Pro powder and ~800 calories of Carbo-Pro 1200. I think I used 10 thermolytes on course for my electrolyte input and grabbed a few onces of Coke in the aid stations for a caffeine and sugar boost. This combo worked great as I had no cramping issues and had plenty of energy throughout the course with no bonking and no stomach issues. Carbo-Pro rocks!
What's next?
Diez Vista 50km Ultra Trail Run in three weeks! Now that I have one ultra under my belt, I'm sure the experience will be invaluable in allowing me to know my limits better and run an even stronger race. Wish me luck!
TNO

Countdown to Chuckanut

One week to Chuckanut, and fully recovered from my last weekend run, I had a great weekend lined up of some good training and some full on relaxation. I had a good solid run on Saturday morning with the Prairie Inn Harriers and then found myself doing odds and ends the rest of the day. You know, all those things that you continually put off until you just have a good full day to take care of it. So, I finally put up what I've been wanting to put up for a long time... my sweat ass, family size (ok, Mexican family size), tight weaved monster of a hammock! Yes Gary, it even fits me! :)

Ok, so I wasn't going to spend all weekend with my old friend. I woke up on Sunday prepared for a good road ride and headed out the door nice and early to hook up with the group. This was only my second real group ride ever but I think I'm already getting addicted. Ten minutes out my door and I knew that I was dressed way too warm. I dressed exactly as I did the week previous (yes, I did 75km on the bike the next day after my long run to work out the legs), but the weather had definitely changed for the better. Man, spring has sprung in Victoria. I turned around, headed back home and took off some layers before I headed out again. I ended up getting my time mixed up a bit (as we justed changed the clocks forward) but still managed to hook up with the group. During the last ride, I bailed out (as most people do) once I got close to my home (we ride right by it). But this time, I wanted to put in a longer ride which meant continuing with the nice seaside route, finishing in downtown Victoria, and taking a nice and easy 15km spin home. Well, I've always considered myself a decent biker but for the first time, it really hit home today that I still have a ways to go. The ride picked up near the end - especially when we hit the hills - and right at the 100 km mark of my ride, I just started to die, couldn't hang on, and was dropped! What hurts even more is that we were within 5km of finishing in downtown! Man, it's a pretty bad feeling when that group pulls away and there is just nothing you can do to hang on. Definitely good motivation to improve. Mind you, this was only my second group road ride ever, I haven't been training on the bike much (nothing over 40 kms at a time), and was riding in the end with some very good riders including a two time olympian and mtn bike world champion. Ok, I'll stop looking for excuses... :)

In the end, it was a 125 km ride with the last ride home being torturous. I didn't bonk as I was good and fuelled; my legs just decided that they were done and that was that.

Then came Mr. Hammock.


Then came, "I can't lie around here all day, I've got to get out of here". Soon, I was geared up again - this time with my runners - for an easy 16km run around Elk/Beaver Lake to work the legs out. It's amazing how you can feel beat but really the best thing you can do is get out for awhile (easy of course) and when you get back, you feel so much better. It was a great finish to an already sweet day.

Hope your enjoying this weather as well or if you're back East and experiencing the record snowfalls, I hope the X-country skiing is still bringing a smile to your face!

TNO

SHWEEB - Monorail Velodrome

Check this link out!

A monorail velodrome bike race track!

On the Trail to Chuckanut - 60km Day

Today, my goal was to put in a long and hilly day of running; one last long run before heading to the Chuckanut 50km ultra trail run in two weeks. I've been putting in some good k's lately with several 120+ km weeks to build up to my first real ultra. I have been on my feet for long periods of time in adventure races but these almost always involve bushwacking which is a completely different animal. While I had put in some good k's, I still felt that I needed to put in one long run with hills that would simulate race conditions and let me know if I'll actually be able to race for this distance. There's no question in my mind that I will be able to complete the event, it is rather a quesiton of how hard I'll be able to push.

I've had a long route in my head for a long time that I have yet to do; until today that is.

I started the route in Cordova Bay and headed down the Lochside trail until I hit Emily Carr Park. From here, there is a really sweet route that connects various parks taking you around bogs and following the Colquits River which eventually leads all the way down to the Galloping Goose trail. From here, I took the Goose to Thetis Lake park where I met some the Saturday morning Prairie Inn Harriers trail runners and got a lift to the regular breakfast place that everyone goes to after the workout.

After a good filling breakfast, I got a short ride to the entrance of Goldstream Provincial Park for the second phase of my run.

Trailhead - Goldstream Provincial Park

Group Camping Area

So, my route for the second phase was to connect three parks that I've always wanted to combine - Goldstream, Gowland Tod, and Mt. Work. These all consist of some serious climb (especially Mt. Finlayson) and my goal was to keep in on the easier side and power hike the hills that were either too long, or too steep. Basically, if I started to huff, I took it down a notch.

Mt. Finlayson Summit looking down at the worst disaster in the history of Victoria;

Bear Mountain - aka Bare Mountain

While it was nice to make it to the top of Finlayson, it was nice to move on and get out of the view of the worst development project in the history of Victoria. Built over some beautiful areas home to sensitive ecosystems (and some of the best mountain biking in the area) the area is now desolate with not one but two golf courses. Just another very unsustainable project brought to you by the City of Langford - the best creators of urban sprawl in the area.

Keeping up the kick on the Gowland Tod Trail

The run down the backside of Finlayson was great and by the time I hit up the Gowland Tod trail, the sun was fully out and the clouds were clearing out even more. While the day started with some rain, it was sure turning out to be a very nice day.

Going up Mt. Work - Look at that gorgeous day!

By the time I got to Mount Work, I was starting to feel the burn but I think it had more to do with running out of fluids. Luckily, many other people were out to take in the nice weather and some people were nice enough to top up my fluids in Mt. Work parking lot. The first steep sections of the climb seemed difficult but once I hit the upper sections I was eating it up.

Mt. Work Summit

View from Mt. Work out to the start of Phase II of my run

Mt. Finlayson is the round hump

Unbeknownst to most people, there is a trail that connects the Mt. Work summit trail over into the mountain biking area. You need to do a bit of route finding but it's pretty straight forward especially on a nice day. From there, I ran some of the biking trails, headed out of the park to transition onto some roads, connected in to Elk/Beaver Lake for a 3/4 lap, and then home at last!

Almost home - Yes, I felt like I look

After a 60km day, I was ready for some good recovery. It was so good to finally do a route that I had planned on doing a long time ago and I was greatful to have such a nice day to enjoy it. Now, if I can just work up to the other routes that I planned!

NUTRITION:

Carbo Pro Powder

NUUN - electrolyte input

EAS Energy Gel

PRODUCTS OF NOTE:

Helly Hansen Lifa - awesome next to skin layer

MEC Dervish Vest - a great MEC product

Montrail Continental Divide Shoes

MEC Kinetic Tempo Waistpack - a great waist pack for those who don't want anything on their back

TNO