Monday, August 24, 2009

Week of August 17 - 23

Photo: Little Clear Lake on Sunday long run

Weekend Races
Lots of great races to follow this past weekend…

Leadville 100miler:
A very exciting race. Tim Parr ended up winning this race in 17:27 after Anton Krupicka set a blistering early pace going after Matt Carpenter’s course record. Lynette Clemons was the first place female in 20:58:01. Krupicka ended up dropping out at 78miles after his quads blew up on him. Too bad. I was really hoping to see Krupicka nail the record. I have always been impressed by how hard he works in training and the massive mileage that he puts in. His training is what has inspired me to believe that I could run much higher mileage than I ever thought was possible for me. It would be great to see Krupicka come back and run next year, and even better to see Carpenter come back and race it too. Full marks to Parr for the win which was only one week after his Pikes Peak Ascent win. Last years winner, Duncan Callahan finished third. Also, it was great to see Bryon Powell of IRunFar.com have a great day and finish 10th overall in under 20hrs! Full results.

Where’s Waldo 100km (U.S. 100km Trail Running Championships):
Erik Skaggs won in a time of 9:11:05 with several other runners also better the old course record. Joelle Vaught won the women’s race in 10:23:32. Yassine Dibouin had a strong race and finished 7th in this deep field in his first race since moving west. Full results

Iroquoia Trail Run 32km:
This was my first longer trail race and what got me interested in running ultras. It’s a very challenging run on the Bruce Trail that is almost always very hot and humid with lots of technical sections. David Romaniuk won the men’s race in 2:27:30 and Aine O’flynn was the top female in 2:51:54. Full results.

5 Peaks – Camp Fortune:
The next race in the 5 Peaks Eastern Ontario and Quebec trail running series took place on Saturday with Jean-Francois Gagne winning the men’s Enduro race in 1:00:56 and Sherrie Kelly winning the women’s in 1:07:19. Full results.

Transrockies Stage Race:
Transrockies began on Sunday. It was good to see the Canadian team of Phil Villeneuve and Gavin Hamilton take third place in the first of six stages. It will be very interesting to follow the week of racing. This is one race that I would love to do. It would be so much fun to run in the mixed race with Sara. Daily results and updates from Phil’s blog.

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Training Summary for the week:
~ Big week! My highest volume week ever, though the numbers are a bit deceiving. I had planned to do Monday’s long run last weekend, but took two very light days before doing it on Monday as I needed the extra recovery then. However, I am still very pleased with what I got in this week and how my body recovered. The 5hr run on Monday was tough in the heat, but I felt great coming back with a hilly 4:33 on Wednesday and finishing off the week with a solid 6hrs at Frontenac on Sunday. It’s now getting to the point where there will be no additional gains in fitness, and it will be more important to get lots of rest and recovery. I will continue to get some moderate runs in, but will be adding some more shorter and easier days into the mix. The past 12 weeks has been my most consistent period of training of high mileage with an average of 15:29 per week, combined with 9 runs of over 4hrs. Physically, I feel great and really looking forward to Haliburton.

Total # of hours this week: 24:36
Total # of runs this week: 11
2009 total # of hours: 413:06
2009 total # of days: 241
2009 total # of runs: 311
Streak: 7,180 days in a row

Monday Aug 17
Running 5:07:00
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslites (42)
(AM) Cat E-Sydenham-Stage coach-Campbell-Murvale-Scanlan-K&P-KPH-waterfont. Freakin' hot and humid. Started at 9:30am with the intention of running to Kingston, but gave myself an out in Sydenham if not feeling great. Felt very good for the first 2hrs. Ran short of water and had to ration too much from 2:30-3:30 (cut back on electrolytes and gels here too) and felt rough during that period with some cramping and stomach issues. Got more water at 3:30, but took until 4hrs before I started feeling better. Felt awesome from 4hrs for the rest of the run. Cooler in RT and along waterfront too. Considered adding on, but felt good to finish strong. Very good confidence builder to pull myself back out of a tough place after things went south for a bit.

Tuesday Aug 18
Running 1:30:00
shoes: Adidas Gazelle CC
(AM) Lemoines. A little tired for the first 10mins, but loosened up and felt really good. Steady run. Nice along water. Not as hot as yesterday. Started to get pretty hungry after an hour, but didn't eat as much as I should have last night and this morning.
Running 1:00:00
shoes: La Sportiva Wildcat
(PM) Cat W. Easy run with Sara. Felt pretty good once I got going.

Wednesday Aug 19
Running 4:33:00
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslites (42)
(AM) Hilly Long Run. Cat E-Escarpment-RT-Everett Lane. Great run. A little cooler out. Eased into run for the first 2hrs, then steady on hills of Everett Lane. Recovered through RT/Escarpment on way back + Steripened water at Knowles Lake, then steady back home. Felt very strong on the heels of Monday's long run. Hip stiffened up a bit at the end, but felt like I could have kept going.
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Thursday Aug 20
Running 1:01:00
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslites (42)
(AM) Cat Tr W. Legs pretty heavy after yesterday and the past few days. Quite content to just jog along, flush out the legs and let some recovery happen. Happiness is a fresh new pair of La Sportiva Crosslites! I always feel like I can take them right out of the box and not have any issues on long runs, but will be sure to get some hours in them before Haliburton . I really like how they flex after a few weeks.
Running 1:00:00
shoes: Nike Zoom Streaks
(PM) Cat Tr West. Easy with Sara. Very hot and humid again. Legs felt better tonight.
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Friday Aug 21
Running 1:40:00
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslites (41.5)
(AM) Cat W to Camden East. Started off pretty easy, then picked it up and felt great. Very hot and humid.
Running 1:12:00
shoes: La Sportiva Skylites
(PM) Cat W-E-Boundary. Ran out Cat W w/Sara, then picked it up and ran 20min tempo on Cat E to home. Felt awesome. Fully recovered and wanted to keep going. Cooled off a little by the end.

Saturday Aug 22
Running 40:00
shoes: Adidas Gazelle CC
(AM) Cat West. Easy with Sara.
Running 52:00
shoes: La Sportiva Skylites
(PM) Cat Trail. Nice relaxed run with Dylan O. Felt great. Legs felt well recovered.
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Sunday Aug 23
Running 6:01:00
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslites (42)
(PM) Frontenac Park. TC-Northern Perimeter-O&B on Corridor South along Big Salmon Lake and back along other side. First 3.5hrs comfortable with Sara, then picked it up and ran steady for the last 2.5hrs. Felt quite good, even with all the volume this week. Fueled well the whole time, and included some 'real' food for variety. Getting a little tired by the end and probably should have taken some extra gels in the past few hours, which would have helped with recovery. Chilled a bit sitting in wet clothes for the drive home, but good now. Ready for a bit of recovery. Not much else to do to improve fitness at this point. Will take some extra recovery days between moderate efforts now.

6 comments:

  1. There are 7 days in a week. You ran for more than one of them. Crazy. Excellent final week, congrats on getting through all this strong and healthy. It will be quite the performance a Haliburton, the trick will be to hold back enough for the first 50 miles, so you can easily crush the 2nd half of the course. Wouldn't miss it.

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  2. Oh and ITT was my first trail race too. Kinda bummed I didn't get there this year. 1,2 & 3 sure close this year. JD posted on his blog that next year maybe the last year for ITT. Will have to make it for the finale.

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  3. ITT is a very fun race. We haven't run it for a number of years. Sad to hear that they might be cancelling it.

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  4. I have to admit, that kind of volume scares me a little. Are you (and others like you) a mutant? Do you actually touch the ground?

    At ITT, I'm prancing around trying not to face-plant because the rocks are just so slippery. I see this guy coming towards me just motoring at an incredible clip. I remember thinking: "thank god, it must be better up ahead!". It was friggin' worse. So this is proof that there's a secret society of runners who don't actually need to touch the ground. This enables them to pretend to "run" (fly?) incredibly high volume. Consider your secret exposed.

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  5. JD,
    Sounds like ITT was great prep for Haliburton! Recover well.

    Your comment reminds me of the time I ran the Escarpment Trail Run in the Catskills of NY. Very fun and rocky/technical point to point course up and down mountains for 32km. I was running through a very rocky downhill section and thought that I was moving reasonably well. There was someone following me and I asked if he want to pass. Initially he said 'No, I'll just stay here for a bit'. Shortly after he said that, he changed his mind and passed me. I've never seen anything like it. He was leaping from rock to rock on the steep wet downhill with his arms flapping like a giant bird. I think I even remember hearing a 'YEEHAW' as well. He probably had at least two minutes on me within a minute. It was something I'll always remember. Incredible reckless downhill runner.

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