Monday, March 22, 2010

March 15-21: Chucky Canadians and Bowling

Cuckanut 50km:
A big congratulations to all the Canadians who ran the Chuckanut 50km on Saturday. The race had a very deep field and it was great to see so many Canadians run well there.

The top Canadian was Adam Campbell in his ultra running debut. Adam went head-to-head with some of the big guns and I expect surprised a number of them by finishing in 3rd place. Americans Andy Martin and Erik Skaggs finished 1st and 2nd.

Other strong Canadian finishes in the mens race included Gary Robbins 11th, Chris Downie 12th, Darin Bentley 19th and Ryne Melcher 20th. In the women's race, the top Canadian was Ellie Greenwood in 2nd, only 13 seconds behind race winner Susannah Beck. Fellow Canadian Nicola Gildersleeve finished 4th.

Very exciting to see so many Canadians running so well. It looks like it's going to be an awesome year.

Bowling:
Yes, bowling! Inspired somewhat by Fred Flintstone and Leslie's blog, we decided to hit the lanes and thrash some pins.

Brennan 'Freddy' Spafford, Heather 'Quigley' Spafford, Sara 'La Bowling Sneaker' Montgomery and Derrick 'Yabba Dabba Doo' Spafford were all in fine form and did not look at all out of place amongst some of the finer 'athletes' in the city of Kingston.

We had fun. Freddy shone at times with a couple of strikes in a row. Quigley cried foul as the advice she was getting in the first game didn't help her game at all...poor gullable child taking bowling advice from Yabba Dabba Doo, who was firmly planted in last place in the first game.

Action at the alley was intense, especially during one of La Bowling Sneaker's wild throws as everyone seated behind her took immediate cover to avoid being smoked by a wayward ball.

I took a little bit of heat in my training log for admitting that I went bowling and possibly tweaking my hamstring a little in the process due to my near perfect form. Nothing serious, just a little bit of stiffness.

Good fun, however I doubt that we will be making this a weekly venture any time in the near future.

Training Summary:
My training continued to go well this week with my daily volume during the week being quite high and including some good quality days. By the weekend I was ready for a few down days for recovery. Structurally I felt very good with my knee continuing to get stronger.

Total # of hours this week – 12:41
Total # of hours this year – 93:02
Streak – 7,391 days of running in a row
Training Log Details

4 comments:

  1. I LOVE BOWLING!!

    Adam is a great runner and that course was tailored to his strengths. He actually lead Skaggs with 1m to go and had Andy in his sights, quite impressive after 50k!

    Indeed it is going to be a fun year to watch the Canadian runners represent!

    GR

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  2. Happy Birthday on the 26th of March, Derrick.

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  3. Hey Derrick,

    I really enjoyed your article in Canadian Running magazine about the top trail races in Canada, but you could have at least given an honourable mention to The Iroquoia Trail Test! ;)

    The Toad is certainly a good pick as #1. I'm looking forward to someday running some of the other races featured!

    Gotta run,
    Vince

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  4. Hey Vince,

    Thanks. It was really tough to limit it to only 10 races, especially with trying to get good representation all across Canada.

    ITT was very much on the short list, as I've always had a soft spot for the race. Running ITT was what convinced me to move up to ultras.

    All the best,
    Derrick

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