Virgil Crest: I shouldn’t have clicked submit

Ok, so Virgil Crest is still taking place as I write this, so WTF am I doing blogging? Well, in case you didn’t see the online updates or my twitter, I dropped…and dropped fairly early I might add at 25miles, or as Eric pointed out 40kms which does sound a little better.

I’m a bit disappointed, but not devastated or anything. The writing was on the wall. This was my first race in over a year and I may have rushed things just a wee bit in the race department. I had signed up for the 100mile, but my main goal going into the race was to get in 50miles in under 11 hours to be able to put my name into the Western States lottery. Virgil allows an official 50mile time if you sign up for the 100 but decide to drop after 50miles. I felt that this was a good option for me and highly doubted that I would be able to continue on for the full 100, but just wanted to keep the door open just in case.

Looking back on my training log, I should have realized that it was very stupid to try to attempt 50 yet, let alone even thinking of 100. July was still a write-off training/fitness wise, August was only a little better. And, I was only able to cram in a 4 and 5 hour run in early September, plus pacing Keith for 6hrs at Haliburton. Not ideally the type of training that I would normally do for any ultra distance race, especially considering I hadn’t raced in so long. I guess you always hope that you can get by if you run smart. Hope is a dirty 4 letter word though and you need to KNOW. I think deep down beforehand I knew it was a mistake.

The strange thing about it is that I feel that if it had been run on a little more runnable course, that I might have been ok. Virgil is tough. In fact, it’s the toughest course I have run on with 20,000ft in elevation in the 100. That was the big thing that got me. My fitness was lacking, PLUS I hadn’t done the specific training that I needed for a tough course like this. The ascents up the ski hills were brutal. I don’t think that there were many who were able to actually run many of the uphills, and then the braking of the downhills were tough too. That seemed to be the pattern of the course, you were either climbing up or braking coming down. I don’t want to sound like I’m whining, as Jeff Browning ran an awesome race on the course last year, however they added a few more miles this year which made the course that much more challenging with the addition of more elevation change and single track.

Anyhow, I wasn’t ready for this and realized this fairly early. I started the race as relaxed as possible and definitely felt like I was holding back early. The first parts I found were quite possible to run within myself. I began to struggle though when we started climbing. The ups and downs really beat up my body and due to the lack of base mileage over the summer; I had nothing to fall back on in addition to not having done a hill phase for a race like this either.

When I’m fit, I usually start feeling stronger after about 4hrs into a race. Today, I started to feel very rough at 3hrs and kept getting worse. I had a couple of good pukes, but it was more about there just being no strength in my body on that type of course. I may have been able to keep going a little while longer, but I essentially knew that my body was not ready to keep going without risking something that I was not prepared to risk on the day.

Structure wise, I’m feeling good and even feel pretty good now after a tough 25miles of the race. I honestly feel that my injury is behind me and that within a few days I can get back into hard training. That is what motivates me and gets me excited.

Yes, I should never have toed the line, however if I hadn’t then I always would have wondered if maybe, just maybe, I could have snuck in a decent race and sped up the return to competition. Unfortunately though, there is no bluffing a race in a 100 miler, especially like Virgil, without doing the work…and that is what I need to do before my next race.

While I am a little disappointed that I’m not a little further along in my fitness right now, it is good to know exactly what I need to do, and I have the green light to do it now that I am healthy.

I’ve told many of my coaching clients in the past that no matter whether you have a good race or a sub par race, the motivation should always be there following the race to train hard. I am certainly very motivated, now that I’m healthy, and can’t wait to hit the trails!

PS. Thanks everyone for all the emails, facebook, twitter and Running Mania comments.

Haliburton: The Other Side of the Trail

It’s getting near the end of the week and I haven’t even had a chance to post last week’s update yet. Guess I’ve fallen a little behind on the blogging front. I do have an excuse though as it’s been a very busy week and I’m trying to play a little catch up.

I decided late last week that after juggling some things around that I was going to be able to go to Haliburton after all and take part in the festivities…although from the other side of the trail. I drove up by myself late Friday and pulled into Basecamp at about 11pm. It was too late to grab a campsite, and besides, I didn’t want to disturb the runners who were racing the next morning.

The stars were out in full force like they can only be in the Haliburton Forest. It was tonight that I had the biggest pang of wanting to race the next morning. I went for a short walk towards the entrance to Normac Trail and just soaked in some of the feelings of this special race. The howl of the wolves being answered by the song of the nearby huskies, which are waiting anxiously for the dogsled season, brought a smile to my face. They would like to be running just as much as I would tomorrow I’m sure.

I make my way back to the Subaru and curl up in my sleeping bag. I’m not sure if it was the tight quarters in the Forester or the thoughts of being in the Forest, but I struggled to get much sleep.

I awoke at 5:30am with plenty of time to make it to the start line. Part of me wanted to not see any of my coaching clients before the start of their races, but instead just show up at an aid station mid-race to hopefully help boost some morale if anyone was going through a rough patch. In the end I couldn’t help but searching out everyone and giving them some last minute well wishes.

Runners were marched to the start line by bagpipe, as per Haliburton tradition, and then they were off on their 50km, 50mile or 100mile journey. The bustle of runners heading down into the Forest soon faded and I was left standing feeling somewhat lost. Fortunately, Kim was there to crew for David, so we were able to chat and then most importantly work on the task at hand…making camp coffee!

The early part of the day was a blur of activity. I scurried around between aid stations checking on coaching clients, helping out others, cheering on friends, twittering updates, and genuinely enjoying the day…though it certainly felt strange.

The course was abnormally wet from the heavy rainfall this summer, as well as some handy beaver work on the trail. This certainly affected the times of all runners and contributed to what I expect was probably the highest percentage of DNF’s ever recorded at Haliburton.

It was great seeing Aaron finish his 50km so much faster than last year, and seeing David just eating up the trails in his first attempted at the 50mile distance and cracking 10 hours. These were two very solid performances and I was very impressed with how smart and with how much precision that they both executed their races.

I had spoken with my friend Keith and his wife/crew chief Jenn and told them that I could help Keith out with pacing after 8pm if he wanted. Keith accepted and I was pretty giddy to be able to get out on the course and be a little more of a part of the race. I met Keith at 75miles and we ran the final 25mile push to the finish together. Keith was in second place at the time and seemed to be struggling a bit, but I was amazed how well he recovered after having some hot noodles and gave chase with thoughts of seeing how much of the lead we could cut into. We were getting updates along the trail and seemed to be making some headway, but the long day of slugging in the mud quickly made it apparent that it would be very difficult to keep up the pace and make any further dent into the lead. Keith continued to run well to the finish for second place, with the highlight being a bear encounter on the Normac Trail.

After a brief post race beer with Keith, I was given a long ride back out to the 75mile point to pick up Floyd the Forester…thanks Jenn. I was then able to get back out onto the course and check on SHA clients JD and Christy, as well as I was hoping to see how John M was doing too.

I pulled into aid station #6 and spoke briefly with JD who was having a very solid day on the trails and continued to be moving very well. I also saw Christy coming into the aid station obviously in a great deal of pain with very bad feet due to the wet conditions. I was pretty blown away seeing how much discomfort Christy was in, but she was still not ready to quit yet without giving it one last shot. Seeing Christy leave AS#6 had a profound affect on me and brought me to tears. It is truly amazing how powerful the mind is and what it can will the body to do. Christy limped out of the aid station in terrible pain and disappeared down the trail. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, it was just too much and she was forced to stop partway before the next aid station at 82miles…but a huge congrats goes out to her for such a brave and determined effort. JD’s race continued to go well and he kept moving strong right to the finish with a great time.

Reflecting on the race as a spectator gave me quite a different perspective of things in the ultra running world. There were so many incredible efforts that I witnessed over the course of the weekend. I heard of a runner being told that they had to hurry to make it to the 75mile aid station before 4am or she would be disqualified from the race for missing the cutoff time. Then hearing how she was sprinting into the aid station with only a few minutes to spare as if it was the end of the race. Then she still had to run another 25miles. It gets better though when she comes within mere seconds of missing the 30 hour cutoff time at the finish line and once again it comes down to a courageous sprint.

These were just a few of the examples of the many heroic efforts on the trails and my hat goes off to everyone who ran. Sometimes when you are so caught up in your own race and racing, you can miss some of the finer moments in running. I feel very fortunate to have witnessed these on the weekend. Though, I am hoping to be back again next year to play in the Haliburton Forest… possibly for a little longer though.

Congrats again to everyone. There are some great reports of the race at the following links.
David's report
JD's report
Christy's report
Keith's report
John's report
Lots of race reports on Running Mania
Race Results

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Training Summary:
~ My training volume was a little skewed on the high side during this week since I ran long on the Monday and then paced at Haliburton on the weekend. Physically, I’m starting to feel great and find that I am beginning to feel a little stronger on longer runs too. This is encouraging, but I still realize that I do have a ways to go before I’ll be feeling back in a good place fitness wise. Rehab has also been going particularly well and structurally things definitely feel the best that they have in the past year.

Total # of hours last week: 17:30
Total # of hours this year: 382:14
Streak (# of consecutive days of running): 7,566
Training Log Details for the Week

Rocky Raccoon 50 miler

Congratulations to Oliver, who just completed his first 50miler at Rocky Raccoon in Texas.

I just got off the phone with him and he was pretty excited about his race. It didn’t unfold quite the way he had envisioned it, but ended up with an incredible result.

Oliver started the race very conservatively as planned and ran the first 16+ mile loop very relaxed. At about 20miles he was knocked over while meeting a runner who was trying to pass another runner on a narrow section of trail and went down hard on his knee. His knee was banged up pretty bad, combined with some stomach issues, but he got up and made it through the loop.

Once at the aid station at about 33 miles, he had to receive 10 STITCHES to his knee! They asked him if he wanted to drop out, and his immediate reply was ‘No F-ing way!’ He then got back out on the course and ran some of his fastest running of the day during the final 16 mile loop and finished in a great time of 10:10:44. Wow!!! That is truly impressive. Love it.

I’m sure that Oliver’s knee will be barking a bit tomorrow, but expect that he’s not feeling a thing tonight. Congrats again!

Sydenham Fall Trail Run - Record Field and New Course Record

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the 5th Annual Sydenham Fall Trail Run held on Sunday, October 18, 2009.

A record number of 250 participants competed in the 8km trail race along the north shore of Sydenham Lake on the Cataraqui Trail. The weather was perfect and the fall colours were at their peak.

Defending champion Jodi Wendland had the performance of the day breaking her own course record by 5 seconds in winning the woman’s race in a time of 30:45. Wendland collected $100 cash for the win and an additional $50 for the new course record. Margarita Sviajini finished second in a time of 32:47, followed by Nancy Coke in third in 33:49.

2008 men’s champion Paul Chafe also successfully defended his title winning the men’s race in a time of 26:52. Chafe was followed by Rick Hellard in 28:31 and Clive Morgan in 30:22.

A huge thank you to all of our sponsors for making this race possible:
Spafford Health and Adventure – www.healthandadventure.com
Dion Running Snowshoes – www.healthandadventure.com
La Sportiva Trail and Mountain Running Shoes – www.sportiva.com
TD Canada Trust – Bayridge Plaza
Stonehaven – Handmade items from Napanee, Ontario
Debbie McKeown Travel and Adventure Writing – www.djmckeown.com
Sydenham Veterinary Services – Sydenham, Ontario
Running Room – www.runningroom.com
Trailhead – www.trailheadkingston.ca
Hillside Coffee Company – www.hillsidecoffee.ca
Hansler Smith Ltd - www.hansler.com
Loyalist Kids of Steel Triathlon – www.loyalistkostri.ca
Clearwater Massage Therapy – Sydenham, Ontario 613-572-2106
Peter Montgomery Studio – www.petermontgomery.ca
Get Out There Magazine – www.getouttheremagazine.com
The Water Store – www.waterstores.ca

Costco – www.costco.ca

For complete race results, please visit www.HealthandAdventure.com

Thanks again for a great day and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Derrick Spafford and Sara Montgomery
Race Directors
Sydenham Fall Trail Run

Haliburton Forest 100 miles - Race Report

Things seemed a little different going into the Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail Run this year. Last year was my first 100 mile race and I had a lot of questions. However, getting the first one out of the way in 2008 and having another year of solid training under my belt (buckle) left me in a good place going into this year. You never want to be overconfident before an ultra, as anything can happen, however I felt pretty good that on race day if I ran smart things would go well.

Going into the race, I had a staircase of four goals that I wanted to achieve this year at Haliburton. On the first stair was finishing the race in a faster time than last year of 18:42. After that, the thought of breaking Jeff Simpkins 2006 course record of 18:23. Next, on an ideal day and if everything went well, I wanted to break 18 hours. And finally, on the top step was the goal of winning the race again.

The field of competitors for the 2009 race was proving to be a competitive one. My friend, Keith Iskiw from nearby Kingston has been running really well this year and was going to have a great day. We also heard that an Italian runner named Pasquale Brandi was running. Pasquale is a veteran of many challenging ultras including strong showings in a number of desert races and stage races. During the pre-race dinner, we also discovered that Glen Redpath from New York City was a last minute entry. Originally from Winnipeg, Glen has represented Canada at international ultrarunning competitions; and finished 2nd this year at both the Bull Run Run 50miler and Massanutten 100miler.

Temperatures were mild on race morning, which indicated that it was going to be quite hot on the course in the afternoon. The Haliburton 100 mile course is a double out and back that is a combination of 80% technical trail and 20% forest/logging road, over constantly rolling hills. It was still fairly dark for the 6am start, however the first 6km of the race was on fairly smooth sand and gravel road before heading onto the more rugged Normac Trail where things get technical.

The 50km and 50mile races start at the same time, so there was always quite a few people to run with in the early miles and lots of talk with runners trying to determine who was running what race. I tried not to get caught up in the early race enthusiasm and just eased into the race. I knew that Glen was up ahead, so I settled into a comfortable pace with Pasquelle for the first while. Keith Iskiw went by a short time later and looking very focused. Once again, I just tried to relax, take care of the little things like nutrition/hydration and let the first few hours pass.

In the 14 days prior to the race, I was having some quad issues in my left leg beneath my IT Band. I was concerned about this early in the race on some of the long downhills as I felt it for the first few hours. Fortunately, it gradually improved the more I ran and was not an issue for the rest of the day. A big thank you to Greg Lehman for the ART treatment a few days earlier.

Much like most ultras, the first 25 kilometers were relatively uneventful. Pasquale, Keith and myself changed our positions a few times, but were always within a few minutes of one another. Keith surprised both Pasquale and I by coming up behind us into the 25km aid station. Keith had been running in front of us and we thought he’d pulled ahead further, but had apparently taken a pit stop and was relieving himself/hiding behind a tree for a little more privacy. Too funny.

Pasquale left the aid station first, and took a wrong turn before I called him back. He assured me that he wouldn’t make the same mistake again after dark. We ran together through the rugged corduroy trail that had vertical logs to navigate over. Having a weak ankle from a previously break; this is always my least favourite part of the course. Thankfully, this section is quite short and we arrived at the 30km aid station quickly. Leaving the aid station, I inadvertently took a wrong turn and now it was Pasquale’s turn to return the favour and call me back. We both had a laugh over that.

The final 10km to the turnaround features a little bit of everything including good climbs, technical single track and a few flat sections where you could really open things up and run fast. It was on one of these flat sections that Keith caught Pasquale and then went by me looking very strong. I wasn’t feeling particularly good at that point, so held back and encouraged him to go ahead and see if he could cut into Glen’s lead. I wasn’t sure how far Glen was ahead at the 40km mark, but he must have been between 5-10 minutes. I knew we were all running fairly quickly as I hit the 40km turnaround in 3:48, which was 14 minutes faster than my split last year.

After 40km, things finally started feeling like they were clicking and I was getting into a good place. So many times in training over the past few months, I wouldn’t start to feel better until later on in a long run, and the same thing was happening now. I took that as a very good sign.

Nearing 50km, I caught back up to Keith, who seemed to be going through a bit of a rough patch, but knew he’d get through it and be back in the chase soon. This gave me a little more of a mental lift and I started to press a little harder on some of the more technical sections while feeling like I was waking up a little.

I continued to feel strong coming into the 68km aid station before doing the Normac Trail. I had plenty of gels with me and thought I had some electrolyte tablets, so dropped my second bottle and passed through the aid station. It wasn’t until a few moments later that I realized I was out of electrolytes, so would have to press on for a little further than I wanted to without. The temperature was unseasonably hot now and hydrating/fueling was becoming an issue. I continued to feel good though and saw that I was within four minutes of Glen and a couple of minutes in front of Keith. I hit the 80km (50mile) aid station in 7:57, which was 26 minutes faster than last year. Now it was time to head back out onto the course and do it all over again.

Seeing Glen so close at the halfway point encouraged me to continue to press hard. Heading into the Normac Loop, I knew that my stomach was beginning to go south though. The heat and possibly lack of electrolytes for an extended period had me in a place where I couldn’t keep anything down. For over 90 minutes, I would try to take a gel, then puke it up, take something else, puke it up. I was very worried as I couldn’t even keep the electrolyte caps down for a while. I could feel my legs starting to lose the desire to run at a decent pace and continued to struggle.

Finally, at about the 105km mark, my stomach settled down and I was able to keep some calories down. Once this happened, I could feel my legs come back to life. I had lost quite a bit of time to Glen during this period, but was feeling good with renewed hope and was moving well again.

Getting to the 120km aid station was a huge mental boost as you only have to do one final 40km (25mile) section of trail. It was still daylight out, but I would need my headlamps before the next aid station, so grabbed them and was off. My wife Sara was crewing for me and was quick all day in getting me in and out of the aid stations as fast as possible with whatever I needed. This was such a welcome treat compared to fending for myself for the first half of the race last year. Kimberly and David Bohn also helped to crew, with the plan that David was going to be my pacer after 8pm.

Even though it was getting dark and I was getting tired I did some of my fastest running of the day during this time. I met Keith first on my way back and exchanged words of encouragement. A few minutes later I met Pasquale who was shouting ‘only 42mins ahead, go get him!’. I was told at the next aid station that I had cut 5 minutes off of Glen’s lead, but he was still a long ways ahead. Anything can happen in an ultra though, so I continued to press as hard as I could.

Arriving at the 130km station at a couple of minutes after 8pm, David was ready to go. Last year when I was running after dark, I was in survival mode, but this year was considerably different. I had to walk some of the steep uphills, but still felt surprisingly good on the flats and downhills. David helped to push me when I needed it, especially once we realized that I still had a chance to run a fast time and meet my time goals.

Hitting the 148km mark was another big lift. Now, there was only one more loop on the Normac trail around the lake. The hard day of running and racing was beginning to set in. My stomach was also beginning to rebel once again. Over the final few aid stations I was able to take in some calories, but they never stayed down. I think the worst was halfway on the final loop when I threw up rather violently for four times in one episode. David quietly stood watching me and as soon as I was finished, would get me moving again. That was exactly what I needed.

Once we hit the final 6km sand road section, I was running on fumes, but continued to push hard with David’s help. At least my stomach had settled down again. The hills seemed huge, but I was running them as hard as I could as I knew I still had a shot at breaking 18hrs.

With two km to go, we were left with only one last hill to climb before the final 1km straightaway that seems to go on forever. Cresting the hill, I could see the beautiful sight of flashing headlamps at the finish line. We continued to push the pace in and crossed the finish line in 17:52; good for second place. Congratulations to Glen who crushed the old course record with a great time of 17:18.

While winning the race again this year would have been nice, I could not be happier with how my race turned out. I had some bad patches along the way, but learned a lot and finished strong.

Congratulations to Keith for running an awesome race and finishing third in 19:05, as well as Pasquale in 21:30.

A special congratulations to Aaron Anderson, who I had the privilege of coaching for his first ultra. Aaron had an amazing day, finishing 7th overall in the 50km race in a great time of 5:32. Also, congrats to all the great friends, both old and new, who ran in the Forest.

Thanks so much to Kimberly for crewing, David for crewing/pacing (I wouldn’t have met all my time goals without you!)…and especially my incredible soulmate/wife, Sara for everything you do and are. Love you!

Stats….
2009 time: 17:52
25 mile splits: 3:48 / 4:09 / 4:58 / 4:56 (7:57 for first 50miles)
My placing: 2nd
Winner: Glen Redpath – 17:18 (*New course record. I also broke Jeff Simpkins old course record from 2006 of 18:23)

2008 time: 18:42
25 mile splits: 4:04:10 / 4:17:18 / 4:43:43 / 5:36:51. (Last 25miles in the dark).
My placing: First
Second Place: Jim Orr (19:32)
2008 Race Report

>>Click here for fuel, gear and footwear list (La Sportiva Crosslites: 100miles = zero foot issues!).

>>Report from my pacer David Bohn

>>Report from Sara's crewing perspective

>>Report on La Sportiva Mountain Running Blog

>>Report on Trail Running Canada

Below are a few race photos. Kimberly also posted some other race photos here.

Coming into 25km Aid Station...
Aid Station #6...
The temperature is getting hot...
Halfway done!. Split first 50miles during the day in 7:57...
A little motivation from my pacer David provided by the Ramones...
Hectic Aid Station...
Running 100 miles never felt so good (David and Sara. Kim behind the camera)...
The day after roadkill (Derrick and Keith)...

Finger Lakes 50 miler

The Finger Lakes Fifties were held on Saturday at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector, NY. Distances included 50miles, 50km and a 25km race. The course is a combination of rolling single track forest trail and meadows, with limited road sections..

READ FULL REPORT ON THE LA SPORTIVA BLOG...


Also, below are a few other photos from the race.

Early meadow (photo credit: Tom Perry, Western NY Ultra Series)..
(photo credit: Tom Perry, Western NY Ultra Series)...

A little mud, but more later (photo credit: Tom Perry, Western NY Ultra Series)...

Finish...
Muddy Legs...
Pre-bath...
Getting clean (finally)...

READ SARA'S RACE REPORT ON HER BLOG...

Strike Two at Sulphur Springs

There aren't many 100mile races nearby, and with Sulphur Springs only a little over 3 hours away, even though you have to drive through Toronto, it made sense to give it a go. As much as I was a last minute entry, I had thought about doing this race for a while since the disappointment of Rock and Ice in March. My training had gone quite well, with some good mileage. I didn't have any exceptionally long runs leading up to this, but I felt like the strong day in, day out mileage would get me through just fine. One of the reasons I didn't want to commit to the race earlier is that we organized the 5 Peaks race last weekend, and that always leaves me feeling wiped for a while afterwards.

All was good in the days leading up to the race and I was feeling confident going into the race. My plan was to keep it under control in the early miles, then go from there. I had looked at the lap times of runners from previous years and felt like I had a good idea of what sort of pace I could and should run at.

I felt great for the first 40km and was running relaxed and in control (holding back), however I started having some stomach issues just after 40km and could not keep any food or liquid down. It came on pretty quickly and rather forcefully. I thought it was an electrolyte problem so started increasing my e-caps, but could not keep them down either. I ran from 40-60km with lots of puking, and basically no water, gels, bloks or anything able to stay down. Got to 60km and tried to get some gravol down, but up it came too. Finally decided to pack it in at 61km.

I think the heat was a big issue as I used the exact same fueling plan as I did for Haliburton last year and it worked very well then. We haven't really had many warm days yet this year, so I think it will take a few good hot long runs to get acclimatized to it. A little frustrated, but still ended up being a good day of training and realized that I need to do a little more homework on myself to get this stomach thing under control.

It's always tough looking at the race results after and wondering what could have been if I hadn't had problems. As I said, I felt like I was holding back and running a very comfortable pace, so that was not an issue. I just feel as though I'm not ready to run a long race in the heat yet.

The really good thing is that the 61km's that I did run is great training and puts me in a good place to work towards my next race. My legs feel pretty good today too and after a few easy days will ramp my training back up pretty quickly.

Sara has had a lingering hip injury since before Rock and Ice that was giving her problems early on the rolling course at Sulphur, so wisely decided to pack it in early and try to get things sorted out once and for all.

So, the score for the day was...
Sulphur Springs = 2
Spaffgomery's = 0

We are both ok with this though. Getting the flu and not being able to finish Rock and Ice was very difficult to deal with. Having to drop early at Sulphur due to stomach/electrolyte issues is a little easier to deal with and was still good training and a good learning experience.

It was great seeing many familiar faces out on the course and I'm hoping that local runners Heather, Edd and Martin are able to finish their 100mile races.

It was also exciting seeing the 50mile racers finish as Adam Hill ran a great race and came within a minute of the course record. Keith Iskiw of Kingston ran a very solid race to finish second to Adam. Great job guys!

Haliburton Forest 100 miler

The Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail Run took place on Saturday, September 6, 2008. This was my first attempt at running a 100mile race.

I was a little nervous going into this race, but felt well prepared having had a solid year of training, in addition to a strong base built from 2007. The experience of having run a couple of 50milers last year, in addition to Rock and Ice this year, helped to give me confidence. I’ve also run Haliburton twice before (50km in 2004 & 50 mile in 2007). This was a big help in knowing the trails and what to expect and plan for in the training leading up to it and on race day. Personally, I don’t think that I would have wanted to try to run my first 100 at Haliburton if I hadn’t known the trails well beforehand.

Haliburton Forest is a private wildlife preserve located on the west side of Algonquin Park. It is home to lots of deer, moose, bears and wolves as was evident by all being spotted during the race. The trails there are simply gorgeous.

On race morning, a bagpiper paraded us to the start line for the 6am start as if we were going off to battle. Nice touch. It was still quite dark, so I was happy to be using the Petzl E+lite headlamp for the first 30 minutes or so, even though we began on a sand packed road. It was great to be finally moving even though I knew it was going to be a very long day. I settled into a comfortable pace and it was really nice as Sara and I ended up running together for some of the early miles. It almost seemed like one of our weekly long runs at times because of this.

The 100 mile course was a double out and back course, so we had to run the entire route twice. It was great early on because there were many people running the 50km and 50mile race on the same route.

My number one goal for the race was to finish, so I had planned on trying to take things pretty easy early on. I was surprised to meet up with Jeff Simpkins fairly early into the race. We ran together for a few minutes before he said he wasn’t feeling well, and decided to back off a little in the hopes of feeling better later. I was also surprised when Jeff said that the only other person in the 100 miler in front of us was Jim Orr.

I have a great deal of respect for Jeff Simpkins, Jim Orr, Jim Morrison, Laurie McGrath, Theresa McGrath and Keith Peters, and all of the excellent 100mile races they have done between them. I told myself that I did not want to go out too fast and would prefer to be behind all of them in the early miles and wait to see how I felt.

Coming up to the 25 mile point turnaround, I saw Jim on his way back, so I hoped that I wasn’t too far to the turn. It was nice to get the first turn around on the day out of the way. I had placed drop bags at 12km, 25km and 40km, so got to pass them all at least twice to re-supply with extra gear and food if needed. This was in addition to the seven well stocked aid stations that were on the course.

Since 100 miles is such a long way to go, I took splits on my watch every 25 miles and just focused on that smaller period of time instead of the big picture. I found this very helpful in keeping things in perspective and being able to chip away at these smaller chunks instead of thinking about how far I still had to go.

It was around 40 miles that I ended up spotting the race leader, Jim Orr, just up ahead. I was a little reluctant to pass him at this point as I really wasn’t 100% sure about the proper pace that I should be running for my main goal of being able to finish. I was feeling comfortable though and decided to just run at my own pace for as long as I could, so passed Jim shortly after that.

The remainder of the first 50 miles was uneventful, with just the focus being on running as relaxed as possible, and doing all the small things to stay hydrated and well fueled. I felt a slight bit of temporary panic when I passed the 50mile point and turned around to head back out for the last 50. I checked my watch and was a little startled to see that my first 50 miles was done in 8:21, which was about 5 minutes faster than I did for just the 50 miler alone last year. I knew that I was in better shape this year, but it was still a little unnerving to think of what the last half had in store for me.

I was very fortunate for the last half of the race as Sara was going to be able to crew for me, which would be a big help. Sara ran, and won, the women’s 50km for the third time in a very solid race. She didn’t even stick around for her awards ceremony, but came back out onto the course to help me out. This was going to be huge for me as I was going to be getting to the point where it would be a lot more difficult to do things for myself at the aid stations.

While 80% of the course is on technical trails, the other 20% is on forest road, so Sara was able to drive out to the checkpoints and help me. My goal was to make it to the 75 mile point before it got dark. I really wanted to run the least amount of challenging trail after dark as possible.

It was a huge psychological boost to get to 75 miles and know that you were on your way home, even though it was still 25 miles. Things continued to go well, and I had to keep playing little mind games and break the race down to just lots of small races from checkpoint to checkpoint. I had picked up my headlamp at an earlier aid station and was really pleased with the way they worked. I wore the Petzl Myo XP on my head, and the Petzl Tikka XP on a belt attachment around my waist. The trail was well lit and I just needed to keep moving now.

I did find it very tough getting from 75-85 miles as I was really dreading the Black Creek Trail. This is a boggy section that has a lot of logs laid down crosswise, almost acting like a floating bridge, I expect during the wet seasons. I had broken my ankle a few years ago and was very cautious in trying to get through this part in one piece. Doing it after dark seemed like it was going to be that much more difficult. Once again, I was very happy to get through this section and make it to the 85 mile point. Sara met me here and gave me a few sips of soup broth. I didn’t think I wanted it, but it really hit the spot and was a nice change from all the gels, clif bloks and liquid fuel I had been taking.

Sara told me that I looked the most out of it at the next aid station (about 88 miles). I had just taken a couple of falls and had gone about 100meters past where I was suppose to turn, so had to backtrack a little. It wasn’t a big deal, but I was getting a little confused and was struggling the most through this section. I was happy to get to finally make it to the next checkpoint and know that I only had one loop of MacDonald Lake to go and that I was going to finish.

Pacers are allowed to run with 100 mile participants after dark for safety reasons. Even though Sara had already raced her 50km early, she was ready to run the section from 92-98 miles with me. While I knew that I could probably get around this on my own, it was very comforting to have Sara there with me. In fact, it was wonderful to share this experience with her since we have done so much of our training together. Through the final trail section of Normac, Sara got to witness another couple of finer moments of my race. First I took my worst fall of the day, and second I puked a solid stream of vomit on a tree right at shoulder height.

The end was getting much closer now and the goal was just trying to hold it together and finish in one piece. We were now back on the forest road, so finally the footing wasn’t an issue anymore.

Making it to the final aid station at about mile 98 was a great feeling. Sara stopped here to let me run the last bit in on my own. One more nasty hill to get past then a long straightaway to the finish line. The sight of Sara flashing her headlamp from the finish line was such a welcome and warming sight. I finally made it across the line.

I found it interesting when I crossed the finish line that my time of 18:42:02 didn’t really mean that much to me. It was more the fact that I had just completed a 100 mile footrace. The thoughts, memories and emotions of the day keep coming back to me and I will probably remember a ton of things that I have left out of this write-up. However, I will never forget the deep down feeling of what it’s like to run 100miles in the beautiful trails of the Haliburton Forest.

Thank you very much to Race Director Helen Malmberg and her wonderful crew of volunteers for organizing an exceptional race. Your efforts will always be remembered by those who take part in Haliburton.

Results and photos are now posted at http://ouser.org/

Stats…
My time: 18:42:02
25 mile splits: 4:04:10 / 4:17:18 / 4:43:43 / 5:36:51. (Last 25miles in the dark).
My placing: First
Second Place: Jim Orr (19:32)
Course Record: 18:19:23 (Jeff Simpkins 2006)
Terrain: 80% technical trails, 20% forest road

Fuel…
Clif Bloks: Took 3 cubes on every hour (switched to exclusively gels between aid stations after 9 hours)
Gels: 1 gel on every half hour
Sport Drink: Mixed one scoop of Hammer Sustained Energy with one scoop of GuPowder. Drank 3-4 sips every 15 minutes past the hour and before the hour.
Endurolyte Capsules: Started taking 2-3 electrolyte capsules every hour after the first few hours, then increased to 2 capsules every 30 minutes for about the last 3 hours.
Water: Sipped water from my bottle with gels and bloks. Also drank water at aid stations.
Aid Stations: Ate small amounts of melon, bananas and drank some coke at most stations. I kept most of my fuel in liquid form as that is what I have found worked well for me in training. Had a little soup broth at the last few aid stations, which helped. Also ginger ale helped to sooth my stomach at a few aid stations.
Stomach issues: Puked at 9 hours and 18 hours. Both I felt were electrolyte issues and needed to adjust intake. Came around shortly after.

Gear…
La Sportiva Crosslites: No blisters, no hotspots, no foot issues! I was impressed. I have seen some really nasty photos of peoples feet who have run 100 milers and was prepared, but these shoes are awesome! Lightweight, glove-like fit and great traction.
Wigwam Trailrunner II socks. Wonderful fitting socks with great moisture management.
Sugoi 42k Split shorts: Lightweight and breathable.
La Sportiva team shirt: Breathable t-shirt made by Sugoi (ran shirtless for about middle 50 miles because of the heat).
Petzl MyoXP Headlamp: Excellent lighting on the dark sections of trail
Petzl Tikka XP: Worn with belt attachment around my waist on the diffuser mode for extra peripheral vision.
Petzl E+lite lightweight headlamp for the first few miles.
Fuel Belt Double bottle holder with extra pocket attachment: Very comfortable double bottle belt for water and sport drink. The pocket attachment was excellent for gels, bloks, e-caps, etc…

Mar 24 - 30 (7:35)

Mon
(5:35) Day 3 of Rock and Ice. Good footing today. Able to run hard. Ran in microspikes for final 6km in ice highway. Finished 2nd overall in foot division of K-Rock.

Tue
(:20) Easy in parking lot at Quinte Mall on drive home from airport. Bad snowstorm.

Wed
(:20) Easy at home. Sick with high fever today. Haven’t slept much the last few days.

Thu
(:20) Very easy at home. Very sick with high fever.

Fri
(:20) Very easy run. Still feeling lousy.

Sat
(:20) Easy on Cat W trail. Felt a little better.

Sun
(:20) Another easy day. Ran Hare trail. Feeling much better today.

Weekly Total = 7:35.

Rock and Ice finished on Monday, then easy for the rest of the week including being quite sick.

March 17 - 23 (17:03)

Mon
pm (:20) Happy St. Patrick's Day! Very easy run on road to shake out legs. Enjoyed the last of our Guinness last night, so had none for St. Patrick's Day :( Oh well. As it's part of our training diet anyhow, not as big of a treat.

Tue
pm (:40) Relaxed run on road and Cat tr East to Boundary Road. Footing good. Nice to be back on the trails. At least one person must have seen my training log yesterday as Sara brought home Guinness for our post-St. Patrick's Day dinner :). Winter sleeping bag arrived today, so all packed and ready to leave for Rock and Ice on Thursday.

Wed
pm (:20) Easy run on road. Last run at home. Fly from Toronto to Edmonton tomorrow, where I will have a short layover before flying up to Yellowknife on Thursday night. Staying at my sister Karen's place in Edmonton for a visit, a short run and maybe an early dinner.

Thu
pm (:20) Easy run in Edm from Karen’s place during flight layover. Felt good.

Fri
am (:27) Easy with Michal on ice highway in Yellowknife. Was good to stretch the legs before the race tomorrow.

Sat
(7:40) Rock and Ice Ultra – Day 1. Very tough footing with loose, sugar snow. Ran in snowshoes for all but first few km. Details at http://www.breathemag.ca/ , http://www.healthandadventure.com/ and http://www.snowshoemag.com/ .

Sun
(7:16) R&I – Day 2. Similar conditions to yesterday. Ran snowshoes all day.

Weekly total = 17:03

Saturday was the start of Rock and Ice Ultra. Check for reports and articles at http://www.healthandadventure.com/ , http://www.breathemag.ca/ and http://www.snowshoemag.com/