Going Long (again) in 2024

Even 9:15 pace. No pain or tightness anywhere. Gorgeous morning for a run.

Pretty much the same as yesterday. 9:12 pace.

Easy 9:14 pace.

Short shakeout run at an easy 9:10 pace.  I'll be leaving later this afternoon, once I've wrapped up my work.  Race is a 3 hour drive from here.  It looks like I'll be setting up my tent in the rain, and running in rain tomorrow.  First time at Limberlost, so I don't know what that might mean for the trails.  Today, my legs feel heavy.  Hopefully they will have more pep tomorrow.

I just got home.  This was a tough course, but I figure it is comparable to the Haliburton 100 in terms of elevation and terraine.  So, a good rehearsal run, which is what I wanted.

I drove the 3 hours on Friday to race site and slept in my tent.  Not much sleep in a rather noisy group campground, but that is expected.  It rained during the night.

The course is 4 loops of 14km each, so about 8.7 miles/loop.  It has 1100 feet of elevation gain/drop per loop, so a total of 4400 feet.  It is mostly single track and quite technical.  Close to 100% is on trails.  On the course at the same time were also runners in shorter distances of 1, 2 or 3 loops.  They started after we did, but the faster ones in the shorter distances caught up with us in no time.

It was hot and humid, and rained off and on all day, so the trail was muddy and slippery.  The sun would come out briefly to steam things up, and then it would either drizzle or pour, depending on the hour.

For most of the first lap, we were a long line of runners (which I found irritating).  I could not run as fast as I would have liked on the downhills, and had to walk harder than I wanted on the uphills.  Plus, you constantly had to adjust your pace to the runner in front of you.  I think most people would enjoy the company, but I much preferred the last 3 laps, and especially the final lap when the only people I saw were at the aid stations.

On lap 3, the humidity really hit me hard, and I overheated a couple of times.  Heart rate shot up, and I had to walk even the (rare) level sections in order to get it under control.  Most times, you were either going up or going down, and even then you often had to pick your way over rocks, logs, etc.  Technical, as I said.

My lap times were:

1:45:45 (12:10 pace)   1:59:31 (13:45 pace)  2:11:48 (15:09 pace)   2:16:04 (15:40 pace).   Overall average pace was 14:11.  I didn't stop at all on the first lap, so the subsequent laps show not just a slower pace, but also reflect my lingering a bit at the 3 aid stations.

I carried one bottle of Tailwind, and one of water.  That combination worked well.  I ate at the aid stations - mostly M&Ms, watermelon and chips.  Oh, one gingerbread cookie too, which I appreciated!

Since this was a 'training run', I had no taper leading into it (so, a large mileage week) and I didn't push myself terribly hard.  My right hammie is sore today, and the long drive home didn't help.  I drove 2 hours after the race to Madonna House for 2 nights, and then 5 hours home today.

So, overall, I'm pleased with the results.  Middle of the pack for the most part:

27th overall of 67, 26th man of 55 and 3rd of 8 in the 50-59 age group.

Took it slow and easy. 9:50 pace. Just wanted to see how things felt after the Ultra. Right hammie has been tight since the race, but no problem running on it today. Left knee a little wonky, but nothing serious. I'll push a little further tomorrow.

Was hoping for 9 miles, but had to cut it short just past mile 3 when my left iguinal ligament suddenly hurt.  No suggestion of a problem, and no mistep of any sort.  It just suddenly hurt and I had to stop.  I tried to stretch it out to no avail, so ended up having to limp home.  I'll have to try stretching it today and see if it is okay for running either tomorrow or Friday.  9:22 pace before I had to stop.

Had a massage yesterday to work out some issues.  Figure the iguinal issue is simply a spasm.   Still hurts, so ran a very slow 3 mile distance today at an 11:34 pace.  I'm going to take tomorrow and Sunday off.  Hopefully, the rest will let me run a fit further on Monday.

Very easy 10:10 pace. Inguinal still tight, but it didn't stop me.

A bit faster today at 9:47 pace. Still some soreness in the inguinal, but maybe not as bad, and it didn't get worse when I ran. 100 percent humidity, so wet no matter how slow you run.

A bit cooler this morning, but still close to 100% humidity.  Ended up being an unintentional (unplanned) progression run, with an average pace of 8:56.  Final mile was 7:42.  Everything seems to be healing up ok.  I hope so, because I only have 7 1/2 weeks of training left before the Haliburton 100.

This run felt great. All the pain is gone. Ran an even 9:11 pace. It didn't hurt that it was cool and very low humidity.

Steady 9:08 pace for this long run.  Felt great - not terribly hot or humid, which helped a lot.

Plan was to run a new trail route today, which was a 17 mile loop. At mile 4, I had to turn around, as beavers had turned the trail into a lake. It was impassable. Ah well. I ran back and then finished on the road. 9:21 pace.

9:28 pace to complete my second back to back in 5 days. About 6 miles run on trails. Deer flies were pesky.

Monsoon rain this morning, then a late lunch with parishioners, so a late afternoon run on a full stomach. Felt awful. 9:18 pace.

20 miles on the Capreol ski trails. 10:47 pace. 4 laps of the 5 mile trail. A few deer flies, but manageable. I fell at mile 9 and again at mile 18. Tripped over a root both times. I wasn't hurt, but was covered in dirt.

Recovery run.  9:42 pace.

Tomorrow, I'll drive the 4 hours to the Haliburton Forest Preserve where I'll camp for 2 nights, running one loop (25 miles) of the race course on Monday.  This will be my dress rehearsal for race day in 6 weeks.

One loop of the Haliburton trail, plus a bit.  I drove the 4 hours on Sunday, and set up camp at the same site I'll be using in September.  

It was very hot.  It started off at 17C/63F and peaked at 31C/88F by the time I was done.

One loop is 25 miles, but I ran an extra .75 (there and back) to get to the Lookout.  After climbing 1,000 feet, I wasn't about to miss it.  Then, later on, one of my handhelds fell out of my running vest, and I backtracked to get it - that added an extra .75 again.  I ended up running out of hydration 2 miles before I was done, so instead of running to my car to finish, I ran to my campsite where I had water.  I really needed it at that point.  Then I ran to my car.  That added the extra half mile.

Average pace was 14:57.  I was quite overheated by the time I was done.

The course is a challenge for sure.  3,600 feet of elevation and mostly technical.  Running 4 loops, and especially at night, will be something else.

I repeated two sections of the trail this morning before I packed up camp and drove home.  Ended up running about the same pace - 14:52.  At mile 8, I took a refreshing swim.  The deer flies were just as bad as yesterday.  I don't think they will be quite as bad in September.

If it rains, this course will change quite dramatically.  Most of the mud was dried, but a good downpour would turn large sections into serious mud flats.  

Originally was aiming for 6 miles, but the last half mile of Goodwill Drive has been ground up and layered with aggregate in preparation for resurfacing, and it was really dusty when a car went by.  So I turned and figured I'd add a mile on somewhere else, but when I got home my legs were quite dead, so I just left it at the 5 miles.  9:29 pace.