Going Long (again) in 2024

61 minutes on the treadmill.  And day one of my 24 week Ultra Marathon training program.

45 minutes on the treadmill.

Just a little respite from the arctic chill, so I took it outside while it was on the warmer side.  Goodwill Route; 8:49 pace.

-10C/14F, so not too bad, even with the wind.  A good snow fall, however, so it wasn't an easy run, trudging through a few inches of snow.

I couldn't believe the cold when I took my garbage to the curb this morning.  -42C/-44F with the windchill.  Needless to say, I ran on the treadmill, despite this article:

https://runningmagazine.ca/14-experiences-canadian-runners-winter/?utm_source=Canadian+Running+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e6338d4f55-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c31dda00d9-e6338d4f55-79556037

At -45C/-48F with the windchill factor, I didn't even THINK about running outside today.

Treadmill.  Just set it at 9:10/mile and kept it steady for 110 minutes.

Gotta remember to turn off the little heater I have running in the laundry room.  I tripped the breaker while running, which turned off the treadmill, which almost threw me over the front bars and into the fish tank.

One hour on the treadmill; steady 8:35 pace.

Decided to try the 'sweat test'.  Never did it before, but I guess if I want to run longer ultras this year in the heat, I should work on hydration issues.

Anyway, turns out I lost 2.5 pounds or 40 ounces of sweat in one hour.  That's heavy.  

Looking at Tailwind as a possible friend for running this year.  Will do more research on it and will likely give it a go in training.

Easy treadmill run.

4 x 800 Yasso's.  6:52 pace.  On the treadmill.

Treadmill; 54 minutes.

We had ONE day of a mid-winter thaw yesterday.  All the way up to 6C/43F.  Back down to -18C/O degrees today.  Ah well.

All treadmill miles today.  The sun is out, but the streets are a mess from the storm - school busses did not run for 2 days in a row - and it's back to polar cold at -32C/-25F.  I kinda regretted not going out, but maybe made the right choice staying in.

126 minutes on the treadmill, though, is about my max.  So, I really need nicer weekends ahead, since 14 miles on Saturday is now considered a 'rest' week on my training plan.

Despite the cold and ice, I took it outside today.  8:29 pace.

Just -12C/10F, so not terribly cold.  Icy roads though, so I had to be careful.

Nice to get off the treadmill every so often.

45 easy treadmill miles.

Achy right hamstring.  Felt that during yesterday's run.  Not sure if it is from running on the icy road, or from finally getting back into my plyometric jump squats for strength.  Either way, it didn't seem to worsen during the run, and I'll moniter it day by day.

Well, supposed to do 8 miles with speedwork, but my right hamstring is still pretty achy, and was getting worse.  After the 3 mile warm up, I ran 2 minutes fast, and that was it.  Going to take a bit of time to let it heal.

72 minutes on the treadmill.  

I wasn't going to run at all.  Scheduled for a 16 miler, and figured I needed the time to let my hammie get better.  However, it didn't feel too bad this morning, so I decided to go for it.  I got dressed, stretched, filled my fuel belt ... and then chickened out.  I just didn't want to be 7 miles out and hurt.

So, I changed and hit the treadmill instead.  I think it was a good choice, despite the fact that it was about as good as it gets for running outside in January ... 33 degrees and sunny.

I ran a few miles, did a leg check, stretched, and then a few more.  Ended up running 8 instead of 16, but that's 8 more than I had planned last night, so I'll take it.

As far the hammie goes - my own fault.  Leading up to Boston last year, I worked hard on my 3x/week strength routine and daily planks/core work.  I got lazy after that, and did virtually no strength/core work leading up to or following my Fall Ultra.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  I'm lucky I got as far as I did without injury.

So, I'm back into it now.  I'll pick up the training again on Monday.  Hopefully, by then, my hammie will be happy and so will I.

Easy miles on the treadmill.  Slowed it right down, and my hamstring seemed to handle it well at this speed.  65 minutes for the 7 miles.  First 5 @ 9:00 and then slowed it down to 10:00.

Easy treadmill miles.  Major snow storm yesterday - school busses pulled off the roads today.  

70 minutes on the treadmill; slow and steady.

50 minutes on the treadmill.  Right hammie really acting up for some reason.  Will try my long run outside tomorrow; hopefully things will work out okay.

Was scheduled for 14 miles last Saturday, and it was a nice enough day to take it outside.  I started off real slow and made it to the post office down the street - a quarter mile.  Then I had to walk home.  The hamstring.

So, I took the next three days off and tried again just now on the treadmill.  Got just past one mile and had to stop.  I hate to do it, but I think I'll be on the stationary bike for a bit, just to keep my fitness.  Yuck.  

I hurt my back carrying drywall, lumber and bricks on the weekend.  I figured that pain would distract me from the hammie.  I was wrong!

So, went to see a physiotherapist yesterday.  He'll be treating me for the next little while.  In the meantime, I'm on the stationary bike.  50 minutes of it today.

50 minutes on the stationary bike.  Yuck.  Second time to the phsyiotherapist today.

60 minutes on the stationary bike.  A record breaking ONE mile of running this week.  Ah well ... a new week is coming!

One hour on the spin bike, followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I wanted to see how my hamstring would respond after being well warmed up and then going at a very slow pace.

Not too good.  I managed to run the 3 miles with some discomfort, but it's really sore now.  I have a ways to go.

Massage therapy later today, and back to physio for session number 3 tomorrow.

So, 60 minutes on the spin bike.

I was not feeling great after yesterday's 3 miles.  My physiotherapist is insisting on 2 more weeks of no running.  Drat!

60 minutes on the spin bike.  

Official name of my injury:  Biceps Femoris Tendinopathy.  Well, "Tendinopathy" is debatable in the literature.  But it's my BF that is causing my distress.

70 minutes on the spin bike.  Physio seems to be going well; he's going to let me try a short run on Monday ... said 2 km, and I negotiated it up to 2 miles.  :)

Can't run my scheduled 18 miler, so rode the spin bike for 3 hours instead.  Ask me how I feel!

I just keep telling myself it's good training for the glutes for the motorcycle riding season ahead.

Was allowed 2 miles on the treadmill today, so sandwiched it in between an 80 minute spin on the bike.  The hamstring (Biceps Femoris, to be precise) was tight throughout, but no real pain.  We'll see what my physiotherapist thinks later today.

60 minutes on the spin bike.

55 minutes on the spin bike, followed by 2 miles on the treadmill this afternoon, under the watchful eye of my physiotherapist.  His goal is to get me running 6 miles by the end of next week.  The good news is, although there is still tightness when running, there was no pain at all when I was finished.

Getting there.  After 65 minutes on the spin bike, I was able to run 4.5 on the treadmill at the physio's place.  Picked up the speed a bit too - ran at 9:00/mile.  Felt good.  No pain or tightness in the hamstring.  I'm catiously optimistic.

Was supposed to run 20 miles, so decided on 200 minutes of cardio.  40 minutes on the spin bike, followed by 10 minutes running, repeated 4x.  Ended up feeling good ... no pain or tightness ... so went 140 minutes on the spin bike and 60 minutes running.

It has been almost 5 weeks since my hamstring went ballistic.  Two weeks reduced to 24 miles each, and then 2 weeks with virtually no running.  I'm hopeful I can get back to 24 miles next week and then build quickly from there.  With the biking, I should not have lost too much fitness, so it's just a matter of not crossing over that line where I push my body too hard from running.

Feeling more confident by the day.  20 minutes on the spin bike, followed by a 6 mile run on the treadmill.  Alternated between a 10:00/mile and a 9:00/mile.  Hamstring seems okay.  Lots of aches from OTHER body parts, but I suppose that's to be expected after a couple of weeks layoff.

I think I'm back in the saddle.  My physiotherapist cut me loose today - said I was good to go.  Ran these 5 (actually scheduled for that) on my treadmill, where I'll be staying for a while until I'm sure I'm okay at longer distances.

The trick now will be getting back up to training mileage safely.

Worked a bit of speed into my 7 treadmill miles - no hamstring issues at all.  Good news!

62 minutes.

On the treadmill; no issues.  Going to attempt a long run tomorrow.  Scheduled for 14 miles - we'll see how far I can get.

Well, that seems to have gone well.  I wasn't sure if I'd hit my scheduled 14, but after I did, I decided to add 2 more.  That brings my weekly mileage up to where it was scheduled to be, at 40 miles.

Of course, this was a cut back week, and I don't think I'll be able to take on the 20 mile long run next Saturday, but we'll see how things go.  I hadn't run 16 miles since just before Christmas.  On the treadmill still, for safety.  I don't want to take a chance on the icy roads just yet.

95 minutes on the treadmill.  I just alternated my pace between a 10:00/mile and a 9:00/mile.  Everything still seems to be working okay.

57 treadmill minutes; averaged 9:30 pace.  All is well.

Some speedwork on the treadmill.  5 x 800 with a generous 800 recovery.  Did the first one at 7:00/mile pace, but felt I was pushing it a little too much, so reduced it to 7:30/mile for the other 4.  Felt good to go fast.

Today I'll find out if my name is drawn for the New York City Marathon.

On the treadmill, back and forth between a 10:00/mile and a 9:00/mile; 76 minutes run time.

Was scheduled for 10, but now things are getting tricky.  Scheduled for 20 tomorrow, but that would give me a 54 mile week - a HUGE jump in mileage.  I'm not willing to push myself that hard just to get back to where I would have been without an injury, especially since my longest run has only been 16 miles.

So, by cutting back a couple miles today, and then aiming for maybe 17 or 18 tomorrow, I'll still have 49-50 miles on the week, which is still a 25% jump in mileage.  I'll take it real slow tomorrow and listen to my body.  I don't want to break something else at this point.

Oh, and I didn't get my name drawn for the New York City Lottery.  Ah well ... another year.  Now I'm toying with doing the Dopey Challenge at Disney next January.

177 minutes on the treadmill.  Just kept a steady 9:50 pace throughout.  Every 3 miles, I got off to refill my water/nutrition/electrolyte bottle (Tailwind).  That's the pattern I plan on following in Niagara Falls, where the aid stations are 3 miles apart.

As per the plan I mentioned yesterday, it was a dramatic (25%) increase in mileage, but not as dramatic as it would have been to get me back on schedule after 4 injury weeks.  Close, however.

After miles 9, 12 and 15 I took a bit of a longer pause to walk, stretch, and see if there was anything 'off'.  I felt fine, and probably could have gone the 20, but I'll save that for next week.

102 minutes on the treadmill.   All systems are still a 'go'.  And I had a delightful 1 hour massage shortly after to top it all off.  Always a nice treat.

Easy treadmill run; 57 minutes.

Took it to the treadmill.  Picked up the pace a bit for a couple of miles (just Tempo pace); running time of 73 minutes.

90 minutes on the treadmill.  Going for 20 miles tomorrow.

183 minutes on the treadmill.  Ran an even 9:10/mile, so a good increase in pace over last week.  Same routine ... stopped every 3 miles to refill my bottle with Tailwind - the pattern I plan on following in Niagara Falls.

I'm pretty close to the mileage I would have had without the injury, and my body seems to be holding up to the training, so far.

I finally got off the treadmill!  Wonderful feeling.

Up Radar Road, just past the radar base and back again.  8:50/mile pace up; 8:36/mile pace back; average 8:43 for a run time of just over 2 hours.

-9C/16F with little wind.  And best of all ... no pain.

I want to ease back into the road running, and so won't be putting the treadmill away for a while.  Still - a good step towards Spring.

Two days in a row outside.  Nice.  Goodwill Route.  8:46 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill. 6x 1/2 mile repeats at 7:00/mile pace with a very generous 1/2 mile recovery jog in between.  21 minutes at speed, and no pain issues at all.

Slow and steady on the treadmill; 9:00/mile for a 90 minute run.  Will hit the road for 22 tomorrow.

22 miles at a pretty even 8:47 pace for a run time of just over 193 minutes.

But it didn't go as planned.  I had hoped to run the Radar Base Loop - out to the Capreol Road Turnoff and back.  I loaded 900 calories worth of tailwind in my hydration pack, figuring on just over 3 hours of running.  I didn't anticipate the trailwind freezing up on me.

It was a somewhat reasonable -11C/13F, but with a stiff 15-20 mph wind, the real feel temperature was more like -19C/-2F.  By mile one, the valve on my camelback was frozen and nothing was moving.  I worked on it, put it inside my jacket, and kept trying - no go.  So, I didn't have a lot of options.  Can't run that far without hydration/nutrition.  I hit the 8 mile mark when I got back home, and I was feeling it already.

So, I decided to do some shorter loops with my handheld, allowing me to re-fill it as needed.  I ended up needing just 2 loops --- first, a 6 mile section on the Goodwill Route, and then an 8 mile section on the Garson-Coniston highway.  

A little adversity - that wind was pretty intense at times - but I'm glad to have stuck it out and finished the miles outside.  I'm now officially back on schedule - where I would have been without the injury.

88 minutes on the treadmill; 8:49 pace steady.

Easy treadmill run; 8:42 pace.

A little speedwork on the treadmill.  6 x 800 @ 6:58/mile pace with 800 recoveries.  Nothing too earth shattering, but always nice to move a bit faster.

Was in North Bay for the Chrism Mass last night, so just ran from the hotel up the road 5 miles to the next town over, and back.  Good pace of 8:22 going, but even better at 7:56 coming back, for an average of 8:08.

Brisk morning at -10/14F.

A cold one again.  -16C/3F, with a 15mph North wind, making a real feel temperature of -26C/-15F.  Ouch.

Radar Road Route:  8:35 pace out and 8:25 pace back, for an average of 8:30.  Tough going, with the wind.  It was nice to turn around so I could even out what part of my body was frozen.

Got smart re: hydration this time.  Put 2 bottles in my running vest with 2 layers over top, and a third bottle I kept inside my mitt.  That system worked, as my body heat prevented freeze up.

Looking ahead, things are supposed to warm up.  Good!

Today reminded me of why I love to run.  It feels SO good!  Well, mostly.

I had a massage in the morning, and so didn't get out to run until this afternoon.  By then, the temperature had reached 4C/40F, with a stiff south wind and totally clear skies.  I ran in gloves, rather than mitts, for the first time, no hat, and had to roll up my long sleeve tech shirt when I got too hot.  What a good feeling!

Kept a pace of 8:44 for the first 10 or so miles, but then lost my legs about the same time the wind and hills hit me.  Finished with an average pace of 8:56. Radar Base Route.

This week marks my final jump in mileage - 10% increase to 66 miles, and then I'll hover in the high 60's until my taper.  This is traditionally my danger zone, so I'm really paying attention to all my body parts, and really being careful to stretch and foam roll every day.

Easy recovery run; 8:45 pace on the Goodwill Route.

Speedwork on the treadmill today.  6 x 800 @ 7:00/mile pace, for 21 minutes of speed and 84 minutes of running overall.

Radar Road Route.  8:40 pace, pretty steady.  Nice morning for running ... I nailed the layers.  -4C/25F with just a light wind from the North.

Hoping tomorrow's big snowfall (predicted) holds off until the afternoon so I can get my 24 miles in before it hits.

Mega snow storm supposed to hit us this afternoon, so I got away at 7:30am for this run.  Good decision, as the snow just started to fall shortly after I got home.

Radar Road Route.  Decided to walk for 1 minute every 3 miles, to mimic the Niagara Falls 100, where the aid stations are about 3 miles apart.  That gave me an average pace of 9:10 for most of the run, meaning a running pace of 8:50, give or take.  But I really fell apart after mile 20 and slowed significantly, pulling my average pace down to 9:17.  Still, I finished and I'm okay with the results.

It was -4C/24F, so actually not that bad, and my hydration system did not freeze up like it did 2 weeks ago.

Stepped in a puddle (hidden by a thin layer of ice and covered with a thin layer of fresh snow) at mile 2, which completely soaked through to the toes on my right foot.  Not a great feeling, but I soldiered through it.

Was watched by a huge American Bald Eagle, perched in a tree beside the road, at mile 15.  Gorgeous bird.

So, this basically is the top end of my mileage for this training cycle.  I'll hold it in the high 60's range for the next 8 weeks, with the occasional cut back week.  All the body parts seem good to go.

Sunny, but cold.  -12C/11F, but with just a gentle (mostly) wind.  It's not supposed to be this cold in April!  And not much room on the road to run after that weekend dump of snow - had to navigate around some pretty rough surfaces.

Radar Base Route; averaged 8:30/mile.

8:10 pace on the Goodwill Drive Route.

Tried to slow it down, but my body seemed to just want to GO today.

Major snow storm - high winds, cold, and the white stuff just keeps coming.  So, treadmill.  I just set it at 9:00/mile and ran for 90 minutes.  

Something tells me that when I run my 62 miler in June, I'll be longing for these cold days.  Maybe.

8:58 pace; pretty even splits.  A few seconds/mile faster on the second half.  2:41:25 on the Radar Road Route.  This was a late morning/early afternoon run.  I didn't have time to get it in before my morning Mass today.

MAJOR hit of snow on Wednesday.  Between Tuesday night and Wednesday night, we got dumped on with 39 cm - that's over 15 inches.  Not nice.

I feared the worse for the roads today, but they were a bit better than I expected.  The bigger challenge was the snow falling (again) - made for low visibility on the second half.  

I'll round out this week's back to back with a 20 miler tomorrow.

Exactly 3 hours at a pace of 9:00/mile.  Pretty even splits, although I struggled through a few of the later miles.

It snowed another 3 inches yesterday which, apparently, is not enough to call out the snowplows.  Messy, is the word of the run.

Cold too, although the sun was out and that made it all worth while.  It was -11C/12F to start, and was -7C/20F at the finish.

I ran the Radar Road Route.  The Arcands (friends) were working on their property - clearing the lot for the house they will be buiding - so I stopped for a bit to talk and wish them a Happy Easter in person.  That was at mile 12, so a good time for a little break anyway.

I think this is the most miles I have ever run in a week.  

Sometimes the body just wants to move fast.

Like most of my training runs, this was supposed to be a 12 mile easy run.  But I had to fight to slow down, and hit the 6 mile mark with an average pace of 8:25, and still fighting to slow it down.

I let it go a bit in the second half, and ran a negative split average pace of 7:55 for the last 6 miles, giving me an average overall of 8:10 and a running time of 1 hour, 38 minutes.  Ah well.

Radar Road Route under very nice conditions:  -6C/22F with very little wind and just enough sunshine to make you go "ahhh".

Goodwill Route.  Same 8:10 pace as yesterday, for a run time of 49 minutes.  Clear skies as the sun came up; crisp running temperature of -6C/20F.  

Some faster running on the treadmill; 7 x 800 at a 6:58 pace, for 3.5 miles of speedwork.

8:20 pace on the Radar Road Route.  Another dump of snow yesterday; the good side of it is, the trees were coated and were gorgeous, especially down in the airport area.

8:25 pace on the Radar Road Route.  Icy, bitter wind.  Yuck.  I really had to fight to finish parts of this one.  

Edit:  Just looked it up - wind is up to 26mph, and with that factored in, the temperature is -17C/1F.  Not nice.

No choice but to hit the treadmill today.  Massive snow/ice storm across the whole Province, and the city is pretty much shut down.  I'm not going outside - hard even to drive.

So, I just set the pace at 9:00/mile and went slow and steady for 108 minutes.

Then I watched the Boston Marathon - what a race!  I loved that they wrote off the Japanese runner when he took off like a shot in the first miles, and then he won.  Wow!  Good efforts all around in miserable conditions.  

Despite the ice, I took it outside this morning on the Goodwill Route.  8:20 pace.  There is fresh snow over the ice, so I managed to find a way to run on something not so slick.

The trees are completely coated in ice - very attractive.  Won't last long, as we will finally get our Spring weather by the end of the week - going up into double digits (low to mid 50s).  Woo Hoo!

Some speedwork on the treadmill.

7 x 800 @ 6:58/mile pace.

105 minutes at a pace of 8:45 on Radar Road.

Actually felt a bit like spring today:  the sun is shining and the snow is melting.  2C/35F with a slight breeze.  Nice.

Big run down the Radar Road Route.  Gorgeous day - ran with just a vest over a running shirt, sleeves rolled up, and I took off the gloves at mile 12.  The second half had the sun shining in my face - it was awesome!  Starting off, it was 1C/33F, and when I finished 3:37:24 later, it was 8C/46F.  

9:03 pace average, but I slowed down after mile 15.  Was running 8:52 at the 12 mile mark.  Heavy legs.

A bit of an animal adventure began at mile 17, when a dog ran out to join me.  At first I thought it was a wolf, and I took out my pepper spray because it ran right at me.  But then I could see that it was a Huskey, and that it just wanted to run with me.  Well, it did - for the next 7 miles.

Show off.  It would zip ahead, then turn around to wait for me, then it would duck into the woods and run in there, and through the swamps and whatever other water it could find, then back to the road with me.  Every so often, it nearly decided to follow someone else - a man on a bike, then some kids on their bikes, but I guess I was more interesting, and so it always came back to me.  Heavy traffic on the highway - I was just waiting for it to run in front of a car, but it was fine.

At mile 21 and a bit, a car turned around and parked ahead of me.  A pretty woman got out and asked if it was my dog.  Telling her 'no', I said it started following me around the airport.  She said it must be Diesal, and the owner would be looking for it, so she got down on her knees and called to it.  Well, Diesal would have none of that.  I ran past her on the right, and Diesal took the left.

So, for the next 2 miles and a bit, I had Diesal running right beside me, and this woman following closely in her car on the other side of the highway.  That was kinda weird.  I picked up the pace at that point - not sure if it was because a pretty woman was watching me, or because I was getting competitive with Diesal.  However, Diesal was fading big time, so a bit of a victory there.  He was struggling to keep up with me.  

When my street came up, Diesal had ducked down a bush road and didn't see me make the turn.  The woman at that point went down the bush road - I presume to see if she could corral the dog.  A good friend to the owner to do what she did.

Anyway, I spotted 3 different motorcycles on the highway in that run - a good sign!  And I have a really goofy looking suntan over my eyes where my toque curved over them.  Sigh.  My people will love that at Church this weekend.

In Sault Ste. Marie for work; 8:33 pace on country roads.

In Sault Ste. Marie for work; 8:46 on the Hub Trail - Canal.

Final work day in Sault Ste. Marie; Hub Trail-Canal-Fort Creek.

Radar Road Route at a pace of 8:14.  Picked it up in the second half, and ran the final 5 in:

8:01  8:03  7:56  8:03  and  7:28   Run time of 2:28:12.

Perfect running weather, at 3C/37F and little wind.  Even the sun poked out for a while.

Yucky, windy, snowy, slushy run.  But I did it!

-5C/23F with a wind blowing and gusting to 31mph, making a windchill factor of -13C/9F.

The first third of the run was directly into the wind, the second 3rd sideways to it, and the final stretch had it at my back (nice!).

Everything was covered with fresh snow, which meant a few inches in some places, slush in others, and slick ice in others.  It was pretty slippery in many places, plus I finished with both feet soaked through with cold water.

Running time of 3:03:05; average pace of 8:19.  I was pretty even paced at around 8:27 for the first 16 miles, and then picked it up with the wind at my back.  The final 3 miles were 8:00  8:03  and 7:35.

So that was my longest back to back at 40 miles.  Just 7 weeks to race day.

Radar Road Route.  Run time of 1:36:07; average pace of 8:00/mile, with a zippy second half:

7:52  8:01  7:53  7:32  7:40  and  7:00

I didn't plan on going that fast, but it just felt SO good today.  Bright sun, no wind, and warm ... 13C/55F.  First run in shorts.  First of many, I hope!

Goodwill Road Route.  Recovery pace:  8:27.  

This just in:  April was the coldest month in the history of Sudbury - ever.  Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Was finally able to take my speedwork outside.  Decided to run 7 x 800s, which is what I did all winter on the treadmill.  Down Radar Road.  Definitely a lot faster than my 7:00 pace on the treadmill ... I was hitting closer to 6:00.

With everything combined, ran 1:18:49 with an average pace of 7:53.  And the rain didn't start until I finished.

Radar Road Route; 8:24 pace.

Steady rain, and on the cold side, but fine for running.  Except when the big trucks roared by and kicked up a wall of water.  That was nasty.

It rained hard most of yesterday, but the sun was shining today and, once the fog burned off, it has turned into a perfect running day.  Around 7C/45F with little wind.

Radar Road Route.  2:13:49 running time; 8:22 pace.

Radar Road Route; 8:23pace.  Perfect running day. Sunshine.  Little wind.  7C/45F.

Skead Road; 8:13 pace.

Radar Road Route; 8:31 pace.  Going to Ottawa today for tomorrow's March for Life, so a couple of runs along the Rideau Canal coming up.

A glorious run along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.  You gotta love it!

Same as yesterday.  Rideau Canal.  Glorious.  Home today.

May as well report this as a race, as unorthodox as it was for me.  It was actually a lot of fun.

I parked 3 miles from the start line and ran there.  Made it about 10 minutes before start time.  Ran the race, paused a bit, and then ran 2 miles back towards my truck, walking the final mile, giving me a 50km Ultra race time of 4:34:11 (not including the pauses, and not officially measured as such - so not an official Ultra).

I made a mistake by leaving my auto pause turned on, so I didn't have an accurate measure from the marathon portion on my GPS.  The advantage of that is I know exactly how much time I spent at the aid stations:  10 1/2 minutes.  That's not bad, actually.

Excluding those aid station stops, my mile splits were very even.  Between 8:15 and 8:30 mile pace throughout, with some faster splits along the way.  The exceptions were the miles after mile 26, where I hit a couple of 9:00 mile splits.  Since this was a double loop, I'm able to compare my timing mat splits accurately between the first half and the second half:

1st Half           2nd Half

27:20                29:12

23:20                23:47

32:29                33:45

30:26                30:14

Those splits correspond to the 8 person relay transitions, so should be about 3 1/4 miles apart, give or take.  So, I did slow down in the second half - but that must have been mostly longer time spent at aid stations, as my recorded paces stayed pretty much the same.

There were only 21 of us in the Marathon, but there were also 157 in the Half and 10 teams in the 8 person relay, so just under 200 of us on the start line.  I was the only one in my age division, by the way, so I won it :)  Was the 4th of 16 males.

Beautiful day:  Sunshine with some gusty wind in places.  7C/45F at the start, and 17C/63F at the finish.  I just had fun with this, so was able to high five the spectators and chit chat with the aid station folks along the way.  I never pushed myself at any point and felt strong at the finish.  Well, the marathon finish anyway.  The final 2 miles after my pause were REALLY hard to do.

Since this was a dress rehearsal for my 100 km Ultra in 5 weeks, some comments on things I learned:

Pace was good.  I might slow it down a bit to around 8:45 for the longer event.  Even if I'm hitting 9:00, I'll be okay with that as long as I don't linger in the aid stations.

Aid stations:  I tried to time it so I was emptying my hand held every 3 miles.  I carried 10 baggies in a waist pouch, each holding 1.5 scoops of Tailwind.  Before I got to the aid station, I pulled out one baggie and I took the lid off my hand held.  Then things got really messy.  It was just too hard for me to efficiently pour the powder from the bag into the bottle.  I was consistently losing a fair portion - on my hand, arm, ground, helpers.  Sticky when wet.  I discovered the best technique was to have an aid station person do it for me.  Well, 3 of the 4 who did it, did a good job.  The one was as bad as me.  I'll have to look at using smaller baggies.  I used the sandwich size.  I'll try the half size for the Ultra.  Trying to do it while running was impossible, so I think I have no choice but to get someone to do it for me in the aid station.

The water was less of an issue, but it was a lot easier to fill the bottle directly from the big water container, as opposed to pouring cups of water in.

There are 20 aid stations in my 100 Ultra, so it would be good to be as efficient as possible in them.

Other than having to run twice the distance, the only other challenges I anticipate in Niagara Falls are the heat - likely to be a LOT hotter than it was today - and the big hill going up (and down) the escarpment.  I'll likely end up walking a good portion of that ... I did not walk anything today.  Oh, the travel too.  It was SO nice to have only a 15 minute drive to the start line today!

Oh, one small feel good victory:  of the 10 teams in the 8 person relay, only 6 finished ahead of me, and 3 of those by less than 5 minutes.  I noticed they were pretty young runners on those teams, so it gives this old man a certain sense of satisfaction that I can keep their 5km pace over a 42km distance :)

That's it.  Now I'm heading 'home' to celebrate my mom - it's Mother's Day, after all.

Radar Road Route; 8:22 pace.  Quads were a little sore after the weekend, but felt mostly okay for this run.

8:10 pace on the Radar Road Route.  Cold, at just 1C/34F, and breezy, but the rising sun and clear skies made it all good.

Dug out a foundation on Wednesday for a shed I'm going to build, and shovelled 3 tons of gravel into it and packed it yesterday.  Figured I'd be pretty sore today, but so far, so good.

Radar Road Route; 8:20 pace.  My highest weekly mileage ever, at 69 miles.  Same thing next week, and then I taper.

Gorgeous day.  20C/68F with full sun and just a gentle breeze.  I really need to get more training days like this, since it will be nothing but hot in Niagara Falls next month.

8:15 pace on the Radar Road Route.

Skead Road; 8:30 pace.

Some speedwork to spice up the week:  7 x 800 at 5k pace.

Since I have a burial to do tomorrow, I switched my long run to today.  That had the added benefit of running in the heat of the day, since I couldn't leave until 10:30.  I am not a hot weather runner, nor an afternoon runner, but those are the realities of my next Ultra, so today was a small test for that.

Ended up running 3:45:35 for an average pace of 9:01/mile.  I know I went out too fast - I was averaging 8:44 at the halfway mark, and was still sitting at 8:46 at the 18 mile mark.  I really started feeling it there, however, and it was a real struggle to finish.  Step   ...   by   ...   step.  Lead in my legs.

They had called for rain with possible thunder showers, but at most it sprinkled - so little it basically evaporated as soon as it landed.  It was overcast most of the time, until the last hour or so anyway.  The temperature sat at around 21C/71F with humidity in the low 70s, so not nearly as hot as what I'll face in a few weeks, but a small taste of it.  

The take away for me is to slow down from the start.  I'm thinking I should aim for around 9:00 - 9:15/mile.  With the aid station stops, I'll be thrilled to finish the Ultra with an average of 10:00/mile, after all.  Just over 10 hours.   I have one more 20 miler next weekend, so I'll try that out then.  Realistically, if we get temps into the 80s, which is a high probability, even a 9:15/mile pace will be unsustainable for me.  In that case, my goal will be to simply finish.

Well, that didn't go as planned.  12 miles scheduled to complete the back to back.  Ran 4.

Right quad.  Was sore after yesterday's run, and especially going up and down stairs.  Was still sore this morning, but I figured I could handle 12 slow miles.  Wrong.

I should have turned around at mile 2 when I knew I wasn't going to complete the distance.  But I pushed another half mile, hoping to get in 5.  But a mile from home, I was forced to walk the rest of the way.  I was only trudging at that point anyway, and the pain was starting to shoot into my hip.

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day anyway; we'll see what Monday brings.  It's only muscle soreness, and not an injury, so at worst I might have to take one extra day off.

So, that right quad was sore all weekend, and yesterday I decided to take a rest day, instead of my normal 10 miler.  I'm in taper mode anyway, so I think it was wise to err on the side of caution.  Had a massage in the afternoon and that seemed to help.

Today was my regular 6 miler; 8:38 on the Goodwill Route.  I was going to stretch it out longer to make up for some of yesterday, but I'm glad I didn't.  The right quad is still a little sore.  

9 miles on the Skead Road Route, plus an extra 3 miles on the Goodwill Route.  I was nervous about going out and then feeling the right quad rebel, but I was feeling decent enough that I added a couple miles on today's 10.

Still not 100%.  I thought maybe I'd run tomorrow to make up for the extra rest day, but now I'm thinking to leave well enough alone.  I do still have a 20 miler scheduled for the weekend, after all.

8:33 pace; Goodwill Route.  Yesterday's off day seems to have helped the right quad to feel better.  We'll see what 20 miles does to it tomorrow.

I very intentionally ran slower - probably the pace I SHOULD have been running these longer runs all along.  Just shy of 3 hours at an 8:59/mile pace.

Windy and cool - just 7C/44 degrees at the start.  The right quad is still a bit tight, but I just stopped to give it a stretch about every 3 or 4 miles, and that seemed to help a lot.

At mile 4.5, I was joined by Diesal, the wolf like dog that ran with me a few weeks ago.  This time, I knew it was friendly and so figured I'd just enjoy having a partner for the rest of the run.  But just a half mile later, and its owner pulled over in a pick up truck and collected the runaway.  Oh well.

Niagara Falls Ultra 100 in 2 weeks.

Easy run on the Skead Road Route; 8:28 pace.  Light rain and a bit cool.  Nice for running.

Goodwill Route; 8:25 pace.

Tomorrow is my last speed workout; I'm going to switch it to fast downhills.  My right quad is still nagging me, and I'm hoping the downhill workout technique will get it back to normal by race day.  

Took it to Skead this morning; 6 x 800s downhill fast.  I'm hoping the added stress on my quads will help me to get past whatever is causing that tightness in the right leg.  

Easy run on the Goodwill Route; 8:18 pace.  I don't know if it's the fast downhills on Wednesday that helped, but NO pain in that right quad today.  We'll see if that holds up with tomorrow's 10 miler.

Radar Road Route; 8:25 pace.  Zero quad pain - maybe those fast downhill repeats really did work.

Goodwill Route; 8:22 pace.

Looks like a hot race weekend - pretty much what I expected.  Mid 20C range (which is mid 70F range).   Actually catching a break, as the Niagara/Buffalo region will hit the mid 80 range this week.

Easy shakeout run.  Goodwill Route.

The ever shifting weather forecast.  Now Saturday's race day appears to be heading into the high 20C range (low to mid 80F range).  Ah well ... that's one thing I have no control over.  I'll adjust.

Shake out run; Goodwill Route.

I'm leaving soon for the 6 hour drive south to Niagara Falls.  Promises to be a hot one tomorrow, with temperatures in the low to mid 80s.  I'll take it slow - aim to finish.  Cut off time is 14 hours.  I'll be very happy to come in around 12 hours.

I'm finally home from the race and my holidays that followed it.  As I mentioned in my initial report, it was hot - for me, at least.  In the 29-30C range, which is in the 85-86 degree range.  Some wind, but not a whole lot.  Fortunately, the humidity was relatively low.

There were 52 registered for the 100 K.  There were only 24 finishers:  16 of the 40 men and 8 of the 12 women.  Why is it that the women always seem to have a higher finishing percentage?  I came in 13th overall, and 1st in my age division.  Disclaimer:  there were only 2 of us (that finished at least) in my age division.

We started at 6:30 that morning, and the other 4 races started at half hour increments after us:  the 50 K, the Marathon, the Half and the 10 K.  It was an out and back course:  25 K to the bring of Niagara Falls.  So, there and back twice for the 100K group.

Unfortunately, most of us in the 100 K ran an extra kilometer at the very start.  Just 100m in, the course took a dogleg to the left, but there were no markings to indicate a turn, and the field continued on a different path straight ahead.  I was in the middle of the pack, and it didn't seem right, but I followed everyone else.  There was a guy beside me who was also looking funny over his shoulder, and I asked him if we were on the right course.  He didn't think we were, but we kept following everyone else.  At exactly the half mile point, a girl on a bike caught up to us and told us to turn around.  By my measurements, we ran exactly 1000 m extra.  Nobody seemed too happy about that.

Anyway, I ran pretty much as I rehearsed.  Aid stations every 3 miles.  Refilled my hand held with water and Tailwind and kept on going.  The big mistake was running up the escarpment.  I paid for that later.  Coming in to the turnaround, I counted 22 runners ahead of me.  I figured there should have been about 29 behind me, but only counted 24.  I may have miscounted, or it's possible 5 runners had already dropped out.  At about the 22 mile mark, my legs were dead.  Seriously - it felt like it does during a marathon, except I had a LOT more running to do.  So, I slowed down significantly, and began walking every uphill.  It was a real struggle to continue on to the midway point, and I seriously thought of dropping out.  My brain was pretty convinced that I couldn't do the whole thing all over again, and it was making a pretty good case for it's opinion.  However, at the halfway point (start line/finish line) there was a stranger who kept saying to me over and over again how amazing I looked after 50K, that it looked like I was fresh and she couldn't believe I was looking that fresh.  So, I refilled and kept on running.  And then all the red bibs (50K runners) coming in along the next 10 or so miles kept cheering and saying I was amazing for doing it all over again.  I'm a sucker for affirming comments, it seems.  So I kept on going.  I was pretty sure, based on my slowing pace, that I would not make the 14 hour cut off.  So, my plan was to run as far as I could in 14 hours, saying I gave it my best shot.

This time, I walked up the escarpment with another runner.  We had a nice conversation.  Just don't ask me what we said.  Coming into the 75K transition was a mob scene this time around.  It's a Saturday in late June.  Father's Day weekend.  Gorgeous day.  Midafternoon.  EVERYBODY was at the Falls!  It was impossible to run through that mob of humanity.  Basically, it was a half mile of weaving in and out of people, photobombing their shots, and trying to take it all in stride.  Then, after the 75K transition, doing it all again.  After making my way though the crowds, however, I was actually feeling great, and I really picked up the pace for the next 10 - 15K.  By then, even though I was really pushing it, I knew I would finish the race and that's all I needed to keep going.

So, I did it!  I'm actually happy with my time.  A little surprised I got an extra medal for coming in 1st in my age category, but hey - I took it!  A couple of toe blisters on the left, and a right big toenail that throbbed from about the 60K mark - I'll loose that nail for sure.  But all in all, none the worse for wear.  It took me just 24 hours to decide that yes - I WILL attempt that 24 hour run in London in September, with a goal of running 100 miles.  I'll be looking for affirming comments along the way :)

Recovery run; Goodwill Route.  Everything seems okay, but I'm taking it slow and easy for a while.

Easy 3 this morning as a warmup to an obstacle course later on.

I've run the Miner's Mayhem before - both individually and as a team member.  This year, it was with a team of 5:  "The Agony of De Feet".  I think we did well.  4 miles of trail, lots of incline, and a good number of obstacles (rope climbs, water/mud crossings, wall climbs, etc).  My sister and her husband were on a team that started in a wave 5 minutes after, so that added more fun to the morning.

I'm off for another 5 days of holiday with a friend at a cottage on Lake Huron.  About a 5 hour drive South of here - my first bike trip of the season.  So, I'll catch up on my run blogs when I get home on Friday.

Easy run on Skead Road.  Other than that big toe nail, there don't seem to be any aches or issues from the race.  Legs still a bit heavy, but another week or two of easy runs should solve that.

Riding my bike to the cottage later this morning; back on Friday.

In Kincardine for a short holiday. Run to the town pier and back.

Boiler Beach Road. Easy pace in a light rain.

Boiler Beach to the Kincardine Pier and back.  Driving home today.  Monday to Montreal to celebrate my Aunt's funeral - she died this week.

An interesting run today; Radar Road Route.

First, the agony of the hip.  I'm feeling it in my groin, but am pretty sure it's Osteoarthritis of the hip.  X-rays 2 years ago showed moderate arthritis, but I've managed it okay.  I guess the Ultra caused it to flare up.  I'll wait and see how it develops, but I may cut my mileage back in the 11 weeks leading up to my 24 hour run.  Still plan on doing it though!

Second, HOT!  The highs are hitting the low 90s.  It wasn't too bad this morning, as I left early.  Just 70 degrees, but 97% humidity.

Third, dog.  Third time Diesal ran with me.  Still looks like a wolf charging me, until I see the collar.  Ran with me from mile 4.5 to mile 8.

Fourth, bear.  Black bear ambled slowly across the road at mile 6.5, just 150 feet ahead of me.  I thought it might get interesting with the dog, but Diesal disappeared.  Didn't see it again for 5 minutes.  When it finally caught up with me, I just looked at it with disgust and said "Thanks a lot!"

Finally, thunderstorm.  Last night was quite the tempest, with tornado warnings thrown into the mix.  This one wasn't quite as bad, but it did get really dark at mile 8, rained really hard for about 15 minutes (torrential rivers running down the road), with a stiff wind and some lightening thrown in for effect.

Radar Road.  Took 3 days off:  Because of the long trip to Montreal and back for my aunt's funeral, and because I was hoping to give my hip time to improve. It really hasn't.  It hurt on this run.  I think I'm going to have to back off the mileage in a big way for a while.  Sigh.

Radar Road Route.  Black bear crossed in front of me again - this time about 50 feet away.  Didn't seem too interested in me - likely off to feed on blueberries.

One of the advantages of self diagnosis, is if I don't like my first diagnosis, I can make a new one.  So I did.  A second opinion from myself, if you like.

Arthritis of the hip and hip tendinitis have basically the same symptoms, but very different possible outcomes.  So, since arthritis is chronic and gets worse by running, I've decided I have tendinitis, which is manageable and will heal over time.

With that in mind, I'm focussing on some specific stretches and strengthening exercises (which I've been neglecting to do for a while) that target the hip tendons.  We'll see how far that gets me.

So, after my 2 services this morning, I had to go to the local cemetery for a burial.  After that, I was grateful for a nap.  Got up, had 2 coffees and an ice cream and watched the ball game. 

Then I had to go out to make the final preparations for a concrete delivery first thing in the morning - for a shed I'm going to build.  Did the final leveling and laid the wire mesh.  Then a nice cold beer.

It was right about then that I remembered I had wanted to run tonight instead of tomorrow.  So, I ran.  Was surprised I wasn't hurting after the various 'nutritional' intakes.  But kept a decent enough 8:27 pace in the heat - temps in the low 80s.

Most surprising of all:  the hip did not bother me in the least.  

Easy (8:42 pace) run on the Radar Road Route.

Quite a storm yesterday - washed out sections of my route, a few downed trees, and power out in parts of the city just south of me.  I watched it from my garage.  Powerful!

Goodwill Route.  Smoke in the air from the forest fires burning north of here.

Skead Road Route; 8:36 pace.

So I drilled 17, four foot deep, holes for my fence posts yesterday.  Alone.  In the rain.  Started around Noon and worked until dark.  Used one of those one man hydraulic drills.  Still needed a lot of lifting.  I hurt.  But I finished the job!

I didn't sleep much because I pulled something in my lower back.  Didn't think I'd run today, but decided to give it a go.

Surprisingly, running seems to have loosened up the back.  At least it didn't seem to hurt too much by running.  Just a bit, anyway.  And the added bonus: I didn't notice the pain in my hip as much! 

Radar Road Route; 8:49 pace.  Getting back into the heat:  25C/77 degrees.

Radar Road Route; 8:53 pace.  

Radar Road Route; 8:38 pace. 

Can't believe how cool it got, after the heat wave we just had.  Just 8C/46F during the run.  

My lower back seems to be the last body part that refuses to stop hurting.  At least it's not a running injury.  I'm going to get it treated this week.

Easy run on Radar Road; 8:42 pace.

Radar Road Route; 8:58 pace.  

All in all, a good week.  Doubled up the mileage on Monday because I was away all day Tuesday, and managed a decent enough long run today.  The week as a whole was also decent enough, considering my various aches and pains.

Tomorrow afternoon, I head North of Elliot Lake (a few hours from here) to a cottage rental with my parents and two of my siblings and their kids.  It's my mother's gift to all of us.  I'll be there until Friday; hope to be able to catch a wireless signal somewhere on one of the hill tops so I can blog while away.  All my runs will be on highway 546, alongside the Little White River.

9:09 pace on highway 546. We will call it the deer fly route this week, because the little insects pestered me the whole run.

Dead legs for some reason, so really had to fight for every mile.

The legs felt a lot better today. Deerfly Route; 8:49 pace. High humidity and then steady rain. Pulling my shirt up over my head helped to keep the deer flies away.

Deer Fly Route. 9:00 pace. I discovered that wrapping a second t-shirt around my head keeps the pesky insects away.

A bit cooler today, and clear skies. An impressive fog coming off the Little White River.

My last run on the Deer Fly Route. Heading home later today. 8:46 pace.

Radar Road - Cote - Dupuis Loop.  8:59 pace.  Very nice running weather:  overcast and just 16C/60F.  And no deer flies!

My legs held up pretty well, considering the 70 mile week.  

Radar Road Route; 8:38 pace.  The first mile was a bit heavy, and I thought the run would be a struggle, but I got my legs at mile two and felt strong the rest of the way.

Skead Road Route; 8:45 pace. 

I had my bike in for a service all morning, and so ended up running in the heat of the afternoon. It was 28C/82F - on the warm side for this Northern boy.

I planned on running 8, but almost turned around at mile 3.  Turns out I was glad I pushed through, as I finished it okay.

Radar Road Route; 8:38 pace.

Afternoon run again, but not as hot as yesterday ... 22C/72F.  The extra challenge today was smoke from the forest fires near the French River, about 100 miles south of here.  There was a heavy haze and a strong smell of smoke.  

Radar Road Route; 8:44 pace.  

Radar Road Route; 8:54 pace.  Managed to finish early enough to beat the heat.  Was sitting around 23C/73F in the morning during the run.

Race day is 6 weeks away.  I was thinking, when I woke up groggy this morning after 6 1/2 hours of sleep, that on race day, there would be no sleep at all and I would still have a few hours of running to do from that point until 8am.  I think that will be the significant challenge for me.  The only real advise I've received is:  make coffee your friend!  :)

Radar Road Route; 8:49 pace.

Just 21C/70F, but 97% humidity, so it was like running in a wet blanket.

Radar Road Route; 8:51 pace.  I had a deep tissue massage this morning, so ran over the lunch hour.  Achilles tendons on both legs are a little tight, so I'll monitor those.  The right hamstring too - just enough to be noticeable.  I'm at peak mileage these weeks, so I'm not too surprised.

Radar Road Route; 8:50 pace.  Heavy fog.  An easy running temp of 16C/61F, but 98% humidity, so I was soaked through by the end.

Heading to Toronto in a few minutes; taking my dad to a ballgame for his birthday.  

Radar Road Route; 8:39 pace.

Tomorrow, I'm running the "Sudbury Camino".  It's the second year for it - last year I didn't do it, because my training run was a lot longer than the distance they put together.

It's modelled on the Camino Trail in Europe.  Participants will be able to park at Moonlight Beach - not far from here - and will be bused to a point about 17 miles out at Fielding Park.  From there, we hike back to our cars at the Beach, collecting stamps at waypoints along the way in a passport book.

It's along the TransCanada Trail - Sudbury portion.  A little more than 17 miles is this year's distance.  So, I'm going to run it tomorrow to bring me up to about 70 miles on the week.

Just a fun way to get in a longer run.

I finished the Sudbury "Camino" Hike (run) just as it began to rain hard.  Just under 3 hours at a 9:52 pace.  I had forgotten how much harder trail running can be, and especially when the trails are WAY up and WAY down steep rock.  Ah well - a nice change for the final run of my long week.

I only got my passport stamped at the first way point, as the volunteers had not yet arrived at the others.  So, I just took selfies to prove I was there and kept on going.

EDIT:  I just drove down to the finish line (not too far from here) to show my passport and selfies.  So, they gave me my medal:  "Sudbury Camino.  28 K in One Day".  A nice tumbler and a few other gifts as well.  Not too often you get a medal for a simple training run.  :)

Radar Road Route; 8:41 pace.  Took a mile or two to shake out the heavy legs, but it got better as I went.

Goodwill Road Route; 8:53 pace.

Radar Road Route; 8:05 pace.

This was a weird run - I had a pep in my step like I've not had in a long while, for some reason.

I hit the 5 mile mark at a slighter faster than normal 8:34 pace, but was reining it in, as my legs wanted to go faster.  Then my next 2 miles were just below 8:00 pace, the next 2 at just around 7:30 pace, and my last mile was 7:11.  I don't know what got into me.

Radar Road Route; 8:18 pace.

Today I crossed paths with another runner for the first time on this route.  I've never seen her before.  She was running with the traffic, so we had to pass on the narrow shoulder.  We did that at mile 4, and then I guess we both turned around after about another mile, as I passed her again at the same point going the other way.

Radar Road Route; 8:24 pace.

I'm 4 weeks out from my race.  I think I'll aim for one more 70 mile week next week, and then begin my taper.

Radar Road Route; 8:30 pace.  Feeling it at the end.

Radar Road Route; 8:49 pace.

Skead Road Route; 8:11 pace. 

Actually, first half was 8:35, and the return half (wind aided) was 7:47.

Much cooler today than the summer has been.  12C/53F with a north wind and a bit of rain.  Nice for running, actually.  Hopefully, London will be close to that on race day.

Radar Road Route; 8:32 pace.  I fell.  Around mile 5.6.  Not sure what happened; I think my right foot caught the edge of the pavement and I went down hard.  I was surprised I had no road rash.  The palms of my hands and my right elbow took the brunt of it.  Bees in the hands for the next 3 miles, but no harm done.

Radar Road Route with Cote/Notre Dame extension; 9:08 pace.

This went much better than my 25 miler 3 months ago when I went out too fast.  This time, I kept a slow and even pace, and was able to pick it up a bit at the end.

Nice running day:  17-20C/62-69F, with a light wind and even a misting of rain at mile 19.

My 24 hour Ultra is 3 weeks away.  Time to start tapering.

Radar Road Route; 8:34 pace.

Rained hard for about 15 minutes, starting around mile 1.  Ah well - we need the rain.

I met with my crew (a crew of 1) yesterday to discuss some strategies for the 24 race.  My strategy for her - don't let me stop, no matter what!  It's getting real now.

I'm on my way to Laurentian Lodge for our annual priest's retreat.  Yes, the same place I vacationed with my family last month.  It's the only venue in the area that can accommodate everyone.  A bonus that it's so beautiful.  I'm guessing the deer flies won't be an issue any more.

I was going to call this route the Little White River Route, but one stupid deer fly attacked me right at the end. So it remains the Deer Fly Route.

8:47 pace. First half in the dark. All the sounds of the wilderness get louder in the dark, it seems.

Deer Fly Route; 8:45 pace. Misty rain and a large swarm of deer flies trailed me once the sun came out.

Final run on the Deer Fly Route, as I'm going home later today. Wings on my feet for this run; 8:11 pace. Cool. Almost needed gloves.

Radar Road Route, with a 4 mile detour into Falconbridge; 8:28 pace.

The sound of thunder in the distance began at mile 2.  The rain began at mile 7.  Since it was darker in the direction I was running, I decided to turn around and add the Falconbridge part to make up the distance.  It didn't help.

The rain ended at mile 11, but the wind was really kicking up.  The rain and lightening began again at mile 14.  At mile 15, the lightening was hitting uncomfortably close.  I was pretty soaked through when I finished.

Skead Road; 8:08 pace.

Was actually running an 8:33 pace at the halfway point, but then clicked off the following miles:

8:01  7:53  7:41  and  7:14.

Sometimes, you gotta just run!

It's actually a humidex adjusted 30C/86F.    In London (race place) it's up to a humidex adjusted 38C/101F.  Yikes!  I'm looking for that to drop somewhat in the next 12 days.

Goodwill Road Route; 8:23 pace with a slight drizzle.

Skead Road; 8:28 pace.  Foggy and humid.

10 days to "That Dam Hill".

Goodwill Route; 8:16 pace.

Last time running the Radar Road Route for a while.  So, I'm playing "Radar Love" as I type this (thanks Tom).

8:12 pace.  Strong North wind.  Cool:  9C/48F.

One week to the race.  Long range forecast for London:  High 20s (low 80s) during the day and mid teens (low 60s) at night.  Sunshine/no rain.  While a tad hot for running during the day, the night should be comfortable.  And a lot better than rain. 

Goodwill Route; 8:16 pace.

A little shake out run; 8:11 pace.  Goodwill Route.

I leave tomorrow morning for the 7 hour drive to London.  Wrapping a holiday around this, so will be there 5 nights.

Race Day Weather:  Low of 17C/63F both Friday night and Saturday night.  Saturday's high will be 27C/81F.  Not sure yet about the humidity.  

Two easy miles on the race course loop. It's gonna be hot and humid tomorrow.

An epic race for me - and my level of admiration for those who run Ultras in greater adversity (mountains/deserts/etc) has increased exponentially.

That Dam Hill combined 4 events on the same course:  my 24 hour timed event, a 12 hour timed event, a Marathon and a Half.  The 24 hour/Marathon/Half groups started at 8:15am Saturday.  We were supposed to start at 8am, but there was a technical delay (city didn't open up the bathrooms!).  The 12 hour group started at 8:15pm that night, so that they finished the same time as us in the 24 hour group - 8:15am Sunday.  

There were 25 of us in the 24 hour group, 29 Marathoners and 33 Halfers, so 87 of us started.  

There were 9 racers in the 12 hour group; by the time they started, the Marathoners and Halfers were done, of course.  And 6 of the 24 hour group had dropped out (or would drop out in a few more minutes), leaving 28 of us on the course at nightfall.

The course is a certified 1.4 mile loop around Springbank Park.  It's all paved.  It was not closed off to the public, and so there were a fair number of people walking/running/biking it during the day, and the odd person at night.  The first loop is abbreviated (we walked about a quarter mile up the route for the start line) in order to allow all the races to end at the correct distance at the finish line.

So, my personal goal being to reach 100 miles, I had to run 72 loops of the course.  There are really 2 hills on the course, each of which I walked from the beginning.  The first is only about 100 feet long.  The second was longer - maybe 600 feet, and rose about 53 feet.  It didn't seem like much at the beginning, but it sure hurt at the end.  The "Dam" is a water control system on the Thames River, which the route follows and from which the race gets its name.  The path drops down to the river, and then rises up again to the finish line.

The biggest 'ouch' factor of the race was the heat, hands down.  At start time, it was 18C/64F with 100% humidity.  As the day wore on, the temperature climbed to 29C/85F, while the humidity dropped into the 85% range.  At night, the temperatured dropped down to 19C/66F, and the humidity rose back to 100%, from 11pm until the race was finished.

I had my own aid station set up just past the finish line.  It worked well.  I used Tailwind the entire time, and nothing else.  I had one crew member who stayed there the entire time - taking only small naps along the way.  I had 3 handhelds, and all I had to do was swap them out every 2 or 3 laps.  My crew always had them filled for me.  I also used ice under my cap for the first 10 hours.  In a baggie, with a face cloth under it to prevent brain freeze.  The race also provided neat ice bandanas - little tubes they filled with ice which I wrapped around my neck.  So, the routine was to swap out the melted baggie of ice every second or third lap, and the same with the ice bandana.  That strategy made a huge difference in keeping me going.

I hit the 50 mile mark at 6pm, so 10 hours in.  I did a blister check after 6 hours and again after 12 hours, changing my socks both times.  After 12 hours, there were no blisters and no hot spots.  I changed my shoes also at the 12 hour mark, which may have been a mistake.  Shortly after, I felt pressure on the top of my right foot.  A few hours after that, I felt a hot spot under both my feet.  I ran through all that.

At Midnight, I was in some distress.  I had 15 laps to go in the next 8 hours.  By then, my legs were in agony.  I had felt my shins hurting through the early part of the evening, but now they felt like the bones were ready to break every time I landed.  That, I think, was the worst.  I mean, every body part from the waist down was hurting, but I could run through that.  The shins, however, were making me hobble.  

I did the math, and I figured if I power walked the next 8 hours, I could hit 100 miles, as long as I didn't stop.  My crew argued a bit with me re: that strategy, urging me instead to walk a couple of really slow laps, or take some time off to rest, and then go back to running.  I didn't like that, since I figured if the strategy didn't work, and I wasn't able to run again, I'd lose precious time and not be able to make it up.

So, walk I did for the rest of the night.  Turns out that power walking for 8 hours is worse than running - mentally, at least.  Time crawls.  I didn't like it a whole lot.  But I did it anyway.  I did try running a few times, and it was impossible.  It was a pain that I could not run through.

It got pretty lonely out there too.  It was nice to have the 12 hour runners.  2 dropped out pretty early, but 7 continued through the night.  By 1am, with 7 hours to go, there were 21 of us left on the course, so it frequently felt like I was alone in the dark.  I had heard about hallucinations, but it never got too bad.  I was seeing things that were not there - mostly people, but no pink elephants had a conversation with me.

I did meet some wonderful people and had some good conversations with them during the race.  There was a couple of ladies just at the bottom of the hill that set up a cheering station, and had a different sign for every lap.  I was disappointed that they were only there for their Marathon friend, and packed up and left when that race was done. 

At some point in the evening, when I was still running, the Race Director (who did an awesome job) told me I could win this thing.  There was a 50 inch television screen that put up each runner's numbers every time we crossed the mats at the finish line.  I wasn't paying much attention, because I was keeping track of where I was in my head.  But he made me look ... it showed that I was in second place, just one lap behind the leader.  Of course, the leader was a 24 year old who ran like a deer.  I told the Director that didn't interest me - that I was only running against myself.  Well, a few laps later, he got very animated and said 'there he is - he's resting - you can close in on him now'.  I told him I had no intention of racing the kid - that I would be happy to just hit my 100 miles.  I think he was disappointed in that, but I can understand how the Race Director would want to see a real competition for the win.  Turns out that kid ran 7 more laps than me (110 miles), and the second place runner clocked 106 miles (4 more laps than me).  As an afterthought, it would have been really nice to have been able to run to the end.  I had not envisioned having to walk the way I did.  However, my primary goal was 100 miles.  That, I accomplished.  

Before the race, I had told my crew that if there was time for another lap or two, even after I hit 100 miles, to force me to do it.  However, the 72nd lap was excruciating.  I forced myself to run over the finish line, although it was more of a shuffle, and even that took everything I had.  And I was done, even though the 54 minutes remaining gave me enough time to keep on going.  But my crew knew better - they could see that I was done.

I've left out a lot of the physical challenges my body threw at me in those 24 hours - mostly because they are disgusting and should not be written about.  One thing I can mention, however - and I only noticed this at the end - was that my fingers and hands swelled up so much that I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  Seriously - I coudn't even bend my fingers.  I read up on that later - found out it's caused by the heat.  That's when I discovered my feet were the same.  I think it explains the shoe change error.  My swelling feet likely formed themselves into the first pair of shoes.  But when I changed the shoes, the swelling parts fit differently, causing the pressure points.

Whatever the cause, I finished with quite a lot of blistering on my feet.  One toe nail came off right away.  Another will follow later, no doubt.  But by Monday, my muscles were fine, for the most part.  The only lingering issue - and it's 3 days since the race - is a very swollen right foot which is incredibly painful to walk on.  It was swollen at race end, but has doubled in size since then.  The pain is at the top - where it pressed up on the shoe.  Anyway, I've been icing it and am hopeful that it will return to normal soon.

So, just 3 of us hit the 100 mile mark.  2 got into the 90 miles, 1 into the 80 miles, 1 into the 70 miles, and all the rest 60 miles or less.  I'm very pleased with how my training cycle went, and with how I executed during the race.  I'm pretty sure that's it for me for Ultras, however.  I'm going to set my gaze back down to the Marathon distance.

It has only been 12 days since my Ultra, so this was more of a 'show me' run, to see what still hurt.

Just a 9:35 pace on the Goodwill Route.

No surprise about the top of my right foot.  The swelling there finally subsided earlier this week, but it still hurts.  I think it's nerve damage from the foot pressing up against the shoe, because I've had weird burning sensations in my right quad since Tuesday, and it only makes sense that it's related to the nerve.  I think that will take some time to heal.

The surprise was my left upper leg - mostly hamstrings I guess.  Not terrible, but still feeling it there.

And that's basically it.  I'm planning on racing in Collingwood a week from tomorrow (dumb, I know, but I don't get to race very often on Saturdays when I don't have to book a replacement for myself).  Anyway, it will be a very slow Half Marathon.  

Also, after going back and forth like, forever - I decided to run the Dopey Challenge at Disney in January.  So, I'm registered, I have a plane ticket, and I've even rented a car.  

Beyond that, I've also decided to run a few more Ultras next year, and maybe beyond.  But more on that later.

3 miles easy; 9:16 pace.  Goodwill Route.

Goodwill Route; 9:07 pace.

Goodwill Route; 8:43 pace.

Okay, let's just put it out there:  running a Half today, exactly 3 weeks after my 100 mile Ultra, was just plain stupid.  Mea Culpa.  In my defense, I signed up a while back without thinking it through clearly.  In Canada, most races are held on Sundays, so I have to book a holiday to run them.  It seems Americans have most of their races on Saturdays.  Not sure, but I think you folks respect the Lord's Day a lot more than we do up here.

Anyway, this is one of those rare Saturday races, and just a 3 1/2 hour drive from here.  So, I decided to run it as slow as I could, just for the fun of it.  I actually paced this race 4 years ago; I think I paced it at 1:55, which is basically what I ran it at today.  

Perfect day for it:  started off at 8C/47F and rose to about 11C/52F.  Light wind and cloudy, although the sun came out towards the end.

My right foot still aches from the Ultra (top of foot - nerve injury), and my right shin is still tender.  So, I decided to aim for about a 2 hour race, and tried to run as much of it as possible on the gravel shoulder.  That worked:  when I ran there, no shin pain.  On the pavement, a different story.

I found it SO HARD to hold back and keep my pace slow.  However, at about mile 2, a man (Will) runs up beside me and we start talking.  Continued for the next 10 miles.  Turns out, he ran the Dopey Challenge this year.  In fact, he was wearing one of the race shirts.  So, we talked about that, and kept on talking about anything and everything.  I felt he was pushing me a bit faster than I would have liked, but I think the reverse may have been true.  He hadn't run since January, and he was struggling to keep pace towards the end.  At mile 12, I had enough of this holding back.  I was not breathing hard, and had not cracked a sweat.  So, I picked it up and ran the last mile hard.  Well, actually just at 7:06 pace, but it felt good to move faster.

Most of my mile splits were in the 8:45 range, which felt extremely comfortable.  I was worried I was going to do more damage to my foot and shin, but I don't think I did.  So, I'm glad I went and am happy with the way the race unfolded.

Goodwill Route; 8:33 pace.  4C/39F with a light rain.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians (91 showing on the Blog list, but I think I'm the only one left blogging).  More turkey for me, eh?

Goodwill Route; clipped along at an 8:11 pace.  

Things seem to be healing up; right shin is no longer sore and the right foot nerve damage is less painful every day.  A new, rather annoying issue in the left Perroneal area.  More tightness than soreness - keeping on eye on it, and not going to push my mileage just yet.

Oh, did 3 striders!  Not far - just 20 or 30 yards each.  Still - nice to do some speed for a change.

Goodwill Route; 8:19 pace.  

Goodwill Route with an extension down Skead Road; 8:20 pace.

Goodwill Route; 8:05 pace.  Light rain.  Clipped along today, especially miles 3, 4 and 5.  Still not entirely pain free in the right foot, but better every day.

Goodwill Route; 8:28 pace.  I think I'm going to attempt some speed work at the track tomorrow.  If I can remember what that looks like - it has been a while.

Speedwork at the track; it has been a VERY long time since I did that.

8 x 400 with 400 recoveries.  Was going to start with just 6, but felt good and so added 2 more.

Pretty even splits at around 1:33, give or take a few seconds either way.

Oh, and a light snow.  Still melting as it hits the ground, but it's coming.

Tempo Pace on the Goodwill Route.  Figured that would be around 8:00/mile, but I am out of practice for Tempo runs, and ended up running them (miles 3, 4 and 5) at 7:41, 7:40 and 7:32.  Too fast.  Will have to reign that in.

Radar Road Route; 8:13 pace.  

In the last 6 miles, I ended up running what my Tempo Pace should be:  8:00/mile.  That's what I was aiming for yesterday.

Gorgeous Fall day.  Hovering around 3C/38F, but sunny.

Body Check:  all the achy parts post Ultra seem fine.  Even that nerve damage on top of my right foot is no longer an issue. 

12 weeks to Dopey.  Not sure exactly how I should train, so am going to wing it.  

Goodwill Route; 8:37 pace.  Brisk morning, at -3C/27F and stiff wind.

I decided to switch back to training 6 days/week, at least for now.  I will likely go back to 5 days/week next year when I gear up for my next 2 Ultras.

Radar Road Route; 8:28 pace.  Light layer of snow on the ground.

Just got home from my monthly massage.  LOTS of knots to be worked out, but Sophie did her magic.

Goodwill Route; 8:34 pace.  Light rain.  And dark - looking forward to moving the clocks back in 2 weeks.

Speedwork at the track this morning.

6 x 800 with 400 recoveries, with a goal time of 3:20/lap.

Actual lap times:  3:25   3:20   3:18   3:14   3:19   and   3:17   

So, I'm actually pretty close to my goal.  The first lap was done "blind", as it was too dark to see my watch.  A good workout.

Goodwill Route; 8:29 pace.

7 miles at Tempo Pace; Radar Road.

Tempo Mile One:  Found a $50.00 bill on the road!  Figured it was worth it, so stopped, turned around, picked it and put it in my pocket.  Lost 14 seconds.

Tempo Pace was a bit more under control compared to last week, but still a little fast.  I was aiming for something in the 7:50 - 7:55 range, and ended up with 7:46.  Actually, accounting for the lost 14 seconds, it would have been 7:44.  

I think, with cumulative fatigue, I'll slow down naturally over the next few weeks.

Goodwill Route; 8:32 pace.  In the snow, which turned to sleet.  Made for wet feet.

Afternoon run, as I slept in this morning.  Late nights will be a thing of the past once the World Series is finished.

Radar Road Route; 8:16 pace.

Ended up running in the afternoon, as I had a funeral to attend this morning.  That worked out well, as most of the snow that fell had melted by then.

Goodwill Route; 8:46 pace.

-5C/23F ... getting too cold for just the shorts and gloves.  Will soon need to switch over to running pants and gloves.

Speedwork at the track.

4 x 1200 with 400 recoveries.

Aimed for a 5:05 interval.  Ended up a bit slower at:

5:18  5:15  5:11  and  5:09

A few factors (excuses).  I'm heavier than I want, by about 3 or 4 pounds.  I didn't feel great from the start.  I got my flu shot yesterday.  It was cold (4C/39F) and raining steadily, making the track mushy.  It was dark, so I couldn't see my lap splits for the first 3 intervals.  And I had GI distress.  In fact, I had to stop and go home after my second interval to use the bathroom, and then return to finish the workout.

But hey, I'll take it.  Somthing is better than nothing.

Goodwill Route; 8:42 pace. 

I should probably start wearing my headlamp; the first few miles were pretty dark.  Of course, we'll gain an hour in the morning this weekend, so we'll see.

Tempo run; Radar Road.

7 miles at 7:55 pace, which means I basically nailed it - finally, after 2 previous attempts where I went too fast.

At least I THINK this should be my marathon pace.  Running it would beat my BQ time by 7 1/2 minutes when I attempt that a year and a half from now.  And that's the new, fast BQ time.

Goodwill Route; 8:30 pace.  With the clocks moving back, my run started with a stunning red sky, about 30 minutes before sunrise.  Awesome.

Radar Road; 8:18 pace.

Miserable sort of day:  hovering between 1-3C/34-37F, with a steady rain and gusty wind.  Just yucky.

But hey, it put me over the 2,000 mile mark for the year.  Yippee!

Recovery run on Goodwill Road; 8:55 pace.  In the rain.  Again.

Speedwork.  6 x.800 @ 6:40 pace with 400 recoveries.

I took it to the treadmill for the first time this season.  The ongoing rain has turned the track next door soft and mushy.  Besides, it's a perfect way to nail my splits!

Easy run on Goodwill Road; 8:40 pace.

Some snow heading our way.  Predictions are for 10cm/4 inches of snow by this time tomorrow.

Back to the treadmill today for my Tempo work.  Too slippery outside with all that snow, and the drivers are always atrocious after the first significant snowfall of the season.  

8 miles at my Tempo Pace of 7:52.