HSCT Adventure Run

Howe Sound Crest Trail V2.0

I ran this trail last Sept with a group of five, just one week after returning from XPD Australia. Not only did I pay for it physically, but it just happened to be the only day in Sept 07 that wasn't spectacular. The highlight of the run was seeing an emergency shelter by a lake, with just under ten km left to go. We had fun, but I did not see a single view along the way and was continually being told how gorgeous this route was and that I had to do it again. Here is the best pic from our 07 running of the trail,

Contrast that with this:







and you can see that we were rewarded for our patience with a late season gem of a day up in the mountains. The route is only 30km, but very little of it is fully runnable and it ends up being a lot of power hiking and, of course, photo opp stops!

Our total time on the HSCT itself was 7hr45m with an additional hour to scramble up and down The West Lion. I think a group of focused runners could pull it off in under 4hr if they packed the camera away and were shooting for pure time out there. Myself, I took nearly 200 pics and struggled to trim it down to just under sixty. Check it out, it's A MUST DO in terms of locally accessible adventure runs!



Eleven days till Mountain Masochist in Virginia, and I haven't felt this good in months...bring it on!

GR

Working Through An Injury, And Logging Miles Again

I guess I should have elaborated when in my last posting I said "I've come to terms with my injury". It's not like I woke up one morning and was like, 'yeah, ok, I'm injured, I can handle that...now I'm going running!'

The issue is an overuse injury that has shown me definitively that my Glute Med muscles are underdeveloped. This lack of running specific muscle development has managed to cause me quite a bit of misery over the last few months. By far the worst day I have had since this flared up back in mid August, was when Jackie and I did Wedgemont Lake in Whistler over the labor day long weekend. We were not pushing the pace at all, and yet after our ~15km return run I found that I could not walk without significant pain for days afterwards. Jackie wasn't even sore! My glutes were not firing properly which would lead to secondary muscles having to pick up the slack. This secondary muscles strain lead to exceptionally sore IT bands, and then played out with a serious knee pain. So bad was the pain in my left knee that even after being diagnosed by one of the best sports med Doctors in North Van, I questioned that accuracy of his opinion.

Me to Jackie...the physio!

"It's not possible for my KNEE to be hurting this much from weak muscles up around my hips! I think I have cartilage damage or worse?"

"Have you been doing your strengthening exercises Gary?"

"That's besides the point, my knee is messed up here!"

"Uhh huh..."

Eventually I got it through my thick skull that I couldn't question a diagnosis until following the Dr's orders of daily strengthening around the area in question.

The days following Wedgemont sucked, and then I started wondering if I should be skipping races to fully recover. Of course the answer to this would be yes, and of course I would do no such thing! After a solid race at Cle Elum in Wash I was again left sore for days, but it seemed to be getting somewhat better and was nowhere near the pain suffered after our run in Whistler a few weeks prior.

Two weeks after Cle Elum I had two goal races, in back to back weekends. The MOMAR on Sept 27th, and Run For The Toad on Oct 4th. I knew that if I competed at C.E. then I'd be racing three times in four weeks as The MOMAR and RFTT were not races that I would be able to pass on so freely. At least by making it through the C.E. 50k I knew that I could still run for 4+ hrs without making things worse then they already were.

I started in on a daily routine of rolling my quads and legs on a 'foam roller' to help alleviate the tension at its source. I would also take cold water showers over my legs after every run and elevate my legs whenever possible. This was to help flush lactic acid build up, and 'bad blood' from my legs. As always I used 'the stick' on my calfs and shins twice daily. I also started booking in for a weekly suffer session known as deep tissue massage...seriously, deep tissue masseuses like to hurt people...yeah I'm talking to you Lesley-Anne White!! Oh yeah, and I was utilizing a knee wrap that would act as a band-aid between the source of my pain, and the area it was being played out in. Basically a mini shock absorber that stopped my knee from shutting down on me, which was a good thing! Through all of this however I still managed to overlook the basic importance of helping to strengthen the actual Glute Med muscles.

Todd and I had a solid MOMAR, even if I was stressing out about my knee just minutes before the race started, and I was able to hold onto a 2nd place finish at the Run For The Toad in Ontario. I had made it through the toughest part of my racing year. Three races in four weeks while struggling with an injury that limited my training runs to 1.5hr max. Outside of these races I had not run even 2hr since my knee originally shut down on me while Jackie and I were tackling 'Golden Ears', one week post Stormy. I was very happy with everything, but starting to fear the most important race of the year for me, the November 1st Mountain Masochist in Virginia.

I arrived home from The Toad on Sunday and as mentioned in my previous posting went to work on logging kms again. I figured that if I can run 50k races then I must certainly be able to get through training sessions of 2hr or more! What I found was that while racing I was ignoring quite a bit, and in training I was unwilling to do so for fear of worsening my injuries. Over the previous six weeks whenever my knee flared up on me I shut it down. As it turns out, whenever my knee flares in training, all I really have to do is stop and stretch for a few minutes. The pain that feels like it's going to cripple me subsides instantly and I am free to go for an additional hour of somewhat pain free running! With this knowledge firmly in hand...and having finally added a daily strengthening routine through usage of a simply piece of latex known as a 'Thera Band', I started knocking down miles again in training.

Last week I was very happy to have put in my second biggest week of running ever, behind only my 100 mile week of training back in July! I was originally shooting for another 100 miler, but after logging about 85 miles / 135 kms of solid running I decided it was alright to pass on my original plan of a 25km night run on Sunday (following a 20k fast paced am run before work). The 85 miles were far more intense then the 100 I did back in July and I was finally starting to feel good both mentally and physically.


I was feeling great after such a big week and most of all without making my injuries any worse. I was even starting to think...dare I say it...that I might actually be recovering finally! I've been religious with my daily routine for a few weeks now and it has certainly making a massive difference to how I've been feeling.

I took Monday off of training and they yesterday decided to fully test myself. We were blessed with another incredible October day here in North Vancouver and I set out to run the Hanes Valley route. This is a sweet little run of about 26km which starts in Lynn Valley. The coolest part about this run is that although readily accessible it has a very definitive back country flare to it. You end up climbing close to 4,000 feet and go straight up a mountain pass in the process. This would be my second time doing this route, with Jackie and I running it in the late evening back in July. We finished with our headlamps on in about 4.5hr...I was thinking it could be done in under three.


I started at about 12:30 and if memory serves me correctly I hit Norvan Falls in about 37m, came into the clearing at the base of the main climb in 1h06m, topped out on the climb in about 1h34m. Hit the forest service road at the top of Grouse in exactly 2hr, and then the Grouse Lodge in 2h05m. I had 55 minutes to descend all of Mountain Highway and then run a short singletrack route back to my car in Lynn Valley to hit my goal on the day. I believe the distance from here was about 11-12km...and all downhill. I started in on the descent and was tentative for a few minutes. I was truly worried about how my legs would hold up after such a pounding as it's pretty much all a hard packed forest service road. I even had 'flashbacks' to Wedgemont Lake but told myself that I simply needed to know where I stood so I leaned forward and let it go.

Roxy logged every single mile with me last week, which amazed me, but with the cooler temps she's been a rock star runner lately. As I was bombing down Mtn Hwy she started falling off the back for the first time since I upped the miles again. I kept calling her on and telling her we were nearly done, and she responded by short cutting the switch backs through the forest!

I hit the final turn onto the last section of singletrack in 2h50m and pulled up to my car just over five minutes later! I had knocked down Hanes Valley via Mtn Hwy in 2h55m30s, and felt great in doing so!! The best news of all is that as I sit here today I am not suffering any ills effects whatsoever. A few more long runs this week and then a taper till Mountain Masochist, and things are finally starting to look good for this race!!




GR

Roxy's First Ultra Run, And Countdown To The Big One...

I was very happy and surprised by my recovery from The Toad last weekend and on Monday, two days after the event, which is normally the worst day of recovery, I managed a solid 25km run. It was painful but very beneficial as I did a loop along The Baden Powell Trail, up Mountain Highway, and back down BCMC. Local jargon to say that there was some good elevation gain and loss in the run! As we topped out on the climb, we being Roxy and I, we came across a Deer and Doe. Roxy was obviously enthralled by the duo but she obeyed command and quietly took it all in from a distance.



I took the Tuesday off from training and then on Wed ran a 7km a.m. road run followed by a p.m. headlamp run with two friends. We tackled Lynn Peak, which again means some good elevation gain and loss.


Thursday morning I managed a solo interval training session, but took it down to 4x400 meters instead of the 3x1k that I have done with my buddy Simon in the past few weeks. I won't post times, but will say that I managed to get faster with each lap and at least felt somewhat fast on the final interval. Total distance was about 8km.


I was off today and headed to Bellingham, Washington to run some completely new terrain with trail running buddy Daniel Probst. Dan is planning a possible 100 miler in Bellingham for 2010 and we ran about 50km of the course today. We could not have had a better October day for running, and although I did scrape frost off of the car at 7am, when we started running at 9.30am we were blessed with nothing but blue skies and spectacular views!


We started the run with a six mile out and back along Watcom Lake and then proceeded into a climb of almost 3,000 feet that lead to breath taking views out over Mount Baker. The run finished off with some sweet downhill singletrack running and I decided to add on one more out and back along the lake to bring the distance up to about thirty miles, while Dan decided to soak his legs in the lake. I told myself that I wanted to push the last ten km and see what I could manage, and I was very happy with a twenty minute first five km and nineteen minute final five km for a 39min 10k finale to my day.


Of course Roxy joined me for the entire run, but surprisingly enough this was her first ever ultra run! Her longest run prior to this was back in July when we logged a 40km day along the better portion of The Knee Knacker course. That was a hot day and it really took it out of her. Being a Husky-Sheppard (or Doberman, still not sure) mix she ate up the kms today with temps topping out at about seventeen degrees. Check out this short vid to see that she was in no way exhausted whatsoever after our five hour run!


My weak glutes that have lead to IT Band soreness and hence knee pain has not been resolved, however, after racing three times in four weeks I have come to terms with it. You may be asking why the hell I'm still running at all as we head into October...well I managed to get into a race called Mountain Masochist, which takes place on November 1st in Virginia. The course is listed as fifty miles, but apparently being a David Horton course it comes in closer to 54 miles, or 87 kms.

Still you may be wondering, why am I pushing myself this late into the season, with a serious race in November...at least I am left wondering that sometimes! I rarely race in October, let alone Nov and historically have not done well after the final MOMAR on the last weekend of Sept. The reason for all of this comes down to just two words, Western States. WS is the premier 100 miler in North America. There are others that are right up there, but in terms of history, appeal, and notoriety, nothing else compares. So sought after is this race that every year it goes to a lottery and each year it becomes harder and harder to gain entry, as more and more people apply. I may be mistaken with this number, but I believe they get well over 2,000 applicants for a race that is capped at ~400 runners!!

Long story short, the race was canceled this year, for the first time ever, due to wildfires. The Montrail Cup Series consists of seven races, six leading up to Western, and they award automatic entry into Western for top three male and female at each of these events...it's the only possible way to get to the starting line for WS 2009...which is looking like it could very well be the most competitive race they've ever held!

It's a dream to be a part of this event next year, and I'm doing everything I can to make it happen. I found a return flight from Seattle for just 275 Canadian, and I have a friend in Raleigh, NC, just three hours South of the race start in Lynchburg, Virginia. Hays Poole n family are who I stayed with in 2006 when I attended game five of the Stanley Cup finals...the Oilers won in OT to stay alive...that's all I care to remember about that playoff series!! Anyways, Hays has been kind enough to offer up accom for a few nights and a free NHL hockey game the day after the race! Can't say I'm a Leafs fan, but on Sunday Nov 2nd I'll be hard pressed for who to cheer for in North Carolina...the team that stole my Stanley Cup dreams just a few short years ago...or the always hated Toronto Maple Leafs...I'll decide when I get there...maybe Carolina if I can pull off a top three and gain the highly desired WS entry, The Leafs if I do not and am pouting anyways!!

GR

Run For The Toad Race Report

Wow what an incredible weekend!

Pre Race:

Ellie Greenwood, Rune Melcher and myself just got back from the 7th annual 'Run For The Toad' 50k in Cambridge Ontario. As the slogan says "An event that is focused completely on YOU. An unforgettable 25/50k trail experience". Ummm, yeah, couldn't have put it better myself!

Just to clarify, this is not some kind of fund raiser for rare and endangered Ontario Toads, the RD's Peggy and George are the creators of the animated children's show 'Toad Patrol'. At 1100 people this is BY FAR the largest trail race in Canada and with over 100 registered racers in the 50k division it makes it one of Canada's largest ultra races as well. The course is a 12.5 loop and we all decided to head out and pre run the trail the day before the event.

The first people we met were George and Peggy and they made us feel like family within minutes. It's rare in life to meet two people as genuine as them, and it truly shines through in everything that they do. They take over a week to set up and tear down the race course and accompanying tent city!

We laced up our Montrails and proceeded to check out the course, Ryne having run the race twice before, both times finishing second. In his description to us on the flight out Ryne made it sound like it was pancake flat with one tiny hill towards the end. If you were directly comparing it to a B.C. ultra, then yes, it's pretty damn flat. However there were plenty of undulations and small hills in the loop and what I took away from our scouting trip was that I might actually have a shot at a decent time and placing within the race. Having never run a marathon I simply do not possess the foot speed to do well on flat terrain...yet! If I were to compare it to an ultra in B.C. I would say it is actually slightly harder than the Club Fat Ass, New Year's Day 50k, but without the hangover!

Ryne had told me that the locals to watch out for were three time winner Giles Malet, and local speedster Clayton Sloss. There was a big ceremony before the race started complete with the National Anthem and bagpipers. As we approached the starting line I recognized a face off the cover of a recent edition of Canadian Running Magazine, Reid Coolsaet. He is one of the top runner's in the country and if not for an injury would have been representing The Maple Leaf in Bejing. With personal bests of a 13m21s 5km and 27m56s 10km, I was glad to see that he was out to blaze the 25km route!

In the weeks and then days leading up to this race I would learn that numerous friends and even a close cousin were all within driving distance of the race and most of them would make it out to cheer me on! The day prior I managed to catch up with a good friend from Banff and her newborn son Max...she said I could call him Maximus if I liked. I had not seen Jessie in about eight years, it was a great start to my race weekend!

Go Time:

As we were awaiting the countdown till suffer time, my teammate from last year's Raid The North Extreme, Christiaan Piller managed to find me in the pack! He was running hung over and for fun, but it was great to catch up with him again and once the race began we ran the first 5km together.

Off the start Melcher bolted, as we expected he would. In fact I earned a beer with his first lap time going almost a full minute faster than he 'guaranteed' me he would run. I started at a steady pace and then started to move after about thirty minutes as we got into the guts of the course where there were some hills to take advantage of.

Another friend from Banff, Trevor Richmond, who I only reconnected with a few months ago after a gap of years, met me prior to the 9.30am start and offered to be my support crew. I would see him at the 9km point in the race and on each lap thereafter. The course was great for spectators as the 6km and 9km points intersected each other, and the start finish was but a three minute walk away. You could very easily follow your favorite runner and see them a minimum of twelve times during the event! It was very much like a cross country race, or so I was told.

Trev cheered me on, threw a bottle at me and collected whatever piece of wet smelly gear I peeled off with each lap as I passed by...did I thank you properly for that Trev?


I clocked a first lap time of 55m27s and was holding down second place, three minutes back of my Montrail teammate Ryne Melcher and just 17sec ahead of three time winner Giles Malet. I was feeling strong though and continued on with my set pace.

Where'd This Pavement Come From?

The course in a nutshell, from what I remember, flat start, small climb, pavement for one mile, undulating trail, short climb to nice vantage point, cross country grass running to the 6km aid station, a three km forested yet grassy loop back to 9km, some muddyish (but not really) forested running till 11.5k, the biggest climb of the event, and although not large by any means they did manage to somehow make it longer and tougher with each additional lap, followed by a pretty much downhill km to the finish line.


(the big hill)

I was hating the pavement by the second lap and could really feel it pounding on my IT band. The good part about this race however, was that for the first time since running Stormy in August, I knew before the race began that I would at least be finishing it. Something that was in question, at least in my own head, before my last two events. As I was power hiking a climb around km sixteen I glanced back to see Giles just down the slope behind me. I did not panic, but was well aware of the fact that he was a very smart and experienced racer. I knew that if I made one mistake in my nutrition or pacing over the next 34km that he'd pass me like I was standing still.

As I rounded the corner toward the now 18.5km aid station, I heard my name being screamed and it jolted me with energy. My good friend Stephanie Price, who I had not seen in a full decade informed me a few days out that she would be at the race cheering me on. Her boyfriend was in town visiting from Calgary and for some reason she could not make it to the 9.30am start...

Seeing her HUGE smile and feeling her genuine excitement propelled me past her faster than I would have liked, but I knew we'd get a chance to catch up properly after the event.

Again at the now 21.5km aid station Trevor supplied me with a full bottle of fluids and Steph was there bouncing around and ensuring that I could feel no pain as my adrenaline kicked in. I actually had to tell myself to chill out a bit and to not pace faster than I thought I should.

Six Minutes, Are You Sure?

I clocked a second lap time of 55m52s, but Melcher had managed a 53.08 and was now almost six minutes clear of me! Giles was holding strong and still just 55sec back in third. I've only known Ryne Melcher for just over a year, and in that time I've seen him lead out almost every race he participates in. Not once had he beaten me though and I told myself to stick with my own plan. I could stay strong and wasn't sure that he could continue his current blistering pace. We were only half way done and we all knew that the race had just truly begun.

Again I was hating the pavement and my favorite volunteer on the course was quickly becoming the lady in the chair at the 3km point. She wasn't exactly cheering on the racers and she didn't even make eye contact with me once, but every time I layed eyes on her I knew that my IT's were about to get a break thanks to the plush terrain hiding just to her right. Ahhh, trails, I love trails!

Over the first two laps I had paced off with a 25km runner. We exchanged leads with each other numerous times, talked intermittently, and overall really helped each other along. On the third lap I was solo however, and I knew it would stay that way till the finish. Rounding the corner to the now 24.5km aid station I caught my three person support crew off guard sitting on a picnic table with their backs to the runners. I threw my sweat soaked hat on the ground in front of them and kept on running. They yelled as I passed, and of course I thanked them...but did I thank you guys properly for actually picking that thing up and returning it to me after the race!!

Three kms later I could see and hear them calling me on and again Trev supplied me with a full bottle of fluids. They could then walk a few hundred meters down the trail and see me one additional time before I headed out on the final three km of the loop. Steph in particular was supplying me with such energy and enthusiasm that the 25km walkers I was passing along the way all took the time to comment to me on how great my support team was...and it was about to get better...

Maybe He'll Blow Up!

As I crossed the line for the third time I had logged a 12.5km time of 58m34s, Melcher had managed another eleven seconds on me though and as I was given the splits I knew that he would have to blow up for me to have a shot at the win. For a second I hoped it would happen, then realized that I was wishing my own teammate and good friend would crumble in a race on his home turf, in front of his hometown crowd, where he knew everyone, and had finished second in this race twice before...I asked my support to tackle him if they could catch him!!

Coming across the line on that third lap was the highlight of the race for me. My close cousin Robyn Beresford was the first person I saw and heard as she was screaming at me. I had not seen her in over three years! Following Robyn were absolute throngs of supporters as most of the 25km runner's were now finished for the day. Robyn's husband John, a childhood acquaintance of mine that I had not seen since elementary school managed to hop out of the crowd as well. The full Montrail executive squad who were manning the Montrail tent were clapping and yelling, Trev, Steph and her boyfriend were screaming (sorry I can't recall his actual name right now...not cool of me as he is a great guy). There was easily two hundred people there screaming and yelling at me to "go get him", "keep it up", "just one more lap", "You Can Do It!", it was phenominal!! Christian Piller came out of the crowd and ran with me for a bit, telling me that the split was almost exactly six minutes...he then reminded me of my EXACT words to him on the first lap as I watched Ryne disappear in front of us after just 1.5km of running,

"There goes Melcher. I could take six minutes out of him in the final twelve km if I had to!"

I wasn't being cocky, I was speaking from experience...but I had never seen the Ryne Melcher that showed up for this race. Christiaan's reminder to me did what it was supposed to though, it propelled me outta there with a renewed fire in my legs. Anything could happen in the final 12.5km of a 50k and I certainly wasn't throwing in the towel just yet!

As if my race experience had not been complete enough, as I was leaving the start-finish area I heard my name one last time. Standing off to the right, with her two children by her side, was Jessie's sister Paula, who I had met numerous times over the years. She made the drive out with her kids just so that she could see me for a fraction of a second. Unfortunately she was not able to stay until the finish, and although I wanted nothing more than to stop and hug her, I knew she'd understand if I did not!

I was pacing well, yet feeling like I was right on the verge of what I could handle. I had been on top of my Thermolytes and Carbo Pro 1200 all day but the pace of 50k on flat terrain was something I was not accustomed to. I downed a few more salt tabs and tried to maintain my cadence over the paved section. Again I celebrated when I spotted the lady in the chair under the blanket.

In my head I felt like I was flying. I told myself that I was making up the 30s per km that I needed to catch Ryne before the finish line. I thought that I might be able to pull it off if I could just maintain exactly what I was doing at that moment. Then it happened, five km into the final loop I passed some 50k runner's and they felt the need to cheer me on,

"Nice work, you're only ten minutes back of first place!"

TEN MINUTES! How in God's name...I didn't say a word, but the wind in my sails started to evaporate. I know how innacurate info like this can be and I tried not to let it get to me. I had one km more till the aid station at now km 43.5 and I knew I'd get a proper split at that point in time.


As I rounded the corner to the aid station I could not believe the support I was getting. My cousin actually ran onto the trail with me and wasn't sure what to do. I thought she was gonna grab me for a second and we kinda gave a half hug as I ran past!! Then I yelled back at them,

"TIME?"

There was a delay, "12.50"

Twelve minutes and fifty seconds. WTF, how in hell was that even possible! At that moment, with just 6.5km to the finish line I knew it was beyond over. All I could do was picture Melcher somehow knocking down 3min kms on the final lap...I was in awe. My mental focus shifted towards preserving second place now. I had no idea of where Giles was (he was just 96sec behind me at the start of the last lap!), and knew that I just had to stay smart to pull of a Team Montrail sweep. Ellie had won the wmn's 25km race and was now also a part of the support crew!

I was on the verge of cramping numerous times but kept on top of my electrolytes and as I was trying to mentally process how Ryne could be finishing so strong, it dawned on me...when I asked for 'TIME', they had given me just that...it was ten to one when I ran past them! I was less than five hundred meters from receiving my last fluids of the race from Trev. Again they cheered me in with every ounce of energy they possessed. Ellie knew the mistake that had been made,

"Ryne is six minutes ahead."

Didn't matter, everyone knew it was over and my hat was off to Ryne anyways, he was about to get his first win of the year! That certainly didn't dampen the spirits of my support crew though, sensing that the end of the race was imminent they seemed to put even more effort into their encouragement and I could actually hear them through the forest without even seeing them! I found myself welling up a little bit, I'd never been in a race where so many close friends were on hand to cheer me on. They had all taken time out of their own weekend schedules to come out and watch me run in circles for almost four hours...all the while doing everything in their power to ensure I crossed the finish line as fast as I could, and with the biggest smile on my face.

I managed to kick up my heels over the last five hundred meters and at least give the appearance of finishing strong. They were all there to see me in, they were all as genuinely excited to be there as I was to have them there. It was one of the best race experiences of my racing career! (yes I am finally calling it a 'career', just like it took me three years to actually call myself an 'athlete')


My final lap time was 1h00m43s for a total time of 3h50m34s, Melcher was the only racer to pull off four sub 1hr laps and he stopped the clock in 3h43m11s. Giles finished 3rd in 3h54m20s and Clayton came in fourth in 4h02m19s. Full Results Here

The Social After The Race:

Of course George and Peggy weren't done there as they had more prizing then I've ever seen at an event before in my life! Every finisher received a nicely branded Run For The Toad mug, and for second place I walked off with a branded china serving plate, which I will proudly bring to every Christmas party I attend this coming off season!!


My cousin Robyn and her husband John were gracious enough to host all of us for dinner on the evening. I'm allergic to Gluten, Melcher is Vegan and Ellie is a veggie, not exactly your easiest guests to appease! They didn't flinch however and what ensued was a fabulous dinner followed by numerous drinks and a ton of good stories...like the time John and I nearly died on the way to a hockey tournament in Saint-Pierre Et Miquelon, off the coast of Nfld as eleven year old kids...but that's a whole other story...

A brief blurb on Ryne Melcher, as I think it's fully deserved here. As mentioned I've only known Ryne for just over a year, as have most in the BC scene. What I did not know until recently is the following:
-Ryne has run 124 ultra races, yes I said 124, having competed in his first at 14 years of age! (RFTT was my 12th)
-The Toad was his 39th win!
-His marathon PR is 2h32m!
-He holds the Canadian trail record for 50k at 3h17m!
-His race resume would be a full blog in and of itself. Apparently he burned out a bit after being at the top of the Cdn scene for so long, as is to be expected. I've seen him drop close to fifteen pounds since Miwok, and a few weeks ago he logged 130km of training...in two days. Ryne will be a force to be recconned with in 09 and is only going to make our entire Montrail Canada Team that much better. I can't wait to hit the trails with him this winter in training!!

GEAR:
Montrail Streaks
Mountain Hardwear Team Shirt
Helly Hansen Lifa boxers n shorts
Carbo Pro 1200, one bottle into three water bottles
Thermolytes x15
Shot Blocks, 1/6 of a packet

HUGE THANK YOU to Montrail for taking care of us all season long and George and Peggy of Run For The Toad. This is truly a top notch race and if you are planning to be in the area late next year I'd definitely add it to the race calendar. The fact that there were 1100 runners and walkers on the course, and I never once felt crowded is a testament to how much effort they put into this race. Hopefully we'll be there again in 09 to get those bigs hugs from George and Peggy once again!!

GR

Running For Toads...

CORRECTION, BIGGEST TRAIL RACE IN CANADA...1100 people between the 25k and 50k, WOW!!
Apparently there are also upwards of 1,000 spectators...this is gonna KICK ASS!!


Tomorrow morning Rune Melcher, Ellie Greenwood, and myself are flying to Ontario to compete in one of the biggest trail races in Canada, The 7th Annual Run For The Toad 25 and 50k. Montrail are sending us out there to represent so hopefully we can all put in solid performances. I'm still not sure as to how I will hold up on a pretty much completely flat 50k where winning times are well below 4hr...but we'll see soon enough I guess. Rune Melcher has finished second in this race twice before, so we are getting the inside scoop during our flight tomorrow.

Either way, I have not been this excited about a race in a long, long time. Partly due to the travel, but a big part of me is looking forward to the challenge of trying to hold my own against the marathon speedsters, something I have not been able to do to date. I came into ultra running from more of a hiking background and have yet to even attempt an actual marathon, so this should be interesting!

Wish us luck. The Race Director gave a great write up to Dom Repta of Team Montrail Canada that he posted on our team site a few weeks back. Check it out

GR

MOMAR Cumberland Race Report

This past weekend was the third and final MOMAR of the 2008 season and series owner Bryan Tasaka managed to hit an absolute home run with this one. After taking the time to design a brand new course he was rewarded with record numbers as the event sold out with almost 280 racers on the starting line.

The 45km course would consist of five disciplines, kayaking, trekking, biking, navigation, and swimming.

I found myself more nervous then normal while preparing for the 9am start, and I could sense that I was almost starting to stress out Todd as well (which would take a lot!). I didn't want to tell him but I had basically done nothing but run since the end of BC Bike Race back in early July, having only ridden a bike four times in that span. I knew my fitness was at an all time high, and I was weighing in at 153 in the days before the event. I raced most of 07 at 161, so I knew that alone would allow me a solid race. My concern however was that I would not be able to hold onto Todd on the bike and that I might cost us the race in doing so. Maybe it was my nerves, maybe it was bad luck, maybe it was carelessness...

"5...4...3...2...1...insert air horn here!"

With 280 people on the water it was bound to be a mass chaos and we had stratigically positioned ourselves behind the fastest boat. Sasha Brown and Brian McCurdy were in a double surf ski and are absolute animals on the water. We were hoping to maybe hold their wake for a portion of the paddling stage.

We dug in hard left, then went to dig right...and before we even knew what had happened we were upside down and swimming!! It only took us maybe ten to fifteen seconds to get back in the boat, and the whole debacle cost us less than half a minute, but the lead boats were now dissapearing in front of us and by the time we got moving I was freezing and we were back around 50th or so. Todd actually managed to laugh at the whole thing and although I was cold I think it may have been the best thing for us as it immediately alleviated all of my stress and replaced it with adrenaline!

Todd and I figured we had the 3rd fastest boat on the water, now we just had to prove it! We went to work on tracking the boats in front of us and slowly but surely made our way up into 5th by the first turn around. The paddle section was 9km and by km seven we had moved into 3rd spot, but Brian and Sasha, and John Markez (who I considered to be the favorite in the race) were minutes ahead of us.

We came off the water in 57m34s, John had a 4m22s lead on us. Brian and Sasha will be the first to admit that they can't nav and although solid athletes we knew they were not in the overall mix. Todd and I had a solid transition and started attacking the first trekking/navigation section. As Todd sprinted away from me I yelled to him,

"I can't feel my feet yet dude, just gimme a minute to get the blood flowing again!"

We struggled with our second CP and ended up searching for it with Markez before going in separate directions. After almost 30m we arrived at the final CP just behind Markez and proceeded to hit the bike transition neck and neck!

Todd and I had a nearly flawless transition and were off in advance of John. He managed to catch us after about 2km of flat riding and then proceeded to pass us and allow us to draft off of him. The first hill wasn't far off and once we started climbing John fell off the back. I was truly amazed at how good I was feeling on the bike and I went about leading us up and over the main ascent we had to endure, or as Todd called it, 'The Crux Of The Race'. We glanced down at our time and figured we were about 1/2 way done the course, which allowed us to dig a little deeper and continue to widen our lead.

Once we hit the singletrack downhill Todd regained the lead and I followed along. I recently sold my Specialize Epic and was riding Keith Nicol's Santa Cruz Blur for the race. It was the first time in six months that I truly enjoyed being on my bike. If I can pass along one very hard lesson learned, please take the time to be properly fitted on a mtn bike. It can truly be the difference between riding and running technical terrain, and loving and hating your biking experience! In fact it's the main reason that I wasn't on my bike throughout most of the summer. I was LOVING the terrain Bryan was throwing at us and Todd and I ate it up while letting out the occasional hoot and hollar!

We managed to post the fastest bike time on the day in 1h05m and after another flawless transition we were off and running again. Todd was like clockwork on all but one of the CP's, but even when Todd isn't 100% on the CP he still manages to recover in a hurry and we cleared the trekking stage in an additional 1h05m.

A quick transition back onto the bikes for a short but fun singletrack leading us into 'downtown' Cumberland. We then proceeded to drop our bikes right at the finish line while be handing our final map on the day for a quick Urban Nav to the finish line. We had no idea how close or far the next competitor was behind us, but were feeling confident that we had enough of a lead to relax a little...that confidence evaporated when we couldn't locate the first CP on the Urban Nav! We were looking for a CP in a bush by a mining cart in a park, but after doing three laps of the park and finding nothing I was about to run back to the finish to tell them that the CP had been taken! Todd then yelled out that he had found it. I guess in our rush we failed to distinguish between the mining cart and the benches that had mining cart wheels on them!

We knocked off the last few CP's and came across the line in 4h01m25s to scoop our first MOMAR team win of 08 and our 4th overall title!! It, as always, felt amazing to cross the line in first place and I can't believe I was left stressing about so much just 4hr prior.

Being that you had to drop your bikes at the finish before the final nav section it made for some exciting viewing at the line. Previous Cumberland winner and local rider Jeremy Grasby came into the final transition just seconds ahead of John Markez, while Garth Campell and Shane Ruljancich were following closely behind both of them. Grasby managed to hold onto second place with Garth and Shane third and Markez fourth. Team Dart-Nuun, with Ryan Van Gorder, Tom Roozandaal, Norm Hann, and Jen Segger came in a solid 5th overall, just ahead of Roger MacLeod for 6th and John Barron and Tom Jarecki for 7th. Big congrats go out to all racers, but especially team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island, who finished 2nd in the team of four co-ed...with Carey Sather racing as a new mother of just two months...nice work guys!!

From there we were off the the legendary MOMAR after party and I drank like I had not in months! The theme was Hawaiian and rightfully so with a grand prize trip for two to Hawaii!! Bryan also auctioned off an entry for the 2009 B.C. Bike Race, with all proceeds going to charity and in doing so raised $4200, which when coupled with the rest added up to over $8,000 going towards 'The Make A Wish Foundation'. What an incredible weekend!!!

Thanks so much to Bryan for another great year of MOMAR's. Jacqueline Windh gives a great race report on Sleepmonsters in which she takes the time to truly express how much Bryan has meant to the local Adventure Racing community over the past nine years!
Thanks as well to Mark Campbell and Helly Hansen for their continued support and great products!
Carbo-Pro 1200 and Thermolytes, the perfect mix!

Apparently there will only be two MOMAR's next year, Squamish in May and Cumberland in September...better get your entries in early cause they are guarenteed sell outs!!

Full Cumberland Results Here

GR

Frosty Mtn Success and MOMAR Countdown

This past weekend was the 1st annual Frosty Mountain 50k ultra...and NO, I was not racing it, although I would have loved to have been there. In fact if I were not racing the next two consecutive weekends I would have been there for sure!

Race Director Gottfried Grosser and organizer Heather Macdonald apparently put off a flawless event and it's been getting nothing but rave reviews from all involved! On top of a downright incredible mountainous 50k singletrack route, there were the finish line goodies, straight out of Gottfried's bakery of course! I was sad to have missed out on this one and can't wait to be there in 09. Check out some of these pics...






Taken on your standard digi cam these absolutely speak for themselves! The fact that this race takes place right at the Northern tip of the Pacific Crest Trail, in Manning Park, B.C. ensures that it can draw racers from The Lower Mainland, The Okangan, and even some 'wannabe Canadian's' from down South!! Not sure what permitting allows for race numbers, but can assure it will approach the limit in 2009.

This year's winner was, "Some guy named Chad who drives a Lotus!"

I then recognized the name Chad Ulansky but could not for the life of me figure out why, until I saw the finisher photos. Chad has been amongst Canada's top adventure racers for years now, racing on Supplier Pipeline, and I kinda met him at Raid The North Extreme last year. Apparently he mines for diamonds...and apparently he's quite good at it! Check out his race resume, or what I could quickly find, he finished 16th at Marathon Des Sables 2003!! Just one more shining example of the caliber of athletes involved in adventure racing. He'd probably win a mtn bike and kayak race immediately following Frosty Mtn if it were available to do!

The Cumberland MOMAR is only days away and with record numbers it's going to be the most competitive field we've ever seen...wishing I had been riding my bike more now!
Check out Todd's update as he gives a full rundown of who to keep an eye on this weekend.

And finally, Shane Ruljancich of Victoria B.C. has finally made his way into the world of blogging. He'll be making an appearance at this weekend's MOMAR with teammate Garth Campbell. They scooped the category during my unscheduled absence from the race in July, where Todd took the overall without me of course...greedy bastard!

GR

Exciting News From Princeton Tec...

I was just talking with the Princeton Tec rep today and he happened let slip some of the exciting news coming down the pipes at P.T. I'm not even sure if I should mention this stuff yet, but I got excited...and I'm sure someone will let me know if I should have shut my mouth on this one!

So, the Princeton Tec Apex leads the industry in terms of sheer lighting abilities, and pretty much always has. The only strike against it would be the battery life, which is kinda inevitable when you're pumping out three watts of light and 60 lumens. A great secondary headlamp, or primary lightweight headlamp, has always been the Princeton Tec Eos, with 25 lumens of light and running on just three AAA batteries. The battery life of the Eos has always been respectable as well, so it's no surprise that many runners and adventure racers actually prefer the Eos for its packability and weight savings. Well check this out...the Eos is getting a bit of an overhaul in 09 and Princeton Tec have somehow managed to almost double the output of this little warrior. The Eos will now be pumping close to 50 lumens of light! AND, and...I can't even believe this goes in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence...they have IMPROVED the burn time of the light as well!!

Sounds to me like the Eos is gonna be the go to light in the industry next season. I for one can't wait to get my hands on one of these guys to fully test it out for myself. Stay tuned, I'll be sure to let ya know just as soon as I can put one through its paces!

I should also throw down a mention of the Princeton Tec Switchback 3 bike light set up, since I'm on the topic of lights. I got a hold of this gem early in the season and got in some sweet Squamish singletrack night rides thanks to it. Of course with the long summer days the bike lights can fall by the wayside a bit, but after biking home in the dark after work last night I realized it's time to pull this baby out and get back to some good ole nighttime fun! Say what you will about a sponsored athlete talking about his own sponsors gear, I have never owned a bike light that even came close to the Switchback 3 in terms of how well thought out it was. From the second you open the box you know you've got a top end product! My first two bike light set ups were a Night Hawk and then a Light & Motion, and although very recognized brands within the industry, I never had any luck with consistency while racing with these lights.

On that note, I'm off to bed...I think I might just wear my Eos and get in some reading before falling asleep though!

GR

Cle Elum Race Report

I won't go into detail regarding the days and then hours leading up to the start of Cle Elum because after having such a successful race it will only sound like sandbagging and that's the last thing I'd like to be known for. After a lengthy border crossing on the Friday night we did not arrive to the camping area at the race's start until 12:25 in the morning. It was 1am before we were set up and asleep and when the alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning I hit snooze one too many times, which left us scrambling to get ready for the 8am race start.

The Co Race Director's were stalling for a few minutes at 8am to allow the early 7am starters exactly one hours headway. This is to let people who may push the official cut off times for the race an an extra hour to complete the full 50k.

As I looked around I did not recognize a single runner, which was a good thing as I really wasn't sure how the day would go at that point. As the RD's were stalling for time someone asked what the course records were.

They replied, "Umm, not sure exactly..."

I blurted out, "4h17m men's William Emerson, 5h10m women's Krissy Moehl...uhhh, off the top of my head..."

"3, 2, 1, GO!!!"

As we set off I did what I do best which is start slow and let the front runners go. I fell back to 11th place at the first turn that would lead us into our 25km climb to the top.
(The front pack leading it out)
I waited twenty minutes to pass anyone and forty minutes before I started to open it up at all. I was surprised at how I was feeling on the climb, light and fast, a very good combination to be feeling in a race! On the few descents that break up the climb however I noticed that I wasn't leaning into them like I normally do. I was tentative as to how my IT and knee would react and it wasn't until I had a short internal conversation with myself that I was able to fully open up on our third steep downhill section. It was all or nothing on the day, I was out to try and win and if my body held up I thought I would have a good shot at it.
(Easing my way into the race)
Before the race started I couldn't help but notice who the outright favorite on the day was. He was garnering so much attention and respect from those around him that I knew he'd be the front runner once the race began. Sure enough he shot to the front and lead it out into the first climb. He disappeared from sight shortly thereafter, but I knew I was tracking a guy in a red shirt, wearing a visor and with very long hair.

The hardest part about starting slowly and working your way through the field is that you have to let the leaders go and stay fully confident in your own race plan. My thought was that anything under a five minute gap by the top of the climb should allow me time to catch the front runner's before the finish line.

The course was beautiful and the weather could not have been any better! temps hovered in the high twenties with low humidity and a slight breeze. The 50k was almost entirely single track, although there was not a single technical step involved in the entire race. The terrain was a soft packed dirt-dust that also doubled as ATV trails. As we knocked off the elevation the views grew ever more impressive out to our right over the North Cascade Mountains. On more than one occasion I found myself staring at the views for a second too long as I'd start to veer off trail a bit.

I was counting my way through the pack but the 7am starters were throwing me off and I was at a complete loss as to where I now stood in terms of placement. I do remember looking at my watch at 2h20m in and thinking,

'WOW, I'm already half way home, this is flying by!"

Since my previous race was my first ever 100 miler, my perception of the 50k was skewed towards it almost being a sprint race!

I thought for sure my body would start hurting by 2hr, but as I crested the top of our climb, at 2h38m I was pleasantly surprised at how good I was feeling. The mind games had begun however. The forest we were running through was very open and sparse and it somehow reminded me of a fairytale. The leader I knew I was chasing had long hair and a red shirt on...which of course led me to refer to him as 'Little Red Riding Hood', making me 'The Big Bad Wolf'! Hey, whatever it takes to keep ya motivated out there right!

The only problem was that 'Little Red Riding Hood' was pretty damn fast and I was not catching any glimpses of her...err, him at all. If you look at the Course Profile it basically looks like you've stepped off a cliff on the downside of the run, however, there was A LOT more flat running involved than the profile would suggest and as the kms ticked away I started to think that the race for first might be outta reach for me, in fact I didn't even know where I stood in the field at all, although I was assuming and hoping it was top three.


Immediately before the final aid station at mile 21, km 34, you have to run across a river and perched on the other side is famous trail photographer Glenn Tachiyama ready to snap pics of people splashing water all over the place...and probably awaiting a fall or two throughout the day as well!

I saw him and yelled out, "How many guys in front of me?"

"JUST ONE!"

"HOW FAR??"

"You're gonna see him at the aid station!"

My whole race changed in an instant. I was starting to suffer, my one toe had a very painful blister on it, I was starting to tire and I had been running solo for ten km.

As I hit up the aid station 'Red Riding Hood' had removed her shirt and was very obviously never going to allow me, or anyone else for that matter, to refer to him as 'Little Red Riding Hood'!

I knew at this moment however that if I played my cards right I could indeed pull out the win. Red Riding Hood was actually James Varner, Race Director for the Orcas Island 50k and obviously a talented and experienced trail runner. He did not look over his shoulder before departing the aid station though and I started to wonder how he might react to someone catching him that he had not seen at all to that point in the race.

I ate a 1/4 slice of banana, downed three small cups of coke, refilled my two handheld bottles and was off. I knew what I wanted to do, I knew what I had to do, and had a plan as to how I intended to pull it off. I caught up to James after about 2km of running, 36km down with 14km to go. I kept my distance however, as I didn't want him to know that I was just back from him. I didn't really feel like I had an outright fight for the finish in me on the day, so I wanted to try and end this thing as early as I could.

I caught my breath and awaited the next decent climb, which would inevitably lead us into a downhill as the course gained 6000 feet in the first half and then lost it all in the final 25k. I put in a push, pulled up along side, and James turned to me and simply said,

"Awesome running man!"

"You too bud!"

I pushed over the climb and let loose on the downside. I could sense that James was hanging on, which was the last thing that I wanted, so I upped the pace and didn't slow it down until I knew that I had my gap. I kept a solid pace for about 2km before relaxing at all, and even then I was fully aware of the fact that there was still 10km to go and anything could happen.

I felt solid up until 45km. I had stayed on top of my fluids, my calories and my electrolytes, but my energy was starting to wain and my stomach was yelling at me for real food. The last thing I said to Jackie before the race started...

"I'm still freaking hungry!"

In our mad rush to take care of everything before the 8am start I was only able to consume 1/2 of my normal pre race food, and I was beginning to feel the effects. I really suffered over the last 4km of the race and was shoulder checking from time to time to see if James might be catching me again. I even told myself a few times that I could see him just back from me on the trail, even though I knew I could not. It was a feeble attempt at tricking myself into going faster!

I had to hold on, I had to keep my head down, and I had to stay focused to pull this one out. I would not forgive myself if I blew up in the final 4km of a race and ended up falling back to second place or worse.

As I approached the final, unmanned water station of the race, the km marker was hanging right above it. Two and a half km to go. I know I can ignore ANYTHING for 2.5km and I ran like I hadn't in over an hour. Down the final section of the trail and I could see the start - finish just off to my left. I let out a hoot to tell Roxy I was on my way in and as I popped out of the trees my dog came running up to join me across the line, 4h31m, first place!!!! James wasn't far behind at 4h37m and together we had posted the 3rd and 4th fastest finish times in the ten year history of the event, behind only trail legends William Emerson and Ian Torrence...I'll take it!! Full Results Here

I'm definitely feeling the pain today, but as you can imagine, it was all worth it!

My nutrition and gear:

Montrail Streaks, I only love them more with each and every race!
Helly Hansen Lifa Boxers
Helly Hansen Trail Wizard Shorts, keepin me dry all day long!
Carbo Pro 1200 x1 (split between four bottles)
Thermolytes x14 (yup, fourteen! Again, my first ever year of cramp free racing and it's all come down to my electrolyte intake, which is way higher than I ever would have imagined necessary)
Clif Shot Bloks x1

This formula has been working to a tee for me lately, one bottle of 1200, one pack of shot bloks and as many thermolytes as my body demands on the day. Hey, if it ain't broke...

Jackie was also racing and she laid down a very solid 6h19m, which on any other year would have landed her a top four, but in this years female field she ranked 8th, which is still a great finish in just her fourth ever 50k!



I left Roxy at the finish area leashed to a tree, spoke to a few volunteers and told them that if they would like to take her off leash and play with her then she'd love them forever. By the time I finished my dog knew everyone in the camp ground and I must've heard "Your dog is beautiful" ten times...damn dog always showing me up!

The race course was absolutely gorgeous, in fact when I crested the climb I actually ran off course and towards the views without realizing it. Someone behind me eventually started yelling at me as I was chasing the snow capped peak in the distance! The organization was top notch and you could camp at the start for just five bucks!! It was an awesome experience with incredible people and I'd highly recommend people adding it to their 09 race schedule. Just remember, it's capped at only 100 runner's so get in early next year!

Thanks to everyone involved, especially the volunteers who make each and every event possible.

Next weekend, the party of the year...after the race of the year of course, MOMAR Cumberland here I come baby!!

And thanks once more to Glen Tachiyama for allowing me to post his incredible race photos to my blog!

GR

I Nearly Shuked Myself!

Yesterday and today have been very good days for me. I put in some high intensity running and have had zero knee pain to deal with afterwards, which is very exciting for me right now!

Yesterday morning I hit up the track with co-worker and local trail speedster Simon Driver. I had never in my life run on a track before, and even though this one was dirt it was a pretty cool experience for the freshness of it alone. I ended up running 3x1km intervals while Simon did a 5km time trial. I would run 1km at a time with 400 meters recovery and then hop back on with Simon for each additional km. I initially thought this was the first time in two years that I had done any form of speed work or intervals, but upon later reflection, the last time I did any speed work was up in Whistler. I lived in Squamish for three years and didn't do a single repeat in that time. It was in training for the 2005 Knee Knacker that I last decided to willingly punish myself so much.

My first km was 3m15s, which in the running world would be very average...however compared to say the drive-thru line up at McDonald's I'd be downright elite! I put in a second lap of 3m18s and a final lap of 3m17s, upon which I very nearly shuked myself. I'm not going into full detail here, let's just say that we made up the word shuke yesterday and it combines two bodily functions simultaneously occuring...one would be puking...thankfully I escaped 'the shuke' for this week!

After work Jackie and I hit up the Deep Cove Paddle races again and although I did not approach a state of shuke, I did push it in the kayak more than I have since last September's MOMAR in Cumberland...which is just 2.5 weeks away now!! The race is completely sold out and I can not wait for the after party, err, I mean race!

This morning I was up early to join fellow Team Montrail Canada runner Rune Melcher in my first ever running of 'The Grouse Grind'. I hiked it last week for the first time ever, with a good friend from Banff who also currently resides in the Vancouver area.
This morning was perfect as there were very few people on what can normally become a traffic jam of hikers.

The trail is just 2.9km in length, but it climbs 2800 feet in that distance and basically amounts to one hell of a set of stairs! From the top there are spectacular views back over Vancouver, and you can take a tram back down for $5.00 if you so choose. Some of the winter sports for the 2010 games will be held on the adjoined ski hill, and there are full facilities up top including a nice restaurant. They even have 'grind cards' which you can swipe as you start and finish the trail so that it gives accurate timing for anyone who chooses to start talking about 'their Grind time', and the daily 'leader's' are posted on a screen up top...it's all very commercialized, and one of the main reasons that it's never fully attracted me. However, now that I have an official 'Grind Time' I NEED to do it again...and again...and again, to get it to something that I feel is respectable.

We started off running but within 15min my legs started to shut down on me. I ended up power hiking the second half of the climb and was satisfied to post a 34m17s, but not overly happy as I glanced up at the screen up top to discover that the over 60 record this summer was exactly that, 34.17!! (I can't seem to find that online right now, but I'm sure that's what I saw this morning, maybe I was hallucinating?) I'd like to bring this down to a much more reasonable 30 n change or just under time.

The course record is somewhere around 24-25 minutes by New Zealand World Champion mountain running star Jonathan Wyatt (WOW, he has his own Wikipedia page!)

The downhills have always been my 'specialty', if I have one outside of A.D.D. and I was happy to turn right back around and see what I could do. I felt good on the descent, even though I had been suffering knee pains as of late. My thought process was that if I had any intentions of running a 50k this weekend, where 25k of it is downhill, the I had better be able to endure a 2.9k plunge. It was actually surprised at how damn steep the trail is as it runs very differently down then up, which goes without saying! I hit the last flat section back to the start finish area and opened it up before bursting into the parking lot and hitting my watch. 17m43s for an exact round trip of 52min...now that I've posted this on my blog I will evidently be spending much more time on this trail which is just up the street from me.

I hit up the gym tonight with Driver and as mentioned I have felt NO knee pain in two full days...might actually be able to race Cle Elum after all!

I'd like to get my return Grind Time down to somewhere near 45min, although that would take quite the effort and focus on this specific goal...not much else to do once race season comes to a close I guess...and you can't exactly create a word without ever having experienced it now can you! (definitely NOT the coolest way to end a blog posting!)

GR

Diagnosis, Weak Ass!

(Yeah, my butt is weak!)

K,I'm not totally ducking the blogging world, just honestly been so damn busy over the last few weeks that I haven't had time to think, which isn't a strong point anyways. I just caught up on fourteen days of laundry last night...not pretty, but it did garner me plenty of room during my trail runs!

Finally got a diagnosis regarding my current knee issues. As it turns out, appears that my Glute Med muscle is way under developed and I have been relying on my secondary muscles to propel me while running. I guess the 100 miler finally put the nail in the coffin of my glutes and the fatigue has since played itself out into a knee pain suffered through my IT Band. Runner jargon to simply say my butt wasn't firing like it should be so my knee started to hurt!

It feels great to get a proper diagnosis and at least know what I am dealing with. Sounds like with some simple strengthening exercises I should be back on top of things in the near future. I even got clearance to race the Cle Elum 50k trail race this coming weekend, which I was fearing I might have to skip out on. The Dr. basically left it up to my own judgement, which is never a good thing. I'll definitely head down as Jackie is also registered, and will take it as it comes through the rest of the week. I originally had aspirations of shooting for William Emerson's eight year old record of 4h17min, but this may end up being a training run or scenic tour for me at this point.

I have truly had a phenominal two weeks, topped off by a 'family reunion' at an Aunt's wedding on Vancouver Island a few weeks ago. My immediate family was not there, but I did get to catch up with many Aunts and Uncles that I had not seen in over two decades! I truly have an amazing family and the highlight for me was dancing with my 82 year old Grandmother who I had not seen since 2001. She had more energy then the rest of us combined!




Jackie and I hit up a hike/run to Wedgemont Lake in Whistler two days later. (16km return) We ran into into trail running speedster Aaron Heidt who was out for a hike with his wife Lisa and, I'm guessing here, eight month old(?) son Simon. I am always inspired when I see friends who are able to truly allow their children to enhance their lives and not to hinder them...does that sound harsh? I just don't think having a child should ever stop you from doing the things you love and seeing people out in the mtn's with their kids is really something special. Little Simon's eyes were full of wonder and amazement as he tried to take it all in and it goes without saying that the kid will be a better rounded individual than the boy next door who grows up playing X-Box Fifteen or whatever version they happen to be on now?




I have been able to run, but nothing over about 17km in length before my knee starts to shut down on me. Hopefully by flexing my ass a bit more I can change that pretty quickly though!

GR

Shooting For The Record...

For the longest I've gone without updating my blog!

Quick cap, been busy, having fun, dealing with an I.T. Band injury and not able to run for more than 10k at a time without knee pain right now...not fun!

Lots to tell and will post something of substance after the weekend.

Peace out!
GR

MOMAR Cumberland and Updates

Is it the announcement of the new race course design, the $14,000 in prizing, or the fact that people just want an excuse to party? Whatever it is, registration has been coming in fast and furious and we only have 20 spots left before we hit our 250 maximum capacity.

If you’re on the fence and still thinking about signing up, you better make up your mind soon!

If you are contemplating signing up for this one you'd better give your head a shake! Outside of the usual legendary after party, a brand new race course, the cool t-shirt designs, and the fact that this is the final race of the year, Bryan Tasaka is giving away a FREAKIN TRIP TO HAWAII with seven nights accom and an adventure tour as one of the draw prizes!! Get in while you still can!

On a personal note, been experiencing some knee issues as of late which is why not a lot to blog about. Done some short runs but I always end up limping home afterwards...yeah, I know, stop running right! Don't ya know, "The only thing harder than running...is not running."

My personal quotes of the week:
"I've never claimed to be fit or fast, but I do have a high pain tolerance and a low level of intelligence. These two things combined have allowed me to find my niche in endurance racing."

"It's all about being broke as a joke and loving life! I've never been so damn poor, and so completely happy all at once!"

Congrats to Lina Augaitis and her team Yoga Slackers for their recent win at Coast Raid in Quebec.

Finally, be sure to check in on the Trans Rockies running race currently going on in Colorado. Matt Hart and Sean Meissner are representing the U.S. Montrail team and currently battling for a top ten placing in a fully stacked field.
Also competing are Munny Munro from Whistler, and Leslie Gerein from Banff, amongst others of course!

This race is definitely on the radar for next year as myself and Aaron Heidt have been tossing around the idea for a few months now...I'll just make sure he brings his tow rope for me!

And finally, since I don't think many people made it to the bottom of my Stormy race report, here's my finisher photo from the race...plus I'm reliving it as I can't run right now and it feels good just to think about this race again!


GR

Rockin Out At T.Bird

I don't know how or why, but it's been almost three full years since I've been to a 'big band' concert, that being 'Audioslave' in late 2005.
Out of the blue, Jack Johnson tics found their way to me on Tues night, and for face value of just $45 each, Jackie and I were off to enjoy a great show at Thunderbird Stadium last night.

Jack Johnson epitomizes my Central American cycling trip of 2003. I spent four months on the dive island of Roatan, Honduras attaining my Dive Master certification. After nearly blacking out on a wall dive with some friends, which very easily could have lead to the non existence of this blog all together, I was then told I could never dive again due to an ear issue (a diagnosis that was six months later proven incorrect). The irony of it all is that this incorrect diagnosis is what directly lead to this blog and my current lifestyle. Anyways, being unable to dive on a dive island I ended up as a bartender at a beach bar called 'The Sundowner'.


'The Sundowner' was a square shaped open sided bar with a central area just large enough to fit two employees. We used to joke that you could not even squeeze a Queen sized bed into the service area. Five nights a week I was locked in there with my good friend Lisa Akeson of Sweden, and we both loved every second of it. There was an incredible atmosphere at that place as the main locals would come by every night for their post dive drinks as the sun was setting out over the ocean. I recall numerous evenings where service would completely cease until the sunset light show faded into the evening dusk beside us. Some of the best memories of my life are tied up in that little island...and this is my very round about way of saying that I had no idea who Jack Johnson was before I bartended there.

We had a mini-disk player behind the bar...yeah, it was the only mini-disk stereo system I have ever seen! Every few months someone on the island would end up flying back to civilization for one reason or another and we'd all put in our music and misc food item order with them (such as peanut butter!).


One night Lisa popped in a mini disk and I remember looking very stupid in front of numerous friends as I queried as to who we were listening to,

"WEll JACK JOHNSON OF COURSE!!"

"Oh...it's good."

"WELL YEAH!!!"


Last night was great on so many levels, amazing concert, perfect summer evening, and beautiful company. The highlight of the evening though, was when Jack Johnson broke into 'Bubble Toes'. I was instantaneously transported back to Roatan. I was tending bar and trading stories with friends and soon to be friends alike. It was a perfect moment for me and something I won't soon forget.

About ten years ago a friend back in Banff, Alberta had a 'book of questions' and one question in particular was,
"If you HAD TO choose 'the experience', or 'the memory of the experience', which would it be?
I babbled on some round about answer that basically amounted to an 'I dunno' both.

Well Kealin (my Banff friend), I can finally answer this question with confidence.
Without the memories to carry with us after the fact, without the friends to cherish those moments with in time, then the experience itself is completely and utterly hollow.
Thankfully, I have been blessed with anything but hollow experiences throughout my life, and Jack Johnson was just one more of those perfect moments in time that I will never forget!



GR

Back On The Horse

Well, it's time, the countdown to the Cumberland MOMAR is at just over a month now, and yesterday I finally got back on my mountain bike again...for the first time since BC Bike Race!! Yeah, I know, that's almost seven weeks, but without going into detail, I very literally only got my mountain bike back from a post race mix up one week ago, so I wasn't completely slacking!

I had a friend from Australia in town visiting. Actually we met during the XPD expedition adventure race that we competed in last August...wow, has it really been one full year already! During that race as we were neck and neck with their team for quite some time. If you happen to remember that race report, they were the team that we were trekking with when we made our fatal mistake on our last night of the race that lead to our zombie walking episode. Anyways, he mentioned back then that he was planning to come to Canada for a visit in 08 and I insisted that he drop me a line and hang out for a few days of riding. I had pretty much forgotten this until hearing from Paul just over a month ago, and in the end he ended up being the kick in the ass that I needed.



After hooking Paul up with one of my own Helly Hansen Lifa's, we were ready to rip!
Tuesday we hit up a 2.5hr ride and followed that up with the Tuesday Night Deep Cove Paddle Race. A great day of A.R. specific training. Today we hit the bikes again for just over an hour and although Paul flew out early this evening he did manage almost two full weeks of riding throughout Whistler, Squamish, and North Van. Once I returned from dropping Paul at the airport I joined a few friends for a night run out to Norvan Falls (15km, 2hr). It did nothing but rain for the last two days, but thankfully it didn't slow us down one bit...every day above ground is a good day, I doubt anyone, given a second shot at life, would ever complain about a rainy day again!

GR

Golden Ears Adventure Run

Couple of quick things to mention. First, my Stormy race report, which I realize was way too damn long! It was my first 100 miler though and I wanted something detailed to reference in the future. Congrats to the three people who actually made it through it.

As mentioned Jackie ran the 50 mile version, her first shot at that distance, and she placed 4th female in a time of 9hr26m! It was a great weekend for both of us.

Recovery has been much better than I anticipated, and outside of our 4km, 1.5hr walk of pain the day after our races, it's been going well. I got back on my feet again on Saturday with a slow 2hr run with some local 'Fat Asses', and yesterday Jackie and I headed to Maple Ridge to run the backcountry route up to the summit of Golden Ears (24km, 5.5hr). Another stellar weekend and although my knee was a bit swollen after the run it all felt great. Time to start logging some miles again!

GR

Stormy Part 2, The Finish

I got out of the aid station as quickly as possible for two reasons, 1) I was hurting and I knew if I decided to sit down or loose my focus it would only get worse, 2) I had no idea what my lead consisted of and I wanted to be gone before second place could catch a glimpse of me. As mentioned I changed my shirt and shorts, but I had also set aside a fresh pair of Helly Hansen Lifa boxers that I wanted to change into, yet they had gone missing somewhere in transit. I set out for the first aid station and realized that I needed to keep pushing at a decent pace before the sun fully set on us.

I managed to reach the first aid station, for the second time, in 53 minutes, just three minutes slower than my first lap. I had illusions of a possible sub 17hr race and after doing some math realized I could afford to put in a second lap time of about 10% slower than my first. With this in mind, I was right on schedule. Thankfully as I came in Jackie was standing there swinging my lifa compression boxers in the air and with a huge smile on her face! I ducked behind my car, switched it up, lathered myself in Bodyglide and was off and running feeling like a completely new man! I knew this would be the last time I'd see Jackie until the finish line and after thanking her I told her to get some sleep and not to worry about me out there.

It was now closing in on 9pm and the headlamp was a necessity. I knew that by using my Princeton Tec Apex, combined with a handheld Tec 40 that I would get the best of both world's and not have to worry about slowing down due to inadequate lighting. I was heading into my strongest discipline, nighttime running!

Years of adventure racing has prepared me well for running at night. I have quite literally logged hundreds of hours of night running and riding, and as the temperatures dropped I was feeling quite at home in the solitude of it all. Something I forgot to mention in my initial posting was the heat of the first lap. The temps had climbed up towards thirty degrees in the first fifty miles and I made sure to stay on top of my electrolytes from the get go.

The cooling effect of the evening made it feel like I was being given a second life. I perked up substantially as my body was no longer dealing with trying to cool itself so relentlessly, and approaching the second aid station I was again riding a wave of a high.

As I came through the start finish I consumed over a liter of flat coke, along with some real food, electrolytes and some fruit juice. I had stayed on top of my nutritional plan right from the first km of the race, having consumed Carbo Pro 1200, Carbo Pro, Clif Shots, Clif Shot Bloks, Sesame Snaps, Thermolytes, Sushi, and Coke. The formula was working, but as I arrived at the second aid station I found that I desired but one thing...more Coke! I chugged some back, downed some watermelon, and filled one bottle with water and one with Coke before heading off into the darkness again. I had no intention of following this 'fuel plan', but knew better than to argue with what my body was demanding!

I continued to listen to my body but fully expected it to eventually reject this combination. My stomach issues had not worsened, but still persisted with regular stops along the way. I came through the third aid station feeling great and looking forward to some well needed human interaction, but the aid had been downgraded to a self serve. I topped up a bottle of coke and again headed into the very technical 'Entrail' and 'Marc My Word'. This was where I switched on my hand held light for the first time, tucking my other empty hand held bottle into my empty Nathan vestpack that I was wearing for the front pocket access to food. I thoroughly liked this set up as the vest pack weighs literally a few ounces and allowed me to free up my hands more for the night running. Throughout the first lap I switched between a vest pack for the longer sections and hand held bottles for the shorter ones.

With both Princeton Tec lights shining like spotlights in the night I ran these technical routes almost as fast as I did on my first lap, 105km prior. By the time I reached aid station number four, which was once again back on Perth Road, my boxer drop area, I was dying to have an actual conversation with someone. I had literally taken to speaking out loud on numerous occasions just to fill the void of the night!

The aid station crew asked if I was alright.

"Feeling great, why?"

"Well, you seem to be vibrating!"

As I was chugging back more Coke,

"Ummm, I've consumed about 3.5 liters of Coke so far...must be the caffeine! Hey, any idea of what kind of time gap there might be till second place?"

"Well, when you came through here the first time, a few hours ago, you had a 1h05m lead."

"Sweet, thanks!"

After specifically thanking them for spending the night out on course I proceeded down the road and back towards the university. I was always conscious of my calorie and electrolyte intake and was forcing down 100 calories at regular intervals, and easily swallowing a salt tablet every thirty minutes. Although sore and tired, I was actually feeling quite strong!

I hit the Uni aid station and had a quick but fun conversation with the volunteers there. I had a backup headlamp in my drop bag, so instead of wasting time changing batteries I simply swapped them out, downed more Coke and watermelon and was off and running.

I ran the impending hill on the first lap but did not see the point here on the second lap. At this point it was great to have a time and distance device upon my body and I used the pacing feature to force myself into a faster than normal power hike. My watch initially read just under a ten minute /km pace, but with focusing just on the watch itself, and not on the non technical terrain under foot, I was able to consistently bring my hiking pace down to almost exactly eight minutes /km. I thought this to be a very impressive pace considering the grade I was tackling and I focused on nothing but this pace until I reached the top.

Again my light allowed me to bomb down through the Pseudo Tsuga's without slowing down at all, and I hit up the aid station after a loop time of 52min. I have not seen official on course splits yet, but I know this is only slightly slower than my first lap time of around 45min. I noticed early on that most aid stations were not expecting me when I arrived, so I got into the habit of hooting and hollering as I approached each area, and I would always look forward to the hollering responses.

We had a candid exchange on my second time through, which ended with me jokingly stating,
"The f#$king wine selection here sucks!"

I was a few hundred meters down the road before I realized that I had forgotten my hand held light. I did not have spare batteries on me and after a quick mental fight realized that I had no choice but to turn back for risk of blowing my entire race if my one light died on me for some reason.

"Hi me again, any chance you got that Merlot in stock again yet?"

By this point I was again struggling to keep my body running over the flattish terrain, and I was actually internally cursing at myself not to stop.

"Less than 7km till that damn nine mile hill again. Keep your head down and your feet moving...don't you dare quite on me now!"

I was happy to come across an unexpected friend now manning the following aid station at The Powerhouse, and after a quick chat, and some more Coke and watermelon, I was off to tackle the infamous 'Nine Mile Hill' for the second and final time.

I never listen to music when I run, yet I always have a song in my head while I'm out there. In a typical 50km race I go over the chorus of a single song again and again as a segway between other thoughts throughout the race. For my first 100 miler I managed to squeeze in a few songs. First and foremost was the new Gavin Rossdale song, 'Love Remains The Same', and that was followed up with a full version of 'The Fintstones'...and as if that wasn't random enough I somehow pulled out the full Monkees album from deep within my cerebrum. I remember stealing this tape from my Father in the eighties at some point and don't know that I've heard any of the songs since...definitely some deep memory release occurring as I went deeper into my run...maybe with a 200 mile run I could remember my own birth!!

I had been counting down for a few hours until reaching the top of Nine Mile...I was counting down to my hugs from Cheryl and Rhonda. Their congratulations, smiles, and hugs were as genuine and vigorous as they had been ten hours earlier. I glanced at my watch and realized that if I could somehow match my first lap time over the remaining distance that I would in fact eclipse the magical 17hr banner.

"Sorry ladies, I'd love to stay but I'm still harboring illusions of a sub 17hr run. Thanks so much for everything!"

After eclipsing the final pitch over 'The Lava Flow', I entered 'The Ring Creek Rip' again. I was all of three hundred meters into it before I realized that the sub 17hr time was indeed as I had suspected, an illusion. The rocks seemed bigger, the terrain tougher, and my feet were now fully swollen and smacking against the end of my shoes with each and every step. I suffered my way down the mountain and glided into 'The Powerhouse' for the fourth and final time.

I was greeted by a second familiar and friendly face, Glenn Pace had now joined Michael Wardas...the only problem here was that Glenn was himself running in the 100 miler.

"You shouldn't be here! Not that I don't like seeing ya, but what's up?"

He briefly explained that he had to drop, which surprised me more than most other dnf's as Glenn has a lengthy and accomplished resume, but again, 100 miles is a long ways to run and anything can happen over that distance.

"I'd love to hang with you guys but I have to put this thing to rest. I'll hopefully see ya at the finish area later today!"

The congratulated me and cheered me on as I forced my legs to run the few hundred meters into the hiking terrain through 'Crumpit Woods'. I ate up this area, and 'The Farther Side' as I could almost smell the finish line, but again upon hitting 'Seven Stitches' and 'Summerside' I was really gutting it out. The terrain would be tough to run at the best of times and I was struggling to hold a decent hiking pace this late in the race.

I was constantly checking my watch as I was fully aware of one thing. To finish sub 18hr meant a hero's welcome as the fifty milers would just be lining up to start their own race, to finish anything over 18hrs meant crossing the line amongst a group of three or four people associated with the race itself. It was like comparing a rock concert to a dusty ghost town with tumbleweed blowing down the main street.

I put in a solid effort over the last climb of the entire 100 miles...I was going to do it, only four km to go...I ran the whole thing not feeling an ounce of pain, as I could now envision the finish line and I knew that Jackie, Roxy, and about 65 runners would be there to cheer me in.

4km...3km...2km...1km...700m...600m...500m...400m...I could see the start - finish and I let out the biggest scream of my life,

"WHHOOOOOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

300m, 200m, 100m, 17hr39min, PURE ELATION!!!!!!! I know I would have cried had I been able to! Jackie snapped a pic and grabbed me as I crossed the line, Roxy wasn't far behind, the Wendy, Enzo, Jackson, and on and on. I had covered the final, technical and challenging, 10.5km just 11 minutes slower than my first lap! I FELT IN..CRED..I..BLE!



Over six liters of coke, thirteen bathroom breaks, fifty thermolytes, and one experience that will last forever...my first 100 Miler!

My Gear:
-Montrail Streaks
-Helly Hansen Lifa Boxers and Trail Wizard Shorts
-Carbo Pro, Carbo Pro 1200, and Thermolytes
-Princeton Tec Apex and Tec 40
-Kinesys Performance Sunscreen
-Rudy Project Ekynox glasses

Stormy Race Report, My First 100 Miler...And Certainly Not My Last!!

First and foremost thanks so much for all of the incredible support! It's really cool to log on and see so many phenomenal comments from everyone!

"Embrace your biggest disappointments, build on your greatest accomplishments. Keep your head held high, and you can not help but move forward."

Just five short weeks ago I was questioning my entire season of racing. I have not before faced constant adversity like I have encountered this season and it's been a great character builder that I am thankful for in hindsight.

I missed all of Feb with a double calf injury, the first injury to sideline me for any amount of time. It was July, after a one month hiatus from running, before my calves were back to 100%. The back to back DNF's on the bike in June were what did me in mentally though. Two goal races and nothing but a battered body to show for it. I did not truly realize how much I had riding on this 100 miler, but I was certain of one thing...I was not going to DNF under ANY circumstances!!

Stormy 2004 was my first ever ultra race. Back then the distance was 67km as it followed the exact route of The Test Of Metal Mountain Bike Race. My goals that year were a sub 7hr run time and a top twenty placing. I finished in exactly 20th with a time of 6hr53min. Just five months prior to that race I had no idea what an 'ultra run' even was, and had never run more than 21km in my life. In fact I had only run more than 10k three times in my life and can confidently say that I had run less than fifty times in my then 27 years on the planet. It's been quite the journey up to this point and Stormy 08 feels more like the true beginning of something for me rather than an ending.

The race began at noon on Friday, which I was a fan of for the most part. It eliminated a lot of pre race stress as I could sleep in my own bed in North Van the night before, did not need to set an alarm, and could fuel properly before the race began. Jackie and I pulled into Squamish at 11am, picked up some sushi and headed to the starting area.

Thirty people lined up to try and tackle the distance and we were off and running before we knew it. A group of four runner's headed to the front.

-Mark Tanaka, La Sportiva American Team and ultra experienced ultra runner
-Darren Froese, Canadian 100k National team for four years
-Bill Dagg, fourth place in 07 at just under 23hr
-Ryan Conroy, local lower mainland runner

THE FIRST 50 MILE LOOP:

I had no intentions of running with the leaders off the start, no matter what their pace might be. I have learned time and time again that I need to ease my way into a long distance race by taking it easy for the first 30-45min at the very least, and I comfortably fell into 5th place.


The first aid station on the course was 8.7km in. I had spent hours going over my pre-race plan and setting up Jackie to be my aid for the first lap. I wanted to get her into bed as soon as possible...whoa dirty minds...she was running her first ever fifty mile race the following morning, starting at 6am.

In my pre-race plan I 'scheduled' myself into the first aid station in fifty minutes. I had managed to guess and pace perfectly and I switched out a bottle with Jackie in EXACTLY 50min!


At this first aid station the four runner's ahead of me had all made water stops and I now found myself in the lead. I had no intention of leading from this early on, but I had also promised myself something else the night before. I was going to run MY race, and I was going to leave it ALL out there.

Next up was the Alice Lake parking lot, which I hit about thirty minutes later, and proceeded to sprint straight for the bathroom. I had inclinations leading up to the start that my stomach was not going to cooperate with me fully for the 100 miler. If I did not know there was a bathroom facility awaiting me at the lake I would not have even made it an hour before stopping.

Darren and Mark both passed my while I was sorting myself out and I managed to catch back up to Mark within 1km. We ran together for a bit and chatted about running stuff. I met Mark at Miwok, well kinda at Miwok, and then through blogging. Our five minute conversation was the longest we had spoken face to face. As we approached our 2nd aid station we hit our first technical section of the course...my favorite kinda running, and as I started to distance myself from Mark I simply heard him say,

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're good at this stuff!"

after Aid Station Two the course goes into a very long, non technical, slightly inclined, running section as it leads out towards 'The Corners' area of the Test Of Metal course. I had only realized three weeks out that Stormy was such a runnable course, with just 13,000 feet of elevation gain over the entire 100 miles. With this in mind I switched up my last minute training to include much more cadence work on hard packed flattish terrain. I'm glad I did this for although it may not have given me a physical edge, it certainly helped my mental preparation.

As we hit the 'Bob Mac' trail, about five km further, there is another outhouse available. I had been closing in on Darren for a few kms but unfortunately he had the same idea as I did and he stole my seat! I decided to put in a push at this point to distance myself from him in an attempt to sneak back into the lead, and to gain a gap before ducking into the bushes for my second bathroom break.

As I upped the pace I could not believe how good I was feeling. I truly felt like I was effortlessly flying along and I made the decision to roll with it. Although I did not intend to run this section at this pace, I was certain of the fact that I would go through numerous highs and lows throughout the race. I made the decision to take advantage of this high and I went to work on knocking down some kms.

I blew through 'Mike's Loop' and by the time I was on the climb leading into 'The Corner's' I made sure to get on top of my food and electrolyte intake. The formula is pretty simple on paper, but always tough to accomplish in practice. Average about one Thermolyte tablet every thirty minutes to stay on top of electrolytes, and consume 250-350 calories per hour of running. I was only a few hours into the run and my stomach was still functioning fine, at least in terms of allowing me to eat, so I knocked back a sesame snap for a 200 calorie boost and was off and running again at the top of the climb.

This section is always fun to run as it is laced with bermed corners within a snake like single track that goes on for a few kms. I was able to peer over my shoulder a few times and see that I had a lengthy gap. I was finally able to make my second pit stop and was running again within ninety seconds. About ten minutes later I came into the Edith Lake aid station, 27.2km in around 2h15m. I was ahead of my planned time, but again felt great and decided to stick with what was working. After a ten second splash and go I was climbing towards one of my favorite parts of the course, 'Entrail and Marc My Word'. These trails are some of the most technical of the entire course and I was confident that I would be able to make time on the rest of the pack through this section. There is some tricky foot work over log bridges, fallen trees, steep rock faces and gnarly terrain...I loved every second of it!

From there you pop out onto Mashiter. Not sure if that rings a bell with anyone, but Mashiter is the trail that I was bombing down in T.O.M. when I got cut off and stacked it hard on the down slope. I slowed my pace for a few hundred meters and surveyed the 'crash site'. I am still blown away by the fact that I got off with but a broken finger and a contused quad, for there is quite literally a fifteen foot long section of which you could effectively crash without breaking any major bones or puncturing any major arteries...I had somehow managed to fall into that fifteen feet of bush. I was very thankful for the fact that I was even able to run this race at all, as I had visions of the season ending injuries I had managed to escape a few months prior.

After another fun section aptly named 'Roller Coaster' I was back at aid station number two again. I quickly said hi as I continued running past. 'Quest University', my drop bag with Jackie, and the half way point of the first lap, were but a few km off. As I approached The Uni I heard a familiar voice asking for my bib number. Mae Palm is in her 60's and still competing at Iron Man, in fact she holds numerous age group records! We'll see where I am in three decades...overweight, out of shape, watching sports all day, and telling stories about what I used to do for fun!!

I hit the aid station, grabbed my bottle from Jackie, said hi to Roxy, and was off and climbing. The second largest climb of the race lay ahead. It was nothing too insane, but did go on for about 2.5-3km. It was here that my earlier pacing started to catch up with me. My body was feeling the effects of a high running pace and I was suffering from leg pain like I had not experienced before. My left leg, right at the hip and encompassing my I.T. band, my hamstring, my groin, and my abdomen, were all starting to scream at me. I refused to listen and although I did slow my pace slightly, I continued running up the hill. Thoughts of dropping out drifted into my consciousness.

This section was a loop that was only listed as 3.5km, but I'm gonna say it has to be closer to at least 5k. After bombing down some of my favorite bike trails in Squamish, The Pseudo Tsuga'a, I was back at the same aid station in around 45min. I switched bottles with Jackie again and was off on a 5.3km section towards the main aid station on course at 'The Powerhouse'. Again my leg flared on me and again my mind would play tricks on me.

"You're done man, you blew it. Went out too hard, gonna pay the price now. You're not going to be able to run 100 miles...you can't run for 160km...and you know this already...it's inevitable so why even fight it..."

By the time I came through 'The Powerhouse' the first time (another looped section) I was just trying to convince my mind to let me complete one lap of the course. A few Vancouver locals were manning the aid station and commented on my pace and how good I looked. I've learned the most important words you can learn in endurance racing over the last few years,

"So far, so good!"

One step at a time, one km at a time, one aid station at a time. The second you get ahead of yourself is the second you start asking for things to go wrong. No one in their right mind can fully process what it takes to run for 160km, but everyone can run for 1km, and after that you can run the five or six or seven km until the next aid station, and before you know it you're fifty km and 1/3 of the way through the race. One foot in front of the other, continuously, Relentless Forward Motion, never let your mind tell your body what it thinks your body can not do, for it is dead wrong every single time. The body is a machine, it's the mind that is weak. Train your mind and you control what your body can accomplish.

The flats leading away from this aid station and into the biggest climb of the event were torturous for me. All I wanted to do was walk them, but I knew I'd be hiking a huge hill within ten minutes anyways and I managed to fight my way through until that point.

As I had just come through 'The Powerhouse' aid station I was expecting to and supposed to intersect with Jackie, but I knew it would be tight for her to drive the 15km around to the aid station that I had but 5km to run to. As I continued along the flats I expected to see her at any moment...but I hit my turn away from this road before she appeared. She had all of my food and fluids for the next 21km, and I had no choice but to wait! I went about utilizing my time by stretching out my legs and thankfully she appeared in under a minute. She had her typical smile and laugh going on as she could not believe that I had beaten her here. After a quick exchange I was off on a power hike up 'Nine Mile Hill'. It is not Nine full miles from this point, closer to nine km, and with a few downhill sections thrown in. It was a nice break and exactly what my body needed.

The one time I ran this race in 04 the 'Nine Mile Aid Station' was on the big bridge at the top. I had drained my fluids and was counting down the steps until my refill. I came around the last corner, and there was no one there! The distance back to 'The Powerhouse' aid station was around 10km...I started to freak out a bit, but kept my feet moving.

I told myself to calm down as it would almost make sense for them to have the aid station a few hundred meters further along anyways. Sure enough, thirty seconds later and there they were. Unexpectedly the station was being maned, or should I say womaned, but Cheryl Johnson and Rhonda Schuller, two amazing locals that I have had the pleasure of meeting through the running community over the years. They both had big smiles, congrats, and even hugs to help propel me along. I wanted to stay and chat, but alas I had a goal time in my head to work towards. I remember looking at my watch and I departed at exactly 5h45m into the race, having covered somewhere around 60km...only 100 left to go!

I thoroughly enjoyed the next hours downhill back to 'The Powerhouse' as I know those trails inside out. 'The Ring Creek Rip' and especially 'The Powerhouse Plunge' are some of Squamish's more famous trails. The only troublesome thing was that I could already feel that my feet were starting to swell. I had no intention of changing my socks or shoes during the race, but was almost wishing that I had packed...well owned and packed, a half size bigger shoe. I knew I'd be feeling the squeeze on the second lap.

As I came around the final corner into 'The Powerhouse' I was greeted by some of my fellow 100 mile competitors. I ran into the aid station for the second time, had trouble spotting Jackie as the area was now crowed with support crews, and heard but one comment,

"His SECOND time through!!"

I then spotted Jackie, who was hiding right in front of me, grabbed my bottle and was gone again.

"See ya at the finish babe!"

I departed the aid station at exactly 6h40m, only 10.5km to the end of my first lap. As I entered 'Crumpit Woods' and the 'The Farther Side' I was again feeling the effects of my pace and I welcomed the rolling terrain that demanded a power hike over numerous sections. My stomach would not settle and I ended up stopping for my sixth bathroom break! (I didn't think you needed a play by play of each one and you may think this is too much detail as it is, but it did end up being a factor of my race and something I had to continually deal with)

I knew the route would go through 'Three Virgins' and 'Seven Stitches', but was not fully aware of the fact that we then had to tackle 'Summer's Eve'. You would think the latter to be easier than the first two, but no the last trail was a little slice of unexpected hell! Lots of power hiking, some tip toe descents and the ever wandering mind wondering when we would finish our first lap!

I finally popped out into 'The Smoke Bluffs' and had but a few kms till the end of my first lap. I glanced at my watch and noticed that I was going to come in under 8hr. My initial plan was to do somewhere between an 8hr - 8hr15m lap. As I was going over this in my head, my left leg cramped and seized up instantly! I had never had a cramp come on so quickly before and was completely unprepared for it. I nearly fell over.

If not for the experiences gained over the last few years of running and adventure racing I surely would have freaked out and thought my race was over. Just one year prior while running The West Coast and Juan De Fuca Trails back to back I had a very similar occurrence just 45km into that 130km run. I DID start freaking out then, and was sure my attempt to run those trails had come crashing down around me, however I was able to recover from it and still finish that adventure run strong, attaining my goals for that run in the process. I simply did the same here, took it down a notch, walked it off, and was able to run the final seven hundred meters to complete my first fifty mile lap.

I crossed the line in exactly 7hr53min03sec. I could see the look on people's faces. Outside of their excitement and support, pretty much everyone was thinking I had gone out WAY too hard on my first lap. I concentrated on getting out of there as quickly as possible, and after changing my shirt and shorts, downing 1/2 of an avocado sushi roll, and chugging almost a liter of flat Coke, I was off and running again in under five minutes. I departed for my second lap in 7hr58m, and was determined to prove that I knew exactly what I was doing...even if I didn't really have a clue as to what I was doing at all!!


GR

Stormy Quick Cap...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

17hr39min, 1st overall, new course record!!!

It hurt...a lot, but it was supposed to hurt, it was supposed to be hard, it was supposed to challenge me. I actually had thoughts of dropping out on the first lap but managed to fight through the mental weakness and keep my body moving forward the entire time. I suffered from some unexpected and unwanted stomach issues, but again, it's all a part of it. One hundred miles is a freakin long ways to run, stuff gonna happen in a hundred miles!!

Anyways, full blog report in the coming days, but for now, I get to enjoy my first solo victory of the year!

GR

12.5 Hr's And Counting...

I should probably be in bed right now but I'm still trying to piece together the perfect race plan for my first 100 miler. I've spent more than six hours over thinking this thing since yesterday, and I know full well that this plan will most likely go to hell before I even finish my first lap!!

I don't remember the last time I was so excited to race. I know I put my time in, my body feels great, nothing major bothering me, and very few minor 'niggles' to even mention. As long as my stomach co-operates I have set some pretty high goals for myself here...but first and foremost, just to finish...just to finish.

Wish me luck.
GR