uD 59 It's not about the job

Planning My Self Supported Ultra

This is fun! More fun than actually signing up for a race because when you plan your own you get to do all the course planning and timing. The route planning can be a lot of fun.

FACTS:

1) I travel at least once a month for work and the night times are long. So these times are the most probable time to hold a self supported ultra.

2) I can run as fast as 8 minute miles on roads. It goes slower from there depending on the steepness and technical difficulty of the trail. 

3) The amount of available sun increases until June 21st, the summer solstice, then the days get shorter. The highest the sun gets is 9:20 pm for Vancouver.

So taking these factors into account, I can run about 4 hours maybe 5 hours in complete sunlight. Even at dusk there is still a significant amount of sunlight. A 50K takes about 6 hours. A 50 mile takes almost double that.  I'm leaning towards 50K first

My Route:

The start is the backdoor of my hotel which is typically the Holiday Inn Express in Kelowna (elevation 1150’ or 350m). After a quick right and right again down some back streets into Mission Creek, ‘The Greenway’. The Greenway is flat and follows the creek for about 5 miles but I’m turning after about 2 ½ miles at Casorso Road taking a left. At the roundabout stay left and keep left. Casorso Road turns goes up steeply to Bedford Road. The elevation tapers off a bit but Bedford then turns into Stewart Road East. At the end of Stewart Road East is the parking lot for Myra-Bellevue Regional Park. The elevation at the parking lot is 1750’ or 533m.

Believe it or not the trail has recovered from this devastation

Inside the park my route follows the Scorched Sole 25K course from 2010. I say that very specifically because the Scorched Sole course changes almost annually either due in part to snow, fires or some other unforeseen circumstance. (True enough at this posting the Scorched Sole 2011 course has changed again) The 2010 course follows the Lost Lake Trail to the end where it picks up the Kettle Valley Railway trail. The Kettle Valley Railway or KVR was this old defunct railway built after the turn of the 20th century. It’s famous for these gigantic trestle bridges which spanned these beautiful canyons. Even today these trestles are considered quite a feat of engineering. In 2003, the Okanagan Mountain fire (hence the name Scorched Sole) many of these trestles mostly wood burned to the ground. It was only through the efforts of interest groups that these marvels were restored to their original splendor. (wow that sounds like it should be in a brochure).

The bottom line is I’m truly excited about this. It doesn’t impede on family business. Although there is no pomp and circumstance, I’m thinking there won’t be as much of the low that follows a grand event either. I’m already ruminating about a second and third ultra closer to home. The mojo is back!

Where did the Mojo go?

I’m having a bit of a crisis getting my mojo going for 2011. Maybe it’s the fact that there was so many people who I follow were doing the Goofy Challenge and my vicarious life has been satiated through there accomplishments. Or that some of these same people have yet another marathon or big race planned less than 16 weeks out. Or maybe it’s the fact that after working my ass off qualifying for Boston I came up short in the funding and was a no go for this year and most likely next year as well. The fact of the matter is these races cost a lot of money, hell, shoes cost a lot of money. But my passion is running and therefore to keep my sanity I must run.

I was listening to the DDRD, that would be Dirt Dawg’s Running Diatribe Podcast last week and I had a bit of an epiphany. His guest interviewer was a fellow blogger/runner who made the comment that she could not run without a goal, without a purpose. It brought to mind all the books on motivation and drive that I have read. Side Note: Why is it that people who lack it always seem to gravitate towards books about the subject matter? No matter, my research tells me they all seem to break it down into three things and depending on whose book you’re reading it comes down to:

1) Autonomy-that self driven, master of your own domain facet that must be met to keep the wheel turning.

2) Mastery – the sense that you are accomplishing your goal through endless repetition. Positive feedback loops, 10,000 hours of practice. No lie! Ask Malcolm Gladwell. A good coach doesn’t hurt either.

3) Purpose – the Why! Or better said the WHY? A lot has been written about this and I’m going to boil it down to Intrinsic and Extrinsic goals. Your goals have to be intrinsic if they are going to get you through the rough spots. They have to fulfill some need within you.

I need races to fulfill the why. A race that I had been eyeing was the Chuckanut Mtn 50K. Not to say that fate is playing against me but this year’s race sold out in 2 hours. Although the start line is about an hour from my house it filled up with the likes of Krupicka, Roes, and Jurek. Wow Ultrarunning celebs in my neck of the woods.

So I enter the spring season with no definitive goal and in essence a serious mojo problem.

Here is what I have for ideas so far:

1) Self supported Ultra. Probably a 50 miler or 12 hour. No bells no whistles, no fees . . .no problem

2) Join Club Fat Ass and enter a few of their races.

3) Find a cheap Ultra and just sign on the dotted line and open up those purse strings.

4) Get faster! Train for a 5K, 10K or a mile.

5) Take up another sport. . . Naaah!

Welcome to 2011

Like most people I’ve been reflecting on the past year, trying to sum up my highlights and accomplishments of 2010 from which to learn from. To be honest there wasn’t a lot going on. Two races in all, one of them a marathon. I want to share the highlight with you, here goes:
Run for Water – Once again I was able to do this charity run with my family or at least the abbreviated version. My wife and one son ran the 5K while I ran the 10K with my daughter in the BOB stroller.
BQ at the Okanagan Marathon – I’d be lying if I didn’t put this near the top of the list. But to be honest it was more about the journey than the destination. The race was just the execution of the plan. A 3 ½ hour blast of nirvana for sure but compare that to the hundreds of hours or prep and planning it’s a toss up to what I enjoyed more.
Social Media – I resuscitated my podcast this year after a long hiatus. I joined Twitter and the Daily Mile. I have a tough time explaining Social Media to my wife and friends. Not so much how it works but rather the group of friends I have acquired through the different avenues. It’s hard to explain how a person can empathize the sorrows and celebrate the joys of events, running related or not with people you have never met. But in my life I have very few running partners, I don’t belong to a club and yet running is a big part of what makes me tick. Social Media completes the loop. You work through a tough set of intervals or a set of hill repeats or even a killer long run and you want to share it with friends. I think everybody wants a little validation and if you are reading this blog I think you understand?
GOALS
For 2011 my goal is to communicate more. I plan to open up the relationships I’ve squandered. I plan to talk more. I’m going to blog more, tweet more,phone more friends. In a nutshell I am going to share my life more. Although they are just numbers I’m a numbers guy. I made 17 blog posts in 2010 down from the all time high of 34 in 2009. This year the goal is 52 which of course is a weekly average of 1. I think this is an achievable goal.
Running goals are as yet undecided. I have got a few that I’m still thinking about but have to discuss with the better half. After all when you come from a family of six, everything has to be a concerted effort. I’ll share that with you next post. Thanks for coming along!

You know your a runner when . . .

The only good thing about business travel with crappy weather in the forecast is the ability to check out and compare the fitness facilities. On my recent trip to Edmonton I was shut out of my usual haunts due to not booking early and the Grey Cup being held on the weekend. As such I checked out the Ramada in the not so downtown core. The rates were cheap due to its less than desirable location.

You know you’re a runner when you choose a hotel based on the treadmill you see in the photos of the fitness room or the proximity to a good trail or a track. This year alone I have chosen a hotel because:
1) It was on the marathon course I was running in the fall and I could preview the course this way.
2) It was about a mile from the only track in town and I had an interval workout scheduled.
3) It was less than a mile from a well known trail I had heard or read about.

All sad and yet all true. Yes I have an addiction!

So the Ramada Inn in Edmonton not only had a great rate but a great treadmill. Typically I prefer to run outdoors no matter what the conditions but this hotel was in a bad part of town AND it was -25C with snow on the ground. I know when to stay inside (most times).

The treadmill au jour was a sweet LifeFitness commercial grade model. After my workout I pondered purchasing just such a beast to replace the Sears/Walmart residential strength model I have in the basement. The comparison of the two makes you lean toward the LifeFitness brand for sure. The LifeFitness treadmill has a wide deck probably about 20” or so. The length of which I could probably lie down on (okay it was 60" but it felt longer). The decking itself was a thick rubber. And I could actually hear myself think or listen to Oprah, not like my home jobby that is more akin to a Harley Davidson Fat Boy idling with 88 cubic inches of pure thunder. This beauty also inclines to 15% whereas my home model goes to 6%. The differences clearly favored the LifeFitness right up until the price tag. LifeFitness treadmills start at about $2500. Yup that’s right I didn’t add an extra zero by mistake. Ah well, I’ll stick to my bought and paid for Sears special (gratis by my Mom who was gonna throw it away after her exercise New Year’s resolution failed).

I was inspired to run the treadmill after watching a Youtube video of Tony ”Naked Guy” Krupicka, the superhuman ultrarunner having a treadmill race against James Bonnett , another ultrarunner sponsored by The North Face. Check it out, It is pretty nuts! If you notice they start the race at 15% grade. I’m guessing the pace is like 8 mph. I tried 15% and made it up to about 5mph but had to stop because I feared getting shot off the back if I stumbled. Enjoy!

Sleep deprived for no good reason

It doesn’t help that I’m suffering from Post Marathon Blues and I lack a little bit of motivation right now. But this shoulder thing is really starting to bug me. It started as a small minor twinge that I felt occasionally when I ran and never any time other than that. Now four weeks post marathon it has built itself to a nice little crescendo. (That is music talk, folks)


I can lift my arm albeit slowly. I can crawl on all fours into a burning building (simulated), search for victims and drag a 180 lb dummy out a hundred feet through stacks of tires on one hand (attached to the same shoulder) and not even wince. I did that on Tuesday. I can throw a ball side arm and underhand did that Thursday

But throw a ball over the top has me screaming like a little girl. Okay I didn’t really scream but I wanted too. Trying to sleep can be a problem too. I never realized how much I move in my sleep until you get woken up because you’ve lifted you arm a certain way and the pain sends high voltage down my left side. It’s like an alarm clock for some sadomasochistic Spanish Inquisition torture freak.

I don’t mean to whine. I hate whiners. I’m from the School of Suck It Up. Although I am only at high school level, I haven’t graduated to the university level, the infamous U Suck. It is just a distraction that keeps me up at night and deprives me of rest. I mean I could be worse off. I’ve been following a few blogs. Colin has a heel problem that has dogged him forever but he managed a marathon though his problems. He’s now on the long road to recovery with a surgery option if need be, whatever the case he can’t run. I wish him well. Gary broke his 5th metatarsal in his right foot. Once again out for 8 weeks and no running.

I can still run. The twinge is still there and Jen says I shouldn’t aggravate it. I’m not so sure. I always take a layoff after an event: marathon, ultra or whatever. I race so infrequently that the event becomes the pinnacle of the year. So 4 weeks of little training I’m not sure if it is a coincidence this shoulder thing flared up, was it due to lack of exercise or is there something else. I could try and get my ass off the couch and run for a solid week and see if the pain goes down. But I keep waking up at 2 or 3 in the morning for a few painful minutes falling back asleep so when the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. I am beat.

In the mean time I’ve been to the doctor who sent me for an X-ray for which I await the result. The doc was skeptical the X-ray would show anything. He said an MRI would be better but in this province it takes about 15 months of waiting before you get an appointment. Unless you have $800 and can do it privately. For $800 I’d rather do something frivolous . . . like eat.

BMO Okanagan Marathon

It’s been a week since I ran the marathon. I think a week is long enough to mull over the events of the day, the past 18 weeks, or the past lifetime. At any point, I just jump back and forth and reflect.

THE DAY

It started out nice. Temperatures were in the 50’s which by all account is perfect running weather. I got a good night’s sleep and woke up at 5 a.m. raring to go. Although the race didn’t start until 7:15 and my hotel was only 10 minutes from the start line and parking was abundant, I wanted to make sure certain bodily functions had run their course before I ran my course (Enough said).

I got to the starting area with a half an hour to spare. It was your typical starting area for a big city race port-a-potties, people wearing garbage bags, old sweatshirts mulling about doing stretches, sprints and running on the spot same old stuff just a different race. A casual observation had me notice the sparseness of the area, I guess because the marathon started first and the half marathon was a half hour later with 15 minutes to the start the layout of the start area left room for 10 times the people that were there.

THE PODCAST

I knew from the beginning of the 18 weeks of training that I would be podcasting whilst I ran. You can listen to my production hear. I made it into a Rocky Balboa prizefighter type fight because those thoughts played in my head, a 26 round prizefight with only one winner. In marathons and in prizefights some people get the shit kicked out of them and get knocked out, hit the wall, bonk, or whatever term you want to use something inside them say “No Mas, No Mas”. Some are lucky enough to survive to the end only to be struck down by their time goal, a split decision if you will. Completing a marathon is a victory in itself but if you set a time goal like I did then you can win and lose when you cross the line. Which one you dwell on is up to the person. And then there is the win, the time goal complete. I guess you can knock it out by smashing your goal time by minutes or you can eek one out with a few ticks of the clock to spare. Win, lose or draw I was prepared to podcast.

In my head I was conscious of the fact that there were people around me so the stream of verbal diarrhea that explodes out of my mouth was for the most part corked. That’s okay though, I got to talk to actual people on the run (probably annoyed the Hell out of them)

THE PEOPLE

The people along the course and on the course were amazing. As the weather got worse the people that volunteered stuck it out. I mean runners are like furnaces, boilers chugging out a constant heat so once they get going a drop in temperature or a cold blowing wind only fazes them slightly. The volunteers are standing around for hours and when it starts to rain or a cold wind blows off the lake they certainly feel it. I take my hat off to the “vollies” they are my heroes of the race.

I saw a woman running in Newton Running shoes. It was the first time I had ever seen Newton’s so I had to ask. She pulled the earbuds out of her head as I proceeded to ask questions. She quickly told me about her supination problem. She was from Calgary and the stores there have them. A typical on the run meeting and it was over and done in a minute.

I met a guy doing his second marathon. His goal was 3:30 like mine and he had his eye on the pace bunny. It was late in the race and he was hanging on. He told me he couldn’t run after his first marathon. That just after the finish he felt nauseous and his legs started to spasm which sent him into a long post marathon recovery. But he was back one year later with his eye on the prize, 3:30. And then he took a walk break. . . gone in 60 seconds.

I talked to a women who was also running her second marathon. Vancouver was her first which she thought was very hilly compared to this one. To that I would have to agree. This one had no bridges, no hills and I think the announcer said 5 meters of elevation gain/loss. The woman told me that she had already qualified for Boston at Vancouver. She said her time was 3:40:59, which if you know Boston qualifying standards she used the full 59 seconds allowed for that age bracket. I was impressed. She too was aiming for a 3:30 finish. I never saw her after my break.

MY BREAK

After the first loop of 13.1 miles and well into the industrial park the urge to pee overwhelmed me. The course is a two looper, which you could almost call a four looper. You start in City Park and go north into the industrial park, loop back to City Park and go south into a residential area for another loop. You do that twice, hence four loops. On the second time into the industrial park I could not hold it and I detoured behind one of the many buildings on the course. I figured if I didn’t do it now I couldn’t do it on the south loop unless I peed in someone’s hedges. (A marathon faux pas).

I lost 22 seconds but saved a bladder. To that point I was probably right on 8 minute pace with maybe a few seconds to spare. The stupidity of trying to get it all back at once was a grave mistake but a calculated one. Psychologically, running with a crowd is easier than running alone. There was a small pack of about 20 runners on the 3:30 bunny. So after dropping 22 seconds they were that much more ahead of me and I was literally alone. I couldn’t see anyone behind me and only the 3:30’s ahead of me. I ran an 8:22 mile with a break and followed it up with a 7:40 mile. This was about mile seventeen. My legs really felt the energy drain after the catch up mile.

THE WALL

The wall came on the south loop in the residential area. To this point I was well hydrated (I drank at every aid station and had a bottle of Gatorade with me) and I was well fed (I had 3 Clif Shots). The legs felt okay and psychologically I was still in the game. But I could see myself folding . . . slowly. Mile after mile the time slipped and I couldn’t respond to it. I was whipped. The irony of being an ultramarathoner trying to run fast enough for Boston was comical. The farthest I’ve ever run is 100K, 62 miles so you would think a race of less than half that distance would be a walk in the park? Not so!

THE FINISH

The Garmin 305 on my wrist said 26.2 miles and yet the finish line was still a long kick away. Mentally that was tough. I remember being out on the course and there were cones at nearly every corner and course marshals telling you to go around the cones, “Go ‘round the cones!” So I did . . . religiously, I stuck to the course. Deep inside I didn’t want to cheat myself. If my Garmin read anything less than 26.2 miles at the end of the race I would have felt guilty or been guilty of not running a full marathon. So being the ethical runner I stuck to the course. When I hit the 26.2 mile mark on my Garmin I was kicking mentally kicking myself.

I approached the final turn and there was less than 100 meters to go. The clock read 3:29:55 or so I sprinted and bore down on the timing mats. In my head I was thinking about how far back from the starting line I started and I was cursing myself. Who knew I was going to cut it that close. I crossed the line with a gun time of 3:30:05 and a chip time of 3:29:38. The gun time is what counts to Boston so I still had 54 seconds to spare. The Garmin said I ran 26.38 miles which is 950 feet beyond 26.2. The chip time is what counts to me because now I’m a sub 3:30 marathoner!