race report - 2016 CANIrunning Snowflake Series Race 3 (10k) ... and what's in store for the next 366 days

it was january 1, 2016 ... and my clock radio woke me up playing neil young's "long may you run".

now if that isn't a way to start a new year i don't know what is.

as in the previous two years i planned to kick-off another new calendar year with the CANIRunning Snowflake Series 10k.  by situating this race on the schedule it has done two important things for me: 

1. it's ensured that i don't stay up partying too late (ok, who's kidding whom ... i was in zonked out in bed by 10pm anyway).
2. it's given me a reading on just how slow i really am (regardless of what the course surface conditions might be on any given New Year's Day).

pre-race
this year a few of my friends from the RunNinjas also registered to run the 10k, so i was able to carpool up to orillia with lewis, mariana, sarah and cher.  it was great being able to share their energy and excitement about starting off their running year this way as well - and we had great conversation on the way up about how to layer effectively for racing in the colder conditions (as i'd heard many times before, 'dress for the finish line, not the start line'!).

RunNinja powers - activate!

one of the things that i did do that was new this time around was to stud a pair of trail shoes - my ever-lovin' Skechers GOBionic Trail - as there was enough overnight accumulation to make traction a concern.  

Options are ready to go for tomorrow's Snowflake Series 10k - studded SKECHERS GOBionic Trail if icy and snow-covered or SKECHERS GOMeb Speed 2 if dry and clear! #golikeneverbefore #happynewyear

A photo posted by patrick voo (@pbfvoo) on Dec 31, 2015 at 2:39pm PST

 here's how sage (and i) did it!

this year the registration process was managed through Eventbrite as it appears that a new organization (Rotoract) has stepped up to help present the Snowflake Series for this season.  this contributed to a heightened sense of professionalism and formality (not that the race lacked anything in previous years) but it was the still an easily navigable and relaxed-feeling event upon arrival. 

prior to the start our RunNinja crew split up with some of us nabbing a warm-up run, others choosing to stay warm inside the minivan until the megaphone cattle call, and most of us making sure that we'd gone to the washroom at least once (!).  i managed to connect with a few other friends during my warm-up, including dave and cait of Team Running Free.  though i was proudly sporting my Skechers Performance Division racing singlet, seeing them in their Team RF gear reminded me of the tribe that i (for the time being) can only claim to having once been a part of.

l-r:  cher, sarah, mariana, yours truly, half of lewis

the race
the first thing that i noticed was that our resident NCAA runner was in the mix (and man, is she fast!) which meant that the best that i could even remotely hope for was second place ... but i also knew that since the running community in orillia was so strong that i would need to pull out some good stuff just to appear somewhat competitive.

after having done some reading about effective 10k race strategies i decided that i would actually plan to run positive splits.  the first kilometre turned out to be my fastest on paper - likely fueled by the desire to get clear of many of the tweener 5k runners who started like they were shot out of a cannon.  knowing that i was only going to try to push it for 10000m it felt strangely freeing to not worry too much about going out faster than race pace ... but of course time would tell.

the first 5k had me following a pack of about seven runners (including NCAA amanda) and the best that i could do was to keep them in sight.  i managed to catch up to and pass two runners over kms 3 and 4, but was also passed by one older (than me) runner who was humming along effortlessly.  being a 5k loop course one of the young bucks that i had passed decided to sprint home past me in the final 200m of his 5k race while i hairpin-circled around the pylon to tackle the home half of my race.

i did my best to hold a 'comfortably hard effort' for km 6-8 with the intention of pushing hard for the final 2 km.  the dynamic of the race was almost completely different  now though - besides greeting and being encouraged by some of the other runners as i passed them coming in to wrap up their first loop (and having one woman holler out "go rainbow!"), it got awful quiet.  as i had no one in front of me (that i could see anymore) and no one breathing down my neck so it felt like a solo workout run.  of course the upside of that was that no one passed me in the second half of the race.

always the poser!

i did manage a half-decent final push to cross in 42:22 by my watch - not the kind of result that i was hoping for but i knew that the road conditions would really dictate what sort of day i would have.  i also admit to still feeling like my legs were a little beat up from the hill repeat workout that jim led the RunNinjas through two nights before.

post-race
immediately after crossing the finish line i turned around to scoot back out onto the course in search of my RunNinja compatriots.  in turn i found lewis, then cher, then mariana and then sarah and had the privilege of helping shoo each one of them down the homestretch.  afterwards it was time for a cup of hot chocolate and a timbit (courteously provided by Rotoract Orillia) and then a warm car ride home.

all in all it was another great event organized as part of the CANIrunning Snowflake Series, and an enjoyable start to the racing season of 2016.  at this point the plan for this year's competition schedule will include a bunch of 5k and 10k races in the hope of upping my baseline speed, but i do have a few notable destinations on the radar:

• the 120th boston marathon - my first time!
• the scotiabank ottawa marathon - joining the RunNinjas in celebrating the conclusion of jim's planned ultra-journey from running the scotiabank fredericton marathon and continuing on foot across to ottawa to finish with the marathon there
• the ENDURrun stage race - where i'll tackle all seven stages in an effort to raise support for the Transcend Running Academy (please support me if you can!)
• the Run Woodstock Hallucination 100 miler - my first belt-buckle attempt, and hopefully a Western States qualifier!

plenty of fun times to pack into the next twelve months!  here's hoping that you are setting some faith- and fitness-stretching goals for yourselves as well ... lookout 2016, here we come!  #GOlikeneverbefore

race gear for the 2016 Snowflake Series 10k:

• Skechers Performance Division racerback singlet
• under armour heatgear reversible l/s
• injinji compression calf sleeves
• Skechers GOBionic Trail
• hind compression capri pant
• rr-x compression no-show socks
• saucony run mitt

race report - 2016 CANIrunning Snowflake Series Race 3 (10k) ... and what's in store for the next 366 days

race report - 2015 Sulphur Springs Trail Run 50k

if there's anything that i've learned in my limited foray into the world of trail and ultra-running its that the competition is less with the field of contestants and more with yourself.  it truly is more of a process of self-discovery than speed-discovery.

with that in mind, i feel like an ultra race report ought to highlight lessons learned over mile-markers passed.

lesson #1 - always set two wake-up alarms
the sulphur springs trail run is an annual event taking place in and around ancaster, ontario following the trails of the dundas valley conservation area.  that's about 90 min. from my house which puts it at a manageable travel distance on the day of the race.  i'd planned to get up, get in a shakeout run, eat breakfast, nab a shower and then hit the road in order to arrive about 80-90 min. before the start of the 50k distance (50 and 100-milers would have an earlier start).  working backwards that would mean a wake-up time of 3:00 am, so i set my trusty clock-radio to the appointed hour ... and just before grabbing my shut-eye thought that it might be prudent to also set an old wristwatch alarm just in case.

as in just-in-case-you-set-your-clock-radio-for-3:00-PM!

thankfully those annoying little beeping sounds emanating from that timex knock-off did the trick in terms of rousing me out of my slumber.

gotta know that the day's going to be an interesting one after that kind of start.

Sulphur Springs 50k here I come! #getyourtrailon #GOlikeneverbefore

A photo posted by patrick voo (@pbfvoo) on May 23, 2015 at 1:18am PDT

lesson #2 - 'tis better to have taped and lost than to never have taped at all
in my last pre-race entry i noted that i'd been experiencing some intermittent knee pain in the weeks leading up to this race.  electing to believe that discretion is the better part of valour (at least this time!) i took three days off last week in order to rest up my knee - and tried to incorporate some additional specific exercises and rolling pin application as a number of friends let me know that they thought that i was dealing with ITB syndrome.  i still wasn't convinced that that was the real culprit as my symptoms didn't all match up with the typical indicators (e.g. i could run on it without pain) and i had been very attentive over the past 14-16 months to work on glute and core strength.

still, not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, when my friend rhonda-marie offered to apply some k-tape if i showed up early enough at the start line i thought that i had nothing to lose (thanks #batgirl!).  wearing kinesiology tape was a new experience, and while i could feel that bit of additional support that it provided it might well fall into the same category as compression socks for me - probably more of a psychological benefit/confidence boost than anything.

how did it work out for me?  a number of friends who i encountered on race day (as well as others that i only really crossed paths with via social media) asked how my knee was holding up out on the course - and the short answer is that it wasn't an issue whatsoever.  i guess +1 for k-tape!

lesson #3 - if you're out there, you're a runner
our 7:30am start included the 25k and 50k racers in a 'starting chute' formation a bit of a ways back from the actual timing start/finish timing mat because some of the longer distance runners were already completing first loops.  it was a bit of a mass gathering which meant that faster and slower runners were all bunched together for the first kilometre or so - the saving grace of that was that the initial few hundred metres were on a very wide swath of trail, albeit it a 58m or so drop (providing a foretaste of the ascent that each loop would conclude with ...).  since the full trail loop was 20k both the 25k and 50k competitors would have to complete an initial 'spur' or abbreviated section of the trail loop - and this worked well, as it provided enough incentive to run a controlled pace from the get-go.  the conventional wisdom about running an ultra well is that it's not about who runs the fastest pace but who slows the least - so a glob of people all together for the first 2.5k or so was just fine.

after the 25k runners had their initial turnaround point (a course-marshaled hairpin that almost had me sideswiping my friend kathleen) the group thinned out exponentially.  it was a strange transition to go from a shoulder-to-shoulder parade out on the trails to being almost completely alone at the 5k mark.  where it got really interesting (at least from a social point of view) was after the first 10k spur, because then i started intersecting with some of the 50 milers, 100 milers and 100 mile relay runners.  from that point forward it was one big encouragement-a-palooza out there, as i looked on with (and voiced my) admiration at/for runners who were tackling the more 'conventional' ultra-distances - and from time to time i might scoot by someone and hear them say "you're looking really strong!".  it reminded me that big, small, faster, slower, we were all out there to do battle with those forces of inertia, or negative energies and histories that might try to persuade us that it's easier to not run.

one particularly inspiring individual was a man competing in the 25k race that i passed several times - each lap i let him know just how much of a warrior i thought that he was.  on spec i figured that he had suffered some kind of stroke or had a particular type of palsy, as the one side of his body including his arm and leg seem to be curled a bit and certainly had a limited range of motion.  after doing some research on the race results i found out that his name is jess heroux and that in 1993 he had an aneurysm which indeed had paralyzed his right side.  but the dude was a beast out there, and made my efforts seem mediocre in comparison.

lesson #4 - keep rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'
during our wednesday night trail runs sensei jim has (half-seriously) offered to provide workshops on how to fall properly.  it involves something of a tuck-and-roll method to use your momentum in an effort to minimize any significant impact and also to allow you to get up and keep going as soon as possible.

while i didn't physically practice this, i took good mental notes.  and i'm glad that i did.

twice the trails came up and bit me.

the first time was at about 28km when i got distracted by trying to reel in a runner who was about 20m in front of me.  by fixing my attention on trying to catch him i became totally oblivious to the 'rooty' section of path that we were traversing.  even the runner behind me said (post-fall) that she could totally see my tumble coming.

but it was a real 'matrix' moment in the process of being tripped up and falling - while i instinctively put out my hands to brace for impact (thank goodness for my nathan quickdraw elite handheld bottle providing a crash pad) i also found that my brain switched into super slo-mo mode and i had enough wherewithal to process that i should turn into the ground with my shoulder (left was my preference) and tumble along with the ground rather than into it.  and you know what?  even though i went down i managed not to miss a beat - and actually caught that runner without any additional effort.

the second fall came at around 40km in - this time it was just a matter of mental fatigue from having been out on the course for about 3h45m at this point.  in a road race you can get away with shuffling your feet a bit more, but not so on terra natura.  the events of this fall were almost identical to the previous one except that my initial bracing action resulted in my payment of a pound of flesh to the spirit of sulphur springs.

call it machismo, adrenaline or outright stubbornness i didn't think much of this scrape after i got up to keep going - until i thought my waterbottle was leaking from landing on it.  and then i realized that i wasn't carrying my bottle in the hand that felt all wet.  yep ... i was leaving behind your regular CSI-worthy bloodtrail dripping off of my hand, spraying DNA samples with every cycle of arm swing.  i even had to refrain high-fiving some of my friends who happened to be running towards me on the same path for fear of hemoglobin spatter blinding them after we'd make contact.  thankfully i wasn't far from the next aid station where they graciously bandaged me up in F-1 pit-stop fashion so that i didn't lose much time.

all in all i spent 95-98% of my time on the trail running, only having really stopped to:

• get rid of a rock in my shoe (always, always, always take the time to do this - especially in an ultra as a minor irritation now can become a major headache later)
• take a quick trailside pee
• powerhike several steep hills (i found the course very runnable - only 50% of the hills required slowing to walking pace, and many sections of the course you could even plot to take the tangents to save time/steps)
• avail myself of nutrition at four aid stations (i downed eight GU gels - a record, i might say - but also picked up something at every aid station but several times managed to just keep moving through ... i paused once to re-fill my bottle, once to grab a PB+J sandwich from my drop-bag and twice to down a handful of pretzels).

lesson #5 - trail markers won't do any good if you don't follow them
i thought that i'd done my due diligence in advance of this race considering i wasn't familiar with the dundas valley conservation area trail system before (unless i'd traversed some of it following the orienteering lead of my friend sean in last fall's raid the hammer adventure race).  i watched various race recap videos on YouTube, read and re-read the 2015 race participant guide.  and then having completed a full first loop of the course, you'd think that i knew where i was going.

you'd be mistaken.

i think that by the time that most of the 50k runners had completed the first loop a few of the less-necessary marshals were relieved from their posts - and since there were other hikers and cyclists on the course some of the yellow caution tape which had been draped across trail intersections to indicate the correct direction of travel had been dropped to form more of a 'line in the sand'.  and therein lay my problem.

at 29.4 k i missed a hard right turn uphill onto "Lookout Trail", and wound up scooting down a section of trail (after obviously skipping over/past some fallen caution tape) for just over 500m before i came across a 50-mile runner going the opposite way.  he was gracious enough to yell "are you going the wrong way?", to which my immediate response was "am i?!?".  he replied back "you'll know at the bottom", since i was descending about 20m into another intersection.  at that nexus i found three cyclists resting on a bench and asked whether or not they'd seen any other runners coming down the path that i'd just run down - and to my dismay they responded "no, everyone's coming from that way" pointing to their immediate left.  since i'd read in hal koerner's field guide to ultrarunning that the rules (usually enforced by the honour system) of ultras is that any diversion from the official course must be rectified by returning back to the point of departure to reassume the actual route i turned around to climb back up the hill and rejoin the Lookout Trail after covering a little more than an extra kilometre.

what did it cost me?  well, aside from just some additional discomfort from hammering my right big toe for that extra 1100m or so (c'mon, what's an ultra without a blackened toenail?) i know that i lost a couple of places in the chase.  in the end i finished the race feeling strong, albeit not having laid everything out on the line ... i felt like i basically cruised through the entire race.  crossing the timing mats in 4:38:41 (meeting my 'C' goal) i officially claimed 14th place overall (meeting my 'B' goal).  in terms of age-group placing, the results table shows me in 13th since their official age-group bracket is 0-98 years ... but if you don't mind some creative accounting, had there been a 40-49 male AG then i would have taken 4th spot (and meeting my 'A' goal).

lesson #6 - free massage?  did somebody say free massage?
even though i felt good crossing the finish line i knew that i would be wise to start the recovery process as quickly as possible - so i put in a 5-10 minute walkabout the grass and then made my way to the food tent where they graciously provided some juice, fruit, yogourt and a pulled pork (or pulled chicken) hot sandwich.

there was also a bunch of massage tables set up courtesy of students from trillium college.  after signing up on their 'reservation list' i waited all of about two minutes before my name was called and i was introduced to marcy who asked a few quick questions about any injuries, medications or current aches/pains.  even though i noted the k-tape on my knee she chose to focus on my achilles tendon (which had been surgically repaired after a complete rupture in 2006).  as i lay on the sun-heated massage table and had my right calf, hamstring and glute-area worked on i wondered to myself why i'd never taken advantage of post-race massages before.  i suppose that in larger races when it's been offered the line-up/wait time was prohibitively long ... but i will be looking for this added-value service again.  not sure whether or it not the actual massage was of any real benefit, but the relaxing time on the table made it worth the while.  and between the massage, the k-tape and wearing my tiux compression socks all the next day i'm pleased to say that my knee has not acted up really since the race.  after all was said and done i wonder if maybe it wasn't just an atypical ITB issue but in fact some minor degree of lateral meniscus tear from attempting to find faster (and safer) ways of bombing down trail descents by employing a 'slalom' style of foot placement (angling from side to side).     

----

all told this was an excellent race experience - the trails were in superb condition (i heard numerous times that it looked the best that others had seen in years for this event ... as witnessed by a new course record in the 50k distance) and the organization was top notch.  the weather was about as nice as it could be, and getting to/from the locale was a piece of cake.

speaking of cake, it's time to enjoy some ... a full week off until resuming training for the north face endurance challenge series 50-miler.  woo hoo!

 photo by keith lascelles

race gear for the 2015 sulphur springs trail run 50k:

• Skechers Performance Division racerback singlet and split shorts
• sugoi arm warmers (Team Running Free branded)
• darn tough tab no show light cushion socks
• nathan quickdraw elite handheld water bottle
• skechers gobionic trail
• buff original headwear

race report - 2015 Sulphur Springs Trail Run 50k

race report - Raid The Hammer 2014 (Half-Raid)

my friend sean has been asking/nagging/goading me for a while to try an adventure race with him.  this time around he succeeded.

as a way to round out my running year i decided to join him and another friend of ours (norm) in tackling a running-specific adventure race put on as part of the Don't Get Lost Adventure Running Series called "Raid The Hammer" (the "Hammer" being the hamilton, ontario area).  since norm and i were adventure racing virgins (sean has seen many an adventure race, including mulitiple disciplines such as canoeing, snowshoeing and mountain biking - and varying durations, from 8 hour to 24 hour events), we registered for the 'half-raid', advertised as being an 11-13km trail running and trekking distance.

of all of the races which i'd signed up for this year, i found myself to be the most 'excited' for this one.  there were other races - 10ks, marathons, ultras - about which i was more eager to compete, but this one genuinely had me smiling about what would take place.  this was most likely the case because i wasn't sure at all what i was in for, so everything would be new - and because i had no expectations whatsoever.  it was shaping up to just be a nice outing with some good friends.

race day
sean, norm and i travelled down to the start line in ancaster with three other mutual friends who comprised a rival team (we competed in groups of three).  drew, joanne and brenda were each veteran adventure racers, so norm and i sat quietly in the back of the truck knowing that we were greenhorns in this mix - but maybe that would play out to our advantage. 

the pre-race pick-up all happens the day of the event as the course routes and maps have to be kept hush-hush to preserve the integrity of the challenge.  upon receipt of our kit, we joined all of the other teams in reviewing the checkpoints that we would have to visit and identifying the best possible routes to form our attack plan.

norm (top) and sean (right) charting the course

after a briefing by one of the race organizers we had about 15 minutes to get suited up for the day's outing.  this included ensuring that we each had the required gear (a permanent pen, whistle, emergency blanket, compass, first aid kit, toques) as well the fuel, hydration, and protection (sean recommended donning some shin pads in anticipation of the bramble that we would encounter ... and was i ever glad that i listened) that would carry us over hill and dale.

two of us sporting Skechers Performance! (and notice the body armour ...)

our team - "The Three Asiagos" (yep, what a cheesy name ...)

the mass start, and the coldest part of the race

it was a mass start, but from there it really was choose-your-own-adventure in terms of how to get from A to B.  while we were clumped up in traffic for the first 15 minutes or so, it didn't take long for the teams to thin out as various groups had climbing strengths, others were more daring in terms of the routes selected.  we were out to have fun, but sean, norm and i each have a competitive edge so we certainly didn't want to be batting clean-up for the entire race.

the checkpoints varied from being distinct hole-punch shapes that had to be recorded on your team sheet, to digital chip synchs, to fill-in-the-blank place names.  on the half-raid there were no 'scatter' options, so each team had to travel together to every checkpoint, so although there were moments when one of us might be out running ahead of the other two it really served to no significant advantage (except to perhaps urge on the entire team's pace).  we traversed all sorts of terrain - mostly groomed trail (wide or single track), but also plenty of trail-blazing up and down steep embankments, over mossy rocks, through mud marshes and streams.  the final leg of the race took us through the neighbourhoods of the community of dundas, so there was even pavement with which to contend for the so-called "11-13km".  across all of this i was pleased that i'd elected to don the Skechers GOBionic Trail as my footwear of choice, as they provided me more than ample traction and stability.

sean (who was our orienteering lead, and an outstanding one at that) had noted for us that you really couldn't gauge your progress by the position of any other teams - partly because you didn't know who might be lost, have missed checkpoints, or even part of the 'full raid' distance which came from the opposite direction that the half-raiders were moving forward into.  all in all we found most of the other racers a friendly and obliging bunch - although we did come across an incident on a stretch of trail that was busy with sunday afternoon hikers.  apparently one of the teams had been in such a rush that on a narrow track they brushed by two ladies walking their dogs, inadvertently knocking the one woman over which resulted in her having a deep gash to her knee.  it was a hit-and-run, but our team and one other (not having seen the incident itself) came upon the injured woman, at which point sean quickly jumped into action - pulling out his first aid kit, applying some antibiotic cream and applying a gauze-and-tape wrap to the wound.  the lady and her friend were very appreciative of the help, while one of the women from the other team who'd stopped was beside herself apologizing on behalf of all the half-raiders:  "we're not usually like that!", adding "did you get their bib number?" and "what did they look like?"  there was no real additional information that our victim could offer, but before we carried on to the next checkpoint (which was very close to that site) one of the course marshals actually happened upon the scene so he was able to at least bring some official representation on behalf of the event, and probably secure the appropriate information for liability purposes.

all told, we finished our race in just over three hours, covering a total of 17.24 km by my garmin GPS.  this was to norm's chagrin, as he was repeatedly reassured that this would be 'just about a 10k race'.

"10k my a**"

final checkpoint - 20th place (out of 51 total teams, 16th out of 42 adult open category teams)

post-race

this adventure race has been noted for the food and swag afterwards, and the organizers certainly didn't disappoint this year.  from the two food trucks providing complimentary lunch meals to a pair of free socks from Fox River, everybody got plenty spoilt.  even following the announcement and presentation of top finisher awards, the remaining teams were randomly invited to come and pick something from the prize table - so i got to walk away with a technical running hat as well. 

sean has already hit norm and i up about a winter adventure race - and while i am still in the midst of crafting my 2015 competition schedule, i admit that having now been indoctrinated into the ways of AR i would seriously consider it!  and definite high-fives go to Don't Get Lost for this fantastic Raid The Hammer event - if you are at all looking for something different from the grind of road races, or even trail racing for that matter, i unreservedly recommend giving this event a lookover!



race report - Raid The Hammer 2014 (Half-Raid)

the Skechers hit parade

make no mistake - i know just how privileged i am to be in the small percentile of runners on the planet who have the luxury of choosing from a closet full of shoes.

i also recognize that many of the best runners alive today may not have shoes at all.  and certainly not ones that fit them properly, or that they were able to select for themselves.

however, given my context in an middle-upper class community situated in a first world nation, i've had frequent conversations with people about what pairs of shoes are the 'best' to run in for particular types of workouts and/or races.  since i do run six days per week (with some doubles) and have the habit of not wearing the same footwear two workouts in a row, i have definitely developed some preferences on what shoes help me to feel at my optimal level for any given day.

so without further ado, here is my top five list of shoes, period:

1.  Skechers GObionic
   
   
   
   super light, fast, zero-drop, ultra-flexible, wide forefoot - i'd take these anywhere, anytime (if only the upper didn't tear on me they'd still be in my rotation).


2.  Skechers GOrun 2
   
   
   
   if i want to go fast, these are perfect.  if i want to recover, again these will do the trick.  lightweight, work-with-the-foot dynamics - i think that i've recommended these shoes more than any other to my friends.


3. Skechers GOmeb speed 2
   
   
   
   these got me across the line in Boston-qualifying time. racing flats that have great pop to them and make you forget that you have shoes on your feet at all.


4. Skechers GOrun ultra
   
   
   perfect recovery shoe - but also the pair that most encourages me to forefoot strike, so they feel primed for bursts of speed. #GOalldaylong


5. Skechers GObionic trail
   
   
   
   for all of your off-roading plans.  nimble, airy, solid all-terrain traction and just enough impact dispersion material.  i should race in these more.

the Skechers hit parade

getting ready to go long

the time has come.

after about seven solid months of training i'm about to tackle a brand new racing distance tomorrow (56km and on trails, no less).  this is my goal race for 2014 and i'm excited about venturing into new territory.

i'm thankful not to be embarking on this alone - aside from the support that i've received from the barrie roadrunners, the barrie trail running club and the MEC barrie running ninjas, my extreme ultrarunning friend extraordinaire jim willett is coming up with me to run the same race as part of his training for his attempt at setting a new record for running the bruce trail end-to-end.

as far as how i've been readying myself for this event - i've shared some thoughts before on training plans before - and like any lazy yet semi-resourceful DIYer i googled ultramarathon training plan and wound up with results that would help someone gear up for anything from 50km to 100mi.  the plan that i settled on using as a basic groundwork was the first hyperlink on the results page - the Runner's World "Ultimate Ultramarathon Training Plan".  as i'm prone to doing, i beefed it up a bit with a few extra runs here and there ... even though the plan is set out for someone tackling a 50-miler (and i'm only going 35 miles).  the one new thing that following this plan did introduce was tracking in imperial distances - i switched my garmin 305 so that my laps were no longer in kilometres.  this was an interesting experiment, as i previously found a mile extraordinarily long when being used to training in kilometres - but during the past seven weeks or so i've actually come to quite enjoy that as my baseline distance.

carboloading has been a bit sketchy for this week - work has been intense and so i've often found myself eating late and skipping what otherwise would be my intra-meal snacks.

i'm still unsure as to what shoes will be on my feet, but i think that i will start out with the skechers GObionic trail and then pack the GOrun ultra in my dropbag in case that i want to swap out partway through.  i'm also thinking seriously about wearing compression socks since i anticipate being on my feet for 6.5-7 hours, but it's also supposed to be pretty warm and i'm not sure that i want that much of a layer on my legs.

nutrition is a huge piece of the puzzle, and i think that i will rely on a combination of gels, shotbloks, granola bars and trail mix.  depending on what the aid stations are stocked with i might also pick up a few treats now and again.

i'll be using a handheld waterbottle (the nathan quickdraw plus) as i've been training with one and it seems to work well for me.

that's it for now - my goal is to finish the race.  period.  but i will in the car with jim for about 100 minutes each way and he's already been planting in my head the idea that i could finish close to the leaders.

believe me when i say this - i'm out there to enjoy this race.  

oh, and #GOlikeneverbefore!
 

getting ready to go long

road review - skechers GObionic trail

you may know by now that i'm a big fan of skechers performance footwear.  it started with the GObionic, then the GOrun 2.  upon recommendation to wear trail shoes for winter running here in the often tundra-like region of barrie, ontario, canada i took full advantage of a sale on amazon.com to avail myself of a pair of GObionic trail shoes.

i consulted my trustworthy facebook group of running shoe geeks with regard to sizing and the consensus came back to order the same size in these as i had in my current GObionics.  shoefitr had fed back to me a variety of sizes based on the shoes that i plugged into its calculation engine, and without a consistent result i wasn't 100% confident about sizing it based solely on its recommendations.  but i have to say that when the shoes first arrived, i thought that even the geeks had steered me wrong - the 9.5s that i ordered felt much too snug.  i was later to discover that that was because (a) there's a difference in fit of a trail vs. a road shoe and (b) the 4mm drop insole was much thicker than i needed it to be.  i was able to size the GObionic trail up properly with a simple swap of insoles (from my GOrun 2, which i wear without the insole anyway).

to date i've logged maybe 80km or so in these shoes - enough to give a review a whirl.  

• fit - although initially confused by the feel of the shoe when i donned them, i quickly came to appreciate the cradling of the midfoot and the still more-than-sufficient roominess of the forefoot.  had i not traded insoles and decided to stick with a 4mm drop, i think that i may have been better served by taking a half-size larger in the gobionic trail than what i wear in the gobionic.
• aesthetics - the orange and extremely luminescent yellow colourway is hot, baby!  decent reflective markers on the toecap and heel collar too - all meaning that in just about any light conditions you can see these bad boys coming!
• weight - at just around 8 oz. this is definitely what i like in any kind of running shoe.  not heavy enough to interfere with the stride cycle - and i have other shoes that i can use if i want to include real hamstring work with each turnover.

• customizable drop - as noted above, 4mm or 0mm are your options and both are doable with this shoe.  i still have preferences for no heel-to-toe differential, but didn't quite want to go insole-less with this pair.
• outsole - i believe that for my purposes - currently winter running, and then moderate trail running in the spring/summer - the lug design is sufficiently aggressive and resilient.  i've read other reviews commenting that the durability of the resalyte compound is a little less-than-desired, but i won't really know until i hammer out some more miles in them.
• upper construction - the materials feels decently airy without being so porous or thin that you can see right through them.  i understand that they also work well to filter out bits of debris, but are not reported to be conducive to be particularly weatherproof.  here i just have to say that i've tested these in up to 25cm of fresh, wet snow and did not have a soaker until i plunged my foot into a cleverly disguised pothole, full to the brim with sub-zero brine-water.  add to that my favourite skechers feature ever - the integrated tongue - and i don't think that i'll have a problem seeing the winter through in these.
• laces - the only thing that i really don't like at the laces that comes with the gobionic series.  they just feel cheap - not to mention that i'm not a fan of round laces either.  after the insoles they were next to be changed, swapped out for oval laces (retrieved from my failed nike shox turbo oz experiment).

check out the video comments below!

given that these are now the frontrunner for my limberlost challenge race-day shoes, i'm giving the skechers GObionic trail a four-and-a-half feet rating.

try them out yourself and let me know what you think!

road review - skechers GObionic trail