All about kills and blisters: Ragnar Relay Niagara race report

There's nothing quite like living in a van down by the river. :)

Unless it's spending two days in a van with five people you'd never met and trying to plot out how you're going to run 300+ km together.

That was the task that lay before us at this past weekend's Ragnar Relay Niagara as one of two teams sponsored by Reebok Canada.  The first team was a 'corporate team', comprised of 12 employees of Adidas-Reebok, and our team was an 'ultra' team where none of us was officially employed by Reebok (although one of our members is an officially sponsored Reebok athlete).  I had the honour of being recruited to the ultra team by my friend Martyna, and even though I had no practical concerns of covering the distance that would be allocated to me (a total of 49.6km) I was legitimately worried that I would be completely outclassed by my fellow ultra-mates.  I'm happy to say that throughout our time on the road together the last thing that I felt was out of place, and that's entirely to the credit of my generous and incredibly encouraging new friends.

R to L:  Sara, Elisa, Jeph, Filsan, photobomber, Mandy

The overall schedule had our team beginning with the 8:30am wave on Friday May 31 from Legion Fields in Cobourg, Ontario.  We met initially at the Reebok Canada offices in Woodbridge and then loaded our van and traveled in teams to the start line - once there we were treated to a 10-minute 'safety essentials' video (including guidelines about obeying traffic laws and not pooping on people's lawns) and then it was just about waiting to see our first runner (Filsan) embark on the first leg of the journey.  To be fair since we were an 'ultra' team she would be taking on the first two legs of the journey - we had coordinated in advance to split each person's allotment of miles into three double-leg segments instead of six single-legs, thinking that this would provide us with more of an opportunity to get into a decent rhythm as well as not having to play 'race the racer' to the next exchange point (especially since the shortest leg was something like 3km, and watching vans depart from that exchange to get to the next one was akin to watching an episode of The Amazing Race).

Rather than provide a detailed blow-by-blow of the entire 300km run let me provide some highlights from the three segments that I took on, along with some other notable observations and moments ...

Legs 9 & 10 I received the snap-bracelet (in place of a baton) hand-off from a speedy Elisa at the Canlan Ice Sports complex in Oshawa at just before 4pm on Friday.  I tried to offer the team a guesstimate of when I might finish up my 15.4kms, but honestly having just come off of the Sulphur Springs 50 miler not a week before and having twisted my left ankle nicely just two nights before on the trails I wasn't confident about presenting anything that looked like a run effort.  I offered up "1:15 if I'm feeling good, probably more like 1:20-1:25, and less than 1:15 if I run stupid" - and this is what the team had to work off of in terms of timing their arrival at C4 Church in Ajax (exchange point #10).

The legs were officially given the ratings of "easy" (leg 9) and "hard" (leg 10), but from what I could tell the only quality that differentiated the two was that leg 10 had about a kilometre-long stretch that wound its way through a wooded park on dirt trail.  Some of the other legs that were ranked "hard" or "very hard" had significant elevation gains, but for the most part I found that the rating scale had more to do with how much of a clear, safe path runners had underfoot.

I should also note here the "kill" factor - I learned that when you passed a runner on any given leg that was counted as a "kill", and you tallied the number of kills you accumulated and marked them on the side of your team van (along with all sorts of other expressive decor).  Of course the competitor in me found this to be motivating, so the kill count was an important part of each leg.

It was within the first kilometre of leg 9 that I logged my first kill ... and then before completing km 2 I tracked another runner down.  2 kills in 2 km.  "Hmmm" I thought ... I wonder if I could keep this ratio up - and so it went that kilometre after kilometre I was able to catch up to at least one other runner.  By the time that I hit 15km on my Epson RunSense 810 I'd racked up a kill count of 15, and was shoulder-to-shoulder with another runner.

400m to go on a straightaway section of path, with the exchange point in sight.

We each started to pick up the pace.

We each saw one another's raise.

By the time that we had less than 80m to go we were full-out sprinting ... and I was grateful that I'd chosen to wear to the Floatride Run Fast Pro, as the quicker the pace got the more responsive it was.  In the end I managed to edge out my fellow Ragnarian by the slimmest of margins, only to look around and note that my team was not there for the bracelet hand-off.

I had run faster than I said I would, and arrived too early.

Apparently the team joked that I would finish in and around 1:10, but I came in closer to 1:08 ... and my friend Jeph (who had the next legs) was still in the port-a-potty.  After a bit of a mad scramble to try to locate him I was able to complete the exchange and he took off like a rocket.

Distance:  15.7k / Time:  1:07:49 / Shoes:  Reebok Floatride Run Fast Pro

Legs 21 & 22
I managed to get next-to-no sleep in advance of my next turn which came at around 12:15am on Saturday - I am grateful to Mandy (the most incredibly positive and enthusiastic person ever, by the way!!) who offered to drive to the exchange point so as to afford me just a bit of shuteye even if it was only in the form of a power-nap.  By the time that it came for me to meet Elisa after her 20km stretch I was the only one not snoozing the night away.

I knew that I was feeling pretty depleted from residual fatigue and the fact that I'd been on the go since 4:00am Friday, so I wasn't sure what kind of pace I would keep over the next 17.3km.  Being that the streets were pretty lonely on the border between Mississauga and Oakville at that hour I just tried to keep some kind of mental focus by eyeballing the next runner ahead of me.  This was made somewhat easier by virtue of the fact that in addition to wearing a headlamp and a reflective vest it was mandatory for each of the nighttime runners to wear a taillight of some kind.

It was pretty surreal plodding through the nearly-deserted streets of the city, being passed by the occasional vehicle (usually a Ragnar team van) and the odd (in more ways than one) pedestrian.  In total I managed to accumulate 17 legitimate kills ... my original count was 23, but then Jeph pointed out to me that at night a number of runners often have a teammate pace them just for safety/company.  After all was said and done I was pleased that I'd managed to keep a respectable pace for this part of my load and felt somewhat refreshed (and ready to drive again) by the time that I handed off to Jeph at exchange point 22.

Distance:  17.3k / Time:  1:25:11 / Shoes:  Reebok Floatride Forever Energy

Legs 33 & 34
This was a challenge from even before I received the bracelet - en route to exchange point 32 we took an unintended circuitous route to hit a Starbucks and that wound up adding some time to our van commute.  Our concerns about making it to the exchange in time to meet up with Elisa were compounded exponentially when we arrived at an open drawbridge at the first lock of the Welland Canal ... needless to say there was no option for vehicles (or runners for that matter) around it and we were held up at least an extra 7-8 minutes awaiting six pleasure-craft to make their way across.

After the exchange finally happened (yes, we left Elisa hanging as she made it there first ...) I tried to once again settle into a manageable 'predatorial' pace.  I gathered that everyone was beginning to feel the weariness of event but there were definitely more than a few folks who were looking fresher than others, and my best guess is that they were probably 12-person team runners who had perhaps snatched a half-decent rest through the night.  While I managed to tally 12 kills I was also passed twice - once in the first leg by a runner who said he'd been hunting me down for about 6km, and once in the second leg by a runner whom I had passed but then managed to pick up speed and overtake me back.

It may have been that my legs were beginning to fail me, or the slowly rising humidity on the day but I could definitely sense my entry into pain cave territory.  The last 4km of the final leg were downright nasty and I imagined that I looked something like a lumbering ent from "The Return of the King".

In my head I kept thinking "Jeph is fast, all I have to do is make it to the hand-off to Jeph" ... add to that the threat of being passed by any other runners and I managed to pick up the pace for the last kilometre to get to exchange point 34.

Distance:  16.8k / Time:  1:23:27 / Shoes: Reebok Floatride Run Fast

Last Stop:  Niagara Falls
I'm not sure that it's mandatory, but it's at least 'tradition' for each team to run the final 100m or so together to cross the finish line.  By now the day had been brought to a slow simmer with pretty close to full sun and temps in the mid-20s ... this left Jeph really toughing it out as the ultimate leg of the relay is essentially all uphill, but we found him and managed to put a bow on our first ever Ragnar Relay together in just over 28 hours.

I simply can't overstate what amazing people my teammates are - to a person I'm confident that we'd all say that we had a fabulous time together, cheering each other on and laughing about the blisters (yep, there were serious blisters - on everyone but me somehow - and even more serious laughter ... right, Sara?!?) that were accumulated over the course of 300+ km of pavement pounding.  Certainly there's something about the ethos of the running community that made this group click, but beyond that we had a kind of chemistry that you really can't orchestrate.  We legitimately started out as strangers and ended our journey as family - and that beats any medal-bling or bragging rights that would come our way.

So many thanks have to go out to:

• Martyna, Cheyenne and the good people at Reebok Canada for providing us with this amazing opportunity and entrusting us to carry one of the banners for the presenting sponsor.  They took amazing care of us, providing for all of our needs from start to finish
• Ben Flanagan (Canadian soil 5k record holder and Team Reebok athlete) for sending a hugely-inspiring send-off video to our teams
• The organizers of the Ragnar Relay for a really well-marked course (coming from a guy who's taken more than a few wrong turns in races) even if there were no "1 mile-ish to go" signs
• Mandy for suggesting last year that Reebok should consider entering an 'ultra' team, and for being our unwaveringly positive bright light even when half-asleep
• Filsan for kicking us off in the perfect fashion and looking fashionable the whole way - no one else could have been as reliable, relentless and rock solid
• Elisa for having that championship spirit and taking on the witching hour 20k section
• Sara for bringing the heat, taking on the hills and creating the greatest gut-busting moment of the whole experience
• Jeph for being 'car-dad #1' and showing us that poutine and pizza can turn into jet fuel
• Our significant others and families for supporting us in crazy ventures like these.

The Reebok Ragnar Relay Niagara was unlike any other running event I'd participated in before - but if this experience was indicative of why there is a whole 'Ragnar culture' that exists (as evidenced by teams from New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, and more) then I can wholeheartedly endorse this as something that every runner should consider trying at least once.

You just might come away from it with friends for life.

#bemorehuman #feelthefloatride #TeamReebok #RagnarRelay #mindoverblisters

All about kills and blisters: Ragnar Relay Niagara race report

Taking a thrashing at the 2019 Sulphur Springs Trail Run (50 mile race report)

I contemplated titling this post "Confessions of a Perpetual Overtrainer".

Whatever you want to call it, this year's edition of the Sulphur Springs Trail Run was nothing short of ridiculously awful.  Still, I lived to tell the tale, and would recommend it to anyone who'd care to give it a shot.

My second ultramarathon-distance race of the year turned out (yet again!) to be not just a test of endurance but an environmental challenge ... last month it was the snow and wind, and this time around it was the thunder, lightning, copious amounts of rain and subsequent pits of mud.  As my friend Tyler (who finished 3rd overall for the 50-mile distance) described it, the course offered up 1/3 of its trail as an experience of running through glue.  I would amend that and say that it was some devious combination of glue and Crisco.  Imagine combining an ultramarathon with mud-wrestling, and you'll understand how I (and about 1200 other people) spent our Saturday.

To be fair, I had a great first loop running with my friend Nick Wagner whom I hadn't seen since the 2016 EndurRUN.  Back in 2016 Nick hadn't yet run anything beyond a half-marathon in terms of distance, but now he was an experienced ultramarathoner with at least one 100k race under his belt.  I remember how strong a runner he was a few years ago, and he's only become fitter and more durable since then.  We had a great 25k or so chatting it up and busting along not-yet-damp footing until I got a pebble in my shoe and had to stop to extricate it - I insisted that he continue forward, and while I was able to keep him within visual distance after starting up again I was never able to catch back up.

It wasn't long after that that the monsoon rains hit in the midst of what may well have been a severe thunderstorm warning.  Of course this transformed the softer ground into tarpits, and while I was able to continue to stubbornly plug away it was at about 35k that I weebled-and-wobbled my way into a groin pull while trying to maintain my balance on one particularly greasy section.  I knew pretty quickly that this didn't bode well.

During the third loop my knees felt wrecked, my inner thighs overdone, and I was walking a significant portion of the loop.  I seriously wanted to pull the plug after 60k but told myself that if I did that then there'd be no way that I'd have any hope of making it through a 100-miler ... so I resolved that even if it meant walking through the entire final 20k I'd finish this race.  Two things helped me to see this resolution through:  (1) the spring roll at aid station #3 was an out-of-body experience at 53k, and (2) the thought that if I could get done by 6pm I'd have a hope of making it back in time for the game 6 tip-off between the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks.

I have to say that having given myself that bit of margin was a real relief, and even though I saw many people passing me by (even the 50-mile winner lapped me with about 50 metres left to the start/finish line) I was content to just to try to pack the training miles in.  I approached each long tract of mud with trepidation as I was concerned about doing any kind of serious damage that might jeopardize the next couple months' worth of running and racing.  Plodding my way along I was also grateful to cross paths with Sherman Lam (a former Running Free teammate) at 73k - his positive attitude and trekking poles helped pace me through the next 5k or so, and I finally finished a shade over 11 hours.

Half-baked ramblings after hobbling my way to the car post-race

The long car ride home was made even longer by torrential rains that brought Hwy. 403 to a crawl between Hamilton and Oakville, so a 90 min. drive had an extra hour tacked on to that because of the weather.  So running or automobiling, the environmental conditions had my number that day.

I've now given myself a few days off of running this week to try to be ready to contribute to the Team Reebok effort at the Ragnar Relay - Niagara event starting tomorrow.  I'll be running as part of the 'ultra' team, so each of our 6 members will have 6 legs of the course to do (ballpark of about 50 km as the total distance from Cobourg to Niagara Falls is 306 km).  The only snag in this whole 'week of recovery' plan was going out last night for an easy trail run with the RunNinjas only to have turned my ankle for the first time all year leading to what quite possibly is a moderate strain of the extensor digitorum brevis muscle.  

Pain cave, once again here I come.

Taking a thrashing at the 2019 Sulphur Springs Trail Run (50 mile race report)

No second chances at a first impression ... just second chances

It's taken three long years to recover.

Not physically, but perhaps psychologically.

And tomorrow I am returning to the scene of my most epic race blow-up, where I lay on the brink of oblivion before being rescued by my relentless and faithful friend Jim.  Yes, in less than 24 hours I will once again tackle the 56km trails of the Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve.

The last time that I was there I was tackling my first real ultra, and in part due to a mismanagement of salt intake I struggled with dehydration and a dangerously low blood pressure situation.   Again, thanks to Jim's perseverance and sacrifice I managed to hobble my way across the finish line, feeling a great sense of defeat and dissatisfaction.  Now, having a few more ultras under my proverbial belt (including a couple of 50ks and a 50-miler) I'm going to try my hand once more at this event.

What's going to be different this time?

Much, I hope.

For one thing I will be sharing the forest with a dozen or more of my fellow RunNinjas, covering three of the four available distance options.  Just knowing that I'm going to criss-cross with my tribe members out there is going to provide me with plenty of inspiration.

Second, I plan to run with my newfound Ecuadorian friend (and experienced mountain ultra-runner) Juan - and since he has proven with consistency that he can race negative splits I'm hopeful that together we will be able to execute a smart race strategy that will serve us both well.

Third, I know what it's like to have every cell in your body yearn for you to swallow your pride and post that DNF (did not finish).  I know what it's like to feel like when returning to an upright position - let alone taking another step - seems impossible.  I know what it's like to watch as dozens of runners pass you by as you lay motionless on the ground. 

But more than that I know what it's like to get back up from that and get the job done.

Tomorrow, I'll be armed and dangerous.  Limberlost, I'm coming for you, and this time it's personal.

#redemptionrun #GOlikeneverbefore

Pumped for tomorrow's 56km at Limberlost. You can run but you can't hide ...! #redemptionrun #RunNinjas #golikeneverbefore #haveafastday #werunthisforest #fuelsimply

A post shared by Patrick Voo (@pbfvoo) on Jul 7, 2017 at 9:54am PDT

No second chances at a first impression ... just second chances

Why the 100-miler is not for me (at least this year)

I have scrapped my plans to try to earn a 100-miler belt buckle.

If there was anything that I was gunning for in 2016 it was to try to complete my first hundie and earn a ballot into the Western States Endurance Run lottery.  But even having percolated this plan for about 12 months now, I've now decided that it's just not for me.  For now, at least.

The race that I was eyeballing was the Run Woodstock Hallucination 100 miler in September.  As a Michigan-based event, it would have been simple enough to stay with some friends in Windsor, Ontario and hop the border for to compete, thereby saving myself a few $$$ in accommodation costs.  Plus the placement on the calendar made this a palatable option with plenty of time to get my training in.

With so many friends who are not only embracing the trail ultra challenge (e.g. Keith completing his first WSER, Bill who ran as part of Team Asics in the Beat The Sun race, Joy, Lindsey and Becky who prevailed over the mud at the Limberlost Challenge and and Mike, Rob, Robert and Crystal who crushed it this past weekend at The North Face Endurance Challenge Series event at Blue Mountain) it would be straightforward enough to ride the coattails of their energy and discipline.  But after taking a hard look at why and what I'm running these days, I've come to understand that entering to run a 100-miler wouldn't be about

reaching my goals

testing my limits

experiencing a new level of being alive.

Right now, it would be about proving myself to everyone else.

There's a big part of me that hates the fact that I'm driven by comparison.  I know that deep down I've never felt good enough, worthy enough, talented enough, smart enough, accomplished enough.  On the one hand it's helped me to try to push forward and explore so many different avenues and activities in my lifetime ... but it's also proven (at least in my case) that the old adage of 'jack of all trades, master of none' can be true.

So right now I think that I've decided that I'm tired of trying to earn another medal or cross another finish line so that others might respect me.  I've often told myself that it doesn't really matter to me what other people think, and that I've just got to be true to me.  Sadly, that's easier said than done, and too often the kind of monitoring of others' opinions that takes place gets deeply embedded in the psyche and you just can't quite tune it out or turn it off.

Whatever I am - chicken, poser, delusional, hypocrite, failure - I'll not be a 100-mile finisher this year.  

And you know what, I think that I'm going to be ok with that.

Why the 100-miler is not for me (at least this year)

race report - The North Face Endurance Challenge Series GORE-TEX® 50 Mile

where's samwise gamgee when you need him?

as much as i was looking forward to tackling this bold new challenge and finally stepping into (what i would consider) true 'ultra territory', i'm not sure that i was fully prepared for just what kind of test this would be.  the very fact that the event has The North Face as it's title sponsor, that it is part of a six-city north american circuit and that it traverses up and down collingwood's blue mountain should have provided me with plenty of advance warning as to how the race would bare its teeth.

but just for good measure let's toss in a humidex reading in excess of 32°C.

it probably goes without saying, but this was a gnarly race.  the best way that i can detail it without drowning out all of you in the minutiae is to recount (appropriately) the ups and downs of my first ever 50-miler.

UP:  pre-race organization
being as high-profile an event as it was, there was plenty of social media interaction and email information sharing leading up to the big day.  everything from the regular updates from The North Face Endurance Challenge Series (TNFECS) organizers, to the 'virtual race package' (including coupons, featured product highlights and promos for upcoming events - which i appreciated as part of its waste-reduction ethic) to my friend cait's facebook posts about the amount of poison ivy located on the section of trail that she helped to mark with ribbons helped this guy feel better about the journey he was about to undertake.  TNFECS also had multiple race kit pick-up points (in toronto and at blue mountain) which made it plenty convenient to not have to cram everything into the morning of the race.

DOWN:  course familiarity
despite living just about 60 minutes away from the mountain, i never did take advantage of any pre-race workouts that would help familiarize me with the terrain.  so all of my hill work was done to 'approximate' the effort required to ascend this section of the niagara escarpment, but nothing really came close to the exertion level and duration of climb/descent that i would encounter.  i'm glad that i did put in as much trail time as i did however, as i think that that probably helped me to remain somewhat nimble during the latter miles.

UP:  companion racers
in addition to traveling with my friend and Barrie Ninja colleague lewis (who was serving at the first of the aid stations) it was great to catch up with my friend robin in the wee hours awaiting the 5:00 am start, as well as meeting fellow Team Running Free athlete glenn.  having forgotten to bring my garmin 305 to the race (!) i lacked the ability to determine the time intervals between gels and salt tabs so i was reduced to harassing the other racers for time-checks - which they were all gracious enough to provide.  one runner in particular was good to me - i connected with a guy named scott who seemed to not only be carrying on at a pace that seemed comfortable to me but also had plenty of stories to share.  scott was a seasoned ultrarunner and had completed the western states 100 twice, in addition to the canadian death race and many other well-known and lesser-known ultramarathons.  we shared over two hours of running and chatting together, and even managed to figure out that we had a friend in common from our work days (me former, him current) with nike canada.  it was great to make a new friend and pass a good chunk of time during a long day's workout with a super-nice guy.

robin and i getting ready to take this mountain down!

DOWN:  faster companion racers
i would discover over the course of conversation that scott was a 2:52 marathoner - much faster than my PB over the same distance.  add to that that he was much more conditioned for this kind of ultra (having previously completed the canadian death race as a solo runner, being a 2x western states finisher and with copious numbers of other ultramarathon belt buckles to his credit) and that he was younger by a few years and that all meant that i tackled the first half of the race too ambitiously.  i definitely wound up running a huge positive split (4:22:28 for the first 40.7km, 6:17:18 for the next 40.7km) and felt desperately more banged up on the home half, although i never did hit the black hole of despair that i did in my 56km race last year.

still smilin' at this point!

UP:  traveling light  

being deluded enough to think that i could be competitive in this event i wanted to provide myself with every advantage that i possibly could - and after having read an article that described how elite level athletes carry less with them than most recreational ultramarathoners i decided to leave my AK 2.0 race vest at home (also because it was going to be such a scorcher of a day) and travel with just the SPIbelt passed on to me by my friend/sensei jim.  since this SPIbelt contains only one pocket i managed to wrangle two other small pouches from some other pieces of gear we had lying around the house, including an old nintendo ds carrying case for which my kids had no further use.

 on the left, a small pocket for salt tabs - on the right, the old DS pouch for gels

DOWN:  relying on aid station nutrition
don't get me wrong - the aid stations throughout this race were really well stocked with everything from skittles to PB&J sandwiches to the requisite boiled potatoes and salt dip (mmm mmm good!).  the problem was that i thought that i could sufficiently stock up on the gels that they provided (clif shot) at each station and thereby limit the amount of unnecessary weight on-board.  this brand of gel was not new to me so i had no initial concerns with ingesting them ... but i discovered that after about six hours of racing they were much too thick for me to easily consume, and so for the last 10 packets of gel i had to psych myself up each time for the strong gag reflex that would erupt as i tried to down the much-needed calories.  on top of that, i forgot to re-stock on gels at one aid station where the next stop would be 8.4km (a solid hour) away meaning that i would run that stretch calorie- and electrolyte-depleted.  maybe there is something to carrying all of that gear to house your own stuff ...

UP:  post-race festival/festivities
the advantage of hosting a race that starts and finishes at blue mountain village is the guarantee that regardless of season the venue will be a hub of activity.  aside from the expected finish line tents with fruit, electrolyte drinks and water stations there was also an ice bath area (with full tubs to sit in), free massages (with a significant waiting list) and a post-run meal served up in an air-conditioned lodge.  on a sweltering summer's day there were throngs of tourists wandering through the village, many of them kind enough to offer words of congratulation as they noticed the wording on the medal's ribbon - this level of bystander traffic gave an otherwise demure ultramarathon the feel of a large-scale, high-profile road race.

DOWN:  post-race physiology
i knew that i would be tired, but i had no idea that i would suffer from the kind of gut-rot that would ensue after crossing the finish line.  i found myself in that place where i could hardly bear the sight or smell of food even though i knew how critical it was to initiate the recovery process right away.  i wasn't experiencing nausea but felt on the edge of vomiting with the faint hope that doing so might rid me of the disgusting feeling i had in the pit of my stomach.  my friend lewis did his level best to help me to the food pavilion in order to get my finisher's meal - even to the extent of putting my plate together for me - but i could barely down two bites of my burger and maybe a forkful or two of salad.  even the water was a bit tough to swallow - and it might have been even more necessary given that i lost over 9 lbs. from pre-race weigh-in to post-race.  my legs, albeit fatigued, was not the part of my body that seemed to be rebellion.  it took a good six hours before i actually got around to eating anything substantial, and even the next day i felt the lingering effects of clif shots coating my stomach with what seemed to be a semi-toxic layer of slime. 

UP:  mental toughness
with our official race starter dean karnazes providing fair warning at 5:00am that at some point we were each going to encounter pain out there on the course, i prepared myself to enter the hurt locker at least once if not several times before i would be done.  that being said, i didn't feel as if i ever really danced along the edge of disaster and at no point did i ever seriously consider a DNF (although approximately 20% of all of the 50-mile racers who started pulled out before finishing).  i'll be honest, there were two or three points at which i thought that i would have a much better rest of the day if i just sat down at the next aid station and didn't get up, but what kept running through my head was jim's mantra of "take another step" - which is just what i determined to do each time. 

DOWN:  physical toll
without a doubt the toughest parts of the course were the downhills - not that i didn't attack them with anton krupicka-like abandon, but there were so many (amounting to 6300+ feet of elevation change).  the uphills were no bargain even if you power-hiked them, and the worst hills were actually those sections that followed the road ... stretching on for nearly a kilometre of steep incline.

however the toughest section had to the closing kilometre of each loop which was a little over 1000m of descent following a cut-into-the-trail wooden staircase which demanded precision footing.  this was made all the worse when a summer shower during the 9th hour introduced a mud dressing to the stairs - exactly what you want when your legs have already begun to feel like jell-o.

- - - - -

it was strangely anti-climactic to finally cross the line after 10:39:46 ... i thought that i might feel a huge sense of relief, or an emotional wave of joy having tackled the longest distance and time on my feet in a single session of activity.  honestly, when the medal was put around my neck i simply focused on keeping my legs moving in order to pre-empt muscle spasming (and to head for the shade/cool).  more than a week later now and i'm still not sure that i've digested it all ... whether or not completing a 50-mile race was really not that big a deal (despite some of the comments shared with me), or i struggle with perpetual dissatisfaction (e.g. i could have run a smarter race, finished with a faster time) or have moved on to the next dot on the horizon already (e.g. october's detroit marathon, what could i run to qualify for the WS100?).  honestly, i was more excited for the people who i knew who were also competing over the weekend in various race distances than i was for myself ... the medal went almost immediately into the top drawer of my dresser (with all of the other accumulated race hardware) and my bib tucked into the envelope housing all of my other race bibs.

it's not that i'm not pleased with my accomplishment - hey, it was a PB for me in the 50 miler. :)  but i think that i've discovered what separates trail/ultra races from your more conventional road/marathon-and-under races ... it really is more about the journey than the destination.  and for nearly 11 hours i had a really enjoyable trek across some of the most gorgeous scenery in ontario.

that's a win in my books!

race gear for The North Face Endurance Challenge Series GORE-TEX 50 Mile:

• Skechers GORun Ultra 2
• Skechers Performance Division racerback singlet and split shorts
• Team Running Free Sugoi calf sleeves
• Nathan Quickdraw Elite handheld bottle
• Original SPIbelt
• Darn Tough No-Show socks
• MEC technical hat
• Princeton Tec Remix headlamp
• GU gels 
• SaltStick capsules

race report - The North Face Endurance Challenge Series GORE-TEX® 50 Mile

when life boils you some hot lemon tea

ah, there's nothing quite like watching the weather forecasts during race week.

some might say that a 50-mile race is a scorcher on distance alone.  no need to add temps that will be pushing the high 80s (°F).

in my previous post i shared a time-based goal that i'd established for myself at The North Face Endurance Challenge Series GORE-TEX® 50-miler.  i'd even positioned it as my 'B' goal, so as to provide myself a bit of cushion on either side should i exceed it or not quite reach it ... and i left open the caveat that the achievement of any of these goals could and would very well be dependent upon the hand that mother nature decides to deal to us ultra-wannabes.  and so it seems that heat will most definitely be a factor.

with the heat (and especially the humidity) we will all have to be extra-attentive to hydration issues.  given that my last attempt at an ultra distance in july saw my blood pressure bottom out i will also be paying close attention to electrolyte/sodium levels - and thus for the first time ever i will be packing  salt tablets as part of my race gear (with a plan to start taking them after about the first 3.5hrs).

i've also been doing some casual 'research' into planning for hot race days and the effect that those conditions can have on your body and race strategy - and one of the best resources that i've come up with is a video from the indomitable sage canaday which is definitely worth 8 minutes of your time if you are also going to be tackling blue mountain this weekend:

control what you can control and roll with the rest of it, that's what i say.  getting amped to hit that starting line at 5am on saturday and #GOlikeneverbefore!

when life boils you some hot lemon tea

ain't no mountain high enough ...

it's almost time to get crazy.

with less than two weeks to go until The North Face Endurance Challenge Series GORE-TEX® 50 Mile trail race i'm into full-on fat-loading and taper mode.  so far for 2015 i've logged over 2800km in workouts, a good proportion of that i would consider as build-up for this ultramarathon.  i've gotten in my interval work, long runs, hill sprints (up and down), and time trials.  aside from a few short-lived knee issues i've managed to stay injury-free and post several encouraging race times that lead me to believe that i'm in good shape to be able to complete this event upright.

which means that it's now also time to start thinking about goal-setting.

i've said from the outset that since this is an entirely new distance test for me that my #1 objective in this race is simply to survive it.  however, to be fair that goal was originally considered against the context of my experience running 56km in the 2014 limberlost challenge where i felt like i was trudging through the valley of the shadow of death.  now, having finished my 50k at sulphur springs in a much more encouraging time i feel like i want to be a bit more ambitious (without being presumptuous).

so once again with the intention of having the small circle of people who read this blog hold me accountable, here are my three goal levels:

• 'A' goal - finish within top 10 for my age-group
• 'B' goal - finish in between 8:30-9:00 hours
• 'C' goal - finish and stay out of the medical staff tent.

there you have it!  for now i'm going to be eagerly watching the weather forecast to see just what kind of ambient conditions we'll be facing that day and trying to nail down just which pieces of gear i'll be using.  i know for certain that i'll be wearing the skechers GORun Ultra 2 and using my nathan quickdraw elite handheld and princeton tec remix headlamp, but it's still up in the air whether or not i'll be wearing the original SPIbelt or a bottle-less ultimate direction AK 2.0 race vest to carry nutrition.

and there are still spots available if you're interested - register online and don't forget to use the promo code D30PVON15 for a 15% discount on any race distance!

ain't no mountain high enough ...

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