Trail Tripping

Winter Run

2012-01-19T10:11:00.000-05:00

Icy entrance.

Siku on the lookout...

...while I tie...

...my shoe.

I'm a happy dawg!

Frozen deer tracks.

Fist star on a perfect winter's night.

Fresh Start

2012-01-04T10:10:00.000-05:00

I love January. I don't really do resolutions per se, but I do use the fresh start
to re-evaluate my priorities and how I spend my time. I'm starting 2012 by unsubscribing to
all the blogs I've joined over the years. Nothing personal to anyone, they are all gone, even
Derrick's! I want to free up time and head-space by cutting back on my internet time.
I'll still check out sites and blogs, but just not as often, and not whenever Google prompts me to.

New Things

2011-12-14T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm ready for 2012, but looking back, it has been a good running year.

I...

Entered a new age group.

Finally started racing again, and was very nervous.

Started running with an iPod occasionally.

Discovered how much fun hiking poles are to use.

Slept high.

Raced high.

Got stitches.

Ran my first 50 miler.

Traveled far.

Hiked/ran my first 100k. (Report should be up soon.)

Started thinking about a 100 miler.

Ran new trails around here, a bit farther north and a lot farther north.

Ended the year with fewer toenails than ever.

Found a new favourite shoe.

My good friend Quantums after 76.6 hours of use, with a bit of residual Hong Kong dirt.

Taiwan and Hong Kong Photos

2011-11-25T12:16:00.001-05:00

Here is the link to my trip photos. It will take me longer to put words down, but will try to do it over the weekend.

Return, Rest

2011-11-24T08:40:00.001-05:00

I'm back from my trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong, and will be posting details of our Trailwalker 100k and a photo gallery in the next day or two. It was an incredible trip, with so many vivid memories floating through my brain right now it is hard to capture it all in my still-very-tired state.

After three exhausting races in the past four months, I'm enjoying a few solid days of rest and then will be starting to think about what races I want to do next year. Generally I'm looking forward to some snowshoe races this winter, and definitely a 50 miler (or possibly two) next year, along with some 50k's and who knows, maybe even the odd road race to try to work on some leg speed a bit. It's fun to think of the possibilities. Mostly I just want to get in some consistent training, build the volume, and resume the workouts where I left off two weeks ago.

From this on the MacLehose Trail, Hong Kong.....

.... to this my first day back to work.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our U.S. friends.

Half a World Away

2011-11-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

GULP!!

I'm heading out for Taiwan and Hong Kong later today.

Our Trailwalker 100k (on Nov 18th) team number is 1000 (easy to remember), and there may be live tracking. See link from this page (part way down).

Deb cooked up this brilliant poem for me after I asked her about her success at sleeping on long flights.

Super tired I must be,
Before I can catch any zee's.
Movies till my eyes feel sandy,
Not tired yet?
How 'bout some brandy!

When you arrive at point B,
Do you want to be awake or sleepy?
With the local time
On your watch and brain
The trip should be sublime.

I'll try to post pictures and some words while I'm away, and will be back in Canada on the 21st. Looking forward to snowshoe running season after soaking in a big dose of heat while away.

Jones Creek - New Trails!

2011-11-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we did a trail run at Jones Creek Trails, part of the St. Lawrence Islands National Park. The park is made up of 20 islands and various mainland parcels stretching from Kingston to Brockville along the St. Lawrence River. Jones Creek has a network of 16 km of singletrack trails that are extremely well-marked and maintained. The trails are very technical with rocks and roots, and with the fallen leaves it was a bit tedious in sections. It was fun exploring along winding creeks and ridges, all under an incredible variety of tree types. We're planning on returning in the winter as the trails would be perfect for snowshoeing.

We found these trails on the website Explore the Arch. You can find detailed maps of many local trail networks on the site, along with tons of useful information and inspiration for future outings.

Jones Creek access point off of the Thousand Islands Parkway at Mallorytown.

Another beautiful autumn day in Canadian Shield country.

Leaves everywhere! We'd like to move into that cabin.

A meandering creek seen from a ridge-top lookout.

This guy looks right at home here.

Very long bridge spanning marsh and creek.

Across the Parkway from Jones Creek Trails. The land on the far side is NY.

Another Fall at Frontenac

2011-10-24T13:51:00.000-04:00

Snack Cakes Anyone?

2011-10-05T11:13:00.001-04:00

Next up on the race calendar is the big trip, with a big race.

I am still recovering, and am getting a little frustrated because I'm mentally ready to train, but it is hard to train and recover at the same time. Hopefully by next week everything will be further along.

In the meantime, I'm starting to think more and more about TrailWalker, and looking forward to meeting the half of our team who I don't know. From emailing, I think we're all going to get along just great and have a lot of fun. (You know, in a painful, sleep-deprived, glycogen-depleted kind of way.)

Since it will be Deb's 40th birthday on race weekend, and she is our intrepid leader, our team name is fittingly Lil' Deb and the Snackcakes...with the rest of us being Deb's Snackcakes. Kristina came up with the following names for us:

Deb - Lil' Deb
Kim - Honey Buns
Kristina - Fancy Cakes
Me - Nutty Bar

Kim has set up a Facebook page for us, and the race site provides a donation page for our team, with all proceeds going to Oxfam. If anyone feels inclined to contribute to this great organization in our name, we would all greatly appreciate that. (Note, the funds go directly to Oxfam, they do not in any way fund our race/trip.)

Deb is working on getting shirts for us, with a logo that Kristina is developing. It will be fun to have a team shirt to inspire us.

All three of my teammates were in Hong Kong last weekend for a training trip to check out the hardest parts of the trail. It sounds like it is going to be a hot, humid race, so we'll have to load up on electrolytes, changes of clothing, and body glide.

As for me....I've been de-conditioning while I pamper sore feet and hips, rapidly acclimating to cooler weather, and I still haven't tried out the hiking poles. I better start getting my act together.

100 km Maclehose Trail, Hong Kong

Finally, there is a TrailWalker event in Canada now. It's on the Ganaraska Hiking Trail in Ontario, and will be in its second year in mid-July, 2012.

Near North

2011-09-27T19:57:00.001-04:00

We spent last weekend up near Sudbury for Taylor and Kim's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and the natural setting suited the extremely outdoorsy and athletic couple perfectly. Everyone had a great time. The leaves have already turned up there, and we had the opportunity to carve out a couple of trail runs while we were in the area to enjoy the rugged beauty.

Here are a few pics of the running parts of the weekend, featuring Grundy and Mashkinonje Provincial Parks. The parks are in the category of Near North, and it sure felt a lot more north than we are (in a good way). Grundy had a couple of very pretty short loops that were perfect after a long day of driving to stretch out the legs and back. Mashkinonje is a new park, and the trails are still so untrodden in some places that the moss underfoot was inches thick. My shoes sunk in like it was snow. I felt kind of bad for stepping in it, but it was a treat to run in such a single-track heaven. Justin joined us for this run, and we all had a lot of fun. Neither park was very hilly like nearby Killarney Prov Park is, which I was happy about because I'm not quite recovered enough for that yet.

Beaver Dams Trail, Grundy PP

Swan Lake Loop, Grundy PP

Swan Lake looking very pretty

Mashkinonje Provincial Park Trails (Click for high res version)

Justin and Derrick cruise through the moss on Heron Trail, Mashkinonje PP

Bogalicious

Moss or snow?

Peeking out at the West Arm of Lake Nipissing

They aren't currently trail running, but I couldn't resist.

TransRockies Run Race Report at iRunFar.com

2011-09-16T08:53:00.002-04:00

The reason we had the opportunity to go to TransRockies this year in the first place was by winning a contest for a free team entry from iRunFar.com. Bryon Powell (Mr. iRunFar) asked us to write something about the race, and he just posted our report.

If you're new to iRunFar, be sure to poke around, subscribe to the emails or feeds, and even request a cool bumper sticker (like the logo below), or shop for some of the coolest gear in the sport. When a marquee race is coming up in the world of ultrarunning, chances are that the iRunFar team is there covering it from all angles.

Postscript on TransRockies and Haliburton

2011-09-14T13:38:00.004-04:00

Lots of photos taken on Hope Pass

The last several hours of Haliburton, and for many, many, many hours after, my mantra was 'never again'. I said it with anger and enthusiasm to anyone who would listen! Since then, after some good rest, my mindset has shifted to that of enjoying the recovery and looking back with satisfaction at having raced two challenging races in the last month. I look forward to using these races as stepping stones, and to being better prepared to not suffer as much along the way next time. (It's gotta get easier, right??)

Did the altitude tent help? I get asked that a lot. For me (adaptations vary widely among individuals) I think it helped significantly at TransRockies to allow me to use what fitness I had without being nearly as debilitated by the thin air as I would have been. For high altitude races I think it would be hugely beneficial for anyone to try. As for increasing my actual baseline fitness...it may have helped marginally, but not in any way that makes me feel like I have taken a leap to another level. I wish it was that easy (actually that's not true, it would erase what I love about running), but the only thing that has ever made ME feel on another level is increased mileage. It is the only thing that I find brings about significant changes; everything else is just the small stuff. Small stuff is good, and it can certainly all add up to elevate the big stuff, but the big stuff has to be taken care of first. If you're maxing out training and looking for that slight bit of an edge, I think that's where it would be useful. And as mentioned, everyone is different. It was definitely an interesting thing to have had the opportunity to try.

What's Next? It's somewhat tempting to look for a trail race in October, but I'm not going to. I have my big trip and big 100K in November to look forward to, and my priority is to be healthy and rested for that. I'm excited to soon get back to some good training after a bit more rest, and to start sprinkling in some hiking with poles, as that will help for Trailwalker. We're planning to hike most of the way, with a bit of running mixed in here and there to shake up our muscles. Aside from a couple of hikes a year and a good amount of uphill hiking recently at TransRockies, I don't really have much to draw on in this department. I'm so excited to finally get to be out all night in a race (umm, remind me I said this later D?), and as Derrick so helpfully pointed out, the time on the legs will be invaluable experience should I ever choose to do a 100 miler. [NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!]

Other than that, I'm really excited to see what Derrick decides to race next. He's been sifting through some very appealing options. There are so many cool races out there!

Haliburton 50 Miles

2011-09-12T10:36:00.001-04:00

Just a quick race report for the Haliburton 50M. The year I turned 30 I ran my first marathon, so it was a nice bookend to finish my first 50 Miler ten years later. The timing was a bit close to TransRockies, but there are no other options for me this year, so with a good weather forecast, I took the leap of faith that it would work out.

Things started off well, and I got to the turnaround a bit before 5 hours (maybe 4:40ish; can't remember the exact time as I didn't take splits), and knew it was going to be a long way back from there as I was already getting pretty tired. I got a mental lift on the corduroy trail after AS 6 (the part of the trail that everyone hates but I loved) but then gradually entered a death shuffle over the next section and by AS 4 when I saw Derrick. I was sad for him that he dropped, but know he will make up for it soon. It was comforting to look forward to seeing him at the remaining aid stations. The last loop around Macdonald Lake and back to base took me almost 2 hours, which killed my (admittedly long-shot) idea of breaking 10 that had come into my brain somewhere along the way. By that point I didn't care, and was really happy with 10:16:28.

It was good to be back at Haliburton, for the most part the trails are fun, technical, soft, and beautiful. No mountains, but the endless rolling hills take their toll by the end. I swore off (up and down and repeatedly) anything longer than a 50K from now on (okay, after Hong Kong, Deb), but of course our stupid minds always try to talk us back into it. We'll see.

I had a lot of the typical GI troubles in trying to figure out the fine balance of nutrition. I think I fueled a bit too much in the first-half (for what I could handle), and too little at the end. I'd switch to a liquid fuel by the end if I could do-over. My quads are very sore, and I took the elevator up to my 2nd floor office this morning. :)

My trusty Quantums that got me through TransRockies were a great choice again for this (dry trail) year at Hali, and I used a single UD holder except for AS 5 to AS 4 on the way back where I added a handheld.

It was great to see everyone back at the Forest, to share all the good, bad and ugly. As usual, it was mind blowing to see the physical and mental strength of the 100 milers. Truly amazing. KO, you rock.

Thank you to the one-and-only Helen Malmberg and her amazing crew.

And that's all I have to say about that.

TransRockies Quick Recap

2011-08-30T11:26:00.013-04:00

We finished TransRockies, and we even finally made it home despite Irene. We ended up in 6th in the masters mixed category. A full race report will be going up on irunfar.com in the next week or so. It was a really tough challenge for me, and I'm happy to have gotten through it. All our orginal flights were cancelled both ways, and a gash on my hand requiring stitches on Day 3 made for a bit of a bigger challenge than we bargained for. TRR will forever re-calibrate my assessment of hilly runs. Beautiful scenery, amazing people, and satisfying finishes made the hard parts all worth it. Thanks to friends and family for your good wishes.

A few photos: Climbing Hope Pass; Derrick's prescription of milkshake after my medical visit; Ribbons of singletrack way up high - it doesn't get any better than that; Enjoying the views on the run; Another view; Finishing felt so good.

Marathon vs Ultra

2011-08-16T10:14:00.012-04:00

The Conservative Marathon Mindset	The Audacious Ultra Approach

Respect the distance	The longer the better

Build up your race distance gradually	Jump into a 100 miler after a year of running

Typical max of 2 marathons per year	Typical max of 2 ultras per month

Taper is good (or a necessary evil)	Taper?? Huh?? Why would you want to do that?

Possibly a gel at mile 18	300 calories an hour

White shoes	Colourful shoes

Light and fast	Strong and steady

It's all about the mile splits	It's all about getting to the next aid station

Ready to taper?!

2011-08-10T09:59:00.002-04:00

Usually I'm very ready to take a break and reduce training to rest up before a race, but this time I'm in serious denial about how close Transrockies is creeping up. I would love to have several more weeks to prepare. I just now feel ready to start ramping up the miles, which aren't nearly where I'd like them to be going into a race of 120 mountain miles over 6 days.

Considering my early summer foot issue, I was lucky to get in a sort-of-decent amount of running, it could have ended up much worse. I did a lot of extras (the big one being altitude of course, but also strength, biking, yoga, barefoot running). Still, miles are miles and nothing can replace them in my opinion.

On top of lower mileage that I had hoped for, we didn't end up going in any races, we didn't run up any mountains, and I even had to give up the treadmill uphill runs due to the foot.

So.........while I'm not super confident in my training, at least I'm not broken down and burnt out.

TransRockies should be a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to a week where all we have to do is run a ton on trails, eat, relax, meet a bunch of trail runners, and gawk at pretty scenery.

The place to live

2011-08-03T15:01:00.004-04:00

An excerpt from A. J. Mandell, 1977:

The first thirty minutes are tough, old man. Creaks, twinges, pain, and stiffness. A counterpoint of breathless, painful self-depreciation. Like driving a mule. You brain-heavy jerk. Keep going! Challenged, I smile with pride and follow my orders. The first thirty minutes hurt until the body gets the message that you're serious.

Thirty minute out, and something lifts. Legs and arms become light and rhythmic. My snake brain is making the best of it. The fatigue goes away and feelings of power begin. I think I'll run twenty-five miles today. I'll double the size of the research grant request. I'll have that talk with the dean...

Then, sometime into the second hour comes the spooky time. Colors are bright and beautiful, water sparkles, clouds breathe, and my body, swimming, detaches from earth. A loving contentment invades the basement of my mind, and thought bubbles without trails. I find the place I need to live if I'm going to live. The running literature says that if you run six miles a day for two months, you are addicted forever. I understand. A cosmic view and peace are located between six and ten miles of running. I've found it everywhere....

After the run I can't use my mind. It's empty. Then a filling begins. By afternoon I'm back into life with long and smooth energy, a quiet feeling of strength, the kind wisdom afforded those without fear, those detached yet full.

Super cautious return to barefoot runs

2011-07-22T22:02:00.004-04:00

I did a lot of short barefoot runs two years ago, and my feet benefited greatly from the extra strengthening. With being injured last year, I let that part of my training go, and had intended to get back to it this summer. Then I started having some plantar fascia issues, so I thought I had better hold off. But after reading this post, I decided to add it to my physio regimen and carefully try to do some grass barefoot runs to see if it would help. I asked my physiotherapist about it, and she agreed that as long as I was careful, to go ahead.

So, here's how I progressed with it: (all done in bare feet on grass, at end or in middle of a run)

Jun 18 - walk 5 minutes

Jul 3 - 2 x 2 min, with1 min walk (i.e. recovery between)

Jul 5 - 3 x 2 min, with 1 min walk

Jul 7 - 4 x 2 min, with 1 min walk

Jul 10 - 4 x 3 min, with 1 min walk

Jul 13 - 5 min, 3 min, 3 min, with 1 min walk

Jul 19 - 10 min

Jul 22 - 15 min

So it took me a month to get to 10 minutes of continuous running, but it is always better to be extremely patient with adding barefoot, even without a sore foot. With having tightness in the PF, I knew I could make things a lot worse if I did too much, so it wasn't hard to hold back and make sure it was helping, not hurting. I had three physio treatments for my PF as well, and am feeling quite good about how things are coming along. I'll probably do another 15 minute barefoot run next time, before hitting 20 minutes and then holding it at that level after that. For what I want out of it (injury prevention in the form of stronger feet, stretching out the achilles and calves, and a bit of help with form) I think that is enough time. Occasionally I might do 30 minutes, but that's about it.

Trip to Asia!

2011-07-21T10:31:00.008-04:00

It's officially confirmed...I'm going to Taiwan and Hong Kong in November!! This has been in the works for a few months, but I didn't want to say anything until the decision was made for sure and my flights were booked. Talk about going out of my normal realm and comfort zone; it took time for me to process the thought of going so far from home. I've wrapped my head around it now, and I'm really excited.

This came about because my best friend Deb invited me to take part in the Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong 100K race along with two other friends of hers, so I'll be celebrating the year of my 40th on and around her actual 40th birthday while doing this event! We go way back, Deb and I, and she's one of those miracle friends who know you more than you know yourself and likes you anyway. It will be a very memorable way to celebrate her birthday with her this year.

Deb and her husband Dan have been living in Taiwan for eight years now, and I will be spending the first part of my trip staying with them. It will be so cool to see the life they have there. They work for a little sporting goods company you may have heard of, or maybe you've even used their stuff at some point while you were Just Doing Something.

Then we will go to Hong Kong where the race is, and have an adventure as our team of four navigates the MacLehose Trail that winds along the coast and over mountains of Hong Kong for 100 km. I'm looking forward to meeting Deb's friends Kristina and Kim and spending some quality trail time as a team. (Get this: Kim is the world record holder for the 24-hour inline skate!) Obviously I'll be writing a lot more about everything in the months to come.

Earlier this year, feeling a bit of weight from just turning 40 I guess, I started experiencing a very deep desire to see more of this world, and was looking forward to a few years down the road when we would have more time and energy to put towards that. I guess life goes at its own schedule though, and within weeks of feeling that shift in myself I had won the entry to TransRockies from iRunFar, and then Deb asked me about this Hong Kong trip. I read somewhere recently that often we go right up to the edge of our comfort zone but then ultimately don't take that final committing step over the line. Was life maybe asking if I was serious?

Thank you D, for this incredible opportunity, and for helping me navigate that uncomfortable last step to committing to it. Travelling all over the world for you is normal, but you've been your ever patient and positive self in dealing with my less-adventurous self.

I'm lucky enough to have had another Debbie to talk it over with, my sister-in-law, who is also an extreme world traveler and equally patient and positive. I so appreciate your excitement and encouragement, Debbie. It helps me to see stuff through your eyes.

And Derrick, I cherish that we support each others dreams. Vote for Pedro.

It's the DEWPOINT!!!

2011-07-18T09:51:00.005-04:00

From this Running Times article on hot weather running.

It's Not the Heat, Nor the Humidity....It's the dew point.

DEW POINT (°F)	RUNNER'S PERCEPTION	HOW TO HANDLE
50–54 (10-12C)	Very comfortable	PR conditions
55–59 (13-15C)	Comfortable	Hard efforts likely not affected
60–64 (16-18C)	Uncomfortable for some people	Expect race times to be slower than in optimal conditions
65–69 (18-20C)	Uncomfortable for most people	Easy training runs might feel OK but difficult to race well or do hard efforts
70–74 (21-23C)	Very humid and uncomfortable	Expect pace to suffer greatly
75 or greater (24+C)	Extremely oppressive	Skip it or dramatically alter goal

Staying positive?

2011-06-28T10:33:00.005-04:00

I was excited to run Finger Lakes 50k this coming Saturday, but now just a few days out it's become questionable how doable this might be. I'm trying to stay positive that things turn around, but at this point: (a) my foot, while much improved, is still a question mark for beyond a couple of hours; (b) I've had a nasty chest infection for over a week now (same one I've had several times since last October; went to dr yesterday, finally); and (c) the forecast for Ithaca says high of 34 with humidex 42 on Saturday. If those were in Fahrenheit I'd be thrilled, but no, that's Celcius of course. Ick. And now, to top it off, (d) Derrick is fighting something, which doesn't affect my race, but just sucks.

There's a good chance I'll be dropping down to the 25k (as long as they let me, which I'm sure they will.) That seems like the smart thing to do, and might be more than enough 'fun' on the day.

Good Article on Barefoot Running as Therapy

2011-06-18T15:56:00.001-04:00

Getting rid of Achilles and Plantar problems with barefoot running | Camille Herron

I am enjoying Camille's blog, it has a ton of useful info. This article is particularly timely for me right now, and I'm posting it for anyone else who might find it useful.

Full Circle

2011-06-14T09:37:00.006-04:00

My plantar fascia felt great for two days after the big stretch from yoga, and then I did an uphill treadmill run and set it way back again. I saw my physio Stacee yesterday, and she figured out pretty quickly that it was my soleus that was very tight and causing the trouble in my PF. This was the calf muscle I pulled during Finger Lakes 50k in 2009, and the scar tissue has just been sitting there and not allowing full, correct mobility. It is interesting that I’m going into the same race in less than three weeks, and dealing now with the fallout from it two years ago.

She did a lot of soft tissue work on my PF and calf (owwch) and gave me a modification to the bent-knee calf stretch to target the soleus muscle in the correct way (my body had been compensating and bending inward). It’s good to get this addressed right down to the root of the problem. I’ve felt tenderness in my calf a few times and wondered about it, so it all makes perfect sense to me. I have some tendonopathy in the big toe knuckle of that foot too which should also calm down when this all resolves. Stacee, who is also just over 40 and very active, jokingly shared her personal acronym for having to deal with this kind of thing: A.G.E. J

The uphill tempo was great though. Right now I can handle more than before Rock and Ice, so I’m very pleased with that. It’s kind of a mystery to me actually, but I like it. Maybe I'm just fresher going into the workouts. Maybe I'm dreaming of Colorado.

Here’s my progression of uphill treadmill workouts this spring, if anyone is interested. My personal preference is to keep the speed constant for each workout and vary the incline only. I also topped out at 10° to keep the majority of time in the comfortably hard (tempo) range and also to keep good form. (Note the ’ indicates minutes, as in deg/min/sec, not feet, ha).

For those who aren’t workout geeks, please skip right ahead to the rest of your day! J

Feb 17

6:40/km

(w/u for 15’)

4’ @ 5°

1’ @ 0°

4’ @ 6°

1’ @ 0°

4’ @ 5°

1’ @ 0°

1’ each @ 5°, 6°, 5°, 6°

(c/d for 15’)

Mar 3

6:40/km

(w/u for 20’)

5’ each @ 5°, 6°

1’ @ 0°

5’ each @ 7°, 8°

(c/d for 15’)

Mar 8

6:40/km

(w/u for 20’)

5’ @ 6°

2’ @ 0°

5’ @ 7°

1’ @ 0°

5’ @ 8°

1’ @ 0°

1’ each @ 6°, 7°, 8°, 9°, 10°

2’ @ 0°

1’ each @ 6°, 8°, 10°

(c/d for 18’)

Mar 18

6:40/km

(w/u for 20’)

5’ each @ 7°, 8°, 7°, 8°

(c/d for 15’)

Jun 1

6:15/km

(w/u for 21’)

10’ @ 5°

5’ @ 6°

1’ @ 7°

4’ @ 5°

(c/d for 10’)

Jun 8

6:15/km

(w/u for 10’)

5’ each at 5°, 6°, 7°, 8°

1’ each at 6°, 8°, 6°, 9°, 6°, 10°, 6°, 9°, 6°, 8°

(c/d for 10’)

If you’re still here, you’re a workout geek.

May

2011-06-06T18:08:00.000-04:00

Um, where did May go? Looking back on it, training went well, with several long runs, increased volume overall, and even some ugly interval workouts. Next up for racing is Finger Lakes 50k on July 2nd. This is the race we did two years ago when most of the course was calf-deep in mud. It would be a relatively fast course if it were dry; I'm hoping for dry trails and dry air, how great would that be. I haven't done a 50k since that race actually, so I'm planning to get a few more good weeks and long runs before a decent taper.

My plantar fascia has been a bit sore the past several weeks, but after a good stretch yesterday doing some yoga, it feels fantastic today. I walked down the stairs normally this morning for the first time in a while. I was trying everything except stretching for it, but obviously that is what it needed. I'll happily add that stretch to my physio stuff.

After Finger Lakes is TransRockies in Colorado in late August, thanks to a contest for a team entry that I won from irunfar.com. Derrick and I will run as a team for six days over beautiful trails in the mountains near Leadville. I'm glad we got a taste of Colorado running last summer so we know sort of what to expect from the altitude. We're both so excited about it, and incredibly grateful to have gotten in to the race thanks to IRF.

I never did get to see the coyote pups that Derrick found on a nearby trail (not for lack of trying), but on the last long run at Frontenac I did see a gigantic moose print which my entire hand fit inside of. I've never seen a moose or a print before, so I found it pretty amazing. And then just tonight on our run, we were rounding a corner and saw the biggest bear either of us has ever seen. It was absolutely massive. I had no idea black bears around here could get that BIG, and it made my heart jump out of my body, and when it returned it was pumping about 20 beats faster of pure primal adrenaline. Thankfully it was already darting into the bushes, but not before we got a great view of it maybe 15 metres away from us. What an amazing sight!!!! I hope he is a wise old guy who knows to stay safely hidden away in the woods.

Slide Lake Loop

2011-05-02T14:41:00.012-04:00

This is a slideshow of our long run yesterday (thanks to Derrick and Mac). Slide Lake Loop in Frontenac Park is 30ish km of amazing trail running. It’s one of my favourite runs ever, despite the fact it invariably destroys me by the end. Flagpole Hill and Devil’s Gorge are my top two spots in the park, but because the loop is so big and there aren’t ‘escape’ options, I don’t see them very often. Yesterday the conditions were very good, unlike in the summer when the trail gets grown over with grasses that hide rocks and tangle around your ankles, and the deer flies are bad. Aside from some muddy spots, the biggest obstacles yesterday were the dozens of blowdowns from the big storm last week. The trail is all single-track, mostly very gnarly, and constantly rolls up and down, with a lot of steep ridges through gorges. It's a full-body workout.

The 'official' Slide Lake Loop uses Cedar Lake Loop as its western side, but we always come back along the south-eastern Big Salmon trail instead (from the junction near campsite 4).

Surprisingly we didn't see any deer, just a lot of hawks, one live beaver and a dead one. The dead one looked like fresh kill, so maybe we briefly scared away whatever was feeding on it. Too bad, it would have been neat to see the coyotes or whatever it was.

My first run over 4 hours in a long time. I felt structurally pretty good given that, which was encouraging.

Race Recap: Seaton Trail Mud Puppies

2011-04-18T13:13:00.007-04:00

Date: April 16, 2011
Location: Seaton Trail, Pickering, Ontario
Distance: 29K
Weather: Rain, 4C
Trail: Out-and-back, single-track, muddy and wet. Mostly flat, but quite a few huge hills, a crazy river crossing, and did I mention mud? Everywhere.
Time: 3:43
Place: 2nd F, not sure overall

Was totally excited to run this race, not nervous at all. Despite the cold rain and slick mud I had a complete blast. Great people, it was nice to see everyone. Legs felt great, I thanked my physio Stacee in my head about a hundred times. I also thanked my well-tractioned Crosslites too many times to count. I like this length of race, I didn't carry anything except a few gels stashed in my gloves, and wasn't in a state of desperation with hours yet to go. Weird. Nice.

The weather was nasty, but I kind of like that for running. I felt bad for runners in the the longer races and especially the volunteers and organizers though. (It was a dangerous day out there if things went wrong...kudos to John M for helping out a runner in serious trouble, and then helping the runner's family too.) I saw Derrick three times on the course, and due to the timing of our starts and his shorter second section out, we finished up nearly at the same time. We had thought about the possibility of that happening, but figured the odds were against it. It was great to be able to see him finish and win his first race after the year off. Loved the dog-shaped medal and paw-printed t-shirt.

Bottom line: This year we put the Mud in Mud Puppies. Feels great to be back!

Results and photos will be here.

Niggly vs Injury

2011-03-22T11:11:00.008-04:00

Niggly

- A minor soreness
- Proceed with Caution
- Usually accompanies a training increase
- Gets better rapidly
- Ends up stronger than before
- Within a week it's over and never thought about again
- Feels good in a bad way

Injury
- Too painful to run without limping
- Stop
- Usually happens when you feel fit and invincible
- Can take fer-freaking-ever to heal
- Lost fitness, starting over
- Eventually you might see a good side to it all
- Feels bad in a bad way

Some weekly notes

2011-03-08T14:09:00.006-05:00

- Sunday I wasn't going to run, feeling tired from an increase in training and thinking the rest would be better. For some reason though I felt very antsy late in the afternoon and I just had to get out for a bit. So I ran up a nearby road and enjoyed the late afternoon sun. In fact it was spectacular, with the entire sky all the way around turning pink. Turning around, I was facing into the sunset and it was stunning. I was coming down a long gradual hill when it was at its peak, with so many layers of deep red and orange. I'm glad that I didn't miss that sunset, it was probably the best I've ever seen.

- Bosu and treadmill are still good. For some reason my stride rate on the treadmill is about 10 higher than it typically is outside, which is helpful. I have three uphill workouts done, with three more to go before racing...

- Just signed up for the 29k at Seaton Trail on April 16. I've never run this race, but a few years ago when Derrick ran I did a training run on the trails and it looked fun. Can't wait.

- I've been getting a ton of hits on my blog for an old post that has a picture called "stars". Apparently people are landing there looking for movie star photos. If you want a lot of hits, you should name your photos accordingly, like celebrity gossip, Justin Bieber, etc.

- After a ton of rain on Saturday followed by cold temps, we have a gigantic skating pond. The dogs are finally playing hockey again.

Neeka returning the puck after a breakaway

Go Team!

Gym Rat

2011-03-02T14:05:00.011-05:00

Since my first race back, I've been very inspired to ramp up my training. I got myself a gym membership again so I can use the treadmill (a) for uphill workouts, and (b) to warm up for (c) strength/plyo stuff mostly using the Bosu (which we don't have at home). I'm lukewarm at best about the treadmill, but it's been nice to add to the mix right now, and in general I love the gym, it is so much fun. The Bosu is the most fun, but I had a sobering moment when I rolled my ankle off of it, which kind of hurt but mostly scared the heck out of me. I'm doing this to get stronger, not to bust something.

So anyway, in this way I've kind of started sneaking in quite a few morning/lunch runs on top of hitting the trails at home after work. Not coincidentally I feel happier than in a long, long, long time. Though I like my job and am not complaining, it is a fact that what I do isn't work in the force X distance sense, except if you count a tiny bit from the wrist down (typing + mousing). Pretty much everyone who works here does something physical every day - walking, running or gym at lunch, etc. which is needed to balance out sitting so much I'm thinking.

Oh, if anyone has any links to good Bosu exercises, I'd love to collect some more ideas.

____________________________

Some interesting-to-me things:

Fascinating story by Brock Picken of FitForTwoTv on how he gained 40 pounds in 4 days to win a contest.

Raccoon Nation documentary on the The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. Fascinating. Cute.

Really great overview of snowshoe running and racing.

My dog can walk on water.

Less like a Math Test, More like a Painting

2011-02-12T11:11:00.013-05:00

Derrick and I were snowshoe running on some new trails last night. There is something about how the pre-dusk February sun reflects on the pine trees and snow-covered land that gives it a magical quality. It is hard to describe, but the pale colours of the sky and snow meet the richness of the green in between and I am left in awe of the radiant beauty of nature around me. The base of snow is well over knee-deep now, but the trails are packed down by our snowshoes and I found myself feeling grateful for the ten-thousandth time for them allowing us access into the silent woods of winter.

Then, part way through the run my thoughts shifted to feeling the need to train more. I started to feel stress in my body, with the impulse to write up an ambitious plan and muster up the will to follow it as a top priority. To harness every one of my allotted type A brain cells because I'll need every one of them to keep me on track. In the past I have been able to motivate myself to train hard to try to meet particular goals, mostly out of insistence on following a plan like this. When I've succeeded it has been extremely satisfying and I've found out important things about myself in the process that will always be a part of me.

I call it the Math Test approach. It's a logical plan fueled in part by fear. I would be super motivated to work hard because I wanted to "pass", and was starting a long way from where I needed to be. Add to it a powerful underlying need to prove worthiness to myself and it's a recipe that has a serious punch of power if you buy into it. But now that I have learned from this approach (most importantly how untrue the worthiness thing is), I don't feel it is going to work again.

When I started feeling that stress yesterday I already knew that well was dry, so I shut it down right there. I reminded myself that for coming off of a long downtime I'm in a good place and there's nothing to stress about. (Really, why would I stress about my stress-reliever??) I re-focused on the beauty of the snowy woods around me, and felt the stress melt away. I definitely still have goals, but the process of reaching them needs to be a larger part of the enjoyment. Not just satisfying mentally, but day-in/day-out enjoyable physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The metaphor I'll use this time is that of a Painting - I have an idea of what I'm after, but I'm going to be open to letting the final picture evolve in a way that is a lot messier, organic, and fun. Like I did yesterday, I'm going to aim to stay in the moment and let it flow.

I would never say one approach is better or worse, it's just about finding what feels right and being able to adapt. When and if I try a 100 miler, it may very well feel like cramming for a math test again, or maybe I'll find some kind of good balance between the two approaches. There really is good in both of them, and it's not like I haven't enjoyed training before, that's obviously not true at all. It's just that I want a larger proportion of my runs to be from a place of truly loving being out there, not just being a slave to my training plan.

Becoming unstuck in the world

2011-02-09T13:12:00.010-05:00

There was once a man who became unstuck in the world.

He took the wind for a map.

He took the sky for a clock and he set off with no destination.

He was never lost.

from Castles in the Sky, a movie not about snowshoe running

First Race Back

2011-02-07T14:22:00.005-05:00

I am very happy to have been able to run the Frozen Ass Snowshoe Race yesterday. I was pretty nervous in the morning, not knowing how it was going to feel to try to run at a quicker-than-training pace when I've not done more than a couple of tempo runs. Turns out it was fine, I was able to run at what I felt was a good solid effort. A great way to start back. My left leg was a little stiff and sore right after, but it calmed down throughout the day and as of today feels really good. That's a really encouraging sign.

The course at Batawa was great. It went out for a couple of kilometres at a steady grade up, and the snow was very deep from the storm this week and getting more snow overnight. The new snow made the trees very pretty. We then climbed a huge hill, down the other side, and then turned around and went back the same way. So after that killer second climb (that just about did kill me), it was an easier return, especially with the trail being packed down more. That easier last section really helped me, I think I'd have been sunk otherwise.

It should be an interesting battle for the female series title, as Angela won the race yesterday after finishing third at Frontenac. As of now Angela has 1 and 3 pts, Shauna has 1 pt and Eliza has 2 pts. Lowest score of two best races wins. (Derrick, bring the abacus!)

Time to Freeze the Ass!

2011-02-05T13:20:00.007-05:00

I've decided I don't want to live in fear of my blog being haunted, ha.

I'm so excited to be entered into a snowshoe race tomorrow, the Frozen Ass Snowshoe Race in Trenton, put on by Tri and Run Sports. It's been so long coming back to this point, and I can't wait to be in a race atmosphere again. I've been very nervous all week, but now on the day before I'm just purely excited.

My goals are: to have fun during the race, finish the race, and have fun after the race (including being happy with whatever effort I was able to run at and whatever place that puts me in). In other words, go easy on the expectations for the first one back. I want to race a ton this year, and a 7-8km snowshoe race feels like the perfect one to start with. It should be pretty low key, with a fun group of runners from the Trenton area out to enjoy the trails. The race is part of Derrick's Dion Series, so hopefully some people will travel in from other areas to take part too.

I can't think of a better name for a snowshoe race than the Frozen Ass. Anyone who has run on snowshoes through powder while only wearing one layer of tights knows exactly what that feels like.

Derrick giving me a bear hug after my last snowshoe race. Hoping to earn another one tomorrow, because after so long away this one will feel just as sweet to finish.

No Blue Monday Here

2011-01-17T15:54:00.007-05:00

I had a fun weekend helping out Derrick with the Dion Frontenac Park Snowshoe Race. On Saturday it snowed all day, and in the afternoon we went up to the park to stomp down and flag the course. There was a section that we changed our minds about after it was all flagged, so Derrick raced against nightfall to unflag it and reset an alternative section. Besides not bringing headlamps, we didn't bring any water or food either, so in our hurry to get home we didn't bother changing out of our wet clothes. The heater going full blast delayed the chill setting in, but it was good to get home and get ourselves looked after! All in a day's fun; what weirdos we must be.

Race morning was a blur of last-minute frenzied activity, then it was time for Jack, Brennan and I to head off to our places on the course. Those two had the important job of marshalling the most critical intersections of the course, and I was setting up an aid station at the half way point. It was a perfect day, and we were glad to have snowshoes to make the going a little easier. I found a little patch of sunlight by Big Salmon Lake and stomped out a square in the deep snow beside the snowshoe track. I had fun setting up cups in the snow - water on one side, Gu Brew on the other - and then in no time the racers started running by.

It was so fun seeing everyone, and as usual it was very inspiring. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, despite the soft snow which made the going very tough. I love the park so much, so I enjoyed seeing other people appreciate it. It was very pretty in the new snow - everything was so pristine. Right after they left my spot, the runners had the biggest hill of the race to negotiate. I tried to tell people to 'Recover Up the Hill', which is something I always tell myself to do in a race. It doesn't make any sense, but if you believe it hard enough, it actually works.

Once everyone was through, Taylor came by on his cool down lap, picking up flags. We ran for a bit together (me setting the pace, which was Taylor's walking speed, or maybe not quite even!) and then I suggested he go at his own pace to not miss the awards. He ended up removing most of the flags - thank you!

I heard on the radio that today is Blue Monday, the official 'most depressing day of the year'. (Who comes up with these things?) No Blue Monday for me, I haven't felt so happy in weeks and weeks. I desperately needed a good dose of fresh air, being in the woods, and exercise. And of course, when you need it the most is when you least feel like doing it, so it worked out well that the race was this weekend.

Day by day

2011-01-12T09:22:00.008-05:00

On Dec 3 I wrote on my blog that I was just over a nasty cold, but since I usually get one in December, it was at least nice to have it out of the way.

I also wrote that I plan to race sometime in January, before my 30's were over.

On Dec 23 I wrote that I was going to run a million miles over the holidays.

On Dec 24 I got a wicked cold, then bronchitis, injured my rib muscles (or something) from coughing, and practically poisoned myself from too many cough remedies. I ran maybe two miles over the holidays, am still recovering from the ribs, won't be racing in January, and never want to see Buckley's again.

I know, things could be a lot worse. I'm just thinking that maybe it's a bad idea to write what I'm "going to do".

Siku showing off her snose. You can tell just by looking that she is a much smarter person than I am.

Book Review: Eating Animals

2011-01-03T14:57:00.013-05:00

Books about industrialized factory farms make me sad, ashamed, angry. Horrified. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer made me all of those things, but it also made me laugh, entertained me, and in the end it gave me a number of reasons to hope that things will change.

The book is generating a big buzz, and I strongly recommend it. If you eat meat, love eating meat, and want to continue eating meat, I'd especially recommend it because it is stuff you particularly should know, both for yourself and the world. (If I’ve lost you already and you read no further, it all boils down to what we all are re-awakening to: support your local farmers.)

What Foer does so effectively is bridge the gap between meat eater and veg-head by showing the full impact of industrial-scale farming. He goes beyond animal welfare to our own health and the health of the planet. The effects of this scale of farming are of equal importance regardless of your dietary choices. He discusses, among other things: the origin of avian and swine flu from factory farms; how the meat is from stressed, sick, medicated animals (it is less profitable to raise healthy animals); the shockingly unsustainable levels of pollution (just one company, leading U.S. pork producer Smithfield, produces the same waste every day as does all of New York and California’s populations – and of course it isn't treated); and greenhouse gas producing emissions (animal agriculture makes a 40% greater contribution to global warming than all transportation in the world combined).

So, even if you don’t give a pig’s curly tail about animal welfare, there is much else to be concerned about.

Eating Animals is a provocative title. It plainly expresses the truth underlying what we prefer to state as “eating meat”. The animal part, the part that was once alive and could look us in the eyes, we might not think of at all, or we might take comfort in assuming the animal had a good life, a happy, comfortable life, and a swift end. That's what farms used to provide, up until very recently. They still exist, of course, but in such diminishing numbers that in the United States, according to Foer, 99% of meat eaten is now industrially farmed. (I don’t know the corresponding stat for Canada, but suspect and hope it is lower.) Increasingly we know that the image we have in our heads of an idyllic farm is a far cry from the reality that the majority of farm animals now live. As Foer puts it, "We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film."

Farms like we imagine them to be - which are ethical, sustainable, and proud of the quality of life they provide to their animals - would welcome you seeing their facilities and animals. I live in a region with a lot of small farms like this and I hope it stays that way. In contrast, the majority of meat comes from ridiculously high-volume facilities that are locked up like Fort Knox because they don't want you to see the show, and that's telling.

Until I was about twelve, I lived on our family farm, and our animals had a good life. I talked to them, scratched their heads, gave them names. And then we ate a lot of them. I hid when it was time to kill the chickens. My chickens, as I thought of them. I couldn't face it then, and I can't face it now. But at the same time - and this is important to me - I greatly respect my father for having the courage to do the dirty work of killing, motivated by love for us, to get them on our plates. He tells me now how awful he found it, how he dreaded it for days leading up to it. I realized on some level very early on that to match his integrity, for me it would have to be in the opposite way - by not eating what I couldn't face.

Even so, it took me years to go from occasional meat eater who didn't want to refuse anyone's dinner offerings, to vegetarian. Then, of course, because nothing is ever that simple, about five seconds later I realized that all the reasons I didn't want to eat meat applied just as much to non-meat animal products like eggs and dairy. These choices I make, my votes in how to live my life, feel right to me, and are an ongoing journey. I face my own inconsistencies when I eat cheese, when I feed our pets, or when I smuck a bunny into oblivion on my way to pick up a veggie pizza.

I'm not even entirely comfortable with the labels of vegetarian or vegan, because to me they are trumped by the fact that I will always remain an omnivore. More to the point, many veggies, in their passion, have done a disservice by painting it as an all-or-nothing proposition. (Case in point: Foer’s runaway bestseller is likely to create more change than any other single person is possible to accomplish, yet I’ve read reviews that blast him for not being vegan. Boot to the head!) Foer contrasts this with people’s actions towards other eco-friendly initiatives. No one is an all-or-nothing environmentalist; we just try to do our part and our best to improve. In any movement, ten people who change by half are far more impactful than one who is pure and perfect.

Meat eater and vegetarian respecting each other's choices, like my Dad and I do, is the necessary bedrock of the solution that this book offers. If all farms were like we all want them to be and used to be, then the story would end there. If you can look a pig in the eye and then enjoy it on your plate, I have nothing to say to that. But if you assume the pig had a certain kind of life in making that transaction palatable, then you are likely being horribly misled. Killing animals for food isn’t pretty, but most people accept it when it is done in a certain way. But are these factories - where suffering is offered in place of a healthy life, and so many unsustainable and damaging costs arise from the “cheap” meat they produce - acceptable?

One of the first things you find out when you stop eating meat is that many people will give you "advice". For the piles I’ve received, I feel justified in offering some back: Find out more about where your food comes from, and based on what you find, support what feels right to you. This book goes a long way to providing the motivation to do that.

December, and On to a New Year

2010-12-23T09:30:00.005-05:00

[This is a cross-post from Snowshoe Magazine's Blog.]

I'm not sure if it's the getting used to the darkness and cold again, or the hustle and bustle frenzy of holiday hubaloo, but December and I don't get along very well. I tend to feel down, negative, and easily overwhelmed. Pull over, I want off the Busy Train and just sit and watch the stars. Like my garden, I need a bit of time to sit fallow.

I love the New Year though, and this year I'm particularly looking forward to it. I found 2010 a bit of a struggle, but the good news is that it is ending on a much better note than it started. Today is my last day of work until Jan 3, and I'm lucky to have some downtime to relax and spend time with family. And run a million miles.

I haven't made resolutions in a few years, but this year I jotted down about ten without particularly giving it a lot of thought. That tells me something. I'm trying to keep them framed in a positive way, for example instead of saying "I'm going to stop doing X", I think it's healthier to say "I will do Y." I want to simplify and streamline, but in doing so I don't want to define my life by what I don't do.

Last night we ran later than usual, and the woods were snow-covered and intensely peaceful. It was just what I needed, I was off that train and everything felt just Right. After moving a computer mouse all day, it felt so good to move my body, be in nature, breathe the air.... just be.

A very happy holiday to you.
Sara

.

Stars or snowflakes?

Training: Week of Dec 6

2010-12-12T17:53:00.006-05:00

M - 30'
T - 52'
W - 50'
T - 70' [incl 10' tempo, 3 x long hills, 7 x short at little cat; felt ham tendon on loose snow, so shortened to packed upper hill and was fine]
F - 32' fun strength w/o in snow after
S - am 31', pm 43'
S - 40'

Total 5.8 hours

No long run killed the total compared to the last two weeks, but that's okay. It was uninspiring here weather-wise today, to say the least. Felt kind of tired, so happy to keep it short.

Put up a post on La Sportiva's mountain running blog.

Reading Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, and it's surprising how much I'm not liking it. It's not that he isn't interesting, and I agree with him about some things, but despite really wanting to like him, I'm really just not.
EDIT: It's getting better. Figured it would so stuck with it.

Training: Week of Nov 29

2010-12-06T10:00:00.002-05:00

M - 43'
T - 52' Waterfront in town, windy
W - 40' Cat W first snow on ground
T - 68' [with 10' tempo, 6 x Yarker hills (86 to 76 sec)]
F - 41'
S - 30'
S - 3:20 Front Pk, Arkon W, Bufflehead - Moulton, Little Clear, BSL. Great until bonkage last hour. Light snow, beautiful day on the trails. Park empty... everyone at the mall. (We stopped at Chapters on Saturday and even the overflow to the overflow parking lot was overflowing.)

Total 7.9 hours

Graduated to monthly physio appts. Felt solid on long run structurally. It's like a miracle to be training again. Big pot of chili waiting when we got home.

Training: Week of Nov 22

2010-12-03T09:23:00.004-05:00

M - 40'
T - 51'
W - 46'
T - 62' [wu, 10' tempo + 5 x Curl Rd Hills (~1:45 up), cd]
F - 45'
S - 40'
S - 145'

Total 7.2 hours; In general I'm also doing post-run stretching and strength/rehab 5-6 days

Just over a nasty November cold, but I usually get it in December, so it's nice to have it out of the way. Thursday workout felt amazing, no twinges of pain at all and able to maintain good form easily. Officially now "uninjured", and a great week to start training with. VERY happy to be back! Would like to race before Feb...don't want to let my 30s pass me by without doing that as a goodbye to my "youth", ha ha ha ha ha.

Cold Weather Running Contest

2010-11-17T12:58:00.003-05:00

Okay cold weather runners, here's a contest you don't want to miss - La Sportiva is offering up an incredible prize package for the best winter running story. Get creative, and

enter here

You have until December 17th to enter. Good luck!

Gifts

2010-10-28T14:37:00.009-04:00

I'm fast approaching physio graduation, after making rapid improvements over the last month. Things are really starting to come together now, and I'm excited to build up my training, and finally race again this winter. When I look back over the last year since I 'checked into rehab' (so to speak), I feel in such a better place. I feel like I missed out on a lot, but in the end I know I am coming out in a better, more sustainable, and wiser place.

The hardest part was in September after realizing that I had to let go of precious mileage and long runs that were just getting my nose above water again, and cut back again to let my new physio stuff really kick in. It made sense on paper that the quickest way forward was to hit the pause button, but by then I had used up all my patience. I was in an ugly mood let me tell you; it was so frustrating to miss another fall without a goal race.

My physiotherapist, Stacee Smith, is incredible. She really understands how interconnected the body is, and keeps the big picture in mind as she corrects imbalances with stretching and progressive strengthening. I've learned so much from her, and my running will always be better for it. Even after she proclaims me well, I'm going to keep going for maintenance on a regular basis in the future. We ask a lot of our bodies and need to take care of them. Somewhere along the line I really started taking mine for granted.

Another amazing healer who I've been going to this year is Dr. Sonya Nobbe, a Naturopath. She has also helped me a ton with her advice and recommendations of supplements based on my blood work, diet, lifestyle, etc.. I've had absolutely great results so far and can really feel the difference. For example, she casually mentioned in my first visit that we'd get my iron stores above 50 and I thought, 'wouldn't that would be nice, but not possible'. Just a few months later, they were at 51.

When we hosted the Sydenham Fall Trail Run two weeks ago, I stood by the finish line, where I always do, and was struck by the emotion of individuals and groups coming in. All shapes and sizes of people, all ages, some with pain written on their faces, and some with huge smiles. A group of women wearing matching pink shirts streamed in whooping it up, and the thought that this little race has become special to a lot of people was overwhelmingly satisfying. I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses. I still can't watch it in the video without welling up.

We're all connected, and I've learned we don't always need to achieve something ourselves to gain from it. I gained 223 times over that day, and am grateful to my fellow runners for giving me that. I'm certain that without my year of injury it would have just been a rather nice but exhausting day, but instead it turned out that it gave me my fall race after all.

Thanksgiving Run

2010-10-12T20:44:00.002-04:00

Fun, Fall, Frontenac

2010-10-04T12:26:00.003-04:00

Some scenes from yesterday's long run.

Workout Bliss

2010-09-03T11:57:00.004-04:00

Derrick and I did our first real workout together last night in way too long; maybe a year even, yikes. A ridiculously long time, and oh how I've missed the fun we have. (When I say we do it together I really mean we warm up together, do the same workout at our own pace, then cool down together.) The workout was a tempo run around two loops of a combination trail and road route with a big uphill at the end, so it wasn't a super-fast loop, but the effort felt great.

The cool down is always so fun because we chatter away in our sweaty-tired satisfaction about how we felt, our pace, blah blah blah, just basically analyzing every little thing in absurd detail that a non-runner would find extremely bizarre and tedious.

On normal runs you can let your mind wander, but in a speed workout your world becomes narrowly focused down to your own little bubble. I crave that, and that's a big part of why I love workouts so much. They are uncomfortable, but they have to be to get to that place where all the clutter in your brain just falls to the wayside and you're floating free.

A Siku Workout: Spinning in Circles

Colorado II: James Peak

2010-08-31T14:16:00.009-04:00

We woke early, hopeful that the window of good weather would stay open for us to reach the summit of James Peak. At 13,294 feet, it would be the highest we had ever run, and after only five days since leaving Ontario, it would be a good challenge.

During the previous days in Colorado we hadn't let the altitude hold us back, but had tried to be smart by sleeping in Boulder for two nights before moving on to St. Mary's at about 10,000 ft for the rest of our trip. During this time we hiked and ran up to higher elevations a couple of times each day. Luckily we all coped pretty well which was a relief.

We were staying just a short distance from the St. Mary's Glacier, a really neat snowfield at around 11,000 ft. We had all been up there to hike the day before and scouted out the area above it, to around 12,000 ft. The vast landscape above treeline was incredible, I never wanted to come down. A couple of hikers confirmed that the blob of mountains ahead of us contained James Peak, and that it would be a good target for the next day. We learned it was on the Continental Divide, which I got so excited about and it became an even bigger pull.

Starting up the trail, I tried to pace myself, but even so I found that I was huffing pretty hard early on. I hiked the steeper part of the glacier before returning to running when it mercifully flattened out. Once we made our way further up James Peak the going got very tough and I was hiking more than running. The grades didn't seem too bad with all the switchbacks, but the altitude definitely made it a lot harder. It was a bit frustrating to have to go slower and slower to haul myself up, all the while breathing harder and harder, but I told myself not to be stupid and just be happy that I was able to do it at all.

Finally reaching the summit, we took in the hard-earned view before heading back down. Going down was so easy with the gentle slopes that prevented it from being overly jarring, but it seemed to take forever to get to the bottom. I felt pretty good about making it up all that way.

What I loved about this whole area is that it wasn't busy. Down on the glacier area there were a lot of people, but getting up higher it was empty. If there had have been a 14'er in the area, we guessed it might have been packed. On the entire run up James Peak we only met a group of two on our way up, and another two later on our way down. It was nice to have the mountain to ourselves.

After this run I felt completely and utterly useless until late in the afternoon, similar to after a really hard race effort.

Photos, going up and then coming down:

Late Summer Update

2010-08-17T09:25:00.004-04:00

I got to a certain point in my recovery which I was finding difficult to get past, so I have been going to see an amazing physio who specializes in running. I'm completely impressed by her approach, how she has been looking at the big picture of how things are working together.

Frankly, I have no patience left to throw at a slow recovery, so I have cut my mileage for a few weeks and am rehabbing like crazy to get things off the ground. Cutting my mileage is very hard because I'm just starting to get some fitness back, but my gut is telling me that if I can just hang in there to lay a good foundation from this particular rehab, then I will be in a much, much, much better place to increase. In three visits I'm already noticing massive improvements in my pelvic alignment and glute function, so at least I have obvious feedback that I'm on the right track.

Running-wise it's been a very challenging year and I'm feeling a bit desperate by this point, but I have to acknowledge that a lot of good has come out of it. I should be all positive-minded and list those good things, but I'm not in the mood to do that anymore. Seriously, time to move on.

UPDATE: I should delete this post for being so whiney!

Colorado

2010-08-11T14:51:00.003-04:00

Ahh, Colorado.

Heaven.

Stunning.

Fun.

Joy.

Paradise.

Bliss.

If you want inner peace find it in solitude, not speed, and if you would find yourself, look to the land from which you came and to which you go. - Steward L. Udall

Read more on Colorado (run up James Peak) here.

Summer: Over-rated, but still lots of good things

2010-07-19T14:03:00.005-04:00

Summer isn’t my best season, due mostly to the fact that it is too hot and humid to ever be comfortable running, plus the mosquitos are atrocious which can make working or relaxing outside decidedly un-fun. So a big fat double boo hiss to summer for messing with two huge parts of my life.

Anyway, I decided to make a list of things I actually DO love about summer.

- Butterflies and dragonflies
- Birds singing
- Swimming in a deep, refreshing lake
- Getting a tan
- Dressing very light when running
- Blackberries
- Fresh produce in general
- Long, long hours of daylight
- Greenness
- Open windows
- Outdoor shower
- Clothesline
- Thunderstorms
- Our Fiskars lawnmower

Cooling their paws after a big storm, from L-R Siku, Neeka, Mali, Jesse, Willy, Meela

Great Summer Read: Endurance

2010-07-15T11:22:00.006-04:00

If anyone is looking for the perfect adventure story to read this summer, try Alfred Lansing's 1959 classic (the 1999 2nd edition is widely available) Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.

It is an absolutely fascinating account of the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that went horribly wrong. Lansing wrote the book after interviewing and researching diaries of the majority of the expedition's members. It's a tough one to put down.

“For scientific discovery, give me Scott. For speed and efficiency of travel, give me Amundsen. But when disaster strikes and all hope is lost, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”

–Sir Raymond Priestley

Training sensibly and seeing where that leads

2010-07-08T13:29:00.005-04:00

All through the last year of spiraling down into injury and then building back up to recovery, I still "loved running" as a life philosophy, and basically just something I deep down really do love. But really? Many, many, many of those runs were pretty darn sucky. I was hurt, burnt out, and then finally just plain out of shape.

The last few weeks things are really starting to click again, and I'm loving running as an actual Thing To Do again, not just a theory. In a way I'm loving it more than I ever have, because I'm so revived and appreciative of it after the break from training, and I'm also returning in a sensible way.

This sensible approach business feels so good I think I'm going to continue it. Instead of my usual high weeks then really low weeks where I'm toast, I'm going to pace myself, increase mileage gradually, and just generally be a whole lot smarter.

I'm in the middle of a recovery week after three consistent weeks of 7-8 hours each, and I'm recovering really quickly while only dropping down to about 6ish. A more typical pattern for me might have been something like 11, 14, 4, 6 ....not intending the 4 or the 6 but paying the price. I still want to increase, but I'm not going to try going from A to Z all at once. Skipping those other letters is not a good idea at all. I think I'm going to really enjoy those other letters.

Da Plan, Boss! Da Plan!

2010-06-22T14:02:00.009-04:00

After averaging about 6 hours/week for the past three months, and up to 8 hours/week now, I felt the time had come to make myself a current training plan (with a little help from Derrick). I find having a plan helps me to stay on track and to progress.

I need a training plan that has the perfect balance of Set-in-Stone and Flexible. The Set-in-Stone aspect is that the basic framework is non-negotiable unless there's a BGR (bloody good reason) for missing a run completely. This at least gets me out the door.

But besides that, there is a lot of flex:

A range of times.

Morning runs either before work or over lunch, while second runs can either be over lunch or after work. That way I can fit the day's training around other priorities.

Choice between weeks A and B. Right now I'm doing a bunch of A's to build volume and get used to workouts again before sprinkling in more B's later on, which have two workout days.

Workout options: Currently my workouts are more of a 'steady to low-end tempo', but soon I can add hills, tempos, intervals, progressions, etc. (Workouts will eventually get a plan of their own with more specifics.)

Q1: Do you find that you need a training plan, or do you prefer to make it up as you go along?

I had an interesting discussion with Karen on our lunch run about where that deep-down desire to take the plunge and commit to a challenging race even comes from. Q2: Any thoughts on that topic?

This Weekend's Forecast

2010-06-10T12:21:00.002-04:00

An Unexpected Gift from the Rockies

2010-06-01T10:10:00.013-04:00

Sometimes you have to go on a date with a supermodel to appreciate the girl next door. When Derrick and I went to Banff National Park last October, I was concerned that being in this iconic mountain landscape that I had dreamed of seeing for so long would ruin me forever for living in Ontario. I’ve loved being in mountainous places in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Quebec, BC, Oregon - but always I had put the Canadian Rockies on the high pedestal of being my Dream Place, sight unseen. And maybe they still are in a way, but I was also paradoxically given a huge gift in that they made me appreciate home.

And it’s not to take anything away from the spectacular scenery and wildness of the Canadian Rockies. It is impossible not to drool over the eye-candy scenes that are literally everywhere; to enjoy the endless trails; to marvel at being among grizzlies and cougars; to soak up the pure, invigorating air; and to relish the space that we luckily had mostly to ourselves in the post-summer/pre-ski season. It was really, really awesome.

Everyone we knew joked that we’d not want to leave, and prior to the trip I would have agreed that I’d be happy to stay forever in my Dream Place. And it was true that driving back from the airport in Toronto, passing such a high population density all the way to our house, we missed all that great western space. Even on our little dirt road in the relative middle of nowhere, it felt cramped with houses everywhere. And of course we missed the mountains, as we always do when we return from them.

But at the same time I felt completely at peace with being home, and have ever since. For some reason I’m now better able to appreciate the landscape and trails we have here for what they are. We’re lucky in that they are almost always deserted, so we have the natural world to ourselves. We see a surprising variety of animals very close to where we live. Even better, just twenty minutes from our house is the edge of the massive Canadian Shield. Suddenly we cross over into a world that is full of constantly rolling hills, and filled with jutting granite, shining lakes, abundant wildlife, and endless woods.

Happily, our nearby mountain playground of the Adirondacks in New York is also now dosed with more of my appreciation. These ancient mountains are undeniably gorgeous, and such a short drive away for us. And as trail runners, it’s really nice being able to reach the summits of any of the endless peaks with relative ease; every single one we see is fair game.

As much as it is a welcome joy to run trails in new places, it is also getting to know particular trails intimately from countless journeys that is part of what makes a place special to me. I think Leslie helped me realize this with how much she loves where she lives, in Banff. And it’s not about the tourist views; it is about deeply knowing her environment from countless hours spent traveling on foot through it, wandering into the deepest corners until it becomes enmeshed in, and inseparable from, who she is. I took that lesson home with me and it opened my eyes and made me appreciate what I already have but was too dense to see.

The beauty of our Shield-next-door is more subtle than the supermodel mountains, but is lovely in its own unique way. I have always known that loveliness, but coming back I felt something shift as I saw it now with no qualifications or inadequacies attached. As in, I got it, registered it and – as I keep repeating - appreciated it.

It’s a theme that life keeps teaching me over and over in different ways, about feeling okay right where I am. Like peeling the proverbial onion, here’s yet another layer of it.

Heading to Colorado this summer, I’m excited to see the U.S. Rockies and enjoy the serious eye candy with fun new trails. And then come home and run our own serene, beautiful trails at home. And be happy with that.

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Just one of many in the land of the tall, freakishly beautiful, somewhat inaccessible, and very photogenic.

Return from the Dead

2010-05-30T18:50:00.007-04:00

My boss when I worked in Toronto used to say to clients that something was 'a process, not an event' to temper their expectations of an unrelealistic timeline. My return from the grips of the grim reaper called Injury has had its ups and downs over the past few weeks, and I'm seeing that it is a process, not a matter of having one decent run and - presto - being back to where I was.

It does seem now that the ups are getting higher, and the downs are fewer and farther between.

After last week's big down of not getting very far into a race attempt, I actually ended up having a great week. My first tempo run in nine months was on tuesday night during the heat wave, and it went quite well, considering. Then some barefoot runs on our property trail, which I always love. And finally, today we capped off the week with my best long run in ages and ages and ages at Frontenac.

It was a beautiful loop, including a cut-across trail that we rarely use (Bufflehead), which was gorgeous. Early on we saw a sweet Canada goose family very close up. Two adults and five little fuzzy ones just about ready to start getting their feathers. I felt good running, really at one with the trail, and finally felt that some long-run fitness was returning. When we finished at 3:08, I was happy to be done, but still felt really great. It was nice that the humidity had dropped and we were mostly in the shade of trees and clouds the entire run.

The most amazing thing was sitting in the car on the way home, when I realized that my left hip area wasn't seizing into a painful throbbing knot of spasms. I just sat there peacefully and it blew me away.

So with a little more patience and some good training through the summer, I think I'll look at the Haliburton 50k again as a goal race. If I feel ready for something before then, then maybe Finger Lakes 25k, but I really need to feel confident before I race again. Today was a good step in that direction.

Run for Tomorrow Trail Marathon and 10K

2010-05-28T18:19:00.020-04:00

What do you do when a trail marathon is held just around the corner from your house? Well, even though I’m coming off a long injury and had no business thinking I could run a marathon, I went to run it anyway.

The event is called the Run for Tomorrow Trail Marathon and 10K, and is put on by Malcolm Anderson in Yarker, Ontario. He has carved out a 2.1 km loop that weaves through fields and woods on his property. All day I kept thinking of Field of Dreams and ‘If you build it, they will come’. Malcolm, who has a similar zeal for marathons that Ray Kinsella had for baseball, did indeed build a very pretty trail, and a nice little crowd came out in the first year to test themselves on it.

A small group of us lined up at 9am for the start of the marathon. There was even a couple from England to make us an international field! Malcolm sent us off, and it felt good to finally be running. We completed a partial loop, and then started the countdown of 19 more to go.

I started off easily, and kept in mind that the stars would really have to line up for me to make it to the finish even at a very comfortable pace. The repeated short loops made it convenient to hit the aid station at convenient intervals, and each loop held the anticipation of heading back into the beautiful dark woods where the trail passed downhill by a pond and then up two hills to keep your muscles working in different ways for variety.

Out in the open I was slowly starting to cook under the now blazing sun, and wondering how much longer I’d want to keep going. I'm not my best as a heat runner, and certainly not in May when the last long run I did I was wearing a hat and tights. Then I saw Karen and Julianne Murphy, which was a nice surprise and gave me a lift. I asked them if they were running the 10K which was to start soon, and Karen said she was kicking herself for not bringing shoes. So I tossed my extra Skylites at her to much laughter and applause from the gathering group of 10K runners, and she ended up running a great race.

As for me, those stars didn’t line up, but I managed some decent heat training before pulling the plug for the day. I was happy to get in a few hours, and also that my hamstring held up well and my hips felt pretty good too. Definite progress. I'm in a place now where I can start full-on training and am very excited about that.

Derrick and I stuck around for some lunch and to chat with other runners, and thought about coming back later for the live music that was to take the outdoor stage later. As it turned out we were too tired, but we live so nearby that we could actually hear a few strands of music later when the wind blew just right. We smiled that we weren't missing out after all.

It was a very fun day! Many thanks to Malcolm for hosting a great event!

I received a nice shower from a tent before the race - I really could have used this a bit later!

Aid station being set up.

Race Director Malcolm busy on race day.

A 10K runner rounding the loop and looking strong.

Cute and extremely obedient spectators, the Murphy Dawgs.

Recipe File: Lentil Shepherd's Pie

2010-05-17T10:14:00.006-04:00

Potato Layer
3 large potatoes
3 large sweet potatoes

Lentil Layer
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can lentils
1 can diced tomatoes, or 4 fresh medium tomatoes chopped
½ cup salsa
2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
½ tsp hot sauce
¾ cup dry breadcrumbs
½ cup TVP (texturized vegetable protein) chunks or slices
1 can corn
1 red pepper, chopped
Spices: cayenne, cumin, thyme, salt, pepper, whatever you like, to taste

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cube and boil potatoes until soft and then mash. (Optionally add whatever you normally use in your mashed potatoes, but the sweet potatoes make it creamy and tasty as is.) Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Cook onions and garlic until tender. Stir in rest of ingredients and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish.

Smooth the mashed potatoes over top. Sprinkle with paprika, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, or other topping of your choice.

Bake 40 minutes.

Lentil mixture:

Potato toppings, flax and sunflower seeds:

Dig in!

I'll have what she's having...

2010-05-11T09:26:00.012-04:00

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Nature Girl had her redemption run last week, and I set off for my long run on Sunday needing one as well. After my stomach woes last week, the goal was to get this one in without dying. Turns out I was sick with a stomach bug for most of last week, so that explains why last week's run went south so badly. I had a very light week of running as a result, so I went in to this one well tapered.

Derrick and I did a loop of Big Salmon and Little Clear Lakes at Frontenac Park, where the first hour was extremely technical. That tired me out and made my hips sore, but once we rounded Big Salmon into the northern part of the park the surface started to get smoother and I felt much better. We ended up doing exactly three hours, which was a big milestone for me. It was cold out so I was wearing lightweight tights, a jacket and a buff around my ears. Very different than last week's hot long run!

Last night I followed up with an hour trail run with some good climbs, trying to blow some more rust off from the winter of injury. Today I have nicely sore (as in not in an injured way) leg muscles. That feels good!

Derrick mentioned Fred the Breadmaker in his latest blog, but Fred isn't the only new addition to our household. We also picked up Viren, our new manual lawnmower from Finland. He is a Fiskars Momentum and works surprisingly well. We spent a bit more on a good quality design and we're glad we did. Living out of town we drive a lot, but we decided we could stop using the gas lawnmower at least. We're leaving wider borders around the edges of the lawn and encouraging wildflowers to grow. I think it is going to look great, and suits us nicely.

Finding My Lost Self on the Trail

2010-05-03T10:40:00.005-04:00

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You have to be very needy for a long run to enjoy even a good bonk.

Yesterday we headed to Frontenac Park, in all it's single-track glory. Derrick was running with Taylor and I opted for a smaller loop than them, but still one that would take me on a tour of the northern loops (North Big Salmon, Hemlock, Gibson, Little Clear). My hamstring has been feeling really good, improving significantly since Karen and I have been doing hill workouts the past three weeks. I was so excited to hit the trails feeling in such a good place.

Everything felt perfect on this run for the first 90-100 minutes. Even though it was hot, there was a bit of a breeze and I felt amazing, just flowing along the trails happy as anything, and grateful to be there. The green of the woods was back, with trilliums everywhere, and lakes brimming with life. I felt the rejuvination of spring mirrored in my own recovery. The rolling hills that I sometimes struggle on felt almost easy just because I was so happy. And really, not yet being in peak shape for going long feels a whole lot better than the 'scraping the bottom of the barrel' I felt last year. If I had kept it to a 2-hour loop, all would have been 100% perfect. But I was on a 2.5 hour loop, which was a bit more than I could handle given that it was an increase of a half hour for me, it was hot, I hadn't eaten much, and I only brought one water bottle to wash down my gels with. Not being long-run fit right now, my margin of error isn't wide enough to get away with all of that so I paid the price.

It was kind of interesting how spectacularly I bonked. I've had some very bad long runs before, but never, ever, ever have I not even been able to shuffle back, however slowly. This time my stomach was so upset and I was so zonkered I actually sat down at one point. It was heaven to sit down, and I was hoping my stomach would calm down. I had to get back though, but couldn't manage to run for more than 5 minutes at a time before having to walk. Hills were out of the question, I had nothing left. I felt so BAD physically, but still I was so HAPPY. There was no hint of despair, it all just felt good, even in it's awfulness. The amazing first part of the run more than made up for the challenge at the end, it was so incredible to be back on the flowing trails.

I've been in bliss ever since, even if a bit queasy still. I feel like I have come home. When Derrick and Taylor passed me, Derrick gave me some more water and even met me near the end again, both of which helped. But besides that I was grateful to have the run to myself, I really needed it for me. A few weeks ago my Naturopath asked me if I had anything besides running that helped me deal with stress, and sure, dealing with stress is one thing, but nothing fills up my soul like a long run through the forest. Through nature and on trails that are soft dirt from only ever being covered by footsteps. It's undeniably my church, my meds, my cleansing; it taps me in like nothing else. I knew how much I'd missed it, but I didn't appreciate how deeply that went until yesterday.

I know what my Naturopath was getting at: running relies on the body, and is therefore a vulnerable connection to rely on. Injuries, sickness, accidents can take it away in a flash. Still, what choice do I have but to accept that. In "Body, Mind, Spirit" the body comes first, it is of of equal importance. But all the Vogue magazines have it wrong; the beauty is in the function. To me the Body is the vehicle through the Mind and ultimately to the Spirit, and to have use of it is a true gift.
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Types of Runs

2010-04-28T11:06:00.014-04:00

Some people, like Siku here, always seem to have consistently Good Runs. I'm not like that. Here's a small sample of the variety of runs that are in fact possible...

Kill You or Cure You Run - Feeling run down and zombie-like, and figure a brisk run will either push you over the edge to being sick, or magically make everything better.

Let's Snot and Just Say We Did Run - Those cold days when your nose is running harder than your legs.

Paranoia Run - Coming back from injury and worried the whole time that you'll aggravate it and make things worse.

Hurts So Good Run - The whole point - whether it be hills, tempos, intervals - is to get out of the comfort zone.

Bad Eats Run - Running too soon after a big meal or junk food. Significantly worse if the run is a workout. Could lead to the dreaded...

Runs Run - Dash to the bushes required.

Why Did I Bother Run - The rare run when you probably shouldn't have, for whatever reason. Usually end up wondering why you suck so bad instead of learning from it.

Fueled by Anger Run - Not typically a very long run as it starts out at a rage-infused, unsustainable pace before tapering down to a crawl when you calm down.

Puff and Pound Run - Up and down a mountain. No warmup possible, just up and up, puffing the whole way, followed by a quad-pounding descent.

Kill Me Now Run - Treadmill. 'Nuff said.

Not Even a Run - Crosstraining.

Calorie Run - Any run long enough to eat more than two gels.

Bonk Run - Shoulda brought more calories!

Sauna Run - Way too many layers.

Stripper Run - Ditching several layers mid-run. Sometimes right to the downright scanty. (You know who you are.)

Off the Map Run - Getting lost. Or going off-course during a race.

Knobby Tire Run - In serious mud and thankful for well-tractioned trail shoes to keep you on your feet. (Love my Crosslites!)

Zen Run - One-with-the-Universe bliss achieved on those days when everything feels good. Zen Plus if it's in the woods. Zen Minus if it's during a race (sorry, I'm just jealous). Aka Siku Run.

The Story of Stuff

2010-04-23T08:57:00.004-04:00

More info

Note: Stuff is sometimes referred to as crap, clutter, trinkets, whoo hoos or bamboozles.

More is more and less is less, but sometimes less is more effective

2010-04-09T10:52:00.015-04:00

A long-recurring problem I've had with my training is that I think of my weeks as 'Mon - Sun' and try to cram in as much as I can handle, which leaves me in a position where my Sunday long runs get any scraps of energy I might have left over. Then I get frustrated when my long runs don't go very well and question how I can ever run ultras if I can't even do long runs!

So, over the past two weeks I've been following a plan that Derrick has set up for me. Right now, coming off injury and trying to regain fitness, I'm finding it very helpful to have these guidelines to hold me back earlier in the week and save something for Sunday. I think there is a place for my usual approach of trying to max out mileage every day, but I'm just not ready for that yet.

And really, seeing how well I seem to be feeling, I'm re-thinking my old strategy and might try to see how taking a day off a week works for me. (I do normally take days off on a 'as needed' basis, but sometimes by then it's too late to do as much good.)

It's hard to make the switch though. Now that I'm starting to feel a bit fitter, the thought of my zero day today is bugging me. I would really prefer to run a million miles. Okay, I'd be happy with four or five miles today. BUT....maybe I'll feel decent on my long run this Sunday, which would be kind of great.

I'm going to put my feet up and give it a try.

For Sale: One Square Wheel (Cheap!)

2010-04-01T12:59:00.004-04:00

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On second thought, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

The last two weeks I have made a lot of progress with my injury rehab. I have increased mileage, and finally found myself in the position where it was my fitness holding me back more than my hamstring. To help me get through that, I asked Derrick to make me a training plan for the next few weeks. Not only do I trust him because he totally knows what he's talking about, but it's also a mental relief from obsessing about it. It was honestly a bit hard for me to give up control over my training, but now I'm loving it and have been following his plan to the minute.

One of the most surprising things was that once my hamstring really started to heal, it felt really strange and awkward to run as my left leg adjusted to being able to function again. For so long it felt like it was dragging behind me, like I had "one square wheel" as they say. Not good, but that eventually became my "normal". No wonder my hips were so messed up. Now that I'm getting more accustomed to using both legs equally again, I'm feeling much smoother.

I hope that someday soon I'll have something interesting to talk about instead of my hammie! I'm looking forward to getting back to some rolling single-track soon. Hopefully in a few weeks!

Love this classic:

Snowshoe Magazine Blog: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

2010-03-24T09:34:00.003-04:00

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The Best of Times, the Worst of Times; On Listening To Your Body

Snowshoe racing season is over, and I didn’t get a single race in. That really bums me out. My hamstring injury is my own fault for violating the first rule of running: Listen to your body.

Read the rest of the blog here
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Spring

2010-03-17T08:41:00.010-04:00

We enjoyed the sunset last night while looking out over our spring pond, and watching countless flocks of geese fly north. It's such a nice time of year, lots of sun and warming up, but still no bugs.

It's been amazing to get out running with shorts on. I've graduated myself out of the gym and am back to all running again. It helps to have the soft, smooth Cataraqui Trail free of snow now. My plan is to hold the mileage steady at around 6-7 hours per week of easy effort and adjust to that fully before increasing anything.

I think it's a reasonable plan, but it's hard to not overanalyze every little ache right now. Just like going into a race you have to trust the training, I guess with coming off an injury you have to trust the healing.

Also from last night, Siku looking serious moments before being pounced on by Jesse (in the background).

Plan B

2010-02-23T10:47:00.003-05:00

HAHAHAHA. That's my body laughing at me for declaring that I'm going to start training. It was going well until Wednesday when I tripped on a stick and set back my hamstring. Tripping on a stick is very common when trail running, and usually isn't a big deal, but obviously I was still vulnerable. Since then when I try to run I've been compensating, which is leaving my back and legs feeling sore and out of whack. When I get back to where I was a few weeks ago, I'm going to have to be more careful and stick to easier trails.

Plan B is to get my butt to the gym to cross train. I so despise the elliptical, but its now officially desperate times.

HAHAHAHA. That's me laughing. Oh wait, not funny.

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Update: I made friends with the new ellipticals at our new gym. It was good.

Furry Fury

2010-02-18T10:23:00.008-05:00

A wise friend of mine pointed out that whenever we become passionate about an issue, we can usually count on, in the same moment, becoming a hypocrite. Most issues have layers of complexity and shades of gray, and the people examining them have their own biases, temperaments, priorities, backgrounds, and even ignorances. Nothing is simple, and we all have equal right to our views and resulting choices. I'll defend anyone's right to that even when I emphatically disagree with them. We're all on our own journey.

Usually when I rant about something, I eventually remember of all that and my rant fizzles out before I ever get around to typing it. I can count on one hand the issues that, for me, would get out of my own head, past that filter, and wind up here as a rant. But all winter I've been seeing students (on the campus where I work) with Canada Goose jackets. Are all these kids really going off to polar expeditions or climbing Everest over their holidays, which is about the level of cold these coats were designed for? Can they really justify the need for a fur ruff to keep their faces from freezing in southern Ontario? No, they are walking to and from class draped in coyote in the name of nothing more than having a trendy, expensive status symbol. An unnecessary, wasteful, insulting, offensive and disrespectful status symbol. And call me a hypocrite in my own down jacket if you like - I'll be the first to agree that I have blood on my hands just like we all do - but it still really pisses me off.

Welcome Back to Winter

2010-02-16T14:04:00.007-05:00

My friend Deb is in town, visiting from Taiwan, and we spent a few days north of here at a cottage and doing some trail running. On snow! What a concept! Deb has always loved snow, and I miss snow with all the ice we currently have, so we both had a great time playing on the trails.

The pretty view from the cottage. This is the Mississippi River, not to be confused with The Mississippi River.

Trails at Wheeler's Pancake House, in MacDonalds Corners (near Perth).

Deb made this snow angel!

All the maple tubing made for lots of limbo fun!

This guy is staring down a cat.

We also saw sheep, lots of woodpeckers (including two really big ones), and a red fox on the way out.

Deb, this is what The WHEEEE Monster looks like!!

First time on snowshoes!!

The feast after. When we were done, half that bottle of mapley, slurpy goodness was gone.

What a perfect winter day. Thanks, D!!

Heron Run

2010-02-08T11:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, EJ, Derrick and I did a very fun run to check out the heron nests and beaver lodge. We added on two other trails, to get in 72'. That's the most I have done without snowshoes in a long time. Got in about 4.5 hours for the week, which felt good.

Yellow Light

2010-02-02T10:11:00.009-05:00

It's been five months. I'm going to start training. Through January I've sprinkled back elements of training (doubles, longer runs, higher weeks, even yoga) padded with lots of recovery, and everything has held up. I've had some acupuncture, which is helping my hamstring. I feel in a better place than I did a month ago, so I'm taking that as a 'proceed, with caution'. It's a birthday present to myself, I turn 39 today. That's not nearly as exciting as turning 13, which Heather just did. Happy Birthday, Heather!

A voice in the back of my mind has been telling me to run a 100 the year I turn 40. I get emotional thinking about it, which is a sign I really want to.

Training, yes! Bring it OOOOOOOONNNNNNNN. Can you say, Sick of Myself??? I can. As my Dad says, 'Sometimes you're so far down you think it's up!'

Yesterday we took Siku for a very fun run on a friend's property where we were able to go out on a giant pond. It was frozen smooth and has a clump of trees with 10 heron nests overlooking a big beaver lodge. Very cool. Our backyard is flooded into a decent pond too. Derrick Orr has been shooting pucks for the dogs a lot. Neeka, Mali and Siku are really into it.

La Sportiva has announced their 2010 Running Team and associate sponsors in this release.

Weekend Winter Fun

2010-01-11T10:10:00.010-05:00

Had a fun weekend with some productive stuff and lots of fun stuff too. It was nice to have lots of sunshine after all the snowy days lately. Taylor and Matt Murphy stopped by for a snowshoe run with Derrick on Saturday and it was nice to hang out after. Then on Sunday, another snowshoe run in Frontenac Park. Derrick ran with Keith and Aaron while I puttered along behind on their trail. I was happy to get through the full loop, which capped off a 4h15m week for me! Feeling very good!

A highlight of the weekend was having my cousin Chris, his wife Jaqueline, and son Nicolai from Australia come by on Sunday morning for a dogsled ride. Nic, who is 11, has been eating up winter activities, like skiing at Whiteface Mtn, since they arrived here from Sydney last month. His parents say he must have a lot of Canadian in him the way he is handling the cold, which of course he's not used to at all.

He also just loves dogs, so bringing him on a dogsled ride was a blast, and something he can tell his friends about back home. Brennan and Heather showed him the ropes and I think it was neat for them to hang out with people from Australia with cool accents. Nic rode in the basket while Derrick drove the team, and then he let Nic take a turn on the runners part of the way back. Afterwards, Nic even fed the dogs with Derrick like a true musher, and took it upon himself to go go back out and say goodbye and give scratches before they left. At the last minute Derrick thought to give him the musher hat he wore as a memento of his winter adventure. My mom, who had dinner with them all later that evening, reported that he hadn't taken it off. :) We all had a lot of fun!

Trail and Ultra Running Blog Awards

2010-01-07T17:48:00.028-05:00

There are so many to choose from, but here is a sampling of my favourite trail/ultra running blogs and posts. Any worthy additions?

Fav Funny Posts

Marit Fischer's grammatical pennance

Ultra Running Guy and Gal dreaming

Geoff Roes loves the marathon

Gary Robbins takes a trip across the border sans vital documents

George Zack is having a problem with snot

Meghan Hicks goes fastpacking in the land of phalli

Leslie Gerein exposes all in the name of the B.U.T.T. at Mt. Assiniboine

Is Lance Armstrong really running the Pike's Peak Marathon? asks Buzz Burrell (and while we're at it check out his ride in style)

Fav Photos

Jill Homer

Leslie Gerein

Fav Running Dogs

Strider Pup

Nelson and Boober

Roxy

Ernie

URP

Fav Race Reports of 2009

JD Begin's 50 Miler at Haliburton

Jamie Donaldson's 24-Hours of Self-Transcendence on a Track...and an AR!

Devon Crosby-Helms' JFK 50 Course Record

Bryon Powell's Leadville Part 1 and Part 2

Derrick Spafford's Haliburton 100, along with David Bohn's pacer report.

Aaron Anderson's first 50k at Haliburton

New Year, Fresh Start

2010-01-05T16:08:00.001-05:00

I've been increasing slowly, and ran for 40 minutes on New Year's Eve which felt incredible.

After, I took some moments to myself out on our back field before celebrating one of my favourite nights of the year. It was warm with some snowflakes gently falling, and the moon, even behind the clouds, made it light enough to see without a headlamp. I had happy dogs scattered all around me, and I was feeling very thankful for everyone in my life. Over the holidays we've spent some wonderful time with family and have collected nice memories and warm thoughts.

Looking up the hill at the house snuggled among the big pines, it struck me that the cabin in the woods I always dream about is sitting right there in front of me. The realization was typical of this year for me. I did some things that I am very satisfied with, but ultimately the real gift is that in doing them I know that as satisfying as reaching goals can be, happiness is more about being grateful for what we already have.

Best Advice I received when injured...

- Being Positive - After a rough day during our injuries, Derrick reminded us both that thinking positive is helpful and healing.

- Derrick encouraging me that once I get to the point of being in the woods for 30 to 45 or so minutes on a regular basis everything will seem a lot better, which is totally true and helped break the recovery into a manageable thing. Whenever I started feeling like I would never get back, I'd think of this and it helped it feel a lot closer.

- Derrick again, on improving form. If I hit a higher stride rate, I won't overstride. Turnover turnover turnover. Doing a lot of barefoot this summer helps it feel natural.

- Think Spring - Asking Greg Lehman about training and racing again and him telling me to 'think spring'. It made me feel kind of sick to hear, but it was good to know so that I could settle in to the recovery process and accept the reality of it.

Happy birthday to Meela, our millenium sibe and pack leader, who is ten.

Perspective

2009-12-13T21:16:00.017-05:00

I've been writing about my injury a lot, but with the benefit of time I have more perspective on it than I did when I first started rambling on about it earlier this fall.

In the time I've been running, this is only my second injury that has required any significant time to heal. The last one was five years ago, when I wrecked my foot during our Rideau Trail fastpack.

There were a few things that led to this injury (a degeneration of tendons in my hip and hamstring):

- I think I'm really good about recovery day-in and day-out, but taking any larger amount of longer, seasonally-based recovery is something I never seem to get around to.

- As runners we can develop a weird relationship with pain. It's sometimes hard to distinguish pain we should pay attention to as opposed to the type that is just a normal part of training.

- After R&I I just wanted to keep going and run a 50 miler. Why start over when I was already there? My aerobic base was my limiting factor for so long, and after a few years of solid mileage, it was seductive to think I could just keep going. My legs were suddenly the things holding me back, which was a strange thing for me, and in hindsight I didn't pay enough attention to what that was telling me. That led to compensating by recruiting other muscle groups, and before I knew it the whole house of cards was falling around me.

- Advil. I started to pop it during races. Never. Again. I can see it being helpful for really long races when used sparingly to relieve muscle soreness. Turns out I was actually masking signs I should have paid more attention to.

- Overstriding, especially on snowshoes.

- Yoga - doing too much too soon. I don't think yoga caused my injury, but I started getting really into it and doing more than I was ready for, which didn't help. I hope to get back to it next year as I really enjoyed it.

Some good things to come out of this injury:

- Huge renewal to my enthusiasm. Getting to the point of missing it deeply and appreciating it more.

- Not being hungry all the time. I can skip a meal and not want to eat my arm.

- Having more time, which is good timing because work has been busy. Change of pace in general. When I get back to harder training, I plan to keep a better balance.

- I always say that if running can't teach you patience, nothing will. Bingo. Again. Learning.

- Deep healing. For example my big toe joints aren't sore for the first time since I can even remember. Toenails are even growing back.

- Working on form. I don't believe in overhauling form, rather tweaking over time and getting in touch with what works for you. I've now been chopping my stride right down and working on turnover. Barefoot has helped me so much this year, because it helped me get in tune with my own natural form, and it feels right.

- Realizing I can live without running. It isn't my life, it's just part of my life.

I don't have time right now, but next time I'll post about the best advice I've received during my downtime.
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I started typing all of the above on Sunday, before one of our beautiful dogs, Cody, died on Monday. None of that other stuff seems to matter as much now, and I still miss our golden boy terribly and feel a void in my heart. Last night driving home, the sunset was gorgeous, with a bit of a "sundog" effect shooting up into the sky. I took comfort in thinking that maybe Cody's energy had something to do with it. But still, I would prefer that we could sit on his house and watch it together, and I could give him a big furry hug and scratch his softest, dark ears. Then maybe one more time I could watch him trot across the snow and ice looking undeniably wolfish. We never got to say goodbye to our friend, but take comfort in many fond memories and knowing he lived a long and happy life. Derrick and I play a silly game where we pose questions like, "If all the dogs were rock stars, who would they be?" If Cody were a rockstar he would be Eddie Vedder, and he would have penned this wise and haunting song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aePWkeDxRjE

Turning the corner and other news

2009-12-08T15:55:00.014-05:00

Whoo hooo. I'm starting to feel a bit optimistic that I've turned a bit of a corner with this injury. The past week has felt much better, and I'm starting to very gradually add more running. I did a half-hour run last week, and also did three days in a row. Both were firsts for a long time. Yesterday was our first snowfall of the season, and it was almost unbearable to not run, but I somehow managed it.

Some other stuff: My brother Jeff and his family are in Australia for the winter. They are keeping a blog of their adventures here. It's been fun to follow what they are up to. Here they are before they left (Jeff, Heather, Whit, Sully).

A really nice sunset this fall:

Halloween at our place is followed by the annual Smashing Pumpkins event.

I went through a puzzle phase early in my injury. I'm over it now. The cats were very helpful.

These La Sportiva stickers say on the back: Stick it to your car, your helmet, your dog, or whatever. Siku played along, but then gave me a look as if to say, "Don't you wish you could run instead of playing with stickers?" Bad doggie.

I took these this morning of the pretty snow.

Hi from the Pit

2009-11-24T13:59:00.004-05:00

Still waiting here patiently in the pit stop, watching the world run by.

Since this is a running blog, I don't have much to write about. Things are improving, but it's a slow process. I'm actually running a few times a week really short, and doing a bit of elliptical. It really could be a lot worse, though it's still a long way from my usual training.

I know it's an investment in healing that will pay off in the end. To be back 100% will make it all worth it.

Solo Flight, Feb 2007

2009-11-05T14:25:00.007-05:00

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I had the day off for Heritage Day, and I sat finishing my coffee while watching the sunlight stir up twinkles in the snow outside. Filled with a rush of energy that had nothing to do with caffeine, I sprang up and threw on my warm clothes and boots. I was on a mission - this was the day of my first solo dogsled ride with our huskies. (I had driven the dogs before, but had always had Derrick with me helping to hook up, and be there in case something went wrong.)

This was before we had Siku, so I had a four husky team. Knowing the dogs as well as I do made it even more special to share this with them. It was the most exhilarating expreience ever, working with the dogs and moving through the gorgeous winter landscape. The ride was about 25 minutes, though it seemed timeless. The last part was a downhill and they raced to the finish where they rolled in the snow to cool themselves off. I gave them snacks and we hung around all proud of ourselves for a while before heading home.

Later, when I had settled myself back onto the couch, the Olympians in my backyard started singing their sweet howling chorus. My heart sang along with them: thank you, too.

Here’s a video I took from the sled. As usual, Meela (in lead on left) is smarter than me. It’s okay, I’m used to it.

A Week in Banff

2009-11-01T11:28:00.022-05:00

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We arrived in Banff National Park last Thursday. The drive from Calgary was amazing, with the late afternoon sun turning the entire landscape golden. As we headed west, the abrupt line of mountains rose higher with every passing minute. Soon we were swallowed up by them; more mountains than you could count. We had arrived in paradise.

Even though we were tired and hungry from the day of travel, we couldn't wait to go for a short run. We found a trail near our hotel and got our first taste of the Rockies on some meandering trails near our hotel.

The next day, we drove up to Lake Louise and ran the Agnes Tea House trail and then up to Little Beehive. Unfortunately, the road to Moraine Lake was closed for the season, though at least that helped us narrow down our endless choices. This entire area is usually very busy, but this late in the season, and with the trail being icy, we had it almost to ourselves. Our Kahtoola Microspikes allowed us to run without any problems at all. Little Beehive was 7,300', so I'm not sure if it was my lack of fitness, the altitude, or the incline, but it was a challenging run. As always, totally worth it with the feeling of accomplishment and the views. It was gorgeous looking out over Bow Valley, at the mountain ranges, and down to the brilliantly-coloured Lake Louise.

That night we were invited to have dinner with Leslie and Keith at their amazing place right on the edge of town, partway up a mountain. They made us the most amazing meal and we had a fun night of hearing their stories of adventures in the park. We learned a ton and it helped us get inspired and prepared for the rest of our time.

Saturday took us to the Johnson Canyon trail and out to the Inkpots. It was a nice valley with some beautiful views even though the day was mostly overcast. I could breathe the crisp mountain air right down to my toes. Even with less oxygen, at this height anyway I'd happily trade it for the humidity of home.

We drove over to Canmore that night to meet up with our friends Gene and Sue. Their place is amazing, nestled up a mountain with the greatest views in every direction.

Sunday, we drove further north, past Lake Louise and up the Icefields Parkway. It was a bright sunny morning, and we were gaping at the unreal views the whole way. We stopped at Peyto Lake on the way up, then reluctantly turned around at the Saskatachewan River Crossing. I wanted so badly to keep going, but that will be for another trip. On the way back we stopped at Bow Lake for a run. It was cloudy now, but it suited the barren landscape we ran into. It felt like another planet.

We checked into the Banff Centre, where my CIRPA conference started on Sunday night with one of the three great keynote speakers they brought in. Monday morning I got my presentation on GIS over with early, then was able to relax for the other speakers.

Tuesday was a full day of talks, but over lunch time I ran up Tunnel Mountain which was just five mintues from the conference hotel. I loved this little run, as it had many switchbacks and easy footing to make it just a nice workout up and runnable down without too much pounding. Derrick met up with Magi in Canmore for a run in the snow at the Nordic Centre. That night we went to dinner at Melissa's in Banff with Gene and Sue, where a few mountains of nachos and beer went down over many laughs and stories.

Our last run on Wednesday was Lake Minnewanka, where we did an out-and-back to near the end of the lake. Some mountain goats met us in the parking lot and enjoyed cleaning our car while we were gone. What a gorgeous run, and we had a nice sunny day for a lot of it. The views were spectacular, and the footing a little more technical than most of the other runs we had done out here. It had a few rolling hills, but was mostly flat.

We toured around Canmore for a bit of shopping, and were happy to run into Liza for a quick hello. On our way back to the airport in Calgary, we had one more visit on our calendar - dinner with cousin Wes and his wife Ally in Cochrane. Another great visit and delicious home cooking.

All in all, not a bad week of running considering we were both a bit injured. My hip and hammy held up okay I think/hope. Having started some rehab going into the week probably saved me, though I took it beyond the limit of what I should have, ideally. Ah well, we were in the Rockies, what can you do. To top it off, at the end of Sunday's run at Bow Lake I fell hard on a patch of ice just a few steps from the car (stupid parking lot hazzard!) and landed on my sore hip. Nice!

I'll post my favourite photos in a separate post.

Banff Photo Gallery

2009-11-01T09:45:00.001-05:00

Status Report

2009-10-16T10:21:00.004-04:00

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I've been going to Performance Health Studio for ART treatments with Dr. Greg Lehman the last few weeks. He says I have tendonosis in my hip, which after a period of rest and treatment, will be put to some rehab. There's some other stuff going on with my hamstring and glutes, so the whole thing is a bit of a mess. I won't be able to train full-on for awhile, but will soon be able to gradually add back in running and cross training while doing the exercises he prescribes.

I was thinking the other day that if I had have had the same pain in my knees at any point, it would have stopped me in my tracks. For some reason with hip pain I just kept training through it for so long, not taking it too seriously. Looking back, I point to my last five-hour long run before Rock and Ice as a very damaging run. It was on an icy trail, and by three hours in my already overworked hips were completely seizing up and screaming. From that point was R&I and then jumping back into training - doing long runs and adding speed work and never being completely healed. The downward spiral spit me out at the bottom at Haliburton this year, which was actually a bit of a relief.

I’m looking forward to being in a better place for 2010. This has come at a good time, when I'm mentally in need of refreshing anyway. The idea is to heal the damage to the area, and work on improving the functionality so I can hopefully avoid the same thing in the future. It’s actually pretty exciting to think of being in a better place so that I can run longer races eventually.

In the meantime, I can't complain. Well, I could, but I’m not going to. Well, I might. But I’m really going to try not to. I’m in a relatively good headspace about it. I have more energy and more time, not a bad short-term trade off.

Finally, good luck to everyone running the Sydenham Fall Trail Race this weekend! I can’t wait to soak up all your running energy! I hope you have a fun day, as I know we will.
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Rock and Ice Clippings

2009-10-05T11:20:00.011-04:00

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We have updated our writing website Montgomery and Spafford Adventure Writing with a new Media page. It contains various newspaper and magazine clippings, including a Rock and Ice Ultra section.

Also about Rock and Ice, upcoming in the December issue of More Magazine is a story I wrote about three women who raced the K-Rock Ski event last year - Barb Campbell, Bev Wilson, and Shawne Kokelj. It should hit the newsstands some time in November, and features photography by Patrick Kane of Up Here Magazine.

Read up, get inspired, and sign up for this incredible race for 2010 as a once in a lifetime winter vacation race experience. You'll have the time of your life!
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The Wrong Why

2009-10-02T12:02:00.007-04:00

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For a long time I've been asking myself why my left hip and glutes are so incapable of keeping up with my training. Turns out I was asking the wrong question, one based on faulty assumptions. All the pain is in the left, but the problem is actually stemming from the right. My right side in that area has less range of motion and strength, so the left side has compensated heroically, but is now overwhelmed to the point of even recruiting adjacent muscles to help out in the lost cause.

This pain I have been having while running is one of the biggest reasons I'm currently taking some down time. I'm also tired and depleted, both mentally and physically. Since Rock and Ice I've been running on empty. Haliburton finally woke me up, and I realized I need to figure out my hip for real and get rested so that I can start enjoying the process again. The thought of not training was scary, but after making the wrong choice after Sulphur and starting again, I ended up in an even worse place. The whisper had become a yell; time to pay attention.

So, I've let it all go, and I'm not insisting on a timeline. I'm running a bit here and there when I feel like it, but mostly letting my body recharge and heal. I've started treatment and rehab for my hip, and already it's starting to improve. I'm finding out who I am without training, and surprisingly, as scary as that thought was to me, I'm just fine. There's a lot of peace in that for me - I'm the same shmuck with or without it!! I suspected as much, but it's good to confirm.

I used running to help discover who I authentically was. Before that, I had spent too many years trying to fit in and be like everyone else, only to realize that the key to happiness is being myself. Running helped me with that, and the discovery was actually more of a re-discovery. Today I have a lot more in common with the me I was at the age of 10 than the not-me I was trying to be at 20, or the struggling-me I didn't quite know how to be yet at 30.

It's healthy to be evolving away from my need of running and find a new relationship with it. One more balanced toward enjoyment of the process, not the end goal. Filling up more my spirit, less my ego. I know for sure that I won't run a 50 miler until I can be in that place with my running. I'm excited to have new adventures like that one open up for me when I fully get there.

Until then, it's kind of nice to have more energy to put into other areas of my life. We went to a fun wedding of a dear friend in Chicago recently, work is very busy, and I even gave our kitchen a badly-needed scouring! And I'm ridiculously excited about Derrick and I both seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time in a few weeks, together.
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Haliburton 100: View from the Crew

2009-09-16T13:39:00.018-04:00

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Haliburton Forest is made up of 60 thousand acres of hardwood forest, lakes and wetlands that border Algonquin Park. Trails wind through the woods, allowing you to explore for hours on foot or bike. Black bear, wolf and deer are abundant, and the human activity - including cottaging, dog sledding, farm animal areas, trail use, and even a sustainable logging operation - is designed to share the forest with the wildlife instead of driving it away. It fills my soul up every time I go there, and helps soothe my shame over how my species has destroyed much of our natural world.

Besides obviously being such a unique and beautiful place, I always thought that the Forest was special to me because I've had good races there. After this year, I know that the reasons go far beyond my own experiences. I didn't even finish my 50k race this year; in fact, I barely even started it. Yet I still had a magical time.

I don't regret trying to race. It was fun to run the first 6 km or so with Aaron Anderson and feel the excitement of his first ultra. My own race is a bit of a mish-mash in my head, but suffice it to say I haven't been feeling 'on' for awhile now, and asking my body to race felt like trying to drive a car with the emergency brake on. No matter how much I slowed, everything hurt and I was wheezing on the uphills. It was such a relief to stop running.

I was sad as I walked back to the car, more about not understanding what was wrong than anything else, and wondering if I'll ever feel better. I pondered the loss of identity if I have to stop training for too long, but much more than that feared the loss of lifestyle. By the time I had walked the mile or so back to the car, I more or less decided I was being dramatic, and just need to give it a while to come back, and take it easy until it does. (Again. Didn't I already do this after Sulphur this spring?)

Anyway, I set the whole muddle in my head aside for the time being, and put on my crew hat. I piled stuff in the car for the day ahead and took off, first stopping to officially drop out at the closest aid station. (Which I realized after I didn't really need to do - it might have been a refreshing change to be a DNS instead of a DNF!) I went out farther on the course, to the turnaround for the 50k, which all of the runners would pass through. I was happy to meet up with Jenn Iskiw there, who was crewing for her husband Keith.

We watched as Adam Hill, doing the 50M, blazed through first, followed by Glen Redpath in the 100. Derrick, Keith and Pasquale Brandi from Italy followed practically together. I assured Derrick that I was fine and was excited to crew the entire race for him from this point. He looked okay, but not great, but I know that in training he starts feeling good in long runs right about the time I'm cooked, usually after 4 hours.

I waited a few minutes for Aaron, who made the turn in great time and looked fresh as anything. I'm usually partially cooked by then, so I was really impressed with how well he was doing. I wished I could have seen his finish, as he went on to nail his first ultra on a tough course and hot day. It will be exciting to follow his running goals in the future, as I'm pretty sure he's hooked on trails and ultras. (Among all the other great finishes, I must mention JD Begin who ran a tough 50 miler, and wrote a wonderful report on his inspiring - and inspired - experience here.)

From here, Jenn and I piled into our respective Crew Mobiles and headed over the dusty road to the next stop. It's always neat to see Jenn and Keith work together as a team. They have a cool dynamic and have a lot of fun together. She's seen Keith through some tough races, and is an expert on what to give him and when. It has been really nice hanging out with her the past two years at some races, and supporting each other as we support our husbands on their epic "man dates".

All day, the crewing pattern was to unload everything possible that might be needed, anticipate the most likely items, and hope that anything beyond that is close at hand. Then pack up, and move on to do it again. It was nice seeing Derrick this way periodically and making sure he was okay.

We continued out on the course in this manner to the far turnaround point at 40 km, then retraced all the way back until we were back at aid station 2. Here the runners would pass four times so I could HQ for a bit. The first time through the station, Derrick flew in and just kept going, which kind of stunned me. I quickly remembered racing (Yoo hoo, Sara. Remember me, Racing?) and that he was focused on trying to catch up to Glen.

When Derrick returned from the turnaround, he mentioned that David and Kimberley Bohn had arrived, and that I should go pick them up at base camp. I was excited to see them, as David was going to pace later, and in the meantime they would both help me crew. We had fun getting caught up and having some good laughs. These two were such a great help throughout the rest of the day, I can't even describe how good it made me feel to have them there. I tend to worry about Derrick, and knowing that David was going to be his pacer for the last 30 km was a huge comfort to me. We were all getting a bit sleepy by the time the sun went down, but David set off on a mission.

Kim and I then progressed back along the last stretch of aid station stops and helped the guys get what they needed. The hours flew by as we chatted and traded stories. Kim is so sweet, and the more you get to know her, the sweeter she is. The guys were making amazing time, always coming along much faster than I was expecting. David sure looked fresh next to Derrick, but Derrick looked a whole lot better than he did last year by this point.

Eventually all there was left was to get ourselves to the finish line and celebrate as they came across the line. What fun, and so satisfying to see. We broke out some Guinness and I felt all the tension of the day melt away. Derrick was all smiles, happy to be done and deservedly proud of his race and grateful to David for helping him break 18 hours. He ended up only about 30 minutes back of Glen, and took 50 minutes off his time from last year. He trained hard for it, as I witnessed every single day, and I couldn't be happier for him.

Not long after, Keith came in for third at around 19 hours. (Such fast times this year, and it was a hot one even.) He came back from some bad patches and finished the last 20 miles so impressively strong, just flying. What a great feeling that must have been to have it come together after some difficult races here the previous two times. Seeing his gutsy finish last year with a horrible leg infection, and Jenn by his side, is an image I'll never forget.

This year it was Martin Mack's finish that made me weepy. There was a good crowd around to watch him finish the next morning. He was comfortably under the cut-off but had to keep moving forward to make it in time. As we watched him come in the last km, we were all in awe of the anguish he was in, yet still willing himself on. Witnessing 100 milers doing their thing moves me in a way that I find hard to comprehend. It is beautiful in a way that I don't understand. Martin had no reserve of energy to pick up the pace even for the very end. All such pretence had long since been whittled away, and the very last step that got his wrecked body over that all-important finish line looked just as painful as all the rest leading up to it.

I'm in awe of Derrick's performance, and just as in awe of Martin's, and of all the 100 milers. To me they are equally courageous and inspiring; they gave everything they had to go a long way in a beautiful, brutal forest. It is a privilege to bear witness to their efforts, and to help surround them with the love of friends. Haliburton is about the people, and it attracts a very special breed.

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Ready (or Not) for Haliburton

2009-09-10T10:55:00.013-04:00

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The taper must be working; everything is starting to hurt and I feel like crud. I meant to bring vitamin C, echinacea, and a lacrosse ball to work today, but ended up forgetting all three. Lacrosse ball? My back is riddled with knots, and when lifting some things on Sunday (with all that extra taper time we've been doing some stuff around the house) it totally spazzed out on me. So I've been rolling my back over the ball to release the knots. I feel like my dog scratching her back in the grass, (but in slow motion, and without all the kicking, plus she makes really psycho noises). Anyway, it's painful but effective. Econo-Massage.

I think my back woes might be from adding in more yoga, and doing a few things I'm probably not ready for. I've fallen into that trap of TWBEWIWY! (This woulda been easy when I was younga!) Eventually it will get used to it and be in a better place. I have sympathy for those trying to patiently work past the aching joints (typically knees)* of starting a running program after years of not doing it. (*Not to be confused with people telling me it's bad for MY knees.)

I'm looking forward to Haliburton this weekend, even though I have no idea what to expect. August was tough training-wise with nasty heat and humidity, and the last few weeks I've done very little. Hopefully enough to not lose fitness, but nothing to gain either. I felt fitter going in last year, but then a bit off on race day, so I'm going to try to flip that around this year by going in well rested. My confidence is a bit lowish in terms of racing, but as far as going up to the beautiful forest and hanging out with a bunch of cool people, enjoying the trails, and the excitement of crewing for Derrick's 100, I couldn't be more ready.
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As usual, thick crowds of deer will be lining the trails to wildly cheer us on. In some places they are six deep and the noise is deafening!

Photo from OUS.org - Haliburton '04.

Book Shelf

2009-08-27T11:23:00.005-04:00

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I just read two books with similar themes - people who find themselves despairing over modern life so they pack it all up and move to the wilderness - they both end up along the Yukon River, one in the Yukon Territory and one in Alaska's interior.

I recommend both books to anyone who can relate to their desire. (Be warned though, they don't make coming into the office any easier.)

The titles are Up the Yukon Without A Paddle by Dorian Amos, and Call of the Wild by Guy Grieve. (Another excellent one is Chris Czajkowski's Diary of a Wilderness Dweller.)

Here is a short interview with Grieve:

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Week of Aug 17 - 23

2009-08-24T09:17:00.004-04:00

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M - 60' started at 8pm when it cooled down a bit. Finished up at house with some laps with Siku then a lap with Neeka and Mali.
T - 60' Cat W
W - am 30' Rideau Tr with Ro&Ro; pm 70' Cat E + Wallace Rd with 30' tempo (start on Cat then long uphill). Cooldown at home with Siku and Jesse. Nice to see the stars again this week.
T - 60' Stuffed from work potluck and really hot and muggy. Blech.
F - am 60' ridiculously muggy. Radar showed it was raining but it wasn't, grrr; pm 46' Cat W, felt good then crashed. Had two naps after and then right through the night too. Zapped.
S - am 40' Cat W, felt ok; pm 20' house trail barefoot + 90' yoga
S - 4:38 Fr Park North Perimeter. Felt great in first half and had a nice swim at Birch Lake at around 3 hours to cool off. Felt great until about 3:20, then horrible. Crawled in 27' slower than last time I did this loop. Derrick went ahead at 3:30 and checked back with me as I was finishing up and he was going back out to add on. I ate and napped in the car, happy to be done. Not sure why I crashed so hard, but think it was too much Nuun (I drank a bottle of it, and then when I refilled my pack I added a tablet to the bladder too...should have left it), which in turn made me not eat enough. Temps were reasonable compared to what they have been, and no deerflies until the very end. Trails in great shape. Tons of people out, good to see the park being used. Almost every group had a dog. Lucky pups.

Total: 12:04. Good week of training. Haven't been over 12 since April, but with so many singles it didn't seem like that much mentally, though I was certainly tired. Humidity is brutal, looking forward to crisper days now hopefully. Hip/glute/hammie improving, really noticed at 2:15 into long run they weren't sore at all. I think yoga is helping.
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Fall Running Plans

2009-08-20T11:29:00.004-04:00

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Haliburton Forest

I decided to sign up for the Haliburton 50k again this year, which is September 12th. This will be my 4th time running this 50k, and I'm looking forward to enjoying the beautiful trails and great atmosphere again. I really thought I was going to prioritize a fall marathon this year, but I simply enjoy trail running about a million times more than road running, and Haliburton has a lot of single-track which I find particularly hard to resist!

I've also been flirting with the idea of moving up to the 50 miler, but with the chance to crew for Derrick's 100 miler when I'm done my race, I'm more than happy (relieved even?) to put that off for another day. I need to be 100% mentally 'there' to do a 50 miler, and am still not quite at that point. I'll know when I'm feeling it, and look forward to it eventually happening. After Haliburton we'll see how we both feel about what races we want to do for the rest of the year and into 2010.

Sydenham Fall Trail Run

We're getting ready for the 5th annual Sydenham Fall Trail race on October 18th. Derrick has been working hard to make it the best year ever, and with the support of generous sponsors we know it will be a fun time.

Banff National Park

From October 22 - 29 we're going to go play in the Rockies! I have a work conference in Banff for a few days, and we're tacking on some holiday to get in some amazing trail running and mountain gawking. We'll likely do a 2-3 day fastpack, as well as some shorter runs. I'm already jealous of the days that Derrick will be going without me while I'm working, but I'll probably be more tired out than him anyway. Looking forward to seeing some friends in the area too! Can't wait!
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Week of Aug 10 - 16

2009-08-17T09:42:00.002-04:00

M - 42' in storm
T - am 53'; pm 21' barefoot + yoga
W - 48'
T - am 30'; pm 45' + flexi
F - 20' after dark in the cool field
S - 20'
S - 21' + yoga

Total: 5:00

A hot week for running. I found a million reasons and excuses to take an unplanned recovery break through the weekend. Enjoying yoga so much. Feet were sore from it after tuesday, but just fine yesterday.

Had a nice lunch with David and Kim yesterday, after their trail run in Frontenac Park. Thanks for meeting us, guys!

Weeks from July 27 to Aug 9

2009-08-09T21:14:00.003-04:00

Week of Jul 27 - Aug 2

M - 60'
T - am 61'; pm 45'
W - 51'
T - am 40'; pm 30'
F - off
S - 56' Whiteface Trail
S - Long hike to Avalanche Pass

Total: 5:43

Late in the week traded humidity and deer flies of Ontario for Adirondacks.

Week of Aug 3 - 9

M - am Catamount Mt; pm 64' South Meadow - Truck Rd - Marcy Dam - Heart Lake, tempo-ish effort
T - 20' back in Ontario thick air
W - 2:05 steady. Less humid. Good run even though I bonked at end. Totally knew I would and didn't care.
T - am 90' yoga; pm 45'
F - am 44'; pm 20' barefoot
S - 2:00 felt great, solid pace
S - 2:42 easy, needed more food before going out

Total 10:00

Feeling back in the groove. Loving the 2 hour runs at faster than my usual long run pace.

Week of Jul 20 - 26

2009-07-27T13:12:00.003-04:00

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M - am 20' + flexi; pm - 20' barefoot
T - last 'yoga in the park' of the summer
W - am 26' + strength; pm 60' incl 20' tempo
T - am 30' + flexi; pm 60'
F - am 40'; pm 20' barefoot
S - 42'
S - 3:00 Frontenac

Total 8:18
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Week of Jul 13 - 19

2009-07-20T10:05:00.006-04:00

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M - am 30' + flexi; pm 41' + strength
T - 94' road & trail loop
W - am 36' + flexi; pm 40' with 10 x strides + strength
T - 42' + flexi
F - am 32' + flexi; pm 60'
S - 60'
S - 3:00 + flexi

Total 10:15

Great long run on Sunday, best run of the week. Went in well rested from skipping strength workout on Saturday which helped. Wore my fav road shoes, Gazelle CC's as there was a lot of road connecting trail sections. Good weather, lower humidity at around 60% (nice to be able to breathe!) as well as breeze and cloud cover.

Missed yoga this week, but did lots of hip/leg flexibility stuff.

Read an amazing book, Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith (thanks for the loan, Keith). It's about the history, characters and current state of British fell running. Askwith tells his own story as well, which I found very inspiring as he discovers new depths of inner strength and level of committment required to meet his ultra running goal.

No idea what I'm training for, but doing what Rainer Maria Rilke suggests: Live the questions now. Perhaps then, without hardly noticing, you will live along some distant day into the answers.
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Recipe File: Veggie Burgers

2009-07-16T14:54:00.006-04:00

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There are a lot of good commercial veggie burgers available, but when you want to make your own, here’s a great recipe that I adapted (i.e. made even easier) from an old Food & Drink magazine.

Super Easy and Tasty Veggie Burgers

1 can red kidney beans
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup mushroom, chopped
1/2 cup salsa
2 Tbsp chile powder (plus any other spices you like; I like cayenne)
1.5 - 2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (for extra flavour use seasoned breadcrumbs)
cornmeal

Mix together onion, garlic and mushroom and cook in microwave for a few minutes.

In a bowl, mash kidney beans, then add the onion mix and rest of the ingredients. Adjust the amount of rice to get the right consistency.

Form patties and roll in cornmeal to prevent sticking. They cook well in frying pan or on grill.

This makes 4 large burgers or 6 smaller ones. They freeze well if you make a larger batch.
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Weeks from Jun 29 - Jul 12

2009-07-13T09:33:00.001-04:00

Week of Jun 29 - Jul 5

M - 25' barefoot
T - off
W - 20' barefoot
T - 21' barefoot
F - off
S - 6:20 Finger Lakes 50k
S - off
Total: 7:26

Week of Jul 6 - 12

M - off
T - off
W - am yoga; pm 15'
T - 54'
F - 27'
S - 30' barefoot + strength
S - 60'
Total 3:06

Looking forward to running more now.

That Dirty Magazine

2009-07-09T09:50:00.007-04:00

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The nice people at Trail Runner post their older issues online so you can flip through just like the actual magazine. (They also provide passwords for new issues to subscribers as an added bonus to the print version.) Go to www.trailrunnermag.com and click the Free Digital Editions link to take a browse.

On a related note, congrats to Taylor Murphy for making the cover of this year's Trail Runner Trophy Series Race Edition! It's a great shot of Taylor taken at 5 Peaks Kingston, and can be found inside the June issue (as well as given out at the Trophy Series races).
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Fun in the Mud at the Finger Lakes Fifties

2009-07-06T15:41:00.009-04:00

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Without exception, every runner coming through the finish of this year's Finger Lakes Fifties had mud caked solidly up to their knees, with splatters reaching even higher. The trails were a disgusting mess. It was so much fun.

I can't say enough good things about this race that winds through the beautiful Finger Lakes National Forest near Ithaca. There are 25k, 50k and 50 mile races all held on the same loop. With the 50k and 50 mile both starting at the same time, the race organizers give you the option of deciding mid-race which distance you want to complete. With conditions like this year's, it was an especially welcome option.

Logistically the event is low-key and no-hassle, with campsites available within a few steps of the start/finish. It poured through the night but thankfully it stopped by the time morning rolled around.

My only concrete goal for this race was to enjoy myself, so I was thrilled that many things lined up to make that easier. Some things I couldn't control (notably that the weather was ideal and the course was beautiful), as well as the things I could control (I went out at an easy pace and kept a positive attitude throughout). All the mud made things harder in a way, but I was in the mood to enjoy it. My Crosslites were the perfect shoe, and I never felt like I was out of control even in the slickest sections. As usual, the worst obstacles were the slippery wooden boardwalks.

I had signed up for the 50k, but I went out at a relaxed effort on the distant chance that I'd feel good enough at the end of the second loop that I would want to go on to the 50 miler. The first loop was spent waking up, settling into a nice rhythm, and enjoying the trail. It took a little longer than I had expected, 3 hours, but with that much mud it made sense.

Going into the second loop I felt great, and up until 4 hours in I still saw going on to the longer race as a possibility. I was enjoying the trails and was feeling up to going through them again. However, over the next hour I started to wind down, and I eventually decided that I wasn't prepared for that much more running in the muck. I reshifted my focus to enjoying the rest of the loop and finishing strong.

The mud made things difficult and slower, but I'll take that over a heat wave any day. In a way it felt like running through snow, and for the majority of the race it was at least above the ankles, and often a lot higher. By the end I had certainly had enough of it, and it did a number on my leg muscles, but for the most part it was just plain fun.

The course from the knee up was beautiful, nicely broken into sections with a lot of variety so you never got bored of one thing. Most of the hills were in the first half as we climbed and descended through beautiful gorges and ravines. The worst was a particularly quad punishing 1.3 mile downhill on a dirt road. It was the longest road section of the course, but it sure wasn't easy on the legs. (There were two other very short paved uphills that connected trails later on.) Most of the course was under the coolness of thick tree cover, with a few open pasture sections where herds of cows would curiously stomp towards us. There were also stunning open views looking down an immense valley with glimpses of Seneca Lake (one of the Finger Lakes). These sections has a welcome cooling breeze even as the sun gradually heated things up.

I had started running a bit harder for the last five miles, picking up the pace. Less than ten minutes before the end, my calf painfully seized up. This has never happened before, it must have been from all the shifting in the mud. If there was any fear that I'd at some distant point regret not going on, the wonky calf told me loud and clear that I was making the right call. I had passed quite a few people in the last loop and pulled up to 4th female postion in about 6:20, which I was happy with. Not the conditions for a particularly fast day, but that's trail running for you!

Unlike some races, I had no chance to see Derrick out on the course, and hoped he was making out okay. I checked his split times and saw him come through for his last 3.5 mile loop and then to finish. He looked strong, and it was great to see him have a successful race. He executed his race perfectly, just totally nailing the effort and nutrition.

The post race barbeque was amazing, and they even had tasty veggie burgers to go along with pasta salad and potatoes. Yum!

Two days later, my legs are still ridiculously sore.

Photo: Tom Perry, Western NY Ultra Series
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Week of Jun 22 - 28

2009-06-30T21:39:00.005-04:00

M - 60'
T - am 16' + yoga; pm 60'
W - 60'
T - off
F - 41'
S - am 30' FF; pm 60' ladder 1,2,3,3,2,1 found the heat really tough and felt a bit blah. Fun running warmup with D and H while B biked along.
S - off, feeling off and tired.

Total 5:27

Not sure what distance to race this coming weekend. Options are 25k/50k/80k. Or 0 k I suppose. (Hey, why does zero k look like "ok"? That's not the option I'm "ok" with.) Brain is saying 25k. Soul is saying loooonger. Heart/lungs are saying they are game. Legs aren't so sure.

Week of Jun 15 - 21

2009-06-22T09:27:00.011-04:00

M - 60' with 6 strides on grass
T - am 21' FF before yoga; pm 50'
W - 20' FF
T - am 20' Tindall Track easy in the rain; pm 80' Richardson Track - 8x400m with 400m jog (with D pacing me - thanks!):
98/98/98/96/96/94/93/90
F - 20' FF + strength & flexi
S - 2:32 Escarpment, Gould Lake Rd, Mine Loop, Wagon/TomDixon and back. Easy, felt good except tough on steep hills. Light rain made for a nice muddy anniversary trail run! Legs had much better range of motion, and not sore.
S - am 20' FF; pm 74' Napanee Track - 12x200m w/200m jog:
47/46/44/44/44/45/43/41/41/40/40/40

Total: 8:37

Three different tracks this week! The fancy new Tindall is only 400 yards. Too bad. Nice to have just steps from my desk though. Great surface and infield. Workouts this week felt great. Experimented with taking a longer recovery than I usually do to change things up.
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Week of Jun 8 - 14

2009-06-15T09:46:00.005-04:00

M - 58'
T - 62' Workout on Cat Trail:
1 mile 7:07, 2' jog,
1 km 4:29, 2' jog,
1 km 4:18
Felt horrible. Max HR 179.
W - 25' FF before yoga
T - am 35' Tindall Track; pm 20' FF home
F - 90' Workout on Cat Trail:
2 km @ 4:53/km, 5' jog
1 km 4:33, 2' jog,
1 km 4:23, 2' jog,
0.56 km 4:37/km
Worse than horrible. I had thought of 4-5xkm reps, but bailed in the third. Thought I was going to die. This will get better, right? Max HR 174.
S - 30' FF home
S - 2:44 Fr Park - nice run on north side of Big Salmon. Not much fuel req'd, had just eaten lunch.

Total 8:04

I used Derrick's Forerunner 405 for both workouts this week and was ready to toss the thing. "Simply tap the touch bezel to change screens without fumbling for a button." That sounds great, but for the life of me I can't operate the bezel thingy. (Too bad cursing at it didn't change the screen, I'd be good to go. As it is, I'd vastly prefer buttons.) Looking forward to next time.........on the track.

Ultra Running Guy

2009-06-10T08:38:00.006-04:00

Once in awhile a new blog comes along that just speaks to you; it's like it is written just for you. You can relate to it on so many levels, like you're the Super Hero in your very own comic strip. I think Derrick can probably relate to this one.

That URG seems soooo familiar!!

Week of Jun 1 - 7

2009-06-08T09:13:00.002-04:00

M - 20'
T - am yoga; pm 20' FF
W - 63' 11.3 km hilly loop
T - 38'
F - 20' FF
S - 120' Frontenac Park - Slide Lake blue loop clock-wise from Perth Rd. Very fun, so many fallen logs to hurdle. Yay!! Took 2 gels and tried Nuun. Lots of deer flies on west Slide. As usual, I was Derrick's best bug repellent. Great to be back out there.
S - 25' FF/barefoot on D's newly manicured trail

Total 5:06

Lots of planks and Myrtl, etc. after runs. Range of motion improving. Ready to start ramping up a bit more this coming week.

Star article wasn't in on Saturday. I'll update when I know the date.
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