If the miles behind me could be put into words before you, you would feel my efforts, my struggles, my desires. Most of all you would see my joy. Watch me from afar run the trails and hills and miles upon miles and you will see ...

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Diez, Fatigue, and Flights

If you look up "Diez Vista" in the dictionary it reads, "Steep, difficult, borne from the depths of hell, exhausting, occasional scenic viewpoints depending on the weather". It may be all these but I still really like doing this event. It's got elevation (8,000' worth), great views of Indian Arm, gnarly and hair-raising descents, great aid stations, fabulous volunteers, and race directors extraordinaire.
I was meaning to post my goals before the race but never got around to it. What I would have said was how it was going to be a training run (yes I know I've said that many times before, but this time, as the others, I meant it). I thought about breaking 4:30 but didn't think it would happen, so I changed the time goal to 5 hours. Even though I was 9 minutes over my goal, partly due to the extra elevation added to skirt some flooded trails (thanks BC Hydro!), I felt overall that it was a successful training run. No falls, bruises, extreme emotionally low periods, and when I finished, my legs felt the least destroyed they've ever felt after an ultra. I'm hoping that that means either I went slow enough to fulfill my goal of not racing, or that I'm in super-awesome shape leading up to Comrades. The fact that I fatigued myself the week before Diez as well cemented in my head the fact I wouldn't be as fast as if I'd tapered. Tuesday before the race was a two and a half hour mountain bike ride with some guys from work, Wednesday was an hour run, Thursday was a 2 hour hard road ride, and Friday was a 2 hour run along the hilly part of 0 ave - 16 miles. The couple days after the run were positive for me because I actually felt like I could have run again but knew it would be better to rest my normal three days afterwards.
An hour and a half on the bike yesterday and a 3 hour trail run today has me back on track, although still a bit tired. A 4 hour run tomorrow should make me forget all that.
Got my flight to SA today. Leaving on May 23rd arriving on the 25th. Coming home on the 2nd of June. Gone to the next level of excitement!!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Dirty Duo report, SFU Running, Long Runs

Okay I know, too much to post. I've been soooo busy, blah, blah, blah. Just haven't been able to sit down an formulate much lately.
A quick recap of the Dirty Duo 25k:
Equaled my time of last year not having run in a trail for five months.
Slightly longer recap:
The first half hour once we started climbing was all I could do to stop, wait for Scott to catch up, and walk my way to the end. Funny thing is that after the thirty minutes things settled down - legs stopped hating me and started working better. I ran behind Jen Seggar for probably 45 minutes until I slowly (and I mean 'slowly', no offense to her because she was scheduled to run a 100 mile race the following weekend) past her on a long steady climb.
After that it was a matter of dodging mountain bikes (sometimes pushing them to help them up the hills) and following the markings to the finish. The trail was wetter and muddier than last year so you'd figure my time and the winning times would be slower but that was not the case. The winning time was about twenty minutes faster than me which over 25k that blew me away! Carrie and my sister, Karen, also did the 15k race.
Did a run through Simon Fraser University a week ago. In the past while training for Ironman, biking up roadway to the top of Burnaby Mountain was a February staple through wind, rain, and sleet. On this day I did a couple hours through the trails and around the back and ended up running up the roadway for the first time ever. I was surprised it only took 14 minutes when by bike it took me 9 (the short route, anyways). I plan to go back soon and do repeats up that bad boy. Funny how little things remind me of biking up that hill: the scenery, the traffic, the never-ending @#!$ hill!!
Have my long runs up to 4 hours all on trails. I've been out to Aldergrove Lake a few times doing 1 hour loops of 8 miles. It's actually not bad because the terrain is constantly going up or down, nothing too crazy, and it's not technical so I can make good time.
This weekend will be my third running of the Diez Vista 50k. Should have been my fourth but the stress fracture last year decided that one for me. I'm planning to do a two hour run the day before to tire the legs a bit. Seeing as I need to do back to back runs for the next month I should start this week and use it as a training tool. Should I be concerned I am definitely not ready for 7,800ft of climbing? Shucks, it's just another day. Time on the feet is what's important right now.