Jolly Ole England

I have to preclude this installment with the statement that this trip involved four of the most frustrating days of my life. You see, my plane from Vancouver to Montreal was about a half hour late "because of the lack of the usual tailwind" which left me twenty minutes to run from gate 1 to gate 61. As I was zipping past gate 40-something with my sandals slapping the ground I heard on the speaker that it was the final call for my flight to Heathrow. I arrived in about ten minutes and even asked if my bag would make the flight. I was assured that if I made the flight then my bag would as well. Untruth #1.

I went through Heathrow, then off to Manchester where I stared at an empty luggage carousel going round and round, praying my bag was still going to come out. I went to the desk and was informed that the bag was still in Heathrow. Untruth #2. This was 9:30 am. Not a big deal because it could easily make another :45 flight to Manchester. I jumped on my train to Penrith and arrived at 2pm. I phoned British Airways when I got there and was shocked to hear that my bag had actually not made the jump across the Atlantic and was in Montreal still. It would be sent on the flight set to arrive Friday morning at 6:30. I called a couple times on Friday and it was picked up by the courier around 4pm. 4pm!! I now began the frustrating and seemingly endless stream of calls to the courier company trying to arrange the bag to get out to Keswick. Because I didn't have a readily available phone I was jumping back and forth from our accommodations to the race headquarters.

I was in a "glass half-empty" mood so to cover my ass I bought some running socks and a pair of neutral New Balance shoes at the local New Balance store in town. How convenient was that? I would be able to return the shoes if I didn't use them so kept them in the box for that reason and also I didn't want to try them out and realize that something wasn't right with them. I wanted to be doing the run before that happened. The town of Keswick is a small town but quite touristy and every second store is dedicated to mountain hiking clothing. There were no department stores in the town and it was damn hard to find some underwear for me to use. I found the only store in town that had a super-small selection of the things. It's kind of one article of clothing you don't want to overuse.

The delivery people said they would call Friday evening to see if it could be dropped off before 11pm and I had to phone at 9 where I was told it wasn't going to be out until Saturday even after two days of emphasizing the fact I needed it for Saturday morning.

I had already initiated my plan B of acquiring various necessities for Saturday's race such as clothes, bottles, carbo powder, you know, just the simple things. Everyone on the team was very supportive and offered me whatever they had to help me out. I got a hat and singlet from Laurie, shorts, water bottle and arm warmers from Kandise and Darren, and CarboPro powder from Hassan. Luckily he uses the same stuff because that was a pretty important piece of the puzzle to have. When I thought about it I realized how lucky I was to be with such an amazing group of people whose generosity is second to none. I can't thank them enough because without them I would have been relegated to crewing the race which is MUCH harder than actually running it. Those guys are the salt of the earth.

Race morning saw the arrival of Jenn Dick who lives in Sheffield, about two hours from the race, and who has been on the team numerous times in the past. It was great because she had a cell phone and now I could use her as the contact for the bag to arrive. Bad news was that she didn't bring her charger for it and it died halfway through the race. She did manage to phone the courier guys who told her the bag would be expedited out and arrive around 6pm. Great news!!

Okay enough negative talk about the stupid bag. This was the first Commonwealth Championship and it involved a 24 hour race, the 100k, and two mountain races. The 24 started on Thursday and finished Friday at lunchtime. It was cool to watch the Canadian members in the event because I'd never watched part of this type of race. I can't say I'd be too excited to go around a 1km track for that long. Never say never though.

There weren't many people in the 100k which was very different from the Worlds. The start seemed like a small little quiet social gathering. I planned to start this one slower than Belgium and just cruise. The first few kilometres were mostly uphill and at the top I picked up the speed a bit to take the lead on the downhills. I stayed out front for about forty minutes. I just wanted my short time in the spotlight following the pace car. After this time Darren Froese blew by me quite literally and had it not been for the loops coming up I wouldn't have seen him the rest of the day. He was followed by a couple Brits that I followed for the next 10kms. So this race was 15k out, 7 loops of 5k out and 5k back, then the 15k back to the finish with a slightly different route back. It was nice to be able to see where you were in the overall placings and also give and take encouragement from our Canadian members.

It was a beautiful course along a lake with the weather cooperating giving us an overcast sky but throwing a bit of wind our way. The loops weren't so bad except I soon figured out the halfway point of each 5k and kept track of my times when I passed this point. It never feels good to see the time getting longer and longer until I got to this point. I kept track of when I passed Darren and he was definitely not slowing down like I was. He was having the race of his life. Hassan Lofti-Pour from North Van was another member of our team who sprained his ankle a few weeks back and had run only 4 hours over the last 29 days. Thierry Asslein was the fourth member of the men's team who completed the Tour de Mont Blanc three weeks earlier so I wasn't really in a position to have an excuse not to do okay other than my new shoes and socks.

After the 20km mark I chatted with some other runners and by the sounds of their previous times, 7:20, 7:30, I knew I was out of my league. I started purposely slowing down to save something for the end. I was going to try and pick it up some after the 80k mark but that never actually happened. When I finally finished my seventh loop I tried to increase the pace but my legs were having none of it. I began to check my watch in earnest to do the math that would get me in under 8 hours. When I passed Kandise for the last time before my 15k to the finish, she gave me my last bottle and I asked her if she was going to the finish line to see Darren cross. She said, "Should I?", and I said, "You're damn right you should, now go." Because Jenn had driven her car to that point she was able to whisk Kandise back in time to see the finish. It's not every day you get to see someone from our team pull off a 7:32.

My last 15km were a little painful, especially on the hills that seemed so easy seven hours ago. I was glad to be done and so glad to see Darren at the finish. I gave him a huge hug and congratulated him on an amazing race. From there it was to medical to have my feet looked at and find out why the toe boxes were covered in blood. It turned out to be only some minor cuts that wouldn't stop bleeding that made the shoes look like a horror show. I only had a couple small blisters in between the big and little toes on each foot. Nothing to make me stop running so I was happy for that seeing as I broke the cardinal rule about never running so far in new shoes and socks. After that it was to the massage tent for a quick once over of the legs then off to find my lost bag.

Long story short it was supposed to arrive at the race HQ at 6:30 so when 7pm came around I called the courier company for about the 15th time and they said the guy had been there but it didn't look like anyone was there so he went on with his other deliveries. I was a little choked to say the least. I begged them to get a hold of the driver and tell him to come back but they said once he tries one address he has to continue with other deliveries and now it would be Sunday when he'd come back. Are you kidding me?!?! I was ready to write the stuff off when, an hour later, we were at our hotel and, lo and behold, the driver pulls up with the bag. Just a little relieved.

Sunday was spent looking around Keswick some more and watching the finish of the mountain race. Congrats to the Canadian men's team who won bronze! There was the awards and dinner that night and once that was over we promptly headed over to town again to a pub and played "quarters" until the place closed down. The locals had never seen such a game and were curious as to why we were bouncing coins into our glasses.

Monday was a travel day to Manchester where Nadeem, Laurie, Charlotte, Lisa and her friend Sonya walked about 100km around town. Not a whole lot to see there but nice to visit anyway. I crashed on the floor of Nadeem and Charlotte's room for five hours before the train ride to Manchester airport, flight to Heathrow, and finally the long flight to Vancouver. And, hey, my bag was actually there when I checked the luggage carousel!!!

After perusing my last few years of running long distance I realized there was always some element of hills and/or speedwork. Not to excess, mind you, but some thrown in there to mix things up some. When I was doing Ironmans these types of workouts were paramount to the run and the bike. I am therefore going to try and incorporate one speed and hill repeat session per week for the next four or five weeks and also a long bike and a hilly bike workout. The long runs will be done on the trails for time, not distance, and will be hilly as well.

More Barefootin'

The leg is feeling definitely better than a couple weeks ago and I think I might actually be able to finish the Commonwealth 100k. The day after my last 25 miler I did a :30 recovery run with my Adidas racing flats and the last :10 I went barefoot on the road. Later in the day I felt like there were some small abrasions on the pads of the toes and the ball of the foot but it was gone the next day.
So today I was almost home from 23 miles and decided to do the same: :10 of no shoes. Trying to concentrate on form and looking out for rocks took my mind off how the legs were feeling after 22 miles so that was one upside of barefeet.
Was also at the ice rink the last two days for Elias' hockey games, no problems. Plus went to the movie theatre last night sans shoes, much to the chagrin of Carrie and the horror of the other couple we went with. I'll make this thing mainstream yet.

My Cure for Shin Splints

Take a few days off running, walk around in bare feet everywhere I go.

Do a couple :30 in the trail or the beach in Five Fingers or bare feet.

Ride the bike maybe :30-:40 a day, to work and back.

Even though I can still feel pain in the shin, run 13 miles.

Two days later run 25 miles (albeit suffering in the last :30 home)

Voila! I'm cured.

What's the deal? Do I really get a mild case of shin splints or is it something else I wonder? I've read that doing light training through the ordeal helps to speed the healing but this is ridiculous. My three hour jaunt today felt fine on the legs, my poor conditioning really showed, though. Probably took on a bit more than I should have but with a little over two weeks to go I needed to test myself. More next week then a week to taper. Piece of cake.

Fast and Furious

Back from Ironman last night, congrats to all finishers. Still doesn't make me want to go out and do it anytime soon. Walking around barefoot I was amazed to see a woman start out on the marathon course wearing Vibram's Fivefingers. I wished I had the camera and should have remembered her number to see how she did.

Gary Robbins and Tamsin Anstey from North Van won the mixed division of the Trans Rockies six-day stage run in Colorado last week. Awesome results you two.

Spartathlon participants list for this year is out. No Canadians entered and so my record remains safe for another year.

Tour de Mt. Blanc finished up over the weekend. The fastest Canadian time I could find was 38 hours and change. Most of the site is in French which makes it difficult to do the research.

After walking everywhere barefoot, including grocery stores, I was confronted at Costco today by an employee who said I needed to wear shoes and before I protested said it was "for my own safety as this is a warehouse and there could be glass and pieces of wood on the floor". If I had been quicker I would have mentioned that there's that and worse out in the parking lot and everywhere I walk. He then went on to say it's the same for shirts in that you need to wear a shirt like the old "no shirt, no shoes", policy and it was also a health issue. I asked if there was anything written anywhere prohibiting being shoeless and he said, "no but it's one of those unwritten rules". Bingo I was home free. I then asked if he was going to make me wear shoes and he replied he wouldn't throw me out of the store. Bingo number two. I pretty much thanked him and walked away saying I would watch my step. Vive le pieds nus!!

A brief rant about Costco: Unless you're a family of eight(teen) I don't understand the need to buy such huge quantities of mostly crap. The jars of pickles are too big for the fridge. I was going to buy some bar soap but they came in a pack of 16. Sixteen!! Why do I need to buy two years' worth of soap at one time? I'd rather pay a dollar more for a six pack. Just look into a cart to see what's there then see the corresponding size of the person pushing said cart. Coincidence? A small bag of chips from a regular store turns into one three times as big. Now you have to eat it all once you open it or it goes stale. Wouldn't want that.

What's Happening?

I got an email from Rick Webb the other day wondering what I've been doing because I hadn't written much in the blog lately. The first thing that went through my mind was, Wow, someone actually reads this crap?? I don't know why but I've seemed to have lost my writing mojo. Either that or there really isn't much to write about in my life these days. Any thoughts on how to change that let me know.
Okay, so in the last two weeks:

Did the triathlon relay for the WPFG. My team had a decent swim, about 23 minutes, my bike was awesome as far as I was concerned, 1:04, and the run was pretty damn good at 36 minutes. I think we finished around 2:05 with the transitions. I thought for sure we'd be in the medals when I got off the bike after passing all those people but when we got to the run course I met up with Steve Knoll our captain and he said we were in eighth or ninth place. We finished up seventh in our age group (30-39) and twelfth overall. The competition was awesome and I really appreciated the caliber of athletes at the event. A team from Surrey in the over 50 category won the gold!! I can only say, "one day".

Since then I've been getting back into the running more with a couple 20 milers under my belt. I've also been experimenting with running in less supportive shoes. AND I've been trying out shoes that are a size or two bigger than I've used in the past to try and prevent some of the blackness and toe-falling-offness I've experienced in the past. I haven't done anything too radical or out of the ordinary or bumped up the mileage but yet again I can feel that shin splint feeling in my right leg. Maybe it takes a month or two after a long race to flare up, I don't know. All I know is that I'm not overly disheartened because I've been here a few times before. I know to rest a week or two then I should be back to normal. Saw A.R.T. therapist Colin McKay at Precision Health last week and he didn't get the impression there was anything too bad going on. I'll wait a bit anyways to see if it progresses. Still a month before England.

I found out that Haney to Harrison this year is the Canadian 100k Championship so it's a reason to stay healthy. Six weeks after the Commonwealth 100 enough to recover and do well? All I can say is that I've done worse and I have a bunch of months to recover after the November event.

I'm also trying to figure out what to do next year. I'm strongly leaning towards going back to the trails. More to follow.

Ultraman and the Grind

Last weekend from Saturday to Monday was the Ultraman triathlon in Penticton. I did this three day event back in 2006 and still it remains one of the biggest highlights in my racing career. The heat was atrocious on day 1 and 2 but day 3 dawned with some respite from the hot temperatures. My day 3 run record fell to Benat Zubillaga of Spain in a time of 6:44, 11 minutes better than my time. Congratulations to Benat. Speaking with race director Steve Brown while we were in town a couple weeks ago, he said that anyone who has not completed an Ultraman must do Canada as a qualifier before they can do Hawaii. This will lead to more people attempting Canada and a better talent pool as well before they go on to Hawaii. I think my overall course record might be in jeopardy over the next few years if this is the case. All good things...

So Wednesday was the Grouse Grind for the Police/Fire Games. There's a reason this event is not called a hike, or run, or walk. It really is a grind. I felt no less intimidated by the whole thing. I aimed to run it like I did the last time - walking.
It went pretty much like the last time around except for two things:
1) they didn't end the race at the little timing station about fifty feet from the top of the trail, they made us run about 300 metres around to the back of the chalet. When I hit flat ground at the top I thought my legs were going to give out when I tried to run. It felt like the first brick workout of the year when you ride hard on the bike then try and run. Jello legs.
2) I finished better than the last time I did it, in 39 and change, even with the extra little run. Plus we started in the parking lot where the gondola is so that added another 15 seconds, I'm sure.

Anyways, I vowed to never run that thing for time again. I'd hike it with the kids but that's the extent of it in the near future.

Now tomorrow comes the triathlon.

Home Again

Got back last Wednesday from an epic training camp up in the interior. It included sitting by the lake, swimming in the lake (with the kids), and eating in true camping/holiday style. I also managed to do some runs and rides.

After my attempt at the Grouse Grind I realised I wasn't going to win the thing come race day no matter how much I trained and didn't really want to change my training too much to accommodate the Grind anyways. No use in going straight up when most of my races are horizontal with a few hills (not mountain climbs) thrown in. I was a little on the fence so when we travelled through Chase (for a wedding), Mara Lake, and Penticton, most of my runs involved some elevation gain. It's hard not to. Most roads that lead away from the lakes or rivers go straight up. I found a great forest service road by Mara that I climbed for 45 minutes without reaching the summit. I was aching to get there to see what I could see. With only one water bottle (now less than half full) and my IT bands not looking forward to all that descending, I turned around. I could have stayed on main highways but figured a bit of rollingness couldn't hurt for Grouse and would help in England where I believe the Commonwealth course is to be somewhat like that. Failing that, it's good to get my legs re-aquainted with hills for H2H in November. I don't need to be starting my hill work with only three or four quality weeks before that. I ran from Penticton up towards Naramat which I'd only ever ridden before, that being in the Peach Classic triathlon. It was cool to be going slower and to have a look at the beautiful landscape (minus the smoke).

I also put in some cool rides while we were away. One memorable one was taking the road from Penticton up to Apex. I did this with a group a few years ago and I didn't remember it being as vertical as it was. When I got to the turnoff for the actual ski area, the sign said 11km. I figured I'd ride up it for ten or fifteen minutes because I knew going back to town would be quicker than coming up. I rode for twenty minutes up and up and up. Again I was dying to reach the top but didn't need to fatigue my legs THAT much. I turned around at 1:25 not wanting to ride more than 2 hours. It took me 40 minutes to get back to the motel. What a ride. Turns out I went up the Apex road only 3.5km in that twenty minutes so it would have been at least an hour to the top. Next time. Another was riding towards Naramata, past Painted Rock, and towards Chute Lake. I didn't quite get there either so I have a lot of ground to cover next time my bike and I are up there.

I decided to drop the Seymour Hill Climb for the Games this week. I read the fine details and noted that it wasn't exactly a climb all the way up from the bottom to the top of the mountain. The course is only 3km long and on the steepest part (9 or 10%). With the triathlon two days after that, I rather would go in feeling a little stronger without those 3km in my legs. I must be getting old, I know.

My plan for the rest of August is to simulate the weeks I had prior to going to Belgium. This time I'll start with a 60 mile week then a 80 then try for the 100 again about three weeks out. For some reason ever since Belgium I don't feel that effortless pace I had when training for it. I thought I was just fatigued from the race and giving blood after but it's been slow to return. I'm hoping I can get it back. On a high note I don't have nails on the first two toes of each foot anymore so that won't be a problem for England or H2H. One less thing (actually four).