What to Say About Jay....

It's been a few days since I posted, but I haven't been doing a heck of a lot to blog about running-wise. I have been busy stuffing my face with carbohydrates and running less in an attempt to taper. I loved the zucchini pasta BTW, and at P.O.M's suggestion, I also made some sweet potato fries. Yummy!

The Jay Challenge is this Saturday so its time to talk about preparations. I plan on packing my race drop bags today. The race director sent out a detailed pre-race newsletter in which he suggests to have two drop bags packed that include the following items:

Drop Bag One
-socks
-shoes
-Gu's
-Shot Blocks

Drop Bag Two
-socks
-shoes
-change of clothes
-Shot Blocks

I'm also adding to both bags:
-Advil (lots)
-bandages
-Vaseline
-bug spray
-rain poncho
-sunscreen
-fresh Gatorade and water (just in case the stuff along the course tastes bad)
-To drop bag one- a light weight shell for the Summit!!
- a towel to wipe my sweaty feet

If anyone can think of something I'm missing, please let me know. I will be out on the course for a long time!

The race director also reported some new course changes:

1- once you reach aid station 1, you will be 95% OF THE TIME on a NEW brook until aid station #2. This will allow us to avoid crossing route 242 since You will go underneath the road in a 50 foot culvert that is 6 feet high. This section is fairly technical, you will be slow but it is so beautiful you should enjoy it

2- Because of the 1st change you will reach the base of Jay Peak on the state side instead of the main lodge, You will then climb Jay peak to the top via a completely insane( STEEP) new route. So if you look at the mountain from the village you will climb on the ridge line on the left to the top

3- For the first time in 7 years, you will actually reach the top of Jay peak on the ledge to the top. (Marci here: so excited about this!!!) In the past 6 years we were always short of the top by about 50 feet... this year you will be at the absolute top. Consequently you might want to have a lightweight shell in your drop off bag in case of bad weather at the summit. (Marci again: What is this Everest or something?..)

4- Beautiful new singletrack section on the Christmas tree farm.

The race director also made the following comments about training:

I have been asked many times over on how to train for such a race. The real answer is that you CANNOT. If you are a fit athlete and have completed several races and regularly play in the woods you will be all set. However if you think that this race is a cool race and you are attracted by the craziness of it, unfortunately you will not make it. This race is for animal only and is considered the hardest 33 miler in the world. As for the ½ , you better be trained for a full and then you will really enjoy the race.

Animal only?! Hey I take offense!! ;)

My Time Prediction:

As I mentioned previously, this course is the supposedly the toughest for its distance in North America. According to the RD you should double or triple your worst marathon time. Its also 33 miles, or 11K longer than a full marathon. That said, I really have no idea what to expect but I am going to predict between a finish between 8.5 hours and 10, but I am prepared to stay out longer if needed. My goal is truly just to finish.

Warning: chest pounding moment to follow:

I am ready, bring it on!!!

(Clears throat) I am not an animal...

This week, I have the following planned for "training"
Monday -bootcamp and yoga
Tuesday - 6K tempo (no Yasso's this week)
Wednesday -7K easy
Thursday -REST
Friday - REST
Saturday - Jay Challenge, 53K
Sunday - RECOVER and celebrate!!!

Have a great week and thanks for reading!!

A Change In Plans

I decided to forgo Yasso's 800 speedwork this week as I am running the 50Km Creemore Challenge this Saturday. I ran a slow 10K instead. I will return to my Yasso's next week, but for now, I want to make sure my legs are somewhat fresh for this weekend.

This is only the second year that the Creemore challenge has been running, so it was difficult to find out information about the event, but this is what I have found out so far.

A 25 K hourglass loop with 50% trail, 50% country road and almost no cliffs. The course is hilly (60% uphill and 30% downhill), climbing the Niagara Escarpment twice per loop.

The almost no cliff part is somewhat comforting, but yikes, this race will definitely be a challenge. The winning female finished in just under 5 hours last years, so given the fact this is my first ultra (50K), my first trail race, and the fact that I am not racing it, I will likely take well over 6 hours. My plan is to have a nice long run (6 hours +) on my feet to help prepare me for the Jay Challenge. I am prepared to walk when necessary, and finish injury free. Anyway, it will be a tough week, but it should be very rewarding. I will definately post a race report.
Thanks for reading!

All Trails Look The Same

All trails look the same. At least to me, they do.

Yesterday I went for a long trail run at Long Sault Conservation Area with some running friends that are also running the Jay Challenge. It was a great day for running, the temperature was nice and cool, and slightly overcast. It made for a great run with some really awesome people.

Since all of the trails stem from a central parking lot, our group would double back every hour to our cars to refuel, and rehydrate. All was well, and it was turning out to be a really nice, relaxing long run. After our third hour, a few of the runners left, including one of the girls that knows the trails particularly well. Myself and two others decided to hang in for a forth hour to better prepare ourselves for Jay. We decided to run the 8km trail that we completed during our second loop.

We headed out and were heading along a good pace. After the half-way point, I started to relish the thought of my Epsom salt jacuzzi bath that I would be celebrating my post run in. We were on a trail called "white tail deer", and took a connecting trail, which we thought would take us back to the parking lot. We ran along the connecting trail for a few kilometers, and realized we took the wrong turn when it dumped us onto to some foreign road.

Being mentally and physically tired at this point (4 hours in and trail running to boot- which is about 5X more challenging than road running), we had to regroup and figure our way back. We jogged back the 2 kilometers and looped back up the white tail deer path to another dead end. I know it was mostly mental, but at this point, I was becoming very tired and felt very lost.

Luckily we ran into a cyclist that was able to give us instructions back to the parking lot (another 3km away!!). What a relief when we finally saw the parking lot. We ended up staying out for close to five hours!

In the end, all was good, and I was glad I had the extra time out, as the Jay challenge will likely take between 8 to 10 hours to complete, so its really about time on your feet. It was also a good mental challenge not to just give up, but to keep going because I had to. So if it happens to me on the mountain, I am prepared.. hopefully!

This week in training

Monday - pm bootcamp

Tuesday - Yasso 800's seven intervals (gulp!!)

Wednesday - am -bootcamp, pm- 10km trail run

Thursday -rest

Friday -am bootcamp, pm 8 km tempo run

Saturday -10 km race pace run (for fall marathon)

Sunday - 30km "ish" - it all depends - I have to decide

Hope everyone has a great week of running. Thanks for reading!

Yasso 800 Tuesday's: Week 3

Last night I completed my third week of my Yasso Speed Challenge. This week had me running six 800 meter intervals with equal rest time in between. Here are the results:

Interval one: 3 minutes, 42 seconds
Interval two: 3 minutes, 48 seconds
Interval three: 3 minutes, 30 seconds
Interval four: 3 minutes, 42 seconds
Interval five: 3 minutes, 42 seconds
Interval six: 3 minutes, 50 seconds

I had a bit of indigestion, so my times were a little less consistent. I was frustrated after my second interval, hence, I ran too fast for the third interval, which kind of killed me for the last interval, but all in all not too bad. I am really enjoying the mental challenge of the repeats.

I went for a 10K trail run tonight, and I was really tired. Hopefully a good sleep tonight will refresh me for tomorrow. Have a good one and thanks for reading!

All good things must come to an End

Today was the last day of classes at the high school I teach at. As a grade 12 teacher, I am always a little sad to see my students graduate. This year I had a great bunch of grade 12 Biology students, so I played them one of my favorite songs to say my goodbye to them and to wish them all well as they head off into the crazy world.



It's a beautiful song, and I always play it when I need some motivation to go out and try something new. It speaks to me particularly with my running, especially before races when I am wondering, why the heck did I sign up for this?!!

On another note, Hubs and I went to a wedding this weekend. Here is a picture of Hubs and I all cleaned up.




Hubs and I had a great time. Almost too great of a time, in fact. I was worried I would be a little shall we say "dehydrated" for my 24km trail run Sunday morning. The run went well except for the fact I got huge red hives on my legs. I thought it was maybe poison ivy, but it turns out it was a reaction between the bug spray and sunblock lotion. Thankfully, most of it went away after some Epsom salt therapy and antihistamines. Yikes!

Training plan for this week
Monday - am -bootcamp
Tuesday -pm -Yasso 800's -6 intervals (10km)
Wednesday am -bootcamp -pm 10 km trail run
Thursday -pm -running bootcamp (5-7 km)
Friday am- bootcamp, pm 6km tempo
Saturday - REST
Sunday - am 30-40km road run

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

I have been tagged

When I first was tagged by Phil, I confess that I had planned on ignoring it (out of pure lazinesss), but then I read on Nitmos' blog that this was bad blog etiquette. Who knew?!

Anyway I am supposed to answer the following questions and then tag five other people. So here we go!


1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
I didn't run 10 years ago. That was easy! I began running in July of 2004, and ran my first 5K race in September of 2004.


2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?
My best running experience would have to be my first marathon. It wasn't a great time, but I was so emotional and proud of what I had accomplished. Hubs ran my first marathon with me. It was in Ottawa in May of 2006, a very hot and humid day. When we were approaching the finishing line, I was so overcome with emotion, I began hyperventilating (BTW, has this ever happened to anyone else?). Hubs thoughts I was hot so he poured water from his water bottle on my head, to which I responded.


Don't *gasp* pour *gasp* water *gasp* on *gasp* my *gasp* head!!!! What a finish! It was an awesome experience otherwise.


Worst: This is hard, I recently described my "worst" experience in Ottawa, but I still think I gained alot from this.


3. Why do you run?
Running makes me a better person. It has made me a calmer person, a braver person, a humble person, and generally a nicer person to be around. I'm also addicted to those delicious endorphins that fly round your body after a long run.

(I stole this from Phil - Is that bad blog etiquette too?! )


4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?
Best piece of advice: Don't worry about your time for your first marathon. Seriously! Savour ever minute of it and don't let a time goal spoil it for you.


Worst piece of advice: I don't give bad advice, or at least I don't think I do. Maybe that's bad!


5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.
This is tough because I am pretty much an open book. Pretty much what you see is what you get.
Alright here's one: My mom's cousin, Lew Urry, developed the alkaline battery. That's my claim to fame! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Mmmwhahahaha..... Who do I tag now? After careful consideration, I am tagging

1. Lynda from Running to Stay Sane
2. Melanie from Second Chances
3. Anners from Marathon Anners
4. Ted from Ted's Running Journal/Logbook
5. Ali from Just One More Mile

BTW, did I post yesterday that I love trail running? Phew! I had a manky 20km trail run today and was it ever tough!! An elevation of 6000ft, and my quads are shot. I guess it went O.K. , but I am questioning my sanity for the Jay's Challenge I signed up (53km!!!!) for in LESS THAN TWO MONTHS!!!

Gulp.

Thanks for reading!

Hitting the Trails

In preparation for our next adventure, The Jay Challenge, Hubs and I decided that we needed to incorporate more trail runs into our training, so we decided it was time to invest in some trail shoes in addition to our regular running shoes.

Here's Hubs and I sporting our new trail shoes:

Snazzy, huh?! Hubs are the fire-engine reds ones, which also came in what he referred to as "Hulk-Green", but much to his disappointment, the Hulk green ones were not available in his size: )

I love my new trail shoes, and I find them so much more comfy than my regular shoes (Asics Gel Kayanos). They feel like pillows on my feet and I really like the additional lateral support. These shoes were also much less expensive. Maybe its time to switch up my regular running shoes...

This past Wednesday night I went for a trail run in the new shoes at a conservation area near our house. Unfortunately Hubs is nursing an IT band injury right now, so while I ran, Hubs walked, and took some photos for you to enjoy.

This is me taking off in search of the group we were supposed to meet (we were unfortunately late!)




Sadly, the trail shoes are no longer new....




The route had an elevation of approximately 1000 ft, which felt hilly. Apparently Jay's Peak has an elevation of 9000 ft! Yikes!




More random shots..




A bubbling brook. So relaxing...




Stairs to a lookout and now-deserted campground.




I absolutely love trail running! I find I am so much more relaxed as a runner being surrounded by the beautiful scenery. It is also more challenging than road running as well, which is a plus.

I suppose I should get out for my run. Its manky here in Southern Ontario, and I have a 10K road for planned for today, and 20km trail run tomorrow. Happy running and thanks for reading!