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Comments: Had about 2 cm of snow the night before so little slick. Got to a good start. Did the first 8ish k at about a 6:10. Ran with Rob. It was nice. Pretty busy trail at this point, people close together taking there time. I had some jelly things I was eating, good. Cool thing about this course is you see the leaders 6 times so that is nifty. We saw a guy go through then another guy the Ellie Greenwood surrounded by 8 other guys just trying to keep up, good for them. Got to the aid station, couple glasses of ultima. Hit the porta. Good to go. Headed back. Rob was ahead. Ended up running with Paul for a bit, so that was good. Think I had a bar and a gel. Did some good time here, maybe a 6:05 pace. Felt strong. Ran into a lady I ran with at Moose. She said the were aiming for 5.5 hours. (saw her later and they did manage it, older to, like mid 40s, very impressive) I wasn't sure what I was going for. Woulda liked 5 hours but the conditions weren't great and I wasn't feeling like pushing it. Saw the leaders again. Same formation. Ellie managed to drop some people. So 18k done, felt good. Grabbed a gu and some chips and off.Now I ran alone. No one around. Again around a 6:15 pace for this leg. But I was feeling good. My legs were a little stiff which was strange which I was worried about as they have been dead all week, but whatever. Saw a bunch of people stopped for a train and thought I might get a walk break. Walked for about 30 seconds until it was clear that it would be gone by the time I got there, oh well. Same configuration for the leaders, except now only one person is hanging with Ellie. Headed back, 2 gus I think,(drank at aid station agin 3 cups, drank at all aid stations.) Felt super duper strong now. I don't know, just felt great. Around a 6:15 pace but felt really really good. The sun was coming out a bit. Then this lady caught up to me. She was signed up for the half but decided to just run back to the boat club so she wouldn't have to bum a ride. She was moving pretty good so my pace dropped as I ran with her. And there is Ellie, in the lead, passed the old leader after a bit, he was walking, cramps or something. More drinks at the aid station, 2 gus for the road and off. Things got slow here. 36k in. Blah. The paths were clearing up now, long sections without snow, just wet, so that was nice. But I couldn't get things going. About a 6:30 pace, crawling. Hit the 42.2k mark at 4:26 or so, so okay. Saw Ellie coming in about 2k from the finish. Never in my life have I seen someone run like that. She is like a friggin locomotive, like she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. Got to the turnaround. Not feeling good. Grab another bar and a gu for the run back. Was going around a 6:50 now. Slow. Some guy passed me here. Looked super fresh, couldn't figure it. Maybe he was doing the half and did a siesta before running back. Who knows. Maybe I was bonking. I was freaked out I was bonking. Going slow. Still no walking so that is good. Then I take this darn gu, went down the wrong way, and I am hacking up a lung for 2-3 min and can barely run. Oh I was angry. Hit the 50k mark at 5:21, so yeah. lol. Another 3ish k to go. But that is about 30 min faster for the 50k than last year. Move slower, slower than a 7 min pace, 7:10 or so. Not in a good place. Actually, about the same pace I did last year on the section but last year I felt a lot better about things. Kept looking behind me to see if people were going to pass me. Never done that before. Couldn't see anyone. Nothing left for a proper finish, stumbled across the line. Had a smile on my face, but I was done for sure. What would you do differently?: Nothing really. Good race.  Post race
Warm down: just chilled. Pizza, pop, chili, muffin, stretch. What limited your ability to perform faster: I suppose I really wasn't willing to feel the pain. I shoulda been able to do a 5:18 I think but the idea of pushing that 6 min pace for that long was just too daunting at the outset. Also, there was lingering sickness. I feel my nutrition was spot on but I had dead legs for the past week and still had them during the race. I don't know. I am faster than I was last year, pretty sure. Tough to tell for sure because we didn't have to do the path from glenmore to chestemere like in other years, and that path can suck. Real gut check for the ironlegs in August and the 100 miler in September. I got some work to do. The way that lady was just cruising along. I ran with her at moose and beat her last year and here she is beating me by a good 15 min I guess. Not sure if I can blame it on the lingering effects of the cold. For taking it easy for 2 weeks I was not feeling super fresh. Perhaps doing too much volume. But I need to do the volume to be ready. Anyways, step on the journey right. Event comments: great event in all ways. Last updated: 2011-12-01 12:00 AM
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Gord's Running Store
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Have had some good training up until 2 weeks ago. Last 2 weeks not great. One week of vacation so only 65k that week. One week of sick, so only 70 k last week. Last long run was, well I did 26k on the 18th, but that was super easy. Last hard run was over 2 weeks ago.
So that is a lot of talking to say that I ended up with an unintentional taper. 5th time at this race and the first time I was rested for it, (although coming off a 7 day cold, I don't know how rested I was).
Had a good day Sunday, ate too much. 3 smokies, 2 beers, bunch of chips, big ol' ladle full of buttery baked beans. Some raw vegetables. Smoores. Not the best pre race or pre run dinner for me.
Got a good night sleep, more or less. Couldn't figure out what to eat in the morning. Was a little nervous due to the beans, dogs, and beer. Settled on a banana and a cliff bar. I mean I was hungry, probably due to stuffing myself the night before. Hit the washroom with moderate success and got to the race at 8 for pick up.
Just hung around, tried to shake things loose but no real luck. Listened to Gord explain the alternate course. Usually it is 25k there and back to Chestemere but had some construction so now a 3 X there and back from the boat club to the glenmore inn. Although he added a bit and figured the total distance would be about 51k. I mean this race is not certified, it is still advertised as being a 52k even though it has been a 50k since I started doing it. More about a bunch of nuts running the day away in February. Weather was good, lets race.