Hey 1st Time Boston Marathon Runners!

Wow, been a long time since I've blogged about anything.. Such is life when you have a young one (20 months old) and an IOs game on the shelves of the app store. (Monkey Feet)

I was speaking with a friend today about Boston Marathon 2015. It made me realize how much research and looking around for advice I did before race day. I dropped some advice to her, I thought it was worthwhile sharing. Here goes:

 Boston hills are more so deceiving than they are really tough hills. Because many are so slight. So you have to be really be responsible and relaxed.
I urge you for the 1st Five kilometres to hold back on the throttle (it's a slight downhill for about 5km) and try and keep your planned race pace. Then after 5km- try and maintain a comfortable pace. If it's your planned pace:awesome. If it's not: roll with it. You've got a long ride left. You may do great the first half, but Boston is a pain because of that second half. That's why heartbreak sucks. Everyone has an issue with heartbreak hill. Not because it's the worst hill ever, but because it's at a point in the race where most runners are feeling the hurt. It's that point where there are a series of hills at the end that take a lot from you physically and mentally.

My 3rd race in Beantown, I came in completely relaxed, and settled into a really comfortable pace. I didn't force "the training/planned pace" just what I felt I could run 42km comfortable at.
                                             
                                         ~   Because you can always force the pace
                                              and feel totally deflated by 20-30km,
                                               or you can feel relaxed/comfortable
                                       and start that fight through the last 5-10km.
                                   Because you will have to fight. Just when is the question.~

             And.. that is why the marathon is awesome. Because you always do battle (I'm excited just talking about it.) And you will definitely do battle in Boston. If you hold out and stay relaxed and comfortable for the race. This is what you trained for!  I guarantee you that you can hold off the fight and enjoy the course with Boston college, Wellesley college and all of the fans a lot more, and smile a lot more when you cross that line, no matter what the time. If you're smiling and high fiving fans at 20km. I promise you will have a better race.

Have a great race out there. It's such an awesome experience. So different from any other race I've run. Enjoy every minute. I'll be thinking of you on race day! Dusty

2014 Spartan Beast: Mont Ste Marie

When I first ran the Spartan Beast back in 2012, I was pissed at the course. I had no idea that it would be so long and treacherous. This year, I knew what I was getting into & I vowed to myself that I would be ready.

For those that don't know my style. I typically keep a pretty good base. It allows me to have an easy build, come race time. Since my Achilles injury back in March, I was fairly non committal. No watch, no real fluent schedule. But this was pretty much my steez heading into this race: 

Tuesday: 8-10km trail run

Friday: Bike to work and back (40km)

Saturday: Beatdown hill workout in Gatineau for 6 weeks- approx 15-18km

I liked this schedule, and I felt pretty legit coming into spartan. By that I mean, I was nervous as hell -This race did kick my butt the 1st time. 

Anyways....shall we....

Warm up climb - 9am

The spartan speech, the gong..and go. Straight up a mountain for 20 minutes. My training mate and I tried to get ahead in the front of the elite crowd before the gong went off- with no luck. We spent the climb passing a ton of peeps, and trying to keep a normal breathing rythym. What a climb!

As we crest the top of the hill, we begin a descent. This is my gravy, my flow state and where I feel most confident when trail racing. Confident and nervous at the same time. It's definitely a high you can't get everyday- Should nothing bad happen... More on that later.

Obstacles to boot
After all of the climbing, it's not so bad to have a few obstacles in the way. They really help on the getting back the breath part. We jump under a net for 20 metres. Then we carry a sand bag for a 3 minute loop and next we come up to our first wall hop and down to the front of the mountain where the crowd is.
There's a rope climb at the bottom of the mountain, where we must ring the bell at the top. We're about 5km in at this point. Next we must pull a propane tank attached to a rope up to the top about 20 metres. Then back up the mountain under barbed wire. We climb for another 5 minutes straight up, then take a left at the 1/2 point of the mountain and over a wall to descend towards the bottom again. Once we reach the bottom, there's a rolling monkey bar. Looks easy, fairly difficult though, especially when they're wet from the rain. I fell off and had to do 30 burpies, pretty brutal! Then a horizontal wall climb, and back up the mountain. 3 mins running, I realize I've lost my Garmin watch. Major bummer, but.. what can I really do at this point?


1/2 way there 
I hit the 1/2 way point of the mountain again and there's a monkey bar to climb. It's about 10 metre climb to ring the bell. I almost fell before the guy behind me fell and was told to do 30 burpies. Not doing that again!
Next we had to climb over a big upside down V, again about 20 metres high, it had grid rope on each side. After that, we continued through a wall course of about 4-5 walls. Then we descended for a bit and back to a big climb of almost 30 minutes. Once at the top there was a big concrete ball to carry from about 10 feet, then 5 burpies and 10 feet back. We've reached around the 10KM mark now. 11KM to go.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

After all that climbing, we finally get a break and can start a good descent. The nice thing in a race like this is that you can cover a lot of distance very quickly on the downhill. Today, I'm going a little bit fast and not being overly cautious. There are points where I'm grabbing the long grass and jumping into it to try and slow myself down a bit. I'm just not applying any brakes in hopes of making up some time. Stupid is as stupid does though. I pass some Spartan Volunteers who say "slow down bud, you'll hurt yourself" and I continue to fly until I reach the bottom more shallow part of the slope and catch my tow on a stump. This sends me on a somersault in the air, when I come down I crack my right shoulder blade on a rock and continue running. It took all of 2 seconds, I'm not even sure anyone saw it, but I was wincing with pain.

Onwards 

I now had a difficult decision to make, continue or drop. We had this saying in training. "It's not about how hard it is, it's about not being a little b***h" I guess my mind was made up already. I folded my arm in and decided to continue as best I could do without any "obstacles" in the way.

Next Up

With one arm left, I was deemed to fail. It finally happened at 19KM on an inverted wall. I tried 4 times, but couldn't make it. I'd never DNF'd, but I guess there had to be a day where it would happened. As sad as it was, I learned a bit... It sucked being on pace for around a 3hr finish.

Here's what  I managed broken
Ammo Box Carry - 2 arms , 3 minute course
Water Bag Carry- Left arm. 2 Minute course 
Bucket Carry through the lake- 3 minute swim/sand walk
Deck Post Chain Pull- 4 minute swamp walk 

It seems I've met my match with the Spartan Race. It was very tough to drop for the first time in my racing career. But in the end, there's always next year. I think I'll return again and try to best my times of this year, in hopes of a good trail season. Getting tired of the road!

BTW.. I'd give this race a 4/5 for the course. Changed since 2012, less arduous. More water stops, tougher obstacles.

Here's to you and not falling down the side of a mountain!


D

For: Athletes Looking to Improve & Perform Optimally

I've been running for a long time now and I'm happy to say I'm still learning. Most recently I've been biohacking a lot and am testing a very new controversial method of training. Trust me, I'm not rock solid on anything when it comes to training. I'm willing to test and try about any new technique for running that sounds like a good experiment. i.e. Barefoot Running=awesome. 
 I think it's important to never think you know everything, no matter how long you've been doing something, to be willing to learn new things in anything you do, and most importantly to perform optimally. It keeps us motivated and coming back for more! So...what's this training method you ask?

No more gluten & sugar. Cut back on the running and get faster!

Say what? True. 

Here's what I'm learning....

 So basically, your body naturally produces glycogen. But many of us endurance runners feel the need to constantly carbo-load to fill our glycogen stores for the long runs- even though glycogen pretty much restores naturally. In addition to eating what we feel like, because we're runners. Fact is: that if you barely had any carbs, you'd be alright. (Unless you're tapping those stores daily) In fact you might perform better. This is because many of our bodies have been trained as "sugar burners."

How to Qualify as a sugar burner. You just have to eat (wheat, gluten, sugar, many fruits, pretty much any counter sweets and bars)

What have I been doing to become a fat burner? I eat more fat of course!

I cut bread and all sweets. Other than one cheat day on the weekend.

I feel great. Because instead of burning sugar, I'm burning key tones.(Fat) you're body functions much better when it's burning fat. Also, your stomach has a tough time digesting gluten and sugar as well. So eat more good fat to burn more fat. Usually a ratio of 70% fat to 30% carbs should do it. We're not talking bad fat and bad carbs though... follow me?

When we burn fat, we're not constantly hungry. We can actually function in a compressed eating window, with no issues. (example: 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating) Because... our brain isn't telling the gut it "need more sugar!" (Equivalent to what morphine addicts go through) ahhh.,.the beauty of being ketogenic.

For those looking to burn weight. This may be a good idea....When you're body is looking for food energy in Ketogenisis, it says. "Hey, maybe I'll burn this excess fat." For those who aren't looking to burn fat, it's about functioning completely;optimally. Mark Sissons of Primal Blueprint says "when elite athletes start experimenting with ketogenisis, I have no doubt we'll start to see some record breaking performances"

What's good fat? 

Avocados, olive oil, grassfed butter, grassfed meat, cocunut oil/milk,Almonds, Pumpkin Seeds, Greek Yogurt.etc.
 
What's good Carbs?
 Sweet Potatoes, rice, vegetables, Some fruit:cranberries,raspberries, etc.

There's been way too many examples in this past 6 month experiment to ever turn back. 

Example 1: Dr. Terry Wahls. Author of the "The Wahls Protocol" and a victim of progressive multiple sclerosis used to be electric wheelchair bound. With a high fat, low carb', vegetable heavy diet, she's now biking 18 miles. Wtf? Is society eating backwards? I'm convinced.(YouTube:"minding your mitochondria")

Look, I'm not the intense version of this eating regimen. I'm the heavy healthy, sometimes eat un-healthy version. I love food, and wine. There are times when you gotta eat, and you gotta drink. But 90% of the time, I want to perform optimally.

When it comes to less training is more method of thinking. There's a theory that 80% of high endurance runners train too much. Leading to chronic cardio and bad internal health. Everyone says knees and joints. I read more about heart and Achilles. When we're constantly training these long long distances, much of the time we're over stressing everything we can't see. (Can Running Shorten Your Life) We train all of this long long distance, but we're just re-enforcing what our bodies are already good at. If we stuck to more speed (twice/week) and some race pace, with a few big runs that are really ez heading into an event. We may just perform better. (See: Chapter 1&2: Ben Greenfield: Mastering Endurance)

Yeah, I didn't believe this bit either. I love training and "Sunday Rundays." Huge proponent of the long run for success.

I used to stress over long runs, and lose it to not get them done. Mind you, after a 16-20 week marathon training program I'm toasted. Usually many of us come into our races with hot spots, or arising issues somewhere.

I ran Boston 2014. I injured my Achilles. What an injury! I was signed up for the Ottawa marathon 5 weeks later, I couldn't train though, because I couldn't run. I managed 4 painful runs in. Though I stayed eating low carb, high fat. I just wanted to feel 60-70% coming into the race.
End Result: I did a lot less training and managed to pull out a 2:56 marathon. My 3rd best time out of 12 marathons. What a statement. Not saying it was easy. But have i bought in? Yup!

Now I'm parroting a lot of what I hear. But I'm also practicing what I preach. It's working. I've spent a lot of time looking into this stuff, and still have a lot to learn. But I'm a changed athlete and now truly truly believe that diet really is the most important part of fitness, with a lot less training.

Here's to you and performing optimally!

D

My teachers: (by order of significance)

Mark Sissons: The Primal Blueprint+podcast

Neil Rosenthal: Solefit Ottawa: Dude is a Beast. 
Ben Greenfield: Ben Greenfield Fitness Poscast+ Beyond Training Book

Dr.Terry Wahls: The Wahl's Protocol+podcast guest+http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc

Joe Rogan: podcast (joe rogan experience)

Dave Asprey: bulletproofexec.com (bulletproof coffee)

Robb Wolf: Podcast

JJ Virgin: the virgin diet

My Training For Next Week's Marathon Just Started

There's something about the Ottawa Marathon that keeps me giddy like a schoolboy about racing. Perhaps it's because it's my main marathon, my longtime bq race, my first marathon, or maybe it's because it's my hometown course. It's certainly the course I feel most comfortable on, I know it like so many of my routine training routes.

I keep pushing and trying to learn how to be the best of me. I ran the Boston Marathon on Easter Weekend, I had one last workout prior to the race. I may have pushed myself right to the edge.

Vibrams, warm day. AND a "Hells Ya, I'm confident for Beantown" workout. 10 minutes 1/2 pace (3:40) 5 minutes 10k pace (3:30) 2.5 minutes 5k pace (3:17-3:20) and 20 minutes marathon pace (3:45-3:55) yeah...I had never finished it before that day. I was proud, confident and hurting good.

Turns out the workout was great for my confidence and bad for my Achilles. I managed Boston and have been off my legs ever since. 3 weeks. That's was until 2 days ago when my treatment on the calf started to work.(straight leg stretch, art, the stick, roller, self massage)

It's like staring at a dripping tap waiting for this thing to loosen up, losing my mind. But I'm finally lacing up, full addict style.

I'm so grateful to be able to run. I missed it. I haven't had an injury in a long time that's forced me to sit it out so long.

Now I take the chance on Ottawa. How can I not? I'm super competitive, I've run it since 06' and how would I feel if I stayed at home and let the race happen without me. I'm about 65-70% right now. I'm hopeful that will get me through.

Mentally once that race starts, I'm Carey Price. (See 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Montreal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins) just hoping I can stay that long for 26.2 miles. Ha ha ha! 

Let ya know how it goes. Wish me luck!

Here's to you and Carey Price.

#beastmode,

D

My Boston Monday, April 21st, 2014

It's  not often you get to see a city rise to the occasion in the wake of a tragedy like Boston has this past year. Today's marathon was a grande conclusion to this chapter in the cities history. I'm so grateful and humbled to have been part of Boston 2014. I shivered multiple times as the crowd cheered continuously from Hopkington to Boston. The people of Boston were #strong and proud, and showed the world the passion they have for their city. 

My run went well. Coming to Boston for the third time, I felt comfortable in aiming for a 2:55. I settled into a nice pace to begin and honed into the atmosphere. The sun was shining and the runners were focused. It was tough to navigate through the many racers ahead of me. That's the disadvantage of a big race like Boston. It's very hard to get ahead for the first 10km.

 Thick crowd of runners, people peeing on the side of the course fr the first 5K, water stations on both sides of the roads, amazing fans, the smell of beer.

This is Boston...

I hit 20KM, feeling confident. This is where my decision making went to crap. I decided I'd bump up my pacing to 3:45/km, and that ended quickly. By 25KM I was hurtin and fell back on the pace. The fight begins...

Hard part about a marathon is that at some point you're going to hurt, mentally and physically. When that is, is up

to you. It's "the fight" or the "holding on" portion of a marathon. At 25KM I started my fight and by 35KM I was toast. My calf was giving out and my mental attitude was done.

Good attitude: "feeling great. I may be able to do better than I thought. I can hold on. Maybe I can catch that person"

Bad attitude:"I just want this to be over. I don't care about pace or time. I just want it to end."

After the fun of Wellesly College girls (screaming, funny signs) the cheering of Boston College and too many amazing crowds to mention. The Citgo sign appeared and the last few tough KMS came to an end.

Tough race, but very glad to come in under 3:00 with 2:53. I would do things differently next time, and there's still a lot of room for improvement. But I'm really so grateful to be part of today.

Best signs:

"Free beer, and cigarettes"

"Help me get to 100 kisses-tally chart"

"Slap this sign for power"

"Hurry up, the Kenyans are drinking your beer"

Maybe they weren't the best, but they were the only ones I can remember!

Here's to you and the city of Boston! #Boston Strong

D

Around The Bay 2014

It's been a longtime since I've blogged....

With the cold of winter, it's been a lot of behind the scenes running and not as much racing. It's been the nitty gritty part of training that no one wants to hear about. Comprised of cold days, 10 pounds of gear and general bitterness for the environment around me. Now that it's nearly over, we're back into race season and the fun begins. 

I signed up for Around the Bay with a few reasons in mind: I have family near Hamilton, and after arriving back to Ottawa from China a day before ATB 2013, I bombed the race and it was time for some "race revenge". 1:59:59 was the goal. It was that time or less so I could take home that gold medal. With that, I'll give you the run down of the 120th Anniversary of the oldest race in North America. 

 Why I Enjoy This Race ►►►►

Challenging rolling hills  I had to really fight to hold onto my pace and maintain the time goal, as the hills slowed down my pace considerably. 
 
Great Competition  As the oldest race in North America, there was a lot of tough competition which makes this race very enticing, you get pushed to bring out your best. (About 6500 participants)
 
Great Boston Prep Course  I'll be heading to Boston in a few short weeks. This was a nice test to see where my fitness was at after a long winter of training. 

Stadium Finish  It's so awesome to finish in a stadium, it makes for such an adventurous end to a long 30KM journey. The stadium is full of cheering fans, what more could you ask for?

Medal Incentives  Aim for a time and get the medal to match it.

Medal	Men	Women
Gold	Under 2 hrs	Under 2:15
Silver	2 hrs to 2:15	2:15 to 2:30
Bronze	over 2:15	over 2:30

ATB things to think about  ►►►►

Bring a GPS   If you're not a resident of GTA, or Hamilton/Burlington, it can be a tough place to navigate and the highways are whacky. I recommend saving yourself the stress of guessing.

Factory Central  Only downfall to this years' course that I don't remember of last year, was that they take you through the factory portion of town. I assume because it was easy for road closures, but it was gross air quality all the same. 

Dress Properly This race is one of the trickiest races I've had to dress for. Much of the time it feels cold in the morning, and the bay brings in cold air on the course. I would under dress rather than overdress though. That was the biggest complaint I heard on race day. "Frig, I wore way too much gear" 

Race Pick Up/Day Parking I hate paying for parking in a place that's obviously charging because of an event where they can take advantage of people. Last year I paid a ton for parking, and lined up a long time waiting to pay. This year I parked 1KM down the road off of Pearl St. and saved money & stress. When the race ended I cheered on finishing participants on the way to the car, and was close enough to the hwy to easily get away from the road closures. 

I've left this blog more as a review than a race report. Partly because my race went really well. I don't have too many criticisms to talk about. I went in to the run thinking I would be a bit slower based on winter training, and I was happy to see my legs came through. I had a bit of trouble running against the wind, and cramped up a bit at times, but I was able to work on breathing quite a bit and come through it which was a major positive. I love that no matter how fast you are, there's always room for improvement.

I really enjoyed this run. Here's my Rating:
  
Course ★★★★ 4/5  Fun and Challenging. From rolling hills to wind chills, you have to earn this one.

City  ★★★ 3/5 As an Outsider, I don't find it overly attractive. But it's close to Toronto & Niagara which is a +.

Expo  ★★★★ 4/5   In a stadium, lots of washrooms, easy to navigate and lots of places to sit down and hangout. It's also the start of the race so you know where to go in the morning and can scout the area.

Gear ★★★★★ 5/5 Some of the best SWAG in the game. Around the Bay usually has great shirts with your race kit, made by New Balance. They're one race that hasn't cheaped out on poorly designed shirts.

 Overall ★★★★ 4/5 Love the gear, love the incentive to medal, and the challenging course. A race that you want to return to, always deserves a 4.

Here's to you and enjoying those challenges!

Gold Medal

D 

Tuning In To Your Body

I was intrigued while listening to Lanni Marchant's interview on the IRun Show after her Canadian Record breaking run in Toronto last weekend. She spoke of surging from her training mate Krista Duchene at 30/32KM. They both had a great interview about beating the 28 year old Canadian marathon record. (Lanni's Interview)

As I resonate about my racing experiences, I recollect those late surges, fast starts, and blow ups. 

I'm able to think about all of those questions that must pass through a runners mind when they're toeing the line contemplating their plan. What finish time is too slow or fast? How fast do I start? How do I break the race down?

Besides the many uncontrollable things about a race. (I.e. stomach, cramping, ceasing, weather, etc.) There are a lot of things that are completely in your control. Like pace, training, nutrition, mental fortitude among other things. 

Every runner comes into a race with a plan, be it big or small. It could be "I just want to finish" or “I want to achieve a personal best." I think the number one thing that determines how this plan will unravel is how well that runner knows their body. This comes through training, and tuning in. When I enter a race I'm on the “I want to achieve a personal best" most occasions. I'm the guy who can't just run, and I usually go all out. I think this is part of being 1 of 6 brothers while growing up, I'm inherently competitive. 

In my experience, if I've done the hard work. Be it, speed, tempo, long runs, and I like to include some hills in there. I've only got to worry about tuning in. It allows me to understand where the limits are. I can begin a race and push for a couple of km above race pace, then settle in. From there I can hang around race pace and gauge how my body feels in terms of maybe dropping the hammer the last few kilometers, or staying with the runner that just passed me to see if I can re-pass them later in the game. That's why it's so important to learn your limits. It will allow you to know when you may have a little more or the opposite, when you just can't do it. It will be the difference between a mediocre race, a blow up, or a PB.  

KEYS to mental Tuning: 

1) Training You only get better the more you work at it! I like speed and pace work to mock racing. 

2) Blow up Workout/Race It sucks, worst possible thing. I've been in races where I had to grit out the last 20 even 30KM after blowing up... it's debilitating. The amount you learn from it invaluable. You'll get much better at understanding where you're at physically, and at gritting it out those last few. You'll know how far you can push, because you've been to the bottom.   

3) Time More experiences, the more races, the more pace workouts, all in good time.

4) Right Side of the Bed Some days are better than others. I think everyone can have a sh*tty day. From NHL players to Haile Gebrselassie to you and me my friend.  

Here's to you and tuning in! 

D  

How I Feel about Setting the Pace: 9Run Run 2013

Photo courtesy of Brian Lafleur

The Stittsville 1/2 marathon is a smaller race, but its home. It's a run I really enjoy because it's local, it's friendly, and it supports some great causes. (Emergency services in Ottawa-Ambulance, Fire, Police), DIFD, SolesforSouls, and Stittsville Food Bank. The course can be challenging: it's hilly, and the gravel trail on the stretch to the finish can be ominous for some roadrunners. But I love running through familiar sites/training grounds, seeing the beautiful fall colours, and once again experiencing what amazing Volunteers are all about.

It's hard setting the pace in a race. An amazing feeling, but there's a lot of guessing involved. Because of course you feel this pressure of being in first because you've taken it upon yourself to jump in front; it's a heavy responsibility. It's heavy because if you reach a point of getting passed while in first, it can really deflate you. In Haliburton (50miler) I was running scared, truly afraid I would lose it. Today, I went to my comfortable 1/2 pace, and prayed that I could hold it and no one else could. Though if someone had been leading me and I kept a similar pace, it might have given me the extra gumption to chase after them.

As the race begins, I make small chat with a fellow racer as we speed ahead of the rest of the group. I'm not really sure what my game plan is until we're about 5KM in and I hit my stride. I'm rolling at about 3:40-3:45/km, and I've thought it might be achievable for the remainder of the run. This course is tricky though based on the lengthy stretch of three major hills on Flewellyn. So...you might be in the realm of 3:45/km for the entirety of the run, but unless you can maintain that on the hills, you're average pace won't represent your effort.

After running 100KM on October 5th (14 days ago) I was experiencing a lot of fatigue. Not in the legs, just in general. It made me nervous for this one, but it was a good nervous. I know it helped lift my strength. As I hit my 3:45 pace, I was able to maintain and gap out the runners behind me. I was thankful for the 100K at this point, because mentally the struggles that I went through on October 5th were much harder than those that one experiences in a 1/2 marathon. It made the fight a lot easier than normal.

As I hit the turn around, I start to get slightly fatigued, but I keep my head up and follow the wheelchair rider in front of me. He's been my inspiration all morning. I know that if I consider him "the guy to catch" it will keep my legs moving at proper speed. I pretended he was the leader; it worked quite well for the majority of the run.

As I exit the gravel pathway with less than a 1KM to go I see my Mom. She's down from Scotland to visit me. She's jumping up and down in the crowd screaming. "That's my son! It's my son, he's in 1st! Go Dusty!!!!" I'm blushing and embarrassed. "That's my Mom everyone!" I yell, as I speed ahead towards the finish line.

I've made it. I feel great. It was a beautiful day once again to run, and the last race of my training schedule. From Around the Bay > Boston Marathon > Ottawa Marathon > I2P 52KM Trail Run > Haliburton 50 Miler > 100KM Sears Great Canadian Run > 9Run Run 1/2 Marathon, I've finally finished... AND after 4 years of trying, I've managed to grab 1st place on my hometown run. That was on the bucket list. As a friend from GGT once said (Corey Turnbull) "It's all about who shows up on race day" I do think I got lucky today to win a 1/2 marathon with a 1:20:28. Most are won sub 1:20. I'll take it, I'm proud of it. But I still have a ton of things to learn and work on, and I love that. One thing that has got me through this season undoubtedly is my mental fortitude. Now to work harder on the physical strength to come back next season and maintain the improvements.

It was also so great to have amazing fans at the race today. My wife, son, and Mom filled me with endless strength and inspiration. Gotta love it!! 

Here's to you and setting the pace!

D

Sears Great Canadian Run: Good Guys Tri 100K and $100,000 for Kid's Cancer

The Start of the day. We're all looking great at this point. 

As all 23 of us arrive at the gates of Chateau Montebello, we've finally made it, we're finally there. We take a moment to stop, embrace and collect ourselves together for one last time before we cross the real finish line in 800 meters. What a day, a beautiful day that encompassed a suitcase of emotions, and the epitome of strength and unity. 

Checkpoints (Brief idea of how our day played out timeline wise, it was about 7:30pm I think to end the run. Approximately 13 hours! )

	Checkpoint Number	Total Distance	Distance From Previous Checkpoint	Time To Run Checkpoint	ETA	Estimated  Time of    Departure
	Start	0km	0km	0:00	7:00am	7:00am
	Checkpoint 1	4.5km	4.5km	0:27	7:27am	7:35am
	Checkpoint 2	15.7km	11.2km	1:08	8:43am	8:51am
	Checkpoint 3	17.4km	1.7km	0:10	9:01am	9:09am
	Checkpoint 4	29km	11.6km	1:10	10:19am	10:27am
	Checkpoint 5	30.4km	1.4km	0:08	10:35am	10:43am
	Checkpoint 6	40.2km	9.8km	0:48	11:31am	11:39am
	Checkpoint 7	45km	4.8km	0:29	12:08pm	12:16pm
	Checkpoint 8	55.2km	10.2km	1:00	1:16pm	1:24pm
	Checkpoint 9	60.7km	5.5km	0:33	1:57pm	2:05pm
	Checkpoint 10	66.9km	6.2km	0:37	2:42pm	2:50pm
	Checkpoint 11	73.9km	7km	0:45	3:35pm	3:43pm
	Checkpoint 12	81.8km	7.9km	0:48	4:31pm	4:39pm
	Checkpoint 13	86.5km	4.7km	0:30	5:09pm	5:17pm
	Checkpoint 14	90.8km	4.3km	0:25	5:42pm	5:50pm
	Checkpoint 15	93.3km	2.5km	0:15	6:05pm	6:13pm
	Checkpoint 16	95.3km	2km	0:15	6:30pm	6:38pm
	Finish	96.1km	0.8km	0:07	6:45pm

Get Things Started in Here

My alarm stuns me awake at 4am. I go through the motions of the wake up call, and get dressed in all of my pre-prepared clothes, and eat my pre-prepard bowl of oatmeal. It's robotic at this point, and after a short 4 hours of intermittent rest, I'm satisfied that I'm good 2 go. It's time for the big show. 

My ride arrives at 5am. I'm rolling with my training pal Neil Rosenthal and his parents, (Doug and Carole) who were integral in making our day happen. Along with several other volunteers. The day would never have ran as smoothly without them.(No pun intended :) We had 1 car for every 2 runners, with a total of over 30 volunteers. Drivers, gophers, sweepers, first aid & camera crew. Just amazing, and on a day like today, they were "the oil to our car." 

After we arrived at the Aviation Museum, we pulled up to our convoy of volunteer vehicles. We all helped decorate the vehicles, grabbed our amazing sponsors signs and headed in to listen to the opening ceremonies. After introducing ourselves to one another, listening to the inspiring words of the race organizers, and getting the last pieces of running equipment in order, we were on our way to a very long day! 

The Best is Yet To Come
A quick 4.5KM to our first checkpoint back to the Aviation Museum, we were all anxious to put some real miles behind us and get on our way to Montebello. At first everyone was jubilient and there were a lot of jokes. I got the feeling that everyone had a sense of  relief to shake out the nerves and banter. The first few checkpoints for me, involved getting used to the idea of what we would need  in terms of apparel and nutrition. 
After 90 minutes your stomach really starts to send those hunger pains, so it's important to fuel up. I like to maintain steady fuel from here out, I find it keeps my energy fairly balanced. At 1.5-2hrs on the legs it was a nice point in the run. We were all able to get to know each other a little bit more, and those that already knew each other were able to catch up. It was a beautiful day to run such a long distance and  I'm sure this only added to our great attitudes. Rain would have made this a lot tougher. Our little angels were really watching us and shining their light over us, and on my sun burnt freshly shaven head.  

Goals from the start to finish: (My inspiration to keep me going kept changing the more fatigue weighed on me) 
1) Watch the Leafs vs. Sens Game tonight
2) Sleep in my bed tonight
3) Eat a whopper
4) Drink a beer
5) Run the next 10KM 
6) Run the next 4KM leg
7) Stop thinking, just fall 
8) Just Finish

Everybody Hurts
It was inevitable walking into a 100K run that once the running began, pain would eventually follow at some point; especially on a road run. How does that saying go? "If you're running an ultra and you feel good, wait a while, it'll pass." Our GoodGuys Tri Team had the motto of "one team": volunteers, runners, everyone involved. What a beautiful thing this was. I can remember the time(s) where every one of my teammates was in a down moment. Everyone had their own way of dealing with it, but it was great to have support through those moments. There were stomach issues, nausea issues, fatigue issues, muscle tightness/ceasing/pain, among other things. For any muscle issues we were fortunate to have two awesome lads from Holistic Clinic loosening up any tight or restricted muscles (Troy, Isaac). I was there when they actually busted their massage table out on the side of the highway for one of us with ceasing muscles. Incredible. There was also a volunteer who's a friend to many of the team. In addition, he's an experienced ultra runner (Mike Stashin) and was able to give advice on footwear, blisters, nutrition, and provide good music and treats while driving by us on the course. 
You were never alone in your struggles and I think that was essential to many of us battling through the rough times. As soon as you're mentally deteriorated and something physically goes wrong, it's just an extra irritation. That's when your day spirals. To have people who can help revive you, is why we all crossed that finish line.  


Stop This Train 

We had about 8 minutes reserved for each checkpoint. Though when fatigue struck, that 8 minutes seemed more like 3 minutes. There just wasn't enough time to get everything ready. Perhaps it was that there was so much more to do in the latter stages of the run. These are points in a run that aside from checkpoint errands, you've got to remind yourself of other things too... "How's my salt content?" "Am I eating enough?" "When did I pee last?" "How's my fluid consumption, etc" The checkpoints are good for things like that snack you were craving, the iPod you need to lift your spirits, soft drinks, clothing changes, fresh Gatorade, etc. This was something that I hadn't experienced much, but in the end I made it work, and carried a lot of my nutrition. 

Hurts So Good
My wife, mother-in-law and son were waiting for me at the 30KM checkpoint. I can't describe with words just how good it was to see them, it was amazing and revitalizing. My 3 month old son looked in my eyes and I felt so special, I felt how much he meant to me, and how much I would do for him, and then....just how important it was to finish. They gave me strength. I maintained that strength until about 60KM when I hit my recession. I was coming up to the check point and starting to get tired when I was signaled to the side of the road by my family again. I thought they were gone home 30KM ago, and I didn't think I'd see them again, so when they were there it hit me hard. It was such a good feeling to see them there, I started tearing up. By this point,  I was tired enough that it was tough to leave them, tough to be without them for the next 40KM ahead, just choked. The following 2.5 hours would be what I describe as my dark place. My stomach became weak, eating anything was a struggle, my muscles were exhausted, I was so drained. 4KM checkpoints began to feel like 10KM, it seemed endless.
I started to notice our team's first signs of fatigue/slumps at around 45KM. I encouraged and hungout with those at the tail end for a bit. This was great and it came to pay me back throughout my struggles later on. I can't count the number of teammates and volunteers who came to check on me, first class people. When your trying to help someone who's going through this much discomfort, you can feel helpless. Sometimes just being there beside them is best. It's tough to explain such struggles, it's as if your body says "Ok, I'm done" from there you have to maintain that mental fight until it resides. I managed to comeback to life around 74KM, it was a joke that set me back on track...so funny! I'm grateful to finally understand this battle that I had heard about so many times before. I'm glad I stuck it out. When I came back online, I was strong again, and a brand new man. What a relief! 

 Eye of the Tiger
I felt as if around 80KM we all started to hit some kind of reprieve. Not everyone was smiling, but many of us started to get over "the hill". It would seem that we were all at the point of knowing we were going to handle it, and we were going to finish it. Exhausted or not we were going to finish it. As we all headed into the last stretch, it was an incredible relief. Spirits were lifted, life was grande. Mike Stashin's music helped, and yes, he played Eye of the Tiger..or maybe it was Steve Thomas wearing no shirt and crazy green lights with a wig?  

All These Things That I've Done
I'm reminiscent of the day, it was such a blend of emotions. Between green jumpsuits, singing, making jokes, staying organized, and pushing each other past our limits, while fighting through our own personal battles. We left it there on the pavement, in our blood, sweat and tears. We were organized by two of the best guys I know in Mike Herzog and Steve Thomas of Good Guys Tri. They led our team like true leaders. I wish more of the world could emulate these lads. We really were "One Team" 

The Emotional Finish

As we enter through the gates towards the Chateau Montebello, it's so surreal. One of our teammates starts the GGT Chant..  "People ask who we are!"...."We are GGT" as the rest of us follow along, the sound of our 23 person group is powerful. Within the same breath of our final chant, it's as if our voices are being echoed by the cheers of the crowd up ahead. Shivers rush up my spine, it's so loud, I'm filled with energy. The team in unison pushes Mike and Steve to the front of our group. "let's run it in!" As we make our way through the finish line, it seems there's about 100 metres of crowd. There are people crying, and cheering and I'm overwhelmed with emotion, just completely elated. As I look around, it appears that all of my teammates are as well. We all hug each other, and congratulate one another. We're receiving hugs from crowd members. I feel so small in this big picture, but significant at the same time. What we did on October 5th and the months before was amazing, and it's things like this that push change. We raised over $100,000 for Kid's Cancer research!

I'm so proud to be a part of this group of runners, SGCR, GGT, and any change that may happen based on our efforts. Whether it's new goggles for the MRI machines in the hospital, renovations to make CHEO look more homely for their young patients, or funding for a new experimental treatment that may save a child. This all attributes to the end goal of beating cancer, saving children, and promoting positive change. Being a part of those waves is an honor.

"Leverage Your Passion for Good" -GoodGuys Tri

D



▼Shameless sponsor mentions below!!! ▼
Thank you so much guys. Big hearts, and believing. Just awesome.

Some photos in blog courtesy of sponsor. Zoom Photo. Thank you: Jim Johnston [Photographer] and Joe Elliot [Owner of ZoomPhoto]

Haliburton Forest 50 Miler (80km) Trail Race

It's always good to keep things mixed up, fresh and exciting.

For me, I'm a typical marathoner/half marathon road runner. As much as I like road races, I enjoy training on the trails much more. There's much more to see and do on the trails. It feels good to be running in the woods, and.... I feel more like Tarzan, and that's what matters most. :-D

I'd never jumped into an ultra, but after joining a 23 person team to run 100KM for Kid's cancer on October 5th, I thought this race could be icing on the cake, since I'd already be putting in the distance to train.
After many Gatineau training runs and a lot of hill climbing, I was ready for the challenge that would be the Haliburton Forest 50 miler. Along with a crew of some other great runners, we all showed up hoping to achieve our goal times (8 hours in my case). We all set up camp right beside the race course, with hundreds of other tents and trailers. I enjoyed hanging with alot of GGT members that I'll be running with on October 5th, and there were a few other really good people to enjoy the weekend with. Word.

5AM
Up and dressed for the race. It's cool out, but that won't matter much with a bit of running. Our campsite is literally 200 meters from the start line. It's tent city and so different, but perfect. Gotta love the great outdoors. I haven't quite woken up yet, but my stomach is going! As usual I'm feeling the common race jitters.
After some food and coffee, we're good to go. Our headlamps are on and we're gone. This race offers distances of 12K, 26K, 50K, 50Mile, 100 Mile Relay, 100 Mile Solo. We were all signed up for the 50 mile. I'm up front with my training mate Neil, and we're trying to keep it fairly conservative to start. We're aiming to hit our 40KM turn around at around 4 hours.

auto-pilot......First 20KM 
The first 20 were a bit rough for this guy. It took about 6KM to enter a long stretch of trail that crests a lake, at this point I was still quite sleepy. I tripped twice within 10 minutes of entering the trail! I felt like a rookie, I looked like a rookie, I shouldn't have taken my headlamp off. Mentally I had to wake up and change the way I was thinking about things. By 20KM, I'd finally sorted that out, and changed to auto-pilot.  What's auto-pilot you ask...? For me, it's when you stop talking and in general, stop paying attention to jist of everything-pace, gait, etc. This makes things easier, because you can focus on something else...anything else....

Turn Around at 40KM
After I got in tune with the course and picked my feet up a bit, Neil and I had taken the head of the pack with another runner. All 3 of us stayed together until the turn around. Lots of elevation, enough to conserve some energy and walk some of those big hills. Once we reached 40KM, we filled our packs and headed back to the start. We were 20 minutes ahead of time, coming in the turn around at 3:40.

It's nice to know we're on our way back. My energy is good and I feel like I have a bit of energy left to get me to the finish. Neil and I have both got some more fluid from the rest stop at 39K and we're ready to go. Mike; the guy leading with us, has moved ahead. He's been pressing the pace for the first 40K, and now he's gone ahead, trying to create a wide gap on us. After a few KM on the way back, we've past a lot of our friends, it's great to see them and know that they're making it through on good pace. There's a turn coming up on the left and a big hill ahead. Mike has taken the hill and missed the turn. Neil yells for him, as I'm following him. Then I whistle at him and we follow Neil to the right route. Easy to get lost on this course. (More on that later.)
It's great to see the camaraderie that exists in a race like this. It's better than any race I've ever participated in so far.
Mike passes Neil and I again to take the lead, and he's gone. He rushes ahead, and we're at about 43KM in. Neil and I step off the pace a bit and cruise. Knowing we have a lot of time banked, and left to run, it's maybe the smart choice. Though after 10 minutes of this, I start getting anxious and tell Neil that I'd like to try and catch Mike. It's weird leaving, but I've got to see what I can make of it.

Solo Mission
Now that I'm on own, I'm excited to have a new game plan. I've got a burst of energy now that I'm on target to catch Mike. My new goal has allowed me to drive up the hills harder and jump into a quicker pace on the dirt road portions of the race. I jump to the first checkpoint after leaving Neil, they say: "He's about a minute ahead of you." Next checkpoint: " He's got about 30 seconds on you." Then I see our running friends Serena and Suzanne who yell "He's just ahead!" At this point it seemed like I was chasing him forever, and I started to think he was way too far ahead to catch. Though, as I wrap around a road ahead I see Mike taking the corner ahead. "Gotcha!" As I pull up behind him, I decided I'd pass him right away, and speed up, hopefully to break his groove a little bit. Thinking if I was passed, the same thing would apply.
Now I'm in the lead, and I'm scared! Just the concern of holding the pace is a huge weight. I've got 28KM left to hold on.

Downhill Fun 
I decide that until my body tells me to take it easy, that I'm going to press the pace hard. My plan to stay ahead is to give it on the downhills 100%. I'm not one to love a downhill after a long distance, based on the knee pain and usually I slow down a fair bit. But, I'm pretty confident on downhills, and start thinking this could buy me a few minutes. Every downhill I hit opens my eyes up a bit, I had to really watch where I was stepping, I was flying, what a wake up call.  It didn't take long until I had to start seeing 50K runners as I passed them on the slopes. "Great race, good Job!" What's amazing is that even in the lowest moments of a trail race, you're still forced to keep some sense of awareness and cognitive thought when you have to navigate the terrain. Though the road is also a nice change, because you get to go pick up the pace a bit.
As I hit one of the last aide stations before the turn around, I'm wiped, and white, and stumbly... They tell me to sit down... but I can't do that, I'm in the lead, I'm losing time just standing here! I'm willing to take some HEED and a Gel. That suffices the crew for me to continue.  What a day!

LOST
How does one get lost on a trail race that's marked..? Well after one of the last checkpoints, I'm on a dirt road where I come up to a sign. Arrow to right for PASS 1, arrow straight for PASS 2. At about 68KM in at this point, with the low sugar in my head, I thought. "Well... this is my 2nd pass of the course" Straight I guess.... nope nope nope....
So I headed to the finish line yelling " I don't know where I have to go, I have to hit the lake again' Answer: "You have to go back and take a right at the road you came from!" F%^&!

I've never got lost in a race before. If I had a clear head at this point, I'd have realized that I should have went right at the sign. But I was in no shape to make any sort of educated decision when I made the wrong turn.... In my fatigue I race back to the sign at 4:05/km, now I'm sure all of that work to stay in the lead this last 30K has gone to waste and I've lost the lead.... I'm just done, and angry and using every last bit of will power to charge through the path that I should've been on 10 minutes ago. I'm now thinking that if I power through this portion, that I might be able to catch up to Mike and have a good last race battle royale. As I use every ounce of strength to get through the up and downs of the lake, I'm forced now to walk on the uphills. I've allowed myself 5 seconds when I NEED to walk. Then go, and "keep falling, just keep falling, I could do this all day." I'm in auto-pilot again, until I reach the checkpoint, where they tell me I'm the first 50 miler! What a relief! Along with that, It's also a relief knowing that this day is almost over, as I'm 2KM out from the finish. I'm quite dizzy at this point and I start thinking...maybe I'll pass out and that 1.7KM that I got lost will be the difference between consciousness....I turn off those thoughts and force the rest of my water down. A few minutes later I finally make it to the end. That was the longest physical fight, I'd ever have so far. 7:48minutes, It's very anti-climatic compared to other racers. I dig it.
"You a 50Ker?"
"No, 50 Miler"
"Wow, you're the first, congrats"
"Thanks"

From there, I'd get pretty white and dizzy, along with ceasing up. It took about 20 minutes for me to get myself back in order thanks to some excellent volunteers. Great volunteers. Including GGT's very own Alex Flint. Thank you sir, just a gentlemen!

Here's to you and Ultra trail running!

D