Training Log Archive: Gally

Silver creek rou

Early morning session with Virginia starting at 5:15am. Terrain good at start but became much more technical as the day went. Lots of bouldering and trekking in escarpment. Good day on the feet

Late day run to finish off Virginia on a good day for her

Have been wanting to do the 50 km trail race for some time so Mrs Gally found a remote all trail race in Shawinigan Quebec.
We made it a long weekend also staying in Quebec City then in a rustic hotel right across from race head quarters.
Having it being my first ultra I sought advice from many who gave me valuable hints so how hard could it really be? LOL
My race plan was to try and do the first 25 as a warm up and then hang on for the race.

The race was point to point so we were bussed out for 2hrs which made it feel like an AR race. Looking at the terrain it was evident this wasn't your typical Ontario ultra and we would be running in some very remote sections. It ended up that the entire race was ALL on technical and runnable trail and no roads which was great.

Race started and stuck to the plan of starting slow but it was painful to watch everyone pass me but I knew it would help me out at the end. First 25km seemed to go well and legs felt pretty good so did quick TA and off for th second 25km. I started passing people at a quick clip and was wondering to myself how people were slowing down so much but I should have realized I was picking my pace up which was too early but I still felt good. At the 40km mark was our drop bag and last food station and it was at this part that my epic Ricardo bonk started
The food just didn't go down and as I left the stomach turned and legs started to cramp. I have never experience a bonk quite like this and it happened within minutes of feel not bad. I guess the heat and lack of food I ate caught up to me, and maybe lack of training :)
I also wasn't happy to hear the next section was the hardest, lovely. The next 6km took me 70min to take, lots of time to reflect on why the fu*# I was doing this to I will never do another race again. After a montrous hill we got to the last water station only 4KM away. I was almost done and I knew I could crall at a 2km pace so plenty of time to finish. took some water instead of electrolytes, chugged some coke and off I went. Then a weird thing happened- I started to feel good and minus the cramping could run again. Weird. I ran the rest and was sprinting to the end to try and catch on last guy. Finally finished and medal around the neck so goal attained. Then waited for Mrs Gally to come in and she was all fresh as a daisy and said she felt great!
Other then 6km I really enjoyed this race which felt more like an AR race with the remoteness and similar terrain. Highly recommend it for some one looking for a longer type trail run.
I also learned an important lesson after this, you need to train for a 50km!

C • Sounds great! 9