Training Log Archive: Harps

Final day of the Ultimate XC and I was feeling good-ish all things considered. My knee wasn't feeling great and my quads were pretty much blown... but my lungs/cardio were ok from holding a bit back the prior 2 days and I was looking forward to a fun, albeit tough, ride.

The race began near dawn at 6am on a fellow UXC racer's own private 300 acre land of 10-15km mtb singletrack (you could smell the envy at the end of the section!). From the private land Logie caught up and we cruised towards Tremblant area hitting all the hills along the way and a piece Dan referred to as "the adventure racing section" - a mucky, deer-fly infested, hike-a-bike xc ski area (it sucked). Eventually Logie dropped me and I just kept a steady pace until one of the big climbs to the north mountain part of Tremblant. Amy let me know about the exciting action up front in the leaders, which was a nice boost. I plugged along up the mountain on the gravel road, now passing the 60K riders, who shared the last half of our course. Once at the top of the north end it was a super-fun fast descent down some doubletrack, around to the back end of Tremblant and now the big climb up to Tremblant summit. I passed quite a few riders here, mix of 100 and 60K'ers, and kept a steady pace while the sun beat down on me. I was still feeling pretty good, and my legs were finally warmed up ;) so I only had to dismount for a few steep sections. At the summit Amy, Dee, Mrs. Yip and Yip Jr all were a welcome sight with salted potatoes. However, my hope of a quick bomb to the finish was squashed as Dee let me know the 20K left was still taking most riders 2 hrs. WTF?? Even though I felt OK, it was a bit disheartening. I made it down alive some really technical stuff with bridges, dropoffs, steep rooty and rocky areas. It was a bit above my level of riding but I was happy I only walked the 3ft drops and rode everything else. Another quick half-ascent back up and more technical downhills. At the last aid station we were told a small 20-min loop before the final quick descent into the village. The small loop was a pointless hike-a-bike where I couldn't help but just laugh at while I just walked my bike around the 2K loop of virgin tract that was almost completely unrideable. I guess Dan really wanted that 100K and not 98! Finally the last descent into the village through the cheering crowds and into the final chute.

Overall, after the 3 days, I ended up 7th place among a very stacked field, which I am happy with. I made the decision going into this race to be very conservative, race my own race and not be (too) concerned about results or other racers (strategies). The goal was to push hard, enjoy the race and not dread/stress every day, which was a success. So happy for Getawaystix's victory and Relentless's 3rd/4th place performance (a beast for sure!) - the guy does not know how to give less than 100% every raceday! Thanks to Amy and Dee for joining us and helping us so much!

C • Congrats! 7

C • nice work 2

C • Congratulations 1

Day 2 of UXC and another decent sleep actually looking forward to running what Dan proclaimed "the hardest 50K on earth". If you haven't guessed, I am a big fan of his soundbites :) Since Relentless had raced it last year he recommended going without any belts/packs for the first 21K and rely on aid station water/fuel. I was good with this since I really enjoy running without those burdens, although Dee did warn do not go light and fast in this race. However, the course now had a remote aid station at the top of a mountain so that was huge for rehydrating/fuel. I haven't done a run of this length since Hellgate100 back in 08, which buggered my knee up and has never fully healed, so I was a bit worried with all the descents. Oh well... popped an Aleve and race on. Once again I started out pretty slow, trying to keep my HR down. Up and up we went eventually into some singletrack and into a river. Ran with Logie for a bit on the river run, fell a few times and was wishing I had stocked shoes at my drop bag at the end of this part. Since I did not change shoes I left the aid station before Logie and caught up with ActiveSteve, another Ottawa UXC Challenger. We ran together for a few hours, running/shuffling pretty much everything as the pitches weren't bad. Eventually we got to the back area of the race dubbed "the nightmare section" which is "for beasts only! if you are not 100% do not think about entering this section". Seeing as this is around 35K into the hardest 50K race I found this 100% quote a little funny... I was feeling pretty close to that I guess though given the race thus far and soon dropped Steve, who was suffering from some cramping. After a bit of technical descending the area opened up into some great flat-ish and flowy single/doubletrack. This was by far my favorite area and I ran it pretty fast (I think) knowing that I had held back for most of the race and was now almost "in the homestretch" at 40K. What was an awesome "runners high" soon turned into a nice little bonk on the ascend back up to the peak and I regretted my decision to run fast earlier and not keep the calories/water in me as much. It's amazing how sh*tty a bonk can make one feel and I had to remind myself that I will get out of this low eventually all the while shoving Gu Chomps into my mouth. After 20 mins of feeling awful, expecting Logie and Steve to blow by me I was out of the bonk and back to feeling good. Once back up to the peak it was a slow technical descent into the village while dodging roots, rocks and day hikers. My knee was throbbing and my quads were pretted shot so I was a little concerned physically for the bike but other than that felt really good crossing the finish and felt somewhat fresh for the slog tomorrow. I took my first ice-bath following the race and Dee cooked us up some delicious pasta.

Event: Ultimate XC Challenge
 

First day of UXC, let the suffering begin. The night before at the race briefing we were warned about several rapids which contained portages, one of which Dan warned "You will die." A few chuckles. "Seriously, you will die". Silence. Back at the hotel Logie, Relentless and I (over) strategized about bilge pumps, bailers, spray skirts and tows (since we had heard they would be a lot of boat dragging). After a pretty good sleep (it's amazing how much easier it is for me to sleep when I'm not going over the maps in my head like adv races) Dee and Amy shuttled us out to Lac Nominingue. I wanted to keep it pretty conservative since the last time I paddled this distance (at RTNX 08 in Tomcats) it was hell and we still had harder days ahead. At 8am-ish we were off. Start had a few packs forming early, I guess I was somewhere in the 4th pack, which seemed to contain about 7 or 8 of us, including Yip and ActiveSteve. Just plugged away in my trusty kayak until the first portage which also contained a quick rapid. Went in trying to get out at the portage while trying to dodge other paddlers. Once in the boat after the portage, I was dumped again about 15 seconds later on the first rapid, Boost and Soldier Fuel on my deck disappear in the red water, kayak flipped and me banging my knee while being towed downriver by my boat (my tow was attached to save "time"). Gong show. 0/1 on the major rapids thus far (while everyone around me clears them). I am passed by about 6 people while trying to find somewhere reasonably flat to flip my boat to let water out. My luck did change and I cleared the rest of rapids on the day. The paddle down the Rouge was very long and very slow due to water levels although I didn't need to tow my boat at all. I had tossed my bilge pump at the start and regretted that decision since the occassional rapids were letting spray in which built up over the hours and I had to pull over a few times to let water out. I was with the same group for a good 3-4 hours as we all plugged away. Finally we made it to the marked 3.5K (was actually 5.5K according to some with Garmins) portage. It was great. I was so happy to not be paddling, if only for a short time. I loaded up on some Heed and real food (since I went solely on Boost for 5 hours) and ran the roads and trails to the lake put in. This completely rejuvinated me - both being out of the water and "entering the homestretch" (~2 hrs left). Another paddle and portage onto Lac Tremblant and finally done. Happy to be done with the paddle, even if it was probably the least exertive day. Dinner with everyone on a patio, bed by 10pm looking forward to the run tomorrow.

C • Wow, long paddle. Wait to ... 6

Portage run. So happy to not be paddling for a brief stretch.

Some easy road biking to make sure the MTB is ready for this weekend. To Killbride, Cedar Springs, Carlisle. Avg 26.2.

C • Good luck! 6

Rainy lunch run, cut it a bit short via Sideroad 3 due to downpour.

Included some new triathlon-based exercises.

Had to pick up something in Milton so I decided to ride and make my way through Kelso for a bit of singltrack as well en route. Started climbing Ascension quickly finding myself on some filming set near the top. Took it easy except for the 3 escarpment climbs.