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Saturday Oct 11, 2014 #
Event: Oil Creek
5 AM
Run 15:00:47 100.0 km (9:00 / km) +2588m 7:59 / km
ahr:154 max:216 shoes: Salomon Speedcross 3 - Lake Bl
Headed down south with Funderstorm for another shot at the Oil Creek 100km. Last year during the peak of her injury she was only able to crew for Simpy and I, so it was great to have her hitting the trails this year.
I have to say, the weekend went as well as I could have hoped. We arrived early Friday night, and this year I even remembered to bring my drop bags. We did a quick check-in, had a nice little social gathering with the other folks from Ontario, and then headed to the Blue Canoe for a tasty dinner with Timato, Mrs. Tiny, and their friend Michael, WFlashAR, Judy, and her son Evan. The weather forecast, at least for the 100k, was shaping up to be beautiful, calling for temps in the mid-teens for most of the day.
The race start was chilly, but we warmed up soon enough on the push to the trail head. I went a bit harder this year to seed myself mid/front of the pack so I didn't see as much of the conga line as I did last year on the first climb. I had time goals for each major section, and it was a good thing I had them memorized as I lost my pace sheet less than 5km in. The first section in the dark went well, and for a little while I ran with a few other guys with a decent sense of humour which was nice. I rolled my ankle about 5 times, but luckily nothing significant. It was a reminder the trail was more technical than I had remembered. I got into AS2 at exactly the 3:00 mark, pretty much right on schedule.
As I started the second half of the first loop, I felt pretty solid. My eating and hydration was going well and my stomach felt great. I was by myself, but was OK with that as I really wanted to try as much as possible to run my own race and not run too fast, or get too complacent, trying to run with other people. I did manage to run with my friend Norm, who I spent a ton of time with at LS100, but he was fighting with stomach issues, so unfortunately it didn't last long.
I was pushing the downhills, which is easily my weakest area, but I thought it was necessary to keep on schedule with the second half of the course having a lot of sections were you could open up a bit more. I arrived at the end of the first loop with decent energy and stomach, although due to the downhills my quads were complaining fairly loudly, and the feet were starting to feel it. JB was there to greet me, helped me get refueled and get out of the AS super quickly. Between her and Veronique's offers to help, I felt like an elite. Hehe. I took some ibuprofen for the pain, and JB ran me out around 7:10, 10 minutes behind schedule.
I had buffered an additional hour to do the second loop, but I realized that still wouldn't be easy given I had already lost 10 minutes, so I thought I would try and push fairly hard on my way back to AS2. I was feeling great on the climbs, which is where I seemed to be passing most people, and I was sustaining a decent pace on the flats. I had seen WFlashAR on my way into AS4, and was happy to catch up to her on the trails. She was keeping a super solid pace, pushing consistently, and it took me a while to reel her in. We exchanged a few minutes of conversation, but she reminded me I needed to be moving faster, and quickly sent me on my way.
I got to AS2 at 10:30, dead on schedule. However I was feeling mentally low by this point, which I think was partly due to spending too much time with myself. I was also feeling pretty achy and sore, but JB was there again to greet me, and quickly reminded me everyone else was feeling sore too. She told me to get my ass in gear and shoot for sub-15. I grabbed my tunes, and was on my way back for the final push to the finish. Again I ran solo to AS3, and shortly after managed to catch three other runners. I passed them on a climb, but they ended up right behind me soon after. Their lights started to wash mine out, so I backed off and tried to hang on to the back of them. I was tripping all over trying to keep pace with them on the downhills, and managed until we exited the single track for the final Drake Well loop...where they completely dropped me. I knew I was going to be close to 15 hours, but I was also struggling to push my way through some shooting pains in my left foot. I tried to keep doing a run/walk along the bike path, and then did the final push to the end, finishing 47 seconds off my goal of 15 hours (2:20 faster than last year).
This was easily my most solid effort on an ultra to date. I managed my nutrition and hydration fairly well, and stuck to a plan of gels, Larabars, and Heed, while painfully ignoring all the other aid station goodies. I did dehydrate myself in the end, apparent from the fact I was peeing root beer at the end of the last lap. I remember Storm making a comment about brown urine, but didn't actually realize it could be....well brown. Kind of scary. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone during different periods, and felt fairly consistent for most of the day. I liked going bottle only, and felt that helped me to keep a faster pace on the flats. The overall day unfolded:
AS2 - 3:00 (goal 3:00) 35th
AS4 - 7:03 (goal 7:00) 30th
AS2 - 10:31 (goal 10:30) 26th
Finish - 15:01 (goal 15:00) 22nd
JB was a huge help, getting me through the aid stations quickly, and reminding me it was a day to suck it up and push hard. It was an added bonus to see both JB and Funderstorm for my final push to the finish...amazing what a lift you get from smiling faces. The whole weekend was a blast, and I enjoyed the time visiting with Funderstorm and all the other friends at the event.
I have to say, the weekend went as well as I could have hoped. We arrived early Friday night, and this year I even remembered to bring my drop bags. We did a quick check-in, had a nice little social gathering with the other folks from Ontario, and then headed to the Blue Canoe for a tasty dinner with Timato, Mrs. Tiny, and their friend Michael, WFlashAR, Judy, and her son Evan. The weather forecast, at least for the 100k, was shaping up to be beautiful, calling for temps in the mid-teens for most of the day.
The race start was chilly, but we warmed up soon enough on the push to the trail head. I went a bit harder this year to seed myself mid/front of the pack so I didn't see as much of the conga line as I did last year on the first climb. I had time goals for each major section, and it was a good thing I had them memorized as I lost my pace sheet less than 5km in. The first section in the dark went well, and for a little while I ran with a few other guys with a decent sense of humour which was nice. I rolled my ankle about 5 times, but luckily nothing significant. It was a reminder the trail was more technical than I had remembered. I got into AS2 at exactly the 3:00 mark, pretty much right on schedule.
As I started the second half of the first loop, I felt pretty solid. My eating and hydration was going well and my stomach felt great. I was by myself, but was OK with that as I really wanted to try as much as possible to run my own race and not run too fast, or get too complacent, trying to run with other people. I did manage to run with my friend Norm, who I spent a ton of time with at LS100, but he was fighting with stomach issues, so unfortunately it didn't last long.
I was pushing the downhills, which is easily my weakest area, but I thought it was necessary to keep on schedule with the second half of the course having a lot of sections were you could open up a bit more. I arrived at the end of the first loop with decent energy and stomach, although due to the downhills my quads were complaining fairly loudly, and the feet were starting to feel it. JB was there to greet me, helped me get refueled and get out of the AS super quickly. Between her and Veronique's offers to help, I felt like an elite. Hehe. I took some ibuprofen for the pain, and JB ran me out around 7:10, 10 minutes behind schedule.
I had buffered an additional hour to do the second loop, but I realized that still wouldn't be easy given I had already lost 10 minutes, so I thought I would try and push fairly hard on my way back to AS2. I was feeling great on the climbs, which is where I seemed to be passing most people, and I was sustaining a decent pace on the flats. I had seen WFlashAR on my way into AS4, and was happy to catch up to her on the trails. She was keeping a super solid pace, pushing consistently, and it took me a while to reel her in. We exchanged a few minutes of conversation, but she reminded me I needed to be moving faster, and quickly sent me on my way.
I got to AS2 at 10:30, dead on schedule. However I was feeling mentally low by this point, which I think was partly due to spending too much time with myself. I was also feeling pretty achy and sore, but JB was there again to greet me, and quickly reminded me everyone else was feeling sore too. She told me to get my ass in gear and shoot for sub-15. I grabbed my tunes, and was on my way back for the final push to the finish. Again I ran solo to AS3, and shortly after managed to catch three other runners. I passed them on a climb, but they ended up right behind me soon after. Their lights started to wash mine out, so I backed off and tried to hang on to the back of them. I was tripping all over trying to keep pace with them on the downhills, and managed until we exited the single track for the final Drake Well loop...where they completely dropped me. I knew I was going to be close to 15 hours, but I was also struggling to push my way through some shooting pains in my left foot. I tried to keep doing a run/walk along the bike path, and then did the final push to the end, finishing 47 seconds off my goal of 15 hours (2:20 faster than last year).
This was easily my most solid effort on an ultra to date. I managed my nutrition and hydration fairly well, and stuck to a plan of gels, Larabars, and Heed, while painfully ignoring all the other aid station goodies. I did dehydrate myself in the end, apparent from the fact I was peeing root beer at the end of the last lap. I remember Storm making a comment about brown urine, but didn't actually realize it could be....well brown. Kind of scary. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone during different periods, and felt fairly consistent for most of the day. I liked going bottle only, and felt that helped me to keep a faster pace on the flats. The overall day unfolded:
AS2 - 3:00 (goal 3:00) 35th
AS4 - 7:03 (goal 7:00) 30th
AS2 - 10:31 (goal 10:30) 26th
Finish - 15:01 (goal 15:00) 22nd
JB was a huge help, getting me through the aid stations quickly, and reminding me it was a day to suck it up and push hard. It was an added bonus to see both JB and Funderstorm for my final push to the finish...amazing what a lift you get from smiling faces. The whole weekend was a blast, and I enjoyed the time visiting with Funderstorm and all the other friends at the event.