Colds, training and race plans

My last post was about running in the cold; this one concerns running with a cold. I'm at the end of a week long battle with a winter bug that, while never terrible, has been inconvenient. So I've been wondering: If you're sick, is it better to allow the body to rest or to try and "sweat it out"?

A quick Google search directed to me Marc Bloom's Runner's World article "Should You Run When You're Sick?" which had some good advice and tips.

With the Phoenix Marathon just a few weeks away, I decided to sweat it out because my training has been going really well and I didn't want to lose any momentum. It wasn't easy to get going (the couch, my comfies and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina were calling), but I managed to make it through all but one of my workouts, which was a punishing 5k time trial that I decided to skip because I knew it wouldn't go well the way I was feeling.

I didn't feel any worse during or after my runs than I did before I started so I figured I wasn't doing any harm. (Obviously, if I started feeling worse, I would have stopped. I hate missing a run, but I'm not an idiot!)

Now I'm feeling healthy again and ready for a good, hard week of training before I start tapering for the marathon. With how my runs have been going lately, I am cautiously optimistic that my sub-3 hour goal is doable - even if the per km pace for that duration still freaks me out a bit.

In other news, my race plans for the year are falling into place. Here's what I've come up with so far...

• March 2: Phoenix Marathon - road
• March 23: The Elevator Race (support for Dave) - multi sport
• March 24: The North Face Dirty Feet Kamloops Half Marathon - trail
• April 6: Diez Vista 50k - trail
• April 20: The Rattler Half Marathon - trail
• May 5: The North Face Dirty Feet Vernon 50k - trail
• May 12: ? Blossom 10-Miler - road
• May 19: Sun Mountain 50k - trail
• June 2: ? The North Face Dirty Feet Kelowna Half Marathon - trail
• June 29: ? Scorched Sole 50k - trail
• July: World Trail Championships (Wales)
• August 13-18: TransRockies 6-day stage race (Colorado)

And that's as far as I've got. A nice mix of short and long races, mainly trail and just enough road to keep me on my toes...literally...it's how I run. I'm excited - it's going to be a great year!

Ice Ice Baby

That's my theme song this week. With the roads and trails covered with ice, I don't dare venture out without Yaktrax on. (I tried once the other day and ended up on my butt at the end of the driveway after a comical slow motion fall that fortunately resulted in only a tweaked rotator cuff due to excessive arm windmilling.)

In the past, I have wasted a considerable amount of time and energy griping about our Canadian winters. This year, instead of pining for warmer temperatures, I've decided to embrace winter in all its frosty and frigid glory. And you know what; it's working. Winter came early, hit hard and has shown no signs of abating, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm cross country skiing a couple of times a week instead of running and will try using my new Atlas showshoes for recovery runs. Spending time with friends and money on good winter clothing has made it much easier to love sub-zero activities too.    

With my first race of 2013 - a road marathon in Arizona - just over six weeks away, I have also been logging a lot of treadmill miles, which I actually don't mind especially right now as my focus is speed not endurance. For certain workouts, the treadmill is quite practical and I like being about to easily monitor my pace and heart rate. (It also allows me to watch crappy television guilt-free!)

I'm not sure what else to write about. It's the middle of January and there's just not much going on. Instead of a blog post, this is more of a blah-g post - sorry! I'll try to do better next time.

For more on winter training, click here to read Scott Jurek's article "The Long Run: Weathering Winter" from Competitor.com.

Now here's a little Robert Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) for you. Feel free to sing along!

The North Face 50-Mile Race Report

Winter finally arrived last week so instead of blogging, I was out playing in the snow. Now that my hip flexors are begging for a day off from the unfamiliar motions of skiing and snowshoeing, I can catch up on other things, like writing race reports...


Trying to take our family Christmas photo with an uncooperative dog!

Our flight to San Francisco on Thursday night included a plane change in Seattle. Because of bad weather in the Bay area, our connecting flight was delayed several hours and, as a result, we didn't arrive at our Mill Valley hotel until 4am Friday morning.

After a few hours sleep (this princess is used to eight minimum a night so I was a growly bear), we went for a short run, grabbed some breakfast and then headed into the city to pick up our race packages. Throughout the day, the rain kept falling and we were notified that the 50-mile and 50-km courses would be altered to protect both runners and the trails. The new 50-mile route would be a two lap course, which isn't as appealing as the original, but at least they weren't cancelling the race.

We had an early dinner with friends in Berkeley and then headed back to the hotel to organize our race gear (Dave ran the marathon) and get some sleep. When my alarm went off at 3am, I felt surprisingly fresh. I got dressed and then chowed down on a big bowl of oatmeal. I don't usually have much of a pre-race appetite so took it as a good sign that I ate it all.

Soon it was time for me to leave and let Dave go back to sleep as the marathon started later. I allowed myself plenty of time to park the car, shuttle to the start and get my warm up in. Then I joined other runners huddled around the starting area trying to stay warm in the light drizzle while we awaited our 5am send off.

Although this was my first race as an "elite" (whatever that means), I didn't feel very elite standing around in a garbage bag. But it kept me warm(ish) and dry(ish) until we started. (And I got my superhero moment later when I ripped it off Incredible Hulk-style.) 

I started with about 100 other runners in the first of three waves. After a brief stretch on the road we began climbing, our path lit by headlamps and glow sticks. Driving rain and dense fog made for poor visibility and I resorted to carrying my headlamp in my hand to keep the beam lower to the ground. Eventually the sky lightened enough that I didn't need a headlight which made life much easier.

There has been much talk about the race conditions. Yep, it was muddy; very muddy in some places, and I was loving it. There's something about running in the rain and splashing through mud puddles that always makes me smile. My Brooks Cascadias gave me great traction on the climbs and pretty good control on the descents. My only mishap occurred around 50km when I lost my footing on a slippery downhill and twisted my ankle quite badly.

The pain was bad enough that I considered dropping out but I didn't do all that training and travel all that way to end the season with a DNF. So I walked for a bit and then started jogging again and eventually it didn't hurt as much so I was able to run on it - albeit with less speed and more caution!

While I suffered some in those last 20+ kms, overall I am very happy with how the race went. It's the first time that I really got my nutrition figured out (12 gels and 2 packages of bloks, plus electrolytes at the aid stations) and I didn't feel at all unwell after the race which is a huge change from my other 50-milers.

My time of 7:38 was over an hour faster than last year (although it was a shorter course for 2012) and while I dropped a few places in the uber-competitive women's race (from 11th to 15th) I do feel like a stronger, smarter runner. And I'm still having fun!

Photo credit: Brett Rivers

Click here for the full race results.

I enjoyed reading these TNF San Fran EC race reports and you may too:

http://www.wilddefined.com/2012/12/50-miles-with-salomon-tnf50m-race-report.html
http://www.therunnerstrip.com/

P.S. Dave placed second OVERALL in the marathon. It was his first running race since having back surgery just a year ago. Amazing!

Exciting News

The exciting news that I mentioned in last week's post is that I've been chosen as B.C.'s The North Face Trail Ambassador for 2013! What does that mean? Well, I'm not exactly sure yet but I am supposed to receive more info in the coming weeks.

What I do know is that I will be writing a few articles about training and racing for Trail Running Canada as well as receiving some running gear from The North Face to try out and review here on my blog.

I am extremely grateful to The North Face and Trail Running Canada for this opportunity and their support. Read about the other TNF Trail Ambassadors by clicking here.

(I've been procrastinating for no good reason but will try to have my TNF San Fran race report posted by the weekend.)

Countdown to TNF San Francisco

My final race of the season is The North Face San Francisco Endurance Challenge on Saturday. I'm excited to return to this race with more experience and better fitness than when I ran it last year as only my second 50-miler ever.

Check out www.irunfar.com for excellent pre-race (and race day) coverage.

Men's preview
Women's preview

In 2011, we were fortunate to have perfect weather for race day. Not so this year. Rain and wind warnings for the Bay Area are in effect so I've packed waterproof gear for what promises to be a wet and blustery weekend. Not my favourite conditions to run in, but at least I've had some practice this year (Chuckanut and the Mountain Running Nationals come to mind).

And what a year it's been. With my running season ending, it's a good time for reflection. I'm so grateful for all the ways that running has enriched my life. The people I've met, the places I've seen, the goals I've accomplished and the failures I've learned from. There's been breakthroughs and breakdowns. PRs and DNFs. I've smiled, cried and laughed lots (often on the same run!). My trail running has improved; sadly, my trail singing has not.

Regardless of my result on Saturday, I'm thrilled with how this year has played out and have eagerly started planning my race schedule for 2013. There's much to look forward to: my first stage race (TransRockies), my first 100-miler (fingers crossed I get into Western States), a fast road marathon attempt and possibly another World Championships.

Next week, I will post my TNF SF race report and I also have an exciting announcement. Well, I think it's exciting anyway. If you're bored and curious, check back in a few days.

Bellingham Trail Marathon Race Report

I often dream about running and racing, probably because I'm boring and don't have a lot of other interests. One of my recurring race dreams is getting caught in the porta potty with my shorts down when the race starts. Well, that's pretty much what happened to me at the Bellingham Trail Marathon.

It was a cool morning so even after my warm-up run, I kept jogging around to stay warm. My final parking lot lap took me right past the washrooms and, because there was no line up, I decided to pop in for one last reassurance pee. I was exiting my stall when I heard Candice, the race director, counting down the race start. I broke into a sprint to cover the few hundred metres between me and the starting line, giving Dave a sheepish grin on my way by as I recalled his earlier warning not to dawdle as I have cut it close for my last couple of races causing us both undue stress.

I then had to find my way from the back of the pack up closer to the front because I wanted to be in a good position when we hit the narrow trail very early in the race. I'm sure I was on the receiving end of some dirty looks as I not so gracefully maneuvered around the other runners to move up. My apologies to anyone I may have jostled along the way! The resulting adrenaline rush did, however, give me a fantastic boost for the first couple of kilometres.

As Dave and I had pre-run the course the day before (I did the first and last few kilometres and he did the rest), I knew what to expect on the Lake Padden trails and was excited to be back on them. These trails are fun! If I lived in the area, I'm sure I would run them a lot. They were rolling and not super technical but not boring either. After some gradual climbing, there was a sweet downhill section. I was cruising along nicely until one misstep caused me to roll my right ankle with a loud snap or pop - no crackle - and I stumbled, followed by some hopping and cursing.

I figured my day was probably over. Then, I heard someone coming down the trail behind me and the competitor in me took over and forced to take a few steps on me on my injured foot (yep, the same one that I had dropped a desk on not so long ago). Surprisingly, it didn't hurt too much. It didn't feel right, but it felt good enough to continue so I put it out of my mind and carried on.

Once we left the Lake Padden trails, there was a short road section that connected the Interurban trail with Chuckanut Mountain. I had run parts of most of these trails for the Chuckanut 50km in March and knew them to be beautiful yet challenging. Aside from a few guys I leap-frogged with, I mainly ran this section alone. There were some long climbs and some steep climbs and a few long AND steep climbs. I ran what I could and worked on my power hike when I needed to conserve energy.

At the top of the infamous Chinscraper climb, I was greeted with a few light snowflakes. Fortunately, it was nothing like the blizzard that assaulted us at the higher elevations for the Chuckanut 50km. I had struggled on the technical ridge section then but was able to take it on with more confidence this go 'round most likely due to better conditions and more trail running experience.

After the ridge, it was a loooong descent down to the Interurban trail and then back up the hill to Lake Padden and the finish. I thought that I might be the top woman but I didn't know for certain until about 8km from the finish and even then I didn't know how much of a lead I had so I didn't let up even though my legs were screaming at me to stop. I reached the finish line in 3:59 which was good enough for 7th overall and top woman. Full results are available here.

Ankle update: Although my ankle was sore after the race, I could still walk on it. I didn't actually get around to taking a good look at it until we got home a day and a half later. I was then alarmed to see that it was extremely swollen and bruised. Four days later, almost all the swelling is gone and most of the bruising too. Whew! Back to TNF San Fran preparations.

The North Face Dirty Feet Tunnel Run

After a two-month hiatus from racing (thanks to my DNF at Flagline), I was itching to pin on a race number and find a starting line somewhere. Fortunately, I didn't have to look far as there happened to be a race taking place just a few miles down the road from my house. The North Face Dirty Feet Tunnel Run proved to be the perfect fix for my race withdrawal.

A straightforward out-and-back 20km course along the stunningly beautiful Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) trail that rises above Okanagan Lake, offering spectacular views of the valley. With a gentle 2-3% grade and a hard-packed mixed gravel surface, it's really more road than trail but who really cares.

Having participated in a Dirty Feet race in Kelowna last year, I knew it was going to be fun and well organized (two things I look for in an event) and I wasn't disappointed. The course was ridiculously well marked (and re-marked the morning of after 3kms of flagging went "missing" overnight!?), there were happy, smiling runners and volunteers everywhere and the post-race refreshments included a vat of hot veggie soup. And there were tons of draw prizes. What more could you want?

The race was split between solo racers and relay teams (two runners x 10km) and there were about 120 participants. It was a mass start but because the trail is wide and there weren't hordes of runners, elbow room wasn't an issue. I ran near the front for most of the race and tried to keep the top two men in sight. I lost a bit of time on them at the halfway point but was able to maintain my third place position and finish in 1:27 as the top woman. Full results are available here.

It was a good day to be hanging out with some new and long lost runner friends. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with more runner friends at the Bellingham Trail Marathon next weekend (which I'm doing strictly as a training run as I don't want to jeopardize my build up for TNF San Francisco...or piss off my coach - ha, ha!).

So for this race, I wore:

• Brooks Pure Grits (my new fav "go to" race shoe for shorter distances)
• old New Balance split shorts
• new SmartWool tee
• mid-weight Injinji toesocks

I also carried an Ultimate Direction handheld bottle with water to wash down a couple of gels during the race.