May has always seemed like such a long month for me, and yet this year, it's whizzed by and I can't believe how quickly we are speeding towards the month of June, and the height of mid-summer!
Things have certainly been summery here in Alberta, and for several days this month, we have encountered extreme heat in the 30 degrees Celsius range and minimal rainfall. With such dry conditions and lack of rain, combined with some very windy days, the wildfire season started early and there have been several fires burning which has created horrendously smoky conditions for many areas, including our neck of the woods. The air quality has been at a +10 which is very poor, and there's no doubt that this has had an impact on many people that spend a lot of time outdoors.
The sad thing is hearing about all the people that have had to be evacuated, and this really hit home when Leduc County itself became affected by the fires, and we at work were being asked of we could help out at the emergency crisis centre for all those displaced by the fires. Knowing some of the firefighters on the front line, and hearing about some of the County residents that we had personally dealt with at work, was certainly hard hitting and it really brought the impact of the fires closer to home.
Not everyday has been covered in the horrid, orange, smoky haze, and we have had some days where the sun has shone through and we've seen gorgeous blue skies, and we have certainly been taking advantage of those days, walking the pups and getting out for runs, as well as sneaking in another little camping trip.
Thankfully, the weekend of the Lakou Backyard Ultra was one of those days where the sun was shining and we had beautiful blue skies. A wildfire did break out during the race on the other side of the river close to Devon and folks living in the area were asked to prepare for evacuation. Thankfully it was distinguished quickly, and it had no impact on the race in terms of any smoke drifting over.
I had gone into this particular race feeling fit and strong, and was really hoping to hit the 30 hours mark again if there was somebody else there that could cover that kind of distance. I wasn't even bothered about the weather forecast which was telling us it was going to be 28 degrees during the day, and still in the mid to high teens in the overnight period. I just felt so mentally prepared to go long, and I was just hoping that my body would do the same. Everything was indicating that I should have a good race, but then ultra running is full of surprises, and my DNF came much earlier than I had been hoping for.
The first 13 hours of the event went perfectly. I was knocking out consistent 46 to 47 minute laps when I was doing my own thing, and around about 50 minutes when running with others, and things felt relaxed and comfortable the whole time. My legs felt great, my mind was positive, I was eating and drinking well, and I was even peeing and pooping when expected which showed that my body was functioning as it should do, and I wasn't overdoing things.
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| Backyard Ultra camp set up |
Unfortunately at around about the 13 hour mark, I started to get a mild stitch. Normally I can cope with stitch and it disappears, but this just lingered and wasn't getting any better. I continued to eat and drink, but it started to get progressively worse and by the end of the 16th lap, I was having trouble taking deep breaths due to the cramping right across my diaphragm. I was so annoyed as everything else was feeling really good, but not being able to breathe properly meant that I had to keep stopping to walk just to get some oxygen inside of me. I was going to stop at the 16 hour mark, but the volunteers encouraged me to go out and try for lap 17, and with 15 seconds to spare, I made the decision to head out again, grabbing a bottle of water from our tent and making it back in the corral just in time.
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| In the groove and having fun :) |
My 17th loop started ok, but 20 minutes in, I knew I wasn't going to reach the midway point on time, so I made the difficult decision to end my race there and turned around to head back through the darkness. It was about 3am at this point, my headtorch was flickering as the battery started to fade, and with no streetlighting anywhere nearby, I was concerned that I'd end up in the pitch black, wandering around in circles until dawn arrived, trying to find my way back to the start/finish area.
Of course I was disappointed, but I also know that this is the nature of ultra running, and after other disappointing races over the years, I know I'll learn from the experience, bounce back, and just put it all behind me as I move my focus onto my next race.
What I will say about the Lakou Backyard Ultra is that it was a fantastic event, and the course is probably the best backyard loop I have done so far. The catering was perfection, the setup was excellent, and I really cannot fault anything at all. I really hope that it gains in popularity as it deserves far more attention that it currently gets, but then it is only in its second year, and I'm sure word of mouth will bring in the runners, and hopefully big numbers will occur here in the years to come.
I took an entire week off from running after the backyard ultra - both my body and mind needed it, as I sometimes forget that even when things don't go to plan, I still spent a considerable about of time running, covering 120km or thereabouts and missing out on quality sleep for a night. This does have an impact on things, and whereas in my younger days I could recover quickly and be out running just a couple of days later, nowadays things take a little longer. Besides, after a couple of clear, sunny days, the smoke returned, and we were back under a blanket of murky skies and very poor air quality. I did run the following Sunday - just an easy 10km. Things had seemed to clear a little, but when getting back from that run, my throat was burning and my voice sounded hoarse - clearly the smoky air was much worse than what I had thought when I had looked out of the window that morning.
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| Smoky runs and smoky skies :( |
When I did get back into my running, it was back to speed sessions and long runs again, although I haven't really had much chance to get out on the trails. My speed sessions have gone pretty well, although my pace when running 400m repeats flat out these days is slower than my marathon pace was 15 years ago, and it still makes me wonder how on earth I used to be able to hold that kind of pace for just over 26 miles or more! I did have a very good progression run earlier this week and to quote a friend, it was "text book" pacing, and then this weekend, I had a 3 hour track run to do which went extremely well - 35+ km at an average of around 8.12 pace. It was hot and breezy and the run was tough mentally, but I was pretty happy to have pushed on through, especially as my legs were ready to give up at around the 28km mark.
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| Track run done and met by the pups :) |
In case one is wondering why I'm doing long track runs when my main goal this year is the Divide 200 trail race, I ended up signing up for Survivorfest again, although this time, I am only doing the 6 hour event and have opted to start at 2am on the Sunday morning. My reasoning for this is because I want my body to get used to resting and then waking up in the early hours to run as this will be great practice for the 200 miler when I may just have to snooze at the side of the trail, and get moving at some ridiculous, ungodly hour when it's still dark outside.
I'm also volunteering at Survivorfest and will be marshaling the track and trail from 5pm until 11pm. This was another tactical decision as the plan is to have a couple of hours snooze when my shift ends, before getting up to run for 6 hours. I'm excited to see how my body copes, but either way, it will be mental and physical preparation for my biggie later this year.
I've been doing quite a bit of volunteering this past few weeks at races, and I have to say that I have really been enjoying watching others racing and achieving their goals. I do so many races myself that I do like to give something back to the running community, so I do this my offering my services when I can. Back in late May, I helped out at the 5 Peaks trail race at Terwillegar. We'd been having some record breaking temperatures back then which had led to the wildfires and fire bans, but that particular day, it was rather chilly and very windy. I volunteered at the Whitemud 5 Peaks race today, and it was back to being hot with temperatures in the low 20s even at 10am when the race started. Seeing so many familiar faces is always nice, and I love being able to encourage everybody to keep pushing on to the finish line, in the hope that they achieve their goals no matter what they may be.
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| 5 Peaks volunteering - Whitemud |
Last weekend was also a weekend of volunteering as I headed out to Cooking Lake to help out at the Blackfoot Ultra. I've ran that event twice, winning the 50 mile race back in 2018 and then entering the 100k a year or two later, where I ended up with a DNF. It's another really friendly race with a chilled out atmosphere, and I love spending time out there helping where I can, and enjoying a bit of a picnic with the family whilst watching the racers finishing. This year a good friend of mine was doing her first 50 mile race, and I was so happy to have been able to see her smash her goals and see her finish with a huge smile on her face.
In addition to the running stuff, we are of course still trying to make videos, and prior to Blackfoot, we did spend a night at Elk Island where I slept in an self-made emergency shelter and bivy. It was a gorgeous night spent sleeping in the open air and enjoying those beautiful starlit skies, and I did sleep extremely well despite how things might have looked. Whilst some may question why I do these kind of things and how I could possibly have fun and actually enjoy doing them, I am using some of the things as preparation for my 200 mile race as I want to be as mentally and physically prepared as possible. It really is lots of fun and I really don't mind roughing it, although I must admit that I do crave a weekend occasionally where I just chill out and sleep in a warm and comfy bed, snuggled up with all the pups!
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| Emergency bivy and basic shelter for the night |
Of course we are now in June (I started writing this blog a couple of weeks ago but have just been too busy to finish until now!), and my mountain races are fast approaching, with Sinister 50 miler just around the corner. I really need to start hitting the hills and trails again if I want a decent race there, or at least do some strength sessions that will target my climbing muscles. I have some ideas and I will be more focused on doing these sessions over the next couple of weeks so I do have at least some chance of a good run at Sinister 50 in July.
For now though, it's back to work tomorrow after another awesomely busy weekend. I really need a holiday where I can just relax and do nothing, but somehow I think I would find that quite difficult.
Until next time .......
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