On the first Saturday of the new year, the organisers of the Blackfoot Ultra put on a casual, social run in the Edmonton river valley called the Fat Ass 50k. For those that perhaps aren't up to that kind of distance, there is the option to do the Half Ass which is 25km, and both distances follow the pathways and trails alongside the river - one loop makes you a "half ass", two loops makes you a "fat ass". The donation is just $4, and this goes towards stocking the aid station which is located under the Quesnel Bridge at around 13k.
A couple of years ago, I completed the Half Ass with a few friends, but this year, I really wanted to do the 50k just to see how my body felt running that kind of distance this early in the year. I'd certainly indulged in lots of chocolates and cakes during the festive period, and the scales were happy to confirm this when I weighed myself at the end of the year. I also hadn't really done any proper long runs since the backyard ultra way back in October - the maximum I had done was 25km or around 16 miles in training, which I had done on the trails out in Devon -so I wanted to test my fitness to see what time of time I could finish in.
Even though the Fat Ass is not a race, I still wanted to run around 5 hours or less. I planned to run it solo so that I could do my own thing and not get caught up with other people's pacing - running with others would not give a true indication of what my own abilities are right now, and I wanted an honest result that I could use to gauge my own fitness levels. I did have a couple of folks that asked if they could run with me on the day which of course I would have done, but I was kind of hoping that I could stick to my own plan and not have those distractions.
I woke up on the Saturday morning at 6.30am and grudgingly got out of my warm bed to get myself ready. The weather was calling for around -8 degrees, so I dressed relatively lightly as I knew I'd get far too warm if wearing too many layers and I didn't want to have carry a ton of stuff if that happened. I ate my porridge for breakfast and then made the drive to Edmonton, arriving at the Kinsman Centre shortly after 7.30am. I'm definitely not an early morning runner unless I'm racing, so I was pretty impressed with myself when I was already into my run by 7.45am!
My plan was to try and run 9 minute miles if conditions and trails allowed. It was still dark at that time and there was still some lying snow around, so I wasn't sure whether this would slow me down. The first few miles were actually quite well lit by the street lights as I made my way along the pathways, and there was no need to use my headtorch whatsoever. It was so quiet with barely anybody around, so much so that at one point, a huge coyote wandered across the pathway about 20 yards ahead of me, stopped to take a look, and then made his way in the bushes alongside the river. I know that the coyotes in the City are getting far more brazen these days and losing their fear of people, but his dude just went about his business and I didn't feel threatened by him in any way.
Over in the east, the sun was starting to rise, and once again I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself that I had beaten the sunrise today. The colours were gorgeous when it finally popped up its head, shrouding everything in a golden glow right across the valley. Meanwhile, the full moon added a silvery glow, and the contrast between the two was truly beautiful.
I kind of remembered the route from last time I did it, but there was a section where I hesitated and had to dig out the directions. This cost me a couple of minutes, but in all fairness it really didn't matter, and I preferred stopping to check where I was meant to be going, rather than going off course for a mile or two and then having to retrace my tracks.
At around 6km, it was time to join the trails, and I made my way down a snowy hill into the trees. It still wasn't quite light, but I could see where I was going without any problems. I was feeling pretty good, but I had noticed that my nose and cheeks were absolutely freezing, and that things were actually much cooler than expected. I was wearing a buff but it wasn't thermal, so it wasn't really keeping my face as warm as it should have been doing. My hair was frosty, my gloves had frozen, I was getting concerned that I would get frostbite, and when it came to trying to take on board a drink and some food, it was frozen solid. It wasn't the end of the world, but it was a little frustrating as I really needed to take in some calories, but I knew that within the next couple of miles, I would arrive at the aid station and they would for sure have some nibbles for me.
I pushed onwards, holding the pace as best as I could but definitely slowing when hitting the hillier stretches. I was feeling good though and not too tired, and I was having a great time and actually enjoying my own company.
Arriving at the aid station, I spotted quite a few familiar faces who were out there volunteering in the cold, making sure that us runners were getting fed and watered. I sneaked a couple of cookies as my food was like blocks of ice, but the best thing was the hot chocolate which certainly hit the spot and seemed to give me an energy boost. It was around about 13km to the end of the first loop, so I said a cheery bye bye to the volunteers and continued onwards.
I didn't really see many other people on the first loop, maybe because it was still quite early. I caught a couple of others who were doing the Half Ass, but otherwise, the trails were really quiet with no dog walkers or cyclists, and I was thoroughly enjoying having what seemed like the entire place to myself. My legs were starting to tighten a little, probably from the cold and also because I still hadn't really drank enough, but in general, I was still on track to hit my 5 hour goal, finishing my first lap in a little over 2 hours 30 minutes.
At the end of that first lap, I stopped at the car to swap out my bottles, and took a huge drink of water as I knew that even with the fresh drinks, they too would be frozen within the next hour and I likely wouldn't get another drink until hitting the aid station again. I also knew that this second loop would likely be a little slower, not only due to me slowing down a bit but because other users would now be out on the trails, and I would need to make room for all of those people. Sure enough, after the initial 6k on pavement before heading down to the woodland trails again, I ran into about 5 or 6 dog walkers with their dogs off-leash, and when I arrived at the dog park, I was having to dodge lots of walkers, dogs and even strollers to make my way through.
I was still holding around 9 to 9.30 miling, but I had now given up on chasing the sub 5 hours. It really didn't matter, and I didn't want to finish the run feeling disappointed. I now just wanted to finish strong and with a smile on my face.
I grabbed another hot chocolate at the aid station and downed a couple of cookies and an energy gel which was frozen solid. A couple of folks had offered to refill my water bottle, but now the top had frozen onto the bottle, so we spent about 5 minutes trying to melt it over the gas firepit. It took a few minutes, but eventually we were able to fill it up and I continued on my way.\
I was still running solo, I really hadn't seen anybody else that I knew except for Heidi and Brett at the end of the first lap, but I was making good progress and the finish was getting ever closer. I spotted a few squirrels scurrying for food, there were more dog walkers and a few skiers out on the trails, and a family were having a winter barbeque in one of the parks, but other than that, I was genuinely surprised at how quiet things had been.
I was also starting to feel a little more tired now, and I was starting to walk or rather shuffle up some of the steeper hills, but in the main, I was still feeling ok without too many problems. I passed through Emily Murphy Park and up ahead, I could the Walterdale Bridge, so I knew that I was now in to the final kilometres. It looked like I would finish in around 5 hours 10 minutes which I was absolutely fine about, especially given the cooler conditions and the faffing around with maps and frozen bottle earlier in the day.
I picked up the pace over that last half mile or so, finally stopping my watch on 5.08.12. I was happy with that as it now gives me a good indication as to where my fitness is at, and what I need to work on over the coming weeks in preparation for my races.
I was expecting to be a little achy and maybe sore today after the run yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprised to wake up feeling pretty good. I had an easy recovery run to do so I headed out onto the range roads and ended up with another 13km. It was much warmer today and another beautiful morning for running, and I really did enjoy being outside again in the fresh air to finish off a great weekend. I'm hoping to sneak in a little run with the pups later too, and then it will be time to just relax and enjoy what's left of our weekend, before heading back into work tomorrow.
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