run report

So it's 5:32am and I'm huddling in the handicapped stall at Rodeo Beach for warmth because the normal race start of 5:40am is being delayed because there is a humungous lineup of cars still trying to find parking so Miwok runners can check in. This is a little weird for me cause I thought the race limit was only 250. Unbeknownst to me, the RD had let and additional 100 runners off the waiting list on the condition that they would all carpool. Judging by the overflowed parking lots, this was not the case.

Congrats to Shay, Vanessa, Angus and John who kicked some serious butt and came home with the hardware in the 15th annual Marathon Shuffle in Powell River, BC this past weekend!

The morning started with a loud knocking waking me out of deep sleep.  "Oh shoot", I thought, "that is my running buddy... why did I not hear my alarm?"  Still half asleep I glanced at my watch (but being half blind I didn't realize that it was way too early for my running partner to be knocking at my door), jumped out of bed, raced downstairs, opened

This was supposed to be my last training run before Miwok 100k. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Having been born at Lions Gate Hospital and having lived on the North Shore for all of my life it could be easy to take this place for granted. But I don't. I often hear of people complaining about the rain, the cold, the expense etc. I guess complainers are just complainers and I grew up in a family where complaining is a no no.

Alarm clock woke me up at 5:00am, I get up and immediately regret it. Damn, this cold which is now turning into a flu is not going away. I had the runs the night before I was supposed to go for my big run. Showered, taped, lubed, dressed up in what is now my customary race attire: 2007 KK shirt, arm warmers, blue shorts with the big pockets, gloves and my brand mostly new, never been tested on technical trail, Montrail Streaks with my Dirty Girl Gaiters - codename: Burnout.

Beautiful blue sky and snowy trails all around. The tempeture to start is about 3 degrees as we wait 15 minutes, but to no avail, we have a no show (the sanest of the group no doubt).

As I sit here typing away wondering how many endurance junkies out there will show up to run on approximatly 24 inches of hard packed snow and ice in Ontario in April.

On Saturday, I toed the line at Chuckanut 50k in Bellingham with lowered expectations, because last Saturday, for reasons which I'm still unclear of, I participated in the Quad Qruncher with all the other Fools. 7 loops of a 10km course plus 1 km of purposeful misdirection equals really tired and sore legs.

 

I mean, who would willingly subject themselves to a 50km race in less than ideal conditions, and then have a brutal 100 miler race the next week? Well, I got my answer when I saw Gilles Barbeau huddled in the warming hut, apparently he didn't get the memo the other Fools got.

It was like a reunion of BC and CFA Ultrarunners, there were 72 registered Canadians, I think only 66 showed up. I joked with Neil Ambrose and Carolyn King that I only ran the QQ so I wouldn't start out too fast and blow up in the last 10k. (Who knew how prophetic that would be!)