Training Log Archive: bensmith

I turned 30 in October, and decided it would be a good goal to run 31 miles by the time I turned 31. I started training for that in July, but it soon seemed like a 50k wouldn't be too much of a challenge, and that I should try something a bit longer, so I could really be proud of working hard towards an achievement. Thus, the 50 miler plan.

I followed an online training plan from Santa Clarita Runners, which seemed to work well (why not try it yourself, dear reader?). In particular I felt really strong going into the 50k a few weeks ago. I do think I probably tapered a bit too much for the 80k, and Safder (ultra-addict) said he hasn't tapered for any of his races.

The race itself was in Whistler, but stayed in the valley (there's snow on the mountains now, so very glad we didn't have to climb up those!). The course is 4 loops of a figure-8 course, passing through the Olympic Plaza after 13km and 20km. Kickoff was 6am, so the first loop was in the dark. This was great - it meant I only saw the same sights 3 times instead of 4!

Here's a quick run down of each leg:

• 0-13km: I set off to quickly, but realised this and dropped back from the little pack I was with. 2 guys then followed behind me, one of who was pretty much running on my heels. I know that I like to run on my own, but I didn't realise until now how much I hate having someone run so close to me. After 7km I'd had enough of him, so I stopped for a pee. The guy then stopped 5m up the trail and peed too! Eventually I dropped my pace enough and he ran by me, then latched onto somebody else. I don't know what the normal trail race etiquette is, but I sure don't think it's that!
  
• 13-20km: This loop goes through Lost Lake, and includes about 1km of climbing, plus some extra undulations. This proved a nice respite from the running, and I was glad to be running on unpaved trails for a while.
  
• 20-33km: I finished the first loop just under 2 hours, which tied in exactly with the start of the relay (as well as doing the ultra, you can do it as a team of 2/4/8). I filled up my water bottles with tailwind, but completely forgot to take my headlamp off. I realised after ~100m, but there was no way I was going back to drop it off! So I just ran with it for this loop. The relay field thinned out pretty quickly, and I sat in at "middle-of-the-pack female" pace.
  
• 33-40km: Legs started to hurt by this point, which was understandable, but a little worrying given how much further there was to go. I wasn't feeling unconfident, just a little apprehensive. Finished lap 2 after 4h5m.
  
• 40-53km: This was probably the low point mentally. There was a long way to go, and things were really hurting. Had a nice chat with a guy from Washington, who was also doing his first 50 miler. He had a far better race strategy (aka he actually stuck to his strategy), and seemed to be moving better than I was. At the end of this lap I saw Kate and Emily in the Olympic Plaza. Yay!
  
• 53-60km: Spirits lifted a little bit, and I actually felt stronger than before. The benefits of the loops was that you could mentally break it down into smaller stages. I started off with "20km to the end of the loop", then segmented it to 13/7. By this point I was breaking it down to "3km to the big hill, then walk up the hill for 1km, then 3km down again; you can run for 3km! Easy! Let's do this!".
  
• 60-73km: Cheer squad were on great form, with bright green "GO BEN" signs. Legs were on less good form. Throughout the run, various bits of the legs would hurt for a few km, then that pain would subside and something else would hurt. This gave me a lot of confidence, as it meant the pain wasn't something serious, and if I just kept running, it wouldn't hurt for much longer. At this point, my left IT band started giving me grief and just wouldn't quit. I found the transition from walking to running both mentally and physically taxing, so I tried my best to run up some of the hills that I'd walked up in the previous loop. I was quite uncomfortable, but I was so close to finishing that there was no way I was going to give up now.
  
• 73-80km: Oh my goodness, this hurt! I was mostly shuffling the first few km, and had to walk a bit of the flat. All the other runners were awesomely supportive though, including my favourite person of the day - a female relay runner in her 50s, who just said "you're f*ing awesome" and went on her way. I was grunt-shouting quite a lot, especially when my IT band was being particularly painful. I was running at ~8min/km at this point, and I knew it was going to be very tight to get back in under 9 hours at that pace, especially with the big climb to come. The 1km walk turned out to be just what I needed though, and let my legs reset for a bit. I started running a lot more freely on the descent, and was shocked to look down at my watch and see I was doing sub-6min/km - almost as fast as I was at the start of the race! I kept this up for the last 3km to the finish, and was flying over the line! The announcer even made a joke that I must have plans in town... Kate and Emily were there to see me over the line, and just as shocked as me that I'd got back so early. Apparently I was looking really bad at 73km...
  

I finished 14th overall, nearly 3 hours behind the winner. The winner's run was incredible though - he would have finished 9/112 in the relay race!

Overall conclusion - glad I did it, will not be doing it again!

C • yay! 7

TRIUMF yoga. Had very little energy, and was rather wobbly. It's gotten chilly recently, and I feel like I'm fighting the start of a cold, so I should really try to stay warm and eat more.

Few laps of the UBC track, with some strides thrown in.

That's the end of my training for the Whistler 50 (miler). My next run starts at 6am on Saturday, and will hopefully end some time on Saturday afternoon.

I have some motivational training tomorrow evening (watching Gary suffer through the Barkley (twice!) at the premiere of Where Dreams Go To Die), but the physical training is all done. I feel like I was in better shape before the 50k 5 weeks ago, and was also a lot more confident. It feels like the taper started too early, and that I should have got some more long-flat runs in (my long-hilly runs gave more time on my feet, but more time walking instead of running).

My goals for the race are:
1) Finish
2) Run all the flats and downs, and walk the ups (if I have to walk significant amounts of flat, I'll be very disappointed)
3) Finish in under 9 hours
4) Finish in under 8 hours

1 and 2 I'm hopeful for. 3 will be hard. 4 would require something incredible.

Very wet loop around Pacific Spirit. Started off with Team TRIUMF, then went my own way (didn't fancy 10x 90second repeats...).

Incredibly cold and rainy for the entirety of the run. Dry and nearly-blue sky two minutes after finishing...

L'il loop around Jericho.