Saturday Sep 8 |
 | Running race 3:30:00 [4] | |
| shoes: Montrail CD (2) |
| Moose Mountain 29K. Going to try something different and do a little race report with pics. Was able to convince markg to come out but I guess he had other plans and decided to sleep in. The good old Aussie woke up 3 min before I rang his door looking pretty disoriented and dazed. But I think this was his ultimate plan (to come later). However, beer and greasy food at a Pub for me the night before is perhaps not the greatest thing to do. Needless to say we did end up at the race at a good time since it's really in the foothills of the Rockies. However we ran into these bad boys on the way in. That's Alberta for you. Superwes1000 where is the Beef bud;)
Prior to race start. We look happy for now.
The course basically starts out low and is a long gradual climb for the first 14.5K or so up to Moose Mountain with an elevation gain of 950m give or take - so not a walk in the park.
My strategy was basically to start slow build up and walk the inclines. In the end that proved to be smart since you could seriously mess yourself early in the race. First 5K was generally flat and boring along fire roads till you got to the Packers Trail where the climb started in a hurry. Fun switchbacks and the higher up you went to started to see snow! Been pretty cold here at night and the mountains had a wicked dusting of snow, but not bad here. Once at the top it was basically a ridgeline run to Moose Mountain on another fire road. MM is pretty gradual initially then turns to scree and switch backs. However the view was impressive looking down off its ridge
I lost sight of Mark after the first few Ks but found him barreling down as I was going up the final climb on the scree. The dude was rocking and ended up 7th overall in the end. So I guess it pays to sleep in! Perhaps a new strategy;)
The turn around was just below the fire tower (bottom base left just out of the pic) since its too damn steep to get up there.
Here is where I packed up the camera and sight seeing tour and started to pick up the pace. The downhill for most of it was a blastfest.
The switch to the downhill muscles wasn't too pleasant and started the good old twitch in the calves/hammies. Cramparoos. Thankfully managed to stave any bad ones and by the time I got back to the flats, it was just a slow painful grind to the end. Finished in the time frame I guessed 3.5 hrs. In the end was a brilliant race. Well organized by Jen Silverthorn, good food and a wicked buff as swag. Bang for your buck race. Great first "real" and not last trail race in AB. Treated this race as a long run with sight seeing and taking pictures. Good way to see things and a nice switch. IPod blasting and enjoying the ride. Was great to get the mind off my mom being in the hospital. Found out the other day she has a possible serious heart condition. Hopefully I'll find out what the tests show in the next few. Been a long few days. Oh no beer today but cappuccino in Bragg Creek.
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| C • m&m 7 |
Thursday Sep 6 |
| Note | |
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| Signed up for the Moose Mountain 29K this Saturday. Treating this like a training run since I have no idea how I'll handle a full on assult on a mountain, that and I've only ran a long run (i.e. 2hrs) once in the past 5 months. Should be a good challenge and fun.
As well signed up for Winterstart 5 miler in Banff in November which is a night run. Tara convinced me to sign up only due to the fact there will be a stay over including partying, dancing and drunken times to follow. Oh the life of these grad students. Pither, this could be the lab group of your dreams. Marshall's students are great. |
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| C • Fun 12 |
| Cycling 40:00 [1] | |
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| Very light ride. Just spinning the legs for maintenance. Light run tomorrow. Stuffing my face in between, haven't carb loaded in awhile. |
Tuesday Sep 4 |
| Cycling 40:00 [4] | |
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| A good old just give'er ride. |
Monday Sep 3 |
| Running 1:20:00 [2] | |
| shoes: Brooks Axiom 2 (Green) |
| B-D12 loop. Very nice day out. Tired from yesterday, took awhile to warm-up. |
Sunday Sep 2 |
| Hiking 2:00:00 [1] | |
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| Burstall Pass in Kananiskis (15K roundtrip). Relatively easy hike but bang for your buck views. Only a little uphill to get to the pass itself. Crossed into Banff NP for a few K before stopping for lunch and heading back. Definately out of a Sound of Music environment, awesome alpine meadows, a crazy wetland, and great mountain views. Mt. Assinaboine looked cool in the distance at the top of the pass. Luckily beat the crowd up and down. Beers afterwards at Kananiskis Village. Life is tough. Half the time logged.
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| Note | |
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| Was reading the latest Trailrunner Mag. Apparently this is actually a recommened run under their top trail towns list (Canmore). Was totally thinking that while hiking. |
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| C • yep 12 |