ENDURrun 2017 Stage 5: 16 Miles Alpine

I'm a little late with writing this one... it's Saturday morning and I need to leave for Stage 6 soon, but I have a few minutes, so let's see if I can whip something up here.

Friday. Yesterday. Stage 5.
I woke up ready to roll. It was the only day (so far) this week that I didn't want to stay in bed when my alarm went off.

I got up, got ready, and headed down to Chicopee Ski Hill. Once there, I caught up with some Health & Performance team mates and did a very short warmup. We lined up for the start, and were off into our first of 5 loops around the hill, each of which includes going from the bottom (or close to the bottom) to the top of the hill four times, plus one partial.

Here's my description of the course:
- short flat section to the never-ending gravel service road climb (which turns 3 times and you're still climbing after each turn)
- flat across the top
- turn right and head straight down a sandy hill
- sharp left at the bottom, then single track back to the top
- across the same top section, but opposite direction
- run straight down a ski hill
- across the bottom
- straight UP a bigger ski hill
- over the back of the hill, down some stairs, and then single track down the back
- and back up.
- pop out of the trails, turning right, across the top
- run straight down another hill
- into trails with boardwalks (very slippery boardwalks yesterday), and then flat trail with some evil little stumps that I swear jump out and grab me at least once each year at this race.. this year was no exception... I went down in lap 3.
- once out of that section, a short grave then grass bit, bringing you into what used to be called Goat Trail (and I will continue to call it that), which brings you back to the top over two sections. I think this is my least favourite part of this course.
- pop out at the top, run over the top, and straight down another ski hill
- turn left at the bottom and run mostly straight to the start/finish area
Do that x5.

On Thursday, it was looking like the course was going to be a mess, but it was actually in really good shape by the time race start time rolled around. There was just a little bit of mud and the boardwalks were slippery. It was probably close to the best conditions for this stage I have ever seen/felt. Last year was super hot and humid. The year before was thunderstorms.

My race: I went out a bit quick on the first loop, but it worked out ok. I finished first female in 2:27:10 and improved my lead going into stage 6 by 3:51. Oh! I ran up North (the big straight up the ski hill climb) without walking a single step on laps 1, 2, and 3. On lap 4, I walked briefly... just the distance between two flags and then started running again the rest of the way up. Lap 5 was a different story. I ran part way, then walked from one flag to the next, then ran the next one, then walked, then ran, etc. In previous years, I walked on each of those climbs, at least for part of each.

.@VicZanRan #HPendur killing it, Thad 1:30 back pic.twitter.com/JXXSGSkv95

— Health & Performance (@Health_Perform) August 18, 2017

Every single runner finished within the time cut-off again today, which is fantastic! It's wonderful to see everyone pushing themselves and then seeing the pride beaming as they come across that line!

. @VicZanRan done in 2:27 #HPendur pic.twitter.com/QcxgA9Z43v

— Health & Performance (@Health_Perform) August 18, 2017

It has been so amazing this week, to have so many people from the club out watching, cheering, running, etc. It is such a boost, especially on days like Stage 5. Thank you H+P!

ENDURrun Stage 5 - 16 Mile Alpine

Today's stage was what most consider the toughest stage of the ENDURrun: a sixteen mile (25.6km) race at Chicopee Ski Hill. The course consists of a 5.12km loop, each containing 3 long climbs, sections of single track trail, and some straight descents down the ski hill. This loop is run 5 times.

The weather was definitely less than ideal today. It was over 95% humidity and it was hot. Volunteers and spectators alike were kind enough to spray us down with water, hand us ice cubes, and dump water on our heads and backs. If it wasn't for all of these wonderful people, this could have been a pretty disastrous race.

Final stretch to the finish (Photo from H+P Twitter feed)

Times were slower for pretty much everyone this year (I'm not sure if anyone was quicker this year), due to the weather conditions.

My lap splits weren't great today, but ignoring the first lap, they weren't too horrible... I'm not sure what I was thinking on the first lap!
Lap 1: 30:08
Lap 2: 32:45
Lap 3: 33:04
Lap 4: 34:49
Lap 5: 34:56

Man that humidity made it a tough day.

I finished first female ultimate today, but only by 2:27. I have reduced the gap to an even 20:00 behind Angela.  On the men's side, Rob won the stage, and now has a 1:12:26 lead on Mark. Hunter and Kyle both remain in third. 

ENDURrun Stage 5: 25.6 km Alpine Run

I should be going to bed, but I just realized that I didn't post anything!

Today was interesting. It was wet, muddy, and slippery, pouring rain at times, with a thunderstorm or two.

I almost dropped out of the event today. My foot was not my friend in lap two, but got better in lap three. Hopefully the final two stages being road will keep things relatively happy.

I'll add more to this tomorrow or the next day, but for now.... this is all I'm posting.

Results can be found here.

ENDURrun Stage 5: 25.6K (16 mile) Alpine Run

Yesterday morning was the stage that is dreaded by many: Chicopee.

It's a tough stage, which takes place at a ski hill, but I do enjoy the course. Well, most of the course.

Here's a rambly course description for you:

Start, run to the first uphill, a long gradual gravel service road that winds up the side of the hill, turning twice, with a fair bit of loose gravel this year and a lot of erosion, so it was a little tricky to find good spots to run near the top of the hill. Once arriving at the top, run straight ahead, then turn right into the first trail section, which starts with a fairly steep sandy downhill. Run across the bottom, then windy your way back up through the trails, pop out the top and head back the way you came, but before reaching the service road, turn right and run straight down a ski hill (something I love to do), across the bottom and over to the bottom of another ski hill, turn and run (or "run") straight up this ski hill. Once reaching the top, run across and down some cinder block steps into another trail section (my favourite part), for some windy single track down, and then back up the hill. Hang a right out of this section and run to another ski hill to run straight down. At the bottom, nip into another trail section. This section is flat, but includes a lot of mountain bike boardwalks, which were missing some boards, some were bouncy, and some were breaking under our feet (I broke one, but luckily it happened when pushing off, not when stepping on the board). After the flat section, it's back up the hill via Goat Trail, out the top, over the top of the hill, and straight down. Hang a left at the bottom of this hill, and run through the start/finish line. That is one loop, so do that another 4 times.

The race went well for me. I ran the first lap quicker than I intended to, but I had been ahead of Angela for about half of the lap and didn't want to give that up too quickly. After the start of the second lap, ran my own race. The quick first lap didn't seem to affect my overall race, so that was good. I still felt strong and was relatively consistent for the remaining 4 laps. My splits were as follows:  31:13, 32:47, 33:24, 33:02, 33:03.

My finish time was 2:43:29, which was over 14 minutes faster than last year! I'm definitely happy about how it went.

The Start to July... a week of races.

I realize that I've missed posting any sort of updates for June (I ran a couple of races.. I will backtrack and post about them soon), but now it's July and I already have a few races to mention! It's been a busy, but fun week and this has the potential to be a long rambly post.

Race #1 - Great Canadian Trail Run 10K (mix of dirt, grass, asphalt, and crushed gravel trails)

On Tuesday, July 1st (Canada Day), I headed down to Brantford with a van full of runners (Deb, Dave, Heather, Lynn, and I) to run the Great Canadian Trail Run. There were 5K and 10K race options; Deb and Lynn were doing the 5K, while Dave, Heather, and I did the 10. 

We Arrived at the site about 45 minutes before race start. Obtaining our numbers, t-shirts, etc was quick and painless, so I had plenty of time to get in a short warm-up run and stash my bag under the stands at the track near the race start/finish. 

The race itself was well organized and there were no course issues this year (last year there were a couple of unmarked turns and one spot where the trail came to a T and the marshals had their backs to the course, causing me to actually have to call out for directions). The weather was far from ideal as it was quite hot, very humid, and windy. This combination did not make me want to race. I lost motivation by 6K, but at 8K when a woman passed me, motivation quickly returned. I decided that I would not drop back a place and I got back in the game. 

I finished the race in 3rd place female, running almost 2 minutes slower than my fastest road 10K, but over a minute and a half faster than the same race last year. 

Great Canadian Trail Run 10K Results

Race #2 - Creemore Springs Vertical Challenge 25K (hilly, hence the name)

I had been on the fence about signing up for this race and I actually didn't decide to do it until I finally registered on Wednesday evening. I figured it would be a good training run for Stage 5 of the ENDURrun, which is coming up next month, and that's the type of mentality I took to the race. This was going to be a training run. A hard effort training run, but a training run nonetheless. 

Greg, Craig, and I arrived at 8:05, so we just missed seeing the start of the 50K, but still had plenty of time to get ourselves organized, warm up, etc before our 9am start for the 25K. Having never run this race before, I was surprised to see how beautiful the location was (the race director's property). I had heard great things, but you still never truly know until you see it. I was already glad that I had decided to do this. 

After some socializing and then stashing my stuff next to some trees on the lawn, I did a very short warm up run and hung out near the start line. A couple of very quick announcements were made, and a shot gun was fired to signal the start of the race. 

Going into this race with 'training run' mentality worked well for me to ensure that I started at a relatively conservative pace. I was running comfortably (or comfortably hardish) and it felt good. 

A race volunteer told me very early in the race (*maybe* 1 km into the race) that I was the second female at this point... I made a mental note, but I didn't let it get to me. The woman ahead of me was Jessica from my running club, and I could see her blue singlet ahead. A few km later, when I had not been passed by anyone, but I had passed a couple of runners, I decided that I would continue running at my current level of effort, but if a woman was to catch me, that I may have to kick it up a notch to not lose my position. Luckily, this didn't happen. 

As the race went on, there was climb after climb after climb, some were country roads, some were rocky trail, some may have been other types of terrain as well.. I'm not really sure... I didn't pay too much attention to the hills... I just got up them and then eventually down. There were two hills that I had to walk part of, but other than that, I was pretty consistent (effort wise... pace goes out the window on this course). 

I ran a good chunk of the race with Rick (someone I had met on the course around 7 or 8 km into the race), we had a brief chat and realized that we were of very similar running ability based on past races, so we ran together from that point until just after the final BIG climb. He had told me earlier on that after the last big climb, the final 5 or 6 km of race is mostly downhill. So, as it started to level off at the top, I said "It's run time" and I picked up the pace. The long downhill country road was incredibly fun to just open up and run down. Also at this point the 50K leaders were heading up on their 2nd loop, so it was great to be able to see them, to offer some encouragement, and even just to say 'hi' to some friends along the way. 

After the long down, there was a farmer's field, then some trail with some steep downhills that were a little tricky in spots. When I saw the rope to pull yourself up a short and steep muddy hill, I knew the end was close. I got up that hill and I was having a lot of fun running through the twisty single track in the last mile of the race. I came out from the woods, saw the wet and dry options (bouncy bridge vs water crossing - I took dry since there was nobody around me and also since I was told by some other people that it really doesn't make much of a difference time wise), turned to the right, and ran across the finish line. I had finished in 2nd place of the women. I congratulated Jessica on her first place finish, got myself a beverage, and chatted with other runners and the race director for a bit before I took a look at the results... which confirmed that I was 2nd female by 40 seconds. I had no idea that I was that close. I thought I was at least 2 minutes back. I felt great at the finish. I definitely felt like I could have kept running, which made me very happy.

Post race beer, pizza, sitting in the Mad River, and hanging out on the grass was fantastic. I stuck around for 5 or so hours after I was done my race, so I had lots of time to chat with 50K runners and to just enjoy the wonderful weather outdoors. All in all, it was a great day.
Creemore 25K Results

Race #3 - Dirty Dash 8K (wee bit of road, meadow, trail, water crossings, muddy hill, and finally bales of hay and a mud pit in the finishing chute)

Since I already talked so much about the other two races, I'll keep this one shorter. This morning was the Dirty Dash. There is an 8K, a 4K, and a 1K kids run. I did the 8K. One of the main reasons I like this race is the fact that the course is almost exactly the same as Stage 3 of the ENDURrun (just 1 km shorter on the loop, and ER doesn't have water crossings or a mud pit). I guess that makes this weekend ENDURrun simulation training... I did Creemore for a Stage 5 type race and then Dirty Dash for a much shorter version of Stage 3. Ok.. back to the race. At the first turn I could see that there were 3 women ahead of me, 2 turns later, I was in 2nd place female, where I stayed for the remainder of the race. I felt strong today and did not feel like I had run all those hills the day before. I enjoyed this race and enjoyed catching up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. Placing well was an added bonus.  

Dirty Dash 8K Results

Race swag and prizes. The maple syrup, coffee, and bowl were all prizes from Creemore.

And now, I sit here finishing up this post, having just come home from running.... at Chicopee.

ENDURrun Stage 5: 25.6K Alpine Run

I’m a little late with this stage’s blog post as I was out and about all of yesterday after finishing the stage. Now, as I drink my coffee and eat my toast before stage 6, I have a chance to write about yesterday’s difficult stage.

Stage 5 is on a ski hill. It’s not a huge ski hill, but it’s still a ski hill. The course is 5 laps of 5.12km per loop. There were some course changes this year, which made it a bit more demanding than it already was.

The Loop:
From the start line, we run through a short flat section, toward the first ascent up a gravel service road. It is long, it is gradual, it is a pain. After reaching the top of the hill, we run along the top briefly, and then nip down into some trails. This section has a straight sandy “down”, and then it winds back up to the top of the hill. Once at the top, it’s back out the way we came in, but instead of heading down the service road, it’s straight down a ski hill. Hang a right at the bottom, run past the start finish area, and then straight UP another ski hill. I didn’t even attempt to run all the way up it this year. I’d run to certain spot just above the bottom and then walk up. After reaching the top of this evil hill, it’s across the top and into some more trails, which of course headed down and then back up, but it was gradual and there were small ups and downs throughout. I like this section. Once out of those trails, run over to another ski hill and run straight down it. At the bottom of this hill was the main change to the route. In past years, we would turn left at the bottom, but this year, it was into the woods to the right. This section contained some narrow boardwalks and trails and was quite flat. The flat didn’t last too long, as after this was another “up” through some trails between hills, but this one was shorter than some others. Once at the top again, run across the hill, and then straight down the final descent, hang a left at the bottom, run between the volleyball courts and the trees, and through the finish chute.  Do this 5 times and you’re done.

With the course changes, I didn’t know how my time on this stage would be affected. Last year I ran the stage in 3:01:37, the year before 3:12:08. As I waited for the start of the race, I was hoping for sub 3, but not sure if I could accomplish it. I hoped to run around 35 minutes per lap. As the laps went by, I started thinking that I wanted to start lap #5 at 2 hours and 20 minutes so that I would have 40 minutes left to complete my final lap and have a PB. I did just that. There were some seconds on the clock as well, but when I passed through the start finish to start my bell lap, the clock started with 02:20 and I was very happy about that. I finished the course in 2:57 and change, finishing 3rd female. I also maintain my 3rd position in the overall standings.

As usual, my platter of food.

Now it’s just about time for me to leave for stage 6, the 10K time trial, so off I go! I will post about the TT later today.

The group run that didn’t happen

This morning I got up shortly before 7, had some coffee, ate some toast with peanut butter and banana, and got ready to meet up with the folks from meetup.com at the Saturday Trail Run that I had organized.

The first challenge of the day was actually getting out of the little lane beside the house. Luckily, Ryan got the car out for me while I finished up getting my stuff together. I hopped in the car and headed toward the trail. The roads were mediocre at best. I arrived just 2 minutes after the time I said I would be there, so I didn’t do too badly time wise, but I was disappointed to see that the parking lot where we were to meet was completely inaccessible.

I drove past the lot and looked for a place to park nearby, but did not have any luck. I drove around to another street and parked near Chicopee. After parking, I ran back to the meet up location to see if anyone else had shown up, but there were no signs of other runners. I trudged through the snow and discovered that there was no way we could run on this trail today. I waited a few minutes to be sure nobody was coming and then headed back out to do a short run on my own.

I discovered later that another runner had been driving around the area looking for me (and others), but unfortunately, we did not cross paths.

My tracks in the deep snow

Not the deepest spot, but still shows the type of ground cover today :)

The trail under the bridge was full of large chunks of ice from the river.

I ran back to where the car was parked and then found some short trails that had been travelled by somebody, so I could actually get through them. I ran around this area briefly and then crossed the road to have some fun running through some deep snow in a playground.

I took some photos while out on my own to share.

Snow covered trees next to where I parked.

I could get through this trail :)

And it connected to this one.

Hi

Total distance covered today was only 5 km, but with the amount of snow, I’d say it counts for more. I could’ve definitely used some snowshoes today.

ENDURrun Stage 5: 25.6 km XC Alpine (Chicopee)

Last night, I was attempting to get a good night’s sleep, I woke up to hear rain. It sounded like fairly heavy rain as well. I thought to myself, “I hope this stops soon” and went back to sleep. A couple of hours later, I woke up again and heard the familiar sound of rain once more. Crap. Well.. it still wasn’t morning, so there was still hope. When my alarm went off at 5:55am, it was no longer raining. I was glad that we would not have to run in the rain today, but was still a little concerned that the trails and ski hills might be slippery.

For breakfast today, I wanted to be sure to have something that has worked well for me in the past (of course, I never have anything new before a race, but I wanted something that I could count on). Since I only ran faster than last year on one stage so far this week, I decided to eat the same breakfast today that I had on Tuesday: Quaker lightly sweetened apple cinnamon oatmeal with a bit of regular oats mixed in, yogurt, granola, coffee, and water.

We arrived at Chicopee Ski Hill about 30 minutes before race start. I found a chair to put my bag on, used the washroom one last time, put on my race bib, removed my sweater, chatted with some other runners and then we all gathered ourselves at the start line for roll call and final instructions. Lloyd mentioned that the trails did have some slippery sections, so we should be careful out there. I hoped that I would not slip and fall today.

Stage 5 of the ENDURrun involves trail running along with running up and down a ski hill. It’s a tough one, but the trail sections are very enjoyable and it’s one less loop tan Bechtel, so it’s nice to know that once you’re done your third lab you *actually* only have 2 more to go (unlike the brief moment where I thought I only had 2 more loops at Bechtel, but actually had 3).

   

I found that the 3rd lap was actually fun today (except for running up the big hill). Perhaps it’s because it’s the middle lap and after you’re done that one, you just have 2 more to go. After each lap, I checked the clock to see how consistent I was being and to do a quick mental calculation of the time I wanted to pass through after the next lap. When I started my final lap, I realized that unless something went horribly wrong, I should have no trouble beating last year’s time. I ran the course, and when I crossed the finish line, I had done it!

Last year’s time: 3:12:08
This year’s time. 3:01:37 (I think)

I beat last year’s time by 10.5 minutes! I came out here today to make up some time and I did what I came out to do. And as an added bonus, I didn’t fall.

After eating the wonderful post-race food, getting a massage, listening to the results (I placed 5th of the female ultimates today, and I think I may have moved up to 5th in the cumulative as well, but I’ll have to check the results later), chatting with the other runners, and then some more socializing this afternoon by the pool, it is now time to sit and rest up at home for a bit before making some supper and preparing for tomorrow’s stage.

5 stages down and 2 to go. I’m looking forward to (and dreading at the same time) the 10K time trial tomorrow morning!

ENDURrun Stage 5: The 16-Mile Cross Country (25.6 km)–Chicopee Ski Hill

This morning was a bit different than then other mornings this week because I was getting a ride with Paul instead of either driving myself or going with Ryan. Apparently this threw me out of my routine a bit because I managed to forget a few things at home including my recovery drink.

We arrived at Chicopee Ski Resort around 7am this morning (an hour before race start), so we had some time to sit and chat with other runners, get ourselves ready, and use the washrooms without feeling rushed.

While we were standing around right before the start, there were two deer crossing the one ski hill, which is part of the course. It was fun to watch them for a moment, but then it was back to business. Roll call was taken and waivers were signed (I guess the Chicopee people don’t want any law suits if we hurt ourselves). Now it was time to go. We lined up at the start and Lloyd counted us down.

The first km of the course was new from previous years and went through some nice trails, but there were some very narrow sections, so it was a bit tricky with all of us going through at once. It got much better on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th loops. Out of this section, we crossed over a road and into another trail section, which was my favourite part of the course. It was shaded, there was a breeze, and there were lots of twists and turns. After this, we ran out into a gravel road area with the hot sun beating and then onto the first official hill of the course. It was a long and gradual hill, which then turned around a corner to more hill, around another corner to even more, steeper hill. The aid station at the top of this section was very welcome. And the nice shady trail section that came next was also a welcome change from being out in the sun.

The first major downhill (straight down one of the ski hills) was quite steep and tricky to run down as if you went too fast you might tumble down. After the descent, there was only a short stretch before the major ascent up another ski hill. This one was un-runnable for me. I attempted at first, but resorted to walking very quickly. There were more nice trails at the top of this hill and then another downhill, up through trails, and the final downhill of the lap.

Repeat this 4 more times for a total of 5 loops.

Today’s stage was quite tough. I walked up several hills, but I was okay with that. I finished the 25.6 km of Chicopee in 3:12:08. I had some low back and hip pain today and also 2 blisters, but I didn’t feel as though it was slowing me down, just an annoyance more than anything. I’m glad this stage is done. 5 stages down and 2 to go. Tomorrow is the 10K and then Sunday is the marathon.