Run Report - 100 km run to End Kids Cancer

The Sears Great Canadian Run was an amazing experience.  I lost a battle but won the war.

The night before I got all my gear ready.

Fuel: Vega bars, oranges, watermelon, salted potatoes, salty chips, fuzzy peaches, skittles, raisins, dates, and electrolyte tabs.

Liquids: water.  Beer for after.

Gear: socks (x3), shorts (x2), pants, shirts (x2), long-sleeve top, buff,  running jacket, gloves, camelback, handheld water bottle, rain jacket, change of clothes, and shoes (x3).

First aid: Gin Gins for tummy trouble, moleskin for blisters, chamois butt'r for chaffing, Tylenol 8 hour for pain

Woke up at 4 am and was at the Aviation Museum by 5:30 am.  We picked up our kits and I got to put on my GoodGuysTri shirt.  I am proud to be part of that team.  We raised $74K between the 19 of us to End Kids Cancer!!  We sang Oh Canada together and had some motivational speeches and stories that had tears streaming down all the faces in the room.

 We started running at 7 am and did the first 5 km as a team.  After that we picked up the pace and our team spread out.  I felt strong for the first 40 km.  

At that point I got stopped by a red light.  When I tried to start up again, my right leg seized with incredible pain.  I limped along and tried to run again but it wouldn't happen.  I hobbled into the rest station and right onto a massage table where I received Active Release Therapy for my IT band.  The therapist's elbow in my leg drew a few grunts of pain.  I got up but still couldn't walk without a painful limp.  I was done.  I was going to be a cheerleader for the rest of the event.

At each stop after, I was walking and cheering, hoping that I could possibly continue.  I spoke to my parents, who had brought my boys to cheer, and suggested they go home where it was dry.  I wasn't going to be running any more. 

Then I got advice from a teammate who was also having trouble.  She would start out a race segment before the others arrived and when the team caught up, she would be swept up by the support vehicle and brought to the next rest stop to start again.  I decided to do the same.

I started out limping, and then I was hobbling, still in excruciating pain.  At some point, my hobble turned to a slow jog and then, amazingly, a run, albeit slow, and eventually the pain diminished.  I kept that up and arrived at the next rest stop, without my team catching up with me.  

I took some water, food, and started off the next segment - limp, hobble, jog, run.  I was joined by another runner whose injury had slowed him down earlier in the race.  I learned that my mind could overcome the pain signals my body was screaming at me and keep moving forward. 

In the end, I added another 23 km for a total of 63 km (1.5 marathons!) of the planned 100 km. [Edited: I initially thought I'd completed 70 km but I recounted]. I'm very proud of this accomplishment.

Different than any other run I've completed, I was supported by my wife the whole way.  I'd run into a rest stop and she had water, salt pills, food, change of clothes, plenty of words of encouragement, a hug and send me on my way to the next rest stop.  That was extremely important.  Nathalie, you are incredible.

My family provided so much support and cheering along the way - my sister and family at the starting line, my cousin and family during the first 40 km, then my parents and my boys through the difficult time when I couldn't run, then some words of encouragement from my daughter on Facebook, and then my sisters and their families at the end.  Wow.  Thank you for being amazing.  

We also had the support of  an amazing ultramarathon runner and running coach.  He would drive by us with rock music blasting from his van.  He would park and when we ran by he'd hand us goodies - fruit skewers, gelato, chicken noodle soup, ginger tea.  And always with encouragement - "you're looking amazing out there". 

I can't say enough about my teammates.  They are an amazing and inspiring group.  Always encouraging each other.  No matter the goals for the day, we were working together to achieve and surpass them.  One Team!!!

The weather, at one point a deluge of rain, was a challenge but one I'm familiar with.  Mother Nature has challenged me before and I generally come out victorious.

At the last checkpoint, we met up as a team and all of us ran the last 800m into the Chateau Montebello, right into the hall, where everyone was on their feet cheering as we walked in.  A very moving experience.  

It was an epic day that I'll remember forever.

Fear and Excitement before Running 100km to End Kids Cancer

Emotions before running 100 km to End Kids Cancer

I joined the GoodGuysTri running team in March with two goals – raising $2000 to End Kids Cancer and running 100 km solo as part of the Sears Great Canadian Run on October 4^th.  I am so happy with the fundraising.  People are unbelievably generous.  I’ve actually more than doubled my fundraising goal and my team has raised nearly $80,000 to End Kids Cancer.  Awesome!

Now I just have to run for about 13 hours to complete 100 km between Ottawa and Montebello?!?.  Although I believe Glen referred to me as an athlete in one of his posts, I’m really not.  I am a regular guy who decided to join a team who are doing something epic for a good cause. 

I figure that I’d been sheltered from any deep thinking about the run because I’d been focused on the Pint n’ Pizza night that I was organizing as a fundraiser at Boston Pizza.  That night was amazing.  The event was supposed to run from 6-9pm.  I showed up with volunteers from my team at around 5pm.  Guests for the event started showing up soon after.  The dining room was filled to capacity by 5:55 pm, followed quickly by the bar and the patio.  More than 150 people broke bread with us.  Councillor Jan Harder, who did an amazing job promoting the event on twitter, joined us for an event that demonstrated that we live in a very generous community.  We packed the place to the rafters with people who wanted to eat, drink, be merry and do something great to End Kids Cancer.  We had so much fun and raised $1752.17 from the raffle and from a donation by Boston Pizza.  By 9 pm, Boston Pizza was empty again.  It was like a fundraising flashmob!

With that over, I started to have time to think about the run and rather than my usual positivity, I turned initially to fear.  This was heightened by the unwelcome appearance of a reoccurring knee issue during a run.  What have I gotten myself into?  I’ve only ever run a marathon (42.2 km), how am I supposed to run 2.5 times that? What if I can’t even start because of my knee? My teammates are athletes…I’m just some dude.  And on and on and on...

Saturday I participated in Run 4 a Cause.  I’d been resting my knee, biking and swimming instead of running, and it held up just fine over this short distance.  Even more important though is that I got to hang out with my teammates and other people who are passionate about doing good.  This really gave me a boost.  Their positive energy is infectious.  I’m glad I caught it!!

In the last week leading up to the event, I am ready to rock n’ roll.  I have trained for 16 weeks for this event, completed more than 850 km of running, including tons of runs through the hills near where we keep our trailer.  I have completed a number of marathons now.  I have completed really tough trail runs.  I am ready! 

And I am running this for the kids who have cancer and all those whose lives have been affected by pediatric cancer.  I have heard their stories and these stories will provide me endurance for the run. 

Please consider providing a donation to End Kids Cancer!  

2013 GoodGuysTri - Sears Great Canadian Run Documentary

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I feel extremely privileged to be part of this team in 2014.

I don't like Mondays..

I don't often get sick but when I do I'm pretty wimpy.  When I get a headache, I usually curl up in my bed and go to sleep rather than take some medicine and soldier on.  When I get a cold, I'll mope around the house.  And I think it must be the same for mental health.  I'm usually a happy guy but am pretty sensitive to when I feel off.

I've been training really hard lately - seven hours running over the weekend.  After the first weekend of this crazy training schedule, I noticed that on Monday, my rest day, I was feeling super tired, super tired and feeling really off.  Exhausted physically but also mentally down...depressed even.  By Tuesday, though, I was back to training and feeling fine again.  But it happened again the next Monday too.

My theory is that the running produces an endorphin high and that Monday I suffer the crash...I had a hangover from running...a RANgover!

I have one more tough weekend ahead of me before a less intense weekend .  I wonder if I'll be RUNgover on Monday.  I also wonder if this is an early warning sign of overtraining.  I'll pay attention to it and may need to adjust my training schedule.

Anyone else had this feeling of being RUNgover?  Is this common?

Frozen Treat Friday FUNdraising

Reposted

When I joined the GoodGuysTri team to run 100km from Ottawa to Montebello, I also committed to raising at least $2000 to End Kids Cancer and I intend to blow that goal out of the water.  As soon as I joined I put out messages on Facebook and Twitter, and the donations slowly but surely started flowing in.  I knew, however, that I was going to have to do something more to meet my fundraising goals.  

My teammates hit the ground runnin’ by organizing amazing events – karaoke, mini putt, trail run, boot camp, golf, trivia night – all awesome!  What would I do?  I got my idea on a warm summer night.

Every Friday at lunch time, since June 27th, I have set up a table outside the back doors of my work with a cooler filled with yummy frozen treat – popsicles, fudgsicle, drumsticks, and ice cream sandwiches – and I “sell” them by donation.  I learned through previous fundraising for Movember that people are super generous and it is much better to do it by donation than to specify prices.

I am so impressed with my work colleagues’ generosity.  They have donated almost $1100 to help End Kids Cancer.  It has also provided me the opportunity to talk about my running goals.  I now get stopped in the halls to get asked about my training and to let me know that they support me on this journey.   It feels amazing to know that I have their support in achieving this seemingly impossible goal of running more than twice a marathon.

It has also provided the opportunity for people to share their stories about how pediatric cancer has affected their lives.  These stories will be in my mind when I run and I’m sure it will give me strength to carry on.  

Looking forward to the final Frozen Treat Friday FUNdraiser!  If you’re in the area you should stop by!

  

Head to Toe - Some Thoughts on Gear

Don't tell the shorter people in front of me but I'm balding on the top so I wear a buff as a bandanna to protect from the sun. It's a great piece of clothing. I wore the buff all winter as a hat, extra layer, or face protection.  I got the buff at the Mad Trapper Relentless 50km Trail race...the event that inspired the DNF (did not finish) in the name of this blog.

I wear Lokus sunglasses because my eyes are more sensitive to light with my contacts.  I changed to contacts for Spartan Races and never changed back.  Muddy and fogged-up glasses are pretty useless, especially when you have nothing to wipe them with as I had decided to race shirtless, a-la-Spartan.

I often wear my Spartan Beast Race shirt.  It's light and comfy, and I'm proud of completing the Spartan trifecta last year so it makes me feel strong : )

I love my camelbak.  I have two bladders - a 3 L and a 2 L.  It's great for long runs but I also use it for shorter runs, without the bladder, to carry gear.  Depending on the distance from civilization, I'll carry my wallet, extra food, toilet paper, headlamp, flint, etc.

I only really like one of my three pairs of running shorts.  They are shorter and lighter Adidas shorts with built-in mesh underwear.  Unfortunately none of my shorts have well placed or enough pockets.

I love my new Wolverine-like blue and yellow compression socks!

I have two pairs of shoes - both minimal, 4mm drop.  I have inov-8 trail shoes with crazy grip and a pair of new balance for the roads.  I like them both a lot.  I may buy some non-minimal shoes, based on advice I received on running 100km.

So that is head-to-toe...let's see...what else...

I use Chamois butt'r to prevent chafing on long runs.

I've been fueling my runs with Vega Endurance bars.  I usually eat a half or a third at a time - every 45 minutes or so, on a long run.  I don't usually eat or drink on runs shorter than 1.5 hours (ish).

My foam roller has allowed me to keep up running.  Before I was foam rolling my knees would hurt all the time...to the point of considering giving up on running.  Foam rolling hurts because some muscles are so tight but man does it ever help.

Great weekend in Perth

Most kilometres ever!  My training plan called for back-to-back long runs this weekend - a four-hour Saturday and a three-hour Sunday.  I ran in Perth because we spent the weekend with my parents and sisters' families at the Stewart Park Festival.

Friday night and early Saturday morning I worked with my dad to plan out a route.  I decided I wanted try the Rideau Trail but we weren't totally sure where to find t it.  I set out just after 6am, with only an idea of where to go.  

Through quite a bit of trial and error I found the trail that headed south-east from Scotch Line towards Wildlife Road.  Not much of a trail actually and totally without signage.  It took me right by the dump...which was stinky but kinda cool with a whole flock of turkey vultures.  

My next bit of interest happened at the end of Ferrier rd.  I started off down an atv trail...but soon the trail started getting wet and then wetter and then...I was at the edge of a marsh.  I had to backtrack.

 

 

And that is when I found the actual Rideau Trail.  Super well marked but often barely maintained.  Thorn bushes tore my legs to shreds.  Creeks to cross.  Thin little barely stable bridges over a swamp.  And the mosquitoes and black flies - nutso.  My pace was crazy slow because I kept losing the orange triangles that marked the trail. Overall a fun adventure!  

I took roads home to finish off an excellent 4 hour run.

Sunday was a 3-hour road run with a little sidetrip to the Perth Wildlife Reserve.  

Amazing weekend of running.  And even better, my knees feel okay.