Good in-tent-ions

Last week's floodwaters have receded, and the air finally seems to be getting the idea that it's supposed to be May rather than late March. The trilliums are in bloom, and last night I surpassed 1,200km of running for the year.

Only one of these things happens every May.

With just over two weeks to go until the Sulphur Springs 100k (AAAAAAAACK!), I am trying to make peace with the fact my training for the event is essentially over. I took 3 days off after Pick Your Poison and have put in just over 60km since, but the window for making fitness gains before race day is pretty much closed. I'll continue to run quite frequently - 6-7 times per week - but nothing terribly long or taxing. My only goal is to keep my legs fresh and allow as much recovery as possible to arrive at the starting line in the best condition I can muster.

And hopefully the trails won't require a snorkel.

In that vein, I'm actually going to spend this weekend testing out some kit for future races. We're going to be camping the night before and the night after both Limberlost and Haliburton this year, and I was less than pleased with having to roll around to change in, and then crawl my way out of our somewhat elderly MSR Mutha Hubba tent after the Dirty Girls 12-hour last year. I would be much happier with something I could stand up in and walk out of when my legs are unreliable, but since Tanker was basically on his own to break down and pack up our campsite (since I was pretty useless) we needed something that was easy to set up and take down - no stupid pole sleeves or weird pole configurations. I also wanted a tent that would be reliably weatherproof, since noone wants to wake up floating in a puddle on their sleeping pad in the middle of the night either before or after an ultra, so that eliminated most of the "cheap and easy" options from places like Canadian Tire.

Fortunately, things all came together for us late last month. I finally found a tent hat checks all the boxes, and showed it to Tank online. He loved it and wondered about asking for it as a birthday gift, since it would make his life at races way easier. It wasn't two hours later that my Mum (who is amazing) called me to ask what Tank would like for his birthday, and having found a place that had one left in stock for $100 less than anyone else in Canada, it was ordered before the day was out. On May 1st it arrived, and we are now proud owners of a Mountain Hardwear Optic 6!

I can just picture Tanker reclining comfortably in a camp chair under the awning, waiting in the shade for me to finish a lap.

We unrolled it from its duffel bag-size carrying case in our kitchen and quickly discovered that the dimensions given on the website really did not convey just how huge this thing is. It's basically a portable nylon cottage, and has already earned the nickname "the Cabana" or "the Punk Rawk Cabin". The thing is almost six and a half feet tall in the middle!

As simple as it seems to set up and take down, we don't want to try that for the first time when we arrive at Limberlost late (and possibly after dark) on a Friday evening. So, we need a camping trip! We had hoped to go last weekend, but what with the rain, flooding everywhere, fighting off a cold and those stupid March-like temperatures, it just seemed like a bad idea. So, we're going to try again this weekend! Just a single night as we have obligations on Saturday morning, but it'll be our first time sleeping outdoors this year and I AM STOKED!

The bonus is that this means we'll be on the doorstep of some trails I haven't run in quite a long time, so if you need me on Saturday just look for the absurdly grinning girl traipsing around in the woods..

Assuming we don't get lost somewhere in the massive expanse of our tent.

Fingers crossed that we don't get too wet.