Frosty Trail Run 3-hour - Saturday, January 20th, 2018

So much for my predictions - this was far from the slushfest I'd envisioned, though the course conditions were definitely the story of the day.

..and the beautiful sunshine, too.

I'd actually got a pretty good night's sleep before waking up at an absurd hour to have my pre-race oatmeal, but the 68km I'd run in the prior 7 days didn't exactly bode well for "performance"...so I took the luxury (after eating, braiding my hair and taping my ankle) of going back to bed for a 25min nap, and just hoped I'd even be able to get 20km in.

Back up and out the door just as the sun began to rise, we grabbed coffee and headed to Camp Heidelberg. I swear our car nearly knows how to get there by itself by now - this would be the 14th event in which I'd participated there.

It's like coming home, only colder and with more hills.

I arrived with plenty of time to say hello to everyone and pick up my race number - it felt really weird pinning it to the bottom of my shirt instead of a skirt, but I was afraid the wind blowing across the snowpack would be just a little too chilly so went with - gasp! - full tights. I availed myself of the facilities, flailed my limbs around during the pre-race announcements, and decided against starting with spikes - Jack had gone out for a lap with his Microspikes and one without, and his judgement was that "nothing really helps". Not super encouraging; I figured I'd try a lap without, but leave my traction devices by the aid station with Tanker in case I felt I needed to stop and put them on. I did, however, wear my neoprene toe covers; if there was going to be any slush out there, I didn't want to risk my previously frostbitten toes in the wet cold and wind.

One last visit to the washroom, then line up outside and it's go time.

Look at those fast people flying off the start!

I stayed toward the back, knowing that this wasn't really a race for me - just a supported training run in some pretty woods.

Starting my multi-hour meander.

The sunshine was beautiful but it was still below freezing at start time, and the snowpack varied considerably throughout the 2.1km loop of the course. It was fairly deep and sugar-fine with a crust of ice near the surface where we headed into the upper woods, but thinned out significantly to become quite runnable in the trees.

This was tough to run through for the first while.

This was much easier.

As you exited the upper woods to hit the long downhill to the driveway and down to the main forest, you'd emerge into the warm sun - it was always a welcome burst of heat as the air stayed quite cold, but my dark-coloured tights absorbed the solar energy nicely to blanket my legs with coziness as I ran.

Quite runnable all day all the way down past the pavilion.

The only deep spot on the way down the hill was just as you transition from the grassy hill to the driveway itself - this stayed deep and mushy for most of the day.

Some careful footwork required.

The driveway itself was absolutely fine - just a small amount of snow - so it was a great place to make up some time.

Yes, I actually did run some!

Things got a little more interesting past the pavilion, where there was some lumpy, deeply footprinted ice under a thin layer of snow. Cautious of my taped-up ankle, I took it really easy through here and wondered if I'd made a mistake by going spikeless.

Yikes.

The way down into the woods wasn't bad early on - a bit of snowpack, but I took my time and was careful of my footing, especially around the spot where I doubted the broken board from Horror Trail had been replaced.

No, it had not. It was, however, buried under quite a bit of snow.

The big stinkin' hill in the main forest was my biggest concern, as any ice on it would make the climb nigh impossible without spikes. As I approached I could see slip marks from other people's shoes, which wasn't very confidence inspiring.

Following a 6-hour runner up through the snow.

Fortunately traction was probably at least as good on the face as it was anywhere in the course. I did experience a bit of slippage, but was able to stay upright. I did end up consciously tucking my left arm into my body as I climbed, though - I'd fallen on my hands on this same hill at Horror Trail in October, and my left wrist and thumb were still causing me some pain and trouble as a result. The worst possible outcome would be for me to fall on it again, so I tried to make sure that if I did go pitching forward I'd land on my forearm instead,

Which might not have been any better, but such is my logic while running.

Through the first lap without incident, the morning sun was so lovely that I wanted to grab the camera from Tank, but he was nowhere to be found when I came through the aid station - off being useful to everyone else. It wasn't until the start of my third lap that I was able to snag it from him to take some photos of the conditions.

In between the major hill and the secondary stepped hill.

The gentle uphill above the stepped hill, with the 1km mark somewhere in the middle.

The upper portion of the main forest did have some nasty lumpy mud under the snow cover - I had to be very careful from about the 1.2km mark (seen below) through 1.4km, as it would have been very easy to damage even my stronger ankle.

Things had clearly just frozen in place after the mudfest that was Horror Trail 2017.

I kept nutrition pretty simple as I went round and round the loop - just a swig diluted of EFS Liquid Shot from my flask every 30mins until I finished it at the 2-hour mark, adding in a chunk of banana from the aid station around 1h so I wouldn't get too hungry. Unfortunately, while I never experienced any drop in energy, my strategy for keeping the growlies at bay was less than effective - by 2hrs in (now 5hrs after my morning oatmeal), I was starving.

Keep your hands and feet away from her mouth, folks!
(Photo credit: Race Director Patrick Campbell)

I'd managed 6laps in the first 90mins, but was slowing down through the second half. It became blatantly apparent that I haven't spent much time running long on technical trails lately, as all the stabilizing muscles in my hips and groin started to whine about the conditions. Knowing that I'd still easily surpass the 20k goal I'd originally hoped for and would probably even make it past 21.1km (I always like to at least attempt to beat half marathon distance in the 3-hour here), I decided to take my phone out to get a few shots of the sun's effects on the course.

Hmm, there might have been a bit of melting going on..

WOWZA!

Apart from the emergence of the mud in several places on the loop, there were other changes as well - some for the better, and some for the worse. On the bright side, the deep sugary snow had been nicely packed down in most places by now; there were visible trenches where the passage of feet had created a runnable surface out of what had been a shifting, unstable mess earlier.

Score!

Unfortunately, the effects of sun and feet weren't all positive - the stretch before you exit the main woods to run up the driveway had its layer of snow scraped off by people's toe-off, revealing very slippery ice underneath.

Yeah, might be grabbing those spikes after all.

Map from my Garmin, plus some annotations - all workout data here.

Doing the math and trying to get an idea of my lap times from my Garmin, I figured I could probably get at least 11 laps in if I didn't dawdle too much. I gave myself an extra boost in the last hour with a good slurp of diluted sea salt chocolate Gu Roctane from a flask around 2h30m, then dropped it off with Tanker after my 10th lap with about 25mins to go. 

I still had about 8mins once I'd completed my 11th lap for 23.1km, and finally ran down Grant and Robin - I stayed with them for the final few minutes, of COURSE ending up having to climb the big stinkin' hill one last time before the horn sounded to end the 3 hour race. I didn't even get credit for it, either - we could only report the last 200m marker we'd passed before time ran out (which had been the 800m sign) even though I was at least halfway from it to the 1k marker. Blargh!

Done and back in the sun on my way up the driveway to the building.

Official distance: 23.9km (11 laps + 0.8km)

4/10 women - tied for 5/13 O/A

Official results - I was only passed by the 3rd place woman in the last 10mins or so.

I headed inside, getting changed out of my wet kit almost immediately as I had a plan. While my legs, hips and ankles were all a bit whiny, I didn't actually feel too badly beaten up. I put on a fresh set of running clothes - a little warmer than those I'd worn to start the day - had a cup of coffee, and stuffed my face for a bit. I made sure not to sit down, preferring to stay on my feet and keep moving to try to keep my legs from getting stiff. One hour (the minimum requirement), a turkey wrap, some chocolate fig energy balls, a couple of mini chocolate chip cookies, and a few cashews later (I told you I got hungry!), I headed back out on course to do another few laps. After all, the 100 runs in 100 days challenge was still on!

The course had not improved in my absence.

The upper woods were now lumpy, too.

I'd told myself that I'd put my spikes on before I went back out, but when it came time to actually go run again I left them at the aid station once more. I wanted to see what it was like out there without them first, which may have been a dumb idea.

It had got rather slippery on the descent into the main forest.

Despite the day staying quite chilly in the brisk West wind, the sun had continued to blowtorch the snow from the woods, exposing more and more of the mud below.

The difference in the hill between 10am and just before 2pm.

While it never actually got slushy or even too sloppy in the time I was out there - which constituted about another hour between 1pm-ish and 2pm-ish, so the 5th hour of the 6-hour race - there was significant melting going on.

And the beginnings of a quagmire at the top of the big stinkin' hill in the forest.

Fortunately the melting included the ice under the snow where you emerge from the main woods, so other than a couple of little slips here and there I never really regretted leaving my traction devices off - I actually managed to stay upright all day! I took things pretty easy, though, as I was just out to fart around while Tanker continued taking care of the 6-hour racers and get myself one more run closer to 100.

Even if it meant climbing that bloody hill 3 more times.

Dressing warmer than I had in the morning and re-donning my wind vest proved to be excellent decisions, as I would have been chilly at the lower effort level had I not had the extra insulation against the cold wind.

The sunshine was still gorgeous, though.

It was actually nice to be out on this trail with no particular drive to push myself for once - able to walk or stop and take photos whenever I pleased without worrying about the clock. It was just a pleasant traipse through the woods, exploring all the differences the sun had wrought while I'd been inside trying to stay loose and silence my growling stomach.

Very happy not to have to push the pace through the lumpy frozen mud of the upper main forest.

It was probably a good thing I could take my time, as I had probably eaten a bit more than I should in my sojourn indoors. I wasn't quite in danger of decorating the course with half-digested cookies, but there was a bit of rumbling in my belly during my first long, jostling run down the big hill from the upper woods. Fortunately it settled down fairly quickly - I hadn't had any G.I. issues all day, and didn't really want to start now.

The minimum requirement for the 100 runs in 100 days challenge is 30mins, but my own personal minimum is 5km...so that meant 3 laps (or 6.3km), since I figured there was no point in cutting the loop short, and that would net me just over 30km for the day. It took me the best part of an hour, getting chilled by the wind and warmed by the sun as I meandered around the course, but I actually felt pretty good by the end.

Just what the doctor ordered?

Of course, Tanker was still being amazing for another hour after I scuttled back inside to some warm, dry clothes and a bit more food. He not only ran the aid station basically by himself, he also did his level best to make sure the other volunteers recorded every one of the laps for all the runners - something that has historically been a problem in the past.

Straight talk: if you're really uptight about accurate timing, this probably isn't the race for you. If you just want a fun day in some pretty woods with plenty of interaction with other racers and a hot bowl of chili at the end, you'll probably have a great time!

Especially with this guy making sure all your aid station needs are met!

Even with my idiotic insistence on going back out for some bonus laps, I was still able to run the next day, and pull a double the day after that. I have been taking it a bit easier - as I said I would - this week with mostly minimum-distance runs, but I'm encouraged by how strong I've felt since racing the 6-hour at Stride Inside just a fortnight before Frosty Trail.

Hopefully it means I'm becoming a little more resilient and able to recover from big efforts, because there are definitely plenty of those to come this year!

While still hopefully having lots of time to spend with this awesome fellow <3

Reprieve

In spite of one of the nastier winters we've had in recent memory, work for the 100 runs in 100 days challenge continues.

One day of snow after the big melt and refreeze, and it's a winter wonderland once more.

I was convinced I wouldn't be able to match 2016's December mileage (287km), but managed to surpass it by a smidge with 290.9km. It's mostly been about consistency rather than big efforts - most of my runs in the challenge have been right around the 5k/30min mark, which is the minimum requirement.

Frozen waterfalls are a bonus.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at my total on January 15th - one month from the start date of the challenge. How the heck had I run 322km in that time? 200 miles over the holidays - really?

Some of it in some seriously sketchy conditions.

Now, I had totally failed to taper for the Stride Inside 6-hour, which accounted for almost a sixth of the total distance. I was also lucky enough to be able to straight back to regular training after the race - a minimum distance run the next day, but a double on Monday as usual. I ran another double the Saturday after the race, too, before taking part in the Waterloo Marathon Ed Whitlock Memorial Half Marathon Course Preview run on Sunday morning. Throw in another double run day on Monday, and I'd racked up 133km in the 10 days starting with the 48km on the track at Stride Inside.

I'm guessing that's why I was feeling a little knackered by Monday evening. Kicking my arse out the door to run in a snowstorm for the second time that day was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.

Even if the snow was all pretty and glittery.

I'd never been so happy in my life to have nothing but a simple 6k lunch run waiting for me on Tuesday. With a bit of extra sleep some life returned to my legs by Wednesday, but I kept it a little shorter and stuck to the roads instead of chancing the trails after work.

So happy to see some light in the sky at the end of a 7.85km run that started at 5pm!

With another bare-ass minimum run last night through some mashed potato snow, I'm still holding in 10th spot on the challenge leaderboard with 39 runs in the 36 days so far.

I'm sure I'll be knocked down to the 2nd page by tomorrow.

Now with 68km in my legs in the last 7 days, I'm enjoying a day off. I think next week I'll take myself a little mini off-season - only minimum required distance runs for the whole week - to prepare for the next big block of training. It's not quite two thirds of the way through January and I've got 181.9km on the year; burnout and injury won't help me achieve my lofty goals for 2018, so I'll back it off a bit to absorb some of the work.

I just have one little thing to do tomorrow first..

Uhh...splashing through the snow?

If you don't already have plans, I highly recommend you come on out to Camp Heidelberg on Saturday for the 6th more-or-less-annual Frosty Trail Run. Course recon done by a friend today shows no ice, but a snow covered course that should quickly degenerate into mud and slush with the mild temperatures predicted for tomorrow. Why not come out and watch me drag my tired body around a 2.0km loop for three hours - you can laugh at me as you pass, and of course you'll have Tanker the Wonder Sherpa taking care of your every need at the aid station on each lap of the 1, 3 or 6-hour race!

If I'm feeling really ambitious, I might even go out for another couple of laps after I finish the 3-hour..


..but I'm totally resting next week.

Stride Inside 6-hour Indoor Track Ultra - Saturday, January 6th, 2018

I'm not sure I've ever been so unprepared for a race in my life.

Loopy madness!

Ok, enough with the incredulous looks - I'll explain what I mean. I was somewhat trained, despite not having run more than 20km or so or 2.5hrs since Horror Trail at the end of October. I just hadn't actually bothered to taper, or adequately supply myself for the race. With 61.5km in my legs in the 7 days prior; a poor night of sleep (kept awake by frozen feet + woken up a couple of times = 4 hours' worth of naps); no tortilla chips, no salted nuts, and no marshmallows in the house to make my maple sea salt crisp rice squares.

Hell, I didn't even have any bacon. How would I survive?

Did I mention I was also held together with spit and baling wire?

Fortunately, I didn't really have any goals other than to make it past 42.2km - enough to legitimately call it an ultra. I figured 45k was probably reasonable to expect, with a stretch figure of 50k - I've only run that distance in less than 6hrs once, though, and it was basically the best race of my entire life. So, no pressure. Just go get loopy.

Which started long before the race did.

Arriving in the freakin' FREEZING sunrise after oatmeal and coffee in the wee hours, I got myself ready to go without much incident. I said hello to a bunch of people and picked up my race kit: Clif bar, gel & shot block samples, an awesome Happy Trails Racing mug full of deluxe hot chocolate or apple cider mix (for us dairy free/vegan folks), and a slick running singlet with the race logo. Packet pickup went flawlessly - Race Co-ordinator Heather had everything running like a Swiss watch! I used the facilities, flailed my limbs around, and listened to the pre-race announcements in the small room where our aid station and home base was set up, almost directly beside the track entrance.

Jeff and Heather did a great job of making sure we knew everything we needed to before heading out.

Of course I needed to pee just as Jeff started the announcements, so had to run off to the washroom (hey look - I did a warmup!) right after he finished. Fortunately for me the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre has plenty of (quite clean and well-maintained) washroom stalls and there were only 60 participants for the inaugural year, so I didn't have to line up for a loo and made it out to the track just in time for the 9am start.

Off we go!

In a strange way, it was almost a relief to make it through first lap - all ninety seconds of it. I'd wrenched my right ankle on a trail a week prior and it had been grumpy all week (hence the tape), so I was pleased it was cooperating...though it wasn't super keen on the tight left-hand turns on the track. As usual, I ignored it and hoped it would go away. The kind folks from Defy Sports Performance & Physiotherapy had tables set up in one of the corners near the start/finish line in case anything went fruit shaped on me.

Jeff had got out his treadwheel and measured the inside line of the track at 215m, so even slightly different paces ended up passing one another frequently as we circled. Despite the deep freeze outside, the temperature indoors was a pleasant 18c/65f or so: not so warm that you overheated as you ran, but also not the chill of the York University track from Run4RKids. The surface was much more forgiving, too, being a 4-lane polymer flat track rather than the painted cement I'd hated last year.

The far side straightaway.

I ran with lots of different people at all sorts of paces throughout the day, just to chat and catch up a bit after the holidays. Between the friendly banter on the track, the various sports going on in the infield (which transitioned from adult ultimate frisbee through kids' soccer practice to wee ones' softball), and the music that Race Director Jeff had piped in over the public address system, it wasn't nearly as dull as one might expect. There had even been an invitation to post your favourite "power songs" prior to the event so it could be played for you on the track to give you a lift.

I didn't really figure most of my favourite tunes would be welcomed in polite company. There were children there, after all.

I had set a water bottle out on a ledge near the start/finish to grab at my convenience, but to be honest I kind of forgot about food & drink for first half hour or so.

Too busy getting loopy.

Finally my thirst got the better of me - in my limited experience, indoor tracks in winter are incredibly dry, and I needed to wet my whistle. I was chatting with someone, though, so it took me another couple of laps before I actually stopped to grab my bottle...by which time I figured I should probably start taking in some nutrition as well, so grabbed my flask of EFS Liquid Shot out of the UltraCooler™ in race HQ.

Of course, they had a wonderful spread laid out for everyone in there, too: potato chips, pretzels, bananas, gummy bears, reese's pieces, peanut butter & jam sandwiches, plus water and electrolyte drink. If it weren't for all my pain-in-the-butt food allergies, I could have feasted! Race Co-ordinator Heather was very sweet and efficient about offering any assistance she could to all the racers who came to the bountiful buffet, even if it was just her delightful smile.

Back on track, it wasn't too long before the 1-hour race - which started at 9am with the 6-hour - came to an end. The track got a bit emptier, but not much - most of the people there were in it for the long haul. About 20mins later I'd finished my first bottle of water (I told you it was dry in there!), so went to get a fresh one from race HQ...only to discover that all the counter-clockwise turns had led to me having a distinct lean to the left from the ankles.

Ooh..

At 90mins the 3-hour race started just as we 6-hour folks completed our first u-turn around a set of cones Race Director Jeff laid out on the straightaway furthest from the start/finish, adding some new friendly faces to the merry-go-round and giving a great chance for some high-fiving of those who'd already been out there awhile. I started to get hungry at this point; not necessarily in need of calories (as I was taking in EFS Liquid Shot every 30mins), but I wanted something I could chew. It had been 4.5hrs since my morning oatmeal and I was missing my crisp rice squares, bacon and tortilla chips, but felt it was too early to break into the sole turkey & mustard wrap I'd brought along. Wish I'd have remembered that I had tucked a Larabar and a Bounce ball in the UltraCooler™, but there was no point in grumbling.

I had to question the placement of Neil Young's "Long May You Run" around 1h48m - it seemed a bit of a cruel joke to play that when I wasn't even a third of the way through the race, and admittedly things were starting to feel a bit cranky - but the music was quiet enough that you could generally either tune it out (hur, hur) or use your own if you chose. I don't run with music, so it was basically just an occasional distraction from the endless loops.

The straightaway through the start/finish - timing table on the right by the timing mats, with a screen to show your completed laps and clock displaying the elapsed time further on..

Finally, around the 2-hour mark with my legs starting to get whiny, I took my first walking break (other than leaving the track to obtain food & water). I probably should have started them sooner, but my "long" runs for the past couple of months had all been around 2-2.5hrs, so for some idiot reason I figured I could tough it out until then. Two laps - after a stop to pick up an EnduranceTap and eat a chunk of banana - took me about 5mins to stroll, take in some more calories and water, and relax a bit. When I started running again it was like I had pushed a reset button for my legs - they felt better than they had in awhile!

Trotting along again.

Unfortunately, it didn't last. By 2h30m I was hurting a bit again - I could even feel the unevenness of the painted lines dividing the lanes on the track - and needed to walk another lap. I had heard that 238 was the magic number of loops to make 50k, but with only 118 completed in the first 3 hours I knew I'd be hard pressed to make it there. I decided that an even 200 laps was a nice, round number to shoot for, and let myself walk when I needed to.

I finally put it together - having seen a fellow cruise past me absolutely covered in salt stains - that I hadn't taken in any electrolytes yet, though I had finally caved at 3hrs (after turn-around #2) and had half of my turkey wrap. Around 3h15m I jetted off to race HQ to grab an S!cap out of the UltraCooler™, and ended up offering one to another racer who said he was in need. I also grabbed my phone to take some photos while I was out there, but totally overestimated my willingness to carry it. 3 laps (about 4mins or so) later I was dropping it back off, even hating having the additional weight in the pocket of my skirt.

Not before acting like a total knob, though.

As the day progressed the sun streamed through the windows and roll-up doors around the track, making it look as though it were a lovely day outside. I knew it was bitterly cold and the wind howled mercilessly, but as my hips, adductors, calves and ankles continued to object to the relentless pounding of the flat track with its tight curves I found myself longing to be out in the woods. I walked more and more - every 15mins, then every 10 laps, then finally having to talk myself into running 5 laps at a time.

I did get a couple of lifts in the last third of the race - first because the 4h mark meant it was COOKIE TIME. I devoured a snack pack of mini soft baked chocolate chip cookies as I walked a couple of laps, later realizing I'd been told in the pre-race meeting that only water was supposed to be consumed on the track. 

I'm a jerk. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it - I just get really dumb when I run more than 3 hours. 

I also got a little shot of energy around 4h15m when a couple of tracks that I'd actually include on my own playlist turned up on the public address system back to back - first Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" and then "One" by Metallica. This is also how I discovered how hard it is to headbang and/or air drum while running. Just so you know..

I was starting to get tired (in spite of my cookies and the rest of my turkey wrap at 4h30m, just after the end of the 3-hour and the final turn-around), especially when the third sport of the day started in the infield. Fortunately almost all of the people who were in and out of the netted-off centre of the track were very respectful and courteous about waiting for a break in the flow of runners before crossing our path to exit. I wasn't sure if it was them or us, though, that caused the waft of sweaty body odour to flood my nostrils somewhere around the 4h45m mark. I'm guessing it was the ultra folks. I tell you - there's sweaty, then there's ultra stench. It doesn't kick in until you've been running for more than about 4.5hrs, but it's undeniably worse than regular sweaty runner odour. 

Photo by the awesome Sue Sitki

I broke out the caffeinated sea salt chocolate Gu Roctane for the final hour of the race to try to spark some kind of energy, and I know it helped some. All told I took in about 850cal in the form of a full flask of slightly dilute EFS Liquid Shot, an Endurance Tap, 2 slurps from a flask of mildly diluted sea salt chocolate Gu Roctane, 2 chunks of banana, my packet of cookies, and the turkey & mustard wrap. I had a total of 2 S!caps the whole day - my hands didn't get swelly, but I did discover some pretty dramatic salt stains on my shirt after the race. I had no GI issues all day, and didn't even need to use the bathroom during the race - a testament to how dry the air was, as I went through more than 6 bottles (120oz - a little more than 3.5L) of water.

With less than an hour left I was almost certain that 50k was out of reach, but I was still pressing to run at least 5 laps in between walking breaks. I got to lap 194 and told myself I had to run until I made my goal of 200 laps, and ended up falling into step with Neil Ibey for a bit. He told me I should keep running until I'd done 201, as that would be a full marathon distance. I grumped a bit, but did it anyway - damn peer pressure!

With a fair bit of time left, I started revising goals. I figured 45k was easily in reach, but maybe 225 laps? My hips and ankles were whining a lot at this point, and the arches of my feet had got quite sore and achy - don't know how well that bodes for using the same shoes at the Niagara Ultra 100k this coming June. I didn't really experience any dark moments, but it was getting very tough to convince myself to keep running, and even when I did I had to be mindful of my form. The tight turns gave me a tendency to let my elbows float out, running like I had chicken wings - I kept having to winch them back in as the fatigue built.

Eventually I got so tired I completely unfocused.  

Tanker actually left his aid station/race HQ duties in the last 15mins or so and even came out and walked a lap with me, stating flatly that he doesn't run. I gave him one more smooch (I'd managed to get one every time I went to get a fresh bottle or something from the UltraCooler™) then set about finishing this thing up. Jeff and Heather were trackside for the last half hour or more, offering great encouragement to the tired bodies still circling and working hard.

I walked lap #214 and wanted at least 220, so I kept running for the final 5...then saw by the clock that I only had 8mins left. Any idiot can run for 8 minutes, right? I managed to get into lap #224 with just over 2mins to go...then slowed ever so slightly so I would have no chance of making another, even if I sprinted (of which I'm not sure I was capable). I'm still not sure if I should be disappointed in myself for letting off the gas, but it is what it is. 

And they gave me a medal anyway!

Official distance: 224 laps / 48.16km

22/39 O/A - 7/17 Women

(Full official results here)

All told, I ended up a bit off my pace from Run4RKids last year, but with no taper and some niggles heading into the race I'm pretty pleased with the result. Even better, I had no nutritional issues (other than being a bit hungry for stuff I hadn't had the forethought to bring), only a very minor hotspot under my left big toe from the sharp corners, and much less soreness than usual after an ultra. My calves were pretty beat up and my hips were sore, but with some care and attention from Defy Sports after the race (I love me a free post-ultra massage!) I was actually able to run the next afternoon, and then did a double run day on Monday.

My race swag definitely helped get me out the door on Sunday!

The Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre is a really nice venue overall - clean and well maintained, and much more comfortable than the only other indoor track with which I have experience. It doesn't hurt that it's only 20mins from home, too! 

This was assuredly another successful event put on by the delightful Happy Trails Racing folks, and raised money for two excellent causes - the race itself benefiting ShelterSafe, and sales of t-shirts and hoodies being used to help the lovely wife of a friendly Ontario ultrarunner who is undergoing radical and very expensive treatment in the United States for stage 4 colon cancer.

The hoodies are awesome, too, even if they let total dorks wear them!

This event is already scheduled for 2019, and is well worth giving a try whether you want to ensure you can get a solid workout in even during the worst of winter's blast, keep yourself motivated to train through the holidays, or simply to have a chance to hang with all the fun ultrarunners on course. If you'd like to be a part of it, sign up quick! As of today - less than a week after the inaugural event - it's already 30% sold out!

With good reason!