Is it something personal?

Oracle Trail was ridiculously cold. It was the one truly arctic day we had out of the entire winter.

Seaton Soaker was rainy, muddy and windy...but just for the morning while I was running. It came up absolutely gorgeous in the afternoon when Tanker and I went for a hike.

Now, after a few days of unseasonably cool weather, this is the forecast for the Conquer the Canuck 50k tomorrow:

Do I die from a lightning strike, a tree falling on me, or just heat stroke?

I'd always known that this "race" was going to be more about putting in time on my feet for the Dirty Girls 12hr next month, but I had no idea it was likely to take me right up until the 8-hour cutoff time to crawl my sorry arse in to the line.

I figure things should start out ok, with cooler temperatures and the course not too muddied up yet.

Lap 1: "Hey, I can do this!"

But since I've never run an ultra where the high for the day was over 17c/63f, I wonder about my endurance when it's really horrendously hot out. My longest training day was 2 weeks ago - 4.25hrs in high heat and humidity - but I only covered 29km (of admittedly much more technical and hilly trail) during that time. That extrapolates out to about a 7h36m finish for 50k, without allowance for pace decay past 4h15m.

Lap 2: "At least the rain is helping keep things a bit cooler.."

The rain and wind should assist a bit with temperature regulation, but the 35kph/22mph wind with 53kph/33mph gusts are going to be hard to deal with in the more open areas on the trail.

Not to mention, you know, lightning and potentially falling branches...or trees.

Lap 3: "YIKES!"

I don't know the exact route that Conquer the Canuck uses, but I've mountain biked, cross-country skied and run the trails at Shade's Mills Conservation Area before. They're not technical, but there are a couple of steep little hills that will get tougher and tougher as the day goes on, plus a couple of places that I know will degenerate into quagmires of ankle-deep mud if we get the rain they're predicting.

Lap 4: "AAAARGH"  *SPLAT*

The scenery will undoubtedly be lovely, but with the route being an 8.33km/5.18mi loop, I'm sure its novelty will have worn off long before my 6th and final lap. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to inspect every inch of the course, too, since the pacing strategy I'm going to try to employ will be the old ultrarunning axiom "go out easy, then back off". I strongly suspect that my breakdown at Vulture Bait last year was party due to poor pacing: I ran for almost a solid hour at the beginning when things still felt good, just because the course made it easy to do so. Had I employed some walking breaks earlier on in the race, I might not have had that gluteus issue that cascaded down my leg almost immobilizing my left knee (and making it painful to walk, let alone run). Tomorrow, I'll try to be a little smarter - I'll probably walk all of the uphills right from the start, because I almost assuredly won't be running them toward the end. This will be more of a hike with occasional running intervals than anything I could call a "race".

Lap 5: "You assume I'm running at all by this point.."

Of course, moving slowly on a course that borders a lake and has a stream running through it in mid-June leaves me wide open to a peril about which the race director informed us this week:

"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH"

This time I'll try to actually get some bug spray on me, and hope that the rain doesn't wash it all off.

I'm sure as the day goes on my aid station stops will get longer and longer, as I'm also going to use it as a demo day for fueling strategies for Dirty Girls - I just don't think I can go a full 12 hours on gels and cookies (because I still insist the only reason to run for more than 4hrs is because you can eat cookies on course), so tomorrow I'm going to try some salted cashews and even a couple of bites of a turkey and mustard wrap. I'll also be doing my second ever run with S!caps for electrolyte replacement, in an effort to keep my hands from swelling to their usual elephantine proportions.

Me, every time I run over 2 hours.

Really, I'm just hoping that everything comes out ok, and I can finish upright, un-injured and before the 8-hour course cutoff. Thanks to Vulture Bait last year, I know I can limp in a sub-6.25hr 50k even when badly damaged, but I'd really rather it not come to that.

Lap 6: *sniffle* "..I don't wanna run a 12-hour anymore.." *sob*

I know I've got the training in that should see me safely through, and I did even taper a bit this week - I've only run 56-ish kilometers/35mi since Saturday instead of 70+km, and I've got a little bit of extra sleep (6-7hrs per night Wednesday & Thursday instead of my ususal 5). I am, however, a bit messed up over the idea that a 50k is "no big deal" compared to what I'll be attempting at Dirty Girls - a 50k is still a big bloody deal to my ultra-poseur arse, and as much as I try to tell myself it's just a long, supported training day I'm still firmly in the grip of pre-race nerves.

Only one thing is fairly assured - tomorrow's 50k is going to be like drunk sex. It'll be hot, wet, messy, exhausting and almost certainly go on far longer than something that isn't quite as fun as you'd expected should.

Then you'll wake up in the morning wondering what the hell happened to you.

As for the rest...well, I'll find out tomorrow, won't I?

Good luck to all those racing the Cambridge Classic Mile this evening! I'd love to join you, but I think barfing up a lung the night before a 50k is a little too ill advised even for me..

Taper...rrh?

After the lovely long weekend break from running, it was time to get back down to work.

Having run 119km in the 10 days since, I think it's safe to say I did just that. The longest was 29km that took me 4.25hrs at Hydrocut in 30c/86f heat last Saturday - it was all hills (630m/2,066ft of climbing), humidity and one really solid bail when I caught my toe on an innocent little sapling stump.

Muddy belly, wrists and knees.
You know it's hot when you have a hydration pack AND and handheld bottle.

I was only 90mins in when I went for a close-up examination of the forest floor, but couldn't even take a moment to collect myself before the hordes of mosquitoes descended upon me - they bit me no less than 8 times just while I tried to get back to my feet! That stick in my hand above? I found that on the trail and continued to carry it around with me for over 2.5hrs after the jerks bit me on the back of my shoulder where I couldn't reach to scratch it. It also helped with all the bites on my legs - the stick gave me the extra reach to scratch itchy things while power hiking hills rather than having to stop (or fall over, which is always an option).

So there's a lesson for new trail runners: a mosquito bite scratching tool can be satisfactorily fashioned out of a found stick. Alternatively, wear insect repellent. Or just be faster than me and outrun them.

Of the above, I think I'd recommend the latter.

They may lie in ambush for you, though..

The next day was brunch with friends in Guelph, so I treated myself to a run on the gorgeous Royal Recreational Trail that runs North of Riverside Park. Unfortunately, the sun, heat and humidity continued to beat me down. I could handle the sore legs from the long hours on my feet the day before, or I could take the scorching and sweating in 30c/86c noon sun...but both together made for a true sufferfest run.

Though if you're going to suffer, you might as well do so somewhere this beautiful.

Ready to fall down and die somewhere shady and cool.

I made it through, but there were an embarrassing number of walking breaks and pauses to catch my breath considering how flat the trail was.

I cranked out another 15k on Monday evening, enjoying some cooler air (24c/75f) after the sun had set but getting to bed far later than I wanted (I didn't get home from the run until after 10pm, and still had dinner to make). Then Tuesday came along, and due to the time we made it home from work I had no choice but to run to the pool: 10.6km of net uphill with 1 small and 2 good-size climbs, and all into the wind.

It didn't go well.

I'm sure it didn't help that my legs were feeling a little messed up from lifting weights that morning (WALKING LUNGES ARE THE DEVIL), but man...I had to stop half a dozen times to regroup in order to make it, and by the end my right adductors and hamstrings felt like hamburger.

Ouch.

I flailed my way through a swim and hoped that I hadn't caused any lasting damage, then grabbed another 5hrs of sleep before heading into work the next day, having finished off the month of May with 291.6km of running in the bag. When 5pm rolled around I kicked off June with 13km of net downhill on a sunny but cooler (22c/72f) and windy afternoon down the Mississauga trails to my mum's, so all I'd have to do when I got home was make dinner and go to bed.

Also: just a little prettier than running around my neighbourhood after dark.

Fortunately my leg held up, having been careful and vigilant for the first sign of trouble. It felt better on Wednesday night than it had on Tuesday, giving me some hope. Of course, I still only got 5.5hrs of sleep because I'm bad at things.

Thursday evening was another hot one - 26c/79f with humidex over 30c/86f - and I suffered again as I plodded along at what felt like a truly glacial pace. Fortunately it was only 7km, and my leg didn't kick up any fuss about it. I made it to the pool again for a recovery swim and stretch in the hot tub, and went out for a little walk after. The 6hrs of sleep I got last night were a slight improvement, but I'm still pretty knackered.

This is a thing that happened.
Screenshot from this morning after logging last night's run.

While I hadn't really intended to taper much for the Conquer the Canuck 50k next Saturday, I don't think I have much of a choice at this point. I've been pretty lucky to avoid major injury, but I can still feel that all is not totally well with my right leg. Frankly, the only reason I actually ran last night was because I knew I'd have a day off of training today - if not I'd have taken an evening to heal, which is what I'll do tonight. A gentle walk with Tanker the Wonder Sherpa is the most active thing on the menu for the day.

I know I need to get time in on my feet if I want to stand any chance of surviving Dirty Girls, but with 3 of my last 6 runs having been at least somewhat horrible I need to face the fact that I stand a very real chance of injury or burnout if I keep trying to push. Endocrine system depletion is a real thing and my lack of sleep makes me more susceptible than a normal human that actually goes to bed at a decent time.

So, I'm going to cut things back a little. Run 2-2.5hrs tomorrow instead of 3+. Maybe even take my traditional Wednesday-before-a-race-rest-day. We'll see what feels good, keeping in mind how poorly I performed at Seaton Soaker with 77km in my legs in the prior week and the fact that Conquer the Canuck is twice as long.

I'm also trying to cut down in another way that I think will help.

I was doing quite well with getting down to race weight up until mid-April or so. Since then, my efforts have rather stalled and I suspect it's due to my increased running mileage making me into a bottomless pit of hunger. I generally eat fairly healthy, cooking from scratch 6 days per week and primarily munching on vegetables and fruit...unless it's after a long run, when I tend to go a little overboard on "refueling".

Cupcakes are my weakness, but they're far from the only sugary treat I indulge in when I've worked hard for hours on end. Hell, I smashed a pecan tart and a slice of allergen-friendly tiramisu in my face after Sunday's hot and sweaty sufferfest, and that run was less than 90mins! I hadn't even intended to have a dessert, but ended up eating two. Not cool.

I need to get a grip on my sugar addiction.

Though it could have its useful side..

As of this week, I'm trying to make a real effort to curb my intake of anything sweet outside of long (90+min) training sessions. While my addled little brain would like me to believe I'm entitled to a cookie or cupcake (or both..) after a long run, I know I will recover better by eating higher quality foods in two ways:

1) The nutritional value of the food itself will provide better fuel for muscular and endocrine system recovery.

2) If I can drop some of the stubborn pounds I'm carrying, I'll beat myself up less while I'm actually running.

So wish me luck, because studies have shown that sugar is as addictive as cocaine, if not more so.

Pass the carrot sticks, please..

The whole point

I've been putting a lot of energy into my foolish and desperate attempt to ready myself for the Dirty Girls 12hr ultra in July, so it might seem a bit incongruous to take 4 full days off running. As a matter of fact, I ended up only running 4 times in the 9 days after the Seaton Soaker 25k, as I'd taken Monday off as well (due to horrible weather and exhaustion from under 4hrs of sleep on Sunday night). I got in almost 14km on Sunday - the day after the race - and put in another 30km from Tuesday to Thursday, but come Friday I was off the clock.

It is vitally important that I not let running completely take over my life. I'll never be sufficiently good at it to reward that kind of focus, and there are simply too many other things I enjoy doing - backcountry camping and paddling being two that rank high on the list. We didn't manage to get out winter camping since there was either no winter to be found or entirely too much winter happening, so our last trip had been more than 7 months prior, when we paddled at Bon Echo Provincial Park for Campsgiving.

It it also vitally important that I not take myself too seriously, thus after making a small modification to my paddling hat and loading up our kit, we hopped in the car on Saturday, May 21st to engage in the great Canadian tradition of camping for the Victoria Day long weekend...affectionately known to Canucks as May TwoFour.

At last - truth in advertising!

We'd had our concerns about the weather, having booked this trip all the way back in January and what with it having bloody well snowed 6 days prior, but we needn't have worried. We sweated in the sunshine the whole way out to Murphys Point Provincial Park, finally gaining some relief in the wind as we launched our canoe full of gear onto Hogg Bay and headed for Big Rideau Lake.

Yes, all that for 2 nights.
Not exactly roughing it.

After a brief (and I do mean brief - 7 minutes going the "long" way) paddle, we arrived at the Rideau cluster of boat-in campsites and landed on the South side at our tiny sand beach in the lovely, quiet inlet at site # 402. We actually saw a couple of wee minks chasing one another on our way to our little point, and another on the shoreline of a shallow bay behind our site.

Home sweet home.

Our own personal point.

All set up.

With our gear deployed, we settled in for an incredible weekend. Our site on our little point was cozy and surprisingly clean, though admittedly it was only the secon weekend the park had been open. Unexpectedly, we found there was a full-on outhouse that we shared with the one other campsite (401) at the Rideau cluster - we had only anticipated a thunderbox! There was even a nice flat non-technica path to reach it, which really had us feeling lik we were in the lap of luxury. Tanker did some fishing from the point and nearly brought in a big one (over a foot long), but the jerk of a fish spat the hook at the last moment. We lit a fire as the sun set and I got dinner on the go as the wind dropped, then we were treated to a gorgeous blue moon (second full moon in a month) over Big Rideau Lake as we sat by our campfire eating chicken curry. The loons called around us, the frogs sang in the little bays behind our site, and the heat of the day plus some cloud cover kept the overnight temperature in the double digits celsius.

In a word - apart from some noise from cottagers using motorized boats on the lake - it was perfect.

A local swinging by for a visit.

Tanker still hoping on the one that got away.

Dinner view.

My bladder demanded I take a photo at first light.

The next morning, we had a lazy bacon-and-duck-egg brunch with a couple of French press-fuls of Tanker the Wonder Sherpa's amazing camp coffee, then set off to paddle the loop around the park and pick up some more firewood - we'd burned everything we had the night before, pleased to discover the park-supplied hardwood was nice and dry after spending the winter under tarps.

Two small portages to paddle around nearly the whole park!

We began by heading South to have a look at the Feldspar cluster of boat-in sites, which were easily visible from where we were encamped. Larger and with a dock to allow motorboats to moor (as all clusters except the canoe-in-only Rideau have), it was bustling with a large number of campers; every "backcountry" site in the park was fully booked for the weekend! After a quick turn around their inlet, we headed up to the boat launch and hopped in the car to hit the store so we'd have no worries about time later. Firewood acquired and left in the car at the boat launch, we paddled Northeast into a fresh wind toward the tip of the park's lands, pausing near the hike-in beach so Tank could get a line in the water.

Heading out of our site, looking at Feldspar

Up the Eastern side of the point

Rounding the point and turning off the wind into Noble Bay, we passed by the Narrows and Noble clusters of boat-in sites. Cormorants skimmed over the water and loons played by the tiny islands while we gaped at the landscape of Canadian Shield rock and forest around us.

And clear, clear water.

Paddling further along, we stopped at the day-use beach for a snack and to refill our Nalgenes from the water bladder we'd brought with us. It was another hot, sunny day so hydration was important, though the wind was enough to keep us cool on the water.

Day-use beach and my super fun paddling partner.

After a turkey pepperette and a granola bar each, we headed further South and lazed around in a little inlet so Tank could try some different lures. No luck, but it was very pretty.

I live for stuff like this.

Reaching the end of our journey on Noble Bay, we portaged a couple of hundred metres past the park store - with an ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY stop for an enormous grape freezie and a bag of marshmallows - then finished our double-carrying down to Loon Lake where Tank tried hooking some of the numerous panfish we could see in the water.

Ironically, it was about the only place we didn't hear loons.

The fish weren't biting, though, so we paddled across to our second (and final) portage into the South end of Hogg Bay.

With a short pause for some rock god-ness.

Back up through the Bay past the campers' beach, we stopped one more time at the boat launch to pick up our bags of firewood before heading back home for the evening. 

Nowhere I'd rather be.

I think Tanker got a bit of a kick out of me using some found birchbark plus a flint and steel to light the campfire both evenings. It's good to know that at least in dry conditions my bushcraft skills are somewhat up to snuff.

Spark it up..

FIRE

And of course we put the bag of marshmallows to good use for a post-paddle snack before I finally got 'round to making dinner. The wind dropped completely as the sun set, and while not quite full anymore, we were treated to a spectacular show as the moon rose huge and red over Big Rideau Lake.

Damn!

The next morning I was awoken again by my bladder just a few minutes after sunrise. I couldn't really complain.

Because it meant I got to see this.

Back to bed until around 9am, we got up and breakfasted simply on oatmeal and coffee before tearing down camp and preparing to head out.

All packed up on the point.

PFDs on and ready to go!

Before jumping in the boat, though, I had to make one last trip to the privy...and finally spotted the first turtle we'd seen all weekend! This little painted fellow climbed up on a fallen tree in our "backyard" to bask in the hot sun that beat down on us.

I got a little too close and he dropped off this log.

But he emerged again on another.

Back to the boat launch again by 1pm, we loaded the canoe onto our car and dropped off all our camping gear in the back. Changing into our hiking shoes, we paused for a bite of lunch before going exploring on the park's trails for the afternoon.

To see things from the other side.

The Point Trail took us out to the hike-in beach and up to the Northern end of the park, with gorgeous Canadian Shield terrain and some lovely views.

Setting out

The bones of the land lie close to the surface, here.

View from the hike-in beach.

Another lovely spot for a picnic

More Canadian Shield

The very Northern end of the park, looking out over Big Rideau Lake

A mix of hardwoods and conifers take advantage of all ecological niches in the park.

We decided we'd do the Sylvan Trail as well, since we're not sure when we'll be back to this park. We really enjoyed our time there, but there are places within a similar distance (it was a five hour journey from KW with long weekend traffic) that are at least as lovely - Bon Echo in particular comes to mind, with the added attraction of Mazinaw Rock and no motorized boat traffic on Joeperry Lake. I can't say that Murphys Point was a bad choice - far from it, and I'm happy to have discovered a new-to-us park with such excellent amenities and scenery - but the drive is a bit prohibitive for a place that is merely one of many wonderful destinations.

In any case - onward through the Sylvan Trail loop! It's actually an interpretive trail with numbered signposts that correspond to a trail guide available from the day use parking area. Not having the guide (and starting oddly from the middle), we merely stopped and looked at anything interesting along the way.

View from near the Narrows cluster of campsites.
The boat-in sites are not accessible from land, though.

View of Noble Bay through a valley.

Boardwalk and more Canadian Shield

Loving the bright greens of spring at last

Returning to the Point Trail, we walked down to the hike-in beach once more and had a snack while watching a pair of loons play around the little island just offshore.

They're both in this photo, unperturbed by the approaching motorboat.

Then it was time to head back to the parking lot, while spending our last few minutes drinking in the beauty of the trail.

More of this, please.

We don't wanna go home!

Back at the boat launch, we both took the opportunity to change into flip flops and wandered down the ramp into the bracingly cool water. The hot, sunny day had left us both sweaty and a bit worn out from our 1.75-hour hike, so wading in Hogg Bay was absolutely delightful.

Saying goodbye.

We left the park around 4pm and didn't make it home until almost 10pm because the 401 is freakin' awful on a long weekend, but the incredible weather and the refreshing of our souls in the rugged beauty of Murphys Point made it all totally worth it. Training? Well, that could wait until Tuesday.

Cheers!