Peaky

With Sunburn Solstice now just a hair over 2 weeks away, I've been busy getting whatever hay I can into that gaping, ever-hungry maw of a barn.

Will I ever actually feel prepared for an ultra?

This past weekend was really my last chance to do any big, long, punishing training with enough time to absorb the work and recover (hopefully) before the race. I'd been fortunate not to have too rough a time getting back on track after the Sulphur Spring 50k mudfest - I cut my usual Sunday run from ~15k of trail down to an easy 5k on road, but then ran my usual routes/distances every day until my Friday off.

Come Saturday morning, it was time to make the chimichangas. I started off National Trails Day in beautiful sunshine at 17c - a great shock, as the last time I'd had the opportunity to run down to the market it was only about 4c when I left! I only made it a couple of kilometers before I hit a Canadian roadblock, though.

"I just need to get by real quick - I'm not after your babies, I swear it!
STOP HISSING AT ME!"

My legs felt like trash, and the unaccustomed heat and sun were not helping my pace at all.

I spotted turkey vultures, though they weren't circling...yet.

Still, it was a beautiful day, and the wildflowers were finally blooming all over the trails.

The phlox might be a couple of weeks later than usual, but it was finally out!

I had something I was looking forward to, as well - the seasonal closure of the rare trails ended almost 2 months prior, but between one thing and another (testing new road shoes, time constraints, muddy conditions) I hadn't actually gone diving into them yet. That needed to change!

It's the most beautiful part of Cambridge, really.

Singletrack makes me smile!

Making friends along the way

While my legs didn't feel any better by the time I reached the market, I'd quite enjoyed the journey. I had planned to get out to another trail tract in the afternoon to get around 30k in (on top of the morning's 11.5-ish), but raging thunderstorms with nasty winds came banging through in the afternoon. After the madness of Sulphur the week before, I wasn't really ready to deal with torrential rain, lashings of mud and lightning cracking overhead again. 

So, I decided on a road run. Around my neighbourhood.

Five freakin' laps of suburbia.

Some of which is still in the process of being built.

I got it in my head that it would be a good mental challenge, as running loops of a little less than 6km around my 'hood was sort of a decent proxy for running 3-4km laps around a park/conservation area for hours on end. Because I've definitely never run laps of anywhere from 235m to 7km for an absurdly long time in the past or anything.

Highlight of the run: seeing another toad, just chilling on the sidewalk.

Running really long distances on pavement sucks at the best of times. Add in a sore high hamstring, a couple of messed up ankles, a ridiculous amount of humidity from the rain (which fortunately was just ending as I headed out), and an 8pm start after already running for over an hour in the morning, and it was just bloody misery. I plodded along, with my feet complaining louder and louder with each loop, generally hating every step.

Though my sweetheart did join me for a partial lap around halfway through, then the last half of my final lap.
He's pretty awesome like that.

By the end, I was in rough condition - it was after 11pm, and I was so knackered I almost fell asleep in my dinner. Knowing I wanted to get one last weekend of back-to-back long runs in, I wondered if I'd even be able to run a single step the following day.

Fortunately, Sunday came up bright and beautiful - as lovely a sunny day as anyone could desire. I also took it back to the trails, heading over to Huron Natural Area to do a few laps that would probably mostly be hiking rather than running.

No trial to spend a lot of time on feet in these conditions.

I was delighted to find that there was very little mud - really just the one bit over by the smallest pond that's always a bit mucky - and the cycles of rain and bits of sunshine we'd had this spring had brought out some lush foliage to shield me from the still-stiff wind.

Spring has definitely sprung!

It was also wonderful to realise that - after the initial 20mins or so of horrible stiffness and creakiness - that my legs could come alive once more. I took things very easy, taking almost 2.75hrs to put in 20k, but each of my laps of the conservation area was a little quicker/had a little more running than the last.

Almost as sweet as the scent of lily of the valley, which permeated the Plantation Trail

With over 61km down for the weekend, I figured I could keep it rolling just a little further. The usual lunch runs on Monday and Tuesday, then (out of necessity) a little longer run after work on Wednesday. I had just enough left by Thursday evening to go hit a trail I haven't run for ages - maybe years - not far from my house, while testing a new pair of shoes.

Perfect way to end my training week, even if the trail was a bit rocky and buggy.

So here I find myself: sore and tired, but with my peak week of training in the bag.

Who knew I'd actually make the top of the Slowtwitch 7-day leaderboard?

It's a good thing, too, as I won't be able to get a lot of big training in this weekend - instead, I'll be hanging out at beautiful Shade's Mills Conservation Area for the Conquer the Canuck trail races! This year they're hosting the Canadian 12-hour championships, so Saturday will be quite a long day on my feet of a different sort as Tanker, myself and some wonderful folks from Happy Trails Racing work at the main aid station.

I'll probably get a couple of laps of the course in over the weekend - just to pick up garbage and to see the gorgeous scenery that the conservation area has to offer - but I'm happy not to have the pressure of running long on my radar at the moment. I had actually considered running the 50k on Saturday and then staying to volunteer after, but with the couple of minor injuries I have at the moment and Sunburn Solstice just 2 weeks away, I managed to talk myself out of it in order to try to get some recovery time in before the very big, long day ahead. After last night's 8km to finish off nearly 93k in 6 days, I found myself turning to Tanker as we got ready for bed and saying I was very happy I didn't have to run 50k on Saturday!

Maybe I'm finally learning some sense after all?
Nah, seems unlikely..

So if you'll be at Conquer the Canuck this weekend, I'll see you there - just look for the tired-looking dork!