Sunburn Solstice Trail Run Full Solstice - Saturday, June 22nd, 2019

I had sort of let go of any goals for this race, but deep down I really wanted that 100k..

The beautiful pre-dawn light

Rolling out of bed at the idiotic hour of 2:30am, I took a bit of stock of myself: I was pleased to note that my left foot was not the ball of horrible pain it had been the day before (after having the 1st metatarsal popped back into place in the morning), but I was still getting twinges from my left calf (after its fibula was adjusted at the same chiropractic appointment) and my left high hamstring business still felt like rubbish. I made oatmeal, drank water, and deployed a ridiculous amount of kinesiology tape in hopes of holding myself together.

Not pictured: the couple of strips for my hamstring, 'cause I'm not gonna subject you to a photo of my butt.

With coffee and breakfast for Tanker secured, we drove through the darkness to the race venue - Marydale Park. I'd never heard of it before the race, and had very little intel on the course. Heck, the distance of the loop had only been finalized a couple of days beforehand!

At least there wasn't much traffic, as we were a little later getting on the road than I'd hoped.

We arrived around 4:30am, just as the pre-dawn light was beginning to grow.

Which was good, as I ended up having to give my headlamp away to a volunteer so they could set up.

Race kit pickup went smoothly as always, and I loved the awesome Happy Trails Racing sunglasses included with the soft, race-logo'd t-shirt. I also loved the plentiful real washrooms in a building nearby the enormous picnic shelter/pavilion that housed the aid station and registration/kit pick up! I went through the usual pre-race business of flailing my limbs to get them used to the idea of moving with about a half hour to gun time, noting that my calf was only giving twinges here and there, my foot felt fine, and my left hamstrings felt like crap. I also discovered the belly of the muscle in my right hamstrings was whining a bit - what fresh hell is this? As if I don't already have enough issues to deal with. Ah well - off to the washroom to get down to race weight.

While the sun crept ever closer to the horizon beyond the trees.

I took a moment to be a little sad that my treasonous body parts would not allow me to take advantage of the fitness I've worked so hard to rebuild after being hampered so badly by injury in 2018, especially since it looked like trail conditions were going to be about perfect. Hard packed with only a little bit of mud in a couple of places, and nothing but sunny skies predicted all day.

Ready as I'm going to get.

A quick dodge back to the aid station to slap some sunblock and insect repellent on, then over to the amphitheatre that formed the start/finish for pre-race announcements.

Race Director Jeff imparting tasty morsels of race info

I needed one last pee before the start, then had to hustle over (LOOK I DID A WARMUP RUN) to pick up my hand bottle, which let me get one last smooch from Tanker as well.

I think "hastily smeared on zinc-based sunblock" is a good look for me, no?

I lined up with everyone else by the timing tents, facing the rising sun with just seconds to go before the start. I had decided to begin in my 3/4 sleeve shirt as it was still cool out, but had my cooling tank top underneath and knew I'd probably ditch the overshirt before long.

Away we go..

With the amount of visible pavement around the start/finish and having heard the trails weren't technical or muddy, I actually wondered if I'd made a mistake by wearing trail shoes instead of cushioned road shoes that would absorb the pounding a bit better. No way to change that now, though - I was all in. I had decided I'd probably regret not bringing my phone to take photos during the first lap as the sun began its ascent, and I was correct.

Though I wasn't quite willing to go as far to get a dawn photo as that fellow.

While the race started right at official sunrise (5:39am), I was almost halfway through the course by the time I actually caught a glimpse of the sun from the trail.

I'm not the only one who stopped and stared.

Golden light in the pines

The sun climbs, the trail climbs, we all climb!

Perfect summer sunrise.

Speaking of climbs...there was one on the course I knew would be a challenge as the day went on. It wasn't terribly long - maybe 50 metres total? - but it was a bit...sharp.

I might be very happy I brought poles before the race was through.

Off the trail and back onto paved pathway, I was already far too warm and sweaty in my 3/4 sleeve - it was a poor decision to wear it, but I was being all precious about getting chilly at the start. Ah well.

The sunrise really was lovely.

One lap down - hopefully quite a few more to go.

So, off to the aid station to sort myself out. I pulled off the 3/4 sleeve, then pulled on my cooling/sun protection sleeves and slapped some more sunblock on my shoulders, plus added a healthy shot of bug repellent. I also grabbed a swig of EFS Liquid Shot as it had been around 30mins or so - I figured I could probably just eat once per lap at the aid station, rather than having to carry anything (other than my bottle, which was still mostly full) with me. Having wasted a few minutes with my wardrobe change, I stole a kiss from Tanker and got back after it.

An early lap.

I managed my first 4 laps - including a dodge off to what I thought was the washroom but WAS ANOTHER BUILDING ENTIRELY - right around 30mins/lap (2h1m), then ran off to the ACTUAL bathroom after hitting the aid station and finally remembering to start taking S!caps as my hands had already swelled significantly. I was drinking more than half of my bottle per lap at this stage, too, so began trading off for a full bottle when I stopped for nutrition each time I passed the aid station. I also began taking in an S!cap every lap as the heat continued to build. I was starting to add about a minute per lap every 2 laps - 24k in 3h4m, then it took me until 4h41m to make it to 36k when Dion (my partner in crime from the Sulphur Springs 50k mudfest last month) joined in for a few laps.

And apparently I started trying to catch flies.

I couldn't believe it was still more than 90mins before noon, and would keep getting hotter for at least 3 hours after that - I was already (as you can see above) wearing a cooling tubular gaiter around my neck, soaked in water (along with my cooling sleeves) to try to keep me from overheating.

There was quite a bit of shade on the course, but almost no breeze.
Photo by Dion

Dion was sweet enough to hang with me for 4 increasingly sore and slow laps, bringing me to 52k in 7h7m. The heat and sun were relentless, and I was incredibly relieved when Tanker told me they had just got a fresh delivery of ice - I packed my cleavage and the zip pocket on the lower back of my skirt, and even put a couple of chunks in the wrists of my sleeves (though they didn't want to stay in very well). I had gone from 34 minutes to over 37 minutes per lap, and was now past my longest run since July of 2018 - my hip flexors were even starting to complain about the effort to lift my legs and bring them forward with each step, and my left hamstrings were NOT happy when I caught my foot on a root, but I had fun during the 10 miles we ran together. I was even singing a bit here and there, and just for kicks decided that I'd run up the switchback around the 3k mark of the course while I had a witness...on my 12th and 13th laps of the day! I walked it every single other lap, right from the very start.

This one - seen from the top on the way out to the turn-around.
It was very curvy and made me want to do airplane arms and zoomy noises on the way down!

With Dion safely delivered back to the aid station, I headed off to the washroom again, remembering halfway there that I wanted to bring my phone out again for some shots in the middle of the day - I'd also prefer to do so before the half solstice runners started (all races - the full, half, quarter and eighth - would finish at sunset at 9:03pm, so everyone else got to sleep in!), so I yelled back to Tank to bring me my phone while I dodged in for a wee. He was still at the aid station when I came out again, though, so I guess he didn't hear me properly or understand what I wanted. Welp, one more lap to make 56k in 7h47m, just before the half start (and the halfway point of my race).

I forgave Tank for not getting my phone to me, 'cause HE GOT ME A POPSICLE!

It was hot as BALLS by this time - around 1:30pm - and I'd commented earlier that it would be AMAZING if they could set up a garden hose by the aid station so we could soak ourselves. Race Director Jeff did me one better by setting up a sprinkler for us to run through on the paved path!

Oh HELL yeah!

From there on, it became a day of managing crises in motion. I'll take you for a tour of the 4km course as I explain.

And I'll try not to climb the fence and jump in the pool along the way, but I'm not making any guarantees.

The long, shadeless, paved path was actually probably the most sustained running I was doing by this point. 

It trends somewhat downhill until the turn-off into the woods, too.

My left hamstrings were no longer on speaking terms with me, though the whiny hip flexors only really lasted a few laps.

First bit of shade - lots of roots to trip over, so I just walked it.

Then out into the blast of heat and sun again

This mud had deep ruts that were murder on the ankles. Lots of walking through here, too.

Much brighter than the first time I came past!

The next item on the hit parade was some nasty plantar fasciitis pain in my right heel that lasted for hours. I've had on-again, off-again plantar fascia issues throughout the build for this race, but it's never really bothered me while running. This felt like my heel was on fire!

One of my favourite bits all day! Shady and a mild downhill, with a few roots to keep things interesting.

More shade, but a slight uphill

Those sunny openings would be like running through the blast of a heat lamp

The water's edge and a tempting chäir

If only there had been a breeze off the water

The springiness of the boardwalk almost made up for the burning sun!

I was making deals with myself based on landmarks on the course: I'd tell myself "we run to the end of the bridge" or what have you, and make myself do it rather than walking. The sun was so hot, though I don't think it ever actually got above 25c and the humidity wasn't that bad (for the swamp that is southern Ontario, anyway).

The lake/pond/water beside the course went on for ages

Beautiful views over the water

Always alternating shade and sun

There were a few bright things along the way: I saw a red squirrel, and a garter snake, and heard a bunch of bullfrogs. At many points along the course there were flowers in bloom, scenting the air with mock orange and other perfumes.

I actually ended up picking a small cluster of mock orange blossoms to bring back to the aid station so Tank could see what I was smelling all day.

Off the main trail

Down to the water, where a couple of girls, a guy, and a dog spent the afternoon fishing.

Back onto the main trail

The only really muddy spot on the course was one puddle in about the middle of the trail. There were some branches/logs laid in it that my clumsy arse could just barely manage to toddle across, though I did splash a foot into the mud on an early lap because of course I did.

The bit after it actually got worse and worse for the first few hours, too, due to people's wet feet from the main puddle churning it up.

The soft grass false-flat uphill to the next bit of shade was a walking-only zone for me, as it just seemed to absorb all the energy in my legs when I'd try to run it.

This all dried up through the course of the day - for the last few hours I was able to walk around the left side rather than chancing my sore, tired legs on the logs through the mud - but the rest of the trail got dusty in the dry heat. As the hours piled up my throat got a bit raw from breathing in the dust and pollen floating in the air for so long.

The most "technical" bit of the course - a bit of rooty washout on a short climb

Smooth sailing again

Hot and exposed - the dust got bad here when someone would pass

I swear I did some actual running!

The last part of one-way traffic on the trail

As you reached about 1.75k of the course, you entered an out-and-back section.

Course map from my garmin

It began with a downhill to this pretty little bridge

Lovely shade and a big downhill here

Sun-baked dirt singletrack

The narrow trail made for some interesting passing at times - the grassy edges were quite sharply sloped, so trying to let someone by meant seriously jeopardizing my ankle health. It was actually my right foot that was the next piece to fall apart, though; my left calf might have given me a few twinges throughout the day, but my right must have tightened up quite a bit as plantar fasciitis became a big part of my life. My right heel was on fire, because why not? It's not like I had anything else to worry about.

This was runnable at the start of the day, but quickly became walking-only

Beautiful day, really

This boardwalk was a little hairy at times with the 2-way traffic

 The doubletrack made for easier passing, but there was a nasty hidden rut in between the tracks

SHADE ME

Chasing

Being chased
(Ok, not really - this was by Sue Sitki, the on-course photographer)

The climb to the turn-around 

As the day warmed up, an un-manned water station was set up at the turn-around. No cups provided, but after I saw the jugs appear I picked up my collapsible cup and tucked it in the pocket of my skirt. From then on I'd fill it at the turn-around and dump water on my chest and down my back, wet down my cooling/sun sleeves, and sometimes even take a few sips of the (somehow quite cool for the first few hours it was there) water from the jugs as a break from the sun-and-hand-warmed water in my bottle.

On the lap with my phone I was even lucky enough to run into Race Directors Heather and Jeff with a fresh bag of ice! 

ANGELS

Heather was kind enough to load me up with a whole heap of those magical chunks of cold - my cleavage, lower back, and the tubular after around my neck all cleaned as I headed around the loop.

Timing chip readers at the turn-around to ensure fair play

Looking back at the water station

If you look really carefully at that photo, you might notice something amiss - I was stupid enough at this point to have set my hand bottle down and, having picked up my phone in my right hand (so I seemed to be carrying everything I was used to), trundled off without fluids! Fortunately Jeff noticed my bottle, said something, and handed it off to me before I buggered off down the hill again. DUMMYPANTS!

Also: that downhill from the Tyneside Trailhead had some lovely signage to inspire confidence.

Great..

Jeff had told us at the pre-race meeting that he'd found 2 ticks after marking the course the previous evening. Still, that wasn't quite the worst that could happen:

Even better.

FULL OF ICE and on the move!

All these lovely cooling strategies do have their downside, though: I think I actually stopped sweating for a few hours during hottest part of afternoon by overriding my heat sensors with cool water and ice. Once I noticed, I started checking skirt for any wetness not caused by dumping water on myself, and couldn't be sure there was any. Still, I seemed to be ok, just slow. I only got a bit lightheaded couple of times, and i think that's because my lap times were slow enough that I needed to start carrying some nutrition with me - I couldn't take in calories frequently enough by relying on eating after each loop. I had no more issues once I started eating mid-lap, and even sped up a tiny bit!

From "dead slow" to just "really slow"

Start of the switchback uphill - definitely not running it this time

I'd have a proper photo of the switchback on the way up, except some joker doing the half came up behind me and yelled "TRAIL SELFIE TIME"

Pfft, just the 1st place male in the half solstice.
Well done Steve!

So many chäirs along the course!

SHADE

No shade 😭

Speaking of nutrition, I ate a LOT: a total of 2 full flasks of EFS Liquid Shot, 1 packet of French toast Gu gel, 5 of my salted maple crisp rice squares, 2 chunks of watermelon, 2 chunks of banana, 1 baby dill pickle (because SALTY), 2 pieces of shoulder bacon, 1 x PERFECT slice of regular bacon from the aid station (thanks for cooking it Dion!), 2 Endurance Tap packets, 1 packet of Brix Himalayan salt (wowzers that's REALLY salty), a Skratch chocolate almond energy bar, 2 bites of sunbutter & jam with the crusts cut off (pro tip: gluten free bread goes stale really fast; SO DRY), 1 packet of Gu Roctane chai latté (nasty - do not recommend, and I love chai spice) around 12h for some caffeine, 1 packet of Gu Roctane sea salt chocolate (MONEY) around 14h for more caffeine, 2 turkey and mustard wraps, and approximately 19 S!caps.

I honestly believe that my discipline with nutrition probably offered me an advantage vs other people. In the heat, there were people not eating because they didn't feel hungry, or their stomach was shutting down. I was lucky enough to have no G.I. issues all day (well, I did a bit of cropdusting here and there - sorry folks!), and kept up with calories whether I was hungry or not - I vividly remember coming in from a lap and rummaging through the UltraCooler, telling Tank "I don't know what I want or need", then just shoving a packets of Endurance Tap in my face & going. If I didn't have the discipline in place from prior experience, I might have left without eating and faced the consequences an hour or less later. Failing at nutrition makes for a lousy day - at best I get grouchy, at worst the body just grinds to a halt.

Not that I was moving all that fast anyway.

Deep v-rut made me worry about my ankles a lot, especially with the impact forces of running downhill

You come up a small hill and think "I must be at the turn to the finish", but you're actually here.

With a bit less than 8 laps (32k) to go until my goal, I stepped on a root or something in the first kilometer of the course and something clicked in my left foot, leaving it quite sore.  BOOOOOOO. I kept moving, hoping it would cooperate, and it eventually got the idea that I wasn't letting a stupid whiny foot/ankle call the shots. Passing 72k in 10h20 meant a PR over the 70k in 11h30m I'd done at Tally in the Valley 2018, and my 11h30m 72k at Dirty Girls 2016. Pressing onward, I hit 80k in 11h36m - about 1h5m faster than the Haliburton 50 Miler 2017. Now, all of those are more difficult courses due to technical trails and elevation, but it felt good to be setting new best times along the way to my ultimate goal.

Back through the dappled sunlight

THE BIG HILL

"Ok, this must be the uphill to the turn-off"

I was trying to do the math through the second half, based on 40mins per lap - would I have enough time left to get in 25 laps? If you're ever tried to math while running, you'll know it's not easy and results are unreliable at best. I had a bit of a wobbly moment at the aid station with about 6 hours left, telling Tank, Dion, Mel & April that I didn't know if I'd be able to make 100k. They were all super supportive and just told me to do what I could, so I stowed the pity party and got heckin' moving, throwing down a couple of laps closer to 37mins than 40.

And here we see me, carrying my phone on the lap during which I took all these photos.

FINALLY - the turn off to the finish!

Dose stairs doe..

Of course, I nearly derailed everything in another moment of stupidity. With 3hrs left to go, my Garmin gave me a low battery warning. No problem: I had brought the charge Cable and a lightweight power bank for just such an eventuality. When I got back to the aid station at 84km/21 laps, I was also feeling a bit hungry for the first time in hours. I got my watch plugged in, hoping it would charge as it gave no indication it was doing so (I'd never tried charging it on the move before). Knowing I was mostly walking, I grabbed an S!cap and my 2nd turkey wrap to get rid of the growlies, holding it in my hand as I ran the paved path section to the pine woods. I munched the wrap back on the way past the dock, and then looked for a slurp of water to wash it down, feeling a bit dry after the saltiness.

My bottle was back at the aid station.

NOOOOOOOOO!

I was almost a kilometer away now, and going back wasn't an option. If I dodged over to the aid station from the turn-off on my way out, I'd risk disqualification for cutting the course. How the heck was I going to make it 4km with no water when I already felt parched? I'd been draining most of a bottle each lap even without a fresh load of protein in me, which takes a LOT of water to digest.

In the end, my collapsible cup saved my bacon. I remembered I had it with me, so I could just fill it up and drink to my heart's content when I made it to the turn-around. Sure, I'd have to go through 2.5 sun-baked kilometers with no hydration, but it gave me hope. I tried to moderate my effort so as not to deprive my stomach of too much blood flow, and stomped onward. I was super grouchy for making such a stupid error, but I wouldn't let it bring the whole business crashing down.

When I reached the turn-around - having been unable to produce spit for the past 10mins - I filled and immediately drank a cup of now-tepid water. I filled the cup again, took a sip or two, then folded the top of the cup closed as best I could and got moving.

That's when the turkey wrap finally hit my stomach. BLARGH!

Ok, I didn't barf...but there was a rather unpleasant few minutes. Even moreso than when I inhaled a bug to the very back of my tongue while running with Dion! Apparently all kinds of proteins were giving me issues today.

I sipped back the rest of the water more slowly and walked a fair bit (which I'd probably have done anyway, as the turn-around back to the turn-off is the hilliest section), and was in slightly better shape by the time I got back to the aid station to retrieve a damn bottle.

I only ran the lumpy grassy bit to the paved path as long as the photographer was there.

There's a tiny rise up to that building that just feels like a kick in the teeth after 14+hrs of running

Almost there

Longest. 4k. EVER.

I might have been feeling a bit better digestion-wise, but other parts of me were not reacting so well to water. Either because of splashing through the puddles caused by the sprinkler or by dumping water on myself (or both), I'd developed a big, fat, juicy blister on the ball of each foot just behind my 2nd and 3rd toes. This made it incredibly painful to run, along with the ever-louder complaints from my left foot and ankle - in addition to whatever that click was, I managed to step on something else and aggravate an old chronic injury to the outer part of my lower ankle. I was a mess, but I needed 3 more effin' laps!

Tanker and Dion at the aid station, where all sorts of shenanigans took place...including some rough attempts at Russian folk dancing!

So, I walked a lot, feeling those big, juicy blisters squishing underfoot with every step. I learned in this race that my fatigued walking pace is absolutely terrible - I tend to slouch my way along, and only achieve any decent cadence & speed when I'd focus on keeping my head up, sometimes even putting my hands on my hips to try to maintain better posture. I was so tired by that point it would quickly degenerate as soon as I lost focus, though, or switched back to a walk after running...which was mostly only happening on downhill.

On my 2nd last lap, with 1h40m left on the clock, I came across Race Director Jeff out placing markers at each kilometer - if you couldn't complete your final lap before time ran out, you could walk back to the last marker you passed and check in with a volunteer for partial credit.

"You're still smiling!" He said to me, as I hauled my exhausted, wounded carcass along the trail. All I could tell him was the truth: "It's the only part of me that still works!"

24 laps / 96km in 14h23m left me one solid hour to drag myself 'round that course one last time. Of course it couldn't be easy - I managed to catch my right foot's toes on a root while walking (!), nearly taking my first header of the day.

Despite never actually pulling out my poles, I made it one last time up that nasty hill, stumbled up the steps, and across the grass. As I passed Sue Sitki near the closer building on my way to the amphitheater, I told her "I started this thing running - I'm gonna finish it running!"

Or something like it, anyway.

The medals are sun catchers!

Official distance: 100.0km in 15:08:04 @ 9:04/km

6/37 O/A - 2/13 Women

My lap splits - official results are here
My garmin workout data is here,
and you can see a video of the course here

So, I made 100k in 15h08m04s. That was a 48min PR for me over my only other shot at that distance - at Sulphur Springs in 2017. To my great shock and surprise, it also bagged me an award as the 2nd place woman overall!

With amazing 1st place woman Amanda, who did an incredible 108km!

The awards were beautiful numbered prints by multi-talented Race Director Heather

So, I did the thing, and had a lot of fun. Eventually these blisters will be gone (they didn't actually pop for a couple of days afterward), but I'll still have a new PR for 100k and a podium finish in my last race before I become a Master's athlete.

Tasty!

I've taken this whole week off to recover, and am still kind of waiting to find out the full consequences of that "click" in my foot (and running for another 4.5hrs or so on it), but I have high hopes that this positive result bodes well for the rest of my season!

For now, though, I'm enjoying having more time to spend with this guy!

This was an amazing event, with incredibly caring and experienced volunteers supporting runners at every step, and plenty of thoughtful touches like the ice and sprinkler. It was incredible to see so many people pushing themselves further than they ever have before, too, and to have more friendly faces joining in throughout the day. With aid every 4km and an approachable, non-technical course, this is an excellent opportunity for a runner of any level to challenge themself to test their limits!

Thanks for reading (if anyone actually made it this far), and hope you all have an amazing Canada Day weekend!