Looping Sunday

12 loops,  10.2k on my trail this afternoon.  It was hot so I logged 5k stopped 10 min sat and drank a bottle of ice water ,  logged another 5k then hit them Hammock with three Alexander Kieths IPA's and some rockin tunes!

Fully Exposed

Hot Sunny LSD today.  27 to start ,  30 at the end and 80% Sun Exposure mind you there was a nice SW Breeze.      Down the 2nd ,  through the Durham Conservation then looped the center of town before returning on the same route.   Logged 24.3 Ks in just a little under 3 hours.  

Get er done run

Waited till 3:30 heat of the day and did a 10.2 K run at an avg 6:26 pace.  Up the 2nd down the baseline and back.

Lunch Run

5K at a mostly 5:30 pace today on my meal break.

Solid Lunch

Best Treadmill Run of the week ,  5K @ 5:30 pace with little or no discomfort ... almost enjoyed it!

Treadmill Day 4

8 hour days today ,   5K done at a mostly 5:30 pace on my meal break.

Lunch Again

One more 10K at lunch today.

North Face Blue Mountain 50 Miler Recon Mission

Covered a good chunk of the 40K NF Loop at Blue on Thursday.   Here is my take on the course.

First I did the "Len Gartner" section below.  In Red is the NF course and in Yellow is the route I took.  

Only one big hill in this loop ,  another moderate but both were small in comparison to the Ski Hills at Blue.   

There were some really nice views of Georgian Bay here are a few pictures and a video ...

Logged close to 11K on the loop ,  made a few detours.   The trails had some really rooty sections ,  not much rock and were all really hard packed.   The trail really opened up the second half of the loop and it made for some very fast Ks.  I would rate this section as easy and fast ... good chance to stretch your legs out.   Watch out for Poison Ivy adjacent the trail ... if this sorts of thing freaks you out then wear high socks.

On race day we leave the Len Gartner loop for just shy of 4K  on the road . Yes  you read  that correct ,  4K on the road.     On a hot day this means exposure and deer flies so be prepared.   Although the footing is grand there is elevation ,  again its not monster but you are either going up or down .... not much flat.   Here is 3.2k of the road section in 30 seconds ....

Next up was the Scenic Caves Loop.   Parked at the top of the Southern Comfort Chair and headed out on the Mission Rd Side Trail.   Here is the route I took ,  Red is the NF course,  Yellow is me.

The Mission Rd Trail was nice,  a wee bit overgrown but mostly runable albeit slowly.   Last few hundred meters  of the side trail is a flat gravel road.   When you join the main trail you are on a gravel road for a steep 1K or so uphill reminiscent of "First Hill" at Creemore.   When you reach the top of the Hill we get into the Cross Country Ski Trails .   I   didn't do the back and forth thing following the Bruce Trail.   This are is part of the Blues "Scenic Caves" and wondering off the Bruce Trail is considered trespassing.  Folks pay good $$ to get into this area so I didn't have a problem with sticking to the trail.    After the Ski trails there was a a K or so if Gravel Road  before you drop back down the escarpment.   This is about as high as you can get above Blue but unfortunately there were no scenic views ... reserved for paying guests!    Once you have made the big climb the run across the top is pretty easy and a nice change after the "Grind"!  Here is my Garmin data ....

Finished off my day dropping down the "Cascadia" trail and then headed back up the "Grind" better known as "Gords Grove" in the winter time.    Cascadia was just plain fun to run down.   The trail follows a cascading stream from the top to bottom of Blue.   There are tons of stairs but most of the time there is a path beside them if you dare.   If its a dry day and your quads can handle it you can fly down this section.  If its wet we will be picking our way down the stairs!   Here is a real time video of my descent ,  hard to believe it takes that long to go down ....





Next up is what the NF folks are calling the "Grind" and it it describes the ascent very well.   I have Skied at the Orchards all last Winter and going down all the time I didn't find it all that steep but heading up ...YIKES.   On fresh legs early in the race I expect to maintain a 11:00 pace,  second time around it will be slower.    I headed up the middle of the Ski Hill but there are Bike Trails that I suspect we may be using on race day.   Here is the route I took as well as the Garmin data ...

Next weekend  I want to head back and do the section from the top of Blue to the Len Gartner section including going up the steepest hill " Kandahar"!    I really loved running at Blue race day is going to be a blast.

I needed that

Busy day at work so it was a late meal break.   Logged 10K at a mostly 5:30 pace.

Back to work!

5K lunch run done today.

22.9 at Blue

Too much to blog tonight but I logged 22.9K on the trails around Blue today.  Details to follow.  


I particularity liked this plaque ...

93 Minutes

93 minutes of quality trail time this afternoon.  It was complete with 100% humidity,  temps in the high teens ,  mosquitos that were able to attack whilst running ...YIKES,  my dear deer flys ...dam pesky biting things and of course muck ,  heavy sticky make your shoes way a ton muck!   Finished with a couple of 50 meter climbs ,  one steep ,  one gradual.   Logged a total of 11.6KS  on mostly trails.
   Going to run some Bruce Tail at Blue tomorrow!   Not allot of pop in the legs after Niagara Saturday just want to cover some of the North Face course that I am not all that familiar with!  

Trail Recovery

Good recovery after Niagara....no issues.   Hit the trail for a little 5.5k run.

Niagara Ultra - June 14, 2104

 Returned to Niagara on the Lake yesterday to do my 5th Niagara 50K Ultra.   This is the fastest 50K I have ever done ,  4:40 and it will certainly be the fastest 50K for 2014.  My goal was to run a 6:00 pace breaking the 5 hour mark.   I felt somewhat confident that it was a reasonable goal.  Mother Nature  co-operated 100% ,  cool temps ,  stiff breeze and overcast... this year heat would not be an issue!   Picked up Grant at 3am ,  the trip was a breeze pulling off the QEW at 5:30 ... quick stop at Tims for breakfast then off to the race for 6:00 am.

 First 1/2 of the race was uneventful ,  felt great ,  gelled every 7K and made sure I took in enough water.  Arrived at the turnaround just under my goal pace at around 2hrs27min.   I was pacing by feel on the way out so I had no idea just how close I was to my goal pace.  Arriving at the falls I thought I was a little closer to 2hrs20mins!     Heading back I  fired up my Garmin  ( battery is only good for about 3-4 hours ) and started watching my pace.  ( Note to self ... need a new Garmin!)  I was reasonably solid from 25-35K averaging a 5:00 pace although it was starting to feel like a greater effort.   I didn't want to fuss with gelling and drinking on the fly so I decided to pause at the 35,  40 and 45K  aid stations for a Gel ,  Water and Coke.   Each stop added about a minute to my time but I now had a plan to run solid aid station to aid station whilst maintaining a "solid pace"  .  35 to 40K we drop down the escarpment.  Tried not to make up time on the gentle drop ,  heated up a bit exposed to the Sun on the construction detour but started to get it back when we hit the more or less shaded path again.   40-45K I was a little back and forth on the pace trying to find the maintainable zone.     Final 5K were really solid logging 6:28, 6:35, 6:34  and 6:34 and I even managed to pick it up a bit finishing the last K at an avg 5:24 pace.

Finished the race in 5hrs7min49sec  loosing most of my time in the last 10K.  Although I struggled a bit to find the next gear I did continue to run eventually  settling in a 6:30 pace.  This is the largest 50Ker I have ever participated in.   I finished 53rd out of 172 finishers ,  41st out of 97 Men and 7th out of 15 in the 50-55 age group.   Overall a great day with a good solid result.

Trail Thursday

10 steamy Ks on the trail tonight then I got drunk!

Saratoga Spa State Park

11.3 K done on the "5 Mile Trail in at the Saratoga Spa State Park.   

Looping Saturday

Ran 12 laps of my trail loop yesterday covering 10K.  

A new chapter...

I don't usually put too much personal info into my Blog after all its all about "Running".  Lately when I have been perusing my favorite past time my thoughts turn to my Father.  A couple of months ago we learned that he had terminal cancer and this morning he passed away with my Mother , Sister and Niece by his side.   I am fortunate to have spent some quality time with him in the past weeks and  will forever be grateful for that opportunity.   I came across a few photos that are priceless so I really wanted to share them ....

This is the youngest picture I have seen.  He looks to be around 2 years old to it would have been taken around 1943.

Sea Cadets ,  guessing mid to late 50's 16-18 years old ....

High School Play ,  I believe Clarke Road SS London Circa 1957.


















Dad and Mom with his Dad and Wife ,   around 1991

Dad loved his Boat.  Grabbed theses from a video I shot last August on Lake George.

Lunch Run

5K@5:30 pace this eve on my meal break.

Finding Time

Finished up in good time at the Dentist today so I had a wee bit of time to kill before I started work today.  Hot the treadmill logging 16K at a mostly 5:30 pace.  Exactly the sorts of run I need with Niagara looming in  another week.

Lunch Run

Long tiring day.  It would be easy to toss the "lunch run" but I rarely do.  So I logged yet another 5ker at a 5:30 pace on my meal break this evening.

2nd Run

Classic 5K lunch Run done on this eves meal break.  

Me Time

 Working Eves ,  slept in til 10:30.  Coffee / OJ Toast and Eggs then it was time to hit the trail.   Every Run has a theme ,  today my thoughts tossed between pool or hot tub ,  pool or hot tub , pool or hot tub.   Its was another hot humid run so it was slow and easy managing all the important things.    The weather was interesting too.  There was a really warm breeze that helped keep the pursuit flies away... soon to be Buff time.   Near the end it got dark ,  really windy and then it rained.   The passing T Storm was a welcome relief from the heat and I almost instantly picked up the pace.  finished the last 2K on the trails on my property.   The Sun was back out when I made my way back to the house so the initial recovery was a O'Keeffe's IPA and 45 minutes of Sun floating around the pool.     Next up was a Coffee in the Hot Tub for another 45 minutes before I made my way to work.    Oh ,  almost forgot .... logged 12.5 Trail  kms today.

Short Lunch

3K logged on my meal break.   Didn't feel good so I pulled the plug 2K early.  

May 2014 Totals

May    276.5 km
YTD 1412.0 km

Once race ,  Sulphur 50 Miler.

104 Minutes

104 minutes on the trail today.  Waited until the heat of the day to go out...heat training.  Managed better covering 12.5K on the trails around my house.  Highlight of the run was coming face to face with a fawn.  It wasnt even Knee high and when I saw it I walked wide and talked soft and it came to me.  I could have easily shot a selfie with the little guy...hop Mom wasn't far away!