Orcas Island 25k

February 6, 2010

Strictly speaking this race had nothing to do with my goals this year (which are to improve my 10k road time). However, a few months ago when a group of my fellow Harriers were planning this trip so I decided it would be a fun weekend and signed up. I would do no specific training for it, but given my current training volume I figured I could pull off a 2 hour effort without suffering too much.

The timing of this race was unfortunate though as the ferry that normally operates between Sidney and Orcas Island (in Washington State) does not run at this time of year. This meant that, despite Orcas being less than 50km away, we had to take BC ferries to Tsawwasen, drive to Anacortas and then take another ferry to Orcas for a total distance of 270km (and about 8 hours). Fortunately, Sonja and I did have great company in the van with our other running friends so that made the trip enjoyable. We had rented a large house which was located about 20 min drive from the race start which turned out to be a quite spacious and was equipped with two kitchens and held the 10 of us quite comfortably. You definitely know you are with a group of runners when it comes to bed time though - the late night owls burned the midnight oil until 10:30! Of course we all had either 25km or 50km to race the next day so a good rest is important.

The PIH Orcas Island Team. Left to right, Front to back: John Catterall, Carlos Castillo, Jeff Hunt, Garth Campbell, Carolyn Goluza, Kathleen Birney, Paul Birney, Sonja Yli-Kahila, myself, Sara Pape-Salmon, Andrew Pape-Salmon, and Jeremy Watts

The Orcas Island race is a low key event, but is quickly gaining in popularity and boasted a field of around 350 runners in both distances this year. Its great to see so many people out for a race where it was all about the challenge and accomplishment of doing it since there was no prizing of any sort. Since this race attracted a completely different field that what I would see here on the island, I didn't really know what to expect in terms of competition. Based on my experience with some other trail races around this distance and looking at the time from previous years, I expected that I would likely be in the top few spots as long as I had a decent race and a win might be possible.

25k Course Profile

25k Course Map

Given the distance, a warm up was not required and after some brief directions by the race director (follow the orange tape and signs) we were off. Very quickly, I found myself running with two others up front and within a couple of km the 3rd place guy fell behind. The other guy, Aaron Coe, showed no signs of slowing down though and I soon realized that if I was going to have a chance to win, I would have to push very hard indeed. He seemed comfortable and while I too was running within my means, it was not slow. After a few km of gently rising trail next to a creek we reached Mountain Lake and ran along the shore for a short while. I had studied the map quite thoroughly before hand so I knew the big climb up to Mount Constitution was coming very soon. This would be a tough climb of about 500m in a short distance. Normally, I do well on the climbs, but as so as we started this one, I knew I was in trouble. The legs felt heavy and I just didn't feel strong even on trails that were not that steep. Aaron took the lead and I struggled to stay in contact, but he was just a better climber that day and I watched him gradually pull away.

I know how to push myself and dug deep to keep moving although my pace seemed quite pitiful at times. I kept Aaron in sight until half way up the climb, but then he disappeared and I would not seem him again until the finish line. Although I almost slowed to a hike a half a dozen times, I manged to keep a running stride for the whole climb. I got a bit of a reprieve after the false summit and there was only a bit more climbing before the summit. The view from the ridge was amazing, but I was in race mode so stopping to check it out wasn't in the cards. I was damn happy to get there as I knew that while there would be some more climbing, that was the worst of it and I could get some recovery on the next descent. I asked one of the volunteers how far the lead runner was in front of me.

"five minutes"

"Damn!" I thought to myself, how could he have put that much time into me so quickly. I didn't panic though as just resolved to try my best to catch back up on the downhills and hope that he slowed on the second half of the race. So I hammered the downhill as hard as I could and while it wasn't technical, navigating the switchbacks on the trail was a bit tricky since I had to slow and for each corner and then accelerate again on the straights. I made good time, but saw no sight of Aaron. The next section consisted of a number of moderate climbs that gradually brought us back up close to the height of Mount Constitution. While my legs where a bit burnt out from the first brutal climb, I thankfully felt much better on this section.

Soon I came to a T intersection. Expecting to see the usual orange tape, I look left and then right, but saw no flagging. I started to panic just a little and started doubting if I had somehow missed a turn off in the last couple of km. I was pretty sure I hadn't though and then I saw a arrow drawn in the dirt pointing right and towards what appeared to be a significant descent. I knew from the map that we should be descending soon and this fact plus the arrow promoted me to take the right. I figured I had a better than 50% chance of being right, but I was definitely nervous for a few minutes until I finally spotted another flag further down the trail and could finally breathe a sigh of relief. If I had chosen wrong I would not have known for sure until the next intersection which was at the bottom. That would have been the end of my race as I'm not sure I would have been able to muster up the effort to climb my way all the way back just to end up finishing poorly anyway.

Heading downhill. Photo Credit: Garth Campbell

The descent was long and much more enjoyable than the excruciating climb. When the trail finally stopped losing elevation, I knew we had just a couple more kilometers to traverse on a pretty flat trail next to Cascade Lake. I could definitely feel the fatigue in my legs, but I kept moving at a reasonable pace. I didn't envy the few 50k racers I saw were were just turning onto a trail to the 2nd of 4 climbs of the day. The run around the lake was uneventful although I was surprised when we didn't get routed around a lagoon as the map had indicted. I wasn't about to complain about it though. I crossed the finish line at around 1:55:00 fully expecting to see Aaron there, but when I didn't spot him I asked about where he was.

"You're the first"

"What? How did I beat him?"

The answer came about two minutes later when he crossed the line and told us that he had taken the wrong direction at the same unmarked intersection that I had trouble on and he had lost several minutes getting back on track. It was bad luck for him and I told him that it was not the way I like to win. The reality is that this happens to the best of us though and I've taken wrong turns quite a number of times on trail races. The race director indicated that the intersection was well mark before and someone must have removed the flagging. This also seems to happen a lot during races although its never clear if it is being done as a joke, someone maliciously trying to sabotage the race, or just a person innocently trying to clean up the trail and not realizing the flagging is there for a reason.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came a few minutes later when Scott Jurek came across the finish line in 3rd place. I hadn't seen him on the start line and didn't expect him to be there at all and certainly didn't think he would be running the 25k. For those who haven't heard of Scott, he is one of the best known ultra runners in the world and is practically a legend in his discipline. His resume includes 7 straight wins at Western States 100 Mile Endurance Runs, 2 Badwater Ultramarathons victories, and well as numerous other 1st place finishes and awards. He was also very friendly and was introducing himself to the other competitors after he finished. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to chat with except for a few words, but it was pretty neat to be racing against such talent. Despite coming in ahead of Scott, I can hardly claim to be the better runner. For one, I heard he is just coming back from and injury and/or surgery and second, I'm pretty sure 25k is not his best distance. Since he seems to excel at distances of 100 Miles or more, 25k is probably just a warm up. He obviously has outstanding endurance and is able to maintain a steady pace for a very long time, but may not be as fast at shorter distances.

Jeff Hunt and Scott Jurek. Photo Credit Andrew Pape-Salmon

After the race I really felt the effects of the downhills as my inner quads were quite sore for a couple of days. This is likely a result of pushing hard and not enough training for descending recently. Despite the win, I would rate the race as a average one for me. Andrew Pape-Salmon ran well to place 6th place finish, Sonja was 3rd overall woman, and Sara Pape-Salmon and Kathleen Birney finished their first ever 25k. Unfortunately, Jeff Hunt had some cramping issues and had to drop out of the 50k, but Carolyn Goluza and Carlos Castillo both finished well.

Andrew and myself

Cobble Hill 10K

January 24, 2010

Since I am already behind in posting this, I'll skip most of my usual preamble. My training has been going fairly well although I was a bit concerned that the extra volume would leave my legs fatigued for the race. Fortunately, while my legs were heavy the day before, they ended up feeling good during the race. I had slept well the night before, but woke up feeling pretty groggy and during the drive up felt much more like crawling back into bed than running 10k. I had a bit of coffee and once we were under way I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt.

While some people claim that Cobble is a fast course, I don't find it particularly so. It is not overly difficult, but contains quite a number of small hills that soak up the seconds. Last year I posted a 34:20 here, and this year anything less than that would have been quite disappointing. Ideally, I would be able to get a time around 33:30 (3:21 pace) , but I would have been satisfied with a sub 34 min time.

The first 2 kilometers of this course are fast with a net elevation loss so I wasn't worried I was going to hard when I posted two sub 3:15 splits. There is a turn around just before the 2km marker for a short out and back section, and I felt comfortable while making the turn and then pushing hard back up the hill. I passed Mark Nelson on the climb and set my sights on Ian Hallam, Eric Findlay, and Nick Walker who were running together a little ways in front of me. Around the 3km mark, still feeling strong, I decided it was time to bridge the gap and quickly managed to pull even. I knew what times these guys usually run and thought that if I could hang in there with them, I would be doing well. Kilometers 3-5 are mostly a gradual climb and hills still being my friend, I set the pace for a short time. Soon we also reeled in Swawn Nelson who was slowing somewhat.

My 5k split was 16:42 which I was quite pleased with as it set me up nicely for a solid PB as long as I could avoid falling apart in the last half. Unfortunately, I started to feel the fast pace around 6km and Ian, Eric, and Nick slowly began to pull away. I could have dug deep to hang in there with them, but that may have lead to disaster since there was still 4km. Instead, ran my own race and concentrated on keeping the rhythm going. I continued to run with Shawn and keep my effort and pace pretty steady for the next couple of km. I actually thought that I would be able to drop Shawn since he seemed to be struggling a bit, but around 8.5km he put a surge on that I had difficultly responding too. I tried to power though the last km in an attempt to close the gap and managed to hammer it into the finish line for a final 3:13 km, but couldn't quite catch up.

My final time was 33:31 good for 10th place (and a surprising 1st in the M3034 category) and a 10 sec PB over my 2009 Sun Run time. Better still, it was a respectable 49 sec improvement over my 2009 time on this course. AP Balliargeon-Smith from the National Triathlon Centre won in just under 32 minutes, edging out Kenyon Nixon Kiprotich and Sean Chester. The top woman was Magali Tisseyre coming in around 36min. Other notable performances go to my girlfriend, Sonja, who took a whopping 1:30 off her best 10k (particularly impressive on this course) and Jeff Hunt, who also set a PB and seems to be getting faster all the time.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the way things went. My PB was not huge, but considering it is not a particularly fast course and it is still early in the road season, I feel I am well on my way to posting a sub 33 time in April at the TC and Sun Run. Final results.

Full splits:
3:12, 3:14, 3:25, 3:19, 3:32 (5k split: 16:42), 3:22, 3:21, 3:25, 3:27, 3:13

Screw Shoes

I recently made some modifications to an old pair of Brooks Cascadia's. I cannot take any credit for coming up with this idea as I have seen it in magazines and online a number of times. However, generally the idea behind adding metal screws on the soles of running shoes seems to be to improve traction on ice and snow. Most of the time in Victoria, there is thankfully a lack of such frozen substances on the ground so it may not seem as though it would be particularly useful. However, I got to thinking that if it works on ice and snow it may also work to improve traction on wet rock, roots, logs, bridges, and mud all of which can be found in abundance here.


Once out on the trails, I found that my idea was correct and traction was greatly improved on nearly all surfaces. Traction on roots, wooden bridges, and logs was excellent. Grip on wet rock was also very good although it was still possible to slip on very smooth rock. Grass and mud traction was also improved, although if the mud was deep, it didn't help as much (I suspect that only long spikes would work in this case). The only real disadvantage that I found was that when running on hard surfaces such as pavement, the shoes were a little more punishing on the feet, but I did manage to mostly alleviate this by removing screws in the heel strike area where there is high impact. The only other thing that might be an issue is that they improve traction so much that if you don't happen to be wearing them, you might get over confident and end up biting it bad.

Making the modification was pretty easy. I just purchased some 1/2" sheet metal screws with 1/4" heads from the hardware store. Specifically getting this type of screw is important since most of the improved traction comes from the ridges on the screw heads. I used a small bit to pre-drill some holes in the high points in the sole and then added the screws by hand. I'm sure you could just use an cordless drill to add them without pre-drilling but I didn't have the proper bit at the time. If you have thinner soles, 3/8" long screws might be a better option to make sure they don't stick through into the inside of the shoe. Also, if you have gel or air packs in the shoes, it is obviously important not to puncture them.

Prairie Inn Pioneer 8K

January 10, 2010

Pioneer is the very popular first race of the Island Race Series. I'm quite surprised at the level of competition that shows up for this local race. Thanks for the stellar field can largely be given to Bob Reid who manages to recruit many elite runners from the island, the mainland and beyond. It probably also helps that there is a small prize purse and it is the now part of the Timex BC Road Running Series. Other than the Sun Run and Times Colonist, this is likely the most competitive road race in BC. Thanks to the race director Randy Jones and all the volunteers who made this 31st running of the Pioneer another great success.

This was my first road race since I started my new training with Paul O'Callaghan and therefore my first real test to see if the plan was working for me. I was feeling optimistic about my running, but I didn't have any expectations that I would be setting a huge PB. I did however, want to at least better my 2009 time on this course (26:57). If I could also go under my 8k PB of 26:45 that would be a satisfying result. Based on this, I planned to try to go for a 26:30 (3:19/km pace) and see how things went.

I arrived about an hour before race start which normally gives sufficient time to get a race number, use the facilities, and have a short warm up. Unfortunately, I spent a good amount of time waiting in line for the bathroom so my warm up was a truncated one. In my experience though, I have not found a relationship between my performance and my warm up. Sometimes, I have not warmed up at all and felt just fine and other times I have done a full warm up and under performed. The body definitely does take some time getting the systems running well during intense exercise, but I find the the adrenaline at the beginning of the race more than compensates for the lack of a full warm up.

Most of the first kilometer is downhill which leads to an extremely fast time. I managed to avoid the flailing arms and legs and passed the first km in 3:01 in around 25th place. Only in my dreams could I run an 8k at that pace, but I wasn't particularly worried about going so fast since it is largely on account of the downhill start. Shawn Nelson passed me near the 1km mark and knowing the speed he is capable of these days, I didn't attempt to respond. Around 1.5km, I saw Craig Odermatt take a nasty tumble on the pavement. He was apparently tripped up by somebody, but with the assistance of another runner (Shelby Drope) he was up and moving again soon. He momentarily fell back a bit, but soon enough bombed on ahead to a strong finish.

The second km passed in a another quick 3:13, but I knew some slow sections were on the way so having a few seconds in the bank was good since I didn't feel I was over stressing myself doing so. There is a fairly long hill through Brentwood Bay that makes it difficult to post a good time on the 3rd km, but I moved well and passed Shelby and gained slightly on the other in front of me. I ran on my own not really gaining or losing ground until around 5km when Nick Walker caught and passed me. He often seems to start out a little easy and then finishing the latter half strong. I considered trying to tag onto him, but instead elected to set my own pace. I reeled in another runner at 5.5km who was fading a bit. A few hundred meters from the turn around I spotted the leaders Steve Osaduik and Richard Mosley coming back and running neck and neck.

By the turn around I still felt like I was able to maintain a strong pace although 6-7 km was a slow 3:27 despite seeming just as fast as the others. Around 6.5 km I spotted a runner heading off the road into the bushes. Apparently he really had to take a wiz although it seems like he would have been able to hold if for 6 more minutes. It definitely cost him a few positions. The final km is pretty much all uphill since it is the reverse of the opening km. Last year, I recall really struggling to keep my form on the last km so it was encouraging that I felt much better this time and was able to maintain a good rhythm.

As I rounded the final corner to the finish, I took a look at my watch - 2o sec to make it under 26:30 - I ramped it up and mounted a respectable kick, but was not quite able to get there in time instead finishing in 26:35. This was good enough for 19th place in a strong field and more importantly was a 10 sec PB (and 22 sec improvement over last year). Not a huge breakthrough, but definitely heading in the right direction. I was also encouraged by how comfortable I felt (relative to other races). Steve managed to out kick Richard for the win in 23:35; a time I would be ecstatic to get with a minute of. It was great to see a large number of other Harriers and runners that I have come to know over the years. I'm looking forward to a great year. Final results.

My splits were: 3:01, 3:13, 3:27, 3:20 (4k split 13:01) 3:21, 3:25, 3:27, 3:22

On a more serious note, the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti got me reflecting on just how fortunate we all living here. We have the luxury of being able to participate in an activity that only has value for our own enjoyment (and ego) while so many others could only wish to have enough resources to meet their basic needs. This should help to put things into perspective next time you have a bad run or race.

Gunner Shaw 10K, Vancouver

December 5, 2009

A big thanks to Bob Reid, who again organized a large group of Harriers to head over to the race at Jericho Beach. I'm going to keep this report somewhat short so you can read some background on the race from my report last year if you are interested.

The conditions this year were quite different than last year which was very wet. This time it was cold and the ground was frozen. The puddle was removed from the course because it was frozen and was too risky to run on. It was quite sunny, however, so by the time the race started it was quite comfortable and many (including myself) just ran in a singlet. I had hoped to utilize my newly acquired spikes on this course as there are a couple of slippery areas. However, my heel was still too tender to give them a try so I went back to my trusty Brooks Cascadias.

The Harriers had brought over pretty deep field including Sean Chester, Nick Best, and two visiting Kenyans: Nixon Kiprotich and Willy Langat so I knew that it would be a fast race. I also expected that there would be a couple of Vancouver guys that would place well. I wasn't concerned about placement though as my goal was to simply better my time from last year. I figured this wasn't unreasonable at all considering last years race was mediocre for me.

The Prairie Inn Harriers Team (mostly in red). Photo Credit: Linda Wong

I positioned myself near the front of the field of around 200 racers in a place where I thought I would go out in the top 10. However, when the race started the runners (some of who were doing a single 5km loop) took off like a shot and I found myself well back from the leaders in perhaps 25 place or so. Not only was I too far back, I was also was boxed in for the first few hundred meters and found myself fighting for position. This was a bit frustrating since I knew that I was faster than most of these guys and should have been further up. I lost a bit of time doing this, but fortunately it wasn't too long before I was able to pass most of these quick starters. Within the first 2 km I had moved into 6th place and was feeling pretty good. I saw another runner ahead who ended up being a guy named Jordan Maywood and I was able to bridge the gap to him. I thought that since I was able to catch him fairly easily, I would be able to drop him before too long. I've got to give Jordan a lot of credit though as I attacked on at least 6 occasions, but he refused to budge.

Last year there were some really muddy sections that were tricky to navigate without spikes and while this year it was better I still had to be careful in a couple of areas. We went through the first lap in 16:55 and I was still feeling solid despite working hard. The course has a section on sand and this year the sand portion had been lengthened by a couple of hundred meters. Last year the sand really killed me on the second lap, but things felt better this year around. The 4 leaders (Nixon, Nick, Sean, and Willy) were quite far ahead by this point. I ran strong during the second lap, but it was as usual taxing. Near the end of the loop there is a small section of trail with some puddles and mud. Jordan was just ahead of me moving into that section and with his spikes he was able to power through it quickly. He also put on a good surge which I was just not able to counter well enough. He hit the line 9 seconds ahead of my 6th place 34:21. I ended up being 1:42 faster than last year which I was pretty happy with although with a slightly different course and different conditions it is tough to tell just how much better the performance really was. Nixon won in 32:06, just seconds off of a course record and Nick continued his impressive season just 13 second behind. The top woman was Rachel Ruus, coming in 17th overall. Final results.

Many other Harriers had great performances with the majority of them placing in their age categories and it was great to have some many avid runners to share the experience with. It's always a fun trip so I expect to be back in the future. I'm not racing again until Jan 10 at the Pioneer 8k. It will be the first real test to see how my new training regimen is working so it will be interesting.

Training Update

It's now been five weeks since I started training with Paul O'Callaghan so I thought I'd give a brief update. So far I have only done 3 of the 10 Milers I mentioned in my previous post. The Thetis Relay replaced the one of them and last week it it coincided with a rest day so the rest day won out. This will happen from time to time since the rest day changes each week with the 7 day on 1 day off schedule. The last time I did the Broadmead 10 Miler, the weather did not cooperate for the 2nd time and the driving wind and rain was pretty unpleasant. It was tough to keep myself warm enough. Run wise, It was decent however, as I took 3 minutes off my first time there despite wasting some time figuring out the route (it will take a couple more tries before I have it all memorized).

On Sat, we usually have a interval session on grass and these sessions can be pretty tough. Yesterday we did 12x30 sec uphill with about a minute rest jogging back down. While 30 sec doesn't sound like much, if you go full out, it becomes pretty tough. By the end of the last few repeats, I started to feel a little nauseous and that rarely happens to me. For the first time, I also wore spikes which really made a huge difference in traction; particularly since the grass was wet and muddy. Unfortunately, the right shoe wore my heel raw so I have to figure out what is causing that. After the repeats, we were supposed to hammer out a 1 Mile interval. The first couple of hundred metres were fine, but I could really feel the effect of the hill repeats and it became a struggle to keep the legs moving particularly up the little hills.

Overall, I've been pretty happy with the program although the increased mileage has caused my shin splints to flare up a bit. They are still in control, however, and only a minor annoyance. Of a little more concern are some issues I am having with my right heel which has been causing me some discomfort at the beginning of my runs and sometime during the run. It is not bad enough to affect my training, but I want to make sure that it doesn't become a big problem. I've been seeing a physiotherapist and have seen some improvement. Hopefully, it will be history in a couple of weeks.

This week the training enters a new buildup phase with 3 quality sessions per week rather than just the two. There will be a track workout on Tue, the 10 Miler will move to Thurs, and Sat will continuous to be a grass interval workout. The track workouts should be interesting as I haven't done a lot on the track before. As long as I can keep the injuries at bay, I think this phase will start to pay off starting in the new year.

Yesterday, I also checked out the Gunner Shaw race at Thetis. I've raced this one for the last 4 years, so for the fist time, I decided to volunteer and was given a Marshaling post at the north end of Lower Thetis Lake. It was actually pretty interesting to see the race from a different perspective than I normally do and it was good to give a little back to the running community. All of the races are totally dependent on volunteers so its good to pitch in sometimes. Congratulations to Jason Loutitt who took the win and a big kudos to my training partner, Shawn Nelson, who ran to fantastic 2nd place finish in a strong field. His improvement year over year, is quite outstanding. I guess the new training is really paying off.

Thetis 20K Relay

November 11, 2009

I think I mentioned this in my post about the relay last year, but I am still (pleasantly) surprised at how popular this event is. There are no race numbers, you time yourself, and there is minimal prizing or post race food so it is great that it sold out for the second year running with over 600 registered. I think one of the main reasons it is so popular is that there are not many other local relay running events. This race allows you to get four people together to run around both Thetis Lakes, and your teammates can cheer you on while you are doing your leg. The distance its modest (under 5km per lap), the terrain relatively forgiving, and taking place on Remembrance Day, has no other races to compete with. All in all quite the fun little event which the Prairie Inn Harriers have put on for 13 years now.

With so many people in the event, parking is an issue unless you arrive pretty early. Sonja and I did not, and ended up having to hoof it a little ways. Not a big deal, but it didn't leave a ton of time before the race started. Conditions were great for this time of year, dry and mild, so a shorts and a short sleeve were all that was required. The first year I did the relay back in 2005, it was only a couple of degrees out and the rain absolutely pounded down. I remembered being completely soaked within minutes and freezing later while waiting for my teammates. It is still stands as the worst conditions that I have raced in.

I've done this event 4 times with various teams, so this year I decided to try it as a solo. This would also fit in well with my training program as I had a scheduled 10 Miler anyway so I traded that tempo for this race. The trick with a solo effort (besides the possibility of getting bored with 4 laps of the same trails) was not to go out too hard initially. Most of the runners would only be doing a single lap so trying to keep up with people I normally would run with would be quite unwise. There were 7 other solo racers, with Jeff Hunt being the fastest. Jeff is a experienced ultra runner and I thought that pacing him for the first lap would be a good way to make sure I didn't go out too hard (I didn't actually end up doing this, but it was a good idea anyway).

"Ready Set..." Photo Credit: Sandi Heal

Once the race began I quickly got into a comfortable rhythm. I rarely wear my heart rate monitor in a race, but I decided to use it this time. It turned out to be a good tool to have, particularly on the first lap. Even though it felt comfortable, the heart rate started to creep up steadily so I tried hard to keep it in the low 150's (under 90% of my max). I ran with Jeff for the first couple of km, but then he had to pull off to tie a errant lace (I'll give you tips to avoid this next time Jeff:-)). I passed a few single lappers who had gone out too hard and felt strong going over the 3 small hills near the end of the loop. I finished the first lap in 17:25 feeling good. It was great to see so many people cheering on myself and others at the transition zone. It really does give a little energy boost when people shout your name as you pass them so thanks to everyone who cheered us on!

My goal for the day was to try to keep the laps steady (or even slightly speed up with each successive lap). With this in mind I kept what I thought was the same pace as the first lap, but unfortunately held back a bit too much finishing that one in 17:59. Seeing this I pushed harder on the 3rd lap, determined to get my time down to around 17:30. I started passing runners on their 2nd lap and from here on in, I ended up saying "On your left!" quite a lot. Pretty much everyone was great at letting me by although a few still got confused about what left meant. Clocking in a 17:36 got me close to the first lap speed and I was feeling quite good so with a single lap left, I ignored the heart rate monitor and pushed the pace. The final 3 hills hurt and forced my pace down, but I hammered out the flats and downhills quite well. With a hundred meters to go, I didn't feel totally spent, so I sprinted in for a 17:27 lap and a 1:10:27 total time. This was good for a win in the solo division and 6th place overall. While I probably left a little bit in the tank since I didn't feel as drained as usual, I was still generally pleased with my performance and how smart I ran the race. The Senior Men National Triathlon Team took first place in a blistering 1:01:34 (15:23 average laps). Final Results. It was great to see some many Harriers out and I hope this little event continues on for many years to come.

Checking my splits with race director Bob Reid. Photo Credit: Sandi Heal

I'm going to continue to concentrate on my training for the remainder of the year although I will be heading over to Vancouver in early December to run the Gunner Shaw XC race there.