Gary's first 100 mile week

My First Ever 100 Mile Week
I took the Monday off to rest and recover, even though I was feeling quite good overall. It was late Monday when I set a goal for the week. 100 miles of running (161km). I have never been able to dedicate my training 100% to my running as it's always been a balance between riding, running, paddling, and gym work. I figured with less than a month until the Stormy 100 miler I might as well put on the horse blinders and see how my body responded.

Mon 14th: Day off of training

Tue 15th: 5h15m(40km)

Headed out to try and run the first 1/2 of the Knee Knacker course. 'Try' because it's quite a complex little route with many twists and turns, and I am notorious for finding scenic routes while out running new terrain. I hit the top of Black Mtn in 1h15m and Cypress in 1h45m, which was decent. I wasn't racing, and was making mental notes all along the route to ensure that I was 100% confident in it for future, faster attempts. From here however, it all went to shit. Hollyburn Chutes and it was game over...I reached Cleveland Damn in just under 4hr!
There were a few hikers that I passed less than 2km after departing the Cypress area...and they were walking Cleveland Damn up ahead of me as I came in! I turned to them and said,
"Next time I'll just follow the friggin hikers!!"
From here I continued up towards Grouse and eventually onto some trails and back to my place on Lonsdale. A technical and steep 40k route that took just over 5hr to complete. Roxy looked at me with 3km to go and simply stopped to curl up under a tree for a few minutes. It was a hot day and I was pretty shattered afterwards.
-Then out for a 1hr paddle in Deep Cove as part of the Tues night racing series
(day off of work)


Wed 16th: 2hr (20km)
Drive to The Callaghan Valley to lay out my running courses for The Callaghan Crusher on August 24th. This will be the first ever trail race to be held in The Callaghan, which is the site of the 2010 Olympic Nordic events. The course is gonna be beautiful! (day off of work)




Thu 17th: 1h15m (15km)
Out for an evening run with Ryne Melcher, also of Team Montrail - Mountain Hardware. Best running pace I've sustained since getting back on my feet and felt great!

Fri 18th: 1h45m (20km)
Pretty much straight up for 10k and then straight back down. Another solid run

Sat 19th: 3h45m (40km)
Head up to Squamish after work to join a Stormy training run group. Run the first portion of the course. Felt great physically, but had some stomach issues. Was awesome to be running at night with the headlamp on again! The Princeton Tec Apex is like my secret weapon for this race!!

Sun 20th: 4h45m (30km)


After work Jackie and I head out to run a backcountry route through Hanes Valley. Incredible evening, and once again loved the headlamp running after an incredible sunset from the top of Grouse mountain.



TOTALS: 18h45m - 165km

Roxy pretty much sums up how I feel about the week!




I was intending to try to hit the 200km mark for this current week, but after a very tough 45km run yesterday I realized that I might be a little tired from it all. Either way I feel great overall and the main thing is that the injuries are gone and no new ones have popped up to replace them yet!

Took today, Wed off and will get back to it again tomorrow morning. 16 days and counting...maybe the 200k wasn't the smartest idea anyways!

GR

Canadian Mountain Running Championships

This weekend is th Canadian Mountain Running Championships in North Vancouver.
Our Own Ellie Greenwood will be lacing up!

Gary is battered and bruised or I am sure he would. He was riding the 7 day stage race BC Bike Race and suffered a series of mishaps that has put him out for a bit. He'll be back. The rest of us are regrouping!

I am shooting for a couple fall ultras and to prime up fo the Halloween Trail Marathon on the North Shore. This will see the revival of my trail running after a very odd season for me (or lack of one!).

Cheryl Beatty is heading to do a very long trail flash but I have to keep it in the bag until she's does it. It's long, steep, mountainous and should be fun.....in a not fun kind of way!

Western States Cancelled

...not much more to say. I feel so bad for all the runners, crew, family, volunteers, event coordinators! I can't believe it. Very sad. I know what level of commitment it takes to get ready for this race. The weekends, weeks and months of prep work-gone....sure they can run another race but it won't be THE race....

Miwok and Van Marathon-Team does great

Well, we had runners in tow races this weekend. Ellie Greenwood finishing her road series before getting back on the trail circuit and Gary Robbins, Ryne Melcher, Cheryl Beatty and myself heading down to my favorite race-Miwok 100km.

Miwok 100km is a beautiful course, super well organized and fast. The terrain varies from coastal, to inland heat,amazing views, fast rolling single track.

Gary Robbins had a goal of sub 9, the rest just to run well. I think about 250 started the race and it is always really competitive. When the gun went off, we settled in. I ran with Cheryl Beatty for about 30 km, while Gary and Ryne worked on up ahead. Not coming into this race super prepared for longer distance, I was not sure if I would run more than 50, but I knew the others would be fine.

I ran to 45 and decided that was it for me, I would now become a cheering squad for my friends. Gary Robbins rolled back through the 65 km check in 6th overall, and running very close to the sub 9 hour mark he set. Cheryl and Ryne cruised through. Cheryl was in 5 or 6th and Ryne was looking in rough shape. With encouragement, Ryne set out to finish this bastard.

Off the the finish line I went with Danielle and we waited. Click, there goes the 9 hour mark. Click, Click, Click, runners coming in and no Gary. 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th...Well, Gary had put in a lot of time on some of these folks...I knew something happened. Yes-he missed a turn (people miss it every year) and ran about 11 minutes the wrong way-22 total. Well, it would have been close. At 9:22 he crossed the line in 12th. An excellent race!

Cheryl crossed the line of her first 100 km run in about 10:30. Feeling great. Cheryl has a long adventure racing history and I wil admit I was happy when she told me that was the most suffering she has ever done!! She rocked.

Melcher suffered-a lot. but this was a better victory than many the others. With 50 km and 50 mile times like 3:10 and low 6's 50 milers, ego can often get in the way of finishing. He put it aside, suffered, and finished Miwok '08!

Congrats to the team-next up is the 1/2 Knacker!

Ellie Greenwood decided to lace up for the Vancouver Marathon. I don't have a race report yet but I know she was 3rd woman and ran a 2:55!!

Miwok or umm. Me Walk?

Well, the team is ready to roll, 4 of us heading to Miwok 100 km next weekend. Gary Robbins will lead the pack out after coming off an amazing Diez Vista 50 km (2nd place). Cheryl Beatty is ready to roll and I think Ryne Melcher is feeling good. That leaves me (beer)......um, errrr, ok, maybe Miwok or me-walk (beer). No excuses (beer), my longs runs have not been so loooong (beer) and I'm just not as fit (beer) as I need to be. But May will be bear down time for Western. I just need to get through Miwok in 1 piece (beer)!

So, let's see Gary take one for the team and Cheryl Beatty roll through her first 100km!

Ellie Run Boston-Miwok Next

Well Boston marathon is WAY off being a trail race but being THE marathon of all marathons I couldn't resist the temptation to run Bean Town when I herad a few friends were heading over this year. A few friends and a total of 21, 963 other runners, this was not going to be a laid back and low key event. The whole Boston experience is slick , professional and organised to perfection. I arrived a couple of days ahead of time to have a chance to get over the journey and explore a little of the city. This was a great idea as even though we over did it on the sightseeing on the first day (walking is way more exhausting than running!) it meant we had the day before the marathon to chill and enjoy the US womens Olympic Trials. What better way to get into racing spirit other than watching the top US women battle it out for 3 highly coveted places to Beijing - the atmosphere was electric and the crowds have me an idea of what to expect the next day.

Marathon Monday dawned (Boston marathon is always held on Patriot's day - a holiday in Massachuessetts) - though not quite soon enough for us getting up just before 5am - a full 5 hours before the race gun went off. First a shuttle bus to get the the T (as Boston's transit system is called), then a ride on the T to get to the marathon shuttle to transport us to the start. As we all piled on to the school buses we seemed to bear an eary resemblance of prisoners being taken off to be incarcerated! But instead we were deposited near the race start where a whole athlete's village was set up to hold all the runners before being called to the start. We'd lucked out this year and already the sun was begining to come through the clouds and the temperature was rising. One last trip to the portapotty (about half an hour just to get to one!) and we were hearded like cattle into corals of 1000 runners. The corals are based on qualifying time so the better your time, the better your start position.

Despite the crowds I was amazed that it took me less than 10 minuts to get to cross the start line and even my first mile was only about 20 seconds off pace. Soon I settled into a comfortable pace (as this was a training run for Vancouver marathon 2 weeks later) and I began to soak up the whole experience. Supporters lined both sides of the course, usually several rows deep. Kids handed out oranges and popsicles and looked so forlorn at the prospect that you might not high five them, that you just had to. At first I wished I had put my name on my shirt to get more chering as others were getting who had personalised their shirts but after a while i decided that too much sideline support was possible and I just wanted to run without having to feel obliged to smile at each and every stranger that cheered from the sidelines. Just when I thought it could get not get louder I heard a roar in the distance that grew louder and louder - it could only be Wellesley college! Thousands of girls lined the sidewalks quite literally sreaming their heads off! I think it was at about this point I began to wish I had brought my ear plugs!

Boston is a net down hill course and everyine talks of the need to take it easy at the start to avoid trashing your quads, but I think that any trail runnner can safely ignore this advice! Infamous Heartbreak Hill? That mountain that stands at the 21 mile mark? I was half way up it before I even realised it was Heartbreak and I was at the top about 1 minute later. I think 'Heartbreak Molehill' would be a more fitting name for anyone that has run trails!

That said, the last 4 miles were tough. The crowds were loud, the temperarture was peaking and the road was rolling. In addItion as there are mats to track your chip every 5km there is some sort of pressure to keep an even pace rather than just get a good finishing time! It was with welcome relief that I saw the finish banner over Boylston Avenue and made a final push to the end. 3:07:20 after that start I stumbled over the finish, happy to have run a solid race and set a PB.

I would highly recommend Boston as an experience to any runner. To be part of such a huge and prestigious race with the history of Boston is worth it alone. It's not trail running - you should not expect to escape the crowds and find peace and quiet. You should expect a highly organised road race on a course where you feel you have achieved something by just taking part. It's one BIG running celebration and Boston knows how to party!

Ellie Off To Boston

Keep on eye on the Boston Marathon this coming Monday April 21st, as Team Montrail Canada member Ellie Greenwood takes on the 42.2km course. Go Ellie Go!

8125 Greenwood, Eleanor J. 29 F Vancouver BC CAN GBR