WTF was I thinking

To finish off the weekend up at Squamish, I could not have predicted what I got myself into. I started Sunday morning off with a complainypants blog write up about how I did not run the race (if you can't tell I'm still bitter about it), while my parents were getting ready. We decided to have lunch together and then go our separate ways. They headed off to the Sea to Sky Gondola while I headed over to Farside aid station to hang out and hopefully get a jump on the traffic home.

How I started my afternoon

So I made it to Farside and ended up just hanging out with everyone watching the runners come through. So I didn't feel like I was completely useless I did cut up some watermelon but that was about it. The day progressed and I found out that traffic was already getting backed up so I knew it was going to be a late evening. Oh well I didn't have anywhere to be so I was okay with that.

As the last runner to clear the cut off comes through, over the radio Kyle hears about runners getting stopped by a bear that wouldn't move. That when everything became "interesting" (I'm using quotes because I don't think interesting is the right word). This is when Kyle, Courtney & I volunteered go go scare the bear away. Like the title says, WTF was I thinking, I don't chase bear, I run away from them. 

We made good time getting into the forest and I couldn't remember a lot of the trail, lucky Kyle knew where we were going. We'd made a couple short cuts and caught up to the last runner who was very scared of the bear. We'd stay with him from this point on. We'd come across a cub and talked to a few fellow hikers and bikers. From what we could gather the mother and cubs were making their way from Mount of Phlegm. We picked up the sweeps and another marshall by the time we were on our way down. So overall I can't say we actually did much bear chasing but it was still exciting. 

By the time we got to where I could hop off the course, the others took off ahead of us and Kyle and I decided to also run to the finish. Kyle, Courtney, Jennifer & the other sweep (sorry I can't remember your name) I can't thank you enough for turning my first DNS into a very fun adventure. Although I didn't get to run the race, I was able to appreciate the last 10k and it's not as hard as I remembered. I still think I should of ran on Saturday & Sunday but glad I didn't since I didn't want to end up in the hospital. 

For those who are interested, I haven't had any kidney pain since Saturday morning at 2-3ish and haven't needed to take any medication since then. Sorry to disappoint those who like to hear about my sufferfest, I promise to make sure I have a sufferfest soon enough.

I should be back to my usual adventures with good stories soon enough. Until then let's hope I pass the stone quickly and painlessly or painfully if you want me to cry. On the plus side kidney stone pain is suppose to like child birth so I'll always have that.

Emergency

I was excited about Squamish 50 weekend, I had something to prove to myself and deep down I knew it was going to be hard but doable weekend. I felt my little issues with muscle soreness and tight tendons was all resolved. I had mostly everything packed up and Friday morning I spent at the parental units place using their printer. That's when things fell apart for me.

It started at around 7:30AM, I had a very familiar pain on my left side, dull at the beginning but within 30 minutes it was getting more intense. I looked at my mom and said, "We've got to go."

We rushed out of the house and headed straight for the hospital. I got into emergency and the pain was getting excruciating. Lucky there wasn't a lot of people there and the staff got me into a room and started pumping some good drugs into me very shortly. My worst fear for the weekend was answered, kidney stones. I've had them before a little over 4 years ago and I remembered the pain.

After spending most of the day in the emergency room, I was still thinking how I will start in the morning. I decided I will to go full steam ahead with plans and see how I feel in the morning. The doctor did hook me up with some really good painkillers.

The pain did die down and I wasn't taking the full strength of the medication I was allowed to so I thought I might have a chance to start. But at 2AM, 3.5hours before the start of the 50miler, I woke up with mild pain increasing. I took some more meds and made the sad realization that Squamish 50/50 this year will not happen and this will be my first DNS. It was a tough pill to swallow and I went back to bed to have myself a little pity party.

It was a bitter sweet ending to my weekend plans, sad that I wasn't able to at least start but happy that I wouldn't be out there in the killer heat. On the bright side I was able to spend more time with the parental units. I even helped out crewing for Nancy with friends, when I say crewing I was mostly playing with Pheadra. Plus I got the best story to embarrass Pheadea with, while at chilling at Furtherside aid station, I was holding her up and all of a sudden I felt something wet dripping on my foot. It turned out that Pheadra was leaking out of her diaper and basically peeing on my foot. I yelled over to Sean and let him know what happen. I think everyone there had a good laugh.

So my weekend didn't turn out as planned but I still got to spend it with family and friends. Sorry Gary I wasn't able to start but I did gain a new fan.

Out of body Experience to a Nightmare, Finally Expectance

It all started back in December of 2015, I was sitting in front of the computer, friends signing up for various races and my body and mind separated, I reached for my credit card and I signed up for something that wasn't on the list, wasn't even a plan for this year but something came over me. My brain screaming, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!!! This is suicidal, this is just beyond what is even considered normal by ultra standards. After I hit the accept button, I realized what I have just done and I had a sense that everything will be just fine. I know technically how to make it happen but can I put everything in motion to make this happen.

There is was I was signed up for Fat Dog 120 the weekend before Squamish 50/50. As if I thought Squamish wasn't hard enough last year I've just made it exponentially harder this year for myself. I must must love must making things hard for myself.

In the following months no matter how hard I worked, I realized the nightmare that I had created for myself. I had trouble with everything, until finally 3 weeks before the big date, I made the heart wrenching decision to drop to the 70miler. This is something I have never done. So follow me along this journey to see what happened.

I was up in the Manning Park area on Thursday just chilling out with friends, knowing now I just had to believe in myself and hopefully not get into a bad head space during the run. Some good food and friends go a long way and the night before the race I was invited to stay with Sean & company at the cabin he rented.

Race morning I was up and out the door with my somewhat lighter pack then usual and waiting for the bus ride to the start line. There was a lot of energy building up with all the runners. The ride up I chit chatted with fellow crazies and just through about the day ahead with no idea what I would discover about myself during the next 27ish hours.

At the start line checked in and chatted with friends who had support crew bring them to the start line. I was just itching to get going finally Heather said go and I placed myself at my usual spot at the back of the pack. The first couple hours nothing really exciting was happening, just taking in the views and chatting with fellow runners. As time when on I felt as two guardian angels had landed on my shoulders, I don't know if these guys were thinking of me while I was out there or my brain just needed to have friends along for the ride but it felt like 2 amazing ultra runners were with me from this point on, Sammy & Tim. As they provided words of encouragement in my head, I came across a fellow runner named Debra. We had an amazing chat about just everything for the 3 maybe 4 hours that we were together, thank you Debra for your company.

At this point it felt as my sister, H, had joint Sammy & Tim in spirit. And it felt like I had my cheering team set for the rest of the run. And as soon as I turned a corner I ran into Laddie, an ultra tough woman. We got to chat for a bit as we caught up to Bengi who had fallen and dislocated his finger, I don't do well with when it looks like a finger is about to fall off, lucky he had Meg and another runner to encourage him to the aid station. Even with what Benji when through he was making progress again and leaving me in the dust. Shortly after Laddie also pulled away, and Debra passed me as well. I was remembering my last time I was here, 2 years ago barely able to walk sweeps caught up to me and felling like my race was over. But this time I had my spirit angels to make proud so I kept trekking along even though it was hot, too hot for me anyways.

In at Cause Flats, saw Bengi who was in excellent spirits. I quickly took care of what I needed to and got out. The next section I knew was a tough section and in the heat I was reduced to a crawl. Nothing really exciting happened except I did run into Willa & Kyle. Meg and I got into Cascades almost the same time. It was a fairly lengthily pit stop but I felt re-energized. I thanked everyone one before heading back out on the the road section.

The next couple hours weren't anything too special, I was in an amazing head space, with my guardian angels. I power hiked with Julie, whom I met at Gottfried's party the week before, she remember me but I didn't remember her, sorry Julie, but it was nice to have you for company for that section. Surprisingly there weren't a lot of bugs that bit me, maybe the were full from feeding off Debra, she told me that she's delicious.

I get into Shawatum and see a couple friendly faces, Gareth, Bayly & Dustin. Bayly took really good care of me and I even had a medic have a look at one of my toes that's been hurting since before Nicomen Lake. He was pretty sure it wasn't broken but taped it up to keep the swelling down.

I headed out and shortly saw saw 2 headlamps coming back, Gareth was done, but his loss turned out to be my gain. Dustin asked if I wanted a pacer and I was like sure. It will be like old times. We power hiked and ran sections of this trail. Time flew because we got into a pretty heavy conversation about life and he provided some power insight into some of the things I've been going through the past several years. I won't get into the details, but something he said that I needed to hear felt like being punched in the gut. The pain was very short lived but the sadness of what he said was carried forward from that moment on, has been eating away at me. Thanks Dustin for your honestly, it really helped put things into perspective even though it has caused some sadness in my life. I know I can always count on your help. Our conversation also made this section go my so quickly that I was in an hour ahead of schedule. This gave me extra time to really re-fuel as much as possible since I was having trouble getting calories in with the heat.

After leaving Skyline aid station things were still going well for me, all until about an hour into the climb, maybe a little less. All the malnutrition during the day had caught up and I was feeling done for but Dustin keep my spirits up. Although the memory from this point on was a little foggy, I do remember having a nice sit down to eat and watching the stars, some whiskey at Camp Mowich and a lot of laying down on the ground feeling like I was going to die. At sky junction I fueled up the best I could for the final push to the finish line.

My climbs were very slow and things weren't going my way. I kept thinking that I wasn't going to make cutoff but Dustin kept it positive. Once we were past the last climb and knew it was all downhill, he made me chase him all the way down. He'd run ahead and I'd slowly catch up and we repeated that until the last couple kilometers.  At this time we both knew I was finishing within the cutoff and he gave me some much needed breaks. 

As we came across the other side of the lake, I started getting really emotional. I knew that I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for Dustin. He told me to hold it together and run across the finish line. I felt like I sprinted across but it was most likely a funny looking hobble. 

Even though I should of been happy that I finished, part of me was sad. I was extremely exhausted and just wanted to lay down. It was going to be another hour or so before I could lay down and it was almost the evening before I felt like eating but I got Fat Dog 70 under my belt. 

Huge thanks for Heather & Peter for putting together this race, it learned a lot about myself during this run. Thanks to all the volunteers who help make this race possible. Thanks to Debra, Laddie & Julie for letting me tag along. Thanks to Bayly, Gareth, Katherine, Nigel, Sean, Nancy, Kyndra & Pheadra for all your support and encouragement and for letting me be Mr. Complainypants. Thanks to Sammy, Tim & H for being there in spirit, I'm still not sure if any of you where thinking of me during the race but I sure felt your presence. Probably the biggest thanks goes to my little buddy Dustin, without you I wouldn't have finished like I did. I owe this race to you.

On to Squamish, looking forward to seeing you Gary. 

BC Day Long Weekend: Setting PB & Having a Couple Lunch Dates

Since last weekend was two weeks away from Fat Dog, which will start off the next push of craziness, I decided to have short days and relaxes days. So I started the weekend with a short run around Diez Vistas and set up two lunch dates for the following days. I figured I deserved the rest. 

Saturday morning, after a great night sleep I headed over to Buntzen Lake. I was going to see if I could beat my previous person best. I set a personal best earlier this year of 2:44, shaving off 4 minutes from last years PB. Where I ended my day puking and needing a good rest before I could drive home. I wasn't very hopeful to get a PB in this time around. 

I have a preference of going counter-clockwise, longer climb and steep downhill at the end that puts me a couple kms from the car. I made really good time to the north beach and I knew this wouldn't be good since I'll probably suffer later on. I was going empty stomach and didn't even have food on me. Once I was on the Diez Vista's trail, I saw what looked like a trail runner coming down, he must of started fairly early. As he got closer, I realized it wasn't an runner it was Dustin. We chatted quickly for a bit and I continued on the climb. I chatted with others as I passed by them too so I didn't feel like I was going fast. But as soon as I got to the last Vista for me, I looked at the time and it was under 2 hours, I've never been at this point under 2 hours. On the downhill I decided to just give'r. I just bombed down and even jogged the flats at the end. When I tagged the car, I could hardly believe my time, 2:27, 15 minutes faster then my previous time. I was tired but didn't puke and didn't really need a recovery time. I don't think I can even reproduce this time, but I guess I'll find out later in the month. Rest of the day was spend relaxing at home and preparing for my lunch dates. 

Saturday morning was a late start and decided to change date plans to something a little closer to home, good bye Outram, hello Coliseum. I was still out of the house before eight and headed over to the north shore. I parked close to End of the Line and made my way into Lynn headwaters, with my breakfast warp in hand, yummy hash browns, scramble egg & fresh made salsa all warped up made for the gentle walk through Varley trail pleasant. I was on a rest day so no going hard just relaxing walk but even then, I was only passed by a few runners and I passed quite a few hikers. By the time I got to Norvan I had a some stomach issues that I quickly was able to take care of and started my climb. I don't have a lot to say about the climb so I'll let the pictures do the talking. I can tell you the climb isn't too bad and I spend most of the day with my head in the clouds.

Sunday's date was with Black Tusk, I even had a little something special for the peak. This was also a later start to the day then I wanted by almost an hour but I was still at the trail head before 7:30. It was just over a week from FatAss's night run and I remembered the climb really well. I probably passed just about every hiker without really trying and again not much to say except, I met a guy named Jim who was living the dream. He hiked in his snowboard for a run or two in the summer. Here I'll let the pictures do the talking again.

Yeah that's right I hiked up a Black Tusk Ale up the Black Tusk and even managed to keep it cold. 

I forgot how scary the scramble up to the peak is. That's where I got to meet Whitman (I hope I got your name right). After the climb down it was a quick jog to the lake for some pictures and then to the car. I ended up jogging downhill for the last kilometer and a bit with Jim. 

In all it was an extremely good relaxing weekend with one fast day hard day and two slow and relaxing days. The weekend total ended up being almost 70k with just over 4000m of gain. Time to relax and get ready for Fat Dog, Squamish, Volcanic & Frosty.