Sunday, September 14, 2014

The End of Ultra . . .



Well the end of 2014 has derailed slightly due to poor recovery from Squamish 50's grand explosion. I've had some good runs, and some not so good runs since then. The hamstring injury subsided pretty quick, but the dead legs and lack of energy have not dissipated quite so neatly.

I dropped distance for Frosty 50 to the 27k, but after a test run on a "Tour de Buntzen" where I did 35k of trails along Sugar Mountain, Diez Vista and the Buntzen trails, the long run ended badly with severe vomiting all the way home and  a passing out on the bed once I got there.

With a distance like 27k, I would want to race it, so the idea of "just getting it done" wasn't in the cards. I actually feel really good with my decision for ending the Ultra season on this note. I plan on doing a lot of races for a lot of years, so a short term hiatus to allow my body to get back to a solid plane is important.

I will be doing some flagging, sweeping, and volunteering for both 5Peaks and Coast Mountain Trail Series, and then racing the Mountain Madness Hallow's Eve 23k at the end of October. I want to be ready for that race and push hard and really dig deep.

I'm seeing a nutritionist at Fortius Sports Centre  in Burnaby, and getting a plan to ensure both my daily intake and race day intakes have enough calories to sustain my active lifestyle of running, martial arts, and generally doing stuff. The initial assessment shows that I'm well short of my daily caloric needs, so eating more, more often and more consistently is one of the goals. We'll see how this translates into the longer distances.

In the meantime, our running group has found an addiction to getting into the high country, and peak seeking, as well as back country explorations have entered the We Run Mas market place! Experiencing nature on this level has produced a lot of emotional attachments amongst our friends, and the positivity and connections have grown very strong. It's a great feeling when as strangers through social media, we now have so many memories that bring us together. Magical in fact.

As far as 2015 is concerned, it's too early to tell what the Ultra plans are going to be. Dialing in my gut issues has been the seven headed hydra. Every time I lop off one head, two more grow  in its place. It's perplexing and a challenging,  both mentally and physically, but I'm up to the task. I have hopes I will find the nutrition plan that will work for me, but know that it may be a long road to get it sorted.

Next update will be October, post Hallow's Eve.


Until then, I'll be running around, climbing mountains, bombing down technical descents, and laughing as much as possible with the people that make me so very happy.


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