The IAU World Trail Championships 2019

I didn’t finish the 2019 IAU Trail World Championships. I’m not going to lie, this is by far the most disappointed I’ve ever been after a race. It flipping sucks to have one of the best builds you’ve ever had and not be able to run to the best of your ability, let alone even finish. The specific build up for this race was about eight weeks with six weeks of base before. For six out of the eight weeks, I ran between 122.5 and 122.9 miles (197ish kilometres) with the down weeks being the first week of the build and one with the 50k race I ran. Those two weeks were still north of 105 miles and I got my climbing between 7000ft and 14000ft per week, about the maximum I could do in the valleys of Southwestern Ontario. Needless to say, it was similar to my build for the Pittsburgh marathon in 2017 where the build went spectacularly and the race was a massive let down. With the exception of my injury flair-up, I also realized that to be able to compete with the best trail runners in the world, I need to be way more efficient on really technical trails. Unfortunately, there is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to prepare for the technical sections of European Trail races in London or anywhere in Southwestern Ontario. I did what I could given where I live but you are at an incredibly large disadvantage living here. I’ll either have to stick to more smooth, runnable trail races or move somewhere else.

I could feel after the 25k run with some of the Backroads Bandits that my back was a bit tight. Not to the extent of affecting my running but more of a nuisance. I took Monday off and got my back adjusted as a precaution. I felt pretty good running for a little over an hour Tuesday with minor discomfort until after the run. I was in a bit of pain again and then sitting on a plane for seven hours made it significantly worse. I was extremely worried running for 20 minutes on Wednesday after my flight as it was the worst it had ever felt. I was in excruciating pain and limping while walking over to dinner in Coimbra. Thankfully Sarah, who was also on the Canadian team, is a chiropractor and agreed to work on my back for free. A huge thanks goes to Sarah because I felt way better on Thursday and we ran about 12k of of the course in Miranda do Corvo. I felt fine on the uphills but the downhills were still quite uncomfortable. My impressions of the course were that it is NUTS. I thought it would be like the Appalachian Trail in terms of technical sections but this trail made the Appalachian Trail look like a flat road, it was crazy.

After the run, my back was in a lot of pain again so Sarah worked on me once again and I did not do much on Friday, with the exception of the opening ceremony. The ceremony was really cool, albeit a bit long as each country walked around the streets of Coimbra in their countries colours and flags. It was really cool seeing all the other countries and athletes together. I went to bed Friday night optimistic as I adjusted to the time almost instantly and my back felt way better with a day off. There was almost no pain and I believed that I could suffer for a little under four hours the next day.

Race day was somewhat of a disaster in the morning beforehand. Our hotel had forgotten to open breakfast an hour earlier as promised so we had to walk over to the other hotel to eat there. After that, it seemed like the Canadian, Finnish and Irish team got stuck with the last shuttle to the race with a bus driver who had no clue where we were going. What was supposed to be a 20 minute drive turned into 45 as we went the wrong direction before turning around and getting to the race with only 30 minutes to spare! It did not help that the bus driver did not seem to be aware of the rush as he stopped about 800m from the start and rolled down the window to talk to his friend. A Mexican woman then went to the front and started yelling at him in Spanish which was somewhat comical as we were finally off the bus and jogging to the start line as our warmup. After getting through the mandatory gear check, the majority of runners were already lined up meaning that one would have to shove their way up there unless they wanted to start behind 300+ athletes. I was able to get up about four rows from the front before I could not go any further. It was hectic chaos, it reminded me of Pre-OFSAA cross country, where you had hundreds of athletes crammed into a rather small space hoping to get to the front. Eventually the gun went off and the race began.

The start was crazy as well and felt like cross country more than anything. People were shoving and falling down and you had to really be focused through here. This combined with the narrow first two kilometres over cobblestone roads and lots of stairs going up and down felt insane. I hopped over two people who wiped out on the first turn and continued to maneuver my way around the field. Eventually we hit the first trail section, which was smooth, just before 3k. It narrowed down to almost single file before I hit the 3k mark in 10:15ish. Considering there was some elevation, winding cobblestone roads, trail and plenty of stairs, this pace felt suicidal. I eased off and could feel my back slightly at this point. It was not bad at all so I figured I would be fine. We climbed up gradually to the 7k aid station and I ran through here without stopping feeling really relaxed and under the split I had written out, around 40th place. We then hit the first major climb from 7k to 11k with some really technical and rocky sections. The majority of this climb was slowed to a power hike and I began passing people, despite my relative effort being quite low. I assumed that everyone would use this first climb to recover after the hectic start and it seemed that way.

I found myself in a large pack of guys, which included eventual 5th and 10th place finishers Nicolas Martin and Helio Fumo, of France and Portugal. We were still passing tons of people on this climb and my back was not acting up or feeling too bad. I was very optimistic at this point and estimated that I had passed over 20 people up this climb without forcing the effort to be somewhere between 15th and 25th. Unfortunately my race took a sharp turn for the worse as we hit the first technical downhill section around 12k in. I was focussed on the terrain, but caught my left foot on a rock and fell about three feet down onto a rock and skidded another five feet down onto another sharp rock. I quickly scrambled to my feet to keep going but the fall seemed to really aggravate my back once again. I took a few gingerly steps before realizing the pain was the worst it had been yet and I was barely able to even limp. All of a sudden everyone who I already passed started retaking me and gapping me as I tried limping down the trail in tremendous pain. I looked down at my leg and realized that I had a large cut on my leg and blood was streaming down my shin. My arms had quite a bit of “road rash” from skidding on the rocks but I was only concerned about my back. I tried to keep going but I was barely moving faster than a walk and was being overtaken by what seemed like thousands of people. The lead women passed me around 15k as I decided that continuing would not be a good option based off of the amount of pain my back was in and the prospect of needing stitches was also there. The cut was relatively deep and I had a large stream of blood continually dripping from my knee to my shoe. I arrived at the next aid station at 16k and tried to stretch my back, which made no difference at all. Stubbornly, I figured I could still run uphill and left the aid station to try and go further.

Just passed this area, you hit the picturesque stair section and ran by what European trail racing is all about. People lined up both sides of this narrow section and were screaming at you the entire time. It was so loud I couldn’t hear anything except random bits of Portuguese gibberish. I wanted to keep going but now going uphill was beyond discomfort, it was sheer agony. I got to just before 18k before I decided that I could not slog another 26k just to say I finished. I sat down on the side of the trail and told a passing runner to send medical if they see a volunteer. I felt dizzy, sore and disappointed. Five minutes later a volunteer ran over, helped me up and helped me limp off the course to the aid station back at 16k. I felt beat, embarrassed and incredibly sore. I was given a chair to sit on which was even more embarrassing as everyone from the aid station and all the spectators were just staring at me as I sat there with my head in my hands, bloody and wanting to cry. The police ordered an ambulance for me to which I disagreed. They were all concerned about my knee and I told them that I do not care at all about my knee, but rather that my back was in the most pain it had ever been in. I was also worried about having to pay for an ambulance and the police officer spoke barely any English so he did not understand when I asked about the price. Thankfully the ride in the ambulance did not cost anything so I agreed to go.

My dad wanted to come on the ride as well which proved to be interesting as these roads were extremely winding and either steep uphills or steep downhills back to town. While the one paramedic was cleaning and sealing up my leg, I looked over at my father who was turning green, on the verge to throw up as the driver flew around like a nascar driver on these mountainous roads. Eventually we arrived back to town and they asked if I wanted to go to the hospital, to which I replied no. After that I was escorted to the medical tent where they did some more work on leg and cleaned up my scrapes as well. They instructed me to then eat some food as my blood sugar was apparently quite low from the race and losing some blood from the fall. I limped out of the medical tent and grabbed some food before sitting down under a tree by the start/finish line. My knee did not hurt at all but my back was completely wrecked. I needed help getting up off the ground and I could barely walk due to the pain. Being optimistic was not possible at this moment but rather I tried to speculate the injury. At the worst it is a sacral stress fracture and at the best it is just SI joint pain, which I have dealt with before. Either way, I won’t know until I give it some time to rest and maybe see a physio. Not finishing your goal race of the season is the most difficult pill to swallow in this sport. Looking on the race, I do think dropping out was the best decision for my health and honestly walking 26k just to say I finished would have been pointless and would have made this injury a lot worse than it already is. It flipping sucks so much but it was the right call.

My teammate, Nick Elson, dropped out at worlds last year and told me that if the race does not pan out, at least make it a good trip. I decided to heed these words and try not to think too much about the disappointment of this race but look forward to spending the next three days in Lisbon. Too be honest, that is some really solid advice. I did not think about my back much except for when I would do something that would aggravate it again, like walking around too much or sitting or laying down for too long. Lisbon is an incredible city and I am thankful to be able to explore some of the famous sites, such as the Monesterio de Jeronimos, the Castelo de S. Jorge and the Modern art museum. I also stumbled upon the building dedicated to Portuguese marathon star, Olympic medalist and former world record holder, Carlos Lopes, which had all his medals and accolades as well as his shoes from when he won the Olympic marathon in 1984 on display. It was surreal. The custard tarts were to die for and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring this beautiful city. Now that I am back in Canada though, the focus is solely on my health. My back is still in discomfort but seems to be getting slightly better. I plan on waiting about 10 days with no running before I will really be able to tell. If there is still lots of pain, then I will go to physio but I am hoping that it is not something as serious as a sacral stress fracture. Unfortunately for me, SI joint dysfunction and a sacral stress fracture have the exact same symptoms and this is on my left side as opposed to the right where my previous SI issues always have been. Obviously racing QMT 110k at the end of the month is completely out of the question which means that this fitness will be wasted with no way to showcase it. It sucks and to be honest, I’m extremely worried about my back. I guess my fixation with worrying is genetic.

So cool seeing this!

Lisbon, Portugal

Second career selfie in the back of a tuk tuk

Modern art museum

Whatever the issue in my back is will determine how much rest I need and what I will be able to race next. Not only this, but I am currently seeking a new job and if I can not find one by July first, will most likely return to school for a program which I have already been accepted into. Time will tell I guess. Despite this incredibly discouraging result, I feel really motivated to train. Knowing that I was in a pack of guys who placed between 5th and 38th in the race is encouraging and I never felt like the pace was exhausting despite blowing by a large contingent of people on the first technical climb. It’s just upsetting to not be able to capitalize on the fitness I have gained during this build. I am praying that this is just a short injury layover and I can get back to training in about a week because my luck with injuries has been atrocious so far this year. With February completely off with injury and now this, it feels like I have been stricken with the worst luck a distance runner can have. I haven’t broken a mirror or walk under a latter so things can only get better right? This is the most fit I have ever been when it comes to climbing but as previously mentioned, I have to do something about technical trail running. Decisions, decisions. Either way, the atmosphere in the race was incredible and the people of Portugal are incredibly kind and friendly to tourists. Congrats to everyone who raced, especially the Canadians, as they all performed well on that crazy course. I apologize to the team for my inability to finish and I hope I can be forgiven. I am very thankful for the opportunity and will make the most of things when I return to Europe to race. Until then, hopefully things heal up quickly and I can get the other aspects of my life sorted out.

Thanks for reading,

Seth

Back at it

“We suffer to survive. Are we desperate creatures crawling in the dirt? Or are we lonely preachers hiding our beating hearts? We sow the wind and reap the storm. Don’t say you haven’t been warned. No future’s written. There’s endless possibility. We suffer to survive. If hope is a prison, then maybe faith will set me free.”

Honestly, “Holy Hell” by Architects is one of those albums that comes around every five to ten years that just leaves me mesmerized and in awe by its deep lyricism and instrumental complexity. I seriously have not listened to an album this much in a long time. The quote above is the opening sections of the song “Damnation” from that album. I really like the opening line, “we suffer to survive”, as a metaphor for coming off an injury. In a sort of masochistic way, one of my favourite parts about distance running is the suffering that comes with training and racing but suffering also can relate to injury. I guess one can say that injuries lead to suffering when trying to run through it or having to struggle with not being able to do something you love everyday. In my last blog post, I was deep into the longest injury stint that I had ever dealt with. I ended up being out from running for the duration of February and part of March. I have been blessed with few injuries as a runner but truth be told being out for a little over a month was something I was not used to and honestly not sure how to cope with.

With the IAU Trail World Championships coming up at the start of June, I began to get desperate to get back to training. For the duration of this injury as well as when I started to return to training, I was secluded and hidden from things like social media or any running related thing. Starting training again after an injury is odd. The first few runs back I felt like I was a new born child taking their first steps. Determined, but trying to be cautious as I felt fragile. My lack of cross training seemed to be a poor choice on my part but I could not stand running in the pool or biking for any lengthy stretch of time. Despite this, I was kicking myself for not cross training for at least two hours everyday. I should have paid more attention to my diet and cut back on my usual massive portions but I did not and there was nothing I could do now but learn how to handle injuries better next time.

My first week back of training was extremely minimal, just 42.8k with a lot of strength exercises to work on my posterior tibialis dysfunction. Every now and then I would feel a twinge in my ankle in the same spot but it was always pretty dull and nothing that was painful. I remained cautiously optimistic in my second week back, running 92.8k with a 20k run with some of the Backroads Bandits on the Sunday. After two weeks of low, all easy mileage, I decided to try a workout on my third week back. All I will say is wow, it was awful. I could barely muster up 12 minutes at a pace that would be slower than half marathon pace. It was definitely a wake-up call but I got in a 25k run that week and hit 121.3k for my third week back. Easy runs and long runs felt alright but running fast was a whole other entity. I still would feel a bit of discomfort in my ankle every now and then but I was staying on top of my physio exercises. I probably was doing them a bit too often actually, about four times a day, but was feeling strong in my legs.

Going into April, my fifth week back, I was starting to feel almost back to normal. 174k with a 34k long run and a couple decent workouts helped me get some confidence back. I kept telling myself that I should not hope to just magically be back in shape, but rather have faith in the base that I built over the last few years that I would be back if I put in the work and was patient. Instil faith in myself and the training I have done. I felt like I was almost invincible before getting injured but injuries really make you question yourself. Maybe as a bit of a coping mechanism to figure how things went wrong and better yourself for when you are healthy but all the time I spent questioning myself, it was all negative. Something I wanted to do in 2019 is try to take a more positive approach to every aspect of my life but this injury hit me with some adversity. Thankfully, the next four weeks really gave me some self confidence and helped me shed my negative state of mind when it came to running.

The sixth week back from injury, I strung together possibly my most consistent four weeks of training ever. 197.2k, 197.2k, 197.9k and 197.8k with two quality workouts and one or two solid long runs with the Backroads Bandits. On the Sunday of that 197.9k week, a few of the Bandits decided to hop in the Forest City Half in London. I was not really sure what to expect but was planning on using it as a tempo workout and running around 70 minutes. My legs were fried all week going into what was my longest workout back from injury but running 3:20/k for 70 minutes felt so damn easy. Before the injury, I did 60 minutes at 3:16/k for a tempo but running 3:20’s for 70 felt way easier. The three Bandits went 1, 2, 3 and it was a good tempo effort at the end of a pretty big week.

First few kilometres with the Bandits (thanks to Michael Rochus for the photo!)

Laughing at a joke 18k in (thanks again to Michael Rochus)

Coming down the finish straight

I signed up for the Seaton Soaker 50k on May 11th, which would be four weeks before IAU World Trail Championships. I was a bit nervous as I had not ran further than 40k since JFK back in November and it is always a risk running for over three hours when it comes to recovery. I was mostly just worried about how my ankle would feel in the mud as late April into May has been plagued by rain and flooding in Southwestern Ontario. This combined with my SI joint acting up a bit had me worried. I went to the chiropractor and took a day off which thankfully helped my SI feel fine. 50k through mud and river crossings could lead to injury or too much fatigue so I made the conscious decision to not race all out but rather use it as a hard and steady training run to see where my trail specific fitness was at. Doing at least one trail specific workout per week made me feel confident that I could not run all out but still grab the 4:05 course record.

I took the race out a bit quicker than what I was hoping for. I came through the first 12.5k in 55 minutes with only a few minutes lead. With the double out and back nature of the course, it was easy to assess the lead. Typically I would analyze the course well in advance and know every aid station, hill, turn and what not, but I had no clue where things were which led to me pushing the pace more than anticipated in the first 25k as I began the second loop just under 1:51. I decided to ease off the throttle a bit and just focus on the beauty of the trails this second loop. I missed quite a few nice little views and the trilliums which were blooming in full force. It was a glorious day and I ran a conscious four minute positive split to win in 3:46:07.

The water was ice cold and the current was strong!

Thank God I didn’t get swept away. I don’t know how to swim

My legs were a bit sore and stiff after the race but nothing too bad. I was able to shuffle 16k and 20k the next two days and am feeling fine. Being less than four weeks out from a big race is an interesting point of time. I have two more weeks of solid training before I back off on things but I am beyond excited to take on the best trail runners in the world in Portugal June 8th. Judging by the start list, it will be a stacked field and this being my first race outside of North America, my expectations are somewhat difficult to gauge. I have no idea what to expect racing a mountainous 44k but I know the fitness is there right now. This injury actually gave me a much needed mental break from running if I am being quite honest. Often times I find myself fixated on the sport but going through a month of not thinking about it leaves you with a fresh perspective on it. As previously stated, I’m not sure what to expect next month but as Sam Carter of Architects says, “No future’s written. There’s endless possibility. We suffer to survive.” I have suffered and that suffering has led to a faith and believe in myself that I will be ready for anything. I can not wait to see where I stack up amongst the best in the world.

Thanks for reading,

Seth

Also, if you are a fan of symphonic metal/metalcore and have not listened to “Holy Hell” by Architects, you are seriously missing out. One of my favourite albums of all time and I can not recommend it enough. My personal favourites off the album are “Death is not defeat”, “Modern Misery”, “Dying to Heal” and “The Seventh Circle” but I thoroughly enjoy every song here. I kind of want to do a blog post specifically about the intricacies of metal but I don’t know if that will happen as I started this blog to be geared towards running. Maybe though.

Injuries and reflection

“I took this journey through the mirror, took a chance to take my time, just to watch the cold hard steel of burden, come and break my heart and spine.” While the lyrics to The Amity Affliction’s song, “Olde English 800”, are used to describe the depths of despair in lead singer Joel Birch’s life, I believe the words from the chorus adequately describe the injuries that come along with trying to train at a high level. This journey that we take with training is a chance to be our best and see what we can become through the sport. Unfortunately, the cold hard steel of burden in the song can symbolize the injuries that come along and crush our metaphorical heart and spine.

I am currently on my fourth week of no training and I must say, it has been an incredibly difficult endeavour to not be able to do something that you love for this stretch of time. In the past, I have been fairly lucky to have no injuries that took me out longer than about a week. I remember when I used to train with Clint Smith, he told me that the only natural ability that I had was being able to run a lot of miles without getting hurt. He was right, for the most part, until now. I have dealt with SI issues the past two years off and on but nothing too debilitating to the point where I needed more than about ten days off. I steadily increased my mileage over the past few years to be comfortably in the 190-210 kilometre range per week. I feel as though this is the perfect range for me of being able to work hard without the exhaustion which comes with higher mileage. I have even been doing lower leg and glute strength exercises to combat the weak points in my body. Despite this, I still got injured with the same injury I had in 2014.

Back when I first was dealing with this ailment, I was not entirely sure what it was. Google search can be a great tool but often will lead to you thinking “worst case scenario” when it comes to health concerns. Eventually I went to physio and had to get orthotics for an issue called “tibialis posterior dysfunction”. While it said to be only the 26th most common running injury, this is the second time I’ve had to deal with it, although it has been much more severe this time around. The tibialis posterior works as a stabilizing muscle that runs down the calf before the tendon attaches under the ankle. The pain I have felt is at the insertion point just under the ankle bone. When I first had it, I stupidly trained through it by running only uphill at 15% incline on the treadmill. When going uphill, there seemed to be no issues with pain so I did this for a month and it eventually just disappeared. That was on my right foot and it has not been an issue since. This time however, it is on my left foot and every time I think it’s getting better, I try to run only to be in pain again within about 20 minutes.

Why is this 26th most common running injury the one that I have had to deal with twice? For myself, the answer is relatively simple and it comes down to poor biomechanics. I am not genetically predisposed as a runner. I received incredibly flat feet and bowed legs which in turn have caused excessive pronation issues which means more strain on my tibialis posterior. The muscle has to continually stabilize itself when I am running due to my pronation. Someone with a high arch is significantly less likely to develop this injury as they do not need to stabilize their foot continuously when it hits the ground. I get scared reading online about how people have required surgery to repair themselves with this ailment and how some people take north of eight months off before the muscle and tendon are back to normal, and even still, strengthening exercises are needed to ensure the problem is held at bay.

I have been to physio multiple times and massage once to help with the pain but as soon as I get the go to attempt to run again, I end up hurting and having to hit reset on my recovery. What is the worst part about this is that I will be completely pain free and get my hopes up that I can return to training before trying to run. You do not know if it is healed until trying to run on it and then if it hurts, you are having to take even more time to get it back to where it was before. I have been doing everything I possibly can to battle this and here we are nearly a full month later and it is not better. I seriously have no clue what to do but I can not stand this whole not training thing.

I was motivated to bike a few weeks ago and put in over two hours every day that week on the bike to hit just over 500k, by far the most I have biked ever, but I now severely lack motivation. I have not done any sort of cross training or physical activity within the past nearly two weeks and I am just a frustrated, bitter mess. While everyone talks about the physical side of injuries, no one ever seems to talk about the mental aspect of them. I find I am more recluse than ever right now, both with people and social media. I am actively trying to stay away from things like Strava or twitter and Instagram because I am so sour with this ordeal. It seems as though most injured athletes seem to be similar though, as they go dark on social media when they can not do something they love. I realize that I have significantly more time to myself during this stretch of no running and reading about the injury and wallowing in my sorrow have become demoralizing.

Sitting around reading about running injuries brings nothing but negative thoughts and angered emotional sentiments so I have been trying to find some other outlet to hold me over until I can train again. That outlet is music. For some people that might not know me, I was on scholarship at Western University to study opera performance but ultimately dropped out as I was not liking the program or style of learning and environment which came with university. I decided to never sing again and I stopped playing the violin, which I have been playing since I was five. Over the past month however, I have dusted off the violin and sheet music and thoroughly enjoyed messing around on the violin, guitar and singing like I used to. It’s one of those things where you forget how much you love doing something until you stop or find that passion again. Similarly to running, music is a way that I can exude emotion or vent out frustrations and joy and I firmly believe that it has been the only way to keep me sane without running this past month. I want to be able to run as soon as possible again but I want to continue to play violin, guitar and sing as it brings me positivity and happiness in my life as does going for a 20+ mile long run with the guys on a Sunday morning and drinking copious amounts of coffee afterwards.

Although this injury has been one of the more trying times in my running, it has taught me the importance of balance and self reflection. I know that it is a mere matter of time before I can begin and get back to the level I know I can be at but I will have a new perspective once I get back there. I have also learned that I need various aspects of my life to be used as an outlet, not just running. I hope that I will be back some time in the next two weeks to start running again but I hope that I can continue to keep the passion that I have for music in my life going forward.

Thanks for reading,

Seth

2018 JFK50 Race Report

This past weekend on November 17th, I had the pleasure of racing the JFK 50 mile for the second time. Last year this race basically crushed my soul, as I had to drop out around 39 miles after throwing together a solid performance for 34 miles and bonking quite badly. I was devastated both physically and mentally from last year’s attempt. While I did finish the race this past weekend coming 5th overall, I can’t help but share the same sentiments that I experienced last year. I am extremely disappointed in my performance. I ran significantly slower than what I was anticipating on running and all the time I lost was within the last 20k. It is even more frustrating looking back in hindsight and seeing I was within 5 minutes of the leaders at mile 37 and on pace to run 5:44 through 60 kilometres which would have been an incredible day for me especially with the conditions being the way they were. Unfortunately it did not come in to fruition though and I am left thinking about the “what if’s”. What would I have run if conditions were perfect? What would I have run if I didn’t blow out both of my achilles and had to spend 25 minutes of the last 20k walking? These are the questions that I have been asking myself the past few days and will continue to ask myself in the next few. It sucks but life is never perfect. I will now go a little more in depth about my experience in the 2018 JFK 50.

I left Thursday morning and stopped just south of Pittsburgh for the night before continuing the rest of the journey to Hagerstown, Maryland. After getting checked into the hotel and picking up my number, I headed out for a 16 minute shakeout. It was a little cool, and this area of Maryland had received about 8 inches of snow Thursday meaning that a good portion of the race was going to be a wet slippery mess. I had thoughts of running around 5:35 in my mind but decided to switch that to 5:45-5:50 based off these conditions. The forecast for Saturday was looking optimistic but the trail conditions were most likely going to be a mudslide.

I woke up at 3:45AM to give myself enough time for the 6:30AM start. I had ran through my nutrition plan countless times in my mind. For most of the race I would rely on aid stations along the course with the exception being at 16 miles and 38.4 miles where my parents and brother were allowed to be on the course. I made sure to give myself ample time to get to the start line, as I almost missed the gun last year, but still cut it close. The start on the road went out very hard for a race of this length. It climbs over 150 metres of gain within the first 4 kilometres and we were out HARD! There is a timing mat at the top of the mountain road and I knew last year I crossed it in 17:53 but this year I came through in 16:09! I was about 20 seconds off the pack which included eventual race winner Jared Hazen, Zach Miller and Eric Senseman, running in a second pack with Tyler Sigl who I battled with at Cayuga Trails. As we entered onto the Appalachian Trail at 2.5 miles it was apparent that we would be in for a slick, muddy and wet 13 miles.

The water and mud splashed all over my legs and my shoes were immediately soaked. The puddles of water were nearly knee deep in some sections as we hopped over fallen trees and rocks while running up and down this hilly and technical spot on the Appalachian Trail. Last year I had wiped-out multiple times and twisted my ankles quite often as well which is why I was quite surprised hitting the aid station at 10 miles without incident. I was about 2 minutes off the lead and 1 minute behind Tyler who had gapped me along the trail. My biggest concern was the famous Weverton Cliffs coming off the trail at 15 miles. It is a technical descent consisting of very rocky switchbacks all while loosing over 350m in one mile. Any miss-step on here would lead to a very serious injury. Thankfully I came down intact, despite being covered with mud and having soaked feet, arriving at the 15.5 mile aid station in about 1:56. I tried to be quick through here before hitting the timing mat at 16 miles in 1:59, slightly over a minute faster than last year even with the rough trail conditions.

The next 26.3 miles was on the C&O Towpath, which is a flat, non-paved path. I thought based off of training that running low 6 minute miles or even slightly under would be a good goal. It is probably the most difficult part of the race due to how long and monotonous it is. Everything looks the same and it feels like you are just running on a treadmill staring at a wall for a few hours. I felt good rolling along and would look down and see 3:35/k pace on my watch without feeling like I was forcing it. I tried to talk to myself every now and then to make it feel like it wouldn’t be a lonely 26.3 miles. I eventually came up on Tyler Sigl around 24 miles in who said he had tweaked something in his knee. I figured he was going to drop out at the next aid station as I moved into fourth and was feeling good. I was getting my nutrition down and still feeling strong mentally and physically. I was informed at the 27 mile aid station that I was around 4 minutes off the lead. A gap that size is fairly insignificant in a race of this duration which was encouraging. I knew I had a chance at the win if I could make up the gap before we got off the towpath at 41.8 miles.

The 30 mile aid station was a welcomed sight. I was in and out quick still about 4 minutes back of the lead and charging. Every now and then I would look at the watch and see 3:40-3:45/k, which was perfect. It was a little disheartening that I had been running under 6 minutes a mile and not making up a crazy amount of time but I tried to be positive about it. The volunteers at the 34 mile aid station had said the same thing, 4 to 5 minutes back. I was starting to notice a bit of discomfort in both of my achilles a few minutes after leaving which I was hoping wouldn’t be much. I was clicking off splits and on pace to run about 5:44 through 37 miles when the pain in my achilles became insurmountable. I decided to take a 30 second walk break and quickly stretch them before continuing on. That didn’t seem to really do anything as the pain and tightness seared through them making each step agonizing.

The gap had grown to over 9 minutes at 38.7 miles due to my frequent breaks between these aid stations to try and alleviate the pain. I was also told that Eric Senseman had dropped out moving me into third. I took about two minutes at the aid station contemplating dropping out as I was in some serious pain here but decided to continue on and at least finish. I left the aid station dejected hoping that it would be minimal in terms of damage to the achilles. I went from averaging 3:43/k up until this point on the towpath to 5:00/k due to quite a few stretching breaks. The sliding around in the mud and snow for the past 60+ kilometres had made both of my achilles a complete mess.

I was so thankful to arrive at the Dam 4 aid station at 41.8 miles as it meant we would leave the mud for roads and a net uphill last 8.4 miles. The key issue being net uphill. My achilles were so shot I couldn’t run uphill. They felt like they were ruptured as I got passed around 43 miles moving back to fourth. I would get back to a run on the flat sections and could still run 6:20-6:40 per mile but the uphills basically killed my shot at maintaining any sort of good pace. I was passed again around 46 miles and was told there was a decent gap back to the next guy. It became damage control as I did not want to get passed by anyone else. I reached the last aid station which was 1.5 miles from the finish and couldn’t help but just be extremely bitter. I made the turn to the finish crossing the line 5th overall in 6 hours 9 minutes 51 seconds for the 50.2 miles, way back of the lead and my time goals.

It is tough looking at a race like this where things went well for 60k before going up in smoke and trying to find some positives. I am very happy to have at least swallowed my pride and finished despite it being a very sub par result. Sometimes the ego needs a big hit like that to make you hungrier for next time and walking 25 minutes of the last 8.4 miles is a massive blow to the ego. The nutrition went well and I felt like I was getting in a good amount of calories and never felt like I was hypoglycemic. I would like to think if the mud and snow where not a factor on race day I wouldn’t have had the issues with my achilles and would have ran under 5:45. I have never had these problems with my achilles so I am thinking it was all the skating in the mud that did them in. Looking back on training I was extremely prepared and ready to tackle this race. I was in the best shape I had ever been in and it honestly feels like a wasted opportunity. It is hard to not feel pissed off about it and I apologize if this blog post comes across as bitter or arrogant. I don’t mean to discredit the guys who beat me because they all ran exceptionally well but I am disappointed in myself. Sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn’t and at the 2018 JFK, she didn’t go for me.

I would like to give thanks to my parents and brother who drove almost 9 hours to Maryland with me to give me support and aid during the race. I wouldn’t have been able to even make it through the race without their support! To race director Mike Spinnler for having me at JFK once again. The love and dedication that Mike has for this race is incredible and he truly gives all his time and effort into putting on one of the best ultra marathon races in the world and keeping the JFK 50 a historic event! In terms of what’s next for me, I do not know. I’ll take this week off to try and plan a race schedule moving forward into 2019. As this is most likely my last performance of 2018 I have to look at it as fairly successful. There were some high performances such as winning the USATF 50 Mile Trail Championships at Cayuga and running faster at Run for the Toad 50k. There were some average results like running 2:24:44 in Phoenix way back in February and the there were some bad performances such as Calgary half. I am looking at these past two years as learning experiences and will hopefully take the things I learned into 2019 with some solid races.

Good luck to everyone racing ACXC or enjoy your break if you are currently on one as I am!

Thanks,

Seth

A little Run for the Toad 50k Recap

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of racing at the Run for the Toad 50k for the second year in a row. It was my first ultra last year and a good introduction to trail running. Over the past year, I feel like I have learned a lot and improved a lot in longer races and was eager to see how I would fair at this year’s race. The 3:10:01 course record, set by former World Mountain Running Champion Joe Gray, seemed like a possibility going in, however, I was just coming off a pretty large three week stretch of training consisting of 206k (128 miles), 206.6k (128.4 miles), and 212k (131.7 miles). I backed off a little bit on Thursday and Friday before the race to get my legs somewhat prepared.

I arrived at the race Saturday morning with not as much time to spare as I would like. The race started at 9:30AM and I got to the Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area around 8:45. After I grabbed my number and got changed it was 9:15 so I shuffled around for 5 minutes to get warmed up. I hit the bathroom again but realized I was cutting it short as I still had my trainers on and I hadn’t put on my singlet. It was 9:26 so I was really rushing! Thankfully I had enough time to throw on some Squirrel’s Nut Butter so chaffing was a non issue before getting on the line with 45 seconds to spare. I shook race director George Sarson’s hand and the race began.

I started out at a comfortable pace and wanted to just play it by ear as to how fast I was going to go. I was alone by 2k and came through the first 5k in about 19:06, a little under 30 seconds faster than last year. It was right around here where my stomach was starting to feel off and I knew that I would have to take a pit stop at some point which was annoying. I tried to shut off that thought and made it through the first 12.5 kilometre lap alright in 47:44, faster than all my lap splits last year but 14 seconds slower than course record pace.

I began asking volunteers on the second lap where the next bathroom was before stopping just before 16k. I checked my watch going in and coming out and unfortunately lost 2:03 before I started running again. After that stop I knew the course record wouldn’t happen and my legs just felt so flat. I felt like I had no energy and the prospective of just jogging 50+ minute laps seemed like a good idea. I stopped looking at my watch and all of a sudden I started to feel decent around 20k. I was moving well from 20-25k passing through 25k in 1:37:11 with a 49:33 lap despite the pit stop.

My legs just started to feel better and better with each passing kilometre and the pace was consistent. The gels were going down with ease every 40 minutes and I was taking in a lot of water and Gatorade at the aid stations. Mentally the third lap is tough but I knew I was on pace for around the same time as last year finishing my third lap in 47:28, 2:24:39 for 37.5k. I thought back to last year’s splits and tried to estimate a finishing time. I was 2:24:XX last year and ran 49:XX for my last lap but I still felt pretty good going into the final 12.5k.

Thanks to the legendary George Aitken for the picture! Around 47k in.

Unlike last year, my legs were not tightening up at all and the rolling hills on the course with about 3000ft of climbing and descending were not too noticeable. I split the marathon around 2:41, about 30 seconds faster than last year and was still rolling well. The pace didn’t feel tough so I decided to just push the last 6.25k a bit. With 500m to go I took a glance at the watch and saw 3:10:4X which was a sigh of relief but also a bit annoying knowing how close I would be to the record. I crossed the line in 3:12:24 with a 47:37 last lap and a 23:22 last 6.25k. It was faster than last year’s 3:13:41 and felt significantly easier than last year but it sucks knowing I lost time and could have been within seconds of the course record. If the bathroom stop was eliminated, I would have ran 3:10:19 and could have possibly found another 20 seconds to dip under 3:10:00 but that is just speculation. Despite that minor blemish, I am very satisfied with the race. It was a good performance in my opinion and I got to run around a beautiful area on spectacular trails. Peggy and George put on another great event as this race is quickly becoming one of my favourites!

Sunday was a “Kenyan Shuffle” (slower than 5:00/k) day but the body is feeling pretty good now and ready for some more training. With less than 50 days until my goal race at the JFK 50 Miler, my plans are to keep this week relatively tame and be back to normal next week. With about seven weeks to go, I intend on two more big course specific long runs, a few more back to back 20+ mile runs and keeping my leg speed intact. Doing tempos in 5:00-5:15 per mile will make the last 34 miles at 6:00-6:15 at JFK feel easy as well as doing a couple technical trail workouts to be prepared for the first 15.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Lastly, I have to stay healthy. No injury two weeks before the goal race. I am trying to keep a stretching routine as well as a core routine every few days to help cover up any weakness that could potentially lead to an injury. I am feeling very fit right now though and can’t wait to suffer for 50 miles again on November 17th!

Good luck to everyone doing final preparations for a fall marathon or gearing up for the big cross country meets!

Seth

Cayuga Trails/USA 50 mile Championships Report

I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in. This was the thought that popped into my mind over the last few weeks. Despite this, there are so many other things that can contribute to running a successful 50 mile. The pain is inevitable in a race that long. You are out there for over 6 hours on your feet and at some point in the race, whether it be early or later, you will want to keel over and die. Being strong mentally and breaking up the race aid station to aid station seems like the best way to maintain some form of mental fortitude. That being said, my fitness going into this race was the best I’ve ever had. I raced the Calgary half at the end of May hoping to show off some fitness but unfortunately had a bit of a rough day. Following this my body decided it was time to get sick and that took a bit out of me. It also lingered for over two weeks which was super frustrating but I eased back into running with two more races on the calendar. The first was the Loon Mountain race/NACAC/USATF Mountain Running Championships at the start of July and then Cayuga Trails/USATF 50 mile trail National Championships two weeks later. Due to the profile of both of these courses (lots of climbing) I decided my best course of action was to do one workout a week on the treadmill at 10-15% incline and one or two 30-45 minute run a week on the treadmill at 10% incline. I feel as though these sort of runs/workouts got me in shape pretty quick and made me feel relatively prepared to handle a mountain race and a hilly 50 mile race. I was also starting to hit some faster paces that I haven’t done in flat workouts before. Running 5:00 miles and even a little quicker on tempos began to feel pretty comfortable. I also started doing tempo effort on trails to get used to running faster on undulating terrain.

Team Photos from NACAC Mountain Running Championships

At Loon mountain race, the pace off the gun was spicy with some fast Americans in the field. I found myself outside the top 20 through the first mile before creeping up the field. By two miles I had found myself in a chase pack with Ben Bruce and Mike Popejoy sitting just outside the top 10. The course shifted to 30% incline around 4 miles in and I began to struggle. Despite this, our group of three passed two more people during this long climb. I was rotating between a run and power hike up this section before the course flattened at 5.6 miles (9k), providing a bit of a rest before the “upper walking boss”. We made the turn and an audible “holy f**k” came from my mouth. 600-700 metres at 40% incline. It was basically impossible to run up and I was power hiking up this as my heart rate really spiked. Unfortunately Mike and Ben pulled away from me on the end of this climb and I missed 10th by three seconds coming 12th overall. It’s tough to prepare for a race like this when there are no mountains anywhere near you to train on so I am relatively happy with how the race went. I got back from New Hampshire and somehow got sick again. Thankfully it only lasted about five days this time around and didn’t affect running or training too much. I got in one last week of training around 85 miles (145ish k) before backing off before Cayuga. I had set two goals going before Cayuga and was honestly not sure if they were obtainable. Sub 7 hours and a top 3 finish.

Upper Walking Boss Climb

There are two small things that occurred in the preparation for this attempt at 50 miles that I didn’t do last time which I believe drastically changed the outcome of the race. The first one is fairly obvious. I didn’t have an injury that put me out for nearly two weeks leading into the race. I popped my SI out of place a few weeks before JFK 50 this past fall which forced me to do nothing for almost two weeks. I think that hurt more mentally than physically though. The second thing was my approach to nutrition. I will say my nutrition for JFK was basically me winging it. Two days before Cayuga I sat down with a map of the course with the aid stations and began formulating a structured nutrition plan for the race. Basically I wanted to be taking a Cliff shot gel every 45 minutes for the first three hours of the race and every 30-35 minutes after that. I also planned on running with my 18oz Nathan soft flask which would help me take in at least 18oz of fluid per hour using Nuun tablets and water. I also had planned out taking salt tabs at certain increments throughout the race and taking a few extra gels in the form of Endurance Tap at the aid stations to help break up the monotony of having the same flavoured gel every time. Finally, I wanted to consume three Cliff Blocks every 12.5 miles. I feel as though having this planned out but being willing to adjust it on the fly greatly impacted my race in a positive way. At no point did I feel as though my body was starting to bonk which was surprising. Here is the nutrition plan I drew up:

Cayuga Trails 50 Nutrition Plan:

Aid Station #2- 7.1 miles (Approximately 50’)

– Fill handheld with water

– Taken 1 gel

Aid Station #3- 12.3 miles (Approximately 1:35)

– Fill handheld with water

– Taken 2 gels by then

– Taken 3 Cliff Blocks

Aid Station #4- 18.1 miles (Approximately 2:20)

– Fill handheld with water

– Taken 3 gels by then

– Take 1 Endurance Tap at this aid Station

– Take 1 salt tab

Aid Station #6- 25.2 miles (Approximately 3:15)

– Fill handheld with Nuun

– Taken 4 gels by then

– Taken 1 Endurance Tap by then

– 6 Cliff Blocks taken

Aid Station #8- 32.3 miles (Approximately 4:05)

– Fill handheld with Nuun

– Taken 5 gels by then

– Take 2nd Endurance Tap here

– Take 2 Salt tabs

Aid Station #9- 37.5 miles (Approximately 5:00)

– Fill handheld with water

– Taken 6 gels by then

– Taken 2 Endurance Taps

– Taken 9 Cliff Blocks

Aid Station #10- 43.3 miles (Approximately 5:50)

– Fill handheld with Nuun

– Taken 7 gels by then

– Take last Endurance Tap

– Take 2 salt tabs

Finish Line Totals- 50.4 miles (Approximately 6:50)

– 8 Cliff Shots

– 3 Endurance Taps

– 12 Cliff Blocks

– 5 Salt tabs

– 72oz of water (minimum)

– 54oz of Nuun (minimum)

It was an early 3AM wake up for the race but I was feeling ready and excited to tackle the distance. I did the usual morning routine and got to the start at 5:15 AM for the 6AM start. For races this long, there is really no point on doing a running warmup but doing some dynamics and stretching can help out. After all this and a final race briefing, it was time for the start. The course was a double out and back with about 9000-10000ft of climbing through some technical trails up and around the gorges of Robert Treman State Park and Buttermilk Falls State Park. The first out and back was 26 miles and the second time it was 24 miles. As the race started, a pack of four of us formed and we began clicking off the early miles. We talked a bit and swapped who was leading the pack every few miles before arriving at the first aid station around 4 miles in. It was pretty early to stop for any nutrition so we all continued on without stopping. My first thoughts on the course were that the gorges were incredible but pretty difficult to run on. Steep hills, both up and down, and lots of stairs! It felt as though every downhill section the group would slightly pull away from me but I would make it back with the uphills. Eventually we reached the aid station around 7 miles and I had consumed all my fluids so I stopped for a top up on my handheld. I was the only one who stopped here though and the group pulled on without me. There was the second big climb of the day about one kilometre later and I managed to regain contact on the climb. It was probably about 75% Running and 25% power hiking up this climb before we reached the top and the course flattened ever so slightly. The group was suddenly down to three though as we passed through 10 miles. Around this part of the race it struck me that we had been running for well over an hour and still had 40 miles to go! It was a bit mind numbing so I just tried to shut that out and focus on making it to the next aid station. Unfortunately I also noticed that something else was off.

One of the smooth sections of trail

It was right around that 10 mile mark where my digestive system seemed a bit off. I decided that I was going to have to stop at some point but was not sure when. We passed through the Buttermilk aid station at 12.5 miles and I contemplated using the washroom here but decided to continue on to the next aid station after filling the hand held again. The climb up the second gorge seemed like the steeper of the two gorges and the it was now down to two, myself and course record holder Tyler Sigl. We talked a little bit through this part of the course which helped me get my mind off of the stomach troubles. I decided to take a pit stop at the 18 mile aid station to use the bathroom. I used the lap counter to see when I stopped and when I started again to see how much time I had lost to Tyler as we entered the aid station at the same time. 2:11 was the time I had lost here. I pushed the effort back up to the top of the gorge in Robert Treman and made contact with Tyler again around 22 miles. It seemed as though right as I made contact again, he took off and got about a 1-2 min gap on me going towards the 26 mile aid station. I knew that there was a premium of $250 for whoever made it to 26 miles first but decided it wasn’t really worth it to push myself that hard to make it there first as there was still a long way to go. I entered the 26 mile aid station around 3h23 right as Tyler was leaving the aid station. I had filled up my hand held with Coke which was an odd decision as I haven’t had a pop in nearly 10 years here before heading back out. I think that’s why I nearly threw up a few minutes later which had me a little worried.

With the out and back nature of the course, it was easy to see the time gap back to other runners in the field and the gap back to third was about 8 minutes and about 10 minutes to fourth. I was getting feedback from runners going the opposite direction that the gap was still about 1-2 minutes from Tyler but I couldn’t get visual contact of him. I hit the 32 mile aid station, once again, just as he was leaving it. It was right around this time that my stomach began turning again which was super troubling. I finally caught Tyler on the big ascent a few miles past the aid station and made a surge into the lead. It was 34 miles in and I thought that I had maybe made the decisive move for the win. Sadly it only lasted about 2 miles before Tyler blew by me on a flat section. I had an unfortunate wipeout on a steep downhill and looked up to see him disappear. Luckily the fall was minor and I was able to get back up and start running again. Tyler had got the second of three premiums for hitting the 37.5 mile aid station in first and, once again, was leaving the aid station just as I was entering. On the climb up Buttermilk gorge I caught back up to Tyler only to see him hammer and get the gap back right after. I made a quick stop at a washroom around 39 miles and hit the lap to see how much time I would lose again. He had about 45 seconds on me and my bathroom stop costed me just under three minutes. I thought that was it. The second bathroom stop had costed me. I was feeling fine physically when I started running again but mentally I was defeated.

“He’s not that far up buddy! Go get him!” The feedback from other runners began to snap me out of my funk. “How far back am I?” I asked. Two minutes and then one minute was what other runners were saying. I entered the aid station at 42 or 43 miles and still hadn’t seen Tyler for a bit. I downed quite a lot of fluids here, including some ginger ale, before heading off again. “He’s less than a minute and you’re moving faster man! Go for it!” Someone yelled this to me as I started the last major climb. Finally on the switchbacks at 44 miles I saw Tyler who looked to be struggling. I made contact at 44.5 miles and decided to relax a bit. For some reason, I was still doubting myself. There was a short climb at 45 miles and I suddenly gained a small gap and decided that I had to go now. My legs started to respond and I started to feel really fresh again as I pulled into the lead. The scary thought when I’m the lead of a race is that you don’t know how much your leading by. “You can’t afford to ease off now Seth. You have to push it to the finish now. You’re committed. You’ve been suffering for over 6 hours now. You can push for a bit more.” I made it to the final aid station at 47 miles and was in and out within a few seconds. I looked back after leaving the station and there was no one there. The last three miles was a bit painful and I could not stop looking at my watch. Ugh. When is this over?

About to high-five race director Ian and “crossing the line”

I left the gorge and onto this grass section and knew it was almost over. I was passing people going the opposite direction onto their second lap of the course as they shouted encouragement. “One mile to go, all you man!” Finally I entered onto the road with half a mile to go. I took a quick look back again and there was no one there. It took 49.5 miles before it sunk in. I was going to win this race! I made the turn into the finish and saw the finish line. I can stop soon, thank God! After 50.4 miles and over 9000ft of climbing on technical trails, I crossed the line in 6 hours 56 minutes. While it may seem slow by road running standards, my last 3 miles was run under 20 minutes despite the technical trails and stairs. I bent over for a few seconds before lying on the ground. It was right around here where I was told that they didn’t get a picture of me crossing the line and they wanted me to pretend to break the tape for the photo! I honestly didn’t think I could get off the ground but I dragged myself up and ran through the line for the photo!

Dead and dead with Tyler

In conclusion, running 50 miles is flipping hard! My body is completely wrecked right now and I can barely walk. My feet are so swollen I’ve probably gone from a size 9 to a 10.5! I would like to thank Ian and the volunteers for providing an awesome course and a atmosphere for everyone involved. It is a great event and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for a tough but fun race! Thanks to my parents for jumping between a few aid stations to help me out. That race would not have been possible without their help and support! In terms of what’s next, some time off haha! I will take at least a week before I attempt any running again before I ease back into training. The only race I have planned from now until the end of the year is another crack at JFK 50 Miler in November. Rather than that I don’t have any races planned. I’ll probably hop in some shorter races to try and regain a bit of speed but those might be a bit rough as I guess I am a “slow ultra guy” now. Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully everyone is enjoying the summer and training hard. If anyone actually cares, I apologize for not doing a blog post for a while.

Seth

Running a marathon off of 4 weeks of training

A little over a week ago I did something a little risky. I decided back in December that I was going to run the Phoenix half marathon and chase something in the 66 minute range. After dealing with some injuries and being sick from December to January, I decided that I wasn’t ready to run a fast half marathon and then, for some weird reason, decided I should run the full and make a little trip to Arizona with the focal point being the race.

I flew down to Phoenix on the Monday expecting some hot temperatures, but they were not there. My initial thoughts of Phoenix are that it is somewhat of a sketchy place. After picking up the rental car, I was leaving the garage and saw someone stealing a rental Mercedes! He flew out of there with someone chasing after him in another car, it was crazy! It was rather late when I arrived so I stayed in a motel in an “interesting” area by the airport. The Econo lodge was not spectacular, but it got the job done.

The next day, I headed up north to Flagstaff. It’s one of those places that you just have to go to if you’re a distance runner and it did not disappoint. I was weary of the 7000ft altitude so I tried to keep it easy on my runs there. To be honest, for an easy run, I didn’t notice the altitude all that much. I ran 65 minutes easy at 4:13/k pace and it felt relaxed. Despite this, I will say the difference between running easy and doing a workout at altitude is night and day! The first run was in famous Buffalo Park and I did a light fartlek workout down the FUTS (Flagstaff urban trail system). It is a non-paved dirt trail which was muddy or covered in snow in certain spots, which slowed down the workout a bit. I was breathing pretty hard on that one though! The next day was an easy 40 minutes down the same trail and 20 minutes the day before the race.

The scenery is absolutely fantastic! The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona is honestly the nicest drive I have ever been on! A lot of times on my runs there I would just look around at all the mountains and trees and be amazed. It is obvious why this is the place to train in North America. On my run Thursday, I ran by 30+ other people running including a bunch of men and women on the NAU cross country and track teams as well as the Hoka NAZ elite team! I even ran into ultra runner Jim Walmsley in the grocery store. Unfortunately being there for a race meant I couldn’t train or explore too much to make sure I was rested. I also started having some tightness issues in my left hamstring which I attribute to driving around a lot sitting in the car.

After arriving back in Phoenix, I grabbed my race bib and began prepping my gear for race morning. The race was set to start off at 6:00 AM which meant that it would be an early 3:00 AM wake-up call. Seeing as though my super short 4 week build had gone well, I thought running around 2:22 would be a good goal. The course is a very flat point to point starting off outside the city in the desert and running back into the city and with the 6:00 AM start, we would be in the dark for the first half of it. I got to the finish line area around 4:30 AM where they were bussing people to the start line. After a long drive in the dark, we arrived at the start line. Sadly, the bathroom line was absurdly long so I had to find a bush. Now, being in the desert, there are poisonous snakes and scorpions so I had to be super cautious, especially because it was dark! The desert beyond the fences beside the road is actually a protected area so I made sure to not hop the fence. There was a few people who actually were kicked out of the race for hopping over the fence by some race officials who were by the start line!

The temperature was a little chilly at the start, about 2 or 3 degrees. The wind was noticeable at the start line but it was a tailwind, at least for the first 7k. After the American anthem and some fireworks, the race went off and a pack of 4 guys immediately formed. There was two American guys, myself and an African. The first 7k was a gradual downhill with a tailwind but it wasn’t fast like I anticipated. I was waiting to see a bunch of 3:10-3:15 kilometres here but that did not happen. I actually only had one kilometre under 3:20 here and as we turned towards the city, the tailwind switched to a headwind as the one guy slipped off the back of the pack. I knew around the 7k mark that we would not be running a fast time today so it became more about placing than running fast. The stretch from 8-11k was a pretty steep uphill and actually was the slowest part of the race for me, my 9th kilometre was a flipping 3:41! I checked my effort to be a little too high on this climb so I got dropped by the two other guys and lost about 20 seconds to them. From 12-13k I picked up the pace and caught the one guy who had also slipped off and eventually caught the African guy, Teklu, around 14k. The stretch from 12k to 18k was significantly faster than the first part of the race despite the headwind, rolling 3:14-3:18 per kilometre through this section. We pulled away from the other guy and I thought that it was now down to two. The wind was not relenting though but we worked with each other, swapping who was in the lead and sharing water at the stations. It was nice to work with someone instead of having one of us breaking the wind the whole time and the other drafting. Due to the somewhat pedestrian first 10k though (I’m not 100% sure the time but it was around 34:15), we were a lot slower than anticipated through the half, at 1:10:54. I was hopping for 1:08 high so this only reassured me that running a fast time was out of the question. There was an underpass at 24k were I started to slip a bit. My hamstrings were tightening up around 19k, which was concerning as that is very early for that to be happening. Teklu got a small gap which I tried to maintain or close from 24k-32k but I was in a mental struggle. I wasn’t blowing up yet but my pace slowed to above 3:20/k. I was 1:40:56 through 30k in Pittsburgh and I was 1:41:23 in Phoenix so I didn’t think that I was going to better my personal best. Despite this, I wasn’t blowing up quite as badly as I did in Pittsburgh. I just tried to maintain my pace for as long as I could and hope that I wouldn’t drastically slow down to 7+ minutes per mile like I did towards the end in Pittsburgh.

I noticed my vision was getting a little hazy which I think was due to lack of hydration. I was taking gels every 40 minutes and trying to grab water at most stations but it was kind of scary. I felt okay for being that late in the race but it’s nerve wracking when your vision is blurry and you can’t read street signs along the course. Despite this, I had only slowed to 3:30-3:35 per kilometre and just tried to focus on getting to the line. I had suspected that I was getting rolled up on but I didn’t actually get passed until 39k. Brent, who we had dropped in the first 7k, ran a big negative split on the second half with a fast last 2 miles, running around 10:25-10:30 for those miles and blew by me. I was struggling but still maintaining that 3:30-3:35 pace and had no response. I managed to run a 3:27 last k and trudged across the line 3rd overall in 2:24:44. Initially I was disappointed with the race but I have to remember that I did this coming off of injury and 4 weeks of training. The other thing I learned is that point to point courses suck when there is a headwind from 9k-42k!

Overall it was a really fun trip and great experience. I wanted a top 3 and managed 3rd in the race. While the time was not what I wanted, it was a fairly tactical race. I still ran two minutes faster than last year with barely any training and was in contention to win with a 2:12 marathoner for 35 kilometres (he was within striking distance until then). My pacing, albeit slow, was relatively consistent. A first half of 1:10:53 and a second half of 1:13:51 is not a complete blow up, I just couldn’t roll an even or negative split like Brent or Teklu. Compared to my 1:09 first half and 1:17 second half in Pittsburgh, this is better! My legs are feeling more beat up then after Pittsburgh and I have a lot of blisters on my feet, which is something I haven’t had after a race before. In terms of what’s next, I’m still not 100% sure. I was looking at Toledo Half and then Ottawa full but it’s up in the air. I am taking some time to recover before getting back at it and hopefully will not be racing another marathon with four weeks of training ever again! I was definitely missing that aerobic base with all the specific workouts but you got to do what you got to do to try and get fit in a four week span.

Here are some pictures from the trip and race;

Buffalo Park

Stopped on the side of the road between Flagstaff and Sedona

Red rocks around Sedona

Mountains

More mountains!

Altitude

Some more red rocks

Around 12k or 13k in with Teklu

About to hit the timing mat at 20 miles. I think I was 1:49:05 through 20.

Nearly at the finish line

About to cross the line

Seth

Perspective

“My muscles may ache, my tendons may break, but tearing myself down to nothing has allowed me to become something more than this, something greater. This is where I may seem lost but I promise you I’m more awake than ever, more awake than ever. Facing out towards the never ending expanse and finding my place among the stars.”

I feel as though the song “The Frost” by August Burns Red perfectly echos my thoughts about my 2017 races and my thoughts about the future. (And my brother says the music I listen to has no substance and bad lyrics!). I decided to put off writing a yearly race reflection as I believe my disappointment was portrayed adequately in my JFK report. This past year sucked. I think there are a few reasons which lead to me not racing to my potential which I will discuss in this post. Hindsight is 20/20 and we can’t change what we have done in the past, but we can learn from our experiences and use that knowledge to better ourselves for the future.

For starters, I think I may have been over trained in my marathon build-up. Looking back on training leading into the marathon, I had a very long build essentially starting in early January. I started off at 160k per week and built up to over 200k mid January and ran over 200k a week for nearly every week until late April before the taper. I hit as high as 250k in a week which I think was where I burned out a bit. Truth be told my body was spent. There was 8 weeks over 210k and 11 weeks over 200k with my easy weeks still being 190+k in the build. I know you have to push your limits to know what you can handle but it was a bit too much. I feel as though 210k/week is the sweet spot right now for putting miles in my legs and still feeling fresh enough for workouts. The other issue with the marathon in Pittsburgh was not practicing my nutrition enough for the race. Thankfully with doing ultras in the fall, my nutrition is solid. I can take gels running 3:00/k easily and it feels even easier doing it at goal marathon pace of 3:17/k.

I think my volume of training in the spring of 2017 manifested itself into a plethora of little injuries throughout the fall with one major one as well. Three weeks before JFK I popped my S.I. joint out of place in my hip and back area. This caused me to miss over a week of training which may not seem like much, but hurt both physically as well as mentally. It’s very stressful not knowing if you will make it to the start line healthy but I put in about 5 days of running before the race and decided to throw caution to the wind. Obviously things didn’t work in my favour for that one but my S.I. joint didn’t flare up for the 63k that I did complete which was a small victory. I was so disappointed with that race that the prospect of just quitting running and giving up entered my mind often. It’s a tough situation because it made me feel as though I’ve wasted my time the last 5 years chasing a dream that was just not meant to be. I think it’s healthy to question ourselves from time to time and assess our situations. I need to keep going though because I feel as though there is still lots of room to improve as a runner by paying more attention to the small things; like sleep, nutrition, stretching and enjoyment.

As far as goals for 2018, I could throw out arbitrary times or races like everybody does, but I feel as though mine are obvious. Sub 2:20 for the marathon, sub 66:40 for the half, sub 30:00 for 10k, sub 14:20 for 5k, a course record at Run for the Toad 50k and a win at JFK 50 are the trivial goals. More importantly, I want to listen to my body more instead of pushing myself too hard to hit a nice big mileage number at the end of the week. I would also like to keep enjoying the sport. I think I was too caught up in trying to hit the IAAF standard for the marathon and put too much pressure on myself as well as feeling outside pressure from the running community. Social media can be a blessing and a curse as well! My main goal is to be smarter about training and just staying in touch with my physical and mental well being. If my body is fried from a morning run or workout, it’s better to skip the afternoon run and do some stretching or something like that instead of pushing too far into the well. I’m not really going to go into detail about my upcoming races as I feel as though you can get a general idea of what I am racing based on the trivial goals that I have listed above. I will be racing eight times in total this year in distances of 5k to 50 miles; albeit with more of a focus on the half marathon and longer distances.

In terms of recent training, I have been trying to stay indoors for workouts to mimic the hot climates that I will be racing in in a few weeks. I will be around 210k this week with my last three weeks at 203k, 210k and 200k. The workouts have been pretty solid too. I did a fartlek last week of 15k rotating between 4:57/mile for 2 minutes and 5:55/mile for 2 minutes. A few days before that I did 60 minutes at marathon pace and averaged 3:17.9/k feeling relaxed. My other notable workouts have been tempos or fartleks but I did a small speed workout last week with a 27 last 200m, which is not anything to write home about, but solid for coming off of ultra training.

The biggest thing in my training since building back up though is I’m really enjoying it again. I put so much pressure on myself that I lost sight of why I love running the sport. It felt more like a chore to slog out a run as opposed to enjoying the grind. I am in a good state mentally with the sport right now. So I will end this post the same way I started it, with some more lyrics from the song “The Frost” by August Burns Red. “Open soul, open mind. I’m finally focussed on what’s inside. I’ve gained a new perspective.”

Here are two pictures of our new cat Grayce. She likes to bite a lot and stick her head under the faucet when I’m brushing my teeth. She also can play fetch like a dog.

Seth

JFK 50 miler: DNF Report

I didn’t finish the JFK 50 miler. I haven’t dropped out of a race since 2013 and I’m not going to lie, this one really stings. I ran a smart Appalachian trail section and was in cruise mode on the towpath closing down a 7 minute gap to 2 minutes off the lead. I thought at 34 miles that I was going to pull into the lead and win. But that didn’t happen as my body completely shut down and I had to drop out at 39 miles. Why did this happen? I looked at my pacing and it was conservative for the first 15 miles and I was running the pace I was looking for on the towpath. My nutrition was actually perfect for once. This is usually the issue for me in races beyond the half marathon but today it was a non issue. I took gels at 40 minute increments for the first 2 hours and then every 30 minutes after. I took 3 cliff blocks every 45 minutes and was taking in both water and flat coke at most of the aid stations. I should have been fine which is why I am extremely frustrated about this. I don’t know 100% for sure what went wrong.

The nature of the course is 50.2 miles starting with a climb up the road for the first 2.5 miles and then 13 miles on the rocky Appalachian trail, 26.3 miles on the C&O towpath and 8.4 miles on the road to the finish. The gun went off at 6:30 AM as I barely made it to the start line on time. A group of about 8 guys started together in the dark and windy conditions. The temperature was supposed to be 12 degrees with light rain (that would not be the case). The group settled around 6:30/mile pace for the opening mile before the climb started. It wasn’t too difficult of a climb but the group did split up. I found myself running beside Michael Wardian so we had a chat up the climb. I knew he has ran the race multiple times so I asked about the technicality of the Appalachian trail. “It’s an East coast trail so it is rocky. Watch out because the leaves hide a lot of rocks but it’s runnable”. I passed the 2.5 mile mat in 4th place feeling comfortable. The leader and the other guys in front of me were still all within about 30 seconds of me. After about 1 mile, the trail turns into a road which climbs over 1000 feet in just under 2 miles. I ran this climb pretty aggressively and moved up into a share of 2nd place, a few seconds off the lead before we entered back into the trail. It was here where it got super technical and rocky. I continued to run with 2nd place but kept twisting my ankle and was worried about breaking it (it is pretty swollen right now) so I slowed down to make sure I was more cautious. At 10 miles there was an aid station and an opening so I could see the gap to the front. About 2 minutes off 1st and 30 seconds off 2nd. Unfortunately, my lack of running on technical trails meant that I continued to twist my ankle and had two bloody falls onto the rocks. Nothing too serious but I was looking forward to getting off the trail. I have no clue how Jim Walmsley ran 6:50 miles on that trail. The last bit was a 1000+ foot drop in elevation over 1 mile. But don’t let that fool you, it was the most technical part of the trail with lots of rocks and sharp switchbacks. I left the trail with a 6-7 minute gap to first and 3 minutes to second. I switched my shoes and headed off to the towpath.

I was rolling smooth and comfortably on the towpath as the temperature dropped to around 0 and the rain began to start. My pace was around 6:20-6:30 per mile which felt slow and comfortable. I was getting feedback along the route about my deficit to the lead. It was 7 minutes at 24 miles but began to close. I was getting in the calories and feeling good but a little wet and cold in the rain. At 30 miles the gap was 4 minutes to first and 2.5 minutes to second. I was in a really good mental state and in the groove. My pace was around 6:15/mile and I was running strong. I took a quick bathroom break around 31 miles and maintained the gap to the first two guys. I hit the 34 mile aid station with a two minute gap to the lead but something wasn’t right. My vision became blurry and my arms and torso began to seize up. I left the aid station but began stumbling around and barely able to stay on my feet so I decided to walk for 30 seconds to get my bearings right. I started trying to run again but it was not any better. I began shivering and tried to put back some more cliff blocks and a gel but that didn’t seem to do anything. My body was freezing and shutting down. I knew my parents were at the 38.5 mile aid station so I wanted to make it there and assess my options. It wasn’t until 36 miles where I began getting passed by multiple runners and my competitive mentality began to dissipate. I could barely see anything or follow a straight line. I would try to run and would jog 7:30/mile for a few minutes before having to stop and get my bearings. I slipped back to 6th or 7th at the aid station 38.5 miles in. I tried to continue but after taking more calories I left the aid station and fell over. I stood up and tried running again but stumbled and fell over once again so I made the decision to stop after 39 miles.

Looking at how I was feeling, I think that dropping out was the right decision. I don’t think I could have even walked the last 11 miles to the finish. I am extremely disappointed in my race and my 2017 year in general. It’s unfortunate because I ran a really good first 34 miles and all of a sudden it fell apart. There are a few positives to take away from the race. For starters, my climbing in the early portions of the race was really solid. It felt comfortable and I probably had the fastest split on the hilly road portion in the middle of the Appalachian trail. Maybe I should do some shorter mountain races or vertical k’s because I believe that uphills are my strong suit. Secondly, my nutrition has always been an issue but it was bang on for once. In Pittsburgh, my nutrition was my downfall and although it was not the best at Run for the Toad 50k, it was manageable. At JFK, it was the first time I felt my nutrition was perfect. I wouldn’t have changed anything. Getting in around 20oz of water per hour with 600-800 calories per hour was a perfect mix of feeling good without putting too much stress on my stomach. I want to say my body shut down due to the freezing rain and cold temperatures and being improperly dressed for the conditions. That is what I am thinking anyways as there is nothing that would have indicated that I would fall apart like that. The pace never felt hard so it’s not like I was red lining or pushing the effort that hard. It was a conversational pace.

Overall it was an extremely disappointing race and I wish I could have it back. I thought at 33 miles that I was going to win. It was turning into this really solid day and it was my best executed, tactically smart race for 33 miles. I think I will excel at 50 miles my next crack at it but this one hurts mentally more than physically. It was an apropos ending to my frustrating year of racing. Coming off my best year in 2016, I had a ton of expectations of myself. Whereas I only had one bad race last year, I only had one good race this year. I know running is an extremely fickle sport but I trained a lot harder this year with no results to show for it. I had a crapping first marathon and a crappy first 50 miler. It felt like the universe was against me running a good race this year if I’m being honest. I am happy to be done with racing in 2017 albeit with a very bitter taste in my mouth. I hope 2018 will be better. There isn’t anything on the horizon right now in terms of racing but I do want to return to JFK next year and run the race I know I am capable of. I think that ultra running is what I see myself excelling at so more ultras will be in the future. I do want to run another marathon because I think I could take off 5-8 minutes easily on my next go at it but right now I need a break. Mentally I am down and very frustrated. Physically, I am feeling alright but I need some time to relax and not think about running for a week or two. Here’s to hoping 2018 will be the year 2017 was supposed to be.

Even with the bathroom break at 50k, it’s pretty obvious where it fell apart at 55k.

Seth

Run for the Toad 50k Race Report

I read an article back in grade 11 about UTMB, right around the same time I had started to get into running. I remember talking to my parents about this crazy race where people are running for over 160 kilometres through the alps of France, Italy and Switzerland. “Who in their right mind would ever want to do that?” was the answer from my dad. Well, I guess I’m crazy because ever since I heard about that race, the prospect of running distance beyond the marathon has always seemed so enticing to me. There is just something incredible about pushing the human spirit through gruelling races of endurance from 50k to 160k and beyond. This past weekend, I decided to take a step into that realm at the Run for the Toad 50k.

My decision to race it was very last minute. I was not registered until Thursday morning, two days before the race. I was also not tapered by any stretch of the imagination. I backed off my workout volume on Thursday and only ran 9 miles on Friday though to make sure I was somewhat fresh to run for 50k/31 miles. The plan was to really practice my fuelling strategy and gradually work the pace down. The nature of the course was 4 12.5k loops around the Pinehurst Conservation Area. I intended on starting conservative on the first lap, around 52:00 and try to take off a minute each lap so I would finish around 3:22-3:24, slightly over 4:00/k.
After getting to the race, I did a 5 minute jog to try and warm up but my hips were feeling pretty tight and sore, not an ideal feeling before the longest race of my life. It was nearly perfect conditions for the race, right around 8 degrees and sunny. I was fairly cold before the start so decided to wear an old pair of socks as gloves for the first part of the race and a long sleeve shirt under my Hoka One One singlet. “Don’t go out with the relay runners” was the mantra I had in my head at the start line. A mantra I completely disregarded as the gun went off.

I ran along with the USA and Speed River relay teams in the early portions of the race and began to worry about my pacing. I was already ahead of the rest of the field by the 4k mark but was concerned. I thought I had gone off way too hard for the race until I saw the 5k split right around 19:35. The pace felt easy and comfortable but I was way under 52 minute pace for the lap. Around 7k in, the relay guys dropped the pace very quick and I was alone as they pulled away in the distance. The temperature was really warming up so I tossed my sock-gloves to my parents who were at the 9k mark. “I feel really good!” I yelled as I passed them. For the first lap, I was also anticipating Skeleton Hill at the 11.5k mark, a hill I would traverse 4 times in total. It was incredibly steep and I was barely running faster than a walk up it. I completed the first lap in 48:40, 3:20 faster than anticipated. I also realized that I had not taken any gels or liquids the first lap and began to worry.

I started grabbing some cups of water and Gatorade at the first aid station on the second lap (12.8k in) and planned on doing so at every other aid station along with taking a gel around 7-8k into each lap so I could grab water at the 8.8k aid station. The second lap passed without much happening but I passed through 25k in 1:36:31, well under the 1:43:00 goal. I made the decision to just roll with it and keep the pace chugging along as it still felt fairly comfortable. I was completely unaware what my lead was but I figured it was a decent amount. I knew all I had to do mentally was get through the third lap, 37.5k into the race, and I would finish well. The only question was how fast would the time be. My parents were at the 9k mark, 34 kilometres in, and I yelled out “I am running way under pace! I might blow up!” to them. My third lap was 47:55, the fastest lap yet as the clock read 2:24:XX with 12.5k to go. I started doing the mental math incase I really started to blow up. “I think I can run 50:00 this lap. Under 56:00 and I am still under 3:20”.
On the last lap, I started to feel some of the hills I had not felt before. Each uphill was not too bad but the last 6k, the downhills really started to hurt. I think my marathon split was around 2:44 as I entered uncharted territory. I also started struggling to run low 3:50/k on the constant rolling hills but I still felt pretty relaxed. If I could get to the top of Skeleton Hill, the race would be over. It was a brutal climb 48.5k into the race but it was amazing getting to the top and knowing I was almost done. I was really checking my watch the last 1.5k to see what my time would be. To my surprised, I didn’t blow up at all and still felt relaxed in the final stages as I crossed the line in 3:13:41 with a 49:06 last lap, averaging 3:52/k or 6:14/mile, the third fastest time ever on the 50k course with roughly 3500ft of climbing.

Overall, I would say this was a fairly surprising performance as I was not tapered or peaked having been running over 120 miles per week the last 3 weeks in a row. I can officially say I have now ran an ultra marathon and for longer than 3 hours! I would like to thank the race directors, George and Peggy, for putting on a stellar event. I had only heard incredible things about the race beforehand and will say that it is one of the best races in Canada, regardless of road or trail. I highly recommend anyone who is looking for an introduction into trail racing to attend Run for the Toad next year as it is a race you don’t want to miss! In terms of what is next, I took Sunday off and am back to training again Monday to prepare for my big goal race this November. I am still trying to keep the race plans on the “down-low” but it’s tough because I am so excited!

Keep at it,
Seth

SethRuns

The IAU World Trail Championships 2019

Back at it

Injuries and reflection

2018 JFK50 Race Report

A little Run for the Toad 50k Recap

Cayuga Trails/USA 50 mile Championships Report

Running a marathon off of 4 weeks of training

Perspective

JFK 50 miler: DNF Report

Run for the Toad 50k Race Report

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