Training Forum

I'm planning on running my first Dirty Duo 1 March. This will also be my first 50k in 4 years. What should I know about the course, any tips, etc?

Thanks,

Tom

Hi Ultra Marathoners,

I am planning on running the Goofy Race sponsored by Disney World in Orlando Florida in January 2009.

Hi,
I'm going to be up at Whistler this weekend and would love to do a nice, long run in the mountains. Any suggestions....or anyone interested in a run???

Email me here or at home floes(at)shaw.ca

So, let's start at the beginning:

Friday: It's still raining when I wake up, trying to catch up on some much needed sleep after 15 hours of driving through 1 province and three states, apparently California has experienced 3 continuous weeks of rain, and it briefly lightens up when I go to pick up my race package six hours later. When asked if I had trained enough, I replied, "If I can endure a 15 hour drive from Vancouver to Sacramento, I think I can handle 13 hours on a trail." (Famous last words, I know.) At the pre-race dinner, had a trail briefing from RD Greg Soderlund who warned that AR50 was going to be similar to that of Way to Cool 50k. For the 4 of us in the room that didn't do Cool, what did that mean? Well the Cool 50k had a lot of mud which hampered many a runner. Greg advised us that the first half of the course was on a bike path and for the most part was unobstructed from physical debris. But much like the Vancouver seawall in Stanley Park, the path was not shielded from the wind, but I wasn't worried as I had devoted a majority of my training to running similar routes with extreme weather conditions. From Beals Point (mile 27) the course switched to a gravel/fire road for 2 miles then became single-track trail or more accurately one gigantic mudslide. You basically had two choices, you could go into the mud and get dirty or bushwack through poison oak trying to find a drier path. The dinner wrapped up with guest speaker Dean Karnazes and his David Letterman spot. To be quite honest, having previously had the pleasure of listening to Jesper Olsen talk about his World run of 26,000 Km, listening to somebody talk about running 300 miles nonstop just isn't the same thing. Although it was somewhat funny to note that after running AR50, Dean had to go to Barnes/Noble in Roseville for his book signing. (I'm not sure if he actually ran from the finish line to Roseville, but what a great entrance!)  Finally there was a raffle for draw prizes and unfortunately my streak of winning ended here, maybe I only win at BC events, hmmmmm.
Got back to the hotel and readied my drop bags, laid out my clothes, set dual alarms and took some cough medicine as a cold bug I thought I had gotten rid of was coming back at the worst possible time-eight hours before race day.
 
Saturday: 4:00Am, first alarm goes off. 4:30am 2nd alarm goes off. I'm finally out of bed and take my pre-race meal PB and raisin bread, drink a bottle of GU20 and click on the TV to relax before heading out. 5:30am: Okay, was just a little too relaxed as I drifted off again and was now rushing to make the start line. Went right when I should've went left and got lost. It's now 5:54am and somehow made it to the start with only a minimal amount of cussing. Dropped my bags off and made one last trip to the porta potty, all that desperation and anxiety sure has its advantages. 5:58am, had a volunteer take my picture at Guy West Bridge, a scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge. 5:59am, lined up in the back of the pack as per my race plan, thought of everything I had gone through to get to this point, took a deep breath and...

Another slow week. Must be fighting something as even the short runs feel hard.
Monday 6 February

• 60 min trail run
• 2hour downhill skiing at night

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Monday - 9 January:

• 40 min gym, free weight and stretching

• 60 min slow run - Mosquito Creek and Bowser trails
• 8km
• mostly trails

• 69 min road run (Pemberton loop) with Michelle -
• approx 10km

• supposed to go to the gym, but felt nauseous and hid in the office instead

• full day of work and family committments

• 2:10h road and some easy trails (Mosquito Creek, Bowser, Ambleside, Seawall and back) with Pat and Michelle. Good pace
• approx. 18km

Sunday - 1 January: Vancouver New Year's Day FA 50

• Distance = 50km
• Time = 7:03h
• Terrain = mix of pavement and easy trails
• Weather = uhuh...rain, hail, gail force wind, dry spells, 12c,
  
• had a great positive run. No major problems. Some hip pain and discomfort in the toe joints (that's a new one), stomach starting to be on the edge for the last 2h

Training for the Vancouver New Year's Fat Ass 50 is going well. Yesterday we tackled 3h on the course. Starting at Kits Point we headed west passed the pool and the old tree trunk on the beach, followed Point Grey Road to Jericho Beach. This used to be my home turf and running along the groomed gravel path always felt decadent. The views are magnificent with the the waters of English Bay stretching to the North Shore Mountains. At Spanish Banks we left the beach and clambered uphill into the trails of Pacific Spirit Park.