Fernie half-marthon and a look back at the season

Spent the weekend in Fernie, B.C. and participated in the Fernie Half-Marathon on Sunday morning. Having a race in Oct. means that there can be weather challenges. Leading up to the event - long range forecast was indicating that there would be a little rain (and possibly snow) on Saturday and partly cloudy on Sunday (and dry). However, it talking to folks, they indicated that they had heard 20cm of snow. Yikes!

Another concern going into the race was the elevation profile. No profile was available. There was a map of the course, but I've only driven past Fernie in the past, so the route didn't provide much insight. However, the course was always close to the river, so I figured that it was likely to be flat.

When picking up my race package on Saturday, I found out that the event was having a name the hill content. So there was going to be at least one hill.

On Sunday - there wasn't much sun - cloudy, with a bit of rain and from time to time a bit of snow. The high for the day was supposed to be 6 - a little chilly, but no too bad. I dressed in layers - figuring that if I started to get too warm it would be easy to ditch a layer (or two).

When I arrived at the race - came across many people running in shorts and a shirt. They looked cold - and were keeping active and working to stay warm.

The race went well. Course was well marked - many volunteers and everything was well organized. Ended up with 377 runners in the event - a good number as the race was mostly on hiking and biking trails. Wide enough for passing, but not a mass of humanity.

I ended up finishing in 2:05 - my fastest half marathon this year. Here's a look at the elevation profile of the course:

Just the one hill at the beginning and from there it was relatively flat.

This was my third half-marathon of the year. The previous race was a Five Peaks race held at the Canmore Nordic Center. Here's a view of the elevation profile for the race:

Definitely more climbs/descents to deal with for the Canmore race. I have some work to do both on my hill climbing and how I handle the more technical running needed to go down some of the hills. There were a number of places where the race course went through the trees, single track and was steep. It was a challenge to walk down without sliding - never mind running. I finished in 2:35 - the winner of the race clocked in at 1:25 which is just amazing.

The other race I competed in this year was Powderface. Here's the elevation profile for that race:

This was also a very tough race - hills were steep, lots of rocks, and as mentioned previously even some wildlife.

Running the three races this year has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to some more races in the new year. In the meantime, going to take a few days off from running and heal a bit. Then will start on a new training program and see if I can start to work on my timing and endurance.

Racing is not fun...if you're dead

Today was the my first trail race - participating in the Powderface42 (well, I just did the 1/2 marathon, so for me it was the Powderface21).

As we looked to get the pre-race instructions, we were informed that there would be a 15 minute delay. Turned out that a bear had been sighted on the trail - and precautions need to be taken before releasing the runners our on the race course. After the organizers and volunteers had put measures in place (bear spray and noise makers in the vicinity of the sighting) - we were all asked to run in groups. Although it was a race - we were given the guidance - "Racing is not fun...if you're dead". With those words of wisdom, we finished the prep and started the race.

The race is very hilly, many climbs along the way - total amount of climbing (according to my gps) was in the neighborhood of 4400ft (here's an elevation profile).

Results aren't published online yet, but the posting at the event had my coming in at 2:47 which put me in 37th place. For a first 1/2 marathon on a tough course, I'm happy with the result.

The race was a great deal of fun (what could be better than hills, mountains, mud, trees, and rivers?), was very well organized and the volunteers were great.

Looking forward to next year's event already!

P.S. I'll provide some links to some photos as they get posted.

Lee.

Starting to Run on the Road to Recovery

According to the Dr. I was free to start running again on the 1st. Stress fracture on my fibula should be sufficiently healed at this point that its safe to run again. However, I’m supposed to take it s-l-o-w-l-y. How slow is slow enough?

During the time I was not allowed to run, I picked up a membership at the Y, and have been spending time in the pool. Low impact, and has allowed me to maintain some level of cardio fitness. As the 1st approached, I also added some biking into the mix. Now, that I’ve added running back, I’m well on my way to triathlon training.

Figure that as I ramp up the running (both intensity and distance) will continue to include cross-training as part of my program. Goal continues to be the powderface42 – which is now pretty much 4 months away. Yikes!

Powderface42

Although I’m still a bit injured after my last run, decided that a goal is needed for guiding me through recovery and getting back out and running.  Goals are good, after all - or at least that’s what they tell me.

So I’ve signed up for the Powderface42 – race is scheduled for July.  This will be my first trail race – no concrete – nothing but nature.  The race is held just outside of Bragg Creek – at the foothills of the Rockys – so defintely not a flat race.  Take a look at the elevation profile – looks scary.

They had a write-up about the race in a running magazine – but they didn’t make the article available online.  But here’s a blog posting from SeeMikeRun discussing last year’s event.  In the posting he discusses how the winning time was a little over 4 hours – by someone that would likely run a 2:30 marathon on a normal course.

I have two goals for the race – 1.  I want to complete the race without any major injuries.  and 2.  I want to finish. 

In addition to training and figuring out how to run a trail race, they also advise ensuring that you are up on your trail safety – I have some reading to do.