Sunday, May 28, 2006
I'm dumb!
Someone just pointed out to me that I said Krista was 50k but it's actually 50 miles!! Sorry!!!
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Official times
Krista Rawson 09:58:13 for 50k
Dwayne Sandall 11:28:23 for 100k
Awesome!
Congrats to Krista
In the 50 miler, Krista got 3rd place overall, and 1st woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy cow!
They're in!
Dwayne and Krista came in together!! Congratulations to both!
Lawrence is DONE!
Congratulations to Lawrence for finishing his 50k!!
1st 100k runner in!!
The first runner came in - we're not sure who it was or when (because there's mass confusion around here) but congratulations!
:-)
Alfie
I forgot to say earlier that we met Alfie briefly. He drove by to checked whether or not Dwayne lapped Krista (ha hadn't at that point) and then drove off to the trails. He's back now - he and his bike are a little muddy! Thanks to Alfie for volunteering today!
Krista's in!
... And so is Dwayne!
Ps: everyone says "hi", including Heather who just got here too.
Wow, what a hectic 10 minutes!
Krista got in and out quickly. Sh's still looking strong.
Dwayne's last loop was 2:54:xx. He's off and running after 00:03:xx for the last one. He says he thinks he's going to puke! But he is looking good.
Bye for now!
Lawrence is through
Lawrence is in from his first loop, and Jen just arrived. This is a great day so far!
Dwayne is through
Dwayne came through in about 2:40:xx and his pit stop was about 00:06:xx. He got the Power Bars, a full Gatorade bladder, 3 gels, new shirt and socks and snot rag. He was still looking good!
Krista done 1st big loop
Krista came through her first 25k loop. She was looking awesome! Go SEXY!
New front runner
The new first place 100k came through. He doesn't look as fresh as the other guy and this one was a little grouchy with his crew!! And while I'm typing this, Holly and Jill showed up with some awesome signs! YAY!
Weird!
The first place guy just walked off the course. He just opened a running store and his wife wasn't able to deal with the computer stuff and there's a big triathlon tomorrow so he took off to go help her. Note to fast guy: get your wife a computer course!!
Lawrence has started
The 50k group has started. I yelled "go Lawrence" after I finally figured out who he was. As I'm typing this, the first 100k runner is in from his second loop. That's incredible!!
First loop done!
Dwayne came through his first loop in 2:33:xx (my time, not official). Pit stop was about 00:02:30. Not bad. He didn't need the Power Bars that I lovingly chopped up. He only needed less than half a litre of fluid, so I gave him shit, but apparently he's drinking at the water stations. Looking good!
The Race Director is laughing at me for Blogging!! Too funny.
It's pee break time!
Krista's been through!
Krista's out on he 25k loop. The 5k was done in about 35 minutes.
The first 100k runner came through in 1:57:08, which is nuts! I hope Dwayne is doing well, and I hope he arrives soon, because I sure have to pee!!!
I'm not alone anymore!
Krista and Stuart arrived, and she was looking good! She's off now, for a short 5k loop before starting the big 25k loop. I've cut up Dwayne's second pair of Power Bard, and put them in a baggie. Stuart has pitched a tent, and we're ready. I think Running Mania is going to have the best-staffed cherring squad EVER!!
Meow!
It's race day!
Here I sit in a beautiful park, waiting for the rest of civilization to arrive. There are only a few of us around right now - and they're probably all wondering why the hell I've brought my city-slicker Blackberry for a day of roughing it. Well, it's because I'm a freak, but more importantly it's so you can get updates on the Blackfooters!
Here's what NOT to do when you travel for an away race: don't assume that your smart piece of technology will figure out what time zone you're in, even if it's supposed to be that smart!
I knew I had to set my watch back, but this Bolackberry is supposed to change itself. It didn't. When my alarm went off this morning, Dwayne hopped out of bed - only to wonder why the backup alarm didn't go off. So he checks it, and says: "It's only 2 am!" I felt like a complete idiot, and we both got paranoid about what time it actually was. We checked our watches and the computer. Turns out that I suck. Bad, baaad crew member. Lesson learned.
We went back to sleep for an hour then got up (again) to get ready. Everything went smoothly. The 100k runners were off at 5 am and now it's waiting time. I don't know that I'll recognize Lawrence, and it's too cold for me to take off my jacket and fleecy to expose the Running Mania logo. I will see Krista soon though, and I'll post another update then.
Hasta la vista! It's coffee time.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Some more musings...
I feel like something is missing... Like perhaps an Oilers flag on our rental car. Seriously! Everone has one, or several. Very weird. I did, however, buy some Oilers gloves. It's a little cold here and I needed some hand protection. They're nothing like Kitten Mittens, but maybe they'll help the Oilers to win their next game :-)
A big THANK YOU goes out to ROD at LONDON DRUGS in Sherwood Park. When we got here, I realized that my camera battery was dead so we scoured Edmonton for a charger. No one had one, including Rod, but he offered to charge mine for me and I really, really appreciate it.
Albertans like to use their car horns. This is a serious lack of decorum, which I will take up with His (un)Holiness King Ralph. Maybe I'll start a letter-writing campaign. Stop the Horns!
Word has it there's a cougar in the park where they are running the Blackfoot. The race kit came with some handy-dandy instructions on how to avoid cougars, including how to identify their tracks: apparently, cougars like to wear high heels?!? The race kit also included some special emergency lemonade and hot chocolate mix in case of actual cougar contact.
One last thing for now: don't call me!! I realized after it was too late that my email signature copied over to the blog and now half of Canada has my cell number. Since it's already there, I'm not going to change it. But unless you have some good news (like maybe you want to give me a new condo or a million bucks) don't call. Or I'll send you a bill for my minutes.
Go Oilers Go!
We have arrived!
It's a grey day - raining intermittently in Edmonton today. We're sitting in Denny's, testing out our very own Blackberry Blog. I have turned in to Blog Girl, so that I can update everyone on Dwayne's progress during the Blackfoot.
So STAY TUNED for race updates, starting at 5:00 am Alberta time - that's 7:00 am for the Torontonians who still think the world marched to their overly-inflated drum.
Also stay tuned for any other updates that I may feel appropriate. Unfortunately, I can't upload photos to my Blackberry. I can summon minions to defend Dwayne from the flying mud or wayward cyclists, but no photos.
À la prochaine!
-Natalia, the Moose Hunter
Monday, May 22, 2006
An Innocent Question
It was one of those profound moments that left me thinking. It was nearly as powerful as the "Why do you run?" or "what are you running from?".
The obvious answer to her innocent question in the context of the conversation was "A dilly bar & a bison smokie" but it did strike me in a deeper way. I don't know if I have her answer yet, but I'm off to do an 8 mile run so I'm sure I'll find the answer and report back.
D.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The final countdown
I had a tough weekend, not running at all on Saturday with this funky calf, and then doing an easy 7.5 miles on Sunday. Not tough from the running, but tough from the mental game. Will my calf heal? How tough is the course going to be? Am I ready? Will my stomach be OK? A fellow Blackfooter had such a tough training run on the course on Saturday, I could feel her agony and tears in the e-mail.
The training in this last few days is really all about maintaining what's in the tank. 3 or 4 yoga sessions, another 2 or 3 weight workouts (upper body & core only) and some shorter runs, maybe up to 15 miles on Friday or Saturday.
Common sense dictates that there is no real training effect to be had at this point, but the mind while in taper does not always respect the bounds of common sense. There is some compulsive part of my inner psyche that wants to do one last 30+ mile run this week; bizarre I know.
D.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Taper madness with an injury
This past Wednesday, I was out to do intervals (800m x 10) on the track. During the warmup jaunt to the track, I felt this funky little twinge in my calf, but it wasn't too bad. After the second interval, I realized that if I continued, this would be a show-stopper. So with the fear of a DNS (did not start) I walked home. Should be fine after a massage I told myself.
Friday morning I had a massage. As the day progressed, the calf felt better, but still tender.
On Saturday morning my plan was to run to Assiniboine Park, run the Physio Fit 10k with the clinic group I've been teaching, then venture on for another couple hours. The run there was OK, but about 4 k into the 10k, I made the decision that I was going to take a DNF rather than risk hurting myself further. At the half way point (it's a two loop course) I walked off the course. The first time I've ever done that. It sucked. In fact, it still sucks.
Waiting for others to come in felt like crap. Jill helped me rationalize it that it wasn't worth it to push myself in an event that wasn't my A, B or even C event for the year. I called it my P event, for participation; as I knew that when I signed up, it was only because of the clinic that I was even there that morning. Did I mention it sucks taking a DNF? It really does. The bright side was that all the members of my clinic had an awesome run!
So here I am the next night, still with a tender calf and no plans to run for the next day or two. I've been only a bit stir-crazy today; but a new book has helped.
This will hopefully be my only DNF. I've already had a couple DNS from injuries in the past couple years, so this one was somewhat validated because there is no reason I shouldn't be OK in a few days....
D
Monday, May 01, 2006
One more long run!
With less than 4 weeks to go until the Blackfoot, I have one last long
run to tackle. This coming weekend the first 13 or 14 miles will be
fairly straight forward. I'll run to Assiniboine Park, do the Physio
Fit run with the clinic I've been teaching (10km) then run home, grab
the camel back and head to Garbage Hill for another 12 repeats of the
trail loop there.
The anxiousness is starting to set in, it feels a bit weird right now.
I'm already getting the imaginary aches & pains when there is no
reason to have them.
The focus now is to stay healthy, keep my edge with some weight
training, some 'easier' speed work and some more relaxed miles.
Wow, hard to believe it's looming so close!
D.
