The Cap Crusher Race Report
Recently we ran in and completed a trail race called the “Cap Crusher“, the first running event of the year in the Coast Mountain Trail Series. This would also be our personal first race of the year and for Leigh likely his 5th total time running this year. It starts and ends in Capilano Regional Park, right near the immense Cleveland Dam. It’s name is very appropriate; “Cap” for Capilano and “Crusher” for the fact that this course will crush your quads. It climbs ~800m’s (2600ft) over a short 13km’s. There is an 8km variant to the course (named the toughest 8k in Canada) but we both chose to run the longer distance. Here is our individual experiences with this race: Leigh: So I’ve raced very little in the past. The Cap Crusher would be my 4th time running in any sort of organized race, ever. But, in 2015 I’d like to increase my base running fitness. Off the couch I’d like to be able to do +30km trail runs in the mountains easily. To help motivate myself this year I’ve signed up to run a bunch of races. So, we arrived at the starting line for the Cap Crusher early and picked up our bib numbers. There was a slight chill in the air coming across Capilano lake. In the distance I could see the snow capped summits of the Lions. Immediately we started recognizing faces and saying hello to the people we knew. The energy in the crowd waiting to start running was palpable. Gary Robbins, the Race Director, gave his speech about the course and then the countdown began. If you’ve raced before you likely know the energy in the crowd at this point, but if you haven’t I can only explain it this The energy is electric. It’s almost like you can feel everyones heart-rates start to increase as the countdown reaches zero. The main challenge at this point is controlling the urge to just sprint when you hear them shout “Go!”. Inevitably, there’s always a few in the pack that sprint out ahead, riding a wave of stoke that they hope will carry them to the finish line. Within 500m’s these early starters have usually slowed right down and begin to get passed. For myself, I tried to maintain a slow starting pace, but I knew I didn’t want to get caught up in the back 70% which would choke up and stall as the course narrowed to uphill, single-track trails. I ran harder at first to stay with the front pack until everyone started spreading out and then settled in to a slower...
10 Things My First Ultra Taught Me
Technically anything over the marathon distance of 42.2 km (26.2 miles) is classified as an ultra distance. With this in mind it means I officially ran my first ultra trail race in August 2013, when I ran the Squamish 50 50 km (31 miles) trail race. However, it wasn’t until I decided to run my first 80 km (50 mile) trail race that it actually felt like I was entering the ultra arena. This felt monumental and to be honest a little outside of my wheelhouse. But I was committed to running it, not just surviving it, and I tried to focus hard on training. Seeing as I am not a professional and fairly new to the trail running scene, my approach to training, although a little more refined recently, could be called somewhat clumsy and haphazard. I have several sports/hobbies that I like to pursue - rock climbing, mountaineering, ice climbing,skiing - so my attention and energy can be diverted easily. Because of this my training became a bit of a juggling act. I ended up learning a lot while training and running my first ultra. Here are the top 10 things I learned during the process: 1) Run a lot of hills - Yes this means hill repeats. BORING! That’s probably what you are thinking and I know because I thought the exact same thing. In fact I remember one elite trail runner say that you know are deep into training season when you have a fair share of boring runs. Yes, not every run is going to be about having fun but about pushing you outside of your comfort zone. Besides if you are anything like me, slightly masochistic as most long distance runners are, you will find joy in these training runs too! 2) Run back to back long runs -The LSD (long slow distance) is the trademark of endurance runners. Spending a lot of time on your feet, not worrying so much about the actual distance covered, but about the hours you spend out there. So run a big 6-8 hour run on Saturday and get ready to run at least another 2-4 hours on Sunday. Let your body know your mind is in control and you are running whether the body protests or not; run on tired legs. 3) Eat a lot while running, even when you don’t want to - I learned this when I let a podium finish slip through my fingers because I didn’t focus on getting calories into my body early on in the race. It was only when my friend, who was keeping pace with me that day,...
Running the Squamish 50 - 50 Mile
So I actually did it. It still feels a little bit like a dream really. The months of physical preparation, the mental anguish I put myself through, were finally put to the test on August 16th when I got to run the Squamish 50 (50mile/80km) trail race. There was so much trepidation leading up to this day, unsure I would actually be able to complete the full distance. The longest run I had done leading up to race day was 50km and I just hoped that race day endorphins would pull me through the extra 30km that my legs would need to carry me that day. But how exactly did the day unfold? My good friend and fellow racer Sarah toed the line with me that Saturday morning for the 5:30am start. We hugged each other, wished each other a strong race and didn’t see each other until the end. In my mind that morning, I had Sarah’s advice floating through my mind, “for your first 50 miler go uncomfortably slow for the first half”, hopefully this would help me reserve energy for the second half of the race. Coming into AS #2. Re-fuel Getting words of wisdom from Leigh The first 10 km was flat and despite the easy start to the race I forced myself to keep the pace I knew I wanted to hold. ALOT of people passed me and I tried to not let it bother me as I knew there was a good chance I could catch some of them on the second half and it also gave me a chance to find a rhythm; pacing is an art that I was hoping to master that day. The first aid station was 10 km in. Here I saw Solana & Jay, cheery as always, manning the station and cheering the runners on. This is when I first saw my personal crew, my favorite person and better half, Leigh. He was there with a “How are you feeling” “What do you need?” and with a few clicks of the camera and a kiss, I was off. The next 10km had a hilly and technical middle portion. Sarah and I had actually discussed the previous night how we were not looking forward to this particular section as it seemed so brutally steep on the last training run. But this day it didn’t feel as bad as I had remembered, maybe because I knew there was so much more ahead of me that day. It was still steep, dry and dusty so there was some hard power hiking happening. Climbing is something I have the long gait...
Garibaldi Park - Rubble Double
The first few weeks of July has seen some glorious weather, if you like +30C degree. Nothing but sunshine and blue skies. As much as I enjoy the warmth of the sunshine, this heat does not make for great running weather. You overheat quickly, become dehydrated even faster and your body grinds to a halt. Pretty hard to feel too tired with views like this. Beautiful trail coming into Cheakamus Lake. Ahhh Black Tusk never gets old! Well July 12th was the day I decided to attempt the “Rubble Double”; the forecast was for sunshine and +34C. The Rubble Double is a run through the beautiful Garibaldi Provincial Park that takes you from the Rubble Creek entrance to the Cheakamus Lake entrance at which point you then you turn around and go back the way you came. In total the run is approximately 47 km with 2300m elevation gain. I was able to convince my friend Adam to come along for the full distance. It was also nice to have a few friends come along for the first 12km, Hailey and her fiance Eduardo. It was Eduardo’s first time in Canada and with it being only his second day in the country it was a privilege to be able to share such a beautiful part of the country with him. Coming over the Cheakamus River. Adam setting up for the perfect GoPro shot. Adam doubled over in laughter? In 2012 I ran the Rubble Creek route, one way, solo.That was 2 years ago and I know I am much fitter and have much more endurance now, so I had been thinking about doing the Double for a while especially since it would be good training to get another 50’ish km run in so soon after my last one. Beautiful and green. Stoked! Keep laughing through the pain. If you have ever hiked or ran this trail then you know that no matter which side you start on you have 6-7 km’s of steady climbing at the start and if doing the double then you have a another big climb thrown in right at the halfway mark. The first climb into the park felt like a breeze, the stoke and banter was high and everyone was having fun. When we dropped Hailey and Eduardo at their chosen destination, they were heading to Panoramo Ridge, Adam and I continued on. Eduardo later told me that they could hear us laughing long after they couldn’t actually see us anymore, so that was a good sign! We were running and we were happy! First aid station. Beauty trail. Classic GoPro face! Essentially we...
Squamish 50 Orientation Run
June 22nd was the last of the orientation runs for the Squamish 50. I knew I wanted/had to run the 47km for peace of mind. I woke up that morning tired, unsure of being able to run the full distance. I actually thought to myself I would cop out and probably choose the 37km halfway through, as there is a point in the run where the 47 and 37 runners split. Anyway, I had my good running friends Adam and Sarah(both wanting to run the 37km) with me, so with their combined stoke we walked and laughed our way to Escape Route, the start of the run. I started off nice and easy, I wanted this to be a long slow run for endurance training. Adam took off like a shot and within after about 3km I didn’t see him anymore. Sarah and I yo-yo’d a bit but were generally always in eyesight of each other. I knew I wanted to keep it really slow and forced myself to take it easy. I arrived at the 18km aid station to find Sarah fueling up on coke, cookies and other ultra type foods that one only eats during an ultra (Scott Jurek dies a little inside at reading this). Adam was already gone as Sarah told me that they were goth going for the 37 distance. I wasn’t too excited for the additional 10km loop but the thought of getting to hit the aid station after the loop was pretty enticing and when asked what distance I was doing, they keep track of all runners for safety reasons, I immediately said 47km. I chugged a bit of coke, had a few salty chips and a Hammer Bar and then told Sarah I was off. However during the time spent at the aid station Sarah succumbed to a bit of peer pressure from other runners at the station and she was shamed into running the 47km. So off we went.Not going to lie, this worked to my advantage as it was nice to have company on that extra 10km. Not a bad view. Going UP! The theme of the race. Another lovely view en route. I think it may have been a mix of the coke, the calories from the hammer bar and just starting to get my second wind but i was starting to feel good again. The 10km loop was beautiful, with one steep uphill section and the rest classic flowy squamish bike trail. Only the last few km’s were on logging road and I forced myself to run until I seen the aid station. Most times on logging...
