The Stawesome Chief Sampler
On a whim I decided to call our exploratory trail run around the Stawamus Chief in Squamish the “Stawesome Chief Sampler” as it’s Awesome and samples some of the best trails in this small Provincial Park. We did a loop, checking out all 3 summits of “The Chief” as well as some lesser known viewpoints and airy hangouts. We don’t like to give too much away in our reports, so that you can discover these places for yourself, but I will supply this picture of our GPS track to get you started. Our route heads up, steeply, from the Mamquam Road, takes a lesser known trail up the back of the 3rd peak of the Chief, which features some interesting rope pulls and Via Ferrata, it then drops down before ascending again to a lookout and airy dropoff down into the North Gully of the Chief, from here you descend again before ascending to the 2nd Peak, which we crossed over and dropped off on the common ascent trail to the South, from here we joined up with the 1st Peak trail and took it to the top. We did some exploration up here to search for a viewpoint we’d heard about that looks directly down the face of the Chief. We found it! Definitely not a place for the faint of heart. From here it was a glorious trail run down the popular main Chief trail and then a mellow run along the “Apron Connector” trail, which passes below all 3 summits of the Chief that we’d just been standing on. Awesome! If you don’t know “The Chief” then just check out the photos below to get inspired to explore your local trails. Drop off before 2nd peak En route to the 2nd summit Viewpoint en route to 2nd peak To cool off we ended this adventure with some cliff jumping nearby at Brohm Lake. If you are lucky enough to live near this awesome BC Park, then DO. THIS. LOOP. So scenic, either as a lazy hike or fast and light trail run....
Buckin Hell Race Recap
Once again I had a serious case of FOMO and signed up for another Coast Mountain Trail Series race about 4 days before the event. I had a few friends doing it and one friend, Adam, was volunteering. This one was called Buckin Hell. It was full of technical trail that ran from Deep Cove to the Seymour Lookout and back down again. There was a 15km & 21km option. I had already decided to run the 47km Squamish 50 Orientation run the very next day and thought adding the 21km race the day before would make for a great training weekend. To my surprise and delight Leigh decided that since I had a weekend full of running,he would get in on the action too and signed himself up for the 15km race. Finish line smiles! Photo credit: Sarah Stepec And we’re off! Photo credit: Brian McCurdy Beautiful day for a race. Photo Credit: Brian McCurdy No point getting bogged down in the details of the race, other than to say this was a hard, beautiful, hilly, flowy and technical course. Yes it was all of those things! Having run in the area on previous training runs, I knew that it was going to be alot of uphill at the start. I didn’t want to start out too fast for fear that I would burn out too quickly. Also in the back of my mind I knew that I had a big run ahead of me the next day There was a strong field of women runners that day. Kim Magnus (1st) & Ellie Greenwood (2nd) created a huge gap between second and third place. Me and my friend Chloe Gendron ran together for much of the race, vying for 3rd and 4th position. I knew from the start if I kept Chloe in my sights I would be finishing up front, so I did the best I could to stick close to her. Leigh looking strong on the descent. Photo Credit: Brian McCurdy Keep pushing. Photo Credit: Brian McCurdy Leigh on a technical section. Photo Credit: Brian McCurdy I was fighting to hold my position on the last big uphill section. I wasn’t sure where I was in the race until I saw the leading women Kim & Ellie racing down the hill. Chloe broke away from me on the climb, but I could see her ahead and then it was just me! I was in fourth place, so close to podium finish but it wasn’t going to happen this time. I struggled to the top of the hill, with a mix of power hiking and running, downed...
Survival of the Fittest - Race Recap
Beautiful view at the top of the Gondola. Post-race hike. Racing mindset is something that I have been trying to work on recently. Just gathering information from awesome running friends I have met over the last few years, learning what they do and focusing on working on my mental strength. I have said in previous posts that I don’t race often and I signed up for this race last minute, 2 nights before race day actually. I had a few friends running and was having a serious case of “fear of missing out” so decided to join in on the fun. I chose the 18km option which had a challenging 1000m elevation gain thrown in. This race, Survival of the Fittest, is part of the Coast Mountain Trail Series and if you know anything about this race series, you will know that they put you to the test! Everything for me is training for the Squamish 50 mile that I will be racing in August. I view everything like part of a training run and try to train my body to run tired most of the time. My reasoning behind this is that I want to prepare for the worst out there. I know that the worst I will feel training is probably the best I may feel at a low point during race day, so I need to be able to push through those moments. The day before Survival of the Fittest, I got up at 5am, ran to the First Peak of the The Chief, and then did a set of small hill repeats on my lunch break at work.I was going to do the Sea to Summit trail that evening with Leigh, but he convinced me to taper that evening…hahaha tapering the night before a race! My fellow crazy running buddy, Adam, stayed over at our place, since he was also running the 18km race.. It was nice to have a partner in crime to bounce pre-race jitter energy off of. I woke up feeling tried, pretty much as usual and on schedule, but after a coffee and oatmeal was feeling more race ready. I didn’t do a huge amount of research into the course, as I live in Squamish and know most of the trails in the area. The only thing I did check was the elevation profile which was 1000m over the 18km course. This seemed like it would be a challenge but definitely doable. When they made the call to get to the starting line, Gary (the race director) said everyone wanting to run fast and finish first needed to get up to...
Running Recap: Squamish 50 and Cap Crusher 13km
Ok so this post is well overdue, but better late than never! Here is a quick recap of some running fun I had 2 weekends ago. Leigh and I decided to charge in different directions the weekend of March 22/23. We both feel it is important to our personal and combined growth if we spend time apart in our chosen pursuits. What we learn separately we can share with each other on our next combined adventures. Saturday, March 22, I was signed up for the first of 4 Squamish 50 Orientation runs. I will be attempting to run the ultra distance of 50 miles(80km) on August 17th, which is definitely going to be the hardest thing I have ever done to date. Needless to say I do most of my training runs on the trails around Squamish, so I am quite familiar with the course route, but I still love attending the orientation runs. I get to run with friends, make some new friends on the trail and feed off of the general stoke of the day, which is usually very HIGH. It gets me excited to train! With a large group, of usually close to 60 people, there is ALOT of fun to be had on the trails. Plus these runs are almost like a mini race in themselves. Gary Robbins and Geoff Langford (directors of the Squamish 50 race) make sure to have the route marked pre-run with spray chalk and ribbons, making it almost impossible to get lost. They even have an aid station mid-run stocked with the usual goodies…cookies, salty chips, orange slices - it’s a veritable runners smorgasbord! The cutest Mascot ever! You will see Oreo at all the races. A veritable smorgasbord! So that Saturday, was no exception to the 5-star service all the runners have become accustomed to at these orientation runs. The morning started off chilly and we even had fresh SNOW! It was a large group of smiling, excited runners ready to hit the trails. I was excited to start that morning with 2 of my running buddies - Adam, who will be running his first 50km (so excited for him, he is going to crush it!) and Hailey(check out her page Run Like a Girl), who will be attempting to best her time from last year (I have no doubt that she will). Of course there was a lot of laughter, pre-run, run and post run that morning…runners are a crazy bunch of people…crazy good! Crazy good! Trail running is beautiful. Running through the lightly snow dusted trails was so beautiful. Winding through the forest, over the wooden bridges,...
Salomon Speedcross 3 Trailrunner Review
Bottom Line: These runners were extremely comfortable right out of the box. I didn’t encounter the usual “breaking in” period that I have experienced with other running shoes. They are a fairly lightweight trail runner with a burly cleated tread which is great for technical trails and all-weather conditions. I have found that the tread wears out fairly quickly on Salomon shoes, but overall they are such a comfortable trail runner that I highly recommend them. How I chose it: I had owned Salomon trails runners previously, before I was doing any serious trail running, and loved them as an all around walking/hiking shoe. I also had a few trail running friends that highly recommended the Speedcross. Observations since using it: The lacing system is excellent. Unlike traditional style laces the Kevlar Quick-Fit system works with one pull and won’t loosen. There is even a handy tongue pocket to tuck away the laces, which I personally love as it keeps things from flapping around. It is a one-time tighten before you leave the house and you are good to go for hours. When I ran my first 50km trail race last year I used the Salomon Speedcross and I didn’t have to adjust them once in the 8 hours I was out on the trails. There was no breaking in period required for these shoes. I took them out of the box and went for a run without any issues with rubbing or blisters. They are as close as feeling liking like a slipper as a trail runner could. The fit is very precise. I have narrow feet and find that once I tighten the shoe it molds nicely to my foot which makes for a secure fit, making for more confident footfalls when running on technical trail. The toe box provides enough room to not cause issues with any rubbing or pressure points, which also helps to delay the onset of black toe nails. There is an 11mm drop in this shoe, which is simply the difference between the height of the heel and the height of the toe when standing; zero is the equivalent to standing barefoot. So there is a pretty substantial drop in these shoes which is more akin to a traditional running shoe and will support people who are heel strikers. I personally mid-foot strike, but haven’t found these shoes to cause me any issues. Pros: Lacing - Excellent lacing system with tongue pocket to keep lace ends out-of-the-way. Comfort - Super comfortable from date of purchase. Fit - Secure, precise fit due to locking lacing system and the mold of the shoe. I feel...
