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...
UPrise Performance - Hawaiian Trail Running Retreat
“I am so honoured to be part of your journey.” These are the words I heard from lead coach Paul Romero as we traversed our way through the Waipio Valley trails on my third day in Hawaii. Up and down along a narrow trail that weaved it’s way through the tropical jungle forest. The clouds were closing in and you could feel a mist that was threatening a downpour. Even though our group of nine women, oppressed by the humid heat, wished for the rain to come to refresh us, we pushed on passing small waterfalls and made our way to the next viewpoint of curving coastline and crashing waves. Just being on such beautiful trails, with such passionate and supportive people was an experience I won’t soon forget. This was just one of the moments I remember from my time at the UPrise Ladies Hawaiian Trail Running Retreat. The weekend was filled to the brim with notable memories and take-away’s that I know are going to make me a better, healthier and stronger athlete over the coming months. You do not arrive at this camp to be given an agenda of running to do or to be given a training plan. Instead they provide you with a completely holistic, whole body, approach. They want to improve how you are as an athlete from the inside out. What you put into your body is just as important as what you are trying to get your body to do. Their goal is be able to simplify your approach by providing you with the necessary tools you need. As Paul said during one of our Nutrtion 101 sessions “I have spent countless hours doing the research to give you the information you need. That’s what I am here for, to make it easy for you.” Nutrition, mobility, strength - these are the building blocks. The most notable aspect of the camp was how all encompassing it was. They have the tools knowledge and skills to provide you with more than a training plan. They provide you with all the information you need to adapt and improve your lifestyle to become an overall better athlete.; to get the most out of your body,your skills and mental strength. Being part of a group of women who are all striving to become better and increase their abilities as athletes is an extremely motivating and inspiring atmosphere. Not only do you feed off the energy from the group but you are led by a world class Coach, Paul Romero, and Physiotherapist, Annemarie Alf of Olympus Movement and Mobility, that that are also incredible athletes themselves. They...
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,...
Sky Pilot Race Recap
From reading some of our past posts you may have realized that the Sky Pilot is one of our favorite mountains around Squamish. It’s a spectacular alpine area where backcountry adventure is around every corner. So when we heard that the Coast Mountain Trail Series was bringing a trail race to this area, we knew we had to run it! The inaugural race was scheduled for September 21, which could mean beautiful fall weather or torrential rain; it could go either way here on the west coast. With the race being set in such a rugged area there was a lot of trail building happening weeks before the race. Everyone involved in creating this race wanted to make it a unique mountain running experience. The excitement was building when there was talk of roped sections, boulder fields and ridge running. However,days before the race, the endless summer sunshine we had been experiencing changed to the autumnal rains, which meant all of the fresh new trail became streams of mud. The steep trails were now too wet to run and it would be too risky to send all of the runners out onto this terrain. But if I have learnt anything about the Coast Mountain Trail Series races, it’s that they do not disappoint, and with literally hours before the start of the race, a change of route was put in place. They were going to make sure everyone got the mountain running experience they promised! This was some of the rugged mountain trail. Mt. Habrich from the summit point of the race. Checking out the view from the summit. We showed up to the starting line, on a sunny blue bird day at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola, not totally sure of the new route and curious where exactly it was going to take us. Leigh and I were running this one together and decided to run it as a fun run. No need to race, just enjoy the new course, take a few photos along the way and revel in the scenery. As usual the starting area was buzzing with the energy of runners antsy to start, one of my favorite parts of racing. Just feeding off of that energy can carry you for miles! And we needed that energy to carry us. This course was unforgiving in its ascent. Starting on the tame and gentle uphill Sky Pilot ridge trail, we would eventually be taken straight up to a ridge that connected to Mt. Habrich. Running or rather power hiking up steep, loose, duff covered forest trail, straight onto a boulder field. Crossing the...
The Copilot: How civilized!
We have had more than a few hikes/scrambles around Southwest B.C. that have made us earn our right to be there. They consisted of either an approach on miles of logging road that is so graciously referred to as a “slog”, a heinous bushwack or alder thrash that scratches and slaps at any exposed skin or sometimes if we were really lucky we have had to ford some sort of raging ice-cold water to further our progress. But we have slowly become accustomed to the ways of the wild in B.C. and you could say we have developed a special fondness for them. The scenic ride to the top Looking at our objective The views just don’t get old However, since the arrival of the Sea to Sky Gondola a certain civility and european feel has been brought to one of our local mountain areas: Sky Pilot. The trail has been tamed. We no longer have to endure miles of approach on logging road or thrashing through alder to arrive at our destination. No, now we have a scenic 10 minute ride up in a cable car, a cafe at the top should we need one more caffeine boost before we set off and a well-groomed trail that leads us straight to the alpine. If you didn’t know any better you might actually think you were in a little European town in the Alps. Going up… and up Copilot This August, however,our sights were set on a lesser named bump in the area, The Copilot. Next to Sky Pilot it looks much less intimidating, as it doesn’t quite take up as much of the skyline as it’s better known, better half. But, seeing as we had already scrambled Sky Pilot a few years earlier (If you want to see how our first trip went in this area, pre-gondola, take a look at our successful attempt to climb Sky Pilot in 2011.), we set our sights on this smaller objective and what turned out to be a mini alpine adventure, only minutes from our home. Climb on Summit Selfie Lounging up top More views Despite it’s smaller stature this is still a stiff scramble and should only be attempted by those with the experience,gear and skill to do so. The climb itself is short, approx 90m up the Northeast gully. It’s an obvious line that is filled with loose rock halfway up, so wear a helmet. There were no issues scrambling this section and we made a note of the rappel stations, good sturdy trees, on the way up. We brought the necessary equipment to rappel the route as...
