The Canmore Quad take 2

I had a go at the Canmore Quad 2 years ago. My preparation wasn't ideal. I'd had a big week already, and really I only decided to tag along with Phil Villeneuve on his attempt, the day before. As a result, my already fatigued legs weren't up to this pretty brutal day. I completed the first two summits, Grotto and Lady Mac, then dropped half way up EEOR. Phil completed the round in easily the fastest known time (FKT) to date. For those who don't know the details of the enchainment, here are the details:

To complete the quad, you must summit Grotto Mountain (2706m), Lady MacDonald (2605m), the East End of Rundle (EEOR - 2571m) and Ha Ling peak (2408m) in one continuous effort, running or hiking the whole way. Apparently it's only been completed a handful of times. Phil Villeneuve's time of 11h 02m is by far the fastest link-up to date. Lots of people have attempted the route, and failed; I also know of attempts that have utilized car or bicycle transport between trailheads. For me, the true Quad, is a pure run/hike, and must start and finish in the same place. 

Anyone who has visited Canmore has seen these peaks, as they dominate the town. Apart from Grotto, I have summited all of the peaks many times. Grotto is a real grunt, and the least attractive of all the trails, and my only time on top was during the previous attempt.

This year, I was determined to have a crack at Phil's record. 2 years earlier, we had spent around a half hour sitting around eating lunch, so I knew a faster time was possible, with good planning and support.

The day started early at 6:30am. The weather forecast was great, and I hoped to bag the first couple of summits before it got too hot. I felt well rested. I am in my final prep for the Leadville 100 trail run in Colorado mid August, so I have never felt more prepared.

Due to recent flooding, the trail access to Grotto was a little more complex than usual, and I messed around a little to find the right trail, but eventually I found myself on familiar terrain and began the grunt up the incredibly steep and loose switchbacks on Grotto. I settled in for a steady, fast hike. It's easy to go too fast early on, so I purposely held back the pace some. Once you get above tree-line the route eases and the ridge to the summit is a fantastic journey, with technical running, sections of easy scrambling, and fantastic vistas in all directions. It's a shame the approach is so difficult, as this is a beautiful stretch of terrain. I hit the summit in 1h 53m, ahead of schedule, took a quick snap, then headed back along the ridge. The descent down Grotto is just as heinous as the climb, and I was very glad of my poles (Black Diamond Ultra poles) to spare the knees and quads. Soon I was racing along the Alpine club trails to the Cougar Creek crossing, where after a quick dip in the cool waters, I was heading off up the second climb of the day, Mt. Lady MacDonald.

Lady MacDonald is a pretty innocuous summit when viewed from Canmore, but when you hit the final approach to the summit it becomes a knife edge ridge, with airy and precarious scrambling needed. It looks so tame from town, it's hard to imagine what it is like unless you've been there. In one spot I had one leg either side of the ridge, it was so narrow. Fortunately, the winds were light and the rock bone dry; I wasn't being blown off like Phil, during his attempt. I ditched my poles for the final summit approach and was able to dash along the ridge without mishap. 4h 22m had elapsed as i hit the top. I was feeling great, and happy to have ticked off the two hardest peaks in good time. I was conservative on the descent, knowing what was ahead, but was already starting to feel some quad fatigue by the time I ran into town and headed up Spray Lakes road.

My wife Saira and my sons, George and Albert had driven to the bottom of the Spray Lakes road where I spent around 15 mins refuelling. I downed 2 cokes, ate as much food as I could stomach, and packed my pack for the next leg. I was travelling purposely light, using the Ultimate Direction AK race vest, with 2 bottles up front. For the first 2 peaks I had also carried an extra litre in a bladder, but for peak 3, EEOR, I decided to ditch the bladder. I figured 2 bottles were enough. By the time I had trudged to the EEOR trailhead, however, 5km up an incredibly dusty Spray Lakes road, I had almost finished one bottle. This wasn't good, and the realisation that I was going to run dry, during the hottest climb of the day, started to weigh heavily on me. I know this climb well, and there is a section of relentless loose scree, half way to the top. As I reached it, I was slowing significantly, and realizing I had to ration my water, and how far I still had to go, I ground to a halt. I sat down on some blisteringly hot white limestone and began to contemplate dropping again. This was exactly the spot where I had ditched my previous attempt. 

Reluctantly I dialled my wife, to arrange a pick up: 

"Hey, Saira, I'm dropping out. I'm done. The desire to finish this thing has gone. Can you pick me up?"

Stunned silence……..

"Look, I don't think I can finish this. I'm just exhausted. And I think Phil's record is out of the question"

"Why don't you forget about the record? Hike up slowly and at least get Rundle done. Take it easy for a while. I'm not going to tell you to give up. You really wanted to complete this. Do you really want to have to go through this again?"

It was a good point. I had said an hour earlier, that if I failed, there'd be no more attempts. I'm not one for dropping. I remember once at a pit stop in an eight hour mountain bike race being told to "...get up and get back on your bike. You are teaching your kids that it's OK to quit, and it's not!" 

OK, time to get moving again, I thought.

"I'll call you in a bit, thanks."

I got moving again, and it seemed like the brief break had revived my legs some. Then a couple of hikers with huge packs came down the trail. I asked them if they could spare some water. They had litres between them and were almost at the end of their hike. I filled both bottles to the brim, and with a new sense of determination I got moving again. By now the calories from lunch were kicking in,  and before I knew it I was scrambling through the final exposed rock bands to the summit of EEOR. I texted Saira:

"SUMMIT! HEADING DOWN" 

The time elapsed was 7h 57m. One summit to go, the easiest. I ran strongly off EEOR and soon hit the Spray road again, where Saira was waiting with fresh supplies. This was a fast pit stop, and within a couple of minutes I was jogging through the woody lower trails of Ha Ling peak.

Ha Ling seemed to fly by in a blur. The trail was incredibly busy with hikers and runners. I spoke with a few who asked me what I was up to. One couple remarked that they had seen me running through town several hours earlier. They couldn't believe the enormity of the run, or the stupidity, I guess. I paused on my poles, a couple of hundred feet below the summit to catch my breath. i was working at max effort and must have looked like death. An older hiker, encouraged me:

"Don't worry lad, the hardest is over, you'll be on the top in under 45 minutes"

7 minutes later I summited. The climb had taken around 52 minutes, a decent time, given the distance in my legs already. 9h 37m had passed since I'd started, and I knew that barring mishap I could run down to town in around an hour from the summit. I realized that the FKT was definitely possible. 

The run down was a haze. Saira met me coming down the final few hundred metres to the trailhead. "I'm good now," I shouted. "I think I can get the record!"

I ditched the poles at the car, and sped off down the dusty Spray road. By now I was energized and realized that not only was I going to finish, but I was probably going to beat Phil's time.

The descent went without mishap, and I met my two children in the final km. They ran the last bit with me, and we put in a decent 5min 10s final kilometre back to our home. 

Final time, 10h 39m. 

A new FKT.

Final stats from my Suunto Ambit:

Distance 53.75km

Ascent 4794m  (15,700ft)

Time in ascent 6h 10m

Time descending 3h 43m

Equipment:

Shoes - Hoka One One Bondi Bs (a road shoe but great on the trails too)

Socks - Injinji (not a single blister all day)

Shorts - LuLuLemon

Poles - Black Diamond Ultra poles (indispensible - the fact that I was running 2 days later pain free, is a testament to these poles)

Pack - UD AK race vest (super light and comfortable)

Jacket - Patagonia Houdini

Food & Drink - H20, coke, Honey Stinger gels - around 12, plus 'real food' at pre-arranged stops. Thanks to John Firth for the top up mid way up the Spray climb!

Thanks to: 

Saira, George, Albert - awesome inspiration and support. Saira, especially, for talking me into getting my sorry ass going again on EEOR. Thanks to the couple who refilled my dwindling water supply on EEOR.

Also thanks to Compressport Canada, for the awesome compression wear that has helped my recovery.

Here's the link to my GPS data:

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move16131140

Next stop, Leadville!!!

Grotto Mountain summit - first one done!

View from EEOR across to Ha Ling

View from EEOR 

Grotto summit ridge

Lady MacDonald summit

EEOR summit

Ha Ling summit - almost there!

The awesome sock/shoe combo that kept me free of blisters

Fast ascents

I've been interested in Tony K et als recent exploits on their local peaks in Boulder and also been inspired by the speed ascents of peaks like the Grand Teton last summer by Tony, Kilian and others. So as the snow has been clearing from the Bow Valley I've used the good weather to try for some of my own personal FKTs on local summits.

A couple of weeks ago I made it up and down Ha Ling from home on Rundle Drive in a snip under 2h30. A couple of evenings ago I had a go at Lady MacDonald, surprising myself with a round trip to the tea house from home in under 2 hours including a few stops at traffic lights and one stop to give someone directions.

I also had a go at EEOR but it got kinda sketchy in the snowed up rock band so I backed off.

Both times are very beatable in better conditions, but hey it was some goo early season intensity for me! And I'd be interested in knowing if there are any unofficial FKTs for these peaks out there.

Next up, Grotto I guess!

Speed work?

Intervals and speed work are not exactly synonymous with ultra distance running, but I seem to have reached some sort of a stalemate. Looking at my training over the last few years, I really don't think I could squeeze in a whole lot more, juggling a full time (and busy) job, along with family commitments. From all that I have read, there are a couple of ways to get faster: lose weight, and throw in some speed work.

As far as the weight loss goes, sitting at around 155lbs, I think I'm where I want to be, though I have informally set a goal of 150lbs by the time the Leadville 100 rolls around in August. So I guess it comes down to doing some speed. I talked informally to a coach, and he is of the belief that 4-6 x 4-6minute intervals at 88-92% MHR is the way to go for an ultra, but I'm very open to other suggestions.

Guess I need to go figure out my MHR! Somehow!

Pine to Palm 100 - a rollercoaster of a day

It has only taken me almost 4 months to get round to this post! Tardy, i know, but it has given me some time to think about my experience at the Pine to Palm 100.

This was actually my first official 100 miler as I don't really count the 148km Sinister 7 - but hey what's 20 km amongst ultra friends. I have done one 100km, a bunch of 50km and 50 milers, and of course Sinister 7 - 148km.

The race starts in Williams, OR, near to the California state line, and finishes in Ashland, OR, a seeming mecca for ultra runners these days, with the likes of Hal Koerner, Jenn Shelton and Timothy Olson residing there. Hal is the race Director, and he owns the local running store Rogue Valley Runners. If you want more info on this race, www.roguevalleyrunners.com is the place to start.

Its a mountainous and at times, remote course, with an estimated 22, 000 feet of ascent. Unfortunately I wasn't able to confirm the exact data as my Ambit lost it's signal for about 30km, but at least the constant math I was doing in my head figuring out how far I'd done, converting kms to miles etc, kept  my mind occupied!

Race map from www.roguevalleyrunners.com

In any case, I would imagine that as far as 100 mile trail races go, this is a pretty challenging one, and I really had no idea how long this was going to take me, although my ultra encyclopedia (aka Wade Jarvis) assured me that sub 24 hours was possible. I went into the race feeling well trained, well rested, and injury free.

My aims going in were to:

1) Finish sub 24.
2) Avoid getting chick'd - though with Jenn Shelton towing the start line, that was a toughie.
3) Not die in the heat (estimated highs of the mid 90 Fs).
4) Get my nutrition right - as I'd had a few issues with the guts in prior races.
5) Still be running when I picked up my first pacer (and wife) Saira at mile 65, and my second pacer Jarvis, at mile 75.
6) Enjoy the experience enough that I would want to keep running this silly distance.

As I lined up just before 6am, Sept 15th, I had that usual pre race nervous excitement. This was what I'd been training for all year. I really wanted to test myself over 100 miles of trail.

The start was a pretty fast and furious affair, though I was really trying to hold back. Having said that I wanted to be in the leading group or thereabouts, so I likely went out a bit fast. The first 11 miles are all uphill and climb almost 5000ft, so you don't want to blow it early on. Indeed, we did blow it as about 10 of us missed the first turn at mile 3 in the dark, and ended up running about a half mile further up the road than we needed, but hey it was only mile 3! After a quick about turn, when RD Hal Koerner raced up the road after us, we rejoined the trail, but by now we were fighting to get past the back markers in some tight single track, so again, I was likely pushing a bit hard. I think this is what led to a few issues later on!

The start - that's me in green

After 30 mins or so the climbing proper started, on beautiful soft, leafy single track switchbacks, and gradually I felt like I had managed to get by most of the field and up near the front of the race. I settled into my steady uphill easy breathing pace, and started to enjoy the running. I ran the whole of the first climb, and never felt like I was pushing too hard. The legs felt good and my breathing was easy. Training and living in the mountains of Canmore, AB is definitely an advantage.

Cresting the first summit in the early dawn, was quite incredible, and I wished I'd had a camera with me. It really is a beautiful spot high on Grayback Mtn.

The initial climb, image from www.roguevalleyrunners.com

From the summit it was a fast and furious descent off the back down to an aid station (mile 15) and a long gradual downhill stretch on gravel road down into Seattle Bar (mile 28). One highlight here was having Scott Jurek fill my water bottle, which was quite cool!

Arriving in Seattle Bar (a stellar aid station by the way), I was feeling good, having not pushed the pace too hard down the long road section just completed, but the day was heating up and it was still very much early days. It was great to see Saira and Wade here, enthusiastic and tending to my every need. I wasn't exactly sure, but figured I was in about 6th place at this point, having been passed by some speedsters on the road - Tim Long being one. I ditched my jersey here, stuffed some food down, grabbed 2 new bottles of water, and prepared for the heat.

Leaving Seattle Bar it was a long run/hike up Stein Butte. It was really starting to heat up, and I worried a bit that my two handheld bottles wouldn't be enough. But I still felt good, and kept running all but the steepest of pitches. I passed a couple of runners on the climb and assumed I was in about 4th place. Just as I ran out of water and was starting to feel thirsty, the aid station on Stein Butte appeared. Mile 33 - perfect timing. Friendly volunteers filled my bottles as I quickly grabbed some food and a few gels.

Climbing Stein Butte in the heat. Image courtesy of Long Run Pictures

From Stein Butte it was a long descent down to Squaw Lakes Aid station (mile 39), and another chance to meet with crew. After all the descending in the heat my quads were starting to feel a bit tight, so it was nice to get into the shady trails of Squaw Lakes. Here we did a quick loop of the lake, back to the aid station, and I took a few moments to sit, eat some avocado and fruit, and take a short breather. As I set off down the road from Squaw lakes it was baking hot and I started to notice a few little crampy niggles in my quads. I recalled Tim Noakes mentioning something about pickle juice in his book, Waterlogged, and I had brought some to the race, but had forgotten to get some back at Squaw. I was a mile out of the aid station, and was considering turning back, when Wade and Saira came by in the car.

'Get me the pickle juice!' I yelled as they passed. At the junction with the next trail - the climb to Hanley Gap - there was Wade with a bottle of pickles! Awesome!

I wasn't sure how much to take so I just glugged down maybe a quarter cup - it tasted good, and psychologically it helped. In fact I totally forgot about cramps.......at least for the next 8 miles.

The climb to Hanley Gap was very tough for me. I was still mostly running, but the trail was very exposed to the sun in places, and I was starting to feel frazzled. I was also starting to feel the cramps returning, and arriving at the Squaw Peak Aid and the short out and back, I knew I was in trouble. It wasn't so much much that I was in trouble then, just that I knew something bad was starting to happen in my legs.

I took a few minutes to sit down at Hanley Gap aid. I chewed down some Pretzels, some fruit, a couple of cups of water and some E-caps. I don't generally use electrolyte tabs, just nuuns now and then more for the taste, as I find plain old water does it for me, but I wanted to get rid of these early cramps, using whatever means I could. There really isn't any evidence that cramping is caused by anything other than fatigue, but hey, I was desperate to try anything I could. Eric Skaggs was there and told me it would start to cool off soon, and the cramping would abate. I left the aid feeling optimistic.

The optimism lasted about a half mile. Cramping set in. Horrible, full on, 2 leg cramping. I fell to the ground multiple times with quad, calf and hamstrings simultaneously spasming. I cannot begin to describe how awful it was. I would walk 20 yards, cramp, spasm, fall over. It must have looked comical, but it felt anything but. Hell, I was only 52 miles into this race! Barely half way. I fell into the absolute depths of ultra-race despair for about an hour. I walked and hobbled. All I could think of was, get me out of this race. There was no way I could even contemplate finishing. If the sag wagon had pulled up I would have jumped in it in a flash. Fortunately it didn't. So I resigned myself to hobbling onwards. But I was done. I was barely moving, and every step was agony. How on earth could I run for another 50 miles. The sun continued to beat down, and I got passed by 3,4, 5 runners. There goes my top ten, sub 24 hour finish. All I could think about was getting to the next aid station and dropping out. So I ate some food, drank some water, and walked.

And then miraculously, after an hour of complete negativism, of total despondency and despair, things started to improve. It started to cool, just slightly. A slight breeze started to cool me off as I walked. The sun was going down. I'd eaten lots and was hydrated. And then I started to jog, barely a jog initially, but the legs felt good all of a sudden. Then I was running slowly, then full on running, up hill!!! I passed all the guys who'd just passed me. They were walking, but I ran, and it was steep. And I ran all the way, strong, up to Dutchman peak. When I arrived, Saira who was waiting to pace me said "wow, you look strong, barely anyone has run up this hill!"

And so I glugged pickle juice - maybe half a litre - it was salty nectar! I drank coke, ate chips and pretzels. I had a full belly, the temp was cooling, and I had the added lift of my first pacer. Now I felt bloody marvellous!

We set off as the darkness descended onto the Pacific Crest Trail. Saira ran a few yards in front of me. I asked her to pick up the pace! I was 65 miles in and running strong again. Saira couldn't believe how quickly I was running at this stage. And so we carefully picked our way in deep darkness along the PCR, which would, I imagine, be an incredible trail in the daylight, into Long John AS, at approximately 75 miles. Wade was ready for pacing duties.

I had grabbed some poles - Black Diamond Ultra light poles - at the Dutchman aid station and I was glad of them now, as there was a lot of steep stuff in the final quarter of the race. With Wade now pacing, we moved steadily along to the final big climb up to Wagner Butte. One runner passed us on this section, hollering how he was feeling so good after the beer he had had at Long John! 'That may come back to bite him' Wade remarked.

Sure enough as we hiked up the steep final slopes up to Wagner Butte, there he was, head in hands, emptying his stomach into the bush. We offered some words of encouragement, then pushed on. The final climb to Wagner Butte was just that, a climb! A full on night time technical scramble. With tired quads it was an exercise in careful foot placement. A fall here could have been disastrous. Unscathed, and feeling like the worst was over, we pushed the pace down from the summit. We were running as fast as I could, and then we were descending, descending, descending - steep, loose, technical single track - it seemed freshly cut, and was easily the most technical descending of the day - 85 miles in!

At mile 90 we were greeted by Carly Koerner at the Road 2060 Aid. She told us we were looking good, as we downed grilled cheese (the best grilled cheese I ever tasted) and chocolate covered coffee beans. I knew it was in the bag - all downhill from here. We cranked as hard as I could manage. We hit some narrow single track trails coming down steeply into Ashland, and suddenly there were head lights coming up quickly from behind us on the trail. We were less than a mile from the finish - I could almost see it. It was Jenn Shelton - the lead woman, and her pacer, and one of the lead men who had gotten off course. Wade took my poles, and told me to get going. I gave it all I had - a near sprint finish at the end of 100 miles!

That's how close the sprint for 5th was! After 100 miles

The finish, as always, was sweet, but anti-climactic. No big announcement, no fanfares, just a few sleepy volunteers to pat you on the back and hand over the finishers jacket. My wife even missed the finish - she'd fallen asleep nearby!

But I felt great. I had run strong over the last 35 miles - after being as close to dropping as I have ever been. I didn't get chick'd, beating Jenn Shelton by about 30 seconds. I finished without any stomach issues in the entire race - no nausea, vomiting, retching. I finished well under 24 hours - I was 5th overall, first old guy (Masters over 40), in 22 hours and change. And I didn't die in the heat, although I came close.

And best of all, I took away from this race a huge desire to keep doing it! I love these longer races. I'm not fast and I think 50 km is too short for me, but maybe 100 miles suits me, maybe it's my distance - I guess time will tell. Mentally this was a toughie, but I know that in the future, when times are tough, I just need to keep plugging away, to keep moving, keep eating and drinking, and just put one foot in front of another, because it will get better. That's what I learnt at this race. That's my new mantra when I am feeling awful - 'It will get better'.

With Scott Jurek

With Hal Koerner, RD

I have read negative comments on Facebook about this race, about the tight cutoffs, and the aid stations. I have nothing but good things to say, the aid stations and volunteers were stellar. Kudos to Hal for putting on this race, and wow, what a course. The cutoffs may be tight, but this is a hard race, and the final 30 miles are very tough.

I am running the Bandera 100km in a few weeks, I'm hoping to get into Western States through the lottery, and failing that it will likely be the Leadville 100. Pine to Palm didn't put me off ultras one bit, the exact opposite, it has fueled the desire! Keep on trucking folks.....and don't forget the pickle juice.

Thanks to RD Hal Koerner and all the volunteers.
Thanks to Wade Jarvis and Saira Reed for being stellar support and for pacing.
Thanks to Hoka One One and Injinji socks for making awesome foot apparel!
And thanks to the pickle farmers.

TNF EC 50 miler - glad I did it last year!

It was fun to watch iRunfar's coverage of the North Face 50 miler in San Fran this weekend. All I can say is that I was glad I chose to run this last year. Looks like an epic this year!

Congrats of course to Emelie Forsberg and Miguel Heras who won the women's and men's races - Salomon really is unbeatable these days.

This links to some cool pics and gives a good idea of the conditions - Drymax’s Facebook photo album

Bandera 100

Well I signed up for the Bandera 100k race in Texas. A bit of an early start to the race season this year for me, but I have some big plans! My name is in the hat for Western States, and failing that I think it will be Leadville for me this year.

Other races planned - Tony Smith's Grizzly Ultra and his new Panorama race are already in the diary. I am also tempted by Speedgoat and UROC but we'll have to see how dates/holidays etc pan out.

If by some miracle I get into WS100 then the Zion 100 is definitely on the radar as the timing in perfect.

And then there's the Half Donkey 50km put on by Transrockies here in Canmore. I won this last year so that has to be in my plans.

Later....

Snowy run on the Highline - with Manktelow & Villeneuve