A Look Back at 2018

"Climbing Mnt Hamel in early May."

Some parts of 2018 will never be forgotten.  Other parts of 2018 I try to forget daily; but the memory never fades.  It was a year of extreme highs, and incredible lows.  Life changing moments, and long hours running trails that were shared with new friends .

The year started with lofty goals.  Two marathons in May, then my most ambitious goal yet - soloing the 125 kilometre Canadian Death Race in August.  For most of the year, I think fear of the unknown motivated me and kept me training. The longest I had run prior to this year was the 60 kilometre Golden Ultra in 2017.  I really didn't know what to expect in a 125 kilometre run, but I knew my nine month journey to the finish line would be anything but mundane.  Little did I know, it would be far beyond ordinary... closer to life changing.

To get my training kicked into gear, I registered for the Chilly Willy.  I signed up for the half marathon distance, just to challenge myself.  The race, in early February, runs through the trails in Muskoseepi Park, in the heart of Grande Prairie.  In what would prove to be the theme of 2018; the biggest challenge of the race, came before the race even started.

"Muskoseepi Park at night.  It really is magical!!"

I volunteered to help mark the course early in the morning before the race started.  It was a typical February morning in northern Alberta.... -38 Celsius.  The spray paint I was using to mark the course would freeze within minutes, so I had to keep several cans inside my insulated coveralls to warm them up and prevent them from freezing.  My hands didn't fare so well.  By the time the course was marked, I had been outside over 3 hours and I had several fingers that were frozen.  I went back to the start line to change into my running clothes; then warmed up and came to my senses.

I didn't even pick up my race package.  I quite before I started.  The Chilly Willy and Mother Nature won, but the year was still early and I was determined to fight back, and take the win next time!!

"Training in the winter in northern Alberta
 is all about snow and darkness.  
I learned to make friends with both of them...."

The training continued with focus.  With the exception of my weekend runs, nearly every run was completed in darkness.  If there was too much fresh snow in the bush, I ran the local trails in town.  On the weekends, I tried to head out to the bush and get some quality runs completed on "real trails".   I soon discovered the small creek that runs through the park was frozen enough I could run on the ice!!  For most of the winter, there was less than 6" of snow covering the ice.  It made for an excellent "trail" to follow, and gave me access to areas that are not accessible to explore in the summer months.

"Running Bear Creek."

Winter training is all about quality.  Running in the powdery snow is incredibly fatiguing on your calves.  Pace almost seems irrelevant and the runs seem to be more about how much fun can be had.  When the snow finally started to melt, the higher elevations became more accessible.  I started doing training runs in the mountains with our run group.  My two marathons in May were coming closer and closer, and I was feeling behind in my training.  The warm spring weather and more daylight helped with the training, but I was still feeling a bit "off".

"Winter Wonderland"

The first race of the year was part one of the Northern Alberta Trail Series.  The Evergreen Trail Trek marathon took place on the sandy trails of Evergreen Park.  Because of the heavy snow pack, the usual course was modified to 4 loops, on a 10 kilometre trail.  To say it was a tough marathon for me would be an understatement!!  I felt very undertrained, but I finished!!  It was my first top ten finish in a race, thanks to the fact that only 9 people completed the marathon!!  (You can read all the details of the race here.)

"Climbing Shari's Hill....."

Four weeks after the Evergreen Trail Trek was the second race of the series - Mountain Madness marathon in Grande Cache.

  

This race gave me my first taste of the Canadian Death Race course.  The race course was two loops in the wooded trails surrounding the town and covers part of Leg 5 of the Death Race.  I was much more prepared for this marathon.  My 6 hr 22 minute finish was still was no record run for me, but I was starting to get some miles under my shoes and I was feeling better about my training plan.

The training was starting to go a bit better.  Being able to do more mountain runs adds a lot of stamina and makes it easier to add mileage on the flatter runs.  

In early June, I began to plan a night run.  I knew I would be running through the night during the Canadian Death Race so I didn't want the race to be my first experience with running all night.  The training run had two main reasons - stay up all day then run all night fatigued; and run in the dark for an extended period of time to work out headlamp charging etc while running.

I had a couple buddies lined up to go with me, but at the last minute, they backed out on me.  So I left the house and headed into the bush alone at 11:30 PM.  As daylight faded, fog began to settle into the rolling hills of Evergreen Park.

I headed steadily east from Evergreen Park for about 15 kilometres on well traveled ATV trails.  Then headed south a few kilometres and the trail started to become less traveled and soon disappeared completely.  I soon found an old logging road that headed west, back towards Grande Prairie.  But it wasnt long before the logging road turned to a swampy trail with knee deep muskeg and chest high grass that was wet from the previous rain and foggy air.

"30 Kilometer solo run at night....just over 5 hours
alone in the dark."

It was shortly after 2 AM and I had no other choice  but to keep going.  This was the whole point of this training run, to push myself through the unexpected challenges.  The temperature slowly dropped throughout the night.  Completely soaked, stopping to rest was not an option so I kept pushing on into the night.

I frequently check my GPS map and found my way through some old logging blocks and back onto the trail that I had just been on about two hours earlier.

Heavy rains earlier in the day had washed all the tracks off the sandy trail.  As I started to head back west, only my eastbound foot prints could be seen on the trail.  Within a few hundred yards, of being back on the trail, I noticed fresh bear tracks.  They were on top of my old tracks, but heading the same direction I was now travelling!!  I guess I wasn't really alone on this run after all!!  Throughout the night, 4 other sets of bear tracks crossed my trail.  Needless to say, staying awake was not a problem for me.

"Every long run should be finished with a Fresca,
especially when the run finishes at 5AM!!"

Throughout the night, the horizon to the north grew darker and darker, but never went completely black.  The silhouette of the tall straggly spruce trees against the glowing skyline was like a natural timepiece.  As the glow to the north started to get brighter, I knew the sun would be coming up shortly.  This also meant that I could stop running because when the sun came up, I would have reached my goal of running all night - from sunset to sunrise!!

The sky was clear blue, but the sun was still below the horizon as I ran the last few kilometres to the truck.  The birds were awake and their constant chattering cheered me towards my finish line.  I had run 30 kilometres of unmarked, unplanned trails through sandy trails, logging blocks, brush, and swamp in just under 5 hours!!

Back at the truck, I listened to the birds sing while I took a few moments to watch the sun slowly rise above the trees.  It was so relaxing and peaceful. I struggled to stay awake on the 15 minute drive home.  After a quick shower, and I slipped into bed beside my wife who was still sleeping.  I could sense her relief that I was back home.

One life lesson that running has taught me, is to always be prepared for the unexpected. We have life encounters, that at the the time, we think we are not prepared for so we begin to panic inside.  Only to realize that we are stronger than we think, and we survive.

Two weeks after my solo night run, I found myself in a situation; fighting, and digging for more courage than I ever though possible.  On a run up Mnt Hamel in Grande Cache with a group of other runners, another lady and myself found ourselves face-to-face with three grizzlies.  I use the term "face-to-face" lightly....the bears were in our face, at our back, and growling at our feet!!  Miraculously, we both survived, physically unharmed other than the side effects of bear spray.  (You can read the full story with all the details here.)

The bear encounter changed me....it is still changing me.  I realized that life truly is uncertain; yet I was living like it would go on for ever.  A week after the bear encounter, I took a week of holidays and ran leg 4 of Sinister 7 in Blairmore, Alberta.  The leg of the race was only 22 kilometres long, but it was a fun training run on new trails and new mountains.  The weekend was spent with family and running friends.  On the way back home, we spent nearly a week, camping along the way.

The Death Race was now by big focus.  It was only three weeks away.  My summer of training hadn't really gone as planned but I somehow still felt ready for the race.  At least mentally anyway.  I had the opportunity to run the whole course during training so I knew what to expect.  My biggest fear was the uncertainty of how I would perform after running for nearly 24 hours.

The physical preparation for a 24 hour race is almost as detailed as the mental training.  I had lists of lists, just to make sure that nothing was forgotten at a transition.

On race day, I couldn't have felt more prepared.  There really was nothing left to do but to run....  Cheri and my friend Dan crewed for me, along with many other friends from our run group.  The day (and night) went exactly as planned and I finished in 23 hours and 21 minutes.  Just 10 minutes longer than I had anticipated.

"Nearing the summit of Grande Mnt, the second summit in the race.  In the background is Mnt Hamel, the highest point in the race.   That summit is about 30 kilometres and 8 hours down the trail from where this picture is taken."

"Crossing the finish line.  You can read the blog about
the race here."

Crossing the finish line of that race meant much more to me than just finishing a race.  I came into that race feeling under trained physically but very strong mentally.  Never once did I question whether or not I would be able to finish.

I was hoping for some powerful "jittery" feeling when I crossed the finish line....  I was hoping that I would feel like an "ultra runner" even though I wasn't too sure what that would feel like....but I was still just the same guy.  Except now I had pushed my limits a little farther.  I knew I was capable of running 125 kilometres, and I knew I could run farther.

Aside from the day or two after Death Race, I recovered exceptionally fast.  Within a week, I felt like I was ready to run again.  I didn't have the stamina to go much over 10 km, but I felt pretty good.

Since finishing the Death Race in August, I have been taking it pretty easy and letting my body recover and heal up.  I try to run 20 to 30 kilometres a week.   I do my best to make sure the runs are good quality runs.  Without any real goals though, they tend to adventure runs.  I recently found an alternate route to the summit of Hamel that is much steeper than the Death Race course, but only about 4 kilometres long.  My goal for this winter is to reach that summit at least once a month.

As December winds down, I start to get antsy to start my training program for 2019.  I learned a lot in 2018, but overall, it was a pretty tough year for me.  I am anticipating a great year in 2019.

"The optimist stays up until midnight to welcome the 2019.

The pessimist stays up to make sure the 2018 leaves....."

I must admit that I am leaning more towards the pessimistic view this year years eve.

In 2019, I am going to be pushing my limits a bit more.  I recently signed up for my first 100 mile race, Sinister 7.  This is the first race in the Sinister Triple race series.  The race takes place in the Crowsnest Pass area southwest of Calgary on the first weekend of July.  The 160 km race reaches 7 mountain summits and has a 30 hour cutoff.  My goal is simply to finish under the cutoff.

Four weeks later on the first weekend of August, I will again be running the Death Race.  I hope to run it a bit faster this year and finish the 125 km race in less than 21 hours.

Three weeks after the Death Race, on August 23, I will finish the Sinister Triple race series by running the 108 km Black Spur Ultra in Kimberly, BC.

While training for these races, I will probably run some other races as training runs.  In May, Ill  again be running the two marathons in the Northern Alberta Trail Series.  One in Grande Prairie and one in Grande Cache.  I was very under trained when I ran these marathons this year, so I am hoping to improve both finishing times.

Over all, my goal is to stick to my training schedule, stay healthy and uninjured, and run as much as I can with other people.  Each person that I run with inspires me in some special way.  For some it is just to finish a 5 km run.  For other, it is to run their first marathon.  No matter how far away the goal is or how long of a race you are training for, each goal is just as important as the next and should be celebrated the same.  If I focus on others more than myself, it will help me see past my own

struggles, aches and pains.  In the process, we will help each other reach our goals.