The look says it all...DNF due to extreme leg cramps after 46km

So much for ’surviving’ the Canadian Death Race! 

This is where I mention the fine print that was at the bottom of iRun’s latest article:  **”Do as I say, NOT as I do!”

I suppose it would have been fitting to spend all this time training, writing, blogging, tweeting and dreaming about my quest to perhaps not only ‘Survive the Canadian Death Race’ but to finish atop the podium…Now that would be great eh?  Well guess what…?  I didn’t survive.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to having had doubts in the past 5 months about the ‘what if’ scenario…Somewhat normal considering the circumstances.  What if I blow up?  What if an old injury flairs up? What if…I don’t survive?  All you can do when confronted by such (normal) thought patterns is to shrug them off:  ”Forget’aboutit…I WILL finish on top!”  But as it happens on occasion, you simply can’t dodge every curve ball.

I’m not going to dwell too much on the circumstances of my DNF – If you’re keen to find out, you can read about it here.  Bottom line, it came down to a lack of recovery time in my last few weeks of training leading into CDR.  All in all, a disappointing experience, but as they say: Live and learn…C’est la vie! 

Disappointment aside, the experience itself was absolutely fantastic!  Seldom have I seen a community like Grande Cache get 100% behind an event of this scale.  Kudos to all the volunteers and individuals involved for putting on a great show!  I’m definitely going back next year for another crack at this challenging race…

So what now? 

Well, now that I can move around with relative ease again, I can actually start to appreciate my high level of fitness, and since my attempt at Death Race was cut short, I still have lots left in the tank – So onto the next trail adventure…The Gore-Tex TransRockies Run 3! 

This is an event that I’ve raced as a team (6-day format) for the past 3 years, and since finding a last minute partner would be quite difficult with just over 2wks to go, I’ve decided to jump in TransRockies’ 3-day solo option instead.  If you’re an avid trail runner, I highly recommend this event.  The terrain, the format and camaraderie that you’ll experience is unsurpassed.  The best description I’ve ever heard to describe the TransRockies Run is: “a 6-day trail running day camp for adults”!  Seriously.   

So there you go, I’ve enrolled myself in day camp…It’s time to turn the page – there are more trails to run on out there!

Thanks for reading-

Follow Phil on…

Twitter:  @philvilleneuve
Facebook:  Phil Villeneuve
Blogger:  http://x-cphil.blogspot.com/

Death Race looms ahead...Only 2 wks to go!

I wonder if the Canadian Death Race organizers ‘pepper’ the course with a few skulls and bleached vertebrae – I think I probably would…just for fun.

As much as I would love to claim that every single one of my trail runs is all about fun and adventure, the reality of the situation is that if one expects to reach a difficult performance objective,  you might have to actually put in a ’real’ workout (once in a while) to get the full benefits of training.   Trust me, if I could simply ‘race myself into shape’, I would…but unfortunately, there’s a lot more to going fast, than simply racing. 

I’m not going to dive to much into training ’shop talk’, but if you’re keen on my opinion, you can read up on my training philosophy here-  Bottom line, racing will eventually get you in good shape, but interval training will help fine-tune your engine, optimize your recovery, raise your threshold and anaerobic capacities (to name a few) and get you in very good shape! 

The question of what type and when to do intensities is not as complicated as people make it out to be.  A general rule I follow, is to always work on your weaknesses, while not forgetting to use your common sense.  For example,  if you need endurance, then add some longer intervals to your routine (3X 10min);  if you need more speed, then add some shorter/faster intervals (5X 1min or 10x 30seconds);  if you’re lacking some hill speed, then add some shorter intervals while going up a hill; and if you’re training for TransRockies where you will be racing for 6 days back to back, then add some longer sustained intervals – on varied terrain (1x 45min or 2x 30min).  Oh, and don’t forget to rest…very important!  As far the ‘when’ is concerned…the closer you get to a race, the shorter the workload should be.  So do the longer ‘base building’ workouts early in the season, and the shorter ‘more intense’ workouts later.  Like I said, there’s more to it than this, but you get the picture.

With 2 weeks to go before Death Race, I’ve long wrapped up my long-ish intervals (4 X 15min @ threshold or 1x 45min), and have been working on building my VO2 max (anaerobic) capacity with shorter more intense workouts.  Last week, I did a workout up my own ‘killer’ hill, the infamous Georgetown Hill at the Canmore Nordic Centre. It’s not the biggest bump in the world, but it does the trick!  That night’s menu included 5 X 4min @ Zone 4 intensity – In other words, 5 times up the beast at an uncomfortably fast pace. The G-town hill provides a good mix of flats (100m at the start), and gradually increasing steepness (to the 3:30min mark), only to level out in a false flat for you to have to push the last 30sec of your interval to keep the HR up. My goal is usually to go hard for the first one, make a mark on the ground, and then try to beat that mark every interval.  Another helpful hint is to bring a ‘friend’ out to help motivate you to run faster(note: he/she may not be your friend anymore after you make them suffer!).  

I thought I’d show you a bit of post-interval suffering of my own…Below is a clip featuring my friend Mike F. and yours truly…as we wrap up a 5X4min intervals up G-town Hill.  I decided that I wouldn’t bore you with the bad on-the-fly-bobbing video of me going up the hill – and skipped to the end for a bit of humour.

Post-Intensity Video 5X 4min: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5IE3kO0XRg

My latest victim...Not sure what happened to the rest of him...Ok, maybe not. Thanks to Mike F. for joining me on this evening workout - After a long day in the city, it's nice to have some company on the trails, especially when you have to push to your limits!

Once you get within a few weeks of your main event, it’s time to ‘taper’…What’s the general rule again?  (look up a few paragraphs…) Oh, yeah, the closer to the event, the shorter the intervals.  And that’s exactly what I’ve got on tap…A mix of short/hard intervals (10x 30sec and 5 X 1min) every 3 or 4 days, peppered with lots of rest and easy distance days (1 to 2hrs).  Simple really

That said, all of this ‘fun’ training is completely useless if your mental game isn’t there…hmmm. 

Makes me wonder why I do all this stuff in first place…Oh, yeah…It’s for the adventures!

The final stretch down Mt Tremblant's main drag - A 58km epic adventure in some of the most technical terrain I've ever run!

Where to begin…

I’m usually not a big fan of (my own) race reports, but figured that the Ultimate XC race in Mt Tremblant last week (June 26^th) deserved one since it was such as wild adventure!  So settle in, get comfy…because it’s a doozy!

Race Morning
“Ugh…That was short!” I was talking about my sleep…With a late night of equipment prep for the day’s 56km ‘adventure’, the 4hrs of restless sleep I got had left me wanting more…oh well, I’m sure it’s the same for everyone.  A bowl of cereal mixed with yogurt and a banana, one last check of my gear-drop bag , a bit of pre-race socializing, some last words from the Race Director (RD) and it was GO time!

Km0 – Km14.5
As I lingered in the pack of runners, I couldn’t stop to think of my lack of preparation for this race…Would my achilles hold?  Would I really drop out if I felt pain come back? Will this be another DV50? Will my stomach take in the required calories? Who are the strong runners here? Will my quads hold up to the 6,000m of +/- elev change? So many questions…

“Come on Phil!” I urged myself to stop thinking.  I picked up the pace and took off after the leaders…

A quick run through Mt Tremblant Village and onto the trail we turned…After a few kilometres, the pace settled, and I found myself around 6th place, content to stay around 160-165HR, a pace I knew I could sustain over long periods. With 35km runners in the mix until the 14.5km mark, I wasn’t sure where I stood in the rankings – details for now…

Aside from my left knee cap (which I bruised hard in a photoshoot last week – fell on a sharp rock!), my body felt great.  My achilles was loose and that made me smile…I was cruisin’.  After a bit of climbing, the trail took a hard right onto an old ‘bush’ trail and the fun began!  The RD had described it as an old guiding trail.  Yeah right, this thing was barely broken in, with lots of forest litter, stumps, rocks, branches, angled terrain, bumps, jumps…Simply – It was awesome! I was moving well, focused on watching my footing and quickly caught up to a few runners that were struggling in the technical terrain – Before I knew it, I had moved into the lead, and was running with one of the 35km runners who was chasing another runner up the trail – I was content to run with him.  He saw how much fun I was having and quickly pointed out: “Oh, you just wait…”  Around the next corner, the trail took a sharp turn, and we found ourselves running straight into a creek!  

“Time to get wet” I said.   With no hesitation I jumped in expecting to sink to my knees – but kept going deeper and deeper – I sucked in my breath as the water crept up to my chest!

For the next 4km, we ran, crawled, walked and waded through varying levels of creek water, climbing over beaver dams, over/under sweepers (fallen trees in water)…and as we moved on from the creek to the river, the terrain switched from a sandy bottom to extremely slick rocks! (Note: In the pre-race meeting, the RD warned us to follow the markers and stay in the river as running on the shores would result in a 1hr penalty!)  The river section seemed endless.  There was not one moment to relax as the terrain required your full attention – Amidst the core wrenching workout, a few culverts and tunnels added a short lived relief to the rock-dancing juggling act to stay on your feet…Needless to say that the aid station/gear drop was a welcome site…1.5hrs and 14.5km done – ugh!

Km14.5 – Km25.6
As I changed my socks and rinsed the sand out of my Salomon Speedcross’, I noticed a runner take off on the 56km course (this Aid Station sent 56km runners up the mountain; while 35km runners continued on the main loop).  

“Who’s this guy ahead of me?” I asked…thinking that he was a 35km runner.

“Oh, he’s the leader of the 56km!” A volunteer replied

“Shoot!” I grabbed a protein bar, and ran after him…

David Le Porho (I would learn after the race was over), one of Quebec’s top ranked runners, was cruisin’ about 30sec ahead…He disappeared around a corner heading uphill, and that was the last I would see of him for the next 30+ kilometres!

This next section involved the first of 3 climbs up to the summit of Mt Tremblant. I felt good and kept a steady pace, trying not to push it too much, but also trying to close the gap on David (DLP). My body felt good, my feet were happy and most important, my achilles was doing great! As I reached the summit, the views opened up, exposing the surrounding hills – I took a quick peak…Beautiful! I reached Aid Station 3 (@ 21.3km), and was told that I was 4min back of DLP…He was climbing well. I didn’t linger, took a few sips of water, a banana, a potato and took off down the slope; it was only 4.5km back down the hill to the gear-drop station.  But as I left the summit, I got confused by the signage and had to double back to check my direction…an arrow pointing one way, a flag in the other…hmmm, where to go?  Common sense told me to go downhill, so I took the obvious route, down it is!

What should have been a fast downhill, turned into a painful slog as my stomach started giving me issues from all the pounding.  I contemplated taking a ‘pit stop’ along the way, but hesitated…”I’m losing time” I thought…”Do I stop now, or later”…I rounded the corner to find the Aid Station (@ 25.6km) and a crowd of runners – I guess it will have to wait!

“You’re 6 minutes behind the leader” I was told – ugh.

Km25.6 – Km31.2
As I started my 2nd ascent up Mt Tremblant, my stomach was really not happy with me…If it wasn’t for passing a few 35k-ers, my mind would have wandered. I wish I had been ‘fresh-er’ at this point as the sweet singletrack would have been even sweeter!  Instead, I walked, ran, walked some more…Eventually, my stomach got the best of me, I deeked off the trail to take care of business…

As I plowed through a freshly cut summit ridge trail, Aid Station 6 (@ 31.2km) appeared in the middle of nowhere…a familiar face, some cheers…”How far ahead is the leader?”

“8 minutes…”

Not bad I figured, considering my pitstop.  Off I went back down the mountain!

Km31.2 – Km45: Le Cauchemar [The Nightmare!]
You know it can’t be good when a section of the race course is called ‘The Nightmare’! That said, the section was hard, but not as bad as I thought it might be.  I suppose that after the first creek section, I was expecting the worst, but the worst never came. Instead, a fun, freshly cut and very technical descent led us down the mountain, and out for a 14km loop in the ’sticks’ of Tremblant’s backside. Twists, turns, dodge, jump, hop, sink…this section had it all!

The 3rd and final assault up Mt Tremblant was painfully slow – My energy was ok, but my legs were starting to feel the length of the race. I plugged away at the climb, walking some steep sections, trying to run the flatter ones. I was in no-mans land. There was nobody out there…

I hadn’t thought about my achilles in a while and it dawned on me that it was still holding very well – a bit tight – but holding nonetheless…good news!  A few more corners, a little less vegetation…My only entertainment was watching my altimeter tick away at the remaining metres… 2,197m… 2,314m… 2,468m… 2,545m…

“Only 300 to 400m to go Phil – Come on!”

Through the thick bush, I reached Aid Station 8 (@ 45km), a few dazed runners sat refuelling. I knew only 10km remained…”How far is the leader” I asked.

“2 minutes…”

“Holy sh*t!” I exclaimed “…only 2 minutes?”

I chugged 3 cups of water – and took off after him…

Km45 – Km49.2:  Ridge run to the final summit
“He’s cracking” I thought…For the first time in over 5hrs, I thought I could really win the race! I charged ahead, refuelling on the go.  My body still had energy, and although my quads were aching, overall, I felt good.  After 3 or 4kms, I caught a glimpse of DLP through the trees and knew right away – This is it. I can win!

I ran smooth, making sure not to make any noise or spook him into going into a full on sprint…I was smooth and silent – like a Ninja!  But the track was too narrow for me to pass and so I just waited…Eventually he caught a glimpse of me and surged – but there was no way he would drop me today.  We popped out in the open on a service road to the summit where two very steep pitches remained to reach the final Aid Station (@49.2km). I pulled up beside DLP, looked at him and said:

“Belle journée, heh?” [Nice day eh?]

He shook his head: “Je suis dans le vrac…” [I'm so done!]

I pushed on the gas pedal, and ran up the final 2 pitches without looking back.  At the summit, I guzzled a couple more cups of water at the aid station, stole an orange (it tasted sooo good!), and headed down the final descent – Mt Tremblant village waited for me below…

Km49.2 – Km56
As soon as I started down, my quads started cramping.  My body was starting to tell me that it had had enough…A few 10-second stretch stops seemed to help, but I was running scared now, not sure how far back or how quickly DLP was running down the hill. I tried to keep a steady pace, and was encouraged by several hikers coming up the popular hiking trail – La Grande Brulée – Can’t be far now…

A few more turns and jumps down the fun track and the top of the village appeared – I could hear the music – A quick look back…nobody was in sight…

Running down Mt Tremblant village amidst the cheers of the crowd gave me goose bumps – I did it!  I rounded the last corner with a bit smile, lifted my arms to celebrate!  I crossed the line in 6h34:13, besting last year’s record of 7h18…

Honestly, my big goal at Ultimate XC was to test my achilles, and come out of it without aggravating it more – so all in all – mission accomplished!  The fact that I was able to pull off the win was fantastic, as any win is always good ‘pour le moral’ [confidence boost]. As for the course record, well, I’ll take that as the cherry on top!

Death Race is coming up…Less than a month to go!

Thanks for reading-

More photos HERE 

Follow me on:
Blog:  http://x-cphil.blogspot.com/
Twitter:  @philvilleneuve
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/salomonrunning

Hey Mr. Bear...What are you looking at?

I got your attention didn’t I…

Bears…cougars…wolves…These are the ’scary’ ones I always get asked about: “Aren’t you scared of bears?”

“No, not really.”

I’ve been trail running in the Rockies for the better part of the last 15 years and have limited my bear sightings (not including in-car sightings) to 1 in every 3 years – on average – and most of the time, the bear in question, doesn’t even get a chance to take a look at me before I disappear around the corner…Truth is, I’ve been lucky…NOT! On the contrary, I’d like to think that I’m very ‘bear aware’ (knock on wood!).

The reality of the situation is that they are out there. I know they are because I see their tracks and marks, their scat and even smell them sometimes…Am I scared to run into them? Sure I am. But it doesn’t prevent me from doing the sport I love.

Bears, like cougars, big horn sheep, elk, coyotes, wolves, moose and all the other critters that live in my backyard are part of what I love about running. Exploring, adventure, nature…wildlife – Don’t worry, I’m not going to start singing Kumbaya just yet – But, in a weird kind of way, I do wish I could see more of those damned elusive furballs. Seriously. I call it my backyard…but it’s actually their home, and for the amount of time I’ve spent outdoors, why haven’t I run into (or sighted) more of them?

The answer (for me) is simple. I respect them.

A few days ago, I took off from home on a 50km loop of Mt Rundle, which spans from Canmore to Banff. It’s a loop I’ve done many times, and I’m quite familiar with the terrain. Although it’s not so far from home, it’s still considered bear country – That said, not much land around hear isn’t considered ‘bear country’…

I wish I had this kind of spring-loaded power in my legs!

With my can of bear spray fastened on my chest pocket, I took off up Spray Rd, choosing to run clockwise around Rundle. On the way up, I spotted a few sheep chillin’ on the side of the road – they spotted me, jumped the fence (see photo above) and climbed the cliff to get out of ‘danger’. I snapped a few shots and continued along…

I was 10km from home and cruising…I turned East onto the Goat Creek trail towards Banff – a fast 15km of fireroad running lay ahead. Once in Banff, I would cross the Banff Springs golf course, and return via Banff Trail (Rundle riverside) for another 15km of technical forest trail back home via the Canmore Nordic Centre. It was a cool, wet day in the mountains – no tourists or hikers out today – just me. I normally try to recruit a partner for my long runs as it makes for good company – easier to make noise too – but no such luck this time. Despite the fast pace, I kept an active eye out for wildlife activity…no (fresh) poop mounds, no big paw prints (other than dog that is)…nothing.  All clear!

After all these years of trail running out here, I think that my subconscious is always in wildlife-scan-mode. If I jump over a mud puddle, I look for paw prints. If I see scat on the trail, I assess which animal it’s from, and how fresh it is. As I approach a corner or a stream, I hear myself yell: “Hey Bear, Heeeeyyyyyy Beeeaaaarrrr, Hey Bear!” I ease up on the pace…peak around the corner…coast is clear! Every once in a while I’ll get spooked a bit, and look around, behind, or up high towards a cliff…I’ll yell over and over again…just to make sure…Besides, it’s always a good opportunity to practice drawing my bear spray – In fact, I bet I could challenge Clint on a few bear spray duels. “Come on Clint…Don’t make me peppa yo a$$ sucka!”

OK, so it may not be a bombproof system – but it’s worked for me so far…

…Knock on wood!

What’s your secret to dodging wildlife when you’re out on the trails?  Do you run with a ‘bear’ bell (or as I call them…dinner bells )?  Do you sing or talk out loud? Clap your hands?  Share your stories…

Thanks for reading -
pv

Follow Phil on Twitter: @philvilleneuve

Inside the bird cage…Expo 67 dome with Montreal in the background

Another (extended) weekend trip just wrapped up, this one to Mon-Tre-Al…and no, it wasn’t to catch the hockey game, but rather the ‘Festival Plein Air’, and outdoor expo where Salomon was teaming up with the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series to pump their expansion into La Belle Province!

The 5 Peaks Trail Running Series has seen great participation in most of English-Canada, up to 600+ runners at some events! But (there’s always a ‘but’!), expanding into Quebec’s budding trail running market is not as easy as it may seem…

To get the job done, 5 Peaks built and translate some key promo pieces in order to help spread the trail running wor(l)d in QC. Add a few bilingual trail runners (myself included) et voila – it was time to get to work!  The corridor between Ottawa and Quebec city encompasses a very active target group – so the task to get them psyched on the concept of running off-road wasn’t all that hard, at least once we got past the “is it going to be too hard for me” scenario! Lucky for them, 5 Peaks’ event directors have done a great job to ease runners into the sport with courses that will challenge runners of all abilities. Overall, it turned out to be a great weekend, with strong interest on the part of the Festival attendees.

In typical fashion, no work-related-trip would pass without another planned adventure on local dirt! My destination this time around: Mt Orford, a small alpine ski resort near Magog, just East of Sherbrooke (QC). Last fall, I took part in the XTRAIL Orford trail race (21k) which was showcased by a 10km section called ‘Sentier des Cretes’, a super fun technical section with lots of rock-hopping, a bit of scrambling, some mud and…oh yeah, about 1,000m of elev gain! The trail was both an amazing and humbling experience (I got fully worked by the trail and competitors alike), and I vowed to return this coming fall to race it again, but with a few more practice runs under my belt!

Upon arrival, a few Salomon Flight Crew team members were waiting – anxious to get out. I quickly pulled on my shoes, and strapped on my new Suunto T6c + Foot Pod , eager to gather a bit of beta on the trail…(this info will come in handy in my specific training efforts for this race). After a short warmup loop, we reached the trailhead, marked by a series of rock ’stairs’ that take you up, up and up for the next 30min! With a busy weekend on the forecast, I wanted to use this run as an intensity workout so once we hit the stairs, I pushed the pedal down up the first major climb…

Video: Sentier des Cretes (editor: Marco Lebel) - Two days after I ran it with the Flight Crew guys, a few of the ‘boys’ ran it again, and took along a video…

So what makes this trail so technical? After your legs are turned to mush from the steady climb to the ridge, you continue on the singletrack trail dodging trees, roots, rocks and other brushy debris…add in some rock to rock, to rock hopping sections, some mud bogs, some 1m+ drops, jumps and leaps, all while trying to follow painted markers on the rock ridges sections, and you’ve got yourself a challenge – This is one of those courses where locals’ knowledge pays, and can literally save you minutes. After a solid hour of running, you pop out onto a ‘blue’ run midway up Mt Orford’s ski hill, and are left with a grueling grunt of a climb to the summit. Check it out…

Bird's eye view - That white strip is the last climb of the XTRAIL Orford 21km race...(photo: Marco Latendresse)

It’s not even June and I’m already looking forward to doing XTRAIL again. That said, I suppose I should start by tackling another beast first…10 weeks left – yikes!

Looking back at Lake Annecy from Mt Veyrier for the second time in 2hrs - No better way to explore the French Alps!

Now where was I…?

I can’t believe it’s already been 3 weeks since DV50 – Time flies when you’re having fun (or travelling too much!). I suppose that having been away 12 out of the past 21 days doesn’t help either. So much for having a quiet spring…

Training for Death Race has been going relatively well, despite all the travel that is. Either way, it’s definitely time to crank it up a level – More volume and more intensities are on the menu!  But, the reality of the situation is that as much as I would like to put training at the top of my list, like you, life and work commitments often take over as priorities – that’s just the way it is…so we deal as best we can.

(Instead of coming up with excuses as to why I haven’t posted more regurlarly), I thought it might be interesting to give you an inside glimpse at my training log over the past 12 days, to see how I’ve adapted my training while on the road (for work)…It may not always be pretty, but I’ve tried my best to get the job (training) done, in and around my hectic travel schedule. Hold on tight…here I go!

Phil’s Training Log: April 21-May 1, 2010

Wed April 21st: 2hr road run including 8X3min @ threshold
Location: Canmore (home)
Notes: Hooked up with a few of the Bow Valley Harrier Crew after work for a great interval session. Picked a fast/flat section on the Bow River path and pushed the body every more and more so I would max out on the 7th and 8th interval. Long warmdown helped pad the volume.

Thur April 22nd: 1.5hr mtn bike ride
Location: Canmore
Notes: Legs still feeling heavy from yesterday’s interval workout so I decided to hit the mountain bike to switch it up, plus it will give me a bit of a rest for tomorrow’s travel day. Unfortunately, it started raining immediately upon starting – and poured the entire time. Ugh…that was a wet one.

Fri April 23rd: Travel to Toronto + 45min night trail run
Location: Canmore – YYC – YYZ – Hamilton, ON
Notes: Picked up my rental car at YYZ and drove to Dundas Valley Conservation Area (just outside Hamilton) to check out the 5 Peaks course. The sun had long ago set below the horizon so I cracked out my trusty AY-UP headlamp and cruised the trails amidst the critters starring back at me. Made for an interesting loop!

Sat April 24th: 1.5hr trail run (w/ 12.3km Race) + 1.5hr easy run
Location: Dundas Valley 5 Peaks
Notes: Up early AM to help the S-Crew setup the expo. Look at all those shinny new demo trail runners! After a quick warmup, I was waiting for the Sport (5km) waves to start and my attention was steered away by the RedBull girls who were giving away samplers of their new drink. In the middle of a requested photo op, I realized that the Enduro (12km) elite wave was starting…s#%t! I blasted out of the start and ran through the field moving up within grasp of 2nd place, but lost energy in the final kms…finished 3rd. Good thing there was chip timing to keep track of my late start! With lots of action around the Salomon booth, I didn’t get much of a warmdown, but I did get to chat live on iRun’s The Running Show for a little shop talk! 

PM workout: Drove up ‘North’ to Bolton, ON to stay with friends for the night – took the legs out for another spin around Humber Valley trails to build volume – Amazing singletrack out there!

Sun April 25th: 3.5hrs trail run downtown Toronto
Location: Downtown Toronto (Crothers Woods)
Notes: Who knew you could run in downtown Toronto for this long – all on some sweet singletrack! Ran around a 10.5km loop with Flight Crew member Ryan Barrett who guided me around his hometown trails – Feeling a bit sluggish from yesterday’s race, but happy to be out exploring new terrain in such an urban setting!

Mon April 26th: Day off – Travel to Geneva – Annecy, France
Location: Markham, ON – Salomon meetings
Notes: No time to train today due to a crammed schedule and meetings all day – Late afternoon departure for Nordic/Trail running meetings in France.

Tues April 27th: 1hr road run
Location:  Arrival in Annecy, France
Notes: More flight delays…arrived late in Geneva – Quick transit to Annecy for late afternoon meetings, then a short run to get rid of long travel day in the legs. A beautiful evening to run along Lake Annecy.  Lots of prep work to finalize before tomorrow’s meetings.  Very tired…

Wed April 28th: 2hrsw mtn run (w/ 750m elev gain)
Location: Annecy – Mt Veyrier
Notes: 11hrs stuck in a meeting room!! Exhausted. Back at the hotel at 7:30pm…hungry. Recruited the Austrian and German Product managers to come running with me after work as I needed the extra motivation to get out. Ditched them at the end to add a 750m hillclimb up Mt Veyrier, which helped make the time fly by – Found myself racing back down the mountain to beat the darkness that was quickly engulfing the forest. Deadlines back home in Canada forced another late night of work…caught myself nodding off in front of laptop. Need sleep…

Thur April 29th: 1hr Orienteering Session (group activity) + 1hr trail run
Location: Annecy – Mt Semnoz
Notes: Another 10hrs in meetings. Having a hard time to focus…Need a coffee IV. Jumped in a fun orienteering race organized by HQ – fun to do something different. Added a bit more running at the end as we waited for all the teams to come in.

La vieille ville - Vieux Annecy, on a grey and wet morning. From here, you can access the Semnoz trails within 500m from your hotel! Not too many places in this world where you can access the mountains from such a big urban center!

Fri April 30th: 2.5hrs mtn run ( w/1,500m elev gain)
Location: Annecy – Mt Veyrier and Mt Baron
Notes: Wrapped up the meetings with an 8hr day on my butt. So happy to be done…Made a date with the Global Sports Marketing Manager to head out for a hard mtn run after work. Struggled to keep up as he hammered up the first big climb, and danced down the backside. Felt better after 2hrs of running (just warming up!) just as he was fading  Great day with a solid 1,500m of climbing – Amazing views!

Sat May 1st: 4.25hrs mtn run (w/ 1,500m elev gain)
Location: Annecy – Semnoz
Notes: Feeling great after much needed long sleep-in. One last long run for the books…It rained the entire time, but the new trails/terrain were spectacular. My route left Le Vieux Annecy, and climbed steady for 2.5hrs to the summit of Semnoz (1699m). A quick bite and turnaround back down the track to town for pizza and beer! Looking forward to going home tomorrow.

Sun May 2nd: Day Off – Travel back to Canmore, AB
Location: Annecy – Geneva – Montreal – Canmore
Notes: Home sweet home…

From one side of the Atlantic to the other – and back…One of the biggest challenges I have with training is getting out the door when I’m tired. But once I’m out there, I’m always so glad I ‘forced’ myself to get out!  Sure you may feel sluggy, heavy, tired or even lazy after a hard day’s work, this is completely normal! The key is to understand how your body/mind works when you’re tired – This is as important as the training plan itself.

So I ask you now…How are you feeling?  Is it a ‘good’ tired, or a ‘bad’ tired?  Learn to tell the difference!

That said, I fully admit that I’ve been burning the candle at both ends – So it’s time for me to rest!

Thanks for reading!

Phil

More photos at:  http://x-cphil.blogspot.com/
Follow me on Twitter:  @philvilleneuve

Listen to Clint…He may not be the best runner in the world, but he tells it like it is!

Sometimes it’s good to get your @ss kicked just to know how much you need to improve…

“Well this sucks” I said to myself as another runner ran past me somewhere around the 37km mark…There was nothing I could do – mentally and physically – I was drained.  The gas tank was completely empty.  I suppose there wasn’t much else to say at the time – but one thing was for sure…the Diez Vista 50 had just kicked my butt in gear!

There’s nothing like turning a race into a fun road trip, and that’s exactly what I did this past weekend, making the 9-hour drive from Canmore, AB to Port Moody, BC to run my first ever ultra race, the Diez Vista 50km.  As with most of my early season events, I didn’t bother getting all worked up and chose to train through it, using it as stepping stones to the big bad Death Race later this summer.  Besides, at the very least it would also be a great opportunity to test some of the new runners, compression clothes and pack I’d be using for the remainder of the season.

All I really knew of this event was what I could find on the net…50km of technical terrain, including 1,800m of climbing.  Oh, and a 4h15min course record owned by North Vancouver ultra runner Gary Robbins.  “Sounds like a fun race to break into the ultra world” I remember saying to myself…Yeah right.

As with most runners out there, we all go into an event with a certain expectations to perform at our best.  The rookie in me caught sight of the course record, stood tall and beat on his chest:  “Let’s go for a new record!” Sometimes you surprise yourself and exceed your goals… and sometimes you don’t.  Although it’s often a tough pill to swallow, the good thing about this latter option is that we can usually take home a worthy learning experience from defeat and use this lesson to improve upon your next performance.   See where I’m going with this?

But before digging deeper into the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of my DV50 ‘lesson’, let’s go back 4 weeks to put everything in context…

After a fantastic week of trail running in France for Advanced Week, capped with one of the most technically challenging races I’ve ever entered (22km race up/down the slopes of Mont Ventoux) – I was flying!  Looking back, I think I barely had my feet on Canadian soil and was already planning my season leading up to the Death Race. “What can I enter that will get me ready…? What’s this Diez Vista 50 all about? 3 weeks from now…50 kilometres…hmmm…Why not…”

Fast forward 3 weeks later during which time I completed a couple of good weeks of training including a few longer runs to get some ‘panic’ volume in, and there I was on the start line of DV50!  Was I well prepared for the event? Not really. Did I jump the gun in entering a 50km race this early in the season? Most likely, yes. Would realizing any of this prior to the race ever change my mind? Probably not…

Needless to say that despite performing to my ‘perceived’ expectations for the better part of the race, I didn’t have the juice necessary to meet my ambitious goals, and paid the price for a poor preparation in the last 15km.  Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to ramble along and analyse how I felt during every kilometre (like I did on my personal blog), but trust me when I tell you that the experience and knowledge gained was worth every bit of sweat lost on that trail.   

Along with the realization that I should probably stop procrastinating and put a plan down on paper, I did gather some very good beta for my next challenge.  Here are some random thoughts of enlightenment that came to me as I marched for 7kms along the powerline stretch:

• Training volume is a must.  If you want to be a good distance runner, you need to run.  It’s that simple. This winter I ran an average of 3 days/week, the most ever for me as I usually cross-country ski – all this did was get my legs ready to run volume, which including my week in France, netted me 3 good weeks (avg 100km/week) before DV50 – not nearly enough.
• Running 50km VS Racing 50km are different beasts altogether.  Regular interval sessions are required if one expects to sustain a race pace over long distances.  Try to mimic sections of your race, so a good mix of shorter/longer intervals, sustained threshold workouts, hills, etc…Variety is the key.  In my case, I lacked all of the above – oops!
• Gear testing:   I tested a lot of new gear in this race that I’ll be using during the Death Race.  Most of it was good, but some of it wasn’t quite dialled – like the perma-drip that soaked my lower back/shorts for the first 15km because I forgot my bladder clip.  Things to work on…
• Nutrition:  Again, I learned a great deal about my requirements here.  I’ve always used an electrolyte drink with low carbs, supplemented with gels/bars.  The more gels I consumed, the harder it was to choke them down.  I realized that I will need to change to a high carb drink in order to ingest more ‘liquid’ calories, and supplement with electrolyte tabs.  I also need to switch up my gels because no matter how good they taste in the store, I know I’ll get sick of them after 6hrs of sucking them back.
• Pacing:  Despite not making it past the 35km mark, I think I did a good job at holding back on the climbs, and descents which are my strengths, to focus more energy on the flats, which need more work.  Looking back, Gary and I ran very fast for the time we were together (He eventually went on to break his record by 5min clocking in at 4h10min!) and I’m glad I didn’t take off on him early in the race, only to blow up at the 20km mark instead – now that would have been painful!

Bruised ego aside, my introduction to the ultra-running world may not have been picture perfect, but it certainly left me wanting more!  Come to think of it, I suppose I don’t really have much of a choice seeing as I’ll have to (should) get another ultra in before D-Day.  Regardless of the outcome, I’m just looking forward to another chance to get out there, reconnect with a great community of runners, run on some fantastic terrain and of course, test out my body once again!

Thanks for reading-

 pv

Always in search of a new adventure...Where will this trail lead me? photo credit: Bob Walker

Hi everyone – Thanks for tuning in for this first trail running blog post!

Not easy to figure out how to start this one…I  suppose I could kick things off with a question back to you…Why do you run trails?

Trail running has always been a passion of mine, but one that I could never pursue until about 10 years ago.  I spent a big chunk of my life ‘chasing the dream’ as an elite athlete in the sport of cross-country skiing, and as such, spent a lot of time during the ‘dryland’ training season, running on trails - I loved it.  I ran and raced as much as my coaches would allow, but ski training was always the priority.  In 2002, I hung up the boards, happy and ready to move on to the ‘real’ world.  It was time to run! 

Fresh from retirement and hungry for competition of a different style, I chased the World Mountain Running circuit for a few years, eventually realizing that I didn’t really want to train at this level again…Been there – done that.  It wasn’t the level that scared me, it was the structure required to get me there.  All these years of following such intense focus had drained me – I simply wanted to enjoy the sport and explore new trails.  And so that’s what I did.

A few years ago, a good friend of mine (Bob Walker), set on a mission to write a guide to Mountain Running in the Canadian Rockies.  Although I personally thought he was nuts for taking on this venture, I agreed to tag along on his first few ‘missions’, knowing full well that any run with Bob would turn into an adventure – and did they ever!  But what really got me hooked was that for the first time since moving to Canmore (in 1995), an entire new network of trails opened up right in my backyard.  How could I have missed this?  So close, yet I had never bothered to step into the backcountry.

From one sweet (sweet) singletrack to another - I was hooked.  This is what I had been dreaming about of all these years.  Of course, chasing the ultimate singletrack was not without an adventure or two, like the time our ’planned’ 3hr run turned into 8hrs!  Ouch.  But I’ll save those details for another time…

We all have our reasons to run…For me,  it’s the search of a new adventure – I suppose that this alone could lead to some interesting situations - I guess that’s where the ‘entertainment’ side of this blog will come from.  And along the way, I may even throw in some tidbits about training, racing and gear…although if you have any specific questions, by all means, fire away!

As for me, it’s time to go running again…I registered for this ’thing’ called the Death Race in August.  Not quite sure what I signed up for, but I figured it would be a good adventure

Thanks for following.

pv