Congrats on your podium finish SLOgoing, and on the awesome new bike!
Sorry your race didn't go as you wished, Scheherazade. Mechanicals suck!
Last week's goals: - swim x 1: win
- bike x 1: FAIL
- run x 4: win with 6
- core/strength x 4: win
- ankle rehab x 5: FAIL with 3
Ooh, and I foam rolled!
I was running consistently again last week, but I feel very beat up from it - like I'd run much longer and harder than I really had. The fatigue from a nearly 16hr race just doesn't fade overnight, but I actually ended up running just barely under 50km for the week.
Saturday was a bit haywire - we got down to the race site to volunteer decently early, and got the main aid station (the one racers pass through twice) set up pretty efficiently. The plan was to get the 50k racers through once per side and the 25k racers (starting an hour later) through the first direction, then around 9:10am Tank and I would jam out quickly to the farmers' market to do our weekly grocery shopping, stop at home for a quick bit of breakfast, then be back by 11am. The first part of this went to plan, but when we went to leave the market it was almost impossible to get the key into our car's ignition, and it couldn't be turned. Totally un-driveable; even the steering was locked. No, it wasn't just the wheel being turned too far; our car is a bit long in tooth and we had the same problem with the driver's door lock over a year ago. Call roadside assistance, wait for the flatbed to come, then the driver had to bang some skis under the rear wheels and use the tow ring/winch to turn the car (after we pushed it out of its parking spot) to load it up. It was past 11am before we were even on our way to the dealer.
Got the service porter to give us a lift home, then immediately dispatched Tank to the race site on his motorcycle while I put away all the groceries and made us a couple of breakfast sammiches - the one lady and her 2 teenaged kids who'd been helping out that morning needed to leave by 11am, which only left a racer's wife and daughter to run the aid station in our absence for about 75mins. I hopped on my motorcycle still chewing my last bite of breakfast and roared down to the aid station for about 12:45pm, then we spent until about 4pm (when the course closed) offering water, gatorade, cola, cookies, chips, watermelon, bananas and free hugs to all the racers completing either 25k or 50k for the day. It was gratifying to help one lady in very poor shape perk up (by sitting her down in the shade of the picnic shelter the aid station was in, pouring cool water on her neck and wrists, and getting some salty chips and water into her) enough to finish her first ultra, even if she did need one of our volunteers to walk with her into the finish line - she had been ready to quit when she came in, dazed and barely able to walk, and she was just crushed by the thought of coming within 1km of the end but not making it. So happy to help her achieve her goal! I'd worn running kit, so afterward I went out for a lap of the course, then did most of another lap with a grocery bag on my arm picking up all the trash left behind by runners and other trail users. The race is at a conservation area, and the trails are too pretty to leave cups and gel wrappers everywhere!
Sunday morning we were back on our motorbikes to run the aid station for the marathon and 8k races (the course is an 8.33km loop), which included the second stage of the "Ultimate Canuck", comprised of the 50k Saturday plus the 42.2k Sunday. It was an even hotter day than Saturday, and we had to do some more heat management treatment (cool water + salt + fluids) to another racer who went on to a podium finish in the Ultimate Canuck. We also got to watch a nest full of baby robins up in the rafters of the picnic shelter as the aid station wasn't as busy on day 2.
Everything was finished up by around 3pm, so I took another grocery bag out for a lap of the course and was pleasantly surprised to see much less rubbish around on the trails.
Horribly hot and sticky, though - while there is some shade on the course, the trails are wide enough that the mid-day sun penetrates the canopy and many parts are completely exposed. I had my work cut out for me just making it through a single lap (admittedly after already spending 8hrs on my feet), let alone the 5 laps of the marathon!
The dealer still didn't have a loaner car for us by Monday morning, so I had to ride my motorbike in to work in more sweltering heat and sun. It sounds more fun than it is, because
the busiest highway on the damn continent is basically my only option without adding 50-ish km of back highways to my 75km commute. I spent no less than 45mins inching along in first stinkin' gear, trying to hide in the meagre shade offered by the occasional transport truck and hoping I wouldn't die of dehydration. Yeah, first world problems, but I was very happy to be able to pick up a loaner car from the dealer yesterday evening since the new ignition is backordered until Saturday. Actually ran the 4 miles or so down to the dealer last night to pick up my bike after leaving it there to drive the loaner home; it was still 30c/86f at 8pm and I was a dripping mess when I hopped in the saddle to go home. Best breeze EVER!
This week's goals: swim x 1
bike x 1
run x 5
core/strength x 4
rehab exercises x 5
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ill advised racing inc.