On Saturday my loose association of training buddies and hangers on "raced" the Haney to Harrison relay race - an 8 person 100k race from Haney to Harrison Hot Springs just East of Vancouver, BC. (Also run as an ultra for the truly insane)
Somehow I got suckered into running the longest leg - 15.5km. My leg was dead flat, but given that I haven't run since the El Paso camp and not run regularly since just before Victoria in June, it was going to be a tough day. I didn't have the hardest leg by a long shot - there were easily three or four tougher legs due to the hills; but I had by far the least training in the four months leading up to the race.
Race morning dawned early - IM early. Our first runner was due to go off at 07:10, and Haney is a good hour's drive away at the best of times. We also had to pack the van and get organized. The logistics regarding how we were all going to meet up were still a little sketchy, but I had instructed everyone to carry a cell phone and we'd co-ordinate on the fly. Having been out of town for 22 days the month prior left me little time for formal organization.
Our first runner went off at 07:10, and I figured her to easily go under an hour for the 8k. We had met up with 2 other races at the start, and so we all piled into the van to cheer her on and then leapfrog ahead to the first transition. Our 2nd leg runner had to make a last minute pit stop, so there was a little worry that she'd come in while he was in the can. As it was, she came in at 52:21 - seconds after he returned. A quick transition and he was off.
The second leg was a lot more "rolly" than I had thought, and everyone in the van was pretty sure that he was going to kill me later on in the day. He's pretty strong in the hills though, so he soldiered on and posted a pretty decent time - 1:14:43 for 13.5k. This is where it got exciting. Our 3rd runner hadn't shown up yet, and we were in an area of very poor cellular reception. Perfect. Finally we hooked up and learned that she'd forgotten her shoes. As we ran up to meet her, we saw runner #2 go by on his way to the transition. I yelled at him to slow down, but he just gave me a confused look and kept going. We lucked out in that my backup shoes (thrown into the bag for reasons unknown to me) fit her ok, so we took off for the transition where we met up with our #2 guy - who had been waiting for about 5min. She grabbed the chip and took off.
This leg was closed to vehicles, so we got lost instead of heading right for the 3rd transition. We had also "lost" the runner for our 4th leg, who was driving around lost somewhere in the area. Sweet. Luckily he made it to the transition before we did, and we both made it before our runner #3 came in. We were half expecting to see her come up the road barefoot, but she surprised us all by rolling in looking pretty damn good, in 1:34:44.
Another fairly quick handoff and we were in business! Runner #4 was out on course, and we headed to the next transition. Leg #5 was mine, and the plan was to just drop me off as we needed to loop back to pick up another car - the van was full. I got dropped off and was soon joined by our #7 & 8 leg runners.
#4 came flying in in 1:14:17 and I was off. I was feeling pretty cold, so I took it out a little hot to try to warm up quickly. I guess it worked, as after a mile and a half or so I was feeling pretty warm and settled down to slog out the 10mi. I had decided to run sans HRM or watch, so it was just RPE and time/distance estimates guiding me. I wasn't feeling bad, but there was no specific pain or "badness" - just that general soreness in the knees and ankles that I always get when I haven't been running. I got passed by maybe 15 people in total, but managed to hold it together for a 1:37:45. The really annoying thing was that I got hungry about 1/2way through, and had to run the 2nd half wishing I had food. I didn't have any legs for a real kick at the finish, but I did accelerate and hold a solid ~7:30 pace for the final 500m.
Runner #6 took off from there, and the rest of the team watched with amusement as I kept walking and walking and walking. Like a big flywheel that had just been wound up, I found that I couldn't stop. Finally I made it to the van and we rolled on down the course to snap a few pictures, and wait at the next transition.
Luckily, the next transition was near a bar, so one of the team members ducked in to get some takeout while the rest of us waited and watched. Runner #6 covered her 13.2k in 1:17:25 and runner #7 took off like a gazelle. Most of us hadn't met her before, so we were all pretty surprised when she took off. She had a pretty nasty leg, with a long uphill and a steep descent. I got some great pics of her cresting the hill and then flying by on her way towards the next corner. She knocked out her 13.37k in 1:09:37, and had a bit of an anti-climactic finish as the race sent our last guy off early.
Apparently we missed the rule where ALL the final runners leave by 15:30, so he got going around 17min late. He knocked out his final ~8k leg in 39:41, putting the entire team at 9:40:29 - not bad, considering most of us are out of shape, injured or both!
There was a little more excitement to close out the day with some lost keys, but all in all it was a fine day for all.
I've been doing the zombie lurch around the office all day today, and standing up has been a real ordeal - but somehow I ended up signing up to race a 1/2 mary in Feb. To that end, just Paulo sent me an MP3 of my themesong: "If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough". ;-)
<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
Somehow I got suckered into running the longest leg - 15.5km. My leg was dead flat, but given that I haven't run since the El Paso camp and not run regularly since just before Victoria in June, it was going to be a tough day. I didn't have the hardest leg by a long shot - there were easily three or four tougher legs due to the hills; but I had by far the least training in the four months leading up to the race.
Race morning dawned early - IM early. Our first runner was due to go off at 07:10, and Haney is a good hour's drive away at the best of times. We also had to pack the van and get organized. The logistics regarding how we were all going to meet up were still a little sketchy, but I had instructed everyone to carry a cell phone and we'd co-ordinate on the fly. Having been out of town for 22 days the month prior left me little time for formal organization.
Our first runner went off at 07:10, and I figured her to easily go under an hour for the 8k. We had met up with 2 other races at the start, and so we all piled into the van to cheer her on and then leapfrog ahead to the first transition. Our 2nd leg runner had to make a last minute pit stop, so there was a little worry that she'd come in while he was in the can. As it was, she came in at 52:21 - seconds after he returned. A quick transition and he was off.
The second leg was a lot more "rolly" than I had thought, and everyone in the van was pretty sure that he was going to kill me later on in the day. He's pretty strong in the hills though, so he soldiered on and posted a pretty decent time - 1:14:43 for 13.5k. This is where it got exciting. Our 3rd runner hadn't shown up yet, and we were in an area of very poor cellular reception. Perfect. Finally we hooked up and learned that she'd forgotten her shoes. As we ran up to meet her, we saw runner #2 go by on his way to the transition. I yelled at him to slow down, but he just gave me a confused look and kept going. We lucked out in that my backup shoes (thrown into the bag for reasons unknown to me) fit her ok, so we took off for the transition where we met up with our #2 guy - who had been waiting for about 5min. She grabbed the chip and took off.
This leg was closed to vehicles, so we got lost instead of heading right for the 3rd transition. We had also "lost" the runner for our 4th leg, who was driving around lost somewhere in the area. Sweet. Luckily he made it to the transition before we did, and we both made it before our runner #3 came in. We were half expecting to see her come up the road barefoot, but she surprised us all by rolling in looking pretty damn good, in 1:34:44.
Another fairly quick handoff and we were in business! Runner #4 was out on course, and we headed to the next transition. Leg #5 was mine, and the plan was to just drop me off as we needed to loop back to pick up another car - the van was full. I got dropped off and was soon joined by our #7 & 8 leg runners.
#4 came flying in in 1:14:17 and I was off. I was feeling pretty cold, so I took it out a little hot to try to warm up quickly. I guess it worked, as after a mile and a half or so I was feeling pretty warm and settled down to slog out the 10mi. I had decided to run sans HRM or watch, so it was just RPE and time/distance estimates guiding me. I wasn't feeling bad, but there was no specific pain or "badness" - just that general soreness in the knees and ankles that I always get when I haven't been running. I got passed by maybe 15 people in total, but managed to hold it together for a 1:37:45. The really annoying thing was that I got hungry about 1/2way through, and had to run the 2nd half wishing I had food. I didn't have any legs for a real kick at the finish, but I did accelerate and hold a solid ~7:30 pace for the final 500m.
Runner #6 took off from there, and the rest of the team watched with amusement as I kept walking and walking and walking. Like a big flywheel that had just been wound up, I found that I couldn't stop. Finally I made it to the van and we rolled on down the course to snap a few pictures, and wait at the next transition.
Luckily, the next transition was near a bar, so one of the team members ducked in to get some takeout while the rest of us waited and watched. Runner #6 covered her 13.2k in 1:17:25 and runner #7 took off like a gazelle. Most of us hadn't met her before, so we were all pretty surprised when she took off. She had a pretty nasty leg, with a long uphill and a steep descent. I got some great pics of her cresting the hill and then flying by on her way towards the next corner. She knocked out her 13.37k in 1:09:37, and had a bit of an anti-climactic finish as the race sent our last guy off early.
Apparently we missed the rule where ALL the final runners leave by 15:30, so he got going around 17min late. He knocked out his final ~8k leg in 39:41, putting the entire team at 9:40:29 - not bad, considering most of us are out of shape, injured or both!
There was a little more excitement to close out the day with some lost keys, but all in all it was a fine day for all.
I've been doing the zombie lurch around the office all day today, and standing up has been a real ordeal - but somehow I ended up signing up to race a 1/2 mary in Feb. To that end, just Paulo sent me an MP3 of my themesong: "If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough". ;-)
<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?
