6 years later!! Phew, lots has happened in 6 years. I won't start by telling you I plan to write more often and that I want to revive this old blog. It may happen on it's own, but then again, it might not. I just know that right now I'm writing another post because I think I have something post worthy?!
First of all a brief catchup! A lot has changed since triathlon. Yes that's right I don't race triathlon(Ironman) anymore and rarely do marathons. I think I've ran one since the last marathon posting. I ran Edmonton with my bro and I believe my time was 3:20ish with a bunch of walking in the last 10k. I've also done the Calgary marathon ultra(50k) with a time of 4:17ish.
I'm a Daddy now too! That's the biggest reason for the slow down(both in quantity and quality). My kids are now 4 and almost 2 yrs old. I still enjoy running(don't swim or bike anymore) though. I work at a lawfirm downtown which allows me to run at lunchtime. My brother and I have done a few long runs and races together, this year we decided to enter a longer trail ultra. We decided that we would not "race" but just do it together, so we decided on and signed up for Lost Soul 100k.
The Race:
The race is in Lethbridge on Sept 6th at 9am. We drove off to Lethbridge thursday evening after saying good by to the family. Terry had drove out from MB the weekend before. So we prepared on thurs. evening, did a short walk around the start/finish area. We conveniently stayed at the race hotel so the race was in the back parking lot, soooo nice being so close.
Race morning, I woke ready to go after a nice longish sleep(for a dad with young kids). My throat was a bit sore and my hamstring still felt a tad tight, but other than that felt ready. My brother Terry says he didn't sleep so well(race nerves) and he also had some niggles, but ready or not the race was upon us! We did regular race things, breakfast, drop bags, last minute things, bathroom, etc. I felt nervous but not too bad. I knew our start and race would be fairly relaxed as it's such a long day, the key parts would be pacing(slowwwww), and nutrition. Plus we were doing this together and our only goal was to finish I honestly had no idea how long it would take. After checkout and then bringing bags to the start/finish area, we joined all the racers for a pre-race meeting. I don't think I got anything new out of it, the usual course details, aid stations, etc then we all walked over to the start line.
As we prepared, I noticed some leakage on my back. I thought, oh no, there's a leak in my hydration pack! We had like 5 minutes yet so I took it off and examined the pack, seal and the hose. Everything seemed to be fine, no noticeable leak? Oh well the water reservoir still seemed full, so I put it back on again and prepared for the start. Away we went! The first leg went by pretty uneventful, a few hills, some chatting with other racers. Because of the trail and starting out with others so close it was pretty crowded for the first leg. At times you couldn't even pass, but I didn't panic, it's a 100k race, it will spread out!
So leg 1 was about a 7km loop and then back to the start/finish area or as they call it HQ(head quarters). We had all we needed so we cruised straight through the aid station, 8.4km to the aid station they call Softball Valley. Leg 2 and leg 3(9.6km) had most of the climbs in the race, almost 1000m of ascent. We focused on hiking all the major ups and running the flat and descents. This makes for pretty slow going, but it's ok I never even looked at the watch other than trying to schedule some eating every 30 minutes or so. Through leg 3 we noticed we were starting to catch a bunch of fast starters. I tried not to hurry, but it's really difficult not to concentrate on the runner in front of you and try to catch them. Leg 3 went by as well and I was starting to feel the effects of all the climbing in a short time! My legs were already starting to get sore and we were only 20-25km in, also it felt like I was developing blisters. A lot of the single track was so narrow that it meant your feet were not landing flat, tough to explain, but it caused hot spots on the feet.
After leg three and from a aid station called Pavan where we could get our first drop bag. I had packed some clothes, spare shoes for the second lap and bars and gels. I collected some of the nutrition, filled up the hydration pack and we continued. This is a loop that takes 16.4km and is essentially a loop around the northern most part of the course and back to Pavan. It was also getting a bit warm, or at least I was warming up I couldn't tell which it was. The weather was perfect really, close to 20 for the high, but lots of cloud and it was to rain later in the day, hadn't started yet.
In retrospect we should have slowed down a bit, taken more walk breaks. I was hurting already a lot and wondered how we would do another lap of this(only 30-35km into the race). Also the Pavan loop only had a couple hills and then it was a fairly flat return all the way back to the Start/finish. Only 3 hills once we left Pavan for the second time and then flat. We tried to run most of it, but started to need more and more walk breaks. This whole time while running hills Terry appeared to be fitter/faster and having to wait a tad for me! But at 35km, he admitted that his knee was bugging him while running so we had to walk more, which was just fine by me.
We got to the Softball aid station again(you hit all the aid stations going both directions if you look at the strava mapping you'll understand) and by that time we were walking more than running. Each time we tried to run, Terry soon after was forced to walk again as his knee(IT band) would hurt. This was mostly flat ground and normally we should/would be running to make up lost time, but we couldn't. At one point Terry urged me on, but I instantly refused. We discussed this before the race a lot and resolved that the only way we'd split up is if one of us would drop out. I was not about to leave my bro, and I felt really bad for him. I knew his knee was hurting him, but worse was the mental anguish of not being able to run, and holding me back? I prayed and wished these feelings away from him. We didn't talk much, what could I say, I've been there to know that words often do the opposite of comfort.
By now we were getting passed frequently and at times Terry would try to run a bit, but never for more than a few minutes. The clouds had really moved in and it started raining, which felt good. I was also able to take in more nutrition and started to feel better, even my muscles recovered a little bit from the walking. So eventually as we neared the start/finish it really started to pour for about 20 minutes or so. I remember taking the final climb up to the finish and starting a conversation with Terry, "Ok bro, what do we do?" "Are you going to continue, or drop" I mentioned that we have plenty of time in the bank we would probably be able to walk the second loop and finish with in the cutoff. Would he be able to walk without too much pain? Cause a lot of damage?
I'll be brutally honest here I really feared him droping out. I know he would really hurt inside and then also where would that leave me?? I still hurt physically myself and really relied on him, how would I get through a 50km on my own and through the night? What would he do while he waited for me, we had no hotel room(we were going to drive home after the race). I'm a Christian(Christ follower) so I talked to God about it. Give us strength, help us to make the right decision. I felt Terry wanted to go on and I knew if he dropped now he would always wonder if he could have completed it. It would be too easy to drop as we passed the finish and that it wasn't a honest/true decision. So I suggested he take it to the next aid station and get through the hills which we would be walking anyways, decide then what would be our fate. I think Terry was relieved that I suggested that, maybe he still felt bad about me being forced to walk with him? I'm Thankful that he didn't constantly suggest I go on without him, he only suggested it a couple times and then just left it at that.
I think both of our spirits rose a little bit as we left, we were not done yet!! We were not about to give up! Team Penner still in tact! I continued to talk to God and thank him for this Adventure, I was at peace with our decision(a Thankful heart is always a glass half full type of attitude no matter what you believe). I also secretly knew we would not be dropping at the next aid station(Terry tells me he felt the same). We started to enjoy the race more too, walking allowed us to keep our stomachs happy, and to cheer on those around us. I still felt at times like I wanted to run, but it was ok this race had always been about finishing and we stuck to that. We didn't always talk and as the two hilly legs continued we slowed down a bit more. I had to wait a bunch and felt bad about that. But what do you say, I tried to be encouraging, but didn't want to annoy Terry so I kept quiet a bunch of the time. It was only drizzling slightly, I hoped the steep downhills wouldn't become treacherous.
Before the race, I had wanted to get to Pavan before dark and now because of all the walking we didn't quite make it. At one point someone passing us asked me to take her headlight out of her pack, which I did happily and then resolved to take out mine as well. Sometimes I get stubborn about the smallest things, I had wanted to get to the aid station before I do that, however now it was already pitch black out. Not the smartest as you could easily trip on a rock and go tumbling down a steep hill. The course was amazingly well marked. All the markers had reflectors so you could just look up and see sometimes up to 5 markers in a row, especially on the climbs and descents. Terry had some more problems in the dark as he is a little afraid of heights and now with the knee trouble he favored this even more so that his foot swelled up(I didn't know this at the time).
We passed through Pavan and then started the north loop walking and chatting briefly with other runners. With the majority of the hills behind us and according to my calculations enough time to walk it in, a finish was almost a guarantee! Still had 20km to go though and my legs were starting to really hurt, it's a long time on your feet whether you are walking or running! At the second Pavan stop we stayed a little long and as we got going I suddenly started to get cold. I knew that if I start shaking it would be game over so I quickly took off my pack and got my jacket out. Terry went ahead during my stop as he figured I would just catch up. Thankfully the jacket helped quickly and I did not start to shake yet. The 3 hills on the way back helped too, and I was warm and even a lil too warm in no time.
Because of the drizzle the lower part(return flat section) got quite muddy and it actually got pretty tough to walk. I can't imagine trying to run it at that point(75kms) in the race. The shoes got clogged with mud and I almost went down a couple times, but managed to stay upright. The rest of the race is pretty uneventful, we walked it in, I picked up some Perogies at the last couple aid stations and they tasted good. In long races like this gels/bars start to taste awful and your body craves some real food. Finally we got to the last climb, up and up to the finish! As we got closer to the lights, we saw a shadow waddle across our path, a porky pine! He/she was no doubt thinking why are there so many people invading my personal space. As we came in along the chute I realized that we did it! We finished what we started, not a super fast run, but an adventure completed!
After the finish we sat for a bit, took in some food and Terry went for the car. We got to collect our "finisher's rocks" and prepared for the second adventure, how would we get home?!?! We, or rather Terry had 2 hours to drive home yet. I wish I could say I was a great brother and helped him stay awake, but I wasn't. I got in the car and immediately fell asleep(after a quick prayer for safety), sorry bro! I woke up once as he stopped for a short cat nap, and then again when we pulled up on my drive way back in Calgary. It was morning and as soon as we entered Lukas was on us! "Uncle Terry, can we go downstairs to play?" Actually I don't think he even asked(rather demanding it). Terry and I just kinda chuckled and asked if we could first have a little nap? I went and said hello, talked a little with family and went upstairs for a shower and nap.
