Whistler 50 miles ultra

Do you know how stubborn you could be, how long you could ignore the pain and reality?

This year was the inaugural of the Whistler 50 miles relay in Whistler the home of the 2010 Olympic Mountain events. My trip to and from whistler was less than a day, I left North Vancouver just past 2 AM and I back in North Van just past 3 PM. While
I was in whistler my mind was so occupied with my nagging knee pain and the goal of finishing race the I never felt or thought about the energy or the buzz that 2010 Olympic left behind.

As an ultra runner I really enjoy the events that include the relay teams: for one you have the support of fellow relay runners and also sometimes the self motivation of catching up to the relay is good encouragement to finish or do well in the
race. Even with H2H always had a goal to finish ahead of the relay teams but unfortunately never been able to accomplish that.

Wichoten Holland 100KM race thus far has been one of the lowest performance among all of my races since I started running but I was proud that I endured 66 KM of pain and cramps and finish the race with sever back injury. After the race my motivation was at the lowest and I wanted a race to redeem myself so I registered for the whistler 50 miles ultra.

For the Thanksgiving holidays as family we went to Mount Baldy and while we were there we went for a short hiking trip. I turned the short hiking trip into a 2 hikes and fast downhill’s running to make up for a 3 hours long run. Must feel good at 7000 feet but it wasn’t pretty 2 days later, felt sharp pain in my right knee and I thought it was just a temporary pain, have felt it before and should go away soon. However; this pain wasn’t as cooperative of the previous pains and wanted to be dormant and no intension of leaving me alone. To cope with the pain and to reduce the impact I decided to use less of my legs and started swimming something that I eally suck at and when I swim I feel my lungs want to explode.

Is whistler 50 miles now going to be redemption race for this poor lad, no way and a few times I thought about not starting the race. Deep down I wanted to run this race, for one is whistler why wouldn’t you want to run there and secondly test to see how much I could endure nagging knee pain. Call me crazy but that’s the way it is, you don’t know, explore them, find out.

The night before the race I got all my nutrition, clothes ready and went to be about 10:00 PM and set my alarm to 2:00 AM. For 2 hours just laid down in bed and rest my mind and don’t remember when I actually feel sleep but sure I woke 1:45, had breakfast and packed the car and left the house just past 3 AM. I saw 2 cars on Lonsdale and one of the driver senior citizen, what he was doing outside that early, and my guess he couldn’t sleep or had to go to hospital.
Highway was dark and lonely; I saw 2 cars only on my side of the road from Lonsdale all the way to first intersection before Whistler and 4 cars going in the opposite direction.

I Never drove that early in the morning on the highway before and the timing

close to Halloween every time I saw a car I thought of the creepy movies
specially semi truck driving behind you and pushing you off the road and laugh
out load J. By 4:30 AM I was in whistler and in the day parking lot, we were told that Parking programmer was supposed to program the meter so we get the day pass but someone obviously forgot and race organizer were very kind they took our licence plates and coordinated it
with the By-law officer not only we didn’t get a ticket but also we didn’t have to pay for parking.
After short briefing of the race course by Ron Adams we left the Whistler Conference Centre to the start.

It was cold but warmer than I even thought about and dark. 5 runners

at lead, Darin Bentley, Chris Downie, Jenn Segger and Nicola Gildersleeve and I hit the pavements. Chris and Jenn took off a head and Darin behind them. I ran and chat a bit with
Nicola and realized she wasn’t about to go faster earlier on. Apparently 2 ghosts were caught in Camera in Whistler and one of them wearing Saucony ViziPro line gears.

My goal was to stay with the lead guys as much as I could and finish the race quicker to avoid more. So I picked up the pace a bit and caught to Darin. I hadn’t seen Darin for over a

year since Fat Dog 2010, I miss the World Gibraltar in 2010 and he missed
Wichoten 2011. It was great running alongside of him and we chat for a while until he had to pull aside for pit stop.

Then I cut up to Jenn and then to Chris and took a tiny lead to the aid station where we supposed to have our drop bags. Up to this point I have already finished drinking my carbo-pro mixed with water and a Gel. No drop bags at the aid station yet so it meant no more food. I was lucky aid station had some water and Darin’s wife Kerry was Gracious to fill up my bottle with water. So I ran a whole loop with 2 Gels which I saved them for emergency and Water. That a bit affected my energy level to continue with the pace I was running and here Darin took the lead and Chris to follow. I only saw Chris one more time about half way into the 2nd loop. I don’t know what was going with me that day with exception of the first loop, I had multiple pit stops, lap 3 five times alone and they keep putting me behind, it was crazy. In a sense it was good, giving occasional break to my knee.

Shortly after loop 1 about 7:30 we a had a bit of day light and it was great seeing the course going through the golf course, residential area and around the lakes and parks. What a fantastic and breath taking view of mountains, ski runs covered with snow, causal hikers walks in the trail with dogs, some small and yappy ones too. Volunteers at the aid stations and the course Marshalls mostly from the relay team taking turn for their Volunteering duties. Most of the trails were the first time I stepped on so now I know more areas to run when I visit whistler next time.

Ran about a Kilometer of the 2nd loop with Chris and this was the last time I saw him
thanks to my frequent pits topsJ. Ultra running is a definitely a science that I admit haven’t been able to master even a chapter, always something different.

I finished lap 2 just under 2:51. I was very pleased with that and I knew if I had to walk for the rest of the race I would still make the caught off time, my goal was that my name to be listed under the finishers list.
By lap 3 the pain was getting worse and the only worries I had if I stop whether my knee was going to give up and collapse so I never stopped or stood up straight legs side by side even
at aid stations I tried to keep left leg ahead of the right to keep me
balanced.
I was very pleased with my performance considering the condition I went into the race and was able to finish the race sooner than I anticipated so I didn’t have to torture my
knee any longer. 6 hrs and 24 min into the race I crossed the finish line in third place.

Thank you to My Sponsor Saucony for their support and fantastic Gear the rock start Kinvara 2. The winner Chris Downie was also wearing Kinvara and right before the race he mentioned to me how happy he was running the shoes and he also told me that he had done 100k trail race in them as well.

Thank you to all the Volunteers to feed us, and keep us safe from the Cars :).
Thank you to Kathy McKay for her inspiration and the moral support I needed for this race.
Thank you to Ron Adams and his company for organizing such a wonderful event. I look forward to running this race again next year!

http://www.bcathletics.org/whistler50/

Happy running!!!!

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall"

2011 has been an interesting, exciting and frustrating year for me personally and keeps ticking
that way. My life personally has been a very busy year as far as my work goes and it has affected my training which I am not fond of.

I haven’t been training to the level that I like to compete in the endurance races or even for
the marathoning. I have come to the realization that lack of endurance training has also contributed to my injuries outside of running. I was much stronger when I was going for longer runs, weeks with 50-80 miles and sometimes to 100 miles before 2011.

I haven’t adapted to all changes. My daughter is growing fast and stronger and
goofing around with her hasn’t been same.
Time for me to get back to my regiment and training routine to get
stronger and be able to handle the push and pulls from all the angels. 2011
world championship in Holland performance wasn’t the best in my athletic life. Ever since I started running my times has gotten better year after year with PB. My race time in Holland was the lowest and it hurt my pride but on the other hand it made me feel stronger mentally.

Cramping from 34K and running 66K rest of the race with cramps made me believe I can overcome hurdles a lot easier. At one point in the race I was unable to move an inch forward which miraculously landed on a chair on the roadside and by help from spectator I was able to start moving forward again.

The race made me to re-think about the preparation and studied the races before entering them. So to cut the chase training hasn’t been to the level I desire and motivation hasn’t been the lowest. In low point of my training and competing I couldn’t have come across a better phrase than my favourite quote from Confucius.

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall”

2012 is going to be a better year, happier, fun and most importantly filled with PB’s.

Thank you to my sponsor Saucony for their tremendous support and fantastic gears. Kinvara 2 you ROCK!!! The best shoe ever, if you haven’t try them yet, I suggest you go get one and thank Saucony.

Happy running!!

Week July 11 training

Two weeks to Fat Dog 120 mile race in BC interior and Manning Park.
As much as i like to start the taper but is my opportunity to train without distraction or too much responsibility around the house. I decided to take Monday off from running but instead decided to play a bit of tennis, something haven't done for a long long time. I also felt my body needed a short break from running. My legs needed it specially after a good solid run on Sunday and being on my feet at the KneeKnacker course most of the Saturday. I also felt tennis could help with the recovery using different muscles, movment is more latteral as oppose to straight running motion.
Week Log:

_Monday Off
_Tuesday 17 miles including speed work 2X 2 miles
_Wednesday, 11 miles run, 5 miles on stairmaster with quality pace
_Thursday off, Cardiovascular test in UBC
_Friday 8 miles quality run
_Saturday 16 miles in Manning Park, partially run and partially hike due to massive amount of snow above 6000 Ft elevation.
_Sunday expecting about 5 hours run in BP trail.

For Saturday run thanks to social networking (Facebook) we managed to coordinate a run in Manning Park, Frosty Mountain. 4 years ago for first time I ran in Frosty Mountain and I have since fallen in Love with it. I could use any opportunity or excuse to just get out and run it. Gretel Fortmann (Strong and inspiring runner), Mike Palichuck (Reliable Machine) and I got to Lightening lake around 9 AM, and shortly after packing our fuels and hydration we headed the trail. The begining of the trail is flat with gentle up/down, wider, dirt and some section packed with Gravel. A few small bridges over the very shallow creeks with pleasant sound. 30 minutes into the run, Climb start and extend to 16 K Mark and occasional short downhills. The trail condition was a bit more wet than I used to in Frosty and once we hit the single track section we noted more sign of puddles and mud. Running required a bit of manuvering around, long jumps and extra attendtion to wet tree roots. we noted the small patches of snow starting 5500 ft altitude and once we reached the 6000 ft, trail covered with snow some times about 2 feet and more at the higher elevation. Trail is not marked but on a dry day with no snow you can't miss the trail but Saturday we have to back track at a few locations to ensure we were following the right path.

We goated the heavey snowed section on the north side at the higher elevation, we dipped a few times into the snow. About 2:30 into the run we reached the 7500 ft the view was stunning and breathtaking. That's why I love Frosty Mountain. after a few photo of warning sigh then we headed to highest point in Frosty. Wind slowly starting to pick up and got a bit cooler. A few more pictures on the top, Yoga poses and then we head for the downhills. Start of the downhill is very technical switch backs and sometimes on loose rocks so we had to pay extra attension for the wet rocks. Then running on the snow which we walked most of it until we reached the outdoor camp site. couple more pictures then we headed down in hope that snow is gone but to our surprise it wasn't the case, the trail was covered with snow to almost 3K marker to lightening lake. This is where Mike disappeared and we never saw him again until we reached the Lightening lake.

As soon as we finished the run we headed to Mike's car, changed and quickly every one reached their recovery drink and the first thing all three of us thought was what are we going to do next. We decided another long run for Sunday on Northshore Mountain, possibly the 2nd leg of kneeknacker, Deepcove to Grouse and back.

Sunday run we had another company Shauna for the first 2 hour of the run. We ended up running Deep Cove to Mountain Highway and return plus 30 minutes going up and down the old buck. Total run almost 5 hours.


The week is almost over and now exactly 5 days to Fat Dog. I don't feel nervous, I don't feel fast but I Just like to go out there and do it. I am hoping the race doesn't cancel. The part of the Frosty Mountain we run on Saturday is not in Fat Dog race but Sky line is just next to Frosty and we anticipate a lot of snow specially on the North side. Heather is also on the other side of the highway from Frosty and expecting a lot of snow. The marking of the trail is going to be hard specially with amount of tree falls we wintness during Saturday run. There is a possibility the race could be cancelled due to safety concern and if the race still on it is going to be a slow race. Space blanket will be come handy for cold night run :)

Sitting on top of the first snow mass in Manning Park, Frost Mountain with Mike Palichuk and Gretel Fortmann





























Happy running

Week June 27-July 3

Wow, I never thought i could run a week of 80 or +8o miles. So far this week has been awesomely great.


Week log:
_Monday 15 miles
_Tuesday 10 miles including hill workout
_Wednesday 18 miles
_Thursday 18 miles
_Friday 13 miles
_Saturday 8 miles

One more day to go, hopefully i make it to 100 miles :)

Fat dog is around the corner, wishful to have another 100 miles next week. plan on running in the AM and in the evening. Very difficult to run during lunch hours as much as I wanted my body to adapt to higher temperaturs. Happy running forrest!!!

Week May 28-June 4

By far the most productive running week of the year!!
in preparation for the Fat dog 120 Miles race, I decided to run the Vancouver 100 which is probably considered the hardest 100K race in North Amercica. The race truley stands out for its repeitation and no short coming. The race is extream Whether is the acsends or decsends, snow, puddles, tree roots. The common words I heard through the run "No body said Vancouver 100 is going to be easy, no wonder they call it Vancouver 100" :)

Week log:

_Monday 7 miles

_Tuesday 9 miles including hill workout

_Wednesday 7 miles

_Thursday off
_Friday off
Saturday 72 miles including going off the course

Saturday run started at 5:00 AM in Deepcove with the folks from Fat Ass club. we headed to Horseshoe Bay about 50K north west through the Baden Powell and then had to return back to Deep cove. I estimated that I would be returning around 8:00 PM in the evening however about 1/3 of the way in the course Ryan Conroy and I managed to go off the course . Once we found our way back into the course after descending and climbing snow, creeks, sliding on the snow down, using tree roots to climb the creeks and slippery moss, we lost a good hour.
The good thing was that we both had a good spirit and also ate enough snow to keep us hydrated.
10:30 AM we reached Cypress and from there had to climb to Black mountain. running the snow absolutely would have been suicide, we colimbed to the first lookout, the View fantastic. I have never seen it before, so clear and you could for miles. Vancouver Island, Lions, Mount Baker, stunning and priceless.

Then we headed down to the half way point. Ryan proved to me that he was a much better down hill or technical runner than i was. He sprinted the down hills and I had no intention of following him which at the end became a mistake for me. I miss a turn which I later found out that he had missed the same turn. for 1 hour and 45 I went to different trails to find the way but had no luck. People on the root also had no clue about the trails. Luckily I bumped into a girl who i had seen him climbing Black while we were coming down and she told me about the way. By the time I got the junction i met Mike Wardas and followed him to the half way point.

2:00 PM I left the half way point after filling up my camelback and my hand held, Thanks to Mike Wardas crew and their generosity. I also drank quite a bit from the creek, nice and cold water. About 45 minutes into the return run I was very low on energy. running in the open trails and consuming most of my Carb had taken its toll. I was feeling hot, no light headed but felt my legs didn't want to go any further. All I can see is the hills. I ran into Dana and Deavah and they asked me how I was feeling. My response was terrible, I don't remembe ever saying that in any of my races :). Thank God they had some extra a bar to share with me. Another Gentlemen who was running with them gvme me a Cliff block (electrolyte). by the time I consume 2 bars and cliff block I was half way climbing black and as the sugar started to kick in I picked the pace up a bit. One more Cliff Bar at the top of the Black, I was ready to run down the slushy snow of the black. Mean while i am filling up my cap with snow to cool my head. By the time I got i reached Cleavland Dam I was completley out of fluid. I met Kerry Ward, Adam Way (Kerry's Pacer) while Kerry was changing to his shoe and dry sucks. I filled up my camelback all with Coke and a handheld of Carbo-pro, i was ready head for the last 1/4 of the race. In the morning from Deep cove to Cleavland Dam I ran the same distance+ 10 min road run in 2:50. I figured I should still get back to deep cove when is light out. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy. The trail was a lot darker than i anticipated and I just wanted to finish the run injury free so I decided to hike the rest of the way. 10:17 I reached Deep cove and to my surprize no one was there :).

17:16 training run was a perfect preparation for Fat Dog. Had high and lows. Never lost my confidence in my ability to finish the run, didn't panic when I was in trouble whether i was off the course or out of nutrition. With 2:45 loosing time still to be the first finisher was the bouns!!

Week May 23 training

This week load is going to be a bit higher than last week as I have been thinking about doing the Vancouver 100 on June 4. so far the week has started nicely :)


Monday -17 miles- nice pace

Tuesday - 9 miles including 3.5 miles of speed work

Wednesday -16 miles mix road and trail. From home to Brothers Creak and back.

I really enjoyed the Wednesday evening run. Mother Nature didn't lit up, it poured all the way.
It was great seeing some of my friends haven't seen for while. Snow was deep 1/3 of the way. If I do Vancouver 100 next weekend is going to be hard and a lot of hiking. I had to watch the footing. I fell into snow 3 times within 100 yards.

Thursday -10 miles run- easy

My legs were a bit fatigue from the yesterday's run. Energy level was good so it carried me through the 10 miles. Pace was slower and at the end felt great.

Friday _off, speding time with family

Saturday _Volunteer work (Trail maintenance) with NSA in the morning. it was great, my daughter also came along. Afternoon coaching my daughter's soccer team

Sunday _Run with the Kneeknacker group. Thanks to Bill Dang and the PR runners we run from Cleaveland Dam to Cypress mountain and back. It was great to learn part of the course that I am planning to run next Saturday. Probably one of the toughest 100K runs ever :)
today's run probably about 13 miles , lots of hills and snow.

So far this week 65 miles, alright!

time to go ready to coach my daughter's team for their first Spring tournament.

Fat Dog training officially began

It has been a while since I blogged. what a better way to start blogging other than the official training log for Fat Dog.

I started official training for Fat Dog 120 miles race on the week of May 16.

Monday -0 miles-

Tuesday 10 miles including 3 miles of speed work

Wednesday -0 miles-

Thursday -0 miles-

Friday -6 miles-

Saturday -28 miles run and 5 miles hike

Sunday -5 miles hike

Total miles for week 44. Thank you to Kerry Ward for Saturday night run, about 28 miles of run through the North Shore trails over to Lions Gate Bridge, Stanley Park, east Van, Second Narrow Bridge and back home.