Splitting the report into pre-race (boring, nerdy stats for my own logging), and race day. Skip all this to go straight here for the race itself.
Why sign up for a 100 miler?
Probably the question I've been asked the most. To be honest, after running the 50 miler in 2021, I had no desire to double the distance, let alone on the same course!
Then, after racing a few more trail races (Moose Mountain Marathon and Freaky Creeky 50k), and more generally becoming a fan of the sport, I got it in my head that I was ready to tackle the 100 mile beast. It had to meet some criteria, though:
- Had to be a legitimate course put on by a trusted race director. I wasn't interested in running 153k, or 176k. I didn't want to end up lost in the mountains because of poor flagging or lack of volunteers and support staff.
- Wanted it to count as a qualifier for UTMB or Western States. This would both bring more depth of talent, as well as give me a chance in one of those lotteries!
- Did not want multiple loops of the same 10k. Ideally it would be one big loop, with zero chance of an easy out to abandon.
As I weighted through the options, I settled on Leadville 100. With no qualifying races necessary, I could just sign up through the lottery. There is so much history in that race, it would be impossible to take it for granted while out on course, I figured!
Well, that dream would have to wait, as I received my lottery rejection letter on January 9th, at 10:04 AM. However with that mental hurdle overcome, by 1:53PM, I was on the start list for Sinister 7 100 miler. I had 6 months to figure it out from there!
Learnings from 2021
First thing I had to do was remember my learnings from the 50 miler:
- Course Specificity: Steep hills.
In 2021, my training consisted of long trail runs, with low-moderate
amount of climbing. While Sinister is mostly runnable and running fitness
is most needed, there are some steeper sections, in particular the Seven
Sisters Mountain climb. This appeared at kilometer 50 and hit me like a
brick wall. Not only was I physically at my limit from running and the
heat, but the sudden steepness knocked the wind out of my sails. I
struggled to recover, ended up tripping myself and damaging my toes quite
badly (see @rens_toes).
- Nutrition/hydration: Being
our first ultra, both Mel and I were not prepared for the excessive heat
(~38C at its peak). I had no ice, and thus nothing cold at my aid
stations. My interest in dry, warm food and drink waned as the day rolled
on, and to combat this I spent more time dunking in creeks and refilling
water at intermediate aid stations.
- Gear/Shoes: Upon receiving my award
for "Worst Feet", a friend asked why I didn't just use the
Heel-Lock method to tie my shoes. A quick Google later, as well as some
solicitation with my other trail running friends, and I started wondering
how come nobody every told me about this secret magic trick before! The
sliding of my feet in my shoes, combined with aforementioned fatigue
resulted in a rather debilitating bludgeoning of my toes on leg 6, right
before the long descent I had been yearning for during the entire climb.
The pain was so severe that I was forced to walk/shuffle downhill;
contrary to my racing goal of capitalizing on the favorable gradient.
Furthermore, I had decided to employ poles for leg 6. That might have been
a good decision if I had practiced more, and had a quiver to stash them
when not needed, but instead they felt burdensome. I regretted bringing
them as they made drinking and eating even more challenging. I considered
tossing them into a creek.
The Strategy
Strength
For Christmas 2022, Mel hired strength coach Bre
"Brevil" Gustafson for me. We recognized that long ultras are not necessarily won
by those with just the highest VO2 max, but by those having the overall
muscular strength and endurance to persevere for up to 24 hours! This
accountability was exciting, and I eagerly and diligently followed her plan
each week and felt strong and robust.
Nutrition/Supplements
Creatine Monohydrate (see "Dr Creatine" Scott Forbes),
increased Protein intake, Vitamin B, daily multi-vitamin. Cut back alcohol to 1
or 2 per night, generally only on weekends. Was mindful to eat ENOUGH during
the day, especially in the final 6 weeks of training, as the volume increased.
Training
Goal was to build road speed early for Mesa Half (see
Every Second Counts), then maintain that speed but extend duration during the
spring with a marathon (Boston) and a road 50k (Calgary).
To address the identified limiter from last Sin7, each
week would have prescribed elevation goals, often with maximum distance put in
forcing me to find some steep, repeatable terrain.
To keep the body and mind happy during a 6 month
training cycle, I wanted to include the bike more. One day per week minimum on
the saddle would help me meet the training hours, while taking the edge off the
feet.
To put it all together, we would be shifting the
weekly training goals away from mileage, and focus on total hours.
Heat
Infrared Sauna Protocol would be designed and
documented, in particular during the final 3 weeks. Even if it wasn't going to be a hot day for the race, the adaptations would still provide a tremendous benefit.
Mental
Overarching motivator for the entire training would be my desire to accomplish this daunting feat. The distance and duration seemed unfathomable, but I was going to put everything I had into the training, and on race day. In training I focused on chunking; breaking long runs and workouts into smaller bite-sized chunks. I repeatedly reminded myself to be grateful, through it all.
I knew as the race drew closer that I would start obsessing over ultra documentation and youtube videos, so I decided to get a head start on another passion I'd been brewing, and registered and certified myself in Trail and Ultrarunning Coaching, and a specialization in Sports Psychology, through UESCA.
This training helped me frame up the impossible into a manageable and calculated project, and gave me an extra motivator to rise up for race day!
Key Workouts
- Prairie Mtn. More climbs up Prairie this year
than all other years combined.
- Up and over Sulphur: 2.5 hours turned to 4.5
hours, and I did not fuel adequately. About 30 minutes post-run, I felt
nauseous and nearly blacked out. I had a stabbing pain in my kidney and
had to get Mel to drive us home from Banff. A hot bath, advil, and 4 hours
later I came back to life. This would have been DNF during a race, and was
a major wake up call to take the fueling more seriously!
- 60k up Moose Mountain: Eat everything! Mashed sweet potatoes,
oreos, etc. Felt incredible. Longest training run ever, and 2nd longest
run next to Sin7 50 miler.
- B2B mountain marathons: Saturday, 4 x Sulphur Mountain. Felt comfortable on each lap, even making the final one, solo,
the fastest. Sunday we did Elbow Loop, which is nice and runnable. Felt
comfortable, but ready to call Peak Week done!
- Taper Tempo, July 1st. After hosting the Canada
Day 5k at the track, standing and yelling, then going home and having
coffee and lunch, I went to WBC by myself and ran the Kestrel loop with a
fun workout Mel had prescribed. My legs felt incredibly good, and set some
PRs on several segments that I've ran a lot. Confidence for race day legs!
2023 H1 Stats
Total Runs: 184
Total meters climbed:
37,650 m
Total kilometers running: 2,368 km
Total hours running: 214 h
Total hours strength: 31.5 h
Total hours bike: 26 h
