Well, Stuart and I headed out early from work to get to Lethbridge and pick up his race package. The drive was uneventful for once and we got there in good time. The big L is growing, but it's still a pretty straightforward place, so we found Runner's Soul and then the hotel without a problem.
We unloaded all the gear and went out to find some dinner. As usual, carb-loading was on the agenda, so we found the local BP's. Just as we were leaving, the clouds opened up with some seriously pounding downpour - it didn't last long, but any poor guys out doing the 100km or 100 miles would have been suffering.
When we got back to the hotel, Stuart settled in for some serious pre-race checking and re-packing of all his gear, while I reminded myself why we don't pay for TV. He did manage to work out enough jitters in time to go down for a soak in the hot tub, which was great. We talked to some guy who's been stuck here for 6 weeks on a job. Apparently, the hotel hosts 2 or 3 weddings every weekend, so I don't even want to think about the fashion horrors he's been exposed to. We also chatted with another 50km runner and his wife, exchanging battle stories and all.
We turned in to the rather flat bed early, to get a good night's sleep before the race. Stuart's alarm went off at some ungodly hour and I put the pillow over my head while he had breakfast. Eventually, we were all vertical and about as ready as possible, so we went down to the race start for the meeting. It was overcast and the ground was wet, but it wasn't currently raining - so it was a bit surprising when the tent was closed and dark and there wasn't a soul around. We went in the back door to the hotel and tripped over the meeting in one of the ballrooms. We'd missed the big announcement, but what it boiled down to was: the trail was too dangerous, so they'd cancelled the 50km and pulled all the other racers off the course.
Those of you who've been in this part of Alberta are probably familiar with the terrain. When dry, the clay is fairly firm and a bit powdery; however, when it gets wet, it's basically becomes a frictionless surface. Not good footing for a lot of up and down. They race website does specify that in order to avoid excessive environmental damage, there is an alternate "rain route", but we still haven't found out why it wasn't used.
So, a whole lot of runners who'd been up before the crack of dawn grumbled a bunch and went back to bed. It was too late to cancel our hotel rooms and get our money back, and the race "awards breakfast" will go as planned tomorrow morning, so we stayed around. At a much more reasonable hour, we got up and went to find breakfast. Listening to conversations in the restaurant, it sounded like a lot of the runners on the trail were dealing with incipient hypothermia, in addition to the treacherous footing. I can't wear Stuart's beloved wool, but unless you're allergic like me, I don't think there's any excuse not to!
We've had a pretty relaxed day - we visited the Japanese Garden, bought new pillows for the new bed and went to see "Kungfu Panda" (which was surprisingly good - another for the DVD list.) We just had some mediocre sushi for dinner and we have a lovely evening of Saturday night tv and hot tubbing planned.
I'll get back to you later with any new info from the race breakfast...
Showing posts with label ultra-marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ultra-marathon. Show all posts
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Time flies with super sonic jets
Sooo... what's been happening since last I posted. Friday was a nasty day at work and I think I felt a little defeated by it. As usual though, the passage of time has smoothed it over a bit and thus we carry on.
Friday night, Stuart and I drove to Edmonton. We took Dad's new iMac with us, which was well received (although I've been fielding the resultant issues all week. I.e. how to transfer files, why wasn't the Office for Macs I order included, etc.) We stayed at Stuart's parents' as usual and had more boxes of stuff to sort through and say we didn't want, as usual. Where does Delayne keep finding these things? I swear the house is built of boxes and just looks like timber and siding.
On Saturday, I saw Marghie for a long overdo haircut. She took off about an inch, which was traumatic for me, but can't have been that bad, since no one else noticed. Mom and I ran around assembling the last minute bits of Grandma's present, while Stuart was getting the iMac email up and running. Then we fixed the cabling on Mom's tv/cable/dvd recorder set-up, so hopefully now with an S-Video cable, she'll be able to record the digital channels.
Then it was off to Grandma's condo for her 90th birthday party. Mom had invited the extended family and had it catered by Acapella Catering. It was a fairly low-key event, but Megan did manage to make her cry by singing their own new lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine". It was all over and cleaned up by 7pm, when Stuart and I hit the road for home. We had to be back for the delivery of our new bed!
And a good thing we came back too - Sleep Country called at 8:10am and by 11:30am we were laying on the new box spring and mattress. I would have had the best sleep of my life in ages, if I hadn't of picked up a bug from Miles and Ella, but as it was, about 4am I started feeling nasty. Let's just say it was an intestinal bug and I stayed home from work on Monday - no need for gory details.
The bed though is working out really well. I have only two complaints. 1) We were offered a regular profile box spring and a low profile one; against my vague preference we took the regular one. Well, the top of the bed is now at least 20cm above the bedside tables and I can't just sit on the bed - I have to kind of hop up to it. We are SO taking advantage of the 30 day exchange to fix that! 2) Both Stuart and I have been having shoulder/neck pain since we got it, but I blame that on the pillows. With the change in how much your shoulder sinks into the pillow top, I now find that one pillow is too low, but two is too high. I swapped out for one of our newer (hence less flattened) pillows last night and it was better, but being the standard batting, it's gonna flatten fast as well. I think the answer is memory foam or gel, but we're going to test drive some on Monday to see.
We already own way too many pillows, but luckily, I can foist some off on Mom for her new guest bed!
Work this week has been quite productive, and today we got Tara's grant application to the courier 2.5 days before the deadline, so I'm quite pleased. I feel no qualms about taking off early tomorrow for Lethbridge - it's Stuart's last race of the season, the Lost Soul Ultra.
Friday night, Stuart and I drove to Edmonton. We took Dad's new iMac with us, which was well received (although I've been fielding the resultant issues all week. I.e. how to transfer files, why wasn't the Office for Macs I order included, etc.) We stayed at Stuart's parents' as usual and had more boxes of stuff to sort through and say we didn't want, as usual. Where does Delayne keep finding these things? I swear the house is built of boxes and just looks like timber and siding.
On Saturday, I saw Marghie for a long overdo haircut. She took off about an inch, which was traumatic for me, but can't have been that bad, since no one else noticed. Mom and I ran around assembling the last minute bits of Grandma's present, while Stuart was getting the iMac email up and running. Then we fixed the cabling on Mom's tv/cable/dvd recorder set-up, so hopefully now with an S-Video cable, she'll be able to record the digital channels.
Then it was off to Grandma's condo for her 90th birthday party. Mom had invited the extended family and had it catered by Acapella Catering. It was a fairly low-key event, but Megan did manage to make her cry by singing their own new lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine". It was all over and cleaned up by 7pm, when Stuart and I hit the road for home. We had to be back for the delivery of our new bed!
And a good thing we came back too - Sleep Country called at 8:10am and by 11:30am we were laying on the new box spring and mattress. I would have had the best sleep of my life in ages, if I hadn't of picked up a bug from Miles and Ella, but as it was, about 4am I started feeling nasty. Let's just say it was an intestinal bug and I stayed home from work on Monday - no need for gory details.
The bed though is working out really well. I have only two complaints. 1) We were offered a regular profile box spring and a low profile one; against my vague preference we took the regular one. Well, the top of the bed is now at least 20cm above the bedside tables and I can't just sit on the bed - I have to kind of hop up to it. We are SO taking advantage of the 30 day exchange to fix that! 2) Both Stuart and I have been having shoulder/neck pain since we got it, but I blame that on the pillows. With the change in how much your shoulder sinks into the pillow top, I now find that one pillow is too low, but two is too high. I swapped out for one of our newer (hence less flattened) pillows last night and it was better, but being the standard batting, it's gonna flatten fast as well. I think the answer is memory foam or gel, but we're going to test drive some on Monday to see.
We already own way too many pillows, but luckily, I can foist some off on Mom for her new guest bed!
Work this week has been quite productive, and today we got Tara's grant application to the courier 2.5 days before the deadline, so I'm quite pleased. I feel no qualms about taking off early tomorrow for Lethbridge - it's Stuart's last race of the season, the Lost Soul Ultra.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Laugh of the Day
Stuart recently made it off the waiting list and is a confirmed 50km participant of this year's Lost Soul Ultra. I thought I should take a quick look, just to get a feel for what to expect. His start time is 7:30am, which is do-able, considering that the starting line is directly outside the hotel.
However, my favorite thing is the route map, which shows the aid stations and several "unmaned" water stations. There's nothing worse than furry water!
However, my favorite thing is the route map, which shows the aid stations and several "unmaned" water stations. There's nothing worse than furry water!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sinister 7 Completed
So, here's my non-racer's take on the weekend of fun. First of all, I woke up in the middle of the night Thursday with the sore throat and sniffles that indicate the onset of another lovely allergy flare-up. I spent the whole weekend scarfing antihistamines and feeling kind of fuzzy. Wheee!
At any rate, I picked up Stuart from work on Friday at noon and we headed out. We took the 22 most of the way south and it was beautiful. The "Cowboy Trail" wends it's way through true foothills country, so there were green hills and blue water as we passed the Chain Lakes. Stuart took a nap and I took it easy driving and listening to tunes. The sky was bright blue and full of white, puffy clouds, which I realized is what I associate with summer, more than just a big blue bowl.
We got to Blairmore in lots of time to check into our hotel (old, small and dark, but cheap and air conditioned!) and head over to the arena for the pre-race dinner. As usual, it was pasta - ahh... runners and their carb-loading! In this case, served with Prego that someone had added chili flakes to; bland and spicy may seem like an oxymoron, but believe me, they achieved it. The race meeting was pretty normal - follow the ribbons, don't get eaten by bears, have fun.
We managed to get some sleep, particularly since this race started at the much more humane hour of 9am. We went to see John start and then went back to the hotel to repack Stuart's run bags again and just relax. I won't bother trying to guestimate their run times, if you really want to know, check out the leader boards, whenever they get them updated. John made good time on Legs 1, 2 and 3 although he complained about the heat (and he wasn't the only one - it got up to about 26 degrees that day.)
We sent Stuart off on Leg 4 and I headed off for TA (transition area) 4. He rolled in about 15 minutes later than I'd expected, but he wasn't doing well. He plunked into the chair, demanding fluids and a medic! He took about 10 minutes to rest, gulp water and have his blood pressure taken, because he was experiencing nausea and difficulty drinking enough. His veins were still up though, so he was pronounced healthy enough to run. He took off on Leg 5 doing his "military stride".
Obviously, I was a bit worried about him, so I got to TA5 way too early and had to sit around reminding myself that there was no way he could be showing up yet. He did roll in at a very respectable time and obviously in a much better mood. He changed into a long sleeve shirt, decided to do without his poles and off he went. As I got off the mountain and into cell range, I found several messages indicating that John was already at TA6, so I headed straight there.
We sat around until about 1:45am waiting for Stuart. We saw two soloists roll in, who took quite a long break before heading out to start Leg 5! We saw Jack Cook, the racing machine, stagger in and DNF. (I'd seen him at most of the TA's and he never stopped longer than it took to refill his clutch bottles and maybe scarf some orange. That works for marathons, but I think he needs to tweak his strategy for ultras. Just my opinion.)
Stuart came in strong and fired off his tradition flare - fortunately before he got right into the TA! - but still managed to give everyone an adrenaline rush. John took off for the last leg and we packed up to head into town. We stopped at the hotel long enough for Stuart to shower and get into some warmer clothes, then headed for the finish line. We got there in good time to see John power in and for both of them to get their green "you finished" medals. Then it was back to the hotel to fall into our well-deserved beds at 3:30am.
The Cobbs headed out in good time for family commitments in Edmonton, but we slept in. By the time we dragged ourselves out of bed, packed and checked out, it was 12:30. We probably would have slept longer, but the need for food was keeping us awake. We ate and then headed to the town pool for a leisurely float in the pool. Then we got ice cream cones and drove down to the Frank Slide Interpretive Center. The Center itself was closed, but the paths and "info" boards were still there. From the highway, it looks like a big slide, but with the higher perspective, you realize that a substantial chunk of the mountain came down. If you weren't in immediate danger of being crushed, it was probably pretty spectacular!
By then, it was time to head back for the awards dinner. Pasta salad, bean salad and overdone roast beef - if you'd been running stupid distances it was probably great, but otherwise... The boys did well, but not well enough to win anything. Likewise, we didn't win anything in the draws, but then again, the last thing we need is another freakin' water bottle! We hit the road home at about 5:30pm. The outstanding points of the trip home were Stuart picking out which hills he wants to buy when we win the lottery and all the idiots on the road. The posted speed limit is 100km/hr. I was doing 110, just to avoid being flat out run over and everyone passed me, doing at least 120 and most were going faster. God, I hate people sometimes.
So that was it. All in all, a pretty fun trip. Stuart's dilemma now? To run "Lost Souls" or to volunteer? And should we use the vacation time to do the "Mantario" ultra?
At any rate, I picked up Stuart from work on Friday at noon and we headed out. We took the 22 most of the way south and it was beautiful. The "Cowboy Trail" wends it's way through true foothills country, so there were green hills and blue water as we passed the Chain Lakes. Stuart took a nap and I took it easy driving and listening to tunes. The sky was bright blue and full of white, puffy clouds, which I realized is what I associate with summer, more than just a big blue bowl.
We got to Blairmore in lots of time to check into our hotel (old, small and dark, but cheap and air conditioned!) and head over to the arena for the pre-race dinner. As usual, it was pasta - ahh... runners and their carb-loading! In this case, served with Prego that someone had added chili flakes to; bland and spicy may seem like an oxymoron, but believe me, they achieved it. The race meeting was pretty normal - follow the ribbons, don't get eaten by bears, have fun.
We managed to get some sleep, particularly since this race started at the much more humane hour of 9am. We went to see John start and then went back to the hotel to repack Stuart's run bags again and just relax. I won't bother trying to guestimate their run times, if you really want to know, check out the leader boards, whenever they get them updated. John made good time on Legs 1, 2 and 3 although he complained about the heat (and he wasn't the only one - it got up to about 26 degrees that day.)
We sent Stuart off on Leg 4 and I headed off for TA (transition area) 4. He rolled in about 15 minutes later than I'd expected, but he wasn't doing well. He plunked into the chair, demanding fluids and a medic! He took about 10 minutes to rest, gulp water and have his blood pressure taken, because he was experiencing nausea and difficulty drinking enough. His veins were still up though, so he was pronounced healthy enough to run. He took off on Leg 5 doing his "military stride".
Obviously, I was a bit worried about him, so I got to TA5 way too early and had to sit around reminding myself that there was no way he could be showing up yet. He did roll in at a very respectable time and obviously in a much better mood. He changed into a long sleeve shirt, decided to do without his poles and off he went. As I got off the mountain and into cell range, I found several messages indicating that John was already at TA6, so I headed straight there.
We sat around until about 1:45am waiting for Stuart. We saw two soloists roll in, who took quite a long break before heading out to start Leg 5! We saw Jack Cook, the racing machine, stagger in and DNF. (I'd seen him at most of the TA's and he never stopped longer than it took to refill his clutch bottles and maybe scarf some orange. That works for marathons, but I think he needs to tweak his strategy for ultras. Just my opinion.)
Stuart came in strong and fired off his tradition flare - fortunately before he got right into the TA! - but still managed to give everyone an adrenaline rush. John took off for the last leg and we packed up to head into town. We stopped at the hotel long enough for Stuart to shower and get into some warmer clothes, then headed for the finish line. We got there in good time to see John power in and for both of them to get their green "you finished" medals. Then it was back to the hotel to fall into our well-deserved beds at 3:30am.
The Cobbs headed out in good time for family commitments in Edmonton, but we slept in. By the time we dragged ourselves out of bed, packed and checked out, it was 12:30. We probably would have slept longer, but the need for food was keeping us awake. We ate and then headed to the town pool for a leisurely float in the pool. Then we got ice cream cones and drove down to the Frank Slide Interpretive Center. The Center itself was closed, but the paths and "info" boards were still there. From the highway, it looks like a big slide, but with the higher perspective, you realize that a substantial chunk of the mountain came down. If you weren't in immediate danger of being crushed, it was probably pretty spectacular!
By then, it was time to head back for the awards dinner. Pasta salad, bean salad and overdone roast beef - if you'd been running stupid distances it was probably great, but otherwise... The boys did well, but not well enough to win anything. Likewise, we didn't win anything in the draws, but then again, the last thing we need is another freakin' water bottle! We hit the road home at about 5:30pm. The outstanding points of the trip home were Stuart picking out which hills he wants to buy when we win the lottery and all the idiots on the road. The posted speed limit is 100km/hr. I was doing 110, just to avoid being flat out run over and everyone passed me, doing at least 120 and most were going faster. God, I hate people sometimes.
So that was it. All in all, a pretty fun trip. Stuart's dilemma now? To run "Lost Souls" or to volunteer? And should we use the vacation time to do the "Mantario" ultra?
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Education leads to wacky dreams
My sister is working on a nursing degree, taking courses both through Mount Royal and by correspondence, as her schedule allows. Right now she's finishing up a course on Community Education or some such, so she dragooned some of us into helping her out. Last night, we sipped tea and ate cookies while she updated us on Breast Self Awareness. It really wasn't that painful and I always like a chance to see the kids too.
However, I was having weird dreams last night, where I was working in a doctor's office and there was this whole parade of animals and insects coming in with breast cancer. Hamsters, bees, ferrets, tortoises (tortoi?) and I don't remember what else, all with breast cancer. I've lost the details but it was strange. On the sort of plus side, when the alarm went off this morning, Stuart started muttering about how it was lucky we had doctors when the radioactive aliens showed up (or something like that), so I guess the pre-race dream insanity has finally hit him as well.
In further race news, the forecast for this weekend in Crowsnest Pass is going up, resulting in increased complaining from Stuart. He was hoping for about +14 and cloudy; it's looking like he'll get +24 and sunny. Pack the sunblock and drink lots of water folks!
However, I was having weird dreams last night, where I was working in a doctor's office and there was this whole parade of animals and insects coming in with breast cancer. Hamsters, bees, ferrets, tortoises (tortoi?) and I don't remember what else, all with breast cancer. I've lost the details but it was strange. On the sort of plus side, when the alarm went off this morning, Stuart started muttering about how it was lucky we had doctors when the radioactive aliens showed up (or something like that), so I guess the pre-race dream insanity has finally hit him as well.
In further race news, the forecast for this weekend in Crowsnest Pass is going up, resulting in increased complaining from Stuart. He was hoping for about +14 and cloudy; it's looking like he'll get +24 and sunny. Pack the sunblock and drink lots of water folks!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Sinister 7 looms
My sweetie is running in the Sinister 7 ultra-marathon this weekend, and, as usual, the pre-race brain is setting in. For me, this mostly means lack of sleep due to a) his tossing and turning and b) my crazy dreams. Strange pre-race dreams are a common hallmark for marathon and ultra-marathon runners, but Stuart normally doesn't have them. I do instead.
And I could do without them, thank you very much. I have strange, strange dreams all on my own, without sympathy dreaming for him. I made a special effort to remember last night's dream, since it occurred to me that several elements of it could be written up into a half-decent fantasy novel. Of course now I can't remember a darn thing about it. Nothing at all. I'm dragging my butt today and have nothing to show for it.
On the plus side, I got another free pancake breakfast this morning, thanks to the city's ongoing "Stampede" mania. With a minimum of work and planning, you could basically eat for free for 10 days in Calgary - if you don't mind a lot of pancakes and lukewarm sausage.
Since I still don't have a laptop, Blackberry or other transportable device, there will be no up-to-date postings of Stuart and John's progress this weekend. (I refuse to type anything long on my little cell phone!) However, Sinister 7 will have a leader board - just watch "Two Fun Guys". And of course, there will be a full apres-race report here as soon as I get some sleep!
And I could do without them, thank you very much. I have strange, strange dreams all on my own, without sympathy dreaming for him. I made a special effort to remember last night's dream, since it occurred to me that several elements of it could be written up into a half-decent fantasy novel. Of course now I can't remember a darn thing about it. Nothing at all. I'm dragging my butt today and have nothing to show for it.
On the plus side, I got another free pancake breakfast this morning, thanks to the city's ongoing "Stampede" mania. With a minimum of work and planning, you could basically eat for free for 10 days in Calgary - if you don't mind a lot of pancakes and lukewarm sausage.
Since I still don't have a laptop, Blackberry or other transportable device, there will be no up-to-date postings of Stuart and John's progress this weekend. (I refuse to type anything long on my little cell phone!) However, Sinister 7 will have a leader board - just watch "Two Fun Guys". And of course, there will be a full apres-race report here as soon as I get some sleep!
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