A few months back (May) while I was out in Ontario, I got onto a Honda dirt bike, and within 60 seconds, promptly fell off. In the process of falling off, I broke my left collarbone.

The timing was awful, as I was all prepared to go kayaking on the Ottawa river with Liquid Skills. I have been wanting to do that course for the last 5 years. I had signed up for it, paid for it, and the week before going I broke my collarbone.

The recovery has been slow. Due to the fact that the bone was not splinted, exercise was pretty much out of the picture. Walking at a semi-normal pace was painful, and sleeping quite difficult.

It is later now, and the bone has healed. Still, my left arm is quite weak I have almost all my mobility back, but in certain ranges of motion my arm suddenly ‘tweaks’. For example, a few weeks back I was moving some furniture, I could feel the stress on my collarbone and the muscles. It was not pleasant, but not painful. Then, the other day, I picked up a cup of coffee with my left arm and felt terrible pain in my shoulder. I guess I just had the angle to make it hurt.

To top it all off I have been neglecting my Physio. So, last week I started it up again. I had hoped to run in some MOMAR races this year, but with my arm the way it is I can’t get trained up in time.

I will be ready for some trail races like the Gunner Shaw though. Well, that is if I don’t head off to South America during that time, but we will see about that.

I am back at a Motel in Victoria, the commute was killing both me and my car. On the upside, I managed to tear through a large number of books. I recently got through: A history of the Nazi Party (lecture), The search for intelligent life in the universe (lecture), the early writings of Abraham Lincoln (lecture), Eragon (fiction), and Eldest (fiction). I went through a few more, but I cannot remember them at this time.

On the downside, the lack of exercise has been taking a big toll on me. In this picture:

I weigh 220 lbs. That was in June of last year. I have lost 30 lbs. That is what happens when you don’t go to the gym or train at all due to a hellish commute. Sure, losing weight is not something most would complain about, except in my case it has been losing muscle mass and general fitness! However, being at the motel now, I get free passes to the phoenix gym, and I have my running gear and mountain biking gear in Victoria now, so I can start getting back into shape. I am also looking at joining one of the kayaking clubs and getting back into racing.

On the finance front, I have been approved for another mortgage, so it looks like I should have no trouble buying a house in Victoria. Of course, the downside is the huge debt load I am about to take on in doing so. I have to take out an equity loan on my current home (selling it is a very bad idea, it puts me in a horrible tax position) and that changes the terms of my mortgage, and adds a huge amount to the monthly payments. But, I should be able to scrape by and get a place in Victoria by doing this. Still, it is a bit scary. I have already been around to look at houses in the Victoria area, but it seems like it is going to be a challenge to find a place where I can really work the numbers in this market. Still, I should be able to get fairly close to my goals.

I just got out and ran 5 km. It took me about 40 min. I felt better doing it than I had expected. I figure if I am going to get back into shape to run the upcoming MOMAR and Gutbuster races, I have to start training sometime. Besides, Kathy will be in the Squamish MOMAR, and I have to beat her! Which, of course, will be very hard given that she is currently training for the Canada Ironman in Penticton, and she has finished second in it before. I think I have my work cut out for me there. Still, goals keep you going!

Now I just need to find a gym near here that I can drop in at. My resistance training is shot as well. At least my aerobic capacity is not as bad as I had expected it would be. Probably walking to and from work from the hotel room I was at every workday helped out in that regard.

4 Gutbusters, 3 MOMARs. I have my work cut out for me again this coming year. At least I will have started training 2 months earlier, and I have a great deal more experience working with these kind of races now. Now I just need to get more biking in at the dump, and join a kayaking club in town to get all up to speed!

Well, I lived through the 2006 MOMAR, and shaved just over an hour off my previous time.

It was a blast. And to think I almost did not want to go! I had hurt my IT band on my right knee in the final Gutbuster of the season, so I did not get nearly as much training in as I would have liked to, but then I remembered that I had set a goal to run all the MOMAR races and all the Gutbuster races for this year, and for me, the Cumberland 2006 MOMAR was the most important. My goal was to better my time from the 2005 Cumberland MOMAR, where our team finished in 8:03 - dead last. And I figured that even if my aerobic capacity was not as good as it had been during the summer, I was going to go and just get out there and finish.

I managed to get a surf ski from Ocean River Kayak Club, and this was a slightly new experience for me as I am used to Whitewater, Sea and K-1 Kayaks, but not so used to a surf ski.

On the upside, at the race start, the surf ski was fast, and had fantastic secondary stability. However, I have years of training bracing with the balls of my feet to help stabilize a kayak, in this surf ski, moving the balls of your feet causes the surf ski to steer! That, and the steering on the Speedster Surf Ski was very sensitive indeed, a slight touch on the pedals and you were suddenly turning rapidly.

I tried drafting other kayaks, but found that since the steering was so sensitive, I actually had an easier time paddling without drafting any kayaks. At the turn across Comox lake a big wind had come up, and waves were coming in broadside, and at that point I was really glad I did not have a K-1 to paddle, as the waves were coming over the surf ski, and I was soaking wet. Had I been in a K-1, it would have been swamped, or flipped at the very least! However, I had to brace far more than I would have liked, and I kept slowing down. That bothered me because kayaking was the one thing that I could train in while my knee was healing. However, I remembered something Sheri mentioned about the race, that the Kayak section is not all important for time. And she is right. Norm who regularly finishes first in the races does not come in first on the paddles, but he still wins, so that is something to think about.

Coming in to checkpoint 2, My hands hurt due to missing skin from the paddle, but other than that the Tylenol I took before the race was doing its job. I got off and running for the trekking section with the new map that was given to us, and instead of running pell-mell as we had the year prior, I set off at a slow jogging pace so I could keep moving, but also read the map at the same time. This, as it turned out was a very wise decision indeed. In previous MOMAR races I had made the serious mistake, and seen others make the mistake of trying to get each checkpoint as fast as possible, with less regard for navigation. In this Cumberland MOMAR, I knew my aerobic capacity was down, so I knew that it was silly to try to run as fast as I could. So, instead, whenever I came to a route decision, I would stop, look at the map, and then make my route choice.

What a difference. I now know that for the next MOMAR’s I run whenever I find a route choice, I am going to stop, read the map, make a decision, and THEN move on. I only made 1 route error, and I discovered it in about 2 min after the wrong turn. Sure beats 45 min of running full out to find Checkpoint 10 like at the Duncan MOMAR. By stopping to check your route you save energy, and a huge amount of time by just using your energy to think as opposed to running.

I elected to do the hardest checkpoints first as I really like technical running downhill, and I wanted to get the difficult running/hiking out of the way first. That was also a good choice, because when I had finished the higher altitude checkpoints, and was looking for the lower ones, I was tired at the lower checkpoints, but on level ground, so it was much easier to deal with them in that fashion.

(More coming to this post, but I am currently a ball of pain.)

It turned out to be a good choice to run uphill first, that way, it was out of the way. After striking a terrible “rockstar” pose at one of the checkpoints (it was one of the mystery events) it was time to start heading down. I made a slight route error, in that I did not go down on the trail that I wanted, but they both ended at the same place. The one I had taken was just a little longer, but I was already on it, so going back was pointless.

The Rockstar pose:

I ran in the Nanaimo Gutbuster on Sunday. I ran the half marathon course (21km). I was a bit concerned that I might not do well from a aerobic perspective, but with all my training since spring, my aerobic ability has been increasing. That, and I had hiked my bike up Cumberland trails, and climbed the BCMC Trail, which is parallel to the Grouse Grind prior.

Race Start:

So, my aerobic capacity and ability was greater than I expected on the race, and I was on track to do fairly well. I wanted to finish in under 3 hours, and was running much faster than that along the Westwood ridges, which are the hardest part of the route. Things were looking good.

After another descent, and then a climb again up to Baby Head ridge, I was starting to feel pretty good, and I was still holding much in reserve as I knew it was a long race, and my goal for my first half-marathon was just to finish.

Entering Chase River:

Coming down the trail from Baby Head, I saw the area that gave the name. The trail is covered with small rocks the size of baby’s heads, and this is the name that mountain bikers give them. I went carefully as the risk of twisting an ankle on them was high. The trail then became much easier, with few roots or any obstacles, just a gentle decline. On the downhills I can open my stride and go quite fast, technical running is what I enjoy, and my heart rate stays very low even while going very fast.

The Cool Water:

Unfortunately, here, I stepped on something small, and rolled my right ankle outwards, in the process, my right knee moved at an awkward angle, and I hurt something on the outside of my right knee. I stopped to assess my injury, it hurt, but not severely. I opted to continue running -slowly- down the trail. My knee ached, but nothing serious… Yet.

Trying to navigate the river rocks carefully:

From there, the trail ended up along the power line, where it was open fast running, through mud, then the Chase river, where I had to be careful of the rocks in the water, and even so, I stumbled at one point as can be seen in the Tony Austin photos.

Losing my footing:

Onwards along the power lines to the Abyss trail. There was a water station, where I topped up my pack, and I was surprised that I had more water than I thought I would have. Climbing the Abyss I found was not hard. However, along the top and rolling sections my knee began to ache. I felt that I still had a good deal of reserve left, but I also knew I was only around the half way mark for distance, so I was not about to push myself harder. Then, on the descent from the Abyss, my knee really began to hurt. I got to see the second half of the Abyss trail, which was good, as I had only ridden the first half before. But now, the downhills started a stabbing pain in my knee. I was forced to run more slowly than my aerobic capacity.

Knee pain, and trying not to fall on my face. (Incredibly graceful no?):

People began passing me at this point, as I was forced to run more slowly, which was annoying as I knew that other than the knee, I was capable of going much faster. This continued when I exited the Abyss, and got out on the flat logging road, and found I could not open my stride and increase my pace. My knee would just not allow it. Still, at a slower pace, it only ached, and did not hurt badly, so I stuck to that.

Returning from the Abyss along power line:

Much of the rest of the way was thankfully flat, with touches of downhill, until I hit the water station again. Shortly after the water station was a 30 M section of steep downhill, and that really hurt my knee. Flattening out, I ran across the Chase river again, and continued along the power line. With only a few KM left to go, and my knee now aching constantly, I opted to keep pushing on as I had to head back along the same route to get back to my car anyways. However, I was going even more slowly now, and I even ran off the trail in one point in Morell Sanctuary, misinterpreting one of the trail signs.

Power Line:

Through Morell Sanctuary, my knee began to hurt severely. I was no longer capable of running, at any speed, and was confined to a fast walk. My left ankle began hurting as well as I had been compensating for my right leg, putting more stress on the left.

More Power Line, before water station:

Out of Morell Sanctuary, and into Westwood Lake, I was not moving well at all, but it was just over 1 KM to go to get to the finish, and get it all over with. It was not a plesant last kilometer. Towards the finish my left calf began to cramp from all the extra weight it had been taking, and the last 100 M was excruciating, but I just wanted to get across that line and be done with it. That last little bit was painful indeed. I think Tony Austin got a few shots of agony on my face, but he did not post them, which is probably a good thing.

FINISHED!

(Finished in only 7 min, 9 seconds! )

At least there is one of me semi-smiling at the end. I finished around 3:07, and I had really hoped to come in under 3 hrs, which I certainly would have had I not injured my knee. In fact, without the injury, I think I could have managed 2:30 without problem. Alas, that was not meant to be. Fortunately, the first aid tent had ice, and Tylenol. If you know me, you know I avoid pain medication, but this was not one of those times. In fact, I took some more throughout the rest of the day, because now I really hurt.

Walking Daisy that night, I could not complete my normal circuit, my left ankle began to hurt badly, and on the downhill my knee was in severe pain. Thus, I shuffled along slowly with my dog, and cut the walk short. I probably should have cut my run out at around the 8 KM mark, where I initially hurt my knee, but at the time, it was not a bad pain, it started out mild, but unfortunately, it just got worse as the race went on. Sadly, I was considering running in the Safari adventure race in Ladysmith on July 22nd, as it is a nice short race. However, given how my joints feel, I can’t see this happening. Ironically, my muscles feel fine, no muscle pain from the run, and only a very tiny amount of soreness. It is my joints that hurt. Now, I have to give myself time to recover as I want to perform well in the September 30th MOMAR. Unfortunately, I think these injuries will set back my training a bit.

However, I did complete my first half marathon, and it was a trail run to boot. I also learned what the beginning of a running injury feels like, as I have had no experience of that prior, and I now know, that a wrenching like that is good cause to exit the race. If not for my injuries, it would have been a fantastic race.

Lessons learned.

I finished the first Gutbuster of 2006 at Royal Roads University in Victora. I came in on the long course (11.7 km) with a time of 1:29:20. Not bad for my first race of that kind. Kathy came in a little ahead of me with a time of 1:22:44, but I expected her to beat me. As with the Momar, the photographers got no pictures of me, but at least Pete stopped by and managed to take a few excellent shots just as I finished. That makes me feel good as I am actually smiling ear to ear unlike the pictures of me in the Momar I ran last year. Now I have 3 weeks to train for the next gutbuster in Duncan on April 15th. It should be a good run - and it looks to be harder than the latest gutbuster was, while it is the same length, it goes right up mt Tzouhalem, around the summit for a bit, and then right back down. So, apart from a few “flat” sections, it is nothing but a massive hill slog. However, I should do better on this next one as I know what to expect, and what to bring for the race this time. I also know how I want to train for this kind of run. I also can hardly wait to get ready for the Momar on may 13th in Ucluelet. By the time September 30th rolls around with the final Momar of the season, I should be in rocking shape to shatter the abysmal time I had my first time out on that race: 8hrs, 3 min. This time, I want to see if I can’t cut that time in half.