Race Report – 5 Peaks Southern Alberta – Calgary Olympic Park

May 19^th, 2012

Evan Weselake and his crew of volunteers (5 Peaks, Southern Alberta) know how to organize a great event. The weather in Calgary did not look like it was going to cooperate, but Saturday morning saw some cloud with hints of sun, making for almost perfect running conditions.

There was a festival atmosphere at Calgary Olympic Park, site of the first 5 Peaks Southern Alberta event of 2012. There was music, a great master of ceremonies and lots of free swag.

A couple dozen kids participated in the Children’s Challenge to kick the morning off and if smiles were any indication of success, then the fun run was hugely successful! After the Children’s Challenge the approximately 200 sport course participants left the starting gate, followed by the roughly 150 enduro runners.

The start sent everyone on a good climb on a service road, then some single track with rolling hills followed by a kilometer of downhill, a steep climb of over a kilometer and then more rolling hills with a downhill on the service road into the finish line. The enduro racers did the course twice.

The fleet of foot finished the sport course in the low to mid 20 minute range, while the faster enduro finishers broke the finish tape around the 40 minute mark (check out allthe results here).

This course was definitely a good test of fitness, especially for the couple of runners that travelled from the flatland of Saskatchewan. I have to mention that my mom, Cécile Sawatzky finished second in her age category (60 – 69) in the sport course, making her a new fan of trail running.

Looking forward to the next 5 Peaks Southern Alberta in Canmore June 16^th.

À la prochaine.

Random thoughts - nutrition, fitness, compression socks and more!

Pardon, un autre document en anglais, mais depuis que je reste à la maison avec mes deux plus petits, je n'ai pas l'opportunité d'utiliser ma langue française et je trouve que ça devient de plus en plus difficile de formuler mes pensées dans ma deuxième langue.

Random thoughts while running 15km on the trail:

1. My fitness must be better than when I started this year's training schedule. I felt strong and in control the whole way through a tough 15km trail run; many hills, few flats and running on grass. I had planned to keep a 7min/km pace and expected it to be a tough go, however I had to rein myself in as my body was trying to push the pace to 6 - 6:30min/km pace. Granted by km 13 and 14 7min/km felt fast enough, but still pretty pleased with where my fitness is at right now. I guess the training saying is true, "trust in your training and the rest will follow" (or is that from a Destiny Child's song?)
2. Let it be known that I am a Clydesdale because of a good mix of genetics and gourmandise! Genetics I cannot do a whole bunch about (sorry kids!), but my eating is something I should easily be able to manage. Mid-April I decided that it was time to do a nutrition overhaul, pop and chips is not a good bedtime snack (go figure!) and portion sizes should not fill a pig's trough... I have cut out junk food and have done my best to eat proper portion sizes. I've cut back to  two cans of pop a week (I am only human after all!), and no junk food except for popcorn during Friday family movie night. I have seen minimal weight loss, but I am feeling fitter and inches have come off.
3. I have been on the fence about compression socks for awhile now. My wife is a nurse and uses compression socks during her 12 hour shifts and in the last year or so I have noticed more and more (real) runners using them during and after running. But I was not convinced, until today! Yesterday my wife convinced me to buy a pair and  give them a go. So I bought some Sugoi compression sleeves (I love my Smartwools too much to not wear them running), and used them for the first time today. My legs felt and feel fantastic. The fatigue I should be feeling in my legs is not there. Now, with only one running experiment, I cannot say for sure it was the compression sleeves alone that made my legs feel great (maybe it is my new fitness level?), but I am becoming a believer in just one use!
4. If this is how I feel doing 15km on a hilly course, what will I feel like doing another 35 km on a similar course for the LSU? I guess I should return to my last sentence from point 1, trust the training. I still have 4 months of training and numerous races to prepare myself for the big one in September!
5. I may have found a new mental trick to aid in gaining mental toughness during training, listen to country music while doing your long run! Don't get me wrong, I love all forms of music and Country is included in that list, but at some point I couldn't handle it anymore.

À la prochaine,
SK Clydesdale