100 Mile Ultra Training Plan

Shuswap ulta  My earliest memory is running on a trail with my dad (I had to be 3 or 4), and after running about 20 miles he took aside and gave me this piece of sage wisdom I will never forget.  He said;  'There are three things you should never trust in this world, a politician's promise, all lawyers, and a Race Director's course description.' This piece of sage wisdom has stuck with me for the last three and some decades, and on September 24th, 2022, it proved true once again. Here we go............. My buddy Tom and I like to get together every year and do an ultra.  It's a tradition at this point that has become a curse.  Every ultra we've done together shuts down operations after we've done it (RIP Mighty Quail Trail, and Diez Vista 100).  So we decided this year to try and break the curse with the Shuswap ultra 60km.  If you like this race, I apologize.  The odds are not in it's favour (we are batting 100% in ending races).   After race at the ca

Iron Horse Trail   If you’re like me, your entire 2020 trail race season was thrown out the window about 6 months ago (welcome to day 192 of two weeks to bend the curve), so when I saw that Iron Horse was still happening this year, I was in.  I’d attempted it three years ago, at the end of a busy season, and dropped with shin splints sometime after km 100.  So older and wiser, I headed back up to St. Paul, Alberta to give this one another go (after swearing NEVER AGAIN!). St. Paul you will learn is a ranching community, there are more cows then people (there are a boatload of cows).  This is not to dismiss the town.  It is situated on a lovely lake, and also boasts a UFO landing pad.  Since cannabis legalization in Canada, this seems normal.  The general terrain looks flat, with lots of rural roads, and fence lines.  Iron Horse is advertised as a ‘flat, fast’ course.  It can be..... or you can get lost on a trail or road, and add some difficulty (if you didn’t get lost on Iron Horse

Tom at the Truck we spent the night in at the Redstreak Campground The Gear Bags After some time away from writing, and running due to injury, I decided my comeback should be something epic.  In 2016, I took my wife on a misadventure, that turned into what I would later learn is the saddle of Redstreak mountain.  We were not prepared for a long day, and it was very hot out, and did not have enough water or food for a 10+ hour day of hiking.  It was the first time I've been turned back on a mountain in a long time.  It stuck with me. Queue two years later.  The failure of 2016 has hung around me like a fog.  I've climbed countless mountains, and ran countless trail ultramarathons.  I have not been back to avenge my failure....until now. The following is a trail guide for Redstreak Mountain, and may not be suitable for all viewers.  Viewer discretion is advised.  It was a balmy Tuesday night, when my buddy Tom and I decided to head out to Radium to climb Red

So this winter I'd been doing a lot of treadmill running (like A LOT of treadmill running).  I had developed several solid overuse injuries over the last season, and needed to let those heal while still stretching the legs.  Nothing does this better (or is more mind numbing) than a 60k on the treadmill.  Over the course of these countless hours binge watching Netflix while jogging on the hamster wheel, I decided I wanted to try a timed event, looped course.  This would give me a chance to get an early season 100 mile out of the way, and make sure my body was ready for another summer of suffering. I selected the Pulse Endurance Run near Boise, Idaho.  It was a short 13 hour drive from where I live in Fernie, Britsh Columbia, and coincided nicely with some banked holidays I had to use or lose.  I signed up for the 48 hour event to make sure I would have enough time to get my miles in, packed my SUV with a bed and all the gear you would ever need for a Spring run, and headed o