100 Mile Ultra Training Plan

Myself and brother, both finished the 108k Views from the top of Leg 1 DISCLAIMER: If you have not seen the documentary 'The Barkley Marathons', you will not get most of this humor.  So please, open Netflix, watch the movie, and then read this. Some of you know the infamous Brian (or Laz as he should be named) Gallant.  He's the guy that created the now hellish Sinister 7 course with it's 18% finish rate.  He is the mastermind behind the Blackspur 108K Mountain Ultra, and if you need one race to make your season a success, it should be this one. I arrived on the Friday early for check-in.  I won't be surprised if the price of registration next year is a license plate, and a pair of socks.  Did I mention this course is insane (or required someone insane to come up with it)? I made sure to pick up my Blackspur coffee mug at the same time as my race bag, then did I quick drive down the mountain to Purcell Outdoors to pick up a few other necessitie...

Welcome to my run blog, where I write my random and off-colour thoughts on running and races.  The EC is not my usual audience, so if you'd like to know more about me, feel free to scroll through the bowels of the internet (and my blog), and check it out, it won't be wasted time on the toilet. I have a deep love of the EC.  It was my first trail race many years ago, up the old mount Roman.  Much has changed (Much hasn't...looking at you Kris Swanson).  The biggest change, is the size.  It started with 50ish poor souls running in the woods for no apparent reason, and has grown to 1000 not to bright individuals running in the mountains for no apparent reason.  Also, the t-shirts.  They used to be a plain....t-shirt.  Cotton.  Durable.  Now, I feel like I'm in an early 90's rap music video, or all the colours had a civil war, and they all won. You could see this race from space. One thing hasn't changed.  This race is most people's...

Fresh outta the box Where to start this one off?  Bear with me, this is a doozy. The Death Race and I have a complicated relationship.  It's been a white whale for me, but since I got serious about running, and got off my combination Window/Fatkins diet I hadn't tried this bad boy.  Which brings me to a happy hour on July 5th (or whatever the last day of registration was).  I'd run 4 ultras this year, and was headed to Sinister 7 in a week.  My season was full. I had 9 total booked for this year!  But after a few beers....why not make it 10?  That number sounds better right? So here we are. Pulling into Grande Cache on the Friday after work, you can see the signs in building, and billboards.  They read something like 'You are an idiot, this is stupid, who does this?'.  My first stop is the classy sky hy lounge.  If alcohol got me into this mess, it can get me out right? The rest of Friday is pretty uninteresting, unless you fin...

The Dude Abides Welcome back.  If you're reading this, you remembered to bring your phone to the bathroom,  good on you! The Following is my solo experience of about 58miles of the Sinister 7.  Trigger warning:  The following may disturb you. So.....those of you that have read my amazingly written recaps (*cough *cough) know I've had a good year this year.  Put down some good ultras, had a blast in training, and have just been loving on life.  I put a lot of training into running this one race (seriously folks 100-120 miles a week all bloody winter!!!). So, how does one deal with a DNF, or just a crappy day (if you know what I mean *winky face emoji).  This is the tale..... The year was 2017, It was a warm July morning, Trump was in the Whitehouse, Oil was 40 bucks a barrel, and a rather shaggy looking runner, was donning his camo bucket hat and proudly affixing his bib # (#1 of all numbers, thanks for the cursed # Brian, lol)for what promise...

Sunrise at the staging area It's a cold Thursday morning in late June.  Rain had been pouring down for the last 24 hours, but has decided to briefly let up for the occasion.  It's 2:30am.  It's summer Solstice (or the day after as the trail Sage Shayne would remind us, but close enough).  A group of us have decided to attempt a sunrise trail run in the valley a few minutes from town.  The group is mostly the usual trail suspects of a running group. Shayne- The trail sage who knows every ATV path in the area, and has named every goat/mountain bike path up every hill and valley (He's named this route the 'Beatton Beat Down' after the valley we are in). Tom- The guy who stops running mid stride to take pictures, and whose idea of  'walking his dogs' include a vertical mile of gain.  He also designs these insane runs/adventures our group embarks on. Joel- The only one of us that looks like a runner.  The guy who is good company to run with...

Shayne Vs The Unnamed Mountain The Core Lodge Quad Route Welcome back to the end of the internet.  The following is a recap of the awesomeness that took place on Saturday, June 10th, 2017, at the 'Core Lodge' in the Tumbler Ridge Geo park, when four ultra runners decided to attempt the Core Lodge Quad (CLQ). First, about the CLQ.  The CLQ is a 30ish km hike/run/scramble over four mountains in the Northern Canadian Rockies where the runners gain and lose between 7000 and 8000 feet of elevation.  There are lots of bears, no people, no aid stations, and almost no defined trail.  This route requires bush wacking, route finding, and luck with the weather. Second, the group,  I'll post instagram info for easy stalking. Shayne Gunn (runninggunn), Our route finding expert, and trail sage of our area. Tom Coveney (coveneytom), our defacto photographer, and incline junkie. Joel Stainer , voice of reason and all around good dude. Lastly me; Joshua Slykhu...

Me aka Ever Sexy 1541 Pre-race Welcome back to the end of the internet.  I appreciate you taking the time to read this (instead of the shampoo bottle, or toilet paper packaging).  The following is a dramatic retelling of the events leading up to, and on, Saturday, May 27th, 2017.  Buckle up folks! If you've read my last few posts, you know that the Blackfoot 100K was the end of my 3 race, 24 days of stupidity adventure, including the Evergreen Trail Trek Marathon, The Orcas Island 50 miler, and the Blackfoot Ultra.  Yes, I am not a smart man. So we will just say, I was not the freshest, sexiest version of myself going into this. The Blackfoot and I go back to 2013, when a much more....Robust? version of myself bowed out at km 65.  This year, a much smaller version of that man wanted revenge, more than that silly rabbit wanted Trix.  I go into every race with multiple goals, ranging from my 'A' goal through to 'just finish the darn thing singing!...