Canadian Death Race...Afterthougths

And that's that - The Canadian Death Race has come and gone...

If you've followed along, you know that things didn't exactly go as planned - forced to pull the plug after only 2 legs (or 46km). Disappointing to say to least...

So where did I go wrong? It's always easier to look at things after-the-fact, and although it's still not a clear case of 'this is what I did wrong', I think I have a pretty good idea...That said, it's unfortunate that my first CDR experience was tainted because aside from my own issues, this year's event provided some fantastic entertainment, and I'm glad (in a weird kind of way) that I was able to witness such amazing athletes at work!

But let's get back to some racing action for now...

Support Team: Sarah and Greg McHale (supporting Denise McHale) enjoying the sunny day!

Race morning couldn't come early enough...and although I was a nervous wreck, I was fully amped and ready to go. All the little aches and kinks were suddenly gone...I felt good. The energy at the start was awesome, it seemed like the entire town of Grande Cache had come out to watch the fanfare - I watched the RCMP officer point the 12-gauge to the sky...I grinned - Time to Rock and Roll!

After a bit of position jostling, I settled in behind 2-time Western State winner Hal Koerner, content to follow the experienced ultra runner. In the lead pack were the likes of Jack Cook (CDR record holder), Mathieu Page (2007-2nd pl), Adam Hill (2006-3rd pl) and a few young guns (Alex Magdanz and newbie Rick Reusser) looking at making a mark. In behind...were my AdventureScience.ca teammates (Simon Donato, Ellie Greenwood, Scott Ford, Sean Roper, and Co) and countless other experienced ultra runners, all looking forward to the challenge!

The pace was very comfortable and we were moving well. Before I knew it, Hal and I were out on our own, and leading the solo race - I smiled. About 5k in, I started feeling a hot spot on my heel - "What the..." A rock had made it's way in the heel of my sock and was irritating my heel...Despite stopping a few times to try to dislodge it, it was still irritating me. A blister this early in the game was not in the game plan. The good news was that I had planned a shoe-change at the end of leg 1, as I had been told that wet feet were inevitable due to large 'sink holes' - Lucky for us, this year's track was dry and very fast!

The first exchanged at 19km appeared before we knew it (1h18min!), a 'bit' ahead of schedule, but that was all good with me as a I was eager to switch shoes! A band-aid on my heel, and into my SpeedCross' I slipped. I quickly grabbed a few bites of food, pulled on my Advanced Skin pack and off I went for the start of leg 2's 27km ascent of Flood, and then Grande mountains...


My first leg exchange hadn't been as smooth as I would have liked and I ended up losing Hal, who had been much quicker - I ended up leaving with Jack and Mathieu - Ricky Reusser had also passed me in the mix zone. After a few minutes of climbing, I was back alongside Ricky and spotted Hal just up the track on a long straightaway...It's a long day, I thought.As I pulled away from Ricky, I started to notice that my groin muscles (on each leg) were tightening up...almost like the beginning of a cramp...Not Good! With only 20+kms in the bank, this was not 'normal'...

The more I climbed up the hill, the worse it seemed to get. Nearing the summit of Flood mtn, the course took a sharp right, up a narrow singletrack trail that would take us to the summit - This steep pitch seemed to accentuate the stiffness in my legs, and all of a sudden both of my quads started cramping above the knees. In a clearing on the summit, I took a few seconds to stretch them out, only to have my calves fire up in cramps as well! Argghhh...I didn't understand what was going on with my body. Here I was, barely 25km (2hrs) into a 125km race and my body was already shutting down. It honestly felt like I had been running down multiple mountains, yet I had only been climbing...

My nutrition had been good up until that point and I had taken in lots of electrolytes the previous day, and morning of, I had no clue why this was happening - frustration crept in...The connector from Flood to Grande mountain (called Slugfest) was riddled with steep pitches (down and up) that only accelerated the cramping process - In one of the steepest downhill sections, I almost fell flat on my face as my entire left leg fired up in a cramp, paralysing me. About halfway to Grande, rookie trail runner, Ricky Reusser caught back up to me, and generously offered a few of his electrolyte tabs - I figured it wouldn't hurt...

Philly buffet: A selection of tasty treats waiting for me at the end of leg 2...

The start of the climb up to the summit of Grande was somewhat of a relief as the consistency of the climb at least allowed me to walk cramp free. My state of mind was not good. I was confused and frustrated - Every time I tried to run, I'd cramp up, have to stop to stretch, cramp up again, walk it off...and repeat. The summit of Grande meant it was all downhill (not really) back to Grande Cache. The descent was ridiculously steep! As if my quads needed more abuse...

About 3/4 of way down, Adam Hill caught up to me "My legs are cramping like crazy" he passed on..."Join the club" I commented back - and looked on as he cruised past me. All I wanted to do at this point was make it to the end of leg 2. Just running the final kilometres through town were killing me as cramp after cramp riddled my lower half. It was pretty much game over for me at this point. Mentally, I wanted to keep fighting, but I was really struggling with the reality of the situation - I did not intend on walking the remaining 80kms...

Cramped Up: Not impressed...the look says it all

Back in town, sitting at my transition zone, I was spent - I told my crew I was done. Greg urged me to take a break, refuel, stretch...so I did. But every time I tried to stretch my legs out, another cramp would fire back...Nevertheless, I fueled up and as I watched my teammates and other runners come through the transition, I seemed to get momentarily re-energized...and after a bit of a pep talk I took off again - joining Mathieu Page as he passed by...But 300m later, my left quad/calf spazzed out again and I stopped. Not today...So that's it - I called it a day after 46km - disappointed...


For the remainder of the day, I joined the rest of the crews to help support and watch as the remaining Death Racers pushed on in hopes of achieving their goals to simply finish. The ones that were well prepared were rewarded with a finish, while for many of the other runners, like me, it was just a matter of time. 

Afterthoughts...


Looking back (it's always easier to look back eh?), I can say to some degree of certainty that my early cramp spasms were most likely due to residual muscle fatigue, as opposed low electrolytes, or lack of downhill running. Another contributing factor was that in the days leading up to the race, I was still feeling quite sluggish, and attempted to 'spark' the system by doing short sprints (10x10sec) and a 5X1min workout, which I've done in the past with success. Although the workout did re-energize me, it also taxed my body, specifically, my legs. And since I hadn't done any sprints in a while due to my injury management, I ended up stiffening up from the workout, and remember still feeling its effect on race morning...shakes head-

Sigh...

Lots of think about during my next mountain run...

Hal Koerner: 2010 Canadian Death Race winner and new course record holder 12h47min08sec!! Not a bad way to celebrate your 100th ultra race eh?

Ellie Greenwood: On a mission...Wow is all I can say. Ellie set a new CR (13h30min) and raised the bar for women's ultra running!

Hubby Greg giving Denise McHale some fuel after 3 legs - Denise took 3rd Overall (2nd woman) and gave Ellie a great battle to the end...

Adventurescience.ca's Simon Donato ran an amazing race, finishing 4th overall in just over 15hrs - Must have been due to his training partner ;)

Adam Hill taking a breather after 3 legs...Unfortunately, Adam withdrew from the race after summitting Hamel on leg 4

3-time CDR winner Jack Cook lay it all on the line to finish but his back pain got the better of him on Hamel - Another victim...

Elite Adventure Racer Scott Ford get interviewed by AdventureScience.ca crew...Shortly after this photo, Scott's stomach got the better of him, and entertained the crews with a fantastic display of 'projectile' vomiting...Scott had to call it quits on route to Hamel