More catch up from the year we call 2023. This time September. So I certainly hit the ground running on day 1 of September with a trip to the new Tatamagouche parkrun. It was only 3 weeks old, so I (and as it turns out some other Chain of Lakes parkrunners) popped up for a look see of this new 5K run. It did not disappoint. A nice smooth flat crusher dust trail with good tree coverage but also a nice look at a tidal flat. This was a good chance for me to hit the month early for a sub 18 minute 5K. I achieved that with a 17:35. We then hit the famer's market for coffee and treats before headed out for a day of adventure.
Then 2 days later I was back out racing again. This was the Cinnamon Bun 5K run to raise money for the BLT Trail repairs. I didn't know if the old legs could hold in for another tough run, but I thought I would at least give it a hard run. I tucked in behind a youngster who was running really strong. As this was on my regular parkrun route, I knew it well, so paced myself as best as I could. I saw him give some early surges in the last kilometer but I held tight, then with less than 200m to go I unleashed a pretty hard sprint finish. It was great to do this as I have not had the chance to race to the finish line in a long time. I ended up running 17:38 and triumphing by almost 2 seconds. Two sub 18s in 3 days was tough but fun, and we got cinnamon buns at the finish line!
A little time with the pups was in order so we spent a few days this month doing some adventures. Lexie, as always, was unsure of this adventuring, but hopefully she enjoyed the view at Peggy's Cove.
We were getting closer to race day. I officially signed up for the Valley Harvest Ultra 50K Road Marathon. So I was all in. My biggest training run took place the week after those 5K races and was a 39km run with a fast finish. I chose the safe option of running straight to the 5K cafe to get food into me as quick as I could. The crew were nice and made the Silly Dilly pickle sandwich. It was perfect.
Following the long long run, I wanted to get in a race prep run. So half distance (25km) and using my race kit (including shoes, the amazing On Cloud Boom Echo) and race fuel. Things went sort of well. I wanted to run on the trail to minimize extra damage on hills, but it was closed due to a storm the night before. So I had to run on the road, which I guess was good as I got more hills in! I also ended up running faster than I wanted. More on that next month. A sign of things to come! All in all I was happy with my training up to this point. No injuries, and I hit my goal training sessions really well.
We went out hard, and I opted to just push as much as I coudl up the climb to start the race, then hold on to what I had left. I was able to it the top of the hill a few steps ahead of my nearest competition, but all props to him, as he was willing to put an extra push into the downhill that I was not at that point. With the ultra coming up, I just had to hold a little back and not trash my quads. Still I managed to come in second, with a good lead over third place and not too far behind 1st. All in all a good run I think.
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