Lost Soul Ultra part 2

Well after stubbing my toes so many times it was a fairly easy run to the start finish area.


Once in the start/finish area it was another weigh in and this time I had dropped a little bit, I now weighed 85.3 kgs. It was a small drop and I was only just under my start weight so I was not to worried.


This is when I met up with Tasha as she was going to run the last lap with me as my pacer. I was still dress in my t-shirt and shorts but the temp had started to drop, I wasn't cold yet so I didn't change and headed out on the south loop with Tasha. I still had the poles I borrowed from Hugh and was thankful for them. The last lap was going to be a tough one but I felt that I could still put together a strong performance. When we gone about 3.5kms and started running/walking on the pavement, it was about 3.5kms to the start/finish area and it was all on pavement. The downhills hurt the most and I was walking all the uphills so it was just a matter of running the flats the best that I could. I still managed to run the first 7km in about an hour so the pace was good.


When we got into the start/finish area I was starting to cool off so I threw on a long sleeve shirt over top of my t-shirt. I grabbed as much food as I could carry in my hands and ate it as I walked out of the aid-station. Calories at this point would be very crucial in getting me to the finish line. There was still alot of race ahead of me, more then a marathon and I wanted to get to the end so bad. Just like on the second lap I found the 5kms from the start/finish area to the unmanned aid-station tough and took over an hour to get through it. We picked up the pace a little for the next 7kms but the top of my left calf started to tighten up on me on this section of the race. When we got into Peenaquim I went straight to my drop bag, I was getting a little cold on the last few kms and wanted to put on my vest and polypro gloves. The vest wasn't thick but, along with the gloves, it was enough to take the edge off of the cool night. Just like I have done at every other aid-station I topped up my bottles and grabbed a handful of food and walked out and headed down the course. There was a huge climb leaving this aid-station and even with my sore calf I was able to power up the slope at a good pace.


It was about 6.5kms from Peenaquim to Pavan and I found that it was going fairly well. The temp was dropping still and it was getting real cold. I resorted to putting on all the cloths I had with me which was only a toque.


Pavan was a welcomed sight, I was still able to run and pushed the pace to the aid-station where I promptly found a chair and parked my butt. I ate all the remaining bacon, mmmmm salty protein, and a hand full of chips. Tasha was getting a little cold so she put on my extra shirt that I had in the drop bag, also put on my BUFF and stole my over mitts. I changed my shoes and socks here for the first time in the race. The socks felt so good on my feet but the shoes where feeling a little weird. I thought I would try them for the next section of the race and if the shoes still didn't feel good I would be coming back through Pavan in about 16.5kms.


Leaving the aid-station with topped up bottles and a belly with some food in it I was feeling as good as I could after covering over 130kms. This was all new ground for me as I had never been over 125km. The first 1km or so from Pavan is on paved roads so I walked them and tryed to get my feet into a faster pace. As we left the pavement there was a good climb up onto the top of a coulee and I was able to climb at a good pace. My left leg was bothering me more and more and as a result my down hill pace was slowing down. We pushed on with me apologizing to Tasha for having her join me on what was becoming a walk.


We finally got out of the coulees and made it to the unmanned aid-station at the far north end of the loop, from here I had about 19kms to the finish. My pace had been slowing more and more over the last few kms as my left leg became more tight and more sore. I was walking all the uphill, all the down hill and most of the flat areas now and it really beat me up mentally not being able to run. There was 6kms to Pavan and about 4 ladder crossings, I almost took a couple of tumbles on the ladder crossings. Tasha had given up running behind me and was now up in front slowly pulling away from me. I asked her to slow down and she politely told me to stuff it and keep up. I managed to increase my pace a little but was cursing her name under my breath. There was about a km of pavement before getting into the Pavan aid-station and the shoes that I had put on really bothered my feet. I knew I had to change them.



When we got into Pavan I sat down and changed my shoes, had my bottles topped up and ate some food. There was still some salmon left so I had a piece of that and a little bit of bacon. The sun was up now so we left our head lamps and I left most of the clothes I had put on over the night, Tasha also shed a few layers. While I sat there Tasha started to give me grief for sitting there so long so I reluctantly got up and prepared to shuffle off down the trail.



This next section of trail was flat to start with and I was doing alright on it, I was even able to run a little bit. Tasha was still up in front trying to get me to go a little faster. When I got to a portion of the trail that had some hills to climb I hit my lowest point in the whole race, actually in any race that I have ever done. I was coming down a big climb when my leg was so sore I thought I couldn't go on. Tasha had to come back up the hill and talk to me for a bit to get my spirits back up and prepare me to continue. This is when I saw Rich, a fellow trail trash runner who was running the 50k, on the trail in front of me. He some how got off course and was running towards me on the wrong trail, I could see the trail he should be on, it was on top of the coulee he was running in. We sent him off in the right direction and headed of down the trail towards Peenaquim.


Peenaquim was a quick stop. I was not allowed to sit down and didn't want to as I was trying to get to the finish line by noon. I topped up my water bottles, ate a few salty things and left as quick as my tired and weary legs would carry me. I had about 7km to go and knew I was going to finish.


This last section had some good points and bad ones. I was moving as fast as I could, I knew I was going to finish, and I would be off of my feet soon. My left leg was real sore now and there was no way I could run, a couple of times I tried to run and only got a couple of steps before I had to walk again. I was about a km from the finish line when I was caught and passed by another 100 mile runner. For a second I was so mad that I had been passed, but then I thought about it and knew I had nothing left, I had pushed myself harder then I ever have before and being passed was o.k. they were better that day.


When I got up to the top of the hill and was in the parking lot of the finish line I wanted to run across the finish line but just couldn't get my leg to cooperate. I crossed the finish line in 28 hours and 5 minutes, close enough to my goal of 28 hours. I went into the tent sat down and did not move for about 20 minutes, like every other aid-station the folks at this one went out of their way to make sure I was looked after. The only thing I wanted at this point was a nice glass of coke, which was promptly brought to me.


When I finally got up from the chair I staggered over to the grass and laid down for a while. Tasha went up to the hotel room, cleaned up and went out with her mom and Kael for lunch. I stayed on the grass and watched other runners come in. There was one goal that I have not mentioned, I wanted to finish before any of the 50k runners, and I made this goal. It was about 15 minutes after I finished when Chris crossed the finish line.


I think I layed on the grass for about an hour and a half. I watched some 100 miler runners finish, some 100km runners finish and even a few 50k runners finish. It was such a feeling of accomplishment that I had while laying there.


I was done. I had finished my pre-season goal of completing the Alberta Triple. Now to figure out what to do next?


Later.

J