Blog Posts 

Since I started ultra running in 2016 I said I’d keep pushing the distance until I reached my limit. The Question I kept circling back to weeks after is, “Did I reach my limit?”.

We’re less than a couple of weeks out from 2023 and as always I look at the winter holiday period as a time to reflect on the year as a whole and to start preparing myself for the year to come. It’s the time of year where I get fired up about the forthcoming year, specifically targeted towards running goals.

Nutrition in general is an area I have never paid too much attention to; I eat when I’m hungry and I’m hungry if I don’t eat. I eat a well-balanced diet with a variety of food and luckily, I have no dietary restrictions or allergies. Most of all, I never constrict myself of anything I want to eat and, I regularly fill my face with treats and have zero guilt! However, I am by no means a “text-book perfect-fuel savvy runner”, and I have had my fair share of bad eating habits (pre-during-post training and racing) some of which have become routine and, as a long distance/endurance runner have not set me up to reach my greatest potential.

After casually chatting with a gf through Instagram about her up-coming goals / race schedule I quickly learnt she was looking to sell her FatDog entry and with it being a race high on my agenda, I was immediately sold and instantly intimidated! (What’s the saying “If your goals are not terrifying, they’re not big enough?” Yah, this one check marked that criteria!).

I felt it for the first time after my first 125 km race 2 years ago. I finished the race, rode the highs and then BAM a week later I felt restless, anxious and empty that my goal for the season was over. I felt emotionally hung over. I’d rode this intense high, pushed up in a wave of endorphins and then boom I was drowning in a tidal of come down emotion. However, with another event on the horizon the negative feelings didn’t stick around for long before I was fired up and excited for the next race in line. But, I knew ‘Post Run Blues’ were real and so in the back of my mind nearing the end of this summer I anticipated how I might feel finishing up my 3rd race of the Triple heading into Fall, a time of rest and recovery and, likely a time when I’d feel a few shades of blue (which certainly made their royal blue appearance just over a week post race).

CDR 2021 = my first DNF, my first case of the run pukies & a day I will not forget for a LONG time to come.(P.S lots of pukies, run pukies, stand up straight pukies, on my knees pukies…. pukkkkkiesss!!!!)

The Build

‘Ready?’

This time last year I wrote an article called ‘Set a fire alight & it just keeps burning’ – I was ending 2019 FIRED UP heading into 2020 with so much energy! I was fresh out of a relationship that had come full circle, I had re-connected with old acquaintances and I was expanding my social life (Big news for this introvert), I was 6 months deep into having a coach and I just came off of an incredible race season with a body that had never felt so conditioned and so strong. I was full of optimism, a new lust for life and it was all really exciting & then 2020 hit – you weird & wonderful year…

‘You’re a mess’ 3 words that politely got hurdled my way today…

What the title says…

The Golden Ultra – A 3 day day stage race with the options of a longer distance ‘Full Pint’, a shorter distance ‘Half Pint’ or a 120km ultra (new for 2019). Participants can enter the 3 day stage race or, they can pick and choose their own events.

Intro

It all started a couple of years ago when I met my then partner Chris S. He’s the type of guy who loves stats. A real data analyst. So for him it was more of a question of ‘why wouldn’t you want to find out all of the intrinsic details of running? and all of the #’s that coincide with it?’ It’s logic, right? He bought books, he read articles, he bought a Heart Rate (HR) monitor and a foot pod and he eventually went to a sports lab and did a Lactate Threshold Test. The latter I will come to shortly…

I first laid eyes on the Vancouver Marathon back in 2014. I initially signed up to the race to complete once, to tick off as a bucket list item and to say ‘I have ran a marathon’. Yet, I’ve found myself towing the start line of this race year after year. I absolutely love the course, the city and most importantly it’s incredible people & their amazing vibes. However, as I sit here writing this I’m very much debating whether I’ll be returning next year and it kind of hurts my heart.