Capes 2019 - Race and Training Notes

Capes 100: 50KM - Race Day

New Equipment

• I did not train with my hydration pack - got it 2 weeks before race start - it worked reasonably well, but I need to acclimatize myself to the added weight and technicalities with a hydration pack.
• Only ran ~30 km in the Salomon SpeedCross 4 prior to this, so was unaware of some hot-spots related with the shoes. My big toes suffered quite a bit. 

Sticking to the Plan

• Though I had planned on taking a GU GEL at roughly every hour, I only ended up eating one, and forgetting about nutrition altogether after the first aid station. This would not have have flown well with longer races.
• In 100 km or 100 miler, I don't think I could have gotten away with half-filling my water bottles.

Training Preparation

• I really need to sort out this "running on tired legs" bit, because I am bad at end-of-races.

Decisions

• Dropping down to 50 km was the right decision, 100 km would have been a DNF - guaranteed.
• Trust your crew, Katie was right on a few things that I ignored (i.e. hydration, nutrition, dumping equipment)

Capes 100: Training

• Hills - I did not train on hills much. Sackville is a lot of rolling hills, but nothing that prepared me for the 25% grade.
• Accumulated Distance - Having run only ~600 km in 2019 prior to the race, this is not sufficient, and it showed.
• Trails - I ran on some trails around the Beech Hill Park in Sackville - these were more technical than the ATV trails during race day. I tripped a bit on the trails, but they were not too difficult to manage. 
• Community - I was a "lone wolf" this year, and I didn't run with anybody all year. I need to join running communities to keep myself motivated. I think I have reached my limit of what I can achieve solo.
• Long Run - My longest run training up to the race was a 53km road "adventure" from Sackville to Moncton - despite this leaving me in a lot of pain for the following week, it provided me a mental baseline that this distance is achievable.

Failure Points

In any activity, there are many potential failure points. Essentially things that are the highest risks factors leading to not reaching goals.

Examples:

• Weak muscle groups
• Nutrition
• Hydration
• Weather management
• Fitness
• Injury management
• Trail experience

For my part;

Weak muscle groups

• Weak hips/balancing muscles, which caused knee pain - this led to lack of training earlier in the year.
• Weak hips are mostly caused by sitting all day for work, and then also sitting at night playing video games/watching television. 
• Quads - Having stronger quads to control my downhills will trash my legs less, much better for ultra distances
• Back/shoulders, and arms (oddly enough) felt tired at the end of the race. Bad posture likely affected pace.

Injury management

• I put KT tape on the bottom of my foot, to mitigate plantar fasciitis
• TO DO: Stretch calf, tight calves can lead to PF
• Soleus muscle - bend your knee as you're doing a calf stretch
• Taped some of my toes to prevent chaffing
• Lubed up in all the right spots - still had some ass chaffing by the end

Hydration and Nutrition

• These two are not risks that I anticipated, but I feel stupid for digging myself into a hydration/nutrition hole at the end. 

Weather Management

• I did great looking at the weather, and managing my race to reflect the weather. 
• Worked harder during the beginning of the race in cool conditions, and slowed down when the sun/heat came out.

#Breaking2 at the PEI Half Marathon

#Breaking2 at the PEI Half-Marathon

Ever since I ran my first race in August 2017, I thought a 2-hour half marathon would be broken quickly. And it was kind of a personal milestone for me; in my first race; I ran the Marathon by the Sea in a time of 2h 01m 57s - it was a foregone conclusion that I would top this....

Fast forward two years, and it's still eluding me. I had a decent race at Fredericton, but was massively under-trained. I had a couple of fantastic training runs, but they were a hair over 2 hours. I was not going to sign-up until I had a good chance of breaking 2 hours.


I finally started running with a group - the Amherst Striders. An inclusive group that encourages anybody in the community, at any pace. They leave nobody behind. If you're a faster runner, you just end up running longer distances.
They run every Monday evening (10km), Wednesday evening (5km or 10km), and Saturday mornings (long runs).

My first run with the Striders was on Wednesday September 11th - which was a 3 week hiatus of running post-Capes100. I ran a 10km in an hour, and it was a pretty tough run for me but not too bad. For a bunch of the folks in this group, their next race was the Prince Edward Island event.

I had no plans on going to PEI.

I was still dealing with some plantar fasciitis problems, and my cardio/strength was a bit down from the Capes event - so I did not commit to any races in the near future. I also was not interested in running another half-marathon where I did not break my PB. I was also committed to a 21-week training program for the Hypo-Half.

Sackville had a fall fair on one of the first weeks, and I ended up running the Main Street Mile (free race) and ended up 12th overall in a time of 6:24. Kind of a confidence booster.

Mostly sticking to my training plan for the hypo half, I felt like I was improving over time - I also got a new pair of shoes that did not aggravate my injuries - so I could run 4 and 5 times per week rather than the typical 3 or 4. The Striders helped to keep me honest and consistent - and provided me some distraction during some of the tougher runs.

So anyways, 6-weeks into my training plan (4 days before the race day) Alan (coach), Greg, and Ken are passively pressuring me go to the PEI half-marathon. I was debating doing either this race, or "A Day in Amherst" the next weekend. Since I wanted to avoid injury, I decided on going with the shorter race option - PEI it is! I sign up on the last possible day.

As race prep, I know I have one goal; 1:59:39. Program my watch to keep me within 5:36min/km to 5:41min/km pace zones. It will beep if I am too slow or fast.

You might be wondering why 1:59:39 is my goal?
Eliud Kipchoge ran the fastest marathon (unofficial) in 1:59:39.

Drive down the morning of the race, meet up with Ken, pin my race bib and take a few pre-race pictures with the Striders.

The race starts at 9:00AM, and I hang around the back with Ken and Alan; they typically run at a 6:00min/km to 6:15 min/km pace, this would offer me a slow start until my legs and lungs get warmed up - then I can start pushing for my goal time. I don't want to push too hard, and end up having to walk.

The race starts, I hang at the back with Ken, Alan and a few others (I don't remember their names) the rest of the Striders are way ahead. My first kilometer is at a 6:04min/km pace. For some reason I was not feeling particularly fast or in shape at this point in the race. People were passing me left and right, and I recognized this mistake from my past races.  But my god some people were fast starters.

So my watch is starting to beep at me because I'm averaging outside of my desired pace zone, and I start speeding up a bit.
My next few kms are:
5:44min/km
5:29min/km
5:41min/km
5:33min/km

By this time, I catch up with Pam Chenhall from the Striders, I chat with her for about 5 minutes. She is moving well, and I inform her that at current pace, she should be right around 2 hours and I encourage her. Pam is present at nearly every Monday/Wednesday Striders run, and she is definitely capable of keeping up with this pace. I  haven't caught up with the 2-hour pacer yet, and I'm thinking he is probably a bit fast. We reach the first water station, and there are two volunteers handing out water, and one who is picking up cups. Needless to say, that third volunteer is completely useless to this enterprise, and I don't pick up water or gatorade because there aren't any cups that are filled up. It's not the end of the world, temperatures are cool, and I don't feel dehydrated or needing of water yet.

I high-five a few Storm Troopers going up Belvedere Ave. and we turn towards UPEI, where I spent 3 years completing my B.Sc. great memories were had here.

I finally catch up to the 2-hour pacer along the Confederation Trail section, behind the university. I thought he was going fast, but he was doing 10 minute run: 1 minute walk intervals. The pacer, and the group following him, dropped off for their walk - this was about 7.5kms into the race. I still felt pretty good.

I saw an aid station coming up ahead - and I knew it was about time to take a GU (they recommend taking at every 45 minutes) - rip open the salted caramel GU, take as much as I can in a few sips - get to the water station and wash down the GU. This process worked pretty well, and I did not have a gross or dry sensation in my mouth.

I look up ahead, and about 30m ahead of me, I see Lesley and Derrek from the Striders. Lesley is aiming for sub-2 just like I am, and she is capable of pulling it off, too. Derrek is pacing her through it, he is a 1h40m half-marathoner and a fast runner (very selfless act, good karma)! I join up with these two and we chat for a little while. I get my energy boost from the GU, and Lesley is asking Derrek to slow down up this next hill. I assume they will catch up, as I take the lead. I am not pushing too aggressively because I want to run with people for a while to distract me. My splits during this time are 5:44min/km, 5:39min/km and 5:50min/km - I'm going slower than my intended goal pace, but they are not catching up - and when I look at Strava data post-race, it looked like they took a walk break here.

Anyways, my watch is starting to beep at me because my splits are not on my goal time, though I'm following this short female runner who I assumed was going at a decent pace. Some people passed us, and I realize that this runner is struggling - so I pass her and I end up passing many other runners during this section. It's a slight uphill, but it was not steep enough to really justify slowing down I was still feeling pretty good at this point.

At around the 14km mark, I see somebody else I know up ahead Brenna - she is a very fast runner, and has been present every Saturday for long runs. I am shocked to see her. I take a look at my watch and assume it's not giving me accurate data. She is much faster than I am on a good day. Maybe I'm going too fast I thought.

I pull up behind her and another person, and they start walking, I hear: "I don't feel good" 
I don't even say hello or stop (which I kind of felt bad about), I just blaze past them because I'm thinking that walking might be the kiss of death - I am right on my goal pace, with razor-thin margins. I'm also assuming that my second half of the race will be slower than the first half.

So I turn on highway 15, and then take a right on Sherwood Road - a nice downhill 👊👊👊
I assume I'm more experienced than most runners who are near me on the hills due to my training for Capes, and because the Striders Monday runs are quite hilly.

Fastest split yet: 5:18min/km

Look how fast I look!🙈

Whenever you do a downhill, you know there's an uphill coming up. I never expected 3 consecutive downhill/uphill combinations.
Note to self: study the course next time. 
The last part of Sherwood Rd., and the first part of Mapleque Road were actually pretty brutal climbs at 2h half marathon pace. I did not walk once, but the legs were burning once I reached the top of these hills - the heart rate got pretty high, too. A whole bunch of people were walking up these. 

Here's the 3-hill Strava Segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/10557600?filter=overall
I ended up averaging a 5:39min/km pace for this segment, which I'm happy about.

During the mid-point of the 3-hills I took my second GU gel. Now I don't know if this was the right decision or not. At some point during the end of this segment, my stomach started acting up and I could feel some discomfort. I felt like stopping and puking, and then keep going. Then I thought against it, because if I stop running to puke, I might not hit my time goal (and could dehydrate).

The last 4 or 5 kms I kept repeating to myself "You got this, it's in the bag, don't do anything stupid or desperate", but I honestly don't think I could push any faster during the last 3kms, which were flat slight downhill, down University Avenue.

I high-five the Storm Troopers again on the corner of University and Belvedere

My splits were:
5:47min/km
5:43min/km
5:41min/km

At the end of the race with about 0.5kms left, some guy in his 20s is walking.
I pass him and slow down a bit to try and encourage him: "The finish is right there, finish strong! You only have half a kilometer left! You got this!" (he finished 30 seconds after me)
When I could see the finish line, I accelerated for the final 0.2kms, the inflatable finish line is half-deflated for some reason, but it was an awesome finish; running in the middle of a gated section with people clapping on both sides.

Lift my arms up, look at the clock. It reads: 1:59:28  

Fucking Eh!

I'm thinking there's no way the 2-hour pacer is 30 seconds behind me, I lost him more than an hour ago.

Nope, he was right there with his posse. (Strava data suggests he sped up to a 5:00min/km for his last km.)




I wait at the finish line for the rest of the Striders, and nobody is coming in before the 2h mark, which was too bad - I was hoping people would meet their goals. Maybe next time. I get myself some refreshments from the tent. See if I can catch other Striders coming in....

I think most of them ended up between 2h 04m and 2h 15m. Some had awesome races, some did not - that's the nature of sport I suppose.

Here is a picture of some of the Striders after their half-marathon. (Missing Ken, Derrek, Brenna)

This is what my happy face looks like when I get a PB.
Official Chip time was 1:59:02

I had an awesome race.
My slowest kilometer was my first one.
Well paced, no walk breaks, no major setbacks.

My 5km splits were as follows:
28:32
27:46
27:32
28:19


I want to extend a big thank you and congratulations to all of the Striders on the weekend.

Thanks for getting me out there and running this hard course.
Thanks for taking pictures.
Thanks for including me in the club, making me feel welcome, and keeping me accountable.
Thanks to Alan (coach) for telling me to catch up to the front-runners on our Strider weekday runs.
"What are you doing back here Nick? Go get 'em" resonates with me.
Thanks to Ken for picking up my race bib.
Thanks to everybody else for the great conversations throughout the race and weekend.

Thanks to the marathoners, you guys are inspiring. Same with David Enman 1:28:33 is nuts!
Thanks to PEI and the Charlottetown folks, I keep making great memories whenever I cross the bridge!

P.S. BEERS!! 

Post- race, a few locals and I went to the Gahan House for some food and drinks. 

Don't recommend the Root Beer (alcoholic), but I do recommend the Iron Bridge. 

Capes 100 ~ 53km - If you can dream it, you can do it. Dream Big!

CAPES 100
RACE REPORT: 53 KM DISTANCE

If you can dream it, you can do it. 

Dream Big!

SIGNUP

July 2018 rolls around,

I am in the middle of training for my first marathon (Legs for Literacy, October  2018)

I just heard about Sonofa Gunofa Run and, as a slow runner, I'm attracted by the format.
( It is a ~5.8 km loop, starts at the top of the hour, every hour until you drop)

I tell myself I want to race the 2019 version of this race.

Get acquainted with Nova Scotia Trail Running (NSTR) and the races that they host




Shortly thereafter on the NSTR website...

THE FIRST 100 MILER IN ATLANTIC CANADA

I must partake! Either race or volunteer.

The experience itself would be amazing! I'm a huge fanboy of ultra-trails.

Sign up immediately to the 100 km the first day that registration opens. I am hyped. (My longest run to this point is a half marathon)

Surely in a year, I can bump that to 100km, with ~3,600m vertical ascent/descent... easy peasy

Definitively a case of Dunning-Kruger effect

PRE-RACE

Next year...

I am woefully under trained; in distance, time on legs, trail experience, and hills.

When talking about 100 km race in the two weeks preceding race date, I get an impending sense of doom. Every time the subject is brought up, I get a shock of dread. I finally decide to drop down to the 50 km race (which is still not an easy ask), with ~ 1,400m vertical ascent/descent. I would not want to be "that guy" who quit midway through the park. Luckily, Jodi (Race Director) said that he caged up all of the animals in the region, so even if I had quit midway through the Cape Chignecto park - there was no way I would get eaten by a bear.

This being my first ultra- and my first trail-race, I was quite nervous. Double-checked all of the equipment and addresses, prepared a "care package" (addresses, expected aid station time, etc.) for Katie and my parents for tomorrow (they would be coming tomorrow morning and supporting/crewing 20km/30km/36km aid stations) and off I went to Spencer's Island Nova Scotia. 

Rolling up on the Start/Finish line, I was expecting some small, in the middle of no where event. Nope, big farm that extends half a kilometer, lined with tents and cars. Big SALOMON arch overseeing the farm. I enter a race-registration barn. Go up to register, and practically beg Karine to drop me down to 50 km, which she said was not a problem (facebook lied to me, drop-down time limit was Aug 5th).

I wanted to talk to my co-worker/friend/ultra-event expert Annie, and hope I can get some last minute advice/tips from her - but she will be there late due to work emergencies. I don't get lean on her to settle my nerves.

Find a spot to settle for the night. Pitch my tent and make friends with my neighbours Jamie, Catherine and Alison (Who all ended up having great races - The blueberries we found behind our tents must have been the key). Talking to these people distracted me a bit.  I head over to the dining hall and enjoy the pre-race meal with Jamie.

We go back to "The Farm".

I am roaming around the camp, when I notice that Ed Furtaw is in the garage. "Frozen" Ed Furtaw is basically a legend of the sport. He is the first person to ever complete the legendary Barkley Marathons back in 1988 (before I was born). The Barkley Marathons is what introduced me to utra-running, and remains a source if inspiration. I go back to my tent, get my copy of the book: "Tales From Out There"

I'm star struck by "Frozen" Ed, and I sheepishly approach him and introduce myself, ask him to sign my book and we had a good conversation as he signed. He explained to me in great detail how to apply to the Barkley Marathons.

At the Capes 100
August 16th, 2019  

Hi Nick,
It is great meeting you here in beautiful Nova Scotia.
Good luck tomorrow in your first Ultra!
If you can dream it, you can do it! Dream Big!
~ Frozen Ed

Head to bed, I take sleeping pills. Try to get to sleep at 10:00 PM

Despite not sleeping a minute, I am not tired. I am alerted by people slamming closed the porta-potties (4:00 AM), I decide to do some stretching in my sleeping bag, and get out to prepare at 5:00 AM

Time flies when you're having fun. I have less than 10 minutes until race when I finish all of the pre-race checks. 

Annie finds me at the start line area, we hug and we wish each other good luck. I tell Jamie that I suspect Annie will be close to podium for the 100k women. Annie sarcastically laughs this off.

I also see Bradley Fiander, I ran with him once when I lived in Halifax. I wish good luck, and I tell him that he is "way too fit" to run the 50km (he claimed to have dropped from 100km to 50km because he was not fit enough to do the 100km).

 My goals for the day are:

• 8h 30m
• Finish

My strategy is to walk the uphills, run the downhills, and manage the flats.

My philosophy for this race has been, for a year:

DFL > DNF > DNS

THE RACE

00 KM - "THE FARM" - 00H00M

*Bang*

Apparently, a real shotgun was used to start the race.

I do not bother with a headlamp, I know sunrise is coming within 10 minutes of race start. Twilight is bright enough to manage  the first twenty minutes of the course: which was a wide-open, low-tide beach.

The race starts at an easy trot. Then a fast walk, then a slow walk, then stationary... as people line up one-by-one to do the river crossings (3 of them). We all balance ourselves on a series of big rocks, some slip (but not me) and have we feet for the entire race. People start slowly jogging on the beach, all having a minimum of 52 km to trails ahead of them. I jog for the first 500 meters of the beach, but as I, and other runners around me quickly realize, there was no point in wasting energy on this terrain. I have a song by Jim Croce in my head and start humming - ♪ Going back to Georgia ♫. 

I run with a few folks from Fredericton (Ken and Matt), and for a time Roy Banks who are walking the uphills, and running the downhills and flat sections at paces I liked. I chat with these people for a while until the end of the second beach section, part of my strategy was to put more effort in the morning at cooler temperatures, and manage during the heat (it was announcing +24 feels like +28 during the day).

Matt and I lose Ken at some point on an uphill, and I start following Matt, who accelerates. I did not want to run "up" hills, so Matt loses me up a hill. I get passed by a guy in rainbow socks, who is running the flats well. I decide to follow him until we hit the dirt road. I let gravity accelerate me downhill, and I walk the uphills. I take a Caffeine + Salted Caramel Gu. Several people are jogging and pass me on the uphills.

15 KM - CAPE D'OR LIGHTHOUSE - 1H57M

As I am continuing on the dirt road, my watch is telling me that I am at 14kms - I did my homework and I should be at the lighthouse by now.

There is a bend in the road ahead, and a clearing.
I reach Cape d'Or aid station at 1h 57min and stay there for 3 minutes, fill my water bottles at half, as the next aid station is in only 6kms away. I end up catching up to Matt and Bradley Farquhar who were walking, and I start hiking with them. We get to a forested area and we decide to jog slowly, there are some slippery water/mud puddles that we're walking over, I am not careful, and I completely wipe out on my side. Hands and leg are full of mud.

Shortly after, there is a sizable descent that goes down ~150m elevations difference at between 25% and 10% grade. I defer to my strategy of letting gravity propel me downhill. This one was bigger and steeper than anything I've tried before, and my inexperience showed. I bomb down this one aggressively. Quads are hurting at the end of the descent. I went down too aggressively. Legs were not the same afterwards.

After the hill I start walking to the ADDA campground, this was a very run-able section of the course, but it did not feel good to run. Legs were aching. On the way to ADDA, as I reach km 19; Bradley Fiander comes running flying the opposite way (in first place). I cheer him on. Boo the next guy, who it turns out is Matthias Mueller.

22 KM - ADDA Campground 3H01M

I arrive at ADDA at roughly 3h 01min. Despite my walking, I surprisingly get there within a minute of my "expected time" A volunteer asked if I wanted to clean my hands, which were now full of dirt. Yes Please! I look around to see if Katie/my parents are around. I determine that they are not, as they said they told me that they would be at ADDA for 10:00AM. I grab a few gummies, M&Ms, and refill my water bottles at half, leave this aid station quickly. Head out towards the turnaround. Many runners are now coming back on their return trip. 

After what felt like a long time, I ask a guy who is on the return trip "how long until the turnaround?" He tells me it's just around the corner, "like 500 meters".......

It was closer to 2.5km 😒

I start to feel some pain at the bottom of my feet and in my hips. The swelling at the bottom of my feet causes pain and slows me down, I get to the turnaround and feel decent to run with a guy who passed me. Fist bump and encourage a few of the runners who will be out all night! I get to the ADDA campground walking briskly with a smile on my face. I know that this was only a 10 km run, but I did not pack enough water my feet were hurting. I see my dad who is with their dog. I arrive at ADDA at 4h 30min - exactly when I told them I would be there!

32 KM - ADDA CAMPGROUND - 4H30M

I cross the timing mat, I ask Katie to swap shirts and pin the bib on a new shirt. My current one is soaked, and it wasn't raining (sorry Katie). I have them put some Nuun tablets, refill my water as I lay with my feet up to try and get some blood to come back to my body, and manage the foot pain better. Dad taunts me that he expects me at 5h30 at Cape D'Or (it's only 6km, he says), but I tell him it would be longer than that, as the hill is going to major suck in the next section.

I drank too much water during my break, and my stomach acts up a bit, burping etc. I walk/run from ADDA to the hill, a few people passed me during this time. Reach the incline, and I am climbing well, my stomach settles and I keep pace between the hill and Cape D'Or with Karen from Maine - she gave me a tip on how to deal with my plantar fasciitis, (mental note for after the race), and we reach Cape D'Or.

39 KM - CAPE D'OR LIGHTHOUSE 5H55M

I feel reasonably well, but don't eat much food, snack on the m&m's, (which are really not doing anything from me), pick up what I thought was dark chocolate, take a bite. It's beef jerky - what a pleasant surprise. I was craving beef jerky the whole race....

Refill a bottle with Nuun (full), and half of another bottle with water. Kate tells me to eat more food, and to fill my bottles full, but I ignore her and see Karen leaving the aid station, and felt like I would do well if I can run with her till the end. Otherwise I was going to slow down. I thank the volunteers and start jogging towards Karen on the dirt road.

 As I make my way toward Karen, she is about 200 meters in front of me. I slow down, and struggle on the dirt road hills. I will catch up to her soon enough I told myself. I see her leaving into the trail, and that's the last I saw of her. I walked quite a bit of this trail section, even though it should have been pretty easy - I felt tired, and I drank from my water bottles for energy. Nothing helped.

I walked most of the rest of this section, during an incline, I even picked up two sticks that made "reasonable" poles to prop me up. For some reason, my triceps felt more tired than the legs. I ran a few parts of this section, but I was quite slow, and I was starting to run out of water. I was unable to motivate my legs to move faster. By the mid-way point of this section, I bargain with myself about water rations...otherwise I would run out "you can take 3 gulps once you hit the 7 km mark of this section of the race". Not a good spot to be in.

I could hear voices behind me, some people started catching up to me. It was painful to see others passing me, and not being able to move anymore. The ego took a beating here. It took me a long time to get through this section - at some point, I told myself, "1 minute run, 1 minute walk" intervals, but that lasted about 5 minutes - starting and ending on the "walk" portion of the interval.

53KM - "THE FARM" 8H31M

I see some volunteers directing us around a corner store, and onto the road. "Two kilometers left". I am hobbling along, eager to finish. I check my watch, and I am so surprised at the elapsed time, it's something like 8H28M. I might be able to make my time of 8h30m, which surprised the hell out of me, because the last section was SO SLOW. My hips were really suffering. I made sure that I run it in after some volunteers told me that there was "only a few flags left". I gave the volunteers high-fives. I also tell them that if they are lying about the distance, that there would be consequences.

My crew were able to take some pictures of the finish. I made sure to put on my goodr sunglasses, as I usually tear up when finishing these things (this was the sole purpose for lugging glasses across 53kms). We hugged, took some pictures, had a beer, and relaxed a bit. Went home.

I was happy to be done.
That day.

Doing 100km next year.

I saw "Frozen" Ed, and a few other people finish, applauding as they came in.

Matthias Mueller (who won the 50km) congratulated on my finish, turns out we were wearing the same Aerobics First t-shirt.

I congratulated Bradley on his 2nd place finish.
(Not fit, my ass)

I am really happy with this result, given the lack of training overall. 8H30M was my goal, and my official chip time was 8:30:45 
I think this could have been my "expected time" in lieu of my "goal time", and I might have pushed a bit harder. I don't regret aiming for this finish time, it kept me on a steady pace.

Annie ended up finishing 5th women 100km (way to go, Annie!)

When I went home, I had a meal of champions:

2 Big Macs, Large Fries, 10 Chicken Nuggets, and leftover Enchiladas.
The back of my throat hurt real bad, felt like strep - but that went away after a day.

ADDENDUM

This was my first trail race, and I loved every minute of it. It was a lot of fun. Very proud of myself for finishing. I intend to attend more group runs in Moncton, Sackville, and Amherst, to keep me motivated throughout the year. Hopefully next year I will run 100 km, or 100 Miles. It was so well organized, it makes me want to volunteer at nstr events.

Mistakes/Lessons Learned:

• I did not train with my hydration pack - Got it 2 weeks before race start. 
• Only ran ~30 km in the Salomon SpeedCross 4 prior to this, so was unaware of some hot-spots.
• Though I had planned on taking a GU GEL at roughly every hour, I only ended up eating one, and forgetting about nutrition altogether after the first aid station. 
• In 100 km or 100 miler, I don't think I could have gotten away with half-filling my water bottles.
• I really need to sort out this "running on tired legs" bit, because I am bad at end-of-races.
• Dropping down to 50 km was the right decision, 100 km would have been a DNF - guaranteed

Sonofa Gunofa 2019 was not possible - sold out in 4 hours 😒
I got into 2020 Sonofa Gonofa.

CAPES 100, 2020 is a definite yes for me!

Thanks to nstr for hosting this fantastic race!
Thank you to Jodi for caging up all of the animals in the region - I didn't even get a bug bite.
Thanks to Laurie Currie for hosting the event on his (family?) farm.
Thanks to Annie for encouraging me throughout the year, even though I backed out of the 100km at the last minute.
Thanks to Frozen Ed for signing my book, and for the conversations.
Thanks to Alison and Christine for encouraging me to run with the Striders!
Thanks to Jamie for eating with me, I loved our conversations.
Thanks to my parents for coming down and supporting me.
Thanks to Katie for being the best crew chief somebody could ask for, for rubbing my feet, for supporting me throughout the year, for listening to me talk about running all the time.❤

P.S. Italics are sarcasm, I did not eat blueberries, please don't post-race DNF me.