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.