I was stoked, I had a clear path to run the UTMB in Chamonix, the Super Bowl of trail racing. Unfortunately, Covid-19 threw a wrench in my plans. I was signed up to run a race called UTMB Val D’Aran in Spain in July which was canceled. A finish at UTMB Val D’Aran would have guaranteed my entry for UTMB in Chamonix in 2021, the year that I turn 40. UTMB, Chamonix holds special significance for me. I was inspired to start running ultras after visiting Chamonix in August, 2008. 

Although I was very disappointed that UTMB Val D’Aran was cancelled, I was also kind of relieved. I felt funny flying half way across the world to run UTMB when I haven’t run very many of the top Canadian races. We’re fortunate to have a number of premier races in Canada. I decided to use this post to list the top three races in Canada that I’d like to run over the next few years.

Fat Dog 120

Distance: 120 miles (192km)

Vertical gain: 8,862m

Location: Eastgate, BC

Fat Dog 120 is a monster, it’s considered one of the world’s 9 toughest races by Outside magazine. Badwater and Hardrock 100 are included in this list. The web site boasts that Fat Dog’s vertical gain of 8,682 metres is just short of Everest at 8,848 metres. There’s a couple of special awards handed out, the Wild Dog for the best wildlife sighting and my favourite, the Hally Dog, for the best hallucination. Fat Dog is given many accolades – some call it the toughest race in Canada and the most scenic race in Canada. I’ve had this race on my list for the last few years. It’s high on the list for my good friends Chris and Joe as well, we’d like to run it together in the next couple of years. 

Squamish 50

Distance: 50/50 – 50 miles on day 1, 50km on day 2

Vertical gain: 6,000m

Location: Squamish, BC

Squamish 50 is put on by Canada’s favourite trail runner, Gary Robbins. If you’re not familiar with Gary, he’s well known for his attempts of the Barkley Marathons. You have the option of running three different distances, 50 miles on day 1, 50km on day 2 or the 50/50 (50 miles on day and 50km on day 2). My good friends Chris and Joe and I ran a 25km orientation run for the Squamish 50 course in 2018. We have all run distances of 100 miles or more and we got severely beat up from those 25km. The course was gnarly with a lot of climbing, rocks and tree roots. Chris, Joe and I were taken with the running community in Squamish, we chatted with some very kind and accomplished runners. Gary Robbins took five minutes to talk with Chris, Joe and I at the end of the orientation run and we couldn’t have been more pleased. I’m looking forward to getting back to Squamish.

Canadian Death Race

Distance: 125km

Vertical gain: 5,182m

Location: Grande Cache, AB

What an ominous name, how could you not want to run this race? The Canadian Death Race has run every year since 2000. It passes over three mountain summits in the Canadian Rockies and includes a major river crossing at Hell’s Gate canyon where the Smoky and Sulphur Rivers converge. The organizers make sure to call out in the FAQs that no one has ever died during the race but that there’s an injury risk like in any ultra marathon.

It feels like I hit a wall when I walk outside my air conditioned house. It’s 32°C outside, 34°C with the humidity. Is it crazy that I’m looking forward to my next run in this heat? I like the extra level of difficulty added by the heat. It feels good knowing that I can run in weather which makes most people want to stay inside. I didn’t always enjoy running in the heat – it’s taken me a few years to figure it out. I got severely dehydrated during the Sulphur Springs 50km race back in 2016 (link to race recap). It was a hot day like today and I ended the race peeing blood and feeling awful. I was really shaken up after that race but I’ve learned some very important lessons as a result.

I was introduced to Salt Stick salt pills by my good friends Chris and Joe shortly after my disaster at Sulphur Springs. Salt pills for me are like spinach for Popeye. I’ll take a salt pill with 750ml of water one hour before a long run and will take a salt pill every hour or two during my run. I’ll increase my intake of salt pills if I start to cramp. I haven’t experienced anything close to severe hydration since I started taking salt pills and I have run some very long and hot races in the past few years. This includes two 100 mile races, Sulphur Springs in 2018 when it was 34°C and the Midnight Moose in 2019 when it was 27°C.

I’ve also learned that it’s best to train in the heat if you suspect that your race is going to be hot. I got into trouble during the 2016 Sulphur Springs 50km race because I only trained in the morning when it was cool. Now, I make sure to do longer training sessions in the full heat of day. I start with shorter training sessions in the heat and build my way up to longer ones.

The biggest lesson that I’ve learned about running when it’s hot is to listen to your body. If I start feeling sluggish or dizzy, I know it’s time to slow down or to start walking. I’m paying close attention to how often I’m peeing and to the colour of my pee. If I’ve gone more than two hours without peeing or if my pee is dark – I know that I should start loading up on water with one or two salt pills. 

Running in the heat can be dangerous and extra precautions need to be taken but you don’t need to be afraid. The human body can adapt amazingly well to all climates on earth. There’s no reason why you can’t become a heat adapted beast of a runner if you take care of your hydration, train properly and listen to your body.

“Because the runner is the messenger and his suffering must be witnessed,”. This is Rickey Gates describing his conflicting motivations for wanting to run across the USA, back in 2017. I listened to Gates’ new audiobook on my long run this morning. Cross Country: A 3,700 Mile Run Across America – doesn’t read like your typical ultra-running adventure book. Running is not the main topic of the book, instead running is present as a backdrop to some of the book’s big themes. Gates is poetic and philosophical in his writing about the book’s main topic – discovering the identity of the USA for himself. Gates’ cross-country run started shortly after the 2016 election of Donald Trump, an event that left him feeling depressed and confused about how well he knew his own country. Gates shares about his relationship problems with his girlfriend during this time – they decided to break up right before the run. Gates also describes his feelings of inadequacy with his career as a professional runner. This brings us back full circle to Gates’ motivations for wanting to run across the country. Transformation is a theme that resurfaces a number of times during the book. Gates is unhappy about his current state of affairs and looks to this journey to help put his life back on track. 

I came across this book through the irunfar website. Although I was familiar with Rickey Gates, I had to do some research to learn more about him. Gates grew up in Aspen Colorado and won the first mountain race that he ever entered, the Imogene Pass in 2005. Gates joined the United States mountain running team shortly after and racked up a number of victories in the US and in Europe. He ran his first ultra event in 2011, the Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache, Alberta. Gates won the 125km event, completing it in 12h15m and beating the course record by 32 minutes. He is sponsored by Salomon and is well known by the upper echelon of the ultra-running community. Gates is shown in pictures in the irunfar article hanging out with Scott Jurek and pacing Kilian Jornet in the 2014 Hardrock 100. 

Although Gates is an elite athlete he chose to sleep most nights in a tent during his run across America. He sometimes pitched his tent in questionable locations like parks or the side of the road. He subsisted on a diet of gas station food and beer. He ran the last leg of his journey pushing a running stroller full of his gear. It’s easy to admire Gates’ lack of pretension.  

I really enjoyed the audiobook but I wished it was longer than 1h27m. I was hesitant to buy Cross Country when I first saw its length but I’ve been very interested in these types of stories lately and I figured that the funds would help support an ultra-runner. Despite the short length, the audiobook is packed with great stories and beautiful descriptive writing. I’m considering buying the Kindle or the hardcover book which are 256 pages long and full of photographs and drawings. Cross Country is a great story of transformation which left me feeling inspired and grateful for running.

No carbs for me – pass the butter. That was my eating philosophy a couple of years ago. I followed a very restrictive low carb diet. It kept me at a healthy weight but the diet took a lot of the fun out of eating. I have since changed the way that I eat so that I can enjoy all types of food – after all, eating is one of the great joys of life. I have a big Bruce Trail trek planned at the end of the summer and I want to be in great shape for it. I reflected on my eating this weekend so that I could put a nutrition plan together. 

Portion control is the biggest challenge for me. I typically make good food choices but I will eat too much of the good food. With this in mind, I decided to cut all snacks from my diet last November and it worked really well. This change helped me lose 20 stubborn pounds and led to my first podium finishes in ultra racing. I’ve kept my weight stable since then and have settled into a nice routine of having a medium sized breakfast, light lunch and large dinner. If I’m dying for a snack between meals I’ll drink a zero calorie, peppermint tea. The hot tea makes me feel like I’ve eaten something, and it’s usually meal time when my body figures out that I haven’t actually given it any calories. 

I really struggle with portion control on the weekends when I do my big training sessions. I’m starving after long runs. I tend to overeat since I think that I’ve burned so many calories and that I must have room to indulge with a few treats. This was the case when I first started ultra-running but I don’t have this luxury anymore. I’ve come to realize that I’ve developed a very efficient metabolism. A few weeks ago, I did long back to back training sessions – 5 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday. I really pushed myself so I figured that I could indulge. I was liberal with my portions, eating huge meals and a lot of snacks. I stepped on the scale on Monday and was surprised to see that I had gained 3 pounds over the weekend even though I had trained for 10 hours. It makes sense to increase my food intake on the weekend but I need to have a plan for it. I made a nutrition plan today and have included it below. I’ll keep the diet that I follow during the week but will eat a larger lunch, will indulge with a reasonably sized helping of dessert for dinner and have a can of my favourite beer – Boneshaker. Having the Bruce Trail trek approaching is great motivation – I know that carrying extra weight increases your risk of injury and makes it harder to run. Having this plan will help me stay on track and I’m excited to see the results.  

During the week:

Breakfast:

1 medium sized piece of toast with almond butter and honey

1 small bowl of steel cut oats with nut butter and jam

1 tablespoon of fish oil

Lunch:

Monster salad with kale or spinach

Include any other veggies

2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic

3-4 ounces of cheese

Dinner:

One large portion of protein / fat

Small / medium starch – sweet potato, potato or bread

One large portion of vegetables – broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, etc.

Evening:

One large glass of red wine

Weekends:

Lunch:

Same as during the week with the addition of:

One large portion of protein / fat

Small / medium starch – sweet potato, potato or bread

Dinner:

Same as during the week but with a small portion of dessert

Evening:

One large glass of red wine + one tall can of beer

I was crushing it with my weight workouts for a few months and then, I stopped. I know that you need a solid weight training program to avoid injury as an ultra-runner who is getting older – I turned 39 in March. Life got busy, I started a new job in April, and the weight training fell by the wayside. A recent knee strain brought to light that I need to start weight training again. I have nagging tightness in my right knee (quadricep tendon) and right glute and I think it’s due to weak quads and glutes. I found a great weight training program called the Tough 21 by Jeff Browning – one of my favourite ultra-runners. At 48 years old, Jeff is still winning 100 mile races and regularly finishing top 10 in major trail races like Western States and Hardrock 100. I adapted the Tough 21 to fit my own purposes and have included my training plan below. I’m looking forward to getting started on weight training this week. I have a big Bruce Trail trek planned for the end of the summer and I want to be strong and strain free for it. 

This link to UltraRunning shows all of the Browning’s Tough 21 exercises.

I’ve included links to Youtube videos for all of the other exercises.  

Weekly Training Plan:

Monday: rest day

Tuesday: 30 minutes run + 30 minutes of weights

Weights: legs and core 

3 sets of each exercise 

50 seconds per set with 30 seconds rest in between

• Plank
• Hollow rock toe raises – (Tough 21) 
• Stability ball leg curl (hamstrings) 
• Lunges with tricep extension – (Tough 21)
• Glute bridge

Wednesday: 30 minutes run + 30 minutes of weights

Weights: chest, back and core

3 sets of each exercise 

50 seconds per set with 30 seconds rest in between

• Plank
• Bicycle twists – (Tough 21)
• Push ups with heel raises – (Tough 21)
• Chin ups
• Dumbbell squat with twist curl press – (Tough 21)

Thursday: 30 minutes run + 30 minutes of weights

Weights: legs and core (same as Tuesday)

Friday: 1 hour run
Saturday and Sunday: long runs of 2-5 hours

“You don’t think I’m going to do any permanent damage to my knee?”, I ask my wife, Lindsay. Lindsay rolls her eyes at me. My wife is a Family Doctor and she is my go to for any sports medicine questions, even though she has limited training on the subject. This is the umpteenth time that I’ve asked her this question. Lindsay knows that I understand that I won’t do any permanent damage to my knee since I’ve decided to take some time off of running but I still need some reassurance. I decide to do some in depth research on whether running leads to permanent knee damage and discover some great material. 

It’s been very helpful to learn more about the common knee injuries for runners. The most common is an overuse injury called Runner’s Knee or patellofemoral pain syndrome. Runner’s Knee occurs from irritation in the cartilage of your knee cap (patella). This usually happens with new runners or runners who have recently increased their mileage or started running more hills¹. 

IT Band Syndrome is another common knee injury caused by overuse. IT Band Syndrome gives you pain on the outside of your knee which is caused by shortening of the IT band. The IT band runs from the top of your hip all the way down to your knee¹. I’ve had several bouts of IT band pain and have successfully treated it with foam rolling. 

The knee strain that I have now is called quadricep tendonitis – pain in the tendon that attaches your quadricep to your knee cap. It’s not as common as Runner’s Knee and IT Band Syndrome but it often affects runners². 

While these injuries are painful and annoying, they won’t do any serious damage as long as you take the proper steps to address them. This usually involves taking some time off running, icing, stretching and adding some strength training. Strength training is particularly important. Knee pain can be a result of weakness in other areas of your leg, apart from the knee. It could be weak hips, glutes or ankles³. In my case, I’ve had a nagging glute strain for a few months and it’s contributed to my knee pain. I’ve made a plan to develop my glutes through weight training and calisthenics. 

The meniscus injury scares me the most – the meniscus is a layer of knee cartilage which acts as the shock absorber between the hip and shin bones. I’ve never had a meniscus tear but I understand that it’s extremely painful. The meniscus can heal from small stresses and tears but large traumas can lead to permanent damage. Similar to other knee injuries, meniscal tears usually occur from overuse in older athletes⁴. My sense is that I would know if I had a meniscal tear and I would take the proper steps to address it. That being said, I know that I would be tempted to run through the pain since I love to run. It would require some serious willpower to hold back from running until my meniscus was better. 

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major area for concern in older athletes. OA is inflammation in the knees which eventually leads to breakdown of cartilage. While popular opinion was that running led to OA, recent evidence suggests that running actually helps decrease your chances of OA. There are many different factors that cause OA including a large genetic component. Runners that develop OA were most likely genetically predisposed to it and would have gotten the disease, regardless of their running³. 

What’s the good news? If you listen to your body and take the proper precautions, you can run pain free into old age. Listening to your body means taking time off and adjusting your training based on strains and injuries. Taking the proper precautions overlaps with training. Strength training becomes extremely important for the aging runner since muscle mass decreases with age. Diagnosing weak spots like glutes, ankles or quads and then training them helps bolster your joints. Managing your weight is also very important – the more that you weigh, the more stress is placed on your joints. This gives runners extra incentive to maintain a healthy weight. 

This is the third article that I’ve written on knee pain in three weeks and the writing has been cathartic. Despite knowing a lot about anatomy and running injuries, my mind still drifted to dark places about the possibility of doing permanent damage to my knees. Knowledge is power though and I’m feeling more at peace about my knee strain. I know that recovery is around the corner if I continue acting with patience and deliberate effort. 

References:

1- https://www.templehealth.org/about/blog/common-knee-injuries-running#:~:text=Runner’s%20knee%20%E2%80%93%20also%20known%20as,in%20your%20kneecap%20gets%20irritated.

2 – https://www.healthline.com/health/quadriceps-tendonitis#symptoms

3 – https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a32598733/is-running-bad-for-your-knees/

4 – https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20823070/marathoning-and-the-meniscus/

Last week’s blog post left some unanswered questions on how I’m dealing with my knee pain. I have to be honest, my plan was to power through the knee pain and continue my training. That’s how I’ve dealt with all of my running related strains over the last six years. I’ve had countless small aches and pains which have gone away on their own. I ignore new strains to avoid going crazy by worrying about them. I could tell by the reaction to last week’s blog that I should treat a knee strain differently. A number of concerned family members and friends reached out and I was glad for it. This is the first time that I’ve had a knee strain – I usually have ankle problems or quad / hamstring strains. I took some time to reflect this week and have made a recovery plan.  

I’m taking two weeks for recovery – I’ll continue to train but at a lower volume. I’ve been building a lot of distance lately and I could tell that I needed a break. I ran for 10 hours / 80km last weekend and 9 hours / 75km the weekend prior. I cut down this weekend’s training to 2 hours and I’ll do the same, next weekend. Getting rest is working well, I’ve already noticed a significant decrease in knee pain.

I decided to take my own advice and to go for hikes instead of runs this week. I’m always telling friends to turn to hiking to help them get past a strain. In fact, I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago titled “Hiking – your Secret Weapon for Ultra Running”. I was hesitant to go for a hike despite knowing that it’s great training. I really enjoyed my hike once I finally got out and I was surprised by my speed – I power hiked 6.82km in one hour earlier this week.

I also did some diagnostics with my wife, Lindsay and we figured out that weak quads are most likely behind the knee pain. I made a new friend Brandon (@ultratrailcoach) on Instagram who took an interest in my knee pain after he read last week’s blog post. Brandon gave me some great tips and pointed me in the right direction for finding the root cause of my knee pain. I went a little nuts with hill training in March and April. I did multiple weekends of back to back 2.5 – 3 hour hill training sessions and my legs weren’t ready for it. I think that I overloaded my knee tendons and they haven’t recovered yet. I’m working on a weight training plan to strengthen my quads and am looking forward to getting started.

Although I was in denial that I had a knee problem last week, I’m glad that I wrote a post about it. Running is definitely one of my life’s passions and I hope to do it for a long time. As we all know, a knee problem can be catastrophic for a runner and I wasn’t giving my knee pain the attention that it deserved. I was glad for the feedback that I got from family and friends – it inspired some much needed critical thinking. I feel confident that I’m on the right path for recovery from knee pain and I’m looking forward to pain free running.

The worries started a few weeks ago, I felt the dreaded pain as I was coming down the stairs. Maybe it will go away tomorrow, maybe it’s nothing. But it stuck around. I’ve been running a lot of kilometres lately and my knees have become sore for the first time. Sore knees make runners anxious. I had my knee checked out and found that I had a tendon strain. Even though I knew my strain wasn’t serious – I found myself perseverating on whether I’ll do permanent damage to my knees if I continue to run long distances. Luckily, I came across a shining example of a runner with great longevity. 

Ray Zahab is a well known Canadian adventurer and ultra-runner. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Ray and getting to know him better over the last year. Among a long list of impressive accomplishments, Ray ran 7,500km across the Sahara desert in 2006. Ray and two friends – ran an average of 70km per day for 111 days. This epic adventure was the subject of the movie, Running the Sahara which was produced and narrated by Matt Damon. A couple of weeks ago, I had a breakthrough for dealing with my knee pain worries while rewatching Running the Sahara with my kids. Although I run a lot, my distances pale in comparison to Ray’s incredible 111 days of running. Ray didn’t stop at running the Sahara. In January, 2020 and at 51 years old, Ray crossed Baffin Island on foot while dragging all of his supplies. It’s very reassuring that Ray’s knees can support an amazing feat like crossing Baffin Island, 14 years after he ran the Sahara. Ray’s example shows that you can run long and run often without destroying your knees. Sure, Ray is a special athlete but he isn’t alone in his longevity. There are a number of ultra-runners who continue to do amazing things in their late forties and early fifties including Karl Meltzer (52 years old), Mike Wardian (46 years old) and Jeff Browning (48 years old). 

It’s a great idea to come back to examples like Ray’s when you start feeling anxious about running injuries. Reflecting on Ray’s amazing experiences helped me put my own running into perspective. Although I run more than the average person, I haven’t run anywhere close to the 7,500km across the Sahara. My knee pain still bugs me but it doesn’t have me questioning the distances that I run anymore. I’m looking forward to pushing past this strain and continuing my amazing experience with ultra-running.

Race nutrition is tricky for ultra-runners. What is the right amount of food? How often should you eat? Which foods will upset your stomach? These are all important questions and it often takes trial and error to find the best solution. When I first started running, I mistakenly thought that I needed to replace all of the calories that I burned during a race. I have since learned that it’s impossible to replenish all of your calories – you need to rely on your body’s energy stores for fuel. Although race nutrition is important, I’ve found that I don’t need nearly as much food as I thought. 

On May 8th, Mike McKnight (Instagram @dirtymike_89) seemingly did the impossible by running 100 miles without any solid or liquid food – he only drank water with electrolytes. McKnight finished in an impressive 18h37m. Mike credits a fat adapted diet for this amazing feat. One of my favourite runners Jeff Browning (Instagram @gobroncobilly), coaches McKnight. Browning admits in a recent Instagram post that he thought this was impossible when Mike came to him with the project. Browning knows a thing or two about ultra-running – he’s won 31 races and at 48 years old, he placed 9th at the Western States 100 with a time of 15h55m. 

My friend and Canadian 48hr / 72hr record holder, Marylou Corino (Instagram @romanaccia13) amazingly ran 15 hours without any solid food during her 2018 attempt of the Badwater 135. Marylou didn’t do this on purpose – she had serious digestive problems because of the oppressive Death Valley heat. Fortunately, Mary Lou’s crew located a nearby McDonald’s and Mary Lou found that she could eat pancakes and hashbrowns. Getting past the stomach problems – Marylou powered through to a strong finish of 41h28m.

It’s easy to overthink your race nutrition – I’ve made detailed eating plans for races, only to scrap them half way through. Mike and Mary Lou’s examples show us that you don’t need to panic if your race nutrition goes off script. Even the slimmest athletes have thousands of calories to burn from body fat. Lately, I have been limiting the food that I eat while training. I’ve done two, four hour runs without any calories and have had good experiences. I’m attempting to train my body to efficiently burn body fat when I run and I’m looking forward to seeing the benefits during my next race.

It’s Mother’s Day which got me thinking about the important role of supporters in the life of a runner. Runners rely on support from family and friends every day. Whether it’s words of encouragement or watching the kids while you go for a run. I’m very grateful for the mothers in my life and their support for my running.

I have three young kids and I couldn’t spend the hours training and racing without my wife and life partner Lindsay. Lindsay always supports my multiple hour runs and always hears out my crazy running adventure ideas. She knows that running lifts my mood and that it’s become a necessary activity for me just like eating, drinking and sleeping. Lindsay keeps me motivated, she helps me when I’m down and celebrates with me when I’m up.

Just like Lindsay, my mother Jann is an amazing support. Ultra running was a new concept for my mom when I first started a few years ago. As you can imagine, mom was worried that I would seriously hurt myself by running 160km straight. Despite feeling uneasy about my running, mom always encourages me and congratulates me when I reach my goals. Mom has been extremely positive and enthusiastic all throughout my life and I try to emulate mom’s attitude with my running. Positivity gives you a great advantage during the gruelling hours of an ultra-marathon. 

Enjoy your day today as you celebrate the wonderful mothers in your life. I’m sure that all of the runners out there can connect the dots for how their supporters have helped their running over the years.