99 Days to 50 Miles May 25, 2012
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well here we are at day 84!!!
Tomorrow is the first race of our training schedule, the Sulphur Springs 50K trail run. I love this race and tomorrow promises to be a sunny and possibly cooler day which would be fantastic. i have to work tomorrow night so i’m not sure how my post race will look…. i don’t think it will be pretty!! 
I have altered my diet slightly by limiting my cocktail consumption today (so far) in hopes of being somewhat hydrated when i start. My carnartion instant breakfast upset my tummy a bit this morning but i will probably risk it tomorrow anyway because of the energy it gives me. i had a sandwich and chicken noodle soup for lunch and will probably have mashed potatoes for dinner. i LOVE potatoes!!! i have to work tonight also so tonight’s sleep will b limited but i had a long sleep last night and i’m hoping that will carry me over!
my rest day today involved cleaning out the garage, a dump run and trying to fix the garage door opener so basically all the things we tell people in our clinics NOT to do. Oh! I didn’t garden! so there! it IS a rest day after all!!
99 days to 50 miles May 22, 2012
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today is day 88!!!
it is holiday monday and my training has been a little sporadic over the past 4 days. thursday, i ran 6K with our level 2 group in the clinic, friday was doug’s birthday so we started drinking around 11:00am and spent the rest of the day in the same manner! Saturday doug was going to do his long run at night and i was going to join him after work. he wasn’t feeling the love so i just ended up doing 6K again in the morning. Sunday we went out on our first big bike ride of the season- unfortunately, it is the motorized kind so not much of a cardio workout! i worked 8 hours and then caught up with doug, who had decided to do his long run, about 1:15am. i ran his last 15K with him and felt pretty good. my feet were a little sore but i’m sure that was because i had already put in a full day on my feet. Today we walked for about an hour and then I went to work….
this week will be a bit lighter because we have the 50K trail race on saturday but i will still do some stuff because i find a full taper just about sends me over the edge. i now have to work saturday night after the race so it will be a REAL endurance event!!! oh well! it’s all good training!!!!
99 Days to 50 Miles May 17, 2012
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here we are at day 92!
boy time is just flying by! it’s a beautiful sunny and cool day today and i’m feeling a little….. knackered. Feeling a bit down about some life stuff and a bit tired physically also. so today is a potato chip day!!!!
i ran this morning (about 4.5K again) with our clinic and then went for groceries so i’m really pushing the cardio envelope! i am planning to purchase a headlamp for my bike this aft and ride to work tonight. i didn’t ride last night because i hadn’t purchased said headlamp and it was pretty windy. I close at work tonight and I come home along the service road so it can get pretty dark….
i hold out great hope for the return of my training motivation tomorrow but i think today may be turning into a chip AND rum and diet pepsi day…..
99 days to 50 miles May 16, 2012
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Day 93!!!!
well yesterday was an easier day. I ran 4.5 K in the morning with our clinic, did a weight workout in our store (Grimsby Runners, 14 Ontario St in, you guessed it, Grimsby) and then rode my mountain bike to work and back (a good solid 13 K!) which was tough! First time out on my bike this year and my legs were a little dead this am!
Today I went to the gym with my favourite grandson (you may have guessed by now that I have only one grandson and I also have one granddaughter who is also my favourite granddaughter!) and did some elliptical to warm up (it now takes me about 30 minutes to warm up- oh how i love being in my 40′s!) and then some speed work on the treadmill. I finished off with a few leg weights and may or may not ride my bike to work tonight!
I started my day again with carnation instant breakfast and I think I may well be addicted!!
I’m a little tired today but otherwise unscathed so bring on day 92!!!
P.S. I have forgotten to mention that the 50 Miler that I’m training for is the Beast of Burden 50 Miler August 18th in Lockport New York which we heard about at a recent race expo. I’m actually looking forward to it!!!
99 days to 50 miles May 14, 2012
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Day 95!
well yesterday was a recovery day so I slept in, had fish and chips at hutch’s in Hamilton and went for a walk with my honey along the waterfront trail. It was a beautiful day! Then I went to work and worked out more of the kinks- I really believe my profession will be an invaluable training tool on my journey.
Today I took my favourite grandson for a walk in the morning and then headed off to the gym. I did almost 6 miles on the elliptical and some upper body weights and I felt really good!!!! I’m a bit surprised! one foot is a little sore but i have some ongoing issues so i just keep telling both my feet what a great job they’re doing and how much i appreciate them. I think it’s ok to talk to my body parts- guys do it all the time! I forgot to mention that I wore my Merrell barefoot shoes for just over half my long run on Saturday and they felt good. i changed to Nike Vomero’s just past the half way mark and the cushioning was kind of welcomed at that point!
i also wanted to mention that saturday morning and this morning also i had a carnation instant breakfast as my start to the day and i think that may be helping quite a bit- i would never have expected to have a good gym work out 2 days after a long run so i’m probably going to start drinking about 5 or 6 of those things a day! Just Kidding!
99days to 50 miles May 12, 2012
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Day97!
40K done!!! It took awhile but we got it done! Hot weather today…. and we had to stop and ask a couple very nice people in Stoney Creek for water and we had a couple detours but it is done and we felt good until the end. Tired now but heading off to a night shift at the pub. I figure it will help my legs loosen up a bit.
i also want to share my nutrition secrets. last night- nachos and chicken wings, this morning carnation instant breakfast and some diet pepsi. i don’t know if i would recommend it for everyone! Recovery day and sleep in tomorrow!!!
99 days to 50 miles May 11, 2012
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Day 98!!!
Today is a “rest” day because i will try and run between 35 and 40 K tomorrow. this morning i got up about 8 (the last weekday that this will happen because i restart my full-time babysitting gig on monday!) and went out for a walk for about an hour. this was for my soul as much as my body- it was a beautiful morning and i just love being outside. then i came home and got my mountain bike ready so i can start commuting to work (about 6 K each way). I figure any cross-training will help! I also started cleaning out the garage because it is a “rest” day after all!
I work tonight (as a server at a local pub) but I’m not closing so i should get home in time to get some sleep before the big jaunt. I also had some physio on my shoulder yesterday and the exercises have made that area a little tender but i have discovered voltaren emulgel! yum! well maybe not yum. you’re not really supposed to eat it! For my internal approach to pain management i usually stick to vitamin I (buprofen) and alcohol. it’s worked pretty well so far!!! we’ll see what tomorrow brings….
99 days to 50 miles May 10, 2012
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So here we are on day 99! I’m going to count down because most people want to know how much time you have left, not how much you’ve done already.
Well my blog served it’s purpose for me this morning! Doug and I planned to get up at 5:30am for a run and we slept in! So I went out a little later and fit a 45minute trail run in because I knew I couldn’t blow off my run on my first day of blogging! So I’m kept honest and I need that!
Today I went for 45 minutes on some mildly technical trails- i almost got attacked by a dog but i stayed upright and that’s an accomplishment in my books! People think it’s easy being a clutz but it usually hurts! I felt a little heavy and awkward on the trail but I’d like to lose a few pounds and continue to recover from an old ankle injury so I foresee this improving. I also went out with our level 1 clinic group afterwards which is always fun. The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day. and only 98 days to go!
99 DAYS to 50 MILES May 9, 2012
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hello all!
I am Jen, co-owner of the Grimsby Runners at 14 Ontario St in beautiful downtown Grimsby. ok- that’s the end of the plug!
i’ve decided to blog about my preparation for my first 50 miler for a couple reasons. My husband and co-owner, Doug and i like to tell people and share our running joy with anyone who will listen. Also I figure it will help keep me honest as far as my training goes!
I’ll give a bit of background…. I have run a few 50K races but the jump to a 50 miler seems pretty substantial! I was a geek in high school and never athletic so when i say if i can do it, anyone can do it- i mean it!! i also have asthma, and I babysit my grandson full time, and i have a full time job outside of our store. A little ambitious? maybe….
my husband is a VERY experienced ultra runner. this tends to change one’s frame of reference for what is “normal” running! my first official race was the Jasper to Banff Relay in which I ran 2 legs (about 21 miles). My second race was the Toronto Marathon. I had no idea that there were 5 and 10K races!!! if anyone i went to school with were to read this i know they would be saying “the Jennifer that we went to school with???? She was president of the music department, wasn’t she?” I didn’t start running until my early 30′s- it really is NEVER too late!!!
So tomorrow i start my 99 days of training. today i have eaten chips, popcorn, hot dogs and had a couple drinks already! I will run a long training run on Saturday morning with my trail running partner, Martin in preparation for our first big preparatory event, the Sulphur Springs trail run (50K) on may 26. we haven’t done as much training as we should have and the only thing that makes the prospect of that much pain bearable is the fact that i get to spend the better part of a day out in the woods with someone that i like. And the food at the race is great!!!
So first run of the training schedule tomorrow…. right now i think i’ll go have another vex on the beach!!!
save the Bruce Trail!!! April 27, 2012
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I was very interested to read the Hamilton Spectator’s front page celebration (on the April 14th issue ) of the fiftieth anniversary of the Bruce Trail. I celebrate the Bruce Trail also and the timing of the article was rather ironic with an experience I had concerning the Trail that same weekend.
I frequent the trail where it passes through Grimsby, my home town where my husband and I own Grimsby Runners. The main and side trails in this area are particularly lovely due to the presence of 40 Mile Creek and Beamer’s Falls. On Sunday, however, my husband, a friend and I decided to venture in to the Paramount Area (Stoney Creek) to catch the trail there and perhaps run back to Grimsby. My husband and I used to live in Hamilton and considered this our “home trail” at that time for trail running and hiking. We knew the trail well and looked forward to reacquainting ourselves with an old friend. I cannot explain how horrified we were to discover part of the trail had been PAVED!!!! We continued on our run hoping it was just a little piece near the park that had been violated. We came across a city worker so my husband asked about the new sidewalk . The city worker explained that this had been “on the books” for about 4 years and it would be so much better because bikes, strollers and kids could use the trail (and I use the term loosely) more easily. I guess the whole “oldest and longest footpath” moniker just went out the window with the overwhelming smell of tar. The city worker was also anxious to tell us that this was just the beginning that there will be 10 kilometers of paved trail before the destruction will finally cease.
REALLY????
To add insult to injury the photos I have attached depict the new fence (I concede an absolute necessity safety first always) and the careless dumping of the old fence down the gorge at Felker’s Falls! One might argue the degradability of the old logs but the orange safety fence? And were the old logs treated? And maybe a chipper might have been a good idea?
Friends who live in the paramount area have noticed increased use of the trail as advertised mainly by atv’s, bikes and teens looking for somewhere to smoke their drugs. Is this the “increased accessibility” that paving the trail was aiming to encourage?
We promote trail running in the running groups at our store. We teach members how to do it properly as well as respect and appreciation of the trails. There have been recent upgrades to the trail in our area also. All of these have been accomplished using natural materials. Some trees needed to be pruned and the remnants were then chipped and used on the trail to keep the upgrades environmentally friendly. I surveyed the upgrades with my one year old grandson in his jogging stroller, which is the accessibility that I think was intended!
Please contact Bruce Trail Society if you are also offended by this desecration of our wilderness. We need to prevent further destruction!
Grimsby Runners
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