According to my training plan I needed to run 26 miles this weekend. Running that far can be tiring and a bit demotivating when you are training solo however Mal was running the Albion Hills 5 Peaks race on Saturday and about a week out I realized on Sunday 5 Peaks was hosting a 6 hour race on the same course – the perfect training run! I had people to run with a well groomed and flagged course along with a couple aid stations set up with cheering squads all along the course. The “Albion Grind” is a 6 hour race on an approximate 7km loop of trail with roughly 1500ft of elevation gain per loop.
The GOOD, The BAD & The UGLY
The Good – Consistent Running. I was able to hold my pace fairly well even in spite of the hills. I know why they call it Albion Hill Park. So many great rolling hills. Nothing crazy or any massive ‘break you’ hills, but enough to really test the legs. I can proudly say I did not walk once out on the course for the entire race, including running ever hill. My hills felt strong, I think partly due to the amount of hill training I did leading up to our Squamish adventure Joe, Jordan and I did last month.
The Bad – My Nutrition. I haven’t been eating all that well leading up to the race, due to the fact that we had family visiting (SHOUT OUT to JoLeen and Matthew!). For some reason I wasn’t eating much on the course and really didn’t drink enough either. If it was a 24Hour race I would have forced myself to do better but 6 hours isn’t that long and I opted to run on low energy – to be honest I don’t think it hurt me that bad – but if I did dial in my nutrition I know I would have performed a bit better.
Side Note: The guys who took 1st and 2nd in the men’s race both were wearing shirts that said TEAM VEGAN… Plant based athletics works!
The Ugly – The Rain. OMG did it rain. It was a continuous downpour which really washed out the course. Since the trail was made up using numerous biking trails the water would pool in the rut and it would create little streams. Also a few of the downhills were a crazy mud slide which took a couple people for a ride, including myself, luckily I didn’t end up on my back. It made for an exciting race none the less.
Link to my Garmin stats HERE!
Link to race results HERE!
Race Breakdown
Lap 1 – (43.10) Felt fine and ran with a guy named Neil – cool dude.
Lap 2 – (41.12) I ran right through aid stations and felt stronger and better than I did on lap one settling into a groove. Rain was coming down hard but it was tolerable.
Lap 3 – (43.17) I continued to hold my pace while trying to drink water and eat. The aid stations had a really cool product of Fruit Gels – check them out HERE!
Lap 4 – (43.54) & Lap 5 – (44.47) Both these loops sort of passed by fairly uneventful. I dealt with a little abdominal pain as well as a few issues with my left hamstring, however it never became to bad that it prevented me from running.
Lap 6 – (51.26) This lap I was starting to fade and I fell…. twice on mud and roots. I could tell that I was starting to feel the effect of the calorie deficit and that if I didn’t pay more attention to the terrain I could get seriously hurt. Adding in the tumbles this was my slowest loop of the day.
Lap 7 – (46.30) This lap started with me feeling a bit rough however I was joined by a fellow grinder and together we picked up the pace and got moving around the trails at a good clip. He got me running well and then after about 2km he told me he couldn’t hold it and needed to slow down. I hung onto the pace and rolled with it right to the end. I crossed the line with 45min left and I was able to go out and try another lap however I didn’t have the legs to pull off another 45min or faster loop and I didn’t want to risk running fast on those wet trails, with the state I was in (getting tripped up on rocks, roots and mud) it seemed to be a fairly big risk – so I called it a day, and one that I’m happy with.
Fun day overall. I got my training milage in, got to experience a beautiful course, and I got to run with some like minded people. I will definitely keep this race on my “to do list” for next year as a training run.
5th 752 Chris Henderson 5:14:12 5 / 19 Halton Hills **** Lap Information **** 5:14:12 1: 43:10 43:10 2: 41:12 1:24:21 3: 43:17 2:07:38 4: 43:54 2:51:31 5: 44:47 3:36:17 6: 51:26 4:27:42 7: 46:30 5:14:12
#BeBetter #OutTrainThem #DoEpic
CH
Run Far Crew. 