Week Ending October 21st

This week was a bit of a mess, it should have started with a day of recovery after the X-Trail but that would have just been too sensible:

Total distance: 78 km (including the 6 km hike)

Sunday October 14th - Morning run with Le Club de Trail de Bromont:  13 km total.  Mostly medium intensity with a few sprints.  Led half a dozen of us up to the top of Bromont via the number 7 downhill bike path, with guest of honour, ultra runner Benoit Beaupre.  We were a group of quite mixed ability, and the route gets pretty steep in parts, so there was a fair bit of back and forth a long the way for the faster runners.  Benoit Beaupre had been a volunteer yesterday so was full of energy and keen to explore the hill - every once in a while we did a few sprints up random paths together to keep busy while the pack was regrouping.

Monday October 15th - Stretches:  Was stuck in Montreal all day so spent the evening stretching

Tuesday October 16th - Easy run with Le Club de Trail: 16 km total. Have been feeling tired recently (probably the season catching up) so committed to an easy run with a few of the girls from the club.  Similar story to Sunday but more consistent; 2 minute interval sprints split by a 1 min jog back to meet the group.  We clocked 6 km together.  Afterr we said our goodbyes, I went for a blast around what I thought was the the 10 km course of this coming Saturday's Le Trail des Amis race.

Wednesday October 17th - Coaching Le Club de Trail de Bromont: 6 km total.  We were pretty much in full darkness for the training session.  The group split into 2 and I lead a few runners through some intervals. Not fully sure of how to handle such a mixed group I went for the classic: 3 x 5 x 2mins, with 1 minute rest between each interval and 3 mins between each series.  Because it was dark and I did not want to lose anybody, I ran with the tail enders and focused on running with high knees.

Thursday October 18th - Training with Brian at Hi Trainer: The high knee training yesterday had more of an impact than I was expecting. Right at the top of my thighs, towards the outside, my legs were really stiff and it spread to my abdomen.  As a result, Brian suggested we take it easy; half an hour of plyometric training and a few 20 yard sprints to trigger the fast muscle movement.

Friday October 19th - Marking the course for tomorrow's race:  6 km hike.  Helped out Les Amis des Sentiers de Bromont put out course marking for the race - Le Trail des Amis .

Saturday October 20th - Le Trail des Amis: 12 km total - 10 km race. Beautiful autumn day, temperature was around 14 C, and the sun was shining.  Played 'bunny' for the children's 500 m and 1000 m races, and then took  a few minutes to warm up.  The 10 km course had 500 m of vertical and a few technical sections, but overall it was a fast.  Pushed hard for the full length of the course and was happy with my final time 42:22.2.  The event was an instant classic and, despite being one week after XTrail Orford, I am confident that it will attract a few big names next year.

Sunday October 21st - T3SB - Tour des 3 sommets Brébeuf: 40 km total.  The 40 km race was new this year and consisted of 3 loops around a 13 km course.  The route passed by the 3 summits of the park, and was a mixture of roughly 50% trail, 30 % path and 20% road.  I was still finding it hard to believe that enough trail could exist on Mont Royale but there was only 1 way to find out.  On site already were Martin Rouiard and Benoit Beapre (fresh from the Courses En Foret final in La Tuque).  We were a small group, there were only 15 others alongside Benoit, Martin and me.  I was unsure of what kind of talent may be there so I took a risk and sprinted out ahead for the first 1500 metres.  3 guys followed and 2 burnt out right away, the 3 rd kept a tail on me for 10 km.  I thought I had enough of a lead on him for a quick bio break, but just as I finished he caught up to me.  We pushed hard for the following 3 kms and I eventually managed to break away on the long climb up to complete the loop.  Over taking people is such a selfishly good feeling, but it helped all through the second loop as the runners from the 25 km and 15 km races were also on the course, plus the time flew by much quicker.  As I headed into the third and final loop, I was mostly alone again, and the 'down' from pushing hard on the second loop began to weigh in.  The climb to the second summit was the longest of the 3, but when I finally got there, I figured it was (mostly) downhill from there, and focused on finishing strong.  The final stretch back to the college was mostly road and I could feel my energy being sapped, but it was brief and I was over the line without too much discomfort.  In summary, nobody from Montreal can complain that they don't have trails to train on.  There are plenty of options, and the course probably touched half of them.  The encouragement from the volunteers around the course was fantastic.  The event had a low key, easy going feel that took away any sense of stress from being in the race.  Hopefully the event will grow and there will be a few more 'marathoners' there next time.