New Year's Resolutions - One Down!
After an intense taper because of a pre Christmas stomach flu, I feared I forgot how to run, lost all my training and was in general sandbagging mode. The weather forecast of torrential rains and gale force winds did not raise my mood. 50km...what was I thinking?
The first day of 2006 dawned gray and mild, but almost dry. The forecast was upgraded to showers (which Vancouverites know to mean there may or may not be dry spells in between downpours). I had difficulties deciding what to wear. Would it be better to be hot and dry or comfortable, but soaked. In the end I opted for a long sleeve technical shirt and my MEC burly weather jacket, with a short sleeve shirt and vest in a drop bag for the turn-around. The hydration pack was filled with an electrolyte concoction, enough gels to survive a couple of days, some granola bars, money, an emergency blanket and a flashlight.
The starting area at Brockton Oval in Stanley Park was one busy place. We had close to 100 preregistered runners all eager to start the year with a 50km run. When Ean sent the field off (I swear his watch was a few minutes early), I discovered that I had forgotten to put my post race bag into Michelle's car. By the time I had things organized (thanks for waiting, Pat and Michelle - sorry for the confusion Cheryl, Rhonda and Faith) we were dead last. At least no pressure to keep up with the fast guys ;-)
All pre race jitters were forgotten. I felt pumped and we had to make an effort to keep our pace down. Winding through the trails in Stanley Park Doug Keir and Baldwin Lee, who must have slept in, passed us. Both were somewhat familiar with the course and didn't slow down to read the course instructions (the worst combination and a sure way to get lost...) After rescuing them 3 times from a wrong turn, they finally decided it was prudent to stay with us through the park. Not sure how they fared for the remainder of the run?
Pat, who missed some of our long training runs because of sickness, decided that a 25km run was probably enough for her, turned around at Kits Beach. Michelle and I ventured on, now seriously trying to catch up to Faith and Cheryl.
I don't know about you, but 10km into the run I was still not sure what the best clothes were for the day. Long sleeve tech shirt and vest started to be too hot. Off went the jacket, but once we turned west, the winds started to pick up and rain was pelting us, I needed more. Off went the shirt and on went the jacket. That kept me happy for a while, although I was concerned about chafing around the neck from the hydration pack - the shirt had provided a layer between pack and skin that the jacket didn't.
At Jericho Beach we passed the 8km Resolution Runners just assembling for an 11:00 am start. Cheryl and Faith still were nowhere to be seen. Jordan and John's aid station just before the course veers off into Pacific Spirit Park was a welcome reason for a short break, gummy worms and a chocolate chip cookie.
My hips started to get sore on the long flat area and both Michelle and I were happy to be back on soft trails and varied terrain in Pacific Spirit Park. The 7+km to the turn-around seemed easy and fast. High fiving all the runners already on the return leg certainly was a mood buster (not that we were suffering). Thanks for all those lies centered around "Looking good".
We picked up Cheryl just before crossing 16th Ave, but still no sight of Faith...did she get lost on the trails? The rains were still holding back and the woods protected us from the gale force winds on the beach. Approaching the turn-around we even spotted some blue sky and I felt almost giddy. 
The Coquitlam group set out for the return trip with us, but we could not keep up with their 10/1 rhythm of running and walking, no matter how severely Pete was bonking ;-) Eventually, we lost sight of them and continued through the mud alone. I have no recollection of loosing Cheryl, but somewhere she stayed behind and despite a wait at the aid station, did not catch up again. We did however catch a glimpse of Faith before driving rain and winds made us put our heads down and just focus on each single step getting us closer to the more protected area of Point Grey Road. Mercifully, the elements had pity and by the time we hit Kits Beach, we had roped in Faith and Roy. One by one we passed more runners and despite starting to get tired, were riding a endorphin high.
Our pace was perfect. Michelle seemed to have exactly the same speed and was able to keep up when we started to see the end of a very long 50km (I heard some GPS owners talk about measuring 54km) and increased our speed slightly. Seemed like a whole bunch of lost lambs relied on our navigational skills through Stanley Park. The harder the wind whipped through the old trees the faster we got. We heard at least one tree fall near by and came across another one that blocked the trail. Thankfully, the fire hydrant, aka finish line was near.
As for the "Freeze your Ass Swim" at the end...we tried! The meter high waves crashing into the seawall prevented us to get in. Roy, Michelle and I did sit down on the stairs leading down and got a full body soak instead ;-)