Naturally I have been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast this week. It's important to dress properly and, in the case of running 100km, to be prepared with spare clothing and footwear, should it be wetter or colder than expected. I generally prefer to race in shorts and a sleeveless top.
It has been a beautiful fall this year. Squamish has had rain, as always, but also plenty of sunny autumn days. Day temperatures have been mostly between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. Mornings have dipped below 10 degrees, though only a couple showed signs that the mercury fell below zero at night.
The 2009 Haney to Harrison was cold and wet, with only 29 of the 37 ultrarunners finishing. That was the event’s highest drop rate, according to the website.
As of today, the forecast for race day is, “Cloudy with showers.” That’s an improvement from the “Light rain” forecast earlier. Two days ago the chance of rain was 90 percent, now it is only 40 percent. The expected high of the day is 10 degrees, and the low is 7. The weather is supposed to be “Mainly sunny” today, with a forecast high tomorrow of 17 degrees.
It confirms my decision to start the race wearing shorts, a Mizuno pair that fits perfectly and which has been tried and tested in training and races. My top is a comfortable running bra with two back pockets in which I can stash a couple of bars and up to four gels. Again, tried and tested.
I’ll wear a dry-fit hat, a white one to help in the first 3 1/2 hours of darkness. (I still need to check that I am wearing enough reflective gear to help visibility in those early hours.)
On top I’ll have a short-sleeve white Running Shoes Are a Girl’s Best Friend dry-fit shirt. I’ll keep a lightweight dry-fit long-sleeve top and gloves handy, just in case the morning feels chilly. In fact I will almost certainly wear light-weight gloves, as there is nothing more annoying than hands that unnoticably became too chilled to open wrappers of energy bars and gels.
Today I will get all my race gear, nutrition, hydration and other items ready. It's not as much or complicated as packing for an Ironman but I am taking at least as much care to (hopefully) prevent any panic on race day and make life as easy as possibly for my crew.
November 03, 2010
November 02, 2010
Day 2 of the National Novel Writing Month
The start felt challenging this morning but I reminded myself to relax and just write. In the end it took me about 90 minutes to write a little over 1800 words today. It's great. Hopefully I can keep this up.
In fact I will need to produce more than the daily average in the coming days to compensate for the fact that I won't be able to write on Saturday when I will spend my day running 100km, from Haney to Harrison.
Having said that, I do plan on using the creative energy that is released in my run on plotting more of this book, with the working title From My Mother.
Here is the opening paragraph:
She retied her shoelaces. She always did as she waited for the start. She wanted to make sure. Tightened them, just a little, not too much. Retie the double knot. She never forgot about the double knot. Never had understood those who had to stop mid-race to waste time on laces that had rebelled and come undone. There was no time to come undone.
Meanwhile I am also working on my 100 reasons to run 100km. This is now at 63 pages, holding 59 reasons in 13,500 words. A few more pages, 41, to go but I have no doubt I will find enoug reasons, if not before, than for sure during the race.
In fact I will need to produce more than the daily average in the coming days to compensate for the fact that I won't be able to write on Saturday when I will spend my day running 100km, from Haney to Harrison.
Having said that, I do plan on using the creative energy that is released in my run on plotting more of this book, with the working title From My Mother.
Here is the opening paragraph:
She retied her shoelaces. She always did as she waited for the start. She wanted to make sure. Tightened them, just a little, not too much. Retie the double knot. She never forgot about the double knot. Never had understood those who had to stop mid-race to waste time on laces that had rebelled and come undone. There was no time to come undone.
Meanwhile I am also working on my 100 reasons to run 100km. This is now at 63 pages, holding 59 reasons in 13,500 words. A few more pages, 41, to go but I have no doubt I will find enoug reasons, if not before, than for sure during the race.
November 01, 2010
Good reading before an ultra
Aside from getting physically for a race, I strongly believe in mental preparation and attitude. The next few days I am resting physically while I read material that confirms my positive frame of mind for running 100km this Saturday. Believe and Achieve.
Like many runners, I feel that running is a core part of my being. And I am glad to read that we, as humans, are well suited to running, and running long distances.
In Running Through the Ages, Edward Sears writes, “Where we really excel, as a species, is running long distances. Of all the animals on Earth, humans can run the farthest. … Virtually all healthy humans possess the ability to run long distances whether they make use of it or not—a legacy from prehuman runners long ago.”
Like many runners, I feel that running is a core part of my being. And I am glad to read that we, as humans, are well suited to running, and running long distances.
In Running Through the Ages, Edward Sears writes, “Where we really excel, as a species, is running long distances. Of all the animals on Earth, humans can run the farthest. … Virtually all healthy humans possess the ability to run long distances whether they make use of it or not—a legacy from prehuman runners long ago.”
Day 1 of the National Novel Writing Month
This year I decided to join the National Novel Writing Month. And I suggested Tim do so too, which he did. We both started this morning and our joint word count is on track for the daily required average of 1667 per person.
I am actually not quite sure how it works other than the fact that I need to write 50,000 words of fiction this month. But I don't know what to upload where and when. It seems there are statistics that you should keep in your profile. As I tried to do so this morning, it's clear that NaNoWriMo is popular, on the first day, as the site is sluggish, very very sluggish.
So for now I might return to my other big project, write 100 reasons to run 100km (which I am doing this Saturday, for the first time), and try the NaNoWriMo website again a little later.
As a writer, I have drawn and continue to draw a lot of strength from my experience competing in marathons (13), ultras (3) and Ironmans (5) and the numerous other endurances races I have done. The approach to completing an event like a marathon and writing a book has much in common:
Both are feats of endurance that require a combination of mental determination and self-belief. You must commit to finishing what you start. You must also commit to believing that you can. I can guarantee you, from experience, that both in endurance races as well as in producing books there will be more than one moment when you will doubt that you're able to do it.
In those moments you need to remind yourself of the commitment you made and simply believe that you can. You can and you will. There's no tangible evidence. But you can create it by persisting. Make it happen. Write those 50,000 words. Do not stop until you've reached the finishline.
That's how running works. Of course you must prepare yourself physically with adequate training. You can't just wake up one day and decide to run 100km, just like that. Well maybe just maybe you can, if your life depended on it, but it wouldn't be pretty or enjoyable.
Likewise I think you need already have made regular writing a part of your life if you want to succeed in the challenging goal of NaNoWriMo, which I suspect is the case for most who have signed up.
When I did a reading of my third book A Work in Progress: Exercises in Writing for the Squamish Writers Group two weeks ago, one of the writers there was an American guy in his 20s. Having just finished his PhD in biomedical engineering and being an avid rock climber, he had decided to a 2 1/2 month break and spend it in Squamish, an absolute mecca for rock climbers.
He also commited to writing a novel in those 2 1/2 months. When I met him at the reading he was one week away from going back home and returning to his profession. As for his manuscript? He'd written 70,000 words of his SciFi novel in his time here and was determined to finish it. I have no doubt he will and I hope he'll send me an email, as I asked him to do, when it's in print.
Very inspiring.
I am actually not quite sure how it works other than the fact that I need to write 50,000 words of fiction this month. But I don't know what to upload where and when. It seems there are statistics that you should keep in your profile. As I tried to do so this morning, it's clear that NaNoWriMo is popular, on the first day, as the site is sluggish, very very sluggish.
So for now I might return to my other big project, write 100 reasons to run 100km (which I am doing this Saturday, for the first time), and try the NaNoWriMo website again a little later.
As a writer, I have drawn and continue to draw a lot of strength from my experience competing in marathons (13), ultras (3) and Ironmans (5) and the numerous other endurances races I have done. The approach to completing an event like a marathon and writing a book has much in common:
Both are feats of endurance that require a combination of mental determination and self-belief. You must commit to finishing what you start. You must also commit to believing that you can. I can guarantee you, from experience, that both in endurance races as well as in producing books there will be more than one moment when you will doubt that you're able to do it.
In those moments you need to remind yourself of the commitment you made and simply believe that you can. You can and you will. There's no tangible evidence. But you can create it by persisting. Make it happen. Write those 50,000 words. Do not stop until you've reached the finishline.
That's how running works. Of course you must prepare yourself physically with adequate training. You can't just wake up one day and decide to run 100km, just like that. Well maybe just maybe you can, if your life depended on it, but it wouldn't be pretty or enjoyable.
Likewise I think you need already have made regular writing a part of your life if you want to succeed in the challenging goal of NaNoWriMo, which I suspect is the case for most who have signed up.
When I did a reading of my third book A Work in Progress: Exercises in Writing for the Squamish Writers Group two weeks ago, one of the writers there was an American guy in his 20s. Having just finished his PhD in biomedical engineering and being an avid rock climber, he had decided to a 2 1/2 month break and spend it in Squamish, an absolute mecca for rock climbers.
He also commited to writing a novel in those 2 1/2 months. When I met him at the reading he was one week away from going back home and returning to his profession. As for his manuscript? He'd written 70,000 words of his SciFi novel in his time here and was determined to finish it. I have no doubt he will and I hope he'll send me an email, as I asked him to do, when it's in print.
Very inspiring.
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