Racing Summary – 2018 (including 2016 and 2017)

Turns out that 2018 (and the two previous years) ended up being huge racing years for me. I guess (and I know this about myself) that when I decide to do something it is usually all or nothing 🙂

Spent a good part of 2013 and 2014 getting back in shape and then 2015 started a ramp up of racing with OCRs, trail runs and road racing that I rode into a 2016 race calendar that filled up quickly and just kept going.

My 2015 year ended, for all intents and purposes with a Spartan Ultra in August. This race was a 50km obstacle course race which include over 50 obstacles over, for me, a 12 hr period. 50 km, 12 hr, almost 7000m, of vertical climbing at a local ski hill (Mont Ste Marie, near Ottawa). My cottage is close by so I considered this my home course and I logged a lot of miles on those trails. The race itself included at least 10 journey’s up the mountain, as well as the obvious downhills that went along with them. I had several races later that year but my body was done after the Ultra.

I completed many Spartan and OCR races after the Ultra and I still think that the Killington Ultra in Vermont is a bucket list item but I am still cautious about approaching an Ultra without some serious baseline training. I still believe that my training for the MSM Ultra was not sufficient. Even tho I was logging many miles each week my longest training run was just over 3hrs and around 35k.

The Killington Beast itself is an awesome race, which I have completed 3 times (2014, 2016, 2017) and I would love to do it again.

Moving into 2016 I was in good enough shape that I was able to do multiple races in a weekend, many times thru 2016, 2017 and 2018. Multiple 35km plus weekends (road and OCR), including several 3 race weekends. Looking back I am impressed that at 52 and older I was able to push my body through those weekends. It seemed that I was able to run forever.

Topping it all off was completing the Muskoka Half Ironman in July 2018.