Aldergrove Mud Run 2013: Putting together the perfect race

Sunday February 3rd was my third time racing the Aldergrove Mud Run in as many years. The third race in the Fraser Valley Trail Series, this is a beautiful course takes runners through a good portion of Aldergrove Lake park. A number of  short, steep, punchy climbs and twisting fast descents on wide, soft gravel paths weave through the undulating forest of the park, with a few bridges over marshes and creeks. This is a beautiful park. The temperature today said 5 degrees, but once the race was underway, the conditions were perfect--almost warm, no rain or wind to speak of, only overcast.

A Paradigm Shift: Nutritional Choices

After a lackluster cyclocross season and virtually no motivation to get on my bike after it was over, I decided to throw down a lukewarm New Years Resolution. Lukewarm for the fact that all resolutions get broken, and changing things up wholesale can come back to bite oneself as we will lose interest and revert back to our our old ways.

What better than to change up my diet nutritional choices* for 2013? Or at least for a few days of it at the beginning...

(*I hate the term "diet". Diets are meant to end so that a person can go back to eating what they normally ate once they are finished with their diet, and blow themselves back up so that they have to diet again. Such a dumb word.)

What I have been doing over the last 36 years has benefited my taste-buds. However, each year I have slowly added a bit more weight to my body. At this stage in my life, I feel like my metabolism is going to begin to slow down, and my weight any day now will begin to head north. I fear that at the current rate of consuming a high carbohydrate food, I do not want to let my health slip out of control. I do not want to continue to keep on competing at a high level and taxing my body with maximum efforts in races, yet my body is not burning the proper clean fuels to run efficiently--working in the most efficient way it can.

Campbell Valley Stomp 2013--a New PB. Third Time's a Charm.

My third running of the Campbell Valley Stomp was my first race of 2013. This race comes after my December run streak, and after some specific training on each of my runs so far this month. Hill repeats, tempo runs, and a couple of long runs have definitely helped in bringing some strength and speed to my form, which definitely helped at the race on January 20th.

The course is the same as it has been-- a 5k-ish loop course that rolls over the terrain for the first 3 kms on crushed gravel, then a steep downhill descent into the valley, then 1.5 kms of needle-and-threading the way through the technical rooty, twisty, and icy forest floor until a false flat into the climb up to the parking area.

Sean, Philip, and I set out at 7:30 for the race. We managed to get there around 8:15, the perfect amount of time to run the course in reverse, and then toe the line for the 9am start. The start was good--I managed to scale it back a bit from my normal blow-thyself-up start, and Sean kicked it up a good amount from how he likes to start.

December Run Streak: My Month of Daily Running

2012 has come and gone. And with it, a number of yearly totals of which I am now forced to start fresh on. Run kilometers, bike kilometers, both are reset to zero, and new goals begin. Right now matching my 2012 number looks daunting, but one workout at a time will do it. Perhaps 2013 will be a better year for training and results. But for now, let's look at the final month of 2012 and my run challenge.