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I was looking for a new challenge. I just celebrated my 50th birthday. I had done the 10 km. thing, the half marathon thing, had run 5 marathons and now I was looking for something new and different. Triathlons were out - I can’t swim well enough, training for another road marathon seemed rather boring and I wasn’t yet ready to do a 100 km. ultra. What I was looking for was a marathon with a twist. Voila! The North Shore Knee Knacker. One night early on in the year I was idly surfing the web and pulled up the Knee Knacker web site. With nothing to lose I entered the lottery on line, quite ambivalent whether I got in or not. A couple of months later, after the lottery was drawn, I pulled up the site and was surprised to see I had actually won the lottery. I was in… I had my challenge. I had a good base going into training for the event. I was already running 3-4 times a week, with long runs of 1½-2½ hours as well as going to the gym 2-3 times a week for core and strength training. I had also been spinning (cycling) once a week earlier in the spring which was a great complement to my running. In mid May, approximately 2 months before the race, I joined the Knee Knacker Sunday morning group for training runs along the course. After following the instructions given on the web site about what to bring, I showed up in the Grouse parking lot for my first training run. There was a group of about 25 Knee Knackers, ranging from seasoned veterans, to novices, from those who got into this years event to those who had lost the lottery but still came out to run because they loved the trail. With various hydration systems attached, and everything from power bars to baked potatoes tucked away for energy snacks we were off for our first 3 hour run. Nothing could have prepared me for that first training run. Endowment Lands…ha! I had no idea how gnarly the trail actually was. As runner after runner passed me, always slowing down long enough to pass a few pleasantries or to offer words of encouragement, I soon found myself back, I mean way back of the pack, hiking with my new found buddy Christine, who was also a first time Knee Knacker. Thank goodness for Christine, she knew the trail or, when in doubt, knew what markers to look for. We ran when we could, but mostly we hiked. After 1½ hours we reached the turn around point and headed back. Three hours and 9 miles later we were back in the Grouse parking lot. I was humbled. What I didn’t realize was in a couple of days I would be hobbled. Two days after the training run my lower legs and ankles were so stiff and sore from dealing with the demands of the trail I could barely walk. It took me a week to recover from this first run, just in time for training run number 2. Over the next few weeks we would run various sections of the route, each week adding an hours running time to the week before. By race day I had run the entire length of the course in various segments with the longest run being 6 hours for the last ¾ of the route. By race day I knew what I was in for. At times it was very tough, especially after the 5 and 6 hour training runs. I honestly thought I had chosen a goal out of my reach and had serious doubts about doing the race. Most of my time was devoted to training. If I wasn’t running or working out, I was resting in preparation for my next run or workout. I craved foods; in fact my body hasn’t had cravings like this since I was pregnant. Steak, pasta, potatoes, chips, protein shakes, bagels, oranges and grapefruits made up my diet. When I ask myself now what kept me going I have to give credit to the entire Knee Knacker organization, from their very helpful, user friendly web site which was updated weekly to the organizers and volunteers themselves. I’ve never met a group more supportive, friendly or helpful. I also have to credit my trainers who were so dedicated in preparing me for the event and determined to see me at the finish line, my buddies at the Run Inn who used their warped sense of humor to offset my anxiety, and my friends and family who were just there. I’m a worrier by nature and as race day neared I was a nervous wreck. I worried about everything - not finishing the race, getting off course, not making it to the check in points in time. I was a terrible bore socially because I tuned out of any conversation and just thought about the race. A week before the race I contacted Cliff Danger, the Knee Knacker on line help line. All my questions and concerns were answered very promptly and reassuringly, which made me feel a lot better. The other thing I started to do was to think positively, I kept telling myself, "you’re fit, you’re trained, you know the course and you have plenty of race experience." Five days before the race a funny thing happened. I started to feel a calm come over me and I started to get excited about the doing the race. My confidence grew daily as race day neared. The day before the race, I was like a fireman preparing for shift. I laid out the clothes I would need, prepared my energy foods and water bottles, and got everything ready for the next day. At package pickup that evening I ran into Tim Lepard, a six time Knee Knacker veteran. He very kindly offered to run with me, which was an immense relief. He knew the course, so I didn’t have to worry about getting lost and he knew exactly what pace to run for an 8½-9 hour finish. I got home and went to bed on the eve of the race and had the best sleep I had had in weeks. Race morning presented itself as an overcast and humid west coast day. I met up with Tim feeling rested, relaxed and excited. The race started and off we went. Unlike the 5 and 6 hour finishers ahead of us, we went out very conservatively, hiking on the inclines and trotting on the flatter surfaces. With Black Mountain, the highest elevation on the race at 4,000 feet behind us, I was stoked. We came in to the Cypress Mountain checkpoint feeling strong and continued along the course, down Hollyburn Chute and checked in at Cleveland Dam, the half way mark, in just over 4 hours. Cleveland Dam is a major pit stop; bathrooms, lots of food, a change of clothes and shoes for those who choose, and a chance to see friends and family. Ten minutes later we were off again for the next blip on the elevation chart…Grouse Mountain. Physically and mentally, this was the toughest part of the race for me. I knew once I made it through the Grouse - Lynn Valley section only 10km. separated me from the finish line. What a boost getting to this point. Because Tim had set a fairly relaxed pace earlier on, I felt quite strong over the last ¼ of the course. When I started passing day hikers on the last bit of the trail and heard the announcer at the finish line in Deep Cove I knew I had done it. 8 hours and 37 minutes later, I had finished. I had met my goal, which was simply to finish the race in decent shape and I felt absolutely ecstatic. Most people are look at me like I’m loco, "you ran for 8½ hours? Are you crazy?" I know it’s hard to believe, but I felt much better at the end of Knee Knacker than I have at any of my marathons. The trails are much more forgiving impact wise and you are forced to hike in certain sections, which allows a bit of built in recovery. Initially I thought the Knee Knacker was a once in a lifetime event. I was quite content to say, "there, I’ve done it." But in the days that followed the race I realized I’d gotten hooked on the trails. I can see why this is has become a running subculture. I was lucky enough to have placed in my age group, so I have a guaranteed entry for 2003. I’m in and I’m going for a time goal next year. |