What a strange winter! I normally do a big trip abroad over the holidays, usually involving trekking and a bit of altitude. But this year I spent the holidays in Toronto nursing a bum knee where it was unseasonably mild, and then tried to make the most of what little snow we had back in Vancouver.

In late-December, I had managed to posthole through a tree well on a run to Kennedy Falls, which caused a strain and possibly a very minor tear to my MCL according to my physio. It felt okay to run on flatter terrain, but hurt to walk or extend my leg, and I had to stay off very technical terrain for a few weeks and cut back my training volume significantly.

2014 marked my second full season on the trails, though it was not without its setbacks. At the end of 2013, I stated that my main goals for this year were to stay injury free and to complete my first 100 miler – one out of two ain’t bad!

November was all about Chimera 100, my first 100 miler and my last race of the season. I spent the first half of the month tapering and preparing, and the second half recovering from what was a difficult but overall a really enjoyable race. It turns out that 100 miles really isn’t that far! (read my full race report)

After a huge month of training in September, I was hoping to keep up momentum throughout October before starting my taper for Chimera 100, my goal race for the year. Maybe it was the start of the rain, or maybe I’m starting to get a little burned out from what was a very long season, but I found it increasingly hard to find the motivation to get out for any really big runs – certainly nothing that could compare to my recent adventures like running the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier.

I’m not too worried though, as I think the training is in my legs. It may be that a little less volume and a little extra rest will serve me well in what will be my first 100 miler.

That’s not to say I didn’t do any training! Earlier in the month, I joined UPrise Performance Camps again in Squamish, this time for a chance to spend a weekend running with Skyrunning champion and Salomon athlete Stevie Kremer. I managed to explore the trails around Sky Pilot, as well as a few more shorter backcountry outings around Grouse, Seymour, and Lynn Valley.

I made a last-minute decision to race the inaugural CMTS Run Ridge Run 25k, and ran the Hallows Eve Marathon as a catered training run. Between that and the ‘2nd Bi-Annual Vancouver Brewery Run‘ the next day, I managed to run close to 80k in costume.

I’ve kept up with my speedwork and did my best to stay on top of my strength work, before dropping it as I began my taper towards the end of the month.

Final Stats for October:

• Distance Run: 335 km (down from 400 km)
• Time-on-Feet: 43 hrs (down from 85 hrs)
• Ascent: 10,530 m (down from 19,811 m)

The legs are feeling good and I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be for Chimera on November 15th. Now I’ve just gotta execute…

Check out more photos on Instagram, and connect with me to follow my training on Strava or Movescount!

September was another solid month of training, with my volume at an all-time high. Much like in August, I got to spend most of this time on foot in the backcountry doing the adventure-style running that I enjoy the most. I’ve also gotten pretty good at running on little to no sleep!