They say you should play to your strengths and forget about working on your weaknesses. If I could race only uphill or on less-technical downhill terrain, I might follow this advice. I’m tired of getting passed on the really technical stuff though, so I decided to instead seek some advice from one of the fastest downhillers that I know.

I’ve had the pleasure of doing a bit of training with local speedster Mike Murphy, recent winner of the Knee Knacker, who suggested that I try running downhill repeats. This, in addition to doing more functional strength work like plyometrics, could be just what I need to mitigate my major weakness.

August was another busy one, starting with a trip over the long weekend for 3 days of trail running in the Southern Chilcotin Mountains on some pretty amazing ridges (check out my report and video).

The following weekend, I managed to squeeze in a loop through Hanes Valley, including an out-and-back up Crown Mountain to take in the views (see my Hanes Valley trip from last year). Probably a little more time-on-feet than I needed before my race the next weekend, but I wasn’t sure I’d have to the chance again this season.

Next was the Squamish 50k where I finished in 6:15 for 17th place overall. It was my first big race back after injury so it served as a real confidence booster for me as I go into the second part of my season and start to ramp up my mileage. Had a great time organizing the Trails in Motion Film Festival there on both Friday and Sunday nights – big thanks to everyone who came out to support it and to watch some amazing films!

And finally, I had the opportunity to join UPRISE Performance Camps and Scott Jurek for an inspiring 3 days in Whistler. I was there to film the experience which included VO2Max and Lactate Threshold testing by Peak Centre (who I do my own testing and training with), a series of classroom sessions on nutrition and training, some amazing vegan food at the Four Seasons, the 5 Peaks Whistler trail race, and an alpine run down the High Note Trail, Musical Bumps, and out Singing Pass. We were even surprised with a helicopter ride back to Whistler after the 5 Peaks race! Check out photos from that on Facebook.

From the Chilcotin, to Whistler, through Squamish, and the North Shore backcountry, I managed to cover some amazing terrain this month!

There is a place not far from Vancouver where impeccable singletrack trails wind through lush pine forests, alpine meadows and lakes, and along a series of interconnected wind-swept ridges with spectacular panoramic views.

The Spruce Lake Protected Area in the South Chilcotin Mountain Range is located just 150 km north of Whistler, and 100 km west of Lillooet, B.C, an area which is nearly 72,000 hectares in size.

I was invited to tag along with friends Julie, Glenn, Ward, Jackie and Chloe for the August long weekend. The plan was to make the 5 hour drive on Thursday afternoon, then to run all day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, returning to our campsite at the Tyax Resort each night. The icing on the cake was that we’d be taking the float plane from the lodge on Sunday morning and getting dropped off at Spruce Lake so that we could run out.

I’m sure I said out loud at some point after sweeping part of last year’s Squamish 50 course that I’d never run the race myself. Co-Race Director Gary Robbins is known for making his courses hard, but this one seemed to lack any flow or ‘runability’ in a serious way, despite being quite beautiful.

Fast forward to August 17th and I found myself on the starting line for the 50k alongside Salomon Flight Crew teammate Tom Craik and local elites like Ellie Greenwood and Adam Campbell. It’s not the 2,500m of gain plus 2,750m of descent but the terrain itself that make this a particularly challenging course, as evidenced by the 11hr cut off time.

My good friend Karl Woll was among the seriously insane attempting the ’50/50′, meaning he’d have raced the full 50 mile course on Saturday before pulling himself out of bed on Sunday to run the last 50 kms all over again. He and I had booked a room at the August Jack which was literally metres from the finish line, so at least he could be carried across the street if need-be.

With it being my first long distance race since getting injured back in April, I really only had one goal for the race – to finish feeling strong and healthy, my peroneal tendon no worse off than when I started. Of course, finishing top 20 and in around 6 hrs would be nice too, and finally beating Tom couldn’t hurt 😉

Well after that little set-back earlier this year at Diez Vista 50k, and then starting to make my comeback in June, it feels like my season has finally begun again in earnest after what turned out to be a really busy month of camping, training, and racing in July. Bring on 2014, Part 2!