Why am I doing this? My name is Adam and I Like to trail run
I also like to write and so here we are
Hello friends and thanks for stopping by. I’m excited you’re here! I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a while, and now it seems to make sense for me, so I’m going for it. Although I’m not the most experienced runner out there, I’ve learned some valuable lessons over the years and I love to share, so this is a great spot for me to start doing that.
I started trail running in 2014 and completely fell in love with the community. Also, like most new to the sport, I had my mind completely blown while learning about the various races. I had run half marathons on the road, but the thought of doing that over a technical trail was a bit mind-blowing, never mind those people running 50k’s or longer.
But then another thing happened that is common with a ton of new trail runners, I started running further. I can still remember Canada Day in 2018 when I was invited out by my friend Carmen on his coached training run for the Squamish 50k. It was a 25k run and that would be the furthest I’d ever run on trail. The very next year I’d be running the Squamish 50k myself!
I followed a “my first 50k” style training plan that Carmen had also followed and shared. It was 4 months and provided a good blueprint on how to succeed over 50km. It was even more fun because Carmen was running again, as well as my other friends Jeannine, Nick, Mark and Scott (all of us besides Carmen were 1st timers for an ultra). A group of us stayed together at an AirBnb as well, so it just made the weekend super special to share the experience together.
The training plan worked great and I was able to finish the Squamish 50k, as well as finish the Finlayson Arm 50 three weeks later. I was totally destroyed after each of these races but encouraged by a quick recovery each time. I knew I had the physical tools to go further, I just needed help putting it all together.
In late 2020 I messaged Ridgeline Athletics, curious about how training would work for an even longer race. My race of choice at the time was Whistler Alpine Meadows 110k and after having chatted for years with Gary Robbins at the Coast Mountain Trail Running events, Ridgeline Athletics (where Gary is a co-owner/coach) seemed like a natural fit. When Gary reached out personally and said he and Eric Carter would be able to take me under their umbrella of athletes, it was my wife Sheena who said “Well you have to do it now.”
Yup.
So in January 2021, we started training and in October of 2021, I finished the Squamish 50/50 in 22:48:08 (I had to change to the SQ50/50 because of COVID restrictions that canceled the longer WAM distances). I ran just over 130km in two days of soaking wet Squamish goodness. The race suffered the highest dropout rate in its history (1 in 5 Squamish 50/50 starters didn’t finish) largely due to the incredibly difficult weather conditions (180mm of rain fell Thursday night through Sunday morning). The coaching I received from Ridgeline gave me the skills and base to finish stronger than I had in the past, and I feel like a much more experienced trail runner because of it.
Now I’m looking for the next start line. Any chance to run on the trails is a great day out and I’m also looking forward to seeing where this goes. I hope you enjoy the writing (and perhaps some podcasts?) and I look forward to hearing from you about your experiences!
And if you like this, and you think someone else might too, please do share it. I appreciate it, thank you.
