Q and A with Vincent Bouchard

With two weeks to go before Sinister 7 I thought it an ideal time to sit down with last year's champ and course record holder to pass on some wisdom to you crazies attempting a solo finish on July 11-12th. For those of you that don't know Vincent Bouchard, Sinister 7 was a break out performance for him. Not only was he first to the finish line but in my opinion out raced every runner on the course and executed a near perfect race. All the more reason to read on, take notes and take advice from a guy that succeeded on a course designed for failure.

 

If you could give any advice to a first time soloist what would that be?
 

Hmm that’s a good one… I think my first advice would be to be conservative for the early legs. Don’t go too hard, or you will explode. But at the same time, don’t go too slow neither, or you will waste energy by being out there longer than necessary. Just go at a comfortable pace. Take it easy on the uphill's, run the downhill's and the flats at a good comfortable pace. Run your own race, don’t try to follow other people that may be going faster. Especially with all the team runners out there at Sinister!

My second advice would be to stay in the present. This is perhaps the most important thing in my opinion about long distance races. Don’t think ahead. After a few hours, you will be physically exhausted. There’s no doubt about this. But if you start thinking about the long way ahead, then you may become exhausted mentally as well. Stay in the moment. It doesn’t matter whether you have 100km to go, or 10km to go. All you have to do is to keep running. That’s all you should be focusing on!

Perhaps a third advice would be to make sure that you keep eating regularly. Drinking is not so much of an issue, since you will drink when you are thirsty. But eating is more important in my opinion; you may very well not feel hungry at all, your stomach may not be very happy. But if you stop ingesting calories for an hour or more, it will be very hard to catch up, in my experience. It doesn’t matter too much what you eat, but you need to get calories in, or you will bonk. And an ultra bonk is a serious bonk. Not the marathon-style bonk. :-)

 

And my last, but perhaps most important advice, is to enjoy the race! This is a truly beautiful course, and one of the best organized race out there. The volunteers are fantastic. Make sure that you enjoy the experience! Running 100 miles is quite something. It’s a serious adventure. Jump into the unknown and enjoy the ride!

 

We all know ultra running is an extreme mental exercise. How did you stay focused and grounded at last years S7?

 

That’s a good question! This is perhaps the most important aspect of ultra running. And also perhaps the hardest to master. It’s easy to train to be fit physically. But it’s much harder to train your mind to stay focused for such a long period of running.

 

In my opinion, I think that the key is to let go of your thoughts. To let go of the pain. To let go of the past, and the future. It’s really just like meditation. You want to stay in the present. Thoughts come and go, pain comes and goes, moments of exhilaration come and go. But they are all temporary, nothing is permanent. So we have to let them go, and not get caught in them. When a thought of quitting comes (and there will be tons of them, believe me!), just identify it as a thought, and let it go. Don’t get caught into it. But same thing as well when you have a “runner’s high”; don’t try to hang on to it. It will go away, and you will feel awful again. Expect it. Just let things go, and go with the flow!

 

Each runner probably has its own approach to staying in the present while running. For me, I think that the best mental training is meditation. Standard sitting meditation, like insight meditation (vipassana), or running meditation, or any other type of meditation really. The goal is just to train the mind to identify thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc., for what they are. Temporary. So that our mind can behave in a similar way in the middle of a long race. 

 

Last year at Sinister I actually used an interesting trick that worked really well for me, as I detailed in my race report that was published on your great blog Dave. I was just repeating a mantra in my head for the whole race, so that I could come back to it whenever pain or negative thoughts tried to overwhelm my mind. It worked really well at Sinister, but not as well for my next ultra race… :-) So I’m still experimenting with various approaches!

 

Any nutritional and hydration strategies you'd like to share that worked for you?

 

Well, this is something that I’m struggling with. Every ultra race that I’ve done, I came in with a great nutrition plan. But my plans always only lasted for a few hours, my stomach couldn’t take it anymore! Then I had to improvise and figure out something that worked on the spot. The one thing that I’ve learned though, as I mentioned earlier, is that it’s super important to keep getting calories in regularly. It’s very difficult to catch up, as I’ve realized myself in my first few ultras. So whatever works, keep doing it. Last year at Sinister, pretty much the only thing I could eat after a few hours of running was gels. So I took a gel every half an hour until the end of race. It’s pretty disgusting the number of gels I ingested in that race, but whatever, it worked! As someone once said, if I want to go out for a good dinner, I’ll go out at a good restaurant. If I’m running an ultra, I’m running an ultra. No need to be fancy. :-)

 

Every hundred miler there are a couple low points, where were yours and how did you dig your way out from them?

 

Well last year at Sinister I really did not have much of a low point, which is the only time that ever happened to me in an ultra. The year before at Sinister, I had a seriously low point in Leg 4; there is a long stretch of relatively flat trail in this leg, which is very hot and exposed. And by the time I reached that stretch, I was very tired, so I had to walk quite a bit in there, which was very demoralizing. If only it was a hill, then it would be ok to walk! But walking on the flats? That killed me. 

 

Last year I was probably in the process of going through the same low point in Leg 4, but that’s exactly when I met Oleg (who was at the moment in front of me) and passed him. So that fired me up; I wanted to show him that I felt great (which wasn’t true, but hey you either pass someone or you don’t ;-), so I made a point of running uninterrupted for quite a stretch and try to keep a decent pace. And in turn, that made me feel good, and in the end I never reached that low point that was probably coming! :-)

 

But the goal in the end is to minimize low points (or high points for that matter). And I truly think that by letting thoughts come and go, we can defuse upcoming low points before they reach a deadly level. Stay stable. No low points, no high points. Just a stable mind. That’s the goal, in my opinion. Rather than finding ways to dig myself out of low points, I prefer to find ways to prevent them from happening in the first place! 

 

That’s not to stay that it won’t feel awful, or that it won’t hurt. It will definitely hurt. But you can feel the pain with a stable mind. See pain for what it is. Pain, not the end of the world.That’s the key. Stability of the mind.

 

Any advice for the returning soloists looking to be competitive?

 

Just run your own race. There will probably be people going out very fast. But to be competitive, you don’t need to be first after 20km in. It’s a long race. It’s 100 miles. Don’t let the fact that other people are running faster discourage you. Run at your own pace, and try to keep some energy for later in the race. There’s no better feeling than passing one of the early leaders 100km in the race!

 

The course is tricky and long. Any tips or tricks to pacing strategies, times to sit back or times to get the move on?

 

The first two legs feel easy. You’re all pumped up, it’s beautiful, it’s still cool out there, so you can go at a decent pace. Don’t go out too hard, but at the same time take advantage of the early morning. Go at a decent pace. 

 

Leg 3 is long, and, at least for me, that’s where it starts to hurt. It’s time to be more conservative. 

Leg 4 is a killer. It’s an easy leg, but it’s hot, exposed, and a long stretch of it is flat and relatively boring. This is where mental strength becomes crucial. Stay focused. Just keep moving. But that’s also a good place to make a move if you want to pass someone, since it’s relatively flat. Everyone is hurting by then. And there’s nothing more demoralizing than being passed on top of things!

 

Leg 5 surprised me last year. I was expecting rolling hills, cross-country style terrain. But there’s a long uphill in there. It was slower than I expected. Stay conservative, there’s still leg 6 ahead.

 

Leg 6 is of course the big one. But that’s also, in some way, perhaps the easiest one mentally, at least for me. For the whole race I was focused on leg 6. I knew that if I finished leg 6, then I was done; only one short leg to the finish line. And for the whole race I had been preparing for the long climb of leg 6. So I was almost looking forward to it. My advice is to keep some energy for it. The first part of the climb has a relatively small gradient; so just running slowly on there can make up a lot of time. The first year I ran Sinister, I couldn’t run at all there, while last year I still had some energy. I think that made a difference. Then the big climb is relentless, but it’s one of the last big climbs. So mentally it’s easy to stay positive I find. 

 

And try to keep some energy for leg 7. Mentally it’ll be easy, it’s the last leg. But physically your legs may be completely dead. The first year I ran Sinister I could barely run in leg 7, I ended walking most of it or slowly shuffling it. Last year I felt much better, and could run a big part of it (except the first climb which is pretty steep). I probably made up quite a bit of time in there. 

 

What did you eat for dinner the night before and breakfast the morning of last years S7?

 

The night before I was at the pasta dinner, so I ate the great pasta that was offered to us! However I think the key was the night before, on Thursday night; there’s a restaurant in Coleman that serves really good schnitzel, they are just awesome! That’s what I had in fact both on Wednesday and Thursday nights, I think that was the secret! :-)

 

As for breakfast, well it turns out that last year the power was out in Coleman before the start of the race, so I couldn’t make my usual coffee and oatmeal in my hotel room! So I ended up finding a gas station in Coleman that had some old coffee that was made before the power outage (the owner kindly offered me a cup!), and then I ate a granola bar that I had made for the race, and something like energy chews. Not ideal, but that did the job!

 

S7 is typically a hot race day. Any tips on staying cool.

 

The heat does not influence me too much, I guess i’m lucky for that, given that I don’t train for the heat at all, living in Edmonton. But one thing that helps for sure is to dip your hat in cold water at every creek crossing. The feeling of cold water on your head is sublime!

 

Is there any advice you wish someone gave you prior to last years race that you'd like to share with others now?

 

Good question! Not sure… Perhaps that leg 5 is not that easy? But I guess I should have just looked at the map more carefully! :-) 

 

Tell me what motivated you to push on when the pushing got hard?

 

I think for me, during a race, it’s not that much about staying motivated, but rather about not letting discouragement set in (not sure if that makes sense). What I mean is that I’m totally motivated from the start of the race; I’ve been training for months, of course I’m motivated to finish. After a few hours of running however, pain, negative thoughts, doubts start to appear; my goal is to let them go, so that my motivation, which is still there and has always been there, reappears. So I don’t focus so much on things to keep me motivated; rather I focus on not letting things discourage me. 

 

Let doubts go. Stay here. Keep running. That’s it. No need for anything else. I try not to think about too many things. Some people like to think about people that inspire them. That’s fantastic. I would love to be able to say that I do the same, it makes for a good story. :-) But honestly, I try not to think about anything during the race. Thoughts distract me, and after one thought comes another, then another, and then before you know it you’re thinking about quitting. I prefer to stay with the running, with the physical act itself.

 

This being said, there are people that inspire me and help me stay motivated with the training, especially when it doesn’t go according to plan (for instance because of injuries). My mom, who has had trouble walking for her whole life (but is still walking at 69 years old), is a great inspiration. My wonderful wife, and our awesome son, are two other great inspirations. My wife’s sister, who has multiple sclerosis and is still running regularly, is another fantastic inspiration. There’s so many great people out there that have to overcome difficult obstacles, and manage to stay happy and smiling. One more training run is nothing compared to that. Let’s get out there and run!

Why I drink RE7

In a blog post around Christmas I explained a lot of my fuelling strategies such as frequency, volume, and most importantly the types of food I eat to perpetually feed my tissues when running. What I didn't discuss was my hydration strategy and why it's such an important part of the equation. About two years ago a friend suggested I try RE7. I, like most runners had become very attached to the current hydration strategy I've been using which was water and Nuun. With reluctance I tried it. Almost immediately I noticed significant benefits but to be honest I did not notice the benefits on shorter runs but I did on the long grinds. My theory is that far too many runners focus on calories, carbohydrates and protein and completely forgo placing importance in the depletion of the body's vitamins and minerals. In my experience, heightened focus in vitamins and minerals have given me a steady flow of energy and stamina to all bodily systems enabling the body to perform all day and night. A friend asked me why I don't just take a multivitamin in which I answered that not all vitamins and minerals are created equal. RE7 is specifically designed for an athlete's needs in mind giving you a truck load of everything you need and nothing you don't. My dietitian Samara Feleski-Hunt was most interested in the Folic acid, Pantothenic acid, B6 and B12 which she states that the continual intake would be extremely advantageous in ultra marathoning. I like the fact that it's sweetened with Stevia and not sugar as I don't like to take in calories via fluids. My only issue I have with the product is it doesn't contain sodium and in my experience I don't need a lot but a steady drip is very useful. So to alter it I use a half a Nuun tablet mixed in per 500ml. On a daily basis I will drink one bottle a day as I find it an easy way to be assured I'm getting my nutrients while juggling my busy life as a father of three, a hectic work schedule and running big mileage weeks.

Now I know I'm going to get a lot of backlash from readers spouting research regarding studies that oppose my opinion. There are a growing amount of athletes and coaches doing science experiment after science experiment to our sport with the admirable intent to make us perform better. However in the meantime we stop listening to our built in sensors that placed the human species at the top of the pyramid. I'm not a scientist but when it comes to recognizing depletion, I've been there. I challenge you during your next long run to tap into the body and try to figure out what you are missing, remember that ultra marathoning is fighting the war against depletion. Inspired by my recent trip to Italy, Michelangelo was quoted on his 89th birthday:

"Ancora imparo" - I am still learning.

World 24hr Championships Torino

My day started in tears and ended in tears. It was 7:30am Saturday April 11th, a quiet nervousness filled our Torino hotel room. I was putting on my Canadian kit when Sharon asked me if I would sit down so she could show me something. She pulled out her phone and showed me THIS VIDEO. Immediately I broke into tears. Any regular reader of my post knows that I get all my courage and strength from my children and within that moment Sharon gave me the greatest gift and from that point I knew this was gonna be a day to remember.

We arrived at the track at 8:00am to set up. The Canadian tent was smack dab in the middle of countless white tents all lining the inside of a 400m track surrounded by stadium seating. The 2km course ran out from the track up a winding steep ramp and onto an asphalt road/pathway that circumnavigated the stadium with an out and back hairpin turn then back down the ramp depositing the runners back onto the track. There was a lot of talk of how the ramp and the hairpin turn would ruin some runners but I minimized it and decided I wouldn't let that play into my strategy. At 9:55am I made my way into the front row relaxed and ready to hurt. The gun sounded at 10:00am and the group forges forward at a snail's pace. The first quarter of the race is a tricky section where you should feel like every little effort is being exerted yet fast enough that you aren't braking and ruining your legs for the remaining hours.

Early stages 

At the 42.2 km marathon mark my split was 3hrs28min...sweet! My fuelling strategy was similar to my last 24hr race at the Desert Solstice Invitational where I ate every 30 minutes going between fructose and glucose and meat every 2-3 hours. My hydration strategy was to take 500ml of half RE7 half water and a half Nuun tablet every hour and adjust as needed as I went along. Sharon would be monitoring this and I gave her consent to change course if problems arouse. To those of you that don't know Sharon she has never been much of of a runner nor has she ever run an ultra but she does know ME more than anyone else on this planet and her knowledge of me especially when I'm in a state when I don't know what's up or down could prove to be invaluable. Around the 10 hour time I noticed I hadn't passed gas or burped for a couple hours. A pain lingered in my stomach and abdominal bloating started to show signs of

GI issues. Immediately I stopped fuelling, decreased my pace and started stealing ginger chews from Lisa Miller who was crewing for another Canadian runner Dennene Huntley. This eased the discomfort but no movement was experienced. Next came the Tums with similar results. With the lack of fuelling my energy was slipping, needless to say I was getting very concerned. Sharon later told me that I was coming into the aid station not making any sense and stumbling, obviously her protective wife meter started climbing. Finally an Imodium was offered to me. This is something I've never tried while racing but I was at wits end. I took the tablets and about 30 minutes later I started passing gas, praise the Lord! Now feeling much better I approached the 100 mile mark just after 14hrs40min. I wasn't unhappy with this time but earlier in the week I thought a 14-14hrs10min time would've been ideal. At this point of the race it was clear that a lot of the top runners from Japan, Russia and Latvia

Crashing around midnight while talking to Mama Lisa

that sped ahead in the first 12 hours are now starting to die a long painful death. It seemed to me that around 1:00am-2:00am was the dropping point that those who didn't pace well and show restraint slowed and those with patience sped forward with continued momentum. My TSN turning point happened around 1:00am. Sharon gave me a RedBull and about 20 minutes later the lights went out in the stadium. The smell of an electrical fire lofted through the air which spurred the coaches to start handing out headlamps to aid the runners vision. My worry was that the chip mat would not pick up the laps run but as I went atop the mat 4 beeps rang out, it did read the lap but nothing appeared on the now powerless jumbo tron. Next time I passed Sharon she had a headlamp in her hand, she offered it, I declined. As I ran away from her I knew that this was my chance, my turn to make my move. With no head lamp and smoke clouding the air I increased my pace almost feeling like a ninja slicing threw his enemies left and right passing every runner on the course multiple times. The dark offered a sense of strength like I was almost surprising runners as I passed them with solid speed and general ease. After maybe 2 hours of blackness the lights came back on. Before the lights went out I was told I was in 25th place now only two or so hours later I was in 12th. Fellow Canadian athlete Wayne Gaudet suggested to me that I keep the flow but consider slowing a bit to conserve for the sunrise hours. When a Canadian ultra legend speaks wisdom I think it best to listen. My pace slowed slightly and with anticipation I kept my eye to the the east awaiting the sun. Upon the sun cresting the horizon just before 7:00am Sunday morning I was approaching the 226K mark. The glow of the sun was a welcome sign that the suffering would soon come to an end but the end was the furthest thing from my mind. The only thing that was in my focus was the Canadian 24 hour record that's been held by Peter Holubar since 1990 of 242.917K. To be honest, that was my goal coming into these championships and I knew now it was an inevitability. The combined energy of the Canadian tent, coach

The best crew around

Armand LeBlanc and my greatest supporter Sharon built as I approached the record and at 22hrs35min I passed the timing mat making it official; I am the best 24 hour runner in our country's history! Yaaaaahoooooo!!!!! With a kiss from Sharon and a high five from Armand the next lap was pure bliss, thinking of my accomplishment it almost felt like I had a fresh pair of legs. All good things must come to an end and that end came quickly. Reality set in as I finished that lap and approached the Canadian tent where I saw Armand with a certain look of absolute intensity. He handed me a small scrap of paper and said "Dave you are in sixth position, here on this paper are three numbers, they are all half a lap in front of you. If you catch them you are on the podium, GO!" HOLY SHIT BALLS! Now this was not something I expected to hear. I mean, me on the podium at the world championships? I heard the Dukes of Hazard horn and off I went. Arms pumping, knees driving, I knew I had to giv'r everything I had to drain the tank. I ran a solid lap all the time looking at my precious scrap of paper and up at the

NB Zantes

runners ahead of me and no numbers matched. Another speedy lap and still no numbers matched. This went on for many laps and with 20 minutes remaining, YES a match. I passed him easily as he was suffering big time but while I passed him this other dude came screaming passed me like grease lightning. Shit, was that seventh place? I think every other runner got similar advice as I did from Armand and all were gunning to move their position up. So catching up with number 5 was becoming more and more unlikely as all my matches had been burnt. Upon the completion of the 128th lap my watch showed 23hrs53min and I knew this would be the last time I would complete the 2km course lap. Sharon handed me my marker cone and the Canada flag and I told her to come find me on the course. Waving the flag and decreasing my pace I exited the stadium feeling a wave of relief that this damn thing was coming to an end. I suddenly noticed a lot of runners sprinting past me. WAKE UP DAVE this thing is still happening and you might have just lost a placement. I found another wind and my old sprinting legs got reborn. Driving ahead the one minute warning shot went off and before I knew it the final gun shot rang signaling the end of the race. I crumbled in a heap on the asphalt draped in the Canada flag. It may have been victory maybe exhaustion but the tears came out like rain. Then followed by cheers of exhilaration and pride for this damn beautiful country. I laid there at 257.093 kilometres after 24 hours of racing, the new Canadian 24 hour record holder and the IAU World 24 hour championships 6th place finisher.

Big shout out to the IAU for putting on yet another amazing WC. The ACU for the support of the Canadian ultra scene. My fellow team mates, old friends and new ones. Coach Armand for your years of service to our sport. My friends and family as there is no better. Meow. But mostly to Sharon, Julia, Sam and Adele because with them in my life EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.

I'm Exhausted

Just a quick post to fill you in on what I've been up to. As of today I am now tapering for the World 24 hour championships in Turin, Italy on April 11th. Now I know many of you will think after reading this that I've simply over trained -  to that I answer, well, maybe.  Run training isn't rocket science, its simply preparing the body for the challenges coming it's way. My training plan this time around didn't focus on weekly mileage, hill repeats or the ever so dreaded speed work but on good quality long runs with an emphasis on starting every long run already in a semi state of exhaustion. Each long run was started after a long day of work in which I get up between 3:45-4:30am, work on my feet
all day as a massage therapist then start my run as early as 4pm or as late as 8pm running into the wee hours of the morning. There is a significant focus on fuelling during these runs. Even last week a group of friends and I stopped 28K into a run to hammer down a Big Mac cuz if you can digest that you can digest pretty much anything. On a side note the McFarts were a major issue later. The other focus is my no fade principle making the final stretch of these efforts a significant mental challenge.

All things considered I'm very happy with how the last 6 weeks turned out. In total I've had 12 runs longer than a marathon, 9 of which longer than 50K, 5 of those exceeding 60K and 2 runs surpassing the 70K distance. All long runs were averaging a pace between 4:45 and 5:05 min/km and no run felt too uncomfortable or laboured. The introduction of the New Balance Zante has been extraordinary and I plan on using them in Turin, Italy on April 11th. I am pleased to stay that I am feeling more fit and more confident than I ever have before.



All the time Sharon and the kids showed the support and patience and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Sharon has explained that she wants to support me with my passions as she does with parenting, career and so on. I agree with her as long as it's done with a relative moderation and I feel at times my passion as gone from moderation to excess. I guess what I'm saying is that Sharon - your acceptance, love and support has not gone unnoticed and that maybe the time we will spend drinking wine in Florence and picnicking in Cinque Terre will substitute as a slight consolation.

A Pre-Mortum Of Your Next Race

It was late into the evening and I was well into my training run. I was listening to my typical list of podcasts, Talk Ultra, Hardcore History and Ultrarunnerpodcast.com when I came across a Freakonomics podcast episode titled "Failure is Your Friend". This episode in particular left me shaking my head. I know what you are thinking. What is Dave doing listening to an economics podcast? Is Dave Proctor really that intelligent? To that I answer that one doesn't need to be smart to be curious. Economics plays a key role in everything we do: finance, politics, lifestyle choices and yes even ultra marathoning!

During this episode they discussed the pros and cons of failing. They focused the discussion on the fatal Challenger launch in which red flags were ignored eventually leading to the catastrophe only seconds after lift off. If only we could peek around the corner and unveil any roadblocks on any project to see if it's designed to fail or to learn how one might fail without going through the trouble of actually failing. 

Gary Klien is a Cognitive Psychologist and author of "Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights". He studies decision making and how people make decisions in real settings. Klien states the Challenger incident has been intensely studied and serves as a wonderful object lesson and what we saw here was a repression of consequences you would rather not deal with because it would have been so inconvenient. There is a general reluctance to quit because of the stigma of failure but we regularly put the blinders upon our face and step off the cliff even when we know very well things will not end well.

Post-mortems are commonly conducted let's say after the death of a hospital patient to acquire information about what went wrong and to benefit the general population and advise others about how to proceed in the next event. In a perfect world we would have a crystal ball that we could look into the future, see what went wrong and fix it or deviate plans before disaster strikes and this is what Klien calls a Pre-mortem. Essentially a Pre-mortem is a process in where you attempt to figure out what will go wrong before it goes wrong. It's a way to temper overconfidence because let's face it, as ultra runners we tend to be way too gunghoe at the beginning of training plans or planning race schedules.

Let me talk you through a Pre-mortem as it would relate to Ultra racing.

You will need to find a calm quiet place. Maybe get a warm glass of tea or throw a blanket over your legs. Be in a relaxed state of mind but not too dreamy. You will need a note pad and a pen. 

You are looking into a crystal ball. You are in the middle of a 20 week training plan to get you ready for your "A" race. So you have about ten weeks to go and...oh no...that's not good, you see an image in the crystal ball and it's a very ugly image. Now you can see you in the middle of your race and boy that's not a pretty image and it's obvious that this will be a failed effort, in fact it's down right sad. Yep, it definitely doesn't look good and now you see in the the crystal ball 2 weeks after your race that it was an absolute failure. Things went so bad that when you walk past another runner you can't even make eye contact. It went that bad.

Now, for the next two minutes I want you to write down all the reasons why this failed, we know it failed, it's obvious to everyone but why do you think it has failed?

The 2 minutes are up. Put down your pen. Congratulations, you have now started a constructive conversation you can have with your coach, running mates or simply yourself. It's called perspective hindsight and it's a way to temper overconfidence by facing potential failure and you are now forced to ask yourself what are you willing to do to avert failure that you hadn't thought of before to try to make it more successful. The pre-mortem exercise liberates people who might otherwise be afraid of looking like a pessimist or inadequate because you are now asked to think about failure. Now the demand characteristic is to show me how smart you are. Show me if you can identify things that we need to worry about.

I know it sounds simple and obvious but I ask you how often do you do something like this. Or do you often do as I do after a fail, put on your blinders and later wonder "How did I not see that one coming?"

No bake PB Squares

I think you'd agree, the very best part of high volume training is high volume eating. Its about that time of the year we put on our 4 winter layers, strap on our headlamps and grind the gears to acquire the big fitness base. These high mileage weeks are hard to get through but with plenty of sleep (which I haven't figured out yet...damn Netflix) and a good diet, a balance can be maintained.  A couple years ago my dietitian Samara Feleski Hunt concluded I wasn't eating enough which lead to a number of issues. When corrected not only did those symptoms go away but my training spiked to new heights. Since then I have made it a key in my training to incorporate high daily calorie intake into my training regimen. Having three monkeys and long days in the office I find it hard to get enough high nutrient food in my belly that's why I find snacking the single best way to ensure the machine is being fueled.

Last year I posted my Granola bar and protein ball recipes but today would like to introduce my PB square recipe. Hope you like it, but I know you will cuz who doesn't LOOOOOOVE peanut butter!

Ingredients:
4 cups oats
1 cup chia seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup hemp hearts
2 cups peanut butter
1 cup honey

Directions:
Gently warm the PB and honey in a sauce pan on the stove. Do not bring to a hell ra
ging boil! Whip up the sweet oats, the bitchin' pumpkin seeds, the holy hearts and the cha-cha-cha-chia seeds in a ginormous bowl. Dump the gooey PB mixture over the oat and seed mix and go-to-town mixing the glorious combination until you are uncertain if you will be able to lift a coffee cup tomorrow (in other words "mix well"). Press into an 8x13 dish, yell "I am Betty MoFo Crocker!" Refrigerate for a couple hours, then cut into 36 equal tetrahedrons. I like to keep them refrigerated but do whatever floats your boat.

Per square: 260 calories, 25g carbohydrates, 10g protein, 14g fat, 6g fiber

Hmmm, well that year didn't suck

Holy smoke show that was a fun year. 2014 was filled with globe trotting, course records, group running adventures, personal bests, injuries, and a boat full of valuable lessons. Instead of irritating  my readers with the bore of going over this years races and adventures, I've compiled a list of the lessons I learnt from another year spent doing what I love.

1. It takes longer than three weeks to fully recover from running a hard 100K.
2. When you wear a Santa suit trail runners want to sit on your lap, unfortunately they were mostly men.
3. Self doubt will minimize you to a speck of gelatinous goo
4. Slowing down and taking in your surroundings is needed at times and for me this year rivaled any religious experience.
5. The body will achieve only what the mind allows.
6. A good pair of shoes is everything, find yours and understand that the grass is not greener on the other side.
7. RD's and volunteers are worth there weight in gold, next time you see one, kiss him/her.
8. Running for your country really is the coolest thing EVER!
9. You can't run away from your injuries. Be honest with yourself, stop and get help.
10. Lows don't have to happen. Fuel will keep you stable and can easily get you out of trouble. Find a formula and stick to your plan.
11. Being a pace bunny is fun as hell!
12. If training becomes a chore STOP!
13. Post race beers are a thing of beauty but only taste good when shared with others.
14. When dropping from a race don't pout. DNF's happen in this sport and there are a lot of other runners still running who can use your support and cheer.
15. Take a front row seat and pace a friend. Then only can you observe the true strength of your buddy.
16. Fight the war against depletion. Eat well, eat plenty and get lots of sleep.
17. Cowboy hats are dead sexy.
18. Run on tired legs as much as you can. Speed you need but long makes you damn strong.
19. You are only as good as the people supporting you. Thank them and tell them you love them.
20. The thought of loved ones can drive you to places you never thought were possible. At the end of the day this is just a sport but love knows no boundaries.
21. Patience does work, go figure.
22. Eating a lot of meat in a 24 hour run is doable and quite enjoyable.
23. Vitamins B6 and B12 ROCK!!! (RE7!!)
24. Running on tile and uneven brick equal getting attacked by a polar bear.
25. Sleep high, train low works...in my opinion.
26. The relationships you have with your Physiotherapist, Sports Doctor, Massage Therapist and Dietitian are gold. Listen to them and see them as often as you can.
27. Consuming eggnog and running ends very badly.