Chasing Buckles Q2

12-in-12 Q2 Update

Here we are 6 months or halfway through the year long project of #12-in-12. Below is a quick summary of where I stand after Q2 n terms of the timeline. As you can see, I still have not finalized all of my remaining schedule, As I confirm registrations, I will add them on my CV page under "upcoming races".

The Divide 200

• A trip back home to Alberta was long overdue and what better way to draw me in than a long ultramarathon. I took 2 weeks off from work and went to visit my folks back in my hometown and then run in Canada's first 200 miler. Sinister Sports & WURA put on a great event that provided the most remote and wild terrain to run through. It was truly amazing to be able to run through this mountain wilderness coupled with the great weather that occurred. This was a very hard race but such a great experience. 
• Race Report: Alberta Bound | Ultramarathon #107

Big Tex Backyard Ultra

• Another backyard ultra...why not....I love this format. Well shit. I picked this weekend as it aligned with my schedule and knowing that running this type of race would not be a guaranteed "100 Mi" attempt. Little did I know that it was about to come true. I had a poor day (again in a backyard) which only allowed me to complete a 12 yard (50 Mi) official distance. Since I was commited to some other obligations for the remainder of the month I did not have time to attempt another 100 miler for October sadly. This really hampers my #12in12 attempt, but such is life with family and full-time work.
• Ultimately this means I Did Not Start (D.N.S.) a true 100 Mi event for October

Dinosaur Valley Endurance Run

• I had not been back to this event in 5 years. I took the opportunity to hop in last minute and take on another looped course that was easy to self crew. The Dinosaur Valley State Park is a great place to run and provides moderate elevation changes and some nice singletrack out there. My goal of achieving another sub-24 hour finished was realized.
• Race Report: Return to Dino Valley

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Well halfway done this challenge and it is not perfectly ideal due to now having x1 D.N.F. (August) and x1 D.N.S. (October). However, I will reiterate that this is my own personal challenge and I am not obligated to anyone but myself. I will charge on and continue to chase buckles in the following months as I love this sport and love the long distances.

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Project I•Town

Running #EverySingleStreet of my Hometown

 #EverySingleStreet Innisfail: Project I•Town (2023-Sep).

Ever since I started dabbling in running streets, via #EverySingleStreet an original concept dreamt up by Saloman ultrarunner Rickey Gates, I have had the idea in the back of my mind to be able to complete my hometown. The problem is I now live about ~2,500Mi away from where I grew up in central Alberta, as we reside here in South Texas currently. My love of running streets was born here as I tackled the project of running out current hometown of Sugar Land, TX in 2019-2020 (Blog Post HERE). I have fallen in love with this "training philosophy" because it keeps you finding new areas interesting and exciting by simple exploration and discovery. As much as I wish I had more trails and mountains around me I use urban and street running a lot to keep my training miles interesting. Since completing Sugar Land I have continued to expand my #EverySingleStreet heatmap footprint by adding on the adjacent towns and been slowing growing my map. I even took on my wife's hometown of Santa Barbara, CA as we travel there on a bi-annual basis (see my data tab for the most recent up-to-date street maps).

Flash forward to this September and I was gearing up for the Canada's first 200 Mi race, the inaugural The Divide 200 held in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia.  I had been anticipating this race all year and took some extra vacation days off to be able to visit my parents and my childhood home that would couple this race trip. I had it in my head I would simply knock out #EverySingleStreet of Innisfail while I was there without any more planning than that. Early September on the Labour Day long weekend I headed north from Texas targeting my destination of Innisfail, AB, Canada. A wee little road trip north. I arrived at my parents on the evening of September 5th, exactly 7 days before the start of The Divide 200. My timeline to complete my Project I•Town was tight, but I was determined to get this done since I had not been back to Innisfail in nearly 5 years. With that the next day I woke up after some good rest after my long travels and headed out the door to explore my hometown where I grew up with a long run to kick things off. 

Sep-06. Day 1 Long Run. 19.79% complete.

Innisfail, AB, Canada.

Sep-07. Day 2. Run 1. 32.29% complete.

Sep-07. Day 2. Run 2. 38.54% complete.

My first house I bought (2007) and owned. Still looks exactly the same on the outside.

Sep-08. Day 3. Run 1. 51.04% complete.

Sep-08. Day 3. Run 2. 60.42% complete.

Sep-09. Day 4. Run 1. 66.67% complete.

Sep-09. Day 4. Run 2. 71.88% complete.

Painting the northern range road boundaries of Innisfail, passing the farmland during fall harvest season.

Sep-10. Day 5. Run 1. 95.83% complete.

My Parents little acreage sits on the western edge of Innisfail. I spent countless hours here exploring the outdoors. You can reach the far eastern edge of Innisfail (Hwy 2) within about only 2.5 miles from here.

Sep-10. Day 5. Run 2. 97.92% complete.

Sep-11. Day 6. Final "taper" run - 100% complete.

After my initial day 1 Long Run, I would then run daily double runs to knock out the mileage for the remainder of the town. I did not think it would take quite this long (which is always the case running streets FYI). After it was all said and done I managed to complete Project I•Town in 6 days over a total of 10 runs. I accumulated a total of 91.49 Mi (147.24 km) with 2,857 ft+ (871 m+) elevation gain. This is not the ideal taper week heading into a 200 Mi event, but my training is anything but conventional. 

I had come back to Alberta to tackle two things this September: my Innisfail street project and then The Divide 200.  Step one complete, onto my 200 miler now - which start Sep-12th the morning after I completed Innisfail streets.

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Thank you for following along to my blog.

Chasing Buckles Q1

 12-in-12 Q1 Update

Well here we are 3 months already gone into my year long personal project: #12-in-12. This is a quick summary of where I stand and what is to come. As you can see I still have not finalized a lot of my schedule, but my ideas list has changed slightly narrowing it down to what I hope to aim for. As I confirm registrations, I will add them on my CV page under "upcoming races".

Ring the Springs 100

• went as well as I could hope. Travelling to Colorado for the weekend and performing well at altitude is always nice. Getting to the play in the Rockies is a true gift, and I can not wait till next time. A solid 4th place overall there was a great result as well.
• Race Report: Ring the Springs 100Mi

Tahoe 200

• A blessing in disguise as getting into this event late due to the 2023 date change combined with my unfortunate cancellation/delay of AC100 led me to get into Tahoe. This has been on my bucket list for a while and was worth it for sure. Running in the high Sierra alpines and terrain was spectacular.  My only wish is that the course was still the full loop. I was still modified due to closure of wilderness area and was not the full loop around the lake - perhaps reason to go back one year.
• Race Report: Holy Shit That Is A Big Lake
• Podcast: Texas Outlaw Running Talk Show, EP #34 | YouTube version: Tahoe 200 Mile Finisher - Trevor Meding - YouTube

Habanero Hundred

• I was humbled here with only my 4th Did Not Finish (D.N.F.) in my time of ultrarunning. I knew this one would be tough with the dryness and extreme summer heat Texas has been having. Sandwiching this event between two 200s might not have been the best choice but it was so coinvent being only an hour from our house. On hindsight I wish I had chosen another mountain one in Colorado instead, but scheduling did not allow.
• Race Report: What A Dumb Idea

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With my DNF am I done with my 12-in-12? Should I just quit? Absolutely not. I will continue on and finish what I started. Just becausee I "failed" at one race does not define me nor my ultrarunning at all. We have all been in this sport long enough and well a DNF is just part of the game when you are in these long distances. Thus far I have been fortunate to have very few and so it does feel weird and disappointing when they do occur. My ultimate goal is to be a member of the 100 x 100 club and so chasing buckles is what I am going to continue to do. Onward and upward I go....

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Chasing Buckles

#12in12

Year of the Rabbit | My Year-Long Personal Endurance Project

I was lucky and fortunate enough to kick off 2023 with an amazing adventure in Hong Kong and running the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge. You can read all about it my HK4TUC race report. This was an unbelievable experience and reminded of how much I truly do enjoy adventure and the long distance running I have gotten into the past few years. This event took place on the eve of Chinese New Year and thus the kickoff to the Year of the Rabbit. I guess it was either during the event or very shortly after I thought it would be fitting to run a 100 Mi (or more) each month of the year as a personal challenge because I love the distance and secondly because it is fitting as being a member of the rabbit family for the past 7 years. Since it was a spur of the moment type of thought I did not really follow through right away. Flash forward to June and I was fortunate enough to be selected back onto the rabbitELITEtrail team for 2023-2024 season. With this renewed spark of hype I started pondering again about this idea of running a 100 Miler each month.

The rabbit (兔) is the fourth in the twelve-year periodic sequence (cycle) of animals that appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.  The rabbit symbolizes grace, beauty, mercy and good luck.

I had already had a June 100 Miler on my schedule and also a July one too, so I thought this was perfect timing. Sadly, my July race (Angeles Crest 100 Endurance Run) was canceled due to some road closure which limited access to the course. I was bummed that my project might be gone again before I even kicked it off. In June I travelled up to Colorado and played in the Rocky Mountains (see Ring the Springs 100 Mi race report). Near the end of June my new awesome rabbit race kit arrived, and I was once again pondering my race calendar. Since AC100 was a pending Hardrock Qualifier there was a unique opportunity for a replacement race. The RD had reached out to other HR Qualifying races and got us runners a special one-time discount for some select races that still had some room left in them. With that I noticed Tahoe 200 was on the list and I floated the idea to my family since we were already going to be in California for July. Here we are now and I am into my #12in12 personal endurance project. Let's go!!!

2023-2024 rabbitELITEtrail kit. Sleek & stylish!

WHY? 

I love long distance running and ultramarathons bring a personal growth and sense of accomplishment. Plus collecting buckles is pretty cool. I also have a dream of becoming a 100x100 member one day, which basically requires super long-term dedication.

WHEN? 

This #12in12 spans the 2023-2024 rabbit team season. Since the rabbit teams are picked each year in early June I thought it was a fitting timing. This means my calendar goes from 2023-Jun through 2024-May.

HOW? 

I will simply run [at least] one 100 Mi [or longer] race each month. You can see which races I have currently committed to on my Ultra Curriculum Vitae (CV) page. There are still a couple of the months I will need to solidify my race choice, but I have got my first months now registered.

My #12in12 #yearoftherabbit race calendar. There are a few months to finalize but it is coming together.

I will post my results and race reports after each race as per usual. My data and graphs I update after each ultra as well. These are things I enjoy doing in my own data analysis. Feel free to follow along and give me some kudos and good vibes out there on the trails. Thank you for reading my blog thus far. Hope to see you out there.

#yearoftherabbit
#12in12
#100Mi #200Mi
#ChasingBuckles
#BuckleUp
#UltraRunningDad

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