Meadowlilly Trails March 16th for our start of the 2019 Season

This Saturday, March 16th, will be an earlier start of our trail running season, as the nice folk at the London Archaeological Museum have a spring function this weekend and asked that we not use the parking lot. So it just seemed like the nudge to start the season two weeks early.
And being the day before St. Patrick's Day it seemed only fitting we have a theme for the run.
So on Saturdays run wear something green and be awarded something befitting an Irish tradition upon finish.
Saturdays weather looks to be around 0 C cloudy and 100% chance of a great run.
Recent warmer temperature and rain should take care of the ice on the trails, but screw shoes may still be a wise choice....just in case.
For those who have not done this trail, it s off of Commissioners Road, just east of Highbury Ave.
The road to  the trail is opposite the now vacant RONA lumber store. It is a dead end street and parking is at the very end at the trail head.
Google map directions are on the left side of this blog post.

Changing more than the clocks

Don't forget, if you join us for coffee at Farm Bot following our Saturday trail run, please have a change of shoes and clothes.

Tired of winter yet?

A crazy winter this year!
We coast along snow free and temperatures above zero, then Mother Nature throws a hissy fit and we get bone chilling temperatures and snow, followed by one day of spring temperatures then back to freezing.
But as trail runners we know it is getting out the door is the hard part, after that its all OK.

Terry got it all wrong!!!

Terry was very enthusiastic about adding screws to his shoes, but unfortunately he did not follow the instructions

All Grip..No Slip

Thinking of hibernating because you don’t like the idea of running on ice and snow?

Have you purchased Yak Tracks and seem to lose one every year on the trail?

Let me introduce you to Screw Shoes.
For under $10 bucks you will have enough screws to do yours, and numerous friends after you tell them how great it works.

To make a pair of screw shoes, you need to get a package of 3/8” or 1/2″ x # 8 hex head self taping screws.  These will be available at a Home Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store.

Next get a socket to fit the end of the hex head screw, a cordless drill, and of course a pair of trail running shoes.

Decide where you want the screws, they MUST be inserted to the lugs.
Don’t place them too close to the edges or in the grooves of the shoe. For best traction the lugs on the heel and the ball of the foot areas of the tread should be your prime target area. There is no set number of screws that should be used, so you can do some test runs to see what works best for you.

If you have a reasonable amount of tread left on your shoes, you shouldn’t have to worry about screw penetration, but make sure to check before you go running in them.

Place the screws in sufficient numbers to cover the ball of the foot area and heel, and anywhere else you like.  Note the random pattern in the photo.

The great thing about the screw shoe is if you lose a few screws , you just screw some more back in,  In the spring you simply unscrew them and you are back on the roads and trails again, no worse for wear.

WARNING!!!

Do not wear them in doors, as they will ruin the finish on hard wood floors or other surfaces, and you will think you are wearing ice skates if you wear them on ceramic tile.

You do not  want to wear them while driving, as you may find that the screw heads do not slide off the gas pedal when going for the break, and that tiny bit of delay could be a cause of an accident.
Just saying!!

How to tie the Swiss Knot, the only knot a trail runner should use

With winter weather, you may find that as your shoe laces freeze up they may not stay tied up, or afterwards your frozen fingers cant pry open the frozen laces.
This very simple shoe knot will stay tied up and just slips open with a gentle tug even when frozen.
You will find yourself only using this knot for all your shoes, after trying it out on your next trail run.

Living vicariously through my friends

 Sulphur Springs Trail View 

Our newbie trail runner from London via Eugene Oregon, Katie on the Right with Meg from Toronto

After the 20K and 40K fun runs, there was a pot luck brunch at Monica and Phil's

Before I forget,

I may have mentioned to you (a couple hundred times) about my running idol Monica, and her inviting running friends to a 20K or 40K Fun Run from her home during tte winter months.

Well Sunday was the first one and I volunteered to do the aid station that was normally done by her dad (Dieter) for years until becoming sidelined to a wheelchair with some health issues. Anyone who has run the Sulphur Spring Trail Races up until a couple years ago, would come up to the aid station before hitting the 'Lolly Pop' sections of trails as it become known as Scholtz's Deli because of the hot foods and beverages he would bring out during the late night early mornings of the ultra races to fuel the runners on toward the finish. 

I contacted Jennifer Anne to see if she was going to attend and when she said yes, I offered that she come with me. She asked that we not run out of gas on the 401 like what happened to us a few years ago. 

(make one little mistake and they never let you live it down) 

Katie, a newbie to our trail running group but not to trail running by a long stretch, also drove to Ancaster to do the 20k. 

Katie is from Eugene Oregon and doing her PHD at Western and has said that she has to go to the Byron ski hill to find anything close to a hill like she normally trains on back home, and this sounded like a welcome change.

She hooked up with Meg from Toronto who knew the course, plus had enough speed to make it a bit of a challenge for Katie.

Afterwards we all met at Monica and Phils home for a pot luck brunch.

And that's where all the good stories start, like a couple years ago Bill, Danny and myself showed up to do the 20K fun run and were sitting at the dinner table afterwards as Iris Cooper said she had just signed up to do a 200km trail race in Switzerland in the summer. Then Monica asked 'what is the date for that?' She then got up looked at the calendar and said she was free that date, so right then decided to enter as well. Danny and Bill looked at me and shrugged and said it takes us longer to plan a 10k race in Ontario then they did for one in the Swiss Alps.

Well Sunday's best story was again coming from Iris Cooper who came out to do the 40k fun run to get a longer training run in following an Ultra she did in October.

When I asked for details of her race she commences tell me she did the Moab 240 MILE Utra in Utah.

Temperatures ranged from hot during the day in the lower elevations while getting below zero during the night plus snow in the higher elevations.

She said she was hallucinating something fierce and at one point sat down, pulled out her cell phone and called her husband to come pick her up, she was done.

He kindly pointed out that he was in Toronto and could not pick her up, but was following her progress in the race as all runners had to wear tracking devices and could be seen live on the race web site.

He told her she was only three (3) miles away from the finish and she better get going.

Iris, got up and ran the three miles to the finish line with a time of 110 hours, 7 minutes and 8 seconds.

WTF!!?? That's 4-1/2 days without sleep, and running a race.

And yes there were other stories told, and will share with you out on the trails.