I came up with the idea for this solo expedition run only in December. My knee injury seemed manageable, it was a bit over a year since my second hernia surgery, and it felt like I could maybe take up running again.
But it’s hard to get motivated when you are out of shape. Running is so much harder when your muscles are out of condition and you get out of breath right away! I knew I needed to do something to motivate me: set some sort of goal.
So that’s where the idea for this Juan de Fuca Solo Expedition Run came from: it was (and is) my motivation. Even if I don’t feel like running…. I will! Because I am working towards something.
I knew all along that five months was a pretty short time to get back in good enough shape to do those 47 rough kilometres in one day. But I figured I could probably do it: I will at least try.
However, in January I got accepted to a four-month college program (nautical training, read about it here if you’re interested!) The first two months were online, and the second two months on site at BCIT in North Vancouver.
Well, North Vancouver still has trails…. good ones, in fact! (Check out my last few blog posts, with videos, if you haven’t already). I figured that I should be able to keep up the training… or at least try to.
However, my course ended up being pretty demanding, time-wise. I did get out on some long runs on the earlier weekends, up until mid-April.
But by this final month we were just going so hard that I had little time to train. I was getting out for little jogs along the seawall, and doing squats in my hotel room… but that really is not quite enough “volume” to train for a non-stop ultramarathon-length expedition run.
So… I needed to decide. I didn’t really want to delay my run…. but it seemed like it might be the wisest thing to do… but I really didn’t want to… I hate decisions like this!
As it it turns out, winter storms have damaged the southern part of the trail. That section is completely closed until further notice.
Bad news. But good news! The decision is out of my hands, I have to postpone.
So I am back in Port Alberni now, back on the trails – and feeling great! Even though I wasn’t running much in Vancouver, I still was really active (and my four days of marine firefighting training were definitely very tough physical work). So my training didn’t really go backwards, it just kinda went on hold for six weeks or so.
My exact revised dates are still TBA – I have a lot of commitments in June and July – so I am probably looking at the first half of August to complete my Juan de Fuca one-day solo expedition trail run. And this is a good thing, because all along, the goal hasn’t been about simply completing the route – it has been about motivating me to get out there. And now I have two added months of motivation!
My Keep it Moving solo expedition run is set to take place in – um, maybe early August – and the short film will be released towards the end of 2021. Find out more by exploring this site, or by signing up for updates here – I will never spam you or share your info!
Keep It Moving 2021 